Jubilee—The Divine Reset

What might Planet Earth look like if we figured out ways to honor God’s laws of Sabbath and Jubilee? Perhaps the environment would literally heal itself, just maybe the economies of nations would experience only continual growth from which all benefited, it could be that the poverty of the poor would vaporize and it might even be that the whole earth would shout in jubilation.

The Journey // Focus: Leviticus 25:2-4, 8-11

When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. …In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven sets of seven years, adding up to forty-nine years in all. Then on the Day of Atonement in the fiftieth year, blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land. Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan. This fiftieth year will be a jubilee for you.

Most believers who read Leviticus 25 can’t help but long for a society that resets every seven years and then again on the fiftieth. The means of production halt, debts are released, the land and its people are restored, and hopes are born again to a fresh start at achieving the dreams that have been tucked away in the human heart. However, if you are one who has grown rich and powerful off the misfortune of others, even legally, the idea of this national reset may not be too exciting to you.

What a gracious gift God gave the Israelites to restore the land and the people through this cyclical rhythm of restoration and rest. And God had every right to so order this, since both land and people were his to begin with. And the people had every motivation to follow God’s decree, even if it meant giving up what they had gained, since all that they were over was not really theirs anyway, it was God’s, and they were simply stewards of it. If all of life is seen as stewardship, then one can easily and even gratefully return it the Rightful Owner when he asks—whether that be wealth, property, power and people.

By the way, there is no historical record that the Israelites consistently, if ever, followed through on the law of jubilee. And it is very possible that because neither the land nor the economy it supports were never allowed to enter into God’s Sabbath rest, the stress that we sometimes witness in both to this day have resulted. Might Apostle Paul described in Romans 8:20-22 be the result of violating the law of jubilee?

Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Now the civil, economic and environmental laws that God established for the ancient Israelites may not be binding for the nations of the world today, but as we have seen on numerous occasions throughout Leviticus, the principle of the law is still relevant. Perhaps by simply observing the principle of jubilee the world would see a revival of,

• Love and generosity toward the poor and the oppressed
• Care and concern for the physical environment
• Fairness and open-handedness in everything we have responsibility for
• Unparalleled economic growth at all levels of society
• Growing anticipation for the ultimate Jubilee revealed at the Second Coming

What might Planet Earth look like if we figured out ways to honor God’s laws of Sabbath and jubilee? Perhaps the environment would literally heal itself, just maybe the economies of nations would experience only continual growth from which all benefited and it could be that the whole earth would shout in jubilation.

Of course, that is not likely given fallen man’s propensity to ignore God’s law, but it is for certain that those who honor the God of jubilee will soon take part in the ultimate Divine Reset when Jesus returns. In the meantime, figure out ways to live out jubilee toward the land you profit from and the poor you live with, and you will experience this amazing promise God makes to you,

If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. (Leviticus 25:18-19)