My Thoughts on Daniel's 1,290 Days And 1,330 Days
The Bible seems to contradict itself again. Revelation gives us the final reign of the Antichrist to last for 1,260 days for the Great Tribulation (Revelation 11:3). We can read in Daniel 12:11-12 that there will be the 1,290 days of the Abomination of Desolation. I decided to read through Got Questions' article "Why do Daniel and Revelation give varying counts of 1,260, 1,290, and 1,335 days for the tribulation?" to get the following information:
The 1,260 days of the second half of the tribulation begins as the Antichrist breaks the treaty, occupies the third Jewish temple, and sets up a profane and sacrilegious object of worship. This 1,260-day period ends when the Antichrist is defeated at the battle of Armageddon upon Jesus’ return to earth. At that time, the tribulation will be at an end.
Daniel 12:11 mentions 1,290 days, however, which is 30 days more than the second half of the tribulation. Different ideas have been put forward to explain what happens in those 30 extra days. One likely theory is that the land of Israel will be rebuilt in that month after the devastation it endured during the tribulation.
Then, according to Daniel 12:12, there will be an extra 45 days, on top of the extra 30 days, after which something else will happen. Daniel does not say explicitly what will happen, but he says those who remain until the end of that segment (1,335 days after the breaking of the treaty and 75 days after the end of the tribulation) will be “blessed.” The blessing here is entry into the millennial kingdom. What will take place during those 45 days? Very likely, this is when the judgment of the Gentile nations, described in Matthew 25:31–46, will take place. In this judgment, also called the judgment of the sheep and the goats, the Gentiles are judged for their treatment of Israel during the tribulation. Did they aid Jesus’ “brothers and sisters” (Matthew 25:40), or did they turn a blind eye to the Jews’ troubles or, worse yet, aid in their persecution?
So, those who survive the tribulation and survive the sheep and goat judgment will enter the millennium. This is a blessing, indeed.
In summary, here is the timeline as we see it:
• Sometime after the rapture of the church, the Antichrist enters a treaty with Israel. This begins the seven-year tribulation.
• At the midpoint of the tribulation (1,260 days later), the Antichrist breaks the treaty, desecrates the temple, and begins to persecute the Jews.
• At the end of the tribulation (1,260 days after the desecration of the temple), Jesus Christ returns to earth and defeats the forces of the Antichrist.
• During the next 30 days (leading up to 1,290 days after the desecration of the temple), Israel is rebuilt and the earth is restored.
• During the next 45 days (leading up to 1,335 days after the desecration of the temple), the Gentile nations are judged for their treatment of Israel.
• The dispensation of the millennium begins, and it will last for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:3, 5–6).
I was thinking about something I got into when I read Vernon McGee's commentary. McGee refers to Matthew 24:15 about the Abomination of Desolation. It would be very possible that the 30 days after the Tribulation ended will be devoted to rebuilding Israel. There will also be that 75-day interval between the 1,260 days and the 1,330 days. Why God will allow the image of the Beast to remain in the desecrated Jewish Temple is not known. My speculation goes to have me think that Jesus will use the desecrated Jewish Temple as a testament against the unsaved. You can imagine how there will be survivors after the Battle of Armageddon. The Antichrist and the False Prophet are now thrown into the Lake of Fire. It looks like Satan isn't bound yet or he will be bound at that time. I can't really tell until that great time period happens. It looks like Satan will be bound after the Battle of Armageddon before his followers will be judged.
I can't be certain what happens at this point to people who survived the plagues in Revelation 16. I mean, a lot, and I mean a lot of people will die in that global disaster. Yet, there will be survivors for a reason. What happens next is that perhaps the survivors are already all gathered for their judgment. I could imagine the frightening scene that happens that the worshipers of the Antichrist will be in deep frustration. They received the mark because they chose to reject Jesus. It's amazing that Revelation 16:9-11 tells us that they repented not. I think that those who receive the Mark of the Beast can be forgiven but their problem is summarized as "they repented not". Revelation 9:20 has those who received the Mark of the Beast still repenting not. That's why there's every good reason to say that those who receive the Mark of the Beast will end up in the Lake of Fire. These people are already predetermined to reject Jesus and His offer for forgiveness. The Mark of the Beast isn't just a mark - it's also a mark of worship of the Antichrist. They rejected Christ for Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast is proof of it. I could just imagine how these guys might be using chalk to count down the 75 days before Jesus judges the nations.
I could imagine how the 45 days will be. If it takes 45 days to judge the nations then God has a reason for doing so. I guess the nations that survived (though many islands will be gone) will be slowly gathered. The Tribulation saints who survived are probably all busy rebuilding Israel. I guess the image of the Antichrist will be cast out at the end of the 30 days hence 1,290 days in total. The Tribulation saints are now in the right hand. Meanwhile, the unsaved are now in the left hand. Perhaps, these people will be thrown into Hell alive by batches. However, it seems that the Judgment of the Nations will take place after 45 days. Again, I can't be too sure but I assume that the 45 days will probably be devoted to getting all the Gentile Tribulation saints to Israel. It might be the time of the great gathering of both saved Jews and saved Gentiles. Meanwhile, unsaved Jews and unsaved Gentiles will be judged as well. I believe that the unbelieving survivors of the Tribulation will be cast into Hell alive like what happened to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in Numbers 16.
Matthew 25:31-46 really tells the real state of the wickedness of man. Mankind's wickedness is fully allowed by God during the Tribulation Period. There will be no middle ground. All who are rejecting Christ will accept the Antichrist. You can imagine how these unsaved people will treat the Tribulation saints. These verses really should bring a chill to the spine thinking about how the wickedness of the unsaved man is fully manifested during the Tribulation:
41 “Then He will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (ESV)
I could imagine how this can truly reflect on the attitude of the unsaved people. You can think of how wickedness will be more manifest in the Tribulation Period than it is today. I'm not denying some unsaved people do good works today. However, it will be different during the Tribulation Period. It's either Christ or Antichrist. Many will be deprived of basic necessities because they can't buy or sell if they refuse to worship the Antichrist. Many will be in jail because of their faith, all waiting for their execution for refusal to worship the Antichrist. You can imagine how there will be Tribulation saints who will risk their necks to defy the Antichrist's market system and give food to their fellow Tribulation saints. You can imagine how the Tribulation saints will probably use whatever resources they have to feed the others. That's why there will be survivors because God will somehow provide a way for some selected Tribulation saints to survive the Tribulation. Others will be martyred while others will survive to enter the Millennium Kingdom in their natural bodies. The Gospel will be preached by 144,000 witnesses yet the followers of the Antichrist will persecute them too. You can imagine just how all their wickedness proves one thing - they're truly unrighteous. The unrighteousness of mankind is just held back today but it won't be held back when Satan is allowed to rule the world for seven years via the Antichrist. Even the best of unbelievers in that period will manifest more fruits of the flesh than what the best of unbelievers have today. Today, you have unbelievers devoted to charity work. Yet, I doubt it that will happen in the Tribulation Period since Satan is allowed near-complete control of the world.
As said, God has His master plan with the Seventy Weeks. God is still in charge. God has His reasons for allowing things to happen. All those in Him can do is not to faint and just keep trusting. The Tribulation Saints who die will enter the Kingdom. The Tribulation Saints who survive will enter the Kingdom to repopulate the Earth. God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).
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