The Month of Tishri and the Year of Jubilee
- The 1st of Tishri is the Feast of Trumpets — the Jewish New Year (Rosh HaShanah).
- The 10th of Tishri is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) — the day the Jubilee is proclaimed.
- The Jubilee begins on the 10th of Tishri, not the traditional 1st of Tishri.
- Tishri falls in September–October of the Gregorian calendar.
Leviticus 25:8–10: “Count off seven sabbath years — seven times seven years — so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you.”
The Meaning of the Jubilee (Leviticus 25)
- 1️⃣ Proclaim freedom — Release servants, cancel debts
- 2️⃣ Return of land to original owners — Prevent the permanent concentration of land in the hands of the wealthy
- 3️⃣ No farming — Complete dependence on God’s provision
We know that everything in the Old Testament points to Christ — Christ is the reality of the freedom and release that we receive. Therefore, both of the Lord’s comings are related to the Jubilee.
Christ and the Jubilee
The First Coming:
The purpose of the Lord’s first coming was to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor — the Jubilee. This passage may point to what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection, meaning the year of His death and resurrection may have been a Year of Jubilee.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down… He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”” (Luke 4:18–21)
The Second Coming:
Isaiah’s prophecy contains two elements:
- To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
- And the day of vengeance of our God
The Lord’s first coming was not for vengeance. So in Luke, the Lord stopped reading at the Jubilee and did not continue to read “the day of vengeance.” The Lord’s second coming will be for vengeance, a greater Jubilee, bringing comfort to all who mourn.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.” (Isaiah 61:1–2)
According to Scripture, perhaps both of the Lord’s comings are related to the Jubilee — because the Jubilee is God’s appointed year of freedom, and only Christ can truly set people free.
Calculating the Jubilee
Every 50 years is a Jubilee (the 50th year).
Based on what we discussed in “The Birth Year of Jesus” — that Jesus was born around 5 BC — and following Luke 3:23 which says “Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry,” that would be around AD 26. Jesus ministered for approximately 3.5 years, placing the crucifixion around AD 30.
If AD 30 was a Year of Jubilee, counting every 50 years, the nearest Jubilee to us would be AD 2030.
Come, Lord Jesus!