Jubilee in the bible is a symbol. As is so often the case with God, he communicates deep truths about the relationship between us and himself in ways that we can easily understand. God's Jubilee was first seen in the deliverance of the Israelites. As he says in Exodus 6:6
"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you" [NIV]
This is God's Jubilee; as I mentioned on Monday Jubilee means "a trumpet blast of liberty". The Israelites were freed from slavery in a literal sense, but God uses this to illustrate the freedom that he offers us from the slavery created by our love of ourselves that leads into all kinds of trouble. The Psalmist says
In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
Psalm 118:5 [NIV]
The freedom he gives us is to free us from ourselves to allow that friendship he wants with us to flourish. And that is the wonder of the Resurrection – a light shining in darkness as John puts it: in the darkness of our own misunderstanding of what God wants of us. God wants our friendship but we insist on attributing all kinds of wrong motives to him.
But on the Diamond Jubilee let us credit God with what he most desires! I could only find one mention of diamond in this context, and it is in the Message version and reads like this
God's Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You'll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries.
Psalm 19:10
What a wonderful way of seeing God and his word. Let us not be afraid today, but reflect on the sheer wonderful goodness of God to us – to me, and to you.
Alan Cartwright
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