Desolation of Jerusalem

Alwayshere

Using the WTS's dates in the January 1.1965 page 29 : Nabonidus= 17 years. Add 17 to 539=556, Neriglissar==4 years, add 4 to 556=560, Evil-Marduk=2 years, add 2 to560=562, Nebuchadnezzar=43 years, add 43 to 562 =605. The Bible at 2 kings 25: 8 and 9 says "In the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar the servant of the King came to Jerusallem and burned the house of Jehovah." History says 605 was Nebuchadnezzar's first year to rule. starting with 605 as the first down to 587 is his 19th year. History and the Bible agree. WTS agrees with no one but them self.

Desino

You are absolutely right. All archaeological evidences points to the year 586 BC for Jerusalems destruction. According to The Kings List (can be seen on British museum). Nebuchadnezzar II didn't start as king before 604 BC. Subtracting 18 years ( 2 Kings. 25:8-10 ) , we end in the year 586. (We are counting reverse to year 0). Therefore 607 BC is wrong.

See more on these sites:

Information about Nebuchadnezzar II. There is no historical record of a king called Nebuchadnezzar I

http://www.bible-history.com/map_babylonian_captivity/map_of_the_deportation_of_judah_archaeology_and_the_babylonian_captivity.html

http://www.bible-history.com/map_babylonian_captivity/map_of_the_deportation_of_judah_the_destruction_of_jerusalem.html

Kings list: http://www.nb.no/baser/schoyen/4/4.2/422.html A strong visual evidence.

I hope you find this information useful.

Alwayshere

Thanks Desino, I am sure others will find the info. useful. Were you ever in the Watchtower organization? I hate to admit it but I was.

stevenyc

Cue scholar ???

steve

Alwayshere

Forgot to say Welcome to the Post. I see you are fairly new here

Alwayshere

Steve, what do you mean "Cue scholar?"

stevenyc

scholar is a regular poster here who spins the watchtower chronology and ignores relevant history in an attempt to convince other posters that the Brooklyn boys are correct in their summation of adding up a bunch of dates to culminate in Christ's return in 1914.

He will be along soon, you can count on it!

PS, Desino, welcome to JWD.

steve

Desino

Hi There, thanks

I will answer your personal question in another category on this site.

I did a research on 587 / 586 BC recently. Even the Bible support the year 586 BC. for Jerusalems destruction, according to history the second one. This is the reasoning based on the Bible:

Consider Zechariah 1:7 which reads: ‘On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Jehovah occurred to Zechariah the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo the prophet.’

Historians, even WTBTS seems to agree that Darius second year corresponds to February 519 BC (see link http://www.iranchamber.com/history/darius/darius.php ). Notice what a messenger of God said at that time as recorded in verse 12 of Zechariah: ‘So the angel of Jehovah answered and said: ‘O Jehovah of armies, how long will you yourself not show mercy to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, whom you have denounced these seventy years?’

Yes, for 70 years God had denounced the cities of Judah. This takes us back to 589 BC. According to backers of the 607 chronology, nothing of significance happened this year, moreover It would be ludicrous for this angel to say the cities had been denounced for ‘seventy years’ if this period started eighteen years after the complete destruction of the capital! In the established chronology however, this was the year when Nebuchadnezzar started the final siege on Jerusalem (2. Kings 25:1; Ezekiel 24:1, 2; Jeremiah 52:4).

Supporters of the 607 chronology have likewise linked these seventy years with the prophecy of Jeremiah, however if this angel was talking about a seventy year period from 607 to 537 - that had ended some 18 years earlier then why would the angel ask ‘how long?’ These very words demonstrate that at this point the period of denouncing had not yet ended. And since they continued, they must have started with a major event in 589 BC. This seventy years is not the same as that of Jeremiah, nor is it even a prophetic period. The angel is simply stating that for seventy years of time Judah has been denounced, and is asking how much longer it will continue to be so.

Zechariah later delivers an even more fatal blow to those who insist on the 607 chronology. Consider Zechariah 7:1-5:

‘Furthermore, it came about that in the fourth year of Darius the king the word of Jehovah occurred to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, that is, in Chislev. And Bethel proceeded to send Sharezer and Regem-melech and his men to soften the face of Jehovah, saying to the priests who belonged to the house of Jehovah of armies, and to the prophets, even saying: ‘Shall I weep in the fifth month, practicing an abstinence, the way I have done these O how many years?’ And the word of Jehovah of armies continued to occur to me, saying: ‘Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, When you fasted and there was a wailing in the fifth month and in the seventh month, and this for seventy years , did you really fast to me, even me?’

The chronological evidence in these verses gives a wealth of information. They had been fasting in the fifth month in order to commemorate how on that day Nebuzaradan, the chief of Nebuchadnezzar’s bodyguard, after two days of inspection, burned down the city of Jerusalem and its temple. They also fasted in the seventh month to commemorate the assassination of Governor Gedaliah, who was of the royal house of King David and whom Nebuchadnezzar made governor of the land for the Jews that were allowed to remain after the destruction of Jerusalem.

The Israelites asked if they should continue this fasting, so they were obviously doing it at the time and had been for seventy years. The date given for this vision of Zechariah (Chislev 9, 4th year of Darius) corresponds to November 518 BC. This presents a problem if you want to date the destruction of Jerusalem at 607-BCE since this is some ninety years before. When we count seventy years however we come to the accepted chronology of 586 / 587 BC.

Alwayshere

Desino, I guess we see it different for the desolation of Jerusalem but it could be either and it doen't matter because the main thing is we know the WTS is lying. If Darius's second year is 519 this would mean his forth year would have been 517. Now read Zechariah 7 :3-5. The reason they were weeping on the 5th and 7th month is because it was the 5th month when Jehovah's house was burned [2 Kings25:8] And the reason they were weeping on the 7th month was because this was when Gedaliah was killed. [Jeremiah41 :1] Verse 3 they ask if they should KEEP doing this the way they had been doing all THESE how many years? And verse 5 God said they had been doing it for 70 years. Add 70 to 517=587 You can get 587 also by finding how long the last 4 Babylonian Kings ruled. they are Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach. Neriglissar, and Nabonidus.

scholar

Alwayshere

WT chronology is absolutely correct and is confirmed by secular and biblical evidence including the seventy year texts described by Zechariah in referring to that past historic period of mourning when the land of Judah was desolated from 607 until 537. Apostates try to argue for the ridiculous 587 but scholars of higher learning prefer 586 so the apostates are in big trouble. The safe bet is a chronology based on 539 as an Absolute Date with the seventy years ruuning between the Fall in 607 and the Return in 537 whiuch keeps things nice and simple.

scholar JW

Desolation of Jerusalem

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