THE YEAR OF JUBILEE (3)
(Message by Tanny Keng)
0. Introduction
a) The Bible describes a period of time most people have never heard of - the Jubilee year. It occurs after seven sets of seven complete years are finished. This proclamation of a fiftieth "liberty" year occurs on one of God's annual feast days known as the Day of Atonement. Because God owns everything, he set up a special, regularly occurring time period where His will is that a man's possessions are returned to him.
i) 10 This fiftieth (Jubilee) year is sacred — it is a time of freedom and of celebration when everyone will receive back their original property, and slaves will return home to their families. 11 This is a year of complete celebration, so don’t plant any seed or harvest what your fields or vineyards produce.
ii) 39 “If one of your brothers becomes indigent and has to sell himself to you, don’t make him work as a slave. 40 Treat him as a hired hand or a guest among you. He will work for you until the Jubilee, (Leviticus 25)
i) 27 'If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger I will be hostile toward you . . . 33 I will scatter you among the nations . . . Your land will be laid waste . . .34 Then the land will enjoy its Sabbath years (Leviticus 26).
1. The meaning
a) The designating of every 50th year as a Jubilee is not just for allowing the land to rest. It is a reminder, just like the weekly seventh-day Bible Sabbath, that God has created everything. It is also a reminder that humans are not the only owners of the land and are not, according to God, to hold onto property forever. We truly do not own anything as some kind of right. Because we are thankful to God for liberating us, we should also liberate others from debt to us.
b) The cancellation of all debts occurs in the seventh year. If we were a nation that followed God's laws this would be an excellent time to settle our debts and get on with the rest of our lives!
c) Any nation would receive a tremendous blessing if they observed this part of God's law. People would not ring up huge debt and there would be no great imbalance between the wealthy and the poorest. The value of land would stabilize and the usual giant ups and downs of the economy would not happen. God's laws, ALL his laws, would be taught to all people every seventh year. Sadly, we will have to hold on until the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ before we, as a nation, fully experience the fantastic results from obeying God's laws.
The End ...
0. Introductiona) The Bible describes a period of time most people have never heard of - the Jubilee year. It occurs after seven sets of seven complete years are finished. This proclamation of a fiftieth "liberty" year occurs on one of God's annual feast days known as the Day of Atonement. Because God owns everything, he set up a special, regularly occurring time period where His will is that a man's possessions are returned to him.
i) 10 This fiftieth (Jubilee) year is sacred — it is a time of freedom and of celebration when everyone will receive back their original property, and slaves will return home to their families. 11 This is a year of complete celebration, so don’t plant any seed or harvest what your fields or vineyards produce.
ii) 39 “If one of your brothers becomes indigent and has to sell himself to you, don’t make him work as a slave. 40 Treat him as a hired hand or a guest among you. He will work for you until the Jubilee, (Leviticus 25)
b) Israel was also commanded in the Bible to redeem tithes and other things based on how many years it was to the next Jubilee (Leviticus 27)
c) Leviticus 26 states THE reason ancient Israel went into captivity was for not allowing the land to rest every seven years - by not giving it a break and letting it enjoy its own Sabbath rest! i) 27 'If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger I will be hostile toward you . . . 33 I will scatter you among the nations . . . Your land will be laid waste . . .34 Then the land will enjoy its Sabbath years (Leviticus 26).
1. The meaning
a) The designating of every 50th year as a Jubilee is not just for allowing the land to rest. It is a reminder, just like the weekly seventh-day Bible Sabbath, that God has created everything. It is also a reminder that humans are not the only owners of the land and are not, according to God, to hold onto property forever. We truly do not own anything as some kind of right. Because we are thankful to God for liberating us, we should also liberate others from debt to us.
b) The cancellation of all debts occurs in the seventh year. If we were a nation that followed God's laws this would be an excellent time to settle our debts and get on with the rest of our lives!
c) Any nation would receive a tremendous blessing if they observed this part of God's law. People would not ring up huge debt and there would be no great imbalance between the wealthy and the poorest. The value of land would stabilize and the usual giant ups and downs of the economy would not happen. God's laws, ALL his laws, would be taught to all people every seventh year. Sadly, we will have to hold on until the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ before we, as a nation, fully experience the fantastic results from obeying God's laws.
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