(93) Timelines of the Ages

Lesson 92 talks about when the end of the world may happen.  A huge discussion was started about the terms "age" and "world" and the ideas of preterism versus futurism.  That sparked a few more discussions.  This lesson will show you the idea of what the ages of mankind, Israel, and covenants all look like on a chronological scale.  Below is the timeline of man's existence.  Based on lesson 92, which is based on scripture, the time of man's reign is 6000 years.

The Main Black Line:  As you see there is "time" before man.  Only God is eternal.  All else was created.  However at the right hand end of the timeline you see an eternal future.  This is the promised eternal life that Jesus stated in John 3:16 and is a common theme in all of Christianity.  The rest on the line just shows years in 1000 year increments.  Hence, a total of 7000 years that includes the Reign of Christ.

The Blue Boxes:  These just show important historical events of mankind that deal with Biblical concepts.  The first set of numbers in each box is the year since the creation of man.  The second number is the modern acceptance of a calendar.  The Second Advent (2nd Coming of Christ) is not on here due to space, but it would be at 6000.  The "rapture" is also not on here because it could be anytime between the creation of Israel in 1948 and the end around 2063.

The Red Range:  Two major covenants deal with the destruction of man.  Perhaps the Adamic Covenant should have been placed at the beginning of this one and may change given any more thought.  After God spared Noah He promised not to destroy the Earth with water, but the next time (promised inferred) by fire.  The world will be destroyed by fire.  Maybe this is how the New Heavens and New Earth will be started.  Once the old goes away, the new will come.  Maybe the destruction by fire will be after the 1000 year reign; for now it will stay there.

The Blue Range:  There are three ways that God gave mankind that dealt with the shedding of blood to save the relationship between Himself and us.  The Abrahamic Covenant had man circumcised. This circumcision was a cutting of the flesh.  With the flesh cut, man would rely upon God.  And with that God counted Abraham as righteous.  If man could have kept faith there would not have been any need for anything else.  But the Israelites would turn away from this covenant.  They would fall into captivity.  But after 400 years (210 actually in the land of Egypt) God called them out.  He then gave them a new covenant, the Ten Commandments.  The shedding of blood would now be of a spotless lamb; Abraham saw this.  It was created to show that man by himself could not get the relationship back.  The Law could never be kept perfectly, hence the shedding of innocent blood was still needed.  If man could have kept the Law then no killing would have been needed.  Jesus was sent because the Law would not be sufficient since man distorted the Law.  Pharisees and teachers of the Law created religion, Matthew 23.  When Jesus laid down His life and shed His blood, the Law would pass and usher in the time of Grace; Abraham saw this too.  Once Jesus returns there will be no need for Grace for all who are alive in Him shall be in Paradise for 1000 years and eventually with Him in "heaven".

The Black Range:  This is the timeline of Israel.  

1.   It was first created when Jacob's name was changed to Israel somewhere around 1720 BC.
2.   They were taken into "captivity" for 210 years, 1692-1482 BC.
3.   The Creation of Israel (2nd time, judges and kings) from Moses to Jehoiachin, 1482-587 BC, during this time period the Temple was built.
4.   The Babylonian Captivity for 70 years, 587-517 BC.
5.   The Pax Romana, Rome and the Greeks spread the culture, Israel came home and was allowed to be self autonomous in many ways, 517 BC- 70 AD.  During this time period a second Temple was created, although the spiritual Temple was established.
6.   The Gentile Captivity (Age of the Gentiles), 7 gentile kingdoms will control Israel, 70-1948 AD  see Lesson 92 for list.
7.   The creation of Israel (again, the 3rd time), Jews will return until the end, 1948-2070 AD.  During this time period, a third Temple will be created.

When it all comes down to it the words age and covenant, age and world, age and eons, are all very similar.  There are many ages.  There are many covenants.  They can overlap, not a good thing sometimes.  To understand which term is being used, you have to look at the whole passage and the context it is being used.  It should be literal as much as possible unless it is being used in prophecy or poetry then the possibility of imagery could play a factor.

(92) When is the end of the world?

First and foremost, no one knows when the end of the world is.  Jesus said no one knows the hour nor the day.  As a small joke though, it does not say no one knows the year.  The only thing we can do in this case is make our best educated guess.  Even then there can be so much confusion it may not be worth worrying about.  As long as people live the best way that they can and accept the fact that God came down as a man to live in our world and died so that we may have ever lasting life, then it doesn't matter when the world will end.  Stay clear of people who claim to know when the end will come and who stand by their predictions wholeheartedly even after they were wrong.  Even the prophets who were told straight from God about the coming of the Messiah were not told when it would happen but what to look for.

With that said, can there be educated guesses that will be pretty near correct?  Sure.  This will attempt to be one of those.  This is not to proclaim that this is 100% correct.  Sure does work though.

How do we begin?  Oddly enough, we start finding the end at the very beginning.  In Genesis chapter one we are given the basis for mankind, even its term of existence.  God created all things in 6 days and then rested.  So in essence all of creation was done in 7 days, hence this is why we use 7 days in a week.  Why is this important?  It sets up all we need to know for this topic.

There is an idea of how numbers mean something.  Some call it numerology.  In the Hebrew language every mark, every letter, and every number have symbols and meanings.  Such as the letter "aleph" (Greek=alpha or our letter "a") stands for ox, strength, and the number 1,  All the other letters do the same thing.  The second letter "bet" is also the number 2.  The fifth letter is "hey", or the letter "h".  It can mean to reveal.  "Hey" also stands for the number five.  As a number, 5 stands for grace.  This is just to show you how things work.  Let's look at the numbers 6 and 7.  The number 6 is known as the number of man.  The number 7 is known as the number of God.  Notice on the 6th day, man was created and on the 7th day God rested and that day was supposed to be given to God, known as the Sabbath.

Now let's take another piece of scripture, 2 Peter 3:3-8 says:

• First, understand this: during the Last Days, scoffers will come, following their own desires and asking, “Where is this promised ‘coming’ of his?  For our fathers have died, and everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation.”  But, wanting so much to be right about this, they overlook the fact that it was by God’s Word that long ago there were heavens, and there was land which arose out of water and existed between the waters, and that by means of these things the world of that time was flooded with water and destroyed.  It is by that same Word that the present heavens and earth, having been preserved, are being kept for fire until the Day of Judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.  Moreover, dear friends, do not ignore this: with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.

Peter is telling us about the last days.  Many during this time will make fun of Christians who believe in the return of Jesus.  They will not use scripture to understand the universe.  They will deny that there will be a day of judgement in the end.  Peter gives us insight to when that time is.  One day is LIKE a thousand years. He is telling us that the days are symbols of years since he uses the word "like".  He is quoting Psalms 90:4 to show his point.

Now let's start putting it together.  There are 6 days for man, 1 for God.  Or in other words, 6000 years of man. God will have 1000 years and will cause rest for the earth, based on Genesis, Psalms, and Peter.  There will be 7000 years of existence for the earth.  If we looked at genealogy of man, reconciling the written secular history of man and what the Bible states by giving genealogies, the creation of man happened somewhere around 3930 BC.  Doing the math, 6000 - 3930 = 2070.  By this calculation the return of Jesus that sets up the 1000 years of rest would be around 2070 AD.

As of this writing that means Jesus came somewhere between 2016 and 2020 years ago.  His death would be somewhere around 30 AD or so.  Jesus said He would be in the tomb for 2 days and on the 3rd day rise again.  Using the number equivalency that Peter gave us that means 2000 years will go by symbolically and on the third day (one day after the 2000 years is over starts the next thousand years, hence the 3rd day).  Sometime 2000 years after Jesus dies the next thousand years starts.  But when is that?

Another prophecy states that the end cannot happen until Israel is in the hands of the Jews, Luke 21:24 says:

• Some will fall by the edge of the sword, others will be carried into all the countries of the Goyim, and Yerushalayim will be trampled down by the Goyim until the age of the Goyim has run its course.

The Goyim is "gentile" in Hebrew.  Gentiles (non-Jews) will take over Jerusalem and will have a given time period to do so.  Once the gentiles are out of the land then the end is near.  Who are the gentiles?  Rome had taken over the Palestine area many years before Jesus but allowed the area to be ruled locally with some autonomy.  Herod was allowed to be king of the Jews.  The Jews were allowed their own courts and so forth.  But in 70 AD Rome destroyed Jerusalem.  This ushers in the time of the gentiles.  This is after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Doing the math, 2000+70= 2070.

For historical purposes here is a list of the "time of the gentiles":

1. Rome 70-380 AD or so, depending on which history book
2. Byzantine 380-630 AD
3. Caliphates 630-1099 AD
4. Crusaders of Europe 1099-1187 AD
5. Caliphates 1187-1486
6. Ottoman Empire 1486-1917
7. British Mandate 1917-1948

Things really started to change in 1917.  In 1917, WWI ended and Britain gained control over the land through a League of Nations mandate.  A British Jew named Arthur Balfour, with the help of Walter Rothschild, came up with a plan to rebuild a homeland for the Jews in a movement called Zionism.  The plan was not implemented right away.  In 1948, after WWII had ended the Balfour Declaration, sanctioned by the new UN, created the state of Israel.  But Jews were highly outnumbered by Palestinians at first.  In 1950, Jewish Parliament passed the The Law of Return, officially calling all Jews back to Israel, setting up prophetically the end of the time of the gentiles.  Jesus said His return will be like the times of Noah.  Using the language that God gave Noah, man's days were numbered; 120 years until the promised destruction of the earth.  Noah had 120 years to preach about the end  and prepare for the day (Genesis 6).  After the official call for the return of Jewish people from around the world,  Jews have 120 years to return to Israel before the great destruction like Noah, this time by fire.  Doing the math again, 1950+120= 2070.

For the end to come though, the Jews have to be in control of their land.  This is why satan has twice caused the Jews to be dispersed into the world.  Once through the Babylonian Captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome.  Three times they have called the land "home".  The first time they were led out of Egypt into the land.  The second time Nebuchadnezzar let them come home. and the third time is the charm, after Hitler and the Holocaust.  After each disaster and captivity, the Jews have always returned by the grace of God.  Twice the Temple has been built and twice it has been destroyed.  Prophecy says the Jews will build a 3rd Temple; third time is the charm.  But to do that they have to be in control over their land.  They couldn't do that until recent history.  It will happen now.  When will this happen?  The best guess is 2063 AD.  Daniel says there will be 490 years of prophecy. 

• Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and for your holy city for putting an end to the transgression, for making an end of sin, for forgiving iniquity, for bringing in everlasting justice, for setting the seal on vision and prophet, and for anointing the Especially Holy Place. Know, therefore, and discern that seven weeks [of years] will elapse between the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until an anointed prince comes. It will remain built for sixty-two weeks [of years], with open spaces and moats; but these will be troubled times. Then, after the sixty-two weeks, Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. The people of a prince yet to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but his end will come with a flood, and desolations are decreed until the war is over. He will make a strong covenant with leaders for one week [of years]. For half of the week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the grain offering. On the wing of detestable things the desolator will come and continue until the already decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.

Weeks here is symbolic of the amount of years.  He said there will be 70 weeks left to end sin. The Messiah will bring in peace and forgiveness. 70 weeks of years means 490 years total. The second temple would take 49 years (7 weeks of years) to build. Then Jesus will come 434 years later (62 weeks of years). These two timed events equal 69 weeks of years (483 years).  Daniel then says the Messiah will be cut off and all the world has to go through its turmoil and destructive nature.  Then the last week of years will happen.  That means 483 years will be used to prophecy the coming of the Christ, then He will come and then will have nothing to do with Messianic prophecy until the end. The last 7 years of Daniel's prophecy is added for the end of times.  This is what many will say when the rapture and the 3rd Temple will happen.  The Christians will be taken out of the way.  In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, the man who leads people away from the truth (the anti-Christ) will get power but only when that "which is standing in his way" is removed.  What stands in his way?  The Holy Spirit.  That means the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth and the only way to do that is when the Christians who are filled with the Spirit have been removed, hence the so-called rapture. The anti-Christ will have those 7 years to wreck havoc upon the earth while portraying to be a man of peace.  After that day of the rapture the 7 years of prophecy that are left will start.

Jesus one day went into the Temple and read from Isaiah 61 which says:

• The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me, because Adonai has anointed me to announce good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim freedom to the captives, to let out into light those bound in the dark; to proclaim the year of the favor of Adonai and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,

But Jesus did not read this whole passage.  He stopped at "to proclaim the year of the favor of Adonai"- Luke 4: 18-19.  He stopped because He knew the day of vengeance was still yet to come. He said He fulfilled that passage.  But He only fulfilled part of it because the rest was yet to come.

As of this writing it is 2016.  An educated guess means there are only 47 more years until we see the greatest destruction of all.  Until then there will be wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, earthquakes, and other disasters and they will get worse and worse.  Christians will be saved from the wrath of God just as in the days of Noah.

Remember you heard it here first.