AWAKEN ISSUE #31 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE YEAR 607 B.C.E. TO THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Stated briefly the Watch Tower conjecture is that 2520 years after 607 B.C.E. this end time period has arrived. 607 B.C.E. plus 2520 years equals 1914 C.E. (or more commonly called 1914 A.D.). The key point here is the 607 B.C.E. (or more commonly 607 B.C.) date. The Watch Tower claims that Jerusalem was destroyed, by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, in 607 B.C.E.. I will now present Watch Tower teaching by quoting Jehovah's Witness Mr. Mark Cotherman of Texas (note the following is a very long quote): "Chapter four of Daniel gives a description of a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. Nebuchadnezzar saw in a prophetic vision a great tree. This tree was ordered to be chopped down and its stump banded with iron and copper, th two strongest metals of the time. "Seven times were to pass by while the tree was in this restrained state. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that he (Nebuchadnezzar) was represented by the tree. He was to be "chopped down" or brought low. "Seven times" would pass by during which Nebuchadnezzar would be like the beasts of the field. But just as the "tree" was not destroyed completely, so after the "seven times" the king would be restored. --Daniel 4:19-27. This is what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. Those "seven times" were seven years during which Nebuchadnezzar had 'his bitter experience among the beasts.' But finally he was restored to his throne. What does this have to do with 1914? Jesus in describing the signs of "the conclusion of the system of things" said: "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled." Luke 21:24 The nations are non-Jewish or Gentile. The KJV uses the expression "times of the Gentiles." What are the Gentile Times? What period was Jesus speaking of? When did it begin and end? We know that Jesus "signs" found in Matt 24 and Luke 21 are important for us. What does Jerusalem represent? The Cyclopaedia by M'clintock and Strong: "Jerusalem had been made the imperial residence of the king of all Israel; and the Temple, often called 'the house of Jehovah,' constituted at the same time the residence of the King of kings, the supreme head of the theocratical state,...Jerusalem was not, indeed, politically important: it was not the capital of a powerfull empire directing the affairs of other states, but it stood high in the bright prospects foretold by David when declaring his faith in the coming of a Messiah [Ps 2:6; 110:2]."--Volume IV, p. 838 The fact that the kings in David's line sat on "the throne of the kingship of Jehovah" emphasized the truth that the kingdom really was God's. The kingdom of Israel as centered in Jerusalem was a typical kingdom of God. "Jerusalem" thus stood for the kingdom of God. Remember what Jesus said, "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled." (Luke 21:24) The trampling began long before Jesus was born. No king in the line of David had sat on the throne since King Zedekiah was dethroned by the invading Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar. There the 'trampling' began. 2 chronicles 36:11 How long would the trampling last? Ezekiel stated, "This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, 'Remove the turban, and lift off the crown. This will not be the same....A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I shall make it. As for this also, it will certainly become no one's until he comes who has the legal right, and I must give it to him.'"-Ezekiel 21:26, 27. King Zedekiah then lost the "legal right" to the Davidic kingdom, the promised Messiah would regain that "right" and rule in the kingdom of God "forever." (Luke 1:32, 33) But how long would it be before the Messianic kingdom- which had been typified by the earthly kingdom of Israel with its capital at Jerusalem-began to rule? Jesus several times refered to Daniel's prophecy, in which God had accurately foretold many coming developments in heaven and on earth. [compare Matt 24:3, 15, 21, 30 with Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:1; 7:13] It is in Daniel the fourth chapter we find this prophetic information that concerns us directly. The literal fulfillment of the vision of Nebuchadnezzar resulted in his seven years of madness. But the language of the prophecy indicates that there would be an even more far-reaching fulfillment, and that has likewise taken place. In what way? The dream was given to the king of Babylon. The person who was responsible for overthrowing Jerusalem and establishing 'Gentile' rule. Daniel 4 often emphasizes 'that the Most High is the Ruler in the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom he wants." (Dan. 4:14, 26, 34, 35) Counting from the overthrow of the kingdom of God (Jerusalem). How long would it be before God once again expressed his sovereignty through a kingdom involving the royal line of David, with Messiah as the ruling king. Daniel chapter 4 provide the basis for answering this question of the length of the 'Gentile times.' The "seven times" must be much longer than seven literal years. Jesus spoke of the 'fulfilling' or the end of the Gentile Times in connection with "the conclusion of the system of things." (Luke 21:7, 24; Matt 24:3) So they must reach down to our day. Rev. 12: 6, 14 show a period of 1,260 days to be "a time and times and half a time," or 1 + 2 + 1/2 for a total of 3 1/2 times. So, "a time" would be equal to 360 days, or 12 lunar months averaging 30 days each. "Seven times" would come to 2,520 days; and the Biblical prophetic reconing of "a day for a year, a day for a year," indicates that these actually would work out to be a period of 2,520 calendar years. (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6) This is the duration of the Gentile times- 2,520 years. Since the 70 years of desolation ended in 537 BCE, they began in 607BCE. That would be the year Zedekiah ceased to sit upon the "throne of the kingship of Jehovah" in Jerusalem. That is the year in which we begin counting the 2,520 years of the Gentile times. By our modern calendar the 70 years of Babylonian exile ended in Oct, 537 BCE. So 70 years earlier would have been Oct, 607. Couunting from Oct. 607 the 2,520 years would bring us down to Oct. 1914 CE. This is the year that Jesus promised "presence" (Matt 24:3) Greek 'parousia' began. He was enthroned in heaven as the king of Jehovah's kingdom. By looking at chronology and Jesus' signs of his presence we can see the accuracy of 1914. Also notice what is said at Revelation 12:7-12. Satan was cast out of Heaven down to the earth. Look at the consequences for the earth, "Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, KNOWING HE HAS A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.." Haven't we seen this "woe" since 1914. I read in some magazine that since WWI there have only been 3 days on the earth that there has been peace (absence of war). I'll try to find it. 1914 is the year that Jesus began his rule as King of kings and Lord of lords. Satan was kick out of heaven and now we are awaiting the destruction of this "system of things." ============= end of Mr. Cotherman's quote ================== I will now ask the same question which Mr. Cotherman had asked above: " What does this have to do with 1914? " The material given by Mr. Cotherman sure looks "impressive". Just because something looks impressive does not make it factual. It presents much conjecture and opinions as being fact. One will also note more than a little bouncing around the Bible. A verse is used here and another used from there. The context of the verses discussed is never a problem since verses are pulled out of their context and profound explainations are presented. Mr. Cotherman believes, which is what is expected of the followers of the Watch Tower, that the Watch Tower's chronology somehow proves the validity of their 1914 date. Nothing could be FURTHER from the TRUTH. It is interesting to note that Mr. Cotherman and other Jehovah's Witnesses would consider that they are in the Truth and everyone else on Earth is in darkness because everyone else on Earth is being misled by Satan. Enough of Watch Tower conjecture. Lets check to see what the TRUTH is. The 607 B.C.E. date is disputed by Archaeological evidence. There is no evidence for the 607 B.C.E. date and the Watch Tower KNOWS it. I now will quote from the book "Crisis Of Conscience", which was written by Mr. Raymond Franz. Mr. Franz is a former member of the "Governing Body" of Jehovah's Witnesses. I now quote from page 25 of Mr. Franz's book: "When the subject "Chronology" was assigned to me this similarily led to questions. A major teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses is that Bible prophecy had pointed to the year 1914 as the end of the "Gentile Times" of Luke chapter twenty-one, verse 24, and that in that year Christ Jesus actively took up his Kingdom power and began to rule invisibly to human eyes. In Daniel chapter four, references to a period of "seven times" were the foundation for the calculations leading to that date and, by the use of other texts, these "seven times" were translated into a period of 2520 years beginning in 607 B.C.E. and ending in 1914 C.E. The starting date, 607 B.C.E., was held to be the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylonian conqueror Nebuchadnezzar. I knew that the 607 B.C.E. date seemed to be peculiar to our publications but did not really know why. Months of research were spent on this one subject of "Chronology" and it resulted in the longest article in the Aid publication. Much of the time was spent endeavoring to find some proof, some backing in history, for the 607 B.C.E. date so crucial to our calculations for 1914. Charles Ploeger, a meber of the headquarters staff, was at the time serving as a secretary for me and he searched through the libraries of the New York city area for anything that might substantiate that date historically. WE FOUND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN SUPPORT OF 607 B.C.E." ------------- end of quote -------------- I will know quote from page 140 of Mr. Franz's book : "As discussed in a previous chapter, the research I had to do in connection with the book AID TO BIBLE UNDERSTANDING brought home to me that the Society's date of 607 B.C.E. for Jerusalem's destruction by Babylon was contradicted by all known historical evidence. Still, I continued to put trust in that date in spite of the evidence, feeling that it had scriptural backing. Without 607 B.C.E. the crucial date of 1914 would be placed in question. I took the view that the historical evidence was likely defective and argued that was in the Aid book. Then, in 1977, one of Jehovah's Witnesses in Sweden, named Carl Olof Jonsson, sent to the Brooklyn headquarters a massive amount of research he had done in Biblically related chronology and on chronological speculation. Jonsson was an elder [and elder is a top position held in the JW's local congregation] and had been actively associated with Jehovah's Witnesses for some twenty years. Having had experience researching chrononly myself, I was impressed by how deeply he had gone into the matter, also by the completeness and factualness of his presentation. Basically he sought to draw the Governing Body's attention to the weakness in the Society's chronological reckonings leading to the 1914 date...." ------------- end of quote -------------- Mr. Jonsson had substantiated that Jerusalem fell in 587-586 B.C.E. and not in 607 B.C.E. For his efforts, Mr. Jonsson was eventually disfellowshipped - that is to say kicked out of Jehovah's Witnesses. Proof of the 586-587 B.C.E. date is found in the following Archaeological evidence : Ptolemy's Canon, the Nabonidus Harran Stele (found in 1956 and agrees with Ptolemy's Canon, thousands of cuneiform tablets held in the store-rooms of the British Museum. The following quotes indicates evidence found in Israel : Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology, page 274, heading: JUDAH: "Archaeological evidence for the destruction of the kingdom in 586 B.C. comes from Jerusalem, Lachish, Tell Beit Mirsim, and other sites." Actually, all any Jehovah's Witness has to do is visit a local library and look up Jerusalem in any Encyclopedia. The Jehovah's Witness would find that Jerusalem was destroyed in 586-587 B.C.E. The September/October 1990 issue of Biblical Archaeology review, starting on pg. 60, had a fine article on the Babylonin Chronicles - the cuneiform tablets - including photographs of tablets which specifically discussed the fall of Jerusalem. Some libraries carry this magazine. One could also contact the Biblical Archaeological Society regarding back issues. They have a toll free phone number : 1-800-221-4644. Their regular phone number is (202)387-8888. You can also write asking for the Sept/Oct 1990 back issue : The Biblical Archaeology Society 3000 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20008 The Watch Tower addressed the issue in it's publication "Let Your Kingdom Come", in an appendix. I now quote from page 187: "Even if the discovered evidence is accurate, it might be misinterpreted by modern scholars or be incomplete so that yet undiscovered material could drastically alter the chronology of the period." I will now quote Mr. Jonsson in regards to the above: "Evidently the Watch Tower Society realizes that all the evidence discovered hitherto since the middle of the last century unanimously points to 587 B.C.E. instead of 607 B.C.E. as the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Among the thousands of discovered documents from the Neo-Babylonian era they have not been able to to find the SLIGHTEST support for their 607 B.C.E. date - hence, the reference to "yet undiscovered material". A chronology that has to be based on "yet undiscovered material", because it is DEMOLISHED by the DISCOVERED material, is resting on a weak foundation indeed. If an IDEA, refuted by an overwhelming mass of DISCOVERED EVIDENCE, is to be retained because it is HOPED that "yet undiscovered material" will support it, all ideas, HOWEVER FALSE, could be retained on the same principle." Carl Olof Jonsson made his scholarly findings public by publishing the book titled "The Gentile Times Reconsidered". That was done AFTER the Watch Tower had rejected his material. I further quote Mr. Jonsson regarding what took place after he had sent his scholarly finding to Bethel - Watch Tower headquarters in Brooklyn, NY : "In the following months I and others who had questioned the Society's [that is the Watch Tower Bible And Tract Society Of Pennsylvania] chronology began to be condemned privately as well as from the platforms of Kingdom Halls [the name used for the metting places of Jehovah's Witnesses] and at Witness assemblies or conventions. We were publicly defamed and characterized in the most negative terms....Privately, some of our Witness brothers, including a number of the Watch Tower Society's travelling representatives, also intimated that we were "demon possessed"." For his efforts in highlighting this problem Mr. Jonsson was kicked out of Jehovah's Witnesses in July 1982. That was after more than 25 years of loyal service. Is it any wonder that Jehovah's Witnesses fear disagreeing with the Watch Tower. I will now quote from past Watch Tower publications to see what was said in the past regarding the 1914 date. Jehovah's Witnesses should find the following even more interesting than what I have covered so far. Watchtower Oct 1890, page 1243 : "...the Scriptural declaration that the Millennium of peace and blessing would be introduced by forty years of trouble, beginning slightly in 1874 and increasing until social chaos should prevail in 1914." Watchtower Jan. 15 1892, page 1355 : "The date of the close of the 'battle' is definitely marked in Scripture as October, 1914. It is already in progress, its beginning dating from October 1874." Watchtower Sept. 01, 1914, page 5527 : "Armageddon may begin next spring, yet it is purely speculation to attempt to say just when." Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 2, The Time Is At Hand, published in 1888, from page: 98-99 : "...within the coming twenty-six years all present governments will be overthrown and dissolved...the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomlished by the end of A.D. 1914." Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 2, The Time Is At Hand : The above quote from pages 98-99 was changed to read "near the end of A.D. 1915" in later editions of this book. Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 2, The Time Is At Hand, early editions from page 101 : "...the 'battle of the great day of God Almighty' (Rev. 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership..." Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 3, Thy Kingdom Come, published in 1891, from page 126 : "the full establishment of the Kingdom of God in the earth at A.D. 1914" Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 3, Thy Kingdom Come, from page 153 : "And, with the end of A.D. 1914, what God calls Babylon, and what men call Christendom, will have pssed away, as already shown from prophecy." Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 3, Thy Kingdom Come, 1913 edition, from page 228 : "That the deliverance of the saints must take place some time before 1914 is manifest....Just how long before 1914 the last living members of the body of Christ will be glorified, we are not directly informed." *** - Note the change made in the 1923 edition of the same book : "That the deliverance of the saints must take place very soon after 1914 is manifest..." Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 3, Thy Kingdom Come, 1903 edition, from page 342 : "Then measuring...we find it to be 3416 inches, symbolizing 3416 years from the above date, B.C. 1542. This calculation shows A.D. 1874 as marking the beginning of the period of trouble; for 1542 years B.C. plus 1874 years A.D. equals 3416 years. Thus the Pyramid witnesses that the close of 1874 was the chronological beginning of the times of trouble" *** - Note how the size of the Great Pyramid of Gheza changed in the 1923 edition of the same book : "The measuring...we find it to be 3457 inches, symbolizing 3457 years from the date B.C. 1542. This calculation shows A.D. 1915 as marking the beginning of the period of trouble; for 1542 years B.C. plus 1915 years A.D. equals 3457 years. Thus the Pyramid witnesses that the close of 1914 was the chronolgical beginning of the time of trouble" Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 7, The Finished Mystery, published in 1917, from page 61 : "The chronology as it appears in the Studies In The Scriptures is accurate. The year 1914 brought the end of the Times of the Gentiles, but not the end of the Harvest work." Light, Vol 1, published in 1930, from page 194 : "All the Lord's people looked forward to 1914 with joyful expectation. When that time came and passed there was much disappointment...They were ridiculed by the clergy and their allies in particular, and pointed to with scorn, because they had said so much about 1914, and what would come to pass, and their 'prophesies' had not been fulfilled." That last quote was a bold admission or so it seems. Remember that it was the Watch Tower Bible And Tract Society Of Pennsylvania which had made said "FAILED Prophecies". It's followers did not come up with the ideas about 1914. It's followers were clearly instructed by the Watch Tower. You will also note that 1914 meant something totally different from what the Watch Tower teaches it to mean today. To arrive at this new conjecture, the Watch Tower had to stop using the Great Pyramid of Gheza for it's prophetic speculations. Stretching the dimensions of the Great Pyramid was required to make it fit the Watch Tower's conjecture of that day, and so in this present day the truth is strectched regarding the 607 B.C.E date. The conjecture had changed but the Watch Tower methodology had not. There is no reason to change since the Watch Tower's followers are fully trained not to question the Watch Tower, just look at what happened to Mr. Jonsson when he presented the Watch Tower with evidence which they did not like. Jehovah's Witnesses have few if any personal contacts with person outside of their immediate group. Once one has been kicked out, there is a general attitude of "shunning" said individual by all Jehovah's Witnesses. That is something something which can be frightening. Imagine all your close family and friends shunning you and you can see why publically Jehovah's Witnesses tow the Watch Tower's line even when they see problems with what the Watch Tower teaches. Now is a good time to introduce proof about claims that the Watch Tower's publications are being edited by GOD and that the Watch Tower claims to be GOD's only channel of communications with mankind. As you read on, please recall the admission of "their prophesies had NOT been fulfilled". And yet the Watch Tower considers itself to GOD's prophet. THE WATCH TOWER, 01/15/1917, p 22: "Following the election Brother Rutherford, addressing the the meeting, said in part:..."The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is the greatest corporation in the world, because from the time of its organization until now the lord has used it as his channel through which to make known the glad tidings...". 1939 YEARBOOK OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, P 85: "It should be expected that the Lord would have a means of communicating to his people on the earth, and he has clearly shown that the magazine called The Watchtower is used for that purpose." -------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK KING'S COUNTY CLERKS'S COURT RECORD, 1940, vol. II, p 795: Fred W. Franz on the witness stand: "Q. Who subsequently becamse the Editor of the magazine, the main editor of the "Watch Tower" magazine ? A. In 1931, October 15th, as I recall, the "Watch Tower" discontinued publishing the names of any editorial committee on the second page. THE COURT: He asked you who became the editor. THE WITNESS: And it said -- THE COURT: Who became the editor ? Q. Who became the editor when this was discontinued ? A. Jehovah God." Fred W. Franz later became the President of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and remains in that position to this day. So we see that Jehovah God is the editor of the Watch Tower. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Olin R. Moyle, v F.W.Franz, et al. Libel suit testimony, May 10th to May 27th, 1943, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division: Fred W. Franz on the witness stand, sections 2596 & 2597 - "Q. At any rate, Jehovah God is now the editor of the paper, is that right ? A. He is today the editor of the paper. Q. How long has he been editor of the paper ? A. Since its inception he has been guiding it. Q. Even before 1931 ? A. Yes, sir." Nathan Homer Knorr on the witness stand, at the same Olin Myle trial, sections 4420 & 4421 : "Q. But you don't make any mention in the fore part of your Watch Tower that "We are not infallible and subject to correction and may make mistakes" ? A. We have never claimed infallibility. Q. But you don;t make any such statement, that you are subject to correction, in your Watch Tower papers do you ? A. Not that I recall. Q. In fact, it is set forth directly as God's Word, isn't it ? A. Yes, as His Word. Q. Without any qualification whatsoever ? A. That is right.". NOTE - that at the time of the above trial, Mr. Nathan H. Knorr was already the President of the Watch Tower Society. ------------------------------------------------------------------- WATCHTOWER 01/15/1959, p 40, 41: "Whom has God actually used as his prophet ? By the historical facts of the case Christendom is beaten back in defeat. Jehovah's witnesses are deeply grateful today that the plain facts show that God has been pleased to use them." During the late 1970s and throughout 1980, each issue of their principle magazine featured the following assertion as part of its masthead: "A WATCHTOWER enables a person to look far into the distance and announce to others what is seen. Likewise, this magazine, published by Jehovah's Witnesses, aids the reader to see what the future holds". Now, by definition one who tells what the future holds is, of course, a prophet. Ok then, lets look at other statements to get a clearer picture of this : WATCHTOWER forward 04/01/1972: "The Watchtower is it God's Prophet?" WATCHTOWER 04/01/1972: "So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come ? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is the prophet ? ... This "prophet" was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at the time as International Bible Students. Today they are know as Jehovah's Christian Witnesses". AWAKE 06/08/1986 pg 9: "You will be interested to learn that God has on earth a people, all of whom are prophets, or witnesses for God. In fact they are known thoughout the world as Jehovah's Witnesses." -------------------------------- Reminds me of the 1920s, when Watch Tower followers were told "Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old". In 1924 Watch Tower followers were told by God's Prophet, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society: "The year 1925 is a date definitely and clearly marked in the Scriptures, even more clearly than that of 1914.". By 1926 the world had another case of God's Prophet with a failed prophecy on it's hands. Now lets look at the Holy Bible to see what it says about prophets. Please get your Bible and turn it to Deuteronomy 18:20-22. I will quote from the Watch Tower's own New World Translation: "However, the prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. And in case you should say in your heart: "How shall we know the word that Jehovah has spoken ?" when the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, that is the word that Jehovah did not speak. With presumptuousness the prophet spoke it..." Now lets see what The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has said about False Prophets: PROPHECY (1929), p 22 : "If these prophesies have not not been fulfilled, and if all possibility of fulfillment is past, then these prophets are proven false." VINDICATION, vol 1 (1931), p 146 : "God's faithful people on earth emphasized the importance of the dates 1914 and 1918 and 1925. They had much to say about these dates and what would come to pass, but all they predicted did not come to pass." VINDICATION, vol 1 (1931), p 338-339 : "There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah's faithful ones on earth PARADISE RESTORED TO MANKIND -- BY THEOCRACY (1972), p 353 - 354 : "Jehovah... will put all false prophets to shame either by not fulfilling the false prediction of such self-assuming prophets or by having His own prophesies fulfilled in a way opposite to that predicted by false prophets." AWAKE! 10/08/1968, p 23 : "True, there have been those in times past who predicted an 'end to the world', even announcing a specific date....The 'end' did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying....Missing from such people were God's truths and the evidence that he was guiding them and using them." WATCHTOWER 06/15/1974, p 381 : "Similarly, the 'false prophet' is not a person, but is a system or an organization." Using the Biblical test for False Prophets and even using the Watchtower's own material about False Prophets, it seems that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has made predictions which had failed. They have called themselves God's Prophet, yet they have had more than one Prophecy which turned out to be FALSE. Not only does the Bible give us a simple test for prophets, which we considered above, namely that their prophecy will fail, but the word of God has more to say about prophets and their predictions. Since the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has had so many failed prophecies (actually only ONE FAILED PREDICTION is required to earn the title of FALSE PROPHET), we know they can't be prophecying by GOD's direction, nor through GOD's Holy Spirit, nor by GOD's Angels. Jehovah's Witnesses should carefully read Ezekiel, chapter 13, verses 8 & 9. I quote from The New Jerusalem Bible: ' "Very well, the Lord Yehweh says this: Because of your futile words and false predictions, I am now against you - declares Lord Yehweh. My hand will be against the prophets who have futile visions and give false predictions; ' This is just a brief summary regarding the Watch Tower's teachings. There is absolutely no Archaeological support for the 607 B.C.E. date, which the Watch Tower continues to promote and use in it's conjectures. Is such action proof of Jehovah's Witnesses claims to be in the Truth ? I will now quote again from Mr. Raymond Franz's book titled "Crisis Of Conscience" from pg. 25-26 : "WE FOUND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN SUPPORT OF 607 B.C.E. All historians pointed to a date twenty years later. Before preparing the Aid material on "Archaeology" I had not realized that the number of baked clay cuneiform tablets found in the Mesopotamian area and dating back to the time of ancient Babylon numbered into the tens of thousands. In all of these there was nothing to indicate that the period of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (in which period Nebuchadnezzar's reign figured) was of the necessary length to fit our 607 B.C.E. date for the destruction of Jerusalem. Everything pointed to a period twenty years shorter than our published chronology claimed. Though I found this disquieting, I wanted to believe that our chronology was right IN SPITE OF ALL THE CONTRARY EVIDENCE. This, in preparing the material for the Aid book, much of the time and space was spent in trying to weaken the credibility of the archaeological and historical evidence that WOULD MAKE ERRONEOUS OUR 607 B.C.E. date and give a different staring point for our calculations and therefore an ending date different from 1914. Charles Ploeger and I made a trip to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, to interview Professor Abraham Sachs, a specialist in ancient cuneiform texts. We wanted to see if we could obtain any information that would indicate any flaw or weakness whatsoever in the astronomical data presented in many of the texts, data that indicated our 607 B.C.E. date WAS INCORRECT. In the end, it became evidnet that it would have taken a virtual conspiracy on the part of the ancient scribes - with no conceivable motive for doing so - to misrepresent the facts if, indeed, our figure was to be the right one. Again, like an attorney faced with evidence he cannot overcome, my effort was to discredit or weaken confidence in the witnesses from ancient times who presented such evidence, the evidence of historical texts relating to the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The arguements I presented were honest ones. but I know that thier intent was to UPHOLD A DATE FOR WHICH THERE WAS NO HISTORICAL SUPPORT. So, despite our heighted appreciation of certain principles, the Aid book nonetheless contained many examples of our efforts to be loyal to the Society's teachings." ========= end of quote ========== ============= end of AWAKEN Issue #31 ================ Please share the info found in here with other members of the faith group to which you belong. Consider using this info within publications issued to members of your faith. One example is to use this info within Church bulletins. People need to become informed about the Watch Tower and it's teachings. Why ? Jehovah's Witnesses go door to door preaching whatever the Watch Tower has told them to preach. They are trained weekly to respond to any and all objections to their preaching. They are told by the Watch Tower that the Watch Tower is the only TRUTH and that the Watch Tower is the only TRUE religion. They are told by the Watch Tower that all other faiths, teach false teachings because all other faiths are agents of SATAN. They have no qualms attacking any and all aspects your belief system, when they come on their un-asked for visits. They are trained to SELL you on the Watch Tower's teachings, just as they themselves had been SOLD. By becoming informed about the Watch Tower, one will be better prepared to decide whether one should get involved with this group. Copyright (C) 1993 by Vince Banial, Toronto, Ontario, Canada All rights reserved. This file may be copied as long it remains unchanged. Uploading this file to BBSs is permitted. Any other use for this file is strictly forbidden unless one has the express and written consent of Vince Banial. Please upload this file to every BBS which you call. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/apl/jw: awaken-031.txt .