Leviticus 25:8-10 'Count off seven sabbath years -- seven times seven years -- so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.
Though the new cycle of Israel's feasts has concluded, I'd like to share one more observation about last week's high holy day, Yom Kippur. It is a day on which adults are afflicting themselves by fasting, abstaining from all pleasures, and repenting. But for the children, Yom Kippur is a very different holiday. This day is my son Obi's favorite holiday! Why? Because the kids are not fasting or recalling their sins or suffering at all – they are celebrating freedom!
On Yom Kippur in Israel, TV and radio stations are shut down and the children are playing jubilantly outdoors with absolutely no vehicles on any road. Everywhere you look kids are freewheeling on bikes, skateboards, rollerblades, scooters, and bare feet, with no restraint. The children are truly free on Yom Kippur. And unbeknownst to them, they are typifying a prophetic event that occurs only once every 50 years, on Yom Kippur.
Every 50th year, in this cycle, called the Yovel or Jubilee, freedom is proclaimed! All things are returned to their rightful owners – all debts are forgiven – and the entire year is a great celebration of freedom, restoration and joy. And the kids, without realizing it, are celebrating jubilee every year.
Prophetically, Yovel or Jubilee speaks of the Lord's return to establish His Millennial Kingdom, during which time the world will experience a peace and rest unknown since the fall of mankind. This will be the restoration of all things [Acts 3:21], a time of tremendous joy and true freedom during the reign of our Messiah King.
But take note that the atonement precedes the Jubilee, and without the atonement no one comes to the freedom, rest, and joy of the Yovel. The atonement provides our forgiveness of sins. Sin is slavery. Liberty and joy require forgiveness and restoration. Only through atonement can we truly celebrate liberty!
This day, every day, can be your jubilee if as a child of God you celebrate His forgiveness, walk in freedom and rest with your sins forgiven by the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. If and when you do, you are a living prophetic message to this world that the Lord's jubilee is coming!
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]One of the most important aspects of prayer is understanding how God Himself is interceding for us in ways we cannot fathom or comprehend. While Yeshua’s (Jesus) atonement was completed on the cross 2000 years ago, His continuing work of intercession rests soundly on the basis of it. He now lives … to make intercession for us! As our Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever [Hebrews 13:8], He is “faithful and true” and will always intercede according to the Father’s will, both in personal, individual matters, and also as we take up battles in prayer for others, including every arena of spiritual warfare.
When David was anointed king over Israel, he didn’t take his place at the throne immediately. He had to wait, and bide his time, until Saul was removed from power, before arriving at his destined place as King. Like His father David, Yeshua (Jesus) was received as Israel’s king/messiah at the triumphal entry, (often called “Palm Sunday”), and then, “anointed” King of the Jews, ironically receiving His true title from the Romans, while hanging on a cross. But He is still waiting to reveal His identity as King on earth, during the Millennial reign when His kingdom will replace the kingdoms of this world at His second advent. [Rev. 11:15].
In today’s world of Smart Phones, tablets and instant Internet access, there are many things that we can “know.” “How long is the Golden Gate Bridge?” Pop out your iPhone, ask “Siri”, the golden-voiced digital encyclopedic genius, and you’ll have the factual answer in seconds.
The Jewish leaders of His time rejected Yeshua (Jesus) when He first came. He didn’t meet their expectations. They were expecting a Messiah who would bring relief from the Romans, restore the Kingdom of David, and usher in an era of tranquility throughout the world. It is probable that their intense jealousy of Yeshua blinded them to the numerous passages in the Tenach (OT) which describe Messiah as a suffering servant, since they were certainly aware of those passages.
As thousands of believers around the world will celebrate Palm Sunday, I thought I’d offer some additional historical insight into the day Yeshua (Jesus) entered Jerusalem. Most people associate Palm Sunday with the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass”. But there is another significant detail associated with this beautiful fulfillment…
I could tell you about countless difficult and drawn out circumstances over which we have tried to stand firmly in faith until they finally came to pass. Sometimes we made it and sometimes we were weak and began to doubt. But God mercifully came through for us on most of these things, despite our lack of strength to stay faith-ful.
New Testament genealogies of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) all identify Him as the son of king David. It was universally understood from the Tenach (OT) that the messiah would be descended from David and that he would restore the Davidic monarchy to its ultimate and most universal expression, even that this king would reign and sit on the throne forever.