Does the 42 months in Rev. 11:2b and the 1260 days of Rev. 11:3 equal 3 1/2 years?

My NIV Study Bible, in its notes on Revelation 11:2b-3 says of the 42 months that ”[t]hese are months of 30 days (42 months x 30 days = 1,260 days).” And equates the 42 months in verse 2b with the 1260 days in verse 3, calling both 3 1/2 years

I’ll start off saying that the word of God is infallible, at least to the extent that the translation is accurate, a Bible’s notes or comments are not, and that any human endeavor is fallible.

Someone suggested that I do the math, i.e., that 12 months @ 30 days each equally 360 days and therefore the 42 months  discussed at Rev. 11:2b and the 1260 days discussed in the next verse are the same and both are referring to 3 ½ years. The NIV, nor any place else I’ve found explains this theory, it seems incredible to me. You decide!

Facts:

1.                  We know that John was on the Isle of Patmos. (Rev. 1:9)

2.                  I assume, with a high degree of certainty, that this is the Greek Island in the Aegean Sea by the same name. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patmos)

3.                  We can assume that Revelation was written at some time after Jesus’ death, to a near certain fact, though we can not know when.

4.                  We know, with a high degree of certainty, that there was a Jewish Religious Calendar in use at the time, with 12 months comprised of either 29 days or 30 days (not a 360 day year). ([“Years are either 12 or 13 months, corresponding to the 12.4 month solar cycle”] see http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm & http://www.jewfaq.org/calendr2.htm, a hopelessly inaccurate calendar, hence the need for some 13 month years)

5.                  And, we know with a great degree of certainty that there was a Roman civil calendar (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar, a much more accurate calendar, though not perfect) in use on Patmos when John received his revelation. (see http://www.wdbydana.com/patmos.htm)

6.                  We can calculate with certainty that, by use of either of these calendars, 1260 days does not equal 42 full months, nor vice-versa.

I was told to do the math. When I do your math I come up with a 360 day year (12 x 30 = 360 x 3 ½ = 1260 days notes in my NIV Study Bible (2002) p. 1978 or notes for Rev. 11:2-3), The problem is that one cannot come to this conclusion based on any calendar that was in use at the time, at least one that’s known to me. A solar calendar, by definition, is based on the Earth's trip around the Sun, which takes approximately 356.24220 days to complete (see http://www.answers.com/topic/solar-calendar-2) , this is the science behind a solar calendar, the Julian Calendar has a rigid 356.24 days, which after centuries of use gets it off track. A 360 day calendar is not a solar calendar, nor is it as lunar calendar. The Jewish calendar had somewhere in the neighborhood of 355 days to its year, with some months having either 29 or 30 day (Cheshvan & Kislev adding the leap month of Adar (29 days) in leap years. (see http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm)

There is no mention in Revelation of the 42 months (Rev. 11:2b) being 3 1/2 years. Based on any solar calendar it cannot be, that is simply fallible human assumption. There is also no mention at verse Rev. 11:3 that the 1260 days is 3 1/2 years, that too is fallible human assumption, and too is the human assumption that the two are referring to the same time period. We cannot tell by the scripture if the 42 months and the 1260 days run concurrently , consecutively, far apart (in time) from one another, overlapping one another with different start dates, or operate one to the other on some other configuration.

While we can know, with a large degree of certainty, that the 1260 days referred to thereat was the same in John’s time as it is in our own (1 day equaling the Earth’s orbit on its axis), we cannot know to how many days the 42 months is referring. If Jesus was referring to 42 months on the Jewish calendar in use at the time, that would not be 1260 days, if Jesus was referring to the Julian Calendar (see http://www.answers.com/topic/solar-calendar-2) in use on Patmos at the time the revelation was given to John, that too would not be 1260 days (a not so accurate solar calendar based on a 365.25 day year), if Jesus was referring to 42 months each 30 days long where’s the proof, Biblical or otherwise? Who used this calendar(?), the Jews of the day didn’t, and the Roman’s didn’t, why would John be referring to a 12 month calendar wherein the months are each 30 days long, when he was not using such a calendar in his own life?

To believe (assume) that Jesus is referring to a 360 day year with 12 months of 30 days each, I then have to accept the assumption that He does not know, or at the very least, did not know at the time of the revelation, that it takes the Earth 365.24219 days to travel around the Sun. “A solar year is sometimes called a tropical year and is equal to 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.51 seconds, or 365.24219 days, in solar time.” (see http://library.thinkquest.org/29033/begin/time.htm) Such an assumption of Jesus I cannot accept, after all, John, the writer of the Gospel by the same name says about Jesus “Through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:3 NIV) If this is true, and I believe that it is, then Jesus knows how long it takes the Earth to make one trip around the Sun, and that a year is not 360 days long.

Christians are free to assume whatever they desire, I don't freely assume about God's infallible Word, because my assumptions are incredibly fallible. Where many Christians are terrified by science, I am not, I use it to God’s advantage.

Is the 42 months and 1260 days talked of at Rev. 11: 2b-3, talking about a 360 day year calendar? Are these two sentences even talking about the period in time and space? Are they talking about 3 1/2 years? You decide. It was Luke that reports that the Bereans checked the “Scriptures every day” (Acts 17:11) to see how accurate Paul was in his preaching. If the Bereans were skeptical of Paul, you can imagine how skeptical I am of modern day preachers. Christians -- you can check this stuff out for yourselves.

Agape’, Ric copyright 2011