Week 18: Jubilee
I once knew a little girl named Jubilee and boy was she a sweet, adorable, toddeling toddler! At the time, I knew her name was scriptural, but I didn’t (yet) understand why. In Leviticus 25 we see this word used to describe a radical “economic and social reset every 50 years for the ancient Israelites. The Jubilee involved freeing slaves, canceling debts, and returning land to its original owners—a universal release and rest after seven cycles of sabbatical years.”
Considering a human lifespan, an Israelite would likely experience only one Jubilee in their lifetime (since it occured once every 50 years). The Jubilee year would have prevented monopolies from occurring, along with no one family able to hoard too much land, money, or power. Perhaps the Israelites lived year by year in anticipation of this reset!
“Imagine you're an ancient Israelite, and things have gone badly—maybe a failed investment, maybe illness in your family. You’ve sold your possessions, even your land, and become a servant to survive. How could you ever escape this cycle, or keep it from passing on to your children? That’s what the Year of Jubilee was designed to do.” {The Bible Project}
If you were in such hardship, you would long for Jubilee because you couldn’t free yourself. You’d be stuck and suffering until the Jubilee. On the other hand, if you were well off, Jubilee might feel unsettling. Slaves would be released, land returned, and the rhythm you relied on with your land and harvest would end. Either way, it required trust because you were no longer in control. (Yikes, control…do you struggle with that like I do?)
Two truths stand out:
Both the desperate and the comfortable had to fully trust God as their provider.
Both situations reflect words that sound familiar: Relief. Mercy. Wiping the slate clean. Rest.
See the connection & Jesus whisper? These are the very things Jesus offers us freely!!
God not only wanted His people to rest and reset but to rest in Him. That’s why the number seven appears so often here in Lev. 25. In Genesis, creation was completed on the seventh day, which became a symbol of rest and wholeness for the Israelites. With the Jubilee instruction, they would have understood the context of the symbolism.
Still, human hearts worry. Perhaps some Israelites wondered:
If I don’t work on the seventh day, will God really provide?
If I reset my land for a year, will it still produce later?
If I trust the Jubilee, will I truly be forever free from everything that burdens me?
This is where we see an “Eden moment.” Satan’s favorite tactic is the “what if.”
What if God doesn’t mean what He says? What if He hasn’t told you everything? What if you can’t really trust Him?
But what if God does mean exactly what He says? What if He always has our best interest in mind? What if resting in Him really is the safest, surest place we could be? The real question is: Do we trust God, His Word, and His character?
If we grasp and truly take to heart His unchanging love, every “what if” would crumble.
In chaos, He is our foundation. In confusion, He is our truth. He does not change. Knowing His truth helps us recognize every counterfeit. And, boy oh boy, this world had MANY counterfeits!
When we look at the flow of Leviticus and everything we’ve learned this far, we’ve witnessed the Israelites freed from Egypt, wandering in the desert, receiving the Ten Commandments, the building of the tabernacle, the law for priests, community, worship, and sacrifice…which all combined allows us to understand how the Jubilee fits in.
It would seem to me that there would have to be success with the land, harvests, and community growth for a Jubilee to be needed. But as we know, with abundance greed sneak in. Even in their success, even as they worked and thrived in their new way of life, God still wanted them to rest in Him. Why? Because it was He who had ended their slavery, not their own strength. It was HIM that provided their abundance, not their own hands.
Sure, the Jubilee may have felt radical to the Israelites but doesn’t forgiveness in Jesus feel just as radical??
When you give your life to Jesus, your debts are forgiven. Radical.
You are made new, even when you don’t deserve it. Radical.
And because He died in your place, you are no longer a slave to this world but free in Him. Radical.
And here’s something interesting…the New Testament uses two Greek words for “forgive”:
Aphiemi — “to release, let go, liberate”
Charizomai — “to give a gift”
Forgiveness is both liberation and a gift. Do you see the connection? Jesus is the ultimate Jubilee.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18–19
When we pause and rest in Jesus, we finally become still enough to notice His favor. And because of Him, we no longer wait for the seventh day or the fiftieth year. We can truly rest and reset in Him right now and live a life of Jubilee!
The Jubilee reminded God’s people that their lives, land, and freedom ultimately belonged to Him. In Jesus, we now experience an even greater release…freedom from sin, guilt, and striving. He is our rest, our reset, and our eternal Provider. Can I get an AMEN? ;)
Reflection:
How will you rest in Jesus this week?
How can I extend the same mercy and release Jesus has given me to others, offering forgiveness or compassion where it feels costly?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for being my Jubilee, the One who frees me from sin, cancels my debts, and gives me rest in Your presence. Teach me to truly trust You as my Provider and Restorer. Quiet every “what if” in my heart with the truth of who You are. Help me to live in the freedom You purchased for me and to extend that freedom to others through forgiveness and love. May my life proclaim Your favor and goodness. Amen.