While we are studying prophecy, with an emphasis this week on the book of Genesis, I thought it might be a good idea to elaborate on the day-for-a-year principle in prophecy and use the story of Noah, in the book of Genesis to illustrate why there are only 360 days in a prophetic year instead of 365.
Occasionally, when I am studying Daniel and Revelation with someone, they will question how we get 360 days to a prophetic year instead of 365. First, the Cambridge University Press confirms that ancient Israel had a 360-day year with each month having 30 days.
The story of Noah also confirms that in Bible times, each month had exactly 30 days, thus giving us 360 years in a Biblical year. 1 First, where do we get a day-for-a-year in Bible prophecy?
The first time we find a day for a specific year in prophecy is in the book of Numbers.
According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. Numbers 14:34
Later, in Ezekiel repeats this idea of a day for a year.
For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year. Ezekiel 4:5-6
So now, how does the story of Noah and the flood help us establish one year equaling 360 days to a year in Bible prophecy?
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7:11NKJV
And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days. Genesis 7:24 NKJV
And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. Genesis 8:3-4 NKJV
Here we clearly see that from the 17th day of the second month to the 17th day of the seventh month is exactly 150 days. Every month had 30 days equaling 360 days for a year. The 42 months of Revelation 13:5 would be 1260 prophetic days or 1260 years. 2 and “Appendix Two: The day-for-a-year principle,” .] ________________________________________
Main Theme: This week, we are going to study a handful of big concepts at the core of Revelation. There are many, and so we will choose a few to illustrate the all-important point that understanding the ancient foundations behind Revelation enables the student to see countless nuances in the text, each of which can yield important lessons about the nature of humanity, of God, and of the conflict being waged in our universe and, thus, in our lives, as well.
Read in Class: Genesis 22:1-13. Ask the class to summarize this passage in their own words.
Study: The first mention of “love” in the Bible is found in Genesis 22:2. What does this story teach us about the nature of God’s love?
Apply: Read John 3:16. What parallels apply between the story of Abraham in Genesis 22 and the love of God in John 3:16 and the cross? What are the similarities, and what are the differences?
Share: Your friend says she has heard that God tested Abraham so he could prove his obedience. Others say the story of Abraham and Isaac was only an illustration of God’s self-sacrificing love for us. She asks what you think. What do you tell your friend?
Study: How does the story of Isaac’s near-sacrifice help us understand how lambs are used symbolically? How does this story tie into what John sees in Revelation 5?
Apply: Why is knowing that Jesus is our Substitute so foundational to our salvation? What hope would you have without Him, as that Substitute, especially in the judgment?
Share: Your friend asks why God wanted the people to have the lamb in their home four days before sacrificing it? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What do these passages—which include the first mention and occurrence of death—tell us about why people die, how God views death, and what His solution is for our problem?
Apply: Without the problem of death being solved, why are our lives ultimately useless, meaningless and futile? What does this fact teach us about how thankful we should be for what Jesus has done for us?
Share:Romans 6:23 tells us the wages of sin is death. Wages are something we have earned. However the gift of God is eternal life. A gift is something we have not earned. Your friend asks how do we get the gift of eternal life? What do you tell your friend? Hint: See Salvation in Light of the Cross.
Study: What are some of the common themes in each account? How do the details found in the introduction of the serpent in Genesis help us to understand some of the issues that had previously led to the war in heaven mentioned in Revelation?
Apply: Read in Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:13-17. How did Jesus apply the story of the brass serpent, as the solution for when we are bitten by the serpent and deceived into sin?
Protestant reformers like Martin Luther used a system of prophetic interpretation based on fulfilled prophecies of the past. They found the keys to prophecies for the future in fulfilled prophecies of the past. They saw, for instance, how prophecies had been given in days and fulfilled in years. They saw names and animals that had been used for certain world powers, and they saw these same names and some of the same animals used in prophecies for the future. When Martin Luther used this system to interpret the prophecies of Revelation, he concluded that the system of the papacy was the antichrist in the book of Revelation.
Now keep in mind that it was never Martin Luther’s intention to start a new church. He wanted to reform the Catholic church. He was trying to work within the church to bring it back to the Bible, but when the church refused to go back to the Bible, Luther had to move forward.
John Hus, John Knox and many more Protestant reformers preached that the Pope was the antichrist, and that interpretation was carried on by the churches they founded. The 1260 day-for-a-year prophecy has demonstrated their calculations to be correct. Yet today, while we understand that God has His people in every church, including the Catholic church, 1many are afraid to identify the antichrist in Revelation as the papal system. Because of this, a new way of studying Bible prophecy was devised, 2which is what we now know as the futuristic approach in place of the previous historicist approach used by the Reformers and earlier Christians. It played an important role in the Counter Reformation. This places all of the events in Revelation in the future so as not to identify the papacy as the antichrist. However, this theory has several flaws.
For instance, in January 1991, the United States began Desert Storm to relieve Kuwait from Iraqi oppression. U.S. helicopters and other aircraft were swarming the desert. At the time, a popular theologian in the futuristic tradition suggested that Revelation 9:3 was being fulfilled since the locusts mentioned in this passage were symbolic of the helicopters swarming the desert.
Today most popular Protestant churches have rejected the historicist method of interpreting prophecy, as it is no longer politically correct to identify the antichrist biblically. They have joined the Catholic church’s interpretation of prophecy in Revelation to put everything in the future, thus nullifying much of what was accomplished and gained in the Reformation.
Here are some problems that exist now with the futuristic view of prophecy.
With the futuristic approach to Revelation, there is no way to determine the probable accuracy of an interpretation because there are no checks and balances, such as the day-for-a-year principle, to test predictions. For example, Desert Storm does not fit the time period for Revelation 9. However, interpretations using the day-for-a-year principle fall into place with other prophecies in Daniel and Revelation. With the futuristic approach, there is no rhyme or reason to interpretations, and many predictions are only proven wrong once they don’t come to pass. That’s why some have called The Revelation “the happy hunting ground of fraudsters and religious fanatics.”
The futuristic view denies all prophecies that have already been accurately fulfilled using the day-year principle by putting them in the future. This means nullifying much of the evidence that the Bible is true. This destroys not only the credibility of prophecies but of the Bible itself.
While recognizing that God has His people in all churches, and that every church has sincere worshipers who will make up the kingdom of heaven, we should not be afraid to teach accurate prophetic interpretations, even though they may not be currently “politically correct.”
By using the historical day-for-year principle in studying the prophecies of Revelation, we prove the Bible to be true and trusted by what has already been accurately fullfifilled, and we can properly warn all of God’s people in all of us churches of the false teachers and their doctrines which lead men away from Jesus, as our only True Teacher.
Do you have any experience to share about the day-for-a-year principle compared to the futuristic view?
References
I believe there will be more Catholics in heaven than in any other church. ↩
Look up Francisco Ribera (1537–1591), the originator of the futuristic approach to prophecy. ↩
Study: What do these passages suggest about God’s understanding in comparison to our own?
Apply: Though, yes, there is much that we don’t know, why is it crucial to focus now on what we do know and to follow what we know—as opposed to obsessing over what we don’t know?
Share: Your friend says his pastor said we should not worry about things we read in the Bible that are not salvation issues. Your friend asks what is meant by salvation issues? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What do these verses teach us about the way we ought to approach Bible prophecy?
Apply: What has been your experience with those who use only certain selected texts to try and make their point about, say, the state of the dead? Or even the Sabbath? What is the best way to respond?
Share: Your friend asks if Seventh-day Adventists have any traditions, good or bad, that cannot necesarrily be supported by Scripture? What do you tell your friend?
Study: How does Daniel 7:24 help us understand Daniel 7:7 and how does Revelation 1:20 help us understand Revelation 1:16? Does this show us that the Bible inteprets itself for us?
Apply: Even if some symbols and prophecies remain mysteries, how can focusing on what we do understand strengthen our faith?
Share: Your friend asks why God speaks in symbols instead of just being more literal or forthright? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What does this teach about God’s promises to give us a new heart?
Apply: How do you apply Jesus’ words in John 3:1-21 help you understand the idea of a new birth and a new heart?
Share: Your friend says that since we are saved by grace there is no real reason to keep the law. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: James 2:1-9. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.
Study: What crucial messages are we given here?
Apply: Dwell more on the idea of loving the world as Christ loved the world. How might this help us better understand the concept of Christian perfection and how we are made fit for eternal life?
Share:Romans 2:4 tells us it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. How can you show others the goodness of God in His law, so they can be led to repentance?
Main Theme: As we have seen, love and justice go together; they are inseparable. God loves justice. Accordingly, if we love God, we will love justice, as well.
Study: How does Jesus Answer the lawyers question? How do Jesus’ answers to the rich young ruler’s questions relate to His answers to the lawyer’s question in Matthew 22?
Apply: Though we might not all be called to sell all that we have, as was this rich young ruler, what might you, personally, be clinging to that if you don’t give up, could lead to your eternal ruin?
Share: Your friend says, so we don’t have to keep the Ten Commandments anymore. All we have to do is love God and our neighbor. What do you tell your friend?
Study:According to the prophet Zechariah in this passage, what does God decry? How does it and the sin of idolatry relate to the two great commandments?
Apply: Read 1 John 4:20-21. How do you explain why love for God cannot be separated from love for others? How do you understand this unbreakable link?
Share: Your friend says that we can become legalistic when observing the letter of the law, but can we also be legalistic when doing acts of compassion? Why or why not? What do you tell your friend?
Study: How do these passages express God’s concern for justice in the world? What does Jesus teach here about what is most important? What do you think He means when He refers to “weightier matters”?
Apply: What would our families and churches look like if we focused on Micah 6:8 and intentionally put it into practice in both word and deed? In whatever context you are in, how could the application of these principles be made manifest better?
Share: Your friend asks, “If you were to focus on the “weightier matters” today, what would that look like as opposed to whatever “tithe of mint and anise and cummin” we might be focusing on instead?” What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Luke 10:25-37. Have the class identify the main idea of this passage.
Study: What is this passage saying in light of the cry of the prophets for mercy and justice and of the kinds of injustices that different people groups have inflicted on “others” throughout human history?
Apply: What can we learn from the life and ministry of Jesus about reaching out to those in need? Even if we can’t perform miracles as He did, for many hurt people how could our help be deemed “miraculous” enough?
Share: Your friend says the story about the Good Samaritan does not apply today, because it can actually be dangerous helping people in today’s world? What do you tell your friend? How can we help bring others to repentance and salvation by showing God’s goodness in our community today?
Share: Your friend asks you if the third angel’s message about the mark of the beast can be tied to the cross? What do you tell your friend? How can you share the goodness of God in the third angel’s message.
Read in Class: Isaiah 5:1-4. Ask the class what is the main idea of this passage?
Study: Who is speaking in these verses? Whom is Isaiah speaking about? Whom do the vineyard and vineyard owner represent? What is the significance of the actions of the vineyard owner on behalf of the vineyard? What is the result?
Apply: When you look at the cross, where God offered Himself as a sacrifice for all our sin, how do His words, “What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it?”—take on an utterly amazing significance?
Share: Your friend says some people were brought up in better environments than others, and so some have a better chance to be saved than others. Some have no chance at all. What do you tell your friend?
Study: What more could God do than what He has done to save us?
Apply: Whose “griefs” and “sorrows” did Christ bear on the cross? What should this tell us about all that God has done for us and what salvation has cost Him?
Share: Your friend asks you, how you know Christ has born your griefs and sorrows? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What do these passages teach us about God being vindicated in the cosmic conflict, especially at the end?
Apply: What assurance do you have that God has done everything possible to help you experience His love and truth?
Share:2 Peter 3:9 tells us God wants everyone to come to repentance. Romans 2:4 says it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. How can you share God’s goodness this week with someone so they may be led to repentance and salvation?
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Acts 12:5 NKJV
When Peter was arrested and put in prison for the sake of the Gospel, the church asked God to intervene and free Peter, which He did. Some may wonder how intercessory prayers work. Does it make a difference? First, I don’t necessarily know how it works, but I know it does. When I flip the light switch on, I can’t explain electricity how it lights up the bulb, but I know it does. I don’t have to understand how the switch makes a light bulb turn on, but that does not keep me from turning on the light.
Do intercessory prayers work? Yes, they do. When my mother was dying and was unconscious, I prayed for God to wake her up just long enough for me to tell her I loved her one more time, and that is exactly what happened. A few years ago, I baptized a mother and her three children, while the husband and father thought baptism was the craziest thing in the world. The family and I prayed for the husband and father, and a year later I baptized him too. Others have told me how a spouse or a loved one accepted Jesus as their Savior after 30 or 40 years of intercessory prayer. I remember a friend in Oklahoma gave a testimony about how she left the church as a teenager, but her mother kept praying for her. Years after her mother died, she came back to Jesus. When she was rebaptized her aunt told her, that her mother made her promise to “take over” praying for her when she died. That story has always stirred my heart, as well as affirming the power of intercessory prayer. I remember praying for my friend whom I will call Anne, who had left our small group Bible study and the church. Every night I prayed, “Lord please send your Holy Spirit to work upon Anne’s heart.” After weeks of praying, she called me and told me she was coming back to Jesus because she felt “The Holy Spirit working on her heart.”
Intercessory prayer works, but again how? Like I’ve previously stated, I don’t understand everything but considering this week’s Sabbath School Lesson we are learning there are parameters in the great cosmic battle between Christ and Satan. Satan claims this world as his own, and while I know well that this is my Father’s world, there are rules to the battle. Temporarily, at least, there is some validity to Satan’s claim to this planet. Why else would he be allowed in those meetings with the other sons of God in Job 1 and 2? In John 14:30 and John 16:11 Jesus refers to Satan as the prince of this world.
In Matthew 8:29 in the NLT the demons accuse Jesus of “interfering” with them. While I am sure Jesus was not breaking any rules, that does give us a hint that there are parameters in the cosmic battle. God cannot intervene where He is not invited, as that would be using force and manipulation, as opposed to love. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus stands knocking at the heart’s door but does not force His way in as that would not be love. We have to open the door to let Him in. This is where intercessory prayers come in. When we pray as members of humanity on behalf of humanity for God to intervene in the lives of humanity, He now has an invitation and is not using force. If Satan protests God’s involvement in meddling with human hearts, God can tell Satan, “I am not using force or manipulation. I have been invited to intervene.”
This is why Jesus encourages us in Matthew 18:19 -20 that when we gather together in His name He is there to work powerfully to grant our requests, Just as he answered Elijah’s powerful prayers. See James 5:14-18. Being gathered in his name does not mean we have to be gathered in a certain building. We may be in separate hemispheres and be gathered in His name.
In Matthew 6:10 Jesus prays for His Father’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Revelation 12:7-9 Satan was cast out of heaven. When we pray as humanity on behalf of humanity, it opens the way for God to cast Satan out of our hearts, homes and communities. The human heart still has free choice, but God can intervene on behalf of humanity within the parameters of the cosmic battle without using force and manipulation, as He has been invited to intervene just as Elijah prayed for God’s intervention in his day.
Elijah witnessed a great miracle on Mount Carmel when he prayed for God to intervene with the Baal worshippers in 1 Kings 18. What are some amazing things you have witnessed after praying for God’s intervention?
Main Theme: This week’s lesson explores the parameters of both sides in the battle between Christ and Satan.
Read in Class: Daniel 10:1-14. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What do these verses teach that is relevant to the cosmic conflict? What do you make of the angel sent by God being “withstood” for twenty-one days?
Apply: How have you experienced the limits of working only through the principles of love and not coercion? What lessons did you learn about the limits of power?
Share: Your friend asks, Why did the angel get withstood 21 days? Why didn’t God’s angel immediately get the king of Persia to begin the process of delivering God’s people? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Revelation 13:1-8. Have class define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What does this reveal about the extent of the dragon’s jurisdiction?
Apply: However hard for us to see it now, in the end good will eternally triumph over evil. Why is it so important that we never forget this wonderful promise?
Share: Your friend asks you why the world leaders in Jesus’ day crucified Jesus for claiming to be God, and then years later instead of crucifying the beast who claims to be God, the world leaders worship the beast who claims to be God. What do you tell your friend?
Study: What principles of the great controversy do we see unveiled here?
Apply: Job found himself in the middle of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. In What ways has the reality hit you that you are in the midst of the Cosmic Battle between Christ and Satan? How does it comfort you knowing God put limits on what Satan could do to Job?
Share: Your friend says it was not fair for God to let Satan harass Job in a conflict Job had nothing to do with? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Mark 6:5, and Mark 9:29. Ask the class to define the common thread in these passages.
Study: What do these texts display about how even divine action might be integrally related to factors such as faith and prayer?
Apply: Noah preached in his day only to save 7 other people in the end. There were people that Jesus could not work with miracles with. How should this comfort us when the success of our ministry seems to be limited, while not letting us use it as an excuse for failure?
Share: In Matthew 6:10 Jesus prays for His Father’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In heaven Satan was cast out. Your friend asks if our prayers can also limit Satan’s working in our homes, churches and communities? What do you tell your friend? How can you pray this week for your community in light of the cosmic conflict?
We are all in the midst of the cosmic battle. We are all wounded warriors struggling to survive and even thrive. The other day, to remind myself how everyone is fighting a battle against the adversary in this conflict, I walked into my local grocery store. However, this time I did something different.
Instead of just seeing random faces in the isles, when I saw the lady examining ripe tomatoes, I told myself, for all I know this woman just lost her father earlier this week. As I saw the man passing me in the other direction in the cereal aisle, I told myself, for all I know his wife just left him yesterday, As I went to get bread, I told myself the lady getting the whole wheat rolls may have just been diagnosed with cancer, As I waited in the checkout lane I told myself the teenage boy in front of me may be fighting an addiction that terrifies him, and yet he is too afraid to cry out for help for fear of his family and community condemning him and only making matters worse. So, the war rages inside of him while he battles alone, standing there in the middle of the supermarket crowd, feeling about as isolated as a lone kayaker swept out to sea.
Then I thought of how Jesus came into our dark world not only to conquer sin and death for His own sake but on behalf of every warrior who has been wounded by the adversary in the cosmic battle. What words would He have today for the boy fighting unimaginable addictions all alone, or for the others who were picking out produce, cereal and bread in the midst of their heart-wrenching ordeals? My mind remembered,
“Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, who pleases me. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged. He will not falter or lose heart until justice prevails throughout the earth. Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction Isaiah 42:1-4 NLT
Then I remembered a passage from Desire of Ages, I looked it up when I got home, and interestingly enough found it to be in the chapter entitled, “Days of Conflict.“
He passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the saving remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself, He presented a lesson that was appropriate to the time and the circumstances. He sought to inspire with hope the most rough and unpromising, setting before them the assurance that they might become blameless and harmless, attaining such a character as would make them manifest as the children of God. Often He met those who had drifted under Satan’s control, and who had no power to break from his snare. To such a one, discouraged, sick, tempted, and fallen, Jesus would speak words of tenderest pity, words that were needed and could be understood. Others He met who were fighting a hand-to-hand battle with the adversary of souls. These He encouraged to persevere, assuring them that they would win; for angels of God were on their side, and would give them the victory. Those whom He thus helped were convinced that here was One in whom they could trust with perfect confidence. He would not betray the secrets they poured into His sympathizing ear.-Ellen White, Desire of Ages, Pages 91-92.
I remembered reading in Steps to Christ recently in prayer meeting,
There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. –Ellen White, Steps to Christ, Page 64.
I appreciated that fact that while we are in the midst of this cosmic battle that,
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:15-16, NLT.
So when we are tempted, we can go to our sympathizing High Priest to find the grace to obey (Romans 1:5) and do good works (Ephesians 2:8-10) and even live godly lives right here on earth (Titus 2:11-12). However, if for any reason we fall, God will never despise a broken and repentant heart (Psalm 51:17) no matter how many times the same sin has already broken the same heart. Every time we fall we are to claim His mercy and forgiveness. This is not cheap grace. This is expensive grace –biblical grace . Too many people have been accused of wanting cheap grace when in reality they are broken-hearted and tired of hurting their Savior. To such I say, “You hurt Jesus more by not accepting His forgiveness and mercy. Jesus promises the power to overcome when we are tempted, and if we fall He promises forgiveness.”
When you are tempted to sin don’t fall for the lie that you cannot overcome the temptation. “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” Romans 8:37 NLT
When you have fallen into sin don’t fall for the lie that Jesus won’t forgive you. “But if we confess our sins to him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” 1 John 1:9 NLT
In the midst of the raging cosmic battle, we never need to be discouraged. Mercy and grace, forgiveness and victory are all ours whenever we need them. When we are tempted, Jesus is telling us, “Don’t give up. I can help you overcome this temptation.” When we overcome, hallelujah, praise the Lord! Keep holding tightly to Jesus, because that’s the only way we overcame. But when we fall, Jesus tells us, “I can forgive you – again.” Either way Jesus is always telling us “Don’t give up!”
Jesus is here to encourage us. Let’s encourage one another.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School Lesson here.
In Light of The Cross 