God is a God of order, not chaos.  He reveals patterns and sequences, templates and types.  God is outside of time, but He has a plan involving time from before the foundation of the world.

…for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’  

(Isaiah 46:9-10 ESV)

An interesting study is trying to discern the time we are in.  I believe most of us would agree that we are in the season of Jesus’ return.  I would suggest many of us are interested in studying just how close His return might be.

 

The Prophetic Calendar – 7000 Years

My first post on God’s calendar,  God’s Prophetic Timeline, discussed how the years allotted to humanity parallel the 7 days of creation and the Sabbath cycle.

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 

(Genesis 2:2-3 ESV)

When Adam and Eve “fell”, their “work week” began.  No longer would they enjoy the pleasures and life of ease in Eden, but would have to work, strive and toil for the essentials of life.  Ever since, all creation longs for the Sabbath rest on the 7th day.

From the Sabbath cycle, we can discern that humanity is granted approximately 7000 years of existence on Earth.

6000 years of human government

+ 1000 years of Jesus’ government in the Millennial Kingdom

= 7000 years

To support this belief, Jews have always acknowledged that the seven day creation week symbolizes a seven-thousand-year plan for humanity.  Each prophetic “day” represents 1000 years of the earth’s story.  (See Wikipedia – Year 6000)  The dispensation model for understanding God’s ordering of the ages of humanity also affirms this interpretation.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

(2 Peter 3:8 ESV)

The Jubilee Cycle, of 7×7 years followed by a Jubilee year, would also seem to correlate.  In Genesis 6, God said:

“My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” (v3 ESV)

This 120 year period was a literal time period before the global flood, but it has been suggested that it is also representative of 120 Jubilee cycles.

120 cycles x 50 Jubilees = 6000 years

I know that there has been a lot of speculation regarding “Jubilee years” lately, and the last several years have been suggested as candidates.  I would suggest that the Jubilee year has more to do with the restoration of Israel and the redemption of the whole of creation than it does with the church body.  I understand that the Feasts of God apply to all the redeemed, but the Jubilee would seem to apply more specifically to Israel.  As such, I would suggest that the Jubilee cycle ends on the 6000th year, ushering in the eternal Jubilee and the 7th Day of Rest for humanity.  This would place the Jubilee year at the Second Coming of Christ – Year 6000.  The last thousand years, the Millennial Kingdom, will see the Earth restored to near Eden-like conditions with Christ ruling on His throne.

 

What Time Is It?

I think many of us are aware that there are inconsistencies in the calendars that are used today and that have been used in the past.  Every feast day that comes up, the true calendar becomes an important consideration.  I believe we need to use the calendar in the sun, moon, and stars – the Mazzaroth – to determine God’s timelines.  It’s the only one that humans can’t mess up.  Genesis 1:14 declares

“And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years”.  (ESV)

(What are the feast days, you ask?  God set appointed times on His calendar from the beginning of creation.    The sacred times, or seasons, are the fixed or appointed times when God would meet with His people.  These appointed times are illustrative pictures for humanity of God’s redemption plan.  For more on these feasts, please see The Feasts of God – His Appointed Times).

Now let me just say, knowing what “time” it is isn’t a salvation issue.  Studying the calendars and pressing in to God in prayer over this is just something that I have been interested in.  All I want to do is share my findings with you, that it might springboard your own studies and thoughts.

With that said, here are my suggestions:

• It shouldn’t require complicated calculations to figure out
• It should involve the sun, moon, and stars
• It should be supported by scripture

Since Jesus is not currently here ruling in the midst of us, and we continue to live under the curse issued in Genesis 3, humanity must still be in our “work week”.  What most of us are interested in (me!) is how close we are to our “Sabbath Rest”.  Let’s see what we can discover!

 

So Many Calendars

One of the challenges to knowing exactly what year it is, is that the tracking of time has changed throughout human history.  A number of calendars have existed, some based on the sun (solar), some on the moon (lunar), and some on a combination of the two (lunisolar).  The Julian calendar was established in 45 BCE, and refined in 1582 CE to become the Gregorian calendar that is still in secular use today.  This calendar is based on “anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi” – “in the year of Our Lord Jesus Christ”, the presumed year of the birth of Jesus (which was probably more like 3-4 BC not year “0” that the calendar uses).  Anno Domini was renamed to the “common era” or “CE” about 350 years ago to remove Jesus from the picture.  Although this calendar gives us reference to the current age, the “Church Age”, it doesn’t give a picture of the entirety of human history.

Gregorian calendar – June 9, 2019

Well, what about the Hebrew calendar?  The Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar, using intercalary months instead of leap years to make up the time difference between the lunar and solar years.  It is based on starting year counts at the creation of the world.  It also has gone through a few revisions and there is a discrepancy between the Orthodox Rabbinic calendar and the Nazarene calendar.  Currently, in 2019, the Orthodox Rabbinic year count is 5779.  The Orthodox Rabbinic calendar is based on a book called the “Seder Olam Rabbah”, which was written in 240 CE (AD).  Unfortunately, there is indication that there are up to 240 “missing years” in this calendar, which may or may not be deliberate.

Orthodox Rabbinic calendar – 6 Sivan, 5779

Orthodox Rabbinic calendar + 240 Missing Years – 6 Sivan, 6019

The Orthodox Rabbinic calendar, 5779, would place us several centuries away from the Second Coming of Christ.  The signs of the times (Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign) would suggest otherwise.  What about if we add in the 240 missing years to get 6019?  This would seem to put us into “overtime”.  Regarding both of these calendars – let me ask you this.  Do you think God, who is Sovereign and pre-planned this from the foundation of the world, would mix up His own year counts?  With the amazing preciseness of scripture, I am inclined to believe that God has orchestrated the symphony of humanity perfectly.  So let’s keep looking.

Remember all the begats and the age counts in Genesis?  These are actually extremely useful pieces of information when determining the age of the Earth, the timeline of the Great Flood, and the dividing of the Earth.  When combining the genealogical information in scripture with archaeological evidence, it appears that we have around 6000 years of human history.  Without getting into a creation debate, here are some articles if you are interested in the numbers:

• How Does the Bible Teach 6000 Years?  (Creation Ministries International)
• Biblical Age of the Earth (Institute for Creation Research)
• Ussher and the Date of Creation (Answers in Genesis)
• What is the Age of the Earth?  (GotQuestions)

The Nazarene calendar uses the accounts in the Old Testament to date the year, much as current creation science does.  This is where God’s careful recording of genealogies comes into play!  All Scripture is there for a purpose, to lay out God’s plans and purposes.  Using numbers supplied in scripture, we can discern this timeline:

Adam to the Flood: 1656 years
Flood to the birth of Abraham 454 years
Abraham to the Exodus 430 years
Exodus to the First Temple 480 years
First Temple to the Exile 393 years
Exile to Second Temple 72 years
Total 3,485 years

Next, to count how many years there were between the building of the Second Temple until the year [2019] (i.e., now), we must switch to the Western (Roman) Gregorian calendar. The reason for this is that Scripture does not record these dates for us.

Now the Temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.  (Ezra 6:15)

Secular historians inform us that the sixth year of the reign of Persian King Darius took place in approximately 515 BCE. When we add 515 years to the [2019] years that have elapsed since Yeshua’s birth, we find that the Second Temple was built approximately 2520 years ago:

Second Temple built 515 BCE
Years elapsed since Yeshua’s birth [2019]
Total [2532] years

Now, to find the approximate age of the earth today (in the year 2019), we should add the number of years from the Creation to the building of the Second Temple (3,485) to the number of years from the building of the Second Temple until now (2,532). This will give us the approximate age of the earth in the year 2019 CE:

Creation to the Second Temple 3,485 years
Second Temple to 2019 CE 2,532 years
Years since the Creation (approximate) 6,017 years

(Source reference: Paul D Newman)

Bible Genealogy calendar – 6 Sivan, 6017

Using scripture as the backbone for our calendar is important.  I believe God gave us these specific ancestries and year counts on purpose – not just to verify Jesus’ bloodline.  However, using the biblical genealogies alone also puts us into “prophetic overtime”.  Since I do not believe this is a possibility, we need to keep searching.

 

The Calendar in the Sun, Moon, and Stars

The genealogies listed in scripture are useful pieces of information in the calendar of humanity.  However, after the Flood, they are based upon calendars which changed over time.  Thus, I suggest we need to corroborate these numbers with the calendar in the heavens.  Remember this verse?

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years’

(Genesis 1:14 ESV)

God provided the sun, moon, and stars to serve as signs and to mark days and years.  The sun, moon, and stars have remained unchanged by humanity, even when the earth changed its’ course.  Is there any sign in these heavenly bodies that can give us a clue as to what “time” it is on God’s unchanging clock?

Well, yes there is.  Interestingly, when prophecy watchers started scanning the thousands of years of human history and future for a specific sign in the sun, moon, and stars described in Revelation 12:1-2, they found only one match.

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.  (Revelation 12:1-2 ESV)

The sign occurred on September 23, 2017 and is detailed HERE.

While the sign in fulfillment of Revelation 12:1-2 only occurs once, watchmen did find three other partial alignments.  These partial alignments occurred on September 11, 3 BC (Jesus’ birth?), August 27, 70 AD (destruction of Second Temple), and August 5, 3915 BC.  All extremely significant events for humanity.

 

August 5, 3915 Sign in the Sun, Moon, and Stars

Adam and Eve were created to be eternal beings, and in their perfection were granted to eat freely from the Tree of Life.  We are not told how long they were in their perfected state before they sinned, but I’m not sure it matters to us at this point.  It was only when they FELL and became physically mortal that time would begin.  It was when they FELL that humanity’s day counts and “work week” began:

…cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  

(Genesis 3:17-19 ESV)

Mankind was allotted 7000 years before this form of heaven and earth would be complete and we would return to our eternal state (either with God or apart from Him – the choice is up to each one of us).

Regarding the alignment in the sun, moon, and stars on this date, see this excerpt from Unsealed:

There is a near perfect match on this date (though not as precise as the 2017 alignment).  In fact it is such a close match that it has been speculated that this could have been the date of the Fall of Mankind when God spoke these eerily relevant words to the devil and to Eve in Genesis 3:15-16:

And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”

Interestingly, in this dialogue the same three entities mentioned in Revelation 12 are also present: the serpent (Revelation 12:9), the woman, and the male child.  The planet Saturn, which some have speculated represents satan, happens to be near the heel of The Lion.

 

The calendar in the sun, moon, and stars would seem to possibly give us a date for the fall of mankind to be August 5, 3915 BCE.  What year would that put us in now?

3915 BC + 2019 (current year) – 1 (no year “0”) = 5934 years

Celestial Calendar – 6 Sivan, 5934

Using the Revelation 12:1-2 sign in 3915 BC puts us decades under 6000 years, right?  Or does it?

 

360 Versus 365.25 Days Per Year

At some point between the Flood and Today, the earth wobbled in its orbital path and gained a few days per year.  I would think it is safe to assume that the “fountains of the deep bursting forth” and the “windows of heaven opened” of the Flood had something to do with it.  The Bible doesn’t provide a lot of detail on this, but we know the post-Flood world was a significantly different environment than the pre-Flood world.  We also know that this instability of the earth’s crust lasted for a period of time – a few hundred years.  Scripture tells us that the land was divided (the crust shifted) “in the days of Peleg” after the Flood (Genesis 10:25).  So it took a while for things to settle down and come to their current resting place.

The result that pertains to us, is that somehow we ended up with approximately  365.25 day-years, instead of the 360 days per year from creation.  The length of a year is currently cited at 365.242190 days.  (Wikipedia)

Interestingly, the Bible uses a year length of 360 days in both Genesis and Revelation.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.

(Genesis 7:11 ESV)

At the end of 150 days the waters had abated,  and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

(Genesis 8:3-4 ESV)

In Genesis chapters 7-8 we are told the Flood covered the land from the 17th day of the 2nd month to the 17th day of the 7th month.  This time period totals 150 days.  This would only be true if each month had 30 days in it.

…they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.  And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days…

(Revelation 11:2-3 ESV)

…and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

(Revelation 12:6 ESV)

…so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.

(Revelation 12:14 ESV)

And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished. 

(Daniel 12:7 ESV)

Forty-two 30-day months = 1260 days = “time, and times, and half a time” (“time”= 1 360-day year).

I would assume God uses 360 day years in His word for a reason, not just because the numbers round nicer than 365.25.  I would suggest that God has allotted 6000 years for humanity to rule based on the original creation of 360-day-years.

This is where I both agree and disagree with the Enoch/Zadok calendar.  I agree that God created the Earth with a 360-day solar year orbit.  Each month was 30 days, and the moon phases likely obeyed this 30 day pattern.  I also agree that after the rapture of the church, the Earth will once again have 360-day solar years with 30-day lunar months.  I believe that the resurrection / rapture event will be so severe as to cause the earth to sway and change its orbital path once again.

For the windows of heaven are opened,
    and the foundations of the earth tremble.
The earth is utterly broken,
    the earth is split apart,
    the earth is violently shaken.
The earth staggers like a drunken man;
    it sways like a hut;
its transgression lies heavy upon it,
    and it falls, and will not rise again.

(Isaiah 24:18-20 ESV)

Compare this to Genesis 6:

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. (v.11 ESV)

Where I disagree with the Enoch/Zadok calendar is in laying the 360-day-year model on top of our current situation.  The Earth did change in orbit and tilt.  I believe the Earth will change in orbit and tilt.  While the sun, moon, and stars remained in place, the Earth’s relative position to them changed.  Thus, our perspective of them changed, and our observance of them had to change.  I do believe we can correct for this, though.

To figure out what year we are in, we need to account for the discrepancy between how the earth was created (360-day years) and how it is now (365.25-day years).

Biblical Precedence to Correcting for 360-Day-Years

Prior to the Global Flood, the Earth had 360-day years.  Subsequent to the Rapture, the Earth will have 360-day years.  It is the interim time we wish to correct for, in order to discern the current year.

We don’t want to just go ahead and apply corrections to day counts to support our theories without some sort of scriptural basis to do so.  Fortunately, I believe we have several instances that supports this correction.

The first is the 430 Days of Laying of Ezekiel:

“Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment.  For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel.  And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year.  And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city.  And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege.”  Ezekiel 4:3-8 ESV

Ezekiel literally laid on his side for 430 consecutive days to represent the punishment Israel was facing for disobedience.  God even strapped him down so that he couldn’t turn.  FOR OVER A YEAR.  70 years are most certainly accounted for in the Babylonian Captivity.  But there were still 360 years remaining.

After their captivity, by and large the nation of Israel did not repent.  Many didn’t even return to the Promised Land, and most didn’t obey God’s commandments.  Even after the rebuilding of the Temple, Israel remained in rebellion.  Israel’s continued disobedience resulted in a greater punishment coming into effect.  This was forewarned by God through Moses in Leviticus 26.  In this chapter, God states four times that He will increase their punishment “sevenfold” if they continue to disobey.

360 remaining years of punishment x 7-fold = 2520 years of punishment remaining

2520 years x 360 days = 907, 200 days

907, 200 days divided by 365.25 days (current Gregorian calendar) = 2483.778 years (2483 years, 9 months, 10 days)

What do we do with these numbers?  Well, there are two different time periods that might qualify:

“The Servitude of the Nation” – prophesied to last 70 years – Started by the first siege of Nebuchadnezzar in 605BC.  This lasted 70 years to the day – using the prophetic 360 day-year – ending in 536BC in Nisan (March/April) .  Using this calculation:

2483 years, 9 months, 21 days  MINUS 536 years [3-4 months/unsure day] PLUS 1 year (no year “0”) = 1948 year [undetermined month/day]

Restoration of Israel as a Nation – May 14, 1948

“The Desolations of Jerusalem” – prophesied to last 70 years – Started by the third and last siege in 587/6 BC and resulted in the destruction and desolation of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.  This also lasted 70 years, until 516/7 BC, when the Second Temple was finished.  Using this calculation:

2483 years, 9 months, 21 days  MINUS 516/7 years [unsure month/day] PLUS 1 year (no year “0”) = 1967 year [undetermined month/day]

Restoration of Jerusalem to Israel – June 7, 1967

It seems that Ezekiel’s 430 days of laying prophetically predict the scattering and regathering of Israel within days or months, when a 360-day-year correction is applied to our current orbit.  It is interesting that God uses the prophetic year of 360 days, even though Ezekiel certainly lived far after the Flood and the days of Peleg.  (For more on Ezekiel’s 430 days, please see: Ezekiel’s 430 Days of Laying)

Ezekiel’s 430 days of laying remind me of the 70 weeks prophecy given to Daniel, of which Jesus expected His people to be aware.

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (Luke 19:41-42 ESV)

The second example of 360-day-year correction is found in this 70 Weeks of Daniel prophecy.  Although Daniel’s prophecy was given post-Flood, when the Earth was surely in 365.25-day-year orbit, the dates given to him were in 360-day-years.

In Daniel 9:24, Daniel is given a prophecy:

Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city

Seventy weeks uses the Hebrew term “weeks” or “sevens”, which is a period of 7 years (much like our decade is a period of 10 years).  Seventy sets of seven years, or 70 weeks of years, is 490 years. Israel was to look for their anointed one, a prince, their Messiah, in 7+62 “weeks” from the decree issued in 445 BC.  69 weeks of years = 483 years.

The word to restore and build Jerusalem was given by King Artaxerxes in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of his reign.  Nisan 1 in his 20th year of his reign corresponds to March 14, 445 BC.  We learn from several places that a prophetic year is 360 days long.

483 years x 360 days = 173, 880 days

173, 880 days / 365.25 day-years = 476.06 years

445 BC – 476.06 years + 1 (no “year 0”) = 32 AD

[Or, 444 BC – 476.06 years + 1 = 33 AD (see here)]

Throughout His ministry, Jesus concealed His identity as the Son of God, at least in public.  This was so that He could proclaim Himself as Messiah on the very day foretold in the Scriptures.

Jesus deliberately arranged to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the 10th of Nisan, 32 AD in fulfillment of Messianic prophecy (Zechariah 9:9, Psalm 118:26, Daniel 9:25).  On that day, he rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey while the crowd cheered Him on as the Messiah.  This was exactly 173, 880 days after Artaxerxes gave word to rebuild Jerusalem.  (For more on Daniel’s 70 Weeks, please see Daniel’s 70 Weeks)

Once again, in the example of Palm Sunday, it seems we have precedence not for laying a 360-day calendar over top of our current one, but for correcting our current orbit to an equivalent 360-day orbit.

There is Scriptural precedence given for correcting our calendar to a 360-day-year prophetic calendar.

So, What Time is It Really?

Let’s summarize so far:

• Word of God – From scripture genealogies, we can place the global flood at 1656 AM (anno mundi, years after creation)
• Mazzaroth – From the sun, moon, and stars, it seems we can possibly place the fall of man on August 5, 3915 BC
• Prophecy – There is biblical precedence to correct for a 360-day-year Prophetic Calendar

 

First 360-Day Correction Calculation

In my original calculations, I guessed that things settled down to balance out to 365.25 days/year, on average, right after the flood.  To adjust current years to the prophetic 360-day years, it means humanity has existed for an extra ~5.25 days per year since the global flood.  If our allotted days are only 6000 360-day-years, we have actually “used up” more years than our calendars currently indicate.  Correcting for these extra days and converting them to 360-day-years:

3915 (Fall) – 1656 (Flood) = 2259 years humanity lived BC

+ 2019 years AD – 1 (no year 0)

= 4277 years lived with “extra days”

4277 x 365.25 (current days/year) / 360 (prophetic days/year) = 4339 360-day-year equivalent years since the Flood, lived by humanity

4339 (post flood years) + 1656 (preflood years) = 5995 years (+/- approximately half a year)

(Calculation 1) Prophetic Calendar – 6 Sivan, 5995 

I think we are getting much closer in our calculations here, but I’m not sure we are quite there yet.  The main concern with this calculation is that we don’t know how long the earth reeled for and when its’ orbit settled into 365.25-day-years.

Was the earth’s orbit affected when the land was divided post-flood in the days of Peleg?  What about in the days of Joshua?  The book of Joshua records for us a unique occasion where the “sun and moon stood still” to allow the Israelites to defeat their enemies.  How was the earth’s orbit affected at this time, or was it?

And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 

(Joshua 10:13 ESV)

Through the work of Daniel Matson at Watchfortheday, it seems that another adjustment to the Earth’s axis may have occurred around 713BC during the days of King Hezekiah – documented in 2 Kings 20:8-11, when the sun’s shadow went backwards 10 steps.

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?”  And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”  And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz. 

(2 Kings 20:8-11 ESV)

How do we factor in these additional uncertainties, or can we?

 

Should We Just Give Up?

I spent quite a bit of time in mental anguish here, wondering if God just wants us to give up trying to figure out what time it is.  I pleaded with Him – “Do You really not want us to know the time we are in?  You tell us to watch, to be ready!  You say You will not do anything without revealing it to Your prophets.  We know we are in the season, but You suggest we can know more than that.  Please help me, Lord!”

God expected the Jews to be aware of the time:

You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

(Luke 12:56 ESV)

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.  

(Proverbs 25:2 ESV)

For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

(Amos 3:7 ESV)

Remember that Jesus’ triumphal entry was able to be counted down to the exact day.  The restoration of Israel was able to be counted down to the exact year.  And here is where I believe God impressed upon my heart the Key of Enoch.

For days, I couldn’t get Enoch off my mind.  Tradition, plus the extra-biblical text of Enoch, holds that Enoch was both born and raptured on the same day of the year – Pentecost.  I had just written a series on Pentecost and how it intimately relates to the body of Christ (Everything You Need to Know About Pentecost, the Feast that Ties It All Together For The Church).  What if God raptured Enoch, pre-flood, at 365 years exactly to give us a clue?  If we use the number 365.0 in our calculation as the correction factor, does that adjust for all the wobbling the earth went through?  You’ve got to admit that it is kind of interesting that Enoch would be raptured specifically at 365.0 years old (instead of, say, 360, or 492, or 253, or….).

Second 360-Day/Year Correction Calculation (From Enoch’s Rapture):

I considered that it might be Enoch’s rapture date that should be used for the 365.0 day correction start point instead of the Flood.  Enoch was raptured 669 years prior to the Flood.  That number surely must be significant in some way?  What if we are to take it into account in the calendar correction?

Third 360-Day/Year Correction Calculation (From Global Flood):

Using the global flood as a start point, instead of Enoch’s rapture, we get:

Using the flood as a start point would seem to be logical, since we know that is when the earth was changed from its’ 360-day year course.  It doesn’t, however, take the time gap between Enoch’s rapture and the flood into account, if that is meant to be a clue.

 

Let’s Review

I would suggest that by using the clues God has given us in scripture and in His celestial calendar, we can come close to knowing the current year on God’s Prophetic Calendar. As far as how to put all the pieces together, and which is most accurate, I cannot say I know for sure.  I hope, though, that the above calculations have made sense and have given you ideas for further research.

In summary, as of June 9, 2019 (Pentecost) the “time” could be:

Gregorian calendar – June 9, 2019

Orthodox Rabbinic calendar – 6 Sivan, 5779

Orthodox Rabbinic calendar + 240 Missing Years – 6 Sivan, 6019

Bible Genealogy calendar – 6 Sivan, 6017

Celestial Calendar – 6 Sivan, 5934

(Calculation 1) Prophetic Calendar – 6 Sivan, 5995

(Calculation 2) Prophetic calendar – 6 Sivan, 6001.7

(Calculation 3) Prophetic calendar – 6 Sivan, 5992

 

I am persuaded to continue to weave together all of God’s clues. Stay tuned for Part 2!

 

Note:  This article was previously published as What Year is it Really?  (Is it 5991?) on April 27, 2018, and Calendars, Calendars, Calendars… 360 Days Versus 365 Days Per Year – The Clue of Enoch on May 28, 2018.

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Further Resources:

Are you CERTAIN of your Salvation, beyond a shadow of a doubt?  Do you KNOW that no matter when the rapture occurs, you will be counted worthy to escape?  If not, please read What Must I do to Be Saved.

God’s Prophetic Timeline – 7000 Years of Humanity

The Fig Tree Sign and Israel’s Rebirth

Ezekiel’s 430 Days of Laying

The Terminal Generation

Revelation 12 – A Sign in the Heavens, September 23, 2017

Year 6000 – This Wikipedia page discusses the Jewish expectation of the Messianic Age to begin at year 6000 at the latest.  Their calendar is off (see the discussion on the missing years, and the 360-day calendar conversion above), but this shows the Jewish belief of the 7000 years destined for humanity.

God’s Challenge!  Understand My Plan by Douglas Berner

God’s Mosaic – A Whole Scripture Overview of Things To Come

Main Menu – God’s Mosaic Prophecy Model

The Bible is infallible.  I am not.  I am merely challenging traditional models and testing them against Scripture.  I believe that traditional pretribulation teachings provide a solid backbone upon which to lay the musculature of details.  I encourage you to consider my thoughts as you also examine the scriptures to see if these things are so!