The
Dangers of Time-Setting
Several principles have been explained
to us in the inspired Writings. We need to understand the dangers
of time-setting.
First, we should study and seek to
understand the implications and ramifications of coming events. We
should try to understand their causes, effects, and relationships. It is
also very helpful to grasp the order of these events — which ones come
first, which come after, and which are simultaneous.
But, in all of our studies, we cannot
know the dates of coming events or the amount of time between them. Nor
should we try to obtain this information. Our heavenly Father has wisely
withheld it from us, and we should not try to search out that which He
does not want us to study into. This would include time spans and dates.
It matters not whether we call it "prophetic time,"
"literal time," or "actual time" — it is all
imaginary time as far as Heaven is concerned.
Someone may reply, "Oh, no, my
time-setting calculations are not prophetic time; that is year-for-a-day
time — and that ended in 1844. My ideas are literal day-for-a-day time
prophecies, therefore they are not ‘prophetic time.’ Therefore I can
tell you that the National Sunday Law will be enacted next year, and the
close of probation will follow, just so many months later." — But
it is all predicted time, and that makes it prophetic time.
Another will say, "Well, it is not
an exact date; only a year that we are predicting, so it is all right
for us to do this; so it is not really ‘definite time’
setting." — But that suggested calculation is for a definite year
or a definite time span between events — therefore it is
"definite time," and we have been warned against setting
definite time after 1844. Time-setting involves either setting dates or
time spans between events.
(1) A "date" is an actual time
when an event will take place. It may be an hour, day, month, or season
of the year. ("The loud cry will begin on October 22 of this
year," etc.) It may only be a year date. ("The latter rain
will take place in 1994," etc.)
(2) A "time span" is
the length of time between events. ("Because the national Sunday
law will begin in January of 1984, we can know that the latter rain will
begin in March, and probation will close in the spring of the next
year," etc.) We can and should be acquainted with the order in
which events occur together or follow one another, but we cannot know
how much time will elapse between these events. God has not told us
these things, and we are not to seek to delve into that which He has not
revealed to us.
It is significant that we will not know
when certain events occurred — even after they happen. For example, no
one will know the date when probation will close even after it has
occurred (compare Great Controversy, 613:2 with 615:1).
Therefore it would be incorrect for someone to say "Probation
closed for the world (or for part of it) in 1967."
We have here gathered together most of
the inspired Statements in regard to time prophecies and time setting
after 1844. You will want to read them thoughtfully and prayerfully.
Obedience to God’s revealed will in these matters is far more
important than the excitement which comes from imagining that a new date
setting has been worked out.
TIME SETTING: ONE OF THE FIRST
ERRORS TO COME IN AFTER 1844
"The majority of Adventists
rejected the truths concerning the sanctuary and the law of God, and
many also renounced their faith in the advent movement and adopted
unsound and conflicting views of the prophecies which applied to that
work. Some were led into the error of repeatedly fixing upon a definite
time for the coming of Christ. The light which was now shining on the
subject of the sanctuary should have shown them that no prophetic period
extends to the Second Advent; that the exact time of the advent is not
foretold. But, turning from the light, they continued to set time after
time for the Lord to come, and as often they were disappointed.
"When the Thessalonians church
received erroneous views concerning the coming of Christ, the apostle
Paul counseled them to test their hopes and anticipations carefully by
the Word of God. He cited them to prophecies revealing the events to
take place before Christ should come, and showed that they had no ground
to expect Him in their day. ‘Let no man deceive you by any means’ (2
Thessalonians 2:3) are his words of warning. Should they indulge
expectations that were not sanctioned by the Scriptures, they would be
led to a mistaken course of action; disappointment would expose them to
the derision of unbelievers, and they would be in danger of yielding to
discouragement and would be tempted to doubt the truths essential for
their salvation. The apostle’s admonition to the Thessalonians
contains an important lesson for those who live in the last days. Many
Adventists have felt that unless they could fix their faith upon a
definite time for the Lord’s coming, they could not be zealous and
diligent in the work of preparation. But as their hopes are again and
again excited, only to be destroyed, their faith receives such a shock
that it becomes well-nigh impossible for them to be impressed by the
great truths of prophecy.
"The preaching of a definite time
for the judgment [the 1844 date], in the giving of the first message,
was ordered of God. The computation of the prophetic periods on which
that message was based, placing the close of the 2300 days in the autumn
of 1844, stands without impeachment. The repeated efforts to find new
dates for the beginning and close of the prophetic periods and the
unsound reasoning necessary to sustain these positions not only lead
minds away from the present truth but throw con tempt upon all efforts
to explain the prophecies. The more frequently a definite time is set
for the Second Advent and the more widely it is taught, the better it
suits the purposes of Satan. After the time has passed, he excites
ridicule and contempt of its advocates, and thus casts reproach upon the
great Advent movement of 1843 and 1844. Those who persist in this error
will at last fix upon a date too far in the future for the coming of
Christ. Thus they will be led to rest in a false security, and many will
not be undeceived until it is too late." — Great Controversy, 456-457.
THERE SHALL BE
NO MORE TIME PROPHECIES AFTER 1844
The meaning of Revelation
10:5-6 is explained in Manuscript 59, 1900, which is
quoted in 7 Bible Commentary, 971.
"And the Angel which I saw stand
upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware
by Him that liveth for ever and ever. . that there should be time no
longer." — Revelation 10:5-6.
In Manuscript 59, 1900 (quoted
below) we are told several things:
(1) Jesus was the angel of Revelation
10:1-3, 5-6.
(2) One sentence spoken by the Angel
("There should be time no longer") is a specific prediction
that, after 1844, there would no more messages given by Heaven to
God’s people based on time.
(3) No other time prophecy [including
the 1335-year prophecy] could reach beyond 1844.
Here is part of the passage. You will
want to read the entire section for yourself in 7 Bible Commentary, 971.
"The mighty Angel who instructed
John was no less a personage than Jesus Christ. . The mighty Angel
demands attention. He cries with a loud voice. . This time [given in
Revelation 10:6] which the Angel declares with a solemn oath, is not the
end of this world’s history, neither of probationary time, but of
prophetic time, which should precede the advent of our Lord. That is,
the people will not have another message upon definite time [from God
after 18441. After this period of time, reaching from 1842 to 1844,
there can be no definite tracing of the prophetic time. The longest
reckoning reaches to the autumn of 1844." — Manuscript 59,
1900 (7 Bible Commentary, 971).
NOT GIVEN THIS
KNOWLEDGE BECAUSE WE WOULD NOT USE IT PROPERLY
"The times and seasons God has put
in His own power. And why has not God given us this knowledge? Because
we would not make a right use of it if He did. A condition of things
would result from this knowledge among our people that would greatly
retard the work of God in preparing a people to stand in the times and
the seasons which God has not revealed. Jesus told His disciples to
watch, but not for definite time." — Evangelism,
221.
BACK IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE WORK
"The nominal Adventists charged me
with fanaticism, and I was falsely represented as the leader of the
fanaticism which I was laboring constantly to arrest."Different
times were set [by others] for the Lord to come, and were urged upon the
brethren. But the Lord showed me that they would pass by, for the time
of trouble must take place before the coming of Christ; and that every
time a date was set and passed, it would weaken the faith of God’s
people. For this I was charged with being the evil servant that said,
‘My Lord delayeth His coming.’ Matthew 24:48. "All these things
weighed heavily upon my spirits; and, in the confusion, I was sometimes
tempted to doubt my own experience." — Life
Sketches, 89 (Early Writings, 22).
A FALSE EXCITEMENT FROM TIME PROPHECIES
AFTER 1844
"Time has not been a test since
1844, and it will never again be a test. The Lord has shown me that the
message of the third angel must go, and be proclaimed to the scattered
children of the Lord, but it must not be hung on time. I saw that some
were getting a false excitement, arising from preaching time; but the
third angel’s message is stronger than time can be. I saw that this
message can stand on its own foundation, and needs not time to
strengthen it; and that it will go in mighty power, and do its work, and
will be cut short in righteousness." — Early
Writings, 75.
NO MORE TIME
DATING AFTER 1844
"These statements relative to [the
error of] time setting were printed about thirty years ago, and the
books containing them have been circulated everywhere; yet some
ministers, claiming to be well-acquainted with me, state that I have set
time after time for the Lord to come, and those times have passed;
therefore my visions are false. No doubt these false statements are
received by many as truth; but none who are acquainted with me or with
my labors can, in candor, make such report. This is the testimony I have
ever borne since the passing of the time in 1844: ‘Time after time
will be set by different ones, and will pass by; and the
influence of this time setting will tend to destroy the faith of God’s
people.’ If I had in vision seen definite time [after 1844], and had
borne my testimony to it, I could not have written and published, in the
face of this testimony, that all times that should be set would pass. .
And I had no vision until 1845, which was after the passing of the time
of general expectation in 1844. I was then shown what I have here
stated.
"And has not this testimony been
fulfilled in every particular? The First-day Adventists have set time
after time; and, notwithstanding the repeated failure, they have
gathered courage to set new times. God has not led them in this. Many of
them have rejected the true prophetic time [of Daniel 8:14],
and ignored the fulfillment of prophecy because the time passed in 1844
and did not bring the expected event. They rejected the truth, and the
enemy has had power to bring strong delusions upon them that they should
believe a lie. The great test on time was in 1843 and 1844; and all who
gave set time since then have been deceiving themselves and deceiving
others." — 1Testimonies, 72-73.
EFFECTS OF THE 1854 TIME SETTING
MOVEMENT
"I saw that God tested His people
upon time in 1844, but that no time which has since been set has borne
the special marks of His hand. He has not tested His people upon any
particular time since 1844. We have been, and still are, in the patient
waiting time. Considerable excitement was created by the 1854 time
[date], and many have settled it that that movement was in the order of
God because it was quite extensive and some were apparently converted by
it. But such conclusions are not necessary. There was much preached in
connection with the time in 1854 that was reasonable and right. Some who
were honest took truth and error together, and sacrificed much of what
they possessed to carry out the error, and after their disappointment
they gave up both truth and error, and are now where it is very
difficult for the truth to reach them. Some who endured the
disappointment have seen the evidences of present truth, and have
embraced the third angel’s message, and are striving to carry it out
in their lives. But where there is one who has been benefited by
believing the 1854 time [setting], there are ten who have been injured
by it; and many of these are placed where they will not be convinced of
the truth, though it be presented before them ever so clearly."
— l Testimonies, 4O9.
THE CLOSE OF PROBATION IN OCTOBER 1884
"I plainly stated at the Jackson
camp meeting to these fanatical parties that they were doing the work of
the adversary of souls; they were in darkness. They claimed to have
great light that probation would close in October 1884. I there stated
in public that the Lord had been pleased to show me that there would be
no definite time in the message given of God since 1844; and that I knew
that this message, which four or five were engaged in advocating with
great zeal, was heresy. The visions of this poor child were not of God.
This light came not from heaven." — 2 Selected
Messages, 73.
THE 1894 TIME DATE
"Those to whom he presented his
views listened to him eagerly, and some thought him inspired. He had a
chart made, and reasoned from the Scriptures to show that the Lord would
come at a certain date, in 1894, I think. To many his reasoning seemed
without a flaw. They told of his powerful exhortation in his sickroom.
Most wonderful views passed before him. But what was the source of his
inspiration? It was the morphine given to relieve his pain . . The
wonderful light, which presented such a show of truth, was the result of
a misapplication of Scripture. The Lord’s work would not close and
probation end in 1894. The word of the Lord to me was, ‘This is not
truth, but will lead into strange paths; and some will become con fused
over this representation, and will give up the faith." —
2 Selected Messages, 113.
THEORIES NEW AND STARTLING
"From the beginning of our work,
men have arisen from time to time, advocating theories that were new and
startling. But if those who claim to believe the truth would go to those
who have had experience, would go to the Word of God in a teachable,
humble spirit, and examine their theories in the light of truth and with
the aid of the brethren who have been diligent Bible students, and at
the same time make supplication unto God, asking, Is this the way of the
Lord, or is it a false path in which Satan would lead me? they would
receive light, and would escape out of the net of the fowler. Let all
our brethren and sisters beware of anyone who would set a time for the
Lord to fulfill His Word in regard to His coming or in regard to ANY
OTHER PROMISE HE HAS MADE of special significance. ‘It is not for you
to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own
power.’ False teachers may appear to be very zealous for the work of
God, and may expend means to bring their theories before the world and
the church. But, as they mingle error with truth, their message is one
of deception, and will lead souls into false paths. They are to be met
and opposed, not because they are bad men but because they are teachers
of falsehood and are endeavoring to put upon falsehood the stamp of
truth. What a pity it s that men will go to such pains to discover some
theory of error by which the people might be enriched in the most holy
faith. Instead of teaching truth, they let their imagination dwell upon
that which is new and strange." — Testimonies to Ministers,
54-55.
TIME SETTING AND THE SECOND ADVENT
"In consideration of the shortness
of time, we as a people should watch and pray, and in no case allow
ourselves to be diverted from the solemn work of preparation for the
great event before us.. Every moment is of the highest value. Time is
granted them, not to be employed in studying their own ease and becoming
dwellers on the earth but to be used in the work of overcoming every
defect in their own characters and in helping others, by example and
personal effort, to see the beauty of holiness. God has a people upon
the earth who, in faith and holy hope, are tracing down the roll of
fast-fulfilling prophecy and are seeking to purify their own souls by
obeying the truth that they may not be found without the wedding garment
when Christ shall appear.
"Many who have called themselves
Adventists have been time setters. Time after time has been set for
Christ to come, but repeated failures have been the result. The definite
time of our Lord’s coming is declared to be beyond the ken of mortals.
Even the angels who minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation
know not the day nor the hour. ‘But of that day and hour knoweth no
man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.’ Because the
times repeatedly set have passed, the world is in a more decided state
of unbelief than before in regard to the near advent of Christ. They
look upon the failures of the time setters with disgust; and, because
men have been so deceived, they turn from the truth, substantiated by
the Word of God, that the end of all things is at hand." — 4
Testimonies, 306-307.
WARNED AGAINST MAPPING OUT THE FUTURE
"But the day and the hour of His
coming Christ has not revealed. He stated plainly to His disciples that
He Himself could not make known the day or the hour of His second
appearing. Had He been at liberty to reveal this, why need He have
exhorted them to maintain an attitude of constant expectancy? There are
those who claim to know the very day and hour of our Lord’s appearing.
Very earnest are they in mapping out the future. But the Lord has warned
them off the ground they occupy. The exact time of the second coming of
the Son of man is God’s mystery." — Desire of Ages,
632-633.
DOING AN EVIL WORK THAT WILL RUIN SOULS
"We are near the end but, if you or
any other man shall be seduced by the enemy and led on to set the time
for Christ’s coming, he will be doing the same evil work which has
wrought the ruin of the souls of those who have done it in the past. If
you are wearing the yoke of Christ, if you are lifting His burden, you
will see that there is plenty to do in the same lines wherein the
servants of God are laboring in preaching Christ and Him crucified. But
anyone who shall start up to proclaim a message to announce the hour,
day, or year of Christ’s appearing has taken up a yoke and is
proclaiming a message that the Lord has never given him." — Testimonies
to Ministers, 60-61.
IN ORDER TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION UPON THE
PEOPLE
"Those who think
they must preach definite time in order to make an impression upon the
people do not work from the right standpoint. The feelings of the people
may be stirred and their fears aroused, but they do not move from
principle. An excitement is created; but, when the time passes, as it
has done repeatedly, those who moved out upon time fall back into
coldness, darkness, and sin, and it is almost impossible to arouse their
consciences without some great excitement." — 4 Testimonies, 308.
SCRIPTURE AND APPARENT
LOGIC
"Those who
presumptuously preach definite time, in so doing, gratify the adversary
of souls; for they are advancing infidelity rather than Christianity.
They produce Scripture; and, by false interpretation, show a chain of
argument which apparently proves their position. But their failures show
that they are false prophets, that they do not rightly interpret the
language of inspiration. The Word of God is truth and verity, but men
have perverted its meaning. The errors have brought the truth of God for
these last days into disrepute. Adventists are derided by ministers of
all denominations, yet God’s servants must not hold their peace. The
signs foretold in prophecy are fast fulfilling around us. This should
arouse every true follower of Christ to zealous action." — 1
Testimonies, 307.
ALWAYS SETTING ANOTHER
"We are not of that
class who define the exact period of time that shall elapse before the
coming of Jesus the second time with power and great glory. Some have
set a time; and, when that has passed, their presumptuous spirits have
not accepted rebuke, but they have set another and another time; but
many successive failures have stamped them as false prophets." — Fundamentals
of Christian Education, 335.
THE TIME OF THE LATTER
RAIN
"Jesus has told His
followers to watch, but not for definite time. His followers are to be
in the position of those who are listening for the orders of their
Captain; they are to watch, wait, pray, and work, as they approach the
time for the coming of the Lord; but no one will be able to predict just
when that time will come; for ‘of that day and hour knoweth no man.’
You will not be able to say that He will come in one, two, or five
years, neither are you to put off His coming by stating that it may not
be for ten or twenty years. . We are not to know the definite time
either for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or for the coming of
Christ." — Evangelism, 221.
YOU ARE NOT TO KNOW IT
"You are not to
know the day or hour of the Lord’s appearing, for this has not been
revealed, and let none speculate on that which has not been given him to
understand. Let every one work upon that which has been placed in his
hands, knowing the daily duties that God requires." — 6
Testimonies, 440.
MUCH OF IT IS DELAY
SETTING
"No one has a true
message fixing the time when Christ is to come or not to come. Be
assured that God gives no one authority to say that Christ delays His
coming five years, ten years, or twenty years. ‘Be ye also ready, for
in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh’ (Matthew
24:44). This is our message, the very message that the three angels
flying in the midst of heaven are now proclaiming. The work to be done
now is that of sounding this last message of mercy to a fallen world.
The truth as it is in Jesus is the refuge in these days of error."
— 2 Selected Messages, 113-114.
DAY AND DATE FOR
UNFULFILLED PROPHECY
"There will always
be false and fanatical movements made by persons in the church who claim
to be led of God — those who will run before they are sent, and will
give day and date for the occurrence of unfulfilled prophecy. The enemy
is pleased to have them do this, for their successive failures and
leading unto false lines cause confusion and unbelief." — 2
Selected Messages, 84.
ELLEN WHITE HEARD THE
HOUR
"They [Early
Writings, 15, 34, and 285 in the present edition] contain all that
I have ever been shown in regard to the definite time of the Lord’s
coming. I have not the slightest knowledge as to the time spoken by the
voice of God. I heard the hour proclaimed, but had no remembrance of
that hour after I came out of vision." — 1 Selected
Messages, 75-76.
GOD HAS GIVEN NO
MESSAGE TO ANYONE TO DATE THE CLOSE OF PROBATION
"The Word of the
Lord reveals the fact that the end of all things is at hand; and its
testimony is most decided that it is necessary for every soul to have
the truth planted in the heart so that it will control the life and
sanctify the character. . The opportune time for us to work is now, just
now, while the day lasts. But there is no command for anyone to search
the Scriptures in order to ascertain, if possible, when probation will
close. God has no such message for any mortal lips. He would have no
mortal tongue declare that which He has hidden in His secret
councils." — 7 Bible Commentary, 989-990.
HE SET TIME FOR
PROBATION TO CLOSE
"If ever a man that
I looked upon was inspired, this man certainly was; but I told him
plainly his inspiration was of Satan, not of God. His message bore not
the divine credentials.. The time was set (by this man) for probation to
close; and, as every prediction failed, the young man (whom he had
deceived) saw he had been deceived, and he confessed his sin." —
2 Selected Messages, 65.
GOD HAS NOT REVEALED
WHEN PROBATION WILL END
"God has not
revealed to us the time when this message will close, or when probation
will have an end. Those things that are revealed we shall accept for
ourselves and for our children; but let us not seek to know that which
has been kept secret in the councils of the Almighty . . Letters have
come to me asking me if I have any special light as to the time when
probation will close; and I answer that I have only this message to
bear, that it is now time to work while the day lasts, for the night
cometh in which no man can work. Now, just now, it is time for us to be
watching, working, and waiting." — 7 Bible Commentary,
989 (more complete in 1 Selected Messages, 191).
PROBATION WILL CLOSE
SUDDENLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY
"When probation
ends, it will come suddenly, unexpectedly, at a time when we are least
expecting it. But we can have a clean record in heaven today, and know
that God accepts us; and finally, if faithful, we shall be gathered into
the kingdom of heaven." — 7 Bible Commentary, 989.
OUR ONLY SAFETY IS IN
BEING READY
"I have no specific
time of which to speak when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will take
place, when the mighty angel will come down from heaven and unite with
the third angel in closing up the work for this world; my message is
that our only safety is in being ready for the heavenly refreshing,
having our lamps trimmed and burning. Christ has told us to watch,
‘for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.’
‘Watch and pray’ is the charge that is given us by our Redeemer. .
0, how much time has been wasted through giving attention to trifling
things. Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out when
the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."
— 1 Selected Messages, 192.
IT’S TIME TO WATCH,
FOR THE END IS ALMOST UPON US
"Christ’s
disciples were given warning of the destruction of Jerusalem. Those who
watched for the sign of the coming ruin and fled from the city escaped
destruction. So now we are given warning of Christ’s second coming and
of the destruction to fall upon the world. Those who heed the warning
will be saved.
"Because we know
not the exact time of His coming, we are commanded to watch. ‘Blessed
are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching.’
Luke 12:37. Those who watch for the Lord’s coming are not waiting in
idle expectancy. The expectation of Christ’s coming is to make men
fear the Lord, and fear His judgments upon transgression. It is to
awaken them to the great sin of rejecting His offers of mercy. Those who
are watching for the Lord are purifying their souls by obedience to the
truth. With vigilant watching they combine earnest working. Because they
know that the Lord is at the door, their zeal is quickened to cooperate
with the divine intelligence in working for the salvation of souls. .
They are declaring the truth that is now specially applicable. As Enoch,
Noah, Abraham, and Moses each declared the truth for his time, so will
Christ’s servants now give the special warning for their generation. .
The advent of Christ will surprise the false teachers . . Upon all who
dwell on the face of the whole earth, upon all who make this world their
home, the day of God will come as a snare. It comes to them as a
prowling thief. . Men are putting afar off the coming of the Lord. They
laugh at warnings. The proud boast is made, ‘We will go deeper into
pleasure loving.’ But Christ says, ‘Behold, I come as a thief.’ Revelation
16:15.
"Everything in the
world is in agitation. The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events
cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the
earth, and calamity follows calamity by sea and by land. . Who can read
the future? Where is security? There is security in nothing that is
human or earthly. . Satan sees that his time is short. He has set all
his agencies at work that men may be deceived, deluded, occupied, and
entranced until the day of probation shall be ended and the door of
mercy be forever shut.
"Solemnly there
come to us down through the centuries the warning words of our Lord from
the Mount of Olives: ‘Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your
hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunken ness, and cares of
this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.’ ‘Watch ye
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
man.’" — Desire of Ages, 634-636.
The following quotation
is from our lengthy collection of almost-entirely unreleased manuscript
statements, entitled The Last Days:
The Lapse of Time Till
the Second Coming Is Short, But Its Exact Measure Is Unknown. —
"The time before Christ’s coming is short. We know not the exact
measure of it, but God knows the hour of Christ’s coming. — Manuscript
78, 1903, p.5. ("A Worldwide Message," July 24, 1903,). 1
SELECTED MESSAGES, 185-191
Nearly every statement
in the Spirit of Prophecy on the subject of time setting has been
included in this tract, with the exception of the longest single passage
on this topic — the sermon at Lansing, Michigan, first printed in the
Review of March 22, 1892, and later reprinted in 1 Selected Messages,
185-191.
Here is part of that
chapter:
"The disciples were
anxious to know the exact time for the revelation of the kingdom of God;
but Jesus tells them that they may not know the times and the seasons;
for the Father has not revealed them. To understand when the kingdom of
God should be restored, was not the thing of most importance for them to
know. They were to be found following the Master, praying, waiting,
watching, and working. They were to be representatives to the world of
the character of Christ. That which was essential for a successful
Christian experience in the days of the disciples, is essential in our
day. ‘And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or
the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.’ And after
the Holy Ghost was come upon them, what were they to do? ‘And ye shall
be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth’ (Acts 1:7,
8).
"This Is the work
in which we also are to be engaged. Instead of living in expectation of
some special season of excitement, we are wisely to improve present
opportunities, doing that which must be done in order that souls may be
saved. Instead of exhausting the powers of our mind in speculations in
regard to the times and seasons which the Lord has placed in His own
power, and withheld from men, we are to yield ourselves to the control
of the Holy Spirit, to do present duties, to give the bread of life,
unadulterated with human opinions, to souls who are perishing for the
truth.
"Satan is ever
ready to fill the mind with theories and calculations that will divert
men from the present truth, and disqualify them for the giving of the
third angel’s message to the world. It has ever been thus; for our
Saviour often had to speak reprovingly to those who indulged in
speculations and were ever inquiring into those things which the Lord
had not revealed. Jesus had come to earth to impart important truth to
men, and He wished to impress their minds with the necessity of
receiving and obeying His precepts and instructions, of doing their
present duty, and His communications were of an order that imparted
knowledge for their immediate and daily use.
"Jesus said:
‘This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent’ (John 17:3). All that was done
and said had this one object in view — to rivet truth in their minds
that they might attain unto everlasting life. Jesus did not come to
astonish men with some great announcement of some special time when some
great event would occur, but He came to instruct and save the lost. He
did not come to arouse and gratify curiosity; for He knew that this
would but increase the appetite for the curious and the marvelous. It
was His aim to impart knowledge whereby men might increase in spiritual
strength, and advance in the way of obedience and true holiness. He gave
only such instruction as could be appropriated to the needs of their
daily life, only such truth as could be given to others for the same
appropriation.
"He did not make
new revelations to men, but opened to their understanding truths that
had long been obscured or misplaced through the false teaching of the
priests and teachers. Jesus replaced the gems of divine truth in their
proper setting, in the order in which they had been given to patriarchs
and prophets. And after giving them this precious instruction, He
promised to give them the Holy Spirit whereby all things that He had
said unto them should be brought to their remembrance.
"We are in
continual danger of getting above the simplicity of the gospel. There is
an intense desire on the part of many to startle the world with
something original, that shall lift the people into a state of spiritual
ecstasy, and change the present order of experience. There is certainly
great need of a change in the present order of experience; for the
sacredness of present truth is not realized as it should be, but the
change we need is a change of heart, and can only be obtained by seeking
God individually for His blessing, by pleading with Him for His power,
by fervently praying that His grace may come upon us, and that our
characters may be transformed. This is the change we need today, and for
the attainment of this experience we should exercise persevering energy
and manifest heartfelt earnestness. We should ask with true sincerity,
‘What shall I do to be saved?’ We should know just what steps we are
taking heavenward.
"Christ gave to His
disciples truths whose breadth and depth and value they little
appreciated, or even comprehended, and the same condition exists among
the people of God today. We too have failed to take in the greatness, to
perceive the beauty of the truth which God has entrusted to us today.
Should we advance in spiritual knowledge, we would see the truth
developing and expanding in lines of which we have little dreamed, but
it will never develop in any line that will lead us to imagine that we
may know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in His own
power. Again and again have I been warned in regard to time setting.
There will never again be a message for the people of God that will be
based on time. We are not to know the definite time either for the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit or for the coming of Christ.
"I was searching
through my writings, before coming to this meeting, to see what I should
take with me to Australia, and I found an envelope on which was written,
‘Testimony given in regard to time setting, June 21, 1851. Preserve
carefully.’ I opened it, and this is what I found. It reads:
"‘A copy of a
vision the Lord gave Sister White, June 21, 1851, at Camden, N.Y. The
Lord showed me that the message must go, and that it must not be hung on
time; for time will never be a test again. I saw that some were getting
a false excitement, arising from preaching time, that the third
angel’s message can stand on its own foundation, and that it needs not
time to strengthen it, and that it will go with mighty power, and do its
work, and will be cut short in righteousness.
"‘I saw some were
making everything bend to this next fall; that is, making their
calculations, and disposing of their property in reference to that time.
I saw that this was wrong for this reason: instead of going to God
daily, and earnestly desiring to know their present duty, they looked
ahead, and made their calculations as though they knew that the work
would end this fall, without inquiring their duty of God daily. — E.
G. White. (‘Copied at Milton, June 29, 1851, A. A. G.’)
"This was the
document I came upon last Monday in searching over my writings, and here
is another which was written in regard to a man who was setting time in
1884, and sending broadcast his arguments to prove his theories. The
report of what he was doing was brought to me at the Jackson {Michigan}
camp meeting, and I told the people they need not take heed to this
man’s theory; for the event he predicted would not take place. The
times and the seasons God has put in His own power. And why has not God
given us this knowledge? — Because we would not make a right use of it
if He did. A condition of things would result from this knowledge among
our people that would greatly retard the work of God in preparing a
people to stand in the great day that is to come. We are not to live
upon time excitement. We are not to be engrossed with speculations in
regard to the times and the seasons which God has not revealed. Jesus
has told His disciples to ‘watch,’ but not for a definite time. His
followers are to be in the position of those who are listening for the
orders of their Captain; they are to watch, wait, pray, and work, as
they approach the time for the coming of the Lord; but no one will be
able to predict just when that time will come; for ‘of that day and
hour knoweth no man.’ You will not be able to say that He will come in
one, two, or five years, neither are you to put off His coming by
stating that it may not be for ten or twenty years. — 1 Selected
Messages, pp. 185-189 (, March 22, l892Review).
"God has not
revealed to us the time when this message will close, or when probation
will have an end. Those things that are revealed we shall accept for
ourselves and for our children; but let us not seek to know that which
has been kept secret in the councils of the Almighty. It is our duty to
watch and work and wait, to labor every moment for the souls of men that
are ready to perish. We are to keep walking continually in the footsteps
of Jesus, working in His lines, dispensing His gifts as good stewards of
the manifold grace of God. Satan will be ready to give to anyone who is
not learning every day of Jesus, a special message of his own creating,
in order to make of no effect the wonderful truth for this time.
"Letters have come
to me asking me if I have any special light as to the time when
probation will close; and I answer that I have only this message to
bear, that it is now time to work while the day lasts, for the night
cometh in which no man can work. Now, just now, it is time for us to be
watching, working, and waiting. The Word of the Lord reveals the fact
that the end of all things is at hand, and its testimony is most decided
that it is necessary for every soul to have the truth planted in the
heart so that it will control the life and sanctify the character. The
Spirit of the Lord is working to take the truth of the inspired Word and
stamp it upon the soul so that professed followers of Christ will have a
holy, sacred joy that they will be able to impart to others. The
opportune time for us to work is now, just now, while the day lasts. But
there is no command for anyone to search the Scripture in order to
ascertain, if possible, when probation will close. God has no such
message for any mortal lips. He would have no mortal tongue declare that
which He has hidden in His secret councils. — 1 Selected Messages,
pp. 191-192 (Review, Oct. 9, l894).
"I have no specific
time of which to speak when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will take
place — when the mighty angel will come down from heaven, and unite
with the third angel in closing up the work for this world; my message
is that our only safety is in being ready for the heavenly refreshing,
having our lamps trimmed and burning. Christ has told us to watch;
‘for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.’
‘Watch and pray’ is the charge that is given us by our Redeemer. Day
by day we are to seek the enlightenment of the Spirit of God, that it
may do its office work upon the soul and character. 0, how much time has
been wasted through giving attention to trifling things. Repent and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." — l
Selected Messages, p. 192 (Review, March 29, 1892).
TIME PREDICTIONS COME
FROM SATAN
We are clearly told that
time setting after 1844 is not from God. In view of this, it would seem
that dates and time spans that some individuals preach might originate
directly with the prince of darkness. However, the following statement
indicates that ALL such time-setting comes from Satan! The implication
is here given that it is part of the lure by which he draws people into
spiritism! That is a most frightening thought! Beware, beware of
dabbling in time-setting!
"By the prediction
of Saul’s doom, given through the woman of Endor, Satan planned to
ensnare the people of Israel. He hoped that they would be inspired with
confidence in the sorceress, and would be led to consult her. Thus they
would turn from God as their counselor and would place themselves under
the guidance of Satan. The lure by which spiritualism [but not always so
named] attracts the multitudes is its pretended power to draw aside the
veil from the future and reveal to men what God has hidden. God has in
His Word opened before us the great events of the future — all that is
essential for us to know — and He has given us a safe guide for our
feet amid all its perils; but it is Satan’s purpose to destroy men’s
confidence in God, to make them dissatisfied with their condition in
life, and to lead them to seek a knowledge of what God has wisely veiled
from them, and to despise what He has revealed in His Holy Word.
"There are many who
become restless when they cannot know the definite outcome of affairs.
They cannot endure uncertainty, and in their impatience they refuse to
wait to see the salvation of God . . If they would but trust in God and
watch unto prayer, they would find divine consolation. Their spirit
would be calmed by communion with God. The weary and heavy laden would
find rest unto their souls if they would only go to Jesus; but, when
they neglect the means that God has ordained for their comfort and
resort to other sources, hoping to learn what God has withheld, they
commit the error of Saul, and thereby gain only a knowledge of evil.
"God is not pleased
with this course, and has expressed it in the most explicit terms. This
impatient haste to tear away the veil from the future reveals a lack of
faith in God and leaves the soul open to the suggestions of the master
deceiver. . By experience gained through the long ages, he can reason
from cause to effect and often forecast, with a degree of accuracy, some
of the future events of man’s life. Thus he is enabled to deceive
poor, misguided souls and bring them under his power and lead them
captive at his will.
"God Himself is the
light of His people; He bids them fix their eyes by faith upon the
glories that are veiled from human sight. The Sun of Righteousness sends
its bright beams into their hearts; they have light from the throne of
heaven, and they have no desire to turn away from the source of light to
the messengers of Satan." — Patriarchs and Prophets,
686-688.
SEEKING TO KNOW WHAT
GOD HAS NOT REVEALED
It may seem harmless
enough, but it is wrong. As humble children of God, we are to accept
that which our kind Father gives us with thankfulness and obedience. But
we are not to try to delve into that which He has not made known. Be
cause Heaven has not revealed the time of any coming event — but has
specifically told us not to figure out that time — it is sinful
for us to disregard His will and His command in this matter, and seek to
pry open the dating of future events. The following statements are
powerful and clear:
"Eve, unconsciously
at first, separated from her husband in her employment. When she became
aware of the fact, she felt that there might be danger; but, again, she
thought herself secure, even if she did not remain close by the side of
her husband. She had wisdom and strength to know if evil came, and to
meet it. This the angels had cautioned her not to do. Eve found herself
gazing with mingled curiosity and admiration upon the fruit of the
forbidden tree. She saw it was very lovely, and was reasoning with
herself why God had so decidedly prohibited their eating or touching it.
Now was Satan’s opportunity. He addressed her as though he was able to
divine her thought: ‘Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every
tree of the garden?’ Thus, with soft and pleasant words, and with
musical voice, he addressed the wondering Eve. She was startled to hear
a serpent speak. He extolled her beauty and exceeding loveliness, which
was not displeasing to Eve. But she was amazed, for she knew that to the
serpent God had not given the power of speech.
"Eve’s curiosity
was aroused. Instead of fleeing from the spot, she listened to hear a
serpent talk. It did not occur to her mind that it might be that fallen
foe, using the serpent as a medium. It was Satan that spoke, not the
serpent. Eve was beguiled, flattered, infatuated. Had she met a
commanding personage, possessing a form like the angels and resembling
them, she would have been upon her guard. But that strange voice should
have driven her to her husband’s side to inquire of him why another
should thus freely address her. But she entered into a controversy with
the serpent. She answered his question, ‘We may eat of the fruit of
the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the
midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’ The serpent answered, ‘Ye shall not
surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’
"Satan would convey
the idea that by eating of the forbidden tree they would receive a new
and more noble kind of knowledge than they had hitherto attained. This
has been his special work, with great success, ever since his fall —
to lead men to pry into the secrets of the Almighty and not to be
satisfied with what God has revealed, and not careful to obey that which
He has commanded. He would lead them to disobey God’s commands, and
then make them believe that they are entering a wonderful field of
knowledge. This is purely supposition, and a miserable deception. They
fail to understand what God has revealed, and disregard His explicit
commandments and aspire after wisdom, independent of God, and seek to
under- stand that which He has been pleased to withhold from mortals.
They are elated with their ideas of progression and charmed with their
own vain philosophy, but grope in midnight darkness relative to true
knowledge. They are ever learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth." — The Story of Redemption,
33-34.
"There is a
constant effort made to explain the work of creation as the result of
natural causes; and human reasoning is accepted even by professed
Christians, in opposition to plain Scripture facts. There are many who
oppose the investigation of the prophecies, especially those of Daniel
and the Revelation, declaring them to be so obscure that we cannot
understand them; yet these very persons eagerly receive the suppositions
of geologists, in contradiction of the Mosaic record. But if that which
God has revealed is so difficult to understand, how inconsistent it is
to accept mere suppositions in regard to that which He has not revealed!
"‘The secret
things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed
belong unto us and to our children forever." Deuteronomy
29:29. — Patriarchs and Prophets, 113.
"Those who possess
the carnal mind cannot comprehend the sacred force of vital truth upon
which their salvation depends, because they cherish pride of heart, love
of the world, love of ease, selfishness, covetousness, envy, jealousy,
lust, hatred, and every evil. If they would overcome these they might be
partakers of the divine nature. Many leave the plain truths of God’s
Word and neglect to follow the light that shines clearly upon their
pathway; they try to pry into secrets not plainly revealed and
conjecture and talk and dispute in regard to questions which they are
not required to understand, for they have no special reference to their
salvation. Thousands have been beguiled in this way by Satan. They have
neglected present faith and present duty which are clear and
comprehensive to all who have their reasoning powers; they have dwelt
upon doubtful theories and scriptures which they could not comprehend,
and have erred concerning the faith; they have a mixed faith." — 2
Testimonies to the Church, 694.
"It is a
masterpiece of Satan’s deceptions to keep the minds of men searching
and conjecturing in regard to that which God has not made known and
which He does not intend that we shall understand. It was thus that
Lucifer lost his place in heaven. He became dissatisfied because all the
secrets of God’s purposes were not confided to him, and he entirely
disregarded that which was revealed concerning his own work in the lofty
position assigned him. By arousing the same discontent in the angels
under his command, he caused their fall. Now he seeks to imbue them also
to disregard the direct commands of God." — The Great
Controversy, 523.
"Such has been
Satan’s work from the days of Adam to the present, and he has pursued
it with great success. He tempts men to distrust God’s love and to
doubt His wisdom. He is constantly seeking to excite a spirit of
irreverent curiosity, a restless, inquisitive desire to penetrate the
secrets of divine wisdom and power. In their efforts to search out what
God has been pleased to withhold, multitudes overlook the truths which
He has revealed, and which are essential to salvation." — Patriarchs
and Prophets, 54-55.
"By the prediction
of Saul’s doom, given through the woman of Endor, Satan planned to
ensnare the people of Israel. He hoped that they would be inspired with
confidence in the sorceress, and would be led to consult her. Thus they
would turn from God as their counselor and would place themselves under
the guidance of Satan. The lure by which spiritualism attracts the
multitudes is its pretended power to draw aside the veil from the future
and reveal to men what God has hidden. God has in His Word opened before
us the great events of the future, all that is essential for us to know,
and He has given us a safe guide for our feet amid all its perils; but
it is Satan’s purpose to destroy men’s confidence in God, to make
them dissatisfied with their condition in life, and to lead them to seek
a knowledge of what God has wisely veiled from them, and to despise what
He has revealed in His Holy Word." — Patriarchs and
Prophets, 686-687.
How thankful we can be
that the God of heaven has been so gracious to give us the truths and
warnings we so much need. Shall we instead accept theories running
counter to them?
THE PROPHETIC TIME THEORY
In order to excuse and validate their
time-setting calculations, the defense is frequently offered that (in 7
Bible Commentary, 971) the Spirit of Prophecy said there would be
no "prophetic time" after 1844, but that the new time-settings
are not "prophetic time." The reasoning underlying this
remarkable assertion is that "prophetic time" is year-day
time-setting ("2300 years from 457 B.C. to A.D. 1844", etc.),
and day-day time-setting ("2300 days from 1987 to 1994," etc.)
is not "prophetic time." But consider this:
(1)"Prophetic time" and
"definite time" are the same thing (7 Bible Commentary,
971).
(2)There will be no more definite time
prophecies from 1844 to the second advent of Christ (compare 7 Bible
Commentary, 971; Early Writings, 22; Great Controversy,
456-457; 4 Testimonies, 306-308; Evangelism, 221).
(3) In Manuscript 59, 1900 (7 Bible
Commentary, 971), we are told that, in Revelation 10:5-6,
Christ Himself predicted that no more messages based on time would be
given by Heaven to the people. The passage specifically defines
"prophetic time" as "definite time." — Yet
all time-setting is keyed to definite time.
THE DEFINITE TIME THEORY
Time-setters claim that their
calculations predict "indefinite time, " and that the Spirit
of Prophecy only said we should not seek to ascertain "definite
time" for any future event.
In reply, we would say this:
(1) As the above passages indicate, the
Inspired Writings warn us to have nothing to do with "time"
setting as often as we are warned to stay away from "definite
time" setting.
(2) It is not possible to set time,
without setting it definitely. All that is required is a predicted year.
Otherwise you are merely saying that Jesus is "coming soon,"
and we all believe that!
By its very nature, time-setting
requires the setting of definite time dates (day, month, and/or year
dates), or definite time spans (day, month, and/or year) between
predicted events. All of this involves DEFINITE time. Yet, throughout
this present study, we learn that the God of heaven has given and will
give no more messages based on time to this planet after 1844 and prior
to the second advent (with the sole exception of the day and hour date
of Christ’s return, which will be given in earth-shaking tones from
the skies after the close of probation (Great Controversy, 640] ).
(3) Over and over we are told NOT to set
TIME; that is, ANY KIND OF TIME — prophetic, year-day, day-day, or you
name it. Consider this:
"They continued to set TIME after
TIME" (Great Controversy, 456). "It must not be hung
upon TIME" (Early Writings, 75). "Time after TIME
will be set by different ones, and will pass away." (1
Testimonies, 72-73). "No TIME which has since been set has
borne the special marks of His hand" (1 Testimonies, 409).
"Let all our brethren and sisters beware of anyone who would set a
TIME. . in regard to His coming or in regard to any other promise He has
made of special significance" (Testimonies to Ministers,
54-55). "Time after TIME has been set . . Because the TIMES
repeatedly set have passed." (4 Testimonies, 306-307).
". . seduced by the enemy and led on to set TIME" (Testimonies
to Ministers, 60). "Some have set a definite TIME; and, when
that has passed, their presumptuous spirits have not accepted rebuke,
but they have set another and another TIME" (Fundamentals of
Christian Education, 335). "No one will be able to predict
just when the TIME will come" (Evangelism, 221). "No
one has a true message fixing the TIME" (2 Selected Messages,
113). "The TIME was set" (2 Selected Messages, 65).
"God has not revealed to us the TIME" (1 Selected Messages,
191). "The message must go, and that it must not be hung on
TIME" (1 Selected Messages, 188). "God has not
revealed to us the TIME" (1 Selected Messages, 191).
THE DAY-DAY TIME THEORY
Time-setting advocates claim that
year-day time calculations (2300 years: "457 B.C. to A.D.
1844," etc.) ended in 1844, and thereafter all calculations must be
based on a day-day basis (2300 days: "1987 to 1994," etc.).
But the following should be noted:
(1) We have been warned against ANY type
of time setting, and that would include day-day. A careful reading of
the Spirit of Prophecy statements on time-setting reveal them to be very
generalized. In the providence of God, they were so written in order to
include all types and instances of time setting. Therefore, we who know
so much of God’s Holy Word, will be left without excuse in the
Judgment if we engage in time-setting.
(2)Not once does the Spirit of Prophecy
ever recommend or condone day-day time settings of our historic year-day
prophetic periods (1260, 1290, 2300, 1335, or 490 years).
(3)Not once are we ever told that there
are or can be alternate applications to those time prophecies.
(4)There is not the slightest indication
in God’s Word that, prior to 1844, those prophetic periods should be
calculated on a day-day basis, and, since then, they are recalculated on
a day-day basis.
(5)Another error that is brought forward
to buttress this one is the double application theory. We will discuss
that concept later in this study.
THE SECOND ADVENT THEORY
It is claimed that only Second Advent
dating is prohibited, so therefore we can happily speculate to our
heart’s content on the dating of the earlier events.
But consider the following:
(1)Elsewhere in this study it has been
noted that the Spirit of Prophecy specifically warns against setting
time for the investigative judgment, latter rain, loud cry, third
angel’s message, close of probation, or second advent.
(2)We have also been warned against
attempting to time-set any future event (Evangelism, 221), or any
promise which God has for us in the future (Testimonies to Ministers,
55).
THE CLOSE OF CHURCH
PROBATION THEORY
A specialized type of time-setting
involves the date "when probation will close for the church."
Yes, they tell us, It is true that we cannot know the date of the
general close of probation, but we can ascertain the date when the
probation of our denomination has closed.
In reply, we suggest this:
(1)A careful study of last-day events in
the Spirit of Prophecy reveals that the pre-probationary close focuses
on the national Sunday law crisis, the marking, sealing and loud cry
which follows, the individual close of probation, and the general close
of probation — not on the close of probation for the church.
(2)According to the Spirit of Prophecy,
the shaking and sifting, which is now in progress, will climax during
the marking/sealing. But, at that time, the chaff in the church will be
sifted out and the good wheat will remain to receive the latter rain and
begin the loud cry. THAT is when probation will close for false
professors in the church. Therefore, probation cannot already have ended
for the church, because the national Sunday law and marking/sealing time
have not yet begun! It is as simple as that.
(3) We are in a time of ongoing general
apostasy in our denomination. Every year gets worse. It is foolish to
try to pinpoint one event among the many which are so rapidly occurring
— and date the close of probation for the entire denomination on that
event.
Let us stay with the emphases and issues
brought out in the Bible/Spirit of Prophecy. We know that there will be
individual closes of probation, and that they will begin in a given
nation when its national Sunday law is enacted. We know that a general
close of probation will occur when the last individual has been tested
and made his decision on whether he will worship the true God or the
beast. But — if there will be a close of probation for our
denominational organization — the closest we can come to it is the
fact the national Sunday law event. At that time, it will become illegal
for our denomination to operate without total Sunday keeping compromise
on the part of our leaders. And that may happen! But the issue in the
last days will be the Sabbath/Sunday issue, not something else.
(4)Again, let us beware of trying to
delve into that which God has not revealed. Work for the lost, prepare
your own heart for heaven, and seek to help those around you; these are
the tasks Heaven has appointed us at this time.
(5) One individual, who dates the
probation for the church as having closed over a decade ago, assures his
followers that "it is not time now to work for the lost." But,
if you read the quotations given earlier in this present study, that is
one of Satan’s two objectives in tempting men to time-set: [1]
discourage people when the time does not come to pass, and [2] persuade
them that it is too late to work for others.
THE NEW LIGHT THEORY
According to this excuse, in spite of
all the warnings the God of heaven has given against time-setting, His
people must do it anyway because it is "new light," and Spirit
of Prophecy tells us that new light will come to our people. Therefore
we must ever be on the forefront of searching out that which God has not
revealed, ever be eager to listen to those with new-light speculations.
Oh, my people, my people! When will we
start obeying God for a change! If we cannot obey the plain statements
of His Word now, why should we imagine that we will later do it in the
most difficult crisis of the marking and sealing time?
(1)The new light will be from God’s
Word, not from our imaginations. Theories and ideas foreign to Scripture
are brought forward and presented to us as though they were inspired of
God.
(2)The new light will agree with the old
light. If the old light is that we are to have nothing to do with
time-setting, why then are we eagerly listening to those who present
time setting to us as though it were new light?
(3)The new light will be found to have
been plainly (clearly, directly, definitively) given in the Spirit of
Prophecy. It will not be something that could possibly be hinted at.
(4) The new light will not have as its
most powerful evidence the generalized "new light" statements.
("Ellen White says there will be new light for our people. I have
new light for you. Therefore it is the light predicted in the Spirit of
Prophecy!")
(5)When we try to delve into that which
God has not revealed, we are on Satan’s enchanted ground and, by
dallying there, will erelong be overcome.
THE HISTORY WILL BE REPEATED THEORY
Those eager to calculate time periods,
regardless of Heaven’s warnings, will explain that the Spirit of
Prophecy declares that "history will be repeated," and
therefore all the time prophecies will also! So we MUST determine what
they are and proclaim them.
How long will it be before we can
recognize an excuse for disobeying God when it is presented to us?
(1) We ARE told that history will be
repeated (TM 116; CM 128; PK 535; 255 363; Ed
177; 7BC 917, 976; 1SM 162-163; GC 316), but
we are never told that TIME PROPHECIES will be repeated.
(2) In the above
"history-repeated" quotations, not once is the emphasis on
repeating time prophecies or time periods: Education, 177:0 —
One nation arose after another, and each had its time of test, and was
then rejected. History will be repeated. (also: Prophets and Kings,
535:1).
Great Controversy, 316:0-1 —
A church arises, backslides, and is finally rejected because of
disobedience. This truth has been repeated all through history.
Colporteur Ministry, 128:1 —
The book, Great Controversy, has to be written to warn the people, for
past history will be repeated.
7 Bible Commentary, 976 — The
final crisis will have within it elements of former crises.
Testimonies to Ministers, 116:1
— "Past history will be repeated; old controversies will arouse
to new life, and peril will beset God’s people on every side."
7 Bible Commentary, 917/2:2-3
and 1 Selected Messages, 162-163 (both are from the same original
source, but each has material not in the other] — Individuals arise
with foolish new speculations and heresies. History will be repeated; it
will happen again.
(3) The "history-repeated"
quotations present two points: [1] Cyclical patterns in the history of
nations, organizations, and individuals. They are given an opportunity
and then set aside when they fail. [2] Earlier controversies and issues
will again be revived in the future because they are essential elements
in the long standing controversy between Christ and Satan.
(4) The most basic issues are fought
over strict obedience to God’s Word, and time-setting in these last
days is disobedience to God’s Word.
(5) God’s principles are always in
harmony with one another. One should not be used as an excuse for
disobeying another: [1] God told us NOT to set time after 1844. [2] IF
time spans were to be repeated after 1844 (and we were never once told
that they would), then He will re peat them, WITHOUT our having known
the fact — simply because we are categorically told we cannot and will
not be able to correctly determine predictive time after 1844. [3] To
flout God’s direct command and try to set day-day 2300, 1260, etc.
dates after 1844 is sin. Those who do it are in rebellion against
God’s Holy Word.
So history is being repeated after all:
In this end-time, after centuries of rebellion, people are still
disobeying the plain commands of God; one which says, "After 1844,
do not set time."
THE JUBILEE THEORY
When we discuss the Jubilee
("Jubilee" in most KJVs), we discuss that which is very close
to solid ground. The argument for this goes something like this: Jesus
will carry out a final special event on the anniversary of the Jubilee.
So, if we can determine the date of the Jubilee, presto! we can date an
important coming event!
The Biblical sources of the Jubilee
would be Leviticus 25:9-15, 28-30; 25:31-33, 40, 50-54; and
27:17-24. Our analysis of the Jubilee follows:
In ancient Israel, every 7th, 49th, or
50th year was set aside as a special rest. On that date, the people were
to "proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the
inhabitants thereof" (Leviticus 25:10). Surely, the great
final windup of human history will fall on the date of a Jubilee! But
there are problems:
(1) We do not know whether the Jubilee
was the 49th or 50th year. The present writer thinks it fell on the 50th
year (the year after the seven Sabbaths of years), but it might have
been the 49th. In the approximate 3400 years since it began, the
difference between 49 and 50 would amount to a difference of perhaps 68
years!
(2) We do not know when it began. This
is the BIG problem! We generally estimate that the exodus from Egypt
occurred about 1440 B.C., and the entrance into Canaan about 1400 B.C.
But no one knows the exact date. If we cannot know the exact date, we
cannot know when the Jubilee began. If we cannot know that, we cannot
know when its anniversaries occur. Within a few weeks at the most, the
children of Israel arrived at Mount Sinai. They were there about a year.
While there, the Jubilee statute was given to them. (It was given in
Leviticus 25, and they later left Sinai in Numbers 10.)
(3) Did the Jubilee start when it was
given at Sinai, or, more likely, was it to begin 40 years later when
they entered and took possession of the Promised Land?
So there we have it: a cycle without a
certain beginning and without a definite length. But there is more:
(4) We do not know when it is supposed
to end. What event in the last days would mark its anniversary? There
are several contenders for the honor: [1] When the judgment passes to
the living and the sealing begins. That would be an excellent time for
the Jubilee to fall on. According to clear statements in the Spirit of
Prophecy, Satan’s devices no longer have effect on God’s people
henceforth (5T 212-216, 472-475; EW 71; etc.). But
that is an ongoing process; not everyone will be sealed at the same
time. [2] Then there is the sounding of the Voice of God from the
heavens, which will forever deliver His people from the physical power
and oppression of Satan. They will cry "Victory" over the
beast at that time. [3] The second advent of Christ is yet a third great
event, when God takes His faithful ones to heaven.
So we have a cycle without a beginning
date and no definite length, compounded by uncertainty about when it
should end in our time.
(5) Then there is the problem of rounded
numbers. The Bible is full of them. Because of the rounded-number
problem, the great event that the Jubilee points forward to could come
within a number of years of the end of a Jubilee cycle.
(6) Last but not least, God has said
that NO ONE can or will know — or successfully predict — the date of
any coming event until the Voice of God declares the day and hour of
Christ’s coming. Therefore (IF you believe the Word of God) it is
totally impossible to figure out any coming event from the Jubilee
cycle.
Continued from the previous tract in
this series
(The present writer does not believe in
date-setting, but he does believe in the Jubilee although without
setting any dates for it or accepting any that another may set.
According to Leviticus 25:10,
the Jubilee fell on the 50th year.
It applied to all the inhabitants of the
land; at that time, they returned to their former possessions, and
family links were reunited. That would indicate that the Jubilee is a
type of the second advent of Christ. Whether its anniversary will
coincide with that event, we cannot know. The ram’s horn [yobel, hence
jubilee] was blown in a trumpet blast on the day of atonement,
announcing the Jubilee. Events which followed brought the liberation of
slaves and the return of property to rightful owners. Thus we see here a
most powerful type of the final windup of earth’s history.)
THE CEREMONIAL YEAR THEORY
According to this theory, all of the
crucial final events (national Sunday law, sealing/marking, loud cry,
close of probation, and second advent) will be keyed to the ancient
typical Levitical year of ceremonies. A common pattern is to place the
Sunday law as being enacted on the Passover, the sealing on Pentecost,
and so forth. One year later, either probation will close or (according
to another theory) Christ will return. A frequently held variant is to
place all this within a 2300-day time span, and begin it on a Passover
or a Day of Atonement.
But there are problems here, as well:
(1)Never does God’s Word inform us
that the Jewish ceremonial year would date last-day events. Some may not
think that matters. But when were we ever told to in- vent our own
theology out of whole cloth! People who manufacture their own theology
make themselves their own god.
We brought this out in BS — 4-5 on the
history of the change of the Sabbath. By the attempted change of the
Sabbath, the pope set himself above the God of heaven, and made himself
a substitute. It is easy to reject God's Scriptures and invent our own,
but it is dangerous. Are you bold enough to do it?
God gave us a Bible Sabbath, and
commanded us to keep it and work the other six days. In defiance of
God’s Word and knowing that the Scriptures forbid it, the pope taught
the people to worship on a different day. God gave us final events, and
commanded us not to time-set them. Knowing the warnings forbidding it,
people today do it with apparent impunity, and teach others to have
confidence in their rebellion. In light of what God’s Word has said on
the subject of time-setting, are you brave enough to even listen to
them?
(2)Not once in Scripture (Bible and/or
Spirit of Prophecy) are we told that the ceremonial year will have a
second antitypical fulfillment after 1844. Someone will object,
"But what about the antitypical day of atonement!" That is not
a second antitypical fulfillment; it is the first one. Passover was
antitypically fulfilled at Calvary; Pentecost at the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit on the Apostles shortly thereafter. The Feast of Trumpets
met its antitype in the Midnight Cry, and we are now in the antitypical
Day of Atonement. The Feast of Tabernacles will be fulfilled at the
Second Advent, and the marriage supper of the Lamb when the faithful
arrive in heaven.
THE INTERLINKED PROPHECIES FULFILLMENT
THEORY
Variations on this theme are seemingly
endless. A complicated set of interlocking time spans is presented,
generally beginning with the national Sunday law, which links closely
with every other major final event, and a variety of insignificant ones
(and imaginary ones as well). Proponents of these theories will tell you
that it is not time-setting, since no dates are involved.
But consider this:
(1) No dates may be presented, but as
soon as the national Sunday law is passed, a quick glance at the time
chart yields the month and year of every other significant final event
leading to — and including — the second advent! This is high-tech
time setting!
(2) Each calculator places his
interlocking day-day time spans into a personalized, totally arbitrary
structure. No two inventors of interlocking span systems agree on
arrangement. It is all one great confusion.
THE DOUBLE FULFILLMENT THEORY
This is the theoretical basis for some
of the time setting theories that are being presented. Thus we have one
theory propping up another. This double-fulfillment theory has even been
given a high-sounding name to give it added distinction: the
apotelesmatic principle. The idea goes something like this: Every
prophecy mentioned in the past will be fulfilled again in the present.
Thus we have the "ships of Chittim" becoming the U.S. fleet
off the coast of Cyprus, etc.
In reply we would suggest this:
(1) Nowhere in the Bible or Spirit of
Prophecy are we told that this theory is correct. Please understand that
we are NOT discussing whether or not an occasional prophecy has had a
double application; this theory requires that all or most have a second,
last-day application!
(2) The theory received its big push
from Desmond Ford. Apotelesmatics was one of his key concepts, used by
him to effectively destroy our historic Daniel and Revelation beliefs in
the minds of many of our people. It is good to know the background and
fruits of the theory. In our denomination, it originated not in the
Bible or Spirit of Prophecy, but in the new theology. And it has led
many church members into a modernist rejection of our historic prophetic
beliefs. That rejection continues today.
One researcher counted more than a dozen
antitypical applications of Daniel 8:14 in one three-paragraph statement
in Desmond Ford’s Glacier View thesis. That is how powerfully this
strange concept can be in the hands of a devoted double-applicationist.
"The question may reasonably be
asked here, Whose interpretation of Dan. 8:14 addresses the context
better — the relatively localized interpretation of the
[Adventist] pioneers or Ford’s broad generalizations which apply it to
almost every major event through the scheme of salvation history?"
— W. H. Shea, The Apotelesmatic Principle.
(3) Intriguingly enough, those who
resolutely try to find current second fulfillments of every sentence and
phrase in Daniel and Revelation — keep changing their fulfillments
every few years! Within a short span of four years, one individual
changed his position from that of Iran and Iraq being the contending
kings of Daniel 11 to that of the U.S. and Iraq being those kings. That
is a dramatic change over from 1987 to 1991, and there will be more to
come, simply because current events keep changing, and major Bible
prophecies are now made to hang on the precarious hooks of current
newspaper headlines.
It is significant that Ford only applied
double applications to Daniel 8, 9, and 11, but not to 2 or 7;
whereas a leading independent conservative freely applies double
applications to most every Bible prophecy he opens to. One person, who
has carefully studied the writings of both men, considers that
individual’s interpretations of Daniel to be more liberal than those
of Ford. Yet Ford is a Sabbathkeeping Evangelical.
There is a strange quality of the human
mind that it is more willing to accept the teachings of a living speaker
than the counsels of the Written Word. My friend, fear and tremble, and
plead every day with God for help, — lest, in the coming days, you
leave His side and follow after men and their theories. We must know and
obey the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, regardless of what those around
us may teach.
(4) Before
concluding this section, we should note that Adventists have always
accepted the historist approach to Bible prophecy. We have seen
fulfillments of Daniel, Matthew 24, and Revelation as occurring all
through history. But, within half a century after Luther and, as part of
the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation to destroy Protestantism, two
Jesuit scholars invented two different schools of prophetic
interpretation. Both had one objective: to turn away the pointing finger
of Daniel and Revelation from Rome. Alcazar, early in the seventeenth
century, thought up "preterism," "which applies Bible
prophecy to the time of Christ and shortly thereafter. A Spanish Jesuit,
Ribera, wrote a book in 1590 which presented "futurism,"
" — the concept that the prophecies of Daniel, Matthew
24, and Revelation would only be fulfilled in the last days.
Desmond Ford, at Glacier View in 1980,
fully rejected historism and espoused the twin Jesuit views of preterism
and futurism. In contrast, some of our "conservatives" lean
toward futurism as the fulfillments of the prophecies of Daniel and
Revelation.
THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES THEORY
This is yet another time-setting theory.
According to it, the six-day war won by the Israelis in 1967 marked the
date when probation for our denomination ended. It is keyed to the idea
that the prophecy of Luke 21:24 was fulfilled when — on June 7, 1967
— Jerusalem was retaken by the Israelis.
"And they shall fall by the edge of
the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles
be fulfilled." — Luke 21:24.
According to this theory, because the
Jews had fully returned to Jerusalem in 1967, that event marked the end
of probation for the Adventist Church.
Because this is another time-setting
formula, we will briefly consider it here:
(1) There are several basic flaws in
this theory. Let us consider the first: For long centuries, the burning
question was whether the Jews would ever return to Jerusalem after they
were driven from it in A.D. 70 and again in 135. Actually, in the
centuries which followed, the Jews did return to Jerusalem on several
occasions. Several times, under various rulers, they were permitted to
live in or near it. But such a return could not be what is meant by the
Jews "returning to Jerusalem." At issue here is governmental
authority. The Jews could not be considered to have returned to
Jerusalem until they returned to full governmental authority over that
region.
The truth is that, in this latter sense,
the Jews have never returned to Jerusalem! They may have fought the
six-day war, and they may have retaken the city and its environs, but
they have never returned to the governance control they had prior to the
A.D. 66-70 war with the Roman Empire.
Forty years ago, a Bible teacher at
college told the present writer of a visit to a Jewish synagogue. While
there, he asked the rabbi why the Jews do not sacrifice the lamb at
Pasach (Passover), and the goat at Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). In
pained solemnity, the rabbi replied that the Jewish people could never
again sacrifice the lamb and the goat at their annual services, until
they had returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple on the Temple
Mount.
And that has proved true. The Jews have
never really "returned to Jerusalem"; and, before the second
advent, they never will. Bible prophecy declared they would re- main
scattered among the heathen through all future time, and so it will
remain until Jesus returns.
Yes, they have a beachhead in Palestine,
but it is U.S. dollars that keep them there, always on the brink of
extinction by surrounding Arabs. They do not have internationally-
accepted possession of the full land (the West Bank is a large chunk of
the Promised Land), and they do not have genuine rule over Jerusalem.
The Jews live there and manage it, but Jerusalem still is not really
theirs.
They do not have ownership and control
of Jerusalem as the French have control of Paris and the Egyptians have
control of Cairo. In reality, the Jews are only managers of the place;
they share ownership of Jerusalem with the Arabs. And all sides know it.
The Scripture has not been broken; the Jews have not returned to
autonomy in Jerusalem; they never will.
The problem is with the Temple. Every
rabbi will tell you that the services on the Temple Mount must be
restored in order for the religious services of the nation to begin in
full again. And, by Orthodox Jewish law, the Temple can only be rebuilt
on that Mount. Yet heathen edifices dedicated to Muslim worship were
there when the Jews arrived; they are still there. Never will the
Israelis dare to tear down those two Muslims shrines so the Jewish
Temple can again be placed there! The third most sacred place in all
Muhammedanism is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In contrast, today the
most sacred place in Jewry is the Wailing Wall just below the Mount. But
all that is there are giant temple foundation stones, dating back to
Solomon’s time. Below the Mount, the Jews have the foundations of the
Temple; on the Mount, the Arabs have profane worship centers.
Why is the Temple Mount considered so
sacred to the Arabs? Only 65 years after Muhammad’s flight (Hegira)
from Mecca, in A.D. 687 Abd-al-Malik began construction of the Dome of
the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra) on the desolate Temple Mount, where the
Jewish Temple stood until its destruction in A.D. 70. Malik hoped to
divert pilgrims from the two most sacred Muslim worship centers: Mecca
and Medina. This double octagon of exquisitely patterned marble tiles
was completed in 691. It encloses a stone slab. According to Muslim
tradition, it was from that sacred stone that Muhammad ascended to
heaven on his black horse. Because of this, Jerusalem became the
Arabs’ third most important city, and they named it al Quds (the Holy
City). As for the flat-topped Temple Mount, it received the name, Haram
es-Sharif (the Enclosure of the Noble Building).
The Jews well-know that they must
rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount (ancient Mount Moriah) in order
to properly reestablish themselves. That is where Abraham offered Isaac,
and where Solomon’s Temple stood. The large cleared space down below
the Mount — by the Wailing Wall (the western supporting wall of the
Temple Mount) is surely not the place to put it. The symbolism of all
this is terrific. Here are the Jews standing outside the wall, denied
entrance by the Arabs who control it!
The Israelis want to regain those thirty
acres (the flat top of the Temple Mount), but they know not how to do
it. On September 17, 1974, about a year after the Yom Kippur War, plans
were initiated for the building of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, touted
to be "the first large central house of worship since the
destruction of the temple in A.D. 70." It was to be located in the
heart of the city, next to the Heikhal Shlomo, Israel’s chief
rabbinical offices. Holding 1 ,700 people, it was to cost $10 million.
Its promoters were quick to mention that the project in no way implied
restoration of the Temple. They dare not frighten the Arabs into
starting a never-ending, devastating warfare.
Sporadically, several different Jewish
plans have been proposed for rebuilding the Temple on the Mount. But,
each time, the thought of the immense bloodshed it would bring has
killed the project. The Temple services will never be restored; the Jews
will never really own their land. The Temple Mount will continue to
remain in the hands of their bitterest enemies to the end of this evil
world.
By Orthodox law, no Jewish synagogue —
no matter where it is located throughout the world — can sacrifice a
lamb or goat on an altar. According to rabbinical rules, the Temple must
be restored on Temple Mount before that can happen. So, instead,
faithful Jews observe the Seder on Passover evening each year. They go
to a meat market and purchase a leg of lamb, and serve it at home with
bitter herbs, unleavened bread, parsley, mixed nuts, apples, and wine.
At home, each family observes the Day of Atonement at the dinner table
as the father waves a dead chicken over his head.
Who is in charge of the city? Without
possession of the Mount, they do not really possess Jerusalem.
Now do you see why it is that the Jews
have never truly returned to Jerusalem? Decades ago, a small booklet was
published by our church, entitled David Dare. That book contained
several fulfilled Bible prophecies, such as the desolation of the
original cities of Tyre and Babylon. An other prediction was stated to
be that the Jews would never return to Jerusalem. After 1967, our
denomination stopped publishing that booklet. But its principles still
hold true, for the Jews have not returned to genuine, total governance
of Jerusalem, much less the former Jewish territory of their ancestors.
Yet the Bible prophecies emphasized that they would always be scattered
among the heathen — the Gentiles, — regardless of where they might
live. Both predictions still apply: they have not fully returned, and
they dwell among Gentiles who will tread upon their holy places.
(The word "Gentiles" means
"the (other) nations;" that is, all non-Jews.)
(2) Which brings us to a second basic
flaw in the "times of the Gentiles" theory: Jerusalem is still
being trodden down by the Gentiles. It has not stopped. Indeed, it has
greatly increased since 1967!
Prior to 1967, the Arabs would permit no
Jew to step foot on the Temple Mount. If one did, several nearby Arabs
would draw near, slip daggers from their long robes, and then walk away
as he crumpled to the ground. They permitted no other non-Muslims there
either.
One of the first actions by the Jewish
government after winning the war was that everyone — Jew, Christian,
Muslim, Buddhist, or whatever — could freely go up onto the Temple
Mount and enter any building there. This law, which guaranteed the Arab
the right to worship at their third holiest place, was made to assure
that the entire Muslim world would not shortly rise up as one man and
utterly wipe the Israelis from the face of the Near Eastern map.
As a result, more Gentiles are treading
the holy place of the sacred Jewish Temple Mount than ever before in
history — without any exception! The prophecy of Luke 21:24 requires
that the feet of the Gentiles STOP treading that Mount. That surely did
not happen in 1967! Since 1967 Gentile footsteps have increased a
thousandfold. Every day of the week, thousands of gawking tourists pour
across the Temple Mount. Yelling children run around; scantily-clad
women stroll across its sacred premises; men with cameras snap pictures;
and swarthy, Jew-hating Arabs gather in groups to discuss the next time
they will rain rocks down upon the Jews gathered below by the Wailing
Wall. None of this would have been permitted if the Jews had autonomous
control of the city. These facts provide indelible evidence that the
times of the Gentiles in Luke 21:24 is still in effect.
Those feet will continue to defile the
sacred Mount until the second coming of Jesus Christ. Death will bring
an end to the footsteps. But, after the millennium is over, the feet
will again revive, and weapons of war will be prepared. But no profane
feet will tread down that holy place then. For, at the time of His third
advent, Jesus will alight on the Mount of Olives, and it will become a
great plain, stretching out in every direction. We are told that His
feet will purify the entire area, which will become the base of the Holy
City when it shortly afterward rests on the earth. Thus, we see a clear
fulfillment of the end of the Gentile treading of Jerusalem at the third
advent of Christ.
(3) A keystone prophecy was given us in Ezekiel
21:25-27. It is parallel to Luke 21:24, and helps explain it. That brief
prophecy in Ezekiel, stretching from 605 B.C. to the second advent of
Christ, is longer than the 2300-year prophecy!
"And thou, profane wicked prince of
Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith
the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not
be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
"I will overturn, overturn,
overturn it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is;
and I will give it Him." — Ezekiel 21:25-27.
The Jews would experience three "overturnings,"
which would result in destroying the Temple, and scattering the Jews
among the nations. That condition would never be reversed until "He
come whose right it is; and I will give it Him."
The Jews will never return to Jerusalem;
only spiritual Israel will; at the third advent the New Jerusalem shall
forever be theirs.
"To the ‘profane wicked prince’
[the last king of Judah] had come the day of final reckoning. ‘ Remove
the diadem,’ the Lord decreed, ‘and take off the crown.’ Not until
Christ Himself should set up His kingdom was Judah again to be permitted
to have a king. ‘I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it,’ was the
divine edict concerning the throne of the house of David; ‘and it
shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it
Him.’ Ezekiel 21:25-27." — Prophets and Kings,
451:2.
The prophecy of Ezekiel
21:25-27 points to the "final overthrow of all earthly
dominions," not to a six-day war in 1967.
"The final overthrow of all earthly
dominions is plainly foretold in the word of truth. In the prophecy
uttered when sentence from God was pronounced upon the last king of
Israel is given the message:
"‘Thus saith the Lord God, Remove
the diadem, and take off the crown: . . exalt him that is low, and abase
him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, over turn it: and it shall
be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.’
— Ezekiel 21:25-27.
"The crown removed from Israel
passed successively to the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and
Rome. God says, ‘It shall be no more, until He come whose right it is;
and I will give it Him." — Education, 179:1-3.
"It shall be no more, until He come
whose right it is; and I will give it Him." Never again would the
Jews rule their own land. Today they still do not. Actually, no one
does; Jews and Arabs continually contest that ownership amid bloodshed.
But soon, He will come whose right it is.
HOW TO MAKE GOD A LIAR
It sounds blasphemous. It is. Men are
trying to do it today. I am going to explain the procedure, so,
recognizing it for what it is, you can stay away from it.
It is really quite simple: You can make
God a liar simply by accurately predicting a time for a future event He
has foretold. He said it should not be done and that none could know the
time, — so all you have to do to prove Him wrong is to go ahead and do
it.
Well, put in that light, time-setting
sounds like a most horrible species of rebellion. But, according to
God’s Word, it is just that. As we read earlier in this study, time
setting is one of the lures by which spiritism catches its prey.
Repeatedly, we have been commanded away from doing it, just as surely as
we have been told to stay away from spiritist mediums. If it is wrong to
practice time-setting, is it all right to listen to time-setters? Of
course not! Right is right and wrong is wrong. And wrong is defined as
disobedience to the Word of God. Apart from that Word, we cannot know
right from wrong.
The Bible says, "Let God be true,
and every man a liar." But some men, although well-aware of His
forbiddings of time-setting, declare: "We will prove Him incorrect.
We will successfully time-set coming events — and prove man is true
and God a liar."
Strong words? frightening? Yes, some of
us need to be frightened. Let us obey God! Stay away from time-setting,
and, after warning them of what they are doing (share this set of tracts
with them), have nothing to do with those who continue doing it.
The irony is that, by knowing
disobedience, people become mesmerized by the devil. You can talk to
them and they will look you in the face and tell you that they are not
time-setting! They will tell you that their calculations are not
"prophetic time," even though they are predictive; and are not
"definite time," even though they are quite definite as to the
year of fulfillment.
AVOID THE CONFUSION GROUPS
"Come out of Babylon" is the
warning of the fourth angel. "Babylon" denotes confusion. We
are told in God’s Word that modern Babylon will be headquartered in
the papacy and its daughters. Yet there are other types of confusion
which are also binding men into bundles of confusion for the final
burning.
These include the theory of evolution,
Freudian psychology, hypnotic training sessions, modern Protestant
theology, and our own new theology — all of which involve confusing,
self-contradictory theories which bewitch minds and keep them from
rendering obedience to God. In this camp, we also find last-day
time-setting. Like the others, it also deals in the coin of confusing
theories which bewitch minds and embolden them to transgress God’s
express command in order to enter upon higher levels of human knowledge.
That is EXACTLY what the time-setter
offers you. Will you consider his speculations, as a charmed mouse
awaits the coming of the serpent, or will you flee from the spot in fear
of displeasing your heavenly Father?
Several years ago, an older man living
here decided on his own to go to a Colorado Adventist time-setting
congress. He was interested in such things.
Upon his return, he called us all
together to tell us of his experiences out there. He said that so many
speakers had submitted applications to present their views of future
time sequences and dates, that every hour of the day — day after day
for several days — six different meetings were held.
Everyone had a free-for-all. Some went
here, and some there, for no one could successfully attend all the
meetings. Then, in their spare time, the attendees would get together
and discuss the basics of the presentations, as well as their own views.
Before it adjourned, everyone had an idea of what everyone taught.
We asked our friend what he had learned;
what were the trends and basic directions. He smiled and shrugged, and
said it was just confusion. Then he looked at us intently and said,
"Everyone taught something different."
Having a very practical mind, he decided
he had seen enough. That was the last time-setting meeting he ever
attended.
FROM PAST TO FUTURE
NO NEW TIME PROPHECIES FROM GOD THROUGH
MEN AFTER 1844 — Prior to October 23, 1844, there were day-day
prophecies (Genesis 7:4), year-year prophecies (Genesis
6:3; 15:13; 40:12-20; 41:28-54; 1 Kings 17:1 [Luke 4:25];
Jeremiah 25:11; ), and year-day prophecies (Numbers
14:34; Daniel 7:25; 8:14: 9:24-27). These included predictions
of day, month, and/or year date predictions, and predictions of time
spans between events. But, in contrast, no time prophecies extend beyond
1844 (Great Controversy, 456-457; 7 Bible Commentary,
971; Early Writings, 75; 1 Testimonies, 72-73, 409; 2
Selected Messages, 73).
TIME PROPHECIES FROM 1844 TO THE VOICE
OF GOD — Only God can give us correct time prophecies (date
predictions and predicted time spans). Between October 22, 1884 and the
sounding of the Voice of God from heaven, there will be none (see
quotations and references elsewhere in this study). "None"
would include all the types of time-settings given by Heaven prior to
1844 (day-day prophecies, year-year prophecies, year-day prophecies,
predictions of days, months, years, or time spans from one event to
another).
THE NEXT TIME PROPHECY WILL BE GIVEN BY
THE VOICE OF GOD SOUNDING FROM HEAVEN — The first inspired and correct
time prophecy after 1844 will occur when the Voice of God delivers His
people (Great Controversy, 636-644). That Voice will declare
the day and hour of Christ’s return (Great Controversy, 640).
THE PROPHECY OF THE MILLENNIUM — The
predicted 1,000-year millennium
will begin when Christ returns for His
people, the wicked are slain, and Satan is bound to this world (Great
Controversy, 653-661).
THE FINAL TIME PROPHECY — If it can be
called that, the final time prophecy is that, after sin and sinners are
forever destroyed, the redeemed will dwell in peace and safety forever
and ever, and sin will never arise again (Great Controversy,
503-504, 673-678)
THE EXCITEMENT OF TIME SETTING
It is always dangerous to create an
excitement on the basis of man-made
suppositions. Each of the following
statements is quoted more fully elsewhere in this present study.
"We are not to live upon TIME
EXCITEMENT. We are not to be engrossed with speculation in regard to the
times and the seasons which God has not revealed." — 1
Selected Messages, 189.
"I saw that some were getting a
FALSE EXCITEMENT, arising from preaching time, that the third angel's message can stand on its own foundation, and that it needs not time to strengthen it, and that it will go with mighty power, and do its work, and will be cut short in righteousness.
R&H March 22, 1892
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