The 1,260 Days and the Time of the Church

by Douglas E. Cox

Contents
Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Expositors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hippolytus (c. 170-c. 236) . . . . . . . . .
Victorinus (died c. 303) . . . . . . . . . .
Methodius (died c. 311) . . . . . . . . . .
Tyconius (died c. 390) . . . . . . . . . . .
Primasius (died c. 560) . . . . . . . . . .
Oikoumenios in c. 590 . . . . . . . . . . .
Andrew of Caesarea (563-614) . . . . . . .
Bede (672-735) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alcuin (c. 735-804) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Benyamin ben Moses Nahawendi in c. 860
Adso of Montier-en-Der (died 992) . . . .
Joachim of Fiore (1130-1202) . . . . . . .
Nerses of Lambron (1153-1198) . . . . . .
Hugo Ripelin (1205-1268) . . . . . . . . .
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) . . . . . . .
Gerardo of Borgo San Donnino in 1250 . .
Pierre DOlivi (1248-1298) . . . . . . . . .
Walter Brute in 1391 . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hans Hut (c. 1490-1527) . . . . . . . . . .
John Bale (1495-1563) . . . . . . . . . . .
Melchior Hoffman (1495-1544) . . . . . . .
Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) . . . . . .
John Calvin (1509-1564) . . . . . . . . . .
Michael Servetus (1509-1553) . . . . . . .
1

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1
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15
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19
20

CONTENTS
John Foxe (1517-1587) . . . . . . . . .
David Chytraeus (1530-1600) . . . . .
Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) . . . . .
William Fulke (1538-1589) . . . . . . .
Robert Ballarmine (1542-1621) . . . .
George Gifford (c.1548-1600) . . . . .
David Pareus (1548-1622) . . . . . . .
John Napier (1550-1617) . . . . . . . .
Thomas Brightman (1562-1607) . . . .
James Brocard (b. 1563) . . . . . . . .
Pierre Du Moulin (1568-1658) . . . . .
Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) . . . . . . .
Joseph Mede (1586-1638) . . . . . . .
Johann Heinrich Alsted (1588-1638) .
Thomas Parker (1595-1677) . . . . . .
Hanserd Knollys (1599-1691) . . . . .
Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680) . . . . .
Henry Hammond (1605-1660) . . . . .
Lodowicke Muggleton (1609-1698) . .
Henry More (1614-1687) . . . . . . . .
Drue Cressener (1642-1718) . . . . . .
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) . . . . . . .
Robert Fleming (c. 1660-1716) . . . .
William Whiston (1667-1752) . . . . .
Moses Lowman (1679-1752) . . . . . .
Johan Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752) . .
John Gill (1697-1771) . . . . . . . . .
Bishop Thomas Newton (1704-1782) .
Joseph Galloway (1731-1803) . . . . .
David Simpson (1745-1799) . . . . . .
Bryce Johnston (1747-1805) . . . . . .
Thomas Scott (1747-1821) . . . . . . .
John Chappel Woodhouse (1749-1833)
George Stanley Faber (1773-1854) . .
James Hartley Frere (1779-1866) . . .
William Miller (1782-1849) . . . . . .
Matthew Habershon (1789-1852) . . .
Joshua William Brooks (1790-1882) . .
Edward Irving (1792-1834) . . . . . .
Samuel Roffey Maitland (1792-1866) .
Edward Bishop Elliott (1793-1875) . .
Albert Barnes (1798-1870) . . . . . . .
William De Burgh (1801-1866) . . . .
2

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70

CONTENTS

Isaac Williams (1802-1865) . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg (1802-1869) . . . .
Patrick Fairbairn (1805-1874) . . . . . . . . . . .
Benjamin Wills Newton (1807-1899) . . . . . . .
Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885) . . . . . . .
Henry Alford (1810-1871) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Philip S. Desprez (1812-1879) . . . . . . . . . . .
James Stuart Russell (1816-1895) . . . . . . . . .
William Kelly (1820-1906) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
William Milligan (1821-1892) . . . . . . . . . . .
Robert Young (1822-1888) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joseph Augustus Seiss (1823-1904) . . . . . . . .
Uriah Smith (1832-1903) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Karl August Auberlen (1824-1864) . . . . . . . .
Michael Paget Baxter (1834-1910) . . . . . . . .
Henry Barclay Swete (1835-1917) . . . . . . . . .
Henry Grattan Guinness (1835-1910) . . . . . . .
A. J. Gordon (1836-1895) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ethelbert William Bullinger (1837-1913) . . . . .
Isbon T. Beckwith (1843-1936) . . . . . . . . . .
B. H. Carroll (1843-1914) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Clarence Larkin (1850-1924) . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joseph Franklin Judge Rutherford (1856-1942)
Philip Mauro (1859-1952) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Arno Clemens Gaebelein (1861-1945) . . . . . . .
Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) . . . . . . . . . . .
Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965) . . . . . . . . . .
William Hendriksen (1900-1982) . . . . . . . . .
Charles D. Alexander (1904-1991) . . . . . . . .
James Burton Coffman (1905-2006) . . . . . . . .
John F. Walvoord (1910-2002) . . . . . . . . . .
George Eldon Ladd (1911-1982) . . . . . . . . . .
J. Dwight Pentecost (1915- ) . . . . . . . . . . .
Mathias Rissi (1920-2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John C. Whitcomb (1924- ) . . . . . . . . . . . .
Herman L. Hoeh (1928-2004) . . . . . . . . . . .
Hal Lindsey (1929- ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Roderick C. Meredith (1930- ) . . . . . . . . . . .
Ernest L. Martin (1932-2002) . . . . . . . . . . .
Vern S. Poythress (1946- ) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
David C. Pack (1948- ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gregory K. Beale (1949- ) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. (1950- ) . . . . . . . . . .
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CONTENTS
O. Palmer Robertson . . . . .
Kim Riddlebarger . . . . . . .
James L. Resseguie . . . . . .
Harry O. Maier . . . . . . . .
Hank Hanegraaff (1950- ) . .
Felise Tavo . . . . . . . . . .
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Church in the wilderness
The widening gap . . . . . . .
The words are sealed . . . . .
The serpents flood . . . . . .
Clouds of witnesses . . . . . .
The desolation of Jerusalem .
Seven times in prophecy . . .
Interpreting the 1,260 days .

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Introduction
Many interesting interpretations of the prophetic 1,260 days of Revelation 11:3
and 12:6, proposed throughout the history of the church, are examined. The
1,260 days, and the related 42 months of Revelation 1:2 and 13:5, and the
time, times and a half of Revelation 12:14, are the most prominent time periods
mentioned in Bible prophecy, yet their interpretation has also been a subject
of much dispute and controversy. The main interpretations are included here.
Some are preposterous, some comical, and some are gems of wisdom.
Insights by some expositors on related prophecies are also included. Where Old
English and Middle English sources are quoted, spelling, and occasionally the text
are presented in a more modern style, and may differ from the original source.
The interpretations are arranged by the authors birthdate. The development of
various streams of thought has occurred during the history of the of the church.
Historicism was prominent in England, and amongst Protestant expositors, and
the majority of the interpretations considered are by historicists, who proposed
various start and end dates for a period of 1,260 years. The early development
of futurism, and preterism, as alternative interpretations, occurred while the
historicist view was dominant. These alternate theories both assume that the
1,260 days are literal days, and the 42 months are literal months.
Since the early centuries of the church, another stream of thought has existed;
the 1,260 days and related time periods have been interpreted symbolically, as
representing the entire history of the Church, and as completing the prophetic
week in which Christ confirms his covenant with his Church.
4

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146
148
148
149
149
151
152
152
154
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159
161
161
164
168

Hippolytus

Expositors
Hippolytus (c. 170-c. 236)
Hippolytus of Rome wrote a commentary on Daniel, and also an account of the events
preceding the end of the world, in which he referred to the 1,260 days and the two witnesses
of Revelation 11, who he said would be Enoch and Elias. He wrote:1
With respect, then, to the particular judgment in the torments that are to
come upon it in the last times by the hand of the tyrants who shall arise then, the
clearest statement has been given in these passages. But it becomes us further
diligently to examine and set forth the period at which these things shall come
to pass, and how the little horn shall spring up in their midst. For when the legs
of iron have issued in the feet and toes, according to the similitude of the image
and that of the terrible beast, as has been shown in the above, (then shall be
the time) when the iron and the clay shall be mingled together. Now Daniel will
set forth this subject to us. For he says, And one week will make a covenant
with many, and it shall be that in the midst (half) of the week my sacrifice and
oblation shall cease.2 By one week, therefore, he meant the last week which is
to be at the end of the whole world of which week the two prophets Enoch and
Elias will take up the half. For they will preach 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth,
proclaiming repentance to the people and to all the nations.
Daniel said of the little horn, that arose among the ten horns of the fourth beast in his
vision, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.3
Eyes like the eyes of a man represents a human point of view, which is in contrast to and
opposed to a divine one. Naming Enoch and Elias as the two end-time prophets, which is
mere speculation, may be an example of a mouth speaking great things, that Daniels
prophecy refers to. The Jews expected the return of Elijah, but Jesus said, Elias is come
already, and they knew him not.4 The apostle Peter said the spirit of Christ was in the
prophets.5 The spirit of prophecy, that inspired Elijah, and John the Baptist, came upon the
disciples at Pentecost, after the ascension of Jesus to heaven.

1
Hippolytus. On Christ and Antichrist, 43.
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0516.htm
2
Daniel 9:27
3
Daniel 7:8
4
Matthew 17:12
5
1 Peter 1:11

VictorinusMethodius

Victorinus (died c. 303)

Victorinus, Bishop of Poetovio, wrote a book on the interpretation of the prophecies of the
Apocalypse, in which he identified the two witnesses as Elijah and Jeremiah. He wrote:1
3. They shall tread the holy city down for forty and two months; and I will
give to my two witnesses, and they shall predict a thousand two hundred and
threescore days clothed in sackcloth. That is, three years and six months: these
make forty-two months. Therefore their preaching is three years and six months,
and the kingdom of Antichrist as much again.
5. If any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours
their enemies. That fire proceeds out of the mouth of those prophets against
the adversaries, bespeaks the power of the world. For all afflictions, however
many there are, shall be sent by their messengers in their word. Many think
that there is Elisha, or Moses, with Elijah; but both of these died; while the
death of Elijah is not heard of, with whom all our ancients have believed that
it was Jeremiah. For even the very word spoken to him testifies to him, saying,
Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of
the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations. But
he was not a prophet unto the nations; and thus the truthful word of God makes
it necessary, which it has promised to set forth, that he should be a prophet to
the nations.
According to Victorinus, the visions in the Apocalypse do not always follow a chronological order. Victorinus was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian.2

Methodius of Olympus (died c. 311)

Methodius was Bishop of Olympus in Lycia, and he suffered martyrdom under Maximinus
Daia in 311. On the woman who flees to the wilderness for 1,260 days, in Revelation 12:6,
he wrote:3
Now she who brings forth, and has brought forth, the masculine Word in the
hearts of the faithful, and who passed, undefiled and uninjured by the wrath of
the beast, into the wilderness, is, as we have explained, our mother the Church.
And the wilderness into which she comes, and is nourished for a thousand two

Victorinus. Commentary on the Apocalypse.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0712.htm
2
Bruce, F. F. The Earliest Latin Commentary on the Apocalypse. The Evangelical Quarterly 10
(1938): 352-366.
3
Methodius, The Banquet of the ten virgins, or, concerning chastity. In: The writings of Methodius,
Alexander of Lycopolis, Peter of Alexandria, and several fragments. Volume 14 of Ante-Nicene Christian
library. T. & T. Clark, 1869. p. 75.
http://books.google.com/books?id=XcIUAAAAQAAJ

Tyconius

hundred and sixty days, which is truly waste and unfruitful of evils, and barren
of corruption, and difficult of access and of transit to the multitude; but fruitful
and abounding in pasture, and blooming and easy of access to the holy, and full
of wisdom, and productive of life, is this most lovely, and beautifully wooded and
wellwatered abode of Arete [virtue]. ... For the Bride of the Word is adorned with
the fruits of virtue. And the thousand two hundred and sixty days that we are
staying here, O virgins, is the accurate and perfect understanding concerning the
Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, in which our mother increases, and rejoices,
and exults throughout this time, until the restitution of the new dispensation,
when, coming into the assembly in the heavens, she will no longer contemplate
the I AM through the means of [human] knowledge, but will clearly behold
entering in together with Christ.

Tyconius (died c. 390)

c.30 AD 380 AD
Tyconius thought the two witnesses of Revelation 11 represent the the two Testaments, by
which the church is governed and ruled. He wrote:1
He had earlier said that you must prophesy again. Now he desires to show
this in his two witnesses. In the two witnesses, he wants us to understand the
two Testaments by which his church is governed and ruled. For he did not say,
I make witnesses for myself, as though they did not yet exist. Rather, he
said, I shall give to my witnesses, who were with me from the beginning and
have never at all departed from me. The 1,260 days are not a time of peace
but of the last persecution, during which time the devil shall break out against
the Christians, namely, when he receives power to test the church. And just as
before the flood, when the sins of humankind raised their head to the heavens,
there was not absent someone who might proclaim the wrath of God to those
who were perishing, so also at that time there will be those who will announce
the kingdom of God and the last day and by their own example will show the way
of repentance to sinners. [The witnesses] were clothed in sackcloth, it says,
they were established in confession. As the prophet said, When they troubled
me, I clothed myself in sackcloth.2 And Job said, They have sewed sackcloth
upon my skin.3

Tyconius, Commentary on the Apocalypse, in: Weinrich, William C. Revelation. Volume 12 of

Ancient Christian commentary on Scripture: New Testament. InterVarsity Press, 2005. p. 158. http:
//books.google.ca/books?id=irWI6DUtPncC
2
Psalm 35:13
3
Job 16:16

PrimasiusOikoumenios

Tyconius suggested the three and a half years during which the two witnesses give testimony were 350 years, beginning with Jesus crucifixion.1
R. L. Peterson wrote:2
According to Tyconius, the witnesses are not two personalities. Rather, they represent the pure Church, the Lords body in the world, prophesying and preaching
through the two testaments. Later medieval commentators would further this
perspective. However, it is the message-oriented reform movement, Protestantism in the years of its formation, that will be most marked by this conception of out text. The work of the prophets is carried out in the entire age of the
Church. For Tyconius, this period can be interpreted as 350 years, calculated
from the 1260 days of their prophetic activity. The beast who rises to slay the
witnesses, leaving them to lie in the great city (11:7-10), is symbolic of worldly
power. The true Church exists in a persecuted and martyred condition in the
midst of the world. Under the impact of Tyconiuss fifth exegetical rule, the
meaning of this period is not so straightforward. Different temporal indicators
may reveal the same spiritual relationships. Therefore, the work of the witnesses
also falls under the millennial age of the Church. This is adumbrated by the 1260
days of protection and nourishment given the woman (12:6) who flees before the
wrath of the seven-headed, ten-horned dragon (Satan).

Primasius (died c. 560)

Primasius was the Augustinian bishop of Hadrumetum and primate of Byzacena, in Africa.
Edward Elliott said that he explained the 42 months, 1260 days, and time times and a half
a time, as specially designating the time of Antichrists last persecution, yet as signifying
also the whole time of the duration of the Church.3

Oikoumenios in c. 590
Oikoumenios was the author of first extensive Greek commentary on the Apocalypse, and
he wrote, according to his account, about five centuries after John had seen his visions.
Oikoumenios claimed that the 42 months when Gentiles trample the holy city were figurative,
but he interpreted the 1,260 days of Revelation 12:6 as the time that Mary, the mother of

Tyconius. Rules 5; in Kovacs, Judith L., Christopher Rowland, Rebekah Callow, Revelation: the
Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. Wiley-Blackwell, 2004. p. 124
2
Petersen, Rodney Lawrence. Preaching in the last days: the theme of two witnesses in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Oxford University Press US, 1993. p. 14.
http://books.google.com/books?id=dgEcoNuyCI4C
3
Elliott, Edward Bishop. Horae apocalypticae: or a commentary on the Apocalypse. Volume 3. p.
235. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZL87AAAAcAAJ

Andrew, Archbishop of CaesareaAndrew

Jesus, hid in Egypt with the Christ child.1

Andrew of Caesarea (563-614)

Andrew was the Archbishop of Caesarea, Cappadocia in the early 7th century. He was
the author of a commentary on the Apocalypse, which was influential in promoting the
acceptance of the Apocalypse into the canon of the Orthodox Church. Andrew wrote:2
Rev. 11:1-2 And a reed, like a staff, was given to me, saying: Rise and
measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it; And the
outer courtyard of the temple take out and do not measure it, for it was given to
the nations, and they will trample upon the holy city for forty-two months. By
this reed is shown that all things manifested in heaven and the things inanimate
to us are spiritual, just as also the altar, the throne and some others. How
was the reed which was given to him saying, Rise and measure the temple of
God? By this it is shown that the temple of God is measured with angelic
intelligence. If anyone says that he received the reed from the same angel, and
that he heard from him the rise and measure this temple, then we say that the
reed signifies the measure of the knowledge which is proportionate to the one
receiving it, of which those are deemed worthy who known from God and the
divine angels through their good deeds. For the Lord knows His own, says the
divine word. One must know nonetheless some understood the temple of God
to mean the Old Testament and the outside yard to be the New, on account
of the innumerable number of those saved in it. The forty two months they
took to mean the shortness of time during which the sacraments of the New
Testament are to prevail until the second coming of Christ arrives. But we think
that the temple of the living God refers to the Church, in which we offer rational
sacrifices to God; the outside court (is) the gathering place of the unbelieving
nations and of the Jews since the unworthiness is measured by the angel through
the impiety. For the Lord knows his own, as it has been said. It is said that He
who is All-knowing does not know the unlawful. The trampling of the holy city
(is) either the new Jerusalem or the universal church and the forty two months
by the nations I think means that the faithful and the ones being tested will
be trampled upon and persecuted in the three and a half year appearance ofthe
Antichrist.
Rev. 11: 3-4 And I will give my two witnesses (power), and they will
prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the
God of the earth. Many of the teachers understood these (to be) Enoch and
1
Constantinou, Eugenia. Andrew of Caesarea and the Apocalypse in the ancient church of the East:
Studies and Translation. 2008. p. 168.
http://www.theses.ulaval.ca/2008/25095
2
Constantinou, Eugenia. Op. Cit., p. 118.

10

Bede
Elias receiving time given by God to prophecy in the end time for three and a
half years, numbered three hundred and sixty days (each), and showing through
the clothing in sackcloth that which is appropriate for sadness and mourning,
to those who are deceived at that time and leading those who are then found
away from the deception of the Antichrist. (These are the two) whom Zacharias
hinted at in the form of the two olive trees and lampstands, to bring forth food
for the light of knowledge by the olive oil of God-pleasing deeds.

Andrew interpreted the 1,260 days of the womans sojourn in the wilderness as literal
days.1
Rev. 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place
prepared by God there, so that there they will nourish her for one thousand two
hundred and sixty days. When, it says, the devil acting through the Antichrist
has arrayed himself against the Church, her chosen and supreme ones, who have
spit upon the noisy public approbations and the pleasures of the world, will flee
to a manner of life devoid of every evil and abundant in every virtue, according to
Methodios, and there they will avoid the assaults from both the hostile demons
and people. Of course, the actual physical desert will save those fleeing from
the plot of the Apostate (devil) in the mountains and caves and the dens of
the earth, as did the martyrs previously for three and a half years, that is the
one thousand two hundred sixty days, during which apostasy will prevail. May
the Great Official, who does not allow anyone to be tested beyond his strength,
deliver us from this, granting us steadfast disposition and manly strength in the
assaults against us, so that legitimately contending against the principalities and
powers of darkness we might be adorned with the crown of righteousness and
receive the rewards of victory. For to Him is due victory and power through the
weak ones routing the strong aerial powers, together with the Father and the
Life-Giving Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Bede (672-735)
Venerable Bede was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, in Sunderland, England. Commenting on the 1,260 days of Revelation 12:6, he
wrote:2
In this number of days, which makes three years and a half, he comprehends
all the times of Christianity, because Christ, Whose body the Church is, preached
the same length of time in the flesh.

Ibid.. p. 132.
Bede (the venerable.) The explanation of the Apocalypse. Translated by Edward Marshall, 1878.
p. 83. http://books.google.com/books?id=r6UCAAAAQAAJ
2

10

AlcuinAdso of Montier-en-Der

11

That is one of the most sublime explanations of the 1,260 days I have seen.
On the wings given to the woman, and the time, times and a half of verse 14, Bede
wrote:1
14. wings. The Church is upheld by the two Testaments, and avoids the
envenomed tumult of the world, and seeks in the affection of her mind the
solitude of a meek and quiet spirit, while she thus sings with joy, Behold I
got me away far off in flight, and abode in the wilderness. Nor does it make
any difference that there she asks for the wings of a dove, but here receives
those of an eagle. For as the Church, whose youth is renewed as an eagles,
is represented in the former because of the gift of the Holy Spirit, so also is it
in the latter, because of the lofty flight and heavenly vision, by which it beholds
God with a clean heart.
nourished. The whole time of the Church is signified, as being comprised
in the number of the days above. For a time denotes one year, times two,
half a time six months.

Alcuin (c. 735-804)

Edward Elliott reported that Alcuin concluded that the period of the ministry of the two
witnesses is the whole age of the church.2

Benyamin ben Moses Nahawendi in c. 860

Benjamin ben Moses was a Jewish scholar and philosopher in Nahawend, Persia, and a
founder of the Karaite movement. He is thought to be one of the first to interpret the
numbers in Daniels prophecies as referring to years.3 Taking the word yamin to mean years,
he interpreted the 1,335 days of Daniel 12:12 as so many years, and computed the date of
the arrival of the Messiah at 1012 AD, about a century and a half after his own time.4

Adso of Montier-en-Der (died 992)

Adso was the abbot of the monastery of Montier-en-Der Abbey in France. He wrote a
treatise on the Antichrist, at the request of Queen Gerberga of France, which was widely
circulated in the Middle Ages. The reign of the Antichrist was said to last three and a half
years.5
1

Ibid., p. 83
Elliott, Op. cit., p. 126
3
Fisel, Fernand. Adventisms last stand in the battle for the year-day formula. p. 7.
http://www.truthorfables.com/ADVENTISM final version.pdf
4
Salo Wittmayer Baron, Social and Religious History of the Jews, Volume 5: High Middle Ages:
Religious Controls and Dissensions. Columbia University Press, 1957. p. 225.
5
Adsos letter on the origin and time of the Antichrist:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/primary/adsoletter.html
2

11

12

Joachim of FioreNerses of Lambron

Then there will be tribulation such as has not been on earth from when the
nations began to exist up to that time. Then those who are in the field will flee
to the mountains, and he who is on the roof will not go down into his house
to take anything from it.1 Then every faithful Christian who will be discovered
will either deny God, or, if he will remain faithful, will perish, whether through
sword, or fiery furnace, or serpents, or beasts, or through some other kind of
torture. This terrible and fearful tribulation will last for three and a half years
in the whole world. Then the days will be shortened for the sake of the elect,
for unless the Lord had shortened those days, mankind would not have been
saved.2

This Antichrist was supposed to go to Jerusalem, claiming to be Christ, where he would

deceive the Jews. There he would be enthroned in the temple, and persecute and kill
Christians. Prior to his coming, Enoch and Elijah would appear, and would preach for three
and a half years.
Lest the Antichrist come suddenly and without warning and deceive and
destroy the whole human race by his error, before his arrival the two great
prophets Enoch and Elijah will be sent into the world. They will defend Gods
faithful against the attack of the Antichrist with divine arms and will instruct,
comfort, and prepare the elect for battle with three and a half years teaching
and preaching. These two very great prophets and teachers will convert the sons
of Israel who will live in that time to the faith, and they will make their belief
unconquerable among the elect in the face of the affliction of so great a storm.

Joachim of Fiore (1130-1202)

1 BC 1260 AD
Joachim divided the history of salvation into three distinct eras; the first, which he associated
with the Father, was represented by the Old Testament; the second, the era of the Son, was
represented by the New Testament; the third, and the final era, was the dispensation of the
Holy Spirit, when mankind would be purified, and men would not seek worldly things; it was
to begin in the year 1260. He identified the 42 months when the Two Witnesses prophesy
as 42 generations, apparently corresponding to the period between the advent of Christ and
1260 AD.3

Nerses of Lambron (1153-1198)

Nerses was Archbishop of Tarsus in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and was a noted
Armenian scholar and poet. In 1179 he translated the Book of Revelation, which had not
1

Matt. 24:21,16; Dan. 12:1

Matt. 24:22
3
Elliott, Op. cit. Volume 3. p. 238.
2

12

Hugo Ripelin

13

yet been included in the Armenian canon of scripture. He adapted the commentary on the
Apocalypse by Andrew of Caesarea to produce his own Armenian commentary. On Revelation
12:6 he wrote:1
And the woman fled to the desert, where a place had been prepared for her
by God, that she might be nourished there for one thousand, two hundred and
sixty days. This [will] happen in the last times, when the Devil will act with the
Antichrist, and through him arm himself against the church. For the chosen in it
distain civic ease and the repose of the body, and will flee to the desert according
to what Methodius says, so that perhaps they may be freed thereby from the
warlike men with their demonic poisons, and be secure in caves and holes. But
the one thousand, two hundred and sixty days indicate again the three and a
half years in which his rebellion holds tyrannical sway. From this the Lord of all
and his great succour will deliver us, so as not to allow anyone to be tested more
than his ability and power. He will grant endurance of thought, and render vain
the arrows of the Opponent, so that we can fight lawfully against princes and the
leaders of darkness. Perhaps becoming worthy of lawful crowns, we may receive
the prize of righteousness from Christ our God, because it is fitting for him to
conquer through the weakto whom is victory and ability, power and glory, with
the Father and the holy Spirit, now and always and for ever. Amen.

Hugo Ripelin (1205-1268)

Hugo Ripelin of Strasburg was a Dominican theologian. It is believed he was the author
of the Compendium theologicae veritatis, consisting of seven books (God, Creation, Sin,
Christ, Virtues, Sacraments, Last Things). The work was translated into several languages,
and became the most widespread and famous manual of scholastic theology in the Middle
Ages. Hugos doctrine on the Antichrist resembled that of Adso of Montier-en-Der, who is
discussed on page 11. Andrew Gow wrote:2
Hugos Compendium theologicae veritatis was the most widespread basic
sketch of scholastic theology in the later Middle Ages and Reformation era. It
went through almost 40 printings, and owed much of its medieval vogue to
the fact that it was greatly indebted to Bonaventures Breviloquium and to
the works of Albert the Great; indeed, it was generally mistaken for the work
of one or the other. Hugo followed the Tiburtine Sibyl and Adso concerning
the descent of the Antichrist, who was to be born of the Jewish tribe of Dan.
He would claim to be the Jewish Messiah, and the Jewish people would be his

Thomson, Robert W. Nerses of Lambron Commentary on the Revelation of Saint John. Volume 9
of Hebrew University Armenian studies. Peeters Publishers, 2007. p. 118-119.
2
Gow, Andrew. Jewish Shock-Troops of the Apocalypse: Antichrist and the End, 1200-1600. Journal
for Millennial Studies, Vol 1. Spring 1998.
http://www.bu.edu/mille/publications/summer98/agow.pdf

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Thomas Aquinas
special and foremost adherents. Hugo was not above inventing sources for this
assertion. His thinking on the Antichrist is concrete and personal, whereas the
Glossa ordinaria he carelessly cites calls the Beast of Rev. 13,1, in a spiritual
sense the Antichrist, or generally the entire number of the wicked. The latemedieval Antichrist book is based largely on Hugos popularizing and literalist
exegetical framework.

Hugo embellished Bible prophecy with tales of the Red Jews, the Amazons, and Gog and
Magog, who, he said, will break out and descend upon Christendom at the end of the age.
Hugo wrote:1
Concerning Gog and Magog some say they are the Ten Tribes enclosed within
the Caspian Mountains, however in such a way that they might leave if they were
permitted; but they are not permitted to do so by the Queen of the Amazons,
under whose rule and jurisdiction they live.
Hugo Ripelins writings about a Jewish Antichrist figure, Gow said, along with similar
works by others, contributed to antisemitic attitudes in Europe. He wrote:2
In German-language texts of the 14th and 15th centuries, the especially
threatening Red Jews were among the first to be assigned to the ranks of the
Antichrist. First the Jews, then the Red Jews were servants of Antichrist. The
part assigned to the Red Jews in the final drama was a step up in the escalation
of antisemitism that included canon law restrictions, accusations of sacrilege
and ritual murder, suspicions of a diabolical role in the entourage of Antichrist,
expulsion and forced conversion. The re-assignment of the Jews from conversion
duty to active service in the army of the Antichrist had occurred by the time
Hugo Ripelin wrote his theological encyclopedia; it took fifty years more for
the idea to start showing up in other genres, after which time it became a
commonplace of antisemitic Christian apocalypticism.
Hugo Ripelins teaching about an individual Antichrist implied the prophetic 1,260 days
of Revelation is a literal three and a half years at the end of the age.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Thomas was a Sicilian priest of the Catholic Church in the Dominican Order, also known as
known as Doctor Angelicus. He wrote:3

Luberda, James. The Amazons and the Antichrist.

http://www.sp.uconn.edu/jbl00001/amazons luberda.pdf
2
Ibid., p. 19.
3
Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica. Treatise on the resurrection. Question 77.2.2.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aquinas/summa/sum623.htm

14

Gerardo of Borgo San DonninoWalter Brute

15

The thousand two hundred sixty days mentioned in the Apocalypse (12:6) denote
all the time during which the Church endures, and not any definite number of
years. The reason whereof is because the preaching of Christ on which the Church
is built lasted three years and a half, which time contains almost an equal number
of days as the aforesaid number. Again the number of days appointed by Daniel
does not refer to a number of years to elapse before the end of the world or until
the preaching of Antichrist, but to the time of Antichrists preaching and the
duration of his persecution.

Gerardo of Borgo San Donnino in 1250

1 BC 1260 AD
Gerardo was a Franciscan friar, and one of the leaders of the Spirituals, a sect within the
order. He published a work in Paris called the Introduction to the Eternal Gospel, which was
an interpretation and summary of Joachims three major works.
Gerardos Introduction claimed Saint Francis and Saint Dominic were the two witnesses
of the Apocalypse. The Antichrist, he said, would come in 1248, and he would be Emperor
Frederic II or an anti-Franciscan Pope. He claimed that the third status, the age of the
Spirit, would arrive in A.D. 1260, signaling the total abrogation of the church of the second
status, including the substitution of Joachims writing for the Old and New Testaments.
Gerardos work created such a scandal that a papal commission was held at Anagni under
Alexander IV in A.D. 1255, which condemned his Introduction. Gerardo was imprisoned, and
Friar John of Parma, the General Minister of the Franciscan order, was discredited.1

Pierre DOlivi (1248-1298)

According to Olivi, the 1,260 days indicate the duration of the mission to the Gentiles after
the rejection of Christianity by the Jews.2

Walter Brute 1391

135 AD 1395 AD
Brute was a layman, who graduated from Oxford. He said the 1,260 and 1,290 days of
prophecy were so many years, to be reckoned from the Hadrian desolation of Jerusalem to
his own day.

Orlando Fedeli. Two histories: The Spiritual Franciscans and Pope Celestine V (Saint Peter
Celestine), and the Quietism and Blessed Innocent XI, Pope. MONTFORT Associaca
o Cultural.
http://www.montfort.org.br/index.php?secao=veritas&subsecao=igreja&artigo=duashistorias&lang=
eng#
2
Lectura 643 in Kovacs et. al., Op. Cit. p. 125

15

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Hans HutJohn Bale

He rejected the idea of Antichrist as an individual who reigns for a literal 42 months,
calling that belief fantastical. He said,1
Wherefore it is an unfit thing to assign the 42 months, being appointed to the
power of the Beast, unto three years and a half, for the reign of that fantastical
and imagined Antichrist, especially seeing that they do apply to his reign the
1,290 days in Daniel, which make 42 months, and in the Apocalypse they assign
him 42 months.

Hans Hut (c. 1490-1527)

1525 AD 1528 AD
Hut was a bookbinder and book seller in southern Germany, who was influenced by the
teachings of Thomas Muntzer. He took part in the battle of Thuringia during the Peasants
War on 15 May 1525 at Bad Frankenhausen. He preached Universal salvation, and expected
the kingdom of God and the rule of Christ to be established on Pentecost in 1528, three and
a half years after the Peasants War. In August 1527, he was arrested in Augsburg, tried for
heresy, imprisoned, and tortured. He died of asphixiation, when a fire broke out in the prison
on 6 December 1527.

John Bale (1495-1563)

Bale was the first to write a commentary on Revelation in English; it was titled The Image
of Both Churches. He understood the holy city of Revelation 11:2, which is trampled by
gentiles, to be the church, and the 42 months as symbolic. On this verse he said:2
And the holy city (of whom glorious things are spoken) they shall tread under
foot for the space of 42 months. Not the earthly Jerusalem is this city, builded
of men, and made holy by the outward observations and ceremonies of the Jews
as many expositors have fantasied. For of that (as Christ prophesies) is not
one stone standing upon another. But this city is the sure building of God,
grounded upon the strong foundation of the Apostles and prophets, even upon
the hard rock stone Jesus Christ. This is the pleasant possession, the wholesome
household, the sure hold, and the delectable vineyard of the Lord of Hosts. This
is the living generation of them which feareth, loveth, and seeketh their Lord God
in faith, spirit, and truth, and not in outward shadows. These are the children of
promise, the true offspring of Abraham, the chosen of Israel, and the kingdom of
the holy ghost. Pure, clean, and holy hath Christ made this city, by none other
thing but the only shedding of his precious blood.

Foxe, John. Acts & Monuments, 1570. Book 5. p. 574.

http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/johnfoxe/main/5 1570 0574.jsp
2
John Bale, The Image of Both Churches. 1547. (Spelling is modified in the quote.)

16

Melchior Hoffman

17

This city tread they underfoot, that keepeth down the truth of the gospel,
that persecutes, and fleeth Gods people for it, that defeateth his word for their
own traditions, that bringeth in the Jewish ceremonies, the gentiles superstitions,
pagan customs and heathen usages, poking men with impossible burdens of false
worshippings for their own filthy lucre and anauntage. Not withstanding thus
must they do still by the sufferance of God, till the 42 months to be finished,
which is not else but the time, times, and the half time, or the thousand, two
hundred and sixty days, in that God shall shorten the time for his chosens sake.
Thus after saint Paul also, before the Lords coming, there must be a departing.
In his comments on Revelation 12:6 he identified the 1,260 days with the time of the
Gospel preaching from Christs ascension to the end of the world. He wrote:1
The numbered days here are none other but the afore written time of the two
witnesses, the time of Elias preaching, the time of Johns preaching, the time of
Christs preaching, or the time of the Gospel preaching from Christs ascension
to the end of the world. That is the very time of the feeding of his church.
And not open is this feeding here, but secret in the wilderness among a sort
unknown to the world, having the poverty of the spirit without having anointing,
or hypocrites apparel. And not only hath the Lord thus nourished his people in
this spiritual respect, but also in body. When they have been grievously handled,
spoiled of their goods imprisoned, and exiled, graciously has he relieved them,
and provided for them both solace and comfort at the hands of them whom they
never saw before. So that the just has not felt himself forsaken, nor his children
seeking bread.

Melchior Hoffman (1495-1544)

1526 AD 1530 AD
Hoffman was an early Anabaptist theologian and visionary leader in northern Germany
and the Netherlands. Gary K. Waite wrote of him:2
As an artisan and lay-preacher, Hoffman found himself in conflict with the
formally educated theologians and reformers. Unlike the learned, he emphasised
spiritual discernment by disparaging educated opinion, for Gods wisdom is not
perceives with fleshly eyes, but only with spiritual eyes, which do not look upon
the person, nor upon the position of rank. In short, Hoffmans interpretation
of Scripture assumed a sharp distinction between letter and spirit, where the
stiritual meaning lay concealed under the letter. The thrust of this approach
1

Ibid.
Waite, Gary K. David Joris and Dutch Anabaptism, 1524-1543. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press,
Waterloo. 1990. p. 90. http://books.google.com/books?id=tHjuSNGSh54C
2

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Melchior Hoffman
meshed well with popular anticlerical sentiment, a fundamental feature of the
early Dutch Reformation. For Hoffman a true understanding of Scripture came
only by means of the Spirit active in the hearts of the children of God. In practice
this meant Hoffman and his followers must look beyond the literal meaning of
individual texts to a comprehension of the spiritual meaning as a whole. For
Hoffman then, the entire enterprise was the mystery of Christs work in history
as revealed in Scripture, particularly its prophetic passages depicting the course of
events, past, present and future. The Old and New Testaments presented a mine
of allegory, spiritual types, symbols and images for Hoffman. His Christocentric
hermeneutic was at root oriented toward expectations of a return of Christ and
the coming kingdom.

Hoffman identified the woman clothed with the sun and having the moon under her feet
in Revelation 12:1 with the church, and he said her 1,260 days of sojourn in the desert of
the world marked forty-two generations of thirty years each.
Thomas N. Finger described Hoffmans views about the seven year period beginning
1526:1
During the first 31/2 years, apostolic messengers would invite all people to
the Lambs feast, and many would respond. The pope would be exposed, and
this period would end with the two witnesses punishing the world for 1,260
days (Rev 11:2) or 1,290 days (Dan 12:11). Hoffman identified the witnesses as
Elijah and Enoch, claiming that both were alive but as yet unknown.
Then the pope would call on the red dragon, Emperor Charles V (cf. Rev
12:3-13:2), who would kill the two witnesses (Rev 11:7-10) and many saints.(Rev
11:15), and Christians would flee into the wilderness, as Hutterites noted (Rev
12:6, 14) There God would teach them directly. Other political forces would enter
the fray. Two rulers, whom Hoffman identified, would lead the persecution, while
two others would somewhat protect the true church. (These were unnamed
in 1526, but in 1530 Melchior identified one.) Then pagan Gog and Magog
would wreak greater destruction on all (Rev 20:8-9). Only Christs return would
overcome them.
In 1529-1530 Hoffman visited Strasbourg. In 1533 he was arrested, and imprisoned until
his death.2 The failure of his predictions in 1533 precipitated an ill-fated rebellion by radical
Anabaptists in the German city of M
unster; the leaders of the rebellion were executed.

1
Finger, Thomas N. A contemporary Anabaptist theology: biblical, historical, constructive. InterVarsity Press, 2004. p. 530.
http://books.google.com/books?id=CUybVhQc3PQC
2
Ibid., p. 96.

18

Heinrich BullingerJohn Calvin

19

Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575)

Bullinger was a Protestant Reformer, and was the successor to H. Zwingli. He rejected the
idea that the 31/2 prophetic years of Revelation were literal years.1
But who shall believe that within three and a half years all those things should
be accomplished which he declared in the whole work? Why do they restrict the
time of Antichrist to three and one half years, especially his persecution? Why
dont they see the destruction of Antichrist, the peace of his saints and day of
judgment to be the same day? ... It is known to the Father alone. Therefore let
them stop fighting the Gospel with their speculations.

John Calvin (1509-1564)

Calvin was a French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He referred
to the 42 months of Revelation 13:5 in his Commentary on Daniel, in a discussion on the
time, times and a half mentioned in Daniel 7:25. He wrote:2
But a greater consolation is added in the last clause, even for a time and
times, and the division of a time, or half, as some translate it; it is properly a
division. Interpreters differ widely about these words, and I will not bring forward
all their opinions, otherwise it would be necessary to refute them. I should have
no little trouble in refuting all their views, but I will follow my own custom of
shortly expressing the genuine sense of the Prophet, and thus all difficulty will
be removed. Those who consider a time to mean a year, are in my opinion
wrong. They cite the forty-two months of the Apocalypse, (Revelation 13:5,)
which make three years and a half; but that argument is not conclusive, since in
that case a year will not consist of 365 days, but the year itself must be taken
figuratively for any indeterminate time. It is better then to keep close to the
Prophets words. A time, then, is not put for a certain number of months
or days, nor yet for a single year, but for any period whose termination is in
the secret counsel of God. They shall be given, then, for a time, says he, and
afterwards adds times; that is, for a continuance of times; and again, even to
a section or division of a time; meaning, these calamities should come to an
end whenever God, in mercy to his Church, should restrain those tyrants by his
wrath against them. As long, therefore, as the cruelty of the Caesars oppressed
Gods Church, it was committed into their hands. We have already seen how
many Caesars were enemies of the true Church. First, of all, Nero raged most
cruelly, for he burnt some thousands of Christians at Rome, to extinguish the

1
Bullinger, Heinrich. In Apocalypsium conciones centum. Basel: Oporinus, 1557. In: Petersen, Rodney Lawrence. Preaching in the last days: the theme of two witnesses in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. Oxford University Press US, 1993. p. 132.
2
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom25.toc.html

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Michael ServetusJohn Foxe

infamy which raged against himself. The people could not endure his barbarity;
for, while the fourth part of the city was destroyed by Nero, he was enjoying
his pleasure and rejoicing so mournful a spectacle! As he feared the popular
tumult against himself, he laid hold of many Christians, and offered them to the
people as a kind of expiation. Those who followed him, did not cease to pour
forth innocent blood, and those who seemed to be endued with some degree of
clemency and humanity were all at length seized with a diabolic fury. Trajan
was esteemed a very excellent prince, and yet we know how he commanded the
Christians everywhere to be slain, since he thought them obstinate in their error.
And others were more savage still. No wonder, therefore, the angel predicts,
even for a time, and times, and the division of a time, that license would be
given to the tyrants and enemies of the Church to pervert all things, to despise
God, and set aside all justice, and to execute a cruel and barbarous slaughter.

Michael Servetus (1509-1553)

325 AD 1585 AD
Servetus was a Spanish theologian who opposed the doctrine of the Trinity during the Reformation. He published De Trinitatis Erroribus 1 in Strasburg in 1531. He hoped to persuade
John Calvin, but when he visited Geneva, he was he was arrested after a church service, tried
for heresy, and burnt at the stake.2
Servetus believed the 1,260 years of the reign of Antichrist were about to come to an
end. Friedman wrote of him:3
In determining how long the reign of the Antichrist might be, Servetus followed Joachamite tradition that the reign of the Antichrist would last 1260
years adding after the end of which will be a heavenly war. To determine the
temporal date of this debacle, he added 325 years to represent the council of
Nicea during the reign of Constantine. This computation led to the date 1585
as the time the reign of evil would end.

John Foxe (1517-1587)

An English historian, in his famous work Acts & Monuments, Foxe applied the prophecy of
1,260 days in Revelation 12:6, which he interpreted as 1,260 years, to the period of time
since the Gospel had arrived in Britain. He wrote,4

Tr: On the Errors of the Trinity

http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/michaelservetus.html
3
Friedman, Jerome. Michael Servetus: a case study in total heresy. Librairie Droz, 1978. p. 38.
http://books.google.com/books?id=hlwvVY74Z3IC
4
Foxe, John. Acts & Monuments, Bk. 5, 1570. p. 571. (Spelling modified)
2

20

John Foxe

21

Christ being demanded of the Apostles, what should be the token of his
coming, and of the end of the world: said unto them. There shall come many
in my name, saying, I am Christ, and they shall seduce many. Also he telleth
them of many other signs, of battles, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes. But
the greatest sign of all he teacheth to be this.
When you shall see (saith he) the abomination of desolation standing in the
holy place, he that readeth, let him understand. But Luke 21 in his Gospel
speaketh more plainly hereof. When you therefore shall see Jerusalem to be
compassed about with an army, then know ye that the desolation thereof shall
draw nigh. And afterward it followeth: And they shall fall by the face of the
sword, and shall be led away captive to all nations, and Jerusalem shall be
trodden under foot of the heathen, until the times of the nations be fulfilled.
Now, in Daniel thus it is written of this matter. And after 72 weeks, shall Christ
be slain, neither shall that be his people, that will deny him. And as for the
City and sanctuary, shall a people (with his captain that will come with them)
destroy the said city & sanctuary, & his end shall be to be wasted utterly, to it
be brought to nought, and after the end of the war, shall come the desolation
appointed. In one week shall he confirm the covenant to many, and within half a
week that the offering and sacrifice cease. And in the temple shall there be the
abomination of desolation, and even unto the end shall the desolation continue.
And elsewhere in Daniel, thus it is written:
From the time that the continual sacrifice shall be offered, and that the
abomination shall be placed in desolation, there shall be 1290 days. Now, if
any man will behold the Chronicles, he shall find that after the destruction of
Jerusalem was accomplished, and after the strong hold of the holy people was
fully dispersed, and after the placing of the abomination, that is to say, the Idol
of desolation of Jerusalem, within the holy place, where the temple of God was
before, there had passed 1290 days, taking a day for a year, as commonly it is
taken in the Prophets. And the times of the heathen people are fulfilled, after
whose rites & customs God suffered the holy city to be trampled under foot for
42 months.
For although the Christian church, which is the holy city, continued in the
faith from the Ascension of Christ even till this time: yet hath it not observed
and kept the perfection of the faith all this whole season. For soon after the
departure of the Apostles, the faith was kept with the observation of the rites
of the Gentiles, and not of the rites of Moses law, nor of the law of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Wherefore seeing that this time of the error of the Gentiles
is fulfilled: it is likely that Christ shall call the Gentiles from the rites of their
gentility, to the perfection of the Gospel, as he called the Jews from the law
of Moses to the same perfection, in his first coming: that there may be one
sheepfold of the Jews and Gentiles, under one shepherd Christ. Seeing therefore
the Antichrist is known which hath seduced the nations: then shall the elect
after that they have forsaken the errors of their Gentility come, through the light
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John Foxe
of Gods word, to the perfection of the Gospel, and that same seducer shall be
slain with the sword of Gods word.
So that by these things it doth partly appear unto me, why that at this time
rather then at an other time, this matter of Antichrist is moved. And why that
this motion is come to pass in this kingdom rather than in other kingdoms: me
thinks there is good reason, because that no nation of the Gentiles was so soon
converted to Christ as were the Britons the inhabitants of this kingdom. For,
to other places of the world there were sent preachers of the faith, who, by the
working of miracles & continual preaching of the word of God, & by grievous
passion and death of the body, did convert the people of those places:
But in this kingdom, in the time of Lucius king of the Britons, and of
Eleutherius bishop of the Romans, did Lucius hear of the Romans that were infidels (by the way of rumors and tales) of the Christian faith, which was preached
at Rome. Who believed straightway, & sent to Rome to Eleutherius for men
skillful to inform him more fully in the very faith it self: at whose coming he
was joyful, and was baptized with his whole kingdom. And after that receiving
of the faith, they never forsook it, neither for any manner of false preachings of
others, neither for any manner of torments, or yet assaults of the Paynims, as in
other kingdoms it had come to pass.
And thus it seems to me the Britons amongst other nations, have been, as it
were by the spiritual election of God, called and converted to the faith. Of them
as me seemeth, did Isaiah prophecy, saying: For they did see to whom there was
nothing told of him, and they did behold, that had not heard of him. And again,
behold, thou that call a nation which thou knewest not: and nations that have
not known thee, shall run unto thee: for the Lord thy GOD, and the holy one of
Israel, shall glorify thee.
Of this kingdom, did S. John in the Apocalypse prophesy, as me seemeth,
where he said, The Dragon stood before the woman, which was about to be
delivered of child, to the intent that when she had brought it forth into the
world, he might devour up her son: and she brought forth her child which was
a man child, who should govern all nations with an iron rod. And the same son
was taken up to God, and to his throne.
And the woman fled into the wilderness, whereas she hath a place prepared
of god, that they may feed her 1260 days. And again in the same chapter, after
that the Dragon saw that he was cast out upon the earth, he did persecute the
woman, which brought forth the man child. And there were given to the woman
two wings of a great Eagle, that she might flee into the wilderness into her place,
where as she is fostered up for a time, times, and half a time, from the face of
the Serpent. And the Serpent did cast as it were a flood of water after the
woman, to the intent that he might cause her to be drawn by the flood: and
the earth opening her mouth did hear the woman and did swallow up the flood
which the Dragon did cast out of his mouth. Let us see, how these sayings may
be applied to this kingdom rather then to other kingdoms. It is well known that
22

David Chytraeus

23

this kingdom is a wilderness or a desert place, because that the Philosophers

and wise men did not pass upon it, but did leave it for a wilderness and desert,
because it is placed without the climates. Unto this place fled the woman, that
is to say the church (which by faith did spiritually bring forth Christ into the
world) where as she was fed with the heavenly bread, the flesh and blood of
Jesus Christ, for 1260 days, seeing that for so many days, taking a day for a
year, the Britons continued in the faith of Christ, which thing can not be found
so of any Christian kingdom, but of this desert: and well is it said, that she flew
to this place.
For, from the east came the faith into Britain, not by walking in journey nor
yet by sailing: for then should it have come by Rome, Italy, Almaine, France,
which can not be found: and therefore she flew over those places, and rested not
in them, even as a bird flying over a place, resteth not in the same: but rested
in this wilderness for a time, times, and half a time, that is, 1260 years from the
first coming of the faith into Britain until this present.
In saying for a time, times, and half a time, there is a going forward from the
greater to the less. The greatest time that we name, is a thousand years, there
is a time: and the next time that is less in the singular number, is one hundredth
years. In the plural number times signifies that there be more hundreds than
one, at least 2 hundred years. Wherefore if they be put under a certain number,
it must needs be that they be 2, but the same 2 cannot fitly be called some
times, except they be hundreds. For in that, that there is a going down from
the greater to the less, when as it is said, a time, times, & half a time, and that
the number of a thousand is likely assigned for a time: it must needs follow that
times must be taken for hundreds, and half a time for 60 because it is the greater
half of an hundred years, though that 50 be the even half. And when that the
serpent sent the water of persecution after the woman to cause her to be drawn
of the flood: then did the earth, that is to wit, the stableness of faith help the
woman, by supping up the water of tribulation. For in the most cruel persecution
of Diocletian and Maximilian against the Christians, when as Christianity was
almost every where rooted out: yet did they in this kingdom stand continually
in the faith, unmovable. And so, considering that the Britons, were converted
to the faith of Christ, as you would say, by an election and picking out amongst
all the nations of the heathen, and that after they had received the faith, they
did never start back from the faith for no manner of tribulation: It is not to be
marveled, if in their place, the calling of the Gentiles, be made manifest to the
profiting of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by the revealing of Antichrist.

David Chytraeus (1530-1600)

412 AD 1672 AD
An influential Lutheran theologian and historian, Chytraeus suggested the 1,260 years began
with the overthrow of the Western Roman Empire by Alaric in 412.
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Francisco RiberaWilliam Fulke

Francisco Ribera (1537-1591)

Ribera was a Jesuit priest who published a commentary on Revelation, which applied all but
the introductory chapters to a future three and a half years, when the church had fallen into
apostasy. He interpreted the Antichrist as a human individual, who would control the whole
world, deceive the Jews, rebuild the Jerusalem temple, and oppose the church. His theory
denied that the book of Revelation had any application to the Catholic Church of his time,
or to the papacy. David Brady wrote:1
The real father of futurism was Francisco Ribera (1537-1591) of Salamanca
who, having become a Jesuit in 1570, produced his famous Biblical commentaries
whilst serving as confessor (and ultimately biographer) to the famous Carmelite
nun and mystic St. Teresa of Avila. ln Riberas opinion, only the introductory
chapters of the Apocalypse referred to ancient Rome, while the remainder he
assigned to a literal three and a half years at the end of time. In contrast to
the Protestant claim that Antichrist was the papacy as a whole, Ribera taught
that Antichrist would be a single individual, who would rebuild the temple in
Jerusalem, abolish the Christian religion, deny Christ, be received by the Jews,
arrogate divine honours to himself, and conquer the world. Since all this was to
happen at an unknown time in the future, Ribera could resign dogmatism over
the exact interpretation of specific prophetic details, asserting for example that
the interpretation of the number 666 could only be known when Antichrist was
at last revealed.
In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Ribera was followed
in his interpretation of the Apocalypse by Cardinal Bellarmine and the Spanish
Dominican Thomas Malvenda. As might be expected, it took a long time for the
futurist interpretation to be received in Protestant England. L.E. Froom believed
that it actually took as long as three centuries.

William Fulke (1538-1589)

Fulke connected the 1,260 days with 70 weeks of years in Daniel 9. He thought the 42
months and 1,260 days represent three and a half years, and signify a limited time, and that
a short space of time is permitted to the devil that he may strive with all his force to beat
down the Church.
Fulke wrote on Revelation 11:2:2
And the holy city they shall tread under foot two and forty months &c.
1

Brady, David. The contribution of British writers between 1560 and 1830 to the interpretation of
Revelation 13.16-18: (the number of the beast): a study in the history of exegesis. Volume 27 of Beitr
age
zur Geschichte der biblischen Exegese. Mohr Siebeck, 1983. p. 205. http://books.google.com/books?
id=UUmpvt3hM7cC
2
Fulke, William. Praelections vpon the sacred and holy Reuelation of S. Iohn, written in latine by
William Fulke Doctor of Diuinitie, and translated into English by George Gyffard. 1573.

24

Robert Ballarmine

25

The wicked and profane gentiles shall tread under foot, that is, shall grievously
oppress, persecute, and afflict the Church of God, to the full space of two and
forty months, that is for that time which Christ doth grant unto Antichrist to
rage in cruelty against the godly. Some do count the number of months, from
the first persecutions of the Christians by the Roman conquerors, even till the
time of the emperor Constantine which granted peace, unto the churches. But
let them which maintain that opinion see how certain it is. But to me it seems
more plain that under numbers the certain fixed, and determinate time of the
persecution of Antichrist is assigned, which he cannot pass, although he fret
fume and rage never so much. For the Lord hath counted the same time by
months days and hours. The reason of the numbers seemeth to be of this sort,
this time which sometime is called two and forty months, sometime a thousand
two hundred and sixty days, sometime a time two times and half a time, maketh
in all three years and an half, that is the one half of a prophetical week, which
time also is called three days and an half. And this place alludes to the weeks of
years in the 9 Chapter of Daniel. Whereupon we gather to the great consolation
of the Church, that a short time is appointed to Antichrist to wait the same,
which is also shewed twice afterward in the 12 Chapter and in the 20, that a
short space of time is permitted to the devil that he may strive with all his force
to beat down the Church, this interpretation as most simple and plain pleases
me best; those that seek more subtler may follow their own judgment.

Robert Ballarmine (1542-1621)

Bellarmine was a Roman Catholic Cardinal, and head of the Jesuit College in Rome. He
implemented many of the reforms of the Counter-Reformation, and attacked the year-day
principle that Protestants had applied to the 1,260 days, by which they associated that
number of years with the period of domination of the church by the papacy, which they
labeled Antichrist.
Bellarmine claimed that the Roman Empire had never been divided according to the
prophecy of Daniel 7, and therefore Antichrist could not have come yet; he said the desolation
of the Roman Empire must come before the advent of the Antichrist, and that desolation
had not happened; his argument implied that a gap or parenthesis exists between the fourth
beast and its ten horns.1
Bellarmine insisted that the Antichrist must be a person:2
All Catholics think thus that the Antichrist will be one certain man; but all
heretics teach... that Antichrist is expressly declared to be not a single person,

Bohr, Steven P. Futurisms Incredible Journey. Amazing Facts, 2009. p. 46.

http://books.google.com/books?id=j2kZltYFbl0C
2
Ibid., p. 47.

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George Gifford
but an individual throne or absolute kingdom, and apostate seat of those who
rule over the church.

Since no popes had reigned for precisely three and a half years, he said, the pope cant
be identified with Antichrist:1
Antichrist will not reign except for three years and a half. But the pope has
now reigned spiritually in the church more than 1500 years; nor can anyone be
pointed out who has been accepted for Antichrist, who as ruled exactly three
and one half years; therefore the Pope is not Antichrist. Then Antichrist has not
yet come.
Bellarmine also said that the Antichrist has his throne in Jerusalem, not in Rome.2
The Pope is not antichrist since indeed his throne is not in Jerusalem, nor in
the temple of Solomon; surely it is credible that from the year 600, no Roman
pontiff has even been in Jerusalem.

George Gifford (c.1548-1600)

Gifford saw that it was unwise to identify the 1,260 days or the 42 months of Revelation
11:2-3 with specific dates, but instead he argued that in this book, a number certain is put
for an uncertain. He wrote:3
Then next here is shewed how long the great Antichrist and his rout of
profane Gentiles, possessing the outer court of the Temple, shall tread down the
holy city. The time is set to be two and forty months: and that is three years
and a half: for twelve months to a year, three times twelve is thirty and six, and
then six months for the half year, do make up two and forty. From this place
the Papists do draw one argument, by which they would prove that the Pope
is not Antichrist. After this manner they reason: The Pope hath governed the
Church many years: the great Antichrist shall reign but two and forty months,
which is three years and a half: (for they do rightly confess that the Gentiles
which possess the outer court of the temple, are the rout of Antichrist) therefore
say they, it is impossible that the Pope should be Antichrist. For answer unto
this: let it be demanded, doth not Saint John in this prophecy speak mystically,
even as the Prophets did in old time? they cannot deny this. And then demand
further, is not every day put for a year in the seventy weeks which Daniel the
Prophet speaketh of? so every week is seven years. And why may not every

Ibid.
Ibid.
3
Gifford, George. Sermons vpon the whole booke of the Reuelation Set forth by George Giffard,
Preacher of the Word at Mauldin in Essex. Richard Field and Felix Kinston, 1599. p. 189-190.
2

26

David PareusThomas Brightman

27

month here then be put for thirty years? which then do amount unto 1,260
years. Which indeed is a long time in comparison of three years & an half: but
compared with the eternity of Christs kingdom, it is as nothing. And that is one
cause why the Lord numbers it by days & months which quickly run out. But
then here will arise another scruple: If the kingdom of Antichrist shall continue
twelve hundred and sixty years, we must either say that the Bishop of Rome was
Antichrist more than a thousand years past, yea above thirteen hundred, if we
take his reign to be no longer than until he was disclosed by the Gospel: or else
we must say he hath yet long to continue. Let not this trouble us, seeing it is
most clear and out of all controversy, that in this book, a number certain is put
for an uncertain. As in the seventh chapter of this book it is said, that of every
tribe there was sealed twelve thousand. And because twelve times twelve amount
unto one hundred forty & four, it is said chap. 14 that so many thousands stand
with the Lamb upon mount Sion. Is any man so unwise, as to take it, that of
every tribe there should be saved just twelve thousand neither more nor less, and
so on all of the Jews in these latter days just an hundred forty & four thousands
to be saved? & not rather that the Lord by a number certain doth declare that
even when his Church doth seem utterly to fail, he saves a great number, of
which he expresses not the just sum. So in this place when God will comfort his
people, he shows that Antichrist shall tread down the holy city but for a short
time, that is, two and forty months, which is but three years and an half, he
meaneth not to note the just number of years that he shall continue.

David Pareus (1548-1622)

606 AD 1866 AD
Pareus claimed the 1,260 years began with the decree of Phocas in 606.

John Napier (1550-1617)

300 AD 1560 AD
316 AD 1576 AD
Napier said the 42 months are 1260 years which began about the years 300 or 316 AD.1 He
identified the pope professing himself to be the head of the church, as the Antichrist, and
the fulfillment of Pauls prophecy in 2 Thess. 2.

Thomas Brightman (1562-1607)

304 AD 1546 AD

Napier, John. A plaine discouery of the whole Reuelation of Saint Iohn, Proposition 36. 1593.

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28

James Brocard

Brightman was an English clergyman and biblical commentator. His commentary on the
Apocalypse was published posthumously. He identified the two witnesses as the Scriptures,
and the assemblies of the faithful.1 He said the 1,260 days of their ministry began in the
reign of Constantine, and ended in the year 1546; the period was short 18 years from 1,260
years, because of the discrepancy between the 42 months of 30 days and three and a half
Julian years, which is about 1,278 days. There followed a period when they were killed and
their bodies exposed. On Revelation 11:7, Brightman wrote:2
This is the second determinate time, (as we distinguished the times in the
Analysis) that beginneth after that office of prophesying is expired, namely in
the year a thousand, five hundred forty six. Until which time those thousand
two hundred threescore days do reach, each of them being taken for so many
years, as we have shewed in the 2. vers. & the number beginning to be reckoned
from the year of our Lord three hundred, and fourth, wherein Constantine came
to the Empire, as Cassiodorus saith, teaching that the years of Constantine are
numbered from thence, and as Onuphrius seemeth to have gathered, and made
up the computation most accurately. For a thousand two hundred and threescore
years (if you take away 18, how many the account of the years which the Angel
followeth wanteth of Julian years, as we said afore on the second vers.) do make
thousand two hundred, two and forty Julian years, which do fall into that year
that I have set down, 1546, [counting] from the beginning of Constantines reign.

James Brocard (b. 1563)

313 AD 1573 AD
Brocard supposed the 42 months or 1,260 years of trampling of the holy city began with the
reign of pope Sylvester. He wrote:3
Now at this time when we shall come to the end of 1260 years, the beginning
being taken from Pope Sylvester, the church, and the government thereof shall
be given to those who hold the testimony of Christ. The new Prophets and the
worthy Petarcha famous for godliness and learning do recken that those 1260
days are set for years, for the year of our Lord 313 unto the time when with
1
Thomas Brightman on the Two Witnesses
http://vinyl2.sentex.net/tcc/dload/Brightman.pdf
2
Brightman, Thomas. The Reuelation of S. Iohn illustrated with an analysis & scholions. Wherein
the sence is opened by the Scripture, & the euent of things fore-told, shewed by histories. The third
edition corrected & amended, with supply of many things formerly left out. Imprinted at Leyden by J.
Claesson van Dorpe, 1616. p. 469.
3
Brocard, James. The Reuelation of S. Ihon reueled or a paraphrase opening by conference of time
and place such things as are both necessary, and profitable for the tyme present: writen in Latine by
Iames Brocard, and Englished by Iames Sanford Gent., Imprinted at London: In Fleetestreate neare vnto
S. Dunstones Church by Thomas Marshe, 1582.

28

Pierre Du MoulinHugo Grotius

29

power and might Christ shall bring his Church out of the desert, then if to those
1260 years you add 313, in the which year Sylvester took the red garment for the
black, there shall be 1573 years, when both in France, Holland and Zelande the
Gospellers having been trodden down oppressed, put to death, burned and slain
lifted up themselves, and afterward made their foes afraid, as it is said hereafter.

Pierre Du Moulin (1568-1658)

429 AD 1689 AD
A Huguenot minister, Du Moulin said 1689 would end the beasts reign.1

Hugo Grotius (1583-1645)

Grotius was a Dutch Arminian and humanist. He tried to establish common ground between
Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church in his Commentary on Certain Texts Which
Deal with Antichrist published in 1640, by saying that the texts relating to Antichrist had
their fulfillment in the 1st century AD. He identified Trajan as the Antichrist, saying his
name Ulpius, when written in Greek, was a cipher of the number 666. He identified Simon
Magus with the dragon in chapter 12.2 F. F. Bruce wrote of Grotius:3
Grotius broke with the Reformed tradition of identifying the Papacy with
Antichrist. Grotiuss Annotationes in Novum Testamentum (1641) carried on the
philological and historical method of Flacius Illyricus and Camerarius, and did so
more rigorously and in greater detail. So objective was his treatment of the text,
in fact, that he was charged with rationalism. He saw that the individual books
of the New Testament could best be understood in their respective historical
contexts, even if he was not always successful in his attempts to identify those
contexts. Thus he saw in 2 Thess. 2:1-12 a reference to Emperor Gaiuss attempt
to have his statue set up in the Jerusalem temple, and accordingly dated the
epistle c. A.D. 40, making it the earliest of the Pauline writings. He inferred
from 2 Pet. 3:3f. that that epistle was written after A.D. 70 and therefore not
by Peter the apostle; he treated the name Peter in the initial salutation as a
later addition to the text and conjectured that the author was Simeon, bishop
of Jerusalem, who was traditionally martyred under Trajan.
Henry More (1614-1687) of Cambridge University objected to the ideas of Grotius on
the grounds that if Grotius were right, and if in consequence the Book of Revelation did not

The Fulfillment of Prophecies; in Kovacs et. al., Op. Cit. p. 125

Brady, David.Op. Cit., p. 159.
3
Bruce, F. F. The History of New Testament Study, I. Howard Marshall, ed., New Testament Interpretation: Essays on Principles and Methods, 1977. Carlisle: The Paternoster Press, revised 1979.
pp.21-59.
2

29

30

Joseph Mede

cover the whole development of human history, then it would be utterly Useless.1

Joseph Mede (1586-1638)

476 AD 1736 AD
Mede was a scholar at Cambridge, England. He was a naturalist, an Egyptologist, a Hebraist,
and a Lecturer of Greek. He was the author of Clavis Apocalyptica, an influential work on
the interpretation of the Book of Revelation. He developed the idea of synchronism, that
different prophecies may portray various aspects of things during the same period of time.
Mede equated seven time prophecies which contained time spans of 31/2 years, 1260 days,
or 42 months.2 These, he explained, must apply to the antichristian power of papacy. Mede
offered an explanation for why 42 months are used for the time of the Beast, and 1,260 days
for the sojourn of the woman in the wilderness. He wrote:3
Now let us come to the text: And I will give, saith he, unto my two witnesses,
that they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in
sackcloth. Where this cometh first to be observed that the whole prophecy which
followeth, from this verse to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the nature
of the matter so requiring, is exhibited not in a vision, but was dictated by an
angel, personating Christ, the obervation whereof is of no small consequence for
the better perceiving of the nature of the allegory or type.
To my two witnesses he calleth them two in regard of the type, which, as I said,
is of pairs, as if he should have said, I will give to my Zerubbabel and Joshua, to
my Elijah and Elisha, to my Moses and Aaron. To which is added that he calleth
them witnesses, now by the law there ought to be two witnesses to confirm every
word. Add that they may be called two, in regard to the number of the Tables
of God, which they used in their prophecy, of the Old and New Testament, as it
were witnesses of two Testaments.
That they shall prophesy clothed with sackcloth to wit, mournfully bewailing the
trampling under foot of the holy city by the bringing in of the idolatry of the
Gentiles, giving testimony to the truth of God, and exhorting to repentance.
1260 days as many, to wit, as are contained in 42 months. Which that they are
not natural days, it appeareth as well out of those three days and an half, parts
of these days, a little after to be assigned to the death of the witnesses; which
that they cannot be taken for natural days, those things which are foretold to be

1
Van Den Berg, Johannes. Grotius and Apocalyptic thought in England, in: Hugo Grotius, theologian:
essays in honor of G.H.M. Posthumus Meyjes, Ed. by Guillaume Henri Marie Posthumus Meyjes, Henk
J. M. Nellen, Edwin Rabbie. Brill, 1994. p. 178.
2
Dan.7:25; 12:7; Rev.11:2, 3; 12:6, 14; 13:5
3
Mede, Joseph. The key of the Revelation, searched and demonstrated out of the naturall and proper
characters of the visions. 1643. Part 2, p. 8-9.

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Johann Heinrich AlstedThomas Parker

31

then done do prove: as also out of that the Beast (the measure of whose time
they also do continue) contemporized with the company of the 144,000 sealed:
and the company of the sealed with the six first trumpets: but the matters of the
trumpets could not be run out, in so little time as in 1260 natural days, or in the
space of three years and an half. But thou wilt ask, why is the profanation of the
Gentiles measured by months, and all the prophecy of the witnesses defending
the pure worship of God by days? Forsooth, because the worshiping of idols,
and every sin and error is of the power of darkness and night, wherein the Moon
ruleth; contrariwise true religion is compared to the light and to the day of which
the sun is the ruler. Therefore the sending of Paul to convert the Gentiles from
idols is said Acts 26:18, To turn them from darkness to light, from the power
of Satan to God. The same meaning hath that What fellowship hath light with
darkness? Now then the months are directed by the motion of the moon which
ruleth the night; days and years by the motion of the sun which ruleth the day.
For the same cause as afterwards we shall see, the blasphemy of the Beast will
be reckoned after the motion of the moon, by months: but the abiding of the
woman in the wilderness by years and days, after the motion of the sun.

Johann Heinrich Alsted (1588-1638)

362 AD 1622 AD
Alsted began the period of the 1,260 years with the reign of Julian the Apostate in AD 362,
perhaps in order to relate the prophecy of the two witnesses to events in his own time. The
sack of Heidelberg occurred in 1622 during the Thirty Years War.1

Thomas Parker (1595-1677)

c. 390 AD 1649 AD
c. 600 AD 1859 AD
Parker was an English nonconforming clergyman and founder of Newbury, Massachusetts. He
wrote a book on the prophecies of Daniel, in which he proposed two alternate interpretations
of the 1,260 days of Revelation 11 and 12, as well as the other associated periods; the time,
times, and a half, 1,290 days, 1,335 days, and 42 months, all of which, he said, terminated
at the same time, which was the end of the desolation of the Church. He also identified two

Hotson, Howard. Johann Heinrich Alsted, 1588-1638: between Renaissance, Reformation, and
universal reform, Oxford University Press US, 2000. p. 205.
http://books.google.com/books?id=cAeGhpL2WNkC

31

32

Hanserd Knollys

sets of historic events, which began each period.1

Hanserd Knollys (1599-1691)

428 AD 1688 AD
Knollys was an English particular Baptist minister, and the author of Exposition of the whole
book of the Revelation, in 1687, in which he suggested that the 1,260 days might end in the
following year, 1688. He wrote:2
Fourthly, the time of their prophesying is here said to be a thousand two hundred
and threescore days, which days are not to be understood literally for so many
natural days; for that is but three years and an half; and is intended by the
three days and an half, expressed vers. 9, to be the time that the dead bodies
of the slain witnesses shall lie unburied, called a time, and times, and half a
time, Rev. 12:14 and Dan. 7:21, 25. But these thousand two hundred and
threescore days must be understood of prophetical days; that is, a day for a year,
and each day for a year, according to the scripture account, Numb. 14:34, and
Ezek. 4:6, which is one thousand two hundred and threescore years. And so
is the prophetical number of days and time of the woman, that is, the Church
of God in the wilderness, viz. one thousand two hundred and threescore days,
Rev. 12:6. It is not my work at present to determine the beginning and ending
of this time, and these days, but to give the right interpretation thereof, that
the reader may understand the meaning by my exposition. God hath timed the
persecutions, tribulations, and sufferings of his churches, ministers, and saints, in
their generations, Gen. 15:13. Exod. 12:41. Jer. 25:10, 11, 12. and 29:10-13,
Rev. 2:10. and Rev. 11:2. They must last no longer, nor end sooner, than
Gods set time.
But yet I may say, that the best ecclesiastical historians, and the later expositors
of this book of the Revelation, affirm, that these thousand two hundred and
threescore days began about the year of our Lord 407, 409, 410, or before 428.
(Sympsons Hist. of the Church, Lib. 4; Socrat. Hist. Eccl. cap. 3; Helvicus
in Concil. Taurinat. cap. 7; Magdeb. Cent. 5. cap. 10, &c.) And if these
thousand two hundred and threescore days did begin about 428, then they will
end about 1688, which a short time will manifest more certainly. Though these
1

Parker, Thomas. The visions and prophecies of Daniel expounded wherein the mistakes of former
interpreters are modestly discovered, and the true meaning of the text made plain by the words and
circumstances of it: the same also illustrated by clear instances taken out of histories which relate the
events of time mystically foretold by the holy prophet: amongst other things of note, touching the two
witnesses, the New Jerusalem, the thousand years &c. London: Printed for Edmund Paxton and are to
be sold by Nathanael Webb and William Grantham. 1646. pp. 134-143.
2
Knollys, Hanserd. An exposition of the whole book of the Revelation wherein the visions and prophecies of Christ are opened and expounded: shewing the great conquests of our lord Jesus Christ for his
church over all his and her adversaries pagan, arian, and papal. London. 1689. pp. 129-130.

32

Hanserd Knollys

33

are uncertain conjectures; yet if we shall see the beast that ascendeth out of the
bottomless pit, make war against the two prophetical witnesses, and overcome
them, and kill them, as is prophesied, vers. 7, then we shall certainly know the
ending time of these thousand two hundred and threescore days, Dan. 12:4-6-8,
9-13.
Knollys believed that the 1,260 years would be followed by three and a half years of
apostasy, and tribulation, when the church would be lukewarm, or spiritually lifeless. He
wrote on the killing of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:7,1
The war which the beast shall make against Christs prophetical witnesses,
whereby he shall overcome them and kill them, is an open, visible, and public opposition, which the enemies of Christ, his churches, ministers, and saints
do make against them, either by open hostility, as the popes, and emperors
forces did against the protestants in Germany; or else by public edicts and laws,
as the papists did against the Protestants in England in Queen Marys days, by a
violent and bloody persecution, which hath ever been the practice of the popes
and papists; Pope Alexander the III, about the year 1159, and the popish powers, persecuted the Waldenses, with a great and bloody persecution. Afterwards,
about 1464, the Waldenses, the Wicklevists, the Hussites, and their followers,
were violently persecuted, even to death, under the name Lollards.
And shall overcome them, and kill them. Some Ministers and some members of
churches will be overcome by fear, others by flatteries; the mouths of some will
be stopped by preferment; others will be silenced by threatening, by excommunication, and by persecution; and so far overcome, as they will cease for a time
to bear their testimony against the beast, so publicly and vigorously, as they did
before. But that will not appease the rage and great wrath of the beast; for he
will proceed further, and will kill them that still go on boldly and constantly to
bear their testimony publicly against him, his worship, and his kingdom, Rev.
13:15, 16, 17. The killing of the two witnesses, doth not signify a corporal death
only, nor principally; for such a death doth not fully agree to their lying unburied
in the streets of the city, nor to their resurrection, vers. 10,11, but it is rather
a metaphorical expression, by which Jesus Christ meant and intended, both a
civil and ecclesiastical death, or deprivation of livelihood, and deprivation of life:
some of them shall be deprived of all their civil rights, privileges, and liberties;
their estates will be confiscated, proscribed, or decimated, &c. Their persons
confined, imprisoned or banished, &c. and in fine, all their livings and livelihood
taken from them by the beast, and his instruments of cruelty. And others of them
shall be deprived of all their ecclesiastical rights, privileges, and liberties: yea,
their love to Christ will decay, their zeal for the glory of God will cool, and their
spiritual vigor against Antichrist, and his false doctrines, superstitious worship,
1

Ibid., pp. 138-139.

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Thomas GoodwinHenry Hammond

and tyrannical government, will faint, and be ready to die. The darkness, and
blackness of the day of the death of the two witnesses will be very great, for they
will be deprived of that spirit of life, which they formerly had, and manifested
for Christ against the Man of Sin, and Son of Perdition that sits in the Temple
of God. Some of the witnesses (not all of them) will fall from their first love,
lose their former zeal, and become luke-warm; some of them will fall in with the
grand apostasy of these latter days, and thereby be deprived of that vigor and
spirit of life which they had; and this spiritual kind of death, is called here the
killing of the witnesses; for as their resurrection shall be by the spirit of life from
God entering into them, Rev. 11:11, so their death will be by being deprived of
the spirit of life, by resisting, quenching, and grieving the holy spirit.

Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680)

406 AD 1666 AD
Goodwin was an English Puritan theologian and preacher, and a leader of religious Independents. He was chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. He considered several possible dates for the
beginning of the 1,260 days, and commented: By adding therefore twelve hundred and sixty
years to any of the above supposed periods of the rise of the beast, we get the supposed
date of his fall.1

Henry Hammond (1605-1660)

132 AD 136 AD
Hammond was an English churchman and scholar, and a friend of King Charles I. He was
the Kings chaplain, when the King became a captive in the hands of parliament, after the
First Civil War (164245). Hammond related the 1,260 days of the two witnesses to the
time of Hadrian, and the Jewish revolt by Simon bar Kokhba. The Romans crushed the
Jews with an army of 12 legions in a war lasting three and a half years. Hadrian then rebuilt
Jerusalem, and built a temple of Jupiter Capitolinus there, but barred Jews from living there.
Hammonds paraphrase of Revelation 11:1-3 was as follows:2
1. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, ch. X, the most memorable
passage concerning this matter of the Jews (and so the fittest member of a
further vision) being that which fell on that people under the emperor Adrian
[i.e., Hadrian] the next vision here seems to belong to that. And by way of
1

Goodwin, Thomas. The Exposition of Thomas Goodwin on the Book of Revelation: with Life of the
author. London, 1842. p. 603.
http://www.archive.org/details/theexpositionoft00gooduoft
2
Hammond, Henry. A Paraphrase and Annotations Upon All the Books of the New Testament. Vol.
2. Oxford University Press, 1845. p. 506.
http://books.google.com/books?id=AyMVAAAAYAAJ

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Henry Hammond

35

preparation to the representing of it, here is first set down Adrians rebuilding of
Jerusalem, and setting up the heathen worship there. To this purpose, saith he,
methought I had a measuring rod, or pole, or perch given me, (as in Ezekiel, ch.
xl,) and a command from the angel to mete the temple of God, that is, first,
the sanctuary or holy, and in it the holy of holies, and then the court, where
the altar of burnt-offerings stood, and where the people worshiped and prayed
to God, called the court of the Israelites. (This measuring is the enclosing or
settling thus much of the temple apart in memory of the former consecration,
not to be profaned or meddled with, that is, built upon by the emperor Adrian,
who now designed to erect a new city there, calling it (by his own name, Aelius)
Aelia.
2. But I was appointed to leave or cast out, that is, not thus to measure or
enclose the court of the Gentiles, called the outer court, ... noting that the
Roman emperor should take that in, and build upon it and about it a new city,
not only for Jews, but Gentiles to live in; and so that Jerusalem, formerly called
the faithful and holy city, should now, being thus rebuilt, be called by another
name, and profaned with idol-worship, a temple being erected to Jupiter upon
mount Sion, and so continue for the same proportion of time (that is, three years
and a half) that it had in Daniels prophecy been profaned by Antiochus, Dan.
vii. 25.
3. And all this time there being two Christian bishops of Jerusalem, one of
Jewish, the other of Gentile or stranger Christians there, and these being raised
up by God like prophets to forewarn men of their sins and danger, shall like
prophets set themselves against the sins both of the Jews and Gentiles, labor to
convert them all to Christianity, to bring them to the reformation of their wicked
lives, to the purging out of all the abominable sins (mentioned in ch. lx. 20, 21.)
unreformed among them; and this angel told me they should do all that space
of three years and an half, (mentioned ver. 2,) and do it (as prophets are wont
when they prophesy judgments on unreformed sinners) in sackcloth, ... denoting
the yet further evil effects that would be consequent to their still holding out
impenitent against the faith.
Hammond identified the temple of God in Johns prophecy with the temple of Jupiter.
He wrote:1
Who the witnesses are is the main difficulty of this chapter: and the matter here
spoken of yielding some directions to pitch on the time of which this vision treats;
as 1. the farther judgments falling on Jerusalem after the destruction by Titus;
and 2dly, those after the rebuilding the city, and planting it with Gentiles as well
1

Hammond, Henry. A Paraphrase and Annotations Upon All the Books of the New Testament. Vol.
4. Oxford University Press, 1845. p. 567.
http://books.google.com/books?id=3ysVAAAAYAAJ

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Lodowicke Muggleton
as Jews, vv. 1,2, which must needs belong to the time of Adrian; [i.e., Hadrian]
it may be reasonable to forsake all other conjectures, and pitch upon that which
the learned Hugo Grotius hath resolved on, of making the two churches, which
were at this time at Jerusalem, one of the Jewish, the other of Gentile Christians,
the two witnesses here spoken of; or more distinctly, I conceive, the two bishops
of (and together with them) those two congregations.

Lodowicke Muggleton (1609-1698)

1652 AD 1658 AD
Lodowicke Muggleton and his cousin John Reeve were two tailors in London. In 1651, during
a period of civil war, they both experienced revelations about the meaning of scripture, which
led to them becoming two of the greatest medlers of religion in all the world. In 1652 they
declared that they were the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3, and their followers became
known as the Muggletonians.1
William Lamont wrote:2
The Muggletonians, in the twelfth-century Joachimite tradition, believed in
three stages of history. The first age was that of Law, the text was the Old
Testament, the Prophet was Moses. The Second Age was that of Gospel, the
text was the New Testament, the Prophet was Jesus. The year 1652 marked
the Third Age, that of the Spirit, the text was the Prophets writings, and the
Prophets were Reeve and Muggleton. Muggletonians therefore often described
themselves as believers in the Third Commission. How long would it last? In
a letter of 1656, Reeve spoke in terms of months. That sense of an imminent
transformation of society disappeared with his death.
Reeve and Muggleton were involved in a dispute with Rev. Goffin, upon whom they
pronounced a curse. When Goffin died, Reeve and Muggleton were arrested and charged
with blasphemy. They were sentenced to six months in Bridewell Prison. They were released
in 1654. Reeve died in 1658, and after brief struggle for control of the group with Laurence
Clarkson, Muggleton became the sects leader. Their meetings were informal.
In 1663 Muggleton was charged with blasphemy and committed to Derby gaol.
George Charles Williamson wrote:3
Muggleton never had any patience with people who opposed him. He pronounced against them what he called the curse of God, calling down a sentence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodowicke Muggleton
Lamont, William. Puritanism and historical controversy. McGill-Queens Press, 1996. p. 32.
http://books.google.com/books?id=7wiWQmeGEgAC
3
Williamson, George Charles. Lodowick Muggleton. 1915.
http://www.muggletonian.org.uk/NonMuggletonian/contentfiles/apaperread.pdf
2

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37

of eternal damnation upon every person who refused to accept his religious opinions.
In 1677 Muggleton was again charged with blasphemy, and fined 500, and being unable
to pay, he was sent to Newgate prison for six months, and was released after paying 100.
He was also humiliated by having to stand in the pillory in three places in the city, on three
occasions, where his books were burned.

Henry More (1614-1687)

More was an English philosopher and poet of the Cambridge Platonist school.
In a treatise on the Apocalypse, More interpreted the 1,260 days as 1,260 years, which
expired in the Reformation. When commenting upon Revelation 11:2, and the Gentiles
trampling the holy city for 42 months, he pointed out that the area of the outer court is
three and a half times larger than the inward court, corresponding to the three and a half
year time periods mentioned in the prophecy:1
... it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under
foot forty and two months. That is, a kind of Paganochristianity instead of
pure Christianity shall visibly domineer for forty and two months of years, that
is 1260 years; which is the same proportion of time to the commensurate time
of the church under the Ephesian and Smyrnean succession, and a little further,
that the proportion of the outward court has to be to the inward court, which
proportion is as 1260 to 360; that is, the outward court contained the inward
court three times and a half in quantity.
More viewed the three and a half year periods as seven semitimes, which he defined
as six months. He wrote:2
For particular symbolical meanings, and for the embelishing of the cortex of
the Apocalypse, &c. This symbolical meaning, as I remember Mr. Mede takes
notice of. That the time and times and half a time is expressed by one thousand
two hundred and sixty days, when the time or continuance of the Children of
Light, or of the Day is notified, but by forty two months, when the children of
Darkness or of the Night their continuance is signified. Thus the continuance of
the ten-horned beast, Chap. 13, is numbered by months; as also the treading
down the outward court by the Gentiles, Chap. 11. But the Womans stay
in the wilderness is expressed by Days, as also the time of the two witnesses
prophesying in sackcloth. And it is manifest that the outward letter or cortex of

1
More, Henry. Apocalypsis Apocalypseos; or the Revelation of St. John the Divine unveiled: an
exposition from chapter to chapter and from verse to verse of the whole Book of the Apocalypse, 1680.
p. 102.
2
Ibid., pp. 122-123.

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Henry More
of the Apocalypse is better adorned this way, than if wherever we find forty two
months, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days, a time and times and half
a time had been repeated. But these reasons of varying the phrase thus being
so apparent (to say nothing of the use of turning Daniels Time and times and
half a time into forty two months, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days,
for the more certainly understanding that three prophetical years and an half is
meant thereby) we may be the better assured, that no greater accurateness of
time is intended by them, than if the phrase of a time and times and half a
time had been always used. The not understanding of which has made sundry
in vain attempt to predict events foretold in the Apocalypse to the accuracy of
a prophetical day, when as indeed there is no use of either prophetical day or
month, unless in saying, such a thing was to fall out, or did fall out in such a
day, or such a month, or such a day of such a month of, suppose, the seventh or
last semitime or prophetical half year, which consists of one hundred and eighty
days or six months. And the nature of the things fortold are such, that they are
not to terminate on a year, but rather that grosser numbering by semitimes.

More defended Joseph Medes approach against the preterist views of Henry Hammond.
He wrote, referring to the 42 months of Revelation 13:5,1
Of the ten-horned beast Chapt. 13 it is said verse 5, that power was given
unto him to continue forty two months; I demand here of R.H. has the Roman
Empire since the time of its being divided into many kingdoms continued but
forty two months or three years and an half? Is this a likely measure of time for
the continuance of an Empire? Nay is it not plain that this divided Roman Empire
thus apostatizing and apostatized more and more into a pagan like idolatry had
continued so, near forty two prophetical months, that is months of years, viz.
1260 years, till in the last semitime of these 1260 years, the Reformation broke
out, which was the expiration of the entire reign of the beast. But in the mean
time by virtue of this key of the angel it is exceeding evident that the forty two
months are not to be understood literally but of prophetical months, forty two
whereof make 1260 years. And consequently that all the visions that synchronize
with this ten-horned beast have the same extent of duration: as the two-horned
beast, the whore, the woman in the wilderness, the sealed company of virgins,
the outer court trodden down by the Gentiles, the two witnesses mourning in
sackcloth, and the dead bodies of the witnesses lying three days and an half
in the street of the great city. For I conceive that as the woman abode in the
wilderness is first denoted by 1260 days, and after in the same chapter by a
time and times and half a time, so the continuance of the sad condition of the
witnesses is first set down by 1260 days, but after by three days and an half, to
answer to a time and times and half a time, which is three times and an half. And

Ibid., pp. 319-321.

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Drue CressenerIsaac Newton

39

that three times and an half are signified by three days and a half on purpose to
teach us to reckon the duration of all these synchronals not by the curiosity of a
prophetical month much less of a prophetical day, but as it is originally in Daniel
by semidays or half-days: after the beginning of the expiration of the seventh
of which half-days the witnesses were to rise, as they did. But this by the bye
but very worthy the noting. All these synchronals, I say, of the prophecy of the
opened book are necessarily to be measured by prophetical semitimes, that is,
the duration of every one of them is to be about seven semitimes, a semitime
consisting of one hundred and eighty years. And so must also two synchronals
of the sealed book prophecy, the six first trumpets, and the one hundred and
forty four thousand sealed servants of God, they being synchronal to these.

Drue Cressener (1642-1718)

606 AD 1848 AD
An English clergyman and interpreter of the Apocalypse, Cressener in 1690 said the years
of the period should be taken as 360 days each, and shortened the period of 1,260 days to
1,242. Thus he proposed 1848 as the critical year in the downfall of the papacy.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

800 AD 2060 AD
Newton thought the dragon bestowed his power on the beast in the year 295 AD.1 He proposed 360 days for each prophetic year, and 30 days to a prophetic month, thus disassociating
prophetic time from solar or lunar calendars. He thought the period began at about the
time of the invasion of the Barbarous nations and their erecting several Kingdoms in the
Roman Empire. and it being certain that 1200 of the 1260 years are run out already.
Later in life Newton considered the year 800 AD to be a likely beginning date for the
time and times and the dividing of time of Daniel 7:25, and the 1,260 days of Revelation
11:3 and 12:6.
In an article on Newtons views about the prophecy of the 1,260 days, Stephen D.
Snobelen stated:2
The year 800 is a significant one in history, as it is the year Charlemagne was
crowned emperor of Rome in the west by Pope Leo III at St. Peters in Rome.
Since Newton believed that the 1260 years corresponded to the duration of the
corruption of the Church, he added 1260 to 800 A.D. and arrived at the date
2060 for the fall of Babylon or cessation of the apostate Church.
1
Newton, Sir Isaac. Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John.
(Dublin, 1733) p. 280.
2
Snobelen, Stephen D. Statement on the date 2060.
http://www.isaac-newton.org/update.html

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Robert Fleming

Robert Fleming (c. 1660-1716)

552 AD 1794 AD
606 AD 1848 AD
758 AD 2000 AD
David Brady wrote of Flemings work:1
Fleming was one of the very few apocalyptic date-fixers whose speculations
proved to be at all successful. This is reflected in the large number of reprints
of his work which appeared when the first two dates offered for Romes downfall
were reached. In the last decade of the eighteenth century Fleming became acknowledged as a true prophet of the French Revolution, an event which dealt a
severe blow to the papacy in France. Between the years 1792 and 1809, no less
than eleven editions of Flemings works appeared from the presses in Edinburgh,
London, and Falkirk, as well as an edition published across the Atlantic in Boston.
Other collections of prophetic extracts joined in acknowledging Flemings Godgiven foresight. And then the second prophetic date drew near, answering to the
year 606 indicated by the number of the beast, and between the years 1843 and
1846 four more editions of the work were published in America and another at
Edinburgh. Fleming proved right again, for 1838 has gone down in the history
books as the year of revolutions which broke out in almost every European
capital, whilst nearer home there occurred the Irish rebellion and the Chartist
demonstrations. The Pope himself fled from Rome to Gaeta when an Italian
Republic was proclaimed and once again the press acknowledged Flemings foresight. In the years 1848 and 1849, five new editions of the Rise and Fall were
published in London, two at Aberdeen, and three in America. Not only that, but
it was then translated into French and Welsh. The book became a consolation
in times of crisis and those who read it received reassurance that the rise and
fall of kingdoms lay in the wise providence of God.
Fleming converted the 1,260 prophetic years to solar or Julian years by subtracting 18
years, thus obtaining 1,242 Julian years. He believed that the fall of the beast, which
he identified with the papacy, would occur in stages, and he proposed dates that mark
three successive stages in his fall, the year 2000 being the year of Christs return, and the
commencement of the millennium. Flemings comments published in 1701, that seem to
apply to the period of the French Revolution, include the following:2
Now, my conjectures shall relate to two things, viz. to the remaining part of
this vial, and to the other vials that follow this.
1

Brady, David. Op. Cit., p. 33.

Fleming, Robert. Apocalyptical key. An extraordinary discourse on the rise and fall of papacy.
William S. Young, 1848. p. 19-20.
http://books.google.com/books?id=tj4UAAAAYAAJ
2

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Robert Fleming

41

And first, as to the remaining part of this vial, I do humbly suppose that
it will come to its highest pitch about A.D. 1717, and that it will run out
about the year 1794. The reasons for the first conjecture are two. The first
is, because I find that the papal kingdom got a considerable accession to its
power, upon the Roman Western empires being destroyed, A.D. 475, to which
the Heruli succeeded the year following, and the Ostrogoths afterward. Now if
from this remarkable year we begin the calculation of the twelve hundred years,
they lead us down to A.D. 1735, which in prophetical account is this very year
1717. The second is, because (as I have many years ago observed,) this year
leads us down to a new centenary revolution: for is it not observable that John
Huss and Jerome of Prague, (to run this up farther,) were burnt A.D. 1417?
After which the true religion in Bohemia, and in other places, was more and
more obscured and suppressed, until that famous year 1517, when Luther arose,
and gave the Reformation a new resurrection: according to that remarkable
prediction of Jerome of Prague, Centum annis revolutis Deo respondebitis et
mihi;1 which the Bohemians afterwards stamped upon their coin as their motto.
From which year the reformed interest did still increase, (whatever particular
stops and troubles it met with,) till the year 1617; about which time the German
and Bohemian wars began to break out. And it is but too obvious, what an
ebb hath followed since that time to this, notwithstanding the pouring out of
the second, third, and fourth vials. So that there is ground to hope, that about
the beginning of another such century, things may again alter for the better:
for I cannot but hope that some new mortification of the chief supporters of
Antichrist will then happen; and perhaps, the French monarchy may begin to be
considerably humbled about that time: that, whereas, the present French king
takes the sun for his emblem, and this for his motto: Nec pluribus impar, he
may at length, or rather his successors, and the monarchy itself (at least before
the year 1794) be forced to acknowledge, that (in respect to the neighboring
potentates he) is even singulis impar.
But as to the expiration of this vial, I do fear it will not be until the year
1794. The reason of which conjecture is this; that I find the pope got a new
foundation of exultation, when Justinian, upon the conquest of Italy, left it in
a great measure to the popes management, being willing to eclipse his own
authority, to advance that of his haughty prelate. Now this being in the year
552; this, by the addition of the sixteen hundred and twenty years,2 reaches down
to the year 1811; which according to the prophetical account, is the year 1794.
And then I do suppose the fourth vial will end, and the fifth commence, by a
new mortification of the papacy, after this vial has lasted one hundred and forty
eight years: which indeed is long, in comparison with the former vials; but if it
be considered in relation to the fourth, fifth, and sixth trumpets, it is but short,
1
2

A hundred years hence ye shall answer to God and me.

sic. The numbers show 1,260 was meant.

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Robert Fleming
seeing the fourth lasted one hundred and ninety years, the fifth, three hundred
and two, and the sixth, three hundred and ninety-three.
And now, my friends, I may be well excused, if I venture no further, in
giving you any more conjectural thoughts upon this present period of time. But
seeing I pretend to give my speculations, of what is future, no higher character
than guesses, I shall still venture to add something to what I have already said.
Therefore be pleased, first to call to mind, what I premised to the consideration
of the seven vials, as the second preliminary, viz., that seeing the vials do (all of
them,) suppose a struggle or war between the popish or reformed parties; every
vial is to be looked upon, as the event and conclusion of some new periodical
attack of that first party upon this other; the issue of which proves at length
favorable to the latter against the former. For if this be duly considered, it will
let us see, that great declining of the Protestant interest for some time, and great
and formidable advances, and new degrees of increase in the Romish party, are
very consistent with the state of both these opposite interests under the vials.
For, as Rome pagan was gradually ruined under the seals, under many of which
it seemed to increase to outward observation, and to become more rampant
than before, when yet it was indeed declining; so must we suppose it will be
with Rome papal. For monarchies, as they rise gradually and insensibly, so do
they wear out so likewise. And, therefore, we must not entertain such chimerical
notions of the fall of the papacy, as if it were to be accomplished speedily or
miraculously, as many have done. For as it rose insensibly, and step by step, so
must it fall in like manner.
Fleming continued, on another page:1
But, second, to proceed with my other conjectures relating to the remaining
vial: I do further suppose, that
The fifth vial, (v. 10, 11,) which is to be poured out on the seat of the beast,
or the dominions that more immediately belong to, and depend upon the Roman
see; that, I say, this judgment will probably begin about the year 1794, and
expire about A. D. 1848; so that the duration of it, upon this supposition, will
be the space of fifty-four years. For I do suppose, that seeing the pope received
the title of supreme bishop, no sooner than A. D. 606, he cannot be supposed
to have any vial poured upon his seat immediately (so as to ruin his authority
so signally as this judgment must be supposed to do) until the year 1848, which
is the date of the twelve hundred and sixty years in prophetical account, when
they are reckoned from A. D. 606. But yet we are not to imagine that this vial
will totally destroy the papacy (though it will exceedingly weaken it,) for we find
this still in being and alive, when the next vial is poured out.

Ibid., p. 21.

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William WhistonMoses Lowman

43

William Whiston (1667-1752)

455 AD 1715 AD
476 AD 1736 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
Whiston first published An Essay on the Revelation of Saint John in 1706, in which he claimed
that the beast of Revelation 13 would be slain as early as 1716, however this prediction failed.
He proposed several alternate dates for the 1,260 year period. The following excerpts are
from his 1744 edition.1
XIV. That the overbearing Tyranny of all the ten Kingdoms in the Roman
Empire, should continue 1260 Years, from A.D. 476. till the Year 1736, but no
longer; and that, by Consequence, some one at least, of those ten Kingdoms
would leave off Antichristian Tyranny and Persecution at this very Year, has
been, for the main, foretold from Daniel vii. 25 and Apoc. xiii. 5 by Mr. Mede,
a Century ago; by Bishop Lloyd, by Dr. Allix, by Mr. Daubuz, and by Mr.
Whiston since; nor is there any Room for delaying this grand Period any longer.
...
XVII. Upon the same Premises tis also easy to foretell, that the Little Horn,
Second Beast, and Man of Sin. or the Pope of Rome, and his Antichristian
Hierarchy, which arose A.D. 606, 130 Years after the ten Kingdoms; and is to
last as long as they, or 1260 Years; though he may probably begin to fall before,
yet will he not come to his last End, till our Lord consumes him with the spirit
of his mouth, and destroys him with the brightness of his coming: 2 Thess. ii.
8, at the year 1866.
...
They may please to consider further, that this grand Period of 1260 Years, might
be well dated from that Year, as well as from 476. Perhaps therefore it may not
be amiss, to suppose that this famous Period was to come on gradually at twice,
i.e. partly at A.D. 455, and partly at A.D. 476. And that the evident and actual
Persecution in Great Britain, and its Dominions, was to cease 1260 Years after
the Death of Valentinian III, A.D. 455, or after the taking and sacking of Rome,
a Quarter of a Year later, i.e. at A.D. 1715.

Moses Lowman (1679-1752)

756 AD 2016 AD
Lowman was a nonconformist minister at Clapham. His book, A paraphrase and notes on
the Revelation of St. John, influenced the Apocalyptic views of Jonathan Edwards (1703 1

Whiston, William. An essay on the revelation of St. John so far as concerns the Past and Present
Times. 1744. pp. 319-323.
http://books.google.com/books?id=hT1BAAAAcAAJ

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Moses Lowman

1758). In his chapter on the interpretation of the prophecy of the two witnesses of Revelation
11, he disputed the claims of Grotius and others who took the 1,260 days to be literal days.
Lowman thought the days represented years. In his scheme they began in the year 756 AD,
implying an ending in the year 2016. Thus in the historicist approach, the gap between the
ministry of Jesus and the fulfillment of the prophetic half week of years became ever larger.
Lowman wrote:1
But, before we enter upon the particular meaning of each representation, it
may be proper to observe something as to the proper time of this period, as to
its beginning and continuance.
As interpreters, for very different reasons, have fallen into very different accounts of both, it has occasioned no little uncertainty and disorder in the different
interpretations given of it.
The Papists are very unwilling Protestants should find any of the corruptions
of the Roman church in this prophecy, they have therefore used all their art and
learning, to finish all the prophecies in this book, in much less time than twelve
hundred and sixty years, in the downfall of Rome heathen, when the empire
became Christian, under Constantine, A. D. 323. They must therefore make the
time of this period, no more than twelve hundred and sixty natural days, or three
common years and a half, and in this, the Bishop of Meaux greatly triumphs
over the Protestant interpreters, that they should make a year not to signify one
year, but three hundred and sixty years.
There are also some learned interpreters among Protestants themselves, who
think the whole prophecy reaches but to a small period of time. Grotius, and
after him Dr. Hammond, in support of that opinion, make the duration of this
period much less than twelve hundred and sixty years; for to understand the
twelve hundred and sixty days, according to the stile of prophecy, for so many
years, is inconsistent with their favorite schemes, and must quite overthrow them.
But it appears, I conceive, from many reasons, that the opinion which assigns
a short time to the whole prophecy, is without all foundation, and expressly
contrary to the intent of the prophecy, which is to extend to the day of judgment.
It is also a considerable circumstance, to strengthen the interpretation of days
by years, that as it is agreeable to the stile of prophecy, it is most agreeable to
the plan of this prophecy. ... let us then see, how justly preferable the prophetic
interpretation of a day for a year is in this place.
It is agreeable to the ancient stile of scripture, in the days of Moses, (Numb.
xiv. 34.) after the number of the days in which ye searched the land even
forty days, each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years.
The punishment of the people was to be as many years as the days of their

Lowman, Moses. A paraphrase and notes on the Revelation of St. John, 3rd. Ed. London. T.
Cadell. 1773. pp. 143-146.
http://books.google.com/books?id=i5YCAAAAQAAJ

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Moses Lowman

45

transgression; so that each day for a year, seems an allusion to some known
method of counting, in which days were answered by years.
The prophetic stile of Ezekiel farther confirms it, (Ezek. iv. 6.) The prophet
is directed to lie on his right side, and bear the iniquity of the House of Judah
forty Days. This is explained to signify, according to the stile of prophecy, so
many years: I have appointed thee each day for a year, or, as in the margin, a
day for a year, a day for a year. So that, in this figurative interpretation, each
day in the prophetic representation, is to be answered by a year in the historical
event.
In the prophecy of Daniel, this manner of prophetic expression is used again,
(Daniel ix. 24.) Seventy Weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon
thy holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal
up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. All who consider this a
prophecy relating to the Messiah, for which there are abundant and unanswerable
reasons, must consider the seventy weeks as so many times seven years, not as
so many weeks of natural days.
It is a criticism below such great men as Grotius, and the Bishop of Meaux,
that because hebdomas signifies a number of seven, it may signify seven of
any thing, according to the circumstance of the place; and therefore a week,
(hebdomas) which is so called because it contains seven days, may signify seven
years. A week primarily signifies seven days, and properly nothing but seven
days: a week (hebdomas) never did naturally signify seven years, and only can
do so, as the figurative expression of prophecy puts a day to signify a year.
The particular circumstances of this prophecy add a farther strength to this
interpretation, that the 1260 days are to be understood of so many years.
The order of the prophecies of this book shew, that these 1260 days contain
the whole time of the third period; or, all the time wherein the witnesses prophesy,
the woman is in the wilderness, and the beast has power given unto him: that
is, all the time of the last state of the churchs sufferings, to that glorious state
of the church, when Satan shall be shut up in the bottomless pit for a thousand
years. In this period the seven vials of Gods wrath are to be poured out, and
all the historical events that relate to them accomplished; this period is to last
till the mystery of God shall be finished. These events are too many, and the
times in which they are to be accomplished too long, to be comprised within
three years and a half, or 1260 natural days.
The order of the periods shew this third is not to begin, until the two former
are passed; until the nations which had destroyed the Roman Empire, had divided
it among themselves; till the imperial government of Rome was passed away, as
the preceding forms of government were before it; till another form of government
should be established in Rome, which, on some accounts, should be called the
seventh, and on other accounts the eighth form of government; when Rome,
once the powerful mistress of the world, after she had lost her dominion, and
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seemed to lose it without hope of recovery, should be restored to power and
empire again, which was to continue during the 1260 days of this period, and
then to be utterly overthrown, and never to rise again.
Now, as a great variety of concurring circumstances shew the beginning of
this period, about the year 756, when the popes were invested with the temporal
Dominion of Rome, in which only time, the several descriptions of this period do
all exactly agree; the 1260 days of this prophecy are to last so long as this power
is to continue: which seems evidently to shew, that we are not to understand
1260 natural days, the time of this period, but so many prophetic days, in which
a day is given for a year.

Johan Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752)

864 AD 1521 AD
1058 AD 1836 AD
Bengel was a Lutheran churchman and scholar. He is best known for his edition of the Greek
New Testament, and his Gnomon or Exegetical Commentary.
Bengel discredited the idea that the 1,260 days of the Apocalypse were 1,260 years. He
wrote:1
If any should pretend that by a day is meant a year in several places of the
Scriptures, as Numb. xiv. 33, 34; Ezek. iv. 5, 6; Dan. ix. 24, 25, 26; and
Luke xiii. 33; he is to be answered thus, The fourth of these places speaks of
natural days; as is remarked in the Harmony of the Evangelists . 126. The
third is nothing to our present purpose; for the word day is not mentioned in
it, but the week immediately betokens a week of years. In the second, a day is
only to represent a year. And in the first, a year of punishment is appointed for
each day of their sin : It is not said, Your children shall wander in the wilderness
forty days, that is, forty years. The word day is not any where in the Scripture
put for the word year; as Bishop Forbes, on the Apocalypse, p. 85, has long ago
observed: but if it was so put any where else, it does not follow that it must be
so in St. John too; as the Measure in Revel. xxi is different from that in Ezek.
xl.
If one comes at first to the knowledge of the times by the help of the knowledge
he has of the subject-matter, he will afterwards come to a more exact knowledge
of the matter by the help of that of the times: and so always alternately (yet no
circulus vitiosus) every former discovery will be brought to greater exactness by
the following.
1

Bengel, Johann Albrecht. Bengeliuss introduction to his exposition of the Apocalypse: with his
preface to that work and the greatest part of the conclusion of it, and also his marginal notes on the text,
which are a summary of the whole exposition. Translated by John Robertson. 1757. pp. 143-148.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ru82AAAAMAAJ

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47

Thus the present argument is remarkably strengthened by this consideration,

that we cannot put the beginning of the second woe before Mahomet. For the
Hour and the Day and the Month and the Year make, by the day of a year long,
three hundred and ninety one years. Now if we should begin just at the year 622,
in which the calamities of Mahometism broke out (for farther back we cannot
go) it reaches to the year 1013. What shall we reckon after that year for the
Interval between the second and third woe? Where shall the forty-two months
of the beast, which by this way of reckoning last 1260 years, I will not say end,
but even begin? Where shall we dispose of all the events under the third woe,
that happen before and after these forty-two months of 1260 years, from Ch.
xii. 12 to Ch. xx. 1? And where is there room for the times mentioned in the
xxth chapter, together with the everlasting Gospel?
Again; how can (to speak in particular of the third Woe) the time that the enraged Devil hath, which begins a considerable while before the forty-two months
and does not end till after them, be called a short one, when the forty-two months
alone last 1260 whole years? Certainly the short time which the Devil hath, who
is the more enraged on this very account, viz. of its shortness, is shorter than
that of the thousand years of his being bound, which comes afterwards: and so
also much more is the power of the beast during his forty-two months shorter
than the thousand years in which those reign who were put to death by the beast.
So then we need not go far for an answer to that question, What is the matter
that hitherto nothing has hit right in expounding this book, even with those who
value it most highly? and why so many of their prognostics have failed? The
Reformers themselves did not, but afterwards many protestant expositors, tho
not all those, nor those alone, have highly cryed up this year-day or day signifying
a year; and thus out of the forty-two months, the 1260 days, and the three and
a half times have made one calamitous period of 1260 years. Then they pitched
upon some year in the fifth or some earlier or later century, that appeared to
be a remarkable one, and added to that the 1260 years: the sum gave the term
or end of their period. There were so many such terms, that at last some one
or other of the inventors of them should, one would think, have hit by chance
on the right term, tho he had not found out either the right beginning or the
right length of that period which he made choice of. This pretended period of
1260 years was like a large chest where every kind of heterogeneous things (or
things of different natures) were thrown in together: but the true Apocalyptical
periods are like many small drawers in a fine and artfully contrived cabinet, each
of which contains only things homogeneous or of the same kind.
He who has once laid aside this prejudice of the year-day, will find out the root of
most of the forced interpretations: and if he knows of any inquisitive friend, will
caution him against a fruitless labour in which many have wasted the greatest
part of their life-time.
Most interpreters have begun their imaginary period of 1260 years, at the year
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Johan Albrecht Bengel

476 and before it. But as that term is already past, in the year 1736, without
any considerable event: so, for a long time after the year 476, there are not to
be found in history any more later epochs for the 1260 years in which a man
might take refuge with any plausibility. And yet there is a general Expectation
of a nearly approaching revolution, even among those who observe only the
present conjuncture of affairs, without any view at the same time to the word
of prophecy. This period of 1260 years, and consequently the year-day, has yet
some patrons that have been accustomed to defend it; but it will soon totally
vanish, compare the Gnomon on Revel. xi. 2.

Bengel thought the 42 months and 1,260 days in Revelation 11:2-3 were common months
and days:1
Forty-two monthsThese, and the 1260 days in ver. 3, are common months
and days: for in the event they are later than the number of the beast, which
being put in part enigmatically, in part literally, fixes the point where the book
passes from prophetical times to common times, as I more fully show elsewhere.
[Forty-two months are 1260 days, i. e., three years and a half. This half of seven
is a ruling number in the Apocalyptic periods of time. A time, times, and the
dividing of time was the duration of the oppression of the saints in Dan. vii. 25.
The shutting up of heaven against rain, in ver. 6, reminds us of Elijah, (comp.
James v. 17; Luke iv. 25), and the turning water into blood, and smiting the
earth with plagues, of Moses, whose testimony endured through 42 stations of
Israels march. Comp. ch. xii. 6. xiii. 5. Alf ]
Bengel proposed the following interpretation of the 1,260 days of Revelation 12:6:2
A thousand two hundred and three score daysThe 1260 prophetic days are
657 full ordinary years. And if you reckon these from A.D. 864 to 1521, you will
not be far from the truth. The woman obtained a firm place in the wilderness, in
Europe, especially in Bohemia, and there, in particular, she was fed; until more
free and abundant food was vouchsafed to her by means of the Reformation.
The close of the 1260 days is the Reformation. The close of the times, 1, 2,
and 1/2, is the Millennium. Between the Reformation and Millennium there is no
more remarkable revolution, than the Reformation itself, the great importance
of which is sufficiently plain from this. [I am quite unable, in common with all
apocolyptic interpreters, to point out definitely any period in the history of the
Church corresponding to the 1260 years of ch. xxii. 6, or any in the history of
this worlds civil power, which shall satisfy the forty-two months of ch. xiii. 5.
As far as I have seen, every such attempt hitherto made has been characterized
by signal failure. Alf., p. 251.]
1

Bengel, Johann Albrecht. Gnomon of the New Testament. Vol. 2. Perkinpine & Higgins, 1864. p.
885. http://books.google.com/books?id=PsVBhA9ucK8C
2
Ibid., pp. 891-892.

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John GillBishop Thomas Newton

49

On the time, times, and a half of Revelation 12:14, Bengel wrote, in part:1
Through a time, and times, and the half of a time, the Church is fed, removed
from the serpent, and assailed by a river, i.e., the attack of the Turks, yet
not overwhelmed: therefore those times are terminated by the captivity of the
serpent, and are conveniently divided by the turning points of Turkish history.
The beginning of the captivity, as is shown in its place, will be A.D. 1836.
Therefore the time is 222 and two-ninth years, from A.D. 1058 to 1280; and in
the middle of the eleventh century, a new kingdom arose among the Turks, and
shortly afterwards inundated the eastern part of the Christian world; but, at the
close of the close of the century, the city of Jerusalem was taken from them,
which not long after they took again. The times are 555 and four-ninth years,
from A.D. 1280 to 1725. In that interval they greatly desolated the Church,
having taken Constantinople, having long had possession of Buda, and having
more than once besieged Vienna. The half a time consists of 111 and one-ninth
years, form A.D. 1725 to 1836. Before the end of this half a time, and indeed
considerably before the earth swallows up the last attacks of the river.
In Bengels scheme a prophetic day was 1/2 year and about 8 days, or 190 +
a prophetic year was 190 + 20/21 natural years or 69570 days.

20/21

days;

John Gill (1697-1771)

606 AD 1866 AD
Gill maintained that the date when the Bishop of Rome was made Universal Bishop, or Pope,
should be considered that of the decree of the Emperor Phocas in 606; if to this we add
1,260 the expiration of his reigns will fall in the year 1866, so that he may have upwards of
a hundred and twenty years yet to continue; but of this we cannot be certain; however, the
conjecture is not improbable.

Bishop Thomas Newton (1704-1782)

533 AD 1793 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
727 AD 1987 AD
For the 1260 day/year period Newton suggested at least three starting points. The earliest is
with Justinians degree (533 AD), the second Phocas degree in 606 (this had the additional
benefit of being also the beginning of Mohammeds rise to power), and the third the early
8th century when the pope was established as a temporal prince.

Ibid., p. 894.

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Joseph GallowayDavid Simpson

Joseph Galloway (1731-1803)

606 AD 1866 AD
Galloway was a former speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly and a friend of Benjamin
Franklin. He opposed the American Revolution, and in 1788 he fled to England, believing the
Revolution to be mainly a religious quarrel, caused by Presbyterians and Congregationalists,
having principles of religion and polity equally averse to those of the established Church
and Government.
Galloway wrote:1
If, then, we date the rise of the two apostasies in the year 606, which has
just been proved to be the true time, the witnesses have now prophesied in
sackcloth 1195 years of the 1260 so that there are only 65 years to come,
before they will have finished their testimony, according to our present mode of
calculation. But if the prophet calculated by synchronical years, or only 360 days
to a year, according to the Jewish mode of computation, when he wrote, as some
commentators suppose, and which indeed, is most probable, there remain only
48 years before the witnesses shall have finished their testimony in sackcloth.

David Simpson (1745-1799)

538 AD 1798 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
666 AD 1926 AD
756 AD 2016 AD
Simpson was an Anglican priest, and an associate of John Wesley. He addressed his arguments on prophecy to skeptics and wavering Christians. On the little horn of Daniel 7, which
he described as one little horn, that was become so great and powerful, was also to grow
proud, and vain, and cruel, and bloody, and tyrannical, and idolatrous, and a vile persecutor
of the true servants of the living God, he wrote:2
This horribly bloody and tyrannical power, was to be aided and assisted in
its cruelties towards the genuine followers of the Lamb, by all the other seven
kingdoms, over which it had obtained an unbounded influence. This wicked and
cruel dominion, was to continue a time and times and half a time. A time here,
in prophetic language, signifies a Jewish year, which consisted of 360 days. The
times then will signify twice 360 days; and half a time will signify 180 days. But
1

Brief commentaries upon such parts of the Revelation and other prophecies as immediately refer to
the present times: With the prophetic, or, anticipated history of the church of Rome. To which is added
A pill for the infidel and atheist, by Joseph Galloway, 1809. p. 108.
2
Simpson, David. A plea for religion and the Sacred Writings: addressed to the disciples of Thomas
Paine, and wavering Christians of every denomination. Solomon Wiatt, 1809. pp. 154-156

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51

a day, in the language of prophecy, is put for a year. If, therefore, we add these
numbers together, they will be thrice 360 years, and 180 years, or exactly twelve
hundred and sixty years, for the continuance of this bloody and tyrannical power;
at the end of which period it is to be completely and everlastingly destroyed.
Let us see whether these strange predictions of Daniel have ever been accomplished.
The Roman empire was to be destroyed. It was so, in the fifth and sixth
centuries. It was to be divided into a number of small kingdoms. It was so
in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries. A little horn was to arise,
unperceived, and subdue three of the ten horns. The bishop of Rome, in a
secret and imperceptible manner, did arise to temporal dominion, and subdued
by the help of Pepin, three of those ten states into which the empire had been
divided; the senate of Rome, the kingdom of Lombardy, and the exarchate of
Ravenna; three governments all in Italy. And, it is extremely remarkable, that
upon becoming master of these three states, the bishop of Rome assumed a
triple crown, which he hath worn ever since, and which he continues to wear at
this very day!
The bishop of Rome was to retain his power over these three states, and
his influence over the seven others, 1260 years. If we knew exactly when to
begin to reckon these years, we should know precisely when the destruction of
Antichrist would take place. (5) Some begin to reckon from the year 606, when
the proud prelate of Rome was declared universal bishop. Others begin from the
year 666, the apocalyptic number; and others from the year 756, when he became
a temporal prince. If the first period be right, then the Pope, the undoubted
Antichrist of the New Testament, will be completely destroyed, as a horn, about
the year 1866. If the second period be intended by the spirit of prophecy, then
his end will be near the year 1926. But if the third period be the time, then
Antichrist will retain some part of his dominion over the nations till about the
year 2016.
Writing in about 1798, Simpson also anticipated the end of the 1,260 days of the prophecies of Revelation in his own time. He wrote:1
From this view of these two classes of predictions concerning the Saviour of
mankind, and the condition of the Christian church in the world, every candid and
sober-minded man, may see, without the smallest room for deception, that there
is something far more than human in the prophetic Scriptures. It is impossible
to account for all these strange coincidences, upon any principles of nature or
art whatever. Here is a long series of predictions running through all time, partly
fulfilled, partly fulfilling, and partly to be fulfilled. Let any man account for
it, without supernatural interposition. If he cannot, then the Scriptures are of

Ibid., pp. 184-187.

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Bryce Johnston
divine original; Jesus is the Saviour of mankind; all the great things foretold shall
be accomplished; infidels and infidelity shall be confounded world without end;
and sound, practical believers in Christ Jesus, of every denomination, shall stand
secure and joyful amidst the convulsion of nations, the subversion of churches,
the wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds. ...
Are not abundance of these predictions fulfilling at this day before our eyes?
Is not the religion of Jesus diffusing itself far and wide among the nations of the
earth? Did not the corruptions of it commence at a very early period? Did not
the church of Rome assume an universal spiritual empire in the seventh century,
and temporal dominion in the eighth? Is it not expressly predicted, that the
illegitimate empire of that church should continue the precise period of 1260
years? Does it not seem that those 1260 years are upon the point of expiring?
Were not great changes to take place among the kingdoms, into which the
Roman empire was to be divided, about the expiration of the said term? Have
not great changes already taken place in those kingdoms? Were not the nations,
which, for so many ages, had given their power unto the beast, to turn against
that beast, and use means for its destruction? Is not this part of the prophecy
also, in a good degree, fulfilled at the present moment? Have not all the catholic
powers forsaken the pope in the time of his greatest need? And is not he, who, a
few ages ago, made all Europe tremble at the thunder of his voice, now become
weak like other men? Are not the claws of the beast cut, and his teeth drawn,
so that he can no longer either scratch or bite? Is he not already in our day,
and before our own eyes, stripped of his temporal dominion? And doth not the
triple crown, even now dance upon his head? or rather, has he not forever lost
his right and title to wear it? Is it not extremely remarkable, and a powerful
confirmation of the truth of Scripture prophecy, that just 1260 years ago from
the present 1798, in the very beginning of the year 538, Belisarius put an end
to the empire of the Goths at Rome, leaving no power therein but the bishop of
that metropolis? Read these things in the prophetic Scriptures; compare them
coolly with the present state of Europe, and deny the truth of Divine revelation,
if you can.Open your eyes, and behold these things accomplished in the face of
the whole world. This thing is not done in a corner.

Bryce Johnston (1747-1805)

756 AD 1999 AD
Johnston was a minister at Hollywood, 2 miles north of Dumfries, Scotland. He followed
the principle suggested by Isaac Newton, of converting the numbers in Revelation to solar
years, and thought that the number of the beast, 666, represents 657 solar years that began
AD 95, when John wrote. They ended in AD 756, which was therefore the date of the
beasts commencement. The 1260 days he understood to be 1243 solar years, and by adding
1,243 years to 756, he arrived at the date 1999 AD for the termination of the 1,260 days.
52

Bryce Johnston

53

Discussing the period of the two witnesses he wrote:1

It will appear, that the holy city which the church of Rome shall tread under
foot for 42 months, shall at the end of that period be rescued from their hands,
and measured off to the true worshipers of God as certainly as the temple was
at the beginning of that period. This will be shewn in the commentary on chap.
xxi. 10, 21. Upon the principles established in the commentary on chap. ix. 5.
the forty-two months here, are 42 prophetic months, that is, 1260 years. But as
each of these years consists of twelve months, and each of these months of 30
days, each year must contain 360 days, which is five days and some fractions less
than the solar year, which hath for a considerable time also been the civil year.
Therefore five times 1260 days, which is 6300 days or 17 solar years, must be
deducted from the 1260 years, by which they will be reduced to 1243 solar years,
the exact time represented by the symbolical number of 42 months. During that
long period of time, the church of Rome shall appear in great outward pomp and
grandeur, and extend over a great part of the world, whilst the church of Christ
during the same period, blessed with all the essentials of true religion, shall be
stripped of outward magnificence. And during that period, the church of Rome
shall be vested with a temporal as well as an ecclesiastic jurisdiction.
But when did these 42 months commence? They commenced at the time the
church of Rome was vested with a temporal dominion, and the Popes received
the scepter of the Heathen emperors, as their predecessors in the government of
Rome. This shall be shewn in its proper place, from a prediction in chap, xiii.
18, to have been the year of Christ 756. And it shall be shewn from authentic
history, that in that very year Pepin king of France granted to the Pope and his
successors the temporal dominion of Rome, under the name of the patrimony of
St. Peter.
For the 1024 years of that time which is past, the church of Christ and
the church of Rome have appeared exactly in the situations in which they are
represented in this hieroglyphic. And we have no reason to doubt, that those
who shall live at the end of that period shall see that this prediction hath been
as exactly fulfilled in the last 20 years of of the period, as it has already been in
the first 1034 years of it.
This relative situation of the church of Christ and of the church of Rome, the
former worshiping God in spirit and in truth, according to the ordinances of divine
institution, without external pomp and shew, the latter regulating their worship
by many Heathenish rites with great outward pomp and shew, the former persecuted, and the latter persecuting it for the period of 1243 years, commencing in
the year of Christ 756, and consequently ending in the year 1999, is represented
by five different hieroglyphics in this, the 12th and 13th chapters of this book,

1
Johnston, Bryce. A commentary on the Revelation of St. John, Volume 1. William Creech, 1807.
p. 363-366. http://books.google.com/books?id=pPc2AAAAMAAJ

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Thomas Scott
and the precise same period of time fixed in every one of them, though mostly
in different expressions.
In this verse, it is represented by the Gentiles treading the holy city under their
foot for 42 months;In the third verse, by Christs two witnesses prophesying in
sackcloth for 1260 days;in chap. xii. 6. by the woman fed in the wilderness 1265
days;in chap. xii. 14. by the woman nourished in the wilderness for a time and
times and half a time, that is, for three years and an half;and in chap. xiii. 5.
by power given to the Beast to continue 42 months. The smallest attention may
satisfy every candid person, that all these five denominations of time signify the
same precise length of time. For three years and an half, each year consisting of
12 months, are exactly 42 months. And 42 months, each each month consisting
of 30 days, are exactly 1260 days. As we proceed it shall appear, that all these
different hieroglyphics refer to the relative situations of the church of Christ and
of the church of Rome in the same period of time, but in different points of view.

Thomas Scott (1747-1821)

Scott was the author of a popular Bible Commentary. In an article on Revelation 11:1, 2 he
wrote:1
The scene is the temple; and a reed like a measuring rod, being given to
the apostle, he was ordered to measure the temple, the altar, and the worshipers
in the inner court. (Notes, Ex. 27:9-19. Ez. 40:3.) This denoted that, in
the predicted period, there would be a small number, whose doctrine, worship,
and behavior, would bear measuring by the Word of God; and that these only
would be acceptable, interior worshipers; whereas, the outer court being left,
by express command, unmeasured, and given unto the Gentiles, emphatically
showed, that the greatest number of professed Christians would be formal, superstitious, and idolatrous worshipers; Christians only in name, but Gentiles in
wickedness, and even in idolatry. The holy city also, being trodden under foot
by them, implied that the church at large, and its most lucrative and eminent
places, would be filled with idolaters, infidels, and hypocrites, and that true
Christians would be oppressed in a grievous manner. The duration of the evil
times was fixed to 42 months, or 1260 days, which, by prophetical computation,
are so many years. (Notes, Dan. 7:23-27. 8:9-14. 12.5-13.) The whole of
Daniels prophecies should be compared with the subsequent parts of this book,
us the same events and dates are intended in both; and this gives a measure of
certainty to the interpretation. Daniel also fixes these events to the remains of
the fourth monarchy, after it was broken to pieces, and formed ten kingdoms; and
this determines the geography of them, especially to the western empire, which
1

Henry, Matthew, & Thomas Scott. The Comprehensive Commentary on the Holy Bible: ActsRevelation. Fessenden & Co., 1839. p. 699.
http://books.google.com/books?id=7hxVAAAAMAAJ

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John Chappel Woodhouse

55

was properly the seat of that monarchy. So that the outlines, both of the time
and place, to which these prophecies belonged, are unalterably determined, by
the prophets themselves; nor can the accomplishment of them be referred to any
other times or places, without doing the most manifest violence to them in both
respects. Indeed, the prophecies of Daniel, and those of the apostle, when properly explained, and compared with each other and with their accomplishment,
constitute the fullest imaginable demonstration, of the truth of the Scripture.
But demonstration itself cannot convince those, who will not bestow due pains
to examine it.The beginning of these 1260 years must be placed subsequent
to the first four trumpets, on the subversion of the Western empire, which was
completed A. D. 566. This made way for the pope, in process of time, to acquire
a vast accession of ecclesiastical dominion. (Note, 2 Thess. 2:3-7.) He became
universal bishop, A. D. 606; and was fully established as a temporal prince, A.
D. 756. Did we know exactly at what time to date the beginning of the 1260
years, we might show with certainty when they would terminate; but this would
not consist with that wise obscurity, which always, in some respects, rests on
prophecies, before they are fulfilled. Till the event, therefore, shall explain this
matter, it must be left undetermined; but perhaps the beginning of the rise and
of the fall of this antichristian tyranny, and the completion of them, may both
be at the distance of 1260 years from each other; as in more than one way the
Babylonish captivity lasted 70 years. (Notes, 2 Ki. 24:1, 8-16. Ezra 1:1-4. Dan.
1:1, 2.) The beginning, however, of these years cannot well be fixed sooner than
A.D. 606, nor later than A.D. 750. It is, indeed, far from probable, that the
beginning fell so late as this; but that it did not much precede 606, will, I think,
after wards appear. (Note, 712.)Measuring the servants of God, is equivalent
to sealing them.The unmeasured tenants of the outer court, and the unsealed
men throughout the Roman empire, are alike the votaries of the apostasy; while
they that were measured, and they that were sealed, are the saints who refused
to be partakers of his abominations. Faber.

John Chappel Woodhouse (1749-1833)

Woodhouse was Dean of Lichfield 1807-1833. His work on the Apocalypse was distinguished
by his spiritual approach. He endeavored to determine the meaning of the symbols from the
writings of the Old Testament prophets, and other scriptures. On the period when the two
witnesses prophesy, he wrote:1
To proceed to the application of this prophecy: we are not to expect a literal
accomplishment. For first, that would be contrary to the mode of interpretation,
1

Woodhouse, John Chappel. The Apocalypse, or Revelation of Saint John, translated: with notes,
critical and explanatory; to which is prefixed A dissertation on the divine origin of the book; in answer to
the objections of the late Professor J.D. Michaelis. 1805. pp. 294-298. http://books.google.com/books?
id=TNNJAAAAMAAJ

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to which we are in general directed by the highest authority; by our Lord himself
and angels, who, in explaining the mystery of the stars, the lamp-bearers, the
wild-beast, his heads, his horns, teach us to look for a hidden and allegorical
meaning. Secondly, such an explication becomes necessary in this particular
prophecy: for, the dead bodies are represented as lying in the streets of the
great city which is called spiritually Sodom, and Egypt, where also their Lord
was crucified. Now it is plainly, in a spiritual sense in which we are to understand
the words Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem: they are used metaphorically. And
further, the great city which is called Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem, cannot be
all of them, and therefore must be interpreted to signify some great society,
or body of men, which is like them all; resembling those famous communities
in the peculiar wickedness of each; and in rebellion to the most high God; for
such is the character of them all. As Jerusalem, in its degenerate days, is
by the prophets called Sodom and Gomorrah; so the great city, in which the
witnesses prophesy and suffer, is called after the name of all the above mentioned
communities, because resembling all. Thirdly; the time of the accomplishment of
this prophecy seems well ascertained: for, although doubt may arise concerning
the exact commencement, and consequently the close of its period; yet the main
part of it is plainly seen to occupy many centuries of the most degenerate and
idolatrous periods of the Christian Church; at a time when the Gentile world,
the European nations, professed the Christian Religion, but not in purity; a
time contemporary with the reign of the wild-beast; a period of 1260 years; a
considerable part of which, at least, is now past. Yet, during this period, we
cannot remark in history, that any such literal accomplishment has taken place.
Nor, (fourthly,) can we expect such literal accomplishment: because in other
instances, the acknowledged types under the Old Testament have not been thus
literally fulfilled in the Gospel. John the Baptist is said to come in the spirit
and power of Elias; nay, to be that very prophet; yet, conformably to the spirit
of meekness which belongs to the Gospel, he performed no avenging miracles; he
called down no fire from heaven to consume his enemies. He knew by the Holy
Ghost, and better than those disciples who entreated their Master for this fire,
what manner of Spirit he was of. He knew, that the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty, through God, to the pulling down strong holds.
Thus, in a spiritual sense, the prophecy may be accomplished in the witnesses,
without (1.) literal fire; without (2.) the hindrance of literal rain; or (3.) the
conversion of the waters literally into blood. The first may be deemed essentially
fulfilled, if their enemies, the enemies of pure Religion, are in many instances
dismayed, confounded, frustrated, and subdued by the heavenly words of their
mouth. The second, if the rain from heaven, which, spiritually interpreted, is the
blessing from heaven upon the growth of true Religion, is evidently suspended
during their prophecy. The third, if in the contest, their enemies, instead of the
peaceful enjoyment, expected to accrue from the overthrow of the witnesses, be
found to have that peace troubled and discomfited, and blood and slaughter to
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John Chappel Woodhouse

57

be poured on their own heads. Add to this, that the death of the witnesses is
also to be taken in a spiritual sense. Such interpretation agrees best with the
succession of witnesses, which, as before observed, must necessarily take place
in so long a duration of time. They do not all die, and again arise from the dead;
but if their religion and the power thereof be first extinguished, and then raised
again, the prophecy seems to be accomplished.
We are then to look beyond the literal sense; and fixing our attention on
the period of history, to which we seem directed, we cannot but remark a long
succession of ages, commencing with the times when the western Gentiles flowed
into the Church, and possessed the outer courts of the temple; when on their
ignorance and superstition a corrupt and ambitious clergy began to raise the
papal hierarchy, substituting pagan ceremonies and unauthorized observances in
the room of primitive Religion. These, in history are called the middle ages;
intervening between the bright period of Grecian and Roman literature, and the
restoration of learning in the fourteenth century; between the days of primitive
Christian knowledge, and the return of it at the Reformation. They are marked
in ecclesiastical history by increasing ignorance, superstition, corruption, and
by papal usurpation. But the progress of these foes to true Religion, and to
the happiness of mankind, was opposed and retarded by the professors of a
purer faith. God did not leave himself without a witness. There arose in
various parts of the great Christian republic, and at various periods, professors,
and preachers of a purer religion; of a religion formed upon the precepts and
promises revealed in that Sacred Book, which it was the constant endeavor of
the ecclesiastical usurpers to keep out of sight. A successive train of these,
though thinly scattered, was seen steadfastly to profess pure Religion, and, in
defiance of the papal thunder, to hold up to admiring Christians the light of the
Gospel, and the true worship of the Temple. Although beset with difficulties and
dangers, from the civil and ecclesiastical powers, now united to suppress them,
they stood their ground with a confidence and energy, which could arise only
from such a cause; the cause of truth, cherished and supported by the Spirit
and power of God. If they suffered, their enemies suffered also,were frequently
discomfited in the conflict, and enjoyed at last a dear-bought and only temporary
victory.
Although he thought the 42 months and 1,260 days represented so many years, Woodhouse was cautious about assigning any specific dates for the period.1
The four grand apocalyptic periods are involved very much together, and
before the final completion of them all has taken place, it may not be in the
power of man to settle the times when each of them had its commencement.
But, for the reasons above assigned, I am inclined to conjecture that the period

Ibid., p. 344.

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George Stanley Faber

of the beast maybe found to derive its beginning somewhat later than that of the
woman in the wilderness; and to receive its termination somewhat later than that
of the witnesses. His times seem rather later than either of theirs. And it may
perhaps be found, that those of the woman and of the witnesses are the same;
with which the other remaining period, that of the Gentiles treading the holy
city, seems also to accord. Commentators seem to have been too adventurous
in fixing the exact commencement of these periods, which appear to be involved
in a purposed obscurity, which the event only can clear. But it may be probable,
that the 1260 years of the Gentiles; of the woman in the wilderness, and of the
witnesses; will come to their conclusion, before the antichristian reign of the
beast is seen finally to cease. And this is all that I dare advance concerning
prophecies which are yet fulfilling.

George Stanley Faber (1773-1854)

604 AD 1864 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
Faber was an Anglican theologian, and a prolific author. He argued that the 1,260 days of
prophesying by the two witnesses, and the period when the woman of Revelation 12, who
represents the Church, is nourished in the wilderness, excluded the centuries when the Roman
Emperors were pagan. He wrote:1
IN the Prophecies of Daniel and St. John, frequent mention is made of a
certain period, during which, for wise purposes, unknown to us, the enemies
of God should be allowed to persecute and oppress his Church. This period is
indifferently described as consisting of three times and a half, 42 months, or
1260 days: for if we reckon a time or a year to contain 360 days, 42 months, or
1260 days, will, in that case, be exactly equal to three such years and a half In
the language of prophecy however, as it is well known, natural years are termed
days. Hence 1260 days mean 1260 years: and, by a parity of reckoning, 42
months mean so many months of years; and three years and a half the same
number of years of years. Consequently the period, during which the Church is
to be oppressed by her enemies, amounts to 1260 natural years.
Both Daniel and St. John have given us abundantly sufficient reasons for
concluding, that this period of persecution and trouble has no connexion with
the persecutions which the Church endured from the pagan Roman Emperors.
The first of these prophets, in his vision of the four great beasts or empires,
intimates, that the power, into whose hand the saints should be given during

Faber, George Stanley, A dissertation on the prophecies, that have been fulfilled, are now fulfilling, or
will hereafter be fulfilled, relative to the great period of 1260 years. M. and W. Ward, and E. Duyckinck,
1811. p. 25-27.
http://books.google.com/books?id=dDMXAAAAYAAJ

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the appointed period of 1260 years, should begin to arise in the age in which the
last beast, or The Roman Empire, was divided into ten horns or kingdoms. The
Roman Empire, however, was not thus divided till after it had become Christian,
and till all the persecutions of the pagan Emperors had ceased. Whence it will
necessarily follow, that the period of 1260 years cannot include the persecutions
of Paganism, and that the power symbolized by the little horn of the Roman
beast must be some power at once posterior to and distinct from the line of the
pagan Emperors. The second of these prophets, in a similar manner, describes
a variety of important events as taking place between his own age and that in
which the 1260 years may be supposed to have commenced; and, like Daniel,
teaches us, that the date of those 1260 years is to be sought for, not at any
era while the Roman Empire was one great monarchy, but after it had been
broken into ten kingdoms. Independent indeed of chronological considerations,
the very term of 1260 years plainly shews, that that period can have no relation
to the tyranny of pagan Rome. Constantine published his famous edict for the
encouragement of Christianity, and the abolition of all persecution, in the year
313. The primitive Church, therefore, was only subject to the malice of Paganism
during the space of 313 years; whereas it is, more or less, to be subjected to the
malice of the little horn during the space of 1260 years.
But, although the pagan Roman Empire, has no connection with the persecution of 1260 years, we are evidently to look for the grand promoter or promoters
of it within the limits of the old Roman Empire. The little horn, the ten horns,
and the last head of the fourth head, all arise out of that beast; the Roman
Empire, therefore, must necessarily comprehend every one of these powers.
The 1,260 days, Faber said, represent 1,260 years of apostasy, and began in the year 606
AD, which implied the period would end in 1866. He wrote:1
The period, assigned both by Daniel and St. John to the tyrannical reign of
live man of sin or the little horn of the Roman beast, and the dominance of the
great western Apostasy, is three times and a half, or 1260 years. Here, therefore,
we must define the proper mode of dating that period.
In prophecies, which are strictly chronological, the overt acts of communities,
or the heads of communities, are necessarily alone considered in the fixing of
dates; because it would be impossible for us to know how to date any particular
period from the insulated and unauthorized acts of individuals. But in prophecies
which are not strictly chronological, the scope is much more wide, and much
less definite; extending, not merely to communities and their heads, but to every
individual whose actions the prophecies may describe. On these grounds there are
two entirely different dates to the Apostasy. The first is its date when considered
as relating to individuals: the second is its date, when considered as relating to

Ibid., p. 31-33.

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that community over which the man of sin presides. St. Paul describes the
apostasy in its first, or individual character; Daniel and St. John specify its
triumphant duration in its second or general character. Now it is manifest, that
the date of the Apostasy, when considered individually, is the very day and hour
when any single Christian individual was first guilty of any one of those acts
which characterize the Apostasy; and it is equally manifest, that this date never
can be ascertained by man, but is known unto God alone. We can say, indeed,
in general terms, that monkish celibacy, and a superstitious veneration of saints
and angels, were creeping fast into the Church during the fourth, fifth, and sixth
centuries; but we shall find it impossible to point out the precise year of their
commencement. Such being the case, Daniel and St. John, in their chronological
prophecies, consider the Apostasy only in its public and authorized capacity; and
teach us to esteem the 1260 years, as being the period of the public dominance of
the Apostasy, not of its individual continuance. Accordingly they both specify,
with much exactness, the era, from which those years are to be computed.
Daniel directs us to date them from the time when the saints were by some
public net of the state delivered into the hand of the little horn: and St. John,
in a similar manner, teaches us to date them from the time when the woman,
the true Church, fled into the wilderness from the face of the serpent: when the
mystic city of God began to be trampled under foot by a new race of Gentiles, or
idolaters; when the great Roman beast, which had been slain by the preaching of
the Gospel, revived in its bestial character, by setting up an idolatrous spiritual
tyrant in the Church, or, as Daniel expresses it, by delivering the saints into the
hand of such a tyrant; and when the witnesses began to prophecy in sackcloth.
A date, which will answer to these concurring particulars, can certainly have no
connection with the mere acquisition of a temporal principality by the Pope. It
seems most probably to be the year, in which the Bishop of Rome was constituted
supreme head of the Church, with the proud title of Universal Bishop: for by such
an act the whole Church, comprehending both good and bad, both the saints of
the Most High and those who were tainted with the gentilism of the Apostasy,
considered individually, were formally given by the chief secular power, the head
of the Roman Empire, into the hand of the encroaching little horn. This year
was the year 606, when the reigning Emperor Phocas, the representative of the
sixth head of the beast, declared Pope Boniface to be Universal Bishop: and
the Roman church hath ever since shown itself to be that little horn, into whose
hands the saints were then delivered, by styling itself, with equal absurdity and
presumption, the Catholic or universal Church. The year 606 then seems to be
the date of the 1260 years, and the era of what St. Paul terms the revelation of
the man of sin. The Apostasy, in its individual capacity, was already in existence
previous to such revelation; hence he represents it as commencing before it: but,
as soon as the man of sin was openly revealed, by having the saints delivered
into his hand, then apparently commenced the 1260 years of the Apostasy in its
public and dominant capacity.
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James Hartley Frere

61

Faber seems to have modified his date to 1864, in the following, written in 1852:1
If I have correctly placed the termination of the 1260 years in the year 1864,
we may expect, in no great length of time, the commencement of a General War,
a War of Opinion, in Europe: and, when we consider the baleful perfection to
which the Military Art of Destruction has now been carried, we may readily understand the force of the declaration, that, in the latter scenes of the internecive
war which open out at the close of the 1260 years and at the commencement
of the Time of the End, synchronically with the Deliverance of Daniels People;
there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.
Faber believed that when the 1,260 years ended, the Jews would be converted, and return
to their homeland. Against those who said the 1,260 years had already expired, he said,
Some have supposed, that the 1260 years are already expired, and that their
expiration took place about the commencement of the French revolution. As
yet I have seen no sufficient reasons to induce me to assent to this opinion.
According to the most natural interpretation of Dan. xii. 6, 7, the interpretation
adopted by Mr. Mede and other eminent expositors, the interpretation which
best harmonizes with parallel prophecies, the Jews will begin to be restored so
soon as the three times and a half shall have expired. But the Jews have not
begun to be restored. Therefore we scarcely seem warranted in supposing that
the three times and a half have expired. However this may be, I have little
doubt that the wonderful shaking of nations during these last eighteen years is
preparatory to the return and conversion of Gods chosen people, and to the final
overthrow of his congregated enemies.

James Hartley Frere (1779-1866)

532 AD 1792 AD
Frere identified Napoleon as the vile person, to whom they shall not give the honor of the
Kingdom, of Daniel 11:21, in his book A Combined View of the Prophecies of Daniel, Esdras
and St John, Shewing that all the Prophetic Writings are Formed upon One Plan, published
before the battle of Waterloo, in 1815.2 Frere became notorious for date-setting, which was
distinguished for including not only the year, but also the month and day. He claimed that
the termination of 1,260 years was on 21st September, 1792:3

1
Faber, G. S. Napoleon III: The Man of Prophecy Or the Revival of the French Emperorship Anticipated from the Necessity of Prophecy. 1852. p. 69-70
2
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=397101&section=1.5.2
3
Frere, James Hartley. A combined view of the prophecies of Daniel, Ezra, and St. John. J. Hatchard,
1826. pp. 38-39.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ke00AAAAMAAJ

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William Miller
The Reign Of Popery is predicted in Daniels vision of the Four Beasts, where it
is said, that the Saints should be given into the hands of the little Papal horn
for a time and times, and the dividing of time, or for 1260 natural years.In
the Little Opened Book of Saint John, it is the period of the forty-two prophetic
months, or 1260 natural years, during which the ten-horned Beast, or the Roman
empire is described as being under the influence of the two-horned Beast, or the
Papacy. It is also the same period of 1260 prophetic days, or natural years,
during which the two Witnesses are said to prophesy, clothed in sackcloth: or
the Old and New Testaments to be held in disesteem by the Papists.It is likewise
the same period of a time, and times, and half a time, or 1260 natural years,
during which the Woman is said to be nourished in the wilderness: or the true
Church to be secretly sustained, though in barrenness and obscurity.
It is also the same period of 42 prophetic months, or 1260 natural years, during
which the Outer Court of the Temple is given to be trodden under foot of the
Gentiles: or the visible Church is permitted to be overrun by the Papists.This
period is supposed to extend from March, 533, to 21st September, 1792.
The Period of the Reign Of Infidelity in the history of the Church (being the
same as that of the destruction of the Empire) is the period of the 30 years
of Daniel or difference, between the two periods of the 1260 and 1290 years,
including also the first part of the following 45 years.

Frere proposed dates for the termination of the 1,290 years and the 1,335 years of Daniel
12:11-12, and predicted that the Jews would be restored to their land after 1823.1
It has been already shewn when examining other prophecies, that the 1260
years prosperity of the Papacy terminate in the year 1792, and the 1290 years in
18223: subsequently to which (the period of the seventh Vial alone intervening,)
the Papal and Infidel powers will be destroyed, and the Jews restored to their
own land. Prophetic history then becomes less particular and distinct; for the
world is described as in a state of trouble, such as never was since there was a
nation, even unto that same time; and no farther information is given except
as to the blessedness of those who should wait and come to the end of the period
of 45 years, or to the year 1867.

William Miller (1782-1849)

538 AD 1798 AD
Miller thought the two witnesses represent the scriptures. In 1840 he wrote:2

1
2

Ibid., p. 256.
http://www.earlysda.com/miller/views4.html

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Matthew HabershonJoshua William Brooks

63

What are those witnesses? Rev. xi. 4: These are the two olive-trees, and
the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. Zech. iv.: The
candlestick is there called the word of God unto Zerubbabel. Psalm cxix. 105:
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. The olive-trees
are sons of oil, the evidence for our faith in Christ. John v. 39: Search the
Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which
testify of me. The answer then is, the Scriptures.
Miller claimed that the one thousand two hundred and sixty years of the papacy were to
be reckoned from A. D. 538, by virtue of the decree of Justinian. This decree, though issued
A. D. 533, did not go into full effect until 538, when the enemies of the Catholics in Rome
were subjugated by Belisarius, a general of Justinian. A biographer wrote:1
Miller adopted the Protestant view, that they represent years. There is probably no point respecting which Protestant commentators have been more agreed
than this. Faber, Prideaux, Mede, Clarke, Scott, the two Newtons, Wesley, and
almost every expositor of note, have considered this a settled question. Indeed, so
universal has been this interpretation of these periods that Professor Stuart says:
IT IS A SINGULAR FACT THAT THE GREAT MASS OF INTERPRETERS in
the English and American world have, for many years, been wont to understand
the days designated in Daniel and the Apocalypse as the representatives or symbols of years. I found it difficult to trace the origin of this GENERAL, I might
say ALMOST UNIVERSAL, CUSTOM.

Matthew Habershon (1789-1852)

533 AD 1793 AD
583 AD 1843 AD
Habershon was an English architect, who wrote several books on the time periods of the
prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. Noting that several of the dates that other interpreters
had identified as milestones, marking the fulfillment of the 1,260 years, had passed without
incident, he suggested a double commencement, and a double termination to the 1,260 year
period.2

Joshua William Brooks (1790-1882)

Brooks was an Anglican priest, and Vicar of All Saints Church, Nottingham, England, 18431864. He reviewed many attempts by others to the discover the start and end dates of
1

http://www.earlysda.com/miller/william-miller-biography-11.html
Habershon, Matthew. A dissertation on the prophetic scriptures: chiefly those of a chronological
character; shewing their aspect on the present times, and on the destinies of the Jewish nation. Printed
by G. Ellerton, and published by J. Nisbet, 1834. p. viii.
http://books.google.com/books?id=kdM0AAAAMAAJ
2

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Joshua William Brooks

the prophetic 1,260 years in his book, Elements of prophetical interpretation, but avoided
supporting any particular pair of dates. He called such attempts rash.1
Among the various mistakes upon the subject, some have been rashly led to fix
the event to a certain year, or even a certain day; a mode of interpretation which
does not appear to have any warrant in the word of God; but the contrary. For
though abundant is revealed concerning the signs which shall precede that event,
whereby the believer may know that his redemption draweth nigh; (Luke xxi. 28;)
yet of the day and hour of his coming it is not given to any man to know. (Matt.
xxi v. 36.) And even in the Apocalypse, which is by some supposed to be a
subsequent specification of the times, the advent is nevertheless spoken of as to
take place suddenly, and as a thief cometh.
Granting then that many have been deceived by such calculations; and granting
likewise, that the whole church has been repeatedly in error on this point, and
have indulged in delusive expectations; there is at all events nothing in the
objection drawn from previous mistakes on this point, which will not apply with
equal strength to the expectation of the advent, let it be entertained at any
period whatsoever. If there be any force in the argument, it will be as forcible
on the very day previous to our Lords actual coming, as it is now; and there
will be just as much reason then as now for deprecating the hope of his speedy
appearing.
A note in his book lists some of the dates that had been previously proposed for the rise
of Antichrist, the end of the world, and the end of the 1,260 years.2
The reader who has a desire for entering into these discrepancies will find
the following formidable array of different dates brought forward by Calmet (a
Roman Catholic writer) which have been assigned by different expositors for the
rising of Antichrist. Arnaud de Villeneuve 1326, Francis Melet 1530 or 1540,
John of Paris 1560, Cardinal de Cusa 1730 or 1734, Peter DAille 1789, Jerom
Cardan 1800, and John Pico of Mirandolo 1994. Bengel also notices the following
years, as being periods which were immediately preceded by a great expectation
that the world would come to an end; (but this expectation existed without any
adequate, cause,) viz. 1288, 1388, 1488, 1588, and 1666. Pref. p. 311. The
Rev. S. R. Maitland gives us the following dates which have been fixed upon
for the termination of the 1260 years of Dan. vii. viz. 1650, 1655, 1670, 1686,
1694, 1697, 1716, 1736, &c. Reply to Cuninghame, p. 113. And in his Reply
to a Review in the Morning Watch he adduces various instances from modern
writers, who differ from each other in regard to important events which they fix
the accomplishment of as follows: 1843, 1866, 1873, 1888, 1917, 1920, 2000.
1

Brooks, Joshua William. Elements of prophetical interpretation. Orrin Rogers, 1841. p. 127.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=ybw0AAAAMAAJ
2
Ibid., p. 333.

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65

Edward Irving (1792-1834)

533 AD 1793 AD
Irvings views on eschatology were strongly influenced by James Hartley Frere.1
Irvings interpretation of the 1,260 days, which followed the interpretation proposed by
Frere, is expressed in a book published in 1828:2
The next passage to which I have to direct your attention is the last verse of the
book of Daniel, where it is written, But go thou thy way till the end be: for
thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. The first question
here is, What days meaneth he? The verse preceding furnisheth the answer:
Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five
and thirty days. These are the days at the end of which Daniel was to stand
in his lot; that is, his allotted office or station upon the earth; for if it be his
condition in the middle state, then he is in it long ere now. Daniel is now resting
with Job and the rest of the saints; but at the end of these days he shall stand
in his lot of active administration. Now, concerning this awakening from the
sleep of the dust, you have particular mention made of it in ver. 2, and in ver.
1, concerning the deliverance of the Jewish people, and the time of unexampled
trouble which is to precede it. And in the last verse of the foregoing chapter you
have the destruction of the infidel Antichrist, which is to precede these, or to fall
out about the same time. Of which events not one having yet happened, we can
with perfect certainty say, that the end of the days, or the last days, are not
yet ushered in. But a more particular consideration of this passage will throw
yet more light upon the subject which we have in hand. After Christfor it is no
otherhad revealed all the mysteries up to the resurrection of the saints, Daniel
heard (ver. 6) a questioner ask further information as to the time how long it
should be to the end of these wonders. Who received for answer, that it should
be for a time, times, and an half; that is, the period of the little horns tyranny
over the saints: but how much longer he saith not, but signifieth that it should
be for a season longer, until God should have accomplished to scatter (that is,
should be done or finished with scattering) the power of the holy people; then all
these things should be finished. That is to say, they would run through the Papal
period, and continue till the restoration of the Jews. Daniel, not understanding
this, because it was sealed till the time of the end, and hath only lately been
opened, did inquire at one of the questioners, What shall be the end of these
things? and in answer received this information (ver. 11): From the time that
the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate

http://www.cc-vw.org/articles/irving1.html
Irving, Edward. The last days: a discourse on the evil character of these our times, providing them
to be the perilous times of the last days. J. Nisbet, 1850. p. 19-22.
http://books.google.com/books?id=B9IHAAAAQAAJ
2

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Edward Irving
set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he
that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty
days. All the time up to the conclusion of the Papal usurpation is reckoned
by times, being one thousand two hundred and sixty days; but all beyond it is
reckoned by days, being thirty days and forty-five days, these being the odd days
over the three times and a halfa time or year being three hundred and sixty of
these days, as we learn from the Apocalypse. (Compare xi. 2, 3, with xii. 6,
14.) The times and the fullness of the times, so often mentioned in the New
Testament, I consider as referring to the great period numbered by times; the
days, to the thirty and the forty-five days by which the course of the Lords
purposes over-went the three times and a half. Of these days, I should consider
the forty-five days to be the last of the days in which these great events are to
be revealed. Now, if this reasoning be correct, as there can be little doubt that
the one thousand two hundred and sixty days concluded in the year 1792, and
the thirty additional days in the year 1823, we are already entered upon the last
days, and the ordinary life of a man will carry many of us to the end of them.
If this be so, it gives to the subject with which we have introduced this years
ministry a very great importance indeed. Further, if you will look to the opening
of this vision (x. 14), you will see a great confirmation of this our conclusion;
for it is there said that this vision was expressly given to show him what should
befall his people in the latter days. Now, in all the vision the Jewish people are
not once mentioned till xii. 1, when they are delivered immediately upon the
fall of Antichrist, which is not yet happened, and is, as we believe, just about to
arrive.

In 1826 Irving learned Spanish, in order to translate a book by Manuel Lacunza, a Spanish
Jesuit, The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty, who used the pseudonym Juan
Josafat Ben-Ezra, pretending to be a converted Jew. In the preliminary Discourse Irving
wrote of Lacunzas position on the 1,260 days:1
This indeed is the point in which our author falls short of himself, viz. in all
that respects the chronology which is intermingled with the prophecy, whereof
he makes not the slightest use in guiding himself with respect to our present
place in the prophetic chart, but simply looks upon all the numbers 1260, 1290,
and 1335 days, as determining the duration of the great and awful era which
precedes the coming of the Lord. And I confess that upon this system he hath
made out such a very strong case, derived and deduced from all the scriptures,
that though he hath not shaken me in the least out of our interpretation of these
numbers, he hath sometimes awakened in my mind the suspicion of a possibility,
that when the time of that last great antichristian trouble shall arrive, these
numbers may be found to have a literal application without prejudice to that
1
Lacunza, Manuel & Lacunza, Edward Irving. The coming of Messiah in glory and majesty. Volume
1. Seeley, 1827. p. xxx-xxxi.

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67

symbolical one which they have already had; even as this symbolical answers, as
I conceive, to a former literal period given in the three years and a half famine
in the time of Ahab, which closed in the destruction of the priests of Baal, and
the coming of rain, after seven successive messages to look out for it from Elias
the true prophet of God. And I have sometimes had a suspicion, moreover,
that the three years and a half duration of the Lords suffering ministry, may
be a type of the duration of the sufferings of the Jewish church when it shall
be again called; for I continually find the suffering Messiah, and the suffering
Jewish church, interwoven in the prophecies of the Old Testament, especially in
the Psalms, of which the ciind may be taken as an example. Now it may be as
Ben-Ezra argueth, that while the Israel of the apostate Gentile church is enduring
the three years and a half famine and sore suffering in the days of king Ahab,
or the personal infidel Antichrist, the Jewish church may be suffering the same
three years and a half trial and persecution, which Messiah endured for them,
ending in that agony of sorrow described in the xiith chapter of Zechariah, and
in their apparent death preparatory to their great resurrection. I know not what
there may be in this, and I do but throw it out as a conjecture and suspicion
which hath oft been forcibly awakened in my own mind. And thus it may be,
that both we Protestants, and Ben-Ezra, may be in the right.

Samuel Roffey Maitland (1792-1866)

Maitland was a lawyer and Bible scholar who became librarian to the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1826 he published a book in which he attacked the views of George Stanley Faber,
and proposed that the prophecies described an individual human Antichrist who will arise at
the end of the age, an interpretation that was previously advanced by the Jesuit Francisco
Ribera in 1590. He wrote:1
After much consideration, I feel convinced that, the time, times, and dividing
of time; Dan. vii. 25: Time, times and a half; Dan. xii. 7: Time, times,
and half a timer Rev. xii. 14: Forty and two months; Rev. xi. 2 xiii. 5:
The thousand two hundred and threescore days; Rev. xi. 3: denote a period
of 1260 natural days.
I believe it to be a rule of sound criticism, that we should take the literal
sense of every writer, unless sufficient reasons can be given for departing from it.
Whether those generally assigned for the mystical interpretation of the passages
just cited, are satisfactory, I proceed to enquire.
But in fact, 42 months can only be equated with 1,260 days in an ideal manner; if the
months are taken to be lunar, the number of days is about 1,240, and in 42 calendar months
1

Maitland, S. R. An Enquiry into the Grounds on which the Prophetic Period of Daniel and St. John
Has been Supposed to Consist of 1260 Years. London. 1826. p. 2.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Zb606lMolEwC

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there are about 1,278 days. This argues against interpreting the 1,260 days as a period of
natural days. Similarly the numbers given by Daniel, 1,290 days and 1,335 days, do not fit a
real three years and a half, again implying these are numbers signify an ideal period rather
than a literal three and a half years.

Edward Bishop Elliott (1793-1875)

606 AD 1866 AD
Elliott was an Anglican clergyman and premillenarian writer. His four-volume work, Horae
Apocalypticae went through five editions. Elliott supported the Historicist interpretation,
against Preterism and Futurism. A Wikipedia article states:1
Reverend Elliott set out what he saw as the history of Christs secret ones or
the Church in the wilderness by which the spirit of primitive Christian doctrine
was kept alive during the epoch of the Beast. Witnesses listed (amongst others)
were Alcuin, Claude of Turin, the Paulicians, Peter de Bruys, and the Poor Men
of Christ who had originated in Cologne. Edward Elliott specifically identified
these as a proto-Protestant underground. He said the prophetic period of 1260
years was simultaneous for all its manifestations; the period during which the
gentiles trample the temple court, the period of the woman in the wilderness,
the reign of the Beast and the period in which the two witnesses prophesy.
[Horae Apocalypticae Vol 2 p. 412] When he first wrote, this period of 1260
years had yet to come to an end. But he wanted the murder and resurrection
of the witnesses to coincide, not with the end of the period, but with the final
persecution of the Waldenses followed by their resurrection represented by the
Reformation.
Were this to be ruled out, then the Reformation would not be marked by
any special prophetic fulfillment and the period when the gospel message would
be almost totally extinguished would still be in the future. This he found unpalatable. He got around the dilemma by suggesting that the sense of Revelation
11:7 would be better taken as when the witnesses had perfected their testimony
rather than when they had finished their testimony. This meant the death of
the witnesses was during their prophetic period and not at its end so there need
be no hiatus to allow for the events preceding their ascension. Then, the millennium could start as soon as the prophetic period had ended which was what
was required of Daniel 7:25.
The great city where all this took place was Rome. But Revelation 11: 8
described it as where also our Lord was crucified which seemed to point to
Jerusalem. Again, Reverend Elliott preferred a slightly different wording, where
also their Lord hath been crucified [Horae Apocalypticae Vol 2 p. 439] thus
the witnesses were murdered in Rome in remembrance of Christs death and the
1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horae Apocalypticae

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precise occasion was the Fifth Council of the Lateran of 1512. For the witnesses
resurrection, Edward Elliott quoted Pope Adrian VI, The heretics Huss and
Jerome seem to be alive again in the person of Luther. The witnesses ascension
he assigned to the Peace of Passau 1552. [Horae Apocalypticae Vol 2 p. 469]
Elliotts views on the 1,260 days are discussed further in a critique by Benjamin Wills
Newton beginning on page 80.

Albert Barnes (1798-1870)

533 AD 1793 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
752 AD 2012 AD
1073 AD 2333 AD
Barnes was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. He believed the
prophetic 1,260 days were 1,260 years which began with the rise of the Papacy, but that
date that was difficult to determine. In an extended note to his commentary on Daniel
7:23-27, he wrote:1
Different writers have assigned different periods for the rise of the Papacy,
and different acts as the first act of that power; and all the prophecies as to
its termination depend on the period which is fixed on as the time of its rise.
It is this which has led to so much that is conjectural, and which has been the
occasion of so much disappointment, and which throws so much obscurity now
over all calculations as to the termination of that power. In nothing is the
Scripture more clear than that that power shall be destroyed; and if we could
ascertain with exactness the date of its origin, there would be little danger of
erring in regard to its close. The different periods which have been fixed on as
the date of its rise, have been principally the following: (1) An edict published
by Justinian (A. D. 533), and a letter addressed by him at the same time to
the Pope, in which he acknowledged him to be the head of the churches, thus
conferring on him a title belonging only to the Saviour, and putting himself and
empire under the dominion of the Bishop of Rome. Duffield on the Prophecies,
p. 281. (2) The decree of the emperor Phocas (A. D. 606), confirming what had
been done by Justinian, and giving his sanction to the code of laws promulgated
by him: a code of laws based on the acknowledged supremacy of the Pope, and
which became the basis of European legislation for centuries; and conferring on
him the title of Universal Bishop. (3) The act of Pope Stephen, by which,

Barnes, Albert. Notes on the book of Daniel: with an introd. dissertation. 1853. p. 329. http:
//books.google.com/books?id=sNw7AAAAcAAJ
For the substance of Albert Barnes note on Daniel 7:23-27, see:
http://vinyl2.sentex.net/tcc/dload/BarnesNote.pdf

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when appealed to by the claimant to the crown of France, he confirmed Pepin in
the kingdom, and set aside Childeric III., and, in return, received from Pepin the
Exarchate of Ravenna and the Pentapolis. See Rankes Hist. of the Papacy, vol.
I. 23. This occurred about A. D. 752. (4) The opinion of Mr. Gibbon (IV. 363,)
that Gregory the Seventh was the true founder of the Papal power. Gregory
the Seventh, says he, who may be adored or detested as the founder of the
Papal monarchy, was driven from Rome, and died in exile at Salerno. Gregory
became Pope A. D. 1073. These different dates, if assumed as the foundation
of the Papal power, would, by the addition to each of the period of 1260 years,
lead respectively to the year 1793, 1866, 2105, and 2333, as the period of the
termination of the Papal dominion.

William De Burgh (1801-1866)

De Burgh was an eminent scholar and the rector at Ardboe, Tyrone, Ireland. He is known for
his Commentary on the Book of Psalms. In an appendix in his Commentary on Revelation,
he discussed the times of Antichrist:1
From a consideration of Daniel, ix. 27And he (that is, not the Messiah
but the Prince to come who shall destroy the city and sanctuary ver. 26)
shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (or one seven i. e. of
years) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation
to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,
even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the
desolate,it would appear that the time of Antichrists power (of whom I believe
this passage speaks) is seven years, which is divided into two periods of 31/2
years, or 1260 days, each: the difference between which seems to be, that,
for the first half week, or 31/2 years, he is in covenant with the Jewsworking
deceitfully after the league made with him, and corrupting by flatteries the
wicked of them, as said of him ch. xi. 23, 32but in the last half declares himself,
turns against them, and becomes by his persecution of them the accomplisher
of the indignation, and at the same time the means of trying and purifying a
faithful remnant.
Moreover, that I am not singular in referring the one week of Daniel to the
times of Antichrist will be seen from the following passage of Sir Isaac Newton,
which not only shows his opinion but that of the early fathers. In his exposition
of ver. 25,Know therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the
Commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince shall be
seven weekshe thus writes:
The former part of the prophecy (ver. 24) related to the first coming of
Christ, being dated to his coming as a Prophet: this being dated to his coming
1
De Burgh, William. An exposition of the book of the Revelation. Hodges, Smith, & Co, 1857. pp.
411-412. http://books.google.com/books?id=epQCAAAAQAAJ

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to be Prince or King, seems to relate his second coming. There, the prophet was
consummate, and the Most Holy anointed: here, He that was anointed comes to
be Prince and to reign. For Daniels prophecies reach to the end of the world; and
there is scarce a prophecy in the Old Testament concerning Christ, which doth
not, in something or other, relate to his second coming. If divers of the ancients,
as Irenaeus, Julius Africanus, Hippolitus the Martyr and Apollinaris, bishops of
Laodicea, applied the half week to the times of Antichrist; why may not we,
by the same liberty of interpretation, apply the seven weeks to the time when
Antichrist shall be destroyed by the brightness of Christs coming?
I would add that this also accounts in some degree for the precise period of
three-and-a-half years, by referring it to the greater period of the complete week,
or seven of years, as its half: while it furnishes another and decisive argument
against those who interpret the 1260 days as years; inasmuch as they will have
to show two periods of 1260 years instead of one.
De Burgh further discredited the theory that the 1,260 days represent 1,260 years in
another apendix.1
The argument for and against the day-for-year system of interpreting this
period, may, as far as the appeal is to Scripture, be stated in a short space.
I. For this mode of interpretation the warrants from Scripture referred to are
only three,viz.
1. Numbers, xiv. 33, 34:And your children shall wander in the wilderness
forty yearsafter the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even
forty days, each day for a year, and ye shall bear your iniquity even forty years.
But this, it has been very justly remarked, is not a case in point, inasmuch as
the period embraced in the prediction is declared, as it was fulfilled, in years; and
the forty days are mentioned, not at all as an expression for that period, but its
reason; whereas the 1260 days are always the expression for the period which
is the subject of the Prophecy in which they occur.
In other words, to make the cases parallel, the passage in Numbers should
have said, ye shall wander in the wilderness and bear your iniquity forty days
without any intimation that forty years were intended, and leaving this to be
gathered only from the event.
2. The second passage adduced is Ezek. iv. 4-6, where the Lord having
directed the prophet to pourtray a siege of Jerusalem as a sign to the house of
Israel, addsLie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the bouse
of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it
thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity,
according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt
thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished

Ibid., pp. 413-417.

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William De Burgh
them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house
of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
But this is as little to the purpose as the former; or rather is, as well as it,
a proof plain against the system it is adduced to support For, again, the very
words relied onI have given thee a day for a yearapprised the prophet and
his people that a period of years was intended of which the prescribed days were
but the type. In other words,again in this instance, a prophecy fulfilled in years
was announced in years; while we are asked, on the warrant of this, to believe
that a prophecy announced only in days was to be fufilled in years.
3. [Elided...]
II. Against this mode of interpretation the arguments on the other hand are
many, some of which I will merely enumerate without dwelling on them. And,
1. All the chronological prophecies in the Bible which have undoubtedly been
fulfilled, whether expressed in days, months, or years, have been fulfilled literally;
as for example,The 120 years and the seven days notice of the flood, and
forty days rain, Gen. vi. 3; vii. 4. The 400 years sojourning of the Israelites,
Gen. xv. 13. The forty years wandering in the wilderness, Num. xiv. 33, 34.
The three score and five years allowed to Ephraim, Isa. vii. 8. The seventy
years of Tyre, chap, xxiii. 15. The seventy years captivity in Babylon, Jer.
xxv. 11: and a number of others less notable.
2. In the same book in which the mention of the 1260 days first occurs,
namely, in Daniel, chap, vii 25, where it is expressed, a time, times, and dividing
of time, we have at once both the definition of a time, as meaning a year,
and the proof that a literal year is intended: namely, in chap. iv. 34, the seven
times decreed to pass over Nebuchadnezzar, which the mode of calculation
adopted for the time, times, and half would make 2520 years that the monarch
was removed from his kingdom; but which the authors of that calculation are
therefore compelled to admit are years, as proved by the event; and thus are
forced to assign two different meanings to the same word in the same prophet!
3. Presumptive against such a period as one thousand two hundred and sixty
years being the subject of the prophecy, is the fact that it would have effectually
prevented that expectation of the Lords coming which tbe Church is continually
exhorted to cherish, and which is said to be the attitude of the faithful servant:
that is, unless the Prophecy were to remain wholly unintelligible, and therefore
useless. For it would, if at all understood, be an infallible and positive information
to the Church that the coming of the Lord could not take place for 1260, or a
thousand, or so many hundreds of years as remained unexpired of the period.
And, that the Lord has not come for so long is one thing; but that he should
have told his Church he would not, is quite another. It will be found, however,
that the Scripture interposes no period between any existing generation of men
and the Lords coming, which does not admit the possibility of his coming to
that generation.
4. As it will not, of course, be contended that days always mean years, or
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a year 360 years, in prophetic language(for in that case a prophet meaning to

say 1260 days, or 31/2 years literal, would have no way to express himself)it
follows that, admitting some instances would be found in which a day means
a year, still in others it would be a question which the time was figuratively or
literally expresseda question only to be decided by the matter of the Prophecy
or the events predicted. But this brings us from the direct Scriptural argument
to the consideration of the interpretations of its prophecies, and especially of the
Apocalypse, founded on the year-for-day theory; and, as the principal of these
have passed in review in these Lectures, the reader must be left to judge whether
with their endless discrepancies and utter uncertaintythey can be received as
proofs of it.
5. And last:It is admitted by the supporters of that theory that for the first
four centuries at least the days in Daniels and the Apocalyptic prophecies
respecting Anti-Christ were interpreted literally by the Fathers of the Christian
Church:So Elliott (Horae Apocalypticae, Part iv. ch. ix. 1, Vol. iii. p. 233,
Third Edit.), who accounts for the fact by the suggestion that it was needful
that the true solution should be concealed from the Church, to answer a moral
purpose, viz., that she might be kept from the earliest age in the attitude of
watchful expectation. Strange assertion, truly:that a good purpose should be
answered by misunderstanding the word of God! But in fact, though some at
an earlier period spoke of a probable mystical meaning of the 1260 days, in
addition to the literal, the year-for-day system (it may be shewn) originated as
late as the end of the fourteenth century, in the application of the Prophecies of
Anti-christ to the Papacy.

Isaac Williams (1802-1865)

Williams was a poet and theologian at Oxford, and was the author of some of the Tracts
for the Times associated with the Oxford Movement. In 1845 he became seriously ill, from
tuberculosis, or consumption, and was expected to die, but he recovered, and afterwards
lived in retirement at Stichcombe in Glouchester. During that period he wrote poetry, and
commentaries on scripture. On the 42 months and the 1,260 days of Revelation 11:2-3 and
12:6 and 14, he wrote:1
The forty-two months here specified is explained, as by Aretas, Berengaudus, and others, to be the three years and a half of Antichrist; and this will
be evident on a little attention to the subject. For the forty-two months, the
1260 days, and the three years and a half, must mean the same period of time,
from the manner in which they occur and mutually explain each other; but why
they are thus differently expressed is full of mysterious significance. First we have
it here stated that the Holy City is trodden under foot for forty-two months;
1
Williams, Isaac. The Apocalypse, with notes and reflections. Rivington, 1852. pp. 185-187. http:
//books.google.ca/books?id=m5gCAAAAQAAJ

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and then we find that the continuance of Antichrist is for forty-two months.1
But the whole passage evidently refers to Daniel, where we find it twice expressly
stated that the power of Antichrist is for three years and a half, or a time, times,
and the dividing of a time.2 And therefore the forty-two months and the three
years and a half must mean the same.
It is shown in the like explicit manner that both of these are the same as the
1260 days. It is here stated that the Holy City will be profaned for forty-two
months; and it is added in the next verse that the Witnesses will prophesy for
1260 days, meaning this forty-two months of the Churchs desolation. For the
Woman in the Wilderness continues for this same period of 1260 days;3 and after
a short digression, that her flight from the face of the serpent is spoken of
as for three years and a half, or the duration of Antichrist, a time, and times,
and half a time; with a studious and self-evident reference to the memorable
expression, twice repeated, of Daniel; and marking, by putting the same period
also into days, that the times in Daniel refer to years.
It is evidently intended by all this that we should consider the time to be
limited and appointed of God: seeing his days are determined, the number of
his months are with Thee, Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.4
But there are reasons for believing that it is not intended we should ever know
the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.5 And it
is remarkable that in no single instance has any modern interpreter succeeded in
explaining any period of time in the Apocalypse; from the ten days of Smyrnas
persecution, or the five months of the locust-plague, to the thousand years of
Christs reign upon earth. The reason is obviousthey do not perceive that, like
every thing else in the Apocalypse, numbers are allegorical; and that although it
is not for us to know the secrets of God, yet by comparing things spiritual with
spiritual they furnish us with an hieroglyphic language which is in the highest
degree instructive. There appears, indeed, to be some mysterious reasons for
expressing the periods of time in this varied manner of days, months, and years;
for the diversity of terms is introduced by St. John with manifest design and
purpose. For here in two successive verses he expresses the same duration of
time differentlythat of evil by months, that of good by days. And, on whatever
principle this may be founded, it serves us at once with a clue to the connexion
or identity of different descriptions. Thus the profaning of the Holy City is for
forty-two months, and the continuance of Antichrist is for forty two months;
therefore this is but a different way in which the same thing is set before us: the
two symbolic representations will mutually explain each other, as having one and

Rev. xiii. 5.
Dan. vii. 25; xii. 7.
3
Rev. xii. 6. 14.
4
Job xiv. 5.
5
Acts i. 7.
2

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the same subject. In the next sentence the Two Witnesses are for 1260 days,
and the Woman in the Wilderness is for 1260 days; therefore the Two Witnesses
and the Woman in the Wilderness are one and the same, or contemporaneous.
Again; the three years and a half are definitely given as the period both of the
Woman in the Wilderness and also of Antichrist; therefore it is from Antichrist
that the Woman is fled, and during his continuance she is in the wilderness.1
Williams continued:2
It may be noticed that in whichever way this period is expressedby months,
years, or daysall intimate a breaking off as it were of time, like the half-hour
space of silence (ch. viii. 1). And it is an observation of Aretas that this is
owing to our Lords saying that for the Elects sake He hath shortened the days;
that this expresses abrupt shortness on account of the presence of Antichrist
being so oppressive to the Saints; that therefore Christ, the true God, hath
shortened those days, the forty-two months or three years and a half, during
which the faithful will be trodden under foot and persecuted.
Moreover the time is short, yet seems long. They rise again after three
days and a half (ver. 9. 11), as if their resurrection corresponded with that of
Christs, yet seemed deferred. Forty is the time of trial and suffering, but the
two added might indicate the time delayed.
The numbers thus variously yet uniformly expressed seem to indicate, indeed,
that the period is definite and exactly predestined with God; but it is not for us
to know the number, measure, and weight by which He ordereth all things.
St. Augustin, therefore, does not consider times as accurately to be reckoned,
but to be thus taken as to the general mystery of numbers.3 And Aretas more
than once observes that in the reckoning of times Scripture admits not of small
and trivial calculations.

Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg (1802-1869)

A German Lutheran churchman and theologian, Hengstenberg rejected the idea that the
1,260 days refer to a particular time in the history of the world, but instead he interpreted
these and related numbers as symbolic, and represented the whole course of the churchs
history, and he said the three and a half years were a signature of the church. On Revelation
11:2, he wrote:4
The two and forty months contain only an apparent determination of time;
as, indeed, all numbers in the Apocalypse have only an ideal signification; they
1

Conf. xi.2; xiii. 5. Conf. xi. 3; xii. 6. Conf. xii. 14. Dan. vii. 25.
Ibid., p. 189.
3
Augustine, Civ. Dei, xi. xxx. et passim.
4
Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm. The Revelation of St John: expounded for those who search the
Scriptures, Volume 1. T. & T. Clark, 1851. p. 396
2

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belong not so properly to the chronological, as to the symbolical forum. The
common signature of the dominion of the world over the church in the Revelation,
resting on the prophecies of Daniel, (comp. at ch. xii. 6, xiii. 5), is the three
and a half, in which we have only to think of the broken seven, the signature of
the church. So that the meaning is here conveyed, that however the world may
lift itself up, however it may proudly triumph, it can never attain to anything
complete and lasting. These three and a half years return again in different
forms: a time, two times, and an half time, ch. xii. 14, forty and two months,
here and in ch. xiii. 5, 1260 days in ch. xii. 6. In the number of the beast also
in ch. xiii. 18, the same thing substantially holds as in these numbers. We have
here before us a representation, which does not bring into view some particular
period of time in the worlds history, but the whole course of it, only that towards
the end every thing realizes itself in a more perfect manner. Wherever the
world is found overflowing the church, from that of which John himself saw
the commencement, to the last in ch. xx. 79, of which we have now the
beginning before our eyes, there the substance of the prophecy always verifies
itself anew, there the obligation still remains to those who are affected by the
evil, to take it as the ground of consolation and warning to their hearts. ... The
thought in this prophecy was in other respects quite correctly apprehended by
the older expositors. Thus on the expression, the holy city shall be trodden
down, Bossuet remarks, Christians shall be under the sway of the unbelievers;
but though the weak shall fall, the church shall continue in strength. This is the
first point which St John apprehends in the persecutions: the church continually
abiding.

Patrick Fairbairn (1805-1874)

Fairbairn was a pastor in the Presbyterian church for 27 years; he was divinity professor at
the Free Church College in Aberdeen, and then for 18 years was principal of the Free Church
College, Glasgow. He is known for his book The Typology of Scripture, and his Commentary
on Ezekiel. He wrote:1
It remains only to notice the indications of time contained in the portion
of the Apocalypse we have been surveying. These appear to be simply three,
though one of them is expressed in a threefold manner. It is the period of the
churchs tried and oppressed conditiondenoted first in chap. xi. 2, as a period of
forty-two months, during which the holy city is trodden down of the Gentiles,
during which also the beast was to continue in its power to blaspheme and injure
(chap. xiii. 5); then as consisting of 1260 days (forty-two months multiplied by
30 days), during which the witnesses, representatives of a faithful, but oppressed
1

Fairbairn, Patrick. Prophecy viewed in respect to its distinctive nature, its special function, and
proper interpretation. T. & T. Clark, 1865. Part 2, Chapter III.
http://vinyl2.sentex.ca/tcc/PF/IP.php?page2=Fairbairn2-3.html

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and persecuted church, were to prophecy, chap. xi. 3, and the church was to
abide in the wilderness, chap. xii. 6, having a place and food prepared for her
by God; and finally, as a time, times and a half (corresponding to one year of
twelve months, two of the same, and a half-year of six, or to forty-two months,
or again to 1260 days), during which the church was to remain and be fed in
the wilderness, chap. xii. 14. In Dan. vii. 25, where the expression first occurs,
it is the time during which the saints of God were to be given into the hand
of the power that was to speak great words against the Most High. These are
manifestly but different modes of expressing one and the same period, as the
state of things also to which they are applied is substantially identical, though
variously represented. For the sojourn in the wilderness on the part of the faithful
and proper spouse, the treading down of the holy city by those who belonged only
to the court of the Gentiles, and the testifying for the truth of God by a faithful
remnant clothed in sackcloth, and wrestling against error and corruption; these
are obviously but different symbolical representations of the same abnormal and
dislocated state of things. The other two periods mentioned are both very brief,
as compared with the one just noticed. The shortest is that during which the
bodies of the faithful witnesses are represented as lying dead, though unburied,
three and a half days, chap. xi. 12; and the other is the five months during
which the scorpion-locusts were to have power to torment the followers of the
beast, chap. ix. 5.
Now, it is scarcely possible to avoid being struck even on the most cursory
inspection of these periods, with a peculiarity that is common to them allthe
broken and incomplete aspect they present. A certain whole was evidently in
respect to each of them in the mind of the Divine author of the vision, as that
toward which the parties spoken of were aiming, but were arrested midway in
their career. This is particularly observable in the largest and by much the most
important number, which in every formwhether as time, times and a half, or as
the months and days that make up three and a half yearsis most expressive of
an unfinished course, a period somehow cut off in the middle. In like manner, the
three and a half days of rejoicing over the unburied corpses of the slain witnesses,
betokens the same violent and abrupt termination of the course indicated; in their
ungodly triumph, the adversaries could not complete more than half of one of the
briefest revolutions of timeone of the smallest cycles of the whole period allotted
to the ascendency of evil. The incompleteness may appear less palpable in the
five months specified for the plague of scorpion-locusts; but it will scarcely do so
to those who have attended to the use made in Scripture of ten with reference
to certain kinds of totality. The five is simply the broken ten.
So marked a peculiarity in the use of all these numbers is itself a strong
presumption in favour of their symbolical import It seems to stamp their value as
indications of relative, rather than of absolute periods of durationrelative both
as regards each other, and also as regards an ideal whole. And it will appear to
do so the more convincingly the more the periods are viewed in reference to the
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parties mentioned, which are the entire spiritual church throughout the world, on
the one side, and the whole antichristian power on the other; for in regard to such
vast bodies, and their wide-reaching interests, what could such periods avail in
their natural sense! They could obviously afford but a mere fraction of the time
necessary for the accomplishment of the results connected with them; nor could
such results in actual history be shut up into any periods consisting of such exact
and definite measures. Another, and very powerful consideration in favour of the
same view is the place of these historical numberssurrounded on every hand,
not with the literal, but with the symbolical. The woman that is persecuted, and
the dragon who persecutes; the wilderness into which she flees, and the floods
sent after her; the beast that rages against the truth, and the two witnesses who
testify for it to the death; the holy city that is trodden down, and the Egypt or
Babylon by whom the treading is effected; all are symbolically used, and shall the
periods of working be otherwise than symbolical? In that case there would be
the violation of one of the plainest laws of symbolical writing, and confusion and
arbitrariness, as a matter of necessity, would be brought into the interpretation.
It is true, the number seven, as applied to the heads of the beast, and the
number ten spoken of its ultimate forms of separate organization, have already
been found by us to possess a kind of historical verification. But this, when more
closely considered, manifests an evident striving after the symbolical. For, it is
to make out the number seven, that St John diverges so strikingly here from
the representation of Daniel, taking in the two earlier worldly kingdoms, which
Daniel had omitted, and making of the divided state of Daniels fourth empire
a separate kingdomthe seventh. Nay, even this seventh he calls in a sense also
the eighthchap. xvii. 11although seven still is taken as the proper number,
because it alone has the proper symbolical import. The beast comes into view
mainly as the rival of God, and seven being the common symbol of completeness
for the Divine manifestations in the world (Isa. xxx. 26; Zech. iii. 9, iv. 2; Prov.
ix. 1; Rev. i. 4, iii. 1, etc.)originating, no doubt, in the sevenfold acts of God
at creationthe worldly rival of Gods power and glory in the world is, in token of
its God-defying character, presented under the same number of manifestations.
For a like reason the divided state of the last manifestation is distributed into
the number ten. This also is often used as a symbol of completeness, on which
account the ancients called it the perfect number, which comprehends all others
in itself. But it commonly denotes completeness in respect to human interests
and relationsas in the tithes or tenths (ten being regarded as comprising the
entire property, from which one was selected to do homage to him who gave
the whole), and the ten commandments, the sum of mans dutiful obedience.
When, therefore, the divided state into which the modern Roman world fell, is
represented under ten horns or kingdoms, it may well be doubted whether this
should be pressed farther than as indicating, by a round number, the totality of
the new statesthe diversity in the unitywhether or not it might admit of being
exactly and definitely applied to so many historical kingdoms. There is always
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some difficulty in making out an exact correspondence; and we should the less
hold such a correspondence to be necessary, since even in the case of the tribes of
Israel, when taken to represent the company of an elect people (chap. vii.), one
tribe is totally omitted to preserve the symbolism of the historical twelve. This
shows very strikingly the stress laid on the symbolical element, and strengthens
the conclusion, that both in the seven and ten, as applied to the beast, and in
the broken periods now under consideration, that element is primarily respected.
Lastly, there is to be added on the same side the obviously loose setting of
the periods; neither their starting-point, nor their termination is sharply defined.
Viewed historically, indeed, one does not see how it could have been otherwise.
The flight of the church into the wilderness, or the treading down of the holy
city by the Gentiles, came on gradually; and appeared in different places at
different times. It cannot be linked to definite historical epochs, as if at one or
other of these it commenced for the first time, and for the whole church; and
from the very nature of things, the termination must have a like diversity and
gradation in its accomplishment. This draws a plain line of demarcation between
the periods before us, and Daniels seventy weeks, which are definitely bounded
both in respect to their commencement and their close. The narrower field, and
more outward character of the things they referred to, easily admitted of such
a limitation; but here the world is the field, and the cause of vital Christianity
throughout its borders the great interest at stake.
Giving all these considerations their due weight, we cannot avoid arriving at
the conclusion, that the periods mentioned, in accordance with the general character of the book, are to be chiefly, if not exclusively, understood in a symbolical
manner, as serving to indicate the times of relative length or brevity which the
operations described were destined to occupy. If anything further is implied, it
should only, we conceive, be looked for in some general correspondence, as to
form, between the symbol and the reality, such as might be sufficient to guide
thoughtful and inquiring minds to a more firm assurance of the realisation of the
vision. But all precise and definite calculations respecting the periods, as they
necessarily proceed upon a disregard of the symbolical character of the book,
and upon a too external and political contemplation of the events to which it
points, so they must inevitably be defeated of their aim in the future, as they
have continually been in the past. The prophecy was not written to give men to
know after such a fashion, the times and the seasons, which the Father has put
in His own power.

Benjamin Wills Newton (1807-1899)

Newton was an evangelist and author, who was educated at Oxford. He left the Anglican
Church in 1832, and became an elder in the Plymouth Brethren. Although he at first regarded
Nelson Darby as a mentor and friend, the two men held different views on prophecy. Newton
believed that the church would go through the tribulation, but Darby promoted his idea
of a pretribulation rapture of believers. Newton was also critical of Darbys doctrine that
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separated the Old Testament saints from the church. Newton published his Thoughts on
the Apocalypse in 1842, which provoked a hostile review by Darby in 1843.1 Disagreements
between the two leaders led to the split of the brethren movement into the Open Brethren
and the Exclusive Brethren, which occurred in 1848.
Disputing with Edward Bishop Elliott and others who supported a day-year interpretation
of the 1,260 days of Revelation 11:3 and 12:6, Newton wrote:2
It may therefore be safely said that not only does Scripture afford no instance
of days meaning years, but that all the instances quoted in support of this
assertion, prove exactly the reverse. They prove that days mean days, and
years mean years. It would be strange indeed if it were otherwise; for what
possible reason could there be that Scripture should not say days when it means
days, and months when it means months, and years when it means years?
Mr. Elliott candidly resigns the argument which is commonly founded on the
seventy hebdomads of Daniel, and admits that no proof of days meaning years
can be founded on it.3 Indeed, even in his mode of using the arguments just
recited, it appears to me that there is a degree of hesitation apparent, which
seems to intimate, that he is somewhat mistrustful of their soundness. Other
writers, such for example as Mr. Fleming, boldly refer to these arguments, as if
they plainly and satisfactorily proved, that days mean years. Mr. Elliott uses
far more cautious language, and speaks, somewhat obscurely, of a transition
from days to years, as if the lesser were a type of the greater. (Elliott, Vol.
III., p. 958.) But this very statement does in fact surrender the argument; for
the lesser must absolutely exist, otherwise it could not be a type of something
greater to follow. Therefore, according to this principle, Antichrist must reign
for 1260 literal days, in order to become a type of 1260 years, which must on this
hypothesis follow; for a type precedes an antitype. Thus the fact of Antichrists
literal reign is conceded. We may safely leave the consideration of the 1260 years
that are supposed to succeed; for seeing that the millennium immediately follows
the reign of Antichrist, there would be no room for the succession of 1260 years
of woe.
Clearly, Newton overlooked Daniels prophecies about the desolation of Jerusalem which
occurred during the reign of Antiochus IV. If the events in that period are seen as typical of

The writings of J. N. Darby, Vol. 8.

http://www.stempublishing.com/authors/darby/
2
Newton, Benjamin Wills. Aids to prophetic inquiry. Houlston and sons, 1881. pp. 237-248.
http://books.google.com/books?id=4nFLAAAAIAAJ
3
Note by BWN: Mr. Elliotts words are: I do not rest, in this argument, on the parallel of
Daniels celebrated prophecy of the seventy weeks: * * * * * and for this reason, because the Hebrew
word ... rendered a week, has been shown to be a word etymologically of ambiguous meaning, signifying
any septenary, and applicable to seven years as well as seven days. (Elliott, Vol. III., p. 962.) For
further remarks on this passage of Daniel, see Prospects of the Ten Kingdoms, p. 217.

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the Antichrist to come, and of a future desolation to occur in the church, the temple not
made with human hands, his argument loses its force. Newton continued:
If there were no other argument to be urged against this very extraordinary
notion, the partiality of its application would be sufficient for its refutation;
for why, when the expressions two days three daysforty daysthree years
seventy years, and the like, occur hundreds of times in Scripture, should the
words days and years be uniformly understood to mean days and years in all
these passages, and in one or two other passages, equally definite, be interpreted
differently? Why, when it is said of Nebuchadnezzar in his madness, that seven
times should pass over him, odo we say that seven times mean seven years
and immediately after, when the same word occurs, say that three and a half
times mean 1260 years? Soundness of interpretation requires consistency. If
time, times, and half a time in the seventh of Daniel mean 1260 years, then
seven times in the fourth of Daniel must mean the double of that period, and
then we must say that Nebuchadnezzar is yet alive, and his madness continuing
still.1
But if we were to allow Mr. Elliotts hypothesis, and suppose that days mean
years, even then, his system will not bear the test either of Scripture or of fact,
nor is it consistent with itself.
The events to which the period of 1260 days, or as Mr. Elliott says, years,
belong, are:
The power of the little Horn, as described in Daniel vii.
The sackcloth testimony of the two Witnesses.
The sojourn of the Woman in the Wilderness.
The reign of Antichrist as the sole Head of the Roman World, described in Rev.
xiii.
These periods are made parallel or coincident periods in the Scripture, and
are rightly so regarded by Mr. Elliott and Dr. Cumming. They begin at the same
moment, and they terminate at the same moment. The event that terminates
them, is the Advent of the Lord in glory.
Now it is obvious that the period thus marked by 1260, whether days or years,
must be a definite period. In other words, it cannot extend over a period longer
than 1260. There must be a fixed moment in the counsels of God (whether we
discover it or not) for the commencement of this period; and when it has once
commenced, from that moment the numbering of the 1260 must begin. To say
1

Note by BWN: Mr. Elliott endeavours to obviate the force of this argument, by supposing that
Nebuchadnezzar was personally degraded for seven literal years, in order to be a type of the degradation
of his Empire for 2520 years. But in this case the literal interpretation as regards Antichrist is granted,
and he must reign for three and a half literal years. In this case too, seeing that a type precedes that
which it typifiesif the three years and a half of Antichrists reign were typical, it must precede that which
it is supposed to typify, viz., the 1260 years of his mystical reign; just as Nebuchadnezzars degradation
precedes the supposed antitypical period of his Empires degradation. Thus the notion refutes itself; for
Antichrists literal reign terminates the dispensation of sorrow and of evil.

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that there may be two different periods for its commencement, would be to say,
that it was not a definite period at all. It would be equivalent to saying that
it did begin, and yet that it did not beginit would oblige us to say that it has
ended, and yet has not ended.
But Mr. Elliott maintains that there are different epochs for the commencement of this period. One he places at the aera of Justinian, A.D. 533 the
other in A.D. 606, when Phocas acknowledged the primacy of the See of Rome;
so that, after having commenced in A.D. 533, about seventy years afterwards it
commenced again; and consequently, after having ended in A.D. 1793, will, in
about fifteen years more from this present period, end again. Therefore, according to the theory we are considering, this most precise and definite period did,
and that by the appointment of God, commence in A.D. 533, and yet did not
commence: it did end in 1793, and yet will not end until 1866.1
And when we consider the nature of the events that are to close this period
of 1260, we cannot but feel more than ever astonished at the supposition of there
being a duplicate termination of such a period: for what are the events that are
to conclude this period? They are these; the termination of the Womans sojourn
in the Wilderness; the destruction of Antichrist by the brightness of the Lords
appearingin a word, the abolition of the reign of evil, and the commencement
of the reign of righteousness and peace.2 Did any of these things occur in
1793? Was the Lord manifested in His glory in 1793, or 1866, or at any past
period? Was the reign of Satan terminated, in any sense whatever, by the French
Revolution? The French Revolution terminated no evil. On the contrary, it was
a period when the energies of men were set more free than ever to work their
own designs; and the result is seen around us on every side, in the continuance
of old systems of iniquity, as well as in the development of new.

1
Note by BWN: The year 1866, so long looked for, has now passed. Would that at its expiration
the evil and misleading theories which we are considering, had expired also. But it is far otherwise.
Efforts are still being made by astrological calculations, and otherwise, to perpetuate the delusion.
The notion that there may be a year -period, and also a day-period has been suggested by others besides
Mr. Elliott only he considers a day-period to come first, and a year period after, whereas they imagine
1260 years to come first, and 1260 days after; and they regard the 1260 years as passed or nearly so.
But such a notion is immediately set aside by the fact that during the last twelve centuries there has
been steady progress in the worlds prosperity. Civilisation has advanced, and is advancing stillGod
allows this; even as when He said of Pharaoh, For this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
show My power in thee and that My name might be declared in all the earth. God intends that pride
should bud and blossom. What likeness can there be between two periods, one of which is a period of
advancing prosperity, and the other a period of judgment, curse, and destruction. The period of the
1260 days will be one in which Gods hand will be stretched out to smite the strength. of man with
plagues more terrible than those which He poured upon Egypt of old. What likeness can such a period
have to the years of prosperity which precede?
2
Note by BWN: Nothing can be more express than the words of Daniel: I beheld, and the same
horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them: UNTIL the Ancient of Days came, and
judgment was given to the saints of the High Places; i.e. the reign of the saints immediately follows the
fall of Antichrist.

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Those periods in the past 1800 years, when God has permitted one form of evil
to chasten or to supplant another (and this was the case at the Revolution, when
Infidelity warred with Popery) are as different in principle from that great coming
hour, when God will interfere, by the mission of His Son, as the workings of Satan
are different from the direct agencies of God. In the former case, evil, and that
of increased intensity, supplants former evil, and strengthens itself on the ruins
of that which it has supplanted: in the latter case, God by His own immediate
hand terminates for ever the reign of wickedness, and brings in the kingdom of
righteousness and peace. This is the subject of the Revelation. It is not the
history of the progress of human evil. It is the record of the manner in which
God finally smites that evil, and establishes His own glory. Holy angels clothed
in white, issuing from the Temple of God, are fit expressions of such agencies of
Heaven: but who, unless his mind were under the power of some radical error,
could suppose that such hallowed symbols could represent the wickedness and
triumphs of prospering Revolutions? Who, unless fatally deceived, could find in
the occurrences of 1793, anything similar in principle to that hour, when God
will arise to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth.
But again, let us pass by this error alsolet us suppose that the 1260 days, or,
as Mr. Elliott says, years, have a duplicate commencement and a duplicate end:
even then, the system refutes itself. Mr. Elliott and Dr. Cumming suppose this
period to have commenced first in A.D. 533, and to have commenced again in
A.D. 606in which case it must have terminated first in 1793, and would again
have terminated in 1866. Now since we are told in the eleventh of Revelation that
the two Witnesses prophesy in sackcloth throughout the whole of the 1260 days,
or, as Mr. Elliott says, years, the first termination of their testimony, according
to Mr. Elliott, should not be earlier than 1793; and the second termination
should not be earlier than 1866. In apparent forgetfulness, however, of the dates
they have fixed on for the commencement of the sackcloth testimony, Mr. Elliott
and Dr. Cumming go on to say, that the Witnesses died in A.D. 1514, revived in
1517, and ascended in 1555.1 Now seeing that the sackcloth testimony cannot
be continued after they have died and ascended, (whatever that ascent may
mean, for the Scripture expressly says, When they shall have completed their
testimony, the beast shall kill them)it follows, that if they were killed in 1514,
the 1260 days, or years, ought then to have concluded, whereas, according to
Mr. Elliotts previous statement, they cannot conclude earlier than 1793 or 1866.
Another inconsistency is this; if, as Mr. Elliott says, the Witnesses ascended
into the heaven of political power in 1555, how can the Woman be in the
wilderness hundreds, of years after they have reached the heaven of political
power?for Mr. Elliott supposes the Woman to remain in the wilderness till

Note by BWN: Mr. Elliott supposes the Witnesses to have died, when the Lateran Council was
held, and none of the Bohemian Heretics appeared to plead before it: their resurrection and ascent is
supposed to be at the political establishment of the Reformation. See Elliott, Vol. II., p. 735.

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the middle of the present century. Nor, if the period of Satans being excluded
from heaven was, as Mr. Elliott says, in the days of Constantine, i.e. about
A.D. 320, must Mr. Elliott be permitted to delay the flight of the Woman into
the wilderness until A.D. 600 or 606, i.e. nearly three hundred years after. The
Scripture expressly says that when the Dragon saw that he was cast unto the
earth, he persecuted the Woman, and seeing that the Woman did not, and
could not resist, she has no alternative save instant flight and sojourn in the
wilderness. It cannot therefore be admitted that there should be three hundred
years, or even one year between the exclusion of Satan from Heaven, and her
flight.
It is instructive to observe the marvellous inconsistencies into which even
thoughtful minds may be led, when they cling to an erroneous system. The
truth is, that all these things are future. The Day of the Lambs wrath did not
come, nor was supposed by men to have come, when Constantine was nominally
converted. It will not come until the Lord is revealed in His glorythe armies
of heaven following Him. The Woman clothed with the sun, etc., does not
represent the spurious Christianity of the days of Constantine. The vision is
future; it describes a scene which immediately precedes the last 1260 days;
the Woman being the abstract expression of the essential excellency of Truth
apart from the condition, of her supposed, or even of her real children. Satan
was not excluded from Heaven, neither did his accusations before God cease,
when Constantine professed Christianity. That hour of exclusion is still future,
and will be immediately followed by the 1260 days of matured Antichristian,
blasphemy. The two Witnesses did not begin their sackcloth testimony when
the Pope was acknowledged either in A.D. 533, or in A.D. 606 nor did they
ascend into Heaven when Protestants, in 1555 began to bask in the sunshine of
princely favour or (to use the words of Mr. Elliott) were admitted, equally as
Romanists, to sit as judges in the Supreme Imperial Chamber. (Elliott,. Vol.
II., p. 741.) The path of the two Witnesses will be one very different from that
which either the Paulicians1 or the Reformers trod. They are reserved for the
furnace of Antichristian evil: the place of their testimony will be Jerusalem, the
city where their Lord also was crucified: the time of their ascent into Heaven
will be at the conclusion of the 1260 days of evil, and is immediately followed
by the sovereignty of the world becoming the sovereignty of our Lord and of
His Christ. Antichrist did not assume the headship of the whole Roman world
either in A.D. 533 or in A.D. 606; for the Ten Kingdoms over which he is to rule,
are as yet undeveloped; neither did God interfere in 1793 to stop the further
progress of human evil. On the contrary, the French Revolution was a period
when human evil gathered new strength, and rushed forward into fresh channels

Note by BWN: As regards the Paulicians, whom Mr. Elliott wishes to honour by assigning to
them the place of one of the Witnesses, he will find, if he more closely examines their history, too much
reason to believe that their doctrines were deeply tinged with heresy on many most important subjects.

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which Satan opened for its tide.

Whether, therefore, we regard the past, the present, or the future, we have
alike reason to sorrow, and to sorrow bitterly over the views of Mr. Elliott and
Dr. Cumming. As to the future, their doctrines hide it from us, and throw
an impenetrable covering over the very period which it is the object of the
Revelation to unveil. But more than this, they tend to hide from us even present
facts, such, for example, as that of Satans accusations against us before God.
And, as regards the worlds past history, its most important periods, such as the
exaltation of Christianity in the days of Constantine, the political elevation of
Protestantism, and the era of Infidelitys triumph at the French Revolution, are
presented in aspects essentially untrue. The secular exaltation of Christianity
was not rejoiced over in Heaven, nor recorded in the Revelation in honourable
and heavenly symbols; the commingling of Protestants with Papists in legislative
councils was not (as the ascent of the Witnesses will be) the result of a command
from Heaven, but was a device of the Evil One; nor were the deeds of such men as
Voltaire, Robespierre, and Napoleon, similar, either in kind or in effect, to those
holy and heavenly agencies of God, which are finally to usher in and establish the
kingdom of His Son. We cannot too earnestly deprecate such principles. They
render right exposition of Scripture hopeless, and may be said to nullify the very
object for which the Revelation is given.
As shown on page 67, it is futile to equate 1,260 days with 42 months as Newton does.
Newton observed (page 82) that during history, God has permitted one form of evil to
chasten or to supplant another and cited the French Revolution, when Infidelity warred
with Popery as an example, but his critique of Elliotts ideas suggests another example of
that principle, one which fulfills prophecy.
In the prophecy of Ezekiel 38, armies of Gog and Magog come against the mountains of
Israel, and against the prophets of Israel.1 These mountains are not literal mountains, but I
suggest they represent revelations of God, prophecies of scripture, and promises to the saints,
their spiritual inheritance. In the judgment against the invading hordes, the armies of Gog
and Magog, Ezekiel says, I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains,
saith the Lord GOD: every mans sword shall be against his brother.2
The armies of Gog and Magog are armed with swords, and in prophetic language swords
and similar weapons are sometimes metaphors connected with a spiritual conflict. They are
words of reproof, and castigating. Psalm 64:3 refers to men who whet their tongue like a
sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words.
Newtons citique of Elliotts views is an example of how the above prophecy of Ezekiel
has been fulfilled.

1
2

Ezekiel 38:17
Ezekiel 38:21

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Christopher Wordsworth

Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885)

Wordsworth was an Anglican priest, and canon of Westminster, and he became bishop of
Lincoln. He was a gifted scholar. He wrote, on the 1,260 days:1
These 1260 days equal forty-two months, or three years and a half; and they
are mentioned under all these terms in the Apocalypse.
The Holy City is trodden by the Gentiles forty-two Months.2 It is given to
the Beast, to exercise his power forty-two months.3 The Two Witnesses preach
in sackcloth 1260 Days. [Rev. xi. 3.] The Woman is in the Wilderness 1260
Days;4 and she is also said to be in the Wilderness a time, times, and half a
time; that is, three years and a half.5
Now, if we examine the records of Scripture, we find that the period of
three years and a half represents an idea; one of spiritual toil, pilgrimage, and
persecution.
First, it may be observed, that three and a half, being the half of seven,
which is the number of completeness, represents a semi-perfect state; one of
transition and probation.
In illustration of this, it may be remarked here, that the body of the Two
Witnesses remains unburied three days and a half.6
The same kind of opposition to the Apostolic number Twelve may, perhaps,
be thought to exist in the half of that number, Six; and to exhibit itself in
the remarkable combination of Six Hundreds, Six Tens, and Six Units, which
constitute the number of the name of the Beast.7
Let us pass to facts.
Three years and a half, or forty-two months, or 1260 days, are, as we have
seen, the time of the pilgrimage of the Woman in the Wilderness, that is, of
the Church in her trials. This number forty-two connects her with the History
of the Israelitish Church in the Wilderness. Its haltings are enumerated in the
Book of Numbers,8 and they are Forty-two. And all these things (says St. Paul)
happened to them as types of us.9 They foreshadow the history of the Christian
Church in her pilgrimage through the Wilderness of this World to the promised

1
Wordsworth, Christopher. Lectures on the Apocalypse: critical, expository, and practical, delivered
before the University of Cambridge. (Hulsean lectures) 2nd. ed. H. Hooker, 1852. pp. 205-209.
http://books.google.com/books?id=K6Q8AAAAYAAJ
2
Rev. xi. 2.
3
Rev. xiii. 5.
4
Rev. xii. 6.
5
Rev. xii. 14.
6
Rev. xi. 9, 11.
7
Rev. xiii. 8.
8
Num. xxxiii. 1-50.
9
1 Cor. x. 6-11.

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land of Heaven.
Again: I tell you of a truth, says Our Blessed Lord, many widows were
in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six
months, when great famine was throughout all the land.1 And St. James says,
Elias prayed it mjght not rain; and it rained not on the Earth by the space of
three years and six months.2
It also pleased God to strengthen the type, if we may so speak, by assigning
the same duration of three years and a half to the persecution of the Church of
Israel by Antiochus Epiphanes.
St. Johns precursor, Daniel, had named that period as the duration of that
persecution. He had also identified it with the future time of the trials of the
Christian Church, which are more fully described by St. John.
Thus the very mention of three years and a half to the ear of an Israelite had
an ominous sound. It was his chronological symbol of suffering.
And to us Christians there is another reason why it should be identified with a
time of trial, since, as some ancient WritersJ assure us, and there is good reason
to believe, this period of three years and a half was the duration of the earthly
Ministry of Him,the great Prophet, the Divine Witness who was a Man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief3 and who, as Daniel prophesied, caused the
sacrifice of the Temple to cease in the midst of a week by his own oblation on
the cross.4
Hence this period of three years and a half, forty-two months, or 1260 days
(resting on a solid historical basis,) is employed in the Apocalypse as a typical
exponent of an idea; just as the numbers four, seven, twelve, and twelve times
twelve, do not represent a precise sum, but a well-defined principle.
We observe, in passing, that the Locusts of the fifth Trumpet are said to

Luke iv. 26.

James v. 17.
3
Isa. liii. 3.
4
Wordsworths Note: Dan. ix. 27.Lightfoot Harm. N. T. ad cap. xi. The forty-two months,
1260 days, and a time, times, and a half time; are but borrowed phrases from Daniel, who so
expresses the three and a half years of Antiochus persecution (Dan. xii. 7;) and they mean times of
trouble, and are used to express that, and not any fixed time. The Jews have learned to make the
same construction of it: and this also, that comfort might stand up against mercy, was the time of our
Saviours Ministry. Christ preached three and a half years in trouble. (cp. also Lightfoot on Matth. iii.
16.) So the Two Witnesses in sackcloth. He having finished his ministry was slain; so they. He revived
and ascended; so they likewise. Their case is paralleled with Christs, their Masters. See also Lightfoots
Chorographical Inquiry, chap. vi. sect. iv. This waste of sacred things by Antiochus lasting for three
years and a half, the Jews retained that very number as famous, inasmuch that they often make use of
it when they would express any thing very sad and afflicting... And perhaps it had been much for the
reputation of the Commentators upon the Book of Revelation, if they had looked upon that number and
the forty and two months, and the thousand two hundred and sixty days as spoken allusively, and not
applied it to any precise or determinate time. See also his Serm. on Dan. xii. 12, p. 1250. Vitringa,
pp. 449, 463. 1 Mace xiii. 50, 51.
2

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have power to injure the five months. This number also expresses an idea. It
designates the time of the duration of the Deluge, and indicates that the Locusts
would cover the world, like the flood; but that the Ark of the Church would float
upon the waters, and rest securely, when they were abated.
I do not venture to affirm, that the Church may not be called hereafter to
endure intense suffering for three years and a half, and so a second, literal, fulfillment be given to this prophecy; but, on the whole, we arrive at this conclusion,
that we cannot safely deduce any precise arithmetical results, with regard to the
future, from this number of three and a half years, forty-two months, or 1260
days.
Let us not, however, imagine that these numbers are superfluous. Nothing in
Scripture is so. God has ordered all things in measure and number and weight.1
We cannot now understand all the harmonies of the divine Arithmetic, yet some
we can. These numbers in the Apocalypse are of great use. They do not indeed
gratify the cravings of human curiosity. They do not enable us to construct a
prophetical Ephemeris, or an Apocalyptic Almanack. But they present to us
certain parallelisms. They show that the sufferings of Scripture coincide with
those of the Church, and with the Empire of the Beast. They remind us of our
own ignorance, and of Gods knowledge. They teach us patience. They tell us
that the days of man are few, and that a Millennium is but a moment to the
Eternal. They warn us that we are not to expect sabbatical perfection in this
World. They have also an analogical value. They remind us that here we are
to look for trialstrials such as those endured by the Ancient Church of Israel
in her forty-two sojournings in the wilderness;trials such as those endured by
Elias under Ahab, by the Maccabees under Antiochus, and by Christ from his
own countrymen. And they encourage us with the joyful assurance, that if we
are true to Christ, and maintain his cause with zeal, courage, and charity, then,
though we suffer, we shall conquer also; that our sufferings will soon be over;
that they will appear like a few days; then even for us there will be a chariot of
fire, and a heavenly Feast of Dedication, and a cloud of heavenly glory, and an
eternity of joy.

Henry Alford (1810-1871)

Alford was an English churchman, theologian, textual critic, and poet. He identified the following landmarks or fixed points for the sound interpretation of the prophecies of Revelation,
which he said must not be departed from.2
1. The close connection between our Lords prophetic discourse on the Mount
1

Wisdom xi. 20.

Alford, Henry. How to study the New Testament. The Epistles (2nd section) and Revelation.
Strahan and Co. London, 1868. pp. 293-298.
http://books.google.com/books?id=orQCAAAAQAAJ
2

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of Olives and the line of prophecy in this book. That discourse has been aptly
termed, by Mr. Isaac Williams, the anchor of apocalyptic interpretation. It is
the touchstone of apocalyptic systems. If it have not guided the expositor, the
true key to the book is lost.
2. The interpretation of the opening of the sixth seal is another such fixed
point. The description by which that is followed is the very same which is used
throughout Scripture to indicate the Great Day of the Lord. Any system under
which it is a necessity to interpret this otherwise than of that Great Day of the
Lord, stands self-convicted.
3. Another fixed point is this. The imagery of the seals, trumpets, and vials,
severally run on to the time of the end. At the termination of each series,
the note is unmistakably given that such is the case. Any system which makes
the three consecutive one on another, without taking this common ending into
account, is thereby convicted of error.
4. Another such fixed point is found in the vision of ch. xii. 1, etc. In ver. 5,
we read that the woman brought forth a son, who should rule (or, shepherd)
all the nations with a rod of iron; and that her child was caught up to God
and to His throne. All Scripture analogy requires that these words should be
interpreted of our Blessed Lord, and of none other. Every system which finds
it necessary otherwise to interpret them, however plausible may be its fittings
to events, and however ingenious its illustrations by coins and other trifles of
the kind, is convicted of error in its first principles, and need not seriously be
considered.
5. Another fixed canon of interpretation is found in the usage of terms by the
apocalyptic writer himself. For instance: he often speaks of the Divine Persons;
he often speaks of angels. He never mixes one with the other. Any system
which finds it necessary to understand by an angel, Christ himself, is wrong,
and violates the analogy of the book.
6. Account ought to be taken of the numbers used in the book. These are
kept constant to their great lines of symbolic meaning. Seven is the number
of perfection; seven spirits are before the throne (i. 4; iv. 5); seven churches
represent the church universal; the Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes (v. 6).
In the several series of Gods judgments, each complete in itself, seven is the
number of the seals, trumpets, thunders, vials. Four is the number of terrestrial
extension: four living beings are the symbols of creation (iv. 6, etc.); four angels
stand on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of heaven; four
seals, four trumpets, four vials, in each case complete the number of judgments
consisting in physical visitations; four angels are loosed from the Euphrates, to
slay the destined portion out of mankind (ix, 13, etc.), and in obedience to a
voice from the four corners of the altar; Satan deceives the nations in the four
corners of the earth (xx. 8); the New Jerusalem lieth four-square, with all sides
equal.
Twelve is the number belonging especially to the Church, and to the ap89

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pearances symbolically connected with her. Twice twelve is the number of the
heavenly elders; twelve times twelve thousand the number of the sealed elect;
the woman, in ch. xii., has a crown of twelve stars; the heavenly city has twelve
gates, at the gates twelve angels, on them the names of the twelve tribes; also,
twelve foundations, and on them the number of the twelve apostles; and its
circumference is twelve thousand furlongs; in the midst of her, the tree of life
brings forth twelve manner of fruits.
Again, the half of the mystic seven is a ruling number in the apocalyptic
periods. Three years and a half had been the duration of the drought prayed
for by Elijah (James v. 17); a time, times, and the dividing of time (= three
years and a half), was the prophetic duration of the persecution of the saints in
Dan. vii. 25. Thus we find, in Rev. xi. 6, that the two witnesses, one of whose
powers is to shut up heaven, that there shall be no rain, shall prophesy 1260
days, i. e., three years and a half; also the testimony of three witnesses is to
endure forty-two months (= three years and a half), as that of Moses endured
through the forty-two stations of Israel in the wilderness. Three days and a half
are the bodies of the witnesses to lie unburied in the street of the great city;
again, for 1260 days is the woman to be fed in the wilderness; again, forty-two
months is the period of the power of the first wild beast, which ascended from
the sea (ch. xiii. 5).
Of these latter periods no satisfactory solution has ever been given. Again
and again, the interpreters of prophecy have fixed a time for the end of them;
again and again that time has passed unsignalized by any event; again and again,
these interpreters have adroitly shifted on their ground into the as yet safe future,
and reappeared before the public with the same confidence as if they had not
been utterly defeated. Some have held that a day may mean a year, in the face
of the occurrence of a period of a thousand years in the same prophecy, which
they ought to, but do not, interpret to mean 365,000 years. Such inconsistencies,
which, if presented for the first time, would ensure the rejection of any system,
have been so long before the public that they pass unchallenged, and draw down
wrath from their perpetrators on him who, in the cause of common honesty,
ventures to notice them, and to point them out for reprobation.
Such are the principal remarks which I have to make on the rules for the
interpretation of this mysterious book.

Philip S. Desprez (1812-1879)

Desprez was an Anglican clergyman who became a preterist. He applied the 1,260 days and
the 42 months of Revelation 11, 12 and 13 to the period of the destruction of Jerusalem in
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70 AD. He wrote:1
The next point of marked coincidence between this prophecy of Daniel and
the Apocalypse is, this desolation was to continue for a specific time. This time
is accurately marked by each.
According to Daniel, the period is a time, times, and a half, or a thousand
two hundred and ninety days. According to the Apocalypse, the period is forty
and two months, a thousand two hundred and threescore days. I consider
these periods to be identical, and the 1290 days of Jewish or Babylonian reckoning to be equivalent to the 1260 daysthe forty-two monthsof Roman reckoning
mentioned in the Apocalypse.
It is very remarkable, that the periods of time observed in the Apocalypse
are the same:
The Gentiles are to tread the holy city under foot a time, times, and a
half1260 days, 42 months, 31/2 years.
The witnesses are to prophesy a time, times, and a half1260 days, 42
months, 31/2 years.
The woman is to be fed in the wilderness a time, times, and a half1260
days, 42 months, 31/2 years.
She is to be nourished for a time, times, and a half1260 days, 42 months,
31/2 years.
Power is given to the Beast (Rome) to continue a time, times, and a half
1260 days, 42 months, 31/2 years.
There can be little doubt but that these periods all relate to the same events,
and that they are identical with the periods of time recorded in Daniel, xii. It
is true there is a difference of thirty days between the prophecy of Daniel and
the Apocalyptic statement; but this may be owing to the different methods of
computing time, Daniel probably using the Babylonian, and St. John the Roman,
method.
Now, upon a reference to history, it is found that this was the precise period
during which the invasion of Judaea lasted. It is known that Cestius laid siege to
Jerusalem in the month of October, A.D. 66; he was defeated, and this defeat
happened on the eighth day of the month Dius (Marchesvan), in the twelfth year
of the reign of Nero. In the spring of the following year Vespasian is sent by
Nero. On the eighth day of the month Gorpheius (Elul), A.D. 70 (in the middle
of August, A.d. 70), Jerusalem is taken. From the spring of A.D. 67, to August,
A.D. 70, is somewhere near the time, times, and a half,the forty-two months,
the 1260 days, during which the Gentiles tread down the holy city.

Desprez, Philip Charles Soulbien. The Apocalypse fulfilled: in the consummation of the mosaic
economy and the coming of the son of man: an answer to the Apocalyptic sketches and The end by Dr.
Cumming. Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1861.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Il0TAAAAYAAJ

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Another circumstance, which serves to establish the length of the Jewish war,
is to be found in the history of one of Christs witnesses, who predicted the woes
coming upon Jerusalem. We read of him, that four years before the war began,
at a time when the city was in great peace and prosperity, one Jesus, the son of
Ananus, began on a sudden to cry aloud, A voice from the east, a voice from
the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy
house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this
whole people. This cry of his he continued for seven years and five months,
until the very time when he saw his presage fulfilled in earnest in our siege.

Desprez later abandoned the ultra-preterist views he had expressed in The Apocalypse
fulfilled.1

James Stuart Russell (1816-1895)

67 AD 70 AD
Russell has been called the father of full preterism; he saw the second coming as a past event
that took place in conjunction with the Roman destruction of the Jewish temple in AD 70.
The following is from Russells The Parousia.2
The passage which we are now considering throws light also upon our Lords
prediction in Luke xxi. 24: And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles,
until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled. Our Lord, it is to be observed,
is here speaking of the siege and capture of Jerusalem, the very theme of the
apocalyptic vision. ... But if so, what are we to understand by the times of
the Gentiles in our Saviours prediction? It has been generally supposed that
this expression refers to some mystic period of unknown duration, extending, it
may be, over centuries and aeons, and still rolling on its uncompleted course.
But if this non-natural interpretation of words is to be applied to Scripture, it is
difficult to see what use there is in specifying any periods of time at all. Surely,
it is much more respectful to the Word of God to understand its language as
having some definite meaning. What, then, if forty and two months should
really mean forty-two months, and nothing more? The times of the Gentiles
can only mean the time during which Jerusalem is in their occupation. That
time is distinctly specified in the Apocalypse as forty-two months. Now this is a
period repeatedly spoken of in this book under different designations. It is the
thousand two hundred and sixty days of the next verse, and the time, times
and half a time of chap. xii. 14, that is to say, three years and a half. Now
it is evident that such a space of time in the history of nations would be an
insignificant point; but for a tumultuous and lawless rabble to domineer over a
1
2

http://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/pdf/1880 armstrong parson-desprez.pdf

http://richardwaynegarganta.com/Parousia Russell.rtf

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great city for such a period would be something portentous and terrible. The
occupation of such a city by an armed mob is not likely to continue over ages
and centuries: it is an abnormal state of things which must speedily terminate.
Now this is exactly what happened in the last days of Jerusalem. During the
three years and an half which represent with sufficient accuracy the duration of
the Jewish war, Jerusalem was actually in the hands and under the feet of a
horde of ruffians, whom their own countryman describes as slaves, and the very
dregs of society, the spurious and polluted spawn of the nation. The last fatal
struggle may be said to have begun when Vespasian was sent by Nero, at the
head of sixty thousand men, to put down the rebellion. This was early in the year
A.D. 67, and in August A.D.70 the city and the temple were a heap of smoking
ashes.

William Kelly (1820-1906)

Kelly was one of the leading supporters of dispensationalism, along with John N. Darby.
He was the editor of Darbys collected writings, and of The Bible Treasury. In Kellys
interpretation, the 1,260 days are literal, the time when an individual Antichrist has dominion
over the earth, after the church has been raptured to heaven. The forty two months when
Jerusalem is trampled, and the time of the two witnesses, he claimed, is future. He wrote:1
In Daniel 7 the little horn is said to speak great words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and
laws; and they shall be given into his hands, until a time, and times, and the
dividing of time. Now it appears to me perfectly certain that the times and
laws in question here are those the prophet Daniel was familiar with. These
times had to do with Israels festivals, and the laws with the Jewish polity
or ritual. The saints of the Most High were those whom the prophet knew and
was interested in; just as in Revelation 12 the children of thy people (i.e.,
Daniels people) are intended. This shows that a special enemy of Gods people
in Judea who will arise in that day is here spoken of. He meddles with the Jews
when they have begun to be owned in a measure by God. This iniquitous power
wears out the saints of the high places, and thinks to change times and laws;
and they shall be given into his hand. Not that the saints should be so given, for
God never relinquishes them to the enemy: He may permit saints to be worried
for a while, but He never gives them up. It is the times and laws that are thus
given for a season, because the nation is not owned thoroughly till the Messiah
comes. As yet it is only a partial recognition of their worship. These are then
to be abandoned to him for a time, and times, and the dividing of time. You
have this same period referred to in the forty-two months, which is exactly the
same length of time, taking a time as meaning a year.
1
Kelly, William. Lectures on the Book of Revelation. Part 2.
http://www.stempublishing.com/authors/kelly/2Newtest/REV PT2.html

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Kelly taught that during the reign of Antichrist, the two witnesses prophesy, having the
power to kill their enemies with fire from their mouth, and to smite the earth with plagues,
while the woman of chapter 12 represents ethnic Jews. The Christian church is represented
by the man-child who is caught up to heaven, Revelation 12:5. The woman flees to the
wilderness, for 1,260 days, which is the duration of the beasts reign. Kelly wrote:1
In short, the first portion of the chapter is a mystical representation of the
Lords relationship with Israel and of Satans deadly antagonism; then the Lords
removal out of the scene to heaven, which gives room for Gods binding up, as
it were, with Christs disappearance to heaven the saints translation there. In
this way the rapture of the Man-child is not brought in here historically, but in
mystic connection; and the great agents are all in their place according to Gods
mind.
If this be borne in mind, the whole subject is considerably cleared. She
brought forth a man-child to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. There is
no difficulty in applying this to the Man-child, viewed not personally and alone
but mystically; and the less, because this very promise is made to the church in
Thyatira, or rather to the faithful there. It will be remembered that at the end
of Revelation ii. it was expressly said that the Lord would give to the overcomer
power over the nations, and he should rule them with iron rod, broken to pieces
like vessels of pottery, just as He Himself received of His Father. But where for
the present is Israel? Hidden in the wilderness, yet preserved till Gods public
kingdom appears. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath
a place prepared of God, that they should nourish her there a thousand two
hundred [and] sixty days. The days are numbered for the tried; as elsewhere in
the shortest form compressed for like purpose as to the Beasts reign.

William Milligan (1821-1892)

Milligan was a Scottish theologian, who is best known for his writings on Revelation.2 He
found similarities in structure in the fourth gospel and the book of Revelation. Johns gospel,
he suggests, omits the Olivet Discourse of Jesus which is present in the other gospels, as
the book of Revelation is an expanded account of the things contained in Christs prophecy.
The 42 months and the 1,260 days in Revelation 11, 12, and 13 are symbols of the church
age; the three and a half years corresponds to the duration of the ministry of Jesus. He said
the 1,260 days denote the Christian era from its beginning to its close. He wrote:3

1
Kelly, William. An Exposition of Revelation.
http://www.stempublishing.com/authors/kelly/2Newtest/Rev expo.html
2
Milligan, William. The Revelation of St. John. MacMillan & Co., London. 1886.
http://books.google.com/books?id=cvAOAAAAQAAJ
3
Milligan, William. The Book of Revelation. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1889. pp. 175-177.
http://vinyl2.sentex.net/tcc/dload/MillRev.pdf

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One question still remains: What is the meaning of the forty and two months
during which the holy city is to be trodden under foot of the nations? The
same expression meets us in chap. xiii. 5, where it is said that there was given
to the beast authority to continue forty and two months. But forty and two
months is also three and a half years, the Jewish year having consisted of twelve
months, except when an intercalary month was inserted among the twelve in
order to preserve harmony between the seasons and the rotation of time. The
same period is therefore again alluded to in chap. xii. 14, when it is said of the
woman who fled into the wilderness that she is there nourished for a time, and
times, and half a time. Once more, we read in chap. xi. 3 and in chap, xii.
6 of a period denoted by a thousand two hundred and threescore days; and
a comparison of this last passage with ver. 14 of the same chapter distinctly
shows that it is equivalent to the three and a half times or years. Three and
a half multiplied by three hundred and sixty, the number of days in the Jewish
year, gives us exactly the twelve hundred and sixty days. These three periods,
therefore, are the same. Why the different designations should be adopted is
another question, to which, so far as we are aware, no satisfactory reply has yet
been given, although it may be that, for some occult reason, the Seer beholds in
months a suitable expression for the dominion of evil, in days one appropriate
to the sufferings of the good.
The ground of this method of looking at the Churchs history is found in the
book of Daniel, where we read of the fourth beast, or the fourth kingdom, And
he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints
of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given
into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.1 The same book
helps us also to answer the question as to the particular period of the Churchs
history denoted by the days, or months, or years referred to, for in another
passage the prophet says, And He shall confirm the covenant with many for
one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the
oblation to cease.2 The three and a half years therefore, or the half of seven
years, denote the whole period extending from the cessation of the sacrifice and
oblation. In other words, they denote the Christian era from its beginning to its
close, and that more especially on the side of its disturbed and broken character,
of the power exercised in it by what is evil, of the troubles and sufferings of the
good. During it the disciples of the Saviour do not reach the completeness of
their rest; their victory is not won. Ideally it is so; it always has been so since
Jesus overcame: but it is not yet won in the actual realities of the case; and,
though in one sense every heavenly privilege is theirs, their difficulties are so
great, and their opponents so numerous and powerful, that the true expression
for their state is a broken seven years, or three years and a half. During this time,
1
2

Dan. vii. 25
Dan. ix. 27

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accordingly, the holy city is represented as trodden under foot by the nations.
They who are at ease in Zion may not feel it; but to the true disciples of Jesus
their Masters prophecy is fulfilled, In the world ye shall have tribulation.1

Robert Young (1822-1888)

67 AD 70 AD
Best known for his Analytical Concordance of the Bible, Young supported a preterist interpretation of Revelation. On the question of the date when it was written, he wrote:2
It was written in Patmos (about A.D. 68), whither John had been banished
by Domitius Nero, as stated in the title of the Syriac Version of the Book;
and with this concurs the express statement of Irenaeus (A.D. 175), who says
it happened in the reign Domitianou, i.e. Domitius (Nero). Sulpicius Severus,
Orosius, &c., stupidly mistaking Domitianou for Domitianikos, supposed Irenaeus
to refer to Domitian, A.D. 95, and most succeeding writers have fallen into the
same blunder. The internal testimony is wholly in favor of the earlier date. The
temple at Jerusalem was still standing (ch. 11.110); the exact duration of the
siege is foretold, viz., 42 months, 31 years, or 1260 days; the two witnesses are
to be slain in the city where our Lord was crucified; Nero was reigning at that
time, for it is said of the seven kings of Rome; five are fallen, and one is, and the
other is not yet come, and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
The five kings are Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius. The
one who is is Nero; the one who must continue a short space i.e. Galba, who
reigned only seven months. Everywhere the events are to come quickly, lit.
with haste, or speed (ch. 1.1; 2.16; 3.11; 11.14; 22.7, 12, 20). The escape of
the Christian Jews from Jerusalem to Pella is undoubtedly referred to in ch. 7.
18, compared with Mat. 24. 30.

Joseph Augustus Seiss (1823-1904)

Seiss studied theology privately, and was ordained as a Lutheran pastor. He ministered in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His book of lectures on the Apocalypse was published in 1865,
and was reprinted several times. C. I. Scofield claimed that it was the best of more than
fifty books that he had read about Revelation. He insisted that the witnesses in Revelation
are two persons, and that the 42 months and 1,260 days are literal months and days. He
wrote:3
1

John xvi. 33
Young, Robert. Concise commentary on the Holy Bible, being a companion to the new translation
of the Old and New Covenants. G.A. Young & Co., 1865. p. 179
3
Seiss, Joseph Augustus. The Apocalypse: A Series of Special Lectures on the Revelation of Jesus
Christ, with revised text. 1882. p. 175.
http://books.google.com/books?id=QpsCAAAAQAAJ
2

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These Witnesses are two in number... This duality is three times repeated,
and is an essential part of the record. As stated by Alford, no interpretation
can be right which does not retain and bring out this dualism. Why two, we do
not fully know. Both the law and the Gospel calls for two witnesses to establish
important truth. (Deut. 17:6; Matt. 18: 16.) God generally sets his heralds
and witnesses in pairs, as Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua, Zerubbabel and
Jeshua, Peter and John, the twelve and the seventy, two by two. And in the
trying circumstances here described, two could better uphold and console each
other than one, without companionship.
These witnesses are persons. Primasius says, though somewhat equivocally,
The Two Witnesses represent the Two Testaments preached by the Christian
Church to the world, and Bede, and Bishop Andrews, and Melchior, and Affelman, and Croly, and Wordsworth, and some others, have taken this view. But
it is altogether a mistaken view, necessitated by the embarrassment occasioned
by wrong conceptions of the Apocalypse, rejected by the overwhelming majority
of interpreters ancient and modern, and utterly irreconcilable with the text. It is
not true that the Old and New Testaments are preached to the world only 1260
days, or years, and then end their testimony;that they are arrayed in sackcloth
all the days they are preached;that fire issues out of their mouths and kills those
who will to injure them;that there is no rain upon the earth during the days
of their prophesying;that they have power over waters to convert them into
blood, or at will to smite the earth with plagues;that they are capable of being
killed by man;or that indignity can be offered them, being dead, by refusing to
allow them to be put into a sepulchre. Yet all these things are affirmed of these
Witnesses. Nor is either the Old or the New Testament ever called a .... Ten
times do we find this word in the New Testament, and in every other place but
this, no one questions that it denotes persons. In more than fifty places in the
Old Testament, the corresponding Hebrew word denotes persons only. These
Witnesses prophesy. This is the work of a person. More than one hundred times
does this word ... occur in the Bible, and never, except once by metonymy,
but of persons. These Witnesses wear clothing of sackcloth, of which we read
much in the Scriptures, but always of persons. They work miracles and execute
judgments, but nothing of the sort is ever predicted of anything but personal
agents. Not without the greatest violence to language and fact, therefore, can
we regard these Witnesses as other than real persons. The conclusion may be
very damaging to some mens cherished theories, but the integrity of Gods word
requires it, and it is impossible to escape it with any just regard to the laws of
language and the nature of things.
These witnesses are individuals. No reader of the account, having no preconceived theory to defend, would ever think of taking them for bodies, or successions of people. All the early fathers, from whom we have any testimony on
the subject, regarded them as two individual men. Two distinct and conspicuous
bodies of witnesses for Christ, all prophesying in sackcloth through 1260 years, or
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even days, and all dying martyrs, as here represented, expositors have searched
in vain to find in the history of the Christian ages.

Uriah Smith (1832-1903)

538 AD 1798 AD
Smith was a Seventh-day Adventist author and was the editor of Review and Herald. His
family had followed William Miller, and experienced the great disappointment of 1844. He is
known for his book on the prophecies of Daniel, which supported a historicist interpretation of
the 1,290 days of Daniel 12:11 and the 1,260 days of Revelation 11:3 and 12:6. It promoted
the views of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Smith proposed a period of indefinite
duration after the fulfillment of the time, times and a half of Daniel 12:7. He wrote:1
How Long to the End?The question, How long shall it be to the end of these
wonders? undoubtedly has reference to all that has previously been mentioned,
including the standing up of Michael, the time of trouble, the deliverance of
Gods people, and the special resurrection of verse 2. The answer seems to be
given in two divisions: First a specific prophetic period is marked off, and then
an indefinite period follows before the conclusion of all these things is reached,
just as we have it in Daniel 8:13, 14. When the question was asked, How long
. . . the vision . . . to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden
underfoot? the answer mentioned a definite period of 2300 days, followed by
an indefinite period in the cleansing of the sanctuary. So in the text before us,
there is given the period of a time, times, and a half, or 1260 years, and then
an indefinite period for the continuance of scattering of the power of the holy
people, before the consummation.
The 1260 years mark the period of papal supremacy. Why is this period here
introduced?probably because this power is the one which does more than any
other in the worlds history toward scattering the power of the holy people, or
oppressing the church of God. But what shall we understand by the expression,
When he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people? To
whom does the pronoun he refer? According to the wording of this scripture,
the antecedent would at first seem to be Him that liveth forever, or Jehovah;
but, as an eminent expositor of the prophecies judiciously remarks, in considering
the pronouns of the Bible we are to interpret them according to the facts of the
case, and hence must frequently refer them to an antecedent understood, rather
than to some noun which is expressed. So here, the little horn, or man of sin,
after being introduced by the particular mention of the time of his supremacy,
1260 years, may be the power referred to by the pronoun he. For 1260 years he
had grievously oppressed the church, or scattered its power. After his supremacy
1
Smith, Uriah. The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. Review and Herald Publishing Association. pp. 320-321.

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is taken away, his disposition toward the truth and its advocates still remains, his
power is still felt to a certain extent, and he continues his work of oppression as
far as he is able, until when?Until the last of the events brought to view in verse
1, the deliverance of Gods people. When they are thus delivered, persecuting
powers are no longer able to oppress them, their power is no longer scattered,
the end of the wonders prescribed in this great prophecy is reached, and all its
predictions are accomplished.
Smith said the 1,290 days began 30 years before the 1,260 days, and he found some
significance in the date 508. He wrote:1
The 1290 Prophetic Days.We have here a new prophetic period introduced,
1290 prophetic days, which according to Bible authority would denote the same
number of literal years. From the reading of the text, some have inferred that
this period begins with the setting up of the abomination of desolation, or the
papal power, in A.D. 538, and consequently extends to 1828. We find nothing in
the latter year to mark its termination, but we do find evidence in the margin that
it begins before the setting up of the papal abomination. The margin reads To
set up the abomination. With this reading the text would stand thus: From
the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away to set up [or in order to
set up] the abomination that maketh desolate, there shall be a thousand two
hundred and ninety days.
The Year A.D. 508.We are not told directly to what event these 1290 days
reach; but inasmuch as their beginning is marked by a work which takes place
to prepare the way for the setting up of the papacy, it would be natural to
conclude that their end would be marked by the cessation of papal supremacy.
Counting back, then, 1290 years from 1798, we have the year 508. This period
is doubtless given to show the date of the taking away of the daily, and it is the
only one which does this. The two periods, therefore, the 1290 and the 1260
days, terminate together in 1798, the latter beginning in 538, and the former in
508, thirty years previous.

Karl August Auberlen (1824-1864)

Auberlen was Professor of Theology in Basel, Switzerland. Commenting on the woman of
Revelation 12 fleeing to the wilderness, he wrote:2
The Churchs life is nourished by the kind ministrations from on high; she
lives in the wilderness, even as Israel, on manna from heaven; and like her Lord,
1

Ibid., pp. 323-324.

Auberlen, Karl August, Magnus Friedrich Roos. The prophecies of Daniel and the revelations of St
John: viewed in their mutual relation, with an exposition of the principal passages. T. & T. Clark, 1856.
http://books.google.com/books?id=v942AAAAMAAJ
2

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from the word proceeding out of the mouth of God (Matt. iv. 4, comp. Rev.
xii. 11 ...) so that the devils attempts are as unavailing in her case as in that
of the Saviour. ... But, though she finds no nourishment, yet she finds a refuge
and an asylum in the Gentile world, even up to this day, that we may lead a
quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty. 1 Tim. ii. 2.
Let the Church, however, never forget that she is still in the worldin the ungodly worldwhich may, at any time, manifest her hostile spirit. This is expressed
primarily by the time which is mentioned, that the stay in the wilderness should
last (ver. 6 and 14). The three times, and half-a-time, or 1260 days, have,
doubtless, an accurate chronological meaning, but it is impossible, at present, to
arrive at it; the fulfilment alone will interpret the apocalyptic chronology, even
as we saw in the case of the chronological statements of Daniel. At present we
have solely to look to the symbolical meaning of the numbers in the Revelation
of St John. We know the meaning of three and a half from Daniel, vii. 25; xii.
6, 7; ix, 27. It is the time of the world power, in which the earthly kingdoms
rule over the heavenly. The same number is again used in the Apocalypse to
characterise the times of the Gentiles, during which Jerusalem is trodden down,
and hence the kingdom of God has lost completely its external visible existence
on earththat is, the time from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem to the second coming of Christ. Compare Luke xxi. 24, and Rev. xi. 2, in both which
passages, the treading of the holy city under foot of the Gentiles is spoken of,
which is to last till, according to the first passage, the times of the Gentiles;
according to the second, forty and two months (31/2 years = 1260 days) are
fulfilled. To these negative dates is added, in Rev. xiii. 5, the positive definition,
according to which, the forty-two months designate the period of the power of
the beastthat is, the world-power. The only remaining passage of our book, in
which the 1260 days occur, is probably to be understood in the same light, but
this will be shown in a subsequent part of our investigation.
We have thus seen that although the church finds a shelter in the heathen
world, yet she is given into the hands of the power of the world; she stands
under the protection, and also under the oppression of the worldly power; she
is a suffering and militant church to this very day. This mixture of protection
and oppression is the specific characteristic of the relation of the church to the
power of the world during the church-historical period. In one part of this period
the one element preponderates, in another the other; but in the end, the enmity
and opposition of the world shall break forth, with great violence, against the
church, Rev. xiii. 6, 7.

Auberlen compared his approach with other ways of interpreting the book of Revelation.
He wrote:1
The interpretation of the Apocalypse may be reduced to three grand groups.
1

Ibid., pp. 359-362.

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First, the church-historical view regards the Revelations as a prophetic compendium of church history, and supposes that the exalted Saviour has revealed
therein the chief events of all centuries of the Christian era, in detail, and with
chronological accuracy. Bengel is still the most important representative of this
view in Germany. His apocalyptic system, though the event has already proved
it erroneous in some points of primary importance, has yet, as far as its essence
is concerned, many adherents among believers of our time. Besides, the British
and French divines have a great predilection for this mode of interpretation. We
shall endeavour to give a characteristic of their mode of treating the Apocalypse, in our remarks on two of their most distinguished works in modern times,
the Horae Apocalypticae of the English divine Elliot, which were published
in 1851 in London, fourth edition, four large volumes; and, secondly, the work
of the Genevan divine, Gaussen, which we have quoted frequently, Daniel le
Prophete, of which hitherto three volumes have been published (2d edition,
1850). Gaussen gives a full exposition of the parallel passages in Daniel. The
English and French theologians have latterly devoted much attention to the theological, and especially the Apocalyptic literature of Germany: we enter, therefore,
willingly into an examination of theirs.
The second view is peculiar to those circles of modern German theology
who deny the genuineness of Daniel. They start with a conception of prophecy,
which excludes a real beholding of the future, revealed by God. Hence, they limit
the view of John, as well as that of Daniel, to his contemporary history; what
Antiochus Epiphanes is, according to their interpretation, in the book of Daniel,
Nero is in the New Testament Apocalypse. This exegetical view is generally
accompanied by the critical view, that the gospel of John and the Apocalypse
cannot be of the same author. Some, Ewald, De Wette, L
ucke, and others,
attribute the gospel, others again, Baur and his school, the Apocalypse, to the
apostle.
A second species of this view (that of contemporary history) has been recently
attempted, after the precedent of Herder and others, by Z
ullig. He excludes all
reference to Rome and heathenism, and tries to refer everything to Jerusalem
and Judaism. This view has found so few adherents, that we need not devote
to it a minute consideration.
The chief representatives of this second class of interpreters are Ewald, who
first developed it in his Commentarius Apocal. Criticus et Exegeticus, 1828;
De Wette, in his short exposition of the Revelations, 1848; and L
ucke, in his
Versuch einer vollstandigen Einleitung in die Offenbarung Johannis. 2d edit.
1852. Baurs school has not produced a monograph on the Apocalypse, but
only detached essays and occasional remarks.
The third view is the one to which we adhere. The fundamental principles
of this interpretation is the same as that of the first class (the church-historical
view), and opposed to the second. It starts from a belief in real predictions.
It does not even deny the possibility of prophecies so minute and special, as
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the interpreters belonging to the first class find in the Apocalypse; for that the
second part of Daniel contains such circumstantial predictions, and hence, that
such predictions are possible, the fulfilment has proved. But we deny, that the
New Testament Apocalypse, as it lies before us, de facto, is or was intended to
be a detailed history of the future. If this had been intended, the Revelations
would have been given in the same manner as the eleventh chapter of Daniel,
where there is indeed a minute history of the future. But we know that the
seventh chapter of Daniel, and its symbolism of beasts and man, forms the
substratum of the Apocalypse, and even the numbers occurring in the New
Testament Revelations chiefly refer to the fundamental number of three and
a half, given in Daniel vii. 25. The book does not intend to be a detailed
description of church-history, but its object is to represent the great epochs
and leading principal powers in the development of the kingdom of God viewed
in its relation to the worldkingdoms. As J. T. Beck says: The Apocalypse
describes essential peculiar principles, and we must endeavour to apprehend these
independently of the question, To what external historical phenomenon (Church,
State, event, individual) does this apply? We have pointed out above, why the
Old Testament congregation stood in need of more special prophecies than the
New Testament Church.
This view of the Apocalypse (according to which the book refers to the
history of the kingdom of God) is the original view held in the Church. It was first
reintroduced in a scientific shape by Hofmann, who referred the interpretation
of the Apocalypse to the fundamental passage in Daniel, and thus opened a
new path for the exposition of the beast. We refer to the second part of his
Weisagung u. Erf
ullung, 1844, p. 300. It was Hofmann also, who asserted
again the importance of the doctrine of the millennial kingdom, for which Bengel
had lifted so powerful a testimony. The two most recent commentaries on the
Revelations, that of Hengstenberg (2 vols., 1849-1851), and Ebrard (1853),
pursue the principle laid down by Hofmann. The former falls partly into preBengelian views, the latter adopts French and English ideas.

Michael Paget Baxter (1834-1910)

537 AD 1797 AD
1867 AD 1871 AD
Baxter was an Anglican minister and the founder and proprietor of the Christian Herald
newspaper in London. He was a fervent date setter; he named several people as the Antichrist, and he unsuccessfully predicted the end of the world for no less than seven different
times between 1867 and 1908. He also distributed about two million Bibles. Baxter thought
the prophecies of the 1,260 days in Revelation and the 1,290 days, and 1,335 days of Daniel
would be fulfilled both as years, and as literal days; he wrote, nearly all the dates in Daniel
and Revelation have their future recapitulated literal-day fulfillment.
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In 1863 he published a book in which he wrote:1

The fact of the End or Consummation being about or soon after 1871-72,
requires Antichrist to make a Jewish Covenant about or soon after 1864, and
Louis Napoleon is the only prophetic character in existence by whom such a
Covenant could properly be made.
The ten dates, which combine in showing the End to be about 1871-72,
are the 6000, 2520, (seven times, Dan. iv.,) 2500, 2300, (Dan. viii. 14,)
and 1335 years, (Dan. xii:12,) which all terminate in 1871-2: also the 1290,
1260, (Dan. xii.,) 666, 390, and 360 years, (Rev. xiii., ix. 15, x. 6,) which
ending respectively in 1824-7, 1794-7, 1868, 1844, and 1872, form additional
links in the chronological chain of evidence. As regards the four septenariesthe
7 Heads of the Beast, the 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets and 7 Vialswe are living under
the seventh-revived or last Head of the Beast, and just before the fulfillment of
the last year-day 7th Seal, 7th Trumpet, and 7th Vial, which will last for about
5 years, from 1866-7 to 1871-73. (Rev. vii. xi. 18. xvi. 15). As soon as they
commence the first stage in Christs Advent, His Coming in the air to translate
the 144,000 Wise Virgins, takes place, at the distance of about two years, and
five or six weeks after the date of the seven-years Covenant, (See Chap. II.,
Event 5.) During the succeeding five years, the seals, trumpets, vials, and nearly
all the dates in Daniel and Revelation have their future recapitulated literalday fulfillment. Their past year-day fulfillment has been interpreted by more
than a hundred expositors to show that the coming of Christ and end of this
Dispensation would occur between 1864 and 186973. It is at this last-named
year probably that the second translation and descent of Christ upon Mt. Olivet,
at the Battle of Armageddon, will take place, and Antichrist and his followers
being slain, the Millennium will be fully inaugurated.
From All These Considerations it appears that whereas Napoleon Bonaparte
slew his thousands, Louis Napoleon will slay his hundreds of thousands: the former scourged men with whips, but the latter will chastise them with scorpions.
The one only required homage to be offered to him as a King, but the other
will demand worship to be rendered him as a god. The Uncle made Europe
the principal theater of his desolations: but the Nephew will fill the four Continents of Europe, Africa; Asia, and America, with destruction and slaughter.
The former unsuccessfully meditated, but the latter will triumphantly achieve,
the humiliation and conquest of England, Russia, and Turkey. Satan was but
experimenting when he raised up the first Napoleon as a Great Destroyer, but
he has taxed his powers to the utmost to produce his most finished masterpiece,
the Third Napoleon, who will be unapproachably the Greatest of all Destroyers.
1

Baxter, Michael Paget. Louis Napoleon the destined monarch of the world: foreshown in prophecy
to confirm a seven years covenant with the Jews about seven years before the millennium. J.S. Claxton,
1867. pp. 58-59.
http://books.google.com/books?id=u8E0AAAAMAAJ

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In his interpretation of the prophecy of the two witnesses of Revelation 11, Baxter briefly
notes a mystical fulfillment in the 1260 years sackcloth testimony of the two Testaments,
but he elaborates in great detail on his ideas about a literal fulfillment of the prophecy.1
It was almost the universal belief among the Fathers of the Primitive Church,
some of whom had conversed with the Apostles themselves, that Elijah would
be the herald of Christ at his Second Advent, as stated in Mal. iv. 5, 6, and
would also be one of the two Witnesses. Either Enoch, Moses, or St. John was
thought to be the other Witness. The mysterious way in which Moses was taken
up to heaven, as well as the fact of his being with Elias at the Transfiguration,
and also his having performed actions similar to those ascribed to the Witnesses,
point him out as the person who will most probably be Elijahs fellow-prophet. It
is noticeable that the Greek word, for Witnesses, ... is used about forty times in
the Bible, and invariably signifies living personal witnesses, which is also the case
with the word Prophets; therefore this prophecy cannot be completely fulfilled
except by real persons, although it has had a mystical accomplishment in the 1260
years sackcloth testimony of the two Testaments, and their destruction during
the 31/2 years of the French Revolution. The appearance and ministry of these
two supernatural Witnesses will be necessitated by the severity of Napoleons
persecution, against the violence of which no mere mortal can contend. Therefore
a testimony in opposition to his Anti-Christian apostasy will be maintained by
Elias and the other prophet, who from the moment of his image being placed in
the Jewish temple, will thenceforth for 1260 days continue to preach the Gospel
and warn mankind not to worship the Antichrist or his image, or receive his
mark in their forehead or in their hand. It is through their instrumentality in a
great degree that the innumerable company of persons (Rev. vii. 9) who are
to be converted during the great tribulation will be brought to repentance: In
the absence of any definition of the localities where they will prophesy, we may
conclude that if they visit every place in which the infidel persecution rages,
they will deliver their testimony throughout nearly the whole of Christendom
and even in some parts of Heathendom. Their supernatural powers will probably
enable them to traverse long distances with the swiftness of angels. Clothed
in sackcloth from head to foot, they will suddenly alight in places where many
people are congregated together, and proceed to proclaim the truth as it is in
Jesus, and show from the prophecies that Napoleon is the Antichrist, and that all
the marvelous events of that period have been predicted to accompany Christs
advent. If any person attempts to injure them, they will breathe forth fire, a
jet of flame will issue from their mouth, and their assailant will instantaneously
fall dead, pierced through as by a flash of lightning. As Jannes and Jambres
withstood Moses and Aaron, and counterfeited their miracles, so will the False
Prophet (the Pope) and Romish Priests withstand the Two Witnesses and imitate

Ibid. pp. 125-127.

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their wondrous deeds. Whereas the Witnesses will breathe forth fire against those
who attempt to injure them, the False Prophet will mimic them by making fire
come down from heaven on the earth. Thus it will be a contest of fire against
fire. And as Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh, and remonstrated with
him regarding his cruel oppression of Israel, and punished his obduracy by the
infliction of grievous plagues, so most probably the Witnesses will enter into the
presence of Napoleon, the great anti-typical Pharaoh, and expostulate with him
respecting his ruthless persecution of the saints, and punish his obduracy by
smiting the earth with all plagues as often as they will. The sore judgments
of famine, pestilence, and ravages of wild beasts, that are foreshown under the
third and fourth literal-day seals to occur during the 31/2 years of Antichrist, will
be specially caused by the Witnesses, for they have power to shut heaven that
it rain not during the 1260 days of their prophecy, and the appalling scarcity of
food that will result from the total absence of rain for 31/2 years, will necessarily
bring in its train wide-spread disease, and give rise to the predatory incursions
of wild beasts, which will overrun many parts of the earth in search of food to
satisfy their raging hunger. The two Prophets will also exercise power over
waters to turn them to blood, by converting all salt and fresh water into blood,
under the second and third literal-day Vials, at the time of their slaughter and
resurrection.
At the termination of their 1260 days testimony, their invulnerability will
cease, and Antichrist will succeed in putting them to death. Great and universal
will be the exultation among the peoples and kindreds and tongues and nations,
when the welcome news1 is transmitted to them over the electric wires; they
will rejoice, and make merry, and send gifts one to another, because these two
prophets tormented them by their infliction of plagues for worshiping Napoleon.
But their joy will soon be turned into grief. For after the Witnesses dead bodies
have been exposed for 31/2 days, they will suddenly stand upon their feet and
ascend up to heaven in a cloud. About the same time there will be a great
earthquake, and the tenth part of the city (apparently Jerusalem) will fall, and
7,000 men be slain, and the remnant will be affrighted and give glory to the
God of heaven. The remnant that are constrained by these sights to give glory
to God, may be identical with the 144,000 Jews whose conversion and sealing
(Rev. vii.) takes place, principally during the ensuing 21/2 months, and it may
be the intelligence of their consequent defection from Antichrists cause that
constitutes the tidings out of the East, (Dan. xi. 44,) which lead to his last
exterminating assault upon them at the time of the Battle of Armageddon.

1
Baxters note: It was once objected to the literal fulfillment of this prophecy, that the intelligence
of the slaughter of the Witnesses could not be circulated even through Europe within 31/2 days. The
invention of the telegraph, however, furnishes a triumphant answer to such an objection, and if the
transatlantic cable should be laid down by that time, the death of the two Prophets might be made
known in America within a few hours of its occurrence.

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Henry Barclay Swete

Henry Barclay Swete (1835-1917)

Swete was an English Biblical scholar and Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. He is
known for his commentary on the Book of Revelation. Swete wrote, on the time that the
two witnesses prophesy, Revelation 11:2-3:1
This limit of time is derived from Dan. vii. 25; xii. 7, i.e. 31/2 years or
42 months, the duration of the sufferings of the Jews under Antiochus, whether
we reckon from June 168 to Dec. 165, or from Dec. 168 to the middle of
164; see Driver ad loc. The same limit is given under various terms in Apoc.
xi. 3, xii. 6 (1260 days), xii. 14 (a time and times and half a time, as in
Daniel), xi. 2, xiii. 5 (42 months). By comparing these passages with the
present context we get the equation: the duration of the triumph of the Gentiles
= the duration of the prophesying of the Two Witnesses, = the duration of the
Womans sojourn in the wilderness. The time-limit serves of course no further
purpose than to synchronize the several periods, and to compare them with the
greatest crisis through which the Jewish people passed between the Exile and the
Fall of Jerusalem. In this place it suggests that as the Syrian domination yielded
at last to the faith and courage of the Maccabees, so when the appointed time
has come the Jewish people may be emancipated from Gentile oppression, and
restored to the unity of the people of God. The words have a special interest in
view of the recrudescence of Anti-Semitism.
The speaker is Christ (cf. ii. 13, xxi. 6) or His Angel-representative (xxii,
7, 12 ff.) Neither Moses and Elijah, nor Elijah and Elisha, nor Enoch and Elijah
can exhaust the meaning of the two witnesses who prophesy through the whole
period of Gentile domination, though, as the sequel shews (vv. 5, 6), the first
pair at least are in the mind of the writer, suggested doubtless by Mal. iv. 4,
6, and by the vision of the Transfiguration (Mk. ix. 4). Nor again can such
allegorical interpretations as the Law and the Prophets, the Law and the Gospel,
the Old Testament and the New, be maintained in view of all that follows. Rather
the witnesses represent the Church in her function of witness-bearing, (Acts i.
8); her testimony is symbolized by two witnesses, partly in reference to the wellknown law of Deut. xix. 15, partly in order to correspond with the imagery of
Zechariah iv. 2 ff., about to be cited; or, as Primasius says, they may represent
the Church in both stages of her career, ecclesia duobus testamentis praedicans
et prophetans. The witness of the Church, borne by her martyrs and confessors,
her saints and doctors, and by the words and lives of all in whom Christ lives
and speaks, is one continual prophecy, (cf. xix. 10) lasting throughout the 1260
days of the triumph of heathendom. Her witnesses are clad in sackcloth (for the
construction see x. i), a reference perhaps to the rough costume worn by ancient
1

Swete, Henry Barclay. The Apocalypse of St. John: the Greek text with introduction, notes. London:
Macmillan. 1911. pp. 133-135. (Nite: Some editing, text omitted in quote.) http://www.archive.org/
details/2apocalypseofstj00swetuoft

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prophets; cf. 2 Chron i. 8, Zech. xiii. 4, Isa. xx. 2, and see Mk. i. 6, note.
But ... the sackcloth dress indicates that the attitude of the Church during the
prevalence of paganism, if not to the end of her course on earth (Mk. ii. 20),
must needs be penitential and not triumphant; cf. Jonah iii. 6, 8, Mt. xi. 2 1
Cf. Bede: saccis amicti, id est in exomologesi constituti.

Henry Grattan Guinness (1835-1910)

533 AD 1793 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
Guinness was an Irish Protestant Christian preacher, evangelist and author. He connected
the 1,260 days with events in the history of the papacy, using the dates for the 1,260 days
that had been suggested by Irving, and he also supported another fulfillment, between 606
AD and 1866, as if he felt the first one might seem unconvincing. Apparently he thought
the date 1866 was close enough to 1870, when the events actually occurred, to satisfy the
prophecy. It was then that the holdings of the pope, and the status of the Vatican became
uncertain as Rome was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. Guinness mentioned the
interval from the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD to the death of Gregory XIII as another
possible fulfillment. As well, he connected the 1,260 days with astronomical cycles. In 1879
Guinness wrote:1
Gregory XIII. died in A.D. 1585, exactly 1260 years after the Council of Nice,
and his reformation of the calendar only came into use three years before his
death, and that only in the Catholic countries which accepted it as a matter of
course; in Protestant Germany and Switzerland it did not take effect till A.D.
1700, and in England not till A.D. 1752.
It is a singular coincidence, to say the least of it, that this chronological
legislation, emanating from the Pope who sanctioned and struck a triumphant
medal, in memory of the bloody massacre of the Protestants of France, on St.
Bartholomews day, should have removed from a period of 1260 years (dating
from the first General Council following the rise of Imperial Christianity) the
accumulated Julian error which concealed its true epact measures, and that he
should thus have unintentionally uncovered, as attached to it, one more form of
the triple six, so solemnly linking the period with the number of the Beast.
The downfall of the temporal power of the Papacy is the event marking the
close of this period of 1260 years, just as the rise of the Papacy marked its
beginning; and it is evident that neither of these events happened in a year, or
indeed in a century. Rome was not built in a day, it is commonly said; and
assuredly the Roman Catholic Church did not burst full-blown on the world. It
rose into power gradually as the old Roman empire decayed and passed away; it
1
Guinness, Henry Grattan. The approaching end of the age viewed in the light of history, prophecy
and science. Hodder and Stoughton, 1879. pp. 425-427

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had various marked crises of rise, and hence its great period of 1260 years, must
have analogous successive termini, earlier and later, exactly as in the case of the
Captivity era. The earliest possible conclusion of the period, is the epoch of the
Reformation. Up to that time the saints had been delivered into the hand of this
persecuting power without exception, and without appeal, or redress. Then, and
thenceforward, a very considerable portion of Christendom was delivered from
its spiritual and temporal oppression and tyranny. From the Council of Nice to
the full end of the Reformation movement may therefore, perhaps, be regarded
as an initiatory 1260 years.
The chronological legislation of Gregory XIII., took place at the close of this
period, and corrected the error that had accumulated since its commencement.
Sixtus V., who died five years after Gregory (A.D. 1590), was the last pope who
rendered himself formidable to European courts. From his time, to the present,
Papal power has been passing through its period of decline and fall, just as from
the fourth to the end of the sixth centuries, the system of the apostasy was
gradually rising and developing into the Papacy.
A second and more evident and accurate measurement, is found by dating the
1260 years from the Edict of Justinian, which constituted the Bishop of Rome
the head of all the Churches A.D. 533. This date of the terminus a quo, gives
as the terminus ad quern A.D. 1793, the time of the French Revolution, in the
course of which, as we have seen, the Pope was carried captive from Rome, and
the Papal power received a tremendous shock, from which it never fully rallied.
But the main reckoning of the period is unquestionably between the chronologic limits A.D. 606 and 1866-70, the former being the date at which the title
of Pope, or universal bishop, was, by the Emperor Phocas, conferred upon Boniface III., and the latter, that of the overthrow of Austria and France, and the
consequent loss of the last vestige of temporal power, by Pius IX., when Victor
Emmanuel moved his court to the Quirinal, and became sole king of united Italy.
Then, and never quite till then, the Papacy, as a temporal powera hornceased
to exist. As a religion, it is destined to continue till the second advent of Christ,
when the Lord will destroy it with the brightness of his coming. The Beast is
to be cast alive into the lake of fire, and therefore to be still in existence at the
Epiphany.
To sum up: 1260 years, the foretold and fulfilled period of Papal domination
in Christendom, and of the temporal political power of the Popes of Rome, has
the following remarkable astronomic measures.
1260 years is 6 + 6 + 6 soli-lunar 70-year cycles;
1260 years is 66 lunar cycles + 6 years.
1260 years have 6606 days of epact.
In the Preface to his book History Unveiling Prophecy, Guinness wrote:
It is a deep satisfaction to the author to remember that whatever may be the
views of a modern section of skeptical or speculative interpreters of the Apoca108

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lypse, who either see no reference to definite historical events in the prophecy, or
relegate its fulfillment to future times, in accepting and advocating its historical
interpretation, in regarding it as the story told in advance in symbolic language of
the events of the Christian centuries, he is treading in the steps of the greater part
of Apocalyptic interpreters from the earliest times, of Justin Martyr; Irenaeus,
Tertullian, Hippolytus, Victorinus, Methodius, Lactantius, Eusebius, Athanasius,
Jerome, and Augustine among the Fathers; of Bede and Anspert, Andreas and
Anselm, Joachim Abbas and Almeric of the middle ages, of the Albigenses and
Waldenses, of Wickliffe and the Lollards, of John Huss and Jerome of Prague of
pre-Reformation times; of the Reformers, English, Scottish, and Continental; of
the noble army of Confessors and Martyrs who suffered under Pagan and Papal
Rome; of the Puritan theologians, of the Pilgrim Fathers of New England, of
Mede and More, and Sir Isaac Newton, and Jonathan Edwards that greatest
of American theologians, of Bengel the learned German exegete, of Alford and
Wordsworth, of Birks and Bickersteth, of Faber and Elliott in England, and a
host of others, men distinguished for their ability, their assiduity, their spirituality,
their deep study of the prophetic world, in short by what appear to be the greatest and best of the expositors of the book. Modern historical interpreters of the
Apocalypse are in good company; they stand with the Fathers, the Confessors,
the Martyrs, the Reformers, with men who suffered for the truth they believed,
and were practically guided and inspired by the interpretations they have handed
down to posterity.
Not all of those listed above would have agreed that the 1,260 days of Revelation 11:2
and 12:6 must be interpreted as so many years. Philip Mauro was not impressed by the
dating schemes and cycles that Guinness used; see page 119.

A. J. Gordon (1836-1895)
Gordon was minister at Clarendon Street Baptist Church in Boston. He believed the 1,260
days of Revelation 11:3 and 12:6 represent so many years, and defended that view against
literalism, in a note in his book Ecce Venit:1
And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (Rev.
xiii. 5). This period of Antichrists duration we hold to be, according to the
year-day theory, twelve hundred and sixty years. To those who deride such
interpretation as strained, and insist that the words mean three years and a half,
we reply: What expositor has interpreted the ten days tribulation in Rev. ii. 10
to be ten literal days? But if the Holy Spirit meant years, in the Apocalypse,
why did He not say years? it is replied. Why, when He meant churches and
ministers, and kingdoms and kings and epochs, did He say candlesticks, and
1
Gordon, A. J. Ecce Venit. Fleming H. Revell, NY. 1889. p. 139.
http://xythos.gordon.edu/Archives/Gordon Herritage/EcceVenit.pdf

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stars, and beasts, and horns, and trumpets? Yet, having used these miniature
symbols of greater things, how fitting that the accompanying time should also
be in miniature! To use literal dates would distort the imagery, as though you
should put a lifesized eye in a smallsized photograph.

Gordon was impressed by the fulfillment of some of the predictions of previous historicists;
probably alluding to Flemings dates in the quote below.1
For the energy of Satan is evermore a tribute to the zeal of God appearing in
the Church. If Christians are rising up to extraordinary service for God, because
they know that the time is short, what wonder if Satan should come down
with great wrath because he knoweth he hath but a short time?
As for chronological signs, we believe that these are given to enable us to
approximate, not to calculate, the time of the end. Those computations by which
some have presumed to determine the day and the hour of the Lords return have
brought great discredit upon Apocalyptic study. Only as the prophets lamp
shines upon the prophets calendar can we read it aright; and while we examine
the inspired dates of the latter, we must give heed to the divine admonition of
the former: But of that day and hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels of
heaven, but my Father only (Matt. xxiv. 36).
In saying this, however, we are far from disparaging the study of divine
chronology. That oft-repeated interval,time, and times, and a half a time,
forty and two months, a thousand two hundred and threescore days,we
hold to signify always the same thing, according to the year-day interpretation,
twelve hundred and sixty years. Now, as this is the period of the domination
of the beast (Rev. xiii. 6), and of the witnesses prophesying in sackcloth (xi.
3), of the career of the little horn (Dan. vii. 24), and of the sojourn of the
woman in the wilderness (Rev. xii, 6), it gives us several lines of measurement
that verify each other. By general consent, the little horn and the beast
signify the Antichrist. This mysterious power holds dominion for forty and two
months, the same period as that of the womans sojourn in the wilderness. But
the exile of the Bride, the woman in white, must correspond in duration with the
enthronement of the Harlot, the woman in purple, for these are the obverse and
reverse sides of the same prophetic fact. Now, as we know from history that the
Harlot has been sitting as queen on the seven hills for more than twelve hundred
years, and as we know from prophecy that her opposite, the Bride, was to be in
exile for a thousand two hundred and threescore days, we conclude that these
days signify years, for the Beast, and for the Bride, and for the Harlot alike, all
these having the same period for their allotted career. Therefore it is not true,
as some assert, that Antichrist arises only after the apostate Church has run her
course, to hold sway for a literal three years and a half; but he is contemporaneous with her. Now, since Antichrists destruction is effected by Christs coming,
1

Ibid., pp. 203-206.

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the career of the former, as predicted in prophecy and confirmed by history, must
furnish one of the plainest measures by which to approximate the time of the
end. If the rise of the papacy could be fixed as to the exact day and year, we
might not err in seeking by computation for the day and year of its fall, and so
approximate closely the date of the coming of the Lord. But as its beginning was
in several epoch-marking events, so, applying our measuring line, we must look
for its decline in corresponding crises of decadence, each crisis being an alarm
bell for admonishing us to watchfulness. From several initial dates in history,
corresponding terminal periods have been correctly anticipated by students of
prophecy for the last three hundred years. It is impossible to enter with detail
into the subject. Nearly two hundred years ago, Apocalyptic scholars forecast
the years 1790 and 1848 as critical years in the commencing of the downfall of
the papacy,the first of which, as events proved, brought her under the bloody
judgments of the French Revolution, and the second into that other political
convulsion which drove the pope into exile. So, likewise, many expositors concurred in looking for some marked calamity to Rome in 1868-70,the latter year,
as history was to prove, being that of the downfall of the temporal power of the
pope, the severest blow, in the estimation of many, which has fallen upon Rome
in a thousand years. These are illustrations of correct chronological computation
which might be greatly multiplied. They suffice to indicate that they err not
who, like the prophets, search what manner of time the Spirit in the Word
has signified by the chronology therein given; as they suffice, also, to indicate
that our century is solemnly marked as the era of expiring dates, and therefore
of startling admonitions to watchful expectation.

Ethelbert William Bullinger

(1837-1913)
Bullinger was an Anglican clergyman and the originator of Ultradispensationalism, also known
as Bullingerism.
He approached the prophecies literally; he said the temple of Revelation 11:1-2 is a literal
one, that is yet to be built. He wrote:1
There is no difficulty whatever if we leave the Temple alone. But if we say
(with Alford and others) that it means the church of the elect servants of God,
everywhere in this book symbolized by Jews in deed and truth, then we create
difficulties which are insurmountable; for how John was to measure the Church
we are at a loss to understand.
That there is to be a Temple of God in Jerusalem is clear from 2 Thess.
ii. 4, for Antichrist is to sit as God there; and the abomination of desolation
is to be there set up (Matt. xxiv.15).
1
Bullinger, E. W. The Apocalypse, 3rd ed. London. 1935. pp. 347-348.
http://books.google.com/books?id=nXvYP1aiTOkC

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For Bullinger the 42 months and 1,260 days of the prophecy are merely three and a half
literal years.1
The court of the Temple and the city is given over to be trodden under
foot by the Gentiles. It is given over to the Gentiles for a special treading
down, and for a definite period. The period of 42 months is connected with
the measuring. It closely follows it in order of time, We dare not reverse the
two events. This proves, again, that the Church cannot be here, because it
could not be at one and the same time delivered from Papal oppression, and
yet still be under that oppression. In other words the treading down of the true
Church by Rome, preceded the Reformation (which is said by the Historicists
to be denoted by the measuring); whereas, here, the order is opposite. This,
at once, effectually disposes of the historical interpretation. As to the period of
forty and two months Alford truly says no solution at all approaching to a
satisfactory one has ever yet been given of any one of these periods. This being
so, my principle is to regard them as still among the things unknown to the
Church. But why? Why does this period require any solution at all? When
it makes known a fact to us as to the duration of a certain period, Why regard
that period as among the things unknown? Secret things (we read) belong
unto the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to
our children for ever (Deut. xxix. 29). Surely this period of forty two months
is among the things that are revealed. It is not a secret thing; and therefore,
being revealed, we are not to regard it as unknown! but as among the things
we assuredly know; and that, upon Divine authority. The great solution of
this (and similar difficulties) is to believe that the words mean what they say:
that months mean months; and forty-two means forty-two. There is
no difficulty then. All is natural, simple and easy. The city is literal. The
treading down is literal. The Gentiles are literal. Why is not the duration of
their oppression of the holy city literal also? And when this duration is given to
us as forty and two months (or 31/2 years), why should it need any so called
solution? It matters not how great or learned the men may be who offer us
these solutions. They are all vain imaginations; and mere fancy-work, which only
obscures instead of elucidating the word of God.
Bullingers simplistic literal approach dismisses the problem of the discrepancy between
42 months, and 1,260 days. In fact, the number of days in 42 lunar months is 1,240, and
the number of days in 42 calendar months or 31/2 real years is about 1,278, or 18 days more
than the 1,260 days of the prophetic time period. Historicist interpreters wrestled with this
for centuries. Was that discrepancy meant to teach us that Johns prophetic time period
is not to be taken as a literal 31/2 years, but these various expressions signify an ideal or
symbolic period, of indeterminate duration?

Ibid. p. 352.

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Isbon T. Beckwith (1843-1936)

Beckwith was a professor of Greek language and literature at Trinity College in Hartford,
Connecticut. In his commentary on Revelation, he wrote:1
Three and a half, always typical, is unquestionably taken from Dan. 7:25,
12:7, where the time and times and half a time, i.e. three and a half times,
denote the last period of the triumph of evil and the oppression of Gods people,
as accomplished in the rule of Antiochus, after which should come the Great Day
of Jehovah, with the destruction of the enemy and the giving of the kingdom to
the saints of the Most High. While the persecutions of Antiochus are seen to
have lasted approximately 31/2 years (cf. Driver Dan. in C. B. 93; Introd. 494)
it is probable that the author of Dan. uses the number typically of the indefinite
but short period which he pictures as preceding the End. ... The author of the
Apocalypse in 12:14 takes a primary phrase of Daniel a time and times and half
a time; elsewhere he interprets times as days, or years, and in the latter case
gives variously 31/2 years, or the equivalent 42 months, or 1260 days, the month
being reckoned as 30 days (11:2, 3, 9, 11; 12:6; 13:5). But in all places the
meaning seems to be the same, the period of the last terrible sway of Satan and
his agents in the world before the second coming of the Lord.

B. H. Carroll (1843-1914)
250 AD 1510 AD
Carroll was pastor of the First Baptist Church, Waco, Texas for 28 years; he became Dean of
Bible at Baylor University; and then helped found and later became president of Southwestern
Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth. On the 42 months of Revelation 11:2, for which the holy
city is trodden down by Gentiles, he wrote:2
Under this unique measurement only the true temple with its altar of sacrifice
and its few worshipers are counted. The outer court and all the holy city are
left out. These are trodden under foot by the nations forty-two months, which
equals one thousand two hundred and sixty days of the next verse. And in
this book a prophetic day represents a year; as in its Old Testament analogue,
Ezekiel. The forty-two months and their equivalent, 1,260 days, symbolizing
1,260 years, date the dark ages of the apostasybeginning in the third century
and extending to the Reformation of the sixteenth century. The true church in
this period is an inner circle determined by divine spiritual measurement. ... Our
1

Beckwith, Isbon T. The Apocalypse of John: Studies in Introduction, With a Critical and Exegetical
Commentary. MacMillan, N.Y., 1922. p. 252.
2
Carroll, B. H. An Interpretation of the English Bible: Revelation. J. B. Cranfill, Ed. Broadman
Press, 1948.
http://sglblibrary.homestead.com/files/BHCarroll/Volume 17.htm

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Clarence Larkin
interpretation makes the numbers forty-two months in 11:2, and 13:5, and
the 1,260 days of 11:3, 12:6, and the time, times and half-time of 12:14, all
mean the same thingi.e., 1,260 years, which delimits the wilderness period of
the church, commencing about A.D. 250, and extending to A.D. 1510.

Clarence Larkin (1850-1924)

Larkin was trained as a mechanical engineer, and became a Baptist minister. He is best
known for designing and drawing many charts illustrating the dispensational interpretation
of prophecy. Below is Larkins discussion on the Times of the Gentiles.1
In Luke 21:24 Jesus says that Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles
until the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
We have seen that the Times of the Gentiles began in B.C. 606; is there
any way of telling when they will end?
There are those who claim that Jesus meant by the word Times, Prophetical Times, and that a Prophetical Time is a year of 360 days, each day
standing for a year, thus making a Time equal to 360 years. They also claim
that Moses in the Book of Leviticus (Lev. 26:18-20, Lev. 26:24-26), foretold,
and four times repeated it, that if the Children of Israel disobeyed God, He would
punish them Seven Times for their sins and that Jesus referred to these Seven
Times when He spoke of the TIMES of the Gentiles. Therefore if a Time
is 360 years, Seven Times would be 7 X 360 = 2520 years; and as the Times
of the Gentiles began in B.C. 606, they should end in A. D. 1914.
Can this claim be substantiated? In the Book of Revelation the last half
of the Seventieth Week of Daniel is described by three statements of time.
First by 42 months (Rev. 11:2; Rev. 13:5); second by 1260 days (Rev. 11:3;
Rev. 12:6); third by Time, and Times, and Half a time (Rev. 12:14); this last
corresponding with Daniels Time and times and the dividing of time. Dan.
7:25; Dan. 12:7. Now as all these statements of time apply to the same period
it is clear that the things that are equal to the same thing are equal to each
other; and as a thousand, two hundred and threescore days equal 1260 days,
and 1260 days equal 42 months of 30 days each, and 42 months equal 31/2 years,
then Time, Times and Half a Time (or the dividing of time), must equal 31/2
years. That is, a Time must equal one year; and Times, two years; and
a Half a Time, half a year. So we see that in Prophetical Chronology a
Time is equal to a year of 360 days, and not a year of 360 years. There is
therefore no scriptural authority for calling a Time 360 ordinary years.
If a Time was 360 ordinary years, then the times, and times, and half a
time of Rev. 12:14 would be equal to 360+720+180 or 1260 years, making
the Last Week of Daniels Seventy Weeks 2520 years long; the absurdity of

Larkin, Clarence. Dispensational Truth, Or Gods Plan and Purpose in the Ages. 1918. p. 71.

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which is seen when we remember that the last week of the Seventy Weeks
must be on the same scale as the Weeks of the 69 Week Period, which we
proved from history were only 7 years long.
If the claim that the Times of the Gentiles is 2520 years long is correct,
then we must not forget that those years are years of 360 days each. Now
2520 years of 360 days each, make 907, 200 days. But exactly 2523 Julian or
Astronomical Years of 3651/4 days each, or 921,516 days, have elapsed since
B.C. 606 up to the present time (A.D. 1917), a difference of 14,316 days. If
we reduce these 2523 years of 3651/4 days to years of 360 days, then we must
divide 921,516 by 360, which gives us 25593/4 years, which is 393/4 years more
than 2520 years, so that the 2520 years of the Times of the Gentiles ran out
393/4 years ago, or in A. D. 1877.
As further proof that the Seven Times of Leviticus are not Prophetic
Times, we have the fact (shown on the chart on Prophetical Chronology),
that the Children of Israel have been punished, or given over to Servitude
and Captivity exactly SEVEN times. Their present Dispersion is neither a
servitude or Captivity, and does not count.
If the Seven Times of Leviticus are Prophetic Times and a Time is
one year, then Seven Times would be seven years, the length of the Last
Week of Daniels Seventy Weeks, and would make the statement of Leviticus
a Prophetic reference to the length of the Tribulation Period through which the
Jews must go as a punishment for their sins. The 1000 years of Rev. 20:2-4 are
ordinary years, just as the 70 years of the Babylonian Captivity were. The context
will show whether ordinary or prophetical years are meant. It is this confusion
in interpreting Prophetical Chronology that has led to the time setting that
has brought discredit upon the whole system of Premillennial Truth.
The Times of the Gentiles will end with the end of Daniels Seventieth
Week. When that will begin and end no one knows, for the Scriptures teach
that it is not for us to know the Times and Seasons.
Why must the units for the word time in prophecy be limited to one kind? If Daniels
1,290 days, and 1,335 days are broken down into months of 30 days, they fit the pattern of
a time, times, and a half, each expression having two different kinds of units, regular years
of 12 months, and leap years of 13 months. For each number, the units for the first time
differ from the rest.
1, 290 days = 13 30 + 2 12 30 + 1/2 12 30
1, 335 days = 12 30 + 2 13 30 + 1/2 13 30
Similarly, the units for the three sections of the 70 weeks, also, may be different, or else,
why would they be expressed in three parts, 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and one week? The 70th
week itself may be composed of two parts; the first half-week, the earthly ministry of Jesus,
and the last half-week being a symbolic three and a half years, representing the age of the
church, when Christ confirms his covenant with his saints.
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It is absurd to insist that the four periods of seven times mentioned in Leviticus 26 are
not prophetic times.
James said, Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.1
This applies to the prophecy of Leviticus 26; they provide an overview of history. Daniel
said that the curse written in the law of Moses had come upon Israel.2
Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might
not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is
written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against
him.
And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our
judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole
heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we
not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities,
and understand thy truth.
This must refer to the four periods of seven times in Leviticus 26. This shows that the
first of the four periods of seven times had already been poured out; there were three yet to
come. And in the 70 weeks prophecy, there are three sections.
The seventy weeks are three separate periods, seven weeks, sixty and two weeks, and one
week. Since all of these are weeks, they are also seven times.
The first is seven weeks so it is seven times where the units for times are sevens. The
second is seven times where the units for times are 62 years, which was also the age of
Darius the Mede (who some identify with Cyrus) when he became king of Babylon.3 The
third is seven times since it is one week. So the 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24-27 explain how
the four periods of Leviticus 26 are working out. Since this entire period is called a curse,
there are no gaps in it, as that would imply a temporary lapse in the curse, and a temporary
reconciliation of Israel to God, and of God to Israel, which has not happened. The last of
the four periods of seven times is when God remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and is reconciled to Israel.
The promise given to Abraham that in his seed, all nations will be blessed, was called
the gospel by Paul.4 The ministry of Jesus, plus the church age, represented by the time,
times and a half, or 1,260 days, is seven times. It is the week in which Christ confirms the
covenant with many. This 70th week corresponds to the last of the four periods of seven
times in Leviticus 26, when God remembers his covenant and is reconciled to his people.

Acts 15:18
Daniel 9:11-13
3
Daniel 5:31
4
Galatians 3:8
2

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Joseph Franklin Judge Rutherford

(1856-1942)
1914 AD 1918 AD
Rutherford said the three and a half times is the 1,260 day period that began in 1914,
and ended in mid-1918, when the Watch Tower Societys preaching work was suspended.
This was immediately followed by the 1,290 days, which extended to the Bible Students
convention, held September 5-13, 1922, at Cedar Point, Ohio. This event, it was claimed,
began the 1,335 day period (1922-1926).1
George D. Chryssides wrote:2
The three and a half times prophecy remains to be considered. Rutherford
holds that this 1,260 day period is to be calculated from 27 March 1919, the
date of the Watch Tower leaders release from prison. The three and a half
times therefore culminate on 10 September 1922. This dates significance lies
in the Convention at Cedar Point, Ohio on that date, when ten thousand Watch
Tower supporters unanimously adopted a resolution stating that Gods kingdom
had now come.
The Watchtower Society has since made numerous adjustments to Rutherfords interpretation, and the dates Oct. 4th, Nov. 7th, and Dec. 28th in the year 1914 have each been
said to begin the 1,260 days.3

Philip Mauro (1859-1952)

c.30 AD c.34 AD
Mauro was a successful patent lawyer, and a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of
the United States. He was a preterist, and wrote an exposition of Daniels prophecy of the
70 weeks, in which he suggested that the last half-week of the 70 weeks, and the 1,260 days
of Revelation 11:3 and 12:6, and the time, times and a half, refer to the three and a half
years that followed the crucifixion, when the gospel was preached to Jews by the apostles.
He quoted Dr. Taylor:4

Gruss, Edmond C. Jehovahs Witnesses: their claims, doctrinal changes, and prophetic speculation:
what does the record show? Xulon Press, 2001. p. 184.
http://books.google.com/books?id=kSZL8BWc9KcC
2
Chryssides, George D. How Prophecy Succeeds: The Jehovahs Witnesses and Prophetic Expectations. 2010. p. 39.
http://www.equinoxjournals.com/IJSNR/article/viewFile/8147/pdf
3
http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/revelation-daniel-prophetic-interpretation.php
4
Mauro, Philip. The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation: A Study of the Last Two Visions of
Daniel, and of the Olivet Discourse of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1921. p. 71.
http://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/pdf/1921 mauro seventyweeks.pdf

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We cannot pass this note of number without remarking on the singular coincidences presented by its frequent occurrence both in history and prophecy. The
drought in the days of Elijah lasted three years and six months. The little horn
which appeared on the head of the fourth beast was to have the saints given
into his hands until a time, and times, and the dividing of time. The public
ministry of the Messiah was to continue for half a week (or heptad) of years; that
is, for three years and a half. His Gospel was to be preached to the Jews after
His ascension for another half heptad before it was proclaimed to the Gentiles.
Then, in the Book of Revelation, it is said that the woman shall be nourished in
the wilderness for a time and times and a half a time, and that the holy city
should be trodden under foot forty and two months, which are three and a half
years.

Mauro applied the 1,290 days and 1,335 days of Daniel 12:11-12 to the period of the
siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies leading to the destruction of the city in 70 AD.
He dismissed the dispensational theory of a gap between the sections of the 70 weeks. He
wrote:1
In the foregoing pages we have sought to give the true interpretation of the
last four chapters of Daniel. In so doing we have endeavored to show that the
latter days, wherein the last of those prophecies was expressly to be fulfilled,
was that final period of Jewish history which stretched from the return from
Babylon in the days of Cyrus, to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus; and
also to show that the time of the end spoken of in Daniel 12:4 was the very
last stage of that period, including the days of Christ, and the time of gospel
preaching which followed.
But the subject should not be left without some reference to the question
whether these prophecies have any application at all to the present dispensation.
We are deeply convinced that there is no warrant whatever for breaking off
the last parts of these prophecies, and carrying the detached portions across
the intervening centuries to the end of this gospel dispensation. This freakish
system of interpretation has nothing in the Scripture to support it, so far as we
can discover. But is it not a possibility nevertheless that the prophecies, or parts
of them at least, may have a secondary and final fulfillment in the last days of
our era?
This question cannot be dismissed as unworthy of serious consideration, seeing that many expositors of the highest ability have elaborated systems of interpretation wherein the time measures of Daniel are taken, on the scale of a day
to a year, to measure from various epochs in the past to various critical events
in this dispensation. Especially have those time measures been used to locate
the second coming of Christ, and other events which pertain to the time of the

Ibid., pp. 73-74.

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end of this present age. Sometimes the periods are measured on the scale of a
lunar year, sometimes on the scale of a solar year, sometimes on the scale of a
calendar year (counting 360 days to a year). Mr. H. Grattan Guinness, in his well
known books, The Approaching End of the Age, and Light for the Last Days,
uses all three scales, and he seems to obtain remarkable results whichever scale
he employs. Thus these figures appear to give, in many cases, the measures
of time between important historical events of old, and corresponding events in
our own era. All this suggests the possibility that the figures given in the 12th
chapter of Daniel may, when made to mean years instead of days, be found to
measure accurately from some selected starting point to say the rise (or the fall)
of the Papacy as a temporal power, or of Mohammedanism, or to the French
Revolution, or to the outbreak of the World War, or to the taking of Jerusalem
from the Turks. Such studies are not without interest and value; but they do
not, in our opinion, supply us with a basis upon which the date of any future
event can be predicted; and most emphatically do we declare it as our judgment,
that neither these figures nor any others have been given as a means whereby
the date of the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ can be calculated. To
that judgment we are driven by His own definite statements in His Mount Olivet
prophecy, which we are now about to examine. From those statements it will
be clearly seen that, while on the one hand the Lord warned His disciples most
explicitly concerning the exterminating judgments which were to fall upon the
people, the city and the temple in that generation, and while He gave them an
unmistakable sign whereby they might be warned of the approach thereof in time
to escape, He took the greatest pains on the other hand to impress upon them
that His own coming again would be at an unexpected season, and without any
premonitory signs whatever.
Furthermore, it is obvious that, in order to measure long time intervals from a
starting point in Old Testament days, it is necessary to have a correct chronology;
and the practice of all who have made calculations of the sort referred to has
been to assume some one or other of the existing chronological systems based
upon the canon of Ptolemy, which Anstey has shown to be erroneous, or at least
untrustworthy. And in this connection we would say that our confidence in all
calculations of the sort referred to is much shaken by the fact that each scheme of
interpretation yields equally remarkable results whether one system of chronology
be chosen or another, and whether the year be taken as containing 365 days,
or 360, or 354 (the last being the length of the lunar year). Now, inasmuch as
it is manifestly impossible that all the different chronologies based on Ptolemys
canon should be equally correct, or that it is a matter of indifference whether the
year, which is the time unit in all these calculations, be of one length, or another,
we are unable to find in such systems of interpretation any basis solid enough
to support settled conclusions. Therefore, as to the time of any of the as yet
unfulfilled prophecies, we have no means for fixing, or even closely approximating,
the year in which it will occur; and this statement applies in a special way to the
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coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And finally we would say, after much consideration of the matter, and with
the desire (which must be common to all) that we might have a divinely revealed
measuring line and a starting point whereby future events could be accurately
located on the chart of the years, yet we cannot see sufficient warrant for assuming that the days mentioned in these prophecies are really years. We shall
not take the time to examine the reasons usually given in support of that assumption, it being enough to say that we know of no proof that the word day,
in any time measure given in the Bible, means year; nor can we conceive of
any reason why, if a year were meant, the word day should be used instead.

If the last half-week of the 70 weeks was the three and a half years that followed the
crucifixion, wouldnt the apostles have noticed?

Arno Clemens Gaebelein (1861-1945)

Gaebelein was a Methodist minister who was involved with Jewish evangelism among newly
arrived immigrants in New Jersey. He was the editor of The Hope of Israel magazine and
later Our Hope, which featured articles on biblical prophecy. He was associated with James
H. Brookes, and James M. Gray, and he wrote many of the notes for C. I. Scofields Reference
Bible. In his The Annotated Bible he commented on Revelation 11:2-3:
Much has been written on these two witnesses who will appear in Jerusalem.
It is clear they are still future and their work will be in that city. Some make
them Enoch and Elijah and others think they will be Moses and Elijah returned
in person. Some have claimed to be a reincarnation of Elijah. Such claims
are fanatical. No second coming of Moses is anywhere promised in the Word.
Something, however, is said about the work of Elijah in the future (Mal. 4:5-6).
But the words of our Lord in Matt. 11:14, speaking of John the Baptist, and
Matt. 17:12, seem to make clear that no literal coming of the same Elijah, who
went into glory, without dying, is meant. Yet the deeds of these two witnesses
clearly link them with the work of Moses and Elijah. They each do both the
things Moses and Elijah did separately. We take it then that these two witnesses
represent the great testimony to be given in Jerusalem during the 1,260 days
of the great tribulation. Perhaps the leaders will be two great instruments,
manifesting the spirit of Moses and Elijah, endowed with supernatural power,
but a large number of witnesses is unquestionably in view here. They maintain
in the midst of the Satanic scenes a powerful testimony for God.
The period of the great tribulation was mentioned in verse 2. Here for the
first time the beast is mentioned. This beast coming out of the pit of the abyss,
the deep, is the revived Roman empire under the little horn, seen by Daniel on
the four-horned beast (Dan. 7:8). While he dominates over the Gentiles, he will
turn in fury against these Jewish saints, and the two witnesses will be slain. He
makes war with the godly remnant (Dan. 7:21). A part of that remnant will
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be killed. The vileness of these coming days of Satans rule on earth is seen
in the treatment of the bodies of Jehovahs servants. The wicked are so elated
over the silencing of the testimony that they refuse to permit their burial so that
they may feast their eyes upon the sickening spectacle. They rejoice and make it
a festive occasion, because torment had come to their consciences through the
testimony of the slain.
Gaebelein clearly struggles to understand and interpret the prophecy of the two witnesses.
While asserting that they are two Jewish saints, Gaebelein ignores their identification with
two olive trees, and with two candlesticks. He also suggests they represent a large number
of witnesses, but how can a large number of individuals possess to power to smite the earth
with all plagues, as often as they will?
Gaebelein provided no supporting scripture reference to support his interpretations. I
suggest they are not human individuals at all, but they represent the Scriptures and the
Spirit of God. No humans have the power attributed to the witnesses. The killing of the
witnesses is accomplished by flawed interpretations, and it is these that are represented by
corpses that lie unburied in the street.
On the 1,260 days of Revelation 12:6 Gaebelein wrote:1
The flight of the woman, Israel, has been taken by some to mean the dispersion of that nation during this age and Israels miraculous preservation. But this
is incorrect. It is true Israel has been miraculously preserved and Satans hatred,
too, has been against that nation. But here we have a special period mentioned,
the 1,260 days, the last three and one-half years of Daniels seventieth week. It
means, therefore, that when the Dragon rises in all his furious power to exterminate the nation, God will preserve her. However, before we are told the details
of that preservation and Satans hatred, we read of the war in heaven. Satan is
cast out of heaven, down upon the earth. Verses 15-17 and the entire chapter
13 will tell us what he will do on the earth.

Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951)

Ironside was a Bible teacher, preacher, pastor, and author. He is known for popularizing the
theory of dispensationalism in North America. In his commentary on Revelation, he said that
the 1,260 days represent the first half of a future seven-year tribulation, and he argued that
the woman who flees to the wilderness in Revelation 12:6 is not the church, but represents
the Jews. The man-child in verse 5, who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron, is Christ,
but Ironside wrote:2

Ibid.
Ironside, H. A. Lectures on the Book of Revelation. 1919.
http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/NTStudies/LecturesonRevelationsHAIronside1920/tabid/325/
Default.aspx
2

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This, clearly enough, is our Lord Jesus Christ, who is soon to reign over
all the earth, and undoubtedly He is primarily the Man-child who is to rule the
nations with a rod of iron, and the special object of Satans malignity. But we
have already seen, in Revelation 2:26-28, that when He reigns He will not reign
alone, for His promise to the faithful overcomers in the church period is, And he
that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power
over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a
potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I
will give him the morning star.

The church, he said, is the body of Christ which is caught up to heaven in verse 5. The
present dispensation, he said, is passed over in silence. He wrote:
Now I apprehend that in the vision before us this is in view; but there is
more than that, for we have seen that the man-child symbolizes both Head and
bodythe complete Christ. Therefore, as in other prophecies, the entire present
dispensation is passed over in silence, and the church is represented in its Head,
caught up with Christ. For immediately after this, Satan, again acting through
the Roman Empire which is to be revived in the last days, turns upon the woman
Israel and seeks to vent his wrath and indignation against her. But God prepares
a place for her, and she is hidden in the wildernesspossibly the wilderness of
the peoples, as Ezekiel (chap. 20:35) so graphically puts it. There she will be
protected during the 1260 days, which, as we have already seen, appear to refer
to the first half of the 70th weekthe beginning of sorrows.
Why did Ironside insert a gap between the ascension of Jesus described in Revelation 12:5,
and the woman fleeing to the wilderness described in the folowing verse? Only by inserting
such a gap, that separate the 1,260 days from the ascension, could he argue that the entire
present dispensation is passed over in silence. Ironsides interpretation of the manchild in
Revelation 12:5 violates Henry Alfords fourth landmark on page 89. Flawed interpretations
of prophecy are included in the flood from the serpents mouth,1 as explained on page ??.

Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965)

Hoeksema was a Dutch Reformed pastor and theologian. He often taught from Revelation.
Following his death his sermons were compiled into a commentary by his son. He wrote on
the time, times and a half of Revelation 12:14:2
The measure of time here indicated need not detain us very long. It is plain
from the context that time, times, and half a time is the same period as the
1

Revelation 12:15
Hoeksema, Herman. Behold He Cometh. Reformed Free Publishing Association, Grand Rapids,
Michigan. 1969. p. 436ff. http://www.spindleworks.com/library/hoeksma/behold31.htm
2

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twelve hundred sixty days mentioned in the first portion of this chapter. This
leads us to the conclusion that time, times, and half a time indicates three and
one-half symbolic years. One symbolic year, and two symbolic years, and half a
symbolic year. One symbolic year is calculated to be three hundred sixty days,
which, multiplied by three and one-half, gives us the twelve hundred sixty days.
And again, this is evidently the same period as the forty-two months of the two
witnesses. For, taking a symbolic month to contain thirty days, forty and two
months would again give us twelve hundred sixty days, or three and one-half
years. All these indications of time refer, therefore, to the time of the new
dispensation, from the exaltation of Christ to the very end, as has become plain
before.
Only, the three and a half times indicate this period, in the first place, from
the point of view that the history of the world is divided, as it were, into two
halves, because of the coming of Christ. If seven is the symbolic number indicating the completion of all that God does in time, and therefore also indicating
the complete period of the history of the present world, both before and after
Christ, then it is plain that three and one-half must indicate the period of one
dispensation, in this case that of the dispensation after the coming and exaltation
of Christ Jesus. And, in the second place, this number also indicates that the
period of the churchs being in the wilderness shall be cut short. The days shall
be shortened for the elects sake. But whatever this number, which also occurs
in Daniel, may indicate, certain it is from a comparison of the different places in
which it occurs, that it points to the entire period of the new dispensation, even
to the end. In this entire period the church has to suffer from the attacks of the
dragon. In this entire period God has prepared her a place in the wilderness in
separation from the powers of the world, and that too, to her own safety.

William Hendriksen (1900-1982)

Hendriksen was pastor to several Christian Reformed churches, and professor of New Testament literature at Calvin Theological Seminary. In his commentary of Revelation, he said the
two witnesses represent the Church, and the 1,260 days in which they prophesy represents
the entire dispensation of the Church. He wrote:1
The true Church is now represented under the symbolism of two witnesses.
These witnesses symbolize the Church militant bearing testimony through its
ministers and missionaries throughout the present dispensation. The fact that
there are two witnesses emphasizes the missionary task of the Church (cf. Lk.
10:1). The Lord sends his missionaries two by two; what the one lacks the other
supplies. Now the Church as an organization, functioning through its ministers
and missionaries, will carry on this work for twelve hundred and sixty days. This
1
Hendriksen, William. More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Grand
Rapids: Baker. 1939. p. 129.

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is the period that extends from the moment of Christs ascension almost until
the judgment day (cf. Rev. 12:5, 6, 14). It is, of course, exactly the equal of
forty-two months, for forty-two times thirty is twelve hundred and sixtyand of a
time, and times, and half a time, which is three years and a half (Rev. 12:14).
It is the period of affliction; the present gospel age. The question may arise,
why is that period expressed now in terms of months (verse 2) then in terms of
days (verse 3)? Here our answer is a mere guess: in verse 2 we have the picture
of a city that is being besieged and finally taken and trampled upon. Now, the
duration of the siege of a city is very often expressed in terms of months. In verse
3, however, the two witnesses are described as prophesying; this is a day-by-day
activity. Every day they bear witness, throughout the entire dispensation. They
preach repentance and for this reason they are clothed in sackcloth.

Charles D. Alexander (1904-1991)

Alexander was a Baptist pastor in Liverpool, England. On the 42 months and 1,260 days in
Revelation 11:2-3, he wrote:1
Forty and two months
All the numbers in Revelation are symbolic. They cannot be fitted into the
framework of world history, though there are many startling coincidences which
embolden the unwary and create an enthusiasm for chronological interpretation. The spiritual interpretation of this great book must be maintained at all
costs, for the past history of chronological investigation is strewn with the carcasses of confident predictions which now have no relevance to contemporary
events. Historicism has run out of time and has almost disappeared in the vagaries of post-millennialism presently revived by the contemporary situation in
Palestine while ignoring the contemporary state of the church and the revival of
heathenism. Some day soon, perhaps, many of our friends may awake to the
realities of the Latter Day apostasy, and the realisation that the Millennium is
past!
If not a measurable period of time in the realm of historical chronology, what
then does the figure of 42 months signify? We have already said in a previous
chapter that the numbers in Daniel and Revelation of 1260 days, 42 months,
31/2 years and time, times, and half a time all correspond with each other and
are to be interpreted in terms of the most indefinite of themtime, times, and
half a time. Thus we are dealing with an indefinite period of time, known only
to God and not intended to be measured by man. If it could be measured in
advance what consolation would it be for those who were able to calculate that
no deliverance was to be expected in their day or perhaps for centuries to come?
Or what office would be left to faith, if it could be ascertained that in the period
1
Alexander, Charles D. Revelation Spiritually Understood.
http://www.allbygrace.com/alexrev047-12.html

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of ones own lifetime all would be consummated and the Lord would return?
What becomes of the Saviours warning that of the day and hour of His return
no man knows, nor yet is it a part of the Sons commission from the Father to
make it known?
The broken seven
In place of these speculations we find it much more comforting to see all these
strange figures in the Apocalypse as being signs of THE BROKEN SEVEN (the
31/2 years). Seven being the number of divine completeness, and being so used
throughout the Apocalypse, the broken seven must relate to judgment and is a
warning to the world and an assurance to the people of God of the steadfastness
of the divine purposes in commanding a limited period only for the power of this
world. The enemy will not endure one day beyond the divine decree.
The 42 months we regard therefore as the whole period of time from Patmos
to the Second Advent of our Lord. It began with Johns imprisonment, and the
Book of Revelation is concerned with that event and the interpretation of it in
terms of the prolonged sufferings and probation of the church typified in the
afflictions of John our brother.
During that immense period of time, the church is comforted in the knowledge
that the onset and the termination of the 1260 days (and its other numerical
equivalents) are fixed by the Lords sovereign determination. The arbiter of time
is the Mighty Angel of chapter 10: the true Michael, the Angel of the Covenant,
Christ, the Son of God, the Conqueror of sin, death and hell, the Womans Seed,
the Bruiser of the Serpents head. It is not for us to know the times and the
seasons which forever remain in the Fathers own power (Acts 1:7); our part is
to preach the Word of God and hold forth the testimony of Christ in a hostile
world in which all power appears to be given to the enemies of the kingdom of
God.

James Burton Coffman (1905-2006)

James Burton Coffman was a preacher, teacher, and scholar, and an influential minister of
the Manhattan Church of Christ in New York City; he was previously the minister of the
Central Church of Christ in Houston. In 1992 he finished a 37-volume commentary of the
entire Bible which was published by ACU Press.
Coffman identified the time, times and a half with the whole Christian dispensation
in his commentary on Daniel. In his commentray on Revelation he said, on the 1,260 days
of Revelation 12:6:1
A thousand two hundred and threescore days ...
What can this mean? Is there a certain time-period only when Christ will be
with his church? No indeed! This time-period represents every minute of the

http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=re&chapter=012

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whole Christian dispensation. This is given in exactly the same form as in Rev.
11:3; and there it was understood as all of the time between the two Advents of
Christ, and so it must be understood here. It describes the period of this worlds
existence during the whole of which the devil persecutes the church. It is also
called forty-two months; and someone has suggested that this was the number
of the forty-two stations of the Israelites in the wilderness. Hendriksen called this
time-period the millennium of Rev. 20; and we believe this understanding of it
to be correct, despite the description of it there by use of a different figure. The
saints of Christ are reigning with him now in his kingdom; and Christ already
has the authority in heaven and upon earth (Matthew 28:18-20). His rule is not
accepted by many, due to the freedom of the will of man; but that does not
contradict the higher truth that Christ is truly reigning today in the hearts of
those who love and serve him.

John F. Walvoord (1910-2002)

Walvoord was president of Dallas Theological Seminary and an evangelical scholar, who
promoted dispensationalism. In his commentary on Revelation, his discussions of the time
periods in Revelation 11, 12, and 13 are mainly concerned with whether they are in the
first or last half of a future seven year tribulation. He wrote about the forty-two months of
Revelation 11:2:1
The second verse adds further light to the situation in that instruction is given
not to measure the outer court because it is given to the Gentiles along with
the holy city for a period of forty-two months. Here again is the familiar threeand-one-half-year period or half of the seven-year period predicted by Daniel the
prophet (Dan. 9:27) in which Israels history will be consummated with Christs
returning at its close.
Expositors have differed as to whether the forty-two months are the first half
of the seven years or the second half. The decision is complicated by the fact
that in verse 3 another reference is made to the three and one-half years as the
period during which the two witnesses give their testimony. On the basis of
the evidence, it is not possible to be dogmatic. If the point of view is adopted,
however, that Revelation is primarily concerned with the latter half of Daniels
seventieth week, this perspective would seem to give weight to the conclusion
that this is the latter half of the week or the last three and one-half years prior
to the second coming especially in light of the details of judgments portrayed in
the seals, trumpets, and vials.
Walvoord addressed the issue of the time of the two witnesses.2
1

Walvoord, John H. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Moody Publishers, 1966. p. 177.
http://www.walvoord.com/page.php?page id=270
2
Ibid., p. 178.

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127

In verse 3, two unusual characters are introduced, described as two witnesses

who shall prophesy 1,260 days. This is exactly three and one-half years or fortytwo months of thirty days each, and is unquestionably related to either the first
three and one-half years or the latter three and one-half years of the seven years
of Daniel 9:27. Expositors have differed as to which of the two periods is in view
here. From the fact, however, that the two witnesses pour out divine judgments
upon the earth and need divine protection lest they be killed, it implies that
they are in the latter half of the seven years when awful persecution will afflict
the people of God, as this protection would not be necessary in the first three
and one-half years. The punishments and judgments the witnesses inflict on the
world also seem to fit better in the great tribulation period.
In Chapter 12, Walvoord denied that the woman in heaven represents the church in
general, as most Christian scholars have said throughout its history. Instead, he claimed she
represents a godly remnant of Israel, which apparently means ethnic Jews, who convert
during the tribulation. He wrote:1
Many explanations have been offered for the identity of this woman. The
woman does not represent Christ, nor the church in general, but rather Israel as
the matrix from which Christ came. By contrast, other representative women
are mentioned in the Apocalypse such as Jezebel (2:20), representative of false
religion as a system; the harlot (17:1-7, 15-18), the apostate church of the future;
and the bride, the Lambs wife (19:7), the church joined to Christ in glory. In
the Old Testament, Israel frequently is presented as the wife of Jehovah, often
in her character as being unfaithful to her husband. Here is the godly remnant
of Israel standing true to God in the time of the great tribulation.
Although Walvoord says, obviously there is a tremendous time lapse between verses
5 and 6, in the paragraph below, such a gap is not obvious to me. The more obvious
interpretation, I think, is that Christ ascends to heaven, verse 5, and the church then flees
to the wilderness, immediately after. But Walvoord manages to make the entire church age
disappear from the prophecy, in his interpretation.2
Attention is then directed, however, to the mother of the child, again represented as Israel. Here she is seen in the time of great tribulation as fleeing
into the wilderness to a place prepared of God where for 1,260 days she is cared
for (again the exact length of three and one-half years). There is obviously a
tremendous time lapse between verses 5 and 6, but this is not an uncommon
occurrence in prophecy; the first and second comings of Christ are frequently
spoken of in the same sentence. Inasmuch as Israel is in comparative tranquillity
and safety in the first three and one-half years of Daniels seventieth week (Dan.
1
2

Ibid.
Ibid.

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John F. Walvoord
9:27), the reference must be to the preservation of a portion of the nation Israel
through the great tribulation to await the second coming of Christ.
Into this scene of satanic persecution is injected the divine intervention of
God. The woman is described as being given two wings of a great eagle in order
to enable her to fly into the wilderness into her place. This figure of speech seems
to be derived from Exodus 19:4 and Deuteronomy 32:11-12 and similar passages
where God uses the strength of an eagle to illustrate His faithfulness in caring for
Israel. The same flight is indicated in Matthew 24:16 where Christ exhorts those
in Judea to flee to the mountains. Some have felt that the reference here is to
some specific place such as Petra, where at least a portion of Israel might be
safe from her persecutors. Verse 14 implies that there is some supernatural care
of Israel during this period such as that which Elijah experienced by the brook
Cherith, or that which Israel experienced during the forty years she lived on the
manna in the wilderness. Whether natural or supernatural means are used, it is
clear that God does preserve a godly remnant, though according to Zechariah
13:8, two-thirds of Israel in the land will perish.
The time element of Israels suffering is described as a time, and times,
and half a time. This again seems to be a reference to the three and one-half
years, the mention of time being one unit, the second reference to times, being
two units, which the addition of one-half a time would make three and one-half
units. A parallel reference is found in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7 referring to the same
period of great tribulation. The dragon is here called a serpent (Gr., ophis; cf.
Matt. 10:16; John 3:14 where the word is used in other contexts; Rev. 12:9,
14-15; 20:2 where serpent is used in connection with the devil).

The war in heaven that is described in Revelation 12, between the two accounts of the
woman fleeing to the wilderness, is very much about the question of the true identity of the
woman who is the subject of this chapter, and the right interpretation of her flight to the
wilderness, and the 1,260 days, and the time, times and a half. The wilderness is a place
where she is nourished; her nourishment is spiritual, as Jesus explained in John 6:51, where
he identified himself as the living bread which came down from heaven.
The two accounts of the womans flight to the wilderness, in Revelation 12:6 and 14, are
very similar, except that in the second account, her flight to the wilderness encounters the
flood from the mouth of the serpent. This represents a flood of flawed interpretations of
prophecy, that have proliferated in the last two centuries, with the rise of tens of thousands
of sects, cults, and denominations, and the opposite schools of interpretation of prophecy,
preterism and dispensationalism.
In the second flight to the wilderness the woman is given two wings of an eagle, which is
likely the eagle of 8:13, where a prophesying eagle (an angel in the KJV) pronounces woe on
the earths inhabitants. The wings of the eagle, I think, represent understanding prophecy,
because a flying eagle soars high in the air, and views the earth from above, which pictures
the divine viewpoint, as opposed to the human point of view. The human viewpoint is
represented by the eyes like the eyes of a man of the little horn in Daniel 7. Possessing
the divine viewpoint is correctly interpreting prophecy. It is one of the results of the warfare,
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in which the saints eventually overcome the dragon, by the word of their testimony.1 This
is one of the promises Jesus has given to the church; it is represented by the mountains of
Israel, to which he said we should flee.2 See page ??.

George Eldon Ladd (1911-1982)

Ladd was an evangelical New Testament scholar and Professor of New Testament exegesis
and theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He wrote of the 42
months and the 1,260 days:3
The figure forty-two months harks back to the prophecy in Daniel 9, where
the forecast of time down to the confirming of the covenant is said to be seventy
weeks of years (Dan. 9:24). This cannot be interpreted by anyones calculation
as an exact prognosis of time. Three and a half years is the time of the domination
of evil before the end. The little horn in Daniel 7 will oppress the saints of the
Most High for a time, two times, and half a time (Dan. 7:25; see also 12:7).
In the Revelation, this figure is the time of the oppression of the holy city (Rev.
11:2), of the mission of the two witnesses (11:3), the time of the preservation
of the heavenly woman (the church) in the wilderness (12:6, 14), and the time
during which the beast is allowed to exercise his authority (13:5). We must recall
that John wrote the Revelation probably some sixty years after the ministry of
our Lord, which makes it obvious that this interval cannot stand in Johns mind
in any kind of direct continuity with the seventy weeks of Daniel.
On this point, the time, times, and a half corresponds to the last half of the 70th
week in which Christ confirms his covenant with his church. Each of the numbers, 1,335
days, 1,290 days, 1,260 days, 42 months, and 3.5 days, fit the pattern of a time, times,
and a half. The 1,335 days of Daniel 12:12 is one year of 12 months, plus two and a half
years of 13 months; the 1,290 days of Daniel 12:11 is one year of 13 months, plus two and
a half years of 12 months, where the months are taken to be 30 days. The 1,260 days of
Revelation 11:3 and 12:6 also fit the pattern of three years and a half, where all the years are
12 months of 30 days. Therefore, they are representations of the time, times, and a half,
but they are progressively shorter, and so the smaller the period, the later the start point
of it. The different periods may represent the diminishing time remaining for the gospel
age, the longest may span the entire period from the ascension of Jesus to the end of the
age, while the others span portions of it that began progressively later. Thus the 1,260 days
would represent that time which began after the writing of Revelation; the shortest period,
the three days and a half, represent a brief period of time near its close. At some point, for
example, the remaining time of the church could be represented by three hours and a half.
1

Revelation 12:11.
Matthew 24:14.
3
Ladd, George Eldon. A Commentary on the Revelation of John. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing,
1972. p. 153. http://books.google.com/books?id=V1RCZ94 HwwC
2

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J. Dwight Pentecost
Ladd continues:
We must conclude that the forty-two months (1,260 days) represent the
period of the satanic power in the world, with particular reference to the final
days of the Antichrist. All that Gods people are to suffer at the hands of satanic
evil throughout the course of the age is but a preview of the final convulsive
oppression by Antichrist in the time of the end. In this sense, the entire course
of the age may be viewed as the time of the end.
Ladd included the following as a footnote:
The eschatological expression the last days is used in the New Testament
of the age of the gospel of Christ (Heb. 1:2), the age of the Holy Spirit (Acts
2:17) as well as the last days of evil (ii Tim. 3:1).

J. Dwight Pentecost (1915- )

Pentecost taught on biblical subjects at Philadelphia College of Bible, 1948-55; and at Dallas
Theological Seminary, since 1955. He is best known for his book Things to Come, in which
he said the 1,260 days is one half of the future 7-year tribulation, and has nothing to do with
the church in this age. He quoted the following by John F. Walvoord:1
The seventy weeks of Daniel, properly interpreted, demonstrate the distinct
place of the Christian church and Israel in the purposes of God. The seventy
weeks of Daniel are totally in reference to Israel and her relation to Gentile powers
and the rejection of Israels Messiah. The peculiar purpose of God in calling out
a people from every nation to form the church and the program of the present
age are nowhere in view in this prophecy.2
Pentecost wrote: This gives supporting evidence that the church is not in Revelation
four through nineteen, but must have been raptured before Israels program began again.
He quoted Alva J. McClain, another dispensationalist, in Daniels Prophecy of the Seventy
Weeks:3
In the predictions of the Seventy Weeks, we have the indispensable chronological key to all New Testament prophecy. Our Lords great prophetic discourse
in Matthew and Mark fixes the time of Israels final and greatest trouble definitely
within the days of the Seventieth week of Daniels prophecy (Dan. 9:27; Matt.
24:15-22; Mark 13:14-20). And the greater part of the Book of Revelation is

Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. Zondervan, 1965. p. 240.
http://books.google.com/books?id=2k6jJ12en1cC
2
Walvoord, John F. Is Daniels Seventieth Week Future? Bibliotheca Sacra, 101:30, Jan. 1944.
3
Pentecost, J. Dwight. Op. Cit.

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Mathias Rissi

131

simply an expansion of Daniels prophecy within the chronological framework as

outlined by the same Seventieth Week, which is divided into two equal periods,
each extending for 1260 days, or 42 months, or 31/2 years (Rev. 11:2-3; 12:6,
14; 13:5). Therefore, apart from an understanding of the details of the Seventy
Weeks of Daniel, all attempts to interpret New Testament prophecy, must fail
in large measure.
Pentecost rejected the idea that the woman in the prophecy of Revelation 12 is symbolic
of the church. He said, Others have held that this woman is the church that is travailing
to bring Christ to the nations. This, however, is built on the allegorizing principle of interpretation and must be rejected. The church did not produce Christ, but Christ the church.
Since the church is not seen on earth in chapters four through nineteen of Revelation, the
church can not be represented by this woman.
Pentecost supported the dispensationalist view that the woman represents Israel or ethnic
Jews. One of the reasons he cited was that the woman flees to the wilderness for 1,260 days.
He wrote:1
The thousand two hundred and threescore days. Twice in this passage reference is made to the period of three and a half years (Rev. 12:6, 14) This
has reference to the last half of the seventieth week prophecy (Dan. 9:24-27).
This prophecy is specifically addressed to thy people and thy holy city (Dan
9:24). Inasmuch as this is addressed to Daniel it could only refer to Israel and
Jerusalem. Each time this period is mentioned in Scripture, whether as a thousand two hundred and threescore days, or forty-two months, or three and a half
years, or time, times, and half a time, it always refers to Israel and a period in
which God is dealing with that nation.
Pentecosts interpretation of the manchild in Revelation 12:5 violates Henry Alfords
fourth landmark on page 89.

Mathias Rissi (1920-2006)

Rissi was a pastor in Switzerland, and he became professor of New Testament at Union
Theological Seminary. He was the author of several books on the early church and on
Revelation. In his book Time and History, Rissi commented on the vision of Revelation 12,
and the woman giving birth to the man child, who was caught up to Gods throne in heaven:2
As in Philippians 2:5-11, all statements about the details of the Incarnation
of Jesus which might be accessible to the historical observer are avoided, and
only that hidden, underlying meaning of the event which is pertinent to salvation
history is made apparent.
1

Pentecost, J. Dwight. Op. Cit., p. 287.

Rissi, Mathias. Time and History, a study on the Revelation. Tr. Gordon C. Winsor. Richmond:
John Knox Press, Richmond Va. 1966. p. 38.
2

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John C. Whitcomb
On the significance of the three and a half years, he wrote:1
The victory and coming to authority of Christ is yet hidden from the world, a
reality only for the faithful who are bound to the heavenly Christ. The puzzling
brevity with which the historical Christ event is shown is thus explained by the
metaphorical formulation of this paradoxical truth about Christ.
From all this comes the following result: Revelation 1214 begins with the
historical Christ and ends with the Parousia and obviously gives an explanation
for the entire intermediary time. That gives now the possibility of confirming the
interpretation of the Danielic number 31/2 (and its variations) in the Revelation.
In Daniel it designates the duration of the last stretch of time directly prior to the
great final judgment and the appearing of the Son of Man (Dan. 7:13, 26). In
the Revelation it is no longer meant concretely, as it is in Daniel, while the great
distinction from Daniel remains in the new designation of the point of feparture of
the last time before the End. Daniel, and with it the Jewish apocalyptists, takes
the actual point of time of the writing of the book as the point of departure of
the last time because he is convinced that he will witness Gods world plan in his
own decisive hour. However, the refusal of these prophecies to be more specific
is always obvious, so that the later apocalyptic becomes more cautious in its
numbers in comparison with Daniel. The new thing found in the Revelation (and
in the whole of primitive Christianity) is that it recognizes positively the precise
point of the beginning of the final time, this on the basis of the most infallible
divine attestation through the appearance of Jesus Christ on earth in the past
(12:6). The Danielic number thus serves in the Revelation as a designation of
the intermediary time. This last time is the time of the gyne (12:6, 14) and the
two witnesses (11:3), although it is also the time of the beast and the ethne who
believe in him (11:2; 13:5). In these passages it is always the same End time
between the two Parousias that is meant.
In 11:2 is found the point of departure for the 31/2 times, the End time, the
patein of Jerusalem, the desecration by the nations. The inner ground of the
profanation is, according to Revelation 11:8, the crucifixion of Jesus.
Thus both of these starting points in chapters 11 and 12 stand in the innermost connection, they clearly synchronize; the End time begins with the Christ
event. We shall see later that 11:1-13 concludes the intermediary time with a
vision of the End. Thus even this view of the temple and the witnesses in chapter
11 includes an overview of the whole time interval.

John C. Whitcomb (1924- )

Whitcomb is a minister in Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International. He taught
at Grace Theological Seminary from 1951 to 1990, and he is the author of several books
supporting young Earth creationism.
1

Ibid., pp. 39-41.

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John C. Whitcomb

133

Whitcomb claimed that the 1,260 days in Revelation 11:3 are literal days. In 1982 he
wrote:1
What, then, are the one thousand two hundred and sixty days during which
My two witnesses will receive authority to prophesy...clothed in sackcloth
(Rev. 11:3)? Time indicators, such as 1,260 days are to be understood
literally. John F. Walvoord explains: Very prominent in the book of Revelation
is the use of numbers, namely, 2, 3, 31/2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 24, 42, 144, 666,
1,000, 1,260, 1,600, 7,000, 12,000, 144,000, 100,000,000, 200,000,000... The
general rule should be followed to interpret numbers literally unless there is clear
evidence to the contrary.
For several reasons, I suggest that this is the first half of the Seventieth
Week. First, there seems to be an intentional distinction between the time of
the Gentile occupation of the Temples outer court and the city, and the time
of the two witnesses, by means of the different time-units used: 42 months for
the Gentile domination and 1,260 days for the two witnesses. If the same time
period is intended for both groups, why is not the 42-month time-block sufficient
to cover both?
Whitcomb contends that in the midst of Daniels 70th week, the Antichrist will put an
end to sacrifices, implying that Levitical sacrifices will be restored. He suggested that a
temple does not need to be built for this to occur. The Jewish system of worship will be
restored by the two witnesses, he said, quoting J. Dwight Pentecost:2
The reason why this will happen during the first half of the seventieth week is
that in the middle of the week He [the Antichrist] shall bring an end to sacrifice
[zevach = bloody sacrifices] and offering [minchah = non-bloody sacrifices]
(Dan. 9:27). As J. Dwight Pentecost explains, This expression refers to the
entire Levitical system, which suggests that Israel will have restored that system
in the first half of the 70th seven. Antichrist will replace the legitimate, Godhonoring Jewish worship system, which only the two witnesses can inaugurate,
with his own system, namely, the abomination of desolation (cf. Dan. 9:27b,
12:11; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 13:14-15). But the Antichrist cannot
do this until the 1,260 days of ministry allotted by God to the two witnesses has
been completed (cf. Rev. 11:7).
Whitcomb said that the two witnesses (one of whom is Elijah) will prophesy for the first
half of the seven year tribulation because if the 1,260 days occur during the last half of the
Week, then the entire world would be celebrating the death of the two witnesses for threeand-a-half days after the Battle of Armageddon and the destruction of the Antichrist! This
1

Whitcomb, John C. The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11.

http://www.pre-trib.org/data/pdf/Whitcomb-TheTwoWitnessesFirst.pdf
2
Ibid., p. 3.

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Herman L. Hoeh

is very difficult to imagine. Referring to the Antichrist, he asked, How can he bring fire
from heaven upon his enemies (through the False Prophet, Rev. 13:13) if the two witnesses
are simultaneously bringing fire from heaven upon their enemies (Rev. 11:5)?
While Whitcomb claimed that the 1,260 days of Revelation 11:3 occur in the first half
of the 7-year tribulation, he put the 1,260 days of Revelation 12:6 in the last half of the 7
years:1
Furthermore, the basically regenerated nation, called the woman in Rev.
12, will flee into the wilderness and be nourished by God for 1,260 days (Rev.
12:6, 14; cf. Isaiah 26:20-21), namely, the last half of the week. The dragon,
Satan, will then make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (12:17), presumably
the 144,000 witnesses from the 12 tribes of Israel and multitudes of their Gentile
converts.
The 1,260 days does not correspond to the 42 months, and so it is not a literal three
and a half years, as the number of days does not fit a three and a half year period, in any
calendar. Three and a half lunar years is about 1,240 days, or 1,270 days if a leap year of
13 months is included. In three and a half solar years the number of days is about 1,278.
This shows that the 1,260 days is symbolic; the numbers in prophecy are not meant literally.

Herman L. Hoeh (1928-2004)

Hoeh was the Managing Editor of The Plain Truth magazine, published by the Worldwide
Church of God. In an article in The Good News, a magazine intended for the church
membership, he suggested that Petra, in Jordan, would be the location of a place of safety,
where church members would be protected during the future great tribulation. He referrred
to the prophecies in Revelation 12 about the woman fleeing to the wilderness for 1,260 days.
Hoeh wrote:2
Why the Mystery? Cities other than Petra have remarkable histories-but
only Petra remains a mystery! Not so much because of its past, as for its future!
Over the centuries students of the Bible have puzzled over references to Petra
in the Bible-and especially to verses revealing a place of escape. Yet none of the
scholars of this world seem to understand. Has the real meaning of Petra been
purposely hidden from the world-even though archaeologists are preparing the
area for visitors? Are Petras caves again to hide refugees from their enemies in
a world where there is no other place to hide?
Hoeh said the location of the churchs place of safety has previously been hidden; at
the appropriate time, he said, Christ will reveal it:3
1

Ibid., p. 5.
Hoeh, Herman L. This is Petra! Good News, Vol 11. No. 4. April 1962.
http://www.herbert-armstrong.org/GoodNews.html
3
Ibid.
2

134

Hal Lindsey

135

Remember, if the Christians in Jerusalem in apostolic days had quit their

work and prematurely escaped to Pella before A.D. 69, they would have been
destroyed by the Roman armies who devastated the city. It was only those who
completed the work of God who reached safety in A.D. 69 after the Romans
destroyed Pella!
That is why God has veiled the exact place of escape from human eyes all
these years. But as the days draw closer to the time of the end, the light of
prophecy shines ever more clearly! When the moment comes that we need to
know where that place of safety is, Christ will make it known. Meanwhile we
need to keep our eyes open and our minds yieldeddrinking in the implications
of prophecy for this Church today! But where does Petra fit in all this?
Hoeh cited several prophecies from Isaiah and Jeremiah in support of his place of safety
theory.1 He commented on Isaiah 16:5, Christ is now pictured as seated on the throne of
David! Surely this indicates that Gods outcasts in Isaiah 16 are the same as those mentioned
in Revelation 12 who escape to the wilderness-shortly before the return of Christ!
The place of safety theory in the Worldwide Church of God had a role similar to the
rapture theory of dispensationalism.

Hal Lindsey (1929- )

Lindsey is an American evangelist and dispensationalist author. He is the author of the
best selling book, The Late, Great Planet Earth, published in 1970. A Christian Zionist,
Lindsey anchored his eschatological interpretation of a final seven-year tribulation to the
establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. He wrote:2
The one event which many Bible students in the past overlooked was this
paramount prophetic sign: Israel had to be a nation again in the land of its
forefathers.
Israel a nationa dream for so many years, made a reality on 14 May 1948
when David Ben-Gurion read the Declaration of Independence announcing the
establishment of a Jewish nation to be known as the State of Israel.
In 1949, Prime Minister Ben-Gurion said that Israels policy consists of
bringing all Jews to Israel... we are still at the beginning.
This seven-year period we have called the countdown is a period of unique
events. There is more prophecy concerning this period than any other era the
Bible describes.
The apostle John counted out seven years for this period when he spoke of
the second half being forty-two months (i.e., 31/2 years), and the first half being
1260 days (i.e., 31/2 x 360 days, which is the Biblical year) (Revelation 11:2, 3).

1
2

Isaiah 16:1-5; 33:13-17; 42:10-13; Jeremiah 48:28.

Lindsey, Hal, Carole C. Carlson. The late great planet earth. Zondervan. 1970. p. 44.

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Roderick C. Meredith
The prophet Jeremiah spoke of the time when God would return His people
of Israel and Judah from a captivity and dispersion. He calls this period the
time of Jacobs trouble.
As Christ told of the world conditions that would immediately precede his
coming, He said, For then there will be great tribulation [affliction, distress and
oppression] such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no,
and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no human being
would be saved. (Matthew 24:21, 22).
In other words, this period will be marked by the greatest devastation that
man has ever brought upon himself. Mankind will be on the brink of selfannihilation when Christ suddenly returns to put an end to the war of wars
called Armageddon.

Lindsey believed that the generation alive in 1948 would be the one in which the prophecies about the climax of the end of the age would occur. Citing Jesus statement, Truly
I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place,1 Lindsey
commented:2
What generation? Obviously, in context, the generation that would see the
signs chief among them the rebirth of Israel. A generation in the Bible is
something like forty years. If this is a correct deduction, then within forty years
or so of 1948, all these things could take place. Many scholars who have studied
Bible prophecy all their lives believe that this is so.
Lindsey concluded that the end time events of prophecy would occur in the decade of
the 1980s. In The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon he wrote: The decade of the 1980s
could very well be the last decade of history as we know it.3
Lindseys interpretation of this generation overlooks the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. Since Jesus remains alive, his generation has not passed away. It is a unique generation.

Roderick C. Meredith (1930- )

554 AD 1814 AD
Meredith is the leader and founder of the Living Church of God. Previously he was one
of the leaders in the Worldwide Church of God and a professor at the churchs Ambassador
College.
In an article in Tomorrows World, Meredith reviewed Revelation Unveiled by Tim LaHaye, and attacked the dispensational rapture theory that was supported by LaHaye.

Matthew 24:34
Ibid., p. 54.
3
Lindsey, Hal. The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon. New York, Bantam, 1980. p. 8.
2

136

Roderick C. Meredith

137

Meredith interpreted the wilderness where the woman flees in Revelation 12:6 as the
flight of Gods true Church from the centralized areas of the Roman Empireand from the
persecutions of the great false church, suggesting the true church existed during that period
in the region of the Italian and Swiss Alps.1
Citing the day-year principle of Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34, he declared the 1,260
days to be the 1,260 year interval from 554 to 1814 AD. The year 554 was the rise of the
Roman Emperor Justinian, and in 1814, he said, the final Holy Roman Emperor, Napoleon,
was removed from office.
Meredith wrote: It was during this 1,260-year period that true, Bible-believing Christians
were in the greatest physical danger from this foul system which God calls MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS
OF THE EARTH.2
In his interpretation of the spiritual warfare in Revelation 12, which is set between the
two accounts of the woman fleeing to the wilderness, Meredith mixes physical and spiritual
events. The warfare that John describes is between angels, rather than between humans. It
occurs in heaven, and the result is a great victory for the saints, and they are told to rejoice
because of it. Merediths account does not mention the benefits of the victory, only things
that are gloomy, and dark. He wrote:
Then, at the very time of the end, a spiritual war breaks out between Satan
and his demons and the angels of God. This awesome spiritual war will probably
take place within the next several years! Satan is defeated and is cast to the
earth... having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time (12:912). Suddenly, inexplicably, an evil spirit will descend upon the area of the Beast
Power in Europe and upon the leaders of the false church. Shortly, they will begin
in earnest to plan the destruction of the United States, Canada and Britain! And
they will swiftly begin to crack down on anyone who dares to preach the real
Truth of the Bible. This will be the beginning of the Great Tribulation.
The attack by Europe and the destruction of the United States, Canada and Britain that
Meredith predicts is not in Revelation 12. Rather, the war is between angels, so it is a war
of words, and ideas or interpretations, rather than war between nations. They overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives unto the death.3
Meredith interpreted the second account of the womans flight to the wilderness in
Revelation 12:14-16 as a prophecy about the church fleeing from persecution, to a place of
safety. He wrote:
As in the typical fulfillment described in verse 6, the Church once again is
guided by God to flee to a Place of Safety here on earth. For the earth helped
1

Meredith, Roderick C. Will You Be Left Behind? Tomorrows World. Volume 5, Issue 3. 2003
May-June. http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/media/magazine/twmayjun03.pdf
2
Revelation 17:5
3
Revelation 12:11

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Roderick C. Meredith
the woman, and swallowed up the flood which the Dragon (Satan, v. 9) had
spewed out of his mouth (v. 16).

The flood from the mouth of the serpent could be nothing else but an information flood.
It is swallowed up when the saints take possession of the promises that belong to the church,
foreshadowed by the Israelites taking possession of the promised land under Joshua. The
land or earth swallowing up the serpents flood occurs when the saints discover the truth.
In the second account of the woman fleeing to the wilderness, she is equipped with two wings
of an eagle. If it is the eagle of Revelation 8:13 it is a prophesying eagle. This suggests
the woman now has a different perspective; like an eagle, she can view things from above,
and so she has a divine perspective, rather than a human one, pictured by the eyes like
the eyes of a man, which characterize the litle horn of Daniel 7. This perspective requires
understanding and properly interpreting prophecy.
Meredith wrote:
So, if you wish the divine protection of Almighty God in the traumatic months
and years just ahead, be assured that it does not lie in getting all hyped up about
being suddenly raptured off to heaven at any moment. Rather, as Gods Word
makes clear, our Creator will guide His faithful Church to know when and where
to flee just before the Great Tribulation begins. They will be supernaturally
protected in a place of Gods choosing here on earth.
The mind-set of fleeing, belongs to those who see with eyes like the eyes of a man,
not the divine perspective. When Jesus said that the saints should flee to the mountains,
I suggest, he meant the mountains of Israel, which are metaphors, and they represent the
promises of God!
Merediths interpretation of the second account of the womans flight to the wilderness
fails to appreciate or notice that the period during which the woman is nourished in the
wilderness is called a time, times, and a half, which corresponds to the period mentioned in
Daniel 7:25, and also the time mentioned by the swearing angel in Daniel 12:7.
In Daniel 7:25 this time period is not connected with an escape, or hiding by the saints,
but is the time in which they have to contend with the little horn, which uproots three
horns of the fourth beast, and has eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great
things.1 The fourth beast was invariably identified with the Roman Empire by the Protestant
Reformers and historicists. The eyes like the eyes of a man suggest a human viewpoint, that
contrasts with the divine viewpoint.
This little horn, Daniel said, shall speak great words against the most High, and shall
wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall
be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.2
In Daniel 12:7, the time, times and a half is associated with the scattering and destruction
of the saints, not with hiding or escape; ...it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and
1
2

Daniel 7:8
Daniel 7:20

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Ernest L. Martin

139

when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things
shall be finished.
The second account of the womans sojourn in the wilderness has an obvious connection
to Daniel 7, and with Daniel 12:7, that Meredith seems to have missed. His interpretation
of the time periods in Revelation 12 is inconsistent; for one of the periods he invoked the
year-day principle, and for the other he opted for a literal three years and a half; clearly an
arbitrary approach, of the kind depicted by eyes like the eyes of a man.

Ernest L. Martin (1932-2002)

2020 AD 2024 AD
Martin was a minister and college professor at the Worldwide Church of Gods Ambassador College. In cooperation with Hebrew University, he participated extensive archaeological excavations near the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem from 1969 through 1973. In
1974, he set up the Foundation of Biblical Research, of which he was Chairman from 1974
to 1985. He then founded Associates For Scriptural Knowledge.
Martin taught that the two witnesses of Revelation 11 will be two Jews, whose roles are
to be very much like those of Moses and Elijah. They minister in Jerusalem during the first
half of the seven year period before the return of Christ. He wrote:1
No Gentile of any racenor any Israelite unless he is a descendant of Levi
could possibly be one of the Two Witnesses. This rule completely disqualifies
all modern Americans, British, or Italians that might think they are (or might
become) one or both of the Two Witnesses. Only those who can show Levitical
(priestly) descent could stand next to the seven branched candlestick in the holy
place of a temple in Jerusalem.
The Bible shows very clearly that a new temple be in existence just prior to the
Second Coming of Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:4-8) , it then stands to reason that
the man ordained of God to restore all things will be a prophesied Elijah to
come just before the great and dreadful day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5). Thus,
there will be a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, with sacrifices, just before the Second
Coming. Those animal sacrifices will last for the first half of a seven year period
(Daniel 9:27)during the precise time when the Two Witnesses are prophesying
for 31/2 years (Revelation 11:2-3).
The Two Witnesses, however, will then be killed, and the Beast (the Antichrist)
will soon emerge (Revelation chapter 13), abolishing the ordained sacrifices in the
rebuilt temple. He will proclaim himself God (as Christ returned from heaven
falsely, of course, 2 Thessalonians 2:4-8). This evil will last almost 31/2 years.
The true Christ will then return from heaven (Revelation 19:1-21).
1
Martin, Ernest L. & David Sielaff, The Two Witnesses - Who Are They? July 2, 2005. http:
//www.askelm.com/prophecy/p050702.htm

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Vern S. Poythress
However, when the Two Witnesses are here on earth, the outer court of the holy
temple will have Gentiles approaching it (Revelation 11:2). All of the Gentiles will
have access to the altarit will be given up to them while they tread under foot
the city of Jerusalem. Such activities cause the Two Witnesses to be clothed in
sackcloth (verse 3). These are illegal actions. No uncircumcised Gentile should
ever come near the altar in the outer courts of the temple at Jerusalem. It is
hoped that no Gentile Christian (if one were in Jerusalem at the time) would ever
think of violating such precincts because no Christian needs any physical temple
with its sacrifices as a means to worship God (John 4:21-23). The restoration of
the Mosaic type of worshipeven though reestablished by the Moses and Elijah
to comewill be intended for Israelites who will then remember...the law of
Moses... Malachi 4:4-6

Thus, according to Martin, the two witnesses are to appear seven years before Christ
returns. In another article he estimates that 2027 is a likely year for the return of Christ, so
in his scheme, the 1,260 days of the ministry of the two witnesses would begin 7 years before
that, or about the year 2020. In his article New Discoveries in Chronology and Prophecy
Martin says:1
If the 483 years from the time of Daniel (when a going-forth was given to
rebuild the city of Jerusalem and that was in the 1st year of Cyrus, King of
Persia), and 483 years of the 70 weeks prophecy was fulfilled up to the coming
of Christ, when He began to preach His gospel in Nazareth, and that was clearly
demonstrated as the year that bridges into the New Testament period because
the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar is the only time indicator, we have with secular
chronology, from a biblical point of view, we can know then that the 4,000 years
ended at that time. There should be 2,000 more years from 27-28 C.E. until the
start of the millennium, and if we are adding our figures correctlyand I believe
we aresomewhere in the early part of the next century, somewhere around 2027
to 2028 C.E.2

Vern S. Poythress (1946- )

Poythress is Professor of New Testament Interpretation Westminster Theological Seminary
in Philadelphia. In The returning King: a guide to the book of Revelation he wrote, referring
to Revelation 11:2-3,3

Martin, Ernest L. New Discoveries in Chronology and Prophecy.

http://www.askelm.com/prophecy/p021102.htm
2
Martins footnote: Again, I am not setting dates. All I am doing is explaining what the biblical
revelation has to say about chronology. ELM.
3
Poythress, Vern S. The returning King: a guide to the book of Revelation. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, P.O. Box 817, Phillipsburg, New Jersey. 2000.
http://www.frame-poythress.org/combined books.htm

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141

What about the 42 months? It is a limited time of distress and intense

conflict between Gods people and their opponents (13:5). It is also described as
1260 days (11:3; 12:6) or a time, times, and half a time (three and a half years;
12:14). (In a symbolic context like this one, months are reckoned as consisting
of 30 days each.) It is half of seven years, which from a symbolic point of view
suggests a complete period of suffering, cut short by half. The main background
is found in Daniel 7:25, which in turn is related to other passages in Daniel (9:27;
12:7, 11-12). Some futurist interpreters look for a period of time of this length
shortly before the Second Coming. But like other numbers in Revelation, this
one is symbolic in character, and related to the three and a half days in 11:9,
11. It then designates a period of persecution of limited length.
The most significant clue comes from Daniel 9:27. In Daniel 9 God sets
out a period of 70 weeks or 490 years or 10 jubilee cycles during which he will
accomplish his purposes for worldwide redemption (Dan. 9:24). This period of
70 weeks builds on the earlier period of 70 years of exile prophesied by Jeremiah
(Dan. 9:2; Jer. 25:12; 29:10). Each of Jeremiahs 70 years is a sabbatical year in
which the land rests (2 Chron. 36:21; Lev. 26:43; 25:1-7). Hence, symbolically
speaking, it represents a total of 490 years. At the end of this period God
favors Israel again and restores them to the land and to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4; 2
Chron. 36:22-23). But this restoration is only preliminary. The final restoration
takes place at the conclusion of a second cycle of 490 years. And since the
whole sabbath pattern symbolizes final rest, it is fitting that this second cycle
consists of symbolical years, symbolizing the way to the consummation. The
consummation occurs at the end of 490 symbolical years. The last week of
years, 7 symbolical years, stands for the time of inaugurated eschatology, after
the Messiah has come and accomplished redemption (Dan. 9:26a). In the middle
of the last week the sanctuary is destroyed (Dan. 9:27), which took place in 70
A.D. The period from 70 A.D. to the Second Coming is the last half week of
Daniels prophecy, a period of trouble and persecution as in Daniel 7:25. The
1260 days is thus the entire interadvent period, viewed as a time of persecution
and distress (cf. 2 Tim. 3:1-13; 2 Thess. 1:4-8).
Dr. Poythress claimed the last week of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24-7 began at the end
of the ministry of Jesus, rather than at the beginning of it; his interpretation, I think, has
missed the significance of the symbolism of the 31/2 years, which is connected to the period of
Jesus ministry, completing the week. The various numbers used to represent the half-week,
1,290 days, 1,335 days, and 1,260 days, may signify a progressively smaller time remaining
for the Church. The greater numbers encompass the smaller ones. Johns 1,260 days, being
less than Daniels numbers, began with a later event. That is, the larger numbers of Daniel
12:11-12 represent a greater time span; the 1,260 days of Revelation 11:3 and 12:6 may be
related more specifically to that time remaining to the Church, after the end of age of the
apostles, while the 1,335 days encompasses all of the Church age, the difference representing
the first age of the Church, the apostolic era. The three days and an half of Revelation
11:9, 11 is the smallest, so represents a period very near to the end of the Church age. It still
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David C. Pack

fits the pattern of a time, times and a half, signifying the remaining time of the Church.

David C. Pack (1948- )

Pack is Pastor General of The Restored Church of God, one of several hundred groups that
arose from the former members of the Worldwide Church of God, from which he inherited
the belief in a place of safety where faithful members will be protected from the horrors
of the future great tribulation.
The location of the place of protection, where believers will live for three and a half years,
Pack thinks, will be Petra, in Jordan. He wrote:1
Lets look at three critical time periods. The Tribulation and Day of the Lord
together last 1,260 days, or three and a half years before Christs Return. The
others are 1,290 days and 1,335 days.
The 1,290 appears in Daniel 12:11: And from the time that the daily sacrifice
shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall
be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. These are obviously also literal
days, beginning with the setting up of the abomination of desolationwhich is
armies around Jerusalem. So then, with the Church to be protected for only
1,260 days, there are 30 days before it arrives at its designated place.
The 1,335-day period is introduced one verse later: Blessed is he that waits,
and comes to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days (vs. 12).
What is this?
Starting 45 days before the 1,290-day mile-marker, the 1,335 date also counts
down to the Return of Christ. This moment signals the end of Gods Work of
preaching the true gospel for this agethe completion of the Matthew 24:14
commissionand the warning of the worlds greatest nations. The 1,335 is when
the call goes out to Gods people to assemble for flight to safety. Then, when
the abomination is set up45 days laterevents culminate in Jerusalem and the
Church flees. The 45-day period permits the Church time to gather from around
the world in what we will see to be Judea.
These periods begin with different events, but end with the same event
Christs Return! The following graph illustrates how these three durations of
time overlap.
1,335 Days1,290 Days1,260 Days
Since Daniel prefixes the event beginning the 1,335 days with blessed is
he that waits, this is designated as the signal, with a possible accompanying
eventat this specific timefor which the Church has patiently waited.2

Pack, David C. Promised ProtectionSecret Rapture or Place of Safety?

http://www.thercg.org/books/gpp.html
2
Matthew 24:13; 10:22; Luke 21:19; Revelation 14:12

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Gregory K. Beale

143

The arrival of the critical 1,335 moment is something that will only be known
to those in Gods one, undivided Church.

Pack included the following, perhaps sensing that his position might appear strange:
Fanatical Belief?
Some may find it embarrassing to believe in a literal place of safety. They
associate it with religious fanaticism, such as the Jim Jones cult, who retreated
to Guyana in the late 1970s, and the crisis at Waco, Texas in the 1990s, and
other religious groups with fanatical or bizarre conduct.
The actions of such leaders, and the groups following them, distort and taint
the Bibles teachings, repelling many from the truth. Such fanatics personify
this prophetic scripture: But there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you...And many shall follow their
pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.1

Gregory K. Beale (1949- )

Beale is professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Westminster Theological
Seminary. He considers the time, times and a half of Daniel and the related numbers as
representing the inter-advent age beginning from Christs resurrection and leading up to the
final judgment. He wrote:2
John views the time, times and half a time of Dan. 12:7 as the interadvent age beginning from the time of Christs resurrection and leading up to
the final judgment. The identification of the threefold time formula from Daniel
is deducible especially from 12:4-6, where the period begins from the time of
Christs ascension and refers to the churchs time of suffering (so also 12.14).
The same meaning is apparent for the equivalent phrase forty-two months
in 13.5, which describes the time of the beasts blasphemous and persecuting
activities.
In his Revelation commentary Beale wrote:3

1
2

2 Peter 2:1-2
Beale, G. K. Johns Use of the Old Testament in Revelation. Sheffield Academic Press. 1999. p.

263.
3
Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek
Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdsmans Publishing, 1999. p. 574.

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Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

The two witnesses prophesy for three and a half years, the same length of time
that the holy city, the woman, and those that tabernacle in heaven are
to be oppressed (11:2; 12:6, 14; 13:6). If these texts speak of the persecution
of a community, then it is plausible to identify the witnesses likewise. It the
image of an individual woman signifies the community of faith existing during
the three and a half years, then the image of two individual prophets might also
represent the same reality during the same time period (similarly an individual
harlot represents the ungodly community in ch. 17). If it is correct to see
11:3 continuing what is in the preceding two verses, then the two witnesses are
another depiction of the true Israel, the holy city, during its time of distress. As
already noted, the period of three and a half years is based on Dan. 7:25; 12:7,
11 (and perhaps Dan. 9:27), which prophesies a time of tribulation for Israel as a
community. The number represents a concept rather than a literal enumeration,
as with other numbers throughout the Apocalypse (see the comments on, e.g.,
1:4, 12, 16, 20; 2:10; 3:10; 4:4-7; 5:1, 6; 6:1-8; 7:1-9; 9:5, 10, 14-15). Here the
figurative emphasis is on the true covenant community experiencing tribulation,
irrespective of how long the tribulation lasts in literal time.

In Beales view, the prophetic three and a half year period commenced at Christs ascension and continues until his return.1
The three and a half years have been established as the time of tribulation
predicted by Daniel 7, 9 and 12, which commences at Christs ascension and
continues until his return. Of all Johns references to this time period, Rev. 12:6
is the clearest in identifying the temporal boundaries of the period (cf. 11:2-3;
13:5). Undoubtedly, here the limited age extends from the resurrection of Christ
(v 5) until his final appearance (14:14-20). This is a conclusion similar to that of
Rissi, who also argues that Christs death, cited in 11:8, is the beginning point
of the period in 11:2 (for Christs death as commencing the same period in 13:5
see on 13:3). We have also seen that this period is a time of harm to believers
in the earthly sphere but protection for them in the invisible realm of the divine
sanctuary.

Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. (1950- )

67 AD 70 AD
Gentry is a minister in the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly, and the
author of several books supporting partial preterism. In Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the
Book of Revelation, he claimed that the 42 months of Revelation 11:2, when the holy city is
trampled by Gentiles, as the period from Spring of the year 67 to September 70. He wrote:2
1
2

Ibid., p. 646.
Gentry, Kenneth L., Jr. Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation. 1998. p. 250.

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Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

145

Revelation 11:2
This verse has been dealt with rather extensively previously, nevertheless, we
will now address the time-frame element contained within it. The verse reads:
And leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it,
for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city
for forty-two months. (i.e., Jerusalem, the historical capital and geographical
center of Israel) will be down-trodden. This periodic statement is followed up
by its equivalent in the next verse, which speaks of 1260 days (42 months x 30
days each = 1260 days). If, indeed, the pre-A.D. 70 date is correct, then this
time-frame must somehow comport with the Jewish War.
Now a most interesting historical fact throws light upon this passage, if we
hold the pre-A.D. 70 date. And that fact is that it took almost exactly forty-two
months for Rome to get into a position to destroy the Temple in the Jewish War
of A.D. 67-70.
Gentry discussed the events leading up to the siege in 70 AD, quoting Josephus. He
wrote:1
Vespasian received his commission from Nero, i.e., the war was declared...,
the first part of Feb., A.D. 67. This was the formal declaration of war by Rome
against Israel. Shortly thereafter, Vespasian entered northern Israel on his march
to Jerusalem going forth conquering and to conquer (Rev. 6:2). According
to Bruce,2 Vespasian arrived the following spring [i.e., the spring of A.D. 67]
to take charge of operations. This marked the official entry of Roman imperial
forces into the campaign. Jerusalem and the Temple finally fell and were utterly
destroyed by Titus, Vespasians son, in late summer, A.D. 70: Titus began
the siege of Jerusalem in April, 70. The defenders held out desperately for five
months, but by the end of August the Temple area was occupied and the holy
house burned down, and by the end of September all resistance in the city had
come to an end.
Gentrys search for events that fit a three and a half year time span in the context of
the Jewish War in the first century, and applying them to the time periods in Revelation, is
similar to the efforts by historicists, who searched diligently, over a period of several centuries,
for events in history that fit a time span of 1,260 years, to fulfill the same prophecy. Gentry
wrote:3
Now from the time of this official imperial engagement in the Jewish War
(early Spring, A.D. 76) until the time of the Temples destruction and Jerusalems
fall (early September, A.D. 70) is a period right at the symbolic figure of 1260
1

Ibid., p. 252.
Bruce, F. F. New Testament History. Doubleday, 1969. p. 381.
3
Ibid., p. 253.
2

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O. Palmer Robertson
days (or 42 months or 31/2 years). Indeed, counting backward from early September, A.D. 70, we arrive 42 months earlier at early Marchin the Spring of 67!
Surely this figure cannot be dismissed as sheer historical accident. Though
the time-frame undoubtedly carries with it the foreboding spiritual connotation
associated with a broken seven (31/2 is one-half of the perfect number 7), nevertheless, we are also driven to recognize the providence of God in these historical
affairs. In keeping with divinely ordained symbol, in fulfillment of divinely inspired
prophecy, it did, in fact, take Rome 31/2 years to trample Israel and the city of
Jerusalem totally. Under the providence of God the symbolic broken seven
became the literal time-frame of Jerusalems doom. Stuart surmises: After all
the investigation which I have been able to make, I feel compelled to believe
that the writer refers to a literal and definite period, although not so exact that
a single day, or even a few days, of variation from it would interfere with the
object he has in view. It is certain that the invasion of the Romans lasted just
about the length of the period named, until Jerusalem was taken.

O. Palmer Robertson
Robertson is the director and principal of Africa Bible College, Uganda. He has taught at
Reformed, Westminster, Covenant, and Knox Theological Seminaries. Referring to dispensationalist John F. Walvoords interpretation of the 70 weeks prophecy, and the gap of two
thousand years that is inserted before the 70th week, Robertson wrote:1
Two rather obvious considerations argue against this gap theory regarding
the seventieth week of Daniel. First and foremost, the complete absence of any
hint of a gap in the passage itself argues against the theory. Nothing in Daniel
9:24-27 even implies, much less establishes, this kind of gap in the progress of
the seventy sevens. Kaiser proposes that the phrase after the stxty-two sevens
seems to suggest a gap. But the minute exegetical possibility resting on an
unusual interpretation of the common word after appears as a rather precarious
hase for establishing a two-thousand-year-long gap in world history. Everything
in the context suggests a normal succession of the seventieth week following
the sixty-ninth. It is somewhat difficult to imagine how the writer might have
indicated that the seventieth week followed the completion of the sixty-ninth
week without saying that the seventieth week came after the previous weeks.
On the distinctive nature of the 70th week, Robertson wrote:2
This final week, unlike all the previous weeks, is divided into two halves: In
the midst of the seven [i.e., at the halfway point of the seven; khatsi], he will

1
2

Robertson, O. Palmer. The Christ of the Prophets. P & R Publishing. 2004. pp. 344-345.
Ibid., p. 345.

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147

cause sacrifice and offering to cease (9:27). This cessation of sacrifice corresponds with the atoning of iniquity and the bringing in of eternal righteousness
(9:24) accomplished earlier in the seventy sevens. Once iniquity has been covered
by a proper atonement, there can be no more sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:26).
This climactic event, according to Daniel 9:27, is to occur at the halfway point
of the seventieth week of seven years, or 3.5 years into the last week.
The figure of 3.5 years receives further development in the final chapter of
the book of Daniel and even more extensively in the book of Revelation. In his
final interview with the revealing person, Daniel overhears the question, How
long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled? (Dan. 12:6 NIV).
The man clothed in linen takes a solemn oath that the period will be for a
time, times, and half a time, reflecting the same earlier measurement of the
time that the saints will suffer at the hands of the little horn of the fourth beast
of Daniel 7 (12:7; see also 7:25). This same measurement recurs in the form of
1,290 (or 1,335) days that are to expire between the time that the daily sacrifice
is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up (12:11-12).
The 1,290 day period, I think, is not the time unto the setting up of the abomination
of desolation, but the time that extends from that event, which therefore occurs early in
the church age. Both the 1,290 days and the 1,335 days run to the end of the age, and
are symbolic. The 1,290 days, being the smaller number, is a portion of the greater period.
Similarly, the 1,260 days in Revelation are a yet smaller portion of the same period. John
declares that there were already many antichrists in his time.1 Robertson continues:2
The various ways in which this last half of the final week is designated in
Daniel suggest that the time measurement has been modified from the chronological/symbolical to the purely symbolical. The book of Revelation reflects the
same diversity in referring to an identical period as a symbolical device: the
1,260 days, 42 months, and time, times, and half a time (Rev. 11:2-3; 12:6,
14; 13:5). The last half of the seventieth week of Daniel may thus be regarded
as a different form of time measurement. This last half-week symbolically represents a longer period of time, indefinite in length, which extends from the ending
of sacrifice until the destruction of the antichrist at the consummation of the
present age. During this last epoch of time, if the book of Revelation is allowed
to provide some insight, the true people of God will be persecuted relentlessly
as they bear witness throughout the world. But they will also be protected by
the providential orderings of the Lord (11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5). At the end, all
enemies of the Lord will be destroyed at his coming.

1
2

1 John 2:18
Ibid., p. 345-346.

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148

Kim RiddlebargerJames L. Resseguie

Kim Riddlebarger
Riddlebarger is the senior pastor of Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim, California, and
visiting professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He identified
the 1,260 days of Revelation 11:3 and 12:6 and the 42 months with the inter-advental age.
On the forty-two months of the reign of the beast in Revelation 13:5, he wrote:1
The overtly anti-Christian nature of this beasts reign can be seen in what
follows: The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies
and to exercise his authority for forty-two months (Rev. 13:5)the forty-two
months are most likely a reference to the inter-advental age. Taken from Daniel
7:25 (a time, times, and half a time, see also Dan. 12:7), this same period of
time appears in the preceding chapters of the Book of Revelation. In Revelation
11:2-3, the Gentiles are said to trample the holy city (the churchi.e., the
dwelling place of God in the new covenant) for forty-two months or 1,260 days.
This is the same time period in which the two witnesses proclaim the gospel
(Rev. 11:3). In Revelation 12:6, John refers to the time of the protection of the
woman in the wilderness (the church) as spanning 1,260 days and then again
later as a time, times, and half a time (Rev. 12:14). As Beale points out, these
are all references to the same period of time, indicating that the manifestation
of the beast likewise spans the time from Christs death and resurrection to the
culmination of history.

James L. Resseguie
Resseguie is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a professor of New Testament
at Winebrenner Theological Seminary. In his commentary on Revelation he wrote:2
The womans place on earth is the wilderness, a place prepared by God
where she is nourished just as the Israelites were nourished in the wilderness
on their exodus. In contrast to the great city Babylon, which is the spiritual
home for those who follow the beast, the wilderness is the spiritual home for the
believing community. Although Christians inevitably live in the city of this world,
Babylon (cf. 18:4), their home is not the great city. Rather, the wilderness, the
margins of society, and place of spiritual detatchment from the blandishments of
the great city, is where Christians dwell; the wilderness represents the antisociety
of the counterculture to Babylon and the beast.
The womans time in the wilderness is 1,260 days (12:6; cf 11:3), which is
identical to time, and times, and half a time (12:14) and the forty-two months

1
Riddlebarger, Kim. The man of sin: uncovering the truth about the Antichrist. Baker Books, 2006.
p. 97. http://books.google.com/books?id=3LdpWDEtPScC
2
Resseguie, James L. The Revelation of John, A Narrative Commentary. Baker Academic, 2009. p.
172.

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Harry O. MaierHank Hanegraaff

149

of the beasts autarchy (13:5; cf. 11:2). The period of domination by chaos and
evil corresponds to Gods protection and succor for believers. The equal period pf
time is a symbolic way of showing that there is no imbalance between persecution
and protection. Evil does not have the upper hand despite appearances.

Harry O. Maier
Maier is professor of New Testament Studies, Vancouver School of Theology. His book on
the Apocalypse explores the connection between time to which it applies, and the time of
narrationthe time that John takes to relate his Apocalypse. He wrote:1
Heavenly bodies may mark the 1,260 days of Rev. 11:3 and 12:6, or the
forty-two months of 11:2, and the thousand years of 20:2, 7, but these numbers
do not measure solar/linar time. They mark theological time, as the halved seven
(three and a half years) these numbers represent indicates.
The Apocalypse suspends the time that readers and listeners inhabit. But
such suspension paradoxically depends on the unremarkable beatings of the everyday clock in order to attain this end. Quotidian time conspires with the words,
phrases, and sentences of the Apocalypse to make up the episodes that in turn
restitch time into a theologically charged pattern.

Hank Hanegraaff (1950- )

Hanegraaff is an American author and radio talk-show host. He became president of the
Christian Research Institute, a conservative Protestant countercult and apologetic ministry
in 1989 after the death of Walter Martin.2 In his book The Apocalypse Code, Hanegraaff
was critical of dispensationalism, as presented by Tim LaHaye. In a book review, Thomas
Ice complained that in his radio broadcasts during the past fifteen years Hanegraaff has
been treating dispensationalism as if it were a cult. ... The great majority of the book is a
rant against Hanegraaffs distorted view of dispensationalism in general and Tim LaHaye in
particular. There is precious little actual exegesis, if any at all, to support his preterist/idealist
eschatology; however, there are great quantities of some of the most vicious tirades against
LaHaye and many other Bible prophecy teachers that I have ever read in print.3 Hanegraaff
wrote:4
LaHayes deduction is that there is a secret coming during which only the
church will be raptured. Conversely, as our Lord declares, a time is coming

Maier, Harry O. Apocalypse recalled: the Book of Revelation after Christendom. Fortress Press,
2002. p. 157. http://books.google.com/books?id=bwg91o TtTMC
2
http://www.waltermartin.com/cri.html
3
http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/review-of-hank-hanegraaffs-apocalypse-code
4
Hanegraaff, Hank. The Apocalypse Code. Thomas Nelson Inc. 2008. pp. 60-62.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ChEKSDYujewC

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Hank Hanegraaff
when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come outthose who
have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be
condemned (John 5:28-29; cf. Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 12:35-48). LaHayes
theology therefore stands in stark contrast to Jesuss teachings. The plain and
literal sense of our Lords words suggests a moment in the future when both
the righteous and the unrighteous will be resurrected and judged together. The
notion that believers will be raptures during a secret coming of our Lord 1007
years prior to the resurrection of unbelievers is thus an imposition on the text.
Even given pretribulational presuppositions, the literal sense of the parable
of the weeds suggests that the wicked will be judged prior to the wheat being
gathered, not the other way round (Matthew 13:24-30). Likewise, in the Olivet
Discourse, the unjust are taken in judgment while the righteous are left behind,
not vice versa (Matthew 24:36-41). During his earthly sojourn, our Lord fervently
petitioned his heavenly Father not to rapture his bride out of the world, but to
protect them from the evil one while they were in the world (John 17:15).
Furthermore, search as you may, you will not find a seven-year Tribulation in
the biblical text. In fact, the future seven year Tribulation trumpeted by LaHaye
is conspiculous by its absence in the whole of Scripture. LaHaye avows that
there is little doubt as to when this Tribulation occurs or how long it will last.
He provides, however, precious little by way of evidence. He pretends a single
pretext from the prophecy of Daniel, and from Revelation he produces no proof
text at all. Instead, he simply pontificates that Johns revelation divides the
Great Tribulation into two periods of three and one-half years each or 1,260
days each, a total of seven years. During the first three and one-half years more
than one-half of the worlds population dies. During the second half, conditions
get even worse after Satan is cast out of heaven and indwells the Antichrists
body and demands the world worship him.
It is foolhardy at best to subtract from, add to, or divide the revelation
of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon
take place (Revelation 1:1). Nowhere does the revelation of Jesus divide the
Tribulation into two periods of three and one-half years each or 1,260 days
each. And if one were to add together Johns references to three and a half
years, forty-two months, or 1,260 days, they would greatly exceed the number
seven. From the perspective of history, there was a three-and-a-half-year period
of tribulation during the Jewish War beginning in the spring of AD 67 and ending
in the fall of AD 70; however, there is no biblical precedent for doubling that
time and driving it into the twenty-first century. Moreover, the biblically astute
are well aware of the rich biblical symbolism invested in the number sevenand
its half.

If there is any symbolic import to the number three and a half, surely it is the want
of another three and a half, to make a complete seven. This underlies all of the various
representations of the three-and-a-half-year time periods in Scripture. Hanegraaffs argument
is weaked by the rich biblical symbolism invested in the number sevenand its half. His
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151

statement that there was a three-and-a-half-year period of tribulation ending in 70 AD is

historically untrue, as tribulation for Jews did not end in 70 AD. Instead, survivors of the
siege became slaves, and many Jewish rebels faced further tribulation in the siege of Masada
by the Roman governor of Judaea Lucius Flavius Silva, in 72 AD.
Hanegraaff wrote:
Despite evidence to the contrary, LaHaye persists in dragging the seven-year
tribulation into the twenty-first century and describing it as the time of Jacobs
trouble or the time of Jewish Tribulation. What he fails to disclose is the seminal
fact that neither Jeremiahs reference to a time of trouble for Jacob (Jeremiah
30:7) nor Jesuss reference to a time of great distress, unequaled from the
beginning of the world until nowand never to be equaled again (Matthew
24:21) refer to a holocause in the twenty-first century that was precipitated by
a Jewish rebellion against Jehovah in the sixth century BC or a Jewish rejection
of Jesus in the first century AD. Both references incontrovertably point to times
past in which the very temple that gave Israel its theological and sociological
identity was decimated.
Hanegraaff tries to promote his preterist views, by destroying dispensationalism, but
preterism is a flawed and unsatisfactory alternative.

Felise Tavo
Tavo presented his Ph.D dissertation on the Woman Clothed with the Sun of Revelation
12 in June 2005 at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He recognized the symbolic nature of the two witnesses of Revelation 11, and referred to the 1,260 days of their
prophesying as symbolic. He wrote:1
If no two historical figures seem to fit the description of the two witnesses
in every detail as has been observed, this is because the seer did not intend it
to be so. Apart from previous indications as to the symbolic nature of 11:3-13,
other clues may now be set forth which should confirm the figurative nature of
our narrative. First, as has been correctly pointed out, the two witnesses do not
function as distinct individuals and hence less likely to be historical figures but
always together for the same unit. In other words, they prophesy together for
the same duration (1260 days, v. 3b); they stand together before the Lord of
the earth (v. 4b); they shut the sky and are to smite the earth together (v. 6);
and together they are killed (v. 7b), raised (v. 11), and ascend into heaven (v.
12c). And to drive the point home, even their dead bodies are referred to with
the singular ... in v. 8a and v. 9a and that in spite of the fact that the seer
1

Tavo, Felise. Woman, mother, and bride: an exegetical investigation into the ecclesial notions
of the apocalypse. Volume 3 of Biblical tools and studies. Peeters Publishers, 2007. pp. 199-200.
http://books.google.com/books?id=b7LOpsyPgZQC

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The Church in the wilderness

shows accurate knowledge of the expected plural form ... which is used in the
following v. 9b. Second, the great city (v, 8a) upon whose street their corpses
will be laid bare is clarified in v. 9a as no historical city but one that encompases
the length and breadth of the earth as indicated by the fourfold formula ....
And thus, 11:8 warns us that the interpretation of the entire passage must be
symbolic. And if we may further note the symbolic character of time indicators
such as the 1260 days during which the two witnesses are to prophecy (v. 3b),
the figurative character of 11:3-13 is to all intents and purposes certain.
Tavo described the 1,260 days as a symbol for the church age. He wrote:1
The church as a persecuted community is ironically its most propitious opportunity to bear witness to its crucified Lord and in so doing subject its enemies
before God (two witnesses-two prophets).
However, we must not for a moment think that these two aspects of the
church, i.e. being spiritually preserved through worship while having to meet
persecution with witness, are not in anyway linked even if such a link is not
being made explicit. After all, we are dealing here not with different realities but
with different dimensions of the same church reality. But these dimensions have
at least been knitted together in the fact that they all without exception concern
the same timing of three and a half, symbol for the church age (= 42 months;
1260 days; 31/2 days). In other words, the seers overriding concern in this key
narrative is solely the church as it must struggle with the great tribulation while
awaiting the return of its crucified Lord (cf. 19:11). Not only is the church
to overcome such tribulation by its worship and witness, these will also be the
means by which its enemies will be brought to repentance which all along has
been the seers motive for intercalating 11:1-13 into the trumpet series.

Discussion
The Church in the wilderness
Understanding the symbolic import of the wilderness, where the woman flees for 1,260 days2 ,
and for a time times and a half 3 , is needed in order to interpret those time periods. After
his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil.
1

Ibid., p. 223.
Revelation 12:6
3
Revelation 12:14
2

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153

The place of this period of trial was the wilderness. Similarly, believers experience trials
and temptations, when they have escaped from the world. Paul said the experience of the
Israelites in the wilderness was for our examples. It was a type of the sojourn of the saints
in this life. Jesus said, I am the living bread which came down from heaven.1 The manna
that the Israelites gathered in the wilderness for food foreshadowed Christ, who is called the
Word. The wilderness represents the churchs place or condition, where members are taught
from the scriptures, to prepare them for receiving their promised inheritance.
The time, times, and a half of Revelation 12:14 links to Daniel 7:25, and 12:7, where
that phrase designates the last age, at the end of which all of the events described in Daniels
prophecies would be fulfilled. The period applies especially to the saints, and the wise who
will understand.2
The saints, Daniel said, would be overcome by the little horn which arises among the
ten horns of the fourth beast, and they would be given into his hand.3 This corresponds to
Johns prophecy, which describes the beast which ascends from the bottomless pit to make
war with the saints, and overcome them.4 Daniel refers to the saints as those whose names
are written in the book,5 which also applies to the saints in the New Testament.6
Tyconius, in his commentary on the Apocalypse, viewed its prophecies as mysterious,
and its language was seen as cryptic, and symbolic. The 1,260 days were not meant to
be understood literally. He thought they represent the entire age of the Church, and he
apparently also believed he was living in the time of the end.
Bede, writing about the symbolic meaning of the 1,260 days, astutely stated: In this
number of days, which makes three years and a half, he comprehends all the times of
Christianity, because Christ, Whose body the Church is, preached the same length of time
in the flesh. The time of Jesus ministry, plus the symbolic 1,260 days, make a prophetic
week. This is the 70th week in Daniels prophecy of the 70 weeks.
In the 9th century, Benyamin ben Moses Nahawendi, a Jewish scholar in Persia, interpreted the mysterious numbers in Daniels prophecies as referring to years. Taking the word
yamin to mean years, he interpreted the 1,335 days of Daniel 12:12 as so many years, and
computed the date of the arrival of the Messiah at 1012 AD, about a century and a half
after his own time. He is thought to be one of the first to interpret the numbers in Daniels
prophecies as referring to years.
The idea that the 1,260 days represent years was given a new life by Joachim of Fiore
in the 13th century. He identified the 42 months as 42 generations of 30 years each, or
1,260 years, the period between the advent of Christ and the year 1260. In later centuries,
Protestant historicist interpreters applied the prophecy of the 42 months, in which the beast
overcomes the saints, and the 1,260 days, interpreted as years, to the papacy and the Roman

John 6:51
Daniel 12:10
3
Daniel 7:21, 25
4
Revelation 13:7
5
Daniel 12:1
6
Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8
2

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The widening gap

Catholic Church.

The widening gap

Because the time since the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ was now well past the 1,260
years, the year-day interpretation introduced an ever-growing gap between the apostolic age,
and the beginning of the apostasy, which they believed began the 1,260 years. It implied
that the saints who had lived during the period of the alleged gap were not dwelling in the
wilderness, and so had not been nourished spiritually, in the place that was prepared by
God.1 The martyrs and saints of the early Church would probably have been shocked and
amazed by such claims.
The idea of a gap that separated the time, times, and a half or the 1,260 days from the
period of Christs ministry was promoted by the historicists, who sought to set dates for the
start and the end of the 1,260 days and 42 months, that corresponded with the history of
the papacy, or with political events. Events of different kinds were often paired together, to
obtain the 1,260 year intervals.
Some historicists applied the 1,260 years to political events, involving worldly kingdoms,
and to national interests that were unrelated to the church of God. John Foxe unwisely
identified the woman of Revelation 12 with Britain. The 1,260 years, he said, was the
time since the gospel came to Britain, in the second century. German princes embraced
Luthers teachings, believing that the Protestant religion would lead to their independence
from the Holy Roman Empire. Thomas Brightman related the 1,260 days to the Counter
Reformation, and the Council of Trent, convened by pope Paul III in 1545. Johann Heinrich
Alsted connected the 1,260 years with the sack of Heidelberg in 1622.
In fact, the 1,260 days in Revelation 11:3 and 12:6 do not apply to any worldly events
whatsoever. John was told to exclude the Gentiles who occupy the outer court, and not to
measure them. And so the 1,260 days could not apply to them. The same applies to the
Gentiles who trample the holy city. The measuring of the temple was not to determine its
length and breadth and height, but relates to the limited time for which the two witnesses
prophesy, and to the effects of their witnessing. And so the attempts by historicists to relate
the 1,260 days to the papacy, or to political developments in Europe, are misguided.
A similar criticism applies to the theories of preterists such as Philip S. Desprez, who
limited the 1,260 days of prophesying by the two witnesses to the period of the siege of
Jerusalem, and its destruction by the Romans in 70 AD. The temple of God which John was
to measure was not the one made with human hands.
Joseph Mede said the 1,260 days, and 42 months, and the time, times and a half all
refer to the same time period. Thomas Brightman said the plagues associated with the
trumpets were brought by the two witnesses, who smite the earth with all plagues, and
so the period of their ministry must apply to the previous history of the Church. Many
historicist interpreters, like Puritan scholar Thomas Goodwin, thought they were living near
the end of the 1,260 days. They expected to see the prophecy fulfilled in their own time,

Revelation 12:6, 14

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155

or said that the time would be fulfilled soon after. They expected its imminent fulfillment;
the Reformation, the scientific revolution, and the enlightenment were great changes, they
believed that they must somehow be fulfilling prophecy. In the late 18th century, the turmoil
of the French Revolution, and the events of that period were so appalling, they cast a dark
shadow over the 19th century, and several scholars claimed the 1,260 days ended then.
The historicist scholars diligently researched the history of the Catholic church, the papacy, and the history of Europe, to determine what events might have begun the 1,260 years,
and when they might have ended. Sir Isaac Newton was reluctant to propose any dates for
the end of the 1,260 days, but he did mention some possible start dates. He wondered
whether allowance should be made for the 18 day discrepancy between the real number of
days in three and a half years; 1,278, and 1,260 days. In his private notes, he said the 1,260
days were to be fulfilled between years 800 and 2060.
Other interpreters found what must have seemed to them several fairly plausible pairs of
dates, including the following multiple date pairs:
Robert Fleming
552 AD 1794 AD
606 AD 1848 AD
758 AD 2000 AD
William Whiston:
455 AD 1715 AD
476 AD 1736 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
Bishop Thomas Newton:
533 AD 1793 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
727 AD 1987 AD
David Simpson:
538 AD 1798 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
666 AD 1926 AD
756 AD 2016 AD
Albert Barnes:
533 AD 1793 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
752 AD 2012 AD
1073 AD 2333 AD
Michael Paget Baxter:
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The widening gap

537 AD 1797 AD
1867 AD 1871 AD

H. Grattan Guiness:
533 AD 1793 AD
606 AD 1866 AD
There was no lack of apparently plausible dates, the problem was to find a consensus.
But that was quite a problem, because there was obviously very little agreement between
the expositors. Some were vague about which specific events began and ended the 1,260
years. To skeptics, their methods seemed ad hoc.
Joseph Augustus Seiss, a futurist, criticized historicist expositors for being inconsistent.
Futurism and preterism were reactions to the proliferation of dates, and were seen as alternatives to historicism, which had become discredited.
The interpreters who said the time, times and a half and the 1,260 days refer to the
whole age of the church, Bede, Alcuin, John Bale, William Fulke, George Gifford, Ernst
Wilhelm Hengstenberg, and more recently James Burton Coffman, Gregory K. Beale, and
others, were more consistent. They proposed no gap between the ministry of Jesus and the
beginning of the 1,260 days, and specified no dates for its end. The criticisms by Seiss and
Bellarmine about lack of agreement amongst the date-setters, do not apply to them.
The idea of a gap, as introduced by historicists, and as adopted in futurism, and especially
in dispensationalism, and also in preterism which sees the entire age of the church as a gap,
signifying a period to which prophecy does not apply, implies that during the period for which
such a gap applies, which is some part, or all, of the history of the church, the saints have
not been nourished spiritually in the place prepared by God. But Jesus said, lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world.1 Preterists say that the end happened in 70
AD. Their opinions are founded on the idea that the generation of Jesus Christ has passed
away, which could not be, if Christ indeed rose from his grave and remains alive.
Daniel 7 says the little horn of the fourth beast will speak great words against the most
High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws.2
The times mentioned here, I think, must include the times in Daniels prophecy; the 70
weeks and the time, times and a half in which the saints are given into his hand. The little
horn has eyes like the eyes of a man, and so represents the human viewpoint, as opposed
to the divine viewpoint.
During the history of the church, the position of the saints has been unsettled, shifting
among various positions. They have been in a wilderness; any interpretations that set dates
proved to be only temporary. As the predicted dates for the fulfillment of the prophecy
passed, one by one, it became evident that the interpretations had failed. This illustrates the
wilderness condition in which the church has been nourished. Her place is not fixed, but like
the Israelites in the wilderness shifted their camps, from place to place, dwelling in forty-two
1
2

Matthew 28:20
Daniel 7:25

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157

different places, the churchs interpretation of the 1,260 days of prophecy has not remained
fixed and constant.
The historicists sought to establish the vision, by their date setting; the robbers of
thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.1 During this
time, there has been a famine of hearing the word.2

The words are sealed

Daniel was told, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of
the end.3 The two witnesses have shut heaven.
The words were sealed till the end time, which explains why so many who lived in previous
centuries failed to fully understand them, even though expositions of these prophecies were
produced by some of the worlds greatest minds, such as Sir Isaac Newton; it was not yet
the time of the end. But since Daniel also said, the wise shall understand, the saints
should expect to fully understand these time prophecies at the appropriate time.
The 42 months, the time, times and a half, and the 1,260 days all represent half of a
prophetic week, the 70th week of Daniels 70 weeks prophecy; it is the week in which Christ
confirms his covenant with his saints. Jesus began his ministry when that 70th week began;
the prophetic half-week is the completion of it. And the entire week is seven times, and
the fulfillment of the last of four periods of seven times in Leviticus 26, when God is to
be reconciled to his people. It is the time that was foreshadowed in the life of Jacob, who
labored for seven years under Laban, for his bride Rachel, but that seven years turned out to
be a bit longer than was expected.
In Daniel 12:11, the 1,290 days extend from the setting up of the abomination that
causes desolation, which is a desolation of the spiritual temple of God. That number is a
little more than the time in which the two witnesses prophesy, and the time when the woman
flees to the wilderness, where she is nourished. It encompasses the 1,260 days.
Jesus said: When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let
them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:4 The mountains that Jesus referred
to must be symbolic of the promises and the prophecies in scripture, which are the spiritual
nourishment, that has been provided for the saints.
The variety of interpretations that have been proposed for the 42 months, the time, times
and a half, and the 1,260 days illustrates the sackcloth clothing of the two witnesses, which
can be identified as the Scriptures, and the Spirit. Several expositors identified the Scriptures
as one of the witnesses, or both; these include Tyconius, Bede, John Napier, Joseph Mede,
William Miller and others. William Fulke, James Brocard, Thomas Parker, Hanserd Knollys,
Isaac Williams, Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg, Christopher Wordsworth, William Milligan,

Daniel 11:14
Amos 8:11
3
Daniel 12:9
4
Matthew 24:15-16
2

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The words are sealed

William Hendriksen, and others, identified one or both of the witnesses as the assembly of
the saints. James Brocard suggested that prophecy is one of the witnesses. Some of these
authors limited the duration of the prophesying by the witnesses to 1,260 years or less. The
idea that scriptures remain in the world for only 1,260 years was disputed by Seiss, who
wrote: 1
It is not true that the Old and New Testaments are preached to the world
only 1260 days, or years, and then end their testimony;that they are arrayed in
sackcloth all the days they are preached;that fire issues out of their mouths and
kills those who will to injure them;that there is no rain upon the earth during the
days of their prophesying;that they have power over waters to convert them into
blood, or at will to smite the earth with plagues;that they are capable of being
killed by man;or that indignity can be offered them, being dead, by refusing to
allow them to be put into a sepulcher. Yet all these things are affirmed of these
Witnesses.
The literalism expressed in these comments by Seiss, and similar criticisms by Robert
Bellarmine, is in a way a fulfillment of the prophecy about the two witnesses; literalism
kills the Spirit, and exults the letter. It misses or denies the spiritual intent of the
word of God. This was the point of view adopted by atheists, and skeptics, and the rationalist
higher critics.
Bellarmine claimed the 42 months of Revelation 11:2 and 13:5 can only mean a literal
three and a half years; the reign of the beast and the time that the two witnesses prophesy in
sackcloth is for a literal three years and a half, which must be yet future. Bellarmine resorted
to literalism, and the popular myths promoted by the writings of Adso of Montier-en-Der
(died 992) and of Hugo Ripelin (1205-1268). Literalism was employed to overcome and
defeat the two witnesses. Literalism is one of the ways the beast from the bottomless pit
wars against them, deceiving the saints, and destroying the witness of the Scriptures to the
truth. Jesus warned his disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees, in a context which
showed that he referred to literalism.2
Ballarmines claim that the 1,260 days and the 42 months can only mean a literal three
and a half years conflicts with the statement by Thomas Aquinas: The thousand two
hundred sixty days mentioned in the Apocalypse (12:6) denote all the time during which the
Church endures, and not any definite number of years. One of the learned doctors must be
wrong. Bellarmine probably knew what Aquinas had previously taught. In the debate with
Protestants, literalism and popular tradition were embraced rather than truth.
Ballarmines comments, intended to defend the papacy against the rhetoric of Protestant
expositors, implied that Aquinas was wrong; it was as if the Roman Catholic Church had shot
itself in the foot. He also contradicted fellow Jesuit Luis de Alcazar. Bellarmines opinions
are flawed, because 42 months is not 1,260 days; a literal 42 months is about 1,240 days, if

1
2

Joseph Augustus Seiss. Op. cit.

Matthew 16:5-12

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159

they are lunar months. And a literal three and a half solar years is about 1,278 days, not
1,260 days.

The serpents flood

In Revelation chapter 12 there are several allusions to Genesis 3:13-15. The prophecy is
about the woman in heaven, clothed with the sun, and her manchild who is caught up to the
throne of God, and the serpent, and the earth. The sun which clothes the woman represents
the gospel; the woman is the church of all ages. In Genesis 3 there is enmity put between
the serpent and the woman, and his seed, and her seed.
The womans seed are those who keep Gods commandments, and have the testimony
of Jesus Chrust.1 They are those who dwell in heaven, while the serpents seed are those
who dwell in the earth. And there are some who dwell in heaven, pictured by stars, who
are drawn by the tail of the dragon, and are cast down to the earth.2 They are the failed
Christians; they include people who are deceived by false teachers, who return to the world.
In Genesis 3:17 the ground is cursed; it produces thorns and thistles and weeds. In
Revelation 12:6 the woman flees to a wilderness, a barren land, which is unfruitful. In
Genesis 3:14 the serpent has to go on his belly, upon the dust of the earth. The wilderness
where the woman flees is full of serpents. Satan deceives men, so they misunderstand, and
dont believe the words of God. The place where the saints sojourn is like the land that is
cursed; it is like the field with tares sown in it, in the parable of Jesus.3
The serpent casts a flood out of his mouth, to carry away the woman; this is a flood of
false teachings, and flawed interpretations, a spiritual flood, not a flood of literal water. It
is a flood of deceit and lies. It threatens to carry away the woman, but the earth or land
opens her mouth, and swallows up the flood.
The land referred to, which swallows up the serpents flood, should be understood in
the context of the womans sojourn in the wilderness, and the cursed ground in Genesis
3:17. The wilderness alludes to Israels sojourn before entering the promised land; similarly
the church is nourished in the wilderness for a symbolic 1,260 days, and looks forward to
inheriting the promise, not of a literal territory on earth, but of things eternal and spiritual,
in heaven; But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly.4
There is only one land that can swallow up the serpents flood. It is a metaphor, that
alludes to the promised land, and the promises of God to the church; as God promised the
woman in Genesis 3:15: I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel, the head of the
serpent is to be bruised; the saints overcome him and his delusions. The promised land is a
figure of the promises made to the church. Jesus promised his disciples, Howbeit when he,
the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth ... and he will shew you things

Revelation 12:17
Revelation 12:4
3
Matthew 13:36-43
4
Hebrews 11:16
2

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The serpents flood

to come.1
It is the truth that swallows up the serpents flood. So the land where the woman sojourns
becomes fruitful. It is foreshadowed by the land of promise; the land that God promised to
give to Jacob and his seed. But, Paul said, all the promises of God are in Christ yea, and
Amen, which includes the land promise.2
The promised land, in the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was a metaphor,
which pictures invisible things, that are the eternal inheritance of the church which is nourished in the wilderness. So the land which swallows up the serpents flood, represents a right
interpretation of prophecy, and understanding the truth. The angel said to Daniel, The
wise shall understand.3
The angel in Revelation 8:13, in the JKV, who flies through the midst of heaven, and
foretells woe to the inhabiters of the earth, is an eagle.4 But it is an eagle who prophesies.
With the perspective that comes from above, that is provided by an understanding of
prophecy, represented by the two wings of the prophesying eagle that are given to the woman,
we can see the hand of God that works out his plan in the world for the benefit of his Church.
Victorinus, discussed on page 6, in his Commentary on the Apocalypse, associated the
two wings of an eagle that are given to the woman with prophets. He wrote:
But the woman fled into the wilderness, and there were given to her two
great eagles wings. The aid of the great eagles wingsto wit, the gift of
prophets... Two great wings are the two prophets Elias, and the prophet who
shall be with him.
John Napier said the sackcloth in which the witnesses are clothed represents the obscurity of mans traditions; and the light of the gospel has been veiled by human interpretations
and tradition. The two witnesses, the Scriptures and the Spirit of God, have tormented men
through the centuries, because their message has not been understood.
The variety of opinions about the 1,260 days, is also a fulfillment of Daniel 12:7, when
he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be
finished. The scattering of the saints power is fulfilled by the diversity of interpretations,
and the tens of thousands of denominations, and cults, and sects. It is the Antichrist spirit
that causes it! It is the human point of view, represented by the eyes like the eyes of a
man. And it happens during the time, times and a half, and the 1,260 days, which are best
understood as representing the entire age of the Church.

John 16:13
2 Corinthians 1:20
3
Daniel 12:10
4
The NIV has: As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice:
Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by
the other three angels!
2

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161

Clouds of witnesses
The two witnesses who prophesy for 1,260 days are said to have the power to shut heaven,
so no rain falls during the time of their prophesying. But this is rain of a spiritual kind; it
represents the word of God, and gifts of the Spirit of God, such as wisdom, and understanding.
The word of God is compared with rain and snow by Isaiah.1
Eucherius of Lyons said, The clouds are the prophets and the saints, which rain the
word of the Lord; in Isaiah: I shall order the clouds above to rain.2 Clouds are the main
source of rain, and in the long history of exposition of the meaning of the 1,260 days, the
expositors are clouds.
Some clouds are dark, others are bright; some are lofty, others close to the earth; some
bring rain, others do not. In the New Testament, false teachers are likened to clouds without
water, carried about of winds,3 and clouds that are carried with a tempest.4
Zechariah wrote, Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD
shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain.5 This also alludes to a spiritual
sort of rain.
The prophet Joel wrote of a time of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and
of thick darkness in the day of the Lord. They seem to be associated with a great and
strong people.6
In the many expositions of the 1,260 days, there are examples of clouds without water, dark clouds, and of clouds carried with a tempest. The ever-changing dates that
historicists assigned to the 1,260 days from the time of the Reformation to the end of the
19th century illustrates this.
As the rainbow is seen against a backdrop of dark clouds, the truth that underlies the
prophetic time period of 1,260 days becomes evident, when it is connected with the ministry
of Christ, who continues to confirm his covenant with his church throughout its history. The
ministry of Jesus plus the prophetic three and a half years, that represents the entire age of
the Church, is the 70th week of Daniel 9:24-27, and the last seven times of Leviticus 26,
when God is reconciled to his people.

The desolation of Jerusalem

Daniels prayer in chapter 9 was about the desolation of Jerusalem, and of the temple, but in
the New Testament, both Jerusalem and the temple of God are labels applied to the church.
Just as Paul said Jews who reject the gospel of Christ have their minds blinded, and a veil
is upon their hearts, dispensationalists also have their minds blinded, and a veil on their

Isaiah 55:6-11
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/eucherius/formulae.toc.html
3
Jude 12
4
2 Peter 2:17
5
Zechariah 10:1
6
Joel 2:2
2

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The desolation of Jerusalem

hearts.1
The veil and blindness of dispensationalists is especially evident in their misuse of
the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel; they invoke a huge gap, between the 69th and 70th weeks!
They fail to notice that although the prophecy of Daniel begins with a decree to restore
Jerusalem and the temple, it is really concerned with the accomplishment of certain spiritual
things having to do with the eternal temple of God, and the holy city of the saints which is
located in heaven; the things mentioned by the angel, that are to be accomplished in the 70
weeks period, have to do with the gospel.
finish the transgression
make an end of sins
make reconciliation for iniquity
seal up the vision and prophecy
anoint the most Holy

None of these have to do with rebuilding the earthly temple or the earthly city, but all of
it relates to the church, and the gospel of Christ. Dispensationalists, though, like the Jews,
are evidently blind to this, and have a veil upon their heart.
Daniels prayer in chapter 9 was about the restoration of the city of Jerusalem which was
in ruins. He said, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy
holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy
people are become a reproach to all that are about us.2
The holy mountain mentioned in Daniel 9:16 was the stone that smote the image that
Nebuchadnezzar saw, which became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.3
This is no ordinary mountain; it grew from a stone cut without hands! And it continues
to grow, till it fills the earth! So it is no natural mountain.4
Isaiah wrote about the same holy mountain of the saints, the mountain of the Lords
house, which he said would be raised up, and established in the top of the mountains and
exalted above the hills.5
It would be ridiculous to say this means some tectonic movement will literally raise
Jerusalem and Mount Zion up higher than all other mountains! But, in the New Testament,
Isaiahs prophecy is fulfilled, as Paul refers to the Jerusalem above which means the
church.6 And in Hebrews, the church is referred to as Mount Sion and the heavenly
Jerusalem.7
1

2 Corinthians 3:14-16
Daniel 9:16-17
3
Daniel 2:34-35
4
Daniel 2:44-45
5
Isaiah 2:1-3
6
Galatians 4:26
7
Hebrews 12:22-24
2

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163

The angel who appeared to Daniel said the 70 weeks apply to thy people and upon thy
holy city.1
The holy mountain, that both Isaiah and Daniel referred to is the church that Jesus
said he will build, and even the gates of hell will not prevail against it.2
This is what the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel is about; the literal city in Palestine was a
mere type and shadow of it, along with other things in the Old Testament.3
In Daniels prophecies, his people are spoken of as saints in chapter 7, and those who
are written in the book in Daniel 12:1. This is the same language or terminology John
used in Revelation, for those who believe in Christ. They are those people whose names are
written in the book of life.4
In Ephesians 2:20, Paul says the prophets and the apostles are the foundation of the
church.
Because it denies that the prophets wrote about the church, which is the holy mountain
that Christ came to establish, dispensationalism attacks the very foundation of Gods church.
Old Testament saints and prophets are no doubt the just men made perfect mentioned
in Hebrews 12:23, who together with all those who believe in Christ, are included in the holy
city, the heavenly Jerusalem. Who else could they be?
The prophet and founder of dispensationalism was J. N. Darby, who thought the Jewish
people had an earthly promise, and destiny, while the church had heavenly ones. He
supposed the Old Testament prophecies applied to the Jewish hopes of an earthly Messianic
kingdom. Darby wrote:5
Prophecy applies itself properly to the earth; its object is not heaven. It
was about things that were to happen on the earth; and the not seeing this
has misled the Church. We have thought that we ourselves had within us the
accomplishments of these earthly blessings, whereas we are called to heavenly
blessings. The privilege of the Church is to have its portion in the heavenly places;
and later blessings will be shed forth upon the earthly people. The Church is
something altogether aparta kind of heavenly economy, during the rejection of
the earthly people, who are put aside on account of their sins, and driven out
among the nations, out of the midst of which nations God chooses a people
for the enjoyment of heavenly glory with Jesus Himself. The Lord, having been
rejected by the Jewish people, is become wholly a heavenly person. This is the
doctrine which we find peculiarly in the apostle Paul. It is no longer the Messiah
for the Jews, but a Christ exalted, glorified; and it is for want of taking hold of
this exhilarating truth, that the Church has become so weak.
1

Daniel 9:24
Matthew 16:18
3
Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5, 10:1
4
Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27; 22:19.
5
From: J.N. Darby, The Hopes of the Church of God, Collected Writings. (William Kelly, editor;
35 volumes; second edition; London: G. Morrish, n.d.), 2:571-572. Quoted by Grover Gunn: http:
//grovergunn.net/andrew/disp02.htm
2

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Seven times in prophecy

This doctrine about prophecy became a tempest that carried away many, especially in
America, who became promoters of dispensationalism, and false teachers, who fulfil Peters
prophecy: These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom
the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity,
they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean
escaped from them who live in error.1
Dispensationalism was preached by Darby not to the world, but in churches. Similarly it
has spread like a disease and a plague throughout the churches in America.
In the New Testament, where Jerusalem has become the heavenly city, and the saints are
the temple of God, not made with hands, and are described as seated together in heavenly
places,2 it does seem that Isaiahs prophecy is fulfilled; Jerusalem is raised up to heaven,
above the mountains and hills. So Isaiah 2:1-3 has been fulfilled. When was it raised up? In
New Testament times.
Therefore, Darbys statement that Prophecy applies itself properly to the earth; its
object is not heaven is clearly false. The prophecy of Isaiah 2:1-3 applies to the church
of the New Testament, the heavenly Jerusalem. Similarly, the holy city and the people in
Daniel 9:24-27 begin with the earthly city and become the heavenly city, the church, after
Christ ascends to heaven. The last half-week, also is not a literal three years and a half, but
is symbolic and figurative of the whole age of the church; it is in the last half-week that the
spiritual temple of God, the bride of Christ, the church, is to be completed. It is a temple
not made with hands.3
The dispensationalist doctrine about prophecy is one of a number of things that tend to
destroy and make the church desolate; it has given rise to thousands of sects and cults!

Seven times in prophecy

In many prophecies of the Bible, time is organized into sevens.
The first chapter of Genesis introduces us to the idea of sevens. The heavens and earth
and everything in them are said to have been formed in seven days. The last of these is
called the sabbath, the day when God rested from his work.
In the law of Moses, all things are said to have been made in the six days,4 which includes
heaven and earth, and the sun and moon, and even things like supernovas, sunspots, and
meteorites. So they were not literal earth-days! But the weekly cycle is a memorial of the
fact that God is the Creator of all.
Also in the law, there are cycles of seven years, and in the seventh year, a Hebrew
bondservant was to be set free, debts were to be forgiven, and the land was not to be
plowed, but was to rest.
There were also cycles of Jubilees, which consisted of seven sabbatical cycles.

2 Peter 2:17-18
Ephesians 2:6
3
Hebrews 9:11
4
Exodus 20:11
2

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165

The law also specified a series of seven times of punishment, if Israel failed to remain
faithful to the covenant. There were four of them, described in Leviticus 26. In the last
one, God was to be reconciled to Israel and would remember his covenant with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.
In his prayer of confession on behalf of his people, Daniel acknowledged that the curse
described in the law of Moses had been poured out; that was in the captivity in Babylon. It
represents the first of the four periods of seven times. And there remained three more yet
to come.
The prophecy of the 70 weeks, I suggest, outlines these last three periods of seven times
in Leviticus 26, as there are three sections in the seventy weeks. Two of them were fulfilled
in the period between the captivity in Babylon, and the appearance of Christ.
Those two periods are: first, the seven weeks or sevens, and second, the sixty two
weeks, which are both periods of seven times, where in the first one, the units for a time
is sevens of some kind, and in the second period, a time has the units of 62 years. That
number, 62, was the age of Darius, or Cyrus, when he became king of Babylon. Donald J.
Wiseman suggested in 1965 that Darius was in fact Cyrus, and Cyrus had both Persian and
Median heritage.1
The first of these periods, of seven weeks or sevens, began at the end of the captivity
in Babylon, and here, the units of a time need not be taken as seven year cycles, but I
suggest, they are seven leap years, which span 19 years, as there are seven years having an
extra month in 19 years. This is true in a lunar calendar such as the ancient calendar of the
Babylonians and of the Hebrews.
Seven of these cycles of 19 years spans 133 years; the 62 sevens spans 434 years; 133
+ 434 = 567 years; this is the time from the decree of Cyrus, 538 BC, to the beginning of
the ministry of Jesus, 28 BC.
These are the first two of the three sections of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9, which correspond
to the second and third of the four periods of seven times in Leviticus 26.
The remaining week, which is the 70th week of Daniels prophecy, is the week in which
Christ confirms his covenant with many; this is what he came to do. Paul said, Now I say
that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the
promises made unto the fathers.2 This alludes to Daniel 9:27.
We can see that there are no gaps in the 70 weeks, as such a gap would imply that the
curse of Leviticus 26 had ended temporarily, and that God was temporarily reconciled to his
people; of course, that has not happened. The reconciliation must be permanent.
The final week in the 70 weeks spans all the time, from the day that Jesus began his
ministry, to the end of the age; Jesus still confirms his covenant with many, by building his
church in this present age. It is this work that the prophets of old were interested in. Some
of the prophetic writings were composed at the time the Jews returned from Babylon to

1
D. J. Wiseman, Some Historical Problems in the Book of Daniel, D. J. Wiseman, ed., Notes on
Some Problems in the Book of Daniel. London: The Tyndale Press, 1965. pp. 9-18. http://www.
biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/daniel wiseman.pdf
2
Romans 15:8

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Seven times in prophecy

rebuild their temple; that temple was a type and figure of the true temple, the church, which
Christ said he will build. The prophets and apostles were its foundation.1
In the early church, when the apostles met to discuss the issue of whether Gentiles should
be circumcised, James quoted from an Old Testament prophecy, referring to the tabernacle
of David, which was broken down, which was to be rebuilt; he identified this with the
church.2
The church is not only represented by the temple, but by the tabernacle of David,
which is Christs kingdom, a spiritual kingdom of the saints, who sit together in heavenly
places.3
This spiritual temple is a creation of God, and so it is fitting that the time span in which
it is formed is connected with the number seven, and with seven times. It is the last of
the four periods of seven times in Leviticus 26, and it is the 70th week of Daniel 9.
Today, the church is scattered among tens of thousands of sects and denominations; and
Daniel foretold this, in Daniel 12:7, And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon
the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and
sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when
he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be
finished.
The time, times and a half refers to half of seven times which is the last half-week
in the 70th week. The time, times and a half is symbolic of the age of the church,
which together with the ministry of Jesus, completes the 70th week when Christ confirms
his covenant with many.
Even though the saints are scattered, Christ is their Shepherd, and he promised that he
will gather all of them.4
The mountains where the sheep are scattered can be interpreted as flawed interpretations and doctrines. In the cloudy and dark day Christ will seek them and gather his
sheep. Christ is against the shepherds who scatter the sheep; they are the false teachers,
and false interpretations.
The theory of dispensationalism begins the 70 weeks prophecy not with the decree of
Cyrus, but with a commandment that was given in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, 445
BC. This theory claims each week in the 70 weeks is seven prophetic years of 360 days
each, so the first two sections are 483 x 360 or 173880 days. They divide this number by
365.25 and get 476 years.
This approach to interpreting the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel is flawed for the following
reasons.
1. Their interpretation fails to begin the 70 weeks prophecy with the very famous decree
of Cyrus, who Isaiah would be the one who would give the word to build both the city of

Ephesians 2:20
Acts 15:16
3
Ephesians 2:5-6
4
Ezekiel 34:6-14
2

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167

Jerusalem and the temple.1

Instead, they hunt for, and propose some obscure minor decree, with a dubious date,
issued in order to implement a portion of the original decree.
This is demeaning to both Daniel, and to God, since the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel
is one of the most significant revelations of Gods plan relating to establishing his eternal
kingdom. Why would the God of Heaven need to begin his great plan of building the heavenly
city and his spiritual temple, with some minor, obscure decree, instead of the original, very
famous one by Cyrus, that was foretold by Isaiah?
2. Their doctrine implies a gap between the exile in Babylon, identified in Daniel 9:11
with the curse written in the law of Moses, and the beginning of the 70 weeks. Such a gap
is not revealed in scripture. It is untenable, because it requires a temporary pause in the
curse that is described in Leviticus 26, and so requires a temporary reconciliation between
God and Israel, which of course, did not occur.
3. Their proposed dating scheme, beginning from some obscure, minor decree, employs
a deceptive scheme of 360 day years. The scheme is an example of the private interpretation, conceived in the mind of Sir Robert Anderson, a detective at Scotland Yard in
London. Andersons work has been found to be in error, and Dr. Harold Hoehner of Dallas
Theological Seminary has revised his calculations and dates. If Anderson was inspired,
why would his work need to be corrected? Jewish years and months were determined by the
moon, and were not based on 360 days, as Anderson claimed.
4. The dating scheme proposed by dispensationalists said that the 69th week of the
70 weeks came to an end about 10 days before the end of the ministry of Jesus, not the
beginning of it. But Daniel said Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth
of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be
seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks... This points to the beginning of his ministry,
not the end of it. Missing the start of the ministry of Jesus, the dispensationalists are unable
to relate the prophecy about Christ confirming the covenant with many to the ministry of
Christ, and dont connect the following three years and a half to the entire time of the
church. Instead, they put the whole 70th week far in the future!
5. Their interpretation mistakes Christ for Antichrist. They dont acknowledge that
Christ is the one who confirms his covenant with his saints for the 70th week, instead they
invent a fiction about a seven year covenant between an individual human Antichrist and the
Jews, that is not found in scripture. This doctrine seems to be associated with seducing
spirits.2 The idea of an individual human Antichrist is connected with utterances by the
Tiburtine Sibyl.3
It was also promoted in the Compendium by Hugh Ripelin of Strasburg, discussed on
page 13, that contributed to superstition and antisemitism in Europe.
6. The dispensationalists invoke a gap of more than 19 centuries between the 69th and
70th week, which of course is utterly false. Such a gap would require a lapse in the curse,
1

Isaiah 44:28
1 Timothy 4:1-4
3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiburtine Sibyl
2

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Interpreting the 1,260 days

and that God was temporarily reconciled to his people. It has not happened!
7. They seek to profit by promoting their false doctrines and interpretations! Dispensationalism has been very profitable for the authors and publishers of books and commentaries
supporting it and for the professors and Seminaries where it is taught. It is of this world,
not of Christ! Dispensationalists also often become involved with worldly politics, and with
the Zionist movement. James said, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world
is the enemy of God.1
The prophet Joel described the day of the Lord as A day of darkness and of gloominess,
a day of clouds and of thick darkness.2 The darkness clearly represents delusions and false
teachings, as opposed to light and truth and understanding. These are the conditions that
exist when Christ seeks out his sheep.
The the high mountains of Israel mentioned in Ezekiel 34, where his sheep, or the saints,
are to dwell, represent the promises of God, and the revelations that God has provided for
his church. These promises include an understanding of prophecy!

Interpreting the 1,260 days

Scripture mentions the 42 months, 1,260 days, and the time, times and a half in several
different contexts. The 1,260 days is the time that the two witnesses prophesy clothed in
sackcloth,3 and the time that the woman is nourished in the wilderness;4 the 42 months is
the time when the holy city is trampled by Gentiles,5 and the time when the beast makes
war with the saints, and overcomes them;6 the time, times and a half is the time that the
woman is nourished in the wilderness, equipped with eagles wings;7 and also the time when
the saints are dominated by the little horn, which has eyes like the eyes of a man, and a
mouth speaking great things;8 it is the time when the power of the saints is scattered; and
the time when all the prophecies of Daniel are accomplished.9
The phrase time, times and a half in Daniel 7:25 is ambiguous, as the word time
may take various units. Possible units of time are hours, minutes, seconds, days, months,
years, centuries, etc.
In Daniels expression, the units for time may be of different kinds, in the first and
second occurrences of the word. The expression could then be understood as: one of time
unit A, plus two and a half of time unit B. The reason for this is that there must be some

James 4:4
Joel 2:1-2
3
Revelation 11:3
4
Revelation 12:6
5
Revelation 11:2
6
Revelation 13:5, 7
7
Revelation 12:14
8
Daniel 7:25
9
Daniel 12:7
2

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169

explanation for the use of the word time twice in the expression; otherwise, it would be
simpler to say three times and a half, rather than time, times and a half. But if the
units differed in the first and second time, the two kinds of time would have to be kept
separate and distinct.
This is another defect of the literal interpretations; they offer no explanation for the
two uses of the word time. Any interpretation that says the expression means three and a
half years, in a literal sense, implicitly dishonours Daniel, and his prophecy; if the expression
time, times and a half means we merely have to add one plus two plus one half to get
three and a half, the prophecy becomes far too simplistic. Those scholars who insist the
units are the same overlooked the possibility that different kinds of units were involved.
Johns 1,260 days are based on the pattern of a time, times, and a half, as are the
two numbers provided by Daniel, 1,290 days,1 and the 1,335 days,2 as shown on page 115.
They all fit the pattern of a time, times, and a half, as the 1,290 days is three and a half
years in which one year is 13 months and the rest 12 months, the months being 30 days;
1,335 days is three and a half years in which one year is 12 months and the rest 13 months,
the months being 30 days.
So both numbers provided by Daniel represent three and a half symbolic or prophetic
years. This is not a literal three and a half years, as it is assigned different numbers of
days; nor do the numbers correspond to the number of days in a real three and a half years.
The two numbers, and their not conforming to reality, show the time, times and a half is a
prophetic symbol. The time remaining for the church is represented by a series of symbolic
numbers that fit the pattern in the expression a time, times and a half.
The use of various numbers also shows this is a diminishing period of time. The largest
number representing it is 1,335 days, and next is 1,290 days, and after that the 1,260 days,
showing a progression in time. They teach us that the remaining time of the church is
becoming less and less, and the smallest of the numbers, the three days and a half, when the
two witnesses are represented by corpses exposed in the street, and when the world rejoices
over their demise, indicates that the remaining time has become very short.
Daniel says the 1,290 days is the period from when the abomination of desolation was
set up, and the tamiyd or constant was taken away. The 1,335 day period encompasses
the 1,290 days. So if the 1,290 days represents the remaining time after the destruction of
Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD, and the 1,335 days spans all of the age of the church,
from the beginning of the New Testament church at Pentecost, both periods end at the same
time, which is the end of the age. The 1,260 days is smaller than both Daniels numbers,
and so probably begins later, and represents the remaining time, from the date of the writing
of the Apocalypse, some time after 70 AD, to the end of the age.
Copyright 2010 by Douglas E. Cox tcc@sentex.net
All Rights Reserved.
Version date: February 4, 2011

1
2

Daniel 12:11
Daniel 12:12

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Latest update: http://vinyl2.sentex.net/tcc/dload/1260Days.pdf

Who are the Two Witnesses? http://vinyl2.sentex.net/tcc/dload/WTW.pdf
The woman in the wilderness http://vinyl2.sentex.net/tcc/dload/ww.pdf

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