I’ve been studying the Sabbaticals and Jubilees a lot lately. And I’ve discovered some amazing things relating to the Bible prophecies! Almost every important prophetic date in Daniel and the Revelation falls on a Sabbatical or Jubilee year!
(Click here to download the prophecy chart that goes with this study)
Sabbaticals and Jubilees:
(You can download a chart of all the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation to go with this study from http://SanctuaryofYeshua.wordpress.com. It has the Sabbaticals and Jubilees that match prophetic dates highlighted.)
What were the Sabbaticals and Jubilees?
The Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles are described in Lev. 25 and Deut. 15. In the Biblical calendar every seventh year is a Sabbatical year, and every 49 years is a Jubilee cycle (the actual year of Jubilee is on the 50th year, which is also the 1st year of the next Jubilee cycle). So 7 sets of Sabbatical cycles equals one Jubilee cycle.
The Sabbatical year was a Sabbath when the land was to rest. They were not to sow or reap their fields. God had promised that in the 6th year he would bless their crops so much that they would have enough food to last all the way through the 7th year and beyond. Anything that grew in their fields by itself was to be for the poor and the animals to eat.
In the Sabbatical year, debts were forgiven and all Hebrew servants were to be set free. It was a year of rest and freedom!
The Jubilee was similar. It was a year of liberty to the captives, and rest for the land (although in this year they were allowed to eat what grew of itself in their fields). And in the Jubilee year, all land would return to it’s original owner. So in other words, if you became poor and sold your family’s inheritance to your neighbor, it would not stay in his possession forever. Your family would receive it back in the Jubilee year. This ensured that everybody would have a chance at life. No family would sink deeper and deeper into poverty, with no hope for the future. Every Jubilee, your economic status would be reset, so to speak, so that you would have another chance at life! Isn’t God’s system so amazing!
Speaking of these laws God gave:
“The plan of life that God gave to Israel was intended as an object lesson for all mankind. If these principles were carried out today, what a different place this world would be!” { MH 188.4}
Interestingly, it was because the Israelites failed to observe the Sabbatical years that they had to go into captivity for 70 years in Babylon. They had apparently ignored the Sabbatical cycle for 490 years, and God told them that they were going to be captive in Babylon for 70 years to make up for all the Sabbatical years during which they had not let the land rest (Dan. 9:2, 2 Chrn. 36:14-21, Jer. 25).
What the dates mean:
Now, before we go on I want to explain how the Biblical calendar overlaps with the modern Gregorian calendar we use. Our modern calendar begins in the dead of winter – January, but the Biblical calendar begins in the spring – around March or April. The Sabbatical year and Jubilee year began at the fall feasts, during the Biblical year (the Sabbatical period began at the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Jubilee began at the Day of Atonement). It is similar to how, in our modern calendar, the regular year begins on January 1, but our government’s fiscal year begins on October 1. In the same way, in the Bible, the regular year began around March or April, but the Sabbatical and Jubilee years began in the fall, around September or October and stretched to the next fall.
So in the following description, for example, when I say that 1840 AD was a Sabbatical year, I mean that the Sabbatical year would have started in the fall of 1839 and stretched to the fall of 1840. For simplicity I’m only mentioning the year in our modern calendar which contained most of the Sabbatical year. So again, the Sabbatical year of 1840 would have started in the fall of 1839 and stretched to the fall of 1840. (This is the same way it is written on the prophecy chart that you can download from the website.)
And what about the Jubilees? Remember that the Jubilee cycle consists of a 49 year cycle, and then the 50th year is the actual Jubilee year. This 50th year is also the first year of the next Jubilee cycle. This might seem a bit confusing, but it’s similar to how our 7 day week works. The week is a 7 day cycle. But if we decide to count 8 days, starting on Saturday, we up with the 8th day being Sunday of the next week. So the 8th day is also the first day of the next weekly cycle. So in the same way, the 50th year was also the first year of the next Jubilee cycle. Hopefully that comparison helps it make sense.
This is a beautiful pattern of repeating cycles! Every 7th year is a Sabbatical, and after 7 sets of Sabbatical cycles is a Jubilee! It’s like the small and large gears rotating inside of a clock, measuring off the cycles of time.
Ok, so every 49 year cycle ends with a Sabbatical year, and then the 50th year is the Jubilee. As an example let’s take the date 1798. A Jubilee cycle ended in this year. So the Jubilee of 1798 would have begun in the fall of 1798 and stretched to the fall of 1799. For simplicity, in the following description, I will just call it the Jubilee of 1798, but you need to keep in mind that most of it actually stretches into 1799. (And again, this is the same way it is written on the prophecy chart you can download from the website.)
How can we connect the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles with history?
There has been much confusion regarding the Jubilees and Sabbaticals over the years. The Jews have mostly lost track of them after their dispersion. But we do have some historical evidence to pinpoint when they should be. And it matches exactly with the dates I’m going to be talking about below. I will refer you to this page for a good explanation of that historical evidence – http://www.pickle-publishing.com/papers/sabbatical-years.htm.
Ultimately the Bible is our guide, so that is where we will turn to discover when the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles should be, but remember that this does line up perfectly with the historical evidence I just spoke of.
Just like the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year were symbolic of freedom from debt and bondage for the Israelites, so they well represent our freedom from debt and the bondage of sin as well. Considering this symbolic meaning, it seems like one or both of these cycles would have corresponded with some of the important dates in the life of Christ. That’s the purpose and focal point of all the prophecies in the Bible. So it seems like they must correlate with some of the important dates in the life of Christ. So primarily we have AD 27 when he was baptized, AD 31 when He died, and AD 34 when the gospel went to the gentiles.
And considering that the 490 years, which prophesied His coming, are split up into seven year divisions, it seems certain that it is split up in this manner because they are Sabbatical cycles, which Daniel would have been very familiar with. The Jews were captives in Babylon on account of not keeping these Sabbatical cycles – which is exactly what Daniel was praying about at the beginning of chapter 9, before the angel comes and shows him this prophecy! So 490 years = 70 Sabbatical cycles, or 10 Jubilee cycles. Daniel 9:27 says Messiah would be cut off in the middle of the week – i.e. during the middle of the last seven year time period. So that would make AD 27 and AD 34 Sabbatical years.
So the prophecy of Daniel 9 helps us to pinpoint exactly when the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles are in history!
What if we calculated the dates going forward from there into more modern history? It’s very fascinating to discover that the Sabbatical dates line up with some important events in history. Here is a list of some of the more recent ones:
1798 fall of the Papacy
1812 fall of Napoleon
1840 fall of Turks
1917 fall of Israel into British hands instead of Turks
1917 fall of Russian Czar to Communism (Lenin)
1938 WWII is starting
1945 fall of Hitler, WWII ends September 2, 1945
1973 Vietnam war ends
1994 EU established
2001 9/11 Attack on the US – September 11 (physical strike)
2008 Economic collapse – September 29 (financial strike)
2015 Pope speaks to Congress on Day of Atonement – September 24 (spiritual strike)
2021 COVID reached it’s peak. The Biden administration released the Path Out of the Pandemic COVID-19 Action Plan in September 2021.
Interestingly, Jews have traditionally considered the Sabbatical year to either be a year of blessing and liberty, if they are faithful; or a year of judgment, if they are unfaithful. This pattern would seem to bear true in the record of world history, as can be seen in many of the above events.
What about the Jubilees? Well if AD 34 was the beginning of a Jubilee year (Jubilees and Sabbaticals begin at the fall feasts), then we could calculate other Jubilee years from there. We find an interesting pattern! BC 457 was the beginning of a Jubilee year, when the decree was made to let the captives from Babylon return and rebuild Jerusalem. 34 AD was the beginning of a Jubilee year, when the Gospel message of freedom from sin, through the blood of Christ, went out to the whole world. 1798 AD was also a Jubilee, when the Pope was taken captive and the world was freed from the power of spiritual Babylon.
So, in summary, if we lay the 7 year cycle and the 49 year cycle on the timeline of history, we find that it lines up perfectly with the first phase of Christ’s ministry, beginning when He was anointed in AD 27; and it lines up perfectly with the final phase of His ministry around AD 1844. His entrance into the Most Holy place in 1844 would have been in the midst of the week (of years), just as the crucifixion in AD 31 was in the midst of the week. Both the week in 1844 and the week in 31 would have ended with a Jubilee.
Both these time periods were prophesied by the same vision in Daniel 8-9, and this is also the same vision were we get the hints on how to figure the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles.
And here we come to another amazing discovery! When we use this Sabbatical and Jubilee cycle we find that most of the prophetic dates important to the Adventist understanding of prophecy fall on a Sabbatical or Jubilee year as well. Let’s take a look at some of them! (Remember that all these dates and prophecies are laid out visually on the timeline you can download at http://SanctuaryofYeshua.wordpress.com.)
723 BC – Sabbatical (beginning of Israel/Samaria’s 2520 time period – 360 Sabbatical cycles to 1798)
677 BC – Middle of the “week” (beginning of Judah’s 2520 time period – 360 Sabbatical cycles to 1844, which was also in the midst of a seven year cycle)
604 BC – Sabbatical (beginning of 70 years captivity – 10 Sabbatical cycles)
541 BC – Sabbatical (year after Babylon fell to Medo-Persia in 539 BC)
534 BC – Sabbatical (end of 70 years captivity)
520 BC – Sabbatical (second decree to rebuild Jerusalem)
457 BC – Sabbatical and beginning of a Jubilee (third decree – restoration of nation of Israel, beginning of the 2300 years)
444 BC – Sabbatical (fourth decree to finish rebuilding – the Sabbatical year would have begun in the fall of 444 BC and ended in the fall of 443 BC)
408 BC – Sabbatical and beginning of a Jubilee (completion of the first seven weeks of Dan. 9:25 – city being rebuilt)
331 BC – Sabbatical (Medo-Persia falls to Greece)
Greece Falls to Rome:
197 BC – Sabbatical (Power of Macedonia broken in Battle of Cynoscephalae)
191 BC – Sabbatical (Power of Seluciuds broken at Battle of Thermopylae)
148 BC – Sabbatical (Macedonia tried to rise, but was again defeated at Second Battle of Pydna)
AD 27 – Sabbatical (Jesus is anointed to begin His mission to the world)
AD 31 – Middle of the “week” – middle of the seven year period (Jesus is crucified)
AD 34 – Sabbatical and beginning of a Jubilee (the Jews stone Stephen and the Gospel is carried to the Gentiles)
AD 476 – Sabbatical (Pagan Rome falls)
AD 538 – Sabbatical (Papal Rome gains full power – beginning of the 1260 years, which is 180 Sabbatical cycles)
AD 553 – Sabbatical (Ostrogoths uprooted)
AD 622 – Sabbatical and beginning of a Jubilee (Mahomet received as prince of Medina in fulfillment of 4th Trumpet) (It was the Mohammedan power that limited the spread of the Papacy)
AD 629 – Sabbatical (first war of Mahometans against Rome, another part of the 4th Trumpet)
AD 1518 – Sabbatical (Luther nailed 95 Thesis to church door Oct. 31, 1517, beginning the Sabbatical year of 1518 – this was the start of the Reformation and freedom from slavery to Rome)
AD 1756 – Sabbatical (the Lisbon earthquake took place on Nov. 1, 1755, which would have been the beginning of the Sabbatical year of 1756. The first of the signs of the Second Coming)
AD 1798 – Sabbatical and beginning of the Jubilee (the Pope is taken captive and Rome receives a deadly wound)
AD 1833 – Sabbatical (William Miller receives license to preach, and the stars fall – the last of the signs of the Second Coming)
AD 1840 – Sabbatical (the Ottoman Empire falls in fulfillment of Rev. 9:15)
AD 1844 – Middle of the “week” – middle of the seven year period (Christ entered the Most Holy Place for the final phase of His work)
AD 1847 – Sabbatical and Beginning of a Jubilee when Christ might have been able to come if his people had been ready (see further note below)
AD 1889 – Sabbatical (the 1888 General Conference took place at the time of Feast of Tabernacles which was the beginning of the Sabbatical year of 1889)
Isn’t that amazing! Almost every important prophetic date is synchronized with the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles! This is another evidence to show us that the interpretation of prophecy, established by our Adventist pioneers, is correct! They didn’t know about this pattern. But now we find it many years later – especially at a time when our prophetic foundation is being threatened from within and without, by those who claim we need to choose new dates, or apply the prophecies in different ways. But not one of the critical dates can be moved or changed without breaking the synchronization with the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycle! If you try to move anything the whole system will break. The foundation of our faith standeth sure!
For those who are technically minded, the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles are like a checksum file that you can use to verify the integrity of a program you have downloaded. If anything is changed (such as a virus changing the program code) then it will no longer match with the checksum file. But if the checksum file still matches, then you know the program code has not been modified and you can trust it. And indeed, now that we find this checksum file, it verifies that our prophetic dates are correct! We knew that already from the Bible, but at this time in history when so many people are doubting, God has given us another witness to verify that the dates our Adventist pioneers laid out almost 200 years ago truly are correct.
Verification for BC 457:
One of the dates that has been attacked the most in recent years is 457 BC, the beginning of the 490 years and the 2300 years. The entire foundation of Adventism hinges on this one date; and so it has been attacked the most, both from within and without.
There were three decrees having to do with the restoration of Jerusalem. So why should we choose the one in 457 BC?
Most denominations date the 490 years from a different decree than Adventists do. Thus they have a different year for Christ’s death, and totally disregard any possibility that the 2300 days ended in 1844.
There are a number of reasons why 457 BC is proven to be the right date by the Bible. But the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycle gives us additional evidence and shows us how the Jews would have known this was the right date on which to start counting the 490 years to the Messiah’s coming!
Any Jew would have immediately realized that 490 years is 10 Jubilee cycles. Therefore it is only logical that it should start on a Jubilee and end on a Jubilee. None of the decrees to restore Jerusalem was issued on a Jubilee, except the decree in 457 BC. So any Jew would easily know which decree they should begin to count the 490 years from!
And therefore, since we have now discovered the Jubilee cycle, we too know which year is the correct year to begin the count of the 490 years and the 2300 years! And thus we have added proof that the 2300 years ended in 1844! The Adventist pioneers got it right, because they studied their Bibles diligently.
“At our important meetings these men would meet together and search for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we studied and prayed earnestly, for we felt that we must learn God’s truth. Often we remained together until late at night, and sometimes through the entire night, praying for light, and studying the Word. As we fasted and prayed, great power came upon us. But I could not understand the reasoning of the brethren. My mind was locked, as it were, and I could not comprehend what we were studying. Then the Spirit of God would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages we had been studying would be given me, with instruction as to the position we were to take regarding truth and duty. …The leading points of our faith as we hold them today were firmly established. Point after point was clearly defined, and all the brethren came into harmony. The whole company of believers were united in the truth. There were those who came in with strange doctrines, but we were never afraid to meet them. Our experience was wonderfully established by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.—Manuscript 135, Nov. 4, 1903, “Establishing the Foundation of Our Faith.”
Another interesting thing to consider:
Using the above Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles, we find that 1847 would have been a Jubilee year. It is interesting to note that Ellen White said that if the people had been prepared, Jesus could have come shortly after 1844. And in a vision she had on April 3, 1847 (which would have been about the beginning of the Biblical year), she saw the events just preceding the Second Coming and she wrote, “Then commenced the jubilee, when the land should rest. I saw the pious slave rise in triumph and victory, and shake off the chains that bound him, while his wicked master was in confusion, and knew not what to do; for the wicked could not understand the words of the voice of God.” {CET 96.1, April 3, 1847}
Could this have actually happened at the fall feasts in 1847, if God’s people had been ready? Could Jesus have come on the Jubilee in this year?
On January 5, 1849, which would have been a few months after the end of the Jubilee, she had a vision of how the four angels had been about to release the four winds, but the closing of probation was held off because the remnant had not yet been sealed.
“Jesus was clothed with priestly garments. He gazed in pity on the remnant, then raised His hands, and with a voice of deep pity cried, “My blood, Father, My blood! My blood! My blood!” Then I saw an exceeding bright light come from God, who sat upon the great white throne, and was shed all about Jesus. Then I saw an angel fly with a commission from Jesus, swiftly flying to the four angels who had a work to do in the earth, and waving something up and down in his hand, and crying with a loud voice, “Hold! hold! hold! hold! until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads.”” {CET 102.1}
This vision was given right after the Jubilee was over. I just wonder if it was in 1847-1848, when Jesus may have planned to come and the world would have ended, but Jesus pleaded His precious blood and asked for time to be extended, so the saints could be sealed and the Gospel could go to the world.
Sometimes prophecies are given that could have been fulfilled at a certain time by a certain group of people, but because the people don’t act their part properly, God had to change his plans. According to Ellen White’s vision, this is obviously what happened. At some point in time probation was closing, but Christ pleaded for time to be extended.
A warning!
Many people have wondered if Christ will come on a different Jubilee, in the future. Some have even claimed that he can’t come until the next Jubilee from now, which is about 20 years away. One friend even said that he began to seriously backslide when he heard someone make the claim that Christ was going to wait until the next Jubilee because he subconsciously thought he had time before he needed to be prepared.
But is Christ waiting for a Jubilee before he can come?
We want to be “people of the Book”, not “people of our own theories” – we want to base every single thing we teach on the word of God, not our own ideas – no matter how logical they may seem.
Does the Bible say that Christ is going to come on a Jubilee? No! It never says that! He might have chosen to do that if other qualifications had been met, but the other qualifications that he was waiting for were not met, and so he did not.
What does the Bible say he is waiting for? He is waiting for his people to be sealed (Rev. 7, Matt. 24:14), and for the Gospel to be taken to the whole world! That is probably why he didn’t come at the Jubilee of 1847 (the days were prolonged – Eze. 12:22).
There is no indication in the scriptures that he has to wait for a Jubilee or Sabbatical year before he comes. In fact, the Bible speaks of a time that is shortened, in order for God’s people to be saved. “Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (Matt. 24:22).
There is not a single verse in the Bible that says that Christ is waiting for a Sabbatical or Jubilee, but it does say he is waiting for his people to be sealed and take the Gospel to the world. So I believe it is perilous for us to think we won’t come until the next Jubilee.
We are counseled over and over again not to set dates for the coming of Christ! Many people are setting dates anyway and making excuses why they think it is ok to do that which they were told not to do. They have logical reasoning why their dates seem right. But invariably those dates are passing away, one after another, and Christ has not come on any of the times they have set. People have been doing this for the last 150 years, and none of them have been right, no matter how logical their reasoning seemed.
Let’s not disregard the counsel we’ve been given and follow in their train!
“Again and again have I been warned in regard to time setting. There will never again be a message for the people of God that will be based on time. We are not to know the definite time either for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or for the coming of Christ.” { 1SM 188.1}
“We are not to be engrossed with speculations in regard to the times and the seasons which God has not revealed. Jesus has told His disciples to “watch,” but not for a definite time. His followers are to be in the position of those who are listening for the orders of their Captain; they are to watch, wait, pray, and work, as they approach the time for the coming of the Lord; but no one will be able to predict just when that time will come; for “of that day and hour knoweth no man.” You will not be able to say that He will come in one, two, or five years, neither are you to put off His coming by stating that it may not be for ten or twenty years.” {1SM 189.2}
Some people are doing exactly this with the Jubilees – saying that Christ probably won’t come for another 20 years, because he has to wait for the Jubilee.
But again, the Bible never says Christ is waiting for a Jubilee. If he was planning to come on a Jubilee, then he should have come on the Jubilee of 1945, which was exactly 49 cycles of 49 years from 457 BC, or else he should have come on the Jubilee of 1994, which was 50 Jubilee cycles from 457 BC. But obviously he didn’t do that! He’s not waiting for a certain set of perfect numbers, he’s waiting for a perfect set of sealed and purified people.
He’s already pleaded for more time, beyond what was originally planned. We’re just living on borrowed time now!
(Click here to download the prophecy chart that goes with this study)
