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607 BCE - The Fall of Jerusalem

Although the date of 607 B.C.E. doesn’t appear as much in Watchtower literature as does their reference to 1914, it is actually the most significant date of all. Why?  It is the most significant date of all because it fixes all the other dates in the Watchtower doctrine. Without 607 B.C.E. you can’t apply the 2,520 years mentioned in the book of Daniel and arrive at 1914, the time of the end of the gentile times.

The Watchtower is stuck with the wrong date of 607 B.C.E for the fall of Jerusalem because when Charles Taze Russell, their founder, was working with biblical chronology, 607 B.C.E. was the favored date for the fall of Jerusalem.  Much work has been done in the field of archaeology since the late 1800s and significant finds have been found.  There are now hundreds if not thousands of pieces of evidential proof that pin point the fall of Jerusalem to 586 / 587 BCE. Unfortunately for the Watchtower it is impossible for them to change this date without significantly changing their doctrine.

Many Jehovah’s Witnesses have tried to find secular sources to agree with the Watchtower Society’ date of 607 BCE for the fall of Jerusalem, but always fail in their attempts.  To date there is no professor, scholar or authority which subscribes to the Watchtower’s use of the 607 date, however, they do all agree on one thing and that is that Jerusalem fell in 586 / 587 B.C.E. 

The Watchtower even provides evidence against its own 607 B.C.E. chronology. The Watchtower agrees with the Ptolemy king list, that the fall of the Babylonian empire occurred in 539 B.C.E. which was the 17th year reign of  Nabonidus and that Jeruselem fell in the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar. Below you can see how easy it is for any Jehovah’s Witness to disprove the Watchtower Society’s 607 date by using its own chronology.

Pay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy! P181

The Babylonian Empire was no more.  It had been “given to Medes and the Persians” in 539 B.C.E..

[Emphasis added]

Aid to Bible Understanding

NABONIDUS - Last supreme monarch of the Babylonian Empire and father of Belshazzar.  On the basis of cuneiform texts he ruled some seventeen years (556-539 B.C.E.)

[Emphasis added]

So counting backward from the Watchtower’s agreed date of 539 B.C.E. , using the agreed biblical king list and the fact that Jerusalem fell in the 18th year reign of Nebuchadnezzar we can deduce the following:

Calendar Year	Nabonidus: 17 yrs	Labashi-Marduk: < 9 months	Neriglissar: 4 yrs	Evil-Merodach 2 yrs	Nebuchadnezzar II 43 yrs
539 BCE	17
540	16
541	15
542	14
543	13
544	12
545	11
546	10
547	9
548	8
549	7
550	6
551	5
552	4
553	3
554	2
555	1
556	0 (accession year)	less than 9 months	4
557			3
558			2
559			1
560			0 (accession year)	2
561				1
562				0 (accession year)	43
563					42
564					41
565					40
566					39
567					38
568					37
569					36
570					35
571					34
572					33
573					32
574					31
575					30
576					29
577					28
578					27
579					26
580					25
581					24
582					23
583					22
584					21
585					20
586					19
587					18
588					17
589					16
590					15
591					14
592					13
592					12
594					11
595					10
596					9
597					8
598					7
599					6
600					5
601					4
602					3
603					2
604					1
605 BCE					0 (accession year)

Aid to Bible Understanding - 1971 p912, Jerusalem

DESOLATION AND DESTRUCTION

The city fell [Jerusalem] on Tammuz 9, 607 B.C.E.

[Emphasis added]

Aid to Bible Understanding - 1971 p1212, Nebuchadnezzar

Subsequently Pharaoh’s troops were forced to go back to Egypt and the Babylonians resumed the siege against Jerusalem. Finally, in 607 B.C.E., on Tammuz 9 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign (Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth regnal year), a breach was made in Jerusalem’s wall.

[.....]

The book of Daniel states that it was in the “second year” of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingship (Probably counting from the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E.)

[Emphasis added]

Watchtower 1991 June 1 pp.15-20 Their Refuge—A Lie!

7 But Babylon's armies were too powerful, and Egypt's troops had to withdraw. Jerusalem's placing confidence in Egypt proved to be a mistake, and in 607 B.C.E., Jehovah abandoned her to the destruction he had foretold. So Jerusalem's rulers and priests were wrong! Their trust in worldly alliances for peace and security was "a lie" that was swept away by the flash flood of Babylon's armies.

[...]

14 In the years before the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., Jeremiah reported that the leaders were crying, "There is peace! There is peace!" (Jeremiah 8:11) However, that was a lie. Jerusalem was destroyed in fulfillment of the inspired warnings of Jehovah's true prophets. The apostle Paul warned that something similar would happen in our day. He said that men would be crying "Peace and security!" But then, he said, "sudden destruction" would be "instantly upon them."