Notes on the Feasts of the Lord.
No. 7.
THE SABBATICAL YEAR AND THE YEAR OF JUBILEE,
In treating of the details of the Day of Atonement, we called attention to the fact of the proclamation on that day of the Sabbatical year and year of Jubilee in their seasons.
Although these institutions are not
enumerated among the feasts we are considering--which are all
limited to certain annually recurring days, yet
they occupy a very prominent place in the law of the Lord, and
therefore claim special notice.
The Scriptures in which these institutions are spoken of are parts of Exod, xxi. and xxiii., Lev, xxv., and Deut, xv.
In these, as in all other parts of the law, much light is cast upon the Person and Work of Christ; the details are at once typical and most instructive.
The prominent points of the institution of the Sabbatical year are three: the rest of the land, the cancelling of debts contracted between Israelites, and the release or setting free of all Jewish servants.
We shall treat of these in the order now stated:
1: the Rest of the Land:
The statute is in these terms: "When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shall not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land"--vv, 2-5 of Lev, xxv,--.
Further, in the same chapter, we read: "If ye shall say, what shaIl we eat the seventh year ? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase; Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years, And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store".--vv,20-2-.
A twofold reason fur this law is assigned:
1: "the land is the Lord's"--v, 2:3; and,
2: "the children of Israel are His servants"--v,55--.
The same provision for allowing the land to rest, or keep its Sabbath, had been expressed more briefly in the first proclamation of the law from Mount Sinai in these words: "Six years thou shall sow thy land, and shall gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh year thou shall let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard"--Exod, xxiii. 10, 11--.
In treating of the Feast of the Weekly Sabbath--the day of rest commanded to the Jews-we noted the striking fact, that, while all manner of work was forbidden to the Jews on that day, there was a double amount of work done in the House of God.
This fact, showing the difference between God's work and man's work, furnishes an illustration of the meaning of that word of our Lord spoken in vindication of His having healed a man on the Sabbath day: "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.".
And the Jews seem to have clearly perceived the force of it, for they "sought the more to kill Him," for thus asserting His equality with God--John v.17,I8--.
But in the ordinance fur the rest of the seventh year, there are other lessons contained. No seed was to be sown; no vineyard dressed; even that which grew of itself in field or vineyard was not to be gathered in, but left for the poor, the stranger, or the cattle.
The command is one of entire rest, and the promise of provision on the sixth year extends not only to food fur the seventh year, but, as we have seen--Lev, xv, 20-22--,to the furnishing of seed for the eighth year, the commencement of a new series of seven, and, therefore, eminently typical of that rest to which the Church looks forward--Heb, iv.--.
This miraculous supply of abundance to the whole land on the sixth year was well fitted to teach the Jews their entire dependence upon God, their merciful Father, to show His absolute sovereignty; His peculiar property in the land, and in the people, His servants; to awaken confidence in Him, not alone for daily bread, but for every personal, domestic, and social blessing: for they were tenants at will upon His land, and their highest duty and privilege were to learn His will, and to worship and bless His holy name.
Further, the observance of the rest thus provided for the land was not only a test of the Faith of the people in the Word of their loving and faithful Father but it pointed their hope onward to the time of eternal rest, and besides affording them most abundant opportunities of holy meditation, such as their father Isaac sought and found--Gen. xxiv,63--, it also set them free for all offices of holy worship, and the diligent instruction of their children and households.
Still further, obedience to the charge
of the Lord, to leave what grew of itself in the seventh year to
the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger was a powerful
means of cultivating the virtues of compassion and generosity,
and was a protection against the spirit of selfishness.
Finally, the recurrence of the season in the revolution of the
mystical number seven, recalling the primitive division of time,
the rest of God, the primitive condition of man in the "very
goodness "of creation--Gen.i,--, must have been to the devout
Israelite a mighty strengthening of his hope in the promises to
Abraham and his seed, and also in the gracious promise of the
bruising of the serpent's head, when the curse of hard toil and
death should be abolished in the days of Messiah, and all the
families of the earth should be blessed.
We cannot pass from this part of the subject of the constitution under which God placed His people Israel, without recalling the solemn sanction of it recorded in Lev, xxvi.
The calamities there threatened, in the event of Israel's refusal to hearken and obey, are declared to culminate in the scattering of the people and the desolation of the land; and the reason assigned is that the land did not rest in their Sabbaths, when they dwelt upon it, and therefore is it written: "then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate it shall rest".-vv,34, 35--.
How fully this warning was vindicated in the time of Israel's captivity in Babylon we read in 2 Cron.xxxvi.21: "To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbath, for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years".
And may we not add, that the present condition of the Holy Land is an abiding commentary on the words of our Lord regarding the treading down of the city by the Gentiles until their times also be fulfilled--Luke xxi, 24--.
And keeping in mind, that not only what is written is for our instruction, but also what has happened to Israel, is an express type or example for us--1 Cor, x, 6, 11--, is not the condition of that land and that city a mirror, as it were, in which the Church of the New Testament may behold the reflection of her own spiritual state.
2: The Law regarding the cancelling of all Debts
contracted between Israelites.
These were simply allowed to lapse at the time of the
proclamation of the Sabbatical year, and the transactions out of
which they had arisen were to be entirely forgotten.
The statute is to be read in
Deut, xv. I-I I, where the
reasons for it are plainly given.
It is the Lord's release; the poor are never to cease out of the
land; in opening the hand wide to them the faithful Israelite is
required to show the mind of God, the Giver of all good; a
special blessing is promised to rest upon the basket and store of
a generous giver; and a warning is given against a spirit of
grudging to lend to a poor brother, when the year of release was
at hand.
The time or season of the year at which this universal release
was to take place was peculiarly fitted to dispose the Israelites
to give effect to this merciful and gracious law.
It was at the close of the in-gathering of the fruit of the land--Lev. xxiii,39--, which is also termed the end or revolution of the year--Exod xxxiv, 22--, their new year's day; a time of rejoicing and of large-hearted liberality; a time of reminding those whose barns and wine-presses were well filled that their poor brethren were still the children of the same family with themselves, and heirs with them of the same blessing.
It was only five days before the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles, the feast of universal joy; a time, therefore, of showing gratitude to God for having added to the store of provision for man and beast in the view of approaching winter; the opportunity of renewing, as it were, the covenant by the solemn rehearsal of the law, when all Israel appeared before the Lord, and when they and the stranger within their gates might hear of and learn to fear the Lord God of Israel, and observe to do all the words of this law-Deut, xxxi,10-13.
Thus the terms of the Covenant in regard to this exercise of brotherly love were kept fresh upon the hearts of all, and no one who failed to obey the law could plead ignorance of its provisions.
The rich were reminded of the source of their wealth, viz,. the blessing of God; and in making this use of their abundance were made partakers of the blessedness of God in setting free the poor from want and dependence; while the poor were taught to love the Lord for removing their heavy burdens, and to bless their brethren who were the instruments of ministering this blessing to them.
The Law regarding the setting free of
all Israelitish servants or slaves.
The statute directing the release of all Jewish servants at the
commencement of the Sabbatical year was of a twofold nature.
It applied to the case of one who had sold himself into slavery, and who then simply claimed the restoration of his liberty on the arrival of the appointed term; as well as to the case of one who should prefer to abide with his master.
The law as to the Former of these cases is stated, with the brevity and pre-cision peculiar to the divine statute, in Exod. xxi.l2, whence we learn that a Hebrew might sell himself--or be sold, chap. xxii. 3--to one of his own nation, but only for the interval from one Sabbatical year to another.
"In the seventh year he shall go out free for nothing.".
And not only go free, but, as subsequently declared in the renewal, or second publication of the law, at the close of the wilderness history,--Deut, xv, I2-15--, "Thou shall not let him go away empty: thou shall furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress; of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, thou shall give unto him".
The reason assigned for this liberality is most touching: "And thou shall remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day"--verse 15-.
The statute regarding the exception to this general rule of letting go free deserves careful consideration, for a reason that will be immediately apparent.
It is thus expressed, Exod, xxi,: "If the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever"--verses 5 and 6.
This is renewed in Deut. Xv, verses 16 and 17, in nearly the same words: "It shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; then thou shall take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maid-servant thou shall do likewise".
The application of this provision of the law to the Person and Work of our Divine Redeemer is, by some commentators, considered to be warranted by the words of Ps, xl, 6: "Mine ears hast thou opened, bored, or digged"-marg,--.
Whether this application be well grounded or not, the fact is clearly revealed, and declared in many passages of holy Scripture, that our Lord's entire submission to His Father's Will and love for His service led Him to surrender Himself with joy to be the Father's Servant for ever.
And another fact, or truth, of revelation bearing upon this subject is, that God requires no service, no sacrifice, no obedience from man, of which He has not already given the example in the Person of His own dear Son, Who, by becoming Man, and passing through all the conditions of human life and glorifying God in them all, has sanctified every class or relative condition of human society; especially the condition of a servant, in which class by far the greater part of mankind is comprised.
We terminate our notes on this part of our subject by a general and very obvious conclusion.
As the Jews were to be guided in all their arrangements of a social kind regarding labour and debts and servants by reference to the return of the Sabbatical year, so does it become Christians to be guided in all their worldly affairs by a continual reference to the coming day of the Lord, the great Sabbath or Rest that remaineth for the people of God.
This will be a very powerful means of obtaining strength to resist and overcome temptations; whether presented from without by the fashion of the world which passeth away, or, arising from within, the selfishness of unbelief against which they are so strongly warned by the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chaps, iii. and iv.
Other lessons wilt arise as we proceed to note the principal features of the institution of the Year of Jubilee, which, though akin to that of the Sabbatical Year, has nevertheless some specially important points of application to the Person and Work of our Divine Redeemer and, type of a very special and distinct kind, pointing consequently, to the Christian Church, her constitution faith and hope.
The details of this constitution are given in Leviticus, chap.xxv. We read there: "Thou shall number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shall thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day on the seventh month in the day of antonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and you shall return every man into his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family."-vv.8,9,10--.
We have noted, that where the mystical number seven occurs in the institutions of the Old Testament, there is a decided allusion to some feature of the whole purpose of God unfolded in the New Testament.
Here we have a peculiarly striking example of this.
The number is extended to years, as in the Sabbatical year, but it is further multiplied into itself in order to funis a type of a very special and distinct kind, pointing to the character of the work of Christ as the Redeemer, the Restorer, the Builder up of what had been cast down, the Liberator of the bound, the Opener of the gate to the captive, and the Fulfiller of all that ministry of grace and love for which He was anointed of the Father.
At the expiry of the seven times seven years, and during the fulfilment of the solemnities of the day of atonement "the trumpet of the jubilee"--margin.."loud of sound"--, was blown throughout all the land to mark the commencement of the fiftieth year, to introduce that hallowed year with joy and gladness, as the year of liberty, of restitution, and of the return of every man to his family and to the inheritance of his fathers.
Regarding the precise moment of the sounding of the trumpet there is a venerable Jewish tradition, which is interesting.
It is said that when the scapegoat was sent away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, a scarlet cord, ribbon, or band, wherewith the animal had been tied, was fastened to one of the sideposts at the entrance or door of the Tabernacle; and that so soon as the scapegoat was let loose, this cord or ribbon changed colour, and became white.
The instant this took place, a priest blew the trumpet, and the joyful note, being taken up by watchmen stationed on the surrounding hills, was speedily diffused throughout all the land of Israel; giving no uncertain sound, but conveying good news, glad tidings, or gospel to the hearts of all who heard it.
The effect of this proclamation was in several respects the same as that of the Sabbatical year.
Servants--or slaves--were set free; debts were cancelled; lands pledged or forfeited were restored to their owners--with an exception noticed in verse 3° respecting an unredeemed dwelling-house in a city--, and those set free commanded to return to their own families and the possession of their fathers.
The object of this merciful law was to bring back the families of that generation of Jews to the condition of their fathers in the days of Joshua, when each family received its portion of the inheritance by lot.
And the principles announced are common to both, viz,. the land is the Lord's; all Israelites are brethren of one family; all are tenants at will of the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and all are His redeemed servants.
Had this law been obeyed by the successive generations of Jews in the land of promise, how many evils would it have prevented .
The oft-recurring terms of release would have kept fresh upon the minds of all the knowledge of the will of God, that in His land there should be liberty, brotherly love, and united families; that the voice of gratitude and thankfulness should be universally heard; and that the nations around should have seen and confessed that Israel was a wise and understanding people--Deut.iv, 6--.
The broad outline of the gospel would thus have been impressed upon all, viz., that when man had departed from God and fallen into misery, it is not the will of God that he should remain away for ever; but that he should repent and return to Him, who has ransomed him from death and invited him to be reconciled to Himself and to be blessed in His eternal kingdom.
The oft-recurring expression "Return," in the provisions of this law, "return to his family "--v.10--, and "return to his possession"--vv, I3, 28,and 41--, points to a most important truth in the dealings of God with man.
What He hath appointed or instituted is good, because He Himself is the only good One, Any departure from that is evil, and must be evil, and so long as such departure is persevered in, misery must be the result.
Therefore is the Gospel not merely an invitation, but a command, which, to him that receiveth it, breaks the bonds of captivity, and introduces him to liberty, peace, and joy, not only turning him from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God--acts xxvi,18--, but also introducing him to all the blessings of complete salvation.
This leads us very naturally to consider the special application of the Institution of the Jubilee to the work of Our Lord, and consequently to the condition and hope of the Christian Church.
In the fulness of time marked in the counsels of eternal wisdom, He of whom Moses spake came into the world, and having grown up to man's estate was anointed of the Holy Ghost, and began His ministry in Galilee.
It has been supposed by some that the year in which He stood forth as the Evangelist sent of God was the very year of Jubilee.
The Jews had not, it is said, after the captivity in Babylon, observed the institution of the Sabbatical year, nor consequently that of the Jubilee.
But, whether this be so or not, the record of the opening of Our Lord's ministry in Nazareth leaves no doubt as to the fulfilment of the type.
We read that "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:....., and taught in the synagogues ...., and He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias: and when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down."--Luke iv.14-20--.
The passage of Isaiah of which these words are a part, is among the most highly prized by the Jews, as setting forth, in clearest words, the Person and Work of their expected Messias; and now that the Prophet, of whose appearance John had testified, and whose fame had already preceded Him--v.14--, had, after reading a part of it, seated Himself as one about to teach, the expectation of all in the synagogue as to what He would say, must have been roused to the very utmost.
"The eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened upon Him."-v.20--.
His first words must have intensified their interest. They all bare Him witness, not only apprehending the full meaning of His Words, but constrained for a moment to admire their grace and power.
While they looked and listened all went well with them; but when they allowed their prejudices to return, and thought of the consequences of admitting thast this man, who had been reared in their midst, was really the Messias, the sent of God, the anointed One, their amazement and admiration, coused by His Words, quickly gave place to rage; and rising up in fury on account of what they regarded as presumption and blasphemy, they thrust Him out of the synagogue, and out of the city, and would have cast Him out of the world also, had He not withdrawn Himself; for His hour was not yet come.
We purposely abstain from expounding the special features of this most interesting passage of holy Scripture, and content ourselves with the remark, that the spiritual fulfilment of the promises and blessings here enumerated bas been the establishment and continuance of the Christian Church, for whom all these things are written--Rom, xv, 4--, and that the literal fulfilment of them in the day of Israel's restoration and salvation shall most assuredly take place when the acceptable year of the Lord--the true Jubilee--shall be proclaimed to all Israel--Rom, xi, 26--, and also the day of vengeance of our God--Deut, xxxii, 4I, 43; Isaiah XXXV, 4--.
This is confirmed by the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians--2 Cor, vi, 2--, where the term "acceptable or accepted time" is applied to whole of the gospel time or day of salvation.
The words are quoted From Isa, xlix, 8, a prophecy in many respects similar to that of chap. xi, and bringing into clear and bold relief many of the features of the year of Jubilee.
Returning to Lev, xxv. we call attention to the importance of a periodical return to the original state or condition of the Jewish nation, as illustrating a principle in the actings of God towards His Covenant people.
That principle is this: What ever God has done or bestowed for the permanent benefit of His people is the true constitution of things in His sight; every departure from that, every modification or diminution of the gifts and calling of God, must therefore be damage and loss to His people; and nothing short of a full and complete return to the first estate can suffice for their well-being and for the honour and glory of God's holy name.
The application of this principle to the Jews in their land is most obvious.
By keeping all the statutes and judgements of God, not adding to nor diminishing the word which He by the hand of Moses commanded them, they were to glorify the name of God in the sight of the surrounding nations, they were to teach the word as delivered to them to their children from generation to generation. -See Deut,iv--.
Indeed the entire book of Deuteronomy is a continuous pleading of this principle, as the very secret of their existence as a nation and the key to all their marvellous history.
The application of this principle to the
spiritual Israel, the people of the New Convenant, the Christian
Church, ought surely to be equally obvious.
The analogy between the two families of God; the contrast of
literal and spiritual; the names applied to both; the transfer of
all priveleges from the branches broken off to those grafted in-Rom.xi.17-25--; the continual holding up the history of the
Jews as a mirror to the Christian Church--Rom, ii, ; 1 Cor, x.; Gal. iii.
and iv,; Heb. iv,; 1 Pet, ii,--, all proclaim in clearest terms the
responsibility of the Christian Church for the preservation and
exercise of all the gifts and ministries conferred upon her at
the beginning of her history; for the using of all the privileges
of the better covenant; and for following the example of the holy
guides and rulers given to lead and keep her in the ways of God,
and to prepare her as a Bride for the coming of her Bridegroom.
That the Church has not continued in her first estate, namely, that wherein she was constituted and endowed with the Holy Ghost, is a fact, regarding which no doubt can exist in any observant or well-instructed mind.
The ministries given of God are no longer exercised; the gifts no longer enjoyed. Instead of being the light of the world, she now requires to be herself enlightened, to be shown the causes of her divisions, her weakness, her falling away.
Instead of continuing in the goodness of God--Rom. xi. 22--, is she not exposed to the threatened doom of being cut off.
Instead of profiting by the warnings of Israel's sins and Israel's chastisements,--1 Cor, x, 1-12--, has she not fallen into the same sins, and incurred the same plagues.
Instead of labouring to enter into the rest that remaineth for her--Heb.iv, I, II-- has she not followed the example of Israel and fallen in the wilderness through disobedience .?
At every step of the analogy between the literal and the spiritual Israel, the same melancholy truth meets us and is confirmed by all we see and hear and by our sad experience in the present day.
And being brought face to face with this most momentous of all spiritual realities, the conclusion is forced upon us, that as the only cure for the evils, of the literal Israel was a return to the original, the normal, state prescribed by the provisions of the "year of Jubilee", so there can be no deliverance from the evil condition of the spiritual Israel, no, return to the health and peace and joy of the first Christians, no perfecting of the saints, no edifying of the Body of Christ, no real blessing of the Church, no giving of glory to God, no preparation for the Coming and Kingdom of the Lord, save in a heartfelt repentance, a faithful confession of the sins of the Church, and a return to the way and the of the Lord, as revealed in the beginning.