Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years
God says in Isaiah 46:9 “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’” Isaiah 46:9-10.
A clue for this Ezekiel Timeline – 390/40 Years could be found in a parallel exile. Israel had evidently failed to observe the land’s one-year-in-seven Sabbath for 490 years, so the term of the Babylonian captivity was set at 70 years to make up the deficit.
But let’s consider an earlier warning:
And I will scatter you among the nations, and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
“‘Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate and ye are in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest and enjoy her sabbaths” Leviticus 26:33-34
God says when ye entered my land you defiled it by not giving its Sabbath rest; where this commandment is given in Leviticus 25:4; “Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of Rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord; thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard” Leviticus 25:1-7;
The length of the house of Judah’s captivity of in Babylon was directly related from the length of time they neglected to observe the land Sabbath according to II Chronicles 36:19-21:
And they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all the palaces thereof with fire and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. 20 And those who had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia,
21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years, II Chronicles 36:19-21: “spoken by Jeremiah” this is a reference to the seventy years of captivity as spelt out in Jeremiah 25:11.
From the above, it could be established that the length of captivity has something to do with Israel’s neglect in their observance of the Sabbath, and in this case the observance of the land Sabbath; for more on understanding the coming 390 years of Israel’s captivity and 40 years for Judah,
God works out the end from the beginning and our endeavour is to understand how are the numbers work out. God gives some clues and hints here and there and the most puzzling of this Ezekiel Timeline – 390/40 Years which is one found in Ezekiel 4.
Some attempts have been made on this 390/40 mystery years ago but there are many additions since the original postings of Ezekiel Ch 3-4 and Ezekiel 4 – 390/40 Years, hence this update. I’ve always been wondering if there are any thoughts to the contrary? Any other possibilities? And so my constant updates.
Ezekiel 4
It has been proven in numerous times that the Septuagint is more accurate than the Masoretic Text. (For more on this issue, click here Lies about the Septuagint)
Hence below is the Septuagint (and Arabic) version and putting all the numbers (in Ezekiel 4:5 & 4:9 LXX reads 190; in Ezekiel 4:4 the reading is 150) together is a far more possible explanation to the mystery of the 390/190/150/40 years which has puzzled theologians, pastors and academics in Ezekiel 4:
Ezekiel 4 (Septuagint)
God speaking to Ezekiel:
4 And thou shalt lie upon thy left side, and lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the hundred and fifty days which thou shalt lie upon it: and thou shalt bear their iniquities. — this riddle starts with the Lost Ten Tribes House of Israel—the left side—the Northern Kingdom and lasts for 150 years; while Judah, the Southern Kingdom, answers to “the right side”
5 For I have appointed thee their iniquities for a number of days, for a hundred and ninety days: so thou shalt bear the iniquities of the house of Israel. — start with the Lost 10 Tribes but end with the full House of Israel; all 12 tribes: end of the 190 years; after the start of the Lost 10 Tribes House of Israel that lasted for 150 years, the 3 tribes House of Judah join in for 40 years; both ending at the end of the 190 years; that is, the year 2232 (I’d give 7 years for the Gog and Magog episode: hence 7 years back from 2239)
6 And thou shalt accomplish this, and shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquities of the house of Juda forty days: I have appointed thee a day for a year. — after the start of the house of Israel in 2042, that lasted for 150 years, the house of Judah joins in for the last 40 years; both ending at the end of the 190 years; that is, the year 2232 (7 years for Gog and Magog: 7 years from 2239)
7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem; and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. — the logic here is that the 40 years is a siege of Jerusalem and of course this represents the modern house of Judah
8 And behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another until thou hast ended the days of thy siege. — “not turn thee from one side to another” is a sign of being in captivity, where freedom of turning left or right is restricted or even non-existent
9 Take thou also to thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and bread-corn; and thou shalt cast them into one earthen vessel, and shalt make them into loaves for thyself; and thou shalt eat them a hundred and ninety days, according to the number of the days which thou sleepest on thy side. (Ezekiel 4:4-9 Septuagint) — from the start with the Lost 10 Tribes and ends with the full House of Israel: 190 years in captivity: why the difference? Perhaps Judah had undergo numerous pogroms and cleanings whereas Ephraim and the other tribes has none since the day when they went the Assyrian captivity and into apparent oblivion
Bishop Ussher had famously calculated the date of creation to be 4004 BC, and if so the end of the 6000 years would have ended in 1994; but it is wrong as such date had fallen off the cliff almost three decades ago.
We’ll hence use the Jewish Calendar. We’re now in the Hebrew year 5783 AM; (AM stands for “Anno Mundi,” Latin for “in the year of Adam and Eve Creation”) and we’ll need another 216 years (add to 5999, the eve of the 6000th year) to usher the Divine Plan into the 7th Millennium (from the year 6000) as we believe.
Of course, this is on the assumption that God’s oracles have been accurately kept since the day Adam was created as the Orthodox custodians claim; since the Jewish Calendar has been accepted by all forms of Judaism and is standard for Asheknazim, Sephardim and Mizrachim.
If we add 216 years to the Gregorian calendar year 2023 we’ll come to 2239 when the 7th Millennium starts. Working backward 190 years (and 7 years for Gog and Magog ) will bring us to the year 2042. Thence could the year 2042 be the start of the house of Israel’s “iniquity?” — “thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them;” Ezekiel 4:13 in captivity to start the 190 years. It seems so, nevertheless.
In Ezekiel 37, the 190 years should end with the appearance of “My servant David,” in the “valley full of dry bones” scenario where the full house of Israel would dwell securely rather than in captivity. Judgement often comes after a period of seven years as the dynamic of the number seven is interwoven throughout the Bible.
Jacob served Laban seven years for Leah and another seven for Rachel. Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream of seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. In Psalms 12:6 the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace purified seven times.
As for punishment for the Gentiles, one prominent example was Nebuchadnezzar, who was punished for seven years by having an unsound mind and eating grass. And if this seven year period applies to the punishment of Gentiles involving “Gog and all his multitude” (Ezekiel 38-40) there will be a seven years interval before the beginning of the Millennium.
If so, the end of the 190 years would be brought forward seven years, which would be the year 2232, and the start of the 190 years would be 2042; but we couldn’t know for sure the period from Ezekiel 37 to Ezekiel 40 is seven years, hence these figures are subject to adjustments.
On reflection the children of Israel were in Egypt for about 210 years, so not as long; this captivity of 190 years is 20 years shorter. These analyses may run away with imaginations, but the incorporation of prophecies always has elements of uncertainties and so these predictions could be prone to errors.
One Question that comes to mind is, “Why the iniquity for Israel is much longer than Judah?” Perhaps the answer could be broken into two parts: (1) the house of Judah, the Jews, have undergone pogroms numerous times over the last two and a millennium whereas the house of Israel have remained largely unscatched since their captivity was only once by the Assyrians.
To be truly qualified to be kings and priests or kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6) requiries numerous immense purifications; and that’s how the prophets of God see things. Prime examples are Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. God’s message usually has sweetness in the mouth (Ezekiel 3:3), but bitterness when reaches the stomach! (Revelation 10:9-10)
And a related second reason: (2) the house of Judah has already been restored to the Land of Promise; whereas the house of Israel are still largely intact and still in exile from its Promised Land. It would take decades for adverse conditions to build up for the whole house of Israel to want to return back into their homeland to team up with the house of Judah for the fulfilment of the prophecy of the joining of the two sticks in Ezekiel 37.
Third, forty years for the house of Judah rhymes a few parallels (a) when the children of Israel rejected Joshua’s and Caleb’s suggestion to take the land immediately, they were punished by wandering in the wilderness for forty years, Numbers 14:33; (b) when the children of Israel rejected God’s judgement under the rule of the judges, God abandoned them and subjected them under the Philistines for forty years, Judges 13:1.
For the Lord had said “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities” Amos 3:2. Notice the sweetness and bitterness composite message above!
And finally these analyses are not written in stone and so any thoughts to the contrary are most welcome. Are there any other possibilities or factors that have been left out but could or should be considered? Thanks for your thoughts.
For more, see a possible scenario how such a scene could come about: A Sword from the South!
The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim 