Jubilee

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Seeker47

Seeker47

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2018
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I have been taught from the beginning that “The Jews” never kept the Torah Jubilee Laws of Moses. The explicit and implicit message is they refuse to surrender comfort and wealth, even for YHWH. This reinforced a very old anti-Semitic stereotype. I eventually grew skeptical of this claim; the brush just seems too broad, but I could find no direct contradiction in the protestant Bible.

Eventually I shook-off church dogma and began reading the “Hidden” text myself. There, secreted away is the truth, God’s people did indeed keep the Jubilee as instructed, 1200 years after Moses. As is true throughout history, those keeping Jubilee were that faithful remnant that the enemy has never and will never defeat, but Jubilee was kept. Kept even at considerable risk and cost.

The Jubilee is just as valid today as in 164BC. This too Yeshua elevated unchanged from a physical requirement to the spiritual. Acknowledging His laws and considering how to keep them in our hearts and lives remains our responsibility.

In God’s grace maybe there can still be a remnant today.
 
Seeker47 said:
I have been taught from the beginning that “The Jews” never kept the Torah Jubilee Laws of Moses. The explicit and implicit message is they refuse to surrender comfort and wealth, even for YHWH. This reinforced a very old anti-Semitic stereotype. I eventually grew skeptical of this claim; the brush just seems too broad, but I could find no direct contradiction in the protestant Bible.

Eventually I shook-off church dogma and began reading the “Hidden” text myself. There, secreted away is the truth, God’s people did indeed keep the Jubilee as instructed, 1200 years after Moses. As is true throughout history, those keeping Jubilee were that faithful remnant that the enemy has never and will never defeat, but Jubilee was kept. Kept even at considerable risk and cost.

The Jubilee is just as valid today as in 164BC. This too Yeshua elevated unchanged from a physical requirement to the spiritual. Acknowledging His laws and considering how to keep them in our hearts and lives remains our responsibility.

In God’s grace maybe there can still be a remnant today.
Click to expand...

So, define jubilee in NT spiritual terms, please.
 
Well, it must begin with recognition. This is a God ordained process, we need to acknowledge and honor. For me, the issues of atonement and forgiveness are central. In ancient Israel it included forgiveness of debts. We should follow that example in personal relationships. It also involved rest, physical for them, spiritual for us. Perhaps a period of mental quietness. But this is how God has revealed it to me. He may give others a very different idea. I know my Catholic brothers and sisters include pilgrimage in Jubilee.
 
Seeker47 said:
Well, it must begin with recognition. This is a God ordained process, we need to acknowledge and honor. For me, the issues of atonement and forgiveness are central. In ancient Israel it included forgiveness of debts. We should follow that example in personal relationships. It also involved rest, physical for them, spiritual for us. Perhaps a period of mental quietness. But this is how God has revealed it to me. He may give others a very different idea. I know my Catholic brothers and sisters include pilgrimage in Jubilee.
Click to expand...

Well, I think you might have something there regarding forgiveness in personal relationships.
What OT Scripture connects with which NT teaching?
 
GWH said:
Well, I think you might have something there regarding forgiveness in personal relationships.
What OT Scripture connects with which NT teaching?
Click to expand...

I believe Matthew 5:17-18 and John 4:23-24 connect physical obedience to Torah with spiritual obedience through Christ. Note the John passage speaks of a time yet to come, which I believe is His resurrection and the coming Holy Spirit.
 
Jubilee has always been kept because in the 50th year a person who lost their property due to debt or something else would be given the land back to the family. If you are a slave you will be freed. All financial and moral debts and judgments are forgiven. There's many more but my family has always remembered it.

Obviously it's an Old Testament picture of the Shiloh [Messiah] (Yeshua) Jesus Christ.
 
Seeker47 said:
I believe Matthew 5:17-18 and John 4:23-24 connect physical obedience to Torah with spiritual obedience through Christ. Note the John passage speaks of a time yet to come, which I believe is His resurrection and the coming Holy Spirit.
Click to expand...

Well, I think you are speaking too broadly about the connection of the OT & NT, but I was wanting to consider just the Jubilee part,
I see that Jubilee is described in Leviticus 25:8-55 for the purpose of everyone returning to his own property or forgiving debts,
as you noted. What NT passages would you connect with forgiveness of debts?
 
GWH said:
Well, I think you are speaking too broadly about the connection of the OT & NT, but I was wanting to consider just the Jubilee part,
I see that Jubilee is described in Leviticus 25:8-55 for the purpose of everyone returning to his own property or forgiving debts,
as you noted. What NT passages would you connect with forgiveness of debts?
Click to expand...

I draw no distinction between First Testament truth and Second Testament truth, the scripture is not divided, except by man. It is all truth and one is not needed to prove the other.

My OP was not intended as a defense of Jubilee or of any Torah requirement. Accept or reject as you will. It was about the systemic anti-Semitism present throughout church history. It is a plea for reflection, acknowledgement and repentance; something the church preaches but does not do.
 
Seeker47 said:
I draw no distinction between First Testament truth and Second Testament truth, the scripture is not divided, except by man. It is all truth and one is not needed to prove the other.

My OP was not intended as a defense of Jubilee or of any Torah requirement. Accept or reject as you will. It was about the systemic anti-Semitism present throughout church history. It is a plea for reflection, acknowledgement and repentance; something the church preaches but does not do.
Click to expand...

Oh, okay. I thought you had an insight about how Jubilee applies to the NT comparable to Paul's insight regarding circumcision,
but thanks for prompting me to compare NT teachings about forgiveness. :unsure:
 
GWH said:
Oh, okay. I thought you had an insight about how Jubilee applies to the NT comparable to Paul's insight regarding circumcision,
but thanks for prompting me to compare NT teachings about forgiveness. :unsure:
Click to expand...

Maybe this is what you are looking for....

Luke 4:18-19
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Isaiah 61:1
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners
 
Seeker47 said:
Maybe this is what you are looking for....

Luke 4:18-19
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Isaiah 61:1
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners
Click to expand...

I think I see a connection between Luke 4:18-19 and Leviticus 25:8-13,

"Count off seven sabbath years-seven times seven... Then have the trumpet sounded...
on the Day of Atonement... and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants...
The 50th year shall be a jubilee for you... In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property."

Is there a way to connect these with forgiveness?
 
I see a connection between the OT Jubilee and NT forgiveness, as in TOJ #36: Admit your faults as you forgive others theirs. [Matt. 6:12&14//LK 11:4a] The second part of this teaching echoes TOJ #14. Genuine saving Faith motivates loving forgiveness. Confession is the key to having a right relationship with God (1JN 1:9), which is manifested by mercy (TOJ #148). {Mark 11:25, Matt. 18:15-17}.

TOJ #14: Believers manifest Faith by showing mercy. [Matt. 5:7] This teaching is stated in other words {in Matt. 6:14-15, 9:13, Mark 11:25, Luke 6:36-38, 17:3-4} and negatively in James 2:13. Jesus illustrated this principle with the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant {Matt. 18:21-35}, and He exemplified it while on the cross with a prayer for forgiveness {Luke 23:34}. Mercy can be appropriated only by those who repent of their wrong attitudes and actions (Matt. 18:15-17). See TOJ #114. Reflecting God’s love is the normative sign of saving Faith (TOJ #148). The distinction between love and mercy parallels that between Faith and faithful works. Showing mercy does not mean allowing anarchy (Rom. 13:4b); there is a time for leniency and a time for logical consequences (Eccl. 3:3; cf. TOJ #30).

TOJ #114: God forgives those who repent. [Luke 15:11-32] In the Parable of the Lost Son, notice that every sin was forgiven (1John 1:9). Surely we will leave jealousy and other sinful attitudes behind when we graduate to heaven. The heavenly or holy saint is described by Paul in several places (such as Col. 3:1-14; cf. TOJ #8, #29 & #74).

TOJ #148: Faith in/love for God is manifested by loving behavior toward people. [Matt. 25:31-46] The evidence of saving Faith is loving behavior. {John 13:35, 15:12-13} It is the fruit of the Spirit {John 15:4-8} (also see Gal. 5:22-23), rather than ability to work miracles (Matt. 24:24). This love is the basis for essential unity among all Christians {John 15:17, 17:20-23}. Faith without love is counterfeit (Jam. 2:17). Satisfying GRFS is manifested by any type of personality (introverted, extroverted, etc.) as long as one is loving, but no good work merits salvation (Eph. 2:8-9), because no one is perfect (Phil. 3:12) except God (Heb. 5:7-9; TOJ #106).
 
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