The Bible is a book that speaks about ages, and in this chapter, we will show you that there are seven distinct ages referred to in the Bible. All that is written from Genesis to Revelation is related to one or more of these ages. Everything that God has done, is doing and will do must be understood in the context of the ages, because God has a specific purpose for each age. It is essential to understand that God’s Plan of Universal Reconciliation, which culminates in the creation of the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth, is being worked out in ages by and through His Son Jesus Christ.
The first important thing to understand is that God the Father, Yahweh Elohim, made the Ages through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, Yeshua Elohim.
God of the Ages
Hebrews 1:1-2 (NKJV)
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds (ages – aion).
In this scripture, the NKJV translates the Greek word aion to mean ‘the worlds’. However, the literal meaning of aion as given in this context is ages, as correctly translated in Young’s Literal Translation given below.
Hebrews 1:1-2 (YLT)
1 In many parts, and many ways, God of old having spoken to the fathers in the prophets, 2 in these last days did speak to us in a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He did make the ages (aion).
The Greek word aion is a very significant word for our understanding of God’s Plan of the Ages for the salvation of all.
In the Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament aion occurs 128 times. Aion (eon in English) is a time-related word. It is translated in the Bible in the following two ways, as confirmed by both Strong’s Concordance and Thayer’s Greek Lexicon.
- A period of time that never ends, meaning forever, everlasting or eternal
OR
- A period of time that begins and ends, meaning an age or age-lasting.
Its context in the Bible dictates whether aion means an age or forever.
It is important to understand that God is working out His Plan of salvation for all in ages through His Son Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:20-21
20 Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age (aion) but also in that which is to come.
Please note, this scripture confirms that there are ages in God’s Plan. This present age will end and it will be followed by another age, yet to come. This present age will end at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, when the next age, the Millennial Age, will begin.
Matthew 24:3
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when these things will be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age (aion)?”
The disciples were asking Jesus Christ about the end of the age (aion). They understood that the Second Coming of Jesus would mark the end of this present age and the beginning of the next age.
The Mystery of the Kingdom of God – Hidden from the Ages
Apostle Paul was absolutely awed to understand the unsearchable riches of the mystery of Christ, which was hidden from the beginning of the ages. He was one of the first among the early apostles to whom God clearly revealed all aspects of the mystery of the Kingdom of God. The whole of Ephesians 3, written by Paul, is a marvellous chapter that speaks about the mystery of God’s Plan for the Salvation of all Jews and all Gentiles through the work of the cross.
Ephesians 3:8-9
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ.
The mystery, which has been hidden for ages, is God’s Plan to bring everything together in Christ, everything in heaven and on earth without exception.
Ephesians 1:9-10
9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him.
This scripture clearly reveals that the mystery of God’s will is to gather together, in one, absolutely all things in Christ. The wonderful and powerful expression ‘in Christ’ means that all will come to believe in Christ and accept Him as their Saviour and Lord. This will happen in the fullness of time (in the fullness of the ages), which will be in God’s time, marking the completion of His Plan of the Ages to reconcile all without exception. Paul clearly repeats God’s Plan of Universal Reconciliation in Colossians 1:19-20, 26.
Colossians 1:19-20, 26
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
Scripture very clearly confirms that the mystery of the Ages is the Universal Salvation and Reconciliation of all. This is an exciting and important study. God formulated a Plan for all from before the beginning of the ages, which has been kept secret from the foundation of the world except to God’s Elect. The Plan of God is nothing less than the Universal Reconciliation of absolutely all things through the shed blood of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. This is the true Gospel.
Jesus Christ spoke in parables to the multitudes to hide the mystery of the Kingdom of God from them because it wasn’t yet their time to know God’s Plan of Universal Reconciliation. It is a mystery hidden and kept secret from the world but revealed only to God’s Saints, His Elect, in this life.
Matthew 13:10-11
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
The mystery of the Kingdom of God is indeed the universal reconciliation of all, without a single exception, through the finished work of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. Traditional Christianity has failed to understand the mystery of the Kingdom of God, the unsearchable riches of Christ, because its eyes have not been opened by Father God to the true Christ of the Bible, God’s only begotten Son. So instead, it believes in false doctrines such as the Trinity, Hell and Annihilation.
Biblical Ages defined and stated
There are Seven Biblical Ages clearly stated in the Bible. In order to identify these Ages, we need to first clearly understand what a biblical Age is, as revealed in the Bible.
‘A Biblical Age is a long period of time which begins and ends with God’s supernatural and dramatic intervention on earth, impacting the whole world in a major and far-reaching way, which completely changes the course of the history of the world. However, the Seventh Eternal Age differs in that it begins but it has no end. It is the Age without end.’
The Seven Ages, as revealed in the Bible, are identified under the following headings:
- The Pre-Adamic Age
- The Adamic Age
- The Age of Israel under the Old Covenant of the Law
- The Age of the Church under the New Covenant of Grace
- The Millennial Age of the Kingdom of God
- The Great White Throne Judgement Age
- The Eternal Age of the Kingdom of God
These Seven Ages, which we discuss in this chapter, should not be confused with the Seven Dispensations as promoted by J N Darby and C I Scoffield. The Seven Ages are different and distinct from the Seven Dispensations. Dispensationalists fail to understand and believe in God’s Plan of Universal Reconciliation through God’s only begotten Son.
God’s Plan for All is God’s Grand Family Plan being worked out in Ages
Before time and the Ages began, which was before the heavens and the earth were created, Father God and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ had a Plan to have a huge family. Every part of their glorious Family Plan was worked out in detail, which would take Seven Ages until its fulfilment at the creation of the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
God’s one huge united family will ultimately consist of Father God, Yahweh Elohim, as the Head of the whole Elohim family, and under Him His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, Yeshua Elohim, and under Jesus Christ many billions of created and adopted sons of God; all mankind and all angels, without a single exception.
Here follows an overview of each of the Seven Ages to show how Father God is working out His Grand Family Plan through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
- The Pre-Adamic Age
The First Age is from the creation of the universe to the creation of Adam: the age when the key focus of God’s dealings was the angels.
Time Period: Unknown, but likely to have been many millions of years in duration.
Key Events: The First Age began when God created the heavens and the earth (together being the universe) in the beginning (Genesis 1:1). However, it is important to note that God had already created angels before He created the heavens and the earth. This must have been so because the angels responded with singing and shouts of joy at the creation of the earth when they saw the earth in a beautiful ‘Garden of Eden’ state, teeming with plant and animal life (Job 38:6-7, Ezekiel 28:12-13). God put angels in charge of His beautifully created earth with Lucifer as the leading angel.
The Bible speaks of at least three different Gardens of Eden in three different Ages. There was a Garden of Eden in the Pre-Adamic Age (Ezekiel 28:13), another different Garden of Eden in the Adamic Age (Genesis 2:15), and there will be yet another different Garden of Eden in the future Millennial Age (Ezekiel 36:35).
At some point in the Pre-Adamic Age Lucifer, who became Satan, convinced a third of the angels to rise up with him from the earth to join him in a rebellion against God, to try to usurp the throne of God in heaven. God defeated these rebellious angels and severely punished them for their sins, and violently cast them back down to earth (Revelation 12:7-9).
This judgement of God against the sinful fallen angels resulted in a total global cataclysmic destruction of the earth’s surface and a sudden extinction of all Pre-Adamic plant and animal life (Genesis 1:2). Since then, God has chained Satan and his fallen angels in spiritual darkness and has limited their movement to earth and its heaven (earth’s atmosphere), awaiting their final judgement in the Lake of Fire (2 Peter 2:4).
The Pre-Adamic judgement from God against Satan and his fallen angels caused massive upheavals of the earth’s surface such that even the sea beds were raised to form sedimentary fold mountains like the Himalayas, the Alps and the Andes. We believe that other impressive geological features such as the Grand Canyon were birthed at this time. In addition, earth’s strata folded trapping the dense Pre-Adamic forests resulting in vast deposits and reservoirs of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. Earth’s rocks contain millions of fossils of sea and land animals. These include some amazingly huge fossils of animals like dinosaurs, which must have roamed the Pre-Adamic world.
Many scientists believe that these animals suffered a sudden abrupt extinction many millions of years ago. It is highly significant that no human fossils have been found alongside dinosaurs and other ancient animal fossils. This does not surprise us, as God did not create man in the Pre-Adamic Age.
Star distances, earth’s geology (such as sedimentary fold mountains, vast deposits of fossil fuels and huge animal fossils like dinosaurs) and many modern scientific methods all show that the earth is many millions of years old. Hence, the Pre-Adamic Age lasted for many millions of years.
In Chapter 24, The Biblical Truth of the Pre-Adamic Age, we expose the fallacy of Young Earth Creationism and give detailed answers about the truth of the Pre-Adamic Age.
- The Adamic Age
The Second Age is from Adam to Noah’s flood.
Time Period: Approximately 1700 years in duration.
Key Events: The Second Age began approximately six thousand years ago when God renewed the earth’s surface and its heaven (the earth’s atmosphere) and created life as we know it today in six literal 24-hour days (Genesis 1:3-28). He created Adam and Eve in His own image.
Satan was already a fallen angel and present as ‘the spirit of the air’ on this earth when God renewed the earth’s surface and its heaven (earth’s atmosphere). Adam and Eve sinned when Satan tempted and deceived them into eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, God cursed Satan, man, woman and the land.
The sin of Adam and Eve did not take God by surprise because God is all-knowing and He knows the end from the beginning. In fact, it was all within God’s Plan that Adam and Eve would sin when tempted by Satan, and that a Saviour would be required to save this whole world of fallen sinful men and fallen sinful angels.
Genesis 3:15 is a prophecy that says that the Seed of woman will bruise the head of Satan and undo the works of Satan. This, of course, refers to Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God who became the Son of Man through His virgin birth, and died on the cross for the sins of the whole world to destroy the works of Satan.
Genesis 4:1-15 gives an account of two brothers, Cain and Abel, who both brought offerings to God. However, God rejected Cain’s offering of the fruit of the ground but accepted Abel’s offering of the firstborn of his flock.
Abel’s offering of the firstborn of his flock was pleasing to God because it represented faith in the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son, who is the firstborn over all creation. Cain’s offering of the fruit of the ground was displeasing to God because it represented faith in human self-righteous works. Cain became very angry because God rejected his offering, and he killed his brother Abel because of jealousy.
Cain and Abel represent two religions, false religion and true religion. There are only two religions in this world; the religion of human faith and the religion of God-given faith. All of man’s religions are false religions based on the human faith of self-righteous works, which do not please God. However, the true religion which pleases God is based on the gift of God-given faith to believe in the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son Jesus, who died on the cross to save the whole world.
Genesis 6:5 says that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Also, God was very displeased with a certain group of fallen angels who referred to themselves as ‘the sons of God’. These sinful fallen angels were having illicit sexual relationships with ‘the daughters of men’ which produced a giant race of mighty men known as the Nephilim. This was during the time of Noah who was a just man, perfect in his generation, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord showing that Noah was a believer, one of God’s Elect.
God decided to judge the whole of Noah’s world by flooding it because of its wickedness. God instructed Noah to build an ark, a huge boat, and along with his family to bring certain numbers of every kind of animal into the ark to ensure that these species would survive on the face of the earth after the flood.
God then broke the fountains of the great deep and opened up the windows of heaven, such that it rained for forty days and nights. All of the earth including the mountains were covered by the floodwater. Every living thing that had breath in its nostrils perished except for Noah, his wife, his three sons; Shem, Ham and Japheth with their wives and all the animals that were brought into the ark.
The floodwaters prevailed for 150 days, after which they began to recede, and it took several months before the floodwaters had completely receded. God asked Noah to leave the ark along with his wife, his three sons with their wives, and all the animals so that they would abound, be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth.
- The Age of Israel under the Old Covenant of the Law
The Third Age is from Noah’s flood to Jesus Christ’s First Coming, the age when the key focus of God’s dealings was Israel under the Old Mosaic Covenant of the Law.
Time Period: Approximately 2300 years in duration.
Key Events: The Third Age began with God’s promise to Noah to never flood the earth again, which God confirmed by giving the sign of a rainbow in the sky.
The descendants of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth multiplied and re-populated the earth. God became displeased with men when they built the tower of Babel, a symbol of man’s self-righteous pride, unity and power. Consequently, God caused disunity and confusion among men by giving them different languages and scattering them across the globe.
God called Abraham out of his native land of Haran to go to the land of Canaan in approximately 1921 BC. God made a covenant with Abraham known as the Abrahamic Covenant, which is an unconditional covenant of faith, fully dependent on God Himself for its fulfilment in future ages. God is unconditionally bound to make Abraham and his descendants, the Israelites, a great and blessed nation, and also to bless (to save) all the families (all nations) of the earth through the Seed of Abraham, who is Jesus Christ Himself.
God chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt and He made a covenant with them at Mount Sinai called the Mosaic Covenant, which is a conditional covenant of the Law requiring the Israelites to keep the whole Law, with blessings for obedience but curses for disobedience.
The three important reasons why God chose Israel and made the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant are:
- The Saviour of the world would come from the nation of Israel.
- To demonstrate to Israel and the whole world that although the Law of God is good, righteous, holy and spiritual, it is impossible for man to be righteous before God through the observance of the Law.
- The only way to be righteous before God is through the gift of God-given faith to believe in the finished work of the Seed of Abraham, who is none other than God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
Chapters 6 and 7 give full details of ‘God’s purpose for Israel’ and discuss these two covenants in detail.
- The Age of the Church under the New Covenant of Grace
The Fourth Age is from the First Coming of Jesus Christ to His Second Coming, which is this present age when the key focus of God’s dealings is the Church of God (God’s Elect, the 144,000 Firstfruits) under the New Covenant of Grace.
Time Period: Unknown, but probably not many more than 2000 years in duration.
Key Events: When God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ, Yeshua Elohim, became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, this magnificent event marked the end of the Third Age and the beginning of the Fourth Age in God’s Plan for All (Hebrews 9:26).
The most important reason why the only begotten Son of God became mortal was to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world and, ultimately, to save this whole world of sinful fallen men and sinful fallen angels, without a single exception.
In this present Fourth Age, God’s focus is on calling and saving His Elect believers (the true Church of God) who are very few. In fact, the total number of God’s Elect believers, from throughout the ages up until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, will only be 144,000, from the nation of Israel and the Gentile nations. We explain this truth in great detail in Chapter 9, The Truth of God’s Elect, the 144,000 Firstfruits.
Many people claim to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, but only a few are called and chosen to be God’s Elect believers, the 144,000 Firstfruits. Jesus said that many false prophets and false teachers will come in His name and they will deceive many (Matthew 24:4-5).
This present Fourth Age is divided by Jesus Christ into three periods of prophesied events, which are: ‘The Beginning of Sorrows’, ‘The Tribulation’ and ‘The Great Tribulation’. It is very important to properly understand and distinguish these three periods of prophesied events, which we explain in detail in Chapter 10, The Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Fourth Age will finally come to an end at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ when the next age, the Fifth Age of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, begins on earth.
- The Millennial Age of the Kingdom of God
The Fifth Age is the glorious reign of Jesus Christ on this earth with His resurrected Bride, God’s Elect (the 144,000 Firstfruits).
Time Period: Exactly 1000 years in duration.
Key Events: The Fifth Age will begin with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the First Resurrection, which is the resurrection of God’s Elect Bride, the 144,000 Firstfruits. Also, Satan who is currently free to roam the earth and its atmosphere to deceive the world as ‘the prince of the power of the air’ (Ephesians 2:2) will be imprisoned in the bottomless pit. He will be kept there for a thousand years to prevent him from deceiving the nations during Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.
The Millennial Kingdom of God will be a glorious thousand-year age when Jesus Christ will rule and reign with His Bride on earth. Christ and His Bride will rule over the mortal fleshly people who survive the Great Tribulation and their descendants born during the Millennial Age.
The Millennial Kingdom of God will be a time of fulfilment of physical and spiritual promises made to Israel and the Church. It will be a time of great blessings for Israel and all nations, and the whole earth will become a Garden of Eden and full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Full details are given in Chapter 11, The Millennial Age of the Kingdom of God.
- The Great White Throne Judgement Age
The Sixth Age begins at the end of Christ’s glorious thousand-year Millennial Rule on earth when the Second Resurrection takes place, when also, Satan is released from his thousand-year imprisonment. The Sixth Age will end after all of the billions of resurrected unbelievers, and Satan with all of his fallen angels, have been judged and reconciled to Father God in His refining but merciful Lake of Fire. This is in confirmation of the Gospel truth that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the salvation of the whole world, without a single exception.
Time Period: Unknown, but likely to be much less than a thousand years in duration.
Key Events: There are two key events which are:
- Father God (Yahweh Elohim) Himself, who remains invisible to His unredeemed creation, will come down from His current dwelling place in heaven (located somewhere in the universe) to sit on His throne (the Great White Throne) within the Holy City, which at this juncture in time is located in earth’s heaven, its atmosphere. This is when the Great White Throne Judgement begins in the presence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, sitting at His Father’s right hand in the midst of the Bride of Christ, the redeemed 144,000 Firstfruits, who are spiritually referred to as the Holy City, the New Jerusalem.
- The whole earth will become a physical Lake of Fire as described in 2 Peter 3:10-12. This is where all resurrected unbelievers and all fallen angels will be confined, and judged by God’s Spiritual Fire, before they are reconciled to Father God through the finished work on the cross of God’s only begotten Son for the salvation of the whole world.
Full details of this Sixth Age are given in Chapters 12 and 13, The Great White Throne Judgement Age – Part 1 and Part 2.
- The Eternal Age of the Kingdom of God
The Seventh Age is the Eternal Age of the Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Time Period: For Eternity.
Key Events: The Seventh Age begins when the Holy City, New Jerusalem, descends onto the refined, purified and renewed earth with its atmosphere, referred to in the Bible as the New Heaven and the New Earth (Revelation 21:2). This will only happen after all sinful fallen men and all sinful fallen angels, without a single exception, are made righteous and reconciled to God through God’s refining, yet merciful, Lake of Fire during the Great White Throne Judgement Age.
God’s one huge family will ultimately consist of Father God, Yahweh Elohim, as the Head of the family, and under Him, His Son Jesus Christ, Yeshua Elohim, as the only begotten Son of God, and under Jesus, beginning with His Bride, the 144,000 Firstfruits, will be all men and all angels as the created and adopted sons of God.
The earth will become the headquarters and governing planet of the universe in the Eternal Kingdom of God. The Seventh Age is the age that begins but never ends. It is the Age without end, as it will last for eternity. Truly, it will be the glorious Eternal Sabbath Rest from all sin, from all ungodliness and from all unrighteousness, for all of God’s creation.
Truly, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Full details of this Seventh Age are given in Chapter 14, The Eternal Age of the Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Next – Chapter 6. God’s Purpose for Israel, Part 1