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607 : 1914 : Seven Times

Inconsistent Watchtower Methodology

There are a number of issues and inconsistencies with how the Watchtower determines that the seven times end in 1914.

Daniel 4 - no Second Fulfilment

Each prophecy in Daniel had only one fulfilment, as seen in the following list. However, the Watchtower claims Daniel 4:9-32 should have two fulfillments.

• Daniel 2: An immense image representing kingdoms


• Daniel 4: The "seven times" representing what befell Nebuchadnezzar - (and 1914?)


• Daniel 5: Writing on the wall foretelling Babylon's immediate destruction


• Daniel 7: Four beasts being 4 world powers


• Daniel 9: Seventy weeks and the Messiah


• Daniel 11: Kings of the North and South

Why attempt to impose upon Daniel 4 a second fulfilment, when all other Daniel prophecies had but one fulfilment? The dream was fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 2, discusses an image with a head of gold, breast of silver, and so forth, showing the Babylonian king his kingdom would be followed by others. Daniel 3 is part of the sequence. Nebuchadnezzar builds the image he dreamt about, but this time it is gold from head to toe. In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar behaves as a beast for 7 times. The key to this chapter is the end statement, where Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that God owns the kingdoms and that Nebuchadnezzar only rules because God gave him that right. End of story. There is no basis for a secondary fulfilment. Nor is there any logic to the Watchtower connection, which uses the debasement of a heathen king to symbolise the debasement of God’s people.

The Watchtower claims Daniel 4 prophesied the Gentile Times of the Nations, a period of time Jehovah did not have a kingly ruler. This extends from the end of God's rulership through the Jews in 607 B.C., until God re-established his Kingdom in heaven in 1914. The Gentile Times are the 2,520 year period in-between.

The interpretation of the secondary fulfilment goes as follows;

• The cutting down of the tree represents the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar in 607 B.C.
• The "seven times" constitute 2,520 days, 7 years of only 360 days each
• The "principle" of "a day for a year" converts 2,520 days to 2,520 years
• The 2,520 years of the Gentile Times ended in 1914, coinciding with the start of Jesus' heavenly rulership

It takes significant imagination to deduce Daniel 4 should point to our time. There is no indication of a second fulfilment, no reference to the Israelites and no use of the terms Gentile Times or Last Days. Despite this, the prophecy of the seven times is the lynch pin of the Watchtower belief structure, as it is the only Scripture used to indicate that Jesus started ruling specifically in the year 1914.

Even if Daniel 4 was to have a secondary fulfilment, each aspect of the Watchtower calculation is based on misconceptions, discussed in detail throughout this section.

606 B.C. or 607 B.C.

Russell believed the seventy years ended in 536 B.C. He counted back 70 years to 606 B.C., and claimed this was when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Seven Times commenced. Under the rulership of Rutherford, it continued to be stated that Jerusalem fell in 606 B.C.

"THE SEVENTY YEARS OF DESOLATION This brings us to the period of the desolation of the land, which lasted seventy years, and was ended by the restoration of its people from Babylon, in the first year of Cyrus, B.C. 536 ..." Studies In the Scriptures Series II - The Time Is at Hand p.51

"It seems to be well settled now in the minds of the anointed that the Gentile Times, which began in 606 B.C., ended in 1914: ..." Watchtower 1925 Mar 1 p.67

In the 1940's, the Watchtower Society admitted its calculations for the 2,520 were inaccurate, incorrectly factoring in a year zero between B.C. and A.D.. Rectification meant that the Gentile Times started in 1915. With so much vested interest in 1914, the Watchtower leaders decided to simultaneously change the year they claimed Jerusalem fell from 606 B.C. to 607 B.C., and hence retain 1914. This required ending the seventy years in 537 B.C., instead of 536 B.C.

"Providentially, those Bible Students had not realized that there is no zero year between "B.C." and "A.D." Later, when research made it necessary to adjust B.C. 606 to 607 B.C.E., the zero year was also eliminated, so that the prediction held good at "A.D. 1914."-See "The Truth Shall Make You Free," published by the Watch Tower Society in 1943, page 239." Revelation - Its Grand Climax at Hand! p.105

Such an arbitrary move from 606 B.C. to 607 B.C. is only possible because the Watchtower does not deem it necessary to substantiate either year with historical proof.

The difficulty with this move was that by the 1940's historians had proven that Babylon fell in 539 B.C.

539 B.C. or 537 B.C.

The Watchtower Society concurs that 539 B.C. is a pivotal year historically. However, when it changed the fall of Babylon from 536 B.C. to 539 B.C. it only moved the end of the 70 year period back to 537 B.C. To retain 607 and hence 1914, it concocts that the Jews arrived back in their homeland in 537 B.C.E.

""Thus, by the Fall of 537 BCE, the Jews had returned to Jerusalem to restore true worship. … There is strong evidence - and most scholars agree - that the Jewish exiles were back in their homeland by 537 B.C.E." Watchtower 2011 Oct 1 pp.28,31

The Watchtower feels free to make this unsubstantiated assertion without providing the backing of any evidence. It is not known when the Jews first arrived back in their homeland. It is just as simple to assert that the first Jews returned in 538 B.C.E or in 536 B.C.E, as many do.

The writer of 2 Chronicles and the writer of Ezra state that Cyrus released all captives some time during his first year. Babylon fell after the start of the civil year, which began Tishri 1 (September 27, 539 BCE, Julian). This means that his first year began on either the following Nisan 1 (March 24, 538 BCE) or Tishri 1 (September 17, 538 BCE). Some Bible writers use the Nisan calendar while others use the Tishri calendar, with evidence from Nehemiah suggesting the writer of Ezra-Nehemiah used the Tishri calendar.

2 Chronicles and Ezra do not state whether the decree was made by Cyrus early during his first year, or at its end. If he made it on March 24, 538 and the people took off immediately for the 4-month journey, settled in their towns and then walked to Jerusalem they could reach there by Tishri 1 (September 17, 538 BCE). Perhaps Cyrus made his declaration at the very end of his first year, and assuming his first year commenced Tishri 1 538, the Returnees would not get to Jerusalem until 536 B.C.E. No one knows, and the writers of Chronicles and Ezra show no interest in identifying the year.

The religious focus of Ezra made him deeply concerned at naming the people who made the journey, authenticating their genealogy, identifying their religious roles, and specifying their offerings towards the temple work. The only timing provided by Ezra was to the first day of the seventh month (Tishri), because of the religious significance of that day and of that month. Tishri marks the start of the civil year when several major religious celebrations take place, such as Yom Kippur.

It is revealing that the Bible writers did not provide information by which to date the Jews return to Jerusalem. This places the Watchtower in a position where it is required to guess at a year that is critical for determining their most fundamental doctrine.

A more significant problem with the claim of 537 is that the Bible shows the 70 years did not end with the return of the Jews, but rather at the destruction of Babylon in 539 B.C. Jeremiah 25:12 states the seventy years were fulfilled when Babylon is destroyed, not in an estimated year for the Jewish homecoming.

Jeremiah 25:12 "'And it must occur that when seventy years have been fulfilled I shall call to account against the king of Babylon and against that nation,' is the utterance of Jehovah, 'their error, even against the land of the Chal·de´ans, and I will make it desolate wastes to time indefinite."

Josephus

Josephus is in agreement with archaeological sources and can be used to show the Jewish destruction was in 587 B.C. He states that Jerusalem was desolate for only 50 years in Against Apion Book I, Chapter 21:

"Nebuchadnezzar, in the eighteenth year of his reign, laid our temple desolate, and so it lay in that state of obscurity for fifty years; but that in the second year of the reign of Cyrus its foundations were laid, and it was finished again in the second year of Darius,"

Surprisingly the Watchtower tries to use Josephus to prove Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C. In the Appendix of the Watchtower publication, Let Your Kingdom Come it quotes Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews Book XI , Chapter 1 (though the quote is actually from Book X):

"all Judea and Jerusalem, and the temple, continued to be a desert for seventy years,"

and Josephus Against Apion Book I, Chapter 19:

"our city was desolate during the interval of seventy years, until the days of Cyrus" (italics theirs).

By emphasising the word desolate the Watchtower Society hides the meaning of the sentence. If the emphasis is shifted to the word during, it shows Josephus may have meant the city was desolate for only part of that period.

The Watchtower reasoning makes Josephus works contradictory. There is no contradiction when understanding these passages to mean that Jerusalem was desolate for a period of 50 years during the 70 year desolation of the nations. This then agrees with Bible prophecy, with the explanation of the 70 years above and also with history.

July or October

Many Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the start of World War One marked the end of the Gentile times and the start of the Last Days. After being cast from heaven Satan set about creating 'woe for the earth' by starting the War, a clear indication he was now confined to the earth. This is incorrect.

The Watchtower teaches that Jesus started ruling October 2 1914.

"That was a highly interesting time because a few of us seriously thought we were going to heaven during the first week of that October." Yearbook 1975 p.72

However, World War One began two months prior to this, generally considered to have been July 28. The start of World War One therefore cannot be used by Jehovah's Witnesses as a sign of Jesus "presence", as it began prior to the Last Days.

In my pioneer school it was explained that World War One was Satan's 'smoke screen' to divert attention from Jesus coming Kingdom. This does not make sense as Jesus kingdom is presently invisible. There was nothing happening on earth that required "smoke screening". Neither does this reasoning have Scriptural backing, as Revelation says there would be woe for the earth and for the sea after Satan is cast down, not beforehand.

70 Weeks and the 7 Times

The 70 Weeks is a prophecy of Daniel used to indicate the time Jesus was to start his ministry. Some Witnesses have expressed to me they trust the interpretation of the Seven Times because it is determined using same methodology as Daniel's prophecy of the 70 Weeks.

This reasoning is without substance, as the calculation of the two prophecies varies considerably. The commonality between the two is that both use the formula of replacing a day for a year. After that the methodologies part ways.

Unique Interpretation: The Watchtower accepts the Christian understanding that the 70 Weeks pointed to Jesus. On the other hand, the Watchtower interpretation of the Seven Times is only adhered to by a small number of sects that trace their roots back to the 1800's Adventist movement.

Unique Secondary Fulfilment: The Watchtower agrees that the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks has only one fulfilment - the coming of the Messiah - whereas it claims the Seven Times should have two applications. The seven times clearly was fulfilled with the 7 year madness of King Nebuchadnezzar, the Watchtower is one of few religions that attempt to apply a secondary meaning to it.

Inconsistent Time Frame: The length of seventy weeks is easily calculated as being 490 days, and then a 'day for a year' is applied to extend it to 490 years. The seven times is not calculated in this method. By cross referencing to other scriptures a 'time' is said to represent a lunar 360 day year. The Watchtower inconsistently chooses when to apply a 360 day year or a 365 day year depending on the outcome they wish to achieve. (see Revelation and Daniel Prophecy.) In the seven times a lunar calendar is used to arrive at 2520 years, but then this is applied to a solar calendar to arrive at 1914.

Unverifiable: Jesus was visibly present at the time indicated by the prophecy of the 70 weeks and so the fulfilment is verifiable. The fulfilment of the 7 times is now said to have occurred invisibly, and as such was unnoticed by anyone other than the followers of Russell's teachings and unverifiable even by them.

Lunar Day for a Solar Year

The principle of "a day for a year" was used regularly by Russell but is only occasionally adhered to in Rutherford's prophetic calculations. For instance, the Daniel prophecies of 1260, 1290 and 1355 days are all currently said to signify a day for a day, not a day for a year. Previously, Russell had interpreted these same prophecies with the concept of a day for a year, with results completely unrelated to current interpretation.

The 2,520 years are calculated by using a 360 day "prophetic calendar", supported by comparing a "time" from Daniel with Revelation. However, the Watchtower then applies the 2,520 years determined from a 360 day year to a 365.2425 day solar calendar to arrive at 1914. This is 2,556 "prophetic years". The Gregorian solar calendar the Watchtower depends upon for its calculations was not introduced until 1582.

Some scholars prefer consistent use of a "prophetic" calendar and convert 2,520 lunar years to 907,200 days. 907,200 days from 607 B.C. ended in 1878 A.D., a significant Adventist year.

It does not necessarily follow that a "prophetic year" is 360 days, as this is not a term found in the Bible, but a later product of Biblical interpretation. A lunar year is 354.37 days (12 x 29.53 days). Most ancient calendars based on the moon are lunisolar, as intercalary additions are required to stop them wandering across seasons. Ancient Judea had two different calendars, a 354-day lunisolar calendar that is still in use today as the traditional Hebrew calendar, and a 364-day schematic priestly calendar used by Enochic and Essene Judaism. The schematic calendar is considered sabbatical as 364 days is divisible by 7. To arrive at a 360 day year requires using a 364 day year and removing the four epagomenal days; the two solstices and the two equinoxes.

^{What were the 70 years?}  

   Paul Grundy  2005 - 2011