Genealogy of the gap
The idea of a gap in the 70 weeks, or in the period between the earthly ministry of Jesus and the start of the time, times and a half, has been nurtured for centuries by scholars who embraced the year-day theory. 1260 days is the duration of the ministry of the two witnesses of Revelation 11, and the period for which the woman in Revelation 12, who represents the church, flees to the wilderness. The idea of a gap prior to the 1260 days was adopted by futurists and incorporated into dispensationalism, whose gap surpasses every historicist gap.
An interpretation that invokes a gap in the 70 weeks of Daniel is flawed, as there are no gaps in time. The time, times and a half, and the 1,260 days, and other related periods signify, not a certain number of earth-years or earth-days, but those numbers are symbolic of the age of the church, which is the heavenly city, a city not made with hands, and so is spiritual in nature. It remains forever. How could earthly units of days, and months, and years apply to it?
The time, times and a half of Daniel and Revelation and the 1260 days represent the last half of the “week” in which Christ confirms his covenant with his saints, or a portion thereof. The period is one half of “seven times,” and completes the week of Daniel 9:27, the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy. The first half-week of the 70th week is the earthly ministry of Jesus. There is no “gap” in the 70th week, because it is the week in which Jesus confirms the covenant with many. He promised his disciples, “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” [Matthew 28:20] Jesus continues his ministry of confirming the covenant throughout the church age.
Misunderstanding the “times and laws,” including the prophetic times is characteristic of the little horn of Daniel 7, which was to destined wear out the saints of the most High. [Daniel 7:25]
The opinions of more than 100 authors on the significance of the prophetic 3 ½ years, 1260 days, and the time, times and a half, are summarized in the table below. The names are ordered by the middle column, which is the size of the “gap” that is invoked in the interpretation; that is, the period of time invoked from 30 AD, taken as the date of the crucifixion of Jesus, and the beginning of the 1260 days of Revelation 12:6 and 14, sometimes interpreted by the year-day theory as 1260 years, and sometimes taken as literal days.
| Author | Gap | Proposed Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) | 20 years | 50-64 |
| James Stuart Russell (1816-1895) Robert Young (1822-1888) Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. (1950- ) |
37 | 67-70 |
| Henry Hammond (1605-1660) | 102 | 132-136 |
| Walter Brute c. 1391 | 104 | 134-1394 |
| B. H. Carroll (1843-1914) | 220 | 250-1510 |
| Dr. H. More (1614-1687) | 227 | 257-1517 |
| Peter Artopaeus (1505-1574) | 230 | 260-1520 |
| Johannes Cocceius (1603-1669) | 262 | 292-1522 |
| John Napier (1550-1617) | 270 | 300-1560 |
| Thomas Brightman (1562-1607) | 274 | 304-1546 |
| James Brocard (b. 1563) | 283 | 313-1573 |
| John Napier (1550-1617) | 286 | 316-1576 |
| Michael Servetus (1509-1553) | 295 | 325-1585 |
| Johann Heinrich Alsted (1588-1638) | 332 | 362-1622 |
| Joseph Mede (1586-1639) | 346 | 376-1636 |
| James Macknight (1721-1800) | 349 | 379-1639 |
| Thomas Parker (1595-1677) | 359 | 389-1649 |
| Ephraim Heut Edmund Hall |
360 | 390-1650 |
| Samuel Hartlib (1600-1662) John Cotton (1585-1652) |
365 | 395-1655 |
| Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680) | 376 | 406-1666 |
| E. R. Leorinus | 380 | 410-1670 |
| David Chytraeus (1530-1600) | 382 | 412-1672 |
| William Alleine (1614-1677) | 396 | 426-1686 |
| Joseph Hussey | 397 | 427-1687 |
| Hanserd Knollys (1599-1691) | 398 | 428-1688 |
| Pierre Du Moulin (1568-1658) | 399 | 429-1689 |
| Thomas Beverley | 407 | 437-1697 |
| Pierre Jurieu (1637-1713) | 420 | 450-1710 |
| William Whiston (1667-1752) | 425 | 455-1715 |
| Mitchell | 425 | 455-1697 |
| Joseph Mede (1586-1638) William Whiston (1667-1752) Charles Daubuz (1673-1717) |
446 | 476-1736 |
| James Bicheno (1752– 1831) Edward Bishop Elliott (1793-1875) John Bayford |
499 | 529-1789 |
| B. D. Bogie | 500 | 530-1790 |
| James Hartley Frere (1779-1866) William Cunninghame (1776-1849) |
502 | 532-1792 |
| Archibald Mason (1753-1831) Charles David Maitland (1785-1865) Edward Cooper (1770-1833) George Croly (1780-1860) James Hartley Frere (1779-1866) |
503 | 533-1792 |
| Bishop Thomas Newton (1704-1782) Matthew Habershon (1789-1852) Alexander Keith (1791-1880) Edward Irving (1792-1834) Albert Barnes (1798-1870) Edward Bickersteth (1814–1892) Henry Grattan Guinness (1835-1910) Sylvester Bliss (1814-1863) |
503 | 533-1793 |
| Michael Paget Baxter (1834-1910) | 507 | 537-1797 |
| David Simpson (1745-1799) William Miller (1782-1849) Uriah Smith (1832-1903) |
508 | 538-1798 |
| Sharpe | 510 | 540-1800 |
| William Ettrick (1757-1847) | 518 | 548-1808 |
| Robert Fleming (c. 1660-1716) | 522 | 552-1794 |
| Roderick C. Meredith (1930- ) | 524 | 554-1814 |
| Matthew Habershon (1789-1852) John Aquila Brown (c. 1827) J. Fry (1775-1849) |
554 | 584-1844 |
| Joseph Wolf (1795-1862) | 557 | 587-1847 |
| George Stanley Faber (1773-1854) | 574 | 604-1864 |
| Drue Cressener (1642-1718) Joel Mann (1789-1844) |
576 | 606-1848 |
| Robert Fleming (c. 1660-1716) | 576 | 606-1848 606-1884 |
| Joseph Galloway (1731-1803) | 576 | 606-1849 |
| Thomas Parker (1595-1677) | 576 | c: 600-1859 |
| Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) Matthias Flacius (1520-1575) David Pareus (1548-1622) William Whiston (1667-1752) John Gill (1697-1771) John Mayer (c. 1627) Bishop Thomas Newton (1704-1782) Joseph Galloway (1731-1803) David Simpson (1745-1799) Henry Gauntlett (1762-1833) George Stanley Faber (1773-1854) Edward Bishop Elliott (1793-1875) Albert Barnes (1798-1870) Henry Grattan Guinness (1835-1910) |
576 | 606-1866 |
| William Hales (1747-1831) | 590 | 620-1880 |
| John Chappel Woodhouse (1749-1833) | 592 | 622-1882 |
| Edward Wells (1667-1727) | 600 | 630-1890 |
| Philipp Melancthon (1497-1560) | 630 | 660-2000 |
| David Simpson (1745-1799) | 636 | 666-1926 |
| Bishop Thomas Newton (1704-1782) Frederick Fysh (d. 1867) |
697 | 727-1987 |
| Albert Barnes (1798-1870) | 722 | 752-2012 |
| Dr. John Smith | 725 | 755-2015 |
| Alexander Fraser (1749-1802) | 726 | 756-1998 |
| Bryce Johnston (1747-1805) | 726 | 756-1999 |
| Moses Lowman (1679-1752) David Simpson (1745-1799) |
726 | 756-2016 |
| Alexander Pirie (c. 1794) | 727 | 757-2017 |
| Robert Fleming (c. 1660-1716) | 728 | 758-2000 |
| Isaac Newton (1642-1727) | 770 | 800-2060 |
| Johan Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752) | 834 | 864-1521 |
| 1028 | 1058-1836 | |
| John Wesley (1703-1791) | 1028 | 1058-1836 |
| Albert Barnes (1798-1870) | 1043 | 1073-2333 |
| J. J. Brachmair | 1120 | 1150-1500 |
| Keith | 1168 | 1198-2450 |
| Hans Hut (c. 1490-1527) | 1495 | 1525-1528 |
| Melchior Hoffman (1495-1544) | 1496 | 1526-1530 |
| Lodowicke Muggleton (1609-1698) | 1622 | 1652-1658 |
| Robert Baxter Edward Irving (1792-1834) |
1802 | 1832-1835 |
| Michael Paget Baxter (1834-1910) | 1837 | 1867-1871 |
| Joseph Franklin “Judge” Rutherford (1856-1942) | 1884 | 1914-1918 |
| Florence Houteff | 1925 | 1955-1959 |
| Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986) | 1942 | 1972-1975 |
| Ronald Weinland (1949- ) | 1975 | 2008-2012 |
| Herbert L. Peters (1946-2007) | 1977 | 2010-2014 |
Related articles
- The 1,260 days and the ever-widening gap (creationconcept.wordpress.com)
- Herbert L. Peters and the 3 ½ years (creationconcept.wordpress.com)
- Interpreting the 3 ½ years of prophecy (creationconcept.wordpress.com)
- On the seven times and 1,260 days (creationconcept.wordpress.com)
- Wordsworth on the 1260 days (creationconcept.wordpress.com)
- The little horn and the eagle’s wings compared (creationconcept.wordpress.com)
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