The man in linen says that the time of the abolition of the daily sacrifice in the temple will be 1,290 days. That is also the time when a terrible image of an idol will stand in God’s house to be worshipped there. This prophecy was fulfilled when Antiochus Epiphanes ordered that the daily sacrifice to the Lord should no longer be brought. The sacrifices were then halted from 167–164 BC. During this time there was a horrible statue of Zeus in God’s house, which was worshipped there by people.
This terrible period of 1,290 days begins about 380 years after Daniel heard these words. It is difficult to say for sure why we read of 1,290 days in Daniel 12:11, and 1,335 days in Daniel 12:12. These numbers have been misused many times throughout history to try to calculate the date of Jesus’ return. When you read all of Daniel 12 and remember that the Lord Jesus himself said that the day of his return cannot be calculated, then you will see the wrongful use of this part of God’s Word when it is used with a view to calculate the time of Christ’s return.
It seems to me that the best explanation is that the Lord has intentionally given numbers here that we cannot use for our calculations. Those 1,290 days do point to a long time when the church will go through a difficult period. It is a challenging time for God’s people. Especially so because when it seems that this time is coming to an end, there is yet another period of forty-five days in which the temptation and oppression will come strongly upon Christ’s church.
11 And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.