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Noon Rest from Work (Van Gogh)
Day 49: The Year of Jubilee
The Building of the Sanctuary
These are only a shadow of what was coming: the reality is the body of Christ. Colossians 2:17
Exodus 35: 1-3: The Restatement of the Sabbath Obligation
The renewal of the covenant allows for the plans for building the Tabernacle to proceed. This section contains the restatement of the command to observe the Sabbath obligation.
Exodus 35:4-19: Moses' Instructions on Building the Sanctuary
The order in which the parts of the Sanctuary are mentioned will be the order of construction.
Question: Which members of the community will contribute to building the Sanctuary?
Answer: The building of the Sanctuary will involve the free-will offerings of the whole Israelite community.
Exodus 35:20-29: The Israelites bring their Donations for the Building of the Sanctuary
Question: What does this passage tell us about the willingness of the covenant community to support the building of the Sanctuary?
Answer: For the first time we hear about the contribution of the women "all members of the covenant community, from all levels of Israelite society, gave generously of their time, talents, and treasures.
Exodus 35:30-36:1: Moses Announces Yahweh's Selection of the Master Craftsmen to Build the Sanctuary
Question: What two gifts has the Holy Spirit given Bezalel and Oholiab?
Answer: Knowledge in every kind of craft and the ability to teach others.
Question: How can the Spirit of God filling the master craftsmen who taught the men and women of Israel who built the Old Covenant Sanctuary be compared to the Spirit of God at work in the Apostles and disciples of the resurrected Jesus Christ praying with the Virgin Mary in the Upper Room on Pentecost Sunday, 30 AD? See Ex 31:2-6; 35:30-35 and Mt 28:19-20; Acts 1:12-15; 2:1-4.
Answer: The Spirit of God filled the master craftsmen and directed the physical builders of the first Sanctuary (Ex 31:2-6; 35:30-35) of the Israelite Old Covenant Church so they could accomplish their holy mission to build the Sanctuary. In the same way, in the creation of the New Covenant Church, the Holy Spirit filled the 120 spiritual "builders" praying in the Upper Room in Jerusalem on the Old Covenant feast of Pentecost, 30 AD (Acts 2:1-4), to fulfill their mission to baptize men and women into the New Covenant in Christ and to spread the Gospel of Salvation to the ends of the earth (Mt 28:19-20) "building the community of believers who became the new Tabernacle where God dwelt.
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Exodus 36:2-7: Moses Calls a Halt to the Contributions
Question: The covenant community was so enthusiastic about building the Sanctuary that their enthusiasm presented what problem?
Answer: Their generosity in providing materials overwhelmed the worksite and the skilled craftsmen ask Moses to put an end to the donations.
Exodus 36:8-19: Building the Tabernacle
Question: Why is the building of the Sanctuary in a different order from the instructions first given to Moses on the mountain? How does the building of the Sanctuary reflect a practical plan? See Ex 25:10-40 versus Ex 36:8-38.
Answer: The initial instructions God gave Moses began with the plans for the sacred furniture that was to be placed inside the Tabernacle: the Ark and Mercy-seat, the table, and the lamp-stand. That the building plan is different makes perfect sense from a practical perspective "you build the house, then you furnish it, and then you build any perimeter structures like fences, etc. The same principle is applied in the construction of the Sanctuary.
Construction began first on the most important structure: the Tabernacle that will house the Ark of the Covenant and the Divine Presence. Earlier instructions were given for the Dwelling and its frame work in Exodus 26:1-30.
Question: Which members of the covenant community worked on building the Tabernacle? See Ex 38:21.
Answer: The Levites (Moses' and Aaron's tribe) under the direction of Aaron's youngest son, Ithamar.
Christ is our Tabernacle (Jn 2:18-22). Notice that despite the two parts of the Tabernacle that it is described twice (vs. 13 and 18) as a unified whole. Christ, in His humanity and divinity, has two natures and two wills (He became truly man by remaining truly God), His humanity and divinity perfectly in accord in one person and at one with the unified One of the Godhead (CCC 464; 468-469).
Exodus 36:20-34: Building the Framework for the Dwelling
Moses received the instructions for building the framework in Exodus 26:15-30.
Exodus 36:35-38: Making the Curtains
Moses received these instructions in Ex 26:31-32 and 36-37. The curtain woven with the images of the cherubim was the beautiful curtain that covered the entrance to the Holy of Holies. It came to symbolize Israel's restricted access to God "it was a barrier that reminded them of their sins.
Question: What happened to the curtain that covered the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple on the day Jesus gave up Him life on the altar of the Cross? What did this mean? See Jn 2:19-21; Mt 12:6; 27:51; Mk 15:37-38; Lk 23:45-46; CCC 586
Answer: Jesus identified Himself as God's definitive dwelling place among men, as did St. John in his Gospel. When Jesus willingly gave up His life on the Cross, the curtain that symbolized the barrier between God and His people in the Jerusalem Temple was torn from top to bottom (not by human hands). It was the sign that God had accepted His Son's sacrifice, and the sign that the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal salvation was now open to all men and women, and the old order was being fulfilled. No longer was the earthly Temple the dwelling place of God but every New Covenant believer baptized in the name of the Most Holy Trinity and indwelt by the Holy Spirit now became God's dwelling place.
Question: How can the curtain that covered the Holy of Holies be compared to Jesus' earthly body?
Answer: The curtain that was intended to hide the Presence of God resting between the cherubim of the Mercy-Seat from view in the Tabernacle's Holy of Holies can be compared to Jesus' human body that hid His divinity "which was only revealed when the "curtain" of His human flesh was torn and His divinity was revealed in His Resurrection and Ascension.
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The Liberation of the
Sabbath and Jubilee years |
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The Sabbath Year
Liberation |
The Jubilee Liberation |
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For six years fields will be sown but in the
seventh year the fields and vineyards will not be sown (Ex 25:3-4) |
The year after the seventh Sabbatical Year, in
the fiftieth year beginning on the tenth of Tishri (Feast of Atonement) the
land will continue to rest for a second year (Lev 25:8) |
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The fields are to lie fallow, no seed is to be
sown, no vineyards pruned for a year and there will be no organized harvest;
it is a year of rest for the land (Lev 25:4-5) |
The fields are to lie fallow, no seed will be
sown, no vineyard pruned and there will be no organized harvest for a second
year (Lev 25:11, 21-22) |
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Any crops that grow naturally will be food for
the Israelites and their animals (Lev 25:6-7) |
Any crops that grow naturally will be food for
the Israelites and their animals (Lev 25:12) |
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The poor and wild animals will be permitted to
eat from the fields; extend mercy to the poor (Lev 25:7; Dt 15:7-11) |
The poor and wild animals will be permitted to
eat from the fields; extend mercy to the poor (Dt 15:7-11) |
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At the end of the seventh year all Israelite
debts remitted (Dt 15:1-2, 12-18) |
At the end of the seventh seven year, in the
beginning of the year of Jubilee, all Israelite debts remitted (Dt 15:1-2) |
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The land will rest in the seventh year but in
the eighth year grain may be sown (Lev 25:21-22) |
For two years the land will rest and in the
third year crops can be sown and harvested (Lev 25:22) |
Leviticus 25:1-7: Instructions for the Sabbatical Year
Question: When did Yahweh give Moses the divine instructions for keeping the Sabbath year of rest and the Jubilee holy year of rest and liberation? See Exodus 20:18-21; 21:1; 23:10-12.
Answer: The instructions were first given when Moses was on Mount Sinai prior to covenant ratification.
The key word in this passage is "rest." Every seventh year in the Promised Land was to be designated a Sabbath year of the Lord in which the land and the people "rested." The obligations for the Sabbath year are found in the Book of the Covenant (Ex 23:10-11) in the Holiness Code (Lev 25:1-7; 18-22), and in the Deuteronomic Code (Dt 15:1-11). According to divine command the land must be "at rest" and cannot be sown nor can vineyard vines be pruned for a year. The Sabbath year was meant to remind the people that the land belonged to Yahweh and that He was responsible for their well-being. The holy year rest obligation was essentially a return to Eden where Adam and Eve trusted God to provide for them in the land He had created for them.
Question: In addition to the rest for the land and the prohibition against sowing and harvesting for a year, what were other provisions of mercy and liberation associated with the observance of the Sabbath year? See Exodus 23:11; Deuteronomy 15:1-11 and Nehemiah 10:32.
Answer: The Israelites must show mercy to the poor, all debts to other Israelites were to be forgiven; the poor and wild animals were to have free access to collect food from all fields.
Leviticus 25:8-12: Determining the Jubilee Year
Question: How was the Jubilee year determined?
Answer: The Israelites were to keep seven Sabbath years and at the end of the forty-ninth year that was the seventh Sabbatical year, they were to proclaim the fiftieth year a Jubilee on the Day of Atonement in the seventh month.
The word translated "jubilee" in Hebrew is yobel. It is a word that means "trumpet" and referred to the trumpet call that announced the beginning of the celebration of the fiftieth Jubilee year on the Day of Atonement.
Question: What is the key word associated with the Jubilee year? See Leviticus 25:10.
Answer: The key word is "liberation."
Question: Why is the Jubilee a time of "liberation"? What additional commands were part of the Jubilee observances that were not part of Sabbatical year observances? See Exodus 21:2; Leviticus 25:39-43; 54-55, Deuteronomy 15:12-18 to help you with your answer.
Answer: Unlike the Sabbath year observances, the people were liberated to return to and redeem their ancestral tribal lands, and any Israelites who were bonded to master were to also to be liberated in the year of Jubilee.
An Israelite was never to be enslaved unless he voluntarily relinquished his freedom in a ceremony in the presence of witnesses (Ex 21:5-7). Instead, Israelites were to be considered bond servants who had to be released after six years in the beginning of the seventh year of service (Lev 25:39-43; Dt 15:1-2, 12-13).
Leviticus 25:13-22: Regulations for Observing the Jubilee Year
The ancestral land was not to be sold (Lev 25:14, 23), but it could be leased until the Jubilee when the land had to be returned to the rightful family/clan who had been given stewardship of God's land. In leasing the land the owner and the party leasing the land were to observe equitable business practices, calculating the cost according to the number of harvests until the next Jubilee year. As usual, the command "fear your God" is a warning not to abuse the Law because God will hold the violator accountable; it is a warning found five times in Leviticus (Lev 19:14, 32; 25:17, 36, 43).
Leviticus 25:18-22: Divine Guarantee for the Sabbath and Jubilee Years
Question: Two commands are given concerning God's laws and customs? Faithfulness to God's commands will assure what promise?
Answer: The Israelites are commanded to not only "put" the laws into practice but to "keep" them from generation to generation with the assurance that such faithfulness will give them security in the land.
Question: What assurance did God give if the Israelites were obedient and observed both the Sabbath and Jubilee years?
Answer: God would bless the land in the sixth year to produce enough to last through the entire Sabbatical year and beyond if the next year was a Jubilee year.
Question: What previous test of trusting in God to provide is recalled in the requirement to only sew crops and harvest for six years?
Answer: Obedience to the holy year laws recalls the instructions concerning the manna that could only be collected for six days and God's provision of a double portion of manna collected on the sixth day to provide food for the people during the Sabbath day rest.
Leviticus 25:23-28: Redemption of the Land
Question: Beyond the major themes we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, what was God's message to the Israelites concerning the Promised Land?
Answer: Yahweh will give possession of Canaan to Israel, but the Israelites will not own the land.
The concept that all the earth belongs to God and the Israelites are guests living in Yahweh's Holy Land is repeated in 1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalm 24:1; and 39:12.
Only God has absolute ownership of the Holy Land and just as the Israelites are commanded to observe the seventh day Sabbath of the Lord, the land will also observe a Sabbath every seven years. In addition to the seventh year Sabbath, twice in every century a year of Jubilee will be observed with an additional year of rest after every seven times seven years—the Jubilee is to be a holy year of rest and liberation.
Question: If an Israelite became impoverished and leased his land, what were the two ways the land could be redeemed prior to the Jubilee year redemption?
Answer: He could raise the money himself and purchase the property with the purchase price adjusted on the number of years until the Jubilee, or a kinsman would exercise the right of redemption and purchase the land.
The kinsman who accepted such an obligation was known as a go'el, a "Kinsman Redeemer." It was the duty of the go'el to prevent the alienation of the ancestral lands (Lev 25:23-25; Jer 32:6-9).
In the Book of Ruth, Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth return to the family's ancestral lands in Bethlehem as impoverished widows. Naomi's kinsman Boaz accepts the responsibility as their Kinsman Redeemer after it was determined that a closer kinsman did not want to accept the right of redemption. In Ruth's case, Boaz fulfilled the role of Kinsman Redeemer by meeting all the qualifications and also by linking the purchase of their land to a levirate marriage with Ruth (Dt 25:5-10), a condition the other kinsman was not willing to fulfill (Ruth 3:11; 4:5-6).
Question: What were the three qualifications the Kinsman Redeemer had to fulfill? See Leviticus 25:25-26; Deuteronomy 25:5-10; and Ruth 3:11?
Answer:
| The Qualifications for a Kinsman Redeemer | Scripture Passages |
| 1. He must be related by blood to those he redeems | Leviticus 25:48-49; Deuteronomy 25:5, 7-10 |
| 2. He must have the resources to pay the price of redemption | Leviticus 25:25-26; Ruth 2:1 |
| 3. He must be willing to redeem | Deuteronomy 25:7, 9; Ruth 3:11 |
| M. Hunt © copyright 2010 | |
Leviticus 25:29-31: Redemption of a Dwelling
Question: How did the right of redemption apply to town property?
Answer: The right of redemption applied to town property only in a limited degree. If the previous owner wanted to redeem the property he had a year from the time of the sale to raise the money to repurchase the property. If he raised the money within the time period the purchaser could not refuse to allow him to redeem the property. However, this did not apply to property outside of walled cities.
Leviticus 25:32-34: Redemption Within Levitical Towns
Question: Why doesn't the rule of redemption within a year for town property apply to Levitical towns? See Numbers 35:1-8.
Answer: The Levites depend on God for their portion. They did not possess any lands in open country. They were given certain Levitical cities with associated lands as part of their heritage and those could not be sold because the Levites had permanent rights to them, protecting the prosperity of the priestly families.
Leviticus 25:35-43: Redemption of Israelites from Slavery
The term "brother" refers to "kinsman" or "member of the covenant." If an Israelite became impoverished, his covenant brothers were to assist him and if he was in extreme poverty he could become an indentured servant, but he could not be enslaved by an Israelite.
Question: According to the Law, for how long could an Israelite man or woman be bound as an indentured servant/slave? Exodus 21:2; Leviticus 25:35-46; Deuteronomy 15:12-16.
Answer: For six years and freed in the seventh year or until the next Jubilee year if it came before the seventh year.
Leviticus 25:47-55: Israelite Slaves of Resident Aliens
Same rules for an Israelite's redemption from slavery in the beginning of the seventh year of his bondage or in the Jubilee year, which ever came first, applied to Israelites who were the slaves of resident aliens living within the holy land.
In the Jubilee liberation the Israelites relived the Exodus experience by extending the same kind of mercy God should them in the Exodus to their fellow Israelites:
| The Liberation of the Exodus Expressed in the Jubilee Year of Grace | |
| The Exodus Liberation | The Jubilee Liberation |
| 1. God redeemed the "firstborn" of Israel by paying the debt of their deaths with the blood of the sacrificial victim (Ex 12:1-34) | 1. All the debts of the Israelites to be forgiven (Lev 25:13-17) |
| 2. God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt (Ex 12:37-51) | 2. All Israelite slaves freed (Lev 25:35-55) |
| 3. God gave Israel the land He promised the Patriarchs (Gen 12:7; 15:16-18; Josh Chapters 3-4) | 3. The land redeemed and returned to the tribal family entrusted with it (Lev 25:10, 23-34) |
| M. Hunt copyright September 2005 | |
Only a king of Israel or a High Priest could proclaim a Jubilee year. However, the leadership failed the community. Both the seventh year Sabbath and the Jubilee holy year were dropped from the Liturgical Calendar soon after the Israelites took possession of the Promised Land.
THE DIVINE JUBILEE LIBERATION AND
THE NEW EXODUS OF JESUS THE MESSIAH
When ancient kings of the Near East first ascended their thrones it was a common practice for the newly ordained king, in a gesture of beneficence, to proclaiming a royal "liberation" by forgiving debts and in freeing indentured slaves within his kingdom (Milgrom, Leviticus, page 2151).
In the Exodus, Yahweh, the Great King, took Israel as His covenant people by proclaiming their liberation from Egyptian bondage. Later, in the era of the United Monarchy of Israel, King Solomon's heir was not so generous. Instead of proclaiming "a liberation," he proclaimed an increase in taxes, a gesture that cost him his throne in a civil war that ended with the division of Israel into two separate kingdoms—inaugurating a period known as the Divided Monarchy. It was a tragedy that the people continually mourned, even after the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and exiled the ten northern tribes into oblivion in the Gentile nations of the east.
Holy prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel promised that one day God would restore Israel, inaugurating a New Covenant that would unite the two kingdoms into one nation again in a divine Jubilee liberation when the rightful Davidic heir, the promise Messiah, came to liberate the covenant people, purifying them of their filth with clean water, and healing them of their afflictions (Is 61:1-2; Jer 31:31-34; Ez 36:24-36; 37:11-28).
In what was probably the fall in 30 AD, Jesus of Nazareth, son of Abraham, son of David (Mt 1:1), left Judah after His baptismal anointing by the priest John son of Zechariah, and traveled north to His home in the Galilee. On the Sabbath Jesus attended the worship service in the local Nazareth Synagogue, and when He stood up to read they handed Him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus selected Isaiah 60:1-2, a passage that spoke of the coming of the Messiah in association with a divine Jubilee when liberty was to be announced throughout the land: He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.' Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, ‘Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing' (Lk 4:16-21).
In His statement that the prophecy was fulfilled, Jesus announced to the congregation that He was the long awaited Davidic Messiah whose coming was promised by the prophets (Jer 23:5-6; Ez 34:23-24). He proclaimed the divine Jubilee prophesized in Isaiah as Priest-King of the New Covenant (Lk 4:16-22; Lev 25:9-52; 27:17-25; Num 36:2-4).
Beginning His ministry as the legitimate Davidic heir and the Son of God the Great King, it was His right to claim the custom of a newly anointed king in proclaimed a divine Jubilee of liberation to the people He had come to lead out of bondage to sin and death, to heal the sick to cure the blind, to soothe the broken-hearted, to liberate all men and women in bondage to sin and death and finally, to lead His covenant people into the gates of His heavenly kingdom.
It was a mission of the Messiah that was prefigured in the Exodus and in the Jubilee year liberations. Jesus' mission was to bring about a "new Exodus" into a Jubilee holy year that was eternal.
| The "New Exodus" Liberation Fulfilled in Jesus Christ | |
| Liberation | Fulfilled in Christ |
| 1. The debt of the curses incurred for failing to keep the Old Covenant Law was forgiven | Galatians 3:13: Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree…' |
| 2. He freed us from slavery to sin and death | Romans 6:6: We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. |
| 3. Through His death, burial, and Resurrection we received the promise of eternal life in the true Promise Land, the Kingdom of Heaven. | Luke 23:42-43: Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' He replied to him, ‘Amen, I say to you. Today you will be with me in Paradise.' |
| Michal Hunt © copyright 2005 | |
He offered himself for us in order to ransom us from all our faults and to purify a people to be his very own and eager to do good
(Titus 2:14).
| Old Testament Qualifications for a Go'el Haddam (Blood Redeemer) | Fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth the Supreme Kinsman Redeemer |
| The Blood Redeemer must be related by blood to those he redeems (Lev 25:23-25, 48-49; Dt 25:5, 7-10). | Jesus was related by blood to the people of Judah and to those adopted into the family of God through His baptism of blood on the altar of the Cross (Jn 1:14; Rom 1:3; Phil 2:5-8; Gal 4:4; Heb 2:14-17). |
| The Blood Redeemer must have the resources to pay the price of redemption (Lev 25:25-26; Ruth 2:1). | Jesus was willing to pay the price of redemption (1 Cor 6:20; 1 Pt 1:18-19). |
| The Blood Redeemer must be willing to redeem (Dt 25:7, 9; Ruth 3:11). | Jesus Christ was willing to redeem (Mt 20:28; Jn 10:15-18; Heb 10:7; 1 Jn 3:16). |
| M. Hunt © copyright 2010 | |
Not only did Jesus fulfill the role of the Go'el Haddam (Blood Redeemer) in redeeming His kinsman the Apostles so they could become the spiritual fathers of the New Covenant people of God and the other Jewish disciples who became the first priests and missionaries of the Gospel, but He redeemed the earth from the power of Satan and founded the earthly kingdom of the universal Church.
He also opened the gates of the Holy Land of Heaven that had been closed since the fall of Adam, claiming the land of the eternal kingdom for His people to liberate them from the darkness of the grave.
Finally, Jesus fulfilled the role of the Blood Redeemer in offering Himself as the eternal Bridegroom for the Church as His Bride. All the Old Testament Laws, feasts, liturgical sacrifices, Sabbath years, Jubilee years, and covenant promises were fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.
CHALLENGE: “The star of Bethlehem is a myth. No star leads people from place to place.”
DEFENSE: The star of Bethlehem did not lead the Magi. Some propose that the star was a supernatural phenomenon, making it capable of leading the Magi. However, this proposal is unnecessary. The text doesn’t claim the star led anybody.
When the Magi arrive in Jerusalem, they say, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East” (Matt. 2:2). This passage has been understood two ways: (1) the Magi were in the east when they saw the star, and (2) they saw the star when it rose over the eastern horizon (as stars typically do).
On neither interpretation did the star lead the Magi. They recognized that its appearance implied a Jewish royal birth, and they therefore went where one would expect such a baby to be found: King Herod’s palace in Jerusalem.
If the star were leading them, they would have gone straight to Bethlehem. The fact that they had to stop and ask where to find the baby shows they weren’t being led. Once told where to look for the child, they set out on the road to Bethlehem, which is about six miles south of Jerusalem.
Again, they are not following the star. They are already on their way when, by a providential coincidence, they see the star again. “The star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matt. 2:9–10).
Their rejoicing at seeing the star again indicates they recognized the coincidence. They weren’t expecting it. All the text implies is that the star was in the southern sky in front of them as they traveled to Bethlehem, and when they got there it was, from their perspective, vertically above the Holy Family’s home.
That fits the natural motion of a star, which would sweep out an arc in the sky of 15 degrees per hour as they went to Bethlehem. The text thus indicates that the second sighting of the star was providential, but it does not suggest that the star moved in an unusual way.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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