This is the third installment of the "Millennial-Day Theory" series entitled "The Millennial-Day Theory (part 3): Under the Law". This one will cover days 3 & 4 of God's Creation. You won't see a lot of dialogue from me on this part of this series. However, you will be given access to a wealth of knowledge that is the product of the research of people far more intelligent than I am with a few of my comments thrown in here and there.
Below is a chart of the time period that we will be discussing. This time period covers the 3rd and 4th millennia of history (2000 BC - 0000) and as it also corresponds with days 3 and 4 of Creation. Click the here for a more detailed view.
In case you missed the parts one and two of this series, then you probably feel totally lost at this point. Feel free to get up to speed by reading "The Millennial-Day Theory (part 1): What Time Is It?" and The Millennial-Day Theory (part 2): Confusion & Void...go ahead, we'll wait. :)
If you don't have time to read all of that, then let me give you a short synopsis:
Basically, the idea behind the "Millennial-Day Theory" got its start from Psalm 90:4 and 2nd Peter 3:8 and supported by several other bible passages. In short, both verses state that, from God's perspective, 1 day to Him is like 1,000 days to us. If you map out the course of history on a timeline based on events in the Bible (Yes, it's true. Click here for a short summary by David V. Bassett), then you come to the conclusion that the Earth is only about 6,000 years old. Take into account that our news headlines today are strikingly similar to the biblical prophecies concerning the end times and that, according to the book of Revelations, we still have the 1,000 year of Christ on our to-do list, then it stands to reason that this world only has approximately 7,000 years in total for its life (6,000 + 1,000 = 7,000...get it?).
Let's proceed...
Day 3
So, what happened on Day 3 of Creation? The Bible says:
"Then God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear'; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth'; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day" (Genesis 1:9-13).
So, what happened in the 3rd millennium? According to our 3rd and 4th millennium chart, The Great Flood of Noah's day was over and certainly the waters had been "gathered together" and "dry land appeared" by the beginning of the 3rd millennium. If you go back to our 1st and 2nd millennium chart, the flood started at approximately 2400 BC and was ongoing for about 1 year. How long did it take for all of the water to recede? I don't know for certain, but I don't think it would be too far-fetched to say that it was all settled by the beginning of the 3rd millennium.
And what did God tell, Noah and his family to do? "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1), and if you look at our 3rd and 4th millennium chart, that's exactly what happened. Furthermore, this was predicted by Genesis 1:11-12 where it talks about the Earth being filled grass, herbs, and fruit trees all after their own kind. God wanted a human race that would love and serve Him which would be indicative of an established specific religious system--a way that they may be spiritually "fruitful". This is evident through God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
It is from these covenants that leads us to the spiritual qualities of the number 3.
E.W. Bullinger from his book "Number in Scripture" writes:
Three is the number associated with the Godhead, for there are "three persons in one God."
[...]
In Genesis 18:2, the same three persons appear to Abraham. Abraham "looked, and, lo, THREE men stood by him." But verse 1 declares that it was "Jehovah appeared unto him." It is remarkable that Abraham addresses them both as one and as three. We read first that "they said," then "he said," and finally, in verses 13 and 17, 20, etc., "And the LORD said." The whole narrative, which begins with the appearance of the LORD, ends (v 33), "And the LORD went His way."
As we have in the number one the sovereignty of the one God; and in two the second person, the Son, the great Deliverer; so in "three" we have the third person, the Holy Spirit, marking and completing "the fulness of the Godhead." This word "fulness" is remarkable, occurring only three times, and in connection with the Three Persons of the Trinity:
* Ephesians 3:19, "The fulness of God.* Ephesians 4:13, "The fulness of Christ."* Colossians 2:9, "The fulness of the Godhead."
The "fulness" was manifested visibly in Christ, and is communicated by the Holy Spirit, for it is a fulness of which we receive by His mighty power (John 1:16).
[...]
The number three, therefore, must be taken as the number of Divine fulness. It signifies and represents the Holy Spirit as taking of the things of Christ and making them real and solid in our experience. It is only by the Spirit that we realise spiritual things. Without Him and His gracious operation, all is surface work: all is what a plane figure is to a solid (John 3:6). He it is who has wrought all our works in us, and by whom alone we can serve or worship (John 4:24).
[...]
But there is more in these "three measures of meal." We have them in the parable (Matt 13:33), pointing to Christ in all the perfection of His person and His work, when He said, "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God." There are different opinions about the "leaven," but what is the "meal." This is the point on which the interpretation turns. According to the popular interpretation, this pure "meal" is the corrupt mass of mankind, and the defiling "leaven" is the pure Gospel of Christ! Was there ever such an exhibition of man's perversity in calling sweet bitter, and bitter sweet? Was there ever such a proof that man's thoughts are contrary to God's? No! the "three measures of meal" point us to the perfections of Christ and the purity of His Gospel. And the hidden "leaven" points us to man's corruption of the Truth.
[...]
Hence the number three points us to what is real, essential, perfect, substantial, complete, and Divine. There is nothing real in man or of man. Everything "under the sun" and apart from God is "vanity." "Every man at his best estate is altogether vanity" (Psa 139:5,11, 62:9, 144:4; Eccl 1:2,4, 2:11,17,26, 3:19, 4:4, 11:8, 12:8; Rom 8:20).
Clearly, all of this points to the Gospel.
God established the Mosaic covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the 3rd millennium. All of this leads to the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Through them would come the lineage that produced Jesus Christ.
Also, the law was given to Moses and implemented in the 3rd millennium. The law is God's standard of perfection given to us. Without the law, none of us would know of our imperfection, sinfulness, and in need of reconciliation to a Holy God--in short, we would not know that we needed a Savior.
Please also watch the video of Chuck Missler's seminar on Day 3 of Creation entitled "The Book of Genesis: Session 4 Day 3". Fascinating material.
The 3rd day of Creation paints an accurate picture of what actually occurred in the 3rd millennium.
Day 4
"Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth'; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day" (Genesis 1:14-19).
Solomon's temple began being built at approximately 1000 BC which is there the 4th millennium begins. It's also after that time that the majority of the books of the prophets (Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Obadiah, & etc.) were written. Surely, those books of prophecy are the equivalent of lights in the heavens that "divide the day from the night" and serve as "signs and seasons, and for days and years". God used these same prophets to foretell perfectly events such as Jeremiah 25:11-12 which says that Babylon would rule Judah for 70 years. And what about Leviticus 26:44 which says that the people of Israel never be completely destroyed? Details of Jesus birth, lineage, life, and death were recorded in Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:1-2, Jeremiah 23:5, Isaiah 35:4-6, Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 9:6-7, Zechariah 11:12-13, Isaiah 50:6, Isaiah 53:4-6, Zechariah 12:10, Isaiah 53:9, and far too many more to list here and give their much due discussion. What else besides biblical prophecy from the Divine sheds light on future events into the unknown darkness of the future "to divide the light from the darkness"?
The "greater light to rule the day" is none other than our Lord Jesus by whose birth concluded the 4th millennium. Like the Sun, He is "the greater light" and the fulfillment of the law through which is the only way of salvation. "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12), Jesus said.
The "lesser light to rule the night" are Jesus' disciples. "You are the light of the world," (Matthew 5:14) Jesus said to His disciples. They and future Christians make up Christianity and the Church who are to "make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19) because the Lord has set us "as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth" (Acts 13:47).
I can't summarize any better than J.R. Church when he wrote, "Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, New Testament Christianity should reflect the glory of our Savior."
So, do the spiritual ramifications for the number 4 give us any more insight into Day 4 and the 4th millennium?
Bullinger writes:
[...] the number four is made up of three and one (3+1=4), and it denotes, therefore, and marks that which follows the revelation of God in the Trinity, namely, His creative works. [...] Creation is therefore the next thing--the fourth thing, and the number four always has reference to all that is created. It is emphatically the number of Creation; of man in his relation to the world as created[.] It is the number of things that have a beginning, of things that are made, of material things, and matter itself.
[...]
The fourth day saw the material creation finished (for on the fifth and sixth days it was only the furnishing and peopling of the earth with living creatures). The sun, moon, and stars completed the work, and they were to give light upon the earth which had been created, and to rule over the day and over the night (Gen 1:14-19).
[...]
In Genesis 2:10, 11, the one river of Paradise was parted, and became into four heads, and "the fourth river is Euphrates." Here, as so often elsewhere, the four is made up of 3 + 1. For three of these rivers are now unnamed, while one is still known by its original name "Euphrates."
Four marks division also. For the river was "parted." It is the first number which is not a "prime," the first which can be divided. It is the first square number also, and therefore it marks a kind of completeness as well, which we have called material completeness.
In [Gen 3:22-24] the cherubim are first mentioned. These are four, and they have to do with creation always. They are first seen here, keeping, i.e., guarding (Gen 2:15), the Tree of Life, and thus preserving the blessed hope of immortality for creation. They are next seen in connection with atonement, showing the only ground on which creation could hope for the end of its groaning. They are seen on the veil and on the mercy-seat, binding up the hope of creation with Him who is called "the Hope of Israel." So that there is no hope for a groaning creation apart from atonement, apart from Christ, or apart from Israel. In the Apocalypse the same four cherubim are called [...] "the living creatures" (Rev 4). These announce the Coming One; these sing of creation and of Him who created all things, and for whose pleasure they were created (Rev 4:11). Whenever they speak it is in connection with the earth. These call forth and announce the judgments or plagues (Rev 6) which issue on the ejection of the Usurper from the earth, and the destruction of them which destroy the earth, and in the exaltation and enthronement of Him when all the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of our Lord and His anointed, and when the LORD God omnipotent reigneth.
Hence it was that these four cherubic forms were placed in the Signs of the Zodiac, and so placed that they divide it into four equal parts, thus uniting in one the twelve signs which set forth the blessed hope of a groaning creation, which waits for the Promised Seed of the woman to come and crush the serpent's head and bring in universal blessing (See The Witness of the Stars, also by E.W. Bullinger).
The number 4 has a solid connection with the hope of salvation (atonement)! I find it interesting also that Bullinger writes that the number 4 is the first number that is not a prime, the first number that can be divided, and that it is the first square number. By 4 (Creation) not being a prime (like 1, 2, or 3) makes it subordinate to the prime numbers. By 4 being a number which can be divided speaks to our own divisions such as Jew and Gentile, believers and non-believers, & etc. The completeness of 4 that Bullinger speaks about seems incomplete to me. While it is a square number, it is still a square number of the number of "division" which is the number 2 (as you'll remember from the previous article). If so, then that should speak volumes about the fallen state of man without salvation. However, that is just my humble assessment.
Regardless, I think we can say with certainty that the biblical account of the 4th day of Creation accurately summarizes the events of the 4th millennium. The spiritual attributes attached to the number 4 also provide supporting evidence to the Divine nature of this prediction.
Please also watch the video of Chuck Missler's seminar on Day 4 of Creation entitled "The Book of Genesis: Session 5 Day 4" and check out the next installment of this series: "The Millennial-Day Theory (part 4): The Time of the Messiah".
Later...
Watchman
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