The institution of the sabbatical
year, and the year of Jubilee was important in the life of God’s ancient people
Israel as scripture records. The
sabbatical year was celebrated every seventh year by allowing the land to rest
(EX 23:10; LEV 25:1-7). It would be a constant reminder of creation when God
rested from His work on the seventh day, so the land would be rested in the
seventh year. It was to remind Israel that God was Lord over all things,
especially in the land of Canaan, the land He had given them. In the seventh
year the fruit of the fields and vineyards were for the poor and needy to
glean.
In celebration of the event a great
gathering of the people, all Israel, was held during the Feast of
Tabernacles. There the Law of God was read publicly in order to promote the fear
of the Lord among the people (DEUT 31:9-13). Sadly this great event, the
sabbatical year and its celebration, became neglected prior to the captivity,
just as Moses had predicted it would, even in their own land (LEV 26:34-35),
despite the specific command to keep My Sabbaths found in (LEV 26:2).
However it seems it was restored to some extent in Nehemiah’s day (NEH 9:13-18)
after the captivity.
The year of Jubilee, the year after
seven Sabbatic years, the fiftieth year was the year of Jubilee (LEV 25:8-55).
The year of Jubilee was cause for even greater celebration, as debts were
remitted, houses and lands that had been mortgaged were returned to the
sellers, inheritances restored to their rightful owners, and slaves set free
(LEV 25:39-46). Providing in type a glorious picture of the gospel age to come,
prophesied by Isaiah (ISA 61:1), and inaugurated by Jesus (LUKE 4:18), gloriously
foreshadowing that day when the final trumpet blast will herald His coming
again (MATT 24:31) ushering in His eternal kingdom. It will, like the year of
Jubilee, be a time when wrongs are righted, when redeemed man will be restored
to the full image of His maker, and enters into his eternal inheritance in
Christ Jesus.
Jubilee was celebrated in the seventh
month, all Israel were called to a holy convocation by the blowing of trumpets
on the first day of the month (NUM 29:1; LEV 23:27). The tenth day of the month
was the day of atonement, a very important day for Israel nationally, when the
sins of the past year were atoned for. The Feast of Tabernacles was kept from
the 15th to the 21st of the month.
These festivals had both a moral and
spiritual purpose for Israel, in that they served to unite all Israel under God
marking them as His special people thus separating them from the heathen
nations around them. They reminded the people of the holiness of their God, for
only the High Priest could enter the holiest place, and then only with the
blood of the sin offering.
Releasing of debts helped relieve
poverty in the land among widows and orphans for whom God had special concern
(DEUT 10:18). Jubilee provided a check against covetousness and oppression, as
restoring lands and houses ensured no inheritance was lost to a particular
family as allocated to their ancestors. Thus none would become rich at the
expense of the poor.
What do these festivals have to say to
us today? Well first we can say that all the truths they teach are fully
realised in Jesus Christ. On the question of atonement, when Jesus died upon
the cross, He became the final and only sacrifice for sin (HEB 7:27). In Christ
all are equal, rich and poor, bondservants and freemen (GAL 3:28), all are heirs
and joint heirs with Christ. In Christ we gain more than Adam lost when he
succumbed to sin in the garden of Eden. Whilst in one sense the Gospel age has
brought a spiritual Jubilee, we look forward to that greater Jubilee yet to
come. That is the age when all tears will be wiped away as the former things
pass away, when sin will be no more, where justice and equity reign and we
shall be forever with the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment