Year of Jubilee

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Leviticus 25:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, (2) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD.'"

After an interruption in the delivering of laws by God to Moses in the last chapter, when a law concerning blasphemy was sought and given and executed, we return to the Lord delivering laws to Moses to pass on to the people.  The Lord spoke to Moses near Mount Sinai where the people were encamped.  The Lord instructed Moses to tell the people that when they came to the land of Canaan that He was giving to them, the land itself was to keep a Sabbath to the Lord, which was explained in subsequent verses.

(3) "‘Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; (4) But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of rest for the land, a sabbath for the LORD; you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.'"

For six years the people were to sow their fields and prune their vineyards and gather the fruit of their fields and vineyards, but the seventh year was to be one of sabbath rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord, when the people were to do no sowing or pruning.

(5) "'That which grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.'"

Even that which grew of its own accord without sowing or tending was not to be gathered, as there was to be a complete year of rest for the land.

(6) "‘And the sabbath of the land shall be food for you, for you, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired man, and for the stranger who dwells with you, (7) And for your cattle, and for the beasts that are in your land; all its increase shall be for food.'"

That which grew on its own accord during the sabbath rest of the land was to be food for all, for the people and all connected to them, including the animals.  Exodus 23:11 made it a point to state that during this year the land would provide for the poor and the animals:  "But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie still, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and with your olive grove."  Here in Leviticus 25:6, it states plainly it would be food for all, but in no way was it to be gathered and stored for the owners, to the neglect of others, including the poor and animals, but was to be left as food for all.

(8) "‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.'"

The people were to count for themselves seven such seventh-year sabbaths, seven times seven years, making forty-nine years.

(9) "‘Then you shall cause the trumpet to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.'"

After the end of the forty-nine years, at the beginning of the fiftieth year, specifically the tenth day of the seventh month of Tisri, about September or October, on the Day of Atonement, which was to be on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:27), they were to sound the trumpet throughout their land.  Interestingly, the original King James Version of the Bible stated "cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound, but according to Albert Barnes and other Bible commentators, the word "jubilee" did not occur in this verse in the Hebrew.  Since the time the KJV was translated, older manuscripts have been found, and those do not include the word "jubilee".  That apparently was a note made by a scribe and picked up as part of the original scripture by the KJV translators.  This became known as the Year of Jubilee and the time when this trumpet of jubilee would be sounded, but it apparently was not called as such at this particular point in this particular verse.

(10) "‘And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you, and you shall return every man to his possession, and you shall return every man to his family.'"

The fiftieth year was to be set aside as holy, and liberty was to be proclaimed throughout the land to all inhabitants.  It was to be a year of jubilee, the original word "yobel" having more to do with the continual sound of the trumpet, than it meant rejoicing or jubilation.  It was a year of liberty for all servants and from all debts.  The ancient historian Josephus said the word "jobel" signified "liberty".  Any possession that had been mortgaged to another or any person who had sold himself into servitude was to be returned.  This was not to be understood as a wrong to the purchaser since the time of the year of Jubilee was always known, and negotiations were made accordingly.

(11) "‘That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.'"

Just as in the seventh year sabbath rest for the land, in the fiftieth year, the year after seven seven-year periods, called the year of Jubilee, the people were not to sow or reap what grew of its own accord in the fields and vineyards.

(12) "‘For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.'"

The jubilee was to be holy to them.  They were not to gather and store the produce that grew of its own accord, but were rather to go out every day and gather only what was needed for their present consumption.

(13) "'In the year of this jubilee you shall return every man to his possession.'"

This is repeated from verse 10; in the year of Jubilee, every man was to have his possession returned, and have himself returned to his family if he had sold himself into servitude.

(14) "‘And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another.'"

If and when the people sold to or bought anything from their neighbors, they were not to cheat one another.  They were not to take advantage of one another by giving less than an item was worth or selling it for more than it was worth.

(15) "‘According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of the fruits he shall sell to you.'"

The number of years until the next Jubilee was to be taken into consideration when determining a fair market value.  Additionally, in the case of land or crops, it was to be taken into account how many of those years would be fruitful ones, deducting the sabbatical years when the land was allowed to rest.

(16) "‘According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewness of years you shall diminish its price; for according to the number of the years of the fruits he sells to you.'"

A fair price was to be set according to the number of harvests.  The average value of a yearly crop might be estimated and the sabbatical years were to be deducted from the number.  If the Jubilee to come was far away, the price would be more; if it was soon to come, the price would be much less.

(17) "‘Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.'"

The people were strictly forbidden to cheat one another, but were to fear their Lord God who knew all things done in secret and was well able to avenge the oppressed.

(18) "'Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my judgments, and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety.'"

God promised that if the people observed and performed His commandments, they would dwell in safety.  Some people want to accuse God of simply being authoritarian and if people dare to step out of line, they are punished.  That is not the point.  God's laws are about life and life more abundant, and by choosing to obey God's wise laws, people chose life and safety from the elements and from enemies:

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days..." - Deuteronomy 30:19-20a

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." - John 10:10

(19) "'And the land shall yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.'"

If the people adhered to God's wise laws, including the ones regarding how to treat the land, that land would provide for them, not merely in the bare minimum to sustain them, but they would have their fill, and would dwell in their land in safety.  Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, pointed out that the original word "betach", translated as "safety", signified "both outward safety and inward security and confidence of spirit, that they should be quiet both from evil and from the fear of evil."  Indeed, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance defines it as "properly a place of refuge; abstractly safety, both the fact (security) and the feeling (trust)."

(20) "‘And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year if we shall not sow, nor gather in our produce?" (21) Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.'"

God assured the people that if they wondered what they would have to eat in the seventh year if they were not allowed to sow nor gather any produce, that He would indeed bless their obedience, and in the sixth year, they would have produce enough for three years!  I made it a point to say earlier that the wise laws of God were of themselves designed to provide blessing and abundance.  However, in this case, there is nothing so special about the sixth year of harvest that it should produce three times as much as the fourth or fifth year.  This was certainly the providence of the Lord God to bring blessing to those who trusted Him completely and depended on Him alone for their sustenance.  What an awesome truth to remember about our Lord and Savior!  Whereas the world and secular worldly people depend on themselves and other mere men and government, etc., to provide for their needs, those people who love their Lord, follow Him to the best of their ability, and look to Him for their provision, will indeed be taken care of:

"Therefore take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘How shall we be clothed?’ (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." - Matthew 6:31-33

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. - Psalm 84:11

The LORD will not allow the soul of the righteous to famish, but He casts away the substance of the wicked. - Proverbs 10:3

 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19

It must be noted that God supplies our needs, but not necessarily our wants!  We may not even realize what all our spiritual needs are, but we should remember that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  If we seek to live our lives according to the will of God, ALL things will work together for good!  However, that doesn't necessarily mean what our puny mortal beings consider good, but what our all-seeing, all-knowing God knows is good!  If we recognize that our Lord is all good and trustworthy, then we can have faith through even the most difficult circumstance and leave it to His greater will.  I believe that is the true meaning of Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  It's not that we can do all the things we want because He always strengthens us to do them, but rather He gives us the strength to do all things that come our way.

(22) "‘And you shall sow the eighth year, and eat still of old fruit until the ninth year; until its fruits come in you shall eat of the old harvest.'"

In the sixth year before the sabbath rest of the land, because of the Lord's blessing, the land would bring forth so much produce that while they sowed in the eighth year, they would still be eating of the sixth year's produce, even until the ninth year, to sustain them until the fruits of the eighth year's harvest came in.

(23) "'The land shall not be sold forever, for the land is Mine, for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.'"

The land could never be permanently sold, because it was always released during the year of Jubilee.  The reason given for this was that the land was the Lord's and it was He who was giving it to be used by them, strangers, guests invited to dwell in it with Him.  If only we saw all things as belonging to the Lord and to be shared as He has so blessedly shared with us!  The year of Jubilee reminded the people of this fact.  All debts were forgiven then and all things returned to the original owners, so that no person ever bought something permanently.  Obviously, that couldn't pertain to perishable things or things that were totally consumed, but land, people, and I would imagine animals, and maybe even structures, tools, and the like, were considered the Lord's.  It is obvious to us that land and people and animals might be considered as belonging to God, but maybe not so obvious that things "we created ourselves" also belong to God.  We should always remember that it is the Lord who gives us the talents, resources, and conditions, to achieve goals, get wealth, and acquire things (Deut. 8:17-18).

(24) "‘And in all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.'"

In all the land of Canaan that the Lord was giving to His people, they were to grant the power to recover the land to the original holder who had parted with it, as the land was never to be permanently sold.

(25) "'If your brother becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.'"

If one of the Israelites became poor and sold some of his possessions through necessity, a relative was permitted to redeem it by buying it back, in the interim between Jubilees.

(26) "'And if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, (27) Then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession.'"

If the poor man had no relative to immediately redeem his possession, but later became able to redeem it himself, then the number of years since the sale were to be taken into consideration, and he was to pay for the rest of the years still to come, and he must be allowed to thus buy back his possession during the interim between Jubilees.

(28) "‘But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.'"

If the poor man was unable to have his possession redeemed either by a relative or by himself at a later date, then his possession was to remain in the hand of the purchaser until the Year of Jubilee, at which time all possessions were to be returned to their original owners.

(29) "'And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it.'"

It appears that a difference was placed between houses in the city and houses in the country.  If a man sold a dwelling house within a walled city, he had just one year to redeem it.  I believe we can safely surmise the reasons for this.  A house within a city stood a very good chance of housing a business.  If a man bought a house and sought to start a business, it would be most inconvenient to have that business moved in a few years because of Jubilee.  Matthew Henry suggested that perhaps "houses in walled cities were more the fruits of their own industry than land in the country, which was the immediate gift of God's bounty."

(30) "'And if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall be established forever to him who bought it, throughout his generations; it shall not be released in the Jubilee.'"

A year was given to the man who sold his property within the city, as he may have had a financial necessity that forced him to sell but planned to buy it back when able within the year.  However, if it was not redeemed within a full year, the property became the permanent property of the man who bought it, and was not to be released at Jubilee.  At this point in scripture, Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, also made it a point to speculate that "houses were not like lands, the gift of God, and held under Him, but were built by men, and were their absolute property, and therefore they could dispose of them..."

(31) "'But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country; they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.'"

Houses outside the walled city, even those in villages, as long as they were outside the city walls, were to be treated as the open fields of the country, and could be redeemed at any time or released at Jubilee.

(32) "‘Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.'"

In the case of the Levites, their houses within their cities could be redeemed at any time.

(33) "‘And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.'"

If a man bought a house from the Levites, that house was to be released in the Jubilee.  The reason for this was that the Levite priests had no real inheritance of their own in Israel; all they had were the houses in their cities in which to dwell, and the freewill offerings and support they received from the people.

(34) "'But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.'"

Only houses of the Levites could be sold, but never permanently.  The fields surrounding their houses could never be sold.  A Levite's land was not something he personally owned and could add to or improve, but was given to him for sustenance.  The land surrounding Levites' houses was more of a common land in which to keep their cattle, etc., and not individually owned.

(35) "'And if your brother becomes poor, and falls into decay among you, then you shall help him as you would a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.'"

If one of their own people fell into poverty, he was not to be regarded as an outcast, but was to be helped and supported, and treated with the same respect and consideration as they might give a foreigner who could possess no land, but could accumulate personal property and live in comfort among them.

(36) "‘Take no usury or increase from him, but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.'"

There was to be no interest added to the help and support given a brother who had fallen into poverty, but the people were to fear their God who commanded this in His mercy to care for the poor among them.  What a wonderful principle!  People who have fallen on hard times being expected to repay help along with high interest often can never climb out of their destitution.  However, a wealthy man who buys to add to his assets should be expected to pay interest and allow the seller or lender to share in the profit with the buyer or borrower.

(37) "‘You shall not give him your money on usury, nor lend him your food for increase.'"

Speaking of a brother who became poor and borrowed out of necessity (not one who borrowed for gain), the child of Israel was not to charge any interest on money he lent, nor ask for any increase above what he loaned.

(38) "‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.'"

This expounded on the 36th verse which stated the people were to fear their God, their Lord, the One who brought them out of Egypt to give them the land of Canaan.  As God was gracious and merciful to them when they were in bondage, so ought they be to their brethren who fell into "decay" (v. 35).

(39) "'And if your brother who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave, (40) But as a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee.'"

If a neighboring brother became so poor that he sold himself into service, he was not to be treated as a slave, as property, but as a hired servant who received his wages and went on his way, or as a lodger or guest in his home.

(41) "‘And then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers he shall return.'"

Then at the time of Jubilee, that neighbor must be allowed to leave his service, he and any of his family with him, and return to his own family and take possession of the inheritance of his fathers that may have been what he was obliged to sell in his time of desperate poverty.

(42) "‘For they are My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.'"

The people, those poor neighbors who had sold themselves into servitude, were some of the very people God Himself redeemed and brought out of servitude in Egypt.  They were His people and could never be sold as slaves.

What an awesome scripture!  Although it speaks specifically of God redeeming the people He b(r)ought out of bondage in Egypt, I can't help but think how we are all servants of God, every one of us!  Sure, everyone can accept that a Christian is a servant of God, but all over the Bible are examples of how everyone, people and animals, can be used by God as His servants.  After all, we are all created by Him and for Him:

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him. - Colossians 1:16

Even our leaders, it appears, whether they profess to be Christians or not, were created by God and for Him and His purposes.  Consider also:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring to themselves damnation. - Romans 13:1-2

That is not to say that every governing authority is good, but not one can come into power outside the power of God.  Every leader we have ever had is either appointed or allowed by God.  That can be very uncomfortable to some when we think of the likes of Hitler.  However, there is a balance of free will and God's will that occurs.  Bad things happen to good people.  I don't say that to trivialize the atrocities that happened under Hitler.  I have come to understand that we live in this bad fallen world, and awful things happen.  But God also uses the bad to bring about good:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28

God may even allow those bad things to bring about greater good.  Think of a parent who would die to save her child.  Is that not what Jesus did for us?  For all of us?  If a child witnessing the faith of his father in a horrific situation brought that child to salvation in Jesus Christ, how many fathers would willingly go through it again to save their children?  How many times has the very worst of circumstances brought out the best in people?  How many times has sinking to the very bottom finally brought a person back to God, His only salvation?  Punishment by God in the Bible was often used to bring His people back to Him, their only salvation:

"I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me," says the LORD. - Haggai 2:17

Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. - Deuteronomy 4:36

My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? - Hebrews 12:5b-7

It is also important to note that as a perfect being, God's absolutely pure and holy nature cannot tolerate sin.  Not only that, but His absolute love requires that He hate sin and evil.  A lack of wrath against wickedness would be a lack of caring which is a lack of love.  He loved us so much that He saved us in spite of our evil selves! (Romans 5:8)  Because He is absolutely pure, perfect, and completely loving, we can have faith that what He brings or allows is for our ultimate good, and we can trust Him completely.  When good people or small children go through horrific pain and death, we can be assured their reward is great with God:

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 5:8

The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. - Isaiah 57:1

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matthew 5:10-12

We can trust God!  Because He is perfect and loving and just, He will do the right thing!  He just will!  It's his nature; He can't do anything but what is perfect and right.  Therefore we never have to question Him.  We may not totally understand His ways in our flawed selfish human minds, but we can be sure that He is perfect and loving and faithful and will do the perfect thing.  To be absent from the body and this earth is to be with the Lord in everlasting peace and joy and love and perfection.  I also don't believe anyone will be taken out of this world before his time, and before he would have come to accept the Lord had he lived just a little longer.  Once again, because the Lord is completely just, and because He knows all, He knows the heart of man and whether or not he would have come to accept the saving grace of Jesus Christ, so we can have faith and trust Him completely!

Back to us all being servants of God--although Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, he was called a servant of God:

And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. - Jeremiah 27:6

In Numbers 22, we have the story of God opening the mouth of His servant at that particular time, a donkey, to explain to Balaam what he could not see with his eyes:

Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”...And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. - Numbers 22:28, 30-31

Oh, that we would always remember that we are ALL servants of God!  Because we are all God's creations and His servants, we should never enslave one another, nor kill one another, as in murder or through abortion.

Now back to Leviticus 25:

(43) "‘You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God.'"

Referring to the poor brother who was God's servant (v. 42), he was not to be treated with severity or cruelty, but the people were to fear their God and obey Him in this respect, as He was the One who could avenge His people who were treated cruelly.

(44) "'Both your bondmen and your bondmaids whom you shall have, shall be from the heathen that are around you, from them you may buy bondmen and bondmaids.'"

If the people were to have slaves, they were allowed to have them from the heathen nations around them, but not of the people of Israel.  Why would God allow slavery at all if all people were His creations?  All I can say is that slavery existed already in all cultures around the world, but God put forth rules regarding how they should be treated civilly.  The Old Testament world where there were laws that had to be obeyed put a divide between God's people and heathens.  However, in our present New Testament world where God sent Jesus to save us all from our sins and the law, God desires all men be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).  Did He not care for all people in the Old Testament?  Of course, He did!  “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign LORD. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live." (Ezekiel 18:23 NLT)  In Old Testament times, the Law was all there was.  When Jesus came, He saved us from the Law.  That is not to say He eliminated the law, He just gave us a way to God even though we could not adhere to it; He covered our sins with His precious blood and made us pure and able to be with God.

(45) "‘Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they begat in your land; and they shall be your possession.'"

Children of foreigners who dwelt among them and their families that they brought forth in the Israelites' land, were permitted to be owned as slaves.  Once again, all I can say about slavery is that it was the custom of the times.  Although it was not the only way a person could become a slave, one thing about it was that a person always had something of value to sell even when they had sold every possession.  They could sell themselves into servitude and then they would be housed and fed.  In that respect, if done by a person's free will, it wasn't a bad thing, and the Law protected slaves against injustice and cruelty at the hands of their owners.

(46) "‘And you shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your bondmen forever; but over your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.'"

The bondmen or slaves that the people were permitted to own of the groups described above, these would be as their property that could be passed on to their heirs to be their possessions.  They would be their bondmen or slaves forever, meaning they did not have to be released at Jubilee.  However, it was repeated that their Israelite brothers were never to be taken as slaves.

(47) "‘And if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and your brother who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, (48) After he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him, (49) Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself.'"

In the case of a foreigner who dwelt among them who became rich, and an Israelite brother who had become poor and sold himself into bondage to the rich foreigner or a member of his family, illustrating how a brother might become a slave among them, that slave was permitted to be redeemed.  Any of his near kin could redeem him, or if he was able, he could redeem himself.

(50) "'And he shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he was sold to him to the year of Jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him.'"

The price of the redemption of the brother sold into bondage to a foreigner who dwelt among them (v. 47) was to be calculated according to the years of service until Jubilee.  The brother who sold himself into bondage to a foreigner who dwelt among them was never to be considered permanent property of the foreigner, and that foreigner must take that into account when he "purchased" the Israelite bondmen, knowing he would never be paid back more than that amount.

(51) "‘If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. (52) And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption.'"

This is further explanation of the price of redemption for the Israelite brother who had sold himself into bondage.  At the time he was redeemed, if there were many years left until Jubilee, then the redemption price would be higher, according to that number of years remaining, and if there were only a few years left until Jubilee, that was also taken into consideration, and the redemption price would be lower.

(53) "'And he shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight.'"

Being able to be redeemed at any time and allowed to go free, the Israelite brother who had sold himself into bondage to the wealthy foreigner who dwelt among the Israelites, was to be treated as a hired servant rather than as a slave, personal property of the owner.  The person he was sold to was not permitted to treat him harshly or cruelly.  I don't believe the meaning here is that he could be treated cruelly in private, but that the people were charged with revealing knowledge of any such cruelty they had witnessed.  Obviously, a foreigner in a foreign land could not be expected to adhere to such rules, but one who wished to dwell with the Israelites was required to obey them.

(54) "‘And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.'"

Being treated as a yearly hired servant, redeemable every year, even if he was not redeemed in any of those years, he was to be released in the Year of Jubilee, he and any of his family with him.

(55) "‘For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.'"

Once again, God asserted that the children of Israel were His people, His servants, the ones He brought and redeemed out of the land of Egypt, and He alone was their Lord God, to whom they belonged.  This redemption and Jubilee were beautiful symbols of the Christ to come.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the slave to sin, who was in debt to God's judgment, can have his life redeemed and his debt discharged.  A person who sold himself into bondage to Satan and sin can be redeemed and freed and can become a son of God through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.  We, all being children and servants of God, forfeit our rights to the Kingdom of God because of our sins, but we are all able to be redeemed by faith in Christ.  Compare a slave released in Jubilee to a life in bondage for decades released and completely free from those bonds of sin in an instant "jubilee" when he accepts Jesus's saving grace.  I also can't help but think of a life on earth that is filled with heartaches and struggles, but because of his faith in Christ, oh what a jubilation there will be when he gets to heaven!