If you enjoyed discovering and exploring the command of God for The Annual Sabbaths; you are going to love the next and even more astounding concept God commanded His people to institute at the time they entered and lived inside The Holy Promised Land.
THE YEAR OF JUBILEE
This totally new concept was called The Year of Jubilee. God commanded the people who inhabited The Promised Land to observe this practice of Jubilee every fifty years. Below is the scripture reference explaining how it first came about:
Leviticus 25:8-12; You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all of your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for joining our ongoing, every-Thursday Bible Study called COME AS A CHILD. We are slowly walking through the Holy Scriptures together; one page at a time and trying to view the scriptures from a fresh, never before considered perspective. The hope is that we can put aside the things we have learned from the past and look at each passage with new eyes. The trick is not to assume anything and to just let God guide us and teach us what He wishes for us to learn. Today’s lesson continues our study of Leviticus, Chapter 25. There have been some amazing discoveries so far. The people of God who have been wondering through the wilderness for so long are discovering some new practices that God wishes for them to implement when they reach their destination.
If you missed last week’s lesson; you can review it here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/shemitah-and-isaiah-61-come-as-a-child-lesson-232/
SOME NEW GIFTS OF TIME
From the very beginning of Creation God gave us the gift of time.
Time was a special gift that God made especially for mankind.
God put emphasis on certain appointed and sacred times so that we could remember where our gifts originated.
We observe sacred time with Sabbath.
Sacred times ares also observed through God’s annual feast and festivals.
Now we are learning that we can also observe sacred times through the Annual Sabbaths (Shemitahs.)
Also; we can observe sacred times through The Year of Jubilee (Yovel.)
These observances of time are God’s way of underlining His gifts to us. We need to understand how unique these gifts really are. Who else but God The Father would be able to give you a gift of time? These special days and times that we are asked to observe with God emphasize that God is in control and speak to us of how He has set our destinies and purposes in the midst of our sacred appointments throughout all of the days of history.
WHEN CERTAIN YEARS OF TIME ARE MADE HOLY
Previously we learned that every seventh year is an Annual Sabbath or a Shemitah.
Every seventh year is considered to be a holy, sacred year.
Today we will discuss the fact that every fiftieth year is The Year of Jubilee, or as the Hebrews would say; a Yovel.
Every fiftieth year is also considered to be holy and sacred.
This would mean that at the time of The Year of Jubilee, both the 49th and the 50th year (The Annual Sabbath and The Year of Jubilee) would be considered to be holy times and/or holy years that are set apart from all other years.
One year of holy time would be set aside for the Shemita (The Annual Sabbath), and one year would be set aside for observing Yovel (The Year of Jubilee.)
Everyone living in The Promised Land of Israel would stop working the land during these times. The land would rest and rejuvinate. All slaves would be set free. Everyone who had purchased the use of any properties would let the land revert back to the original tribal owner/owners.
COMPARING THE PRACTICE OF COUNTING THE OMER AND COUNTING THE HOLY YEARS
Do you count the omer every spring into summer in order to know when you will arrive at the Day of Pentecost every year?
This is how the ancients kept time and it is how they knew when Pentecost had officially arrived. They didn’t look at a calendar like we do today; they counted the days off one-by-one until they reached the fiftieth day. It was always 50 days after the Passover happened, or after the passing of seven Sabbaths from Passover.
Yovel; or The Year of Jubilee works on the same principle as the counting of the Omer.
Any debates in resolving how the days and times up until this Year of Jubilee should be counted can be resolved by looking at the way and the pattern that is used in counting the omer during a regular year.
We use the same method only one is for days and one is for years.
You count fifty years instead of 50 days.
A SACRED AND HOLY TIME OF FREEDOM
Just as Pentecost represents our spiritual freedom today; Jubilee or Yovel represents the freedom of Israel; both then and now.
At the first of the giving of these sacred years; the servants of Israel had become the servants of God; they were no longer the slaves of Egypt. They were no longer in bondage to the whims of mankind; but they served God out of love and out of freedom.
That is a perfect example of what our spiritual salvation should be like today.
We are no longer slaves to sin but serve God and keep His laws and commandments out of love. The laws have been forever written on the hearts of the servants of God.
No human arrangement could ever out-weigh God’s arrangement with his people.
The Year of Jubilee proclaimed the significance of this fact.
Any human world-leader should take this into consideration as he serves his people.
All human leadership will one day have to answer to the leadership of God Almighty.
THE DIFFERENCE IN JUBILEE AND ORDINARY TIME
So what was different about the Jubilee Year besides the fact that it was always the 50th year in each cycle?
The Hebraic word called Yovel which means “Jubilee” in English had three different, yet still related definitions. The Hebraic definitions meant “a ram’s horn,” “Jubilee,” and “to be carried.”
It is interesting to note as we think of one meaning being “a ram’s horn” that The Year of Jubilee has a name which reminds us of the sounding of a shofar. Like the long blasting sound that we hear on other sacred occasions; The Year of Jubilee reminds us to listen up and to pay close attention to the commandments of God. We hear of the use of this word in reference to a shofar two other times in the history of Israel; one when Moses goes to bring down the Torah and the other when Joshua captures Jericho. Both of these two times referred to liberty and freedom for the nation of Israel which eventually will bring about liberty and freedom to all of the earth.
In each instance a ram’s horn was sounded.
For each time the ram’s horn was sounded; freedom was proclaimed thus covering the “freedom” aspect of “Jubilee.”
For both instances in history it is completely obvious that God was carrying His people to a place they had never been before. He was taking them to a promised land and He was giving them victory once they were living inside the land.
THE RULES LEADING UP TO JUBILEE
Another thing of note about the Year of Jubilee was associated with the laws that were established around the dealings of the masters of servants during the times leading up to the Day of Jubilee.
It was noted that anyone lending money to a fellow Israelite (one of their own family) should not charge any interest. They were also commanded not to make a profit from any food that was given to the servants or to the members of their servants families.
The laws leading up to the Year of Jubilee which brought everyone total release from debt, kept people honest and straightforward in their dealings with one another until release could happen.
In God’s land People were to be treated fairly in spite of their debts, lack of talent, skin color, physical disabilities, mental disabilities, handicaps, marital status, parental status, bad circumstances or horrible mistakes.
In this land owned by God, a man’s status was never based on his financial gain; but his financial gain DID mean that he would carry the weight of much more responsibility in life. With great blessings came great responsibilities. The more one was blessed; the more one became accountable both to God and to his fellowmen. The proper way to own a blessing was to share it with others.
If one became poor and needed financial assistance from a relative; these servants were still treated as fellow Israelites and citizens, hence; they were to be treated as hired-workers as they paid off their debts and not treated as slaves.
The Kinsman Redeemer (main property owner for each family) was the person in charge of the family name who hired the servants and looked after all of the family’s best interest regardless of their status or contributions or faults. He was to be kind, gentle and honest in all of his dealings. This highly respected head-of-the-family was to show love and compassion for each member of the family; regardless of how useful they were to maintaining his properties and wealth. If something went wrong because of the family status in the land; this man would need to be accountable for all of his family members.
There were so many rules around this state of the time in-between the Jubilees that there came to be a popular a joke in the land which stated; “in the Year of Jubilee a Master is released from his slavery to his slaves.”
In the Year of Jubilee all of the slaves were released from their status as a servant; but the master was also released from having to worry about the responsibility of the servant and his family’s welfare.
THE GOLDEN RULE BEFORE THE GOLDEN RULE WAS KNOWN
This was because there were many laws that spelled out such details as “you should not eat white bread and give your hired servants brown bread” and “you should not sleep on a mattress and give your servant straw to sleep on,” and other such things that sounded like “you should not sleep in peace and warmth and comfort while your brother or sister slept in fright, cold and discomfort.”
This was a way to enforce the golden rule even before people knew or understood it. The whole concept of The Kingdom of God revolves around such a state of being as this.
If you were blessed and you had money and possessions; you were to be sharing and caring for others around you and you were not to be stingy or become a hoarder or be one who simply piled up wealth while those around you did without.
The laws God gave in the book of Leviticus took care of these important matters of acting like a family and showing love and concern among God’s people.
Can you imagine a world like this today?
Like every pattern that God gave to Israel; these rules were a pattern for all other nations to follow; and they were to be followed if a person was to be considered to be a good citizen living in a righteous manner within God’s land.
A TIME WHEN POSSESSIONS WERE SHARED AMONG THE FAMILIES
It should be noted that nothing actually belonged to anyone.
Everything belonged to God and everything was only there for sharing among the people with the best interest of the whole nation in mind.
Every seven years whatever got out of balance during the progression of time was reset.
Each fiftieth year meant that the main things for life in the land were reset and corrected and this equalized the standing of every family living in the land.
It was an amazing pattern that could only work in a land where EVERYONE was under the rule and reign of a Mighty God Who was considered to be The Only God And King of the Universe.
At first glimpse one might consider these ways to be on the same path as our present-day concept of socialism. Not so at all. In a socialistic governing body the people are ruled by other human beings. Human beings are never perfect and they all eventually become greedy and self-serving and that is where socialism could never even come close to working in the world we live in today. However; in The Promised Land the people were not ruled by any human. They answered only to God Almighty; and He just happens to be the only perfectly qualified leader of human beings.
This amazing system and way of living can only work when all of mankind yields to the perfect leadership and awesome ways of God and no other. It wasn’t set up to cater to the faults and depravity of human rulers. God never intended for Israel to have the need for human kings. That was originally the idea of the people.
Even Israel, when given every possible opportunity and head-start; could not conform to God’s perfect rules. If you take a long look and study the laws that govern the times that God set in motion for the land today; you will find that Israel’s leaders have found a way of getting around almost every law that has been given about this sacred, set-apart gift of time. It is now very rare to find those who are truly keeping the Shemitah and The Yovel. It is made harder for the faithful because they fall prey to the unfaithful.
NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY
It was beautiful while it lasted, which wasn’t long.
For the Year of Jubilee to be in full effect exactly as God had commanded with all of its blessings and abundance; all of Israel is required to be living in the promised land together as a whole nation.
The nation of Israel become divided. Once the first division of a nation starts; it is easier to divide and scatter the rest of the people.
First the Assyrians took captives; then the Babylonians.
Because Israel forgot to honor God and they did not remember the importance of keeping the best ways to live which He had given them before they entered the land; they eventually became a people scattered all over the earth.
Today there are people of Jewish descent who know nothing of their national heritage or ancestry. The lost ten tribes of Israel are scattered all across the map; unknown and undiscovered. It would seem impossible that the nation could ever come together and be whole again. Following human thinking; ;this is true; but with God all things are possible.
A FINAL JUBILEE
There is a final Year of Jubilee coming.
If you read and study the book of Revelation, Daniel and all of the books of the prophets of Israel; you will begin to see the patterns.
God will once again assemble all of His people in His land.
How this will happen is a great mystery; but happen it will.
This Jubilee will be made up of those of physical kin as well as those of spiritual kin.
A new day is coming when everything will once again reset and Jesus will rule and reign on this earth for 1,000 years in a Kingdom as our beloved Kinsman Redeemer. We will know Him in that day at King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
It will be like the time of the wedding of Ruth and Boaz; and the whole world will know and rejoice in the things that God has done.
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