Part XX5.1 - The Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee

CHAPTER XXV. THE SABBATICAL YEAR AND THE JUBILEE. IN this chapter we find the Sabbaths of days and weeks and months expanding into Sabbaths of years and Sabbaths of Sabbaths of years, stretching forth to periods without end, as it were to eternity, and all pointing onward to, and typifying, the great everlasting Sabbath of God, when He shall be all in all. And in this, as in that which has gone before, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Head of His body the Church, is the great object that fills the mind of the Holy Ghost.

Leviticus 25:1. Mount Sinai is again brought more immediately into notice in this ordinance. We know that the tabernacle had, indeed, been pitched, and that the Lord spake there unto Moses; and there we have learnt of that grace which is the fountain and channel of all blessing. But now tabernacle circumstances have passed away, and grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal life is to be manifested. The whole work of grace is accomplished, and, therefore, now in every respect the arm of righteousness can be revealed. Hence we here look into eternity, with its lights and shadows of glory, where God is all in all. The fulness of the purpose for which He has been working in grace is now commencing the course which shall run on unobstructed for ever. The introduction of this period is by the announcement of the loud sounding trumpet, reverberating through the land, a memorial to God, and to the whole assembly of the congregation of His people, that the jubilee is at hand. And let us remember that this scripture is the portion of the Church by faith, as it is written:-" all things are yours; " and, "the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God."

Leviticus 25:2. But, in the first place, there is an introductory Sabbath of years to be carefully and exactly observed. It is a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord, and an acknowledgement in principle, that though He has blessed the labours of His people in the cultivation of the land, yet He could cause it to bring forth abundantly without their toil. Thus He gradually leads them onward to Himself, the true rest. But the seventh year, as introductory to the Jubilee, seems like paradise rest: for it has reference only to the land, which then brought forth fruit spontaneously. And this fruit was not to be reaped or gathered in by the owner; but was to be left in the field for any one to pluck and eat there, a common good for man and beast. In Leviticus 25:20, the question is supposed:-"What shall we eat in the seventh year ? " and it is answered by the assurance that the sixth year shall produce a sufficiency for three years. " Ye shall sow in the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store." And thus God’s blessing upon the labour of His people, in enabling them to " lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come " (1 Timothy 6:19), is declared to them, as well as His ability to cause the land at rest to bring forth. But we have in this part of the chapter an important connection of periods, which have reference to the whole system. (1.) The six years of labour, of which the sixth is specially blessed with an abundant increase. (2.) The seventh year, the Sabbath of rest of the land. (3.) The three intervening years, until the ninth year when the fruits of the eighth year come in. (4.) The eighth year, after the sabbatic year, when sowing is to be done for gathering in the ninth. (5.) The ninth year, when the fruit of the eighth is to come in, and the old fruit no longer to be eaten. Thus in this place the third and the ninth year are coincident, and the time of eating the fruit of the eighth, and this gives us the true period of the labour of the Church, when she stands in the full intelligence of faith and resurrection life, and has found her rest. And doubtless in actual resurrection she will find the place and time of her full unhindered service, being then associated, fully with her risen Head, Whose power in service she now knows and proves. Then she will labour with Him towards the ninth year’s enjoyment, when death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed, when nothing in the wide regions of eternity shall be found to interrupt the peaceful calm of the everlasting glory, and God shall be all in all.

Leviticus 25:9. But first we have on the day of atonement, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the announcement of the approaching jubilee. And we find that, with respect to the land, a Sabbath falls in with the Sabbath of years. But another and principal point is the settlement of all questions of right, service, &c., among men. " And ye shall return every man to his possession, and ye shall return every man to his family." The reference is to the arrangements which God made from the beginning: these might in the interval have fallen into disorder, but now all is restored. And this is the time to which every question of present possession is to be referred.

For, whatever changes might take place, whatever might be gained or lost, during these passing circumstances, everything would then be restored to the order of God. All that was done was to be done with regard to this time, a point which is variously and minutely insisted upon. This fiftieth year is an eighth year, in which there might be neither sowing nor reaping. The great question of settlement is its main point; yet afterwards we have an eighth year of sowing introducing the ninth, and thus, in its connection with the great sabbatic cycle, introductory to the close. But of this time, if such be the meaning of the ninth year, little is said either in this passage or in other parts of Scripture; for it reaches beyond the course of what can be called dispensation; and, if it be referred to " the dispensation of the fulness of times," it brings us to a period when mediation, properly so called, is at an end; when the kingdom is given up to God, even the Father, and He is all in all, which seems to preclude the idea of mediation. But in the regular course of the appointed Sabbaths and the jubilee, a seventh and an eighth year come together, both of which are Sabbaths. We may compare with this the " entering into rest," and the " labouring to enter in" (Hebrews 4:3; Hebrews 4:11); as well as the double rest spoken of by the Lord in Matthew 9:28-29. For He both says, " I will give you rest," and, " ye shall find rest." The one rest is given, that is in Him; while the other is obtained, that is, in the knowledge of Him, of what He is. The former is the seventh, the latter the eighth year. And this agrees with the apparently double character of the eighth year; it is a Sabbath, and yet in the usual course it is the year of labour. So our very labour is rest, for it is comprehended in obedience to the command, " Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." In the Epistle to the Hebrews, too, the labour is the labour of that faith which knows the value of the great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens. In a word, it is the bringing the soul under the influence of principles which will form the everlasting rest of heaven, the becoming conformed to God. And this can only be done through the " faith that worketh by love ;" for " God is love," and " love never faileth." Thus the combination of seventh and eighth year Sabbaths sets forth the present position of the Church in the anticipation of heaven, the realization of what is revealed in the Epistle to the Ephesians, and the crucifixion of the nature that hinders us from entering into the joy of it. Let us not forget to apply to ourselves practically the fact, that labour is connected with the full enjoyment of the rest of the eighth day. The prophetical announcement of the sounding of the great trumpet of Jubilee is contained in Isaiah 61:1-11, Isaiah 62:1-12, Isaiah 63:1-19. The Lord at the commencement of His ministry (Luke 4:16-30) takes up a part of this prophecy, and declares its fulfillment in His own person. For it speaks of the acceptable year of the Lord, which is also the year of righteousness; for " the righteous Lord loveth righteousness " (Psalms 9:7). It is the year both of deliverance and judgment; but the fulfillment to which the Lord refers in Luke does not embrace the judgment; for at that time His mission was one of grace : but it was connected with righteousness also, for the axe was even then laid to the root of the trees, and in the result His ministry will be the ground of judgment. " The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." And in the following chapter of Leviticus (Leviticus 26:1-46) we have judgment, too, but especially restorative judgment ; while in Isaiah (Isaiah 63:1-19) we have the retributive judgment. So at the sound of the seventh trumpet, in Revelation 11:1-19, the manifestation of Jesus in power also shows the transaction of this great period of righteousness. The first mentioned particular of the year of Jubilee is its introduction, at the close of the great revolution of years, by the sounding of the trumpet throughout all the land on the day of atonement. Then follow the commands:- Ye shall proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. Ye shall return every man unto his possession, and every man unto his family. Ye shall neither sow, nor reap, nor gather; but ye shall eat the increase in the field. Ye shall not oppress one another; but all matters of buying or selling shall be decided with reference to the number of years from the Jubilee. The day of atonement ushering in the Jubilee tells of the whole blessed work of the Lord Jesus, as set forth in the full particulars of that day (Leviticus 16:1-34). There is the sin offering for the priests and the people, the burnt offerings, access into the holiest of all, and the cleansing of all from the holiest to the altar, leaving to sinners free intercourse with the whole. Thus the Lord, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2, presents Himself and the work He was to accomplish. " The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord hath anointed Me to proclaim liberty, .... the acceptable year" etc.

Then, in accordance with the above-named particulars, we have the giving of " beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness," etc. (Isaiah 61:3). And in Isaiah 61:4 the building of the old wastes is mentioned, the raising up of the former desolations, the repairing of the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

Such things are also plainly the work of the Lord Jesus according to the revelations of His glorious gospel. The children of the kingdom are regarded as alienated from their rightful possessions, but as about to be fully restored by Christ’s ministry of grace. And in such a sense the Lord Jesus meets antitypically this as well as every other ordinance of the law. He is the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the paths to dwell in. He finds disorder and confusion pervading all things, the inheritance in the hands of strangers, etc., and forthwith, by His own work, proclaims the Jubilee. And His work is given as the ground of rest also; for what He has done shows plainly that there is no need of any other. He that knows Him is well aware how all needful things spring up spontaneously for Him ; in other words, he now knows the sufficiency of God, and that in Jesus is the fulness from which he receives and grace for grace. And so on the same ground our intercourse one with another is regulated: and therefore the injunction is given, " Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put off the old man." The righteousness of God is known, not only as remembering any work or labour of love, but also as not allowing any false dealing among His people, which would interfere with His righteous purpose of bringing each to his own inheritance. But it will be as the Lord says; " many that are first shall be last, and the last first." Therefore He would have us do everything with respect to this great year of restitution. "

Whatsoever ye do," even if it be eating and drinking, do all to the glory of God, that is, with respect to this great end. And it will have an important and manifest influence on all our actions if we, in the understanding of faith, take our place on the day of atonement, with the loud trumpet of Jubilee sounding in our ears. For whether we recognize it or not, this surely is our position. " Let your moderation (lit. " forbearance ") be known unto all; the Lord is at hand " (Php 4:5). " Be ye also patient; stablish your heart; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold the Judge standeth before the door " (James 5:8-9). " Behold I stand at the door and knock " (Revelation 3:20). " I sleep, but my heart waketh; it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh " (Song of Solomon 5:2). And so, according to our estimation of the number of years from the Jubilee will be the value that we shall put upon any present possession. Unless we say in our hearts, " My Lord de- layeth His coming," we shall gladly give up rather than contend about any question of present right. And the number of years is an open question for faith to decide. But evidently in the case of the Israelites, the nearer to the year of Jubilee they were, the less price would any be disposed to give for temporary possession. And if the day of atonement were already arrived, and the trumpet had announced the commencing Jubilee, none would be so foolish as to trouble themselves about gaining or retaining possession of that which must so soon be restored to its rightful owner.

Leviticus 25:23. "The land shall not be sold for ever (for cutting off); for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me. And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land." This tells us of the " inheritance incorruptible, unde- filed, and that fadeth not away," and of the present waiting position of those for whom it is "reserved in heaven," of the "strangers of the dispersion." Of this land all the allotments are in the hands of God, even as the Lord says in answer to the sons of Zebedee:-" It shall be given to those for whom it is prepared of my Father (Matthew 20:23). But if any desire a chief place, let him be the servant of all. Compare the allotments of the tribes by Moses and Joshua. And the principle of Colossians 3:23 is applicable ;-" And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance."

Leviticus 25:25-28. " If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold," etc. We have now set before us the way of redemption, and the duty of the redeemer kinsman (Goel), when the owner of the inheritance is poor, and thus needs the intervention of some one who is able to assist him. The case here presented is that of those who through their poverty were not able to keep the inheritance that was given to them; but needed to have it established to them by one who was able to restore it-through redemption. In the book of Ruth we have the account of this redemption historically; while in Jeremiah 32:1-44 we have it prophetically-that is, its results are spoken of as yet to come, and as being for the present a thing to be believed (Jeremiah 32:15). In Ruth we have the owner waxed poor, a wanderer in a strange land: and when it was certain that there was none else to redeem her inheritance for her, Boaz, the man of strength, comes forward and performs the part of kinsman.

Previously she had nearer kinsmen, but after the redemption she became the wife of Boaz. The Church has the understanding of both these Scriptures, as having received from the great Redeemer the Spirit, the " earnest of the inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession." Hence we are directed to look forward to the dispensation of the fulness of times, the time of the restitution of all things, the great jubilee of which God has spoken by the mouth of all His prophets since the world began.

Leviticus 25:26-28. " And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it, then let him," etc. The whole question of these verses hangs upon the "if;"-"if he be able;" "if he be not able." In the former case the redemption price must be arranged according to the number of years; in the latter, the possession must remain in the hand of him that bought it until the jubilee. In the first instance, while the whole burden of redemption rests upon the Lord Jesus Christ, there is also implied, as affecting its time, our condition as having become (in His strength) fellow-workers with Him, both on behalf of ourselves and one another.

It is certain that both measure of reward, and enlarged capacity for enjoyment, as well as an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom, are proposed as objects to be attained by service in this life. Probably these and such things are involved in the words, " If he be able;" while the clause, " if he be not able," refers the weakest to the grace which provides the inheritance even for such, the inheritance which has been already purchased, and will remain secure in the hands of the Purchaser until the great day of manifested redemption.

Leviticus 25:29-30. The preceding verses refer to the land, but we have now a more special question of the redemption of "a dwelling-house in a walled city." Such a possession, if alienated, might be redeemed in the course of a full year; but if not, it would afterwards be established for ever to him that bought it, and would not go out in the jubilee. This seems to refer entirely to the reward of service. The city is ever the manifestation of the light of the truth of God, whether in grace or glory. Compare Matthew 5:14; Revelation 21:1-27; Hebrews 9:10; Revelation 3:12. The apportionment of reward is in proportion to the present amount of power of service committed, provided it be proportionately used and improved, as in the parable of the talents (Matthew 24:14). In Luke 19:1-48, the citizens are mentioned, but the talents are committed only to servants. The " full year," marked by the revolution of God’s feasts, tells us of the time for the redemption of this portion. Compare Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5 ; 2 John 1:8. This law, then, is not concerned with the inalienable possession of the land, which, whatever intervene, must be restored in the Jubilee ; but has reference to present redemption, during the period of service, of a possession, the alienation of which, if it continued beyond a full year, would at the jubilee be confirmed. Compare Luke 19:24, and Colossians 3:22-24, where these two points are mentioned in connection. There is the security of the inheritance (i.e., of the land); but as to the question of service ("ye serve the Lord Christ "), each shall receive according to that he hath done, and there is no respect of persons (i.e. in this matter).

Leviticus 25:31. " But the houses of the villages, which have no walls round about them, shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee." The villages are generally the unenclosed, unguarded, portions round about the cities, which, as being fenced with walls gates and bars, are contrasted with them (Ezekiel 38:11; Isaiah 42:11; Joshua 19:8). The same word is also used for the courts of the house, as contrasted with the house (Ezekiel 9:7).

There seems to be here an indication (such as generally pervades these ordinances) of grace, and especially of grace even in the question of reward of service. The case is that of a house in a village. The great principle is reward according to righteousness. But we are here shown that there may be weakness, a feeble apprehension of the mind of the Lord concerning the nature and reward of service, no anticipation, no realizing sense of the certainty by which one may say, " God is not unrighteous to forget my work and labour of love’ " Henceforth there is laid up for me the bright reward of service." Yet the Lord is gracious, His redemption is a large work, and there shall be dwelling houses in the villages in the land which come within the compass of it: the year of Jubilee shall reveal the reward even for a cup of cold water given to a disciple.

Leviticus 25:32-34. But the special grace of the Lord to the Church is seen in the reservation on behalf of the Levites, who are the typical representatives of the Church in service. They know that the whole of their service and power of service is of grace; that the treasure is in earthen vessels, while the excellency of the power is of God.

They know themselves to be but the channels through which the grace that is in Christ is flowing forth in fulness to His people in their service to them. They know the external portion of reward in the heavenly city to be inalienable. And so the servants of the Lord, in the use of His grace which gives them both place and power of service, must meet its reward. Here the law has regard to the redemption both of the " cities of the Levites," and " of the houses of the cities of their possession," either of which may be redeemed at any time. The general reference is rather to the Levites as a body, though as an individual question, namely of a house in a city, if any one had suffered a house in a city, his portion, to become alienated, it was a part of the cities of their possession, and might at any time be redeemed. Thus the grace of God was set forth, which both kept the whole body in its place of service, and was ready to reinstate the individual. But though the cities might become alienated for a time (just as the Church may fall manifestly out of its place of testimony), they must revert to the Levites in the Jubilee, as being the portion, not as it were of the land, but taken out of it after it had been already divided to the tribes of the congregation. And the suburbs, the place for their cattle and goods (Numbers 35:1-34), might never be sold, but were their perpetual possession. The place of store in the heavenly possession may never pass into the Lands of another; it is God’s gift. The instance, mentioned in Acts 4:36-37, of Barnabas, a Levite, having land and selling it, shows us that he knew of the better and more certain possession in the heavenly land, and had learnt the true value of his present possession, whether as a Levite he rightfully held it or not (probably it was not rightly held). And this gives us a key to the moral force for the Church of the truth here unfolded. The possessions, in our case, are not of the earthly land, but of the heavenly; and their alienation is the result of failure in service through want of confidence in the character of God. For alas! many, who should now be prominent in the Levitical character, have apparently forfeited all title to the Levitical inheritance by an utter failure in service and testimony. Nay, they almost seem to have lost the reversion of the land itself, so mingled are they with the evil of the world. Nevertheless, the true Levites will in the end be found in the cities of their possession, which God has declared to be inalienable. And in the meantime the example of Barnabas, " the son of consolation," exhorts them to renounce all present hope, and to look forward to the city which hath foundations. Yet the same history also warns them to avoid the being led away by impulses of mere human affections, as Barnabas subsequently was, from the place of service into which the Lord has separated them.

Leviticus 25:35. In the case of the poor, the stranger, and the sojourner, now presented to us, we have an exhibition of the blessed principles of grace and love on which the Lord would have His children act one toward another.

He has been speaking of His own positive arrangements with respect to this great jubilee time, and has commanded that all the estranged inheritances should be restored to their owners. And so, if at any time a brother were waxing poor, one might be tempted to withhold help on the plea that the year of release is at hand (Deuteronomy 15:9). But this would be a grievous sin. In like manner, if we satisfy our conscience with the thought that our jubilee is nigh, and that the weak, the ignorant, and the poor in the things of God, will soon be in different circumstances; and if we so withhold anything, either spiritual or temporal, which would contribute to their present strength in testimony, or to their individual happiness or welfare, this will surely be sin to us.

Leviticus 25:39-43. Compare with these verses Exodus 21:1-6; Isaiah 56:6-8. Grace is still to be predominant in a further case of extreme poverty. " If thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant, but as an hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with thee." Before those who are in such misfortune the Jubilee is set as the time when they shall be restored to their possession. And as a present motive connected with this fact which should prevent His people from ruling over each other with rigour, the Lord reminds them that they are His servants, whom He brought forth out of the land of Egypt. In the matter of service in the Church, wherever the Lord has given a gift, He has thereby rendered the individual a debtor to exercise it (Romans 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:16). But they to whom the Lord has thus presented any one in the condition of a debtor, are to receive the service as from a servant of the Lord, and not as a thing which may be exacted as a right, as though the gifted person were a bond servant, and they were in lawful possession of his person.

They must rather regard his ministry simply as a discharge of the debt owing. This regulates throughout the congregation the principle of both rendering and receiving service. " Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as unto the Lord," is the law for rendering it; while the remembrance of the Master in heaven will direct us how to receive it. But further, all questions of debt of service must be settled when the approaching season of restitution arrives. Then the poor servant of the Lord and of His people will return to his possession, and, it may be, find it a large one; even as, though now poor, yet in the exercise of service he may be making many rich.

Leviticus 25:44. From this verse to the close of the chapter the Lord defines the relative position of the people and the heathen round about them, or dwelling as strangers and sojourners among them, with regard to the question of service and the redemption. Israelites might take bondmen and bondmaids from among the heathen; for the latter were to be their possession for ever. This permission may refer to the great result when the seed of the Lord shall inherit the riches of the Gentiles, when in them all the families of the earth shall be blessed; while they still and ever maintain the place of superiority. Or it may merely show the condition of those children of the stranger who were brought to dwell among the people of the Lord, that they were in the position of bond servants. But on the other hand, if the stranger or sojourner should wax rich, and a brother near him should become poor and so be compelled to serve him, yet the Israelite might be at any time redeemed or should certainly go out in the Jubilee. This seems to point to the condition of Israel as being subject to the Gentiles. But it will equally apply to the heavenly or earthly people of the Lord, either of whom may fall, in present poverty, into this evil condition. But the Redeemer Kinsman is at hand to deliver. And in the condition of yearly hired servants only can God’s people be held to serve. His family, or any member of it, can only be left for a time in circumstances of servitude to strangers; for they are the servants of the Lord Who brought them out of the land of Egypt; and so for them in all circumstances there is present redemption and the full restoration of the Jubilee.