Leviticus 25:1-22

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

The Sabbath Year and The Year of Jubilee

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. Under the Law, every seventh year was to be a Sabbath Year.

  2. Under the Law, every fiftieth year was to be a Jubilee Year.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Remember, Atonement comes before liberty!

QUESTIONS

  1. What was to occur each Sabbath year?

  2. List some reasons God gave the law of the Sabbath year.

  3. Did Israel keep the law of the Sabbath year?

  4. What was the Jubilee Year?

  5. Were the Israelites really expected to let their land lie fallow two years in a row?

ANSWERS

  1. Every seventh year the land was to lie fallow and be given a rest.

  2. Every farmer knows that it is good to allow farmland to lie fallow periodically in order for the land to be renewed in nutrients. In the Law of the Sabbath year the Lord cared for the land itself. Another purpose was to provide for the poor and needy and even the beasts of the field, who were free to eat whatever grew on the land and on the vines that year.

  3. No, and this is one of the reasons God removed them from the Land during the Babylonian captivity. See 2 Chronicles 36:20-21.

  4. Every fiftieth year under the Law, was to be a year of Jubilee in Israel – a year of liberty for the land and for the people. The land was to lie fallow in the year of Jubilee as in the Sabbath years. All property purchased throughout the 50 year cycle was returned to the former owner.

  5. Yes. God promised in verses 20-22 that He would make the land extra productive in the 48th year so that the produce would carry them for three years.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Observing the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee were serious matters before the Lord. Discuss the consequences if the people failed to obey these laws. They were also missing out on the opportunity to trust God for their provision that year. When was the last time you took matters into your own hands rather than trusting God to provide?

  2. The Year of Jubilee began with the Day of Atonement. Only with the full forgiveness of sins could the celebration of liberty begin for God’s people. Discuss the divine principle “Atonement comes before liberty.” True liberty comes when we know we are forgiven for our sins.

CHALLENGE

  1. In the Law of the Sabbath year the Lord cared for the land itself. And so should we! We can use the land, but let’s not abuse the land.

KEY VERSES

  • “When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord.” Leviticus 25:2

  • “And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you.” Leviticus 25:10

  • “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

Talks, Old Testament, LeviticusRon ReidLEVITICUS 25:1-22