Monday

Today, I'd like to talk to you about the Year of Jubilee. In biblical Judaism, there are appointed times and seasons which are called the feasts of the Lord. These feasts and appointed times, called “moedim” in Hebrew, include:

•  A weekly feast called Shabbat, which means the Sabbath Day, from Friday evening at sundown to Saturday evening at sundown.

•  A monthly feast called Rosh Chodesh, which means the New Moon Festival.

•  Seven annual major feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Feat of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.

•  Two additional annual festivals, Purim and Chanukkah

•  There is also a special observance once every seven years, when the land itself is to have a “Sabbath of rest” (Leviticus 25:4)

•  Then there is the Year of Jubilee, which is celebrated once every 50 years, throughout all the land of Israel (Leviticus 25:8-13).

All of these feasts of the Lord, in one way or another, point toward Yeshua Ha Mashiach, Jesus the Messiah and King of Israel . They are all fulfilled in Him!

In the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25), every man was free to return to the original property given to him and his family under the leadership of Joshua after the conquest of Canaan , the Promised Land. Even if he previously sold it to another Israelite or even if he and his family were working as “hired hands” on another Israelites property, he was now free to return home.

Also in the Year of Jubilee, all debts were completely cancelled, no matter what you owed someone. All mortgage lease, rental and labor agreements were completely terminated. All personal debts were completely wiped out (and as we like to say in Judaism, “Such a deal!).

The Year of Jubilee had a “leveling effect” on all of the Israelite community. It gave everyone a chance to “start over”; everybody's slate was “wiped clean” just as it is for us, when we accept the Messiah Jesus into our lives. 2 nd Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man is in the Messiah, he is a new creature. The old has gone, the new has come. Right away, we can see how the Year of Jubilee pointed toward Yeshua.

The Year of Jubilee was also ushered in with the blast of the ram's horn (shofar, in Hebrew) to proclaim liberty throughout all the land, proclaiming freedom and “release” from the Lord. In addition, the shofar blast announcing the Year of Jubilee was sounded on the 10 th day of the 7 th month, which is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur in Hebrew), a day in biblical Judaism when “sins are forgiven”. There are further Messianic implications here.

Imagine the joy that came over the land when that shofar was sounded, freedom from debt, freedom from slavery, free to go home. All of these things point toward Yeshua. Our “debts” have been cancelled through the blood that He shed on the tree of sacrifice for al sinners. We are no longer slaves to Satan, sin or death and when the Son of God sets you free, “you are free indeed” and now through Yeshua, we are all free to go to our “promised homeland”, the Kingdom of Heaven .

Tuesday

Yesterday, I began to speak to you about the Year of Jubilee, celebrated every 50 years throughout the land of Israel (Leviticus 25:8-13). We saw that in the Year of Jubilee, all debts were completely cancelled; all slaves were set free and every man was free to go home to the original piece of land allotted to him and his family after the Canaanite conquest under Joshua. All of these things point toward Yeshua (Jesus the Messiah). Through Him the debt of our sins has been cancelled by the blood He shed on the tree of sacrifice. Through Him we are no longer slaves to Satan, sin and death. Through Him we are all now free to go to our promised homeland, the Kingdom of Heaven .

We also saw that it was the blast of the shofar (the ram's horn) that announced the Year of Jubilee. In 1 st Thessalonians 4:16 & 17, the apostle Paul says that “there will be a loud shout from heaven, that we will hear the blast of the heavenly shofar, and that we will see Yeshua coming on the clouds of glory, to take His people home!” What a jubilee that day is going to be for all those who believe in Yeshua!

To further understand the Year of Jubilee in a biblical Jewish context, we must read from the prophet Isaiah in chapter 61:1 & 2 which says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good things to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord”.

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 4:16-21, it says that Yeshua came to Nazareth where He had been brought up and that as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath as was His regular custom. In other words, Yeshua attended Shabbat services on a regular basis. He still does!

He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah and He began to read: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord”.

As everyone's eyes were fixed upon Him, He went on to say: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

In Matthew 5:17 Yeshua said, “do not think I've come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, I have come to fulfill them.

In Luke 24:44 Yeshua said, “everything written the Law of Moses and in the Prophets . . . testifies of me.”

Through the Laws of Moses (Leviticus 25), God commanded the Israelites to keep the Year of Jubilee.

Through the Prophet Isaiah (Chapter 61:1 & 2) God prophesied that there would be a future fulfillment to the Year of Jubilee.

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 4, we see that this all pointed to Yeshua.

He is our “Jubilee” and our salvation. Blessed is the man who puts his trust in Him!
 

Wednesday

For the past few days, I've been speaking to you about the Year of Jubilee and its connection with the sounding of the ram's horn (shofar in Hebrew). Today, I'd like to elaborate a little more on the shofar itself.

By definition, the shofar is a curved horn or a trumpet made from a ram's horn. It is different than a trumpet itself, which is called, in Hebrew, “cha-totz-rah”.

According to the scriptures, the shofar is used for many different purposes. It is used to proclaim the biblical feasts of the Lord (Numbers 10:10 and Psalm 81:3 & 4)

It is used in praising the Lord (Psalm 98:4-6).

It is used in spiritual warfare (Joshua 6:2-5) where we see that the blast of the shofar was very instrumental in bringing down the walls of the enemy. It still does today! It actually sends confusion into the camp of the enemy. In other words, the sound of the shofar is an audible sound that you can hear with the natural ear, but it also causes things to happen in the spiritual realm that the natural ear cannot hear, namely the tearing down of the walls of the enemy!

Paul says in 2 nd Corinthians 10:4 “that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through good even to the pulling down of strongholds.”

As a special note of interest, when the Israelites won the 6 Day War in 1967, the shofar was constantly being sounded by the Israelites as the enemy was defeated and as Jerusalem was being restored to the Jewish people!

As we have already seen, the shofar was sounded to proclaim the year of Jubilee and according to 1 st Thessalonians 4:16 & 17, when we hear the blast of the heavenly shofar, we will see Yeshua coming on the clouds of glory to claim His bride.

In Judaism, there is a special blessing pronounced in Hebrew before sounding the shofar.

“Baruch ata Adonai, Elohaynoo melech ha olam

Asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu

Leesh moah kol shofar.”

“Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe

Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us

To harken to the sound of the shofar.”

There are also specific shofar blowing calls. Tikee-ah (medium-ling sound); Shevareem (3 short sounds); T'roo-ah (nine very short sounds) and Tikee-ah g'dolah (1 very long blast).

When you put it all together it sounds like this: (sound the shofar)

Hallelujah! Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound,” and “Blessed are the people who know the sound of the shofar.”  

Thursday

Over the last few days I've been giving a series of teachings on the Year of Jubilee and its connection with the ram's horn call in Hebrew, the shofar. According to the scriptures, the shofar is used for many reasons: to proclaim the biblical feast of the Lord; to praise the Lord and it is also used as an instrument of warfare against the enemy.

One of its most significant meanings is found in the Brit Hadashah (New Covenant). In 1 st Thessalonians 4:16 & 17, Paul says that one day we will hear the blast of the heavenly shofar along with a loud shout from the archangel and we will see Yeshua (Jesus) coming on the clouds to claim His bride.