Chapter 2
Puzzle Pieces 3, 4, 5 & 6
Perhaps the biggest and most important piece of this puzzle is found in Leviticus 25: 1, 8-13 - The LORD said to Moses at Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD… Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan . The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields. In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.”
What is this “Year of Jubilee” all about? It was and still is about FREEDOM! Perhaps we should call it the, “Year of Freedom”! Slaves were to be set free, property returned to its rightful owner. It was a Sabbath year of rest for God’s people and for the land. And when was it to start? Counting 49 years from the day when the Jewish people entered the land that God was going to give to them, the trumpet was to sound on the Day of Atonement (10th day of the Jewish New Year). The Year of Jubilee was to start on the Day of Atonement.
There are 3 ways to count years. The most obvious one that we use today is called the “solar year” – approximately 365.25 days. The second way to count years is by using the lunar cycle, which is what the Jewish people use for their calendar – 354.37 days. The third way to count off years according to the Scriptures is what we call a “prophetic year” of 360 days each. We find this numerous times in Scripture, where a “time, times and half a time” is equal to 1260 days. The first 69 weeks of Daniel were fulfilled using prophetic years of 360 days.
In Daniel 9, we see a prophecy given about 70 weeks that are determined to take place. Each of these weeks represents a period of 7 years, so a total of 490 years. The first 69 weeks have already been fulfilled. Daniel was told that from the issuing of the order to rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah comes, there will be 69 weeks, or 483 years. Most scholars believe these first 69 weeks were 360 day prophetic years, which totaled 476 solar years. The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus on March 14, 445 B.C. When we examine the period between March 14, 445 B.C. and April 6, 32 A.D., the day Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey, we discover that it is 173,880 days exactly, to the very day! This was exactly 483 years of 360 days. Daniel is then told that the Messiah will be cut off. After this, at some point in the future, the 70th week of Daniel will begin with the confirming, or strengthening, of a covenant or pledge or promise or agreement with many. This final 7 years will begin a countdown that leads us to the Day of Atonement.
Before we go further into this, let’s go back to the Year of Jubilee and one more important clue about the 70 weeks in Daniel. The first 69 weeks are actually divided into two numbers for us. 7 weeks and 62 weeks. I believe the Lord intentionally did this so that it would read like this: “So you are to knowand discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks…” It then goes onto mention the 62 weeks. But if we just stop reading right there, we have this 7 weeks, or 49-year period, from when Jerusalem starts to be rebuilt. Jerusalem was recaptured on June 7, 1967. This was the last time the land that rightfully belonged to Israel was given back to her. If we count off 49 prophetic years of 360 days from this time, we come to September 23, 2015, the Day of Atonement.
I believe the Lord is telling us that from the day when God gives Israel back the land that rightfully belonged to her (see Leviticus 25:1) and when the decree goes out to rebuild and restore Jerusalem (see Daniel 9:25a), from that day we are to count off 49 prophetic years, which end right on the Day of Atonement in 2015 (September 23, 2015). This will begin the “Year of Jubilee” for the raptured saints, and will also start the “great and dreadful Day of the Lord” for those who are left behind.
The Year of Jubilee was to last for ONE YEAR – not 7 or 3 ½ years as most Christians believe because of not putting ALL of the pieces together to see the whole picture of how God will fulfill His prophecies. There was another event that was to last for ONE YEAR as well. For the first year of a Jewish marriage, the Bridegroom was not to fight in any war or engage in business, but only to stay with His new Bride to bring her happiness. Deuteronomy 24:5 – “When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business; but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife whom he hath taken.”
The Bible refers to God’s people as the “Bride of Christ” (see Revelation 19:7-9, Revelation 21:2,9, Ephesians 5:25-27, John 3:29, 2 Corinthians 11:2). When a man marries a woman, everything that belongs to him is now hers as well; they are co-heirs together. We will rule and reign with Christ; we, as His people, are like the “Queen” and He is our “King”. For one year, we will be together with Christ in the heavenlies, and Jesus, the restrainer (see 2 Thessalonians 2), will be with His Bride, no longer fighting Satan or restraining him. Satan will have one final year to do as he pleases. This is why Jesus said, “About that DAY or HOUR, no man knows – NOT EVEN THE SON, but ONLY THE FATHER.” Jesus does not know what will happen on that “DAY”, the final day of Daniel’s 70th week, because Jesus will not be here. He will be with His Bride, cheering her up, resting together during the “Year of Jubilee”. The Year of Jubilee starts on the Day of Atonement, 49 prophetic years after the Jewish people were given back the land that rightfully belonged to her and from the day when the decree went out to rebuild and restore Jerusalem. If we count off 17,640 days from June 7, 1967, we end right on September 23, 2015, the Day of Atonement.
360 X 49 = 17,640
From and including: Wednesday, 7 June 1967
To, but not including Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Result: 17,640 days / 2520 weeks
It’s as if the Lord is telling us in Leviticus 25 that from the day when you see Israel given back the land that rightfully belongs to her (June 7, 1967), from that day, count off 49 prophetic years and you will end up on the Day of Atonement. This is the day that the trumpet is to sound and the slaves are set free, all debts are cancelled and liberty is proclaimed to those who are taken in the Rapture. “The LORD said to Moses at Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, …count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years— so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. (Leviticus 25:1, 2a, 8-10). Or likewise, in Daniel 9, the Lord is telling us that from the day when the decree goes out to rebuild Jerusalem, we are to count off seven seven’s (49 prophetic years). “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens’… (Daniel 9:25a).
There are many who make up the Bride of Christ whose robes are not clean, or white. In Revelation, they are referred to as being “lukewarm” Christians (see Revelation 3:15-17). They are not totally sold out to Christ and are worldly (see 1 John 2:15). These believers in Christ will be left behind to endure the “Day of the Lord”. The Lord does not want His Bride to be ashamed before Him on the wedding day. It is His grace that is allowing them to be left behind so that they can repent of their sin and perhaps even be given the honor of martyrdom for Christ. You may be one of those people reading this book right now. Please know that it was not because God is angry with you that you were left behind. Jesus wants His Bride to be pure and triumphant, unashamed before Him, on the wedding day. What bridegroom wants his bride to walk down the wedding aisle naked, wretched and pitiful (see Revelation 3:17 and Revelation 16:15), bringing shame to herself and to the bridegroom? No, the wedding day is to showcase the beauty and honor of the bride; it is to be a day of victory and celebration. Those who have overcome and brought glory to God through their lives will be chosen to participate in the wedding day after the Rapture takes place. For those left behind, there will be a second chance – a second rapture event after the year of judgment during the “Day of the Lord”, the 7th day of Daniel’s 70th week. I personally believe this event will take place once again on the Day of Atonement in 2016, and the “Year of Jubilee” will be extended for 1000 years for those saints who were left behind or came to faith in Christ during the “Day of the Lord”.
It is also my belief that the wedding event in heaven will take place during the Feast of Tabernacles, which starts 5 days after the Day of Atonement. The Feast of Tabernacles is a 7-day Feast. A traditional Jewish wedding would last for 7 days. The most important day of the Jewish wedding was the 7th day of the Feast. Likewise, the most important day of the Feast of Tabernacles is the 7th day. This will be explained more in the next chapter.
Before going on to chapter 3, I would like to look quickly at the Day of Atonement and compare how the Jewish celebration and beliefs about this day also compare to the Jewish wedding and symbolize the Rapture event taking place on this day. The Day of Atonement is considered the most holy day of the year to the Jewish people. It was on this day that the high priest would go into the holy of holies to make atonement for the whole year of sins for the entire Jewish nation. It was called the “face-to-face” day, because the high priest would be consumed by God’s presence and face-to-face with God. This was a most solemn moment, and the people were gripped with anxiety as the high priest was in there, waiting to see if God would accept the sacrifice. A bright cloud was over the mercy seat, at God’s presence in there. When the high priest emerged from the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, they knew that they were absolutely sinless and blameless before the Lord, and could set out upon yet another year of sin, until the next year.
Jesus said in Mark 2:20, "But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast." Could Jesus have been giving us yet another clue about when the bridegroom was coming and when He would be taken away from those left behind? Could He be telling us that on that DAY, there will be fasting, when the Bridegroom is taken away with the Bride and the “ DAY OF THE LORD” begins. This is when the "restrainer" is removed. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 says, "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way."
