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In scripture, we know the 7th day of Creation week was called the Sabbath day, and was meant to be observed and give glory to the Creator Yahweh for all eternity.

Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

Gen 2:3 And Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because He rested from all His work on it, which Elohim had created to make.

Seven is Yahweh’s number of completion or perfection and is used prophetically many times in scripture. And within the principle of the Sabbath law there is also a 7-year land rest in scripture called the Shemita.

The word Shemita literally means to let drop or to release, or a temporary remitting, and the meaning comes from the command to not harvest, but to let the fruits and fresh vegetables drop off the plants in that year. The meaning also comes from the remitting and dropping of debts owed in the 7th year.

Lev 25:1 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses in Mount Sinai, saying,

Lev 25:2 Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, When you come into the land which I am giving to you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to YAHWEH.

Lev 25:3 You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and shall gather its produce.

Lev 25:4 And in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest to the land, a Sabbath to YAHWEH. You shall not sow your field, and you shall not prune your vineyard.

Lev 25:5 You shall not reap that which grows of itself of your harvest; and you shall not gather the grapes of your unkempt vine; it shall be a year of rest to the land.

Lev 25:6 And the Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food, to you, and to your male slave, and to your female slave, and to your hired one, and to your tenant, those living among you;

Lev 25:7 and to your livestock, and to the animal in your land, all its produce shall be for food.

The command is very clear that just as your workers and animals, and even yourself and your family need rest each and every 7th day on the Sabbath, that the land also needs rest and needs time to replenish the nutrients in the soil that are depleted each year.

So, Yahweh commanded that every 7th year would be a year of rest and there would be no planting, or harvesting, or pruning, in the 7th year Shemita.

Since it is commanded not to plant and not to harvest in the 7th year Shemita, would it be permissible to go and buy fresh grain, and fruits and vegetables from a supermarket that is selling food that was planted and harvested in the Shemita year?

COMMENT: The Shemita land rest is a commandment in scripture and is no different than any other commandment, such as thou shalt not steal. And just as it would be wrong and immoral to buy stolen merchandize from a vendor who is selling it, it would also be wrong to purchase food that was planted and harvested against scripture in the Shemita year.

It is similar to not eating unclean food that is not kosher. What makes a pig unkosher? Only that the word of Yahweh states that it is unclean and unkosher. The same way, in the Shemita year, since it is a direct commandment not to plant and not to harvest your food in that year, any food that was planted or harvested in the Shemita year would be considered unkosher to Yahweh in that year. Would it be violating the Shemita to spout grain or vegetables in water.

COMMENT: The principle of the Shemita is simple; you need to rest the land (dirt) so you would not plant or harvest during the full year of the Shemita. Since spouting is done in a cup of water there is no problem with spouting or any type of growing with only using water, as long as one was not planting using dirt.

The scripture seems very clear about not planting or harvesting in the Shemita year, but how about watering plants? And can you buy fruit in the supermarket like apples that grow by themselves on a tree?

COMMENT: Water is life and all living things, including plants, need water to survive, and there is no command against watering of plants or trees or flowers during the Shemita. Some even do hydroponics, where they are actually using the water to grow their plants and not dirt.

On eating fresh fruit from trees, it is permissible if the fruit is picked daily, but it would be violating scripture if the fruit was harvested all at once, and then sold in a market.

Lev 25:5 You shall not reap that which grows of itself of your harvest; and you shall not gather the grapes of your unkempt vine; it shall be a year of rest to the land.

Although it is permissible to eat beef, lamb etc., during the Shemita what if the animal was fed grain or produce that was planted in the Shemita.

COMMENT: According to scripture there is no provision against eating meat, even though the animal may have been fed grain that was harvested in the Shemita. To be honest, there is no way of telling as many animals simply graze from the land. In Biblical times, of course, the animals simply ate off the land what was not harvested as humans did also.

The Shemita is a year of land rest and faith for humans to trust in Yahweh for their provisions and animals are only concerned in the fact that they also have the blessing of getting extra food that year due to the land not being harvested. However, if you are feeding your animals store bought harvested grain from a food store, you should buy the animal grain before the Shemita begins.

With so many restrictions in purchasing fresh food during the Shemita how would one survive without buying these things from the supermarket?

Lev 25:18 And you shall do My statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and shall do them; and you shall live on the land securely.

Lev 25:19 And the land shall give its fruit, and you shall eat to satisfaction; and you shall dwell securely on it.

Lev 25:20 And when you say, What shall we eat in the seventh year; for, lo, we may not sow nor gather our increase?

Lev 25:21 Then I have commanded My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall produce the increase for three years;

Lev 25:22 and you shall sow the eighth year, and shall eat of the old crop until the ninth year, until the coming in of its crop; you shall eat of the old.

Luk 18:8b………………….. Nevertheless, the Son of Man will indeed come, and will He find faith on earth?

COMMENT: The Shemita is not meant as a burden, but as another avenue to put trust in Yahweh. The Shemita year is more about faith in Yahweh than it is about not planting or harvesting. And just as the children of Israel spent 40 years in a desert wilderness without being able to grow food or find water, Yahweh provided manna daily, and even made water flow from a rock. He even made sure their sandals did not wear out for 40 years in the wilderness.

The Shemita has the same principle of Yahweh naturally providing food for His chosen called out people, from the grain and fruits and vegetables that he will make grow from themselves.

The Shemita historically has been a year of building up and a year of tearing down to individuals, and also to nations, and Yahweh’s promise is that if His people are faithful and prepare for the Shemita in the 6th year, and trust in Him during the Shemita for their provisions, then He will bless them for the 6th, 7th, and 8th year.

Since the Biblical year starts on Aviv 1 in March or April on the Roman calendar, why does the Shemita years start in Tishrei 1, (September/ October) in the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar?

COMMENT: There are actually 2 coinciding calendars working throughout the biblical year. You have the cyclical calendar that runs from Aviv to Aviv, and then you have the agricultural calendar that runs from Tishrei to Tishrei. Both calendars though revolve around the equinoxes, but one starts near the Vernal equinox and the other one starts near the autumn equinox.

The agricultural calendar begins Tishrie 1, and this is confirmed by the Gezar calendar that was used by King David and King Solomon and is the very foundation that the Biblical Calendar is based on. The Gezer calendar was found in Tel Gezer and has a detailed account of the whole agricultural growing season in Israel and is the oldest Israelite calendar on record. It has several words for grass depending on whether it is grass from the early rain or whether it is grass from the barley harvest etc.

It also has different words for harvesting as in Hebrew there is a different Hebrew word for each fruit harvested. The Gezer calendar shows the whole agricultural cycle of Israel and clearly starts on Tishrei one, and that is why the Jews call Tishrei 1 “Rosh Ha Shenah“, or “the beginning of the year”, because it is the beginning of the agricultural cycle. Lev 25:8-10 confirms the Shemita and Jubilee begin in Tishrie, NOT Aviv.

Lev 25:8 And you shall number to yourself seven Sabbaths of years, seven years times seven, and all the days of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.

Lev 25:9 And you shall let a ram’s horn resound, a signal in the seventh month, in the tenth of the month; in the day of atonement, let a ram’s horn pass throughout all your land;

Lev 25:10 and you shall make the fiftieth year holy, one year. And you shall proclaim liberty in the land to those living in it; He shall be a jubilee to you. And you shall return every man to his possession; yea, you shall turn back each to his family.

The Jubilee starts on the 10th day of the seventh month called Tishrei, as where the Sabbatical Shemita year starts on Tishrei 1. The reason the Jubilee starts on the 10th day is that in a Jubilee year you would have back-to-back Sabbath land rests, so in the second-year land rest of the Jubilee, you would have a 10-day period between the two years to harvest anything that had grown of itself the year before in the Shemita, and prepare a harvest to bring up to Jerusalem for Sukkot in the Jubilee, according to scripture.

The Israelites are told to take of the harvest fruits and appear before Yahweh at Sukkot with those fruits which are part of the preparation for the Sukkah.

Lev 23:39 Also, in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you gather the increase of the land, you shall keep the feast of YAHWEH seven days; on the first day a Holy Day Sabbath, and on the eighth day a Holy Day Sabbath.

Lev 23:40 And you shall take to yourselves on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, palm branches, and boughs of oak trees, and willows of the valley, and shall rejoice before YAHWEH your Elohim seven days.

Also see Deut 14:

Deut 14:22 Tithing you shall tithe all the increase of your seed that the field yields year by year.

Deut 14:23 And you shall eat before YAHWEH your Elohim in the place which He shall choose to cause His name to dwell there (Jerusalem), the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the first-lings of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear YAHWEH your Elohim all your days.

The Israelites are commanded to take the fruit of the 7 species and hang them in the Sukkahs and also bring the firstfruit offerings of the agricultural harvest as the firstfruit tithe to Yahweh. They actually tie strings around the first pomegranates etc to even know which fruit came up first. Some believe that the Shemita begins from Aviv to Aviv, but if this was so, how could the Israelites harvest and take up the yearly fruits for Sukkot as they would not be able to harvest any fruits in Tishrei (September/October) if they started the Sabbatical year in Aviv (March/April). They would have to violate and break the above scriptures on bringing the harvest fruits to Jerusalem at feast time if the Shemita started in Aviv, which Yahweh would never command.

Starting the Shemita in Tishrei (the 7th month) according to the agricultural calendar makes total sense, as Yahweh affirms that He is in charge of the harvest and will bring it in the appropriate time (early or late) if Israel is obedient. Doesn’t His word say He can make it rain on one place and not on another? (Amos 4:7) And since it runs from Tishrie 1 to Tishrei 1 of the next year there would always be a harvest to bring the commanded fruits to Jerusalem for Sukkot if they obeyed the Shemita command in faith, either picking before the Shemita begins, or after it ends the following year. Here is further proof in the following scriptures:

Exo 34:21 You may work six days, and on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

Exo 34:22 And you shall observe a Feast of Weeks for yourself, the first-fruits of the harvest of wheat; also the Feast of Ingathering after the turn of the year.

Exo 23:16 Also the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. Also the Feast of Ingathering, at the going out of the year, at your gathering your work from the field.

Many translations put at “the end of the year” for Exo 23:16, so how could Tishrie being the 7th month be the end of the year? Because it is speaking of the end of the agricultural year, not the calendar year that runs from Aviv to Aviv.

As we learned from the Gezer calendar that the agricultural year started in Tishrei 1 and ran from equinox to equinox as that was the growing season cycle revolved around the equinoxes, and that is why even the cyclical year starting in Aviv could not start before the vernal equinox.

Is the Shemita year only a command in the land of Israel?

COMMENT: The Shemita year is an extension of the Sabbath laws, which are to be kept all over the earth. Also, since the Shemita is needed to rest the soil and to replenish nutrients in the soil to have healthy and vibrant food, it would also fall under the food laws that Yahweh provides for His people in scripture. And food laws, such as what is kosher and what is not are to be kept by all people no matter where they live.

The restoring of the Shemita year and cycle is also a major part of the restoration, end time ministry that Yahweh is doing with the House of Ephraim all over the earth, as breaking the Sabbath and the Shemita were one of the main reasons that the Israelites went into captivity, and Yahweh states that in the end time, if they repent and start to obey these laws, that He will redeem them back to the land of Israel.

Lev 26:2 You shall keep My Sabbaths, (including land Sabbaths) and revere My sanctuary; I am YAHWEH.

Lev 26:3 If you walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them,

Lev 26:4 then I will give you rains in their season, and the land shall give her produce, and the tree of the field shall give its fruit;

Lev 26:5 and your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to satisfaction, and live in your land securely.

Lev 26:14 And if you will not listen to Me, and do not do all these commands;

Lev 26:15 and if you reject My statutes, and if your soul hates My judgments, so as not to do all My commands, to the breaking of My covenant;

Lev 26:20 and your strength shall be consumed in vain, and your land shall not give her produce, and the tree of the land shall not give its fruit.

Lev 26:21 And if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to listen to Me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins (7 times more for neglecting the 7^th year land rest)

Lev 26:32 And I shall make the land desolate, and your enemies who are living in it shall be astonished at it.

Lev 26:33 And I will scatter you among nations, and shall draw out the sword after you, and your land shall become a waste, and your cities shall be a desolation.

Lev 26:34 Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths, all the days of the desolation. And you shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall enjoy rest, and shall enjoy its Sabbaths.

Lev 26:35 It shall rest all the days of the desolation, that which it has not rested in your Sabbaths while you lived on it.

Lev 26:40 And if they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass with which they have trespassed against Me; and, also, that they have walked contrary to Me,

Lev 26:41 that I also have walked contrary to them, and I have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are then humbled, and they are pleased to pay for their iniquity;

Lev 26:42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and I shall also remember My covenant with Abraham, and I shall remember the land.

Lev 26:43 For the land shall be forsaken by them, and shall satisfy for its Sabbaths, in the desolation without them. And they shall satisfy for their iniquity, because, even because, they have kicked against My judgments, and their soul has loathed My statutes.

Lev 26:44 And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I hate them, to consume them, to break My covenant with them; for I am YAHWEH their Elohim.

Lev 26:45 Then I shall remember for them the covenant of the first fathers, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their Elohim; I am YAHWEH.

Lev 26:46 These are the statutes and the judgments and the laws which YAHWEH has given between Him and the sons of Israel, in Mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses.

How can we prove to Yahweh that we are truly repentant, and will be obedient to His Torah unless we show Him by keeping the whole Torah in our Diaspora? If not, we are just like the Christians, who state yes, the Sabbath was kept for 2,000 years until Messiah, and yes it will be kept in the Millennium, but we don’t have to keep it now in our dispensation of grace.

Are there any historical records to show that the Shemita cycle that the Congregation of Yahweh Jerusalem is keeping is indeed the correct cycle to keep?

COMMENT: Please look at the following historical references that all point to the sabbatical cycle.

• We are told by Maccabees 6:49 that Judas Maccabee’s defeat at Beth-Zur was in a sabbatical year. This is dated from the autumn of 163 BC to 162 BC.
• Josephus tells us that the murder of Simon the Hasmonian happened in a sabbatical year of 135 BC to autumn of 134 BC.
• Josephus also states that Herod’s conquest of Jerusalem happened in a sabbatical year from Autumn 37 BC to 36 BC.
• King Agrippa’s sabbatical year was 41 AD to autumn of 42 AD.
• A papyrus document found in Aramaic found in Israel is dated to the second year of Nero, which is stated as a sabbatical year in the autumn of 55 AD to 56 AD.
• Historical references for the temple being destroyed shows it was in a sabbatical year of 69 AD to 70 AD.
• Dated documents found from the Bar Kokhba revolt showed the year to be a sabbatical one dated 132 AD to 133 AD.
• The ruins to a synagogue found have a mosaic and have it was dated to the second year of a sabbatical cycle, which was 237 AD to 238 AD.

Then, in a most striking scripture in the book of John, chapter 4 we see;

John 4:35 Do you not say that after four months comes the harvest? Behold I say to you, lift up your eyes and see the fields that are white and have ripened for the harvest already.

This is where Yahshua was speaking with the Samaritan woman, and it is around summer time, yet the harvest is white (ready to be picked) and yet He states that it will be 4 months until they can legally harvest the grain. Only in a sabbatical year would this be possible. Since Yahshua started His ministry in the fall of 27 AD and this is the following summer, then, we can pinpoint this sabbatical year of 27 AD to 28 AD according to Yahshua Himself.

The amazing part about all 9 references is that even though they are over hundreds of years apart, they all fit the same sabbatical cycle, and therefore it is clear proof from history that this cycle, which goes back to the days of Yahshua, should be followed by us today. And according to this cycle, the next Shemita year starts on Yom Teruah (September 26th after sunset) 2022 until Yom Teruah Sabbath September 16th, 2023.

Is the Shemita 7-year count separated from the 50th year Jubilee, or is the 50th year Jubilee also the first year of the next 7-year Shemita cycle?

Lev 25:8 And you shall number to yourself seven Sabbaths of years, seven years times seven, and all the days of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty nine years.

Lev 25:9 And you shall let a ram’s horn resound, a signal in the seventh month, in the tenth of the month; in the day of atonement, let a ram’s horn pass throughout all your land;

Lev 25:10 and you shall make the fiftieth year holy (set apart), one year. And you shall proclaim liberty in the land to those living in it; He shall be a jubilee to you. And you shall return every man to his possession; yea, you shall turn back each to his family.

Lev 25:11 It is a jubilee year, the fiftieth year; it is to you. You shall not sow, nor reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from its unkempt vines;

COMMENT: It is very clear from scripture that the 50th year is separate from the Shemita cycle and is not part of the 7 year Shemita count as if you were counting the 50th year as also the 1st year of the next Shemita count, then the first Jubilee cycle would have been 50 years (7 years x 7 years and then the Jubilee), but every Jubilee after that would only be 49 years, as the first Shemita count would only have 6 years if you were counting the 50th year as also the first year of the next Shemita cycle.

The Shemita count goes in cycles of 7’s, and there are 7 cycles of 7 in each cycle, and then the 50th year, is set apart for the Jubilee as it pictures the year that the Messiah will return and start the Kingdom of Yahweh on the earth, and then, after the Jubilee 50th year, the 7-year count would start again.

It is also interesting to note that the Jubilee begins on the 10th day of the 7th month, proving again the agricultural calendar from the Gezer Calendar. And it makes sense since in a Jubilee that would be the second land rest year in a row, that it would start the 10th day of the month, instead of the 1st, to give 8 days to harvest before the Jubilee would begin. 8 is also the number of new beginnings and relates to the resurrection happening on the 8th day after the Sabbath had ended.

Interesting enough, throughout history there is no one clear time that is ever recorded that the nation of Israel ever kept the Jubilee year, only the Sabbatical Shemita years, and so the cycle is simply based on the Shemita cycle of 7 years of 7’s, but no one can predict for sure when the Messiah will return and when the Jubilee will begin. All we know is that it will happen after a Shemita year.

Mark 13:32 But concerning that day and the hour, no one knows, not the angels, those in Heaven, nor the Son, except the Father.

Mark 13:33 Watch! Be alert, and pray. For you do not know when is the time.

So, the Sabbatical cycle is well documented, even in the first year of Yahshua’s ministry, which allowed many people to come and hear him since many were farmers and had no work that year. And although there is no direct command not to physically work a job in the Sabbatical year, we see that if many of those during Yahshua’s day did not make the extra time during the Shemita to worship Yahweh, they would not have been there to hear Yahshua preach, and may have missed out on being a firstfruit.

The Shemita is so much more than just a year of not planting a garden or not harvesting your fruit trees, the Shemita year is a year of release from any type of sin or bondage that may be holding a person captive.

Exo 21:1 And these are the judgments which you shall put before them:

Exo 21:2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

Deut 15:1 At the end of every seven years you shall make a release.

Deut 15:2 And this is the manner of the release: Everyone who has a loan to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because a release has been proclaimed for YAHWEH.

Deut 15:3 You may exact it from a foreigner, but your hand shall release whatever is yours with your brother,

Deut 15:4 only that there shall be no one in need among you. For YAHWEH will greatly bless you in the land that YAHWEH your Elohim is giving you for an inheritance, to possess it,

Deut 15:5 only if carefully you will listen to the voice of YAHWEH your Elohim, to take heed to do all these commandments, which I am commanding you today.

Deut 15:6 For YAHWEH your Elohim will bless you as He promised you. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

Deut 15:7 If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers inside any of your gates in your land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your needy brother.

Deut 15:8 But you shall open your hand wide to him, and surely you shall lend him enough for his need in that which he lacks.

Deut 15:12 If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.

Deut 15:13 And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away empty.

Deut 15:14 You shall richly adorn him from your flock, and from your threshing floor, and from your winepress, with that which YAHWEH your Elohim has blessed you, you shall give to him.

Deut 15:15 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and YAHWEH your Elohim redeemed you. On account of this I command you this thing today.

Deut 15:16 And it shall be, if he says to you, I will not go out from you, because he loves you and your house, because it was good for him with you;

Deut 15:17 then you shall take an awl, and shall put it through his ear, and through the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And you shall do so to your slave-girl also.

COMMENT: The word Shemita, as mentioned, means to remit, or release, and therefore every 7th year all debts were to be released on Elul 29 (last day of the 6th month), and if the debts were not released, then personal and even national punishment was ensured by the perpetrators.

One must also remember that in the Shemita, ONLY debts were released, but not personal bills, such as rent, buying products, leasing farmland etc. These were paid as normal in Shemita years, but all debts and loans were released on Elul 29th, the last day of the 6th month of the Hebrew calendar.

The Shemita pictures first our faith in Yahweh to provide all our needs as our Master and Elohim, and then, also our trust in Him that He sent His only begotten Son Yahshua to this earth to pay the penalty of our sins, and to cover all of our debts that we owe to Him.

Mat 6:12 and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.

The Shemita is a time of release from all the bondage that has entrapped a person through Satan’s system of commercial Babylon. It is the greatest blessing in any 7-year cycle to a true, firstfruit believer, and a time that they can be truly freed from the bondage of not only debt, but of greed, pride, covetousness, lust and any other sin that has entrapped a person at that time.

John 8:34 Yahshua answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Everyone practicing sin is a servant of sin.

John 8:35 But the servant does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.

John 8:36 Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.

Far be it from just being a time of not planting a garden, the Shemita is meant to take away the burden and work load of the curse of Adam that he would have to gain his food by the sweat of his brow and work in sorrow simply to gain his daily food supply.

Gen 3:17 And He said to the man, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat from it, the ground shall be cursed because of you; you shall eat of it in sorrow all the days of your life.

Gen 3:18 And it shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you, and you shall eat the plant of the field.

Gen 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until your return to the ground. For you have been taken out of it; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

The Shemita is a time for mankind to go back to the relationship he had with Yahweh in the Garden of Eden before his fall. It is a time to trust in Yahweh for all, and to allow Him to provide for your sustenance, and to allow Him to break the curse of Adam in your life.

Gal 3:13a Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah, having become a curse for us;

Adam and Eve did not believe Yahweh, but trusted in Satan, and due to this act of treason all humans have suffered under Satan’s world system since that time. By Yahshua paying our debt of sin to Yahweh, He has freed us from Satan’s system of commercial Babylon, and every 7th year Shemita, Yahweh proves this to His chosen by providing for them for that time period, and all true believers need to take the time in the Shemita to strengthen their relationship with both Yahweh The Father, and His Son Yahshua.

That is why besides the physical planning and preparation that needs to be done for food before the Shemita begins, one must not overlook the most important aspect of the Shemita command and that is to be freed from Satan’s bondage of his world system of trading, and to give a believer the extra time to put toward their relationship with Yahweh and building faith in Him.

This is the true meaning and spiritual intent of the Shemita command

The Shemita count for agriculture is to count 6 years and the 7th year is the Shemita year for not planting or harvesting. However, for the debt release, which is also a 7-year count, actually starts with the Shemita as year one of the count, and then ends after 7 years on Elul 29, right before the Shemita begins, so that the indebted person can be free from his debt for the Shemita year.

Deut 15:9 Beware that there is no evil thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release draws near; and your eye be evil against your needy brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to YAHWEH against you and it be sin to you.

Also, it is commanded that each Shemita at Sukkot the Torah must be read.

Deut 31:10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of seven years in the appointed time, in the year of release, in the Feast of Sukkot,

Deut 31:11 when all Israel comes in to see the face of YAHWEH in the place which He chooses (Jerusalem), you shall proclaim this Torah before all Israel, in their ears.

Deut 31:12 Assemble the people, men and women, and the little ones, and your foreigner who is within your gates, so that they may hear, and so that they may learn, and may fear YAHWEH your Elohim, and take heed to do all the Words of this Torah;

Deut 31:13 and their sons who have not known shall hear, and shall learn to fear YAHWEH your Elohim all the days which you live on the land where you are crossing over the Jordan to possess it.

This scripture confirms that for the 7-year debt count you must start the count with the Shemita being year 1, as if not, the end of the seven years and the reading of the Torah at Sukkot would have been after the Shemita ended, as it ends on the 1st day of the 7th month and Sukkot doesn’t start until the 15th day of the 7th month. If you count the Shemita for the debt count as year one, then the 7th year would end on the last day of the sixth month right before the Shemita begins, and the Torah can be read during the Shemita according to the commandment.

In prophecy, Yahweh works many times with numbers that convey meaning to His people. The number 7 is the number of completion and perfection, and is many times related to the coming Kingdom of Yahweh. In The book of Revelation, which is a book almost exclusively about the end times and soon coming Kingdom, there are 7 congregations, 7 spirits, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 thunders, 7 angels, 7 plagues, 7 vials and so on.

The Shemita runs in 7-year cycles because many prophetic events happen around the 7-year Shemita cycle.

It has been mentioned that the Shemita historically has been a year of building up, and a year of tearing down for individuals as well as nations. I would like to show you just over the last 100 years of how many important events have happened in the world in Shemita years. This cannot be a coincidence when you look at the preponderance of evidence over a one-hundred-year time cycle.

Also, in antiquity, nations tried to show their strength and power by building large towers as a sign to the world that their power was rising up to the heavens. This started all the way back with the Tower of Babel and continued throughout history, even unto the end times that we live in today.

Gen 11:1 And the whole earth was of one lip and of one speech.

Gen 11:2 And it happened, as they traveled from the east, they found a level valley in the land of Shinar. And they lived there.

Gen 11:3 And each one said to his neighbor, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.

Gen 11:4 And they said, Come, let us build a city and a tower with its top the heavens, and make a name for ourselves, that we not be scattered on the face of all the earth.

The world was starting to change drastically with the industrial revolution back in the late 1800’s, but the Shemita year of 1917-1918 really set the stage for the end time parameters to develop. You will notice that since Israel becoming a nation and Babylon leading the world in economic power and military might were the two major signs of the last generation, that these two nations are paramount in most world happenings during the Shemita in the last 100 years.

Take a look at all the important historical events that have happened in the Shemita during the last 100 years.

1917-18– April 1917, USA enters WW1 and officially becomes the world superpower militarily as well as financially. World war 1 ends in 1918. Also, the signing of the Belfour declaration by Arthur Balfour in Great Britain to Lionel Rothchild to give the roadmap to allow for the modern state of Israel to be created:

The End of the Ottoman Empire happens, creating the way for Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia to be created. The idea of The League of Nations starts with Woodrow Wilson’s 14-point speech in January of 1918. (Remember, the Shemita is a year of nation building and nations being torn down.)

The German 2nd Reich begins, and Austrian-Hungarian monarchs, and Russian Czars all end. The Soviet Union also begins. The Stock market crashes in 1917 and 40% is wiped out. Also, the end of the British Empire happens, and the 1st time in history that Great Britain becomes a debtor nation.

1925-26 Evolution is outlawed in TN and Tx schools, and in In New York, the American Association for Advancement of Atheism is also formed. Benito Mussolini becomes a dictator, and Adolf Hitler resurrects his political party setting up for the next world war.

1931-32– beginning of the Great Depression- Empire State Building finished, being the largest Tower in the world. The great stock market crash happens wiping out 86% of the Stock market.

1938-39– The beginning World War 2- Stock market crashes again the day after the Shemita begins, bringing in a big recession

1945-46– the end of World War 2 and the beginning of the last generation with the starting of the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, The World Bank etc., America emerges as end time Babylon and the world leader militarily, and economically.

Dwight Eisenhower (name means iron) and Nikita Khrushchev (name means clay) make a pact to divide Europe into socialism and communism. (Dan 2:41-43)

The US dollar becomes the world reserve currency. Plans are laid to build The World Trade Center, which will be the biggest tower in the world. Towers are a Biblical sign of security, strength (Gen 11:4)

1952-53– Queen Elizabeth takes throne as King George VI dies, King Hussein takes over Jordan, Korean war starts

1959-60– Niger, Burkina Faso, Cen African Republic, Republic of Congo, Cyprus, Ghana, Somalia, Madagascar, Mali, Tonga, Chad, Cameroon, Senegal, Nigeria, all get independence. Remember, the Shemita is a year of nations building up, and nations being torn down.

A 9.5 earthquake hits Chili, this is the largest earthquake ever on record.

1966-67– Six-day war in Israel happens, and the beginning of the building of the World Trade Center

1973-74– The Yom Kippur War happens in Israel, Finishing of The Trade Center: tallest building in world, Abortion becomes legalized, as the Height of USA/Babylon’s strength starts to wane, markers now start to show to their downfall. Stock market crashes, bad recession happens in 1973, 45% of the stock market is wiped out. Gross Domestic Product of USA shrinks 70%. London exchange lost 74% of its value.

The gold standard is dropped showing Babylon’s judgment was set (Dan 2:38). Vietnam War ends, first war lost to the USA in history.

1980-81– end of Hostage crisis with USA and Iran-, (Remember, Shemita is about freeing of slaves) Beginning of stock market downturn when Shemita begins in 1980.

1987-88– Stock market crashes as Shemita begins, October 1987, black Monday largest single day Stock Market lose ever.

1994-95- The ratifying of the Oslo Accords in Israel to create a Palestinian state. Itzak Rabin killed for giving land away to the Palestinians. Terror attacks follow. (Israel’s moral decline starts from this point)

2001-02– 911 event in NYC- (Rev 18:2-10), in one-hour the towers fell, symbol of economic, military supremacy being gone, stock market crash- 2nd worst in history, Babylon still defiant

Is 9:8-10, actually said by politicians in speeches given

2008-09 worst one day stock market crash in USA history happens exactly on Elul 29, the day that debts are supposed to be released before the Shemita begins. 7 is the prophetic number for the Shemita, and The stock market drops 777.7 points. 7% of the entire stock market wiped out, on 7th anniversary of towers falling. 5 of the greatest stock market drops happened in the Shemita, the last 2 on Elul 29, the very day the debt is supposed to be released.

2015-16.- This should have been another economic collapse, but instead President Trump (modern- day Nebuchadnezzar) elected, and economy drastically, quickly, changes, becomes the best in US history. Remember, the Shemita is a year of building up or tearing down, Yahweh was giving Babylon one last chance to repent.

Pharaoh’s dream begins, 7 good years, 7 bad years (Gen 41), 70 years from 1945 setting Babylon as head of nations, Pharaoh’s dream gives one 7 for warning to fulfill Gen 41, which is a dual prophecy.

2022-2023– The Shemita is a time of building up and a time of tearing down of nations and people. There is a struggle now for the soul of the world. What will this next Shemita bring? It could be start of the 7 bad years from Pharaoh’s dream in Genesis 41 with the tribulation period to follow and the worst times the world has ever seen (Mat 24:21-22). It is now exactly 10 Shemita’s (70 years) since Queen Elizabeth took the crown in 1952. The royal family is high in the hierarchy of world government. War with Israel with Iran and Hezbollah is being threatened, as well as war with USA/Babylon and Russia and China.

Could this be the changing from the head of gold in prophecy in Daniel to the arms of silver? Only Yahweh knows, but we are watch and pray always to see where His prophetic clock is heading. The global powers that be are also openly stating about bringing in a cashless society and a great economic crash.

Besides the land rests, the Shemita year also acts as prophecy markers to people of Yahweh who are faithful in keeping it. Remember that towers are connected with nations seeking power-greatness, from 1870 USA built 6 towers in New York City that were the largest in the world.

4 is a world number and we see from the Shemita in 1917-18, and the end of World War 1 and the rise of America as the only world Superpower that 4 Shemita’s later in 1945 was the beginning of The New World Order and America as the leader of world and fulfilling the role of end time Babylon. They then set the plan to build The World Trade Center, which would be the tallest building ever built at that time. They actually built 2 towers to show the world they are a power greater than any one before them.

4 Shemita’s later 1973-74, Is the height of Babylon’s power, but also a sign of its downfall as the legalizing of abortion takes away their blessing. Next 7 years are filled with financial turmoil, high inflation, interest rates at 21%, leading to the taking of American hostages by Iran in 1979.

4 Shemita’s later is 9/11/2001 and the tearing down of the towers in NYC, signaling the tearing down of the strength of USA/Babylon, and 2nd worst stock market crash in history on Elul 29, the very day that debts are to be released.

4 Shemita later will be 2028-2029, could possibly Yahshua be returning by then, and the coming of the Jubilee year? Only Yahweh knows.

The Hebrew word for Tower is Migdal, coming from the root “gadal” meaning to increase, to be lifted up, to become great, magnified, enlarged, arrogance. This is why since the Tower of Babel, mankind in his pride and rebellion toward Elohim has tried to build towers larger than any other nation ever has as a sign of their strength and power, and showing their strength is coming from the heavens.

In 1945 the United Nations was created with a plan for Global government with also creating the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the US dollar as the world reserve currency. US/Babylon became head of the nations, controlled world’s waterways, had military bases in most of the world to be the world policeman, controlled the money supply, and gold, and had achieved world power like no other nation before them. This was why they had the need to build a new tower, bigger, than any before, to show their might and strength that was unequalled in world history. (Jer 50:23)

Conclusion: The Shemita is a 7-year cycle that revolves around the agricultural calendar and scripture commands that there should be no planting, not harvesting, not pruning during the Shemita year.

The word Shemita means to release or to let drop and it is also commanded to release all debts on the last day of the 6th month before the Shemita begins.

This is symbolic of Yahshua coming to the earth and eliminating the curse of Adam that we would have to eat our daily food with toil and sorrow, and forgiving and paying for the great debt that we have to Yahweh for our sins. That is why Yahweh provides for us our food in the Shemita as a symbol and sign of His blessing to His covenant people.

The Shemita is a wonderful time to renew our relationship with Yahweh and Yahshua and to put in the extra time to nurture that relationship that we may not have the other six years. Just as the Sabbath day is a day of rest from our daily cares, and pictures the Kingdom of Yahweh coming to the earth, the Shemita is also a time to be freed from daily cares and anything that may be constricting our relationship with Yahweh and bringing bondage to our life.

Points to Remember:

• The Biblical Calendar goes from Aviv to Aviv, but the Shemita and the agricultural Calendar goes from Tishrei to Tishrei.
• Since the Shemita, besides being a Sabbath law, is also a food law to help keep nutrients in the soil, it stands to reason that it should be kept anyplace in the world.
• During the Shemita it is commanded not to plant, harvest, or prune any crops or trees.
• Since supermarkets sell food that is planted, and harvested during the Shemita, one should not buy fresh produce or grain in a supermarket during the Shemita.
• Debts are to be released during the Shemita to symbolize Yahshua paying and forgiving the debts of our sins.
• The Shemita runs on a prophetic 7-year cycle and is a year of building up for obedience and a year of tearing down for sin of both people and nations.
• The Shemita is a wonderful blessed year to remove any obstacle in our life that is prohibiting our relationship with Yahweh and Yahshua.