A common belief among religious Jews, embraced even before the Second Temple era, was that the present world would have a time span of 6,000 years beginning with Adam. The belief was based on the conception of the seven-day week in the first chapter of Genesis—six days of creating, followed by a day of rest on the seventh, a paragon of a seven-day week for a pattern of things to come.

The Lord commanded his people, saying, “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God.” The word “week” in the Bible literally means a group of seven—be it measured in days, years, or thousands of years. While the days of labor given to mankind were solar, the days of the Lord were to be measured in millennia, one day being 1,000 years.

6,000 years, beginning with Adam, would conclude with the millennial Sabbath. The appearance of the sun on the fourth millennial day of creation was understood as a sign that the Messiah would appear at the end of 4,000 years and would usher in a messianic age upon his arrival.

At the end of 6,000 years, man’s dominion on earth concludes, and the Messiah establishes his eternal kingdom and reigns on earth for 1,000 years. All things in heaven, on earth, and below the earth are placed under his authority. The Seventh Day begins, and the Lord reigns as King of kings forever.

God created the heavenly lights on the fourth day, and the sun appeared for the first time. The fourth day is the center day of the week. The creation day of heavenly luminaries divides the week, with three days on either side of the middle day of luminaries.

The number three in the Bible is used as a harbinger. Jesus rose after three days; Jonah was in the whale’s belly for three days, and in the Genesis narrative of creation, after three days the sun appeared on the fourth. The

The candlestick (menorah) used for lighting the temple was designed similarly to the structure of a week. The fourth lamp was the Lamp of God—it rested atop the shaft and base, bearing all and supporting the other six branches and their lamps—three branches extending from one side of the shaft and three branches extending from the opposite side—seven lamps total.

The center lamp was the fourth of the seven; similarly, the heavenly luminaries were created in the center of the first week—a figure pointing to the Messiah, the Light of the world, who was to appear on the fourth millennial day.

The seven lamps allude to enlightenment and symbolize the seven days of creation; the center lamp was known as the Lamp of God. It was the only lamp with a shaft on a base; without it, the other lamps had no foundation. Similarly, the sun is the center of our solar system; it is the main source of light essential for all life and the central force of gravity holding all things together. The center lamp was lit before the others, and the lamps were never to be allowed to go out—another picture of Christ.

When Solomon built the first temple, he followed the pattern given to Moses by the Lord for all things, and he placed the lamps in the temple for lighting. There were ten candlesticks, a total of seventy lamps, and five were placed on each side of the temple.

The Apostle Paul asked in his letter to the Corinthians, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” Human vessels are temples foreshadowed by the temple and the candlesticks made by hands. The Omnipotent Temple in whom all others exist is God—“In my Father’s house are many mansions”—houses within a House.

Our bodies are to serve as temples for the Lord to dwell in; when Christ is in us, the sevenfold Spirit of God serves as our light—foreshadowed by the candlesticks in the first temple—seven flames that create one indivisible light.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is in you.” This is the eternal kingdom that will remain forever when all other things are dissolved—”And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” – Revelation 21:22-23

As the sun and the luminaries appeared on the fourth day of creation, at the end of the fourth millennial day—representing the end of the second 2,000-year age—Jesus came preaching, “I am the light of the world.” “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Still, one age remains.

The seven days of creation express God’s work and His rest after six days. On the fourth millennial day, the Messiah appeared, but as it is written by John, the light shone in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it; he came unto his own, and they received him not. But to those who receive him, he gives the power to become the children of God.

The dominion of man on the earth for six thousand years from Adam comes to an end upon the entrance of the seventh day. Unlike the other six days in Genesis, the seventh day records no closure.

God reveals His plan in the first book, the first chapter, and the first verses of the Bible. He began by saying, “Let there be Light.” Those who seek Him through His Spirit can understand. In Genesis chapter one, we find the beginning of creation and the end of all things—the work of the Lord unfolds over seven days, spanning from the beginning to eternity.

“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10).