April 2023 Sabbatical Day Year Sabbath Of Sabbaths

The Jewish Sabbath in Hebrew Shavat which means to rest, is the LORD’S day, set apart each week for rest and to worship GOD. In Old Testament times, GOD’S covenant people observe the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week, Saturday, and nowadays especially for the Gentiles observe the Sabbath on Sunday. According to Biblical tradition, it commemorates the original Seventh day on which GOD rested after completing the creation.

The Sabbath Year also called the Sabbatical Year and in Hebrew Shevi'it which means Seventh, and also known as Shmita Year, the Year of Release , occurs every Seven years. Sabbath Year or Sabbatical Year also known as Shmita Year was to be observed after the Israelites moved into the Promised Land. The LORD commands the Israelites to observe a Sabbath for the land. The land is to have a year of rest.” Every seventh year was to be a time of no planting or pruning of crops. It’s the year to forgive all debt and release all Hebrew servants. If the Israelites obeyed this command, they had another promise in Deuteronomy 15:6 which is “The LORD GOD will bless them as HE has promised, and they will lend to many Nations but will borrow from none. They will rule over many Nations but none will rule over them.” Observing the Sabbatical Year was an important sign of trust in the LORD, and it was accompanied by great blessings. Refusing to obey this command, GOD warned, would lead to a curse. In Leviticus 26:33 to35 it says “HE will scatter them among the Nations and will draw out HIS sword and pursue them. Their land will be laid waste, and their cities will lie in ruins. Then the land will enjoy its Sabbath Years all the time that it lies desolate and they are in the country of their enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the Sabbaths you lived in it.”

The Jubilee Year in Hebrew Yovel is the year observed at the end of Seven cycles of seventh Shmita year or Sabbatical years. The Year of Jubilee, which comes every 50th year, is a year full of releasing people from their debts, releasing all slaves, and returning property to who owned it as it is mentioned in Leviticus 25:1 to 13. During this year, the Israelites were not supposed to reap or harvest. It was a time for people to return to their families and loved ones. During the Day of Atonement (Numbers 36:4), the blowing of a ram’s horn would indicate the start of the year of Jubilee. The Jubilee year is dedicated to rest, to restoration of property, and to freeing people from debts, servitude, and slavery.