 |
| Awake! October 8, 1968, p.15 |
Watchtower publications have long taught that each creative day of the Genesis account of creation was 7,000 years long. For years prior to 1975 the Watchtower Society predicted 1975 as the year for Armageddon on the basis that September of 1975 marked 6,000 years since Adam’s creation and therefore marked 6,000 years of God’s “rest day.” (Genesis 2:2) Watchtower publications taught that the Millennium would be the last 1,000 years of God’s “rest day” and would begin with Armageddon. Since 1975 the Watchtower Society still teaches that September of 1975 marked 6,000 years since Adam’s creation but has been teaching that the “rest day” began after the creation of Eve and we do not know how much time elapsed between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve.
The
Bible clearly teaches that the six days of creation were six normal days. “For
in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and
hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:11) “Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is
the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath
day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall
keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a
perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for
ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he
rested, and was refreshed. (Exodus 31:15-17)
Theories
about the time of Adam's creation could be off by hundreds or thousands of
years due to the difference in the way ancient historians recorded genealogies.
Ancient Hebrews often listed the most important son or the legal heir first,
not necessarily the eldest son. For example, Genesis 11:26 says "And Terah
lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran," but a comparison
of Scripture passages reveals that Terah was 130 years old when Abram was born.
(Genesis 11:32; 12:1-4; Acts 7:4) Apparently Genesis 11:26 means that Terah was
70 years old when he begat his sons, of whom Abram was the legal heir or the
most important. Modern writers like to include every name in a genealogy, but
ancient writers just included the important names and often skipped several
generations at a time. For example, Genesis 11:12 says "And Arphaxad lived
five and thirty years, and begat Salah" even though Arphaxad was the grandfather
of Salah. (Luke 3:35-36) In listing his own genealogy Ezra gives the names of
only sixteen generations between himself and Aaron even though his list covers
about a thousand years. Ezra evidently just listed the officially reckonable
names. (Ezra 7:1-5) Matthew 1:8 says "Joram begat Ozias," but
according to the Old Testament Joram was the great-great-grandfather of Ozias
(Uzziah). Matthew evidently means the officially reckonable generations when he
speaks of generations. (Matthew 1:17) The original writers and the first
readers understood why certain names were included and others were omitted, but
we come to wrong conclusions when we assume that Bible writers recorded
genealogies like western or modern historians and then interpret those writings
accordingly.
Testimonies about 1975 from people who were Jehovah's Witnesses during the time
1975 -What the Watchtower doesn't want you to know
HOW TO WITNESS TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
