The Time of the End

Many scholars believe God's timeline for humanity to exist on earth will be 7,000 years (the number 7 always represents "completeness" in scripture).  The idea is that the first 6,000 years are "man's time" and the final 1,000 years will be when Jesus rules on the earth during the millennium.  That theory is also supported because we know that "man's number is 6" (man was created on the sixth day and "the number of man" is referred to as 666 in Revelation 13:18).  Consequently, as we explore that concept, it would be interesting for us to know about when that 6,000 years will happen.

First, perhaps a pictorial representation of the idea is in order:

To know how near we are to the millennial Sabbath (the last 1,000 years since creation shown as the millennium above), we need to know approximately how much time has elapsed since man's creation.  Fortunately, God left us with that information in His divinely inspired Word.  There is a reason for everything in scripture, to include why God has revealed to us many of the dates and ages of biblical people and events...

1. Through careful study of scripture, we learn Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born (Genesis 5:3).  Subsequent verses provide us with the exact ages of all the patriarchs at the birth of their sons (Genesis 5:4-32).  That is amazing and, as noted, is given to us in scripture for a reason.  We also learn that Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters came on the earth (Genesis 7:6).  Thus, we know that 1,656 years transpired between when Adam was created and the Great Flood of Noah's time.

2. Genesis 11:10-32 tells us that 427 years passed between the Great Flood and the death of Terah, which was the time that Abram left Haran (cf. Acts 7:4).  Genesis 12:4 explains Abram was 75 years of age when he left Haran.

3. Genesis 17:1-10 reveals that Abraham was 99 years old when God made the covenant with him.  So, using Genesis 12:4 and Genesis 17:1, we deduce the number of years that transpired between then and when Abraham left Haran was 24 years (99 years - 75 years).

4. When we read Galatians 3:16-17 we learn 430 years that passed between the time of the covenant with Abraham and the Sinai covenant (cf. Exodus 12:40).

5. In 1 Kings 6:1 we learn that 480 years transpired between the Exodus and the foruth year of King Solomon when the temple began.  Scholars date the fourth year of Solomon to approximately 966 BC.

6. Now, we can add up all of those years (1,656 + 427 + 24 + 430 + 480 + 966) we arrive at 3983 BC.

Adding 6,000 years to then, plus a year to account for the one "zero year", we come to the year 2018. 

The year 2018 is calculated using another set of scriptures and what we know of history.  Namely that Israel became a nation again in 1948 and  Psalm 90:10 tells us that, “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength.”  Thus, the year 2018 is Israel's 70th birthday and matches the same calculation of 2018.

As we ponder this interesting information and continue to watch the news unfold, we should follow Christ's words in Luke 21:36, wherein Jesus told us, "Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

Related Links

Pray That You May Escape (book) 

Come, Lord Jesus (Maranatha!)

Reasons for a Pre-Trib Rapture