The Year of Jubilee
Leviticus 25
Freedom is something we treasure in America. Nearly 650,000 men and women have given their lives for freedom since the birth of our nation two hundred and twenty eight years ago today. Memorial Day weekend. . .
Has it ever occurred to you that freedom is the reason Jesus Christ came to this earth? Please turn in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus. This morning, I would like us to look at chapter 25. Let me introduce you to the concept known as the “Year of Jubilee.”
The Hebrew calendar was based on the number seven. Every seventh day was called the “Sabbath.” This was a day set apart; by the Lord’s own command (see Exodus 20:8-10), for worship and fellowship. No work was to be done on that day. It was a day holy to the Lord.
Every seventh year was a “Sabbath Year.” In that year, no sowing or reaping could be done. The Lord miraculously provided enough crops in the sixth year to last until the end of the eighth year. This is reminiscent of the provision of manna in the wilderness wanderings (Exodus 16:26).
Every seventh Sabbath year, would usher in a year called the “the Year of Jubilee.” So at the end of every forty-nine years, the year of Jubilee would begin. Let’s look at verse eight:
“Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you… (Lev 25:8).
What does Leviticus 25 teach us about the Year of Jubilee?
• Verse 9 tells us that the year of Jubilee began on the Day of Atonement. This was the day that the sins of the people would be atoned for by the sacrifice of the goat and the release of thescapegoat. So it is fitting that the year of Jubilee would begin on such a solemn day.
The people fasted and prayed for ten days prior this ceremony. It was a time of deep regret and sorrow for their sins. Once the sacrifice was completed and atonement has been made for the people, then a year long celebration took place. The Year of Jubilee would begin with the blowing of the ram’s horn because the word ‘jubilee” means “sound of the horn.”
The name jubilee is derived from the Hebrew jobel, the joyful shout or clangor of trumpets, by which the year of jubilee was announced.
The year of jubilee was a time of rejoicing. It was a celebration. It was a time of new beginnings and restoration. It was a time of great joy.
During the year of Jubilee, there was no crops planted and no crops harvested. The land was given rest for two years.
It was announced by the blowing of trumpets on the Day of Atonement (about the 1st of October)
Verse 10-17
The requirements connected with the jubilee revolved around three things:
1. Rest for the soil. The land was to lie fallow, and there was to be no tillage as on the ordinary sabbatic year. The land was not to be sown, nor the vineyards and olive yards dressed; and neither the spontaneous fruits of the soil nor the produce of the vine and olive was to be gathered, but all was to be left for the poor, the slave, the stranger, and the cattle. But the people were not debarred from other sources of subsistence, nor was the year to be spent in idleness. They could fish and hunt, take care of their bees and flocks, repair their buildings and furniture, and manufacture their clothing.
2. Reversion of property. “The Israelites had a portion of land divided to each family by lot. This portion of the promised land they held of God, and were not to dispose of it as their property
Hence no Israelite could part with his landed estate but for a term of years only. When the jubilee arrived, it again reverted to the original owners.”
This applied to fields and houses in the country and to houses of the Levites in walled cities; but other houses in such cities, if not redeemed within a year from their sale, remained the perpetual property of the buyer.
3. Release of those Israelites who had become slaves. “Apparently this periodic emancipation applied to every class of Hebrew servants—to him who had sold himself because he had become too poor to provide for his family, to him who had been taken and sold for debt. These slaves were set free
The Year of Jubilee was the great equalizer. Every fifty years, all slaves were set free, all leases were to expire, all debts were to be forgiven, and property was to be returned to its original owners. It was a way for God to remind the people that the land was not really theirs but that God had entrusted it to them.
This kept people from buying up huge parcels of land. No one could grow rich, and no one would be perpetually poor. No matter how bleak a person’s life was, the year of Jubilee provided hope. Everything would be made right at the Year of Jubilee.
What if we were to try this today? The average American owes seven thousand dollars on credit cards. The ram’s horn would be blown and all the debt would be completely erased. I think I heard some Hallelujahs in the back.
Every person that had declared bankruptcy would be given back all their assets. Every farmer who had lost their farm due to poor crops would receive their land back with joy. Sound like a pipe dream? Sounds too good to be true? Sounds too difficult? Doesn’t sound very practical?
Obviously, this is how the Hebrews viewed the year of jubilee. The concept of the “year of Jubilee” is not found in Exodus or Deuteronomy. In fact, there is no evidence that the Hebrews actually ever put into practice these commands of God.
Some commentators theorize that the seventy year exile in Babylon was punishment for each year of jubilee they did not celebrate.
But the Year of Jubilee is a powerful principle. It was a symbol, a sign of things to come. It is represents a time when freedom would be found, not in a celebration, but in Christ.
Fast Forward to Isaiah
Let’s fast forward from Leviticus to the book of Isaiah, a span of about 760 years. Eugene Peterson divides the book of Isaiah into three “movements.”
Chapters 1-39 are messages of judgment, chapters 40-55 are messages of comfort, and chapters 56-66 are messages of hope.
The first half of the book of Isaiah teaches our need for salvation due to sin and the certainty of judgment. The second half points to God’s comfort and salvation in the person and work of the coming Christ. It is to this section that we turn our attention this evening.
The Hebrew nation was taken into exile because of their sins. Although God had made it clear that judgment would come if they did not obey Him (see Deuteronomy 30), the children of Israel continually committed spiritual adultery by worshiping the “gods” of the surrounding nations.
In chapter 61 of Isaiah, the prophet writes of a precious promise. God offers hope to those hopelessly exiled away from their homeland. God promises them a deliverer.
What kind of person will this deliverer be? Listen to the description given in chapter 61:1-3:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor…” (Isaiah 61:1-3)
Isaiah promises a deliverer that will bring hope, healing, and, most of all, freedom. He will be a prophet, a priest, and a king rolled into person. The principle of the Year of Jubilee has now become a promise of deliverance.
Another seven hundred years would pass before the promise would be fulfilled.
Fast Forward to Luke
Turn with me to Luke 4 – this is really getting good!
Imagine if you will that we are all gathered in a large room inside of a house in a town called Nazareth in Galilee. The year is around AD 30 and it is the Sabbath day. We have gathered to worship the Lord and one of the elders looks around the room for someone to read from the scroll of the prophets.
His eyes spot the son of the carpenter, Jesus bar Joseph. Jesus had been traveling and teaching and had become somewhat of a local celebrity. The scroll is handed to Jesus and he stands to read. Since none of us have our own scroll we listen intently. After unrolling the scroll, his eyes scan down the parchment. What will he read? What great teaching we he give us?
Let’s listen to how Luke describes the scene:
Luke 4:16-20
Let me make some observations:
• Jesus made church attendance a priority. Verse 16 tells us “he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.”
• In a typical Sabbath service, there would be an opening prayer, a reading from the Law, the prophets, and a sermon given by a rabbi or a learned visitor.
• Jesus had been recently baptized by his cousin John in the Jordan (Luke 3:22) and had been led into the desert for forty days to be tempted by Satan (Luke 4:1-2). He was known locally as Joseph and Mary’s son, a carpenter like his father before him. News of his ministry had “spread through the whole countryside and everyone praised him.” (Luke 4:14)
• Jesus could have picked any number of passages to read but chose Isaiah 61. Many commentators called this section of Scripture the “Nazareth Manifesto.” Jesus wanted to give the people a mission statement for the Messiah’s ministry.
• After reading from the scroll, he sat down. Teachers stood to read and sat down to teach. What great teaching would Jesus give? They waited with baited breath.
The next verse is one of my favorite in the entire Bible:
“…and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21)
Jesus shocks the group by claiming the principle of the year of Jubilee and the promise of a coming deliverer are found in a Person, and that person is himself. The promised Messiah had finally arrived and he was sitting right in front of them!
Jesus’ first sermon had three points:
1. He was the promised Messiah
2. The Jubilee age had arrived, and
3. His mission was one of liberation.
The words of Isaiah were still echoing in their ears and Jesus announces that He is the Jubilee! He has not come to usher in a year of Jubilee, he has come to usher in an age of Jubilee. The group is stunned:
Luke 4:22
The people were confused. They were amazed at his teaching, full of grace and truth (see John 1:14). But they also knew him. He grew up around them. They knew his family. They knew the rumors surrounding his birth. Here is the carpenter’s son claiming to be the Messiah. Could it be?
Most concluded that Jesus was out of his mind and this section of Scripture ends with him being banished from Nazareth and the people attempting to murder him. As Jesus pointedly stated: “No prophet is welcome in his hometown.” (Luke 4:24)
Although He was rejected by the people of Nazareth, he had openly announced He was the Christ, the promised Deliverer. He was the Prophet, Priest, and King that Isaiah had promised. The principle of Jubilee and the promise of deliverance were fulfilled in the Person and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Let’s consider what the Messiah’s mission was, and still is, today.
1. To preach the gospel to the poor.
While Jesus did care about the poor (see Luke 14:13), and was desperately poor Himself (see Matthew 8:20) this verse is not primarily speaking of material deprivation. To understand what Jesus meant turn with me to Matthew 5. Jesus is beginning his “Sermon on the Mount” and the section we know as the “Beatitudes.” Look at verse three with me:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)
The word Jesus uses in this verse means “having nothing.” In its verb form the word means “to crouch or to beg.” This implies hopelessness. Eugene Peterson translates this verse: “You’re blessed when you are at the end of your rope.” (Matthew 5:3,The Message)
Mike Breaux writes, “You are blessed…when you reach into your spiritual pockets, and you turn them inside out and all you’ve got are little lint balls. You will never be happy in life until you realize you’re spiritually busted and you need God in your life.”
This is the crux of becoming a Christian. Salvation begins when you realize that you are a sinner and that you have offended a holy and righteous God. Romans 3:23 teaches us that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” It is then you understand you are deserving of death because of your sins and you are hopeless and helpless to save yourself. Romans 6:23 tells us “the wages of sin is death…” This will lead you to cry out for forgiveness.
Jesus came to be that deliverer for us. Paul wrote to the church at Rome:
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Jesus died on the cross, for our sins, in our place so that we could spend eternity with him in heaven. Let’s look at the rest of Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. (Romans 6:23).
2. To Heal the Brokenhearted.
Although Jesus does not quote this verse in Luke, Isaiah says that one of the ministries of the Messiah will be that of healer. The word brokenhearted means “to shatter one’s strength.” Jesus came to “bind up” which means “to set right, as in a broken bone.” These are people whose hearts have been broken to pieces by pain, who have been deceived, abused, and let down by people in their lives.
These are people who are suffering under crushing grief and are bound by bad memories. They are hopeless and see no point in living.
Perhaps I just described someone you know. Perhaps I just described you. Jesus came to “bind up the brokenhearted.” He is the great physician who can make you whole again. Listen to God’s voice:
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
While the Lord is always near, this verse teaches something hard to understand. When we are crushed, the Lord gets closer. His presence is powerfully present in the lives of shattered saints.
3. To preach deliverance for the captives.
In this verse, the word “deliverance” is more than releasing a prisoner from jail. It is a powerful promise of release from something far worse. Jesus’ ministry was the new exodus. He did not come to free us from the Egyptians or the Romans; he came to set us free from our slavery to sin.
Scripture teaches that we are slaves to sin and that we needed something we could not provide for ourselves – freedom (see Romans 6).
Many people today are in “bondage.” Whether it is alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, or eating addictions, fear of the future or of failure, or bitterness and anger, there are people who are so bound by their sin that there is no freedom in their lives.
These people live lives of “quiet desperation,” especially within the church. But this is exactly why Jesus came. Jesus came to bring you out of that captivity. Deliverance begins with a decision to let Jesus led you out of the prison you are in.
“Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36)
4. Recovery of sight to the blind.
There was a time when John the Baptist got depressed and began to doubt. Who could blame him? He was languishing in prison and knew he was headed for death. He sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask him if he really was the Messiah or should they expect someone else. Jesus replies with tenderness for his cooped-up cousin:
"Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. (Luke 7:22-23)
One of the marks of the Messiah would be giving the blind back their sight. Again and again, we see Jesus heal the blind (see Luke 18:35; John 9:1). The word “blind” means “darkened by smoke.” Again, there is a deeper spiritual meaning here. Jesus came to restore our spiritual sight.
The Apostle Paul was a zealous persecutor of the church, until he met Jesus face to face on the road to Damascus. After this encounter, Paul was blind for three days. God directed a fearful follower to lay hands on him. When he did “something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.” (Acts 9:18).
Do you know someone who seems to have spiritual scales on their eyes? They just can not seem to see what you see and it frustrates you greatly. Don’t give up hope.
John Newton would have fit this category. He was a godless man who was a part of the slave trade in the early 1800s. He was given to fits of anger and drunkenness. But then, Jesus Christ opened his eyes. He became an abolitionist and wrote many of the hymns we sing today. In his most famous stanza he describes the process of receiving his spiritual sight:
“Amazing grace/how sweet the sound/that saved a wretch like me/I once was lost/but now I’m found/was blind but now I see.”
5. To Released the Oppressed
The King James Version translates this verse “to set at liberty those who are bruised.” I love that translation. When you are at war, you are going to have some bruises.
This world is difficult. This is true even for the Christian. We are going to “battered and bruised” from time to time. Maybe it is Satan trying to shoot down your self-esteem, or relational ruptures that hurt your heart. Remember Satan is a “thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” (John 10:10) How do we stand in the midst of these storms that batter us? Listen to the encouraging voice of the Lord:
“The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. (Psalm 9:9)
6. To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Jesus did not come to re-institute the principle of the year of Jubilee. He was the fulfillment of the promise spoken by Isaiah. Jesus is the Jubilee! He came to be the deliverer, the healer, the King of our hearts.
In a verse that every Christian should memorize, Paul proclaims our freedom in Christ:
“There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1)
Our debts were paid in full and we were set free when Jesus our Lord died upon the tree. Jesus set us free from the fivefold damage of sin: poverty of spirit, broken hearts, imprisonment, blindness, and oppression.
Jesus is the Jubilee! How then do we celebrate that freedom? Paul gives several ways:
• Live in it but do not abuse it. I Peter 3:6 says: “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.” And Galatians 5:13: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” A Christian’s life should be characterized by a freedom that makes others want what we have.
• Do not trade your freedom for bondage of legalism. Paul told the Galatians: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1)
Christianity is not about following rules and regulations. It is about enjoying a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and celebrating the freedom that Jesus brought us by giving His life for us on the cross.
His death delivered us from hell. He experienced the ultimate poverty of spirit by taking every sin that you and I have ever committed on Himself on the cross. His body was broken to bring healing to our broken hearts. His eyes were swollen shut to bring sight to our blind eyes. He was bound so we don’t have to be. He was oppressed but did not utter a sound. He was bruised and battered and by his stripes we were healed (Isaiah 53:5).
Fast Forward to Now
Jesus’ ministry was one of deliverance, healing, and redeeming. He passed that ministry on to his disciples who sounded the trumpet of salvation that still reverberates today. We are His hands and feet. He has entrusted this ministry of binding, healing, proclaiming, and delivering to us within the church.
