The end was declared at the beginning?
There is copious amounts of material and theories on when the second coming of Christ will be. It is pointless to speculate. Matthew 24:36 tells us, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."
Christ will come for his followers like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2), taking everybody by surprise. In Matthew 24 Jesus describes the day as ‘two men working in the field, one will be taken, the other will be left.’
Nobody will know the day or the hour, however this is talking about the rapture, not the end times. As Christians we should be able to discern when the end is near. There will be signs surrounding His coming. According to Matthew 24, there will be wars, rumours of wars, earthquakes and famines. These are the beginning signs of the end times. However, will it just be these signs that notify believers of his coming or has God provided something more?
Contemplate the story of Noah given in Matthew 24 in comparison to the end times:
Matthew 24:36-40 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40
Notice how the unbeliever’s were taken completely by surprise when the flood came, however Noah, the believer and follower of God, was not surprised at all, in fact he was prepared and ready.
God is real and living. As Christians we live by faith in Him every day and He is with us every step, guiding and counselling us. It makes sense that the Lord would want His followers to be prepared for the most important event on God’s calendar. Nobody will know the day or the hour Christ will return. For this reason we should live holy so that we may be prepared to go at any moment. However, BAC’s will know when the end is near. Through prayer and studying God’s word we will be able to see things for what they really are. We will be able to see through the futile attempts of satan as he walks around as a roaring lion, seeking what he may devour, masquerading as an angel of light and as a force for good (1 Peter 5:8 & 2 Corinthians 11:14).
As already discussed in other posts, the OT contains parallels of the NT. For example Moses stood behind the cleft of the rock to protect himself from God’s glory. Now, Christ acts as the rock to protect us from God’s glory. In the OT God leads His people out of a physical bondage of slavery from Egypt. In the NT, God leads His people out of a spiritual bondage to sin. In the OT the story of Abraham about to sacrifice His son Isaac was fulfilled in the NT by God sacrificing His Son, Jesus. Arguably God has provided shadows to foretell His followers when the coming of Christ will be.
To start, we must go back to the beginning in Genesis 1.
Isaiah 46:10 states: Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure. Isaiah 48:3 states: ‘I have declared the former things from the beginning…’
God took six days to create the world and rested on the seventh. God would have been able to do it in one day. He would have been able to do it in one minute, but He chose to do it in six days and rest on the seventh. The Bible is God’s word and every word in it is significant, therefore the question must be asked; why did God take six days and rest on the seventh? According to Isaiah 48:10 God declared the end at the beginning. Are the seven days an indication of the amount of time we have on earth?
Many liberals and those with a considerable lack of faith can no longer comprehend a literal six day creation account. The verse they quote as evidence is 2 Peter 3:8 "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." Not only are these people of little faith, but they also don’t understand 2 Peter 3, because in context, this passage is talking about the second coming of Christ and God’s patience in dealing with sinners. But enough about those guys, God will deal with them. On with our study. Taking into account the fact that concerning the second coming of Christ and God’s judgment, ‘one day is as a thousand years’ and that God took six days to create the world and rest on the seventh, could this be an indicator of how long we have on this earth?
Based on genealogy, there are around 4,000 years between Adam and Jesus. Again, to refute the argument of those with little faith, Adam was there from the beginning (Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’). There are 2,000 years from Christ until today, give or take fifty years either side, meaning we are at the end of the 6,000 years. On the seventh day God rested. Revelation 20 tells us that after Jesus comes back there will be a 1,000 year millennial period where Jesus will rule. Could the six days represent the 6,000 years since creation began and the seventh day represent the 1,000 year reign of Christ?
Number seven is known as a heavenly number representing completion, in contrast with number 6 which is seen as a number of the devil. Seven is used throughout the Bible. God commanded Jews to rest on the Sabbath, every seven days. The seventh week after Passover there is a feast and rest. In the seventh month the Jews celebrate three feasts and rest. God instructs the land to be tilled and rested every seven years. Every forty-nine years (7 x 7) is the year of jubilee, with a celebration. In the account of the transfiguration in Matthew 17, verse 1 says that ‘after six days’ Jesus took the disciples up the mountain. He was revealed to them in all His glory on the seventh day.
There must be significance in the number seven.
Let us now leave the number seven and go on to the number three. Hosea 6:1-2 states: Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.
The days of Hosea were a dark time for the Israelites. Here we can see that God has scattered Israel, but after two days will bind them back together, and on the third day they will be raised up.
Again, like the number seven, the number three is used throughout the Bible. Jesus died and rose again on the third day. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead on the third day. In Exodus 19 before the giving of the 10 commandments, the Lord commanded: 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. 11 And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
Applying the same theory of a day representing 1,000 years, when Christ died, God scattered Israel, in that salvation became available to all. God’s promises to Israel still exist, however God’s chosen people has been increased to include those gentiles who profess a faith in Jesus Christ. In Hosea Israel was gathered together on the second day and the Lord will raise them up on the third day. God extended His arm beyond Israel, to the gentiles. 2,000 years later, in 1948 the nation of Israel was gathered up once more. In the end, in the third day, ‘the remnant of Jacob’ will return to the Lord and Israel will rise up once more, thus God fulfilling His promise.
Just as the seven day’s of creation represent 6,000 years on earth and the 1,000 year millennial reign, the use of three days throughout the Bible represents the scattering of Jews upon Christ’s death, the gathering up on the second day, or 2,000 years, in 1948, and the rising up in the 3rd, or end times.
In accordance with our calendar the seventh day is upon us. And as described in Hosea 6, the third day is upon us, with Israel already being gathered together once more at the end of the second day in 1948.
Right or wrong, it is something to think about. But remember Christ is coming at a time we do not know of the day or the hour. Therefore it is best to be ready at any moment.
Take on board Romans 13:11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
-BACChristian
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