(this is just one piece of the puzzle taken for JWfacts.com)
Daniel 4 - no Second Fulfilment
Every single prophecy in Daniel had only one fulfilment, yet the Watchtower claims Daniel 4:9-32 should have two fulfilments.
- Daniel 2: An immense image representing kingdoms
- Daniel 4: Seven times representing Nebuchadnezzar
- Daniel 5: Writing on the wall foretelling Babylon's immediate destruction
- Daniel 7: Four beasts being 4 world powers
- Daniel 9: Seventy weeks foreshadowing Christ's arrival
- Daniel 11: Kings of the North and South
Why would Daniel 4 have a second fulfilment when all other prophecies had but one fulfilment?
The right hand menu contains the passage from Daniel 4. This prophesies that Nebuchadnezzar would act as a beast for 7 years. It takes a significant imagination to deduce that Daniel 4 points to our time. There is no reference to a second fulfilment, no reference to Gentile times, no reference to the Last Days and no reference to the Israelites. Despite this, the prophecy of the seven times is the lynch pin of the Watchtower belief structure and the only scripture that is used to indicate that Jesus started ruling specifically in the year 1914.
The current Watchtower understanding is that this prophecy signifies the end of God's rulership through the Jews in 607 B.C. The next 2,520 years were the Gentile Times of the Nations, until God re-established his Kingdom in heaven in 1914.
The interpretation goes as follows;
- The cutting down of the tree represents the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar in 607 B.C.
- The "seven times" constitute 2,520 years, 7 lunar years of 360 days each
- The principle of "a day for a year" converts 2520 days to 2520 years
- The 2520 years of the Gentile times ended in 1914, coinciding with the start of Jesus heavenly rulership
Even if Daniel 4 was to have a secondary fulfilment each point is based on misconceptions.