Spreading the Wealth
Leviticus 25:8-25:55
Spreading the Wealth
Leviticus 25:8-55
Introduction
The title of the subject is Spreading the Wealth, and the subject comes from one of the many observances the Israelites were supposed to practice:
Every seven days the Israelites observed the Sabbath.
Every seventh year the Israelites observed the Sabbath Year. During that year they planted no crops among other things.
Every seventh Sabbath Year (7 Sabbath Years=49 years) the Israelites observed Jubilee.
Recall that in the Bible, the number seven represents perfection or completion. So seven times seven is complete perfection, or perfect completion. This year of Jubilee appears to be a special Sabbath year, every 50 years. While this is a different picture, many of the connotations are similar to the three seventh-month feast we discussed earlier -- and so God has the Year of Jubilee proclaimed on the Day of Atonement.
In they were commanded to blow the trumpet throughout the whole land and begin a year long period of rest, remembering, and redemption.Among other things it was to be a time to reflect ,and forgive ...
I’m not sure if God ever meant for the Year of Jubilee to be compared to the joys of New Testament salvation,,, but I see many parallels worth noting... It seems appropriate,,, to me at least, to say that ever since the day I was saved my life has been a Year of Jubilee...
Not that everything has been perfect or easy, because it hasn’t, but spiritually speaking there has been rest, remembering, and redemption…exactly the effects of Israel’s Jubilee.
So this morning ,,,my aim is to move you towards gratification, inspiration, and ,,,and obedience...
I want you to be thankful for all the Lord has done,,,And
I want you to be inspired to live your life to the fullest in faith,,,
And,, and I want you to be obedient as a result of the two...
All of this comes from looking at…the Year of Jubilee
Let us notice our text,,, Leviticus 25 :8-9 and we will see first of all that this was a time of atonement… 8 "’Count off seven sabbaths of years-- seven times seven years-- so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land.
Note that the year is proclaimed on the Day of Atonement. On the very day which symbolizes our forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus,,, God proclaims ,,,ahh,,, ahh, liberty and freedom... You see the importance of this ?
As Ray Stedman says, "All liberty arises out of redemption." Liberty and freedom do not mean doing whatever we want,,, following our own selfish desires. That’s slavery, not freedom! True liberty arises from us acknowledging who we are before God, and becoming,,, what He intends us to be.(aman)
A Year of Rest
Leviticus 25:10-12 says, “You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. 12For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.”
The,,, the Rest was Rewarding,,,
Notice the phrases: “proclaim a release through the land,” “each of you shall return to his own property,” and “each of you shall return to his family.”
This is called the Year of Jubilee for good reason! Everyone is blessed when the Jubilee is observed, but notice something interesting: it couldn’t have been easy. Farmers had to stop farming, and the people couldn’t even reap the aftergrowth. The reward of the rest was coupled with hardship...
God here ordains not only the Sabbath day, celebrated every week, but a Sabbath year -- a year in which no agricultural work is to be done...
Remember now that Israel in 1400BC is almost exclusively an agricultural economy. And,,,and God here is calling a halt to all productive work for a year....
Can you imagine that?
Elsewhere in this chapter he says they are not even to pick the fruit from the volunteer crops that might spring up from seeds left in the fields.
They are to depend completely on God’s provision... God promises in verses 21-22 that he will provide them with such an abundant harvest in the sixth year that they will have enough to live on without working for the Sabbath year.
Think of the faith that would be required to fulfill this commandment! God says, "Don’t work for a full year! Don’t depend on your own strength! Trust me; I will provide!"
That sounds to me a lot like my salvation. The reward is great, but it isn’t easy. There is great freedom, but great faith is also required....
You see , I can’t satisfy my flesh like I used to do; I can’t gorge myself as before...
That can sometimes be difficult. But instead of thinking about what is difficult or what I don’t like, I should rather think about the rewards of salvation....
Let’s look at the phrases again: “proclaim a release through the land,” “each of you shall return to his own property,” and “each of you shall return to his family...”
The reward of salvation is summed up in the two words: release,,, and return.
There are three things I want too point out too you in particular this morning , and number 1 being that.... There Rest was Religious...ahh...ahh
Deuteronomy 31:10-11 says,(*Let’s look at it) “Then Moses commanded them, saying, "At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths, 11when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing.”
We are reminded that our needs are more than physical and that rest does not mean “do nothing.” Rest was provided to build up the believer’s spirituality.
Not only is the Year of Jubilee a year of rest, but it also…(aman)
2. Is a Year of Reminding
There Was a Reminder of Fear that Resulted in Justice
Leviticus 25:13, 17-19 says, (*Let somebody read)“On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property. […] 17So you shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God. 18You shall thus observe My statutes and keep My judgments, so as to carry them out, that you may live securely on the land. 19Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it.”
There Was a Reminder of Provision that Resulted in Faith
Leviticus 25:20-22 says,(*I’ll read it because 22 is not in your study book) “But if you say, ‘What are we going to eat on the seventh year if we do not sow or gather in our crops?’ 21then I will so order My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the crop for three years. 22When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat old things from the crop, eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in.”
Remember this phrase:,,, “Nothing is lost in obedience.”
There Was also a Reminder of Sovereignty that Resulted in Restoration
Leviticus 25:23-28 This so good I just might can’t stop at 24 ,,,but listen at what it says, “The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. 24Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land..
25If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold. 26Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so recovers his means as to find sufficient for its redemption, 27then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his property. 28But if he has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall revert, that he may return to his property.”
There are two truths we can learn from this point: First, God owns everything. Second, we are only stewards of all we have.
So, the Year of Jubilee is a year of rest and remembering, but it also…
***3. Is a Year of Redemption (:35-55)
Leviticus 25:39, 41 says, “If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, […] he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee. 41He shall then go out from you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, that he may return to the property of his forefathers.”
These “slaves” were to be treated fairly (as hired workers) and even if they couldn’t pay the rest of their debt they were to be freed at the Jubilee!
This year of redemption is also similar to our salvation:
a. In Our Relation to Men…We Are Responsible
b. In Our Relation to Sin…We Are Free
c. In Our Relation to God…We Are Pardoned
(*note) Many argue over whether the Jubilee was every 49th or every 50th year. Frankly I don’t think it matters, and I haven’t tried to pick a side; the act required great faith regardless of the timing.
Min. Johnathan Hester
