Will Messiah Come in a Jubilee Year?

New insight into the meaning of the Jubilee Year and the Messianic Kingdom is revealed. Could Yeshua Ha Moshiach return in a Jubilee Year? When is the next Jubilee Year? William F. Dankenbring Will Jesus, the Messiah, return on a Jubilee year? Is there evidence in the Scriptures that this is so? First, lets understand just what a Jubilee Year is! God commanded His people to observe special years of land rest every seventh year in a fifty year cycle. These were called land Sabbaths or in the Hebrew, a shemittah year. God declared, 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 the LORD (Lev.25:3-4). God then commanded, 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 fortynine 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 for you (verses 8-11). The Jubilee year in ancient Israel was meant to be a year of liberty, freedom release from bondage a new year of RENEWAL! How does this tie in with the coming of the Messiah? Times of Restitution The apostle Peter declared, to the assembled Jews of his day, Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you -- even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to RESTORE EVERYTHING, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets (Acts 3:19-21). The times of refreshing, and time of restoring everything, would logically occur on a Jubilee year -- the designated year of liberty, freedom, forgiveness of all debts, and

restitution of all lands and properties and inheritances (Lev.25). Jesus Himself, when He began His ministry, said, 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 RELEASE the oppressed, to proclaim the YEAR OF THE LORD'S FAVOR (Luke 4:18-19, NIV). Although this Scripture was fulfilled in type at Yeshuas first coming, it will be fully fulfilled in its TOTALITY at His Second Coming! This Scripture also describes the Jubilee year -- the year of the Lords favor, the year of freedom and release. At the Second Coming of Christ, the Israelite prisoners in foreign lands around the world will be given their FREEDOM, and the oppressed everywhere will be RELEASED! The Encyclopedia Judaica Heres what we read in the Encyclopedia Judaica, concerning the Sabbatical years and Jubilee cycles:
THE CALCULATION OF THE JUBILEE. Both in the tannaitic literature and in the Apocrypha two different systems for the calculation of the Jubilee and the Sabbatical year are found. A baraita declares that the Jubilee year is the 50th year, after the completion of the seven sabbatical cycles, the following year being the first of the ensuing shemittah . . . .Judah, however, holds that the Jubilee year enters into the calculation of the heptad, i.e., the Jubilee year is the 50th year after the previous Jubilee and thus also the first of the ensuing shemittah and Jubilee (Ned.61a). According to Judahs view there was a widespread tannaitic tradition that with the exile of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, the laws of the Jubilee fell into desuetude. According to the geonim not only were the laws of the Jubilee not in force from the time of the exile of these tribes, but after the destruction of the First Temple the Jubilee Years were not even calculated; only those of the shemittot. . . . Whether in accordance with the views of Judah or with the tradition that the Jubilee was not calculated in the period of the Second Temple, the fact is that only Sabbatical Years were counted from the Second Temple period onward (Sabbatical Year and Jubilee, vol.14, page 579).

The Jews deduced that the Jubilee did not apply since the exile of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, because the Jubilee was to be proclaimed unto all the inhabitants thereof (Lev.25:10), and since those tribes were missing, the command could not be completely observed. Therefore, they believed, it was no longer incumbent upon them to observe it. Later, Hillel I also ruled that the Sabbatical year was no longer to be a year of financial release from indebtedness, reasoning that lenders would withhold loans from the poor if they knew the loans would have to be forgiven if not repaid by the Sabbatical year. Thus men reasoned around the plain and clear laws of God, substituting their own human reason instead (see Prov.14:12). Interestingly, however, the Encyclopedia Judaica points out that the sages of Israel in every period saw a link between the Jubilee and the Sabbatical years with the laws

regarding emancipation of slaves, remission of debts, and prohibition of land cultivation. The Jubilee was the capstone of them all. Says the Encyclopedia Judaica:
They reckoned the historical order and the end of time by Sabbatical years and Jubilees: Israel counted 17 Jubilees from the time they entered the land to the time they left it (Ar.12b). Elijah told Judah, the brother of Sala Hasida, The world will endure not less than 85 Jubilees, and on the last Jubilee the Son of David will come (Sanh.97b). The precept of the Jubilee is often regarded as one of the basic precepts of the Torah. And its seven lamps thereon (Zech.4:2) is interpreted as referring to the seven precepts offerings, tithes, shemittot, Jubilees, circumcision, honoring of father and mother, and study of the Torah which excels them all (PR 8.4). The cont inued dwelling in the land was dependent upon the observance of the shemittah and the Jubilee (Shab. 33a) (ibid., 581).

Now lets look at this passage more closely. Notice that continued dwelling in the holy land was DEPENDANT UPON the observance of the Sabbatical years and the Jubilee years! Elijahs Prophecy Note, first of all, the prophetic words of Elijah: Elijah told Judah, the brother of Sala Hasida, The world will endure not less than 85 Jubilees, and on the last Jubilee the Son of David will come (Talmud, Sanh.97b). Notice this passage from the Talmud, the words of Elijah the prophet! He stated quite clearly that the Messiah the Son of David will come ON THE LAST JUBILEE! What does not less than 85 Jubilees mean? 85 Jubilees would be a period of 4250 Years (85 x 50). The world Elijah was speaking of was most likely this present evil world. The Bible speaks of the world that then was, the pre-Flood world, and the world that now is, this present world the post-Flood world. The post-Flood world began in the year 2348, according to Usshers chronology. Therefore, subtracting the dates, to arrive at the beginning of the END time prophesied by Elijah, we find: 4250 2348 = 1902. Since there was no year zero, we must add one year, bring us to 1903 the beginning of the twentieth century. This means that the time of the end must begin at this time, as the world was prophesied not to endure less than that time. In the Talmud itself we read:
The following Baraita was taught in accordance with the position of Rav Katina: Just as the Sabbatical year suspends field work once in seven years, so, too, the world will lie fallow for a millennium in seven millennia, as the verse states (Isa.2:11), And the Lord alone shall be exalted on that day. And another verse states, (Psalm 92:1) A psalm a poem for the Sabbath day a day that is entirely a Sabbath, when the whole world lies fallow. And another verse states (Psalm 90:4), For a thousand years in Your sight are but like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.

A sage of the school of Elijah taught a Baraita: The world will exist for SIX THOUSAND YEARS: -- the first two thousand years from the days of Adam to the days of the patriarch Abraham the world was still in chaos, for the Torah had not yet been given. The next two thousand years from the Torah to the Mishnaic period was to be the period of the Torah. And the next two thousand years was to be the period of the Messiah. But because of our transgressions, which were so very many, the Messiah did not come at the end of the fourth millennium, and those years which have already passed have already passed. The Prophet Elijah said to Rav Yehuda the brother of Rav Sila the pious: The world will endure for not less than 85 Jubilee cycles (50 year periods), which is four thousand two hundred and fifty years, and in the last Jubilee cycle the Messiah, the Son of David, will come . . . . When the Prophet Elijah set a time for the Messiahs arrival, he meant to say as follows: Until that time, the eighty fifth Jubilee cycle, do not even hope for him, for he will surely not come before then. But from then on, you may indeed hope for his arrival (Sanhedrin 97B).

Beginning of the Jubilee Cycle Interestingly, according to the chronology of archbishop James Ussher, Israel left Egypt in 1491 B.C. They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, because of their disobedience and lack of faith in God (Num.14:34). Therefore, they entered the Holy Land in 1451 B.C. When Israel first entered the Promised Land, they erected the Tabernacle at Gigal. There it remained for 14 years the time required for the people to conquer and occupy the land. Once the land was conquered and occupied, the counting of the Sabbath land cycles could commence, and the counting of the Jubilee years. This means that if we subtract 14 years from 1451, we come to 1437 B.C., the year of settlement and the beginning of the Jubilee count. Now if we count the years from that time to the present, we come up with the following: 2002 +1437 3439 years Since there was no year zero, we must add a year to our calculations, and arrive at 3440. If we divide this number by 50, the years in a Jubilee cycle, we come up with 68.8 Jubilee cycles to the present year. 80% of a 50 year cycle is 40 years. That means there is only ten years left to the next Jubilee year!!! Could this be an indication that the Messiah will return ten years from now the next calculated JUBILEE YEAR? Could the return of Jesus Christ be in the year 2012 a brief span of just ten years?

Dating the End of Days We dont know exactly when the Messiah will return. But when He does, on that day He will gather together His elect, from the four winds. As we read in Matthew: Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven: and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Matt.24:30-31, NKJV). The apostle Paul also speaks of this tremendous event: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMPET. FOR THE TRUMPET [the great trumpet of Jubilee, sounded on the day of Atonement!] will SOUND, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (I Cor.15:52). 40 Years of Punishment and Siege It is very interesting that the date of 2012 AD is just five years after 2007 AD, which is exactly 40 years from 1967, the year of the Six Day War when Israel recaptured the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, after it had been in Gentile hands for almost 2000 years ever since 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple. The generation of 1967 lacked the faith and obedience to God to begin rebuilding Gods House at that time. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and the Labor government in Israel allowed the Arab infidels to retain control of the Temple Mount. That generation proved unworthy of the task. Therefore, it appears that God has allowed that generation to wander in the wilderness of political confusion, terrorism, and national upheaval, for the forty years since that time. The situation is reminiscent of the Israelites who came to the doorstep of the Promised Land, under Moses but after the land was spied out by 12 spies, they revolted against Moses, lost faith, and refused to enter the Promised Land. They were afraid of the giants in the land and the walled cities with armed defenders. God thundered to that faithless generation, The carcasses of you who complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness . . . According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection (Num.14:29, 34). From 1967 till now Israel has known suffering, rejection, and mounting grief and terrorism. Life hangs for many by a thread. Will the next generation become more obedient to the heavenly calling, and take up the task of rebuilding Gods House, beginning in 2007 after the 40 year punishment expires? In another amazing prophecy detailing forty years of besiegement upon the House of Judah the Jewish state God Almighty thunders to His prophet Ezekiel, You shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year. Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem . . . (Ezek.4:6-7).

Could this also be a prophetic reference to the forty years from 1967 to 2007 a time of besiegement of modern Israel and Jerusalem, at the hands of the surrounding Arab nations and the Palestinian terrorists under the leadership of Yasser Arafat? 2007 A.D. It is very interesting, also, that the term of the present Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, expires at the end of 2006, and a new Secretary General will be chosen to lead the UN beginning in 2007. From 2007 to 2012 is six years. Who will the next Secretary General of a strengthened UN be? Could it be that wily, cunning charmer known as Bill Clinton, who is universally admired as the greatest politician of modern times? Could this also mean that Hillary Clinton may become President of the United States in the election of 2008? It is also interesting to take note of the fact that the United States and Europe are pushing Israel for its unconditional approval of a Palestinian state in their midst. The request was disclosed in November, 2002, when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a packed Israeli passenger bus in Jerusalem, killing 12 and injuring more than 40 Israelis, many of them young children on the way to school. Body parts and lunch sandwiches were strewn everywhere. The murderers father praised his son, saying, Our religion says we are proud of him until the day of resurrection. The U.S. request to Israel to approve a Palestinian state is part of a revised peace plan for the Middle East promulgated by a Quartet of nations the United States, European Union, Russia, and the United Nations. The Quartet has drafted a road map for an IsraeliPalestinian peace settlement by 2006. The new draft calls for the unconditional endorsement of a Palestinian state with interim borders in 2003, to be followed by a Palestinian state in 2005 with permanent borders. Thus by the year 2007 the situation in the Middle East may be more settled, and a new status quo in the region may well provide the opportunity to rebuild the House of God, the Temple, at its correct location! How does all this connect with the prophetic scenario of the Jubilee Year and the return of the Messiah? Nick Wood, our representative in England, has suggested the following prophetic outline. He writes: I have been trying to make some sense of the possibility of Christ returning in 2012 and this is another scenario that I have come up with. Of course this is only kiteflying and in no way intended to set any dates. We must always be ready for the return of Yeshua at any time of course, and He still may return well before 2012. We still have no cast iron reason to believe that James Ussher was wrong in his date of 4004 BC for the creation of Adam so I will use that as the starting point.

4004 BC -- creation of Adam 6000 6 1000 year days allowed for man under Satans sway 1996 AD +1 -- because no year zero 1997 AD -- 6,000 years from the creation of Adam Now from 1997 till 2012 is 15 years, so can we account for this 15 year delay? Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden before eating the forbidden fruit for 7 years, which are a parallel of Daniel's 70th week at the end of this age of Satans rule. However there are still 8 years to account for. 1997 AD +3 -- 3 years of Christs ministry when He personified the Kingdom of God on Earth =2000 AD -- the new intifada begins in the State of Israel +1 -- the time Noah and his family were safe in the ark during the Flood =2001 AD -- the year of 9/11 and the attack on the Twin Trade Towers +4 -- the 4 years of the parable of the Barren Fig Tree as in Luke 13:6-9 when Almighty God in His mercy allows an extra 4 years for repentance before the hell of the Great Tribulation is unleashed upon mankind. =2005 AD -- the beginning of Daniels 70th week +7 =2012 AD -- return of Messiah in the year of Jubilee Maybe this will inspire yourself and others to come up with an even better scenario. Whatever way it all works out in the end, we are all commanded to Watch! Thank you for being our Chief Watchman, Bill, but those of us who support Triumph must do all we can to help you. Maybe we should consider ourselves Apprentice Watchmen in training for the days ahead? How fascinating! More and more, the numbers seem to be adding up. 1997 was a critical year, when the Hale-Bopp comet appeared in the sky as an omen a sign a warning of things to come (see Gen.1:14-16). From this year of 2002 till 2012 is ten years could this be ten years of Awe ten years of warning to repent which God allows before the END comes, the climax to all world events represented by the ten days between Rosh Hashanah (Yom Teruah, the Day of Blowing the Shofar), and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement or Covering)? Ten years! Its time to redouble our efforts to proclaim Gods warning to this sinsick, sickening, wicked and corrupt world before the Grand Smash Climax strikes! The Sign of the Antichrist

But there is yet another number of significance which figures into the end-time scenario. It is the number of the Beast of Revelation 13 that is, the number of the Antichrist, the last world dictator who is prophesied to rise up and persecute the people of God, and to fight against the Messiah when He comes! We read in the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, these portentous words: Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666 (Rev.13:18). Who could this be? Can we know? Hold on to your hats! Heres a surprise! The names of both William Jefferson Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Hebrew, have a numerical value of 666 a number which Scriptures states is the number of the beast of Revelation (Rev.13:18). According to Hebrew gematria, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet also each have numerical values. In the Hebrew language, the name of William Jefferson Clinton definitely adds up to 666. In using the numerical values of Hebrew letters, we discover a very interesting phenomenon: WILLIAM Vav = 6 Aleph = 1 Yod = 10 Lamed = 30 Yod = 10 Mem = 40 97 JEFFERSON Yod = 10 P(F)eh = 80 Resh = 200 Samech = 60 Nun = 50 400 CLINTON Koph = 20 Lamed = 30 Yod = 10 Nun = 50 Tet = 9 Nun = 50 169 The sums of 97, 400 and 169 add up to a total of 666!

But there is even more to the story. Roger Morris book Partners in Power plainly lays out the pivotal role Hillary Clinton has played in the Clinton political ascendancy. Notice the gematria of her name: HILLARY Het = 8, Lamed = 30, Resh = 200, Yod = 10 Total: 248 RODHAM -- Resh = 200, Dalet = 4, Hay = 5, Mem = 40 CLINTON = 169 Total: 249

169 Grand Total: 666

Notice! Once again the numbers 248, 249, and 169 add up to the sum of 666! Is this mere coincidence? Hillary Rodham Clinton played a pivotal role in the ascendancy of her husband to the office of President of the United States. Her own ambitions are well known. At the present time, she is a Senator of New York state, and it is well known that she has plans on running for the Presidency of the United States, most probably in 2008. It is certainly incredible that both their names, in Hebrew gematria, add up to the beastial 666! Could it be that we have identified the individual who will become the endtime prophesied world ruler, who will be worshipped by the world, but whom Gods Word refers to as the Beast? End-Time World Kingdom Some may find this repugnant and hard to believe. We live in an age where Bible prophecy is disregarded and despised. Most people fail to see that America, with her European allies, has become the modem counterpart of the ancient ROMAN EMPIRE. We no longer speak of Pax Romana, but Pax Americana. We no longer have the Roman Senate, but the U.S. Senate, patterned after that of ancient Rome. New York City and Washington D.C. have become the modern worlds equivalent of ancient Babylon and Rome. The Roman eagle has been replaced by the American eagle. People fail to see the huge role being played in the world by the United Nations, led primarily by the Security Council, and the United States the worlds last remaining superpower. The final world empire that will exist prior to the coming of the Messiah will include aspects of the eagle and lion America and Britain (Dan.7:4) -- the bear Russia (Dan.7:5) and the leopard Europe and Germany (Dan.7:6). Notice that the final empire will be a composite of all these creatures a UNITY which combines all of them (Dan.7:7, 17, 23-25; compare with Rev.13:1-2). This world ruling entity will fight against the Messiah when He comes! Led by ten war-waging nations, called the ten horns (Dan.7:7, 24; Rev.13:1), which will give their power to the beast, they will wage war against Christ. These shall make war with the

Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful (Rev.17:14). Daniels Final Week This could mean that Daniels final week the final seven years of this age, before Messiah returns would be from 2005-2012. The Great Tribulation could begin at that time, with the final three and one half years (or 42 prophetic months, or 1260 prophetic days) of intense worldwide suffering beginning in 2009, climaxing in the return of the Messiah to save this old earth from total annihilation and utter destruction. During these final 3 and one half years, the Beast power will tread down the earth, and occupy the holy city of Jerusalem (Rev.11:2). During this time God will give power to His two witnesses, who will testify to the world government and people of their sins and disobedience to God (Rev.11:3). During these final 3 years, the Beast power/UN will strive to inaugurate a new world religion, and will persecute the true saints and people of God. The Beast will blaspheme the God of heaven, and make war with the saints, and will overcome them (Rev.13:7). But Almighty God will intervene and deliver His people! Notice! When Christ returns, He immediately begins to execute JUDGMENT -- symbolized by the very meaning of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement! This is the same as the SEVENTH and FINAL trumpet blown in the book of Revelation! Notice! Then the seventh angel sounded [his trumpet]; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. . . The nations were angry, and Your WRATH has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be JUDGED, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great; and should destroy those who destroy the earth (Rev.11:15-18). The Messiah, Jesus Christ Yeshua Ha Moshiach will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed (II Thess.1:7-10). It is time we WAKE UP! The coming of the Messiah is on our doorstep! Jesus Himself declared, But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven. Now learn this parable of the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer

is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know it is near at the doors! Assuredly I say to you, this generation [the generation that sees these things!] will by no means pass away till all these things take place. . . But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the ti me is (Mark 13:23-33). That day is coming SOON! It is right around the corner! Could it be just another ten short years away? Could it be in the year 2012? Could it be just ten years from today? I sincerely hope so -- if not sooner!!! Even so Come quickly, Lord Jesus Yeshua Ha Moshiach!!!

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? -- W. B. Yeats