Message 57
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Scripture Reading: Lev. 25:23-34
Certain crucial words describe the jubilee. Some of these words are shouting, release or freedom, possession, and family. The jubilee is a time of shouting. It is also a time when we are released, freed, from slavery and captivity. We had lost our divine possession, but in the New Testament jubilee our possession has been returned to us for our enjoyment. In the jubilee we are also restored to our family. If we put all these matters together, we shall have a complete understanding of what jubilee is. We were in slavery and in captivity, but we have been released and restored to our possession for our enjoyment and to our family that we may have real fellowship in God’s grace.
The year of jubilee was also a sabbath year. This is the reason the first matter revealed in Leviticus 25 is the sabbath year. The eighth sabbath year was the jubilee, a sabbath year full of rest, release, and enjoyment. In this year of jubilee all the divine possessions were balanced again according to God’s economy. The produce of the land became free and common not only to man but also to the beasts.
“The land shall not be sold into permanent ownership, for the land is Mine; for you are aliens and sojourners with Me” (v. 23). This signifies that our divine possession belongs to God, and we cannot lose it forever, even though we might become defeated or fallen. It is safeguarded by God’s grace.
In the New Testament there is much teaching concerning the kingdom reward and the kingdom punishment. We may be defeated and even disciplined during the millennium, but our spiritual ownership of the divine possession cannot be lost permanently. After the millennium, those believers who are disciplined will be restored to the ownership of their divine possession, especially in the new heaven and the new earth, to enjoy the blessing of the New Jerusalem. It is of the grace of God that we shall be restored to our divine possession for eternity.
Leviticus 25:24-28 speaks of the restoration of the land that had been sold. This record is very meaningful but rather complicated and thus requires careful attention.
Although we might become weak and backslided and thus lose our enjoyment of the divine possession, we can still regain it. We may lose this enjoyment for a while, but eventually it will be restored to us.
Although the children of Israel have lost all that they have received from God through the generations, at the Lord’s coming back to them they will regain it. At the Lord’s coming back the Israelites will regain ownership of their God-allotted portion.
“In all the land you possess, you shall grant a redemption for the land. When your brother becomes poor and sells some of his possession, then his nearest relative shall come as his redeemer and redeem what his brother has sold” (vv. 24-25). This signifies that we have become poor and have sold our possession, and the Lord Jesus, our nearest relative, has come as our Redeemer to redeem for us what we have sold.
In Adam we sold everything. But the Lord Jesus is our relative as our Redeemer, and He has redeemed everything for us. This is illustrated in the book of Ruth, where we see that Ruth was redeemed by her relative Boaz. In the book of Ruth, therefore, we have a full story of jubilee.
“If a man has no one to redeem it, but has acquired the means and has sufficient for its redemption, then let him compute the years since he sold it, and refund the overpayment to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his possession” (vv. 26-27). This signifies that the children of Israel, not recognizing the Lord Jesus as their nearest relative, have put themselves in a position to bear the responsibility for their redemption until they become able to redeem themselves. However, to this day they are still unable to do it, and practically they will never be able to do it. When the Lord Jesus comes back, they will recognize Him as their relative, and then they will be redeemed by Him.
“But if he does not have sufficient means to restore it to him, then that which he sold shall remain in the hands 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” (v. 28). This signifies that we were unable to redeem what we had lost until the New Testament jubilee, in which all that we had lost is released to us to be our possession.
In these verses we see that there were three ways for an Israelite to recover his lost possession. First, it could be redeemed by his nearest relative. This is a matter of grace. Second, if he had the means, he could redeem it himself. Third, if he did not have a relative to redeem it for him and if he could not redeem it himself, he could wait for the year of jubilee, when the sold possession would spontaneously be restored to him. This also is a matter of grace. The jubilee is thus a very good type of God’s grace.
Leviticus 25:29-34 speaks of the redemption of the house that had been sold.
“If a man sells a dwelling in a walled city, he shall have the right of redemption within the year after its sale; his right of redemption shall last a full year. If it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall remain in permanent ownership to him who bought it throughout his generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee” (vv. 29-30). This signifies that if a believer has lost the enjoyment of the church life, it can be restored only within a short limit of God’s grace. If the lost enjoyment of the church life is not restored in the church age, it will still be lost in the millennium. This is according to the principle of taking away from him who has not (Matt. 25:29). Hence, the loss of the enjoyment of the church life is more serious than the loss of the enjoyment of Christ as our divine possession.
Concerning the redemption of a house in a walled city, there is a statute of limitations. After one full year, the house could not be redeemed, even in the jubilee. However, we may think that the jubilee is able to accomplish the restoration of everything, but this is not the case, for there is a time limit.
A house in a walled city is a type of the church life. We may sell anything else, but we should not sell the church life. If we do sell the church, we have only a limited time to recover it, and not even the jubilee can help us in this matter. The enjoyment of the church life can be restored only within a short time of God’s grace, as indicated by the one year.
The one full year typifies the church age. We should not think that the church age is long. Actually, the church age is short. The New Testament warns us that the church age is short. The Lord Jesus Himself has said, “I come quickly” (Rev. 3:11). Only the lazy, idle servant says, “My master is delaying his coming” (Matt. 24:48b). Rather, the Lord is hastening His coming, and it will not be long before the church age is ended. The church age will not be lengthened, prolonged. No one can tell whether the church life will be ended tomorrow by the Lord’s coming back. The church age is only for a little time, for a short time of God’s grace. Today we are in the church life, but it will be ended by the Lord’s coming back.
If you lose the church life and do not redeem it in a quick way, you will also lose the church life in the millennium. This means that the lost enjoyment of the church life will not be restored to you during the millennium. As we have pointed out, this is according to the principle of taking away from him who has not. If you do not have the church life in this age, then the church life will be taken away from you in the coming age. In Matthew 25 to lose the reward of the coming kingdom is to lose the enjoyment of the church life.
Losing the enjoyment of the church life is more serious than losing the enjoyment of Christ. The reason is that it is easy for the enjoyment of Christ to be restored. If we lose the enjoyment of Christ today, we can recover it quickly and easily. The Lord is gracious, and at any time He will restore Himself to us for our enjoyment. However, it takes a much longer time to recover the lost church life, for there is a hardship that frustrates us from coming back to the church life. We should be warned by this not to sell the church life. But if we do sell it, we should endeavor to have our lost church life restored to us as soon as possible, for the church age may be cut short at any time. If we do not recover our lost church life in this age, we shall be deprived of the enjoyment of the Body life of Christ until we have been disciplined during the millennium. Then in the New Jerusalem we shall be restored to the Body life of Christ.
Although there is in the New Testament such a teaching concerning the loss of the church life, not many Christian teachers have seen it. Having this view of the loss and recovery of the church life will help us to realize our need to live a proper church life today. Once we lose the church life, there is the danger that we shall lose it also during the coming millennium. Therefore, we need to consider losing the church life more serious than losing the enjoyment of Christ.
“But the houses of the villages that have no walls around them shall be considered as the fields of the country; they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee” (v. 31). This signifies that in a place in which there are some believers who cannot be considered a church, the lost enjoyment of Christ can be restored.
Those in a situation typified by the houses of the villages without walls cannot lose the church life because there is no church life in their place. They are not living the church life, for they are simply a small group of believers who cannot be considered a church. To these believers the lost enjoyment of Christ can be restored.
“As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites shall have a permanent right of redemption for the houses in the cities of their possession. And if anyone of the Levites does not redeem it, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel” (vv. 32-33). This signifies that if any loss of the enjoyment of the church life occurs to the believers who are adequately engaged in the service of God in a church, it can be restored to them without any limitation of time.
If we are those who serve God adequately in the church life and we lose the church life, it will be easy for it to be restored to us. From this we see that it is very good for us to serve in the church life more and more. The more we serve in the church life, the more secure our enjoyment of the church life will be. It will not be easy for us to lose the church life, but if we do lose it, it can be restored easily and quickly.
“But the fields of the pasture lands of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their permanent possession” (v. 34). This signifies that the believers who are adequately engaged in the service of God in a church will not lose the enjoyment of Christ permanently.
The two items in these verses related to the Levites surely encourage us to serve in the church life. The more we are engaged in God’s service, the better. If we are engaged in this service, it will not be easy for us to lose the enjoyment of Christ. If we lose the enjoyment of the church, it will be easy to have it restored to us. Thus, for both the enjoyment of Christ and the enjoyment of the church life, we need to engage ourselves more and more in the church service.
Nevertheless, we need to realize that even in the jubilee, which is altogether a matter of grace, there is still a statute of limitations regarding the matter of the church life as typified by the house in a walled city. If we lose such a church life, we need to redeem it within the time limit prescribed by the statute of limitations.
When we were young, the Lord showed us the revelation concerning the matter of the kingdom reward and dispensational discipline during the millennium, and we began to teach and preach this. A number of Christian preachers, teachers, and pastors argued with us, quoting Ephesians 2:8, which says, “By grace you have been saved through faith.” Then they went on to claim that what we were teaching was not a matter of grace. Yes, Ephesians 2:8 does say that we are saved by grace. But we also need to pay attention to Ephesians 5:5, where Paul says, “Every fornicator or unclean person or person of unbridled greedy lust, who is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Those who live an unclean life will not have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. This means that in the coming age of the kingdom, certain genuine, saved believers will have no inheritance. Due to their unclean life, they have lost the church life in this age and the inheritance of the kingdom in the coming age.
I do not know of one person who lost the church life because of something that was an offense to God who later came back to the church life. In each case, a saint did something that caused him to lose the church life, but that one did not return to the church life during the remainder of his life. They all died without having the lost church life recovered to them.
I do not speak these words as a threat but as a warning concerning the New Testament jubilee. Actually, even this kind of speaking is a sounding of the jubilee, telling the Lord’s people that the jubilee is a jubilee, but there is nonetheless a limitation concerning the house in a walled city.
If we lose the house, that is, the church life, we can redeem it, but only within a certain time limitation. If we do not redeem our lost church life during the time allotted, we shall also lose the church life in the coming age, and the church life will not be restored to us until after the coming age, when we shall be disciplined, trained, corrected, and punished in order to be cleansed, prepared, and perfected for the eternal age. We cannot lose the church life eternally, but we can lose it temporarily and dispensationally for a thousand years. This understanding is consistent with the Bible as a whole, for we see it both in the type in Leviticus 25 and in the clear words of the New Testament.
The warning about losing the church life eventually turns out to be a part of the jubilee. Regarding the jubilee, we should not be loose, shouting in a careless way. Rather, we need to be careful and be warned that concerning the recovery of the lost church life there is a time limitation. If we lose the church life, we should try to recover it right away, for we do not know how long the church age will last. To God one day may be as a thousand years, but to us a thousand years is a thousand years either for discipline or for reward.
The serious matter of dispensational reward and punishment during the coming age of the millennium is part of the gospel, in particular of the gospel as it is taught in Matthew. In Matthew we have the gospel of the kingdom. This gospel warns us concerning reward and punishment. “Unless your righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees,” says the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5:20, “you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” This teaching concerning the kingdom is different from that found in the Gospel of John. In John we do not have the gospel of the kingdom but the gospel of life. According to the Gospel of John, we enter the kingdom of God simply by regeneration (John 3:3, 5). This is the kingdom of life, and as long as we receive the divine life, we are in the kingdom of life. What we have in the Gospel of Matthew, however, is not the kingdom of life but the kingdom of the kingdom. In this message I am trumpeting, sounding out, an aspect of the jubilee that is a part of the gospel of the kingdom. We all need to listen to the kingdom gospel.
In Leviticus 25 there are two kinds of enjoyment: the enjoyment of the land and the enjoyment of the house. The enjoyment of the land typifies the enjoyment of Christ, and the enjoyment of the house typifies the enjoyment of the church life. We should not be careless in the church life, lest we lose it. There is the definite possibility of losing the church life in this age and then of suffering the loss of the church life in the coming age, in the thousand years of the kingdom.
It is possible to have the land without the house, but having the house surely implies having the land. The enjoyment of the land does not assure the enjoyment of the house, but the enjoyment of the house does assure the enjoyment of the land. As long as we enjoy the house, we may have the assurance that we are also enjoying the land. If we enjoy Christ, that does not assure us that we are also enjoying the church life. But as long as we are in the enjoyment of the church life, we are also in the enjoyment of Christ. The church assures us of Christ for our enjoyment.
