Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Why Would God Insist on the Shemitah? The Spiritual Parallel

Imagine having all your debt wiped away. (Tweet that!) Imagine God insisting on wiping away all debt. (Tweet that!) That is "The Shemitah." Why would God insist on the Shemitah? Because He is teaching us through a spiritual parallel. (Tweet that!)

You might wonder why God would want the people of Israel to wipe out all debts every seven years? Why would He direct people to do such a radical, unusual bit of financing? Why wipe the books clean every seven years? (Tweet that!)

If we don't understand the "why" behind a rule or instruction, then it's pretty easy to ignore it or rebel against it, don't you think? (Tweet that!)

But the rule or instruction is there to obey, even if the people didn't understand why.

And if the people of Israel didn't follow this instruction from God, there were serious repercussions. In fact, if the people didn't do this "financial reset" which God instructed, He would do it for them. (Tweet that!)  Why would God do such a thing?!

The answer: God is drawing a spiritual parallel. He's painting a picture in real-world, tangible, visible images of what He does in the invisible, spiritual realm. (Tweet that!)

This is what God does for us spiritually: He wipes away our debit, what we owe God. That is, He wipes away our sin-debt. (Tweet that!)

Because we sin, and because the wages of sin is death, we cannot pay this debt and live. Sin creates a debt we could never repay and at the same time survive. (Tweet that!)

Jesus paid a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay.

The One True God is a most unusual God. (Tweet that!)

It takes imagination to explain the things of heaven and the ways of God in heaven to the people of earth. To illustrate one heavenly truth of God's incredible love, God insists on the Shemitah.

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Saturday, June 13, 2015

What Would this Shemitah "Release of Debts" Look Like?

Jonathan Cahn’s The Harbinger Companion with
Study Guide, The Harbinger, and
The Mystery of the Shemitah
I'm pretty sure most of you (unless you're Jewish) are a lot like me: Because this idea of the Shemitah is so new to me and I'm just learning about it, and because I haven't lived with it or experienced it (at least not when I knew that's what was happening!), it's hard to imagine what it would look like when it happens on Elul 29. Don't you agree? (Tweet that!) Well teacher and author Jonathan Cahn teaches us in his books.

Here is an explanation about the release of debts from Jonathan Cahn's The Harbinger Companion with Study Guide, page 85:

So at the end of every seventh year, which was the twenty-ninth day of the biblical month of Elul, all debts were canceled; the nation's financial accounts were nullified. 
The effect and repercussions of the Shemitah extend into the financial realm, the economic realm, and the realms of labor, employment, production, consumption, and trade. It would cause much of these things to cease or greatly diminish, and in the case of Elul 29, the wiping away of all credit and debt would nullify much of the nation's financial realm.

Thus, the Shemitah in many ways had the outward appearance of an economic collapse… The Shemitah remains one of the most unique ordinances in the Bible in its massive effect and repercussions on a nation's financial and economic realm.

Can you imagine such a "financial reset"? (Tweet that!) Can you imagine what it would be like to live that? We may actually live it later this year. (Tweet that!)

Or maybe we already have in 2001 and 2008. If the events of 2001 and 2008 were just warnings, what might the real thing be like? (Tweet that!)

I don't know the answer to that. But another question comes to my mind: Why would God do all this? We'll talk about why God would order the people to do this, or would do this to the people, in the next post, so please visit again on Tuesday.

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Thursday, June 11, 2015

When is the Shemitah 2015?

This year Elul 29 on the Biblical
calendar is September 13, 2015,
on the western calendar.
So I'm sure you're wondering, "Just when is the Shemitah?" (Tweet that!)

Every 7th year it falls on the last day of the last month of the year on the Hebrew / Jewish / Biblical calendar. (Tweet that!)

The last month on that calendar is called "Elul" and it corresponds roughly to mid-August to mid-September on our western calendar. (Tweet that!)

(See related article "How the Jewish Calendar Works.")

The last day of Elul is the 29th. So the Shemitah falls on the 29th of Elul every 7th year. (Tweet that!)

At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD's release [Shemitah].  (Deuteronomy15:1-2)

We are currently in that 7th year on the Biblical calendar. Elul 29 corresponds to Sunday, September 13, 2015. (Tweet that!)

Please return for the next post when we'll take a closer look at just what this "release of debts" looks like when it happens.

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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Closed ... for the Shemitah?

There is so much going on in America right now that this may seem like a small thing but I don't think it is. Have you noticed the Blue Laws are disappearing? (Tweet that!)

The Blue Laws prohibited the selling of certain items on Sundays, such as liquor or cars.

It used to be, long ago in the "old days," almost every business was closed on Sundays. Not anymore. (Tweet that!) The only business I know of that is closed on Sunday now is Chick-Fil-A. You know, that chicken sandwich place that made the news in 2012 when the owner spoke out against gay marriage? He stood up for Judeo-Christian beliefs and was slammed for it. (Tweet that!)  

It used to be that families went home from church to have dinner after church together. Often families invited the pastor to join them.

Now, to many people, it's just another day of work. What about you? How much do you restrict your work on Sundays?

It's easy to let it slide, isn't it? To think it's not important.

What if God asked you to take a whole year off. And to trust Him to provide for you in that year? (Tweet that!) Would you think that was important? Would you easily let that slide? Would you go ahead and work to "get ahead" even farther during that year "off"?

If you were Jewish, that's what God would ask of you.

Yeah, it's a challenge to think about, isn't it? Welcome to the idea of the Shemitah. (Tweet that!)

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Saturday, June 6, 2015

Does the Shemitah Turn things Upside Down or Right Side Up?

God often does things that are counter-intuitive to humans. They seem upside down. Or backwards. (Tweet that!)

Some examples of this in the Bible are:

The first are last, but the last go first:

But many who are first will be last, and the last first. (Matthew 19:30, ESV)

Those who believe they are free are really slaves. But then slaves set free.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 
They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" 
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:31-36, ESV)

Not only that, but those who claim to see clearly are really blind. However while the seeing are blind, the blind can see:

Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind..."
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains." (John 9:39, 41, ESV)

Did you know that the poor are really rich? The poor own the entire kingdom!

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3, ESV)

Perhaps the most dramatic upside-down truth is that while those who live will die, those who die can live:
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26, ESV)

What does that have to do with the Shemitah? One more incomprehensible truth is the principle of less is more. God says if you tithe, that is, give 10% of your money to Him, you'll discover your 90% goes further than your 100% would have had you kept it.

We think we must work hard to rest and play. God said to the Israelites rest a day out of 7, and a year out of 7, and you'll have plenty.

God does things that seem backwards to us. (Tweet that!)

When it seems God is turning things upside down, He is actually turning things right-side up. (Tweet that!)

The truth is God is not backwards or upside down. We are the ones who are both backwards and upside down. (Tweet that!) God is just setting us straight.

Resting one day out of seven doesn't make sense to us. Taking a whole year off definitely makes no sense to us. But it worked for the people of Israel when they obeyed this direction that He gave them. Why? Because God makes it work.

And that's the whole lesson: Listen to God. Do things His way. And He'll make sure it works out right.

It's all training in trusting Him. (Tweet that!)

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Does the #Shemitah turn things Upside Down or Right Side Up? #Bible #Christians need to know: (Tweet that!)

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Thursday, June 4, 2015

The Lord's Release = Shemitah

I'm sure you're wondering where the term "Shemitah" comes from in Scripture (the Bible) and what it means. (Tweet that!) It means “the LORD's release."

The Shemitah was an order given by God to the people of Israel after they left slavery in Egypt and were preparing to enter the Promised Land. It was a very unique order.  He told them that every seventh year they were to rest.

Imagine that. Take a year off! (Tweet that!)

Not only the people, but the land was supposed to rest. Here it is in God's Word:

When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath unto 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.  (Leviticus 25:2-4)

This same order was also recorded in Exodus:

Six years you shall sow your land and gather its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat. (Exodus 23:10-11)

This is called the Shemitah in the Hebrew. That word means "the release," "the remission," or "the letting rest."

Another way to translate the word shemitah is: the LORD's release.

This word has profound meaning and many different facets. We'll continue to explore the meaning of the Shemitah, or the LORD's release, more in the next post.

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Learning about the coming Shemitah at www.BiblePropheciesFulfilled.blogspot.com. (Tweet that!)

#Christian #Bible / Learn more about the coming Shemitah. Join my Facebook Event here: #Shemitah Watch Party! (Tweet that!)

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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Taking a Closer Look at the Shemitah and Bible Prophecy

We've touched on the "Shemitah," what it is and why it's important on this blog in many previous posts (see "Related Articles" below), but always with the promise that we'd talk about it more and in depth as it approached. The next Shemitah day, which only comes around every 7 years, is coming this September 13, 2015, which is a Sunday. So what do you say? Isn't it time to take a closer look at the Shemitah and Bible prophecy? This month let's explore more and learn about the Shemitah. (Tweet that!)

 This next Shemitah might have very significant importance for America. (Tweet that!) I base that prediction on the fact that the previous two Shemitahs – 7 years ago in 2008 and 7 years before that in 2001 – both saw significant events.

 So if those previous two events on the Shemitah were warnings from God, how many warnings will we get? (Tweet that!) Only two and then the warned judgment from God comes this year? Or will His mercy give us even more warnings?

You can find a quick introduction to the Shemitah in my post last October 21, 2014: Introduction to the Shemitah.  

 This month, and probably beyond, we're going to take a closer look at the Shemitah and what it might mean for America. (Tweet that!) So please come back on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for new posts.

Here are three great ways you can enjoy this blog…and you can do all three:

  1. Bring a friend or you're whole Sunday or church school class or study group. 
  2. Receive the posts automatically in your email inbox. To get them by email use the sign up form always in the upper right of this page. Enter your email address then open the confirmation email you receive and click the confirmation link. 
  3. Join my "Shemitah and Partial Solar Eclipse (#BlackSun) Watch Party" Facebook Event by clicking that link and selecting "Going." Here you'll get links to my articles and updates. You can also see links to new posts on my Facebook page if you'll visit that page and click Like.

 I'm looking forward to taking a closer look at the Shemitah with you this month as I share what I've studied and learned about it and its spiritual significance in the real world.

July 31, 2015 U P D A T E!


 Due to the need to compile all the extensive information on this blog about the Shemitah into one convenient, easy to access product, I've created an e-book with all the posts on this blog about the Shemitah. You can pre-order right now through its release date of August 8, 2015 and receive it as soon as it releases. Contains NEW MATERIAL in a Leader's Guide! More details in the July 28, 2015 post here.

Order The Shemitah ebook now:

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