Countdown to Jubilee
God commanded ancient Israel, prior to celebrating a Jubilee, to observe every seventh year as a Sabbatical period. These unique and holy times, which likely started on Tishri 1, were also known as land Sabbaths (see Leviticus 25:6, 2Chronicles 36:21) or years of release (Deuteronomy 15:1 - 2, 31:10).
(God speaking to Moses) "Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall sow your field six years . . .
"'But in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest to the land, a Sabbath for the Lord . . .'" (Leviticus 25:2 - 4, HBFV throughout).
Seven sets of seven years, which included seven Sabbaticals, were then to be observed before a Jubilee year could be declared.
And you shall number seven Sabbaths of years to you, seven times seven years. And the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be forty-nine years to you (Leviticus 25:8).
The Jubilee was declared after this set of 49 years. It began on Tishri 10 (the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur) and ran to the next Day of Atonement.
Then you shall cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the Day of Atonement, the trumpet shall sound throughout all your land. And you shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you . . . (Leviticus 25:9 - 10, HBFV).
Jubilee Years Before Christ
Below is a list of Jubilee years that took place roughly 1,000 years before the birth of Christ.
Jubilee Years
B.C.
| 1004 - 1003 | 514 to 513 | |
| 955 to 954 | 465 to 464 | |
| 906 to 905 | 416 to 415 | |
| 857 to 856 | 367 to 366 | |
| 808 to 807 | 318 to 317 | |
| 759 to 758 | 269 to 268 | |
| 710 to 709 | 220 to 219 | |
| 661 to 660 | 171 to 170 | |
| 612 to 611 | 122 to 121 | |
| 563 to 562 | 73 to 72 | |
| 24 to 23 B.C. | ||
Jesus' Declaration
Jesus' ministry began on September 11 (911) in 26 A.D. on the Day of Atonement. This day was the start of a Jubilee period as evidenced by the fact that Christ, a few months later, quoted Isaiah 61:1 - 2 (Luke 4:18 - 19). This quote, which the Lord applied to himself, contains the phrase "to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." This phrase is a reference to the Jubilee.
And there was given Him (Jesus) the book of the prophet Isaiah; and when He had unrolled the scroll, He found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; for this reason, He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor;
"He has sent Me to heal those who are brokenhearted, to proclaim pardon to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth in deliverance those who have been crushed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." . . .
Today, this scripture is being fulfilled in your ears . . . (Luke 4:17 - 19, 21).
Jubilee Years Since Jesus' Birth
Below is a list of Jubilees from Jesus' time to the present. Please note that each of these are also considered the first year in the count of the next seven-year Sabbatical cycle (Appointed Times of Jesus the Messiah, chapter 2, page 32).
Jubilee Years
A.D.
| 26 to 27 A.D. | 1006 to 1007 A.D. | |
| 75 to 76 | 1055 to 1056 | |
| 124 to 125 | 1104 to 1105 | |
| 173 to 174 | 1153 to 1154 | |
| 222 to 223 | 1202 to 1203 | |
| 271 to 272 | 1251 to 1252 | |
| 320 to 321 | 1300 to 1301 | |
| 369 to 370 | 1349 to 1350 | |
| 418 to 419 | 1398 to 1399 | |
| 467 to 468 | 1447 to 1448 | |
| 516 to 517 | 1496 to 1497 | |
| 565 to 566 | 1545 to 1546 | |
| 614 to 615 | 1594 to 1595 | |
| 663 to 664 | 1643 to 1644 | |
| 712 to 713 | 1692 to 1693 | |
| 761 to 762 | 1741 to 1742 | |
| 810 to 811 | 1790 to 1791 | |
| 859 to 860 | 1839 to 1840 | |
| 908 to 909 | 1888 to 1889 | |
| 957 to 958 | 1937 to 1938 | |
| 1986 to 1987 A.D. | ||
Future Jubilee Years
Oct. 13, 2035 to Oct. 1, 2036
(Hebrew civil year (HCY) 5796)
Oct. 9, 2084 to Sept. 29, 2085
(HCY 5845)
Oct. 10, 2133 to Sept. 29, 2134
(HCY 5894)
Oct. 7, 2182 to Sept. 27, 2183
(HCY 5943)
Oct. 8, 2231 to Sept. 26, 2232
(HCY 5992)