Seven times

The teaching of the seven times was presented in 1877 as a prophetic period of 2,520 years extending from 606 B.C. to 1914 A.D. In 1880, the publications linked this calculation to Leviticus 26, Daniel 4, and Luke 21:24, expecting the end of Gentile domination and the restoration of Jerusalem. In 1888 and 1890, the interpretation continued to associate 1914 with the climax of a period of trouble that had begun in 1874. In 1904, the expected culmination of worldwide anarchy was moved from before the end of the Gentile Times to shortly after October 1914. During 1913, disagreement about the chronology was expressly permitted when expressed in a proper spirit. In 1914 and 1916, the expectation that the Church would complete its earthly course by October 1914 was reconsidered, although the expiration of the Gentile Times in that year was retained. In 1922, a related chronological projection described the thousand-year day of the Second Adam as extending to 2914. In 1925, the beginning of Gentile domination was specifically associated with July–August 606 B.C., corresponding to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. By 1934, the seven times were explicitly associated with Christ's heavenly enthronement. In 1938, a further chronological explanation distinguished their expiration in autumn 1914 from the spring of 1915 as the time of a formal royal induction in a proposed typological parallel. In 1942, publications still referred to 606 B.C., but in 1943 the calculation was expressed as beginning in autumn 607 B.C., without changing the ending year. In 1952, two earlier chronological errors were explicitly acknowledged as having offset each other. Publications from 1958 onward continued to identify the seven times with 2,520 years ending in October 1914. In 2011, the starting date of 607 B.C.E. was defended against the chronology generally accepted by historians. In 2013, the related understanding of the great tribulation was refined: its first phase was no longer considered to have begun in 1914. Publications from 2014 through May 2026 continued to teach that the seven times ended in 1914, when Jesus began ruling as heavenly King.