Celebration Justice

KEY VERSE: “Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof it shall be a Jubilee unto you.” —Leviticus 25:10

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 25:8-12, 25-28, 39-42

THE Jubilee was intended to be a very special time in Israel. It was to be celebrated every fiftieth year and was announced by the blowing of trumpets on the Day of Atonement. It was designed to be a remedy for those evils of inequity which, as a result of the fall, seem to accompany human society. Under this arrangement the land was not to be sown, the vineyards or orchards dressed, and that which produced of itself was not to be gathered in the Jubilee Year, but was to be left for the poor and the strangers in the land.

Another feature of the Jubilee involved the return of acquired land and the release of slaves. Originally the Israelites had a portion of the Promised Land divided to each family by lot. This portion of the land they held as their personal stewardship granted by God, and they were not to dispose of it on any permanent basis. Hence, an Israelite could part with his estate but for a term of years only; when the Jubilee Year arrived, the land again reverted to its original owner.

The freeing of those who had become slaves was another important part of the Jubilee. This periodic emancipation seemed to apply to every class of Jewish servants—to those who had sold themselves because they had become too poor to provide for their families; to those who had been taken and sold to satisfy a debt; and, in some cases, those who had been sold into servitude for committing a crime.

The Law of Israel. in principle, was a prototype of the greater law which will serve the entire world of mankind during the times of restitution. And how beautifully this feature of the Jewish Law depicts the very essence of the restitution work. Under its kingdom function, mankind will be lifted out of bondage to the Adversary, the great oppressor, and made free from slavery to sin and death. Then, being restored to righteousness and perfection, the people of the world again will receive back in their possession that which was granted by God in the beginning, but was lost—everlasting life and dominion over the earth.

Restitution is a truth of such magnitude that it defies description; but it is not visionary, it is the theme-song of the entire Bible! Peter said it was “spoken by the mouth of all his [God’s] holy prophets since the world began.”—Acts 3:21

Moses recorded God’s promise to Abraham that through his seed all the families of the earth are to be blessed. Moses also foretold that God would raise up a Prophet like unto him, only greater, and that this prophet would give life to the people. Peter quotes this prophecy and applies its full import to the work of restitution which would follow the second advent of Christ.

David foretold the coming kingdom of righteousness and described the abundance of its blessings.

Isaiah told of the time when death would be swallowed up in victory, and when God would wipe away tears from off all faces.

Jeremiah described the great change that will come in human experience, that men and women will no longer die because of inherited sins and weaknesses. The people will not then say, “The fathers have eaten the sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”—Jer. 31:29

Ezekiel assures us that both Jews and Gentiles shall be restored to life, returning to their “former estate.”—Ezek. 16:53-63

Daniel describes the permanence of Messiah’s kingdom, and says that those who “sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.”—Dan. 2:44; 12:2

Hosea assures us that God will plague death until its prisoners are released, and that death itself will be destroyed.—Hos. 13:14

Job was one of God’s holy prophets. His whole life’s experience was a portrayal of God’s dealings with the human race. Job was a faithful servant of God, but divine wisdom permitted affliction to come upon him just as God has allowed evil to afflict the entire human race. But finally God intervened on behalf of Job; his health was restored, and blessings of wealth, etc., similar to those he lost, were restored to him.

Restitution—oh, what a Jubilee that will be!

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