TWO DAYS EQUALS TWO THOUSAND YEARS? by Roy A. Reinhold, revised slightly on December 29, 2001 Many people have written fantastic treatises, publishing their theories of how there is a church age of 2000 years. All of these people count the 2000 years from the birth of Yeshua (Jesus), as if saying that the church age began when Yeshua was a baby. Yet all will admit that no one was born again by the Holy Spirit until the prophetic fulfillment of Pentecost (Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot), when the Holy Spirit fell on those gathered in the upper room, as a mighty rushing wind and with flames of fire. One might reasonably ask, "why the disconnect in recognizing when the church began by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the church age when counting 2000 years?" On what day did the christian church begin? There is of course no defense for the disconnect! We recognize that those who have crafted this misleading device may be well-meaning believers, but with a personal agenda. They wanted and desired the church age to end when they said it would end. People have fallen into two camps, the earlier ones used 2000 years of 360 days/year (1971 years and 108 days of 365/days/year). In which case, the predicted end of the church age was 1972 (1 BC birth) or 1969 (4 BC birth). Since the passage of time proved them wrong, the next camp arose, counting 2000 years of 365.25 days/year. They predicted the end of the church age in 1996 (4 BC) or 1999 (1 BC). [Note: I have determined the actual birthdate of Yeshua (Jesus) to be September 11, 3 BC in a 5-part article on this website, based on work from the Bible codes and scholarly work from others. In their methodology of calculating from the birth of Yeshua, then the church age would have ended in 1997, which it didn't]. The whole framework they worked from is flawed, by calculating from the birthdate of Yeshua. One place in which two days are mentioned is the prophecy in Hosea 6:1-2, where each day is rightly understood to mean a 1000 years, as stated in 2 Peter 3:8. Hosea 6:1-2 Come, let us return to the Lord. For he has torn us, but He will heal us; he has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him. 2 Peter 3:8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. These verses frame the subject of this article; something wonderful is going to happen after the 2 days or 2000 years! The starting point of the count is determined from within Hosea 6:1-2. When Yeshua (Jesus) was performing His ministry on earth, He taught and healed people, but He taught the people of Israel in parables and only taught plainly to the disciples in private. One could jump to the conclusion that the starting point should be the baptism of Yeshua by John, but He hadn't fulfilled the promise of Hosea 6:1-2 at that point. I'm going to show that the starting point for the counting should begin at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, when people were sealed by God into His kingdom and born again. After all, John the baptizer taught openly the following message: Matthew 3:11 As for me, I baptize you in water for repentance; but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not even fit to remove His sandals; He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. When was the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire begun? First, we need to backtrack momentarily to set the time frame. Sir Robert Anderson calculated the 69 weeks of Daniel 9:24-27, from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince. Without going through the calculations myself, because many scholars have done that already, I'll just say that the consensus is that the decree was on March 14, 445 BC, and the 69 weeks of years ended on Sunday, April 6, 32 AD. On the next Sunday, April 13, 32 AD, Yeshua went to the Father in heaven after the resurrection took place to fulfill the Wave Offering of the sheaf. 40 days later on Saturday, May 24, 32 AD, Yeshua (Jesus) ascended into heaven. Finally, June 1, 32 AD, the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost (Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks) to fulfill the prophecy of the Wave Offering of the two loaves from the spring harvest. Was that when the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire began, in the upper room? Without discussing why the starting point for our discussion of the 2000 years is not the crucifixion day, the resurrection day, or the ascension day of Yeshua, I'll just come out and say that it is when the Holy Spirit was poured out. Israel was bandaged by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (referring to Hosea 6:1-2). A certain amount of Israel were saved, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and changed from the inside out. The prophecy of Hosea 6:1-2 concerns Israel, not the church. Therefore, the rest of that prophecy concerns Israel also, not the church. With our starting point to count from June 1, 32 AD, we can count the 2000 years. If we count 2000 years with 365.25 days/year with the correction implemented by the Gregorian calendar of leap centuries, we arrive at a date of June 1, 2032 AD. However, I believe that the same system used by Sir Robert Anderson, a prophetic year of 360 days/year is used, then we arrive at a much earlier date. Multiply 2000 years by 360 and divide that total by 365 and you'll get 1972 years and 220 days. This is equal to 1971 years and 585 days (220+365=585). We need it in that form because we have to correct for leap years and leap centuries. 32 AD was a leap year, so we know that there are 492 leap years in 1971 years, not 493 (1971+32=2003, where 2004 is a leap year). There are 5 leap centuries in that time frame (400, 800, 1200, 1600, & 2000 AD). All of the other century years are not leap years even though they are divisible evenly by 4, this is the crux of the changeover from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. So, there are 20 century years between 32 AD and 2003 AD, with only 5 of them being leap centuries. Therefore, we have to subtract 15 from our total leap years (20-5=15) to account for leap centuries. Subtract 15 from 492 leap years (492-15=477) giving us a corrected number of leap years of 477. Our final step is to take the 1971 years and 585 days and subtract 477 leap days, because the year is not 365 days/year but closer to 365.25 days/year. 1971 years & 585 days minus 477=1971 years and 108 days. The 1971 years and 108 days is the correct interval of 2000 years with a prophetic 360 days/year. If we count from June 1, 32 AD without counting June 1 in 32 AD, we arrive at 17 September 2003 AD. If June 1, 32 AD is counted, then it's 16 September. I believe that you should not count June 1, 32 AD and believe that 17 September 2003 AD is the correct day. After all of these calculations, what does it all mean? What will occur on September 17, 2003 AD? That is the $64,000 question using a cliché from the 1950's. If you believe it's the end of the church age, then you are likely to view it as the rapture or catching away of the church, especially if you're pre-trib! However, that's not what the prophecy of Hosea 6:1-2 is all about. The meaning of the Hosea 6:1-2 prophecy, is that God will revive Israel after two days (2000 years), and then on the third day He will raise up Israel. The important point to note is that the "after two days" is not the exact same day as the "on the third day." If it were, why would God repeat Himself. No, it infers a space of time between the two events. This space of time will take place during the end-times 7 year period. Not that the "after two days" is the peace treaty of prophecy beginning the end-times period, for God has stated that the peace treaty is a treaty with hell and death. (Isaiah 28:15, 18; Psalm 83:5) Solomon's Temple took 7 years to complete, after they had spent 3 years preparing the timbers and stones for the Temple. (1 Kings 6:1, 38; 8:2, 65; 2 Chronicles 3:2; 5:3; 7:8-10; and Josephus Book 8 Chapter 4). The 2nd Temple, after the Babylonian captivity, took much longer, because the Jews were forced to quit work on the Temple for a time until King Darius ordered his governors not to hinder the building of the Temple. It was started in the 2nd year and 2nd month of King Cyrus (Ezra 3:8-10) and completed in the 9th year of King Darius, on the 23rd of the 12th month (Adar). King Herod completely rebuilt the Temple starting in the 18th year of his reign, taking down the old building and laying the foundation for a much bigger and more grand building. The rebuilt Temple of Herod took 1 year and 6 months to build. (Josephus Book 15 Chapter 11:1, 6). That was the Temple in which Yeshua walked in during His earthly ministry. If King Herod could completely take down and build a new Temple in 1.5 years, why do you doubt that with modern construction equipment, the Temple could not be built in one year? The Temple Institute has been preparing the Temple implements. Various organizations have been collecting donations to build the Temple since the 1970's. Priests and Levites are being trained in a yeshiva for Temple duties. Finally, unsubstantiated rumors have circulated that the stones for the building are/were prepared. Also, groups have been working on engineering drawings for the Temple construction. All that really needs to take place is the go-ahead signal to begin! It is therefore not out of the realm of possibility given all the facts of Temple preparations, that the Temple could be built and be operational in one year. Therefore, we forward the date of September 17, 2003 AD as the beginning date for building the Temple and approximately the date of the peace treaty of prophecy. This date is 10 days before Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets) on September 27, 2003 AD. (note: I realize this did not happen). What about accounting for the biblical day in the Jewish calendar running from evening to evening? That's a good point! Actually, I'd like to expand our September 17, 2003 AD date to run from the evening of the 16th to the evening of the 18th of September in 2003 AD, to account for the day running from evening to evening. Why would Israel be revived by dedicating building of the Temple, in order to fulfill the Hosea 6:1-2 prophecy? Israel would be spiritually revived, by God in His mercy accepting the sacrificial offerings at the rebuilt 3rd Temple. After all, in many places in scripture, God Himself calls this 3rd Temple, the Temple of God. Revelation 11:1-2 And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. And leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months." Joel chapters one and two are entirely about the Great Tribulation period. Note what the Temple is called there. Joel 1:9 The grain offering and the libation are cut off from the house of the Lord. Joel 1:13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, for the grain offering and the libation are withheld from the house of your God. God our Father calls this rebuilt 3rd Temple, His House, and the Temple of God. This should in no way threaten Christians, if God in His mercy chooses to accept the sacrifices and offerings of Jewish people at the rebuilt Temple. It does nothing to threaten the salvation and place you have as a born-again child of God. It's quite possible that the jewish people would begin services on the Temple Mount while the 3rd Temple is being built, using a tent or tabernacle of meeting. These services could begin within days of the peace treaty of prophecy being signed, since a temporary tent can quickly be set up.