Yesterday we looked at the 4,000 years from Adam to Christ, and saw that God had hidden this time period in the regulations for slaying the Passover Lamb.
Our present concern is to investigate the possibility of finding the approximate time for the establishment of God’s Kingdom, something which has yet to be established on earth.
In Hosea 5:15 – 6:2 we read, “I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress they seek me, saying, ‘Come, let us return to the Lord, for He has torn, that He may heal us; He has stricken, and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him.”
These words were addressed to Ephraim, and therefore, by inference, to the whole of the northern kingdom of Israel. As they stand, these words have a local significance, and historically would have no meaning outside the context of Hosea’s prophecy. But we have seen that God hid the 4,000 years in a manner that could never have been understood until the event of the Crucifixion had happened. What if there is something similar here?
In Luke 21:24 we read, “Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
In Romans 11:25 we read, “Blindness has come upon in Israel in part until the fullness of the Gentiles come in, and then all Israel will be saved, because it is written, ‘A Deliverer will come from Zion and turn ungodliness from Jacob.’”
In Matthew 23:39 we read, “You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Putting all this together it is clear that historically Israel has been scattered for about 2,000 years, and if we are allowed to take Hosea’s words prophetically, it could mean that the return of Christ, and the setting up of the Kingdom is about to happen. That being so, it should cause us to “gird up our loins” and make sure we are prepared for this climactic event. “After two days” refers to the 2,000 years from Christ, and “the third day” would then be the thousand year reign of Christ known as the Millennium.
