9# Behar (ON THE MOUNT - 'SINAI')(Lev. 25:1-26:2) (5-8-21)

(THE JUBILEE YEAR: ‘AREHEARSAL FOR THE FINAL REDEMPTION WITH A GREAT TRUMPET’)!



(Leviticus 25:10):

“You shall thus consecrate ‘The 50th Year And Proclaim A Release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a ‘JUBILEE’ for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.”



The Sabbatical Year occurred once every ‘7 Years’. God Commanded His People to count off ‘7 Full Sabbatical Cycles’. Seven Cycles of ‘7 Years’ multiplies out to ’49 Years’. The 50th Year was called the: ‘YOVEL (יובל) YEAR’. YOVEL is transliterated into English Bibles as ‘JUBILEE’.



The Hebrew Word ‘YOVEL’, originates from The Trumpet made from a Sheep’s Horn that was Sounded at the beginning of The Jubilee Year (Lev. 25:9; cf. Ex. 19:13; Jos. 6:4–5).This suggestion is supported by the translation of ‘YOVEL’ in the Septuagint as ‘APHESIS’ meaning (LIBERATION). Josephus, the 1st Century Historian, gives its meaning as ‘FREEDOM’. But whichever definition one uses, it is clear enough that the primary reference of the Word: ‘YOVEL/JUBILEE’ it is aplied to The Biblical Observance of The 50th Year (Lev. 25:10).



The ‘Jubilee Year’ is supposed to be declared 10 Days after it begins (ROSH HaShanah), by a ‘Sounding Of Trumpets on The Day of Atonement’. During The Jubilee Year, agriculture is not to be planted, just like a Sabbatical Year. When The Jubilee comes, debts are forgiven, loans are cancelled, slaves are released and property holdings return to their original family owners. Suppose all your debts were cancelled and you were given an expensive tract of land that had belonged to your great-grandfather generations ago. Suppose you were a slave because you owed a large sum of money. When the Trumpet of The Jubilee Year Sounded, your debts were forgiven and you were set free.



This sounds a like what it means to be saved. The Bible tells us that before knowing Jesus, we are all debtors. Our sins collect like a great financial burden that we have no hope of ever repaying. Worse, we are slaves to the adversary. Without Jesus our Redeemer, we are spiritually hopeless, in bondage and without inheritance.



Perhaps this explains why The Jubilee Year is proclaimed on The Day of Atonement. More than any other Festival on The Biblical Calendar, The Day of Atonement teaches about Messiah's Atoning Sacrifice and The Forgiveness of Sins. What a Great Day to declare the Remission of Debt and Freedom from Bondage!



(THE JUBILEE YEAR: ‘A REHEARSAL FOR THE FINAL REDEMPTION WITH A GREAT TRUMPET’)!