2520 Fact or Fiction? - Seven Times or 2520 True or False?
''All the messages given from 1840-1844 are to be made forcible now, for there are many people who have lost their bearings. The messages are to go to all the churches. {Manuscript Releases, Vol. 21, page 437}
kjv BIBLE & SPIRIT OF PROPHECY
Note: Seven Times or 2520 years that the Gentiles were to reign over God’s people or [Scattering]. Israel: from 723 BC to 1798 AD = 2520 years. Judah: from 677 BC to 1844 AD = 2520 years. See Lev. 26, Rev. 11:2 and Dan. 12:7. 1260 is half of 2520 so 1260 + 1260 = 2520. [So 1844 God Gather SDA or Gathering of SDA], see Isa. 11:11-12 and {Early Writings, page 74.1}
‘’And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. {Luke 21:24}
‘September 23, the Lord showed me that He had stretched out His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people, and that efforts must be redoubled in this gathering time. In the scattering, Israel was smitten and torn, but now in the gathering time God will heal and bind up His people. In the scattering, efforts made to spread the truth had but little effect, accomplished but little or nothing; but in the gathering, when God has set His hand to gather His people, efforts to spread the truth will have their designed effect. All should be united and zealous in the work. I saw that it was wrong for any to refer to the scattering for examples to govern us now in the gathering; for if God should do no more for us now than He did then, Israel would never be gathered. I have seen that the 1843 chart was directed by the hand of the Lord, and that it should not be altered; that the figures were as He wanted them; that His hand was over and hid a mistake in some of the figures, so that none could see it, until His hand was removed. [THIS APPLIES TO THE CHART USED DURING THE 1843 MOVEMENT, AND HAS SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE CALCULATION OF THE PROPHETIC PERIODS AS IT APPEARED ON THAT CHART. THE NEXT SENTENCE EXPLAINS THAT THERE WAS AN INACCURACY WHICH IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD WAS SUFFERED TO EXIST. BUT THIS DOES NOT PRECLUDE THE PUBLICATION OF A CHART SUBSEQUENTLY WHICH WOULD CORRECT THE MISTAKE, AFTER THE 1843 MOVEMENT WAS PAST, AND THE CALCULATION AS THEN MADE HAD SERVED ITS PURPOSE.] {Early Writings, page 74.1}
Says WILLIAM MILLER
“We have never been able to find any other time for the termination of the prophetic periods than the Jewish year now past: nor do we now find any other. The only event we can find, from which to reckon the seven times; or 2520 years that the Gentiles were to reign over God’s people, is the captivity of Manasseh, which the best chronologers place B. C. 677, and since which the Jews have never been an independant nation. The only event we can find from which to date the great Jubilee, or 2450 years that the land was to keep its Sabbaths, is at the commencement of the 70 years captivity in Babylon, when Jehoiakim was carried captive, and which the best chronologers place B. C. 607. The only event we can find, from which to reckon the 2300 days, is the going forth of the decree to restore Jerusalem, from which the 70 weeks are dated, given by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the 7th year of his reign; and which the best chronologers pin down to B. C. 457. And the only event we can find from which to date the 1335 days is the succession of the supremacy of papacy, to that of paganism in the Roman empire, which the best chronologists place about A. D. 508. Reckoning the several periods from those respective dates, they can extend only to about A. D. 1843 [Note 1844]; and as we can find no new dates for the various events from which the respective periods are reckoned, we can find no new point for their termination; and therefore we can extend the time to no new period, unless some error can be shown in our standard chronologers. {HST April 24, 1844, p. 92.23}
In the second place, we shall not throw away our Bibles or turn Infidels. We have not followed “cunningly devised fables” respecting “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;” but have the testimony of those who were “eye witnesses of his Majesty;” and in addition to that, “a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well if ye take heed” until the Lord shall come. Although our reckoning is out, yet as our chart has brought us so near the heavenly country that we are within soundings, we shall continue on, looking for the Lord such little while as human computation of time may have varied from an exact chronology—the same as any able seaman, when his reckoning is up, would continue on his course, till the blue hills of the expected country should break upon his view.{HST April 24, 1844, p. 92.24}
Having passed the point of the apparent termination of the prophetic periods, we are placed in a position, which God foresaw his children would be placed in, at the end of the vision; and for which he made provision, by the prophet Habakkuk, (2:1-3,) when he says, “I will stand upon my watch, and sit upon my tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved,” or as it reads in the margin “argued with.” “And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time,” [the 7 times] “but at the end [of the prophetic periods] it shall speak and not lie: though it tarry,” [beyond their apparent termination] “wait for it; because it will surely come,” [in the fulness of the prophetic times, beyond which,] “it will not tarry.” {HST April 24, 1844, p. 93.1}
That this admonition has reference to the present time is evident from Paul’s quotation of it in Hebrews 10:36-39. “For we have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” {HST April 24, 1844, p. 93.2}
Note: HST is [The Advent Herald, and Signs of the Times]. --- Visit www.whiteestate.org and Go to ‘Words of the Adventist Pioneers’ and Search: The Advent Herald, and Signs of the Times Reporter [Himes], Vol. 7, and scroll-down till you find {HST April 24, 1844, p. 92.23}
‘We have, as had John, a message to bear of the things which we have seen and heard. God is not giving us a new message. We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches. We need the Holy Spirit to kindle in our hearts the zeal and earnestness that were then seen among God’s people. I thank the Lord that there are still living a few who can remember those days, and who know whereof they speak. {Review and Herald, January 19, 1905, par. 22}
‘In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. When Christ desired to open to His disciples the truth of His resurrection, He began “at Moses and all the prophets” and “expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27. But it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form. {Christ’s Object Lessons, page 127.4}
‘The warning has come: Nothing is to be allowed to come in that will disturb the foundation of the faith upon which we have been building ever since the message came in 1842, 1843, and 1844. I was in this message, and ever since I have been standing before the world, true to the light that God has given us. We do not propose to take our feet off the platform on which they were placed as day by day we sought the Lord with earnest prayer, seeking for light. Do you think that I could give up the light that God has given me? It is to be as the Rock of Ages. It has been guiding me ever since it was given…. {General Conference Bulletin, April 6, 1903, par. 35}
'The Lord showed me some weeks ago that as James would begin to republish what the leaders had written in ‘44 upon the truth, Satan would try to hinder us, but we must struggle for the victory and go on.—Letter 12, 1850. {1BIO 181.7}
1BIO is Ellen G. White: The Early Years Volume 1 - 1827-1862, By Arthur L. White (1985)
'Those who claim to be Adventists should, to be consistent, acknowledge the means that God in mercy has employed to bring them to the light of the Advent truth, and which has made them what they are. No one will deny the fact that it was the proclamation of the time, 1843, as it was written on the chart, that aroused the Advent people to look for the Lord. {1BIO 180.3}
'If that alarm had not been given, none would have been waked up to see the true light, and those who rejoice in the “blessed hope” would now, doubtless, be covered up in the mist and darkness of the nominal church. We cannot, therefore, see the least consistency in the position of those who call themselves Adventists, and at the same time call the very means that has brought them to this scriptural faith and hope “a mistake,” “fanaticism,” “mesmerism,” and, as some have said, “of the devil.” {1BIO 180.4}
'What! shall we rejoice in the “blessed hope,” and then turn round and curse the means that heaven has employed to bring us to its light and glory? God forbid it. Such a course, ... such a position, is not only inconsistent in the extreme, but blasphemous.—AR, August, 1850. {1BIO 180.5}
“On our return to Brother Nichols’ the Lord gave me a vision and showed me that the truth must be made plain upon tables and it would cause many to decide for the truth by the third angel’s message, with the two former being made plain upon tables.—Letter 28, 1850. {1BIO 185.3}
“I saw that God was in the publishment of the chart by Brother Nichols. I saw that there was a prophecy of this chart in the Bible, and if this chart is designed for God’s people, if it [is] sufficient for one it is for another, and if one needed a new chart painted on a larger scale, all need it just as much. {Manuscript Releases, Vol. 13, page 359.1}
‘Our people need to understand the reasons of our faith and our past experiences. How sad it is that so many of them apparently place unlimited confidence in men who present theories tending to uproot our past experiences and to remove the old landmarks! Those who can so easily be led by a false spirit show that they have been following the wrong captain for some time—so long that they do not discern that they are departing from the faith, or that they are not building upon the true foundation. We need to urge all to put on their spiritual eyeglasses, to have their eyes anointed that they may see clearly and discern the true pillars of the faith. Then they will know that “the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his” (2 Timothy 2:19). We need to revive the old evidences of the faith once delivered to the saints. 2SM 25
'I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. {Habakkuk 2:1-4}
‘And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. {Leviticus 26:18-39}
‘’The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young; {Deuteronomy 28:49-50}
Read {Deuteronomy 28:15-67}
‘The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it; And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day. {Deuteronomy 29:20-28}
‘And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee. And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thyself in the sight of the heathen, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. {Ezekiel 22:15-24}
‘Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. {Zechariah 1:18-19}
‘Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. {Jeremiah 50:17}
‘O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. {Isaiah 10:5-6}
‘When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me. I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me. Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them. {Hosea 13:1-8}
"Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Cor. 10:11). "Not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into" (1 Peter 1:12). {Selected Messages, Vol. 3, Page 338}
‘Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. {Jeremiah 6:16-19}
‘And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. {Isaiah 58:12}
{The Advent Herald, and Signs of the Times Reporter [Himes], Vol. 7}