Leviticus 25

The Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee

Summary of the Chapter

• once every 7 years, the land was to have a year of rest. There was to be no planting or organized reaping. Whatever grew naturally was to be their food.
• the Sabbath year was also a year for cancelling debts and setting slaves free (Deut 15)

• once every 50 years, a Year of Jubilee was celebrated, starting on the Day of Atonement
• the Day of Atonement was the sacred day when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies
• in the Year of Jubilee, there was to be no organized sowing or reaping
• slaves were to be set free
• property returned to its original owner
• the value of a piece of land was relative to the number of years until the next Jubilee

Application: The Bible Means What it Says

• the first time I read this, I told myself that it had to mean something other than what it said
• it does mean what it says! God wanted them to return the land every 50 years
• yes, we must understand the bible, but we must also accept what it says!

Application: The "Rational" Mind

• the "rational" mind would worry. "Will God really send us enough to eat?"
• there must have been a temptation to disobey and a temptation to pass that disobedience off as "just being responsible."
• today, we are to be responsible, but we are also to obey the Bible

Application: A Picture of Our Redemption

• this is a type or picture of our redemption by Jesus Christ
• once we were slaves to sin (Romans 6)

Application: The Return of Christ

• the closer they got to the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee, the less value their earthly property had
• the closer we get to the return of Christ, the less value our earthly property will have
• we must be sensible with the money entrusted to us

A Final Sad Lesson

• Israel did not keep the Sabbath Year (2 Chronicles 36:21). This is why they spent 70 years in captivity. What could have been a blessing caused them 70 years of slavery.