ENVISION WATCHNIGHT MESSAGE 2014
THE YEAR OF
As we can see from Leviticus 25, God calls us to consecrate the 50th year – “for it shall be a jubilee for you”. The Biblical passage speaks of a “land Sabbath”, where the land rests in the seventh year (Leviticus 25:17). After seven blocks of seven years – i.e. 49 years – there is to be a double land Sabbath and a “social Sabbath” in the 50th year (Leviticus 25:8-55), where there is a cancellation of all debts and a time of liberty, restoration and rest for the people. We may wonder if this ancient law given to the Israelites has any significance for us Christians in modern times. Why do we go to church every week? It’s because God calls us to keep the weekly Sabbath and to set it apart for him. This is modeled after God’s creation of the world, when he rested on the seventh day after working for six days. In Romans 11, the apostle Paul also tells us how we (as Gentiles) are grafted into the family of God. As such, we are able to be partakers in the promises found in God’s Word as well as abide by the instructions given in God’s Word. And therefore, the year of Jubilee applies equally to us – children of God through faith in Jesus Christ – with prophetic significance. In fact the very first scripture Jesus read in his first public ministry was the proclamation of the year of the Lord’s favor. Recorded for us in Luke 4:14-21, Jesus went into the synagogue and was handed the Scroll of Isaiah to read. This is now Isaiah chapter 61:1-2 in our Bibles.
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Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus began his ministry with a clear reference to the year of Jubilee. Right after Jesus proclaims that it is the year of the Lord’s favor in Luke 4:21, it is recorded that He said, “Today, this is fulfilled in your hearing”. This is the passage that marked the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He was declaring that the kingdom of God was now here – a declaration of kingdom alignment for kingdom assignment. This was his mission statement during his time on earth. After proclaiming this, he went on to bring about deliverance from sin, sickness and Satan to multitudes who were bound and afflicted. This passage reveals four important points about what this proclamation means for us. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me…” First, we need the Holy Spirit to overshadow us. If we want to see the manifold blessings of God released in our lives, we need to subject