The Mystery of the Shemitah ~ Jonathan Cahn

Shemitah:  "As soon as the Jews settled in the Holy Land,  they began to count and observe seven-year cycles. Every cycle would culminate in a Sabbatical year,  known as Shemittah,  literally: “to release.” as explained by Chabad.org. 

Genesis 2:2  New International Version
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

Leviticus 26: 34  Complete Jewish Bible

Then, at last, the land will be paid its Shabbats. As long as it lies desolate and you are in the lands of your enemies, the land will rest and be repaid its Shabbats.

Every 7th day is a Sabbath day, every 7th year is a Sabbath year.  A day of rest.  A year of rest.  After 7 Sabbath years, the following year, (the 50th, also the 1st of the next series) is called a Jubilee.  

The Mystery of the Shemitah by Jonathan Cahn

Oh wow, I started this a week ago, and finished and wrote a review on a different book, and still haven't finished this one.  This one is hard to review.  I'm literally torn in two as to how to lay this one out.  

On one hand, Cahn has a LOT of valid issues and data, and on the other hand, maybe it's too much data that is throwing me off.  I'll try to dissect it for you, and see where that leads us. 

Every 7th day is a Sabbath day, of which it tells us in Exodus, the Ten Commandments "Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God". This means, this day is God's day, we are not to work on this day, and later on in Leviticus we see someone picking up wood for a fire on the Sabbath, and God strikes him dead.  So... God meant do NO work on this day.  Period.  Now, every 7 years, is a Sabbath Year, Shemitah Year.  In this year, there is to be no work, the ground is to be left to rest for this year.  

In this story, it is explained that Israel was conquered and taken to Babylon, so the land would rest for as many years as the Sabbath was "skipped".  So Israel was in Babylon for 70 years, that's 70 x 7, or 490 years the Jews occupied Israel, and did NOT let the land rest.  

Cahn compares the signs that were given to Israel before it's downfall, to signs that America was given with 9/11.  Cahn spent a lot of time, talking about these Harbingers...  The title of his other book, and gave enough detail that makes you want to go and read that one too.  Signs that we have ignored, just as Israel did.  (No I'm not rushing out to get the other)

Cahn spends a lot of time, stating that if we read the signs we can predict down to the minute something, but never exactly says what, and never came up with a when.  

I am a mathematician and a math teacher, and found it difficult to navigate all of the stock market comparisons.  Apparently, a LOT of the bad stock market days occurred, before, during, or after the Shemitah.  I found this kind of redundant... of course, before, during, or after, there is no other time.  But the actual closeness of the dates on the calendar is something that is quite shocking, and we should probably note, and be aware of.  

Here's some conspiracy theory for those of you so inclined, or maybe something foreboding that we should be aware of:

• In 1945 (a Shemitah year), at the apex of American financial success, the Twin Towers were conceived.  28 years later, (also a Shemitah year), 1973 The Twin Towers were completed, also the year that abortion was legalized.  Exactly, according to this book, 28 years later, 2001 (again another Shemitah year) the Twin Towers were destroyed.  The book implies that these occurrences are all connected. 
• Again in 1945 America was a military power that was unrivaled by any other.  in 1973, America suffered it's first defeat, Vietnam, and in 2001 we would see attacks on our own soil.  (I wonder if Cahn remembers that Pearl Harbor was American soil, cause he implied in the book that NYC was the first attack on America).  
• "1945 New world order based on American economic and financial power was inaugurated.  1973, that order would suffer collapse.  28 years after that, in 2001, the symbol of the American-led global economy would also collapse (the twin towers)."

Cahn spent a lot of time talking about the Jubilee, and some of the things that happened during the Jubilee, and then said on page 263 that no one knows when the Jubilee really is.  He thinks it is 1967, because Jubilee is "the restoration" and Israel was restored in 1967. 

Each chapter ends with questions.

Chapter 1:  "Does this ancient mystery hold the key to what the future holds, what is yet to come?"

"Are there signs and harbingers warning us of what lies ahead?" Are two of the ten. 

Chapter two:  "What exactly is the mystery of The Harbinger?"

Chapter four:  "How could something intended to be a national blessing become linked to national judgment?"

The list goes on and on and on.  

So to wrap this up...

Cahn presents a LOT of information that probably should be in our brains.  But in reality without a LOT of other people getting on board and turning this nation around, which I honestly don't see happening, judgement on America is inevitable.  Just like all nations that rise, they must fall.  And once a nation starts to fall, can you turn it around?  Can people be awakened to our plight?  How do we facilitate the change that is needed?  ONE person at a time, and Pray to God that we work fast enough, and that he gives us enough time to change the hearts of those around us.  

I suppose for now The Mystery of the Shemitah shall remain a mystery to me, with tons of unanswered questions poised by Cahn, but not really answered.  

Of the books that I have read of late, I would recommend this one for reading, although it is somewhat confusing and at times overwhelming.