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Leviticus 25:8-55

The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 25:8-55

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Year of jubilee: III. The blessed kingdom.

It may be thought that, while it is indeed true that the year of jubilee has a true counterpart in that dispensation of spiritual emancipation, social readjustment, regeneration, rest, joy, in which we stand; yet, on the other hand, there is so much of detraction in the sins and sorrows of the present time as to make the one but a very imperfect picture of the other. There is truth in this thought: it is only in a qualified sense that we can speak of the Christian era as a time of jubilee. Its perfect realization is yet to come; its true and glorious fulfillment awaits us, when the blessed kingdom of the Son of God shall have come in all its fullness and the latter-day glory shall appear; then there shall be—

1. Emancipation from all bondage. Every fetter shall be struck from the soul, as well as from the body, and we ourselves shall be free in all "the glorious liberty of the children of God."

2. Restitution. We shall recover the heritage forfeited by sin; the estate which our Father intended to bestow originally on all his human children will then revert to us, and we shall "return every man unto his possession" (). We shall know by blessed experience what God designed for holy manhood.

3. Regeneration. So great and blessed will be the change, the new conditions under which we shall live, that we shall feel that a "new heaven and a new earth" have been created. God will have made "all things new" to us.

4. Reunion. We shall "return every man unto his family" (). Parents and children, brothers and sisters, pastor and people, long-separated friends, will gather again in the same home, and "join inseparable hands" of holy, heavenly reunion.

5. Reign of love. If there be gradation, inferiority, rule, and service there, all "rigour" will be unknown (). Our "brother will live with us" (, ) in love; all rule will be beneficent; all service sweet and cheerful.

6. Perfect service of the Supreme. "Unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants" (). There is no fairer promise in the Word of God concerning the future than this—"his servants shall serve him" (). Then shall we attain to the ideal of our humanity when, escaping from ourselves, we shall, in thought and feeling, in word and deed, consciously and unconsciously, be serving God in stainless, uninterrupted ministry. Then God will be "all in all."

7. Rest and joy. The toil and care of earth will be left behind, will be lost in the endless sabbath, and we shall "enter into rest." Only those happy activities will await us in which we shall engage with untiring energy and unfading joy.—C.

HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD

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