40 Days Fast and Pray

The Year of Jubilee

Introduction

The most unusual observance that God commanded the Israelites through Moses was the keeping of the year of jubilee. For most people this celebration occurred only once in their life time, and for many not even that, as it occurred only once every 50 years.

At this year of jubilee all Israelites who had sold themselves into slavery were set free, and all land that had been sold reverted to its original owner. This meant that no Israelite could ever be in permanent slavery; nor could any Israelite permanently lose his inheritance.

The English word jubilee comes from the Hebrew word yobel meaning a trumpet or ram’s horn. These rams’ horns were blown on the Day of Atonement to announce the start of the year of jubilee. The word jubilee should not be confused with the word jubilation which comes from a Latin word meaning to rejoice. The year of jubilee was no doubt a time of great jubilation, but the similarities of the two words are (at least humanly speaking) a coincidence.

To understand the year of jubilee more clearly we must first review the concept of the Sabbath.

The Sabbath

Sabbath observance was part of the ceremonial law that God gave Israel through Moses. Normally we think of the Sabbath as a day of the week, but its meaning in scripture is much wider. Its teaching applies not only to the seventh day of the week, but also to the 7 festivals of Israel’s calendar and to periods of 7 years and 7 times 7 years. Such is its importance that, unlike any other part of the ceremonial law, its keeping is even one of the 10 commandments.

The words of the fourth commandment are: ‘Six days shall you labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.’

The ancient Israelites understood the Sabbath as a literal day of the week, the seventh day which corresponds to our Saturday. On that day they strictly refrained from all work. This was a sign and covenant between them and Yahweh their God, which separated them from the tribes who surrounded them.

In Exodus 31: 15 God prescribed the death penalty for anyone who broke the Sabbath. ‘For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.’

In Deuteronomy 5, where the commandments are repeated, we find this addition to the fourth commandment: ‘Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.’

During their wanderings in the desert the Israelites observed the Sabbath strictly. They found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath and brought him to Moses. God told Moses that he should be put to death, and they stoned him. (Num 15: 32-36.)

God said that the Sabbath was to be a holy day. This simply means a day that is set apart or different from other days. It was set apart as a day of rest.

Why do we find this ceremonial commandment to keep the sabbath numbered among the 10 commandments? It is the longest of all the commandments and is even placed before all the moral commandments such as ‘Do not murder’ and ‘Do not steal’? I suggest 3 reasons:

• The sabbath embodies the gospel. Central to the whole gospel message is the fact that God gave. Man did not earn. We have earned or deserved nothing. God freely gave his only son to save us from our sin.
• The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. Slaves are not given days off! The whole idea was absolutely new and revolutionary.
• The sabbath, as we will now see, is the foundation of all other Hebrew festivals.