NO MAN CAN KNOW THAT DAY
The Lord said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man..." Mat. 24:36. Thus, that no man can know (before that day) which day That Day will be is an absolute and immutable truth. Only a fool or a liar would claim to know The Day or The Hour of the Lord's coming.

STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED
We have come to a subject which we can no longer ignore. What are we to do with the Scriptures which give prophecies of times and days in reference to The End and the coming of the Lord? Shall we ignore them in the hope they will go away? Were we given these prophecies of years, months and days so we could carefully avoid them?

"Study to show thyself approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightfully dividing the word of truth." This command must include the visions and prophecies of the Lord's coming. The prophecies of years, months and days are included in the "word of truth" which we are commanded to study. To refuse to study these prophecies of days, months and years is to refuse to obey the word of God.

It may seem we are caught between a rock and a hard place. We fear to study the prophecies of times and days because we may be accused of trying to set a day for That Day. Yet if we do not study them we are refusing to obey a command of the Holy Spirit.

STAND ON FAITH
Does this fear reveal a lack of faith? The Word of God is immutable, unchangeable. "No man can know that day or hour..." If we believe His Word, and know it is immutable, why would we live in fear of finding out the exact day or hour? Since it is not possible to Know which day That Day will be in advance of That Day, these prophecies can not and will not enable us to figure it out.

Still, one will have to fight a feeling of fear and dread when starting to study these prophecies. Then, finally, a great sense of relief comes as we find there is no way we can use them to figure out That Day.

A GIFT FROM GOD
These prophecies of time periods are a gift from God. The understanding of the prophecies of years, months and days is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Dan. 2:1-19, 9:2.

DANIEL'S SEVENTIETH WEEK
The first prophecies of years and days were given by our Lord to Daniel, then he recorded them for us to study. "He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week..." The 69 weeks were fulfilled in 483 years, therefore the weeks were one day for a year. Thus we are certain the 70th week represents seven years. There are 365 days per year under the New Covenant, so this time period is 2,555 days in length. Dan. 9:27.

THREE AND A HALF DAYS
"In the midst of the week..." Thus the week is divided into two time periods of three and a half days; or three and a half years, or 1,277 and 1,278 days.

MORNINGS AND EVENINGS
2,300 days is another time period recorded by Daniel. But we cannot know exactly (to the day) when this time period will begin and thus figure out (in advance) on which day it will end. Have faith in The Word of God. We do know -- by His Word -- this time period must end on That Day, when Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire. We also know this is a literal number of days because the angel said, "morning and evening." Dan. 8:14, 26, Gen. 1:5.

TIME AFTER THE ABOMINATION
"There shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days... blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." Here are two time periods (1,290 and 1,335 days) which concern one subject: The End. There is a significant difference of 45 days between them. Dan. 12:9-12.

TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME
There is also the prophecy recorded in Daniel 7:25. "They shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the diving of time." "Time" is one year, "times" is two years, and "the dividing of time" is half of a year. Thus, three and a half years.

TIMES OF THE WITNESSES
John writes, "They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days..." And, "See their dead bodies three days and a half..." And, "After three days and a half the Spirit of Life from God..." Rev. 11:3, 9, 11.

HOW DO THEY FIT TOGETHER?
"How do these prophecies of years, months and days fit together?" The question must be answered. Yet it can only be answered by comparing the signs included with the time periods.

THE LAST SEVEN YEARS
The Seven Years of Daniel are divided, by the placement of the Abomination of Desolation, into two periods of three and a half years.

The Lord told Daniel that after the Abomination there would be two time periods: 1,290 and 1,335 days. Both represent periods in which specific events must be fulfilled in the second half of Daniel's Seventieth Week.

SATAN'S RULE
Both Daniel and John tell us the Beast will rule for three and a half years. "Forty two months, and, "Time, times and the dividing of time." This must also represent the second half of the Seven Years (2,555 days) because both Satan and his kingdom are destroyed when the Lord comes.

THE WITNESSES
The time periods given by John in reference to the testimony of the two witnesses represent two separate three and a half year time periods. The first, 1,260 days, corresponds to the first half of the 2,555 days. When the Lord confirms His New Covenant with His Elect, they will begin to witness. The three and a half days for which their bodies lie in the streets are the last three and half days of Daniel's week.

The witnesses will testify for three and a half years before the placement of the Abomination. Satan will kill them for their testimony during the three and half years which follow that event.

COMPARE THE TIME PERIODS
Three and a half years is 1,277 days, and 1,260 days is 17 days short of three and a half years. 1,290 days is 45 days short of 1,335 days, yet both occur after the Abomination. While seven years is 2,555 days; 1,260 days plus 1,335 days is 2,595 days--40 days longer than seven years. 1,260 and 1,290 are 2,550 days--5 days short of seven years.

PUT THEM TOGETHER
The 1,260 days for which the witnesses testify will begin at the start of the seven years, and end 17 days short of the middle of the week.

Rome will be reborn when the seven years begin. However, Satan will not possess the body prepared for him for some 295 days after the 2,555 days begin, which will reveal that the 2,300 days have started. He will not proclaim himself to be God, or murder those who refuse to worship him, until the midst of Daniel's week.

Both the 1,290 days and the 1,335 day time periods begin when the 1,260 days end. The 1,290 days will end 5 days short of seven years, while the 1,335 days continue 40 days beyond the end of Daniel's week.

FORTY DAYS!
When God destroyed the world in the days of Noah it rained for 40 days. Gen. 7:12. The Children of Israel wandered forty years in the desert. Numbers 14:34. The Messiah fasted 40 days, and was with His disciples for forty days after resurrection. Acts 1:3. The number forty is significant in God's account of times and events.

When it rained for forty days in the days of Noah, everyone wasn't killed instantly. While it rained and the waters piled up and flooded the lowlands, people had time to scramble to hill tops and mountains, to watch their end come-up-on them. The door of the ark was closed during those 40 days, and so it will be during the last 40 days. Those who destroy the earth, and those who burn Babylon, will stand and watch the smoke rise up into the sky and circle the earth--and plunge it into the ashen darkness of eternal death.

WHY WERE WE GIVEN THESE PROPHECIES?
There is no way for us to know exactly when God will begin to count the 2,555 days--or the 2300 or the 40 days. Have faith in The Word of God. We cannot use these prophecies to "figure out That Day."

Why, then, were we given these prophecies of years, month and days to study? So we could be sure (without any doubt) that God has appointed That Day. (It is pre-ordained.) And, God has also appointed the generation who will see that day come. Mat. 24:33-34.

"As for me, Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me..." Dan. 7:28.

"As soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter." Rev. 10:10.

                        A GRAPH OF THE TIME PERIODS







|---------------- DANIEL'S 70th WEEK -----------|

|                                               |

|-------------------- SEVEN YEARS --------------|

|                     (2555 DAYS)               |

|                       |                       |

|------ 1260 DAYS  -----|------- 1335 DAYS -------------------|

|                       |                       |             |

|     |--------------- 2300 DAYS -----------------------------|

|     |                 |                       |             |

|     |                 |                     | |             |

|     |                 |------- 1290 DAYS ---|---- 45 DAYS --|

| 2   |                 |  |                  | |             |

| 9   |                 |1 |                  | |-- 40 DAYS --|

| 5   |                 |7 |                  | |             |

|     |                 |  |---- 42 MONTHS -----|             |

| D   |                 |D |                  | |             |

| A   |                 |A |---- 3 1/2 YEARS ---|             |

| Y                     |Y |                  | |             |

| S                     |S |---- 3 1/2 DAYS ----|             |

|                       |  |                  | |  SIXTH AND  |

|                       |                     |5|  SEVENTH    |

--FOURTH SEAL           |--FIFTH SEAL         | |--SEALS      |

--FIRST TRUMPET         |  AND ABOMINATION    |D|             |

                        |  OF DESOLATION      |A|--SIXTH      |

                                              |Y|  TRUMPET    |

                                  SIXTH VIAL--|S|             |

                                                |--SEVENTH    |

                                                |  VIAL       |

                                                |    SEVENTH  |

                                                     TRUMPET--|



Daniel 7:25, 8:14, 9:27, 12:10-12. Revelation 11:3, 9-11, 13:5.

          a.   Is it possible for us to understand how

               the prophecies of days and times fit

               together without figuring out which day

               the Lord will come?

          b.   Why did God give us these prophecies?

          c.   What is the benefit of understanding how

               these prophecies fit together, if any?