Conclusion to the Great Week of Time Issues

Ever since creation a timeless God placed this world under several timing systems. The sun and moon cycles laid out time as signs, seasons, days and years (Genesis 1:14). They became communication tools, a way to schedule sacred events with God and agricultural way marks.

Outside of these celestial objects God set a divine clock called a week. It was assigned a number – seven. All of God’s special dealings with mankind were based on that number. The Genesis account adds something quite critical, which is often overlooked.

The sequence and phrase “evening and morning” (not morning and evening) set apart how the “day” was to be timed or set. But, this characterizes far more than a 24-hour cycle! When “evening and morning” are used with a number, i.e., “the evening and morning were the fourth day,” it always means it is associated with some great sacred time.

To the Jewish people in their amazing theocracy, it set the way their great annual feasts were observed. Especially was this related to the Day of Atonement. The 2300 “evening and morning” of Daniel 8:14 specifically related to 2300 Atonement evenings and mornings. Thus, 2300 years.

What sacred sevens were set in motion by the creation “evenings and mornings?” It symbolized every block of seven that man was to observe.

•  7 days – a simple week

•  7 weeks of years – represented by a week

•  7 – 7 sabbatical years – a Jubilee cycle, the fiftieth being a Jubilee year

•  7 millenniums – the longest seven that the Bible can draw upon

This is why Peter in an endearing way said, “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” II Peter 3:8. He told us to be fully cognizant of the “extremes” of time that God established for planet earth – one day = one thousand years. A timeless God deals with man within the framework of those extremes.

The millennium – the longest application to the sevens – foretells God’s “time” He assigned to this sinful world. It sets the parameters of His mercy, His redemptive plan and when the eighth will occur. The eighth is always a beginning again. The seventh millennium is mentioned in Revelation 20 as when Satan is inactive or bound AND the period of time the saints reign with Christ. Then the sacred record defines the death of the wicked – the “second death” (Revelation 20:14).

What follows? Amazing! The creation of a new heaven and a new earth (the old ceases). That is a beginning again. In the great theme of time, the seventh millennium has now passed and the eighth is ushered in. That means that prior to the last or seventh were six millenniums – and that cycle is called “The Great Week of Time.”

From fulfilling prophecy to evidence in the scientific world, six thousand years are coming to a close. The great eschaton is imminent. This startling truth is one of the myriad of facts urgently beckoning this world to come to the cross of Jesus. God’s timer is about to “dong.” Only, it will be an earth-shaking trumpet, declaring, “I have come to take home the faithful.”

To be called a Christian is a privilege. Jesus’ call comes only to those who see “Christian” as honoring Him in every way.

God’s love is limitless and eternal. His mercy, however, along with His longsuffering, has a time limit. That is why the Great Week of Time is a vital truth to grasp. It defines the amazing period in which to prepare for eternity. When the fullness of time comes, justice will strike with no turning back.

For those who have accepted the work of grace on their hearts, eternal rest and joy follow.