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Biblical Debtors, part 4 (final)

The arrival of the year of Jubilee renders the time of redemption moot, because then all remaining debts are cancelled. No nation yet has proclaimed the Jubilee in a practical sense. Speaking on a spiritual level, it is often said that “Jesus is our Jubilee.” That is true, of course, but most people do not fully understand the Jubilee itself, so they apply it to the time of redemption, not knowing the difference.

When Jesus redeemed us, we became bond slaves of Jesus Christ until such time that we are perfected. We were imputed righteous, God calling what is NOT as though it were (Romans 4:17 KJV). Our sins (debts) were covered but not yet removed.

The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) more literally means “Day of Covering.” In fact, our English word cover is derived from the Hebrew word kippur. To cover sin is not the same as removing sin. There were two goats chosen for the ceremony of the Day of Atonement. The first was killed and its blood sprinkled on the mercy seat in order to cover (atone for) sin. The second goat was sent into the wilderness to remove sin.

These two goats prophesied of the two comings of Christ and the work that He had to do on each occasion. His death on the cross covered our sin, giving us imputed righteousness. Romans 4:7, 8 speaks of this, saying,

⁷ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. ⁸ Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.

This imparts righteousness on a positional (legal) level only, because his debt is covered, not cancelled. A believer’s faith in the blood of the Lamb (Passover) makes him legally perfect up front, but he quickly discovers that he still sins and falls short of the glory of God. He must therefore be trained in obedience (Pentecost) by the fiery law (baptism of fire) in a wilderness experience before crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land (Tabernacles).

Pentecost is the time where the Holy Spirit writes the law of God upon one’s heart in order to change one’s nature little by little through daily experience. Pentecost, when implemented properly, moves a believer toward greater alignment with the divine nature as expressed and defined in the law and by the example of Christ. It is a transitional period between living in “Egypt” (the world) and the “Promised Land,” where we return to our lost inheritance—the glorified body that Adam lost.

Hence, Passover covers our sin-debt, while Pentecost allows us to move beyond covering into the actual removal of sin from our temple (body). It is only in the Autumn feasts that the believer shifts from imputed righteousness to actual righteousness in his nature. This is the prophetic purpose of the Day of Atonement. The name only expresses the idea of atonement (covering), but it also sets the timing for the Jubilee, because the Jubilee trumpet was to be blown every 49 years on the Day of Atonement.

On that day the sheep will be separated from the goats. Both sheep and goats are clean animals, but they manifest different characteristics. The church as a whole is a goat company, while the overcomers are a sheep company. In terms of sin-debt and righteousness, the lawless ones will have to remain in their “wilderness” to allow the Spirit of God to complete His work in their hearts. Hence, they will keep the Day of Atonement. The overcomers, however, will keep the Jubilee, a day of rejoicing (jubilation), having qualified for the great “change” that Paul described in 1 Corinthians 15:52, 53,

⁵² … we will be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable [corruptible] must put on the imperishable [incorruption], and this mortal must be put immortality.

In other words, the change involves two things: corruption (sin) and mortality (death). They go together. That which is mortal is corruptible; that which is immortal is incorruptible. When sin is removed, we become incorruptible. When death is removed, we become immortal. And, of course, the removal of sin is equivalent to the cancellation of sin-debt.

The Autum Feast Sequence

The feasts of the Lord are divided into two sets: Spring feasts and Autumn feasts. Christ’s first coming fulfilled the Spring feasts, which prophesied of His death, resurrection, and the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost.

The first Autumn feast is Trumpets on the first day of the seventh month. It is the day of resurrection, for when the trumpet sounds, “the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). John pointed out that this will be “the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:5), which will be limited to the overcomers. In Philippians 3:11 Paul expected to be one of those sheep, saying, “in order that I may attain to the resurrection [ek-anastasia, “out-resurrection”] from the dead.” The term he used indicates that some are raised out from among the dead—leaving the dead behind.

Next is the Day of Atonement. When this feast day is actually fulfilled, there will be a dual fulfillment, depending on one’s status with God. Lawless believers—those who cast out the law rather than have it written on their hearts—will celebrate a Day of Atonement by fasting and repentance. It will be a day of mourning for them, knowing that they missed the Jubilee experience. Hence, they will have to await the next opportunity for resurrection a thousand years later (Revelation 20:7).

It appears that the prophetic fulfillment of the Day of Atonement marks the actual transition from imputed righteousness to actual righteousness (“incorruption”). At that moment, for the overcomers all debts will be cancelled, including all sin-debt. The rest of humanity will benefit also, because the Kingdom will replace the Babylonian beast systems and will set the people free. Their eyes will be opened to see Christ as the solution to the world’s problems. Many will come to Christ and enter their own time of redemption before they too can be set free by the law of Jubilee at the end of the age of judgment.

Just as the dead overcomers will be raised on the feast of Trumpets, the living overcomers, as “sons of God,” will be birthed on the first day of Tabernacles. On the eighth day of Tabernacles, they will be presented to God as first-born sons according to the law in Exodus 22:29, 30,

²⁹ You shall not delay the offering from your harvest and your vintage. The first-born of your sons you shall give to Me. ³⁰ You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

The presentation of sons (as with sheep and oxen) must take place on an eighth day—in this case, on the eighth day of Tabernacles. Nonetheless, the debt is cancelled earlier to prepare for the birth and presentation of these sons. Those who remain unperfected, whether redeemed or not, must remain in a time of redemption in order to learn obedience before they are ready for a later Jubilee.

See Creation’s Jubilee.

https://godskingdom.org/studies/books/creations-jubilee/