The new Jubilee of Jesus

By tim grey, in his book the mission of the messiah

In the Davidic kingdoms, there was rules about living that were given from god to help us live has as god wanted us to

• Remember God every week by resting on the sabbath
• Remember God’s love in the exodus every year on Passover
• Remember the world every seven years to let the land lay fallow
• Remember the each other every 49 years in jubilee by forgiveness of debt. Also done on the enthronement of a new king.

This last one the jubilee needs to be explained further. I consisted of three actions by all persons in the kingdom.

• All loan debt was forgiven whether large or small
• All Slavery due to debt was forgiven that the slave was set free.
• All Land that was held because of a debt was forgiven and the land was returned to the original family.

This is a huge thing, and it is a remarkable thing to consider that this was done. But this is the radically different way that god wants us to live.

Many did not want to live this way, and it is believed that because of the Jews deciding to not observe the jubilee, that God allowed the Jews to then be subject to the world, by allowing the Babylonians to invade and destroy the Jewish temple.

• in 586 BC the first temple was destroyed.
• 49 years after the exile they rebuilt Jerusalem.
• 70 years after the exile in 516BC the 2nd temple was built.
• It was near this time that Gabriel made his prophecy that after 10 jubilees the messiah would be born. That brings us to 26 BC
• 59 years later in 33AD Jesus announces that the prophesy of the messiah is fulfilled in their hearing it.

Which nicely brings us forward to the point at which Jesus was born. This is when the new Davidic king would reign, and would declare a new jubilee. When Jesus started his proclamation of the kingdom, he declared a new jubilee, where:

• He would forgive all people the unpayable debt of their sins
• He would free all people from the slavery to sin
• He would restore the kingdom of heaven that man lost in the garden, as a consequence of their sin.