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8/12/2019 1992 Issue 5 - Christ and the Feasts: Jubilee - Counsel of Chalcedon
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Old Testament
Old Testamentpassages regarding
Jubilee are found in:
Leviticus
25:8-
55;
27:17-24; Numbers
36:4;
and
Isaiah
27:13; 61:1,2. Astudyofthese
reveals
the
following:
1 Jubilee took place
at
the
end of
everyseven weeks /sabbathsofyears,
i.e ., every
fiftieth year
.
2) n the Jubilee year the land was
to
rest,
debts were cancelled, lsraelite
slaves
were released, and
the
landwas
to e returned to the
original
family
owners. Non-lsraeliteslaves,however,
werenotreleased. Asnon-covenantal
persons, they were always to be
enslaved.
3)
Jubilee was not a communistic
redistribution
of
wealth. Rather, it
was
a return of the land
to
the
God
given, tribal
owners.
Jubilee,however,
did bring about a
stabilization
of
the
economy and help for
the
poor.
Social and economic justice was
assured through theJubilee.
4) The sounding of a trumpet on
the Day of Atonement marked the
beginning of theyear and
this
time of
freedom. Thus, itwas a time of oyous
celebration and worship (Is.
27:13),
during which there was to be no
pruning, reaping, or
harvesting.
5) TheSabbathyear principle
Lev.
25:
1-7)
prefigured Jubilee, and
is
therefore fulfilled with it, in Christ.
6) The non-canonical
ook
of
JubileesfocUsesonthisfestiveoccasion.
New Testament
NewTestamentpassagesonJubilee
are found
in:
Matthew 1:17;
Luke
4:l6-21; arrd others
noted.
Astudyof
these verses reVeals the following:
1) As
Jubilee
began on
the Day
of
Atonement, the New Testament
Jubilee
began with the
first
advent of
Jesus Christ.
He
is
the
fulfillment
of
the
Day
of
Atonement
(see
the
earlier
article on the Fall Feasts ). Ezekiel
(40: Iff.) prophesied of this
time
in
redemptive history, which has come
to fruition
in
the Messianic
Kingdom.
As previously
seen,
the first stage of
this
Kingdom
is a present reality,
whereas
thefinalstage
will
be
Ushered
16 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon May, 1992
in
at
the glorious returnof]esus
Christ
(Tit. 2:11-13).
2) n Luke 4:16-21,
we
read of
Jesus preaching on Isaiah 61:1,2,
declaring Himselfto
be the
fulfillment
ofJubilee - the favorable day
of
the
Lord He came to set free those who
were
held
captive to sin(cf.Mt.16:17-
19; Eph. 4:8). Those in Christ
have
beengiven liberty (2 Cor.
3:
17,18;Jn.
8:32,36).
Satan has
been bound so
that he can no longer deceive the
nations (Rev. 20:1-6); his house
is
in
the process
of being plundered (Mt.
12:29). Hence,
whereas the
elect (as
with the
Israelite slaves at
Jubilee)
have
beenset
free
from slavery to sin,
. thenon-elect(aswiththenon-lsraelite
slaves
atJubilee)
remain enslaved (cf.
Rom. 6:15-23; 2
Pet.
2:19). Jesus
Himself
said,
Whoever practices sin
is
theslave
of
sin
..
[butl iftheSonshall
makeyoufree,youshallbefreeindeed
Qn
. 8:34,36).
3)
Matthew 1:17 alsospeaksto the
fulfillment
of
Jubilee in Christ. n
Matthew 1 there are six groups of
seven
generations from
the time
of
AbrahamtothecomingoftheMessiah.
The first advent,
therefore, began the
seventh
and final week
of
sevens,
prior to
Jubilee. This
is inaccordance
with
Daniel's
prophesy that
Christ
would
come
in the
final week of
seventy
weeks
of
years
(9:24-27).
Thus, at the
completion
ofJ
esus'
life
(Le.;
His crucifixion), which fulfilled
theDayofAtonement, tbeJubileewas
established in
all
of
its
fullness
.
The
seven sevens were completed, and
Jubilee ushered in.
4)
Further, in Matthew
24:29-31
we read of a trumpet blastwhich was
to be sounded at the
time
of the
overthrow
of
Jerusalem, as a further
manifestation of the fulfillment of
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8/12/2019 1992 Issue 5 - Christ and the Feasts: Jubilee - Counsel of Chalcedon
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Jubilee. In verse 31,
we see
that the
elect
are
to be
gathered at
this time, as
per
the prophecy ofIsaiah
27:13.
5)
And
lastly,
the
final
trumpet of
1
Thessalonians4:
13-17will
terminate
the redemptive Kingdom of Christ
and usher in the eternalKingdom, in
accordancewith 1Corinthians 15:20-
28.
Butaswehaveseen,
this Kingdom
has already
come
in seed
form
in the
New Covenant
age
. The Lord Jesus
came, in the
fullness
of time,
to
restore
all things
to
their rightful place.
He
came to reverse the
effects of
the fall
(Col. 1:20). In
His
person and work,
Jubilee has begun.
Summary
o he
Seven
Great Ceremonial
Feasts
Before we examine the Sabbath
Day
and
the postexilic festivals, along
with
several
other related
issues,
it
would be good
for
us
to
summarize
those things which
we
have already
studied with regard
to
the
seven
great
ceremonial feasts, and to make some
additional comments.
So
far in our
study of Christ and the
Feasts,
we
have seen that the entirety of the
festival
calendar
was
ceremonialJ
typological in import, and thus,
pointed to
the coming
of
Christ
and
the Kingdom
of
God. These
feasts
took place with
Israel
in
the
land of
Canaan, which itself was
typical
of
God's Kingdom.
This Kingdom, in
the New Testament age, has been
extended
to
encompass the whole
world (Rom 4:13).
Three
times
per year the
males
(communicant members of the Old
Testament church) were required
to
come to Jerusalem and appear before
Jehovah at the
temple. This is
where
God
dwelt in the midst
of
His
people.
As
thernaleswentup to
the Holy City,
they worshipped
God
by the singing
of
Psalms
120-134 (the
Songs
of
Ascents ).
And
once in Jerusalem,
they
sang
Psalms
113-118
(called
the
Egyptian
Hallel ) as
part of the
religious liturgy.
Further, the
Lord
had promised that
as they came,
in
obedience
to
His commandment, He
would protect their lands (Ex. 34:21-
24).
With the
corning
of
Christ and the
NewTestamentage,
these things have
been
fulfilled.
We recognizeJ
esus
as
thefullnessofallthat
the Old Covenant
had foretold -
histortcal,
psychological,
prophetical, and
typological. He
is
the subject ofallScrtpture
1.k.
24:25-
27,44;]n. 5:39). HeistheAmentoall
ofGod's promises (2 Cor.l:20).Jesus
is
the true Temple
of God ()n.
2:19),
whocameasImmanuelCMt.1:23),to
dwell
in the midst of
His
church
()n.
1:14; Rev. 1:9-20). lnthisnewage,in
which we presently
live, Christ
is
building
His New
Testament
temple,
the church
(Eph.
2:19-22; 1Pet. 4:4-
10). As the church obediently
worships
God
and
seeks to
serve
Him,
He promises to protect and bless
her
work in the furtherance of His
Kingdom
Thefestivalcalendaristobeviewed
as
a rhythm
of seasons, progressively
moving
from PassoverlUnleavened
Bread,
and the beginning
of new
lifein
the sprtng, toward the end of the year
with the Feast of Booths and the
fullness of God's blessings in the
completion of the harvest season. In
this way the feasts present to us the
biblical concept of the progressive
recreation of
all
things in the person
and work of Chrtst.
This is
in accordance with the
history
of
redemption, from Genesis
3:15 tlrroughRevelation22:21. Jesus
came
in the
fullness
of time
to
redeem
a
fallen
world -
to
reconcile aU things
to the
Father
(Col.
1:20). God has
summed up
all
things in
His
Son
(Eph.1:9,l0). Thenewcreationbegan
at
the first
advent of Christ (Heb.
12
:22-29), and it
will
be
finalized
n
the eternal state when the history of
redemption
is
completed
l
Cor.
15:20-28). (Note that Hebrews 12:23
maintains that
New
Covenant saints
have
already begun
to
partake of the
festal assembly of
the Kingdom of
God. Yet, there
is
still a
final
phase
[Rev. 21,221.)
The Old Testament feasts
anticipated these things and typified
the
Kingdom age.
As thefestiveseason
reached its culmination in the
final
feast day of the liturgicaVreligiousyear,
so alsowill the Kingdom of
God
reach
its God ordained end.
n
Much ofmodem
Christianity is a
joke,
but
it's
not
fmmy It's
sin
which is why
]OHNLOFTON,
aregular columnist for
Dr. Rushdoony's
ChaJcedon
Report is
publishing,
monthly,
The Lofton Letter
For
sub
scription
information
and a
list of back issues, write:
he Lofton Letter
Box
1142
Laurel
MD. 2 725
May, 1992 THE COUNSELof Chalcedon 7
