In the study of God’s Word, one must always remember that there is nothing that is written in Scripture that is “accidental”. As we have observed, there are at least 6 prophetic timelines that point to the year 2030 A.D. as potentially having great significance in God’s Prophetic Clock, as it may indeed be the last year of man’s 6,000 years of self-rule. In that the number 7 is constantly used throughout Scripture to designate completeness; it should come then as no surprise that there may be yet another prophetic timeline that points to the potential importance of the year 2030 in God’s Prophetic Word.
Throughout God’s Word, it is not uncommon to find prophecies that have both a “near and far” fulfillment. A prime example of this would be God’s future promises to Abraham and his “seed” concerning the “land” of Israel in the giving of the Abrahamic Covenant:
“In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed
have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.”
Genesis 15:18
The near fulfillment of this prophecy was accomplished in the year 1401 B.C. when Abraham’s seed had finally entered the land and began sowing and reaping it, thus initiating the Jubilee Cycles. The use of the word “seed” in association with the “Land” of Israel however had a dual meaning in God’s Covenant with Abraham, as it was also intended to ultimately refer to Jesus Christ and His connection with the Land, as Paul pointed out in the Book of Galatians:
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds,
as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Galatians 3:16
This “far fulfillment” of the prophetic aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant of Genesis 15 will occur on the day that Jesus returns to rule over the whole earth from the land of Israel during His Millennial Kingdom.
Another “near and far fulfillment” concerning prophecy can also be found in the Book of Hosea:
“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of
Egypt.” Hosea 11:1
This is a reference to the Nation of Israel having escaped their slavery in Egypt at the time of the Exodus. This being the “near or early fulfillment” of their enslavement that had been prophesied in Genesis 15:13. It is also a reference to a later time when Jesus’ father Joseph would bring Jesus out of Egypt, after having brought Jesus there to escape the wrath of Herod (Matthew 2:15). This event being a “far fulfillment” of this same prophecy from the Book of Genesis referenced here in the Book of Hosea.
Yet another instance of prophecy having a near and far fulfillment can be seen in Jesus’ statement to the Pharisees in the Book of Luke:
“And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox (Herod), Behold, I cast out devils,
and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the “3rd day” I shall be perfected.” Luke 13:32
This is a veiled prophecy which had a near fulfillment at the time of Jesus’ resurrection on the 3rd day after the Crucifixion. This will also have a future far fulfillment, when after two “God Days” of 2,000 years, Jesus will be glorified once again on the 3rd day when He returns to initiate His 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom.
The Potential Dual Aspect of Daniel Chapter 9
In the 9th Chapter of the Book of Daniel, we find the famous prophecy of the 1st coming of the Messiah after the completion of 69 sets of sabbatical years (483 years), followed by a gap of time, and then an additional week of 7 years before His 2nd Coming back to the earth (Daniel 9:24-27). These 490 years would be initiated by a decree that was made by Artaxerxes II to go forth and restore Jerusalem in 457 B.C. (Daniel 9:25). We know that the first 483 years were accomplished at the time of Jesus’ presenting Himself to the Nation of Israel at the time of His baptism (Mark 1:15 “the time is fulfilled”), likely in the year 27 A.D. The remaining 7 years will occur during the time of Jacob’ Trouble, the 7- year Tribulation Period, thus rounding out the full 490 years.
The potential 2nd prophetic aspect of Daniel Chapter 9’s “determined” period of 490 years (Daniel 9:24) didn’t come into focus until the 16th Century when King Suleiman the Magnificent of Turkey also initiated a program to restore Jerusalem, which was then at the time under the domain of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. It is said that Suleiman issued the decree to restore the city in 1535 A.D., and that the work was fully completed 7 years later in 1542 A.D.
Of even greater significance however is that the over-riding purpose of the restoration was to rebuild the walls of the old city of Jerusalem, which was completed in the year 1540 A.D. This is important because in the ancient world, a city without defensible walls was not a true city at all. An example of this is the fact that in the Book of Ezekiel, in the end times the Land of Israel is described as “a nation without walls” (Ezekiel 38:11), which is a clear indication of their vulnerability to being attacked.
While we might assume that the second 490-year cycle should also begin with a decree to initiate the work of restoration of Jerusalem, we must remember that when prophecies have a near and far fulfillment in Scripture, that all the “particulars” concerning the 2nd fulfillment don’t always match up perfectly on a one-to-one basis with the 1st fulfillment. This is because near and far fulfillments in Biblical Prophecy are a part of Biblical Typology, and Biblical Typology is seldom exact in its representations of the two or more events that represent the types. In typology, the similarities between the 2 types or proceedings being presented are typically so akin to one another that they are obviously not just “coincidental” events, hence the latter occurrence is said to be a “type” of the former.
When we consider the complete 490 year “determined” time interval associated with end-time events in Daniel’s vision, and couple these years with Suleiman’s restoration of Jerusalem, an interesting phenomenon appears. For when we add the 490 years onto 1540 A.D., the year that Jerusalem once again became a viable restored defensible walled city, we again arrive at the year 2030 A.D., the year that we have seen in 6 other prophetic timelines that represents the completion of man’s 6 days or 6,000 years of self-rule !!!
While some may say that this is mere “coincidence”, we must remember that in God’s ordering of the events of human history, there are no coincidences. For Scripture tells us that God, “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11), and in God’s Sovereign Plan, that history does indeed often “repeat itself” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
It is important to remember that to establish solid truth in the spiritual realm, God’s Word requires that there be at least 2 or 3 attestations to any subject matter (“In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” II Corinthians 13:1). When God’s Word makes more than 3 attestations to any theological matter of interest in Scripture, it is an indication that He is drawing special attention to this particular theological point. With 6 timeline references to the year 2030 A.D. in Biblical prophecy, it is abundantly clear that this year holds particular significance in God’s ordering of human history. This additional 7th attestation might rightly conclude that God, in so doing, has placed His finishing touches on the 2030 Prophetic Timeline regarding the importance of the year 2030 A.D. !!!
