(Daniel 8:11-14; 12:7-12; Zechariah 14:2; Revelation 20:4)
John said that the martyrs who did not worship the beast would rise and reign with Christ for 1,000 years.
It seems that some might have already understood that the return of Christ was at least 1,000 years away. Peter said, “Do not let this one fact escape your notice. With the Lord, a day is as a thousand years … the Lord is not slow about His promise.”12Pet 3:8-9
This “thousand years” came from the Book of Daniel.
In Daniel 12, an angel described the corruption of the Kingdom of Heaven over “a time, times, and half a time.” In Verse 11, this was explained as 1,290 days. That is 43 months of 30 days on the Jewish lunar calendar, from the time that the abomination of desolation was set up.
In Daniel 8, an angel described the sin that caused desolation. In Verse 13, another angel, a holy one, asked, “‘How long will the vision be concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, and the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”
The angel said to Daniel, “For 2,300 days, then the sanctuary will be cleansed.”2Dan 8:14
The corruption of 1,290 days and the cleansing of the sanctuary after 1,010 days are the two time periods described in the Book of Revelation. These 1,010 days are the 1,000 years when the martyrs reign with Christ, as described in Revelation 20. The blood of the martyrs speaks for the truth and cleanses the Kingdom of Heaven for 1,000 years.
The same time periods were explained by the prophet Zechariah. He said, “Half of the city will go into captivity.”3Zech 14:2 We know that the saints were in captivity for 1,290 days. These represent half of the days of the Kingdom of Heaven.
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