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