There is a clear principle found in the scriptures of skipping over the first two of a sequence and accepting, or receiving, or fulfilling a promise in the third. Following are some examples:

• Of the sons of Adam and Eve: The blessing of the messianic lineage passed by Cain and Abel and came to Seth.
• Of the patriarchs: The blessing of being the patriarch in whom the promise would be fulfilled where every male offspring would be of the favored race/nation passed by Abraham and Isaac and came to Jacob.
• Of the tribes of Israel: The blessing of being wholly given to God among the sons of Israel passed by Reuben and Simeon and came to Levi. [Numbers 8:13-18] Then, with Levi being given to God thereby removing them from the numbering, the blessing of the messianic lineage passed by Reuben and Simeon and came to Judah.
• Of the kings of Israel: The blessing of building the Lord's Temple on Earth passed by Saul and David and came to Solomon.
• Of the twelve Apostles: The first among them to be martyred was neither the first nor the second, Simon Peter or Andrew, but the third, James. [Matthew 10:2-3, Acts 12:2]
• Moses' life was divided into three forty year periods. The fulfilling of his destiny passed by the first two forty year periods and came to pass in the third.
• In 2 Kings 1, Ahaziah the King sent three consecutive captains of fifty to fetch Elijah. The first two groups failed but the third was successful.
• Zech 13:8 And it shall come to pass in all the land," Says the Lord, "That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it: 9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people'; And each one will say, 'The Lord is my God.' " [NKJV]

This principal is also seen in relation to time in the following passages:

Luke 13:32 And He said to them, "Go, tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.' 33 Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. [NKJV]

Exodus 19:10 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. 11 And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Moreover, I believe this principal is prophetically related to the end times and the timing for the beginning of the 70th week. Most of us, myself included,  believe that the first 69 weeks ran through Yeshua's sacrifice for our sin [Daniel 9:25-26]. This event is generally placed at Passover somewhere around 31-33 AD. With this in mind let's look at a third example of this principal as it's related to time:

Hosea 6:2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.

The phrase "On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight" is distinctly Millennial. Peter instructs us that a day with the Lord is as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day [2 Pet 3:8]. Reckoning each day as 1000 years, the "two days" is likely 2000 years. We must also understand that Prophetic years are based upon 360 days instead of our current 365.25 transversal around the sun: 2000 years x 360 days = 720,000 days.  But we must convert this length of time back to our current years: 720,000/365.25 = 1971.25 solar years. If we use 33AD as the year Yeshua HaMashiach is cut off and add 1971.25 years we come to 2004.25 AD.

Since Yeshua's death and resurrection would have been at Spring Passover around 33 AD and we add the .25 balance of the year, that would bring us very close to the Fall of 2004, around Rosh Hashanah.  Hosea told us that ON the 3rd day he will raise us up, not at the tail end of the 2nd day.  We can reasonably infer that perhaps in the next Hebrew year starting in Fall 2004 through Fall 2005, the final week of the 70 week time count that was suspended at the cross may begin.  This fits well with the hypothesis of this final 7 years running Fall 2005 - Fall 2012.

We shall see.

Shalom, Chris AKA Prophbuff