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Finding Biblical Clues to Support the Meaning of these Time Lines
There are three time periods announced in Daniel chapter 12. Verse 7 mentions the three and a half times, (3 1/2 years, or 1260 days) verse 12 mentions the 1290 days and the 1335 days. Preterists tend to regard these as literal time, referring to events occuring 200 years before Christ. Futurists interpret these same time periods to relate to future events yet to happen, and also see them as literal time. Historicists, however, see these time periods as symbols standing for long periods of actual historical time. Historicists apply the year for a day principle to them.
Historicist interpretation is not only the Adventist view, it is also the traditional Protestant view.
The book of Daniel is clearly a historist view of events. Daniel 2 with it's great image, reveals the mighty kingdoms of Babylon, Media Persia, Greece, Rome, European divisions, to the second coming, and on to the final setting up of God’s kingdom. This same sequence is given again and again, each time enlarged upon with more details. Daniel seven introduces the great power that will rule throughout the Christian era. Daniel 8 is additional information that enlarges upon the activities of these same prophecies. Daniel 11 covers the same time period, from the Persian kings to the final resurrection and deliverance of God's people.
Now when we look at the book of Daniel. The general format of the book dealing with visions has:
Daniel chapter 10 to 12:4 is a vision.
Therefore the dates mentioned should correspond with the vision.
1260 days
The two events; the daily taken away, and the abomination set up, are not the same. The first paves the way for the second. The daily is removed so the abomination can be set up. Daniel 11:31 "His armed forces will rise up to pollute the sanctuary of strength, and will take away the daily. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. The abomination that causes desolation is the oppressing power. The power that achieves primacy over religious matters. This oppressive power would reign for 1260 years. But the daily is taken away prior to this, to make room for this oppressive power.
Now we need to look to the Bible for clues as to what these time prophecies represent.
Daniel 7:25 He (the stout horn) shall persecute the saints of the most high and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time, times and half a time. (1260 day/years)
Rev. 12:6 And the woman (God's true church) fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God, where she was nourished for 1260 days.
Rev. 13:5-6 (The sea beast) is given authority to continue for 42 months (1260 day/years) and it is granted to him to make war with the saints and overcome them.
And since Daniel 12:5-13 is the heavenly explanation of Daniel 10-11, we also find in the vision part the war against God's saints.
This war against the saints is described in Daniel 11:33-35
Biblical Clues as to the Meaning of these Time Lines
The 1260 day/years
The 1290 day/years
History showing the beginning of the 1290 day/years
1290 day/years the daily is taken away
The 1335 day/years
It looks at the time periods of prophecy according to the year-day principle and sees a logical progression of predicted events from the time of the prophet, all through the Christian Era right up to the restoration of all things.
1. Daniel recounts the vision or the dream.
2. An interpretation of that vision or dream is given.
Daniel 12:4-13 is Daniel's conversation concerning the visions.It shall be for a time, times and a half a time and when the power of the holy people has been shattered, all these things shall be finished. Dan. 12:7
1290 and 1335 days
From the time the daily is taken away and the abomination set up; 1290 days. Blessed is he who waits and comes to the 1335 days
Daniel 12:7 It shall be for a time, times and half a time (3 and half= 1260 day/years) when the power of the holy people has been shattered, all these shall be finished.
Rev. 12:13-14 And the dragon persecuted the woman...she flew into the wilderness...where she is nourished for a time and times, and half a time...
For many days they will fall by the sword and flame, by captivity and blunder...to refine them and purify them until the time of the end, because it is for an appointed time.
And what is the appointed time of this persecution? Daniel 12:7 says it is for a time, times and half a time (1260 years) that the power of the holy people shall be shattered.
This time period of papal primacy and oppression began when Justinian's decree, declaring the pope's authority over all churches and authorizing him to deal with all "heretics" went into effect. (See Papal Primacy, 1260 years.)
It ended in 1798 when Napoleon sent his general Berthier to Rome. Rome was declared a republic, the pope was imprisoned where he died, and the new pope operated under Napoleon's new laws that removed from him all former primacy. The primacy law lasted exactly 1260 years.
Forces (or an army) will be mustered by him to pollute the sanctuary and take away the daily and place the abomination of desolation.This takes place before verses 32-35 where the saints are persecuted, giving us a clue that the 1290 day/years begin before the 1260 day/years.
Daniel 8:11 again speaks of taking away the daily and setting up the abomination. In that chapter we clearly see that the sanctuary being attacked is Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, as the horn reaches up even to the hosts of heaven and exalts himself as high as the Prince of heaven (Jesus in His priestly ministry), by "lifting off" Christ's daily and assuming to take it upon himself, and he casts the PLACE of the sanctuary, as well as truth to the ground.
The most dramatic "lifting off" of Christ's daily, or CONTINUAL ministry, by the Roman Bishop is seen in the claim that Christ founded His church upon the "rock" which is Peter, and gave Peter the Keys of eternal destiny, and the Bishop of Rome was now the successor performing the CONTINUAL ministry of Peter!
Further more the claim is made that Peter's authority is subordinated to no earthly superior and it is governor and head of Christ's kingdom with power to impose laws and judge offences, and pardon sins. This concept was being developed during the pontification of Leo I (Leo the Great) in the mid-fifth century (440-61) just prior to 508!
So we see the Bishop of Rome exalting himself to the Prince of hosts, and "lifting off" Christ's daily
This was done by the Papacy claiming that Christ built his church upon Peter as the rock [when in actuality CHRIST BUILT THE CHURCH UPON HIMSELF AS THE TRUE CORNER STONE]
This was done by claiming Peter was given the keys of eternal destiny [when in actuality Christ has the keys (see Rev. 3:7]
This was done by the Papacy now claiming to be the CONTINUATION or CONTINUAL OF Peter's supreme authority and ministry OVER the churches.
When in fact it had USURPED CHRIST'S CONTINUAL MINISTRY FOR THE CHURCH.
The work of Clovis, king of the Franks, who earned for himself the title of " the eldest son of the church " as the first European king to convert to Catholic Catholism, and by his campaigns to subdue the kingdoms hostile to the Papacy, contributed much toward putting into practical effect this claim of the Papacy, which finally resulted in establishing the Pope as the head of the Roman priesthood which has usurped the priestly work of Christ, and has established another system of mediation in its place. This work of Clovis came to its climax in the period 503-508, and this period therefore becomes the natural one from which to date the 1290 years of Dan. 12:11, which would accordingly end in the period 1793-98, at the same time as the 1260 years of Dan. 7:25. (Bible Readings, 1914 p.229)
This system places itself between the people and Christ's heavenly ministry so people look to this earthly system for forgiveness and entrance to salvation, not to Christ.
But notice something more:
In both Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 8:12 we read that this power receives an army by which he removes the TRUE daily and sets it aside, rejects it, so that he might set up the abomination.
Daniel 8:12 An army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily. (NKJV)
Daniel 11:31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall take away the daily and place the abomination.
Was there a time before the beginning of the 1260 years when the papacy came into possession of an army which it used to set up it's authority over spiritual matters, which marks the beginning of the 1290 day/years? Indeed there was!
Here's the history:
Clovis was king of the Franks, one of the pagan tribes which had caused much havoc for the Roman empire in previous years.
Observing the power and influence of the papacy, and anxious to avail himself of papal support, he professed conversion in 496, and his entire following united with him in adherence to Catholicism, three thousand of whom were baptized along with himself soon after his conversion. As he expected, the Catholics rallied around him as the only Catholic prince in the West. (Newman, A Manual of Church History, V.1p. 404)It is interesting to note that the tribes Clovis sought to conquer were not pagan, but had converted to Christianity. Ulfilas, a Gothic Christian missionary, who translated the Bible into the language of his people, had won the Goths to Christianity in an astonishingly short time, not by the forces of Rome, but with the Bible. Thus various forms of Christianity had spread over Europe. Anything not in accord with Roman Catholicism was usually catalogued as Arian and therefore "heretical".
Thereafter, in 508, Clovis was declared the "eldest son of the church".
Great was the significance of events which culminated in 508. This date marks a new era in the course of the world's history and the establishment of the first Catholic kingdom in the West. This date--- 508--- marks the union of the church power -- the ecclesastical power with the winning political power that was to dominate European history for hundreds of years to come.
In 508 Clovis was also made "consul" by the eastern Roman Emperor.
"A.D. 508. A short time after these events, [victory over Visigoths] Clovis received the titles and dignity of Roman patricius and consul from the Greek emperor Anastasius; who appears to have been prompted to this act more by motives of jealousy and hatred towards Theodoric the Ostrogoth, than by any love he bore for the restless and encroaching Frank."
After the success of the Gothic war, Clovis accepted the honours of the Roman consulship. The emperor Anastasius ambitiously bestowed on the most powerful rival of Theodoric the title and ensigns of that eminent dignity...On the solemn day, the monarch of Gaul, placing a diadem on his head, was invested, in the church of St. Martin, with a purple and mantle. From thence he proceeded on horseback to the cathedral of Tours; and as he passed through the streets...the joyful multitude incessantly repeated their acclamations of Consul and Augustus.
The battles of conquest were considered religious battles.
The Frank king threw his sword into the scale against the Arian cause, and became the champion and hope of the Catholic population all over Gaul. The invaders had at length arrived, who were to remain. It was decided that the Franks, and not the Goths, were to direct the future destinies of Gaul and Germany, and that the Catholic faith, and not Arianism, was to be the religion of these great realms. (Church, The Beginning of the Middle Ages, pp. 38-39)It was the popular thing to do-- to call all who opposed the Roman church "Arian" and thus make it seem the church was "vindicating truth" when in actuality she was destroying all freedom of religion, for many of those Gothic Christians had a far purer and more Biblical faith than that which came from Rome. Rome was forcing her pagan rituals and ceremonies upon the people as the path of salvation.
"With the conversion of Clovis, there was at least one barbarian leader with whom the Bishop of Rome could negotiate as with a faithful son of the Church. It is from the orthodox Gregory of Tours that most of our knowledge of Clovis and his successors is derived. In Gregory's famous History of the Franks, the cruel and unscrupulous king appears as God's chosen instrument for the extension of the Catholic faith. Certainly Clovis quickly learned to combine his own interests with those of the Church, and the alliance between the pope and the Frankish kings was destined to have a great influence upon the history of western Europe." (James Harvey Robinson, History of Western Europe, pp. 35, 36.)With Clovis began the Merovingian dynasty which through the years was the military strong arm for Catholicism. The following was from Bonifacius and shows what help the Franks were to the Catholic Church:
"Without the patronage of the Frankish ruler, I can neither govern the people nor defend the presbyters, deacons, monks or handmaidens of God; nor even could I forbid the pagan rites and sacrilegious idolatries in Germany without his mandate and the fear of his name." (Epist. 12 ad Danielem episc.)
The Salian Franks were the first among the Teutonic tribes to embrace Catholicism, and force the other Germanic nations under her brand of Christianity.
They gave the death blow to paganism in Rome. Once converted to Roman Christianity, the Germans became the staunch supporters of the papal hierarchy and enabled the Pope to enforce his prerogatives in the West. Backed by these sturdy Teutons, the Pope became the most powerful individual in Christendom." (Alexander Flick in "The Rise of the Medieval Church" p. 180)
It may have been the "death blow" to openly established paganism, but it was not a death blow to paganism itself, for Rome incorborated paganism into it's system and in reality gave the "death blow" to freedom to worship Christ as ones own study of scripture demanded.
Remember most of those tribes which were vanquished were not pagans, but Christians.
Daniel 11:30-32 also shows that the attack is against God's holy covenant:
* such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt with flatteries.....
"Join themselves to the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keeps the Sabbath from polluting it, and takes hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to holy mountain...
Now did this ARMY that came with Clovis fight against the SABBATH?
It was reserved to the lawgivers of the German states to rigorously enforce upon the unmanageable, half-heathen tribes, the celebration of Sunday, the principal object of which was the cessation from labor. Whether the civil authorities offered to see to the enforcement of the laws, or whether it was entrusted to the bishops, ...whether there should be inflicted only a money or property penalty; or whether it might be increased to depriving the free-born of liberty, and to the amputation of the right hand of the slave,--the spirit of these laws was ever the same,-- that of the Old Testament. This legislation is accompanied by a new theological doctrine of Sunday, or it is founded upon such from the beginning. That this Christian celebration of Sunday is identified with the Sabbath observance commanded of God through Moses. This was an unheard of doctrine in the ancient church. [Dr. Th.Zahn, History of Sunday (Geshichte des Sonntags, pp. 42-44) pp 484 J.N.Andrew]What we see in history, as the Catholic Church came into possession of an army, she forced Sunday on all citizens in a progressively stricter sense. An army was given in 508 by which the Papacy could now enforce her mandates and strike fear into the people of Europe-- and set up her Sunday idol.
The "daily" represents Christ's mediatorial ministry in the holy place in the heavenly sanctuary. It represents the continual work of Christ ministering in the sanctuary not made with hands, where He entered with His own blood to make intercession for His people.
But what was the focus of this "army" that was given to the Papacy?
These lusty barbarians were not oppressed by any deep sense of sin and the consequent need of redemption. They required rather to be ruled and defended. The saints, with their particular assignments, may well have meant more to the People than Christ, the universal Redeemer. St. Anthony took care of their pigs, St. Saturninus took care of their sheep, St. Gall looked after the hens, and St. Medardus protected their vines from frost. ...St. Genevieve cured fever, and St. Blaise sore throats.. St. Aimable prevented nightmares."(Roland Bainton "Christendom" p.149)Looking to saints as mediators and protectors, and to priests for absolution from sin, rather than searching for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, became the norm in Catholicism. The mediation of saints took the place of the continual mediation of Christ in the people's thoughts and minds.
Thus we see the 1290 years extending from 508-1798.
From the time the papacy began to use the sword of an army to forbid any worship not in line with their beliefs, in 508, forcing people to yield to her spiritual authority, until 1798 when that ability to use the sword for authority was removed by the sword of Napoleon's army and by Napoleon's laws. This is exactly 1290 years.
Daniel 12:12 says: Blessed is he that waits and comes to the end of the 1335 days.The 1290 and 1335 day/years are dependant upon one another-- they belong together. The evidence supports the idea that they begin at the same time, as Daniel mentions them together. This is emphasized by the admonition to "wait" out the lengthened period.
Thousands were led to embrace the truth preached by William Miller, and servants of God were raised up in the spirit and power of Elijah to proclaim the message. Like John, the forerunner of Jesus, those who preached this solemn message felt compelled to lay the ax at the root of the tree, and call upon men to bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Their testimony was calculated to arouse and powerfully affect the churches and manifest their real character. And as the solemn warning to flee from the wrath to come was sounded, many who were united with the churches received the healing message; they saw their backslidings, and with bitter tears of repentance and deep agony of soul, humbled themselves before God. And as the Spirit of God rested upon them, they helped to sound the cry, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come."
To understand the 1335 day/years we need to look again at the 2300 day/years prophecy found in Daniel 8:14, which first led the people to proclaim this "hour of His judgment is come" message.
In Daniel 8:13 we find a question--
*How long will the vision be?
The angel, Gabriel consistantly speaks of the "vision" as the whole revelation given to Daniel beginning with the ram and ending with cleansing of the sanctuary--"for at the time appointed the end shall be." (vs. 19)
The answer, as to how long the vision, till the end shall be, is 2300 day/years extending from the Persian kings (and the command to rebuild Jerusalem, seen in Dan. 9) to 1844 when the cleansing of the sanctuary would begin.
This is considered "the time of the end".
However, the question in Daniel 8:13 has parts to it that are not answered until we get to Daniel 12.
* How long will the daily be replaced by the abomination?
Daniel 12:12 tells us that from the time the daily is taken away and the abomination set up is 1290 day/years.
* How long will the sanctuary be trodden underfoot?
Daniel 12:12 tells us "blessed are they that wait till the 1335 days-- that's when the sanctuary doctrine once again began to open to people. After the great disappointment the work of Christ our PRIEST/KING in the heavenly sanctuary and HIS work for HIS people began to unfold.
* How long will God's saints (God's host) be trodden underfoot?
The answer to that is in Daniel 12:7 as well as in Daniel 7:25
For 1260 day/years the Holy People will be shattered.
The 1335 day/years and the 2300 evening and morning/years, answer the same question, "How long till the time of the end?"
Therefore they point to the same date-- 1844, when the heavenly day of Atonement to cleanse and make pure began.
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Revelation 10 tells us of a mighty angel, clothed with a cloud and a rainbow about His head. This seems to be the same Being as the one in Daniel 12:7 who gave these time periods to Daniel to place in the sealed book. But in Revelation 10 the book is open and He is declaring THERE SHOULD BE TIME NO LONGER. The time periods are finished! Yet, He is telling those who accepted the sweet message, but found it bitter after they swallowed it, that they had to prophecy again to the whole world.
The first and second angel's messages were to begin to sound in the 1840's, and they did sound! Yet, they were not fully understood before 1844, the people thought the time lines pointed to Christ's coming. After 1844 the Lord more fully revealed what those messages meant as to Christ's work in the heavenly sanctuary in the closing up of salvations plan for humanity. They led the way to a fuller understanding of Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, of the covenant, and of the Sabbath. Thus time, the angel declares with a solemn oath, is not the end of this world's history, neither of probationary time, but of prophetic, historic time, which should precede the advent of our Lord. That is, the people will not have another message based on definite time. After this period of time, reaching it's ending in the events of 1842 to 1844, there can be no definite tracing of the time prophecies. The longest reckoning reaches to the autumn of 1844. (See 7BC 971)
Daniel 12 is all about being purified and made white, even though trials and abominations are set up. The time lines identify the issues that will again face us. The power that reigned those 1260 day/years will again -- for a brief period gain control, and use the same methods and force the same type of issues. (See Rev. 13) We saw that the "abomination" was set up, when the papacy received her army. The abomination will again be set up when the papacy receives military support-- Rev. 13 tells us it will be the U.S, that forces the world to worship the beast (papacy)
However, NEVER AGAIN will our message be based on TIME. The issues of history will all come into play again in one final show down BUT THEY ARE NOT BASED ON TIME KNOWLEDGE--
NOW we must base our experience entirely upon CHRIST in total trust--
NOT in our supposed knowledge of time.
The warning in Daniel 12 is to escape the deceptions developed in religious dogmas and imposed and forced upon the people--
The emphases is to point to the "hour of his judgment has come" of the first angel's message, and be found to be white and clean when we stand in our own lot before the judgment seat of Christ. That hour is the hour Christ warned would come upon the world as a thief in the night. It is before Christ returns that declaration of Revelation 22:11 goes forth, forever sealing every persons destiny. That judgment began in 1844, we know not how long probations door remains open. The warning of Daniel 12 is alert the world of the judgment that they may "stand in their lot" and come before the judgment with a character surrendered and developed in Christ in holiness.
It is not about knowing the dates for the close of probation, nor knowing the length of the time of trouble, nor the date on which the saints deliverance comes-- NO -- instead it is ALL ABOUT developing our Characters in Christ, to stand in the judgment for HIS glory.
Are the 1335 days prophetic or literal time?