When is the Year of Release / Debt Forgiveness / Favorable Year of the Lord Announced?

When Year of Release / Debt Forgiveness / Favorable Year of the Lord Announced?

I believe that the slaves are freed and debts are canceled at the last Feast of Tabernacles of the seven year Shemitah cycle that starts in the spring of 1406 BC. This is in contrast to announcing the land sabbath year around Tabernacles on the 6th year so that farmers would know not to plant crops for the 7th year or the Jubilee which is consecrated on the Day of Atonement in the 6th year of the Shemitah cycle.

In my last post I made the case for a 31 AD crucifixion of Yeshua based upon the timing of when Yeshua read Isaiah and declared the favorable year of YHVH where debts are forgiven and slaves are set free. As I was reading it I realized I may have interpreted the scriptures incorrectly; thankfully, the new interpretation I will present here only strengthens the case for 31 AD and in no way negates the arguments of the prior post.

Lets review the scripture one more time and then I will point out where I might have errored.

At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, for the Lord’s release is proclaimed… 9 Beware lest there be a base thought in your [minds and] hearts, and you say, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing; and he cry unto YHVH against you, and it be sin unto you. 12 And if your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you (a slave) and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. — Deuteronomy 15:1–12

10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before YHVH your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. — Deuteronomy 31:10–11

The question is whether the debt release occurs when the Land Sabbath / Shemitah is announced in the Fall of the 6th year or during Tabernacles in the 7th year.

The key words are “at the end of every seven years”. The last feast day at the end of seven years is Tabernacles. I ignore Hanukkah and Purim because these were “man made feasts” and not ordered by YHVH. The Shemitah is declared at the end of the 6th year. Deuteronomy says “in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles”. The question becomes does the year for canceling debts “start” with Tabernacles or end with Tabernacles.

I think the key to resolving this may be Deuteronomy 15:9

Beware lest there be a base thought in your [minds and] hearts, and you say, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing; and he cry unto YHVH against you, and it be sin unto you.

If the release occurred at the “start” of a 7th year that began with Tabernacles, then there would be little time for someone to say “it is the 7th year and I will have to forgive debts soon so I won’t lend anyone anything”. This only makes sense if there are more than 2 weeks during which the 7th year is at hand and the day of release approaching.

Therefore, I conclude that the day of release is the last Feast of Tabernacles in every 7 year religious calendar cycle. This gives 6 months during the 7th year where one could say “the seventh year is at hand” and give your poor brother nothing.

Implications for Date of The Cross

In my last post I indicated that, according to Luke 4, Yeshua read Isaiah and declared it fulfilled in the hearing. This indicates to me that this was during/around Tabernacles in the 7th year of the cycle.

“The Spirit of YHVH is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor (forgiveness of debts). He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives (release of slaves), And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (release of slaves), To proclaim the favorable year of YHVH. (Shemitah)”

With the idea that this occurs at the end of the 7th year, instead of at Tabernacles in the 6th year, it moves Yeshua reading Isaiah from Fall of 28 AD to fall of 29 AD.

Due to the constraints on the Death of Herod the Great, the age of the temple, and Yeshua’s age at baptism, it still isn’t possible to switch to a different interpretation of Tiberius’ 15th year. Therefore, even though we gained an extra 12 months between Baptism and declaring the favorable year of YHVH, we can only attribute them to the years during which Yeshua grew in fame.

Did Yeshua have to be in Jerusalem on Tabernacles?

The good news is that we gain flexibility in that Yeshua could have read Isaiah almost anytime during the 7th year without changing the conclusion for 31 AD. Given that everyone was expected to visit Jerusalem for Tabernacles and yet Yeshua read Isaiah in his home town of Nazareth, there is a strong case that He didn’t make the decree on Tabernacles.

Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty — Deuteronomy 16:16

Given that Yeshua is YHVH (“I and the Father are one”), technically he was always before his Father, our Elohim and Lord.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. … But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. — John 4:21–23

You could further argue that the Glory of YHVH was no longer in the temple because it left with the first temple.

Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19 While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. — Ezek 10:18–19

Ruling out 30 AD

The year 30 AD could be entirely ruled out because the 1406 BC Jordan crossing places the end of the 7th year just 6 months before Passover in 30 AD. That is clearly not enough time to cover the last 20 chapters of Luke, aka 83% of the book. 31 AD provides 1.5 years for the book of Luke to transpire. Given some people believe Yeshua’s entire ministry could fit in 70 weeks, this seems like plenty of time.

Alternatively, we are now free to move the Jordan crossing back to 1407 BC, which if it could be proven, would remove one of many obstacles to 30 AD. Given the confidence in the date of construction of the 1st temple, and the fact that if you move back the crossing to 1407 BC then it would put us in the middle of the 70th Jubilee year (2023–2024) and therefore the day of YHVH. Since I don’t see Nukes dropping yet, I think we can safely rule out 1407 BC.