In part 18 of this series we showed how the Jubilee year is a Sabbath rest, or Shemitah year, and therefore the financial downturn that was expected last Fall may be delayed until the Jubilee year ends in Fall 2016.

Today we are going to look for the Bible’s very first hint of a Jubilee, and we are going to do that through the life of its very first human, Adam. Not only will you learn the key significance of the number ‘19’ in the life of Adam and in all humankind, but the evidence we find is going to take us in a surprising direction!

Having spent so much time making the case for Jubilees coming every 49 years, and getting you comfortable with that idea, we are now going to show that the traditional Jubilee calculation of 50, 100, 150, is also supported in scripture! So, if you were bothered by all the discussion of 49s, today your 50s ship has come in!

Principle of First Mention

The principle of first mention says: the first mention of any word or topic in scripture is foundational to its understanding. Chapter 5 of Genesis begins to list the generations of Adam. And beginning in verse 3 are successive verses which seem to offer foundational hints to many future patterns in scripture including the Jubilee:

When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Genesis 5:3.

Notice first that we are not told when Adam and Eve were forced out of the garden, nor when Cain and Abel were born. The book of Jubilees, mentioned previously in this series, says that Adam and Eve left at the end of the first seven years since creation, and that Cain and Abel were born between the first and second Jubilee — or between year 49 and year 98.

What we do see in this verse, that God wants us to notice is the first mention of the word “hundred,” the first mention of the word “thirty,” and only the second mention of the word “years,” having first been mentioned in Genesis 1:14 as one of the purposes of the sun and moon. We will talk about the number “thirty” and how it relates to the Jubilee for a future article, but we want you to notice here is that the first mention of an age — 130 — is not on a Jubilee boundary of either 49 or 50. Because God does not reveal anything in the Bible that is not for a purpose, we can take a lesson from this verse, that God’s has many varied purposes and plans, and that not all of are based upon multiples of 7, 49, or 50.

Verse 4 continues:

Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. Genesis 5:4.

Here we have the first mention of the word “eight,” which is the number of new beginnings, and the largest number yet mentioned in scripture, 800.

The stunning point about the “800” in this verse however, is that on a repeating cycle of 50 years, Adam lived exactly sixteen “50-year Jubilees” after Seth was born!

Before commenting further, let us continue.

Verse 5 then says:

So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

Genesis 5:5.

Here we have the first mention of the number “nine.” And here is where a repeating cycle of 49 makes its first showing in scripture. Because if Adam lived 930 years then his life was completing 19 49-year Jubilees: 19 x 49 = 931.

Adam’s life end at a notable boundary. He died in a Sabbatical year of 930, which was the seventh and final Sabbatical year of the 19th Jubilee since creation. Why nineteen? E.W. Bullinger suggests that 19 is the perfection of divine order (9) and judgement (10).

Indeed we see multiple cases of long life, but no human being has ever has reached 20 Jubilees, whether that is measured by 49s or by 50s. Methuselah came the closest at 969 years.

What Scripture is Saying

The contrast between 800 and 930, and the fact that 800 is mentioned first gives us some principles we can use in our understanding of the Jubilee going forward.

One.  We see that the repeating pattern of 50 and 100 is mentioned first! From this we can conclude that such multiples are as important in scripture as multiples of 49, even more important. If this were not the case then we would see it exhibited in scripture in other ways!  For instance, God has declared that the Millennium will be 1000 years long, or twenty 50-year Jubilees. He never said it would be 980 years, as if history’s “calendar” was in 49 year increments only! Again, God says “a thousand years” is as one day, not 980 years! We must all resist the foolish temptation to fit all history and its meaning in 49 year cycles. It won’t work.

Two. The repeating pattern of 50 and 100 seems to speak of generational life shared together. Adam and Seth enjoyed each other’s presence on earth for exactly 800 years. And this not the only such case in early scripture. Enoch lived 300 years after Methuselah. Noah, Shem and Serug lived 450, 500, and 200 years respectively after the birth of their sons.

Even more notably, Abraham bore Isaac at the age of 100, and then Isaac and his descendants would fulfill God’s prophecy that they would live in lands not their own and be mistreated for 400 years until the Exodus, which is of course 500 years from the birth of Abraham. Indeed the pattern of 100 year multiples in scripture is very strong!

Three. Multiple repeating patterns can be like clocks running at the same time, and not aligned with each other, as we saw where Adam’s whole life can be measured in 49 year cycles, but his life with his son is measured in 50-year cycles.

2017 Could be Important!

How should these ideas affect our thinking?

One conclusion we can reach is that when people point out the fact that the Ottoman Turks conquered Jerusalem in 1517, and that 400 years later in 1917 that Jerusalem is liberated, therefore that 2017 could be a key year in history, we should take notice, because these numbers fit the Biblical pattern of the history of Israel. Many readers will recall the article we wrote about the Yehuda Ben Samuel internet prophecy. But the point of that article was to show we have no proof that Ben Samuel ever prophesied it. But the lack of a Ben Samuel connection in no way invalidates the idea that the 2017 date could be important.  

Something New?

But that is not all. The fact that the currently Jubilee pattern of 1917 and 1967 fits both a 49 and a 50 year pattern could actually mean there is a deeper spiritual principle involved, one that we do not fully understand. Perhaps but it goes something like this:

Could it be that that individual life is to be lived out in increments of 7 or 49, but generational life is to be lived in increments of 50 or 100?

The real answer is probably much deeper. If you have ideas, please share in the comments or email us.

And That’s Not All!

Christians have another key reason to watch 2017 that has nothing to do with the Ottoman Turks!

Not only was Jerusalem captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1517, but that year was also the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Even more specifically:
From the date that the Protestant Reformation began, October 31, 1517, if we count 400 years to the very day, we reach October 31, 1917, the day upon which the British troops along with the Australian Light Horse Brigade captured Beersheba, and dealt the mortal blow to the Ottoman Empire’s 400 year long rule of the land of Israel. It would only be a matter of weeks before Jerusalem would be taken by General Allenby, just as it was taken by the Turks 400 years earlier.

One More Thing

And finally what we should notice and find amazing is the divine convergence of the 50 and 100 year cycles into the pivotal years of 1917 and 1967, with the convergence of the 49 years cycles on the Jewish calendar also into 1917 and 1967.

Rather than seeing the 49 year cycles and the 50 year cycles as competing with each other, and trying to figure out which one is right, the most healthy response we can suggest is to praise Almighty God for the fact that everything came together like it did in 1917 and 1967.

In this year and the next, by watching what happens between now and October 2016, and by looking at events in all of calendar year 2017 and comparing their differences, we have a unique opportunity in time to look deeper to understand the nature of God. Perhaps the meaning of the 49 year cycles and the 50 year cycles will become much more clear in the next year-and-a-half.

Connect with Others

What do you think might happen in 2017, on the 500th anniversary of the capturing of Jerusalem by the Turks?

Do you have any suggestions for what God might be telling us with repeating cycles of 49 (7×7) versus repeating cycles of 50 and 100?

Next Time

Join us next time as we continue to watch current events and examine all clues to the meaning and the Mystery of the Lost Jubilee.