A purpose of Jacob's Lifespan: The last Days
Just before Jacob died, he gathered his twelve sons together to tell them what would befall them in
This is the first use of the well know phrase which has become a common reference today. Non of the twelve sons queried its meaning, so we must assume that they understood what Jacob meant.
How could this be? If there is no previous use of the phrase, how are we to understand what is meant by its use in this context?
If we determine how the word 'days' was intended to be understood by Jacob's sons, a glimmer of light might fall on the phrase. Going back through the preceding verses to see where this Hebrew word DAYS is used, we will be able to make a list of those references which might apply. There are many, but it was the last, the one prior to the use of the phrase 'The Last Days', which seemed to be pregnant with a hidden meaning,
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: and the days of Jacob were the years of his life, seven years and a hundred and forty years. [Genesis 47:28]
This is the Interlinear Literal translation, the KJV loses the meaning. Here in this literal translation is the phrase: 'The days of Jacob'. The Scripture seems to be indicating a parallel between the years of Jacob's life and the days of Jacob's life. Here are a few examples:
In God's forming and creating of the Earth which He describes in the first chapter of Genesis, there are seven DAYS referred to.
- The Book of The Revelation describes The Day of The Lord (Rev 1:10). Certainly not 24 hours.
- The Day of Man (Cor. 4:3) is a vast period of time, from Noah's day to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
- The Day of God seems to have no limit in time (2 Peter 3:12)
- The Lord says that A Day with Him is like a thousand years. (2 Peter 3:8)
Using the name 'Jacob' suggests that the period is related to this time in the flesh. If so, then the events in the life of Jacob reflect events in the life of the Israelites. What is the limiting span of that life? Jacob lived for 147 years and we know from a study of all the Last Days references that the events at the time of the 'parousia' or Second Coming of Their Messiah, limits the days of the life of the tribes of Israel. This being so, those chosen of God from Jacob, all the tribes of The whole House of Israel, begin their span of life at Jacob's birth and end it at the events occurring at the parousia of Jesus Christ which is the equivalent of Jacob's earthly walk, to his death.
When Jacob described The last Days of his twelve sons, they therefore understood that he was describing the equivalent time to the Last Days of his own life. Let us therefore examine one or two events in the life of Jacob in an attempt to define the meaning and span of The Last Days.
The whole House of Israel in the flesh began at the same time, 2024bc and will have concluded by 2477ad when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of The Lord [Rev 11:15 and Daniel 2:29-45] immediately before the Second Advent of The Lord Jesus Christ. See second chart below.
= 4500 years.....10 x 10 x 5 x 9
to 1500years in the life of the Tribes of Israel
of Israel leading up to the events at The Christ's Second Advent.
The following simple diagram explains this relationship:
In the belief that the events in the years of the life of Jacob indicate the events in the days of the nation of Israel, we therefore need to know what God refers to as the last days of Jacob's life, shown as 17 years in this diagram.
The last part of the life of Jacob was spent in Egypt, 17 years in fact [Genesis 47:28] As we are aware, this came about because of a severe famine in Canaan in which Jacob and his family were dwelling, causing them to trek into Egypt to avail them of the abundance of corn which his son Joseph had stored during the seven years of plenty. We are also aware of the very important position Joseph held in the state of Egypt. He was instrumental in bringing and saving the whole of Jacob's family into Egypt. We must therefore consider Joseph's position in the eyes of God.
The Rev. C.I.Scofield's notes point out that:
While it is nowhere asserted that Joseph was a type of Christ, the analogies are too numerous to be accidental. They are:both were especial objects of a father's love.
both were hated by their brethren.
the superior claims of both were rejected by their brethren.
the brethren of both conspired against them to slay them.
Joseph was, in intent and figure, slain by his brethren, as was Christ.
each became a blessing among the Gentiles.
as Joseph reconciled his brethren to himself, and afterwards exalted them, so will it be with Christ and His Jewish brethren.
Thus The Whole House of Jacob/Israel submitted themselves to their close relative, Joseph, in fulfilment of the dream that prophesied that his Father, Mother and all his brethren would bow down to him [Gen 37:5-10], even as the God of Israel, Jesus Christ will receive obeisance from all of the Israelites.
Jacob was 130 years old when he and his whole family moved into Egypt having their lives saved by Joseph, the type of Christ. Could this momentous point in Jacob's life be directly related to a similar point in the life of The House of Israel? What therefore is this equivalent span of time in the life of that House?
- It is understood that The Christ was born in 4bc, relative to our present dating system.
- God deprived the Judahites of their Spiritual understanding in 62ad. [Acts 28:26-27] Therefore there is no special relationship between Him and the Judahites today. This present Godly Administration [Ephesians 3:2] is not included in the 'life of Jacob', therefore 62ad marked the end of the first part of The Last Days. From 4bc to 62ad is 65 years.
[when adding BC years to AD years, the total must be reduced by one year because there is no zero year]
- The Judahites will not regain their Spiritual understanding until 2022ad. This deprivation will have lasted 1960years.
- In this year of 2022ad, The Last Days will recommence and will end when Daniel's prophesy of the 70weeks of years ends at the events of the 2nd coming in 2477ad. From 2022ad to 2477ad is 455 years.
- The addition of these two periods is the time between The Christ's first Advent, and the events at the tine of His Second and is therefore the time occupied by the prophesied Last Days of the Tribes of Israel before the second personal presence [gk: parousia] of their Messiah.
- This period totals: 455 + 65 = 520 years.
Please Note:
Although this diagram does not show the full span of the Tribe of Israel's life up to The Second Advent of their Messiah, it does show the relationship between THE LAST DAYS and both this present Administration and the time of Daniel's prophesy of the 70 Weeks of years.
Because of this parallel in Jacob / Israel's life, we would expect to find other similarities in the two periods. By means of his authority in Egypt, Joseph eventually purchased all cattle and lands, giving them into the possession of Pharaoh. The people of Egypt, including the Israelites had no possessions except that which Pharaoh chose to give. This is similar to that Kingdom condition in which all those who were subject to the King 'had all things in common' [Acts 2:44-45] that is they had no personal possessions. Further research may reveal other parallels between the 147 year life of Jacob and the life of the tribes of Israel during that period.
The dates shown upon the following chart are based upon the administrative plan of God before He revealed and initiated the present Administration of His Grace
Conclusions
The determination of these times points to:
The probability that the statement in Genesis 47:28...and the days of Jacob were the years of his life, seven years and a hundred and forty years
...indicates the meaning of the DAYS, of which the LAST DAYS are part, this being the length of the life in the flesh of Jacob, with the double meaning of the length of life of the Whole Tribe of Israel which culminates at the Day of The Lord at which The Christ will be present on Earth as King.
A period of time which is referred to by all the Old and New Testament references to THE LAST DAYS.
The accuracy of the times displayed on the second chart.
The precise year of the Second Advent of the Messiah, measured from the time of Jacob's birth. This long period, partly measured in Jubilees includes the years from Jacob's birth in 2024bc through to THE LAST DAYS. It includes the date of The Christ's birth.† It includes both the present 1960 years of Spiritual blindness of the Jews and their inability to understand God's purposes. It includes the period of† Daniel's 70 weeks of years, concluding at the Second personal presence of Christ. It totals 4500years exactly, a significant number in the numerology of Scripture.
[It is erroneously assumed that the year of the parousia of The Son of Man, The Christ, cannot be known. The day and the hour are both hidden in The Father, but the year, is not ... Mat.24:36 and Mark 13:32. See also Ephesians 1:15 to 21]
Most importantly, the confirmation of God's intervention in 2022ad when He cancels His Spiritual blinding of The House of Judah [Isaiah 35:5] and follows this in seven years with the enlightenment or appearance of Jesus Christ [Ephesians 5:13-15, Col 3:4]. It is impossible for the present day non-Christian Jews to understand this fact.
Further Notes:
The last days of Jacob's life is 17 years, the years that he spent in Egypt with his twelve sons.
The equivalent time in the life of the House of Israel can be expressed as 'X'.
To be clear about this analogy, let us reconsider the first diagram from the beginning of the article.
As can be seen, the first and second comings [Gk: parousia] of The Christ are noted as a possible answer to our need to define the length of days known as The Last Days. The year of The Second Coming of The Christ is 2477ad [ref:1], a total of 4500 years from the birth of Jacob. If this period between the first and second coming is The Last Days, then we would expect to find a major event at the beginning of the last 17 years in the life of Jacob, an event which reflects the importance of The Christ's birth at the time that Jacob entered Egypt.
find a point of time at which The Last Days commence, the length of which is proportional to a similar period in the life of Jacob
Sin of Adam
Day of God
This period of years is confirmed as the equivalent of the last days of Jacob's life, the 17 years spent in Egypt before he died. This total of 520 years is confirmed by the equivalent proportion of years shown in the diagram on page 2.
17 / 147 and 'X' / 4500 when equated:
[where 'X' is the years of The Last Days]
This is the direct proportional relationship between the 147 years of Jacob's life, and the days of Israel's life from the birth of Jacob to the events at the time of the Second Coming of The Lord Jesus Christ, 4500years. [ref:3]
It should be noted that the exact figure is 250.41 corresponding to exactly 17 years.
If the figure were to be exactly 520 it would correspond to 16.98 years.
When Jacob tells Pharaoh that his life's journey up to that point of time was 130 years, he would hardly have said: 130 years plus 7.3 days. [130.02 years]
As regards the figure of 520 years therefore we can assume its accuracy well within +/- one year
Kingdoms of the World become Kingdoms of The Lord
Kingdoms of the World
become Kingdoms of
The Lord Jesus Christ
517ad [2477ad]
|
3007ad
Reference
Ref:1 See BY GRACE No: 10 Summation of Biblical dates.
Ref.2 See BY GRACE No. 39 The Last or Latter Days
Ref.3 See BY GRACE No. 70 A New Translation of Danielís 70 Weeks Prophecy