The Observations of Sir Isaac Newton

December 4, 2015

TimeWatch Editorial

Sir Isaac Newton was born in the year 1642. His work in physics was so advanced that he was honored with knighthood; the very first scientist to receive such an honor. One of the well known discoveries attributed to Newton’s experimentation would be “the laws of motion.” They are:

1. A body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.

2. The acceleration of a body is directly proportional to the net force acting on the body and inversely proportional to the mass of the body and is in the direction of the net force.

3. Whenever one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body exerts an equal and opposite force on the first.

But as tempting as it might be to pursue a listing of the absolutely phenomenal work done by Sir Newton, the purpose of this treatment today is to inform you that this man at the time of his death left more than a million words of notes on the Bible. Six years after his death, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John was published. Not only was Isaac a great scientist but also a dedicated student of the Bible. Newton was fascinated by the accuracy of prophecy. In his book, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John he says:

“The Prophecies of Daniel are all of them related to one another, as if they were but several parts of one general Prophecy, given at several times. The first is the easiest to be understood, and every following Prophecy adds something new to the former. The first was given in a dream to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, in the second year of his reign; but the King forgetting his dream; it was given again to Daniel in a dream, and by him revealed to the King.” Sir Isaac Newton, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, page 20.

These are Sir. Newton’s observations, expressed with the clarity and assurance of a Bible student, who has become an authority upon Gods word. It must have been a wonderful time in the history of man, when the study of science did not prevent the acceptance of the creator God. I am sure that there are many “doctors of science” today who, if they were colleagues of Sir. Newton, would have disparaged him severely, ostracizing him from as many associations as possible. But, Sir Isaac’s wisdom was buttressed by the word of God. His scientific genius was linked to his Biblical understanding. Listen to how he continues the thought on the dream of Daniel 2:

“Now in this vision of the Image composed of four Metals, the foundation of all Daniel’s Prophecies is laid. It represents a body of four great nations, which should reign over the earth successively, viz. the people of Babylonia, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans.
And by a stone cut out without hands, which fell upon the feet of the Image, and brake all the four Metals to pieces, and became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth; it further represents that a new kingdom should arise, after the four, and conquer all those nations, and grow very great, and last to the end of all ages.” Sir Isaac Newton, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, page 20.

Let me assure you that we will continue to look at Sir Isaac’s observations in part 2 of this editorial, but it would be somewhat unfair to end without including the following paragraph:

“The head of the Image was of gold, and signifies the nations of Babylonia, who reigned first, as Daniel himself interprets. Thou art this head of gold, saith he to Nebuchadnezzar. These nations reigned till Cyrus conquered Babylon, and within a few months after that conquest revolted to the Persians, and set them up above the Medes. The breast and arms of the Image were of silver, and represent the Persians who reigned next. The belly and thighs of the Image were of brass, and represent the Greeks, who, under the dominion of Alexander the great, conquered the Persians, and reigned next after them. The legs were of iron, and represent the Romans who reigned next after the Greeks.” Sir Isaac Newton, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, page 20.

This is Sir Isaac Newton who laid the foundations for differential and integral calculus in mathematics. In Optics (1704), Newton observed that white light could be separated by a prism into a spectrum of different colors, each characterized by a unique refractivity. These simply scratch the surface. Above all, however, stands his observations on the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. Perhaps, the word of an admired scientist might remove the remaining doubt regarding the accuracy of the Word? I sincerely hope that it does.

Cameron A. Bowen