Leviticus Talk 4

JUBILEE - Leviticus 25

Let me start with a couple of horror stories. Number 1. Don was an elder in his church. One of the key church leaders; and Don had a disagreement with a customer in his metalworking business. Over an unpaid bill. So Don threatened to SUE him. And took him to court. The customer was a fellow member of the same church. A christian brother. Who Don was expected to CARE FOR and ENCOURAGE – as part of his duty as an elder. Instead of that, they're in litigation. Over money.

I could repeat the same story a number of times. A young carpenter; Steve; just a new Christian, finding his feet in the church. Specializes in small home renovations. He’s just finished renovating a kitchen for a fellow church member; and when the job’s done, the fellow church member REFUSES TO PAY. He says, if you want your money, you’ll have to take me to court.

Somehow, that sort of thing just doesn’t seem right, does it? I mean, you expect to get ripped off by some people; there’s that old saying, LET THE BUYER BEWARE. There are sharks everywhere. But when it comes to the FAMILY OF GOD, when it comes to our dealings with one another as Christian brothers and sisters, maybe you feel things ought to be different to that. That we ought to treat one another BETTER THAN THAT. If you feel that way, YOU’RE RIGHT.

And yet if you’re in business maybe you’ll just laugh. And say, don’t be IDEALISTIC. Business is business. It’s a dog eat dog world out there, so you’ve got to be tough. And it doesn’t matter WHO you’re dealing with… debts are debts. Bills are bills. Profits are profits.

Well, when you have a look at the way God sets things up for the people of Israel, it’s an incredible system, isn’t it. The chapter I just read in Leviticus.

And again, I just want to take a couple of minutes to set the scene. To see where we are in the bible. The situation this chapter is talking to.

If you’ve been here the last few weeks you might remember; we’re right at the start of the history of the people of Israel. God's people. Who at the moment are a bunch of bronze age herdsmen who have been SLAVES in the land of Egypt. The people we're looking at here are just a few generations down from the Pyramid builders. And in an incredible set of circumstances that you can read about in the book of Exodus, GOD HAS BROUGHT THEM UP OUT OF EGYPT, he’s rescued them from slavery. And he’s leading them to their new home.

And here they are on the edge of their new land. As God spells out the ground rules for how things are going to be. Land rights policy, for life in their new land.

We hear a lot these days about LAND RIGHTS, don’t we. The Mabo case, the fight by Aboriginals to get beck their original rights to their land. We hear about the fight by farmers and graziers and miners to hold on to what’s been theirs for two or three generations. We hear about property developers making millions of dollars out of real estate. The right investment at the right time. Land prices going up and up and up. We hear about farmers in drought – forced to just walk off the family farm. Because they can’t afford to keep paying the banks. All those issues, they’re wrapped up here in a chapter full of laws and rules for the Israelites. That are designed to guarantee that NONE OF THOSE THINGS HAPPEN. Because the land of Israel, it’s going to be different. Because these Israelites… are the people of God.

That’s the theory. And you can see it in summary if you have a look at verse 14. And verse 17. First of all verse 14. If you sell land to one of your countrymen or buy any from him, DON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HIM. And verse 17. Same words. DO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EACH OTHER. But fear your God. I am the Lord your God.

Everyone else in the world is ripping each other off. You Israelites be different. Because you’re the people of God.

Now have a look with me at some of the practical ways that’s going to happen. First of all, they’re going to have what they call SABBATH YEARS. One year in every seven where the land lies fallow, they don’t plant any crops; they just eat what comes up. And let the whole land rest.

Good agriculture; especially in the days before fertilizer. But it was something MORE THAN THAT. Read verse 3 and you’ll see it. It says "For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the SEVENTH YEAR, the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath TO THE LORD. A time to remember it’s GOD’S LAND. The land God gave them. A time to remember THERE’S MORE TO LIFE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD than making a buck.

But the sabbath year, once every seven, it’s nothing compared to what happens in what’s called the YEAR OF JUBILEE. Which takes up the rest of the chapter. Verses 8 to 54. They reckon the word Jubilee comes from a very ancient word for trumpet.

Because when you’ve counted off seven sabbaths of years – seven times seven years – on the 49^th year, you sound the Trumpet. And for a lot of people, that’s going to be the best sound they ever heard in their lives.

Have a look what it says. The day of atonement on the 49^th year you sound the trumpet, and verse 10 says, you CONSECRATE THE 50TH YEAR. You set it apart to be special. Different from all the other years.

Because this is going to be the year of FREEDOM. It says, consecrate the 50^th year and proclaim LIBERTY throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a JUBILEE for you. And on it goes with the details.

Now before you can really appreciate this, you’ve got to imagine you’re one of those people who’s got yourself in a real jam. Debts up to your eyeballs. I knew a guy once, he got so much in debt on his bankcard, he had to get another bankcard to pay it off. This is serious. And in the end it just got worse and worse. Paying interest on his interest on his interest. And it happens. You can get to a point where you’re just so financially overloaded that it’s the end of the line. And like I said before, if you’re on the family farm, you just have to walk off. Leave it all behind. Which is devastating. Back in Israel, it could get worse. Because if you really got to the bottom of the barrel, you’d even have to SELL YOUR SELF. And become a slave. That's what they did back then.

So just in your mind for a minute, if you’ve got any debts, double them. Triple them. Bump them up to the point where there’s no way in the world you can afford to pay them back. And then imagine you’re hearing the trumpet blowing all around Israel. To announce the year of Jubilee.

WHAT HAPPENS?

a) The Family Farm

Here’s what happens. First of all, if you’ve lost the farm. Or had to sell it.

Verse 13; in this year of Jubilee, once every fifty years, everything goes back to the way it was before. A CLEAN SLATE. Every tribe in Israel, every family, when they first settled in to the promised land, they were given an allocation. And now, even if they’ve had to sell it to pay the bills, the Jubilee trumpet sounds, and they get it back. Read what it says. Verse 13. In this Year of Jubilee, everyone is to RETURN TO HIS OWN PROPERTY. The family farm, it’s yours again.

Which means, of course, when you’re buying and selling real estate, when you’re looking at the photos in the real estate agents window and you’re thinking, gee, that looks good… the Jubilee rule makes a very big difference. Because when you’re buying it, you know you’re not really buying it. What you’re really doing is buying a LEASE. For however many years until the Jubilee.

And verses 14 and 15 spell that out. So if you sell or you buy from your countryman, don’t take advantage of each other. No real estate speculation. None of this buying a block for 50,000 bucks and subdividing it and selling it for a million. Because all you’re doing, says verse 15, is taking out a lease. You’re to buy from your country man on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And he’s to sell to you on the number of years left for harvesting crops. Lot of years, lot of money. Few years, less money. Because you have to remember, JUBILEE, when the trumpet sounds, it all gets handed back.

Now here’s the bigger one. And I want you to look at it. There are all sorts of details of how if you lose your land your relatives can redeem it. And special rules for the Levites; and regulations for if it’s a walled city, which is different to if it’s a country village.

And then from verse 35, the situation for if one of your fellow Israelites becomes POOR. What do you do?

Well, verse 35, YOU HELP HIM OUT. So he can keep living among you. And verse 36 says, you mustn’t lend him money AT INTEREST, or sell him food for a profit. Because you’ve got to HELP HIM. And then the JUBILEE RULES AGAIN. From verse 39.

b) Slaves Set Free

Follow what it says. If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and SELLS HIMSELF TO YOU, don’t make him work as a slave. Treat him like a HIRED WORKER. With dignity. And it says in verse 40, he’ll work for you… until the YEAR OF JUBILEE.

Here’s this guy, see - pretend it's YOU - your debts have multiplied and piled up so high around your ears that you say, there’s nothing else I can do. Except sell myself as a slave. And aren’t you glad that God says to your fellow Israelites, don’t you dare take advantage of a fellow Israelite at a time like that. Pick him up from the dirt. Dust him off. And say, you’re not my slave – you’re a hired worked.

And so you’re counting down the years. It’s a ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE. Because the year of Jubilee comes… wouldn’t you be hanging out for it… and verse 41 says, you, and your children, you’re released. Set free to go back to your own clan and to the property of your forefathers. A clean slate. How would you feel?

Now back then in the ancient middle east, slavery was a fact of life. And you can see that in verse 44 to 46. Israelites can buy slaves; but only from the nations around them; and they can buy temporary residents. Buying a slave is like buying a LIFETIME LABOUR CONTRACT. You’d pay for it all up front. And then a person and their labour, they become yours. And verse 46 says you can will them on to your children as inherited property. But not… NOT… a fellow Israelite.

Verse 47, it cuts the other way too… a temporary resident, a migrant into Israel, becomes rich; and a fellow Israelite becomes poor. And sells himself as a slave to the alien living among you; if you’re in that situation, you’ve got the right of REDEMPTION. Verse 49; an uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, if the Telstra shares come good, he can REDEEM HIMSELF.

But again, have a look how it works. Verse 50. Count the time from the year he sold himself, up to the YEAR OF JUBILEE. And work out how long is left. To pay it out. Because the rule is, if you’re an Israelite, doesn’t matter how much of a mess you’ve got yourself in… when the year of Jubilee comes, YOU’RE FREE, BABY! You WALK.

Verse 54, there have been all these ways you can buy your freedom, all these ways you can be redeemed. But even if you’re not redeemed in any of these ways, you and your children are RELEASED… in the year of Jubilee.

I mean, it’d have to be a great feeling, wouldn’t it? All those debts – just blown away. On the year of Jubilee.

And why? Why? Because of the SORT OF GOD THEY SERVE. Because they serve a GOD OF FREEDOM.

That’s what this is all about. And you can see it all the way through the chapter.

Why do you look after the poor in Israel? Why not charge interest, make a buck out of his bad luck? Verse 38. Because of the way God treated YOU. These Israelites, see, don’t forget, they were SLAVES BACK IN EGYPT. God’s making a nation out of a bunch of former slave labourers. Who he’s rescued. So remember. Verse 38. I and the LORD YOUR GOD who brought you out of Egypt to GIVE YOU THE LAND OF CANAAN. Remember WHO YOU ARE. Remember WHAT I’VE DONE FOR YOU. I’ve done that... to be YOUR GOD.

So let it guide you in the way you treat one another.

Same in verse 42. If one of your countrymen gets so poor he wants to sell himself to you as a slave, don’t treat him like a slave. Why not? Verse 42 – Because you Israelites, you’re MY SERVANTS WHO I BROUGHT OUT OF EGYPT. So don’t go making MY SERVANT… YOUR SERVANT. Because the Israelites are my servants, says God, they mustn’t be sold as slaves. Do not rule over them ruthlessly… but FEAR YOUR GOD.

Same thing in verse 54 and 55. If you’ve hit rock bottom, you’ve sold yourself as a slave to a foreigner… even if you’re not redeemed any other way, you’ll be set free in the year of Jubilee, because… verse 55.. because the Israelites belong to ME as servants. They are MY SERVANTS… who I brought out of Egypt. I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.

These Israelites… they’re THE PEOPLE OF GOD. They’re the people GOD HAS SET FREE FROM SLAVERY IN EGYPT. And every 50 years, there’s a great reminder of that. The DEBT FORGIVING GOD… the GOD WHO SETS PEOPLE FREE to SERVE HIM… he says, once every 50 years, tear up all the account books, cancel the debts. And start again.

Now how do you like the sound of that? I guess it depends what side of the ledger you’re on, doesn’t it? How do you like the sound of DEBTS BEING FORGIVEN? Of people being let off the hook in a way they don’t really deserve? Depends on whether you reckon you’ve got a credit balance. Or you know you’re in debt.

See, the point is, every 50 years Israel was meant to be reminded that they serve a JUBILEE GOD. A God of forgiveness. A God of NEW STARTS. And that was meant to remind them… how they're meant to treat ONE ANOTHER.

You know, the sad thing was, even though the Jubilee rules were spelt out in so much detail when the nation of Israel was starting out, even though God made it so clear how Israelites were meant to CARE FOR EACH OTHER… FORGIVE EACH OTHER… that’s not the way Israel panned out.

And in our home groups during the week, we looked at some passages that gave a very sad picture… of how Israelites just RIPPED ONE ANOTHER OFF. Just like anyone else. Because this Jubilee stuff, well, it was a just a bit inconvenient, wasn’t it… if SOMEONE WAS IN DEBT TO YOU. And you had to forgive them. And it got in the road of GETTING AHEAD.

But GOD IS STILL A JUBILEE GOD. A God of NEW STARTS. And that’s what I want to reinforce most this morning. I mean, imagine right here, right now, I could just say, whatever it is on your mastercard bill for the month, whatever you’ve booked up on your St George VisaCard… it’s CANCELLED. Tear up your bill. It’s PAID FOR.

Well, I can’t say it for your credit card. But I CAN say it when it comes to your account with God. That the JUBILEE GOD has actually PAID YOUR BILLS FOR YOU. At the cost of the life of his Son on the Cross.

And he expects YOU to do likewise. See, the interesting thing is, this JUBILEE SORT OF THINKING, it runs its way right through the Bible, and it pops up everywhere. What the Israelites were meant to do, they were meant to always remember that they served a SAVING GOD. The God who brought them out of SLAVERY IN EGYPT. And so that was meant to be their paradigm, meant to be their PATTERN – for how they treated one another.

And the New Testament says, it’s EXACTLY THE SAME WITH US. Except that instead of looking back to how God saved us out of Egypt, we look back to the cross.

Ephesians 4. Verse 32. And if you haven’t found it, you’ll see it on your service sheet. Look for the words JUST AS. They're the key. Because we're called to be JUST AS HE WAS.

Get that? Look at how GOD TREATED YOU. And spread it around. Imitate. Forgive each other. Like God forgave you. Live a life of Love. Like Jesus loved us. Give yourself up for each other. Just as Christ gave himself up… for us. Look at him, and do it. Look at him, and do it.

If you were an Israelite, it meant CANCELLING DEBTS. Literal debts. And caring for your fellow Israelites. For us as Christians, it might mean the same. It might mean simply FORGIVING EACH OTHER. For the wrongs we do. For the way we so easily offend one another, do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing.

You know, it’s so HARD to forgive, isn’t it. And the longer I’ve been around, the more I see how hard it is. To let go of hurts. To CANCEL DEBTS you’ve got chalked up; when you’ve been offended, when you’ve been hurt by someone, it’s so hard to let it go. Hard for God, as well. It cost him the life of his Son. Who was like the lightning rod for the Father's anger at sin. Costly. But can you do that… as forgiven people… first of all, accept God’s jubilee. His forgiveness of you. And then extend it to one another. In a sense, the trumpet blew once and for all when Jesus came and died. So we need to say, I FORGIVE YOU. Like God forgave me. I love you. Like Jesus loves me. I cancel your debt. Like he cancelled mine.

PRAY