The Seven Millennial Days of Human History

God's Human History Time-Line

by Dr. Robert D. Luginbill

[from: The Satanic Rebellion: Part 5]

Introduction: When God restored the heavens and the earth to habitable form, He did so in six literal days, leaving the seventh as a day of rest to memorialize the principle of peace and rest available to all who trust in Him. These seven days of the earth's re-creation began the process of God's judgment upon evil, His restoration of the universe, and His replacement of Satan. As we saw in section I above, following His divine judgment upon the heavens and the earth in response to Satan's rebellion, God restored the earth and set the stage for the replacement of Satan and his followers with Adam and his progeny. Though the devil thought to disrupt this prospect through his temptation of Adam and Eve, the fall of mankind merely set in motion the grand Plan of God for human history, a design which pivots around the incarnation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and which will culminate in the ultimate replacement of the devil and his followers at history's end.

Besides marking the first phase of judgment, restoration and replacement, these first seven literal days were also symbolic of the entire course of human history that was to come. For the seven days of re-creation correspond to the seven millennia of human history, a definite period of time ordained by God before the foundation of the world within which mankind would be saved by the gift of Christ and within which all things would be judged, restored and replaced. As we have seen above, different conditions prevail in different periods, both from the standpoint of God's provision of grace and from the point of view of Satan's method of attack. Just as the restoration of what was destroyed in heaven and on earth in the wake of God's original judgment upon the devil and his followers was replaced in phases during seven literal days, so throughout the course of the seven millennia of human history God is phasing in replacements for Satan and the fallen angels, demonstrating in the process His multifarious grace to believers regardless of the vastly different circumstances under which they are called out:

Days 1 and 2: The Gentiles: (ca. 4065-2065 B.C.)

a. The Antediluvian Civilization:

Time Frame: From Adam's fall to circa Noah.

Challenge to believers: To maintain and develop faith in God while transitioning from perfect environment to the hardships of the present world.

b. The Division of the Nations:

Time Frame: From circa Noah to Abraham.

Challenge to believers: To maintain and develop faith in God in the face of unprecedented satanic attacks (i.e., the genetic dilution of Genesis chapter six, and Satan's post-flood attempt to establish one-world government).

Days 3 and 4: Israel: (ca. 2065-2 B.C.) [the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity excepted; the seven years of the Tribulation still future]

c. The Nation of Israel:

Time Frame: From Abraham to circa David.

Challenge to believers: To maintain and develop faith in God as His unique witnesses (and as primary targets of the devil) in the midst of a pagan world.

d. The Kingdom of Israel:

Time Frame: From circa David to Christ.

Challenge to believers: To maintain and develop faith in God as members (or associates) of His unique nation Israel (the central point of satanic opposition) in the midst of a world of devil-worshipping nations.

Days 5 and 6: The Church: (ca. 33-2033 A.D.)

e. Centralized Christianity:

Time Frame: From Christ to circa the schism of the Church.

Challenge to believers: To maintain and develop faith in God despite growing opposition to the truth from monolithic, bureaucratic pseudo-Christianity.

f. Decentralized Christianity:

Time Frame: From circa the schism of the Church to the Second Advent of Christ.

Challenge to believers: To maintain and develop faith in God in the face of mounting attacks on the truth from all quarters (religious, social, economic and political), culminating in the most intense period of pressure and opposition in human history, the Tribulation.

Day 7: The Kingdom of God (the Sabbath Day): (ca. 2033-3033 A.D.)

g. The Millennium:

Time Frame: From the Second Advent of Christ to the Gog-Magog Rebellion.

Challenge to believers: To maintain and develop faith in God while transitioning from the devil's world to Christ's perfect rule over mankind (sinful human beings facing the ultimate prosperity test).

8. Evidence for the "Seven Days" Interpretation:

a. Direct Biblical Testimony: The interpretation of human history as a set of seven millennia has a certain internal logic when we remember that history in the aggregate has been designed by God for the very specific purposes outlined in this series of judging evil, restoring righteousness, and replacing evil-doers with faithful followers, all through the agency and saving work of His Son:

By faith we understand that the ages have been constructed by the Word of God.
Hebrews 11:3a

There are clear indications in scripture that God's specific plan of construction for that part of time we call human history is indeed a series of seven millennia.  For example, when scripture makes a deliberate point of telling us that Jesus took his inner group of disciples up to the Mount of Transfiguration “after six days” (Matt.17:1; Mk.9:2), it is reasonable to suppose that this information has not been supplied to no particular purpose, yet nothing in the context of either Matthew or Mark explains why here almost uniquely in the gospels such specific chronological information should be given – unless it is precisely because of the fact that on the seventh day our Lord was “transfigured”, a preview of His return in glory at the second advent (as the appearance of the two heralds of that event, Moses and Elijah, makes clear).  And if the seventh day is thus symbolically linked here to the second advent (as it clearly is), we would be remiss not at least to consider the possibility that this otherwise inexplicable reference to the “six days” which precede this symbolic second advent and Millennium are meant to be understood in a similar way, namely as representing the six millennia of human history which precede the second advent and the Millennium.

We may therefore start with this fact, namely that the Millennium, the final period of human history, the only period of human history specifically named and delineated in scripture, is most definitely described as a period of one thousand literal years (Rev.20:1-7). Elsewhere in scripture, the Millennium, the time of the reign of Christ commencing with His triumphant return and concomitant judgment upon His enemies, is called "the day of the Lord" (Is.2:11-21; 10:11-34; Joel 2:28-32; Am.5:18-20; Ob.1:15; Zeph.1:14; Zech.14:1-7; Mal.4:5; 1Thes.5:2-4; 2Thes.2:2; 2Pet.3:10; Rev.6:17; 16:14), and "the year of the Lord" (Is.61:2; 63:4; cf. Is.49:8; Lk.4:19; 2Cor.6:1-2). In the case of the Millennium, therefore, the Bible clearly calls a literal and specific period of 1000 years "a day". While from the human perspective the difference between a day and a millennium is massive, to God, the Creator and Master of time who exists outside of time and is in no way subject to it, these two finite chronological periods are much the same:

For a thousand years in Thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.
Psalm 90:4   NASB

Let not this one fact escape your attention then, beloved, namely that one day is like a thousand years in the Lord's eyes, and a thousand years like one day.
2nd Peter 3:8

[The Lord] will restore us, [Israel], after two days (i.e., after the Church age), and will raise us up on the third day (i.e., the Millennium), that we may live in His presence (i.e., with the Messiah, who personifies this prophecy in His resurrection on the third day).
Hosea 6:2

By using short periods (hours, days, weeks) to designate much longer chronological periods, scripture reflects God's complete sovereignty over time. This tendency of scripture to diminish the significance of a given period of time in proportion to the importance of time's Inventor and Master is common in the Bible and is often accomplished in this same way, namely through the use of relatively small units to refer to much longer chronological spans. For example, the "year of redemption" in Isaiah 63:4, and the "day of vengeance" in both Isaiah 34:8 and 63:4 refer to the thousand years of the Millennium, while the "day of salvation" in Isaiah 49:8 refers to the two thousand years of the Church in addition to the Millennium (cf. 2Cor.6:1-2). In the "seventy sevens" prophecy of Daniel chapter nine, each day of the "week" is a one year period (Dan.9:25-27). Similarly, at Revelation 12:14 the "time, times and half a time" refers to the three and one half years of the Great Tribulation (as in Dan.4:16 the seven "times" are seven years). The effect of all these passages is to make it clear to God's elect that even though time plays such a seemingly dominant role in our lives, it is nothing at all to God and presents not the slightest obstacle to the accomplishment of His will. It is merely a tool He has invented for the ordering of our lives wherein we may choose for Him (time is merely the stuff of choice: Eph.5:16; Col.4:5). Therefore seven thousand years, the sum total of human history, may seem a long span to us from our earthly perspective, but in terms of the eternity that God has constructed for us His faithful followers, it is an inexpressibly minute period of time.

As we shall see below, the chronological records found in the Bible yield approximately 2000 years from Christ to Abraham and an additional 2000 years from Abraham to Adam. Given that the Gentile and Jewish ages both covered ca. 2000 years, and that the Millennium, the final "day" in God's plan for human history, will be 1000 years, it requires no great leap of exegetical skill to posit a comparable 2000 years for the Church age. In so doing, a total of 7000 years results wherein each millennium is reckoned as "a day" in God's system. The analogy to the seven day week, another divine invention (cf. Gen.1:3ff.),⁽²⁴⁾ is also impossible to ignore, especially considering the very close analogy between the seventh day of rest, the Sabbath, and the seventh day of human history, the Millennium, with all its promised peace and abundance, which likewise comes as the final "day" of the seven (cf. Is.9:6-7; see Part I of this series, section II.6.f.).⁽²⁵⁾ Based on the analogy of the week, therefore, the Millennium of its own accord invites us to posit six prior thousand year "days". This evidence is all the stronger when we consider that the original period of time wherein God began the process of restoration and replacement known as human history was the original week of seven days, also ending in a day of rest (compare the "six days" mentioned prior to the transfiguration which prefigures the Second Advent in Matt.17:1 and the beginning of the "seventh day" or Millennium).

b. The Seven Days of Re-Creation: That the seven day week is a reflection of God's overall design of human history can be seen most perspicuously from the original week of re-creation, which, occurring at the dawn of that history, foreshadows the seven ages to come. During those original seven days, God conducted a comprehensive refitting of the earth (as we have seen in Part 2 of this series), a restoration of the material world which parallels very closely His Plan for replacing Satan and his followers over the course of the seven thousand years of human history:

Days 1 and 2: The first two Genesis days of re-creation are clearly paired in that they alone focus upon acts of separation almost exclusively (the re-kindling of light which marks the beginning of the process over all being the significant exception): light separated from darkness (Day 1); the waters above separated from waters below by means of the firmament or sky (Day 2). This first pair of days provides essential groundwork for physical life through the provision of light and air. This physical provision is analogous to the essential spiritual groundwork provided by the first two millennial days of the Gentile age:

Day #1 – Gentile age millennium #1: Just as light, the foremost necessity of physical life, first appears in the dark world on day one of re-creation, so God's truth, the foremost necessity of spiritual life, first appears in the devil's dark world during the first millennium of the Gentile age, beginning with the first promise of Christ (Gen.3:15). This legacy of truth is then perpetuated through the line of Adam and Seth down to Noah and his family.

Day #2 – Gentile age millennium #2: Just as air, a necessity without which physical life cannot be maintained, is provided on day two of re-creation, so during the second millennium of the Gentile age God guaranteed the fresh air of freedom for mankind, an attribute as absolutely essential for spiritual life as air is for physical life, through:

1) the prohibition of angelic interference (Gen.6:1-7).

2) the restraint of crime through law (Gen.8:21-9:17).

3) the repression of one-world tyranny through nationalism (in specific response to the tower of Babel: Gen.11:1-9).

God's instrument of judgment whereby (1) the angelic outrages of Genesis six are brought to an end, (2) after which the rule of law is established, and (3) in consequence of which the nations are divided, is the great flood, the deluge that temporarily restored the earth to its pre-dry land condition (cf. 1Pet.3:18-22; 2Pet.3:5-6). Therefore it is exactly because of the deluge that the legacy of truth is protected, finding a more secure foothold in the environment of freedom (provided through limitations on further angelic interference, the establishment of law, and the development of nationalism).

Separation: As the first pair of Genesis days focuses on the formation of an essential environment for physical growth through the separation of light from darkness and the waters above from the waters below, so the first pair of millennial days (the age of the Gentiles) focuses on the formation of an essential foundation for spiritual growth through the provision of divine truth (separated and protected from the devil's lies) and human freedom of choice (separated and protected from the devil's best efforts to destroy free will through demonic interference, murder and intolerant internationalism).

Days 3 and 4: The second two Genesis days of re-creation are clearly paired in that they alone witness acts of both separation and filling: dry ground separated from water and the filling of the earth with vegetation (Day 3); the sun, moon and stars filling the heavens and separating the light from the darkness (Day 4). Note that separation precedes filling on day three, while filling precedes separation on day four, evidencing the progression (from separation to filling) that we are observing here. The second pair of days provides more essential groundwork for physical life through the provision of dry land and the specific division of time. This second pair of days also provides the first two installments of re-filling the empty world through the creation of vegetation and heavenly bodies. This physical provisioning on the one hand and filling up of the empty world on the other is respectively analogous to the further building up of essential spiritual groundwork on the one hand, and, on the other, to the enlistment of believers provided by the second two millennial days of the Jewish age.

Day #3 – Jewish age millennium #1: Just as the separating of dry land on day three of re-creation was necessary for human life, so the separation to God of a holy people during the third millennial day was essential for establishing an environment in which truth and spiritual growth could flourish. And just as the creation of vegetation on that third Genesis day was the first installment in the re-filling of the empty world, so the calling out of the seed of Abraham provides the first substantial and contiguous echelon of believers in the process of replacing the devil and his followers with a people after God's own heart, with the faith of Abraham, the "father of many nations" providing the pattern of salvation for all who would later believe (Rom.4:17; Gal.3:7-9).

Day #4 – Jewish age millennium #2: Just as the separation of light from darkness into distinct and regular phases on the fourth Genesis day was necessary to provide a regular flow and sequence for time (required by human life), so the separation to God of a holy nation during the fourth millennial day was essential for stabilizing the environment in which truth and spiritual growth could flourish and then be witnessed to the nations. And just as the heavens were filled with the celestial lights on the fourth Genesis day, so the establishment of Israel, a holy nation to be a light to all the nations, was an essential step in the expansion of the family of God (Is.42:6; 43:21; 49:6; Acts 13:47).

Separation: The calling out by God of a specific family and its development into a unique, witnessing nation necessitated its separation, its sanctification from all that was profane in the pagan world in which it existed. The mark of God's promise to Abraham of a holy progeny, namely circumcision, served to distinguish Israel as unique in God's eyes, and was also, importantly, a symbolic testimony of belief in God and His promises (Rom.2:29). The Mosaic Law was also a means of separation, sanctification and demarcation, for it called on Israel to "be holy as I am holy" (Lev.11:44-45; 1Pet.1:16), and an essential underlying principle in all of its precepts was to separate the holy from the profane (Lev.10:10; 20:25-26). The Ten Commandments, the essence of the Law (cf. Deut.4:13),⁽²⁶⁾ speak to this same basic idea of separating the people of God from anything evil, sanctifying our conduct in life's most important areas:

Area #1: Holiness toward God (sanctifying and separating Him in what we think, do and say):

1. No other gods: guarding the sanctity of how we think about Him.

2. No idols: guarding the sanctity of how we act toward Him.

3. No misuse of His name: guarding the sanctity of how we represent Him in our speech.

Area #2: Holiness toward Life (sanctifying and separating ourselves from reliance on the world):

4. Keep the Sabbath: guarding the sanctity of the day of rest; trusting God, not ourselves, for provision in this life  (cf. Ezek.20:12; 20:20).  n.b.: this is the only commandment not repeated in the New Testament. As the book of Hebrews emphatically assures us, specific day observance has been replaced with the reality of continual rest in and reliance on God (in the same way that animal sacrifice has been replaced by the reality of Christ's sacrifice: Heb.4:1-11; cf. Rom.14:5-8; Col.2:16-17). Since the cross, we are to rest in God at all times, not just on one particular day.

Area #3: Holiness toward Authority (sanctifying and separating ourselves from rebellion against divinely constituted authority):

5. Honoring Father and Mother: guarding the sanctity of our behavior toward legitimate authority, all those who under the charge of God function as stewards in His place towards us (parents being the first and prime example).

Area #4: Holiness toward Others (sanctifying and separating ourselves from infringement upon the right of others to use this life to seek God):

6. No Murder: guarding the sanctity of life, the sine qua non for every human being to seek after God in the time God has given.

7. No Adultery: guarding the sanctity of the family, the basic support network required by the vast majority of people for normal function in life as a base for seeking God.

8. No Theft: guarding the sanctity of property, a necessary element for survival in the world that one may seek after God.

9. No False Witness: guarding the sanctity of freedom of the innocent before the law, an important requirement for being able to freely seek God.

10. No Covetousness: guarding the sanctity of freedom of action in general from threats of evil action and intent which impede, hinder and prevent the search for God.

Finally, the firm establishment of the nation Israel with the ascension of David, a clear type of Jesus Christ (Ps.110), provided the dark world with a shining example of the righteousness and accompanying blessings from God upon a nation that followed Him and His perfect divine standards, standards (expressed in the Law, the Old Testament and the sanctified nation) which regulated an environment for seeking God and witnessing to Him in the midst of a dark world in a way analogous to the regulating function of the heavenly bodies that produce the sequence of light necessary for human existence (cf. Ex.19:5-6; Lev.20:26):

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people who are His special property, separated from all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 7:6

And He said, "It is too small a thing for you to be My servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob and to restore the sanctified ones of Israel. Therefore I have appointed you as a light for the nations, to be My [instrument of] salvation to the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 49:6

Filling: With God's promise of progeny to Abraham and the birth of Isaac, the process of expansion of the family of God began in earnest, and the line of faith from Adam to Seth, a linear witness with little numerical expansion in the world (as the small remaining remnant of Noah and his seven family members at the time of the flood demonstrates: 1Pet.3:20), now develops into a significant expansion in breadth as Israel the vine begins to flourish under the now more favorable circumstances and to spread out in the world in a manner analogous to the filling of the earth with vegetation on the third Genesis day (Ps.80:8-16; Is.5:1-2; Jer.2:21; Ezek.17; Hos.10:1; cf. Jn.15:1). The pledge of circumcision (the mark of a people apart) and the giving of the Law (the perfect separation of right and wrong) served as prime elements of this sanctification. The formation (from this expanded family) of a holy nation was also key to God's plan of replacement, for as He says to Moses on the occasion of the golden calf rebellion, "I will make you into a great nation" (Ex.32:10). The protection of Israel in Egypt while her numbers grew, her testing under a harsh Pharaoh, her training in the wilderness, and the divinely directed and aided expulsion of the Canaanite tribes were all part and parcel of God's expansion of His family out of one man's seed. With the coming of the nation of Israel, a definite state within definable geographic boundaries under the initial direction of David, a clear type of Christ, the process of filling and replacement continues for the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars of the heavens, analogous to the filling of the heavens on the fourth Genesis day (Gen.15:5; 22:17; 26:4; Deut.1:10; 1Chron.27:23; Neh.9:23; Heb.11:12; cf. Gen.37:9; Rev.12:1), and a harbinger of the replacement of the fallen angelic "stars" with believing "stars" who choose for God (compare Rev.12:4 with Rev.12:1; being Abraham's spiritual seed, we are all stars in God's firmament: Rom.4:16).

As the second pair of Genesis days focused on the completion of an essential environment for physical life through the separation of dry ground from water and of light from the darkness (specifically, of concentrated, sequential light, not the general division of light from darkness accomplished on day one), so the second pair of millennial days (the Jewish age) finds God in His plan for human history sanctifying for Himself first a people, then a nation, to provide first an expanded family of God that would be holy and separate from the rest of the pagan world, then, as a nation, a safe haven for the worldwide testimony of God through the light of Israel.

And as the second pair of Genesis days focuses on the initial filling of the earth with vegetation and of the heavens with the sun, the moon and the stars, so the second pair of millennial days (the Jewish age) finds the first significant expansion of the family of God in human history (through Israel the vine, and the nation Israel, as numerous as the stars), and so, in terms of numbers, the beginning of the process of replacing those angelic creatures who have chosen to disassociate themselves from the family of God.

Days 5 and 6: The third pair of Genesis days of re-creation are clearly paired in that they alone witness acts of filling exclusively: the filling of the waters with aquatic life and the sky with birds (Day 5); the filling of the earth with terrestrial creatures (Day 6), culminating in the creation of Man (a type of Christ as rightful ruler of the earth, and here, symbolic of the completion of the replenishment of the family of God at the end of the sixth millennial day). The third pair of days completes the re-filling of the empty world through the creation of aquatic and terrestrial life. This completion of the process of re-filling the empty world is analogous to the completion of God's enlistment of believers during the fifth and sixth millennial days as replacements for the followers of Satan.

Day #5 – Church age millennium #1: Just as the creation of aquatic and bird life on that fifth Genesis day represented a quantum leap in the re-filling of the empty world, so the first Church age millennium witnessed a veritable explosion in the numbers of the family of God on earth as the gospel was taken in earnest to the gentiles for the first time. The fifth millennial day is characterized by the collection and distribution of the holy scriptures into one, complete Bible, and the emergence of an infra-structure necessary for studying and teaching it in its original languages: i.e., the creation of a Christian scholastic system, the development of the codex form (that is, the invention of the book, credited by many scholars to early Christians), the production of translations in many languages (resulting from the first two events), and the growth of literacy (making possible the reading of the Word of God by more than just the educated few). These events had the effect of actually expanding the evangelical explosion of faith begun by the apostles in the first generation of the Church, in spite of the fact that many of the Spirit's miraculous gifts did not continue beyond that inaugural era (e.g., apostleship, tongues, prophecy, healing). The Spirit's ministry continued, however, as it does today, and thus in the groundswell of faith that follows in both of the Church age's millennial days we have historical proof that the powerful combination of the Spirit of God (given on the day of Pentecost) and the Word of God (made available to teachers through the establishment of education and wide availability of the Hebrew and Greek originals, and generally available to all Christians through translations) is more dynamic and effective than the most impressive miracles and the most exotic spiritual gifts.

Day #6 – Church age millennium #2: Just as the creation of terrestrial life on that sixth Genesis day completed the re-filling of the empty world (culminating in the creation of Man), so the sixth millennial day has seen the creation of the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ. With the establishment of the means for teachers to study God's Word in the proper way (education in the original languages of scripture, training in theology, and in the historical and cultural background of the Bible), and with the growing availability of the Bible in an abundance of languages, the gospel message has penetrated to nearly every clime and place. This process will continue until with the universal availability of the gospel and the final enlistment of the last replacement members of the family of God the end will come with the return of Jesus Christ (Matt.24:14; Rev.10:1-7; 14:6-7).

Filling: With the proliferation of the gospel to the gentiles (through the agency of Israel), the third pair of millennial days completes the process of bringing in the promised and prophesied great expansion of the family of God, reaching its completion just prior to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. For that the gentiles would one day turn to the Lord in unprecedented number is a matter about which the Hebrew scriptures give clear prophetic indications (cf. Acts 9:15; 15:13-19; Rom.9:1 - 11:36; 15:15-16), a fact that the divinely inspired writers of the New Testament understood very well:

As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you [Abraham], and you shall become the father of a multitude of nations.
Genesis 17:4 (cf. Romans 4:17)

And Abraham shall certainly become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.
Genesis 18:18 (cf. Galatians 3:8)

Rejoice, O gentiles, with His people.
Deuteronomy 32:43 (cf. Romans 15:10)

Therefore, O Lord, I shall praise You among the gentiles.
Psalm 18:49 (cf. Romans 15:9)

All the nations (i.e., gentiles) which You have made will come before You and will worship You, O Lord, and they will give glory to your Name.
Psalm 86:9 (cf. Revelation 15:4)

Praise the Lord, all you gentiles. Laud Him all you peoples.
Psalm 117:1 (cf. Romans 15:11)

And on that day the Root of Jesse shall appear, even the One who will stand as a sign for the peoples. After Him shall the gentiles seek, and His resting place shall be glorious.
Isaiah 11:10 (cf. Romans 15:12)

Thus He shall sprinkle [with salvation] many gentile [nation]s. Kings will shut their mouths at [the sight of] Him. For those [gentiles] who had not been told shall see, and those [gentiles] who had not understood shall hear.
Isaiah 52:15 (cf. Romans 15:21)

For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations (i.e., gentiles).
Isaiah 56:7b (cf. Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46)

"And I shall say to them who were not My people, 'You are My people', and they shall say, 'You are our God.'"
Hosea 2:23b (cf. Rom.9:25)

"On that day I shall stand David's fallen booth back up, and repair its holes and everything else which has been trampled down I shall [also] stand up. And I shall rebuild it as in days of old, so that the remnant of mankind and all the gentile [nation]s which are called by My name may seek Him, declares the Lord who is going to accomplish this."⁽²⁷⁾
Amos 9:11-12 (cf. Acts 15:16-17)

So remember that you were once gentiles in the flesh, called "un-circumcised" by those of the so-called circumcision which is fleshly and man-made. Remember that you were without Christ, alienated from the polity of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have now been brought near by the blood of Christ (i.e., into Christ along with Israel, and therefore into Israel by way of Christ). For He Himself is our peace, for He has made both [Jews and gentiles] one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, that is, the enmity between us, by discharging the Law of the commandments and its requirements with His [own] body, so that He might re-create the two into one new Man by making [this] peace, and might reconcile both in one Body to God through His cross, having by means of it abolished the enmity [between God and mankind]. For when He had come [1st advent], He proclaimed the gospel of peace to you who were far away [from God], and peace to those who were near. For it is through Him that we both have our access to the Father by means of one Spirit. So then, you are no longer strangers and hangers-on, but you are fellow citizens and fellow members of the household of God, established upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Himself the cornerstone, in whom the entire structure is in the process of being riveted together and is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you too are being built up into a dwelling place of God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:11-21

For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is significant, but what is significant is a new creation (i.e., Jewish and gentile believers united in Christ: cf. 2Cor.5:17; Eph.2:14). And as many as walk by this standard, may peace be upon them, that is, upon God's Israel (i.e., the entire elect, saved human family of God).
Galatians 6:15-16

The human family of God is thus a unity, born of the seed of faith coming down from the Age of the Gentiles to Abraham, sprouting into the vine of Israel, and bearing bountiful fruit in the Church Age. And since the stock of this plant is Jewish, it should come as no surprise that in resurrection the human family of God will eventually be arranged into the twelve tribal divisions of Israel. The further organization of believers in each of the three fruit bearing eras of human history into the matching echelons of twelve discussed above is to be understood as reflecting this same, ultimately tribal organization. Moreover, the disparate length of time comprised by the three age-representing gaps in the Jewish religious calendar also bespeaks the relative proportion of saved individuals which each group will produce: three duo-decades in the Jewish Age, nine (three times the number of the Jewish Age) in the intensified harvest of the Church Age, and twelve (a number equal to the Jewish and Church Ages combined) in the Millennium. Given the fact of Jewish prominence in God's plan throughout the scriptures, and the fact that according to the millennial tally of days believers in that era will equal the number of believers hitherto, it is not unlikely that the Millennium will also reverse the proportions of gentile and Jewish believers hitherto. This argument is strengthened when one considers that Jerusalem and millennial Israel will be the focal point of Christ's earthly kingdom. This event would yield an exact balance in Christ's Church between Jews by birth saved by faith and gentiles adopted into the family of God through their faith when human history terminates.

This prospective equality of number between gentile and Jew will also apparently be duplicated between the human and angelic portions of the family of God. For, as we have seen, the Church, completed at Christ's 2nd Advent, will equal that element of the family of God lost through its own free will (i.e., Satan and his angels: see Part 1 of this series). Now since the demons comprise one third of the total of angelic kind (Rev.12:4), doubling the number of saved human beings during the Millennium (the twelve groups of twelve days during that era) will have the result of bringing the total of saved humanity into exact equality with the total number of elect angels (i.e., doubling the Church which on its own matches the one third lost by angelic kind will result in saved humanity equaling the remaining elect two thirds of angelic kind). Thus the final organization of the family of God would seem to be as follows: 6 clans of elect angels represented by 24 elders on the one hand, complemented by and equal in number to 12 tribes of saved and resurrected human beings, organized into 24 echelons on the other, both ruled over by the God Man Jesus Christ.

d. The Testimony of Irenaeus: Our final support for the seven millennial day interpretation of God's plan of the ages comes from early Church history. The writings of Irenaeus, perhaps our last extra-biblical witness to the original New Testament eschatological teachings (before such views were squelched by the increasingly secular church), clearly show that this was the way in which he understood the critical passages of Psalm 90:4 and 2nd Peter 3:8. For, in Adversus Omnes Haereses 5.28.3, the millennial day interpretation is put as fact.

e. The Problem of Science and the Bible: For at least the last few centuries, the application of scientific theories to the Bible has provided stumbling blocks for many who would otherwise accept the truth of the Word of God. Our Lord Himself told us that it is necessary for such stumbling blocks to arise, but also promised dire consequences to those through whom they come (Matt.18:7-9). As Christians, believers who profess faith in Christ in spite of what our eyes may see (2Cor.4:18; 5:7; Heb.11:27), we ought to trust God more than human testimony, no matter how persuasive and seemingly irrefutable that testimony may seem to be. We ought to understand by now, living as we do in a world of accelerating change, that science at its best is merely a search for the truth about the material construction of God's creation, and a highly imperfect attempt at that, yielding but a dim and incomplete comprehension of the boundless universe which God has wrought, and producing but a limited and often only theoretical understanding of it, an understanding which is, moreover, of necessity always in flux. For each new scientific revelation reveals in turn a geometrically larger area of ignorance of whose existence science was previously unaware. The more scientific knowledge, the greater the awareness of the boundlessness of the task, and of the futility of any ultimate, comprehensive understanding of the cosmos through secular means. Sadly, what should occasion humility, that is, the dawning realization of the ultimately incomprehensible nature of God's creation by any mere mortal, has historically tended to arrogance as insignificant bits and pieces, only partially understood, are hailed as great achievements. No matter that all our scientific and technological advance has not prevented one single person in human history from reaching the grave, nor provided one single person with eternal life, science has become for many what amounts to a religion.

As Christians, we are not surprised at the value secular society has placed on this new Tower of Babel that vainly seeks to elevate mankind to heaven without God. But we should take offense whenever partisans of material religion assert or fellow believers dangerously assume that some current scientific interpretation would somehow invalidate in any way any teaching of scripture. God is not material. He is spiritual. He invented and created matter. Between the imperfect and incomplete grasp that science currently has on the vast universe which He created in an instant and the spiritual reality on which it is based lies a gulf whose vastness cannot even be guessed at.

It is therefore not only right, but prudent, for those of us who profess to believe God in spite of all that the world tells us, to side with His Word in any and all cases where it may be under some assault by the materialistic forces who deny the reality behind it. Believe the Bible. In this, you will never be disappointed. But if you doubt its words and teachings because of what the world says (even on the basis of "good scientific evidence"), then you have made a bad bargain indeed. For this doubt that you have allowed to be sown in your heart may very well go down to the very depths of your soul and undermine the very foundations of your faith.

Let us state the principle of truth: In each and every case where there are apparent discrepancies between scripture and scientific commentary upon the events and facts detailed in scripture, what the Bible really says is right. The Bible is not a science text, but all that is says, correctly translated and interpreted (for theological and historical issues), is absolutely true. Where there is any conflict, by definition, either science or our interpretation is at least partially wrong. It is ironic, for example, that though for several centuries science has caused many to waver in faith, almost all that science once proclaimed has been "modified" – indeed, is being modified every day. For as imperfect human beings, our knowledge and understanding of almost anything is incomplete and imperfect, and it is gross error to assume that very small gaps in knowledge and understanding may not result in critical differences in the way things are perceived. This is certainly true in regard to the chronological data which the Bible contains. Certain events recorded by scripture, the virgin birth and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, for example, are so clearly supernatural and at the same time so obviously crucial to the faith of anyone who would deem himself a Christian, that the disciples of evil are generally quick to avoid direct attacks on these points. A more devious (and often more profitable) strategy has been to attack the believer's belief in the Word of God overall by nibbling around the edges, the rationale being that if once doubt can be introduced about seemingly minor points, this can then be eventually parlayed into doubt about every point of scripture.

There is no better example of this satanic strategy than the secular objections one finds regarding chronological issues in the Bible. Doubts about the dates and historical events most often surface in the context of archaeology, a "science" which, generously put, is inexact (as serious historians know only too well). A potsherd dug up in a specific locality ultimately informs us of nothing more than this fact. Speculation about dates, origin and originality (not to mention attempts to draw out historical conclusions from such finds) are subjective and open to interpretation. Certainly, everyone is interested in and grateful for archaeological finds, but it is the unfortunate (and largely unfounded) dogmatism with which archaeologists all too often try to splice their material finds into the historical record that causes the most difficulties. As a rule of thumb, a good written historical source can be supplemented by archaeological information prudently vetted and cautiously applied, but the construction of historical schemata exclusively or largely on archaeological data is pure folly. This is certainly true where archaeological objections to the historical and chronological record contained in the Bible are concerned.

The fact that the Bible is the most popular book ever written, coupled with its faith based teachings and (true) claim to divine inspiration would have made it a prime target for archaeological "correction", quite apart from the devil's obvious interest in undermining this central pillar of our faith. What we have in the case of the holy scriptures (especially in many parts of the Old Testament) is a good (perfect, actually) historical record which has been called into question by archaeology. That is to say, exactly the situation of which students of ancient history are most suspicious: the "correction" of a reliable written source on the basis of archaeological finds. Time does not permit here a cataloging of the numerous instances in which over the past century and a half the Bible has been vindicated after initial charges of inaccuracy based on speculative interpretation of archaeological finds. For illustration's sake, however, it is worth our time to spend a few moments on the issue of dating, for if there is one area where archaeology has managed to some degree to convince the lay public that it possesses a "scientific" basis, it has been in the area of modern dating methodologies. Of these methodologies there are a plethora, and more with every passing year. They all share a common patina of absolute objectivity and are inevitably portrayed as nearly indisputable evidence. In truth, however, they all suffer from one massive, faulty assumption, namely, that the earth of today is essentially the same as the earth of yesterday.

Quite the contrary, we Christians know from the Bible that the re-created earth is much younger than science is prepared to admit, having been retrieved from the judgment of darkness a scant 6,000 years ago (see Part 2 of the current series). An important corollary to this crucial false assumption of homogeneity is the projection of phenomenon observable in real time back over long stretches of theoretical past time. The problems these weaknesses engender are observable in all so-called scientific systems of dating, but the illustration of Carbon 14 dating (perhaps the best know of the current methods) will help to shed some light on the problem. According to Vos, Carbon 14 dating relies on three basic assumptions: 1) that radioactive Carbon 14 ceases to be taken in when an organism dies; 2) that it deteriorates thereafter at a constant rate; 3) that Carbon 12 remains at a stable level throughout (and so can be used as a comparative measuring tool).⁽⁵⁶⁾ No great intellectual effort is necessary to see that the second and third assumptions cannot be proved (for the simple reason that we are unable to enter a time capsule and proceed far enough forward in time to check on the progress of a particular sample – i.e., results are not provable in the lab). Nor is it enough to graph the line of deterioration for Carbon 14 from samples whose dates are approximately known. For even assuming that one has guessed the sample dates correctly, sometimes graph lines curve for any number of unpredictable reasons (as recent observers of the stock market know only too well), and sometimes they spike – when significant events intrude. Thus Carbon 14 dating – indeed, all archaeological dating – is only theoretical, like evolution. And, like evolution, in the absence of divine commentary to the contrary, one might well be able to understand how a misguided search for the origins of life might lead down that false path. But given that in the Bible we have a record more trustworthy than anything the secular annals of mankind has ever been able to produce, obstinate perseverance in something so demonstrably false is folly in the extreme. We know evolution is false because the Bible very clearly documents the re-creation of all physical life on earth approximately 6,000 years ago (and "after its kind" at that). The comparable event that makes a mockery of Carbon 14 dating (and all such systems) is the world-wide flood, an event of such cataclysmic proportions that it stands the assumptions of "scientific" dating on their head. No doubt this is why, as Vos points out, Carbon 14 dates grow increasingly unreliable passing 2,000 B.C.⁽⁵⁷⁾ Of course, the book of Genesis is not a state secret, so that those who stand steadfastly with the current methodologies are, by definition, rejecting out of hand this cosmos-changing event that, taken into due consideration, might have brought some validity to their work. Make no mistake. It is not the samples, nor the apparatus, nor the testing methods with which we are here finding fault. Rather, it is the myopic lens of interpretation through which the anti-Bible scientific community is viewing their results, blindly ignoring the crucial testimony of scripture because, ipso facto, they reject the validity of scripture. And this is hardly an unbiased basis from which to proceed to a critique of the chronology of scripture.

What exactly did the great flood do to the only recently re-created earth? Though the Bible is not a textbook of historical geography, we can glean a number of important facts from it that should illustrate just how woefully inadequate the current secular interpretative paradigm is. The overwhelming force produced by enough water to cover the entire earth (to a depth surpassing the earth's highest mountains by a full twenty feet: Gen.7:20), is difficult to estimate, but its effects would have been dramatic (cf. 2Pet.3:5-6), undoubtedly causing significant shifts in the earth's magnetic fields (upon whose stability many dating techniques, including Carbon 14, ultimately depend). But there is much more. Prior to the flood, a vastly different biological regime obtained on earth than has been the case ever since. Prior to the flood, human life-spans approaching 1,000 years were the rule (cf. Gen.5), whereas afterwards, the upward limit is generally 120 years (Gen.6:3; cf. Moses: Deut.34:7- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the high priest Jehoiada are examples of exceptions: 2Chron.24:15), and the normal range 70-80 (Ps.90:10). Prior to the flood, earth apparently enjoyed a uniform, temperate climate with no seasonal changes (compare Gen.2:4-6 with Gen.7:4), whereas afterwards, the seasons we now take for granted commenced, possibly to be explained by the tilting of the earth on its axis as a result of the deluge's incalculable force (Gen.8:22). Prior to the flood, the earth was insulated by a dense mist (Gen.2:6), whereas afterwards, it has experienced direct sunlight along with all of its concomitant effects (Gen.8:22). Prior to the flood, bacterial activity was much less than presently experienced, as evidenced by the fact that the fermentation of wine was an entirely novel event for the postdiluvian civilization (Gen.9:20-21). Prior to the flood there were no rainbows (Gen.9:12-17), but atmospheric and spectrographic conditions have certainly changed since.

The cumulative effects of such massive changes – in the earth's gravitational field, its axis of rotation, its essential atmospheric and climatic conditions, the level of cosmic radiation it receives, even in its basic biological activity – would be difficult enough to model, let alone fully comprehend in regard to archaeological dating techniques. Even small changes in the magnetic field of the earth, cosmic ray activity, the process of bacterial decomposition, or minor variations in the seasonal patterns so much taken for granted, would produce entirely different results for any of the many systems of "scientific" dating on which archaeology so heavily relies. How much more is this true then given the monumental differences between the pre and post-flood worlds so definitively set forth in the Bible and yet so emphatically and pointedly overlooked by modern archaeology. It is no wonder then that the results of modern dating techniques are often at odds with the straightforward and internally consistent statements of scripture. It should also be evident at this point why archaeological dating offers little to those genuinely interested in the subject of biblical chronology, since devotees of such so-called scientific systems reject out of hand testimony from the Bible which would dramatically alter all of their antediluvian calculations.

Keep this foremost in your mind: in the end times cynics will ridicule [the truth], acting out of their own selfish lusts and saying, "Where is that 'return' He promised? Everything is the same now as it was since the beginning of the world, since the time our forefathers passed on." But it escapes their notice in asserting this, namely, that there were heavens long ago too, and an earth, which was [re-]established out from under water (i.e., the "waters below") and through [the midst of] water (i.e., the "waters above") by the Word of God – [and that it was] through these two [sets of waters] that the world of that time (i.e., in Noah's day) was deluged by water [from above and below] and destroyed. Now the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire by that same Word (of God), preserved for the day of judgment and the destruction of godless men.
2nd Peter 3:3-7

[These types], though always learning, are never able to accept the truth. In the same way that Jannes and Jambres (Pharaoh's court magicians, i.e., "scientists") opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, for their minds have been corrupted and they have been found wanting concerning the faith. But they will not keep on striding forward forever. Their folly will become obvious to all, just as in the case of those two.
2nd Timothy 3:7-9

By faith we understand that the ages have been constructed by the Word of God, so that what we see (i.e., the material world) has not come into being from the things presently visible.
Hebrews 11:3

f. Chronology in the Bible: Before proceeding to set out any scheme of biblical chronology, it is important to note that the Bible contains no absolute chronological scale, that is, it provides no references to "B.C." or "A.D." Indeed, our present system of chronology was only invented ca. 525 A.D. by a Scythian monk named Dionysius Exiguus at the behest of pope John I. The ancient Roman method of calculation (A.U.C.) had been the previous system of choice. But whether Olympiads or regnal years or any other of the countless systems which have been employed by mankind to chronicle the ages be consulted, all have their problems and fallibilities, especially when it comes to applying them to the span of human history in toto.

Pride of place for the collection and interpretation of biblical chronological data and attempting to apply systematized results to our modern calendar system goes in the ancient world to Eusebius, and in the modern world to Ussher, and it is fair to say that anyone who delves into such issues inevitably builds upon the work of these two.⁽⁵⁸⁾ Ussher's exhaustive researches posited Adam's creation at 4004 B.C., and Abraham's entry into Canaan at 1921 B.C., dates that fall very closely in line with the millennial day interpretation being advanced here. Further positing an interval between Adam's fall and his creation (an assumption which is by no means contradicted by scripture), and positing Abraham's circumcision as the point when the Jewish Age began, will bring us very close indeed to an exact 2,000 years from Christ to Abraham, as well as from Abraham to Adam's fall. Before getting into the specific points of chronology that are necessary to address in support of this interpretation, however, it is important to discuss some basic principles of biblical chronology:

1) As the Creator, God invented, created, and controls time (cf. Josh.10:13-14).⁽⁵⁹⁾ Everything that has ever happened or ever will has already been decreed by Him (Ps.56:8; 139:16; Jer.33:25; Rom.8:28-30; Eph.1:11; 1Pet.1:2). God is therefore in no way subject to time; rather time is entirely subject to Him. Therefore, any exactitude in the seven millennial day system discussed here is entirely due to His divine prerogative. He has always been free to alter, amend or append time (as in His lengthening of a solar day during the battle of Gibeon: Josh.10). By the same token, He is also free to adhere to any system of temporal division He may have established, such as the seven days of human history.

2) The Bible contains much in the way of chronological data. As with all information contained in scripture, we must assume that this information has been deliberately included by God and is important. The chronological data in the Bible must be there for a reason. Therefore the fact that this information is not always provided in a way which is easily comparable to our current system of dating does not in any way decrease its importance and relevance.

3) The problems of matching biblical chronological data to our system of time reckoning are our problems, not the Bible's problems. Our system, possessing as it does its own share of difficulties, did not even come into existence until well after the Bible was written. Matching the biblical data to our current calendar is thus an interpretive problem with which we must deal and in no way impugns the accuracy of biblical statements.

4) "Pegging" dates to our method of dating therefore runs into a number of systemic problems, such as the A.D./B.C. shift, inclusive counting in biblical times, exact length of months and years, start times of years, and the use of multiple reckoning methods in the Bible (to name but a few of the more significant complications).

5) For all these problems relative to understanding and interpreting this data, however, it is important to note that biblical chronological information is not only absolutely accurate, but also extremely precise (cf. Ex.12:40-42: the exodus took place "430 years to the very day" from Israel's arrival there).

6) It is also clear we are meant to know and understand the chronological facts the Bible records (Matt.16:3; 24:32-35;1Thes.5:1-3).

7) We end this summary of principles where we began. God is the ruler of time. And this means that it is also within His authority to "change the times and the seasons" whenever and however He should so desire (Dan.2:21). God is not bound to honor any human system of chronology or any human expectation about its progress. He is only bound as He chooses to bind Himself through the prophetic revelation of scripture.

9. Specific Chronology of the Seven Days of Human History: The construction of a biblical chronology of human history thus runs into two profound problems: 1) hermeneutic; 2) practical. The second problem (or, really, set of problems), is concerned with analyzing the biblical data and applying it to the time-line of human history. These issues will be treated below. The first problem, the hermeneutic or interpretive problem, is really a question of whether such an attempt is profitable, practical and scriptural in the first place. This question is all the more delicate inasmuch as certain scriptures (Matt.24:36, Mk.13:32 and Acts 1:7 in particular) are commonly used by contemporary exegetes to discourage such attempts, a disposition which is certainly understandable in light of so many recent attempts to "predict the end times" in clearly misguided ways.⁽⁶⁰⁾ Certainly, prophecy is a gift not presently active in the Church. Interpretation of scripture, however, is another matter, and it must be underlined at this point that the projection of the seven millennial day interpretation so as to arrive at (among other things) the probable commencement of the Tribulation is an application of scripture, not a "prediction". Readers are encouraged to examine the analysis upon which the theory which underlies this projection is based and form their own conclusions. It has always been and will ever be the guiding principle of this ministry to discover the truth of scripture and delineate it as perspicuously as possible, withholding none of the counsel of God (Acts 20:20 and 20:27).

Look at the fig tree and all its leaves. When they have already come out [like this], you can see for yourselves by examining it that summer is near. So also when you see that all things [of verses 5-28] have come to pass, know that the Kingdom of God is near.
Luke 21:29-31

As we are to watch events in preparation for the trying times to come, so also we ought to make use of whatever specific chronological guidance the scriptures offer us, for it is certainly there for a reason. When we accept this principle, the issue becomes one of accuracy in interpretation.

The most potentially controversial piece of information developed below, that is, the projected date for the commencement of the Tribulation, is based upon the following suppositions (all of which are treated within the context of this study):

• The seven millennial day interpretation is taught in scripture and meant to be understood and applied.
   
• The Church Age will last for two millennial days or 2000 years.
   
• The Church Age commenced following the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.
   
• These events took place in 33 A.D.
   
• The Tribulation belongs to both the Church and Jewish Ages and is therefore to be subtracted from the 2000 year total when calculating the start of the Tribulation.
   
• The half hour of silence in heaven at the breaking of the seventh seal (Rev.8:1) signifies a half year grace period that shifts the start point from spring to fall.
   
• Scripture gives no indication of either shortening or lengthening of this time-line, and therefore no such change of schedule is anticipated.

The above points are all presented here as true, and the analysis upon which they are based is set forth below. Clearly, deviation from any of the above will alter the entire scheme. It is also true, as we have already said, that alteration of the schema presented below is certainly within the power and authority of the Almighty. The very end of the Tribulation, for example, will be shortened by some undisclosed amount of time (Mk.13:20). Rather than undermining the theory advanced in this study, however, Mark 13:20 in actuality supports the importance of paying heed to the Bible's chronological information. For if "the days are shortened", then surely this means that there was a definite heavenly timetable in the first place. Secondly, Mark 13:20 indicates that the shortening mentioned is a matter of days, weeks at the most (i.e., not enough to change the general time-line given below). This is certainly in line with the very specific tally of days and months given in Daniel and Revelation (Dan.7:25; 8:14; 12:7; 12:11-12; Rev.11:2-3; 12:6; 12:14; 13:5).

From the practical point of view as well, the difficulties of constructing a precise chronology of the Seven Millennial Days are significant. Anyone who has ever delved into ancient chronological issues (and especially into biblical chronology) will have an idea of the significant problems involved in so doing. Working from the millennial day hypothesis, however, it is possible to construct a fairly solid chronology, and the task, though challenging, is by no means without purpose, if for no other reason than that we who live in the shadow of the approaching Tribulation are well served by having a general idea of its proximity. With these thoughts in mind, the present schema is offered:

a. The Life of Christ: We begin with the most significant period in the history of the world, the life of our Savior Jesus Christ. Scripture calls this time the "conjunction of the Ages" (Heb.9:26; cf. Rom.5:6; Gal.4:4; 1Tim.2:6; Tit.1:3; Heb.1:1-2; 1Pet.1:20), and so it is, for His birth marks the postponement of the Jewish Age (cf. Matt.11:12; Mk.1:15; Lk.12:49ff.), while His death, resurrection and ascension to heaven signal the imminent commencement of the Church Age (Acts 1:4-5; cf. Matt. 27:51; Mk.7:27; Jn.2:4; 7:8; Heb.9:10). It is therefore from this point that our investigation of the specific chronology of the seven millennial days must commence.

(i.) The Birth of Christ: To begin with, we know from Luke 3:1 that John began baptizing "during the fifteenth imperial year of Tiberius" (i.e., from August 19^th of A.D. 28 to August 18^th of A.D. 29).⁽⁶¹⁾ Since Luke states that Jesus was "about thirty"at the commencement of His public ministry (Lk.3:23), an event that post-dates the time when John began baptizing, there can be little doubt that the birth of Christ is to be fixed ca. 1-2 B.C. To place Christ's birthday any earlier would make Him "twenty-something", not "about thirty". Moreover, this phrase is best taken (and arguably can only be properly taken, especially given Luke's penchant for precision: cf. the precise dating of John's ministry at Lk.3:23) to mean that while Christ had not yet reached His thirtieth birthday, He was very close to doing so, that is, He was 29 and set to turn thirty that same calendar year.⁽⁶²⁾ If we accept December as Christ's birth-month, therefore, He will then have been born in 2 B.C. (only one year earlier than supposed by the Christo-centric calendar we now use, established by Dionysius Exiguus ca. 525 A.D. at the behest of Pope John I).⁽⁶³⁾ It is impossible within the scope of this study to detail all of the chronological details and arguments connected with Christ's birth, but the 2 B.C. date, in addition to being based on the only two clear chronological references in the gospel (i.e., Lk.3:1 and 3:23), is also recommended by three other important factors. First, it allows for a three year ministry of Christ (as required by the chronological details of John's gospel as we shall see when discussing the date of the crucifixion). Secondly, it allows for a crucifixion date of 33 A.D., by far the most likely date when independently derived (see below). And, thirdly, it squares most precisely with the universal census mentioned by Luke (Lk.2:1-3).

(ii.) The Census: The first two points that need to be clarified here are that the universal census described in Luke 2:1-3 is not the census of Quirinius, and, secondly, that Luke does not in fact equate the two. That Quirinius, Roman governor of Syria from ca. AD. 6 to 11, held a census in A.D. 6-7 is well established (cf. Josephus, B.J. 2.118; 2.433; 7.253; A.J. 18.4-10; 18.23-25; 20.102).⁽⁶⁴⁾ It is therefore unfortunate that English versions of the Bible inevitably mis-translate Luke's Greek to make these two separate censuses appear to be one and the same. Properly translated, Luke 2:2 states that "this was a census which occurred prior to Quirinius' governorship of Syria".⁽⁶⁵⁾

It was important for Luke to point out the distinction between the census that took place at Christ's birth and the one held later by Quirinius. For, being seven years more recent and also more notable on account of the armed resistance it engendered, Quirinius' census would have been easily confused by his readers with the earlier one he describes at 2:2 (a confusion which, ironically, modern interpreters have almost universally failed to avoid in any case). The Roman Empire was a triumph of bureaucratic organization as well as military might. Not surprisingly, accurate census data (especially as it related to taxation) was essential for its administrative and financial operation.⁽⁶⁶⁾ In his res gestae, the synopsis of his most prestigious accomplishments, Augustus devotes considerable space to his work in census matters (CIL v.3, in loc., para.8). Secular historians have been (unreasonably, in my view) skeptical about extrapolating a regular, empire-wide census from Augustus' remarks cited above. Indeed, Augustus' census of Roman citizens in 9/8 B.C. is paralleled by evidence for a census taking place in the Roman province of Egypt at the same time.⁽⁶⁷⁾ This Egyptian census cycle is known to us primarily from papyrological records, and that fact is significant, for papyrus has generally only survived from antiquity in places with extremely arid climates (i.e., conditions which did not obtain in most of the rest of the Empire). Mundane records such as official census returns are not likely candidates for preservation in climates where heroic efforts were historically necessary to safeguard important texts. In other words, there is much we simply will never know, because the documentation has not survived. But when we add to the 9/8 B.C. and 6/7 A.D. censuses the further fact of a 13/14 A.D. census under Augustus and Tiberius, the pattern of a seven year cycle emerges, and 2/1 B.C. is the only gap within this otherwise repetitive cycle.⁽⁶⁸⁾ Rather than a slap-dash approach, it seems more in keeping with his penchant for careful organization that Augustus would have begun the systematic application of Roman census procedures (cited in his res gestae above) not just to certain provinces, but to all territories under Roman sway, exactly as the biblical record indicates:

And it came about in those days that a decree went out from Augustus Caesar to conduct a census of the entire civilized world (i.e., the whole Roman Empire).
Luke 2:1

One of the characteristics of Roman provincial census procedures which seems to be indicated by our admittedly incomplete data on the topic is that results are recorded for the year preceding the year of recording. ⁽⁶⁹⁾ The census process thus covered roughly two calendar years, with the first year being the year of record and the second the year of recording. But unlike in the U.S. today where we file income tax by April the 15^th of the year following the year being officially recorded, under the Roman system the census was a "snapshot" of assessable wealth and legal status, taken (and officially registered) during the first year, thus giving the imperial administration a further year to verify, validate, correct if necessary, and record the information submitted by all residents of the province in question. That, at least, is what the surviving evidence strongly suggests. And coupling this last fact with the likelihood that Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem to fulfill the legal requirements of the universal census of 2/1 B.C., we would come again to the proposition stated above that Christ was born in 2 B.C., the year of registration (as opposed to 1 B.C., the year of official recording).

(iii.) The Crucifixion of Christ: It will be recalled that John the baptist's ministry began sometime after August 19^th of 28 A.D. (the beginning of Tiberius' fifteenth year). The time-frame of September-October 28 A.D. has much to recommend it as the true start of John's ministry. First, it allows some time to elapse beyond the exact start of Tiberius fifteenth year (if the start were close to being temporally coincident, one would have expected Luke to say "at the outset of" rather than "in" the fifteenth year). Secondly, the proposed time-frame allows approximately one year for the commencement and publicizing of John's ministry before the start of Jesus earthly ministry (a likelihood confirmed by the chronology given by the gospel of John, treated below). Thirdly, the proposed dating yields a symbolically significant start time and terminus for both ministries. Both will have commenced about the time of the Day of Atonement (the festival that most clearly calls attention to the need for repentance in the face of God's coming wrath), and concluded with their deaths at the time of the feast of Passover (the festival that most vividly presents the suffering of the Messiah satisfying the righteous requirements of God's justice on behalf of all who receive Him).

Fourthly, the proposed time-frame is also symbolically important from the standpoint of the length of the two ministries. The three and one half year ministries are of the exact same duration as the tribulational ministries of the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah (who are prophetic types of Jesus and John respectively: Deut.18:15-19; Is.40:3-5; Zech.4:11-14; Mal.4:4-6; Matt.16:14; 17:3-13; Mk.9:4-13; Lk.9:29-33; Jn.1:25; Jude 1:9; Rev.11:1-14).⁽⁷⁰⁾ The primary point of chronological divergence between these two sets of ministries is that the ministries of the two tribulational witnesses run concurrently, whereas the ministries of John and Jesus overlap, commencing and ending one year apart. Besides the obvious (and incalculable) difference in quality between the earthly ministry of the Savior of the world and that of his herald, this overlap served several important purposes. John came first to announce and herald the coming of the Messiah, whereas after He came on the scene, John's ministry waned as Jesus' waxed (by divine design: Jn.3:30). One important effect of the simultaneous period of ministries was to give Jesus a certain amount of protection from celebrity to accomplish His ministry in the early years without having it paralyzed by the intense glare of attention that would obtain during that final year after John's death.⁽⁷¹⁾ Celebrity, as many in the history of the world have discovered, is a burden, and Jesus often had to contend with the negative side-effects of this phenomenon (fame was often counter-productive to His ministry: Matt.8:4; 9:30-31; 12:16; 14:13-14; Mk.1:43-45; 3:20; 8:26; 9:30; Lk.4:42-44; 5:15-16; 5:19). On the other hand, the death of John heralded the beginning of the final year of ministry, a year of intense opposition and dramatic events that took place in the limelight, and which brought about the chain of events that culminated in our Lord's crucifixion.⁽⁷²⁾

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the time-frame proposed above would fix Jesus' baptism and therefore the coincident start of Jesus' earthly ministry precisely at the point indicated by Luke (Lk.3:23), that is, at "approximately" (Greek hosei) the age of 30 years old. Indeed, if we accept the traditional late December birthday for Christ, He will have been only weeks away from His thirtieth birthday at the time of His baptism, and, after this inaugural phase and His temptation in the wilderness, possibly exactly thirty years of age (Matt.4:1-2; 4:12-17). In this way, not only will Luke's statement have been entirely precise, but Christ will have begun His earthly ministry as our high priest at the very age when priests were called upon to serve.⁽⁷³⁾

All of the above analysis, moreover, is consistent with the 33 A.D. date we have suggested for our Lord's sacrificial death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. For not only does Passover of 33 A.D. seem the soundest date when derived independently,⁽⁷⁴⁾ but it is also the date at which one arrives when adding the three and one half years length of Christ's ministry to the starting point of that ministry as analyzed above (i.e., Passover of 33 A.D. is three and one half years later than September-October of 30 A.D., the commencement of His ministry as indicated above).

That Christ's earthly ministry stretched beyond three years is clear from the chronological information provided in the gospels (especially in the gospel of John).
 

Following His baptism and temptation in the wilderness, Jesus' earthly ministry formally commenced before a Passover (Jn.2:13), spanned two further Passovers (Jn.2:13 and 5:1),⁽⁷⁵⁾ and ended with His crucifixion at the time of Passover as well (Jn.11:55). This gives us a duration for His ministry of three and one half years which fact (calculating from His baptism in September-October of A.D. 29) places His crucifixion in March-April of A.D. 33. To recap our conclusions, John's ministry began in ca. September-October of 28 A.D., and ended with his death in March-April of 32 A.D. Jesus' ministry tracks exactly one year later, beginning in September-October of 29 A.D., and ending with his death (and resurrection) in March-April of 33 A.D.

As noted at the beginning of this section, the period of Christ's earthly life is the center-piece of God's chronological design of human history. It is "the fulness of times" (Gal.4:4), and "the conjunction of the ages" (Heb.9:26b; cf. Heb.1:2). It is a 33 year interlude in the progression of the seven millennial days, which marks the termination of the Jewish Age (Mk.1:15),⁽⁷⁶⁾ and the commencement of the Church Age (Matt.21:43; Mk.12:9; Lk.20:16). This thirty-three year interval, the exact period of time that David (a type of His coming Son) reigned in Jerusalem, is a grace period around which the rest of human history pivots, so to speak. For in it, Jesus Christ was offered to the world, but the world rejected Him.

From a chronological point of view, therefore, Christ's birth is the critical departure point for calculating God's historical timetable backward, while the date of His death and resurrection is the basis from which to reckon the scheme of history that follows. Having established 2 B.C. and 33 A.D. as the best dates for these two seminal events respectively, it shall now be our purpose to work backwards from the former and forwards from the latter to explore with as much precision as possible the specific dates to which the biblical record points in respect to the seven millennial days of human history, for the year of Christ's birth and the year of His crucifixion, mark the terminus of the preceding Jewish Age and inception of the following Church Age respectively.⁽⁷⁷⁾

b. Days 4-3, and 2-1: As we saw above, the Age of the Gentiles, Jewish Age and Church Age all comprise two millennial day-pairs. Working backward from the birth of Christ in 2 B.C., the biblical record is consistent with a precise four thousand year period (our two double millennial day-pair ages, the Jewish Age and the Age of the Gentiles) to the fall of Adam when certain points (noted in the chart above) are taken into consideration:

1) The Age of Israel still has seven years to run (i.e., Daniel's 70^th week, otherwise known as the Tribulation: Dan.9:27). Therefore only 1993 years are to be found in Israel's two millennial days.

2) The Babylonian captivity (586-516 B.C.) does not count against the two thousand years of the Jewish Age, because, for that seventy year period, Israel's functioning as God's mechanism for the distribution of His divine truth was being held in abeyance.

With these two caveats in mind, it is possible to track the biblical evidence back to Adam's creation. The list below uses the critical scriptural references to move the chronology backward, step by step from the birth of Christ in 2 B.C.

- The Jewish Age (2065 - 2 B.C.⁽⁷⁸⁾) -

    1. to 1444 B.C. (the Exodus): retrogressing 1442 years (from 2 B.C.) to the Exodus in 1444 B.C., based upon 1st Kings 6:1 which states that the 4^th year of King Solomon's reign (ca. 964 B.C.) occurred 480 years after the Exodus (ca. 1444 B.C.: i.e., 964 + 480 = 1444).⁽⁷⁹⁾

    2. to 1874 B.C. (Jacob in Egypt): retrogressing from 1444 B.C. a further 430 years to the time of Jacob's arrival in Egypt, based upon Exodus 12:40 (which states that Israel remained in Egypt after Jacob's arrival exactly 430 years), and thus taking us to 1874 B.C.

    3. to 2004 B.C. (Jacob's birth): retrogressing from 1874 B.C. a further 130 years to Jacob's birth, based upon Genesis 47:9 where Jacob tells Pharaoh on his arrival in Egypt that he is 130 years old.

    4. to 2064 B.C. (Isaac's birth): retrogressing from 2004 B.C. a further 60 years to the birth of Isaac, based upon Genesis 25:26, where we learn that Isaac was sixty when Jacob was born.

    5. to 2065 B.C. (Abraham's circumcision): retrogressing from 2064 B.C. one year to the circumcision of Abraham, the event which marks the beginning of the Jewish Age (Gen.17-18; cf. Rom.4:9-12). Subtracting from 2065 two years for the birth of Christ in 2 B.C. and seventy years for the Babylonian captivity, we are left with 1993 years, the entire two millennial days of the Jewish age (minus the seven years of Daniel's seventieth week, the yet future Tribulation).

- The Age of the Gentiles (4065 - 2065 B.C.) -

    6. to 2164 B.C. (Abraham's birth): retrogressing 99 years from 2065 to the birth of Abraham based upon Genesis 17:24.

    7. to 2456 B.C. (the flood): retrogressing 292 years from 2164 to the great flood by adding the intervals between generations from Abraham to Shem, based upon Genesis 11:10-26.

    8. to 3056 B.C. (Noah's birth): retrogressing 600 years to the birth of Noah by adding the intervals between generations from Shem to Noah, based upon Genesis 7:6 and 7:11 - 8:14.⁽⁸⁰⁾

    9. to 4112 B.C. (Adam's creation): retrogressing 1056 years to the creation of Adam by adding the intervals between generations from Noah to Adam, based upon Genesis 5:3-29. Allowing exactly 2,000 years for Age of the Gentiles from 2065 to 4065 and subtracting the latter figure from 4112, we posit that Adam sinned and was expelled from the garden at the chronological age of 47 (i.e., he was already mature when created, then fell 47 years after his mature creation: 4112 - 4065 = 47).

c. Days 5 and 6: Working forward two complete thousand year periods from 33 A.D., the year of our Lord's crucifixion and resurrection, would bring us to the year 2033 A.D. as the date of our Lord's return and the beginning of His millennial reign. Subtracting seven years from this total, gives us the year 2026 A.D. as the time of the commencement of the seven year tribulational period. Although our Lord's crucifixion and resurrection occurred in the spring at the time of Passover, the Tribulation will begin with the cycle of festivals occurring in the fall (see section II.7.3 above). The sixth month hiatus (between the spring and fall of 2026 A.D.) constitute the "half hour of silence" (Rev.8:1), the final grace period before the commencement of that great" hour of testing" begins (Rev.3:10).

d. The Break-points of the Three Pairs of Days: As has been noted above, the Gentile, Jewish and Church Ages, though consisting of two millennial days each, are integral wholes. Thus it is not unexpected that these three pairs of millennial days (i.e., 1-2; 3-4; 5-6) should have no hard and fast event-breaks to clearly separate and distinguish their two one-thousand year periods. This phenomenon of no clear breaks within these three pairs of days is in sharp contrast to the very definite breaks that separate the other divisions of the seven day scheme (i.e., the fall of Adam as the start of the Gentile Age, the circumcision of Abraham as the start of the Jewish Age, the birth of Christ as the [temporary] conclusion to the Jewish Age, the death and resurrection of Christ as the start of the Church Age, and the return of Christ as the conclusion to the Church Age [and Jewish Age: see immediately below]). This lack of any comparably significant break within the three day-pairs is all the more understandable when one considers (in addition to the fact that each pair is part of an essentially indivisible contiguous whole) the truly pivotal nature of the divisions between the three pairs (mentioned above), for these are dividing points which frame in a most significant way God's architecture of the seven millennial days of human history:

• The fall of Adam: The initial promise of the Messiah (Gen.3:15; 3:21)
   
• The circumcision of Abraham: The specific promise of the Seed (Gen.17:1-27)
   
• The birth of Christ: The Word becomes flesh (Jn.1:14)
   
• The death and resurrection of Christ: The promise of salvation fulfilled (2Cor.1:19-20)
   
• The return of Christ: The resurrection and the kingdom (Rev.20:4-6)

Still, it is true that while no exact break point exists within each of the three day-pairs, at roughly the half-way point of each pair we find a period of transition which does mark the shift in character between each respective day (as we have outlined these differences at the beginning of this section: II.7):

1) Days 1 and 2: Shortly after the chronological half-way mark of the Gentile age (3065 B.C.) Noah was born (in 3056). Noah's birth is significant for several reasons. First, it was attended by a special prophecy that foreshadowed the many changes the earth would undergo as a result of the great flood (Gen.5:29). Secondly, while the flood itself occurs well within the second millennial day of the Gentile Age (nearly 600 years so), the time of Noah was different from what had preceded during this era's first millennial day. It was the beginning of the period of large population increase. It was also a time characterized by one of the most horrendous satanic attacks upon humanity ever devised as the devil attempted to erase the true human line by polluting it with angelic seed (see section III immediately below). In this diabolical gambit, the human race of that day willingly participated to such a degree that by the time of the flood, very few true human beings (if any) were left, outside of Noah and his immediate family. This time of intense satanic attack, of heroic resistance (in the person of Noah), and of unprecedented witness to the world (through the building of the portentous ark), is a clear, albeit extensive, period of contrast to the situation that obtained in the first thousand years after Adam's fall. Furthermore, with the exception of Noah and his family, all of the rest of the genuine, direct line of Adam, the line of Christ and of true humanity, had died out by the year of the flood (Adam in 3187, Enoch [taken] in 3125, Seth in 3070, Enosh in 2972, Kenan in 2877, Mahalalel in 2822, Jared in 2690, Lamech in 2461, and Methusaleh in 2456, the very year of the flood). Noah thus constitutes both the last of the original post-Edenic generation and the first of the post-flood generation. Therefore while not a hard and fast break-point along the lines of the age dividing events, it seems appropriate that Noah's birth should serve as a general point of demarcation between the two millennial days, occurring as it does in the decade that marks the chronological division of the pair of thousand year periods that make up the Age of the Gentiles.

2) Days 3 and 4: Although the chronology is difficult to establish with precision, 1065 B.C., the chronological half-way point for the Age of Israel, marks roughly the beginning of the monarchy.⁽⁸¹⁾ Saul, the Lord's original anointed, proved himself less than satisfactory in God's eyes (1Sam.13:14; 15:28), and it was left to David, a man after God's own heart (1Sam.16:7; Acts.13:22), to become the model for the theocracy that will one day be headed up by his greater Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (Ps.110). Politically and prophetically, the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel is an event of the utmost significance. Therefore, while it too is not a hard and fast break-point, it seems appropriate to find in the establishment of the monarchy a general point of demarcation between the two millennial days of the Jewish Age.

3) Days 5 and 6: In a similar fashion, the Church Age possesses no true break-point even approaching the theological significance of either its beginning (the death and resurrection of Christ) or of its termination (the return of Christ). Like the Gentile and Jewish Ages before it, however, the two millennial days of the Church Age are distinguished by significant differences, and are divided by events which both reflect these differences and which occur at its approximate chronological half-way mark. That point in time, for our present age, is the year 1033 A.D. The eleventh century was in many ways a turning point for the Church Age. It marks the beginning of the crusades (political "Christianity" taken to an extreme), as well as of the imperial papacy. It brings the culmination of monasticism and scholasticism, the beginning of the inquisition and of the persecution of the sects, and, finally, the schism between the eastern and western Churches. All of these events mark in indisputable terms the end of the early Church and the formation in its place of an institutional pseudo-Christianity which has militated against true faith and spiritual growth throughout the second millennium. It is interesting to note that precisely in the year that marks the Church Age's half-way point (1033 A.D.), Benedict the 9^th became Pope at the age of only twelve years old, and later sold the office for several thousand pounds of silver, a fitting commentary on the completely bankrupt nature of organized "Christianity" by that time. Freed of the more rigid and monolithic forms that were in some respects necessary during its first millennium (to disseminate the Bible and to develop the means of educating men to teach it properly, as pointed out above), the second millennium of the Church Age has seen a proliferation in the knowledge and availability of God's Word, and in its expansion to all parts of the globe without being fatally hindered by false dogmatism (i.e., enforced adherence to non-biblical teachings as was increasingly the case toward the end of the first millennium, the primary issue which led to the Reformation).

e. The Tribulational Overlap: One final issue needs to be addressed before moving on to Day 7 (the Millennium). There is a common fallacy in biblical exegesis vis-a-vis the chronology of God's plan which reckons the seven years of the Tribulation exclusively to the Age of Israel. In this popular scheme, the Tribulation is "appended", so to speak, to the Church Age, occurring immediately after its conclusion. Besides being influenced by the incorrect notion of a pre-tribulational "rapture" of the Church,⁽⁸²⁾ this false view is part and parcel of the erroneous thinking that draws a sharp division between Israel and the Church.⁽⁸³⁾ In fact, as we have seen, Israel is the root to which the gentiles are attached. Together with an increasing number of believing Jews, Church Age gentile believers will continue to persevere in their faith in Christ until His return, the event that marks the true end of the Church Age. The last seven years of this age, however, will be a time of the most intense distress the world has yet witnessed. This period, the Tribulation, will be a seven year period of warning and judgment. It will also be the time of Israel's (partial) reawakening and of the beginning of her reassertion of her leadership role within the human family of God (cf. the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, and the ministry of the 144,000).⁽⁸⁴⁾ The Tribulation's seven years, therefore, belong both to the Church Age (its final seven years) and to the Jewish Age (its final seven years: Daniel's seventieth week). Thus, although the Jewish and Church Ages are initially divided by the life of Christ (His birth marking the temporary end of the former and the beginning of the latter), they are ultimately joined together in the period preceding His Second Advent, with both ages dovetailing at history's climax as apocalyptic events intensify and reach their crescendo at our Lord's return. This overlap of ages explains, for example, the inclusion in the Jewish ceremonial calendar of the festivals of Trumpets and Atonement within the Church Age gap (i.e., because the Tribulation occurs within the Church Age: see above, section II Summary 3 and chart #3). Other indications that we should find the Tribulation within the Church Age include:

1) the fact that the completion of the gentile complement of the body of Christ is coterminous with Israel's change of heart at the Second Advent (viz., at the end of the Tribulation: Rm.11:25-26).

2) the fact that this present era, described as "the times of the gentiles (that is to say, a time and a time [period] of 1,000 years each: Lk.21:24), will not come to an end as long as Jerusalem is "trodden under foot" (i.e., not until the return of Christ at the end of the Tribulation).

3) the fact that the current Church Age trend of antichrist-type deceivers will only reach its culmination with the unveiling of the antichrist in the Tribulation (1Jn.2:18).

4) the fact that the prophesied (and already observable) trend towards apostasy on the part of the Church will only reach its fulfillment in the Tribulation (compare Rev.3:14-20 with 2Thes.2:3).

5) the fact that the Church Age is in a very real and scriptural way part of the "end times" (1Cor.10:11; Heb.1:2; 1Pet.1:20; 1Jn.2:18), a principle that makes little sense if it is to be excluded from the conclusive period of the "last days", the Tribulation.

6) and finally and perhaps most significantly, the fact that much of our hope as Christians consists in our looking forward eagerly to the return of our Lord, an event that will take place at the end of the Great Tribulation (1Thes.4:13-18; Tit.2:13; see Peter #27 for detailed discussion).

With the inclusion of the tribulational overlap into the Church Age proper, we see our age ending in the same miraculous fashion in which it was ushered in, with great satanic opposition, and surpassingly great divine provision and manifestation (cf. Joel 2:28-32, a passage equally applicable to Pentecost and the events preceding the Second Advent: compare with Acts 2:16:21; cf. Is.32:15; 44:3; Jer.31:33-34; Ezek.36:24-27; 37:9; Zech.12:10).

Finally, to apply this principle of overlap to the chronological scheme which we are here constructing, we must, then, (as stated above) subtract these seven years from the Church Age's two thousand year tally to find the Tribulation's commencement. Taking into account the half hour of silence mentioned above as standing for a one half year grace period (Rev.8:1-2), we are thus left with a probable start date for the Tribulation of fall 2026.

f. Day 7: The Millennium: The Millennium is in many ways the capstone of the seven days of human history, a time of blessing as close to perfection as yet sinful mankind can experience, with, Satan, the prime instigator of evil, temporarily removed from the world (Rev.21:1-3), and the Son of God Himself reigning upon the earth (Rev.11:15). The Millennium will commence almost immediately following Christ's return (following a short period of purification: Dan.12:11-12; cf. Ezek.20:34-38; Zech.13:8-9; Matt.3:10-12; 25:31-46; Lk.3:9-17; 2Thes.1:7-8), and last for one thousand years (ca. 2033-3033). Following the elapse of the one thousand years, the devil will be released and a short period of human rebellion and swift divine judgment will ensue (Rev.21:3; 21:7-10). Scripture is silent as to the length of this postscript to history (although it is "short": Rev.21:3), but we do know that at its conclusion, the world as we know it will cease to exist, being subsumed forever by our eternal home, the New Heavens and the New Earth – a place where only righteousness will dwell (2Pet.3:10-13; Rev.21:1-4; cf. Is.60:21). This "new day" will have no end, as we who have chosen for God will have the inestimable privilege of living with Him and His Son forever (Rev.22:3-5). The shifting of the "Lord's day" from the Saturday Sabbath (the seventh millennial day in history's seven day structure) to Sunday, is indicative and evocative of this "new day" that will never come to an end (Rev.1:10).

Summary: Though not evident to the eyes of those who do not acknowledge God, human history is completely subject to His plan, and the entire point of history is His Son, Jesus Christ, and the salvation of all those who are willing to accept and follow Him.

. . . according to His plan for the ages (i.e., history) which He has implemented in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord . . .
Ephesians 3:11

For [God] has made known to us the mystery He has willed according to His own good pleasure, one which He purposed in [Christ], for the dispensing [of truth] about the completion of history, namely, that all things have now been incorporated in Christ, both things in heaven, and things on earth –
Ephesians 1:9-10

In the first stage of judgment, restoration and replacement (which we have now sufficiently covered in the present series), God judged the earth (the place of the satanic rebellion), then restored it, and, through the creation of humanity, set in motion the historical process of replacing the devil and his followers with human beings who would choose for Him. Satan's seduction of Adam and Eve, far from reversing the process, brought the Savior to come directly to the center of human history (from the divine point of view). The devil would henceforth oppose the line of faith, the line of the Messiah, and every life of faith, but would be unable to arrest the inexorable progress of the Plan of God, which was destined to be actualized in the coming of Christ and the successful completion of His efficacious sacrifice on our behalf. This stupendous victory laid the cornerstone for the next two phases of judgment, restoration and replacement in the final working out of God's plan. Before we can address phases two and three of judgment, restoration and replacement, however, it will first be necessary to consider Satan's "anti-plan", that is, his counter-strategy for opposing the historical march of the Plan of God as outlined in the discussion above.

III. Satan's Counter-Strategy

In the last installment of this series, our object of study was Satan's World System, that is, the tactical doctrine and methodology the devil employs in attempting to control the human race for his own ends. This section will investigate the large-scale strategies Satan has employed (and will employ) in an attempt to frustrate the Plan of God with his own reactionary counter-plans.

God's plan of salvation in the promised Person of Jesus Christ (treated in section II above) caught Satan completely by surprise. With the commencement of human history under the promise and potential of salvation, God's plan for the final disposition of Satan and his followers began its ineluctable forward march. Left unopposed, it would only be a matter of time before human beings, now in a sinful state, would do from weakness what fallen angels would not do from strength, namely, respond to the gracious offer of a Savior and return to a merciful God. Faced with this inevitable progression, Satan's only possible alternative, his only recourse in the face of God's plan for redeeming willing humanity through the Person and work of Jesus Christ, was to oppose the plan of salvation in every possible way and with every available means at his disposal. As redemption through Jesus Christ summarizes the plan of God for human history, so opposition to faith in Christ is not only at the heart of the devil's world system (see Part 4 of this series), but is also the guiding principle in his reactions to the grand movements of the Plan of God as they become manifest to him.

Following the commencement of human history after Eden, the devil, as we have seen, was left without a strategy. Being a mere creature, and having no actual use for mankind, any strategic operations on his part are of necessity merely reactions to God's actions. To put it another way, he really has no grand plan of his own – except to try and stop God's plan. Having been thwarted in his attempt to halt the progress of the Plan of God through his seduction of Adam and Eve (failing to anticipate God's promise of redemption through the woman's Seed), the devil has now been left with little choice but to oppose the ultimately unopposable Plan of God for human history. Despite the essential futility of their actions, the devil and his forces are and always have been extremely active in their attempts to turn mankind away from God. Human beings – and believing human beings in particular – have always been important "targets of opportunity". But in addition to this general policy of using any and all means to deceive and to destroy humanity at large (i.e., the objective of the Satanic World System treated in part 4 of this series), Satan has also concentrated significant resources throughout the course of human history on more specific "prime targets", inevitably important for him because of their importance in the Plan of God, and it is this reactive counter-strategy that forms the subject of this section.

1. Satan's antediluvian attack on the purity of the human line (the Nephilim): As we have pointed out before, were it merely a question of pitting his superior power against the human race, the devil and his angels could long since have wiped every living thing off the face of the planet (not to mention mankind). Satan, prevented by the sovereignty of God from this most direct approach to solving his problem, chose as his first counter-attack something almost equally as effective as the outright elimination of the human race, namely, its pollution to point of no longer being truly human at all.

The context for this first satanic counter-attack is Genesis chapter six, the waning days of the post-Edenic generation of believers in the line of Seth (all of whom died out before the great flood, with the exception of Noah and his family: see section II "breakpoints" immediately above). Satan may have been content to play a waiting game until the multiplication of humanity (and of believers in God) began to give definite promise of eventually producing the numbers necessary to replace him and his follower, this despite the less than perfect environment that obtained after Eden and under conditions of mortality. Goaded into action by events, the devil cunningly surmised that if he could introduce a measure of impurity into the human line, once that impurity had affected the entire human race, there would be no more true humanity, no pool of legitimate replacements, and, most importantly, no possible way of bringing his ultimate nemesis, the Seed of the woman, into the world. The means whereby the devil sought to accomplish this (and came within eight persons of doing so) was the cohabitation of his followers with human women.

At this point, a small comment is, unfortunately, a necessity. Like the great flood, Jonah and the whale (lit., "great fish"), and the parting of the Red Sea, this is one of those portions of scripture that, for some reason or other, offends the sensibilities of sometime readers of scripture more than other biblical descriptions of supernatural activity. Why this should be so is entirely unclear to the writer, for the Bible is a supernatural book. Virtually every verse reflects the hand of the ultimate spiritual, supernatural, non-material God of the universe upon the material world our eyes can see. The events depicted in Genesis chapter six happened. We know they did, because the Bible clearly relates that they did. The text of the chapter is quite clear about the facts (in spite of enthusiastic efforts on the part of some to explain them away). And if there were any doubt, we also possess several New Testament passages that discuss this matter more or less directly, and make it almost impossible to interpret Genesis six in any other way than is suggested here (1Pet.3:19-20; 2Pet.2:4-9; Jude 5-7). Thus, the "angelic cohabitation" interpretation of Genesis six not only found favor in the early church; refuting it requires the untenable position that two of the inspired New Testament writers either "got it wrong" or were indulging in allegory.

Genesis 6:1-2: Angelic Cohabitation

Now it came to pass that when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God (i.e., the fallen angels) noticed the daughters of men, that they were beautiful. So they took wives for themselves from all whom they selected.
Genesis 6:1-2

To return to our theme, the time frame for the events of Genesis chapter six, as mentioned above, is roughly the first third of the Gentile Age's second millennial day, that is, the final days of the post-Edenic generation. As the passage above indicates, it was a time of rapidly increasing population growth, with the new inhabitants now separated from the fall (and the prophecies to Adam and Eve) by many years and many generations. It was also a time of little spirituality outside of the direct line of Seth, a circumstance which was to provide the devil with his opportunity for attack.

First of all, the phrase "sons of God" mentioned here most definitely refers to angels. This is so despite elaborate attempts to otherwise construe this passage on the part of those who have found the clear meaning uncomfortable (due to the bias against the existence of all things supernatural alluded to at the opening of this section). For one thing, we cannot assume that only daughters were born to mankind, for, obviously enough, male and female offspring would be necessary for the population expansion here described. No, the daughters are singled out because they become the objects of the attentions of the "sons of God" (i.e., fallen angels) mentioned next. For it is the female who carries the essential seed of our humanity (witness the virgin birth) and was, therefore, the natural target of this satanic operation. Even more convincing is the fact that everywhere else in scripture the phrase beney ha-'elohiym ("sons of God") and its variants refer not to men but to angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7 [anarthrous]; Ps.29:1 [cf. Ps.103:20; 148:2]; and Ps.89:6: beney-'elim). Finally, as we have mentioned above, there are three New Testament passages which reference the events of Genesis chapter six, and all three clearly link fallen angels to the activities here described:

It was also by means of the Spirit that [Christ] visited the [angelic] spirits in prison (i.e., in the Abyss), and proclaimed [His victory]. [These are the angels who] were disobedient in the days of Noah at the time when God patiently waited (i.e., delayed judgment) while the ark was being built.
1st Peter 3:19-20a

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but plunged them into Tartarus with its gloomy pits (i.e., the Abyss), preserving them for the [day of] judgment, and did not spare the antediluvian world, but kept safe Noah as a proclaimer of righteousness and the seven with him when He brought the flood upon the ungodly inhabitants of the world, and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes and making them an example to those bent on similar ungodly behavior, and rescued righteous Lot who was tormented by the depraved lifestyle of those lawless men – for through the things he saw and heard just by dwelling among them this righteous man was damaging his righteous way of life day by day on account of their lawless deeds. For the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment – especially those who in their lust pursue the polluting of the flesh and so despise [God's] divine authority.
2nd Peter 2:4-10a

Although you know all these things, I want to remind you that though the Lord saved [all] His people from the land of Egypt at the first, in the end He destroyed those who proved unfaithful, and the angels who did not keep to their own realm but deserted their proper habitation He has imprisoned with everlasting chains in the gloom below (i.e., in the Abyss) in anticipation of the judgment of that great day, just as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, for they all prostituted themselves in the same manner as these [angels] did, having pursued sexual relations (lit. "flesh") that were inappropriate for them (i.e., outside of the natural order). [And so it is that] they have been appointed an example, and incurred the penalty of eternal fire.
Jude 5-7

Note that all three New Testament passages make reference to the imprisonment of fallen angels (in the Abyss) on account of their activities just prior to the great flood. Moreover, the second two (2Pet.2:4-10 and Jude 5-7) clearly connect this activity with illicit sexual behavior comparable in its outrageousness (though not identical, obviously, in its specifics) to that practiced in Sodom and Gomorrah. Finally, the third passage (Jude 5-7) is quite specific in stating that this intermarriage of fallen angels with willing human women constituted an unauthorized abandonment of the rightful angelic sphere (one reason for the severe, temporary judgment inflicted upon the perpetrators of these acts).

It is hoped that the primary objection to the angelic interpretation of Genesis six, namely its so-called "oddity", will have been removed by the broader context supplied by this study. For, in a vacuum, angelic cohabitation with human woman may seem unlikely as well as bizarre. In the context of the devil's strategy to resist God's plan in every conceivable way, however, the enlistment of some of his more reckless followers to pollute (and thereby effectively destroy) the human race contains a certain cold logic. This is especially true when considers that the success of this operation would have removed the possibility of God's eventual carrying out of the judgment already proclaimed against the devil, because it would have made the birth of the promised Messiah, the woman's pure human Seed, an impossibility.

Genesis 6:1-2 (quoted at the beginning of this section) leaves unstated the obvious background to these events. Rapid expansion of the human race brought with it an increased carelessness about acknowledging (let alone following) God and His natural law. Of this we may be sure, for it is just this expanding depravity of human behavior, seen here on earth for the first (though certainly not the last) time that forms the basis for a divine displeasure so extreme that the great flood becomes the only acceptable remedy (Gen.6:5-8; 6:11-13; see below). These conditions provided Satan with his first major strategic opportunity since his success in corrupting Adam and Eve. Apparently prohibited from direct, outright destruction of human beings (otherwise he would long ago have taken this obvious remedy), and stymied in his abortive attempt to have human beings slaughter each other to the point of extinction (by God's prohibition of murder in the wake of Cain's killing of Abel), he now found himself confronted with the intriguing prospect of introducing a fatal disease, so to speak, among the growing ranks of the spiritually weak. If he were not allowed to give such a disease to humanity (and thus destroy us apart from our free will), he discerned that granting an opportunity to contract such a disease would be a different matter. Offering the possibility of cohabitation with some of his followers would be an attractive portion of leaven that would soon leaven the whole lump. To abide by the principle of preserving human free will in the unseen conflict that rages around us, it would only be necessary to make these initial liaisons voluntary. The diabolical beauty of the plan was that this seed, once planted, would quickly spread. Although the majority might refuse such abominable joining in the first place, there would be some who would accept or even seek such alliances given the "talented" offspring that would be produced. And the situation would ever be such that a refusal would only be a temporary "win" for humanity, while an acceptance would be a permanent "loss". Once the angelic seed was introduced into the human gene pool, sooner or later every human family would become infected and spread that infection (always by choice), until at last there would be no possibility of a pure line for the Messiah.

Despite its attractive possibilities, the plan presented problems as well. God's reaction to the human beings so involved is well-known: that is, His extermination of all of them by means of the world-wide flood. Less celebrated, but equally as awe-inspiring, is His reaction to the angelic participants in Satan's scheme to irrevocably pollute the human race. Following these events, all fallen angels guilty of cohabitation with human beings would be punished with the most severe penalty possible (this side of the final execution of the sentence against them). The penalty for "not keeping to their own realm" was to be plunged into the lightless Abyss (1Pet.3:19; 2Pet.2:4; Jude 6), a terrifying prospect for these creatures of light, even in their fallen state. This awful prospect motivated the "legion" of demons who had possessed the demoniac at Gadara to beg Christ frantically not to have them confined to this terrible place (Lk.8:31; cf. Jude 6; Rev.9:1-11; 9:13-16; 20:1-3; 20:7).⁽⁸⁵⁾

We may surmise, therefore, that just as humans are induced into illicit sexual activities in full cognizance of the possible repercussions, so some of the fallen angels were induced (no doubt by the devil) to take this action, even though it must have been quite clear that swift and sure judgment from the Almighty was likely to follow. Satan, by all indications (there are still "legions" of demons loose in the kosmos), couldn't convince all of his followers to act recklessly in this fashion, and probably didn't want his best lieutenants to do so. Nevertheless, the events described here show that he was able to find a cadre willing to "abandon their estate" and risk the consequences that in the event did befall them. We have already noted in the first installment of this series the desire of fallen angels for physical bodies (Part 1, IV.3.b), and we may see these events as corollary to this principle. The selectiveness of which Genesis 6:2 makes a particular point (i.e., "they chose") reinforces this conclusion. Important as well is the fact that these verses betray no idea of force, indicating that the liaisons were voluntary on the part of the women involved, and, given the involvement of patriarchs in the marriages of that time, of their fathers.

Genesis 6:3: the Spirit's Restraint

And God said, "My Spirit will not strive with Man forever in their sinful manner of life – for this [is the way of] flesh. Therefore his days shall be 120 years."

The divine displeasure evident in the verse above (very odd if the two preceding verses were only relating normal human procreation which had been divinely commanded in Gen.1:28) follows directly on the heels of the intermarriage described in Genesis 6:1-2. Verse three suggests a double judgment of the most extreme severity. In a mere 120 years (brief by the extended life spans of the time), God would all but bring the human race to an end. And for the progeny of those who would survive in the postdiluvian world to come, the longevity Man had previously experienced (nearly a millennium in some cases) would be reduced to a scant 120 years, and this would be a maximum norm scarcely ever approached, and only rarely exceeded.⁽⁸⁶⁾ Even in such dire judgment, however, God's gracious nature is clearly perceptible, because for the one family of believers left on earth (i.e., that of Noah), the 120 years were an important grace period that gave the necessary time for the ark – God's chosen means of deliverance – to be completed. It is ever thus that by the patience of our God we are delivered (1Pet.3:20; cf. Is.48:9; Rom.2:4; 2Pet.3:9; 3:15).

Genesis 6:4: the Nephilim

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and afterwards as well (i.e., both before and after the start of the 120 grace period before the flood). For when the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, they bore to them those "mighty-ones" (i.e., the Nephilim) whose names are famous from ancient times.

The transliteration of the Hebrew word Nephilim (nephiliym: נפלים) is standard practice now (cf. the NASB and NIV) on account of the clear unacceptability of the Septuagint's "giants". The Septuagint's interpretation, however ineffective the parallel drawn from Greek mythology, is clearly to see these "creatures" as not entirely human (as the Greek giants of myth were not), and that much, at least, is true. By the time we reach Genesis 6:4, interpretations which try and make these Nephilim entirely human have run into a host of difficulties. In the verse above, the extraordinary nature of these creatures is directly related to the fact that they are the progeny of the "sons of God", a mention that makes little sense if these "sons of God" were normal human beings. The etymology of the word naphiyl (Hebrew: נפיל; Nephilim is actually the plural) is also enlightening. The root, naphal means "to fall", and the qatiyl noun formation is passive in nature here (as is generally the case; cf. `asiyr, אסיר, "one in bondage" or "prisoner"). The meaning "fallen ones" is directly in line with our understanding of the passage so far, for the Nephilim were a) "fallen" from the ranks of pure humanity; b) the offspring of fallen angels; and c) fallen in the spiritual sense as well, giving no indication of desiring a relationship with God, a conclusion to which we are forced by their failure to respond to His gracious 120 year delay of judgment (for only Noah and his family entered the ark).⁽⁸⁷⁾

Genesis 6:5-7: the Divine Assessment

Now the Lord saw that Man's evil had spread abundantly on the earth – indeed, the underlying intent of all his innermost thoughts was invariably evil. So the Lord regretted that He had made Man on the earth, and it grieved His heart [that He had done so]. And God said, "I shall wipe Man whom I have created off of the face of the earth, both Man and beast and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air, for I regret that I made them."

In our own time as well mankind is universally disposed towards evil because of the sin that resides in our mortal bodies as a result of our descent from Adam.⁽⁸⁸⁾ However, the intensity of evil described here – evil that leaves no place for anything else and is untouched by any other consideration – is a clearly unprecedented state of affairs in terms of both the concentration and homogeneity of the evil involved. There can be little doubt that this rock-hard dedication to evil which had become the rule on earth was a result of the majority of mankind at this point being of mixed seed. From their angelic progenitors they had acquired (along with the talents and stature that gave them the fame they still enjoy today)⁽⁸⁹⁾ that quality of adamant fixation of purpose which we first observed in our study of angels in the initial installment of the present series.⁽⁹⁰⁾

It is also important to note the vast difference between the human and divine assessments of the situation on the antediluvian earth. While mankind is impressed, even fascinated with the likes of the Nephilim, individuals of exceptional prowess (whether physical or otherwise), God is concerned with the heart, with the individual's attitude towards Himself and His truth. These pre-flood "supermen" may be the stuff of human legend and may continue to capture the imagination of mankind even today, but to God their complete lack of respect for Him and a total absence of any desire for a relationship with Him were causes of profound regret. Indeed, despite the fact that these semi-humans were in many ways gifted beyond anything today imaginable, and would be objects of extreme veneration and emulation by the present day inhabitants of earth, God's response to their inveterate evil is completely the opposite: they must be wiped from the face of the earth.

God's profound regret and grief expressed here is not in any way to be understood to mean that He was "surprised" by these events (for history is entirely dependent upon Him and His decrees). These events are related to us in language that we can understand. Even though we cannot hope to fathom the true depths of God and His love, we can see from these expressions His merciful purpose for mankind – even for these rebellious, hybrid angelic-humans – and His profound lack of pleasure in their failure to accept that mercy, not wishing any to perish (1Tim.2:4).

The Lord is not delaying in the fulfillment of His promise (as some think); rather He is exercising patience for your sake, being unwilling for anyone to perish, but desiring all instead to come to repentance.
2nd Peter 3:9

Patience, in the italicized phrase above, is from the same Greek root as the verb Peter had used in his first epistle to indicate the patience of God during the 120 year grace period that preceded the great flood (1Pet.3:20: makrothumia vs. makrothumeo above). Even in the face of such intense, intractable evil, God went the extra mile in providing opportunity for repentance before visiting the ultimate judgment upon the world of that time. Truly, ours is a God to be feared, both for the ineffability of His gracious mercy upon the undeserving, and for the ineluctable and devastating power of His judgments upon those who systematically refuse it in their wickedness.

Or do you esteem as being of little account this truly valuable tolerance He [is exercising towards you] in [all] forbearance and patience? [If you do, it is] because you fail to realize that it is this very tolerance of God that is leading you to (i.e., giving you the opportunity for) repentance.
Romans 2:4

And consider the Lord's patience towards you as [leading to your] salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul has written to you, according to the wisdom given to him.
2nd Peter 3:15

God's great patience, God's great provision, God's great love and desire for the human race of that time to turn to Him was, in the event, despised, forcing the issue of His terrifying judgment. Only after it has been demonstrated for all to see that, in spite of extraordinary patience and provision, the human race had become irredeemably corrupt, did the deluge begin. That judgment, of course, was a total one, exterminating not only all of polluted mankind, but all lesser creatures as well, leaving not even a hint of pollution by association to survive. But God does not blot out the righteous with the wicked. One man had turned to God, and so by his righteousness (the righteousness imputed by God to those who turn to Him: Gen.15:6), stood in the gap for our entire race.

Genesis 6:8-10: Noah

But Noah had found favor in the Lord's eyes. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generations (i.e., of pure human seed). Noah, moreover, made a habit of walking with God. Moreover, Noah was the father of three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

In stark contrast to his contemporaries who wanted nothing whatsoever to do with God, Noah aggressively pursued a relationship with Him, seeking Him, finding Him, following Him, and, finally, coming to serve Him in the unique way for which he is now so famous. This attitude of responding to God in all that He initiated gained for Noah God's favor, a treasure more valuable than anything else on earth (and still to be sought in the very same way). Noah was not of mixed seed (his purely human pedigree is the point behind the Hebrew phrase tamiym hayah bdhorothayv, "perfect in his generations"). This fact, it is true, redounds to the glory of his parents and forefathers who did not succumb to the temptation of intermarrying with the semi-angelic seed. But Noah had also in his own right forsaken this disastrous course at a time when, due to the intensification of evil mentioned in context and the spread of the angelic strain to nearly all of the human race, such intermarriage must have been more difficult to avoid than ever before. God honored Noah's steadfastness, providing a wife for him of equally pure human stock, and blessing them with three boys born during the final 120 years before the flood (compare Gen.5:32 with Gen.7:6), for whom God would provide acceptable spouses as well. We can only guess the degree to which Noah was ridiculed, ostracized and threatened for such "stubborn aloofness". But for anyone who truly sought and followed God, the alternative course of action would have been unthinkable, so clearly and obviously would it have violated the natural law of God (cf. Lev.19:19; Deut.22:9). By resisting the temptations of his day, and by persistently following after God wherever He led, Noah became prepared for the ministry God had in turn prepared for him: that is, to stand in the gap for the entire human race.

Now it was through the ark that God chose to effect the physical deliverance of that remnant of the human race from which we all derive (i.e., Noah, his wife, their three sons and their three wives). But it was Noah, after all, who built the ark, and that fact is far more important in God's eyes than any wooden structure ever could be. God, of course, could have plucked this family from the rising waters through any number of miraculous means. Instead, He chose to make use of Noah's faith and faithfulness. Given the mammoth nature of the task, it must have taken Noah the better part of the 120 year grace period that preceded the flood to build this vessel capable of containing not only himself and his family, but a remnant of all the world's animal population as well. And while it is this fabulous structure which has captured the attention of posterity since that time, the really amazing part of the story is that Noah persisted at this seemingly impossible task, day after day, and decade after decade, sticking faithfully to the charge that God had given him. We can scarcely imagine the opposition and active discouragement he encountered from the world for this faithful dedication to the Lord's command, but, in the end, God vindicated Noah, His "preacher of righteousness" (2Pet.2:5), and his work of witness to God, and did so in the most dramatic possible way.

It is interesting and important to note that, although in our own discussions of such things it is scarcely possible to say the name Noah without mentioning the ark in the same breath, yet in the frequent references to Noah in the Bible (following the Genesis account of the flood), the ark is generally not even discussed (Is.54:9; Ezek.14:13 & 20; Heb.11:7; Matt.24:37-38; Lk.17:26-27; 2Pet.2:5; the exceptions are 1Pet.3:20, where the mention is not substantive, and Heb.11:7, where the focus is upon Noah's reverent response to God's command in building it). The reason for this is obvious enough: the ark and the "animals two by two" are the parts of the story that impress human beings, but God was impressed by Noah's heart, by Noah's faithfulness. It was as a result of this previously proven character that Noah was chosen to build that most famous vessel as a means of deliverance not only from the coming flood, but also from the perverse generation that had made the deluge a necessity (1Pet.3:20: they were saved through the water [i.e., brought safely through it and so delivered from the threat of that generation]).

Genesis 6:11-13: Divine Judgment and Divine Deliverance

Now the earth was ruined before God because the earth was filled with wrongful violence. For God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way [of life] upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with wrongful violence on their account. So, behold, I am about to ruin them completely along with the earth.

The continual evil in the collective thinking of mankind that had attended the permeation of the angelic strain throughout the human gene pool had produced a deadly side-effect that made the destruction of the antediluvian civilization an absolute necessity: that is, a culture of "wrongful violence" (Hebrew chamas: חמס). Intimidation, it would certainly seem, will have been an additional factor in the rapid disintegration of the pure human stock, making Noah's determination to keep himself and his family pure all the more noteworthy and commendable. Since this endemic violence had essentially compromised the principle of free will, and since the mixed population of that time had universally rejected God (despite the witness of impending judgment given by the construction of Noah's ark), God determined upon an equally complete destruction of them and their world by means of a flood which the Bible takes pains to show was universal in nature (Gen.7:17-24). Thus ended Satan's first major counter-attack, an assault which came within a single family of accomplishing its goal – though with God, the most slender thread is an unbreakable bond. Deprived of its fabulous trappings, this direct angelic interference in human affairs was essentially an attack on human freedom, beginning with overwhelming temptation and ending with overwhelming violence. Following the destruction of the earth and the mixed seed that had resulted from this gambit, all the fallen angels directly involved in human procreation were imprisoned in the Abyss, a fearful prospect for these creatures of light, and no like design has been attempted since on any scale, large or small.

2. Satan's postdiluvian attack on human freedom (the Tower of Babel: Genesis 11:1-9): The devil's second major counter-attack focused entirely upon the issue of human freedom. For Satan was (and is) well aware that, short of destroying the human race (outright or through genetic pollution), the best way to stop mankind from turning to God is to compromise our ability, our freedom to do so. The Tower of Babel incident occurred no later than one hundred years after the great flood (as we know from the naming of Peleg: compare Gen.10:25 with Gen.5:32 and 11:10-16). By this time, the family of Noah had expanded rapidly. The descriptions given in Genesis chapters ten and eleven paint a picture of a post-flood population boom progressing at a pace beyond anything the world had yet seen, a fact no doubt attributable at least in part to the decreasing life-span and consequent shortening of generational intervals (cf. Gen.11:10-24).⁽⁹¹⁾

As in the pre-flood world (cf. Gen.4:17; 4:21-22), this expansion of population was apparently accompanied by concomitant "advances" in technology and civilization (cf. the urbanization of Gen.10:10-12) – and by a concomitant decline in the general level of interest in and concern for God. Thus is it ever so. It was not long after this process had gathered momentum that Satan launched his next major counter-attack, inspiring the premier political leader of that day, Nimrod, to fuse this growing population into a united, one-world society. Such a development, still somewhat inconceivable in today's multi-cultural world, would provide tremendous advantages for the devil's objective of turning mankind away from God. A highly cooperative, highly homogenized, highly centralized society need only be shifted in a godless direction once. For once the worship of the only true God is deemed anti-social and made illegal, it becomes an easy matter to discourage it entirely under such circumstances – especially in the absence of any alternative society on the face of the earth where religious "dissidents" who had chosen for God might find refuge. One cannot therefore imagine a more ideal scenario for the devil's squelching of faith than to bring about a single unified, top-down state in charge of all human affairs on earth. For from this beginning it would be but a short step to eradicating all faith on earth by taking away the freedom of those who might choose to exercise such faith.

That Nimrod was the human genius behind this satanic plan is evident from a comparison of Genesis 10:8-12 with the account of the tower of Babel at Genesis 11:1-9. First, the tower is built in the very place of Nimrod's initial urban power base: the plain of Shinar (that is, Babylonia: Gen.10:10; Gen.11:1). Since this is the one place where all humanity is concentrated in the century following the flood, his supremacy in creating a political and urban structure for the rapidly expanding human race cannot be ignored.

Secondly, Nimrod is the only major political figure distinguished in scripture operating at the time of the "division of the earth" (Gen.10:8-12). He is the grandson of Ham through Cush, while Peleg, the great-grandson of Shem through Arphaxad and Eber, saw the earth divided in his days. Assuming roughly equivalent generations, Nimrod would have been older than Peleg, and could thus have been in a position to foment the building of the tower by the time of Peleg's birth. And as the builder of the most important cities of his day, it seems impossible that any such world-wide cooperative activity such as the construction of this infamous tower would have been possible without his approval and support.

Thirdly Nimrod is singled out by the Bible for his active hostility toward God at this time:

Now Cush became the father of Nimrod. It was [this Nimrod] who became the first "mighty-one" (i.e., famous and prominent individual) on the earth [after the flood]. In particular, he was mighty at hunting [men] in opposition to the Lord. For this reason we have the proverb "[To be] like Nimrod, mighty at hunting [men] in opposition to the Lord".
Genesis 10:8-9

Nimrod is the first to be called gibbor (Hebrew: גבור) since the destruction of the Nephilim (Gen.6:4; a fact also emphasized in the genealogy of 1Chron.1:10). The word gibbor means "mighty" not only in terms of physical strength, but also in the sense of fame or prominence in other areas as well. The Nephilim, it will be recalled, were apparently gifted with any manner of human talents and abilities, and were possessed of almost overwhelming attractiveness. In a similar way, Nimrod was not a gibbor chayil (that is, a "mighty man of valor", talented as a warrior, the most common application of the word in the Hebrew Old Testament). Rather, Nimrod's prominence lay in the sphere of political persuasion, and that is why the verses above carefully spell out the area of his "mightiness", namely "hunting [men] against God". That the "hunting" here referred to does not pertain to the taking of animals for sport is plain to see. God's covenant with Noah after the flood authorized the use of animals for food (Gen.9:3), save only that the blood, a symbol of life in general and the work of Christ in particular, had to be drained off in a specific way (Gen.9:4). There is thus no reason that literal hunting should be in any way "against God" (the meaning of the preposition liphney here).⁽⁹²⁾ As indicated by his success in organizing the growing population of the earth into cities (initially, Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calnah, all on the plain of Shinar: Gen.10:10), Nimrod's amazing talent lay in his ability to persuade men to follow him, to "hunt" and capture their hearts, similar to the way in which Absalom "stole the hearts" of the men of Israel as a first step in fomenting rebellion against his father David (2Sam.15:6; "fishers of men" is the righteous antithesis: Matt.4:19; Mk.1:17). This ensnaring of his fellows' will was clearly "against God" as the sequel shows, and it is more often the case than not that, where political mass-movements are concerned, their entire purpose and foundation are, when stripped of all facade, anti-God in the extreme.

Fourthly, the very name Nimrod means, in Hebrew, "let us revolt".⁽⁹³⁾ We may surmise, therefore, that Nimrod was not this individual's original name, but that it was changed (as so often was the case in Old Testament times) to reflect the crowning characteristic of his personality as well as the most significant event of his career. The rallying cry that became the name by which history knows him, that is, "Nimrod", is reminiscent of the similar call to arms that will be raised by the leaders of the final revolt against God, the Gog-Magog rebellion (Rev.20:7-9):

Why are the nations forming into a mob and the peoples [of the earth] grumbling idly. The kings of the earth are assembling and its princes are gathering together – against the Lord and His Anointed One, [saying] "Let us pull off Their chains, and cast Their cords from us!"
Psalm 2:1-3

Now at this time [a century or more after the flood] the entire world spoke a single language and had identical customs. And it so happened that in their expansion eastward they found a [favorable] valley in the land of Shinar (i.e., Babylonia) and took up residence there. And they began to say, every man to his friend, "Come, let's make bricks and fire them." Now these bricks they used in place of [dressed] stone, and they used tar in place of mortar. Then they began to say, "Come, let's build a city for ourselves – and a tower whose top will reach to the heavens. That way we can establish our identity and not be scattered over the face of the entire earth".
Genesis 11:1-4

The specific description in Genesis 11:4 of the "popular movement" to build the tower of Babel is the best testament we have to the uncannily persuasive powers of Nimrod. For the budding population of earth has taken his words and plans as their own ("Let us build . . ."). Now, clearly, this focused idea did not spring into the minds of the human family en masse of its own accord. It must have originated with someone, and the sole individual of the period reported by the Bible to be actively involved in the promotion of urbanization (before and after the tower incident) is Nimrod, who plainly found a way to further this plan on a "grass roots" level and thus be in a position to cast himself in the role of a humble facilitator of the popular will rather than of a high-profile dictator (a key characteristic of tyrants in their rise to power ever since). Another interesting point about his strategy to be gleaned from the narrative is the fact that the campaign to found Babel and build the tower was advanced very much in the manner of similar politically-correct, "good"-covered-evil schemes of our own day. Part of the population bought the idea immediately, then began to coerce their more reluctant neighbors to take part ("And they began to say, every man to his friend"), demonstrating that peer pressure has always been an important element in political persuasion. Furthermore, the plan did not start with the tower, the mostly clearly anti-God element of Nimrod's design.

First, collective action in general construction is secured ("Let us make bricks . . ."). Second, in a classic "bait and switch" maneuver, the construction of a city is put forward as a worthy construction objective, with the tower, the real focus of the operation, disguised as a subordinate "after-thought". We can see how the promise of a large urban center would have appealed to the post-flood generation, who had been a strictly rural civilization before Nimrod came on the scene, but who had doubtless heard about the antediluvian cities and would only naturally be desirous of reduplicating such inventions (Gen.4:17). Now cities and urbanization, like technology, are not evil in and of themselves.⁽⁹⁴⁾ But as with many things in life, that which is allowable is not always beneficial to our spirituality (1Cor.6:12; 10:23). Many things in life, by their very nature, bring with them increased potential for temptation and turning away from God (and, because of the diversity of our sin natures, these things often differ from person to person). As the sequel shows, the building of Babel did in fact have terrible spiritual consequences for the reasons addressed above.

Third, for those who were not fooled about the importance of the tower in the plan to build Babel, and who had the character to resist the intense peer pressure to join in this whole-world effort, Nimrod provided an attractive incentive and rationale for the need to construct such an edifice: without the tower, so the claim went, the heritage and history of the human family would be lost. Unless some extraordinary step were taken, their common identity as a distinct people would be obliterated by the passage of time and by the rapid growth and dispersal of a population that by and large had not even second hand knowledge of the pre-flood civilization. Thus Nimrod's appeal also played craftily upon the common human tendency to wish to preserve its roots, a characteristic no doubt all the more open to exploitation on account of the recent memory of the world-wide flood which had eradicated every tangible trace of the antediluvian civilization.

Lost in the enthusiasm of the moment (by all but the unnamed, unsung faithful few) was the fact that this attitude, let alone this act of creating a monument to themselves, flew in the face of any true faith in God. He is our Father, and our names are known forever by Him (Is.56:5; 62:2; 65:15; Lk.10:20; Rev.2:17). We are written in His book (Ex.32:32-33; Ps.139:16; Dan.12:1; Phil.4:3). Everything on this earth is dust, destined for destruction (1Pet.4:7; 2Pet.3:12), and the idea of preserving ourselves through preserving our "name" is a fatal vanity (cf. Lk.12:25). The tower of Babel, therefore, in addition to providing a framework whereby all future generations could be influenced and coerced into ignoring God, was essentially a monument of anti-faith, for its express purpose was to do what only God can do (i.e., preserve human life and identity forever), and its very building a blasphemous statement to the effect that God could not or would not do so. The tower of Babel was thus a complete rejection of faith in the covenant made by God with Noah, wherein He pledged never to wipe out mankind again, replacing as it did the amazing rainbow of promise with a man-made edifice of dirt.

Now the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men were building. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people and they all speak the same language. And since they have actually begun to accomplish this thing, in the future they will not be restrained (<batsar) from anything which they have contrived to do (<zamam). Come, let us go down and confuse their language in that place so that no one will be able to understand his neighbor's speech". In doing so, the Lord scattered them from there over the face of the entire earth, and they stopped [cooperatively] building the city. For this reason, the city is called Babel, since there the Lord changed the universal language of the earth to babble, and from that place the Lord scattered [humanity] over the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 11:5-9

By confusing the common human language of the time, God rendered world-wide cooperation and the godless objectives it inevitably pursues impossible. So it will remain until the advent of antichrist, when the new technological tower of Babel that is currently under construction (i.e., the incipient one-world techno-society) will make such activities as world-wide persecution of believers a possibility again. For by His confusion of human language, God restrained "accomplishment" of this most offensive and evil kind, and thus God delivered those who resisted the idea of preserving life and identity apart from God. God always leaves a remnant of believers for Himself (Rom.9:27; 11:1-5), which, in this case, must have included Noah and Shem, who both outlived Peleg in whose days these events took place.⁽⁹⁵⁾

3. Satan's attack on the line of the Messiah (anti-Semitism): The third satanic strategy of anti-Semitism, or, more precisely, a systematic policy of attempting to eradicate all Jews from planet earth, has been in play since the day of Abraham's circumcision, and will continue until the devil is removed from the world. This strategy can be divided into three phases: 1) before Christ; 2) the time of Christ; 3) after Christ.

Before Christ, the Jewish people were a special target of the devil because of the fact that the Messiah was destined to come from Israel. If he could not eliminate, corrupt or subject the human race to his complete control, destroying the line of the Promised One would suffice to bring the plan of God to an abrupt end. Complete annihilation of the Jewish state and the Jewish people was the only sure way to accomplish this objective, and so it was that Satan devoted considerable resources to attacking Israel, both internally and externally. Internally, Israel became the target of every corrupting influence the devil could bring to bear (one needs only read the prophets, especially Jeremiah, to get a sense of the idolatries into which she was led), while externally Satan worked tirelessly to array the nations of the world against her for the purpose of her destruction (consider, for example, the concentration of his agents in neighboring nations: Dan.10:13; 10:20).

The Messiah was the object of Satan's destructive intentions throughout His earthly life. From Herod's attempt to destroy Him (Matt.2:1-18; the devil undoubtedly had a part: cf. Rev.12:4), to the devil's personal, intensive temptation of Christ (Matt.4:1-11; Mk.1:12-13; Lk.4:1-13) and attempts to oppose Christ (Matt.4:11; 16:23; Mk.8:33; Lk.4:29-30; Jn.7:30; 8:59; 10:39), to his active role in the betrayal of Christ (Lk.22:3; Jn.13:2; 13:27), Satan spared no effort in undertaking to frustrate the Father's plan for Him.

Since the time of Christ, Israel has continued to be a prime focus for the devil's destructive attentions, though for a different reason. Although Satan failed to prevent the coming of the Messiah by extirpating the people from whom He was to come, he still has hopes of rendering His second coming pointless by eradicating the people to whom He is destined to return. For without Israel's continuation as a people, there would be no possible way of fulfilling the many specific promises made to them by God, the majority of which will only be brought to complete fulfillment under the millennial reign of Christ (e.g., the regathering of the nation, to name but one: Is.49:8-26). Without an Israel for the Prince of Israel to rule, the devil would have effectively frustrated God's plan.

Needless to say, all the devil's efforts in this regard will ultimately prove ineffective. Nevertheless, as events of recent and current history show only too well, he is continuing to pursue this strategy. But woe to those who allow themselves to be used by him in this way (Is.27:7).⁽⁹⁶⁾

For I shall bless those who bless you, but those who utter curses against you I shall lay under a [true] curse, and thus will all the families of the earth be blessed through you.
Genesis 12:3

No weapon forged against you shall prosper. And you shall reprove every tongue that rises up to judge you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and My vindication on their behalf, says the Lord.
Isaiah 54:17

For thus says the Lord of hosts, "In later times He [the Father] shall send Me in glory against the nations who have plundered you (for whoever touches you touches the apple of My eye). At that time, behold, I shall wave My hand against them, and they will be plundered by their slaves. In this way you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.
Zechariah 2:8-9

The many prophecies of the Lord's future retribution against all who would harm or damage Israel are paralleled by numerous historical examples. The principle of God using others to discipline His people – but of holding this instrument to close account – can be seen in the case of Assyria, the "rod of His anger" (Is.10:5), of whom He says,

When the Lord has finished all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes."
Isaiah 10:12   NIV (cf. vv.5-19)

Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and many nations and tribes large and small were used by the Lord in Old Testament times to scourge His people when they strayed far from Him, but always with the purpose of bringing them back to Himself, and never to utterly destroy them. In each instance, it was the oppressor who was, in the end, chastened far more severely than Israel, the original object of wrath. In modern times as well the examples of Russia (imperial and communist) and Nazi Germany stand as vivid reminders of the results of active anti-Semitic agendas. It is well for those who follow Jesus Christ to consider that, although the suffering of Jews in this Church Age may be the result of divine visitation (according to the same pattern of chastisement to turn His people back to Him in truth), the consequences for those used in such a capacity remain dire indeed. Disputes between the Lord and Israel are very much a "family affair" and so, as in the analogy, it is wisdom to avoid becoming part of the problem.

Judging from the continual backsliding and idolatry of the Old Testament nation Israel (trends continually denounced by the prophets), and from the "hardness in part" that holds sway over the greater part of Israel today (Rom.11:25), it is plain that "all Israel is not Israel" (Rom.9:6), and that we can therefore expect the Lord to continue with His work of discipline for the gracious purpose of repentance and salvation. But we must never forget that this "special attention" is a blessing (for some have always responded), and one that the Lord provides uniquely to this people who are "beloved because of the fathers" (Rom.11:28). For although a Jewish genealogy does not automatically bring salvation (Rom.9:30-32), this valuable heritage does bring a special consideration, a special oversight from God Himself (Zech.2:8-9; Rom.11:28).

Much then does it behoove us who are of the "wild olive tree" to respect and to pray for those of the "natural olive tree", and to be exceedingly circumspect in all our dealings in this regard. And we should do this not only to avoid falling under the same judgment that Israel's persecutors have suffered in the past. We should adopt God's own attitude of objective compassion. For while no one shall come to Him apart from Jesus Christ (Jn.14:6), He nevertheless desires all men to be saved (1Tim.2:4; 2Pet.3:9). How much more then is this true in the case of the descendants of Abraham, the original heir of His promises, "from whom is the Christ according to the flesh" (Rom.9:5)! If we are truly walking in love as Christians should, showing the same consideration for all our neighbors as we do for ourselves and adopting God's attitude of desiring and working for the salvation of all who will accept it, then this approach presents no problem whatsoever.

To the Jew first, and also to the Greek (i.e., gentile).
Romans 1:16; 2:9; 2:10

Stay sober and stay awake [on guard]. Our adversary the devil roams about like a roaring lion, looking for someone he can devour. Resist him, strong in your faith, remembering that your fellow believers in this world are undergoing the exact same sort of suffering [as you are].
1st Peter 5:8-9

5. Satan's supreme offensive (the Tribulation): Although the Church Age may for the most part represent for Satan a hard-fought rearguard action, its last seven years, the Tribulation, will be the time of his ultimate and most potent offensive prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Moreover, we should not underestimate the fury he will unleash during this last battle of the Church Age.

Woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come to down to you, having great anger, because he knows that he has [only] a short time [remaining].
Revelation 12:12

But when the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?
Luke 18:8b

For everything that has been born from God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith [in Christ]!
1st John 5:4 (cf. v.1)

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
1st Corinthians 15:57

In all this we are decisively victorious through Him who loved us.
Romans 8:37

IV. Things to Come: Judgment, Restoration and Replacement Phases II and III

Since the inception of this series, we have been tracking the course and composition of Satan's rebellion against God from its initial inception up until its most decisive culmination in the Tribulation. With the treatment of satanic strategies above, our task has reached a natural concluding point, for the Tribulation, the next major event in the history of the devil's rebellion and God's disposition of it, requires individual attention (provided in the series, The Coming Tribulation). Indeed, as the title demonstrates, this present series is, by design, an introduction providing background for that most intense period of human history. It will not be amiss, however, to sketch out here in preliminary form an overview of the final disposition of the satanic rebellion as God brings to a conclusion the human history He has fashioned to deal with it.

The plan of God, as set forth in these studies, can be seen as working in three distinct phases. This three phase process, consisting of Judgment, Restoration and Replacement, phases I, II, and III respectively, is, essentially, God's plan for total victory (in response to the rebellion of Satan) described in strategic terms:

Phase I: Constitution: Lays the foundation for the eternal victory (the "much" phase).

• Judgment I: The Genesis Gap judgment: judgment is passed upon Satan and his angels while the devil's original headquarters, the pre-historic earth, is devastated and the original universe plunged into darkness.

• Restoration I: Earth is restored to a habitable environment (the Seven Days of Re-creation).

• Replacement I: The creation of the first Adam begins the human race (the source of eventual replacement for Satan and his angels). The gift of the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, provides the grace necessary for the salvation of the human race after the fall through the Messiah's work on the Cross. The Church can then be called out for replacement.

Phase II: Completion: Realizes eternal objectives with victory in time (the "more" phase).

• Judgment II: the Tribulation: God's judgment upon the devil's kingdom and upon his earthly subjects. Satan and his angels are expelled from heaven and later imprisoned.

• Restoration II: the Millennium: earth is restored to an environment of blessing.

• Replacement II: Christ the King replaces Satan as the de facto ruler of the earth. The Church is resurrected in replacement.

Phase III: Consummation: Crowns the victory with surpassing blessing in eternity (the "most" phase).

• Judgment III: The Final Judgments: Satan and his angels are removed to the lake of fire along with unbelieving humanity (following the Great White Throne judgment).

• Restoration III: The New Heavens, New Earth and New Jerusalem provide an unparalleled and eternal environment of perfect blessing.

• Replacement III: The Advent of the Father: along with Christ, He will rule forever from earth. The Church is complemented by the double portion of millennial believers.

Phase II: Completion: Realizes eternal objectives with victory in time (the "more" phase).

1. Judgment II: the Tribulation: Although opinion often holds the Tribulation to be largely a reign of terror introduced by the devil and his earthly minion the antichrist (and so it is), the Bible is quite specific in indicating that its primary purpose is one of divine judgment upon the earth (the devil's kingdom) and its inhabitants (hostile to God for the most part, especially during the Tribulation: Rev.6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8; 13:12; 16:1; 17:2; 17:8; cf. Is.24:5-6; 24:17-18; Mic.7:13):⁽⁹⁸⁾

Behold, the Lord is about to empty the earth and lay it waste, and He will mar its face and scatter its inhabitants.
Isaiah 24:1 (chapters 24-27 deal primarily with the end times)

Get out, My people. Go into your rooms and close your doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a little while until My indignation has run its course. For behold, the Lord is about to come forth from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. And the earth will reveal the blood shed upon it, and conceal its slain no longer (i.e., the persecution of believers will be punished).
Isaiah 26:20-21 (cf. 2Pet.3:10b)

The principle of the Tribulation being first and foremost a period when the Lord judges the earth can also be clearly seen from the seven final plagues of Revelation (Rev.15:11 - 16:21). These plagues are all righteous judgments from God upon the earth and its sinful inhabitants, and are very similar in their nature and execution to the plagues He wrought upon Egypt for persecuting Israel (Ex.7:14 - 12:30). This is no surprising matter when one considers that the plagues of Revelation chapters fifteen and sixteen are the divine response to the persecution of God's people world-wide which will reach a fever pitch during the Great Tribulation (cf. Dan.8:12-13; 11:33-35; Matt.24:8-13; 24:23-26; Mk.13:9-13; Lk.21:12-19; Rev.6:9-11; 7:9-17; 12:12-17; 13:10; 13:11-18; 14:13; 14:14-16; 15:1-4; 16:5-6; 17:6; 18:24; 19:1-2; 20:4):

Then I heard the angel of the waters saying, "O You who are and [always] were, the Holy One, You are justified in rendering these [seven bowl] judgments. For [the inhabitants of the earth] have poured out the blood of [Your] saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it."
Revelation 16:5-6

While the entire seven year tribulational period will be one of intensifying judgment, the apex of that judgment will come when the full fury of God's wrath is revealed immediately before, during and after the battle of Armageddon, the time when a returning Christ will slaughter all the armies of the world that Satan has assembled to do battle with Him:

1) The Seven Bowl Judgments (the final plagues: Ex.7:14 - 12:30; Rev.15:1 - 16:21):

Then great hail stones the size of a talent (i.e., approx. 80 lb.) were coming down out of heaven upon mankind, and they blasphemed God on account of the plague of hail, because that plague was very severe.
Revelation 16:21

2) The Destruction of the Beast's Kingdom (Babylon has fallen: Is.13:19-22; 14:21-23; 21:9; 46:1 - 47:15; Rev.14:8; 16:10-11; 17:16-18; 18:1-24; 19:1-2):

Now as for the ten horns which you saw and the beast, these will come to hate the harlot [Babylon] and will render her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.
Revelation 17:16

3) The Terrifying Signs and Wonders (heaven and earth shaken: Is.24:18-20; Is.29:6; 34:4; 51:6; 60:2; Ezek.38:19; Joel 2:29-30; 3:14-16; Hag.2:6-7; 2:21-22; Matt.24:29; Lk.21:25-26; Rev.6:12-17; 16:18-20):

Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, a mighty day of anger and intense wrath, to make the earth desolate and remove her sinners from upon her. For the stars of heaven and the constellations will not flash forth their light. The sun will grow dark on its course and the moon will not pour out its light. Then will I punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will bring an end to the arrogance of the proud and bring down the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make men more rare than gold, and mankind than the choice bullion of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will quake from its place, on account of the anger of the Lord and on the day of His fierce wrath.
Isaiah 13:9-13

4) The Harvest of the Earth (Armageddon: Ps.2:1-2; 110:5-7; Is.11:4; 29:5-8; 34:1-3; 52:10; 59:15-19; 63:1-6; 66:15-16; Ezek.38:1 - 39:21; Joel 3:9-14; Hag.2:21-22; Zech.12:3; 14:1-3; Rev.14:17-20; 16:14-16; 19:11-21):

Send forth the sickle for the harvest is ripe! Come down into the winepress for it is full and the vats overflow. For great is their wickedness. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of doom! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of doom.
Joel 3:13-14

And the beast was seized and the false prophet with him (the one who had performed the signs before him with which he had deceived those who took the sign of the beast and worshipped his image). The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with sulfur.
Revelation 19:20

6) The Abyss (apprehension and imprisonment of Satan and his angels, previously thrown to earth in the middle of the Tribulation: Is.14:3-23; 24:21-23; 27:1; 34:1-5; Jer.10:11; Ezek.28:11-19; Dan.4:35; Lk.10:18; 1Cor.6:2-3; Rev.12:4):

And I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, the primeval snake, who is the devil, that is, Satan, and he bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss and closed it, putting his seal upon it, so that [the devil] might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years had elapsed. After this, he must be released for a short while.
Revelation 20:1-3

As seen from these events, Judgment Phase II is indeed the "more phase", both because of the increased level and intensity of the judgment (the devil and his angels did not suffer in God's condemnation of the original universe), and also because of the more permanent consequences the judgment produces (instead of being paroled, they are defeated and imprisoned). Phase II is thus the initial fulfillment of Phase I wherein judgment was rendered in principle by God upon Satan and his angels (before human history began as we have seen),⁽⁹⁹⁾ and is a development made possible by the victory of Christ on the cross and the subsequent completion of His Church (see Replacement II immediately below for discussion). The Phase II judgment upon the earth and its inhabitants will, as indicated above, also be an intense, experiential reality, carried out in a miraculous and supernatural way. The removal of the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the Tribulation (2Thes.2:6-7), will allow the devil and mankind to go to extremes not previously permitted, thus vindicating for all to see the justness of these intense judgments (comparable to the special opportunity given to Pharaoh to "harden his heart" beyond normal limits).⁽¹⁰⁰⁾

The Tribulation is thus the penultimate step in the complete removal of Satan and his influence from God's creation. Having first condemned Satan (Is.14:3-23; Ezek.28:11-19; see part 1 of this series), God proclaimed his eventual defeat (Gen.3:15), laid the foundation for it at the cross (Col.2:15), expelled him and his angels from heaven at the Tribulation's mid-point (Rev.12:7-9), and locked them all safely away in the Abyss for the duration of His Son's millennial reign (Rev.20:1-3). When this second phase of judgment is complete, only God's final disposition of the devil, his minions, unbelieving humanity, and the sin-infested cosmos will remain. Until that time, Phase II Judgment will have cleared the way for the corresponding restoration and replacement, based upon the victory of Jesus Christ on the cross:

Now the judgment of this world is [imminent]. Now the ruler of this world is about to be cast out [of it].
John 12:31

2. Restoration II: the Millennium: In phase one, God restored the earth and heavens from a condition of catastrophic darkness to habitable status. Only one centralized locale, the Garden of Eden, existed under "paradise conditions", and it did not take long before the first man and his wife were deprived of even this place of exceptionally pleasant environment. After the flood, as we have seen, conditions on earth deteriorated further, so that the present earth, though habitable, is only a shadow of its former self as it existed in pre-history before the beginning of the devil's rebellion. During the Millennium (Phase II Restoration), the earth will witness a return to much of its original glory. The fact that in the Millennium we shall still be "in time" (and therefore still coexisting with sin, even though Satan and his angels will be imprisoned until the Millennium's end) means that the environment on earth will not be "perfect", but it will provide the most exquisitely wonderful conditions seen since Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden.

Since Christ will return first and foremost as King of Israel, the majority of biblical passages touching upon the Millennium are directed primarily (if not exclusively) to Israel as she will be restored for His thousand year reign. In conjunction with other more general scriptures, however, we can extrapolate that the blessings indicated will be worldwide (though it is certainly true that the prosperity in "the land" of Israel will be exceptional even by millennial standards).

1) Earth: During the Tribulation, conditions on earth will be worse than at any time in human history since the great flood (Matt.24:21; Mk.13:19). During the Millennium, however, not only will the intensively harsh conditions of the Tribulation vanish, but the reign of Christ on earth will usher in a period of blessing and prosperity without parallel since the garden of Eden This will be a period of restoration (Acts 3:21; Rom.8:19-23), a return to near edenic conditions as the predicted "trees of blessing" that parallel similar trees in the garden indicate (Ezek.31; 34:27; 36:8; cf. Is.60:21; 61:3; Amos 9:15). Indeed, this period will witness the penultimate Eden, the millennial Jerusalem, surpassed only in glory by the eternal New Jerusalem that will follow it (see point # 5 below).⁽¹⁰¹⁾

Though especially concentrated in Israel and in Jerusalem, the blessings of the new age will overflow to the world at large, positively affecting the climate (Is.30:23-26; Rev.7:16), the environment (Is.30:26; 35:7; 41:18; 44:3), plant and animal life (Is.11:6-9; 35:1-2; 41:19; 55:12-13; 65:10), and agriculture (Ps.72:3; Is.30:23-24; Jer.31:12; Zech.8:12). During this "season of the Lord's favor" (Is.61:2), the curse on the earth will finally be removed (Gen.3:17-19; 5:29; compare with Rom.8:19-23), and she will enjoy an unprecedented period of general prosperity:

And it will come to pass on that day that the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills run with milk. And all the watercourses of Judah will run with water.
Joel 3:18

Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when the one who ploughs will catch up with the reaper, and the one who treads the grapes will catch up with the sower. The mountains will drip with sweet wine and the hills will be liquid [goodness].
Amos 9:13

I will rejoice over Jerusalem and be filled with joy for My people. The sound of weeping and the cry of distress will no longer be heard in her. No longer will there be there any infant that perishes in his youth, nor any old man who fails to live out his days in full. For a man will be accounted but a youth, should he die at a hundred, even the sinner a hundred year old who suffers this curse.
Isaiah 65:19-20

The Lord their God will deliver them on that day (for His people are to Him as a precious flock, like jewels in a crown set prominently in His land). For how fair and beautiful they will be. Grain will make the young men flourish and new wine the young women.
Zechariah 9:16-17

Enlarge the place for your tent. Let your tent curtains stretch wide and don't hold back. Lengthen your ropes and strengthen your stakes. For you will burst forth on the right and on the left. Your offspring will possess the nations, and the deserted cities will be inhabited.
Isaiah 54:2-3

4) Jerusalem: Jerusalem will suffer terribly during the Tribulation, experiencing, in particular, a massive earthquake (Is.29:6-7; Ezek.38:17-23; Rev.11:13), and a horrible siege (Is.29:6-7; Ezek.38:17-23; Zech.12:2; 14:2). But Jerusalem will also be the very spot to which our Lord will return (Zech.14:3-5). During the millennial reign of Christ, instead of being the focal point of satanic attack (Zech.12:2-3; 12:9; 14:2; 14:12), Jerusalem will become the focal point for all the unsurpassed blessing that God is about to pour out upon the earth in those days (Is.60:10-14). She will literally be elevated to stand preeminent over all the cities on earth (Is.2:2-3; 52:2; Ezek.40:2; Mic.4:1; Zech.14:10). In the Millennium, Jerusalem will be the residence our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and there mankind will meet with Him face to face (Zech.8:3; 8:22; 9:9; 14:16). The seat of the penultimate Eden,⁽¹⁰³⁾ Jerusalem will be rebuilt (Is.44:24ff.; 51:3; 61:4), lavished with blessings (Is.54:11-17), and will be a blessing in its own right to the entire earth (Is.65:18 [also of the New Jerusalem]):

Your gates will be open always, day and night they will not be closed, so that the wealth of the nations may be brought to you, and their kings led before you.
Isaiah 60:11

I am about to extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.
Isaiah 66:12

The Lord will have compassion on Zion, and compassion on all her ruins, and He will make her desert like Eden, and her wilderness like the garden of the Lord.
Isaiah 51:3

5) Divine Rule (the Messiah): During the Tribulation the earth and its population will experience satanic rule at its most intense and direct as the devil's man, the antichrist, will preside over a one-world, Satan-worshipping state (Dan.2:40; 2Thes.2:1-12; Rev.13:1-18). The contrast here could not be more sharp as the worst leadership in human history will replaced by the best during the Millennium with the personal rule of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Is.9:6-7; 33:17; Ezek.48:35; Dan.7:14; Zech.14:9). His will be a reign of peace (Is.9:6), of prosperity (Is.9:7; 25:6), of great comfort (Is.9:3; 25:8), and, perhaps most importantly of all, of justice (Is.11:3-5; 16:5; 32:1-8; 51:4-7; Jer.33:15; Zech.9:9). Under His righteous and firm hand, evil will be suppressed (Ps.2:9-12; Is.11:4), and mankind will experience a security never before known (Is.11:6-9; 32:16-20; 65:25; Jer.33:16; Mic.5:2-5). As the ultimate fulfillment and focus of all God's promises to Israel (2Sam.7:14; Jer.33:14-17; Lk.1:32-33), Christ will reign until all enemies have been placed under His feet (1Cor.15:24-28; cf. Ps.2; Ps.110).

For He will judge between the nations, and chasten many peoples. Then they will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer raise the sword against nation, and they will not study war any longer.
Isaiah 2:4 (cf. Mic.4:3-4)

The righteous rule of Christ will suppress the effects of the sin nature so pronounced in our own experience (e.g., crime and war), and the result will be a veritable heaven on earth, an environment as perfect as possible (given the limitation that it will contain imperfect human beings), a world overflowing with blessing in its sights and sounds, its prosperity, and in the physical and spiritual wholeness, flowing forth from Jerusalem:

To His dominion and its prosperity there will be no limit or end. He will establish it and lay its foundation on David's throne and over his kingdom, in justice and righteousness, now and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:7

6) The Knowledge of God: In the Tribulation, through his instigation of the greatest apostasy in world history (Dan.8:12-13; 11:33-35; Matt.24:4-5; 24:24-25; 2Thes.2:3; 1Tim.4:1), the greatest persecution in world history (Matt.24:9-12; Rev.6:9-11; 7:13-14), and his most direct control over the earth in world history (through his minion, antichrist: Rev.13), Satan will attempt his most vigorous suppression yet of the knowledge of God (Lk.18:8; cf. Amos 8:11). But in the Millennium, when God reigns in the Person of Christ, the knowledge of God will be more bountifully available than ever before in world history (Is.19:21; 54:13a; Jer.31:34; 32:38-40; Ezek.11:19-20; 36:25-27; Hab.2:14; Heb.8:10-11):

"Come let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us of His ways, and that we may walk in His paths."
Isaiah 2:3

For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord just as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11:9b

Restoration Phase II is thus the "more phase", because of the great intensity of blessing in such stark contrast with what precedes (i.e., the Millennium as opposed to the Tribulation), and also because of the more permanent consequences produced: with the exception of the short interstice of the Gog-Magog rebellion, the Millennium will segue directly into the Eternal State (Rev.20:7 - 21:8). Phase II is thus the initial fulfillment of Phase I wherein earth was restored to habitability during the seven days of restoration to make possible the seven millennial day span of human history, culminating in the extreme blessing of the seventh day, the Millennium. Phase II restoration of the earth will also be carried out in a miraculous and supernatural way under the direct rule of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ (Ps.2:9-12). The removal of the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the Tribulation (2Thes.2:6-7), will be replaced during the Millennium by the pouring out of the Spirit world-wide (Joel 2:28; cf. Is.32:15; 44:3; 54:13; Ezek.36:27; 39:29), and all mankind will enjoy the fruits of the restoration of the earth under the rule of the Son of God (Jer.31:23; Ezek.39:25; Hos.6:11; Joel 3:1; Mal.4:6; Matt.17:11; Mk.9:12):

It was necessary for heaven to receive Him [Jesus Christ], until the times of the restoration of all the things (i.e., in the Millennium) which God has spoken about since the beginning of history through the mouths of His holy prophets.
Acts 3:21

3. Replacement II: the Rule of Christ and the Kingdom of God: In phase one, God created a new order of creatures, mankind, as the ultimate source for completely replacing Satan and his angels. The original man, Adam, and his spouse were capable of sin, and their eventual exercising of this capability plunged them (immediately) and their progeny (at birth) into a natural state of sin. Contrary to the devil's design and expectation, however, God provided the means for redeeming Adam and Eve along with any and all of their progeny who would desire redemption through the gracious gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, the Last Adam, and in every generation before and since believers have been enlisting in the roles of His Church. Christ's assumption of true humanity and His sacrifice on the cross opened the way for the next stage of replacement, the resurrection of believing humanity, with the way already having been led by the "Prince-Ruler of our salvation" (Heb.2:10):

When He had accomplished the cleansing of [our] sins, He took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Hebrews 1:3b

Phase one laid the ground work for replacement, providing a new Ruler (Jesus Christ) to replace the present ruler of the world (Satan), a new kingdom (the Kingdom of Heaven) to replace the present kingdom of darkness (Col.1:13), and new subjects (believers bought with the blood of Christ) to attend the King in place of the devil's angelic followers (Phil.3:20). During phase one, these replacements are essentially such in principle only as they await the fulfillment of the two further phases: Christ has been glorified, but has not yet returned to commence His reign; the Kingdom is here in principle (in the persons of believers and the Spirit of Christ: Lk.17:21), but is not yet functioning in practice (cf. Matt.11:12); and the Church is coming rapidly to completion, but has not yet been resurrected. During phase two, Christ our King will return (the Second Advent), and will lay claim to His Kingdom (Rev.11:15), while His Church (His Body of believers called out during the first six days of human history) will be resurrected to share in His millennial rule (1Cor.15:23).

1) The King: Our Lord, the Messiah, Jesus Christ replaces the devil as the ruler of this world at the time of the 2nd Advent.

a. His Kingship is founded upon His victory on the cross:

• Through the cross, He has overcome and will terminate the devil's kosmos (Jn.16:33).
   
• Through the cross, the Father has in principle already triumphed over the devil's forces and stripped them of their power (Col.2:14-15).
   
• Through the cross, He has in principle already put an end to the one having the power of death (i.e., the devil: Heb.2:14; cf. 2Tim.1:10).
   
• Through the cross, therefore, He has the right to bring on the final epoch of Satan's direct rule (i.e., the Tribulation), thus opening the door for His direct millennial rule (Rev.5:5).
   
• Through the cross, He has led condemned mankind to the victory of eternal life (Matt.12:20; cf. Col.2:12-14; Heb.2:10).
   
• Through the cross, therefore, we share in His victory over death (1Cor.15:54-57).
  
  

b. His Kingship is confirmed by proclamation, resurrection, ascension, and session:

• Proclamation of His victory to the demons previously imprisoned in Hades (i.e., in the abyss: 1Pet.3:19; cf. Rom.10:5-7; Col.2:15; Eph.4:8-10) confirmed the success of His mission and the imminency of His reign. It was also an indication of the coming superiority of His followers over the angels (1Cor.6:3; Heb.2:5).⁽¹⁰⁴⁾

• Resurrection confirmed the prophecies of His coming reign (Ps.16:10; Acts 2:24-31; 13:30-38), confirmed His status as heir of the Kingdom (Acts 5:30-31; 10:40-43; 17:31; Rom.1:4; 1Pet.1:21), and confirmed the effectiveness of His sacrifice (Cor.15:13-19; 15:21; Phil.3:10; 1Pet.1:3; 3:21), which forms the basis for His followers to share in that resurrection (Rom.6:5; 8:11; 8:34-35; 10:9; 1Cor.6:14; 2Cor.4:14; 5:15; Col.2:12).

• Ascension confirmed the acceptability of the sacrifice of our High Priest (Heb.4:14; 6:19-20; 7:26; 9:11-12), while His entrance into the true Holy of Holies opened the door for believers to enter into the presence of God (Heb.10:19), with believers who had died prior to the cross led to heaven by Him in triumph at the time of His ascension (Ps.68:18; Eph.4:8; cf. Ps.68:24-27; 146:7b; Is.14:17b; 42:7; 49:9; 61:1; Jn.14:2-3; Col.2:15; 1Pet.3:18-22; Rev.1:18).

• Session validated His status as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Acts 2:32-36; 5:30-31; Eph.1:20-23; 1Pet.3:22), made His ultimate rule only a matter of time (Ps.110; Acts 3:21; Heb.1:13; cf. 1Cor.1:7-8; 1Thes.1:10; Tit.2:13; Jas.5:8), and so became the basis for the reward of believers (Ps.68:18; Is.40:10; 62:11; Eph.4:8; cf. 1Thes.2:19; Heb.12:2; 1Pet.1:7; Rev.22:12).

c. His Kingship is consummated at the 2nd Advent:

• With the commencement of His reign, human rule over the earth lost by the first Adam will be restored in the person of the Last Adam (Ps.8; Rom.5:12-21; 1Cor.15:45; Heb.2:7-9).
   
• With the commencement of His reign, the final process of reducing all God's enemies to complete submission will begin (1Cor.15:24-26; cf. Phil.2:10).
   
• With the commencement of His reign, there will also begin the final process of reconciling "all things" and restoring completeness and harmony to God's universe (Col.1:20; cf. Eph.1:10).
   
• With the commencement of His reign, earth will forevermore enjoy the perfect rule and presence of the perfect Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ (Rev.11:15; cf. Ps.2; 45; 48; 72; Is.2:1-5; Ezek.48:35b; Dan.7:14; Zech.14; Lk.1:32-33; 2Thes.1:6-10; Rev.19:11-20:6).
   

For a child is born to us, and a Son is given to us. Dominion shall rest on his shoulder, and His name will be called "He whose counsel is wondrous", "Mighty God", "the Father of Eternity", "the Prince of Prosperity".
Isaiah 9:6

In those days and at that time, I will make a Branch of righteousness sprout forth for David, and He will accomplish justice and righteousness on the earth.
Jeremiah 33:15

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, too small to be numbered among the clans of Judah, from you I will bring forth the One who is to rule over Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, even from the days of eternity.
Micah 5:2

Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem will be called "the City of Truth", and "the Mountain of the Lord, the Mountain of Holiness".
Zechariah 8:3

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion. Shout [for joy], daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King will come to you. Righteous and victorious He is; humble and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, a donkey's foal.
Zechariah 9:9

And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be the only One and His Name the only Name.
Zechariah 14:9

2) The Kingdom: The Kingdom of God under the rule of Christ our King replaces the devil's kingdom of this world (kosmos) commencing with the 2nd Advent (Rev.11:15). At that time, the Kingdom will be openly and gloriously established (Dan.2:44), but until that time it will remain an alien yet imminent presence in the devil's kingdom (Matt.3:2; 4:17). At the present time, the Kingdom is represented in the persons of its future citizens just as it had been in the Person of its future King (Matt.10:7; 12:28; Lk.17:21; Jn.18:36). As He was opposed, so we are being opposed:

Since the days of John the baptist until this present time, the Kingdom of God has been under violent attack, and violent men are laying hands upon it.
Matthew 11:12

But on that marvelous day, He will be revealed in glory (Matt.25:31; 1Thes.3:13; 2Thes.1:7; 1Tim.6:14; 2Tim.4:1; Rev.1:1), and we will share in His glorious rule (Dan.7:27; Rom.8:18-19; 1Pet.4:13). It is on this event that we fix our hope (Matt.6:10; 1Thes.4:16; 2Tim.4:8; Tit.2:13).

3) The Royal Assembly: The Church, the ekklesia or assembly of Our Lord Jesus Christ, replaces the devil's angels, and shares in Christ's millennial rule.⁽¹⁰⁵⁾

Here and now, all of us who have put our faith in Jesus Christ are sons of God (Jn.1:12; Rom.8:14-23; 2Cor.6:18; Gal.3:26; 4:5-6; Eph.1:5; 1Thes.5:5; Heb.2:10; 12:5-8; 1Jn.3:1-3), fellow citizens (Eph.2:19; Phil.1:27; 3:20) and co-heirs of His Kingdom (Rom.8:17; Eph.3:6; Jas.2:5; 1Pet.1:4; 3:7). At the present time, however, the King and His Kingdom have yet to be revealed, so that we, His Church, though possessing the Kingdom in principle now (Heb.12:28), have yet to experience the full reality of these blessings to come. During Jesus' 1st Advent, the Kingdom was erroneously thought to be imminent (Lk.19:11; cf. Jn.6:15), and even today its literal establishment lies in the future (2Tim.4:1; Rev.12:10). In the meantime, as we have seen above, the remaining members of Christ's royal assembly, His Church, are being called out, as God directs His plan militantly forward towards her completion and therefore to the effective replacement of the devil's minions. Until this process has fully run its course, we heirs of the Kingdom serve as witnesses against the current kingdom of this world, having been transferred out of it (Col.1:13), having responded to the good news of another Kingdom (Lk.4:43), working for it (Col.4:11), suffering for it (2Thes.1:5; Rev.1:9), striving to be worthy of it (Rom.14:17-19; 1Cor.6:9-10; Gal.5:21; Eph.5:5; 1Thes.2:12; 2Thes.1:5; 2Tim.4:1-2), and looking forward to it (2Tim.4:18; Heb.11:16; 2Pet.1:11), in glorious anticipation of that day when the world Kingdom of our God at last arrives in the person of its Ruler, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Rev.11:15).

And that day shall come. For beginning with our resurrection at the time of the 2nd Advent, the prerogatives of the Royal Assembly, the Church, will be fully functional, and we shall share experientially . . .

• in His victory celebration: (Is.25:6; Matt.8:11; 25:1-10; 26:29; Lk.13:29; 14:15; 22:30; Rev.19:7-9).
   
• in His priesthood: (Ex.19:6; Is.61:6; 66:21; Rom.12:1; Heb.13:10-15; 1Pet.2:5; 2:9; Rev.1:6; 5:10; 20:6).
   
• in His rule: (Dan.7:9; 7:22; 7:27; Matt.19:28-29; Lk.22:29-30; Rom.5:17; 1Cor.6:2-3; 2Tim.2:12; Rev.2:27-28; 3:21; 5:10; 20:4; 20:6; 22:5).
   
• in His inheritance: (Is.40:10; 62:11; Rom.8:17; Eph.3:6; 6:8; Col.3:24; Jas.2:5; 1Pet.1:4; 3:7; Rev.11:18; 22:12).

In phase two replacement, the Messiah replaces the devil, the Kingdom of light replaces the kingdom of darkness, and the Church, joining in the Messiah's glorious rule, replaces the fallen angels who presently serve Satan. Phase two replacement is thus also a "more phase", as the Messiah, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Messiah's Royal Assembly clearly represent a quantum leap forward from the original rule of the first Adam in the garden of Eden, with the incomparable, divine, resplendent Morning Star replacing the fallen creature once known as Lucifer, the bearer of light (2Pet.1:19; Rev.2:28; 22:16; cf. Num.24:17; Is.9:1-2; 42:6; 49:6; Matt.2:2; 2:9; 4:16; Lk.2:30-32; Jn.1:4-5; 8:12; 9:5).

Phase III: Consummation: Crowns the victory with surpassing blessing (the "most" phase).

4. Judgment III: the Great White Throne and the Lake of Fire: In phase two judgment, the removal of Satan and his angels from the world had been temporary. Similarly, although the most egregious of God's human opponents were destroyed over the course of the Tribulation (with a final intensive and furious slaughter at the battle of Armageddon: Rev.19:21), prior to this time deceased unbelievers (with the two sole exceptions of the antichrist and his false prophet: Rev.19:20) had remained in Torments (that is, in Hades: Lk.16:19-31; see part 1 of this series), awaiting this ultimate Judgment Day. After the one thousand year reign of Christ has been completed, this final phase of God's judgment upon His enemies will take place. At the conclusion of his final deception of humanity (the Gog-Magog rebellion: Rev.20:7-9), Satan, and his fallen angels, already judged (Jn.16:11; cf. Job 4:18; 15:15; 21:22; Matt.25:41; Rev.20:10), will be cast into the lake of fire to reside there forever (Matt.25:41; Rev.20:10; cf. Is.24:21-22; 27:1; 34:4; Jer.10:11; Ezek.28:18-19; Dan.4:35; Jn.16:11; 1Cor.6:3). Then all of unbelieving humanity will be judged at the Great White Throne judgment and subsequently removed to the lake of fire forever (Rev.20:11-15; cf. Rev.14:10-11). With this final disposition of all who had opposed God, and with the last echelon of the resurrection now completed, namely that of the living millennial believers (cf. 1Cor.15:24), death, by any definition (physical, spiritual, eternal), will finally be eliminated once and for all through the sacrifice of our Lord, put to death for us (1Cor.15:26; 15:54-57; Heb.2:14).

In phase three judgment, all who have opposed God throughout angelic and human history are dealt with decisively and finally, with the last enemy, death, removed from God's universe forever. Therefore phase three is the "most phase", being in no way temporary and in every way final. Phase three involves God's ultimate judgments upon angelic and human kind, judgments that in the case of the devil and his angels had been delayed beyond all expectation and deferred to provide opportunity for repentance and unarguable proof of their guilt and inveterate hostility toward God.

5. Restoration III: the New Heavens, the New Earth, and the New Jerusalem: In phase two restoration, the earth had been returned to Eden-like conditions for Christ's millennial rule. As its name indicates, however, the Millennium is not meant to be a permanent state of affairs, but rather a transitional period that 1) fulfills in time God's promises to His people Israel (e.g., the inheritance of the land: Ezek.47:13ff.; cf. Gen.15:18-21), and 2) fulfills His proclamation that all His enemies will be subdued by the rule of His Son, the Messiah (Ps.110:1; cf. Ps.2; Matt.22:44; Acts 2:34; 1Cor.15:25-26; Heb.1:13; 10:12-13). Phase three restoration marks the beginning of eternity. With the creation of the New Heavens and the New Earth, the blessed eternal state will commence (Rev.21:1). This Kingdom, in which the Father and the Son will reign together (1Cor.15:24-28; Heb.12:23-24; Rev.21:22-24), will never come to an end (Dan.7:27). Within it, elect angels (Heb.12:22) and elect, saved humanity (Heb.12:23), will fellowship with the Trinity in a perfect new world whose blessings are at present beyond earthly understanding (Rev.21:4; cf. 1Cor.15:28). As blessed and anticipated as the millennial Kingdom will be, the eternal Kingdom will surpass it in every way, adding the presence of the Father to that of the Son (Rev.21:3), lasting forever instead of a thousand years (Rev.22:5), existing in a universe completely without sin (2Pet.3:10-13; Rev.21:7-8; 21:27; 22:14-15; cf. Is.52:1), and having as its headquarters a New Jerusalem whose architect and builder is God Himself (Heb.11:10; 12:22-24; Rev.21:1 - 22:5). Finally, it is important to reiterate at this point what we have noted before, namely that it is the earth where God will reign forever, restored, remade and specifically reconstructed for saved mankind's eternal blessing. Better than Eden, better even than Jerusalem in the Millennium, the New Jerusalem will be the paradise par excellence, matchless, eternal, filled with all the blessings exemplified in the previous paradises, but without sin and without end, where we will live forever in the presence of God Himself.

6. Replacement III: The Advent of the Father: In phase three replacement, the double portion of saved humanity (i.e., the believers of the Millennium) will also be resurrected (see above under "Day 7"), and with the unalterable destruction of the old universe and the consignment of all of God's enemies, human and angelic, to the lake of fire (Rev.20:14-15; 21:1), the process of replacing Satan and his angels with resurrected human beings will be complete. With the vanquishing of all God's enemies, even death (Is.25:7-8; Hos.13:14; 1Cor.15:26; 15:54-57), and with the removal of sin and unrighteousness from the world (2Pet.3:10-13; Rev.21:7-8; 21:27; 22:14-15), the way will be cleared for the return of the King, that is, the taking up by the Father of His residence once more on earth. He will return not to the original Eden which Satan defiled, but to a new and extraordinary paradise, the New Jerusalem, likewise a paradise of divine design, now constructed in the form of a city, that is, a paradise specifically designed for mass human habitation (Heb.11:10; cf. Heb.2:16). At that time, the Glory will truly return to earth (cf. Ezek.10:18), and God the Father, who gave His Son to take on true humanity in order to save it (Heb.2:14-15), will, along with Christ through whom He made the world and around whom He fashioned the history we are now contemplating, dwell with us and we with Him forevermore. At that time, God will "be all in all" (1Cor.15:28; cf. 1Cor.3:21-23), and that will be the most sublime completion to His creation imaginable.

V. An Historical Overview of God's Disposition of Satan

Given that this series provides a background for the study of the Tribulation from the standpoint of the satanic rebellion (which is the Tribulation's ultimate cause), we would do well at this point to provide in outline form the course of Satan's career as we have studied it from the point of view of God's disposition of him and his followers:

1. God's initial disposition of Satan:

a. God's First Best Will Rejected: Although created in perfection and inhabiting a perfect universe, Satan and his followers rejected God's perfect plan for them, choosing rebellion instead of obedience (SR#1).

b. Judgment and Demotion: Having rejected God and mutinied against Him, Satan and his followers were judicially condemned by God for their rebellion (SR#1; Jn.16:11; cf. Job 4:18; 15:15; 21:22; Matt.25:41; Rev.20:10), and removed from their positions of service to Him (SR#1, section IV.3).

c. Judgment on the Universe: The original heavens and earth, having been contaminated by the sinful actions of the devil and his followers (cf. Job 25:5), were summarily judged by God, and plunged into utter darkness (SR#2, section II.2).

d. The Delay of Execution: Having judged the universe, God nevertheless deferred execution of Satan's sentence pending the completion of an as yet unforeseen event: human history (SR#4, section II; and see above, section II; cf. Gen.6:3; Rom.2:4; 3:25-26; 9:22; 2Pet.3:9; 3:15). This delay accomplished . . .

    1. The glorification of God through the successful completion of His plan (centered upon His Son, Jesus Christ) in all its particulars despite all opposition.

    2. The vindication of God by demonstrating the devil's complete recalcitrance and unwillingness to repent in contrast to God's faithfulness toward His new creature, Man. God is thereby vindicated in His judgments (Ps.116:11; Rom.3:4), and justified by keeping all promises of salvation to mankind despite satanic opposition (Is.49:9; Jn.16:11).

    3. The replacement of what was lost through Satan's rebellion in a manner that has ensured the free will choice of those who replace the devil and his followers (section II above).

e. First Parole: Satan was allowed the freedom to observe God's reconstruction of the world and His commencement of the process of replacement through the creation of mankind (SR#3, section IV).

f. The Last Olive Branch: Rather than drawing the appropriate conclusions from the creation of Man (i.e., that God is invincible and therefore that the carrying out His sentence against the devil was inevitable), Satan rejected this last, tacit overture on God's part and used his freedom of action instead to recommence his rebellion, this time on the battlefield of human history (SR#3, section IV.1.a; SR#4, section II.).

2. God's interim disposition of Satan:

a. Imprisonment: With the 2nd Advent of Jesus Christ, the devil and his followers will be imprisoned in the Abyss for the duration of the Millennium so as to remove all satanic influence from the Messiah's Kingdom (see above, section IV.1.6).

b. Second Parole: At the conclusion of the Millennium, Satan and his angels will be temporarily released and will stir up the peaceful world of that time for one final assault upon God (Ps.2:1ff.; see section IV.4 above). The willingness of so many human beings to reject the perfect reign of Christ and the willingness of the devil to lead them in this last futile attempt to oppose God provides the final incontrovertible proof that evil and the rejection of God is not circumstantial, but flows from the free will choice of creatures.

3. God's final disposition of Satan: At the conclusion of the Gog-Magog revolution and just prior to the creation of the pristine and holy New Heavens and New Earth, the sentence imposed upon the devil and his angels before human history began will finally be carried out (Is.14:3-23; 24:21-23; 27:1; 34:1-5; Ezek.28:11-19; Jer.10:11; Dan.4:35; Lk.10:18-20; 1Cor.6:3; Rev.20:7-10), and they will be consigned to the lake of fire at that point and forevermore (Rev.20:10; see section IV.4 above). The lake of fire and his final disposition in it (along with all creatures who chose to follow him instead of God) will stand as an eternal memorial to the folly of rejecting God and His mercy (Rev.14:10; cf. Is.66:24; Rev.19:3). For by trying to replace God and His Son instead of serving them, Satan finds himself replaced by the Son who was born into the devil's world to refute and defeat him through the victory of the cross (Lk.10:18; Jn.12:31; Rom.16:20; Heb.2:14; 1Pet.3:22; 1Jn.3:8).

VI. God's Q.E.D.

History, angelic and human, has never been outside of God's control (Job 12:23; Ps.9:4-8; Is.40:15; 40:22-24; Jer.10:7; 18:5-10; Dan.4:35). History, rather, has always proceeded according to God's plan. Sin, evil, rebellion from God, all results of free will decisions of creatures, have not been able to stop the plan of God. Indeed, it is through such willful disobedience that God has sorted out those who love Him from those who hate Him, like sheep from goats. For although He has loved all with a perfect love, He has also respected the free will choice of His creatures not to love Him back. And through this period of choice, the course of history, God has, through the greatest personal sacrifice, the gift of His own Son, made it possible for those who would respond to Him to do so, and so to live forever with Him. In so doing, that is, through an entire universal history of grace and self-sacrifice, God has once and for all stopped the mouths of all His adversaries. He has silenced the devil and completely refuted him by means of the praise that issues forth from the mouths of an originally weaker category of creature, mankind.

From the lips of children and infants You have established your might (i.e., for your praise: cf. Matt.21:16), on account of your adversaries, to put an end to the enemy and the avenger.
Psalm 8:2

From the moment the eternal state begins, the world will hear only God's praises being sung, and these will proceed from the lips of those who confessed Him in life, those who chose Him and chose to be with Him forever, so that in eternity only praise for God from willing creatures will be heard (Jn.4:23; 1Tim.2:4; 2Pet.3:9).

But the hour is coming, and in fact has already arrived, when the true worshipers [of God] will worship the Father spiritually (i.e., our spirit responding to His Spirit) and truthfully (i.e., our heart responding to His truth). Indeed, it is just such worshipers that the Father is seeking. For God is spirit, and those who worship Him must do so spiritually and truthfully.
John 4:23-24

Towards the merciful man, You act in a merciful way. Towards the blameless man, You act in a blameless way. Towards the pure man, You act in a pure way. But towards the subtle man, You act in a subtle way.
Psalm 18:25-26

God opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6

And the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire by that same Word (of God), preserved for the day of judgment and the destruction of godless men. Let not this one fact escape your attention then, beloved, namely that one day is like a thousand years in the Lord's eyes, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not delaying in the fulfillment of His promise (as some think); rather He is exercising patience for your sake, being unwilling for anyone to perish, but desiring all instead to come to repentance. For the day of the Lord will come like a thief, a day in which the heavens will depart with a roar, the very elements will ignite and dissolve, and the earth and everything which has been done upon it will be laid bare [for the Lord's inspection]. Since all these things are destined to disintegrate in this way, [consider] what sort of [Christians] we ought to be, [devoted to] holy and godly conduct, as we wait with eager expectation and apprehension the advent of the day of God. For on that day the heavens will burst into flame and dissolve, and the elements will catch fire and melt. But we are awaiting new heavens and a new earth just as He promised – [a world] where righteousness dwells.
2nd Peter 3:7-13

[Go to: Coming Tribulation part 1: Introduction]

Footnotes:

1. The length of time between becoming conscious of God and making a decision for Him (through faith in Christ) varies. The gospel message may not be immediately available, or the person concerned may hesitate (sometimes even to the very point of death). But God works everything out for the good in His own perfect way. From His point of view, the point of faith in Christ (or rejection of God) is the dividing point of every life, no matter how long the interlude until a final decision is made.

2. The doctrinal category of Christology is covered in detail in Part 4A of Essential Doctrines of the Bible: Christology.

3. This issue is covered in detail in Part 1 of Essential Doctrines of the Bible: Theology: The Study of God.

4. I wish to credit Mr. Lynn Murray for first pointing this out to me many years ago.

5. Thus the promised Seed of Genesis 3:15, and the Seed promised to Abraham in Genesis 12:7 find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ (Gal.3:16-29).

6. The two most common Hebrew words for hope, from the roots yachal (יחל) and qavah (קוה), yield a similar result, meaning respectively "to wait for" and "to look eagerly for", stressing the idea of sure expectation of something not yet fulfilled, rather than the English notion of fantasy and wishing.

7. It is common among exegetes to find numerous Old Testament covenants, but from Adam (the promise of the redeemer: Gen.3:15), to Noah (the promise of continued freedom and opportunity to choose for Him: Gen.8:20-9:17), to Abraham (the promise of the Seed: Gen.12:7; 13:15; 17:19-21), to David (the promise of the Son: 2Sam.7:5-16), all these "additional" covenants serve the same purpose as the Old Covenant (otherwise known as the Law of Moses: cf. Ex.24:8), that is, to foreshadow the person and work of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

8. As we saw in Part 1 of this series (q.v. for the Seven Edens), the biblical terms Eden and paradise are synonymous for the place of perfect pleasure in fellowship with God. The current paradise is known as the third heaven, the place of God's throne room where Christ is seated at His right hand (cf., Lk.23:43; 2Cor.12:4).

9. See Part 4 of this series, section I, "Strangers in the Devil's Realm", and also lesson #3 of the Peter series.

10. On the cherubim and the angelic orders, see The Satanic Rebellion, Part 1, section III.i, and Part 4 section III.3.b.1-2.

11. On the Angel of the Lord and Christophany overall, see part 1 of Essential Doctrines of the Bible: Theology: The Study of God, section II.C.3.

12. It is also true that Israel in military, tribal formation, was divided into four divisions (Num.2:1-31; 10:11-33). The four divisions encamped around the tabernacle which contained the ark of the covenant covered by the "mercy-seat" (which is symbolic of God's heavenly throne), just as each of the four cherubs is stationed at one of the four sides of the actual chariot throne. Thus, in this respect as well (see the discussion of tabernacle symbolism in Part 1 of this series), the arrangements of the Mosaic Law are shadows of the heavenly reality (cf. Heb.8:1-5).

13. The two-faced cherubim on the walls of the temple in Ezekiel 41:18-20 are to be explained by the fact that the flat surface of the wall demanded, in according with the artistic conventions of the time, a two-dimensional representation. Accordingly, the observer is presented with the front and right side views (the rear and left being, theoretically, visible from a rear, two-dimensional view). Compare also the single-sided representation of lion and bull faces of the cherubs on Solomon's moveable basins: 1Ki.7:29.

14. This fact is not made clear in some English versions (e.g., NIV).

15. See C.I. Scofield's Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth pp.19-23.

16. The description in Hebrews 3:1-6 of Moses as the steward of the "household" (oikos) Israel, and of Christ as the builder of the "household" (oikos) of the Church refers to the respective dispensations (oikonomia): Moses served God's house Israel through dispensing the truth of His Word (along with the associated means necessary for salvation and growth under the Law). Compare also 1st Peter 2:4 where the Church (i.e., believers) are described as the "house" of God, that is, the family and household that is the object of His spiritual provision (in particular).

17. For the distinction between "natural revelation" and "special revelation", see Peter #11. On the inherent human appreciation of the difference between right and wrong, see Part 3A of Essential Doctrines of the Bible: Anthropology, section I.3, "The Conscience".

18. Note also that the written Word is called propheteia graphes: "written-prophecy" in 1st Peter 1:20, that is, truth from God which the Spirit has directed be written down (as opposed to strictly oral prophecy).

19. See Part 1 of this series, section II.5.b.

20. See the Peter series, lessons #12-13.

21. Prophesying, along with dreams, visions and "talking with God" are not the primary means God has chosen for communication of His truth for by far the better part of the Church Age (including today). God, of course, can do as He will, but false or wrong assumptions on this issue have the effect of degrading (in the eyes of those who put stock in such things) the importance of the Word, the ministry of the Spirit in understanding the Word, and the authority of those who minister the Word (in effect undermining the entire dispensational system for this division of history).

22. The subject of grace epistemology (how we learn God's truth with the help of the Holy Spirit), will be covered in the forthcoming Part 5 of Essential Doctrines of the Bible: Pneumatology.

23. For example, Man was created on the sixth day, and the number of the antichrist (the man who portrays himself as God) is 666 (Rev.13:18). See J.J. Davis, Biblical Numerology (Grand Rapids 1968) 122-123.

24. The modern, western "week" is a direct descendent of the biblical week, and was unknown in the west before Jewish and Christian influence brought it to prominence.

25. It will be recalled that the Bible elsewhere definitely does equate years and weeks (Dan.9:24-27).

26. This can be refined even further, of course, by the law of love, as our Lord taught us (Matt.22:37-40): love for God and love for our neighbors – against such conduct there is no law (Gal.5:23).

27. Given the quotation of this verse by James in Acts 15:16-17 (which differs slightly from the Septuagint) and the similar interpretation of the Septuagint, we can say with relative certainty that this is one of those rare instances where minor alterations in the received version of the Masoretic text have led to rather large discrepancies in meaning. The MT Hebrew has, למען יירשו את-שארית אדום which almost certainly stands for למען יידרשו אתו שארית אדם (the text reflected in the translation above). The revised text (the Septuagint's original and the text as James understood it) is thus achieved without any loss of letters (a matter of critical importance to the Massoretes whose primary means of protecting the text was letter counting) by merely transposing the waw in "Edom" to the end of the earlier object marker, and by reading daleth instead of yodh as the first root letter of the verb. The confusion would be explained as follows: in the original text, the bottom portion of the daleth's vertical stroke became obscured, yielding an unworkable "possess Him" (instead of "seek Him"). The scribe in question then transposed the waw (i.e., the "Him" marker) to the first workable place, in the middle of the word "man", which had the double effect of changing "man" to Edom (a suitable place to "be possessed"), and making the "remnant" now an object instead of a subject. For further discussion see Gleason L. Archer and G.C. Chirichigno, Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament: A Complete Survey (Chicago 1983) 152-155, to whom I am indebted for the reading אתו in place of את.

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