Leviticus 25

And you shall make the fiftieth year holy, one year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you, and you shall return each man to his possession, and you shall return each man to his family.

(Lev 25:10)

What an awesome law! Every fifty years, a trumpet would blast… long, loud and clear it would sound, marking the beginning of Jubilee. This word “JUBILEE” in the Hebrew means literally a loud long trumpet blast. Some people say it was symbolic of a free flowing forth of blessing to all the people of the land. In today’s language, jubilee means a celebration of great joy and public festivity.

To the Jew, especially to the poor among the Jews, there could be nothing more exciting than Jubilee. If they had debts they couldn’t pay, they were forgiven. If they had land they had sold to survive it was returned to them. Even if they had become so poor that they sold themselves into slavery they would be set free. The playing field was leveled, the large gap between the rich and poor was removed, and the whole nation of Israel was reminded that they were a people dependent upon the Lord.

This trumped the Sabbath as the ultimate celebration of the rest and newness of life that can be found in the Lord. This celebration of Jubilee gave the Jews the ability to start fresh, and it reminded them of the new life they were given when they left Egypt for the Promised Land.

So, what does this mean for us today? How does this have ANYTHING to do with us seeing as we are not Jews? Though we may not celebrate a physical Jubilee, we do have a very real spiritual Jubilee in Jesus Christ.

1. Our spiritual debts are forgiven – when we come into relationship with Jesus, our sins are forgiven. The enormous debt that once hung over our head beyind our ability to ever repay is forgiven!
2. Our slavery is ended – Once held slaves to sin by our captor the devil, we are set free by Jesus Christ! We no longer are bound to sin and the ways of this world, but are free to experience a life of obedience to Jesus, the way God intended for life to be lived!
3. Our inheritance is restored – We were designed to have an ETERNAL RELATIONSHIP with God. We lost that when sin entered the world. Because we have Jesus Christ, we now have become a part of God’s family… Like a long lost inheritance, we now have a share of the eternal treasure of heaven.
   

The command to the Jews at the year of Jubilee was to proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof… As Christians this is our responsibility. There is liberty in Christ, the Jubilee is here, let us tell the world the wonderful message of salvation through Jesus!