Question: How can you be sure that the length of "one day" in Revelation is 288 years?

Answer:

A correlation of the words of Revelation with history reveals this time.
In addition, the words of the entire Revelation verify the time span of
288 years.

According to historical records John was on the island of Patmos in the time cAD 96 -97, when he was instructed to write down what he saw ( Rev 1:1-3).

Time measurement in Revelation

The first time measurement given in Revelation, is in Rev 2:10 " and you will suffer persecution for ten days". This is "10 days". The only way that you can understand this measurement of time is when it is brought into relation with the times "144 000" (Rev 7:4) and "1600 stadia" (Rev 14:20)

Revelation regards the numbers 10, 1600, and 144 000 as
"1" and "0" and "days"
"16 and "00" and "stadia"
"144" and "000" meaning a total number of persons on earth.

Revelation divides the earth into three sections ( indicated by the words of Revelation 16:19 ( "the great city split into three parts") the Far East, the Middle East and West. This division is substantiated by the "0" , "00" and "000" in the numbers above, but also by the total meaning of the words of Revelation brought into relation with these numbers.

"10 days"

Therefore "10 days" means that 'in the time span of 1 day', in the Middle East section of the earth, the followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ would be persecuted. In order to discover this span of time one must look to the history of the Christian Church of Smyrna.

Through the devine direction I received, I know that the words of Revelation indicate time measurement. Therefore the time measured from Patmos ( AD96 - 97) to the time of the end of the persecution in Smyrna (AD169) is about 72 years.

The time from the end of the persecution in Smyrna (AD169) to the end of persecution in the Middle East section of the earth is about 144 years. Persecution came to an end with the Edict of Milan in 313 ( 169+144= 313).

Placed on a time line

---------------------96-97------------------------169----------------------------------313
                                 72 years                           144years
If 72 is subtracted from 97 then we start this period of time from about the time AD25-26. This is about the time( calculated from the year 2000) that Jesus Christ was baptised and started his ministry. In the year 2000, we know that Christ was born in about the time 4BC, therefore he was about 30 years old in the time 25-26. How do we know that the times of Patmos and Smyrna have to measured from the time of Jesus Christ? This is indicated by the oneness of Christ with the seven churches of the Middle East indicated in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3. { "who.. walks among the seven golden lampstands" ( Rev. 2:1"; "the words of him who is the First and the Last" ( Rev. 2:8); " him who holds the seven spirits" ( Rev.3:1)}. Through the meaning of the words and time measurement of Revelation, Revelation 'expands' to reveal the development of the Christian Church.

It not only indicates a predestination, but also possibly times that the Trinity would intervene in the course of the development of the Christian Church on earth. The "seven" also indicates the oneness of Jesus Christ with the total Christian Church in the world after the Resurrection until the Second Coming.

The total time line of "I0 days"

25-26-----------------c97--------------------c169--------------------------------------313
          72 years              72 years                           144 years

"Three and a half days" (Rev.11:9-11) is a few years more than a thousand years, namely, 1008 years ( 288+288+288+144= 1008). "Three and a half days" is mentioned twice in Revelation (11:9 and 11:11), therefore a total time of "seven days" is measured. Each millennium is therefore regarded as a time unit of one thousand years or "three and a half days".

How measurement in Revelation reveals meaning in the year 2000

"00"

"1600 stadia" in Revelation is related (through the word "stadia") to the length, breadth and height of the wall of the New Jerusalem that is measured "12 000 stadia" each. Both numbers give us some knowledge of the death and resurrection of the saints.

1600 indicates two measurements:

"16" and "000"

1 The "16" indicates "4x4". Revelation seems to regard the time from about 2000 to 2004 as a unit of time. It is the time of "four years", but also the final indication that the earth in the end time is divided into "four sections". As we progress through the time from the year 2000, it seems as if Revelation reveals the final signs.

2 "00"

Therefore 2000 to 2004 will be time that Christians will be killed (blood….rising as high as the horses bridles - Rev 14:20; "rising" also links to "the high wall" of the New Jerusalem - ) for their faith in two sections( Far East and Middle East) of the earth. Because Revelation divides the earth into four sections, east, north, west and south in the final time (2000-2004) measurements, this also includes Africa. Persecution has happened in Indonesia and Nigeria in the year 2000.

I believe that Revelation mentions this, because there is no one, but Christ himself, that can in the time to come, come to the aid of all the remnants of the Christian faith, where they find themselves in a persecuted minority in the rebellious nations of the world. (The troops of the United Nations have their hands full in all the trouble spots on earth)

This is likely the time( or part of the time) of the "short season" at about the time the end of the second millennium that is indicated in the opening of the "fifth seal", where it is said that Christians will be killed for their faith before or during the final signs of the end time.

"000"

"12 000 stadia" indicates the length and the breadth of the New Jerusalem, but also the height. The "000" indicates all the saints that lived in the entire earth in each millenniium. This shows that as regards the resurrection of the saints (those that died for their faith), and therefore the interpretation of Revelation, each millennium has to be regarded as a unit.

{This knowledge is essential for the understanding of the measurement of the 'thousand years' in Revelation} - (12 000 X12 000 = 144 000).

( To fully understand Revelation's time measurements, read How Near Armageddon and consult the time charts)