We are approaching the season of Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashana) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippor). As I was recently looking at my Jewish calendar Luach at this coming week, the Lord told me that this Rosh Hashana would inaugurate a Jubilee. The Lord took me through a study of a jubilee. This post is a result of that study.
What the Jubilee is?
The Jubilee is a sacred year that is a part of the Jewish sabbatical year system. Jews group years of their history into seven year cycles according to the commands of the Mosaic Covenant. The Israelites were to sow crops the first six years. The seventh year they were to leave the land fallow in a sabbatical year. The Israelites were to count seven sevens – 49 years.
And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
(Leviticus 25:8 KJV)
After the 49 years is the fiftieth year – The Jubilee. This year was set apart as a year of liberty. The Jubilee would officially commence through the blowing of the shofar trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month of the jubilee year. This always falls on Yom Kippor or the Day of Atonement. This year it will fall on October 9, 2019. When the shofar blows, two things will happen. Each person who is enslaved will be restored to his family, and each person who is enslaved will be returned to his ancestral inheritance. To understand this second concept, one must understand the peculiar nature of land ownership in ancient Israel. In America and most of the West, land ownership is by fee simple. This means that when someone sells their house or land, they permanently cease to retain their property rights and possession ( unless they buy it back at whatever market price obtains). In ancient Israel no one ever loses permanent possession of their ancestral inheritance. Selling land is tantamount to leasing it for a maximum of fifty years. Whenever a property was purchased, it would start a lease that would expire at the next Jubilee. The passage in Leviticus 25 requires that property values be prorated according to the years that such a lease would last.
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession. And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:
According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.
(Leviticus 25:10-16 KJV)
During the Jubilee year, on the days when sin were to be taken away, people would also be delivered from bondage. They were to be restored to their family and their inheritance. these rules were originally applied to the body politic of ancient Israel to insure that no one becomes permanently alienated from the land or their families due to economic hardship. These rules are also types and shadows that are fulfilled in Christ ( Col 2:16-17). “Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.” Three of the Seven feasts were literally fulfilled in Christ through His life on earth and in the Church. He died on Passover, rose from the dead on firstfruits, and sent his Holy Spirit on Pentecost/Shavuot. Just as these were literally fulfilled, the Fall Feasts will have similar fulfillment in the Final Great Awakening and Return of the Lord Jesus. Christ is our Jubilee, freeing us from bondage to sin and restoring us to right relationship in the family of God and our inheritance in Christ.
What is our inheritance in Christ? The full answer is beyond the scope of this blog post, but it is the whole earth. God gave humanity dominion over the whole earth, which Satan usurped when he manipulated Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Adam, as title holder to the earth in arrangement in which God still retained eminent domain, entered into quantum entanglement with the only thing on earth that was given to Satan’s dominion. The entire earth was given to man – everything. The placement of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil in the midst of the garden and as something outside of the dominion of Adam identifies it as something that was alien to the earth. The word ‘Knowledge’ comes from a Hebrew word ‘da‛ath.’ This word means more than just apprehension of information. It refers to knowledge that can include familiarity, connection , or entanglement. The root word for ‘da‛ath’ is ‘yaw-dah,’ which is used to describe Adam’s act of sexual intercourse with Eve. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil involved quantum entanglement with the property of Satan. Adam and Eve yoked the entire human race to Satan.
The eating of the forbidden resulted in Satan acquiring the ability making a property-rights claim to the earth with two caveats: Humanity did not cease to have title as Satan’s ruse was more like a company engaging in a hostile takeover of another company. The acquired company still retains it’s rights and identity. It simply becomes a subsidiary of the company that bought them. The parent company must act through the processes in place at the child company to control the child company. Satan cannot sovereignty control humanity, but must resort to manipulation and deception to control people. Humans can still exercise dominion, but are hindered because Satan is allowed to both roam the earth and approach God’s royal court to exercise property rights concerning the ways of man upon the earth.
The ability of Satan to now approach God’s Throne regarding property rights concerning the human race raises the second and more important caveat to his property rights claims: God and God alone has supreme sovereignty over the earth. Both Satan’s and Man’s activities on the earth are subject to God’s rules and God’s judgments. God could have simply taken the earth back at any time if He wished. Or He could have simply left man to Satan’s devices. Either course would have left man enslaved eternally.
God, in meting out judgment against the human race at the fall of humanity in the garden, proclaimed that Satan would be crushed by “the seed of the woman.” This was a reference to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. God put this provision into His judgment to provide a way for the redemption of humanity. Satan was not going to get the human race lock, stock, and barrel. God put enmity between humanity and Satan. God began to exercise His rights as the Lord of the Earth and made plans to send His Anointed Heir to be Lord of the earth – One who could redeem human from Satan’s grip. God began to make covenants that would restore human dominion. He entered into covenant with Abraham, Moses, and David. There’s much more to this than can be discussed here, but let’s just say that all of these find fulfillment in Jesus Christ as the Jewish Messiah. He is the Seed of Abraham, Son of King David, and the Prophet Like unto Moses. All of these constructs would be fulfilled in One who would not be entangled with any property of Satan.
Christ did away with Satan’s dominion on the Cross.
Christ came to this earth as the seed of the Woman. He was not conceived through natural union of man with the woman. He was conceived supernatually. His maternal DNA was from the egg of Mary. His paternal DNA was created ex nihilo by Divine command and supernaturally joined to the DNA in Mary’s egg by the Holy Spirit. As such, Jesus Christ was not the seed of Adam created through natural human process and was therefore not in quantum entanglement with the property of Satan. Christ was not born the property of Satan. The human description of Jesus Christ was that of the seed of Mary – the seed of the woman. His paternal heritage was from the Heavenly Father. He belonged to God, not Satan. Being directly created by God, the physical body of Christ was the property of God. The spirit in Christ is the eternally and self-existent God.
Just as there was one thing in the garden of Eden that was not given to man, there was one thing on the earth not given to Satan during the earthly life of Christ. The body of Christ was forbidden for Satan to touch. Satan has spent thousands of years murdering, robbing, and raping humanity and the earth. He was always able to appeal to his property rights to do things fundamentally contrary to God’s purposes – until He murdered Jesus Christ. Let us look more closely at the judgment meted out at the fall.
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
(Gen 3:14-19)
God’s judgment at he Fall included sentences against the man, the woman, and the serpent. Satan used the identity of the serpent to acquire his property rights, and received his judgment in that very identity. His judgment is will bruise the heel of the Seed of the woman, and that Seed will crush his head. This is the very first prophetic proclamation of the Cross. Christ’s heel was bruised at the Cross, and it is the Cross which crushed Satan’s head. The imagery is of the serpent being crushed as he bites the heel of the Seed of the woman. Because all of Satan legal claims were under the identity of the serpent, his actions necessarily fit the description as acts of the serpent. The act of killing the body of Christ is therefore after the manner of serpents, which is to bite and poison their victims. The serpents legal case was based on the fact that the moment Adam bit into the forbidden fruit he entered into quantum entanglement with the property of Satan. By this same standard when Satan killed Jesus Christ, he bit His heel and entered into quantum entanglement with the property of Jesus Christ. Just as Adam’s property rights were acquired by Satan by biting into the forbidden fruit, Satan’s property rights were acquired by Jesus Christ when he bit into Christ’s heel. Christ now has double title to the earth. He is Lord of the earth by virtue of being the Son of God. He also had the Adamic title of the earth back by virtue of being the Last Adam (1 Cor 15:45).
There are two phases to this liberty: The redemption to the Family of God and Redemption of the Earth:
Redemption to the Family of God and access to those relationships occurs immediately when one accepts Christ: He ( or she) is baptized into Christ justified by Faith, experiences regeneration of the spirit man, and receives the Holy Spirit as an earnest deposit of what is to come. From these the Christian can grow in the faith and received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Baptism of Holy Fire, and continues the journey of progressive sanctification. Thee is also an essential unity of all believers in Christ that exists regardless of the visible divisions that seem to exist. All these can be be experienced in the Church now.
The mission of the Church is largely (though not totally) agnostic to the earth. The Church is composed of believers of every nation, tongue, tribe, and language. Her identity is not found in any earthly political entity, and her rule is not defined by title to any earthly piece of real estate or national territorial integrity. furthermore, te physical bodies of Christians are still subject to the penalty of death, even though they are spiritually delivered. She has three connections to the earth: stewardship of private property rights on the earth, formal possession of a royal title as kings along with Christ, and the promise that they will one day reign upon the earth.
While the mission of the church is agnostic to the earth, the mission of Israel is definitely not. Central to the Covenants of Israel is the possession of a particular piece of real estate with territorial integrity in the Middle East. Because of unbelief, Israel is doing it all wrong, but that does not negate God’s program. Jesus Christ, as both the Seed of Abraham and Son of David, sought to administrate both Israel and the Church as an integrated entity united in Him (Eph2:12-22).
The covenants that involve Israel come attached with promise of possession of the land. God promised Abraham everything from the Nile to the Euphrates. David took Israel ancient territory to its greatest extent, which was about 50% of the mandate promised to Abraham. Subsequent prophecies extend the mandate to include all of the earth. Psalm 2 is about the Messiah. The Hebrew word translated “Anointed” is ‘Mashiyach,’ which is also translated Messiah. God set His Messiah on Mt Zion on Jerusalem and has promised to give Christ every kingdom on earth.
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
(Psalm 2:1-12)
Isaiah 60 speaks of the coming glory of Israel and uses language that suggest the other nations will be brought in triumphal entry to pay tribute. This is another passage that instructs us that Israel will inherit the nations.
And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
(Isa 60:10-14)
Another place in Isaiah identifies this as the eternally existing government of the Son of David. This refers to Jesus Christ as the Son of David, noting His distinct ontology as God and Man. He is born as man , but is also “the Mighty God” and has an never-ending reign.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
(Isaiah 9:6-7)
The Jubilee plays an essential role in God purposes in redeeming the land. While the redemption of people into the Family of God is immediate, the redemption of the earth is still ongoing. The application if the Jubilee to the Messiah, who has been given the earth, is now global by reason of those promises. There must be a jubilee before the return of Christ to inaugurate the process of the redemption of the earth.While we have been given legal ownership by being joint heirs with Christ, the transfer of physical ownership is ongoing.
The Jubilee as Yobale and Aphesis.
The English words ‘jubile’ and ‘jubilee’ are cognates of the Hebrew Yo-bale. Yo-bale is also translated to mean trumpet. It is the blowing of the Jubilee Trump on the Day of atonement (Yom Kippor) of the Jubilee year that triggered liberty for people to Return to their families to to possession of their ancestral heritage. The Jubilee connects the blowing of the trumpet to liberty so thoroughly that this word was translated in the Greek copies of the Old Testament to ‘aphesis.’ Aphesis is a word for liberty in Greek. In the New Testament it is used primarily to refer to remission of sins. The sentence against humanity for both particular sins and the rebellion of the fall was cancelled at the Cross Jesus took away all indictments that were against us (Col 2:14-15).
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
(Col 2:14-15)
If all of the indictments against us were taken away, so then is the legal basis Satan used to accuse us before the Father. Satan has no standing to appear before the Divine Council to petition God to do anything. We are at liberty and the legal co-heir with Christ to the earth. Christ is the Jubilee.
Because occupation of the earth is shared by other believers and unbelievers, God must administer world history to lead coherently to a place where the events of the end times unfold and result in the transition of physical ownership of the earth to the saints. Paul writes of this waiting for the redemption of the earth. He writes that the creation “groans and travails,” using language reminiscent of a woman going unto labor to give birth.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
(Rom 8:18-22)
There is a process of birthing the redemption of the earth. The saints already have personal liberty in Christ. As Paul testifies in Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” We are free but have not yet been restored to having full possession of the physical universe. The Holy Spirit has been given to help us in our current position of weakness until the seasons are right to transfer physical ownership of the earth. It is the sounding of the Jubilee Trumpet that triggers this transfer.
Just as the first three Feasts were types of New Testament fulfillment that wee timed to the day, so Christ’s fulfillment of the Jubilee will include an event that will be timed to the day. Satan has already lost legal control of the earth. The day is fast coming when God, seated on the Throne and having convened His Divine Council, will revoke Satan’s right and ability to approach the Throne to accuse us. This will be a consequence of God declaring that the saints along with Christ have physical possession of the earth. with this ruling Satan’s claims are physically vacated, he loses his place as accuser of the brethren, and is subsequently banned from approaching God’s Throne. This will happen on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippor) of a Jubilee year.
Determining the Jubilee.
How is the Jubilee determined? It was determined by counting years based on possession of the land. An individual heir to the Promised Land cannot be restored to his ancestral home is his nation does not occupy the land and have legal authority to recognize land titles. The Jubilee system has no relevance during any diaspora period when Israelites are compelled to live outside of the Promised Land. Because the Sabbatical clock is counted with reference to current possession, Sabbatical time of one period of possession does not roll over to another period of possession. This has parallels to contract law in the West. If a house suffers foreclosure or an automobile suffers repossession and these come to auction, the disenfranchised owner does not get to credit previous payments towards the price of redemption. he ability to roll over previous money and time credit only exist when the stakeholder has physical possession. If he gets possess in again under terms that require periodic payments, those payments are under a new contract:nothing rolls over from the previous contract. Thus, it is not necessary to accurately time Jubilees during any of Israel’s ancient occupations of the land. We only need to look at the current occupation of the Promised Land to determine the timing of these Jubilees.
One consideration in the timing of the Jubilee was whether the fiftieth year was an intercalary year that separated sabbatical cycles or whether the year of Jubilee was also the first year of the next Sabbatical cycle. Most scholars believe that these were 49-year cycles, with the 50th year inaugurating a new cycle. A 49-year cycle is the only interpretations that allows for uniform length of property leases. An Israelite who sold his ancestral home the day the Sabbatical system was set will have gave up possession for a full 49-years. On the fiftieth year, the blowing of the Jubilee Trumpet would result in the property reverting back to him or his descendants. If the Jubilee Year was intercalary, future generations could potentially get the full 49 years plus the previous Jubilee Year for a 50-year term, which would be an inconsistent application of the principle laid out in the Mosaic Covenant and make the Jubilee not truly cyclical in terms of the original cycle.
If the Jubilee is based on 49-year cycles and resets every time the Israelite attain a new possession of the land, then calculating Jubilees amounts to determining when modern Israel was able to recognize land titles, and counting from that moment. Keep in mind that full sovereignty is not required for purposes of this dating as it is based on possession of the land. The modern concept of sovereignty would have been unknown at the time of Moses. The Jubilee was based on physical possession and not on any legal fictions. The only governmental mechanisms that were necessary was the existence of an indigenous means to recognize property rights. Israel acquired this long before the May 14, 1948 Declaration of Independence that set up the modern Jewish State. The Mandate of Palestine, which was ratified on July 24, 1922, provided this framework. If 1922 is year One (ancient Jewish counting did not have a zero year, so you add 49 years to year one to calculate the jubilee), then 1922 (one) plus 49 years = 1971 as a jubilee year. The year 1971 (also being year one of the next cycle) 49 years = 2020 Jubilee.
There is another way to reach this calculation. Daniel 8 is a prophecy that directly pertains to the permanent banishment of Satan from Heaven. Satan lost his home very early in the history of the universe due to his rebellion against God (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28). however, he was still able to pass through to visit the throne room of God whenever He would convene the Divine Council. We see several examples in the Old Testament where Satan or one of his minions were able to do this.
In 1 Kings 22 we see what is perhaps the clearest account of God convening the Divine Council. The issue of how to get Ahab to fall has been brought up, and the Lord has opened the bar for anyoine of “the host of heaven” to speak. This is simply a reference to the angelic hosts who inhabit Heaven. One comes forward to offer himself as a lying spirit. By definition this would be demonic spirit as none of the holy angels would make such an offer. The Lord grants leave for this demon to have his way. While It may seem odd that God would give audience to a demon, but keep in mind that Satan’s trick he pulled on Adam and Eve in the garden purchased legal standing to approach God’s Throne for him and his minions.
And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
(1Ki 22:19-23)
In Job we see another instance of the Divine Council meeting. This time the demonic party crasher is identified as Satan himself. God picks a fight with Satan by bragging on Job. Satan complains that Job is only faithful because of the benefits of God and God’s hedge of protections that prevents Satan from attacking him. god responds by ordering a measured take down of that shield, specifying exactly how far Satan is allowed to go.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
(Job 1:6-12)
It is in light of understanding that Satan had access to approach the Throne of God to press forward legal rights long after losing his home in Heaven that we can understand the prophecy in Daniel 8:8-14. Many mistakenly think this is referring to Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a notorious blasphemer who desecrated the Second Temple during the days of the Maccabean Revolt. The actual period of desolation of the Temple was less than three years, so it simply does not fit the timeline here. We also see evidence of this little horn doing things that no merely human ruler could do. No human ruler can take down the hosts of heaven and no historical record of any similar narrative being fulfilled over a 2300 day period. This is a narrative of a supernatural ruler who takes down a portion of the angelic hosts and created in disturbance in the Heavenly Sanctuary, only to lose his place at the end of the 2300 days.
Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
(Dan 8:8-14)
By comparing Daniel 8:8-14 with other Scripture we can get a better idea of what the words of this text mean. We see that the “little horn” pulled down “some of the host.” This is a reference to angels as angels are sometimes referred to as the hosts of Heaven. Angels are also referred to as “stars.” We see such reference in Job 38:7 as well as stars being included in the reference to angels in this passage in Daniel 8. Revelation 1:20 explicitly identifies stars as an allegorical referent to angels. With this understanding we can identify parallel language in Revelation 12 to the description of the little horn pulling down some of the Heavenly host. Rev 12:1-6 is a cross reference to Danial 8:8-14 and gives us additional information about the casting down of the stars of the Heavens. In Daniel 8 the little horn is a fifth power that comes into being after four notable nations emerge from Alexander the Great’s empire in the aftermath of his death. These nations fell to notable generals of Alexander Macedon was ruled by Cassander, Asia Minor went to Lysimachus, Egypt went to the Ptolemies, and the satrapies of the former Persian Empire went to the Seleucids. From the point of view of Daniel, a fifth kingdom emerged out of the four to do the things described -which included things no earthly ruler could do. Fro the point of view of Revelation, however, a supernatural dragon did these things.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
(Rev 12:1-6)
This dragon ends up being identified as Satan. Satan pulled down a third of the angels in Heaven in his rebellion against God. He does the same things in Revelation 12:4,7-9 that the little horn does in Daniel 8:8-14
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
(Rev 12:7-9)
How do we reconcile the description of the little horn as an earthly kingdom who can pull down angels from the Heavens and the description in Revelation that identifies this as the work of Satan. The reconciliation can be found once we understand that the history of the earth is actually two parallel histories that are intertwined. We can see in in Daniel 10 where Daniel prays and the archangel Gabriel seek to immediately send an answer from the Throne of God. He was detained “by the kings of Persia” until Michael the archangel helped him. No human ruler could do this. These “kings” were demonic princes whose domain paralleled human geopolitical entities. In this passage Michael was identified as Israel’s prince. The histories of nations are intertwined parallel histories of human events and the machinations of the warfare between spiritual forces of good and evil in the spiritual world.The little horn was a human kingdom whose actions were in concert with the work of Satan himself on earth.
The fifth horn was Philaeterus. He was a lieutenant to Lysimachus. He murdered Luysimachus and nominally pledged allegiance to Seleucus, but in actuality was starting his own kingdom. The kingdom of Pergamon lasted from 282 bc to 33 bc when Attalus 4 bequeathed it to Rome. As a spiritual power, however, it lasted much longer. If there is any doubt about whether Pergamon is the little horn, the matter was settled by the Lord Jesus Christ when he spoke to John concerning Pergamos. He referred to it as “Satan’s seat.” This, along wit the cross reference of Daniel 8:8-14 with Rev 12, conclusively identifies it as little horn.
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
(Revelation 2:12-13 KJV)
The founding of Pergamon in 282 BC sets up a reference pint for calculating the “2300 days.” If you calculate the reign of this little horn as a mask for Satan and calculate time using the year-day interpretation of days and factor in the fact that there is no zero year in the Julian calendar, you get the following: -282 + 2300 = 2018. The year 2018 + 1 ( to account for no zero year) = 2019. A full 2300 years from 282 bc brings us through the year 2019. Year 2020 would be year 2301 in this accounting. This also places the permanent banishment of Satan in the year 2020 – the year of jubilee.
What we need to do in light of the impending Jubilee.
Now is the time to boldly approach the Throne of God and press the rights we have been given in Christ. Christ has purchased on the Cross our redemption. This redemption concludes redemption of our spirit, redemption of our bodies, and redemption of our rights to the earth. Christ owns the earth not only as the Son of God (Lord of the Earth) but also as the Son of Man – specifically the Last Adam.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
(Rev 12:10-12)
Our testimony is that the blood of Jesus both cleanses of all sin and restores our dominion of the earth. Our testimony is that the blood of Jesus took away all charges against us so Satan has no basis to accuse us. Our testimony is that Satan has no standing to approach God’s Throne because Christ now owns the earth and that He made us co-heirs with Him. Our testimony is that God has promised to revoke Satan’s standing, permanently bar him ever approaching the Divine Council again, and do so in the appointed times and seasons (Yom Kippor 2020). Our prayer to the Father is to permanently banish Satan from the Heavenly places and cast him down to the earth. Let us seek the Father and continue to pray until Satan is cast out.
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