Page 17 - Florida Sentinel 5-18-18

Celebrating The Year Of Jubilee Leviticus 25:1–12
Life is not about hoarding and accumulating goods for our own personal gain. What can we do to make sure everyone has enough?
Keep in Mind: “And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its in- habitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family” (Leviticus 25:10).
The Scripture reads:
Leviticus 25:1 While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the LORD said to him,
2 “Give the following in- structions to the people of Is- rael. When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the LORD every seventh year.
3 For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops,
4 but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the LORD’s Sab- bath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards dur- ing that year.
5 And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest.
6 But you may eat what- ever the land produces on its own during its Sabbath. This applies to you, your male and female servants, your hired workers, and the temporary residents who live with you.
7 Your livestock and the wild animals in your land will also be allowed to eat what the land produces.
8 “In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven sets of seven years, adding up to forty- nine years in all.
9ThenontheDayof Atonement in the fiftieth year, blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land.
10 Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim free- dom 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.
11 This fiftieth year will be a jubilee for you. During that year you must not plant your fields or store away any of the crops that grow on their own, and don’t gather the grapes from your unpruned vines.
12 It will be a jubilee year for you, and you must keep it holy. But you may eat what- ever the land produces on its own.
The lesson is in the 25th chapter of Leviticus.
Leviticus is a book filled with laws that governed how the Israelites, and particularly the priests, were to approach God. It is about holiness and how an un- holy people could have a rela- tionship with a holy God.
The book also contained laws concerning the required feasts and holy days in the Israelite community.
Leviticus 25 speaks of one of these holy days: the Year of Jubilee.
In the Year of Jubilee, giving the land rest and freeing others from bondage is not only good, it is also a requirement for commu- nal holiness.
In God’s eyes, we must take care of the land and our brothers and sisters.
Give the Land Rest (Leviticus 25:1–5)
Moses is speaking to the peo- ple of Israel regarding the com- mand for them not only to personally take a Sabbath, but also grant the land a time of rest as well. For six years, the Is- raelites are to work the land, and on the seventh year, the land is supposed to have rest, without sowing or plowing, nor pruning or gathering of the harvest.
This rest was to happen for a whole year. This Sabbath rest for the land was a display of the re- ality of the Israelites’ position as stewards of the land and not its owners.
God gave them the land as a gift, and therefore they were charged to take care of it. Chris- tians are to have this perspective in every area of life; we are stew- ards and do not own anything. This should cause us to pause and remember the God who is the source of all of our gifts.
Let God Provide For You (vv. 6–7)
While the previous verses state that no gathering was sup- posed to happen, many have re- flected that organized agricultural practice is in view. Otherwise, the allowances of vv. 6–7 contradict what the Is- raelites are commanded to ab- stain from in vv. 4–5.
What Moses is saying to the Israelites is that they are to ab- stain from organized agricultural production and only eat from the fields what is necessary for sus- taining their lives.
These verses are a reminder that God has provided every- thing necessary for us.
Our task is not to slave and grind constantly in order to live. Many of our endeavors are driven by selfish ambition and greed
God provides for all of His children and we are to enjoy and remember that He, not we, sus- tains life.
Proclaim Liberty (vv. 8–12)
The Israelites are to not only give the land rest, but also pro- claim liberty to the enslaved. After seven Sabbaths of years (49 years), they were to blow the trumpet on the Day of Atone- ment and signal an emancipation of all slaves and the return of property taken as payment for debt.
This Year of Jubilee would have the same instructions re- garding the land as other Sab-
bath years — no organized agri- cultural labor was to take place, but the people would eat from the uncultivated increase to sus- tain life.
No record of biblical history indicates that the Israelites actu- ally practiced the Year of Jubilee.
In fact, the prophet Jeremiah says that punishment from God came to Israel because they failed to give the land rest.
The command to practice a Sabbath of Sabbaths highlights the importance that God places on the common good as opposed
to the selfish pursuit of individ- ual gain.
The Bible has a prescription: share so that no one has too little while others have more than enough. God’s design for human flourishing is that everyone has enough. This can be championed through fighting for equitable and ethical business practices and legislation.
It can also be championed in our own lives by distributing our abundance to the poor and des- titute. God wants us all to have enough.
FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2018 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-B