MORE ON THE JUBLIEES

Mark 11:25                                                                                     
Forgive, if you have anything against anyone, 

so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

"You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am Adonai your God" Leviticus 25:17). This command comes to us from within the context of shemitah שמיטה (remittance year) and jubilee regulations, a time when debts are to be forgiven and lands returned to their previous owner.

The rulings concerning debt release caused much heart searching. The temptation for one to ask for a loan near the year of release knowing that that the debt will soon be forgiven was as great as the one for lenders to either refuse the loan, or regulate price and interest in view of the coming year of release. Due to our evil nature, much instruction is given concerning these things (Leviticus 25). The fact that Hashem has to specify all these parameters is in itself a testament to our wicked hearts and evil inclination.

The whole prohibition regarding shady business deals in view of remittance years is summed up in "You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God". This is repeated several times. The systems of debts and usury are a form of oppression and slavery. The Israelites were a people that Hashem freed by a great price. They shouldn't let themselves be enslaved anymore, especially not by their brothers who were also freed slaves. In remembrance of their former slavery, Israelites were also to be kind to their employees from the nations, to the foreigner in the land. The freedom of the Israelites came at great cost of life. Jubilee laws served as a reminder that freedom is not free. The Israelite’s stay in the land was contingent on their just and merciful interaction with each other, not oppressing each other. Even now many Rabbis comepare this present exilic stage with the internal oppression and conflict within Israel in the first and second century C.E.

The laws of jubilee also served as a preservation of the family farm against the monopoly of big corporations who would otherwise ruthlessly swallow small businesses and take over the land. We need to remember that these laws are only relevant as per the Land of Israel. The jubilee also gave second chance to those who had lost everything, as well as time for people to reconnect with their relatives, make things right with friends, and study the Torah.

The application of the laws of jubilee definitely creates financial loss. This teaches us that financial success is not at the top of God’s priorities. What matters most to him is the welfare of his people, of all his people. We must not complain for loss because of the jubilee, but instead remind ourselves of the great debt we owe the God of the universe. At the Father’s request, our debt of sin was paid in full in Mashiach who now stands as the redeemer of our soul against the unforgiving creditor who would otherwise enslave us. Yeshua said, "forgive … so that your Father … may forgive you your trespasses". This comes with an addendum,    "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father … forgive your trespasses" (Mar 11:25-–6). In the Biblical sense, forgiveness is the renouncement of restitution for debt incurred.  King David reminds us of the Father’s mercy when he penned, "He does not deal with us according to our sins (debts), nor repay us according to our iniquities" (Psalms 103:10).  

 P. Gabriel Lumbroso
www.thelumbrosos.com

For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here.

Financial Peace With God's Financial System

Matthew 6:12        
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

From the Beginning, the creator organized his calendar of events according to septets. The Sabbath crowns a seven-day week (Genesis 2:2–3). Creation and the coronation of Messiah is celebrated on the foirst day of the seventh month of the year (Leviticus 23:24). Every seven years fields enjoy a time of rest, and a jubilee deliverance of slaves and forgiveness of debts is celebrated after seven septets (Leviticus 25). In addition, festivals in both Spring and Fall last seven days, and Pentecost is celebrated counting seven weeks from the Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23). These timings are our compass in time, but the present-day Western Gregorian/Roman calendar has gotten us out of sync’ with Hashem's clock.

According to the Torah, after seven septets, the whole economic system has to reboot so to speak (Leviticus 25:11–17). All debts have to be forgiven as well as possessions retained as collateral. These possessions included individuals enslaved to their creditors due to financial hardship. The jubilee provided some sort of salvation and deliverance from eternal financial servitude. Hashem said that he established this as a safeguard for the evil heart of man. He said, "Thus you are not to take advantage of each other, but you are to fear your God; for I am Adonai your God" (Leviticus 25:17). Our sins are like our debt towards God (Matthew 6:12), and the Messiah comes on the Jubilee to restore our financial/moral balance.

Having rejected Hashem's wise instructions, we today have a world in which the economy is based on oppressing others through eternal usury. As we see the world more and more engrossed in an economy were the rich become fewer and richer and the poor more numerous and poorer, we see its financial base failing, held together loosely with a paper currency that is not even worth what it is printed upon. 

Endorsing the jubilee schedule doesn’t seem to make good business sense but for Hashem it seems very important. In the days of King David, it is said that, "Again the anger of Adonai was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah" (2 Samuel 24:1). We are not told why God’s anger was kindled against Israel, but when we look at the chronology of this, we find that in the 38th year of David, the people had failed to observe seventy rest years and Jubilees. God then brought judgment upon them, causing 70,000 people to die (2 Sam. 24:15). One thousand people died for every rest year that was owed in their debt to the Torah. This judgment paid the penalty and wiped the slate clean.

Then the people failed to keep their rest years and Jubilees again. After they owed another seventy rest years (Sabbath years) and Jubilees, God brought Judah into Babylonian captivity for seventy years to pay the debt. What is the reason God gave for the captivity?

To fulfill the word of Adonai by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten [70] years (2 Chronicles: 36:21). 

P. Gabriel Lumbroso
www.thelumbrosos.com

For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here.