Issued: 5/21/21    Updated: 6/22/21 Revised: 11/18/23

PLEASE NOTE:  Because Bible versions sometimes differ from each other in crucial ways, the version quoted here will be the one that best clarifies the point being made.  For a quick comparison between versions, please go to: http://www.biblehub.com.

   All bracketed material may be authorial comments, attempts at proper syntax, or minimal rewordings of Scripture for the sake of clarity and continuity.  These emendations will not be italicized.

   The “/” will be used to signify “and/or.”  The symbol “↔” is used to connect verses corroborating each other and so establishing doctrinal truths (Matthew 18:16↔2Corinthians 13:1).

   In differentiating between Yahweh Son [Jesus] and Yahweh Father [the Most High God], lower case letters have been used when discussing the former; upper case letters are reserved for the Only and Most High God.  Since Jesus was at pains to differentiate himself from Father, we have followed his lead here.

   The term neo-Christians will be used to differentiate between false Christians and Jesus’ true followers.

   Fourth Day brings us to the ‘middle’ of Genesis’ “Week”. First Day corresponds to our calendrical Sunday, the first and not the seventh weekday.¹ Matthew 28:1 makes this clear: After the Sabbath, the first day of the week began to dawn. Thus calendric Sunday memorializes Son‘s angelic creation as “Light” (Genesis 1:3) and of his resurrection as immortal man (Luke 24:1,39; John 20:1; 1Corinthians 15:52-53; Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:18). Second Day=Monday; Third Day=Tuesday; and Fourth Day=Wednesday; though since Genesis “Days” are measured from “evenings to mornings,” Fourth Day Wednesday technically begins on Tuesday evening. 

   At Easter, congregations exult Sunday as the day of Jesus’ resurrection. But when it comes to the Sabbath of the inviolable Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11)—Friday sunset, the time of Jesus’ rushed burial (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54-56) to Saturday evening, most of us fail to recognize that Sunday worship leads to enmity with Father: He did not choose it; Roman Catholicism did. And this despite warnings to that effect (Daniel 7:25); despite its role in Israel’s calamities (Nehemiah 9:14,17, 13:15-18; Ezekiel 22:8,26,31; Daniel 9:5); despite Jesus observing it, identifying himself as Lord of the Sabbath [↔proxy Creator who instituted it (Matthew 12:8)], and never saying anything about doing away with it.

Be that as it may, the focus here is on the world ‘middle,’ which links us to Habakkuk’s plea: “Yahweh, I have heard of Your fame. I stand in awe of Your deeds…Renew Your work [plan of redemption] in the midst of the years [comprised in Genesis’ “Week”].  In the midst of the years make it known” (Habakkuk 3:2); and to another significant ‘middle,’ this one within the context of prophetic verses re-worded below for clarity and continuity:  From the time some royal decree is issued to the anointment of the Holy One, who is Prince and Messiah,² there will be 62 weeks plus 7 weeks [69 weeks].  While confirming his covenant with many in the course of yet another week [+1 week] he is killed [Jesus’ crucifixion] in the middle of that week, ceasing the need for further animal sacrifices and offerings under Mosaic Law (Daniel 9:25-27).  Keep in mind that Habakkuk’s “middle” is being reckoned in terms of Genesis 1’s timespans [1 day ≈ 1,000 years (↔Psalm 90:4; 2Peter 3:8)]; whereas Ezekiel’s conversion factor of 1 day = 1 year (Ezekiel 4:6) applies to prophecies stated in normal days (↔Daniel 9:24-27, 12:11-12; Revelation 13:5).

Summarizing Daniel’s timeline, we have 69 weeks, or 483 days [69 x 7], from the decree to Jesus’ baptism.  Ezekiel’s factor changes those ‘days’ into actual years [483 days = 483 years].  Since our perspective is based on Ussher’s timeline, and he proposed a 5 BC date for Jesus’ birth, we can assume Jesus’ baptism—at age 30 (Luke 3:23)—to have taken place around 25 AD.  Backtracking from that day, 25 AD – 483 BC, we get the year when the decree was issued:  458 BC.  Daniel further tells us that after his baptism, the Messiah would confirm his new covenant with many for another week, [or 7 days = 7 years], which is the timespan of interest in our discussion.

   Considering all he did afterwards, Jesus’ baptism had to have taken place after the Feast of Passover for that particular year [25 AD], which set by the lunar-based Hebrew calendar, must have fallen in March-April.  On the assumption that baptism took place sometime that summer, months passed between Jesus’ fasting in the desert for 40 days and nights; his temptation by Satan; and some extensive travelling on foot (Matthew 4:1-2, 12-16).  This was ‘day one’ [i.e., Sunday] of Daniel’s “covenant confirmation week,” the Baptist having publicly confirmed Jesus to be the Son and Lamb of God (John 1:34,36) to divert attention from himself to Jesus (John 3:30).

   Jesus officially started preaching in Matthew 4:17; and from then on, he called his first disciples; performed his first miracle; and took a family trip to Capernaum (John 1:35-51, 2:1-12).  By the time of his first Passover, the date of Jesus’ birth being unknown [December 25 is not it], he may have been ≈ 31 years of age.  This time period was ‘day two’ [i.e., Monday] of Daniel’s “covenant confirmation week.”  By his second Passover on record (John 6:4), Jesus may have been 32 years of age; let us call this ‘day three’ [i.e., Tuesday] of Daniel’s “covenant confirmation week.” ³

   By this final Passover, the day before his crucifixion, Jesus would have been around 33 years of age on not only the ‘day four’ [i.e., Wednesday] of Daniel’s “covenant confirmation week” but the ‘middle‘ of it as well.  It was then that with his crucifixion Jesus rendered Mosaic animal sacrifices and offerings [“the continuous sacrifice”] at the Jerusalem Temple obsolete (John 1:29; 1Corinthians 5:7: Galatians 3:13).  We must add to this the 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:3), plus the unspecified time he directed from Heaven the launching of the Christian endeavor—as recorded in Acts—to account for the rest of Daniel’s “covenant confirmation week.”

THREE “MIDDLES,” ONE MESSAGE

What has this protracted introduction have to do with Genesis’ Fourth Day?  For one thing, this Fourth Day is also the ‘middle’ of Creation’s “Week”; and as such it points to the importance of ‘middle-week’ events within Father‘s timelines.  Secondly, Habakkuk’s plea to Yahweh for hastening His work in the midst of times corresponded with Father’s direct involvement in Jesus’ conception (Luke 1:35) and ministry (John 12:49, 14:10); through whom the Mosaic Covenant was voided to establish a compact of faith with Judeo-Christians the world over (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 8:6-13, 9:14-15).  Thirdly, Daniel’s ‘week’ mapped out Jesus’ endeavors towards that end, highlighting his crucifixion, post-resurrection dealings with the Apostles (John 21:25), and directing evangelization from Heaven (Acts 8:26, 9:15-16, 10:1-6, 16:6-7).

   But what other signal event took place at this time?  To wit:  Satan’s expulsion from heaven, which Jesus witnessed while on earth (Luke 10:18).  We have read of Lucifer’s presence in Eden and on Father’s holy mount (Ezekiel 28:13-14); of his walking the earth during Job’s lifetime (Job 1:7, 2:2); and of his opposition to Moses’ induction into the heavenly host (Zechariah 3:1-4; Jude 1:9).  Since Jesus is erroneously thought to have been the Archangel Michael, please pay close attention to Michael—Zechariah’s “angel of Yahweh”—reprimanding Satan in the name of Yahweh Son proxy God (Zechariah 3:7↔Jude 1:9), clearly implying Michael to be inferior in rank to Son.  We find the same dynamic in Daniel 10:1-21, where Yahweh Son proxy God outlines future events. Note the parallels between Son‘s fearful appearance/Daniel’s crippling onset of weakness, and those between the resurrected Jesus and John in Revelation 1:11-18.  Also note that Daniel called the being he was speaking with “Lord” (Daniel 10:16), not the type of deference Daniel accorded Gabriel (Daniel 8:16, 9:21-22), and indeed rejected by “fellow-servant” angels (Revelation 22:8-9↔Hebrews 1:14).

   Furthermore the “man clothed in linen” can be seen and heard by Daniel, and nowhere in Scripture is there evidence of Michael speaking to or being seen by any human being.  This “man,” who can only be Yahweh Son proxy God, commanded by Father to contact personally His “beloved” Daniel (Daniel 10:11-12), speaks of Michael as “one of the chief princes” helping him in his wars against Persia (Daniel 10:13,21); which conclusively proves Michael not to be the pre-existent Jesus—a fact reaffirmed by Michael’s battling in Heaven while Jesus was on earth (Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:7).

   This battle resulted in Satan and his host being thrown down to earth and imprisoned in pits of darkness until Judgment Day (Jude 1:6; 2Peter 2:4; Revelation 12:9, 20:3)—as Isaiah had prophesied (Isaiah 24:21-22).  As can be seen no fiery hell as envisioned in Roman Catholic dogma; instead the gloom and doom of the mythological Greek Hades, which may be the reason why Greek translators of Jewish Scriptures substituted Hades for its Hebrew counterpart, Sheol—at one time conceived to be such a joyless place. To paraphrase Shakespeare, a gloomy place called by any other name would look twice as unlit.

   And now we are ready for…

FOURTH DAY

^“Then God [Yahweh Son proxy Creator] said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth’.  And it was so.  Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.  God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.  So the evening and the morning were the fourth day”

Genesis 1:14-19

   A bit of conjecture is in order.  Father being the Archetype of Order decides to shape up a void and formless earth upon which to execute a plan of redemption.  To initiate that process, He “begets” Son by willing him into existence as “Light.”  Being Divine Royalty, Father delegates all subsequent tasks concerning world affairs to Son, by endowing Son with His own creative powers/sovereignty.  After all, every human ruler needs a steward to run his/her household—like Pharaoh did with Joseph (Genesis 41:40, 43-44,55) and monarchs have done throughout history.  No rocket science required to understand any of this: Monarchs sit on thrones while staff take care of essentials.

   Divine and human realms were delimited in Second Day.  Nations became differentiated out of one common, human ancestry [sans evolution]—Israel amongst them—by Third Day.  By Fourth Day, Jesus had come to earth, setting Father‘s plan of redemption in full swing; and Satan had been kicked out of Heaven. Having lost his bid for power (Isaiah 14:14), Satan pursues his agenda of deceptions against mankind to make sure he drags with him as many as he can into the bonfire at Armageddon (1Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:13-14, 20:7-10).⁴

   The very first thing to remark upon in Fourth Day is another poke at science. Third Day plants, which need sunlight for photosynthesis, are created before Fourth Day sun. It has been suggested that “Light” in Genesis 1:3 references the Big Bang which created the cosmos.  But that does not “jibe” with the pre-existent land and waters of Genesis 1:2; or the fact that lands, seas, and plants preceded the creation of celestial bodies.⁵  In His foreknowledge Father called science’s bluff from the proverbial ‘day one.’

   What is being overlooked is the fact that Genesis 1 is not the actual creation of the world as we see it, and explained to us in snippets throughout Scripture (Job 38:31-33; Psalm 104:22; Proverb 8:27-29; Isaiah 40:22; Jeremiah 51:15, etc.).  This is like comparing apples to oranges; hence the ‘illogic’ of it all.  In point of fact, Genesis 1 refers to both the shadow and substance of Creation, the shadow being the created world as we experience it, and the substance the symbolism using natural features to explain the unfolding of Father’s roadmap throughout human history.

   In Third Day plant life was used to allegorize Jewish people. Israel as the highest branches of a cedar tree reject Yahweh Son proxy God [the first ‘eagle’, Israel’s trans-planter from Egypt to Canaan (↔Exodus 14:19, 23:20; Numbers 20:16; Acts 7:30-39)], for Satan [the second eagle] (Ezekiel 17:3-10).⁶ Please note that the first ‘eagle’ does things normally associated with Son: Planting a vineyard that fails to yield the expected crop and instead reaches out to Satan (Isaiah 5:1-7; Ezekiel 17:7-10). Also note that first ‘eagle,’ unlike the second one, has “feathers and full plumage of varied colors” (Ezekiel 17:3), which brings what to mind? Son‘s rainbow (Genesis 9:13↔Revelation 10:1); and more pointedly, Joseph’s personal identifier: his multi-colored coat (Genesis 37:3,31-34). Also note that in Isaiah 5:7, 61:3, the men of Judah are called plants of Yahweh’s delight and “oaks of righteousness.”

Since Yahweh Son became incarnate as Jesus on Fourth Day in a last-ditch effort to convert Jews (Matthew 15:24), he continued using plant symbolism in his teachings:  Fruits denoting human deeds (Luke 6:43-45); trees signifying men (Matthew 7:17-20); wheat and chaff to differentiate between righteous and wicked men (Matthew 13:30).  And Paul continued the tradition by referring to “roots” as holy (Isaiah 11:1-2; Romans 11:6) or unholy (Hebrews 12:15-16); and to wayward Jews as branches broken off the good olive tree (Romans 11:17).  At one point he had had it with recalcitrant Jews and moved on to the “wild olives” of his entrusted commission: Gentiles (Acts 13:46; Galatians 2:7). 

   What makes us believe that Fourth Day would be any different?  We must think of celestial bodies as symbols for something else!  In Scripture, what are stars symbolic of?  Angels:  The ‘star’ of Bethlehem in Matthew 2:9-11; flying angels in Revelation 1:20, 9:1; Satan’s host in Revelation 12:4.  If Christians are sons of daylight (1Thessalonians 5:5), who is their “Light” and “Sun”?  Jesus (2Samuel 23:4; Isaiah 60:1; Habakkuk 3:4; Malachi 4:2; John 1:9, 8:12; Revelation 22:16).  By the same token, who is the “lesser light” that rules over night and the sons of darkness?  Satan, who  is symbolized as the moon under the feet of the Church, portraying the ceaseless enmity between her seed and his (Revelation 12:1,17↔Genesis 3:15).

   What, then, is the implicit message of Genesis’ Fourth Day?  Earth had become the new battleground in the war between good and evil, with Jesus [“the greater light”] and Satan [“the lesser light”] defining, influencing, and encroaching upon their respective spiritual domains.  Like their celestial counterparts, both “shone” upon the world, so that “the people who walked in darkness [saw] a great(er) light. Those who lived in the land of the shadow of death [Satan’s domain (↔Hebrews 2:14)], on them the Light has shined” (Isaiah 9:2). But when it comes to Satan, his dearth of luminosity serves another purpose:  “The god of this world [Satan (↔Luke 4:6; John 14:30)] has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah” (2Corinthians 4:4).

The transition from the ignorance of Satan’s night to Jesus’ dawn of understanding was the theme of 2Peter 1:19: “We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star [Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2)] arises in your hearts;” which must have been inspired by Psalm 4:18: “The path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.”  Paul injected a renewed sense of urgency: “The night is far advanced, and day is about to dawn. We must therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness, and clothe ourselves with the armor of Light” (Romans 13:12).

Satan’s children, on the other hand, “sleep in the night [and] are drunk in the night” (1Thessalonians 5:7), shunning “the light… lest [their] works would be exposed” (John 3:20); whereas in their midst “God’s children shine like luminaries [heavenly bodies] in the world” (Philippians 2:15).  But despite the inspiring messages, Jesus knew where humanity was headed:  “I must work the works of Him who sent me, while it is day.  The night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4).  Indeed a night so dark and all-encompassing that were it not shortened, not even the elect would be saved (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7; Matthew 24:22).

   And so we come to the “signs and seasons” alluded to in Genesis 1:14.  In a symbolic plan like Father’s, why necessarily think of seasons/signs in terms of normal spring, summer, fall, and winter?   Why not expand our thinking in terms of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, where times and seasons encompass all the activities and travails of human existence?  Adam’s punishment, the laborious tilling of the soil (Genesis 3:17-19), corresponds to Jesus’ planting the seed of Father’s Word in men’s hearts (Matthew 13:37-38; Luke 8:11).  The “oxen” Jesus uses to furrow the field/world are the Apostles (1Corinthians 9:9-11), thus maximizing the chances seeds will germinate into plants [men] hopefully yielding good crops.  Eventually comes the harvesting of good crops [righteous souls] and the ‘bundling’ of unproductive chaff to be burnt [unrighteous souls] by Jesus’ angels (Matthew 13:40-42).

In this scenario we can liken ‘spring’ to the beginnings of Christian evangelization, spreading out from Jerusalem to Jewish/Gentile enclaves bordering the Mediterranean Sea.  For some unspecified reason, the Holy Spirit forbade Paul to preach in Asia and Bithynia, directing him instead towards Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10).  Since it was from the as yet unformed Europe that Christianity would spread around the world, it may be that the West was the target field to be seeded first; leaving lands south and east of Israel as a niche for the spread of Islam. This would fall in line with the promise made Agar that Ishmael’s progeny would become a great nation (Genesis 21:17-18).

Thus from the ‘spring’ of early evangelization came the harsh ‘summer’ times of persecution and genocide; of peoples/nations being uprooted, pillaged, and burned in the ‘name of God’; of the True Gospel being CRISPR-ed with strains of pagan religions; pagan sites becoming Christian places of worship; the faithful being trodden underfoot for refusing to follow Satan’s playbook—in short, the shameful spectacle that men have made of Jesus’ legacy.  ‘Fall’ came with the downfall of empires—secular and religious—bloated with the blood of native populations ostensibly ‘Christianized for Jesus’; religious ‘temperatures’ went down because these empires could no longer sustain protracted offensives.  Since that time the world has embraced an eclecticism where even Satanism has a right to exist.  If something characterizes the Bible, it is that Satan is often spoken about but never given a platform to state his case.  Why bother?  His goals are known:  To rule by dividing people; and to destroy them when they are no longer of use.  [Sounds familiar?]  Such is Satan’s sense of loyalty and gratitude for his minions that payback otherwise impossible to enforce will be undertaken gleefully by him against them (Revelation 9:1-11).

   Once more we must turn to Jesus for corroboration.  When asked to show a sign from heaven, he replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast’…When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is.  Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky.  How is it that you cannot interpret the signs of the times?”  (Matthew 16:2-3; Luke 12:54-56 combined). What was Jesus doing here?  He was using the physical realities of nature to imply spiritual realities:  He was in the world; the Messiah had come; the Kingdom of Heaven had drawn nearer to men and so was within their grasp (Matthew 3:2; Luke 11:20)! These were the “signs of the times” that Genesis 1:14 had spoken of but which his audience of Sadducees and Pharisees, ostensibly well-versed in the Scriptures, could not comprehend.

   Another graphic example takes place in the parable of Matthew 20:1-12.  At different times of the day a landowner sets out to hire men to work in his vineyard, offering the same salary to all.  When pay time comes along, laborers who worked all day enduring the sun’s scorching heat question why they get the same pay as those who worked for only an hour.  While the lesson to be learned here is that every legitimate worker for Jesus shares the same prize, and that each gets exactly what was bargained for, the idea of earlier and later times being more endurable than the hotter times within the span of that day mirrors seasonal conditions in the larger world—what Genesis 1:14 hints at.  Evangelization may be comparatively easier in the earlier [spring] and later [fall] parts of the day, but truly grueling in the middle [summer] section.  And naturally, no work is done during the night [winter].

   This is not to say that from Christianity’s earliest beginnings, followers of Jesus have been exempted from suffering altogether:  It would be more correct to say that all have partaken of trials and tribulations in one way or another, and that those trials have been proportional to any one person’s ability to withstand them (1Corinthians 10:13).  Poor Peter was very happy with the flogging he got at the hands of Jewish priests for defying them (Acts 5:40-41); but Jesus warned him that “Satan [had] asked permission to sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31); so whatever end Peter faced [tradition has it he was crucified heads down], it was one he did not want and had to ask Jesus for spiritual assistance to endure (John 21:18-19).

   And, as Hamlet said, there’s the rub:  The suffering righteous people endure, the so-called baptism of fire, happens because God allows Satan to inflict it; and whatever inspiring spin we would like to put on this, it nevertheless is a bitter pill to swallow.  Jesus knew it and bit the bullet (Matthew 26:53-54; John 19:11).  Peter knew it but ennobled things up (1Peter 1:6-7, 2:20-21, 4:12-16, 5:6-10).  And Paul, who was not one for mincing words, understood its value and championed it (Hebrews 12:4-11).

   One of the ‘signs’ of Christendom’s on-going apostasy is the belief, preached by wolves amongst the flock, that Father is the genie in the lamp Who will protect church-goers from all harm.  Nothing doing:  While it is true that “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19), those afflictions are required part of the course.  And they happen not arbitrarily:  Since knowledge of Father’s Law brings awareness of past sins (Romans 3:20, 7:7-9), atonement for those sins becomes due; for as He told us in Jeremiah 46:28, “I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure.  I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.”

   In summary Fourth Day marked the beginning of the Christian experiment:  Jesus as ‘Sun’ ruling over the sons of Day; Satan as ‘moon’ ruling over the sons of Night; and angels as ‘stars,’ either good and bad, respectively helping or hindering humanity’s groping towards salvation.⁷  Centuries of conflict would become ‘seasons’ of progress and reversals (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8); of good and bad crops [souls gained/lost]; of enlightened and dark ages [righteousness in the ascendant/evil exalted].  ‘Signs’ entailed miracles performed by true apostles (Mark 16:17-18), or deceptions perpetrated by Satan (Matthew 7:22-23, 24:24; 2Thessalonians 2:9-12).

   It would be an experiment doomed to failure, its only purpose being to show men that without Father at the helm, Satan would always triumph because men had greater affinity for his ruling style (John 8:44):  By defaming/silencing truth tellers on grounds of religious integrity/national security (Luke 8:30-34; John 11:50-52; Acts 5:27-28,33); rallying behind wicked leaders without fear of retribution (Proverb 28:4, 29:12; Isaiah 29:15; Ezekiel 8:12; Zephaniah 1:12); empowering morally bankrupt, younger opportunists craving for personal/political gain (Judges 9:4; Psalm 119:9; Ecclesiastes 10:16; Isaiah 3:12; Romans 6:16; 2Peter 2:19); perverting justice by favoring the actions of the wicked over the cause of the righteous (Proverb 18:5; Ecclesiastes 8:14; Isaiah 5:23); exploiting and disenfranchising the poor/powerless (Proverbs 22:16; Isaiah 10:1-2; James 5:4-6); and advocating greed (Ecclesiastes 5:10; Luke 16:13), worldly renown (John 15:18-19; James 4:4), and self-aggrandizement (Proverb 27:2; Matthew 6:1-4) as the paramount goals in life.  As Solomon had bemoaned,  “God tests [men], so that they may see that they themselves are like animals” (Ecclesiastes 3:18).  As in the animal kingdom, human predators are atop the food chain feeding off the rest.

   Judaism had had its chance and failed; Christianity, geared towards the conversion of the Gentile world (Acts 9:15, 10:34-35, 11:17-18, 15:7-9; Galatians 2:7), took off on Fourth Day and would end in apostasy on the Sixth; prior to the resurrection of the righteous and the subsuming of all redeemed Judeo/Christians into the body of Jesus:  God’s dwelling place, the human-bricked Church (1Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:4-6, 5:23,30; Hebrews 3:6; 1Peter 2:5).

   The blood-bath of ‘summer’ was to ramp up on Fifth Day.  In our next discussion, we shall see why animals were then created to allegorize that protracted mayhem.

¹ Which is the Sabbath stipulated in the everlasting Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11); chosen by Yahweh Father as a “sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days [Yahweh Father, through Son] made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day [Yahweh Son proxy Creator] rested, and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:17). As to Yahweh Father, He also rested after completing His redemptive plan through Son (Hebrews 4:3).

Thus it can be seen that Genesis 2:3 is shadow to the Millennium of Revelation 20:24, which Jesus and the redeemed will spend with Father in Heaven—all of them resting and being “refreshed” from their earthly labors.

² The “anointment” Daniel refers to is Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan, a ritual which like everything else in the Bible has shadow and substance connotations.  On the shadow side, it corresponds to the drowning of sinful humanity during the Flood (1Peter 3:20-21); so that although baptism cleanses but does not remit sins (Ephesians 5:26; Hebrews 9:22), it symbolizes our being ‘dead’ to this world and the promise of new life within the ‘ark’ of Jesus’ New Covenant (Romans 6:3-4; Ephesians 2:1,5; 1John 3:14).  On the substance side, the “anointment” refers to the endowment of the Holy Spirit (1John 2:27); since Jesus has “made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father…a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (Revelation 1:6; 1Peter 2:9), he too “anoints” us with the Holy Spirit (John 16:7,13; 1John 2:27). Other shadow precedents: Moses, prefiguring Jesus, consecrated priests by anointing them with oil (Leviticus 8:30); David, Jesus preeminent symbol as King over his people, received the Holy Spirit once Samuel anointed him with oil (1 Samuel 16:13);

³ This was followed by Sukkot, the Feast of the Tabernacles [September-October], and Hanukkah in December of that year (John 7:2, 10:2).

⁴ To this day his legacy lives on in political leaders who would destroy nations in revenge for having stripped them of power, aided and abetted by people with personal agendas, while the unthinking masses helping the former dig their own graves.

⁵ If only for the sake of gauging the lengths to which apologists will go to harmonize science with the Bible, surf the Net.  Explanations can get so tortuous as to sound positively embarrassing.  If anybody believes Father appreciates this assist, think again:  Chances are what’s at work here is the “seeing but not perceiving” of Mark 4:12 dooming the misguided.  One cannot please Father by harmonizing the faith He demands with evidentiary science.

⁶ As high flying creatures, eagles are another symbol for angels in Scripture (Luke 17:37↔Mark 13:27; Revelation 8:13).

⁷ Conjecture:  One wonders if astrology grew out of the disconnect between symbolic substance and shadow belief that heavenly bodies influence human lives.