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The year of jubilee in Leviticus 25:8-17 is recorded as a prophecy in Isaiah 61:1-3 and is fulfilled in reality in Luke 4:16-22:
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In the year of jubilee there were two main blessings: the returning of every man to his lost possession and the liberation from slavery (Lev. 25:8-17):
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In the year of jubilee everyone who had sold his possession, his allotted portion of the good land, was returned to it without paying anything to redeem it (vv. 10, 13, 28), and everyone who had sold himself into slavery regained his freedom and returned to his family (vv. 39-41).
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Returning to one's possession and being freed and returning to one's family signify that in the New Testament jubilee the believers have returned to God as their lost divine possession, have been released from all bondage, and have returned to the church as their divine family (Eph. 1:13-14; John 8:32, 36; cf. Psa. 68:5-6).
Morning Nourishment
Lev. 25:10 ...You shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.Isa. 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon Me, because Jehovah has anointed Me to bring good news...; He has sent Me ...to proclaim liberty to the captives,...to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah...
The Israelites were redeemed and blessed by God and eventually were brought into the good land of Canaan, and each family was allotted their portion of the land. Under God's care, not only were the Israelites blessed, but even their land was blessed. Every seventh year the land did not have to yield its produce. In that year the Israelites and the land were to rest. In the seventh year no one sowed his field, because this was the year ordained by God as the Sabbath year. Then after seven Sabbath years there was the Pentecostal year, the fiftieth year. The Pentecostal year was not just a Sabbath year; it was beyond human description....After the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, every fiftieth year was a year of jubilee to them....The year of jubilee, which is the fiftieth year, signifies the conclusion of our fallen human life. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, "The Jubilee," p. 6)
Today's Reading
In the year of jubilee everyone who had sold his possession, his allotted portion of the good land, was returned to it without paying anything to redeem it (Lev. 25:10, 13, 28), and everyone who had sold himself into slavery regained his freedom and returned to his family (vv. 39-41). Returning to one's possession and being freed and returning to one's family signify that in the New Testament jubilee the believers have returned to God as their lost divine possession, have been released from all bondage, and have returned to the church as their divine family.Each family of the Israelites was allotted a portion of the good land. After the children of Israel received their portions of the land, some became poor and sold their allotment (v. 25a), thus losing their possession, their inheritance. Others became so poor that they even sold themselves into slavery (v. 39a), thus losing their freedom and becoming separated from their families. The good land of Canaan typifies the Triune God embodied in Christ (Col. 2:9) and realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 3:14) as the allotted portion of the saints....When God created man, He intended to give Himself in
Christ to man as man's possession, man's inheritance (Gen. 2:9; 13:12-15; Psa. 16:5; 90:1). However, man became fallen, and in the fall man lost God as his possession (Gen. 3:24; 4:16; Eph. 2:12) and sold himself into slavery under sin, Satan, and the world (John 8:34;...1 John 5:19b). God's New Testament salvation, accomplished by God's grace based on His redemption in Christ (Rom. 3:24; 5:1-2; Eph. 2:8), brings fallen man back to God as his divine possession (Acts 26:18; Gal. 3:14; Eph. 1:14; Col. 1:12; Luke 15:12-24), releases man from slavery under sin, Satan, and the world (John 8:32; Rom. 6:6, 14; 8:2; Heb. 2:14-15; John 12:31), and restores man to his divine family, the household of God (Gal. 6:10; Eph. 2:19), that he may enjoy fellowship in God's grace (2 Cor. 13:14). (Lev. 25:10, footnote 2)
As a type in the Old Testament, the year of jubilee is recorded in Leviticus 25, and as a prophecy it is found in Isaiah 61. The type was given about fifteen hundred years before the coming of the Lord Jesus, and the prophecy was given about seven hundred years before His coming....One day the Lord Jesus came, and on a particular Sabbath day He entered the synagogue, picked up the scroll, and opened it to Isaiah 61, which prophesies that God would anoint the Lord Jesus with His Spirit to announce the gospel to the poor and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of jubilee. Then Jesus said, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). (CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, "The Jubilee," pp. 7-8)
Further Reading: Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 56; CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, "The Jubilee," ch. 1; Life-study of Luke, msgs. 64-65