The Jubilee is all about redemption. If for some reason the owner of land in Israel had to sell it, in the Year of Jubilee the land was restored to the original owner. Actually, the owner did not “sell” his land but rented it until the next Jubilee. The instructions for the price are found in Leviticus 25:15-16.
For reasons that are not clear to me, it was considered by the Jews that the Year of Jubilee came every forty-nine years. The instructions from the Lord clearly indicate fifty years.
The Year of Jubilee followed the Sabbatical Year, which meant that the Children of Israel had to live two years from the bounty of the sixth year of the Sabbatical cycle. The seventh year was a year of rest for the land, as was also the Jubilee Year.
In the fiftieth year the land was redeemed and given back to the original owner. Therefore, the number “fifty” is related to redemption. This is confirmed by the Day of Pentecost, which occurred fifty days after the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Even Jewish rabbis, who do not recognize Jesus as Messiah, know that the Feast of Pentecost is about redemption.
Just as the practice of animal sacrifice ended with the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D., the deportation of the Jews from Israel in 135 A.D. brought an end to the Year of Jubilee. The Israelites were no longer in the land. They were not there to receive it back. Therefore, there were no more Jubilees.
But the Chosen of the Lord are back in the Holy Land. I believe the Jubilee cycle has begun.
I believe that 1517 is a marker year. It was a unique year. There were three extraordinary events that occurred that year. Most Christians who study history recognize 1517 as the year when Martin Luther placed his “95 Theses” or ninety-five questions on the door of the church at Wittenberg, Germany.
In addition, 1517 was the year when there was a change in the counting of the Jewish calendar. Until then, the calendar was counted from the year of Alexander the Great conquering the known world in 312 B.C. Beginning in 1517, the calendar was based upon the number of years from Adam. This count does not agree with Bible chronology, but Dr. J. R. Church has reconciled the difference. That is yet another subject.
And thirdly, 1517 was also the year that the Ottoman Empire completed their conquest of the Middle East and took possession of the Holy Land. Again, I believe 1517 is a marker year. In 1917 the Ottoman Empire was driven from the Holy Land by the British Army under General Allenby. The land was redeemed! (Curiously, this happened on the very day of the Feast of Dedication, or Chanukah, the day memorializing redemption in 164 B.C.)
There were no Jubilees celebrated from 135 A.D. until 1517, because the land was not Israel. There were no Jubilees celebrated during the 400 years the Ottomans controlled the Holy Land because it was not yet Israel, but the 400 years that elapsed from the marker year 1517 until 1917 do represent eight Jubilee periods. (8 x 50 = 400) Eight is the number representing New Beginnings, and this is confirmed by the eight people on the Ark that represented the New Beginning for mankind after the Flood. 1917, I believe, represents a New Beginning for Israel, and the first supernatural Jubilee! I refer to these as “supernatural Jubilees” because they are not the result of man obeying the Mosaic Law, but the result of the Lord God demonstrating His will for Israel.
If 1917 was the first supernatural Jubilee for the Holy Land, then 1967 certainly was the second supernatural Jubilee. By 1967 the Holy Land was again known as Israel. It was in 1967 that the City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were captured, again by military force. This was the famous Six Day War. Jerusalem and the Temple were redeemed!
If this pattern continues, the next Year of Jubilee will be 2017. If this pattern continues, this Jubilee will be supernatural and the redemption will be done militarily. My hope is that it will be done by the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus the Messiah!
There is more to the importance of 1517. The Lord told Abraham that his descendants would live in a land not their own for 400 years. (Genesis 15:13) From 1517 until 1917 the Jews that lived in what was known as Syria or Palestine lived in a land not their own.
Please note that in Scripture, Egypt is a type of the world. Exodus 12:40 tells us that the Children of Israel lived in Egypt for 430 years. (The difference between the 400 years of Genesis 15 and these 430 years has been accounted for by the use of different beginning dates.) If you add the 430 years to 1517, the result is 1947. It was in 1947 that the United Nations passed the resolution creating the State of Israel. The People Israel no longer lived in the world. They lived in the Land of Israel.
There is only one book in the Bible with exactly fifty chapters; Genesis. There appears to be a “Jubilee Pattern” in Scripture. If this is so, the fiftieth chapter of Genesis would indicate a Jubilee.
In Genesis chapter 50 Joseph made preparations to bury Jacob, or Israel, who had just died. Genesis 50:7-9 records Joseph, all the Children of Israel with the exception of the “little ones,” the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of Egypt, and a great company of horsemen and chariots departing to Canaan to bury Jacob there. Canaan was the Promised Land. Here is a clear foreshadow of the Children of Israel departing to go to the Promised Land. And this foreshadow of the beginning of the journey to the Promised Land is recorded in 1517th verse of the Bible!
Is not the Word of God amazing? Our Lord has so much in the Bible, and it is just waiting there for us to find it. Praise His holy name, always and forever!