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Can 1600 Furlongs Represent 1600 Days?
Let us take a look at Revelation 14:19-20. There we read:
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth,
and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden
without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by
the space of a thousandand six hundred furlongs.
Now, since we know from the Bible that we can pinpoint the starting point of the reaping
mentioned in Revelation 14:19-20 to the exact day (and that was May 21st, 2011), we are
therefore very interested in the possibility that the 1600 furlongs, that are mentioned
in Revelation chapter 14, might be a time reference placed in the verse in order to
give us the duration of the Day of Judgment. And, we are especially interested in this,
because 1600 days would work out to a time period of 40 days times 40 days, and at the
same time, 1600 days fits very nicely with the 8400 day time span of the great tribulation.
The 1600 days added to 8400 days would give a complete 10,000 days of total judgment upon
unsaved mankind. The 10,000th day would be the last day (in this scenario) and would
fill up the wrath of God upon mankind due to their sinfulness.
And, in addition to these very interesting time relationships, 1600 days from May 21,
2011 would also take us to the last day of the feast of tabernacles in the year 2015.
Now, if you remember, we had previously thought that the world would end on the last day of
the feast of tabernacles, in the year 2011. Now the fact that we now have in front of
us a biblical passage that is undoubtably speaking of Judgment Day (which we know began
on May 21, 2011) and that this passage gives us a number (1600) that fits so well in other
ways (40 x 40 and the 10,000 days of total judgment) while also falling on the last day
of the feast of tabernacles itself, well this cannot be (and should not be) easily dismissed.
This kind of, falling into place does not happen everyday with the Scriptures. Normally,
when something fits so well like this, like a piece to a puzzle, the hand of God is in
view.
Yes, it is interesting alright; but can we look at 1600 furlongs as 1600 days?
Well, that is a good question, and it does need to be pointed out that it does not speak
of 1600 days in the text, but furlongs. Yet, we also know that this is the Bible; and in
the Bible God often uses people, places, and things to teach various aspects of the gospel.
For instance, let's take a look at this passage in the Book of Genesis, in chapter 40. We
will look at verse 6-13, and read:
6) And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were
sad. 7) And he asked Pharaoh's officers thatwere
with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?
8) And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.
And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
9) And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold,
a vine was before me; 10) And in the vine were three branches: and
it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought
forth ripe grapes: 11) And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and
I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
12) And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are
three days: 13) Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift
up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into
his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.
Now first of all, notice that there are some similarities between this passage and our
passage in Revelation 14. The words, vine, clusters, and ripe grapes are used. And the
idea of a winepress is also in view when it says that, I took the grapes, and pressed
them into Pharaoh's cup. So we do have some similarity of content.
But the question is: can 1600 furlongs be viewed as 1600 days? After all, furlongs are
not days. They have nothing to do with time. But let's ask the same question of our Genesis
passage, what do branches have to do with time? How is it that the chief butler told
Joseph his dream and mentioned that in the vine were three branches. And once Joseph
reveals the interpreation of the dream he says, The three branches ARE three days. Now,
branches have nothing to do with time, yet God uses them to each represent a day.
Now let's think about furlongs a little bit more. The blood of the unsaved is being wringed
out of them (in a spiritual way beginning on May 21, 2011); and the Bible tells us the
life is in the blood. So at that point (May 21) their blood (which is life) begins to
be crushed out of them and to flow forth for 1600 furlongs. Could the Lord be using the
flow of the blood of the unsaved to express that their life will be squeezed out of them
and continue to be so for a period of 1600 days? And after 1600 furlongs the blood stops
flowing. It ceases to travel any further from the winepress, thereby indicating that the
life of the men is extinguished forever at that point (1600 days after May 21 on the
last day of the feast of tabernacles).
Now, what are furlongs?
The Greek word for furlong is, Stadion from which it seems we get our English word, stadium.
It is Strong's #4712, and this word is found six times in the New Testament, and here are
five of those places:
Luke 24:13, where we read: And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called
Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
Another reference is in John 6:18, where we read: And the sea arose by reason of a great
wind that blew. 19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs,
they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.
Another reference for furlong, is in John 11:18, where we read: Now Bethany was nigh
unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
Again, another reference for furlong, is in Revelation 14:20: And the winepress was trodden
without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by
the space of a thousandand six hundred furlongs.
And finally, in Revelation 21:16, we read of a furlong in this verse: And the city lieth
foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with
the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
In these verses we find that furlongs are a measurement. They measure distance between
places: as Emmaus is threescore (or 60) furlongs from Jerusalem; and Bethany about 15 furlongs
from Jerusalem. The disciples rowed about 25 or 30 furlongs when a storm arose at sea.
So, furlongs are the distance from one point to another. Or, they could also be considered
a measurement of length, breadth, or height (as in Revelation 21:16). Figuring out the
duration of the Day of Judgment is a measure beginning at the point of its commencement
(May 21, 2011) until its conclusion (possibly 1600 days later). A furlong would be a way
of spiritually measuring this distance in time.
Now, here is the sixth place, the Greek word stadion is found, in the Bible.
The Greek word stadion is translated as furlongs five times as we noted. But it is used a sixth
time in the New Testament, and only in this instance it is not translated as furlong.
Stadion is not translated as furlong, but it is translated as race. And, here is the
verse. It is in 1 Corinthians 9:24, where we read:
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run,
that ye may obtain.
Literally, in this verse, this would be translated as they which run in a furlong; but the translators
knew the idea of a race was in view so they translated it as race. And it is significant
that the word race as its being used in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 24 and following,
is focused upon living the Christian life. So, let's read the next verse together with
verse 24. Let us read 1 Corinthians 9:24-25. There we read:
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run,
that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
So, we just read that verse, and we read: They which run in a furlong run all. And that
is everyone runs the race. But the prize is given to the winner of the race. So, we are
to run that we might obtain that prize. What is the prize that comes to the winner of the
race? It is an incorruptible crown. That can only be a reference to eternal life. In other
words, this passage is telling us that we are to run the race to obtain the salvation
of God and at the end of the race (the furlong) lies an incorruptible crown for the one reaching
that point.
Well, how does this help us? Well, it helps us to understand that these 1600 furlongs
could be looked at as the final days of the Christian's race; and at the end of these
furlongs lies (finally) the incorruptible crown of eternal life for all God's elect
in the sense they enter into eternity future and leave this world behind.