Most, if not all of us, have encountered the word, “jubilee” at some time, but I wonder how many of us know its meaning, not to mention its relation to the Bible.

If someone says, “We’re going to have a little jubilee,” we know they are talking about a celebration of some sort. I can vaguely remember a Negro spiritual entitled “The Year of Jubilee,” and I recognized it as a song of slaves anticipating their freedom.

It was only much later that I realized the Jubilee is a concept we have inherited from Leviticus 25. In my RSV Bible it occurs 21 times: 14 times in Leviticus 25, six times in chapter 27 and once in Numbers 36:04. It is one of the most revolutionary Biblical concepts, for it proposes at the end of every six years of harvesting, the seventh year will be set aside as “a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard” (25:1-7).

Is God trying to test them? Actually, Leviticus 25 shows us there is a constructive purpose that will benefit the Israelites: “but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land …” (25:4).

From time to time, some agriculturists have advocated such a plan to give the earth an opportunity to be restored in fertility and productivity. The current ecology movement is also an attempt to us to follow policies that will not exhaust the planet’s resources.

In a sense, the ecological concept is not new at all, but dates back to Biblical times – and not just to the people of Israel, for the Jubilee principle can be found in other ancient cultures.

Proclaim Jubilee!

This chapter proposes an even more radical order: At the conclusion of every 49 years (using the sacred numeral “7 x 7”), “you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family” (25:10,11).

So, in addition to permitting the earth to rest and recoup, they shall have the opportunity to begin again, meaning that their debts will be forgiven and they will regain ownership of the property they have lost. Also, those sold in bondage for indebtedness will regain their status as free people. The year of jubilee would be a year of beginning over again, of having another chance.

The term “jubilee” comes from the Hebrew term yobel, which is believed to be the term used for the ram’s horn that was blown by priests on the Day of Atonement. The sound of the ram’s horn was a sign to the people that forgiven by God, they could begin again.

Why would the Lord propose something so radical? The prophets were continually concerned about the all-too-human tendency for wealth to accumulate in the hands of the few.

This passage is evidence they believed that the opportunity for beginning again was something that God willed for His people, including the intention to curb the human bent for cheating: “You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God” (25:17).

We might be tempted to reply: “But Lord, that’s not cheating, that’s just good business!” Cheating in business and politics is not only a vice that we put up with as “part of the system,” but one we anticipate and excuse as if it were inevitable.

Apart from the Jubilee concept of “starting over,” are there other “unthinkable” proposals in this chapter? Look at 25:35-37. This, too, is a blockbuster command: “If any of your kin fall into difficulty and become dependent on you, you shall support them: they shall be with you as though resident aliens.”

Resident aliens were probably treated as tenant farmers, and the Israelites were commanded to treat their destitute relatives in the same humane manner.

Then, in 25:37 there is an even more “preposterous” command: “Do not take interest in advance or otherwise make a profit from them, but fear your God; … You shall not lend them your money at Interest taken in advance, provide them food at a profit.”

And the justification for that command? “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan …” (Lots of people tell me they try to live by everything in the Bible: I wonder whether they know about Leviticus 25!)

Inasmuch as no one I know is advocating that we attempt to put the Jubilee concept into practice, does it have any other relevant challenges for us and our world?

I suggest one of its foundations is the concept that we are to treat others with the same compassion and providence that God gave to the Israelites, and still is giving to us: “For to me the people of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (25:55).

Our response to God’s goodness should be also a like response to His commands. Some property owners protest, “This is my land, I can do with it what I please!”

Leviticus 25 tells us of God’s response to that claim: “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants” (25:13). It is not our property forever, but just for a time God permits us to be His tenants.

Before you call your governmental representatives, I hasten to tell you that most scholars believe that the Jubilee, although proposed in Leviticus 25, was not likely to have been put into action, for the Bible does not tell us about what happened to this plan. Probably it never got off the ground because the goals were not put into a workable framework.

So, shall we continue to excuse ourselves from what God wants to achieve, or is it possible that we could still find ways and means of understanding that we are just God’s tenants – and He lets us use the world for only a while?

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.