Are You Ready For Some Good News?

JUBILEE- (Hebrew -yovel)” A season of restoration, overflowing joy, forgiveness, debt removal, and the releasing of God’s Mercies every 50 years.”  Jewish custom has much to say concerning “The Year of Jubilee,” but my focus concerning Jubilee, in this blog, is to examine this period of time in light of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Luke chapter 4.:17-19. Here, Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and stood up to read, and there was given Him the book of the Prophet Isaiah . “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for this reason; He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal those who are brokenhearted , to proclaim pardon to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth in deliverance those who have been crushed-To proclaim the acceptable Year of the Lord.” Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2. And what is amazing, with these words, His official ministry began on Wednesday September 11, 26 A.D.- The Day of Atonement and the beginning of the Year of Jubilee according to early church scholars.

Though today, modern Judaism does not recognize the celebration because it is non-applicable until representatives of all 12 tribes have returned to Israel and a majority of Jews live in the Land- ie. making Aliyah or the journey back to the Jewish homeland.. Yet the “types and shadows” of Old Testament Law invoked through Jesus’ ministry beginning on Jubilee, have immense implications. According to some Jewish Believers who believe that Jubilee can be practiced because of the establishment of the nation-state of Israel, the latest period of Jubilee began September 28, 2015, with the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles and will end in October 2016 with the celebration of Rosh Hashanah. But it is not so much a date or event that I want to focus on, but rather what the Spiritual Concept of Jubilee offers to the Believer every day!

Jesus’ words in Luke,(quoting Isaiah), offer incredible Promises for those of us who celebrate The reign of Christ in our lives.  Jesus declares that He has been given Authority to help the poor-both physically and spiritually, heal broken hearts, set those trapped in impossible situations free, heal the blind who can not see right from wrong , and deliver those who have given up on life. He ended by declaring that, “The favorable time of the Lord has come.” In a Jewish sense, this referred to various feasts, but for our examination- I believe and Prophetically Declare that Jesus was saying, “Look up! I am offering you all that is necessary to regain control of your life. I don’t care how bad that it has been! This is a New Day, and I am ready to do a New Thing in and through you if you are willing to trust Me. So lay down all the excuses that are stopping you from becoming what you know that you have been called to do, pick up your Cross and follow me, for I am about to take you to realms that you never thought possible! No Longer can you look back, because I have Incredible News and  New Paths for you, stretching into a New Future so profound that if you were to know your Destiny’s conclusion, it’s very Glory would overwhelm you!”

Jesus came to declare a new season in our lives, and while the Jewish concept of Jubilee has a unique focus all it’s own, for us as Believers in Yeshua’s Masterful Plan for our lives, our Jubilee has come in the personage of a Suffering Servant, who, through His brokenness, our broken and scarred lives have been restored and now reflecting His Glorious likeness.

I want to conclude by examining a picture that I took portraying an early morning sunrise on the Sea of Galilee depicted above. I want to draw from it a Prophetic Picture of what I sense the Holy Spirit saying for our Jubilee year of 2016 and beyond. “As the early morning Sun rises over Galilee, depicting God’s Glory and Radiance-so I Am offering to you a fresh start, a season of restoration and joy in the broken places of your life, a reigniting of fresh enthusiasm, direction, and purpose, and a releasing of Holy Spirit Anointing- giving you relevance and a mandate to set the captives free leading people to the saving knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord!” This is what He has given to me at the beginning of this Jubilee Year, and it is what I share with you as encouragement and strengthening for the establishment of His Kingdom Rule here on earth! Hadn’t we be about the Father’s business?

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