“As we shall shortly see that, reckoned from the beginning of the seventy years of desolation under Babylon, the great cycle ends with the year A.D. 1875, it will be manifest to all that this great cycle (the antitype) could not have commenced at an earlier date, prior to the Babylonian captivity; for if we place it even one Jubilee earlier (50 years), it would locate the termination of the cycle fifty years earlier than A.D. 1875, namely A.D. 1825; and surely no Jubilee age of restitution began with that year.
Satisfied thus that the last typical Jubilee, from which the great (50 x 50) cycle begins to count, was not earlier, and could not be since the captivity in Babylon, and hence that the one immediately preceding that captivity was the last typical Jubilee Year, and that at its close the great, silent cycle began to count, we proceed to locate the exact time of that last typical Jubilee, thus:
The system of year Sabbaths being identified with their land, Canaan, and their inheritance in it, the first cycle of forty-nine years, leading to the first Jubilee, should begin to count from the time they entered Canaan.
This reasonable inference is made positive by the Lord's words--"When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath [observe the Sabbath system] unto the Lord: Six years shalt thou sow thy field, and six years shalt thou prune thy vineyard and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year [from entering the land] shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land."
So, then, the cycle of seven times seven, or forty-nine years (7 x 7 = 49), began to count at once, and the fiftieth year after entering Canaan was the first typical Jubilee. *
*Now some have suggested that as there were six years consumed in war before the division of the land was finished, therefore the counting of the Jubilee cycles did not begin until then. But no, the land was entered upon when they crossed over Jordan, and the command reads, "When you come into the land," and NOT, when ye have divided the land. It was divided parcel by parcel during the six years, but they did not get possession of all of it during those years, nor for an indefinite time afterward--until the enemies were driven out, which in some cases was never done. (See Joshua 18:2, 3; 17:12, 13; 23:4, 7, 13, 15.) Hence, had they waited for full possession before beginning to count the cycles, they would never have begun.
It will be seen, by reference to the table of Chronology, that 969 years elapsed between the entering of Canaan (in 1575 B.C.) and the seventy years desolation.
006 years to the division of the land
450 years for the Period of the Judges
513 years for the Period of the Kings
-----
969 years total.
We may know how many Jubilees they had observed up to that time by dividing 969 years by 50. There are 19 fifties in 969, showing that number of Jubilees, and the remaining 19 years show that their nineteenth, which was the last of the typical Jubilees, occurred just nineteen years before the beginning of the seventy years of desolation of the land while they were in captivity in Babylon, and nine hundred and fifty years after entering Canaan.
There, then, just nineteen years before the "seventy years desolation" of their land, at the close of their last Jubilee--the nineteenth--the great cycle of 2500 years (50 x 50 = 2500) began to count; and it becomes a very simple matter to reckon where those 2500 years terminated, and consequently where the twenty-five hundredth year, the beginning of the great antitypical Jubilee, began. Thus:
019 years from the last or nineteenth Jubilee to the beginning of the desolation of the land.
070 years of the Period of the desolation
536 years from the restoration of Israel by Cyrus, to the date known as A.D. (Anno Domini-- the year of our Lord).
----
625 years total, from their last Jubilee to A.D. 1.
The number of years since A.D. 1, necessary to complete the great cycle of 2500 years.......…....1875 years.
Thus, we find that the 2500th year began with the beginning of the year A.D. 1875, which in Jewish civil time, by which this is reckoned (Lev. 25:9), began about October 1874. So, then, if the great Jubilee were to be only a year, like its type, it would have commenced October, A.D. 1874, at the end of 2499 years, and would have ended October, A.D. 1875.
But this is not the type, but the reality: it was not a Jubilee Year, but the antitypical Thousand years of Restitution of all things, which commenced October, A.D. 1874.
Thus, we see that not only did Israel's Jubilee clearly and forcibly prefigure the great "TIMES OF RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began," but that also the manner of its reckoning just as clearly indicates the date of the beginning of Earth's Great Jubilee. If we fail to accept these conclusions, we see no other alternative than that this type passed away without fulfillment, notwithstanding the most positive assertions of our Lord that it could not--that it would be easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one jot or tittle of the Law to pass away without reaching a fulfillment. (Matt. 5:18) We accept the facts thus divinely indicated, however astounding the conclusions which we must reasonably draw therefrom.” (B183-187)
But what are the reasonable conclusions from these Bible teachings?
We shall consider these in our next post.
Satisfied thus that the last typical Jubilee, from which the great (50 x 50) cycle begins to count, was not earlier, and could not be since the captivity in Babylon, and hence that the one immediately preceding that captivity was the last typical Jubilee Year, and that at its close the great, silent cycle began to count, we proceed to locate the exact time of that last typical Jubilee, thus:
The system of year Sabbaths being identified with their land, Canaan, and their inheritance in it, the first cycle of forty-nine years, leading to the first Jubilee, should begin to count from the time they entered Canaan.
This reasonable inference is made positive by the Lord's words--"When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath [observe the Sabbath system] unto the Lord: Six years shalt thou sow thy field, and six years shalt thou prune thy vineyard and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year [from entering the land] shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land."
So, then, the cycle of seven times seven, or forty-nine years (7 x 7 = 49), began to count at once, and the fiftieth year after entering Canaan was the first typical Jubilee. *
*Now some have suggested that as there were six years consumed in war before the division of the land was finished, therefore the counting of the Jubilee cycles did not begin until then. But no, the land was entered upon when they crossed over Jordan, and the command reads, "When you come into the land," and NOT, when ye have divided the land. It was divided parcel by parcel during the six years, but they did not get possession of all of it during those years, nor for an indefinite time afterward--until the enemies were driven out, which in some cases was never done. (See Joshua 18:2, 3; 17:12, 13; 23:4, 7, 13, 15.) Hence, had they waited for full possession before beginning to count the cycles, they would never have begun.
It will be seen, by reference to the table of Chronology, that 969 years elapsed between the entering of Canaan (in 1575 B.C.) and the seventy years desolation.
006 years to the division of the land
450 years for the Period of the Judges
513 years for the Period of the Kings
-----
969 years total.
We may know how many Jubilees they had observed up to that time by dividing 969 years by 50. There are 19 fifties in 969, showing that number of Jubilees, and the remaining 19 years show that their nineteenth, which was the last of the typical Jubilees, occurred just nineteen years before the beginning of the seventy years of desolation of the land while they were in captivity in Babylon, and nine hundred and fifty years after entering Canaan.
There, then, just nineteen years before the "seventy years desolation" of their land, at the close of their last Jubilee--the nineteenth--the great cycle of 2500 years (50 x 50 = 2500) began to count; and it becomes a very simple matter to reckon where those 2500 years terminated, and consequently where the twenty-five hundredth year, the beginning of the great antitypical Jubilee, began. Thus:
019 years from the last or nineteenth Jubilee to the beginning of the desolation of the land.
070 years of the Period of the desolation
536 years from the restoration of Israel by Cyrus, to the date known as A.D. (Anno Domini-- the year of our Lord).
----
625 years total, from their last Jubilee to A.D. 1.
The number of years since A.D. 1, necessary to complete the great cycle of 2500 years.......…....1875 years.
Thus, we find that the 2500th year began with the beginning of the year A.D. 1875, which in Jewish civil time, by which this is reckoned (Lev. 25:9), began about October 1874. So, then, if the great Jubilee were to be only a year, like its type, it would have commenced October, A.D. 1874, at the end of 2499 years, and would have ended October, A.D. 1875.
But this is not the type, but the reality: it was not a Jubilee Year, but the antitypical Thousand years of Restitution of all things, which commenced October, A.D. 1874.
Thus, we see that not only did Israel's Jubilee clearly and forcibly prefigure the great "TIMES OF RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began," but that also the manner of its reckoning just as clearly indicates the date of the beginning of Earth's Great Jubilee. If we fail to accept these conclusions, we see no other alternative than that this type passed away without fulfillment, notwithstanding the most positive assertions of our Lord that it could not--that it would be easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one jot or tittle of the Law to pass away without reaching a fulfillment. (Matt. 5:18) We accept the facts thus divinely indicated, however astounding the conclusions which we must reasonably draw therefrom.” (B183-187)
But what are the reasonable conclusions from these Bible teachings?
We shall consider these in our next post.
