(Daniel 12:5-7; Revelation 10:1-11)
In the Book of Revelation, the story of “a time, times, and half a time” begins in Chapter 10. Here, we meet a strong angel with a face like the sun, clothed with a cloud, and His feet were like pillars of fire. He raised “His hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever . . . that there should be no more delay.”1Rev 10:5-6
He was the one who was clothed in linen in Daniel 12, who “held up His right hand and His left hand toward heaven and swore by Him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time….”2Dan 12:7
Daniel’s vision of the Christ as the man clothed in linen in Daniel 10 was also seen by John in Revelation 1, in his vision of the Spirit of Christ in the Lord’s Day. He had a face like the sun.3Rev 1:15 He was the angel who led the Israelites by cloud by day and by fire by night.
When the angel cried out, seven peals of thunder spoke, and a voice was heard from heaven, saying, “Seal up the things that the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.”4Rev 10:4 It seems that John, like the apostle Paul, heard “words from heaven that were inexpressible, that a man is not permitted to speak.”52Co 12:4
The angel then presented John with a little book and asked him to eat it. It was as sweet as honey but became bitter in his stomach.6Rev 10:10, see also Eze 3:3 It is exciting to be able to see the future, but when we understand it, we are distressed.
The little book began the prophecy of “a time, times, and half a time.”
In Chapter 11, we are told that the Gentiles will trample the Holy City underfoot for 42 months,7Rev 11:2 and we meet the two witnesses who wear a sackcloth for 1,260 days.8Rev 11:3
In Chapter 12, we meet the woman who fled into the wilderness for “a time, times, and half a time,”9Rev 12:14 and in Chapter 13, we meet the little horn from Daniel 7, who held the saints in his hand for 42 months.10Rev 13:5
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