At http://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/1733_newton_observations.html you can find Newton's entire commentary on Daniel. It's all ASCII text, so you can do a text search on "49" and find everything he REALLY said about a 49 year history. At no point did Newton ever say to add 49 years to 1967, or to the recapture of the temple, or anything like that. Here is the ONLY thing he ever said about a 49 year period.
The reality is that the only place he talks about a 49 year period is one in which he expresses a lot of doubt about what will happen and explicitely says he does not know how the 49 years fit into things. Here's what he said,
"This part of the Prophecy being therefore not yet fulfilled, I shall not attempt a particular interpretation of it, but content myself with observing, that as the seventy and the sixty two weeks were Jewish weeks, ending with sabbatical years; so the seven weeks are the compass of a Jubilee, and begin and end with actions proper for a Jubilee, and of the highest nature for which a Jubilee can be kept: and that since the commandment to return and to build Jerusalem, precedes the Messiah the Prince 49 years; it may perhaps come forth not from the Jews themselves, but from some other kingdom friendly to them, and precede their return from captivity, and give occasion to it; and lastly, that this rebuilding of Jerusalem and the waste places of Judah is predicted in Micah vii. 11. Amos ix. 11, 14. Ezek. xxxvi. 33, 35, 36, 38. Isa. liv. 3, 11, 12. lv. 12. lxi. 4. lxv. 18, 21,22. and Tobit xiv. 5. and that the return from captivity and coming of the Messiah and his kingdom are described in Daniel vii. Rev. xix. Acts i. Mat. xxiv. Joel iii. Ezek. xxxvi. xxxvii. Isa. lx. lxii. lxiii. lxv. and lxvi. and many other places of scripture. The manner I know not. Let time be the Interpreter."
WOW! This sure sounds a lot different from all those INTERPRETATIONS you heard from people alluding to Newton, but never quoting him, when they claim Newton predicted the year 2016 by adding 49 years to 1967.
What Newton said here was that the 49 years,
- "may perhaps....precede their return from captivity"
- would involve a "rebuilding of Jerusalem"
1967 doesn't fit this 1967 was well after Israel "return from captivity." They declared independence in 1948. They had been returning from captivity since late 1800's, although a remnant had always lived in Jerusalem. 1967 did not involve a "rebuilding of Jerusalem" and the most controversial event of 1967 was actually the refusal to rebuild part of Jerusalem - the most import part - the temple!
But note all the uncertainty in his statement. He said the 49 years,
- "may perhaps...."
- "I shall not attempt a particular interpretation of it."
- "The manner I know not."
- "Let time be the Interpreter"
He really wasn't that certain what to make out of it. And this is why people who CLAIM that Newton predicted the second coming as being in 2016 - 49 years after 1967 - WON'T QUOTE NEWTON or tell you were he said what he allegedly said.
So where did people get all this business of "Newton predicted 2016" come from? Perhaps soneone read this passage and THEY - at the moment they read this - got the impression in THEIR MIND the 49 years would happen after 1967 for whatever reason. So they passed it on as a prediction from Newton, when it was really what they read into his comments. But Newton wasn't certain what to make out of this at all.
The only thing he does seem certain about is that each 7 years would end on a sabbatical year and the 49 years would end on a Jubilee. But other than that, not only is there nothing to date the START of the 49 years to 1967, but plenty of details to rule out 1967. 1967 did not "precede their return from captivity." The command to rebuild Jerusalem by Darius and Cyrus that preceeded the first coming were because Jerusalem was devastated - the walls were torn down - the city was burned - it was in total ruin. But in 1967, it was well built and well populated. Only a small amount of war damage occured to the city in 1967; this just doesn't sound like 1967 at all.
Newton was indeed a genius at math and physics, although as I pointed out at http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/feb2015/jovial28-1.htm , he was not always right, such as in the E=mv vs E=mv2 debate. But for some strange reason, we have people out there using Newton's credibilty to promote an idea he never said, and the only comments he made about the 49 year period was that he wasn't that certain how it would play out.
Shalom,
Joe