Interesting the WTS is roughly saying this prophecy wasn't fulfilled by saying Tyre did not serve a complete 70 years. But that is due to their own misunderstanding.
Regardless of when you date the fall of Jerusalem, however, Josephus claims that 70 years of exile was served by those last deported in year 23 of Nebuchadnezzar! He records that during a campaign in year 23 of Nebuchadnezzar II, he went down to Egypt and then deported the people from there back to Egypt. The Bible confirms the last deportation was in year 23:
ANT 10.9.7
"the twenty-third of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he made an expedition against Celesyria; and when he had possessed himself of it, he made war against the Ammonites and Moabites; and when he had brought all these nations under subjection, he fell upon Egypt, in order to overthrow it; and he slew the king that then reigned (16) and set up another; and he took those Jews that were there captives, and led them away to Babylon."
This is consistent with the Biblical account that says a small remnant of those who "escaped from the sword" of Nebuchadnezzar down in Egypt would return to Judea. Thus when Nebuchadnezzar deported these last deportees in year 23, they must have gone to Babylon via Judea, perhaps staying there for a short while and gathering supplies.
This final campaign though, likely deported anyone left in this land, including any remnant population at Tyre, so that Tyre would be desolated the same 70 years as the land of Judea and Israel in connection with the final deportation in year 23.
Thus the 70 years per both Josephus and the Bible are spent by the last deportees from year 23. The problem the WTS has is that it thinks the 70 years begin with the year Jerusalem fell! They know further Tyre was to drink the cup of Nebuchadnezzar after first Jerusalem drank. So they are confused by the 70-year desolation when they misapply the 70 years and ignore Josephus. But there is no excuse because the Bible definitely notes a 23rd year deportation out of the land. In order to get around this, ignoring Jeremiah 44:14 and 28 that says those from Egypt would return to Judea, they make it a point to say that those deported in year 23 must have been some who scattered when Gedeliah was killed. They then quote from Josephus about this final campaign in year 23 and claim that therefore the Jews deported in year 23 were outside of Judea so you don't get the idea that anyone was in Judea after the fall of Jerusalem. They definitely, then, ignore Josephus' specific reference that those deported were those out of Egypt. But if the WTS acknowledged that, it is too clear they would have gone back through Judea and thus the land was not totally desolated. Here is there desperate fantasy about who was deported in year 23, from the Insight Book.
Insight Book, under "Captivity": "Some two months later, after the assassination of Gedaliah, the rest of the Jews left behind in Judah fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch along with them. (2Ki 25:8-12, 25, 26; Jer 43:5-7) Some of the Jews also may have fled to other nations round about. Probably from among these nations were the 745 captives, as household heads, exiled five years later when Nebuchadnezzar, as Jehovah’s symbolic club, dashed to pieces the nations bordering Judah. (Jer 51:20; 52:30) Josephus says that five years after the fall of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar overran Ammon and Moab and then went on down and took vengeance on Egypt.—Jewish Antiquities, X, 181, 182 (ix, 7).
The 745 captives were those deported in year 23. Of course, they know quite well Josephus claims these were deported from Egypt because they quote him to establish the 23rd year campaign at Antiquities, 10.9.7, which is quoted above.
So they are full of lies and deception.
BIBLE PROPHECY FULFILLED: So we have to ignore the WTS in regards to their calculation of the 70 years which they begin with the fall of Jerusalem dated to 607 BCE, which is non-Biblical. The 70 years are counted from the last deportation in year 23, as confirmed by Josephus. But in that case, also noted by Josephus, the siege of Tyre was for 13 years beginning in year 7 of Nebuchadnezzar and thus ending in year 20. This is not contradicted by the Bible because it says that Jerusalem was the first to drink of the bitter cup of Nebuchadnezzar. Thus the fall of Tyre in year 20 is consistent with the fall of Tyre after Jerusalem fell, which occured in year 19.
But much like Jerusalem, a small remnant of the population might have also been left in Tyre after its fall as in the case of Jerusalem, with the final deportation of these small remnant populations taking place in year 23 of Nebuchadnezzar, so that Tyre was left completely desolated for 70 years along with many other cities. Then after Cyrus came to the throne and released many peoples 70 years later, they returned to rebuild. Thus the WTS lies when they say Tyre was not forgotten for a full 70 years. They were!
So JWs are in no way abandoning their 607 BCE dating. They are, instead, suggesting the Bible's prophecies are not true or are not consistent with the fall of Jerusalem in 607 BCE, which it is not, that is, that is not when the 70 years in the Bible begins. It begins at the time of the last deportation in year 23, which affords for the 70 years to be imposed upon Tyre and allows Tyre to fall after Jerusalem does. When you incorrectly date the 70 years from the fall of Jerusalem, as does the WTS, then it contradicts Scripture and they simply say the Bible was lying when it said Tyre would be desolated for 70 years. But there is no way they could challenge 1914, the central date in their whole doctrine. They'd rather say Tyre did not serve 70 years rather than say 1914 is wrong.
This is a perfect example of why they are called the "man of lawlessness" at 2 Thess 2, because one lie leads to another. They lie about when the 70 years actually begin and they lie about who was deported in year 23. Instead, they invent a lie that claims those deported were some scattered Jews out there outside of Judea. They don't dare have any witness think the last deportation was of Jeremiah and Baruch and a few others who were rescued from Egypt. Why? Because everybody would know they would go right through the main route to Babylon via Jerusalem and Judea! They can't have that and claim the land was desolated from the fall of Jerusalem.
In other words, even if you date the return in 537 BCE, 607 BCE is the date of the last deportation, not the fall of Jerusalem! If they move the fall of Jerusalem back 4 years to 611 BCE then the 2nd coming will occur in 1910 rather than 1914, for year 19, or 1909 if dated to year 18.
So again, there is no way they are giving up 607 BCE, which they need for 1914. They would rather distort the facts and claim the Bible lies than give up 607 BCE. They are the "man of lawlessness" and the "false prophet" and will meet their end in the lake of fire along with apostate Christendom.
LS
