The purpose of the Millennium

[AdHoc]

The astute student of scripture can see from the sentence construction and grammar that something happened between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 record past events that have never happened since Moses started writing the Bible - a rebellion that ended in darkness and a covering of water. Whether or not one accepts this, the fact is that what God did in 6 days in the rest of Genesis Chapter 1 is NOT the creation - but a restoration using available materials. The Hebrew word used in everything except the creation of the living creatures, is “asah”, which means "to MAKE an object out of existing materials."

Man was made last, probably late on the sixth day. God saw tat things were “very good”, but that does not mean that things were perfect. God gave the man He had made two active roles, both of them presupposing trouble. Man was to “subdue” the earth and its environs of sea and sky, and man was to “dress and keep the garden of fellowship”. And the end of this matter was a Dragon and his man versus God and His Man in an epic Two-Pronged fight for the earth that involved inevitable death for mankind. At the end of six days of work God had His man in place to subdue and work on God’s Garden of Fellowship. But this man failed and God was robbed of His Sabbath Rest. But strangely God did not define this Rest by "the evening and the morning". Rather, He said; "IN the DAY you eat of a certain Tree you will surely die."

In Hebrews 3 and 4 we learn of a second attempt by God with a chosen people, Israel, to have a Sabbath Rest. But the generation freed from Egypt with God’s mighty arm, having seen the actions of the Almighty, failed in disbelief and were banned to die outside the “Land of Milk and Honey”. The generation that did go in 40 years later did occupy, but their children were ejected after about 860 years, having been beaten by a Two-Pronged attack  - moral decay and military. God was again robbed of His Sabbath Rest. But Hebrews 4:8-11 promises a new and future Sabbath Rest for God and His People.

The first Sabbath was cut short by Adam’s death after 930 years and the Second Sabbath was cut short by wholesale defeat militarily by Gentiles before 900 years had past. Some 400 years later, God’s Second Man - Jesus - came and exacted a telling moral defeat over the Serpent. But His People, Israel, refused to join Him in this moral battle. Jesus then retired to a place of extreme authority - the Father’s Throne - with the duty of building an army which could first display the morality and glory of God, and second, fight a battle that would remove the ability of the Dragon to rule the earth. In doing so, he would succeed where other men had failed - to give His Father, God, His Sabbath Rest. 1st Corinthians records this successful period of the Sabbath Rest of God.

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1st Cor.15:20–26.

In keeping with His mastery of languages, the Holy Spirit wrote very efficiently. This sometimes makes extra study necessary. But in the end the sequence is clear:
1. Christ rises from the dead thus defeating death
2. Christ, being “Firstfruits”, implies a a future harvest of men, thus defeating death
3. This harvest, specially designed to build His army, is “when He comes”
4. Then He must reign which implies force and retribution
5. This force and retribution produces more dead - seemingly counter-productive
6. But not so for the “life-giving Spirit” (v.45). The “reigning” must undergo a test
7. After a decisive battle with the Dragon and his men at Harmon-Gog, ALL men of “the rest of the dead are raised”

This all takes place after 6,000 years since the First Man, and encompasses the 7th 1,000-year. For men it is a long time, but for God 1,000 years is “as” a day - the SEVENTH DAY - or a Millennium. This is the time Christ will take command of the earth, rule it from Jerusalem, subdue criminals, subdue rebellion, subdue religion and subdue death - the last and great enemy of God. For a “day” of 1,000 years, God has His Man in place. But unlike Adam and Israel, who failed before the 1,000 years of Sabbath Rest was over, Christ’s Kingdom survive, with honors, 1,000 years on the earth as we know it with summer an winter, and then, after another renewal, forever.

 

[BornAgain490]

3 hours ago, AdHoc said:

something happened between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.

Was there one beginning, or two?

[AdHoc]

51 minutes ago, BornAgain490 said:

Was there one beginning, or two?

There was one beginning called "creation"**. The word "bara" (created out of nothing) is not used again until the souls of animated creatures were created. The literal translation of verse 2 is " But the earth became a tohu-bohu ...". This shows a process of good order disintegrating into chaos. God cast the chaotic earth under water and switched off the lights. 1st Corinthians 14:33; "God is not the Author of confusion ... ". So also Isaiah 45:18;

 *** 18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. Is 45:18.

The word "vain" is the same word as Genesis 1:2 - "tohu". The two coverings of water are somewhat hidden in 2nd Peter 3:5-6;

4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

"And" is a conjunction which is copulative, cumulative and sequential. The earth of old (v.6) was one standing OUT of water (Gen.1.1 - v.5b) and then IN water (Gen.1:2 - v.5c). That world was overflowed with water (at Noah's time - v.6).

** This s shown in type. Israel cross the Red Sea and then Jordan. In the first, Egypt and idol worship is buried: In the second the old nature is left buried (12 stones).

*** Not the three different words used in this verse. God "created" (bara - Heb) "formed" (yatsar - Heb.) the earth (from elements), "made" ("asah"). So also Genesis 2:7.

 

[BornAgain490]

36 minutes ago, AdHoc said:

There was one beginning called "creation"**. The word "bara" (created out of nothing) is not used again until the souls of animated creatures were created. The literal translation of verse 2 is " But the earth became a tohu-bohu ...". This shows a process of good order disintegrating into chaos. God cast the chaotic earth under water and switched off the lights. 1st Corinthians 14:33; "God is not the Author of confusion ... ". So also Isaiah 45:18;

 *** 18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. Is 45:18.

The word "vain" is the same word as Genesis 1:2 - "tohu". The two coverings of water are somewhat hidden in 2nd Peter 3:5-6;

4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

"And" is a conjunction which is copulative, cumulative and sequential. The earth of old (v.6) was one standing OUT of water (Gen.1.1 - v.5b) and then IN water (Gen.1:2 - v.5c). That world was overflowed with water (at Noah's time - v.6).

** This s shown in type. Israel cross the Red Sea and then Jordan. In the first, Egypt and idol worship is buried: In the second the old nature is left buried (12 stones).

*** Not the three different words used in this verse. God "created" (bara - Heb) "formed" (yatsar - Heb.) the earth (from elements), "made" ("asah"). So also Genesis 2:7.

 

You would agree, I'm sure, that God knows when the beginning was and what occurred in the beginning. 

If God was to make a reference point to "the beginning", we would have to accept that reference point as true. 

For example: Genesis 1:1 of God's word says "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..."  Then, continuing in Genesis 1, God informs us of a series of six days in which God spoke into existence all things in the heavens and on the earth and in the waters. 

So, if God were to point to any one of those six days as "the beginning", we would have to accept that as true, don't you agree?

[AdHoc]

27 minutes ago, BornAgain490 said:

You would agree, I'm sure, that God knows when the beginning was and what occurred in the beginning. 

If God was to make a reference point to "the beginning", we would have to accept that reference point as true. 

For example: Genesis 1:1 of God's word says "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..."  Then, continuing in Genesis 1, God informs us of a series of six days in which God spoke into existence all things in the heavens and on the earth and in the waters. 

So, if God were to point to any one of those six days as "the beginning", we would have to accept that as true, don't you agree?

Technically, your question leaves no room for any other answer. But God did not speak "all things into existence" in six days. The light was already there. The trees and seeds were already there. The CREATION was in verse 1. The transformation from darkness and covering with water to inhabitable for men took six days.

But there s a better example. In John 1:1 was also a beginning. But the uncreated was already there. Which beginning was that? Then comes the "beginning of the Son" - "this DAY I have begotten Thee". Was not the Son always there?

Going back to Genesis 1:1, Job 38 says that the stars of heaven who are the sons of God rejoiced when He laid the earth's foundation. That means tat God made the heavens (His Throne), the the tabernacle in heaven to uphold His holiness. Then the angels. then, sometime later, the earth. And again, sometime later a pre-Adamic creature who inhabited the earth, and who were Lucifer's prisoners. WE cannot say for sure for the waters of judgment left no trace. But we have to account for the demons too.

The full argument is done very well by G. H. Pember and his work "Earth's Earliest Ages".

[BornAgain490]

52 minutes ago, AdHoc said:

But God did not speak "all things into existence" in six days. The light was already there.

God spoke light into existence on day one. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. ... the first day."  Gen. 1:3-5. 

 

55 minutes ago, AdHoc said:

The trees and seeds were already there.

God spoke the trees and herb yielding seed, etc on the third day. Gen. 1:11-13. 

 

58 minutes ago, AdHoc said:

 

 

1 hour ago, AdHoc said:

The CREATION was in verse 1

No. Creation is from Gen. 1:1-31. There is no gap. 

 

1 hour ago, AdHoc said:

In John 1:1 was also a beginning.

There's only one beginning to creation: Gen. 1. 

 

1 hour ago, AdHoc said:

Job 38 says that the stars of heaven who are the sons of God rejoiced when He laid the earth's foundation. That means tat God made the heavens (His Throne), the the tabernacle in heaven to uphold His holiness. Then the angels. then, sometime later, the earth.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  You seem as though you believe God is only able to create one thing at a time, which would mean you don't view God as omnipotent. 

 

1 hour ago, AdHoc said:

And again, sometime later a pre-Adamic creature who inhabited the earth, and who were Lucifer's prisoners.

Not in the Bible. Using sources outside of the Biblical record to support gap theory is not of God. 

 

1 hour ago, AdHoc said:

The full argument is done very well by G. H. Pember and his work "Earth's Earliest Ages".

Pember, Chalmers, Ruckman, et al, are unbiblical gap theorists. 

[AdHoc]

On 2/1/2025 at 2:05 AM, BornAgain490 said:

On 2/1/2025 at 12:45 AM, AdHoc said:

Job 38 says that the stars of heaven who are the sons of God rejoiced when He laid the earth's foundation. That means tat God made the heavens (His Throne), the the tabernacle in heaven to uphold His holiness. Then the angels. then, sometime later, the earth.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."  You seem as though you believe God is only able to create one thing at a time, which would mean you don't view God as omnipotent. 

What logic! God is not omnipotent because He needed six days - by your own logic.

But, pray, what made you decide that God is the author of Chaos? In Isaiah 45:18 He says He is not a God of chaos, but in Genesis 1:2 the earth BECAME (lit. Heb.) "tohu" - the same word as in Isaiah above.

[BornAgain490]

1 hour ago, AdHoc said:

God is not omnipotent because He needed six days - by your own logic.

I never said God "needed" anything. You assumed God "needed six days" because He created in six days. Your logic is flawed, or you truly do believe God is not omnipotent. 

Fact: God created in six days, but He could have done it all in a single moment.

Stop making unwarranted assumptions. 

1 hour ago, AdHoc said:

But, pray, what made you decide that God is the author of Chaos?

I never suggested any such thing. 

It is repugnant that you would make such a false allegation as an overseer of on this forum?  

1 hour ago, AdHoc said:

but in Genesis 1:2 the earth BECAME (lit. Heb.)

When did the earth "become" void?  Seems like you are suggesting chaos. 

Prove from Scripture your position that there existed pre-Adamic human beings, or that God created the esrth then destroyed the earth then recreated the earth from that which He destroyed.  You can't because the Bible doesn't support it.  You're just aligning yourself with weak wishy-washy types who can't defend creation from a young earth perspective, which is what the Bible teaches. 

[AdHoc]

4 hours ago, BornAgain490 said:

6 hours ago, AdHoc said:

but in Genesis 1:2 the earth BECAME (lit. Heb.)

When did the earth "become" void?  Seems like you are suggesting chaos. 

If you had done a word study of "hayah" before your outburst you would have realized that the earth "BECAME a chaos" So, your understanding of a young earth has a problem. Literally Genesis 1:1-2 says:

In the beginning God created ("bara") the heavens and the earth.

The sentence in the Hebrew has the sense of a completed act with nothing to add.  The next sentence, verse 2, literally says;

But (And) the earth became a Tohu-Bohu ....

... indicating that it was influenced to a state that it was not in before.

I don't care what you believe, but even a highschool student knows that if God made the earth "NOT IN VAIN (tohu) - Isaiah 45:18, and Genesis 1:2 says "IT BECAME a chaos, (tohu) then there was a period of time before Adam when good order descended into chaos. If you add a flood and darkness, two signs of God's judgment, you have a very strong argument that something happened. It could be wrong, but a serious scholar will appreciate that there is a good argument.

 

[BornAgain490]

2 minutes ago, AdHoc said:

If you had done a word study of "hayah" before your outburst you would have realized that the earth "BECAME a chaos"

Be fair, now: hayetah tohu wabohu has more than one interpretation.  It can, and does translate, "was without form and void (or empty)", consistent with the textual reading in the English translations. 

Thomas Chalmers, who began the nonsense of a gap between Gen. 1:1 and 2, was more concerned with his peers in the scientific community calling him nuts for not siding with scientists who rejected young earth creationism. 

Chalmers started a division and a cult that attracted many weak wishy-washy followers who call themselves "Bible believers."