| TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME |
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| In this passage, the Angel, WHO IS LIKE GOD, raises His hands and swears that it will be for “time, times, and half a time.” The saints would be in the hands of the beast for exactly 3 and a half years, or 1278 days, as years. The 1278 years, began in 193, by the event known as the Quartodeciman controversy, which established the Primacy of the bishop of Rome, above the Body of Christ, replacing Christ as the head of the Church. The 1278 years ended in 1471, as we describe below. The first Protestant Church began in Kunvald in the Czech Republic, through the preaching of Jan Huss. Jan Huss was burned at the stake in 1415. Jan Huss embraced the teachings of John Wycliffe, who was declared to be a heretic in the same year. Wycliffe said that there was no scriptural basis for the position of the Pope, and rejected the idea that the bread of the Lord’s Supper was literally transformed into the body of Christ. The Bohemian followers of Huss, went on to form the Moravian Church, after the moderate “Hussites” greatly persecuted the more zealous Moravian Hussites, who wanted freedom from the Papacy. In 1467, the Moravian brethren declared their desire to be free from the rule of Papacy, and sent Michael Bradacius to Stephen who was an old Bishop of Waldensians to ordain him, and recognize their independence from the Papacy. Stephen was delighted to do so, but when King George Prodebrady and Rokycana, the Hussite Archbishop heard this, they were furious and Stephen was burned alive, in Vienna in 1467. The Hussites in Bohemia tortured Jacob Hulava, one of the brethren, in front of his family and burned him, along with four peasants. “Driven from their homes in the middle of winter, many perished in the fields from hunger and cold. Some whom the authorities captured had their hands cut off. Others they dragged along behind horses until they died, or burned at the stake. Hunted like deer, the brothers again hid in mountain forests, daring to make fires only at night.” – The Birth, Life and Death of the Bohemian Revival, Mike Atnip, page 71 Then by God’s grace, in 1471, King George Prodebrady and Rokycana, the Archbishop, died, and the persecution stopped. The brethren came out of the woods and returned to Kunvald, to begin freedom as the first Protestant Church. The saints were in the hands of the beast from 193 to 1471, exactly 1278 years. |
| 5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on the brink of the river on this side, and the other on the brink of the river on that side. 6 One said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? |
| Dan 12:5 two others were standing – WHO IS LIKE GOD (Michael) who is dressed in linen, as described in Dan 10:5, and possibly also Gabriel from Dan 9:21. Dan 12:6 how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? – the answer takes us to the two witnesses, which are symbolized by the two angels, one on one side of the river, and one on the other. The Book of Daniel, beginning with Dan 2:44, explains that the kingdom of God will put an end to all earthly kingdoms, and the work of the lawless one (the Antichrist). In fact, this is the battle of God against the lawlessness of man, that began by the serpent in the garden of Eden. The victory of the Lamb, that comes by the two witnesses, is announced in Rev 17:14, “these (kingdoms) will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them.” Christ’s battle concludes on the LORD’s Day – “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of the LORD, and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever” (Rev 11:15). |
| 7 I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. |
| Dan 12:7 held up his right hand and his left hand and swore by Him who lives forever – as he does also in Rev 10:6. Rev 10 introduces the prophecies of Revelation Chapters 11-13, that explain the time, times and half a time, when the saints were given into the hands of the beast. that it shall be for time, times and half a time – the raising of his hands emphasizes that it shall be for “exactly” time, times and half a time, which are 3 and a half years (1+2+1/2). The fulfillment of this prophecy would take place after exactly 1278 days as years (365.25 X 3.5 = 1278). when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered – see also Psa 11:3, “if the foundations are destroyed, what will the righteous do?” At the end of the time, time and half a time, the kingdom of heaven will become completely corrupted, see Rev 18:2-3. |
| 8 I heard, but I didn’t understand: then said I, my lord, what shall be the issue of these things? 9 He said, Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. |
| Dan 12:9 the words are closed up – and cannot be understood until the end time, this is called “the mystery of God” in Rev 10:7. |
| 10 Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand. |
| Dan 12:10 the wicked shall do wickedly – see Rev 22:11, the ending of Revelation and Daniel are quite similar. In spite of these prophecies, the wicked will not repent. |
| 11 From the time that the continual offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days. |
| Dan 12:11 from the time the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up – as we discussed at Dan 8:11-13, this refers to the departure of the holy spirit and the efficacy of baptism to wash away sins. 1290 days – the Angel swore it would be for time, times and half a time. In terms of months, this is closest to 43 months on the Jewish calendar (every three years has a leap year that adds one month); and multiplied by 30, we get to 1290 days. In the Book of Revelation, the months been simply rounded as 12 + 24 + 6 = 42 months, and 42 X 30 = 1260 days. |
| 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred thirty-five days. |
| Dan 12:12 blessed is he who waits and comes to 1335 days – adding 45 (1335 – 1290) days to 1471, we come to 1516, when Martin Luther began his protest against the sale of indulgences. That one would arise in 1516, who would not be stopped, was the prophecy of a monk by the name of John Hilten in the year 1500. Hilten wrote a commentary on Daniel, and Revelation. While most people are familiar with the date of 1517 as the start of the Reformation, Martin Luther himself, and the Lutheran Church use the date of 1516, agreeing with Hilten’s prophecy. In 1516, Luther held a public discussion with a theologian named Feldkirchen. The Reformation Historian Jean-Henri Merle d’Aubigné wrote, “The disputation took place in 1516. This was Luther’s first attack upon the dominion of the sophists and upon the Papacy, as he himself characterizes it.” And again he wrote, “This disputation made a great noise, and it has been considered as the beginning of the reformation.” (History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Book 2, Chapter 9) Martin Luther was not murdered like his predecessor, Jan Huss, and the many Moravian brothers who died between 1468 and 1471, as we describe in verse 7. Martin Luther and Jan Huss represent the two witnesses in Rev 11:3, and their churches, the Lutheran and Moravian churches, are the “two lampstands” in Rev 11:4. They represent Christ, the stone that struck the statue, described in Dan 2:45. They are “the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord (Adonai) of the whole earth (who is Christ).” (Zech 4:14). |
| 13 But go you your way until the end be; for you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot, at the end of the days. |
| Dan 12:13 for you shall rest and arise – on the LORD’s Day, the conclusion of Christ’s work, that was described at the beginning of this Chapter. |
