Revelation 11:9

People and kindreds. Other nations. These would observe the war on the Bible in France.

Three days and an half. In harmony with the principle of prophetic interpretation, that a day stands for a year, “three days and an half” would be equivalent to three years and a half. Seventh-day Adventists, who generally understand the beast of v. 7 to represent the First French Republic (1792 to 1804), especially in terms of its antireligious bias, find this prophecy fulfilled during that brief period in French revolutionary history when atheism was at its height. This period may be reckoned from November 10, 1793, when a decree, issued in Paris, abolished religion, to June 17, 1797, when, it is held, the French government removed restrictions against the practice of religion.

As is true of certain other portions of the Apocalypse, this matter of “three days and an half” has been the occasion for considerable difference of viewpoint on the part of commentators. This is true not only because of certain problems in the symbolism itself but also because of the difficulty in fixing upon certain precise dates in the history of the hectic period of the French Revolution. Fortunately, however, the exact location of this time period is not vital to an over-all understanding of the great prophetic time periods of the Bible or to an understanding of the main theme of the prophecy of which it is a part.