Understanding the Everlasting
Covenant – The Sabbath
by Paul Sides
by Paul Sides
Not
only did God reveal the major goals of His predestined plan for man in the
first few pages of Genesis, but God also revealed to man the Everlasting
Covenant of the Sabbath. This
covenant was made with man as a portrait of a greater truth and to establish
the overall timeline of God’s plan for man.
This overall plan and the truth concerning the meaning of this portrait
is found in 2 Peter 3.
In
the first few pages of the Book of Genesis, God reveals His complete plan.
That Plan is laid out in Genesis as follows:
- God’s
timeline for His Plan – The Everlasting Covenant
(Genesis Chapter 1) - the 6 days of creation and then in Chapter 2 the Seventh day rest, called the Sabbath was established as an Everlasting Covenant. This is the 6 thousand year reign of sin and the thousand-year reign of the Messiah defined in 2 Peter 3. - God’s
Plan Revealed
(Gen 1:26-27) “Made man in His image to rule” referring to God’s purpose in revealing His Sons and train them to rule with the Messiah for 1,000 years and beyond in the eternal state. - The
Prophecy of Judgment and the System of Training
(Gen 2:16,17) “Eat and Die” - Establishing the system by which we will be taught, the penalty of disobedience, and the need for a savior to deliver us from the second death. - The
Prophecy of Yahshua’ Death
(Gen 3:15) “you shall strike His heal”, referring to the coming savior and Satans attempt to stop God’s plan through the crucifixion. - The
Prophecy of a Promised Savior and Satan’s Ultimate Defeat
(Gen. 3:15) “He (the Messiah) shall crush your head”, refers to Yahshua conquering the power of sin and death, releasing the Elect from the power of Satan to hold God’s People in the grave.
Understanding
these first few prophecies requires the full revelation of God in the Bible to
compliment and shed light on the book of Genesis.
Specifically, “how do we know the Everlasting Covenant of the
Sabbath represents God’s 7,000 year plan for man?”
The
Everlasting Covenant Points to the 7th Millennium
God
established a covenant with man from the beginning of this “age” that is
called the “Everlasting Covenant”. This
covenant is the Sabbath. The
Sabbath Covenant was given to man in the form of 6 days of work and a 7th
day of rest. The Sabbath covenant
is truly EVERLASTING. It was
never nullified or made void by any of the following covenants God made with
man. The Sabbath was in effect
through the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants and holds
true even now in the New Covenant of Yahshua the Messiah.
The
reason this covenant is special and was never made void is because it
represents God’s timeline during which He will execute His Plan for man.
It represents 6,000 years of “labor” whereby man would be under the
curse of Sin and self-government; then 1,000 years of “rest” whereby man
would be released from the curse of Sin and be under the divine government of
the King Yahshua the Messiah.
God’s
people are commanded to keep the Sabbath Covenant because by doing so, we keep
the knowledge of God’s timing alive, we continually celebrate the Second
Coming, and we honor the blessings of God to enter into the rest of the 7th
Millennium.
Understanding
that September 13, 2000, was the end of 6,000 years since Adam and the
beginning of the 7th Millennium, the time in which we are living is
defined as the Millennial Reign. Bringing
a new dimension of urgency to every minute that passes in this, the Sabbath
Millennium.
The
question is, where in scripture are we told specifically
that the covenant of the Sabbath represents 7,000 years and points to the
second coming? We find the
explanation in 2 Peter 3. Below
is my commentary on this most important scripture that defines God’s plan as
7,000 years and that Yahshua returns in the 7th Millennium.
The
Millennial Scale of the Everlasting Covenant
Interestingly
enough, even the numbering scheme of 2
Peter 3
even points to the timing of the Second Coming.
Yahshua returns again after 2
millenniums in the 3rd
millennium after His first coming!
2
Peter 3:2-18 (NKJV)
“But,
beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
NOTE: We’ve all heard this quote. Many times this is MIS-quoted to mean the 7 days of creation are not literal “days” but rather “unknown periods of time”. NOT TRUE. That is not at all what 2 Peter 3 is about and another example of worthless shepherds taking the Word of God out of context to explain away things they do not understand. The truth of creation being “literal days” in Genesis is another story all together. 2 Peter 3 has nothing to do with the duration of creation days. That is clearly established in Genesis. I have never heard 2 Peter 3 accurately taught.
2 Peter3 is not referring to the length of days in creation, but rather confirming that the Everlasting Covenant represents 7,000 years and that the Second Coming occurs after the 6,000th year. In context, 2 Peter 3 is discussing the TIMING OF THE SECOND COMING… not creation.
The first step in understanding the timing of the Second Coming and the beginning of the Millennial Reign is to establish through scripture that the Everlasting Covenant is in fact a portrait of God’s plan and that it represents 7,000 years.
We will discover that Peter is telling
his audience that:
1.
God’s plan and timeline can be known by studying
prophecy.
2.
The context of discussion is the timing of the Second Coming.
3.
This “age” began with Adam and ends 7,000 years later after
the Millennial Reign.
4.
The Everlasting Covenant of 6 days and a 7th day is a millennial
portrait.
5.
The Second Coming is PREDESTINED to occur after 6,000
years.
Below,
I provide a commentary on 2 Peter 3; establishing the context is the Second
Coming and the timeframe of this “age” represented by the Everlasting
Covenant is 7,000 years.
God’s
Plan is Laid Out in Prophecy and the Words of the Apostles
1“Beloved,
I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure
minds by way of reminder),2
that you may be mindful
of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets,
and of the commandment of us, the apostles
of the Lord and Savior,
Commentary:
Here in verse 1, Peter is again reminding us to study prophecy and the words
of the apostles to avoid being mislead concerning the second coming. God’s
plan for man is laid out through prophecy.
The
Context of This Chapter is the Second Coming in the Last Days
3
knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last
days, walking according to their own
lusts,
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 creation."
Commentary:
Verse 3 establishes the context of this scripture is LAST DAYS.
Verse 4 establishes that in CONTEXT of the LAST DAYS the subject is
the timing of the SECOND COMING. Saying
that over the years between the first and second coming, false prophets will
predict an immanent return (rapture) causing End Time people to mock the
entire concept of a Second Coming because predictions over the ages have all
been untrue. These false prophets
and “mockers” should never have expected the Second Coming prior to the
end of 6,000 years, as we will see.
Peters
Refers to the Everlasting Covenant and Establishes the Boundaries of this
“Age”
5
For this they willfully
forget: that by the word of God the
heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6
by which the world
that then existed perished, being
flooded with water.
7
But the heavens and the earth which are now
preserved by the same word, are reserved
for fire until the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men.
Commentary:
Verse 5 indicates that the End Time people will “willfully forget”
the portrait of the Sabbath Everlasting Covenant.
Peter directs our attention to the story of Creation, in which God gave
us the Everlasting Covenant of the Sabbath.
In
Verses 6-7, Peter establishes the boundaries of this “age” represented by
the Everlasting Sabbath Covenant. The
boundaries are the creation of Adam (when the Earth was destroyed due to the
rebellion of Lucifer) through the end of the Millennial Reign when the Earth
will be destroyed by fire.
Now,
having redirected our attention to the 6 days of creation and 7th
day of rest (the Everlasting Covenant of the Sabbath) and establishing the
boundaries that this covenant covers as being from the creation of Adam
through the end of the Millennial Reign… Peter then defines the duration.
Peter Defines the Duration of this “Age” to be 7,000 Years
8
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that
with the Lord one day is as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.
Commentary:
In verse 8, having just redirected our attention to the 6 days of creation and
7th day of rest (Sabbath Covenant), Peters clearly defines the
duration of God’s Plan for man from Adam until the end of the Millennial
Reign to be 7,000 years. That in
regards to the Lord’s return a day is a thousand years.
A Millennium for each of the days in the portrait of the Everlasting
Covenant. With the 7th
day, the Sabbath, representing the 7th Millennium or the Millennial
Reign of Yahshua the Messiah.
Peter Reminds Us that the Second Coming is Predestined
9
The Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some
count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should
perish but that all should come to repentance.
Commentary:
After having establishing that God’s Plan is 7,000 years and knowing that
Yahshua reigns for the last 1,000 years… Peter drives the point home that the
Lord IS NOT slacking concerning His promise to return.
Because Yahshua is not due back until after 6,000 years as predestined by
God to allow the fullness of the harvest to come in!
Summary
2
Peter 3:2-18
is one of the most vivid explanations of God’s Plan shedding light on the
rest of the Bible’s references to the 6/7 Plan.
This scripture tells us to:
“Study
God’s prophetic words concerning Yahshua second coming, do not listened to the
scoffers of the last day that say don’t pay attention or who look for a
premature rapture. It tells us
that God’s Plan began after the Earth was destroyed by a flood in judgment
of Lucifer’s fall resulting in the creation of Adam and that this current
age is reserved for FIRE after the 7th Millennium.
It defines God’s timeline of 6 thousand years and a thousand year
Millennial Reign. And then in verse 9 it tells us that all this is talking
about the return of the King and that return is predestined to occur ON
TIME.”
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