JUBILEE CALENDAR Exodus to God s Promise & Threat to Solomon AM; 60 th Jubilee By Tim Warner, Copyright

Transcription

1 JUBILEE CALENDAR Exodus to God s Promise & Threat to Solomon AM; 60 th Jubilee By Tim Warner, Copyright We are now faced with the first significant test of our theory: that the Jubilee Calendar begins at creation. If our theory is correct, the Jubilee cycles from creation must coincide perfectly with the Jubilee calendar which Israel began to keep once they entered into the Promised Land. Anything less than this will falsify our premise and / or our previous calculations. God told the Israelites to begin counting the Sabbatical years and Jubilee cycle after they have gone into the Promised Land. If we add the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness to the year of the exodus (2500AM), we end up with the year 2540 as the year Joshua led the Israelites into the Land. If the Jews began to count the sabbatical and Jubilee years immediately, then the first Jubilee in the land would be ten years too early to synchronize with a continuous Jubilee calendar from creation. Did God intend for the Israelites to begin counting sabbatical years immediately? The answer is no. They were to begin counting the first seven year Sabbatical cycle when they began to farm their own land and eat of their harvests. 1 And the tribes did not own specific pieces of land until Joshua conquered the people of Canaan, and had divided the inheritance by lot to all 12 tribes. This process took several years. Exodus 23:29-31 NKJV 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. Notice that inheriting the Land was to occur after God defeated their enemies. It took several years to defeat the Canaanites, and divide the southern portion to the tribes of 1 Lev. 25:1-3,

2 Judah, Ephraem, and Manasseh. Joshua 14 describes the division of the southern land when Caleb was 85 years old. Caleb was 40 years old at Kadesh Barnea, when he was one of the 12 spies. 2 And this event took place 1.5 years after the exodus. 3 So, Caleb was 41.5 years old when he was one of the spies. 45 years had elapsed since then, 4 making Caleb s request to Joshua 6.5 years after their entrance into Canaan. Therefore, Joshua did not begin to divide the land for the southern tribes until 6-7 years had transpired from their entrance into Canaan. And the surveying and division of the southern land took some time to accomplish. Yet, we learn from Joshua 18 that sometime later, the northern tribes had still not received their inheritance. Joshua rebuked them, saying, How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers has given you? 5 After this, the northern tribes surveyed the rest of the land, after which Joshua divided it by lot to the rest of the tribes. In Joshua 22, after all the lands were secured from Israel s enemies, and all twelve tribes had received their allotted land inheritance, Joshua finally dismissed all the tribal armies to go home to their inheritance and farm their own land. This is the point when the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles begin the first year all Israel farmed their land. Just how many years in total did it take to conquer the land, divide the inheritance to all 12 tribes, and dismiss the armies? Joshua does not tell us. We know it was more than 6.5 years, since that was how long it took before Joshua began to divide the southern portion alone. It is no stretch to assume that it took a total of 10 years before all of the tribes received their allotted land inheritance, and Joshua dismissed the armies to go home to their inheritance. Fortunately, we do not have to guess. The Apostle Paul provided the missing piece for us in the following passage. Acts 13:16-19 NASB 16 Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: 17 "The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it. 2 Josh. 14:7 3 Cf. Num. 10:11-12 & 13:20 The Israelites departed from camp in the 2 nd month of the 2 nd year after the exodus (spring), and sent in the spies at the time of the grape harvest (fall) that same year. 4 Josh. 14:10 5 Josh. 18:3 2

3 18 "For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness. 19 " When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance all of which took about four hundred and fifty years. 6 Paul s recounting Israel s history begins with God s choosing our fathers. The key word here is choose. According to Deuteronomy, God s choosing (election) did not start with Abraham, but with Isaac Abraham s seed. Three times God spoke of choosing Abraham s seed in order to fulfill His covenant with Abraham. Deut 4:37 NKJV 7 And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them Deut 7:6-8 NKJV 6 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. 7 The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Deut 10:15-16 NKJV 15 The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. The Bible portrays Abraham s seed as being chosen, not Abraham Himself. This choosing (election) begins with Isaac, then Jacob, then the 12 tribes. In Romans 9:6-13, Paul gave a discourse on the choosing (election) of God. He began to describe God s choosing certain people to use to accomplish His promise. His first example was God s choosing Isaac over Ishmael, and then God s choosing Jacob over Esau. In Paul s mind, God s election was not only about choosing someone from Abraham s seed, but also rejecting someone else who was also technically Abraham s seed. God chose Isaac and rejected Ishmael. God chose Jacob and rejected Esau. 6 The KJV and NKJV, following the Textus Receptus, place the words after these things before about four hundred fifty years. But, the oldest manuscripts are agreed that the correct word order should be, about four hundred fifty years, after these things He gave them judges, etc., as in virtually all modern translations. 3

4 Thus, in Acts 13, when Paul began by saying that, The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, he was speaking of Isaac and Jacob (as opposed to Ishmael and Esau). According to Paul, the 450 years began with God s choosing Isaac ("The God of this people Israel chose our fathers ) and ends after Joshua and the armies of Israel had defeated the enemies in Canaan, when Joshua completed dividing up the land inheritance for the 12 tribes, ( when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance ). Paul said that all of this took 450 years. 7 As we saw in the previous chapter, it was exactly 400 years from Isaac s birth until the exodus. It was 40 years until Joshua and all Israel entered the Promised Land. That leaves 10 more years according to Paul s reckoning until all the land was divided, and the Israelites all went home to farm their land. Thus, we have proof that it was 50 years from the year of the exodus (the 50 th Jubilee) until Israel began to farm their allotted land inheritance. It is evident that Joshua divided the last of the inheritance and dismissed the Israeli army on the 51 st Jubilee year from creation. Israel then began to count the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles from the end of the 51 st Jubilee, the year 2550AM. So, to the Israelites in Canaan, the year 2551AM was the first year of the first Sabbatical and Jubilee cycle. The 52 nd Jubilee from creation would have been the 1 st Jubilee that Israel observed in the land. We have seen that Abraham s birth and Noah s death were both in the 2000 th year from creation, the 40 th Jubilee. Isaac was born in the 42 nd Jubilee year. God released the Israelites from slavery in Egypt on the 50 th Jubilee year (year of release). And now we see that the Jubilee Calendar that God commanded Israel to observe synchronized perfectly with the Jubilee Calendar which began at creation. This ought to be sufficient to convince any skeptic that the Jubilee Calendar is God s calendar (not Israel s calendar), beginning at creation, and that Jubilee years are reckoned every 50 years (not 49 as some suggest). From the Exodus to God s Promise and Threat to Solomon The period of the Judges is not given in precise terms in Scripture. However, it is not needed because of the following passage. 1 Kings 6:1-2 NKJV 1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over 7 The Greek text actually reads, as to years, four-hundred fifty. 4

5 Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. This passage is very straight forward, dating the beginning of the construction of Solomon s Temple 480 years after the exodus. We must use exclusive reckoning here, because the word after means we cannot include the year of the exodus. That brings us to the year 2980AM. The Davidic Covenant Before we move on, we ought to consider the year of the Davidic Covenant. Solomon had reigned only 3 full years when he began to build the Temple. Thus, Solomon s reign began in the year 2978AM. David his father reigned a total of 40 years, but only 33 years in Jerusalem. So, David s reign in Jerusalem began in the year 2945AM. After this, David built his house in Jerusalem. We do not know how long it took David to build his house. However, about the time he completed it, He decided that God needed a permanent house also, since the Ark of the Covenant was merely being housed in a tent. So, David brought the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem in a procession of praise to God with instruments and dancing. In response to David s desire to build God a permanent house, God gave David the Davidic Covenant, which promised him a permanent dynasty, a Son from his loins who would sit upon his throne and reign forever. This promised Son is Jesus Christ. 8 If we suppose that it took David 5 years to build his house, the Davidic Covenant would also be on Jubilee Year, the year 2950AM, the 59 th Jubilee. God s Promise and Threat to Solomon Solomon began to build the Temple in the year 2980AM. Temple construction took 7 years, after which Solomon built his palace, taking 13 more years, for a total of 20 years. 9 We now arrive at the year 3,000AM, the 60 th Jubilee year from creation. On this Jubilee year, as soon as Solomon had completed his palace, God appeared to him with a promise and a stern warning. 2 Chron 7: Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear 8 Acts 2: Kings 6:38 7:1; 1 Kings 9:10 5

6 from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel. 19 But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, Why has the LORD done thus to this land and this house? 22 Then they will answer, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them. In this appearance to Solomon in the 60 th Jubilee God promised both a blessing and a curse. The blessing was that He would always forgive Israel s sins if they would repent and pray towards His House. God also promised to fulfill the covenant He made with David concerning the Messiah through Solomon if he would remain faithful as David his father had. But, if Solomon forsook the Lord and worshipped other gods, God would utterly destroy this Temple, and Solomon s entire dynasty would ultimately be rejected by God. These dire predictions were contingent on Solomon s own faithfulness. As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked but if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, We know that Solomon forsook the Lord, and caused all Israel to sin in the worship of other gods. 10 Ultimately, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar was the result of Solomon s disobedience, and the precedent he set for his entire dynasty Kings 11:1-13 6

7 Ultimately, Solomon, along with his entire dynasty, was rejected by God. 11 God made good on His threat to destroy this Temple. And He made good on His threat to bring an end to Solomon s dynasty. Solomon s throne was not established forever, as God had promised David that his own throne would be established forever by means of the Messiah from his seed who would reign forever. 11 This is the reason that Jesus Christ s genealogy is traced by Luke through Mary s father back to Nathan, David s other son. Peter preached that God had promised David that his Son according to the flesh would reign on David s throne forever (Acts 2:30). Jesus was physically (according to the flesh) the Son of David through Nathan, not through Solomon. Joseph was a descendant of Solomon, but he was not Jesus natural father. 7