The Year of Jubilee

The year of Jubilee is a God given time to reflect upon the blessings of the past. To bring our thanks to God for His providence in a Queen who has enabled us to enjoy relative peace, social stability and freedom of worship. It is truly a time of celebration and we have much to celebrate. Around us in the world, we see many nations being torn apart by wars and religious hatred. Although, in this country we have seen the rise of secularism and a decline in religion, religion still remains a source of influence in many areas of our lives. God willing we may yet see a revival of godly living and practice, with celebrations of thankfulness to God for His continuing mercies, as happened in Israel of old when she returned from her period of captivity in Babylon. 

The institution of the sabbatical year, and the year of Jubilee was important in the life of God’s ancient people Israel as scripture records.  The sabbatical year was celebrated every seventh year by allowing the land to rest (EX 23:10; LEV 25:1-7). It would be a constant reminder of creation when God rested from His work on the seventh day, so the land would be rested in the seventh year. It was to remind Israel that God was Lord over all things, especially in the land of Canaan, the land He had given them. In the seventh year the fruit of the fields and vineyards were for the poor and needy to glean. 

In celebration of the event a great gathering of the people, all Israel, was held during the Feast of Tabernacles. There the Law of God was read publicly in order to promote the fear of the Lord among the people (DEUT 31:9-13). Sadly this great event, the sabbatical year and its celebration, became neglected prior to the captivity, just as Moses had predicted it would, even in their own land (LEV 26:34-35), despite the specific command to keep My Sabbaths found in (LEV 26:2). However it seems it was restored to some extent in Nehemiah’s day (NEH 9:13-18) after the captivity.

The year of Jubilee, the year after seven Sabbatic years, the fiftieth year was the year of Jubilee (LEV 25:8-55). The year of Jubilee was cause for even greater celebration, as debts were remitted, houses and lands that had been mortgaged were returned to the sellers, inheritances restored to their rightful owners, and slaves set free (LEV 25:39-46). Providing in type a glorious picture of the gospel age to come, prophesied by Isaiah (ISA 61:1), and inaugurated by Jesus (LUKE 4:18), gloriously foreshadowing that day when the final trumpet blast will herald His coming again (MATT 24:31) ushering in His eternal kingdom. It will, like the year of Jubilee, be a time when wrongs are righted, when redeemed man will be restored to the full image of His maker, and enters into his eternal inheritance in Christ Jesus.

Jubilee was celebrated in the seventh month, all Israel were called to a holy convocation by the blowing of trumpets on the first day of the month (NUM 29:1; LEV 23:27). The tenth day of the month was the day of atonement, a very important day for Israel nationally, when the sins of the past year were atoned for. The Feast of Tabernacles was kept from the 15th to the 21st of the month. 

These festivals had both a moral and spiritual purpose for Israel, in that they served to unite all Israel under God marking them as His special people thus separating them from the heathen nations around them. They reminded the people of the holiness of their God, for only the High Priest could enter the holiest place, and then only with the blood of the sin offering.

Releasing of debts helped relieve poverty in the land among widows and orphans for whom God had special concern (DEUT 10:18). Jubilee provided a check against covetousness and oppression, as restoring lands and houses ensured no inheritance was lost to a particular family as allocated to their ancestors. Thus none would become rich at the expense of the poor.

What do these festivals have to say to us today? Well first we can say that all the truths they teach are fully realised in Jesus Christ. On the question of atonement, when Jesus died upon the cross, He became the final and only sacrifice for sin (HEB 7:27). In Christ all are equal, rich and poor, bondservants and freemen (GAL 3:28), all are heirs and joint heirs with Christ. In Christ we gain more than Adam lost when he succumbed to sin in the garden of Eden. Whilst in one sense the Gospel age has brought a spiritual Jubilee, we look forward to that greater Jubilee yet to come. That is the age when all tears will be wiped away as the former things pass away, when sin will be no more, where justice and equity reign and we shall be forever with the Lord.    

Life's Olympics

What a memorable afternoon it was in the centre of Pontypool last month!  Thousands celebrated the visit of the Olympic torch in the warm sunshine!  Quite a few church members were there, and though I didn’t see it, I’m reliably informed that one of our very senior members was seen hanging on to a gate to get a better view!  No names, but you know who you are!

It was a ‘once in a lifetime’ event, not just for those of us who packed the pavements.  It was especially so for those who had the honour of taking part in the relay.  Male and female, young and old, famous and ‘ordinary’, they had been chosen to play a part in this great procession that leads ultimately to the Olympic Stadium in London next month.  300 meters or so had been allotted to each of them, and it was their job, as thousands looked on, to get the torch to the next runner.  I saw some of them interviewed on the television, and they spoke about the advice they had been given by family and friends, most of which it seems had revolved around not falling over and keeping looking forward.

There is, of course, a sense in which we, as Christians, are part of a great relay race.  As the old hymn reminds us;

          “We bear the torch that flaming, fell from the hands of those,
           Who gave their lives proclaiming that Jesus died and rose”

And it was a similar thought that came to mind the following Sunday, as we were reminded at the Communion table of those words of the Apostle;

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

The Apostle Paul, who was familiar with Greek athletic competitions like the ancient Olympics, often used the picture of a race to remind us of our Christian lives.  Just as the runners in the torch relay, and in the Games themselves next month, wear nothing that holds them back, so you and I need to be ruthless with the sin that traps us and drags us down.  Just as each torchbearer had an allotted section that was their responsibility to run, so God has given each of us a time and a place where we must serve Him with endurance.  Just as each of them had to look for the next person, the one who would take the flame from them, so we, as God’s chosen ones, have to keep our eye on a Person, the greatest person – the Lord Jesus Christ!
What was the reward for each of those participants we saw running in the Eastern Valley sunshine that day?  The fame, the glory, and the chance to buy for £200 or so the torch that they had carried.  Those who run in the Games themselves will get a medal – at least if they finish in the first three, that is!  For those of us who run this race with perseverance, there is “laid up for me, the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give me on that day” (2 Timothy 4:8).  What a reward!  So keep running! 

A Hundred and Fifty Years Ago

          There is an hour when I must part
          With all I hold most dear
         And life with its best hopes will then
          As nothingness appear.


         For the hymnist, Congregationalist Andrew Reed, that hour came one hundred and fifty years ago, and when he died the church lost not only a fine hymn writer but also a writer of repute and the city of London an exemplary worker amongst the poor.
         He was born in London in November 1787.  The fact that his mother had been an orphan had a lifelong effect on him.  His father was a watchmaker and a Congregational lay preacher.  Andrew grew up to work alongside his father and used his wages to buy classical and theological books, studying first in his home, and then in that of the Rev Matthew Wilks.  In 1811, Reed was ordained and became the first pastor of the New Road Chapel in the Stepney, London, where he labored for twenty years.  In 1831, he became the minister of the Wycliffe Church, Commercial Road, London, which had been built through his untiring efforts to replace the New Road Chapel, whose congregation had grown from one hundred to over two thousand by his death.
         Reed wrote a number of hymns, although there are only two in our main hymnbook, the other being another which we regularly sing;


         Spirit divine, attend our prayers,
         And make our hearts Thy home;
         Descend with all Thy gracious powers,
         O come, great Spirit come!


         Dr Reed was best known however, for his work amongst the less fortunate, underprivileged and sick members of society.  During his lifetime he established five national benevolent institutions – the London Orphan Asylum, the Asylum for Fatherless Children, the Asylum for Idiots, the Infant Orphan Asylum and the Hospital for Incurables.  All this philanthropic work was inspired by his experience of life through his mother who gave shelter to orphans, remembering how it had been for her.
         He died in 1862, leaving the epitaph: “I was born yesterday, I shall die tomorrow, and I must not spend today telling what I have done, but in doing what I may for Him who has done all for me.  I sprang from the people, I have lived for the people, the most for the most unhappy.”

We will meet in Heaven

An article advertising a forthcoming programme on BBC Radio 4 about letters sent to their loved ones by soldiers from the front line, contained the following moving example from a soldier who obviously knew his Lord.  It was written by Private George Henry Davies, born in Montgomery in 1889 who was a missionary in Australia before joining up in January 1916.  He was killed eighteen months later;

"This will be the last time I shall write in this diary before the 'Great Push'. It may be the last time I shall ever write.

I am just taking these last few minutes at my disposal to pen this letter to you, and even as I write I am expecting to be called away.
The time is now ripe for the moment when we 'go over the top' and advance on the enemy trenches; I am to go with the boys and am not sorry to be able to do so.
I am quite ready dear laddie, I have made my peace with God, and am trusting in Christ my Saviour to bring me to Eternal Light.
I am looking forward to this 'push' to bring me a happy release from further military life which I hate, and I hope to be wounded and sent home, or else be killed, either are preferable to this hell on earth.
Now Willie dear, you will see in this diary how I love you; you are my adopted brother, your sweet, beautiful 'boy' influence lingers with me as I write these last few lines, and I want to say that I shall think of you right to the end, and I shall pray to God to keep you in His Care.
You will remember our last words together on Melbourne station, 'We will meet in Heaven'. If I die I shall be looking for you Willie, I know I shall see you again with your mother and mine in the Fadeless Morning on the Eternal Shore. If I live Willie, I shall seek to do all I can to crush any military tendencies in my nation, I will make my name heard against money grabbing, and other evil things, and will uphold the highest and best socialism and I will try to make life more like Christ's life. If I die I would like you to do this for me. Set your heart against all greed, selfishness, lust, and dirt my laddie, and remember Jesus Christ IS a stronghold in Whom we can hide.

Good-bye,
Your ever loving brother,
George Davies.

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“Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead.  Don’t you believe a word of it!  At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now!”

                                                                                                      D.L Moody

The Best Samaritan

 The name of Clare Squires probably meant nothing to you until last month.  She was one of the tens of thousands who took part in the London Marathon the other Sunday morning, but sadly she did not reach the finish.  Just a mile from the end of the twenty six miles and 385 yards she tragically collapsed and died, the eleventh person to do so in the history of the event.

          What has happened since has been nothing short of amazing.  Clare was running in aid of The Samaritans, a worthwhile charity who had helped her family in the past.  By the time of the race she had already raised about £500, but in response to the tragedy that sum has, at the time I write this, already topped the million pound mark.  Television brings the reality of these distant events into our living rooms, and new technology like the internet and mobile phones enables people to give instantly.  When a young person is suddenly taken like this, particularly when they were busy doing something judged by people to be so commendable, people will respond generously.

          Though given the choice Clare’s family and friends would prefer to still have her with them, they are no doubt comforted by the great good that her death has done.  This would not have happened if she had crossed the finishing line like everyone else.  There are many more who will benefit from her passing than would have done otherwise, as the Samaritans put that finance to good use.

          The Samaritans of course, take their name from one of the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It was Him that I thought of as I have followed the story.  The Good news of the Gospel is that we can benefit from the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, but even more so from His death.  We are saved because He came to earth as man and lived amongst us.  He went about doing good to people, not raising money to help others heal people and help them with their problems, but actually doing that miraculously himself.  He healed the sick, gave eyesight to the blind, made disabled people fit and well and even raised the dead.  He taught about God and His kingdom showing us the only way to Heaven was through Him.  And most importantly, He lived a life of entire obedience to His Father in Heaven, whose will He lived to complete.

          But we could not be saved by His life alone, as perfect as it was.  As strange as it sounds, we benefit even more from His death.  Such is the holiness of God, and the deadly nature of our sinfulness and failure that a perfect sacrifice was needed.  Someone had to die in our place.  Only Jesus, the perfect man who is God, could do that.  The Bible tells us that if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ our sins are put to his account and paid for on the cross of Calvary.  In return we are credited with His righteousness, so that as God looks at us He does not see our sin but the perfection of Christ’s life.

          Our hearts go out to the family of Clare Squires, and trust that all that has been given in her memory will do much good.  But we need to be ready for the day when we are called from this world too.  Are you?