let us turn to God's Word turning
to the book of Leviticus in chapter 25 and I'll read the
portion from verse 8 through to verse 13 Leviticus 25 from
verse 8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths
of years unto thee, seven times seven years. And the space of
the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then thou shalt cause the trumpet
of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month.
In the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout
all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth
year. and proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants
hereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you,
and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall
return every man unto his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth
year be unto you. Ye shall not sow, neither reap
that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes
in it, of thy vine undressed. For it is the jubilee. It shall be holy unto you. Ye
shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In the year
of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession. I want us then to consider something
of this year of jubilee because it's It's apt that at such a
time as we have this Platinum Jubilee for Her Majesty
the Queen that we should consider something of the origins even
of the word Jubilee. If you consult the dictionary
you'll see that the root of that word is what we have here in
Holy Scripture. Jubilee is really a Hebrew word,
and we'll come to the significance of that presently. But as we
think of the year of Jubilee, I want really to address the
subject of the Jubilee of the Gospel, because Leviticus, although
we find it here in the five books of Moses, the Torah, as the Hebrews
would call it, the Law, Yet clearly in Leviticus law abounds with
gospel and as you're aware I'm sure the Lord Jesus Christ is
here set before us in all those various types and figures in
all those sacrifices that were to be offered upon the brazen
altar. And also here in the portion
that I've just read are we not to discern something of the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. We have mentioned in verses 8
and 9 of 7, that shall number seven Sabbaths of years unto
thee, seven times seven years. And the space of the seven Sabbaths
of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. And then as the
year closes and the new year begins, the 50th year, and shall
cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the 10th day of the
seventh month in the day of atonement, shall ye make the trumpet sound
throughout all your land. And seventh is a highly symbolic
number and does clearly speak to us of something of the perfection
of the works of God after he had created all things in six
days and beheld the work of his hands and pronounced it to be
very good. God rested, we're told, on the
seventh day and he sanctified that day. Seven then clearly
speaks of the perfect works of God and We bear that in mind
as we come to consider in particular tonight this 10th verse. What does the 10th verse say
for our text really? Ye shall hallow the fiftieth
year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants
thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you
and ye shall return every man unto his possession and ye shall
return every man unto his family." And as we come to take up the
subject then of the Jubilee of the Gospel, I want to divide
what I say now into some three parts. And first of all, to remark
on the trumpet, the sounding of the trumpet, that spoken of
there in verse 9 caused the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound. The
Jubilee is pronounced then with the sounding of the trumpet and
then secondly to observe in particular the time, the particular time
in that year that they were to celebrate or to mark it by the
sounding of the trumpet and then finally to look more carefully
at the type as we compare what we have here with that portion
that we read in Isaiah 61. First of all then, the trumpet. Verse 9, Then shalt thou cause
the trumpet of the jubilee to sound. Now, as I've already said,
this word, the particular word that's rendered
in our English Bible as trumpet. It's the word Jobel, and it's
from that word that we have our English word Jubilee. And if you look at an etymological
dictionary which tells us something of the root of our English words,
you will see that it goes right back there to the Hebrew and
it literally refers to the ram's horn. It's not a trumpet as we
might imagine it, a metal instrument, but it's the ram's horn that
is being spoken of here as the trumpet. There is another word that is
used and in many ways we might say that the words are synonyms. We do have reference in Numbers
chapter 10 to the silver trumpets and how those trumpets were to
be sounded every month throughout the year. They
observed, of course, the months as significant days in the Old
Testament and it's not surprising, therefore, that we Reed, each
month of the year was to be marked by the sounding of these trumpets
in Numbers chapter 10, the opening 10 verses. Verse 2, make thee
two trumpets of silver, of a whole piece shalt thou make them, that
thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly. Right
through to verse 10. It says there, in the day of
your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of
your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt
offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, that
they may be to you for a memorial before your God. I am the Lord
your God. It's not the same instrument
as we have made mention of here in Leviticus 25, but as I say,
the words are really synonymous. They're used in a similar fashion. And previously here, in the 23rd
chapter of Leviticus, we have the mention of the various feasts. The feasts that they were to
observe throughout all their generations, and amongst those
feasts there is one called the Feast of Trumpets. In chapter 23, verse 23, the Lord spake unto
Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel saying, In
the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have
a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, and holy convocation,
or holy assembling, gathering together. Ye shall do no servile
work therein, but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto
the Lord. In a sense, what's happening
there is the seventh month, which is probably the most significant
month of the year with regards to what they were to do in that
month, was to be marked in a special way by the sounding of the trumpets. So each month is marked, but
the seventh is marked especially by them. And then also, of course,
as we have here in verse 9, when he comes to the 50th year there
was to be the blowing of the ram's horn on the 10th day of
that 7th month and all of this really is a type of the gospel
and the proclamation of the gospel and we see that when we turned to such a chapter as Isaiah
27, and what we have there, as you know, Isaiah is so full really
of gospel, and there in 27 and verse 13, we read these words, "...it shall
come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown,
and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of
Assyria, and the outcast in the land of Egypt, and shall worship
the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem." The proclamation
then of the gospel, and it mentions Assyria and Egypt, even Gentile
nations where this trumpet is to be sounded. It
directs us clearly to the Universal proclamation, the preaching of
the gospel. Hark how the gospel trumpet sounds. Christ and free grace, therein
abounds. Free grace to such a sinner's
birth. You need free grace. Why not
for me, says the hymn writer. The trumpet's in. And not so
much those instruments that were made, by the craftsmen, but these
ramshorts that we use to proclaim the great day of Jubilee. Now secondly, we have to observe
the particular time when this proclamation was made. As I said,
the 7th was the great festal month. And we read here in that
9th verse then shall thou cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to
sound on the tenth day of the seventh month. In the day of
atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your lands."
There's clearly an association here then between the blowing
of the ram's horn and the Day of Atonement. Of course, the
Day of Atonement was an annual event, but on the 50th year,
on the Day of Atonement, there was also to be the proclamation
of the great jubilee. And again, it's mentioned also
there in chapter 23, Verse 27, on the tenth day of
this month, of the seventh month, shall there be a day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation
unto you, and you shall afflict your souls and offer an offering
made by fire unto the Lord. And so it goes on there, to do
no servile work. It's a day of atonement to make
an atonement for you before the Lord your God. and we have great
detail concerning the significance of that Day of Atonement in the
16th chapter of this book. Remember the 16th chapter and
all that is laid down there concerning the offerings? It was the only
day in the year when the high priest was permitted to go into
the Holy of Holies. Just one day, the Day of Atonement,
Yom Kippur, and he was not to venture in without sacrifice
and amongst those sacrifices there was to be a sin offering
two goats were taken and one was to be sacrificed as a sin
offering and the other was to be the scapegoat we haven't time
to go into all that detail but you can read through the chapter
and there in in verse 15 we read of the sin offering and then
in verses 21 and 22 the scapegoat that was the one that the high
priest was to make confession of the sins of the nation upon
the head of that goat and then it was to be taken into the wilderness
and it represents the removal of all the sins of the people
taken into the land of forgetfulness and clearly such imagery lies
behind such a text as we find in the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. Remember the words that we have
there in chapter 50 of Jeremiah, a great verse, we've referred
to it on previous occasions, verse 20, In those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall
not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve. And the imagery that we have
on the Day of Atonement is that of those sins atoned for, there's
a sin offering, but also the removal of those sins on the
head of the scapegoat as they're taken and removed into the wilderness. And God sees them no more, they're
taken away as far as the east, east from the west, they're buried
in the depths of the sea. The timing then, is so significant. It's on the very same day as
a celebrated atonement. And we know how all this directs
us to the Lord Jesus Christ and his great sin-atoning sacrifice.
Romans 5.11, We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have received the atonement, says the Apostle Christ
himself is the great antitype of what is being proclaimed here
in that 50th year. In verse 10, you shall hallow
the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto
all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you,
and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall
return every man unto his family. And the type is really brought
out in that portion that we read at the beginning of Isaiah 61. And so, I want us just, as we
draw to a conclusion, to turn to that portion that we read. And again, you see it's a proclamation. It's proclaiming the acceptable
year of the Lord, proclaiming liberty. There in verses 1 and
2 of Isaiah 61, and this is the passage that the Lord Jesus reads
after his baptizing, he's led of the Spirit into the wilderness,
and then after the temptations he returns in the power of the
Spirit into Galilee, he goes to Nazareth where he was brought
up, and he goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and there
in Luke chapter 4 verse 16 following we're told what happens now that
the minister passes to Christ that book it's the book of the
prophet Isaiah and the Lord turns to Isaiah 61 and reads these
words and then declares how this day, this scripture is fulfilled
in your ears. Liberty being proclaimed. Here
we have the type then. And it's brought out very clearly
in the words of the Prophet Isaiah. It's a year of relief for those
who are poor. They are to be released from
their servitude and their debts. They are to return to their own
homes Throughout all the land there is liberty. And we see
it, don't we? Not only in that 10th verse,
but also in the 13th verse. In the year of this Jubilee you
shall return every man unto his possession. It's the acceptable
year of the Lord. We think of the language of the
Apostle when he writes there in 2nd Corinthians 6 I have heard
the inner time accepted in the day of salvation have I succored
thee behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of
salvation what is the gospel day? it is the day of God's great
jubilee where there is a blessed release for all those who are
poor sinners Well, look at some of the detail that we have here.
What is to be proclaimed? Here in verse 1 of Isaiah 61,
to preach good tidings, it says, unto the meek. To preach good
tidings unto the meek. Who are the meek? Well, the particular
word literally means those who are bowed down. That's the basic
meaning of the word meek, they're bowed down, they're lonely, they're
humble, they're afflicted people, they're a burdened people. That's
the significance of the word that's being used. And it's to
these characters that the gospel is to be preached. Preach good
tidings, that's the gospel. the good news of salvation. Preach
good tidings to the meek. We think of the Lord again in
his ministry, in the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes.
What does the Lord Jesus Christ declare there? Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. For those who are poor in spirit,
Those who are like these meek ones, bowed down, humbled. And James reminds us how we are
to receive the Word of the Gospel. We are to receive with meekness
that engrafted Word that is able to save the soul. We are to be
humbled under the sound of God's Word if we would know the blessed
effect of that word upon our souls, that it might be something
more than what we see before us on the page of Scripture,
that it might come and take possession of our very souls, to receive
it with meekness. And then it does become that
implanted, that engrafted work, part and parcel of our very being,
entering into the depths of our hearts. There is a proclamation
then, firstly to those who are meek, but then also we read of
those who are the broken hearted. The Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind
up the broken hearted. And who are the broken hearted?
By nature the hearts of men are not broken, they might be divided.
There might be those who have a divided heart in the sense
that their religion is a pretense. They appear to be such as are
seeking after the things of Christ, but really their affections are
principally centered on the things of this world. The Lord has to
come, the Lord has to deal with us, the Lord has to break our
hearts. How does the Lord do such a work as this? Well again,
think of the language of Jeremiah, he's not my word, like as a fire,
and like as a hammer, that breaketh the rock in pieces, says the
Lord God through his servant. Oh is there not that ministry,
that ministry of the law, that ministry that must come to break
the hard heart of the sinners, by the law we're told is the
knowledge of sin. Every mouth stopped. All the
world declared guilty before God. That's the ministry of the
Lord as Paul speaks of it in Romans chapter 3. And he declares,
doesn't he, what that law is. It's holy. And the commandment is holy and
just and good. It's God's law. We're not to
despise the law of God. But what the Lord does is to
expose us for what we are. That's the ministry of the Lord.
Paul reminds us of that so clearly in the opening chapter of 1 Timothy,
where he speaks plainly of the lawful use of the law. The lawful use of the law. There in 1 Timothy 1 and verses
8, And nine, he says, we know that
the law is good if a man use it lawfully, knowing this, that
the law is not made for a righteous man. That is, for the man who
is justified, declared to be righteous, clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. It's not made for him, but for
the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners,
for unholy and profane. for murderers, for fathers and
murderers, for mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that
defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars,
for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that
is contrary to sound doctrine." In many ways in those verses
he is really speaking of the worst transgressions of the commandments
of God. if we were to go through the
commandments and see what he says concerning those for whom
the Lord of God has administered. It comes to break hard-hearted
sinners. That is the ministry of the Lord.
And when the Lord has done his own work in the sinner's heart,
Then, there comes the Gospel. And what is the sacrifice that
that poor sinner presents to God? Well, remember the language
of David in Psalm 51. The sacrifices of God, he says,
are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart,
O Lord, thou wilt not despise. For the Gospel is for those broken-hearted
sinners. They're the ones who it's so
suited for really. The Lord Jesus says he came not
to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And he is that
one who in the gospel binds up those broken hearts. He has sent
me to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives. The opening of the prison to
them that are bound. or the captives, those who are
bound, those who feel the thrall of their sins. He proclaims to such characters
as this, liberty. And that's the great message,
of course, that was proclaimed there on that jubilee day, as
we see it in that tenth verse, ye shall
hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all
the lands and to all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee
unto you. Who are the great liberty then? Who are these spiritually who
are to receive that liberty? Well, they are those who by nature
are in bondage, taken captive, by the devil at his will, or
that great adversary who walks about seeking whom he may devour,
who comes with his cruel temptations and draws the sinner into his
sin, into his disobedience, and then turns accuser. Why is the
accuser of the brethren accusing them day and night before God?
or those who are in that fraudulent... There's liberty for such. Those who feel themselves so
shut up, they cannot free themselves. Remember the cry of Heman in
Psalm 88, I am shut up, he says, and I cannot come forth. Now,
we see these godly men feeling this. They cannot liberate themselves. the Lord teaches his people doesn't
he that free will is a phallus the sinner is one who is in bondage
then to what he is in his fallen nature and how a man like Job
was brought to feel it speaks of how God shutteth up a man
and he says there can be no opening But then the Lord has a gracious
purpose to fulfill. He comes to proclaim liberty
to these captives. He opens the prison to those
who are bound. We think of the language there
in Galatians 3. Before faith came, we were kept
under the law, shut up, for the faith which would after would
be revealed. All we have to learn the awful
truth concerning what we are in our very nature. But all of
this, you see, in order that we might rejoice in the blessed
jubilee. And then, fourthly here, we see
that Christ has a ministry also to those that mourn. to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that
mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be
glorified. all these mourners. As the Lord ministers to them
again, we see it in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are they
that mourn, they shall be comforted. They'll know the comforts of
the Gospel as they mourn over their sins, as they grieved over
their sins. We refer oftentimes to those
words of Joseph Hart, to cease in smarts but Slightly to own
with deep confession is easier still, but all to feel. Cuts
deep beyond expression. But it's interesting to remember
the hymn in which those lines are found. Because it's that
hymn in which the hymn writer is speaking of the happy mornings,
806. And there we have that line. concerning those who are mourners,
yes, but they're happy mourners. Then hail, ye happy mourners,
how blessed your stay to come is. Ye soon will meet with comfort,
sweet, it is the Lord's own promise. Then hail, ye happy mourners.
You pass through tribulation, sins felt and guilt perceived
and felt, makes known God's great salvation. Then hail, ye happy
mourners, ye will at last be winners. By Jesus' blood, the
righteous God now reconciles poor sinners. All those that
mourn, those who grieve over what they are as sinners, they
are to know the great salvation of God. They are to be clothed
in those garments of salvation and that robe of righteousness
spoken of here at the end of this 61st chapter. I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyfully in
my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.
He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. What does the
Jubilee proclaim? It proclaims that liberty and
it all ends of course in in great rejoicings. I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord. I will be joyful. In my God,
we read there at verse 10. Oh, the Lord help us. And we
know, I suppose, there's been in many parts great excitement
as the nation has celebrated the 70th year of the reign of
Queen Elizabeth II. but ought to know the true significance
of the Jubilant as it's unfolded to us here in God's Word. It's
there, I say, by type in the book of Leviticus. We have it
here also in the language of prophecy in Isaiah. And of course
we have the glorious fulfillment when we turn to the Gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who could say,
the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Because the Lord hath
anointed me to preach good tidings. For the Father did not give the
Spirit by measure unto him, but the Gospel it was that he came,
not only to proclaim, but also to accomplish. May the Lord help
us to be glad and to rejoice in these things. Well, we're
going to sing the hymn number 59, Charles Wesley's
hymn on the theme of the Jubilee. The tune is Haslingdon, 544.
Blow ye the trumpet blow, the gladly solemn sound their
poor insolvents know to earth's remotest bound the year of jubilee
is come return ye ransomed sinners home number 59 June 544