back to index2018-10-24: Wed Bible Study - Lesson 25
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So we actually only have a few more chapters to go. 00:00:11.020 |
And I know our Bible study is not, at least this session is not ending in three weeks. 00:00:16.720 |
So the last three weeks after we finished the book of Leviticus, we're going to be covering 00:00:21.480 |
something else until we get into our break in the winter. 00:00:25.560 |
So even though we only have three more weeks of Bible study in Leviticus, and then we have 00:00:29.320 |
a review, we will continue our Bible study until the end of the session. 00:00:36.920 |
And so Wednesday, we don't have our typical Bible study. 00:00:39.560 |
We do have praise and prayer on Tuesday, right? 00:00:53.400 |
So next Friday, instead of Wednesday Bible study, we have Friday praise and prayer, just 00:01:03.320 |
Today, the Bible study is on the sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee, which is a very 00:01:11.560 |
And you will find, I'm not going to mention all of it, but you'll find quite a bit of 00:01:15.720 |
the language and the principles that are taught in the New Testament, what is going on here 00:01:21.040 |
So let me pray for us and then we'll jump right in. 00:01:22.480 |
Heavenly Father, I want to pray for my brothers and sisters as they are coming from a long 00:01:36.920 |
And though they may be physically tired, we pray, Father, that your word would renew us, 00:01:42.360 |
help us to understand not only the words, but your very heart, that we may draw closer 00:01:49.840 |
We know, Father God, that what you teach us in this chapter is really who you are. 00:01:55.600 |
And so help us, Lord God, to know you better and that we would respond in a manner that 00:02:02.920 |
And so we thank you and just ask, Lord God, that you would soften our hearts and open 00:02:13.280 |
In chapter 25, 26, and 27 is conclusion of what's happening in the book of Leviticus. 00:02:19.080 |
And then we talked about how in the chiastic system we started out by how to behave or 00:02:25.640 |
what to bring to God in order to connect with him, right? 00:02:29.340 |
And that's the first five chapters talks about the five major sacrifices and how they are 00:02:37.300 |
We conclude the book of Leviticus in the last three chapters in how to behave in the land 00:02:44.200 |
So the first section of the chiastic system in the book of Leviticus is how to draw near 00:02:49.960 |
The end part of it, chapter 25, 26, 27, is that God is going to now lead them into the 00:02:55.960 |
promised land and when they get there, how they are to behave. 00:03:00.220 |
So God is giving instructions, warnings, encouragements that this is how, these are the principles 00:03:06.120 |
and these are the laws that they are to live by when they get into the land. 00:03:09.280 |
So chapter 25 is talking about the year of Jubilee and the Sabbath that is necessary. 00:03:15.180 |
Chapter 26 is talking about the blessings and curses that you ought to follow in order 00:03:20.720 |
to live a long and prosperous life in the land. 00:03:23.560 |
And then the very last chapter, chapter 27, it goes into, again, we'll get more into it, 00:03:32.400 |
How do you, when you make vows, how do you determine what the vows cost? 00:03:37.060 |
And so all of these things may be tedious, but these are all instructions that God gave 00:03:40.240 |
Israel on how they ought to behave in the promised land. 00:03:43.320 |
So the first part of it, maybe you can take that pin out and then put it back in. 00:04:47.920 |
So chapter 25 through 27, our instruction is given to Israel on how they must live when 00:04:53.040 |
they finally occupy the promised land, which I already mentioned to you. 00:05:33.080 |
So chapter 25 deals with keeping the Sabbath, right? 00:05:35.720 |
Verses one through seven talking about the Sabbath year, so every seventh year. 00:05:39.800 |
And then it talks about starting from chapter, verse eight through 55, super Sabbath, right? 00:05:45.560 |
Which happens every 50th year, which we call the year of Jubilee. 00:05:51.320 |
And it was primarily to keep the covenant relationship with God, covenant symbol between 00:06:00.200 |
So everything that God has taught the nation of Israel in the book of Leviticus sets them 00:06:05.640 |
But this particular law of the Sabbath year was unlike any other nation, right? 00:06:13.020 |
It really distinguished them from every other country, every other nation, even to this 00:06:22.440 |
The laws of the year of Jubilee provided clearance or cancellation of debt. 00:06:25.920 |
So if you read chapter 25, you would have already known that verse eight through 55 00:06:31.720 |
basically talks about basically a clean state, clean slate, and financially to start over 00:06:50.600 |
The year of Jubilee meant that about once a generation, all Israelites had the opportunity 00:07:00.520 |
And again, we're going to get into details of that. 00:07:04.000 |
This was intended to prevent the creation of feudal system in which increasing numbers 00:07:07.640 |
of poor served the small minority of rich land owners. 00:07:11.600 |
So no matter how bad your crops were, no matter how badly the situation got, every 50th year, 00:07:18.760 |
basically God gave an opportunity for the Israelites to start over. 00:07:21.680 |
It doesn't mean that you could never become rich. 00:07:24.740 |
It just meant that whatever, that the minimum property that you had, God allowed that to 00:07:33.360 |
So it doesn't mean that the rich people couldn't get rich, that this was communism and they 00:07:39.240 |
It was to make sure that there wasn't this generational debt that got piled on upon one 00:07:45.880 |
family to another, and then by the time it got to about fifth, sixth generation, there 00:07:52.160 |
So every generation, God allowed a reset, at least to have their property back, okay? 00:08:03.080 |
So the laws of the Sabbath year, verses one through seven. 00:08:08.120 |
After taking possession of the promised land, they were to rest the land on the Sabbath 00:08:17.440 |
So sixth year they're supposed to work, and then on seventh year they're supposed to let 00:08:22.080 |
B, they're able to pick and eat whatever grew in the seventh year, but could not do any 00:08:27.720 |
sowing or pruning or complete harvesting that year. 00:08:34.640 |
It doesn't say what they were supposed to do with their time when they're not harvesting, 00:08:40.520 |
but every seventh year they were to leave the land alone. 00:08:47.680 |
Maybe some of you grew up on a farm, but I've read, again in before studies, that whether 00:08:53.640 |
you're a Christian or a Jew or not, that it is understood that whenever you farm a land, 00:08:59.960 |
you're supposed to give it rest every few years in order for the land to recuperate. 00:09:04.760 |
And I remember when I was younger, in my twenties, there was this multi-level scheme thing that 00:09:10.440 |
I was checking out, and basically they were selling minerals. 00:09:14.680 |
And I heard, I don't know how many hours of tapes about why the land isn't producing sweet 00:09:22.600 |
fruits, and because we've over farmed the land. 00:09:27.120 |
And so most where the people are very heavily populated, you can still grow, you know, like 00:09:32.960 |
all the other trees and different things, but the minerals are deficient. 00:09:37.600 |
And as a result of that, it doesn't have the same kind of nutrients that it would have 00:09:43.400 |
And that's part of the reason why people don't live long lives today. 00:09:47.520 |
That's true or not, but that was part of the presentation that they gave to sell these 00:09:55.560 |
But one of the interesting things about that was how it's a known fact among the farmers 00:10:01.200 |
And so it doesn't explain here that this is why the minerals need to be recuperated, or 00:10:08.120 |
But God says, remember we talked about how when Adam and Eve fell, what fell with Adam 00:10:17.480 |
In the book of Romans, it says that the creation longs for the appearing of the sons of God. 00:10:22.660 |
And so the fall didn't just happen to human being, it also happened to creation. 00:10:27.320 |
That's why thorns and thistles, you're going to work all your life and what it's going 00:10:32.840 |
So redemption, ultimately he's talking about redemption of mankind, but he also connects 00:10:42.960 |
And so remember at the very end, we talked about the new heavens and new earth. 00:10:47.240 |
He's talking about the restoration of earth and this is heaven is going to be reestablished 00:10:56.560 |
We studied that when we were studying through the book of Revelation. 00:11:02.520 |
C, this Sabbath year also provided rest for the workers and the animals. 00:11:08.320 |
Not only for the owners, but it gave the workers time to rest. 00:11:12.500 |
In Proverbs chapter 12, verse 10, I don't have that up for you, but it basically says 00:11:16.600 |
the righteous man is righteous even among, even toward his animals and servants. 00:11:23.120 |
So he says the farmer is to give rest for his animals. 00:11:29.160 |
D, it also served to remind Israel of the covenant relationship with the Lord. 00:11:35.080 |
If you notice as you're reading, it says over and over again, the reason why they ought 00:11:39.640 |
to do this is because it is a Sabbath to the Lord. 00:11:43.480 |
It says that in verse two, it says that in verse four, and then it doesn't say it in 00:11:46.880 |
that exact language, but it says over and over again, this is to be done for the Lord. 00:11:52.600 |
It was, it was beneficial for them, but ultimately it was a covenant symbol of a relationship 00:12:02.080 |
So again, before we go on, remember, remember the concept of Sabbath? 00:12:24.120 |
They are no longer with the Lord because the Lord is in the Sabbath. 00:12:29.980 |
So the idea of Sabbath isn't just making sure that you keep it holy, that you don't farm 00:12:35.800 |
And, and then remember when Jesus shows up and then the Pharisees come, how come you 00:12:41.000 |
And then Jesus turns around and rebukes them. 00:12:43.880 |
That Sabbath was made for man, not man for Sabbath. 00:12:51.920 |
And he said, and then ultimately who's the Lord of the Sabbath? 00:12:58.560 |
In other words, their whole idea of Sabbath was worked. 00:13:02.280 |
The whole point of the Sabbath was to bring them back into a restored relationship with, 00:13:08.080 |
So the restoration of Sabbath here, every seventh year, it was to be not only for them 00:13:12.440 |
to rest, but it was, it was meant to be a dedication to them. 00:13:20.920 |
And then to, to, you know, what would you do if you had a whole year of not working? 00:13:33.560 |
It wasn't meant for you to, okay, don't work. 00:13:35.440 |
And so co-travel and, and then go down the bucket list and things that you haven't done, 00:13:41.720 |
The Sabbath was meant to be a time of resting to, again, to remember the covenant relationship 00:13:49.960 |
That, that's the whole concept of the Sabbath. 00:13:52.480 |
E, not planting or harvesting on the seventh year would have been a huge financial burden 00:13:58.980 |
So remember, even though you, you know, God commanded you not to work, but imagine if 00:14:15.800 |
Humanly speaking, well, it's going to ruin us. 00:14:18.880 |
So part of the Sabbath year, seventh year rest was to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ, 00:14:30.240 |
That God was going to be the one who provides. 00:14:33.320 |
But ultimately, the harvest doesn't, doesn't depend on them, but it depends on God. 00:14:38.640 |
So later on, we're going to look at verse 21, how God's going to make up for that. 00:14:43.520 |
So, you know, superficially, we may look at that, oh great, seventh year, we get to rest. 00:14:48.480 |
But if you're an actual farmer taking care of children, and people are dependent upon 00:14:59.520 |
So again, this teaching of the Sabbath was a covenant symbol in relationship with God, 00:15:04.440 |
but it is also to remind them that He's Lord over their life. 00:15:13.000 |
Verse 8 through 17, number four, the laws of the year of Jubilee. 00:15:17.400 |
The year of Jubilee is to be observed every 50th year. 00:15:22.400 |
So 7 times 7, 49 years, and on the 50th year, the whole year was to be dedicated as a year 00:15:34.080 |
B, the year of Jubilee started on the Day of Atonement. 00:15:38.040 |
Do you know what day the Day of Atonement, what month the Day of Atonement happened? 00:15:49.080 |
So on the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement, the year of Jubilee would begin. 00:15:54.960 |
Now what's the significance of starting on the Day of Atonement? 00:16:00.360 |
Day of Atonement signified complete cleansing of Israel's sins. 00:16:05.480 |
Remember we talked about that, the Day of Atonement? 00:16:10.600 |
The Day of Atonement symbolized that even though they were giving sacrifices on a daily 00:16:21.080 |
So God would allow that day to basically wipe out the sins of Israel and to start over. 00:16:27.120 |
So spiritually, on the Day of Atonement, they would have a clean slate because of the sacrifices. 00:16:33.980 |
So the year of Jubilee causes them to start fresh financially. 00:16:42.200 |
So basically, the year of Jubilee was a complete restoration, spiritually and physically. 00:16:49.160 |
C. The year of Jubilee gave liberty to people, not only to land, but to people who were in 00:16:56.160 |
debt that forced them to sell either their property or even themselves to pay it off. 00:17:01.960 |
It restored them back to their property and to their closest relatives. 00:17:08.760 |
We're going to go into a little bit more details about the significance of this law, 00:17:15.400 |
but why do you think that this would have been? 00:17:19.000 |
So if you were somebody who were in debt, you would look at the year of Jubilee and 00:17:29.640 |
No matter how bad your debt is, every 50th year, you get to start over. 00:17:34.400 |
Do you think everybody would have been happy with this? 00:17:43.000 |
Yeah, only the poor people in debt would be happy with this. 00:17:48.320 |
The creditors would have been extremely angry with this. 00:17:52.160 |
Like, "Every 50th, how are we going to do business? 00:17:56.880 |
How am I going to ever lease my land if I lease it out and then three years later it 00:18:06.080 |
I mean, it doesn't tell us in detail how it worked out, but you can imagine what kind 00:18:14.800 |
Kind of like all the politicians saying all the free healthcare and, you know, get into 00:18:21.080 |
Free healthcare and talking about free college and it's going to be 100% paid for and all 00:18:37.880 |
But you have to care about the details because it's going to come out of somebody's pocket. 00:18:43.760 |
So superficially it looks great, but in actual practice it may have caused a lot of problems. 00:18:51.560 |
D, all leases were to end in the year of Jubilee. 00:18:58.960 |
All leases were to end in the year of Jubilee. 00:19:01.120 |
So their prices were calculated according to the number of years left for harvesting 00:19:06.720 |
So in other words, if let's say you're on the 48th year, you would only lease it for 00:19:13.040 |
If you're on the 30th year, you would calculate how many years are left and based upon that 00:19:20.520 |
Because on the 50th year, whatever was not would be wiped out. 00:19:30.520 |
It sounds great, but humanly speaking it was probably very impractical. 00:19:38.040 |
But again, the point of all of this is God was ensuring, one, that the people who had 00:19:47.840 |
inheritance when they went into the Promised Land, so whatever piece of land that you had, 00:19:52.440 |
that God made sure that your inheritance stayed in your family. 00:19:58.820 |
Now whatever happened, and maybe you became an indentured servant and you began to serve 00:20:02.940 |
another family, but every 50th year you would be freed and be wiped out and you get to start 00:20:09.480 |
So it ensured that the inheritance that God promised the nation of Israel stayed within 00:20:18.800 |
So, secondly, it made sure that they understood that none of this was theirs to begin with. 00:20:40.380 |
How many of you at the end of playing Monopoly, like, just lose it and can't sleep because 00:20:51.640 |
They came and, you know, one guy just had a Monopoly and then like every other block 00:20:58.280 |
you had to pay money and then you got bankrupt and then you got out of the game and you were 00:21:08.800 |
You might be competitive, but when it's done, it's done. 00:21:11.640 |
There was no consequence because it was never yours to begin with. 00:21:14.280 |
It was only yours while you were playing that game. 00:21:18.600 |
So, the year of Jubilee was a constant reminder to the nation of Israel that their inheritance 00:21:31.880 |
Even though you owned the land and you were working, you were working hard, every 50th 00:21:39.360 |
You were constantly, like, you would have held onto your property pretty loosely. 00:21:44.240 |
It would have prevented you from being overly greedy. 00:21:47.960 |
You could be a lot more gracious when you know it's not your money. 00:21:51.840 |
I remember about six, seven years ago, I gave a sermon about that, about being generous 00:21:55.940 |
and being good stewards and some of you guys were here when I did that. 00:21:59.360 |
I gave somebody a $100 bill before the service, you know, and I pretended like I wanted it 00:22:05.000 |
from him and I took it, you know, and then I decided to hold onto it and then people 00:22:11.680 |
were like, "Oh, man, you know, like, how could he take his money?" 00:22:14.160 |
And then later on I told them that was my money to begin with. 00:22:17.800 |
And then people were like, "Oh, okay, then it's okay." 00:22:21.880 |
Well, in the same way, the year of Jubilee was basically taught the nation of Israel 00:22:27.360 |
like the creation is His, the money is His, the cattle is His, and that's what the tithing 00:22:35.160 |
Tithing was our voluntary act of showing God that this is not mine but yours. 00:22:40.640 |
But the year of Jubilee made sure that that message got across. 00:22:46.400 |
And so if you knew that everything that you owned would eventually be distributed back 00:22:52.140 |
to the people who had it, I think people would be a lot more generous. 00:22:57.360 |
Either you give it voluntarily or God's going to make you give it anyway. 00:23:02.600 |
So, again, ultimately all of this points to something bigger than the nation of Israel. 00:23:07.800 |
And as you guys know, everything in Leviticus points to something bigger. 00:23:12.000 |
But in the nation of Israel, this is what God was trying to teach them. 00:23:16.200 |
Five, exhortation to obedience, verses 18 to 22. 00:23:20.880 |
The success of their harvest is dependent upon God, not just the land. 00:23:29.760 |
You shall thus observe my statutes and keep my judgments so as to carry them out that 00:23:35.280 |
And the land will yield its produce so that you can eat your fill and live securely. 00:23:39.920 |
In other words, if you do this, God's going to take care of you. 00:23:46.880 |
Some of you are going to be more successful than others. 00:23:49.560 |
But if you learn to be generous and to be gracious, God is going to multiply what you 00:23:56.160 |
B, God promises enough harvest for three years on the sixth year of the Jubilee year if the 00:24:03.360 |
So verse 22, if you say, what are we going to eat on the seventh year if we do not sow 00:24:10.640 |
Then I will so order my blessing for you in the sixth year that would bring forth the 00:24:16.560 |
But it will bring enough for the sixth year, seventh year, and the eighth year. 00:24:25.920 |
So if you are gracious and you practice this command and you give the land back and you 00:24:30.520 |
free the people who are in captive, right, because of that, he said the Lord is going 00:24:42.560 |
It would have forced them to every 50th year to trust God. 00:24:47.600 |
Do you trust me to take care of you or are you going to hold on to it, right, because 00:24:55.000 |
It's in my hands, it's for sure, but if you give it to God, God will give you abundantly 00:25:01.560 |
So either your faith is going to increase or your finances are going to increase, but 00:25:10.000 |
Next, the laws concerning redemption to those who become poor during the year of Jubilee. 00:25:15.560 |
The law addresses four different levels of poverty. 00:25:19.280 |
First one, if a crop failed and an Israelite had no savings, he would have to borrow money 00:25:23.920 |
in order to buy seed to plant the following year. 00:25:27.960 |
So this is how they would begin to get into debt. 00:25:31.160 |
Because they were primarily farmers, if they farmed, there wasn't enough rain, they didn't 00:25:39.000 |
So whatever the reason, then they would have to borrow money. 00:25:41.320 |
So in order to do that, they would borrow money to do that. 00:25:45.160 |
Two, if the crop failed, he might have to sell some of his land to cover his debts as 00:25:54.280 |
So the first one is just, you just need to borrow money. 00:25:56.440 |
Second one is that you're in such debt that you begin to have to sell some of your property 00:26:04.440 |
Thirdly, if the crop failed, he might have to sell his remaining land to cover the debt. 00:26:09.680 |
In other words, you're foreclosing on your home, your land, your cattle. 00:26:14.560 |
So you're basically losing everything that you own. 00:26:19.320 |
And then the fourth, final one, if significant debt remained as a result of these failures, 00:26:25.200 |
he would be forced to sell himself to cover the debt. 00:26:33.080 |
So he says, when these things happen, this is the way that they are to be redeemed. 00:26:42.520 |
So as you know, each of the 12 different tribes were given their portion of land once they 00:26:50.400 |
The land was not to be seen as their own, but the Lord's for them to be stewards of. 00:26:55.640 |
So the Jubilee year prevented one tribe from prospering and taking over the lands of the 00:26:59.600 |
other tribes, creating a permanent economic disparity. 00:27:07.880 |
So this is probably how a father or mother would be with their children, if they could. 00:27:17.800 |
So it's not to say that everybody owns everything equally. 00:27:20.900 |
He wanted to make sure that one doesn't end up suppressing the other. 00:27:32.920 |
The final part of it is, so how do you resolve it? 00:27:35.520 |
And that's basically what the year of Jubilee is. 00:27:38.560 |
If an Israelite who becomes poor needs to sell his land, he had three options. 00:27:43.400 |
Now, first one, it's going to sound very familiar to you if you know the book of Ruth. 00:27:51.000 |
First, the nearest relative would be given the rights first to buy it from him. 00:27:56.960 |
What is the technical term that is used in the Bible? 00:28:06.640 |
The kinsman, who's the kinsman redeemer in the book of Ruth? 00:28:18.400 |
So I'm just assuming you guys know the story of the book of Ruth. 00:28:22.600 |
So the book of Ruth, a Moabite woman follows her mother-in-law, Naomi, because the father 00:28:27.560 |
and her husband dies, comes in, and then the nearest kin, who happens to be Boaz, basically 00:28:34.320 |
takes them in, and basically their misfortune turns into a great fortune because of the 00:28:45.080 |
This is part of the law that God gave to the nation of Israel. 00:28:50.000 |
And the reason why he did that was he wanted to make sure that the wealth and the land 00:28:57.080 |
So he made it a law that if you had a relative, that they were the first ones responsible 00:29:02.600 |
for the well-being of the members of their family. 00:29:09.840 |
Paul tells the church, right, that we're first and foremost responsible for our own family, 00:29:17.880 |
He says if he does not take care of his own family, he is worse than an unbeliever. 00:29:21.240 |
So he says before you take a widow and put them on the list of people to take care of, 00:29:26.080 |
he says first make sure that the family is involved in taking care of them. 00:29:31.120 |
So that same principle is what's being taught. 00:29:33.440 |
So the first line of defense against poverty is their own family. 00:29:40.160 |
Two, if first option was not possible, the person can redeem it themselves. 00:29:45.480 |
God gave them a period of a year for them to work different things. 00:29:49.760 |
Even though they're in debt, they had a year to pay it all off and redeem whatever it was 00:29:57.120 |
Thirdly, if both was not possible, the first line of defense is the kinsman redeemer coming 00:30:06.000 |
Second line is to buy some time, maybe sell other properties, maybe try to work hard in 00:30:11.680 |
the harvest and then gain the money and to gain your property back. 00:30:15.880 |
But third, if both options above is not possible, the Lord will become the redeemer and redeem 00:30:21.320 |
the land back for him at the year of Jubilee, which is basically when you absolutely have 00:30:26.040 |
no other way to redeem it on the year of Jubilee, God would revert it back. 00:30:35.600 |
So some of the guidelines that he gives in doing that, number one, Israelites were not 00:30:41.440 |
to treat another Israelite who sells themselves as a permanent servant, but as a hired resident 00:30:47.120 |
In other words, if a Jewish brother got into such poverty that he had to sell himself or 00:30:55.400 |
have to become a servant for a period, that he was never to be treated like a slave, but 00:31:04.360 |
And then when the year of Jubilee came, he was to be freed. 00:31:07.480 |
Two, during the period of servitude, the master was not to treat the servant ruthlessly. 00:31:13.720 |
The reason why he puts that in there is because the slave had absolutely no rights. 00:31:20.000 |
They could have done anything they wanted to a slave, but God made sure that another 00:31:25.200 |
Israelites would not be treated harshly because of this financial situation. 00:31:32.800 |
But this was specifically prohibited against other Israelites. 00:31:38.200 |
Number three, this law only applied to fellow countrymen, not to aliens who lived among 00:31:43.600 |
So if a foreigner came in and ended up becoming a slave, they would be a slave. 00:31:49.720 |
Not that they could possibly buy their freedom back, but the year of Jubilee did not apply 00:31:59.280 |
And again, all for the purpose of making sure that God's inheritance toward the nation 00:32:03.640 |
of Israel was kept within that tribe, within that family. 00:32:12.680 |
So before you go on and say, "Hey, that doesn't sound fair. 00:32:14.560 |
How come only the Israelites are protected and not the aliens?" 00:32:17.160 |
Remember, all of this is ultimately to point and to prepare the world for something greater. 00:32:25.440 |
So all the sacrifices, all the tabernacle, all the rituals of cleansing, all of this 00:32:38.940 |
So this is the part that I want you to make sure that you understand. 00:32:44.960 |
Number seven, Jesus fulfills the year of Jubilee. 00:32:49.920 |
And it's pretty clear because in Luke chapter 8, 14 to 21, if you can put that up there. 00:32:58.520 |
Jesus goes back and this is happening in the beginning of Jesus' ministry. 00:33:02.520 |
He goes back to Nazareth and he enters into the synagogue and he opens up Isaiah and he 00:33:10.240 |
reads this statement, which basically is the statement of the year of Jubilee. 00:33:15.600 |
And he says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel 00:33:20.680 |
He has set me to proclaim the release of the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, 00:33:25.640 |
to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." 00:33:30.360 |
And then he follows up in the next verse and he says, "To this day, this prophecy is fulfilled." 00:33:40.540 |
And that's how he begins his public ministry. 00:33:42.520 |
In other words, the year of Jubilee is going to be fulfilled in Christ. 00:33:48.360 |
So everything that Jesus was doing on the cross, releasing of our sins, restoration 00:33:55.220 |
And ultimately, salvation is restoration, right? 00:34:03.760 |
That's the whole history of salvation, right? 00:34:09.600 |
And so this concept of the Jubilee is to restore what was lost back to what God intended, right? 00:34:17.340 |
So Jesus begins his ministry and says, "What was lost, he will restore." 00:34:21.280 |
So if you go to the next passage, I want you to... 00:34:32.120 |
Remember when Jesus, when Peter came to Jesus and said, "How many times do you want me to 00:34:42.760 |
Not just seven times, because seven times is the number of perfection. 00:34:48.520 |
In other words, like, "You want me to be gracious and forgive him seven times?" 00:34:55.760 |
And Jesus, "Not seven times, but seven times seventy." 00:34:58.880 |
But the number seven times seventy is a very significant number, right? 00:35:03.120 |
And the reason why, if you can go to the next one. 00:35:14.680 |
Israel enters into the Promised Land, and they're in the Promised Land for about 800 00:35:20.840 |
years before they are taken into captivity by the Babylonians. 00:35:25.640 |
When they are taken into captivity into Babylon, how many years were they there? 00:35:36.000 |
"Those who had escaped from the sword, he carried away to Babylon, and they were servants 00:35:41.280 |
to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of 00:35:45.880 |
the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed its Sabbath. 00:35:50.400 |
All the days of its desolation, he kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete." 00:35:54.480 |
In other words, he's saying they're going to be cast out seventy years as a punishment 00:36:05.680 |
For seventy times that they didn't obey the Sabbath law, God's taking them into captivity. 00:36:12.480 |
So until those seventy years are fulfilled, they don't come back, right? 00:36:18.560 |
Now, they didn't obey, so that means out of the 800 years, for 490 years, they didn't 00:36:32.160 |
Seventy years, every seventh year, seven times seventy, 490 years. 00:36:44.000 |
They didn't observe, so every seventh year that they were supposed to rest on the Sabbath, 00:36:50.140 |
they didn't observe it for seventy times, right? 00:36:55.280 |
And so as a result of that, the seventy times that they didn't observe it, God's going to 00:36:59.600 |
send them out into captivity for seventy years, which means the 490 years of the time that 00:37:07.200 |
they were in the promised land, they didn't keep the Sabbath, right? 00:37:15.000 |
So when Peter says, "How many times do I forgive them?" 00:37:19.200 |
When Jesus says seven times seventy, it was not a random number. 00:37:25.400 |
Those were the years that God was patient with the nation of Israel. 00:37:30.120 |
It was 490 years God put up with their rebellion. 00:37:34.640 |
It was 490 years God was patient, sending the prophets, prophesying, asking them to 00:37:43.520 |
return and even after he sends them into captivity, he ultimately forgives them and restores them 00:37:51.080 |
So the seven times seventy wasn't a random number. 00:37:55.200 |
Those were the years that God put up with the nation of Israel and the only reason why 00:37:59.840 |
they exist even at the time of Christ was because he forgave them over and over and 00:38:08.080 |
So when Jesus says he had come to fulfill the year of Jubilee, right, this is what he's 00:38:13.800 |
referring to, his patience, and ultimately applying an overflowing to us, spiritually. 00:38:21.260 |
Every single Christian has experienced the year of Jubilee, right? 00:38:25.280 |
So sometimes you may not feel like that because it's financial and different pressures that 00:38:29.400 |
we have, but if our ultimate debt is the debt of sin, right, relational issues, problems, 00:38:37.960 |
families, hopes, whatever scars that you have had from the past, right, whatever wrongs 00:38:45.960 |
that you have experienced, right, the only answer is the blood of Christ. 00:38:51.200 |
So when he was crucified and resurrected from the dead, the year of Jubilee happened for 00:38:59.720 |
The day of atonement happened and God allowed us to give, what, a new life, right? 00:39:05.120 |
And that's what every Jew experienced every fiftieth year and every Christian experiences 00:39:11.160 |
when he accepts Christ as Lord and Savior, right? 00:39:14.760 |
I'm going to give you more time for discussion. 00:39:22.480 |
What is the purpose of the Sabbath in the new covenant? 00:39:25.920 |
It was central to the nation of Israel, right? 00:39:33.560 |
Why is it important and what consequences are there if we do not adhere to the Sabbath 00:39:39.760 |
We normally separate the law with grace, but the laws of the year of Jubilee is ultimately 00:39:51.160 |
How should the teaching of Jubilee be applied practically today in our lives, right? 00:39:56.120 |
Number three, how we view and use money is an indicator of where our heart is, right? 00:40:02.820 |
How does the use of your money reflect on your relationship with God and with others? 00:40:06.440 |
Are you generous and gracious with your finances or is it primarily used for yourself and your 00:40:11.640 |
How can you be more deliberate about the use of finances for God's kingdom? 00:40:14.640 |
Okay, so let me pray for us and I'll give you time to discuss in your group. 00:40:24.120 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you, Father, for just being gracious to us, wiping out our 00:40:30.680 |
sins, our debt that we could not possibly pay, that even in an obscure teaching, Lord 00:40:37.360 |
God, like this, there's so much depth and meaning behind it. 00:40:42.520 |
We thank you for opening our eyes to know more and more each week what it is that you 00:40:48.200 |
have done for us and that more that we understand, the more we would respond in a manner that 00:40:57.120 |
I pray for your blessing over our time of discussion. 00:41:00.960 |
May it stir our hearts, Lord God, to love you more.