Christ's Second Coming - Millennial Day Theory
Christ's Second Coming - Millennial Day Theory
Collin Leong. May 6, 2024
I. Introduction
There is a theory called Millennial Day Theory, or the Millennium sabbath hypothesis, or the Sabbath millennium theory, is a theory in Christian eschatology which predicts that the Second Coming of Christ will occur 6,000 years after the creation of mankind, followed by 1,000 years of peace and harmony.
Before we go deeper into the theory, we must know that Jesus had told us that no man knows the precise “day or the hour,” except God the Father. (Matthew 24:36) I believe Jesus didn't know as He did not exercise His Godly abilities at that time, for He was born as a man. But now, He knows.
While we don't know the precise day and hour, we are encourage to recognize the signs of the end times, so we can be prepared for it. Paul said: “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober." (1 Thess 5:4-6)
In addition, Revelation 1:3 states: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” This verse emphasizes the importance of understanding and heeding the signs of the end times, as revealed in the prophetic writings.
With this, we must know what the Bible say about the end times. We must have the discernment not to believe in every human prediction. There were dozens of prediction that missed their target dates. Some people predict it will happen hundreds of year from now. But that is easier to do, as if it doesn't come true, he is already dead and felt no embarrassment. However, people who believe in hundreds years theories will become complacent, rather than be zealous for God and urgent to spread the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
Regardless of who or what you believe, please commit to God that you treat the Great Commission as urgently as God treats it. The timeline He gave for us is an opportunity for pre-believers to be redeemed and receive salivation and eternal life, through our testimonies. There is no time to lose.
With that, let's take a deeper look in this Millennial Day Theory.
2. Foundational Concept of Millennial Day Theory.
In six days God created the heavens and the earth, the living things and finally Adam and Eve on the last day. On the seventh day, he rested. (Genesis 1 and 2:1-3) When we read the bible, we know God has a pattern.
For example, we see seven as a key number in many events. In Revelation alone, we can see there were seven spirits of God, seven lampstands, seven seals/trumpets/bowls, seven letters, and so on. There are also seven feasts, and even seven colors in the rainbow of the covenant after the flood.
Seven, in numerology, represents divine completeness, spiritual significance, and God’s order. As God is the God of order, we believe that the creation of 6 days and 1 day rest, is symbolic of the time given to man to be redeemed. Redemption is the key purpose and mission of God for man.
While the creation has 6 days, we count the time of man will last for 6000 years. It is said in scripture that: “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day..” (2Pet 3:8)
The 7th day is a rest day, a Sabbath. This is symbolic of Jesus bringing peace and order to earth for 1000 years, after the 7 years of tribulation. (Revelation 20:4)
This 7000 years completes the history of the existing creation, as at the end of the 7000 years, our earth and heaven (sky) will be destroyed by fire, and a new earth and a new heaven will be re-created. (Revelation 21:1)
3. When will He come again?
If this theory is true, then the years of creation must be accurately estimated. I've read many commentaries on this, and there are several methods to calculate the age of creation.
(a) Jewish Calendar.
According to a document from Michael Selutin, we are currently in the year 5783 (on July 2023) since the creation of the first man, based on the Jewish Calendar. So his conclusion is that Christ will come in 217 years from 2023.
The 12th-century Jewish philosopher Maimonides established the year 3761 BC as the beginning of the world according to Hebrew time reckoning. AM stands for Anno Mundi, to indicate the age of the world.
For example, the beginning of the year 2024 CE in the Gregorian calendar corresponds to the year AM 5784 in the Jewish calendar.
The Jewish calendar is luni-solar, meaning it combines lunar months with adjustments to keep it in sync with solar cycles. The date of creation is based on Jewish tradition and calculations from biblical genealogies. It focus on theological and symbolic aspects of genealogies.
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| Bible Timeline Summary |
“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence."
Hosea's prophecy is to say that the Lord has ignored Israel for two days, but he will come back on the third day to heal and bind up their wounds. In other words, Jesus has left Israel alone after they rejected Him and had Him crucified. But He will come back after 2 days, which is, 2000 years.
This 2000 years should be calculated from the time He was crucified. According to biblical scholars and historical evidence, Jesus died on Friday, April 3rd, AD 33, at approximately 3 PM (referred to as “the ninth hour”).
Thus 2000 years from His crucifixion will end of 2033. We only have 9 years to go, before He comes again.
4. Did We Consider the Rapture?
Note that the rapture is also affected by the date of Jesus' return. 1 Thess 4:17 says: “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
There are three possible periods that rapture will happen with respect to the return of Christ. (a) Post-tribulation - i.e, it happens at or more than 7 years of Jesus coming; (b) Mid-tribulation - it happens 3.5 years before Jesus returning. and (c) Post-tribulation - it happens just before Jesus comes again.
Post-tribulation doesn't make sense to me, as there is no reason for us to suffer the entire tribulation and then get raptured, and then come back to earth immediately with Jesus for the Armageddon war.
I used to believe in mid-tribulation, but now I'm more convinced of pre-tribulation. (No time to explain now.)
Assuming Jesus will return on 2033, and assuming the rapture happens just before the tribulation starts, then the rapture will happened in 2026, at the latest. However, there is nothing that prevents the rapture from today.
Conclusion
Whichever theories you are attracted to, weather it can happen in hundreds of years or less than 10 years, it should not affect our urgency to spread the Gospel as quickly as possible. The fact is that we don't know when we are going to die, nor do we know when our loved ones will die. Let's not miss the opportunities while we are alive.
Fotnotes:
1. Michael Selutin - https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/only-217-years-until-the-messianic-age/
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