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JUBILEE: 2031 A.D.

When Will The LORD AND His Christ Return?

(Acts 4:26; Revelation 11:15 & 12:10; Daniel 7:13-14)

Will Jesus the Messiah return during the next Jubilee year, fulfilling numerous symbolisms associated with the year of release? This treatise provides several differing reasons to indicate that this is the case. Five prophetic countdowns appear to converge in 2031 A.D. Furthermore, contrary to popular opinion, Jesus will not abandon His Father out in the heavens; as exemplified by the above scriptures. Further still, they are planning on staying here on earth! (Psalms 76:2-3, Psalms Chapters 46, 47, 48; Ezekiel 37:26-28)

Jesus presented a very unusual ‘mission statement’ at the very beginning of his ministry. Immediately after the account of His baptism and the account of Satan tempting Him, is a reference to some of His first recorded words. These words have JUBILEE stamped all over them! Luke gave us the circumstances leading up to Christ’s statement.

Luke 4:16-19 So 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 to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He opened the book He found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed; TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.

There are six aspects of His commission that will be addressed later in the article. I will comment on each of them. A primary purpose of this article is to elaborate on the importance of Christ’s ‘mission statement.’

[Note: The information in this article is presented as being factual. I believe that it is primarily correct and that it is also unique, to the best of my knowledge. I do not intend to place a lot of disclaimers in the text specifying that others may consider certain statements to be speculative. It should go without saying that anyone reading articles relating to the scriptures should consider everything to be speculative until he or she is reasonably certain that sufficient evidence has been presented to make the point.]

The last generation of the modern nations of Israel will be given a warning to flee from the coming holocaust, known as the Time of Jacob's Trouble, that will engulf all of the English speaking nations, and other nations descended from those twelve original tribes. Daniel Chapter 12 mentions three separate countdowns to the exact beginning of the time of trouble, the ‘Great Tribulation’ on Israel:

Daniel 12:1 AT THAT TIME Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. AND AT THAT TIME [during the ‘time of the end’!] your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. [This is a resurrection of the just and the unjust] 3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. 5 Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. 6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river: How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? 7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the HOLY PEOPLE [more about them later] has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. 8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said: My lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9 And he said: Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. 11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.

Jesus the Christ stated that the cessation of sacrificing, and the abomination of desolation, mentioned in Daniel 12:10, would mark the time for His people in Jerusalem to “flee”.

Matthew 24:15 Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Daniel 11:31 And forces shall be mustered by him [the ‘abominator’], and THEY shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then THEY [not Christ, as some assume] shall take away the daily sacrifices), and place there the abomination of desolation.

Daniel 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he [the ‘abominator’] shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the *consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.

This is a reference to the time when *Ephraim’s “prince” (Daniel 9:26-27) and the false prophet (the ‘abominator’) (Daniel 11:31) will cut a seven year deal with Judah and then “they”, that is those who follow the Beast, will devastate Jerusalem in the “middle of the week”.

* The “prince” is identified in an excellent book entitled The Antichrist in a Cup of Tea. By Tim Cohen

Daniel 9 is the renowned seventy weeks prophecy chapter. It is from these scriptures that the wise men determined the year of the first coming of the Messiah. Might it not also indicate His next arrival? The ‘abominator’ will begin “week” number seventy with an agreement or “covenant”.  He will then break his covenant “in the middle of the week”, [precisely as the two witnesses begin their prophesying] but ultimately the ‘abominator’ will be consumed! “Consummation” [Strong’s 03617] as used here literally means ‘consumed’ or ‘complete destruction’. This consumption will take place at the conclusion of that seventieth prophetic week, as “is determined”. Ironically, he who stopped the consuming sacrifices will be consumed, as a sacrifice, himself!

Revelation 19:17-18 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven: ‘Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.

Zephaniah and Jeremiah also described this event. 

Zephaniah 1:7 …for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests.

Jeremiah 46:10 …for the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice in the North Country…”

Daniel 12 reveals a 1260 day countdown, a 1290 day countdown and a 1335 day countdown. We have a God who “gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things…(Daniel 2:21-22). Furthermore, we know that: “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7) Considering the devastation that will “trouble” Israel, we might surely want to know HOW MUCH LEAD TIME will God give “the wise” of Daniel 12:10? One thing we know is that they will be “blessed”, having waited 1335 days following the cessation of the sacrifices (v.11-12). [Could these “blessed” people be the 144,000 physical Israelites of Rev.7?]

This article reveals a fourth countdown found in Daniel, one of seven years duration, which concludes the week that included the three countdowns mentioned above. More importantly, there is an overlooked timetable, a final 2000 year countdown that is racing to completion.

The entire 23^rd chapter of Leviticus goes into great detail explaining when God’s people should keep the Sabbath and the seven Holy Days on God’s own calendar. Most of God’s doctrines do not have an entire chapter devoted to explaining them in this manner. Verse 2 serves as an introduction.

Leviticus 23:2 “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.”

Leviticus Ch.25 is another such chapter, and it also pertains to God’s calendar. Shortly afterward, when Moses was on Mt. Sinai, God also explained the importance of observing Sabbatical years and Jubilee years. Imagine the impact that a Sabbatical year would have on a strictly agricultural society.

Leviticus 25:3 “Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord.”

The Old and New Marriage Covenants

The following verse indicates that Jesus “keeps His [marriage] covenant” “with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments…” in spite of the fact that most of Israel, at that time, had broken the covenant. That time is not unlike our own time, as far as being faithful goes. An eternal marriage covenant was the essence of the covenant that God made to Abraham. Whether the covenant is Abraham’s covenant, which remains unfulfilled (Hebrews 11:13), or the covenant given from Mt. Sinai, which is suspended, or the New Covenant with Israel, which is yet to come (Jeremiah 31:31-34), the issue always concerns a promise, of His people, to love, honor and obey our God. 

Daniel 9:4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who LOVE Him, and with those who keep [obey] His commandments…

Isaiah 61:8  "For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, and will make with them an ‘everlasting’ [<05769> of unending future] covenant. 9 Their descendants shall be known among the [Nations], and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Romans 11:26 “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”

All of these ‘covenants’ are really facets of the “eternal covenant” that we are under now.

Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the ‘everlasting’ [<166> without beginning and end] covenant 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will…

The future awareness of God’s covenant, and willingness to agree to its terms, will be due to the message that Israel will hear from the two witnesses! Their message is about the fulfillment of the Jubilee and the marriage of Israel! Israel has amnesia! She doesn’t know who she is or that she had been married!

Ezekiel 16:8 “When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a COVENANT with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord GOD.

This is really what the covenant, or marriage agreement, is all about: it is about our being faithful to our God and His remaining our faithful provider.

Who is Your Covenant With?

All of the Hebrew Scriptures can be summarized under the banner of God wanting to marry a Holy People! Here is the “marriage vow”.

Deuteronomy 26:17 Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. [I do!] 18 Also today the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, [I do!]  just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, 19 and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a HOLY PEOPLE to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken.

Can the Greek Scriptures come to an entirely different conclusion than the Prophets? Israel’s Savior, her betrothed, will come to her [the Holy ones] riding on a white horse, and He will slay Leviathan, the fire breathing dragon, with a sword! [Leviathan is another symbolism for the beast-like nations, opposed to Israel and God.]

Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the FINE LINEN is the righteous acts of the ‘saints’ [Literally: Holy Ones]…11“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse…

Isaiah 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent even ‘leviathan’ [<03882> Literally Leviathan, sea monster or dragon] that crooked ‘serpent’ <05175>; and he shall slay the dragon [<08577> Literally: dragon, serpent, sea monster] that is in the sea. (KJV)

Job 41:1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook…4 Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him as a servant forever? 19 Out of his mouth go burning lights; sparks of fire shoot out. 20 Smoke goes out of his nostrils, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. 21 His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth. 33 On earth there is nothing like him, which is made without fear. 34 He beholds every high thing; He is king over all the children of pride.

Jubilee: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb?

Might Land Sabbaths, in the Kingdom, be celebrated in the same manner that a marriage was to be celebrated in ancient Israel? Is there to be a relationship between the Jubilee and marriage?

Deuteronomy 24:5 When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home ONE YEAR, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

Isaiah 62:4-5 You shall no longer be termed Forsaken (Literally: “abandoned”), nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate but you shall be called Hephzibah, (Literally: “my delight is in her”) and your land Beulah (Literally: “marry”); for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Imagine what it might be like to have “one year” long ‘honeymoons’ every seventh year! During a One Thousand Year long Sabbatical, when Land Sabbaths have become the norm for all of the nations of the New Earth to come, might God’s desire for Sabbatical ‘land’ rests, for the rural majority, not also include every segment of society, even those who do not live off of the land?

But isn’t the land being married just figurative speech? We know that it is actually the Church that will be married then, right?

Luke 20:35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage...

Not only does this say that the Church will not marry, in the Kingdom, but SPECIFICALLY, it is at the very resurrection associated with the "wedding supper", that they do not marry! You have probably always heard that this marriage supper was for Christ and His Church. Could John (Christ) actually have been referring to a marriage that was alluded to at a much earlier time? Might the marriage actually be the jubilant time when His chosen people are blessed; the time that I believe typifies what the Jubilee actually commemorates – the restoration of Israel? I believe that it is. A great many scriptures that the churches say pertains to them actually pertain to the twelve tribes of Israel. A salient introduction to this topic is The Actual Message of Matthew 24.

Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me: Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ And he said to me: These are the true sayings of God.

Jeremiah 3:14 Return, O backsliding children,” says the LORD; “for I am MARRIED to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

Israel broke its former or “Old” marriage Covenant with God, but God promised to make a new marriage covenant!

Isaiah 14:1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land…

This is a new marriage covenant, with better promises! Given a second chance, God will “still choose” to marry “Israel”. This marriage is the fulfillment of the jubilee!

Jeremiah 31:31-36 Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new [marriage] covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a HUSBAND to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My People.34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. 35 Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): 36 If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.

The Land Will Be Married!

Back to Jeremiah chapter 3, beginning in verse 18: In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an ‘inheritance’ [or heritage or possession\ to your fathers. 19 But I said: ‘How can I put you among the children and give you a pleasant land, a beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’ And I said: ‘You shall call Me, “My Father,” and not turn away from Me.’ 20 Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, says the LORD. 21 A voice was heard on the desolate heights, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel. For they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the LORD their God. 22 “Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings…Indeed we do come to You, for You are the LORD our God.

Notice that the pleasant land is the ‘heritage’ or ‘possession’, or as I believe, the marriage present that God, Israel’s provider, will present to his chosen “bride” following the second Exodus.

Isaiah 61:7 Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs. 8 For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, and will make with them an everlasting covenant. 9 Their descendants shall be known among the Nations, and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Jeremiah 33:10-11 Thus says the LORD: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place - of which you say: It is desolate, without man and without beast - in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, 11 ‘the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: Praise the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for His mercy endures forever - and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the LORD.

Sufficient has already been given to make a connection between the land being married, as well as its occupants. Could the land being married possibly be a reference to anything other than the Jubilee, I think not.

There is a direct connection between the Jubilee years and God’s plan that is illustrated by understanding the symbolism of the Holy Days. The KEY is in Christ’s fulfillment of the prophecy, which specified that He would “Proclaim the acceptable YEAR of the Lord”! This marvelous ‘proclamation’ needs to be explained. Christ confirmed which year is the Jubilee, as a part of His earthly ministry! 

Every fiftieth year God intended an additional ‘Sabbatical’ type of year. Again, all commercial agricultural practices were to stop:

Leviticus 25:11-12 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.

During this time two Land Sabbaths were to occur back to back, the 49^th and the 50^th years. There is a detailed explanation for how lands Sabbaths were likely implemented in a separate article on the subject following this article. It is entitled Why the Land Sabbath? There would definitely be a degree of faith required in not sowing commercial crops for two consecutive years, if you were a farmer, however there would not have even been a market for crops during those years because everyone was learning the value of growing their own food, at least during those special years.

Incidentally, some people have tried to farm this way during this present age, but the double harvests simply did not materialize. I myself have sought to make this work, believing that I was resting my land on the proper years, but apparently God is not blessing us for now, in this regard, any more than we see the spiritual gifts being employed. These appear to be national, rather individual, blessings. It would indeed be quite unusual to have our own weather patterns as our neighbors are having droughts and other crop related problems.

Leviticus 25:21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. 22 ‘And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.

This is apparently the way that God will handle primarily the grain and legume harvests and other less perishable foods. Seed crops remain viable (alive and eatable) for several years.

Furthermore: “In this year of Jubilee, each of you SHALL RETURN TO HIS POSSESSION.” (Leviticus 25:13) It goes on to explain that if for some unfortunate reason, you or your family ‘sold’ the family homestead out of necessity - the next generation would get it back. This is a form of land rental to some more fortunate or ambitious individual. An individual should never deprive his descendants of their fair share of the earth - indefinitely. The worst case scenario is that one would have to collect rent on his homestead and move into a small house in a village. (v.31) Imagine, a world without mortgages, no more slaving away to pay rent and no more homeless people. The last fifteen chapters of Ezekiel describe the conclusion of this age and the establishment of the “New Earth” to come. Here is an example of Jubilee law as it pertains to the future:

Ezekiel 46:16-18 Thus says the Lord God: If the prince gives a gift of some of his inheritance to any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. But if he gives a gift of some of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the YEAR OF LIBERTY, after which it shall return to the prince. But his inheritance shall belong to his sons; it shall become theirs. Moreover the prince shall not take any of the people’s inheritance by evicting them from their property; he shall provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so NONE OF MY PEOPLE MAY BE SCATTERED FROM HIS PROPERTY.

Think about it: year 6000, the year of God’s wrath, is a “Jubilee” year! Jesus “shall return to His possession” (Leviticus 25:10,13,28,41) during that very year. Actually, because He died, making us His heirs, we will return to our possessions along with Him! It’s part of our “gift” or “reward”! No more being ‘scattered’.

Some few people believed that the return of Christ could be no later than 1996! They began a two thousand year count down beginning in 4 B.C., the adjusted birth date of Christ. These people believed that God had used a tremendous benchmark in time, thinking that the birth of Christ was that benchmark. No supposed ‘cutting short’ of Satan’s destruction will alter the “appointed time”. In hindsight they should ask themselves if they were entirely wrong. Is there a benchmark? Could it be that the prestigious Roman Catholic Church moved the goal line? Did they calculate the fifth millennium beginning with the wrong date or event? Could they be guilty of tampering with the reckoning of time? (Daniel 7:25) If the birth of Christ was the monumental benchmark in time, then why did God not even bother to specifically mention the year and date?

The Greatest Benchmark in Time

Actually, there is a tremendous benchmark in time recorded in the Bible! The benchmark is the Passover of 31A.D. This event certainly signaled the end of any authority that the Jews may have claimed, as the lame duck ‘church government’ for believers, and replaced it with the Church of God, 50 days later. That Passover, history will record, also brought to a close the fourth millennium. Nearly two millennial ‘days’ have passed since the fifth millennium began. During this time, God has been calling out an exact total of 144,000 individuals to have leadership roles in His coming Kingdom. Also the patriarchs and others, such as the people mentioned in Hebrews chapter 4 will be a part of this number.

Revelation 14:1-4 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads… 4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being FIRSTFRUITS to God and to the Lamb.

Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth…Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

The Two Witnesses

God will also fulfill a prophetic “work” toward the end of the sixth ‘day’, the preparation day of His seven millennium long plan. The culmination of the millennial preparation day, the sixth millennium, is highlighted by the two witnesses who will prepare the way for the Kingdom of God. Specifically, they will be preparing those who will listen and obey for the world shaking events to come. There is significance to the fact that EXACTLY three days and three nights was the only sign given that Christ was the Messiah. It indicated that there remained, at that time, precisely three millennial ‘days’ in God’s master plan. The first two millennial ‘days’, from that point of reference, will expire in 2031. Then “on the THIRD DAY He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight!” (Hosea 6:2) That “third day” begins the final “day” - the Sabbatical 1000 year period. The ‘bad’ news is that God’s return, as I understand it, occur will not occur before the Jubilee year of 2031 A.D., as will be shown.

Revelation 11:1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying: Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the [other Nations]. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. 7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

The two witnesses actually typify both the Father and His Son ruling in the Kingdom, from Jerusalem, with power and authority! It is quite important to notice that the two witnesses will “finish their testimony” before the beast is allowed to make war against them. When the Beast kills them, then God will declare war those who celebrate their death.

Revelation 11:10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

They will have had 1260 days to warn the modern descendants of Israel of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. The Dragon, knowing that after 1260 days, that the witnesses will no longer be invincible, will immediately have them murdered. After all, he has read the scriptures and is quite willing to fulfill that prophecy. After this ‘victory’, the beast, still in a delusional rage, will trample Jerusalem for 1260 days. This is the second 1260 day period: 42 X 30 days is another 1260 days. 3.5 + 3.5 = 7, this constitutes the final week of the seventy weeks prophecy.

Haggai Chapters 1 & 2 describes how Joshua and Zerubbabel constructed the former temple. In a similar manner, their latter day counterparts, the two witnesses, will build the latter temple - on schedule! This will be something to watch for, culminating in the next Jubilee.

Zechariah 4:3-10 Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left. 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying: What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me: Do you not know what these are? And I said: No, my lord. 6 So he answered and said to me: This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. 7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone* with shouts of: Grace, grace to it! 8 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 9 The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this TEMPLE; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. 10 For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

[*Psalms 118:22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Also Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11 “chief cornerstone”, 1 Peter 2:7.  [This must be the same stone as the “capstone”.]

The Major Elements of Christ’s Mission Statement

Mission #1

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor”: The Holy Spirit literally descended upon Christ (Luke 3:22). In Greek, the term Messiah or Christ means ‘anointed one’. This Spirit filled ‘Anointed One’s ‘gospel’ (actually: good news) message was in reality the beginning of the fulfillment of many scriptures. Christ’s good news message, like the messages of all of the prophets of the ‘Old Testament’, whom He quoted from so frequently, concerned the coming Kingdom of God, and of salvation, which is the very purpose for the creation of that Kingdom, as well as the bad news of the events that must precede that wonderful time.

The two witnesses (not primarily church organizations) will warn the nations of Israel that the Beast is about to take them into captivity. This is a vital part of the ‘gospel’ truth - that we can miss out on the destruction. “When I bring a sword upon a land” (as God promised in Zechariah:

Zechariah 14:2-3 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem…

Ezekiel 33:2-6 …and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head…but he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

Like military guards if they are found sleeping while on duty, they must die for not being prepared to warn their ‘brothers’! Today’s “shepherds” (political and church leaders) are asleep, not able to warn the sleeping flock of the devastation to come. They are no more aware of the trials to come than they are aware that God will send His two witnesses to announce the solution to the predicament. It’s no wonder the question is posed:

Matthew 24:14 When the Son of Man comes will He find [the] faith on the earth?” Immediately after “the gospel of the Kingdom is preached in all the world as a witness to ALL the nations, then the end [of this age] will come.

Preaching the ‘good news’ to the poor is really speaking about the spiritually poor. Lacking physical possessions in this age has little to do with our need to understand this message, except for the fact that when someone is destitute, they have fewer physical distractions than when they are totally preoccupied by the cares of this world. WE ARE THE POOR!

Isaiah 58:1 Isaiah was told to Cry aloud, spare not [peoples feelings or for personal safety] “lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Israel [physical end time nations] their sins.

Both good and bad news was announced by various soundings of trumpets:

Leviticus 25:9 Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the on the tenth day of the seventh ‘month’ [Literally ‘New Moon’]; on the Day of Atonement and you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.

Jubilee number 120 will also be accompanied by the blowing of trumpets. (6000 years divided by 50 years = 120).

Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded [his “trumpet”, as in 9:14]: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying: The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord AND of His Christ, [not just Christ] and He shall reign forever and ever!

God has reserved for his own purpose, the final year of the six thousand year period to make His transition to power. On the Day of Atonement of that year, Satan will be cast into the ‘bottomless pit’. Of much more interest is this:

1 Corinthians 15:52 Behold I will tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

During this year the primary fulfillment of the Day of Trumpets will be realized, as will the fulfillment of the other annual Holy Days! It would be nice if the Bible just came out and said: This is what the Day of Trumpets represents, and this prophecy fulfills the meaning of the Jubilee!

Matthew 24:31 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.

1 Corinthians 15:52 …in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

The reality is that God has hidden things a little bit. That’s why even many Sabbatarians are unaware of the Holy Days. I really want to be there for the fulfillment of this Jubilee of Jubilees!

Mission #2

“He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted”: For three years Christ personally fulfilled His objective to begin healing the brokenhearted. Most significant perhaps was His literal healing of the afflicted. He was the perfect, positive example, so much so that He never broke God’s law even once, breaking the heart of another person. Still, only a few people, on a small part of the earth, were able to benefit from Christ’s actions. After Pentecost of 31A.D., many more people started helping to heal the brokenhearted. And during the 120^th Jubilee, thousands more Spirit Born individuals, who will then be beyond sinning, will be powerfully representing their God and righteousness, as older brothers. The traumatic dangers of the end time will be over.

Leviticus 25:13-19 In this year of jubilee…the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.

A tremendous cause of being brokenhearted today is oppression - man’s inhumanity to man. Again, in the Jubilee Chapter, the solution is given.

Leviticus 25:17 Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

When people cease to sin against one another, by keeping the commandments, most of the trials that trouble us will vanish. Any ‘would be oppressors’ will be swiftly dealt with when the next Jubilee brings in the ‘New World Order.’ Another cause of broken heartedness that will be eliminated beginning within the next Jubilee, is that all forms of natural disasters will cease. The resulting poverty is a significant cause of being brokenhearted.

Leviticus 25:35-37 If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you. You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit.

Mission #3

“To proclaim liberty to the captives”: To my knowledge, Christ didn’t ‘liberate’ any alleged criminals from a prison. He didn't free any political prisoners of war from their camps nor did He end slavery during His human ministry. Yet Christ began fulfilling this scripture! Again, this was His ‘mission statement.’ Many wonderful scriptures could be used to illustrate this. Everyone alive during His ministry was under the strong influence of Satan. Everyone was a slave to sin and was on death row before Christ was sacrificed. After all “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) Fifty days after His death, on the day of Pentecost of that Jubilee year of 31 A.D., Christ’s promised freedom from mental and spiritual incarceration was fulfilled. The many captives who needed to be released were all captives of Satan. Of course a much greater physical and spiritual fulfillment will occur during the Second Exodus.

Prior to the Second Exodus, Israel will have become as “a stranger or a sojourner”. When Israel goes into captivity they will cry out for Jubilee and God will make it possible for His people to dwell in a new Promised Land!

Mission #4

“And recovery of sight to the blind”: Of course this has both physical and spiritual fulfillment, referring obviously to the several instances when Jesus healed the blind. This should have been a clue for the spiritually blind religious leaders of the day. The lasting significance is of course explained in John 9. This entire chapter deals with the healing of blindness of one man. This chapter also clearly sheds ‘light’ on the spiritual significance that Christ later explained to that same man:

John 5:25 For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may be made blind.

John 9:39-41 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him: Are we blind also? Jesus said to them: If you were blind you would have no sin: but now you say: We see.  Therefore your sin remains.

He also said:

John 5:25 The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

This one generation had the privilege of hearing the actual “voice of the Son of God”, enabling them to obtain eternal life.

Mission #5

“To set at liberty those who are oppressed”: Christ began a spiritual liberation beginning at His anointing in 27 A.D. Actually the plan dates back to at least “the foundation of the world.” Daniel succinctly prophesied that:

Daniel 9:24-26 Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end to sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself.

Here is a bona fide ‘prophetic time lapse’ of two millennia. Verse 26 concerns the sacrificial death of Christ, which enables us to conquer sin. But verse 27 takes place two thousand years later. It concerns the Beast making a covenant “with many” people in the middle of a seven year long “week”. It was for us, that Messiah had to be “cut off”, to fulfill this. This could also be described as part of Christ’s mission statement. It is interesting that this prophecy is ‘cut off’ seemingly in mid thought, with the rest of Daniel 9 pertaining to another pertinent ‘half week’ at the time of the end.

Daniel 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.

In case there is any doubt about who is ‘cutting off’ the sacrificing, notice what is added further concerning the prophecy.

Daniel 11:31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then THEY shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.

It is immediately following this event, that the Messiah will physically “set at liberty” the “oppressed” nations of Israel, during the Second Exodus!

Mission #6

“To PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR of the Lord”: This is the part that no one believes! It’s not that the meaning is obscured, but that the literal truth continues to be spiritualized away! Even the writer of the commentary in my Bible is aware of the literal meaning of this phrase. He stated that this phrase is “an allusion to Jubilee. This was every fiftieth year, in which all debt was forgiven, slaves were given their freedom, and ancestral lands were given back to their original family. The year of Jubilee allowed for a new start. (See Leviticus 25:10) Jesus offers a total cancellation of spiritual debt and a new beginning for those who respond to His message.” Of course this ‘scholar’ would say, if asked, that Jesus was just speaking of purely spiritual things or that He was merely speaking figuratively or some other such fluff. Yet the crowd tried to kill Jesus immediately after He finished His comments! You don't risk your life over fluff. Again, this was His ‘mission statement’, Jesus proclaimed, announced, declared and disclosed the significance of the Jubilee year! Only when the Holy Spirit came to the Church of God on the ‘acceptable year’ of 31 A.D., were the spiritual freedoms of the Jubilee begun. It’s not likely that the Church could ever institute many of the physical requirements of the Jubilee. That requires the cooperation of civil government, which won’t happen until there is just one government! However, the ability to more deeply understand the seven millennium long plan of God is important. In the millennium, Land Sabbath ‘keepers’ won’t be able to go to a store and buy freshly harvested food provided by Land Sabbath ‘breakers’, as everyone will almost immediately be participating in Biblical agriculture, once they learn about it at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Isaiah 49:6 Indeed He says: It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.

In Isaiah 49:6-10 there is a prophecy concerning 6 “My servant’s” amazing destiny. It says that He will “raise up the tribes of Jacob. I will also give you as a light to the [Nations]” Furthermore: 8 In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. I will preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the [formerly] desolate heritages, 9 that you may say to the prisoners ‘Go forth’, to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves’. They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. 10 They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them, for He who has mercy on them will guide them, even by the springs of water He will guide them.

The “acceptable time” spoken of here is “an illusion to” the acceptable Jubilee year in which Christ and the Father will return! It is the “day of salvation” that has a lot to do with releasing prisoners, and with the environment. It affects pastures, highways, and springs of water, even the intensity of the sun.

Mission #7

 The Revelation of the Messiah is fulfilled! Immediately following these six statements:

Luke 4:21 He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them: Today this scripture is FULFILLED in your hearing.

For three years began Christ incrementally making known the plan of God, ultimately revealing that He was the Messiah and was to become the Passover lamb. However it wasn’t until Pentecost of 31 A.D., that His own disciples began to comprehend it! It is important to note that He only chose to quote for a few seconds. This makes what little He did say of all the more importance! “No prophet is accepted in his own country”, He told them. (v.24). He stated in advance that they would reject Him. Next Christ gave a sobering comparison of the three year famine that God brought thru Elijah, to His three year mission. Only one widow believed Elijah. Christ also had precious little credibility. (Luke 4:25-26) Then they tried to “throw Him down over the cliff”! (v.29) Again referring to the original quote from Isaiah, it is important to notice that He quit quoting in the middle of a sentence. Had He finished the sentence He would have quoted, “and the day of vengeance of our God…” (Isaiah 61:2) Once we can determine which year is “the acceptable year of the Lord”, we can also determine when the next phase of the Divine plan begins; the “Day of the Lord”. This chapter then lists many other occurrences describing the millennium. Christ’s earthly ministry began the fulfillment of these jubilant objectives. Following Satan’s wrath there will be a Jubilee year of tremendous importance. This will take place exactly forty Jubilee cycles after Christ proceeded to “proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Remember that the last year of this millennium is the Jubilee. (6000 is divisible by 50). The year 6001 begins the seventh millennium. All of the tremendous meanings of all seven Holy Days will have begun a latter fulfillment within the time frame one special Jubilee year, including “the Last Day that Great Day of the Feast” which portrays salvation being made available to “anyone” who “thirsts”. (John 7:37) After the captivity of Israel is over, there will be a lot of ‘thirsty’ survivors!

Isaiah 58:4-7 Isaiah said that even the fasting of the people is for “wickedness”. He continued commenting about 5 “a fast that I [God] have chosen” [indicating the Day of Atonement] 5 “Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? 6 Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke. 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out?”

There is a direct connection between the Day of Atonement and the objectives of the Jubilee year! Mankind thinks that today we are acceptable to God, ‘just as we are’. To God, the “acceptable day” (Atonement) of the “acceptable year” (Jubilee year) will require, among other things, the widespread application of the blessings just mentioned. When this day comes then:

Isaiah 58:12 Those from among you shall build the old waste places: you shall raise up the foundations of many generations.

Here is an entirely separate reason to believe that we must wait a full 2000 years until the time when “He will come to us”! The context of this refers to both the original fall of Israel and quite specifically, to the soon to occur fall of the Israelite nations!

Hosea 5:6 - 6:3 They shall go and seek the Lord, but they will not find Him. He has withdrawn Himself from them.”…“Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, ‘Look behind you, O Benjamin!’ 9 Ephraim [the British] shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel [This is describing the time of Jacob’s trouble!] I make known what is sure. 10 ‘The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out my wrath on them like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept. 12 *Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness. 13 ‘When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria [Germany and allies] and sent to King ‘Jareb’ [Strong’s #3377: literally symbolic of Assyria, from ‘Baal will contend’]; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound. [He couldn’t stop further damage.] 14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will TEAR them and go away [original departure from all 12 tribes]; I will take them away [into slavery], and no one shall rescue. 15 I [Yahweh] WILL RETURN AGAIN TO MY ‘PLACE’ TILL THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR OFFENSE. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction (Great Tribulation) they will earnestly seek Me.” [Ignore misplaced chapter break] Hosea 6:1 continues, “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has TORN, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. [Israel has never been healed.] 2 ‘After’ [literally ‘at the hind part of’] two days He will revive us; ON the third day He will raise us up, that we may LIVE in His sight. 3 Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; HE WILL COME TO US like the rain, like the latter [rain] [Phase #1, Feast of Trumpets] and former rain [Phase #2, Passover] to the earth.”

God will ‘cut short’ Satan’s reign during the Jubilee year. Might the timing of the phrase “After two days He will revive us” be a reference to the ‘Restoration of Israel’ out of captivity and oppression, which will occur at the close of the ‘second millennial day’? If so, it would also refer to the first resurrection which is at the very end of (‘hind part’) of “two” millennial “days” (2031 A.D.), when the “third” millennial “day” is about to dawn. The beginning of the next millennium appears to be “ON the third ‘day’”. The word “days” is meaningless in this context to anyone not familiar with the ‘day for a year principle’ or ‘secret code’.

Daniel 12 is entirely about three separate countdowns, all of which culminate in “the fulfillment of these wonders” when “all these things shall be finished”. Specifically, Daniel was told that he “will arise to [his] inheritance at the END of the days.” Understanding when “the end of the days” or ‘countdowns’ takes place should certainly be intriguing to believers. Following the complete text of Daniel 12 is a commentary on how all of these dates are likely to apply prior to the Jubilee.

Daniel 12 At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And AT THAT TIME* your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. [The end time resurrection] 3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. 4 ‘But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. 5 Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. 6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, ‘How long shall the fulfillment of these [very specific] wonders be? 7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time [year], times [2 years], and half a time [1/2 year]; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered (by the beast), all these things shall be finished. 8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ 9 And he said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed TILL the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. 11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. 13 But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will ARISE to your inheritance [when?] at the END of the days.

 Daniel will arise at the end of these countdowns!

[*During the “time of trouble” a faithful remnant will be protected in God’s “Tabernacle” until the time of the first resurrection.

Psalms 27:5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His ‘pavilion’ [booth]; in the secret place of His ‘tabernacle’, He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a ROCK.

The 1,260 Day Message

The Two Witnesses Chapter tells us plainly what the 1,260 day period is. Keep in mind that prophetic months are always 30 days:

Revelation 11:3 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the [Nations]. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months” [42 X 30 = 1260 days]. “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and THEY WILL PROPHECY one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth].

Their incredible message, the duration of which lasts precisely 1260 days, (Revelation 11:3-15) is exposed to Israel beginning exactly three and one half years PRIOR TO the Great Tribulation. (Revelation 11:3, 7-11,15) These forty two months, or three and one half years, precede a second three and a half year long period, which is the exact duration of the Great Tribulation. Together, these periods comprise the final week of the seventy weeks prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27). The final horrible period begins with the invasion of foreign kings into Jerusalem!

What might be the first mighty sign performed by the two witnesses? Has 42 months ever been a 1260 day period? Because God gave us the exact number of days of the Great Tribulation and said that this was the equivalent of 42 months, I believe that Elijah is going to fix the heavenly clock as a miraculous sign! Under this literal interpretation, “Elijah" will begin to restore literally “ALL THINGS”, (Matthew 17:11) even things involving the sun, the moon and the stars! Daniel also, being precise, indicated that there was a 3½ year countdown associated with the 1290 day countdown. (Daniel 12:7-12) The earth will speed up and make its circuit around the sun in 360 days, correcting the 5/360 present deviation. That in itself would impress thinking people but the logical “sign” accompanying that technical “sign” would be the institution of the different orbit of the “two great lights”. With only a five degree adjustment we could have total monthly lunar eclipses marking the New Moons. (The other 5/360 fractional adjustment) Full monthly solar eclipses, accompanying this would shock the world. Then God said:

Genesis 1:14 Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for SIGNS and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.

The Hebrew word for “signs” often means ‘miraculous signs’. Sure we understand that the sun and moon and stars are for marking “days”, “years” and “seasons”, but what about the first reference: “signs”! Miraculous “signs” in the heavens occur when the heavenly bodies stop doing what is ‘normal’! 

The 1290 day countdown, indicates that another important event occurs thirty days prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation.  Here is what that event is:

Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.

This event is so specific, and the timing is so sure, that some of the wise will be able to positively discern that they must flee immediately. They must pray that their flight won’t be during ‘inclement weather’ (often mistranslated “winter”) because, under these trying times, thirty days is going to present a serious challenge! Among other things a serious multi national military threat will sort out those lacking the faith to proceed. It will be reminiscent of when Israel was between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea. Those escaping will be severely tested at this time.

There is no direct explanation for the last period of time, but there are two major clues:

Daniel 12:12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.

The clues that we have for this countdown are that some are “blessed” and that they “wait”. This indicates that there are indeed two departure times for those who are to escape, as other scriptures indicate, to gather the “wise” remnant of Israel to a place of safety. One group has to fly madly like a bat out of, um, a cave, to escape. The other group, having 45 days more advance notice, are indeed fortunate because they will leisurely depart, “blessed” with time, among other things! They will be able to “wait” in a secure place for the gathering storm to pass!

Isaiah 52:9-12 Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you shall NOT go out with HASTE, NOR go by FLIGHT; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your ‘rear guard’. [Literally ‘gather together into the company of others’!]

This does not apply to the Daniel 12:12 above. This is a reference to the regathering of Israel, the exodus from Assyria, after the Tribulation) “but through KNOWLEDGE the righteous will be delivered.”  (Proverbs 11:9)

Their parting words to the remaining Saints is to ‘watch for the invasion of Jerusalem in 45 days.’ These Saints will have understood the seven year countdown, the sixteen year countdown and the 2000 year countdown!

Following these countdowns brings us to the point of Revelation Ch.14 where 144,000 saints are “before the throne of God”, completing all of the countdowns. Our 1260 days in the place of safety is over. God is now here with an agenda! “Babylon is fallen”, but the beast is still alive, “If anyone worships the beast…(v.9). Other people are waking up. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

Jubilee Conditions Will Soon Take Humanity by Surprise!

Here is an observation, from the book of Joshua that I heard from a friend. This was part of a sermon he had heard. The point was to show a probable link between the beginning of Christ’s ministry and His return two thousand years later. However the 2000 years would be more accurate counting from Christ’s death and using the phrase “after three days” as a reference to the sign of Jonah!

Joshua 3:1-13 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. 2 So it was, *after three days, that the officers went through the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying: When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before. 5 And Joshua said to the people: Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. 6 Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying: Take up the Ark of the Covenant and cross over before the people. So they took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people.7 And the Lord said to Joshua: This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you…11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.

[* Perhaps it is not coincidental that the phrase “after three days” is mentioned fourteen times in reference to Christ’s resurrection. Christ became our Passover on the fourteenth day of the month.]

We will follow Christ over that ‘great divide’ precisely two thousand years after His death. That barrier will be stopped like the river Jordan was.

Joshua 3:17Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan [not at some distance one side or the other but right on the dividing line] and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

1 Samuel 4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, WHO dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

2 Samuel 6:2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale Judah to bring up from there the ARK of God, whose name is called by the Name, THE LORD OF HOSTS, WHO dwells between the cherubim.

2 Kings 19:15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

1 Chronicles 13:6 And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, to Kirjath Jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, WHO dwells between the cherubim, where His name is proclaimed.

Psalms 99:1The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; let the earth be moved!

Isaiah 37:16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

Revelation 11:19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.

There are other possible clues relating to “two thousand” in the following two scriptures:

1 Kings 7:25-26 It stood on twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. 26 It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained two thousand baths.

Numbers 35:1-5 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying: 2 Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites common-land around the cities. 3 They shall have the cities to dwell in; and their common land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals. 4 The common-land of the cities which you shall give the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around. 5 And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits. The city shall be in the middle. This shall belong to them as common land for the cities.

I only have one more thing to say: “Proclaim the acceptable YEAR of the Lord”!

Lon Martin

Written December 18, 1998 

Revised November 23, 2002

More Evidence!

This article was written under the supposition that Christ was crucified in 31 A.D. My purpose was not to challenge this conventional viewpoint. I explained that Christ actually proclaimed the Jubilee year [whichever year it was]. No attempt to confirm the Jubilee year via historical references was attempted. There are some who believe that the crucifixion actually occurred in 30 A.D. In September of 2002, I found an article entitled Chronology of Jubilees that sought to confirm the date of the Jubilee thru Biblical and historical dating methods. This article is well researched. It states, in passing, that the year of Christ’s crucifixion happened to be a Jubilee year (30 A.D.) James Dwyer, the author, allowed for the possibility of one year of error due to the ancient practice of starting ‘royal years’ in the fall, rather than on Abib.

WHY THE LAND SABBATH?

[Introductory note: The group that tried to get the land Sabbath to ‘work’ for them gave up on the project in I believe 1974, concluding that today, the land Sabbath was strictly an agricultural practice that would give the soil a rest but that it is not binding upon Christians today. Their farmers were going bankrupt! One factor that they never addressed was that a farmer could use any single year out of seven as his Land Sabbath. There were always some farmers “resting” on any given year. This is the equivalent of saying that God wants for His people to keep the Weekly Sabbath but that any day that an individual chooses will do! They also retained a form of the “third tithe” practice associated with it. This was a separate tithe of everyone’s income {not just farmers} contributed on an arbitrarily chosen two years out of seven, depending on when the individual became a part of the church. They claimed that God would bless the givers in that instance.]

Ambassador College Agriculture Department, 1970

The law of the Land Sabbath is not new to most students of the Bible, but many questions we receive in the Agriculture Department indicate that it is only vaguely understood. These questions demand answers and in our efforts to find them we have been forced to embark on a rather searching study of this particular part of God's law. It has been most rewarding and in this edition of “Your Living Environment” we want to re-state some old conclusions and give additional information on this somewhat enigmatic law. We don't put them forward to you as “final”, but promise that you will find them interesting and stimulating.

Did God Neglect Agricultural Instruction?

Most converted farmers read the Bible with one eye always searching for instruction from God about food production.  Imagine their chagrin when, having read through the entire Bible, they discover that God's specific instructions to food producers appear to be little more than a few notes on firstlings, a few verses on mingled seed, the Land Sabbath and the jubilee! Beyond these points God appears to have considered it unnecessary to offer anything very much in the way of specific guidelines for producing man's most important physical commodity - FOOD! But is that really the situation? Why would the all wise Creator God choose, in writing the Bible, to be so specific and detailed about such things as sacrifices for example and so seemingly nebulous about agriculture? God wasn't nebulous at all. In fact, He did give man agricultural guidance, but he gave it in such a way that it could not be neglected by an obedient nation! God did not have to expound principles of food production in the Bible. His law of the Land Sabbath appears to do the job for Him. It forces the people in an obedient nation to learn the following points by virtue of sheer economic necessity:

1.      That they needed a cheap and effective source of feed for their meat-producing animals, (but NOT GRAIN)!

2.      How to prevent soil erosion and the formation of deserts, (the curse of modern Palestine).

3.      How to avoid water pollution.

4.      How to overcome the problem of huge grain surpluses.

5.      To know what constitutes a logical approach to laying out cities, towns, villages and farms.

6.      The true value of long-term highly mechanized farming.

7.      The general implications of protein quantity and quality in a good diet for both animals and humans.

8.      That factory farming won’t work - economically.

9.      The importance of an efficient system of producing and marketing vegetables, fruit, milk, meat and eggs.

10.  The importance of livestock in any permanent system of agriculture.

11.  That soil fertility cannot be maintained without a regular return of organic matter to the land and that ultimately each acre must be the source of its own fertility.

12.  That there is a definite limit to the amount each acre can produce and that this level will be reached only if man is prepared to limit the amount he takes for his own purposes. That may appear to be reading rather much into one single law of God!! If so, then read on and see for yourself.

Understanding God’s Laws

As Mr. Armstrong has often said, the best way to discover the purpose and meaning of any of God’s laws is to put the particular law into action in your own life. He has repeatedly mentioned that he and his wife had to keep the annual festivals for many years in total faith before they were able to discern the true purpose of the annual Holydays! The same principle seems to apply to the Sabbatical Year. Only by keeping it can we learn the meaning, the intent and the full importance of God’s command to man to rest his land, etc, every SEVEN years. Ambassador College in Bricket Wood has done this, (22 years ago). But many of you however, have not had such an opportunity. Imagination will therefore be required as we walk through a Land Sabbath on paper, to help you consider its implications for individuals and whole nations in the near future!

What the Land Sabbath Involves

The main details were covered in the April 1969, “Good News”. Briefly however, the Land Sabbath imposes the following conditions every seventh year: 

1.      No grain may be harvested for commercial purposes.

2.      No crops may be sown specifically for harvesting.

3.      No vineyards, or orchards may be pruned.

4.      No fruit, vegetables, or grain may be stored.

5.      No hay, or winter fodder may be collected in barns.

6.      No fresh fruit, or vegetables would be available for sale.

7.      Pasturing cattle, sheep and poultry is NOT restricted.

Some of the Implications

Visualize yourself now as an adult male with a wife and three children. The Civil Government of your country has made the Sabbatical Year part of the enforced law of the land as God intended. Your responsibility is to provide food, clothes, shelter and a good way of life for your family. The provision of clothes, shelter, fuel and recreational amenities would be unaffected by the Sabbatical Year. How might we provide ourselves with FOOD? Every SEVENTH year one could expect a temporary shortage of certain basic commodities, even if there had been a surplus the previous year, (as Leviticus 25:22 indicates). MILK and EGGS would be even more plentiful than normal, because under God's civil government the Sabbatical Year applies to ALL food producers in the same year - Leviticus 25:9-10. This type of production is in fact encouraged - and at the specific expense of commercial crops, (Leviticus 25:7). GRAIN could be available to all, because it stores easily and MEAT would also be plentiful.  VEGETABLES and FRUIT would be a different matter! Undoubtedly some could and would be stored by drying, freezing, or bottling. But it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible to effect national bulk storage, sufficient to last at least a year, (until the next harvest season). Even if it could be done, the cost would be high and the food much less nutritious and less enjoyable than fresh fruit and vegetables. The ONLY families, (other than the poor and the travelers, Exodus 23:11,12) who could have fresh produce would be those who have their OWN orchards and gardens! For them, fresh fruit and vegetables WOULD be available in season.

During the strawberry season of the Seventh Year for example, those people who have been growing THEIR OWN PLANTS would be able to have fresh berries right through the strawberry season. God does not approve of storing these away, but He does approve of eating them FRESH, that is while they are in season, (Leviticus 25:6).

This could mean that only a portion of the total strawberries would be used and the rest would return to the soil, but people WOULD have fresh fruit. This would be a big incentive to grow your OWN strawberries. The same principle would apply to all berry, stone, pome and citrus fruits. Notice the incentive for DIVERSIFICATION. This would lengthen seasonal production of fresh fruit available to each SELF-SUPPORTING family. Amazing isn't it? God, by giving Israel the Land Sabbath law, appears to have made it far more profitable for each family to produce their own fruit and vegetables than rely on the efforts of someone else! God's Sabbatical Year makes it economically and nutritionally unattractive to rely on a few specialist producers selling to millions of non-producing consumers, (like we have today)! Maybe everyone won’t be producing their own in the future, but the only system that harmonizes with the Land Sabbath is simply one of self-sufficiency in fruit and vegetables via homegrown production! Under God's system, there would be NO local [fresh fruit and vegetable markets] operating anywhere in the nation during the year of rest. The law would prevent anyone selling produce to a [market] during this time, but people can have a FREE supply direct from their OWN garden, (Leviticus 25:6). Even here God has seen the necessity of forestalling human nature. Many people, left to their own devices, would plant a garden ONLY in the SEVENTH YEAR and buy their requirements from someone else during the other six years!! But in order to have any garden produce in the SEVENTH Year a family must have a garden in at least the sixth year too! God makes this mandatory by limiting the available produce to that which volunteers in the Seventh Year. You can quickly appreciate that volunteer growth in vegetables COMES only where they have been planted in a previous year! (That cleverly rules out vegetable retailers in the SIXTH year!)

Volunteer Growth

A properly managed garden will have a surprising amount of vegetables that will volunteer in the seventh year. Ambassador College is perfecting a method of potato growing that, among other benefits, enables a family to have fresh potatoes from July to December with no digging, weeding or seeding. A similar system for carrots, cabbages, sprouts and other vegetables is being tested.

Benefits of Obedience

Therefore, the Sabbatical Year benefits the family as follows:

1. Consumption of animal protein is encouraged by making it the most plentiful food every Seventh Year.

2. By forcing man to be self-sufficient, God is encouraging us to dwell under our own vine and fig tree. (Micah 4:4)

3. Being the source of produce, the garden keeps the family together and occupied at least every sixth and seventh year. Though more work than most city dwellers are used to, benefits for adults, children, the local community and the entire nation are undeniable.

Consider some of the national benefits:

1. The Land Sabbath discriminates severely against landowners who rely on CROPS for their income. Our modern animal-less farms would be totally out of business every seventh year, while those who pasture stock would be unaffected! Growing of crops is all right, but if not strictly limited it becomes man's most lethal weapon for soil destruction! This single God-given law hedges the obedient nations about with protection for its most precious physical commodity – FERTILE SOIL.

2. Today’s system of marketing produce would be uneconomic. The nation's MARKET GARDENERS would be totally out of business in both the sixth and seventh years of every seven year cycle. GREENGROCERS would be out too in the seventh year and limited to sales of fruit during the sixth and ORCHARDISTS would have no income in the seventh!

3. As today’s miles and miles of monotonous grain fields become a memory, more cattle, sheep and poultry will be bred.

4. Huge and embarrassing grain surpluses would also cease because monoculture would be discouraged.

5. Less bare ground through reduced cultivation would greatly decrease the hazards of erosion and desert formation. Land well covered with grass is nearly immune to damage from wind and water. In a world that is observing the Land Sabbath no man-made deserts like the Sahara would occur, (other than by over-grazing with livestock).

6. Factory farming would be ruled out through a lack of cheap grain. GRASS would be the cheapest and best feed, (and it probably is, even today). Regular years of rest would raise soil fertility and grass quality would improve to the point where protein supplements of grain would be UNNECESSARY.

7. The ramifications of increased SOIL FERTILITY could be easily traced, (if space permitted) through plant, animal and human HEALTH. This fact alone would save every modern Western nation millions of pounds annually for pharmaceuticals, chemical sprays and dusting agents. In conclusion then it is obvious that in the Sabbatical Year, God gave Israel a VAST amount of agricultural and environmental guidance. Indeed, had the Israelites kept this law, it is difficult to see how they could have AVOIDED health and prosperity. The Land Sabbath appears to be one of the most rejected of all laws by Israel of old, right from the very beginning. But we hope that this report helps to show how vital it will be for a FUTURE Israel to avoid the same mistake!

YOUR LIVING ENVIRONMENT, September 1970, Vol. I, No. 9 Ambassador College (UK) Agriculture Department   [The format was changed, along with minor editing, to conform to our other articles.]

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