God’s sign to Hezekiah was that the nation would live off what grows on its own for two consecutive years, and then they would sow and reap again in the following year. That is the same pattern as a year of release followed by a Jubilee year. Two years of letting the land lie fallow, and yet God would still provide enough food to feed the nation. God says these two years would be the sign. He also says a remnant would take root downward and bear fruit upward. In the following verses, God promises that not only will the king of Assyria not come into the city, but that he wouldn’t even shoot a single arrow. I will read to you God’s fulfillment, starting in verse 35:
So, God’s sign to Hezekiah involved two years of land Sabbaths, or what looks like a land Sabbath and a Jubilee. The translation of “a certain night” allows God’s sign to play out for a period of time during the Assyrian campaign in the wider area. On a certain night, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died by the hand of the angel of the LORD. The people of Judah witnessed an incredible miracle, and Sennacherib returned to Ninevah, where he was assassinated. Thus, Sennacherib reaped what he had sown in the way of idolatry and blasphemy. This meant the nation of Judah was given liberty, which is the predominant theme of the Jubilee. They were freed from their oppressors and no longer under Assyrian tribute—no longer in economic slavery. Full ownership of the land was restored to Judah—all Jubilee themes.
Historians happen to have a great deal of information about the events of Sennacherib’s life, and they date his death to the winter of 681 BC. Now, if his death, and the liberty that came with it, happened in the Jubilee year, as it seems, it puts the land Sabbath the year before, in 682 BC.
