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Scripture Reading: Lev. 25:9-13, 39-41, 54; Psa. 16:5; 90:1; Eph. 2:12; Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:14; Col. 1:12; Luke 15:12-23; Rom. 7:14b; John 8:34, 36; Rom. 6:6-7; 8:2; Gal. 5:1
In this message we shall go on from the definition of the jubilee covered in the two previous messages to the blessings of the jubilee. For our understanding, it is good to have the definition of the jubilee. The blessings of the jubilee, however, are not for our understanding; the blessings are for our enjoyment. In addition to understanding the jubilee, we need to enjoy it. We surely need the blessings of the jubilee.
Actually, the preaching of the gospel is the sounding, the trumpeting, of the jubilee. In the preaching of the gospel, we proclaim glad tidings, good news. This good news is that we can be returned to our lost possession and that we can be freed from slavery, from bondage. In our gospel preaching, we need to trumpet the jubilee; we need to proclaim the return to the lost possession and the release from bondage.
According to the type in Leviticus 25, the jubilee has two main blessings. These blessings are the return to the lost possession and the release from slavery.
In the foregoing messages we pointed out that although we are men created by God, we have lost God as our real possession. To be more exact, actually we did not lose our possession — we left it. The parable of the prodigal son illustrates this. When the prodigal son left the father’s house, he also left his inheritance. Likewise, when we left God, we left our true possession. Therefore, in the jubilee it is not that our possession is returned to us; rather, we are returned to the possession which we left. The first blessing of the jubilee is the return to our possession.
In addition to losing our possession, we also lost ourselves by selling ourselves into slavery. Therefore, we need to be set free. This is the second blessing of the jubilee. If you read Leviticus 25 carefully, you will see that, on the one hand, there is the return to one’s possession, and, on the other hand, the return to one’s family.
We all once were prodigals who went away from the Father and from His household. As those who went away both from the Father and from His house, we certainly went away from our inheritance. Therefore, it was necessary for us to be returned to the Father and to His household. This is the jubilee as illustrated by the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15.
The New Testament jubilee was proclaimed by the Lord Jesus in Luke 4:18-19. He sounded out the trumpet of the New Testament jubilee when He declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away in release those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” After this jubilee was proclaimed, it was experienced by many whose cases are recorded in the Gospel of Luke. All these cases, therefore, are illustrations of the New Testament jubilee.
Among the many illustrations of the jubilee in the Gospel of Luke, the best is the case of the prodigal son being returned to his father, to his father’s household, and to his inheritance. After the prodigal had spent all, a severe famine occurred, and he began to be in want (Luke 15:14). He then “went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed hogs. And he was longing to be satisfied with the carob pods which the hogs were eating, and no one gave him anything” (vv. 15-16). When he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but I am perishing here with famine! I will rise up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants” (vv. 17-19). Here we see that the prodigal wanted to be as those who sowed, reaped, and harvested (things which were forbidden in the year of jubilee) by exerting his own effort. His intention was to tell his father that since he was no longer worthy of being a son, he would like to labor as a hired one. But according to the type in Leviticus 25, during the year of jubilee there was to be no sowing, reaping, or harvesting. During that year there was not to be any labor on the land. Hence, the prodigal son should not have come back to the father to be a laborer. He should be returned to the father as one being returned to enjoy his possession.
When the prodigal son was returned, he began to say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (v. 21). The father, not having an ear to hear such nonsensical talk, interrupted him and said to his slaves, “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry” (vv. 22-23). Do you know what the fattened calf signifies? The fattened calf signifies the rich Christ as our inheritance. In the words of Colossians 1:12, this is Christ as the portion of the saints. After the prodigal son was returned, he, the father, and those in the household began to enjoy the inheritance. Here in the case of the prodigal son we have a clear picture of the New Testament jubilee. A genuine conversion should be like that of the prodigal son portrayed in this parable.
We have pointed out that the first blessing of the jubilee is the return to our lost possession. In the jubilee those who have lost their inheritance were returned to their possession. This is typified in Leviticus 25:9-13.
The first main blessing of the New Testament jubilee is to return to the possession which we had left. This possession was not anything material — our possession was God Himself.
Man’s true possession is God, and man was created as a vessel to contain God. Genesis 1:26 says that man was made in the image of God, and Romans 9 reveals that man was created to be a vessel. Man was created a vessel to contain God so that God might fill man and express Himself through man.
Consider a bottle, which is a vessel. In itself such a vessel is empty. What is the possession of a bottle? A bottle’s possession is its content. The principle is the same with any kind of vessel: the possession of a vessel is the content of that vessel. If a vessel does not have its content, it does not have its possession. For a vessel to be without content, to be without its possession, is to be empty, and to be empty is to be poor.
Man was created as a vessel to contain God. If man does not contain God, this means that man does not have his possession. Without God as his content, man remains a poor, empty vessel. God’s intention is to be man’s content, his possession.
In the realm of material things, if we have the needed possessions, we shall have land for the producing of food, and we shall have a house for our lodging. Daily we need food to eat and a house in which to dwell. In brief, we need land and a house. These are the basic necessities in man’s living.
The New Testament indicates that God is our real land. To His chosen people, the children of Israel, God gave a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey. For what purpose did He give them the land? God gave the land to His people so that they would have food for eating. This good land is a type of God in Christ to be the supply for our eating. Eating is a spiritual necessity, and Christ is the supply to meet this need.
In Psalm 90:1 we see that God is also our dwelling place: “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.” Have you ever realized that God is your dwelling place? Even in the Old Testament we are told that God was the dwelling place of His chosen people. Therefore, God is our land and also our house, our dwelling place.
Psalm 16:5 says, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup.” Here we see that the Lord is our portion for our inheritance and for our cup. He is our portion in two ways — as food for our eating and as a house for our dwelling. According to Psalm 90:1 and Psalm 16:5, God intends to be man’s possession, to be man’s land and lodging.
Our daily necessities in human life include four main items: clothing, food, housing, and transportation. Of these four, food and housing are the most important. We may be able to live without adequate clothing and transportation, but we cannot live without food and lodging. Even a bird needs food and a nest. The Bible reveals that Christ is our real clothing; Christ is the righteousness that covers us. Furthermore, we may say that Christ is also our real transportation. Elsewhere, we have pointed out that Christ is the real “jumbo jet” that brings us to God the Father. Christ is our clothing, transportation, food, and housing.
In the year of jubilee the concern was not with clothing or transportation; instead, the concern was with eating and housing. Therefore, a man could return to his provision, to his land for eating, and also to his family, that is, to his house. In a spiritual sense, our land is God Himself, and our house also is God. God’s intention is to be our possession for food and lodging.
The Gospel of John reveals that the Lord Jesus is our food and our dwelling place. In John 6 we see that He is the real bread, the bread of life, the living bread that came down out of heaven (vv. 32-33, 35, 48, 50-51). Hence, He is our heavenly food. The fact that the Lord Jesus is also our dwelling place is implied by His word, “Abide in Me” (John 15:4). To abide in the Lord means to take Him as our abode, as our dwelling place. According to the Gospel of John, we should eat the Lord and also dwell in Him, for He is our food and our lodging.
The Bible is consistent. Although the Bible speaks of many things, when we get into the depths of the Word, we see that it reveals in both the Old Testament and in the New Testament that the Triune God is our food and our lodging. He is edible, and He is our real dwelling place.
Consider the situation of the priests in the Old Testament. Concerning the priesthood, there was the tabernacle for lodging and there were the sacrifices for eating. Those who served God as priests could eat the sacrifices and dwell in the tabernacle. Both the tabernacle and the sacrifices are types of Christ. As today’s priests, we should eat Christ and dwell in Him.
Certain Christians who are not knowledgeable in the Scriptures may be troubled when they hear about eating Christ. They may say, “Do you intend to eat Christ? This is blasphemy! Christ is your Redeemer, Savior, Master, Lord, and God. How can you eat Him?” Yes, the Lord Jesus is our God, Lord, Master, Savior, and Redeemer. Nevertheless, He Himself told us that He is our food. He is food for us to eat, and He is also the abode in which we dwell.
Are you in the actual experience of the jubilee? Do you know what it really means to be in the jubilee? First, to be in the jubilee is to eat the Lord Jesus. If you do not eat Him, you are not in the jubilee. No one can be in the jubilee with an empty stomach. A proclamation concerning the jubilee may be made, but if your stomach is empty, you will not care for that proclamation.
I can testify that I am truly in the jubilee because daily I eat the Lord Jesus. Through eating Him as my spiritual food, I enjoy the jubilee. To me, the jubilee is a feast, a time for eating the Lord Jesus.
If you are to be in the jubilee, you need to eat the Lord. You need to enjoy Him. When we come to Leviticus 25 in the Life-study Messages, we shall see that the main thing in the experience of the jubilee is eating.
Furthermore, in order to be in the jubilee, we need to have Christ as our lodging, as our dwelling place. When Christ is our home, we have true rest. We enjoy a real sabbath as we lodge ourselves in Christ. Hallelujah, Christ is our food and our dwelling place!
We have pointed out that God created man with the intention that man take God as his possession. After creating man, God placed him in a garden and in front of the tree of life. The garden is for lodging, and the tree of life is for eating. Here we see that the man created by God had two important needs: he needed God to be his food, and he needed God to be his garden, his dwelling place. Perhaps you have not heard before that God should be our garden. But where did Adam live? He did not live in a house or in a city; he lived in a garden. Both the garden and the tree of life are symbols of God being man’s enjoyment.
Adam lived for a while in the garden, but he did not go on to enjoy the tree of life. Instead of eating of the tree of life, Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and thereby became fallen. Through the fall Adam lost God. It may be better to say that through the fall Adam left God. Instead of taking God in as his life, Adam left God. When he left God, he left his possession.
In the New Testament we are told clearly that fallen man is without God. Ephesians 2:12, a verse that describes the actual condition of fallen mankind, says that man is now “without God in the world.” Today all of fallen mankind is without God because man has left God.
When Adam was in the garden, he could proclaim that he had God. Yes, he had God, but he did not take God as his life. Adam left God and lost God. Therefore, all his descendants live on earth without God. This certainly was our situation before we were saved; we lived on earth without God because we had left Him.
God’s jubilee brings man back to God as man’s inheritance. In the New Testament jubilee we all have been returned to God as our possession.
It is not easy to explain this biblical truth accurately. Actually, it is not the case that we returned to God; rather, God returned us to Himself as our possession. This is portrayed by the type in Leviticus 25. Verse 10 says, “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.” Here we see not that a man’s possession was returned to him, but that he was returned to his possession. The same thing is declared in Leviticus 25:13: “In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.” In the type of the jubilee, all those who had sold their possession were returned to their possession so, in the real New Testament jubilee we did not return to God; on the contrary, God returned us to our possession. This means that when we were saved, God returned us to our possession.
Let us consider once again the example of the prodigal son. Apparently it was the prodigal son who returned to the father. Actually, according to Luke 15 the Father sent the Son as the Shepherd to seek out the lost prodigal son. Furthermore, it was the Father who sent the Spirit to find the lost son. Therefore, the prodigal did not return to the Father on his own. The Father sent His Son and His Spirit to cause the prodigal son to return.
Do you think that you have returned to God? You may have this concept, but your coming back to God was God’s doing to return you to Himself. God has caused us to return to Him as our possession. Praise Him that He has caused us to return!
Colossians 1:12 says that the Father has qualified us for a share of the portion of the saints in the light, and Ephesians 1:14 speaks of the pledge of our inheritance. Now that we have been returned to God as our portion, we have God in Christ as our inheritance. In Acts 26:18 Paul speaks of fallen people being brought back to God as their inheritance: “To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.” The divine inheritance here is the Triune God Himself with all that He has, all He has done, and all He will do for His redeemed people. This Triune God is embodied in the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 2:9), who is the portion allotted to the saints as their inheritance. The Holy Spirit, who has been given to the saints, is the foretaste, the pledge, and the guarantee of this divine inheritance (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 1:14), which we are sharing and enjoying today in God’s New Testament jubilee as a foretaste and will share and enjoy in full in the coming age and for eternity. In the type of the jubilee in Leviticus 25:8-13 one of the main blessings was the return of every man to his own inheritance. In the fulfillment of the jubilee here in Acts 26:18, receiving the divine inheritance is also the primary blessing.
To believe in the Lord Jesus is to be returned to God as our inheritance. When a person repents to God, he will be returned to Him as his possession. To preach the gospel this way we need to have the adequate enjoyment of the New Testament jubilee. I hope that we all shall enjoy the jubilee adequately. Then as we go out to preach the gospel, we shall preach in the way of proclaiming the jubilee. We shall tell others that they have left God as their possession and that He wants them to be returned to Him. We may say to a certain one, “God is your real possession, but you have left Him and lost Him. Now He wants you to be returned to Him. Are you willing for Him to bring you back to Himself? God’s way to bring you back is to put you into Christ. Christ is the ‘jumbo jet’ that brings us to God, and now is ‘boarding time.’ Are you willing to come aboard? Are you willing to believe in Christ so that He may bring you back to God? We can testify to you that as soon as you believe in the Lord Jesus and enter into Him, you will be brought back to God as your possession.”
We praise the Lord that we have been brought back to God as our possession! We have also been returned to our family. We all are like the prodigal son, who came back to the father and to his family and could then enjoy his portion, his inheritance. Now that we have been returned to God we may enjoy Him as our possession, as our portion and inheritance, and we may also enjoy the real family life in the house of God.
