In this study I am going to show you the meaning of the three and a half years spoken of throughout the Bible.
These three and a half years are also referred to as a time – times and half a time, forty-two months and as one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
These are all about the same period of time.
Dividing forty-two months by twelve months per year, equals to three and a half years.
42 / 12 = 3½
With the one thousand two hundred and sixty days, we must consider the Jewish calendar.
A month in the Jewish calendar consists of thirty days.
Dividing one thousand two hundred and sixty by those thirty days, results in forty-two months, and we had just seen that forty-two months is the same as three and a half years.
1260 / 30 = 42
Throughout the Bible we come across numbers and dates.
In the story of Noah and the flood, for example, dates are also mentioned without mentioning a year.
If you want to know the meaning of those dates, by the way, check out the study about Noah after this study.
I always wondered about the meaning of those numbers and dates.
They had to have meaning, because I could not believe that God had given us a book in which He had just put some extra info just to make the book seem a little thicker and more mysterious and interesting.
As my relationship with God’s Spirit deepened and I came to know Him better, I also began to hear and understand His voice better.
He showed me that Bible is not a difficult book at all, but that it always shows the same thing from different perspectives.
For this God used natural, visible objects and events so that we could come to understand the spiritual, the invisible.
The Bible tells of God’s inexhaustible love for you.
You are His child, born of Him, in His image and His likeness.
We have lost that identity, however, by not fully believing what He says.
We have interpreted His Words with earthly wisdom, turning God in our minds into a punishing, all-destroying God.
God wants to teach us to start seeing with spiritual eyes and listening with spiritual ears so that we learn to understand His voice.
If we do not understand His voice properly, we ourselves interpret what He has said.
Then we start thinking, for example, that He is saying that you get a free ticket to heaven when you believe that Jesus died and rose, and that the purpose of your life is to live as well as you can.
Don’t get me wrong, Jesus did die and rise.
1 John 2:2 (ESV)
He is the propitiation for our sins,
and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Faith in Jesus is not a free ticket to heaven; Jesus shows us the way to the Father.
That way is perfect love.
When we follow Jesus on that path of love we get to know ourselves.
Jesus shows us who the Father is and who the Son is.
In this we find our identity.
For we cannot be separated from Him.
We have no identity without Him.
You are because I AM, God says.
Following Jesus on the way to the glory of the Father is a process.
We then go….
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)
….from glory to glory,
just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
This process is described throughout the Bible through various stories.
The Bible shows the process of how you become a mature son of God.
The Bible tells you the story of what God is doing within you to bring you to the fullness of sonship.
It shows how you as a child in God’s kingdom grow up to become a mature son who can inherit all that Jesus also inherited.
Galatians 4:1-7 (NKJV)
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave,
though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards
until the time appointed by the father.
What that time is, we will come back to in a moment.
To understand the meaning of three and a half years, however, we must first have a good understanding of a few other things.
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son,
to redeem those who were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying out, “Abba, Father!”
Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son!
And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Adoption as sons, as it is translated here, is not about adoption as we know it today.
The Greek Word used here in the root text is the word υιοθεσια (huiothesia).
This word speaks of a child who has reached maturity.
Notice in the text the difference between the word child and the word son.
This shows the difference between a child and an adult.
The word for child in this text is the Greek νηπιος (nepios).
The word for son here is υιος (huios).
The adoption as sons is the child who has become an adult.
υιοθεσια (huiothesia) is the νηπιος (nepios) who has become a υιος (huios).
This υιος (huios) is the son who has found his true identity.
He no longer lives by “doing to become,” but by the love of God who says “you are because I AM.
God calls this overcoming.
We are then more than overcomers. (Romans 8:37)
And God promises us:
Revelation 21:7 (NKJV)
He who overcomes shall inherit all things,
and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
Galatians 4 thus shows the process of your growth….
Ephesians 4:13-16 (NAS)
…. to a mature man,
to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
As a result, we are no longer to be children,
tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.
These winds of doctrine are human interpretations of what God says.
The Word of God is then interpreted with earthly wisdom causing us not to grow, but to remain an infant child.
When we, however, have ears to hear what the Spirit says, we will grow into spiritual maturity.
This spiritual maturity is the fullness of Christ.
Now we are already getting much closer to the meaning of the three and a half years, one thousand two hundred and sixty days and forty-two months.
The number that represents the fullness of Christ is the number seven.
You see this reflected throughout the Bible.
In the book of Revelation alone, the number sevscurs no less than 59 times.
For example, it talks about seven churches depicted in seven lampstands (Rev. 1:20), about seven seals (Rev. 5:1), seven angels and seven trumpets (Rev. 8:2) and seven Spirits of God.
But also in the rest of the Bible you come across the number seven frequently where it always shows the fullness, the completion, the perfection of something.
As a mature son of God, having come to the fullness of Christ, we are the light of the world.
As a mature son of God, you have insight into what God says and into who you are.
Light in Scripture is an image of insight.
White light in turn consists of seven colors, namely red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
These are the colors of the rainbow.
God first placed this rainbow in the sky at the time of Noah as a sign of His covenant between Him and the earth.
At creation you see the number seven for the first time.
Heaven and earth were made in six days and on the seventh day God rested.
Herein we find the origin of the Sabbath rest.
The word שׁבת shabbath derives also from the word שׁבע sheva, the Hebrew word for seven.
In each day of creation we see the growth toward fullness, completion.
This growth also applies to man and also consists of seven.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
In the fullness of Christ, you are a new creation, a new heaven and a new earth.
This new creation did not come about at random; it follows the same principle of seven as in the creation described in Genesis 1.
This growth from child to adult son, from old creation to new creation, can only happen when Jesus Christ is revealed to us.
For by this we come to know God (John 14:9) and we come to know ourselves (1 John 4:17).
Through the revelation of Jesus Christ, we gain full insight into our true identity and grow into the fullness of Christ.
You are then a new creation.
How you grow from zero to seven as a new creation is shown very beautifully in the book of Revelation.
This book therefore begins with…
Revelation 1:1 (NKJV)
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
Throughout the book of Revelation, Jesus Christ is revealed to you so that you find your true identity and grow into a new creation.
Therefore, everything described in that book does not happen somewhere around you, but within you.
Consequently, at the end of the book, in chapter 21, you can read that this new creation has come about.
Revelation 21:1 (NKJV)
I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
The old man has passed away and the new man has come to completeness.
Therefore, in chapters 21 and 22 of Revelation, when you read these chapters with spiritual eyes, you read about the rest of God.
So in these chapters we have arrived at seven again.
In this video we are not looking for the number seven, but for three and a half.
However, these numbers have everything to do with each other.
Three and a half is half of seven.
They are both part of the same process.
Seven shows the completion of something.
In the example of the book of Revelation, it is the completion of you as a new creation.
Three and a half shows a turning point in the middle of that process.
So it is no coincidence that three and a half is spoken of exactly in the middle of the book of Revelation.
As with the number seven, three and a half is not about literally three and a half days or three and a half years.
It shows a part of the whole process.
We had previously read Galatians 4 which also talks about the growth from old creation to new creation.
Galatians 4:1-7 (NKJV)
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave,
though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards
until the time appointed by the father.
The child in this text are all people who have ever been, or are yet to be born.
Everyone is a child of God!
Everyone is therefore heir and master of all, but he receives it only when he is mature.
You receive your inheritance only when you have come to the fullness.
THAT is the time appointed by the Father.
It is not a specific date, it is the number seven; the fullness of the whole process.
Three and a half is the middle of that process
but it is also the first half of that process
or the second half of that process
I will show you this from chapters 11, 12 and 13, the middle of the book of Revelation.
In chapter 11, the number three and a half is mentioned several times and not only as three and a half but also as forty-two months and one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Remember well that everything described here happens within you.
In verse 3 we read of two witnesses prophesying one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Revelation 11:3 (NKJV)
And I will give my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
These two witnesses are the Word of God and His Spirit within you who give you insight into the Truth of what God says so that you can grow.
In verse 13 we read that a great earthquake takes place.
Revelation 11:13 (NKJV)
In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.
This earthquake so shakes the old heavens and the old earth so that they will fall and the new heavens and the new earth can be established.
Because the Bible explains itself by the Spirit, we can find the same wording in other places in the Bible.
One text that clearly reveals the meaning of the earthquake is found in the letter to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 12:26-27 (BSB)
At that time His voice shook the earth,
but now He has promised,
“Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.”
The words “Once more” signify the removal of what can be shake,
that is, created things,
so that the unshakable may remain.
The Word of God shakes you so hard that everything that is not from Him will fall.
This makes room for the new, His Truth.
Something is destroyed first, clearing a place where something new can be born.
Death is destroyed within you so that life can be born and begin to grow within you.
To make this even clearer, God uses the image of pregnancy.
In verse 11 of Revelation 11 we read:
Revelation 11:11 (NAS)
And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them,
and they stood on their feet.
Here we read that there is life after three and a half days.
This life is the son being born within you.
It is the birth of sonship within you.
In verse 12 you can read that this son is taken up into heaven.
In chapter 12 we read exactly the same thing in the fifth verse.
Revelation 12:5 (NAS)
she gave birth to a Son, a male,
who is going to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.
The woman who gives birth to the child is you.
At some point in the process toward fullness, sonship is born within you.
The number of fullness is seven.
So the fullness of time is also seven.
In chapters 11 and 12 we see that the son is born within us and that we are at the halfway point of the fullness of time.
This is indicated here sometimes by three and a half days another time by one thousand two hundred and sixty days and yet another time by forty-two months.
The second half of the fullness of time is needed for sonship to come to fruition.
Then we will have overcome!
And God gives the promise:
Revelation 2:26 (NAS)
The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds until the end,
I will give him authority over all the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron.
Do you see that the Bible says the same thing everywhere and explains itself that way?
Revelation 12:5 (NAS)
she gave birth to a Son, a male,
who is going to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.
Revelation 2:26 (NAS)
The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds until the end,
I will give him authority over all the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron.
The whole Bible is about sonship.
The Bible is only about you, never about anyone else.
The Bible tells you the story of what God is doing inside you to bring you to the fullness of sonship.
The reason the child was caught up to God and to His throne means nothing other than that your life in Christ is hidden in God.
Colossians 3:2-4 (NKJV)
Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died, (you, as the old creation)
and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (you, as the new creation)
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
When Jesus Christ is revealed to you, the process begins from zero to seven, from infant child to adult son, from old creation to new creation.
Then you come to know your true identity.
1 John 4:17 (NKJV)
Because as He is, so are we in this world.
Jesus is the Christ.
But the body of Christ is not complete without you.
Christ (Χριστος) means anointed one.
This is you!
You are anointed with the Holy Spirit of God.
The two witnesses, the Word of God and His Holy Spirit, give you the wisdom and insight to grow in that body of Christ….
Ephesians 4:13-16 (NAS)
…. to a mature man,
to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
As a result, we are no longer to be children,
tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine,
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ.
When we learn to speak the truth in love through the Word of God made known by His Spirit within us, we grow in all things toward our true identity, which is Christ.
From whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part,
According to where you are in the process toward the fullness of Christ.
causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
At some point within that process toward the fullness, the old dies and the new is born.
We just discovered that in Revelation 12:5.
Revelation 12:5 (NAS)
she gave birth to a Son, a male,
who is going to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.
This moment is referred to in Revelation 11 and 12 as three and a half days, one thousand two hundred and sixty days, forty-two months or a time, times and a half.
The first part of three and a half in our process to the fullness is completed.
The old has died and the new has been born.
This new must now begin to grow, which involves the next period of three and a half.
This is therefore explained to us in the next verse, verse 6.
Revelation 12:6 (NKJV)
The woman fled into the wilderness,
where she has a place prepared by God,
that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
The old creation had died and the new creation was established.
This new heaven and new earth is you as a new man, with your identity as the fullness of Christ.
For the old man, the old heaven and the old earth, there was no more place.
Revelation 20:11 (BSB)
Earth and heaven fled from His presence,
and no place was found for them.
For you as a new creation, however, God has prepared a place for you to grow to the fullness.
The way you grow is by eating well.
Revelation 12:6 (NKJV)
The woman fled into the wilderness,
where she has a place prepared by God,
that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
God uses all these natural things to teach you the spiritual.
In that place, prepared by God, under the protection of your Heavenly Father, you are fed with Living Bread.
This Living Bread is the Way that leads to the Father.
It is the Way that leads to fullness.
This Living Bread is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from which you must eat with your ears and your heart so that you can grow into the fullness of Christ.
Jesus therefore says:
John 6:51 (BSB)
I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
A little further on He says:
John 8:12 (BSB)
I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness,
but will have the light of life.
This light is insight, and the bread is wisdom.
If you walk in darkness, you have no insight into that wisdom.
You then do not have the light of life.
That means you don’t have the insight into the wisdom of God that leads to eternal life.
Solomon says it in exactly the same way:
Ecclesiastes 5:17 (NKJV)
All his days he eats in darkness,
And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.
If you eat from the Word of God without understanding, you never come to the fullness of the new creation.
You then never come to the fullness of the rest of God.
Hebrews 4:10 (NKJV)
For he who has entered His rest
has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
God rested on the seventh day, when He finished creation.
If you, however, have not yet come to seven, you are not yet finished as a new creation and have not yet rested from your works.
If you eat food with your ears and your heart other than the Living Bread and if you eat it in darkness, that is, without understanding, you will never grow beyond 666 and never come to the fullness of 777.
Three and a half days, three and a half years, time – times and half a time, forty-two months and one thousand two hundred and sixty days is not something we should expect somewhere in the future outside of us.
It shows the process of how God in His love makes you into who you really are, that is, in His image and after His likeness.
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