Hope

In this week's Sabbath reading portion, which is titled, B'har - B'chukkotai, meaning "On the Mount", and "In My Statutes", there is a guaranteed hope given to God's people. Last week, we read about the 49 + 1 days, or 50 days between the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost, and the meaning of those days, especially the 50th day (see previous post "Counting"). This week, there is a promise given regarding 49 years (seven Sabbaths of years) + 1 year, or 50 years total: "And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee (yobal/yabal- ram's horn, the signal of the silver trumpets, joyful sound, loud noise/bring forth, lead forth, carry away, to flow copiously, to bear or to carry gifts) to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty (deror- liberty, freedom, a flowing, a free run, to move rapidly, spontaneity of outflow) throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession (ahuzza- inheritance property that was seized), and each of you shall return to his family...For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. In this year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his possession." (Lev. 25:8-13). In Israel, this meant that any property or personal service entered into to pay debt, had to be released or given back in the Jubilee year. It is no coincidence that the coming Jubilee year was announced on the Day of Atonement, which we connect directly to Jesus, who is our atonement (Rom. 5:11). As we learned last week, the number 50 in Hebrew, used again for counting to the year of Jubilee, is the Hebrew letter nun. The meaning of the letter nun relates directly to Messiah, Jesus. Nun means: "seed/sprouting seed, fish, son, heir to the throne, faithfulness". We see another interesting connection between Jesus and the Jubilee: As Jesus began His ministry, He read from Isa. 61 in the synagogue (Lk. 4:18-19). He read of the anointing of the Spirit of the LORD that Isaiah prophesied allowed One to "...proclaim liberty to the captives...to proclaim the acceptable (ratsone/ratsaw- delight, favor, goodwill/satisfy a debt, pardon, to pay off) year of the LORD...". It sounds very much like Isaiah was prophesying a spiritual Jubilee (see meaning above), and Jesus announced that He was fulfilling that prophesy that day. Also, Paul described Jesus as having fulfilled Ps. 68:18 writing, "Therefore He says: When He ascended on high, He led captivity (prisoners) captive (bring away, carry away, lead away), and gave gifts to men." (Eph. 4:8). Again, the language used here relates to the Hebrew word for Jubilee (see above). The promise in the Law of Jubilee allowed Jesus to lead the captives of death out of Sheol. In the next portion of this week's Sabbath reading, the LORD gives hope to His people in the form of the kinsman redeemer: "...if...one of your brethren who dwells by (a rich sojourner or stranger) becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner...after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him...And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee - he and his children with him. For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Lev. 25:47-55, excerpt). Imagine being in such desperate straits that one not only sold himself into service, but his children with him, to pay debts. However, the hope found in the principle of the kinsman redeemer provided the only hope for many who found themselves in a pressing situation of debt or poverty. In another example from the Book of Ruth, we see an impoverished Naomi, who has lost both her husband and her two sons, return to her homeland, Israel, from Moab. She has nothing except the hope that lays in the Law of Moses. She, and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, will rely on the fact that the Law of Moses commands that the edges of the fields remain unharvested so the poor and the traveler can glean from them in order to eat. In addition, Naomi, knowing the principle of the kinsman redeemer, will regain her land and a husband for Ruth when Boaz becomes their kinsman redeemer. Boaz and Ruth will have a child who will be the grandfather of David, and part of the line of the Messiah (Ruth 4:21-22). Where there was no hope for Naomi in Moab, she found hope and more in her home nation, Israel, and in the provisions of the Law of Moses. In another instance, the LORD will use the principle of the kinsman redeemer to prophetically give hope to His people that they would return from a prophesied captivity. Jeremiah has already prophesied that Judah will be conquered by the Chaldeans, and go into captivity to them. The Lord confirmed His promise to Jeremiah that He would bring Judah back from captivity by using the hope found in the kinsman redeemer. In Jer. 32, from the haftarah portion of this week's Sabbath reading, Jeremiah's cousin comes to Jeremiah while he is in the king's prison to request that Jeremiah redeem the cousin's property: "Please buy my field that is in Anathoth ("answers to prayers"), which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours; buy it for yourself. Then (Jeremiah) knew that this was the word of the LORD." (Jer. 32:6-8). Jeremiah understood that this deeded land that he redeemed confirmed God's promise to return the people to their own land, otherwise there would be no purpose in it if the people were being taken into captivity forever: "Then I charged Baruch before them saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Take these deeds...and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days." 'For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land."' "... I prayed to the LORD, saying,: 'Ah, LORD God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You...' (Jer. 32:13-17). The LORD used the kinsman redeemer of the Law as a sign of His guarantee of the people's return, which seemed to have been an impossibility, but now hope had come. Job, who had lost everything, knew the power of the kinsman redeemer, and he knew Who his personal Redeemer was: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh, I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-27). The Kinsman Redeemer was a source of hope to a destroyed Job. Although Jewish tradition holds that Job lived before Moses, the rabbis believe that Moses wrote the Book of Job. We do not know for sure, but from the above verses, we can see that Job knew the principle of the kinsman redeemer by revelation even before the Law was received on Sinai. The world's understanding would give no hope to Naomi, Jeremiah and Job, but the Jubilee and the kinsman redeemer are from eternity, not the world, and give hope and promise where there is no hope. May we understand the deliverance blessing and the Deliverer of God guaranteed in His Jubilee and kinsman redeemer. Our Father's Jubilee promises bring His people hope. If you would like to know our Jubilee and our Kinsman Redeemer, you can pray: "Lord Jesus, I know my Redeemer lives. You have become my Kinsman Redeemer, and my Jubilee deliverance. You died for my sins, and You rose again from the dead. You redeemed my soul from Hell, and ascended into heaven, leading me with You. I was in captivity, but You gave me liberty as a gift. You redeemed the inheritance of God's people before the foundations of the world. Nothing is impossible with You! As the Holy Spirit anointed You, anoint me also, so that I may understand and live in Your miraculous redemption. I believe and receive these things in your holy name. AMEN."