In the early 1870s, Charlez Taze Russell was searching for the meaning of life. He had studied oriental religions without finding any satisfaction. There was a group of young men who had the same desire as Russell, to find the truth about God and his purpose. They realized their own religions did not tell the truth, and therefore, they united their effort to find Bible truth. As a group, they studied one subject at a time and drew their conclusion; then they studied another subject and drew their conclusion. After a rather short time, they were able to find the basic doctrines of the Bible. Everything they needed was in the Bible, they only had to find all the sayings about each subject and draw their conclusions.
THE PROPHETIC TIMES THAT SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD
But there are parts of the Bible that one cannot understand by comparing them with other passages. These are prophecies and prophetic time periods, and the reader must find the fulfillment outside the Bible. These time prophecies are the subject of this study. I present a list of these time periods:
Daniel 4:16, 17
16 Let its heart be changed from that of mankind, and let the heart of a beast be given to it, and let seven times pass over it. 17 By the decree of watchers the thing is, and [by] the saying of holy ones the request is, to the intent that people living may know that the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind and that to the one whom he wants to, he gives it and he sets up over it even the lowliest one of mankind.”
Daniel 7:25
25 And he will speak even words against the Most High, and he will harass continually the holy ones themselves of the Supreme One. And he will intend to change times and law, and they will be given into his hand for a time, and times and half a time.
Daniel 8:13, 14:
13And I got to hear a certain holy one speaking, and another holy one proceeded to say to the particular one who was speaking: “How long will the vision be of the constant [feature] and of the transgression causing desolation, to make both [the] holy place and [the] army things to trample on?” 14 So he said to me: “Until two thousand three hundred evenings [and] mornings; and [the] holy place will certainly be brought into its right condition.”
Daniel 12:7
7 And I began to hear the man clothed with the linen, who was up above the waters of the stream, as he proceeded to raise his right [hand] and his left [hand] to the heavens and to swear by the One who is alive for time indefinite: “It will be for an appointed time, appointed times and a half. And as soon as there will have been a finishing of the dashing of the power of the holy people to pieces, all these things will come to their finish.”
Daniel 12:11, 12:
11 “And from the time that the constant [feature] has been removed and there has been a placing of the disgusting thing that is causing desolation, there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
12 “Happy is the one who is keeping in expectation and who arrives at the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days!
Revelation 11:2, 3
2 But as for the courtyard that is outside the temple [sanctuary], cast it clear out and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. 3 And I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days dressed in sackcloth.” 4 These are [symbolized by] the two olive trees and the two lampstands and are standing before the Lord of the earth.
Revelation 12:6
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Revelation 13:5
5 And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given it, and authority to act forty-two months was given it.
Revelation 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and there were those who sat down on them, and power of judging was given them. Yes, I saw the souls of those executed with the ax for the witness they bore to Jesus and for speaking about God, and those who had worshiped neither the wild beast nor its image and who had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand. And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for a thousand years.
When Russel and the young men red these time prophecies, what should they do? Should they ignore them? They found the answer in the words of Romans 15:4 (above) and Daniel 12:8-10 (below):
4 For all the things that were written aforetime were written for our instruction, that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope. 8 Now as for me, I heard, but I could not understand; so that I said: “O my lord, what will be the final part of these things?”
9 And he went on to say: “Go, Daniel, because the words are made secret and sealed up until the time of [the] end. 10 Many will cleanse themselves and whiten themselves and will be refined. And the wicked ones will certainly act wickedly, and no wicked ones at all will understand; but the ones having insight will understand.
Paul wrote that “all the things that were written afortime,” which is a reference to the 39 books in the Hebrew Scriptures, “were written for our instruction.” This includes the time prophecies, which they had to understand. This is confirmed in Daniel 12:8-12. The last part of the prophecies of Daniel, including several time prophecies, should be sealed until the time of the end. But then “the ones having insight” will understand these prophecies.
So, the time prophecies should be understood. But how? The basic doctrines of the Bible were rather easy to understand, by comparing all expressions in the Bible dealing with each subject. But the time prophecies could only be understood by their fulfillment outside the Bible. In this respect, Russell and the young men had to start from scratch.
There was only one way for them to proceed. They had to look at the interpretations of these time periods that already had been made by different religious groups and different Bible students and study whether the applications and fulfillments of the time prophecies were convincing. If not, they had to reject these interpretations.
The result of this was that the literature of the Bible students presented and discussed a number of fulfillments of the time prophecies made by others, such as was fulfilled in the years 1799, 1874, 1878, and 1914. In time, the Bible students realized that most interpretations of the time prophecies had to be rejected. They have strongly been criticized for their time prophecies. But that is unfair, because there was no other way to proceed than to start with interpretations related to the mentioned time prophecies made by others, and then reject interpretations that did not fit.
One extra reason why the Bible students should not be criticized, is that the contents of the time prophecies in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7 shows that these prophecies can only be applied to the people of God who are a closely connected people that are different from all other peoples and religious groups. And in the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century, there did not exist such a closely connected people different from all other groups, such as has been the case after 1914. So, today we see that the applications of the mentioned years had to be wrong.
The result of the study of the Bible Students was that during the last part of the 1920s, all the time prophecies related to the mentioned years were rejected, except one, the appointed times of the nations that ended in 1914.
THE SECULAR AND BIBLICAL REASON FOR THE DATE 1914
The Baptist preacher William Miller believed that the 2,300 evenings and mornings in Daniel 8:14 represented years that ended in 1943-1844. He said that Jesus Christ would visibly return in the year 1844. His followers were disappointed when this did not happen. Ellen G. White was a founder of Seventh Day Adventism. She claimed she got visions from God, and she predicted that the return of Jesus would happen in 1851. When this did not happen, the Adventists set the new date to 1854. Several other preachers also interpreted the time periods in different ways in relation to the second coming of Jesus. This was the backdrop of the studies of Russell and the young men in the early 1870s.
E.B. Elliott (1793-1874) was a learned scholar, and he wrote the monumental four-volume work, Horae Apocalypticae; or, A commentary on the Apocalypse, critical and historical; including also an examination of the chief prophecies of Daniel (1844-1862). He viewed the times of the gentiles (Luke 21:24) as 2,520 years long. In his volume III from 1844, page 1429, he applies the 2,520 years from 727 BCE to 1793 CE. However, he has the following alternative:
Of course if calculated from Nebuchadnezzar’s own accession and invasion of Judah, B.C. 606, the end is much later, being A.D. 1914; just one half century, or jubilean period, from our probable date of the opening of the Millennium.
In his edition of 1856, he does not mention the year 1914, but we read in Vol III, pages 224, 225:
all these considerations, united with that of the prediction that Assyria specifically is to recover in the latter day from its apostacy, (see Isa. xix. 24, 25,) induce me to believe that Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity and degradation typified that of his empire in its apostaey from God, and the seven times 360 days that past over him in that state, the set times 360, or 2520 years, that would have to be completed ere Assyria’s recovery to a sound mind at the termination of the times of the Gentiles.
We note that Elliott used the year 606, which he believed to be the accession year of Nebuchadnezzar as the first year of the 2,520 years. Elliott wrote these four volumes, where he discussed all the time periods mentioned in the Bible. The Bible Students followed his lead in connection with the 2,520 years of the “times of the Gentiles.” Elliott viewed Nebuchadnezzar’s accession year as 606 as the start. But Russell and the Bible students viewed Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem in his 18th year, which they viewed as 606 BCE, as the start.
THE BIBLE STUDENTS COMBINED SECULAR AND BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY
In the 19th century, there were some different viewpoints regarding the dates of the kings in Babylon, Assyria, and Persia. The most common chronology, that was accepted by most Bible readers, was the chronology of bishop Usher. In this chronology, the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar was 587 and not 606, which is almost the same view that is universal today. Let us see how the Bible students tackled this issue.
The Watchtower of October 1, 1904, pages 295, 296 (3436) had a question and an interesting answer:
Dear Sir,—Since you have changed your views respecting Gentile Times let me suggest the possibility of still another error. You count the seventy years Babylonian captivity of the Jews as beginning with the overthrow of Zedekiah, Judah’s last king, but I notice that “Bishop Usher’s Chronology,” given in the margins of our Common Version Bibles and based on “Ptolemy’s Canon,” begins that seventy-year period nineteen years earlier—namely, in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, when he took captive Daniel and other prominent Jews and laid the Jews’ country under tribute.
Now if this, the common reckoning, be correct, it would make the Times of the Gentiles to begin nineteen years later than you estimate, namely, in B. G. 587, instead of B. C. 606;—and this in turn, would make those times end nineteen years later than you have reckoned,—in October, A. D. 1933, instead of October, 1914. What do you say to this? Are you humble enough to acknowledge that I have struck some new light, and that you and all Dawn readers have been “all wrong,” walking in darkness ?
These are questions that could have been posed today, though from another angle. The 18he year of Nebuchadnezzar is universally believed to be 587 BCE today. So why should we today count the appointed times of the nations from 607 (not 606) instead of 587 BCE?
The answer in the Watchtower shows that the Bible students had a sound basis of viewing 1914 as an important year.
We reply that there are too many ifs in the proposition, and that they are all abundantly contradicted by facts and Scripture, and are therefore not worthy the slightest consideration.
(1) The brother errs in supposing that we have changed our view of “Gentile Times.” Those “times” or years are 2520, with a definite beginning in B. C. 606, and a definite ending, A. D. 1914. We know of no reason for changing a figure: to do so would spoil the harmonies and parallels so conspicuous between the Jewish and Gospel ages. The only “change” in view is that the anarchy to follow the ending of those “times” will not shorten them; and that the forty years “harvest” of the church will be complete and not be interfered with by the world-wide anarchy to follow it. This, as we have shown, makes the parallel with the Jewish age still more accurate; for the Jewish harvest of forty years ended in A. D. 69—prior to the complete anarchy amongst the Jews which came the year following.
The brother seems to further misunderstand us to teach that no great trouble will come before October, 1914 A. D. This is incorrect: we expect the great trouble of Rev. 13:15-17 before that date; but it will not be the world’s trouble, the anarchy which will cause the “earth” society, to melt with fervent heat. It will be a trouble peculiar to the Lord’s consecrated ones. In the past these two distinctly separate troubles were less clearly discerned than now. And this is just what we should expect—that the light shining more and more unto the perfect day would not be contradictory, but establish and clarify the truths already shown us, including the times and seasons.—Dan. 12:4, 10; 1 Thes. 5:1-4.
THE ERROR LONG SINCE EXPOSED
(2) In Millennial Dawn, Vol. II., pp. 36, 37, we were careful to note the unreliability of all ancient histories, and, after quoting various authorities conceding this, we added, last paragraph.—“The Bible, our God-provided history of the first three thouand years, is the only work in the world which—beginning with Adam, the first man mentioned in history, monument or inscription whose name, the time of whose creation and death, are recorded and from whom his descendants can be traced by name and age in successive links for nearly four thousand years—furnishes us a clear and connected history down to a period where secular history is well authenticated.
As we shall see, the Bible record extends to the first year of Cyrus, B. C. 536, a well-established and generally accepted date. There the thread of Bible chronology is dropped—at a point where secular history is reliable. God has thus provided for his children a clear and connected record down to the present time………..The Bible, therefore, is the chart of all history. Without it, as has been truly said, history would be like rivers flowing from unknown sources to unknown seas.”
On page 52 of the same volume we said: “Usher dates the seventy years’ desolation eighteen years earlier than is shown above—that is, before the dethronement of Zedekiah, Judah’s last king—because the king of Babylon took many of the people captive at that time. (2 Chron. 36:9, 10, 21; 2 Kings 24:8-16) He evidently makes the not uncommon mistake of regarding those seventy years as the period of captivity, whereas the Lord expressly declares them to be seventy years of desolation of the land. that the land should lie ‘desolate, without an inhabitant.’ (The words “captivity” and “desolation” is in italics in the original) (Dan. 9:2, Jer. 26:9) Such was not the case prior to Zedekiah’s dethronement. (2 Kings 24:14) But the desolation which followed Zedekiah’s overthrow was complete; for, though some of the poor of the land were left to be vine-dressers and husbandmen (2 Kings 25:12), shortly even these—‘all people, both small and great’—fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldees. (Verse 26) There can be no doubt here; and therefore in reckoning the time to the desolation of the land, all periods up to the close of Zedekiah’s reign should be counted in, as we have done.”
From the foregoing it is evident that at the time of writing Dawn ii [Studies in the Scriptures, volume II]. we were fully aware that “Ptolemy’s Canon” and “Usher’s Chronology” cut short the “seventy years” “desolation of the land,” and counted them as but fifty-one years, Usher endeavoring to make the Bible account agree with “Ptolemy’s Canon.” We, however, have followed the Bible record exactly and persistently, and took secular history only where Bible history ended. We cannot make seventy years’ desolation of the land into fifty-one years’ desolation for the sake of harmony with Ptolemy. (Dan. 9:2; 2 Chron. 36:21) Indeed we reject all of Ptolemy’s Canon back of the first year of Cyrus, 536 A.D.—the farther back it goes, the greater its errors.
This is an excellent answer given on the basis of the circumstances of that day.
THE BIBLE STUDENTS’ REASONING WAS SOUND AND SCHOLARLY
If I should have presented the reasons why I believe that the year 1914 is an important year, I would have use the same arguments as The Watchtower of 1904 did, with a small adjustment. The adjustment is that today we know the first year of Cyrus is 538 BCE and not 536, and the end of the desolation of the land occurred in 537 when the Jews physically returned to the land.
What is of particular importance is that the Bible Students built on the text of the Bible rather on chronologies made by different authorities. Today, it is almost universally believed that year 18 of Nebuchadnezzar is 587 BCE, and this gives 51 years to the Babylonian captivity of the Jews when the land was desolate and not 70 years, as the text of the Bible says. I quote 2 Chronicles 36:20, 21 (above) and Daniel 9:2 (below)
20 Furthermore, he carried off those remaining from the sword captive to Babylon, and they came to be servants to him and his sons until the royalty of Persia began to reign; 21 to fulfill Jehovah’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had paid off its sabbaths. All the days of lying desolated it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
2 in the first year of his reigning I myself, Daniel, discerned by the books the number of the years concerning which the word of Jehovah had occurred to Jeremiah the prophet, for fulfilling the devastations of Jerusalem, [namely,] seventy years.
The Hebrew text of both verses are clear; it says that the land should be desolate for a full 70 years. The Bible Students accepted the text of the Bible as authoritative, and they rejected the view of the Babylonian captivity of 51 years. This is an important basis for the year 1914.
But how shall we view their secular basis of 606 BCE as the starting point of the 2,520 years, when Jehovah’s Witness today use 607 BCE as the starting point? Would not an error of one year destroy the whole chronology? E.B. Elliott wrote in 1844, “Of course if calculated from Nebuchadnezzar’s own accession and invasion of Judah, B.C. 606, the end [of the 2,520 years] is much later, being A.D. 1914,” as I have quoted above.
The calculation of Elliott is wrong, because 2,520 years from 606 would end in 1915 and not in 1914. Why would this competent scholar, who had such a great knowledge of secular history and the text of the Bible, do this glaring error? The reason was that at this time, the scholars did not take into consideration that there neither was a year 0 (zero) between the years before common era (BCE) and after common era (CE) in the Julian nor in the Gregorian calendar. This means by the calculations of Elliott and the Bible Students, the 2520 years would end in 1915 and not in 1914. Because there is no year zero (0), we must subtract one year from calculations of years lasting from before common era to appoint in time in the common era (CE), as I illustrate below:
From October 606 — December 31 BCE = 605 1/4 year
From January 1, 1 CE — October 1915 = 1914 3/4 years
= 2,520 years to 1915
From October 607 — December 31 BCE = 606 1/4 year
From January 1, 1 CE — October 1914 = 1913 3/4 years
= 2,520 years to 1914
The situation is that the Bible Students erred one year in connection with the beginning of the 2,520 years and one year in their calculation because they counted year 0. And these two errors cancel each other out. Was this a coincidence, or was it the direction of God at a time when secular chronology was not certain? We do not know. But as I will argue below, that it is very likely that this was God’s direction. I would like to quote Acts 11:26:
26 it was first in Antioch that the disciples were by divine providence (khrēmatizō) called Christians (khristianos).
The word khrēmatizō has the meaning, “in NT to utter a divine communication, to be divinely instructed, receive a revelation or warning from God.” (Mounce) It was evidently other people than the members of the congregation who called these worshippers of God “Christians.” But this designation spread to other congregations as well, and the verb shows that this was the purpose of God.
Daniel chapter 12 shows that the last part of Daniel should be sealed until the time of the end. But then it will be understood. I quote 12:4:
4 “And as for you, O Daniel, make secret the words and seal up the book, until the time of [the] end. Many will rove about (shīt), and the [true] knowledge will become abundant.”
The Hebrew word shīt has the meaning “to roam, go about” (Kohlenberger/Mounce) and “go to and fro.” (BDB) The result of roving about (shīt) will be that the knowledge will be abundant. Knowing exactly what Daniel had in mind by using this verb is difficult. But this verb does not describe a linear process, the shortest way from one point to another. But rather a process that are occurring in circles or moving to and fro. We shall not press the meaning of a word. But this accords with the divine providence or divine guidance that his people should understand the book of Daniel, that would not be instantly but gradually.
In the first century, God sometimes used inspiration — the holy spirit guided his people directly to a certain conclusion. In our time, God does not use inspiration, but he uses direction. What is the difference?
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INSPIRATION AND DIRECTION“In the book of Acts, we see how both inspiration and direction are used.The word “inspiration” means that the spirit directly gave information to a servant of God, whereas “direction” means that the spirit maneuvered a situation in a particular direction, where a spirituallyminded servant of God had to draw a particular conclusion. Very good examples of inspiration and direction are seen in Acts chapter 10. Until this time, only Jews and Samaritans had become a part of God’s people. But now, it was Jehovah’s time for people of the nations to also become a part. Peter was the one who should introduce this new procedure. Let us now study Acts chapter 10 and learn how Jehovah used his channel of communication to reveal truths and move forward his purpose in connection with the people of the nations. An angel spoke to the army officer in a vision and told him to send some men to Joppa to Simon Peter (vv. 1–6). This was an example of divine inspiration—direct and specific information from God. The next day Peter fell into a trance, and three times he saw a vessel with unclean animals coming down to the earth. Peter was asked to eat the “unclean” animals. But he refused because this was against the law of Moses (vv. 9–16). This vision was also by means of divine inspiration. While Peter was contemplating the meaning of the vision, three men of the nations approached him. This was a strange situation for Peter because no person of the nations had yet become a part of the Christian community. There was no cooperation between the Jews and the nations, so naturally, Peter would have refused to have anything to do with these men. However, the spirit, which could refer to an angel, told Peter to go with the men (vv. 19, 20). This again was a case of inspiration, and inspiration was necessary in this case because Peter would never have had anything to do with people of the nations (v. 28). Only because he was directly told to go with these men did he do so. Then he came to the house of Cornelius, and because of the vision of the vessel with the “unclean” animals, Peter drew the only conclusion a spirituallyminded Christian could draw: Apparently God wanted him to enter the house of these people of the nations (vv. 23–28). However, this was not a case of inspiration directly telling Peter what to do; this was direction because the spirit had maneuvered the situation in a way to help Peter draw the right conclusion. But now an embarrassing situation arose. Cornelius told Peter about the angel and his vision, and then he said: “And now all of us are in front of God who is present, to hear all the things you have been instructed by Jehovah to say” (v. 33). And yet, Peter had not received any instructions from Jehovah as to what he should say when this moment arrived. But because of the whole situation, the visions that both he and Cornelius had seen, and the angels who had spoken to both of them, he drew the only conclusion a spirituallyminded servant of God could draw: ‘Jehovah has directed me to preach the good news about the Kingdom to these people of the nations,’ and so he did (vv. 34–43). This was direction because the spirit had maneuvered the situation in a way that would help Peter draw the right conclusion. We must remember that what Peter did—entering the house of persons of the nations and preaching to them—was unprecedented because it had never been done before. Then, while Peter was speaking, the holy spirit fell upon those hearing Peter’s speech, and they were speaking in tongues (vv. 44–46). This was inspiration. And how did Peter react? He drew the only conclusion a spiritually-minded servant of God could draw: Because these people had received the holy spirit, they should be baptized (vv. 47, 48). This was direction, and the baptism of people of the nations was also unprecedented. We see in this account that the spirit, by four examples of inspiration, maneuvered the situation, so Peter three times was directed to draw a particular conclusion. By this, people of the nations for the first time became members of “the people of God.” The question now, is how did God direct this small group of Bible students. As I have shown in connection with Peter, God maneuvered things and made certain things visible for Peter so he could draw the right conclusion. God can also make visible to his servants things that others have done, such as events in world history, and on this basis, they are directed to draw the right conclusions. We may see one example of direction in connection with the second coming of Jesus. William Miller had predicted that Jesus would come back to the earth in 1844, and others had suggested different dates. According to Matthew 24:30, people will see (horaō) the Son of man come on the clouds of heaven, and the universal view at that time was that the second coming of Jesus would be visible for all humans. The truth is that while the word horaō(“see”) is used with reference to the literal eyes, it can also be used with the meaning “understand” (see invisible things) as in romans 1:20. Today, we know that Jesus will never bee seen with our eyes. (1 Tim 6:16) This was one of the things that should be revealed in the time of the end. And this God evidently did by help of direction — maneuvering the situation in a way that his servant could see something and draw their right conclusion. In 1864, the Greek scholar Benjamin Wilson published his translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures called The Emphatic Diaglott. Because of theuniversal view that Jesus should come back at a certain moment and be visible for everyone, Bible translation consistently translated the Greek noun parousia, as in Matthe 24:3 with “coming. But the correct rendering of parousia is “presence,” and Wilson rendered parousia correctly with “presence.” The Bible students, who “were rowing about,” were considering all kinds of material related to the Bible, they got a copy of The Emphatic Diaglott, and they realized that Jesus should not return visible but that he should have an invisible presence after he had received his kingship in the kingdom of heaven. Did God direct Benjamin Wilson to make an accurate translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures? We do not know. But in the same way as God directed Peter, so he could see something and draw a correct conclusion, God directed the Bible Students to see the rendering parousia in The Emphatic Diaglott, and understand that Jesus would have a presence in his kingdom. |
Can we see a similar direction from God in connection with the Bible Students’ view of chronology? Absolutely. The situation in the 1870s was that the existing religions had several doctrines that contradicted the Bible. In accordance with the prophecies in Daniel chapter 12, “those having insight” should now come to an understanding of the Scriptures without being inspired by God. This process had to be gradually, according to Daniel 12:4.
The Bible Students believed that the whole Bible was inspired of God, and they took scripture for scripture to find everything the Bible said about each subject. They found the basic doctrines rather quickly. But there are doctrines that are more complicated that were more difficult to ascertain. This was the case with prophetic and chronological issues. As regards chronological issues, they had to take the viewpoints of present-day scholars, such as E.B. Elliott, as a point of departure, study each case, and then reject what they found to be erroneous.
There are issues that are both doctrinal and chronological that are difficult to put in order on the stream of time. For example, what is the relationship between the expressions, the time of the end, the conclusion of the system of things, the last days, the establishment of God’s kingdom, the second coming of Jesus, the presence of Jesus, the thousand-year reign of Jesus, and the great tribulation. And what are the meaning of the events mentioned in Revelation and their chronological relationships? The questions the Bible Students had to answer were whether some of these periods were identical and how these periods could be placed in the stream of time.
The basic doctrines that Jesus bought all Adam’s descendants, and that each one will get a personal chance to serve God, that we do not have an immortal soul, that there is not torment after death, that God is supreme and that there is no trinity, was easy to ascertain by a systematic Bible study. But that was not the case with the mentioned chronological issues. These were issues that only gradually could be understood by systematic studies and experience.
Direction is not that God whispers something into the ear of his servant, but that God directs his attention to something, and the spiritual minded worshipper draws the conclusion God wants from this. How did this work in connection with the Bible Students and chronology? I quote Luke 21:24:
24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.
What seems to be the plain meaning of this verse? The city Jerusalem will be destroyed, and it will be trodden down during a time when the nations would have unlimited power and God will not have a kingdom. After the end of this time period, Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and the Jews will again get back their land. When would these appointed times begin?
God evidently directed the attention of the Bible Students to these words. The spiritual minded Bible Students knew that the basic issue in the book of Daniel and the great prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 24 is not the city of Jerusalem but the kingdom of God. Therefore, they drew the conclusion that “the times of the Gentiles” referred to times when the nations had unlimited power and God did not have a kingdom. They concluded that the times of the nations started when Zedekiah, the last king in the line of David was dethroned when Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
The secular chronology of that time indicated that the first year of Cyrus as mentioned in Esrah 1:1, when the Jews should return to their land from Babylon was 536 BCE. However, Usher’s chronology, which was accepted by most Christians at that time allowed only a period of 51 years for the Babylonian captivity of the Jews when theland was desolate, because it was chained to the secular Ptolemy’s chronology.
Evidently, God directed the attention of the Bible Students to the passages showing that the land should be desolate for a full 70 years. Because the spiritual minded Bible Students believed that the whole Bible was inspired, they rejected Usher’s chronology and Ptolemy’s chronology, and they concluded that the year when God no longer had a kingdom was 606 BCE, 70 years before 536.
The correct year when the Jews returned to their land was 537 BCE, so their chronology was one year wrong. But this was compensated by the fact that chronologists of that time did not know that there was no year 0 (zero). Therefore, the Bible students arrived at the year 1914 as the end on “the times of the Gentiles” on the basis of an error of one year.
Today, we know that 1914 is an important year, and God allowed the Bible students to reach a right conclusion — that “the times of the Gentiles” ended in 1914 — on a slightly wrong basis. As a matter of fact, on basis of the known secular chronology of that time compared with the Bible’s statement that the land should be desolate for a full 70 years, this one-year-error of 536 BCE was the only possible conclusion that the Bible Students could draw.
THE BIBLE STUDENTS’ ATTEMPTS TO UNDERSTAND CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS
Please keep in mind what I already have stressed: There are issues that are both doctrinal and chronological that are difficult to put in order in the stream of time. As I already have pointed out, what is the relationship between the expressions, the time of the end, the conclusion of the system of things, the last days, the establishment of God’s kingdom, the second coming of Jesus, the presence of Jesus, the thousand-year reign of Jesus, and the great tribulation. And what are the meaning of the events mentioned in Revelation and their chronological relationships? The answers to these questions could not be quickly given but needed detailed studies over a period of time. We should keep this in mind when I discuss the attempts of the Bible Students to answer these questions.
The first time the chronology ending in 1914 was presented in writing by Bible Students was in the book Three Worlds, and the Harvest of this World. A Brief Review of the Plan of Redemption (1877). This book was written by N.H. Barbour, and C.T. Russell was co-author. On page 83 we read:
Forty-two months are three and a-half years, or ‘times’; and 42 times 30 are 1260. Hence, as three and a half ‘times,’ represent twelve hundred and sixty years, so ‘seven times’, twice twelve hundred and sixty, or 2520 years. The seventy years of captivity ended in the first year of Cyrus, which was B.C. 536. They therefore commenced seventy years before, or B.C. 606. Hence it was in B.C. 606 that God’s kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to the Gentiles. 2520 years from B.C. 606.will end in A. D. 1914, or forty years from 1974.
What the authors believed would happen in 1914 is written on page 85:
After the “seven last plagues, in which is filled up the wrath of almighty God,” are poured on this generation, and the btte of the great day is ended, the times of the Gentiles will terminate, and Jerusalem no longer be trodden down by its enemies. Then comes the completion of the restitution of, not a “remnant,” but of “the whole house of Israel.”
The view of Luke 21:24 that the city of Jerusalem should be rebuilt was logical. And the view on the basis of prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures that the Jews should again be the people of God was logical as well. Much detailed study is needed to understand that the prophecies of “Israel” are fulfilled on “spiritual Israel,” God’s people in the time of the end and not on fleshly Israel.
I will now look at attempts of the Bible Students to connect events with the year 1914:
The restoration of Jerusalem in 1914
The Watchtower of June 1880, page 109:
If three times and a half are 1260 years, seven times are 2520 years. From B. C. 606, where the desolation of Jerusalem began, 2520 years reach to A. D. 1914. According to this application of the number seven, Jerusalem will be free at that time, and thence-forward be a praise in the earth. The application is clearly confirmed by the events of to-day-the trouble brewing among the nations, and the beginning of Jewish restoration.
The restoration of the Millennial kingdom in 1914
The Watchtower of July 1, 1899, pages 172-173 (2497):
We should remember that the “Times of the Gentiles” merely means the times or years in which the world’s affairs are delivered over to Gentile supremacy, between the time of the removal of God’s typical kingdom and the time of the establishment of the Millennial kingdom, October, 1914.
The heavenly kingdom will be in power in 1914 and ancient worthies will get a resurrection
The Watchtower October 1, 1903, pages 372-373 (3249)
It will be vain for Zionists to hope to establish an independent government in Palestine. None of the civilized nations would favor putting the Land of Promise wholly into their control; and if they did God would not favor it. Palestine will be “trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be filled full”—viz., October, 1914, A. D. By that time the heavenly kingdom will be in power and the ancient worthies—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the holy prophets—will be resurrected and constitute the earthly representatives of the spiritual and invisible kingdom of Christ and his bride—the Gospel church.
Is the year 1914 is certain but not infallible
The Watchtower October 1, 1907, pages 294 -295 (4067)
A dear Brother inquires, Can we feel absolutely sure that the Chronology set forth in the Da w n -Studies is correct?—that the harvest began in A. D. 1874 and will end in A. D. 1914 in a world-wide trouble which will overthrow all present institutions and be followed by the reign of righteousness of the King of Glory and his bride, the church?
We answer, as we have frequently done before in the Dawns and Towers and orally and by letter, that we have never claimed our calculations to be infallibly correct; we have never claimed that they were knowledge, nor based upon indisputable evidence, facts, knowledge; our claim has always been that they are based on faith. We have set forth the evidences as plainly as possible and stated the conclusions of faith we draw from them, and have invited others to accept as much or as little of them as their hearts and heads could endorse. Many have examined these evidences and have accepted them; others equally bright do not endorse them. Those who have been able to accept them by faith seem to have received special blessings, not merely along the line of prophetic harmonies, but along all other lines of grace and truth. We have not condemned those who could not see, but have rejoiced with those whose exercise of faith has brought them special blessings— “Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.”
The great tribulation will start in 1914
The Watchtower of September 1, 1910, pages 275-276 (4671)
But aside from Mr. Spreckles’ prophecy respecting a panic this year our readers know from the Studies in the Scriptures to expect ere long the fulfillment of the great Redeemer’s words, “There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation—no, nor ever shall be after.” (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21) That awful trouble, however, we do not expect before October, 1914. Whatever may come in the interim will be but the rumblings preceding the great climacteric shock, before which will fall all earthly institutions; as St. Paul declares, Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. And the only thing that cannot be shaken will be the kingdom which God’s faithful ones will receive about that time.—Heb. 12:27, 28.
The downfall of the nations caused by a wild struggle in 1914
The Norwegian Ekko fra Talerstolen (Echo from the Pulpit) attached to the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten from June 1910.
Gentile times 2520 years
I submit to you, dear friends, as my conviction, which is entirely based on scripture, but which, it seems to me, has been confirmed by what is happening in our days, that these 2520 years, which began in 606 BC, will end in October 1914 AD…And these 2520 years, we believe, will expire in October 1914; at that time, we believe, the reign of the Gentiles will have expired, and then the God of heaven will establish his kingdom in Israel.
We do not expect world peace to follow immediately, even though Christ is called the “Prince of Peace”. On the contrary, according to our understanding, the downfall of the nations will be caused by a wild struggle, a time of trouble that has not been there since the time a people came into being, in which time there will be no peace “for him who goes in, or for him who goes out”, because God will turn “every man’s hand against his brother”. We believe that the struggle between capital and labor and between ruler and people will be short, sharp and decisive and bring untold misery to all parties.
Do not speculate about the events that will happen in 1914
The Watchtower of October 1, 1910, pages 324-325 (4698)
“In your patience possess ye your souls,” declares the Master. We are living in a momentous time. Much is aeccomplished in one year. What may we expect by October, 1914, the date of the termination of Gentile times? Let us not speculate, but let us keep awake and mark the stately steppings of our present Lord amongst the affairs of mankind—leading onward to the inauguration of the glorious kingdom of the Son of God, and, through it, to the blessing of Israel and all the nation of the earth
Messiah’s kingdom will begin to exercise its power in 1914
The Watchtower of May 15, 1911, pages 166-167 (5249)
Our readers know that for some years we have been expecting this Age to close with an awful time of trouble, and we expect it to break out with suddenness and force not long after October, 1914, which, so far as we can understand the Scriptures, is the date at which the Times of the Gentiles—the lease of earth’s dominations to the Gentiles—will expire; the time, therefore, when Messiah’s kingdom will be due to begin its exercise of power, which the Scriptures declare will dash the nations in pieces as a potter’s vessel.
The rulership will be transferred to the king of glory and a great tribulation will come in 1914
The Watchtower of June 1, 1913, pages 154-155 (4821)
We take this occasion to remind our readers afresh that nowhere in our writings have they found anything positively stated respecting the closing years of this age, except that we understand that the Gentile times will close in October 1914, and that consequently we expect, speedily following that date, the transfer of the rulership of earth to the great King of Glory, in a “ time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.” We have pointed out that prior to that date a testing work will be in progress in the church— a time in which the question will be, not so much, Who will fall? as, Who shall be able to stand in this evil day?— Eph. 6:11.
The events expected to happen in 1914
The Watchtower of October 15, 1913, 303-307 (5328)
RESUME OF THE ENDING OF THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES
We say that according to the best chronological reckoning of which we are capable, it is approximately that time— whether it be October, 1914, or later. Without dogmatizing, we are looking for certain events: (1) The termination of the Gentile times— Gentile supremacy in the world— and (2) For the inauguration of Messiah’s kingdom in the world. The kingdoms of earth will come to an end, and “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom.” (Daniel 2:44)
The Scriptures do not say that the trouble will come in an hour, or in one day, or in one year. The intimation is that the catastrophe coming upon our civilization will be a very sudden one. (Revelation 18:8, 10, 17, 21; 1 Thessalonians 5:3) But it will be very sudden if it comes within twelve months. The flood required many days to come, and many days to assuage.
The year 1914 is mentioned a great number of instances in The Watchtowers from 1879 to 1913. But I have chosen the quotations above to illustrate the basic points of the views regarding 1914.
CONCLUSION
Reading the quotations above and several other quotations from the Watchtower, as well as the six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures, written by C.T. Russell, have given a clear picture in my mind that the men and women who wrote this literature were sincere persons who loved the Bible and did their utmost to understand the purpose of God.
I have heard it said and seen it written that the Bible Students were false prophets because they made glaring errors in connection with what they said about the year 1914, and that none of their prophecies about 1914 came true. These claims are made by persons who either are enemies of the Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses or who have no firsthand knowledge of the beliefs of the Bible Students.
The following points show both the sincerity, the love of the Bible, and the expertise of the Bible students:
I show in Part III of this study that there is both a linguistic and a thematic relationship between the appointed times in Luke 21:24 and the seven appointed times in Daniel chapter 4. The Bible Students’ calculation of the 2,520 years of the “Gentile times,” therefore, has a strong basis.
The Bible Students’ love for and belief in the Bible led them to reject Usher’s chronology, which was harmonized with the secular Ptolemy’s chronology, and which gave only 51 years for the Babylonian captivity when the land was desolate. They believed the words of Daniel and the chronicler that the desolate condition lasted 70 years.
Their belief in the Bible instead of secular chronologies led them to the year 606 BCE as the starting point of the “Gentile times” in Luke 21:25. Today, we know that this is one year wrong, that the starting point should be 607 BCE (see Part III). Today, we also have strong evidence that 1914 is the important year when the appointed time of the nations ended, Jesus became king in God’s kingdom, and that the time of the end began.
In the 1870’s the only secular chronological information available together with the biblical chronology led to the year 606 for the dethronement of the last king in the line of David. Because the year 1914 is so important, it is logical that God would make this year visible for the Bible Students. Given the circumstances, the only possible way that could happen, was by using the year 606 BCE as the starting point.
In my view God directed the Bible students to use this year just as he by the help of The Emphatic Diaglott directed them to understand that Jesus should not return visible but have an invisible presence. Because there is no year 0 (zero), the use of the year 606 BCE would lead to the year 1914, just as the year 607 will do.
The direction of God was based on the Bible Students’ faith in the Bible that the length of the Babylonian captivity when the land was desolate was 70 years. Only because of this realization could the Bible Students arrive at 606 for the beginning of the “Gentile times.” At that time, many others believed that the land was desolate for 51 years, and today this is the universal belief of most biblical scholars and theologians.
What the Bible Students believed regarding what would happen in the year 1914 was not a total failure, as many critics claim. The last quotation from the Watchtower of 1913 shows that the Bible Students expected the appointed times of the nations to end and the kingdom of God to be established. And they expected a catastrophe to happen, “a wild struggle, a time of trouble that has not been there since the time a people came into being,” as the Norwegian quotation from 1910 says.
Today, we understand that these three things happened in 1914: The appointed times of the nations ended, God’s kingdom was established in heaven, and the world war started.
The Bible students also expected several other things that did not happen, for example, that the thousand-year reign of Jesus would start. That does not place the Bible Students in the awkward position of persons who played God. Daniel 12:4 says that the prophecies of Daniel should be sealed until the time of the end. If it is correct that the time of the end started in 1914, any attempt to understand these sealed prophecies before that year would fail. This means that all the things the Bible Students expected to happen in 1914 but did not happen, were things that they could not understand. We can view these things as sincere attempts by the servants of God to understand his purposes.
