What time is it?

Time is defined in the English dictionary as the inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present events into the past. An important characteristic of time is that it is unavoidable, inescapable, and unpreventable. Time they say does not wait for any man. Whether you eat, drink, work or sleep, time keeps on going unstoppable. Even if you die, time will not come to a stop but will rather keep on moving. This fact should guide us in the way we use out time. Time is indeed precious but time lost can never be regained.

What time is it? What comes to mind when you hear the question, “what time is it? Have you ever taken time to analyze this question? In this article, I want to answer this question from the point of view of earth history. What time of earth history do we find ourselves? Where is this planet earth heading towards? We are living in a borrowed time in earth history. This world is coming to an end. Everything points to the fact that this earth is not getting any better and that the end is coming sooner than we can even imagine. 

The prophecy

Daniel 7:9 & 10 reads; ⁹ “I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; ¹⁰ A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court[b] was seated, And the books were opened.” God showed to Daniel in a vision the judgement throne of God and the books were opened. The book of Daniel mphasizes the fact that God will judge this earth and give to every man his reward be it good or evil.

When will this judgement take place? God revealed to Daniel in Daniel 8:14 that “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.” The cleansing of the sanctuary is also called the day of Atonement in the old testament sanctuary services as found in Leviticus 16:19, 30 and Leviticus 23:27-29. Each day during the earthly sanctuary service the Israelites confessed their sins. They came to the sanctuary with their sacrificial animals which represented Jesus the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. Day by day, sin was transferred from the sinner to the substitute and through the blood of the sacrificial victim carried into the sanctuary by the Jewish priest. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the sanctuary was cleansed of all the guilt transferred in by the confessed sins of the Israelites. It was a day of judgment! At the end of the day the sins of the repentant Israelites were either confessed, forgiven and renounced, or unconfessed, unforgiven and cherished. All Israelites who refused to confess their sins were banished from the camp. They were judged. The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary takes place at the end of time. It is God's final judgment on sin. From Daniel 8:14 we are told that the judgement shall start after the 2300 days. In Ezekiel 4:6 the Bible says that a day in prophecy means a literal year. This will mean that the 2300 days means 2300 years. To put it well, the judgement shall start after 2300 years.

When does the 2300 years start and end? Daniel 9:24-27 provide the answers to this question. ²⁴ “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. ²⁵ “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. ²⁶ “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. ²⁷ 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. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”

 The prophecy starts “from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem.” The entire prophetic period begins with the command to restore and build Jerusalem. Jerusalem was attacked in 605 B.C. by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. In 587/586 B.C. it was largely destroyed. The Medes and Persians overthrew the Babylonians in 539 B.C. In 457 B.C. the Persian king, Artaxerxes, passed a decree allowing the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild Jerusalem. This can be found in Ezra 7, verses 12 and 13. The 2300 years started in 457BC. The prophecies of Daniel predict that from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in 457 B.C. until the coming of the Messiah would be 69 prophetic weeks, or 483 prophetic days (7 x 69 = 483). Since one prophetic day equals one literal year, 483 years from the going forth of the command to rebuild Jerusalem the Messiah would appear. From the beginning of the 2300 years to the time of Jesus’ baptism will be 483 years which takes us to 27AD.  On that day the Holy Ghost descended; God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power (Luke 3:21, 22 and Acts 10:38). Daniel 9:27 says Jesus shall bring to an end to sacrifices at the end of the first 70 weeks. The first 69 weeks of the 70-week prophecy ran out in A.D. 27 at Christ's baptism. One week, or seven years, remained. In the middle of this last prophetic week all animal sacrifices would cease. The Messiah would be cut off or crucified. According to the prophecy, Jesus would be crucified three and one-half years from His baptism in A.D. 27. This leads us to the spring of A.D. 31. Jesus was crucified in the spring exactly on the Passover as the prophecy predicted. Matthew 27:51 states that when Jesus dies, the veil of the temple was rent in twain. The tearing of the veil in the Jewish Temple signified the end of the sacrificial system. On Passover of A.D. 31, Jesus Christ, our Passover, was crucified for us. The sacrificial system lost its significance. Christ, our substitute, was sacrificed in our behalf. Historically the whole sacrificial system came to an end with the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in A.D. 70. In A.D. 34, as the prophecy predicted, the Jews finally sealed their doom as a nation. The Jewish high priest speaking on behalf of the Sanhedrin, the high Jewish Council, officially rejected Jesus. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned, and the gospel was preached to the Gentiles. The 490-year period is a smaller section of the 2,300 days. The 490 years applies especially to the Jews and the coming of the Messiah. The longer prophecy of the 2,300 days leads us to the end of time, the cleansing of the sanctuary and earth's final judgment. Adding 1,810 (which is the years left after the first 490 years) years to our last date, A.D. 34, brings us to 1844. Just as surely as Christ was baptized in A.D. 27 and crucified in A.D. 31, the judgment began in A.D. 1844. Adding 1810 years to our last date, A.D. 34, brings us to 1844. Just as surely as Christ was baptized in A.D. 27 and crucified in A.D. 31, the judgment began in A.D. 1844.

Conclusion

What is the relevance of this prophecy? The prophecy tells us that, judgement has started. Jesus is taking records of everything we are doing. Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 says that; “¹³ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of man. ¹⁴ For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Jesus will bring to judgement everything we do. Let us be very careful of the things we do. Jesus is coming again. If you have not repented of your sins and confessed to God for forgiveness, please do it now. accept Jesus as your Lord and personal saviour and you will be saved.

We don’t have much time because the signs Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24 such as wars, earthquakes, famines, tribulations, abominations occurring, false prophets and false Christs etc. have all happened. If you ask me what time is it, I will say we don’t have time. We are living in the end time. We are living in the probation period and soon Jesus will appear. You can also die any moment. Your probation ends immediately you die. WATCH OUT! Many people go out and do not return home.

Now is the time for us to put away all evil and obey the commands of God. Don’t ever miss your morning and evening devotions, read the Bible every day and put away any known sin or behaviour that displeases God. Once again, we don’t have time. JESUS IS COMING SOON.