"Has God alloted 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 this 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, man is given six work days followed by a day of rest. In Hebrews 4:4, 11, the Seventh day is mentioned as a day of the peaceful rest — 1000-year rest — that will follow the present age of human labor and futile struggle to master the earth. The "Millennium", then, is compared with a "day" of the week.
[ Editor's Note- The English word "Millennium" comes from a compound Greek word — "mille" = one thousand — + "annus" = year — meaning "a thousand years".]
Observe that after Christ's intervention —at the time of that 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 are proving today! Look about you! It is obvious that 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 soon!
[ Editor's Note- Many Bibles, such as the Old Scofield Reference Bible contain the dates calculated by James Usher — as to the chronological times of Biblical events. Usher fixed the Creation date at 4,004 B.C. While this exact date may be arguable — many believe it is very close to the date of Creation.]
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 ( Acts 1:6-8). But before they died, the Apostles better understood God's plan. Peter said: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise (of Christ's coming)... but is longsuffering..." (II Pet. 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 wrote the same thing — that a day in God's plan is as "a thousand year," and "a thousand years" of human civilization 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 seventh-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!
[Editor's Note- The belief that God has a 7,000 year plan is not new. Historically, it has been attested to for almost two millenia. The Epistle of Barnabas taught it in the first century A.D. by stating that — "in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished . . . This meaneth: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the-sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day." (Epistle of Barnabas, XV verses 4-6) Irenaeus taught it in the second century, Commodianus in the third century, and in the fourth century Lactantius wrote that — "the world must continue in its present state through six ages, that is, six thousand years . . . at the end of the six thousandth year all wickedness must be abolished from the earth, and righteousness reign for a thousand years..." (The Epitome of the Divine Institutes, Chapter 70) ]
For understanding on how the Holy Days and the Feasts are a picture of God's 7,000 year plan — we offer this booklet — GOD'S HOLY DAY PLAN
