From: Marilyn Agee
> > 9 Then shalt thou make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land. > > Now that tells us clear as day that the Jubilee year is counted when?.....Tishri to Tishri. Now read all of Vayikra 25, and you will see it clearly teaches us that ALL counting of Shmitta (7th year or Sabbatical year), harvest, etc., must be in line with Jubilee. Note in verse 8, where it tells us that the counting of Shmitta years must align with Jubilee. So obviously, the 7th month is the start of the year of Jubilee, Shmitta, harvest, buying property, etc.
The part I disagree with is "So obviously, the 7th month is the start of the year of Jubilee".
To me, the Sabbatic Year started on the first day of the first month, and the Jubilee Year will start on the first day of the first month. The Sabbatic Year is year 49. The Jubilee Year is year 50, which is also year one of the next Sabbatic and Jubilee cycle. The first year of the new Sabbatic Cycle must start on the same date, Nisan 1, that every other year of the Sabbatic Cycle started on. Otherwise, the rolling on of the Sabbatic cycles would become chaotic. They are not chaotic, because they have rolled on regularly ever since this counting began. The Jubilee Year still follows the 49th Sabbatic Year as it was meant to do from its beginning.
The Sabbatic count goes:
7 years + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 (= 49 years)
7 years + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 (= 49 years)
7 years + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 (= 49 years) etc.
In similar manner, the Jubilee years roll on regularly without becoming misaligned with the Sabbatic Years that are also part of the count of the Jubilee years. The first year of the new Sabbatic Cycle following the 49th year is also the first year of the new Jubilee Cycle.
The Sabbatic Years keep marching on regularly, 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7, etc.
The Jubilee count is similar. It goes:
7 years + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 (49 years to here) + 7 (of which year 1 is the Jubilee Year) + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 (another 49 to here) + 7 years (of which year 1 is the Jubilee Year) + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7, etc.
The Jubilee and Sabbatic Years keep marching on regularly, keeping sync with each other, because the 50th year is also the 1st of the new cycle.
Pentecost is counted much the same way:
Feast of Firstfruits + 7 days + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 (i.e., 49 days to here)
Pentecost (meaning 50) is day 1 of the next week.
The weeks keep marching on regularly, 7 days + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7, etc.,
not 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 1 day + 7 + 7, etc.
Likewise, the Sabbatic cycles keep marching on regularly, 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 (i.e., 49) + 7 + 7 + 7, etc.
Also, the Jubilee cycles keep marching on regularly, not 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 (i.e., 49) + 1 (i.e., 50) + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 (i.e., 49) + 1 (i.e., 50) + 7.
The Sabbatic and Jubilee cycles are still aligned today, because the 50th year of the Jubilee Cycle is also year 1 of the new cycle.
Lev 25:8-12 (Stone edition) says, "You shall count for yourself seven cycles of sabbatical years, seven years seven times; the years of the seven cycles of sabbatical years shall be for you forty-nine years. 9 You shall sound a broken blast on the shofar, in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month; on the Day of Atonement (i.e., in the 49th year) you shall sound the shofar throughout your land. 10 You shall sanctify the fiftieth year (i.e., not the 49th year) and proclaim freedom throughout the land for all its inhabitants; it (i.e., the 50th year) shall be the Jubilee Year for you, you shall return each man to his ancestral heritage and you shall return each man to his family. 11 It shall be a Jubilee Year for you – this fiftieth year – you shall not sow, you shall not harvest its aftergrowth and you shall not pick what was set aside of it for yourself. 12 For it is a Jubilee Year...”
Let's look at some other scriptures and think this through together again as if starting from scratch. A year begins on the first day of the first month, not the tenth day of the seventh month.
Speaking of the month Abib, which is now called Nisan, Ex_12:2 (KJV) says, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you."
Ex 12:2 (Stone Edition) says, “Hashem said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you the first of the months of the year."
Ex_13:4 (KJV) says, "This day came ye out in the month Abib." The Hebrew word is abiyb, meaning to be tender; green, that is a young ear of grain, hence the name of the month Abib or Nisan: – Abib, ear, green ears of corn.”
That grain is barley, not the corn of our days. There must be Abib barley to be waved at Firstfruits. Otherwise the 13th month, Adar II, must be added. The month Abib is now called Nisan.
Ex 13:4 (Stone) says, “Today you are leaving, in the month of springtime."
Therefore, the first day of the 49th year is Abib 1, now called Nisan 1, the first day of the first month in the springtime of each year.
Lev_23:27 says, "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month (now called Tishri) there shall be a day of atonement". The Day of Atonement is on Tishri 10 in a year that began Nisan 1.
Lev 23:23-27 (Stone) says, "HASHEM spoke to Moses, saying: 24 Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a rest day for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, and you shall offer a fire-offering to HASHEM. 26 HASHEM spoke to Moses, saying: 27 But on the tenth day of this month (i.e., the 7th month) it is the Day of Atonement..."
On the 10th day of the 7th month of the 49th year, the coming Jubilee is announced to remind people to make whatever arrangements they need to for the 50th year. Some will be moving their household to a different location. They need to think ahead.
When 30 years old, Jesus announced the coming Jubilee Year, "the acceptable year of the Lord," when he read from Isa 61 in the Synagogue on the Sabbath Day (Saturday, Sept. 14, 26 AD, Julian) in the Hebrew Sabbatic Year 3787, which had just started on his birthday.
The Day of Atonement, Tishri 10, 3787, was near his birthday, for I think he was born on Tishri 1, 3757, when the sign of Rev 12 was in the sky, and the Moon was under Virgo's feet, Sept. 4, 5 BC.
The beginning of the Hebrew Civil Years on Tishri 1 now mark Jesus’ birthday each year. That is one good reason the Hebrew Civil Years have been kept running, even though there is also a Sacred Year, a Regnal Year and a Jubilee Year that all start on Nisan 1.
Luk 4:16-21(KJV) says, "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears."I believe that the Jubilee Year should be announced on Tishri 10, the Day of Atonement, and begin the following Nisan 1, which is the first month of the Sacred Year, the Regnal Year and the Jubilee Year.
Lev_25:50 says, "And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year (that started Nisan 1) that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile (starting Nisan 1): and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him."> > Exo 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end (H8622).H8622 is tequphah, "From H5362 (naqaph, to go round); a revolution, that is, (of the sun) course, (of time) lapse: - circuit, come about, end."The Feast of Ingathering is the Feast of Tabernacles, which is "at the year's end." If Tishri 15 is “at the year’s end, it is at the end of the festal year. Tishri 1 is not likely to be the beginning of the Sacred year or the beginning of the Jubilee Year.> > Rabbinical Judaism is counting years just like Elohim told them to do it. No where does it say to count year 1, year 2, year 3, .... year 576x... from the first month. It says to count the MONTHS from the Spring, but does NOT say to count years that way.To me, there is no way to count the months of a year except to start with the 1st month and continue to the 12th, or 13th month in a Leap Year. If we are counting days of the year, I start with day one of month one. Some years will have 353, 354, 355, or 383, 384 or 385 days in a leap year.Ex 12:1-3 is clear. It says, "And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month (i.e., Nisan) they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house".> > The first month symbolizes creation , redemption, and Passover. But the 7th month symbolizes His return to earth. God has us counting so that we look forward, not backwards!I think Jesus will return on the first day of the Sacred, Regnal and Jubilee years, Nisan 1, 5776. I think that will follow the Day of God’s Wrath on the previous Tishri 1, 5776. The year 5776 will be a leap year. Therefore, there will be 7 months between the Day of God’s Wrath and the Day of the Second Advent.Eze 39:11-13 says, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD."Jesus will be glorified at the Second Advent.Col_3:4 says, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in GLORY."> > "Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest and the Feast of Ingathering at the TURN OF THE YEAR" (Exod 34:22)Exo 34:22 (KJV) says, "And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks (i.e., Pentecost), of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering (i.e., Tabernacles) at the year's end." That makes Nisan 1 the first of the year and the Feast of Tabernacles "at the year's end" (tequphah, revolution, compass about, go round about). It is talking about the revolving of the Sacred Year.YLT says, "And a feast of weeks thou dost observe for thyself; first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the feast of in-gathering, at the revolution of the year."> > Also, we know that Rosh HaShanah (The "Head of the Year" or the "Head of the Change") symbolically represents the second coming of the Messiah, which is when the biggest change the world will ever see will happen. And setting this in the 7th month could be a hint as to how this event will happen in the 7th Millenium of mankind.I think Jesus will return on Nisan 1, the first day of the Sacred, Regnal and Jubilee Year, April 9, 2016. That will be seven months after the Day of God’s Wrath, Tishri 1, 5776. Therefore, 5776 must be a leap year, and it is.Eze 39:12,13 says, "And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD."Jesus will be glorified at the Second Advent.Agape,Marilyn Agee
mjagee@verizon.netprophecycorner.theforeverfamily.com--------------------------------------------------------------------Exo 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end (H8622).Exo 34:23 Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.Exo 34:24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year. (H8141)H8622תּקפה תּקוּפהteqûphâh teqûphâhtek-oo-faw', tek-oo-faw'From H5362; a revolution, that is, (of the sun) course, (of time) lapse: - circuit, come about, end.H5234נכרnâkarnaw-kar'A primitive root; properly to scrutinize, that is, look intently at; hence (with recognition implied), to acknowledge, be acquainted with, care for, respect, revere, or (with suspicion implied), to disregard, ignore, be strange toward, reject, resign, dissimulate (as if ignorant or disowning): - acknowledge, X could, deliver, discern, dissemble, estrange, feign self to be another, know, take knowledge (notice), perceive, regard, (have) respect, behave (make) self strange (-ly).H8141שׁנה שׁנהshâneh shânâhshaw-neh', shaw-naw'(The first form being in plural only, the second form being feminine); from H8138; a year (as a revolution of time): - + whole age, X long, + old, year (X -ly).
Some people have concluded that Judaism has gotten the calendar all wrong, not because they have, but because what the Torah says about it is something critics of Judaism have not examined as closely as Jews have for thousands of years.
While most MEN count their eyars from the 1st month to the last of the year, the Bible tells us the first month is in the Spring .... but to COUNT OUR YEARS FROM THE 7th MONTH to the NEXT SEVENTH MONTH!!!!! God does not do things the same way as men, but this is what the Scriptures tell us to do.
Lev/Vay 25:9 says...
Now that tells us clear as day that the Jubilee year is counted when?.....Tishri to Tishri. Now read all of Vayikra 25, and you will see it clearly teaches us that ALL counting of Shmitta (7th year or Sabbatical year), harvest, etc., must be in line with Jubilee. Note in verse 8, where it tells us that the counting of Shmitta years must align with Jubilee. So obviously, the 7th month is the start of the year of Jubilee, Shmitta, harvest, buying property, etc.
Some people see this as being in conflict with Exodus/Shemot 12:2, but it is not.
The first month symbolizes creation , redemption, and Passover. But the 7th month symbolizes His return to earth. God has us counting so that we look forward, not backwards!
When we count years as 5760...5761...5762...5763...etc...we are COMMANDED in scripture to count them from the 7th month to the 7th month. Note that Lev 25:8 says
So we're suppose to count the years, and we are suppose to mark that count from the 7th month, until the 7th month, as is clearly explained in the rest of Vayikra 25. (You'll have to read on to see where it says this starts in the 7th month, but I just quoted the most important verse from here earlier in this post.) So Rabbinical Judaism is counting years just like Elohim told them to do it. No where does it say to count year 1, year 2, year 3, .... year 576x... from the first month. It says to count the MONTHS from the Spring, but does NOT say to count years that way.
Scripture says to count your months 1,2,3,4,....12, (sometimes 13) from Nisan to Nisan, and count your years 1,2,3,...5762, 5763, 5764....etc.... from Tishri/Ethanim to Tishri/Ethanim. And that is exactly what Judaism is doing - counting their months and years exactly where Elohim said to start and stop. this is why the FALL is called the "turn of the year" in Exodus/Shemot 34:22, because its when the year "turns" or its count is incremented. Note how it says this....
"Celebrate
- the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest and
- the Feast of Ingathering at the TURN OF THE YEAR" (Exod 34:22)
Is this confusing? Maybe a bit so to newcomers of Torah since no other society counts their years from anything other than the 1st month. But we can't let the traditions of men influence how we interpret scripture. Just because human traditions call month 1 the month a year starts in does not mean Elohim will do the same. But its important to understand the Jewish point of view before arguing its wrong. Many people, both in the Church as well as in Messianic movements of some sort, can be eager to say that Judaism has messed everything up, but they are in fact, following these instructions exactly as they are laid out, even if it is not how men would have numbered things.
Jewish tradition teaches that there are 4 "heads" to 4 different types of years. In the Mishnah, Rosh HaShanah 1:1 says:
"There are four new years:
- B. (1) The first day of Nisan is the new year for kings and festivals.
- C. (2) The first day of Elul is the new year for tithing cattle.
- D. ___R. Eleazar and R. Simeon say, "It is on the first day of Tishre".
- E. (3) The first day of Tishri is the new year for the counting of years, for Sabbatical years, and for Jubiliees
- F. ___for planting and vegitation
- G. (4) the first day of Shebat is the new year for trees, in accord with the opinion of the House of Shammai.
- H. ___the House of Hillel say, "On the 15th day of that month" "
And biblically one could say there used to be at least one more fifth "head of the year". The phrase, "Rosh HaShanah" or "Head of the Year" appears only once in Scripture, in Ezekiel 40:1 it says,
"In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year [Rosh HaShanah], in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day...." (Ezek 40:1, KJV [with annotation])
When he uses the phrase "head of the year", this is referring to the head of the "years of exile", measured as how long since Israel was in exile, not the year as Israel came out of Egypt (which is measured from the 1st month), or Jubilee years (measured from the 7th month), or the year for tithing cattle (measured from the 6th month), etc. This is not talking about the 7th month or the first , but the month of Av, for it says "in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day". There is no history of any attack on Israel starting or ending on the 10th day of either Aviv/Nisan or Ethanim / Tishri. But the temple was set afire on the 9th of Av and it took 2 days for it to burn, so the buring of the temple was completed on the 10th of Av. Ezek 40:1 was the exact 25th anniversary of that destruction of the temple. And when we read on in Ezekiel 40, what does G-d choose to reveal to Ezekiel on the 25th anniversary of the destruction of the temple? ..... He reveals what the NEW TEMPLE will look like!!!!! How poetic. The date Ezekiel is giving here is the 10th of Av, on the 25th anniversary of Israel's exile, measured from the day the temple finished burning to the ground. Now this "year" that Ezekiel is referring to, the years of exile, no longer existed when the Mishnah was written, so it was not worth mentioning at that point. But it was mentioned by Ezekiel.
So while there is some minor disagreement in Jewish tradition on this topic, we still see in RH 1:1E that Jewish tradition correctly determnied that Tishri to Tishri is when years are COUNTED, just as Lev 25:9 describes. But it also recognizes another type of "year" that begins on the "Head of the months" of Aviv/Nisan for kings and for setting the calendar.
Now note that for the 2 "years" that are described in scripture, Jewish tradition contains no debate on. But for the other 2 "years", we see some disagreement on how to reckon those.
Now why does the Scirptures tell us to count the year from one seventh month to another? Keep in mind several things: A word for "year" really doesn't exist in Hebrew the same as in English - that is - a word used EXCLUSIVELY to refer to a measure of time. The Hebrew word for "year" (shanah) also can mean "change", "repeat", "study", and perhaps G-d wants us to see all these concepts in this time of year. And there are several instances in which the 7th measure of something creates or precedes a great change in Scripture.
- It was on the 7th day that G-d "rested" from creation. The Sabbath rest means we change things every day EXCEPT the 7th day of the week. We work and create assets on every other day, but on the 7th day we rest and make no changes to our wealth.
- In Lev 13 are regulations concerning a leprous man who is isolated, and on the 7th day is when the priest (kohen) investigates the man to determine is anything has changed about his status of leprousy.
- The 7th year is the YEAR OF RELEASE, and it is in this year that several changes happen; debts are released, slaves are set free, etc.
- In Egypt, there were 7 years of plenty followed by another change; 7 years of famine.
- In Joshua 6, Israel marched around Jericho for 7 days before a great change happened; the walls fell down.
Also, we know that Rosh HaShanah (The "Head of the Year" or the "Head of the Change") symbolically represents the second coming of the Messiah, which is when the biggest change the world will ever see will happen. And setting this in the 7th month could be a hint as to how this event will happen in the 7th Millenium of mankind.
So whatever God's reasons where for having us "see" a "year" or a "change" in the 7th measure of something, this is the association He made and there must have been something symbolically important in the 7th measure of something in which he wanted us to see a change.
shalom, joe