I was reading chapter 3 of Last Day Events this morning, and would like to post some statements made by EGW which can be found there:

We are not to know the definite time either for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or for the coming of Christ.... Why has not God given us this knowledge?—Because we would not make a right use of it if He did. A condition of things would result from this knowledge among our people that would greatly retard the work of God in preparing a people to stand in the great day that is to come. We are not to live upon time excitement.... You will not be able to say that He will come in one, two, or five years, neither are you to put off His coming by stating that it may not be for ten or twenty years. — The Review and Herald, March 22, 1892.

God gives no man a message that it will be five years or ten years or twenty years before this earth’s history shall close. He would not give any living being an excuse for delaying the preparation for His appearing. He would have no one say, as did the unfaithful servant, “My lord delayeth his coming,” for this leads to reckless neglect of the opportunities and privileges given to prepare us for that great day. — The Review and Herald, November 27, 1900.

I plainly stated at the Jackson camp meeting to these fanatical parties that they were doing the work of the adversary of souls; they were in darkness. They claimed to have great light that probation would close in October, 1884. I there stated in public that the Lord had been pleased to show me that there would be no definite time in the message given of God since 1844. — Selected Messages 2:73 (1885).

Our position has been one of waiting and watching, with no time-proclamation to intervene between the close of the prophetic periods in 1844 and the time of our Lord’s coming. — Manuscript Releases 10:270 (1888).

This message was given in 1892 specifically about an individual who was time setting. That statement is taken out of context if applied to specifics that God has revealed after 1892. The gist of this discussion has been not to set a time for Christ's Advent but to urge His professed followers that it is time for the 3rd Angel's message to go forth in full power because it is time for the Mark of the beast to appear and do its work that is not dependent on time. Thus to misunderstand EGW's counsel on time setting and to misapply it too this message is to say that the Lord delayeth His coming. It is to cry peace and safety and greatly retard the work of God when sudden destruction is at hand.



God forbid that anyone reading these mismatched quotes should put off Christ's Coming for 5, 10, or even 20-years:





The term "definite time" as EGW uses it is in the context of "definite time of Christ's Advent." There are 15 links found to definite time and 1844 that clarify that.
The quote that you found is an earlier quote than the 1892 quote above. But in this quote EGW was giving the same message here that she repeated in 1892.



This is a quote commonly taken out of context by SDA's. Please read the first three posts on this topic. It is clear that Our Position is that prophetic time refers specifically to the day and hour of Christ's Advent. But the world lumps all prophetic time together. so Our Position is specific and the world's is general. There are specific instances of time prophecy in Scripture and the Spirit of prophecy that transpire after 1844 but that so not give the day and hour of Christ's Advent.

Thank you for trying to help clarify things, but thus far the quotes that you recycled don't disagree with the points already made when viewed in their proper context.

Christian Regards,
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What EGW says is that "the prophetic periods" closed in 1844 - all of them, and that, after that, no time-proclamation should intervene until the Lord's coming.

She repeats this idea in other passages:

As the disciples went out preaching, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand,” so Miller and his associates proclaimed that the longest and last prophetic period brought to view in the Bible was about to expire, that the Judgment was at hand, and the everlasting kingdom was to be ushered in (GC 351.1).

This time, which the Angel declares with a solemn oath, is not the end of this world’s history, neither of probationary time, but of prophetic time, which would precede the advent of our Lord. That is, the people will not have another message upon definite time. After this period of time, reaching from 1842 to 1844, there can be no definite tracing of the prophetic time. The longest reckoning reaches to the autumn of 1844. {CTr 344.5}

The idea is repeatedly emphasized - there is no prophetic period to be fulfilled after 1844. She says that "there should be time no longer" refers not to the end of this world's history (i.e., to Christ's coming), but to prophetic time.

More precisely, 3 September 2011, that is, next Saturday. What will happen then?

Actually, I found problems with several dates here.


It would end 15 March 2005.


1335 days would be from 9/02/2001 to 29 April 2005.

Dear Rosangela,

If you take the time to do a study of "prophetic time" in the Spirit of prophecy you will learn that EGW uses that term almost exclusively to refer the Day or Hour of Christ's Advent. Thus when she makes a reference to "prophetic time" she is not talking about time prophecy, but prophecy giving the time of Christ's Advent.

Since EGW clearly states

EGW clearly contrasts ALL time prophecy with Our Position which she links to "the time of our Lord's coming" which she knew to be 1844 before the great disappointment.

Thus you turn her statement on its head when you conclude: "She says that "there should be time no longer" refers not to the end of this world's history (i.e., to Christ's coming), but to prophetic time." And of course she cannot be saying what you conclude since she gives at least two instances of fulfilled prophecy that was fulfilled before 1844 that is to be repeated after 1844 and prior to Christ's advent.

But of course this has already been discussed in this thread. So since it has been settled, there is no reason to revisit it without the introduction of information that has been overlooked.

I do appreciate your comments and participation, but I have limited time. So it would be helpful if you would read the thread through so that things that have been clarified won't keep us plowing the same field again and again.

Thank you for your precision

Thank you for noting that error.

I have dyslexia and reverse dates and numbers terribly. I wrote this from memory and will have to go back to my original notes to iron out.

This comment was very helpful. Thank you for taking time to bring it to my attention.

I worked laying block for 10 hrs today. Frankly I am tired , but it is something that I need to sort out and clarify.

9/20/01 is the date I had in Echoes of Doomsday, but when I proofed it I dropped the 0 from the 20.

His Child,
This is not my conclusion; this is what she wrote. Commenting on Rev. 10:6, "And he [the Angel] swore ... that there should be time no longer," she says,

"This time, which the Angel declares with a solemn oath, is not the end of this world’s history, neither of probationary time, but of prophetic time, which would precede the advent of our Lord."

The only conclusion I'm drawing here is that "the end of this world's history" is Christ's coming. Do you disagree with this conclusion?

If the end of this world's history is Christ's coming, and if she says that the word "time" here doesn't refer to that, it's clear that when she speaks of "prophetic time," she isn't referring to the setting of a date for Christ's coming.


I don't agree that she gives two instances of time prophecies to be fulfilled after 1844.


I did read it, and I'm just explaining why I disagree with your conclusions.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with the Julian Date system:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.php
It's the system used by historians, astronomers, etc. It already takes into account leap years and all that, and if you choose 12 o'clock you don't have to deal with decimals.