Leviticus 25:8-23 | Sunday September 28, 2025

God put many reminders in place for the people of Isreal to learn to trust and rest in Him. He wanted His people to be in a close consistent relationship with Him. Each week the Sabbath was to remind the people that He was the creator (Ex 20:11), and that He bought them out of Egypt (Deut 5:15). He wanted to remind them of who He is and what He had done for them. God then elevated the Sabbath day to the Sabbatical year. Isreal was to let the land rest for an entire year and only eat what grew by itself. It was a year to forgive debts and for the people to gather in Jerusalem to hear the first 5 books of the Old Testament be read. As the people celebrated God’s blessings and goodness, they were to be refreshed in Him. From the rich to the poor, even all the servants were to breathe freely because of what it means to be in relationship with God. God then elevated the Sabbath yet again to the year of Jubilee.

Leviticus 25:8-23 ESV

(8) “You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. (9) Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. (10) And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. (11) That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. (12) For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field. (13) “In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. (14) And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. (15) You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. (16) If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. (17) You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God. (18) “Therefore you shall do My statutes and keep My rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely. (19) The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely. (20) And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ (21) I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. (22) When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives. (23) “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with Me.

Isreal was to observe the Sabbath year every 7 years, then after 7 cycles of Sabbath years it was to observe the year of Jubilee on the Fiftieth year. The year of Jubilee was to be enacted at the Day of Atonement, during the Seventh Sabbatical year. The Day of Atonement was the one Day when the High priest would enter into the Holy of Holies and present blood as an atoning offering for all the sins of the people. On the 49th year, at the Day of Atonement, there was to be a unique trumpet blast to mark the beginning of the Jubilee.

Leviticus 25:9-10 ESV

(9) Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.
(10) And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.

The feast of trumpets used a silver trumpet that was blown at the beginning of each month. This trumpet blast at the day of atonement used a ram’s horn (shôp̄ār). The ram’s horn and all that would happen on this special 50th year became linked together. The word Jubilee is hard to translate because it means rams horn and release/ liberty/ freedom. The Jubilee was a year to celebrate the release and freedom that came when the ram’s horn was blown. At the sound of the ram’s horn, all Jews were released from any servanthood they had sold themselves into, all debts were cancelled, and all property (fields) were to revert back to the family who inherited them. At the Jubilee every Jew was to be a free citizen, debt free, and owning their family land. As Isreal entered into the promised land each family was designated a certain area of land that was to be their inheritance.

Joshua 11:23 ESV

(23) So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

Each family was given an inheritance in the promised land. This inheritance was more than land but a livelihood that enabled each family a way to provide for themselves. The inherited land was part of their legacy and was protected. Unfortunately at times a father would be unwise with money, and would have to sell the families inheritance. The families legacy was at risk, and now the next generation was hindered in being able to make a living from the land. This is why God put in place the Year of Jubilee. The inheritance reverted back to each original family. This was fair because Isreal was to buy and sell the land with the year of Jubilee in mind.

Leviticus 25:11-19 ESV

(11) That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines.
(12) For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.
(13) “In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
(14) And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
(15) You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops.
(16) If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you.
(17) You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God.
(18) “Therefore you shall do My statutes and keep My rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely.
(19) The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely.

The price for land in Isreal was to be based on how many years it was until the year of Jubilee. Every 50 years it was meant to go back to the family who inherited it so in reality you were selling use of the land until it went back to the original family. This prevented generational wealth and generational poverty. The Jubilee was a great means of equality in the promised land. If one business person did really well for themselves and bought up a lot of farms, they could enjoy their prosperity until the next Jubilee. Then each families land reverted back to them and that new generation had a chance to make their own choices.

Jeremiah 31:29-30 ESV

(29) In those days they shall no longer say: “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.’
(30) But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

Isreal started to blame their problems on the generation that came before them. The father’s made bad choices and the children were reaping the consequences. God did not want this to be the case. The Jubilee created a system for each person to be held accountable for their own actions. It was also a system that was meant to limit the greed in the heart of man.

Isaiah 5:8; 10 ESV

(8) Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.
(10) For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”

God did not want His people to buy up as much land as possible and force each other into poverty. This was the promised land where their was an allotted inheritance for each family. The yield of a crop was not tied to how many acres you harvested but to walking faithfully with God. The more land they bought selfishly the less it would produce. God constantly was reminding Isreal that He was the provider.

Leviticus 25:20-22 ESV

(20) And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’
(21) I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years.
(22) When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.

During the year of Jubilee Israel was not supposed to sow nor reap just like the sabbatical year. The year of Jubilee always followed a Sabbatical year so this was two years in a row of not planting or harvesting for profit a crop. God promised to provide a bountiful harvest on year six to last for three years until the crop of the ninth year arrived. The language is hard to tell if it is referring to harvest years or calendar years, and some debate if this took place every sabbatical year or not. Regardless, God was promising to provide and bless. The decision to follow the Jubilee wasn’t made until the harvest from year six was already stored in the barn. Meaning God’s provision had already been seen. Unfortunately, Isreal’s greed and selfishness lead them and there is no record of the Jubilee being followed. Isreal failed to realize that the land was God’s.

Leviticus 25:23 ESV

(23) “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.

I am always amazed at how God’s truth challenges our world. God’s economic system is not communist, socialist, or even capitalist. God reigns in a theocracy, and all the land belongs to Him. He set up a system where personal ownership was valued and yet wanted everyone to know that in reality they were leasing the land from Him. This is not only true about the promised land, but the whole earth.

Psalm 24:1-2 NAS95

(1) A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.
(2) For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.

The entire world belongs to God because He created everything. All that we have belongs to God and we are only taking care of it for a short time. We have been leased time, resources, family, and a calling to use for His glory.

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 ESV

(1) This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. (2) Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
(3) But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
(4) For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
(5) Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

A steward was the manager of a household or estate. They didn’t own anything but were asked to faithfully care for the owners possessions until they returned. Paul understood that everything in his life was given to him by God and he would give an account for how well he cared for it. It is not for us to judge each other, based on a worldly scale on how well we are managing what God has entrusted to us. Paul did not even judge himself, often we don’t see ourselves with clarity. God who can see the heart will be the one to give us admiration, approval, and praise for how faithful of a steward we have been. God does not evaluate on effectiveness, or results but on how faithful we have been to walk with Him. In our time, families, work, abilities, lets walk faithfully with our God as we know we are just managing the gifts He has given to us.

Luke 16:10-11 ESV

(10) “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
(11) If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

God views money as a very little thing to entrust to us. If we walk faithfully with Him now, then He will be willing to entrust to us true riches. This life is so short in comparison to our future in Him. The year of jubilee points to the restoration coming, where true riches will be found.

Leviticus 25:9-10 ESV

(9) Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.
(10) And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.

The joy, restoration, release, liberty and freedom that is promised at the Jubilee is something that humanity has been searching for and attempting to create throughout history. This liberty was something that the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly was hoping to seek for and celebrate when they commissioned the liberty bell and had Leviticus 25:10 inscribed onto it. We all desire to see Liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants. Ture Liberty is only found through Jesus. The Jubilee starts at the day of Atonement, it is through His perfect life and offering of His perfect blood that liberty can be truly found.

Luke 4:16-21 ESV

(16) And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read.
(17) And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
(18) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
(19) to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
(20) And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. (21) And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus went to the synagogue in His home town. This crowd had watched Him grow up and had seen Him there weekly. He took the scroll and read from Isaiah 61. He read about the year of Jubilee. He read about the Messiah who would proclaim Liberty and proclaim God’s favor. Then He abruptly stopped reading in the middle of a sentence, and made an amazing statement, that scripture was fulfilled! He was the Messiah and He was declaring Liberty! The first time Jesus came was to provide the perfect offering that the day of Atonement required. Through this offering He is the one who can proclaim liberty! He stopped reading in the middle of Isaiah 61:2 which continues with “ and the day of vengeance of our God” and it goes on to describe His second coming and the judgment and restoration that will happen when He returns.

Acts 3:19-21; 23 ESV

(19) Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
(20) that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
(21) whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago.
(23) And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’