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
We have never seen the Garden of Eden, so we can only imagine the comfort and pleasures that Adam and his wife enjoyed there. Perfect weather, perfect food, perfect growing conditions for the vegetables and flowers, and perfect accord with the Creator. As long as our first parents were obedient, everything was as good as it could be. But when that couple decided that they would choose their own way instead of God’s perfect way, they had to depart. All the beauties and wonders of Eden had to be left behind. And they still haven’t returned. But they will someday, and so will we.
Our text speaks of a great year of Jubile. Israel celebrated this event every 50 years. On the year of Jubile, all debts were cancelled, all slaves were freed, all property was returned to its original family. Everything was restored to its original situation. What a wonderful picture of what awaits us when the Lord Jesus sets up His perfect and righteous kingdom on this earth. All that the first Adam lost because of disobedience in Eden is to be restored because of the obedience of the Last Adam at Calvary. That’s hard for you and me to grasp, because we have been struggling under the burden of the curse of sin for so long that it seems normal. We can’t imagine a word without debts, without diseases, without weeds, without storms, without grief and disappointment. Oh, it sounds wonderful, but it’s beyond our grasp to appreciate it all. So God has given us a little picture in the year of Jubile. And He has given us a little foretaste in our own salvation.
A hymn that touches us when we sing or hear it is called ‘Only a sinner saved by grace’. We know that as long as we are pent in human flesh we will be prone to sin. And yet, if we search the Scriptures, we will find no mention anywhere of a saint, in either the Old Testament or the New, being referred to as a sinner. Despite our own awareness of our sinnership, God does not see us as sinners, but as saints, as His own children, as heirs of the Kingdom. Our standing with our Lord has been restored. So has our relationship with Him. and our ability to serve and worship Him. Inasmuch as we seek to live up to the position that God has elevated us to, we are able to appreciate that position.
The great year of Jubile is yet to come. But our own personal Jubile has been launched for eternity. – Jim MacIntosh