The Old Testament law demanded that the Jubilee year be observed at a very precise time which was set forth by God Himself. We turn to Leviticus 25 to determine this time. In Leviticus 25:2, we read:
Verses 8 to 11a continue with the information: 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 forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile 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. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you.
To determine the year during which the Jubilee was to be observed requires that we know the year Israel came into the land of Canaan. That year was to be a Sabbath year and was to be followed by a series of seven seven-year periods with the next year after that being the Jubilee year.
From our very careful study of the Biblical calendars, we found from the Biblical data that Israel entered the land of Canaan in the year 1407 B.C. (see pg ????, Adam When?). As we called for in the above verses, the year 1407 B.C. was therefore, a Sabbath year. This year was to be followed by a series of seven seven-year period, the last year of each seven-year period was also to be a Sabbath year. Thus, the sequence of years was as follows: Entrance into the land of Canaan, 1407 B.C., a Sabbath year. 1. 1406, 1405, 1404, 1403, 1402, 1401, 1400, a Sabbath year. 2. 1399, 1398, 1397, 1396, 1395, 1394, 1393, a Sabbath year. 3. 1392, 1391, 1390, 1389, 1388, 1387, 1386, a Sabbath year. 4. 1385, 1384, 1383, 1382, 1381, 1380, 1379, a Sabbath year. 5. 1378, 1377, 1376, 1375, 1374, 1373, 1372, a Sabbath year. 6. 1371, 1370, 1369, 1368, 1367, 1366, 1365, a Sabbath year. 7. 1364, 1363, 1362, 1361, 1360, 1359, 1358, a Sabbath year. The next year was the fiftieth year, and it was to be the Jubilee year. Thus, 1357 B.C., which immediately followed the year 1358 B.C., was the first Jubilee year. The sequence of seven seven-year periods was then repeated so that 1307 B.C. became the next Jubilee year. From then on, therefore, every year ending in 57 or 07 was a Jubilee year. Thus, 7 B.C., when Christ was born, was also a Jubilee year. |
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| Chapter 2 | Notes | ||||