In the seven days of the Creation account, the Lord observed shabat on the seventh day, which was a sabbath. (Genesis 2:2) The days of the week are not named in the Bible, including the seventh day. The seventh day of the week is a sabbath, a day of rest and reflection. Sabbath is not a name, but a description. The Hebrew word translated as “rest” in Genesis 2:2 is shabat (Strong’s H7673) which means to cease, desist, or rest.
The principle of resting on the seventh unit of time is found throughout the Bible; the seventh day, the seventh week, the seventh year and the seventh millennium.
Two witnesses, Moses and Peter the Apostle, tell us that the Lord considers a thousand years, or a millennium, as a day.
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” – II Peter 3:8
“For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” – Psalm 90:4Please note that both equate a day to a millennium, and Moses equates a day to a “watch in the night.”
Our human accounting of years is inexact because of changes in calendars over the millennia. An example is the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born during the life of Herod the Great. History tells us that Herod died about 4 B.C., which means that Jesus was born at least by 4 B.C. and not in the year 1 A.D.
Although our calendar is inexact, Bible chronology shows us that we are near, or at, the end of six-thousand years of human history. Please see Bible Chronology. Today, we are at the cusp of the Sixth and Seventh Millennia. That means that we are approaching the Seventh Millennium, the millennium of rest or the sabbatical millennium. This period of time is spoken of in the Bible as the thousand-year reign of the Lord Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.
The Prophet Hosea foretold that the Lord would revive Israel after two (millennial) days, and would raise Israel up in the third (millennial) day. It is curious that the prophet used the time of Jesus Messiah as the starting point, even though he lived hundreds of year before Jesus.
“After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.” – Hosea 6:2The Lord Jesus Himself used the same starting point (His ministry) in the parable of servants awaiting the return of their master. (Luke12:35-38) In the parable the master will serve the servants who were found faithful and attentive. Jesus used the second or third (millennial) watch as a measure in this parable of His Return.
“And if He shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.” – Luke 12:38As Moses wrote in Psalm 90, to the Lord, one-thousand years are as a watch in the night.
We are approaching the Seventh Millennium. Because I suspect that those who receive my weekly lessons are faithful Believers, they do not need this admonition to not forsake the assembly of the Saints, but we do need to encourage and exhort one another as we see the day approaching.
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:25Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!