Justice and the Prophets
God Promises a Just Kingdom
Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)
The Lord Loves Justice
Leviticus 25:8-17 Good News Translation
The Year of Restoration
8 Count seven times seven years, a total of forty-nine years. 9 Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement, send someone to blow a trumpet throughout the whole land. 10 In this way, you shall set the fiftieth year apart and proclaim freedom to all the inhabitants of the land. During this year all property that has been sold shall be restored to the original owner or the descendants, and any who have been sold as slaves shall return to their families. 11 You shall not plant your fields or harvest the grain that grows by itself or gather the grapes in your unpruned vineyards. 12 The whole year shall be sacred for you; you shall eat only what the fields produce of themselves.
13 In this year all property that has been sold shall be restored to its original owner. 14 So when you sell land to an Israelite or buy land, do not deal unfairly. 15 The price is to be set according to the number of years the land can produce crops before the next Year of Restoration. 16 If there are many years, the price shall be higher, but if there are only a few years, the price shall be lower, because what is being sold is the number of crops the land can produce. 17 Do not cheat an Israelite, but obey the Lord your God.
For Reflection
These passages reveal God's solution for the balance of ego-driven prosperity and a just distribution of a nation's wealth. God's economy is not based on scarce resources or individual ownership. God is the "owner" of Creation and we, humans, are stewards of God's Creation. The year of Jubilee recognizes the unintended consequences of economic development and resets the system.
I wonder what would change in our economic system if we would adopt an equitable distribution of resources as a prime economic objective? Would greed and economic oppression be moderated? Would it result in less disenfranchised or marginalized socio-economic divisions? Could it reduce feelings of abandonment by God or the civil governments? Could it result in less violence?
Pray
Pray for the wisdom to work toward more just and compassionate societies and governments all over the world.
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