THE WEEKS OF CREATION AND CULMINATION

According to my understanding, something biblically significant takes place at the beginning of each millennium of our planet's history. According to Bishop Ussher's calculations, in about 4000 B.C., God created Adam. In about 3000 B.C., the tenth generation of man, Noah, was born. Ten generations later, in about 2000 B.C., Abram (Abraham) was born. Approximately one thousand years later, 1000 B.C., David ruled the Nation of Israel. And of course it goes without saying, approximately one thousand years passed, and Jesus was born.

The Virgin Birth of Jesus, His Crucifixion, His burial, and His Resurrection, are collectively the subject of the Gospels of the New Testament. They were also predicted in the Old Testament (Isa. 7:14; Isa. 53:7; Zech. 9:9; Isa. 53:9; Ps. 16:10; 49:15; etc.). But what wasn't revealed in the Old Testament is the period known as the Church Age; it was a mystery prior to the Holy Spirit founding it on the Day of Pentecost, just ten days after Christ's Ascension (Eph. 5:32; Acts 1:3-9). Jesus had mentioned He would build His Church (Matt. 16:18), but His disciples did not understand until they were filled with the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).

The Church has existed for about two thousand years, and if there is a significant event that takes place at the beginning of every millennium, what major event occurred around A.D. 1000? The Roman and Eastern Orthodox churches officially split in A.D. 1054. Perhaps Pope Benedict IX was the main cause for the Eastern church to leave the authority of Rome, and declared Constantinople to be their "Rome." Pope Benedict IX (c. 1012 – c. 1056), was declared Pope on three occasions between 1032 and 1048. One of the youngest popes, he was the only man to have been Pope on more than one occasion, and the only man ever to have sold the papacy. Regardless of the reasons, the fact that Rome was no longer seen as the only bearer of the truth, set the stage for further division during the Reformation.

Based upon the above material, is it any wonder that born again believers are expecting the Rapture of the Church at any moment (Jn. 14:1-6; 1 Cor. 15:50-54; 1 Thes. 4:13-18)? There was a period of about two thousand years between Creation and the beginning of God's dealing with the "family" of Abraham, or what we now know as Israel. A second two thousand years was complete when Israel rejected their Messiah, and God "put them on the shelf" until the times of the Gentiles was over (Lk. 21:24; Rom. 9 - 11). The Church has been in existence for about two thousand years! According to God's apparent timetable, we are due to exit; we are waiting for the Rapture, which could happen any day.

Six thousand years have come and gone, and since God has a way of doing things in sevens (Gen. 1), there is another one thousand year period mentioned before the end of time as we know it. Christ will return with His Bride, the Church, and will establish His Kingdom known as the Millennium (Rev. 20:1-7). That makes sense. The Psalmist and Peter wrote that to God, a thousand years is as a day, and a day is as a thousand years (Ps. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:8). God created the world in six days, and then He "rested." The Millennium, then, is known as "the day of God's rest" (Heb. 3:11, 18; 4:1-10). Come Lord Jesus!