The Jubilee ( יובל ) is the year at the end of seven cycles of (Sabbatical years) or Shemitah. According to the Bible, it had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the Land of Israel. The Book of Leviticus tells us that The Year of the Jubilee was a year of release from indebtedness and all types of bondage . All prisoners and captives were set free, all slaves were released, all debts were forgiven, and all property was returned to its original owners. In addition, all labor was to cease for one year, and those bound by labor contracts were released from them. One of the benefits of the Jubilee was that both the land and the people were able to rest.
The Jewish Jubilee Year was counted from the time the Israelites were given those instruction at Mount Sinai. My understanding is that a Year of Jubilee always follows a Sabbatical Cycle of 7 years x 7 times or 49 years total. In this case, the 50th year would constitute the Jubilee Year. In September, 2021 on Rosh HaShanah 5782 – Israel began to observe the Shemitah or 7th-Year Sabbatical rest. This makes 2022 the 117th Jubilee Year since its inception.
We cannot understand the full impact of this without knowing its historical background. For more than 80 years before the Exodus, the Israelites had been slaves in the land of Egypt, without freedom and without possessions. When they reached the land of Canaan, Joshua divided the land among their tribes and their families, so that each had his own inheritance. Every adult male among them became a land owner. This land was a permanent possession that could never depart from his family. If a man became poor he could sell part or all of his land, but only temporarily. It would always revert to him or his descendants at the year of Jubilee. If he became even poorer and was unable to pay his debts, he could sell himself into slavery, and work to pay off his debts. Again that slavery could only ever be temporary. When the great Day of Atonement in the year of Jubilee came he became a free man once again and repossessed his inheritance.
When we look at these great Jubilee events, we see how the two main aspects of Jubilee – freedom and restoration of inheritance – have been fulfilled in them.
This is why we must look forward to the fulfilment of this year of Jubilee in our present time. Will we be freed from the threat of communism and have our inheritance restored?
Standing with Israel 