Read all or part of Leviticus 16-17
“Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you. ” (Leviticus 25:10)
I remember from my youth the great joy of the final day of school when classes concluded and the fun of summer days could commence. There was nothing quite like being set free! That little taste of freedom is nothing compared to the more profound thrill of freedom for those set free from prison or released from oppression.
The book of Leviticus contains one of the most striking, if not downright shocking, guidelines from God about insuring freedom and rest. It is all wrapped up in a concept called the year of jubilee. Just like the sabbath day happened once every seven days for rest and renewal, every seven years there was to be a sabbath year for rest and renewal. Beyond both the weekly sabbath and sabbath year, the jubilee year happened once every fifty years (after seven sabbath years). It included dramatic guidelines for freedom and renewal: any land sold in the previous 49 years was to revert to the original family of ownership, all Israelite slaves were to be freed, all debts were to be canceled, and the land was to lie fallow from cultivation.
The loftiness of the year of jubilee may make it seem impractical. As one scholar writes, “As a social institution the jubilee year remained an ideal, which was rarely, if ever, realized.” We have no clear indication in Scripture of whether the year of Jubilee was ever put into practice or not.
But the ideal of the jubilee is echoed in the life and ministry of Jesus. When beginning His public ministry, Jesus declared: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18). In a sense, the jubilee year is made real in Jesus who brings true freedom and renewal. As Jesus Himself said, referring to Himself, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
For reflection:
Each Sunday we include discussion questions on the sermon insert that can be used for deeper reflection and/or small group discussions. Take time to read through those questions today. You can find a digital version online at eastbrook.org/Leviticus.
by Pastor Matt Erickson
Holy Week Family Talk
Picture this: in your favorite and best subject, your teacher gives you a project to do with three other people, and you’ll all get the same grade. Are you the kid that tells the others that you’ve got it all covered? I was. Sometimes we show how little we trust others (and how much we trust in ourselves) through our actions. I would never have said that I didn’t trust my classmates to do a good job, but I certainly made it clear by frequently doing group projects by myself. Sometimes we do this to God too. God wants us to trust Him, and there are promises He’s made to us when we do.
In the Old Testament, God gave Moses some very important rules for His people to follow, and He even included rules about rest! They were supposed to take a full year of rest called a sabbath year every seven years—no farming allowed—and trust in God’s promise that He would provide for them. Then, every 50 years, God also commanded them to forgive all the debts, free the slaves, and even give back the land and personal items that their poor neighbors had to sell just to survive—this was called the year of jubilee. It was like a giant do-over for everyone in Israel! Even though God promised to give His people all they needed to rest and recover, they had a hard time believing that God was really going to take care of them, so they often did things their own way. But by disobeying God, they lost so much.
The year of jubilee was designed to be a time when debts were forgiven, captives were freed, the poor were filled, the oppressed were lifted up, and goodness was restored with grace and mercy. If we trust in Jesus, there is forgiveness of sin, freedom from sin’s power, access to God’s presence, and the blessing of being an heir to God’s kingdom. God’s ancient people did not always trust Him, and there are many stories in the Bible about the consequences of that. In the same way, if we ignore God’s directions and try to make ourselves happy on our own, we end up hurting ourselves and others. If we put our trust in Jesus and do what He says, He will give us the ultimate do-over. Even though all of us have a great debt of sin, Jesus forgives it all. And this gift isn’t something we can only experience once every 50 years, we can ask Him for it right now!
Let’s Talk!
- Have you ever done something without following directions and it turned out badly? What did you learn from this experience?
- Remember our God is the God of sabbath and jubilee: He wants to provide for you, forgive you, and be gracious to you. How can you trust God more in your own life?
A Step Further: Interactive Prayer
On a blank piece of paper, write out words that come to mind when you read/hear about our God’s design for the year of jubilee. Each person in your family should try to think of at least one word. What is a word that describes God here? What is a word that describes the jubilee itself? Then pray, thanking God for each of the characteristics you’ve identified, and asking Him to help your family live in a way that reflects God’s heart for people. Keep the paper posted on your refrigerator this week as a reminder.
by Courtney Bryan
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