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The Power of Symbols in a Nation’s Story
Though Americans often pride themselves on being practical and unsentimental, we are deeply shaped by symbols. Whether it’s corporate logos, sports team emblems, or historical artifacts, symbols carry powerful meaning.
Among the most enduring American symbols is the Liberty Bell—its cracked surface a quiet witness to both triumph and decline. Etched into its side are the words from Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” This was not an arbitrary decoration. It reflected the moral and religious convictions of a people who once understood liberty as a gift from God.
But has the Liberty Bell become an empty symbol? Much like the hammer and sickle still etched across buildings in post-Soviet Moscow, has our bell outlived the ideals it once represented?
The Biblical Roots of Liberty
The inscription on the Liberty Bell comes from a powerful section of Scripture outlining the Jubilee Year in ancient Israel. Every 50 years, a trumpet was sounded on the Day of Atonement to announce liberty throughout the land.
Debts were forgiven, slaves were freed, and land was returned to its original owners. This liberty was not rooted in rebellion or individualism, but in divine grace and law. God’s people were to understand that freedom came from obedience, from rest in God, and from trusting in His provision—not their own strength.
The Liberty Bell, cast in 1753—decades before the Declaration of Independence—echoed this same truth. It predated America’s political liberty and pointed instead to a moral and spiritual vision of freedom. The Founders, for all their faults, understood the biblical framework behind liberty. They did not imagine that a nation could remain free apart from the law of God.
The Cracks in Our Liberty
It’s worth noting that the Liberty Bell cracked irreparably in 1846, during the very year it was last rung for Independence Day. That break is more than symbolic. America now proclaims liberty with its lips while shackled in every direction.
We speak of rights, but deny responsibilities. We shout of freedom, but spiral deeper into bondage—whether through broken homes, sexual immorality, lawless government, or economic slavery.
Like Israel before its fall, America proclaims liberty while despising the One who grants it. We have abandoned the covenantal foundation that once made our independence meaningful. We recoil at the thought of biblical law governing civil life. Our courts and lawmakers now outlaw the very principles our ancestors engraved into our monuments.
Christ, the Fulfillment of Jubilee
When Jesus stood in the synagogue in Luke 4, He read from Isaiah 61—a passage echoing the Jubilee theme of Leviticus 25. Then He stunned His listeners by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus was declaring that He Himself is the Jubilee. He is the One who truly sets captives free, forgives debt, restores inheritance, and brings sight to the blind. The liberty proclaimed in the Law pointed forward to the liberty purchased by Christ’s atoning work.
This gospel is not merely personal—it’s cosmic. The same Christ who saves souls will one day restore the earth. Every liberty that lasts must be grounded in Him. Every nation that seeks enduring freedom must bow the knee to His rule.
Curses for Forgetting the Covenant
As Israel was warned in Deuteronomy 28, there is no neutral ground. Nations that honor God and His law receive blessing; those that rebel face judgment. The list of covenant curses in that chapter reads like a grim forecast of modern headlines—plagues, economic collapse, foreign invasion, civil unrest, even cannibalism in siege. These were not random punishments, but the outworking of a broken covenant with the God of liberty.
Is America under judgment? Are our psyops, our corruption, our economic struggles, and spiritual apathy not signs that we, too, have violated the conditions of blessing? We want the fruits of freedom without the root of righteousness. But trust me… God will not be mocked.
Mocking the Bell and Mocking God
The Liberty Bell has become something of a mockery today. Its biblical inscription is rarely mentioned. Were we to cast a bell today with a verse from Leviticus, the lawsuits would come swiftly. But what changed? Not God’s Word. What changed is our nation’s heart.
Churches once filled the landscape with songs like “God of Our Fathers”, declaring boldly: “Thy word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.” Today, many of those churches are surrounded by neighborhoods too dangerous to walk in at night. They have lost the power to sanctify their communities because they have lost the gospel. And as the local church goes, so goes the nation.
Only in Christ Is Liberty Found
Jesus told the Pharisees, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” They scoffed, claiming they were never slaves, all while living under Roman occupation. Likewise, America insists it is free while wallowing in moral and spiritual bondage. We deny Christ, reject His Word, and persecute those who hold to biblical convictions. And then we wonder why our liberty is eroding.
The truth is hard to hear: there is no liberty apart from Christ. No political movement, no constitutional amendment, no economic reform can restore freedom if we remain in rebellion against the Lord.
A Call to Repentance and Restoration
On this Fourth of July, it is not enough to wave flags and grill burgers. It is not enough to watch fireworks and feel sentimental about 1776. True celebration must begin with repentance. We must rediscover what the Liberty Bell pointed to: a freedom rooted in obedience to God’s law and a reliance on His grace.
We must plead for revival, beginning in the Church. We must pray for our leaders—not just to govern well, but to bow the knee to the King of Kings. We must teach our children that the blessings of freedom are not inherited automatically but must be preserved through faith and righteousness.
Proclaim Liberty… By Returning to Christ
The Liberty Bell’s inscription still rings out: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land.” But if that proclamation is to mean anything today, we must return to its source. Freedom comes only through the One who fulfills the Jubilee. His name is Jesus. Only in Him do we find rest from our sins, restoration of what we’ve lost, and hope for our future.
So let the bell ring again… not just in memory, but in truth. Let every Christian proclaim liberty… not political slogans, but gospel truth. And may our nation once again become worthy of the freedom we so casually celebrate.
