Leviticus 25
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Leviticus 25:8-12, Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.
What an interesting chapter! Here we learn about the Sabbath year and the year of Jubilee. Every seventh year the land was to remain fallow, to get rest. Using the same pattern of the days of the week, a Sabbath year was a time in which God's land is replenished and the people must rely solely and completely on God for their bounty. The year of Jubilee was the Sabbath of Sabbaths. After seven Sabbath years (49 years), the following year (the 50th year) was the year of Jubilee. Similar to the Sabbath year, the year of Jubilee was a time in which the people refrained from working the land and allowed God to provide food and other resources for their survival. It was also a time of giving land back to the people who originally inhabited it. If a family was down on their luck and needed to sell their land to survive, they get it back during the year of Jubilee. If a Jewish person found themselves in a terrible bind and had to sell themselves into slavery, they received their freedom during this year of Jubilee. It was a year of putting things back the way they were supposed to be.
Not surprisingly, historical records indicate that these laws regarding the Sabbath year and the year of Jubilee frequently were not followed by God's people. And yet, they served such important purposes. If followed correctly, they ensured that the people were reminded, even just one year out of every seven, that they needed to rely totally and completely on God. Leaving the land fallow meant not planting and harvesting, simply waiting for God to provide. Second, this momentous year was a way of ensuring that no one got rich off their fellow Jew. Eventually, the land would return to the original owner. The slave and his family would be granted their freedom.
How might we celebrate a Sabbath year or a year of Jubilee in our context? What might we this look like today in 2021?
Let's pray...Lord, we thank you for ensuring that the land and the people get rest. We know this was your design. God, help us discern how we can honor your jubilee year today. We know there are people living in our community who are yearning for jubilee. Give us wisdom, Lord. In Your Name, Amen.