The Shemitah

L'shana tova!!! It is now the Jewish year of 5775. The year 5775 also happens to be a year of the Shemitah, or a year of release. What is that, you ask? The Shemitah is the Sabbath Year (7th year) outlined in Leviticus 25:1-7 and Deuteronomy 15:1-6. During that year, the land would rest, meaning no one was to sow nor reap. No one would have to do so because God would give such abundance the previous year, there would be plenty to last for a few years (Leviticus 25:21-22). Why? Because He's YHWH-jireh, El Shaddai. Not only was it a rest for the land, but also debts were forgiven and Hebrew bondservants would be get free. But, what had happened was there were 70 Shemitahs that were never executed, which, along with all other of ancient Israel's sins, resulted in their captivity Babylon (then eventually Persia) for 70 years so the land could rest. Israel had be urged many times to repent, but that's another blog.

But why does the Shemitah matter now? Because it's God's sovereign law. But what does this mean for America? When America was founded, Washington and the other founding fathers dedicated this country to God Almighty, as Solomon did with Israel once the first temple was finished. Washington dedicated the nation on the very ground we were attached on Sept 11, 2001. That happened to be towards the end of a Shemitah. This Sabbath year actually ended Sept 17, 2001, when the markets plummeted and people lost money, just a week after folks at the New York Stock Exchange slowly started coming back to work. All debts would be "released" and forgiven, right? Then, the same thing happened, but worse in Sept 29, 2008, the end of that proceeding Shemitah, what's known as the Recession of 2008. Why these Sept dates? Because the Jewish calendar is the one to follow when studying this. But these dates were 29 Elul 5761 and 5768, respectively.

For more information on the Shemitah, be sure to get te new book The Mystery of the Shemitah by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, as well as The Harbinger.