In the laws given to Moses, the Lord imposed an radical new practice. Every seven years the land was to lay at rest, no sowing or reaping, a Sabbath year. Then, after seven Sabbath periods (49 years), the nation celebrated a year of Jubilee. Here’s how the year started:

On the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a jubilee for you.

What a wonderful morning waking up to trumpets proclaiming liberty throughout the land! The displaced returned to their family homesteads. Debts were settled and servants set free. A societal reset every fifty years.

An interesting idea for today. One mark of good government are systems where people can work off debt, set themselves free, and find good homes for themselves and their families. Be grateful when such structures are in place, and work to ensure they stay.

We can personally bless in jubilee-type ways. Perhaps it’s helping a co-worker succeed and advance, whether you benefit or not. Maybe it’s lending a hand to a neighbor, or serving in a disaster zone, or giving to good organizations caring for the needy.

Or perhaps it’s simply telling of the Jubilee we’ve experienced.

The good and gracious God created a system of liberty and rest for the children of Israel. The same good and gracious God sent his Son proclaiming liberty to all who respond. Accept his gift, tell others, and enjoy the jubilee.

Leviticus 25 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Fuu J