Freedom! Provision! Continual, Ongoing Renewal! Leviticus 24:1-25:46; Psalm 44:9-26; Proverbs 10:20-21

Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. – Leviticus 25:10

 

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. – Leviticus 25:38

 

Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. – Leviticus 25:42

 

Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, for the Israelites belong to me as servants. – Leviticus 25:54-55a

 

Our world is cursed, and we, its inhabitants, are riddled with weaknesses and sins. There is plenty for all, but there is not enough for anyone. And so the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, and no one does anything about it.

 

Enter God.

 

As the LORD was setting out the laws for Israel, He instituted the year of Jubilee. This was a sacred year of resting from work and trusting in God. It was a year of freedom, blessing, and renewal. The land itself was to be left unplanted, at rest to produce whatever it could. And the Israelites were promised that they would have enough to eat; God would provide. Also, whatever had happened to an Israelites in the course of time—whether he’d had to sell his property, or whether he’d been forced to commit himself to another man’s service just to make ends meet—in the year of Jubilee, it was supposed to be erased! Property was to be returned. People and their children were to go free from their service—and they would have land to return to!

 

Why? Who does these things? Who can afford them? Only God.

 

It was God who had initially freed the Israelites. He had brought them out of Egypt, setting them free from their bonds of slavery to be His servants, free of tyranny! It was God who had initially provided for the Israelites. He had caused the Egyptians to send them away wealthy, and then He had provided food and water for them while they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years! It was God who had initially renewed the Israelites. He had taken these men, women and children who had no hope, no nation of their own, and had breathed His life into them to set them in their own land where they could all enjoy His blessing!

 

The year of Jubilee was God saying, “My mighty acts for you were not just a one-time event! I am still Your God. I can still give you freedom. I can still meet your needs. I can still renew your lives!” In the year of Jubilee, every 50 years, God intended to fulfill His promise of salvation all over again. The poor and the weak would never be forgotten by Him.

 

Father, if that was Your message for the Israelites when You had not yet sent Jesus to die for sins, how much more I ought to realize that You will never forsake me or any of your people! You are not just the God who saved. You are the God who saves. Every day I can trust You. You give freedom. You provide. You renew me! You are God, and You will always be God! You never stop doing good to Your people. Thank You! I praise You for Your unlimited compassion for us!