Cancellation of debts became a common royal practice in the old Babylonian period. Hammurabi, who was the Babylonian king early in the second millennium BC (around 1800 BC … dating varies), is believed to have founded the basic principle of ruler-mandated debt cancellation in the renowned Code of Hammurabi.

Debt cancellation was one of Hammurabi’s first acts when he came to power. He is recorded to have ordered debt cancellations on at least two occasions (likely more) in his reign. However, significantly, there has been new research on this practice in recent years. Prominent Assyriologists (archaeologists who focus on the Middle East) now take the position that “clean slate” policies were the norm in early times … very much counter to our modern practices, these being of Roman origin.

Announcing a “clean slate” was a wise practice. As in our time today, over-indebtedness was a major problem in Babylonian society. Citizens could easily become enslaved to the creditor class. Anyone falling upon hard times or who was unable to pay taxes would be forced to borrow. Interest rates were onerous … commonly as high as 33% over the duration of the loan period (this sometimes being as short as a few weeks).

Once indebted, people were almost certainly doomed to even deeper debt or slavery. With such usurious interest rates, it would not take long for wealth imbalance and concentration of land ownership to become extreme, this potentially also threatening the power of the king.

It made sense to periodically decree an amnesty from all personal debts (this would not include commercial liabilities in the case of the Babylonian system). This wiping out of debts rejuvenated society and served to maintain a sustainable wealth and power balance.

Biblical Foundations for Debt Cancellation

Down through history, philosophers and religious thinkers came to similar conclusions on the issue of repressive debts and wealth distribution. For example, more than two and a half millennia after Hammurabi, Islamic scholars began to develop principles that sought to achieve relief for the poor and a sustainable wealth balance.

Their teaching of “al riba” served this end. It is the doctrine that money is not allowed to earn income through interest. According to Islam, gain and profit were only to be achieved through labor and trading. If money is allowed to earn income, though producing or risking nothing, eventually it would lead to an imbalance of wealth distribution (a large class of poor people).

Originally, Mohammed’s forbidding of debt interest was more likely rooted in the idea that a fixed rate of interest was an affront to Allah, as only he could determine and underwrite the certainty of future income, not mankind. Later, Islam further intellectualized its view on “al riba.”

But, much earlier than Islam (only some 500 years after the era of Abraham and Hammurabi), during the time of the 40-year wilderness journey of the Hebrews, God gave Moses the commands of the Sabbath.

Later, after entering Canaan, the Hebrews were commanded to observe the Sabbath Year and the Jubilee Year. (We will explain these policies.) Moses codified the rules of debt forgiveness and the restoration of wealth distribution … these being much more advanced than the general haphazard concepts of debt forgiveness of the Akkadians some 500 years earlier.

These Hebrew ordinances proved to be most wonderful for a number of reasons. Both the Sabbath Year and the Jubilee were effective means of ensuring that a permanent poverty class would not emerge, where a society of a few ultra-rich could enslave everyone for perpetuity.

Creation and Multiplying Money

Today, this tendency of “wealth begetting wealth” is viewed by economists as a “flaw” of capitalism. They observe that over time, the competitive economic arena leads to winners who become very large or wealthy and, in turn, have the ability to suppress new competitors. This is sometimes referred to as the “winner takes all” syndrome.

This could be problematic. As such, for example, the US government would intervene. It chose to break up companies that were thought to have become too large …i.e., AT&T and General Motors).

The point we wish to emphasize here is that the natural laws of money, compound interest, and relative advantage (everything else being equal) contribute to the tendency that the wealthy get wealthier, and the poor relatively poorer. Over time, these very trends lead to instability and eventual wealth destruction.

Just such a “late stage” situation exists in America and many other nations today. An extreme state of imbalance between the rich and poor is a worldwide phenomenon. An ever-smaller minority is becoming wealthier. Recent actions in the US political sphere have signaled just how advanced and repressive this condition has become. Everywhere one looks in the world, a cry is heard for “debt cancellation.”

The world groans for a Jubilee Year when all debt would be settled. As Apostle Paul says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22). Something else is needed to liberate the world, to free the economic captives.

Debt Forgiveness and the Prophetic Plan

Jesus Christ quoted Isaiah’s prophecy about Himself (Isaiah 61:1-2a) when He said: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Christ deliberately did not read the rest of Isaiah’s prophecy, which further states: “[…] and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:2b-3a).

Why? Because these were things that would be completed at His Second Coming, signifying the arrival of the “year of the Lord’s favor.” While our Lord proclaimed “the year of the Lord’s favor” during His first coming, it was not to occur until His second. The Lord did not rescue the poor at His first coming, rather the “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3 from the Beatitudes). The rescuing of all poor (Luke 6:20, Sermon on the Plain) will be fulfilled in the Millennium.

Prophetic Parallels to the Jubilee Year

Just what is meant by the Hebrew word for “jubilee”? It refers to the continuous blast of the silver trumpets as the Year of Jubilee was ushered in by the priests. “[…] Have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land” (Leviticus 25:9).

Ezekiel informs us that the “year of liberty” (year of freedom) will again be observed in the Millennium. He describes a procedure that will apply to a prince during that time: “But if he gives a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his until the year of liberty [the Year of Jubilee]; after that it shall be returned to the prince; only his sons may keep a gift from his inheritance [permanently]” (Ezekiel 46:17, AMP).

While it is indeed prophetic that the Jubilee Year will again be reinstated, it is the prophetic parallels and symmetry of the 50^th year of Jubilee to salvation and the Millennium that are the most inspiring.

To begin, the number 50 is the year that follows 7 weeks of 7. Therefore, the Jubilee year was the 8^th Sabbath in a 50-year period. The number 8 in the Bible signifies a new beginning. The blasts of the Jubilee trumpets parallel or foreshadow the final trumpet of the Lord (both for the Church, this being the final calling in the “Sabbath Rest”) and the last judgments in the Tribulation period, these being followed by the Millennium reign of Christ.

The precious year of the Jubilee can also be seen as the prophetic parallel of the Millennial “Year of our Lord.” That year is the Jubilee Year of the Lord. All sins and debts will be forgiven, i.e., canceled.

We see that financial debt in the physical dimension is the parallel of spiritual indebtedness to our Creator. Both must be paid back; both can be forgiven. There is only one difference: While mankind may be able to pay back debts on earth, he cannot pay back his sin debt. Only Jesus Christ can make this payment.

Thoughts to Ponder

God has created the world for His purposes and glory. He made it so the world could not function righteously without the concept of “cancellation.” It is not a coincidence that we commonly refer to the cancellation of debts as a “forgiveness” of debt.

God has designed a plan for both heaven and earth. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the debt mankind owed to God that he could not pay… a transaction that would be extended to all those who would believe upon Him. Just as in the Jubilee Year of ancient times, this opportunity to cancel all debt (sin) is open to all.

How wonderful then is “cancellation”! How many households today would dance for joy at the cancellation of their mortgage? Consider that the word origin of “mortgage” literally means “death pledge” … a state of affairs that those in foreclosure proceedings will readily understand. However, it is the cancellation of our sin and reconciliation with Jesus Christ that brings the greatest joy for eternity.

We have been given this great promise: “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrew 4:9-11).

The trumpets of Jubilee are ever nearer for the world!

***

Wilfred J. Hahn is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst, research director for a major Wall Street investment bank, and head of Canada’s largest global investment operation, his writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization. He has been quoted around the world and his writings reproduced in numerous other publications and languages. His 2002 book The Endtime Money Snare: How to live free accurately anticipated and prepared its readers for the Global Financial Crisis. A following book, Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the prophetic future.

If you have questions or other perspectives, you can contact Wilfred at staff@eternalvalue.com. Please note that for reasons of volume and investment securities regulation, he cannot give financial advice.

 

This is a re-edited, two-part excerpt from the 2009 book by Wilfred J. Hahn, Preserving True Riches in an Age of Deception and Trouble. (Secondary Title).

There is the story of King Louis XIV having asked Blaise Pascal, the renowned French philosopher, to provide him with proof of the existence of God. Apparently, without any hesitation, Pascal replied, “Why, the Jews, your Majesty—the Jews.” The Bible-believing Christian would agree. How can one not see any Jew today as living proof of God’s existence and faithfulness?

Yet, even as the history of the Hebrews testifies to the glory of God, He set them aside for a time. Says the Bible, a final “time of the Gentiles” was decreed. Jesus himself identified this time, saying, “They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).

That era certainly came to pass and continues today. Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian King, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and deported a large part of the Jewish population to Babylon. From that time on, it would be the time of the Gentiles. The world would be ruled by the non-Hebrew nations.

According to Sir Robert Anderson, the famed 19th-century author of The Coming Prince, now is the sixth, final, and longest time that the Hebrews or their descendants are under the domination of the Gentiles — the Diaspora.^[i] Anderson points out that the Hebrews had been dominated by Gentiles five specific and separate periods before this present age. Quoting him, “They became slaves to the king of Mesopotamia for eight years, to the king of Moab for eighteen years, to the king of Canaan for twenty years, to the Midianites for seven years, and finally to the Philistines for forty years.”

Yet, despite the Bible’s clear testimony that it remains the era of the Gentiles at this very time, one of the most nefarious and stubborn beliefs about Jews around the world is that they are colluding to control the world. How could this possibly be true?

Jews, Running the World Today?

The Book of Esther in the Bible is a prophetic book, though in a different form than the literal words of the prophets. The entire book is an allegory (better said, a foreshadowing) of what the Jews would face during the Diaspora. The story takes place only two generations after the time that Jews came out of Babylon to resettle Jerusalem. The vast majority (probably nine-tenths) chose to stay in Babylon. Later, some moved elsewhere, including Susa. In the Book of Esther, we see them prospering there under the Persian King Xerxes, Esther and Mordecai, both piercing into the highest echelons of that society. Extra-biblical records of that era count many Jews as prosperous merchants, traders, and bankers at that time.

In the Esther account, we see that the Jews were seen as separate, yet “Jewishness” was not necessarily a religious identification as is true for many Jews today. (No reference to God is made in the entire Book of Esther.) We also note that Jews were liable to persecution. An important perspective of this story is that while the Jews would indeed prosper and gain great influence during times of the Diaspora, they would still be subject to the Gentile. Xerxes, a Gentile, was still very much in charge. So it is today even closer to home in the United States.

While many Jews have had influential positions in government (at various times, Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz, and many more) and may have a strong hand on Wall Street or in Hollywood, it remains the times of the Gentiles. “Core” Jews (those who identify as being Jewish) remain small in number (a little more than one-fifth of one percent of the world population). True to Scripture, “The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you” (Deuteronomy 4:27).

It is true, however, that by the very dint of their sentence, Jews would frequently find themselves at the forefront of both good and bad movements. The Jew could be found at the edge of change and major world trends, be they social, moral, or economic. But the thing to see is that while influential, they have usually been on both sides of any debate. One thinks of the late 1800s before 2 million Jews left Russia. Jews made up a large portion of two main opposition parties, both the Bolsheviks and the Menshevik parties. We see this division of the Jews also today in America. Jews actively exercise their opinion and influence on both sides of any spectrum.

These are some of the reasons why we can ignore the conspiracy theories that claim to involve the Jews, such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. However, as Bible-believing Christians, we have a strong basis to believe in another agenda, one that God has laid out. First acting in wrath, He will cause the Jews to finally recognize the Messiah, He “the one that they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10). Then, indeed, He will place the Jew at the head in the world. However, this will not happen before the time of the Gentiles is ended.

Smug Christianity

In Part I of this series, we briefly reviewed the persecution of the Jews by the Gentiles. But what of the Christian? Sadly, history records many so-called Christians as having assumed a righteous role in persecuting the Jews. Here also, the atrocities are beyond count.

For example, most infamously, the Crusades produced incredible horrors, supposedly in the name of Christ. Heinous acts were endorsed right on down from the Vicars of Christ (the popes) to the state or the opportunist soldier. Often, it was done in the “name of Christ.” Said Emico the Wicked, a German noble who led a rabble of crusaders (German and French) to slaughter defenseless Jews in Mainz in 1096 AD, “Now let us avenge the blood of ‘the hanged one.” Or consider this example of a state-wide action, as recorded in the Royal Decree, Expulsion from England 1290, “We, in requital for their crimes and for the honor of he Crucified, have banished them from our realm as traitors.”

Countless other such statements could be quoted that were, and are today, equally misguided and self-serving. The question begs: If the oppressions of the Gentiles will someday be fully punished (See Psalm 149-6-9), then what of the crimes of so-called Christians? Could it be possible that parts of the true Church have a hand in these sins? Here, too, prophecy provides us with some understanding.

The Jew and the Travesty of the False Church

The Prophet Micah uttered a puzzling prophecy:

“Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness. Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame, she who said to me, ‘Where is the LORD your God?’ My eyes will see her downfall; even now she will be trampled underfoot like mire in the streets” (Micah 7:8-10).

Who is the enemy here … the entity addressed as “she” in this verse? Nowhere in this chapter is she identified. By deduction, however, we can easily identify her. It cannot be Israel itself, nor can it be the Church (which, at this point, is already gone.) It must be the harlot, the apostate global religion that has enveloped the false church… the same harlot depicted in Revelation 17.

We, therefore, can know that persecution of the Jews, in whatever form, is a mark of the false church (though surely, some individual Christians have erred in this way.) While this persecution has already occurred over thousands of years, the capstone of this insurrection still lies ahead. And the precedent and mindset for this taking place is already well set. Many church denominations today endorse the idea of Replacement Theology, the notion that the Church has replaced the Jews and, therefore, that all the promises to the Jews have been transferred to her. As such, the Jews are of no more consequence. As God is finished with them, the Gentiles can, therefore, do to the Jews as they wish, for there is no more eternal consequence.

We will not present any arguments as to why this view patently denies Scripture. Suffice it to say that this view “distort[s] the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God” (Jeremiah 23:6).

Jewish Timeline Becomes Interesting

Following the seemingly miraculous refounding of the land of Israel in 1948, the Jewish people have been in the process of returning to their land. The Aliyah (homecoming) is still underway, to be fully completed after “Jacob’s trouble.” Crucially, in this regard, for the first time in over 2,600 years, more “core” Jews (individuals who identify themselves as Jewish) are now living in Israel than in any other nation. Think of the significance of this for a moment.

This would be celebratory news were it not for the reasons why “core” Jews are such a small group. Adding those that qualify as being eligible under Israel’s Law of Return (which can include non-Jewish household members) raises the total world Jewry from 16.5 million to a total of 25.5 million. Of these, 51% live in the United States and 30% in Israel (including the West Bank).

While the country of Israel is experiencing healthy natural population growth (now numbering 5.4 million Jews), Diaspora Jewry is declining not for reasons of Aliyah but more because of secularization and outmarriage (Jews marrying people who are not Jewish). According to one study, whereas outmarriage rates were generally below 5% for the majority of Diaspora populations in 1930, today it is in excess of 45%.^[ii] In America, fewer Jews report having 2 parents of Jewish origin. Less than 40% of the 18–34-year-old age group who identify themselves as Jewish have two Jewish parents today. In fact, a major point of debate today is the very definition of Jewish identity.

For this and other reasons, the Jews are becoming ever less numerous in the world. While the Jewish people represented 7.5 people out of every 1000 people in the world in 1938, today, this figure is less than half—only 3.1 per thousand.

This declining trend will continue to worsen, according to some researchers. Others talk of the Hansen’s Principal phenomenon … the apparently observed trend that “What the son wishes to forget, the grandson wishes to remember.” But such a renaissance of Jewish culture in America seems unlikely, given that evidence indicates extremely high rates of unmarried cohabitation with non-Jewish partners. If that is the case, the assimilation of the North American Jew will rapidly continue.

But would it seem likely that more than one-half of “core” Jews in the world will remain outside of Israel? According to Scriptures, it is certain that the Aliyah is not yet complete; this occurs only after the Tribulation. Could it be that American Jews will simply assimilate and eventually whither away? It seems doubtful. If past history is any guide to the future, it has always been true that the largest population of Jews — specifically in those countries where they reached prominence and contributed to a Golden Age — eventually were persecuted and displaced.

Hopefully, the Messiah will come first, and America will never be the handmaiden to another such atrocity and, therefore, suffer being uprooted. Time will tell. Of one thing we can be sure: When the Jew leaves America, it will be the harbinger of the downfall of the USA. For, to repeat, “I will bless those who bless you,” said Lord Jehovah (Genesis 12:3).

The Coming Protocols of God

Ultimately, once the Jews repent and recognize their Messiah, they will be forgiven as well. “‘ In those days, at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare” (Jeremiah 50:20).

The next uppermost fact to realize is that the times of the Gentiles will end. In the not-too-distant future, the tables will be turned. The Israelites will reign on earth. Jesus Christ himself will be in the seat of David; justice and law will go out from Jerusalem.

In this seat of God-given power and wealth, will Israel be forgiving and non-retaliatory to the nations that have persecuted its peoples through the ages? Scripture is clear about the fate that will befall nations. “This is what the LORD says: ‘As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance, I gave my people Israel; I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country …. But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 12:14-15, 17).

At the end of the Tribulation, the Jews indeed will recognize their Messiah. Then will begin the Millennium, the seventh, final and greatest period where Israel would again flourish unmolested and free of international interference in its own land.

Once the tribes of Jacob are restored, says the Lord, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). “[…] once again he will choose Israel” (Isaiah 14:1).

Thoughts to Ponder

As Christians, we do not need to be apologists for the Jews nor condone every action of the modern state of Israel. However, there are several things we must do: Firstly, “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you” (Romans 11:17-18).

Next, “Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either” (Romans 11:20-21).

While judgment and restoration have been set for the Jews, the Gentiles had best remember that judgment waits for them also. For the Christian, the Bema seat (and persecution) still lies ahead for us. Thanks to the Jew — Jesus Christ, in the flesh — we are spared eternal damnation (and so also the House of Jacob), but we do not escape judgment. That trembling time still lies ahead. Oh, may God’s severity that he has shown the Jew pass over us. How many countless times have we been disobedient, as was Israel and Judah? Yet, Jesus Christ has been faithful to forgive us.

According to the Prophet Hosea, this restoration surely draws near. Hosea was inspired to say, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence” (Hosea 6:2). As a “day is as a thousand years” (Psalm 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8) it is now well into the second half of the third day for the Jews.

As God’s plan decrees, one day there will be a Jewish, global confederacy. It will be the Millennium … and not as the result of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion or any other contrived conspiracy theory. Gentiles will then be thankful that Jews are not the evil they are often made out to be. “In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you'” (Zechariah 8:23).

God will restore the Jews for the sake of His promises to the patriarchs (Romans 11:28). This is such wonderful news for Jews and Christians alike. For if God is willing to go to such lengths to keep His promise for “David’s sake,” how much more so on behalf of Jesus Christ, His own Son?

Wilfred J. Hahn

***

About the Author: Wilfred J. Hahn is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst and chairman of the country’s largest global investment operation, his personal writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization. He has been quoted around the world and his writings reproduced in numerous other publications and languages. For resources on “endtime economics,” visit Wilfred’s website – www. eternalvalue.com

Sources:

[i] Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. 1957 Reprint Page 83.

[ii] Serigo Della Pergola, Jewish Out-Marriage: A Global Perspective, International Roundtable on Intermarriage, Brandeis University, December 18, 2003, Table 1.