The 1260 days prophecy appears several times in the Bible. What is this time period? It is a very important time period since it was mention over and over again by Daniel and Peter.

1260 days / 30 = 42 months = 3 ½ years; 1 time + 2 time + ½ time = 3 ½ times.

3 ½ years is symbolic to 3 ½ times.  3 ½ years is the same as 1260 days.  Now for prophetic day to a year, it is literally 1260 years.   Some things will continue until the 1260 years have passed.  Let’s read the Bible account of what will happen during that period:

Dan. 7:25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.

God’s people will experience persecution for 1260 years and then God will do some things. What are they? Let’s read on:

Dan. 12:7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

Again God’s people will seem powerless during this period, but in the end, all things will be completed. What things?  Let’s get John’s account in the book of Revelation:

Rev. 11:2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months

Here again, John stated that the period of time was given to a set of people (gentiles) who have no regard for God’s law. They overpowered God’s people and trampled on the importance of obeying God’s 2^nd and 4^th commandment (two witnesses); therefore they were not to be included (measured) in upholding God’s law.

Rev. 11:3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Here God has given us this period as a witness against sinful tendencies of nullifying the 2^nd and 4^th commandment of God. During those times, God’s people lamented how sin has subtlety entered God’s holy sanctuary and worship services.

Rev. 12:6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

Despite the hardship faced by God’s people and His truth during this period, God has secured and preserved a set of people that will not be corrupted by Satan’s devices.  The pure woman is symbolic of these chosen people.

Rev. 12:14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.

Here is where the time period of 1260 days shows it’s equivalence to 3 ½ times (years). (Comparing Rev 12:6 with 12:14). During that period, a special set of people (woman) was preserved with God’s truth. They were not corrupted with religious ideologies handed down from Roman Catholic systems.

Rev. 13:5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.

Here again Rev 13:5 is compared with Dan 7:25 to show that 3 ½ times is the same as 42 months, the same as 1260 days.  The beast blasphemies and exercise power over the saints of God.  This happens during that period.  What is that time? Seventh-day Adventists believe the prophecy stretches from 538AD to 1798AD, allegedly a period of papal supremacy when the papacy control religion. The papacy hid the Bibles, burned some of them, and kill people who professed to believe in the truth of the Bible and not according to Catholicism.

In 538 A.D. the Ostrogoths abandoned their siege of Rome — and this left the Bishop of Rome to exercise the prerogatives of Justinian’s decree of 533 A.D. the power and the authority of the Papacy grew, and grew, and grew.  This was the beginning of the 1260-year period.

This also begins the dark ages, the inquisition, and every kind of evil deception to fool the saints of God. But 1260 years later, the spectacular victories of the armies of Napoleon in Italy placed the Pope at the mercy of the French Revolutionary Government, which now advised that the Roman Religion would always be a persistent enemy of the Republic. The government urged Napoleon to destroy the center of unity of the Roman church, and Napoleon did just that.

In 1798 (1260 years later) the French general Berthier, with a French army, marched into Rome and proclaimed the political rule of the Papacy at an end and took the Pope prisoner. The Pope was removed to France where he died in exile.  The 1260-year rule of the Papacy was finished.

In 2 Thessalonians 7: 4-12, the Bible stated, “Don’t be fooled by what they [papacy] say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God (to forgive sins on earth – he sits in the place of God)”.

Verse 9 continued, “This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction (purgatory) because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then they [the so-called Christians] will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.”

The 1260 year period when the antichrist (Roman Papacy) would preside over the dark ages, inquisition, etc began a little later in 538 AD after the Roman Empire had already collapsed and an eastern empire ruler named Emperor Justinian issued his famous decree that made the Pope the legal “Head of all the Holy Churches”. This began the prophesized reign of that antichrist (Papacy system). In 1798 AD, a general of Napoleon’s (named Berthier) entered Rome with his French army. The Papacy was abolished, the pontifical ring was removed, and the sitting Pope–Pope Pius VI was sent to France, where he died in exile.

This Prophecy is for our learning; 1260 years of religious infiltration tainted the truth of God. We should use the two witnesses: 2^nd and 4^th commandment which stated: “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.”  (Ex 20:4-6; this is the 2^nd commandment where the papacy instead introduced idol and imagery in worship services and bowing down to them).

“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day, he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy (Ex 20:8-11; this 4^th commandment they subtly changed to the first day instead of the seventh day and modified the solemnity of that day).

These are the two witnesses that have been prophesying for 1260 years; enough time for us to learn the truth.