Have you ever seen that scary prophetic time clock? If you’ve been a Christian for awhile, at one time or other, you have probably seen that clock. And, if you recall, Jesus was scheduled to return at midnight. And the clock’s hands were only minutes away.

Perhaps you’re experience was like the following. A guest speaker came to your church and handed out charts he had made illustrating the end-times prophecies in the Bible. These charts included weird pictures of beasts with many heads and angelic creatures blowing trumpets and sending fireballs to earth. Of course, somewhere there was a picture of Jesus descending from heaven on a cloud with His arms opened wide.

 While you should have been listening to the guest speaker, you were thumbing through his charts amusing yourself with the pictures. That’s when you stumbled on that clock. Above its picture, in big bold letters, were the words “Prophetic Time Clock.” And, sure enough, its hands were almost at midnight. And, midnight was when all those scary things in the charts were supposed to start happening.

You didn’t need to see or hear any more. You knew exactly what that clock meant: Your time on earth was short and you’d better get your spiritual act together!

When the invitation to receiving Jesus as your savior was given, you were among the first to go foreword. You couldn’t remember a word the guest speaker had said. It was that stupid clock that got you.

The problem is, that was a long time ago. And, according to that speaker and his charts, that prophetic time clock should have reached midnight by now. 

Now the way you see it, you’re left with two possibilities. One, there’s no such thing as a prophetic time clock. Or two, there’s something wrong with the speaker’s clock. Either way, one thing’s for sure: Today that speaker is long gone and long wrong.

Maybe you haven’t had this kind of experience. But I have. And, I have continued to believe in that scary old prophetic time clock. I believe it’s still ticking away.

You see, none of us can set a time for Christ’s return. Jesus said to His disciples, “It is not for you to know the times or the epochs (seasons) which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7 New American Standard Bible).

But, because we don’t know when He’s going to return, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep watching for it. Jesus warned His followers to stay alert for His sudden return. He said, “Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks” (Luke 12:35-36).

In a situation where slaves are instructed to stay alert for their master’s return, I’m sure they would take turns through the night. In Roman times, the night was divided into 12 hours, from sunset to dawn. This time in turn was divide into four three-hour periods called watches. So, through the night, one slave would have been assigned to each watch.

This is what Jesus meant when He said, “Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so (alert), blessed are those slaves” (Luke 12:38).

My point is, just because Christ didn’t return according to that guest speaker’s clock, it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with the prophetic time clock. The way I see it, that speaker was assigned to the second watch – the time from 9 PM to 12 midnight. And, he was a servant faithfully attending to his watch.

Although, today, it may be true that speaker is long gone, that doesn’t mean he is long wrong. It just means we’re in the third watch.