Millennial Jubilee

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=35 BGCOLOR="#000099" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>The Jubilee Year and the Millennium</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id93.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vision of Transformation">Vision of Transformation</A>   |   <A HREF="id95.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Graded Holiness">Graded Holiness</A>   |   <A HREF="id100.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jerusalems priestkings">Jerusalem's priest-kings</A>   |   <B>Millennial Jubilee</B>   |   <A HREF="id103.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Millennial Israel">Millennial Israel</A>   |   <A HREF="id104.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Millennial Purification Offering">Millennial Purification Offering</A>   |   <A HREF="id102.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ezekiel Plan of God">Ezekiel Plan of God</A>   |   <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ezekiel Plan of God 2">Ezekiel Plan of God 2</A>   |   <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kingdom of God">Kingdom of God</A>   |   <A HREF="id117.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kingdom of God 2">Kingdom of God 2</A>   |   <A HREF="id118.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kingdom of God 3">Kingdom of God 3</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=445 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>release</B></FONT> the oppressed (Luke 4:18, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>)</div> <bR> <div> <B>To preach the acceptable year of the Lord </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >(Luke 4:19).</FONT></div> <bR> <div> "Luke's quotation is from the Greek translation (LXX) of the Hebrew OT and is actually a combination of various parts of Isa 61:1-2 and 58:6... Isa 61 and 58 are linked by common words and ideas (<I>dektos </I>["acceptable"] in Isa. 61 and 58:5, <I>aphesis</I> ["release"/"forgiveness"] in 61:1 and 58:6)" (Craig A. Evans, <I>Luke</I>, NIBC, pp.73-74).</div> <bR> <div> "The third major theological feature of Jesus' missionary program grows out of a further way of construing "release" in the Lukan narrative - namely, as "release from debts" (cf. 11:4). This draws our attention to Jubilee legislation (Leviticus 25)... The jubilary theme is most evident in 4:18-19 by the repeated use of "release" (cf., e.g., "the year of release" - Lev 25:10) and the phrase, "the year of the Lord's favor," borrowed from Isa 61:2. It is now widely recognized that Isaiah 58 and 61 develop jubilary themes, describing the coming redemption from exile and captivity in the eschatological language of jubilary release. Other texts follow a similar interpretive maneuver moving away from more literal applications of Jubilee legislation to the employment of jubilary themes to signify the eschatological deliverance of God (with its profound social implications). This interpretative tradition encourages a reading of Luke 4:18-19 as the announcement of the eschatological epoch of salvation, the time of God's gracious visitation, with Jesus himself presented as its anointed herald" (Joel B. Green, <I>The Gospel of Luke</I>, NICNT, p.212).</div> <bR> <div> "It is also clear that the "release" made available via Jesus' ministry is set in opposition to the binding power of Satan" (Joel B. Green, <I>The Gospel of Luke</I>, NICNT, p.212).</div> <bR> <div> The theme of "release" from Satan takes on more significance in the future; see below.</div> <bR> <div> "The Lukan Jesus is no social reformer and does not address himself in any fundamental way to the political structure of the world..." (John Nolland, <I>Luke 1-9:20</I>, WBC, p.197).</div> <bR> <div> "Significantly, Jesus does not go on to read the next phrase in Isa 61:2: "and the day of vengeance of our God"" (Alan Culpepper, <I>Luke</I>, NIB, Vol.9, p.105).</div> <bR> <div> When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you (Deuteronomy 30:1-3, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> "[Israel's possession of the good land is conditional]. It depends on worship of Yahweh alone ([Exod 23] vv. 21, 24, 32). Christianity has for so long represented itself as a religion of free grace, that we flinch from the thought that God's gifts are conditional. Mosaic faith, however, is realistically grounded in a comprehensive "if" (v. 22; cf. 19:5). This is not because God is calculating or bargaining but because the gift of productive, secure land cannot be held carelessly or through patterns of exploitation. Under such practices, the land will soon succumb to self-serving economics that will void any prospects of peace, security, or justice. The "if" is a realistic understanding that social practice determines social destiny. I will cite three cases in which this conditionality of the good land seems clear enough.</div> <bR> <div> "The technological capacity to exploit, distort, and destroy our natural environment is unmistakable. The worship of the gods of military security and unfettered profit does cause a forfeiture of the good land. This is evident in the production of [man-made] acid rain, and in the environment-threatening residue of modern warfare.</div> <bR> <div> "In our day, a variety if obdurate, small tyrants have learned too late that power to govern is not unconditional. When their exploitative systems pays no attention to social <I>conditions</I>, the land is lost. Super powers, of course, imagine that they are immune to such threats. But the turns in the fortunes of the former Soviet Union put even super powers on notice that the conditional quality of the good land in the end has no exceptions, not even for uncommon and unrivaled power.</div> <bR> <div> "In the great cities of the United States, the limitless drive of greed and selfishness and the unwillingness to pay taxes in order to sustain the public good have destroyed the infrastructure. As a result, these cities have been overrun with violence. The city cannot be sustained unconditionally. The condition of the good life in the good land is adherence to covenantal practices. Israel is always on its way to exile, having learned too slowly. Our own learning is not noticeably swift" (Walter Brueggemann, <I>Exodus</I>, NIB, Vol.1, p.878).</div> <bR> <div> Following the yet future "day of vengeance" there will be social and political reform.</div> <bR> <div> He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live</B></FONT>. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today </B></FONT>(Deuteronomy 30:5-6, 8, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> Thy people also <I>shall be </I>all righteous: <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#005000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>they shall inherit the land for ever</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#005000" FACE="Verdana" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" >(Isaiah 60:21).</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Israel will inherit the land and the Jubilee year will be implemented for proper land management and inheritance (see below), as well as for debt release.</div> <bR> <div> This article - to be expanded later - will look for now at how the Jubilee Year fits into the calendar. </div> <bR> <div> But first, a brief look at leadership in the Millennium, to introduce the Millennial Jubilee.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Delegated Leadership in the Millennium</B></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>In those days </B></FONT>... <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel </B></FONT>(Jeremiah 33:15, 17, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> In the Millennium ("those days") a descendant of David will sit on the throne of Israel.</div> <bR> <div> The throne of Israel is the throne of David, which is the throne of the Lord; just as the law of Moses is the law of the Lord.</div> <bR> <div> Then sat Solomon upon <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#6000C0" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the throne of David his father</B></FONT>; and his kingdom was established greatly (1 Kings 2:12).</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >Blessed be </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >, </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><I><B>to be </B></I><B>king for the LORD thy God</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, </FONT><B>to do judgment (</B><I><B>mishpat</B></I><B>)</B><B> and justice (</B><I><B>tsedaqah</B></I><B>)</B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >(2 Chronicles 9:8).</FONT></div> <bR> <div> God's delegated King rules for Him. The human King exercises "judgment and justice" for God.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >In those days, and at that time, will I cause </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the Branch</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#6600FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>execute judgment </B></FONT><B>(</B><I><B>mishpat</B></I><B>)</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#6600FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B> and righteousness </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT><B>(</B><I><B>tsedaqah</B></I><B>)</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > in the land (Jeremiah 33:15).</FONT></div> <bR> <div> The 'great' son of David, the son of God, Jesus Christ will exercise "judgment and justice" during the Millennium ("those days") through his delegated King, a human son of David, as it was meant to be under the Old Covenant.</div> <bR> <div> The throne of David was the throne of the "Word" of God under the Old Covenant. The throne of David will be the throne of the "Son" of God under the Renewed Covenant.</div> <bR> <div> But <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the prince of the kingdom of Persia </B></FONT>withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the kings of Persia</B></FONT>.</div> <bR> <div> Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#6000C0" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the prince of Grecia </B></FONT>shall come (Daniel 10:3, 20).</div> <bR> <div> For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.</div> <bR> <div> And God raised us up with Christ and seated us [on thrones] with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 6:12, 2:6).</div> <bR> <div> [Ephesians 2:6 is a "Prolepsis (Ampliatio); or Anticipation (Heb. 2:8). Anticipating what is going to be, and speaking of future things as present" (E.W. Bullinger, <I>Companion Bible</I>, Appendix 6: "Figures of Speech", p.12)].</div> <bR> <div> God's "judgment and justice" will be the rule during the Millennium through the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit and the replacement on the thrones of Satan and the Demons with Christ and the Saints.</div> <bR> <div> (The "heavenly realms" refers to the Holy Place of the heavenly Temple/the heavenly garden/ heavenly Mount Zion).</div> <bR> <div> <B>Jubilee Year in the Millennium</B></div> <bR> <div> Thus saith the Lord GOD; If <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the prince </B></FONT>give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons'; it <I>shall be </I>their possession by inheritance.</div> <bR> <div> But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the year of liberty</B></FONT><B> </B>(<I>deror</I>); after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons' for them (Ezekiel 46:16-17).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1bda6400.png" border=0 width="678" height="320" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> (Map adapted from John B. Taylor, <I>Ezekiel</I>, TOTC, p.273). (Unit of measurement either 'cubits' or 'rods').</div> <bR> <div> The map above shows the inheritance of the Millennial "prince" - the King who rules for the LORD - executing "judgment and justice".</div> <bR> <div> The legislation of Ezekiel 46:17 reveals that the Jubilee Year is to be functioning during the Millennium - any gift of land to one of the prince's servants must be returned to the prince in "the year of liberty".</div> <bR> <div> Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty (<I>deror</I>) throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan (Levitcus 25:10, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> To understand the Jubilee year certain defined concepts are required. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Beginning of the Day</B></div> <bR> <div> And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day (Genesis 1:5).</div> <bR> <div> "God creates only during daylight; hence the first thing he creates is light... That the term '<I>ereb</I> 'evening' refers to the evening that follows God's creative acts is proved by the refrain of the first day (Gen 1:5). Obviously, there was no evening preceding the creation of light" (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, p.1967).</div> <bR> <div> " "And it came to be evening, and it came to be morning: Day One" ([Genesis 1] verse 5, literal Hebrew). In other words, "the day ended with evening, and the night with morning" (<I>The New BDBG Lexicon</I>, reference <I>boqer</I>, p. 134a). The simplest explanation of this wording is that the <I>local day </I>as the narrator describes it begins and ends at sunrise. Such an observer would see the evening ('<I>erev</I>) come twelve hours later at sunset, then the morning (<I>boqer</I>) come twelve hours later still at sunrise" (John Wheeler, <I>The Biblical Basis of the Sacred Calendar</I> - "Part One: The Sacred calendar in Hebrew Scripture," p.17, rakkav.com).</div> <bR> <div> "The fact that <I>evening</I> is placed before <I>morning</I> throughout this chapter is not foolproof indication that the OT reckons a day from sunset to sunset. There is some evidence that strongly suggests that the day was considered to begin in the morning at sunrise. For example, this view is supported by the fact that when the OT refers to a second day the time reference is the morning (Gen. 19:33-34; Judg, 6:38; 21:4). Similarly, the phrase "day and night" is much more frequent than "night and day"" (Victor P. Hamilton, <I>The Book of Genesis Chapters 1-17</I>, NICNT, p.121).</div> <bR> <div> In the first <I>month, </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#6000C0" FACE="Georgia" >on the fourteenth day of the month at <B>even</B></FONT>, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at<B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#6000C0" FACE="Georgia" ><B>even</B></FONT> (Exodus 12:18).</div> <bR> <div> "If the day began in the evening, there would be no need to state, [in Milgrom's view], not once but twice, that the termini are the evening..." (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, p.1967). [Milgrom takes the "either/or" position as opposed to the "and/both" solution].</div> <bR> <div> "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement... It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath" (Leviticus 23:27 & 32, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>)<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" >.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> "This is proof that the biblical day continued through the night until the following morning... Thus the Day of Purgation, like the Festival of Unleavened Bread [Exodus 12:18] ... is a pointed exception..." (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, p.1967, p.2025).</div> <bR> <div> Now this <I>is that </I>which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even (Exodus 29:38-39). </div> <bR> <div> "The offering to be made twice daily on the Altar ... was to consist of a lamb... It was offered in the morning, probably at the beginning of the day's activity, and in the evening just before nightfall; thus the day was opened and closed with gifts to Yahweh..." (John I. Durham, <I>Exodus</I>, WBC, p.396).</div> <bR> <div> "<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Verdana" ><B>The popular and practical reckoning of the day was dawn to dusk</B></FONT>,<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Verdana" ><B> but for religious and calendrical purposes, the day began in the evening </B></FONT>(Lev 23, 27, 32..." (Philip Peter Jensen, <I>Graded Holiness</I>, p.183).</div> <bR> <div> The flexibility in starting the day at different times is seen also in the naming of months.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Names of months</B></div> <bR> <div> In the fourteenth <I>day </I>of <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the first month </B></FONT>at even <I>is </I>the LORD'S passover (Leviticus 23:5).</div> <bR> <div> Observe <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the month of Abib</B></FONT>, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God... (Deuteronomy 16:1).</div> <bR> <div> "<I>In the first month</I>. <I>Bahodes hari 'son</I>. Also called <I>lemoed hodes he'</I><I><B>abib</B></I> 'at the fixed time of the month of the ripening grain' (Exod 23:15; 34:18; cf. Deut 16:1)... The longer expression was also shortened to give the month its earlier name, which is mentioned in several places in the early narrative... The first grain to reach the stage of ripening or hulling is barley [Exod 9:31..." (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, p.1967<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >, </FONT>pp.1965-66).</div> <bR> <div> "The Israelites had three systems of referring to months. In one, the months were simply numbered (as here and in v. 24). In another, the Canaanite names were used (Abib, Bul, etc.), of which only four are known. In the third system, the Babylonian names (Nisan, Adar, Tishri, Kislev, etc.) were used - in the exilic and postexilic books only - and are still used today" (NIVSB, note on Leviticus 23:5).</div> <bR> <div> "The numerical system of referring to months is the most common one in the OT..." (D.F. Morgan, "Calendar", ISBE, Vol.1, p575).</div> <bR> <div> The flexibility is also exhibited in the beginning of the year.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Beginning of the Year</B></div> <bR> <div> This month [Abib] <I>shall be </I>unto you <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the beginning </B></FONT>of months: it <I>shall be </I>the first month <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>of the year </B></FONT>to you (Exodus 12:2).</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>at the end of the year</B></FONT>, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#005000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>when you gather in your crops from the field </B></FONT>(Exodus 23:16, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> Also in the fifteenth day of <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the seventh month</B></FONT>, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#005000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land</B></FONT>, ye shall<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B> keep</B></FONT> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>a feast unto the LORD seven days</B></FONT>... (Leviticus 23:39).</div> <bR> <div> "... Moses appointed that <I>Nisan</I> ... should be the first month for their festivals, because he brought them out of Egypt in that month; so that this month began the year as to all the solemnities they observed to the honor of God, although he preserved the original order of the months as to selling and buying, and other ordinary affairs" (<I>The Works of Josephus</I>, Translated by William Whiston, "The Antiquities of the Jews", 1.3.3 (81), p.33).</div> <bR> <div> "It is most natural that only after the ingathering of all the crops and before the advent of the rainy and sowing season that the Israelite farmer had the leisure to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the seven days of the festival" (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, p.1967, p.2028, notes on Leviticus 23:33-36a)</div> <bR> <div> "The year referred to here was the so-called civil year, which began with the preparation of the ground for the harvest-sowing, and ended when all the fruits of the field and garden had been gathered in. No particular day was fixed for its commencement, nor was there any new year's festival; and even after the beginning of the earing month had been fixed upon for the commencement of the year (Exo 12:2), this still remained in force, so far as all civil matters connected with the sowing and harvest were concerned; though there is no evidence that a double reckoning was carried on at the same time, or that a civil reckoning existed side by side with the religious" (C.F. Kiel, <I>The Pentateuch</I>, KD, Vol.1, p.418).</div> <bR> <div> <B>Premise</B></div> <bR> <div> "... it appears that sacred units of time commence before the equivalent units of secular time that they overlap" (Roy Gane, <I>Leviticus, Numbers</I>, NIVAC, p.435).</div> <bR> <div> Therefore sacred and secular dating for the festivals is required to declare the days and their starting/finishing times.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Sabbat Sabbaton</B></div> <bR> <div> "The construct chain <I>sabbat sabbaton</I> is a superlative, literally "the most restful rest" (cf. <I>qodes qodasim</I>, lit. "the holiest holiness" or "most holy"). Falling under the category of <I>sabbat sabbaton</I> are the sabbath (Exod 31:15; 35:2; cf. Exod 16:23), Yom Kippur (Lev 16:31; 23:32), and the sabbatical year (25:4). Accordingly, a total cessation of labor is enjoined for the sabbath and Yom Kippur and a total cessation of labor <I>on the land</I> for the sabbatical year. That is, on the sabbath and Yom Kippur, Israelites (and persons and animals under their control) must rest, whereas during the sabbatical year not persons but the land must rest. A <I>sabbaton</I> is prescribed for the first, fifteenth, and twenty-second days of the seven month (vv.24, 39), but as indicated by the work prohibition for these days, only a partial rest is enjoined" (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, p.1967, p.1959).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="389" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="217"><div> <B>Sabbaths</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> <B>Kind of Rest</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="217"><div> Weekly Sabbath</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> Total</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> Unleavened Bread day 1</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> Partial</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> Unleavened Bread day 7</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> Partial</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="217"><div> Festival of Weeks</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> Partial</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="217"><div> Festival of Trumpets</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> Partial</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="217"><div> Day of Atonement</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> Total</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> Festival of Booths day 1</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> Partial</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> Festival of Booths day 2</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> Partial</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="217"><div> Land Sabbath</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="141"><div> Total</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> "The holiness of the sabbath is emphasized in the strongest terms possible. It is a ... <I>sabbat sabbaton</I>, a "sabbath of sabbatism," [author's trans.] or to render this Hebrew superlative form another way, it is "the most restful cessation" ([Lev 23] v.3, author's trans.). The sabbath is to be observed by abstaining from all daily tasks. The fact the sabbatical year is also called a "sabbath of sabbaths" (25:4, author's tran.) is an indication that the prohibition against work is not an absolute, for some minor tasks, such as caring for animals and the like, must always be carried out. The principle however, stands. Regular work is to come to a halt in favor of a day of rest for humanity and for the worship of the Lord" (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., <I>Leviticus</I>, NIB, Vol.1, p.1157).</div> <bR> <div> <B>Introduction to Leviticus 25</B></div> <bR> <div> "There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD" (Leviticus 23:3, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> "In many ways, chap. 25 continues the sabbatical cycle observed in chap. 23. The principle of the weekly sabbath is now extended to a sabbatical rest set for every seven years for the land and what it produces. And that principle is extended once again to seven seven-year cycles, after which is to be the jubilee year...</div> <bR> <div> "Leviticus 25 is indeed unique among all the chapters of the Torah, for it is only chapter that deals with the subject of land tenure in ancient Israel. Two other complementary passages on the same subject appear briefly in the Torah: <B>Exod 23:10-11</B>, which specifies that every seventh year (without calling it a sabbatical year) the land is to be left fallow and Deut 15:1-6..." (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr, <I>The Book of Leviticus</I>, NIB, Vol.1, p.1170).</div> <bR> <div> "The two Sabbath laws in this part of Exodus differ from the other three Sabbath texts in their motivation (16:23; 20:10; 31:15-17). The others state the purpose of the Sabbath in relation to God's holiness and resting in creation. Here the focus is on providing for the poor and for the beasts of burden. The seventh-year rest for fallow fields, "<B>let the land lie unplowed and unused</B>," applies also to the <B>vineyard</B> and <B>olive grove</B>." A parallel text in Leviticus 25:1-7, 20-22 emphasizes the Lord's provision. The seventh-day rest also points to those who bear the heaviest labor. Rest "<B>so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed</B>." The Lord's concern for sustaining and restoring the most vulnerable, the poor and the non-human creation, is again at the forefront" (James K. Bruckner, <I>Exodus</I>, NIBC, p.218).</div> <bR> <div> "Even the vineyards are to be left "unpruned" (v.5), a word derived from the same root from which the word <I>Nazarite</I> comes. Just as a Nazarite is one is "separated" unto God and who, therefore, lets his hair grow without shaving it, so the vineyards are consecrated and separated unto the Lord and left untouched by the pruning hook and knife" (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr, <I>The Book of Leviticus</I>, NIB, Vol.1, p.1171).</div> <bR> <div> But the seventh <I>year </I>thou shalt <B>let it rest </B>and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat (Exodus 23:11).</div> <bR> <div> At the end of <I>every </I>seven years thou shalt make a release (Deuteronomy 15:1).</div> <bR> <div> "<I>Let it rest</I>. From the Hebrew verb used here comes the noun used in Deuteronomy 15:1 for 'year of release'. In Deuteronomy, it applies to a remission of debts: here, it has its simplest meaning of 'leaving ground fallow'. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Verdana" ><B>The parallelism between the seventh year and the seventh day (of rest) is made explicit in verse 12</B></FONT>. The only stated purpose of the 'fallow year', however, is so that the poor may eat and, after them, the wild beasts..." (Alan Cole, <I>Exodus</I>, TOTC, p.178).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="10" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="691" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 33 WIDTH="320"><div> Ex 23:10 For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="320"><div> Ex 23:12a Six days do your work</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 33 WIDTH="320"><div> Ex 23:11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Ex 23:12b but on the seventh day do not work</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> "[Exodus]<B>23:10-12</B>. Here follow directions respecting the year of rest and the day of rest, the first of which lay the foundation for the keeping of the sabbatical and jubilee years, which are afterwards instituted in Leviticus 25..." (C.F. Keil, <I>The Pentateuch</I>, KD, Vol.1., p.416).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="7" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="691" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 33 ><NOBR><div> Lev 23:3a There are six days when you may work, </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="326"><div> Lev 25:3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 33 WIDTH="326"><div> Lev 23:3b but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest [<I>sabbat sabbaton</I>], a day of sacred assembly. </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="326"><div> Lev 25:4a But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest [<I>sabbat sabbaton</I>],</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> Lev 23:3d it is a sabbath to the LORD. </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="326"><div> Lev 25:4b a sabbath to the LORD.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 33 WIDTH="326"><div> Lev 23:3c You are not to do any work; wherever you live, </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="326"><div> Lev 25:4c Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Jubilee Year</B></div> <bR> <div> "Count off seven sabbaths of years - seven times seven years - so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty (<I>deror</I>)  throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. <B>The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you</B>; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields" (Leviticus 25:8-12, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> "<I>A jubilee. Yobel. </I>The etymology is unclear. R. Akiba claims that in Arabic <I>yubla</I> means "ram" (<I>b. Ros Has</I> 26a)... [Targum Pseudo-Jonathan] renders <I>soperot hayyobelim</I> (Joshua 6:4) as ... 'a shofar (made) of the horn of a ram'. Thus it would be some form of horn that gave its name to the <I>yobel</I>-year because it was blown at its onset... The likelihood of ... [this] interpretation is supported by the fact that outside this source <I>yobel</I> only occurs with the meaning of "horn" (Exod 19:13; Josh 6:4, 5, 6,13... As the name of the fiftieth year, it never appears in Scripture. Ezekiel calls it <I>senat haddero</I>r 'the year of release' (Ezekiel 46:17)" (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, p.2169).</div> <bR> <div> "Thus the root occurs also in the name Jubal, the father of musicians (Gen 4:21). The identifying name Jubilee occurs only in Leviticus and in Numbers 36:4. But the idea of release of those enslaved for debt (<I>deror</I>) occurs, not only at v.10, but also at Isaiah 61:1; Jeremiah 34:8, 15, 17; and Ezekiel 46:17. From this word the idea of celebration has come into English, especially the celebration of a fiftieth anniversary" (R. Laird Harris, <I>Leviticus</I>, EBC, Vol.2, p.634).</div> <bR> <div> Leaving the discussion of vv.8-12 for a moment, an overview of the chronological problem of interpretation is presented, to be followed with a more detailed treatment of vv.8-12 and 20-22.</div> <bR> <div> You may ask, "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?" I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in (Leviticus 25:20-22, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> "The question is: How can the harvest of the sixth year last for three years, particularly if the sabbatical and jubilee years are consecutive? Of the three solutions for resolving the chronological difficulties in vv.20-22... Ramban presumes a spring calendar, except for the sabbatical and jubilee. This system works the best. The harvest of sixth year last for three years (v.21), what is sown in the eighth year is reaped in the ninth; and vv. 10-22 are in place, as part of the jubilee pericope. There is one defect, however. The years should read not 6, 7, 8, and 9 but 48, 49, 50, and 51. Perhaps the latter notation was considered too cumbersome. (Also there is no year 51 in the pentecontad system.) Alternatively, the possibility must be considered that originally vv, 20-22 were attached to v.7 as part of the sabbatical pericope and subsequently were reformulated and moved into its present place as an appendix to the jubilee pericope. Hartley (1992: 437) prefers the latter solution because "the text says that they will sow in the eighth year, which would be forbidden in the year of Jubilee if it is in the fiftieth year, but not if it was the eighth year of a sabbatical cycle." Ramban however avoids this pitfall by positing that the sabbatical and jubilee years are fixed according to the agricultural, or fall, calendar" (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, pp.2181-82).</div> <bR> <div> In Ramban's solution years 6, 7, 8, and 9 refer to the "spring" calendar not to the "fall" calendar.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Jubilee Chronology</B></div> <bR> <div> The following is from Roy Gane's commentary on <I>Levitics, Numbers</I> from "The NIV Application Commentary" with some extra comments. Gane follows Ramban's solution, "which works the best".</div> <bR> <div> "<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000050" FACE="Verdana" ><B>Chronology</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> "The counting of sabbatical years was to begin when the Israelites conquered Canaan and owned their fields (Lev 25:2-3). After seven sabbatical years totaling forty-nine years, the Jubilee year is the fiftieth year, beginning on the tenth day of the seventh month, which is the day of Purgation (25:8-11)" (Gane, p.432).</div> <bR> <div> This month [Abib] <I>shall be </I>unto you <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>the beginning </B></FONT>of months: it <I>shall be </I>the first month <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>of the year </B></FONT>to you (Exodus 12:2).</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>at the end of the year</B></FONT>, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#005000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>when you gather in your crops from the field </B></FONT>(Exodus 23:16,<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" > NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> "Notice that although Exodus 12:2 puts the first month (= Nisan) in the spring, the Jubilee year begins in the fall and over laps the spring-spring year the way the modern July-July fiscal year overlaps our January-January calendar.</div> <bR> <div> "Count off ... forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year ... It shall be a jubilee for you.. (Leviticus 25-8-10, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> "Why does the Jubilee year begin on the Day of Purgation, ten days after the beginning of the seventh month? "The jubilee year, we are informed (Leviticus 25:10, 12), was regarded as a <I>holy</I> period; accordingly it could not begin until the annual ceremony of purgation and resanctification had taken place" (Gaster, <I>Festivals of the Jewish Year</I>, 183).</div> <bR> <div> "How the ongoing cycles of sabbatical and Jubilee years are integrated is not obvious. The problem is that adding the Jubliee year as the fiftieth year would seem to put the previous and following sabbatical years, that is, the forth-ninth year of the previous cycle and the seventh year of the following cycle, eight years apart rather than seven:</div> <bR> <div> "49  <B>50</B>  1  2  3  4  5  6  7</div> <bR> <div> "A solution must take into account the chronological factors indicated by the text. (1) Sabbatical years continue in unbroken succession (25:3-4). Compare the close relationship between the fallow law of Exodus 23:10-11 and the law of the weekly Sabbath immediately following it (23:12), which implies that the sabbatical years follow the same regular pattern as weekly Sabbath days.</div> <bR> <div> "(2) The fiftieth year is a separate year following the forty-ninth year rather than coinciding with it.</div> <bR> <div> "(3) The ongoing Jubilee cycle is linked to the sabbatical cycle rather than independent of it.</div> <bR> <div> [But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. <B>Do not sow </B>your fields <B>or prune </B>your vineyards (Leviticus 25:2, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>)].</div> <bR> <div> "(4) The text does not give a date for beginning sabbatical years. Support for a fall sabbatical year is found in the order of agricultural activities in Leviticus 25:4-5: "Do not sow ... do not reap." Fall was the normal time for sowing crops that were harvested in the following spring.</div> <bR> <div> [A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather <I>the grapes </I>in it of thy vine undressed (Leviticus 25:11)].</div> <bR> <div> "(5) The fact that 25:11 prohibits both sowing and reaping during the Jubilee year implies that it is a full year.</div> <bR> <div> "We can conclude: "Given an unbroken succession of sabbatical years in which the Jubilee year is a separate, full, 50th year following the seventh sabbatical year, the Jubilee Year must coincide with the first year of the following cycle" (R. Gane, "The Laws of the Seventh and Fiftieth Years," <I>JAGNES</I> 1 (1990): 6).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="1" CELLPADDING="3" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="483" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="51"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="20" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="51" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><div> 1</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><div> 2</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><div> 3</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><div> 4</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><div> 5</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><div> 6</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><div> 7</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="51"><div> <B>49</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><div> <B>50</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="51" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="51" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="51" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="51" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="51" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="51"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="51" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> "Because the fiftieth = first year was fallow, this would leave only five regular years of agricultural work (years 2-6) between the forty-ninth sabbatical and the seventh-year sabbatical of the following cycle. At first glance this would seem to conflict with Leviticus 25:3 ("For six years sow your fields..."). However, six years was simply the norm. Compare the fact that weekly Sabbath commandment reads, "Six days you shall labor and do all your work" (Ex.20:9), but extra ceremonial sabbaths (Lev. 23) could reduce the number of workdays to five in a particular week.</div> <bR> <div> "The relationship between sabbatical and Jubilee years in Leviticus 25 parallels the relationship between the seven weekly Sabbaths and the Feast of Weeks on the fiftieth day (23:15-16)" (Roy Gane, <I>Leviticus/Numbers</I>, pp.432-434).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="7" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="679" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="326"><div> <B>Leviticus 23:15-16</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="314"><div> <B>Leviticus 25:8, 10</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="326"><div> And ye shall count [<I>sapar</I>]...</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="314"><div> And thou shalt number [<I>sapar</I>]</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 33 WIDTH="326"><div> seven [<I>seba</I>] sabbaths [<I>sabbatot</I>] shall be complete</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="314"><div> seven [<I>seba</I>] sabbaths [<I>sabbatot</I>] of years unto thee...</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 33 WIDTH="326"><div> Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath  shall ye number fifty days</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> "The term <I>sabbat</I> here [in Lev 23] clearly means weeks... cf. Matt 28:1; Luke 18:12; Mark 16:2, 9) and is distinguished from the usual <I>sabua</I> by the fact that it ends with the sabbath" (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, p.1998).</div> <bR> <div> "... this verse [25:8] is clearly modeled on 23:15... Thus it is one of the indications that the period of the jubilee cycle (49 +1 years) is based on the pentecontal calendar, the fifty days between the barley and wheat offerings (23:15-16; Kottackal 1983). The jubilee of years is structured on the "jubilee" of weeks" (Jacob Milgrom, <I>Leviticus 23-27</I>, Anchor Bible, p.2163).</div> <bR> <div> "<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000050" FACE="Verdana" ><B>Fallow years</B></FONT>. The sabbath of the land in the seventh year was "to the LORD," so letting the land revert to its natural state carried religious significance. According to Exodus 23:11 there was also a humanitarian purpose: "Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may ear what they leave." Because there would be no sowing, whatever grew by itself from kernels spilled during the previous harvest would belong to anyone, human or animal, who needed it. Since there was no reaping even of that which sprang up by itself (Lev. 25:5), the whole population would live off the land from day to day (cf. gleaning in 19:9-10; Ruth 2).</div> <bR> <div> "Even with eating what the land would produce by itself, the question arises: What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest crops? (Lev. 25:20). God answers in the context of the last sabbatical period in the Jubilee cycle: "I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year you will eat from the crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in" (25:21).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="5" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="545" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="122"><div> 6</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="122"><div> 7</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="122"><div> 8</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="122"><div> 9</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="122"><div> harvest 3x</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="122"><div> (sabbatical)</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> plant (Jubilee)</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="122"><div> harvest</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> "Here is the same principle as God's promise to provide a double portion of manna on the sixth day of the week so that the Israelites would not need to collect any on the Sabbath (Ex. 16:5, 22-30). But the triple harvest in the sixth year had to provide for that year and last over a fallow sabbatical year, immediately followed by a Jubilee year. We are reminded of the Joseph story in which good agricultural years provided for following years of lack (Gen. 41) (C. Carmichael, "The Sabbatical/Jubilee Cycle and the Seven-Year Famine in Egypt," (<I>Bib</I> 80 (1999): 228-30)" (Roy Gane, <I>Leviticus/Numbers</I>, NIVAC, p.434).</div> <bR> <div> <B>What shall we eat on the Seventh day?</B></div> <bR> <div> Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you...</div> <bR> <div> Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."</div> <bR> <div> This is what the LORD has commanded: "<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>Each one is to gather </B></FONT>as much as he needs. Take <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>an omer </B></FONT>for each person you have in your tent.' "</div> <bR> <div> <B>On the sixth day</B>, they <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><B>gathered twice as much </B></FONT>- <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Georgia" ><B>two omers for each person </B></FONT>... </div> <bR> <div> Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#6000C0" FACE="Georgia" ><B>on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days</B></FONT>. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." So the people rested on the seventh day (Exodus 16:4, 26, 16, 22, 29-30, NIV).</div> <bR> <div> <B>What shall we eat in the Seventh and Eighth years?</B></div> <bR> <div> You may ask, "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?" <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#6000C0" FACE="Georgia" ><B>I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years</B></FONT>. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in (Leviticus 25:20-22, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Georgia" >NIV</FONT>).</div> <bR> <div> "<B>20</B>. <I>If you say</I>, etc. Nachmanides understands the text: 'If you say in the seventh year, "What shall we eat (in the eighth year, since we left our land fallow in the seventh year)'. The answer is in the following verse. God will bless the sixth year with such fruitfulness that you will have enough to eat in the sixth, seventh and eighth years" (S.M. Lehrman, <I>Leviticus</I>, A. Cohen, Editor,<I> The Soncino Chumash</I>, p.767).</div> <bR> <div> "The idea of a bumper crop to last three years in the sixth year may strike the Westerner as fanciful. But if the timing is miraculous, the notion of large variations in yield is not. The size of the harvest is determined by the timing and quantity of the rain during the growing season. Both factors can change dramatically from one year to the next in Israel" (Gordon J. Wenham, <I>The Book of Leviticus</I>, NICOT, p.320).</div> <bR> <div> <B>Secular/Sacred Year Overlap</B></div> <bR> <div> "Since planting was in the fall and harvesting was in the spring, crops planted in the fall of year 8 would be harvested in the spring of year 9. Working backwards and filling in earlier years, we find that in Leviticus 25:20-22 years numbered ("sixth year," "seventh year," etc.) from the beginning of the last sabbatical period of a Jubilee cycle must start with the first month in the spring (cf. Ex.12:2). However, because the sabbatical and Jubilee years commence in the seventh month in the fall, according to the agricultural calendar that follows the order of planting (fall) <IMG SRC="189160a0.png" border=0 width="22" height="10" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> harvesting (spring), they overlap the numbered years: sabbatical = year 6-7 and Jubilee = year 7-8" (Roy Gane, <I>Leviticus/Numbers</I>, NIVAC, pp.434-35).</div> <bR> <div> Put another way, the sabbatical year is the second half of the sixth sacred year and the first half of the seventh sacred year and the Jubilee year is the second half of the seventh sacred year and the first half of the eighth sacred year. Planting then begins in the second half of the eighth sacred year; with harvesting and in the first half of the ninth sacred year.</div> <bR> <div> "The following reconstruction accounts for the chronological data in Leviticus 25:20-22, as opposed to other options that are not consistent with the constraints of a 6-9 year framework with a threefold blessing on the harvest in year 6.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1882a8e0.png" border=0 width="554" height="142" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="18b5df70.png" border=0 width="605" height="247" ALT="Bitmap Image" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> (Calendar of 12 regular numbered months - no intercalary months)</div> <bR> <div> "If the sabbatical year begins in the seventh month, why doesn't it commence half a year <I>after</I> the beginning of the seventh spring year rather than half a year <I>before</I>, in the sixth year? The sabbatical year fallow follows the protocol for observance of rest on the Day of Purgation, when Jubilee years (and probably also sabbatical years) begin (25:9). Although the Day of Purgation is on the tenth day of the seventh month (16:29; 23:27); Num 29:7), its sabbath of complete cessation runs from the evening before, on the ninth day, to the evening of the tenth day (Lev. 23:32). In Nehemiah 13:19, weekly seventh-day Sabbath rest commences on the evening of the sixth day of the week, just as we find that the seventh-year fallow begins in the sixth year. So it appears that sacred units of time commence before the equivalent units of secular time that they overlap" (Roy Gane, <I>Leviticus/Numbers</I>, NIVAC, p.435).</div> <bR> <div> <B>Conclusion</B></div> <bR> <div> "Leviticus 25 carries the sabbatical year over and builds upon it. A "Jubilee" year following a sabbatical of sabbaticals (i.e., 7 x 7 = 49 years) is what amounts to a "super-sabbatical." Not only does the land rest, it returns to its original owner. Not only do agricultural workers rest by not planting or harvesting; they return to their own clans and lands. Not only does the economy rest, debts that have kept people under obligation claim them no more. This legislation stresses the desirability of economic self-sufficiency and the need to treat people undergoing economic hardship with kindness and respect" (Roy Gane, <I>Leviticus/Numbers</I>, NIVAC, p.443).</div> <bR> <div> This article has looked at the chronological aspect of the Jubilee year. When this article is continued, it will look at the other aspects of this "super-sabbatical".</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id101_m.htm" TITLE="Millennial Jubilee">Top of Page</A>                       <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Future Watch">Home Page</A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>