Revelation Chapter 12 is often called the most important chapter in the Bible. I totally agree with that statement. Chapters 11 and 12 are the only two places in the entire Bible where the number 1260 can be found. Unfortunately many people believe this number is the same number of days associated with the 42 months mentioned in chapter 11 or with a time, times, and half a time mentioned in verse fourteen. These people believe this lie because they think God uses a thirty day monthly calendar based on a 360 day year, a lie from the pit of hell. In chapter 11 the number is associated with the length of the ministry of the two end-time witnesses. The two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. At the end of their ministry the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war against them and overcome and kill them. These two witnesses have been alive for over two thousand years and they were actual eye-witnesses to the ministry of the Lord Jesus, the very reason they are called the two witnesses. I see their ministry begin in the year 2027 a period of 2,000 Jewish calendar years from the time Jesus began His ministry in 27 CE. Elsewhere the prophet Hosea reminds us "after two days (2,000 years) He will revive us", Hosea 6:2). After these two men finish their 1260 day ministry they will be refused burial for 3.5 days. These two men will be killed at the exact midpoint of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in 2031 AD. Three and one-half days later these two men will be supernaturally resurrected by God while all that see it will be astonished. Their 1260 day ministry will be an exact duplicate (timewise) of their Lords' ministry in regards to fulfillment days on the Jewish calendar. Just as Jesus ascended to heaven about sunset on Friday/Saturday eve on Nisan 21 in 31 AD, the last day of the feast of Unleavened Bread so too will the two witnesses do likewise on the last day of the same feast in the year 2031 (Fri/Sat. March 14th).
In Revelation chapter 12 the woman (symbolic Israel) clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet cried out in labor and pain as she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. This is undoubtedly a reference to the birth of our Lord and Messiah Jesus Christ. The birth of Jesus took place sometime around the year 3 BC. The dragon stood before the woman to devor her child as soon as it was born. Undoubtedly a reference to King Herod when the slaughter of all male infants under two years of age happened in Bethlehem. This places the true time of Herod's death sometime near the beginning of 1 BC. Unfortunately Herods death has erroneously been placed and believed in 4 BC. One important reason to understand the significance of the 1260 days is simply because this was the exact length of Jesus ministry from the day of His baptism in the Jordan River(when He was caught up to the throne of God, Revelation 12:5) until His resurrection on the Feast of First-fruits and the subsequent endpoint of His ministry two days later on Nisan 18 at the exact midpoint of the Feast of Unleaveded Bread. If this was the exact length of the Lord's ministry then we should be able to plug this value into a correctly interpolated Hebrew calendar simulating the arrival of Messiah as expressed in Daniel's 70-weeks prophecy. Unfortunately there are no known ancient Hebrew calendars available from that exact period. However we do live in the information age and astronomical algorithms allow people to build a Hebrew calendar based on the known Luna & solar cycles thereby helping us to understand the unfolding of Bible prophecy in regards to solar and Luna years. The Elijah calendar app is such a tool that has helped me to understand the various measures of time mentioned in the Bible. It is also known that the Hebrews adopted the Babylonian calendar names after they returned to Judah following 70 years of exile. According to Daniel's seventy-weeks prophecy the Messiah was to appear 483 years (solar) from the decree sent forth by King Artaxerxes in 457 BC. However, he was cut off in the middle of the week, (the final seven years of the 490 Hebrew calendar years. According to the gospel of John, the Messiah Jesus was baptised three days before he attended a wedding in Cana in Galilee. By using the new Elijah calendar one can use these vital clues to discern the exact start day of Messiah's ministry and then input the 1260 days into the calendar. By doing this correctly the results show that Jesus was baptised three days before the Feast of Trumpets in 27 AD and He worked his first miricle on the Feast of Trumpets when He and His disciple attended the wedding in Cana in Galilee. It was necessary for Jesus to begin his ministry before the Feast of Trumpets because this was the official start day of the Hebrew civil year when the Kings of Judah began to reign.
The starting point for King Artaxerxes first decree (solar) began on the Feast of Trumpets in 457 BC. However the Jewish day begins at sunset and it would soon be dark. The logical point to begin was the following morning when daylight arose about 6 am. By measuring 483 tropical solar years foward from the morning on the Feast of Trumpets in 457 BC the calculation brings us to the early morning (about 6:00 am) on the 28th day of Elul II (a leap month). Three days later Jesus and some of the disciples would attend the wedding at Cana in Galilee on the Feast of Trumpets. It was here that Jesus worked His first miracle and His disciples believed in him. Daniel 9:26 tells us Messiah would be cut off after three score and two weeks or sixty two weeks. The two decrees sent by King Artaxerxes are the two determing factors for the starting points of both the solar and Luna calendars. As previously mentioned the solar decree went forth at the Feast of Trumpets in 457 BC and the second decree (Luna) went forth with Nehemiah who must have departed Jerusalem on the 24th day of Nisan in 445 BC. Nehemiah's Luna decree departure date was exactly 91 Hebrew calendar years from the 24th day of Nisan in 536 BC when Daniel had his chapter 10 vision of the pre-incarnate man in linen. In the Elijah calendar app one adds exactly 483 Luna years from Nisan 24 in 445 BC and this brings the calculation to November 11th, twelve minutes after midnight. However, the 2,3000 uncounted days of Jerusalem and it's temple's defilement (between 170-164 BC) must now be added to this calculation. Adding exactly 2,300 days brings the calculation to Nisan 21 in the year 31 AD. Nisan 21 was the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was on Nisan 21 that Jesus commissioned the church from Jerusalem and then He ascended to heaven from the mount of Olives.
Between the two measures of time mentioned in chpater twelve (1260 days and 1278 solar days or a time,times, and half a time) the apostle John heard a loud voice in heaven declare "Now is come salvation and strength , and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of out brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Notice that it was Michael the great angel that fought against the dragon when the dragon was cast out from heaven with one third of the angels. This is important because we also recall the statement Jesus made upon the return of the seventy disciples, Jesus said "I beheld Satan as lightening fall from heaven." Undoubtedly this war in heaven transpired while the 'Lord of Host', Jesus, was ministering here on planet Earth.