“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,

To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” – Isaiah 61:1-3

Jesus used these verses to announce the beginning of His ministry which only lasted 31/2 years. He tied His ministry to the acceptable year of the Lord, which is another way of saying the Jubilee Year.

To fully understand this we must look at Leviticus –

“Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. ‘And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.” – Leviticus 25:9, 10

Former and Latter Rain – Joel 2:23

The trumpet is sounded to alert the people of the beginning of the Jubilee year, which lasts an entire year. It is sounded on the tenth day of the seventh month (Tishri) which also marks the sixth Feast of the Lord known as The Day of Atonement, the day when God separates the righteous from the unrighteous. This year during this current Blood Red Moon cycle this event will occur on September 23rd, which will also begin the Year of Jubilee.

There are so many heavenly signs happening at this time that people will be without excuse if they ignore them. This seventh month of Tishri begins with the Feast of Trumpets, which sounds the alarm of war and the soon coming of the Lord AND God accentuates it with a total solar eclipse on the same day, which signals judgment on the nations. Ten days later, on the Day of Atonement, when the books of judgment are opened in heaven, God commands us to consecrate the beginning of the fiftieth year. I couldn’t help but think of the former outpouring of the Holy Spirit which happened 50 days after Jesus was resurrected (the Feast of First Fruits) and wonder if this is announcing the latter outpouring Joel prophesied –

Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you— The former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. – Joel 2:23

Remember, Peter used Joel to explain the former rain at Pentecost – Acts 2:16-21.

Does the 31/2 years of Jesus’ ministry during His first advent have anything to do with the first 31/2 years when the Antichrist will be revealed? Surely God will not let these times come without warning and preparing His people to bring the final harvest James talks about.

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. – James 5:7-8

As a father of eight and grandfather and great-grandfather of 33, I couldn’t help but notice that Moses stated this Jubilee Year would be a time to gather families. It reminded me of this Passover when one of my grandsons went to door and looked outside for Elijah as Malachi prophesied –

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” – Malachi 4:7

God has a heart for families, after all, the Bible declares that God Himself is a Father! It is He who brought the first ‘wife’ to the first ‘husband’ declaring they should become ‘one flesh’. He declares “children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward” – Psalm 127:3. He cares for family! However, the enemy of our souls – the devil – hates whatever God loves so he has attacked the family in every way he can to divide and destroy it. All the sexual sins; fornication, adultery, homosexual and lesbianism, divorce, and abortion are but tools in the devil’s arsenal to destroy the family. Every function of society is built on the family and it is as King David wrote, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” – Psalm 11:3. The answer is – NOT MUCH!

As these momentous times are upon us, I want to encourage families – don’t give in to the devil’s warfare against you. Don’t let the pressures of the world rob you of the hope that is in Jesus. He has an answer for financial problems because it is He who gives us the power to gain wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18), He has an answer for sickness because He is our healing (Malachi 4:2). He has the answer for unfaithfulness or infidelity and it is found in forgiveness (Galatians 6:1). To those with children, don’t turn them over to the world – and that includes public education! (I say that as a retired educator with 33 years experience.) Actively get involved with what your children are watching, what they are being taught. If they are in public education, get to know their teachers and what they believe because their beliefs will always come through in their teaching. Support those teachers who believe the right things as they are under great pressure from the world Antichrist system as well. Pray for those who don’t believe as you do and diligently counter their teaching at home. This is a time to be proactive as believers because if we don’t reach the world with the good news – no one else will.