I have thought long and hard before replying to previous posts from Yeshida and Temp because quite honestly, I'd never entertained the thought of this going on another generation or two.
I would like it actually if the pre trib rapturists were correct and we would be sucked up before the trouble starts. But we know that's not happening.
And the thought of defering to another time to do this thing would be ok with me too. I want to go through the tribulation as much as I want to see the Britney Spears movie. Which thinking about it, may be worse than the tribulation itself, hur hur.
But, reality is, many sources have done the math and come up with around the same conclusion. We are near the end of the 6,000 years as calculated by the biblical geneology God gave us as yet another way we could not be surprised.
I give you an article to consider by Dr. Bob Thiel in which he indicates that the creation was approximately 3983 B.C. Notice some of the math:
Do Genesis 5:3-29 and 7:11 show that 1,656 years transpired between the creation of Adam and the Flood of Noah's day? (Note: Genesis 5:3 shows that Adam was 130 when Seth was born. Add up the age of each patriarch at the birth of his son, plus the age of Noah at the time of the Flood)...
Do Genesis 11:10-32 show that 427 years passed between the Flood and the death of Terah, which was the time that Abram left Haran (cf. Acts 7:4)? Was Abram 75 years of age when he left Haran? Genesis 12:4...
How old was Abraham when God made the covenant of circumcision with him? Genesis 17:1-10. Had 24 years passed since he left Haran? (Note: A careful comparison of Genesis 12:4 with Genesis 17:1 will reveal Abraham's age at the time of the covenant)...
According to Galatians 3:16-17, how many years passed between the time of the covenant with Abraham and the Sinai covenant, which was the year of the Exodus? (cf. Exodus 12:40)...
How many years were there between the Exodus and the fourth year of King Solomon when the temple was begun? 1 Kings 6:1. (By using secular records most scholars date the fourth year of Solomon to approximately 966 BC)...
If you add the numbers (1,656 + 427 + 24 + 430 + 480 + 966) what would have been the approximate year bc of Adam's creation?
Would this not prove that 6,000 years will soon have elapsed?
Here is some of the biblical geneaology for the first portion from Genesis 5 (last verse from Genesis 7):
3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
6 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh.
9 Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.
12 Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel.
15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.
18 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch.
21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.
25 Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. 26
28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. 29 And he called his name Noah...
7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. NKJV.
Added up, this equals 1656 years. Now here is the next portion from Genesis 11:
10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.
12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah.
14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah.
26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. NKJV
Added up, this equals 427 years (2+35+30+34+30+32+30+29+205=427). The age of Terah when Abraham was born has also been debated (see next section), though is not part of the above calculation.
Galatians 3:17 shows 430 years; while 1 Kings 6:1 shows 480 years from the exodus from Egypt to the fourth year of Solomon's reign.
Therefore, if we add up 1,656 + 427 + 24 + 430 + 480 + 966, this suggests the creation of Adam was around 3983 BC. Now because that years of life are not exact (few people are born and die on the precisely same calendar date--hence there could possibly be 10 additional years), this could be off somewhat--but it does give a biblical indication of when the end is coming.
Now, it is partially dependent upon an estimate of scholars pointing to a 966 B.C. temple dedicationas the work of other scholars indicates that the separation of the Israel from Judah was possibly 931 B.C. (see Thiele E. The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings. Kregel Publications version, 1994, p. 80)and this separation happened shortly after (1 Kings 11:43; 12:1-20) Solomons 40 year reign (1 Kings 11:42), then it would seem that one less year could be indicated (966+4-40=930 B.C. vs. 931 B.C.)--though if there was a co-regency of 3-4 year, it would be 2-3 years later than 3983.
And while 966 is estimated, there are several who began Solomon's reign in 970, hence would come up with a 966 date four years later. Here are four additional references:
Working back from these dates and the biblical references to the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah (78 years from the death of Ahab in 853/852 BC) the Kingdom of Solomon was divided in 931/930 BC, at the ascension of Rehoboam to the throne of Israel following the death of Solomon. Since Solomon reigned forty years (v. 42), he must have ascended the throne in 971/970 BC (Long, Jesse. 1 & 2 Kings: 1 and 2 Kings. College Press, 2002, p. 156)
SOLOMON (Reigned c. 970-c. 932 Bc) (Canning, John. 100 Great Kings, Queens, and Rulers of the World. Taplinger Pub. Co., 1967, p. 52)
SOLOMON THE KING Solomon's reign was long, lasting forty years (970-931) as had his father's before him (Leon James Wood & David O'Brien. A Survey of Israel's History. Zondervan, 1986, p. 253).
Solomon 40 C. 970-931 BCE (Israel Finkelstein & Neil Asher Silberman. David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition. Simon and Schuster, 2007, p. 20).
But while there is some controversy, lets look at the 3983 date (while understanding instead it may be slightly off).
It is now 2012 A.D., so adding that + 3983 adds up to 5995--but because there was no year zero (for the transition between B.C. and A.D.), this make it 5994. Thus, the 6000 years may be up in about 6-7 years (and the tribulation would begin before that).
So while 2018 is one calculation of the end of the 6000 years, it is a little premature. It is likely that it may be one or more years later. Perhaps I should mention that LCG's Dr. Meredith, while discussing the 2018 calculation date said that he thought that date was a bit early and because of various factors, like co-regencies of the kings in the Bible, it was likely to be two to ten years past then (Meredith R. What is just ahead for you? LCG Sermon, Charlotte, NC, August 27, 2011).
And the Great Tribulation may begin 3 1/2 years before then--thus the Great Tribulation may begin around 2016-2019--I do not believe that it will be before 2016 (for a more detailed explanation, please see Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2011, 2012, or 2013?). Because of the year long, "day of the Lord" it may be 2019 or because of overlapping double-counts of kingly reigns, perhaps up to a decade or so later, like 202x.
It is clear that, according to a variety of sources, but mainly the Bible, the 6000 years will be up in the 21st century.