The 1260 days represented a 1260 year (a year for a day, Numbers 14:34) period from AD539 to AD1799 which led to the beginning of the Times of the End (Daniel 12). The 1260 years is the period of Papacy’s power. Papal domination kept the masses in ignorance, superstition and servility. The 1260 year period started when the Popes began to exercise civil authority and power in 539 and ended in 1799. The French Revolution was the rise of the people, who were demanding civil rights and were rebelling against domination.
1799 marked the beginning of the time of the end. Daniel 12:4 gives two signs of the end times, “…the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Increased travel (many running to and fro) began with the steam boat in 1807, steam locomotive 1830, and has led up to our modern automobiles, jet planes, and rocket ships. All knowledge began to multiply in the early 1800s. Specific Bible knowledge was also increased with the establishment Bible Societies in the 1830s. Today, mankind’s knowledge is doubling every five years.
The Woman (True Church) of Revelation 12:6 was in hiding (wilderness- away from Papacy) during the 1260 years and began to manifest herself with the reformers after 1799. The two witnesses in Revelation 11:3 are the Old and New Testament which sustained the True Church.
