JUBILEE Time
Partial Outline: FULL PDF HERE
Leviticus 25:8-23 (“Jubilee” occurs 23 times in the KJV—16 are in Lev. 25.)
[Brief background of our annual Jubilee in August.]
Jubilee was originally a Jewish celebration.
The Hebrew calendar was based on the number seven (v. 8).
- Every 7th day was called the “Sabbath.” God commanded no work was to be done on that day. It was for worship and fellowship.
- Every 7th year was a “Sabbath Year.” In that year, no sowing or reaping could be done. The Lord miraculously provided enough crops in the sixth year to last until the end of the eighth year.
- Every 7th Sabbath year, would usher in “the Year of Jubilee.” At the end of 49 years, the year of Jubilee would begin (50th year).
- The word “Jubilee” is a derivative of Jubal, the inventor of musical instruments (Gen. 4:21). Music ushered in the year of Jubilee by the musical sound of the trumpet (v. 9).
- Our English word “jubilation” comes from “Jubilee.”
- Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines the word “Jubilee”—“shout for joy.” Christians have SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT
I. A time of RELEASE.
Slaves were set free from bondage (25:10, 39-41, 54).
A. An Israelite could sell himself into the service of another to pay a debt, but he could not sell himself or his family forever into slavery— The Lord alone owned the sons of Israel since He had redeemed them from Egypt (25:42, 55).
B. At the start of the Year of Jubilee, people were commanded to release their bond-servants so that they could return to their own families. How could the Jews celebrate Jubilee if some of their family were in bondage and away from their loved ones?
C. Jubilee is likened to this age of grace when the truth of the gospel is heralded like a trumpet to those in bondage to sin and captives of Satan.
II. A time of RESTORATION. (vs. 13-17).
Mortgaged lands returned back to the original owner.
A. No mortgage could extend beyond the day of Jubilee because all debts were cancelled and lands reverted back to the original owner.
B. All that man lost in Adam is restored in Christ!
C. Jubilee was God’s ‘Reset’ button—it was the ‘Reboot’ in the system—the ‘Ctrl-Alt-Del’ in the universe.
Partial Outline: FULL PDF HERE
