Celebrate Jubilee

And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. Leviticus 25:10

Years ago, I enlisted in the Army. Upon arriving at Fort Dix, NJ, I was a trainee assigned to C Company 5th Battalion 3rd Brigade. One of the trainees’ first tasks included receiving uniforms and gear for training. I remembered receiving two pairs of boots with my uniforms, of which the drill sergeant requested that we label one pair as A and the other as B. This labeling ensured that we wore one boot on even days and the other on odd days. I thought the process was unusual until I realized that during the weeks of exhausted and intense training, individuals who failed to rotate their boots had multiple foot blisters. Wearing one boot repetitiously causes stress on one’s feet leading to blisters. Rotating boots allow your foot and leg muscles to rest by engaging different muscles when wearing a different boot daily. The simple act of resting a pair of boots each day can significantly impact your constantly walking and running as a trainee at boot camp.

In a similar vein, God established a time of rest among His people as well as a rest for the land. Every seventh year, God requested His people to allow the land to rest from sowing, reaping, and pruning. The land will produce naturally for their consumption. After seven times seven years, equating to the 49th year, the land rested on the 49th and 50th years. The 50th year was the Jubilee Year for restoring, returning, and liberating what was lost during the 49 years. The Jubilee Year was an opportunity for the people to reset. Jubilee Year marked a new beginning for economic stability while solidifying God's desires for the Israelite families, clans, and tribes to retain what He gave them originally. Remember, the land was divided by tribes, and each tribe further divided the land among families. If someone had lost property because of debt or hard times caused one into indentured servitude to pay off one’s debt, the Jubilee Year was time for property redemption and debt forgiveness, creating a reset for the people. As a result, this rest period for the land and people allowed them to exercise total dependence on God.

Presently, we often minimize the need for rest in our society. Yet, the automatic systems we engage to function daily tasks demand a reset. It is common to reboot our computers and cell phones whenever they do not function properly while neglecting our own needs to rest inwardly so that our bodies can reset. The writer of Hebrews reminds his readers of the Israelites’ negligence regarding this rest because of their lack of faith.

Although God’s promise still stands—his promise that all may enter his place of rest—we ought to tremble with fear because some of you may be on the verge of failing to get there after all. For this wonderful news—the message that God wants to save us—has been given to us just as it was to those who lived in the time of Moses. But it didn’t do them any good because they didn’t believe it. They didn’t mix it with faith.

(Hebrews 4:1-2 Living Bible)

Everyone wants an afterlife in heaven, enjoying the wonders of living in a heavenly kingdom with angelic beings. However, the rest must begin on Earth. The Jubilee Year is an earthly event instead of a future event in the heavens. Although God commanded His people to practice the Year of Jubilee, they failed to institute this event. The Prophet Isaiah prophesied that an anointed one would deliver His people, and Jesus read the same prophecy from the book of Isaiah (chapter 61) to initiate His ministry on Earth. This prophecy summons “to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,” which means the Year of Jubilee. Therefore, our rest starts with the acceptance of Christ. To maintain this rest, one must totally depend on God. This totality of dependence comes with faith instead of self-reliance on one’s abilities and talents. Remember, Jubilee Year followed the 49th sabbatical year, so the Israelites had to rest and depend on God for food production from the land without sowing any seeds. Therefore, their period of rest from the land equated closely to three years, from the 49th year to the sowing season during the 51st year. Can you imagine no work for over two years? During this period of rest, the government issued no checks. So, the Israelites had to rely solely on God to supply subsistence from the land.

The resting of the land for such a prolonged period is illogical to a human. Despite this, Jubilee Year has a greater significance than observing a ritual. Ultimately, God wants us to rest by surrendering our lives as we live. By simply resting my boots each day, I could avoid blisters. What if I put myself aside and rest in God? Thus, I can avoid the stresses and anxieties of living in a materialistic society. The next time I feel stressed, I will use this verse as a reset: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Considering this reminder, I will redirect my focus from how to resolve my issue to how to allow God to resolve it.

The Jubilee marks a new beginning!