Jubilee

INTRO — Jubilee Day

Juneteenth — Jubilee Day

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln, through the Emancipation Proclamation, ordered that all enslaved people, “shall be then, thencefoward, and forever free”. Unfortunately, some states blatantly decided to rebel against the orders of President Lincoln. However...

On June 19, 1865, a Union General rode into Galveston, Texas to announce that the Civil War had ended, and slaves had been freed.

Freedom is truly a gift from God.

God wants to teach His people how to LIVE FREE.

But if you look at our world, we are working tirelessly, never really knowing what rest is like.

BODY — God Teaching Them to be Free

The Exodus Story

As you read through the Bible, you come across the book of Exodus. In it, we are immediately confronted with an issue: Israel is enslaved under the Egyptian Empire. But God, in His mercy, hears the cries of His children, seeking to set them free. After He liberates them from the hand of their oppressors, God gives His children an entirely new paradigm for living.

The greatest challenge of the Israelites was learning how to live as free people.

IF I’M HONEST. If you’ve ever tried to read through the Bible, you know that pushing through Exodus and Leviticus can get really tough and confusing. It’s normal for modern readers. These texts weren’t initially written to us in the modern world. Consequently, we have to read this text in their context.

It’s kind of like flying to a different country. You can’t expect everyone in the world to see like exactly like you do. Neither can you expect yourself to know their cultural nuances and preferences.

THE IMPORTANCE OF 7 = Completeness

Every 7th Day — Sabbath

Every week, God wanted to teach His children that they are NOT machines.

Every 7th Year — Sabbath Year

Every 7 years, God wanted to teach His children that the LAND is not their slave.

Every 7x7 Years — Year of Jubilee

Every 49 years (7x7 years), God did something so radical—probably one of THE most radical commands in all of Scripture.

LEVITICUS 25 — The Year of Jubilee

Leviticus 25:8–10 ESV

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.

GOD GAVE THEM AN ENTIRE YEAR TO REST.

Imagine being given an entire year to vacation. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

ALL DEBTS WOULD BE FORGIVEN.

The average debt of an American in 2021 is $90,000. Now, imagine once every 50 years, everyone’s debt would be forgiven. How much freedom would that give families? How much freedom would that give societies?

As radical as all those sound, those weren’t the only things that happened on the year of Jubilee!

What happened on the Year of Jubilee?

Jubilee for the Land — ALL LAND WAS TO GROW FREELY

Leviticus 25:11–12 ESV

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.

Whoa, what? Not only were the PEOPLE allowed to rest and be forgiven of debt. But also the LAND? They weren’t allowed to sow, reap, or store up anything. Only eat what the land immediately produced.

I remember during the beginning of COVID, people stored for themselves a TON of paper towels and toilet paper. I remember scrolling through Facebook, and seeing someone post a photo of MILK gallons. Like what?

Now it gets even deeper because more often than not, the land and its produce was an Israelites means to feed/provide for their family!

God knew that they would have such questions! So the text continues...

Leviticus 25:20–22 ESV

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.

Whoa, what? God would provide for them? Like, ENOUGH FOR 3 YEARS?? What does that tell you about God? (1) God wants His people AND His land to rest. (2) God wants His people to TRUST His providence.

God’s people are not slaves to the need of control.

Our need to be in control of everything stunts our ability to live. We so desire to control people, our future, our families, and our situations. We want everything to work our way. Because if it’s not our way, it’s the highway.

But God’s people are NOT to fall under this form of slavery. For you are FREE.

Jubilee for your Property — ALL ANCESTRAL PROPERTY RESTORED

During the Year of Jubilee, ancestral land was restored. When God gave the Israelites the Promised Land, He allotted specific places for each tribe. But when times got rough, Israelites had to sell their ancestral land to make a living. But in the year of Jubilee, something amazing happens....

Leviticus 25:28 ESV

28 But if he does not have 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.

The land that needed to be sold is now restored to everyone. It’s like everyone’s property hit RESET. This command hindered generational wealth disparities in Israel. No one was able to acquire so much land that they owned everything. W​hy did God command such a thing during the Year of Jubilee?

Leviticus 25:23 ESV

23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.

God was blatantly teaching Israel that THEY don’t own the land. He owns the land. God could’ve just told them that. But He went as far as commanding them to give back the land they sold/purchased. In the same way, God is telling us...

God’s people are not slaves to the pursuit of more.

In our modern world, people are NEVER satisfied. We are constantly bombarded with the desire for more. More things. More status. More followers. More likes. More money. More property. More assets.

But when we gain more, someone else has less.

God’s people are not slaves to this rat race. Because when you have God, you already have everything you need.

Jubilee for the Poor — ALL SLAVES WERE FREE

In Israel, if someone got SO poor that selling their property was not enough, they had to sell themselves into servitude for another.

Here’s the sad part: When someone is given the opportunity to exercise power over another person, they more often than not treat them unequally.

God knew that Israel would be tempted to treat their servants the same way they were treated in Egypt. But God would not have ANY of it. God commanded in verses 39-41...

Leviticus 25:39–41 ESV

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 worker 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.

Now imagine how amazing that must have been. On the year of Jubilee, an Israelite servant not only was released, but also granted his family inheritance. It’s as if the tragedy that forced him to be sold into slavery didn’t happen.

The master that purchased the slave was NOT allowed to claim them as permanent property. God would NOT have His people repeat what happened in Egypt. God was teaching them something through this...

Leviticus 25:42–43 ESV

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.

God wanted to teach His people that they are NOT to exploit each other like they were in Egypt. They are not each other’s servants, but God’s servants. People are NOT meant be sold. People are meant to fear God, and God alone. Today, God is teaching us...

God’s people are not slaves to the thirst for power.

Power in our world is so tainted. Everyone wants more power. The most powerful nation. The most powerful person. The most powerful corporation. But power does not free a person. Power enslaves us.

Exercising power strikes fear into another person. Whether that’s pointing a gun in someone’s face, threatening to ruin someone’s reputation, or even enacting violence on another human. We are not to use our power to have others fear us. In this text, God is teaching His people to only fear HIM.

Why did God command His people to observe the Year of Jubilee?

LUKE 4 — Jesus and His Jubilee Mission

Luke 4:16–21 ESV

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus. This is what God was preparing His people for: the freedom that Jesus is bringing. Jesus wanted to set His people free from the burden of sin. Jesus wanted to free His people from their spiritual debt. Jesus wanted to free His people from the snares of Satan.

And He did just that when He resurrected from the dead.

Now, if there’s anything I’m trying to say today, it’s in Galatians 5:13

HOW JESUS WANTS US TO USE OUR FREEDOM.

Galatians 5:13 ESV

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

You are free. You are not a slave.

Jesus set you free to serve one another. Not to argue. Not to politicize. Not to be privileged. But to serve one another.

If your freedom isn’t motivating you to free others, then you are not truly free.

You know how Jesus wants us to free others?

DISCIPLESHIP.

Allowing yourself as a discipleship of Jesus to sit at His feet.

When the culture, media, and pressures of the world press you, Jesus says you are free. And many times, we DON’T allow ourselves to be discipled by Jesus because we are so busy with possessions, profit, and power.

Allowing yourself to disciple another person, as YOU are being discipled by Jesus.

When the pressures of life is pressing someone else, discipleship will enable you to free another person. And discipleship is not just telling them that they are free, but showing them how to live free. It’s not just telling someone that God loves them, but showing them that God loves them.

CLOSING

Howard Thurman (1899-1981)

Howard Washington Thurman was an American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader.

He was a contemporary of MLK Sr. and a mentor to MLK Jr.

“When I was a youngster, this was drilled into me by my grandmother. The idea was given to her by a certain slave minister who, on occasion, held secret religious meetings with his fellow slaves. How everything in me quivered with the pulsing tremor of raw energy when, in her recital, she would come to the triumphant climax of the minister: “You—you are not niggers. You—you are not slaves. You are God’s children…A man’s conviction that he is God’s child automatically tends to shift the basis of his relationship with all his fellows.”

This coming week, I challenge all of us to say “no” to the things that falsely enslave us. To prioritize time to be discipled by Jesus AND to disciple another person.