In these messages we will consider the year of jubilee. The Chinese term for jubilee is not found in traditional Chinese writings; it was invented by the translators of the Chinese Bible, which is one of the best translations in the world. In the early days, some of the Western missionaries who came to China knew the Bible in its original Hebrew and Greek languages. After their arrival in China, they learned the Chinese language and desired to translate the Bible into Chinese. As they were translating the Bible, each of the missionaries would retain a top Chinese scholar as his assistant. According to their knowledge of the original languages of the Bible, the missionaries would first use spoken Chinese to express the meaning in the original languages and then ask their assistants to compose into proper writing what they had expressed in spoken Chinese. Whenever they encountered a word or phrase that did not exist in Chinese, they had to invent a new word or phrase. Many of these uniquely created terms are popularly used today and are exceptionally valuable, such as the Chinese equivalents for Jesus, Christ, justification, redemption, sanctification, and jubilee. We truly thank and praise the Lord for the newly invented vocabulary in the Chinese Bible.
Many people do not realize the difficulties encountered in translating the Bible into Chinese in the early days. Many phrases in the original languages of the Bible do not exist in Chinese. For example, certain phrases in the original text of the Bible have the meaning of in, such as in God, in love, in the light, in life, and in Christ. However, such expressions using in do not exist in Chinese phraseology. Instead, Chinese expressions use by, through, upon, and other such words. In Chinese, we say “walk by love” instead of “walk in love.” We do not say that one person is in another. Rather, we say that one is by or through another person or that one depends upon another. Yet, in is a crucial word in the Bible. Therefore, the missionaries found it very difficult to translate the Bible into Chinese. Nevertheless, after much consideration, they began to adopt expressions using in. Thus, we can see expressions such as in Christ and in love in the Chinese Bible. Still, many times the Chinese Bible does not use in but by. In the Chinese Bible, “walk by love,” for example, equals “walk in love.” Nevertheless, “walk in love” has a deeper denotation. We are saved in Christ, not merely by Christ, that is, not merely by depending upon Christ. For example, when taking a steamboat, we sail on the sea not by depending upon or hanging on to the boat. We would soon lose our strength to hang on to the boat, especially if a strong wave came along. Rather, we sail on the sea by staying in the boat. In the same way, we are saved not merely by depending upon Christ but by being in Christ.
In the Chinese Bible, the term hsi-nien for “the year of jubilee” is a new invention. Hsi-nien is a good term, yet most people do not understand what it means. Since this particular term was invented during the translation of the Bible into Chinese, we need to go back to the Bible for its original meaning. In the Bible, this term is complicated. The first time it is mentioned is in Leviticus 25. At that time the children of Israel had been redeemed and delivered by God out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Formerly, they had fallen into the land of Egypt and were serving as slaves under Pharaoh, having neither freedom nor an inheritance. This typifies that, as the descendants of Adam, we fell into the world and became captives of Satan and slaves of sin. Egypt typifies the world; Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, typifies Satan; and the children of Israel typify God’s people enslaved in the world. Today people in the world have fallen into the hands of Satan to be slaves of sin. They have no freedom or rest; instead, they are toiling every day. Today not only peddlers and porters but even prominent officials and distinguished persons are toiling. Everyone is toiling; the only difference is how they toil. However, the Lord Jesus as our real Moses was sent by God to deliver us out of the land of slavery into Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. This good land, the land of Canaan, is Christ Himself.
Through Moses God told His people that He would bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. Both milk and honey are produced by a combination of two kinds of lives, the animal life and the vegetable life. Milk is produced by cattle, which are of the animal life. However, milk cannot be produced by the animal life alone; it also needs the vegetable life, grass. Thus, milk is a product of the animal life nourished by the vegetable life. The principle is the same with honey. Bees are animals, but without flowers, the plant life, they would not be able to produce honey. Therefore, the phrase milk and honey indicates that the good land is full, not of snakes and beasts, but of cattle, bees, grass, and flowers. That the good land flows with milk and honey indicates that this land is full of the animal life and the plant life. In type, Christ is the issue of these two kinds of lives. When John the Baptist saw the Lord Jesus, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29); this speaks of the animal life. The Lord referred to Himself as a grain of wheat that died (12:24); this speaks of the plant life. He is the mingling of two kinds of lives to produce milk and honey. All this signifies that Christ as the good land is full of life, rich to the uttermost, to be our supply for our enjoyment.
God brought His redeemed people out of Egypt, through their wandering in the wilderness, into the good land of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey. After the children of Israel had conquered the land, God, through Joshua and the high priest, divided the good land of Canaan into twelve different portions, and each tribe was allotted a portion. The descendants of Joseph received a double portion through Manasseh and Ephraim, while the tribe of Levi received no inheritance of land. The land allotted to each tribe was not according to each one’s own idea; it was altogether God’s decision as to which tribe would be in the north, which tribe would be in the south, and which tribe would be in the middle. Moreover, the allotment to each tribe was according to families. Thus, each family was allotted a piece of land, and each one in the household enjoyed the inheritance of the land. Therefore, when the Israelites entered into Canaan, everyone had their own portion. There were no landlords or capitalists, and neither were there paupers, beggars, or debtors.