What was the Year of Jubilee all about? BIB 547-2-15-1

Leviticus 25:8-13, “And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.” (KJV)
 
According to Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson the Jubilee year is currently not observed or commemorated because in the 6th century BCE, the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and sent the majority of its population into exile; historically known as the Ten Lost Tribes. Fold into this the destruction of the Second Temple; the Jubilee year was said to no longer be observed.

The Jubilee Year:
• Begins after Joshua's conquest
• All Debts forgiven
• Land returns to original owners
• Slaves go free

Fast forward to the first century, the Jubilee Year seems to me to be a “Do over opportunity.” Acts 3:19-21, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”

In the lead up to the end of 2012 there was much discussion and hand wringing about avoiding the financial cliff here in the United States of America. For so long and most notably through the election of 2012, the mantra of the rich don't pay enough has been a rallying cry for the progresses. It looks like there was a Band-Aid version of an agreement that avoided the so-called financial cliff for now. I for one was rather hoping we would go over the cliff and have something like a Jubilee year. In this country we have been out-of-control financially for so long that perhaps it is time for a “restitution of all things.” Also, to me the mantra of the rich don't pay their share is disregarding one of the 10 Commandments, “thou shall not covet.”