Regulations Concerning Acknowledgement of Yahweh's Lordship (Exodus 23:10-13).
Here we have two sets of regulations which refer to work and rest.
A Seven-Year Rest (Exodus 23:10-11).
“And six years you shall sow your land and shall gather in the increase of it, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave the beast of the field shall eat. In the same way you will deal with your vineyard and with your olive-yard.”
Agriculturally this would allow the land to rest so that it could recover its vitality. It was a practise observed also in other nations. But here it was made an offering to the poor. During the six years the farmer could gather in and store his grain ready for the seventh year, and he would cater for his bondmen, but the poor who worked for others, as they could, would have no grain on the seventh year for there would be no work. This thus catered for their need. And each seventh year would be dedicated to God in recognition of His gift of the land to His people. This is made specific in Leviticus 25:4 but it is clearly its intent here as is evident from its connection with the weekly sabbath in the following verse. Both are sabbaths to Yahweh their God (Exodus 20:10).
In Deuteronomy 14:28 to Deuteronomy 15:11 we have an extension of God's provision for the poor. Not only could they enjoy the gleanings and this seventh year bonanza, but a provision would in future be made for them from the third year of tithes and by release from debt in the seventh year.
This connection with the weekly sabbath also implies that the same seventh year shall be observed by all. This is made explicit in Leviticus 25:2-7.
These provisions looked forward to when the land has been given to them as Yahweh promised to them in Egypt. They were a preparation for and a guarantee of what was to come. It is possible they had already been observed in Egypt. By these provisions God was reminding them of what their future will be, and encouraging their hopes. But they assumed a quick conquest of the land so that the provisions could be applied. In the end they could only be observed spasmodically. That they would not be strictly observed is brought out in Leviticus 26:34; 2 Chronicles 36:21, God knew what to expect of them, but those who did so in obedience to God would find their land more fruitful as a result.
The Weekly Sabbath (Exodus 23:12-13).
“Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall cease from work, that your ox and your ass may have rest, and the son of your handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed. And in all things that I have said to you take heed, and make no mention of other gods, neither let it be heard out of your mouth.”
This is a repetition of the fourth commandment. Compare Exodus 34:21. But here the stress is twofold. Firstly on the benefit to beasts and servants (compare Deuteronomy 5:14-15), and secondly on its provision as a means of meditating on God (compare Exodus 20:11).
It is stressed that those who have no say in the matter should be able to rest, the oxen and the asses who bore the burden of the work and the sons of handmaids (either sons of concubines or sons of servants) and resident aliens who would have no land and would therefore be labourers.
The placing of Exodus 23:13 here, while it applies to all that has gone before, emphasises that the sabbath is to be a day in which men will speak of God. They are to ensure then that they do not speak of other gods but that they concentrate their attention on the true and living God, on Yahweh.