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7000 Years |
Dear Brethren,
How long a period of time has God allotted to
mankind to learn the fundamental lesson that he is unable to rule himself and the world
in peace? Mankind has been given 6,000 years of "labor" under the
rule of Satan and sin's penalties – but then there will be the 1,000-year period
of "rest" under the glorious rule of Jesus Christ. People in
the world do not know what is happening, because they do not know where to find the
knowledge of the 7000-year Plan of God.
God has allowed the first 6,000 years,
since creation, for mankind to go his own way – the way he chose by
taking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Incredibly,
we are very near the end of the fulfillment of this period of time.
We are in the “last-days” just before the return of Jesus Christ to
establish the Kingdom of God on earth – ushering in the
1000-year millennium of peace on earth.
"I saw thrones, and [the
resurrected saints] sat upon them, and judgment was given unto
them... and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand
years. But the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished... Blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection... they
shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a
thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6)
We find the prophetic prototype of
God’s little understood time schedule for His Plan in the beginning of
Genesis. In nature’s heavenly bodies, we find the length of one day
defined by the Sun, the length of the month defined by the moon, and the length
of the year by the stars – but nowhere do we find the length of the
week! Men have searched the circuits of heaven, but nowhere
could the week be found. God had to give us the 7-day week! Every
race of man on earth recognizes the week because it was given before the great
flood of Noah's day – in fact, the seven-day week was assigned to man
at the very time of creation. The world hates to admit where
the week came from – everyone observes it, but there is no other source for the
week – save God Himself!
God established the six-day
work week – followed by one day of rest. Why did
He create the week? For those who have eyes to see – it was the
first prophetic sign of His Plan. In 1957, The WORLD TOMORROW / The
PLAIN TRUTH / Herbert W. Armstrong / the Radio Church of God
published the following letter:
Dear Friends:
“Has God allotted 6000 years
for man’s self-rule?” is a question that has been an enigma to many.
“Yes! The world does not
understand what is taking place today because it does not know
about the 7000-year PLAN OF GOD.
“God has allotted
approximately 6000 years for humanity to go its own way. These
millenniums of human civilization are nearly over. God is about to
intervene in world affairs by sending Jesus Christ. Not until He
returns will we have 1000 years of peace.
“The pattern for God's
little-understood plan is given in the first two chapters of
Genesis. It is the WEEK of seven days. As God originally set time
in motion, He gave man a week of six work days followed by one day
of rest. In Hebrews 4:4,11, the seventh day is mentioned
as a type of the peaceful rest – a 1000-year rest – that
will follow this present age of human labor and futile
struggle to master the earth. The Millennium, then, is compared
with a “day” of the week.
“Observe that after Christ's
intervention the time of peaceful rest under His rule is
specifically termed "a thousand years" (Rev 20:4). If the last
“day” of God's 7000-year plan is 1000 years, then the preceding six
days which He has allotted for mankind to work out his own ideas
would amount to 6000 years. And this is exactly what world events
today are proving. Look about you! This world is crashing
to its DOOM!
“Now notice your Bible. Many Bibles
are complete enough to contain chronological charts showing that
human life was created slightly more than 4000 years before
Christ. And almost another 2000 years have elapsed since – making
nearly 6000 years of human civilization to date. In other words,
the trend of world events is now proving we are very near the time
the Scriptures have always said Christ will return – when the
probability of world destruction would become a reality (Matt
24:22). Six thousand years of human history have almost been
completed. Here, then, is proof – double proof – that Christ
is coming in our generation!
“The common assumption that man has
lived on earth countless tens of thousands of years is an idle
dream. Reason disproves it. Each new archaeological discovery aids
in disproving it. True SCIENCE disproves it! Strange as it may
seem, the theory of man’s evolution is not only unproved, but
irrefutably disproved when we understand the facts.
“The apostles did not fully understand
this PLAN OF GOD when Christ was yet on earth. They thought the
kingdom would be established in their day – after only about 4000
years of God's plan had been completed. But before they died, the
apostles knew God’s plan. Peter said: “The Lord is not
slack concerning His promise [of Christ's coming] . . . but is
longsuffering…” (II Peter 3:9). God is patient. He has refrained
from intervening in world affairs for nearly 6000 years. Why?
“Because He will not intervene until
humanity is forced to cry out to Him for fear of
self-extermination. Recall that the day of Christ's intervention
and rule is compared to “a thousand years” (Rev 20:4). Peter also
says the same thing – that a day in God's plan is as “a thousand
years,” and “a thousand years” of human civilization is as ONE
day in His planned week of SEVEN 1000-year days (II
Pet 3:8).
“Peter knew that Christ would intervene
shortly before the close of 6000 years of human struggle and slavery
– that God would send Jesus Christ to set up His government to rule
during the seven-thousand-year period – a millennium of peace, a
sabbatical rest!
“How marvelous that in our day, at the
very time that 6000 years have almost elapsed, the world is
threatened with extinction of life. And Jesus Himself said that
when we see this taking place HE WOULD COME AGAIN!”
LETTER ANSWERING DEPARTMENT
There is no time period equal to
the 7-day week in the natural universe. Scientists have not been
able to find any occurrences of an object in space
with a period, or multiple of rotation, equal to seven days or 168
hours. Our week of seven days has no astronomical basis. The week
does not fit evenly into a month or a year or any other time
measurement.
In nature’s heavenly bodies, we find
the length of one day defined by the Sun –
24 hours for the earth to turn on its axis.
We find the length of the
month defined by the moon – how long it takes the moon
to revolve around the earth – one lunar revolution is a month.
(There are many variations of the month.)
And, we find the length of
the year defined by the stars – it takes 365 ¼ days for
the earth to orbit the sun and come back into the same
constellation. But nowhere do we find the
length of the week!
Men have searched the periods and
orbits of heavenly bodies, but nowhere could the week be found. Why
has man for thousands of years observed the 7-day week? The answer
cannot be more clear! God gave mankind the
7-day week!
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| Sermon: |
"7000 Years" |
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