A great tribulation will come upon the Jewish people, such as has never been before. The people will be forced into idolatry and worshiping an image of the beast. Those who do not worship the image will be killed (Rev. 13:15). The beast will also give everyone a mark on their right hand or forehead. Those who do not have this mark will not be able to buy or sell and will be excluded from social intercourse.
22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
1260 days
We know exactly from other Scriptures how long the great tribulation will last. Time, times and half a time (Dan. 7:25; Rev. 12:14), that is 3 ½ years. Elsewhere it says: 42 months (Rev. 11:3; 13:5). And even more precisely 1260 days (Rev. 11:3; 12:6).
were shortened
Some commentators believe that the great tribulation will last shorter than this period, because those days are shortened. The great tribulation would then last less than 1260 days, but that is illogical. Why would this period be spoken about in detail several times and in different ways, while this information regarding the duration is incorrect? No, God shortened this period of time at the beginning, these days were shortened in advance.
chosen ones
The days were shortened because of the chosen ones, and that is about Israel. This word occurs two more times in this chapter. In verse 24, the chosen ones are the believers from Israel during the great tribulation (:15, 16, 21). Verse 31 speaks about the time after the great tribulation (:29), in which the chosen Israelites will be gathered from the four winds (compare Deut. 30:4; Neh. 1:9).
For Israel, the tribulation will end after 1260 days, but that is not yet the end of the beast’s rule or of God’s judgments. After the great tribulation over Israel, the day of wrath will begin (Rev.6:17).
seals and trumpets
Earlier we saw that the seals in Revelation 6 are a representation of the disasters that will come over Israel in the great tribulation. We will also come back to this in verse 29, because it speaks about the end of the great tribulation. This moment coincides with the sixth seal in Revelation 6:12-13.
After the seven seals, the day of His wrath begins, represented in Revelation by seven trumpets. These seven trumpets are a representation of disasters and judgments that will come over the world. For Israel it is over, for them the days were shortened, but for the nations it only begins then.