This question has been bothering bible and Jewish scholars, Christians for thousands of years. God foresaw this. He has laid a clue in Leviticus 25:18-22 to give us the answer. Before I begin, I have attached an article and a chart. Let's concentrate on the chart. In this chart, the author has the 50th year overlapping with the first year of the next seven years cycle. By doing so, Jubilee cycle is 49 years. Let's see what God says. Leviticus 25:18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: 21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store. God gave this instruction to Moses after He ordained the 50th year, the jubilee in verse 10 to 17. My focus is verse 20. And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: After God ordained the 50th year, He has anticipated this question from Moses , "what shall we eat in the seventh year? because we shall not sow, nor gather our increase in the year of jubilee?" What made Moses ask this question, is because God had the 50th year overlap with the first year in the next 7 years cycle. And God has consecrated the 50th year, as sowing and planting is not allowed in this 50th year/ the jubilee. So, instead of 6 years of sowing and planting, they only had 5 years left. Moses was concerned if they had enough food for the 7th year since they were short one year for sowing and planting. Let's see how God addressed this issue. 21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. Go back to the chart. The sixth year is the fifth white column after the 50th year marked by black and red. Notice that God still called it 6th year, not 5th year. It is because the 50th year overlapped with the 1st year. God said the 6th year would bring forth fruit for three years, so that they had enough food to eat in the following three years. The three years are the 7th (the sabbath year), 8th, and 9th year. 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, But God said they still had to sow in the 8th year. The 8th year is the first white column appeared after the 7th year, This 7th year is marked by grey color, with the number "1" below it. 22 and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store. The 9th year is the second white column from the 7th year.They shall have enough food to eat until the 9th year. Here is the interpretation of verse 22, with my thought inserted. 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year ( even though the 6th year yields three years of harvest, God still told them to sow in the 8th year) and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year (They shall eat the harvest from the 6th year/ the old fruit for three years, until the 9th year, that is, they had enough food in the 7th, 8th, and 9th year); until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store ( until the fruits from the 8th year is harvested, they should continue eating the old fruits from the 6th year harvest). Going by what God commanded them to do, the jubilee cycle is 49 years, not 50 years. It is because the 50th year overlaps with the first year of the next seven years cycle. But people may bring out this scenario. The 50th year didn't overlap with the first year. It is an extra year added after the 49th year. The seven years cycle continues after the 50th year. If this is the case, Israelis would have six years of sowing and planting. Since they have been doing it for the past 49 years, it shouldn't prompt Moses the question of "What shall we eat in the seventh year?". This question is based on his worry for not getting enough food in the seventh year, because God has taken away the first year of sowing and planting, and had it overlap with the 50th year. Now that we are clear of God's instruction in verse 18 to 22, there is no doubt that God has ordained the jubilee cycle for 49 years. The interpretation of verse 20. "And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: " After God has consecrated the 50th year, by overlapping the first year of their next seven years cycle, God anticipated this question from Moses, "What shall we eat in the seventh year, behold, you told us not to sow, nor gather our increase in the year of jubilee?" Moses raised this question because he understood that God has taken away their first year, consecrated the first year as the year of jubilee, the 50th year, and God has forbidden sowing and planting in their first year. He worried that they would not have enough food in the 7th year. And God gave him the instruction in verse 21, 22, by telling him that He would make the sixth year yield three years of harvest, so that they had sufficient food to eat for the next three years. The three years are the 7th year ( sabbath year), 8th and 9th year. "What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:" Moses has this concern, for not getting enough food in the 7th year, because God has taken away their first year , consecrated their first year as the 50th years, and forbid them from sowing and planting in that year. Now they had two successive years of fallow ( the 49th year which is a sabbath year , and the first year ), it really raised Moses' concern, This is all so interesting. Have you watched Exodus Decoded? They found an Egyptian Pharoah named (translated) Moses’s Brother, and pegged the Exodus at 1500 BC due to these records. I don’t know much about most biblical scholars research on these timelines so I wasn’t sure how that came into play. Of course I suppose Moses could’ve had multiple step brothers as well. I did the calculation based on 1 Kings 6:1 and concluded Israelis left Egypt in 1445 BC. 1 Kings 6:1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. Many historians and bible scholars believe Solomon began his reign in 970 BC. His fourth year is 966 BC. When we count 480 years from 966 BC, we come to 1445 BC as the year for Exodus.
