Having walked our way around the Outer Court and through the Holy Place, we now enter the Most Holy Place, to see the substance behind this shadow.
Passing through the veil that separates the two rooms of the sanctuary, we recall that there is one piece of furniture in the holy of holies, the Ark of the Covenant covered by the mercy seat and overshadowed by the attached cherubim. It is here that the LORD dwells (Exod 25:8, 22; 1Sam 4:4; 2Sam 6:2; 2Kgs 19:15; 1Chr 13:6; Psa 80:1; 99:1; Isa 37:16).
The Day of Atonement (Lev 16; 23:26-32; 25:9)
Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered into the Most Holy Place. By sprinkling the mercy seat and the altar with the blood of sin offerings for himself and the people, he made atonement for the tabernacle and the altar:
“And he shall take of the blood of the bullock [of the sin offering, which is for himself, v11], and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: He shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness” (Lev 16:14-16; cf. 16:33; Heb 9:1-10).
This “figure for the time then present” foreshadowed Christ’s offering of himself to cleanse heaven itself:
“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption… It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb 9:11-12, 23-24).
Of course, the tabernacle and the altar had not sinned; they needed to be cleansed because they were in the midst of an unclean people. Likewise, neither heaven nor our Father in heaven nor the angels in heaven with Him, had sinned; they needed to be cleansed in order for God to dwell among sinful mankind. So, following the pattern of the Day of Atonement, Jesus offered for himself and for the people (Heb 5:1-9).
Unlike the shadow in which the high priest offered every year, Jesus offered himself once for all time: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear a second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb 9:28).
We wait for him to return, to bring the high priestly blessing:
“The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them” (Num 6:24-27).
In the meantime we sing: “To God be the glory, great things he has done! So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded his life — an atonement for sin, And opened the holiest that we may go in” (Hymn 132).
The Most Holy Place (Leviticus 25-27)
The Year of the Jubilee. The section of Leviticus corresponding to the Most Holy Place (Lev 25-27)1includes the laws concerning the year of Jubilee:
“And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family” (Lev 25:8-10).
Four classes of laws govern the Sabbath year and the year of Jubilee:
- Sabbath for the land. The land was to lie fallow every seventh year (Lev 25:1-22; Exod 23:10-11).
- Forgiveness of debts. All debts between Hebrews were cancelled every seventh year; lending to the poor was encouraged, and this lending was to be without usury (Lev 25:35-38; Deut 15:1-11).
- Redemption of slaves. After six years of service, slaves (including those who were paying off debts) were emancipated (Lev 25:39-55; Exod 21:2-6; Deut 15:12-18; Jer 34:8-22).
- Redemption of property. Every 49 years in the year of Jubilee each family returned to the property they had been given in the promised land (Lev 25:10, 13, 23-34, 41; Neh 5:1-13).
The Spirit refers to these years as “a year of rest” (Lev 25:5; cf. Lev 25:2-6, 34-35), “the year of release” (Deut 15:9; 31:10; “release” occurs six times in Deut 15:1-18), “the acceptable year of the LORD” (Isa 61:2; “acceptable” is from the same Hebrew word translated “enjoy” in Lev 26:34 twice, 43; and “accept” in Lev 26:41, 43), “the year of liberty” (Ezek 46:17; cf. Lev 25:10; Isa 61:1; Jer 34:8, 15, 17), and the “the year of jubile” (Lev 25:13, 28, 33, 40, 50, 52, 54; 27:17, 18, 23, 24).
The year of Jubilee is the crown jewel of the law’s lessons on the Kingdom Age. The historical foundation for these promises was God’s redemption of Israel from Egypt to bring them into the land:
“The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me… I am the LoRD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God… For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LoRD your God” (Lev 25:23, 38, 55; cf. v42).
Bro. Barling summarizes the significance of these relationships and the Jubilee:
“Land and People alike belonged to God in the ultimate sense… He intended the one to be the free inheritance of the other, and both alike to be a dwelling place for Him. The fiftieth year was but the pre-eminent reminder to the nation of this fact: it was superlatively the Year of Rest, both recalling the original occupation of the Land after the toilsome sojourn in the wilderness, and at the same time anticipating that glorious future era when the nation would at last attain to its ideal destiny and enter into the perfect Rest symbolized by the inner sanctuary of the Most Holy Place… It spoke of newness of life and also perfection of service—“It is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you” (Law and Grace, p 168).
“If sold, it [the land] automatically reverted in the great Sabbatical Year of Jubilee to its rightful tenant, whose inheritance it was… (Lev 25:10). It was like the occupation of Canaan all over again: it even brought release to the slave in the same way as the occupation had completed the release of those redeemed from slavery in Egypt… Coming, however, as it did once only in the adult life of the average man and woman, it must have seemed, when it did come, like the advent of the final Rest” (Law and Grace, p. 180).
Bro. Ashton connects the Jubilee trumpet and the trump of God at Christ’s return:
“The sound was to be ‘sent abroad… throughout all your land’ (Leviticus 25:9 RV), suggesting that a sequence of trumpeters would sound the jubilee, with the blast rippling outwards from Jerusalem to the farthest boarders of Israel. No wonder the apostle catches the echo of this once-ina-lifetime release and speaks of the Lord’s return to call his people from the grave ‘with the trump of God’ (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Like that great day of release from the snares of death, each man and woman would enter into God’s rest” (The Beauty of Holiness, pp. 163-164).
Similarly, Bro. Barling identifies our situation, as we eagerly anticipate the ultimate Jubilee:
“We today are in the position of the Israelites when they awaited the return of Aaron from within the Tabernacle on the Day of Atonement. Jesus, having gone into heaven, will as assuredly return. To such as look for him shall he appear the second time without sin, unto salvation (Heb 9:24-28). Once again the trumpet will sound, and the great antitypical Year of Jubilee will begin with the dead returning every man unto his inheritance” (Law and Grace, p. 200).
The Gospel of the Jubilee. Throughout his ministry Jesus preaches the gospel of the kingdom, and throughout he declares it to be a year of Jubilee. Early on he came to his hometown of Nazareth and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day:
“And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:17-21).
Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2a LXX;2he inserted the phrase “to set at liberty them that are bruised” from Isaiah 58:6 LXX.
On the phrase “to proclaim liberty” (Isa 61:1), Kay writes,“The LXX has aphesin, as in Lev 25:10. In Lev 25:28-33, etc. aphesin is used for ‘jubilee.’—It was such a release, then, as involved a return to their lost inheritance” (Speaker’s Commentary, Isaiah, p. 292).
The Greek “recovering of sight to the blind” paraphrases the Hebrew “the opening of the prison” <06495 p@qach-qowach> derived from <06491 paqach>, which is commonly translated “to open the eyes” (see Gen 3:5, 7; 21:19; 2Kgs 4:35; 6:17, 20, 20; 19:16; Job 14:3; 27:19; Psa 146:8; Prov 20:13; Isa 35:5; 37:17; 42:7; Jer 32:19; Dan 9:18; Zech 12:4). Recovery from blindness and release from prison are linked in “To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house” (Isa 42:7), and in the Psalmist’s Hallelujah song of Jubilee:
“Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul… Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners: The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous: The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD” (Psa 146:1, 5-10).
Kay writes, “In reality:—the prison-house, from which man’s spirit needs to be delivered, is ignorance of God; and this may be viewed, on one side as blindness, on the other as darkness (2Cor 4:4, 6)” (ibid).
This was only the beginning of Jesus’ preaching the gospel of the Jubilee.
Blessed are the poor. A Jubilee year was a special blessing for the poor (Exod 23:11; Lev 25:25, 35, 39, 47; Deut 15:4, 7, 9, 11; Isa 61:1 LXX). After naming the twelve (Luke 6:12-16), Jesus opens his Sermon on the Plain with these Jubilee themes:
“Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets” (Luke 6:20-23; cf. especially Isa 61:1-3 LXX).
In response to John the Baptist’s inquiry, Jesus responds,
“Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me” (Luke 7:22-23; cf. Isa 35).
The poor are liberated from the slavery caused by debt, and are restored to their land, the land of the fathers, the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Lev 26:42-45).
Don’t worry what you will eat, God will provide. Every seventh year, including the year of Jubilee, the land was left fallow so it could rest (Lev 25:2-6, 11-12, 19). This might raise a reasonable concern, to which God responds:
“And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store” (Lev 25:20-22).
By addressing the same concern, Jesus implies they were in a Jubilee year:
“And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on… Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls… And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind… your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:22-32; cf. Matt 6:25-34).
The Jubilee year setting of these words indicates they should not be taken as a general command to laziness (see 2Thess 3:6-15); instead, God’s provision for a sabbatical year means you worked hard for six years and God blessed you with sufficient abundance to “rest” yourself and the land in the seventh.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Forgiveness of debts was a fundamental principle of the Sabbath year (Lev 25:35-38; Deut 15:1-11). Likewise,
Jesus preached, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt 6:12; cf. Luke 11:4; 6:37). At its core, this is an economic command; financial debt can enslave a person like few other masters. It also includes the forgiveness of sins, sin being the master of us all (Matt 6:14-15; 18:23-35; Luke 11:4).
Lend freely to your poor brothers and sisters. Requiring that all debts be forgiven every seven years could cause a significant damper on lending; God addresses this propensity to tight-fistedness:
“At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’s release… If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land” (Deut 15:1-2, 7-11).
Jesus echoes this command to be generous:
“And if ye lend <1155 daneizo; cf. Matt 5:42; 18:27> to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend <1155> to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend <1155>, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful… Give, and it shall be given unto you” (Luke 6:34-36, 38; cf. Matt 6:22-24).
“Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:33-34; cf. Matt 6:19-21).
The restoration of all things. Nehemiah exhorted his brethren to keep the Jubilee (Neh 5:1-13), emphasizing the idea of restoration:
“Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them. Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest” (Neh 5:12-13; cf. 5:1-13).
The Greek word for “restore”<600 apokathistemi> is a keyword of the gospel message:
- The man with a withered hand “stretched it forth; and it was restored whole” (Matt 12:13; Mark 3:5; Luke 6:10).
- Jesus put his hands again on the eyes of the blind man, “and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly” (Mark 8:25).
- Elijah “truly shall first come, and restore all things” (Matt 17:11; Mark 9:12).
- “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).
The covenant blessings and curses described in Leviticus 26 show that the LORD’s fulfillment of the promises to the patriarchs is conditioned on the repentance of Israel (see especially Lev 26:40-45). Similarly, Peter preaches to the Jews in Jerusalem:
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution <605 apokatastasis, from 600> of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).
The tabernacle of God is with men. The covenant fellowship between God and His people is described as the LORD setting His tabernacle among them:
“And I will set my tabernacle among you… And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people” (Lev 26:11-12; cf. Ezek 37:21-28).
This is a key feature of New Jerusalem, the heavenly bride prepared for her husband the Lamb (cf. Isa 61:10):
“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Rev 21:3).
Just as Mount Sinai, the Tabernacle, the Temple, Jesus, and the saints at Pentecost were each engulfed in the cloud of glory, the ultimate fulfillment of the LORD’s purpose is to turn the whole earth into a Most Holy Place filled with His Shekinah glory: “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD” (Num 14:21; cf. Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14; Psa 72:18-19). We celebrate this thought when we sing: “Hark! Ten thousand, thousand voices, Sing the song of Jubilee; Earth through all her tribes rejoices, Broke her long captivity… Yea, He reigns, the Great Messiah — In Millennial glory crowned; ‘Israel’s Hope’, and ‘Earth’s Desire’, Now triumphant and renowned” (Hymn 296).
- See article (5) in this series, Tidings, May, 2011. For example, the word “covenant” occurs eight times in Leviticus 26 (cf. Isa 61:8; Ezek 34:25; 37:26), connecting this chapter to the ark of the covenant which housed the tables of the covenant.
- LXX (Seventy) stands for the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One