THE SHOFAR Newsletter of Bet Yeshurun Messianic Assembly

Good News for the Assembly of Bet Yeshurun

No. 1801 / May 6, 2026

2026 Gatherings (services start promptly at 3:00 pm; doors open an hour earlier. )

5/4                    Sabbath
5/9                    Praise & Worship
5/11                   Sabbath
5/16                  Praise & Worship
5/18                  Sabbath
5/19                  Chodesh (Celebrating the 3rd month of the Divine Year) *
5/23                  Praise & Worship                                                                                               
5/25                  Sabbath
5/30                  Praise & Worship                                                                                               
6/1                    Sabbath
6/2                   Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) *
                                                 
*   A Holy Day like Sabbaths (a day of no work)

2026 Schedule for Reading the Bible in One-Year

Torah; Devarim (Words); Book of Deuteronomy                                                        
5/3 - Chapters 25 – 27             5/4 - Chapters 28 – 30            5/5 - Chapters 31 – 34
Nevi’im; Yahoshuah (Yah is Salvation); Book of Joshua                                      
5/6 - Chapters 1 – 4                 5/7 - Chapters 5 – 8                5/8 - Chapters 9 – 12
5/9 - Chapters 13 – 16             5/10 - Chapters 17 – 20          5/11 - Chapters 21 – 24
Nevi’im; Shophetim (Judges) Book of Judges                                                       
5/12 - Chapters 1 – 4               5/13 - Chapters 5 – 8             5/14 - Chapters 9 – 12
5/15 - Chapters 13 – 16           5/16 - Chapters 17– 21         
Nevi’im; Shemu’El 1 (Heard of El) First Book of Samuel                                     
5/17 - Chapters 1 – 4              5/18 - Chapters 5 – 8              5/19 - Chapters 9 – 12
5/20 - Chapters 13 – 16          5/21 - Chapters 17 – 20          5/22 - Chapters 21 – 24
5/23 - Chapters 25 – 28          5/24 - Chapters 29 – 31
Nevi’im; Shemu’El 2 (Heard of El) Second Book of Samuel
5/25 - Chapters 1 – 4               5/26 - Chapters 5 – 8             5/27 - Chapters 9 – 12
5/28 - Chapters 13 – 16           5/29 - Chapters 17 – 20         5/30 - Chapters 21 – 24
Nevi’im; Melakim 1 (Sovereigns) First Book of Kings
5/31 - Chapters 1– 4                6/1 - Chapters 5 – 8               6/2 - Chapters 9– 12
6/3 - Chapter 13 – 16              6/4 - Chapters 17 – 20            6/5 - Chapters 21 – 22

 

Interested in joining Bet Yeshurun Assembly? Please contact Pastor ObadiYah by email, telephone, mail, or in person at a gathering of Yahushuah’s Body.

Land Sabbaths and Jubilees

(Leviticus 25:8-13) You shall number seven sabbaths of years unto you, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto you forty and nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement, shall you make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. You shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubile unto you; you shall return every man unto his possession, and you shall return every man unto his family. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you. You shall not sow nor reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather grapes in it of thy vine undressed for it is the jubile. It shall be holy unto you.

In this Shofar article Bet Yeshurun (BYA) will examine some of the physical and spiritual attributes of Jubilees. The above words from Moses to Israel spoke of that year’s physical aspects and these words of apostle Paul to the Corinthians reminds the followers of Yahushuah that spiritual Truth can also be gleaned from the physical commands about a Divine Calendar: (1 Cor. 15:44-46) There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so, it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam a quickening spirit. Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The Bible often uses physical realities to illustrate deeper spiritual Truth. For example, the Messiah spiritually pictures the first Adam, and our physical world depicts Elohim’s purpose for our spiritual lives.Hence, this article will look at the Jubilee physical and spiritually. While its spelling changed after “e” was added onto its ending in the 17th century AD, its meaning and validity hasn’t changed, even from antiquity. Selah! (Numbers 23:19) Elohim is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and shall not do it? Or, has He spoken, and shall not make it good? 

Thus, Elohim commands we hallow (sanctify) seven, 7-year Land Sabbaths, followed by a “Jubilee” every 50 years. That’s “yôḇēl” (H3104; yo-bale') in Hebrew, and it is “marked by blowing of cornets.” (Brown-Driver-Brigg’s Lexicon) The historian Josephus also describes a horn or trumpet sounded to mark the start of a 50th year. “That fiftieth year is called by the Hebrews the Jubilee. Wherein debtors are freed from their debts and slaves are set at liberty: which slaves became such, though they were of the same stock, by transgressing some of those laws whose punishment was not capital, but were punished by this method of slavery.” (Antiquities iii 12)  

Although few know about Land Sabbaths and Jubilees, much less observe them, this excuse for not keeping these holy seems weak: “That’s for ancient Israel! Don’t worry! It’s not for today!” That thought, however, isn’t too comforting especially when one considers how the ancients disregarded Land Sabbaths and Jubilees, which led to their 70-year Babylonian exile: (2 Chr. 36:20-21) Them that escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfill the Word of YAHUAH by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: [for] as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. (Jer. 25:11) This whole land shall be a desolation, an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Furthermore, consider how the Messiah appears to fulfill Jubilee’s declaration of YAHUAH’s favor in setting people free of their bondage (debt) to sin. Is that proclamation a year of liberty during Yahushuah’s ministry? (Luke 4:18-19) “The Spirit (’Ruach) of Adonai is upon me because He anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of YAHUAH.”

While historians know the birth and death dates of prominent humans throughout ancient times, the Messiah’s arrival and departure remains shrouded in mystery. Some estimate His birth to be between 3 BC to 0 AD. Yet no definitive year is proffered. Is it purposefully undefined? So, we can only approximate the time of the next Jubilee. Might His return be soon? (Galatians 5:1) Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Messiah has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Thus, there is a physical Way to observe Land Sabbaths and Jubilees. There are also spiritual reasons for doing so. For example, these aspects of Biblical Jubilees are worthy of reflection: (1) Pictures Israel’s release from slavery; likened to Elohim’s children sold into the bondage of sin due to a lack of faith. (2) Pictures the restoration of ancestral property (land) to its original family; likened to a return of people (bodies) onto Elohim, i.e. no permanent dispossession. (3) Sabbath Land Rests, years of no farming or harvests; pictures weekly Sabbaths with no work and people resting in Elohim. (4) Freedom of debt and loans canceled; likened to Yah’s release of sinners from sin’s death penalty. Selah! (Lev. 25:28-32) If he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. . . .But houses of villages which have no wall round about them, shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed and shall go out in the jubile. Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, [and] the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.

If every 50th year all sold land reverts to its original owner, that pictures the land (humanity) returning to Elohim provided they didn’t sell themselves onto Satan. The significant meaning in Jubilees confirms that YAH owns all things. Furthermore, HIS Children (Israel) are stewards of the land and not its ultimate owners. In other words, Jubilees represent YAH’s Way of social justice whereby poverty is prevented by restoring humanity back to Elohim’s richness.(Lev. 27:16-24) According to the multitude of years you shall increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for to the number of the fruits doth he sell to thee. Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but shalt fear thy Elohim: for I am YAHUAH Elohim. Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat the old. The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me. And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

The prophet Isaiah reminds us of how to keep a Jubilee! (Isaiah 61:1-2) The Spirit of Sovereign YAHUAH is on me; because YAHUAH anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of YAHUAH and the day of vengeance of our Elohim; to comfort all that mourn. 

To summarize, a Biblical Jubilee is a sacred 50th year that follows seven cycles of 7-years. It’s marked by a trumpet blast on the Day of Atonement and is a year of restoration to physically and spiritually grant a land rest and freedom (forgiveness of sin’s debt), to end slavery and return ancestral land to its original owner: (Galatians 5:13-14) For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For the law (Torah) is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself!

What hinders understanding of Yah’s Voice and obedience to Him? The internet? Television? Sports? Jobs? Calendars? Families? Peers? Fears? Hurts? Addictions? Lusts? Greed? Materialism? Reflect on the physical and spiritual benefits to obeying YAH’s Covenant. In return HE promises to bless and love us for doing so. Can we afford not to do more than what’s expected by many in keeping HIS unknown, or ignored Holy Days like Land Sabbaths and Jubilees: (Deut. 7:12-13) It shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, keep and do them, YAHUAH Elohim shall keep unto you the Covenant and mercy which He sware unto thy fathers. He will love, bless, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of thy womb, the fruit of thy land, grain, wine and oil, the increase of thy kine and flocks of sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Shalom, Elder Curt

Announcements

 

 

Thoughts for Meditation

Isaac Newton, mathematician and physicist in the 17th century - “I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God written by men who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.”

Galileo Galilei (1564 -1642 astronomer) - “When I reflect on so many profoundly marvelous things that persons have grasped, sought, and done, I recognize even more clearly that human intelligence is a work of God, and one of the most excellent.”

Martin Luther - “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.”