THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE YEAR 1975
In 1966, the book, Everlasting Life in the Freedom of the Sons of God, was published. It pointed out that the year 1975 was 6,000 years from the creation of Adam. Our view was that the last thousand years of Jehovah’s 7,000-long day of rest were identical with the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. The book says on page 30:
HOW appropriate it would be for Jehovah God to make of this coming seventh period of a thousand years a sabbath period of rest and release, a great Jubilee sabbath for the proclaiming of liberty throughout the earth to all its inhabitants! This would be most timely for mankind. It would also be most fitting on God’s part, for, remember, mankind has yet ahead of it what the last book of the Holy Bible speaks of as the reign of Jesus Christ over earth for a thousand years, the millennial reign of Christ. Prophetically Jesus Christ, when on earth nineteen centuries ago, said concerning himself: “For Lord of the sabbath is what the Son of man is.” (Matthew 12:s) It would not be by mere chance or accident but would be according to the loving purpose of Jehovah God for the reign of Jesus Christ the “Lord of the sabbath, to run parallel with the seventh millennium of man’s existence.
In the summer of 1966, I attended a course for circuit servants (overseers) at Bethel in Oslo. I was very excited when I heard about this book. There was only one copy of the book in Norway, and I got up early each morning, and I was allowed to read a portion of the book before breakfast every day. My first impression was that we could expect the beginning of the thousand-year reign in the year 1975. However, before we went to our circuits, Roar Hagen, the country servant (overseer) gave a talk to us where he said that we must not say that Armageddon will come before, or in the year 1975, because we do not know that.
In spite of these words of caution, when I went to my circuit in the northern part of Norway, I still thought it was likely that God would intervene in the affairs of mankind by 1975. However, a new situation of great caution occurred. I had visited the congregation in Bodø, and after that, I had visited some interested persons in the countryside south of Bodø. Sunday evening, I was standing on the quay in Beiarn, waiting for the ferry boat to take me back to Bodø. I had just received my mail, including the last issue of The Watchtower, with a report from the assembly in Baltimore that year. It was snowing, and I stood under the streetlight and read The Watchtower. It said:
Does this mean that Babylon the Great will go down by 1975? Will Armageddon be over, with Satan bound, by then? It could. But we are not saying. All things are possible with God. But we are not saying. And don’t any of you be specific in saying anything that is going to happen between now and 1975. But the big point of it all is this, dear friends: Time is short. Time is running out, no question about that. Let us make the most of the time and get in all the good hard work to Jehovah while the opportunity affords.”
These comments of Franz formed my view of the year 1975. I was eager to see if the year 1975 would coincide with the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. But the words of Franz showed that we could not know that.
I served in this circuit in northern Norway for three years, and then in a circuit in central Norway. In the years 1972-1974, I served as district overseer for the whole country of Norway. My talks in the congregations in the circuits I served, and at the circuit assemblies throughout Norway stressed the last words of Franz. “Let us do hard work, and let us make the most of the time that is left before Armageddon.” But I also stressed that we must not commit ourselves to the year 1975 or to another year. But we must make plans, so we can live a balanced life regardless of how short or long the time is to Armageddon.[1] In 1974 and 1975, I was the instructor of the two-week courses for all elders in Norway, and the same ideas that I presented in my talks, I discussed with the elders.
We knew that 6,000 years from Adam’s creation ended in the year 1975. But Eve, and possibly but not likely, some animals were created after Adam was created. Jehovah’s 7,000-year day of rest started after the creation of Eve, and the Watchtower literature pointed out that we cannot know the time between Adam’s creation and the creation of Eve. This means that we could not know how much time elapsed between the year 1975 and the beginning of last thousand years of Jehovah’s day of rest. Therefore, we could not know the date for Armageddon.
Several articles in The Watchtower and Awake! suggested that the time between the creation of Adam and the start of Jehovah’s day of rest was very short, while a few articles were more cautious. Many brothers and sisters in Norway were influenced by the first mentioned articles, and they expected that Armageddon would come around the year 1975. When that year passed, they were disappointed. As for me, I thought it was likely that Jehovah would intervene in 1975. But I kept the cautious words of Franz in mind, and in no way was I disappointed when nothing happened in that year.
The literature of Jehovah’s Witnesses had many good articles after the year 1975, without stressing this year. This included a short but very fine article on the chronological importance of the creation week in The Watchtower of January 1, 1987, pages 22 and 23. I copy this article at the end of this article. But at the end of the 20th century, there came a great change.
I recall an article in The Watchtower about childrearing. It said that if a boy had a very strict upbringing, and he was not allowed to do many things that he wanted to do, he promised himself that when he got a child, he would be allowed to do anything he wanted, and he had to stake out his own road without his intervention. Then, his son, who had a very lenient upbringing, promised himself that when he got a child, he would rear them in a much stricter way than his father had done.
This example illustrates that in connection with childrearing and many other things, people have a tendency to go to the extreme. If they experience a situation that they view as extreme, very often they leave this situation in favor of a situation on the other extreme. This has been the situation with the Governing Body in the last years of the 20th century and in the 21st century.
While the year 1975 still is a very important year, as I will show below, it was bad that there were so many articles before the year 1975 that encouraged the reader to look to this year with expectation. Instead of learning a spiritual balance from this situation, the members of the Governing Body have gone to the other extreme, and they have abandoned almost everything that has to do with Jehovah’s day of rest and its chronology.
And in the year 2015, they went so far as to abandon almost everything that has to do with types and antitypes. So, according to the members of the Governing Body, a great part of the Bible has no meaning for us today. They simply no longer believe in the full inspiration of the Bible.
The fact, that I will demonstrate in the article below, is that the whole setting in connection with the year 1975 that was presented in the book Everlasting Life in the Freedom of the Sons of God was correctly based on the Bible. The only thing that was wrong, was the strong stress on the year 1975 and the expectations that something important could happen in that year.
THE GOVERNING BODY’S REJECTION OF MOST OF THE TYPES AND ANTITYPES IN THE BIBLE
The Epistle to the Hebrews teaches us several things regarding prophetic types and their application. Studying this today is particularly important because the members of the present Governing Body in most cases no longer follow the pattern of applying prophetic types found in Hebrews and other books in the Christian Greek Scriptures. In this case, and in many other cases, they have watered down the truth.
The pattern that I have shown and will show in detail, is that the principal parts of a prophetic type have concrete antitypical applications. This is ignored by the present members of the Governing Body, and instead, they have made general subjective comments regarding situations written in the Scriptures that are prophetic types. Instead of showing how the basic parts of a prophetic type point to concrete future events, they tend to use the general saying: “This (event) reminds us of…” In the book Pure Worship of Jehovah — Restored at Last (2017), pages 387, 388, I have a list of 19 examples of the expression “this reminds us of” in that book, and there are many more examples with a different wording.
The focus of this article is on the Jubilee in Israel. The Watchtower of December 2019, had the study article 50, entitled “Jehovah provides for your liberty.” This article is an excellent example showing how the members of the Governing Body reject most type/antitypes in the Bible
After the article, we find the following statement:
Jehovah made a special arrangement for liberty, or freedom, to be declared in ancient Israel. It was the Jubilee. Christians are not under the Mosaic Law; yet, the Jubilee has meaning for us. In this article, we will see how the ancient Jubilee reminds us of a provision Jehovah has made for us and how we can benefit from it.
The reader gets the impression that the article discusses the antitype of the Jewish Jubilee, which is not the case. On page 12, we find the chart “Aspects of the Symbolic Jubilee.” The text says:
30 CE Jesus announces liberty in the synagogue of Nazareth. (Luke 4:21)
33 CE The symbolic Jubilee begins with the anointing of Christ’s followers. (Rom. 8:2, 15–17)
Today The anointed are enjoying many benefits of the symbolic Jubilee.
Millennium During the Thousand Year Reign of Christ, humans will experience restoration and liberation.
End of Christ’s Millennial Reign The symbolic Jubilee ends, having completely liberated mankind from sin and death. (Rom 8:21)
The important question is: What is the meaning of the word “symbolic” in the expression “the symbolic Jubilee”? The question is pertinent because the members of the Governing Body have an aversion to types and antitypes, and the previous article in The Watchtower about the Jewish sabbath does not say anything about the sabbath as a prophetic type.
The second and fifth paragraphs in the article may illuminate the issue:
2 We will examine a better jubilee, even better than the year-long festival that was proclaimed every 50 years in ancient Israel. That ancient Jubilee brought liberty to the people who observed it. Why is that of interest to us today? Because Israel’s Jubilee year reminds us of a wonderful provision for lasting liberty that Jehovah is making now, liberty that Jesus spoke about. . . . (My italics.)
5 . . . we have reason to be interested in the Jubilee. Why? Because we can enjoy liberty, or freedom, that reminds us of what Jehovah set in place for the Israelites. (My italics.)
According to Paul, the sabbath cycles that included the Jubilee represent prophetic types whose antitypical fulfillments are connected with Christ, as we read in Colossians 2:16, 17. The article ignores Paul’s words, and the Jubilee is not applied as a prophetic type. But the article discusses what the Jubilee reminds the members of the Governing Body of. So, the word “symbolic” does not refer to the antitype of the Jubilee, although many readers will draw this conclusion. The word symbolic seems to be a synonym for the word reminder.
The article refers to Jesus’ words in the synagogue in Nazareth, where he quoted Isaiah 61:1 (NWT13) “to proclaim liberty (derōr) to the captives (shebūyim); Luke 4:18 has the words, “to proclaim liberty (afesis) for the captives (aichmalōtos).” No part of the words of Jesus focuses on the Jubilee. Both the Hebrew and the Greek word for “captives” refer to those who were taken captive in war. But those who were liberated in the Jubilee were all who served as slaves for the Israelites, and all people in the land. The article says that “the symbolic Jubilee” began in 33 CE when “Jehovah anointed with holy spirit the apostles and other faithful men and women.” (paragraph 12)
However, after quoting the words of Isaiah about liberty to the captives, Jesus said, “Today this scripture that you just heard is fulfilled.” (Luke 4:21, NWT13). Therefore, Jesus’ words could not refer to the “symbolic Jubilee,” which is supposed to have begun in 33 CE, three years later. Moreover, when the horn sounded on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement in the Jubilee, that would “proclaim liberty in the land to all its inhabitants,” as we read in Leviticus 25:9, 10. This does not fit the day of Pentecost in the year 33 CE when only a few persons were anointed with holy spirit. But it fits perfectly the Thousand-Year Reign of Jesus when all the billions of humans in the whole earth will get perfect liberty.
The readers get the impression that the article discusses the prophetic meaning of the Jubilee in Israel. But that is not the case. What is discussed is what the events at the Jubilee remind the members of the Governing Body of. And the prophetic meaning of the word of God simply is ignored.
| The application of the Jubilee as a reminder for the Christians instead of a prophetic type of a restoration of all things during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ, simply is to renounce the prophetic word of God. We observe the same phenomenon in several other articles that deal with parts of the Hebrew Scriptures. |
[1]. I did not use manuscripts for my talks, but I used small notes with points. I still have these notes, so I can see what I said in my talks.
THE PROPHETIC TYPES AND ANTITYPES OF THE JUBILEE
I have already quoted the words of Paul in Colossians 2:16, 17 where he writes that the sabbaths in the Law were types that will be fulfilled in connection with Jesus Christ. And because the Jubilee is a sabbath year and a part of a sabbath cycle, it must also be a type that will get an antitypical fulfillment in connection with Jesus. Hebrews also corroborates this, as we read in 10:1 (above) and 8:5 (below):
1 For since the Law has a shadow (skia) of the good things to come, but not the very substance (eikõn) of the things, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make those who approach perfect.
5 These men are offering sacred service in a typical representation (hypodeigma) and a shadow (skia) of the heavenly things; just as Moses, when about to construct the tent, was given the divine command: For He says: “See that you make all things after their pattern (typos) that was shown to you in the mountain.”
The Greek word skia means “shadow” and the body casting the shadow, i.e., the antitype is in 10:1 expressed by the word eikon, with the meaning “image.” In 8:5, the Greek word hypodeigma (typical representation) is a synonym for skia. The antitype can be expressed by the Greek words eidōn(“image), sōma (“body”), and alētheia (“truth”). The words in 10:1 do not say that the whole law is a shadow. But it says that the Law has a shadow, which means that parts of the Law represent prophetic types, and 8:5 shows that the sacred service of the priests is a typical representation.
THE JUBILEE AS A PROPHETIC TYPE
The 49th year was a sabbath year when all the land rested, and the same was true with the 50th year, the Jubilee. I will now present the basic characteristics of the Jubilee, and we read Leviticus 25: 8-10:
8 “‘You will count off seven sabbath years, seven times seven years, and the days of the seven sabbath years will amount to 49 years. 9 You will then sound the horn loudly in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month; on the Day of Atonement, you should cause the sound of the horn to be heard in all your land. 10 You must sanctify the 50th year and proclaim liberty (derōr) in the land to all its inhabitants. It will become a Jubilee for you, and each of you will return to his property and each of you should return to his family.
The Hebrew noun translated as “liberty” is derōr, and its meaning is “freedom; liberty.” (Kohlenberger and Mounce) The liberty or freedom mentioned in verse 10 was particularly applied in two areas: 1) All Hebrew slaves were set free, regardless of how long they had been slaves, and 2) Any land and possession that had been sold, usually because of poverty, were returned to the original owners. There was liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. The entire year was a festival, a year of liberty for all Jews, and the whole land had a complete rest, as was the situation in the sabbath year. Insight on the Scriptures Volume 2, page 122, has the following fine description of how all the inhabitants experienced liberty:
The wonderful provision of the Jubilee year can better be appreciated when one considers not only the beneficial results to the individual Israelites but especially the effect on the nation as a whole. When the Jubilee arrangement was properly observed, the nation was restored in the Jubilee year to the full and proper theocratic state that God purposed and established at the beginning. Government was on a sound basis. The national economy would always be stable, and the nation would have no crushing debt. (De 15:6) The Jubilee brought about a stable standard of land values and also prevented a great internal debt and its resultant false prosperity that brings inflation, deflation, and business depression.
There can be no doubt that the Jubilee was a unique year that we do not find in any other nation.
THE JUBILEE AS AN ANTITYPE
How can we find the antitype of a situation described in the Hebrew Scriptures? In some instances, several sides of the antitype are directly mentioned in the Christian Greek Scriptures, such as in the case with the priesthood and the sacrifices that I discussed in part I. In other instances, only a few traces or similarities can be found that we can build on.
For example, I quote 1 Corinthians 5:8 (above) and Hebrews 10:22 (below):
7 Clear away the old leaven, that YOU may be a new lump, according as YOU are free from ferment. For, indeed, Christ our passover has been sacrificed. 7 Consequently let us keep the festival, not with old leaven, neither with leaven of badness and wickedness, but with unfermented cakes of sincerity and truth.
22 let us approach with true hearts in the full assurance of faith, having had our hearts sprinkled from a wicked conscience and our bodies bathed with clean water.
The first example shows that the Passover Festival was a type, and there was an antitypical celebration of this festival. We also learn that the lump of dough and the unleavened bread that were used were antitypes. Based on these keywords, we can identify the antitypes of the Festival’s basic elements. In a similar way, the Festival of Pentecost and the Festival of Booths were also prophetic types.
Before the priests would serve in the in the temple, they had to bath their bodies in clean water. These words show that the Hebrews were antitypical priests, and they also show that this bathing had an antitypical meaning.
When we look for antitypes in the Christian Greek Scriptures, we can see if we find the same the words that used in the type or similar words or ideas. Or we can look for similar situations.
There are five passages in the Christian Greek Scriptures indicating that the Jubilee is a type of the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ: Colossians 2:16, 17, Mark 2:27, 28, Romans 8:19-21, Acts 3:19-21, and Ephesians 1:10. I will now discuss these passages.
FESTIVALS AND SABBATHS POINTING TO SITUATIONS RELATED TO THE CHRIST
In Colossians 2:13-14, Paul shows that Jesus abolished the law when he died. This meant that the sins of his followers would be forgiven, and from God’s viewpoint, they were now living. Because the law was abolished, Paul says that it was no longer necessary to celebrate the Jewish festivals, new moons and sabbaths, and on this background he shows that these were types of bigger things. We read in Colossians 2:16, 17:
16 Therefore, do not let anyone judge you about what you eat and drink or about the observance of a festival or of the new moon or of a sabbath (sabaton). 17 Those things are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Christ.
We note that “festival” and “new moon” are singular. There were several festivals, and since the Greek article is not used, the reference must be to any festival. There was only one new moon festival each month, but there were different sabbats: the weekly sabbath, the sabbath year, and the Jubilee. The Greek word sabbaton is plural, and this shows that any sabbath is a prophetic type. Because of Paul’s words, we must conclude that each of the sabbats of the Jubilee cycle and the Jubilee itself, that is a sabbath year as well, serve as prophetic types.
The 49th year in a cycle of 7 x 7 years was a sabbath year, and the 50th year was an even bigger sabbath, because it was the Jubilee with rest and freedom for all. The words of Paul clearly show that the Sabbath years and the Jubilee were prophetic types of something greater that would come with Jesus Christ.
THE ANTITYPICAL SABBATH OF WHICH JESUS IS THE LORD
The idea that the sabbats were types with bigger antitypes was’ expressed by Jesus many years before Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians. We read in Matthew 12:5-8:
5 Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbaths the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and continue guiltless? 6 But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 However, if you had understood what this means, ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless ones. 8 For the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
An explanation of the meaning of the words, “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” is found in the study note of NWT13 below:
Lord of the Sabbath:
Jesus applies this expression to himself (Mr 2:28; Lu 6:5), indicating that the Sabbath was at his disposal for doing the work commanded by his heavenly Father. (Compare Joh 5:19; 10:37, 38.) On the Sabbath, Jesus performed some of his most outstanding miracles, which included healing the sick. (Lu 13:10-13; Joh 5:5-9; 9:1-14) This evidently foreshadowed the kind of relief he will bring during his Kingdom rule, which will be like a sabbath rest.—Heb 10:1.
Why must we conclude that this explanation is wrong? Galatians 4:4 (above) and Romans 6:16 (below) may help us to see that:
4 But when the full limit of the time arrived, God sent his Son, who was born of a woman and who was under law.
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Paul says that Jesus “was under the law,” and he also says that when you obey someone or something, you are a slave of that one. Because the Law was still valid, Jesus had to obey the law. So, he was a slave of the sabbath and not the Lord of the Sabbath. When Jesus did miracles on the sabbath, he did not violate the Law, but he violated some extreme sabbath rules that the religious leaders had made. The words of Jesus about the temple in Matthew 12:6 may help us, and we read in John 2:19-22:
19 Jesus replied to them: “Tear down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said: “This temple was built in 46 years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was talking about the temple of his body. 22 When, though, he was raised up from the dead, his disciples recalled that he used to say this, and they believed the scripture and what Jesus had spoken.
The word “temple” in verse 19 is naos (masculine singular accusative) and the pronoun auton (3. person masculine accusative) is of the same gender, number, and case as naon. Linguistically, the English pronoun “it” must refer to the literal temple. Nevertheless, the reference of Jesus was not to the literal temple but to “the temple of his body” — he would die and be raised up after three days.
When Jesus says in Matthew 12:6 “that something greater than the temple is here,” he also had to refer to “the temple of his body.” Because Jesus was a slave of the Law, including the sabbath, it could not rightly be said that he was “the Lord of the Sabbath.” Therefore, “the sabbath” must be viewed as in the same class as “the temple.” It had to refer to something different from the literal sabbath. This means that there must be a future sabbath that Jesus was referring to, over which he was the lord. And the miracles he made on the literal sabbath would foreshadow bigger actions of the same kind that would occur on this future sabbath.
THE GLORIOUS FREEDOM OF THE CREATION
In the Jubilee, freedom for all Israelites, slaves or free inhabitants, was achieved. Paul shows that in the future, the creation (all humans), will receive freedom.
The Hebrew noun that is translated by “liberty” is derōr, the same word that is used with the meaning “liberty” in connection with the releasing of the Hebrew slaves in the Jubilee. The Greek Septuagint translates derōr with afesis, as it does in the account of the Jubilee in Leviticus 25:10.
This word is afesis has the meaning “forgiveness; cancellation (of sins); release (of prisoners). (UBS Lexicon) The noun afesis is used 18 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Fourteen of these refer to the forgiveness of sins, and two refer to the release of something. According to Luke 4:17-18, Jesus used the word afesis twice in a quotation from Isaiah 61:1-2. However, the “prisoners” (aikhmalōtos) for which Jesus proclaimed freedom were prisoners that were taken in war, while all the Israelites experienced freedom in the Jubilee. Therefore, Jesus did not speak about the antitypical Jubilee.
While Paul did not use the Greek word afesis with reference to the freedom in the antitypical Jubilee, he used a word with about the same meaning in Romans 8:19-21:
18 For I consider that the sufferings of the present time do not amount to anything in comparison with the glory that is going to be revealed in us.19 For the creation is waiting with eager expectation for the revealing (apokalypsis) of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility (mataiotēs), not by its own will, but through the one who subjected it, on the basis of hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from enslavement (douleia) to corruption and have the glorious freedom (eleutheria) of the children of God.
The word used with the meaning “freedom” is eleuetheria which implies “the state of being free,” and afesis has the meaning “the process of setting free or liberating.” (Louw and Nida) This means that the use of afesis in Deuteronomy, focuses on the process of becoming free, which is proclaimed, while eleutheria focuses on the result, the state of being free. Thus, the two words point to exactly the same thing, the state of being free, but from two different angles.
The creation will get their glorious freedom at the revealing of the sons of God (8:18, 19). When will this revealing happen? I quote 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 8 (above), Romans 16:20 (middle), and Revelation 17:14 (below):
7 but, to YOU who suffer tribulation, relief along with us at the revelation (apokalypsis) of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels 8 in a flaming fire, as he brings vengeance upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.
20 For his part, the God who gives peace will crush Satan under YOUR feet shortly. May the undeserved kindness of our Lord Jesus be with YOU.
14 These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him [will do so].”
The Greek word corresponding to the word “revelation” is apokalypsis. The revelation of the holy ones brings freedom to the creation. This means that this revelation will remove all wickedness and all wicked people from the earth. This refers to the great tribulation, and it is described as a revelation of Jesus Christ.
The anointed Christians will have received their heavenly resurrection before the great tribulation. According to Romans 16:20 and Revelation 17:14, the revelation of the holy ones occurs together with the revelation of Jesus in the great tribulation. After the great tribulation, the thousand-year reign of Jesus will begin, and that is the time when the creation will have “the glorious freedom of the sons of the children of God.”
On this basis, we can conclude that Paul in Romans 8:18-21 had the antitype of the Jubilee in mind. The word “freedom” in Romans 18:21 has exactly the same meaning as “setting free” in the Septuagint rendering in Leviticus 25:10, where the Jubilee is discussed.
THE APPOINTED TIMES OF REFRESHING AND RESTORATION
Peter healed a lame man, and the people gathered around Peter and John. Peter spoke to the crowd and said, according to Acts 3:19-21:
19 “Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted out, so that seasons (kairos, “appointed times”) of refreshing (anapsyksis) may come from Jehovah himself 20 and he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. 21 Heaven must hold this one within itself until the times (khronos) of restoration (apokatastasis) of all things (pas) of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old.
The key word is apokatastasis with the meaning, “a restitution or restoration of a thing to its former state; hence, the renovation of a new and better era.” (Mounce) The noun occurs only in Acts 3:21 and not in the Septuagint.
The verb that corresponds to apokatastasis is apokathistēmi with the meaning “to restore a thing to its former place or state.” (Mounce) It is used eight times in the Christian Scriptures, and I quote Acts 1:6:
6 When, now, they had assembled, they went asking him: “Lord, are you restoring (apokathistēmi) the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
Hebrew does not have a word that corresponds to the Greek word apokatastasis (“restoration”). However, NIV has 82 examples of the word “restore” in the Hebrew Scriptures. These are translated by the Hebrew verbs shūb (“return”), often in the causative hifil stem (“cause to return; to restore”), and qūm (“rise; rise up”), often in the causative hifil stem (“cause to rise up; restore”). The prophets used these words to describe the restoration of the land after the Babylonian captivity.
I quote Leviticus 25:10, dealing with the Jubilee:
10 And YOU must sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty (derōr, afesis) in the land to all its inhabitants. It will become a Jubilee for YOU, and YOU must return (shūb aperkhomai) each one to his possession and YOU should return each one to his family.
By using the verb shụb (“return”) in connection with restoring one’s property, a Hebrew verb corresponding to the Greek word apokatastasis (restoration), there is a linguistic relationship between Leviticus 25:10 and Acts 3:21.
I will now discuss the noun anapsyksis and the corresponding verb anapsyksō. The noun has the meaning: “relief from distressful, burdensome circumstances.” (Louw and Nida) and “a refreshing coolness after heat; met. refreshing, recreation, rest.” (Mounce) The corresponding verb anapsyksōexpresses this meanings in a verbal way.
The verb anapsyksō occurs one time in the Christian Greek Scriptures and four times in the Septuagint, as we see below:
2 Timothy 1:16
16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of On·e·siphʹo·rus, for he often refreshed (anapsyksō) me, and he did not become ashamed of my prison chains.
Exodus 23:12
12 “Six days you are to do your work; but on the seventh day, you are to cease from your labor, in order that your bull and your donkey may rest (anapsyksō) and the son of your slave girl and the foreign resident may refresh themselves.
Judges 15:19
19 So God split open a hollow that was in Leʹhi, and water flowed from it. When he drank, his spirit returned and he revived (anapsyksō).
1 Samuel 16:23
23 Whenever a bad spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the harp and played it, and Saul found relief (anapsyksō) and felt better, and the bad spirit would depart from him.
2 Samuel 16:14
14 At length the king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted, and they refreshed (anapsyksō) themselves.
The examples show that the noun was translated as “refreshing” and “relief,” and the verb was translated as “refreshed,” “may rest,” “revived”, and “found relief.” Peter said in Acts 3:19 that “appointed times (kairos) of refreshing (anapsyksis) may come from Jehovah himself.” The definition of the verb of Louw and Nida is the common denominator: “to cause someone to recover a state of cheer or encouragement after a time of anxiety and trouble.”
When we know that the Greek noun afesis in Leviticus 25:10 has the meaning “the process of setting free or liberating.” (Louw and Nida) “dismission, deliverance, from captivity, remission, forgiveness, pardon” (Mounce), we see there is a linguistic parallel. Between qāra’ derōr and anapsyksis there is qa thematic parallel.
Table 1:1 Linguistic and thematic parallels between Leviticus 25:10 and Acts 3:19-21
| Leviticus 25:10 | shūb | Return, restore. |
| Acts 3:21 | apokatastasis | Restoration. |
| Leveticus 25:10 | qāra’ derōr | Proclaim freedom, liberty. |
| Acts 3:19 | anapsyksis | Relief from distressful, burdensome circumstances. |
The linguistic parallel between Leviticus 25:10 and Acts 3:21 is the Hebrew verb shūb (“return, restore”) and the Greek noun apokatastasis (“restoration”). The thematic parallel is the expression qāra’ derōr (“proclaim liberty”) and the Greek noun anapsyksis (“relief from burdensome circumstances”), both expressing ideas that are close to one another.
The essence of the Jubilee is restoration, the restoration of Hebrew slaves to freedom, and the restoration of land and property that had been sold to the original owners. The essence of the thousand-year reign of Jesus is also restoration, encompassing the restoration of humans through resurrection and the restoration of human perfection through the application of Jesus Christ’s ransom sacrifice.
The situation in the thousand-year reign of Jesus also means freedom for all, and relief from distressful and burdensome circumstances. Therefore, we can conclude that Acts 3:19-21 is a clear expression of the antitypical Jubilee.
TO GATHER ALL THINGS TOGETHER AGAIN IN THE CHRIST
We have now discussed how the liberty and restoration in the Jubilee in Israel have different antitypical expressions. I will now look at the prophecy in Ephesians 1:8-10:
8 This undeserved kindness he caused to abound toward us in all wisdom and understanding 9 by making known to us the sacred secret of his will. It is according to his good pleasure that he himself purposed 10 for an administration (oikonomia) at the full limit (pleroma) of the appointed times (kairos), namely to gather all things together (anakefalaioō) again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.
What would come when the number of the appointed times was full? Paul uses the noun oikonomiawith the meaning “the management of a household; a stewardship.” The word oikonomia does not refer to something concrete, such as a government, but to something abstract, to the management of something. And what is this “something”? It is “to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.” And this would come at the full number of the appointed times. What does this mean?
The Watchtower of July 15, 2012, pages 27, 28 says:
This administration will carry out its objective in two stages. The first stage prepares the congregation of anointed ones for life in heaven under Jesus Christ as their spiritual Head. This stage began at Pentecost 33 C.E… The second stage prepares those who will dwell in Paradise on earth under Christ’s Messianic Kingdom. The “great crowd” make up the initial part of this group. (Rev. 7:9, 13-17; 21:1-5) During the Thousand Year Reign, they will be joined by billions of resurrected ones. (Rev. 20:12, 13)
There are three important reasons why “the administration” will not to gather together those with a heavenly calling and those with an earthly hope in two stages.
First, the gathering of both groups is said to occur at the “full limit (number) of the appointed times.” This shows that the unity caused by the gathering of the things in heaven (those who will come to heaven) and the things on the earth (those who will live on the earth) must occur simultaneously.
Second, the verb translated as “to gather together” is anakefalaioō with the meaning “sum up, unite, bring together.” (UBS Lexicon). The verb is aorist middle infinitive, and because this is the perfective aspect — the action is viewed from the outside as a whole with details not visible. This corroborates the view that unity is caused by gathering together, which occurs simultaneously. If the author wanted to show that the gathering together occurred in stages, we would have expected a present infinitive. Present represents the imperfective aspect, and the action would be seen as continuous or in stages, with details visible.
Third, the NWT84 says, “to gather all things together again in the Christ.” The adverbial “again” does not occur in NW13. But there are strong linguistic reasons for the occurrence of this adverbial.[1]Before Adam and Eve sinned, there was unity in heaven and on the earth. The point of Paul is that by gathering together in Christ the members of the heavenly government and all the creatures in the paradise earth, again there will be unity in heaven and on the earth. This unity cannot occur in stages while this old system of things remains; it can only occur during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ.
The adverbial “again” shows that Paul described a restoration of the situation in the first paradise in Eden, and the situation in heaven before Satan’s rebellion. This is exactly what the Jubilee was a prophetic type of, namely, the full restoration of all things. Therefore, Ephesians 1:8-10 describe the antitype of the Jewish Jubilee.
SUMMING UP THE ANTITYPES OF THE JUBILEE
Situations that serve as antitypes for the Jubilee, must fulfill two requirements:
- They must demonstrate how the events of the Jubilee have a similar yet far greater fulfillment.
- They must express a connection with the time when the full restoration of the purpose of Jehovah will occur.
The antitypical sabbath
Jesus is the Lord of the sabbath. This prophecy has a time element — the seventh period of a week. The Jubilee is a sabbath, and any sabbath will give rest to the people.
The glorious freedom of the creation
The time element is that receiving this freedom is connected with the revelation of the children of God who will reign with Jesus in heaven. This revelation will occur in the great tribulation that will pave the way for the thousand-year reign of Jesus. Humans will gain their glorious freedom during the reign of Jesus. A basic purpose of the Jewish Jubilee was to give all humans in the land freedom and liberty.
The appointed times of refreshing and restoration
The time element is that at the end of the appointed times, there will be a restoration of all humans, as the prophets have spoken of. This must refer to the thousand-year reign of Jesus. There is a linguistic and a thematic parallel between the prophecy in Acts 3:19-21 and Leviticus 25:10 where the Jubilee is described.
To gather all things together again in the Christ
The time element is that at the end of the appointed times, all things in heaven and on earth will be in the same situation as it was in heaven and in the garden of Eden before the rebellion of Satan. This gathering together is a restoration, and this was the essence of the Jubilee in Israel.
Part III discusses the chronology of the Great Jubilee and shows the importance of the years 1914 and 1975.
[1]. In my book, The Atonement Between God and Man (2023), pages 33-34, I discuss some linguistic evidence in favor of using “again” in the translation.
