Revelation 10:5-6 — 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, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer.
The mighty angel, and the little book
The symbols and description of these verses indicate that the “Mighty angel” coming down from heaven is Christ Himself. He sets his right foot upon the sea and his left foot upon the earth, indicating His absolute power and dominion over the world. He held in his hand a little book opened. This is the same book that was sealed in the book of Daniel, but is now open, revealing its mysteries.
Daniel 12:7 — And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
Daniel 12:8-9 — And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
There shall be no more delay
He declared in a definite and most certain tone that “There shall be time no longer” — there shall be no more delay. This is certified by an oath, even by the voice of Christ Himself, swearing by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created the heaven and earth. This is a sure oath of decisiveness and confirmation.
The angel of God proclaimed with authority that time would be no more. This is none other than the prophetic time of Daniel. The prophetic time of Daniel 12:7 was fulfilled in 1798: a time, times and an half (360 + 720 + 180).
The 2300 days, and the day of atonement
The “time that shall be no more” has to be the 2300 day (year) prophecy of Daniel 8:14.
Daniel 8:14 — And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
This prophecy shows the accuracy of prophecy, and highlights the preciseness of God when it comes to time. The cleansing of the earthly sanctuary took place on the tenth day of the seventh month of the Jewish year. It was the day of atonement, known in the Jewish economy as Yom Kippur, “the tenth day of the seventh month” (Tishrei — October), and is regarded as the most solemn day.
Leviticus 23:27 — Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
It was a day of atonement symbolising the final judgment in the last days.
Daniel 8:17 — …Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
Leviticus 16:29-30 — And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
Atonement was a very solemn time of putting away sins and of cleansing for the people of Israel, and it is also a time of cleansing and putting away of sin for God’s end-time people. Of this 2300 days (years), 70 weeks (490 years) were given to the people of Israel to put their acts together.
Daniel 9:24 — Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Christ came right on time
Time is one of the most important commodities of life. Between life and death everyone is given an allotted time to fulfil their purposes. However we choose to spend our time, it is down to us.
To the Israelites, 490 years were given to them as a nation to put away sin and bring about everlasting righteousness. The day of atonement in the Jewish camp was a day of putting away of sin and total cleansing and restoration.
When Christ came to the Jewish nation, He came right on time.
Galatians 4:4 — But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.
Mark 1:14-15 — Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Christ came on time, crucified on time, buried on time, resurrected on time and will return right on time.
At the end of the 2300 days (years) prophecy, Christ Himself came to announce that time would be no longer — that time would not delay anymore.
Standing at the crossroads of destiny
We are now standing at the crossroads of destiny, at a transition point in the history of time. We can almost see the passing of the dispensation of things and the emerging of a new order of things. The prophetic history and the destiny of this earth is now culminating before our very eyes.
Every one of us has a time of possibility, a time of opportunity. The Bible calls it a time of chance.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 — I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
We are now being urged to urgently and seriously evaluate our spiritual condition. There are in the world today many who close their eyes to the evidences that Christ has given to warn men of His coming. They seek to quiet all apprehension — anxiety or fear — while at the same time the signs of the end are rapidly fulfilling, and the world is hastening to the time when the Son of man shall be revealed in the clouds of heaven. The squandering of time continues; the dance of death is entertaining the world.
Ephesians 5:14-16 — Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
In this anti-typical day of atonement, time of probation is fast running out for us to put away sin and bring about everlasting righteousness.
A season, and a time to every purpose
Ecclesiastes 3:1 — To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Therefore there is a time for every sacred event in the plan of salvation and redemption.
- God by his providence governs the world, and has determined particular things and operations to particular times. In those times such things may be done with propriety and success; but if we neglect the appointed time, we sin against God’s providence, and become the authors of our own demise.
- God has given to humanity the portion of duration called time; the space in which all the operations of nature, of animals, and intellectual beings, are carried out. But while nature is steady in its course, and animals are faithful to their instincts, man devotes time to a great variety of purposes, but very frequently to that which God never made time, space, or opportunity for. This is called wasted time, purpose and opportunity.
God has appointed time and purpose for everyone, and you must work with God to know and understand your time.
1 Chronicles 12:32 — And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 — But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
The thing is certain that Christ will come, and there is a certain time appointed for his coming. Man knows not his time of visitation. He knows not the time of his calamity nor his fall; he knows not the time of his death. We know neither the day nor the hour when Jesus will pay us a visit. But it is certain that the time of our visitation will come — it could be today or anytime now. We know not what troubles are waiting to put us out of business, but the Bible makes it abundantly clear that time and chance do happen.
Time has to do with the progress, existence and events on this planet. Time is very important and seems to be one of the most commonly used nouns. We hear about time off, time out, about time, all the time, at the same time, have no time, good times and bad times, pass time, time waits for no man, behind time, no more time. The list is long, but not forever.
Chance, on the other hand, has to do with possibility or opportunity. In other words, chance is man’s period of probation.
Three times we must now pay attention to
There are three important times that we must now pay attention to: the time of God’s judgment, the time of our probation, and the time of Christ’s return.
1 Peter 4:17-18 — For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
Time is one of the most important commodities given by God to man. It is governed by the providence of God, but time management is up to us. We live in a world of changes in events and conditions of human life. There is constant deterioration, waxing and waning from one extreme to the other, but everything must continue through the providence of God’s time until the fullness of time is fully come. Time is unalterably fixed and determined by the supreme power of God. It is not in our power to change what is appointed for us by God.
The day will give place to the night and summer will follow spring. The clearest sky will become cloudy and the most clouded sky will clear up; the sun will burst from behind the cloud. But there is no guarantee that we are going to see tomorrow. Tomorrow may well be sunny or cloudy as today, but we might be history. Tomorrow may be bright and sunny, but it might not shine upon us.
Psalm 90:10 — The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Psalm 90:12 — So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
God has given time and chance. What will your answer be?
God’s prophetic time clock has been ticking for a long time
Revelation 10:5-7 — 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, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
The mystery of God is finished, and time for this planet soon shall be no more.
Revelation 1:3 — Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
The forbearance of God has been very great — so great that when we consider the continuous insult to His holy commandments, we marvel. The Omnipotent One has been exerting a restraining power over His own attributes. But He will certainly arise to punish the wicked, who so boldly defy the just claims of the Decalogue.
God allows men a period of probation; but there is a point beyond which divine patience is exhausted, and the judgments of God are sure to follow.
The Lord bears long with men, and with cities, mercifully giving warnings to save them from divine wrath; but a time will come when pleadings for mercy will no longer be heard, and the rebellious element that continues to reject the light of truth will be blotted out, in mercy to themselves and to those who would otherwise be influenced by their example.
— Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 276
The message for us is clear: time soon shall be no more.
On the sanctuary this prophecy is measured against, The Sanctuary works through the types, the services and the Messiah they pointed to. On the message that goes out while probation lasts, The Everlasting Gospel sets out Revelation 14 and the hour of God’s judgment, and The Three Angels’ Messages takes the three proclamations one at a time. On the church appointed to carry it, The Church and Its Mission traces what she is and what she was called out to do.
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Revelation 14:6–12
The Everlasting Gospel
Revelation 14:6 is an appeal to a rebellious planet to return from the brink of destruction — sent to every corner of the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.
Revelation 14:6–12
The Three Angels' Messages
Revelation 14:6–12 contains heaven's final warning to the world: three messages, delivered with a loud voice, that divide the whole earth into two groups.