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The Year of the Jubilee, Part B

You are Strangers and Sojourners with Me

[Study Aired November 7, 2025]

Lev 25:23  The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

We concluded our last study by pointing out to whom we owe our debt and why we are all in such deep debt that we have all been forced to sell our land. We have all been sold into Egypt as slaves to sin. As the Lord informs us here in verse 23: “The land is mine… you are strangers and sojourners with Me.” Therefore our deep debt is to the Lord Himself and to no one else, and it is all His work:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

As King David confessed when he was exposed for committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband to hide his own sin:

Psa 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,  and  be clear when thou judgest.

It is Christ Who made us as we are, and it is Christ only who is bearing the price for our sins. He is therefore “clear when [He] judges us. “The land”, signifying each of us, is His, and our entire debt is ultimately to Him. As the Lord told King David:

2Sa 12:9  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

King David, to satisfy the lusts of his old man, his flesh, had despised and broken both the sixth and seventh commandments:

Exo 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.
Exo 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery.

As the Creator of the land He has every right to make the laws of the land:

Lev 25:24  And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

Christ is our only redeemer. He and His Christ alone bear upon them the sins and iniquities of His people:

Lev 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell [signifying Christ Himself], and offer him for a sin offering.
Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat [signifying the Lord’s Christ, us], shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
Lev 16:22  And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

It is beyond our ability to properly appreciate the magnitude of our own calling to “bear… all the iniquities of the children of Israel… with the Lord’s goat.” We must first acknowledge our own iniquities, and our own spiritual poverty and be redeemed  by “the Lord’s goat”, Christ Himself:

Lev 25:25  If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.
Lev 25:26  And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;
Lev 25:27  Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.

It is only in “this present time” that redemption from our sins is taking place and Christ and His Christ are that redeemer. We really are “filling up in [our] bodies that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church”:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Lev 25:28  But if he be not able to restore it to him [if it is not redeemed in this present era], then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out [out from under the bondage of sin], and he shall return unto his possession.

Now we are told of the difference between possessions “in the fields of the country” and houses “in a walled city”:

Lev 25:29  And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.
Lev 25:30  And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile.
Lev 25:31  But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile.

Why would “a dwelling house in a walled city be distinguished from “the houses of the villages which have no wall”?

This is what we are told of the Lord’s faithful “friend”, Abraham and his children:

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Heb 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles [G4633: ‘skene’, tents] with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

In Genesis 25, this is what we are told of Jacob and Esau:

Gen 25:27  And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

This is how the Lord summarizes the lives of the faithful of the Old Testament:

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

‘They wandered in sheepskins… they wandered in deserts.’ The point being made here in Hebrews 11 is that the Old Testament examples of faith did not dwell in walled cities. They lived in temporary dwelling and were “looking for a city which had foundations whose builder and Maker is God”.

The ‘walled city’, like every word of God and like the cloud that separated Israel from the Egyptians at the Red Sea, is bright on one side and dark on the other. In other words “a dwelling house in a walled city” has both a positive and a negative application. In its positive application, it remains forever with the person who bought and paid for it if it is not redeemed within a year. In its positive application the walled city signifies the New Jerusalem with a wall great and high:

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues [One of the Lord’s elect, Rev 10:10, Rev 22:8], and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Rev 21:12  And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

In its positive application the person buying the dwelling house in the walled city is Christ. He alone has purchased us and forever owns us.

In its negative application “a dwelling house in a walled city” is not counted as the land which belongs to the Lord. While the Lord owns everything, a house in a walled city is not identified with “the land [of which the Lord says] is Mine.” In its negative application it is assessed as the work of men’s hands and not identified with the land which goes out in the Jubilee:

Lev 25:23  The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

As always, the darkness of ‘The Cloud’ (Exo 14:19-20) is only darkness, contradictions and confusion to our old man. The new man is accepting of God’s sovereignty over light and darkness and can see the efficacy of both in the Lord’s work and His plan for His creatures (Isa 45:7).

Now we come to a positive application of the Levites. In Numbers, Deuteronomy, and in Joshua, we are at least five times told “the Levites shall… have no part nor inheritance with Israel”:

Num 18:23  But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
Num 18:24  But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

Deu 18:1  The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.
Deu 18:2  Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.

Jos 18:7  But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.

These verses give us the positive application of the Levites. In these verses the Levites signify the Lord’s elect who have no part in the blessings of the Jubilee. In these verses the Levites signify those who are given part in the blessed and holy first resurrection and are blessed far above any blessing given at the Jubilee.

In their negative application ‘the Levites’ signify Babylon which is given to the Lord’s elect to do many wonderful works and to bring billions to Christ and yet they are not permitted to touch nor to even look upon the holy things within the tabernacle of God:

Num 4:15  And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

Num4:20  But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

Here in Leviticus 25:32-43 we see the Levites in their positive application of signifying the Lord’s firstfruit elect with their special blessings:

Lev 25:32  Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time. [Signifying the advantages of the seven weeks of Pentecost over the seven sevens of years of Jubilee of all the rest of mankind]
Lev 25:33  And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubilee [This ‘jubilee’ signifies those “who first trusted in Christ”, (Eph 1:12)]: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
Lev 25:34  But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

We as the Lord’s elect truly are a special people, with special privileges. We are “a royal priesthood”, not to be treated as those who are cast into the lake of fire and come up through the great tribulations of that “cursed” dispensation (Mat 25:41):

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

‘Royalty’ signifies kings, and we are called to be “kings and priests [to show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light”.

Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Being ‘poor’ signifies a lack of spiritual knowledge. It signifies those who do not yet know the Lord and His Christ. The Lord insists that we are to be ‘the good Samaritan’ to all men, especially to them who are the household of faith:

Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially [G3122: ‘malista’] unto them who are of the household of faith.

The Lord Himself treats us as a special people, and He expects us to do the same:

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [G3122: ‘malista’] of those that believe.

That is the spiritual significance of the following verses:

Lev 25:35  And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.
Lev 25:36  Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
Lev 25:37  Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

We are all by nature extremely self-righteous. When we see the poor, the natural thing to do is to think within ourselves, just as Job’s miserable comforters, that the poor man brought his poverty upon himself. We speak of the Lord’s sovereignty, but it is not that easy to remember that the Lord is indeed working all things, including the poverty of the poor, after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).

Lev 25:38  I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt [spiritual poverty], to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

Everything we have, including our ability to avoid poverty, is a gift from the One Sovereign God. The poor are also the work of His hand:

Pro 22:2  The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.

Lev 25:39  And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:
Lev 25:40  But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile:

In effect we are to minister to our poor brothers “until the year of the jubilee.” Spiritually speaking we are to minister to the spiritually poor until they are converted at Pentecost and begin to understand the things of the spirit as the Lord opens their blinded eyes and their deaf ears, which has been the source of their spiritual poverty.

Lev 25:41  And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.
Lev 25:42  For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.
Lev 25:43  Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

Those who outright reject the Word of God are to be considered as “the heathen” and “the son of the bondwoman”:

Gal 4:21  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Lev 25:44  Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.
Lev 25:45  Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.
Lev 25:46  And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

We are “as [Christ] in this world” (1Jo 4:17). As such we are “Saviors” (Oba 1:21). As ‘saviors’ we are seeking to redeem our brother who has become spiritually poor:

Lev 25:47  And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family:

The Corinthian fornicator is signified by this brother who has sold himself to a stranger. Our old man… carnal flesh is this ‘rich stranger’ to whom our poor brother has sold himself. It is our blessing as the ‘near kinsman’ of our poor brother to redeem him from his bondage:

Lev 25:48  After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:
Lev 25:49  Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.

We all reap what we sow and he that needs many stripes will receive many stripes. He that needs but a few stripes will receive few stripes.

That is the spiritual significance of discerning the value of the land in relation to the jubilee. We must never oppress our brother or we will not be in the position to do so:

Lev 25:50  And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.
Lev 25:51  If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
Lev 25:52  And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.
Lev 25:53  And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.
Lev 25:54  And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubile, both he, and his children with him.
Lev 25:55  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.

This is the assessment of the holy spirit via the pen of the apostle Paul concerning the Lord’s just and righteous judgments, and this is how we will conclude this study:

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

“How unsearchable are His judgments”? Amen to that!