It is generally admitted that “a time and times and the dividing of time” is 1260 years. The proof of it may readily be seen by comparing Rev. 12:14, 6; 13:5, with the scripture just quoted. In these passages we learn that “time, times, and the dividing of time” is equivalent to a thousand two hundred and threescore days, which equals three and one half Biblical years, or “forty and two months.” Applying the scriptural rule of interpretation, a day for a year (Eze. 4:6), we have 1260 years.
This period is to cover the supremacy of the papacy. The beginning of it will be the point of the establishment of the power of the papacy. This was the year 538 a. d. Justinian, emperor of Rome, with his capital at Constantinople, espoused the cause of the bishop of Rome; and in 533 a. d. issued a decree which constituted that prelate head of all the churches. But the Arian Ostrogoths had possession of Rome, and it was not until they had been rooted up that the city was accessible to the bishop. This was accomplished in 538, by Belisarius, Justinian's celebrated general. For a concise and clear account of this occurrence we refer the reader to the “Two Republics,” by A. T. Jones, pp. 551-553.
Commencing the 1260 years a. d. 538, they reach to a. d. 1798, when Berthier, a French general, took possession of Rome. The pope was made a prisoner and carried with violence away from his palace and out of Italy. The papacy was stripped of its civil power. Here ended the days of tribulation spoken of by our Lord, which were—
Shortened For The Elect's Sake.
Verse 22: “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”
The papacy was clothed with civil power to punish heretics, which it held for 1260 years; and had not the period of tribulation of the elect in the providence of God been shortened, the martyrdom of the church would have continued to 1798, in which event, no flesh of the elect would have been saved. But the Reformation under Martin Luther, and those associated with this great reformer, modified this tribulation, and continued to restrain the rage and power of the papacy until the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773, since which time, there has been no general persecution waged against the church. Thus we are brought in this prophetic discourse of our Lord, down into the eighteenth century, very near the present time. We would naturally expect, then, that the instructions and warnings which follow would be applicable to this generation.
Lo, Here, And Lo, There.
Verses 23-27: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold: he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”