⁸ I heard but did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”

⁹ He said, “Go on your way, Daniel, for the words are secret and sealed until the time of the end. ¹⁰ Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. ¹¹ From the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. ¹² Happy is the one who waits for and reaches 1,335 days.

It’s clear that the meaning of the words are secret until the end time. The angel is not saying that the events won’t occur before the end, but that the understanding of these events will not occur until the end. This is vitally important when considering theologians of 100 or 500 years ago, regarding the end times.

What things was Daniel referring to specifically? Presumably the prophecy immediately beforehand. Daniel 12:7 speaks of the ending of the shattering of God’s people, and immediately before that Daniel 12:2 speaks of the resurrection and judgement. It is therefore likely that the 1335 days refers to one/both of those events.

The 1290 days is clear. It starts at the time the daily sacrifice and oblations cease, and concluded when the Abomination of Desolation is set up.

The 1335 days is less clear. Many commentators (see even I refer to commentators years ago) have argued that the 1335 commences at the same time the 1290 commences. Meaning that if the Dome of the Rock (circa 688-692) or Al Aqsa mosque (circa 705) is the Abomination, we would expect something of significance to occur 45 days/years later.

However, other commentators have argued, with good reason IMO, that the 1335 does not overlap the 1290 days, but rather is a reference to the time of desolation.

To help determine which it is, it would be of some help to know what it means: “Happy/Blessed is the one who waits and reaches 1335 days”. What occurs at 1335 days?

I see 4 options in the chapter that the happiness could refer to:

1. The return of Christ – resurrection (Daniel 12:2)
2. The ending of the shattering of the holy people (Dan 12:7) – not that the shattering has stopped – like a dropped vase that is still shattered – but that the shattering/scattering has ended with a reconstituted whole.
3. The ending of the Abomination of Desolation (Dan 12:7)
4. The ending of extreme persecution during the great tribulation.

Earlier in the chapter, it is clear that the context is the judgement and justification of the saints, the restoration of God’s people.

Since we have already established that the Dome of the Rock/Al Aqsa mosque is the Abomination, if the 1290 and 1335 commence at the same time, then the only option left to understand the 1335 days is option 4, as Jesus did not return 45 years after the Abomination was set up, the shattering of God’s people was not ended, and the Abomination still remained. However, I am aware of no event 45 years that stopped extreme persecution by Muslims over Christians and Jews.

Which lends itself, in my view, that the 1335 days refers to the time after the Abomination of Desolation is set up. We know that the Great Tribulation occurs after the Abomination is set up (as Jesus says in Matthew 24), and we know from Revelation 12 that Israel flees the land for 1260 days/years, leaving the city and temple desolate, so it is unlikely that there is any happiness or blessing that occurs 45 days into the “Great Tribulation” and even most pre-tribulationists believe that the 1260 days of Great Tribulation lasts more than 45 days.

If however, the 1335 days commences at the Abomination of Desolation, which year should we count from? The start of construction AD.688, the completion AD.691/2, or the Al Aqsa mosque AD.705? And which calendar?

For all intents and purposes, we can assume that the 354/384 Babylonian-Jewish calendar is identical to the solar calendar, as they are only difference by a few months over 1335 years.

If the years are intended to be 360-day years, then converting to solar years, we arrive at 1315.8 solar years. If the years are intended to be solar years, then no conversion is required.

Thus, if the 1335 days refers to the period of the Desolation, concluding with the vindication of the saints and the end of the shattering of God’s people, we can expect that something to occur in 2023, 2027, or 2040, or thereabouts. There are slightly different versions of time, each purporting to be the same arithmetic. There are just different understandings of the best method to convert a 360-day year to a solar year, and some methods may count time differently, even using the same calendar. For example, the 1290 days might conclude at the completion of the Dome of the Rock, but nothing says that the 1335 cannot commence at the start of the Dome of the Rock.

The context of the 1335 days is the vindication of the saints, and judgement (Dan 12:2 & 7), suggesting that it is at the end of Revelation 18, which makes sense because the angel told Daniel to would be secret until the end. If this is the case, given that Revelation 18 puts the economic destruction of the whore at the hands of great merchants who rule the earth and deceive the world with a pharmaceutical deception, aka the Mark of the Beast, I suggest that the timeframe is closer to 2027. However, I do not know if this is accounting for a “delay of our Master” foretold in many places by Jesus.