Hi all,
I’ve been listing a few of the types and shadows which show there is a 6,000 year time given to man, then judgement, then a time of rest on the 7th day, or 7th set of 1,000 year periods.
Here are a few listed very briefly:
- Creation took 6 days, and the 7th He quit creating.
- Slaves in Israel worked 6 years and had the 7th year free. Exodus 21:2, Dt. 15: 1
- After 6 days Moses was called to meet with the Lord on the Mount in a cloud of glory. Exodus 24: 16
- Lazarus was dead a total of 6 days, and raised from the dead on the 7th day. John 11: 1, 5-6, 14, 39
- King Solomon had 6 steps up his throne, with the 7th being his throne. II Chronicles 9:18
In each of these and the ones I’ve shown the previous 2 weeks, there are 6 days of man, then on the 7th day we see rest, freedom, the Lord coming, a wedding feast, or other ‘new day’ dawning for the person or nation.
The Transfiguration
Both Mark 9: 1-2 and Matthew 17:1 state: “After 6 days Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him aside to a high mountain apart from the others.” That He took others with Him up to the Mount would suggest a type of the rapture. Again, it was ‘after 6 days’, so this is the 7th day the were taken up with the Lord in glory.
He was then transfigured before them, with the Father descending in a white cloud and speaking to them. Also, Moses and Elijah appeared to Him, speaking out of the Law and Prophets of His approaching death in Jerusalem. (Luke 9:31. Also, Luke says ‘about 8 days later’ while Matthew and Mark specifically state ‘6 days later’, being more exact whereas Luke was approximating the time.)
What is interesting is that preceding each of these 3 mentions in the gospels, Jesus said: “Some of you here will not taste death until you see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” (Mt 16: 28, Mk 9:1, Lk 9:27)
That He said this about not tasting death, then the 7th day later came His transfiguration, is a type of the rapture, what is known in Judaism as the ‘natzal’ or ‘plucking away’.
Lest some be confused, prophecy is often fulfilled in degrees, in types and shadows. Jesus was here giving an example of what His return will look like – clouds of heaven as Jesus stated in Matthew 24: 30, not clouds of the earth, but the glory cloud of the Father.
In the same way He earlier called John the Baptist, ‘Elijah who was told would come’ in Matthew 11: 14. He wasn’t literally Elijah, but was in the type of ministry and spirit of Elijah – calling Israel to repentance and to make their mind up once and for all to follow the Lord, or not.
The 2 days where Messiah isn’t seen, or 2,000 years:
Jesus stayed in Gentile Samaria with the woman at the well, 2 days. John 4: 40. The 2 days being a type of the 2,000 years He would be seen and accepted among the Gentiles of the earth.
The Good Samaritan gave the innkeeper 2 pence, which was 2 days wages to care for the injured man, with the promise to return and pay any bills due. Luke 10: 35 The 2 days or 2,000 years given to heal the man shows the Lord’s ministry among the Gentiles to be one of healing of the body and soul.
We’ve already seen the 2 missing days before the wedding at Cana, the 2 days Hosea mentions, but there is one more set of ‘2 days’ or ‘2,000 years’ I want to mention.
From the year 70 to 1967, nearly 2,000 years where Messiah wasn’t seen in Israel
In Luke 21:24 Jesus has been talking about the destruction of the temple which would happen nearly 40 years after He was talking about it, in the year 70.
Of that time He said: “…and they will be brutally killed and led away into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled.”
We have to take note of this – when our Lord states that there is a ‘time of the Gentiles’ to be fulfilled, we should mark it in stone. There IS a time allotted for the Gentiles, and then it will one day be fulfilled. Over and done with. There is a set time for non-Jewish people to come to the Lord, and once done, that time will close. That doesn’t mean people won’t be saved, it just means in the season of the Spirit, the focus shifts from Gentiles to Israel – and that is what The Revelation is about – Israel accepting their Messiah.
Jesus said that time of the Gentiles will be marked by the city of Jerusalem being overrun (controlled) by Gentiles ‘until the time of the Gentiles if fulfilled.’
When Israel was destroyed in the year 70, they were indeed led away into all the nations. They became a nation again in the year 1948, but only took control of Jerusalem from the Gentiles in 1967. Therefore 1967 starts the end of the ‘time of the Gentiles’.
Paul also noted this in Romans 11: 25: “I don’t want you to be ignorant of the mystery lest you be lifted up in pride in your thinking, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
Combining these two we see Jesus saying there is a time of the Gentiles, which will end when Israel takes control of Jerusalem, and blindness will lift from the Jewish people (about their Messiah) when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.
Since the middle 1960’s until now, we’ve seen that blindness lifting off the Jewish people. At the same time the gospel is being preached in all the world. So it seems while the Gentile time is winding down, blindness is indeed lifting off Israel, so we must be close to the end of the ‘2 days’ or 2,000 year time of the Gentiles.
I hope this has been an interesting study of some of the types and shadows both about the ‘big picture’ of the 7,000 year plan of God, and the ‘end times’ element as well.
New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
