6,000 Years of Man and the Day of the Lord

6,000 Years of Man and the Day of the Lord

Matthew 17:1

"After six days, Jesus taketh...them up" (Matthew 17:1). As explained by the apostle Barnabas, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Hugh Latimer, Clarence Larkin, Rabbis Elias and Ketina, and as portrayed in the six days of creation, Christ will return after six 1,000-year periods (Job 5:19, 2 Peter 3:8). In this study we will learn that exactly four days transpired before Christ and nearly two more days have elapsed since Christ.

Four Days to Christ

As God caused the light to rule over the darkness on the fourth day of creation (Genesis 1:16), so did the "light of the world" come into our darkness in the 4,000th year from Adam (F.A.). How do we know He came after 4,000 years (or four days according to Psalm 90:4)? I submit the following Old Testament chronology, based solely on scripture, for your consideration:

From

Events Years Adam Scripture

Adam to the Flood 1,656 1,656 F.A. Genesis 5:3-29; 7:6

Flood to Abraham 352 2,008 F.A. Genesis 11:10-12:4

Abraham to Temple 1,009 3,017 F.A. Genesis 17:1,2, Gal. 3:17, 1 Kgs. 6:1

Temple to Captivity 430 3,447 F.A. 1 and 2 Kings (selected passages)

Babylonian Captivity 70 3,517 F.A. Jeremiah 25:11

End Captivity to Christ 483 4,000 F.A. Daniel 9:25

Total 4,000

(Additional detail on above chronology available upon request)

Daniel's Weeks

Sir Robert Anderson was a lawyer and Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department of Scotland Yard in the late 1800's. In his book The Coming Prince, Anderson historically and astronomically verifies that from the issuing of Artaxerxes Longimanus' decree (Nehemiah 2:1f) on March 14, 445 B.C., to Passover, A.D. 32, there were exactly 483 Bible years. Daniel 9:25 informs us that these 69 weeks started at the "going forth of a command to return to (SHUWB, #7725) and rebuild..." As can be seen, 483 years from 445 B.C. is not A.D. 32. Neither is 445 B.C. the commonly accepted end of the Babylonian Captivity. That date is 536 B.C./3,517 F.A. (From Adam). It also appears that if we count 483 years from 536 B.C., it will not take us to the 4,000th year, as indicated in the table.

Getting complicated? Please bear with me - I assure you it will sort itself out. First, we are dealing with both Bible (360 days) and solar (365.25 days) years in our analyses. This, as Sir Anderson and later, Dr. Harold Hoehner discovered, requires that we convert one to the other for the proper alignment. Anderson converted the 483 Bible years to just over 476 solar years by calculating the number of days (483 x 360) and dividing by 365.25. ¹ This yielded 476 years from the "command to rebuild" in 445 B.C. to the “cutting off” of Messiah in 32 AD to the very day!

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore (return to) and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks (483 years); The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off ..." (Daniel 9:25,26a). The actual Hebrew word, rendered "restore" in many versions, is SHUWB, which means "to return to." Prior to Artaxerxes’ decree to rebuild in 445 B.C., King Cyrus II, the Great had issued a command to "return" - some 91 years earlier (solar reckoning). Ezra 1:1, taken with Jeremiah 29:10 and Ezra 3:1-6 indicates that those who returned did so in the year of release (536 BC). King Cyrus' decree did not mandate a "rebuilding" of Jerusalem, but did sanction a "return" to the Holy City. This is in contrast to Artaxerxes' command to "rebuild the city, the street and the wall" found in Nehemiah 2:8.

It is documented fact, that beginning with the end of the Babylonian Captivity in 3,517 F.A., there were four decrees issued by various Persian kings, permitting the Jews to return to and/or rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1; 6:8f; 7:11-26, Nehemiah 2:1ff). The first decree, issued by Cyrus, was made in the very year of release from the 70 years of captivity, which is commonly accepted as being 536 BC (2 Chronicles 36:22,23, Jeremiah 25:11). If we add the 483 years of Daniel's 69 weeks to the 3,517 Bible years that transpired from Adam to that point, we have 4,000 years - a biblically-based time duration between the creation of Adam and the birth of Christ. There is solid evidence that establishes Christ's birth in 2 B.C. ²

Converting the 2,000 years from Christ’s birth to lunar years, we arrive at 2,028 AD (1,999 AD x 365.25 = 730,134.75 days. 730,134.75/360 = 2,028 AD). The Talmud states that Adam was created on 1 TISHRI, the Jewish New Year (Feast of Trumpets). Several sources give the same day as the birth date of Christ.³ If this is so, 1 TISHRI of 2,028 AD would be the 6,000th Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah) - the completion of 6,000 years of man's existence on earth.

The seventh day starts the seventh millennium from Adam. It is 1,000+ years long (Revelation 20:4, Daniel 9:27) and corresponds with the seventh day of creation when God rested. After an initial period of upheaval and cleansing, the earth will rest under Christ's sovereign rule (Isaiah 11) for a period of 1,000 years. Avi Ben Mordechai convincingly shows in his book, Signs in the Heavens - A Jewish Messianic Perspective of the Last Days & Coming Millennium, that the "Day of the Lord" encompasses both negative and positive events.⁴ For instance, Zephaniah 1 describes the Day of the Lord as, "a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess. . ." (Verse 15f). The Day of the Lord starts with a short period of purging and cleansing and is followed by a much longer time of peace and righteousness, after which another short period of rebellion and cleansing takes place (2 Peter 3:10).

It is said by many contemporary prophecy teachers that Christ's Millennial reign will be preceded by seven years of Tribulation (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:21). This will be the 70th week of Daniel, 69 weeks of which have already transpired. I have no qualms with the teaching of this seven-year period. However, since the Tribulation period (Revelation 6-19) consists of the events which occur in the Day of the Lord (Joel 2:30f, Isaiah 13:9; 24:21-23), the Tribulation must be part of the Day of the Lord (to be differentiated from the Millennium).

Revelation 20:6 says that those in the first resurrection rule and reign for 1,000 years, immediately following Daniel’s 70^th week, aka, the Tribulation Week. Revelation 20:5 is often rendered “This is the first resurrection.” But notice the word “is” is italicized. That means it was inserted by the translators and therefore not part of the original text. It would be more accurate to say “completes the first resurrection,” rather than “is the first resurrection,” which implies that the entire first resurrection is contained in Revelation 20:4-6.

The first resurrection covers a 2,000-year period – it did NOT happen in one day. Christ's resurrection started the "first resurrection" in 32 AD and the martyred tribulation saints "complete it" in Revelation 20:4,5, 2,000 years later. The Bible clearly states that there will be several "orders" or "stages" within the 2,000 years of the first resurrection - three of which precede the Day of the Lord.⁵

3 PERSONAL Update, Chuck Missler, AUG/SEP, 1992; Dr. J.R. Church, Prophecy in the News; Dr. C.E. McClain, The True Birthdate of Jesus, p. 13.

4 Signs in the Heavens - A Jewish Messianic Perspective of the Last Days & Coming Millennium, Avi Ben Mordechai, p. 216, Millennium 7000 Communications Int'l., P.O. Box 62217, Colorado Springs, CO 80962.

5 Orders of the first resurrection include Christ, the Old Testament saints and those who are Christ's at His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:1-7, 1 Corinthians 15:23, Matthew 27:52).