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ANNVER - just want to know more about rev 12:6? i've heard its about the great apostasy? 1260years(the time span of the Great Apostasy) add 570AD(the remaining time of priesthood power with the saviors apostles) which equalls to 1830? which proves how true the gospel was planned for its restoration? is there an actual clear date of when the great apostasy started and how long it lasted for?

JOEL - Rev. 12 verse 6 says:

"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she [had] a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [years]." (JST)

The "woman" (representing the Church) fleeing into the wilderness is a representation of the beginnings of the apostasy. If we consider that the Apostasy ended in 1830 when the Church was formally organized, then the 1,260 year period would have had to start in A.D. 570 as you mentioned. However, we know that the apostasy was well under way centuries before that. Some say it began soon after the death of Christ; others say it began after the death of the Apostles when priesthood keys were lost; and still others say it happened after the death of those to whom the Apostles had given limited keys and authority. We know that the Apostolic authority probably only lasted another 60 years after the death of Christ when John was banished to Patmos. So if we assmue the Apostasy began at around 100 AD, there is still 470 years unaccounted for. That extra time between AD 100 and AD 570 could be reconciled if one considers the time of the Renaissance and the later Reformation as part of the restoration of the gospel. Latter-day prophets have taught that events of these periods did indeed pave the way for the Restoration.

But rather than trying to do the math on such things we should remember that numbers, such as 1,260 as given in Rev 12:6 can be considered symbolically, to mean a long period of time, rathar than literally. In verse 14 of Rev 12 it describes the same time period as "time, and times, and half a time" (whatever that means). I think rather than knowing the exact time in numbers, what's most important is that John the revelator saw an extended period of widespread apostasy, followed by the restoration of the gospel (Rev. 14:6).

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