Does God have a 7,000 year plan for mankind? Some believe that since God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh that mankind will have 6,000 years to live on the earth under Satan’s influence, and will have one thousand years under Christ’s rule.
This belief stems from consideration of the 7 days of creation as outlined in the book of Genesis as having a dual meaning . Ergo, the seven days of creation pre-suppose a period of seven thousand years for mankind‘s creation. God’s days are mankind’s millenniums.
The origin of this view has been attributed to the prophet Elijah:
“The ancient and popular doctrine of the millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the creation had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state, according to a tradition which was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was fixed to six thousand years. By the same analogy it was inferred that this long period of labor and contention, which was now almost elapsed, would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years, and that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect, who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, would reign upon earth till the time appointed for the last and general resurrection.” [THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, Edward Gibbon, Vol. 1, p. 403]
Hippolytus promoted this seven thousand year plan during the late second and early third centuries AD. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls Hippolytus one of the most prolific religious writer of the Roman Church in the pre-Constantinian era. I am by no means here to promote the Catholic church’s views, and this 7,000 year doctrine is no longer official Catholic doctrine, but here’s what Hippolytus had to say on the subject:
“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 for 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.” [ http://www.new advent.org/fathers/0502.htm ]
And while the Epistle of Barnabas is not considered to be inspired, it does demonstrate that there were those in the second century who did understand this idea of a 6,000 year period followed by the millennial reign of Christ:
“Moreover concerning the Sabbath likewise it is written in the ten words, in which He spake to Moses face to face on Mount Sinai; ‘and ye shall hallow the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and with a pure heart.’ And in another place He saith; ‘If My sons observe the Sabbath then I will bestow My mercy upon them.’ Of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of the creation; ‘And God made the works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it.’ Give heed, children, what this meaneth; ‘He ended in six days.’ He meaneth this, that in six thousand years the Lord will bring all things to an end; for the day with Him signifyeth a thousand years; and this He Himself beareth me witness, saying, ‘Behold the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years.’ Therefore, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end. ‘And He rested on the seventh day.’ This He meaneth; when His Son shall come, and shall abolish the time of the Lawless One, and shall judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun and the moon and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day.” [ Epistle of Barnabas, 15:1-5 Available here: http://www.carm.org/apologetics/lost-books/epistle-barnabas ]
The scriptures seem indeed to lend some credence to this view:
“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” [2Peter 3:8]
And from the old testament:
“For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past.” [Psalm 90:4]
God told Adam he would die "in the day" he ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. [Gen. 2:17] We know that it is impossible for God to lie. [Heb. 6:18] Yet Adam died at the age of 930 years. We must therefore conclude that the "day" in which he died was a "day" of one thousand years in length.
And look again to the new testament for this passage:
“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, ‘Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk as you suppose, since it is the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in these last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh.” [Hebrews 1:1-2]
Now the world certainly didn’t come to an end during the lifetime of Peter, so what he has said here really makes no sense if we consider “these last days” as a reference to twenty-four hour periods. If, however, he is referring to the last (thousand year) days of the creation “week” it makes perfect sense, as he would be saying this in the fifth day of that week, one of the latter or last days of the week as opposed to the first or former days of the week.
If this view is correct, then the end of that first 6,000 years would incorporate the period of the great tribulation which immediately precedes Christ’s return to the earth. The great tribulation is the final three and a half years discussed in Daniel and the book of Revelation in which the majority of the earth’s population is extinguished by natural and supernatural disasters and the final massive world war.
So, a reasonable question for believers and unbelievers alike would be, when is that six thousand years up? Believers would like to be prepared, and doubtless unbelievers would like to be able to say that time is up and look nothing happened...
Genesis 5:3-29 and 7:11 show that 1,656 years transpired between the creation of Adam and the Flood of Noah’s day.
Genesis 11:10-32 show that 427 years passed between the Flood and the time when Abram left Haran (at the death of Terah) See also Acts 7:4 and Genesis 12:4.
Comparing Genesis 12:4 with Genesis 17:1 reveals Abraham’s age when God made the covenant of circumcision with him. From this we can deduce that 24 years had passed since he left Haran.
According to Galatians 3:16-17, 430 years passed between the making of this covenant and the Sinai covenant - the year of the exodus. See also Exodus 12:40
480 years passed from the exodus to the making of the first temple begun in the fourth year of King Solomon. See I Kings 6:1
There is some controversy regarding in which year BC Solomon began his reign, but here are four which suggest a common date:
Working back from these dates and the biblical references to the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah (78 years from the death of Ahab in 853/852 BC) the Kingdom of Solomon was divided in 931/930 BC, at the ascension of Rehoboam to the throne of Israel following the death of Solomon. Since Solomon reigned forty years (v. 42), he must have ascended the throne in 971/970 BC (Long, Jesse. 1 & 2 Kings: 1 and 2 Kings. College Press, 2002, p. 156)
SOLOMON (Reigned c. 970-c. 932 Bc) (Canning, John. 100 Great Kings, Queens, and Rulers of the World. Taplinger Pub. Co., 1967, p. 52)
SOLOMON THE KING Solomon's reign was long, lasting forty years (970-931) as
had his father's before him (Leon James Wood & David O'Brien. A Survey of Israel's History. Zondervan, 1986, p. 253).
Solomon 40 C. 970-931 BCE (Israel Finkelstein & Neil Asher Silberman. David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition. Simon and Schuster, 2007, p. 20).
Assuming the 970 BC date to be correct, the fourth year of Solomon’s reign would have occurred in 966 BC.
Adding 1,656 + 427 + 24 + 430 + 480 + 966 gives us a total of 3.983 years. This would be the date BC of Adam’s creation. Adding 6,000 years to this date brings us to the date 2018 AD (remember there is no year 0 between the years 1 BC and 1 AD).
Now there is no indication where we should commence our counting of these years, either from Adam’s creation or from his fall, nor a biblical indication of how many years may have passed between his creation and that fall, so a later date from which to begin counting may be indicated, though probably not much later. And then again, it is written:
“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” [Matthew 24:22]
This would suggest that the full 6,000 years need not come to their full end before Christ returns to put a stop to The Great Tribulation (which begins 3 and ½ years prior to their ending) and establish the Kingdom of God.
Either way, the time seems near.
Endnotes -
It is reasonable to conclude that the birth of Cain occurred following the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, as it isn’t mentioned until after that expulsion. There are seven generations beginning with and descended from Cain listed in the book of Genesis prior to the mention of the birth of Seth when Adam was 130 years of age. Not knowing the age at which people in those days may
have become "married", but assuming 15 years of age and six generations having attained the age capable of conception of the next generation, this would allow us 40 years to be added to the date above as the possible end-date if the count begins with Adam’s fall, for it would be reasonable to assume Adam was 40 years of age when Cain was born. Assuming an age of 20 years would allow addition of only another 10 years to that date.
While not included in the bible, the Book of Jubilees defines the period from Adam's creation to his expulsion from the garden:
Jubilees 3:17-33 And after the completion of the seven years, which he had completed there, seven years exactly, [8 A.M.] and in the second month, on the seventeenth day (of the month), the serpent came and approached the woman, and the serpent said to the woman, 'Hath God commanded you, saying, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' And she said to it, 'Of all the fruit of the trees of the garden God hath said unto us, Eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden. God hath said unto us, Ye shall not eat thereof, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' And the serpent said unto the woman, 'Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that on the day ye shall eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as gods, and ye will know good and evil. And the woman saw the tree that it was agreeable and pleasant to the eye, and that its fruit was good for food, and she took thereof and eat. And when she had first covered her shame with figleaves, she gave thereof to Adam and he eat, and his eyes were opened, and he saw that he was naked. And he took figleaves and sewed (them) together, and made an apron for himself, and covered his shame. And God cursed the serpent, and was wroth with it for ever . . . And He was wroth with the woman, because she harkened to the voice of the serpent, and did eat; and He said unto her: 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy pains: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy return shall be unto thy husband, and he will rule over thee.' And to Adam also he said, ' Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be the ground for thy sake: thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till thou returnest to the earth from whence thou wast taken; for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return.' And He made for them coats of skin, and clothed them, and sent them forth from the Garden of Eden. And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savour an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame. And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they couldno longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue. And He sent out of the Garden of Eden all flesh that was in the Garden of Eden, and all flesh was scattered according to its kinds, and according to its types unto the places which had been created for them. And to Adam alone did He give (the wherewithal) to cover his shame, of all the beasts and cattle. On this account, it is prescribed on the heavenly tablets as touching all those who know the judgment of the law, that they should cover their shame, and should not uncover themselves as the Gentiles uncover themselves. And on the new moon of the fourth month, Adam and his wife went forth from the Garden of Eden...
Thus, if we go by this account, the end date (the date of Christ's return) would be on or before 2025 AD.
Estimates of the beginning of the reign of Solomon range from about 970BC to 1015BC. Choosing a date earlier than 970BC would subtract years from the 2018AD end date, whereas a later date would allow the addition of years to that date.
“No man knows the hour or the day!” Many like to refer to this biblical reference to argue that it is folly to attempt to reason out exactly when Christ returns. However, most of these do not realize that Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets) is referred to as the holy day of which “no man knows the hour or the day”. This is why in current times it is celebrated over two days. Thus this quote directs our attention to the fall feasts. The Book of Revelation clearly expects us to be watchful and to know, and gives us the events to look for and the days to count. God does not want us ignorant.
Jesus Christ died on Passover, was buried during The Days of Unleavened Bread, rose on Firstfruits, and distributed the Holy Spirit to his followers on Shavuot (Pentecost). In the same way Christ fulfilled the spring holy days on those holy days during His first coming, we should expect Him to fulfill the fall holy days upon His return.
Tim James
