Spir Dynamics 130 1/24/93; 9/25/75

DOCTRINE OF DAYS

A. There are three ways of distinguishing time in the word of God.

1. Dispensations—which emphasize the plan of God throughout history.

2. Civilizations—which emphasize the fact that because of spiritual death at birth and subsequent unrestrained functions of the sin nature, homo sapiens have the tendency to be self-destructive. Therefore, each civilization begins with believers only and ends with destruction and removal of all unbelievers.

a. The antediluvian civilization began with Adam and the woman and ended with Noah and the flood.

b. The postdiluvian civilization began with Noah and his family of seven others and ends with the baptism of fire at the Second Advent in which all unbelievers are cast off the earth.

c. The millennium begins with the baptism of fire at the Second Advent and ends with the Gog revolution, The Last Judgment or Great White Throne judgment in which all unbelievers are cast into the lake of fire forever.

3. Days—which emphasize the divine period of time for a divine trend in history.

4. 2 Pet 3:8, “But beloved, stop letting this one fact escape your notice, that one day from the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like one day.”

B. A day in the Bible can refer to a solar day or twenty-four hours.

1. The six days of restoration. Gen 1:3-31. Creation only took an instant, but restoration took six literal days.

2. The Sabbath refers to a twenty-four hour day, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The Roman day was from midnight to midnight.

3. “The Lord’s day,” i.e., Sunday, Rev 1:10.

4. “One day at a time,” Rom 14:5-6.

5. Taking in doctrine daily, Ps 119:97

C. A figurative day in the Bible can be less than twenty-four hours; it is an instant, a second.

1. “The day of salvation,” 2 Cor 6:2.

2. “The day of Christ” refers to an instant of time, the Rapture, 1 Cor 15; Phil 1:10, 2:16.

3. “The day of redemption” in the Scripture has a dual connotation, Eph 4:29-30. Redemption of the soul at the moment of salvation through faith in Christ or the redemption of the body at the moment of resurrection.

4. “The day of God” refers the beginning of the eternal state, 2 Pet 3:12, 18.

D. A figurative day in the Bible can be more than twenty-four hours.

1. “The day of wrath” refers to the sentencing of the unbeliever at the Last Judgment, Rom 2:5; Rev 20:12-15. The actual time span of the last judgment is unknown, but it is definitely more than twenty-four hours.

2. “The day of evaluation” refers to the Judgment Seat of Christ (which lasts for seven years) where there will be instant judgment of the believer’s human good, 1 Cor 3:3-13.

3. “The day of the Lord” includes the Rapture, the last half of the Tribulation, Second Advent, and Millennium, totalling 1007 years. It is also used for any portion of this period, the context dictating how long. Isa 2:12, 13:6; Joel 1:15, 2:1; Zech 14:1, 1 Thes 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10.

E. Biblical Observations About Days.

1. Days are lost through divine discipline.

a. Ps 102:3, “For my days vanish like the smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.”

b. Ps 102:23, “In the course of my life, He broke my strength; He cut short my days.”

c. Ps 89:49, “You have cut short the days of his youth; And you have covered him with a mantle of shame.”

d. Ps 90:9, “All of our days pass under Your wrath; We finish our years with a moan.”

2. There is the importance of Bible doctrine for length of days. Prov 3:1-2, “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments. Why keep the word of God? For length of days and years of life and prosperity. They [Bible doctrines] will add that to you.”

3. Days are related to right priorities, Ps 90:12, “Teach us to number our days completely, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

4. Arrogance destroys living a day at a time.

a. Prov 27:1, “Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day will bring forth.”

b. Ps 25:5, “Guide me with Your doctrine and train me because You are the God of my deliverance. All day long I have confidence in You.”

c. 2 Cor 4:16, “Therefore, we are not discouraged; for though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is renewed day by day.”

R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

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