40 DAYS OF THE BIBLE

Disclosing the Past—Foretelling the Future

We discover in God's Word that the period of 40 days is significant, both in the past and in the final plan of God's redemption of His people.  The The Appointed Times & Seasons Calendar shows a period of 40 days for the Time of Jacob's Trouble. Review the 40 day periods in Bible history from the King James Version (with N.I.V. links), and you will discover how they foretell the final 40 day period of earth's history as we know it.

God’s Judgment on the Antediluvian World Lasted 40 Days

Genesis 7:4: “1 [the Lord] will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights: and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.” Reference: “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man the flood came [for 40 days], and destroyed them all,” Luke 17:26-27. Note that Luke wrote “days” of the Son of Man—not “day,” singular, as in the Day of the Lord. Hence, destruction will occur over a period of days—during the “Great Tribulation,” Matthew 24:21.

Spies Searched Out the Land of Canaan for 40 Days: Israel Punished For Unbelief

Numbers 13:25: 14:34: “And they returned from searching of the land after forty days And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know My breach of promise”

Moses Kept Alive Supernaturally Without Food and Water 40 Days: Face Shone Brightly

Exodus 24:18: “Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights."  Deuteronomy 9:9: “I [Moses] abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water.” Exodus 34:28: “[Moses] was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights: he did neither eat bread, nor drink water … when he came down from the mount. . . the skin of his face shone while he talked.” Reference: “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament,” Daniel12:3.

Elijah Ran for His Life 40 Days: Kept Alive Supernaturally Without Food and Water

1 Kings 19:8: “[Elijah, running for his life] went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb [Sinai] the mount of God.”

Righteous Ezekiel was Punished For Judah’s Idolatry 40 Days

Ezekiel 4:6: “[Ezekiel] thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.” Reference: “These are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah [114,000].  We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.. . Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s [Judah’s] trouble: but he [Israel] shall be saved out of it. . . though I will make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” Jeremiah 30:5. 7, 11.

Jonah Forewarned Nineveh for 40 Days of God’s Ultimate Judgment

Jonah 3:4: "[Jonah warned] yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”

Jesus Began Ministry Alone in the Wilderness for 40 Days Without Food and Water, But Sustained

Supernaturally—Satan Attempted to Deceive Him While Weak

Matthew 4:1-2: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights. He was afterward hungered” (Mark 1:13: Luke 4:2).

Jesus Ended His Ministry During a 40 Day Period—Then Left for Heavenly Canaan

Acts 1:3, 10-11: “He [Jesus] showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days... land] while they beheld, He was taken up: and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward Heaven as He went up. behold, two men [possibly Moses and Elijah] stood by them in white apparel [Matthew 17:2-3]. Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven.”

In Conclusion: The Final 40 Days—A Composite of the Past

Note the various elements which occurred during the 40 day periods: wilderness travel, flight into the mountains, loneliness, hunger, thirst, attempted deception by Satan, threat of death, punishment of righteous for Judah’s sinful idolatry, systematic destruction of sinners and warning of ultimate judgment by God against all humanity, sustaining life by supernatural intervention in the lives of Moses, Elijah and Jesus.

These challenges will be repeated in the lives of the 114,000 Jewish elect during the days just before their redemption.  The abomination will be set up in the Jerusalem Temple by Antichrist (day 1290).  The elect are to run for their lives, for the day of retribution is forthcoming.  From Yom Kippur to the end of the 1,335 days (Daniel 12:12) are 40 literal days--the Time of Jacob's Trouble.

During the 40 days the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) will be come.  What is Sukkot?  When God's people are to make “huts,” living in makeshift shelter out in the fields to remind them that for 40 years Israel wandered about until they reached Canaan.

Jesus said, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination [idol] of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place [Jerusalem Temple site], (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. . . for then shall be Great Tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be. And except those [40] days should be shortened, there should be no flesh saved: but for the elect’s [144,000] sake those [40] days shall be shortened,” Matthew 24:15-22.

How will the days be shortened?  According to prophecy's predictions, at the voice of God Planet Earth will be rocked to and fro with a massive earthquake. The while earth will literally "tilt to and fro" and its rotation will no doubt be altered resulting in shorter days. 

"The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls-never to rise again," (Isaiah 24:18-20). 

"He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in His anger. He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble. He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; He seals off the light of the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea," (Job 9:5-8).

"He changes times and seasons," (Daniel 2:21). 

The 144,000 will be tested and punished for their earlier unbelief, but in spite of the great trial they will be found faithful.  Sealed for divine protection, God will sustain the 144,000 chosen ones until His visible return in the clouds at the Great Day of the Lord.