Numbers Man

by Dr. Ivan
(Texas)

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Dr. Jeffrey's books, but I do have to say his math regarding Ezekiel's prophecy and Israel becoming a modern nation is incorrect.

The spring of 536 B.C. is not represented as .4 of a year because for B.C. years you count backwards from December. The .4 is representative of spring in an A.D. year, whereas a .6 or .7 would be the representation for a B.C. year.

His calculation should have been:
2483.8 (Gregorian equivalent of prophetic years)
-535.6 (numerical representation for spring 536 B.C.)
=1948.2 (sum of B.C. and A.D. years or .2 of a year
past 1948)

No zero year adjustment is required since actual time in B.C. and A.D. is being counted. Using Mr. Jeffrey's starting point would put the prophetic fulfillment in March of 1949, not May of 1948.

Since the timing is so close to significant events in modern Israel the hypothesis regarding Ezekiel may still be true with the the discrepancy being in our understanding of ancient dates.