“And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A 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. For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In the year of that jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.” &c.
Thus the trumpet of the jubilee was not the trumpet of judgment, but the trumpet of most perfect rest and liberty. Not merely a seventh-day rest, or a seventh-year rest, but the most perfect expression of rest—a sabbath, or rest, consummating seven times seven sabbaths of years. And it was not to be a limited rest, as to persons, but to be proclaimed to all the inhabitants of the land.
There was one thing above all others connected with the jubilee. May we not say, the very foundation of this glorious proclamation of perfect rest and liberty? “In the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.” The victim’s blood had been shed, and sprinkled before God on the mercy-seat; the sins of Israel, in all their transgressions and iniquities, had been transferred to the substitute-goat, and borne away; and now, hark! the trumpet sounds through all the land—perfect rest to the weary—complete liberty—oh, sweet sound!—liberty to every slave! Can we fail to see the meaning of all this? It was a proclamation of liberty.
The word jubilee itself is also very significant. In the Greek, or Septuagint, translation it signifies “a manifestation.” And what a type, what a manifestation of God to man, on the ground of the atoning death of Christ—the jubilee, the manifestation of God in the gospel sounds aloud throughout all the land: liberty to every slave of sin; perfect rest to the weary and heavy-laden soul. After all, do any of us apprehend or understand the manifestation of God to man—the gospel jubilee? “Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, Ο Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day; and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.” (Psalm 89:15, 16.)
If we now turn to Isa. 61, we shall see Him, and hear Him, who first sounded the jubilee. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach [or proclaim] good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, το proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; tο proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Now see Jesus, in the beginning of His ministry to men, in the Gospel of Luke. The opened heavens to Him, the testimony of the Father, and the temptation of Satan. “And Jesus returned, in the power of the Spirit, into Galilee.” “He went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the hook of the prophet Esaias.” And these very jubilee words were those He read. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach [or proclaim] the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book.” Yes, at that very jubilee place. He did not go on to the day of vengeance. In infinite mercy that day has not yet come—it is still the acceptable year of jubilee.
Jesus said, as He stood in the midst of His disciples, “Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” (John 20:19-21.)
Now, in this jubilee, the manifestation of God goes out beyond Israel, to all the inhabitants of the land. It is, God so loved the world, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ,” &c.
If one may speak for others, how we have failed to sound the trumpet of jubilee! What profound grace this has been to us! Mark, it is all of God. Not a shekel, or the smallest coin, had the poor slave to give for peace or liberty. Hark! the trumpet loudly sounds. He is free—free.
What a profound subject for our meditation! The atonement has been made; God has been glorified by the death of His beloved Son; the blood has been sprinkled on the throne of God, and He is glorified; infinite propitiation has been made. And, not only so, Jesus has been made sin for us. He has presented Himself the Very Substitute of His people. Our sins were transferred to Him. He was delivered for our iniquities. As the goat bore them away, in figure, once a year, to be found no more, so Jesus has not in figure, but has actually borne our sins away, to be found no more, to be remembered no more. What proof we have of this, for He who bore them on the cross is now in the glory of God.
The atoning work is done. Jesus said, “It is finished.” On that ground, then, alone the trumpet sweetly sounds, Peace to you; rest to you—seven times seven times, perfect rest to you. Proclaim everlasting liberty to every sinner-slave on earth. Peace through the blood of Jesus; liberty through the death of the cross.
How sweet to God is the savor and the sound of jubilee! Had He not far more joy than the long-lost prodigal? Yes, He said, Let us rejoice. Have you heard the sound of jubilee? Have you believed what God says to you? He says, Jesus having died, and being raised again, “Be it known unto you, therefore.... that through this man is preached [or proclaimed] unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified from all things.” Do you say, But have I nothing to do for all this peace and freedom? What had the poor slave to do in the year of jubilee? It is all of God. The poor slave hears the sound—the long, loud sound—and immediately, on the very authority of the word of God, it proves he is free, and free to rest. He, the slave, does actually nothing for his freedom, but believes God. God has willed his freedom on the day of atonement. God has willed that every poor slave of sin, that hears and believes the gospel, shall, on the ground of the atoning death of Jesus, be everlastingly free: “Justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Yes, freely, as freely as liberty was proclaimed to the poor slave.
But some may say, Have I not to repent, as the price, or condition, of my liberty? No, the slave had not to repent as the price or ground of Ids liberty. His liberty was proclaimed on the day of atonement. Who can tell the change of mind and position that sound produced? He was no longer to be the slave of his old master. It is so in the gospel. On the ground of the atonement the glad tidings are preached, and then men are commanded to repent. Thus the goodness, the jubilee, the manifestation of the love of God, leadeth to and produceth repentance. And, oh what a change of mind and position! No longer the slave of Satan and sin, but a free-born child of God: perfect rest, perfect deliverance. And the moment you believe God, and taste the sweetness of liberty, that moment you will hate your former state of bondage. Bead through the Acts of the Apostles, and you will find every preaching on the principle, of the jubilee. If we know the joyful sound, Jesus says, “As my Father hath sent me, so send I you.” Is it not, then, our duty and privilege to proclaim, to sound the trumpet of liberty, to every slave on earth, and through all the land—to every creature—without money, and without price? “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.”
These are but a few thoughts, but oh, how much more there is in the joyful year of jubilee! “According 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.” Thus everything was leased, or valued, according to its distance of time to the jubilee. And are not we expecting earnestly our glorious jubilee—yea, creation’s jubilee? “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Now, in buying or selling, in possessing or losing, what is the measure of our lease? The length of our lease, the measure of time value, before the year of our joyful jubilee, is, a moment. What a change! “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” (1 Cor. 15:51.) Yes, blessed to know this; we can value everything down here at the lease of a moment; the next moment, and then forever with the Lord. C. S.