‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land. ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession. Leviticus 25: 23-28, NKJV.
Gracious God, thank You for this privilege of studying Your Holy Word. Please help us to keep our eyes on You, and by Your grace, be just and compassionate in all our dealings with each other. This we ask in the holy name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Savior. Amen.
I am always fascinated with the study of the Year of Jubilee. It is a wonderful sight to contemplate justice and compassion interacting. That is what the Year of Jubilee represented in Israel. When these two virtues interact, people, property, and principles, are restored. People’s freedom is restored. People’s property is restored. Principles of righteousness are restored in the land. How important then, that we never lose sight of the fact that the land, and they that dwell in it, belong to the Lord!
There are various aspects of the Year of Jubilee. Today we are going to look at the fact that land, could not be sold permanently! Of even greater significance is the reason behind the practice: the land belongs to God! How much heartache and sadness could be averted, if, in our day, this principle was put into practice! We would not be witnessing the sad situations so many individuals face day after day, as more and more people lose their homes and land.
In our day and age many shrink from the concept of being subject to law and order. But what a positive difference just laws provide for a people or a nation. When God’s laws are practiced according to the spirit of the law, it results in blessings for all! It is interesting to note that even though the land is God’s by creation – He holds every right to the land in the entire world – according to His law, He allowed His creatures the opportunity to redeem their land if they lost it. He allotted to all of His creatures their parcel of land, “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth . . . has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings (Acts 17: 24a, 26c). Emphasis supplied.
Therefore, colonization, and any practice of taking people’s land by force, and imposing upon them man-made boundaries is a sin! Every group of people have a right to their land, and the obligation, to respect other people’s land as well! Of course, within each group of people, every individual has a God-given right to their portion of land for themselves and their loved ones (Numbers 33: 54). Only God has the right to take land and give it to Whom He desires (53), because only He sees hearts and has all the facts! But as always, the selfishness of the hearts of human beings Jeremiah 17: 9), gets in the way, and opens the door to all manner of injustice!
Just this week, I heard of the case of a family, who, because of a loss of job, was unable to keep up with the payments of their home, and were about to lose it. They were fortunate to get a buyer, and notified the bank. They received no response, until they were notified by the bank that their home had been auctioned, and that they had three days to leave! How tragic is the inhumanity of human beings in dealing with one another!
For all those, who, during this time of financial hardship, have lost their property, my prayer is that God might grant you your year of Jubilee, and restore to you what you have obtained with much sacrifice! If for any reason, this is not your lot, please keep looking forward by faith, to earth’s rapidly approaching, final year of jubilee – for the land is the Lord’s, and He will redeem it for His people!