Return, return, ye captives!
Return unto your home!
The silver trumpet soundeth,
The jubilee has come!
Leviticus 25:11-2411A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. 12For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. 13In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession. 14And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbor, or buyest ought of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another: 15According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: 16According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. 17Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the Lord your God. 18Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: 21Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. 22And ye shall sow 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. 23The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. 24And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. (Leviticus 25:11‑24)
“A JUBILEE shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap... For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.”
The trumpet of jubilee was to be sounded on the great day of atonement, after the scapegoat had carried away the people’s sins to the land of forgetfulness. What a blessed time this would be! The whole year was to be set apart and liberty proclaimed to all — a whole year of enjoyment without labor. With such blessing, poverty would disappear. Fruit would grow in abundance under the gracious hand of God without any cultivation by man. He Himself, the Source and Giver, would provide for all.
What blessing to His creatures, with the power to bring it to pass. Surely He is worthy to be worshiped as “the Creator, who is blessed forever” (Rom. 1:2525Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 1:25)). And yet we know Him in a more blessed way through His dear Son, the full expression of His heart of love.
How sad to think that Israel never enjoyed the wonderful goodness of God in this way, for it seems in this as in everything else, they failed to obey; apparently they never kept the year of jubilee.
But God will not be frustrated in His purposes; His heart will yet be gratified. Israel have sold themselves and their land to strangers but God has not given up the thoughts of His love towards them. The glad time is coming when the land will yet keep its jubilee; for “in the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.” v. 13.
In buying and selling, Israel were told not to oppress one another. The value of land or possessions was to be reckoned according to the number of years until the next jubilee, when all possessions returned to their former owners. Thus it would be unjust to put a high price on a possession when the jubilee was near. So it was that the Lord Himself regulated the value of things. And this would remind us, who look for the Lord’s soon coming, not to set a high value on things which we are so soon to leave behind. When the trumpet sounds for us, we will leave this world forever to go and be with and like our Saviour.
“The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me.” v. 23. Israel forfeited all their possessions and sold themselves into bondage, but the Lord will vindicate His rights in that day, no matter what thoughts Israel’s enemies might have nor how powerful they might be. The Lord may allow them in His judgment to come in like a flood and overflow the land, but still it is His land, and He will appear in Person to the salvation of the remnant of His people and to the awful destruction of all their enemies.
It is very sad to think that when the Lord came to His own land, His own people did not receive Him (John 1:1111He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11)). He was a Stranger here and had no place to lay His head. Such was the sorrowful state of His people. Yet He found a home in the hearts of poor repentant ones whom His grace attached to Himself. It was not the time to bring in the year of jubilee then. He must first die for His people’s sins, and for all who trust Him as their Saviour now. If we would be faithful to Him, we too would be “strangers and sojourners” with Him during the time of His rejection.
ML-11/05/1972