Sabbath Year – Abib or Tishri?

This article is intended for all those who recognize the validity of observing the Sabbath and Jubilee years per the instructions from Scriptures.

It just so happens that many people believe that a Sabbath year begins on the Day of Atonement during the 7th month of Tishri, the autumn of the year, extending up until Tishri of the following year.

Interestingly, these same people readily admit that Scriptures explicitly state that Yahweh’s sacred year begins during the 1st month on Abib 1, which occurs at springtime.

The justification for this anomaly is the claim that Scriptures indicate a different beginning of the year for the Sabbath years other than Abib 1. As stated earlier, they believe that Scriptures reveal a different year system for Sabbath years and Jubilee years in that they would begin on Tishri 10 of the 7th month.

At first thought, this might sound somewhat illogical and contradictory based on the original instructions Yahweh gave for determining the beginning of a year.

On second thought, logic dictates that, at minimum, there needs to be serious questioning of such a glaring red flag, considering that the notion of the 7th month beginning a Sabbath year is not found anywhere in Scriptures!

The following chart illustrates the puzzle that is created when presented with a Sabbath Year beginning with the 7th month:

Notice the bottom row and the puzzle or dilemma created with a Sabbath Year beginning with the 7th month of Tishri.

Year 1 consists of only 6 months, and then, at the end of the Sabbath Year, there appears to be a significant problem.

Does one add 6 months to the Sabbath Year for a year that consists of 18 months? Or does one just ignore the extra 6 months and patiently wait until the arrival of Abib 1 for the beginning of the next year?

What is amazing is that there has not been any perceived attempt to address this glaring flaw adequately.

The unequivocal fact is that Scriptures clearly state that Yahweh’s sacred year begins with Abib 1, the first month of the year, during springtime!

This month (Abib) shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. (Exodus 12:2)

One must then ask, where in Scriptures is there any command to begin a year with the 7th month of Tishri? The simple answer is, nowhere!

To address this misguided concept, we shall initially refer to a few excerpts from an earlier post titled Sabbath Year – Tishri Fallacy – Part 1.

To begin with, a close examination of all the scriptural verses relevant to the sabbath years (both regular and Jubilee) proves that there is no commandment to begin any of these years with the seventh month of the preceding year.²

The only time that the seventh month, later identified as Tishri, is mentioned in association with a sabbath year is in Leviticus, 25:8-13, and here it has only to do with the year of Jubilee.

Furthermore, even in this passage from Leviticus it is specifically called “the seventh month,” not the first or the beginning of any year system. In fact, Scriptures specifically define the feast of the seventh month as occurring at “the going out of the year,” while events which happened during the spring are said to have taken place “at the return of the year.”³

What should be most apparent to anyone who wants to seek out the truth regarding the correct method for keeping the Sabbath years of Yahweh is the fact that, at minimum, there need to be some serious questions asked concerning a Sabbath Year beginning with the Day of Atonement, during the 7th month of Tishri.

The two following articles will go a long way to eliminating any confusion regarding this issue, along with the result of helping one to find the truth of the matter:

Sabbath Year – Tishri Fallacy – Part 1
Sabbath Year – Tishri Fallacy – Part 2

After reading the two articles mentioned above, here are two questions one should ask:

1. Where does the evidence lead a person?
2. If one believes they should ultimately adhere to Yahweh’s truth, what Sabbath Year observance should be recognized?