This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant
So last week, we arrived at a number of mathematical conclusions regarding time and our place within it. Before we move on however, there a couple of issues we need to clarify… yet again. First, the Earth isn’t billions of years old. It isn’t even millions of years old… it less than six-thousand.Five thousand, nine-hundred and eighty one to be precise.
You may scoff and make some snide remark about “science“, “carbon dating” or some other known to be unreliable technology if you like, but I didn’t get here through blind-faith or dogma. The fact is that there are mountains of evidence out there that utterly defy the accepted thinking of modern academia with regards to “prehistory”, but then you likely don’t know about that right? Soft-tissue in fossilized dinosaur bones, entropy; the heat-death of the universe, geologic strata evidencing the flood and flagrantly defying the geologic column theory… yeah, scoff on oh scoffer. I’ve done my homework and can say with confidence that the idea that the Earth is millions – let alone billions – of years old is utterly, laughably ridiculous – like… “I have a bridge to sell you” ridiculous.
Second, there is no gap. I know there are those out there who hold to the so-called “Gap Theory”; that is the idea that there is an unspecified gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, but it’s just not there. First, this theory requires the introduction of death prior to the fall – an idea whose theological and logical ramifications are so far reaching as to defy a simple summary – but also completely ignores and/ or invalidates every mathematical clue provided us in scripture. This would mean that our forebears, writing under the instruction and inspiration of God himself, were wasting their time with regards to providing a time-frame for pretty much anything in antiquity. If we’re left to just guess, then providing the births, deaths and ages of the patriarchs becomes fairly meaningless.
I could go on, but my point in bringing up both of these issues is that we have to approach such matters holistically. When you do so, you quickly find that you’re left with far more questions than answers and that the answers we’re provided prove illogical. I fully expect those professing atheism and/ or those who knowingly or unknowingly adhere to the faith of Scientism to balk at this and all that follows; It’s what they do. I expect believers on the other hand, to look at scripture, the God-breathed Word with a significant amount of deference. He’s God and He is the only witness to all of creation, including the heavenly beings who witnessed our creation.
Now, with that out of the way, let’s talk about what I call the Divine Week… again.
Yes, in your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday that quickly passes, or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.
Psalm 90:4
Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.
2 Peter 3:8
So we see illustrated here a principle that speaks to the timelessness of God and these verses are largely seen as being poetic or symbolic in their language… and they are, but they aren’t. Ogres aren’t the only things in the universe that are “like onions” (a Shrek reference for those who aren’t familiar) – I’ve often reminded people that scripture is like an onion and that with a single sentence or even a word, God speak volumes of meaning.
I want to bring in two more scriptures in order to illustrate my point:
The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:15 – 17
Many translations, including my personal favorite; the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB), render the bolded portion as “in the day” or “on the day”. The point is that this passage points to a time-frame and that time-frame cannot be that of a twnety-four hour period… else God lied.
The entire lifetime of Adam was 930 years, and then he died.
Genesis 5:5
Isn’t it interesting that neither Adam, nor any living person through the whole of scripture lived to a thousand years? Not even Methuselah, whose death marked the outpouring of judgement from the heavens, made to a thousand (see Genesis 5:27). The fact is, that only by applying the “thousand years is as a day” principle, can you accept that in the day that Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, he died.
Is this really important? You bet it is. Vitally important.
You see, God laid out for us a model of creation and things as of yet to come. First, he gave us times and seasons:
God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, …”
Genesis 1:14
Next, he gave us His appointed times. I bolded His because these are not “Jewish” festivals, they are the Festivals of YHVH. Here’s my proof:
The Lord spoke to Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies—my appointed times”
Leviticus 23:1 – 2
Know that each and every one of these appointed times is prophetically significant. It provides us – if we have eyes to see and ears to hear – with a picture of past, present and future; of what was, what is and what will be. Yeah, if I was the Devil, I’d wouldn’t want you celebrating these, leaning into understanding and obedience. I’d want you to celebrate a re-branded version of pagan rituals like Saturnalia and Easter – but I digress…
Now, looking at the bare-bones mechanics of all of this, we can see clear-cut mathematical patterns: 7 days is a week, 30 days is a month and 360 days marks 12 months which makes a year. Now a quick answer to some obvious objections:
- You may be thinking to yourself that a month is not necessarily 30 days, but this isn’t actually correct. Our months aren’t necessarily 30 days, but our reckoning of time means precisely diddly-squat in the grand scheme.
- You may also be thinking that a year is 365 days, not 360. Tell that to Daniel. The fact is that our measurement of time is based upon Earth’s revolutions around the sun… in a universe known to be slowing down. Spoiler alert: it’s slowing down because it’s dying and it’s dying because of the fall.
Okay, so the foundation of it all is a 24 hour day (2 x 12 by the way). 7 twenty-four hour days equates to a week and the last day of the week (what we call Saturday) is the first of the appointed time. It is the Sabbath (or Shabbat for the more Hebraically minded) – a time of rest.
“… For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Matthew 12:8
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. For this reason the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:27 – 28
Now, these were and are the words of the very Messiah Himself. Now turn with me to Revelation chapter 20…
So let’s break this down; if a day to the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day, then not only did Adam die in the day he ate of the forbidden fruit, but we can follow this principle as a pattern, an overlay of sorts, through which we can ascertain the actual times in accordance with God’s reckoning.
If we do so, we can see pretty plainly that Yeshua’s claim to being the “Lord of the Sabbath” isn’t just a reference to the weekly observance, but a direct pointer to His Millennial Reign. It would indicate that the Sabbath is therefore a “prophetic shadow picture” of the time we should all be looking forward to. This would further indicate that, given the mathematical information we’ve already extracted from the text, we could calculate a relative time-frame for the beginning of that reign. If it is currently 5981, then we’d be looking at a 19 year gap between now and the 7th Millennium (Day) beginning in the year 6000. For those not tracking, that’s 2040.
There’s a bit more to cover before we close, but first I want to address the objection I know some have likely already raised in their minds:
But as for that day and hour no one knows it—not even the angels in heaven—except the Father alone.
Matthew 24:36
My response to this is three-fold;
- I didn’t specify a day or an hour. Yeshua did not tell us that we couldn’t know the season. He likewise didn’t tell us that we couldn’t know the century, the year, the month or even the week…
- There exists an Appointed Time for which no one can know the day or the hour. It’s called Yom Teruah, or the Festival of Shouting / Horn Blasts. It’s the celebration where the observant blast their Shofars. I recommend having a look at this article (from 2019) for a deeper dive on the issue.
- I haven’t actually given a time-frame for His return – we’re discussing the beginning of the Millennial Reign and while the two events are successive, scripture does NOT tell us that these are simultaneous events.
The last issue that needs addressing – “batting cleanup” so to speak:
“So when you see the abomination of desolation—spoken about by Daniel the prophet—standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. The one on the roof must not come down to take anything out of his house, and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
Matthew 24:15 – 22
Okay, so this passage is loaded we could spend a great deal of time “unpacking it”, but that’s ot our purpose today. I bring this up because this passage points to a chronology of events, starting with the revelation of the “Anti-Christ” or “the Man of Lawlessness.” It speaks to the time of the Beast System.
Now, we know that when the Lord returns, He does so and immediately deals with the nations and the fallen host that are driving things behind the scenes. There are great judgments and calamities, etc. – you understand that this doesn’t mark the beginning of the Millennium right? Let me show you something – go to Revelation Chapter 20.
Before I quote the relevant portion, we need to put this passage in its proper context – that being following the description of preceding events in Chapters 4 – 19.
Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. He seized the dragon—the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan—and tied him up for a thousand years. The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)
.
Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who takes part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:1 – 6
Okay, so here’s the thing – God isn’t nebulous, devious or elusive, He’s specific and intentional in everything He say and does… with that in mind, consider that one thousand years is one thousand years. It’s neither 993 nor 996.5, it’s one thousand.
I belabor the point because the passage in chapter 20 lays it out plainly. The dragon is apprehended, the first resurrection occurs then the 1,000 year clock is started – not one second before. It’s important in the context of this discussion because, as I stated previously; I haven’t actually given a time-frame for His return.
Certainly, whether you agree or disagree with what I’ve put forward today, we can all agree that the hour is late and time is getting short. I am certain that the enemy knows this, which explains the increase in activity bordering on manic. But as for you and I – we need not be perplexed. If we study what He’s already revealed, we can know with certainty what is coming and not be caught unprepared.
Until next time,
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You