“The concept of Shabbat, or Sabbath, is a rest day ‘unto the Lord’ on the seventh day. This is unique among the cultures of the world. Nowhere else can you find a culture’s deity instructing them to “take a day off” from their regular activities. This instruction, the “fourth commandment” is found in Exodus 20:8-11 (also Leviticus 23:3,32 and Deut. 5:12-14). It is also mentioned in other texts (e.g. Isaiah 58:13-14) where Israel were told to honour God by keeping the Sabbath.

The Sabbath’s origins go back to creation. To Genesis 2:1-3, where God worked for six days then rested on the seventh day. As with much of what the Bible presents to us, the Sabbath is also a foreshadowing, a reflection or picture of the future. Scripture tells us that there is a greater Sabbath yet to come, where things will be restored to a state much like the original Garden of Eden. This period of time is known as the Messianic kingdom, or the Millennium. This is the aspect is what we will be exploring in this post, the possibility that the seven days of creation is a foreshadowing of the seven millennia of human ‘history’. This foreshadowing is, however, a secondary aspect. The primary purpose of the sabbath has always been to present us with a picture of God’s eternal plan, the plan of our of salvation, whereby we find our rest in Him.

Sabbath a ‘picture’ of salvation. 

The primary purpose of the sabbath is to encourage us to find our rest in God. God desires that we trust Him wholeheartedly.  He desires that we partner with Him as we journey through life, sharing the ups and downs with Him, always keeping in mind that there is a bigger picture. Keeping in mind, that no matter what troubles or joys we experience, that these are short-term experiences. In addition to trusting God that there is a purpose to our short-term experiences, we also trust and maintain an expectation of an eternal purpose. A glorious future which God has planned.

God did not need to rest after the six days of creation. God never gets tired or weary. Did God then rest on the seventh day to encourage us to do likewise? If so, was the idea of a rest day then purely for our benefit, so we could lead more ordered and structured lives? Could He not have created us so we didn’t need a rest day? Clearly God is drawing our attention to a deeper aspect, a trust aspect that is embedded in the day of rest. Paul explains in Hebrews:

Heb 4:3 “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. {4:4} For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. {4:5} And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. {4:6} Seeing therefore it remains that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: {4:7} Again, he limits a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. {4:8} For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. {4:9} There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. {4:10} For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. {4:11} Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief”.

When left to our own devices we, as well as the rest of mankind, will conclude that either our destiny is predetermined, or that we have to find our own destiny. The first option leads to apathy, a ‘false rest’, and to a purposeless resignation to our life experiences. There is  a mental and emotional yielding to ‘fate’. With this option, when dealing with our life experiences, we will conclude that best way forward is to try to minimize pain and disappointment, which is best achieved by lowering our expectations of life and by keeping our hearts free from passion and hope. This is a defeated lifestyle.

The latter option seems to offer more hope than the first but leads to stress and anxiety because we can never be sure whether we have done enough or pushed hard enough to ‘get there’. There is no rest for those seeking to find their own destiny. For them even their holidays or their ‘time off’ needs to have a purpose, some achievement, some fulfillment. A ‘bucket list’ mentality is often adopted once they ‘get there’.

Contrast this to what Paul says in verse 10: “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his”. We cease from trusting in our own works, we rest in God. The 6 days of creation is a picture of work. Six is also the number of man. When extended to a working week, it is a picture of what man can do, a picture of man’s efforts.  Seven is God’s number, a number of perfection. We trust that the six days of work was enough, there is no need to continue to push or strive to find our destiny on the seventh day. We have already found our destiny in God, we rest in Him and His eternal plan and purpose. That ‘inner rest’ reflects back into our working week, where we can work as people who can legitimately strive, but without anxiety. We find our salvation by trusting in Him, a true answer to the inevitable apathy or anxiety that accompanies a life without God.

Sabbath and the millennium.

As a secondary aspect, Shabbat is also a foreshadowing, a reflection or picture of the future and what those who trust God will enjoy (in its heavenly capacity) one day.  Scripture tells us that there is a greater Shabbat yet to come where things will be restored, to a state much like the original Garden of Eden. This period of time is known as the Messianic kingdom, or the Millennium.

Extra-biblical writings also include a teaching that draws a parallel between the seven days of creation and the timeline of human history since creation. In abbreviated format, this timeline is roughly as follows:

2000 years from Adam’s fall to Israel : The ‘Ancients’
2000 years from Israel to Messiah : or the ‘times of Israel’
2000 years as the gospel spreads to all nations, or the ‘times of the Gentiles’.
1000 years of Shabbat rest (The Millennium- the Messianic Kingdom)
= 7000 years

Applying 2 Pet 3:8 this timeline could correspond to the 7 days of creation, where God rested on the seventh day.”

2 Peter 3:8 — But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day

Also see https://youtu.be/PtATSQx3cjI for a very interesting analysis of a further 7-millennia clue that God seems to have hidden in Genesis 1. However, note that the last 5 minutes of the video assumes 2023 as the ‘latest year’ for the rapture, and should be questioned. The pre-tribulation assumptions in the last 5 minutes of the video are unsubstantiated and do not line up with Matthew 24:29-31 (…which clearly states the rapture is “AFTER the tribulation”). Refer to post 4.1, and Appendix J (PowerPoint study)  for a more biblical view of the rapture lining up with Jesus’ own words. Jesus speaks about his own return to earth, wouldn’t Jesus know best when that is going to be? If JESUS says He is coming back AFTER the tribulation, why should we even consider a pre-trib rapture view?

God’s 6000 Year Plan:

Note that what follows is a theory only. You will need to determine for yourself whether the patterns and foreshadowing mentioned are valid. This theory is not expressly taught in scripture, but we may nevertheless ask the question:”Has God given man 6000 years to rule himself before Jesus returns to take over rulership of this world?” Some Christians think the Bible implies this. Doing this gives them a timeline to estimate the season of Jesus’ Second Coming. But is this allowable or even possible at all? How do we count the years? What do they start from, and what event does ‘year zero’ correspond with?

If you are not already familiar with the concept of “foreshadowing”, the idea is that many biblical events and’ appointed times’ (i.e. feasts and holy days) that God gave to Israel were a prophetic “shadow of things to come” (Col 2:17). Jesus said he came to fulfill the Law because “not one jot or tittle would pass from the Law until all are fulfilled” (Mt 5:17-18). Jesus did fulfill much of it during his first coming, for example the four Spring feasts are already fulfilled (Passover= fulfilled by Jesus being the ‘Passover lamb’, Feast of Unleavened Bread=fulfilled by Jesus’ sinless life, Firstfruits= Jesus the firstfruits of the (our) resurrection, Pentecost= Holy Spirit given 50 days after passover). The three remaining ceremonial feasts, the Fall Feasts (Day of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, feast of Tabernacles) and some other aspects are yet to be fulfilled.

Very interestingly, these are seven feasts which all occur in the first seven months of the year, and the last feast is one depicting rest. (At the feast of tabernacles, Jews ‘camp out’ in booths for seven days,  an image of God ‘tabernacle-ing’ with us during the millennium (see post 2.5))

The Six-Then-One Rhythm of the Law

The Mosaic Law has several instructions relating to groups of six related days or years followed by a seventh that is distinct. It becomes clear that the picture given of the Sabbath day goes beyond the weekly day of rest:

• 6+1 day Week: Leviticus 23:3 — Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, and a sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; it is a Sabbath to the LORD wherever you live. Exodus 20:8-11 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:…11 For God made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day.
• Sabbath Day Picture: Isaiah 58:13 —  If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words…
• 7 Year Slave Release: Exodus 21:2 — When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man without paying anything.
• 7 Year Land Sabbath: Exodus 23:10-11 — 10 Sow your land for six years and gather its produce. 11 But during the seventh year you are to let it rest and leave it uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat from it and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. Our concept of a ‘sabbatical’, or an extended break from regular work, is derived from this biblical principle.
• 7 Ceremonial feasts: (refer to detailed discussion in 3.8) God instituted seven feasts with the Mosaic Law, to be celebrated annually over a seven month period. Each of these feasts have a prophetic meaning. Six of the feasts are prophetic of God’s dealing with and victory over sin. These start with Passover, a picture of the Lamb of God slain for our sins, the feasts end with feast of trumpets and the day of atonement. This feast pictures the outpouring of God’s wrath over sin. The seventh feast is the seven day feast of Tabernacles, a picture of when God will ‘tabernacle’ with us, on this earth. (seemingly during the seventh millennium).

These verses above also demonstrate a pattern of six days or years being for work or enslavement, and then a seventh day, or a seventh year of rest, or being set free. The picture of the Sabbath day thus goes beyond a rest from work, to being a ‘period’ to cease from work, because God has done all the work needed to save us. The Sabbath is a picture of salvation without works, a free gift offered to whosoever believes and trusts Jesus.

So can the Sabbath day and the six preceding days be extended to be a millennial prophecy? We have the scriptural basis that the Sabbath day principle has clearly also been applied to a Sabbath Year. Does the possibility exist that besides the Sabbath day and Sabbath Year, there is also a Sabbath Millennium?

The Day-For-a-Year Principle

A few key verses are found in the OT and especially the NT to shed light on how we may look at the days prophetically:

• Psalms 90:4 — For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
• 2 Peter 3:8 — But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

These passages may perhaps be interpreted to establish what is called the “day-for-a-thousand year” principle. It means that when the Bible uses or refers to days, sometimes what is meant, at least on a prophetic level, is years.

There is a precedent for this application to prophecy, albeit, in this case, a “one day-for-a-year” principle. It is seen most prominently in Daniel’s “70 Weeks” prophecy (Refer to blog post 3.4 and Dan 9:24-27). The commonly accepted understanding of this passage interprets the 70 weeks as not literally 490 days, but 490 years. The first 69 weeks of years predicted the timing of Jesus’ first coming and the final or 70th week describes the seven years leading up to Jesus’ Second Coming.

Thus the possibility thus exists that besides the Sabbath day and Sabbath Year, there is also a Sabbath Millennium.

The Sabbath Millennium

This “Sabbath Millennium” concept may sound familiar. Most people are already familiar with Revelation’s prophecy of the 1,000 year reign of Christ and his saints. It’s taught in Revelation 20: 1-7 where the phrase “1,000 years” is repeated six times. One of these includes our role during the millennium:

• Rev 20:6—Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of the Messiah, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Revelation 19 and 20 show that this 1,000 year period begins immediately following Jesus’ return as King,  accompanied by the resurrected and glorified OT and NT saints, to rule over this earth. This is a period distinct from the time before, and will be known for it’s unprecedented peace and prosperity:

• Isaiah 2:4 — ..for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. {2:4} And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
• Isaiah 11:9 — {11:7,8} And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp (cobra), and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ (adder’s) den. {11:9} They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

You can see just from this sampling of verses how different the Sabbath Millennium is from today’s world. It’s in stark contrast to all the preceding millennia filled with deception, confusion, war, destruction and hurt. It fulfills the picture of the Sabbath day rest that we saw above. (also ref post 2.5)

If the Sabbath Millennium mirrors the Sabbath day, it follows that the preceding six work days likewise mirror six millennia of human history leading up to Jesus’ return. It would be a time that God has allocated to man to “work” things out on his own including governing himself while God mostly works only behind the scenes keeping it on the 6000 year schedule, etc. It appears that the reasoning behind this plan is for man to give all his own systems of government a chance and therefore not be able to say to God when his reign begins that “God never gave us a chance”.

Patterns of Seven

There is much agreement among Christians about the significance of the number seven. It is not necessary to repeat what is already written about the subject. I encourage to do your own research on ‘sevens in the bible’. In this post I will suffice to refer you to some websites. Firstly a section from http://www.kjvbible.org/seven_days.html

“Why did the Lord God take seven days to make the present world, when surely an omnipotent God could have done so instantly, with a single word?  There are numerous places throughout the Scriptures where “sevens” or multiples of seven are to be found. In particular, in the Bible “sevens” often denote prophetic time. Examples:

• “Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;” (Genesis 41:29,30 KJV)
• “And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.” (Leviticus 25:8 KJV)
• “And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:” (Ezekiel 39:9 KJV)
• “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” (Daniel 9:24 KJV)

The very first use of “sevens” to denote time is found in Genesis chapters one and two. That very first group of seven days has delineated the days of the week since the beginning of human history. Man certainly has messed with the years and the calendars (so no man today can know exactly what year it really is), but that seven-day week system has survived from Adam until today. No wonder – it was ordained by God from the beginning of this creation. The 7th Day was proclaimed as something VERY special from the very first two chapters of the Biblical account. The seventh day is the sabbath day. On our calendar it is Saturday. On the Biblical calendar it is sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. Let us look closer at the importance of the Seventh Day in relation to time:

• “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Genesis 2:2-3 KJV)
• “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:11 KJV)
• It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. (Exodus 31:17 KJV)
• “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.” (Exodus 35:2 KJV)
• “And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:” (Mark 2:27 KJV)
• “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” (Matthew 12:8 KJV)

With the context of the above verses in mind, and applying the day-for-a-1000-year principle, they speak of a time yet future, when the Lord Jesus Christ will reign on the Earth with man for a period of 1,000 years before the final judgment, the final destruction of Satan and Death, and the beginning of eternity future. What these verses tell us is that the seven 24-hour days of Genesis are a prophetic “type” which, when multiplied by one-thousand, gives us the length of time of the Biblical history of man from Adam until the end of the world as we know it:

• “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4 KJV)

In other words, 7,000 years is the length of all human history, both past and future on this present Earth. The past part of that human history to the present is roughly 6,000 years according to the Biblical chronology. That means there are yet another 1,000 years ahead, which equates to a 1,000-year “Sabbath” of rest (day 7, see Hebrews 4:9) when the Lord Jesus Christ will return, reign, and rest from His redemptive work on the Earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords:

• “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6 KJV)
• “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,” (Revelation 20:7 KJV)
• “And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” (Revelation 20:3 KJV)
• “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” (John 18:36 KJV)

Following that glorious “7th Day” 1,000 years of time, the day which follows will be a new first day, a new eternal beginning without end; the New Jerusalem:

• “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” (Revelation 21:1 KJV)
• “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (Revelation 21:5 KJV)

It has been about 2,000 years (prophetic days 5 and 6) since the Lord first came to save us from the power of sin and death. That means that his return is VERY close. Keep in mind that although our modern calendar is already past the year 2,000, it has not really been a full 2,000 years since the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. The history of the Gregorian calendar also reveals that there are years missing. Even before that, a year was skipped between 1 B.C. and 1 A.D. (There was no 0 year.) Although we can’t set an exact date, we can be sure that the seventh prophetic day is soon to dawn upon this sin-cursed world, and the tribulation could begin at almost any time.” (Quoted from the website)

Further patterns: 1) Enoch

• Jude 1:14} And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, {1:15} To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
• Gen 5:24} And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Heb 11:5} By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Enoch was our seventh ancestor, starting with Adam. Is it possible that this unique event, where a man does not die but is translated to heaven, has been given by God as a prophetic pattern?  The attention is drawn to Enoch as the seventh, after which he was taken up into heaven.

Could this perhaps, in prophetic terms, be a preview of the new heaven and earth, when all saints are in heaven? That the seven represents the 7000 years allocated for this earth? In addition Jude 1:15 mentions judgement, which could parallel God’s judgement after the millennium, 7000 years after the fall. (Rev 20)

Enoch may also be considered as the sixth descendant of Adam. Enoch being ‘caught up’ into heaven (as the 6th descendant) may also possibly point to the rapture, when the saints are ‘caught up’  in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, approximately 6000 years after Adam.  (1 Thess 4:16-17)

Further patterns: 2) Noah

{7:10} And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. {7:11} In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Is it perhaps significant, perhaps given by God as a prophetic pattern, that after 600 years of Noah’s life God purged the earth of its rampant evil? Could this perhaps, in prophetic terms, be a preview of God’s wrath that will be ‘poured out’ on this wicked earth  6000 years after the fall? (Rev 8,9,16) With Noah’s flood, water poured down from the heavens, in this case it will be God’s fiery wrath poured out from the heavens,

It is quite remarkable that we  have this round number of 600 years for Noah’s age at the start of the flood. God seems intent in drawing  our attention to the prophetic value of this event. The verse before records 7 days from the animals entering till the opening of the heavens. Some verses afterwards, the number of forty days and nights come up. Both are significant numbers in the Bible. What other options regarding the significance of Noah’s age could there be? Any other possible explanations escape me.

If we accept the prophetic value, God is once again reminding us that He has a plan, and there is a timeline attached to it. Six hundred prophetic years is in this case representing six thousand years, after which the earth as we know it will be devastated and purged; but restored by King Jesus shortly after!

Further patterns: 3) The transfiguration

Matthew 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Reading Matthew 17:1 one would want to ask: ‘six days after what event?” Paging back to the previous chapter one notes that there is no specific event prior to the transfiguration described in Matthew 17. Yet verse 1 starts off with “After six days”. This seems almost out of place, and hence may be intentionally placed here to draw our attention to the prophetic parallel of the transfiguration. Could the”After six days” be a prophetic parallel to Jesus’s second coming, when He comes in glory after six millennia of world history, as described in Revelation 19? Perhaps so.

 

CHRONOLOGY: FROM CREATION TO FLOOD (1,556 YEARS)

 Genesis 5:3-6 ³ And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth: ⁴ And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: ⁵ And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

• Adam to Seth – 130 years old (Gen 5:3)
• Seth to Enos – 105 years old (Gen 5:6)
• Enos to Cainan – 90 years (Gen 5:9)
• Cainan to Mahalaleel – 70 years (Gen 5:12)
• Mahalaleel to Jared – 65 years (Gen 5:15)
• Jared to Enoch – 162 years (Gen 5:18)
• Enoch to Methuselah – 65 years (Gen 5:21)
• Methuselah to Lamech – 187 years (Gen 5:25)
• Lamech to Noah – 182 years (Gen 5:28)

i.e. Noah is born 1,056 years after God created the earth. (130+105+90+70+65+162+65+187+182=1056)

• Noah 600 years old when flood came (Gen 7:6)
• Flood took place 1,556 years after creation

Genesis 7:6  And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

CHRONOLOGY: FROM FLOOD TO BIRTH OF ABRAHAM (352 YEARS):

•  Noah to Shem – 502 years (Gen 5:32 & Gen 11:10 – Noah 600 years when flood came. Shem was 100 years old when he begat Arphaxad 2 years after flood. Therefore Noah was 602 years when Arphaxad was born)
•  Arphaxad born 2 years after the flood. (Gen 11:10)
• Arphaxad to Salah – 35 year (Gen 11:12)
• Salah to Eber – 30 years (Gen 11:14)
• Eber to Peleg – 34 years (Gen 11:16)
• Peleg to Reu – 30 years (Gen 11:18)
• Reu to Serug – 32 years (Gen 11:20)
• Serug to Nahor – 30 years (Gen 11:22)
• Nahor to Terah – 29 years (Gen 11:24)

Therefore Flood to Terah = 222 Years (2+35+30+34+30+32+30+29=222)

• Terah to Abram – 130 years (see explanation below)
•  Therefore Flood to Abram – 352 years (222+130=352)

Explanation -Terah Option 1– Terah’s age when Abram was born:

• Nahor lived 29 years when Terah was born (Gen 11:24)
• Gen 11:26 consider that Abram, Nahor & Haran are not triplets and that  the most important person is mentioned first.
• Gen 11:32 Terah died in Haran when he was 205 years old.

Acts 7:2-4  ² And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, ³ And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. ⁴ Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

When Abraham’s dad died, Abraham went into the promised land (Acts 7:4).

• Terah died when he was 205 years old (Gen 11:32)
• Therefore Abraham departed to the promised land when Terah was 205 years old.
• Abram was 75 years old when Terah died (Gen 12:4 & Acts 7:4)
• Therefore Terah was 130 years old when Abram was born. (205-75=130)

Gen 12:4  So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

Explanation -Terah Option 2– Terah’s age when Abram was born:

Gen 11:26 “And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.”

This could also be read that Haran was born when Terah was 70 and Abraham and Nahor were born at an unspecified earlier date before.

FROM BIRTH OF ABRAM TO THE SOJOURN OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL IN EGYPT:

• Abram to Isaac – 100 years (Gen 21:5)
• Isaac to Jacob (renamed Israel)  – 60 years (Gen 25:26)
• Jacob (Israel) is 130 years old when they went into Egypt. (Gen 47:1,4,8,9)

Therefore from Abram to Egypt is 290 years. (100+60+130=290)

Totaling to 2198 years from creation to Israel :

• Flood took place 1,556 years after creation.
• Flood to Abram – 352 years
• Abram to Israel in Egypt is 290 years

Israel (Jacob) moving to Egypt was significant because it was at the same time that God made a covenant with him regarding his offspring, the nation of Israel. Refer to Genesis 46:2-5 to confirm that it was this event that marked the start of the nation of Israel.

Total, from creation to Israel (Jacob) moving to Egypt = 2198 years. From the similar calculation, detailed in post 3.6, it may be seen that it was exactly 2000 years from Israel’s Gen 46 covenant (and move to Egypt) to the start of Christ’s ministry in 25AD.

Considering that the fall may have occurred 100 years after creation, at the very latest, this still leaves us with 98 unaccounted years, should the sabbath millennium theory be valid. The only error may be in Terah’s age when Abraham was born. (130 years old) This seems to be an unlikely high age for Terah to father Abraham. Why the ‘big deal’ that is made about Abraham being 100 years old when Isaac was born? Why not the same amazement when Terah was even older (130 years old) at Abraham’s birth? Wouldn’t this be much more remarkable? Such a high age of Terah is possible, but seems very much outside the ‘normal’, and appears out-of-step with the context of the other genealogies. Hence, should Terah have been about 32 when Abraham was born (refer to ‘Terah option 2’ above), an exact 2000 years for the first bi-millennial period remains a possibility.

Refer to the following articvle for a similar calculation. The table at the end clearly shows the puzzling inconsistency with Terah’s age when Abraham was born.  Note also that this calculation is for the age of the earth, therefore does not deduct the time Adam was in the garden of Eden. https://creation.com/6000-years?utm_campaign=infobytes_au&utm_content=The+current+state+of+human+genetic+engineering&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mailing.creation.com&utm_term=Fortnightly+Digest+-+2019.11.01

History of Millennialism.

The Early Church

During the first centuries after Christ, various forms of chiliasm (millennialism) were to be found in the Church, both East and West. It was a decidedly majority view at that time, as admitted by Eusebius, himself an opponent of the doctrine [The History of the Church, Book 3:39]. Nevertheless, strong opposition later developed from some quarters, most notably from Augustine of Hippo. The Church never took a formal position on the issue at any of the ecumenical councils, and thus both pro and con positions remain till now.

Millennialism was taught by various earlier writers such as Tertullian, Commodian, Lactantius, Methodius, and Apollinaris of Laodicea. In the early third century, Hippolytus of Rome wrote:

And 6,000 years must needs be accomplished, in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day “on which God rested from all His works.” For the Sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they “shall reign with Christ,” when He comes from heaven, as John says in his Apocalypse: for “a day with the Lord is as a thousand years.” Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6, 000 years must be fulfilled. (Hippolytus. On the HexaËmeron, Or Six Days’ Work. From Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture).

‘Christian Chiliastic’ ideas were indeed advocated in 240 by Commodian; in 250 by the Egyptian Bishop Nepos in his Refutation of Allegorists; in 260 by the almost unknown Coracion; and in 310 by Lactantius. Into the late fourth century, Bishop Ambrose of Milan had millennial leanings (Ambrose of Milan. Book II. On the Belief in the Resurrection, verse 108).

Comparison of Christian millennial interpretations

Christian views on the future order of events came to the fore again after the Protestant reformation (c.1517). In particular, new emphasis was placed on the passages in the Book of Revelation, where Christ will return to rule on earth for 1000 years, and Satan is locked away during this time. Thereafter Satan is released to instigate his final battle, where after the Judgement of unbelievers occurs and when Satan is cast in the lake of fire forever.

Various variations to the above biblical pre-millennial view exist in theological circles, notably  Postmillennialism, and Amillennialism. The first questions whether the millennium is before or after Christ’s second coming. Pre-millennialism sees Christ’s second coming as preceding the millennium, thereby separating Christ’s second coming from the final judgment by approximately 1000 years. This is the biblical view, Christ’s reign will be a thousand physical years on the earth (Rev 20:1-6), after which the judgement of unbelievers occurs (Rev 20:11), exactly as written.

Post-millennialism somehow sees Christ’s second coming as subsequent to the millennium and concurrent with the final judgment. In this view “Christ’s reign” (during the millennium) will be figurative in and through ‘the church’. Amillennialism basically denies a future literal 1000 year kingdom and sees the church age metaphorically described in Rev. 20:1–6 in which “Christ’s reign” is current in and through the church.

The Catholic Church strongly condemns pre-millennialism as the following shows: The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,.—Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, a noted enemy of Protestantism, in Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1995. It is clear that Catholic doctrine would label this blog as the ‘Antichrists deception’. However, their views rely on blatantly ignoring Revelation 20:1-6, where a literal millennium is mentioned six times in six verses.

The “Time of the Ancients.”

There seems to be a problem with the first 2000 years, prophetic ‘day one’ and ‘two’, the time of the ancients. Biblical chronology seems to be at odds with the 6000 +1000 year plan. We seem to have passed the 6000th year already. To check how close we are (or were) is not too difficult to establish. God has provided an extensive genealogy throughout the ages. It is up to us to make the effort to check this out for ourselves.

The Old Testament and Gospels establishes 4198 years from creation to the cross. This is fairly simple to calculate for oneself, if one ignores the confusion on the internet and uses the bible to study for yourself .

Note, however, that it is not necessarily the creation year that started the commencement date of the 6000- years allocated to man. It would probably be the fall of Adam that would determine the start date of God’s 7000 year plan, which would be somewhat later than creation itself.

Jewish literature:

There is much about this theme in Jewish literature. Once again, Jewish Literature is hardly a platform that any Christian should use to endorse a theory.  Extreme discernment is thus needed when dealing with this theory in Jewish literature.

Sanhedrin 97a: R. Kattina said: Six thousand years shall the world exist, and one [thousand, the seventh], it shall be desolate, as it is written, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Abaye said: it will be desolate two [thousand], as it is said, After two days will he revive us: in the third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. It has been taught in accordance with R. Kattina: Just as the seventh year is one year of release in seven, so is the world: one thousand years out of seven shall be fallow, as it is written, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day,’ and it is further said, A Psalm and song for the Sabbath day, meaning the day that is altogether Sabbath — and it is also said, For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past. The TannadebeEliyyahu teaches: The world is to exist six thousand years. In the first two thousand there was desolation, two thousand years the Torah flourished; and the next two thousand years is the Messianic era,

Soncino Zohar 1:119a: A star in the east will swallow seven stars in the north, and a flame of black fire will hang in the heaven for sixty days, and there shall be wars towards the north in which two kings shall perish. Then all the nations shall combine together against the daughter of Jacob in order to drive her from the world. It is of that time that it is written: “And it is a time of trouble unto Jacob, but out of it he shall be saved” (Jer. XXX, 7) …

… From that time the Messiah will begin to declare himself, and round him there will be gathered many nations and many hosts from the uttermost ends of the earth. And all the children of Israel will assemble in their various places until the completion of the century. The Vau will then join the He, and then “they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering unto the Lord” (Is. LXVI, 20). The children of Ishmael will at the same time rouse all the peoples of the world to come up to war against Jerusalem, as it is written, “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, etc.” (Zech. XIV, 2), also, “The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed” (Ps. II, 2); and further, “He that sitteth in heaven laugheth, the Lord hath them in derision” (Ibid. II, 4). …

… Happy are those who will be left alive at the end of the sixth millennium to enter on the Sabbath. For that is the day set apart by the Holy One on which to effect the union of souls and to cull new souls to join those that are still on earth, as it is written, “And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written unto life in Jerusalem” (Is. IV, 3).’

Midrash Rabbah Genesis 12:6: Why do we recite a blessing over a lamp [fire] at the termination of the Sabbath? Because it was then created for the first time.R. Huna in Rab’s name, and R. Abbahu in R. Johanan’s name said: At the termination of the Day of Atonement, too, we recite a blessing over it, because the fire rested the whole day. R. Berekiah said in the name of R. Samuel b. Nahman: Though these things were created in their fulness, yet when Adam sinned they were spoiled, and they will not again return to their perfection until the son of Perez [viz. Messiah] comes;

Tamid 33b: On sabbath they used to say, a psalm, a song for the sabbath day: a psalm, a song for the time to come, for the day that will be all sabbath and rest for everlasting life.

The Haftarah reading for Pesakh Shabbat is Ezekiel 37:1-14, the vision of the “dry bones” depicting the final restoration of Israel leading into the Shabbat rest and Millennium shown in the subsequent chapters.

The book of Ruth is read at Shavuot, the festival most associate with the initiation of the Messianic Kingdom. Ruth presents the theme of Gentile salvation, another feature of the Messianic Kingdom.

Sevens in Nature

The Sevens of God can also be observed in the things of Nature. It seems that some of nature’s physics and chemistry are structured on such a base system. An example that almost everyone can relate to is Music. All the songs you hear on the radio are based on a musical system of just seven major notes. (remember do,re,me,fa,so,la,te from the “Sound of Music”?) Notice that the seven notes repeat, with the eighth key a higher octave of the first as you go up (or down) the keyboard. All other minor notes, sharps and flats, fit within the structure of the basic seven musical notes.

• If you pass sunlight through a prism, it produces seven colors – the three primary colors and four secondary ones
• In the realm of Minerals and Geochemistry, there are seven crystal systems: http://yourgemologist.com
• Even the Periodic Table of the known Elements appears to have seven levels of periodicity

From these examples we can also see a pattern of sevens in Nature. All things of nature, be they matter, energy, time or space, were designed and ordained by the Lord God. Therefore, rest assured that God’s Word is the infallible source of true science: Scientists can only elaborate on the observed details.

From Wikipedia: The Sabbath Millennium:

Note that, when searching for the “Sabbath Millennium”on google, a Wikipedia article comes up first. It thus seems as if this theory is being promoted by the secular world. That alone should make us very wary. (see footnotes) It states:

“The Millennial day theory, or the Sabbath millennium theory, is a theory in Christian eschatology in which the Second Coming of Christ will occur 6,000 years after the creation of mankind, followed by 1,000 years of peace and harmony. It is a very popular belief accepted by certain pre-millennialists who usually promote young earth creationism.

The view takes the stance that each millennium is actually a day according to God (as found in Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8), and that eventually at the end of the 6,000 years since the creation, Jesus will return. It teaches that the 7th millennium is actually called the Sabbath Millennium, in which Jesus will ultimately set up his perfect kingdom and allow his followers to rest. The Sabbath Millennium is believed to be synonymous with the Millennial Reign of Christ that is found in Revelation 20:1-6.

Proponents

Early premillennialists included Pseudo-Barnabas, [6] Papias, [7] Methodius, Lactantius, [8] Commodianus, [9] Theophilus, Tertullian, [10] Melito, [11] Hippolytus of Rome, Victorinus of Pettau [12][13] and various Gnostics groups and the Montanists. Many of these theologians and others in the early church expressed their belief in premillennialism through their acceptance of this sexta-septamillennial tradition. This belief claims that human history will continue for 6,000 years and then will enjoy Sabbath for 1,000 years (the millennial kingdom), thus all of human history will have a total of 7,000 years prior to the new creation. Christians throughout history have often considered that some thousand-year Sabbath, expected to begin six thousand years after Creation, might be identical with the millennium described in the Book of Revelation. This view was also popular among 19th- and 20th-century dispensational premillennialists. The term “Sabbatism” or “Sabbatizing” (Greek Sabbatismos), which generically means any literal or spiritual Sabbath-keeping, has also been taken in Hebrews 4:9 to have special reference to this definition.

Support for the theory

The main support for this view is found in the passages regarding the original Sabbath system that the Judeo-Christian God instituted, while also taking the verses of Psalms 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 into consideration. According to the proponents of the theory, Hosea 6:1-2 demonstrates that after 2 days, the Lord will revive Israel, and on the third day, restore her and live with her forever.  According to these Christians, Jesus has indeed been ‘gone’ for nearly two millenniums, should his resurrection and ascension date be taken to be around 30AD.  He was crucified during a time of severe Roman oppression that was directed towards Israel, which eventually caused the dispersion of Israel in the 1st century AD. Counting the first two days as two millenniums, and the third day as the Millennium in which Christ reigns on Earth may invariably lead to the conclusion that Jesus will return soon – most likely within the 21st century. It is this perception of Bible prophecy that provides the motivation to create a theory that is rooted in absolute Biblical literalism and is entirely based on Premillennialism.

Among the Apostolic Fathers Barnabas expressly teaches a pre-millennial reign of Christ on earth. He considers the Mosaic history of the creation a type of six ages of labour for the world, each lasting a thousand years, and of a millennium of rest, since with God ‘one day is as a thousand years.’ Millennial Sabbath on earth will be followed by an eighth and eternal day in a new world, of which the Lord’s Day (called by Barnabas ‘the eighth day’) is the type.” Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 2 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, n.d.) 382

Restoration, the Shabbat picture:

Some further scriptures on the eventual restoration of all things:

• Acts 3:20-21: And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
• Romans 8:18-23:For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
• Isaiah 66:22-23:For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that every new moon, and every sabbath, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says the Lord.

*Final Note:

•  It should be with great suspicion that we consult any article with spiritual content which appears first on the internet search pages, when it comes to spiritual matters. If a theory on the internet is prominent it is normally because there is money behind it, to get it there. It is often a warning sign. False teachers seem to have a way of bringing their views into prominence. We have to ask ourselves why this theory is not under attack, and in fact promoted by the secular Wikipedia.
• Wikipedia is perhaps the last place one should go to endorse one’s theory, as anyone with a mind to spread false teaching would use Wikipedia as a priority platform. Extreme discernment is thus needed when dealing with this theory.
• This 7000 year theory also seems flawed, as the biblical chronology indicates that we have already experienced a longer period than 6000 years from creation, and that the fall may have occurred approximately 6100 years ago. (refer to the previous detailed calculation in the middle of this post).  If so, the applicability of the Sabbath Millennium theory as a timeline to the “Jesus Millennium” seems disproved and its relevance lost.
• This post contains edited internet articles. There is such an abundance of information on this topic that I considered it counterproductive to re-write what is already well-described by others. Also note the validity of title, alluding to the Sabbath millennial theory, can only be verified by each reader’s prayerful self-study.