TULIP GEMS

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT AND 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 JUBILEE 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 JUBILEE unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

 

 

 

A JUBILEE shall that FIFTIETH YEAR be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.

 

 

 

For it is the JUBILEE; it shall be HOLY unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.”  (Leviticus 25:8-12)   (Emphasis mine)

 

 

 

 

 

The Jubilee marked a two-year long Sabbath Holiday.  The 49th and 50th years were both years of rest. In the Jubilee, as in each Sabbath year, debts ran out.

 

 

 

Also, in the 50th year, rural land holdings reverted to their original owners and slaves were freed.  The ancient Hebrews celebrated Jubilee as a foretaste of the great Sabbath of the New Heavens and New Earth.

 

 

 

The original Sabbath recalled Creation.  The Hebrew Sabbath recalled Redemption from bondage in Egypt.  It was sign between God and Israel.

 

 

 

The Christian Sabbath remembers the Finished Work of Christ.  God accepted it -- as was attested to by the Resurrection of Christ from the dead.  Our Creator has REDEEMED His people.  He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own BLOOD.

 

 

 

The goal of the Sabbath, according to Hebrews 3 & 4, is the Promised Land, the New Creation.  This is the Redemption of all things, including our bodies (Romans 8:16-23).  This Sabbath will begin with the Resurrection of the Just at the Second Coming of Christ.

 

 

 

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”  (Revelation 20:6)

 

 

 

There is no need to allegorize this text of Scripture.  Baptist Puritans such as Keach and Gill held to the Historic Pre-Millennial Position.

 

 

 

So did the early church up to the 4th century, when Catholic Bishop Augustine.[1]  introduced Amillennialism in his book CITY OF GOD.[2]

 

 

 

The millennial (1,000 year) reign of Messiah on earth is the Sabbath in purest form.  In Jewish tradition it is known as the “world to come” or the “Great Sabbath.”[3]

 

 

 

It will be a time of perfect rest and harmony for the saints of God from all ages.

 

 

 

It was commonly held by ancient Jewish rabbis, and by many “church fathers”, that the Creation Week of Genesis 1 defined the limits of earth's history.[4]

 

 

 

The sacred calendar of Israel pointed to the Jubilee as fixed by running seven sabbatical years.  God is a God of order.  In Scripture we find many evidences that God works according to a MATHEMATICAL PLAN.

 

 

 

The Apostle Peter, in speaking of the Second Coming of Christ, says that a DAY is with the Lord as a THOUSAND YEARS (a millennium):

 

 

 

“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”  (2 Peter 3:8)

 

 

 

May we not believe that from the fall of man into sin there are roughly 6,000 years to the SABBATH MILLENNIUM?  Six “days” (millenniums) of labor under the curse of sin and death -- followed by the Second Coming of Christ and the Seventh “Day” (Millennium) of Rest.[5]

 

 

 

The Great White Throne Judgment will mark its end (Revelation 20).  But this in turn will usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth (Revelation 21-22).

 

 

 

This is the ETERNAL JUBILEE for the saints of God.  A glimpse of this is given us in the following Scripture:

 

 

 

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

 

 

 

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

 

 

 

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”  (Revelation 21:1-7)

 

 

 

 

 

The Sabbath and the Millennium

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Robert H. Gundry, THE CHURCH AND THE TRIBULATION (The Zondervan Corporation: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1973) p. 173.

 

 

 

[2] Earle E. Cairns, CHRISTIANITY THROUGH THE CENTURIES (Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, Michigan, rev. ed. 1967, 1972) pp. 159-160.

 

 

 

[3] Bruce Scott, THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL: Seasons of the Messiah (The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc: Bellmawr, NJ, 1997) p. 34.

 

 

 

[4] Arthur W. Pink, THE REDEEMER'S RETURN (Calvary Baptist Church Bookstore: Ashland, Kentucky N.D. -- originally published in 1918) p. 163.

 

 

 

[5] Ibid. pp. 163-169.