Many Christians do not know that the writings of the Old Testament are written of and about Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said in John 5:46, For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. Jesus Christ, as well as His apostles, quoted freely from every book of Moses and based their teachings upon them.
God told Daniel and other prophets that the Gospel would be revealed to the people living in the time of the end. Many people in the past claimed to be these people of the end and some even prophesied the exact time when the end would come. Let me give you an example:
Many years ago there was a man in Jamaica, whose name was Bedward. He prophesied that the world would come to an end on a certain day and that he and those who followed him would fly away to some prepared heaven in the skies. All the people who believed him sold their houses and everything they had, gave him the money, moved to his camp, and waited for the end of the world. The day arrived and nothing happened. Some of the people climbed a tree and, as they tried to hasten the flying away, they jumped from their perches, only to fall heavily to the ground. That day the hospital was busy with broken bones. Does it sound funny to you? But there have been hundreds of cases like this all over the world!
The Bible says that neither man nor the angels in heaven know the day or the hour when the end of the world will come, but that we know the times and the season. There were men in the Old Testament, of the tribe of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel should do (see I Chronicles 12:32). Also, it is written about Daniel that he understood the time the prophet Jeremiah wrote about (see Daniel 9:2). And so, there are people even today who understand the time we live in. Do you want to understand it, too?
In Genesis, God created a seven-day week and on each day He did a different work. Because Moses wrote of Jesus, then Genesis is about Jesus. Therefore, even though the creation was physical, it had a spiritual meaning, which is to be found in Jesus.
Let us examine the things that God created on each day. The Bible says in II Peter 3:8, But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. It means that that which God began to make on the 24-hour day, He completed in the 1000-year day. It is simple to understand: God is a Spirit and so the spiritual life is a higher form of life than the natural one that we know. Then, when God creates natural things, His plan must be to show us some spiritual purpose.
Symbolic Meaning of the Seven Days of Creation
(As written in Genesis 1)
The first day symbolically means the first
thousand years. In this day, there was a separation made between light and darkness. This means that from the very beginning God was going to make a separation between good and evil. Do you remember the story about Cain and Abel and how they brought sacrifices to God? Abel’s heart was pure, but Cain’s was evil and because of that, God could not receive his sacrifice. Wherever light shows itself, darkness is revealed.
There was somebody very special who lived during this First Day, this first thousand years. Can you guess? His name was Enoch. He marked the end of the first day by being taken into heaven without dying. It all happened because he believed God (see Genesis 5:21-24 and Hebrews 11:5).
The second day symbolically means the second thousand years. On this day, God separated waters so that there was heaven in between them. There were waters above the heaven as well as below it. It was a preparation for dry ground to be able to appear as well as preparation for the growing of trees. Trees symbolically speak of the sons of God being a separate generation from the sons of earth.
The second thousand years ended with Noah. In Noah’s time there was much evil in the earth. God had to destroy it, but He saved Noah in the ark.
The third day symbolically means the third thousand years. On this day, God created dry land, fruit-bearing trees and the green vegetation. When we interpret it, we find out that this was the thousand years when God brought forth men of godly nature to show His fruits. This is the age which produced some of the mightiest men of the Bible, for example, Shem, who was the father of the Semitic nations of which is Israel, the chosen people of God; Abraham, the father of the faithful, the friend of God; also, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, etc.
The fourth day symbolically means the fourth thousand years. The sun, moon, and stars were created on this day. The spiritual meaning of the sun is Jesus Christ, the moon is the Church, and the stars are the sons of God. Jesus was born near the end of the fourth thousand years. The church was born also and God began the process of begetting sons in His nature.
The fifth day symbolically means the fifth thousand years. On this day, the Lord created the living creatures, fish and birds. The fifth thousand years were when Jesus resurrected and brought forth life everlasting and triumphed over death. When He did that, He gave us immortality as a present. Immortality means that we will never die but live forever. II Timothy 1:10 says, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. So it really happened.
The sixth day symbolically means the sixth thousand years. On this day, God created the beast first and then He made man to control the beast and the whole creation. The word beast in the Bible speaks of a man who rejects God and is being led by evil spirits. This beast then has to be completed by the end of the six thousand years. Also, the sons of God who are led by the Holy Spirit must be completed and rise in their power and rule the beast and the creation. In the Bible the end of the sixth day is called the time of the end of the world.
The seventh day symbolically means the seventh thousand years. On this day, God rested. He didn’t rest because He was tired (for God is never tired), but He wanted the whole creation, including man, to rest with Him. During the seventh thousand years, God is going to bring His Kingdom to the earth so that there will be no evil anymore and everything and everybody will rest.
Now, as we have learned about the days of creation, can you understand the times? Where do you think we are in time? If Jesus came at the end of the fourth day and we live two thousand years after Him, then we must be at the end of the sixth day, the six thousand years. It means that the seventh day will start soon. We cannot say that the end of this age will come next year, April 6th at 5 PM, but we can certainly say that the time is very near and we need to be ready for it.
The sixth day must end in tribulation and great suffering as it is written, for example, in Matthew 24. But those who walk carefully with Jesus through God’s Tabernacle do not have to be afraid. God will hide them in His secret place under His shadow as Psalm 91 says. Let us, therefore, be among those who love God, spend time with Him so that we might know Him, and do His will. Then, we will be hidden by God and nothing of the destruction of this earth will touch us.
Answer the following questions to see how well you understood this chapter:
- Who are the writings of the Old Testament written of and about?
- Who were the people in the Old Testament that had the understanding of the times?
- How many days did God take to create the earth and everything on it? Can you remember what He did every day and what is the symbolic meaning of it?
- Which mighty men of God lived during those one thousand-year days?
- When will the seventh day start?