Scriptures

Leviticus 25:1 to 26:2
Jeremiah 32:6-27
Jeremiah 16:19 to 17:14
1 Corinthians 7:21-24

Leviticus 25:1-7 The Sabbatical Year – Shemittah

And YHVH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, "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 YHVH. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to YHVH. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. What 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.  And 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, for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land – all its produce shall be for food.'"

The study continues this week with the teaching of holy lifestyles of the Mishkan/Tabernacle along with the progressive revelation of YHVH’s moedim/feast days and how to celebrate them. In Creation, YHVH worked six days and rested the seventh.

The Hebrew word for rest as in Sabbath rest is Strongs H7677: shabbathown from 7676 meaning 1.) Sabbath observance, sabbatism a) of weekly sabbath b) day of atonement c) sabbatical year d) of Feast of Trumpets e) of the 1st and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles.

H7676 Sabbath (intensive from H7673) 1) Sabbath a) sabbath b) day of atonement c) sabbath year d) week e) produce (in sabbath year)

H7673 a primitive root shabath meaningto cease, desist, rest a) (Qal) 1) to cease 2) to rest, desist (from labour) b) (Niphal) to cease c) (Hiphil) 1) to cause to cease, put an end to 2) to exterminate, destroy 3) to cause to desist from 4) to remove 5) to cause to fail 2) (Qal) to keep or observe the sabbath

Enjoying interludes of rest is the pattern YHVH gives us. Resting is to trust in His Word and abide in it, both in the assurance that YHVH will provide for all our needs and in confidence of Yeshua’s faithfulness to His promises in His Word. We learned in the Torah studies Tazria and Metzora (Leviticus 12-15) that if we did not rest but became fearfull, diseases and illnesses could come upon us (Deuteronomy 28). In the Book of Hebrews, we are instructed not to put our trust in the flesh or our sinful nature. We are to conform our nature to YHVH’s nature and enter His rest. This is to be a daily exercise of our hearts before YHVH (Hebrews 4:1-13).

The seventh day, called the Sabbath, contains a deeper understanding for those who enter the “rest” of the Sabbath. Not only is the seventh day a weekly Sabbath-rest for us, it is an eternal and prophetic Day that continues without end once we enter into His rest. It holds the key of life for the Bride and her future life with her Bridegroom. The Sabbath, a symbol of the wedding ring, marks the faithful Bride and enters her into a heavenly order to bring about LIFE beyond earthly trappings. The Sabbath-rest in Hebrews chapter four speaks of a belief and rest in the Sabbath by applying it into one’s life and teaching it to our children. We must choose not to walk in an earthly, carnal realm to be governed or tempted by our emotions or sinful nature but learn to submit to our heavenly nature by choosing to walk in the heavenly realm through a redeemed lifestyle. In so doing, our soul will be transformed as our spirit has been transformed (1 Peter 9-16).

Do not be deceived: YHVH cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (Galatians 6:7-10).

The study in Behar takes us beyond the weekly Sabbath rest and has us look forward to the shemittah or sabbatical year. Leviticus 25 calls for us to honor the seventh year as a rest for the land. All work on the land was to cease for that entire year. This meant that the people had to put all their trust in YHVH to provide for their very existence. If they committed to this rest, and obeyed YHVH, there would be abundant provisions from YHVH in the sixth year to help prepare them for the seventh year of rest. We are told that for six years they seeded and reaped what they planted, and in the sixth year there was enough provision to carry them through this holy consecrated seventh year for the land. If the land were allowed to rest, YHVH would cleanse the land from all defilement (physical and spiritual) and keep the enemy far from their doorstep.

Resting also brought holiness or a set-apartness to those abiding in YHVH that glorified His Name. Shemittah was the season of release. As the Children of Israel allowed the land to rest each seventh year, there was also a measure of rest for the people during that time as all life was centered on agriculture. Obedience and observance of the sabbatical year provided Israel the opportunity to draw close to YHVH. The popular saying of “taking a sabbatical” came from this scripture. Shemittah is about separation, holiness and intimacy with the Messiah. Again, the issue was obedience.

YHVH also commanded the release of past debts and restoration of freedom in the shemittah. All burdens of debt were lifted and cleared. The cancellation of debt helped the poor and prevented greed from taking hold in people’s hearts. The sabbatical year was for the soul of the people as well as the land, as all looked to YHVH for provision during this seventh year. Shemittah was designed to maintain and strengthen the relationship between YHVH and His people and taught that YHVH is the source of all blessings and can be relied upon to provide for all needs. Shemittah promoted a compassion for the poor and a responsible stewardship of the land.

We see a preparation for this all through scripture: the collecting of the extra manna on the sixth day for provision on the seventh (Exodus 16:5), the counting of the Omer for seven weeks, and the seven day observance of the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles (Leviticus 23). In all this, YHVH is preparing us for the year of Yovel, the millennial year.

Leviticus 25:8-13 Shanat Yovel - The Year of Jubilee - The Millennial

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. Then 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. And 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. That 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. For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.

The Children of Israel were to count off seven Sabbatical years or forty-nine years. The fiftieth year was to be holy and set aside as a sabbatical rest called shanat yovel, the Year of Jubilee or the Millennial. Yovel comes from a Hebrew root meaning a joyful sound, associated with the sound of a trumpet (Strongs #8643 teruah meaning: a shout or blast of war, alarm, or joy).

Like the shemittah, all land had to rest. This special year was to be made holy, sanctified and set apart to accomplish special purposes. Yovel was announced on Yom Kippur, in the seventh month, on the tenth day when atonement was made. A trumpet was blown to proclaim liberty, freedom, and release for people suffering economic and social hardship. Everyone that had to sell the family property had it restored to them; all land was given back to its original owners and those who had been forced to sell themselves into slavery were to be released.

The land of Israel was never to be permanently sold. The Children of Israel were and are to be YHVH’s caretakers of the Land, just as Adam was caretaker of the Garden. The Yovel year prevented the rich from becoming too rich and accumulating all the land of Israel, and the poor from becoming too poor. The Israelites could not buy up the land of Israel because the Land itself belonged to YHVH. He is the owner of the land of Israel. It is His to give and by His grace and mercy to lease it out to the Children of Jacob (Leviticus 25:23).

Everything belongs to YHVH. Our lives, our money, our wives, our husbands, our children, our jobs, our time, our energy and our abilities are all from YHVH. Everything we have belongs to YHVH. That is why we willingly and joyfully obey and serve Him.

The year of Yovel is described through Jeremiah 17:8:

Blessed is the man who trusts in YHVH, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its root by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

The drought mentioned is a reference to both the shemittah and shanat yovel. The word drought is used as no fields were sown or reaped during this time. If we are planted in Yeshua, He is the stream of Living Water that nourishes us, and by obeying His Word we will have no fear of famine and continue to bear much fruit in a time of drought.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of YHVH, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers (Psalm 1:1-3).

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of YHVH and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:1-2).

The Yovel/millennial year marks a season of the right of return called an ingathering for the people of Israel, the twelve tribes and those associated with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. At this time many people will return, through repentance as they witness YHVH’s deliverance and see the truth in YHVH’s Word. There is a season of repentance and return to YHVH as in the days of John the Baptist. John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah. This movement of the spirit of Elijah (of repentance) must, in nature, be followed by a restoration of Yeshua, who is the Spirit of Elijah on the earth. When we enter into Yeshua’s death and resurrection, that of crucifying our sinful nature, we receive His resurrection power and are filled with the Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit entering us into intimacy with Yeshua by obedience to His ways (Acts 18:18-19:7; Luke 3:1-18).

According to Yovel, the people will also be returning to their allotted tribal lands. In Scripture, those who return will do so by the power of Yeshua, our Kinsman Redeemer, and by the price He paid for us that opened the way for the right of redemption under the law of the Yovel year. Those far away (from Torah) living in darkness will see a wonderful revival in the Land. The Spirit of YHVH is gathering in those today. Never before have so many returned to their Roots. The Law of Redemption is Yeshua; He has provided the way back home. This is the goal of our redemption.

Leviticus 25:24-55 The Law of Redemption

Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land. If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold. If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. If an alien or a temporary resident among you becomes rich and one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells himself to the alien living among you or to a member of the alien's clan, he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his relatives may redeem him: an uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in his clan may redeem him (Leviticus 25:24; 25;35; 47).

The Law of Redemption was given to all twelve tribes of Jacob and those associated with them through the blood Covenant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the Lost Son, Yeshua teaches the Law of Redemption from Leviticus 25 through Shanat Yovel, the year of jubilee. In the story are two sons. The younger son represents the House of Israel and the other older son represents the House of Judah. The younger son asked his father (YHVH) for his inheritance early. Doing this was to declare his father dead while he was still alive. With inheritance in hand, the younger son left his father’s house and went to live in the world, leaving his father’s teaching and instruction far behind. That which brought provision and blessing into his life was no longer valuable to him, and as he reached out for life in the world his inheritance was squandered. He lost his identity and deep poverty fell upon him physically and emotionally in addition to his spiritual depravity. He became a hireling living among the swine. Even the animals ate better than he did.

The famine that came to the whole country that year was a sign that it was a Sabbatical year. Mental and physical depravity overcame him and he was humbled. YHVH allows us to enter into depravity to draw us to Himself in order to restore us. When we step outside YHVH’s ways by doing our own thing - this grieves Him. He allows us to come to the end of ourselves but is quick to restore us when we take the steps to return. When the younger son was humbled and had a contrite spirit he could see again and remembered his father and that the hirelings always had food to spare. His father’s food was the Torah, the Living Word that would always nourish and satisfy hunger.

"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of YHVH (Amos 8:11).

Hunger for the food of His father, the Torah, caused the younger son to return with a repentant heart and to seek work as a hired hand. The father saw his son from afar off and was filled with compassion. He ran to him joyfully (terminology for season of our joy, the year of Jubilee), to receive him home. As the son was repenting, his Father interrupted him and restored him back to full son status, thus fulfilling the Law of the Right of Redemption in Leviticus 25.

But the father said to his servants, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." And they began to be merry (Luke 15:22-24).

The older son, who had obeyed his father (Torah) all this time, showed great anger in seeing his father’s response to the younger son’s return and refused to give the right of return and redemption to his younger brother as written in the Levitical laws. The father pleaded with his older son but his heart was hardened at the time and responded in jealousy declaring to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  'But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'”  (Luke 15:29-32).

The older son was acting more like a slave than a true faithful son. His mental attitude had brought him lower than his brother’s. It was the older brother, the one who had been home all that time, who had died in his heart and lost the blessing. Torah without the Spirit will bring death but with the Spirit you will live. The people who practice Torah through the heart, in the Spirit of Yeshua, will enter in and enjoy the Banquet, the future Sabbath-rest of the Yovel/millennial.

This living parable foreshadows the Messiah, our kinsman redeemer for the House of Israel - the lost sheep of the House of Israel, the younger son who squandered his inheritance and his identity. It was the Messiah, from the Tribe of Judah, the House of Judah, who "purchased" his brother back and offered him the Right of Return through redemption according to the covenant promises of Abraham. In doing so Yeshua also restored both brothers back to the land (1 Corinthians 7:21-24; Matthew 10:6, 15:24).

YHVH’s laws state that to seek the Right of Redemption, the redeemer must be a blood relative, have the funds to purchase the forfeited inheritance, be willing to buy back the life of the brother/relative and if the deceased kinsman had a wife, be willing to marry her. This person is called the Kinsman Redeemer. We are witnesses to this commandment in the Book of Ruth. It was Boaz who became Kinsman Redeemer for Ruth. Later their son became the ancestor of King David, the line of the Messiah.

We have been given the right of return through the blood of the Messiah. He has fulfilled His promise to us. We have been restored, as Yeshua is our Kinsman Redeemer.

The Scriptures warn us that the land will physically spew us out if we do not obey YHVH’s Word, to allow the land He gave us to lay fallow in the Sabbath years. History records what happened when the Israelite people did not keep His word of rest for the land. After the fall of Jerusalem, the children of Israel were captured and taken out to a foreign land. Then "the land [Israel] enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the work of YHVH spoken by Jeremiah" (Jeremiah 29:10).

He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of YHVH spoken by Jeremiah (2 Chronicles 36:20-21).

In Yeshua’s time and to this very day, the tribal lands have yet to be restored according to Biblical prophecy. The people who lived in the land during Yeshua’s time were under Roman rule; all twelve Tribes were not in possession of the land yet nor in their original Tribal divisions (Ezekiel 48). The following are questions the disciples themselves contemplate over: "Will He [Yeshua] go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?" (John 7:35). "Lord [Yeshua], are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). Paul said this at his trial approximately thirty years after Yeshua’s death, "This is the promise our Twelve Tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve Elohim day and night" (Acts 26:7).

Ephraim’s (the House of Israel’s or the younger son’s) punishment as outlined in Ezekiel 4:5 was for 390 years. However, Leviticus 26:27-28 tells us if there is no repentance the punishment will be sevenfold. There is no record of Ephraim repenting so the punishment was for 390 X 7 years, or 2730 years. The punishment has to have a starting point and an ending point. Surely, we cannot use a date later than 721 BC which marked the fall of the City of Samaria, the last bastion of the Northern Kingdom. 2730 years from that date brings us to 2008 as the end of the punishment.

However, a better starting date could well be 734 BC which marked the year that Ephraim, or the Northern Kingdom had lost all political and religious control of any territory it still held. It had become a vassal state of Assyria. Going forward 2730 years from 734 BC brings us to 1996, a year in which every feast of Israel was marked with a blood red moon. It was also the year of the Hal Boop Comet. Further it marked the beginning of the one hundredth Yovel/Jubilee year from Noah and the fiftieth Yovel/Jubilee from Yeshua. Also, it has been my experience that the vast majority of those coming to an understanding of the Messianic Age did so after 1996 (Angus Wootten, Restoring Israel’s Kingdom).

In the late 1800’s the early Jewish settlers, in fear of poverty, asked the rabbis that during the Shemittah and Yovel years permission be granted to continue working the land in Sabbath years. They accomplished this by temporarily “selling” the land to a foreigner who worked the land for them in the Shemittah and Yovel years therefore the Jews did not break the law. Scripture specifically says there will be provision enough for the whole community if they obeyed the commands of YHVH and let the land rest. This law was there to reveal heart issues and see if YHVH’s people would put their faith in Him. They were to test Him in this and see if He would throw open the storehouses of heaven. YHVH is indeed the keeper of His covenant and promises to His people.

Permission to work the land during Sabbath years is still granted in Israel today to “strangers” who work land. The good news is there are more and more farmers turning to scripture and obeying the laws of Shemittah and Yovel Shabbat for the land to have total rest. It has been reported that in the sixth year while preparing for the Sabbatical year an unusual supply of provisions unfolded. In one testimony it was reported that olive trees produced 800 times more than previous years and grapes produced an exceptional vintage, both in quality and quantity, fulfilling YHVH’s promises concerning the sixth year in preparation for the seventh, that He alone is our abundant Provider.

In 2 Peter 3:8-15 Peter shared about the future year of Yovel and the day of Yom Kippur,

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of "the Lord will come like a thief" (synonym for Yom Teruah, day of Trumpets, the Season of our Joy). The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.