My Challenge to Those Who Say We Cannot Know the General Time of Messiah’s Return   

The “times and the seasons” are directly linked to the end of the world, and God has provided very “specific” and “to the day” counting timelines in the books of Daniel and Revelation for the final unfolding of His redemptive plan.  Why? So that God’s people may know where we are in prophetic time during the middle of the greatest turmoil in human history–in death, sorrow and crying, realizing by faith that our Messiah has a plan and His redemption is forthcoming.  However, we still cannot know the actual “day or the hour” of Messiah’s visual return at Armageddon. Jesus said He would cut short the great tribulation–“for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened,” Matthew 24:22; for this reason, in the global turmoil brought on by the trumpet blasts and vial plagues, when the sun and moon are darkened, the day and hour of Messiah’s visible return is unknown.  Nonetheless, we can know the times and the seasons, for no matter which futurist prophetic view you hold there is always a timeline involved–whether a seven year period, or a three and one-half year counting period. Therefore, once final events begin, we can know the general time of God’s judgment and return.  The “thief in the night” terminology in the Scriptures is not a reference to a secret rapture of the church; it is a reference to the final destruction of the wicked who cannot escape God’s wrath, which the KING of Kings will inflict at His triumphant visible arrival on the world scene at Armageddon. Paul confirms the holy people should not be surprised by the Day of the LORD, which to the wicked will come as a thief in the night… for they are not watching for it.  On the other hand, Paul states that searching believers “are not in darkness so that this Day [of the LORD] should surprise” them like a thief. We are to be children of light, awake and sober… looking and watching.  The Day of the LORD will not surprise the watching people of God, who are counting, day by day, the very specific numbered days of Daniel and Revelation.

“Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the Day of the LORD will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this Day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober,”  1 Thessalonians 5:1-5.

If you believe the timelines of prophecy will always be locked away, never to be understood… I challenge you to consider this: “Why would God expose very precise prophetic counting periods in the Scriptures, if they were not for the benefit of the last-day believers and the counting of God’s prophetic time?”  The last generation of overcomers who face final events are promised an increase in prophetic knowledge, and an understanding of how events will transpire by what the Scriptures call the final “unsealing” (Daniel 12:4).  Daniel 12:10-12 adds, “Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”  And, what will the wise understand according to the verse that follows?  “From the time that the daily… is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 [counting] days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 [counting] days.”  The promise is clear: the wise will understand what the 1,290 and 1,335 days represent.  And, the watching believers (“those who keep God’s commands [the obedient] and hold fast their testimony about Jesus” Revelation 12:17) are promised a blessing for waiting patiently by faith through the days of trial to reach the end (Matthew 24:9-13; Isaiah 25:9), whether by waiting alive patiently or by resurrection, having given their lives in martyrdom.

The case for these truths rests on the Biblical evidence and common sense. God revealed His prophetic counting times, for the day would come when these periods must be understood during the days of their fulfillment.  Daniel understood the power of God to reveal important details concerning His final plans to those with wise and discerning spirits; he wrote, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; He deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things,” Daniel 2:20-22.  Wisdom says, “I don’t understand all I need to know, nor did our church fathers of ages past who have come and gone; nor does the leaders of my church or synagogue. I have more to learn from God’s Word.”  Discernment says, “I will trust God to show me His unfolding mysteries that have been hidden since the foundation of the world, because God promises that “when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come,” John 16:13.

If you must, put your minister, priest, church theologian or rabbi to the test: ask him/her what the 1,290 days and 1,335 days of the Daniel 12 prophecy reveal about God’s final plan for mankind. The timelines were so important to God that He revealed them through His prophet Daniel for the knowledge of last-day believers, well in advance of their fulfillment.  Can your spiritual leader tell you why they were written down, and how these prophetic days will be fulfilled in the future?  Or, if you hold the Historicist view–as do Seventh-day Adventists and others, or you believe the Preterist view promoted by men such as Hank Hanegraaff–the Bible Answer Man, can he/she explain how the timelines were fulfilled in past history (although God’s Word clearly says the time periods would be understood at the time of the end during the final days of trial)?  The unsealing of these timeframes has been promised by Almighty God in Daniel 12. It’s time we pay attention!

As followers of Yeshua–Jesus our Messiah, we all need to study the Scriptures with an open mind, understanding the Spirit of truth to be our source of inspiration and wisdom.  No human can boast of full knowledge and a complete understanding of the mysteries of the Ancient of Days. I certainly cannot!  “Who has been [God’s] counselor?” (Romans 11:34; Isaiah 40:13). However, the “wise will understand,” Messiah’s prophetic plan; and, He does not lie.  Although veiled in ancient mysteries, Heaven’s penetrating beam is shining brighter on the prophetic roadmap that will lead His believing victors through the final trial, for the shadow of things to come is about to meet reality (Colossians 2:16-17).  There is no excuse for God’s people. Final events and Messiah’s return need not surprise us like a thief in the night.  However, most will be shocked and unprepared for the devastation and unfolding of prophetic events long foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures that will begin in the Middle East with devastation and war, which will mushroom in nuclear tragedy and untold human loss across the globe with lightning speed.

Now is not the time to be wavering in our faith; we must trust all the more in our Messiah and His unfolding plan–which was first written in the Book of Truth before time began (Daniel 10:21; Psalm 139:16). We must trust in His salvation, praying for the Holy Spirit to guide us moment by moment. Stand firm in faith my friends, for troubles will increase as the testing time explodes upon us… including deep personal losses, affliction and betrayal by family and friends, even death. Are you ready to face martyrdom for your Messiah and LORD, if need be?  “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; While it is said, To day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts,” Hebrews 3:14-16. Jesus also said because hearts and former relationships will grow cold: “They [will] deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My Name’s sake... But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,” Matthew 24:9, 13-14. The King is returning, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. The mighty hand of God will be seen in this world as Satan makes his last stand to hold onto global power through his evil leaders–Antichrist and the False Prophet, and their deceptive signs and wonders.

God is attempting through His Festival Calendar to give us focused attention to His final plan of redemption.  From leaders to laypeople, those willing to take on the heart of a student, who are willing to dedicate minds to open and sincere study, can understand where the world is headed. Yeshua first instituted the Biblical Calendar of annual Festivals through Moses (Leviticus 23), which included the yearly counting of days and weeks, so that His people might rehearse His Passover death and resurrection, the Pentecost (Shavuot) power of the Holy Spirit, and finally end-time events leading up to the Day of the LORD. To the annual Festivals, He added the Sabbath Year–the counting of seven years, when the land was to rest every 7th year as a (Shemitah) Sabbath.  But, He did not stop there. God added the seven cycles of Sabbath/Shemitah Years (Exodus 23:10-11), when the Israelites were to release and return the land to each rightful owner–known as the Jubilee Year–all signs of things to come.  Now, God’s final plan of redemption is at hand as seen through the very precise counting days of Daniel and Revelation (3 1/2 days; 490 days; 1,150 days; 1,260 days, 1,290 days; 1,335 days). These counting days will be a guide to those who by faith are willing to follow Jesus to the end through the great trial, starting with the release of the Temple Mount from the power of Islam–a time of great shaking, both physically and spiritually. 

Specifically, over the last 100 years the world has been quietly marching around the sun spinning towards the appointed time God ordain from before the beginning of time. Now, the  clock sits just before midnight and the world at large is about to explode into chaos and turmoil beyond the faculty of mind to fully imagine, but which tomorrow we will surely face. From the conception of the future state of Israel found in the Balfour Declaration delivered on November 2, 1917 we can add 100 full years; this takes us to November 2, 2018. From the retaking of the Western Wall in June of 1967 during the Six-Day War, we can add 50 full years; this takes us to June 2018. When we consider the momentous day Israel became a nation again on May 14, 1948 we discover the 70th year runs from May 14, 2018 to May 14, 2019. All these time periods point to the years 2018 and beyond as being the “years of focus”, with 2019 as the culminating period that completes Israel’s 70th full year–the moment that could bring us closer to ushering in of conflict with Iran, Jerusalem’s devastation, World War III and the starting point of the counting periods of Bible prophecy.

The rebirth of the nation of Israel and the epicenter of Bible prophecy–the Temple Mount is the focus of the Hebrew prophets and their ancient prophecies. Jerusalem’s upcoming destruction will lead to the eventual rebuilding of Jerusalem in times of trouble, with at least part of the third temple structures restored. Sadly, this restoration will pave the way for Antichrist to step onto the Temple Mount and to set up his abominable idol that will usher in God’s trumpet and vial wrath and Armageddon. God promised, “In those [last] days and at that time [appointed], when I restore the fortunes of Judah [the Promised Land, Western Wall and Temple Mount] and Jerusalem [back to the people of Israel], I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat [for the battle of Armageddon]. There I will put them on trial for what they did to My inheritance, My people Israel, because they scattered My people among the nations and divided up My land,” Joel 3:1-2.