You are to count seven sabbatical years, seven times seven years, so that the time period of the seven sabbatical years amounts to 49. Then you are to sound a trumpet loudly in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month; you will sound it throughout your land on the Day of Atonement. You are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and each of you to his clan. The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee; you are not to sow, reap what grows by itself, or harvest its untended vines. It is to be holy to you because it is the Jubilee; you may only eat its produce directly from the field. (Leviticus 25:1-12)

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The Number 7 in the Holy Bible

In the sacred scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, a symphony of numbers weaves its way through the tapestry of God’s revelation, each one carrying profound significance and purpose. Among these numbers, none resonates more vibrantly than the divine number seven. It is the number of completion, perfection, and fulfillment, echoing through the ages as a signpost pointing us to the divine hand behind creation and history.

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The Seven Days of Creation: A Divine Blueprint

“To everything, there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). In the beginning, God set the rhythm of time itself with the grand overture of creation, a symphony conducted over seven days.

The Genesis story describes an extinction level event, just like many that are documented to have occurred in Earth’s history, including Noah’s flood. We don’t know what caused the event, but it could have been an asteroid or climate change. It could have been caused by a cosmic battle.

We do know, from the Genesis account, that the Lord had to quickly restore the Earth, so He could place Man there.

The first thing the Lord did was heal the waters – the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

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Then, step by step, in six periods of time, the Lord restored the Earth. Only the Creator can perform this miracle. The Holy Spirit showed Moses what actually happened, and he wrote an accurate account in the Book of Genesis:

Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

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Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.

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Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the third day.

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Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years. They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars. God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

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Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So God blessed them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

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Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

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Then, He performed one additional act of creation:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God;
He created them male and female.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day. (Genesis 1:2-31)

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So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation. (Genesis 2:1-3)

On the seventh day, God rested and sanctified it, setting a pattern for rest and blessing. The seventh day, known as the Sabbath, became a perpetual reminder of God’s creative and redemptive work. In observing the Sabbath, God’s people were commanded to rest and remember the completeness of God’s design.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:8-10). The fourth commandment calls us to rest and remember the Sabbath day.

The Sabbath foreshadows the ultimate rest found in Christ. “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath, providing spiritual rest and completion.

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Seven in Biblical Symbolism

Beyond the creation narrative, the number seven reverberates throughout the Bible, carrying profound symbolic meaning.

1. Seven as Completeness
Seven represents completeness, fullness, and perfection. Just as God completed creation in seven days, He brings His work in our lives to fullness.

2. Seven as Covenant
God made covenants with His people marked by the number seven, such as the rainbow after the flood (Genesis 9:12-17) and circumcision (Genesis 17:12).

3. Seven as Purity
“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6). The number seven signifies purity and refinement.

4. Seven as Redemption
In the Old Testament, the Year of Jubilee was declared every seven years, highlighting the theme of redemption and restoration

The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you, the land will observe a Sabbath to the Lord. You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years. But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in the seventh year, a Sabbath to the Lord: you are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard. You are not to reap what grows by itself from your crop, or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. It must be a year of complete rest for the land. Whatever the land produces during the Sabbath year can be food for you—for yourself, your male or female slave, and the hired hand or foreigner who stays with you. All of its growth may serve as food for your livestock and the wild animals in your land.

You are to count seven sabbatical years, seven times seven years, so that the time period of the seven sabbatical years amounts to 49. Then you are to sound a trumpet loudly in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month; you will sound it throughout your land on the Day of Atonement. You are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and each of you to his clan. The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee; you are not to sow, reap what grows by itself, or harvest its untended vines. It is to be holy to you because it is the Jubilee; you may only eat its produce directly from the field. (Leviticus 25:1-12)

The 7th year Sabbath and 50th year Jubilee were to be a time of liberation, restoration, and celebration. However, there is no record that shows Israel EVER observed the Jubilee year or the 7 year sabbatical years, according to their Law. The children of Israel were not faithful to God.  For 490 years they refused to allow their land to rest during the Sabbaticals.  Because of their disobedience, God allowed the children of Israel to be taken captive to Babylon for 70 years. While they were in Babylon the land back in Canaan enjoyed its 70 Sabbath years of rest.

Why did the Israelite kings refuse to obey the law of Sabbath rest for the land and the people? It is purely economics. It is just not economical to let the land lie unused for a period of one year when harvests can be gathered year in and year out. They did not trust the Lord’s provision and thought that they would suffer financially and materially.

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it. (Isaiah 30:15)

It seems the opposite of what we want to do, which is to fanatically run around and solve the problem, but repenting and resting is exactly what the Lord requires.

Interestingly, Jesus declared that His ministry fulfilled the Jubilee, the “year of the Lord’s favor.”

He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As usual, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me
to proclaim freedom to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him. He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” (Luke 4:16-21)

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This year could be the grand Jubilee we have all been expecting. As Jesus began His ministry with the Jubilee, it is fitting that He could cap off this Jubilee with the Rapture for His bride.

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Is now the time for the Rapture Jubilee?

The following are some reasons to believe the most anticipated event in history—the catching up into the clouds of countless followers of Jesus Christ—could happen in 2023:

Sabbatical Cycle

According to scholars, 2023 marks the start of a Sabbatical week. Validating this reckoning is a pattern of signs at a seven-year interval and the fact that the corresponding Jewish and Gregorian years (5782/2023) are both divisible by seven.

That 2023 begins a new Sabbatical week is significant because the Bible’s “bridal week” custom implies that the ultimate Bride, the Church, will be spirited away to the home of the Bridegroom around the start of a week (Gen. 29:26–28; John 14:3; Isa. 26:19–21).

According to the wedding custom in the Bible, the bride and groom are hidden away for a week to get acquainted before making their first public appearance as man and wife (Gen. 29:26–28). Since everything related to a wedding in Scripture points to the ultimate wedding of Christ and the Church, we understand the “bridal week” to foreshadow a seven-year period in which the Church–Bride is hidden away in heaven, while judgment is poured out on the earth (Isa. 26:19–21).

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Jubilee

Because 2023 is the first year of a Sabbatical week, it is also a potential Jubilee, or “year of redemption” (Lev. 25). This is significant because Scripture associates the year of redemption with the resurrection– rapture of the Church:

• Paul, the Apostle to the Gentile Church, speaks of the “redemption” of our bodies at the Lord’s
appearing (Rom. 8:19–23).

• Jesus says when we see the signs of His coming, our “redemption” is drawing near (Luke 21:28).

• Christians are sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of “redemption” (Eph. 4:30).

The year 5782/2023 is divisible by 7, and that’s how you know it’s a Shmita year. It’s also divisible by 49 which is why we know the year that we are entering now is a Jubilee year. After 49 years, seven cycles of seven, the following 50th year is a Jubilee year.

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Israel’s 75th Birthday

2023 marks Israel’s 75th birthday. This is noteworthy because the father of Israel, Abraham, was 75 years old when he and his family entered the Promised Land in the year 2023 AM (Gen. 12:1–4). If the pattern repeats, Israel’s 75th birthday in 2023 AD could see the “sons of Abraham” by faith, believing Jews and Gentiles, enter the heavenly Promised Land (Gal. 3:7).

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The Start of the 11th Week

2023 marks the start of the 11th Sabbatical week since Israel became a nation in 1948. The number 11 denotes chaos, disorder, and judgment in Scripture, themes associated with the Tribulation period.

The next Sabbatical week, beginning in 2030, will be the 12th since Israel became a nation. The number 12 signifies God’s authority and a perfect governmental foundation in Scripture, themes associated with the Millennial Kingdom.

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The Millennial Kingdom

The seventh and final dispensation brings about the culmination of life on Earth and the closest thing yet to how God really wanted to live with us on this planet. As its name suggests, the Millennial Kingdom of Christ will be the true peace covenant, and will last for 1,000 years.

I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will establish and multiply them and will set My sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. When My sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, Yahweh, sanctify Israel.” (Ezekiel 37:26-28)

Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the people who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of God’s word, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with the Messiah for 1,000 years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of the Messiah, and they will reign with Him for 1,000 years. (Revelation 20:4-6)

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If you are not sure that you are saved, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you into my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”

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