June 17, 2012 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON CELEBRATE JUBILEE MINISTRY INVOCATION Almighty God: Prepare us for all that we are going to have to experience today and this week. Help us to know better and to do better. Amen. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND To summarize the principles of Jubilee To recall the time when you needed an opportunity to begin again To familiarize participants with community resources available to assist people in making a fresh start THE APPLIED FULL GOSPEL DISTINCTIVE TEXT: Background Scripture Leviticus 25:8-55 Key Verse Leviticus 25:10 Lesson Scripture Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-36, 39-40, 47-48, 55 Leviticus 25:8 12 (NASB95) 8 You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. 9 You shall then sound a ram s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. 10 You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11 You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field. Leviticus 25:25 (NASB95) 25 If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold. Leviticus 25:35 36 (NASB95) 1
35 Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. 36 Do not take usurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your countryman may live with you. Leviticus 25:39 40 (NASB95) 39 If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave s service. 40 He shall be with you as a hired man, as if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee. Leviticus 25:47 48 (NASB95) 47 Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger s family, 48 then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, Leviticus 25:55 (NASB95) 55 For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. COMMENTARY 25:8 11 In addition to allowing the land to lie fallow every seventh year, the year after the seventh sabbatical year, the fiftieth year, was to be the Year of Jubilee, during which each person was to return to his personal property. Thus when a series of seven years went through seven cycles (25:8), the following year, the fiftieth year called for a special celebration. The Year of Jubilee began with a trumpet blast on the Day of Atonement (25:9), thereby proclaiming liberty to all the inhabitants of the land (25:10). On this high holy day, when reconciliation with God was to become a national petition, the Israelites were likewise reminded to be properly restored to their brothers. Personal holiness must be carried out on the social plane on behalf of the disadvantaged. All Jews who for some reason or another had become enslaved to another Jew or were forced to sell personal property to someone in the preceding forty-nine-year period were automatically emancipated, and sold property was restored to its original owner. Slave laws in Exodus and Deuteronomy provide the option of a slave agreeing to remain with his master after six years of enslavement; in the Jubilee even that slave is set free. The restoration of sold properties to the rightful owners indicated that the land of Canaan was ultimately God s land and He could do with it as He wished. The restoring of the land to its original owner was also a 2
protection for the weak; for the rich to dominate over the weak would be a violation of God s covenant. As in the sabbatical year (25:4 5), the Israelite was not to sow seed or gather crops during the Year of Jubilee (25:11). 25:12 Also as in the sabbatical year, the people could eat only what was taken from the fields. This year followed immediately after the seventh sabbatical year, which meant that the land lay fallow in the seventh sabbatical year as well as in the following Year of Jubilee. Two fallow years in succession would have been a severe test of faith. The Israelites were called upon to trust totally in God and acknowledge in a profound way that he was the provider of the basic necessities of life. 25:24 28 Three possible outcomes are envisioned in vv. 24 28 regarding the sale of property by an impoverished Israelite: (1) the recovery of the property by the kinsman redeemer, (2) the buying back of the property by the seller himself, and (3) the return of the property during the Year of Jubilee. The various scenarios are introduced by the phrase If one of your countrymen becomes poor (25:25). If economic loss or debt caused a man to sell his land, the nearest relative had the obligation to buy or redeem the property for his impoverished relative. The kinsman, near relative ), was a close relative (25:48 49) who was under obligation to reclaim the land sold by his impoverished family member (25:25) and to redeem a relative who due to difficult times found himself enslaved to someone else (Lev 25:47 49). If the poor man regained a measure of economic stability, he had the right to buy back his land at its fair market value (25:26 27). The opportunity for an individual to regain his land was to be maintained. The right of redemption could not be refused. Presumably he would pay back to the buyer the money he received minus the amount the purchaser had earned from the land since the sale. The value of the property would decrease the closer they were to the next Jubilee. Otherwise the land would return to him during the Year of Jubilee, when the Lord himself performs the role of the nearest relative (25:28). The legislation of Leviticus 25 went a long way in providing the socioeconomic basis for Israel s identity and preservation. Because the gōʾēl was a close family member who had an obligation to deliver a family member in need, the term was rightly applied to God in the outworking of covenant relationship with Israel. Thus, it was not at all a stretch to consider God as Nearest of Kin for all impoverished Israelites when the trumpet sounded at the time of the Jubilee. Moreover, this institution kept the nation intact and in this way had a part to play in the coming of the Messiah. 3
25:35 36 Israelites were admonished to aid those in need and not to take any interest from them. This law was unique in the ancient Near East, where usury was allowed everywhere, although it was often regulated. A person who charged interest was neglecting his obligation to his fellow man, notably the poor 25:39 55 This section explains how a poor Israelite could be sold to another individual and remain a hired workman until the Year of Jubilee (25:39 41). Presumably one who had already surrendered his land for repayment of a debt now had to sell himself, for his ability to work becomes his only remaining asset. These hired workmen were not to be treated as slaves as the Israelites were treated when they were in Egypt (25:42 43). The only people who were candidates for slavery in Israel were those who were foreigners or temporary residents. An Israelite who sold himself to an alien or a temporary resident could be redeemed by a relative or could redeem himself (25:47 49). The price of redemption is based on how soon the next Jubilee would occur. Because a foreigner was given this power, special attention must be given to how the Israelite was treated. The Israelite could not be treated as a slave but only as a hired man or day laborer. As in the identical circumstance when an Israelite had sold himself to one of his own countrymen and was not redeemed, he and his children had to be released in the Year of Jubilee (25:54 55). The methods of his release are identical to those of buying back his land (25:25 28). These laws indicate that the alien and resident alien were under the same legal authority and could not mistreat the Israelite, for the Israelites had already been mistreated by foreigners in the land of Egypt. God is not only owner of the land (25:23) but the Israelites are his possession (25:55). Consequently, He has every right to dictate these laws regarding the rest for the land and the emancipation of His People the two subjects of Leviticus 25. These laws absolutely prohibited anyone from permanently selling his land or himself. If redemption was not possible, at least at the Jubilee both land and personal debts would be wiped clean. This restored equity among the Israelites and may to some extent reflect the harmony that existed at Creation. The laws regarding the Year of Jubilee and apparently even the sabbatical year were not always obeyed. In fact, Judah s failure to keep the sabbatical year resulted in exile. The laws of the sabbatical year and the law of Jubilee in one sense provided both a spiritual and social control for the Israelites, for they would be reminded of their total dependence upon God and the Lord s ultimate ownership of the land each time they observed this law. Moreover, these laws would 4
restrain one s desire to accumulate wealth at his brother s expense and thus place something other than God as most important in one s life. The sabbatical year and especially the Year of Jubilee became patterns or types for later acts of God.. The word liberty is the same term found in Lev 25:10 in describing the Year of Jubilee. In the New Testament, this passage is cited by Jesus to explain his mission at the beginning of his ministry in Luke 4:18 19. The liberty announced would include not only spiritual forgiveness but also remission of debt. Jubilee imagery is also found in the New Testament in Acts 1:6; 3:21; and 4:34. Moreover, the trumpet blast at the commencement of the Jubilee may be a type for the trumpet announcing the return of Christ. The application of the Jubilee to the church today should perhaps be no different from its application to the people of God living under the Mosaic Law. The Law was to prevent the accumulation of ownership of property by a wealthy few and to legislate against a collective nationalism that usurped others property. Since the land ultimately belonged to God, the law of Jubilee puts a check on a selfish estimation of the rights of property. The private ownership of the land, however, was and still is a stabilizing factor for the unifying of the family unit. These laws herald a recognition of God as sovereign over time, nature, and possessions. Since the sabbatical year and the Year of Jubilee called for a complete trust in God, New Testament believers are also to recognize that the material gifts essential to life come from God. It is the believer s responsibility to trust, be obedient, and seek the rule of God in every arena of life. Believers look to God for sustenance in due season. RELATED DISCUSSION TOPICS How do the laws of property reversion apply or have implications today? Can you recognize any similarities in contemporary property regulations in the United States? CLOSING PRAYER Father God: Give us more grace to run on this life race. Give us Your Peace that surpasses all other understanding. Give us Your joy that keeps us in comfort and can do it forever. Amen. 5