Originally posted on August 21st, 2014
Today
was my 49th Birthday! Boy, that hurt a lot more than I thought it
would. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful Birthday wishes.
I
have been doing some thinking about that number though, and its use in
the Bible. As you know, certain numbers in the Bible have symbolism and
significance when used. For instance, 3 symbolizes perfection (the
Trinity, Jonah in fish’s belly, Jesus in the tomb,
number of Jesus’ ministry years), 7 symbolizes wholeness or completion
(7 days of creation, 7 feasts of the Jews, 7 seals of Revelation), and
the number 6 is the number of man (man created on sixth day, 666 is the
number of the antichrist).
The number 49 is a multiple of 7,
and is specifically mentioned in relation to Jubilee (Yobel). Every 7
years, Israel was to observe a Sabbath year called the Shemitah
(release). This year was a time of rest for the land, no crops were to
be planted, grown, or harvested. God provided in the sixth year enough
to sustain the people through the Sabbath year. Also, all debts were to
be forgiven. After 7 Sabbath years (49 years), the 50th year was known
as the Jubilee year. This year was also a year of rest for the land,
and freedom from debt.
The date of the start of the Jubilee
year corresponds with the Jewish Feast of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This
is the day that the High Priest took the blood of the sacrifice and
sprinkled it on Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant for the
forgiveness of sins for Israel. In prophecy, The date of Jubilee and
the Day of Atonement should be of specific interest for those looking
for a timeframe in which Jesus will complete the redemption of His
people with the forgiveness of all debt bringing on a period of rest.
As I enter into my 50th year tomorrow, I thank Jesus for his
forgiveness of my debt of sin. I look forward to His provision
throughout this year, and look for opportunities to pass this blessing
onto others when the opportunity presents itself. I will proclaim
“Freedom” in the land, and look to God for my provision.
Leviticus 25
Sabbath Years and Jubilee
25 The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: 2 “Speak to the Israelites
and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you, the land will
observe a Sabbath to the LORD. 3 You may sow your field for six years,
and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years. 4
But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in the seventh
year, a Sabbath to the LORD: you are not to sow your field or prune
your vineyard. 5 You are not to reap what grows by itself from your
crop, or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. It must be a year of
complete rest for the land. 6 Whatever the land produces during the
Sabbath year can be food for you—for yourself, your male or female
slave, and the hired hand or foreigner who stays with you. 7 All of its
growth may serve as food for your livestock and the wild animals in your
land.
8 “You are to count seven sabbatical years, seven times seven
years, so that the time period of the seven sabbatical years amounts to
49. 9 Then you are to sound a trumpet loudly in the seventh month, on
the tenth day of the month; you will sound it throughout your land on
the Day of Atonement. 10 You are to consecrate the fiftieth year and
proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be your
Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and each of you
to his clan. 11 The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee; you are not to
sow, reap what grows by itself, or harvest its untended vines. 12 It is
to be holy to you because it is the Jubilee; you may only eat its
produce directly from the field.
13 “In this Year of Jubilee, each
of you will return to his property. 14 If you make a sale to your
neighbor or a purchase from him, do not cheat one another. 15 You are to
make the purchase from your neighbor based on the number of years since
the last Jubilee. He is to sell to you based on the number of remaining
harvest years. 16 You are to increase its price in proportion to a
greater amount of years, and decrease its price in proportion to a
lesser amount of years, because what he is selling to you is a number of
harvests. 17 You are not to cheat one another, but fear your God, for I
am Yahweh your God.
18 “You are to keep My statutes and ordinances
and carefully observe them, so that you may live securely in the land.
19 Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat, be
satisfied, and live securely in the land. 20 If you wonder: ‘What will
we eat in the seventh year if we don’t sow or gather our produce?’ 21 I
will appoint My blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will
produce a crop sufficient for three years.
