Chapter 23

Creation's Grand Jubilee ­ All New!

As presented in Chapter 13, the law of redemption allows for a kinsman-redeemer to purchase the debt of a relative in order to set him free from slavery or indebtedness. However, the kinsman-redeemer could delay redeeming one of his brethren if he so desired. Likewise, when it comes to individuals, nations, or troops, Jesus, as the Kinsman-Redeemer of mankind, can exercise His right of redemption whenever He desires, in this age or in the ages to come.

Now, tied in with the law of redemption is the law of Jubilee, which is the much greater and higher law, and one that not only envelopes all mankind but stretches to all creation.

Very simply, the law of Jubilee requires one to be set free, even without a kinsman-redeemer: 'Even if he is not redeemed by these means, he shall still go out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him' (Leviticus 25:54 NASB).

The law of redemption and the law of Jubilee were first given by the Lord to Moses and the sons of Israel as explained in Leviticus.

After they had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, Joshua was allowed to bring the sons of Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan. The twelve tribes were each given an inheritance in the land, and Joshua divided it accordingly. However, as an inheritance, the land was never to be sold permanently; it was to be treated more like a lease from the Lord.

(23) 'The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; .... (24) And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land. (25) 'If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. (26) Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, (27) then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. (28) But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand 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. (Leviticus 25:23-28 NKJV)

The Lord declared: The land is Mine! This one statement establishes God's right of redemption for all of His creation. God did not create in order to sell off His creation, even to man who was created to be in His image.

In this context, the Lord leased the land to the Israelites and, by extension, He leases the entire earth to mankind. The earth is His, and He alone reserves all the rights to the earth and all of creation, for that matter.

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Recognizing that men could become so poor that they must sell their right to the land in order to survive, the Lord provided for the person either to buy back the land, if able to do so, at a reasonable price based on its remaining productivity in a 49-year cycle, or for a kinsmen redeemer to purchase it back for him. The value of the land was based on the production of barley in order to provide for an equitable sale and to prevent price gouging or speculation.

Knowing that even this might not work, the Lord instituted the Year of Jubilee to return the land to its original owner [i.e., lessee] at the end of a set 49-50-year cycle. Not only would the land be returned, but all debts would be cancelled.

(8) 'And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; ... forty-nine years. (9) Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. (10) And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all 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. (11) That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. (12) For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. (13) 'In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. (Leviticus 25:8-13 NKJV)

Are these laws things of the past with no further application? Hardly! The laws of God under the Old Covenant given to the sons of Israel through Moses are types of God's higher spiritual laws reinterpreted under the New Covenant and applied to all mankind and all creation.

Let us consider another example as found in the record of Joshua defeating Jericho.

(3) ... going round the city once; thus thou dost six days; (4) and seven priests do bear seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark, and on the seventh day ye compass the city seven times, and the priests blow with the trumpets, (5) and it hath been, in the prolongation of the horn of the jubilee, in your hearing the voice of the trumpet, all the people shout--a great shout, and the wall of the city hath fallen under it, and the people have gone up, each over- against him.' (6) ... 'Bear ye the ark of the covenant, and seven priests do bear seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark of Jehovah;' ... (8) And it cometh to pass, when Joshua speaketh unto the people, that the seven priests bearing seven trumpets of the jubilee before Jehovah have passed over and blown with the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is going after them.... (Joshua 6:3-6, 8 YLT)

The Young's Literal Translation more accurately translates the Hebrew word yobel, which properly means "jubilee." Most translations reveal their interpretative bias by using the term ram's horn, causing the significance of this type to be lost to most readers.

In type, we are told that the blowing of the seven trumpets indicates the Jubilee, and this coincides with the Day of Atonement that precedes the Feast of Tabernacles. In terms of end-

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time prophecy, this speaks of the fall of Mystery Babylon with the sounding of the seven trumpets and release of the final judgments of Revelation. When Mystery Babylon finally falls, the nations will be released from the bondage of this evil system of man driven by the powers of darkness that has ruled the modern world of our day. This will usher in the Tabernacles Age.

But there is more.

"But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD." (Joshua 6:19 NASB; also Haggai 2:8)

The Lord instructed Joshua and company that when Jericho fell, the booty of silver, gold, bronze, and iron belonged to the Lord, a fact reiterated much later through Haggai the prophet.

There is one other place in Scripture in which we see all four metals together, and that is in the great statue of Daniel 2 that speaks of all the nations of the world. Thus, Joshua taking the silver, gold, bronze, and iron into the treasury of the Lord typifies the Lord bringing all the nations into His Kingdom. Heaven will confirm this very soon with a mighty proclamation.

Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever [Ages of the Ages]." (Revelation 11:15 NASB [WED])

But how does this all fit with Creation's Jubilee?

First, all the nations must be brought into the blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant, which means they must come into the all of God, also typified by the treasury of the Lord.

Second, according to His own law, God has limited the time of debt. A day must come when He will call a grand Jubilee for all creation, including all mankind, in order to release all into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. All remaining debt will be canceled in the Jubilee, so that God may be all in all. It is His right as the Owner of His creation.

Paul gives us a glimpse of the Jubilee in relationship to creation itself.

(18) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (19) For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. (20) For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope (21) that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (22) For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. (23) And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:18-23 NASB)

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Man was taken from the soil of the earth and when Adam fell in sin, the earth itself fell into corruption along with man. When mankind was subjected to death and its effects, so was all of creation subjected to the same. According to Paul, the creation's future and hope is intimately joined with mankind's future and hope. If mankind is not released into the freedom of the glory of the children of God, creation will remain in its slavery to corruption. Until that day, both mankind and creation groan. But, the good news is that it won't be long until this groan begins to give way to cheers of joy.

New Creation

Some might object to this conclusion with the fact that, in the above verses, Paul referred strictly to the believers of our eon. This is true, but we must not lose sight of all the other evidence that has been presented in the previous chapters, much of which has come from Paul. Does it make sense to you that all creation is going to be set free and yet only a small portion of mankind will be set free, at least according to modern-day theology? The sin of man brought corruption into creation, so there are none among us who can claim we have not been part of this corruption. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So, let us stop condemning the rest of our fellow man as if we are better than any of them or that we made a right choice, so we deserve to live and they to die.

(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES, it is the gift of God; (9) not as a result of works, SO THAT NO ONE MAY BOAST. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB)

We who believe in this age are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). On the highest level, apart from Christ, we are the first fruits of all mankind and all creation. How do we know? God declares: "BEHOLD, I AM MAKING ALL THINGS NEW" (Revelation 21:5)! We are prototypes of God's all new, and yet we do not know what we will be like in that day.

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. (1 John 3:2 NASB)

What will God's all new look like? We simply do not know, but we know it will be like the love of our life, our Lord Jesus. This is truly good news, not only for us but for ALL!

As it has been written, "Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard," nor has it risen up into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those that love Him. Isa. 64:4 (1 Corinthians 2:9 LITV)

How long will it take for God to make all new and to be all in all? Again, we do not know, but we surmise it will be based on the law of Jubilee, which is based on 49-50-year cycles. One commentator has suggested that Creation's Grand Jubilee will come at 49,000 years. Time will tell. Or, is it the eons will tell?

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