Bible only Refers to About 7,000 Years

Here is some supporting evidence that suggests the Jubilee Calendar was terminated in 1994:

1.      If the record of time in the Bible is reliable, the Bible only describes a period of about 7,000 years. When a student compiles the genealogical records in Genesis, the historical records of Israel in the Old Testament, and the prophetic time-periods of Daniel and Revelation using the day/year and literal reckoning as introduced above, the Bible only refers to a total of about 7,000 years (this total included the 1,000 years of Revelation 20.) I say about 7,000 years because Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden for a certain amount of years before they sinned and there is also a 20 margin of error in measuring the elapsed time between Adam and Jacob. This margin of error stems from the fact that we cannot know the exact number of years in 21 generations between Adam and Jacob. The offspring of each patriarch was not likely on his father’s birthday, so a maximum 20-year margin of error is necessary. In other words, Adam may have been 130 years and 11 months when Seth was born. Seth may have been 105 years and 2 months when Enosh was born and so on.

2.      The idea that the world in its present form will endure for a total of 7,000 years has been around since the 5^th century. I believe Augustine was the first to introduce this theory. The theory of 7,000 years of Earth’s existence has been labeled “The Great Week Theory.” This title reflects the idea that seven days of Creation week were a pattern for a millennial week of seven 1,000-year periods. In other words, God has foreknowledge. He foreknew the rise and eventual destruction of sin. Therefore, He established the seven-day weekly cycle at Creation, representing 7,000 years from the point when sin would rise until its destruction. This idea is supported somewhat by the fact that the final prophetic time-period in the Bible is exactly 1,000 years. (Revelation 20) Why did God choose 1,000 years? Are there other time-periods 1,000 years in length? The theory suggests that God specifically defined and established the 1,000-year time-period in Revelation 20 as a necessary measurement of time to complete “The Great Week.” Since the devil is chained and cannot tempt the nations and since Earth is void and uninhabited during the 1,000 years, the land will rest from the affliction of sin during the 7^th millennium just as the land rested every 7^th year in the Old Testament times. Even more, God Himself will be able to rest from the sufferings of sin in His universe. This theory also has some indirect substance behind it for the Bible does say that a day with the Lord is as a thousand years. (Psalms 90: 4; 2 Peter 3:8) Consider the fact that both David and Peter penned their words years before Revelation 20 was written.

3.      Let us assume the following rule to be true: God reckons apocalyptic time-periods by the presence or absence of the Jubilee Calendar. Therefore, if you use the day/year method of reckoning between the Exodus in 1437 B.C. and 1994 because the Jubilee Calendar is operating and if literal reckoning is used for the prophetic time-periods that occur after the Jubilee Calendar expires in 1994, then the 6,000^th year since sin began is sometime between 1998 and 2017 (20 year margin of error). Do not forget, the literal time-periods in Daniel and Revelation that are still future need to be added to the 1994 date. (1994 plus 1,335 literal days for the Great Tribulation equals 1998, the earliest possible date for the 6,000^th year). A couple of unknown, but limited numbers, also support this general time frame. First, we do not know how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before they sinned, but we do know that Adam and Eve were 130 years of age when Seth (their third son) was born. Let us suppose (and there is no way of knowing for sure) that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden about 100 years before sinning. Second, as I sad before, we do not know the amount of cumulative error in the genealogical records between Adam and Jacob, but we do know it to be 20 years maximum. If we pull all this information together, the genealogical data, historical data and prophetic data, we are able to produce the chart below:

If we subtract (100?) maximum years in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve sinned, and add (20?) for the maximum of error in counting the generations between Adam and Jacob, then 1998 appear to be our first strong candidate for the 6,000^th year since sin began.

Notice the math used is not precise, but according to my calculations, the 6,000^th year appears to occur between 1998 and 2017 with the mid-point of 2007 being the strongest candidate.  Obviously, 1998 is now history and we are over half way through 2006. Perhaps Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden 80 to 90 years. Maybe my adjustment for cumulative error is wrong. No one can say just how long they were in the Garden nor can we know what the cumulative error actually is. We just have to test various combinations to see what satisfies a best guess.

Scenario After the Fall

We do know that Cain and Abel were born to Adam and Eve after they were expelled from Eden. We also know that the two boys became mature enough to provide their own sacrifices.  A possible scenario for this time sequence could be as follows: Adam and Eve lived in the Garden for about 80 years before they sinned. After they were expelled, Cain and Abel were born, as well as some sisters. (Cain took one of his sisters as a wife when he had to leave home.) When Abel turned 30 years of age (the age at which one became a priest, Genesis 41:46; Luke 3:23), he began to offer sacrifices. Cain, the elder, had been conducting his own sacrifices since he had become 30, but he became jealous of his younger brother Abel when God accepted Abel’s sacrifices. Cain evidently became jealous because God did not favor the sacrifices of the firstborn as Cain thought He should. (Hebrews 11:4; Genesis 4:4) Let us suppose that Cain was about 40 when he killed Abel who was about 30. The Bible says that Seth was born to replace Abel when Eve was 130. This scenario allows enough time (50 years) for the birth of other offspring (females) as well as living in the Garden about 80 years before sin. Obviously, any number between 80 and 100 years could easily satisfy this scenario.

4. I am impressed that God continues to deal with man using increasing units of time. I have already mentioned the first four units of time God gave Israel. Now consider the last two:

the Sabbath day > forty days > 70 Sabbath years > 70 weeks > 70 Jubilee cycles > 70 centuries for sin.

If God designed the termination of the day/year method of reckoning because 70 Jubilee cycles were fulfilled in 1994, and if the remaining apocalyptic time-periods are reckoned as literal time, then the rest of the prophetic story fits very easily within a time-frame of 70 centuries or 7,000 years of sin. Is this another coincidence? If it is, it is certainly another marvelous one.

5. In the light of the above possibilities, this last point may be the best point of all. Read and consider three separate texts in Revelation before I present the last point. I find these three texts to be intimately related and they are highly important regarding the timing issue:

The first text comes from revelation 8: 2-6: “And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets… Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.”

The second text comes from Revelation 7:1-4: “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.” The last text comes from Revelation 10: 1-6: “Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion… Then the angel I has seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, ‘There will be no more delay!’”

In brief, these three texts align and say the following:

A. At a specific point in time, the seven angels who stand before God’s throne are given seven trumpets. (Revelation 8:2) Incidentally, I find these seven angels are given seven bowls of wrath later on.

B. As four of the seven angels are about to commence their destructive work, Jesus tells them to wait until His servants, the 144,000 are sealed. (Revelation 7:2)

C. When the 144,000 servants are sealed, Jesus cries out, “There will be no more delay!” and then the angels with the trumpets commence with their destructive works.

From these three selections of text, I conclude the following. In March 1994, at the close of the 70 Jubilee cycles, probationary time runs out. God’s patience with Earth has reached its limit. However, as Revelation 7: 2,3 indicates, a delay is mercifully announced. The angels who had been given power to harm the Earth are told to wait until the 144,000 are sealed. Later, Jesus shows the sealing is finished when He says, “There will be no more delay!” At that point, the censer in Revelation 8:5 is cast down (this event in Heaven is marked by lightening, thundering, rumblings and a global earthquake on Earth), then the angels begin to sound their trumpet judgments.

These texts bring us to the question of timing. When are the seven angels given the seven trumpets? (Revelation 8:2) Since the trumpet judgments are end-time events, this would suggest the angels are given their trumpets at the end-time. In addition to this, the trumpet judgments represent God’s wrath, although mixed with mercy. Is there a precedent within God’s mercy that is related to timing? Yes! God gave the antediluvians 120 years. God gave Nineveh 40 days to repent. God gave Israel a total of 30 Jubilee cycles with a special opportunity/warning during the last 70 weeks of that time-frame. Did God grant the Gentiles 40 Jubilee cycles? Perhaps so and if He did, then a total of 70 cycles of patience has been granted to mankind. Has the time come for God’s judgments? Yes! “If God does not send judgments soon,” evangelist Billy Graham has said, “He will owe Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.” Have God’s judgments started? No. Why? The Bible reveals that the angels have been told to wait until the 144,000 are sealed. (Revelation 7: 1-3) My point is that it seems fair to conclude that the seven angels were commissioned in 1994 for deeds of great destruction, but have been put on hold until the 144,000 are sealed. This means we are in a waiting period or a delay that could end any day now.

Summary

There is no text in the Bible that says 1994 is an important prophetic date. There is no text in the Bible that says all 18 time-periods are to be reckoned in day/year units or literal units or even a mixture of these two methods. God is the Author of prophecy and since God knows the end from the beginning, I conclude that all the prophetic pieces in the Bible must be correctly aligned to obtain a panoramic view of God’s plan for saving man. In fact, it is our privilege and responsibility to study these matters. I believe all 18 time-periods are important and when rightly assembled, produce a marvelous picture illustrating God’s tireless vigil over man. (Exodus 12:42) Do not be misled on this point, God is watching over us. Remember, with God, “Timing is everything!” In closing, notice these two verses: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Galatians 4:4, italics mine) “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5: 6, italics mine) This is the point: If Jesus were born on time and died on time, and then it seems logical that He will return on time. I believe so. “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 4,5)