Where does it say Jesus promise to return in 2000 years?
Jesus did prophesy the 2 'day', 2000 year gap between His 2 Advents. Luke 13:32 is clearly a prophecy to us, who have had nearly 2000 years pass since He left the earth. He did say He would 'always be with His people' and we know His Spirit works in those 2 'days', from the conversion of Paul to the amazing conversions of Muslims and others who truly call out to Him, plus the many miraculous healings that happen to people who have faith in Him.
God’s 7,000 year Plan
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day with the Lord [in heaven]
is as a thousand [earth]
years, and a thousand [earth]
years is as one day. [in heaven]2 Peter 3:8
Most Christians in Bible believing circles are probably familiar with the idea that God has a 7,000 year plan that corresponds to the original creation week of seven days, but I have found that most are not familiar with the many portions of Scripture that support this doctrine. People know about 2 Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4 but that’s about it. But that should not be about it. If God has a 7,000 year plan, then this is major stuff and we should be familiar with many verses of Scripture that support the doctrine.
Now, The opening text says that one day in heaven is as a thousand years on earth. In a general sense, the verse is simply saying that time is irrelevant to God. What seems like a lot of time to us is really very little time to God, since He is eternal.
Though it seems to be taking the Lord forever to get around to sending His Son back to rule the earth, it really has been only a couple days (in God’s timing) since He left. But that’s only the general teaching. There is also a very
specific doctrine to be gleaned from the verse.
The verse does not say that a day is with the Lord as thousands of years (plural), ten thousands of years, or millions of years. It specifically states that “one day” is with the Lord as “a thousand years.” To the serious student of Scripture, such specific terminology mandates a closer look at the subject. If the Bible says nothing more of the matter, then the verse should be understood in the general sense only and not pressed for any additional meaning. However, if other portions of Scripture show support for a 7,000 year plan, then 2 Peter 3:8 and Psalms 90:4 should be understood in that context as well. As we are about to see, other portions of Scripture show
much support for a 7,000 year plan, and the lateness of the hour makes this truth more relevant today than at any time in human history.
The Six Days of Creation:
We read in Genesis 1:31,
“And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” So, in six days the earth was created and populated with all its life forms.
However, it is tenable to consider these ‘day’ periods as 1000 earth time years.
Exodus 20:11 says,
“For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
The Sabbath Principle:
Then we are told that God “rested” on the seventh day:
“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”
. As we shall see in this study, the 6/1 division is not unusual in the Scriptures, as it reflects God’s plan of 6,000 years for man to rule the earth and a final 1,000 year Sabbath in which Christ Himself shall rule.
The number six is the number of imperfect man (the ultimate imperfect man being Mr. 666, the Anti-Christ; Revelation 13:18). God’s number is the perfect number seven, a number that occurs well over four hundred times in the Bible (the number six occurs 202 times). The number seven is found fifty-four times in the book of Revelation alone, mainly because Revelation is the book that ushers in God’s seventh day Sabbath rest for the earth and its inhabitants.
So, the original creation week of seven days foreshadows God’s prophetic plan, a seven thousand year plan (six ‘days’ in God’s eyes) with the final thousand years being a holy Sabbath for planet earth and its inhabitants.
The fact that God established a Sabbath day at the end of the standard week is familiar to most people, but most do not realize that God has more than one Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath, the seventh day of the week under the law of Moses, was clearly one Sabbath, but there are other Sabbaths as well. In fact, one could probably understand the Sabbath better in the context of a
principle rather than a particular day. For example, God expressed disappointment in Leviticus 26:34 over the fact that the Israelites would neglect to observe her land Sabbaths:
Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, as long as it lies desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her Sabbaths. This was not a seventh
day Sabbath, but rather the seventh
year Sabbath. There are also jubilees in the Bible that are based on forty-nine year cycles (seven times seven), and there are designated 490 year time periods in the Bible (seventy times seven). The day of Pentecost always fell under the Sabbath principle since it always occurred immediately after the seven weeks following Passover. Of all the months on the Hebrew calendar, it was the
seventh month that was most sacred (Lev. 23:33-36). We even learn from Daniel 9:24-27, that Christ will not return until after the completion of Daniel’s
seventieth week and it is after the
seventh church period that the church age comes to an end in Revelation chapter three.
A Neglected Doctrine:
The idea that God has a 7,000 year plan is not a new one. In fact, it has been around for many centuries. 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, 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)
I quote such authors because I believe they understood what the Bible had taught all along about God’s prophetic plan and that these truths have been neglected for centuries by most scholars and commentators, largely because it was a seemingly insignificant doctrine centuries ago and it is a negative and uncomfortable doctrine for many today. Bible doctrine is a Bible doctrine, regardless of what people think of it, and it should be taught.
There Remains a Rest:
Hebrews 4:1-11 has a bit to say about God’s coming rest. Notice some of the verses that place an emphasis on the rest that God has planned for His people:
Verse 1: Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his
rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Verse 3: For we which have believed do enter into
rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my
rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Verse 4: For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did
rest the seventh day from all his works.
Verse 5: And in this place again, If they shall enter into my
rest.
Verse 8: For if Jesus had given them
rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Verse 9: There remains therefore a
rest to the people of God.
Verse 10: For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Verse 11: Let us labour therefore to enter into that
rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
This can refer to the spiritual rest that the believer enjoys by fully trusting Christ and resting in the abundant life that only Jesus can offer, Matthew 11:28; John 10:10, but much of it also refers to the coming millennial rest for the earth and its worthy inhabitants. After all, Paul tells us that:
the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now Romans 8:22, which means that the creation has not yet entered into the rest that the Scriptures mandate. Isaiah 14:7; 44:21-23; 49:13; 55:12
Isaiah 14:7 makes the point very clear:
“The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.”
This has happened at no time since the garden of Eden, and it certainly isn’t happening now. It will happen only after the Antichrist and his followers have been destroyed and Christ’s throne of righteousness has been established in Jerusalem. Being a time of “rest,” it makes perfect sense that God would correspond it to the seventh day rest of Genesis 2:2, and since the Bible plainly states that Christ’s earthly kingdom will last one thousand years (Rev. 20:1-7), it also makes perfect sense that this one thousand year kingdom should be the
seventh thousand year period, or seventh millennium, of human history. This makes Christ’s kingdom the Sabbath day of the earth and human history.
A Thousand Year Sabbath Kingdom:
Revelation 20:1-7
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.
The underscoring above is for two reasons: (1) to emphasize the fact that the Scriptures specify that Christ is to rule the earth for a “thousand years” and (2) to point out the fact that the Holy Spirit led John to record the term six times. Why six times? Because man must have dominion on the earth for 6,000 years (six millennial days) before Jesus returns to rule His kingdom.
The Original Second Coming Prophet:
If I were to ask you to name the first man to prophecy the Second Coming, who would you name? If you are thinking of anyone in the New Testament, you are way too late. If you are even thinking of any of the standard Bible prophets, you are still too late. Strange as it may seem, the Second Coming of Christ was first prophesied
before Noah’s flood. We learn this from Jude 14:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. This tells us that God has planned an earthly kingdom since the very beginning! In fact, Jude’s words offer us a very strong hint as to
when this kingdom will be by telling us that Enoch was the “seventh” from Adam. Why would it matter that Enoch was the “seventh” from Adam? The Bible is filled with truth-telling prophets who have no connection to the number seven at all, yet for some reason the Holy Spirit wants us to know that the first man to prophecy the Second Coming was connected to the number seven. This is because Christ’s Second Coming will begin the seventh day to God, or seventh millennium, to us. .
Leah’s Seven Children:
One of the strongest examples in the Bible is God’s 6/1 division principle is found in Genesis chapters twenty-nine and thirty with the birth of the children of Leah. In Genesis 29:32-35, she gives birth to four sons. Then in Genesis 30:17-20 she gives birth to two more sons, making six sons in all. Finally, in perfect correspondence to God’s 6/1 principle, she gives birth to a daughter. But God isn’t finished yet. Notice the meaning of the names of these children:
1. Reuben – behold a son
2. Simeon – hearing
3. Levi – joined
4. Judah – praise
5. Issachar – reward
6. Zebulun – dwelling
7. Dinah
– Justice
So the sinner
beholds God’s Son and
hears the gospel
. Then he is
joined to Christ by being born again. Then he lives a life of
praise unto the Lord. He is then
rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ, after which he
dwells with Christ. He also rules with Christ in the millennial kingdom, which is a time of true
justice in the earth.
The Sabbath Provision of Manna:
After leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites began receiving daily provisions of manna, a miraculous food from God. They were commanded to go out in the morning and gather enough manna for that day’s eating. But they were not permitted to gather manna on the seventh day, therefore God supplied them with a double portion on the sixth day.
“Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” Exodus. 16:4-5 The manna pictures Christ, John 6:51, but it also pictures the word of God:
. . . man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Luke 4:4
Thinking of the six day manna provision as a type of God’s word, notice how perfectly it matches the six thousand years of human history. For the first two thousand years (4,000 BC to 2,000 BC), there was no written Scripture at all, and a very limited number of prophets. For the next two thousand years (2,000 BC to Christ), Scripture began to be recorded and preserved, and God inspired the prophets, but there was still a very limited supply. That’s four millennial days so far. Then on the fifth millennial day (Christ to 1,030 AD), the canon of Scripture is complete and the Great Commission gets underway, but within four hundred years the Roman Catholic Church plunges the world into the Dark Ages for the next thousand years! So, day five offers a very limited supply of manna as well. Then comes the sixth day. The first half of this day looked rather gloomy and no more promising than the other days. Then came the Reformation (roughly 1,400 AD to 1,600 AD). The printing press was invented, Bibles began showing up everywhere, Rome’s heresies were seen for what they were, and people by the millions began leaving the harlot church and embracing the word of God. Then in 1611 God gave the world the King James Bible, the book that would give everyone access to the Word of God. All of this happened on the sixth millennial day of God’s calendar and more manna was fed to more souls than on any other millennial day since the creation of the world. Why? Obviously, God is getting people ready for the Sabbath, just as He did in Exodus, except this time it will be a 1,000 year Sabbath!
The Real End of Slavery:
Exodus 21:2 tells us that Hebrew servants were to be set free after six years of service:
“If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.” So man has to serve under the “bondage of corruption” for six millenniums. Then in the seventh millennium, he enters into “the glorious liberty of the children of God”, Romans 8:21, while Satan the slave master is bound for a thousand years Rev. 20:1-3.
Israel’s Seventh Month:
Israel’s calendar had twelve months, just as ours has twelve months, but God chose to make the seventh month the most special (Lev. 23:23-44). It was in the seventh month that three major Jewish events occurred (the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles). This likely signifies the fact that the tribulation trumpets will sound, Israel’s sins will be atoned for, and Christ will tabernacle (dwell) among His people on the seventh millennial day.
The Land Sabbath:
“Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.” (Lev. 25:3-4) Again we see the 6/1 principle that is so common in the Scriptures. The Hebrew under the law would till his land and grow his crops for six years, but then allow the land to rest during the seventh year. Obviously, this foreshadows the coming millennial Sabbath of Isaiah 14:7:
“The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.”
Jews Believe after Two Days:
“So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they asked Him to stay with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word.” (John 4:40-41) Here we see Jesus abiding “two days” with the Samaritans, a people that the Jews counted unclean (vs. 9). Then, we read in verses 43 to 45:
“Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him . . .”
The Galilaean Jews received Christ after He had spent “two days” with a people that they counted to be unclean. So, Israel will receive Him after He has spent two thousand years with mostly Gentiles, calling out a people for His name Acts 15:14
Israel Revived after Two Days
One of the most remarkable passages that supports the doctrine of God having a seven thousand year plan is found in Hosea 5:15-6:2:
“I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”
About the best the standard commentators can do with the passage is make some application to the third day resurrection of Jesus (a no brainer, if you ever saw one), and some can’t even manage that. This is largely because most commentators before the twentieth century were post-millennial or a-millennial and did not believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ. Naturally, this blinded them to just about everything you’ve been reading in this booklet. With God’s help, I believe we can make a little more sense out of the passage.
“
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence . . .” This refers to Jesus returning to heaven after being rejected and crucified by the Jews. He will remain there until they “acknowledge their offense” and “seek” him in the Great Tribulation, which the passage calls “their affliction.” They will then “return unto the LORD” and be revived “after two days,” which equals the two thousand year church age. Finally,
“in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight” refers to the Jewish nation being revived and rejoined with the rest of His people at the Second Coming of Christ and living in His sight in the millennial kingdom, which is the “third day” after Calvary, the “third day” after their offense of rejecting Christ.
Today, Tomorrow, and the Third Day
“And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.” Luke 13:32 Isn’t the language interesting in light of what we’ve been studying? Obviously three literal days can be meant in the immediate context, but the picture is crystal clear for anyone with a prophetic eye. Verse 33 tells of His immediate plans.
Jesus spends the two millennial days (the church age) after Calvary curing people of their sins and replacing their devils with His Holy Spirit. Then He is “perfected” at His Second Coming, which is the third day after Calvary “
when that which is perfect is come.” I Corinthians 13:10
On the Third Day
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.” Exodus 19:10-11
There it is again. The people were sanctified for two days before the Lord came down in their sight on the third day, pointing to the third millennial day after Calvary, which follows 2,000 years of Christ sanctifying a people for His name.
The Good Samaritan’s “Two Pence”
. .
he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and if it costs more, when I come again, I will repay thee.” If you’ll check Matthew 20:2, you will see that a penny was a day’s pay at that time, which means that two pence is two day’s pay. The good Samaritan planned to return after two days.
God’s prophetic plan clearly fits into the timeframe of seven thousand years. Having nearly six thousand of those years behind us, this means that we are at the threshold of the seventh millennium, which will be Christ’s Sabbath kingdom rest on earth.
That we haven’t yet reached the true year 6,000, is obvious from the world now in a state of
as in the days of Noah. Matthew 24:37 The given time periods of the Biblical Patriarchs and Kings, tied to the known date of the Babylonian conquest, add to a total of 5986.5 completed years from Adam until January 2016. According to the Jews, we are at year 5776, meaning another 224 years before the Messiah comes. It is known, however, that the Rabbis seriously messed with their calendar in the Middle ages. Jeremiah 8:8
It must be stated that on its own, this doctrine is not one that suits Church teaching, which is probably why it was forsaken centuries ago by many. They lived at a time when there were no visible indications that our Lord’s Return was near, and the 7000 year doctrine being taught then would indicate that His return would not be near for many centuries. But today we have many Biblical indicators flashing, such as Judah being a nation in the land again, world wars and rumours of more wars, Russia and the Muslim nations rising in power, the decline of the West and the rise of the East, a new world order being promoted, exponential increase in earthquakes, drought caused famines, new types of diseases and serious economic problems. All of this makes the 7,000 year plan more believable than ever, especially since we are so close to the seventh millennium of human history.
Probably more than any other time in history, we ought to heed the words of our Lord from Luke 12:40:
“Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man comes at an hour when ye think not.” This sudden and unexpected prophesied event, is not the Return, but the Lord’s terrible Day of wrath by fire, 2 Peter 3:7 that will set the scene for the establishment of a One World Government and for all the Lord’s righteous believers to gather and live in all of the holy Land. Isaiah 66:18b, Revelation 7:9 They will prepare the world for the eventual Return of Jesus in His glory, to reign for the final 1000 years of mankind on the present earth.
Ref: James L. Melton
