Jeffro
1060
I see from your ridicule that you at last have now finally grasped the essentials of the debate. It has taken scholar some time to educate you but you have now graduated. Well done! For others who have not grasped these essentials I list them below for your benefit:
1. We say that Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 BCE
2. Because the Bible proves this and Neo-Babyloian chronology almost proves it but falls short by a mere 'twenty years'.
3.Important to recognize the scholarly disputes over the secular dates of 586,587,588 and 589 for the destruction of Jerusalem and that there is a period of error ranging from one year to three years all based upon the same data from the Neo-Babylonian period.
4. We recognize that in support of biblical chronology derived from the research over many centuries from celebrated WT scholars that bad history = bad chronology and that accurate history =accurate chronology there the following facts must be true:
Jeremiah in his prophecy at 25:1 mentions Jehoiakim's fourth year coincides with the Nebuchadnezzer's first year and that Daniel in his first verse correctly notes that Jehoiakim's 'third year of kingship coincides with the Nebuchadnezzer's 'eight year' when he made Jehoiakim a vassal king.
The word 'kingship' is an accurate term for the Aramaic word malkut and is thus understood by Jewish commentators and his consistent with an understanding of the biblical account of the biography of Jehoiakim. We could argue that malkut can only mean reign but this would a corruption of biblical history.
The Jews in the course of history had many exiles both under Assyria and Babylon. In the case of the latter there were two exiles, a minor and a major both described Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. The first described by Daniel in 1:1 saw Jehoiachin and the princes removed to Babylon followed ten years later by the complete desolation and depopulation of Judah for seventy years. Nebuchadnezzer loved to conquer and removed many peoples from their lands and these other forced exiles are described in Jeremiah 52.
Jeremiah 25:12 decribes the importance of the historical period of seventy years in fulfilling Jehovah's judgements against the enemies of his people namely Babylon when after that period ended in 537 BCE saw the decline of Babylon and its eventual destruction and desolation. These 'seventy years' applied to Judah as shown by the opening words of this oracle concerning all the people of Judah and Jerusalem alone.
These facts concerning the fulfillment of prophecy are not to be kept secet but are part of sacrd truth which the King Jesus Christ said would be preached throughout the earth as is done this day by his Witnesses.
Apostates who were former believers of the above truths prefer to keep quite about their 'new beliefs' because they are ashamed of their current spiritually dark condition. Sshhh!
scholar JW