Year

A period of twelve months, with additional periods inserted to bring the lunar year into line with the solar year. Certain calendar years have special significance. The term also denotes an indeterminate time when God will intervene to restore his people and punish his enemies.

The year made up of 12 months

1 Kings 4:7 See also 1 Chronicles 27:1–15; Esther 2:12; Daniel 4:29; Revelation 22:2

Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,

The start of the year

The start of the religious year

Exodus 12:2 The exodus from Egypt in Abib (March April) marked a new beginning in the life of God's people. See also Leviticus 23:5 parallel Numbers 28:16 Abib is referred to as the first month; 2 Chronicles 35:1; Ezra 6:19

“This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year.

The start of the agricultural year

Exodus 23:16 The Feast of Ingathering (or Tabernacles) was celebrated in the seventh month. See also Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:23–24 parallel Numbers 29:1

You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

God's blessing through the year

Psalm 65:9–13 See also Deuteronomy 11:11–15, Deuteronomy 28:12

You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth. You soak its furrows and level its ridges; You soften it with showers and bless its growth. You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your paths overflow with plenty. The pastures of the wilderness overflow; the hills are robed with joy. The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are decked with grain. They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.

A thousand years as one day

Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8

Special years

The sabbatical year

Leviticus 25:1–7 See also Exodus 23:10–11; Leviticus 25:20–22 God's provision for the seventh yearDeuteronomy 15:1Deuteronomy 15:9; Nehemiah 10:31; Deuteronomy 31:10–13 the law of God to be read every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles

Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD. For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops. But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land — a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard. You are not to reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untended vines. The land must have a year of complete rest. Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year shall be food for you— for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, the hired hand or foreigner who stays with you, and for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. All its growth may serve as food.

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

The Year of Jubilee

Leviticus 25:8–10 The Year of Jubilee began in the seventh month. See also Leviticus 25:11–12 The Year of Jubilee is a sabbath year; Leviticus 25:13 Each Hebrew is to return to his family property; Leviticus 25:28 Land is returned to its original owner; Leviticus 25:40 Hebrew slaves are to be released; Leviticus 25:54

And you shall count off seven Sabbaths of years — seven times seven years — so that the seven Sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years. Then you are to sound the horn far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land. So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.

Hebrew slaves released in the seventh year

Exodus 21:2 parallel Deuteronomy 15:12 See also Jeremiah 34:14

If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything.

The year of the LORD's favour

Isaiah 61:1–3 This has echoes of the Year of Jubilee and points to the time when God will restore his people. See also Luke 4:18–21; Isaiah 49:8–9; 2 Corinthians 6:2Isaiah 63:4 Salvation for God's people is accompanied by judgment on his enemies.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, to console the mourners in Zion — to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption had come.