Leviticus 25:28, commentary and pictures

The jubilee is the fiftieth year; what was sold remains in the hand of the buyer until then, and in the jubilee it goes out and returns to the original owner and to his possession. A sale of land was only temporary and could never permanently barter away the inheritance of the seller's children; land could not be sold forever. The land belongs to the Lord as its true owner and householder, while people are its tenants and strangers and sojourners with Him, so redemption for the land must always be granted. If the poor seller or his kin is able, he is free to redeem at any time and return to his possession, and the buyer must not refuse to sell it back whenever he or his kindred want to redeem it.

After Canaan was divided by lot according to numbers, no one was allowed to take the most fertile land for himself, to join field to field, or to trade his estate for change or profit, because that would breed selfishness, oppression, and dissension, and a man could sell his land only when compelled by poverty. The return belongs to a system in which debts were remitted every seventh year and all landed property reverted in the jubilee, with every man returning to his possession and family. The jubilee was part of God's provision for the poor and was meant to encourage liberality and to restrain stinginess. By this means every family was secured in its possession and safeguarded against the extremes of wealth and want, so that in the jubilee the seller could return home and enjoy his land again.

Thus there were to be no beggars and none suffering for food, and the poor and unfortunate ever had an equal chance with their more fortunate neighbors, so poverty must never leave a person permanently without land and food. God's plan was that every family have a home on the land with sufficient ground for tilling, providing both the means and the incentive for a useful, industrious, and self-supporting life; no devising of men has ever improved upon that plan, and the world's departure from it accounts in large degree for the poverty and wretchedness that exist today. The verse gives special direction for a brother fallen into decay, requiring just and merciful dealing with a poor brother through home missionary work, so that he is relieved and may live with his brethren with open hand and sufficient help, without hardening the heart, shutting compassion, charging usury or increase, or withholding help because release is near.

The direction was spoken by Christ to Moses for the children of Israel and comes down the line binding to this time. Refusing to hear and do it is sin, causes the cry of God's children to come up against the neglectful, may cause the Lord to remove prosperity, keeps prayers from rising as sweet incense, and places a charge against His people. Those well acquainted with the law must be doers of the Word, and those in responsible positions must unite to see this work done.