The Reckoning of Time

[rockytopva]

I believe man's domain on earth will be approximately seven thousand years. I have often wondered where the reckoning of man's time on earth begins.

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
2. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
5. And the evening and the morning were the first day. - Genesis 1

I believe trillions of what we call years could have passed between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:5. Time was not measured until the earth was put in orbit around the sun. So what we would have is...

Pre-Day 1 - The creation of heaven and earth... An unknown space as time had yet to be measured.
Day 1 - Earth is placed in rotation around the sun. Beginning of the accounting of time
Day 2 - The creation of geography
Day 3 - The creation of the seeds of plant life
Day 4 - The creation of the moon and an atmosphere to let the light in
Day 5 - The creation of animal life
Day 6 - The creation of man for a seven thousand year domain
Day 7 - The day of rest

After seven thousand years it will all end along with the accounting of time...

And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: - Revelation 10:5-6

As E=mc2 we can divide and conclude that mass (m) = plasma (E/c2) and that it must needs for the universe to return to plasma energy where God will plan other things to do with it.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. - 2 Peter 3:10-11

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. - Revelation 21:1

 

[rockytopva]

I built this timeline in the long ago.... Estimated dates....

4300 BC - Creation of Adam
2640 BC - The Great Flood
2060 AD - Christ’s coming
3100 AD - End of millennial and destruction of planet earth

I have man on this planet 7,400 years, and would put the accuracy of these dates within 400 years....

Taking the timeline of the church in parallel with the generations of Adam there was a severe famine during the time Noah was born. I would imagine a time of famine during the time of the Black Horseman, which days I believe we now live in....

As far as Isaac Newton’s 2060AD quote he said....

“It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner. This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fancifull men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, & by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail. Christ comes as a thief in the night, & it is not for us to know the times & seasons which God hath put into his own breast." - Isaac Newton
The 2060AD quote is a close estimation and not an exact date.

 

[roman2819]

I believe trillions of what we call years could have passed between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:5. Time was not measured until the earth was put in orbit around the sun. So what we would have is...

Trillions of year seem too miuch, but essentially I agree that each of the 6 days of creation is not literally 24-hour, but instead, the word 'day' refers to a stage or phase or passage of time. The twenty-four hour day is only created on the fourth 'day'.

The Bible gives a brief summary of how the twenty-four hour day was created on the fourth day (or stage). As God planned to set lights in the sky [Genesis 1:14-15], He “made two great lights—the greater light (sun) to govern the day and the lesser light (moon) to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness" [Genesis 1:16-17].

As He went on to “set them (the sun, moon and stars) in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness” [Genesis 1:18], God constructed the day and night as we know it. For the first time in the creation process, the day and night as we know were formed – which is different from the day and night on the first day of creation, when the sun, moon and stars were not yet in place. Our definition of a twenty-four hour day was made on the fourth stage. It means the other same word, day (1 to 6) is not literally 24-hours. When reading the Scriptures, don't just see the words literally, figure out the context.

Genesis 1:14-18 describe how God made the 24-hour day on the 4th day (the 4th stage of the creation process). I don't see how it can be clearer than that.

-- Adapted from 'Understanding Prayer, Faith and God's will: Compass for Christian Faith"