1 - Opening Revelation

Why Is Christ Going to Reign for a Millennium?

My name is Richard Gentry. I have a 25 year interest in Biblical prophecy, the End Times. I have written a book- The End of the Anglo-Saxon Age and the Coming of the Anti-Christ on line from Amazon. Also on E-book.

The title Opening Revelation was chosen because I thought its meaning was obvious. This encompasses not only Revelation, but Daniel, Amos, Ezekiel, the Psalms, etc.

One hears a lot these days about the coming of the LORD Jesus Christ to those who follow Biblical prophecy. There are signs in the heavens- lunar eclipses on back-to-back Jewish feasts in 2014 and 2015. New diseases caused by viruses such as Ebola and Zika are appearing. Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness in diseases easily treated for decades. Honeybee colonies are vanishing via colony collapse disorder. America and Britain and Europe appear to be declining, while China, Russia, and Islam appear to be rising. Are these truly signs of the LORD’s coming? After all, I still run into people who tell me, “I’ve heard that all my life, and it hasn’t happened yet!” So… is it reasonable to believe the LORD will soon return to rapture His church before the Great Tribulation and Armageddon?

It has been taught to me through the culture and the educational institutions that the Earth is billions of years old, but is this really true? A few centuries ago, the accepted date of Creation in Western Civilization, according to Archbishop Ussher was October 23, 4004 BC. Bibles were published with this date inscribed in them. In 1787 AD, the Christian member of Parliament William Wilberforce began the campaign to end slavery within the British Empire despite the enormous profits. In 1807 AD, Britain abolished the slave trade and circa 1833 AD, slavery was abolished within the Empire. Wilberforce transformed Britain from a nominal Christian nation to a true one, but this did not sit well with everyone.

Charles Lyell was an atheistic Scots lawyer who hated the Bible. In the 1830s he proclaimed that the Earth was much older than the Biblical history. It is hard to get more than 10,000 years out of the Biblical account. Lyell related that in certain areas of the Earth, one can see multiple layers of sediment. He proclaimed that each layer represented a year. As there were hundreds of thousands of layers and more in certain areas, the Earth had to be far older than the Biblical narrative. These vast ages were the foundation for evolution. The one year layer went unchallenged for well over a century. However, in the 1990s, a French scientist, Guy Berthault, conducted an experiment in a university hydraulics lab in Colorado. He placed sediment in a current of water and got multiple layers, which he demonstrated in a video, Experiments in Sedimentation. Hence, the most obvious reason for multiple layers of sediment was Noah’s flood or other floods thereafter. Likely, the large number of layers is still taught in most universities as evidence for the vast age of the Earth. That is clearly wrong!

In the same light when I went to university in the 1960s, the speed of light was felt to be a constant. If a star was 100,000 light years away, then it came into being 100,000 years ago, again sinking the Bible’s story. However, over the last decade or two, it appears that the speed of light is not constant but decreasing, meaning it was faster in the past, perhaps much faster with the Creation.

If evolution is true, then where are the transitional forms, i.e. the missing links? Still missing 157 years after the publication of The Origin of Species!

Why will Christ reign for a millennium or a thousand years? We are told this twice in Revelation 20 and His millennium is mentioned four times more also. Further, in Psalm 90:4 we are told a thousand years is like yesterday to the LORD, yea like a watch in the night. Over three thousand years ago, the Hebrew sages took this verse and said there would be a Biblical week consisting of six thousand years followed by the Messiah’s millennial reign, a Biblical Sabbath millennium.

In 2 Peter 3:8, we are told one day is like a thousand years to the LORD, and a thousand years as one day, further confirming the Biblical millennia. I believe this is literal.

But there’s more! Hebrews 4:1-11, referring to the children of Israel, when they refused to enter the Promised Land and had to wander for forty years, notes that God had said, “So I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest, but there remains a rest for the people of God. For on the seventh day, the LORD rested.” This confirms the week of millennia with the seventh millennium being the Sabbath of a Biblical week of seven thousand year periods.

Per Matthew 25, in Christ’s parable of the ten virgins, five had oil for their lamps and five did not. The cry that the bridegroom (Christ) was coming arose at midnight, at the end of the second night watch from 9 pm to midnight and the beginning of the third night watch from midnight to 3 am. Remember Psalm 90:4: A thousand years is like yesterday to the LORD yea like a watch in the night, i.e. a thousand years is like a night watch. If beginning at Christ’s birth, the cry that He is coming will arise at the end of two thousand years and/or the beginning of the third thousand years, i.e. the present time.

In Genesis we are given the genealogies of the first humans and their age when their sons were born. Using these dates, it appears that Noah’s Flood was 1,656 years after Creation. Adding the ages for the line to Abraham gives us the date of 1878 after Creation when Terah, Abraham’s father, was born.

Then Genesis 11:26 Now Terah lived seventy years and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. The eldest is usually given first. Were these triplets? If Terah was seventy years old when Abram was born, then Abram was born 1,948 years after Creation. I recall a prominent preacher on television stating that this was a number that indicated Israel would be refounded as a nation in 1948, which did, of course, occur. However, Abram was not born 1948 years after Creation (AC) began. Reading further in Genesis 11:32 So the days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. Per Genesis 12:4, Abram was 75 when he left Haran. In Acts 7:4, Stephen relates Abram left Haran when his father died. If his father was 205 when he died and Abram was 75, then Terah was 130 when Abram was born, meaning Abram was born 2008 AC, and he was not Terah’s eldest son. Numbers have meaning in Judaism. Six is the number for man, not quite complete; seven means complete; eight means a new beginning. For example, there were eight persons on the ark, and, in Judaism, a baby boy is circumcised on the eighth day, both denoting a new beginning. The eighth year of the third millennium represented a new start for mankind.

Most sources I have read place the separation of Judah and Israel with the death of Solomon in the year 930 or 931 BC. Solomon reigned forty years placing his taking the throne in 971 or 970 BC. Per 1 Kings 6:1, Solomon began to build the temple in the fourth year of his reign circa 967 or 966 BC which was 480 years after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, which would be about 1447 or 1446 BC.

According to Exodus 12:40 to 41, Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years. And it came to pass at the end of 430 years- on that very same day- it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from Egypt.

The very same day was 14 Nisan that became Passover with the Exodus. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate Israel entered Egypt on 14 Nisan. My numbers cannot be made to work if the above two verses are true. However, it should be noted that the Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible, dated to about 270 BC, is different: Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt and Canaan was 430 years. And it came to pass at the end of 430 years- on that very same day- it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from Egypt. In other words the event that occurred on 14 Nisan or Passover 430 years earlier occurred in Canaan and was not the entry into Egypt. This is further expanded in Galatians 3:16-17: Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one. “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.

These verses explain it all. The children of Israel were not in Egypt 430 years. Christ was crucified long after the law was given. The event referred to 430 years earlier, was Isaac, who represented Christ, on the altar. This was when the covenant was confirmed. Likely this was on 14 Nisan which would become Passover 430 years later. Mark Biltz in Blood Moons (2014) on page 37 notes that Isaac was born of the Feast of Passover also. If I am correct, Isaac was placed on the altar in 1876 or 1877 BC. Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 years old or 2108 years AC. The only unknown is the age of Isaac on the altar, which the Bible does not relate. If Isaac’s age on the altar were known then 1877 plus 2108 plus Isaac’s age on the altar would give us a reasonable date of Creation BC. The supposed ages for Isaac on the altar vary significantly and without Biblical support as far as I can tell- 33, the age of Christ on the cross; 30, when a priest could begin to officiate in the temple; 25, per Josephus; 13, when a boy became a man in Judaism; 5-Isaac carried wood to the altar (Gen 22:6), i.e. he must be at least a few years old. If Isaac were 33 on the altar, then Creation began about 4018 BC; but if 5, then about 3,990 BC. With the lower number we would now be in the approximate 6005th year since Creation making the numbers reasonable that I cite. I don’t know Isaac’s age on the altar, but I suspect it was 13, giving an approximate date for Creation of 3997 BC. Remember the first year of Creation was only about 3 months as man was created on 1 Tishri, now the Feast of Trumpets, and there is no year zero, meaning we must subtract a year from the total when converting from BC to AD. If he were 13, then we are about in the 6,013th year since Creation or off by just over 0.2%.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam was told that he could eat the fruit of all the trees except that of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God also told Adam that in the day he ate it he would die. Adam died spiritually the moment he ate the forbidden fruit. Then, he died physically at the age of 930 per Genesis 5:5, within the limits of a day representing one thousand years to the LORD.

It is interesting to compare the lives of the two wisest persons who ever lived- Christ and Solomon. Solomon came to the throne around 971 to 970 BC, while Christ began His ministry about 28 or 29 AD, about a thousand years apart. Solomon began his temple about 967 or 966 BC, while Christ began His with His crucifixion, again about a millennium apart. Finally, Solomon died around 931 to 930 BC, while the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, again a thousand years apart. An accident? I think not!

The thousand years may work in the secular world as well. Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 AD. This cemented his rule as a Christian. Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French Empire in 1803 AD. The Pope was present at Napoleon’s coronation. I suspect the Pope thought he was there to crown Napoleon, i.e. to give him God’s sanction. But Napoleon crowned himself and his queen. He reigned because of his own endeavors. He did not require the Pope or God. Thus was ended a millennium of French Christianity.

Per Luke 13:32: And Jesus said to them, “Go tell that fox Herod, ‘Behold I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day, I shall be perfected.’” I had always believed this referred to His resurrection, but is it a double prophecy also, referring to His millennial reign about two thousand years after His birth? I believe so.

Hebrews 1:1: God, who at various times and in various ways, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days, spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the worlds…” Does these last days refer to the last 2,000 years of Earth’s history, the church age? I believe so.

Hosea 6:1-2: “Come and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us. He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up that we may live in His sight.”

This is an interesting prophecy, to me another double prophecy. The kingdom of Israel was destroyed in 722 BC, but they separated from Judah circa 931 BC. With this separation they almost immediately offended God by raising up golden calves to worship, making priests of nonLevites, and changing God’s feasts from the 7th to the 8th month per 1 Kings 12:28, 31, & 33. If God’s rejection of the northern kingdom of Israel began about 931 BC, it would run to about 1070 AD. I believe the Anglo-Saxons are the lost tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, who had the great blessings of God. The last successful invasion of England was in 1066 AD, about 2,000 years later. England began to rise thereafter as the premier nation in the world in the 19th century, the British century. This fulfills the prophecy to me.

In the same light, I believe it also refers to Judah and the Jews. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in 70 AD. Israel became a nation again in 1948 AD or about 1,878 years later, but the Romans took Jerusalem in 63 BC, or about 2,000 years earlier.

Of interest, the approximately six thousand years would be divided into three pieces of about two thousand years or 40 Jubilees (50 year periods) each, with first Creation, then Israel, then the church. Each period began with a sacrifice- first, an animal, likely a ram or a lamb, to provide clothing for the first couple, then the ram substituted for Isaac, then Christ. Each 2,000 year period had a main character- first Adam, then Abraham, then Christ. In about the middle of the six millennia, or 1003 BC, David took Jerusalem, God’s earthly city. We must be near the end of the six thousand years if my interpretation is correct.

It should be noted that the Earth of Creation was likely far different from the present Earth. In Genesis 2:6 we are told “a mist … from the earth … watered the ground.” In Genesis 9:13, after the Flood, God notes He set his rainbow in the cloud, so this was new. There was no rain before the Flood according to Scripture. 2 Peter 3:5 notes the earth was standing out of water and in the water. This suggests to me a canopy of some sort, likely water or ice, which filtered out the sun’s radiation allowing the inhabitants of the original Creation to grow to hundreds of years of age. Isaiah 4:5- 6 suggests a canopy or covering over Mount Zion during Christ’s Sabbath millennium.

JR Church noted that each of the six millennia followed a day of Creation. First God separated the light from the darkness, noting the light was good. Adam and Eve had the choice to follow God, the light, or not. They chose the darkness. Some believe that God was unjust to curse them for just eating some fruit, but God’s only law was don’t eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God created sea and sky on the second day, but no land. Nothing was good or blessed. In the year 1656 AC (after Creation), God recreated the second day with the Flood. The land vanished under the water. About a century later, man built the Tower of Babel, rebelling again. Hence, there was no blessing on this millennium. The sea also represented the seventy Gentile nations that spread over the Earth thereafter from Babel toward the end of the second millennium.

On the third day, the land appeared and was blessed by God. The plants were then created, also blessed by God. The third Jewish day beginning sunset Monday to sunset Tuesday is the day of double blessing when most Jewish couples want to get married. Abraham represented the land, from which the nation of Israel would come. The plants were the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, and the Ten Commandments which we are to ingest like food, given to us by God through Moses- the second blessing.

On the fourth day, the sun, the moon, and the stars were created. The bookends for this millennium are the birth of Christ at one end and at the other, David’s kingdom with David (1010 -970 BC) representing the moon, reflecting the light of the sun, or in this case, the Son, or Christ. As already mentioned, David took God’s earthly city, Jerusalem, in 1003 BC near the beginning of the fourth day and the middle of the six thousand years. The stars are likely the Israelites.

On the fifth day, the great sea beasts came forth and the seas were filled with life. The birds also were created. The great sea beasts represented pagan Rome early in the millennium, followed by Islam and the Vikings later. Christendom was represented by the fish in the seas, but in 1000 AD, the survival of European Christendom did not have a very positive outlook. At that time Christendom consisted of the British Isles, France, Germany, the Papal states, and Byzantium. They were besieged by the Vikings from the north and the Turks from the southeast. The Moors ruled most of Spain attacking from the southwest, and then it all changed.

On the sixth day the land beasts came forth. Remember a Jewish day goes from sunset to sunset- darkness to light. European Christendom represented the land beasts who came out of Israel. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and Europe, especially Spain, Portugal, France and Holland, began to rule large parts of the world. The last quarter millennium represented man being created on the evening of the sixth day- the Anglo-Saxon Age of Great Britain, then America. The Anglo-Saxons are likely the lost tribes of Joseph- Ephraim and Manasseh, who had the blessings of God per Genesis 48, 49:22-26 and Deuteronomy 33:13-17. If this is so, they must return to Israel along with the Jews and rest of the lost tribes of Israel.

Then comes the Sabbath or Shabot millennium, but the final week of Daniel, the seventieth week of Daniel 9:24-27 appears to intervene between the six thousand and the final millennium. This seventieth week is composed of seven Biblical years of 360 days each. Most prophecy teachers that I have read believe it will be divided into two pieces of 1260 days each. 1260 days are 42 months or time, times (two, not indefinite plural), and half a time. Three and a half times 360 equals 1260 or 42 months (30 days per month). So what do we have to work with?

Daniel 7:25: He (the Anti-Christ) shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change time and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time, times (two), and half a time. (1260 days)

The church is not appointed to wrath, so it is gone via the rapture by this time. Those who become Christians after the rapture are the saints referred to here who are persecuted.

Revelation 13:5: And he (the Anti-Christ) was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months (1260 days)

Revelation 12:6: Then the woman (representing Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Revelation 12:14: But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time, times (two) and half a time. (1260 days)

To me, these four verses are about the same period of time- the Great Tribulation, when Satan reigns on the Earth. Combine these with Daniel 9:27: Then he (the Anti-Christ) shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering, and on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate even until the consummation, which is determined is poured out on the desolate.

Now if the middle of the week refers to the precise middle, then the case for two periods of 42 months or 1260 days is made. However, what if it means the approximate middle, i.e. the fourth year?

We have a few more verses- Revelation 11:2: “But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.” So the Gentiles will get part of the Temple and likely even Jerusalem for 42 months. I suspect this will occur after Israel is attacked by all her contiguous neighbors save Egypt per Amos 1 & 2. I strongly suspect this 42 months is when Daniel 11:40 occurs: “At the time of the end the king of the South (Egypt per Ezekiel 30) shall attack him (the Anti-Christ); and the king of the North (Russia) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he (the Anti-Christ) shall enter the countries, overwhelm them and pass through.”

I believe this refers to when the Anti-Christ controls part of the temple. It is difficult to think of Egypt attacking the European Anti-Christ in Europe, but easy if the Anti-Christ controls part of the Temple and Jerusalem. This 42 month period will also include the Russo-Arab invasion of Ezekiel 38 & 39 and thereafter, the time the Anti-Christ puts up the abomination of desolation in the Temple in the fourth year of the seven to begin the slaughter of Jews, Israelites, and Christians. I doubt this 42 month period will begin Daniel’s final or 70th week. I suspect it will be within the seven Biblical year timespan.

There is also Revelation 11:3 “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” After 1260 days they are killed but per verse 11:11: Now after three-and- a-half days the breath of God entered them and they stood on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them.

Why are they resurrected after three-and-a-half days?

On to Daniel 12:11: “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is setup, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 “Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.”

The Scriptures are clear. The Anti-Christ has 1260 days for the Great Tribulation, and then he is over. The extra thirty days of the 1290 likely refer to the 30 days that it takes to cleanse the temple from the desolation, but what about the extra 75 days total to 1335? The LORD is fulfilling the seven feasts of Israel given to Moses in the Torah. Christ was the Passover Lamb to begin the spring feasts. He was in the tomb for the first three days of the one week Feast of Unleavened Bread. Leaven is a symbol of sin. Christ had no sin. He was resurrected on Firstfruits being the Firstfruit of the grave. Fifty days later is the feast of Weeks, what Christians call Pentecost, when the church was born. He has fulfilled the first 4 feasts. He will also fulfill the last three fall feasts in the seventh month, with the number seven indicating completeness. Many believe the rapture of the church will occur on the feast of Trumpets on the first day of the seventh Jewish month – Tishri. Perhaps, or perhaps another feast. Trumpets points to Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, the Day of Atonement, on 10 Tishri. It was the only day the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple with a blood offering to atone for his sins and that of the nation. I believe the LORD will return on Yom Kippur to destroy His enemies at Armageddon. The seventh feast is Tabernacles from 15 to 21 Tishri to celebrate the ingathering of the year’s crops. Per Zechariah14:16, Tabernacles is the annual feast of Christ’s millennium when all the nations of the world come to Jerusalem to worship the LORD.

But what is always 74 or 75 days after Yom Kippur? Hanukkah is the eight day celebration for the removal of the first abomination of desolation circa 165 BC. I suspect it will be the feast that ends the final or seventieth week of Daniel to commemorate the removal of the second abomination of desolation as well. If this is the correct interpretation, then the final week of Daniel will be in three pieces. The middle piece is the Great Tribulation of 1260 days. The final piece is 75 to 82 days as Hanukkah is an eight day feast. The first piece will be 1260 days less 75 to 82 days.

There is another possibility as well. Per Daniel 9:24, the seventy weeks end with the anointing of the Most Holy which the experts say is the dedication of the temple. The rededication will occur 30 days after the Great Tribulation ends, meaning the final week will consist of three pieces with the middle piece being the 1260 day or 42 month Great Tribulation. The last piece will be 30 days, and the first piece will be 1230 days.

If the Great Tribulation ends on Yom Kippur, does it have any relation to the other feasts? Often, but not always, 1260 days earlier falls on the fourth day of the one week feast of Unleavened Bread. Remember Daniel 9:27 Then he (the Anti-Christ) shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.

In other words, “in the middle of the week” is a double prophecy. It refers to the middle of the week of seven Biblical years, but also the middle of the week of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now why would it be the fourth day of Unleavened Bread? Satan likes to mimic Christ. Could it be the Anti-Christ takes his head wound per Revelation 13:3 on Passover? He is then resurrected on the third day of Unleavened Bread, and on the next day, the fourth day of the feast, in the middle of the week, he puts up the abomination of desolation in the Temple. In other words, Satan wants to hijack the Feasts of the LORD. And the LORD’s response is to allow His two witnesses to be killed on a subsequent Passover, a year or two later, and then resurrected on the fourth day of the week of Unleavened Bread, now the celebration of the Anti-Christ for setting up the abomination of desolation. This would be God’s way of saying, “Satan, you are trying to take one of my feasts. That’ll be the day.” This is why the two witnesses are resurrected after three-and-a-half days. This hypothesis could be quickly tested once the two witnesses appear. Is Passover 1260 days later? For example, Passover in 2020 begins at sunset Jerusalem time on April 8 and ends at sunset on April 9. My calculations are that if this were time of the death of the two witnesses, then they should appear about sunset October 26 to sunset October 27, Jerusalem time in 2016. I recommend you do your own calculations.

My name is Richard Gentry. I have been fascinated with Biblical prophecy for 25 years. I have written a book The End of the Anglo-Saxon Age and the Coming of the Anti-Christ. I must confess I missed on the Psalms from 112 to 119 in my book, but 116 to 122 may be a much better fit. Likewise the battle of Yorktown was 1781 not 1783. More on that later. I plan to add to this blog weekly. The book is available from Amazon and WestBow Press, also an Ebook. I hope you found this blog of interest.