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A Scriptural Argument against 1914 - 2007/08/03 16:04
Obviously, the 1914 doctrine has been a source of contention within the Jehovah’s Witness movement, with anyone challenging it being declared an apostate. While virtually all secular historians agree that the first destruction of Jerusalem took place in 586 BCE, the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society (WBTS) has steadfastly maintained that the year of the first destruction was in 607/606 BCE. The argument the WBTS has used is that one should only rely on God’s word the Bible instead of the words of men to understand the fulfillment of prophecy, that even kings of the ancient world have been known to alter dates and lengths of rule for their purposes. This is all true, and it has been a very good argument to dismiss archaeological evidence against 1914. However, there is an entirely scriptural proof against 1914 that exists with the help of Jeremiah, Haggai and Ezra and it is presented below.
As stated in the “Insight on the Scriptures” and “Pay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy”, the year that the WBTS has determined as the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign is 624 BCE (“Daniel’s Prophecy, p. 31). This year is important because Jeremiah 52:12 states that Nebuchadnezzar burned the Temple in the 19th year of his reign, 18 years later which brings us to 607/606 BCE. This also means that the first year of King Jehoiakim was 628 BCE (Jeremiah 25:1). In addition, the WBTS agrees with secular historians that the exile of the Jews ended in 539 BCE with Cyrus the Great conquering Babylon (“Daniel’s Prophecy”, p.167). Nevertheless, as we look closer at the books of Ezra and Haggai, it becomes apparent that the years determined by the WBTS do not add up.
Darius the Mede NOT Darius the Persian
The Book of Haggai describes foundation of the Second Temple being laid with Haggai 1:14-15 stating:
“And Jehovah proceeded to rouse up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak the highpriest, and the spirit of all the remaining ones of the people; and they began to enter in and to do the work in the house of Jehovah of armies their God. It was on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.”
In addition, Haggai 2:10,18 reads:
“In the twenty-fourth [day] of the ninth [month], in the second year of Darius, the word of Jehovah occurred to Haggai the prophet, saying:…’Set your heart, please [on this] from this day and forward, from the twenty-fourth [day] of the ninth [month], from the day that the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was laid;’”
Now the position of the WBTS is that the Darius spoken above is King Darius of Persia and therefore the year 520 BCE was the year that the foundation of the Second Temple was laid (Insight vol. 1, “Haggai”). However, this interpretation directly conflicts with the Book of Ezra.
To explain, we must first look at Daniel 5:30-31, which reads: “In that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed and Darius the Mede himself received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” This took place in October of 539 BCE as agreed by the WBTS (Daniel’s Prophecy, p.100-111). Now according to Ezra 1:1-2, Cyrus the Great issues a decree for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple in the first year of his reign, which from the perspective of the Jews began also in October of 539 BCE. In addition, Ezra 3:6, 8-10 states that the Jews were offering burnt sacrifices in Jerusalem by the seventh month of the first year of Cyrus the Great, and in second year, they had laid the foundation of the Second Temple. This would also be the second year of Darius the Mede. Therefore the Darius spoken of in Haggai is Darius the Mede and the year that the foundation of the Temple was laid is 537 BCE not 520 BCE. This misunderstanding will become important later.
They Will Have to Serve the King of Babylon Seventy Years
Jeremiah the prophet provides the final piece of evidence as to why 607 BCE cannot be year that the First Temple was destroyed. Jeremiah 25:11 states the following:
“And all this land must become a devastated place, an object of astonishment, and these nations will have to serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”
So, when does this seventy years of enslavement to the king of Babylon begin? From Jeremiah 25:3-8 we are told that it begins in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 27:1-6 reiterates this point by stating, “In the beginning of the kingdom of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah,” at verse 1 and “And now I [Jehovah] myself have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.” This position also falls in harmony with the Book of Daniel where Daniel 1:1 states that Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem in the third year of Jehoiakim. In addition, by the second year of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel and some of the sons of Israel are already in Babylon because Daniel is there to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue (Daniel 2:1). Finally, even the WBTS acknowledges that Jehoiakim became a vassal king to Nebuchadnezzar in Jehoiakim’s fourth year (Daniel’s Prophecy, p.19).
Here is the problem. According to the WBTS, the fourth year of Jehoiakim and first year of Nebuchadnezzar is 624 BCE. If the exile ended in 539/538, then Judah and the nations served the king of Babylon for at least 85 years instead of 70 years. Now many Jehovah’s Witnesses will argue Jeremiah 25:11 means that the land would be desolate for 70 years, but as noted above, this is not how the scripture reads.
Nevertheless, whether one considers the land desolate as when all the people are removed or when the temple is destroyed, neither position adds up. For example, all the people are not removed until the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 52:30), which is the year 602 BCE according to the WBTS and makes it 63 years. Moreover, if the land were desolate because the Temple was destroyed, then it would continue to be desolate until the Temple was rebuilt in 516 BCE (Ezra 6:15), which is 91 years. Even if one wishes to claim that the land was no longer desolate when the foundation of the Second Temple was laid, keep in mind that the WBTS states that this occurred in 520 BCE not 537 BCE, it comes to 87 years. Therefore, 607 BCE cannot be the year for the destruction.
On the other hand, if one uses the year 586 BCE as the destruction of the First Temple, which coincides with secular evidence, then the first year of Nebuchadnezzar becomes 606/605 (Daniel/Jeremiah) and the seventy years fits with 537 BCE.
A Misapplied Prophecy
The year 607 BCE is important to the WBTS because it applies the seven times (or 2,520 years) spoken of in Daniel 4:16 to point to the year 1914 as the year Christ received his heavenly authority. However, do the seven times even apply to Judah and the destruction of the Temple? Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that he is the tree that gets chopped down (Daniel 4:22) and no reference is made later to Judah or Jerusalem. The WBTS provides the following answer:
“As represented by the great tree, Nebuchadnezzar symbolized world rulership. But remember, the tree stands for rulership and sovereignty far grander than that of Babylon’s king. It symbolizes the universal sovereignty of Jehovah, ‘the King of the heavens,’ especially with respect to the earth.” (Daniels Prophecy, p. 94-95)
The problem here is that the reader is told to “remember” but no scriptural reference is given from which to remember. The WBTS assumes that the tree also represents Judah or God’s kingdom, but this goes against the pattern of the other prophetic writings. If one looks at the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and even the other visions of Daniel, when a prophecy involves a nation that exists at the time that prophecy is given, particularly Israel, the prophets explicitly state the nation that is involved. There is no need to assume or guess.
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