1914 and Earth, what is the Significance?
Jesus, King of kings and lord of lords, as sanctioned by Jehovah.
Firstly, why 1914? Well from the time of king Saul, kings who represented Israel were supposed to represent God Almighty, Jehovah. Prior, to that arrangement, faithful prophets and priests were sole representatives of Jehovah God. After the waywardness of High Priest Eli’s sons, and then Samuels sons, the people asked for a king to represent them, as was the custom of the nations around them.
1 Samuel 8:6-8 (American Standard Version)
6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto Jehovah.
7 And Jehovah said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.
8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
It was then stated that every king who sat on the throne in Jerusalem, was said to sit on Jehovah’s throne.
Chronicles 28:5 (American Standard Version)
5 And of all my sons (for Jehovah hath given me many sons), he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah over Israel.
Matthew 5:34-35 (American Standard Version)
34 but I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God;
35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
In agreement, the entire Bible shows that Jehovah's purpose is for his own Son, Jesus Christ, to rule as His representative over mankind. (Psalm 2:1---18; Daniel 7:13, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:23--25; Revelation 11:15; 12:10) The Bible's description of Jesus shows that he was indeed "the lowliest one of mankind." (Phillipians 2:7, 8; Matthew 11:28--30) The prophetic in Daniel 4 dream, then, points to the time when Jehovah would give rulership over mankind to his own Son.
Daniel 4:1--17. Verses 20--37 show that this prophecy had a fulfillment upon Nebuchadnezzar. But it also has a larger fulfillment. Verses 3 and 17 show that the dream that God gave to King Nebuchadnezzar deals with the Kingdom of God and God's promise to give it "to the one whom he wants to ........ even the lowliest one of mankind."
In the meantime, rulership over mankind, as represented by the tree and its rootstock, would have "the heart of a beast." (Daniel 4:16) The history of mankind would be dominated by governments that displayed the characteristics of wild beasts. In modern times, the bear is commonly used to represent Russia; the eagle, the U.S.A.; the lion, Britain; the dragon, China. The Bible also uses wild beasts as symbols of world governments and of the entire global system of human rulership under the influence of Satan. (Daniel 7;2--8, 17, 23; 8:20--22; Revelation 13:1, 2)
Jesus showed in his prophecy pointing to the conclusion of the system of things, Jerusalem would be "trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations" were fulfilled. (Luke 21:24) "Jerusalem" represented the Kingdom of God because its kings were said to sit on "the throne of the kingship of Jehovah." ( 1 Chronicles 28:4, 5; Matthew 5:34, 35) So, the Gentile governments, represented by wild beasts, would 'trample' on the right of God's Kingdom to direct human affairs and would themselves hold sway under Satan's control.---Compare Luke 4:5, 6.
After Zedekiah, the last king in the typical Kingdom of God, was removed from the throne in Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Finally, by early October of 607 B.C.E. the last vestige of Jewish sovereignty was gone. By that time the Jewish governor, Gedaliah, who had been left in charge by the Babylonians, had been assassinated, and the remaining Jews had fled to Egypt. (Jeremiah, chapters 40-43) Reliable Bible chronology indicates that this took place 70 years before 537 B.C.E., the year in which the Jews returned from captivity; that is, it took place by early October of 607 B.C.E. (Jeremiah 29:10; Daniel 9:2. The line of kingdom rulers was interrupted; historically in the year 607 B.C.E.
"Seven times" was to pass until rule restored:
Daniel 4:32, 16, 17: ....and from mankind they are driving even you away, and with the beasts of the field your dwelling will be. Vegetation they will give even to you to eat just like bulls, and seven times themselves will pass over you, until you know that the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind, and that to the one whom he wants to he gives it.
Let its heart be changed from mankind, and let the heart of a beast be given to it, and let seven times pass over it. 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.
Seven =2 x 3 1/2 times, or 2 x 1,260 days.
Revelation 12:6, 14; 11:2, 3: 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.
But the two wings of the great eagle were given the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place; there is where she is fed for a time and times and half a time away from the face of the serpent.
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. And I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days dressed in sackcloth.
A day for a year. [Makes 2,520 years.]
Ezekiel 4:6: And you must complete them. And you must lie upon your right side in the second case, and you must carry the error of the house of Judah forty days. A day for a year, a day for a year, is what I have given you.
Numbers 14:34: By the number of the days that you spied out the land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, you will answer for your errors forty years, as you must know what my being estranged means.
This time was to run until Kingdom's establishment.
Luke 21:24: ....... 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.
Daniel 7:13, 14: I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming, and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.
Counting 2,520 years from early October of 607 B.C.E. brings us to early October of 1914 C.E.
"Seven times"= 2 x 3 1/2 "times"= 2 x 1260 or 7 x 360 = 2,520 years
Early October, 607 B.C.E., to December 31, 607 B.C.E. =1/4 year
January 1, 606 B.C.E., to December 31, 1 B.C.E. = 606 years
January 1, 1 C.E., to December 31, 1913 = 1,913 years
January 1, 1914, to early October, 1914 = 3/4 year
2,520 years.
For decades in advance, Bible students proclaimed that there would be significant developments in 1914. These Bible students were later called witnesses of Jehovah.
What happened at that time? Jehovah entrusted rulership over mankind to his own Son, Jesus Christ, glorified in the heavens. ----- Daniel 7:13, 14.
Then why is there so much wickedness on earth?
After Christ was enthroned, Satan and his demons were hurled out of the heavens and down to the earth. (Revelation 12:12) Christ as King did not immediately proceed to destroy all who refused to acknowledge Jehovah's sovereignty and himself as the Messiah. Instead, as he had foretold, a global preaching work was to be done. (Matthew 24:14) As King he would direct a dividing of peoples of all nations, those proving to be righteous being granted the prospect of everlasting life, and the wicked being consigned to everlasting cutting-off in death. ( Matthew 25:31--46.) In the meantime, the very difficult conditions foretold for "the last days" would prevail. Before the last members of the generation that was alive in 1914 will have passed off the scene, all the things foretold will occur, including the "great tribulation" in which the present wicked world will end. --- Matthew 24: 21, 22, 34.
The earth is where it all began, it is the REASON, why, Satan led a rebellion.
God’s reconciliation is for the things in the heavens and things on earth.
Colossians 1
19 because [God] saw good for all fullness to dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile again to himself all [other] things by making peace through the blood [he shed] on the torture stake, no matter whether they are the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens.
