As many of us know numerical patterns have been found everywhere throughout scripture. Multiple prophecies throughout the Bible are encoded almost entirely with numerical patterns.

But as mentioned our article on numerology, for as many prophetical keys the bible has encoded in numbers there are easily 100 times more failed predictions made through out time by those who have incorrectly deciphered those numbers.  Numerology in bible prophecy is a powerful yet difficult way to understand end time biblical events.

One of these numerical prophecies is hinted at by the apostle Peter is the day for a thousand year principle found in 2 Peter 3:

3 Knowing this first, that in the last days there will come mockers, walking according to their own personal lusts, 4 And asking, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the forefathers died, everything has remained the same as from the beginning of creation.” 5 But this fact is hidden from them— they themselves choosing to ignore it— that by the Word of God the heavens existed of old, and the earth came forth out of water and amid water, 6 By which the world at that time, having been deluged with water, had itself been destroyed. 7 But the present heavens and earth are being held in store by His Word, and are being reserved for fire in the day of the judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 Now, beloved, do not let this one fact be hidden from you: that with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2Peter 3:3-8 AFV

And so the question that should immediately come to mind is why in the context of the last days, the promise of coming of Christ, the destruction of the earth, the judgment and destruction of the ungodly is Peter referring to the “thousand years as one day” principle? And what do these events have to do with the creation?  As we are going to see these topics are ALL connected.

Although the interpretation is not directly given in scripture, multiple early church fathers have spelled out what many of us have suspected- That God has allotted 6,000 years for mankind before a day of judgment. In “Against Heresies” by Irenaeus in the 2nd Century he states:

For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded. And for this reason the scripture says: Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works. (Gen 2:2) This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years; (2 Pet 3:8) and in six days created things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 5, Chapter 28 verse 3

As most all Torah keepers are fully aware, the 7 annual holydays of the Lord, the sacred assemblies of YHWH, as listed in Leviticus 23, are prophetic.  Beginning with Passover and ending on the 8th day of the Feast on Ingatherings, God’s plan of salvation is laid out in his annual Sabbaths.  Also as equally prophetic is the 7th Day Sabbath, which is the first sacred assembly to be listed in Leviticus 23. The Sabbath Day, like the other “Moedim”(Festivals) of the Lord, gives us insight to the plan of God as the author of the Epistle of Barnabas also in the early second century writes:

If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I cause my mercy to rest upon them. (Jer 17:24-25) The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of creation [thus]: And God made in six days the work of his hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it. (Gen 2:3) Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, He finished in six days. This implies that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. (2 Pet 3:8) And He Himself testifies, saying, Behold, today will be as a thousand years. Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, six thousand years, all things will be finished. And he rested on the seventh day. This means: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall he truly rest on the seventh day.
Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter 15

Now although the authenticity of many of the apocryphal books have been questioned and may have been corrupted, it is clear that in the 2nd century AD many Christians understood that 2nd Peter 3 was referring to a 6000 year period to coincide with 6 days that man has been allotted to do his own work (Ex 20:9) with a with a Seventh Day Sabbath to coincide with a 1000 year millennium to usher in the Kingdom of God (Rev 20:4).

In Psalms 95:11 David states:

For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they have not known My ways’— To whom I swore in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest.“
Psa 95:10-11 AFV.

Here David is making a direct connection with the Promised Land and the rest of God. Paul also refers to this connection between the Sabbath rest and a millennial rest in Hebrews chapters three and four that our spiritual rest is not just the Seventh Day Sabbath but it is also directly tied to our Promised Land- the Kingdom of God.

There remains, therefore, Sabbathkeeping for the people of God. For the one who has entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his works, just as God did from His own works. We should be diligent therefore to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.
Heb 4:9-11 AFV.

And so if the Sabbath Day rest is directly tied to and pictures the 1000-year reign of God in His Kingdom, and a day is as a thousand years, it is very easy to see why the early church believed that the reign of man will come to an end after 6,000 years.

So the all important question arises: When did the 6,000 year period begin? When was Adam born? Well with the listings of the genealogies in Genesis and a little 5th grade math, we can easily calculate the years from the creation of Adam to the birth of Abraham:

  • From Genesis 5:3-29 we learn that there was 1056 years from Creation to the birth of Noah.
  • From Genesis 7:11 we learn that Noah was 600 years old when the flood began.
  • From Genesis 11:10-24&32 we learn that there was 352 years from the Flood to the Birth of Abraham
  • From Genesis 17 we learn that 24 years after the death of Terah the Lord God established his covenant with Abraham.

So why is understanding the date of the covenant important? The Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 3:16 that there was 430 years from the covenant to the giving of the Law.

Now to Abraham and to his Seed were the promises spoken… Now this I say, that the covenant ratified beforehand by God to Christ cannot be annulled by the law, which was given four hundred and thirty years later, so as to make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise. But God granted it to Abraham by promise.
Gal 3:16-18 AFV

Paul here is explaining that from the time that the covenant was made to Abraham in Genesis 17, to the time of the giving of the Law (which happened only 50 days after the Exodus) was 430 years. But doesn’t this conflict with Exodus 12:40?

Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 
Exodus 12:40 KJV

Many have interpreted it to say that the Hebrews were in Egypt for 430 years. But after closer examination it is actually saying that the sojourning of the Hebrews was 430 years. This is explained in greater detail by Carl Franklin in his article “The 430 years of Galatians and Exodus”.

And the LORD said to Abram, “Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house into a land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing.
Gen 12:1-2 AFV.

From the time that Abraham entered in to the Covenant to the time the LORD made his descendants a great nation was 430 years.

And there are several reasons why we know this is the correct interpretation. First all of the archeological evidence confirms that Abraham lived in the 20th Century BC. Much of this is covered my video on “Who wrote the Torah?”. Most all non-atheist archeologist believe that the Exodus took place in the middle of the 15th century. A 430 year gap fits perfectly with this timeline.

From this chart and the genealogies listed in Exodus 6, we learn that Moses was Jacob’s great-great grandson from the Tribe of Levi. According to scripture Jacob was 130 years when he moved to Egypt and lived there 17 years. If Joseph was 39 at the time, that would make Levi around 44. Scripture doesn’t tell us the age of Kohath (Moses’s grandfather) when they moved to Egypt but considering he was listed with the Seventy souls of Genesis 46, he was probably only a couple years old at the time. From Exodus 6 we learn Kohath lived to be 133 years, and Moses’s father Amram lived to be 137. From Exodus 7 we learn Moses was 80 at the time of the Exodus. Even if Kohath was born the day before he moved to Egypt, his son Amram was born on the day of his death, and Moses was born on the day of Amram’s death, we still can’t come up with 430 years in Egypt.

However, if we consider 214 years had passed from the time of the Covenant to the time the Hebrews moved to Egypt, 216 years would be remaining in a 430 year period. If Kohath and Amram were in their late 70’s when they had their sons (which fits with the other Patriarchal ages) this gives us 216 years in Egypt. Problem solved.

Another important passage for determining the date of Creation is in I Kings 6.

And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel… he began to build the house of the LORD.
1Kings 6:1 AFV.

In the 2001 September issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, renown archeologist and Ancient Near Eastern historian Kenneth A. Kitchen gives us an important date in his article: “How We Know When Solomon Ruled”. Using Assyrian, Egyptian, and Biblical dating he concludes that Solomon began his reign in 970 BC with the construction of the first Temple beginning in 966 BC. This would place the Exodus at 1446 BC.

In the Bible and Spades magazine produced by Associates for Biblical Research, archeologist Dr. Bryant G. Wood confirms this date in his article: “The Biblical Date for the Exodus is 1446 BC.

Dr. Scott Stripling, director of the Archaeology Institute at The Bible Seminary in Katy, Texas who served as director at numerous digs throughout the near east is also adamite about the dating of the Exodus. In his video “The Historical Exodus” he also confirms 1446 BC date for the Exodus.

So once again given there is :

  • 1056 years from Creation to the birth of Noah. (Genesis 5:3-29)
  • 600 years from the the birth of Noah to the flood. (Genesis 7:11)
  • 352 years from the Flood to the Birth of Abraham (Genesis 11:10-24&32)
  • 99 years after the Birth of Abraham, The Lord God established his covenant with Abraham. (Genesis 17:1)
  • 430 years from when the Covenant was established with Abraham to the Exodus (Galatians 3:17)
  • 480 years from the Exodus to the building of Solomon’s Temple (1Kings 6:1)

This gives you a grand total of 3,017 years from the Creation to the First Temple. If the Temple was built in 966 BC and the Exodus at 1446 BC, that places the creation at 3973 B.C. The completion of the six thousand years would then place us at 2028 A.D. This is also very close to the two-thousand-year anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus the Messiah in 30 A.D.!

However there several caveats with this date. First it is highly improbable that in the 20 generations from Adam to Abraham, everyone was born on their father’s birthday. It is probably very logical to assume no one was. So, these dates are probably off by 6 months- give or take. Multiply 20 generations by 6 months and that produces a ten-year window- meaning it is possible to be as early as 2018 and possible to be as late as 2038.

Also, YHWH, made his covenant with Abraham in several stages. He tested Abraham multiple times and each time he added more promises and requirements were placed upon Abraham. Did the 430 years began in Genesis 15 when he had moved to Caanan and sacrificed the heifer, she-goat, ram and birds as a sign of the covenant? Did the 430 years begin in Genesis 12 when left his country and began his sojourning? Did it begin when Abraham circumcised all the males in his household in Genesis 17? How much time is between these events?

Although God’s timing is precise and numeric patterns are used frequently in prophecy, as mentioned in the article on “Numerology” all of the prophetic indicators must be considered when deciphering end time events. Every failed prediction was dependent on one or two loosely interpreted signs of the end. Scripture however gives dozens upon dozens of specific signs to look for including a few using numerology. We need to study and be aware of all of the warning indicators as we approach the return of Christ.

So, as we consider that we are quickly approaching the end of the 6,000 years appointed to man as revealed by the Apostle Peter, let us not forget the primary response he expected Christians to have: self examination.

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
2Peter 3:11-12 NKJV.