Ellen Chat Conversation

Ellen White taught that while no human can know the exact time of Christ's return beforehand, **God Himself will announce the day and hour** to His faithful people just before Jesus appears. She wrote that "the voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and hour of Jesus' coming, and delivering the everlasting covenant to His people" (Hvn 30.1). This divine announcement comes at the very end of earth's history, not as advance knowledge for calculation, but as a final confirmation to God's waiting people. This announcement is described as a dramatic, unmistakable event. Ellen White explained that God's words declaring the time roll through the earthlike "peals of loudest thunder" (DD 49). When this happens, "the Israel of God stand listening, with their eyes fixed upward. Their countenances are lighted up with His glory, and shine as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai" (Hvn 30.1). This is clearly a supernatural revelation given directly by God to His people in the final moments before Christ's appearing. However, Ellen White was emphatic that **no human being has authority to predict or calculate the time** before this divine announcement. She stated clearly: "No one has a true message fixing the time when Christ is to come or not to come" (2SM 113). She warned that "God gives no one authority to say that Christ delays His coming five years, ten years, or twenty years" (2SM 113). Even more directly, she wrote: "The exact time of the second coming is God's mystery" (HLv 425.2). The distinction is crucial: while God will announce the time at the very end, believers are not to speculate or set dates beforehand. Instead, our responsibility is readiness and watchfulness. Ellen White counseled: "His followers are to be in the position of those who are listening for the orders of their Captain; they are to watch, wait, pray, and work, as they approach the time for the coming of the Lord; but no one will be able to predict just when that time will come" (1SM 189.2). The message for today is clear: "Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (2SM 113). This readiness, not date-setting, should characterize God's people as they await Christ's return. --- 💡 **You might also want to explore:** • What signs did Ellen White say would indicate Christ's return is near? • How should believers prepare spiritually for Christ's second coming? • What did Ellen White teach about false predictions of Christ's return?