God’s Biblical Timing of the End

For many years I have had an ongoing interest in the study of apocalyptic prophecy. It is my view that God intended these end of days prophecies to be correctly understood by the generation who would experience these final events. Jesus told His disciples, before He left for heaven, that He would send them another Helper, a Teacher that would lead them into all truth.  I believe that the Spirit of Truth will guide the truth seeker, to the facts in evidence.  I am a student of the truth, and as a student I may misunderstand my teacher sometimes.  As my knowledge grows my understanding will sometimes change from what it had been.  If I have learned one thing in all my study it is this, truth makes sense and is consistent with the scriptures. I leave it to the reader to decide for themselves whether or not it makes sense.

As I studied the various lengths of time in Daniel and Revelation, I noted the differing units used, specifically, days, months and years. An idea occurred to me, maybe God intended for these units to remain unchanged. I then realized that by doing that I would be able to locate when these events might come about. I have not set a date for God’s return.  God has set the date and I believe He gave us the necessary information needed to be able to figure it out.

Before I say anymore I need to answer an important question that most Christians ask.  Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour but the Father, how is it that you claim to know this?  The weight of information given by Jesus concerning the signs that would foretell His soon coming would indicate that it is very important to know when we are in the time of the end.  Jesus uses the flood as an example of the end time.  (Matt. 24:37-39) As it was in the days of Noah so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  For in the days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.  That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  There are two considerations tendered for the time of Jesus return.  The first suggests it happens before the great tribulation begins (pre tribulation).  The second proposal suggests it happens at the end of the great tribulation (post tribulation.).  The context Jesus used in the above verses would explain a pre tribulation coming.  I say this because it is hard for me to believe that life would be going on as usual during the great tribulation.  People would not be marrying and giving in marriage at that time, for the future of life on earth is dire, and clearly is about to end. During the great tribulation the human population of earth will be expecting something supernatural to happen.  Eating, drinking and having a good time is what people do when they feel secure.  When they feel that life will go on uninterrupted.  Another point is that the scarcity of food and drink would tend to contradict Jesus statement of the condition of people at His return.  It is about this coming that Jesus said the day and hour is not known.  A few verses down in Matthew we are given further information and warning.  (Matt. 24:42-44) Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.  Please note: Jesus does not say you will never know the hour, He says it is an hour when you do not expect Him.  I make this point because, knowing and expecting are two different things.  The unexpected hour is at night like a thief.  The clearly supernatural events of the great tribulation would hardly be considered prophetic night.  Prophetic night is the absence of prophesied events.  Clearly every event to occur during the great tribulation has been given in the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation.  This is prophetic day when the predicted events are occurring. Jesus has given an important clue in the above verses, notice He said; “If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  Jesus says that the owner who knows the time of night, the coming like a thief occurs, will be expecting Him at the specified time.  It may truly be impossible to know the day and hour of Christ’s coming, but we are clearly able to know the time of night when it will come to pass.

It is with this information in mind, that I share this chart with you.  I am not saying this chart accurately shows the last 3 ½ years of life on earth as we know it.  I will say that it is a strong and credible possibility.

The chart is built upon God’s clock.  This time piece began when God created the world it is the sun, moon, earth and stars.  The sun gives us days, weeks and years.  The moon gives us months (festivals).  The sun and moon operate as a clock when observed from earth. The stars count the ages, they were not used in the development of this chart.

God’s year starts with the spring equinox, in the northern hemisphere, and continues on through to sunset on the day before the next spring equinox.  A year is given in prophecy as a “time”.  Two years is “times”.  And half a year is ½ a time.  A month starts with the new moon and continues to the next new moon.  It is important to note that during the function of the Restoration (Jubilee) Calendar, a day/year is the functional unit of time it uses.  So a day ran from the spring equinox to the next spring equinox.  A week was seven consecutive years and a week of Sabbath years was seven consecutive Sabbath years, a total of 49 years.  It is also important to note that the moon has nothing to do with the calculation of a year.  Therefore, time periods given in months have nothing to do with the timing of a year.  In other words, you cannot use the moon to accurately calculate an exact year.  I say this because the day/year calendar calculations can only be counted by the earth’s rotation around the sun and around its own axis.  It is impossible to calculate a day/year using the moon.  This means that when God gives time periods in months, the day/year system of reckoning is no longer in use.  We know that the Restoration calendar expired on March 19, 1994 and therefore all the time periods yet to occur will be literal, day=day, year=year and month=month. This is not the first time since the expiration of the Restoration Calendar, that this particular sequence has occurred.  In the years 1995 and 2000, 2008 were years in which the events of the great tribulation could have taken place. 2016 is the next time possibility (see addendum).

The key to the chart is the death of the Two Witness on the last day of Summer and the New Moon that occurs just after their ascension.  I won’t include the texts from Daniel and Revelation in this letter, because they are on the chart.  The Holy People are the saints that proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to the world as long as there are individuals who are open to receive it.  The Two Witnesses are inexorably connected to the proclamation of the gospel.  When all have made their decision for or against the truth, probation closes.  When the power of the Holy People is shattered, in other words, when Satan has full control of those who have not accepted Christ, the Holy People have no more to offer.  Thus Satan has shattered their power.  We see that the power of the Holy People lasts for 3 ½ years (time times and half a time).  These 3 ½ years start on the spring equinox and continue through the last day of summer 3 ½ years later.  At which time the Two Witnesses are executed. For 3 ½ days their bodies lie in the street of the great city.  At the end of 3 ½ days the Two Witnesses are resurrected, when God breathes the breath of life into their bodies. They then ascend to heaven in a cloud.  At that very hour there is a severe earthquake….  The second woe ends and the third woe is about to occur (For reference please read Revelation chapter 11).   The three woes are the last three trumpets, 1st woe= 5th trumpet, 2nd woe=6th trumpet, 3rd woe=7th trumpet.  The 3rd woe is when the door to eternal life is closed for humanity.  Everyone has been sealed having made their resolution, for or against their Creator, the time of judgment closes and the 7th angel sounds his trumpet.  The kingdom of this world is represented as a seven headed composite beast in Revelation 13 and we are told that this kingdom will be given power to rule for 42 months.  Therefore, this kingdom would receive power to rule on a new moon, because the time given is months.  This beast will rule until the 42 months have completed.  So on the day the 43 new moon occurs, the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of God.  In Revelation 11:15 we are informed that this occurs at the sounding of the seventh trumpet.  With this valuable information we are able to figure the years in which this would be likely to transpire.  It is necessary to find a year in which the last day of summer falls four days before a new moon, this would allow for the 3 ½ days the Two Witnesses lie dead in the street.  As I checked my astronomical program for the next year that this would occur, I discovered that it would be 2019.  This particular sequence does recur approximately every 10-12 years, so there is really no way of knowing which is the one. It does allow one to know the time of night of expectation.

The fall equinox occurs at 9:51AM on Sept. 23 in Jerusalem, Israel.  The Two Witnesses would be killed just before this event.  The New Moon occurs at 8:28 AM on Sept. 28 in Jerusalem. If the Two Witnesses are killed on the morning of the 23rd and are resurrected on the evening of the 26th.   This would be exactly 3 ½ days. The predicted events prior to and following the seventh trumpet would take place.  If 2019 is the year these events occur, then by knowing the end we can calculate the year it begins.  This means the year 2016 would be when the great tribulation may start.  So the spring equinox of the year 2016 may be the beginning of the end, I certainly hope so.

You will notice that I show a shaking in the Seventh-day Adventist church, this is another study, not to be address it at this time.  I am a Seventh-day Adventist, but do not hold to many of the prophetic views of my denomination.  I do not believe that membership in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination improves your chances for salvation, any more than being a Jew did in biblical times.    I believe the Seventh-day Adventists’ have a great responsibility, concerning the end of time, because their name implies that they believe in the validity of the law of God and the truth of His second
advent.

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 12:17)

Rick Sterling

2008 Spirit of Truth Ministry

Please see “Addendum” for further information on this topic.

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