Redeemed

  "The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness (melo/mala - that which fills, entire contents, multitude, full length/fill, fulfill, consecrate, confirm, complete, accomplish, replenish, gather, overflow, abundance), the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded (yasad - founded, foundation, ordain, appointed, established) it upon the seas, and established (kun - establish, prepare, fixed in place, set, directed, provide, confirmed, be secure, be enduring, be securely determined, be ready) it upon the waters (nahar - a flowing, river, stream, to flow together, to sparkle, be cheerful, to shine, give light, be glad, rejoice, brightness)." (Psalm 24:1-2).

And

     "And He (Lord of heaven and earth) has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord...though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being..." (Acts 17:26-28, and Deut. 32:8).

     From Deuteronomy 32:8, cited above, we find out that the LORD set the boundaries of all of the people of the nations "according to the number of the children of Israel." Deuteronomy 32 continues: "For the LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance." (v. 9).

     The Psalms narrow down the ownership of the earth: "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession." (Ps. 2:7-8). The Creator has given all of the nations to His Son, the Messiah/Christ, Jesus, a descendant of His people, Jacob (see above). They are His to rule and to judge (see. v. 9).

     The LORD goes on to say: "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and You perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are those who put their trust in Him." (v. 12).

     These excerpts above from the scriptures completely refute the understanding that most of us have of the world, its economics, and the true ownership rights to it. However, as this week's double Sabbath reading portion shows us, it is better to have things the LORD's way. In fact, the LORD's way is more to our benefit or advantage than our own understanding, as we will see.

     The double reading portion for this week's Sabbath are B'har, meaning "on the Mount," and B'chukkotai, meaning "In My statutes".

     The reading begins in Leviticus 25:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount (see B'har above) Sinai, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) fruit; but the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard." (Lev. 25:1-4). Everything concerning the land falls under the authority of the LORD. Even the fruit of the land which they gather still belongs to the *Aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega Lord, as noted in the written Hebrew. The seventh year sabbath of the land belongs to the LORD. They will not do with the land as they see fit, but as the LORD commanded.

     We can see in the verses above that the LORD was not speaking from heaven but speaking His statutes on the mount, a physical place on the earth, as our two combined Sabbath portion titles reflect. The LORD retains His possession of the physical earth, and His authority over the land which He gives to Israel. His statutes are to rule the land. Of this land given to Israel, the LORD commanded: "The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land. If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold." (Lev. 25:23-25).

     From this foundation of ownership and authority of the physical earth and everything in it, especially the land of Israel, the LORD establishes something called "the year of Jubilee". 

     The year of Jubilee is directly connected to the Sabbath and to the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which is one of the Feasts of the LORD. This feast is also important to us because we understand that the blood shed by Jesus Christ in His suffering and death was for the atonement (kapar - covering) or propitiation of our sins. Every seven sabbath years, or a total of forty-nine years, on the Day of Atonement the trumpet of the Jubilee is sounded throughout all of the land to announce the fiftieth year, which is the year of Jubilee. In this fiftieth year, the LORD again announces His ownership and statutes of authority of the earth and everything in it, by turning upside down everything that man has bought, sold, traded, bartered, enslaved. The unredeemed house or land that was taken or purchased, the unredeemed debt owed, the unredeemed servitude/slavery are all overturned. Land or house goes back to the original family who received it from the LORD, as He originally divided the land among the tribes of Israel. Those who sold themselves into servitude are repaid the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) price of his redemption. Those whose debts remain unredeemed by a family member are set free anyway at the year of Jubilee: "For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (see Lev. 25:47-55).

     Today's thinking might declare that this is economically unfair and even disastrous, but it is the year of Jubilee by which the LORD retains authority by His statute to set His people free. These Torah statutes of the LORD, which are contrary to the thinking and ways of the world, paved the way prophetically for our spiritual redemption as we will see.

      The obedience to the statutes of the LORD affected the land: "If you walk in My statutes (see B'chukkotai above) and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield its fruit...I will give you peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil (ra - evil, wickedness, trouble, affliction, grievous, malignant, vicious) beasts (hay - living, beast, creature, animal, appetite), and the sword will not go through your land." (Lev. 26:3-6). If the statutes of the LORD are not kept, then the land is affected in the opposite manner. (v. 19-20).

     The statutes of the LORD, including the statute of redemption, in the hand of the prophet Jeremiah assured that Israel would return from their prophesied captivity in Babylon. Jeremiah redeemed the field of his cousin, Hanamel (meaning "God is gracious"), as his cousin said to him: "...for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself." Jeremiah wrote of this request: "Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. So I bought the field from Hanamel...weighed out to him the money - seventeen shekels of silver. And I signed the deed and sealed it...according to the law and custom..." (Jer. 32:6-11). The LORD then instructed Jeremiah: "Take these deeds...and put them in an earthen vessel that they may last many days (yom - day, time, year, continually, yesterday, today and tomorrow)...Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land." Jeremiah then praised the LORD who has "made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You." (v. 13-17).

     The verses from Jeremiah, above, contain eleven instances of the use of *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega, including its connection to "the price of redemption", "the field" of Hanamel, "the money", "the purchase deed", "that which was sealed", "deed/deeds", "the heaven", "the earth".

     Earlier, the LORD had given Jeremiah this prophetic Word: "Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying: 'Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,' says the LORD. 'And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it." (Jer. 30:2-3).

     Even though Jeremiah completed this prophetic redemption of the land of Israel while being detained in the king of Judah's prison dungeon, and even though the most powerful kingdom (Babylon) was about to lay siege to Jerusalem, Jeremiah knew, based upon the previous spoken Word of the LORD, and confirmed by the use of the written statutes given from the LORD from on the mount, that the LORD had just assured Israel that they would return to the land which He had given them.

     The captivity in Babylon and the Babylonian command over the land of Israel lasted for seventy years. Then, as the LORD promised Jeremiah, the Israelites were freed from captivity and allowed to return to their land...and the ruling king at that time paid the restoration money needed to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem that had been destroyed during the siege, and for the re-building of the temple of God that had been ruined. 

      But wait! We're not done yet with Jeremiah's fulfilling of the statute of the LORD in regard to the redemption of the land. The LORD had told Jeremiah to place the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) deeds into an earthen vessel so that the deeds could last many days. (v. 14). The Hebrew word for "days" is yom, as we see above, meaning: "day, time, year, continually, today, yesterday and tomorrow." These (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) deeds of redemption were to last not only for the seventy years of Babylonian captivity, but "continually". I believe that these same (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) deeds hidden in earthen vessels not only provided the way back home from Babylonian captivity, but provided for the return of the Jewish people to the land again in 1948, after Israel had ceased to be a nation approximately two thousand years ago when Rome destroyed it. I don't know if even Jeremiah foresaw what the LORD would accomplish by Jeremiah's obedience to His statutes.

     Not only did this prophetic action of Jeremiah guarantee the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham through his son, Isaac, but it also became part of our spiritual guarantee and covenant with the Lord Jesus. Our covenant with God through Jesus is not a covenant regarding possession of the physical land of Israel, but the new covenant which assures us of life forever in Christ, who rose from the dead, and our inheritance through Him in the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Our inheritance is not limited to a physical city on earth, but even greater, to the City not made with human hands, but whose Maker and Builder is God. This inheritance was always promised as Abraham also waited for this City. (see Heb. 11:8-10, Rev. 21:1-4, Jn. 14:1-6, Eph. 2:4-7). Jeremiah also had a prophetic understanding of this as he received the Word of the LORD related to this. In our Sabbath reading, we see: "A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place (maqom - locality, standing place, home, country) of our sanctuary. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed...." (Jer. 17:12-13).

      The apostle Paul refers to our guarantee of this spiritual redemption in the New Testament: "...But we have this treasure (thesauros - a casket or coffer in which valuables are kept) in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not ourselves...always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." (2 Cor. 4:6-10, excerpt). Paul also wrote elsewhere: "...you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee (arrabon - earnest money, purchase money) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (Eph. 1:13-14). And: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." (Eph. 4:30).

      We can hear the echo of Jeremiah's prophetic Word, faith and obedience in these revelations of Paul, above. When Jeremiah had the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega deeds to the field belonging to "God is gracious" (Hanamel) sealed in earthen vessels for many days to come, he also prophetically sealed our guarantee, the Holy Spirit, to all of the riches in Jesus Messiah/Christ in these earthen vessels - us. 

     If you would like to learn more about the gracious redemption commanded by the LORD on the mount, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, the whole earth belongs to You, and You have not only redeemed the land of Israel for Your people, but You alone have also provided our Redeemer Kinsman, Jesus Messiah/Christ, to redeem and retore what was lost - our souls. What a great inheritance You have given and guaranteed to me through Your Son. I had lost all, but Your statutes of redemption and Jubilee in the flesh, Jesus, guaranteed my restoration, my life, and my salvation. I give You all thanks and praise in Jesus' name for Your eternal promises to me and to all who will receive them. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

     

Statutes

This week's Sabbath reading portion is called B'chukkotai meaning "In My statutes" in English. In Leviticus 26, the LORD's Word to Moses to deliver to the children of Israel includes, "If you walk (yalak - proceed, manner of life, to live, to die) in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them..." (Lev. 26:3). The LORD then describes all of the blessings that will fill the land as a result of walking in His statutes: "I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit...you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely...I will give peace in the land...none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts...." (v. 4-6). I would like to interrupt the listing of blessings to look more closely at the phrase "I will rid the land of evil beasts". The word "rid" is the Hebrew word sabat, which has to do with the Sabbath. It is the part of the meaning of the Sabbath that has to do with warfare, and means "to cease, away, remove, exterminate, destroy" (see last week's entry below this one titled "Jubilee" for more information regarding the Sabbath). The word "beasts" is the Hebrew word hay/haya which means alive, living thing, creature/to revive, quicken, save, life, recover, to live prosperously, restore to life". It is a powerful word. It is used in these examples from scripture: "O LORD, you brought my soul up from the grave; You hae kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit." (Ps. 30:3). And, "The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth." (Ps. 41:2). The word "evil" used in the phrase is the Hebrew word ra, which means "evil, trouble, wickedness, afflictions, mischief, adversity, harm, distress, injury, calamity, grief, hurt, sadness, to break". So God will exterminate all of the evil that works the opposite of life, and restored life, as defined above. The list of blessings that result from observing God's statutes continues: "...the sword will not go through your land...your enemies shall fall by the sword before you...I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm (qum - to raise up, rise up, arise, accomplish, bring (come) on the scene) My covenant with you...I will set My tabernacle among you...My soul shall not abhor you...I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people..." (Lev. 26:6-12). There is also another promise in v. 10 about clearing out the old harvest because of the new. However, in the Hebrew word meanings, there is a much deeper thing going on: "the slack and sleeping will be brought out, will come out, in the face of, in the presence of, a new, unheard of thing, having been renewed, repaired, and made anew". To me, this brings to mind the scripture: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17). As we can see, the resulting blessings from walking (see above) in the statutes of God are many and deep in meaning. The statutes are are manner of life, for a whole lifetime. Couldn't our nation and our people benefit from the beautiful blessings above that come from walking and living in the statutes of God, especially in these troubling times? We often think of the LORD's statutes as a set of rules. It is a good time to find out that the meaning of "statute" in Hebrew is more encompassing than our initial impression. The word for "statute" in Hebrew is huqqa, which, including its root word, means "that which is established or defined, limit, boundary, appointed, to cut into, engrave, stamp violently, encounter violently". The statutes are like an appointed boundary line violently cut into the spiritual ground. Something exists on one side of that boundary line, while something else exists on the other side of the line. The individual pictographic Hebrew letters of the word, cheth, qoph and heh, which make up the word huqqa, or statute, also combine to form a similar meaning: Behold the revelation -to be cut off, separated, fenced and protected from the past, from what is behind. Walking in the statutes of God keeps us within a spiritually protected area. Adam and Eve had dwelled within a fenced or enclosed garden that we call the Garden of Eden. When they broke the statute of God, they ended up forced out of that protected area (Gen. 3:23-24), and became subject to "the manner of life" that existed beyond that boundary - sweat, hardship, troubles, pain and ultimately, death (Gen. 3:16-19). At that point, all the LORD could do for them after they broke the statute was to send them out with one of the greatest promises in scripture, a promise of restoration through the Messiah to come (Gen. 3:14-15). As part of that promise, God also clothed the old or fallen man with tunics of sacrificed life (Gen. 3:21). Proverbs 30:5 says, "Every word of God is pure (sarap - tested and proved true, refined like gold); He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him." The tried and proven nature of the Word of God is a shield of protection for us. Even in trials and trouble, it is still fencing and drawing the line of separation that sets a boundary. Regarding the written statutes of God, Jeremiah received an amazing prophetic Word from the LORD: "Behold the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - not according to the covenant I made with their fathers...My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them...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 (inward parts); and I will be their God, and they shall be My people...I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jer. 31:31-34). A time would come, prophesied by the LORD, when His statutes would be internalized within His people, not just to be read only, but "to become" within us. Although it is a powerful prophecy, I doubt that it was received enthusiastically by the religious minds of the time. Perhaps they said, "A new covenant? We like the old one! What kind of blasphemy is this?" Jeremiah was not popular even before he gave this specific Word of prophecy - he spent a lot of time in prisons and pits! However, the LORD proved Jeremiah to be a true prophet by fulfilling the prophecies He gave to him. We will see the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy of a new covenant, this internalizing of the statutes of God, and the continuing spiritual boundary line or fence of protection from the past things that they provide. As Jesus brought the new covenant to us in His blood (Lk. 22:15, 19-20), He was identified as the Word of God that became flesh (Jn. 1:1-3, 14). He said that He did not come to destroy (katalyo - dissolve, disunite (what has been joined together), overthrow, deprive of success) the law and the prophets but to fulfill them (pleroo - to cause to abound, to consummate, to complete in every particular, to carry through to the end, to bring to realization) (see Mt. 5:17-19). This is how Jesus described how He would accomplish that by saying, "He who has sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him...I do nothing of Myself: but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things...If you abide (meno - not to depart, remain in a place, stay, live, dwell, not to become another or different) in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free...Most assuredly I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death...I do know Him (the Father) and keep His word." (Jn. 8:26, 28, 31-32, 51, 55). Jesus urged His disciples to remain in the Word which He had delivered to them from His Father in Heaven. Jesus also said, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me and I in you...He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing...If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit..." (Jn. 15:3-8, excerpt). We see again clearly the role that the Word of God, in Christ, in us, changes life. Before His arrest and death, Jesus prayed to His Father concerning God's Word and His disciples then, and those who would become His disciples in future generations: "I have given them Your word...Sanctify (hageeadzo - to separate from profane things and dedicate to God, to make holy, purify by expiation, purify by renewing of the soul) them by Your truth. Your word is truth." (Jn. 17:14, 17). Here the work of truth, which is the Word of God, acts as a separating or dividing force that purifies and renews. Through this new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah, and fulfilled in Christ, where the LORD places His Word in our inward parts, the statutes of God have gone from being the letter on the page to being a life giving Spirit in us, as Paul wrote (2 Cor. 3:6-9). Now it is written of us: "...clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that it, of the heart." (2 Cor. 3:3). We can see the progression of the statutes of God as He promised. They have gone from stone to living hearts as we abide in Christ. If you would like to learn more about being an epistle of Christ, you can pray with me: "Lord Jesus, I pray that the Word of God, the statutes of God, are written in my heart, and incorporated in my life in a way that all men may read them. By the Holy Spirit, I want to abide in Your Word, the same Word of the Father, that it may become abundant and everlasting life in me and others. You sanctify me in the Word and statutes of God because they are truth. I believe and receive this in Your holy name, Jesus, AMEN."

Jubilee

It is a special Sabbath this week because it is also the Second Passover* for those who had been unable to participate in the Passover - those who were unclean from handling the dead, those who had been far away on a journey. This aldo applies to the stranger in the midst of God's people. The Second Passover is to be observed exactly one month after the Passover (Num. 9:6-12, 2 Chron. 30:1-3). This weekend will also show unusual signs in the heavens as we have a special blood moon/lunar eclipse event. The Sabbath reading for this week is titled B'har, or "On the mount", because it starts with the LORD giving commands to Moses while he was on Mount Sinai with God (Leviticus 25). The individual Hebrew letters that make up the word B'har have the meaning "the house of the revelation of the Highest". What is this revelation of the Highest in this reading portion? This chapter opens with the spiritual power and blessing of the Sabbath. Throughout the Books of the Torah, the LORD repeatedly gave commands regarding the Sabbath. We can see in this chapter of Leviticus that the Sabbath is a beginning or foundational step leading up to something. There is a progression that leads to one of the great promises of God: the promise of Jubilee. Before discussing the LORD's Jubilee, we need to look at the progression of Sabbaths that lead to it. The Sabbath refers to the number seven, and is assigned to the seventh day. We first see a reference to the Sabbath as God completed His creation in Genesis Chaapter 1, and it is written: "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host (saba/i> - war, battle, appointed time, warfare, soldiers, go out to war, a campaign of war, organized for a war, waiting upon war) of them, were finished (kala - accomplished, done, determined, ended, fulfilled, prepared, made ready for; also meaning to destroy, exterminate, perish). And on the seventh day God ended (kala - same as above) His work which He had done, and He rested (sabat - cease, celebrate, put an end to, to exterminate, destroy, remove) on the seventh day from all His work (melaka/malak - labor, work prescribed, service; messenger, dispatch as a deputy, representative, embassador, angel (incl. prophet, priest, teacher), king, one sent) which He had done. Then God blessed (barak - praised, kneel down, adored, kneel as an act of adoration, thank) the seventh day and sanctified it (qadas - sanctify, hallow, appointed, purified, honored, sacred, conecrated, observed as holy), because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Gen. 2:1-3). In verse four, we see that all history, or generations (toldot/yalad - generations, birth, descendants, geneologies, course of history; beget, travail, labor, midwife, to show lineage, declare pedigree), was encapsulated in this completion of creation before man was made. As we can see from the meanings in the above verses, before man and religion got a hold of the Sabbath, it was God's very powerful provision and plan. The concept of the Sabbath is not just about a day of rest, and the religious rules that accompany it. God had not only completed everything pertaining to creation, but had set up a pre-planned military campaign of extermination, destruction and removal (of enemies) within that creation process. Within this period of creation as we can see from the meanings above, He also designated messengers, deputies, angels, prophets, priests, teachers, and kings. We can also say that included in these deputies to generations not yet born the ordination of the ultimate Deputy-Prophet-Priest-King, Jesus, was also accomplished. It is revealed that Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8, 1 Peter 1:20). The Sabbath was so fundamentally important to God, man, and all creation, that God declared it blessed and sanctified. It is so glorious that it deserved to be honored and observed by kneeling in adoration. In the midst of His commandments to Israel, God said, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." It is, He said, "...the Sabbath of the LORD your God..." (Ex. 20:8-11). Before commanding all of the Feasts of the LORD, the LORD said this first: "The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings." (Lev. 23:1-3). Before any of the other feasts were introduced, the Sabbath was announced as a holy convocation, just as the feasts were (v. 4), and the Sabbath is incorporated in some way into every feast. Jesus brought revelation regarding the meaning of the Sabbath, and scripture describes seven miracle works of mercy and healing that Jesus performed on Sabbaths. Each time He did so, He was criticised and condemned for these works, because, to the religious mind, no work was to be done on the Sabbath, even if they are miracles! However, Jesus revealed that the works that He was doing were the works that His Father was also doing (Jn. 5:16-20). Jesus even included the resurrection of the dead as one of His Father's Sabbath works (v. 21). Jesus said that as a result of the Sabbath work of His Father, and the Son, Himself: "Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (v. 24). This last statement was part of the Sabbath discourse which Jesus gave in John 5. Jesus said that the Sabbath is very much a part of His identity, and ours also, as He revealed that the Sabbath was made for man, and He is Lord of the Sabbath (Mt. 12:1-8, Mk. 2:23-28, Lk. 6:1-5). We must understand what the creation of the Sabbath encompassed in order to understand the progression to Jubilee. In the next step in the progression of the plan of God found in the Sabbath, the LORD commanded not just a Sabbath day in each week, but Sabbath years. A Sabbath year was to be observed every seventh year. This seventh year Sabbath was called the Shemitah: "...the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard." (Lev. 25:2-4). Now we have received the command that time in the land was to be marked in seven year increments, with the seventh year being separated from the rest as the Shemitah year. Many world-impacting events have occurred in Shemitah years, including the attack on the World Trade Center, and various economic and political upheavals. One prophecy in scripture that would determine the length of exile in Babylon for God's people was measured in multiples of Shemitah years that had not been observed in the land, seven years times ten in this case, or seventy years (see 2 Chron. 36:20-21, Jer. 25:11-12, Jer. 29:10). This measurement of Shemitah years prophesied by Jeremiah led to one of the most important Messianic prophecies in scripture. The ten Shemitah years of Jeremiah were further revealed later by God to the prophet Daniel as a timetable concerning the death of the Messiah and End Time events that would follow. This timetable also included warfare to come, as shown in the meaning of Gen. 2:1, above. Daniel was given the timetable of seventy prophetic weeks, The Messiah would be "cut off" or killed after 62 "weeks" of the timetable (see Daniel 9:1-3, 21-27). The revelation of the prophetic timetable was brought to Daniel by a deputy or messenger of the LORD in the form of an angel, as we saw in the meaning of "work" in the Genesis verses above. So now we have been given a timetable of events based on the principle of the Sabbath and the progression to the Shemitah (Sabbath year). From the introduction of the principle of Sabbath or Shemitah years, we progress to the Jubilee. The Jubilee year is the 50th year that begins after the completion of seven Shemitah or Sabbath years, which total 49 years: "And you shall count seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years for yourselves...forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet (sopar - as incising: to cut or divide the surface of anything, to carve, engrave; beautiful, glisten, bright) of Jubilee to sound...on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land." (Lev. 25:8-9). It is a shout and a trumpet call that acts to cut and divide something open, like the heavens, to cause to be beautiful and to glisten. The shout and voice of an archangel, and the trumpet blast found in the meanings above are also found in scripture regarding the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the catching away of the living believers which is known to some as The Rapture (1 Thess. 4:14-18). Because it is a vital moment in the plan of God, could the resurrection and Rapture of the believers also be embedded in the nature of the Sabbath? There is a divine "work" built into creation, and timed to be accomplished and completed through the forty-nine years, and upon its completion, the Jubilee is accomplished in the fiftieth year. The Jubilee is an event by which economics, including debt and servitude, is turned upside down. All debt is forgiven and all properties are restored to their original owners. Imagine the overturning of circumstances and finances this entails! No wonder Israel stopped observing Jubilees, but the LORD hasn't stopped observing them. In the Book of Revelation, the corrupt world economic system of great riches is overturned in a day, even in an hour. All of the merchants and kings of the earth at that time will weep at what seems to be a terrible calamity to them (Rev. 18:8-19). However, while viewed by those who were enriched by this corrupt and bloodthirsty system as a tragedy, in heaven, there will be great rejoicing as apostles and prophets, who were persecuted to death by this world system, are avenged by God (v. 20). It wouldn't surprise me to find out in the future fulfillment of this prophetic Word from Revelation, that this great overturning and destruction was fulfilled in a Jubilee year. The word Jubilee is terua in Hebrew, and it means "to shout, sound, alarm, blast and clangor of trumpets, clamor, loud noise, battle cry, joy, shout in triumph over enemies". The Jubilee is revolution and victory in spiritual and natural warfare, and against unjust worldly systems that will persecute the people of God in the End Times before Christ's return. It is restoration and justice for those who have lost all. The individual Hebrew letters that make up terua, or Jubilee, could also shout: "Behold the cross and nail of the Highest". It is no surprise then that this fiftieth victory year of the Jubilee begins on the Day of Atonement, also which our High Priest, Jesus, fulfilled with His own blood poured upon the Mercy Seat in heaven on our behalf (Heb. 9:11-12). Both Jewish and Gentile worshippers need to understand that the Sabbath means more than a weekly religious observance, especially as we see the prophetic "seventy weeks" of Daniel's timetable playing out. The Sabbath means more than "rest". As Jesus told us, His Father is still working, so He is working, doing the healing and deliverance works of His Father especially on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is one of the important building blocks of the Kingdom of God. The progression and timetable created from Sabbaths, Shemitahs, multiple Shemitahs, and Jubilees is irrevocable, commanded by God to all generations, and has been set into place since the creation, if not before creation (see Rev.13:8). If you would like to know more about the Lord of the Sabbath, you can pray with me: "Father, You established Your law of the Sabbath in Your plan for man and all of creation. You blessed and sanctified it, and it endures throughout all generations. Generations and history follow the timetable of the Sabbath, the Shemitah, and the Jubilee. Your Son, the Messiah, Jesus, is the Lord of the Sabbath, and taught us that the Sabbath is more than religious rules, but it is the manifestation of the Father's works of deliverance. I accept the Lord of the Sabbath as my Lord. Your Atonement blood cleansed me of sin, and restored me in Jubilee restoration. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can learn, understand, and walk in Your ways. I ask this in Jesus' name, AMEN." *Special thanks to JP and FB for contributing information on the Second Passover and upcoming celestial signs.

Who?

In 1998, in the City of David, Jerusalem, a cistern was discovered that many archeologists believe was the dungeon into which the prophet Jeremiah ("whom Jehovah has appointed") was lowered by the princes of Judah. This is how scripture describes that event:
"So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon (a well, cistern, pit) of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes (also meaning pain, sorrow, travail, destruction, to bind, to spoil, to destroy, to ruin, to writhe, to twist, to be broken). And in the dungeon, there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank (to sink down, pierce, drown) in the mire."   Jer. 38:6
The princes of Judah, Shephatiah, meaning "Jehovah has judged", Gedaliah, meaning "Jehovah is great", Jucal, "Jehovah is able", and Pashur, or "freedom", had made clear to the king, Zedekiah ("Jehovah is righteous/just"), that their intent was to kill Jeremiah, and the king had told them to do what they wanted (v. 5).
Jerusalem at this time was besieged by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. There was very little food left in the city, and they were in dire straits. Jeremiah had prophesied, even directly to the king, that the Babylonian king would indeed prevail against Jerusalem, and the people would be taken into captivity. He was even accused of being in league with the enemy because of these prophecies.(Jer. 37:14). Jeremiah had also prophesied that after the captivity, the LORD would turn and heal Judah, and bring them revelations of peace and truth with the Messiah, bringing them to a greater glory in Him (Jer. 33:6, 15-16). The LORD affirmed His covenant with the House of David in these prophecies (33:17).
When I started this entry, I thought it was going to be about poor Jeremiah, the prophet appointed by the LORD, lowered into the miry pit to be destroyed, but it became about something else. This is about the people around this incident. Jeremiah was indeed suffering in the pit for prophesying the true Word of the LORD, when other prophets of the day were prophesying a false word of comfort. Of course, all of the people, including the highest leadership, preferred the comforting, reassuring words that all would be well.
While the idolatrous enemy was indeed at the gates, it was Jeremiah's own people, God's people of covenant, who decided that he should die. It was those who had "Jehovah" all over their names who preferred the lie over the truth. They took those ropes of torment, and lowered Jeremiah into the sticky clay of the pit, abandoning him there. How Jeremiah must have suffered for bringing the truth!
However, there was one person who intervened, interceded. This entry is about him.
This man, Ebed-Melech ("bondservant/slave of the king"), an Ethiopian (from Cush in Africa, meaning "black"), was a eunuch who served in the king's palace. On the rungs of society of that day, he would probably be considered of the lowest. The only name he was allowed was one which meant, "the king's servant". However, when he heard what had been done to Jeremiah, the eunuch approached the king as the king was sitting in the gate of the city. Here, a king would sit to hear and judge the concerns of the common people, who would be given this rare access to him, and he would grant petitions. The eunuch, who would probably never be allowed to approach the king in the palace, was able to approach  him here at this gate, the gate of Benjamin ("Son of the right hand"), and said:
"My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is no more bread in the city."   Jer. 38:9
It is very possible that Ebed-Melech was reminding the king of a previous command the king had given regarding Jeremiah when the prophet was being kept in prison:
"...they should give him daily a piece of bread from the baker's street, until all the bread in the city was gone..."  Jer. 37:21
I'm sure the king had listened to many petitions from the suffering people of Jerusalem that day. He must have had to try to mollify them with those lying words of reassurance the false prophets had brought. However, upon hearing the request of the eunuch, the king told the eunuch to take thirty men from the gate, and lift Jeremiah up before he dies. Can you imagine? It would take thirty men to physically pull one man from that sticky, sucking mire. They even had to gather old torn clothes and rags so Jeremiah could cushion his armpits from the stress of the pulling ropes. This is how strong the suction was in the bottom of that pit or cistern.
To us now, there are those who have been appointed by God, as Jeremiah was, to bring the sure Word of truth to the people. They have been thrown into miry spiritual pits, abandoned, by a people who have preferred to hear the smooth, convenient word that allows us to remain comfortable, and at ease. In reality, an alarm and a call to repentance is the true prophetic message being sounded by the LORD, and delivered by these God-appointed ministers. We need to intercede with our heavenly King, crying to Him on behalf of our Jeremiahs saying, "An evil has been done!" Is there an Ebed-Melech among us who will petition the King, by the Son of the Right Hand, for our Jeremiahs?
Our Jeremiahs will then be able to be pulled from the pit, declaring with the Psalm:

"I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth-
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the LORD."   Psalm 40:1-3

Our Father has appointed Jeremiahs to us.

"Psalm 40" KJV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRE9uDZTH7Y