There was much anticipation in the nation Israel and in the surrounding middle east region following the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus came preaching to the lost sheep of Israel, Mt 4:17, to repent for the Kingdom of God was at hand. It was common knowledge in the region that the 70th week of Daniel was approaching and the whole nation of Israel, Christian Jew and Gentile Christian alike, were looking for the promised Kingdom of God, where the messiah along with Israel would rule the world. The Apostle Paul in several epistles indicates that the time was short and that the day was at hand, 1Co 7:29, Ro 13:11-12. He even had to reassure the Thessalonian church that the day of the Lord and the dead in Christ being gathering together unto him, had not already taken place.
2Th 2:1-3 ¶ Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 ¶ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
All of this gives a brief glimpse of the great expectations for the Kingdom of God that the people in the middle east were gripped with during those days. But that expectation abruptly stops for the Christian church, when the following revelation is imparted to the Apostle Peter by the Spirit.
2Pe 3:1-4 ¶ This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
3 ¶ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2 Pe 3:8 ¶ But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Peter is telling the church to be mindful of the words, prophetic words, spoken by the prophets of the Old Testament and Apostles of the Lord and while doing so, to keep in mind, that in regards to prophetic utterances, one day is with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Careful reading of the New Testament, in light of this revelation regarding prophecy, offers insight. One prophecy this is apparent in, is in the Joel prophecy cited by Peter in the 2nd chapter of Acts.
Acts 2:16-19 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
You acquire a deeper understanding of these verses by keeping in mind that a prophetic day unto the Lord is a thousand years. Take for another example Hosea.
Ho 6:1-2 ¶ 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.
2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
Now, are these verses referring to the time when ungodliness is taken from Jacob and Israel of the flesh, when they are graphed back into the olive tree, Ro 11:24-32? Also Jesus was foretold to be a prophet like unto Moses, Deut 18:18, so often the events in the lives of the two men are types and shadows one of another.
Ex 19:10-11 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
11 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.
The book of Hebrews, by type, refers to these events that took place in Exodus concerning Moses and mount Sinai. By type those events at Sinai also apply to the body of Christ.
Heb 12:22-25 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Could it be understood from the Lord’s words, Mt 24:22, that if the last days, (two thousand years) were not shortened that no flesh would would be saved? It is said that no man knows the day or the hour of the Lord’s return, Mt 24:36. But a loose time frame is certainly evident from the information given in 2 Pe 3:8. Two thousand years from the resurrection of the Lord until his return. I have hesitated to include these verses in this article and my take on them, but have recently decided to do so. The Lord himself uttered these words which I think to be prophetic in nature.
Matthew 12:39-45 KJVS
[39] But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: [40] For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [41] The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. [42] The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. [43] When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. [44] Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
[45] Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
A different account of this can be read in Luke 11:29-32. There has been difficulties over the years trying to prove that Jesus was in the tomb a full three days and nights. But if we view these statements Jesus made in light of 2Pe 3:8, of a day being a thousand years long, you can see a additional meaning. Jesus states he will be in the heart of the earth for three days and nights. Jesus is the seed that falls into the ground and dies in order to bring forth fruit. Jonas was sent to bring a Gentile city to repentance. The sign of Jonas to that wicked generation, shows when in the next 3,000 years, that generation will come up in judgement. At the end of the thousand year kingdom there will be the white throne judgment where all the Gentiles will be judged. The Queen of the south, Sheba, will come up in judgment with that wicked generation that rejected Jesus. Now this certainly was a slap in the face of those Jews listening because they held Gentiles in disdain but it also told them that they would have no part of the glorious Kingdom of God. Now it took me awhile to understand Mt 12:43-45. Jesus was the Passover lamb and before Passover every household swept the houses out making sure no yeast or leaven was in the house. The house was Israel and Jesus healed and cast out demons and the house was clean but not for long. Seven more demons worse than the first entered in. If you ever have read the accounts written by Josephus of the Jewish-Roman war, you can more easily see the analogy of seven demons worse than the first entering the house. Now getting back to the three days. The day of the Lord is the beginning of the thousand year kingdom of God, or the seventh day. From our perspective we will concentrate on the two thousand year long days before the return of the Lord. The fifth and sixth day. Remember too that there is redemption taking place in the earth during the thousand year day or seventh day of rest. Since it is commonly understood that Jesus was 33 years old when crucified and the estimated birth of the Lord ranges from 4 BC to 3 A.D.. His return should be roughly 2000 years after his death. These estimates of Jesus birth and death, comes from just a brief examination of the subject, when using Google search on the Internet. If Jesus’s return is at the mid point of the tribulation and placing his death at 29 A.D., that would entail his return in 2026 or earlier due to Mt 24:22. It is quite evident to me that we are at the tail end of the last days and will see the Lord’s return in our lifetime. I often update articles when I run across new information and the following information agrees with the timeframe I outlined above. The quote from the article that follows is a bit disjointed taken out of context and the reader is welcome to read the short article at this web address. http://www.messianictorah.org/en/manna_en/32-7en.htm
“If this calculation is correct it is possible that year 2029 (5790) is year 6001 after Adam, when the Messianic kingdom will be established on earth.
According to the rabbinical year count it would be on year 5790, which gives us a difference of 211 years. This difference in years is due to the fact that Rabbis count 210 years of the sons of Israel in Egypt while the Torah speaks of 430 years (Exodus 12:40), which yields a difference of 220 years (430 – 210 = 220). Besides, the calculation of the period of the Persian Empire is uncertain.
The Jewish year 5790 will begin on September 10 of year 2029.”
We certainly appear to be in the last days and I for one am looking for the appearing of my Lord and Saviour.
Re 22:20-21 ¶ He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.