Here is something to consider in WTS speak: It takes about five minutes of time, a page from an encyclopedia and some electrical impulses passing between the ears to recognize that Jerusalem was not destroyed in 607 B.C.E. but in 586-587 B.C.E. With a little more thought (and some arithmetic), it can be realized that this means that the 70 years of desolation never happened. It also means that the 2,520 years can?t be counted from 607 getting us to 1914. Therefore, the Kingdom/second presence of Jesus, etc did not occur in 1914. Furthermore, nobody knows when this will occur in the future. It certainly hasn't happened in the past. The fixing of any date for the establishment of the Kingdom or declaring the sign of the end and all of its component parts is subjective at best, and merely speculation. With that being said, it is highly unlikely that any of us will see the end of this system of things during our lifetime. It is more likely that we will die while living in this system of things. With these points in mind, the best personal situation that we can hope for is to be remembered in the resurrection, whenever that may happen to be in the future (hundreds or perhaps thousands of years). We may not merit a resurrection at all based on Jehovah?s evaluation of us, regardless how we lived our lives. Therefore, at present, people are being asked to forebear living their lives the way that they wish and follow all the dictates of the WTS, etc. In return, the most they can look forward to is the chance that they may be resurrected in the future. No Guarantees. Who would take an offer like that?
The offer that the WTS has made to you
by Bluegrass Tom 15 Replies latest watchtower bible
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iiz2cool
it can be realized that this means that the 70 years of desolation never happened.
Maybe they were given 20 years off for good behaviour.
Maybe I shouldn't be giving the WTS any ideas. I'm sure they could find a scripture to twist in support of that.
Walter
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trevor
Jerusalem and 607 B.C.E One of the most important dates upon which the Watchtower Society build their own dating system is 607 B.C.E. This is the date that Pastor Russell originally claimed Jerusalem was destroyed. The Society has never changed their mind on the accuracy of this inherited date.
It is by counting from 607 B.C.E. as the beginning of the Gentile times that they arrive at 1914. They calculate the reference in Daniel 4:16 of ?seven times? to be seven lots of 360, the number of days in a Jewish year. This comes to 2,520 years. Counting from 607 B.C.E. the date 1914 is arrived at. If 607 B.C.E. is not the starting point, then the date 1914 is of no significance.
All other important dates in which the Society claims to have featured as a fulfilment of prophecy are calculated by working from 1914. The ?three and a half years? are added to arrive at 1918, when they say the spirit of God entered into them and revived their work, appointing them as the ?faithful and discreet slave.? This was also the year the chosen ones were resurrected to heaven.
We could just take the Society's word for it that Jerusalem fell in 607 B.C.E. Then again, given their record with dates, I think it would be sensible to check. Listed below are a few of the numerous references to Jerusalem?s fall:
?The final destruction of the city (Jerusalem) was in ?586 B.C.E.? (Light From the Ancient Past ? Jack Finnegan ? Page 223)
?Nebuchadnezzar ?destroyed Jerusalem ? in 586 B.C.E.? (The Encyclopaedia Americana ? Volume 16 Page 31)
?Finally, in the year 586 B.C.E. Jerusalem itself was taken.?(The Story of Ancient
Nations ? W.L. Westerman ? Page 69)?On the 7th day of the fifth month 586 B.C.E. Jerusalem was destroyed.?(Encyclopaedia Britannica ? Volume 15 ? Pages 383)
?Jerusalem fell in 586 B.C.E.? (Yale Oriental Series Researches ? Vol. XV)
?In July 586 B.C.E?a breach was made in the wall of Jerusalem.? (History of the Hebrews ? F.K. Saunders)
Any encyclopaedia can be checked for further confirmation.
As it is clear that the real date for Jerusalem?s fall is 586 B.C.E. and not 607 B.C.E., all the other important Watchtower dates are without foundation. A rumour of this nature existed when I was a Witness and I had been to the library and checked every reference book available and confirmed that this was one more false date to add to the list.
This is taken from the book 'Opening the Door to Jehovah's Witnesses.' By Trevor Willis. For information on a free download click on my name/profile.
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AloneinOh
Not me....Don't want to live forever, don't want to be resurrected, have no desire to go to heaven. I just want to get it over with.
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willyloman
I've always thought it was interesting that the 586 date puts the JW chronology off by 21 years, and if you add 21 to 1914 you get a new date, 1935. That, of course, is the date the WTS uses to pinpoint the conclusion of the ingathering of annointed ones. For years, I was expecting to open a WT and see "new light" moving the events of 1914 to 1935, which would buy the society two more decades of urgency.
The ideal timing for this "light" to come would have been right after 1975, by way of explaining why they had the wrong date for Armageddon. That would have created a new target date, 1996. Well, too late now. I'd loved to have been a fly on the wall back then at GB meetings; I wonder if they ever discussed this?
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cyber-sista
Thank you for this information. The year 1914 is so pivotal to the WT teachings that most of the religious doctrine hangs upon this point. this one point nullifies the whole WT religion, but try and get a faithful JW to consider that anything their almightly org says is wrong is near impossible. I guess that most of us here understand the mindset to one degree or another, as many like myself spent some years in the Organization in a surreal sense of denial.
cybs
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VM44
Since 587 BC is the correct date, why doesn't the Watchtower merely add 20 years to 1914 and say the year 1934 is the correct date? Of course this will mean that Rutherford's stay in prision meant NOTHING, and had no Biblical meaning whatsoever! --VM44
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ithinkisee
Trevor! Thanks for that information! I have been impatiently waiting for my "new topic limit" to expire so I can post that very question. I needed some simple straightforward authoritative references to 586 - not obscure scrolls or whatever.
Thanks for that!
-ithinkisee
PS: Can someone PM me and tell me when I can post more than two new topics per day? Is it once I'm not a newbie anymore? Thanks in advance. . . .
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Preston
Since 587 BC is the correct date, why doesn't the Watchtower merely add 20 years to 1914 and say the year 1934 is the correct date?
They can't just say that the date is 1934 because getting the pivotal date of the destruction of the fall of Babylon that wrong is only going to spark the imaginations of every sincere bible student in the org striving for Bible truth and historical accuracy. The WBTS would have to bow down and say the historians were right and they were more wrong than Bjork's swan-egg dress at the Oscars.
- Preston
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doogie
trevor-
One of the most important dates upon which the Watchtower Society build their own dating system is 607 B.C.E. This is the date that Pastor Russell originally claimed Jerusalem was destroyed. The Society has never changed their mind on the accuracy of this inherited date.
not to nit-pick, but i think originally Russell claimed 606 BCE because they assumed a 0 year in their calculation. i'm not sure what year they technically changed it (someone else can probably shed further light on this) but as i recall, it was very subtle.
sorry, i dont mean to hijack...