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Sermon on
The 7000 Year Theory Series:
Part 1: When the Clock Started |
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By C. B. Pepper
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This is the first of a series of 5
sermons which examine the 7000 Year Theory. In sermon Part 1 we look
at the introduction of sin into this world and God revealing His
Plan of Redemption.
Today we will be looking at an
interesting theory which has been proposed by some
Christians, known as the 7000 year plan of God. What
we will do is examine this theory, consider the
weight of Biblical and other evidence for it, and
assess whether it
may be more than a theory.
What is the 7000 Year
Theory?
The theory goes
something like this. God created the the world in
six days and rested on the seventh. However the
creation week was also a blueprint of God's
redemptive plan for earth. Symbolically each
creation day represents 1000 years of earth's
history so that the first six days represent the
time of suffering under the works of Satan and the
seventh day represents a 1000 years of rest. The
7000 year theory is based on the idea that to God a
day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is
like a day. From God's perspective the plan will
only take a week.
Challenging Questions
During the course of our discussion
we will examine the following challenging questions:
1.
Does God have a plan for planet Earth? If so, what
are the objectives, the timeframe, what has occurred
already and what is yet to occur?
2. Was the Earth created in 7 literal
days? Does it really matter?
3.
Can we determine how long Adam and
Eve were in the Garden of Eden?
4. What is the significance of Jesus the Passover
lamb?
5. Can we determine when Christ was crucified?
6. Can we predict the Second Coming of Christ?
7. What will occur after Jesus returns?
Sin Problem Prior to Creation
It is important to note from the outset that prior to the creation of
planet Earth there was a
sin problem in the universe.
Revelation 12:7-9
says, "And there was
war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against
the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any
more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out,
that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
So we see that Satan and his angels were cast out of
heaven to the Earth. In Genesis
chapter 3
we find Satan
in the Garden of Eden speaking through a serpent at
the tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil.
Now from the very beginning of Earth's history we
see that God was still in control of the devil.
Satan was not permitted to freely wander about and
tempt Adam and Even in the garden of Eden. He was
only allowed access to one location, ie the tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil. God also demonstrated
His special interest in the future of mankind by
warning Adam and Eve that if they ate of the fruit of that
tree they would die.
Did Adam and Eve Die when they Sinned?
When God created Adam and Eve He warned them
against eating the forbidden fruit.
God told Adam,
"in
the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die",
(Gen. 2:17
yet Adam lived to 930
years old.
(Gen. 5:1-5)
Is this a contradiction? No,
because Adam did die 'spiritually'
that day,
(Gen. 3:1-24).
If we take a 'day of the Lord' as equivalent to 1000
years (2 Peter 3:8),
we see that Adam died physically within the limits of the
first day.
Death is separation. A physical death is the
separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual death, which is of
greater significance, is the separation of the
soul from God.
Nakedness of Adam and Eve
When Adam and Eve were first created, they
were both naked and yet they had no shame
(Gen.
2:25).
However after they sinned
Genesis 3:7 says,
"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they
knew that they were naked". This resulted
in them trying to
hide from the presence of the Lord, and they covered their
nakedness with fig-leaf aprons. Some Bible
students think that the time of their hiding
from Gods presence was three hours, corresponding
to the three hours when the sun was darkened at our
Lords crucifixion (see
Matt. 27:45).1,2
The part about Adam and Eve only
discovering their nakedness after sin sounds a bit odd, as though
there is something missing in the story. Because, w hen God
created Adam and Eve, He
didnt make their human bodies something to be
ashamed of. It was only after sin that Adam and Eve first saw
their nakedness.
Now isn't this a bit peculiar,
because no other creature
on the whole planet knows that it is naked, not wearing clothes
only mankind?
The nakedness of Adam and Eve was a direct
result of sin.
It is thought that as sinless beings they had an
inherent glory and wore a clothing of light, which disappeared after
their sin.
Sinless beings such as angels and the
Deity have varying degrees of glory or
brightness about them. When Christ was transfigured He shone with
the brightness of His glory. When God created the earth, it was the glory of God which illuminated the
Earth for the first three days of creation.
What happened when
Adam and Even sinned was
that their glory or clothing of light disappeared. This was
occasioned with their spiritual death and physical nakedness.
Temptation of Adam
Eve may have been deceived by the serpent however Adam appears to
have eaten of the fruit knowing exactly what he was doing. So why
would Adam yield to temptation so easily knowing what God had told
him?
There seems to be more
to the story, and there quite possibly was. Imagine Adam seeing Eve
standing before him, arguably the most beautiful woman in earth's
history, in her newfound nakedness,
using her powers of
persuasion and sexuality to tempt him while she was eating the
forbidden fruit and obviously very much alive. Adam loved Eve and
didn't want to be separated from her, as probably would have
happened had he decided not to sin. Now what chance did
Adam have? Satan himself probably couldn't have done a better job.
Eve's punishment fits her crime. Pain in childbirth.
God's Plan Revealed in the Garden
When God created Adam and Eve He gave them
freedom of choice and knew that there was a possibility that
they might rebel as had Satan and his fallen angels.
So this eventuality was considered by God when
He created
the Earth.
God had a plan from the foundation of the Earth
and this He revealed to Adam, Eve and the serpent
(Satan) after the fall. God said to the serpent that
the
"seed of the woman"
would crush the serpent's head.
(Gen. 3:15) The plan
was immediately implemented with the slaying of two innocent
animals to clothe the nakedness of Adam and Eve.
This was also the first
substitutionary sacrifice for the atonement of
sins, representing Christ who would one day pay the
ultimate ransom for the penalty of sin.
The consequence of Adam's sin is that he
forfeited rulership of the Earth to Satan. He had
chosen to disobey God, and Satan as prince of the
Earth, was allowed to freely roam the earth as he
pleased to tempt and deceive mankind. Notwithstanding this, God
had a plan to pay the penalty for sin and defeat the
devil. His redemptive plan was to
annul death in two distinct stages, corresponding to
His two advents. The 7000 year theory predicts
that the first advent of Christ in 4000 years will
take care of spiritual death. The second
advent 2000 years later would take care of physical
death.
7000 Year Theory
The 7000 year theory is a belief that the seven day week reveals a 7000 year
divine plan for mankind, with 6000 years for mankind to 'labour'
under the rule of Satan and sin's penalties and a 1000 year period
of 'rest' under the rule of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 20:1-5 prophesies that there will be a 1000 year (millennial) period in
which Jesus and the saints will reign. That is basically the theory.
The Epistle of Barnabas, written about 200 AD, actually
expounded on the concept of the 7000 year plan of God, stating that
the 'end' would occur at the point of 6000 years from the creation
of mankind. This ancient document of the early church period stated:
of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of the creation; `And
God made the works of his hands in six days and He ended on the
seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it. Give
heed, children, what this meaneth, `He ended in six days` He meaneth
this, that IN SIX THOUSAND YEARS THE LORD SHALL BRING ALL THINGS TO
AND END, for the day with Him signifieth a thousand years; and this He
himself beareth me witness, saying, `behold, the day of the Lord shall
be as a THOUSAND YEARS.`
Therefore, children, in six days, that is IN SIX THOUSAND
YEARS, EVERYTHING SHALL COME TO AN END`. And He rested on the seventh
day`. This he meaneth; when His Son shall come, and shall abolish the
time of the Lawless One, and shall judge the ungodly, and shall change
the sun and the moon and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the
seventh day. (Epistles of Barnabus, chap.15 The Apostolic
Fathers, pp.151-152)3
1 Day is 1000 Years in the Sight of God
The 7000 year theory is based on an assumption that one day is
like 1000 years in the sight of God. The following texts lend support for that
assumption:
Psalms 90:4 "For
a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past,
and as a watch in the night."
2 Peter 3:8 "But,
beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with
YHWH as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
Revelation 20:6 "Blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such
the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God
and of the Messiah, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
In
Gen. 2:17, it says: "In the day you eat
of the fruit of this tree you shall surely die." It is no
coincidence that those who lived before the Flood died just short of
a 1000 years of age. Thus figuratively speaking, Adam, and all his
offspring before the flood, died within a "day"---that is, within a
thousand years.
Bible Analogies cited in Support 7000 Year Theory
LAZARUS
John 11 outlines the events over six days
1. Lazarus is sick for 2 days (John 11:1,5-6)
2. Lazarus is dead for 4 days (John 11:39).
Lazarus is resurrected on the seventh day. (John
11:40-44)
SLAVES
Slaves worked for six years, the 7th year is freedom
(Exodus 21:2) (Deut 15:1)
KING JOASH
King Joash was the rightful king of Israel but who was hidden in the
temple of God for six years while an i | | | |