THE JUBILEE

Time with Jesus - Sunday, 19 February 2012

Hi all,

In the past 30 years I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard anyone speak about the year of Jubilee. I confess that I have not spoken about it very often either. So I’m in good company or bad company depending upon the way you look at it.

Much of the teaching on the Year of Jubilee can be found in Leviticus 25 and this chapter is well worth reading. It was supposed to take place every 50 years. What was intended was that every seventh year the land was to lie fallow. This would give the land an opportunity to rest for one whole year. It was a Sabbath for the land. After seven Sabbath years for the land, (49 years) the year of Jubilee was to be declared. I remember Malcolm Smith saying that the year of Jubilee was the year in which God blew all the bells and whistles and said it was time for everyone to start again. What I particularly liked about this was that theoretically every Israelite should experience the year of Jubilee once in their lifetime.

It was supposed to be a very special year; a year in which everyone started again. I rather liked the illustration from the board game “Monopoly”. The “old game” was over. Everything was restored to the families. Then a new game would start. What appealed to me was the fact that a family may have had a bad time during the previous 50 years. Now, with everything being restored, they were able to begin a new 50 year cycle.

A careful reading of Leviticus 25 gives a good idea of what was supposed to happen.

Whether or not the Israelites ever celebrated the year of Jubilee is something I’m unable to establish. It seems unlikely. If they didn’t give the land it’s seven year Sabbath, there is even less likelihood that they celebrated Jubilee. It’s also worth noting that Jesus commenced His ministry in the Nazareth synagogue by referring to the Year of Jubilee. He was quoting from Isaiah. (Isaiah 61:1,2) –¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is on me. He has anointed me to tell the good news to poor people. He has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners. He has sent me so that the blind will see again. He wants me to free those who are beaten down. ¹⁹ And he has sent me to announce the year when he will set his people free." Luke 4:18-19 NIrV

The aspect that blessed me most is the application of the year of Jubilee for Christians. We were all slaves of sin, living, bankrupt in prison in a loveless society. Then Jesus appeared on the scene. His presence declared that the time had come for us to be restored. Everything the devil had stolen was to be returned. The prison doors were opened and I could walk free. Few things could be more exciting.

It follows that He is our Jubilee. He gave us a chance to start over. Everything anticipated and referred to in Leviticus 25 has been done by Jesus for you and me. I’m so glad it happened just as was promised.

Today’s meditation looks at the Day of Jubilee and one or two of the associated implications.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

The Jubilee

God’s answer to inflation was the year of Jubilee. All the debts were cancelled and all Jewish slaves set free. The ram’s horn was the trumpet that cancelled every debt. That was The Lord’s direction. The finest method yet! If you had sold your property, because you were in need,      It had to be returned to you. You kept the title deed.

If you had sold your daughter as the slave to a Hebrew, The trumpet blast at Jubilee said “She’s returned to you!” It took place every fifty years. That’s what the Lord had planned. And was supposed to happen, throughout the Promised Land. I’m not sure that they did it. I doubt that it was done. But Jesus is our Jubilee, God’s One and only Son. We also have the promise that He’ll come back some day. We’ll know He took our burdens and cast them far away. He took our sins and sicknesses. Our health He will restore. A resurrection body we’ll have for ever-more. I cannot understand it but He has set me free, Because He is my Master – my Day of Jubilee! So many folk will be there. Far more than we can count. Along those who've passed away, we’ll all meet at the Mount. There’ll be so many people, the crowd that gathers there,      Will need their brand new bodies, to float up in the air.

The things that the apostles saw their Lord and Master do, When He was resurrected, will be done by me and you. Our former limitations will never more apply. Perhaps the very finest is that we’ll no longer die. To vanish and to reappear, for us will be routine; And do a lot of other things we’ve neither known nor seen. Is any of this possible or are we self-deceived? It sounds to be ridiculous and shouldn't be believed. But it is in the Bible, so doubt is put away. And I believe the Master in spite of what men say. With God, all things are possible, and He’s still in control. No person can resist Him or His power over the soul. So though it sounds irrational, God cannot be confined, Within the feeble limits of the greatest human mind. He is the Lord Almighty who made the Jubilee. And anything He’s said He’ll do is what I’m sure we’ll see. Jim Strickland – Written Sunday, 19th February 2012