Recently a lot of attention has been focused on the fact that 2015 is a SHEMITAH year, that is, the Sabbath Year which falls on the seventh year of the Jewish Calendar. It is on this year when debts are to be forgiven and farm fields left uncultivated. The 70 year captivity of the Jews in Babylon reflected the 490 years that the Jews had ignored the Sabbath Year.
The theory that the SHEMITAH years are a pattern of God’s blessing and punishments are the focus of a new book by Jonathan Cahn, author of the Harbinger, which claimed parallels between 9/11 and Isaiah chapter 9. Cahn asserts all of human history can be understood with this mystery unveiled.
I attempted to calculate the 7 year intervals from 587 BC (the beginning of the 70 years) and starting the 7 year cycle anew when the 70 years were complete. The result was a completely different set of SHEMITAH years than those used by Cahn. I researched the issue in Jewish sources to learn that after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, after apparently a long period of ignoring SHEMITAH and the Jubilee years, the rabbis determined that the Jubilee year was no longer in effect but the 7 year SHEMITAH cycle was restarted in 71 AD. This starting date delivers the rabbi-accepted SHEMITAH years used by Cahn.
Below is a timeline showing each (thus adjusted by the rabbis) SHEMITAH years in the last 115 years. Only US History events are included, because that is the focus of Cahn’s book.
I overlayed the top 10 stock market crashes, the starts and endings of US wars and also threw in some of the other events cited by Jonathan Cahn in his book, The Mystery of the SHEMITAH.”
SHEMITAHs years are in bold.
The years are in doublets because the Jewish civil calendar year begins in the fall, such that the SHEMITAH for 1973 actually begins in the fall of 1972 and ends in the fall of 1973.
There are 17 SHEMITAHs in this 115 year period. Five of them roughly correspond to stock market crashes and wars, etc. 12 of the SHEMITAHs have nothing happening. Meanwhile, just counting stock market crashes and wars, there are 16 events that are of the same nature which did not happen on SHEMITAHs.
So of all 17 SHEMITAH years since 1900, 12 had no reportable event and there were 16 reportable events on other, non-SHEMITAH years. I fail to see any pattern here.
1900
01
02
1903
04
05
06
07
08
09
1910
11
12
13
1914 WWI STARTS
15
16
1917
1918 VICTORY IN WWI
19
1920
21
22
23
1924
25
26
27
28
1929 CRASH
1930
1931
32
33
34
35
36
1937 RECESSION
1938
39
1940
41
42
43
44
1945 A BOMB VICTORY IN WWII
46
47
48
49
1950 KOREAN WAR STARTS
51
1952
53 KOREAN WAR ENDS
54
55
56
57
58
1959
1960
61
1962 CRASH
3 VIETNAM WAR STARTS
64
65
1966
67
68
69
1970
71
72
1973 ROE V WADE
S. VIETNAM COLLAPSE
1974 OIL EMBARGO
75
76
1977 ENERGY CRISIS
78
79
1980
81
82
83
84
85
86
1987 CRASH
88
1989 CRASH
END OF COLD WAR
1990 CRASH
91
1992 CRASH
93
1994
95
96
97
98
99
2000 CRASH
2001 9/11
2002 CRASH
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007 BEAR MARKET
2008 FIN CRISIS
2009
2010 CRASH
2011 CRASH
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Sep 26, 2014 @ 14:30:06
Randy, I love that you have the wisdom, inclination and time to do studies like this! Wonderful!
Sep 26, 2014 @ 14:58:43
Randy,
Whose calendar did you use? The Jewish calendar has 354 2/3 days; our gregorian calendar has 365 1/4 days; or God’s prophetic calendar based on a perfect 360 day year?
Janet
Janet M. Anweiler
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13 (NIV)
Sep 26, 2014 @ 15:16:08
That’s why i used doublets, highlighting a 24 month period for each SHEMETA, just to be on the safe side.
Sep 26, 2014 @ 15:58:15
Interesting work Randy…
Janet… taking the 360 day year I made some calculations. 360 days x 7 years is 2520 days. So if we subtract 2520 days from 9/25/14 (which is the beginning of the Sabbatical year, yes?) then we get a date of 1-Nov-2007. If we keep doing that we get the following…
25-Sep-2014
1-Nov-2007
7-Dec-2000
13-Jan-1994
19-Feb-1987
27-Mar-1980
3-May-1973
9-Jun-1966
16-Jul-1959
21-Aug-1952
27-Sep-1945
3-Nov-1938
10-Dec-1931
15-Jan-1925
21-Feb-1918
30-Mar-1911
5-May-1904
Apparently the Sabbatical year (Shemitah) according to http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/562077/jewish/What-Is-Shemittah.htm runs from 9/25/14 – 9/13/15… So running the same 2520 calculation back from 9/13/15 we get…
13-Sep-2015
19-Oct-2008
25-Nov-2001
1-Jan-1995
7-Feb-1988
15-Mar-1981
21-Apr-1974
28-May-1967
3-Jul-1960
9-Aug-1953
15-Sep-1946
22-Oct-1939
27-Nov-1932
3-Jan-1926
9-Feb-1919
17-Mar-1912
23-Apr-1905
Someone with more time on their hands than me could calculate the exact Hebrew dates from those, and see if those dates correspond with anything spectacular. I imagine we could find something somewhere in the world interesting that falls on those dates.
All that said – I don’t put much stock Shemitah’s… but we’ll see.
Sep 26, 2014 @ 16:15:06
the actual years appear to be nearly identical to my list, only you have provided the Julian days and months. I fudged the difference by allowing any event within a 24 month window to qualify as having happened in a SHEMITAH. This is more favorable to Cahn’s theory, but still the results are essentially the same.
Sep 27, 2014 @ 05:46:08
I appreciate your respect for truth and willingness to see things as they are. Such secret codes are tempting to believe, but we must embrace truth over fiction.
Sep 30, 2014 @ 07:53:04
thanks randy.. I like a good de-bunk
Sent from my iPhone
>
Oct 06, 2014 @ 20:40:31
Just know that even though your comments concerning the Rabbi’s books are an opinion, so God has given one to Rabbi Cahn the opportunity to give his via his two books. I don’t see where you even give him the benefit of a doubt that his book can be true. I think he would say to you on your opinion of his book, ‘perhaps.’ But as you said, we shall see.
However, it is my belief that since the first book by the Rabbi, the “Harbinger,” pretty much proved his hypothesis true over the past years (spoken words via Isaiah 9:10 and video of those speaking and other obvious biblical facts), so likewise the Rabbi’s book – the ‘Mystery of the Shemitah’ – has much value to ALL of us in the kingdom of God. After all, God does speaks to his prophets still today? Correct?
Rabbi Cahn said his presentation in the manner of ‘fiction’ in the ‘Harbinger’ was due to the complicated subject matter God put on his heart to present. His intention, according to the Rabbi, was to get the message across as best he could so we in the body could understand what God was saying to us his audience; believers and nonbelievers. Even Jesus used parables in a similar pattern to help his followers understand. Is the Book of Revelation fiction? Since the Book of Isaiah uses imagery, would the Prophet Isaiah’s imagery presentation be considered fiction in today’s atmosphere? I know you didn’t say this, but you also chose not to respond to the commenter who did.
Rabbi Cahn has done a great service to the body of Christ, of which in my opinion would be considered warnings to his Bride. We must prepare for those things that may come, and pray that much of what he says (as he has said as well) will not happen. I’m with the Rabbi on that.
Oct 07, 2014 @ 14:57:36
All I did was layout the Shemitah years on a calendar along with the history of the events he describes. It isn’t an opinion, it’s just dates and events, in other words, facts. Draw whatever conclusion you want.
Jul 30, 2015 @ 07:30:00
I don’t see that your analysis is more factual than Rabbi Cahn, As far as I can see, it’s just your opinion. In fact, I am more apt to believe Rabbi Cahn, I have his two books and DVD’s, I love and trust his works..
Jul 30, 2015 @ 08:50:34
Time will tell.
Oct 16, 2014 @ 10:57:54
While it’s true that the Jewish calendar is lunar, it is also true that a leap month is occasionally inserted so that the calendar does not deviate too far from the solar calendar. I know this practice extends back to at least the days of Christ, but before that is speculation. To the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah? I rather doubt it. One thing that bugged the heck out of me in Harbinger was the way Cahn switched back and forth between the Gregorian and the Jewish calendar depending on which date worked better for his purposes. Since there seems to be no divinely mandated calendar, if one accepts Cahn’s hypothesis, the reasonable conclusion would be that God accommodates his judgements of our financial system based on our calendars, which seems a little ludicrous.
Jun 15, 2015 @ 15:26:58
I think you hit on one of the most important issues, that God operates on the constructs of a calendar and aligns his warnings, judgements, etc. to various calendars not precisely of his design. Life does not happen like that, so why would God operate like that? Satan certainly isn’t going to, so does that mean some things God needs to address must wait on Shemitah? Of course not, and I do not think that this is what Cahn is asserting either. Shemitah, first, is not something meant as a time of punishment. It can bring blessings or judgement, so in order to be fair, if you are going to look at all history through the Shemitah veil, you would never finish. You’d have to look at the good and the bad and then determine if the occurrences were even a function of Shemitah. Futile. The main thesis here, IMO, is that God communicated with Cahn through a means he would understand in order that he could explain to the world that God wants our attention because He mercifully wants to warn us, give us a chance to turn back to Him and His ways. Only God can answer why He chooses to use a mystery, a burning bush, or the parting of the Red Sea. In my own experience with communication from God, I find his methods may only make sense to me and Him. In fact, when I try to get others to understand the power surrounding what I call “God Things,” I often cannot find the words to completely convey what I expereinced with the full power that surrounded the event. If I want others to understand for whatever reason, it is up to me to find a way. That may be what Cahn is doing, finding a way to convey the message God chose him to convey. Honestly, I belive that was accomplished in the first book. Cahn may think more explaining is necessary, if not for me or you, for others. The obvious next place to go would be to substantiate that Shemitah has always been a sign to us. Maybe God led him; maybe he wanted a pay day. None of us would have any way of knowing that. What is important is that I think he was on the mark in the first book, in developing a case for the fact that our nation dedicated its founding to God and God’s ways. Look at us now. When is it inappropriate to attempt to get others to turn back to God?
If all historical events do not align to Shemitah, does that mean we should ignore the message? It makes no sense for God to have been operating with Shemitah all these years in our country when we didn’t even know it unless only for the purpose of substantiating it as a method of communication with us now. Even if that is the case, everything could not fall every seven years, good or bad. I do not think Cahn ever asserted that Shemitah was the only driving force of God’s blessings or judgement. Maybe he overshot in having the second book as a tool for substantiating the first.
The bottom line is, as he first asserted God is warning us to turn back to Him before it’s too late. Shemitah could be a backdrop for that. Regardless of whether it is or not, our nation is headed in the wrong direction fast, and certainly you don’t believe that because the dates don’t match up like you would need them to believe Shemitah is at play, you don’t also think we should ignore the bottom line, do you?
This really reminds me of the story of Lazarus. Jesus raises him from the dead, and those in doubt go back saying if he were really the Messiah, he could have prevented Lazarus from dying in the first place; he could have healed him. The devil wants to distract us. He wants us focusing on something other than what God is trying to say. Jesus could have healed him, but then people would have been saying he probably wasn’t all that sick or any of a hundred other things to prevent others from believing. The devil gest the doubters to focus on something that causes them to miss the whole point. That is what is happening here. If we get caught up in things that distract us from the main point, and we get others to go along with us, then we are really could be making a bigger problem. Don’t listen to this man at all. Because he did not foresee every question out there and, thus, explain why everything wouldn’t follow the calendars, then no one should take anything he says seriously. Yea, yea, you only discussed the dates, the facts, but in so doing, you draw into question a person’s creditbility, whether intentionally or unintentionally. The implications of your facts could be discussed, as well, what the facts mean and what they don’t mean in regards to Cahn’s assertions in both books. …just a thought.
Sep 15, 2015 @ 13:01:03
Kimberly, I’m so glad you wrote this. I understand the dates and the “important days”….but the bottom line is we are going down fast as a nation and instead of pointing out peoples faults that are bringing this to the “public’s” attention…we’re tearing them down. We don’t know how many people CAME BACK TO CHRIST after reading this book…..I’m sure the Randy had good intentions and I hope that he continues to educate the body.