GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE
V. The Jubilee of Restoration
BY C. T. RUSSELL
Pastor Brooklyn Tabernacle
GOD GAVE his
chosen people two distinct sets of Sabbaths or rests. Not only was the seventh day
appointed to them for resting from earthly toil as profitable to their physical well
being, but additionally those Sabbath days were types, which pointed forward to a future
rest of heart and mind. At the beginning of each year a cycle was marked--7 x 7 days.
Following this multiple, early in the ecclesiastical year, after the passover and the
waving of the "sheaf of first fruits," which typified our Lord's resurrection to
the heavenly plane, came the fiftieth day. On this day there came a great blessing to all
of the Children of Israel who were in the proper condition of heart. It typified the
beginning of the real rest of heart and mind which was thus foreshown. It was participated
in by all the chosen people who were in heart readiness and who accepted Jesus as Messiah.
Subsequently, after all of the saintly ones of the chosen people had entered thus into a
rest or Sabbath keeping in their hearts, the door to this privilege was opened to a
similar class from amongst the Gentiles. This rest of mind and heart, typified in the
Pentecostal day and its blessings, was but the earnest or foretaste of a still greater
blessing and rest to be entered into by the faithful at the end of the race set before
them. --Heb. 12:1. But the chosen people had not merely day Sabbaths. They
had also year Sabbaths; for every seventh year was a Sabbatic year. And these Sabbatic
years had a cycle similar to that of the Sabbath days. Seven times seven years brought
them to the fiftieth year, which was a special Sabbatic year, just as the fiftieth day was
a special Sabbatic day. As the Sabbath days could be observed by the chosen people
anywhere and everywhere, so the rest which they typified may be enjoyed by the consecrated
everywhere under all conditions. But the Sabbath years were not so! These could be
observed only while in their own land; for these related to that land.--Lev. 25:1-55.
Israel's Jubilee Year.
Undoubtedly the Jubilee year was a wise and beneficent
arrangement for God's chosen people by Jehovah, their great King. It was more than merely
an economic arrangement for the prevention of the accumulation of property in the hands of
the few. It was also typical of the great "Times of
Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets
since the world began."-- Acts 3:19-21.
Let us first examine the Jubilee as a social
and financial safety arrangement for the preservation of the rights and interests of the
less successful of the people of Israel. Every fiftieth year was to be a jubilee year
in which property that had been mortgaged or liened for debt would revert to its original
owner free from all encumbrance. Similarly, if a family had gotten into straits and not
only had lost its homestead but had gone into servitude, in the fiftieth year not only the
estate would be free, but all obligations of service would terminate. In the Jubilee year
every man returned to his original rights and possessions. Nor was this unjust to anybody.
Every one knew in advance that a loan or debt or contract for the property of another
could last only to the fiftieth year. Hence all valuation of property and of service
rendered was based upon this arrangement, and the valuation was greater in proportion as
the Jubilee year was afar off, and less as it drew near. Thus, under Divine arrangement,
it was impossible for the land of Israel to get into the hands of great landlords, trusts,
etc. The property right inhered in the family.
But Israel did not particularly care for this
arrangement, and it gradually fell into disuse. The Almighty did not insist upon its
continuance. Its chief value was that of a type pointing forward to a greater time of
Restitution, when Adam and all of his children would be permitted to come back from the
"land of the enemy," (Jer. 31:16), from the power of the grave and from
under the dominion of sin and death--back to harmony with God, to perfection of human
nature, to inheritance of the land and all the blessings and rights and privileges which
originally belonged to Father Adam. The human family is to come into all these rights and
privileges lost in Eden and redeemed at Calvary, when the great Messiah shall come in
power and great glory to establish in the earth his Millennial Kingdom. The first to be
blessed under that Kingdom arrangement will be God's chosen people; and subsequently, all
nations will receive a similar share by coming under the same conditions and participating
in Israel's New (Law) Covenant.--Isa. 2:3,4; Zech. 14:16,17 .
The Restitution blessings outlined by the prophets include
the restoration of Israel to Divine favor, their re-possession and control of Palestine,
and the sending forth of the Abrahamic blessings through them to all people. The
Restitution will include the bringing of the earth to full perfection, as was symbolically
represented in the Garden of Eden. It will include the lifting of humanity out of mental,
moral and physical imperfection up, up, up, to the grand heights of human perfection in
the image and likeness of the Creator, to the original estate which Father Adam lost and
which is to be restored to him. The Millennial Age, the reign of Messiah, will be the
anti-typical Jubilee time, in which gladness and rejoicing will come to earth, and come to
stay; for all who refuse the gracious privileges and opportunities of that time and do
despite to the favor of God knowingly, willingly, intentionally, will be cut off from life
in the Second Death, from which there will be no recovery.
Blowing Silver Trumpets.
At the opening of the Jubilee year it became the duty of the
priests to blow upon the silver trumpets the note proclaiming "liberty throughout all
the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." (Lev. 25:9,10.) The bugle note sounded by
the priest was repeated everywhere upon ram's horns and everything that would make a
joyful sound proclaiming liberty.
Doubtless some of those who heard might have been ready to
dispute the correctness of the message, claiming that there was a mistake. Doubtless some
who heard the proclamation of liberty were boisterous and extreme in their jubilation and
unwise in their conduct. Certainly the Jubilee year in its beginning must have been a time
of general tumult and rupture. The holders of the land and the beneficiaries of services
rendered may have been slow to surrender them, while those to whom they belonged by Divine
right might often have been impatient because of delay and thus become unreasonable in
their demands for immediate possession.
We are about to show that the Divine Word
teaches that this great anti-typical Jubilee period of one thousand years is already upon
us; that we are now in the time when the priests are blowing the silver trumpets--the
Truth of God's Word --and when the common people everywhere are waking up and vociferously
shouting for freedom and for their rights --sometimes unwise in their impatience and
rude in their haste. It is right that humanity should enter into all the blessings of this
Jubilee period which has been Divinely provided. But Divine Providence should be noted and
its leadings should be followed. The people should understand that as surely as it is
God's arrangement that the Jubilee Restitution shall be ushered in, so surely it will come
to pass; for all of God's purposes shall be accomplished. (Isa. 55:11.) There should be no
breathless haste, but a quiet, patient, faithful waiting on Jehovah.
The Lord, however, tells us that many will be
impatient; that, as a result, there will come upon the world "a time of trouble such
as never was since there was a nation," and that the trouble time will serve as the
opening of the door to the Jubilee procedure of Restitution. Hear the exhortation of the
Prophet, "Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day when I arise to the prey;
for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour
upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for the whole earth shall be
devoured with the fire of my jealousy," zeal, anger. Nor
are we to understand that this will be a literal fire, but terrible trouble causing great
distress, for the next verse shows that the people survive the trouble. There we read,
"Then will I turn to the people a pure message (the pure Gospel of the Love and the
Justice of God) that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one
consent."-- Zephaniah 3:8,9.
Echoing the voice of God through the holy
Scriptures, we warn all who have an ear to hear this message, that they desist from any
attempt to bring in the great Jubilee too hastily. The great leveling of humanity, rich
and poor, is coming, and coming speedily, because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
The great Jubilee with its restoration of human rights to every child of Adam is already
upon us. Blessed will those be who, recognizing the fact, shall most speedily and most
heartily join in and co-operate with the Divine arrangement. Let the rich exercise
benevolence of heart and rejoice to turn their millions into channels of usefulness for
the people, and let them do it speedily, whether along the lines of Mr. Rockefeller and
Mr. Carnegie, or along other lines of their own choosing. Let them not delay. Let them not
think that all things will continue as they have been in the past. The anti-typical
Jubilee has come. Its silver trumpet is now sounding in our ears. Already the rabble are
clamoring and restless. Scarcely can they be persuaded to bide their time and wait for
Divine Providence to give them the promised blessing. Indeed, they know not God; they
discern not that this Jubilee is of his provision and is coming in its due time, appointed
of the Almighty. They vainly think that they are bringing it to pass themselves; and that
they must force the issue and grasp the coveted prize of equal rights, wealth and leisure.
Only in the light of the Scriptures can
the peculiar condition of things now at our doors be understood or appreciated. From God's
Word comes the soundest of advice. But, alas! the great intellects of the world have
discarded the Bible and have gathered to themselves other teachers, who set forth as
worldly wisdom, doctrines of Evolution and of the wonderful progress of the race. These
doctrines, the Bible tells us, will speedily come to naught, and prove the wisdom of the
world's wise men to be foolishness.--Isa. 29:14,15; 1 Cor. 1:19; Prov. 14:8.
Humility and Righteousness Necessary.
The exhortation of the Bible respecting the present hour is
profitable to both rich and poor. But alas! few of either class are in the attitude of
mind to hear. The message is, "Seek righteousness; seek meekness: it may be that ye
shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." (Zeph. 2:3.) "Be wise, therefore,
ye kings of the earth (including the financial kings.) Kiss the Son (salute, recognize the
great King of Glory, whose Millennial Kingdom is at hand with its anti-typical year of
Jubilee for Israel and for all the families of the earth) lest he be angry, and ye perish
from the way, when his anger is kindled (in the very beginning of this day of anger) but a
little" (against you.) --Psalm 2:10-12.
The
Anti-typical Jubilee Begun.
Having shown that the great Jubilee of a thousand years will
begin by a terrible time of trouble incidental to the returning of mankind to their
long-lost inheritance, we will offer some harmonious prophecies based upon the Jubilee
type. These show that the Jubilee chronologically began A.D. 1875. Since then the masses
have been struggling for their "rights," sometimes by wise, and at other times
by unwise methods. Everywhere the anti-typical ram's horns are being blown and
"rights" is the watch-word!
Meantime, capital and vested interests, not
realizing that the Jubilee "Times of Restitution" are at hand, are perplexed at
the situation, alarmed! Legal talent and all worldly wisdom have been summoned in the
endeavor to hold fast every point that has been gained, and to relinquish and
restore--nothing! The Times of Restitution shall not come if the Trusts can possibly bar
the way. Elated at their success, they believe themselves stronger, more thoroughly
entrenched than ever in the control of the money power and of the earth. They hold that
everything is purchasable with money--"that every man has his price." The great
struggle, the time of trouble, will be precipitated as a result of the extreme confidence
entertained by both sides of the question. Organized labor and organized capital, each
self-confident, are about to precipitate the most terrible disaster that has ever befallen
Christendom--world-wide anarchy. Neither will hear; neither can understand the situation.
It remains for such as have the hearing ear to heed the message of God's word, "Seek
righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's
anger."--Zeph. 2:3.
The
Mathematical Calculation.
We have already noted the fact that the multiple system
applies in connection with the day Sabbaths and the year Sabbaths, culminating in a
fiftieth or Jubilee. We hold that this fact furnishes the Divinely intended key to show
the date at which the anti-typical Jubilee will be ushered in. It will be the great
Jubilee of Jubilees, reached by the same method of counting, 50 x 50 years, or, in all,
2,500 years. The question is, When should we begin the counting of this cycle? The reply
is, that where the type ceased to be observed the great cycle began. In other words, God
preserved the type until the proper time for the anti-typical cycle to begin to count.
We know that the Hebrew people maintained
their Jubilee system very imperfectly and with more or less dissatisfaction until the
overthrow of their polity. When Zedekiah's Government was overthrown and the people were
taken into captivity for seventy years by Nebuchadnezzar, during this period the typical
Jubilee must have ceased, because it could be observed only while in their own land. Prior
to that time, although repeatedly delivered into captivity to their enemies, they were
never out of their land long enough to prevent the celebration of the Jubilee. And so far
as any record shows, the Israelites have never observed a Jubilee year since their return
from Babylonish captivity.
Moreover, the Lord, through the Prophet
Jeremiah, distinctly tells us that Israel's observance of the Jubilee Sabbath years was
unsatisfactory, and that he made desolate their land during those seventy years in order
that it might have the full number of Sabbaths, which he had designed, and which the
people had selfishly neglected to observe. All of those seventy years of captivity were
Jubilee years and the land had rest--none being observed subsequently.
We quote the Scriptures on this subject:
"Them that had escaped from the sword he (Nebuchadnezzar) carried away to Babylon,
where they were servants to him and his sons, until the reign of the Kingdom of Persia: To
fulfill the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her
Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath to fulfill three score and ten
years." (2 Chron. 36:20,21.) Thus we know when the seventy years desolation
began; namely, A.D. 606. But how may we determine just when Israel observed their last
Jubilee? To answer this question, we must reckon from the time when the Jubilee system of
counting began down to 606 B.C., the beginning of the [OV88]
captivity, and then divide that total of years by 50. This would show us how many Jubilees
Israel had already kept unsatisfactorily; and the remainder would represent the number of
years which had elapsed between the last unsatisfactory Jubilee and the carrying into
captivity.
The Scriptures distinctly inform us that the
counting of the years of Jubilee began when Israel entered Canaan under the leadership of
Joshua. There were 6 years from the crossing of Jordan until the division of the land;
then a period of judges, 450 years; and a period of kings, 513 years; total 969 years, to
the desolation of the land at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. This number, divided by 50,
would show that 19 Jubilees had passed, and that the last one occurred 19 years before the
captivity. Understanding that where the type ceased, the anti-typical cycle began to
count, we add thus: 19 years from the 19th Jubilee to the desolation; 70 years of
desolation; from then until A.D. 1, 536 years; from A.D. 1 to A.D. 1874; the total would
be the sum of 19, 70, 536 and 1874, namely 2499 years. As the Jubilee of Jubilees would
come in the 2500th year, it follows that the year 1875 would correspond to that year.
Since the anti-type, however, was not to be one year, but a thousand years, we understand
that it was the thousand-year Jubilee which began in 1875. This seems comparatively strong
and clear as a Scriptural argument, and certainly comports well with the facts of history,
and is just what we should expect in this day of blowing the anti-typical trumpet and
general commotion on the part of those desirous of getting quickly into their Jubilee
rights.
The Jubilees According to Prophecy.
The Law sets things forth exactly as they should be. The
great cycle, 50 x 50-- 2500 years--should begin just where the typical Jubilee ceased, as
we have just seen. But prophecy shows matters from another standpoint; it foretells
matters just as they will occur. Thus, through the Prophet Jeremiah, the Lord informs us
that the total number of Jubilees would be seventy. The total number may thus be counted
in two different ways. We have seen that nineteen Jubilees were observed unsatisfactorily.
These, deducted from 70, would leave 51 of the 7 x 7 cycles to be fulfilled. But since the
Jubilees were not observed, these cycles only, without the 50th year, should be counted,
and these were 49 years each. 51 x 49, or 2499 years, would therefore represent 51 cycles
without Jubilees; and as there were 19 cycles with Jubilees, this would make 19 x 50--950
years. Thus we have the full 70 cycles shown; and 2499 plus 950--3449 --which is the
number of years from their first Jubilee on entering Canaan, to the close of the year 1874
A.D. So we reach the same date as by the Law method of counting.
The whole world, as well as Israel, has an
interest in the Jubilee and its "Restitution of all things which God has spoken by
the mouth of all the holy prophets." (Acts 3:20.) But to Israel the Restitution
blessings will come first, after the stress of the great time of trouble, in which the
chosen people will have their share--"the time of Jacob's trouble." The
Millennial blessings will begin with Israel. Their law-givers will be restored as at the
first, and their judges as at the beginning. (Isaiah 1:26.) The Lord will assume the
guidance and control and blessing and uplifting and restitution of all the willing and
obedient--to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.--Romans 11:25-31; 1:16.
THE beam that shines from Zion's hill
Shall lighten every land;
The King who reigns in Salem's tow'rs
Shall all the world command.
