1.) Knowing The Time

Throughout history there have been times of crisis when a generation came face to face with prophecies of judgment upon those who would not heed the warnings of God, and therefore received the punishment which fell upon unbelievers. The time of Noah is an example of such a generation. After Noah’s faithful preaching of warning for 120 years, only he and his family survived the deluge which destroyed the Edenic condition of the then-known world. Jeremiah, who prophesied the 70-year captivity of Israel by Babylon (Jer. 29:4-14), is another example. After years of rejection because of the unpopularity of his message, Jeremiah witnessed the doom and destruction he had prophesied come to pass. The armies of Babylon came, broke down the walls of the city, burned the temple and much of the city, and took king Zedekiah and many captives away to Babylon (Jer. 52).

Another important time fulfillment in prophetic history was the coming of the Messiah. The specific time for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, the seven-year time period of the Messiah’s ministry including that of the disciples after His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, and the second and last destruction of Jerusalem and the temple—all were revealed to Daniel in the 490-year prophecy which is found in Daniel 9:24-27. That is why Jesus began His ministry with the announcement, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15, NKJV). What time was Jesus referring to? Obviously the prophecy of Daniel which foretold the time of the appearance of the Messiah. But within that very time prophecy was the ominous prediction of the end of the probation of the Jewish people as the chosen nation.

“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering” (Dan. 9:24-27, NKJV).

Here in cryptic prophetic form, the angel Gabriel covers the time of probation which was left for the people of Israel after the rebuilding of the temple. The purpose of the coming of the Messiah was here revealed—to bring an end to the old covenant rituals of animal sacrifices for sin, and to establish everlasting righteousness through the sacrifice of Himself for sin, and ultimately His triumph over evil through His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. (Please refer to Hebrews 10.) But who could have interpreted these texts clearly before the time came for them to be fulfilled? Certainly some things would give clues to the coming and purpose of the Messiah, but as in all prophecies, they are only truly understood by students of the Word when the actual fulfillment takes place. As Jesus said to His disciples, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.” John 14:29.

And that is just the point which I want to emphasize. All prophecy is understood most clearly when the time for its fulfillment has come. That is why we must be students of the word if we expect to know the time of our appointment. The Seventh-day Adventist church is built upon prophecy. We are a prophetic movement. If we don’t understand that, we are in danger of losing our bearings and slipping out the back door of the church into the world around us. Our forefathers (and mothers) based their devotion to this church on the basis of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, especially the 2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14, which brought them to October 22, 1844. This was the day when they believed that Jesus would come back to this earth in glory! But after the disappointment, they went to the scriptures again. Hope revived when they recognized the description of their experience in Revelation 10:9-11, as the people whose message had been as sweet as honey in their mouths as they anticipated the coming of their Lord, but had became bitter when He did not appear as they had hoped. Then they noticed joyfully that their work was not finished, for the text continued with the admonition, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Rev. 10:11).

But what were they to prophesy? The word, “again,” gives us the clue. We are to proclaim again the wonderful truth that Jesus is coming again! This time we will not be proclaiming an exact date and time, but we can and must know when we are in the final generation, and when the time for Jesus coming is near, even at the door!

Now let’s go back to the words of Jesus to His generation. He knew that His messages were being spoken to some of the very people who would be alive when the destruction of Jerusalem would take place. How He longed to arouse them to a sense of the importance of His teachings! Only those who accepted Him as the promised Messiah would escape from the results of the choices of the Jewish leaders which would bring about the close of their probation as a nation. Here are some of His warnings to a judgment-bound generation:

“You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” Matt. 16:3.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Look, your house is left to you desolate.’” Luke 13:34, 35.

“As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.’” Luke 19:41-44.

“Jesus left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to its buildings. ‘Do you see all these things?’ He asked. ‘I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’

“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’” Matt. 24:1-3.

Notice that Jesus did not give all the information which is recorded in Matthew 25 until the disciples asked Him for further light. He gave them some truth, but waited until their interest was aroused enough to ask questions. Just as the disciples who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus would never have known that their Companion was Jesus had they not urged Him strongly to come into their home (Luke 24:28, 29), so we can miss much if we do not urge Jesus to tell us all that He has for us in the scriptures which would enlighten our pathway to the kingdom and enable us to understand the meaning of our times!

“Jesus, looking down to the last generation, saw the world involved in a deception similar to that which caused the destruction of Jerusalem. The great sin of the Jews was their rejection of Christ; the great sin of the Jews was their rejection of the law of God.” GC 22.

“Light, precious light, is shining on every page of the word of God. When we study its pages with a heart-felt desire to learn our duty, angels are close beside us to impress the mind and strengthen the imagination to discern the sacred things revealed in the word of God.” TD 174.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matt. 7:7,8.

“The very limited and earthly apprehension which the disciples had of the teachings of Christ made it difficult for the Great Teacher to lead their minds into an understanding of heavenly things, and determined the measure of divine communications.” OHC 211.

“The value of man is estimated in heaven according to the capacity of the heart to know God. This knowledge is the spring from which flows all power. God created man that every faculty might be the faculty of the divine mind; and He is ever seeking to bring the human mind into association with the divine mind. He offers us the privilege of cooperation with Christ in revealing His grace to the world, that we may receive knowledge of heavenly things.

“Looking unto Jesus we enlarge our capacity for knowing God. More and more we enter into fellowship with the heavenly world, and we have continually increasing power to receive the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of eternity.” COL 354, 355.

Jesus longs to have His people know Him so intimately that we can be called His friends. When He is about to do something that will affect the people of earth, He looks for someone with whom He can share His purposes, just as He did with Abraham before the destruction of Sodom:

“When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” Gen. 18:16, 17.

In the same way, Jesus longed to reveal much more to His disciples than He could to the common people. But it was difficult for Jesus to bring them as much truth as He would like to have done, for their minds were influenced by the interpretations of Scripture which were taught at that time. In spite of this, He still called them His friends, and revealed to them as much as they could comprehend. And Jesus also looked forward to the time when after His resurrection and ascension He would pour out His Spirit upon them and reveal everything to them that they needed to know to accomplish the work that He had committed to them.

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15.

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” John 16:12-15.

So it is up to us to discern and know the meaning of the signs of our times! The secrets are all there in the scriptures, waiting to be revealed to the Spirit-filled seeker. God has always given warnings to the generation whose probationary time was ending. And He is doing the same now to our generation. As Jesus said to His listeners, so He would say to us:

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” Matt. 24:22-24.

“We are on the verge of the time of trouble, and perplexities that are scarcely dreamed of are before us. A power from beneath is leading men to war against heaven. Human beings have confederated with Satanic agencies to make void the law of God. The inhabitants of the world are fast becoming as the inhabitants of the world in Noah’s day, who were swept away by the flood, and as the inhabitants of Sodom, who were consumed by fire from heaven. The powers of Satan are at work to keep minds diverted from eternal realities. The enemy has arranged matters to suit his own purposes. Worldly business, sports, the fashions of the day—these things occupy the minds of men and women. Amusements and unprofitable reading spoil the judgment. In the broad road that leads to eternal ruin there walks a long procession.” 9 T. 43.

Our challenge today is not to saturate our minds with the things that are going on in the world around us. It is important to be aware of the signs of Jesus’ soon return, but the finer qualities of the mind must be kept open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Jesus alone will be an unerring guide for His chosen and beloved people who serve Him. May we ever be among that number, and follow Him all the way to the heavenly kingdom!