Malaysia’s Jubilee and beyond.

Malaysia’s Jubilee and beyond.

Pastor Chew Weng Chee/SIBKL/16/9/12

Jubilee is not only today. It is one year. Today is the beginning of 1 year and beyond. Jubilee is not about an event, or one season. It is not a destination. It is about the future of our country. How we enter in this year will affect the future of our nation. This sermon is what Jubilee is all about, to you and to me. We will break down into 4 broad headings – the perspective, the promises, the posture and a precedence. 

Our study of the Jubilee begins in Leviticus 25:1-14. Genesis talks about creation, and the call of Abraham. Exodus speaks of the establishment of God’s people and God’s law. Leviticus sets the standards, sacrifices and festivals of the Israelite nation. In the year of Jubilee, on the day of atonement, trumpets sound everywhere and today, the shofar will sound in churches everywhere throughout Malaysia. 49 years after 16 September 1963, today begins our 50^th year and we are asked to consecrate and proclaim freedom throughout the land. The Scripture says it shall be a jubilee for you. Everyone say “for me”. The Jubilee is for me. This is the perspective we must have.

In the Jubilee, everyone goes back to his family – everyone say Return. Stop exploiting one another, fear your God. Do it because you fear God and you will live safely in your land. God’s blessing will be such that in the 6^th year, the land will yield enough for 3 years. You must provide for the redemption of the land. Revere My sanctuary. Have respect for the house of God. Our portion is to obey. It is God who sends rain in its season. The harvest continues until there is plenty for next season. We will have peace – no one will make you afraid. I will move savage beasts from your land. The sword will not pass through your land. 5 will chase a 100, 100 will chase 10,000. Your enemies will fall one by one. The Jubilee is a cycle. It does not come every year. It is a single opportunity where God really says “I show you favor”.

It begins on the day of atonement, the day the High Priest goes into the holy of holies to confess the sins of the people. 2 goats are used. 1 is sacrificed and the other is set free. This is a prototype of what Jesus would do for us. It is because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross that we have this blessing. Jubilee comes from the word “Yobel”, meaning the sounding of the horn of the ram.

There are 8 blessings mentioned in the year of Jubilee. First is liberty or freedom. It is freedom from oppression, freedom from debt, freedom from our sins. Second is the return of lost possessions. Some had become slaves because of poverty or had their property taken away from them. In the year of Jubilee, they get it back. What have we lost? In the year of Jubilee, God can restore to us the years that the locusts have eaten. Third is the restoration of family relationships. All the splintered brokenness between husband and wife, brothers and sisters, can be restored.  Fourth is increase from the fields, meaning financial increase. The rain from heaven will bring harvest. Fifth is very important – safety. There is a spirit of fear over our nation. But God says I will give you safety. There will be no civil unrest. Any evil person will be exposed. God loves our country.  Peace and harmony will come.

Sixth, our enemies will be defeated, specifically our spiritual enemies. Seventh, there will be a triple blessing from the Lord. The land will produce enough for 3 years. Eighth, your bondages will be broken. The world has an Egyptian mindset of work. I must sacrifice my time and family for work. Bondage from generational churches will be set free. The summary of all these blessings simply put is the favor of God. In Lev 26:9 God says “I will look upon you with favor and increase your numbers. There will be a harvest of souls.

Some might ask – Isn’t this Old Testament stuff? For Israel only? But why is the day of Jubilee started on the day of atonement? In Luke 4:14-21, in the presence of the people, he found the place where it was written  (it was not by accident) - “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners     and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” It was not the season but the year, the Jubilee year.

We must not take Jubilee so lightly. Let it sink in. The key is do we want it? I prayed for a real life Jubilee as an example, and then I remembered this story of Mobile Bay, Alabama, where one particular day fishes and crabs will just come up to shore and people will scoop up fish into baskets. When it happens, a watchman rings a bell shouting Jubilee, Jubilee and all the people will rush down to catch fish. No one really knows why, although scientists have tried to understand this phenomenon.

Do you want this Jubilee? There are 4 postures we need to have to receive. Firstly, we need to Sanctify ourselves. We need to consecrate our lives and come back to God. To be holy is to be cut off and set aside for God. We need to resolve internally to come back to God. This includes repentance of our sins, and a posture of humility. As the scripture goes “If my people will humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways and seek My face, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land”. Then we need to Pray. We have to come with a posture of intercession. We cannot just stand in indifference and say bless me. We must revere God’s sanctuary and respect the house of God. Jesus said “My Father’s house shall be called a house of prayer”. Third, we need to obey. We must fear God and obey His laws. Finally, we need to Trust. It was not easy for the children of Israel to leave the land idle and trust God to provide.

Taiwan was founded in 1911, so 2011 was her second Jubilee, and in that year Taiwan saw unprecedented success as a nation even in the face of global economic slowdown. 9^th in the world for innovation, 10^th in higher education, 13^th highest current account balance, 12% of Taipei becoming Christians, no natural disasters throughout the whole year. Immediately preceding the Jubilee, the church of Taiwan had really come together to pray. Even recently on 29/8/12 a newspaper reported how a major Typhoon just skirted past Taiwan, and even though there was some damage, it was ok, as the farmers had already collected most of the harvest. This is not surreal. It is real. Every 50 years, God gives a special opportunity to you and to me. It is for us to come to God and pray and repent, and seek His favor.