THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD
From The HeartPublish date: 06/05/2011
The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed one, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], 19 To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.] Luke 4:18-19 AMP
This “acceptable year of the Lord” is the Year of Jubilee. All the Old Testament feasts and ordinances were designed as types and shadows of the New Testament and were all fulfilled and consolidated in Jesus and His death, burial and resurrection. We are no longer required to keep these Old Covenant rituals, because we are partakers of a new and better covenant based on better promises, but they give us enlightenment concerning all that has been done for us in Jesus Christ and the promises made and the blessings we can expect, if we receive and obey His word.
And you shall number seven sabbaths or weeks of years for you, seven times seven years, so the total time of the seven weeks of years shall be forty – nine years. 9 Then you shall sound abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month [almost October]; on the Day of Atonement blow the trumpet in all your land. 10 And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his ancestral possession [which through poverty he was compelled to sell], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated in bond service]. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall not sow, or reap and store what grows of itself, or gather the grapes of the uncultivated vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat the [sufficient] increase of it out of the field. Leviticus 25:8-12 AMP
The Year of Jubilee was meant to be celebrated every 50 years. Every seventh year, until then, was supposed to be set aside as a Sabbath unto the Lord and a year of rest for the land. One year in seven, the fields were to lay fallow – unplowed. This served two purposes: it was good management of their natural resources and it also reminded the people that God was in control and that He was their source and supply – HE is the One who provides! The Lord promised to provide enough in the sixth year to cover the next two years, until the next harvest came in. When it came to the fiftieth year, both Year 49 and Year 50 were counted as Sabbath years – a 24 – month rest for the people and the land. The Lord promised them that if they kept his commands, that He would bless them with three years worth of provision in the 48th year, carrying them until the harvest of the 51st year – or Year 1 as they began to count again.
The Year of Jubilee was an extra special year – announced with the blowing of trumpets. In fact, the very name means “the continuous sound of a horn blast”. “Jubilee” is the name of the horn, the sound of the horn, and the name of the feast. The Year of Jubilee was a holy year – consecrated and set apart – to proclaim liberty to ALL people! It was an antidote to poverty, slavery and bondage. Proverbs 22:7 says that, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” Anytime you owe a debt, you become a “servant” to the lender. In Old Testament times, when you owed a debt you couldn’t pay, you literally became the servant of the person you owed and you lost control of your property and your assets, until the debt could be paid.
The Year of Jubilee was sacred, because it was a year of release when debt–induced servant hood ended, debts and mortgages were cancelled, slaves were freed, all family inheritances were restored – land that had been sold was returned to its original owners – and everyone was given a fresh start in business, free from the bondage of debt.
In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property. 14 And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy from your neighbor. And he shall sell to you according to the number of years [remaining in which you may gather] the crops [before you must restore the property to him]. 16 If the years [to the next Jubilee] are many, you may increase the price, and if the years remaining are few, you shall diminish the price, for the number of the crops is what he is selling to you. 17 You shall not oppress and wrong one another, but you shall [reverently] fear your God. For I am the Lord your God.
18 Therefore you shall do and give effect to My statutes and keep My ordinances and perform them, and you will dwell in the land in safety. 19 The land shall yield its fruit; you shall eat your fill and dwell there in safety. Leviticus 25:13-19 AMP
If the people faithfully obeyed God and respected His wishes in these things, then in the years leading up to the Year of Jubilee, all business would be conducted in the fear of God and with the understanding that all that was lost, was to be restored in that fiftieth year. No one would oppress anyone else, or covet their possessions, or defraud them. Instead they would assist and bless them; giving them a “leg up” in their hard times. As a result, Israel would have been a society without permanent poverty!
God’s plan for you is that you should walk in His abundant blessings – His Jubilee – every day of the year. However, greed, covetousness and disobedience will keep you in poverty. Do you want to be blessed? Then you must respect and obey your Heavenly Father’s word. You must look to Him as your source and supply – faith is a rest (Hebrews 3) – you must give God credit for His blessings and bring Him the tithe and also your offerings; you must be kind and generous toward your neighbor, you must conduct your affairs with integrity; you must pay your debts and be willing to forgive the debts of others if the Lord leads you to. In this way, the Body of Christ in general – and you and your family in particular – will never, ever lack!