Part 5 in the series
Part 1: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/118445/2082380/post.ashx#2082380
Part 2: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/118507/2083398/post.ashx#2083398
Part 3: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/119298/2100119/post.ashx#2100119
Part 4: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/119358/2101495/post.ashx#2101495
This section refers to the website starting from http://www.jehovahsjudgment.co.uk/607/tyre.html
The 70 years for Tyre
The article next attempts to deal with Isaiah’s references to Tyre, again insisting that the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 is incompatible with the bible.
Of particular note, desperate to claim that “apostates” are wrong, this section of the article shows itself to be ‘apostate’ (by its own definition), teaching in direct contradiction of the Watchtower Society about the nature of Tyre’s 70 years.
Specifically, the Society’s publication, Isaiah’s Prophecy - Light for all Mankind, volume 1, chapter 19, page 253, cites Jeremiah 25:8-17, and states “True, the island-city of Tyre is not subject to Babylon for a full 70 years, since the Babylonian Empire falls in 539 B.C.E. Evidently, the 70 years represents the period of Babylonia’s greatest domination,” acknowledging that Tyre was not ‘forgotten’ for the entire 70-year period and that the 70 years referred to by Jeremiah ended at Babylon’s fall in 539BC.
But ignoring the Society, the article attempts to explain how a literal period of 70 years applied specifically to Tyre.
Ezekiel 26:1-4, 7-9 is quoted, which indicate that Nebuchadnezzar would destroy Tyre’s walls because of its rejoicing over the destruction of Jerusalem. (It should be noted that parts of verses 5, 6 and 8, which indicate that the people of Tyre’s dependant towns would be slain, are omitted as they conflict with the article’s interpretation of the ‘70 years’ for Tyre that follows.)
Isaiah 23:13-16 is then quoted, and it is then claimed that the application is stated that the 70 years of being ‘forgotten’ are only in a commercial sense. Significantly, such an interpretation conflicts with their claim that the 70 years of being ‘forgotten’ had to have begun with the siege (which is not stated in the bible).
Interestingly, verse 14 states that 70 years are “the same as the days of one king,” reminiscent of the fact that Jeremiah 25:11-12 speaks of nations serving the “king of Babylon” for 70 years.
The article then quotes Isaiah 23:17-18, and claims that the verses were fulfilled in 537BC “when the temple is rebuilt”, despite the fact that in their (incorrect) chronology, the Jews returned in that year and the temple was rebuilt the following year (Ezra 3:1, 8). Although it would still be valid for some extra time to have passed, after the 70 years had ended, before Tyre actually provided cedars for the temple, the article does not do this, as it would weaken their claim that Tyre’s 70 years could not have ended in 539.
The caption of a linked chart states that “Isaiah specifically says the period will end when Tyre's profit becomes holy to Jehovah.” This falsely implies causality in the wrong order, as Isaiah actually said that “at the end … her profit must become something holy”. Whereas Isaiah indicates that the profit would be given after the period ended, the article claims that it marks the end of the period.
The caption on a second linked chart states: “… or simply be render it’s words meaningless [sic].”
The article mentions the secular chronology of the period and attempts to invalidate it by applying their literal interpretation of Tyre’s 70 years, even though the Society’s own interpretation is consistent with secular history – specifically, that Tyre’s 70 years “represents the period of Babylonia’s greatest domination.”
The article refers to “the Bible’s 607-based chronology,” as a dishonest claim of authority, though the bible contains no explicit year-based chronology at all.
The article then boasts that only its own interpretation of Tyre’s 70 years is compatible with its own interpretation of ‘607 chronology’, and claims that “secular historians, … the Churches, and … the apostates” are wrong, though it omits that the Watchtower Society also contradicts its interpretation.
The article then restates its flawed conclusions: that the 70 years of being ‘forgotten’ had to have begun after Jerusalem was destroyed, and that such a period is supposedly only compatible with “607-based chronology”.
Egypt’s 40 year desolation prophecy
Ignoring the fact that 587BC is accepted by professional secular historians, the article continues its ad hominem attack on “Christendom and the apostates”.
The article quotes Ezekiel 29:12, which states that Egypt was to become a “desolate waste” for 40 years.
It then quotes parts of Jeremiah 42:15-16, 19 to suggest that the 40 years of desolation would affect any Jews who tried to seek refuge in Egypt, despite the fact that the beginning of Egypt’s 40 years of desolation by their interpretation (588BC) post-dates their own supposed time during which all of the Jews had been exiled to Babylon, including those whom they suppose had sought refuge in Egypt (602BC), (Incidentally, Jeremiah 52:30 makes no indication that the exiles from the 23rd year were really from Egypt.) The article then quotes Ezekiel 29:17-20, which indicates that the reason for giving Babylon a victory over Egypt would be as a reward for carrying out judgement against Tyre. It is then alleged that the 40 years of desolation of Egypt must have eventuated, despite the fact that neither secular history, nor the bible provide any evidence of such a period of desolation.
The article then correctly states that Nebuchadnezzar went up against Egypt in his 37th (568BC) year, but incorrectly cites it as 588BC.
It is then speculated that Egypt was desolate for 40 years starting from 588BC, and the article makes the additional baseless claim that a military alliance with Nabonidus supports that view. Significantly, their interpretation requires that Egyptian pharaoh Amasis had a protracted 64-year reign, encompassing the entire 40-year period of supposed desolation, ignoring the much more logical and secularly accepted view that Amasis’ 44-year reign was peaceful and prosperous.
The article contends that because 40 years were prophesied for Egypt, then it must have taken place. It then indicates how secular history demonstrates it not to have occurred, and then claims that all of the secular history must be wrong. However, there is scriptural support for such a Babylonian ‘reward’ to be retracted. Specifically, the bible indicates that Babylon was chosen to execute judgement on Jerusalem (Jeremiah 25:1-12; Jeremiah 30:11), and was then punished for its treatment of the Jews (Jeremiah 25:38; 51:34-36). Therefore, either Babylon did exceed punishment "to the proper degree", or the judgement against Babylon was unjust. It is therefore consistent that Nebuchadnezzar, or his progeny, was later denied as full a conquest of Egypt (Jeremiah 18:7-10).
The article links to a chart that claims to be consistent with secular history, however the years used are not agreed with by secular history. In addition to the contradictory secular facts that are not explicitly shown in the chart, it is claimed that Nebuchadnezzar’s 37th year was in 588BC, which does not “harmonize with … secular history.” The article then attempts to lead the reader with a series of questions that encourage fundamentalism and dogma to overrule logical analysis.
The article then restates its flawed conclusion, that only “607-based chronology” allows for the 40 years, ignoring the fact that the bible gives no indication that such a period came to fruition.