Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land

 Today is July 4th, 2022 on the Gregorian calendar — 246 years since America's 13 colonies declared independence from Great Britain. When the Declaration of Independence was read publicly 4 days later on July 8th, 1776, bells rang out all over the colonies in celebration.

The most famous of these bells, the Liberty Bell, bears this inscription: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." The bell was cast with its famous inscription in 1751 — 25 years before American independence! 

The inscription quotes part of Lev. 25:10: "And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family."

In AD 27, when Jesus Christ began His ministry/service, He quoted Isa 61:1-2, which itself referenced back to this passage in Leviticus. We read in Luke 4:16-21:

"So 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 to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. 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 has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.' Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'"

Thus Jesus' ministry likely began in a Jubilee year, or at the very least, a Sabbatical year. It was the acceptable year of the Lord, and He came to proclaim liberty.

American independence followed Jesus' ministry by 1,749 years, and the decisive American victories of 1777 followed it by 1,750 years. Was 1776 part of a Sabbatical year and 1777 a Jubilee? It's an interesting possibility. But that's a topic of discussion for another day.

Another interesting fact: if 1776 was indeed a Sabbatical year, then 1862, the year that Abraham Lincoln drafted his Emancipation Proclamation to free the southern slaves, was also a Sabbatical year. But I digress, as that's also a topic of discussion for another day.

Back to liberty. God holds liberty in high esteem. In Jer. 34, the Jews in Jerusalem made a covenant with God to free their slaves in the Sabbatical year as God had commanded them to do (Jer. 34:8-9). Shortly thereafter, they changed their minds, disobeyed God, broke their covenant with Him, and brought their slaves back into bondage (Jer. 34:10).

Stirred to anger, God spoke to Jeremiah, "Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the LORD—‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth" (Jer. 34:17). God delivered Jerusalem into the hands of the Babylonians, who plundered and burned the city and carried many of the inhabitants away captive.

What is liberty? Is liberty freedom to do whatever you want? Is it anarchy? Lawlessness?

God's Word speaks of the "law of liberty" (Jam. 1:25; 2:12). The psalmist in Psa. 119:45 spoke to God, "And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts."

When Jesus Christ came to proclaim liberty, it wasn't to abolish the law and establish anarchy. On the contrary, when He judges mankind, He will not look kindly upon those who trample His law underfoot: "I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Mat. 7:23).

The truth is, there can be no liberty without law and order, no liberty without justice. Under God's system, no one is above the law, not even the king (Deut. 17:18-20). Everyone is held to the same standard. God's law protects liberty, for it doesn't allow anyone to murder, cheat, steal from, or oppress another.

Imagine. If everyone obeyed God's law, what a different world we'd live in! If no one lied, cheated, stole, committed adultery, or murdered, how different would the world be? You could actually trust your elected representatives! You could leave your doors unlocked without fear of someone breaking into your house. You could walk down any street without fear of being mugged. Broken homes would virtually cease to exist.

No, liberty is not anarchy. It is not lawlessness. God's law is what allows us to have liberty. It's what protects us from oppression. God's law is liberty!

John Adams, one of America's founders, understood this when he wrote, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Once people forsake God and His way of life, they will lose their liberty. All the troubles in our society today are the direct result of forsaking God. Crime, corruption, deceit, fraud, metastasizing government, dwindling liberties — it's all the result of forsaking God and His way of life.

Let us therefore return to Him. Let us "proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

Happy 4th of July!