As we all know, Malaysia will be celebrating its 50th Independence Day come 31st August. It has been 50 years our country had its independence. 50 years… 50 long years…

One night in the month of July as I was reading my Bible I came across something that made me stop and think. I was reading about the Year of the Jubilee. I had heard of it before but I do not know what does the Year of the Jubilee means. So I took out my NIV Study Bible and read about the Jubilee year.

In the book of Leviticus chapter 25 we read of the Year of the Jubilee or the Year of the Lord’s Favor. Once every 50 years is the Year of the Jubilee where slaves and prisoners were freed, debts were cancelled and family properties were returned to its original owner. The year of Jubilee in both the Jewish and Christian traditions is a time of joy, the year of remission or universal pardon.
I would like to bring your attention to one of the laws of the Jubilee year, that is to return the land to its original owner. Let us read this verse:

Leviticus 25:23
The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine
And you are but aliens and my tenants.

God told the Israelites that the land belongs to Him and Him alone, and that is why it should not be sold permanently but come the Jubilee year, it has to be returned to its original owner.

I can’t help but to pause when I came across this verse. It then came into my mind what great relevance it has with Malaysia’s 50th year of independence. The Jubilee was celebrated once every 50 years during the Old Testament times and Malaysia is now 50 year old. It then occurred to me that we have to pray so much during this period.

Let us take this year as the Year of Jubilee in Malaysia. Let us pray for “slaves” to be set free, “debts” to be cancelled and most of all, let us pray that this land will be return to its original owner – the people of the Most High God.

Funny how we Christians sing songs that says, “Send me, I will go...” “Save Malaysia...” but yet here we are, sitting down in our seats every Sunday morning enjoying the worship songs and the cool air. We pray for God to send people to spread the Gospel yet we still shudder when the opportunity comes for us to share our faith. We pray for God to use us as tools to make the Gospel known but yet we allow ourselves to be tools of the devil to tear down our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This must stop!

It has been too long we Christians remain silent about our faith. It has been too long we Christians have been hiding in the dark. The Gospel needs to be shared. Everyone has to hear about the Good News. This land cannot be sold permanently to an owner unrightfully theirs. This land has to be taken back. Malaysia is for Christ!

Psalm 2:8
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

Do you know that our first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman shouted “Merdeka!” seven times when he declared Independence on the 31st August 1957? Seven is a Biblical number that represents completeness. What could it mean when our Tunku shouted “Merdeka!”seven times? Was it a coincidence or a divine coincidence? Hmm... We will soon find out...

Happy Birthday Malaysia,
We are taking you back,
Zlwin Chew

This post was written by me (Zlwin Chew) alone. The students in the pictures below have nothing to do with this post and I am not trying to raise a political issue or something. The students below are just young Malaysians who are proud of their country. God bless Malaysia.