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Note: This blog post is part of a series titled "Where are we in Prophetic History?." To view all parts, click the link below.
This past year has been very important from the standpoint of three major prophetic cycles, two short-term cycles and one long-term cycle. It truly has been a pivotal year in Kingdom history.
There are many new people reading these weblogs, so it is important to review the progression often. Otherwise, it is easy to get lost in time. Unfortunately, not many in the church actually provide a road map to the Promised Land, and most of the people remain caught up in their own daily lives without seeing how they fit into the big picture.
So Many Calendars, So Little Time
Over the past 35 years, I have noticed some important patterns that seem to repeat every year. Such patterns have proven consistently that God does something specific on new each year and that there is more than one kind of year to watch.
First, we are all aware of the western calendar year from January to January. There is also the eastern calendar that is based on a lunar cycle, which this year began on February 16, 2018 and which is called the Year of the Dog. Caleb means “dog,” so this too has great implications in the big picture, because his name implies faithfulness or a faithful companion. Joshua (Jesus) is the Great Shepherd, and every good shepherd has to have a good sheep dog (Caleb). In that sense, Caleb represents the overcomers, or the sons of God.
Thirdly, there is the Hebrew calendar, which begins on Rosh Hoshana (feast of Trumpets). This past year on the Hebrew calendar began September 21, 2017 and ended September 9, 2018. The present new year began September 10, 2018.
There is also the modified Hebrew calendar—modified in the time of Moses. In Exodus 12:1, 2 God told Moses to change the calendar so that the month of Abib (where Passover falls) was to be the “first month,” that is, the start of the new year.
There are subdivisions within each of these calendars as well, and I have found that God accommodates Himself to everyone’s calendar, whether their theories are right or wrong. He does not limit His revelation to any single calendar but speaks to everyone in their own language.
All in all, a calendar study can be quite complex. To really get the big picture and include as much revelation as possible, one must receive the revelation in all of the calendars and piece the revelation together into a grand portrait. Most have difficulty doing this, because they are untrained in it, so I try to help out in my writings.
The Prophetic Calendar
As if it were not already complex, I have observed over the decades that there is yet another calendar that supplements the others. I call it the Prophetic Calendar, not that the others are non-prophetic, of course, but the name was just meant to distinguish it from the others. The Prophetic Calendar each year ENDS on the 8th day of Tabernacles, which is the conclusion of the main feast days that were established in the time of Moses.
The new Prophetic Year never seems to begin the next day, however. There has always been a short 2-3 week interim before some event triggers the start of the next Prophetic Year. Usually, this event occurs in the first half of November, though I have seen it begin in late October as well. Right now we are in such an interim, since the 8th day of Tabernacles occurred yesterday, ending the previous Prophetic Year.
So what happened in the past year? What was accomplished? What did God do that was unique to this particular year?
The Prophetic Year 2018
The last Prophetic Year began November 11, 2017 and ended October 1, 2018. I first wrote about it on the first of January 2018, calling it The Year of Redemption from Bondage.
“We are now seeing the overthrow of the beasts and their depraved rule. Those of us who understand the times and seasons have every reason to be hopeful in the coming year. The year 2018 is the Year of Redemption from Bondage. Twenty is the number of redemption; Eighteen is the number of oppression or bondage. We will see many changes this year.”
Being redeemed from bondage is patterned after the manner in which God redeemed Israel from bondage in Egypt. It was largely a matter of divine justice, based on the laws of redemption in Leviticus 25:24 and throughout the rest of that chapter. It has to do with the redemption of slaves, and when God redeemed Israel, Israel became obligated to serve Him, according to the law in Leviticus 25:53.
The year 2018 has seen a similar pattern of redemption from bondage, except that this time the former slave owner was not Egypt but Mystery Babylon. And in a long-term sense, 2018 has also been the redemption from the entire era of slavery that began with the fall of Jerusalem in 604 B.C., when King Nebuchadnezzar was given the Dominion Mandate from the kings of Judah.
The beast empires were given “seven times” to rule the earth, according to the judgment of the law in Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24. By comparing Daniel 7:25 with Revelation 13:5, and with some understanding of history, it is clear that a “time” was a period of 360 years, and “seven times” was 2,520 years.
If there had been no interruption during that 2,520-year period, this long captivity would have ended in 1917, when General Allenby took Jerusalem from the Ottomans near the close of World War 1. However, Jerusalem gained its independence for a century from 163-63 B.C. after the atrocities committed by Antiochus Epiphanes, so that century in God’s contract had to be added to the end. This means the 2,520-year rule of the beast systems did not really end until October of 2017.
The year 2018, then, is the Year of Redemption from Bondage. For the entire year we encountered various demonic princes and archprinces and have bound them for judgment. This has borne fruit in the political sphere as well, as the president has prepared military tribunals for the rulers and employees of Mystery Babylon who have refused to release their captives when their mandate ended in October 2017.
Of course, we know that God Himself has hardened their hearts, even as He hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Exodus 7:3 says,
3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.
If Pharaoh had let Israel go, the Egyptians could have kept the wealth that had been generated by their slaves over the years. But God’s intent was to play upon their greed and lawlessness, so that they would lose that wealth. Their wealth would be transferred to the Israelites.
The result was seen in Exodus 9:2, 3, where Pharaoh refused to let them go.
2 For if you refuse to let them go, and continue to hold them, 3 behold, the hand of the Lord will come with a very severe pestilence on your livestock, which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks.
So we read later in Exodus 9:35,
35 And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
We know, of course, that after ten plagues, Pharaoh finally did let them go, and Israel left Egypt in the midst of a great transfer of wealth (Exodus 12:35, 36; Psalm 105:37). Egypt was thus forced to release their slaves in accordance with biblical law. Deuteronomy 15:13-15 says,
13 And when you sent him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. 14 You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.
So the Egyptians set the Israelite slaves free and furnished them liberally with provisions and wealth as God’s law commands.
This is also implied in a prophecy about Babylon and (by extension, Mystery Babylon) in Jeremiah 50:33, 34,
33 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well; and all who took them captive have held them fast; they have refused to let them go. 34 Their Redeemer is strong, the Lord of hosts is His name; He will vigorously plead their case, so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
When Babylon’s time ended (after 70 years), the king of Babylon refused to let Judah go, so God raised up the Medes and Persians to set them free. The Persian kings even gave them enough provisions to rebuild the temple. The prophecies also apply today to the rulers of Mystery Babylon, which was supposed to declare a Jubilee and set the people free in October 2017. They refused to do so, of course, because once again God hardened their hearts in order to transfer their wealth to their former slaves. (That’s us.)
That is why 2018 is the Year of Redemption from Bondage. We have not actually been set free yet, because God hardened their hearts, causing the Babylonian rulers to fight back and to try to hold on to their power and wealth beyond their allotted time.
The delay is good news for us, because our Redeemer is strong, and He will vigorously plead our cause (or our court case in the divine court), as Jeremiah 50:34 says. This past year we have spent much time in the divine court, because God has raised us up to plead God’s case in a lawful manner. Knowing the times and seasons, we were able to do this with confidence and faith, knowing that we were on the side of Justice according to the law of God.
Note: This blog post is part of a series titled "Where are we in Prophetic History?." To view all parts, click the link below.