diff --git a/.changes/unreleased/Features-20241003-170529.yaml b/.changes/unreleased/Features-20241003-170529.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8b4ed1b8d74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/unreleased/Features-20241003-170529.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+kind: Features
+body: Ensure `--event-time-start` is before `--event-time-end`
+time: 2024-10-03T17:05:29.984398-05:00
+custom:
+  Author: QMalcolm
+  Issue: "10786"
diff --git a/core/dbt/cli/flags.py b/core/dbt/cli/flags.py
index d3dabded7b0..649c24fb3e0 100644
--- a/core/dbt/cli/flags.py
+++ b/core/dbt/cli/flags.py
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 import os
 import sys
 from dataclasses import dataclass
+from datetime import datetime
 from importlib import import_module
 from pathlib import Path
 from pprint import pformat as pf
 from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, List, Optional, Set, Union
 
+import pytz
 from click import Context, Parameter, get_current_context
 from click.core import Command as ClickCommand
 from click.core import Group, ParameterSource
@@ -313,6 +315,9 @@ def _assign_params(
         self._assert_mutually_exclusive(params_assigned_from_default, ["SELECT", "INLINE"])
         self._assert_mutually_exclusive(params_assigned_from_default, ["SELECTOR", "INLINE"])
 
+        # Check event_time configs for validity
+        self._validate_event_time_configs()
+
         # Support lower cased access for legacy code.
         params = set(
             x for x in dir(self) if not callable(getattr(self, x)) and not x.startswith("__")
@@ -349,6 +354,27 @@ def _assert_mutually_exclusive(
             elif flag_set_by_user:
                 set_flag = flag
 
+    def _validate_event_time_configs(self) -> None:
+        event_time_start: datetime = (
+            getattr(self, "EVENT_TIME_START") if hasattr(self, "EVENT_TIME_START") else None
+        )
+        event_time_end: datetime = (
+            getattr(self, "EVENT_TIME_END") if hasattr(self, "EVENT_TIME_END") else None
+        )
+
+        if event_time_start is not None and event_time_end is not None:
+            if event_time_start >= event_time_end:
+                raise DbtUsageException(
+                    "Value for `--event-time-start` must be less than `--event-time-end`"
+                )
+        elif event_time_start is not None:
+            utc_start = event_time_start.replace(tzinfo=pytz.UTC)
+            current_time = datetime.now(pytz.UTC)
+            if utc_start >= current_time:
+                raise DbtUsageException(
+                    f"Value for `--event-time-start` ({utc_start}) must be less than the current time ({current_time}) if `--event-time-end` is not specififed"
+                )
+
     def fire_deprecations(self):
         """Fires events for deprecated env_var usage."""
         [dep_fn() for dep_fn in self.deprecated_env_var_warnings]
diff --git a/tests/functional/cli/test_option_interaction_validations.py b/tests/functional/cli/test_option_interaction_validations.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6a57820b026
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/functional/cli/test_option_interaction_validations.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+from datetime import datetime
+
+import pytest
+from freezegun import freeze_time
+
+from dbt.tests.util import run_dbt
+
+
+class TestEventTimeEndEventTimeStart:
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "event_time_start,event_time_end,expect_pass",
+        [
+            ("2024-10-01", "2024-10-02", True),
+            ("2024-10-02", "2024-10-01", False),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_option_combo(self, project, event_time_start, event_time_end, expect_pass):
+        try:
+            run_dbt(
+                [
+                    "build",
+                    "--event-time-start",
+                    event_time_start,
+                    "--event-time-end",
+                    event_time_end,
+                ]
+            )
+            assert expect_pass
+        except Exception as e:
+            assert (
+                "Value for `--event-time-start` must be less than `--event-time-end`"
+                in e.__str__()
+            )
+            assert not expect_pass
+
+
+class TestEventTimeStartCurrent_time:
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "event_time_start,current_time,expect_pass",
+        [
+            ("2024-10-01", "2024-10-02", True),
+            ("2024-10-02", "2024-10-01", False),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_option_combo(self, project, event_time_start, current_time, expect_pass):
+        with freeze_time(datetime.fromisoformat(current_time)):
+            try:
+                run_dbt(["build", "--event-time-start", event_time_start])
+                assert expect_pass
+            except Exception as e:
+                assert "must be less than the current time" in e.__str__()
+                assert not expect_pass