The 70th Year of Jubilee
Written by Darrell D. Genzlinger in August 1999
Last revision in November 2006The Jews celebrate the seventh day of each week as the Sabbath or rest day. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God." (Ex. 20:9-10a, NKJV.)
The Israelites were to make a sacrifice on the first day of each lunar month, i.e., on the conjunction of the moon with the sun or what we refer to as the New Moon. 'At the beginnings of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord.' (Num. 28:11a.) There are approximately eleven days more in a solar year than in twelve lunar months. To make the length of the lunar year approximately equal to the length of the solar year a thirteenth lunar month has to be added seven times in a nineteen-year cycle.
God instituted the ceremonial calendar when the Israelites left Egypt in c.1449 B.C. "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you." (Ex. 12:2.) The Bible usually refers to the month as the first month, or the second month, or the third month, etc. In fact, the Bible only gives us the name of four months; the first, second, seventh, and eighth. They are Abib, Ziv, Ethanim, and Bul, respectfully. When God gave the Israelites a new calendar this implies that the old New Years day was some other date than Abib 1. Probably the first day of the seventh month since that date was specified by God to be a Sabbath. Ethanim 1 is the beginning of the Jewish civil calendar.
The modern day Hebrew names closely resemble the Babylonian names of their months. The Israelites probably borrowed the Babylonian names after they were captured by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.
The Babylonian and Hebrew months of the lunar calendars along with the original Biblical names in parentheses are given below in Figure 1. The corresponding Gregorian months are shown to the right of the Hebrew names.
Babylonian Calendar
Gregorian Calendar
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Ayaru
Simanu
Du'uzu
Abu
Ululu
Tashritu
Arakhsamna
Keslimu
Tebetu
Shabatu
Adaru I
Adaru II
Iyyar (or Ziv, 1 Kings 6:1)
Sivan
Tammuz
Av
Elul
Tishri (or Ethanim, 1 Kings 8:2)
Heshvan (or Bul, 1 Kings 6:38)
Kislev
Tevet
Shevat
Adar I
Adar II
Apr - May
May - Jun
Jun - Jul
Jul - Aug
Aug - Sep
Sep - Oct
Oct - Nov
Nov - Dec
Dec - Jan
Jan - Feb
Feb - Mar
(added 7 times in a 19-year cycle)FIGURE 1
The Jews also celebrate seven festivals during the year. See Leviticus 23. The seven festivals of the ceremonial calendar are shown in Figure 2.
Early spring -
Late spring -
Late summer -
.
1) Passover
2) Feast of Unleavened Bread
3) Feast of Firstfruits
4) Feast of Weeks or Pentecost
5) Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah or New Years Day
6) Day of Atonement
7) Feast of Tabernacles
.
14th day of the first month (Nisan 14)
15th thru the 21st day of the first month (Nisan
15-21)
first day of the week following the Sabbath
of Unleavened Bread
50 days after the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread
first day of the seventh month (Tishri 1)
tenth day of the seventh month (Tishri 10)
15th thru 22nd day of the seventh month
(Tishri 15-22)FIGURE 2
The Israelites were required by God to let the land rest for a year every seven years. The year when they let the land rest was called a Sabbath Year. And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.’" (Lev. 25:1-5.)
And after every seven Sabbath Years, they were also required to set aside another sabbath year called a Jubilee Year. ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.’ (Lev. 25:8-9.)
The Jubilee Year was the year following the seventh Sabbath Year. Therefore, the jubilee years would be the 50th year, 99th year, 148th year, 197th year, and so forth; or 49x + 1 where x is a cardinal number. ‘And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.’ (Lev. 25:10-13.)
To summarize, I have made a chart of the commands of God with respect to the Sabbath Year and/or the Year of Jubilee. See Figure 3.
time of year
cycle
land rest
people
property (real estate)
public worship
.
month of Tishri (Sep - Oct)
every 7th year
neither sow nor reap
-----
-----
the Law (Torah) read to all
(Deut. 31:10)when you come into the land
Tishri 10
every 49th year starting with the
50th year
neither sow nor reap
liberty to all inhabitants*
returned to original possessors
-----FIGURE 3
* The Bible (NKJV) defines what 'liberty to all inhabitants' means. If a fellow Hebrew is poor and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. He shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. Then you shall let him go, and his children (Lev. 25:39-46). If a fellow Hebrew is poor and sells himself to a rich sojourner or stranger, he may be redeemed by one of his brothers, or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, or one of closest kin. The redemption price shall be based on the number of years until the Year of Jubilee. In the Year of Jubilee, he and his children shall be released (Lev. 25:47-55).
The Israelites were commanded not to borrow and they were commanded to forgive debts. If a fellow Hebrew owes you a debt, on the seventh year you shall grant a release of debts (Deut. 15:1-23). He has six years of grace to settle the debt. After six years the debt is to be forgiven; i.e., it will be marked off as a bad debt by our method of accounting. [Note: This was to be done every seven years and so it was not just a Sabbath Year requirement.]
If we assume the Israelite exodus out of Egypt was in 1449 B.C. (see The 7th Millennium) and allow for the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years and another 5 1/2 years for conquering the land of Canaan we get 1404 B.C. Therefore, we should start counting the sabbath and jubilee years from 1403 B.C.; that is, when they first sowed their fields. This is shown in Figure 4 below.
2352
2353
2354
2355
2356
2357
2358
2359
2360
2361
2362
2363
2364
2365
2366
2373
2380
2387
2394
2401
2408
2409
3038
3045
3046
3052
3059
3598
3724
3731
3732
3738
3745
3752
3759
3766
3773
3780
3781
3787
3794
3801
3808
3815
3822
3829
3830
5733
5740
5741
5747
5754
5761
5768
5775
5782
5789
5790
.
1410-1409
1409-1408
1408-1407
1407-1406
1406-1405
1405-1404
1404-1403
1403-1402
1402-1401
1401-1400
1400-1399
1399-1398
1398-1397
1397-1396
1396-1395
1389-1388
1382-1381
1375-1374
1368-1367
1361-1360
1354-1353
1353-1352
724-723
717-716
716-715
710-709
703-702
164-163
38-37
31-30
30-29
24-23
17-16
10-9
3-2 B.C.
5-6 A.D.
12-13
19-20
20-21
26-27
33-34
40-41
47-48
54-55
61-62
68-69
69-70
1972-1973
1979-1980
1980-1981
1986-1987
1993-1994
2000-2001
2007-2008
2014-2015
2021-2022
2028-2029
2029-2030
.Israelites left Egypt after the Passover meal on Nisan 15, 1449 B.C.
40 years in the desert
Israelites entered Canaan on Nisan 10, 1409 B.C.
Israel begins conquering the land of Canaan. It took 5 1/2 years.
Israel conquered Canaan. Israelites divided up the Promised Land.
Begin counting sabbath and jubilee years.
1st full year in control of land, sowing and reaping. (Lev. 25:2-4)
2nd year
3rd year
4th year
5th year
6th year
1st Sabbath Year
[From here on count by seven with an immediate
insert after every 7th sabbath year for a jubilee year.]
2nd Sabbath Year
3rd Sabbath Year
4th Sabbath Year
5th Sabbath Year
6th Sabbath Year
7th Sabbath Year
1st Jubilee Year starts Tishri 10, 1353 B.C.
89 sabbath years, 8th to 96th Sabbath Years
2nd to 13th Jubilee Years
97th Sabbath Year
98th Sabbath Year
14th Jubilee Year
99th Sabbath Year
100th Sabbath Year
In Hezekiah's 14th year as King of Judah (702-701 B.C. per
Edwin R. Thiele's book, "The Mysterious Numbers of the
Hebrew Kings", page 120), Isaiah prophesied no harvest
for two years but plenty of food to eat (II Kings 19:29
and Isaiah 37:30); possibly a sabbath year and jubilee
year (see Leviticus 25 and Antiquity of the Jews,
book 3, chapter 12, section 3), or more likely, a
sabbath year and a year under siege back to back.
Neither II Kings nor Isaiah state that one or both years,
3059 A.M. or 3060 A.M., were sabbath years. Jerusalem
was under siege by the Assyrians at the time, which
means working in the fields was not possible. This
figure assumes the second year of no planting or harvesting
is due to the siege. [Antiquity of the Jews by Flavius
Josephus can be found on Netscape search engine at
http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/josephus.html.]
76 sabbath years, 101st to 176th Sabbath Years
15th to 25th Jubilee Years
177th Sabbath Year
re: Antiq. b.12, c.9, s.5 & I Mac. 6:48-54
I Maccabees states that the Jews were out of stocks
of provisions because it was a sabbath year. This
happened in the 150th year of Seleucid's Era (312 B.C.
- 150 = 162 B.C.). Therefore, the sabbath year must have
occurred the year before 162 B.C. [I Maccabees can be
found at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/apo/ma1.htm.]
17 sabbath years, 178th to 194th Sabbath Years
26th to 27th Jubilee Years
195th Sabbath Year
re: Antiq. of the Jews, b.14, c.16, s.2
196th Sabbath Year
28th Jubilee Year
197th Sabbath Year
re: Antiq. b.15, c.9, s.1 implies a Sabbath Year
198th Sabbath Year
199th Sabbath Year
200th Sabbath Year
201st Sabbath Year
202nd Sabbath Year
203rd Sabbath Year
29th Jubilee Year
204th Sabbath Year
205th Sabbath Year
206th Sabbath Year
207th Sabbath Year
208th Sabbath Year
209th Sabbath Year
210th Sabbath Year
30th Jubilee Year
271 sabbath years, 211th to 481st Sabbath Years
31st to 68th Jubilee Years
482nd Sabbath Year
483rd Sabbath Year
69th Jubilee Year
484th Sabbath Year
485th Sabbath Year
486th Sabbath Year
487th Sabbath Year
488th Sabbath Year
489th Sabbath Year
490th Sabbath Year
70th Jubilee Year
* A.M. is the abbreviation for Anno Mundi which means 'from the
creation of the world'. Jewish chronology has the creation occurring
on 7 October 3761 B.C. The year 1980 corresponds to the Jewish
years 5740-5741 A.M. The Jewish New Year, 1 Tishri 5741 A.M.,
corresponds to 11 September 1980, and the Jewish year 5741 is
the same as 1980-1981. The derivation of the creation date can no
longer be accurately traced. It became popular about the 9th
century A.D. I believe the Jewish Era has approximately 211-
year error in it. This means the world is approximately 211 years
older than is specified in the Jewish Era.FIGURE 4
I believe the 70th Year of Jubilee will be the greatest of all jubilee years. And I believe it will usher in Christ’s Millennial Reign. The 70th Year of Jubilee will give liberty to all people. It will be a happy time for all who are going into the new heavens and the new earth (Is.65:17).
There are at least four astounding Scriptural events which lead me to believe that we are close to the Lord's Second Coming.
1. The right time in history - the 7th 'day', or the Sabbath 'Day', or the Sabbath Millennium.
2. Jesus' own prophesy saying that He will be 'perfected' or finished on the third day (Luke 13:32).
3. 'This generation' or the generation that sees all these things fulfilled (Matt. 24:32-35).
4. The 70th Year of Jubilee is the acceptable year of the Lord.
So, if Jesus Christ returns in the year 2029, what is the urgency? Remember, the rapture occurs at least seven years before the Lord's Second Coming. And we do not know when Jesus will call us home to be with Him. Yes, the time is short. "Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near." (Is. 55:6.)
Jesus told His disciples this parable about Himself. “Blessed are those servants whom the master (Jesus), when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he (Jesus) will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.” (Luke 12:37.)
And the Isaiah passage that Jesus read in the synagogue (Luke 4:18-19) will then be fulfilled completely. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (Is. 61:1-3.)
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor. 3:17.) Oh Happy Day. Amen.