(Daniel 7:25; 8:11; 12:7; Revelation 11:2)
Daniel’s prophecy of the death of the Messiah after 3 ½ years is our first hint of the meaning of “a time, times, and half a time.” Just as Christ taught the Gospel in 3 ½ years, the Antichrist corrupted it in 3 ½ years, but in days as years: 1,278 days, as years.
Jesus said that the Gentiles would trample the Holy City underfoot until the time of the Gentiles was fulfilled. In Revelation 11:2 we read, “They shall trample the Holy City underfoot for forty-two months.”
In Daniel 7, an angel described the work of the Antichrist through the bishop of Rome and the Gentiles: “He shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and they shall be given into his hands for a time, times, and half a time.” In Daniel 12, the Messenger said: “It shall be a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.”1Dan 12:7
Easter Sunday was only one of the many new doctrines enforced by the bishop of Rome. The angel described this in Daniel 8, saying, “He shall cast truth to the ground.”2Dan 8:11 Many of the new teachings of the Church, including the change in the method of baptism and the Trinity doctrine, came from the Montanists and their chief spokesman, Tertullian, the father of Latin Christianity. Tertullian and the Montanists were possessed by demons, the army of demons prophesied by Daniel. Tertullian called Montanism the “New Prophecy” and said that the holy spirit was now explaining all the perplexities in the Bible.
By the time of the Reformation, the corruption of doctrine had become unparalleled. The Church even sold the forgiveness of sins, called “indulgences.” The power of the Holy people was completely shattered before the Spirit of Christ, the Rock, shattered the beast.
References