In order to understand prophecy, we need to understand that the Lord has a 7000 year plan and he has given us pictures in the Scriptures to instruct us about it. We know that when God created the heavens and the earth he did it in seven, twenty-four hour days. These days are not ages as is taught by people who believe in theistic evolution, but a “yom” which is a twenty-four hour period.
We have six days and then a Sabbath rest by the Lord. This pattern is a blueprint for understanding prophecy and the biblical festivals. So let’s look at some of the many pictures found in Scripture that illustrate this fact. We will start in Genesis 1.1 where we find that there are seven words in Hebrew in the first verse. This alludes to the seven thousand years. The fourth and sixth word is the “alef and the tav” which is the first and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet and is pronounced as “et” in English. This word symbolizes God and the Messiah. Revelation 1.8 says that the Messiah is “the alpha and omega” which is the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet, but in Hebrew it is “alef and tav” and that has greater meaning. He is saying he is the first and the last and he is the Word of God which uses every letter in between.
Now, why the fourth and sixth word in Genesis 1? Because the Messiah will have two comings, the first on the fourth day (4000 years) and the second after the sixth day (6000) years. There is much more to this but we have to move on. In another picture, we know that Noah was 600 years old (6000 years) when judgment came. Next, at the beginning of the Sabbath day, the Lord’s day (7th day=seven thousandth year) the Temple is cleansed by the priests. The Sabbath starts out in darkness (evening and morning=one day) and cleansed.
Likewise, after six thousand years, the Lord returns for believers at the Natzal (the gathering, Rapture) on the first day of the new millennium year 6001, or Rosh Ha Shanah, and a time of darkness begins called the Birth-pains of the Messiah, or Tribulation. Next in 2 Chr 9.18, we have King Solomon, whose name means “peace” and we find that there are six steps (6000 years) till you get to the throne (the Kingdom). There are two lions also symbolizing the tribe of Judah.
In Exo 24.13-18 we find that Moses was in the cloud six days (6000 years), but on the seventh (7000 year) he was called to God’s presence. In the same way, after six thousand years, we will be called into God’s presence also. Ex 21 declares that all slaves will be set free after six years. Matthew 17.1 says that after six days (6000 years) Yeshua took some of the Talmidim (disciples) up (Natzal/Rapture) on a mountain (kingdom) and was glorified. This speaks of the coming of the Messianic Kingdom after six days (6000 years).
Next we see that in Gen 29.31 through 30.21 we have another picture of the seven thousand year plan of God with the birth of the first seven children of Jacob and Leah. First, we have Reuben (see, a son ) and then Simeon (to hear/obey). Then we come to Levi (to join) and then Judah (praise).
These first four are also a picture of the steps of Emunah (faith) when we come to the Lord. We see the son and hear and obey. Then we are joined and become a praise. Remember, Yeshua came in year 4000 from the tribe of Judah. After the fourth child (4000 years), she stops bearing children, which pictures when Israel was cast out of the land in 70 AD. This brings us to Issachar (my hiring) and shows the state of the Jewish people in the world as servants. Next we have Zebulon (to dwell with) and he symbolizes that after six thousand years we will dwell with the Lord. Now we come to the seventh child Dinah (judgment) and she is a female and refers to the Bride of Messiah sitting in judgment in the Kingdom.
Speaking of brides, we know that Jacob worked for seven years to marry Rachel. And speaking of weddings, we have another picture of the seven thousand year plan in John 1.19 through 2.1 where the authorities confront John the Baptist (v 19). Then in v 29 it says “the next day” (day 2) and he saw Yeshua coming to him. The next day (v 35=3rd day) John calls Yeshua the “Lamb of God” and this brings us up to the fourth day in v 43 where Nathanael reveals Yeshua as the King of Israel, which is exactly what Yeshua did when he came “on the fourth day.”
So far we have four days and that brings us up to John 2.1 where it says that “on the third day”, which means the third day after the fourth day of John 1.43, there was a wedding in Galilee. So, this is really the seventh day (7000 years) and Galilee was a type of heaven (Gal=circle = eternity and it is in the north) and a there will be a wedding in heaven after six days called the Wedding of Messiah.
In 2 Kings 11.1-16 we come to the coronation of Joash. But before that can happen we have a seven year fight for power. Athaliah (v 1), whose name is “God has constrained” (Satan), begins to kill the royal offrspring (like Pharaoh, Haman, Herod, etc). Joash (type of Yeshua) is hidden in the attic of the house of the Lord (Heaven) for six years (6000 years). In the seventh year (v 4) he appears in the Temple and was made the rightful king (v 12) and Athaliah killed ( v 16).
We find another picture in John 11.1-46 where we have the raising of Lazarus. Yeshua hears that Lazarus is sick and waits two days (v 2-6). He then departs and arrives after Lazarus has been dead four days (v 17) and then raises him from the dead (after six days total). Prophetically, after six days (6000) there will be a resurrection of the dead on Rosh Ha Shanah.
In 2 Samuel 13.1 through 18.18 we have a seven year drama and tragedy played out in the family of David. Amnon (type of Adam) takes what is forbidden and rapes his sister. His brother Absalom (a type of the false Messiah) plots against him for two years and has him killed (13.28-29). Absalom flees to Geshur for three years. David longs to see Absalom again and he is brought back to Jerusalem and did not see David for two years. This is a total of seven years.
Soon after this Absalom rebels against his father and is caught in a tree by his hair (Absalom’s pride-14.25-26) and is killed. Another allusion to the six thousand years is found in the whole Torah itself. There are 600,000 letters in the first five books of Moses and we know from Exodus 12.37 that 600,000 men departed Egypt in the Exodus. This alludes to the fact that after six thousand years there will another Exodus, this time to the Promised Land in Heaven.
Another picture of this resurrection is found in the resurrection of Yeshua himself. He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey on Nisan 10 and resurrects seven days later on the 17th of Nisan. In Jude 14 it says that Enoch, the seventh (7000 years) from Adam, saw the second coming saying “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones.” These are just a few of the pictures of the pictures of God’s plan found in the Scriptures.
Hopefully, this will give you a better understanding of prophecy and opens up new avenues for you to explore. Knowing God’s plan and how it relates to the festivals will keep you from being deceived by many teachers that are out there today. One even predicted the start of the Birth-pains/Tribulation in March, 2015. Our goal is to give you a simple understanding of God’s plan and the festivals that will keep you from making such mistakes or falling prey to others that teach them.
Sources:
*Study notes on The 7000 Year Plan tape series by Hatikva Ministries
*Personal notes
*NASB
*Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet, Mesorah Pub.
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