In his April 28, 2005 post, Jim Bramlett reported that rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri is saying that Israel is now in the FOURTH year of a Sabbatical cycle. A Sabbatical cycle is a period of seven consecutive years. Jim also quoted Vendyl Jones, the Hebrew archeologist and researcher, as stating that 2000-2001 was the seventh year of the previous Sabbatical cycle.
 
In her book "TIME and the Bible's Number Code", Bonnie Gaunt states that the year 2001-2002 is the year that starts a new Sabbatical cycle for Israel. Again this would make 2004-2005 the Fourth year of the present cycle. Bonnie has done extensive work on the Sabbatical cycles, and her book lists all of them going back to the very first one. She says the first Sabbath year ran from Tishri 1401 B.C. to Tishri 1400 B.C.
 
Bonnie states in her book that "the Encyclopedia Judaica tells us that when the exiles returned to Jerusalem from their captivity in Babylon, they began to count a new Sabbath cycle. This new cycle has been in use for well over 2500 years. And we have historical records of events that happened on Sabbath years, which confirm the counting as accurate. This new cycle started to count in the year 535 B.C. when the altar was built and then the foundation of the second Temple was laid. Thus it is two years different from the dates of the original cycle." (p.151).  The new cycle Sabbaths also occur two years before the original Sabbaths would. Thus the Sabbatical year 2000-2001 on the new cycle would be 2002-2003 on the old one. What Bonnie stresses is that it is the new cycle that is currently used in Israel.
 
The first four years of the current Israeli Sabbatical cycle run as follows:
    Year 1   Sept. 18, 2001 through Sept. 6, 2002
    Year 2   Sept.  7, 2002 through Sept. 26, 2003
    Year 3   Sept. 27, 2003 through Sept. 15, 2004
    Year 4   Sept. 16, 2004 through Oct. 3, 2005
 
It is very possible that both the Rapture and the spiritual awakening of Israel could occur within the time frame of year FOUR. There is a law in Leviticus 19 pertaining to fruit trees which says:
     vs. 23   When you enter the land and plant all kinds
                of trees for food, then you shall count their
                fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be
                forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.
     vs. 24   But in the FOURTH year all its fruit shall be
                holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.
     vs. 25   In the fifth year you are to eat of its fruit, that
                its yield may increase for you; I am the LORD
                your God.
In this little known passage of Scripture, there may be a strong clue regarding the timing of the Rapture.
 
Simply stated, the Jews were not allowed to eat the fruit from their newly planted trees for three years. During this time, the fruit was purifying itself. In the FOURTH year, all the fruit was to be taken to the Tabernacle/Temple and offered to the Lord. This was a first fruits type of offering. When the fruit appeared in the fifth year, the people were free to both eat and market their crop.
 
So how does the law of the fruit trees relate to the Rapture? To begin with, James 1:18 says that Christians are "a kind of first fruits." Leviticus 23:17 says that the two loaves baked with leaven and waved before the Lord at the Feast of Pentecost are "Firstfruits unto the Lord." As I stated in a previous post, Pentecost is a harvest feast. Leaven represents sin, and the two loaves made from wheat waved before the Lord represent two distinct categories of redeemed sinners: the resurrected dead in Christ and those who will be raptured while physically alive (1 Thess. 4:16, 17). The harvest feast which precedes Pentecost is called the Feast of Firstfruits. However, this feast is free of leaven and a sheaf of barley called the "Sheaf of the Firstfruits" is waved before the Lord and pictures the sinless, resurrected Christ. First Corinthians 15:22,23 shows how the two feasts relate to each other:
    vs. 22   For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all
               (who belong to Christ) will be made alive.
    vs. 23   But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits,
               after that those who are Christ's at His coming.
Christ is THE Firstfruits, and those raised/translated at Pentecost are "Firstfruits unto the Lord." It is often said that Pentecost was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit was given to the Church in Acts, chapter 2. But what happened that day does not fulfill the symbolism of the two loaves being waved in Levitius 23:17. At best it may provide a clue as to who it is that will be resurrected and raptured on a future Pentecost; but until the Rapture takes place, the Feast of Pentecost should not be considered fulfilled.
 
Now why is it highly significant that we are in the FOURTH year of a Sabbatical cycle? According to the Levitical law, the first fruits of the fruit trees were to be TAKEN TO THE TEMPLE in the FOURTH year and offered before the Lord. This corresponds to the waving of the two leavened loafs before the Lord in Leviticus 23:17. If the first fruits of the fruit trees represent Christians (Christ told us to bear much fruit), that means we could very well appear before the Lord in the Heavenly Temple in the FOURTH year of a Sabbatical cycle. It is interesting that the Feast of Pentecost happens to be the FOURTH of the seven Feasts of the Lord.
 
If the Church leaves this planet in June, what about Israel? The FOURTH year in a Sabbatical cycle seems to be in her future as well. Luke 13:6-9 tells us:
    vs. 6   And He began telling this parable: A man
              had a fig tree which had been planted in his
              vineyard: and he came looking for fruit on it
              and did not find any.
    vs. 7   And he said to the vineyard-keeper, Behold,
              for three years I have come looking for fruit on
              this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down.
              Why does it even use up the ground?
    vs. 8   And he answered and said to him, Let it alone,
              sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and
              put in fertilizer;
    vs. 9   and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it
              down.
This parable may very well apply to the year in which we are now living.The past three years the Palestinians, along with manifold terrorist groups affiliated with them, have relentlessly attacked Israel, causing them great suffering and heartache. Yet there has been no national repentance, and Israel's leadership continues to look to man rather than to their God for deliverance.
 
The fig tree represents Israel. Most of the Gentile nations are in sympathy with the Palestinians, whose goal is to cut down the fig tree and bring extermination to the Jewish race. Numerous church groups are threatening Israel with divestiture if the Israelis do not cave in to all of the Palestinians' demands. A host of countries, including Russia and the United States, are entertaining schemes to help arm the Palestinian police, whose ranks include numerous terrorists.  For three years Jehovah God has been seeking fruit on Israel's fig tree, but has found none. He has a right to cut down the fig tree. Satan and his servants do not. Even as the Israelis prepare to give away Covenant land in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, their gracious and merciful God grants them an additional year (a FOURTH year) to start bearing fruit. This could be their last chance year. It happens to be the FOURTH year of a Sabbatical cycle as well, and runs from September 16, 2004 through October 3, 2005. If this is the fateful year, then Israel has less than five months left in which to begin bearing fruit.
 
In Luke 13:8, action is promised that will bring the fruit which the Lord is seeking. The fallow ground will be broken up, and the tree will be fertilized. If this is the year of the Rapture, the Two Witnesses (Enoch/Moses and Elijah) along with 144,000 Jewish evangelists will be unleashed shortly after the Church is taken home (June 12/13?). Then spiritual life will begin to return to Israel. This year is the FOURTH year of a Sabbatical cycle and could be the year in which the Firstfruits (believers) are taken to the Heavenly Temple to appear before the Lord. If the above senario is correct, then this would also be the year when Jehovah God begins to cleanse and purify Israel so that they may yield the fruit which He desires. May it be so, Lord Jesus.
 
Be encouraged,
 
Bob Braatz