"About the time of the end, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the Prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition."

Sir Issac Newton 1642-1727

In Chapter 1 we took a journey through the Bible to understand how God’s Plan unfolded through history. In Chapter 2 we took a look at the declared purposes of God’s Plan. In Chapter 3 we came to understand the prophetic significance of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

In this chapter, we will establish the Biblical timeline for the Second Coming of Yahshua the Messiah proving that:

1. God’s Master Plan is 7,000 years in length from Adam until the end of the Millennial Reign.

2. Yahshua said He returns on September 13, 2007.

3. The Millennial Reign begins on September 13, 2007 fulfilling the Sabbath Covenant.

4. The 14-year period known as the End Times began on September 13, 1993.

5. The 7-year period known as the Tribulation began on September 13, 2000.

6. The War of Gog and Magog is a ‘war on terror’ fought over Jerusalem between Islam vs. Judaism/Christianity.

7. The Transgression of Desolation occurs in March 2004.

8. The Abomination of Desolation occurs in September 2007.

God’s Master 7,000-Year Timeframe

In the very beginning chapter of the Bible, God revealed to mankind the highlights and duration of His plan. Then God blessed it establishing an Everlasting Covenant. The Sabbath was a sign “for ever” of this covenant. The Sabbath was called the sign of the ‘Everlasting Covenant’ for a reason. This covenant was established to continually remind us throughout history of the coming of the Millennial Reign in the 7^th millennium. By keeping the Sabbath, we are keeping alive the knowledge of the return of the king.

The Sabbath is His sign or signature of sanctification and timing of the Millennial Reign. It is the Almighty's badge of ownership on the true believer's mind; a memorial symbol that the God of Israel is setting that person apart for Himself. Sabbath observance identifies the true Israelite.   The Sabbath is the everlasting sign of the everlasting covenant. It will be kept throughout eternity by the redeemed host. That is what the scriptures teach.

Exodus 31
16: Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17: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.

Isaiah 55:3,5
Come to Me, hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. ..nations will be called whom you do not know...

Understanding the Sabbath Everlasting Covenant

God reveal the major goals of His ‘predestined’ plan to man in the first few pages of Genesis. In these first pages of Scripture, God also revealed to man the ‘Everlasting’ Covenant of the Sabbath. This was the first covenant made with man preceding all other covenants. This covenant was made with man as a portrait of a greater truth and to establish the overall timeline of God’s plan for man. In the first few pages of the Book of Genesis, God reveals His complete plan. That Plan is laid out in Genesis as follows:

1. God’s timeline for His Plan – The Everlasting Covenant
(Genesis Chapter 1) - the 6 days of creation and then in Chapter 2 the Seventh day rest, called the Sabbath was established as an Everlasting Covenant. This is the 6 thousand year reign of sin and the thousand-year reign of the Messiah defined in 2 Peter 3.

2. God’s Plan Revealed – Training His Everlasting Government
(Gen 1:26-27) “Made man in His image to rule” referring to God’s purpose in revealing His sons and train them to rule with the Messiah for 1,000 years and beyond in the eternal state.

3. The Prophecy of Judgment and the System of Training
(Gen 2:16,17) “Eat and Die” - Establishing the system by which we will be taught, the penalty of disobedience, and the need for a savior to deliver us from the second death.

4. The Prophecy of Messiah ben Joseph and Yahshua’ Death
(Gen 3:15) “you shall strike His heal”, referring to the coming suffering servant, Messiah ben Joseph, and Satan’s attempt to stop God’s plan through the crucifixion.

5. The Prophecy of a Messiah ben David and Satan’s Ultimate Defeat
(Gen. 3:15) “He (the Messiah) shall crush your head”, refers to the coming conquering king, Messiah ben David. Yahshua conquering the power of sin and death, releasing the Elect from the power of Satan to hold God’s People in the grave.

Understanding these first few prophecies requires the full revelation of God in the Bible to compliment and shed light on the book of Genesis. Specifically, “how do we know the Everlasting Covenant of the Sabbath represents God’s 7,000 year plan for man?”

The Everlasting Covenant Points to the 7^th Millennium

Our goal here is to understand and piece together the Biblical timeline. We must first firmly establish the basic foundation and duration of God’s Plan for Man. That basic foundation is that God’s Plan from Adam until the end of the Millennial Reign is 7,000 years.

I will demonstrate in this chapter that Yahshua was to come as the Messiah ben Joseph, suffering servant, around the 4,000^th year. Daniel prophesied this event to the day and it was fulfilled accordingly. And we know from prophecy that Yahshua returns as the Messiah ben David, conquering king, around the 6,000^th year and reigns supreme for the last 1,000 years. That is the basic foundation of God’s Plan.

The key to the overall timeframe of God’s Plan for Man is the Sabbath. God established a covenant with man from the beginning of this “age” that is called the “Everlasting Covenant”. The sign of this covenant is the Sabbath. The Sabbath Covenant was given to man in the form of 6 days of work and a 7^th day of rest. The Sabbath covenant is truly EVERLASTING. It was never nullified or made void by any of the covenants God made with man that followed. The Sabbath was in effect through the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants.

This Everlasting Covenant was confirmed by Yahshua and holds true even now in the New Covenant of Yahshua the Messiah. Yahshua kept the Sabbath and was called the ‘Lord of the Sabbath’:

Luke 6:5
⁵ And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.

The reason this covenant is special and was never made void is because it represents God’s timeline during which He will execute His Plan for Man. It represents 6,000 years of “labor” whereby man would be under the curse of Sin and self-government; then 1,000 years of “rest” whereby man would be released from the curse of Sin and be under the divine government of the King Yahshua the Messiah.

God’s people are commanded to keep the Sabbath Covenant because by doing so, we keep the knowledge of God’s timing alive, we continually celebrate the Second Coming, and we honor the blessings of God to enter into the rest of the 7^th millennium.

Exodus 31
16: Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17: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.

The question is: “Where in scripture are we told specifically that the covenant of the Sabbath represents 7,000 years and points to the second coming?”

The Millennial Scale of the Everlasting Covenant

Prophecy tells us over and over that God’s Plan is 7,000 years. We know that God intervenes every 2,000 years until the Millennial Reign:

· 2,000 years after Adam God destroyed the Earth due to sin with the flood of Noah.

· 2,000 years after the flood of Noah God redeemed man from Sin through the Messiah ben Joseph.

· 2,000 years from the crucifixion of Yahshua the Messiah God redeems the Earth from Sin through the Messiah ben David.

The prophets of God confirmed the 7,000-year scale; with Israel being reborn and Yahshua returning after 6,000 years from Adam (2,000 years between the two advents of Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah ben David). King David saw a vision of God’s Plan. He appealed to “all generations” to remember the Everlasting Covenant of creation in order to know the time when God would “turn man to destruction” in the Great Tribulation and then call the Elect to rest in the Sabbath Millennium:

Psalms 90:1-4
¹ Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

² Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world (creation), even from everlasting (past) to everlasting (future), thou art God. (Referring to the Everlasting Covenant of the Sabbath in Genesis established at creation. The boundaries of this Covenant are “everlasting past to everlasting future” )

³ Thou turnest man to destruction;(a reference to the Great Tribulation) and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

⁴ For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (‘6,000 years’ is the sign “a watch in the night” as Yahshua promised the Saints would NOT be taken like a thief in the night).

Hosea was also given a vision of God’s Plan. Hosea saw a period of time Israel would cease to be a nation and remain a footnote in history until the End Times (latter days):

Hosea 3:4-5

⁴ For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king (referring to the destruction of Israel after the Messiah King is cutoff), and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

⁵ Afterward (after the Messiah is cutoff) shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

We see from Hosea 3:4-5 that after the Messiah is cutoff, Israel will abide “many days” or more than 1,000 years then afterward “in the latter days” the children of Israel returns (1948). Then Hosea clarifies that the time when Israel will once again be a nation is “after 2 days/2,000 years” keeping in mind that God declared a day = 1,000 years. This is the Church Age or Messianic Age.

Then Hosea prophesies the first resurrection will occur at the beginning of the 3^rd day/3,000^th year since the destruction of Israel… “in the third day he will raise us up”. This is the Kingdom Age or Millennial Reign or Sabbath Millennium. Then Hosea confirms that He, the Messiah, shall come twice according the Feast Cycle (former rain is the Spring Feasts, the latter rain is the Fall Feasts):

Hosea 6:1-3
¹ Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

² After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

³ Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

So clearly, the 7,000-year plan of God is depicted over and over again in Biblical prophecy as God gave His prophets insight and vision.

I want to further demonstrate this fact in 2 Peter 3. Interestingly enough, even the numbering scheme of 2 Peter 3 points to the timing of the rebirth of Israel and the Second Coming. Israel is reborn and Yahshua returns again after 2 millenniums in the 3^rd millennium after His first coming… 2 Peter 3.

Peter’s Vision of the Everlasting Covenant

We’ve all heard this quote before:

2 Peter 3:2-18

“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.”

Many times this is MIS-quoted to mean the 7 days of creation are not literal “days” but rather “unknown periods of time”. NOT TRUE. That is not at all what 2 Peter 3 is about.

This scripture is referring to the END TIMES and the timing of the Second Coming… not creation.

The truth of creation being “literal days” in Genesis is another story all together. God goes to great lengths to establish He re-created the Earth in 6 literal days after He destroyed the Earth as a result of the fall of Lucifer. But that is prior to this “Age” which begins with Adam and not within the scope of this book. I just want to make that clear that 2 Peter 3 has nothing to do with the duration of creation days. That is clearly established in Genesis.

2 Peter3 is not referring to the length of days in creation, but rather confirming that the Everlasting Covenant represents 7,000 years and that the Second Coming occurs after the 6,000^th year. In context, 2 Peter 3 is discussing the TIMING OF THE SECOND COMING… not creation.

We have seen that David and Hosea saw visions of the Everlasting Covenant. I want to provide a detailed commentary on 2 Peter 3 to firmly establish that Peter too saw a vision of the 7,000-year Plan of God. We will discover that Peter is telling his audience that:

1. God’s plan and timeline can be known by studying prophecy.

2. The context of discussion is the timing of the Second Coming.

3. This “age” began with Adam and ends 7,000 years later after the Millennial Reign.

4. The Everlasting Covenant of 6 days and a 7th day is a millennial portrait.

5. The Second Coming is PREDESTINED to occur after 6,000 years.

God’s Plan can be Known in Prophecy

Before Peter even begins, he again reminds his reader that God’s Plan can be known by studying the Holy Prophets and words of the Apostles and the Lord Yahshua the Messiah.

2 Peter 3
1“Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),² that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,

The Context of This Chapter is the Second Coming in the Last Days

^{Once reminding us to study prophecy, Peter says that we should know that in the LAST DAYS people will scoff and make fun of those who believe in the literal fulfillment of scripture and the return of the Messiah on schedule.}

^{2 Peter 3}

³ knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,

⁴ and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

Verse 3 establishes the context of this scripture is the LAST DAYS. Verse 4 establishes that in context of the last days the subject is the timing of the SECOND COMING. So we know that in context of the subject of this Scripture, Peter is not referring to the length of days in creation, but rather referring to the 6 creation days as the length of time prior to the second coming! Big difference.

Peter is saying that over the years between the first and second coming, false prophets will predict an immanent return (rapture) causing people in the last days (End Times) to mock the entire concept of a Second Coming because expectations over the ages for an immanent rapture have all been untrue and time just kept going on and on... These false prophets and “mockers” are willingly ignorant of the Everlasting Covenant! No one would ever mock the Second Coming if they studied prophecy that clearly states Yahshua returns after 6,000 years. In the “3^rd day” after the first coming.

Peters Refers to the Everlasting Covenant and Establishes the Boundaries of this “Age”

^{Now that Peter has reminded his reader to study prophecy so that we are not ignorant of the timing of the Second Coming, Peter CONFIRMS the Everlasting Covenant. Saying that the “scoffers” willingly overlook the obvious portrait of creation:}

^{2 Peter 3}

⁵ For this (the Sabbath Portrait) they (scoffers) willfully forget: that by the word of God (creation) the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water (the Earth was flooded due to the Sin of Lucifer),

⁶ by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

⁷ But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word (this Present Age), are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

In verse 5 Peter indicates that the people of the last days will “willfully forget” the portrait of the Sabbath Everlasting Covenant. In verse 5 Peter directs our attention to the story of Creation, in which God gave us the Everlasting Covenant of the Sabbath.

Peter refers to the first flood in Genesis when God destroyed the Earth due to the sin of Lucifer who was given dominion over the Earth and those who inhabited it (pre-Adamite world). We know this is not the flood of Noah because in verse 6 Peter clarifies this flood as being the first flood that destroyed the previous age “world that then existed perished” and refers to this Present Age which began with Word of God… “Let there be..”. The “world” or ecosystem in Noah’s flood was preserved in the Ark and the heavens and earth were not recreated. So Noah’s flood is out, Lucifer’s flood is the correct reference. And then in verse 7 Peter confirms that the flood in question is the flood prior to Adam because it is this Present Age (Adam until the end of the Millennial Reign) that was established by His words “let there be light” etc.

Peter refers to the 6 days of creation “the heavens and earth which are now (as apposed to the previous age that just perished) preserved by the Word of God and reserved for fire at the Day of Judgment” to establish the boundaries of this Age.

NOTE:
The flood prior to Adam is the only flood that could fit in context of Peter’s discussion. He was establishing the boundaries of God’s Mater Plan and those boundaries did not begin with Noah but began with Adam. The floodwaters in the days of Noah naturally receded; they did not recede upon the command of God as did the waters after the original flood prior to Adam. And the heavens and earth were not recreated in the flood of Noah. The command of God was given to recreate the heavens and earth in the flood prior to Adam. And the Word of God was given to the flood waters to recede only in the account of creation in the first few chapters of Genesis when God established the Everlasting Covenant.

Unfortunately most people have never heard of the fact that two floods destroyed the Earth. Science, however, widely acknowledges this fact. Another failure of the church leaders and worthless shepherds to teach us the truth found in the Word of God. The Bible clearly depicts that the Earth was created untold ages ago and inhabited as Lucifer ruled over it. Lucifer then rebelled against God and led the “nations” in rebellion causing God to destroy the world that then existed with the first flood prior to Adam. This fact reconciles the Bible with science and the fossil record. Explains the fate of the dinosaur, prehistoric man, etc. But again that is outside the scope of this book.

In Verses 6-7, Peter establishes the boundaries of this “age” represented by the Everlasting Sabbath Covenant. The boundaries are from the creation of Adam (when the Earth was destroyed due to the rebellion of Lucifer) through the end of the Millennial Reign when the Earth will be destroyed by fire. Next, Peter defines the millennial scale.

Peter Defines the Duration of this “Age” to be 7,000 Years

Now, having redirected our attention to the 6 days of creation and 7^th day of rest (the Everlasting Covenant of the Sabbath) and establishing the boundaries that this covenant covers as being from the creation of Adam through the end of the Millennial Reign… Peter then defines the duration of God’s Plan for Man (not the duration of a creation day as some wrongly teach).

^{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.

Peter has now said that in the last days people will willfully forget the Sabbath Covenant, which clearly defines the duration of God’s Plan for man from Adam until the end of the Millennial Reign to be 7,000 years.

That in regards to the Lord’s return a day is a thousand years. A millennium for each of the days in the portrait of the Everlasting Covenant. With the 7^th day, the Sabbath, representing the 7^th millennium or the Millennial Reign of Yahshua the Messiah.

Peter Reminds Us that the Second Coming is Predestined

After having establishing that God’s Plan is 7,000 years and knowing that Yahshua reigns for the last 1,000 years… Peter drives the point home that the Lord IS NOT slacking concerning His promise to return. Because Yahshua is not due back until after 6,000 years as predestined by God to allow the fullness of the harvest to come in!

^{2 Peter 3}

⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Verse 9 is confirmation that 2 Peter 3 is defining the duration of time prior to the predestined return of the Yahshua the Messiah. This is 100% consistent with the entire picture of God’s Plan portrayed in the Old Testament and New Testament through the timeline laid out in Daniel and the prophets.

Summary

2 Peter 3:2-18 is one of the most vivid explanations of God’s Plan shedding light on the rest of the Bible’s references to the 6/7 Plan. This scripture tells us to:

 “Study God’s prophetic words concerning Yahshua second coming, do not listened to the scoffers of the last day that say don’t pay attention, who hope for a premature rapture, claim no one knows the timing of His return, or that time will just go on as it always has. It tells us that God’s Plan began after the Earth was destroyed by a flood in judgment of Lucifer’s fall resulting in the creation of Adam. And this Age ends when this current age is destroyed by FIRE after the 7^th millennium. It defines God’s timeline of 6 thousand years and a thousand year Millennial Reign. And then in verse 9 it tells us that all this is talking about the return of the King and that return is predestined to occur ON TIME.”

Biblical Portraits Point to the 7,000-Year Plan

Studying prophecy reveals without a doubt that God’s Plan is 7,000 years long. As I just demonstrated, King David, Hosea, Peter, and many others saw visions of and understood the portrait of creation and the Everlasting Covenant of the Sabbath as the foundation of God’s Plan. But creation is not the only portrait that God gave us to demonstrate that His plan is 7,000 years in length. God gave us many portraits:

· The 7 days of Creation

· The 7^th day of the Sabbath

· The 7^th Sabbath of the Feast of Weeks

· The 7^th Year of Forgiveness

· The 7^th set of 7-years, the Jubilee

· The 7^th day opening of the Temple for worship

· The 7^th month and the 7 trumpets of the Feast of Trumpets

· The 7^th month and the Day of Atonement

· The 7 animals in the Animal Sacrifice Portrait

· The 7^th Day King Portrait

Each one of these portraits pointed to the 7^th millennium. Let’s take a quick look at each of these portraits that were given by God to man to illustrate the 7,000-year timeframe.

7 Days of Creation Portrait

In the story of creation, God shows us the first portrait of the 7^th millennium. After 6 days of work, God rested on the 7^th day and then blessed it as holy.

Genesis 2:1-3

“ ¹ Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.

² And on the seventh day God ended His work, which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work, which He had done.

³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

The 7^th day of the Sabbath Portrait

The Sabbath is a picture of God’s rest. It is a sign between God and those whom He sanctifies. Every 7^th day, mankind celebrates the coming millennium as a sign or covenant of salvation in the form of the Sabbath day.

Ezekiel 20:12
¹² "Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

The 7^th Sabbath of the Feast of Weeks Portrait

Leviticus 23:15-22
"From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off 50 days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD."

The 7^th Year of Forgiveness Portrait

Every 7 years we are commanded to “forgive” all debts.

Neh 10:31
³¹ And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the forgiveness of every debt.

The 7^th Sabbath was also a time to rest the land:

Lev 25:4

⁴ But in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

The 7 sets of 7-year Jubilee

Jubilee provisions exceeded those of Sabbath. Land was allowed to rest but it was also redistributed. Slaves were released, debts were remitted and the gap between rich and poor was eliminated. Everyone was once again on a equal footing. Jubilee was a new vision for society, a profound reform to address the wrongs of previous times. This vision was inspired by the conviction that God is at work in history and that God will be at work in the accomplishment of the vision in the 7^th millennium.

Lev 25:8-10
⁸ 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.

⁹ Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

¹⁰ And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

The 7^th Day Opening of the Temple for Worship Portrait

Temple worship was ordered by God in such a way as to demonstrate the 6,000 years of sin and the Millennial Reign:

Ezekiel 46:1
¹ 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened,”

The 7^th Months and Trumpets of the Feast of Trumpets Portrait

The Feast of Trumpets in the 7^th Holy Month was a portrait of Yahshua gathering His elect. It is the first Fall Feast and beginning of the Jewish New Year. Yahshua returns on the Feast of Trumpets and used a Hebrew/Jewish Idiom to confirm His arrival on the Feast of Trumpets in the year of completion (more on that later) in Matthew 24.

· The 120 Trumpeters in the dedication of Solomon's Temple in the Feast of Tabernacles (2 Chronicles 5). The true dedication of the Church at the end of the age.