| The 391-Year, 15 Day Prophecy |
Josiah Litch studied Revelation 9 in the 1830’s – the same period that William Miller was preaching about the soon return of Jesus Christ expected to happen 1844. Litch’s interpretation of Revelation 9 was part and parcel of the Millerite Movement. (-25-) The Millerite Movement attracted folks who considered personal and serious Bible study of utmost important, and Litch was no exception.
Litch saw in the 150-year and the 391-year 15-day prophecies (see Figure 3) and a successive description of the rise and dominion of the Ottoman Empire with its undoing coming at the end (see Figure 4).
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Figure 3 Breakdown of the Two Time Prophecies of Revelation 9
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150 Years (verses 5 and 10) 5 months = 5 x 30 days = 150 days = 150 prophetic years (-14-)
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391 Years 15 Days (verse 15) 1 year = 360 days = 360 prophetic years
1 month = 30 days = 30 prophetic years and 1 day = 1 prophetic year
First subtotal of prophetic time = 391 years
1 hour = 1/24 day = 1/24 prophetic year
1/24 prophetic year = ½ prophetic month = ½ x 30 prophetic days
Second subtotal of prophetic time = 15 days
Summary: Total prophetic time is 391 years and 15 days
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After the apex of Ottoman power under the rule of Suleiman I the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire went into gradual decline. Suleiman’s son Selim II (ruled 1566-1574 A.D.) is described as “the first of a new line of 25 Ottoman Sultans who as the centuries passed were to preside over the slow decline, with admitted periods of respite, of the Ottoman Empire.” {Kinross. page 260}
By the time of William Miller and Josiah Litch, the Ottoman Empire was certainly not the conquering power it once had been. In 1838, Litch predicted that the Ottoman power would be overthrown sometime in 1840. A few days prior to the prophecy’s fulfillment, Litch “concluded more definitely from his study that the period allotted to the Turks would come to an end on August 11, 1840.” {Smith. page 513}
