As you can see from the guide I just passed out, and really the other guide that I passed out, we're actually looking at the third section, or what we've called the third scene in this ongoing spiritual conflict that we find in Revelation 12 between God and the devil, and of course between God's people and the devil's people and angels. And that third scene is something that starts in verse 13 and goes through the end of the chapter. We're kind of in the middle of it, but I want to just do a quick review. Of course, in this third scene, starting there in verse 13, we learn more about the wrath on earth by the dragon against a woman. And this woman seems to represent the spiritual nature of God's people as a single entity. And it's not an unusual way to describe certain groups of people in the Bible, where they're seen as one entity, whether it's male, female, or in this case, a woman who is clothed with a sun and all of those glorious pictures. So, again, that's this third scene. The wrath on earth by the dragon of this woman who seems to represent the spiritual nature of God's people as a single entity. And, of course, that wrath we can say perpetuates a great crisis for the woman. There was already a crisis for this woman that she was in in the first scene as she was getting ready to have her main child, which of course is the Lord Jesus Christ. There was some crisis that led up to that, but then of course there's even more crisis that leads from that, and of course we're introduced to that crisis all the way back in verse 6. Really, this third scene gives us more detail about the first scene, the end of the first scene there in verse six. But in these verses, After looking at from verse 13, the cause of the crisis, which if you remember was the dragon, and then of course the concern of that crisis, which is the dragon's persecution, we find there in verse 13, we'll read that verse, when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, we learned about that in the second scene, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. So, the cause of the crisis is this dragon, who we know is the devil, Satan, but also The concern for that crisis is the persecution by the dragon of that woman. Well, now we're looking at verse 14. And from verse 14, we learn about God's care for this woman in this crisis. So yes, we've got the cause, we've got the concern, but we also see God's care, and that, no doubt, extends throughout the church age, even until the coming of the Lord. God will always care for His people. God will always care for this woman until the very end. And so, picking up there in verse four, to the woman, were given, we're told, two wings of a great eagle. We explored a little bit about that last time. So that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. Now, there are a lot of things in verse 14 that really reiterate what we already found back in verse 6, and we explored that even last week, where we had verse 6 and verse 14 up on the screen, and you could look and see all of the different words and ideas that are similar that really join these two verses together. However, there are a couple of things that are unique to this verse that help us see even more how God will preserve this woman through that persecution. And one of those unique features, of course, is that she's given two wings of a great eagle, okay? Obviously, this is symbolism, and so there's some ways that we can learn about what that means back from the Old Testament. But another one of those unique features is what we see as the period of God's care for the woman, and the period of God's care for the woman. Now, even though this describes a three-and-a-half-year period of time that we have already seen in three places in Revelation so far. And so we saw this beginning in chapter 11, and now we've already seen it in chapter 12. There's actually just one more time where we will see a three-and-a-half-year period of time mentioned, and that's going to be in Chapter 13. So really, you can look at all of these verses, compare them, and contrast them to really see what's taking place. It's Chapter 11, verse 2. Chapter 11, verse 3, we've looked at those. Chapter 12, verse 6, we've looked at that. And now we're looking at this three-and-a-half-year period of time in Chapter 12, verse 14, because it's put in a very unique way than any of the other ways. because the care that God gives to this woman in a very special sense is going to be for a period of a time and times and half a time. time and times and half a time. Now, that particular phrase is the only time in Revelation where we find it. The other phrase, the other ways that this three and a half year period of time is described, we find in two places. So we find 42 months twice, we find 1,260 days twice, but we only find this time, times, and half a time only once right here in this verse. Now, that phrase points us back to the book of Daniel. So to really learn about what this phrase is and what this phrase means and what this time period is all about, we need to go back to the book of Daniel, which is where it is first found. So why don't we go back there? Keep your finger here in Revelation. Keep something there, all right? Because we will come back to it. But go with me to the book of Daniel. Because what we learn about this time period there will actually help us understand more about this time period here. So in Daniel chapter seven, we're gonna head there, Daniel chapter seven. I think this specific phrase, in Revelation actually holds the key to helping us understand all the ways in Revelation where this three and a half year period of time is described. Again, in days and months, as well as in times. But here in Daniel chapter 7, if you remember, Daniel had a dream. He had quite a few dreams, and he was also given the ability to interpret those dreams by God. But Daniel himself has a dream in Daniel chapter 7 about four beasts. And we'll take the time here in a little bit to read it. But those four beasts represented four world empires that would succeed each other from Daniel's time all the way until the time of the end. And of course, that's something that is still yet to come. But why don't we first of all look at Daniel's vision that he saw starting there in verses 1 through 14. So Daniel recounts this vision. Daniel 7 verse 1. In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw it in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens strove against the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it, and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. And after this I beheld, and lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl. The beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth, and it devoured and break in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had 10 horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. And I beheld, till the thrones were cast down, and the ancients of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousands stood before him. The judgment was set, and the books were opened, And I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake, I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him nearer before Him. And there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. So what a vision, what a dream this was for Daniel. Of course, if you look at verse one again, Daniel says he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. So this wasn't even the whole dream. This was just sort of the main thrust of the things, the main thrust of the dream, the main issues about the dream. So the details here are obviously very symbolic, just like what we find in a lot of Revelation, and hopefully as we read through this, some of the things that we read reminded us of Revelation. and especially when we get to chapter 13 and learn a little bit more about this beast, who is also referenced here. Now, for Daniel, most of the symbols that were used here in this dream, he would have understood, or at least been familiar with, to some extent. Of course, we know from verse 4 that this first beast was like a lion with eagle's wings, and of course, the lion is a symbol of courage and strength and might, and that's true even today. as it was there for Daniel. The wings were also a symbol of royalty and swiftness. And when we learn the interpretation of this, we will also understand a little bit more how these symbols represent these kingdoms. The second beast, if you look back at verse 5, was like a bear with three ribs in its mouth. And a bear was often a symbol of cruelty and austerity. Somebody, something that would go out and really destroy people that are nearby. In verse 6, again, sort of in rapid succession, we have the third beast, like a leopard, he says. And this leopard had four wings, so an unusual leopard, but certainly a symbolic leopard. And it also had four heads. A leopard, we know, is very cunning, very swift. It gets on its prey very quickly, unlike many of the other The fourth beast, he says in verse 7 and 8, is a dreadful beast. So in other words, there's nothing like it. There's nothing like it. So whereas he kind of probably understood what a lion was like, or a bear might have been like, or even a leopard might have been like, this is a dreadful beast. Nothing like it had iron teeth and even 10 horns. And of course, we know that there's also another little horn that springs up and gets rid of those three. And all of this is supposed to take place until the judgment of that little horn and the kingdom of the Son of Man is actually set up. So already, just from our perspective, we kind of know what this vision's all about. It's giving us a panorama of time from the time of Daniel all the way up until the time of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ, even in this world. But he didn't fully grasp all of this. And so beginning in verse 15, we find Daniel's vision interpreted to Daniel by an angel. So we're going to read verses 15 through the end of the chapter. Starting there in verse 15, I, Daniel, he says, was grieved in my spirit, in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. Imagine that. I came near unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kingdoms which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. So that's really the basic summary of all of what we just read. There's gonna be four kings, four kingdoms, they'll arise, but ultimately, the saints of the Most High, God's people, will take the kingdom, and the Lord Himself will reign in that kingdom forever and ever. So, that's really the summation of all that we just read. But, of course, Daniel, like us, are very inquisitive, we wanna know more, so verse 19, then I would know the truth of the fourth beast. which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass, so more detail was given to us, which devoured, break in pieces, and stamp the residue with his feet, and of the ten horns which were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell, even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the ancients of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." So obviously there was more to this vision. He was explaining more of what he saw, and now comes the interpretation, the explanation of that fourth beast. Verse 23, thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall rise after them. And he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand, until a time, and times, and the dividing of time." Or in Revelation's term, the half a time. So there we have that phrase again, that time signature. Until a time, and times, and the dividing of time. But then, of course, we have the victory of the Lord. Verse 26, But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey him. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, My cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me, but I kept the matter in my heart." So, of course, with this vision, with this dream, we have the interpretation, right? So in verses 17 and 18, Daniel learns that these four beasts represent what? kings and their kingdoms. So both kings and kingdoms are included here in this vision of these four beasts. And it's pretty clear from our standpoint from, you know, looking back into history, what these kingdoms were. In fact, these kingdoms in Daniel 7, in his dream, they closely align with the dream of Nebuchadnezzar all the way back in chapter 2. And if you remember, he had that vision of a, or a dream of that image that, you know, they had the head of gold and the shoulders of silver and the five, body and thighs of brass, and then of course the legs of iron, and then feet mixed with iron and clay. So, it very closely aligns with the interpretation of chapter 2 as well. So, that's why a lot of times when you're looking at Daniel 7, you can look at Daniel 2 and understand what really these kingdoms are. Of course, we know that the first beast from history refers to King Nebuchadnezzar and the empire of Great Babylon. Of course, in places like Jeremiah 4-7, Babylon is actually described as a lion. And of course, we also know that Babylon becomes a symbol for the world against God, which we're going to find not only in the New Testament, but especially in Revelation. In Daniel 7-4, It even describes the experience of Nebuchadnezzar himself. He is the great king of this kingdom, whose wings of pride were plucked off. And that is also something that we learn about in Daniel 4. Remember where he actually becomes like a beast for a period of time. So the first beast refers to the kingdom and the empire of Babylon. The second beast refers to the empire of the Medes and Persians. And again, this is looking back on history and looking back at what took place during the times of the Medes and Persians. The three ribs would refer to three significant conquests by the Medes and Persians. They would be the conquest both north and south and even east. And so, again, most Bible interpreters, looking through the lens of history, can say that these, or this beast, these are the Medes and Persians that came across. And, of course, we know from the Bible that there was a special queen that lived during the time of the Medes and Persians. That was Queen Esther, of course. And she was queen to one of the more significant of the kings. The third beast would refer to the empire of Greece, and even to Alexander the Great, whose empire was eventually, after his sudden death, split into four kingdoms. And of course, that would then lead to the fourth beast, which, in history, represents the empire of Rome with its strong iron teeth. But then, only after Daniel inquires does he get more detailed information about this fourth beast, because it was a troubling scene for him. I mean, he probably understood a little bit already about the first empire. Remember, he's already interpreted the dream for Nebuchadnezzar. So he probably kind of got the idea of these different things. But this fourth beast really troubled him. And so he's asking more information. But the interpretation of this fourth beast actually zooms in on that another little horn that comes up after the first ten horns. So obviously the horn represents somebody. Not just something, not just some place, but somebody. And this horn, when he comes to power, will subdue three kings, and then will ally itself with the other seven. So we're talking about a king in this kingdom, which we would say is the former kingdom or empire of Rome, and yet continues on through many of the same nation states that exist today. Many of them have always aspired to have that Roman empire restored. But the focus again is on this other little horn. And if you jump all the way down to verse 25, look at what this horn is going to be like. Look at what this horn will be like. And of course, he heard some of this already, but in verse 25, it says that this horn, he, it's an individual, shall speak. Great words against the Most High. The Most High, of course, is God, the true and living God who lives in heaven. And He will speak great words against God and shall wear out the saints of the Most High. The saints are those who are faithful to the Lord, those who are believers, true believers in the Lord, both Old Testament and in the New Testament. And he will think to change times and laws. And if you remember when we went through Daniel 7 a few years ago, we learned a little bit about that as well. And he says, they shall be given into his hand. And it's referring to the saints of the most high. They shall be given unto his hand until, and here's that time signature, a time and times and the dividing of time or half a time. So what is this little horn going to do? He's gonna profane the one true God. He's going to commit blasphemy against the Lord. He will persecute the people of God in great and severe ways, even to wear out the saints, right? You know, in our one car, we did get our car back, I think you probably have seen that already, but in our other car, eventually I'm gonna have to probably replace the brakes, but why do we have to replace things, whether it's brakes or any other thing that we have in our lives? It's because they tend to wear out, don't they? to wear out. And, of course, we know that the wearing out, especially brake pads, is because of the friction that those brake pads are causing against the rotors of those wheels in order to actually stop your vehicle. Well, that's sort of the same picture here of this little horn is going to wear out the saints of the Most High. He's going to wear them down. He's going to wear them down through pressure and through friction. through what we would say is persecution. Another thing he's going to do, he's going to try to promote himself as God. So he's gonna profane God, he's gonna persecute the people of God, he's gonna try to promote himself as God, that is, verse 25, he's gonna think to change times and laws. So who is the one who actually makes natural law? It is God. The God who made this world can actually sustain this world and governs this world according to His own laws. But who is able to change those laws? I mean, just think about Congress here. I was telling Angie with this big, beautiful bill that's been described that just recently passed and was signed into law on the 4th. I was kind of curious about some of the details, and so I was kind of reading through some of the text of the law. I know probably nobody else in the world does that, not even the Congress people, but I did. I was reading through some of those things, and I said to Angie, I said, it's really confusing because it doesn't just give you text. It says, it refers to all of these other laws in the past. And it says, strike this, add this, modify this. And so basically you have to go back to the old law to change what that old law was in order to make it align with this new law. Really convoluted, really confusing. I don't, very glad God didn't call me into politics for that reason. Not the only reason. But if you think about it, the only people that can change, the only people that have the authority to change the law are the very ones who made the law. And that's the same with God. God made these laws. He can change these laws. And sometimes in the Bible, doesn't God change natural law from time to time? You know, when you talk about the shadow of the sundial going back, was it a half hour, if I remember correctly, or an hour? I forget exactly what it was. Or Joshua's longest day, where Joshua asked and prayed to God to help them win in their battle. And God caused the sun and the moon and really all of natural law to cease and to pause for an entire day. says there's no day like it, before or since. So the only one who can change law is the one who makes the law, and here we have someone who's trying to promote himself as God, thinking to change times and laws. He's going to attempt to do so, but ultimately, he's not the one who can do so. He has a lot of power, but he really cannot do what he thinks he does. If he tries to do it, it's more probably of a deception, or an apparent change. And, of course, we also see that this same little horn is going to persist in that power, but only for a limited amount of time. So this wearing down of saints, this blasphemy, though certainly it could have happened before this time, it really comes out in this time, times, and dividing the time. So, yes, it's going to be strong, it's going to be severe, but it's limited. It's limited. Now, it's interesting because this verse, in verse 25, is is, even though it's a summary, it's almost identical to how the beast, the beast of the sea, will actually be described later in Revelation 13. You don't need to turn there, but you can look at it here on the screen. Revelation 13, 5 through 7, I think I have all of it up there. But I want you to compare what Daniel is told here in chapter 7, verse 25, with this beast that we're going to learn about in chapter 13. Revelation 13, 5. And there was given unto him this beast that rose out of the sea, a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. That's almost a repetition or reiteration of verse 25, and he shall speak great words against the most hot. That is what blasphemy is, speaking against the most hot, if you look at verse 25. And also, in uh, continue on in revelation and power was given to him to continue 40 and two months. Now we know that 42 months is a period of three and a half years, right? We can just calculate that out. And as we'll see in a little bit, this time times and the dividing of time is a similar time signature for a similar time period of three and a half years. If you go on into verse 6, "...and he opened his mouth and blasphemed against God." Again, there's more information there. "...to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints." To war with the saints. And there's a cross-reference again here with chapter 7, verse 25. If you look at that again, he's going to wear out the saints of the Most High. So here we have, again, this beast from the sea given to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. So there's a lot of overlap, a lot of similarities between what we find here in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13. And we'll see even more similarities when we get to chapter 13 of Revelation. But from the book of Daniel itself, we can learn how long this time that is given to this piece and of course even though in daniel seven it is not only described as a uh... another little horn. He actually is described as a beast in verse 11. I beheld even till the beast was slain. So even the terminology that is used to describe this man, this blasphemer against God, who you would call the man of sin or even the Antichrist, he is the one that is also referenced in Revelation 13. But we can learn from Daniel how long a time is. that we find in this chapter. In fact, if you go back to chapter 4 in Daniel, Daniel chapter 4, just a couple pages back, and you'll get verse 16. And this is actually referenced in this scene in Daniel 7, in Daniel's dream. Remember, Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up in pride. He said, look at what I did in this great big old kingdom of Babylon. And God said, you know, I'm going to take this kingdom away from you. And if you look at verse 16, it says, let his heart be changed from a man's heart and let a beast's heart be given unto him and let seven times pass over him. Let seven times passed over him. Now, most interpret seven times to be seven years. Now, it may be something else besides a year. It might be a little longer or even shorter than a year, but it wasn't decades, okay? We're not talking 70 years. We're talking about a smaller period of time, more than likely years. Most would see it as years. But these seven times would be used for seven years, which is really how long King Nebuchadnezzar lived like a beast in the field because of his pride. And after those times were up, his heart was restored. He came out of the field. He had his kingdom given back to him. So when we come back to chapter seven, Daniel chapter seven, this time, verse 25, this time and times and the dividing of time. So if a time is one year, right, that's where we get one year times would be plural. So there's another two years. And then the dividing of time is, half of the time, which is a half a year. So that's where we get the three and a half years with this time, times, and time and a half. And really, I don't think there's any reason to see this in a symbolic way. I think the times that are given, the seven times that are given to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter four was a literal period of time. And after that period of time was over, he was restored to his kingdom. Again, whether it was exactly a year or our years, 360 years, I don't know exactly how the Babylonians did their time period. But there were three significant periods of time, three and a half, and it was in a literal sense here. But that is what we find here in Daniel 7, verse 25. this three and a half year period of time described as a time and times and a dividing of time. Now, that same period of time is referred to again in Daniel. And so let's go now forward to Daniel chapter 12. Daniel chapter 12. Of course, this is the very last chapter of the book, and it's sort of left hanging. It's definitely left hanging to Daniel, and it's kind of left hanging to us as we go through our Bible reading, but those, a lot of the things in Daniel 12 are actually resolved for us later on in Revelation. But in Daniel chapter 12, he's told by an angel, there in verse 1, of a time of trouble. time of trouble and this time of trouble will actually lead up to the rescue which is going to come in there in verse 1 even the resurrection and even the reward for God's people and actually you can see the rescue of God's people in verse 1 the resurrection of God's people and others in in verse 2 and even the reward for God's people there in verse 3 so picking up there in chapter 12 verse 1 and it at that time and This follows some of the events that are described in chapter 11. But at that time shall Michael, we've heard him already in Revelation 12, at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince, which standeth for the children of thy people. And there shall be a time of trouble. such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. And at that time, thy people shall be delivered. Every one that there shall be found written in the book. And of course, we have again, rescue there. And then, of course, we have resurrection. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's all going to happen at the same time, though some see it that way. There can be gaps in some of these prophecies. But then, of course, we have the reward of God's people. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. In other words, they're going to be glorified. And God is going to glorify them in a special way. We're going to jump down to verse 5 now because, of course, in verse 4 he's just kind of questioning, or he's being told to seal all this up, right? But then he's told in verse 5, So, not only do we have one sort of angel telling him about these things, now he's looking and he sees two others. on one on this side of the bank and of the river and on the other side of the bank of the river and so these two are now talking back to each other and one said to the man clothed in linen which was upon the waters of the river how long shall it be to the end of these wonders and the wonders that are being described there are the time of trouble which will then lead of course to the the time of rescue and resurrection and reward for God's people uh... what shall be or how long shall it be to the end of these wonders And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a half, or a half time, or a divide and a time, same principle. And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And the he that is referenced there, is another one of those Antichrist figures that we find in chapter 11, verse 26. So, again, we have this time signature given to us. Twice in Daniel, but only one time in Revelation. Now, how does all of this relate to what we find in Revelation? Well, we're going to look at Daniel's vision remembered. So, in the book of Daniel, the time times and half or dividing of time refers to a three-and-a-half year period of great trouble and persecution for God's people. I think that's pretty clear. We see that in chapter 7 and in chapter 12. It is a three-and-a-half year period of time or time times dividing of time of great trouble and persecution for God's people and it will be at the hands of a wicked beast Doesn't that sound familiar to us? In Daniel 7, that beast is not only called a beast, he's called that little horn. And then in Daniel 11 and 12, he's actually called a king. So he's sort of going to be the leader of this kingdom at that time. This also corresponds with the beast of the sea that we meet in Revelation 12, or Revelation 13. who, according to what we find in Revelation 13, has power to continue 42 months. So again, if you look at that on your guide, in Daniel 7.25, the three and a half times of the little horn refers to a three and a half year period of persecution, which is also the 42 months of the beast in Revelation. So the 42 months of persecution in Revelation would be included in this time, times, and half a time of great persecution that we find in both Daniel and Revelation. So keep that in mind. So when we're talking about this time, times, time and a half in both Daniel and Revelation, it is the equivalent of the 42 months of persecution by the beast in Revelation 13. However, that same time period in Revelation 12-14, which is what we've been looking at for the last couple of weeks, refers also to a three and a half year period of preservation and care for God's people. Now, go back with me. Hopefully you kept something there in Revelation 12. Go back there with me. Revelation 12. Because when we're talking about this three and a half year period of preservation of that woman, right? Remember that woman being preserved and cared for by God in the wilderness? In that chapter, In Revelation 12, that corresponds with also the 1,260 days of preservation for that woman. Remember, verse 6 of chapter 12 and verse 14 of chapter 12 are really describing the same thing in the same terms. So not only do we have this time times time and a half referring to 42 months of persecution, this time times time and a half is also referring to 1,260 days of preservation by God. And that also points us back to chapter 11, verse 3, when we have 1,260 days of preservation for the two witnesses. So the 1,260 days of preservation are also included in the time, times, and half a time that we find here in chapter 12, verse 14. So what does this time, times, and half a time in chapter 12, verse 14 do for us? I believe it connects the 42 months and the 1,260 days together as the time of the beast. That is, they're the equivalent. There's a reason why I think there's only one of this phrase in Revelation. It's the key that joins all of the other times together to show us that they're all talking about the same period of time. We've referenced this before, but we never actually got to look at this particular phrase in detail and how we find it in the book of Revelation. So even though this will be a time of unprecedented physical persecution for God's people, and we know that, right? It may even lead to the death of many of the individual members of God's people. I mean, you're going to see that in chapter 13. You're going to see that in other places of Revelation. It, at the same time, will be the time of spiritual preservation for God's people as a whole, represented by this woman. In other words, though He can kill members, He cannot kill the body. He cannot kill the woman. He cannot kill all of God's people. He cannot destroy them. He cannot destroy them in a spiritual way or in a way that is in an entire way. And that's going to take place for a period of time. And again, we mentioned that some people see this symbolically as the whole age of the church or as just a specific time of intense tribulation just before the coming of Christ. But when the beast's dominion is finally taken away, then That preservation will continue, but the persecution will cease. I like how Charles Erdman once put it. He describes how all of God's people, we could even say the two witnesses of chapter 11 and even those who are members here of the woman in chapter 12, they are delivered not necessarily from martyrdom and death, but they are delivered, sometimes through martyrdom and death, to a glorious resurrection. So even those who are killed by the beast are still preserved. Again, we talk about spiritual preservation, not necessarily physical preservation in this time. But one day, that physical preservation will also last for eternity, because there is a resurrection. We don't have to worry about that either. So we can see how all five of the references that we have in Revelation to this three and a half year period of time really all point to the same period of time. That's sort of the thrust of looking at these verses. We're not finding necessarily a seven year span in Revelation. doesn't mean that there's not a seven-year span. I'm just saying you don't find it necessarily in Revelation. This is confirmed by interpreters with all kinds of different understandings of Revelation. There are those who really take a lot of Revelation as symbolic, and we mentioned them. They're called amillennialists. Tom Schreiner, who I think now considers himself to be an amillennialist, when you read his material, a lot of times he kind of goes from one to the other. And that's OK. Because I think the more you study, sometimes you let the Lord convince you of things that maybe you didn't have a good view of before. But he says, the church is both protected by God and also suffering during the same interval. Now, he sees that this three and a half year period of time is symbolic, that covers the age of the church, which I don't necessarily see, but he still agrees that the church is both protected by God, preservation, and also suffering, persecuted, during the same interval. And the key is that time times and half a time. It relates and connects all of the other time periods. Grant Osborne, who is a classic premillennialist, kind of more, I guess, aligned with his understanding of this, he describes it how the 42 months is just one of three ways that the three and a half years of Daniel are expressed. So what are the other two? You've got 42 months, you've got 1,260 days, and then you've got the time, times, and half a time. So he, again, sees all three of these referring to the same period of time. Robert Thomas, who is a dispensational premillennialist, he describes it as well. He says, all three ways of designating the period are talking about the same span. So whether it's months or days or times, He sees them all describing the same span. And then he adds, this period of protective care for the woman, preservation, will also be the future period of the false Christ's raging, which is persecution. So what do we have going on in these time periods? And I think this is the thrust, all right, is that even through persecution, God will preserve his people. Even through physical persecution, God will spiritually preserve his people. And sometimes that spiritual preservation will be a physical preservation as well. Look at those two witnesses, right? Not only were their witnesses, their witnessing preserved, that is, not only were they saying the truth about God and they were preserved from error and falling away from God, but they were preserved until it was time for them to be killed. So for 1,260 days, God preserved them physically and spiritually until it was time for the beast to slay them, and their witness was over. And I think that can be multiplied to all of God's people that might be living during this three and a half span year of time, is that your work for God is not ended until he calls you home. And that's something that we need to remember. So the focus of this period, however way it's put, is that great tribulation which we find referred to all the way back in chapter 7 verse 14. Again, it's a period of physical persecution and spiritual preservation of God's people. And you see this in chapter 7. You see this in chapter 11. You see this here in chapter 12. And I think you'll see it again in chapter 13 as well. Now, again, there are times where people will designate the judgments of the seals and the trumpets and the bulls as the Great Tribulation, but they try to cram a lot into this shorter period of time. But I think that really the three-and-a-half years, however way it's put, is really describing this significant period of persecution of believers while God is preserving them in a spiritual way to reserve them for his purpose and his plan. So what we find in Revelation, the Great Tribulation is used only for believers and will last for this three and a half year period of time, whether you see it in a literal way, which I do, or even a symbolic way. Though God's people will experience intense persecution, and I think that's really the focus here of chapter 12 especially, there's gonna be a period of intense persecution, nevertheless, in the end, they will all be preserved by the Lord. And that's why I title our lesson Persecution and preservation. Persecution and preservation. Now, there's only one more time. We've already looked at this three-and-a-half-year period of time in Chapter 11 and in Chapter 12. There's only one more time where we find this three-and-a-half-year period of time, and that's in Chapter 13, and that deals with the beast, who we learned about already in Chapter 7. And so I think that when we're talking about this period of God's care for this woman, It is something that will last for as long as his people have a purpose in this world. Persecution and preservation. So we didn't really cover a lot of new ground, but hopefully some of that might help us understand a little bit more why these different times are being put this way. Dear Holy Father, we thank you again that even in times of great persecution, we can rest in the fact that you will preserve your people to the very end. May that be our comfort in the times of trial and trouble that we go through. Jesus name, Amen.