I believe the organising committee called this prayer meeting the ‘Jubilee’ Day of Prayer as this is Singapore’s 50th year of nation building. It is similar to the ‘jubilee year’ mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible which occurs every 50 years. In the Old Testament of the Bible, the ‘Jubilee Year’ has its special meaning. God told the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land that they have to stop farming every 7 years once they entered the Promised Land. This is to allow the land to rest. This year is known as the ‘Sabbath Year.’ The year after 7 Sabbath Years will be the 50th year which is called the ‘Jubilee Year.’ The Israelites had to regard this year as a holy year. They were not allowed to cultivate land. In this year, they received back the land which was sold to others in the past. The poor Israelites who were turned into slaves were set free and were able to start anew as free men. For a more detailed description of the Jubilee Year, you can refer to Leviticus 25 in the Old Testament. In short, the Jubilee Year was a year of liberation, freedom and peace.

God has given this special year to the Israelites and there is an important spiritual lesson behind it. First, let us talk about the lesson behind not cultivating land. As the year before the Jubilee Year is the Sabbath Year, the Israelites were not able to cultivate land for two years. Our first thought would naturally be – how do they survive without cultivating land for two years? This is a practical question about survival as agriculture was the Israelites’ primary source of living after they entered the Promised Land. With regards to this, in Lev 25:18-22, God encouraged the Israelites that as long they obeyed His statutes and decrees, they would have sufficient food and live peacefully because He would bless them with 3 years of harvest before the Sabbath Year and Jubilee Year. God knows that we humans have our worries but He wants us to know that we should only depend on Him. We depend on Him by obeying His word and commands. We do not on our own wisdom, experience or skills. In the Jubilee Year, all lands which were bought must be returned to the previous owners and all Israelite slaves set free. Why did the Israelites sell the lands which were inherited from their ancestors? Why did some of Israelites end up as slaves? Poverty was the reason why (Lev 25:39). In order to survive, they had to sell their lands and some sold themselves as slaves. Hence, the Jubilee Year gave the poor Israelites a chance to start anew. To the wealthy, it may seem unfair. Verse 23, however, reminds us that whatever we have belongs to God. We are only foreigners in this sojourn. Thus, it does not matter if we are rich or poor as all assets are temporarily given to us by God. In addition, all Israelites whom the Lord has rescued out of Egypt, be they rich or poor, owed his life to the Lord and everyone was His servant (verse 55).

God gave instructions to the Israelites about the Jubilee Year. These gave the oppressed and the poor the hope of freedom. This commandment also reminds us that we should love the weak and less fortunate as this is our duty as servants of the Lord. As Christians, we should be even more committed to sharing the Gospel. Only those who have believed the gospel are truly free.