Jubilee: A Season of Rest, Release, Renewal, and Reset
- Esther J Ponnudorai
- Jul 2, 2024
- 10 min read
The Year of Jubilee, as described in Leviticus 25, came every 50th year. It was a year dedicated to rest, releasing people from their debts, releasing all slaves, and returning property to those who owned it (see Leviticus 25:1-13). This law was given to the people of Israel so that they would know the intention and heart of God.
Leviticus 25:1-4, 8-10 | The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath (to rest from labour) to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
8 “You shall count seven weeks[a] of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.
REST: Has God been calling you to rest?
The people were to rest the land so it could be rejuvenated and more productive for future years. We must recognize God as the ultimate source of security and prosperity, requiring both physical and spiritual trust and obedience. In our busy lives, the year of jubilee offers an excellent time to evaluate our direction and determine whether our priorities are in order. Are there parts of our lives that we could rest for a season in an effort to renew our souls so we can be more productive, especially in the ways that matter most to the Lord?
Jesus alone provides true rest. Rest allows our mind, body, and soul to renew and start with even more strength and focus and hear His voice. Truly abiding with God is allowing Him to initiate the conversation on His own terms, in His own time.
Psalm 27:8 | “My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
What is robbing you of valuable time – television, internet and video games? Make a list of those basic activities that add value to you and determine that you will discontinue those activities that are of little value and worth that might even jeopardise your eternal welfare. Let us place higher priority on prayer, scripture study, and church and eliminate those activities that fill our lives with worldliness and evil. Encourage each family member to set aside time for God as its first priority. Let’s rededicate ourselves to those things that will bring us everlasting joy.
RELEASE: Are we cooperating with God or resisting Him?
During the year of jubilee, all of the Israelites who were in bondage were granted their freedom. It was a time for Israelites to return to their ancestral land and clan, forgive debts, set free Israelite slaves, and return land to its original owners or descendants. Both the land and the people belong to the LORD, and so both are released in the Jubilee to start afresh. People who had sold themselves into servitude would also be released.
The Lord wants to release us from ungodly friendships, relationships, family ties, thoughts, attitudes, mindsets, generational patterns of sin and mistakes made.
RENEWAL
Renewal is a transformative process in which we begin to rejuvenate our spiritual lives. It involves the deliberate effort to draw closer to God, shedding old ways and adopting a renewed mindset in alignment with His will.
Ephesians 4:22-24 “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Spiritual renewal brings healing: letting God restore our soul, our spirit, our body and our relationships.
“Jubilee was a recovery of identity, especially for the poor. It is not about simply correcting economic problems, which is very important; not even just caring for the poor because they’re poor; but it is restoring identity, which is a part of their history and very important for them. Jubilee operated as a corrective because people were tight-fisted and hard-hearted. When we talk about Jubilee now, people are reluctant – it’s a problem of the heart, not a problem of economics.” – CB Samuel
In Luke's gospel (check out Luke 4:16-22), we see Jesus kicking off his ministry by declaring that he's the one Isaiah the prophet talked about (Isaiah 61). This part, known as Jesus' mission statement, talks about Jubilee ("the year of the Lord's favor", v19). Jesus basically says, "Hey, this prophecy is happening right now!" (v21). So, Jesus is basically saying, "I'm the chosen one, fulfilling Jubilee." When Jesus says 'today this scripture has been fulfilled,' he means not just every 50 years or every seventh year, but all the time – whenever there's injustice, when religious systems exclude people – that's where Jubilee comes to life.
Just as the Prophet Isaiah spoke over the people of God, decree Isaiah 61 prophetically over our lives. Read this chapter in your bible now.
Our journey to Jubilee is an adventure into God’s permanent rest for us.
We follow a God who brings freedom. What we see in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is Jubilee’s objective of release from sin, restoration with God and resetting for all of creation. We will be released from burdens and sin.
Hebrews 12:1-3, ESV | Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
In order to see the manifestation of our prophecies and to fulfil destiny, it is important that we intensify our efforts to pursue, overtake and recover all lost (joy, peace, purpose, hope, health, blessing, etc) in prayer. The violent, indeed, take it by force.
Let us have a high sense of commitment and sacrifice to every responsibility that God has put in our hands to do.
Our God who answers by fire will surely come through for us; prophecies will be fulfilled, destinies will be realigned and the word of the Lord will prevail. At the sound of the trumpet on the 50th day we will all rejoice in victory.
‘Jubilee’ (derived from a Hebrew word ‘Jobel’ which means “ram’s horn trumpet”) is sounded to mark victory against enslavement and any form of bondage. This must and will be our story. The time is now. In the next few months, I believe we should concentrate on this and make an effort to fix our focus on God and the things of God.
The church is called to be a new community that marks God's kingdom's breaking into the world, proclaiming and representing the hope of salvation in the future, and restoration through our lives. (see 2 Corinthians 5:16-21)
If we don’t change, nothing changes.
Jubilee reminds us that God wants the church to shake things up and question the current ways and culture in various aspects:
Social and legal provision (as shown for Israel in the laws-Study the lives of William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King Jr., and many others. They all had encounters with God and felt the call of God to rise up, like in Isaiah 61) and
Through personal action, including generosity and sacrifice (as in the instruction to the disciples).
The gift of the Spirit empowers and enables us to be a part of God’s mission to reset all areas of our life, bring release and restoration. However, if we are only concerned about our issues, our families, our matters, our health, our successes and so on, how can we challenge or change the world? We have to rise up as the children of God. Now is the time to change and do what God is calling us to do.
In a world of broken relationships, Jubilee is an expression of God’s desire for all of creation to flourish. It is radical and countercultural and it is prophetic – then and now. It is a model for a community living well according to God’s Word so that they can thrive as individuals and as a community and, in so doing, shine as light to the rest of the world.
God is highlighting that this is a time of freedom and release from bondage; a fulfilment of those long-held hopes and dreams. It’s a new day, a new season. For those of us who choose to cooperate with God in this process, God will be correcting us, instructing us, transforming us, renewing us and calling us into very stringent disciplines to be effective for His service. And yes, there will come a harvest. The seeds of our obedience in God will sprout rapidly – in relationships, provision, and a whole new realm of favour. This favour will delight our heart, bringing heaven to earth in a way that overshadows any past disappointments.
We are all in different stages of this process. As we watch these things unfold for those who have gone ahead of us in this journey, let us be encouraged to keep going knowing that God is championing us and He has chosen us and strategically placed us in this ministry under this leadership. What our leader has will also be available to us because that is how the anointing flows and operates in God’s Kingdom. We are all being called into demanding obedience, yes, but also massive reward. The yoke will be easy, the burden light.
How to recognize the signs of your Jubilee season and step into the new things God has for you.
New revelation: You will notice we are navigating the tension between excitement and confrontation of new concepts and revelations, while also navigating grief and emotional roller coasters of deep refining of character and healing of our souls.
Purging: As we prepare for a new day/dawn, we are experiencing growing pains and being purged of old mindsets and ways. We must die to our own desires and trust that God has what's best for us (See John 12:24; 2 Corinthians 4:8-12). He wants to purge us of the contaminating religious spirit we have culturally accepted, preparing us for the call of a generation who will go before the King on behalf of their nation. Put away the spirit of religion that rejects new revelation and change. This new way is based on the Lord's heart and requires faithful obedience. This new way of life is different from the traditional religious church practices. God is coming for a pure Bride.
Capacity change: While we are all at different stages of this journey, know that God is moving out of one capacity and into another.
Holiness and Separation: Accept this call may involve a nomadic lifestyle, isolation, constant migration, and being the "unpopular" voice among the sheep. However, by aligning and obeying God's instructions, we can be confident in our readiness for the future and to be used as God's sharp spear. It is essential to not take the Lord's instructions lightly and align with His will. This new way of life is about to change the script of church and prepare individuals for the future.
Mantles: Mantle of God represents the call/anointing/ministry/office of God. We cannot receive a new mantle unless we are hungry for it. We must have a strong desire to change. If we don't want change, if we’re not hungry for God we will not receive the new mantle. We must serve, sow and honour the call.
Keys: Keys needed to enter into the doors before us in this new season are the keys of forgotten truths and tools that the Church needs for the harvest at hand: deliverance, healing, signs/wonders, sonship, holiness, justice, and truth. God will hand them out to the hungry and obedient ones.
Word of God: The vision and insight God is sharing with us through the Word (preaching & teaching) and prophetic counsel we receive at church. They are letters from the Lord's heart, and the blueprints and infrastructure for the new season of building and establishing the Kingdom. Repent, rise up & be ready!
First Love Fire: We keep getting reminded that God is calling us back to our first love and to trim our lamps for the days ahead like the wise virgins; some have, yet some haven't. It's a time of deep testing of hearts and motives. The enemy is stirring up a storm right now in the earth, and if we are not full of oil and burning, we will be taken out by the enemy. It's time to burn!
Humility: (See 2 Kings 5) King Naaman was prideful but after he submitted in faith-led obedience, God miraculously cured his leprosy. But let us come to God in the right way. Humility is key. We may be covered in sores and unclean. But like King Naaman, when we are humble, we will be healed, delivered and restored.
Are you ready to step into the fullness of God's plan for your life?
The time of Egypt is over and the Canaan days are here.
Now lastly, let me prophesy and decree over us: We have entered a season of JUBILEE, in Jesus' name! We will come out of Egypt and enter Canaan (the land of promise). We will change and be transformed in Jesus likeness; and naturally promotion, and blessings will come at an accelerated pace. Stand ready, for on the other side of obedience lies reward. God’s hand is on you, calling you, choosing you, and rewarding your faithfulness. This is your season of reward, a time when God will draw us close to His side in powerful ways, transforming every area of our life. We are the Isaiah 61 messengers that have been anointed and appointed for such a time as this.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for your love for us that does not leave us broken and empty, but consistently fills us till we are full of your spirit and your love. Help us put into practice true REST. Help us to release all that hinders us. Renew our minds, renew our hearts. Renew all that has stagnated over time. We so desperately need you, Lord. Bring a great reset and new dawn in our lives today. In your name we pray, Amen!
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