LAST CHANCE SHEMITAHS
Gene Benjamin II
Summer 6034 = 2009 CE = Jewish 5769
Leviticus 25, “And Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2“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 Yahweh. 3Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to Yahweh. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5What 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. 6And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, 7for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.
8‘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. 9Then 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. 10And 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. 11That 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. 12For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
13‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. 14And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another. 15According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you. 16According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops. 17Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your Mighty One; for I am Yahweh your Mighty One.
18‘So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety. 19Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.
20‘And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. 22And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.
23‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. 24And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.
25‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. 26Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, 27then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. 28But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.
29‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it. 30But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. 32Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. 33And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34But the field of the common-land of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.
35‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. 36Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your Mighty One, that your brother may live with you. 37You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. 38I am Yahweh your Mighty One, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your Mighty One.
39‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. 40As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. 41And then he shall depart from you—he and his children with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. 42For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your Mighty One. 44And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. 45Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. 46And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
47‘Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, 48after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; 49or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself. 50Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to the time of a hired servant for him. 51If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. 52And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption. 53He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight. 54And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee—he and his children with him. 55For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am Yahweh your Mighty One.”
Commands for the Shemitah years:
1 – Verse 4 states that the 7th year is a sabbath of solemn rest to Yahweh.
2 – Do not sow the field.
3 – Do not prune the vineyard.
4 – Do not reap what grows of itself from the 6th year’s harvest.
5 – Do not gather grapes from the untended vines.
6 – Verse 6 states that the Sabbath itself will be food for those in the Land.
Commands for the Jubilee years:
1 – Verse 9 – blow the silver trumpets on Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement – throughout the whole land of Israel, proclaiming the Jubilee Year.
2 – Consecrate (hallow, set apart, observe) the Jubilee (50th) Year.
3 – Proclaim liberty (freedom, spontaneity) throughout all the land (of Israel) to all its inhabitants.
4 – It shall be a blast, Jubilee, festival, party time.
5 – Verse 10, each Israelite shall return to his (land, real estate) possession. Repeated in verse 13. Restoration time!
6 – Each of you shall return to his family. Reconciliation time!
7 – Verse 11, It’s a party year, so you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord. No planting of crops this year.
8 – Do not gather the grapes of your untended vine.
9 – Verse 12, It’s a party year, so it shall be holy (hallowed, sanctified) to you; you shall eat its produce (increase from 6th year triple blessing crop) from the field.
10 – Verse 14, and if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress (be violent towards, rage against, suppress, or maltreat) one another.
11 – Verse 15-17, you shall buy and sell with pricing based on the number of years remaining in the Jubilee cycle, per the value of how many crop years you’ll have (See my spreadsheet Jubilee Year Land Valuator).
12 – Verse 18 + 19, production, full bellies, and safety in the land guaranteed if you will obey these commands and statutes.
13 – Verses 20-22, 6th year crop produce blessing, enough for three years of eating.
14 – Verses 23 – 28, redemption of the land, not to be sold permanently, released in the Jubilee to original family so he may return to his possession (see number 5 above).
15 – Verses 29-30, houses in walled cities may be redeemed or sold permanently.
16 – Verse 31, houses in un-walled cities may be redeemed and must be released in the Jubilee, per number 5 and 14 above, treated as land.
17 – Verses 32 – 34, Levite houses can be redeemed and must be released in Jubilee, Levite land cannot be sold.
18 – Verses 35 – 38, do not charge interest on money or food to fellow Israelite.
19 – Verses 39 – 55, Children of Israel can never be permanent slaves, only redeemable servants until the next Jubilee, then he and his children must be released, so he can return to his family possession.
Here’s more thoughts on the 70th Jubilee and the rest years in this cycle. In a 70 Jubilee cycle of 3,430 years (70 X 49 = 3,430), there are 490 rest years, not counting the Jubilee years. If you include the Jubilee years in your rest year count, you get 560 rest years to observe (490 + 70 = 560). These rest years are obligations owed to our Creator, Yahweh. How many rest years do you think the nation of Israel has observed? How many has the nation of America observed in its short 402 year history?
2009 CE is the 5th Sabbath rest year of the 70th Jubilee Cycle; this year is rest year number 488 (or 557, if counting the Jubilee years also). That means we only have two more Sabbath rest years remaining before the 70th Jubilee in 2024 CE. The 6th rest year, number 489, is the year 6041, or 2016 CE, in the 42nd year of the 70th Jubilee Cycle. The 7th rest year, number 490, is the year 6048, or 2023 CE, in the 49th year of the 70th Jubilee Cycle, the year just before the 70th Jubilee in 6049, or 2024 CE. Yahweh gives us, the Israelites, 7 chances to observe mini jubilees in each Jubilee cycle. These rest years are moedim, or rehearsals, Yahweh’s appointed times. They are just as important as the annual 7 feasts of Yahweh. These feasts and appointed times came before the written Torah of Moses, if you care to study the Book, Moses just wrote them down. The rest years are especially important for Israelites in the land to observe. It may be too late for them to observe 2009 CE, but we must get the word to them to observe rest years 6 and 7. The consequences for not observing the rest years historically have been, well, disastrous for Israel. Again, check out the Book.
Only a believing Israel will obey Yahweh and observe His appointed times. I believe Yahweh brought His people back to their Land. There is hope for Israel if they will obey Yahweh and His word. We must have believing brothers and sisters in the Land, willing to look foolish, to observe the coming rest years in 2016 and 2023 and the Jubilee in 2024 CE. If Israel needs a tabernacle or a temple to observe these years, then I encourage them to get on with the construction as soon as possible. They must find Yahweh, grow some faith, dig up their Davidic courage, forget the Muslims and get to work. If the Muslims snivel or kvetch about building on the temple mount, well, the Scriptures are pretty clear about what to do with the pagan inhabitants in Canaan.
The showdown is inevitable. The Ishmaelites may not know why they hate their brethren, the Israelis, but it is because they believe that they have the birthright to the land as the firstborn of Abraham. Only one problem, Yahweh gave the Promised Land to Isaac, not Ishmael. This family feud is about to end in a great bloodbath. Israel surely owes Yahweh some rest years in the Land. Ishmael surely owes Yahweh some rest years in the Land. The bloodshed will need to be cleansed from the land. Whose blood will Yahweh require before cleansing His Land? Personally, I would prefer to see the infidel Muslims wiped off the face of the earth, but Yahweh doesn’t ask me for my preferences. What does Yahweh have to say in His Word?
Ezekiel 39, “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says Sovereign Yahweh: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; 2and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. 4You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says Sovereign Yahweh. 6“And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am Yahweh. 7So I will make My holy name (Yahweh) known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name (Yahweh) anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel. 8Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says Sovereign Yahweh. “This is the day of which I have spoken.
9“Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. 10They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,” says Sovereign Yahweh.
11“It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon (the multitude of) Gog. 12For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. 13Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified,” says Sovereign Yahweh. 14“They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search. 15The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. 16The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.”’
17“And as for you, son of man, thus says Sovereign Yahweh, ‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field:
“Assemble yourselves and come;
Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal
Which I am sacrificing for you,
A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel,
That you may eat flesh and drink blood.
18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty,
Drink the blood of the princes of the earth,
Of rams (Muslims) and lambs (believers),
Of goats (westerners) and bulls (Europeans),
All of them fatlings of Bashan (unconquered peoples in the Land, well cared for by Israel).
19 You shall eat fat till you are full,
And drink blood till you are drunk,
At My sacrificial meal
Which I am sacrificing for you.
20 You shall be filled at My table
With horses and riders,
With mighty men
And with all the men of war,” says Sovereign Yahweh.
21“I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. 22So the house of Israel shall know that I am Yahweh their Mighty One from that day forward. 23The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.”’
25“Therefore thus says Sovereign Yahweh: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name (Yahweh)—26after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. 27When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, 28then they shall know that I am Yahweh their Mighty One, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. 29And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says Sovereign Yahweh.”
Yeah, it’s going to be a bloody mess, but it looks like Israel comes out on top of the graves. The Land of Israel owes rest years to Yahweh. Israel is pre-occupied with self-preservation. Yahweh will fight for Israel again. The Land will be cleansed. There is only enough room in the Land for one people, the 12 tribes of Israel. Do you think that once Israel sees Yahweh face-to-face and is filled with His Holy Spirit that they will honor Yahweh and observe His Shemitah and Jubilee years? Hmmm. That’s a real possibility. I hear the rattling of dry bones. There’s a cool resurrection about to happen on earth.
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