Understanding True Jubilee
by Eugene Yapp
ONE question we encountered when promoting the Hope of Jubilee theme in praying for Malaysia is whether we are taking the correct biblical approach on Jubilee. Some have asked if Jubilee as outlined in Leviticus 25 is still applicable since Jesus Christ has already fulfilled it (Luke 4).
So what does the Old Testament (OT) law of the Jubilee mean to ordinary Christians like you and me in the context of modern Malaysia? The key rests in understanding what God intended the law of the Jubilee to be.
According to Leviticus 25, the Jubilee year is a year of consecration. During that year, no harvest or crops are to be cultivated and no work is to be done. The people were to keep holy and all property forfeited due to debts were to be returned to the original owners. All debts were to be cancelled and all slaves were to be freed. This mechanism was provided to even out inequalities and to prevent the people of God from descending into excessive poverty.
For Malaysia, the nation is about to enter into her 50th year of existence as a nation-state. If Christians in Malaysia are to grasp the appropriate significance of Jubilee, we need to bear in mind that it is not a form of prosperity gospel. It is not about God unlocking His blessings and pouring them out on the church or the nation so that we may have material abundance. Nor do we expect an overnight miracle with all social ills and societal problems disappearing immediately. To expect this is premature and would imply we have seriously misunderstood what the OT law of the Jubilee really means and how it relates to us as Christians in Malaysia.
Rather, we should see in the Jubilee, God's blue-print, His vision and design of what a harmonious society should be and how it is to function. It is not so much about God pouring out His blessings directly on the church as it is a model of what the church ought to do and how Christians ought to live and witness. In doing and living out God's design and vision as encapsulated in the law of the Jubilee, we inevitably become a channel of God's blessings upon Malaysia's people, all communities, society at large and the nation. And as the nation is blessed, Christians as citizens of the nation will in turn be blessed.
Allow me to share three aspects of God's design for the nation as found in the OT law of the Jubilee.
Firstly, Jubilee speaks of redemption for both the individual and society. In speaking about redemption, what needs to be borne in mind is that salvation is multifaceted. Redemption is not only the salvation of the soul or the individual but encompasses all of creation (Ephesians 1:10). Hence, we see the Jubilee provision for bond slaves who are serving their masters to be set free unconditionally without the need for compensation or restitution.
In line with this very theme, the church and Christians must therefore pray for liberty and freedom from discrimination and oppression in this nation. It is for this reason that the NECF 40-Day Fast and Prayer booklet highlights the plight of those who have been treated unjustly, often under circumstances of discrimination and oppression. It has been observed that "conditions of physical infrastructure and basic public facilities in Sabah and Sarawak were also far worse off than in peninsular Malaysia. Natives in East Malaysia, especially those without any education qualifications, also encounter multifaceted challenges in adjusting to modernity and are disempowered in dealing with the encroachment of their customary land by operators of state-government sanctioned development projects and logging activities"1.
Confronted with such harsh realities, the OT Jubilee therefore challenges each of us to work and contribute in whatever ways possible towards bringing redemption in terms of alleviating such circumstances for these people.
Secondly, the law of the Jubilee speaks of reconciliation. In the social structure of OT Israel, we find that those who lose their property due to debt are forced into a life of servitude. This state of affairs is reversed during the year of the Jubilee. This reversal of relationship exhibits a form of reconciliation. Where one was at first a slave, he or she becomes fellow citizen of equal standing after the Jubilee. It signals a new beginning for the slave now turned into a free person.
Likewise, the OT Jubilee informs Christians in Malaysia to take up the ministry of reconciliation in addressing issues of polarisation and division. Some of these problems have arisen from the mishandling of social-economic policies resulting in unequal and unjust distribution of resources and wealth. As a practical example, some researchers opine that our national policies have been effective in eradicating poverty and nurturing the growth of a new Malay middle class but have not been so effective in doing the same for other Bumiputera communities. The statistics reveal the following:
In 2008, the Bumiputera constitute about 52% of professional and managerial category of employment, and 65% of skilled as well as semi-skilled workers. The positive impact of NEP on non-Malay Bumiputera, unfortunately, was not of comparable scale. According to the 1999 Household Income Survey, poverty rate among Kadazandusun, Bajau and Murut in Sabah and Bidayuh (as well as among other Orang Ulu) in Sarawak remains high. In 2009, the incidence of poverty among Orang Asli communities was 50%. According to the 9th Malaysia Plan Mid-term Review, the incidences of hardcore poverty in 2007 were 3.7% and 0.7% respectively in Sabah and Sarawak while it was 0.3 in Peninsular Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak also have higher incidences of overall poverty (16% and 4.2% respectively in 2007) than peninsular Malaysia (2.3%)2.
Inevitably, disparities in economic and social standing creates gaps in social relations. We become divided into "the haves and have-nots".
But the Jubilee inspires hope; the hope where the church and Christians are moved to bring the message and actions of reconciliation by bridging the divide through works of love, compassion and mercy to those in need.
Thirdly, the Jubilee speaks of restoration. The OT law of Jubilee makes provisions for those who have lost property or assets, and even their social standing, to be restored to their original position come the 50th year. Thus, those who have lost their land during the years before the Jubilee are entitled to have their land returned to their family for posterity during Jubilee.
Such an act of restoration would definitely remind Christians of the hope of glory that we will see in the afterlife (Ephesians 1: 11-12; 18). All that we have lost due to sin will be restored and made anew in the new heaven and the new earth. But Paul reminds Christians that salvation not only has a goal, the time when all things are completed in Christ, but that it is also a process - the "eschatological remainder" where God is unfolding and bringing to pass that which He has purposed in Himself for the world.
Today, in this period of the Malaysian church's journey, we are witnessing how God is beginning to shake the authorities for the good and betterment of national life. In early August, the High Court ruled in favour of 49 Orang Asli who are Christians in a case involving the lands of the Orang Laut in Stulang Laut and Kuala Masai where their chapel had been demolished by the authorities.
To many a cynic, this judgement was somewhat unexpected. But the fact that the court did so augurs well for justice. As expected, the State Director of the Land and Mines Department was unsatisfied with the decision and has filed an appeal. The appeal was to be heard on 7 August but as it happened, the State Director withdrew the appeal with costs ordered against him. The State Legal Advisor of Johor had also approached the Orang Asli to settle the payment of compensation without further court proceedings which will include full compensation for the demolished chapel.
We rejoice with our Christian Orang Asli brothers and sisters as such an event represents a comprehensive victory for them. But beyond this and more importantly, this is a sign of the kingdom at hand! It brings inspiration and the hope of actualisation in the very prayer the Lord taught his disciples, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". It is God bringing to bear His own order of the day and His ways in the affairs of the nation in this the "eschatological remainder". And the church and Christians have the privilege and honour of participating together in this great re-ordering!
And so, Christians today have the Hope of Jubilee; a blessing premised upon an OT occasion that serves as a model for the church in prayer and in action as effective agents of redemption, of reconciliation and of restoration to every human need, for the furtherance of His kingdom and the glory of His Great name! God bless the church and Malaysia come Jubilee!
1 Dr Helen Ting, "Nation Building in Malaysia: Current Issues and Concerns"., paper presented on the occasion of 1st National BoC Consultation, Reconciliation and National Building, 23rd July 2012, 5
2 Ibid., 4-5 |
