THE JUBILEE

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 19 February 2013

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Hi all,

In computer technology, as far as I am aware, there are only two types of memory. These are the RAM and the ROM. i.e. random access memory and read only memory. What the difference is between them, I don’t know. My guess is that it has something to do with being able to communicate with the memory. If I that’s true, then I need to advise you of a third and more significant type of memory. It’s the CAM – the “can’t access memory”; or better described as a “forgettery”. Mine is in excellent condition.

On one or two occasions ,I’ve tried to “trawl” back through the years, to find what I’m seeking to recall; usually without success. Fortunately, computer “Geeks” have “come up” with a useful gadget for dummies. It’s called “Google”. Type in a few words and low and behold, there is more information than a RAM and a ROM can handle together.

To come to the point; this morning, as I was looking for a dim memory, about money being the root of all evil, I discovered where this particular expression came from. It was a wartime song by the Andrews sisters. And went:-

Money is the root of all evil. X 2. Won’t contaminate myself with it. Take it away X 3

Now, we all know that the secular world produces lyrics which look or sound Biblical.  In fact they are not. After all, what does it matter, as long as it makes money? But for the record, Scripture states, ¹⁰ For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 1Tim 6:10 NLT

What has this got to do with the year of Jubilee? The common factor is money. God had a perfect plan for dealing with inflation. Every 50 years, all debts were cancelled and all properties were returned to the original owner. In addition, all Hebrew male or female slaves were allowed to go home without having paid anything further to their former owners. It seems that God’s plan was that everyone in the world would get a chance to start afresh. On the day in question, the trumpet would sound introducing the new way of things. It was Jubilee!

What excites me about this, is that Christians are awaiting the sound of the trumpet. This will announce that the day has come for the second coming of Christ. Then we will get a chance to start afresh in a new world and in a new body. I can hardly wait.

There is also another way to look at things. When you and I were the slaves of Satan, the only way out was for someone to come and buy our freedom. Jesus did exactly that. My day of Jubilee had come. I was set free to serve Jesus as my Lord and Master. For me, that was a huge time of celebration. He made me a new creature in Him. But I’m still stuck in this old ageing body. The only way to change it is for the trumpet to sound. His second coming will be with us. That really will be a time of celebration. A Day of Jubilee!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland  

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 19 February 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	The Jubilee
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. 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, the year of Jubilee was the year in which God blew all the bells and whistles. He added, 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 its seven year Sabbath, there is even less likelihood, they celebrated Jubilee. It’s also worth noting, 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, 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. In the current international financial crisis, wouldn’t it be great if every nation in the world, was able to scrap former debts and start again? Or would it? Jim & Phyllida Strickland			4 I planned the day of vengeance. The year for my reclaiming you has come. 5 I looked, but there was no help. I was astounded that there was no outside support. So with my own power I won a victory. My anger supported me. 6 In my anger I trampled on people. In my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground." Isaiah 63:4-6 GW 10 Set apart the fiftieth year as holy, and proclaim liberty to everyone living in the land. This is your jubilee year. Every slave will be freed in order to return to his property and to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will be your jubilee year. Don't plant or harvest what grows by itself or pick grapes from the vines in the land. Lev 25:11-12 GW 19 Your dead will live. Their corpses will rise. Those who lie dead in the dust will wake up and shout for joy, because your dew is a refreshing dew, and the earth will revive the spirits of the dead. Isaiah 26:19 GW 16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thess 4:16-17 NLT 14 "Should I ransom them from the grave? Should I redeem them from death? O death, bring on your terrors! O grave, bring on your plagues! For I will not take pity on them. Hosea 13:14 NLT 34 But the One who redeems them is strong. His name is the LORD of Heaven's Armies. He will defend them and give them rest again in Israel. But for the people of Babylon there will be no rest! Jer 50:34 NLT	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 a 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. Alongside 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 19th February 2012