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Mark 11:25
Forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. "You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am Adonai your God" Leviticus 25:17). This command comes to us from within the context of shemitah שמיטה (remittance year) and jubilee regulations, a time when debts are to be forgiven and lands returned to their previous owner. The rulings concerning debt release caused much heart searching. The temptation for one to ask for a loan near the year of release knowing that that the debt will soon be forgiven was as great as the one for lenders to either refuse the loan, or regulate price and interest in view of the coming year of release. Due to our evil nature, much instruction is given concerning these things (Leviticus 25). The fact that Hashem has to specify all these parameters is in itself a testament to our wicked hearts and evil inclination. The whole prohibition regarding shady business deals in view of remittance years is summed up in "You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God". This is repeated several times. The systems of debts and usury are a form of oppression and slavery. The Israelites were a people that Hashem freed by a great price. They shouldn't let themselves be enslaved anymore, especially not by their brothers who were also freed slaves. In remembrance of their former slavery, Israelites were also to be kind to their employees from the nations, to the foreigner in the land. The freedom of the Israelites came at great cost of life. Jubilee laws served as a reminder that freedom is not free. The Israelite’s stay in the land was contingent on their just and merciful interaction with each other, not oppressing each other. Even now many Rabbis comepare this present exilic stage with the internal oppression and conflict within Israel in the first and second century C.E. The laws of jubilee also served as a preservation of the family farm against the monopoly of big corporations who would otherwise ruthlessly swallow small businesses and take over the land. We need to remember that these laws are only relevant as per the Land of Israel. The jubilee also gave second chance to those who had lost everything, as well as time for people to reconnect with their relatives, make things right with friends, and study the Torah. The application of the laws of jubilee definitely creates financial loss. This teaches us that financial success is not at the top of God’s priorities. What matters most to him is the welfare of his people, of all his people. We must not complain for loss because of the jubilee, but instead remind ourselves of the great debt we owe the God of the universe. At the Father’s request, our debt of sin was paid in full in Mashiach who now stands as the redeemer of our soul against the unforgiving creditor who would otherwise enslave us. Yeshua said, "forgive … so that your Father … may forgive you your trespasses". This comes with an addendum, "But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father … forgive your trespasses" (Mar 11:25-–6). In the Biblical sense, forgiveness is the renouncement of restitution for debt incurred. King David reminds us of the Father’s mercy when he penned, "He does not deal with us according to our sins (debts), nor repay us according to our iniquities" (Psalms 103:10). P. Gabriel Lumbroso www.thelumbrosos.com For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here.
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Luke 4:18–19
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to … preach deliverance to the captives, … to set at liberty them that are bruised,to preach the acceptable year of Adonai. The Sacred Texts teach us about Hashem’s special times (Leviticus 23; 25). Starting with Spring we have the Sabbatical years every septet, a time where for the most part the land is to be given a rest and people can only eat from what they saved and of what grows of its own accord. It has been calculated that 1967, the year when Jerusalem was freed from occupation and returned to its rightful Jewish heirs was also a Sabbatical year. Another of these times is called the Jubilee year and it comes the year after seven septets. Due to many interruptions, exiles, occupations, wars, calendar modifications, and lack of information, it is difficult to restore the exact dates of Sabbatical years and Jubilees today. Many have tried by collecting data from history book such as the Book of Josephus as well as taking into consideration hints from biblical texts, and while many of these calculations have somewhat different outcome, there is a body of them that come near to each other in their calculations. A common trend I noticed is that many put the year 28 A.D. (or around) as a jubilee year. I am not a calendar expert so I cannot say, but there are a few factors that can agree to that. The Jubilee year was to be announced in synagogues at Yom Kippur (Leviticus 25:8-9). During the days of the Master Jubilees were not officially kept but the years of the Master’s ministering on earth correspond to the possibilities of jubilee time. In any case, Yeshua did not miss his cue and could have announced it when he quoted Isaiah sixty-one in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke: 4:18). If that proclamation at the synagogue was indeed done on a Yom Kippur, then Yeshua was not coming in from a one day fast as the rest of the country did, but from a forty day fast in which his virtue was tested by the enemy of his and our souls. These forty days are comparable to the forty ‘Days of Awe”, a Jewish tradition of spending the forty days before Yom Kippur in soul-searching in order to acknowledge sin in our lives and change our ways. If there was a jubilee during the Master’s ministry, that would also explain why people had the time to leave home, travel, and listen to him. This was the point of the Jubilee, to stop the daily grind of our day-to-day existence, dedicate time to God in prayer and study of the Torah, as well as to family and friends; sort of an extended Shabbat. God knows that we need help in establishing our priorities, and time to sort out problems with the people who are part of our lives. In any case, it is evident that both Sabbatical and Jubilee years are important times in God’s calendar and we better keep track of them. Let us also remember that Yeshua is our Sabbatical Jubilee. He is the one who brings us spiritual and physical restoration, and soon his Sabbatical Kingdom will be established on earth as the greatest of all Jubilees. P. Gabriel Lumbroso www.thelumbrosos.com For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here. Matthew 6:12
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. From the Beginning, the creator organized his calendar of events according to septets. The Sabbath crowns a seven-day week (Genesis 2:2–3). Creation and the coronation of Messiah is celebrated on the foirst day of the seventh month of the year (Leviticus 23:24). Every seven years fields enjoy a time of rest, and a jubilee deliverance of slaves and forgiveness of debts is celebrated after seven septets (Leviticus 25). In addition, festivals in both Spring and Fall last seven days, and Pentecost is celebrated counting seven weeks from the Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23). These timings are our compass in time, but the present-day Western Gregorian/Roman calendar has gotten us out of sync’ with Hashem's clock. According to the Torah, after seven septets, the whole economic system has to reboot so to speak (Leviticus 25:11–17). All debts have to be forgiven as well as possessions retained as collateral. These possessions included individuals enslaved to their creditors due to financial hardship. The jubilee provided some sort of salvation and deliverance from eternal financial servitude. Hashem said that he established this as a safeguard for the evil heart of man. He said, "Thus you are not to take advantage of each other, but you are to fear your God; for I am Adonai your God" (Leviticus 25:17). Our sins are like our debt towards God (Matthew 6:12), and the Messiah comes on the Jubilee to restore our financial/moral balance. Having rejected Hashem's wise instructions, we today have a world in which the economy is based on oppressing others through eternal usury. As we see the world more and more engrossed in an economy were the rich become fewer and richer and the poor more numerous and poorer, we see its financial base failing, held together loosely with a paper currency that is not even worth what it is printed upon. Endorsing the jubilee schedule doesn’t seem to make good business sense but for Hashem it seems very important. In the days of King David, it is said that, "Again the anger of Adonai was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah" (2 Samuel 24:1). We are not told why God’s anger was kindled against Israel, but when we look at the chronology of this, we find that in the 38th year of David, the people had failed to observe seventy rest years and Jubilees. God then brought judgment upon them, causing 70,000 people to die (2 Sam. 24:15). One thousand people died for every rest year that was owed in their debt to the Torah. This judgment paid the penalty and wiped the slate clean. Then the people failed to keep their rest years and Jubilees again. After they owed another seventy rest years (Sabbath years) and Jubilees, God brought Judah into Babylonian captivity for seventy years to pay the debt. What is the reason God gave for the captivity? To fulfill the word of Adonai by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten [70] years (2 Chronicles: 36:21). P. Gabriel Lumbroso www.thelumbrosos.com For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here. Matthew 24:31
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. We are still in the season of the counting of the Omer, between Pesach and Shavuot, between Passover and Pentecost. The command to count seven Sabbaths of weeks plus one day (50 days) is incumbent upon every Israelite, as in the text of Leviticus 23 it is expressed in the second person of the plural (Leviticus 23:15–16). The commandment to count the days of the Omer to Shavuot/Pentecost sounds very similar to the commandments of counting the years to the jubilee. The high priest (this command is given to Moses in the second person singular form) is to count seven weeks of years or forty-nine years, then to declare the fiftieth year jubilee (Leviticus 25:8–10). This declaration is made in the synagogue on Yom Kippur. The counting of the jubilee has been all but lost. Many people are trying to piece it together and we have now some ideas of where we’re at, but even so, the command is not practicable at this time. It is the duty of the high priest to count off the jubilee. At this point in time we do not have a physical high priest simply because we do not have a physical temple. The commandment also requires that on the jubilee all lands be returned to their previous owners, all debts be forgiven and slaves liberated. Today’s slavery has to do with being owned by someone to whom we ought money (Proverbs 22:7). I don’t think that the financial systems of today are very well geared to these practices. Can you imagine all debts being forgiven, lands returned, etc …? Israel already had a hard time with it when it was under Rome; it would impossible today! Another issue with jubilees is that the Torah forbids for land in Israel to be sold in perpetuity (Leviticus 25:23). One element of the laws of jubilee is for and is to be returned to its original tribal owners. It could be used as collateral for awhile, but it eventually it needed to be returned. It is not our land to do as we please with; it is his (Leviticus 25:23)! Because of this, the sages declared that all Israel needed to be present for the great jubilee to be practiced. Today because of the long exile, we no longer follow from which tribe people are descended from. Learning about D.N.A. has started the process, but we are far from finding all Israel. Messiah is the one supposed to gather all the tribes (Acts 1:6), so it was ruled that the great jubilee will happen at the coming of Messiah. We know that before he returns (Revelations 19:11–16), 144 thousand believers from all the tribes will have been sealed in his name (Revelations 7; 14:1–5). They are the firstfruits from all the elligible tribes; therefore they are the redeemed representatives for the redemption of all the tribes of Israel. They render the jubilee of the Land possible. Yeshua will surely return to gather his people and return the Land to its rightful owners: Israel. He is the kinsman redeemer. As Boaz redeemed Ruth and thereby returned the land to Naomi, Yeshua also redeems us (The Book of Ruth). On that Day there will also be a wedding and the Land will be returned to Israel (Revelations 19:9). It will truly be the jubilee of all jubilees. May it be soon Abba, even in our days! P. Gabriel Lumbroso www.thelumbrosos.com For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here. James 1:22
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”. The reading portion assigned for this week starts with the rulings of freeing slaves every seven years (Exodus 21:2). This law of release also applies to fields that are to be let fallow one year out of seven. The purpose of these rulingss is to keep people from oppressing each other, as well as to establish a sense of priority in our hearts. Hashem doesn’t want us to spend our lives aimlessly increasing our wealth at the cost of our relationships and and responsibilities towards human beingsas well as towards our spiritual walk, which also needs attention. When the people of Israel did not obey the law of release, God sent Babylon against them. The seventy years of Babylonian captivity correspond to the seventy jubilees they did not observe (Jeremiah 25:11). The earth is God’s and everything in it. He makes the rules and He gets His due, you can make sure of it. The part that compliments this week’s reading portion is in the Book of Jeremiah. As the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem, through the mouth of Jeremiah the Lord convicts the people about not observing the jubilee (Jeremiah 34:8-10). As they obeyed, word reached the Babylonian army that Hophra was coming up out of Egypt with an army to raise the siege. It is not that the Egyptians loved Israel so much, it is just that whoever controls Israel controls the Via Maris, the main trade route between Egypt and Assyria. Here is where the story changes. When Israel sees Egypt coming to its rescue causing the lifting of the Babylonian siege, they renege on their repentance. They bring their slaves back to labor. They maybe thought they played a good one on God, until Jeremiah unveiled God’s retributive plan. You can read it in chapter thirty-four of the Book of Jeremiah. Through Abraham, God made a covenant with mankind which cannot be broken (Genesis 15). But the fact that this covenant cannot be broken does not exclude retributions for us breaking it. Though these retributions may not be fatal, they are nevertheless drastic (Jeremiah 34:13-22). In the same manner, when a person goes under Hashem's redemptive covenant made with the world through Yeshua the Messiah, that person becomes liable to the obligations of its contract. Inclusion under Hashem’s covenant is free, but there are particulars to the terms. As we read Scripture, it is important for us to understand the particulars of our contract. In this day and age of literacy, the only excuses we have for not knowing is distraction, disobedience, or indifference, and all are bad. James admonished the Israeli community of believers in these very pertinent words, Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:21-22). May we also take these words to heart! Mark 11:25
“Forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 25:17). Is a command that comes to us from within the context of shemitah (remittance year) and jubilee regulations, a time when debts are to be forgiven and lands returned to their previous owner. The rulings concerning debt release caused much heart searching. The temptation for one to ask for a loan near the year of release knowing that that the debt will soon be forgiven, was as great as the one for lenders to either refuse the loan, or regulate price and interest in view of the coming year of release. Due to our evil nature, much instruction is given concerning these things (Leviticus 25). The fact itself that God has to specify all these parameters is a testament to our wicked hearts and evil inclination. The whole prohibition in shady business deals in view of remittance years is summed up in ‘You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God’. This is repeated several times. The systems of debts and usury are a form of oppression and slavery. The Israelites were a people freed by God at great price; they therefore couldn’t be enslaved by anyone, especially not by their brothers who were also freed slaves. In remembrance of their former slavery, Israelites were also to be kind to their employees from the nations, to the foreigner in the land. The freedom of the Israelites came at great cost of life. Jubilee laws served as a reminder that ‘freedom is not free’. The Israelite’s stay in the land was contingent on their just and merciful interaction with each other, not oppressing each other. Even now Rabbis associate this present exilic stage with the internal oppression and conflict within Israel in the first and second century C.E. The laws of jubilee also served as a preservation of the family farm against the monopoly of big ‘corporations’ who would otherwise ruthlessly swallow small businesses and take over the land. We need to remember that these laws are only relevant as per the Land of Israel. The jubilee also gave another chance to those who lost everything, something we all need, as well as time for people to reconnect with their relatives, make things right with friends, and study the Torah. The application of the laws of jubilee definitely creates financial loss. This teaches us that financial success is not at the top of God’s priorities. What matters to Him is the welfare of His people, of all His people. We must not murmur for loss because of the jubilee, but instead remind ourselves of the great debt we owe the God of the universe. At the Father’s request, our debt of sin was paid in full in Mashiach who now stands as the redeemer of our soul against the unforgiving creditor who would otherwise enslave us. Yeshua said, ‘forgive … so that your Father … may forgive you your trespasses. This comes with an addendum, But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father … forgive your trespasses (Mar 11:25-26). In the Biblical sense, forgiveness is the renouncement of restitution for debt incurred. With King David we thank Him that, He does not deal with us according to our sins (debts), nor repay us according to our iniquities (Psalms 103:10). Luke 4:18-19
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to … preach deliverance to the captives, … to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. The Sacred Texts teach us about God’s special times (Leviticus 23; 25). Starting with Spring we have the Sabbatical years every septet, a time where for the most par the Land is to be given a rest and people can only eat from what they saved and of what grows of its own accord. It has been calculated that 1967, the year when Jerusalem was freed from occupation and returned to its rightful Jewish heirs was also a Sabbatical year. Another of these times is called the Jubilee year and it comes the year after seven septets. Due to many interruptions, exiles, occupations, wars, calendar modifications and lack of information, it is today difficult to restore the exact dates of Sabbatical years and Jubilees. Many have tried by collecting data from History book such as the Book of Josephus as well as taking into considerations hints from the Scriptures, and while many of these calculations have somewhat different outcome, there is a body of them that comes near to each other in their calculations. A common trend I noticed is that many put the year 28 A.D. (or around) as a jubilee year. I am not a calendar expert so I cannot say but there are a few factors that can agree to that. The Jubilee year was to be announced in synagogues at Yom Kippur (Leviticus 25:8-9). During the days of the Master Jubilees were not officially kept but the years of the Master’s ministering on earth correspond to the possibilities of jubilee time. In any case, Yeshua did not miss His cue and could have announced it when He quoted Isaiah sixty-one in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke: 4:18). If that proclamation at the synagogue was indeed done on a Yom Kippur, then Yeshua was not coming in from a one day fast as the rest of the country did, but from a forty day fast in which His virtue was tested by the enemy of His and our souls. These forty days are comparable to the ‘Days of Awe”, a Jewish tradition of spending the forty days before Yom Kippur in soul-searching in order to acknowledge sin in our lives and change our ways. If there was a jubilee during the Master’s ministry, that would also explain why people had the time to leave home, travel, and listen to Him. This was the point of the Jubilee, to stop the daily grind of our day-to-day existence, dedicate time to God in prayer and study of the Torah, as well as to family and friends; sort of an extended Shabbat. God knows that we need help in establishing our priorities, and time to sort out problems with the people who are part of our lives. In any case, it is evident that both Sabbatical and Jubilee years are important times in God’s calendar and we better keep track of them. Let us also remember that Yeshua is our Sabbatical Jubilee. He is the One who brings us spiritual and physical restoration, and soon His Sabbatical Kingdom will be established on earth as the greatest of all Jubilees. |
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