Mulligan

 

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Year of Jubilee
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 25:8-13; Luke 4:14-30 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. They may have been significant for the Jews at the time, but not now. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at the festivals and sacred days to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

Golf was never a game that I played very much. But when I did, there was a loophole that I often took advantage of. It was called a mulligan. The Google definition of a mulligan is “an informal second shot taken without penalty; most famously used as a ‘do-over’ shot in casual golf”.

 

That was exactly what I needed. For me, a mulligan meant getting another shot when my initial one hooked to the left into the rough or sliced to the right into a pond. I needed lots of mulligans! It was a way for me to reset my game.

 

Israel had been immersed in the Egyptian culture for 430 years. Of those, 400 were as slaves oppressed by the ruling class. After the Lord freed Israel from Egypt, they spent almost a year at Mount Sinai.

 

During that time, the Lord gave Moses the law and commandments for the new nation of Israel. Included in this was the Sabbath which set aside the seventh day as holy; the Sabbath Year which set aside the seventh year for rest; and the Year of Jubilee.

 

This was to be observed after seven Sabbath Years. In other words, seven times seven, or forty-nine years. Then in the fiftieth year, the Year of Jubilee was to be announced when a rams’ horn was blown on the Day of Atonement.

 

¹⁰ Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan.                                       NLT   Leviticus 25

 

During the Year of Jubilee, liberty was proclaimed across the land as Israelite slaves were to be freed; land was to be returned to the original ancestral owners; debts were to be canceled; and the land was to rest during the whole year.

 

The Year of Jubilee was a year of redemption. It was a god-designed reset intended to restore Israel’s economic, social and spiritual life. In effect, it was a mulligan. And even though there is no Biblical or other historical record that the Year of Jubilee was practiced in full, Israel had very high expectations of it.

 

Keeping in mind that Israel was living under Roman rule and oppression, they believed that when the Messiah came that he would put an end to Roman rule, restore their land and install their own government. It would be the Year of Jubilee.

 

When Jesus spoke in the synagogue in Nazareth, he read from Isaiah 61. For him, it was an announcement of his ministry as the Messiah, as well as the “ram’s horn announcement” of the Year of Jubilee.

 

¹⁸ “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, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”                            NIV            Luke 4

 

Jesus’ interpretation of Isaiah 61 was significantly different than that of most Jews. His was a spiritual reset. It was a spiritual mulligan. It’s a mulligan that he still offers us today. And in turn, we are to offer it to others.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Sabbath Year
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 25:1-7; Matthew 26:17-30 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. They may have been significant for the Jews at the time, but not now. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at the festivals and sacred days to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

It’s nice when people remember you on your birthday.

 

This year was especially nice because multiple people, independent of one another, sang “happy birthday” to me. A friend from Reno sang to me during our weekly Zoom call; a Facebook friend typed it in her “direct message”; my siblings sang to me during phone calls; and our men’s church choir sang to me at our rehearsal.

 

The most unexpected was after playing pickleball. The lady who organizes our weekly games brought cupcakes to celebrate my birthday. Then before eating them, they all sang happy birthday to me! Afterwards, three of them treated me to lunch. They went out of their way to remember me on my birthday. 

 

Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. This means that they were immersed in the Egyptian culture including their gods, their values and their laws. For 400 of those years, Israel had been slaves. As a result, they were oppressed by the Egyptians politically, economically and socially. 

 

When the Lord finally freed Israel, they needed to know how to live as a free nation; how to follow the Lord; how to be holy and consecrated to the Lord. To do this, Israel needed structure.

 

They needed structure politically, socially and religiously. They also needed structure as they claimed the Promised Land so that they could withstand the pressure to “give in” to a pagan culture and the temptation to worship other gods. 

 

While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord gave him hundreds of laws, rules and regulations that Israel would benefit from if they obeyed them. One of the tools that the Lord gave them was festivals and sacred days. This included the Sabbath Day.

According to the fourth commandment, they were to work six days but rest on the seventh, known as the Sabbath. This was to be a holy day for the Lord. It was to remind them “that I am the Lord who makes you holy”. 

In addition to the Sabbath Day, the Lord instructed them to observe the Sabbath Year.

 

⁴ But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.  NIV    Leviticus 25

 

Most of us aren’t farmers, so the Sabbath Year would appear to be irrelevant for us. However, the underlying principle still applies. It was a tool to remind the Israelites who the Lord was and whose they were. It was to remind them that the Lord would provide for them. It was to remind them that he was faithful.

 

Like my pickleball friends honored me, we need to find ways to honor and celebrate the Living God, our Lord and Redeemer. His Son Jesus did just that. He provided a way for us to remember and honor him until the day he returns.

 

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” ²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.           NIV    Matthew 26

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Joe’s Dandy Drive In

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – The Sabbath
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 20:8-11; Hosea 6:1-7; Matthew 12:1-8 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. They may have been significant for the Jews at the time, but not now. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at the festivals and sacred days to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

 

In our home when I was growing up, a fried chicken dinner was synonymous with our Sunday meal after church. Often times, Mom would prepare the meal herself. But frequently, we went out for dinner to Joe’s Dandy Drive In.

 

Despite the name, they had a small sit-down dining area. And Joe’s was well known for his fried chicken dinner. As a result, on any given Sunday after church, the place would be packed. But by eating at Joe’s, would we have been causing the employees to break the fourth commandment?           

 

⁸ “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ You have six days each week for your ordinary work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work.     NLT            Exodus 20

 

This command is patterned after the Lord’s creation of the earth in six days and resting on the seventh. But what does it mean to “observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy”? And what does it look like when it says, “no one in your household may do any work”? 

 

Jewish tradition says that there are 613 written commandments in the Mosaic Law. However, as life changed and new situations arose, the Pharisees felt that an Oral Law was needed based on interpretation of the Written Law. As a result, by the first century, there were hundreds of these rules and regulations!

 

Despite this outward appearance of holiness, the people of Israel became so focused on the rules and regulations, that they lost sight of what truly mattered. Through the prophet Hosea, the Lord vented his frustrations with them about this. He also told them what he truly wanted.

 

⁶ “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.  TLB    Hosea 6

 

When Jesus began his ministry, legalism was still deeply engrained in the Jewish religion and culture. In fact, this caused a significant amount of conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees and other religious leaders. Often times, the conflict centered around violating the Sabbath regulations.

 

In Matthew 12, we read that on the Sabbath Jesus and his disciples, while walking through a grainfield, picked some heads of grain and ate them! When the Pharisees saw this, they confronted Jesus about it. In his disciples’ defense he quoted the above verse from Hosea. But then he added something unexpected; something revolutionary.

 

⁷ But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”     NLT   Matthew 12

 

With this statement, Jesus was basically making himself equal to God. Is it any wonder that the continual conflicts that Jesus experienced with the Jewish religious leaders ultimately led to his crucifixion on the cross.

 

In conclusion, legalism would dictate that you don’t go to Joe’s Dandy Drive In for a fried chicken dinner on Sunday. However, because Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, all bets are off.

 

What he truly wants is to be the Lord of your life and mine. Not just on Sunday, but throughout the whole week!

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Famous Last Words

Series on “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses” – 2 Timothy 4:7-8
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
2 Timothy 3:10-4:8

[Many years ago, there used to be articles in the Reader’s Digest titled “I am Joe’s ___” with the blank being filled with a body part or organ. Over the years, I’ve written down verses that are meaningful to me on 3x5 cards. In this series we’ll be looking at some of my favorite verses. In other words, “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”.]

 

In 1836, Texas was fiercely fighting for its independence from Mexico. That same year, almost 200 men, including Davy Crockett, defended the Alamo. All of them were killed! Following this decimating defeat, General Sam Houston rallied his Texan troops with the battle cry of “Remember the Alamo”!

 

In 1954-55, there was a Walt Disney miniseries called Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier. Fess Parker starred as Davy Crockett and wore a coonskin cap. To be like my hero, I had to have one. Once I did, I proudly wore it around the house. For a five-year-old boy, Davy Crockett was synonymous with “Remember the Alamo”. 

 

In 64 A.D., a fire devastated Rome. Nero blamed the Christians. As a result, they were persecuted by all the Romans, but particularly by Nero. According to the historian Tacitus, Nero used Christians as torches, burning them alive to light his gardens at night. He also fed them to wild animals for public entertainment.

 

In the wake of Nero’s persecution, Paul was arrested and put in prison like a common criminal. An archaeological description of similar prisons is: “a cold, damp cistern-like cell with iron rings for chaining prisoners”. Typically, it was where you went before you were executed.

 

Even though his life was almost over, and all but Luke had deserted him, Paul continued to minister to others. It was during this time that he wrote to Timothy who had been his coworker in the ministry as well as his spiritual son and currently was ministering in Ephesus.

 

After reminding Timothy about the authority of Scripture, that it is “God breathed” and “equips his people to do every good work”, Paul charged him to continue the ministry no matter what.

 

² Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. ⁵ But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.      NLT

 

Following this, Paul becomes introspective, looking back on thirty years of ministry as an apostle of Christ. Knowing that he will soon die, he makes this statement in what will be his final letter. His “famous last words”, if you will.

 

⁶ As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. ^8a And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness...           NLT

 

Before going into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. As he emerged from the river, he heard these words from his Heavenly Father.

 

¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”        NIV    Matthew 3

 

No doubt Paul heard these words when he received the crown of righteousness. They are the same “famous last words” that I hope to hear.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com