My wife is onto something ... and it isn't me (hint: 586/87)

by ithinkisee 32 Replies latest jw friends

  • ithinkisee
    ithinkisee

    I gave my wife a list of the chronology of kings and laid it out like AlleyMom's KISS method - only I didn't actually MARK the year 586 ... I wanted her to AT LEAST count out the years.

    My wife is away teaching a class right now. So it is just me and the kids at home.

    Anyways, I came home today and she had been doing a lot of research. She had a Josephus book out, and the two Onslaught volumes (Insight). All sitting out on her desk.

    To my surprise, she started making notes on the chart I gave her! I scanned in the sheet I made her.

    Check out what she wrote! (I translated her printing at the bottom)

    Next to the year 605BCE she wrote: "Daniel taken captive"

    Next to 597 BCE she wrote:"Jehoiakin on throne 3 months. Zedekiah 'puppet king' left ruling - 11 yrs later Babylon returned in full force (586 BCE)"

    Next to 589BCE she wrote:"Babylon sacks Lachesh & Azekah. They turn to Jerusalem. Seige begins."

    Whoa! I am sitting here reeling. I am trying to figure out how she came up with the accepted secular (non-JW) chronology using the Insight books and The Complete Works of Josephus. I mean - Josephus is WILDLY INCONSISTENT on ALOT of his dates. How could she have gotten those dates from Josephus?

    If I am not mistaken she is on the right path to figuring it out? Am I missing something? Am I being overly optimistic?

    Can someone please point something out in case I am missing something?

    This seems to be good news! Any thoughts?

    Thanks!

    -ithinkisee

  • BrendaCloutier
    BrendaCloutier

    Sorry, ancient history has never been my strongpoint. I find 1975, the UN-NGO, and the RJ Reynolds investment easier to deal with and document.

  • kls
    kls

    Well it looks good , at least she is looking into it but keep yourself from getting to hopeful as of yet, the jw mind has a way of making excuses for the wt lies or as the jws see it mistakes because of being human. Wait and see how this plays out cause ya never know.

  • ithinkisee
    ithinkisee

    KLS,

    The important thing to me is that she is running the numbers through her head and 586 keeps popping up. I have not shown her the dozens of archeolgy and historical books and bible dictionaries yet, that ALL point to 586/87. I haven't shown her the stuff in Zechariah yet either.

    I am having a hard time breaking the ice with her ... I just feel this will be a good way to get into the 607/586 thing.

    I mean .... geez .... she is marking it all down correctly... thats gotta count for SOMETHING!

    Thanks!

    -ithinkisee

  • kls
    kls
    I mean .... geez .... she is marking it all down correctly... thats gotta count for SOMETHING!

    It may count for something but becareful because i have been there only to be hurt and shot down. Keep hopeful but cautious.

  • tetrapod.sapien
    tetrapod.sapien

    ithink,

    wow! weird! i have no idea how she got those dates either. have you looked at the onslaught books and what they say yet? perhaps they try to smooth over the issue of 587/607 by stating that something else happened in 587 that relates to 607. i don't know. i could be mistaken. maybe she even looked online for some stuff (gasp!).

    at any rate, at least she is looking into dates in the first place, and doing some math. and like you say, that is a good thing. she'll remember it the next time she is studying a watchtower article that pulls the 607/1914 stuff out.

    cheers bud,

    TS

  • Mulan
    Mulan

    That's how I started too. I was trying to disprove my husband's information, and went to the library and the internet (limited at that time) and couldn't disprove it.

    I asked my mother about it, and her answer was "who are you going to believe, history or the Bible?" To me, the answer was obvious, and it was not the Bible.

    She's on a roll, but leave her alone. She can find out a lot on her own. If Dave had known what I was doing, I probably would have been mad and quit my research.

  • kwintestal
    kwintestal

    Hey, did you think of getting other versions of bibles that translate differently the key versus that talk about that prophecy ... specifically, "70 years FOR Babylon" instead of the NWT's "70 years IN Babylon"? Personally, I found it was about 50/50 that translate it one way or the other. Of course, it's only the JW's that it really makes a difference to.

    Kwin

  • RunningMan
    RunningMan

    The wedge is in the door. Let it work. Your wife may be like mine. I took years to painstakingly disprove JW doctrines over and over. When I finally had it figured out, I started feeding bits and pieces to her. She was an adamant JW, until one day she was not. I had to intellectually work at my deprogramming for a long time. She piled up information in the background until she had enough, then made a sudden break.

  • AK - Jeff
    AK - Jeff

    ithinkisee - The very fact that she cares enough to look at these dates is great. Most witnesses would not bother. Some would still rationalize it away if they saw it. I would think she is harboring at least a tickle of doubt on these issues. She might find some way to correlate Daniel's exile to the 607 date or era - but of course that is not the Watchtower position on it - so she is moving the right way.

    I recommend you let her marinate on it some - she may open the discussion herself with you -that would be a good thing. The best proof to her will be thinking she got there on her own with no prodding. At least she is studious - the one missing trait that keeps most witnesses blinded.

    Good luck.

    Jeff

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