«　WEEK 22　DAY 3　»

　　Lev. 25:12-13 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you....In this year of jubilee each one of you shall return to his possession.

　　Psa. 100:1-2 Make a joyful noise to Jehovah, all the earth. Serve Jehovah with rejoicing; come before His presence with joyful singing.

　　In the jubilee, all things are pleasant and satisfying to our heart, and we are free from anxiety, at ease, excited, and exultant. In English the word jubilee denotes a rejoicing, a joyful shouting. The Hebrew word for jubilee is yobel, which means a "joyful noise," "a shouting with the blasting of a trumpet," and "a proclamation." It is a proclamation not of sorrow or lamentation but of the gospel, the good news of great joy. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, "The Jubilee," p. 14)

　　When the children of Israel, God's chosen people, fell into a pitiful situation, God came to redeem them through Moses out of the land of Egypt that they might gain their freedom. When God led them out of Egypt, He performed a great miracle by separating the waters of the sea for them to pass through. Then, when they crossed the Red Sea and saw their enemies drowned and buried, they were in ecstasy, shouting and dancing for joy. Miriam led them to sing with great jubilation on the bank of the Red Sea. Fighting was the men's job, whereas singing was the women's specialty. We should be women in this way before God, and the more excited we are, the better. We should not remain in oldness, embracing the traditional way of Christianity, the way of having a Sunday morning service in a rigid manner. Instead, we should exult, as Psalm 100:1 says: "Make a joyful noise to Jehovah, all the earth." In Hebrew, make a joyful noise means to shout together noisily to Jehovah....Ezra is another book in the Bible that has a record of people making a joyful noise. When the foundation of the temple was laid, after the children of Israel had returned to Jerusalem from their captivity, all the people shouted with a loud shout. They could not discern the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of weeping, for the people shouted with a loud shout (Ezra 3:11-13)....There are many verses in the Psalms that tell us to make a joyful noise and to rejoice, and not only to rejoice but also to exult and leap for joy. When the jubilee came, millions of Israelites made a joyful noise in a loud and spontaneous way, shouting with joy, even at the same time.

　　The jubilee is an age of ecstasy. The New Testament age is an age of ecstasy, and a Christian is a person in ecstasy. Over fifty years ago, Brother Nee said, "If, as a Christian, you have never reached the point of being beside yourself, you are not up to the standard." He added that we should be beside ourselves before God but soberminded before men....We may shout for joy and still be soberminded.

　　On the one hand, we rejoice and make a joyful noise, but on the other hand, we are soberminded, exercising restraint. If we, as Christians, have never reached a point of being beside ourselves or being "crazy," if we have never been in ecstasy before God, we are not up to the standard. Rather, this shows that we do not have a sufficient enjoyment of God. If we have a sufficient enjoyment of God, we will leap for joy. Even as an old man I am often beside myself before God, yet those around me may not be aware of it. It seems that I am serious every day, coming and going according to a prescribed schedule, yet God knows the real condition. We have a real reason to be beside ourselves. If there is no joy in us, we cannot be beside ourselves, but if we are always enjoying God, we will reach a point where we cannot help but be beside ourselves. In the same way, because the children of Israel enjoyed the grace of God's all-sufficient redemption, when they crossed the Red Sea, they shouted and leaped for joy, praising and singing with a loud voice, and cheering unceasingly. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 4, "The Jubilee," pp. 14-15)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1969, vol. 1, "To Serve in the Human Spirit," pp. 60-64