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LEVITICUS
CHAPTER 25

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. 3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; 4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. 5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. 6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, 7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

The Sabbath YEAR was a very special time. Since agriculture was the chief means of this
economy, no planting meant virtually no business. God had many purposes here. For instance,
they needed to let the land rest and be replenished. This was a provision for the poor (verse 6),
and a reminder of God being Providor (verse 5). A great result of this special year was that the
people had more time to do "together" things.

8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. 9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. 10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 11 A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. 12 For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. 13 In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession. 14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another: 15 According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: 16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. 17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God. 18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: 21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store. 23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. 25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. 26 And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it; 27 Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. 28 But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. 29 And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it. 30 And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile. 31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile. 32 Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time. 33 And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

Another special year was the year of JUBILEE, which occurred every 50 years (verse 8).
upon this year, all lands and freedoms were restored to all Israelites.
This meant the people could not lose personhood or land for over 50 years.
Now this brought on some very interesting barter. For instance, if you wanted to sell some land, you would have
to look and see how soon Jubilee came before we could determine the value of the land.
Because of the year of Jubilee, all land returned to former owners!
All this says one thing very loud and clear to me for today. Nothing can separate us from God and His eternal
love!! Once we have surrendered to Him, NOTHING can change that!! Romans 8:38-39 says,
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
PRAISE GOD! We are "...sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise..." (Ephesians 1:13).
Now. Someone is going to say that if it is so, then a saved person can live like the devil because he's
ETERNALLY SEALED. Well, let's look at that a moment. Jonah tried doing things his way, and he ended up in the belly of
a fish for 3 days! The prodigal son tried to do things his way, but he soon realized that living the
"pig's life" wasn't what he wanted!
NO! A saved person cannot live like the devil. His conscience from God's Holy Spirit will not let him!
And if a saved person overrules his conscience, God's providential grace may do more than put
him in the smelly belly of an old fish!
The year of JUBILEE is to show that God's people are TRULY FREE. And the REASON for that freedom is because they
truly KNOW GOD! Now THAT'S true FREEDOM! And KNOWING God gives us God's desires.
One thing we humans need to grasp about salvation -- IT IS OF GOD! (see verse 23)
Notice also that the land could be redeemed if a man had sold it, and then his circumstances changed for
the better (verses 26-27). And if he was unable, his "kin" could redeem the land (verse 25).
This, I believe, speaks to us today. If your faith begins to dim, you can "redeem" it!! And if you can't or won't, then
your "kin" (church brothers and sisters) can!! This is not the redemption of salvation. This is the redemption of the joy
of salvation and clinging to that and exhibiting that.
Do you know someone that proclaims Christ, but is not exhibiting the JOY of salvation? Go to them and pray with
them. You might "redeem" them from apathy or vagrancy.

35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. 36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. 37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. 38 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

One should not take advantage of the poor. Instead, the brother who is poor should be "taken in."
And no interest should be charged nor rent. This will allow him to better himself and thus move on.
So many folk have done taken in strangers and then have had loss because the person took advantage of the situation.
But notice that God does not say take in the "stranger." God says take in the "brother" - one who loves the Lord.

39 And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: 40 But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile: 41 And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. 42 For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. 43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

If a "brother" must become an employee (bondsman), then they were only consigned as such until the year of Jubilee. Then they
could go free. And notice verse 43. They were cautioned to be gracious to those who were less fortunate.
Does God sometimes test our graciousness? Read the parable in Luke 18:23-35.

44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. 46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

Servants who were taken from other countries were not released at the year of Jubilee. Those who refuse to become saved
are CONTINUAL BONDSERVANTS!
What a blessing we have when we willingly serve our Lord Jesus.

47 And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family: 48 After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: 49 Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself. 50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him. 51 If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. 52 And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. 53 And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight. 54 And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubile, both he, and his children with him.

The Lord told the Israelites to "redeem" any kin they saw sold into slavery of a "stranger."
Their responsibility was to use what they had to get the "brother" out of slavery.
As Christians, we are responsible to use what we have to "redeem" our fellow-Christians out of the slavery of sin.

55 For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

God has purchased the Christian family with the blood of Jesus at Calvary. We have a tremendous
responsibility to the "brother" in Christ who has allowed himself to be enslaved again to sin.

Most churches have membership rolls that are flooded with people who once made a profession of faith, but are now living
OUTSIDE the will of God. The evidence is plain: they don't attend church, and they probably aren't reading the Bible or praying.
It is the responsibility of the Christians in the church to use EVERY MEANS to "redeem" them!

Please continue to follow along in Bible study with us.