exactly 2000 years?　

Bereans On her website boinnk.nl, Silvia Videler is searching her way through the multitude of perspectives presented with respect to the end times. She describes the difficulty she has with the fact that one says this and another says something different. After having examined a variety of different views, she stresses the importance of being independent and having the freedom to check everything out, herself, in light of Scripture, as did the Bereans of long ago (Acts 17:11). Yes, that is right! – if there is one precious legacy which the Reformation has bequeathed us, it must be this attitude of Sola Scriptura. two errors The reason for writing this weblog is that Silvia wrote the following comment:

Should we believe the “school” of A. Piet, who teaches that the snatching away will happen exactly 2000 years after Christ’s death and resurrection, thus, as yet with many years of waiting before us?

Only one sentence, but it contains two errors. Because I so often run up against this, it seems useful to set it right, this time. The truth is that I never taught that the snatching away of the ecclesia (described in 1Thessalonians 4) will occur “exactly 2000 years after Christ’s death and resurrection”. What indeed GoedBericht.nl puts forward, is that the “two days” in the prophecy of Hosea 6, represent two millennia, beginning with Christ’s departure. But the above quote is not quite right for two reasons. reason # 1: Israel The first reason is that the period of “two days” specifically refers to Israel.

*He will make US (= Israel) alive after two days… Hosea 6:2

The “two days” will end at Israel’s repentance, which will coincides with the return of the LORD.

I (= Yahweh) shall go again to My place until they are pleading guilty, and they seek My face… Hosea 5:15 

And a little later:

He shall make us alive after two days; on the third day He shall raise us up… Hosea 6:2,3

Since the snatching away of the ecclesia, as I understand it, will be three and a half years prior to Christ’s appearance to Israel, on the Mount of Olives, is this already reason enough to say that the snatching away will not be exactly two thousand years after Christ’s death and resurrection. reason # 2: about two thousand But perhaps more important in this context, is the fact that the period of two millennia is possibly a rounded-off period. The calculated time period may indeed end around 2030. We must take into account a margin. Illustrative in this context is the expression: “ABOUT two thousand cubits…” mentioned in Joshua 3:4. In that recorded history, this reference is made with respect to the distance between “the ark of the covenant” and the people of Israel, in their crossing of the Jordan River. This is a beautiful type of how first, Christ (=the ark) would die and rise (= the Jordan of death) followed at a distance by Israel. The people of Israel trace the same trajectory as her Messiah, but two millennia later (>2 Peter 3:8). How exactly is this term? Is it accurate to the century, the decade, or the exact year? calculated date In calculating the due date of a pregnancy, a margin of a four-week-error is always taken into account. With respect to the total time of a pregnancy, this is a margin of ten percent. The delivery can happen two weeks before or two weeks after the due date. Every parents knows, from experience, how exciting it can be around those weeks… What I’m saying with this is that the calculated time is an indication – no less and no more. It makes our “joyful expectation” and the outlook on “salvation” that much more exciting… ——————————— translation: Peter Feddema

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