In a couple of articles we discussed how days in the Bible represent thousand year periods, so today it might be helpful to look with that in mind at an overview of God’s time line for man. This entire concept of changing millenniums into days in the Bible was started very early in God’s Word with the relating in Genesis that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and this time line is carried throughout the scriptures.

        In Biblical time there were four thousand years, or four days, from Adam to Jesus. Then there are projected to be two thousand years, or two days, from the first coming of Jesus until His second coming at the end of the tribulation. This is the time period designated for the creation of Christ’s true church. Following that will be the thousand year reign of Jesus, known as the Millennial Reign. In scripture, this again encompasses one day in many shadows. Finally, we read in 1 Corinthians 15:24-25, “Then the end will come, when He (Jesus) hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until he has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be defeated is death.” This final time period we can look at as the true eternal heaven, and we will see it momentarily in a shadow of the eighth day.

        There are literally scores and scores of “day shadows” pertaining to each of these time periods, but let’s just look at one for each one of the four time periods. The first one, of course, is the Biblical time from Adam to Jesus. To illustrate a shadow of that, I want to look at one that I did not even notice  until a few days ago. The story is in Acts 10. A Gentile, Cornelius, who represents the Gentile church sends servants to find Peter. When Peter arrives he asks Cornelius why he had sent for him. Verses 30 to 32 tell us, “Cornelius answered, ‘Four days ago I was in my house praying … Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, “Cornelius, God has heard your prayers and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter.” Cornelius and his Gentile friends and family, of course, then heard from Peter the good news about Jesus and were saved. Notice that this happened after four days, a shadow of the first four thousand years on God’s time table.

        On March 24th I posted an article in which we looked at the next two thousand years, or two days. We learned that the Jews eyes have been blinded for the past two thousand years. We found that John 12:40 said, “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn and I would heal them.” This was done so that we Gentiles would have time to come to Him, and the past two thousand years is referred to in Luke 21:24 as “The time of the Gentiles.” We also saw in that article that the story of the Samaritan woman at the well was a shadow of the Gentile church, and that in John 4:40, “He stayed two days. And because of His words many more became believers.” Yes, Jesus has stayed with His church this past two thousand years in the person of the Holy Spirit.

        This same two thousand year period is obviously described differently for the Jews. An example of this in a “day shadow” is found in Hosea 6:2, which reads, “After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence.” Please realize, though, that for Jews who believe in Jesus as their Savior now, they are a part of the true church of Christ. The above “two day” shadow was prophesied for the nation of Israel as a whole. Also remember that Romans 11:26 teaches us that “All Israel will be saved.”

        A shadow that I mentioned in my book about the entire six day period from Adam until Jesus comes in His glory following the tribulation was found in Matthew 17:1, “After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John, the brother of James, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.” This scripture is the beginning of the story in which Jesus is miraculously changed right before His disciples’ eyes and, “There He was transformed before them. his face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light.” Matthew 17:2.      

        Interestingly, another shadow that I just recently noticed has to do with the entire seven thousand year period of mankind in God’s time line prior to heaven. Although I see enough in it to write an entire article, I will just quote the verse, mentioning first that in God’s Word yeast always represents sin. The verse is found in Leviticus 23:6 in which God is outlining the Feast of Unleavened Bread, “For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.” 

        Finally, are there any “day shadows” concerning the eighth day, heaven? The answer is a resounding, yes. My favorite is again found in the description of one of the feasts, which are always prophetic, for God’s Word tell us in Colossians 2:16-17, “with regard to a religious festival … These are a shadow of the things that were to come.”

        The eighth day shadow I like the most is found in the Feast of Tabernacles, described in Leviticas 23:35-44. In it the Hebrews were instructed to leave their homes and live in booths, or tents, for seven days. The Bible consistently uses tents to describe our bodies, such as in 2 Corinthians 5:1, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed …” And in describing the Feast of Tabernacles, God commands in Leviticus 23:42, “Live in booths (tents) for seven days.” 

        Leviticus 23:36 instructs, “On the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the Lord by fire.” This itself is a shadow of the future because we know that after the Millennial reign of Christ “The elements will be destroyed by fire.” This will be done in order to cleanse the world of all evil that it had been subjected to during the first seven thousand years, the first seven days. Yes, even during the Millennial Reign of Christ, sin will still be present, even though Satan will be held at bay during that time. But getting back to the Feast of Tabernacles, after the seven days are up, on the eighth day, the people were to leave their tents and return to their real home. And we, too, after the seven days of God’s time line are completed, will be going to our real home in heaven.

        Dear Reader, the end of the first “six days” are upon us. I truly believe our generation will experience it. The hard parts of the time line are behind. What is left is the glorious thousand year reign of Jesus, and then heaven itself. We will be a part of the best two days of God’s time line. All we have to do is make Jesus the Lord of our lives. If for some reason you have not done that yet, do it this instant. Don’t delay a minute. God’s day calender is about to change from day six to day seven. When the day six page turns, the opportunity ends to be able to be a part of days seven and eight. Don’t miss the two most wonderful days of the time line. Make Jesus Lord now. I’ll see you on day seven.