thinking bible.

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how might this ancient command inform our approach to economic systems or social safety nets?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Leviticus 25:10

You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee to you; and you shall return every man to his possession, and you shall return every man to his family.

This verse is part of the extensive legal material given to the ancient Israelites through Moses, outlining how they were to structure their society in the land they were entering. It describes the 'Jubilee year,' a special observance meant to prevent extreme poverty and consolidate wealth.

What responsibility might we have to regularly re-evaluate and rebalance economic inequalities in our own communities?

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Read alongside it

  • Deuteronomy 15:1-2

    Describes the 'Sabbath year' for debt cancellation, a related concept to Jubilee.

  • Isaiah 61:1-2

    Prophetically echoes the theme of proclaiming liberty to captives and good news to the poor, drawing on Jubilee imagery.

  • Luke 4:18-19

    Jesus quotes Isaiah 61, declaring his mission in terms reminiscent of the Jubilee's social and economic restoration.

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