Where does the Bible mention the 6,000-year rule of man?
The Restored Church of God says...
"he vast majority of the people in the world today have never heard about the Plan of God. God has put into place a 7,000-year Master Plan, which began at the re-creation of the earth, almost 6,000 years ago. This plan is pictured in type by the seven-day week. Genesis 1:3-31 shows us that God re-created the earth in six days and then created the seventh-day Sabbath by resting on it (Gen. 2:2-3). God is allowing man to work six days (six thousand years), followed with the seventh-day rest (a 1,000-year Sabbath rest).
The apostle Peter wrote, “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Pet. 3:8, NKJV). No doubt, he understood that the seven-day week pictured the 7,000-year plan of God. Paul also had this in mind when he instructed that the seventh day of the week pictures the millennial rule of Christ that will follow this present evil age of human misrule (Heb. 4:3-11). This “day” will occur after Christ’s intervention and it will last a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-4). References to this principle are also found in Psalms 90:4 and Hosea 6:2.
The seventh day of the week symbolizes the 1,000-year rulership of Jesus Christ; thus, the first six days of the week picture 6,000 years of man governing himself to work out his own ideas and plans. Each day of the week represents a 1,000-year period."
However...
"If you want to assert a truth first make sure it's not just an opinion you desperately want to be true"
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Jul 15, 2018 · A large Neolithic community that dates back 9,000 years has been discovered by archaeologists beside two streams in Motza, which can be found sitting in a comfortable spot beneath the Jerusalem hills. The remains of skeletons, stone houses, and magnificent temples were all discovered during the planning stages of the construction of a new road.
9,000-year-old Neolithic settlement unearthed west of Jerusalem
Biggest of its kind in Israel, and one of the biggest in Mideast, a unique Neolithic site is unearthed in Motza, boasting the all the splendors of the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture, including burials, jewelry, ritual figurines and testimony to ancient trade routes
A huge settlement from the Neolithic Period, the largest known in Israel from that period and one of the largest of its kind in the region, has been discovered during archaeological excavations near Motza Junction, west of Jerusalem.
The unique site boasts architecture, arrow heads, jewelry and figurines crafted by the peoples who domesticated plants and animals during the Agricultural Revolution and shaped the Middle East into what we know it to be to this day.
The Motza site is located some five kilometers west of Jerusalem, near several springs and on the banks of Wadi Sorek, within a fertile valley thought which people have been hiking up to Jerusalem from the Shfela region since ancient times.
These optimal conditions are a central reason for long-term settlement in this site, from the Epipaleolithic Period, around 20,000 years ago, to the present day.
According to Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily and Dr. Jacob Vardi, excavation directors at Motza on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, "this is the first time that such a large-scale settlement from the Neolithic Period – 9,000 years ago – is discovered in Israel. At least 2,000 – 3,000 residents lived here – an order of magnitude that parallels a present-day city!"
The excavations revealed large buildings, including rooms that were used for living, as well as public facilities and places of ritual.
Between the buildings, alleys bearing evidence of the settlement's advanced level of planning were unearthed. In the buildings, plaster was sometimes used for creating floors and for sealing various facilities
In a place where people live, there are dead people as well," said archaeologists. Burial places have been exposed in and amongst the houses, into which various burial offerings have been placed – either useful or precious objects, believed to serve the deceased in the next world. These gifts testify that during this ancient period, the residents of the site had relationships with faraway places for exchange purposes.
Unique stone-made objects were found in the tombs, made of an unknown type of stone, as well as items made of obsidian (volcanic glass) from Anatolia, and seashells, some of which were brought from the Mediterranean Sea and some from the Red Sea.
During the excavations, archaeologists revealed artistic hand-made stone bracelets designed in several styles. "Due to the size of the bracelets, we estimate that they were mainly worn by children", said researchers. "We also found carefully crafted alabaster beads, as well as medallions and bracelets made of mother of pearl".
Many flint tools manufactured on the site were unearthed, including thousands of arrowheads that were used for hunting, and possibly for fighting as well, axes used for tree-felling, and sickle blades and knives.
Another exciting discovery was stone storage sheds, which contained a huge quantity of legumes, especially lentils, preserved despite the 9,000 years that had passed. "
"Hey! Don't forget about us!"
New Fossil Found In Israel Suggests A Much Earlier Human Migration Out Of Africa
" detailed analysis of the jawbone and the teeth confirmed that it indeed belonged to someone of our species, Homo sapiens. And when they dated the fossil, it turned out to be between 177,000 and 194,000 years old, making it the oldest known such fossil outside the African continent."
What, human remains going back almost 200,000 years? That's it, I'II throw away all my bibles, stop praying to God, and become a atheist.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dennis.
Dave Pack is no more a historian than he is a theologian. Anyone who's theology has never advanced beyond the 1970's version of Herbert Armstrong's 1930's 6 month public library study, cannot be trusted.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall reading in Genesis either WHEN it was all created or HOW it was created. For someone to say that it was 6,000 years ago or so, they are reading into the Scriptures what isn't there. Aren't we When? How? Ask a scientist, not a theologian.
ReplyDeleteWhen you teach a child, you don't tell them exactly every in and out of how a rocket works. You don't show them how an automobile engine makes a car move. You keep things simple and elementary, and you don't go into detail. And you don't go literal on them either. You just tell them the rocket goes up, and a car moves to take you to the playground. That's it.
ReplyDeleteNowhere in scripture does it say anything about a 6,000 year master plan. Science is conclusive about the ins and outs of how things work in the details, something that is not addressed in scripture, except in passing in ancient books like Job - and we've FAR over-reached in science even the most educated concept a bronze-ager can understand.
I have no problem believing both science and theology; I do have a problem with idiots like Pack or other COG leaders who embrace Young Earth Creationism with the zeal of a celebrity chef making Rissoto. Young Earth Creationism is as valid as Flat Earther Science. IN other words, it's absolutely bogus. A lot of what passes as "theological understanding" when it comes to science is simply the ridiculous musings of mindsets that haven't passed 500 B.C. in thinking. I'd love to see Pack debate the Sumerian King's List and other mysteries of antiquity. Nothing is ever as it seems - we aren't here long enough to find out.
""If you want to assert a truth first make sure it's not just an opinion you desperately want to be true"
ReplyDeleteNeil deGrasse Tyson"
Dennis, perhaps Neil's advice should be taken seriously. Do you know for a fact that the dating methods are 100% accurate or do you desperately want them to be accurate?
Kevn
Dennis, Do you happen to know how they came up with the 9,000 year date? From carbon dating or just based on the depth of the discovery?
ReplyDeleteKevn
According to this site the date was determined by carbon 14 dating:
ReplyDelete9,000 year old village?
And according to this site carbon dating is not reliable:
What was it that Neil said again?
Kevin
Carbon dating is reasonably accurate when compared to historically certifiable dates, which only go back about 5000 years. After that, the accuracy is unknown since the assumptions in carbon dating, such as constant sun activity, are not verifiable.
ReplyDeleteDennis, perhaps Neil's advice should be taken seriously. Do you know for a fact that the dating methods are 100% accurate or do you desperately want them to be accurate?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering who the first would be to turn the quote around. lol. You win! Dating methods vary. Neither of us are experts at dating techniques but carbon 14 is used on organic material and has a plus or minus element to it. There was an abundance of organic material at this site. Seeds and dung can also be dated. I'm sure a hunt for "how do archeologists date artifacts and sites" will help. If you need it to be inaccurate, so be it. It's a common argument by religious literalists. There are many Neolithic sites from the Middle East to the British Isles. I have three Neolithic axes/weapons dated from the sub sahara when it was more plush around Burkino Faso. They date to about 5000 BC. Neolithic being from about 10,ooo to 4,500 BC. Even blood residue on flint blades, and it exists, can be used for dating.
mentalfloss.com/article/21623/10-methods-scientists-use-date-things
Over all, I accept current dating methods as being better than the once upon a time aspect of scripture.
Kevin, I'm curious if you believe in the 6000 year ago creation of humans by a god, out of the dirt and ribs? You do know that men actually start out as female as female is the template for humans, which is why you have nipples?
I Cor 11: 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; 9 neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own[c] head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
Here we see Paul promoting the superiority of men because women came from the (Adam's Rib) and yet a bit of an apologetic that while women come from man literally according to scripture, men come from women, obviously, by birth from women, so it's all good. The only truth to this literally is that men are born of women. Women did not come from the rib of man.
I'd hope you can see the truth of this by now in the 21st century.
I trust professional scientists, who hone their skills in dating methods because that's why they devote their education and lives to do. I don't trust the accuracy of God Haunted Hebrew Priests trapped in the Babylonian Captivity, tweeking Sumerian creation tales and adding their Hebrew spin to them to come up with the reality of how humans came to be. That was probably not their original intention anyway as the Adam and Eve tale is meant to show that since the pagans worshipped wind, water, fire, animals, vegetables and minerals, our God EL/Evolving to YHVH made all your gods. (Genesis 1)
ReplyDeleteThe Adam and Eve story was meant was meant as a statement that there would be no goddess worship in Israel and no matriarchal system holding women very high up the food chain. It was patriarchy from now on. Women ruined everything (For the woman sinned and not the man) and need only say "yes sir" to their men and have babies painfully as if it used to not be. This "penalty" was inflicted on women before any woman actually gave birth in the tale so she had nothing to compare it to. It was never a piece of cake in case you men wonder.
Cain's veggies lost out to Abel's meat because veggies were fertility symbols that went along with the goddess worship around Israel. Israel's men were manly men and a patriarchy of priests, temples and lots of meat offerings. Whether Westerners get the meaning of Eastern scriptures and stories or not, this is their message to the men of Israel and the women which is also backed up by the New Testament characters taking the stories literally so as to control women from being too active or outspoken in church.
But I have said this for years now haven't I? :)
As far as I know, the "6000 year plan" was first written about by Augustine, a person definitely not favored by COGs...
ReplyDeleteDennis, you know that I enjoy your articles. I brought out Neil's quote because it obviously works both ways, as you knew beforehand. After all I won. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt works both ways just as my "understanding" statement goes both ways as Lonnie pointed out.
All I'm going to say is that everything that you wrote above is as much "guesswork" as the bible, God, and the 6,000 year plan.
The only difference is that I have no problem admitting that my faith is guesswork, are you willing to admit that much of science is guesswork as well? If not......
Hope your move to the Carolinas went smoothly. Now we're only about a five or six hour drive apart.
Kevin
The Adam and Eve story was meant was meant as a statement that there would be no goddess worship in Israel and no matriarchal system holding women very high up the food chain.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure about that. The Adam and Eve story is attested in artwork long predating the post-Exilic freshening of the old Hebrew tales to serve the newly freed priestly elites. We can infer the Adam and Eve story in oral Hebrew tradition well into the second millennium BC. In fact, the Adam and Eve story co-existed with widespread Hebrew worship of Asherah as YHVH's female consort, so it is unlikely that the original Adam and Eve story carried the connotation you describe, even if such ideas were added much later.
Dennis, it occurs to me that now that you are in South Carolina, you're in easy reach of LCG's Doug Winnail. As you know, Gerald Weston put Jonathan McNair (B.A. from Ambassador College) in charge of Living Education, LCG's unaccredited successor to Living University. Now that Doug has been so rudely snubbed, and his accredited education deemed less valuable than McNair's AC B.A., perhaps he could appreciate a confidential friend with whom he could commiserate regarding LCG's move toward Know-Nothingism.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Bible is using "poetic language" or simile, one must be very careful. The 1000 years as a day is poetic language and is really saying that God does not exist in the "space time continuum". To draw a specific prophetic certainty to that verse is going way beyond what is written there.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere around 13,800 BP my ancestors were walking out of Beringia toward the Ice Free Corridor that would take them to the interior of North America. But for Jews 2019 is the year 5779 (years since the Creation calculated by counting backward in the Hebrew Bible.)
ReplyDeleteIn Wikipedia there is an article on "The Year 6000" and it contains the following statement:
"There is a kabbalistic tradition that maintains that each of the seven days of creation in Genesis chapter one corresponds to one millennium of the existence of natural creation.
The tradition teaches that the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath day of rest, corresponds to the seventh millennium, the age of universal 'rest' - the Messianic Era."
The WCG had a different source for this idea - it came from the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and was believed by the early Christian church and attributed to Elijah. I never looked this up and verified it - just took it without question. So I don't know if this is really there.
I think the lesson here is that somehow counting backward in the Bible is not the right way to establish the date of the Creation. I think you will arrive at the Creation not of the Universe but of Adam.
Exactly true, Tonto. Actually, the creation narrative in Genesis not only reflects relativity, but also the time keepers by which a 24 hour day is even reckoned were not created until the fourth “day”!
ReplyDeleteI’ve noticed over the past 15 years that people of an HWA mindset generally treat radio carbon dating and the dna information which has emerged from the mapping of the human genome in the same basic fashion. Without any real understanding of either science, they compulsively speculate about mysterious unknown factors which could have altered patterns, and hence dates. Obviously, they’ve never delved into what is known from deep ice core samples, layers of sediment deep in sea caves, or even the more common and accessible sedimentary rock. Climatologists have a rich and deep understanding of specific conditions which existed at various times in the earth’s history. Scientists can pinpoint certain deviations from the constants and identify spikes, and make compensating adjustments in their dating techniques. It has been done and there are papers on this! The different branches of science are actually used as a system of checks and balances upon one another. My advice has always been to read and study widely, and don’t fall into the trap of reading from a standpoint of bias confirmation. The basis for all Ambassador Colege reseach was always bias confirmation. It never was objective in nature. There were leaps and outright fabrications. So many written materials were banned to the members. “Oh, brethren, don’t read such and such! It might make you fall away from God’s Church!”
BB
Anyone can find the corrective standards catalogued and known to scientists. Quickest resource (chart) is at c14dating.com, click on corrections, and follow the trail.
ReplyDeleteAs one illustration, Ice core layers tell scientists many things about atypical conditions on planet earth from season to season. Ditto for geological information. Once the data from various reference points is analyzed and on computer, it’s easy to do cross comparisons and to make compensating corrections with the RC dating.
BB
Thanks for posting, Dennis.
ReplyDeleteThose who naysay at the dating of this site for theological reasons are engaged in an exercise of futility.
Jericho, only 22 a 22 mile drive from Jerusalem, is even older than this site, with the first permanent settlements extending back 11,000 years, and it's dating is much more secure, having been excavated intermittently for over 100 years by 4 different archaeological teams, and it's dating having withstood multiple challenges from christian archaeologists with similar motivations and concerns as yourselves, but whose competing theories to somehow get Jericho to sit neatly with biblical narratives has come to nothing.
There are more than 20 different individual stratigraphic levels which represent successive inhabitation, and they have been dated by many methods, notably by Kathleen Kenyon in the 1950's whose dating methodology hinged on the abundant pottery sherds found in each excavated layer.
The simplest way to summarize the COG mindset is:
ReplyDeleteIt does not agree with my beliefset therefore it is wrong.
This also is a very human condition, and we are all human. If we are aware of this, we can fight it.
BB wrote reflects relativity
ReplyDeleteAn interesting alternative to both YEC and gap theory was one proposed by an Orthodox Jewish physicist, Gerald Schroeder, involving Einsteinian relativity. In one of his books, Genesis and the Big Bang, he put the days of creation in what appeared to be an exponentially decreasing period of roughly 14 billion years..
If Armstrongists must rely on an algorithm for computing the End of Days (even though Christ said nobody would know this date), they should go with the Jewish date. Jews are identified as being "entrusted with the oracles of god" in Romans.
ReplyDeleteThis year is 5779 in the Hebrew reckoning. This means that the Messianic Age does not begin for another 221 years. Of course, that's too far away to be used effectively by bogus prophets for wringing money out of the congregation through fear. Anyway, it is better to be a good person than to be caught up in constant and pensive waiting. Maybe all the latter day William Millers can put a sock in it for a while - like another 200 years.
The figurine that was found does not reflect a jewish person. So I will disregard the huge lentil storage places. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by the trading network these people had extending all the way into Anatolia. 3000 people is a huge group. Perhaps one of the groups that provided ladies for the sons of Adam and Eve or perhaps Eve herself. I mean you're not implying the biblical characters married their sisters are you? Yuck.......
In Anatolia they have the oldest ceremonial center for organized religion.
Recently they discovered a similar ceremonial center at the Orkneys. All on a huge scale, providing clues into mans growing ability to organize and structure larger groups of people rather than the odd hunter grouping always on the move.
I have written in the past about how the change from hunting to farming is mirrored by the "curses" that are all around in the book of Genesis, like painful births, floodings (which do not matter to travelling people like hunters), disease through animal/man close contact (farming) etc etc etc etc
Recently I discovered that language change might be contributed to the shift to farming since the changing diet not only made the women smaller from the hunters (adaption of the hips and painful births) but also caused "overbites" signalling change in language and pronunciation.
According to my estimate my spelling skills hail from 7500 years ago.
nck
It's even older than the oldest three skeletons ever found in N. America. All of which were skeletons of Aryans, not Amerindians.
ReplyDelete