Ellen makes it clear the approach of Jesus is not detected until He arrives in the east as "a small black cloud", which is vastly different than a speeding, fiery asteroid. Ellen wrote:

Oh yes, I agree with that 100%!

I was only disagreeing with the arbitrary equating of a few days to the "number of days".

What do you think "bound for the east" means?

Actually you are quoting from one of the very FIRST visions EGW received on the matter. In that vision it all seemed to happen "simultaneously".

But over time God gave her more visions filling in the details.

I believe "east" is the direction in the Bible which represents political powers or government.

When Jesus comes again, it will not be as the humble servant/teacher as before. It will be as victorious and reigning King of kings. This is why He will appear in the East.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

That's a nice symbolic application but
I guess I always thought of it in a very literal way rather than a symbolic way. It has to do with the rotation of the earth.
The sun, moon and stars always "rise" in the east because the earth spins toward the east.

Earth rotates or spins toward the east, and that's why the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars all rise in the east and make their way westward across the sky. Suppose you are facing east - the planet carries you eastward as it turns, so whatever lies beyond that eastern horizon eventually comes up over the horizon and you see it!
If you face west, everything gradually disappears beyond the western horizon!

So I do not quite understand how Jesus has to first travel to the east any more than the sun has to travel to the east in order for us to see it coming up in the east. This traveling to the east (which according to some comments here apparently would have to take quite some time), before He approaches earth and becomes visible to God's people.

Dedication,

It is true that the earth rotates toward the East. But if you were to utilize the rotation of the earth as your sole criterion, you have only eliminated one of the four possible directions from which Christ might come.

If you look at some of the Bible texts, it would be rather logical for Him to appear from the North. But, instead, He chooses to come from the East. Not without a reason.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

It says he comes from the east so that's really criterion enough as to which direction we will see Him coming.

But He also comes from OUTER space, not from within our atmosphere, so the rotation of the earth does determine from which direction we will see Him coming.

Perhaps I needed to be more clear.

If Jesus came from North or South, the rotation of the earth would have no effect. No matter how much the world turns, North stays in the same place, and likewise for South.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Did I suggest "a number of days" equals "a few days"? If I did I didn't mean to. At any rate, I suppose the expression "a number of days" can encompasses several days or more, but probably not as many as several weeks or more. I hope it lasts less than a week. Here's how she used the expression elsewhere: