Download PDF version

Sabbatical and Jubilee
Part 4 Session 2
Ezekiel’s Jubilee Timeline

Transcribed and edited from video

https://www.answersoflife.com/

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind; to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompence; to comfort all that mourn; (Isa 61:1-2 Brenton)

We have been through the three major parts of this presentation to look at the background and the history of the Sabbatical and Jubilee. We have looked at the instructions that we find in Torah, and have examined the attributes and stipulations that we found. We’ve taken a look at how to count the Sabbaticals and Jubilees in Part Three. That is a significant milestone to start about how to count this cycle, if is it a 49 or 50 year cycle. Part Three we determined it was a full 50 year cycle.

We are now in Part Four, we have already completed Session One of three in Part Four, that of course was the Southern Kingdom Geo-Politics around the year 600 BCE. This time we are going to take that same series of events and expand them and put them on a detailed timeline. That timeline is going to march forward starting at about 609 BCE and go forward to the time that Ezekiel makes what we believe to be a Jubilee proclamation in 574 BCE.

We are going to start that detailed timeline and will be looking at the three Babylonian sieges of the Southern Kingdom. Specifically Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar, and there were also six deportations of the Southern Kingdom during this same period of time. We are going to highlight the first two sieges and the first three deportations. The final session, will detail the fall of Jerusalem, that final siege which leads to Ezekiel’s Jubilee proclamation in 574 BCE.

Objective

• Determine the date for Eze 40:1
• What year was this vision?
• Two clues
  25^th year of captivity
  14^th year after the fall of Jerusalem
• Why do we care?
  Establish Jubilee year date
  Derive Sabbatical year date
• How do we proceed?
  develop Ezekiel Jubilee Timeline
  Validate with chronologically interlinked historical events

With that background, I want to be clear in what our objective is in moving forward from this point. We are going to be looking to determine the date, the actual calendar year date for Ezekiel chapter 40 verse 1. We believe that to be a Jubilee proclamation for a variety of reasons which you will see in the next presentation. We’ll unfold the reasons that it is a Jubilee proclamation, but we’d like to know what year this vision was.

In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of YHWH was upon me, and brought me thither. In the visions of Elohim brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame ^{H4011=a building} of a city on the south. (Eze 40:1-2 KJV)

It’s noteworthy the frame that is being talked about is a building, so Ezekiel was seeing the building of a city on the south from his vantage point. What year was this vision? That is what we want to zero in on, and that’s why we are building this timeline with all of these events that we are going to be looking into.

Inside of Ezekiel 40 in this scripture, there are two clues to the actual date of this vision. The first clue is that it’s the 25^th year of the captivity. The second clue is that it’s the 14^th year after the fall of Jerusalem. We will see how these two clues will come together and as we develop the timeline we are going to be interested in when Jerusalem falls. That is what we are leading up to, and we will be interested in the captivity which wasn’t the same date as when Jerusalem finally fell.

You might ask, why do we care? The reason we care is that we want to understand and establish what calendar date the actual Jubilee is. Many have thought that this is not known, but I believe that it is. Once you know when the Jubilee was in this period of time you can derive the Sabbatical years from it. Keep in mind the Jubilee is the 50^th year of this cycle and the previous year, year 49 would have been a Sabbatical. We can back up and derive from that all of the Sabbatical years going back to creation as well as to come forward to today.

It is our understanding that the Jubilee and Sabbaticals were an event that happened at creation. So, how do we proceed? What we are going to do starting now with all of the details and background that we have, the geo-politics that was going on in the Southern Kingdom, we will develop what is called “The Ezekiel Jubilee Timeline”. We are going to be moving forward with the ultimate goal of getting to Ezekiel 40 and knowing what date this vision actually happened on.

When we proceed, we are going to be dealing with something like a double entry accounting system, we will be validating the chronologically interlinked historical events. If the events that we have on the timeline don’t match up to other events then we must not be on the right track so we should see these events line up, the tenure of kings, the dates of battles, the dates when Jerusalem was under siege, and so forth. All of that will actually line up and we’ll get to an actual date in Ezekiel 40 when this vision occurred. Some would say that the date of the Jubilee and Sabbaticals really don’t matter. We would argue that the date was set at creation. In Genesis chapter 1 the scriptures tell us:

• And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
  to divide the day from the night;
  and let them be for signs, ^{H226=oth=signeal, sign, beacon}
  and for seasons, ^{H4150=moad=appointment, festival, set time}
  and for days, and years: ^{H8141=shaneh=a revolution of time}
  (Gen 1:14 KJV)

We know when we keep the Holy Days that we keep appointments and seasons and days, we know that we do it on a yearly boundary, but this scripture says that the lights in the heavens are to divide the day from the night and they are for signs and seasons, and for days and years.

This term “years” is “Shanah” which means a revolution of time. As we talked about in Part 3, the revolution of the earth that goes around the sun is different from the revolution of the moon that goes around the earth.

• What appointment has to do with years?

Obviously, there is only one answer, and that appointment has to do with the Sabbatical and Jubilee. Those are YHWH’s appointments that have to do with years. We think this is important to know when the Sabbatical is particularly today, the Jubilee has fallen into disuse as a result of the pagan society that we live in.

The Sabbatical, having a land rest is highly important to YHWH. It’s as important as the weekly Sabbath and as the Sabbath of Atonement. The Shabbat of Shabbathons. There are three of them: The weekly Sabbath, the Day of Atonement and the Sabbatical year itself.

I am going to outline at the beginning of this presentation these three sieges and six deportations that we will be talking about in the detail of the timeline.

The first siege and first deportation that we see is a result of an attack by Nebuchadnezzar on Jerusalem. Daniel is taken captive, that is actually the first siege and the first deportation. Other young princes were taken also.

The second siege happened some years later in 598/597 BCE and this siege had to do with the deportation in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar. It is the same time that Jehoiakim was assonated and three thousand were taken captive.

There was an additional deportation, a second and third during this period of time during Nebuchadnezzar’s eighth year that we have uncovered. That is when Jehoiachin was taken captive. We will talk about Jehoiachin being the son of Jehoiakim and so forth.

Also, in this third deportation ten thousand were taken captive. That is where we are going to go this time. We will cover ground in these first two sieges, and these first three deportations.

Next time, will be the third siege which has to do with Jerusalem and the Temple being destroyed. That siege occurred in the 18^th year of Nebuchadnezzar and there are a couple of deportations associated with that and we will highlight what those are.

The final deportation which really doesn’t affect our timeline in Ezekiel but it’s mentioned in these scriptures that we are going through so we are going to talk about it as well. It was the time when Ishmael assassinated Gedaliah along with some of the Babylonians. It really upset Nebuchadnezzar so he took a bunch more people out of Judah.

One comment is when we look through the scriptures there is a section of scriptures in Jeremiah 52 towards the end that talks about three different times there were captives taken. There are a couple of other places that we find captives being taken, but when we put that all together, if you add up the numbers on this particular siege and deportation chart, you will see that it adds up to 14,600.

I don’t believe that to be a full accounting of the captives that were taken. There had to be many that went to Babylon because when Ezra and Nehemiah and Zerubbabel came back to rebuild the Temple and then in Nehemiah to build the the city walls of course, there was just short of 50,000 that returned.

That was 70 years after the desolation of Jerusalem started in this period of time. If only 15,000 or so taken captive in the beginning and then 50,000 returning, there must have been others that were taken that we don’t know about. It is an interesting sidebar discussion to look at what the scriptures tell us.

My point is that the sum of what we see in these sieges and deportations out of the scripture, I don’t believe to be the fullness of the deportations. There were many more taken in that period of time.

Of course just to mention, before that, the Assyrians took out the Northern Kingdom and there were certainly captives taken during that period of time also. Many stayed back in Babylon, only a small number came forward when they were able to return to Jerusalem.

The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore, Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women. (Ezr 2:64-65 KJV)

Ezekiel Jubilee Timeline

• Southern Kingdom
  Tishri years
  Non-accession dating
• Babylon Empire
  Nisan years
  Accession dating

We will work in ten year increments, and will start the line with 610 through 601 BCE but there are a couple of calendar housekeeping points to be made, one is that the BCE line, 610 – 609 – 608 are Gregorian calendar years.

The Gregorian calendar years are different and start on different boundaries than Ethanim or Tishri years as we have talked about. It might now start to come clear why I have spent quite a bit of time identifying these different calendars. Now when we go to reconcile the dates together, we have to understand when the kings considered their next anniversary, and when the foreign Gentile powers considered their next anniversaries.

There isn’t just one recipe, there were multiple recipes on how they kept track of themselves. The second line on this chart says Ethanim/Tishri Yr., so that Ethanim or Tishri year starts in the 7^th month, you will see that it is offset from the Gregorian year.

The first line item that we find is Jehoiakim’s reign and his first year that is on this chart. We will come to that. A couple of points as we start: The Southern Kingdom as you recall from previous presentations, kept their regnal years in Tishri years, or Ethanim years. I am using the term Tishri and Ethanim interchangeably as I would use the month name or the term for Nisan or Abib interchangeably. Also, the Southern Kingdom used this method of dating called non-accession, they didn’t have an accession year or a zero year.

That is in contrast to the Babylonian Empire that used Nisan years. In other words, they started in Nisan or Abib with their count and they did use accession dating. There was a zero year.

As we unfold this you will see how that starts to interact on this timeline chart. We are going to start with an anchor when Josiah dies in 609 BCE.

Read a few lines from Edwin Thiel’s book:

For no other period is there such a wealth of detailed chronological information, both biblical and extra biblical. These ancient contemporary historical data make it possible to know what was going on in the important nations around Israel; thus at a very critical period of Hebrew history, we have light available concerning exactly what was happening in Babylon and Egypt. There are frequent cross references between Hebrew and Babylonian kings that facilitate the precise and certain dating of events. Dates are now expressed not only in terms of years but at times in terms of months or days…Babylonian tablets (in the British museum) provide fixed dates for the period we are about to discuss.
The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, Edwin Theil, new revised edition, Zondervan Corporation 1983, p 179-180

Some of those fixed dates that have a high degree of accuracy include this list:

• Egyptian campaign to Euphrates against Haran
  609 BCE
• Babylonian victory at Carchemish
  605 BCE
• Accession of Nebuchadnezzar
  605 BCE
• Jerusalem taken by Nebuchadnezzar
  16 March 597 BCE
• Jehoiachin captured and Zedekiah made king
  597 BCE

With that background, we have some accurate secular dating that we are going to also integrate into the overall timeline. Let’s start with Josiah being mortally wounded at Megiddo yes, he went back to Jerusalem where he died.

Josiah Dies at Megiddo

• Pharaoh Necho II led sizable army to aid Assyrians vs. Babylonians at Haran and Carchemish
• Necho Passage through Jezreel Valley blocked by Judean army led by Josiah
• Josiah mortally wounded
  Sivan or early Tammuz 609 BCE (May – July)
• Reigned 641/640 – 609 BCE = 31 years (Thiele dates)

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him. But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for Elohim commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with Elohim, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised ^{H2664=conceal, mask} himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of Elohim, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded. His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. (2Ch 35:20-24 KJV)

Notice the arrogance of Necho saying “Elohim is with me”, he is telling Josiah that YHWH is with him. Also, you see in this scripture even though Necho is being arrogant, apparently that was the fact of the matter. Josiah shouldn’t have meddled in this campaign. That is the beginning of what we are going to anchor this calendar to.

We see from this account that Necho’s passage through the Jezreel Valley was hindered by Josiah. I suspect in reading though this, there are different conjecture as to why Josiah did this. Josiah was likely thinking that Necho was going to be a real threat coming from Egypt and that Necho was probably going to win at Carchemish and then the Southern Kingdom would be a vassal state. It turns out that it ended up that way anyway.

Josiah was trying to block the army, and it might well be also that Josiah’s blocking the army and causing this battle before the Egyptians finally went to Haran and Carchemish. He slowed the Egyptians enough that they in fact, lost this first battle at Carchemish.

Josiah was mortally wounded as a result and the date seems to be close to this month of Tammuz which is sometime between May and July in 609 BCE. We know from studying this, and if you look at Thiele’s dates and the other scholars that have looked at the chronology of this that Josiah reigned starting in 641/640 BCE and that gets it down to 31 years that he reigned. That gets it to 609 when this event happened.

On a map on the next page, this took place north of the Southern Kingdom at a place called Carchemish and Harran (circled). Pharaoh Necho led a sizeable army to aid the Assyrians who he had allied with. This was in contrast to the enemy up there who was considered the Babylonians at Harran and Carchemish.

There still was some strength of the Assyrians left; they were on their decline certainly at this point in time, and the Babylonians were on the increase.

Necho’s passage through Jezreel Valley was blocked by the Judean army led by Josiah and of course he was mortally wounded. This is where this all took place and there was of course, traffic going back and forth through the Southern Kingdom, with Pharaoh Necho’s army from Egypt coming from the South.

Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah
Reigns Three Months

• Jehoahaz ^Shallum succeeds Josiah
• Necho campaign at Haran fails
  Babylonian Chronicle dates battle from Tammuz (July – Aug.) to Elul Aug. – Sept. 609 BCE
• Necho returns to Egypt via Jerusalem
  Jehoahaz deposed to Egypt
• Jehoahaz deposed to Egypt….
• Jehoiakim succeeds Jehoahaz

It wasn’t the first born of Josiah, but Shallum, whose name was changed to Jehoahaz, became coroneted after Josiah died. When you read about this in the scriptures you have to do a little bit of homework to find out that Shallum and Jehoahaz is the same guy. Jehoahaz only reigned for three months and you will see why and what happened here starting in 2 Kings.

Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of YHWH, according to all that his fathers had done. And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there. (2Ki 23:31-34 KJV)

I don’t believe there is any common ground that this Jeremiah is the same as the prophet. Jeremiah the prophet was from Anathoth, so this is a different Jeremiah it would appear.

The Necho campaign failed at Haran, however on his way back this event seems to have happened. The Babylonian Chronicles date the battle from Tammuz to Elul in 609 BCE. Albright and Thiele date the reign of Jehoahaz to 609 also. Necho returns to Egypt via Jerusalem which is when this is happening and Jehoahaz is deposed to Egypt. As a result, Eliakim was renamed Jehoiakim and is put in place by Pharaoh Necho.

You might wonder why Necho did that, and if you dig into this account you will find that Jehoahaz was probably a favored son in the society. He was well liked by the people and apparently he had an outgoing personality. I think that Necho didn’t want that to be because effectively Necho killed Josiah and there would have been a vendetta against the offspring to start with. Jehoahaz was the best choice but Necho didn’t want to leave him there because he was somewhat like a favored son, but not the first born. It is unknown, and for whatever reason it happened this way according to the scripture.

Jehoiakim succeeds Jehoahaz and we see going on in 2 Kings here:

Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of YHWH, according to all that his fathers had done. (2Ki 23:36-37 KJV)

The highlight of eleven years is important as we go forward. The statement: “according to all that his fathers had done”, of course Josiah can’t be counted as this because he was a reformer, but Josiah’s work was too little too late. Manasseh’s and Ammon’s before Josiah were some of the most evil kings in the history of Judah.

Going back to this timetable, now we see these events highlighted.

• Josiah died early summer 609 BCE
• Jehoahaz reigns 3 months – through late summer 609 BCE
• Necho installs Jehoiakim as king late 609 BCE

And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt. Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of YHWH his Elohim.
(2Ch 36:4-5 KJV)

We have a marker on the board now that we can work from to see if the other events that we are going to look at will inner-link to this without any discrepancy. We are starting at 609 on the Gregorian calendar, and at the first year of Jehoiakim on the Ethanim and Tishri Calendar late in the year of 609 BCE.

The next event that we will look at is this first siege that Nebuchadnezzar conducted in Jerusalem in 606 BCE. What we have though, are two new lines on our calendar. We have to deal with this Abib and Nisan dating of the Babylonian kings.

Obviously, that complicates the calendar because we not only have the January to December, but we also have Tishri to Tishri in the Southern Kingdom calendar and now we have the Babylonian calendar that starts with Abib which is offset 6 more months from the Tishri calendar. We have to deal with an accession year of King Nebuchadnezzar on top of that.

We’ll deal with the details that are going to come up here but we are going to jump forward now to the 3^rd year of Jehoiakim. This deportation is the first deportation; it’s when Daniel was taken.

In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years ^{before flipping to Necho}: then he turned and rebelled against him. And YHWH sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of YHWH, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of YHWH came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh ^{specifically being called out here} , according to all that he did; And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which YHWH would not pardon. (2Ki 24:1-4 KJV)

I would add that in the Geo-political presentation we learned that Jehoiakim had a severely conflicted foreign policy. What this is referring to is Jehoiakim became his servant three years before flipping to Pharaoh Necho and then flipping back, and then flipping to Necho again.

Jehoiakim promised Nebuchadnezzar he would be a good vassal king but he didn’t and he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. Now, jumping into the account in Daniel, this is happening at the same point in time. We get the time marker in Daniel:

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And YHWH gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of Elohim: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
(Dan 1:1-4 KJV)

The language is important here, Jehoiakim was in his third year, Nebuchadnezzar was king, but it doesn’t show us that Nebuchadnezzar was king for year one, two or three. It just says he was king. I would assert that this is reference to his accession year and you will see why when we actually look at the timeline.

The Babylonians are bringing these special children from Israel, and note that the King’s seed. The young lads of the King’s seed were brought to Babylon for what I guess what we would call in today’s vernacular “a finishing program”. The king wanted to finish and polish them in the ways of the Chaldeans.

• The 3^rd year of Jehoiakim – 606 BCE (based on our anchor of Josiah. The year this happened)
• Daniel and all were taken captive
• Nebuchadnezzar’s accession year

Again, we have to deal with 6 month Abib versus Tishri, the offset. There is more inner-linking that will show this to be correct.

Battle at Carchemish

• Fourth year of Jehoiakim
• 605 BCE – secular reckoning from Wikipedia – Battle of Carchemish
  Encyclopedia Iranica
  Carchemish was captured by the Babylonians in 605 BCE
• The Babylonian Chronicle and the Ancient Calendar of the Kingdom of Judah
  Andrews University Seminary Horn, Siegfried H (1967), p 20 – 26
• Chronicles of Chaldean Kings (626-556 B.C.), Wiseman, D.J. (1956), British Museum: British Museum Publications, Ltd. p. 99
• Cuneiform tablet with part of the Babylonian Chronicle (605-594 BC),britishmuseum.org
• Egyptians allied with the Assyrians defeated by Babylonians allied with the Medes

The first item that we need to deal with is after this first deportation in Jerusalem, the next year was a famous battle, and it is one of the calendar anchors that you see well documented in the secular records, the Battle of Carchemish. There was a battle in Carchemish back in 609, but this is the second and ended up being decisive to put down the Egyptians enough to make the Neo-Babylonian Empire the imperial power of the world, and the power broker at that point.

We will look at the Battle of Carchemish which is in the 4^th year of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah has a lot of this history built into his prophecies as well, so we will see Jeremiah come up every now and then.

The word of YHWH which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. …YHWH of hosts, the Elohim of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him: And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it ^Egypt shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith YHWH. (Jer 46:1-2, 25-26 KJV)

Egypt isn’t going to be taken completely out, they are going to lose according to this prophecy, but they are still going to be inhabited. There is an addition to this in Jeremiah chapter 25. This time I want to read it in the Septuagint Version.

THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS concerning all the people of Juda in the fourth year of Joakim, son of Josias, king of Juda ^{(compare that with what the Masoretic Text says: that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon – added in KJV)} ; which he spoke to all the people of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ^starting In the thirteenth year of Josias, son of Amos, king of Juda, even until this day for three and twenty years, I have both spoken to you, rising early and speaking, and I sent to you my servants the prophets, sending them early; (but ye hearkened not, and listened not with your ears;) saying,
(Jer 25:1-4 Brenton)

It’s important to note that the fourth year of Jehoiakim is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar.

I have added the word starting, that’s not in the text but I’m trying to make it clear because what was happening here is Jeremiah is saying that in the thirteenth year of Josias he started prophesying, and he had done it for 23 years. The 13^th year of Josiah, starting with his 641 date and subtracting the 13 and then the 23 years that he’s been prophesying brings us to 605 BCE.

It turns out that is a scriptural match for the secular record that agrees with this event of the fourth year of Jehoiakim which was the Battle of Carchemish. You can find more about the details of this from pages 14 and 15 if you want to do some of your own research.

605 BCE is a secular reckoning, and you get it from multiple sources, there isn’t debate that 605 BCE was the date for the Battle of Carchemish. You can look in the Encyclopedia, Iranica, The Babylonian Chronicles have lots of detail and then the Book of Chronicles of Chaldean Kings talks about this event. The Cuneiform tablets which are part of the Babylonian Chronicle are in the British Museum. There are more links to this but I wanted just to provide some for the foundation that 605 BCE as well as what Jeremiah is saying in chapter 25 that matches up.

This battle was about the Egyptians, once again, allied with the Assyrians being defeated by the Babylonians who were allied with the Medes. This is a major turning point in the world’s history; a turning point away from the Egyptian Pharaoh’s being in power and being a power broker to Neo-Babylon. The Chaldeans are now in power and they reigned for about 100 years.

• 4^th year of Jehoiakim
• 1^st year of Nebuchadnezzar (alternatives: Nebuchadrezzar from H5019=Nebukadnetstsar)
• Jeremiah prophesied against Southern Kingdom for 23 years
• Battle at Carchemish in 605 BCE

On the timeline we know it’s the fourth year of Jehoiakim, we know it’s the Battle of Carchemish; we know it is 605 BCE and remember, we started when Nebuchadnezzar was king. It doesn’t say he was king and it was his first or second year, it says only that he was king. I believe this to be a reference to his accession year.

You will see as we go forward that there will be references to the year of Nebuchadnezzar coming up. It will have to match this model that I am showing you. You will see that it does.

Jeremiah prophesied against the Southern Kingdom for 23 years, but I haven’t included that in the overall timeline. He was a major prophet that led up to these events that at this point, concluded the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE.

In the next event we will jump back to Daniel.

We are going to see reference to Daniel in the Book of Daniel about Nebuchadnezzar. Read in Josephus Antiquities because there is some insight in it that is interesting to consider.

But now Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon took some of the most noble of the Jews that were children, and the kinsman of Zedekiah their king, such as were remarkable for the beauty of their bodies, and the comeliness of their countenances, and delivered them into the hands of tutors, and to the improvement to be made by them. He also made some of them to be eunuchs; which course he took also with those of other nations whom he had taken in the flower of their age, and afforded them their diet from his own table, and had them instructed in the institutes of the country, and taught the learning of the Chaldeans; and they had now exercised themselves sufficiently in that wisdom which he had ordered they should apply themselves to. Now among these were four of the family of Zedekiah, of most excellent dispositions, one of whom was called Daniel, another was called Ananias, another Misael, and the fourth Azarias….and the king of Babylon changed their names, and commanded that they should make use of other names. Daniel he called Baltasar; Ananias, Shadrach; Misael, Meshach; and Azarias, Abednego. These the king had in esteem, and continues to love, because of the very excellent temper they were of, and because of their application to learning, and the profess they had made in wisdom. Jos Ant 10.10.1

These were great students for King Nebuchadnezzar in learning the Babylonian way. In Daniel chapter 2, with that in mind:

And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
(Dan 2:1-2 KJV)

We now know that it’s the second year of Nebuchadnezzar, which means there would have been a first year.

• Daniel in Babylon – 604 BCE
• 2^nd year of Nebuchadnezzar II reign – c. 605 – 562 BCE
  Sources:
  Ancient History Encyclopedia
  Britannica.com
  Wikipedia

If you look in the Ancient History Encyclopedia or the Britannica, or even Wikipedia, you find he reigned from 605 to 562, when you look at that, you have to say that Nebuchadnezzar would have had an accession year and it was the first year in 605, and now we are in 604, it would be Nebuchadnezzar’s second year, in other words, this is the third year Daniel is in Babylon, and this event matches up to that. The Encyclopedia weighs in on this:

Nebuchadnezzar – son of Nabopolassar the Chaldean, ruler of Babylon (605 – 562 BCE) and Egypt for the territories succeeded to his father’s throne at the time when the struggle between Babylon and Egypt for the territories that had been part of the Assyrian empire was at its height. According to the Babylonian Chronicle, Nebuchadnezzar waged his first war against Egypt in the region of the Euphrates, in the last year of his father’s reign Nabopolassar (605). In that year he defeated the Egyptian armies in a battle fought at Carchemish on the Euphrates
(cf. Jer 46:2) – Encyclopedia Judaica

You see that Nebuchadnezzar had his first war in 605, it was his father Nabopolassar who would have been in charge in 609 when Josiah was killed even though Nebuchadnezzar was likely was on the scene then, but he wasn’t the king.

These events mark us to 604 and give us a second year reign of Nebuchadnezzar which includes an accession year or that zero year that we have discussed in the past. Nebuchadnezzar’s reign becomes important as we move forward because we will see if we have the rest of this marked correctly and the starting spot marked correctly, his reign and tenure has to line up with some other significant events in history and also what we find in the scriptures.

Nebuchadnezzar Siege 2 – Deportation 2
Jehoiakim Taken Captive

You may not have a firm anchor in your mind that this is correct with Nebuchadnezzar at this point, it’s somewhat circumstantial, I understand and agree. As we move forward, you will see that Nebuchadnezzar‘s reign is mentioned in the scripture and we have carried it forward now from our starting point with his accession year in 606 and his first year in 605.

Now we go to the second tenure period on our timeline. Keep in mind Jehoiakim had an eleven year reign so we are going to jump to the end of his reign, as I showed you on the siege and deportation chart and table, that there was a second siege and a second deportation. That ends up being in the eleventh year of Jehoiakim.

Note that we have extended Nebuchadnezzar’s reign ending on the fifth year on our first timeline, to the sixth year through the fifteenth year on this second group of calendar dates starting in 600 down to 591 BCE.

In investigating this time of Jehoiakim and how he was taken captive.

Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of YHWH his Elohim. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon ^{but killed him in Jerusalem instead}. Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of YHWH to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. (2Ch 36:5-8 KJV)

We see the transition from Kim to Chin in this account from 2 Chronicles. Jeremiah 36 weighs in on this:

Therefore thus saith YHWH of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
(Jer 36:30-31 KJV)

Without Jeremiah 36, you probably wouldn’t know the prophecy of the disposition of Jehoiakim. But Jeremiah said that his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. In 2 Chronicles, we read that Nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon so it sounds as if he went to Babylon. If you read this carefully, he bound him to carry him t Babylon, but the end result was that we are going to see is that he killed him in Jerusalem instead.

I don’t believe there is any conflict about this when you start looking into the details. You see it’s somewhat of a big controversy how Jeremiah say what he said and then 2 Chronicles said what it says. I think they match up perfectly; it’s a matter of what Nebuchadnezzar was going to do versus what really happened.

We’ll get more clarity on this if we look at Josephus. By the way, Josephus is not scripture or inspired, but his historical record has a lot of credibility. I would certainly want to take what Josephus says with the possibility that it might be wrong. We look at it that way, but much of his historical record matches up with the scripture so you have to do your own homework and come to your own conclusion whether his testimony is useful to you or not. We believe it to be useful and many times he collaborates and expands upon what you see in the scriptures and find that it is accurate.

Now a little time afterwards, the king of Babylon made an expedition against Jehoiakim, whom he received (into the city), and this out of fear of the foregoing predictions of this prophet ^Jeremiah, as supposing he should suffer nothing that was terrible, because he neither shut the gates, nor fought against him; yet when he was come into the city, he ^{Nebuchadnezzar} did not observe the covenants he had made, but he slew such as were in the flower of their age, and such as were of the greatest dignity, together with their king Jehoiakim, whom he commanded to be thrown before the walls, without any burial; and made his son Jehoiachin king of the country, and of the city; he also took the principal persons in dignity for captives, three thousand in number, and led them away to Babylon; among which was the prophet Ezekiel, who was then but young. And this was the end of king Jehoiakim, when he had lived thirty-six years, and of them reined eleven. (Jos Ant 10.6.3)

Ezekiel exiled – 598
11^th year of Jehoiakim

According to Josephus, Ezekiel was exiled along with this group of people in 598 which was at the end of Jehoiakim’s reign, and this was the eleventh year of Jehoiakim.

When you look at this you will see that there is another thought that Ezekiel was exiled some months later, after Jehoiachin took office. He was only in office a few short months. Some think that Ezekiel was exiled then, if Josephus is correct, then the account would be that he was exiled in the time of Jehoiakim not Jehoiachin.

In the summary at the end of the book of Jeremiah, I stated there were three deportations that were mentioned by Jeremiah and it would appear that this one with three thousand in number that is in Josephus would match up to the one that is in Jeremiah 52.

This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year ^{of Nebuchadnezzar} three thousand Jews and three and twenty. (Jer 52:28 KJV)

Assumption: 3023 deported is the same as 3K in Josephus account

598 BCE
Jehoiakim 11^th year
Nebuchadnezzar’s 7^th year

It turns out that this is the seventh year in Josephus’ account of Nebuchadnezzar as you will see when we start looking at the timeline again

What we have here, putting the assumption of the three thousand in Josephus’ account, is that Jehoiakim’s eleventh year is Nebuchadnezzar’s seventh. You can see that as we have expanded the timeline on the next page.

• Jehoiakim reigned 11 years and was replaced by Jehoiachin
• 3023 exiled including Ezekiel
• Siege 2 and deportation 2 – in Nebuchadnezzar’s 7^th year
• 598 BCE

We see that it is the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, and it’s the eleventh year of Jehoiakim. There were three thousand and twenty three exiled, it says including Ezekiel in the Josephus account if that is accurate.

This is the second siege and the second deportation in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar in 598 BCE on the Gregorian calendar. The years match up, but we don’t have much evidence of months except in the next account of Jehoiachin.

The next account happens right behind the Jehoiakim account, his son, Jehoiachin is put in charge by Nebuchadnezzar but he only reigns three months. That date seems to have a lot of accuracy from many sources.

We think we know the months which are from December to March in 598/597, in other words the end of December to the very few months in 597 on the Gregorian calendar.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Siege 2 – Deportation 3
Jehoiachin ^{Coniah or Jechoniah} Taken Captive

• 597 BCE – alternative Ezekiel exile
• 10 thousand deported

Jehoiachin, or Coniah, or Jechoniah, had different names, you will see that mixed into the scriptures, and they are all the same guy. I have mentioned that there is an alternative for Ezekiel’s exile and up until a few months ago, I thought this to be the date for Ezekiel’s exile until I ran across the writing in Josephus that said it was a few months previous.

In the scheme of the question of: “Does it matter?” I would say probably not much. This doesn’t break the timeline, but the alternative for Ezekiel to go into exile was with Jehoiachin rather than Jehoiakim.

Ezekiel 33 is one of the scriptures that we use and see that the captivity is measured from Jehoiachin but it also includes Ezekiel. This scripture says:

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity ^{Ezekiel and Jehoiachin}, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten. (Eze 33:21 KJV)

The point of this is, and I have looked at it in a number of translations, “the twelfth year of our captivity”, I don’t see where the word “our” is an added pronoun. If Ezekiel is speaking this to include himself, it would seem that Ezekiel and Jehoiachin’s captivity is what is being talked about.

Ezekiel could be looking at this more globally though and I understand that. He could be looking at it from the standpoint of himself in captivity, but went before Jehoiachin, and now he is lumping it all together. Clearly Ezekiel measures from Jehoiachin, whether it includes himself or not, you have to make up your own mind. Just know that controversy is there, but it makes just a few months of difference.

In 2 Kings we see this about Jehoiachin:

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of YHWH, according to all that his father had done. At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign ^{Nebuchadnezzar’s}. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of YHWH, as YHWH had said. (2Ki 24:8-13 KJV)

This was in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign and this is telling us that Jehoiachin surrendered and was taken captive at this time. There is another account in 2 Kings that is noteworthy because it tells us about the number of captives that were taken.

And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of YHWH, as YHWH had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead ^{Jehoiachin’s father was Jehoiakim}, and changed his name to Zedekiah. (2Ki 24:13-17 KJV)

Jehoiachin’s father was Zedekiah’s brother so we are talking about Jehoiachin’s uncle, fundamentally. Zedekiah is who is being put in charge here; the terminology in the Masoretic Text is somewhat awkward in how this is stated. It’s easy to parse it out and understand what is being talked about when you look closely at it.

There was ten thousand taken captive, and you might ask: “Was it ten thousand plus the seven thousand and the craftsman of a thousand?” I suppose it’s possible but I take the ten thousand to be the total number and the smaller numbers which don’t add to ten thousand were just the majority of who the others were that incorporated the ten thousand total. There is an argument to be made about that but I take it to be ten thousand in both cases.

Nebuchadnezzar Siege 2 – Deportation 3
Jehoiachin ^Coniah Taken captive for 37 years

As a sidebar, Jehoiachin, since he surrendered, appears to have had enough favor with Nebuchadnezzar that he wasn’t killed. He was put into prison in Babylon. I want to just touch on this so you know the fullness of his disposition. Jehoiachin was in Babylon with Ezekiel and “The” captivity is how Ezekiel references some of his dates is a reference to Jehoiachin. Even though Jehoiachin only reigned for three months Ezekiel uses him as the king that the dates of the captivity are measured from.

And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life. (2Ki 25:27-30 KJV)

Josephus weighs in on this also and gives us a little more insight. This is the reason that I said that the ten thousand were important because the reference Josephus makes to fundamentally the same number.

A terror seized on the king of Babylon, who had given the kingdom to Jehoiachin, and that immediately; he was afraid that he should bear him a grudge, because of his killing his father ^Jehoiakim, (Added: Nebuchadnezzar is nervous about putting Jehoiachin in charge so he took him out) and thereupon should make the country revolt from him; wherefore he sent an army, and besieged Jehoiachin in Jerusalem; but because he was of a gentle and just disposition, he did not desire to see the city endangered on his account, but he took his mother and kindred, and delivered them to the commanders sent by the king of Babylon, and accepted of their oaths, that neither should they suffer any harm, nor the city; which agreement they did not observe for a single year, for the king of Babylon did not keep it, but gave orders to his generals to take all that were in the city captives, both the youth and the handicraftsmen, and bring them bound to him; their number was ten thousand eight hundred and thirty-two; as also Jehoiachin, and his mother and friends. And when these were brought to him, he kept them in custody, and appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, to be king; and made him take an oath, that he would certainly keep the kingdom for him, and make no innovation, nor have any league of friendship with the Egyptians. (Jos Ant 10.7.1)
Assumption: 10832 same as 10 K in 2 Kings 24:14

It’s an interesting and revealing account; Nebuchadnezzar not only took Chin out but took out ten thousand captives at the same time, but made Zedekiah promise allegiance to the king of Babylon. Obviously, Zedekiah didn’t do that, he wanted to go be friendly with the Egyptians instead. He didn’t learn his lesson nor did he listen to what Jeremiah had to say.

The assumption that is made is that ten thousand eight hundred and thirty two talked about in Josephus is the same ten thousand that is mentioned in 2 Kings. I believe that to be the case but again, you have to do your own reconciliation of this. Clearly they are talking about the same period of time of the ouster of Jehoiachin during this period of time.

We put that together in a timeline; we see that Chin only reigned three months. There was a third deportation in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighth year. We marked that at 597 as we move through this calendar. There were ten thousand exiled including Jehoiachin and is the basis for Ezekiel’s calendar in the area of the years in captivity. Whenever we see “years in captivity”, this is the mark that is being taken as the foundation.

• Jehoiachin reigned 3 months
• Deportation 3 in Nebuchadnezzar’s 8^th year – 597 BCE
• 10 thousand exiled including Jehoiachin
  Basis for Ezekiel calendar – years in captivity

We also notice that this is the first year of the reign of Zedekiah so the first year of Zedekiah and the first year of captivity are one in the same. Keep in mind that Zedekiah will reign for eleven years and then we won’t see him anymore on these charts. We will see the captivity go forward past Zedekiah’s reign. In other words, the captivity started eleven years before the final downfall of the Southern Kingdom and the Land of Judah and Jerusalem.

30^th Year of Jubilee Cycle

• 30^th year controversy
• 5^th year Jehoiachin captivity = 594-593 ^{Ethanim non-accession}
• H1961 = hawyah=to exist, to be, to become (always emphatic)
  Refers the nature of YHWH
  Ezekiel usage
  336 of 3502 matches in the Old Testament
  Highest of any book

The last item we will go into in this session will be an event that is most of the time overlooked in its importance. It is the 30^th year of the Jubilee cycle. I will show you why I believe it to be, and we will come to the fullness of the understanding of that in the next session but we will plant the seeds this session for why I believe it’s the 30^th year of the Jubilee cycle. We see this referenced in Ezekiel chapter 1 right away, on the first verse.

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of Elohim. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, The word of YHWH came expressly ^{H1961 H1961 (twice)} unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of YHWH was ^H1961 there upon him. (Eze 1:1-3 KJV)

There are a couple of points about this, and one is that I will mention that it’s the 30^th year controversy and I will show you the alternatives shortly.

Notice that it’s the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity and it’s noted that way. As you go through Ezekiel you will find other references that will be “the ninth year, the fourteenth year and so forth, of our captivity”. Ezekiel appears to be consistent because if he doesn’t say its Jehoiachin’s captivity, it means the same thing as you go through the Book of Ezekiel. I don’t believe there is any exception that anyone can prove different.

The fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity is 594/593 and by the way, the captivity was apparently counted in Ethanim non-accession years as well as the regnal years for the kings. It would make sense that they would do that. This verse in Ezekiel chapter 1 has an interesting center scripture. The word of YHWH came expressly ^{H1961 H1961 (twice)} unto Ezekiel the priest. I have it highlighted.

The words “came expressly” is a word in Hebrew that comes from Strong’s number H1961, it is “Hawyah” and it means to exist, to be, or to become and it’s always used in an emphatic form. It refers to the nature of YHWH. It turns out that there are over 3500 matches to “Hawyah” in the Tanakh, and one tenth of the word “Hawyah” is in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel uses this term a lot and here are other comparisons.

H1961 comparison

And Elohim said, Let there be ^H1961 light: and there was ^H1961 light. (Gen 1:3 KJV)

And Elohim said unto Moses, I AM ^H1961 THAT I AM ^H1961: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM ^H1961 hath sent me unto you. (Exo 3:14 KJV)

And it came to pass ^H1961 at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass ^H1961, that all the hosts of YHWH went out from the land of Egypt. (Exo 12:41 KJV)

The point I am making is the word of YHWH, “hawyah” unto Ezekiel is significant. This is not a minor prophecy in any way. The word that is being spoken to Ezekiel “came expressly” is an emphatic term that YHWH is using and talking about himself. Of interest, if you look at a lexicon, you will see that it is twice.

The word of YHWH “Hawyah Hawyah” is a double emphasis being made. I take this to listen up to what Ezekiel has to say. Yes, we have marveled at what is inside of the Book of Ezekiel and what he has had to say of not only the past in history, but that which is yet to come.

30^th Year of Jubilee Cycle

• 30^th year controversy – of what?

1. Anniversary of Josiah’s renewal of covenant between YHWH and Judah in the 18^th year of reign

641/640-18= 623/622 BCE
623/622-30= 593/592 BCE
One year too late
This would be the 6^th year of Jehoiachin captivity

2. Age of Babylonian Empire – count from beginning of reign of Nabopolassar ^{Nebuchadnezzar’s father}
625 – 30 = 595 BCE
One year too early

3. Ezekiel’s age – enter into priestly service
30 years old
No other scriptural support

4. Jubilee – 30 of 50 year calendar count
5^th year Jehoiachin captivity 594/593 BCE Ethanim non-accession

With that in mind, what this 30 year controversy about, it’s the 30^th year of what? When you research this, you find that there are really three major alternatives that people say that the 30^th year is. The fourth alternative which we believe to be the case, we see there aren’t many people have seen that this is the possibility of what the 30^th year is about.

Let me tell you the common understanding of the 30^th year: The first thing is that it’s the anniversary of Josiah’s renewal of the covenant between YHWH and Judah in the 18^th year of his reign. This is the renaissance period, the reform period that Josiah conducted. The 18^th year of his reign, if he started in 640/641 would take you to 623/622 and so 30 years after 623/622 takes you to 593/592. That would be one year too late on the timeline that we have. This would be the 6^th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity not the fifth year if we were to include it on our timeline.

The reason that people like to use this alternative is found in 1 Chronicles.

First alternative:
Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of YHWH his Elohim. (2Ch 34:8 KJV)

It goes on in this account:

And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before YHWH, to walk after YHWH, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. (2Ch 34:31 KJV)

This is the event that triggers the anniversary some 30 years later in Ezekiel chapter 1 according to the advocates of this position.

The second alternative: Secular dating

This is the age of the Babylonian Empire counted from the beginning of the reign of Nabopolassar. It’s strictly secular dating to use this. There aren’t really any anchors that I can find that have any scriptural foundation about this particular alternative. However, there are some people that say that is what Ezekiel is talking about. That would suggest that the start of the beginning of the Babylonian Empire by Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar’s father was in 625 and thirty years later, would make it 595. Well, if that is correct, it ends up being one year too early in our timeline. We don’t think that either of these two alternatives matches, I am only giving you what others have come up with.

The third alternative: Might be the most common

Ezekiel enters into the priestly service at 30 years old and that is what he is talking about. There is no other scriptural support for this thought other than the scripture in Numbers that says the priests start at 30 years old.

Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers, From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.
(Num 4:2-3 KJV)

If Ezekiel is talking about his birthday then this would be the alternative. I think he has much more significant meaning to this than his own birthday.

The fourth one is the one that we hold to which is that it’s the 30^th year of the 50 year count to the Jubilee and the 5^th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity in 594/593 is just that. When we get to Ezekiel 40 you will see why this position makes sense. That will be on the next session to make the connection. This is an important anchor in the calendar, what this 30^th year is and what it means. We believe it’s a part of the calendar, Ezekiel was a priest, he would have been keeping the calendar, and even though the society and the Southern Kingdom nor the Northern Kingdom kept the Sabbatical or the Jubilee dating back to the time of Samuel the prophet. They probably knew when it was and they were keeping the calendar even though society wasn’t honoring YHWH’s commandments about that particularly Leviticus 25 that says:

And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. (Lev 25:8-9 KJV)

When we get to Ezekiel 40 you are going to see exactly what is going to happen and these are the alternatives of what the 30^th year is about. Read Ezekiel 1:1-3 again:

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of Elohim. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, The word of YHWH came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of YHWH was there upon him.

• 5^th year of Jehoiachin captivity
• 30^th year of Jubilee cycle
• 594-593 BCE

If we add this to our highlights in this calendar we see that the 30^th year mentioned, and circled and whatever the 30^th year means, is clear that it’s the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. You know that for a fact from the scriptures. The 30^th year of whatever is being counted.

According to the calendar that we have established so far, that would have been in 594 /593 BCE on this Ezekiel Jubilee Timeline.

Do Your Own Homework:

Every word of YHWH is pure ^{G6884=to fuse metal, refine}: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
(Pro 30:5-6 KJV)

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search ^{H1875=to tread or frequent, seek or ask} for me with all your heart. (Jer 29:13 KJV)

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
(Mat 21:22 KJV)

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try ^{G1381=test, examine} the spirits whether they are of Elohim: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1Jn 4:1 KJV)

https://www.answersoflife.com/