"God tells the Israelites that once they make it into the Promised Land, they must observe a Sabbath to the Lord. Every seventh year there must be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in which no sowing or harvesting is to take place. They can still gather the food that the land produces naturally. After the 50th year of dwelling in the Promised Land there is to be a year of Jubilee to proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. In the year of Jubilee, each Israelite clan is to return to their own property within Israel. God tells the Israelites how to deal with each other fairly in business and personal matters."
Leviticus 25 Amplified Bible (AMP)
The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee
25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I am giving you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop. 4 But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow [seed in] your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 Whatever reseeds itself (uncultivated) in your harvest you shall not reap, nor shall you gather the grapes from your uncultivated vine, it shall be a year of sabbatical rest for the land. 6 And all of you shall have for food whatever the [untilled] land produces during its Sabbath year; yourself, and your male and female slaves, your hired servant, and the foreigners who reside among you, 7 even your domestic animals and the [wild] animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee
- PROMISED LAND. The fact that God was giving the Israelites advance instructions about the land that He is giving them means that, it is already done! God will surely bring them to the Promised Land of Canaan, and He will fulfill His promise, since the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord is true to His word and He is faithful!
- SABBATH REST FOR THE LAND. God is truly a God of rest. He even commanded that the Israelites let the land have a sabbatical rest after using it for 6 years, in planting and farming for food and supplies.
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 Then you shall sound the ram’s horn everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month (almost October); on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and [a]proclaim freedom [for the slaves] throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee (year of remission) for you, and each of you shall return to his own [ancestral] property [that was sold to another because of poverty], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated by bondage]. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you; you shall not sow [seed], nor reap what reseeds itself, nor gather the grapes of the uncultivated vines. 12 For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its crops out of the field.
"The Sabbath or seventh day of each week was to be a constant reminder to Israel that God created the world in six days and rested from His work on the seventh day - the Sabbath Day. But God also instituted a Sabbatical YEAR, where every seventh year was observed as a Sabbath Year. During a Sabbatical year, the land would lie fallow. Like the people of Israel, the promised land of Israel was to be given rest every seventh year. The Law stated that during a Sabbatical year, land-owners must leave the land uncultivated, while God promised to supply ALL their needs during their sixth harvest.
God commanded that the Day of Atonement, in the 49th year was to be the day when the Jubilee year commenced. It was to be a time of great rejoicing and new beginnings - a time of liberty and freedom, where any wrongs were put right. Anyone who had been sold into slavery was to be set free in this glorious time of celebration, and any land that had been sold during the previous 49 years, was to revert back to the original owner. "You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself," Israel were instructed, "seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years".
The Jubilee Year was to the land of Israel.. was The Day of Atonement was for to people of Israel. Just as the land was to return to its original owner, so all slaves were to beset free. All debt was cancelled; property was restored to the rightful owner, and the land received a sabbatical rest. Although we are not under the Law, nor bound by Sabbatical injunctions, there are many lessons to be leaned from Israel's Jubilee celebrations.
Both the Jubilee Year and the Day of Atonement speak of liberty and restoration. Both are a picture of our great redemption in Christ through the forgiveness of sin and our life everlasting... and we are further reminded that we are covered in Christ's own righteousness and have found rest from our labour in Him. By God's grace we are also promised to an inheritance, that is kept for us in heaven - a legacy that was lost in Eden. "
God commanded that the Day of Atonement, in the 49th year was to be the day when the Jubilee year commenced. It was to be a time of great rejoicing and new beginnings - a time of liberty and freedom, where any wrongs were put right. Anyone who had been sold into slavery was to be set free in this glorious time of celebration, and any land that had been sold during the previous 49 years, was to revert back to the original owner. "You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself," Israel were instructed, "seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years".
The Jubilee Year was to the land of Israel.. was The Day of Atonement was for to people of Israel. Just as the land was to return to its original owner, so all slaves were to beset free. All debt was cancelled; property was restored to the rightful owner, and the land received a sabbatical rest. Although we are not under the Law, nor bound by Sabbatical injunctions, there are many lessons to be leaned from Israel's Jubilee celebrations.
Both the Jubilee Year and the Day of Atonement speak of liberty and restoration. Both are a picture of our great redemption in Christ through the forgiveness of sin and our life everlasting... and we are further reminded that we are covered in Christ's own righteousness and have found rest from our labour in Him. By God's grace we are also promised to an inheritance, that is kept for us in heaven - a legacy that was lost in Eden. "
18 ‘Therefore you shall carry out My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them, so that you may live securely on the land. 19 Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it. 20 And if you say, “What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we do not sow [seed] or gather in our crops?” 21 then [this is My answer:] I will order My [special] blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will produce [sufficient] crops for three years. 22 When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat old things from the crops, eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in.
- OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN. The Lord's laws for the Israelites really speaks of God's love and goodness. God's will for the people is for them to fear and honor Him, that they may not do wrong towards other people ("You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; for I am the Lord your God." v.17) By following His ways, the Israelites will be able to live securely on the land ("Therefore you shall carry out My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them, so that you may live securely on the land. Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it." v.18-19) To be secured means to be "free from or not exposed to danger or harm, to be safe." God's ways are always perfect, and it will lead us to everlasting life. In reality, our lives on earth are short, and we are just sojourners, pilgrims or travelers here. Our real home is in heaven, in God Himself. God had given us a body, a soul and a spirit-- and what is important is the eternal and not the temporary.
"For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding." 1 Chronicles 29:15
"The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8
The Law of Redemption
23 ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; you are [only] foreigners and temporary residents with Me. 24 So in all the country that you possess, you are to provide for the redemption of the land [in the Year of Jubilee].
25 ‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell some of his property, then his nearest relative is to come and buy back (redeem) what his relative has sold. 26 Or in case a man has no relative [to redeem his property], but he has become more prosperous and has enough to buy it back, 27 then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his [ancestral] property. 28 But if [c]he is unable to redeem it, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of the purchaser until the Year of Jubilee; but at the Jubilee it shall revert, and he may return to his property.
29 ‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then his right of redemption remains valid for a full year after its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. 30 But if it is not redeemed for him within a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently and irrevocably to the purchaser throughout his generations. It does not revert back in the Year of Jubilee. 31 The houses of the villages that have no surrounding walls, however, shall be considered as open fields. They may be redeemed, and revert in the Year of Jubilee. 32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses in the cities which they possess. 33 Therefore, what is [purchased] from the Levites may be redeemed [by a Levite], and the house that was sold in the city they possess reverts in the Year of Jubilee, for the houses in the Levite cities are their [ancestral] property among the Israelites. 34 But the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.
Of Poor Countrymen
35 ‘Now if your fellow countryman becomes poor and his hand falters with you [that is, he has trouble repaying you for something], then you are to help and sustain him, [with courtesy and consideration] like [you would] a stranger or a temporary resident [without property], so that he may live among you. 36 Do not charge him usurious interest, but fear your God [with profound reverence], so your countryman may [continue to] live among you. 37 You shall not give him your money at interest, nor your food at a profit. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
39 ‘And if your fellow countryman becomes so poor [in his dealings] with you that he sells himself to you [as payment for a debt], you shall not let him do the work of a slave [who is ineligible for redemption], 40 but he is to be with you as a hired man, as if he were a temporary resident; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee, 41 and then he shall leave you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the property of his fathers. 42 For the Israelites are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold in a slave sale. 43 You shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression), but you are to fear your God [with profound reverence]. 44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. 45 Moreover, from the children of the strangers who live as aliens among you, from them you may buy slaves and from their families who are with you, whom they have produced in your land; they may become your possession. 46 You may even bequeath them as an inheritance to your children after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your fellow countrymen, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with harshness (severity, oppression).
Of Redeeming a Poor Man
47 ‘Now if the financial means of a stranger or temporary resident among you become sufficient, and your fellow countryman becomes poor in comparison to him and sells himself to the stranger who is living among you or to the descendants of the stranger’s family, 48 then after he is sold he shall have the right of redemption. One of his relatives may redeem him: 49 either his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. 50 Then he [or his redeemer] shall calculate with his purchaser from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the [original] price of his sale shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be considered as that of a hired man. 51 If there are still many years [before the Year of Jubilee], in proportion to them he must refund [to the purchaser] part of the price of his sale for his redemption and release. 52 And if only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he shall so calculate it with him. He is to refund the proportionate amount for his release. 53 Like a man hired year by year he shall deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness in your sight. 54 Even if he is not redeemed during these years and under these provisions, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. 55 For the children of Israel are My servants; My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Footnotes: Leviticus 25:10 The quote on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is from this verse and reads, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
Leviticus 25:15 The transfer of land in Israel was more like a lease than an outright purchase. Since all property reverted to the original owner at the Jubilee year, the purchaser would pay a price only for the years of use remaining until the next Jubilee.
Leviticus 25:28 Lit his hand has not found enough.
- THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS OUR REDEEMER. All these laws about redemption, and God caring for the poor and the slaves points to our need of a Savior and Redeemer. Jesus paid for all the penalty of our sins, and He has redeemed from death to life.
After reading, I always check out the Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik (very helpful!):
c. Then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD: Obviously, this called Israel to a great deal of faith - they had to trust God that He would provide enough in the six years to see them through the seventh.
i. In the Feast of Tabernacles on the Sabbath year, the law was to be read to all the people by the priests (Deuteronomy 31:9-13). Each Sabbath year was also to be a time for an extensive Bible seminar for the whole nation.
a. In the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land: This applied to both grain crops and fruit bearing plants; Israel was to do this as a radical demonstration that the land belonged to God, not to them.
a. In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession: When Israel came into the Promised Land, the land was allotted according to tribes and families. These initial tracts of land would be the permanent possession of those families, and therefore land in Israel could never really be "sold" - it could only be leased, and the amount of the lease would be based on how many years there were left until the Jubilee.
i. This assured that no family would be permanently prevented from having land. Every fifty years, every family would have the opportunity to start again.
b. Therefore you shall not oppress one another: Though this was extremely charitable and helpful to the families in Israel, this was not a socialist system, because only land was re-distributed. Most effectively, this helped protect against the existence of a permanent underclass in Israel.
b. Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year: If we obey God - even when it doesn't make sense - we can trust He will provide our every need. If we seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, all those practical things will be added unto us! (Matthew 6:33)
a. For the land is Mine: The land of Israel belongs to the LORD, and He is free to distribute it as He wills - therefore, if He decreed it should stay in certain families, that is how it should be done!
b. The land shall not be sold permanently: So, the land could be leased, but never sold - and the lease would always be up in the year of Jubilee. In addition, the lease could be bought out at any time by a kinsman-redeemer (Leviticus 25:25).
c. For you are strangers and sojourners with Me: This was an important way God reminded Israel that their real home was in heaven with Him, and that they were only strangers and visitors to this earth - even as Christians are today (1 Peter 2:11; Hebrews 11:13).
a. In all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land: This redemption of the land was accomplished through the kinsman-redeemer (Hebrew: goel). He was a designated close relative who had the right (and responsibility) to buy the poor out of their poverty and loss.
i. The goel is also a wonderful picture of Jesus, our kinsman-redeemer who purchased us from the "slave market" of sin (Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 6:20).
ii. The book of Ruth describes a kinsman-redeemer transaction; when Naomi returned from Moab, poor and in debt, her nearest kinsman-redeemer was willing to buy back the land for her, but stopped short when he found he would also have to marry Ruth and raise up an heir for the property. When this nearest kinsman-redeemer balked, Boaz was the next closest kinsman-redeemer, and stepped right in out of love for Ruth (Ruth 3).
a. If one of your brethren becomes poor: These commands specifically prohibit making money of the misfortune of a poor brother; instead of making profit off of his misery, the command is simple: You shall help him.
b. Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you: Jesus made a similar command in Luke 6:34, when He asked what credit is it to us if we give to or help only those whom we know can help us back.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Lev/Lev-25.cfm © 2004 David Guzik
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