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

 

 

 

 

Let Freedom Ring

Series on I am Joe’s Favorite Verses
Luke 4:18-19
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 25:8-12; Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:14-21 

[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 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 1751, the Pennsylvania Assembly ordered the creation of the iconic Liberty Bell. Even though it was twenty-four years before the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, the seeds of freedom were bubbling to the surface. The following inscription is engraved on the bell.

 

"Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof".                                          KJV            Leviticus 25:10

 

This verse refers to the "Year of Jubilee". The Lord decreed that every fifty years was to be a year of redemption for the Israelites. This involved freedom from all types of bondage. All prisoners and captives were set free, all slaves were released, all debts were forgiven, and all property was returned to its original owners.

 

The Year of Jubilee was to remind the Israelites of the holiness of God, and to keep themselves holy. It began on the Day of Atonement, which was an annual ritual to atone for the sins of Israel. The beginning of the Year of Jubilee was when they were to “blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land”.

 

Despite these religious rituals, Israel rebelled against the Lord. As a result, much of Isaiah’s prophecies were about the judgement of Judah and Israel. This included the future Babylonian invasion, and the resulting exile of Jews. However, Isaiah also spoke a message of hope and freedom.

 

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
    for the Lord has anointed me
    to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
    and to proclaim that captives will be released
    and prisoners will be freed.
^2a He has sent me to tell those who mourn
    that the time of the Lord’s favor has come…           NLT

 

This is a direct reference to the Year of Jubilee. And although most Jews at the time would have assumed Isaiah was speaking about himself and the Babylonians, his words also had a future meaning. One that they didn’t foresee until hundreds of years later when an itinerant rabbi walked the land of Galilee.

 

As Jesus visited his hometown of Nazareth, he went to the synagogue where he was given a scroll to read and then teach from. After reading the above passage from Isaiah, he then sat down to speak.

 

²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”       NIV

 

In other words, Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. It was his way of “blowing the ram’s horn” to declare that it was the Year of Jubilee. That he had come to free the captives. Not the captives of Babylon or Rome, but the captives of sin.

 

He came to fulfill the Day of Atonement when, once and for all, not only would Israel’s sins be atoned for, but all people everywhere. Let freedom ring!

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Hope for Humpty Dumpty

A Series on Advent

Leviticus 25:8-12; Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:14-19

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2025%3A8-12%2CIsaiah%2061%3A1-3%2CLuke%204%3A14-21&version=NIV;NLT

 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

This famous English poem is about a character who apparently is quite clumsy. As a result, he is broken beyond repair. It’s hard to relate to Humpty Dumpty on a personal level. But, as a metaphor to real life, because of our sinful nature, we are all broken beyond repair.

 

The nation of Israel was certainly not exempt from this. Even though they were God’s chosen people and He made a covenant with them to lead them to the Promised Land, they failed time and time again. They were truly a broken people. They were a Humpty Dumpty nation that only God could put back together again.

 

Therefore, in Leviticus, God gave them a routine that would bring them hope. The Year of Jubilee, and the preceding Sabbath Years, were to be a vision of hope that would regularly remind His people that He would always be with them. It was to be a cycle of life that would help the people to realign themselves with the kingdom of God.

 

Unfortunately, the people of Israel did not take kindly to realigning their lives. As a result, they were sent into exile. As indentured servants and slaves in Babylonia,

Isaiah reminded them about the Year of Jubilee. It was a promise to return to their homeland; a promise of hope; of the Messiah that was to come.

 

Into this historical setting, Jesus went to the town where he had grown up – Nazareth. And on the Sabbath, he read from Isaiah in the synagogue.

 

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

 

By quoting Isaiah, Jesus was reminding them of the Year of Jubilee. Following his reading he sat down, and with all eyes on him, pronounced that he was the fulfillment of this promise; that he was the Messiah; that he would heal the brokenhearted; that he would put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

 

 

COMMENT:

Hope is the theme of the first week of Advent; four weeks of preparation; four weeks for us to be reminded of the historical setting of the birth of Christ; of the coming of the Messiah; of God with us; of hope for a broken people.

 

The Year of Jubilee, found in Leviticus 25, came once every 50 years. At that time, slaves were freed, debts were canceled and ancestral property was returned to the original family. By referring to these verses, Isaiah predicted primarily the liberation of Israel from the Babylonian exile; but Jesus proclaimed liberation from sin and all its consequences.

  

There is hope for all of us who are broken. Click on the link below to listen to the song by Matthew West called Broken Things.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdUu6ZsdVfM

 

 

 

CELEBRATE!

Isaiah 61:1-11

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2061&version=NIV;ESV

  

What is your most memorable celebration? For me, it was when my wife had a surprise birthday party for my fiftieth birthday. My brother’s job was to get me out of the house while my wife and sister-in-law decorated and all the guests arrived.

 

When my brother and I were about to return early before everything was ready, he faked heart attack symptoms. He must have been a good actor because I believed him. When we finally returned, all the guests were on the deck waiting to yell “Surprise!” And it was. In fact, it was a wonderful celebration.

 

As a young Jewish nation was preparing to occupy the Promised Land, God gave them the Law and rules to live by. Rules that would lead to celebration. The Year of Jubilee (described in Isaiah 61, but originated in Leviticus 25) was a yearlong celebration to be repeated every fifty years.

 

During Jubilee, all the prisoners were to be set free; all the slaves were to be released; all debts were to be forgiven; and all property was to be returned to its original owner. In addition, people were to not work land, which means that Jubilee provided a year of rest for not only the people, but also the land.

 

For many, Jubilee was to be an opportunity for them to start over with a clean slate; with nothing to feel guilty for or ashamed of. What would it mean for you to start over with a clean slate?

 

When Jesus started his ministry, he quoted from Isaiah 61.

 

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”       Luke 4 ESV

 

According to Leviticus 25, the Year of Jubilee started on the Day of Atonement. This was when the sins of Israel were laid on the head of a scapegoat, and were taken into the wilderness to pay for their sins.

 

Jesus did the same thing for you and me. He took our sins upon himself into the wilderness. We didn’t deserve to be set free from sin, but he did it anyhow. Just like those who were set free as a part of the Year of Jubilee.

 

Let’s celebrate!