Imagine with me that you are seated in a colonial American church in the year 1778, about three years into the Revolutionary War. The minister has just offered the benediction. But before you can leave, he says that a special proclamation has been received from the American Congress. The minister asks you to stay in your seats and listen to this important message.
As he begins, he informs you of the motion that was passed by the Congress in May of this year. It reads:
Resolved, That it be recommended to ministers of the gospel of all denominations to read or cause to be read, immediately after divine service, the above address to the inhabitants of the United States of America, in their respective churches and chapels, and other places of religious worship.
As you listen carefully to this message, you hear the following lines included in the lengthy address:
FRIENDS AND COUNTRYMEN: Three years have now passed away, since the commencement of the present war: a war without parallel in the annals of mankind. It hath displayed a spectacle, the most solemn that can possibly be exhibited. On one side, we behold fraud and violence laboring in the service of despotism; on the other, virtue and fortitude supporting and establishing the rights of human nature.
You cannot but remember how reluctantly we were dragged into this arduous contest; and how repeatedly with the earnestness of humble entreaty, we supplicated a redress of our grievances from him who ought to have been the father of his people. . . . Every effort was vain. For, even whilst we were prostrated at the foot of the throne that fatal blow was struck, which hath separated us for ever. Thus spurned, contemned, and insulted; thus driven by our enemies into measures, which our souls abhorred; we made a solemn appeal to the tribunal of unerring wisdom and justice: to that Almighty Ruler of Princes, whose kingdom is over all.
We were then quite defenseless. Without arms, without ammunition, without clothing, without ships, without money, without officers skilled in war, with no other reliance but the bravery of our people and the justice of our cause. . .
But, however great the injustice of our foes in commencing this war, it is by no means equal to that cruelty with which they have conducted it. The course of their armies is marked by rapine and devastation. . . . And, as if all this were insufficient to slake their thirst of blood, the blood of brothers, of unoffending brothers, they have excited the Indians against us, and a general, who calls himself a Christian, a follower of the merciful Jesus, hath dared to proclaim to all the world, his intention of letting loose against us whole hosts of savages, whose rule of warfare is promiscuous carnage, who rejoice to murder the infant smiling in its mother’s arms. . . .
But our dependence was not upon man; it was upon Him who hath commanded us to love our enemies, and to render good for evil. And what can be more wonderful than the manner of our deliverances? How often have we been reduced to distress, and yet been raised up? When the means to prosecute the war have been wanting to us, have not our foes themselves been rendered instrumental in providing them? This hath been done in such a variety of instances, so peculiarly marked, almost by the direct interposition of Providence, that not to feel and acknowledge his protection would be the height of impious ingratitude.
At length that God of battles, in whom was our trust, hath conducted us through the paths of danger and distress to the thresholds of security. It hath now become morally certain, that, if we have courage to persevere, we shall establish our liberties and independence. . . .
Arise then! to your tents, and gird you for the battle! It is time to turn the headlong current of vengeance upon the head of the destroyer. They have filled up the measure of their abominations, and, like ripe fruit, must soon drop from the tree. Although much is done, yet much remains to do. Expect not peace, whilst any corner of America is in possession of your foes. You must drive them away from this land of promise, a land flowing indeed with milk and honey. Your brethren at the extremities of the continent, already implore your friendship and protection. It is your duty to grant their request. They hunger and thirst after liberty. Be it yours to dispense to them the heavenly gift. And what is there now to prevent it?
Above all, bring forward your armies into the field. Trust not to appearances of peace or safety. Be assured that, unless you persevere, you will be exposed to every species of barbarity. But, if you exert the means of defense which God and nature have given you, the time will soon arrive when every man shall sit under his own vine and under his own fig-tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. . . .
Yet do not believe that you have been, or can be saved merely by your own strength. No! [I]t is by the assistance of Heaven, and this you must assiduously cultivate, by acts which Heaven approves. Thus shall the power and the happiness of these sovereign, free and independent states, founded on the virtue of their citizens, increase, extend and endure, until the Almighty shall blot out all the empires of the earth.
Do you know what that was? That was a sermon preached by the Congress of the United States to all the congregations in the newly formed nation! Certainly, it seems strange to think of such a thing in our day when we have been taught the concept of the “high and impregnable wall of separation between Church and State.” But it was not strange at all for our early American patriotic fathers. They were not at all shocked that Congress preached this sermon with constant references to Scripture and divine providence. They were not at all put off by this sermon being preached in their churches. They were not offended that this sermon makes it clear that their trust was not in man, but in the divine Savior Jesus Christ. In fact, every year during the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress proclaimed a Day of Prayer, Fasting and Humiliation and another Day of Thanksgiving. And repeatedly, these proclamations were directly referenced to the saving work of Jesus Christ. Our modern churches scarcely, if ever, call for a day of prayer and fasting. But at the birth of our country, the Congress—not the church—called for the whole country to participate in a Day of Prayer, Fasting and Humiliation! Somehow our founding fathers did not see this as an entanglement of church and state! And today, we cannot even pray at a high school graduation service—how times have changed.
Permit me to cite a few examples of these proclamations for prayer and thanksgiving. In March 1776, the Continental Congress agreed to the following resolution for appointing a fast:
In times of impending calamity and distress, when the liberties of America are imminently endangered by the secret machinations and open assaults of an insidious and vindictive administration, it becomes the indispensable duty of these hitherto free and happy colonies, with true penitence of heart, and the most reverent devotion, publickly to acknowledge the over ruling providence of God; to confess and deplore our offences against him; and to supplicate his interposition for averting the threatened danger, and prospering our strenuous efforts in the cause of freedom, virtue, and posterity.
The Congress, therefore, considering the warlike preparations of the British Ministry to subvert our invaluable rights and [privileges], and to reduce us by fire and sword, by the savages of the wilderness, and our own domestics, to the most abject and ignominious bondage: Desirous, at the same time, to have people of all ranks and degrees duly impressed with a solemn sense of God’s superintending providence, and of their duty, devoutly to rely, in all their lawful enterprises, on his aid and direction, [do] earnestly recommend, that Friday, the Seventeenth day of May next, be observed by the said colonies as a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that we may, with united hearts, confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and, by a sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease his righteous displeasure, and through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain his pardon and forgiveness,—humbly imploring his assistance to frustrate the cruel purposes of our unnatural enemies, and by inclining their hearts to justice and benevolence, prevent the further effusion of kindred blood. But if, continuing deaf to the voice of reason and humanity, and inflexibly bent on desolation and war, they constrain us to repel their hostile invasions by open resistance, that it may please the Lord of Hosts, the God of Armies, to animate our officers and soldiers with invincible fortitude, to guard and protect them in the day of battle, and to crown the continental arms, by sea and land, with victory and success: Earnestly beseeching him to bless our civil rulers, and the representatives of the people, in their several assemblies and conventions; to preserve and strengthen their union to inspire them with an ardent, disinterested love of their country, to give wisdom and stability to their counsels, and direct them to the most efficacious measures for establishing the rights of America on the most honourable and permanent basis—That he would be graciously please to bless all his people in these colonies with health and plenty, and grant that a spirit of incorruptible patriotism, and of pure undefiled religion, may universally prevail, and this continent be speedily restored to the blessings of peace and liberty, and enabled to transmit them inviolate to the latest posterity. And it is recommended to Christians of all denominations, to assemble for public worship, and abstain from servile labour on the said day. (Journals of Congress, March 1776, 208–209; emphasis added)
An example of the Christianity of our Founding Fathers in one of their Thanksgiving Proclamations can be found in the following, dated November 1, 1777:
Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of, and it having pleased him in his abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of his common providence, but also to smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defense and establishment of our unalienable rights and liberties, particularly in that he hath been pleased in so great a measure to prosper the means used for the support of our troops and to crown our arms with most signal success: It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these United States, to set apart Thursday, the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor, and that together with their sincere acknowledgments and offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favour, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance, that it may please him graciously to afford his blessing on the governments of these states respectively, and prosper the public council of the whole, to inspire our commanders both by land and by sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all human blessings, independence and peace, that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labour of the husbandman, that our land may yet yield its increase, to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under his nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth “in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
And it is further recommended, that servile labour, and such recreation as, though at other times innocent, may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment, be omitted on so solemn an occasion. (Journals of Congress 1777; emphasis added)
Many other examples of Christian faith can be found in our nation’s early congressional records.
It should be most evident, then, that our founders believed that liberty was a great blessing provided by God. This was clearly the idea of John Adams, one of our early patriots and later second president of the United States. He said upon the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that that day, “ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.” Samuel Adams, John’s cousin and co-patriot said, “We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and . . . from rising to the setting sun, may His kingdom come.”
I hope this somewhat detailed review of the birth of American Independence will convince you that our beloved America began in the context of a deep appreciation for the Christian faith. But I must quickly add, however, that we still do not have the total picture of America’s celebration of liberty on July 4, 1776. We do not have the complete picture until we take into account the biblical reference that encircles the very symbol of liberty itself, the Liberty Bell. That reference, of course, is Leviticus 25:10 that says, “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
For our meditation today, I would like you to consider the following:
I. The Jubilee Year.
II. The Proclamation of Liberty in the Jubilee Year.
III. The Liberty Bell’s Proclamation of Liberty in America.
IV. The Greatest Liberty of All Found in Jesus Christ.
I. The Jubilee Year. Leviticus 25.
As we consider our text, we must remember that Israel was a typological nation. That is, Israel’s daily life in some special way was a living object lesson of God’s nature and salvation. And so, Israel’s keeping of time was a way of showing who God was.
The Sabbath Day was first introduced as a creation ordinance. God sanctified the seventh day to commemorate his completed creation. On that day, man was called to rest from his labor even as God rested from his (Gen. 2:2; Exod. 20:8–11). On a weekly basis, man was reminded that he was created by God, and that he needed to refresh his body by ceasing from work, and to refresh his soul by worshipping God.
God believes that we should have rest in the midst of our busy lives. Rest is good and rest is godly!
The keeping of the Sabbath was a covenant of worship with God (Exod. 31:16; Isa. 56:6) built upon creation and codified in the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments. But this pattern of keeping the seventh day holy unto God was extended by the Lord to apply also to the seventh year.
This seventh year mentioned in Leviticus 25:1–7 was called the “Sabbath year” (v. 6). It was a year when “the land itself must observe a sabbath” rest without normal sowing or reaping. We still carry this idea into the academic world when we speak of a “sabbatical” for a professor.
To obey this was obviously quite a test of faith, and a matter of faithful industry to prepare for it. Apparently, the Israelites were faithful in keeping the Sabbatical year of rest. For in 2 Chronicles 36:21 we read, “The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah” (cf. Jer. 25:11–12; 27:22; 29:10; Dan. 9:2; Zech. 1:12; 7:5).
But Leviticus 25 goes on to command from Israel yet another Sabbath Year. This next cycle of sevens after the seventh day and the seventh year was the seventh sabbatical year. This would be every forty-ninth year. The command of the Lord in regard to this seventh sabbatical year was that it would be a sabbath year that was followed immediately by another sabbatical year. Thus, the fiftieth year would also be a sabbath year. Israel undoubtedly thought that this would be nearly impossible to keep. How could they go two years without reaping a harvest? The Lord, however, anticipated Israel’s fears and gave them the wonderful promise that the harvest of the forty-eighth year would be enough to carry them through (Lev. 25:18–22).
This fiftieth year or double sabbatical year is called “The Year of Jubilee.” The English word is a transliterated Hebrew word. The word appears to derive from a word that means “to bring forth.” This seems to fit the context since the Jubilee Year was when God “brought forth” enough food in the earlier harvest to provide for his people. It also is the year that the people “brought forth” or returned the family lands that had been sold to non-family members and “brought forth” or freed their brethren who had become slaves. The Jubilee Year thus includes the commands not only to leave the land fallow (vv. 11–12), but also to send everyone back to their original family lands (vv. 10; 13–17; 23–34), and to give freedom to any Israelite who had sold himself into slavery (vv. 35–55).
Should you wonder what application this might have for us today, I can think of the following: (a) God believes that we should have rest in the midst of our busy lives. Rest is good and rest is godly! (b) God is concerned that we maintain a family heritage. While we do not possess land in the same way as the Israelites did, we do have a similar concern. The perpetual owning of land in the promised land in a specific family name was a type of eternal life. God wants the covenant of grace to reach from generation to generation (Gen. 17:7; Isa. 59:21; Acts 2:39; 1 Cor. 7:14). As the Gospel song puts it, “Will the [family] circle be unbroken, by and by Lord, by and by?” (c) God does not want debt or slavery to be multi-generational. It was his design that men would break free from the poverty cycle every fifty years and thus have a chance to start over. This has enormous implications for our views of the national debt, and how we are fighting the war on poverty. Note that the poor were not to have interest charged against them nor to be sold food for a profit (Lev. 25:35–38).
II. The Proclamation of Liberty in the Jubilee Year. Leviticus 25:10.
This Jubilee Year, or Year of “bringing forth” was clearly a most remarkable time! Debts were cancelled, lands exchanged and returned, and slaves emancipated. Thus, it was appropriate that it would be inaugurated in an appropriate manner. God’s way was to announce it with trumpets sounding everywhere (Lev. 25:9). The way everyone knew when to do it was because it was to take place on the Day of Atonement (v. 9). This made the Jubilee’s announcement even more dramatic, since the Day of Atonement was a day of holy fasting and reflection upon the great forgiveness by God of Israel’s sins as symbolized by sacrifice and the sending away of the scapegoat (cf. Lev. 16). Instead of it being the quiet holy Sabbath Day fast like the previous forty-nine, this Day of Atonement was a day of trumpet blasts that were heard “throughout the land.”
Thus, verse 10 says, “Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan.” Thus, the Jubilee was a new beginning. It was the beginning of being free from sin. It was the beginning of starting all over on the family land. It was the beginning of being free from debt. It was the beginning of freedom from slavery. It was the beginning of a glorious celebration of trumpet blasts.
This verse tells me that the forgiveness of sins is such good news that we must see that at least once in every lifetime (every fifty years) the whole land we are in hears the good news. Note the extensiveness of the language—“throughout the land,” “to all its inhabitants,” “each one of you,” “his family,” “his clan.” Are we making the effort to make sure that every person in our land hears the good news of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ at least once in his life?! For the Christian, every day is the Day of Atonement since Jesus Christ has come to cleanse us from every sin by his blood (cf. Lev. 16:30; 1 John 1:7).
III. The Liberty Bell’s Proclamation of Liberty in America.
Have you ever wondered why this biblical citation of the Proclamation of the Jubilee is found on the Liberty Bell, the great relic of America’s Revolutionary struggle for Independence? I often wondered how it got there. And I think I finally have the whole story. And it certainly seems appropriate to tell it at this time.
Our story must begin with William Penn’s “holy experiment.” Ever since he had been locked in the tower of London for his Quaker beliefs, his dream had been to have a society where there would be real religious freedom. His opportunity for this experiment in religious freedom came when he received a massive land grant from Charles II, King of England, as a way of paying off a debt the king had to William Penn’s father. In 1701, William Penn drafted his final version of his Charter of Liberties for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This Magna Carta of religious liberty is remarkable for two things, in my opinion. First, it guarantees religious freedom for anyone who believes in God. Second, it restricts those who were to govern in Pennsylvania to those who were Christians! Penn wrote:
I the said William Penn do Declare Grant and Confirm unto all . . . these following Liberties Franchises and Privileges: first Because no people can be truly happy though under the Greatest Enjoyments of Civil Liberties if Abridged of the Freedom of their Consciences as to their Religious Profession and Worship I do hereby Grant and Declare that no person . . . who shall Confess and Acknowledge one Almighty God the Creator upholder and Ruler of the world and profess him or themselves Obliged to live quietly under the Civil Government shall be in any case molested or prejudiced in his or their person or Estate because of his or their Conscientious persuasion or practice nor be compelled to frequent or maintain any Religious Worship place or Ministry contrary to his or their mind or doe or Suffer any other act or thing contrary to their Religious persuasion. And that all persons who also profess to believe in Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world shall be capable (notwithstanding their other persuasions and practices in point of Conscience and Religion) to Serve this Government in any capacity both Legislatively and Executively. . .” (The Writings of William Penn; spelling modernized throughout)
What we must understand, then, is that the Liberty Bell was cast to celebrate the Jubilee Year of Penn’s Charter of Liberties. These liberties gave religious freedom to monotheists within the context of a Christian government. The jubilee year was thus celebrated in 1751, not with trumpets, but by a great big bell, weighing over 2,000 pounds! The direct connection with the Bible’s idea of proclaiming Liberty on the fiftieth year is unmistakable! The leaders of the Commonwealth were celebrating Pennsylvania’s fiftieth year of religious liberties under Christian rule. And that is why the message of Leviticus 25:10 was placed upon the bell.
But the bell broke in its trial performance upon reaching America from England where it had been cast. Thus, Pass and Stow, whose names are still on the bell, used the same metal from the original bell and recast it. The only thing they did differently, other than put their names upon it, was to put the biblical inscription at the very top of the bell. Before, it had been under the words “By order of the Assembly. . . .” Now, in its new form, the Scriptures were pre-eminent over the decrees of men that had ordered the bell. Is there significance in that? We can certainly speculate about God’s providence! And when the Declaration of Independence was publicly announced and read on July 8, 1776, a twentyfive-year-old recast bell was heard from the Pennsylvania State House (later to become known as Independence Hall), proclaiming a new liberty from England throughout the land to the inhabitants thereof. This, of course, was now the seventy-fifth anniversary of Penn’s Charter of Liberties.
Are we making the effort to make sure that every person in our land hears the good news of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ at least once in his life?!
And we must not forget that our founders recognized that God was the source of their freedom. The Declaration of Independence itself says,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the cause which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. . .
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States, . . . And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
These very words tell us that liberty comes from the Creator. How very appropriate that the Liberty Bell was tolling on the day these great words of freedom were read to the spellbound audience of Philadelphians. How ironic that the Supreme Court has ruled that creation cannot be taught in American schools!
IV. Conclusion: The Greatest Liberty Is Found in Jesus Christ.
As we conclude our meditation, it is important to sum up our thoughts by pointing to three New Testament truths about freedom. John 8:32 says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Freedom comes from knowing Jesus Christ who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6). Paul says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). Second, freedom is to be a perpetual privilege of those who continue to stand in Jesus Christ. Third, the Lord’s Supper that we celebrate today is a freedom celebration. Jesus took the Passover that celebrated Israel’s liberation from Egypt and turned it into the Lord’s Supper that celebrates our liberation from the bondage of sin and death (Exod. 12:1–51; Matt. 26:17–30; 1 Cor. 10:1–32).
We are indeed a blessed people—a free people as citizens and as Christians. But we are always in danger of losing our freedom. Where does the real threat to our freedom come from?
Some time ago, I came across an article in The New York Times entitled “Struggling to Hear the Shot That Killed Lincoln.” That article, I believe, answers our question well:
He knew where the real threat would come from. He knew it as a young man in Springfield, Ill., when he made this startling comment: “At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? . . . Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of earth. . . could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. . . If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
And so it is true for each of us as free Christian Americans. We are free in Christ. We know the Day of Atonement and the Jubilee Year of grace that brings freedom from sin’s power and condemnation. If we have all this, and destruction is our lot, it is not because Satan can cross the ocean of God’s grace and take away our ability to drink from the river of life. It will not be because he has amassed an army that can put a track upon Mount Zion. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher, for Jesus is the Author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). As a church of free men, we must live through all time with eternal life, or die by suicide because we have chosen not to truly trust in Christ, in whom to trust is freedom and life forever more.