How Long Is An "Age?"

From a study on the Jewish Calendar (URL below) this Talmud quote:
"In the words of the Babylonian Talmud: "The world as we know it(earth) will exist solely for 6,000 years (beginning with Adam andEve). The first 2,000 years will be defined by chaos. The second 2,000years will mark the years of Torah. The final 2,000 years will includethe Messianic Age."

Mystics explain this cryptic passage as an amazingly prescient script not only for the past but for the future as well. The first 2,000 years -- called simply chaos -- are the years before monotheism made its appearance on earth. Abraham was 52-years-old when he intuited that there had to be one God responsible for the creation of a carefully designed and incredibly intricate world. The date on the Hebrew calendar marking this great discovery, an insight that would decidedly alter the history of civilization, was exactly 2,000."(SOURCE: Benjamin Blech, "Y2K, Jewish Perspective", AISH)<http://www.aish.com/societywork/society/Why_2K$.asp>).

And why was 3761 B.C set as the year of creation? "3760 was calculated by adding up the ages of people in the Bible back to the time of creation. However, this does not necessarily mean that the universe was created less than 6000 years ago as the definition of "years" has not been a constant throughout history." (SOURCE: Lisa Katz, "Q. Whatis the Hebrew Calendar?", About.com,<http://judaism.about.com/cs/hebrew/f/calendar_lunar.htm>).

"It is worth noting that the Talmud, in the tractate Avodah Zarah, page 9A, states that this world as we know it will only exist for six thousand years:"...The Tanna Debey Eliyahu taught: The world is to exist six thousand years; the first two thousand are to be "void" [of Torah], the next two thousand are the period of the Torah [from Abraham until the completion of the Mishna - the first part of the Talmud], and thefollowing [last] two thousand are the period of the Messiah [i.e., theMessianic Age could commence during this time]; through our [the Jews'] sins a number of these [times for the Messiah's coming] have already passed [and the Messiah has not come yet]."" (SOURCE:Wikipedia, End of the World,<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_the_world_(religion)>).

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=539757

My comment: What these ancient Jews believed was that there would be three 2,000-year-long ages ~
First 2,000 ~ Age of Chaos, void of the Law (Adam to Abraham);
Second 2,000 ~ Age of Torah (or of the Semite or Jew); and
Third 2,000 ~ Age of the Messiah.

When we paste together the chronologies in the Bible, we always come up with the figure of 4,000 years from Adam until Christ. This may not jibe with other timelines (for instance, archaeological estimates) but it is the record of the Masoretic text of the Old Testament. This is where these ancient rabbis drew up this code. If we use the biblical chronologies, this timeline fits.

What is particularly interesting to me is that the history of the Jews from Abraham to Jesus is indeed 2,000 years. So we can then conclude that a biblical "age" is 2,000 years.

The next age, the rabbis said, would be the "Messianic Age." This, too, is very interesting. Jesus died and rose again around the year 30AD. In just fifty days (Pentecost), the church was born. The church was the vehicle used by God to proclaim the advent of the Messiah (or that a Messianic Age had begun with the incarnation of Christ). 2,000 years from 30AD would be, of course, 2030AD, less than 23 years away.

Another name for this age is "the times of the Gentiles" or "the last days." Both names are true, because the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles and the last days of the plan of God began.

Many rabbis missed the fact that Jesus was the promised Messiah prophesied by their own prophets. Many Jews still await their Messiah, and guess at how he will return. But we who follow Christ know who he is and have identified the One who sent his Spirit to the Gentiles until that age is over.

It is easy to see, by the way, that the present Jewish calendar is not the same as the one used by the Gentiles. There are a number of possible reasons for this that are discussed in the article above. But if we subtract 4,000 years from the crucifixion year 30AD, we come up with 3970BC, which is exactly 209 years different than the present Jewish calendar.

My point is not that we have to come up with exact dates, but that we have a general picture of the big story, the one that surrounds the Christ by and through whom it was made, and of which we are a part. It is a picture symbolized by a "week." And the Sabbath is the day when it all ends in rest. Furthermore, that day may not be far off.