Our Personal Year of Jubilee!
We have been considering the year of Jubilee – the 50th year in a series of 7 sets of 7 Sabbatical years found in Leviticus 25. In my last post, we learned that it was a time when debts were forgiven, slaves were set free, and liberty was proclaimed throughout the land (Lev. 25:10). You may want to read “Year of Jubilee” from my last post for a more complete background.
So what happened to this practice? From what I have been able to research, as the Jews started moving out of the Promised land, the Jubilee practice stopped because they were not able to “return” to the family property. Some scholars desperately try to put together a time table of the Jubilee years so as to predict end time events.
But as with so many things in the Bible, Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of the foreshadowing in the Old Testament. Jesus even started His public ministry in Luke 4:18-19 with a quote from Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD.” Oh, but here is the great part – after Jesus read those words in the synagogue at Nazareth, with all eyes on Him, He sat down and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Praise You Jesus!
Do you see and hear the Jubilee in those verses friends? Proclaiming release (liberty) to the captives, restoring what was lost, freeing the oppressed – sounds familiar doesn’t it? What is it, sweet friend, that the enemy has stolen from you that needs to be restored? Are you in bondage to something? These are the very things for which Christ came to set us free. Claim your year of Jubilee through the power and promise of Jesus!
The very fact that God came down to dwell with us through His Son, Jesus Christ, gives us reason to celebrate our Year of Jubilee. If you are saved, do you remember the moment you received the promise of a great inheritance, the release of your sin debt, and the promise that you would join the heavenly family some day? The proclamation of freedom and the blowing of the ram’s horn became a reality in your life at the moment you were saved.
The Bible tells us there will be one final day of release and liberty that is yet to come – the day when Christ calls us home. Instead of a ram’s horn blowing as in days of old, the archangel will be sounding the trumpet and every eye shall behold our Savior coming in clouds of glory (I Thess. 4:16). I simply cannot wait…”therefore, comfort one another with these words.” I have holy chill bumps all over me right now! It will be a “Glorious Day”!
