Luke 4
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the YHWH is upon me; because YHWH hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to PROCLAIM LIBERTY to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF YHWH…
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Yeshua was quoting directly from Isaiah 61
Isaiah 61
The Spirit of YHWH is upon me; because YHWH hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to PROCLAIM LIBERTY to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF YHWH…
Isaiah is referring to the YEAR OF JUBILEE. According to Leviticus 25, the YEAR OF JUBILEE is the year to PROCLAIM LIBERTY.
Leviticus 25
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.
3 SIX YEARS thou shalt sow thy field, and SIX YEARS thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
4 But in the 7TH YEAR shall be a SABBATH of rest unto the LAND, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5 That which grows of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourns with thee.
7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
8 And thou shalt number 7 SABBATHS OF YEARS unto thee, 7 TIMES 7 YEARS; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee 49 YEARS.
9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the JUBILEE to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
10 And ye shall hallow THE 50TH YEAR, and PROCLAIM LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a JUBILEE unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
11 A JUBILEE shall that 50TH YEAR be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.
12 For it is THE JUBILEE; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.
13 IN THE YEAR OF THE JUBILEE ye shall return every man unto his possession.
14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbor, or buy ought of thy neighbor’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:
15 According to the number of years after THE JUBILEE thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:
16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.
17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God:for I am the Lord your God.
18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.
19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat THE 7TH YEAR? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and EAT YET OF OLD FRUIT until the ninth year; until her fruits come in YE SHALL EAT OF THE OLD STORE.
The Year of Jubilee is a BIG DEAL!
When is the next Year of Jubilee?
Let’s go back into history and find all of the historical references we can for both the Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee.
Leviticus 25
And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, WHEN YOU COME INTO THE LAND which I give you, THEN SHALL THE LAND KEEP A SABBATH unto the Lord.
3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5 That which grows of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
6 And THE SABBATH OF THE LAND SHALL BE MEAT FOR YOU; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourns with thee.
7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
8 And thou shalt number SEVEN SABBATHS OF YEARS unto thee, SEVEN TIMES SEVEN YEARS; and the space of the SEVEN SABBATHS OF YEARS shall be unto thee 49 YEARS.
9 Then shalt thou cause THE TRUMPET OF THE JUBILEE TO SOUND on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make THE TRUMPET SOUND throughout all your land.
10 And ye shall hallow THE 50th YEAR, and PROCLAIM LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a JUBILEE unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
Joshua 5
10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
11 AND THEY DID EAT OF THE OLD CORN OF THE LAND on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.
12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but THEY DID EAT OF THE FRUIT OF THE LAND OF CANAAN THAT YEAR.
Joshua 6
1 Now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
2 And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor.
3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark 7 TRUMPETS of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city SEVEN TIMES, and the priests shall blow with the TRUMPETS.
5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the SOUND OF THE TRUMPET, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear SEVEN TRUMPETS of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.
7 And he said unto the people, pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord.
8 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the SEVEN TRUMPETS of rams’ horns passed on before the Lord, and blew with the TRUMPETS: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.
9 And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the TRUMPETS, and the rearward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the TRUMPETS.
10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.
11 So the ark of the Lord compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.
13 And seven priests bearing SEVEN TRUMPETS of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the TRUMPETS: and the armed men went before them; but the rearward came after the ark of the Lord, the priests going on, and blowing with the TRUMPETS.
14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner SEVEN TIMES: only on that day they compassed the city SEVEN TIMES.
16 And it came to pass at the SEVENTH TIME, when the priests blew with the TRUMPETS, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city.
17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.
20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the TRUMPETS: and it came to pass, when the people heard the SOUND OF THE TRUMPET, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
1443 B.C. = Year of the Israelites Entrance into the Holy Land
= Jubilee Year
2 Kings 18:13 Now in the 14th year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2 Kings 19:29 And this shall be a sign unto thee (Hezekiah), Ye shall eat THIS YEAR such things as grow of themselves, and in THE SECOND YEAR that which springs of the same; and in THE THIRD YEAR sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
709 B.C. = 14th Year Hezekiah
= Sabbatical Year
708 B.C. = 15th Year Hezekiah = Jubilee Year
Jeremiah 34
13 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
17 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
Jeremiah 39:1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
590 B.C. = 9th Year Zedekiah = Sabbatical Year
Haggai 2
10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying…
15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord:
16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the press fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labors of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord.
18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider it.
19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
520 B.C. = 2nd Year Darius = Sabbatical Year
Nehemiah 5-8 tells us that Ezra read out of the Book of the Law in the 7th month during the 32nd Year of Artaxerxes. Deuteronomy 31 tells us that this was to be done during the 7th month of the Sabbatical Year.
Therefore,
443 B.C. = 32nd Year Artaxerxes
= Sabbatical Year
The Apocrypha
1st Maccabees 6:49
“But with them that were in Bethsura he made peace: for they came out of the city, because they had no victuals there to endure the siege, it being a year of rest to the land.”
163 B.C. = 150th Year Seleucid Era
= Sabbatical Year
The Apocrypha
1st Maccabees 6:53
“Yet at the last, their vessels being without victuals, (for that it was the 7th YEAR, and they in Judea, that were delivered from the Gentiles, had eaten up the residue of the store)”
163 B.C. = 150th Year Seleucid Era
= Sabbatical Year
Josephus
Jewish Antiquities
Book 12, Chapter 9, Section 5
“But then their provisions failed them; what fruits of the ground they had laid up were spent, and the land being not plowed that year, continued unsowed, because it was the 7th YEAR, on which, by our laws, we are obliged to let it lie uncultivated.”
163 B.C. = 150th Year Seleucid Era = Sabbatical Year
Josephus
Jewish Antiquities
Book 13, Chapter 8, Section 1
“…and as the siege was drawn out into length by this means, that YEAR on which the Jews use to REST came on; for the Jews observe this REST every 7th YEAR, as they do every 7th day; so that Ptolemy being for this cause released from the war…”
135 B.C. = 178th Year Seleucid Era = Sabbatical Year
Josephus
Wars of the Jews
Book 1, Chapter 2, Section 4
“And as the siege was delayed by this means, the year of rest came on, upon which the Jews rest every 7th Year as they do on every 7th Day.”
135 B.C. = 178th Year Seleucid Era
= Sabbatical Year
Josephus
Jewish Antiquities
Book 14, Chapter 10, Section 5
“Caius Caesar, consul the 5th time, hath decreed, that the Jews shall possess Jerusalem, and may encompass that city with walls; and that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, retain it, in the manner he himself pleases; and the Jews be allowed to deduct out of their tribute, every SECOND YEAR the land is let, in the Sabbatical Period, a corus of that tribute; and that the tribute they pay be not let to farm, nor that they pay always the same tribute.”
44 B.C. = 5th Time Consul of Caius Caesar = Sabbatical Year
Josephus
Jewish Antiquities
Book 14, Chapter 10, Section 6
“Caius Caesar, imperator the 2nd time, hath ordained, that all the country of the Jews, excepting Joppa, do pay a tribute yearly for the city of Jerusalem, excepting the 7th Year, which they call the Sabbatical Year, because thereon they neither receive the fruits of their trees, nor do they sow their land; and that they pay their tribute to Sidon on the second year of that Sabbatical period, the fourth part of what was sown: and besides this, they are to pay the same tithes to Hyrcanus and his sons which they paid to their forefathers.”
44 B.C. = 2nd time imperator of Caius Caesar = Sabbatical Year
Josephus
Jewish Antiquities
Book 14, Chapter 16, Section 2
“They also erected new works when the former were ruined, and making mines under ground, they met each other, and fought there; and making use of brutish courage rather than of prudent valor, they persisted in this war to the very last; and this they did while a mighty army lay round about them, and while they were distressed by famine and want of necessaries, for this happened to be a Sabbatical Year.”
37 B.C. = 185th Olympiad = Sabbatical Year
Josephus
Jewish Antiquities
Book 15, Chapter 1, Section 2
“They also searched the dead, and whatsoever was found, either of silver or gold, or other treasure, it was carried to the king; nor was there any end to the miseries he brought upon them; and this distress was in part occasioned by the covetousness of the prince regent, who was still in want of more, and in part by the Sabbatical Year, which was still going on, and forced the country to lie still uncultivated, since we are forbidden to sow the land in that year.”
37 B.C. = 185th Olympiad = Sabbatical Year
Josephus
Jewish Antiquities
Book 15, Chapter 9, Section 1
“Now on this very year, which was the 13th year of the reign of Herod…When therefore the fruits of that year were spoiled, and whatsoever they had laid up beforehand was spent, there was no foundation of hope for relief remaining, but the misery, contrary to what they expected, still increased upon them; and this, not only on THAT YEAR, while they had nothing for themselves left at the end of it, but what seed they had sown perished also, by reason of the ground not yielding its fruits on THE SECOND YEAR.”
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews
William Whiston, A.M., Ed.
Book 15 Chapter 9 Footnote 3
“This famine for two years that affected Judea and Syria, the thirteenth and fourteenth years of Herod, which are the twenty-third and twenty-fourth years before the Christian era, seems to have been more terrible during this time than was that in the days of Jacob, Genesis 41., 42. And what makes the comparison the more remarkable is this, that now, as well as then, the relief they had was from Egypt also; then from Joseph the governor of Egypt, under Pharaoh king of Egypt; and now from Petronius the prefect of Egypt, under Augustus the Roman emperor. See almost the like case, Antiq. B. XX. ch. 2. sect. 6. It is also well worth our observation here, that these two years were a Sabbatical year, and a year of jubilee, for which Providence, during the theocracy, used to provide a triple crop beforehand; but became now, when the Jews had forfeited that blessing, the greatest years of famine to them ever since the days of Ahab, 1 Kings 17., 18.”
23 B.C. = 13th Year Herod
= Sabbatical Year
22 B.C. = 14th Year Herod
= Jubilee Year
Leviticus 25
8 And thou shalt number 7 Sabbaths of years unto thee, 7 times 7 years; and the space of the 7 Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee 49 years.
9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the 10th day of the 7th month, in the Day of Atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
We learn from Leviticus 25 that we are to count 7 Sabbaths of years or 49 years. In the 49th year in the 7th month on the 10th day of the month, we are to sound the trumpet of the Jubilee in order to announce the upcoming Year of Jubilee in the 50th Year.
Leviticus 25
10 And ye shall hallow the 50th YEAR, and PROCLAIM LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a JUBILEE unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
We also learn from Leviticus 25 that the 50th Year is the Jubilee Year and it is also the year that we “Proclaim Liberty.”
Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the YHWH is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to PROCLAIM LIBERTY to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF YHWH…
We learn from Isaiah 61 that the Jubilee Year is also called the “Acceptable Year of YHWH.”
Yeshua quoted from Isaiah 61 in Luke 4.
Luke 4
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the YHWH is upon me; because YHWH hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to PROCLAIM LIBERTY to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF YHWH…
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
We know from Luke 3:1 that this was “in the 15th Year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.”
28 A.D. = 15th Year of Tiberius Caesar
= Jubilee Year
An ancient text of a loan deed known as Mur 18 found in the caves of the Wadi Murabbat near Bethlehem, bears a date in “year two of Nero Caesar.” Farther along in the text, it also says, “in this year of release.” “In this year of release” is a reference to a Sabbatical Year.
55 A.D. = 2nd Year of Nero Caesar = Sabbatical Year
There are about a dozen rental contracts that were found at Wadi Murabbat near Bethlehem known collectively as Mur 24E. They mention a Sabbatical Year or the year of “the liberation of Israel.” The contracts also expired on the next Sabbatical Year or “until the end of the eve of Shemitah.” In the Chronicle of Eusebius we find out that the year of “the liberation of Israel” was in the 16th Year of the Roman Emperor Hadrian or 132 A.D.
132 A.D. = 16th Year of Hadrian
= Sabbatical Year 139 AD. = Sabbatical Year also
We have learned from history that the next Sabbatical Years are 2022, 2029, and 2036.
We have also learned from history that 1443 B.C., 708 B.C., 22 B.C. and 22 A.D. were Jubilee Years.
Therefore, the next Jubilee Year is 2037 A.D.
Be Ready!