This verse highlights God’s plan for restoration, ensuring that any land sold due to hardship would eventually return to its original family, demonstrating His mercy, justice, and faithfulness in providing new beginnings.
In Leviticus 25, the LORD establishes the concept of the year of Jubilee to remind His people of His sovereignty over the land and to ensure that no Israelite is permanently stripped of his ancestral property. In that context But if he has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the possession of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall revert, that he may return to his property (v. 28) spells out the process when someone who sold his land is unable to buy it back. This divine decree prevents the loss of land from becoming a permanent hardship, reflecting God’s compassionate desire that each family’s inheritance ultimately be restored.
Through this instruction, God shows that everything belongs to Him first (Leviticus 25:23) and that His people are merely stewards of the land. The verse teaches that when resources are insufficient for a family to redeem their land, they must wait until the appointed time—“at the jubilee it shall revert” (v. 28)—when all property rights are set back to God’s original assignment. This underscores the mercy of God toward those who have fallen into debt or poverty, allowing them a fresh start and reemphasizing their identity as the LORD’s covenant people.
In the New Testament, Jesus uses imagery reminiscent of the year of Jubilee when He proclaims in Luke 4:18 that He has come to bring release and freedom, drawing upon the same themes of restoration and deliverance. In this way, Leviticus 25:28 foreshadows the greater spiritual renewal believers experience in Christ, who restores them to fellowship with God and frees them from the debts of sin.
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Leviticus 25:28 meaning
In Leviticus 25, the LORD establishes the concept of the year of Jubilee to remind His people of His sovereignty over the land and to ensure that no Israelite is permanently stripped of his ancestral property. In that context But if he has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the possession of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall revert, that he may return to his property (v. 28) spells out the process when someone who sold his land is unable to buy it back. This divine decree prevents the loss of land from becoming a permanent hardship, reflecting God’s compassionate desire that each family’s inheritance ultimately be restored.
Through this instruction, God shows that everything belongs to Him first (Leviticus 25:23) and that His people are merely stewards of the land. The verse teaches that when resources are insufficient for a family to redeem their land, they must wait until the appointed time—“at the jubilee it shall revert” (v. 28)—when all property rights are set back to God’s original assignment. This underscores the mercy of God toward those who have fallen into debt or poverty, allowing them a fresh start and reemphasizing their identity as the LORD’s covenant people.
In the New Testament, Jesus uses imagery reminiscent of the year of Jubilee when He proclaims in Luke 4:18 that He has come to bring release and freedom, drawing upon the same themes of restoration and deliverance. In this way, Leviticus 25:28 foreshadows the greater spiritual renewal believers experience in Christ, who restores them to fellowship with God and frees them from the debts of sin.