Year of rest? Or year of chaos?

Today begins a Shemitah year.

That may not mean anything to you, but it will.

Increasingly, people all over the world are becoming aware of the Shemitah, or biblical Sabbath year, and how it seems to affect everything.

We are indebted to Jonathan Cahn, the best-selling author of "The Harbinger" and "The Mystery of the Shemitah," for the astonishing research he has conducted into what happens in Shemitah years – how, throughout history, empires have risen and fallen, economies have crashed and the greatest wars have been fought on the Shemitah time clock.

So what is a Shemitah?

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Very simply, just as God created a weekly Sabbath every seven days, He also created a Sabbath year every seven years. The land was to be given a rest (Leviticus 25). Debts were canceled. Just like the weekly Sabbath, the Shemitah was designed to be a blessing to the people and to the land. However, just as when the weekly Sabbath was broken, the Shemitah would become a curse if it was not observed.

A good example of how this worked in biblical times was what happened to Judah when it forgot the Shemitah. It was conquered by Babylon and held in captivity for precisely 70 years. God was determined to give the land a rest, whether His people did or not.

But that was Israel – and that was a long time ago. What does the Shemitah concept have to do with the rest of the world in the 21st century? Apparently, says Cahn, everything.

In his work on "The Harbinger," Cahn, while researching the biblical parallels between the destruction of Israel and the 9/11 attack on the U.S., found that 2001 was a Shemitah year. He also found that the greatest stock market crash in U.S. history at that time happened on Elul 29 on the biblical calendar, the last day of the Shemitah year. Precisely seven years later, an even bigger market crash occurred, again on Elul 29 of a Shemitah year.

Those discoveries led Cahn to look at other historical dates in connection with the Shemitah. What he found is shocking – almost breathtaking.

World War I and World War II are linked to Shemitah years.

Every stock market crash in U.S. history is linked to Shemitah years.

The rise and fall of empires are linked to Shemitah years.

And, of course, that raises the question of what might be in store for us beginning today as we enter a new Shemitah year – one that will last, on the modern calendar, until Sept. 13, 2015.

Is it all just coincident? Silly superstition? I defy you to read Cahn's book and decide for yourself. Make up your own mind. But make it an informed decision.

Stock market analysts have long pondered the fact that crashes seem to happen in the fall – particularly in the month of September. For decades they have come up with theories to try to explain the uncanny nature of the seasonal tanking of the markets. Nothing seemed to make sense. Yet Cahn's research shows the connection is more than seasonal. It is very specifically tied to dates on the biblical calendar – namely Elul 29, which falls on a different date on the modern Julian calendar every year. And these crashes happen on seven-year cycles.

If I were playing the stock market, I would definitely sit up and take notice.

But it's not just stocks that rise and fall on this schedule. Entire economies do. And that's something everyone needs to be aware of.

Millions of people who read "The Harbinger" found it to be one of the most inspirational books they ever read. I am among them. I worked closely with Jonathan Cahn on the documentary treatment of that book,"The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment." But, I have to tell you, "The Mystery of the Shemitah" is even more shocking, more compelling and more persuasive than "The Harbinger."

Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [email protected].