Passover to Tabernacles - Part Thirteen Feb 13, 2022 by: John Herbert | Series: Passover to Tabernacles Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T010_20220213.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Lk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:……28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot:……. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. We will continue to look at the closeness of the day when the Son of Man will be revealed. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday February 13th 2022 Passover to Tabernacles Part 13 1). Lk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:……28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot:……. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. We had seen last time that the Lord had spoken directly to the Jewish people concerning the days of Noah, likening those days to ‘the days of the Son of Man’, the days of His return. And in this reference to the days of Noah is both a warning and a promise for the Jews. A warning, concerning that which is pictured through the flood – Lk 17:31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. A warning, seen with additional detail in – Mt 24:15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. But along with the warning also came the promise – Ge 7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. 7 So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. It was the promise of Divine protection through this time, that we had also seen through Cain, Joseph’s brothers and the famine, the burning bush, and the Exodus, along with other types from Daniel, all presenting the same picture. The Jewish people would go through a time of extraordinary persecution, the like of which has never been seen before, but the nation would be Divinely protected, it would never be destroyed. a). We had also seen that the Lord spoke directly to His Church, even before the Church existed, to give us a warning concerning ‘the day when the Son of Man is revealed’. And to give this warning the Lord referred to ‘the days of Lot’. And what we had seen was the stark contrast between the experience of Lot and his wife and that of Abraham, prior to the destruction of the cities of the plain. b). And that pictured here, along with commentary verses on one taken and one left behind, has shown the separation between the faithful and the unfaithful Christian at the Lord’s Judgment Seat. A separation also taught in the parable of the dragnet, the wise and foolish virgins, the faithful and unfaithful servant, and the wedding guest. As well as other places in the Scriptures. c). And the separation seen through these types, had been foreshadowed in the foundation type given in Genesis Chapter 2 – Ge 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And we had also seen through the type of Abraham’s oldest servant’s search for a bride for Abraham’s son Isaac from among Abraham’s family, that once this search was completed, the oldest servant left immediately with Rebekah and her ‘maids’ – Ge 24:61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed. 62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. And as we look at this search for the bride in the type, we see that it only takes place following the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis Chapter 22, and after the death of Sarah in Genesis Chapter 23, but before Abraham marries Keturah in Genesis Chapter 25. d). Within the antitype then, the Holy Spirit’s search for the Bride for Christ began following the Lord’s death and resurrection and the setting aside of Israel and must be completed before God the Father remarries Israel beyond the end of the Tribulation. In fact, to be more precise still about the timing, this search must be completed and the Bride identified, before the events of the Tribulation can begin – Ru 3:18 Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” 4:1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. It is only after Ruth had been identified on Boaz’s threshing floor and her reason for being there was known, that Boaz went the next day to redeem the inheritance for her. And this same chronology is seen in the Book of the Revelation – Re 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band……………..6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. The complete Church, all Christians from this dispensation, both the faithful pictured through Abraham and the unfaithful pictured through Lot and his wife, are seen in the presence of the Lord as Judge in Revelation Chapter 1. The Judgment of all Christians is then shown in Chapters 2-3, where the Bride, those who are overcomers, are identified. e). Following the Bride being identified, and other actions related to this identification seen in Revelation Chapters 4-5, the seals on the seven sealed scroll then begin to be opened in Revelation Chapter 6. f). The opening of the seals on the seven sealed scroll, begin the time of Jacob’s trouble, Daniel’s seventieth week, but that written in the scroll is also the terms of the redemption of the inheritance. The time of Jacob’s trouble and the redemption of the inheritance take place thorough the same events within the same seven-year timeframe. g). All these things must come to pass exactly as God has said or else that contained in the Scriptures is a lie. 2). Ex 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. The very foundation of Scripture sets out six days of restorative work, the restoration of the ruined creation, in anticipation of a seventh day of rest when a Man and a Woman would rule together. And we have learned from this, that this timeframe is the established, Divinely perfect way that a ruined creation is to be restored, if rulership is to follow in the Seventh Day. There can be no better way in which this could have been done. a). Man, God’s creation, created to rule, was also ruined, through Satan’s deception in the Garden. Consequently, if Man is to be restored from his ruined condition to fulfill God’s purpose for his creation, then there must be six days of work, followed by a Seventh Day in which rulership will take place. It cannot be any other way. And this is exactly what we see as Matthew Chapter 16 ends and Chapter 17 begins – Mt 16:28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”…………. 17:1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. We have seen in previous studies, that time, from God’s perspective is relative. Hence the reason why Peter, James, and John could witness Christ coming in His Kingdom at least two thousand years before the event will be realized. The relativity of time with respect to God’s use of it, is also seen in the six days in Genesis Chapter 1, where each day is described as ‘the evening and the morning’, what we would see to be a twenty-four-hour period. b). However, God can take ‘the evening and the morning’ a twenty-four-hour period from Genesis and change the time in terms of duration, while still remaining true to His Divinely perfect pattern set in the foundation of six days of work and a Seventh Day of Rest – 2 Pe 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Peter’s comments here have to do with the Lord’s return, comments which are made in connection with those who had challenged this event through the question, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’ And the Holy Spirit has made it perfectly clear, through Peter, that one day in Genesis, each day from day one to day six, with respect to ruined Man should be understood as a thousand years in duration. And that one-thousand years is as one day in Genesis, the Seventh Day, the Day of Rest. Seven one-thousand-year days c). We are told categorically then, that to complete His restorative work with regards to fallen Man, dealing with the Gentiles, the Jews and Christians, God will work for six one-thousand-year ‘days’ and having completed that work He will then rest from it during a seventh one-thousand-year day. d). And this is something, according to the beginning of 2 Peter 3:8, that those receiving his letter had begun to forget. And Peter’s words to them should ring loudly in our ears as well, ‘beloved, do not forget this one thing…..’ – Nu 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? For those of Peter’s day, as with us today, it makes no difference where we think we are in terms of time, it is where God knows that we are that matters. Clock watching, calendar searching, or number crunching is completely futile. If God had wanted us to know the exact year of the Lord’s return to mark it on our calendar, then He would have told us. The fact that He hasn’t speaks volumes – Mk 13:32 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, [if He were not the Father] but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. The Lord’s return for His Church is not a matter of calculation, it is a matter of faith. It always has been and always will be. e). If we think about our calendar for a moment, we will realize that all calendars used throughout the world have been created by the wisdom of men, and that’s probably all that needs to be said. f). And with that in mind, what we do know, from the Scriptures, is that there are six thousand years, six days, during which God has chosen to work. And we know that these six thousand years have been divided into three dispensations of two thousand years, two days, each. g). The first dispensation, the first two thousand years, two days, has taken us from Adam to Abraham. And there is no doubt that this time is completed. h). The second two thousand years, two days, take us from Abraham to Christ’s Kingdom, and Daniel has provided us with the detail for understanding this. Let’s begin in – Da 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord had said through Jeremiah – Jer 25:12 ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the LORD; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation………. 29:10 For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. This is what Daniel had understood, and from v12 and other related Scripture beginning with Moses, Daniel knew what had to be done next – Da 9:3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession….. Daniel began to confess his own sins and the sins of his people. i). There are a couple of things we will note here. Firstly, that that seen at the end of the Babylonian captivity recorded by Jeremiah and Daniel foreshadows what will take place at the end of the Tribulation, for which the Babylonian captivity is a type. And secondly, which is pertinent to our study today, is the precision of God’s timing. God had allotted a full seventy years for the Babylonian captivity, and when those seventy years were completed, things changed in accordance with that which God had said. j). We also know that God took Daniel beyond the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity to show him the end of the matter – Da 9:23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: 24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” Although the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity had run their course, and Daniel was offering repentance on behalf of himself and his people, God then made clear to him that the end of the Babylonian captivity was not the time when God would restore the Kingdom to Israel but foreshadowed the time when God would. Nonetheless, we will notice the specificity of God’s timing in this. k). There were to be seventy sevens, four hundred and ninety years, to be counted from a specific point in time, the command to restore and build Jerusalem, that would culminate in the nation’s complete restoration and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. And these four hundred and ninety years form the concluding years of the two thousand years, the two days, allotted to the Jewish dispensation. And we know from Daniel that Messiah was ‘cut off’ seven years short of the full four hundred and ninety years. And because of this, in terms of the dispensation of the Jews, one thousand one hundred and ninety-three years have been completed thus far, with seven yet remaining. And again, we will notice the specificity of God’s timing for these four hundred and ninety years. l). Once Messiah had been ‘cut off’, the Jewish people were also set aside, and that seen in Genesis Chapter 24, following the death of Sarah and before Abraham’s marriage to Keturah is set in motion. m). This is also seen through Joseph taking a Gentile bride, Asenath, following his release from prison but before he dealt with his brothers during the seven years of famine. And again, through Moses, who took a Gentile bride, Zipporah, after he had been rejected by the Jewish people when he first made himself known to them but before he returned to deliver them from Egypt. n). On the Day of Pentecost in 33AD the Church came into being and the search for the Bride for Christ began, marking the beginning of this present dispensation. A dispensation that will take two thousand years, two days, to complete. On that Day in 33AD, two thousand and seven years of Man’s Day remained to be completed. The seven years, Daniel’s seventieth week, still awaits its beginning and conclusion, but how much of the other two thousand years is still left? An impossible question to answer except to say, there can’t be much, and we have already seen how very specific God is with His timing - Heb 10:37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Jn 16:16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” From God’s perspective, the two thousand years of this dispensation is just, ‘a little while’. It remains ‘a little while’ and the Lord will not tarry. And whether we are focused on the coming Kingdom, or our next vacation is of no matter whatsoever. When the clock strikes midnight the Lord will return to call us into His presence and EVERYTHING will change, in complete agreement with what is recorded in the Scriptures. 3). Lk 21:24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. This verse describes what will happen at the mid-point in Daniel’s seventieth week. But for the Jewish people to be cast out of their land in fulfillment of what is prophetically recorded here, they had to be in the land first. And this was not possible between 70AD and May 1948. a). Only when a remnant of the Jewish people began to return to the land and declared themselves to be a national entity could the events in Luke 21:24 become possible. b). On the one hand, the Jews have no business being back in their land because it has been accomplished by their own efforts, completely apart from any action on God’s part. But on the other hand, God has allowed this remnant to return to the land so that the events of Luke 21:24 will be fulfilled. No doubt we will recognize the significance of this return with respect to the completion of the two thousand years of this dispensation. c). Then we might also consider this – Ge 19:4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” Immediately prior to the destruction of the cities of the plain, homosexual activity was at fever pitch among the inhabitants of Sodom. A state of affairs instigated by fallen angels, whose ‘strange flesh’, angelic flesh, the men of Sodom desired to the point of violence on this one particular night. No more needs to be said about this other than we just need to look at the world in which we live. d). What we see going on around us is not prophesy being fulfilled but the stage being set for that prophetic fulfillment which is yet to come. e). At the Lord’s first Advent, He made a statement to the scribes and Pharisees, that we will borrow for ourselves – Mt 16:2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. We know by faith, beginning with the six days in Genesis Chapter 1, that two thousand years have been allotted for this dispensation, and we know that this began on the Day of Pentecost following the Lord’s ascension. We can also know that it is only since 1948 that things began to be set in place for the future resumption of the Lord’s dealings with the Jews following the resurrection/rapture of the Church. And as we look at ‘the signs of the times’, we cannot help but realize that the Judge is at the door. f). Chaos and violence continue to escalate in the Middle East and continues to escalate between, and within, nations throughout the rest of the world. g). Why is there presently a standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine? It’s not because of geopolitics. It is because God’s wayward son has returned to the land before the time. And the situation throughout the world can only get worse as this dispensation draws to a close. h). So, to answer the question I was asked that I shared with you last week, ‘Where is Jesus?’ He is so close that you can almost touch Him. 1 Th 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. More next time – If we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. Passover to Tabernacles - Part Thirteen Feb 13, 2022 Speaker: John Herbert Series: Passover to Tabernacles Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T010_20220213.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Lk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:……28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot:……. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. We will continue to look at the closeness of the day when the Son of Man will be revealed. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday February 13th 2022 Passover to Tabernacles Part 13 1). Lk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:……28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot:……. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. We had seen last time that the Lord had spoken directly to the Jewish people concerning the days of Noah, likening those days to ‘the days of the Son of Man’, the days of His return. And in this reference to the days of Noah is both a warning and a promise for the Jews. A warning, concerning that which is pictured through the flood – Lk 17:31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. A warning, seen with additional detail in – Mt 24:15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. But along with the warning also came the promise – Ge 7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. 7 So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. It was the promise of Divine protection through this time, that we had also seen through Cain, Joseph’s brothers and the famine, the burning bush, and the Exodus, along with other types from Daniel, all presenting the same picture. The Jewish people would go through a time of extraordinary persecution, the like of which has never been seen before, but the nation would be Divinely protected, it would never be destroyed. a). We had also seen that the Lord spoke directly to His Church, even before the Church existed, to give us a warning concerning ‘the day when the Son of Man is revealed’. And to give this warning the Lord referred to ‘the days of Lot’. And what we had seen was the stark contrast between the experience of Lot and his wife and that of Abraham, prior to the destruction of the cities of the plain. b). And that pictured here, along with commentary verses on one taken and one left behind, has shown the separation between the faithful and the unfaithful Christian at the Lord’s Judgment Seat. A separation also taught in the parable of the dragnet, the wise and foolish virgins, the faithful and unfaithful servant, and the wedding guest. As well as other places in the Scriptures. c). And the separation seen through these types, had been foreshadowed in the foundation type given in Genesis Chapter 2 – Ge 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And we had also seen through the type of Abraham’s oldest servant’s search for a bride for Abraham’s son Isaac from among Abraham’s family, that once this search was completed, the oldest servant left immediately with Rebekah and her ‘maids’ – Ge 24:61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed. 62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. And as we look at this search for the bride in the type, we see that it only takes place following the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis Chapter 22, and after the death of Sarah in Genesis Chapter 23, but before Abraham marries Keturah in Genesis Chapter 25. d). Within the antitype then, the Holy Spirit’s search for the Bride for Christ began following the Lord’s death and resurrection and the setting aside of Israel and must be completed before God the Father remarries Israel beyond the end of the Tribulation. In fact, to be more precise still about the timing, this search must be completed and the Bride identified, before the events of the Tribulation can begin – Ru 3:18 Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” 4:1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. It is only after Ruth had been identified on Boaz’s threshing floor and her reason for being there was known, that Boaz went the next day to redeem the inheritance for her. And this same chronology is seen in the Book of the Revelation – Re 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band……………..6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. The complete Church, all Christians from this dispensation, both the faithful pictured through Abraham and the unfaithful pictured through Lot and his wife, are seen in the presence of the Lord as Judge in Revelation Chapter 1. The Judgment of all Christians is then shown in Chapters 2-3, where the Bride, those who are overcomers, are identified. e). Following the Bride being identified, and other actions related to this identification seen in Revelation Chapters 4-5, the seals on the seven sealed scroll then begin to be opened in Revelation Chapter 6. f). The opening of the seals on the seven sealed scroll, begin the time of Jacob’s trouble, Daniel’s seventieth week, but that written in the scroll is also the terms of the redemption of the inheritance. The time of Jacob’s trouble and the redemption of the inheritance take place thorough the same events within the same seven-year timeframe. g). All these things must come to pass exactly as God has said or else that contained in the Scriptures is a lie. 2). Ex 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. The very foundation of Scripture sets out six days of restorative work, the restoration of the ruined creation, in anticipation of a seventh day of rest when a Man and a Woman would rule together. And we have learned from this, that this timeframe is the established, Divinely perfect way that a ruined creation is to be restored, if rulership is to follow in the Seventh Day. There can be no better way in which this could have been done. a). Man, God’s creation, created to rule, was also ruined, through Satan’s deception in the Garden. Consequently, if Man is to be restored from his ruined condition to fulfill God’s purpose for his creation, then there must be six days of work, followed by a Seventh Day in which rulership will take place. It cannot be any other way. And this is exactly what we see as Matthew Chapter 16 ends and Chapter 17 begins – Mt 16:28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”…………. 17:1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. We have seen in previous studies, that time, from God’s perspective is relative. Hence the reason why Peter, James, and John could witness Christ coming in His Kingdom at least two thousand years before the event will be realized. The relativity of time with respect to God’s use of it, is also seen in the six days in Genesis Chapter 1, where each day is described as ‘the evening and the morning’, what we would see to be a twenty-four-hour period. b). However, God can take ‘the evening and the morning’ a twenty-four-hour period from Genesis and change the time in terms of duration, while still remaining true to His Divinely perfect pattern set in the foundation of six days of work and a Seventh Day of Rest – 2 Pe 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Peter’s comments here have to do with the Lord’s return, comments which are made in connection with those who had challenged this event through the question, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’ And the Holy Spirit has made it perfectly clear, through Peter, that one day in Genesis, each day from day one to day six, with respect to ruined Man should be understood as a thousand years in duration. And that one-thousand years is as one day in Genesis, the Seventh Day, the Day of Rest. Seven one-thousand-year days c). We are told categorically then, that to complete His restorative work with regards to fallen Man, dealing with the Gentiles, the Jews and Christians, God will work for six one-thousand-year ‘days’ and having completed that work He will then rest from it during a seventh one-thousand-year day. d). And this is something, according to the beginning of 2 Peter 3:8, that those receiving his letter had begun to forget. And Peter’s words to them should ring loudly in our ears as well, ‘beloved, do not forget this one thing…..’ – Nu 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? For those of Peter’s day, as with us today, it makes no difference where we think we are in terms of time, it is where God knows that we are that matters. Clock watching, calendar searching, or number crunching is completely futile. If God had wanted us to know the exact year of the Lord’s return to mark it on our calendar, then He would have told us. The fact that He hasn’t speaks volumes – Mk 13:32 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, [if He were not the Father] but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. The Lord’s return for His Church is not a matter of calculation, it is a matter of faith. It always has been and always will be. e). If we think about our calendar for a moment, we will realize that all calendars used throughout the world have been created by the wisdom of men, and that’s probably all that needs to be said. f). And with that in mind, what we do know, from the Scriptures, is that there are six thousand years, six days, during which God has chosen to work. And we know that these six thousand years have been divided into three dispensations of two thousand years, two days, each. g). The first dispensation, the first two thousand years, two days, has taken us from Adam to Abraham. And there is no doubt that this time is completed. h). The second two thousand years, two days, take us from Abraham to Christ’s Kingdom, and Daniel has provided us with the detail for understanding this. Let’s begin in – Da 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord had said through Jeremiah – Jer 25:12 ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the LORD; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation………. 29:10 For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. This is what Daniel had understood, and from v12 and other related Scripture beginning with Moses, Daniel knew what had to be done next – Da 9:3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession….. Daniel began to confess his own sins and the sins of his people. i). There are a couple of things we will note here. Firstly, that that seen at the end of the Babylonian captivity recorded by Jeremiah and Daniel foreshadows what will take place at the end of the Tribulation, for which the Babylonian captivity is a type. And secondly, which is pertinent to our study today, is the precision of God’s timing. God had allotted a full seventy years for the Babylonian captivity, and when those seventy years were completed, things changed in accordance with that which God had said. j). We also know that God took Daniel beyond the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity to show him the end of the matter – Da 9:23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: 24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 25 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” Although the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity had run their course, and Daniel was offering repentance on behalf of himself and his people, God then made clear to him that the end of the Babylonian captivity was not the time when God would restore the Kingdom to Israel but foreshadowed the time when God would. Nonetheless, we will notice the specificity of God’s timing in this. k). There were to be seventy sevens, four hundred and ninety years, to be counted from a specific point in time, the command to restore and build Jerusalem, that would culminate in the nation’s complete restoration and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. And these four hundred and ninety years form the concluding years of the two thousand years, the two days, allotted to the Jewish dispensation. And we know from Daniel that Messiah was ‘cut off’ seven years short of the full four hundred and ninety years. And because of this, in terms of the dispensation of the Jews, one thousand one hundred and ninety-three years have been completed thus far, with seven yet remaining. And again, we will notice the specificity of God’s timing for these four hundred and ninety years. l). Once Messiah had been ‘cut off’, the Jewish people were also set aside, and that seen in Genesis Chapter 24, following the death of Sarah and before Abraham’s marriage to Keturah is set in motion. m). This is also seen through Joseph taking a Gentile bride, Asenath, following his release from prison but before he dealt with his brothers during the seven years of famine. And again, through Moses, who took a Gentile bride, Zipporah, after he had been rejected by the Jewish people when he first made himself known to them but before he returned to deliver them from Egypt. n). On the Day of Pentecost in 33AD the Church came into being and the search for the Bride for Christ began, marking the beginning of this present dispensation. A dispensation that will take two thousand years, two days, to complete. On that Day in 33AD, two thousand and seven years of Man’s Day remained to be completed. The seven years, Daniel’s seventieth week, still awaits its beginning and conclusion, but how much of the other two thousand years is still left? An impossible question to answer except to say, there can’t be much, and we have already seen how very specific God is with His timing - Heb 10:37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Jn 16:16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” From God’s perspective, the two thousand years of this dispensation is just, ‘a little while’. It remains ‘a little while’ and the Lord will not tarry. And whether we are focused on the coming Kingdom, or our next vacation is of no matter whatsoever. When the clock strikes midnight the Lord will return to call us into His presence and EVERYTHING will change, in complete agreement with what is recorded in the Scriptures. 3). Lk 21:24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. This verse describes what will happen at the mid-point in Daniel’s seventieth week. But for the Jewish people to be cast out of their land in fulfillment of what is prophetically recorded here, they had to be in the land first. And this was not possible between 70AD and May 1948. a). Only when a remnant of the Jewish people began to return to the land and declared themselves to be a national entity could the events in Luke 21:24 become possible. b). On the one hand, the Jews have no business being back in their land because it has been accomplished by their own efforts, completely apart from any action on God’s part. But on the other hand, God has allowed this remnant to return to the land so that the events of Luke 21:24 will be fulfilled. No doubt we will recognize the significance of this return with respect to the completion of the two thousand years of this dispensation. c). Then we might also consider this – Ge 19:4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” Immediately prior to the destruction of the cities of the plain, homosexual activity was at fever pitch among the inhabitants of Sodom. A state of affairs instigated by fallen angels, whose ‘strange flesh’, angelic flesh, the men of Sodom desired to the point of violence on this one particular night. No more needs to be said about this other than we just need to look at the world in which we live. d). What we see going on around us is not prophesy being fulfilled but the stage being set for that prophetic fulfillment which is yet to come. e). At the Lord’s first Advent, He made a statement to the scribes and Pharisees, that we will borrow for ourselves – Mt 16:2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. We know by faith, beginning with the six days in Genesis Chapter 1, that two thousand years have been allotted for this dispensation, and we know that this began on the Day of Pentecost following the Lord’s ascension. We can also know that it is only since 1948 that things began to be set in place for the future resumption of the Lord’s dealings with the Jews following the resurrection/rapture of the Church. And as we look at ‘the signs of the times’, we cannot help but realize that the Judge is at the door. f). Chaos and violence continue to escalate in the Middle East and continues to escalate between, and within, nations throughout the rest of the world. g). Why is there presently a standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine? It’s not because of geopolitics. It is because God’s wayward son has returned to the land before the time. And the situation throughout the world can only get worse as this dispensation draws to a close. h). So, to answer the question I was asked that I shared with you last week, ‘Where is Jesus?’ He is so close that you can almost touch Him. 1 Th 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. More next time – If we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.