MILLENNIAL DAYS

The Lord established the principle of one day standing for one year when the twelve “spies” returned from exploring the Promised Land for forty days. You will recall the story that two of the men, Joshua and Caleb, said it was a wonderful land, and with the Lord’s assistance the Children of Israel could possess it. However, ten of the men had no faith in the ability of the Lord and complained that there were giants in the land which made the Israelites “look like grasshoppers.”

The Children of Israel began to wail and whine about the Lord bringing them out in the middle of nowhere to die. For this the Lord stated that for every day the men were exploring the Promised Land, the Israelites would wander in the wilderness for a year. (Numbers 14:34)

Later, the Lord instructed Ezekiel to lie on his side for 390 days to symbolize the number of years that Israel had sinned against the Lord. (Ezekiel 4:5) In addition, the Hebrew word yowm can be translated as both day or year, depending on the circumstance.

One of the most important prophecies of Daniel was his prophecy of Seventy Weeks. Like so many Old Testament prophecies, Daniel’s Seventy Weeks tells of the Coming of the Messiah – both times. According to the prophecy, it would be seventy weeks, or 490 prophetic days, or 490 years from the trigger event (the announcement of the rebuilding of Jerusalem) until the Messiah appeared. Bible historians have shown this prophecy to be accurate.

The structure of God's Word is shown in the days of our week. Just as the Lord created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh, mankind was instructed to work for six days and rest on the seventh. The early Church believed that the Sabbath or seventh concept would also apply to history. The Epistle of Barnabas, although not a part of the Bible we have received, is an authentic work of an early Church Father. In it, the Church is shown to have believed that just as the Lord worked for six days in the Creation and rested on the seventh, the Lord will strive with Satan for six thousand years and rest on the seventh thousand years. This fits perfectly with the Millennium, or one thousand years, in which Satan will be locked up by the Lord, as described in the Revelation.

Another prophetic extrapolation is the millennial year. In this case, a day stands for not a year, but for one-thousand years; a millennium. Both Moses and Peter tell us of this principle. “A thousand years to the Lord are but a day.” (Psalms 90:4, Second Peter 3:8)

Have you noticed how many “third days” there are in the Bible? Some of the more interesting ones are the blindness of Saul for three days, and Mary and Joseph searching for Jesus for three days. Saul, representing the Jews, was blind and received no food for three days. (Acts 9:9) The Jews are spiritually blind and have received no spiritual food for two millennial days. On the third Saul received his sight and ate and drank. On the third millennial day the same will happen to the Jews.

Mary and Joseph, representing the Jews, searched for Jesus for three days. The Jews have been searching for the Messiah, so He can rebuild the Temple, since the destruction of the Second Temple in A.D. 70. On the third day, Jesus was found in the Temple. On the third millennial day the Jews will find the Messiah that they have longed for.

Here is a hint. We are at the dawning of the Third Millennial Day. Come Lord Jesus!