Some things only the Jubilee can fix. But everything will be fixed that day. Come, Lord Jesus!
Just when the Jewish calendar looks like it’s all arranged, the Lord adds another special day. “You shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years” (Lev 25:8). Remember, every seventh year was already a year-long rest. Now after the forty-ninth year, already a rest, the Lord thought they should double it with two sabbatical years—numbers 49 and 50. In the 49th year, as the solemn Day of Atonement drew to a close, when they had been told, “Afflict your souls, and offer an offering…to the Lord” (23:27), suddenly the rams’ horns began to blow “throughout all your land” (25:9)! What was this? Jubilee! It meant rest: God provided such a bumper crop that their holiday was extended. The fields would “bring forth produce enough for three years” (v 21). But this wasn’t just a break; it was a complete reset. It meant release: “proclaim liberty throughout all the land” (v 10). All who had indentured themselves to pay off debt were set free. Do you have those you could release from some indebtedness they feel to you? It’s in your power to do that. It meant reunion: “each of you shall return to his family” (v 10). Say, do you have family relations that need restoring? Now is a great time for that, too. And it meant restoration: “If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession…in the Jubilee…he shall return to his possession” (vv 25, 28). Some things a man himself should set right. Some things his brother could redeem. Some things must await the Jubilee. One of these days the trumpet will blow for us, too, so now is the time to set things right. Or perhaps we can help someone else to be restored. Of course, some things only Christ’s return will fix. But, praise the Lord, He will fix them all!