Have you ever seen a STOP sign?
Sure you have.
What if it were a "Decelerate until stationary!" sign, instead?
I think you know already.
Not as pithy and .....ridiculous conflation of meaning!
If you have an extremely important bit of information to communicate you use impactful precision, do you not?
You know those office signs? KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!
Does the Watchtower Society keep it simple for the stupid?
Do they have a very important set of facts to get across or not?
END TIMES prophecy is the foundation of Jehovah's Witness theology.
They either know what they are talking about or they are hopelessly confused.
If they know what they are talking about they should be able to KEEP IT SIMPLE.
But, if they are making the whole thing up (and are themselves confused) they would run around in chaotic circles
chasing their own tail.
What doe we find in their "explanation" of Daniel's prophecies?
It is obvious the Watchtower suffers a KEEP IT STUPID SIMPLE approach.
The "yes means yes and no means no" PLAIN SPOKEN truth isn't anywhere to be found.
Here is what we are expected to swallow in one lump:
The Creation "days", we are told, are not literal days at all.
But, the scripture talks about an "evening and a morning" over and over.
The retreat into REDEFINITION begins.
Daniel's SEVEN TIMES means what, exactly?
Instead of simply stating a fact we are given a wild multiplication problem!
Why pose the prophecy as a multiplication problem?
Answer: so that your mind can be manipulated by redefinitions and non-sequitar transitions!
Mind numbing fact:
In Hebrew and Greek language you could not do math without suffering a stroke or heart attack. Do you know why?
Because they HAD NO NUMBERS!
The letters of their alphabet did double-duty for numbers.
Large numbers were usually simple hyperbole.
Stop and think about it.
What if we had no numbers today?!
What if we only had letters of our alphabet which we had to use when we wanted to count or add, subtract, multiply or divide?
A=1, B=2, C=3 etc.
Could you even balance your checkbook? (Can you anyway? :)
Would there be any precision possible without outrageous labor? Would mistakes outnumber accurate totals?
Sure!
Think how difficult math is for most people anyway with only numbers to worry about!
Ask yourself this question....
How would the prophecy be any different if Daniel simply said, "Nebuchadnezzer is going to be a werewolf for seven years" ?
Why interpret the years as days?
Why force the days to be multiplied?
Why view this as a minor fulfillment of some prophecy? Why expect a later Major fulfillment?
Why apply it to Messianic computations?
Could it be this is all stuff and nonsense in the first place?
Could it be ancient writers trying to sound all mystical and spooky?
Why not come out and say what you mean?
To wit:
Times means years.
Years mean days.
Days mean years.
Calculations using 360 days from an ancient calendar = a prophetic date in a modern 365 day calendar.
Seven Times means seven years of 360 days each, However, the WTS uses 365.2422 days per year.
Oh! OH? OH?? NOW I GET IT!!
So....it is because the whole process is particularly STUPID in the extreme! That is why it is made so mystical and spooky!