Forty-Two Months - 1,260 Days
The “forty-two months” and “1,260-days” both refer to the same prophetic period when the saints are persecuted.
The period when the saints must endure
persecution is presented in three different but equivalent forms – “forty-two
months,” “1,260-days,” and the “season, seasons, and half a
season.” The variations do not point to three separate periods. Instead, they
link the several visions that describe specific points about the persecution - [Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash].
In
chapter 12, the source of the formula is clear. The “woman clothed with the
sun” was nourished in the “wilderness” for a “season,
seasons, and half a season from the face of the serpent.” This
alludes to the “little horn” in Daniel that “wore out the
saints of the Most-High” for “a time and times and half a time.”
The
same period is also enumerated as “1,260-days,” confirming that the
two figures refer to the SAME short time - (Daniel 7:21-25, Revelation 12:6, 12:14-17).
Chapter
12 concludes with the enraged “Dragon” waging war with the rest of the “woman’s
seed…they who have the testimony of Jesus,” which is another allusion to
the passage in Daniel when the “little horn waged war against the
saints.”
The
“1,260-days” is mentioned first in the vision of the “two
witnesses.” They were to “prophesy” for the period “clothed in
sackcloth.” When they completed their “testimony,” the “beast”
ascended from the “Abyss to make war with them…and to kill them,”
alluding to the same passage from Daniel - (Daniel 7:21, Revelation 11:3-7).
The
“1,260-days” connects the “two witnesses” to the “woman” kept
in the “wilderness.” Likewise, the “two witnesses” were protected
from “harm” until the completion of their “testimony.” They were
identified as the “two lampstands,” and elsewhere in the book, “lampstands”
represent churches - (Revelation 1:20).
When John was commanded to “measure” the sanctuary, the altar, and the company serving in it. The “holy city” was handed over to the nations and “trampled underfoot for forty-two months,” and forty-two months is the mathematical equivalent of 1,260 days.
The
clause “trampled underfoot” alludes to the “little horn”
of the “fourth beast” in Daniel that “trampled and broke in pieces,” the one who challenged
the “host of heaven and the stars, and
cast them down to the ground, and trampled upon them.” The literary links demonstrate that the “forty-months” and
the “1,260-days” refer to the same period, a time when the saints endure
persecution – (Daniel 7:21-25, 8:9-14).
What was “handed
over to the nations” and “trampled” was the “holy city” that
contained the “sanctuary,” the “altar,” and the priests that were
“rendering divine service” in the “sanctuary.” This was not old Jerusalem
since it is called “holy,” whereas, the old city is described as “spiritually
called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified,” and the very
place where the “two witnesses” were slain – (Revelation 1:4-6,
5:9-11, 11:8).
The
“forty-two months” was mentioned again when John saw the “beast” ascending
from the sea, which is the equivalent of its “ascent from the Abyss.” Just
as the “Beast from the Abyss” waged “war” against the “two
witnesses…and overcame them,” so the “beast from the sea” wages “war
on the saints and overcomes them.” And just as the “holy city” and
its “sanctuary” were handed over to be “trampled underfoot,” so
the “beast from the sea” attacked the “tabernacle, those who are
tabernacling in heaven.”
The same “war against the saints” is in view in each
passage, though seen from different aspects. Likewise, whether delimited as “forty-two
months,” “1,260-days,” or the “season, seasons, half a season,”
the same prophetic period is in view.
The
citation of the “season, seasons, half a season” makes the connection to
the passage in Daniel clear. The two different formulas are not for
stylistic purposes. While they do refer to the same period, the “forty-two
months” links the visions of the “measured sanctuary” and the “beast
from the sea” more closely, and likewise, the “1,260-days” connects the
visions of the “two witnesses” and the “woman” preserved from
harm for “1,260-days.”
Whether the figure is literal or symbolic, it evokes the story of the “little
horn” and its persecution of the “saints” for a “time, times, and
half a time.” A specific but limited period is in view. However long it
lasts, it will come to an end. In each case, it is the
time when the saints are persecuted severely, especially by the “beast.”
Each vision emphasizes specific aspects of this final assault by the “Dragon”
and his vassals against the people of God.
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