Rules for the Application of the Year-Day principle

by koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil, ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

3 May 2009

The year-day principle as outlined in  Ezechiel 4:4-6 is a given fact and a number of prophetic times in especially Daniel operated with this system. What we need to ask ourselves is exactly what is involved in the computational systems of time reckoning in the prophetic genre and in the historical genre.

Prophetic Future Computations

When we are dealing with prophecy and future predictions and the Lord is expressing the time something was suppose to happen, it may take a number of forms:

A. Real Julian Solar time Computations with Direct numerical predictions

Although the principle is still the Year from a day, the following examples in Daniel are computed as full 365.25 days and not 354 lunar days or 360 schematic days:

1. seven sevens  = 7 x 70 = 490 real Julian Solar years of 365.25 days per year (Daniel 9)

2. 1335 days     = real Julian Solar years of 365.25 days per year (Daniel 12)

3. 1260 days     = real Julian Solar years of 365.25 days per year (Daniel 7; also Revelation 12)

4. 1290 days     = real Julian Solar years of 365.25 days per year (Daniel 12)

5. 2300 days     = real Julian Solar years of 365.25 days per year (Daniel 8:14)

The rule is that when a number giving the total days are presented, then the conversion with a schematic computation of 360 days, is not necessary and one can directly proceed to calculate with a real Julian Solar computation.

B. Schematic Computation of a shorter kind

Although in these examples the Year-day principle applies, the computation is not with a real Julian solar time of 365.25 days in a year, but with the Kassite, Assyrian and Babylonian 360 days in a year scheme. It was common in hemerological texts and about six cuneiform examples from various periods, as early as the 13th century BCE (Kassite text in Instanbul) is available.

One example from Daniel will be mentioned:

time, times and half a time = 1+2+0.5=3.5 schematic years of 360 days in year =  1260 days = 1260 Real Julian Solar years of 365.25 years (see Daniel 7)

The rule is that when a number is not given but words are used  that should be converted into numbers, then the schematic year of 360 days in a year will be used but once the total is sure, then the days will be converted with a  Real Julian Solar year of 365.25 days computation.

Historic Past Computations

When the genre switch to history and the computation is made of time in the past, it is common to use direct calculations and also the exact years involved. There was no need to use the year-day principle in the description of history.

Jeremiah used the seventy years = 70 real Julian Solar years of 365.25 days in a year.

The rule is that in historical description, the years used really mean the realistic solar year as we know it in our system today.

However, in their descriptions they did not use the Julian calendar as we know it in our system. According to historical astronomy, the astronomers knew about the limping or wandering calendar problems, for how could they accurately add an extra intercalary month every three years for a 354 lunar days-year or how could the Egyptians know to add 5 epagomenal days in their calendar of 360 days-year and still know that their calendar is limping or wandering, waiting for the sothic cycle or star of sirius to correct their calendar?

Although the Juian calendar was not unfamiliar with them (we assume they knew since no record of it was ever found) they had the habit of using a 354 lunar day-year description, or a 360 economic and civilian schematic year or like the Egyptians, a 360 year with 5 epagomenal days added.

When it comes to the book of Kings, one may assume that the religious or lunar calendar was operative which had over a short range limping and sliding conditions of a year or two, back and forth but over the long range very similar to Julian solar year calculations due to careful astronomical observations of the cycles of the constellations every month.

Moses, according to the book of Job, was very well developed in astronomy and did not believe as the Middle Age Theologians believed, that the earth is square and stand on four pillars. It hangs on nothing, he says in Job 28. Before [in Classical Greek times] and during the Middle Ages also, there were three groups of ideas about the condition of the earth: some common people thought the earth was like a paper, square and flat; others thought it was like a coin, round but flat and a third group of astronomers knew that it was like an egg.

Exception to the rule:

In Ezechiel 4:5-6 Ezechiel is informed that the sins of Israel were for a long period and that the Lord is going to punish Jerusalem for their sins.

Contrary to the expressions in prophetic literature where direct numbers of a Year-day principle requires one to calculate with a real Julian solar year of 365.25 years, the answer is the opposite: it is not normal to be indirect in historical description but when Ezechiel received this message in 592 BCE, it was still 7 years before the event. Thus, the Lord hid the exact number of years in a schematic Year-day principle system. This means that the 360 day in a year system was to be used to calculate exactly when the fall of Jerusalem would be.

390 schematic year of 360 days = 390 x 360 = 140400 real days

Converting the total real days to real Julian solar years means to divide the 140400 real days into 365.25 days = 140400 ÷ 365.25 = 384.39 real Julian solar years.

384.39 is the total of real Julian solar years of Israel's sin at Jerusalem.

The rule is that when a hybrid system is used, that is 97% history and is suppose to be direct numbers with the application of a real Julian solar year of 365.25 days but 3% or a fraction is overhanging into a prophetic utterance and still unfulfilled, then the description may be placed into an envelope of a schematic year system of 360 days in a year. Interpretation of it is then a two-step process.

Starting date of the sins of Israel

To find the starting date of the sins of Jerusalem is to add 384.39 to 586 BCE, which is the date for the Fall of Jerusalem:

              384.39 + 586 = 970 thus 970 BCE

The starting date of Israel's sins was in the year 970 BCE which is exactly the fourth year of Solomon when he started to build the temple and also the same year David died.

David a good king but his followers not

From this description it appears that the Lord did not view Solomon and all the others after him as favorable, since all of them were involved in sins against the Lord and added to that, unconverted and unrepentant in their relationship to God.

God gave the exact time of the Fall of Jerusalem to Ezechiel

It is clear from the above that God gave Ezechiel the exact time of the Fall of Jerusalem. Biblical chronology is an exact science with no ifs and buts. No doubt the exact computation of 970 BCE was known to all of them in 1 Kings 6:1-4 and also the computations for the Exodus and the period of the Judges and other computations like the 400 and 430 years of slavery running back to the death of Joseph. 

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