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The Jubilee

Leviticus 25

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • January 8, ad 2012

Persuasion: 

  1. Leviticus 25.1–7 The Land Sabbath
    1. God cares for the earth.
    2. He wants us to care for the earth.
      1. We cannot overwork ourselves and
      2. we cannot overwork our things.
    3. Later in the chapter,
      1. the Lord will reveal just how serious He was
      2. about Israel observing the land Sabbath.
        1. If they suffered because of overworking the land,
        2. will we suffer for overworking the land or anything else?
    4. Later in the chapter,
      1. He also revealed to them how He would provide for them
      2. when they let the land lay fallow for a year.
  2. Leviticus 25.8–17 The Jubilee
    1. Every seven years they were to observe the land Sabbath.
    2. Then seven of those cycles would be the forty-ninth year, then
      1. the next year they would enjoy the Jubilee,
      2. which was much like the land Sabbath.
        1. As I showed you in a sermon recently on Matthew 1.1–17,
        2. this was a way of the Lord counting down the time until He arrived.
    3. What happened during the Jubilee?
      1. It was a time of freedom.
      2. Land reverted to the original owner.
    4. Does verse 10 sound familiar to you?
      1. Have you ever seen America’s Liberty Bell?
      2. Around the top is a partial quotation of Leviticus 25.10!
    5. When did the Jubilee officially begin?
      1. On the Day of Atonement, foreshadowing the work of Jesus.
      2. Are we surprised to see that Jubilee began on that day?
      3. Jesus causes us to revert to our original owner!
  3. Leviticus 25.18–22 The Blessing of the Land Sabbath
    1. Notice the hint in verse 18
      1. that if they obey the Lord,
      2. they shall dwell in the land in safety.
        1. However, they did not observe the land Sabbath, and
        2. God sent them to Babylon in years
          1. for the number of times that they failed to observe the land Sabbath.
          2. They missed seventy land Sabbaths!
            1. Therefore, the Lord sent them to Babylon for seventy years
            2. that the land might enjoy its Sabbaths.
              1. Second Chronicles 36.15–21
    2. In verses 20–22, the Lord anticipated
      1. that Israel might be tempted not to observe the land Sabbath,
      2. believing that they would not survive.
        1. However, He showed that He would provide for them, because
        2. the Lord always provides people a way for them to obey Him!
  4. Leviticus 25.23–34 Property
    1. Why did the Lord not want the land sold permanently?
      1. The Land of Canaan belongs to the Lord.
      2. Does this not apply to the whole Earth?
        1. We can buy and sell, and keep property longer than 50 years, but
        2. what should our attitude be toward our land?
          1. We are renting it from God.
          2. We are taking care of it for Him.
          3. We should glorify Him with it.
    2. Why did the Lord want the Land divided?
      1. It was all according to the inheritance of each tribe?
      2. How does that play into the Scheme of Redemption?
    3. What house or land was not redeemed during the Jubilee?
      1. That which was purchased in a walled city.
      2. Unwalled villages were as the fields of the country.
    4. What about the Levites and their land?
  5. Leviticus 25.35–38 Helping the Poor
    1. How were they to help their brethren who became poor?
    2. Were they allowed to charge him interest?
      1. See Nehemiah 5.
      2. Rather than taking interest they were to fear God (See Neh 5 for the connection between these two).
      3. How does verse 38 establish that they were not to lend to brethren with interest?
      4. What about Christians?
  6. Leviticus 25.39–55 Slavery
    1. According to verses 39–41, were they allowed to make slaves of their brethren?
      1. What reasoning did the Lord give for not making them slaves?
        1. They were God’s servants!
        2. They were not to take advantage of their brethren, but to fear God.
      2. Again, compare Nehemiah 5.
    2. They could make slaves of foreigners.
    3. They could redeem a brother who had been sold to a rich foreigner.
    4. Notice in verse 55 how the Lord ended this section.