Rest and Restitution

The application of numerous corroborative time-measurements connected with the Entrance of the Pyramid (Which we have already covered in Part 1 of our study), will be better appreciated by the reader if we first detail the time-features of the diagrams entitled “Rest and Restitution,” (Number 8) and “Dominion Parallels” (Number 3), which we will examine in more detail in the next segment of our study).

The Apostle Paul explains that the Law was a “shadow of good things to come,” and that the experiences of the children of Israel “happened unto them as types, and are written for our admonition on whom the ends of the Ages have come” (Heb. 10:1; 1 Cor. 10:10, margin). Now, times and seasons constituted an important feature of the ordinances and experiences of the nation of Israel. In Exod. 20:8-11 we read: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt do no work . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Also from Lev. 25:1-5 we learn that the people of Israel were commanded to let the land rest every seventh year. According to the Apostle we must regard the Sabbath day, and the Sabbath year, as types (Col. 2:16, 17).

The seventh day of rest of the Great Jehovah began after he created man. For a short period Adam had dominion over the earth under the sovereignty of his Creator; we therefore understand that God’s rest would not begin till the fall* (See Note #1 at the bottom of page), when the whole world was abandoned to its fate because of the disobedience of its federal head Adam. From that time till the flood God permitted the angels, and after the flood he has permitted Satan, to exercise the controlling power over man. During the Millennial Age Christ will reign. Accordingly, it will not be until “the thousand years” are finished and God has resumed his sovereignty that his great “Rest Day” will have ended. Thenceforward the condition will be as it was during the short period of innocence in the Garden of Eden; the perfect man will once more have dominion over the earth under the sovereignty of his Creator.

The harmony of the diagram we are now considering, and also of several other diagrams shown on pages 24 and 25, gives us reason to believe that the short period of innocence between the creation and fall of Adam was two years. As the Bible dates show that Adam was created in 4128 B.C., his fall took place in 4126 B.C. From then till 1874 A.D. (the date of our Lord’s return) is 6000 years. 1000 years more will bring us to the time when Christ will deliver up the Kingdom to the Father (1 Cor. 15:23-28). Thus, God’s Sabbath day comprises a period of seven thousand years in all. It is probable (that is to say, most logical, being as order is heavens first law) that the six preceding “days” during which God pursued his works of creation that they were likewise periods of seven thousand years as illustrated in the diagram below (See Note # 2 at bottom of page).

Although God entered into his rest after he passed the sentence of death upon Adam, Jesus intimated that his Father had nevertheless been working—”My Father works hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17). This does not seem in agreement with the statement that God was resting; but when we recall the occasion on which Jesus uttered these words the explanation is clear. Jesus had just cured a man who had been paralyzed from his birth, and the Jews had rebuked him for working on the Sabbath day. Jesus’ answer shows that his cavilers had not rightly interpreted the Law, for works of mercy on the Sabbath day do not violate God’s Law of Love. Quite to the contrary, love dictates these works.

Hitherto the Father had been working during His rest day, in so restraining the wrath of man, and overruling the affairs of earth, that eventually the poor world’s salvation from the miry clay of sin and from the dreadful Pit of death might be accomplished! Which of the Jews having an ox or ass fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, would not immediately draw it out? How much more, then, would the love of God dictate the rescue of his beloved Son from the grave on his great Sabbath day. The raising of our Lord from the dead was the beginning of the “New Creation,” and was the supreme evidence of God’s mighty power (Eph. 1:18-23).

The Apostle in 2 Pet. 3:8 says: “Be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” From this standpoint we may regard the period of seven thousand years from the fall of Adam to the end of the Millennium as a “week,” each “day” of which is a thousand years long. The first period of one thousand years forms the First Adam’s “day,” referred to by God when he said to Adam: “in the day thou eats thereof dying thou shalt die.” Adam died within his 1000-year day (Gen. 2:17; 5:5).

The seventh period of one thousand years is the “day” appointed by God during which the “Last Adam” shall judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31; 1 Cor. 15:45, 47). Jesus said: “The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day” (Matt. 12:8). This is one of the proofs that Christ’s Second Advent was due to begin in 1874 A.D., for as he is “Lord of the Sabbath” we would expect him to be present immediately as HIS seventh 1000-year “day” began.

 

The Israelite’s were commanded by God to let the land rest every seventh year, counting from the time they entered Canaan, i.e., from the year 1575 B.C. (See Bible dates, Sec. III). After seven of these cycles of seven years, or 49 in all, the next year, the 50th, was to be a special Sabbath or rest year, called the jubilee. Thus the 49th and 50th years were both Sabbaths. In the former the land was to have its rest, and in the latter not only was the land to rest, but there was to be a RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS (Lev. 25:8-10). God foretold through Moses, however, that the nation would never properly observe these Sabbath years (Lev. 26:34, 35); they were principally intended to serve as types of a greater Sabbath or jubilee year.

In spite of their continued iniquity God was long-suffering with the Israelite’s. Many times it seemed as if he would cause their overthrown, but it was not till 606 B.C. that he permitted the Gentiles to remove their crown, and carry them into captivity. The land then lay desolate for seventy years to fulfill its Sabbaths (2 Chron. 36:11-21). The Lord thus indicated that 70 jubilee years in all should have been observed. For the long period of 969 years during which the people of Israel were in possession of their land, they were permitted by God to observe, if they would, their jubilee years; but when he overthrew their kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar this privilege was taken out of their hands. Never thereafter could the jubilee be kept by them, for the “times of the Gentiles” had now begun, and they were merely servants in the land after the end of the 70 years desolation (Neh. 9:36, 37). Thus the typical jubilee years ceased in 626 B.C., that is, 950 years after the nation entered Canaan under Joshua.

Jesus said: “Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18). The jubilee years typified the great “Times of Restitution of all things,” at the beginning of which, the Apostle Peter intimated, Jesus Christ was to be sent from heaven (Acts 3:19-21).

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive (welcome) UNTIL the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” NKJV

“Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven UNTIL the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.” New Living Translation

As the date of the Second Advent of Christ is 1874 A.D., there is apparently in this feature of the law a long interval between type and antitype. But according to the declaration of Jesus just quoted, it is not possible for any part of the law to cease until it is fulfilled in its antitype. It is clear, therefore, that the period of the “Times of Restitution” does not completely fulfill the jubilee type. Something further requires fulfillment.

Due to the length of this particular segment (as well as its great importance in confirming the Second Advent of our Lord) we will break here and continue with our next post.

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Note # 1: from the account given in the scriptures specifically Gen 2:1, 2 it would appear that God’s rest began prior to Adam’s fall, not after his fall. It should be noted that the true ending of the first chapter of Genesis ends with Verse 3 of Chapter 2, not verse 31 of Chapter 1. If then we follow the narrative in its proper order we note that in verse 31 God declared the work of the sixth day “very good”, i.e. perfect, for all God’s works are perfect, the last of these works being the creation of man. It was at the end of this “day” that God’s work was finished (2:1), and on the seventh day he rested. One would imagine that God would not enter into his rest until he had completed his work and declared it perfect, and as such this would be while Adam was in his perfect condition not his fallen condition. This of course is only my personal thoughts on the matter.

Note # 2: this in no way implies that the physical earth itself is only a little over 49,000 years old at present; this is not what is meant here. We’re speaking here only of the creative or preparation work in readying the earth for the arrival of man, the physical globe, the earth itself is… as is suggested by many scientist well over 4 billion years old. If you note closely in the Genesis account prior to the LORD’s first work on the first day it states in Verse 2, “Now the earth was…” that is to say it already existed, but was without form, not yet prepared for the arrival of life.  

Great Pyramid Passages Page 117-126, par. 280-309