Lets look at this prophetic time period found in scripture which is the time, times and half a time mentioned in Daniel and Revelation:
Daniel 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.
Daniel 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.
Revelation 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.
If we look back to Daniel we see the word 'time' in this prophetic context refers to a period of a year. In the story of King Nebuchadnezzar, he went crazy for seven years which is given as "seven times" in the text, and humbled and ate grass as an ox as seen in Daniel 4:32:
Daniel 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
So in prophetic reading we see the days equal years, so lets look how many days are in a time, times and half a time, it means time (or 1 year), times (or 2 years) and half a time (or 1/2 year) or a total of 3 1/2 years. Most people who look at it would stop at this point and accept the 3 1/2 years only at face value.
But these are prophetic years so each day is a year and 3 1/2 years would be 3 1/2 times a Jewish year of 360 days (360 x 3.5= 1260) so comes out to 1260 days, and a prophetic day equals a year so using the same methodology as is used for the 70 weeks of Daniel we calculate it to actually represent 1260 literal years. So, 'Time, Times and half a Time' in prophecy is really 1260 years. To confirm this formula we need only to look at the book of Revelation.
Revelation 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.
Here the woman represents the faithful church, who flees into the wilderness for 1260 days. Again using the day=year formula, this actually speaks of 1260 years that the church would be persecuted. Now look at verse 14:
Revelation 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.
Here the exact same time of persecution is referred to as 3 1/2 times, again meaning the same period of 1260 days/years as found in verse 6. In the book of Daniel, we saw this exact same period of persecution in church history:
Daniel 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.
This verse in context is referring to a period of time that the little horn or Antichrist power will persecute the true believers or true church, again for 1260 years. The same is true for the time given "that it shall be for a time, times, and an half" for Daniel 12:7
So why is it not a year equal to 365 days as we hold today? Well in ancient times the year was held to be at 360 days. The fact that the prophets understood a year as 360 days is well attested, and can be seen in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as seen in the use of "time, times and half a time" (i.e. 1+2+0.5=3.5), "1,260 days" and "42 months". These references represent a period of 1260 years (based on the 360 day Jewish year multiplied by 3.5). Divide 1,260 days by 42 months and you will get a 30-day month, as 12 months of 30 days equals 360-days in a year
These time periods occur eight times in scripture:
Daniel 7:25, "time, times and a half".
Daniel 9:27, "half one set of seven".
Daniel 12:7, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 11:2, "42 months".
Revelation 11:3, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:6, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:14, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 13:5, "42 months".
We see how the 1260 day-for-year prophecy is found in Daniel 7, 9 and 12 and again in Revelation 11, 12 and again in Revelation 13. so many chapters in the Bible all pointing to that same 1260 year period which today we know as "the dark ages". If one looks history you quickly find that after abandonment of Rome by the Emperors, was the rise of Papal Rome with the Pope at its head, a powerful religious but apostate church as seen in the system of worship all the way from Babylon. The conversion of the empire to Christianity, and then its removal of the Empires seat from Rome, freed the papacy from temporal domination of the Empire and it grew into a persecuting antichrist power whose persecution of Gods people clearly went on during these 1260 years. These "1,260 days" spanned the Middle Ages and historicists throughout history have identified the "1,260 days" as being fulfilled by rise of the Papacy and its temporal power being taken, from 538 AD to 1798, or Napoleon's Roman Republic.
In Daniel 7 we also read of what would happen during this period, that it would 'wear out the saints of the most High'..
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 (Daniel 7:25).
The Papacy has a long history of "wearing out" the saints of the Most High, and its most extrema persecution was during the Middle Ages of anyone daring to oppose the Church. This gives us a clear identification of who the entity is who "persecuted the saints". The beast of Revelation 13 is a religious-political entity that is used by Satan, to persecute God’s people. The dragon in Revelation 12 is Satan working through pagan and religious powers with his deceptions and lies. We see how the beast symbolizes basically Satan using the corrupted religious-political power to destroy Gods true people.
Most Bible scholars, including many Protestant Reformers, believe that this beast represents the Roman Catholic Church. The exact number of Christians murdered for their faith during the Middle Ages is unknown, but most historians agree that for over 1200 years the Roman Catholic Church persecuted and killed Christians who would not agree with their traditions and style of worship. William Tyndale in 1536 was charged with heresy and burnt alive. What was his sin? He translated the Bible into English. Like him, many others were tortured, imprisoned and killed or put to trial with the sentence already decided, or forced to recant under threat of death. The prophetic “time, times and half a time,” 42 months, and 1260 days are all the same time period written in different forms, of a literal 1260 years.
Roman Catholic Church supremacy started in 538 AD when emperor Justinian gave the pope the title Pontifex Maximus, the "Bridge builder between heaven and Earth", and established the papacy as the supreme Christian power. They killed and persecuted untold numbers during this time, and told kings, rulers, and people to follow what it said or they would be cut off with their power to excommunicated or worse. All this abruptly ended in 1798 when Napoleon’s army took Pope Pius VI captive and weeks later died. That is exactly 1260 years, just as prophecy laid out.
However, the prophecy says that the deadly wound will heal, and sure enough in 1929, Mussolini agreed to return the papal seat and power. Since then the Vatican became a political and religious power that still makes the world wonder after it, as we see today. But its 'deadly wound' allowed the nations and people to get out from its deadly power over their affairs, but the Bible says the beast will go till the end. So this AntiChrist entity will not cease, until it goes down into perdition.
Daniel 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.
Daniel 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.
Revelation 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.
If we look back to Daniel we see the word 'time' in this prophetic context refers to a period of a year. In the story of King Nebuchadnezzar, he went crazy for seven years which is given as "seven times" in the text, and humbled and ate grass as an ox as seen in Daniel 4:32:
Daniel 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
So in prophetic reading we see the days equal years, so lets look how many days are in a time, times and half a time, it means time (or 1 year), times (or 2 years) and half a time (or 1/2 year) or a total of 3 1/2 years. Most people who look at it would stop at this point and accept the 3 1/2 years only at face value.
But these are prophetic years so each day is a year and 3 1/2 years would be 3 1/2 times a Jewish year of 360 days (360 x 3.5= 1260) so comes out to 1260 days, and a prophetic day equals a year so using the same methodology as is used for the 70 weeks of Daniel we calculate it to actually represent 1260 literal years. So, 'Time, Times and half a Time' in prophecy is really 1260 years. To confirm this formula we need only to look at the book of Revelation.
Revelation 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.
Here the woman represents the faithful church, who flees into the wilderness for 1260 days. Again using the day=year formula, this actually speaks of 1260 years that the church would be persecuted. Now look at verse 14:
Revelation 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.
Here the exact same time of persecution is referred to as 3 1/2 times, again meaning the same period of 1260 days/years as found in verse 6. In the book of Daniel, we saw this exact same period of persecution in church history:
Daniel 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.
This verse in context is referring to a period of time that the little horn or Antichrist power will persecute the true believers or true church, again for 1260 years. The same is true for the time given "that it shall be for a time, times, and an half" for Daniel 12:7
So why is it not a year equal to 365 days as we hold today? Well in ancient times the year was held to be at 360 days. The fact that the prophets understood a year as 360 days is well attested, and can be seen in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as seen in the use of "time, times and half a time" (i.e. 1+2+0.5=3.5), "1,260 days" and "42 months". These references represent a period of 1260 years (based on the 360 day Jewish year multiplied by 3.5). Divide 1,260 days by 42 months and you will get a 30-day month, as 12 months of 30 days equals 360-days in a year
These time periods occur eight times in scripture:
Daniel 7:25, "time, times and a half".
Daniel 9:27, "half one set of seven".
Daniel 12:7, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 11:2, "42 months".
Revelation 11:3, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:6, "1260 days".
Revelation 12:14, "time, times and a half".
Revelation 13:5, "42 months".
We see how the 1260 day-for-year prophecy is found in Daniel 7, 9 and 12 and again in Revelation 11, 12 and again in Revelation 13. so many chapters in the Bible all pointing to that same 1260 year period which today we know as "the dark ages". If one looks history you quickly find that after abandonment of Rome by the Emperors, was the rise of Papal Rome with the Pope at its head, a powerful religious but apostate church as seen in the system of worship all the way from Babylon. The conversion of the empire to Christianity, and then its removal of the Empires seat from Rome, freed the papacy from temporal domination of the Empire and it grew into a persecuting antichrist power whose persecution of Gods people clearly went on during these 1260 years. These "1,260 days" spanned the Middle Ages and historicists throughout history have identified the "1,260 days" as being fulfilled by rise of the Papacy and its temporal power being taken, from 538 AD to 1798, or Napoleon's Roman Republic.
In Daniel 7 we also read of what would happen during this period, that it would 'wear out the saints of the most High'..
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 (Daniel 7:25).
The Papacy has a long history of "wearing out" the saints of the Most High, and its most extrema persecution was during the Middle Ages of anyone daring to oppose the Church. This gives us a clear identification of who the entity is who "persecuted the saints". The beast of Revelation 13 is a religious-political entity that is used by Satan, to persecute God’s people. The dragon in Revelation 12 is Satan working through pagan and religious powers with his deceptions and lies. We see how the beast symbolizes basically Satan using the corrupted religious-political power to destroy Gods true people.
Most Bible scholars, including many Protestant Reformers, believe that this beast represents the Roman Catholic Church. The exact number of Christians murdered for their faith during the Middle Ages is unknown, but most historians agree that for over 1200 years the Roman Catholic Church persecuted and killed Christians who would not agree with their traditions and style of worship. William Tyndale in 1536 was charged with heresy and burnt alive. What was his sin? He translated the Bible into English. Like him, many others were tortured, imprisoned and killed or put to trial with the sentence already decided, or forced to recant under threat of death. The prophetic “time, times and half a time,” 42 months, and 1260 days are all the same time period written in different forms, of a literal 1260 years.
Roman Catholic Church supremacy started in 538 AD when emperor Justinian gave the pope the title Pontifex Maximus, the "Bridge builder between heaven and Earth", and established the papacy as the supreme Christian power. They killed and persecuted untold numbers during this time, and told kings, rulers, and people to follow what it said or they would be cut off with their power to excommunicated or worse. All this abruptly ended in 1798 when Napoleon’s army took Pope Pius VI captive and weeks later died. That is exactly 1260 years, just as prophecy laid out.
However, the prophecy says that the deadly wound will heal, and sure enough in 1929, Mussolini agreed to return the papal seat and power. Since then the Vatican became a political and religious power that still makes the world wonder after it, as we see today. But its 'deadly wound' allowed the nations and people to get out from its deadly power over their affairs, but the Bible says the beast will go till the end. So this AntiChrist entity will not cease, until it goes down into perdition.