God's 7,000-year master plan for mankind is depicted by the seven-day week. As shown in Genesis, God refashioned the earth and created life in six days, resting on the Sabbath. This pattern extends to a grander scale, where each day represents 1,000 years of human existence. The first six days symbolize 6,000 years during which man has been allowed to govern himself and pursue his own ideas. The seventh day represents 1,000 years of peace under the rule of Jesus Christ, a period known as the Millennium, which will follow Christ's intervention in world affairs. Biblical events and history indicate that nearly 6,000 years of human civilization have passed, with approximately 4,000 years before Christ's first coming and another 2,000 years since. Thus, man's allotted time is nearly complete, and God's great Millennial rest is soon to come.

Like any good builder, God has a plan, far grander and more involved than any construction job, and incredibly important. His main objective is to create a Family to share eternity with, making man in His own image and likeness, so humanity can understand His nature and conform to it through life's experiences and building godly character. God has set time limits to His plan, with a beginning and an end, during which His creative work of glorifying many sons and daughters will be accomplished. Time to God takes on different dimensions, as a thousand years equal one day in His prophetic revelation to man. Christ's rule, often referred to as God's rest, lasts a thousand years, and it is logical to conclude that the other six days of Creation typify 6,000 years of man's government on earth. Thus, God has a 7,000-year plan to bring humanity into His Family, and we find ourselves near the end of man's allotted 6,000 years.

God has a master plan to recreate Himself through human beings, limiting this process to a 7,000-year framework. Within this blueprint, each of His holy days highlights a specific step in His work to build children in His image, revealing a deliberate and planned order. The weekly Sabbath and the annual holy days, as outlined in Leviticus 23, serve as reminders of His purpose for mankind, ensuring that this plan is passed from generation to generation. The holy days illustrate the entire plan of God, beginning with repentance and forgiveness, and concluding with the resurrection of the dead as members of His Family. God proceeds in a particular order, dealing with distinct groups of people at different times, covering every person ever born. Jesus Christ is the very first in this plan, opening the way for salvation as the firstborn among many brethren. Christ works first with His firstfruits, the early harvest of His children, represented by the days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost, which signify coming out of the world, conquering sinful natures, and the founding of the New Testament church with the giving of His Holy Spirit. At the Feast of Trumpets, when Christ returns at the last trumpet, He will gather His elect, both living and dead, changing them to spirit to enter God's Kingdom and rule with Him for a thousand years. Following this, during the Feast of Tabernacles, Christ will gather those left of all nations after the end-time disasters, ushering in a thousand years of peace and prosperity where those living into the Millennium, along with children born during it, can be saved. The Last Great Day foreshadows the Great White Throne Judgment, when the remaining dead who died in ignorance of God's way will be resurrected to physical life, given an opportunity to learn and accept His way. Finally, those who have rejected salvation will face a final judgment and be consumed in an all-consuming fire, dying forever, with no feast day picturing this sorrowful event. Through His feast days, God ensures we remember His 7,000-year plan and strive to qualify for a better resurrection.

In the grand scope of God's plan, there are 7000 years of preparation and work with mankind, encompassing a period of temporariness and impermanence. This includes the 7th millennium, a 1000-year Sabbath rest, when Christ Himself rules, bringing peace and unity unknown since the Garden of Eden. During this time, Christ must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet, including death itself. These 7000 years represent a time of mortality and futility, as God readies everything for His ultimate purpose. Yet, as great as the 7th millennium will be, the true goal lies in the 8th millennium. This is when all things will be made new, with new heavens and a new earth. It will be a time of seeing the glory of God, when the tabernacle of God will be with men, and He will dwell with them. God will wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain, for the former things will have passed away. After 7000 years, death is destroyed, and temporariness ends. After 7 millennia of preparation, everything is dedicated to God, and His purpose of creating mankind in His image is complete and perfect. In the 8th millennium, God will be all in all, as is His due, and He will have His portion, which is mankind. God will be completely satisfied, and there will be abundance beyond imagination.

God's plan for mankind spans seven thousand years, with His intervention occurring at the end of six thousand years to initiate the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ and the saints. This seventh day, representing a thousand years, serves as a type of millennial Sabbath, a time when Christ returns to end sin, rebellion, wars, corruption, and immorality. Beginning with the nation of Israel, He will usher in everlasting righteousness, bringing peace and rest to the world. Early church writers, such as Irenaeus in the late second century, supported this 7,000-year plan, stating that the world would be concluded in as many thousand years as the days it was made. Hippolytus, a disciple of Irenaeus, wrote in the early third century that six thousand years of human history must pass before the Sabbath, emblematic of the future kingdom for the saints reigning with Christ, could arrive. Similarly, Victorinus in the late third century affirmed that the true Sabbath would occur in the seventh millennium of years, when Christ and His elect shall reign, marking a period of peace and rest.

There are claims that the Wavesheaf offering must be made during the Days of Unleavened Bread to conform to God's 7,000-year plan, which some assert is pictured by these days. However, this reasoning contains a serious flaw. According to Revelation 20:5, Jesus is to return at the end of 6,000 years, followed by the Millennium, the final thousand years of God's plan. After these thousand years are finished, the Second Resurrection occurs, and the judgment following it is estimated to take near to 100 years. This extends God's plan to 7,100 years, not 7,000. It is after the 7,000 years have passed that the great bulk of mankind will be offered salvation and judged according to their works. Therefore, restricting God's plan to exactly 7,000 years and symbolically containing it within one calendar week is incorrect. On the contrary, having the Wavesheaf day occasionally occur outside the Days of Unleavened Bread more accurately shows that God's plan to harvest mankind exceeds 7,000 years, offering hope to all of mankind for salvation.

Some claim the wavesheaf offering must be made during the Days of Unleavened Bread to conform to God's seven-thousand-year plan that they say the Days of Unleavened Bread picture. However, the Bible nowhere states that God's plan is limited to seven thousand years. According to this scenario, Jesus will return at the end of six thousand years, a resurrection will occur, and the Millennium will begin. Revelation 20:5-8 indicates that the rest of the dead do not live again until the thousand years are finished, after which satan will be released for a season to deceive the nations. The duration of this deception and the subsequent judgment period, as suggested by Isaiah 65:20, extends beyond the seven thousand years. Thus, it is after this period when the majority of those who have ever lived will receive their first opportunity for salvation. When wavesheaf day falls occasionally outside the Days of Unleavened Bread, God can more accurately show that His plan to harvest mankind exceeds seven thousand years and offers hope for salvation to all.