If God were to write a national constitution, what would he write? How would it differ from our constitution? In a sense, God has done that. We can read his design for a nation in the Old Testament laws he gave to Moses for the foundation of Israel. In Leviticus 25 God gave a picture of how his ideal society would function. We call God’s ideal “Jubilee.”
Jubilee was an expansion of the sabbath day. In last week’s column we talked about the sabbath as a weekly day of rest and holiness. But in Leviticus God expanded that weekly sabbath into two bigger sabbaths: the sabbath year and the year of Jubilee.
Every seventh year was to be a sabbath year: a year-long break from farming the fields so that the land was also given a sabbath rest (Leviticus 25:1-7). A modern equivalent of this is the agricultural practice of letting fields lie fallow to allow the soil to regain its fertility. During the sabbath year people were to trust God to provide their needs, eating whatever foods the land might naturally produce. When my wife and I discussed this idea of taking every seventh year off work, she was ready to sign-up—until she heard that everyone was supposed to live off the wild produce of the land during that year.
But the sabbath year had significant meaning beyond that of resting one’s fields: the debts of the poor were to be forgiven, and Hebrew slaves were to be set free (Deuteronomy 15:1-11). So, the twofold purpose of the sabbath year was that people would trust God to provide for them, and that there be no poor in the land. That was God’s intent for his country.
But there was one more sabbath expansion, a bigger one: every 50th year was a very special year: the Jubilee! (Leviticus 25:8-13) The name Jubilee was derived from the Hebrew word for “ram” because a trumpet made from a ram’s horn was blown at the beginning start of the 50th year. In modern English we use the word Jubilee to mean a celebration like a party—and for the Jews it was supposed to be a celebration!
If during the previous 49 years any citizen had lost his farm through indebtedness, it would be restored to him in the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:23-28). When Joshua brought the Hebrews into the promised land, each family was allotted a plot of farmland as their inheritance. But if they lost that land for any reason, they would have no inheritance to pass on to their children. In an agricultural society, their family would always live in poverty. Jubilee was God’s way to fix that outcome. He explained his purpose: “If any of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so that they can continue to live among you” (Leviticus 25:35).
Thus, once in every generation people were to return to the property which was their family inheritance. God’s ideal was that in Israel there would never develop a class of landless people. Unfortunately, the Jews never practiced the Jubilee.
Two thousand years later, Jesus began his ministry by quoting Isaiah 61:1-2—based on the ideals of 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). Jesus described his ministry as the inauguration of the Kingdom of God, which is the true Jubilee—called the year of the Lord’s favor. It included good news for the poor, release for prisoners, freedom for the oppressed. It is not hard to recognize how Jesus embodied these ideals!
How should Christians practice these ideas? In one sense, our situations are different than ancient Israel, but God’s principles are the same. We should care for the poor and for foreigners among us. For example, a community garden kept by a church or civic group, or a food pantry run by a church or the government would be the modern equivalent of gleaning.
In his commentary on the book of Leviticus, Gordon Wenham listed ways that Christians can apply the Jubilee laws. I find his applications to be very helpful.
SOCIAL WELFARE. The Jubilee was intended to prevent the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few. Every family had a right to a piece of land which could never be permanently lost. The Jubilee insured the continuity of the family farm or business rather than allowing corporate ownership or state ownership to take over.
SOCIAL WORSHIP. Sabbath keeping is not limited to church attendance. The worship God desires includes showing compassion to others. Afterall, as God told the Jews, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6).
PERSONAL VIRTUE. The command to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:37-40) applies as much to Christians as it did to Jews. In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus instructed his followers to be as kind to our neighbors as the Samaritan was to a man in need. He even paid for his lodging and his medical care— and he was a foreigner. That story illustrates the ideals of Jubilee very well: God’s desire is that we be like the Samaritan.
Greg Giles is a published author, who, along with his wife Jean, has embraced the call to serve and teach around the globe. Their life together has included missionary work in Liberia, Bangladesh, teaching in China, and raising a family in Bemidji, Minnesota. Between global travels and local commitments, including serving as superintendent of Corn Bible Academy and their current part-time roles at Corn Heritage Village, the Gileses have found “home” in many places; yet, they now happily reside in retirement in Cordell. Please visit his website at reflections-on-wisdom.com.