1290 and
1335 Days
By Dr. Ken
Matto
And from the time that the daily sacrifice
shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there
shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Daniel 12:11)
Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the
thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. (Daniel 12:12)
One of the great mysteries in the Bible is the 1290 days
of Daniel 12:11 and the 1335 days of Daniel 12:12.
Many try to make it a literal number but where do you place it in the
scheme of history? How can you
insert it between two dates?
Clarence Larkin
states – “Then two other measures of time were
revealed to Daniel, 1290 and 1335 days. These days were to date from the time
when the "Daily Sacrifice" was taken
away, and the "Abomination of
Desolation" set up, which we know will be in the
"Middle" of Daniel's
"Seventieth Week." The problem with his
explanation is that the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel represents 1260
days not 1290.
John Gill states
– “there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days;
from the beginning of the reign of antichrist to the end of it are one thousand
two hundred and sixty days or years, or forty two months, which is the same,
according to Revelation 13:5, here thirty days or years are added, which begin
where the other end, and is the time allotted for the conversion of the Jews,
and other things, making way for the kingdom of Christ; and which the reign of
antichrist was an hindrance of, but should now immediately take place.
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. (Revelation 13:5)
From Jamison,
Faucet and Brown – “Cumming thinks the 1260 years
begin when Justinian in A. D. 533 subjected the Eastern churches to John II,
bishop of Rome; ending in 1792, when the Code Napoleon was established and the
Pope was dishonored. 1290 reach to 1822, about the time of the waning of the
Turkish power, the successor to Greece in the empire of the East.”
“Hales makes the periods
1260, 1290, 1335, begin with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and end with the
precursory dawn of the Reformation, the preaching of Wycliffe and Huss.”
From Matthew
Henry – “The event fixed from which the time of
the trouble is to be dated, from the taking away of the daily sacrifice
by Antiochus, and the setting up of the image of Jupiter upon the altar,
which was the abomination of desolation. They must reckon their troubles
to begin indeed when they were deprived of the benefit of public ordinances;
that was to them the beginning of sorrows; that was what they laid most
to heart. [2.] The continuance of their trouble; it shall last 1290 days,
three years and seven months, or (as some reckon) three years, six
months, and fifteen days; and then, it is probable, the daily
sacrifice was restored, and the abomination of desolation taken away, in
remembrance of which the feast of dedication was observed even to our
Saviour's time”
As you can see these
commentaries try to fit the 1290 days into some historic timeline from the time
of Antiochus to the beginning of the Reformation through Wycliffe and John Hus
to 1822 and the spread of Islam.
However, the Bible is its own interpreter and these dates extending to 1822 are
not correct since the Bible was completed in 95 A.D. with the book of
Revelation. Like many of the
numbers in the Bible, they represent a spiritual truth and they are not
necessarily literal.
The daily sacrifice will no longer be valid since the Lord Jesus Christ was the
final sacrifice for sin. Once Jesus
went to the cross, the rituals and ceremonies of the Mosaic Law were no longer
effective but void because Christ had fulfilled all aspects of the Mosaic Law.
No longer were sins covered in the feasts and sacrifices, now sins were
removed only through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The daily sacrifice in the temple had continued to 70 A.D. which means
from 33 A.D. to 70 A.D. the sacrifices were invalid and not accepted by God for
payment of sins. In 70 A.D.
the Roman army completely sacked Jerusalem which means that the Gentiles had
defiled the holy land and desolated it.
Since there were Gentiles they were looked at by the Jews as an
abomination. As for the 1290 days,
we know that 1260 days would be the New Testament period which was also referred
to as 42 months and time, times, and a half. At
this point let us look at the 1260 days or 3 years and six months or 42 months.
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, and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel
9:27)
Daniel states in the midst of the seventieth week, the sacrifice and oblation
will cease which means the sacrificial parts of the law or the ceremonial law
will end. This happened in 33 A.D.
as we read above. The week
consisted of 7 days making the midst of the week at the point of three and one
half days.
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. (Daniel
12:7)
Notice in Daniel 12:7 it states that after the time,
times and an half he shall have completed the scattering the power of the holy
people. This is the Archangel Gabriel
speaking and he
takes a pose and shows that he is not answering the question on his own but is
swearing by the Lord Jesus that the answer that he will give comes from the Lord
Jesus Himself. The time frame which
Gabriel gave the other angel was time, times and a half.
The time frame would come out to 3½ years if a literal time frame was
taken but the number here is symbolic.
It represents the entire New Testament period.
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. (Revelation 11:2)
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. (Revelation
13:5)
In Revelation 11:2 and 13:5 the time frames of forty and two months are used
which comes out to 3 years and six months.
The key to understanding this is not the months or days but is the number
42 or three and a half. Remember
the time (1), times (2), and a half comes out to 3½.
The holy city shall be tread under foot and Satan will continue to
blaspheme until the last day. If he
only did it for 3½ years then his blaspheming would have stopped in 37 A.D. but
he continues to today giving evidence that the forty two months are symbolic and
not literal.
Let’s look at Revelation 11:2 again:
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. (Revelation 11:2)
Not only will the temple of God contain saved Jews, it will also contain saved
Gentiles. The treading can be linked back to Matthew 11:12 which speaks of the
Kingdom of God being taken by force.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)
It is speaking of the Kingdom of God advancing violently upon the world. The
Kingdom of God invades the kingdom of Satan and that is an act of violence when
one kingdom comes against another. Whenever we advance the Kingdom of God, we
are doing violence to the kingdom of Satan by plundering it.
The holy city is another synonym for the body of believers. This has absolutely
nothing to do with the physical city of Jerusalem which has now been set aside
with the abolition of the ceremonial laws with the sacrifice of Christ.
The outer court which John is told not to measure speaks of the church on earth
as it still continues to gather in believers and face the persecution which
shall come in the New Testament period which is symbolized in the 42 months,
which was also prophesied in Daniel 7:25. Remember
the outer court was part of the temple and the body of believers is called the
temple in 1 Corinthians 3:17 and 6:19.
Then after the forty two months there will come a little space of time
where it seems that Satan will have won and we will see this shortly.
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. (Daniel
7:25)
Going back to Daniel 12:2, the great resurrection will
take place at the end of the New Testament period and that is when evil will
face its final judgment and will be cast into the lake of fire and then the New
Heavens and the New Earth will be created.
Revelation 13:5 teaches us that Satan will have the authority to
blaspheme and speak great things for 42 months, or the whole New Testament
period until he finally faces his ultimate destination which is eternal Hell.
Now we have established that the 42 months or 1260 days
is representative of the entire New Testament.
However, we are dealing with 1290 days and not 1260.
As for the other 30 days, there is a small time period at the end of the New
Testament period where Satan will be allowed to deceive the nations for the
final time and that would be represented by the other month or 30 days bringing
it to 1290 days. The final 30 days
is another symbolic time period which shows it will be significantly shorter
than the whole New Testament period.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out
of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in
the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to
battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. (Revelation 20:7-8)
The thousand years are symbolic of the whole New Testament period just as we saw
the 1260 days or 42 months representing the totality of the New Testament.
So once the time frame of the New Testament has been completed, then
Satan will go out of his prison and be given a free hand (under God’s control)
to deceive the nations of the world.
What do we see happening in the world today which will only get worse?
Fear, hatred, violence, sexual deviation, lies galore, medical tyranny,
and other things which seemed to have gotten worse overnight than it was just
ten years ago. This is because we
are now in that symbolic 30 days where Satan has been loosed to go out to
deceive the world. So you have the
1260 days which represent the New Testament period and 30 days which represents
the final assault of Satan on the nations of the world bringing it to 1290 days.
The 1335 Days
Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the
thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. (Daniel 12:12)
In Daniel 12:12, we have another great mystery number
which is 1335 days. There is a
blessing associated with the 1335 days and those 1335 days represent the entire
earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The ministry of Christ started in 29 A.D. and went to 33 A.D.
1335 days is 44.5 months which is 3 years and 8.5 months.
No one knows the exact date that his ministry started but we do know when
it ended. Ascension Day was 50 days
after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ in 33 A.D. and that time period
must be factored into the length of his ministry.
His pre-crucifixion ministry would have been somewhere in the area of 3
years and seven months. We must use
the Jewish calendar which was 30 days per month.
1.5 months is 45 days according to the Jewish calendar.
So when we look at the time frame of the earthly ministry of the Lord
Jesus Christ, it comes out to the same time frame of the New Testament.
3 years and seven months – The same time frame of the New Testament.
3 years and six months for the New Testament period and one month for the
deception of the nations by the loosing of Satan.
Then what comes right after the deception?
The end of the world. What
came after the crucifixion of Christ?
Pentecost which was the beginning of the final evangelizing of the world
and then the ascension of Christ which prefigures the home going of the church
on the last day and also ushering in judgment day for the unbelievers.
Once we allow the Bible to be its own interpreter, we will come to biblical truth much easier than just guessing where we can place these time frames and numbers. The 1290 harmonizes with the length of the ministry of Christ and is plainly symbolic of the New Testament period and the final assault by Satan upon the nations. Once we understand these biblical truths, the rest of the Scriptures will open up accordingly.