It may not be known by all that the word translated, “the joyful sound” in Psalm 89:1515Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 89:15), is troo-gah: or the Jubilee, of Lev. 25:99Then shalt 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 land. (Leviticus 25:9): “Then shalt 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 land. And 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.” The word jubilee in verse 10 is not the same as in verse 9. The word in verse 9 was translated in the Septuagint, some three hundred years before Christ, as meaning in Greek. “Manifestation.” But in verse 10 and onwards it is yoh-vehl, “To make proclamation with the sound.”
The subject is one of the very first importance as one of the clearest possible illustrations of the glad tidings of God. It may be asked, how is God manifested in sound of the trumpet in the joyful year of jubilee? We see God desiring the rest of His people in three ways: the rest of the seventh day; the rest of the seventh year; and further, He desires man to be brought into the most perfect rest.
“And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years..... Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound,” &c. This, then, is the true manifestation of the blessed character of God. God is love—and God in love desired my rest, my perfect rest. God desired that I, a poor slave of sin, should be brought by proclamation into perfect peace with Himself.
But God is holy, God is righteous; and I am a vile, guilty sinner. With my sins upon me, I could have no rest, no liberty, no, surely not in His presence. Nay, in my guilt and shame I could not endure His holy, holy presence; could you? All this being the case, and it is so, on what ground, in what way, can the righteousness of God be fully maintained in the joyful trumpet sound of deliverance, and peace to us poor slaves of sin? How wonderful the answer in this type, given by the Spirit: “In the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.” The blood of the victim must be shed: “without shedding of blood is no remission.” The blood must be presented to God. The sins of the people must be laid on the Substitute, and borne away. God is glorified, and sins are borne away.
Now sound aloud the joyful news. See those slaves with their wives and children waiting, listening with bated breath. Hark! hush! what a dead silence in the prison. What a moment. God desires it; every barrier is removed by the atonement. Through all the land, to every slave, to every poor prisoner, sound forth the loud welcome tones of liberty and freedom. Oh, what a day of joy! Freedom to the slave! Liberty to them that had long been bound!
Does scripture refer to this scene of joy? Let us turn and see. Who is this the prophet speaks of? “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” (Isa. 61:1, 21The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (Isaiah 61:1‑2).)
Very interesting the question, Whom did Jehovah send to do all these things, for the objects of His love, and in what way, so that God might be righteous and the sinner set free? Is there any doubt as to whom God sent? None whatever. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Did the jubilee then point to Jesus? We will hear what He says. We see Him stand up in the synagogue of Nazareth to read, as was His custom. “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias.” And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach [or proclaim] the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eves of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.” (Luke 4:16-2216And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. 22And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? (Luke 4:16‑22).) Thus Jesus presented Himself as the fulfillment of the joyful sound of the jubilee. In looking, then, at the jubilee, may our eyes be fastened on Him, and our ears opened to hear His gracious words. Eternal life is ours on hearing His words, and believing God who sent Him. (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24).)
The jubilee, then, was entirely of God. God so loved. The atonement must first be made. And God who loved, provided the atoning Lamb, His only beloved Son. In the type that work had first to be done. But on the part of the poor prisoner, or the slave, the poor brokenhearted captive, not one thing had to be done. God is manifested in this very free grace to the poor and helpless. The silver trumpet with loud sound then proclaimed liberty throughout all the land—there was nothing to do nothing to pay. Is not that a fact? And mark, the very moment the joyful sound was heard and understood, every captive that heard the loud sound was free. Salvation was brought to every prisoner and captive in the land. All was pure absolute grace. And this was the manifestation of God. What an acceptable year, what a year of joy was that fiftieth year! It was not then if they would pray for liberty, or do one thing for liberty; but the loud sound of the trumpet simply proclaimed liberty to all.
Now, if this is God’s picture of His glad tidings, where is the gospel of His grace proclaimed to every creature on earth? Let us carefully notice how the jubilee is applied to Christ. In Isa. 53 His atoning death for our sins is most distinctly foretold. Wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, our iniquities laid on Him. His life cut off for the transgressions of His people. His soul made an offering for sin. “He bare the sin of many.” Then, as we have seen, the Lord God sent Him to sound the jubilee, to proclaim the good tidings. What precious words, the manifestation of God to us poor helpless sinners: “He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted.” Oh, brokenhearted slaves of sin, do you hear, do you know, that God sent His Son to bind up your broken hearts? Oh, captives of Satan! Jesus says, God sent Him to proclaim liberty to you. Do you hear the loud sound? Do you believe God in sending His Son for you? Do you say, I am bound in the iron prison of despair? Jesus says, God has sent Him to open the prison to them that are bound. Do you say, When is the happy time that I may be free? Now is the day of salvation; Jesus has come to “proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Then shall come a day, when this day of salvation closes, “And the day of vengeance of God.” And afterward the millennial clay of comfort and blessing to this earth. But we would prefer in this paper to pursue the joyful sound. We have seen, in Luke 4, how the Lord Jesus, presented Himself as the fulfillment of all this. Mark, He did not go on to the day of vengeance, but closed the book at that which occupies us now: to proclaim the jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord.
It was a joyful year, and the sound of the loud trumpet was a joyful sound. It was joyful liberty. We will now turn and see if the gospel is as joyful as the type of it was.
The first full, clear sound of the jubilee trumpet was when Jesus had made the atonement for sins—on the very first day when God had proved His acceptance of the atonement by raising Jesus from among the dead. He had glorified God by the atoning death of the cross. He had borne the full judgment of His people’s sins. He had made peace by the blood of the cross. It was finished—He had said it. He had been forsaken of God, under the wrath due to us. His body had been laid in the sepulcher. But now all was over for eternity. God had raised Him up to die no more. If we turn to John 20:1919Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. (John 20:19), we see the risen Christ in the midst of His disciples—and now the joyful sound is heard: “Peace be unto you.” And what did He show them as the ground of that peace? Was it any one thing they had done? Was it their feelings, or experience, or works? They had all forsaken Him. He showed them His hands and His side. The atoning work had been done—there was nothing now to hinder the jubilee trumpet sound of liberty—“Peace be unto you.” This was the sweetest sound they had ever heard; the joyful sound that filled their hearts with gladness: “Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.” Not only had He thus proclaimed the joyful sound to them, but they were to do the same to others. “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” For this purpose they were to receive the Holy Ghost, that in gladness of heart, they might also proclaim the good news of forgiveness of sins.
In Luke 24:46, 4746And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46‑47), they are commissioned to proclaim the jubilee, the joyful sound, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. What a repentance, what a change of mind, would be produced even amongst the very murderers of Jesus in Jerusalem. Even amongst them, thousands should hear the joyful sound, believe it, and be saved.
But the joyful sound must not be limited to all the land of Palestina now. No; as to this the words of the risen Lord are clear and distinct: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the glad tidings to every creature.” (Mark 16:1515And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15).) What a command—sound the trumpet with joyful sound, to every creature, to every slave of sin, to every prisoner of Satan, in this wide world. Sadly did these disciples fail to apprehend the vastness of this joyful charge, or to carry it out. Sadly fail we also in this day. Eighteen hundred years have passed, and yet how many millions of the wretched captives of Satan have never heard the joyful sound! Let us now pursue the joyful sound in the Acts, and see the effects it produced.
And let us remember the jubilee, or joyful sound, is entirely of God. Her Majesty’s jubilee is past forever, never to return; but not so the jubilee of God.