And thou shalt count seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; so that the days of the seven sabbaths of years be unto thee forty-nine years.
Leviticus 25 gives Israel a calendar that spans a lifetime. Israel counts seven sets of seven years, out to forty-nine, and the fiftieth year becomes the jubilee. The count is not filler. It fixes when liberty comes, who declares it, and what it rests on.
God had already given Israel a sabbath day and a sabbath month. Here the same pattern stretches over years.
There was a sabbath day and a sabbath month. In the same way there was a sabbath year, and then one more year after seven times that year. This last one is the jubilee, and it comes when the cycle of seven sabbath years is complete. The first two concerned the people with Jehovah; the last two concerned the land... The land stands out in the sabbath year, and still more fully in the jubilee.
The verse names the multiplication — seven sevens — before it gives the total. That number is more than a sum.
Seven times seven years surely speaks of the fullness of God's time. Then the trumpet of the jubilee is blown and what happens? The captive slave is set free. The lost land is returned.
Between one jubilee and the next, land could be sold, families broken up, estates lost. One writer treats that whole span as a licence with a time limit on it.
This law tells us, if I may put it that way, that the Lord God will not let man have the last word. Man cannot take eternity into his own hand and do with it as he pleases. Man has a term of years granted him, in which it is left in his power to disturb God's order. But that licence is limited. It continues, as we have seen, only for forty-nine years. But "the land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine," says the Lord (v. 23). In the fiftieth year the Lord will assert His right and restore all things according to His own mind.
The count ends. But the trumpet waits for one particular day.
Of all the Jewish ceremonies, the jubilee seems to have been the most soul-stirring and thrilling. It was directly connected with the great day of atonement. First the blood of the victim was shed. Then the freeing sound of the jubilee trumpet rang through the hills and valleys of the land of Canaan... The reach of the jubilee was as wide as the reach of the atonement it rested on.
The jubilee touched every level of life: homes, debts, land and families.
The exile came home. The captive went free. The debtor was released. Each family opened its arms to welcome back its long-lost members. Each inheritance received back its exiled owner. The sound of the trumpet was a welcome and stirring signal. The captive could escape. The slave could throw off the chains of his slavery. The manslayer could return to his home. The ruined and the poor could rise up and take back the inheritance they had lost.
So who is the picture for? One writer draws a firm line.
The jubilee is in no way a picture of what belongs to the Christian or the church. It is a picture of Israel and the land, for the day when Jehovah brings His people into the full blessing He promised them... It has to do above all with the people and the land. Christ is to have glory everywhere, and a people suited for the earth as well as for heaven.
The name of the year itself points back to a horn and a shout.
In Lev. 25:9 the Hebrew word is teruah, "loud of sound." Everywhere else the word is yobel. It is translated "trumpet" in Ex. 19:13, "rams' horn" in Joshua 6:4-6, and "Jubilee" in Lev. 25:10-15... Fürst traces the word back to yabal, "strong": so "a he-goat, ram," then "a ram's horn," and then "a cry of joy, a joyful noise."
- Count — seven sevens is not arithmetic for its own sake. It marks the fullness of God's time.
- Cross — the trumpet sounds only after the blood of the sacrifice is shed. The reach of the liberty matches the reach of the atonement.
- Cry — yobel and teruah mean a ram's horn and a loud shout; the jubilee arrives as noise everyone can hear.
- Claim — the forty-nine years are man's limited licence to disturb God's order. In the fiftieth year God asserts that the land is His.
- Come back — people go home: the captive freed, the debtor released, the exile back, the inheritance restored to its owner.
Then shalt thou cause the loud sound of the trumpet to go forth in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month; on the day of atonement shall ye cause the trumpet to go forth throughout your land.
Israel's year of freedom opened with a trumpet blast on the Day of Atonement, the day sacrifice dealt with the nation's sins. Why tie liberty to the year's most solemn fast, and what did that sound release?
The Hebrew word in this verse is not the word used elsewhere for the jubilee.
It is a much disputed point what the word Jubilee means, or from what root it comes.
Why does the freedom year start on a fast day, and not on the first of the month?
So there is careful, clear reason for basing the jubilee on the atonement-day offering, once made and accepted. It was the most solemn sacrifice of the year. The horn was to sound so loud, and bring in the proclamation of liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It sounded not on the first of the seventh month but on the tenth… But the tenth was the fast, when no one was to work… Christ's atonement alone accounts for this. His work, His suffering for sin, explains it all.
One note changed the standing of every person in the country.
People of every rank felt the holy, refreshing influence of this most noble institution. The exile came home. The captive and the debtor went free. Each family opened its arms to receive its long-lost members once more; each inheritance received back its exiled owner. The sound of the trumpet was the welcome, stirring signal for the captive to escape and for the slave to throw off the chains of his slavery. It was the signal too for the manslayer to return home, and for the ruined and poverty-stricken to take possession of the inheritance they had forfeited.
The order of that day matters.
On the day of atonement that trumpet of jubilee sounds. It sounds after the scapegoat has carried away the people's sins, where they are never found again. And again, how beautifully its birthday shows its gracious character! Now the whole year is set apart as holy, and so liberty is proclaimed to all. And still Jehovah provides for all the inhabitants of the land, without limit for anyone and without cutting short the abundance. The fruits grow of themselves; there is no curse anywhere.
So who does this freedom belong to?
The "liberty" that follows at once is the answer to that work of atonement completed and accepted. It is quite different from the deliverance from the law of sin and death that we know as Christians, traced in Romans 8, 2 Corinthians 3 and Galatians 5. The jubilee is in no way a picture of what belongs to the Christian or the church. It pictures Israel and the land, when Jehovah brings His people into their full promised blessing.
How long did Israel wait between the sacrifice and the good news?
The year of jubilee only began at the evening of the day of atonement. So Israel will only know deliverance when they have learned what their sins required, and how the Lord's death met their need. Yet as the day of atonement drew to a close, the jubilee trumpet sounded, for God did not let the priest put it off till the morning. People heard the trumpet blast before night closed on the scene.
The verse asks for a loud blast across the whole land. One writer hears in that a lesson for preaching.
Some people think preachers should be very quiet… speaking in a quiet, easy-going, take-it-or-leave-it way. The trumpet of jubilee must be loud of sound. See! The priests fill their lungs with air and blow a mighty blast that rings right across Jerusalem… Blast after blast rings out, from north to south, over hill and valley. The glad news sounds on until every captive has heard that liberty is theirs, and they step out free.
- Atonement first. The freedom year rests on the day of sacrifice. The horn sounds on the tenth of the seventh month, not the first.
- Sin gone. The trumpet follows the scapegoat. Sins go first; then the year turns holy and liberty goes out to all.
- Sound loud. "Loud of sound" is the very word this verse uses. The blast had to cross the whole land until every captive heard it.
- Everyone returns. Captives freed, debts released, families reunited, forfeited inheritances restored.
- Israel's day. Commentators read the jubilee as Israel's coming blessing in the land, not the Christian's freedom. Israel will know it once the nation learns what its sins required.
And ye shall hallow the year of the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty in the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; a [year of] jubilee shall it be unto you, and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
a year of jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you ye shall not sow, neither reap its aftergrowth, nor gather [the fruit of] its undressed vines.
Leviticus 25 brings Israel's whole calendar to a climax. After seven cycles of seven years, God sets the fiftieth year apart, and its first command is that nobody plants and nobody harvests. A whole nation stopping work for a year raises two questions. What would they eat? And what was God picturing?
The word itself points to the trumpet that opened the year. Writers disagree about where it comes from:
It is a very disputed point what the word Jubilee means, or what root it comes from… Fürst traces the word from yabal, "strong": so "a he-goat, ram," then "a ram's horn," and so "a cry of joy, a joyful noise," a name for the great Jubilee feast.
The ban on sowing and reaping is not an isolated rule. It is the largest of a series of rests in Israel's calendar:
Every seventh day was a sabbatical day; every seventh year was a sabbatical year; and every seven times seven years there was a jubilee. Each of these ceremonies was a picture. All of them held before the eye of faith the happy prospect of a time when labour and sorrow would cease, when "the sweat of the brow" would no longer be needed to satisfy hunger.
For a year they ate only what the ground gave on its own — grapes from unpruned vines and whatever seeded itself. That pointed to soil which would one day stop resisting the farmer:
It is a small witness of the great change to come, when the land will no longer be barren or grudging. It will yield its full increase, to honour the great King and to greet His people — no longer small, but mighty, exalted and blessed.
The forty-ninth year was already a sabbatical year. So obedience here meant missing two harvests in a row, and the command rested on nothing but a promise:
Verse 20 expects them to ask, "What shall we eat …?" In answer they had to rely on God's pledged word that the sixth year would bring enough for three years. So they would have enough even though they did not sow in the fiftieth year as well as the forty-ninth. The question came down to this: would they take God at His word? It is an ominous fact that their history holds no record of the jubilee year ever being kept.
Only one person could stand behind such an arrangement:
What a sight it must have been. In the sabbatical year the land lay fallow everywhere. No sound of farming was heard. The plough and the harrow lay idle, nobody sowed seed, nobody watered a field. The sixth year's crop had been so large that it provided enough for three years (20-22). The people had all they needed, and there was no shortage for man or beast. Who would have thought of this? Who could make such a promise and keep it, but one? He to whom the land belonged, the Lord Jehovah, the Creator.
The trumpet did not sound on just any day. Its timing tied the whole year to a sacrifice:
It stood directly connected with the great day of atonement. When the blood of the victim was shed, the freeing sound of the jubilee trumpet rang through the hills and valleys of the land of Canaan… The scope of the jubilee was as wide as the scope of the atonement it rested on.
Stopping work was only half of it. The same year gave people back what they had lost:
The exile returned. The captive went free. The debtor was released. Each family opened its arms to welcome its long-lost members again. Each inheritance received back its exiled owner. The trumpet's sound was the welcome, stirring signal — for the captive to escape, for the slave to throw off his chains, for the manslayer to return home, for the ruined and poor to rise up and take back the inheritance they had lost.
Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. Kelly draws a firm line: "The jubilee is in no way a type of what belongs to the Christian or the church. It is a type of Israel for the land, when Jehovah's people will be brought into their full promised blessing" (William Kelly). Others use it as an illustration for believers, while agreeing on its main reference:
I do not say that the sounding of the jubilee trumpet was a type of the Lord's coming for us. I believe it pictures the time when the Lord will appear to the Jews as their Messiah and bring His ancient people into their promised liberty. But as an illustration it is striking… It shows that the value we attach to everything here matches our sense of how far off or how near the Lord's coming is.
- Sound. The year opened with a ram's-horn blast. The name itself carries the idea of a joyful noise.
- Sacrifice. The blast came on the Day of Atonement. The freedom it announced reached as far as the sacrifice behind it.
- Silence. No sowing, no reaping, no grape-gathering: a year picturing the end of toil under the sweat of the brow.
- Supply. The command tested their trust. God pledged a triple harvest in the sixth year — a promise only the owner of the land could make.
- Restoration. Slaves went free, debts ended, families and land came back — a picture of Israel's blessing under Messiah.
For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you; out of the field shall ye eat its produce.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
In this year of the jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.
The fiftieth year in Israel was not a new beginning built from nothing — it was a homecoming. Every field that had passed into another man's hands went back to the family it came from, because the land belonged to God and no sale could cancel that.
Israelites could trade with one another, but what changed hands was never the land itself. One writer looks at the buying and selling rules that follow this verse:
The year of jubilee reminded both buyer and seller that the land belonged to the Lord, and was not to be sold. "The fruits" might be sold, but that was all — the Lord could never give up the land to anyone... If the land of Canaan is not to be sold — if the Lord declares it to be His forever, then for whom does He want it? Who is to hold under Him? Those to whom He gave it by an everlasting covenant.
One writer describes the arrangement as a lease with a fixed end date:
He set up, you might say, a tenancy for forty-nine years. The trading of the occupiers disturbed everything. Then, in the fiftieth year, He returned to the land and settled it anew on His family, according to His own mind.
The jubilee handed out no fresh grants. It put people back where God had placed them at the start.
A joyful sound it must have been. But this institution really gave them nothing new. It only restored liberty to the slave, and the land to its original owner. Restoration was its special feature. That suited a failing people who had lost either their personal liberty or their family land. They lost it by one means or another, but the real root was sin.
The signal came on the Day of Atonement, the yearly day of sacrifice for the nation's sin. The timing was no accident:
It was directly connected with the great day of atonement. The trumpet only sounded once the blood of the victim had been shed. Then its freeing note rang through the hills and valleys of the land of Canaan... The jubilee reached as far as the atonement it rested on.
Another writer notes the exact day. Trumpets also sounded on the first day of that month, but the jubilee trumpet came nine days later:
See the careful concern to base the jubilee on the offering and acceptance of the atonement day. That day brought the most solemn sacrifice of the year... The "liberty" that follows right after is the answer to that work of atonement, completed and accepted.
The chapter gives two ways back to a lost inheritance.
The ordinance of the jubilee seems to set out this twofold redemption — by price and by power. At any time during the forty-nine years, a relative of the heir could buy back the lost possession of an Israelite. That redeemed it and brought it back to the family it had belonged to under God. But if no one did this, it returned to the heir in the fiftieth year, the jubilee, with no price paid.
One writer applies the same two stages to believers now — the price already paid, the jubilee still ahead:
Peace and hope live in the soul together, along with the enjoyment of the Spirit's presence. This is the peace that the completed purchase by the blood speaks of. This is the hope that the approaching jubilee, or full redemption, inspires. And this is the comfort of the indwelling Spirit, who is the seal of the peace already made and the pledge of the expected inheritance.
Commentators differ on who the jubilee pictures. Some limit it to Israel and the land:
The jubilee is in no way a picture of what belongs to the Christian or the church. It is a picture of Israel and the land, when the Lord brings His people into their full promised blessing.
Others agree, but still draw a wider lesson from it. One writer says the trumpet points to the time when the Lord appears to the Jews as their Messiah and gives every tribe its own possession. "But as an illustration it is striking," he adds, for the blessings His coming brings (H H Snell). In the synagogue Jesus read Isaiah's words about liberty for captives and "the acceptable year of the Lord." Of that reading a dictionary entry says, "there may be an allusion to the year of Jubilee... But the grace given by the Lord brought lasting blessings for their souls" (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
- Owner — The land was God's; men could sell its crops for a term of years, never the ground itself.
- Loss — Israelites lost their family land, and sometimes their freedom, and at root that loss was the fruit of sin.
- Blood — The trumpet only sounded once the Day of Atonement was complete. Liberty answers an accepted sacrifice.
- Return — A relative could buy the inheritance back during the forty-nine years. If no one did, the fiftieth year gave it back with no price paid.
- Restitution — Most writers apply the picture to Israel restored to the land under their Messiah. Some also find in it peace and hope for believers now.
And if ye sell ought unto your neighbour, or buy of your neighbour's hand, ye shall not overreach one another.
Leviticus 25 sets the rules for buying and selling in Israel, where every fiftieth year — the jubilee — each family's land came back to it. That one fact shaped every deal made in between: what a buyer really bought, and what price counted as fair.
The jubilee stood behind every transaction as a reminder of who really owned the ground. A buyer in Israel never received the soil itself.
The year of jubilee reminded both buyer and seller that the land belonged to the LORD, and was not to be sold. "The fruits" might be sold, but that was all — the LORD could never give up the land to anyone. It is important to get this point well fixed in the mind... If the land of Canaan is not to be sold — if the LORD declares it to be His forever, then for whom does He want it? Who is to hold under Him? Those to whom He gave it by an everlasting covenant.
Because the property would go back to its family at the jubilee, the years remaining decided the value. Commentators describe the arrangement in ordinary commercial terms.
The price of things sold and bought between the people had to follow the number of years left till the Jubilee (vv. 14-16). In this case the sale was really a lease for that number of years. Of course, with livestock they would also count the age of the animal. Goods that spoil did not come under this rule.
The very rule that protected the seller could be twisted into a tool for cheating him. A buyer or seller who knew the calendar could misquote the value of what was left.
The law of jubilee is a striking example of how Jewish laws shaped moral conduct. A Jew might take advantage of it and demand a price for his land far above its real value. That value depended on how far off the fiftieth year was. That is why it is written, "And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another"... They had to govern all their buying and selling by this rule.
Older translations put the command as "you shall not oppress" or "over-reach one another." The ESV has "you shall not wrong one another."
Good laws alone do not make a good society.
But it was important for all to remember that they were not to oppress one another (v. 17), in other words, they must be fair in their dealings. No matter how good a government is, if people are not fair, there is trouble.
The fear of God stands behind the ban on overreaching, and obedience brought its own security.
The Israelites were not to over-reach one another; and, if obedient, had a free insurance of life, liberty, and land from Jehovah. "You shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God." What could be more simple and sure for an earthly people? If rebellious, how could they expect it? God is not mocked.
Israel priced its fields by how close the jubilee was. Writers draw the parallel to how we price what we own now.
The important lesson for us in this jubilee rule is this. The value of their land rose and fell with the number of years left before the trumpet would sound... This clearly shows us that when we are really waiting for the Lord Himself from heaven, things here will have little value in our eyes. But if we price earthly things highly, does it not show that we are counting on some years of enjoying them?
Holding the view is not the same as living by it.
A person may hold "the doctrine of the millennium," as it is called, or the doctrine of "the second advent," and be a thorough man of the world. But anyone who lives in the constant expectation of Christ's appearing must be separate from what will be judged and broken up when He comes. It is not a question of how short and uncertain life is, nor of how empty the things of time are, true as both of those are. Something far stronger works here: "The Lord is at hand."
- Owner — The land belonged to God and was never truly sold; only its crops could change hands.
- Lease — Every sale was really a lease for the years left before the jubilee. The calendar set the price.
- Fairness — A trader could still demand a price far above the years left. That is the wrong this command forbids.
- Fear — Honest dealing rested on the fear of God. Obedience carried God's own guarantee of life, liberty and land.
- Waiting — Israel priced its fields by how near the jubilee was. Those who wait for the Lord price their own possessions low.
According to the number of years since the jubilee, thou shalt buy of thy neighbour; according to the number of years of the produce, he shall sell unto thee.
In Israel land was priced by the calendar — you counted the years left until the next jubilee, when every field went back to its first owner. So why should a price depend on a date, and what does that date say about who owns the field?
No Israelite could hand over his land permanently, so a "sale" transferred only the harvests between now and the jubilee. One writer draws the line sharply between the soil and what grows on it:
The year of jubilee reminded both buyer and seller that the land belonged to the Lord, and was not to be sold. "The fruits" might be sold, but that was all — the Lord could never give up the land to anyone.
So the deal was not what we mean by a sale:
The number of years remaining until the Jubilee was to set the price of things sold and bought between the people (vv. 14-16). In this case the sale was really a lease for that number of years.
A greater claim sat over the whole country:
The Lord was the master of the land, its owner. Israel received the land as a gift; they were the tenants. The Lord's words here are beautiful: "You are strangers and sojourners with Me."
Without this rule, the countdown itself could become a weapon against a desperate seller. The law names that temptation and shuts it down:
The law of jubilee is a striking example of how Jewish ordinances bear on moral conduct. A Jew might use it to demand a price for his land that was out of proportion to its value. That value depended on how far away the fiftieth year was… Whether they sold or bought, they were bound to follow this principle.
The law aims at the person in the market, not only at the system:
But it was important for all to remember that they were not to oppress one another (v. 17). In other words, they must be fair in their dealings. No matter how good a government may be, if people are not fair, there is trouble.
The count of years does not only fix what a buyer pays. It also fixes what a seller must pay to get his field back early:
The seller himself might in time have enough funds to redeem his possession. If so, he was to count the number of years since the sale, and of course the time left till the year of Jubilee, and pay on that basis. Say the buyer had use of the property for 20 years, and ten years were left before the Jubilee: the amounts were to be worked out on that basis. For in the year of Jubilee the first owner would pay nothing to have his property returned (v. 28).
So a poor man never lost hope, and a rich man never gained an unbreakable grip:
See how much comfort this gave the believing Israelite! He could rest in the blessed assurance of the Lord's loving interest in His people. The Lord guarantees the return of the property He assigned, despite all their mistakes and bad judgment, or others taking advantage of them in the meantime.
Commentators differ on what the jubilee pictures. One writer ties the trumpet to Israel's future, and then draws a lesson for every reader:
I do not say that the sounding of the jubilee trumpet pictured the Lord's coming for us. I believe it pictured the time when the Lord will appear to the Jews as their Messiah, bring His ancient people into their promised liberty, and give every tribe in the land of Israel its own rightful possession… The value we attach to everything here matches how near or far we sense the Lord's coming to be.
Another writer separates holding a view from living by it:
A person may hold "the doctrine of the millennium," as it is called, or the doctrine of "the second advent," and still be a thorough man of the world. But anyone who lives in the daily expectation of Christ's appearing must stand apart from what will be judged and broken up when He comes… What separates him is this: "The Lord is at hand."
- Owner. The land was God's, and Israel were tenants living as strangers and sojourners with Him.
- Lease. Because of that, no sale was a sale; it transferred the harvests until the jubilee, and nothing more.
- Price. The years left set the figure. The same count let a seller buy his field back early.
- Fairness. A buyer who knew the date could squeeze his neighbour, so the law bound both sides to fair dealing.
- Countdown. The nearer the jubilee, the lower the price — and what we prize here shows how near we think the Lord's coming is.
According to the greater number of the years, thou shalt increase the price thereof; and according to the fewness of years, thou shalt diminish the price of it; for it is the number of crops that he selleth unto thee.
The price of land in Israel rose and fell with a calendar. A buyer was paying for the harvests left before the jubilee year — which raises the real question here: who owns the land, and what is the buyer paying for?
The object of the sale is not the ground but its crops for a fixed stretch of time. One writer draws the line:
The year of jubilee reminded both buyer and seller that the land belonged to Jehovah, and was not to be sold. "The fruits" might be sold, but that was all — Jehovah could never give up the land to anyone. It is important to get this point well fixed in the mind. It may open up a very extensive line of truth.
So the count of years set the price:
The number of years left till the Jubilee had to set the price of things the people sold and bought (vv. 14-16). In this case the sale was really a lease for that number of years.
One date governed every price: the fiftieth year.
The jubilee had to set the scale of prices. If that glorious event was at hand, the price was low; if far off, the price was high. Every human agreement about land broke up the moment the trumpet of jubilee sounded, for the land was Jehovah's. The jubilee brought everything back to its normal condition.
A formula was needed because a seller could otherwise name his own figure.
The law of jubilee is a remarkable instance of how Jewish ordinances bear on moral conduct. So a Jew might take advantage of it and demand a price for his land out of proportion to its value. That value depended on how far off the fiftieth year stood… They were bound to regulate every sale or purchase by this principle.
The check on greed was not a market rule.
The Israelites were not to take unfair advantage of one another. If they obeyed, they had a free insurance of life, liberty, and land from Jehovah. "You shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God." What could be more simple and sure for an earthly people?
Pricing by the number of crops kept one truth in front of every Israelite whenever he opened his purse.
What is very plain is that since the land was God's, those to whom He gave it might only dispose of it on the leasehold principle. They could sell it only until the jubilee came, and the value of the lease dropped as the jubilee drew near… This stopped grasping men from piling up landed property. What mattered even more, Israel had a continual reminder that all they would possess they held from the Lord, and that they were dependent on Him. Do we who are Christians need this reminder any less than they? Do we not rather need it more?
The jubilee also carried hope for the poorest Israelite:
It kept alive in the heart of the poverty-stricken person the hope of freedom, and of clearance from all charges on his property or person. It regulated the value of land for sale. It reminded everyone that the true owner of the soil was Jehovah.
Commentators apply this in two ways. One contrasts Israel's calendar with the Christian's hope:
The Christian and the church have a constant hope of Christ's coming, suited to the heavenly people. It was not so for Israel. That earthly people had their times and seasons, and the value of their sales followed the distance or the nearness of the jubilee. We are not of the world, and should always wait expectantly.
Another writer shows what waiting does to a person's grip on earthly things:
If our hearts are cherishing the abiding hope of the Lord's return, we shall set little value on all earthly things… A person may hold "the doctrine of the second advent" and be a thorough man of the world. But one who lives in the habitual expectation of Christ's appearing must be separate from everything that will be judged and broken up when He comes.
- Crops, not land. The seller handed over a run of harvests. The land itself was never on the market, because it belonged to God.
- Lease, not purchase. Every price was a lease price. You counted the years left before the fiftieth year.
- Near means cheap. The closer the jubilee, the lower the figure — the coming event set the value of everything before it.
- Fear, not shrewdness. Without the formula a man could demand far more than the land was worth. The check on him is "you shall fear your God."
- Held, not owned. Tenants of a divine Landlord cannot hoard. Those who expect their Lord's return hold present things with an open hand, for the same reason.
And ye shall not oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God; for I am Jehovah your God.
This command sits inside the jubilee law, where land changed hands only until the fiftieth year. What makes the rule unusual is its last clause: the guard against sharp practice is not a court or a penalty, but the fear of God.
The jubilee created an obvious opening for a shrewd trader. Land was worth more when the jubilee was far off and less when it was near, so a seller could inflate the price of a plot he would soon get back anyway.
The law of jubilee is a remarkable instance of how Jewish ordinances bear on moral conduct. A Jew might take advantage of it. He could charge a price for his land far above its true value, and that value depended on how far off the fiftieth year was… Whether selling or buying, they had to follow this principle.
The price varied because the buyer got a lease on the crops, not the ground itself.
The land was God's. So those to whom He gave it could only pass it on as a lease. They could sell it until the jubilee came, and the value of the lease dropped as the jubilee drew near… In this way the law stopped grasping men from piling up landed property. What mattered even more, Israel had a constant reminder that they held all they had from the Lord, and that they depended on Him. Do we who are Christians need this reminder any less than they? Do we not rather need it more?
A buyer might argue that he paid what both sides agreed to.
As long as they stayed faithful to the Lord and His word, the jubilee governed their selling and buying of the land — or rather of the lease on it. God Himself had commanded it. Personal fairness was not everything. There was also the Lord's valuation of what the produce was worth until the jubilee.
The same words come back again and again in this chapter. They appear wherever one Israelite held the advantage over a weaker one.
A strict adherence to the letter of the law was not all that God required of Israel. To insist on righteousness while overlooking grace, and refusing to show mercy, would be a grievous affront to God Himself… Here grace found an opportunity. It meets us at the very lowest point — the very principle of the gospel, "while we were still weak." A ruined, broken-down Israelite might sell himself to a brother. If that brother applied this precious principle of grace, it would not cancel the contract. But it would still bring light and joy and liberty into his soul. This chapter is not about worship, as Deuteronomy 26 is. It is about guarding against oppression and acting in the fear of God. "You shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God" (vv. 17, 36, 38, 43, 55).
Behind the warning stands God's own name as the guarantee of everything Israel held.
The Israelites were not to take advantage of one another. If they obeyed, they had a free insurance of life, liberty and land from the Lord. "You shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God." What could be simpler or surer for an earthly people? If they rebelled, how could they expect it? God is not mocked.
The verse ends with God naming Himself, and that is where the standard comes from.
Israel's actions were to take their character from the fact that the Lord was their God. Their conduct is to be founded on what He is, not on what they are in themselves… The word of God must settle every question and govern every conscience. There must be no appeal from its solemn and weighty decision.
Israel priced land by how near the jubilee stood. A hope that is close at hand works the same way now.
If our hearts hold on to the steady hope of the Lord's return, we will hold all earthly things loosely. It is morally impossible to wait for the Son from heaven and stay attached to this present world. "Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand" (Philippians 4:5).
- Owner — The land was God's, so Israel never truly sold it; they leased its crops until the jubilee.
- Price — The nearer the jubilee, the lower the price; a seller who charged more was cheating.
- Standard — God's own valuation of the produce, not the price two sides agreed on, governed the deal.
- Fear — Where the strong could squeeze the weak, God set no penalty. He set His own name, repeated through the chapter.
- Hope — A coming release loosened their grip on property then, as a coming Lord loosens ours now.