INFO from Freeminds: http://www.freeminds.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2212:607-bce-the-bible-or-the-formula&catid=5:dates-chronology&Itemid=700
WTS takes a position that the Bible can be used to calculate when Christ would begin ruling. The basis of the formula was developed, not by Charles Taze Russell, but by a man named John Aquila Brown, in the year 1823.
The Day-For-Year Rule
The formula relies on Brown’s theory that applies the “day-for-year rule” to the 7-year period of King Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity. There are two instances of this rule in the Bible. One is in Numbers and the other is in Ezekiel. In both instances, the Bible states that the rule is to be applied.[i] The Bible makes no such application in Daniel Chapter 4. It is Brown who applies the rule at Daniel 4. Brown breaks the years down into days and converts those days into years, so that 7 years equals 2,520 days, which, in turn, equal 2,520 years.
The Daniel 4 – Luke 21 Connection
Brown connected his 2,520 years of Daniel 4 with the “appointed times of the nations” described by Jesus Luke 21:24.[ii] According to Jesus, the “appointed times” end when he returns in power and glory. Jesus makes no connection between the “appointed times of the nations” and Daniel’s prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity. Brown’s connecting Daniel 4 with Luke 21 is his own speculation. This connection is not specified in the Bible. [iii]
The Erroneous Interpretations of Luke 21, 2 Chronicles 36, Daniel 9 and Jeremiah 25
The formula holds that the “appointed times of the nations” start with the destruction of the ancient temple and end, 2,520 years later, with the beginning of Christ’s invisible rule in heaven. This idea originated with N.H. Barbour’s commentary and computations in connection with Ezekiel 21:25, 26 in combination with Luke 21:24.[iv]
Next, the formula attempts to establish when the ancient temple was destroyed for no other reason than to establish a calendar date for the beginning of the 2,520 years. It cites the writings of Ezra and Daniel, who recalled the destruction of the ancient temple as well as the captivity of the Jews in Babylon and the desolations of their homeland.[v] Ezra and Daniel state that these events would play out in fulfillment of Jeremiah’s 70-year prophecy. Jeremiah had prophesied that Babylon would rule for 70 years, during which time the nations would be subject to her king.[vi] Although Ezra, Daniel and Jeremiah were each describing different elements of the same subject, the formula combines these Bible passages to assert that the 70 years began with the destruction of Jerusalem. The land would lay desolate for 70 years until the Jews who were released from captivity in Babylon would once again populate it. The formula then turns to secular history, which establishes that the Jewish captives were released in the year 539 B.C.E. Finally, the formula allows two years for the captives to return to their homeland--in 537 B.C.E. Counting back 70 years from 537 B.C.E. renders the date of 607 B.C.E. for the destruction of the ancient temple, and the start of the 2,520 years. These 2,520 years or “appointed times of the nations” end in 1914 C.E. with the beginning of Christ’s invisible rule in heaven.
In review :
- The formula applies the day-for-year rule to Daniel 4, something the Bible does not do;
- The formula connects Daniel 4 to Luke 21, something the Bible does not do; and
- The formula defines the 70-year prophecy of Jeremiah as beginning with the destruction of Jerusalem and ending with the repopulating of the Jewish homeland, something Jeremiah does not do.[vii]
In Conclusion
By asserting that the Bible contains a code that Jehovah’s Witnesses alone have cracked by means of their formula, they foster the impression that they alone are teaching the correct understanding of Bible prophecy. If this were true, the Bible would support their formula. The above demonstrates that it does not. Whereas the Watch Tower Society contends that secular history of the period under consideration is unreliable, it is their formula that is far more prone to error. Nevertheless, the investment of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the formula is so great that they must continue to stand behind the date of 607 B.C.E. In truth, it is not the Bible that Jehovah’s Witnesses rely on for this date; it is their own formula.
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FROM A BLOG:
Sorry, dotori, but your alternative formula is invalid. The leap years were every three, six and eight years, etc. Look it up. Therefore, with the new deficient Jewish formula we reach the year 1945, not the all important year of 1914:
353 + 353 + 383 + 353 + 353 + 383 + 353 = 2531 - 587 + 1 = 1945
The addition of one year at the end is because there was no year 0 AD.
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JWFACTS has a compelling arguement:
"Ask him why he trusts historians with their figure for 539, which is the basis for 607, but then cannot trust them that it was only 50 years and not 70 years earlier that Jerusalem was destroyed? And it he doesn't trust them, how does he know 539 is correct?"
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stillstuckcuz, don't let your Dad sidetrack you, stick to his exact questions regarding 607 and bible calculations.
Also, stay away from the big question which is "do you believe or not the WTS is Gods organization"? That's a DF question.
Just say things don't add up and you're doing your own private reasearch. Don't let him try to trick you with questions not relating to the subject at hand.
Good Luck
