Let me share with you something about the “Shalom” in all its dimensions that the Lord intended for each of us as His children. I want to warn you: It’s going to mess with your head a little!
Do you know that the Lord taught His Old Testament people more than three thousand years ago something that you and I, as modern people, are still desperately searching for today?
Let me put it this way: How to press the reset button in every area of our lives!
Just like we sometimes have to press the reset button on our computer or cell phone to erase all the mess that has built up, so that we can start over!
In Leviticus 25, it is called the Jubilee year, and in Isaiah 61, “the year of grace”.
The Jubilee year of Lev. 25 happened every 50th year. It was in every sense of the word a radical “reboot” or restoration action at God’s command among His people!
All guilt was erased! Jews who had become slaves because of what had happened in the past 50 years were freed! Yes, even land that people had lost because of their own actions and mistakes was returned to the original families and owners! It was truly forgiveness and restoration in capital letters in every sense of the word!
The Jubilee year was like in the famous Monopoly board game, going back to the Beginning, and starting over!
If you want to read more about this in God's Word yourself, read Leviticus 25, Lev. 27, and then also in the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1 and 2, which Jesus then quotes in Luke 4:18 and 19, where Jesus himself says that He has now made “Jubilee” possible for each of our lives!
It is amazing to think that Jesus and what He did can make “Jubilee” happen in every sense of the word for each of His people!
That is why it is so important to just spell out this “new beginning” and restoration that is possible in Jesus, for each other here in the presence of the Lord!
Yes, the “Year of Jubilee” can mean at least the following for you and me:
Total forgiveness!
Being free!
Being liberated!
Restoration in every sense of the word!
Total provision!
Renewal!
Suddenly, there is peace again, and people feel safe again!
In Luke 4:15 to 21, and also in 2 Corinthians 6:2, we hear God promise this total restoration to each of us who believes in Jesus and understands something that He did for me and you through His becoming human, His death, and resurrection!
In “Jubilee,” everything that we have lost and forfeited is restored.
It is like a theme that is repeated over and over again in many ways throughout the Old Testament.
Let me quote a few of these Scriptures:
Job 42:10 – "After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord RESTORED his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before."
Joel 2:25 – "I will RESTORE to you the years the locusts have eaten…"
Psalm 126:4-6 – " RESTORE our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them."
Zechariah 9:12 – "Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will RESTORE twice as much to you."
Based on what Jesus has done for us, our past, and everything we feel so guilty and ashamed about, we no longer need to define and control our lives!
We can move on, because we are freed from it once and for all in Jesus! Praise His Name!