Significance to Jehovah's Witnesses

The date of the destruction of Jerusalem is used as the foundation of a very important belief to Jehovah’s Witnesses — the 'end of the Gentile Times'.

The 'Gentile times' is an interpretation of a prophecy found in Luke 21:24 combined with Daniel chapter 4. These times are believed to be 2520 years long, starting from the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 BC and ending in 1914 AD [1, p. 215].

According to The Watchtower 1986 [2]:

Approved association with Jehovah’s Witnesses requires accepting the entire range of the true teachings of the Bible, including those Scriptural beliefs that are unique to Jehovah’s Witnesses. What do such beliefs include? ... That 1914 marked the end of the Gentile Times and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the heavens, as well as the time for Christ’s foretold presence.

In addition, the 'end of the Gentile Times' in 1914 is also used as a foundation for a number of other interpretations of prophesy in the 'Time of the End' [3, p. 286]:

Daniel 12:7: 'a time, times and half a time' is interpreted as a period of 1260 days running from December 1914 (release of 1915 year text) to 21 June 1918 (the sentencing of J.F. Rutherford and other directors of the Watch Tower Society) [4, p. 9].

Daniel 12:11: '1290 days' is counted from the January 1919 (the proposal of the League of Nations) until September 1922 (Bible student convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, U.S.A).

Daniel 12:12: 'the 1,335 days' is counted from September 1922 (see above) until May 1926 (adoption of 'A Testimony to the Rulers of the World', at the London convention).

References