Chapter 6 Time, times and half a time
A time refers to a year. Times then is a plurality of years, the simplest of which is two years, and half a time is half a year. When we add 1 + 2 + 0.5, we get 3.5. 3.5 is an interesting number because it is half of seven, and seven is God’s perfect number. 3.5 years is also half of a sabbatical period. The important thing about 3.5 years is that there are several precedents to it in Scripture: When Elijah announced to king Ahab in Israel that it would stop raining until he said the rain would return, it stopped raining in Israel for 3.5 years:
1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
The last week of years of Dan 9 is split into two equal halves. The first half of that week, 3.5 years, Christ ministered on Earth. The second half, after the crucifixion, were the last years in which Judah enjoyed the role of being God’s chosen nation. During this time, the apostles were to evangelise Judah only.
With three types of the 3.5 years, surely the anti-type should also be literal 3.5 years, and not 1260 years, which turns the days in 3.5 years into year-days (Chapter 5). Be it as it may, the 1260-year application had a working fulfilment: When the holy Roman Empire destroyed the last of the three Arian (non-trinitarian) tribes, the 1260 years began, which was in 538 AD. The popes of Rome had full religious and political supremacy during that period, until Napoleon had the pope taken captive in 1798 during the Napoleonic wars. Like Malachi’s prophecy on the coming of Elijah had an early fulfilment, with the real fulfilment in the future still, so this time-prophecy had a typical fulfilment in the Medieval Papacy, but the actual fulfilment is still in the future. The ultimate and real fulfilment will be 3.5 years, and not year-days. Just as we learn from the early fulfilment of the Malachi-prophecy of Elijah in John the Baptist, likewise we learn from the Medieval Papacy about the likes of the papal supremacy during the apocalypse. In as much as John the Baptist did not bring perfect fulfilment to Malachi’s prophecy, there are flaws in the interpretation of the 1260-year fulfilment of papal supremacy. We point out these flaws in a later chapter.
Let us list the 7 times the 3.5-year prophecies are made, to help us get an understanding of the significance of this prophecy. The 3.5 years are described in three different ways: Time, times and half a time, 42 months, and 1260 days. A prophetic month is 30 days, and a prophetic year is 12 months. 3.5 x 12 = 42, and 42 x 30 = 1260. Two of these prophecies are in Daniel, and five in Revelation:
1) Dan 7:25 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.
2) Dan 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.
3) Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
4) Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
5) Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
6) Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
7) Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
A quick perusal of these 7 texts reveals three common themes that play out during this 3.5 years: 1) The powers of evil will reach a culmination, 2) the powers of the righteous will be suppressed and broken, that means there will be persecution, and 3) God’s elect will do a great work, and enjoy His supernatural protection. It is interesting to group the three forms of this time period and look at their contexts: 42 months occurs twice (Rev 11:2 and 13:5) and deals with the supremacy of the papacy, and its persecution of God’s people. The 1260 days also occurs twice (Rev 11:3 and 12:6) and has the contents of God’s righteous people bringing the Everlasting Gospel to the world for a last time, enjoying God’s supernatural protection. The time, times and half a time (Dan 7:25, 12:7 and Rev 12:14) bring the activities and experience of the evil and the good together, showing that these three descriptions of 3.5 years represent the same time period. It also shows that the aims and activities of the forces of evil take place in the same time period as the final proclamation of the Everlasting Gospel. This is indeed the time of the final battle in the Great Controversy. At the end of this battle, God will seal His people, and what follows will be God’s annihilation of evil when He takes over complete control in the world.
There are types to the concepts covered in these seven passages of prophecy. For example, the woman flees to the wilderness for 3.5 years kept and protected by God (Rev 12:6), Elijah hid at the brook Cherith and then in Zarephath for 3.5 years where he enjoyed supernatural sustenance. There are parallels between these prophecies and the life of Christ and the apostles as well.
A strong focus in these prophecies is the suppression of God’s people. God’s people will experience troublous times, severe trouble. Dan 12:7 indicates that the power of God’s people will be broken. Medieval times were very difficult for God’s people. Fifty to a hundred million people were martyred because of their faith. However, Matt 24:21 indicates that the most difficult time the world has ever known will be just prior to the Second Advent. There is therefore justification in believing that the greater fulfilment of the 3.5-year prophecy lies in the future, in real time, and not year-days. The next few chapters will focus in more detail on some of these passages of prophecy.
A time refers to a year. Times then is a plurality of years, the simplest of which is two years, and half a time is half a year. When we add 1 + 2 + 0.5, we get 3.5. 3.5 is an interesting number because it is half of seven, and seven is God’s perfect number. 3.5 years is also half of a sabbatical period. The important thing about 3.5 years is that there are several precedents to it in Scripture: When Elijah announced to king Ahab in Israel that it would stop raining until he said the rain would return, it stopped raining in Israel for 3.5 years:
1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
The last week of years of Dan 9 is split into two equal halves. The first half of that week, 3.5 years, Christ ministered on Earth. The second half, after the crucifixion, were the last years in which Judah enjoyed the role of being God’s chosen nation. During this time, the apostles were to evangelise Judah only.
With three types of the 3.5 years, surely the anti-type should also be literal 3.5 years, and not 1260 years, which turns the days in 3.5 years into year-days (Chapter 5). Be it as it may, the 1260-year application had a working fulfilment: When the holy Roman Empire destroyed the last of the three Arian (non-trinitarian) tribes, the 1260 years began, which was in 538 AD. The popes of Rome had full religious and political supremacy during that period, until Napoleon had the pope taken captive in 1798 during the Napoleonic wars. Like Malachi’s prophecy on the coming of Elijah had an early fulfilment, with the real fulfilment in the future still, so this time-prophecy had a typical fulfilment in the Medieval Papacy, but the actual fulfilment is still in the future. The ultimate and real fulfilment will be 3.5 years, and not year-days. Just as we learn from the early fulfilment of the Malachi-prophecy of Elijah in John the Baptist, likewise we learn from the Medieval Papacy about the likes of the papal supremacy during the apocalypse. In as much as John the Baptist did not bring perfect fulfilment to Malachi’s prophecy, there are flaws in the interpretation of the 1260-year fulfilment of papal supremacy. We point out these flaws in a later chapter.
Let us list the 7 times the 3.5-year prophecies are made, to help us get an understanding of the significance of this prophecy. The 3.5 years are described in three different ways: Time, times and half a time, 42 months, and 1260 days. A prophetic month is 30 days, and a prophetic year is 12 months. 3.5 x 12 = 42, and 42 x 30 = 1260. Two of these prophecies are in Daniel, and five in Revelation:
1) Dan 7:25 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.
2) Dan 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.
3) Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
4) Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
5) Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
6) Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
7) Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
A quick perusal of these 7 texts reveals three common themes that play out during this 3.5 years: 1) The powers of evil will reach a culmination, 2) the powers of the righteous will be suppressed and broken, that means there will be persecution, and 3) God’s elect will do a great work, and enjoy His supernatural protection. It is interesting to group the three forms of this time period and look at their contexts: 42 months occurs twice (Rev 11:2 and 13:5) and deals with the supremacy of the papacy, and its persecution of God’s people. The 1260 days also occurs twice (Rev 11:3 and 12:6) and has the contents of God’s righteous people bringing the Everlasting Gospel to the world for a last time, enjoying God’s supernatural protection. The time, times and half a time (Dan 7:25, 12:7 and Rev 12:14) bring the activities and experience of the evil and the good together, showing that these three descriptions of 3.5 years represent the same time period. It also shows that the aims and activities of the forces of evil take place in the same time period as the final proclamation of the Everlasting Gospel. This is indeed the time of the final battle in the Great Controversy. At the end of this battle, God will seal His people, and what follows will be God’s annihilation of evil when He takes over complete control in the world.
There are types to the concepts covered in these seven passages of prophecy. For example, the woman flees to the wilderness for 3.5 years kept and protected by God (Rev 12:6), Elijah hid at the brook Cherith and then in Zarephath for 3.5 years where he enjoyed supernatural sustenance. There are parallels between these prophecies and the life of Christ and the apostles as well.
A strong focus in these prophecies is the suppression of God’s people. God’s people will experience troublous times, severe trouble. Dan 12:7 indicates that the power of God’s people will be broken. Medieval times were very difficult for God’s people. Fifty to a hundred million people were martyred because of their faith. However, Matt 24:21 indicates that the most difficult time the world has ever known will be just prior to the Second Advent. There is therefore justification in believing that the greater fulfilment of the 3.5-year prophecy lies in the future, in real time, and not year-days. The next few chapters will focus in more detail on some of these passages of prophecy.
Chapter 6 Time, times and half a time
A time refers to a year. Times then is a plurality of years, the simplest of which is two years, and half a time is half a year. When we add 1 + 2 + 0.5, we get 3.5. 3.5 is an interesting number because it is half of seven, and seven is God’s perfect number. 3.5 years is also half of a sabbatical period. The important thing about 3.5 years is that there are several precedents to it in Scripture: When Elijah announced to king Ahab in Israel that it would stop raining until he said the rain would return, it stopped raining in Israel for 3.5 years:
1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
The last week of years of Dan 9 is split into two equal halves. The first half of that week, 3.5 years, Christ ministered on Earth. The second half, after the crucifixion, were the last years in which Judah enjoyed the role of being God’s chosen nation. During this time, the apostles were to evangelise Judah only.
With three types of the 3.5 years, surely the anti-type should also be literal 3.5 years, and not 1260 years, which turns the days in 3.5 years into year-days (Chapter 5). Be it as it may, the 1260-year application had a working fulfilment: When the holy Roman Empire destroyed the last of the three Arian (non-trinitarian) tribes, the 1260 years began, which was in 538 AD. The popes of Rome had full religious and political supremacy during that period, until Napoleon had the pope taken captive in 1798 during the Napoleonic wars. Like Malachi’s prophecy on the coming of Elijah had an early fulfilment, with the real fulfilment in the future still, so this time-prophecy had a typical fulfilment in the Medieval Papacy, but the actual fulfilment is still in the future. The ultimate and real fulfilment will be 3.5 years, and not year-days. Just as we learn from the early fulfilment of the Malachi-prophecy of Elijah in John the Baptist, likewise we learn from the Medieval Papacy about the likes of the papal supremacy during the apocalypse. In as much as John the Baptist did not bring perfect fulfilment to Malachi’s prophecy, there are flaws in the interpretation of the 1260-year fulfilment of papal supremacy. We point out these flaws in a later chapter.
Let us list the 7 times the 3.5-year prophecies are made, to help us get an understanding of the significance of this prophecy. The 3.5 years are described in three different ways: Time, times and half a time, 42 months, and 1260 days. A prophetic month is 30 days, and a prophetic year is 12 months. 3.5 x 12 = 42, and 42 x 30 = 1260. Two of these prophecies are in Daniel, and five in Revelation:
1) Dan 7:25 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.
2) Dan 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.
3) Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
4) Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
5) Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
6) Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
7) Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
A quick perusal of these 7 texts reveals three common themes that play out during this 3.5 years: 1) The powers of evil will reach a culmination, 2) the powers of the righteous will be suppressed and broken, that means there will be persecution, and 3) God’s elect will do a great work, and enjoy His supernatural protection. It is interesting to group the three forms of this time period and look at their contexts: 42 months occurs twice (Rev 11:2 and 13:5) and deals with the supremacy of the papacy, and its persecution of God’s people. The 1260 days also occurs twice (Rev 11:3 and 12:6) and has the contents of God’s righteous people bringing the Everlasting Gospel to the world for a last time, enjoying God’s supernatural protection. The time, times and half a time (Dan 7:25, 12:7 and Rev 12:14) bring the activities and experience of the evil and the good together, showing that these three descriptions of 3.5 years represent the same time period. It also shows that the aims and activities of the forces of evil take place in the same time period as the final proclamation of the Everlasting Gospel. This is indeed the time of the final battle in the Great Controversy. At the end of this battle, God will seal His people, and what follows will be God’s annihilation of evil when He takes over complete control in the world.
There are types to the concepts covered in these seven passages of prophecy. For example, the woman flees to the wilderness for 3.5 years kept and protected by God (Rev 12:6), Elijah hid at the brook Cherith and then in Zarephath for 3.5 years where he enjoyed supernatural sustenance. There are parallels between these prophecies and the life of Christ and the apostles as well.
A strong focus in these prophecies is the suppression of God’s people. God’s people will experience troublous times, severe trouble. Dan 12:7 indicates that the power of God’s people will be broken. Medieval times were very difficult for God’s people. Fifty to a hundred million people were martyred because of their faith. However, Matt 24:21 indicates that the most difficult time the world has ever known will be just prior to the Second Advent. There is therefore justification in believing that the greater fulfilment of the 3.5-year prophecy lies in the future, in real time, and not year-days. The next few chapters will focus in more detail on some of these passages of prophecy.
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