A Jubilee

June 17, 2012

Lesson: Leviticus 25:1–28

Key Verse: Leviticus 25:10

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Introduction

The sabbatical and jubilee years of Leviticus speak of those things which belong to God, of that redemption which He so freely gives to His people. This lesson bears the mark of the day of atonement, whereby the sins of God’s people were forgiven and reconciliation between Jehovah and His people were realized. There is also the mark of renewal of land and people, that His people would bear the redemptive name of Jehovah in all of their relationships: of Yahshua-Jehovah is salvation! In Christ alone we are called the children of God: God’s Word tells us that “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God”; for we have not “received the spirit of bondage,” but the “Spirit of adoption” (Rom. 8:14–15). When the Holy Spirit regenerated our souls, when new birth brought to our hearts a faith whereby we embraced Jesus as our Savior, we knew that we were delivered from bondage to sin. Our sins are forgiven through the shed blood of Christ; we were adopted into the family of God. We know, therefore, that in Christ we belong to God.

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Sabbath of Rest—Leviticus 25:1–7

The Lord God continues to speak to His people through Moses from Mount Sinai. Moses is commanded to tell the people about their obedient relationship to the Lord in the land that He Himself will give them. The land itself will be a witness to the work of the Lord, for the land will “keep a sabbath unto the Lord.”

The seventh year was to be a sabbath rest for land, cattle, and people; for all belong to the Lord. Their work in sowing their fields, and pruning their vineyards, and gathering the fruit, are to be sanctified to the Lord, that “in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.” The crops were to grow “of its own accord,” not to be harvested or gathered. This sabbath year was to be set apart to the Lord and a blessing to all people. Those who were both rich and poor could go into the fields and collect food for their needs. Hired servant and stranger coming through town, even the cattle, would be blessed.

This seventh year was to be a sabbath kept unto the Lord. It was the Lord who would be recognized as the One who gave the blessing of the land. It was a time of refreshment both for the land and the people: a refreshment only the Lord could give. Have we understood this ‘rest’ in our own lives? We must look for it in Christ, who said: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (refreshment)” (Matt. 11:28). When such a sabbath is practiced, i.e., the sabbath rest of one day in seven, we are not only refreshed in word and deed, but in the giving of praise and thanksgiving to Him who give us our daily bread.

Man only enjoys the work of his hands when he exhausts not himself or the land, and participates in the Lord’s “blessed rest …that the great purpose for which the congregation of the Lord existed (is) in the peaceful enjoyment of the fruits of the earth, which the Lord their God had given them, and would give them still without the labour of their hands, if they strove to keep His covenant and satisfy themselves with His grace” (Keil-Delitzsch Comm.).

Discussion: How can we practice a sabbath rest today?

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Trumpet of Jubilee—Leviticus 25:8–17

The Lord also commanded Moses to tell the people to observe a year of jubilee. Seven sabbaths of years were to be added together for a total of 49 years. On the tenth day of the of the seventh month, the “trumpet of Jubilee” was to be sounded, “in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout your land.” The trumpet sound called the people to the gracious presence of the Lord to “proclaim liberty throughout all the land.”

This year, when grace would abound in the returning of possessions lost, began with the day of atonement. The day when the people realized their sins were forgiven through sacrifice by the tender mercy and lovingkindness of their Lord. Every fiftieth year was sanctified as a year of jubilee. Liberty was witnessed in the field, in the return of possessions lost, and in selling and buying; and no one would oppress another. This would be done in the fear of the Lord. The Lord would avenge the oppressor, and the widow and the poor would be blessed.

There is the spirit of forgiveness in the year of jubilee. Forgiveness, which comes from the Lord, is also expressed between His people. We are taught to pray by our Savior, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). In this prayer, we ask God, “for Christ’s sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others” (Shorter Catechism # 105). The reconciliation of one with another, the returning to another a blessing which was lost, the forgiving of sins, demonstrates the love of God in Christ toward those for whom He shed His blood upon the cross of Calvary.

Discussion: How must we witness to the liberty we have in Christ?

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Time of Redemption—Leviticus 25:18–28

We live and enjoy the fruits of our labor in the truth that all we have comes from the hands of our Lord. Therefore, we have the added motivation to obey the statutes and judgments of God, and so “dwell in the land in safety.” The promise to His obedient people is that “the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.” The twofold promise of God is that His people will find both provision and protection under His wings.

This provision and protection is illustrated in that the land belongs to the Lord, and His people are but “strangers and sojourners” with Him. Because of this relationship with the Lord, nothing is to be held dearly as one’s own possession, but rather as that which has been given by Him. The provision of the land, and the protection of the Lord, is seen in the law of redemption: “And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.”

In the illustrations given as to the returning of the possessions to the original owners, we note that the land must not be forever separated from the family to whom God had given it. A man may be compelled by poverty to sell part or all of his land, but the Lord makes provision in the fiftieth year to have the land redeemed, purchased back, as it were, by a redeemer-kinsman.

It is Jehovah who has direct Lordship over His people and the land on which they abide. The covenant must always be remembered. The people of God have been given an inheritance by promise, and this inheritance must not be taken for granted, nor can it passed on indiscriminately. Nor can the inheritance be taken from another because of circumstance or condition. Redemption is a means of returning the inheritance to the family to which it was first given: an inheritance which was given by the grace of God.

Because of our transgression of the law of God, man’s fall drove us under the wrath and curse of God. But God, who has mercy upon those He will have mercy, “did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver (us) out of the estate of sin and misery, and bring (us) into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer” (S.C. # 20). We have been given an inheritance “incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4). It is by grace that we have “obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” (Eph. 1:11). What was lost in sin can only be returned by a Savior who was able, by sacrifice, to satisfy the divine justice of God, reconciling us to the Father, now and for ever.

Discussion: What is the meaning of the term redemption?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2012 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.