The Sabbath was a high day in the week and there were certain high day festivals during the year, but the greatest celebration was the fiftieth year – the year of Jubilee. A year of freedom. Christ is our Jubilee.
Leviticus 25: The Sabbath Year
1 The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,
2 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD.
3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits,
4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
6 The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired servant and the sojourner who lives with you,
7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.
The Year of Jubilee
8 "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.
9 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 your land.
10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.
11 That fiftieth year 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.
12 For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.
13 "In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
14 And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
15 You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops.
16 If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you.
17 You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God.
18 "Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely.
19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely.
20 And if you say, 'What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?'
21 I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years.
22 When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.
Redemption of Property
23 "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.
24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.
25 "If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.
26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it,
27 let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property.
28 But if he has not sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.
29 "If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, he may redeem it within a year of its sale. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption.
30 If it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong in perpetuity to the buyer, throughout his generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee.
31 But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them shall be classified with the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee.
32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem at any time the houses in the cities they possess.
33 And if one of the Levites exercises his right of redemption, then the house that was sold in a city they possess shall be released in the jubilee. For the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel.
34 But the fields of pastureland belonging to their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession forever.
Kindness for Poor Brothers
35 "If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.
36 Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you.
37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
39 "If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:
40 he shall be with you as a hired servant and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee.
41 Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers.
42 For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
43 You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God.
44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you.
45 You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property.
46 You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.
Redeeming a Poor Man
47 "If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's clan,
48 then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him,
49 or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself.
50 He shall calculate with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his sale shall vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be rated as the time of a hired servant.
51 If there are still many years left, he shall pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price.
52 If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service.
53 He shall treat him as a servant hired year by year. He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight.
54 And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee.
55 For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Things to think about…
One of the judgements that eventually came upon Israel was that Israel did not allow the land to keep its seventh year Sabbath rests, Lev 25:1-7, cf 2Chr 36:21. The Lord put them in captivity for 70 years – a year for every Sabbath year they missed since entering the land 2Chr 36:21 as spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah. Seventy times seven – 490 years. Jesus obviously uses this terminology with us as the Lord has forgiven us we forgive one another, Mt 18:22. The Israelis today still celebrate a land Sabbath every 7th year today. It of course points to our eternal Sabbath in Christ. Pray that the Israelis would see that the Sabbath is only fulfilled in Yeshua (Jesus).
Praise God for the Jubilee Lev 25:8-22. This year obviously pointed top the eternal rest we have in Yeshua – Jesus, Lk 4:18, 19. This was a ‘high’ Atonement day if you like. On the 50th year on the day of Atonement – all slaves were freed and debts were released. Praise God. Nobody would be in debt their whole life. Unlike today of course – with mortgages going for a lifetime and lease agreements of 99 years in Japan. God had a better plan – just set free and release from debt. This is the best for us as well. Don’t hold grudges. Forgive others and set people free as well as yourself. Perhaps we should suggest this idea to the big four banks. Would they remain big? There’s a question.
The Israelites saw the provision with seven years of plenty in Egypt in the time of Joseph. The Lord promises to provide within the third year in every seventh year when nothing is planted, Lev 25:19-22. We should trust the Lord when we don’t have any earthly means of provision. He is our Provider. Some of us know this very well.
Our Lord identifies with our ‘pilgrimage’ here on earth. Look at Lev 25:23. The Lord says “For you are strangers and sojourners with me”. When Jesus walked the earth He stated that this was not His kingdom. While He is Lord of the Earth, He is building a kingdom that lasts into eternity. The earth is reserved for fire after the Millennial reign. We are strangers and sojourners with Christ – just passing through this earthly land until we reach our heavenly home.
The land must be able to be ‘redeemed’ by the rightful owner, even if the owner becomes poor as a result. It rightfully goes back to him at the Jubilee. But he is also able to buy it back. The only significant difference where there is a permanent change in ownership is within a walled city, Lev 25:29,30. If it is not bought back by the original owner within a year it can remain forever with the present owner. Christ is our walled city and He has bought us back. He has ‘redeemed’ us, our eternal security is assured. The land lost in the Garden of Eden, has been bought back in Christ. Praise His name!
We are to love one another, and the law of brotherly love seen in Lev 25:35-46 as well as the sojourner should be on display in the church. We are to provide for others. Just as James says, not regarding anyone outwardly, but only seeing them in Christ. The world is still under the bondage of slavery, Lev 25:44-46. But we are sons and daughters of the King – we are free, as Jesus said to Peter. We should honour our inheritance and identity in Christ and with each other.
Some of those who were not Israelites became rich, Lev 25:47 and bought slaves – sometimes Hebrew slaves. If this ever happened, the relatives of the Hebrew slaves were to be given an opportunity to redeem their relative, vss 48, 49. Why? Because the Israelites (Hebrews) were the Lord’s servants, bought by Him out of Egypt, 55. We are Christ’s slaves, bought at the price of His blood and are now slaves of righteousness. Paul says to the slaves of Corinth that if they could get their freedom, they should do so, 1Cor 7:21. If we can get our freedom to serve Christ without encumbrance, we should endeavour to do that to win others for Christ, 1Cor 9:19.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Life groups on this week. Ric Benson has started the Life Groups at church 6:30pm and will be looking at the life of Christ in the church.
Pastor Jay has started the young adult’s life group after Sunday mornings café time. Open discussion around difficult topics and defending our faith is the focus.
Prayer Points
1. Sunday’s message as Ric preaches on the Jubilee as well as Beatty Boys leading in worship.
2. Pray for of Kids@Church, Life groups and church community days.
3. The conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. Praise for the peace of Jesus to reign.
4. Mathys has a prayer time at church on Monday afternoons. He would be happy for you to join him and to send prayer requests.
5. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you to be saved. Pray for the blessing over the new pastoral care and hosting program.
6. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Tad was operated on yesterday and is recovering well. He will be in hospital for a few days
2. Wonderful start to the Life groups at church this week – good discussion around the we are wired and what stops us from growing.
3. Good discussion on Baptism at Young Adults Life group on Sunday. This week – Long ages – fact and fiction where do we start and stop.
4. Praise God for the church leaders. May the Lord bless as they make their plans, that He guides our steps.
5. Start of Kids@Church and Life groups this week.
6. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Groups start back on Wednesday night at Church – 6:30pm. New Christians and Young Adults – Sunday after church.
2. Combined Baptist Church service at Beacon Baptist 5pm 11th Feb.
3. Members meeting after the service – 25th Feb 2024.
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
5. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for February...
Q. 17. Of what were our first parents made? A. God made the body of Adam out of the ground. He formed Eve from the body of Adam.
