We were looking at the book of Judges. I want to read this, again, in Judges 10:1-5:
And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.
I will stop reading there. We are interested in this because of the combined number of years that these two men judged Israel. The two numbers total 45. For instance, we have seen that from creation to the cross in 33 A. D. was 11,045 actual years or 11,046 calendar years.
By the way, I do not know if I mentioned this, but whenever we go from a B. C. date to an A. D. date, there is no year “0” due to a glitch in the Gregorian calendar. That is the reason we speak of calendar years. We can figure calendar years by adding 11,013 and 33 for a total of 11,046 which gives us calendar years. But we must always subtract “1” to get actual years because of the error in the calendar where there is no year “0.” So, it is 11,045 actual years. And this is the reason we can go back and forth between “45” and “46.”
And I think God uses that principal because in Judges 10 we are reading of a combined period of 45 years. If you remember, earlier when we looked at Zerubbabel’s temple there was strong Biblical evidence it was 46 years in building. So, here we see the 45 years and over there we see 46 years.
It is similar to how God uses the numbers “39” and “40.” God uses the number “40” to represent testing and judgment. He often uses the number “39” in connection with the number “40.” It is like God noting that the Apostle Paul received “40” stripes, five times. You see, God does do multiplication in the Bible. Let us read it to make sure we get it right. It says in 2Corinthians 11:24:
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
That is, instead of “5 x 40,” which would be 200, it is “5 x 39,” which is 195. Of course, “39” is very significant because it breaks down to “3 x 13,” representing the purpose of God for the end of the world. But God also includes “40” with this because it indicates testing. It also relates to judgment.
This does not stand alone because when we look at the life of Christ, He was born in 7 B. C. and died in 33 A. D. Again, we are going from a B. C. date to an A. D. date. We add 7 and 33 to get 40, but when we minus “1” for no year “0,” we get 39. When we look at the years, we have 39/40. There are 39 actual years and 40 calendar years.
It is as if God has given us this additional option, so we can see that relationship here, as well as the 39/40 relationship with the Apostle Paul. The Lord does tend to do this in the Bible. There were 12 apostles, but there were actually13. There were 12 tribes of Israel, but there were actually 13. God has designed it so when it comes to the fulness of a year, there could be a modifying number of either “45” or “46.” From creation to the cross can be 11,045 years or 11,046. But this example does not stand alone. For example, if we go from creation to the life of David, we saw that 1013 B. C. was the 10,000th year of earth’s history. Then when David became king in 1007 B. C., it was 10,006 years. If we go 40 years from 1007 B. C. (because he reigned for 40 years), it falls on 967 B. C. In relationship to creation, where does the year 967 B. C. stand? It is 10,046 years. It is almost like a historical type of what would happen a thousand years later regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, as far as the “marker” and the fulness of the 1,000 years being reached in 13 B. C. and then 6 years later Christ was born in 7 B. C. and 40 calendar years later He went to the cross.
We can go from 1,013 B. C. to 13 B. C. and it is 1,000 years. In 1007 B. C. David became king and in 7 B. C. Christ, who was born “King of the Jews,” entered into the world 1,000 years later. From 967 B. C. when David died, and the foundation of the temple was laid to the cross in 33 A. D. is 1,000 years. We see the parallels and the time relationships. It is very neat and tidy.
We are going to see it again, Lord willing, when we look at Esau when he was 40 years old. In just a couple of sentences, God tells us something Esau did when he was 40 that was a grief of mind to his parents. You know, everything in the Bible is of great importance and significance. Why did God tell us this detail about Esau? Normally, He does not tell us the ages of the unsaved. Occasionally, we will be told a death age of some, like Ishmael, but how old was Esau when he died? I do not think we know. But the Lord makes a point to tell us in Genesis that Esau did something when he was 40 years old. The number “40” is the number of testing.
We know Esau was born in 2007 B. C. and 40 years later would have been 1967 B. C., which is exactly 1,000 years from 967 B. C. So, we see a relationship there. If we go to 2,007 B. C., it is only 1,000 years from 1,007 B. C. If you look at it, 2013 B. C. was the 9,000th year of earth’s history and if we go forward six years, it is 2007 B. C. It was a very important birth that the Lord records in the book of Romans; the birth of these twin sons represents all humanity, the elect and the unsaved. It is as if all mankind is in view with the birth of Jacob and Esau because all mankind can be divided into two groups:
So, their birth in 2007 B. C. was very important and that event was 9,006 years from creation. If we go 40 years from their birth, God tells us about an event in Esau’s life in the year 1967 B. C., which was 9,046 years from creation. It is just as the laying of the foundation of the temple was 10,046 years. When Christ went to the cross, He demonstrated the laying of that foundation with His death because it was at the foundation of the world that Christ died. In 33 A. D. it was 11,046 calendar years. And, of course, when we project all of this into the future, we come to the year 2033 A. D. which will be 13,045 actual years and 13,046 calendar years from creation.
One thing for sure is that when we look at these time relationships in the past and we see these major events that are right around 9,000 years, 10,000 years and 11,000 years, it serves to prove that the creation date is accurate, because we did not just pick that date out of a hat. That date was arrived at through the Biblical calendar of history.
I do not know the “odds,” but it would seem there are tremendous odds against these major Biblical events happening in such precise order. And it is not just one event, like the birth of Jacob and Esau, that is in relationship to creation, but there is another series of events exactly 1,000 years later that have a similar relationship to creation; and then yet another series of events tied to the birth of Christ that are 1,000 years from David and 2,000 years from Jacob – aligned perfectly – and standing in that same relationship to the creation.
Just think about if God was not working in a precise timeframe for everything and the history of the world was like the history of the United States or any other nations (except Israel). We learn history and we know that 1776 was our Declaration of Independence; there was the War of 1812; there was the Civil War from 1861 to 1865; then we became involved in World War I and then other nations became involved. But try to do a time relationship of these pinpoints to see if there is any kind of design or pattern to it. You may find some event that was exactly 100 years from some other major event, but they are mostly “scattered” and without any order. That is typical of the history of nations in the world, unless it happens to have something to do with the Bible and God recorded it. Remember what God said in Revelation 11:1:
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Keep in mind the spiritual meaning of measuring the temple. Remember that verse in Psalm 39:4:
JEHOVAH, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days…
So, the word “measure” can have to do with time. Of course, God saved His people that make up that spiritual temple over the course of history and the unfolding of time. So, measuring the temple has to do with the people of God whom He saves. Then it goes on to say in Revelation 11:2:
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not…
And this has to do with the unsaved that are without and they are trampled underfoot.
When we read the Bible, the Lord may give the genealogy of Edom or Esau, for example, but we do not find any years or timeline attached to it. But when we read of Israel’s entrance into Egypt, God is very specific regarding the ages of Levi, Amram and Kohath. Then when they came out of Egypt, we know the exact ages of Moses and Aaron. When we put this information together, it spans the 430 years. There were all kinds of other people that lived over that same period of time, but we are not given their ages because God has a reason for doing this. Why would He record all this information about time if He never wanted His people at some point in history to know time and judgment? God says a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment. Then we put that statement together with the verse in Daniel that says, “…shut up the words, and seal the book, to the time of the end.” There is a time reference, and then it says that the wise shall understand, but none of the wicked will understand.
This is the reason we are going over these things to see these time patterns of the past. These are proven and established. We have the calendar, and it is all from the Bible, as we look at these events. We can work back in history. For example, it says in 1Kings 6:1:
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of JEHOVAH.
The foundation was laid. It is the year 967, and God says it was exactly 480 years from the time they came out of Egypt. They came out of Egypt in 1447 B. C. When we subtract 967 from 1447, it equals 480 years. What is interesting about that year 967 is that if we minus “7,” because Christ was born in 7 B. C., it is 960 years. If we divide that by two, it is 480, so there is 480 years from the exodus to the foundation, and then a doubling of the 480 from the foundation to the coming of the Messiah in 7 B. C. I think this is beyond “coincidence” to have all these relationships. We can also see the importance of that date of 967 B. C. when the foundation of the temple was laid. Of course, when we project it to the year 2033 A. D., it equals exactly 3,000 calendar years.
And the number “3” seems to pop up a lot when God speaks of “those days after that tribulation.” It is in view in Judges 10 regarding Jair, who had 30 sons who rode on 30 ass colts and they had 30 cities. We see the tripling of the number “30,” which indicates God’s purpose. It is “3 x 10,” or the purpose of God and completeness, again, and again. So, from the laying of the foundation in 967 B. C. to the year 2033 A. D., which as all those other time paths converging, it is “3 x 10 x 10 x 10” or “3” to the 10th power. It is really indicating the purpose of God.
This is incidental, and I am not trying to prove anything from this, but since we are talking about God causing Solomon to lay the foundation of the temple in 967 B. C., I find it interesting that we read in 1Kings 4 that Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs. He did not speak 3,001 proverbs or 3,058 proverbs, but he spoke 3,000 proverbs and we see this interesting time path that goes to 2033 A. D. And, of course, the proverbs are the Word of God and Solomon was a type of Christ, and this would point to God’s complete purpose for His Word regarding this world, and it could stretch for that exact length of time and then the world would come to an end.
It is just one interesting time relationship after another. So, as we look at Judges and we see these references to the number “30” three times, it is full of significance. Again, it says in Judges 10:4:
And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities…
We saw that the name “Jair” identifies with being enlightened. This ties in with God’s plan to open the Scriptures to bring further revelation at the time of the end. (He is not adding to His Word.) As far as granting understanding to His people, God would open the Scriptures to give us greater understanding of the things the Bible says. That is being “enlightened.” In Revelation 18 the setting is the fall of Babylon, which we can pinpoint to May 21, 2011. Historically, when Babylon fell, it concluded the 70 years and, spiritually, it pointed to the 23 years of the Great Tribulation. In Revelation 18:1 it speaks of an angel and this would be the Lord Jesus Christ. I will read it again. It says in Revelation 18:1:
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
The word “lightened” is the same word as “enlightened.” Someone mentioned this to me yesterday, and I hope I wrote it down. I think it is in Ephesians. It says in Ephesians 1:18:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
It means to have your eyes (of understanding) enlightened, just like it was with Jonathan. He was hungry in battle and he took his rod and partook of a little honey, not knowing that his father Saul had given the command that no man was to eat. What does “honey” represent in the Bible? It is the Word of God, and it enlightened his eyes. In the book of Ephesians, God says it more directly as “eyes of your understanding” being enlightened. We may be able to see well physically in this world, but when it comes to the spiritual realm regarding the things found in the Bible, man is naturally blind. But God grants sight to His chosen, elect people and we begin to see.
It is interesting that in one instance where the Lord healed a blind man, the man then began to see “men as trees walking.” He was able to see something, but he was not seeing too clearly at first. I wonder if this has to do with “seeing through a glass darkly,” as it was during the church age. Then the Lord touched this man a second time. Did He need to touch him a second time, or could He have given him instantaneous perfect eyesight the first time? But He did, and the second time the man saw clearly, pointing to the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now we know, even as we are known, as it says in 2Corinthians 13. That language has to do with God’s program to “mature” His people spiritually. His elect were like children during the time of the church age, but at the time of the end when the seals were removed from the Bible, we were given “strong meat” and growing in knowledge. And we have been going through “growing pains,” as growing is not always a pleasant thing. As we go from a child to a teenager to a young adult, there are often many aches and pains and troubles that come our way. But for those of us that are mature, we can look back at our lives and say, “I did that? I said that? If only I could be transported back in time with my present understanding, I would not have made those mistakes.”
That is what the Lord has done spiritually for His people. He has opened His Word to the understanding of His people and corrections are being made. We can look back at doctrines we taught and held during the church age and even during the Great Tribulation, and we have been corrected. I remember teaching about a place called “Hell,” and I remember that we were forming a church during a time when the church age had already ended. When we had that church, we held a conference and we were going to be as faithful as possible (to the Bible). It was a weekend conference and we had four or five Bible studies about eternal damnation and suffering in a place called “Hell” forever and ever. We hit it hard through the entire conference, and even afterwards. Now we can look back. We had been fully convinced because we only had partial (spiritual) sight. The Lord has been bringing us along and growing us in spiritual understanding of His Word, and we are developing spiritually. And I do not think we have reached the pinnacle or height of understanding. That was the error the churches made for hundreds of years when they thought they had reached the “high water mark” of doctrinal understanding during the Reformation, and then they “cemented” those understandings in their confessions and creeds. They have not corrected their doctrinal misunderstandings and these things became their “high places.” We are still learning, and the Lord is still opening our eyes.
So, Jair is a picture of this progression. Again, the significance is that the 23 years of the judge that ruled before him had to do with the Great Tribulation, and Jair’s judgeship began the same year that his predecessor died in 1181 B. C. , which has to do with the date of May 21, 2011, the transition date in this current time of “those days after that tribulation.” And it is a time when the earth is enlightened with His glory as God continues to open up His Word to reveal truth.
I guess we better get to the point here. You probably think I do not want to talk about the 30 sons because I seem to go off in another direction. It is very clear who the “30 sons” represent. They would represent the sons of God, as it says in John 1:12-13:
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
We become sons of God, and Jair had 30 sons. The number “30” is “3 x 10,” representing the completeness of His sons and God’s purpose for them. Why would God mention that there were 30 sons that rode on 30 ass colts and had 30 cities? We could also wonder why God even mentioned Jair or Tola. It seems to be just a passing reference. Remember what the Lord tells us concerning the parts of the body and how the part that is least has more honor? It was easy for us to bypass genealogies in the Bible for a long time. We would just read them quickly and it was as if we thought, “I am reading the Bible and I am reading Genesis 5 because my ‘Read the Bible Through in a Year Calendar’ says I must read it, but let me get through it and get to another part of the Bible that has more interest.” But now we have seen how extremely important the Biblical calendar is, so we should not overlook any Scripture and think it is not that significant, even if it is sparsely worded or not emphasized much. It has tremendous importance. When we lay out the calendar and the numerous references to 45/46 years, then we can understand why the 45/46 years of these two judges can be very important in teaching us about this period from 1988 through 2033. How many years is it? It is 45 years. These two men ruled for 45 years. The Lord can teach us about our present time period as we learn about these men. And then we find that Jair had 30 sons as he rules. From what we can tell from his rule as judge, these 30 sons were with him, so that would relate to the Lord Jesus Christ coming with “ten thousands of his saints,” or the completeness of His saints. Who are the saints? They are the sons of God, born not of their own will, but by the will of God.
So, these 30 sons are with him, and we could ask this very direct question: “Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?” Of course, people think they know this, but they really do not know the fulness of that statement. If they are thinking, “On the last day Christ will come and bring all His people with Him and the world will immediately end.” No – it has to do with the prolonged judgment process we are presently living in. The Lord has saved all His people and He has all His sons with Him, as He has accomplished that purpose.
By the way, regarding the number “3,” how many times did Christ command to feed His sheep after that great catch of fish in John 21? It was 3 times. He did not just repeat, “Feed my sheep,” three times, but it was a complete stanza. It was almost like some of the hymns we sing, where you have a stanza and then the chorus and then a second stanza and a chorus, and a third stanza and a chorus. The question was asked three times and Peter responded three times and Christ responded, “Feed my sheep,” or “Feed my lambs,” three times. How can we emphasize something any more than that? Maybe the only place in the Bible we see the number “3” more in view was at the cross; there were three crosses, three languages, three persons on the cross, and so forth. This was to indicate that this was the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God that this would happen. It was not that the enemies of the kingdom of God had won, but it was all according to the purpose of God.
So, we find that the number “3” is very much in evidence during this current period of time. We will not turn there, but we could also look at Luke 11 where the Lord gave a parable. After giving the “Lord’s Prayer,” He basically gave a new Lord’s Prayer for our time period in the parable of a friend that comes (at midnight) to ask for loaves for his friend. How many loaves did he want? He wanted three loaves. The man had shut the door already, and that is how we know it relates to May 21, 2011. The parable uses words like “ask” and “seek” and “knock,” three times in that context. It is a series of three, and it has to do with this time period which has been established by God according to His purpose. Nothing is just “haywire” and it is not as though May 21, 2011 came and went, and now we are just sort of floating around aimlessly and we do not know where to go.
But it is that way with people that have turned back. There are a lot of people we used to have fellowship with over the years, but many of them have gone back to the churches or back former doctrines or even back to the world. When you talk to them, if you ask them, “What have you been learning from the Bible?” They will respond, “I have learned we were all wrong.” Then we could say, “Well, what else have you learned?” They may respond, “I have learned that the teaching of the Reformers was right.” So, what they have returned to and are now embracing are the very types of information that brought the wrath of God down upon the corporate churches because of their “high places” or doctrinal errors. They stayed on the “milk of the word” and they refused to grow in the knowledge of God. That is not learning; that is not growing. What we have done at EBible Fellowship is to continue to follow the sound information we learned over the course of the last few years when Mr. Camping was teaching. We checked it out and searched the Scriptures concerning these things and, yes, we have had to make some corrections. And if the teaching regarding the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 should require correction, we will do so. But we just continue to go forward and press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The way to heaven is not behind us; the one behind is Satan.
Again, the 30 sons had 30 ass colts. Remember what it said in Zechariah 9:9:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
This is how Christ came the first time. The second time He comes with His saints. The picture in Revelation 19 is of Christ seated upon a white horse and the armies of heaven, the saints, are also on horseback. It is the same picture in Revelation 9. They are coming victoriously and triumphantly on horseback as they win the battle of Judgment Day. The first time there was much humility in view, but the people of God would also show that humility as we come with Him in the Day of Judgment. We are not the ones that are doing the fighting. It is the Lord that will fight in this battle and we have no need to fight in it, so I think it is stressing humility of the people of God. We are not coming with anger or wrath against the people of the world, but we are simply sharing the things the Bible declares.
The last thing is the reference to 30 cities. It says in Revelation 21:2:
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
In the previous verse, God was speaking of the “new heaven and new earth.” We find the same mysterious language in Isaiah 65 where God speaks of creating the new heaven and new earth, and then He said that He creates “Jerusalem rejoicing,” so there is a definite link between the people of God and that new creation, but it is called a “holy city.” This city would tie in with the new creation to come. Or, maybe it is clearer in Revelation 18:10:
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
That great city Babylon represents the kingdom of Satan of this world. It represents the whole earth, the creation that has fallen and come under the power of Satan from the beginning in the Garden of Eden.
Therefore, cities can refer to creations, but they also can refer to the fact that when you have a city, you are the ruler of that city. Jair was the judge that God recognized, but these 30 sons ruled over 30 cities. It does not say they lived in those cities. We live in a city. A mayor would rule over a city, and these 30 sons ruled over these cities. That would relate to Luke 19:13:
And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Then the nobleman returned, and it says in Luke 19:16-19:
Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
Then the third servant came, and he had done nothing with the pound but to hide it in the ground, so he received no city. The first two servants typify the true elect people of God, and they were given authority over cities. We wonder what could be in store for us. However, we already possess this because we have the inheritance of the saints and the future promises that are guaranteed by God: we will enter into the new heaven and new earth; we will receive eternal life; we will dwell with God for evermore. And, yet, what will we be doing in that eternal future? What tasks will we be given? I think this all gets into the idea that God has not been idle in eternity past, but He is a God that abhors idleness. He works, and we saw in Genesis 1 that when God works He creates. We also know that when this creation is destroyed, He will speak again and work to create a new creation, so we have evidence for two creations of God. You know, eternity is a limitless thing, and we know God can create quickly, whether it be six days or six seconds. He has unlimited ability and power, so when we put this altogether, there is evidence that He has been creating other creations. Those two verses we referred to in Revelation could identify with cities as it speaks of a new creation or “new Jerusalem” or the “holy city.” So, the word “city” could identify with creations: “Have thou authority over ten cities,” or “Be thou also over five cities.” It could have to do with the creations that God has made in all eternity past or into eternity future. Then He will do what any good Judge would do, and His sons will take care of these cities. It is like a king that would set up His sons as princes over the provinces because He trusts them above anyone else. The Lord will bring His people into the new heaven and new earth, and we will be learning about Him eternally, but we will also be given tasks to perform.