Lessons About Unfaithfulness

A continuation of the Isaiah seriesOver the centuries there have been countless demon-inspired deceptions perpetrated in the name of God and Christ. The nonsensical doctrine of the Trinity is undoubtedly the most common and pervasive. But surely the Watchtower Society’s 1914 parousia doctrine will eventually be accounted as one of the greatest hoaxes of recent times. That so many could be so thoroughly hoodwinked is all the more astounding in view of the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses are generally the most biblically literate, studious and truth loving. (For a thorough consideration of the doctrine of the parousia see the chapter The Parousia.)

But Jehovah’s Witnesses can hardly be faulted for believing that the First World War and the horrific Spanish Flu pandemic that swiftly swept the globe in 1918 was a result of the opening of the seals of the Apocalypse. After all, no Christian wants to be grouped with those who would ridicule the presence of Christ.

But on the other hand, neither should we allow ourselves to be quickly shaken from our reason and believe proclamations regarding the presence of Christ and the arrival of the day of Jehovah that are untrue. Did not the apostle Paul specifically warn Christians to be on guard against unreasoningly accepting apostolic-like official announcements and writings that would falsely proclaim that the parousia and day of Jehovah is here?

Most disconcerting, Paul indicated that this fraud would emanate from Satan’s man of lawlessness within the spiritual temple of God and would be directed specifically at the chosen ones and would immediately precede the actual manifestation of Christ. Paul indicated that God would allow an operation of error to go to those who know the truth in order to test their love of the truth at the genuine manifestation of Christ. (See blog entry: Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Man of Lawlessness)

While the wars and food shortages, pandemics and earthquakes of the past century may be convincing to many who make a cursory examination, other aspects of the conclusion are much less in evidence – that having to do with the judgment of the slaves of Christ.

Keep in mind that when the disciples asked Jesus to explain when the desolation of the holy place would come about and what would be the sign of his presence and the conclusion of the system of things, Jesus also related a series of illustrations emphasizing foremost the settling of accounts with his disciples. By far the most oft-cited illustration by the Watchtower Society has to do with the appointment of the faithful and discreet slave over all of the master’s belongings. In the same context Jesus also related the illustrations of the wise and foolish virgins and the master who entrusted his silver talents to his slaves.

According to the Watchtower all three illustrations have already been fulfilled. But is that reasonable? Does not mere common sense dictate that the judgment occurs at the conclusion of the Christian system, just as the judgment of the Jews occurred at the conclusion of the Jewish system? And is it sensible to suppose that the generation that was supposedly judged in 1918 has long since passed away and been replaced by an entirely new generation of slaves? Of course, the Watchtower papers over that gapping contradiction by claiming that the judgment has been ongoing since 1918. But consider the inherent contradiction in that view: According to the illustration of the wise and foolish virgins once the groom and the wise virgins enter into the house the door is closed to any more entrants. But virtually every anointed person alive today has become such after the time the Watchtower claims the door to the marriage feast was closed! Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot possibly hope to reconcile such incongruities.

As regards the faithful and discreet steward, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been led to believe that Christ appointed a faithful slave over all of his belongings back in 1918. Supposedly the clergy of Christendom were originally assigned to feed the master’s domestic servants, but in 1918 Christ rejected them and appointed the Watchtower Society over all of his belongings.

But if that were true, that would mean that Jesus had legitimately appointed the clergy to their original position, since the slaves are first appointed by the master to feed his domestics and are judged as to their faithfulness in discharging their duties. And it would also mean that all the denominations and sects of Christendom, from Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Lutheran, and Protestant and all the rest, comprise the household over which the slave is assigned to minister.

Furthermore, when the master appoints the faithful slave over all his things he also punishes the wicked slave with the greatest severity. But in what way have the clergy been punished? Surely anyone not under the influence of the Watchtower would find such a notion laughable. For that matter, in what way have the Bible Students who parted ways with Rutherford been punished? Bible Student groups continue to this day and even appear to be thriving. There is no evidence of any weeping and gnashing of teeth on the part of the clergy or those who have left the Watchtower Society.

And contrary to the Watchtower’s teaching, if the clergy are the unfaithful slave that would also mean that Christendom remains the household of God. How so? Because, as anyone reading the illustration ought to discern, when the master arrives as unexpectedly as a thief in the night to inspect the slaves he had put in charge of feeding the domestic servants of the household, he does not reject the household itself. The master will merely discharge the unfaithful slaves and promote the faithful to a second appointment over all his belongings.

The most irreconcilable flaw in the Watchtower’s teaching is the fact that the judgment of the slaves takes place when Jesus unexpectedly arrives like a thief in the night. Indeed, Jesus sternly charged all of his disciples to stay on the watch and be ready for his coming, because they do not know the day or hour.

So, on the one hand, the Watchtower claims that Jesus has already come and appointed them over all his belongings, and that they had even cleverly "calculated" the exact year of his coming (1914). While on the other hand, incredibly the Watchtower contradictorily exhorts Jehovah’s Witnesses to remain on the watch for yet another coming of Christ in the future!

According to the prophecy of Malachi, though, the coming of the messenger of the covenant will be a fiery day of judgment, so severe that the prophet poses the unsettling question: “But who will be putting up with the day of his coming, and who will be the one standing when he appears? For he will be like the fire of a refiner and like the lye of laundrymen.”

But since the Watchtower has consigned the fiery "day of his coming" to nearly a century ago, what are we to expect to happen when Jesus comes again?

Now consider more closely Isaiah 22:15-19 and the Watchtower’s interpretation of it.

“Go, enter in to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the house, ‘What is there of interest to you here, and who is there of interest to you here, that you have hewed out for yourself here a burial place?’ On a height he is hewing out his burial place; in a crag he is cutting out a residence for himself. ‘Look! Jehovah is hurling you down with violent hurling, O able-bodied man, and grasping you forcibly. Without fail he will wrap you up tightly, like a ball for a wide land. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be the dishonor of the house of your master. And I will push you away from your position; and from your official standing one will tear you down.”

As noted above, the Watchtower claims this aspect of prophecy was fulfilled in 1918. Here is what the Society’s commentary on Isaiah states under the chapter entitled, Lessons About Unfaithfulness:

Shebna’s experience reminds us that among those who claim to worship God, those who accept privileges of service should use them to serve others and to bring praise to Jehovah. They should not abuse their position in order to enrich themselves or gain personal prominence. For example, Christendom has long promoted herself as an appointed steward, the earthly representative of Jesus Christ. However, just as Shebna brought dishonor on his father by seeking his own glory, Christendom’s leaders have brought dishonor on the Creator by amassing riches and power for themselves. Hence, when the time of judgment “to start with the house of God” came in 1918, Jehovah removed Christendom. Another steward was identified—“the faithful steward, the discreet one”—and appointed over Jesus’ earthly household.

While the Governing Body condemns the clergy, in reality they judge themselves – at least as an institution. It is as if the Governing Body has carved out an honored and comfortable place for itself within the organization – high up on a crag, as it were. Even at this moment the Governing Body is “cutting out a residence for himself” in planning what is sure to be a grand palatial headquarters, set in the peaceful countryside of New York State – far away from the hub-bub and grime of Brooklyn – to be built with the slave labor of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Taken from the April, 15th 2012 WatchtowerThe leadership of the Watchtower continually glorifies itself – praising itself as the infallible faithful and discreet slave that has already received the master’s blessing.  It is not uncommon for the Governing Body to publish photos of themselves in their literature, either as a group or individually.

Some years ago the publishers were berated because most did not know the names of the individual members of the Governing Body. The congregations were exhorted to memorize their names, as if they were the twelve apostles of Christ.

(The Governing Body member in the photo - on the left of the assembly hall jumbotron - is the now-deceased, Lloyd Barry. He personally signed off on all the forms the Watchtower was required to submit to the United Nations' Department of Public Information annually in order to maintain their membership as an associate level NGO. To this day the Governing Body lyingly claims they did not do anything improper. Although the Society hastily dissolved their partnership with the UN when the Guardian newspaper exposed them, they claimed that they were misled by some UN clerk for ten years and that opposers made false accusations.

So, according to biblical standards, the Watchtower Society is unrepentant and therefore must answer to Jehovah for their sin and for stumbling so many by their prideful hypocrisy. They are certain to provide a sobering lesson about the consequences of unfaithfulness when the master of the house arrives.)

It is because of the emphasis upon the “slave” that Jehovah’s Witnesses, from the lowliest publisher to circuit and district overseers, lavishly praise and constantly thank the faithful slave for all his wonderful provisions and place the Watchtower organization on an equal footing with Jehovah and Christ themselves.

The leadership has “hewed out” a burial place for itself, in that they become institutional men whose every need is carried for by the organization. For example, the so-called “faithful steward” has his every need cared for by donations, which in many cases come from those who cannot afford such luxuries as healthcare and dentistry for themselves.

Even in death the Governing Body glorifies itself. For example, while the Society has ordered elders assigned to give funeral talks not to eulogize the deceased, but instead, to use the occasion to give a witness about the resurrection, the same rules do not apply to the Governing Body. Upon their deaths they are eulogized before the millions who read the Watchtower Magazine. Not only that, but special memorial brochures are published in their honor. (See article: The Watchtower’s Ted Jaracz Brochure)  In this way he has hewed out a burial place for himself on a height.

Because of elevating themselves in the eyes of Jehovah’s Witnesses and working a massive fraud upon meek and trusting Christians, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses will be violently hurled down. Their grand organizational “chariots of glory” are a dishonor for their master – Christ. They will be torn away from their position and official standing as the leaders of Jehovah’s earthly organization.

How will this come about? As in times past Jehovah will use an earthly imperial institution to accomplish his will. It is no coincidence that the United States, which up until now has been a safe haven for Jehovah’s Witnesses, has in recent weeks dissolved the constitutional protections previously afforded all American citizens. (See article: Jehovah’s Witnesses and the City of Tearing Down)

Not only that, but the federal government is now taking bids to staff dozens of FEMA camps, which Halliburton has already built. During a time of international war Jehovah’s Witnesses are certain to be declared to be enemies of the state and dealt with accordingly. The Watchtower Society will most certainly be ingloriously dissolved and there is a high probabilty that some of its high-ranking members might be interred in America's new concentration camps.

In this way Jehovah will hurl the Governing Body away like a ball into a wide land. (That is not to say that individuals of the Governing Body will all be adversely judged. It is the institution, the office, which will be thrown down.)

In its place Jehovah will provide the true Christ. He will become like a father to those with true faith. And Jehovah will place upon him the key of the house of David – in other words, the kingdom. And as Revelation says of Christ, he will open a door that no one may shut. That is the meaning of the remainder of the 22^nd chapter of Isaiah.

“And it must occur in that day that I will call my servant, namely, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. And I will clothe him with your robe, and your sash I shall firmly bind about him, and your dominion I shall give into his hand; and he must become a father to the inhabitant of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will put the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, and he must open without anyone’s shutting, and he must shut without anyone’s opening. And I will drive him in as a peg in a lasting place, and he must become as a throne of glory to the house of his father. And they must hang upon him all the glory of the house of his father, the descendants and the offshoots, all the vessels of the small sort, the vessels of the bowl sort as well as all the vessels of the large jars.”

After initially appearing on the Front Page articles from the Isaiah series are archived on the Isaiah Page 

The Valley of the Vision

The 22^nd chapter of Isaiah is entitled: “the pronouncement of the valley of the vision.”

As the Watchtower’s commentary on Isaiah notes, although Jerusalem was situated on a hill it was also surrounded by higher hills, making the city itself a valley in comparison. And because Jerusalem is the focus of prophecy, much of which was originally conveyed to the prophets by means of inspired visions, the city of Jerusalem is “the valley of the vision.”

The underlying theme of Bible prophecy is the destruction and restoration of Jerusalem, which in former times was known as the city where Jehovah exclusively caused his name to reside. Because of Jerusalem’s prominence as the center of true worship and the capitol of Jehovah’s earthly kingdom it also has prophetic significance in the Christian arrangement, relative to the coming of Christ. That is made all the more apparent when we consider, for example, the Christian prophets wrote of a heavenly Jerusalem and a New Jerusalem.

Not coincidently, Jerusalem was where Christ terminated his earthly mission after having inspected his Father’s temple for the final time. It is also where Christianity originated – the holy spirit having been poured out upon the original disciples in an upper room in the heart of the holy city. And it appears that the even though the apostles were all from the area of Galilee north of Judea, after Jesus returned to heaven they permanently relocated to Jerusalem – making the city the unofficial earthly headquarters of Christ’s congregation.

In the manner of the Hebrew prophets before him, Jesus also spoke of Jerusalem in symbolic terms when he foretold that the city would be trampled on by the nations and that a “disgusting thing” would violate its holy place. True, the actual city and temple were quite literally demolished by the Roman army in 70 C.E.; but it is also apparent that Jesus used that localized tragedy as a pattern for events that are destined to occur during the conclusion of the global system when he stated that the desolation of Jerusalem would occur in the context of the worst time of distress the world will ever experience – calling it, the great tribulation.  

Although masses of misled fundamentalists imagine that the modern, nuclear-armed state of Israel and the literal rebuilt city of Jerusalem with its so-called Wailing Wall, remain the focus of prophecy, Jehovah’s Witnesses realize that the coming desolation of “Jerusalem” will have a direct impact upon Christians – the chosen ones in particular – indicated by the fact that Jesus gave explicit instructions for survival, forewarning his disciples that when they see the holy place violated by a disgusting thing then they must immediately flee the doomed “city” without delay – “Then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains. Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house; and let the man in the field not return to the house to pick up his outer garment. Woe to the pregnant women and those suckling a baby in those days! Keep praying that your flight may not occur in wintertime, nor on the sabbath day; for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.”

Obviously there are very few Christians that actually inhabit the modern city of Jerusalem now. It is interesting, though, in the event of an Israeli attack on Iran, most likely Israel will be threatened with annihilation. That may well factor into the great deception that will go into operation during Christ’s parousia; but most assuredly, it will have nothing to do with the prophecies regarding the destruction of “Jerusalem.”

With these facts in mind consider the opening words of the prophecy in the 22^nd chapter of Isaiah.

“The pronouncement of the valley of the vision: What is the matter with you, then, that you have gone up in your entirety to the roofs? With turmoil you were full, a boisterous city, an exultant town. Your slain ones are not those slain with the sword, nor those dead in battle. All your dictators themselves have fled at one time. Without need of a bow they have been taken prisoner. All those of you who have been found have been taken prisoner together. Far off they had run away.”

It is noteworthy that there are aspects of Isaiah’s depiction of the siege of Jerusalem that do not line up with the historical accounts. For example, when king Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem and demanded that the king of Judea submit to Assyria God simply slew the Assyrian army as they slept – there was no siege. And later when Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem he certainly slew many with the sword and the only hope of survival was if the Jews surrendered to the Babylonians. Running away was not an option. It is evident that the prophecy speaks to something other than the ancient city.  

Really, throughout the prophecy of Isaiah God speaks to his people in the Christian era at the time of the conclusion through the ancient setting. Therefore, the “boisterous city” and “exultant town” that comes under Jehovah’s judgment is the Christian congregation. And like ancient Jerusalem, the modern Watchtower Society is the city-like capitol of Jehovah’s earthly organization. The Christian congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses takes to itself the biblical description of being “noisy with men.” The Watchtower even claims that Jehovah’s Witnesses live in a spiritual paradise, this in spite of thousands of cases of pedophilia. In spite of the turmoil within, who can deny that the leadership constantly exults the organization? It is this “exultant town” that is destined to come under siege in the near future.

“NOT THOSE SLAIN WITH THE SWORD”

As Jehovah’s Witnesses well know, it is a grave offense against God to stumble a fellow believer. Jesus said that it would be far better to hang a millstone around one’s neck and be plunged into the heart of the open sea then to be guilty of stumbling one of God’s little ones. That is because to stumble another would cause them to lose their life.

Although the leadership of the organization has never taken any responsibility for having stumbled large numbers of Jehovah’s Witnesses over the decades, the facts speak for themselves. For example, as is well known, back in the late 60’s the Watchtower Society and some of her traveling representatives began to cultivate the expectation among Jehovah’s Witnesses that the system would end in 1975. Obviously, though, the world did not end then. But in the years following that fiasco a substantial number of Jehovah’s Witnesses became disillusioned. Many subsequently left the faith. They were stumbled.

But up to this present moment that Watchtower Society has promoted an even greater falsehood – the artfully contrived false story that an invisible parousia began in 1914 and that virtually all of Jehovah’s judgments were accomplished back during World War One. As a consequence, Jehovah’s Witnesses have no expectation of coming under divine judgment in the future. This stands as a potential faith-killer for virtually all of Jehovah’s Witnesses when the real parousia commences. That is because even now any who question or reject the Society’s 1914 operation of error are “slain,” as it were – cast out as mentally diseased apostates.

In that way Jehovah’s Witnesses are imprisoned to falsehood. They are captives of a concept – as one ex-JW worded it. And when Christ comes for the inspection it will become manifest that Jehovah’s Witnesses are “prisoners” of their own unfounded beliefs. No doubt, too, that is why Jesus foretold that many would be stumbled. In that way, then, the Watchtower Society will become guilty of slaying many without the sword. Yes, many of Jehovah’s Witnesses are going to become as those dead in battle, when their faith in the infallible faithful slave goes bust!

“ALL YOUR DICTATORS HAVE FLED AT ONE TIME”

Back in the 2^nd chapter of Isaiah Jehovah addressed himself to the dictators of his people who had not cared for the widows or fatherless boys. Nevertheless, God expressed his desire to set matters straight with his erring people, so that their sins, though red as scarlet, might become white as snow.

So, the “dictators” who flee the besieged “town” are the elders of Christ’s congregation. Appropriately, the New World Translation uses the word “dictators” – as opposed to “leaders,” as most other translations render the verse. Considering that elders merely speak and teach whatever the Society dictates they must, what could any elder possibly say to their local flock to explain how the faithful slave got 1914 wrong? They will flee in that they will be completely ineffective in their attempts to fight in behalf of the disgraced Society.

“Dictators” is indeed an apt title for Jehovah’s Witness elders – particularly the leadership. That is because they dictate virtually every aspect of the lives of Jehovah’s Witnesses. To illustrate the point, in recent decades Bethel and various satellite branches have become popular touring sites. But instead of allowing each person to decide what is appropriate dress the Watchtower has produced a four-page pamphlet with graphics illustrating what is considered proper dress and grooming for persons touring their facility. (Downloadable PDF below) In other words, Bethel dictates exactly what Jehovah’s Witnesses are not to wear and how exactly not to appear. Bethel elders ought to more closely consider the letter of James, which condemns the hypocrisy of Christians who would honor a well-dressed man and dishonor a poor man dressed in filthy clothing. Presumably, if Jesus Christ himself were to appear in his traditional garb he would be prevented from touring any Bethel facility.

Interestingly, the prophecy of Isaiah under consideration here bears certain similarities to Jesus’ prophecy. Note that Jesus instructed his disciples not to come down from the rooftops to fetch their belongings. In Isaiah Jehovah specifically addresses himself to those who have rushed to their housetops to see what all the commotion is about. Secondly, Jesus commanded his followers to flee. Isaiah depicts the leaders abandoning the doomed city and running far away.

“THERE IS THE DEMOLISHER OF THE WALL”

Isaiah continues: “That is why I have said: ‘Turn your gaze away from me. I will show bitterness in weeping. Do not you people insist on comforting me over the despoiling of the daughter of my people. For it is the day of confusion and of downtreading and of confounding that the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, has in the valley of the vision. There is the demolisher of the wall, and the cry to the mountain.”’

Like Isaiah, readers of the gospel will recall that Jesus also openly wept when he viewed the city of Jerusalem for the last time, knowing that the city was destined for ruin. As a Jew Jesus faithfully traveled to Jerusalem for the holy festivals and he frequently taught and preached within his Father’s temple courtyard. But as God’s Prophet, Jesus surely shocked his disciples when he told them that not a stone would be left open a stone and not be thrown down. No doubt the Jews would be confused and confounded at the prospect of God allowing the hated occupiers of the holy land to destroy the city and temple. But that is what occurred “in the valley of the vision.”

According to the augur of Bethel the holy place that is destined for desolation during the conclusion of the system of things is Christendom. That is because it is inconceivable to them that God would ever demolish the Watchtower Society. They further reason that Jerusalem was not really a holy place to Christ and the original disciples. That, of course, is simply not true. The apostles regularly taught in the temple in imitation of their teacher, apparently up until the time they fled the city when the disgusting thing finally appeared.

Besides, why would the prophets weep over the desolation of Christendom? Isaiah wept, “over the despoiling of the daughter of my people.” So, it is God’s people who are destined to be treaded down, confounded and confused.

Jehovah’s Witnesses will inevitably be confounded and confused at the coming of Christ. That is because Jehovah’s Witnesses are absolutely convinced that Christ has already come. The Society’s prophets have cleverly built up a symbolic wall that they suppose will protect them from God’s judgment. They imagine that Christ long ago inspected the spiritual temple and gave them God’s unqualified approval. The Watchtower’s 1914 teaching is unquestionably the very foundation of the organization. In the minds of millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses it stands as a rock-solid fortress of truth – unassailable by outside enemies. They have no inkling that “the demolisher of the wall” is about to be dispatched.

As if to confirm Isaiah’s prophecy concerning “the valley of the vision,” in the 13^th chapter of Ezekiel God denounces the stupid prophets that are within the intimate company of his people, saying to them: “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘I will also cause a blast of windstorms to burst forth in my rage, and in my anger there will occur a flooding downpour, and in rage there will be hailstones for an extermination. And I will tear down the wall that you men have plastered with whitewash and bring it into contact with the earth, and its foundation must be exposed. And she will certainly fall, and you must come to an end in the midst of her; and you will have to know that I am Jehovah.’”

"YOUR LOW PLAINS MUST BECOME FULL OF WAR CHARIOTS"

For nearly a century now the Watchtower has been harking back to 1914 and the Great War that began then. Jehovah’s Witnesses have been declaring to the world that the four horsemen of the Apocalypse have been on the gallop ever since. But according to prophecy, the sword, famine and pestilence are the means by which Jehovah enters into judgment with those inhabiting “Jerusalem.” That theme is repeated throughout the prophets. (See chapter: Jeremiah) Yet, according to the Watchtower the judgment of antitypical Jerusalem is a future event. Ironically, the world now stands at the brink of global financial collapse and nuclear war, famine and pandemics on a scale that will dwarf the events of the 1914-1918 era – and Bethel’s watchmen have apparently taken no note.  

That is not to imply that the Watchtower Society and Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Jehovah’s earthly organization, only that they are blind – as the prophecies also indicate God’s servants would be at the time of Christ’s inspection. (See chapter: Who is Blind?)

Just as old Jerusalem was the City of David because it produced the messianic king, the Watchtower has produced a generation of anointed persons, both faithful and unfatihful, who comprise a spiritual house of God that Christ will yet inspect. His inspection is set in the context of war. So it is, the next span of verses in the 22^nd chapter of Isaiah speak to the coming global war and the collapse of the city-like organization that comes under Christ's inspection. 

“And Elam itself has taken up the quiver, in the war chariot of earthling man, with steeds; and Kir itself has uncovered the shield. And it will occur that the choicest of your low plains must become full of war chariots, and the very steeds must without fail set themselves in position at the gate, and one will remove the screen of Judah. And you will look in that day toward the armory of the house of the forest, and you people will certainly see the very breaches of the City of David, for they will actually be many. And you will collect the waters of the lower pool. And the houses of Jerusalem you will actually count. You will also pull down the houses to make the wall unattainable. And there will be a collecting basin that you must make between the two walls for the waters of the old pool. And you will certainly not look at the grand maker of it, and the one forming it long ago you will certainly not see.”

Although God has heretofore led and protected the modern-day City of David and has used it to accomplish his purpose, he will at some point abandon it. In that way those who have looked to the Society as God's earthly mouthpiece will no longer see the grand maker of it. To be sure, the removal of the physical organization, described above, is a necessary prelude to the establishment of the spiritual kingdom of Christ.

"THIS ERROR WILL NOT BE ATONED FOR IN YOUR BEHALF..."

The return of Jesus Christ will be a monumental event. His coming down to this earth will coincide with world war, widespread food shortages, great earthquakes and global pandemics. The judgment of the house of God will then take place. Jesus’ presence will place a unique test upon Jehovah’s Witnesses, for the obvious reason that Jehovah’s Witnesses ardently believe that Jesus returned long ago and has already accomplished the judgments outlined in prophecy. The future coming of Christ will confront Jehovah’s Witnesses with the unsettling reality that not only have they been duped into merely believing a falsehood, but virtually every publisher and pioneer has personally participated in a campaign to convince the world of what amounts to a fraud. It is a very serious thing to speak and teach lies in the name of Jehovah.

So, the coming of Christ will require that Jehovah’s Witnesses repent. And, of course, the evidence of repentance is remorse and regret. That is why Isaiah next states: “And the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, will call in that day for weeping and for mourning and for baldness and for girding on sackcloth. But, look! exultation and rejoicing, the killing of cattle and the slaughtering of sheep, the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine, ‘Let there be eating and drinking, for tomorrow we shall die.’ And in my ears Jehovah of armies has revealed himself: ‘This error will not be atoned for in your behalf until you people die,’ the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, has said.”

The prophecy of Joel similarly calls upon the priests of Jehovah to dress in sackcloth and beseech Jehovah for aid. However, given the intransigence on the part of the leadership of the Watchtower Society up until now – as regards their stubborn refusal to discard the 1914 operation of error – it is doubtful that they will do so even when the sign of Christ overwhelmingly displays itself in the near future. Instead of mourning over the reproach their lies will have brought upon God’s name and the many Christians their lies will ultimately stumble, those who have idolized the Watchtower Society and demanded unquestioning obedience to its every dictate, will likely refuse to acknowledge their error and repent of their idolatry. In reality, they will refuse to accept Christ when he comes, and as a consequence, their error will not be atoned for. They will die!

 articles of the Isaiah series are  archived on the Isaiah page

Dress and Grooming

2012 & the Conclusion of a System of Things

The Maya calendar ends on December 21, 2012. Simultaneously, the sun will evidently align with the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The mysterious planet X – Nibiru – is expected to make an appearance too. The earth’s magnetic poles may suddenly shift, creating untold havoc and confusion (not so fantastic). And, of course, the 16^th century scribblings of the soothsayer, Nostradamus, are said to predict the upcoming apocalyptic events. Yes, 2012 is finally here and Doomsday fever is running high!

Some Islamic imams are expecting the Muslim messiah, Mahdi, to appear in 2012. The more imaginative of the sci-fi brainwashed masses are anticipating an invasion by saucer-flying extraterrestrials any day now. Not to be left off the 2012 bandwagon, supposedly a Mormon president predicted that 2012 would be the beginning of seven years of famine. Evangelicals are excited over the near-term prospects of a nuclear Armageddon involving Israel serving as the trigger for their rapture. Perhaps even more bizarre and unrealistic, Jehovah’s Witnesses are in anticipation of the sudden destruction of false religion by the United Nations, which the Watchtower Society has led them to believe is the only aspect of apocalyptic prophecy yet to be fulfilled.

This is not to suggest that there are not cosmic forces astir, such as galactic and solar activity, along with a corresponding increase in tectonic and volcanic phenomenon. But Mayan hieroglyphics and galactic cycles, subterranean rumblings, nebulous planets and UFO lunacy, the ambiguous prognostications of soothsayers, evangelical fantasies and Watchtower-induced delusions, simply detract from the fact that the global system of things has reached a critical point of self-inflicted collapse.

Jesus referred to this now-onrolling development as the conclusion of a system of things, also known as “the time of the end” or “the end of the age.” At no time in history have the nations been part of a global system – that is, until now. And consequently, never before has it been possible for an entire system to come to a point of conclusion.

The present civilization has become a complex matrix of myriads of interdependent political and financial institutions and societal organizations, which comprise a global system of things. Because of the process known as globalization, more than ever the continued existence of all of mankind depends upon the mutual cooperation of the managers of the system. Therein lies the problem. While the continuation of civilization depends upon cooperation, the underlying spirit of the world is competitive. Cooperation and competition are antithetical.

To illustrate, in recent years many regulations designed to restrain unbridled greed and speculation within the financial system were dissolved. As a consequence an orgy of speculation ensued. In 2008 several large Wall Street investment banks collapsed. At the time their collapse was said to pose a systemic risk. What does that mean? Systemic risk means that the failure of one comparatively small institution can bring down the entire intertwined global economic and financial system.

Look at what is happening in Europe. If the Euro crashes, or more truthfully - when the Euro crashes, it will cause the whole money system to suddenly seize up. It will result in check clearing coming to a screeching halt. Cash points will shut down. Credit card transactions will become impossible. Can your family survive and function without the ability to access or exchange money?

Make no mistake about it, the fear of systemic collapse is what is driving panic-stricken political leaders to pull every lever within their reach, in a vain attempt to prolong a financial system that was obviously, deliberately, designed to implode. It is the certainty of the London/Wall Street money system’s demise that is driving the Anglo-American leaders to relentlessly push the world to the brink of a nuclear cataclysm.

The underlying dynamic of the 2012 hysteria is that people feel overwhelmed by forces that they cannot control or understand. What people fail to grasp, though, is that there are malevolent, unseen entities that wield a powerful influence over the world. Society is merely experiencing the effect without knowing the actual cause.

Jesus shed light upon the dark power influencing mankind when he revealed that a creature called Satan, the Devil, is the invisible ruler of the world. The significance of the 2012 hysteria is that one of the most outstanding features of Christ’s prophecy of the conclusion has to do with the great deception that will be at work then. Jesus forewarned that the deception would be so pervasive that even the chosen ones could be taken in, if that were possible.

Jesus also revealed that Satan is a liar and a manslayer. Paul even called Satan the god of this system. Think about it: a powerful deity, who is a masterful liar and a mass murderer, actually governs the world! That certainly explains why the world is in such a mess and why people are so consistently misinformed and misled. It cannot be coincidental that more and more people are anticipating some big cosmic event at the very time the system is posed for financial collapse and global war.

But it gets worse. Although Satan and his cadre of wicked demons have ruled over man for thousands of years, and are no doubt content to go on for thousands more, God has something else in mind. Jehovah God intends to replace the demonic rulers of the earth with the kingdom of his beloved Christ. That is the good news. The bad news is that when the kingdom initially comes to power an all-out war is certain to erupt between Christ and the Devil. And the really bad news is that earth will ultimately become the final battleground for a war between the gods, at the place called Armageddon. 

The official book of the Apocalypse describes the opening phase of the war:

"'And war broke out in heaven: Michael [Christ] and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.'"

Please notice in the text above that the war in heaven is the result of the kingdom coming to power and the exercise of authority on the part of Christ. The Watchtower has convinced Jehovah’s Witnesses that this monumental event has already taken place, supposedly back in 1914. But ask yourself, have the brothers of Christ really been confronted with death? Has the remnant conquered the enraged Devil by being faithful in the face of violent death – as the above text implies?

Furthermore, the prophecies indicate that the Devil will be permitted to wage war against the holy ones and conquer and kill them during a period of three and one half years – “a short period of time.” The Watchtower claims this prophetic period has already passed. If that is true, are we to suppose that Satan’s rage has mellowed in the century since he and his demon angels were supposedly cast down?

And if Christ’s kingdom began ruling in 1914, how may it truthfully be said the system has entered into a concluding phase? None of Jehovah’s Witnesses can provide an intelligent response to questions such as these. (See Back Page: 30 Questions for the Watchtower.)

To be sure, the "woe for the earth and sea" will be something this war-torn planet has never before experienced, far more terrible than World War One. The Devil certainly has empowered men to exterminate themselves and he fully intends to take his world hostage when Christ moves against him. Do you understand now why Jesus said that unless God intervened no flesh would survive? And are we to continue to imagine that all these things have already come about?

As if in response to the challenge posed to their parousia phantasm by e-watchman over the years, the March 15, 2012, Watchtower Magazine had the following comment:

Some people might think that the threat of nuclear war could lead to events that fulfill “the sign.” However, most do not understand the sign’s real significance. It has been visible for decades now, which fact indicates that Christ’s presence is a reality and that the end of this system of things is rapidly approaching. Never before have so many features of the sign been so clearly evident.

The leadership of the Watchtower is apparently finding it more and more difficult to keep the truth from the rank and file. Obviously, a nuclear war does not at all factor into the expectations Bethel has cultivated among millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses and others. But the reality on the ground is such that a world war involving the nuclear powers is becoming more likely by the day.

It seems the prophecies have, in fact, foretold such an eventuality. For example, the blood and fire and columns of smoke foretold in Joel are in reference to the fireball and mushroom cloud – the ominous signature of a nuclear blast.

The Watchtower is simply lying when it implies that the sign of Christ has been on full display for decades. They surely know it is not true. In truth, there are many aspects of the sign of the conclusion that are not in evidence, the details of which have been presented in numerous articles on this site. Over the years Bethel has reluctantly admitted as much. For instance, the Watchtower Society used to teach that Jesus’ words regarding men becoming faint with fear in dread of the things coming upon the world was already undergoing fulfillment. But more recently saner heads have prevailed and now Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught that that is not the case. (Needless to say people will faint with fright when nuclear weapons are exploded.)

But the point is, Jesus said "when you see all these things," yet the Watchtower acknowledges that we have not seen all the things Christ foretold, even after nearly a century since the conclusion is believed to have commenced. There are many other examples that could be cited. Nonetheless, in spite of these many revisions and retractions, the leaders of the Watchtower dishonestly continue to insist that the sign is in full display – implying that no future developments can more convincingly fulfill the prophecies. Ironically, not only are the nations on the brink of world war, but food reserves are perilously low, with prices driven up by speculators. Pandemics are an increasing possibility, and earthquakes are becoming more powerful. Get it?

Amazingly, true to the prophecy in the 13^th chapter of Ezekiel - regarding the stupid prophets in the midst of God’s people - the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses are continually compelled to keep splashing coat after coat of whitewash on their shoddy organizational wall. Appropriately, their whitewashed wall is certain to be demolished by the oncoming blast of Jehovah's expressed anger. (See article: Bethel Plasters on Another Coat of Whitewash.)

While no one knows the day or hour that the judgment will commence, certainly 2012 is shaping up to be an eventful year – to say the least.

Many Will Be Stumbled & Betray One Another

At Matthew 24:6 is recorded Jesus’ words of warning to his disciples: “You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet.”

Next Christ foretold: “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress.”

Are we to believe that the “beginning pangs of distress” span generations, only to give way to a prolonged period of relative peace, and that the generation who heard the original reports of wars passes away long before all things are fulfilled? As strange as it may seem that is exactly what Jehovah’s Witnesses now believe.

But since wars and reports of wars precede the big war in which nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ’s prophecy regarding nation warring against nation was fulfilled in 1914-18, Jesus’ words regarding the “wars and reports of wars” that precede all-out war have no relevance whatsoever for Jehovah’s Witnesses today. For that matter, neither does the aspect of nation rising against nation. It is all dead history of fulfilled prophecy to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Meanwhile, reports are hitting the net that the nations are feverishly preparing for global war. Since 2001 the United States and its NATO allies have used the phony war on terror as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and Iraq and more recently conducted bombing campaigns on Libya, for humanitarian purposes. All during the past decade the US has been quietly building hundreds more military bases and outposts around the world, while developing more and more sophisticated weaponry.

Next on the list of targeted nations is Syria and Iran. But Syria and Iran are heavily armed and have strong ties with both China and Russia. Any attack, especially on Iran, will likely draw Russia and China into the conflict, leading to a theater of war involving virtually all the world’s nuclear powers.

Over the past few weeks preparation for war has greatly intensified. (Check daily updated news items on left-hand column.) At this moment the US is redeploying a nuclear aircraft carrier battle group from the Persian Gulf region to Syrian waters, while Russia has just dispatched two huge battleships to the Syrian port of Tartus. Israel and the tiny UAE have recently been supplied with so-called bunker-busters – massive earth-penetrating ordinance designed to destroy bunkers and caves deep underground. The entire region is now a proverbial powder keg just waiting for the spark. (No one knows the day or hour.)

The Watchtower has assured Jehovah’s Witnesses that there will be no third world war – that the sign of the conclusion of the system of things cannot possibly display itself more convincingly in the future. But over the years the Watchtower Society has surreptitiously revised numerous aspects of the manifestation of the sign, assigning them a future fulfillment – this after almost a century since Christ supposedly arrived as a thief in the night. For example, Jesus foretold that men would become faint out of fear in dread of the things coming upon the world. For decades Jehovah’s Witnesses were told that this aspect of prophecy was in full display in the world. Now, though, the Watchtower has unceremoniously shifted its fulfillment to the future.

The Watchtower also used to teach that the disgusting thing was already standing where it had ought not to stand. But that aspect of the sign has also been shifted to the future as well. This means that no one on earth has seen all the things occur that Jesus foretold. But did not Jesus say, “When you see all these things know that I am near at the doors”? By the Watchtower’s own admission we have not seen all these things. And since no one alive today personally experienced the First World War, the reality is that the sign of the end is not yet manifested to us in any respect.

But that can change very, very quickly.

The question all of Jehovah’s Witnesses ought to consider is this: How will I react if the world is suddenly plunged into world war and if food shortages become commonplace in affluent nations due to hyperinflation or outright economic collapse?

Concurrent with that, what if there is another killer virus like the Spanish Flu, perhaps even a pestilence intentionally unleashed in biological warfare? Will you accept those events as the authentic sign of Christ standing at the door and act accordingly, even if the Watchtower does not approve such a view?

But in the event that the horsemen of the Apocalypse are loosed in the near future what credibility could the Watchtower Society possibly have then anyway? After all, they are God’s appointed faithful and discreet slave and watchman class. How could they possibly be so wrong so as to mislead millions of trusting sheep on something as important as the return of Jesus Christ? What will happen to the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses when they are squarely faced with the fact that their cherished 1914 parousia is nothing more than an artfully contrived false story – a mere operation of error? What then?

After foretelling the beginning pangs of distress Jesus went on to say: “Then people will deliver you up to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be objects of hatred by all the nations on account of my name. Then, also, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another.”

In that context Jesus also foretold that false prophets will arise and mislead many. The world is thoroughly blinded by Satan and always has been, so what is the point of further misleading the misled? Satan intends to mislead the chosen ones, which, as Jesus indicated, the deceptive machinations could conceivably deceive even them, adding: "if that were possible." What could possibly deceive the chosen ones? The only possibilty of their being overreached by Satan is by means of their trusted Watchtower.

The irony is, the Watchtower has long been accused of being a false prophet due to its many unrealized expectations. But during the authentic parousia the stakes will be raised considerably. At that time Jehovah's Witnesses will be subjected to numerous false prophets, likely in the form of the Watchtower and perhaps splinter groups, who will be intent on preventing Christians from following the real Christ.

It is indisputable that the Watchtower Society dominates the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Witnesses affectionately refer to the organization as “mother.” It is inevitable, then, that masses of Jehovah’s Witnesses are going to be stumbled when their mother is disgraced and silenced – even as the prophet has written: “And you will certainly stumble in the daytime, and even a prophet must stumble with you, as at night. And I will put your mother to silence. My people will certainly be silenced, because there is no knowledge.” – Hosea 4:5-6

Those who are mere followers of men, especially prominent elders who boast of being ‘Society men,’ will have their faith shaken to the core. Those who break with the Society, in whatever form it will exist then, in order to follow Christ, will be persecuted and hated by their former brothers. Under conditions of martial law will you have the courage to keep preaching, even without the support materials provided by the Watchtower? Will you have the faith to go it alone, even under the threat of being interned in a Halliburton concentration camp? The true chosen ones will be branded as members of a dangerous cult. Did not Jesus also forewarn that family members would hand over their own relatives to have them put to death. This, too, is part of the sign and certain to be fulfilled among families of Jehovah’s Witnesses and ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses.

While such an outcome may seem highly implausible at the moment, the world can change literally overnight. As the nations now stand at the brink of nuclear war and global financial collapse, it behooves all of Jehovah’s Witnesses to seriously consider the grim and unpleasant scenario I have presented as a reality we all will soon face.

The King of the North (revisited)

Revised from Jan, 2010“And in the time of the end the king of the south will engage with him in a pushing, and against him the king of the north will storm with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships; and he will certainly enter into the lands and flood over and pass through.” 

For longtime readers of e-watchman you know the king of the north is a topic I have frequently visited. In light of recent world developments it seems timely to make a return visit.  

It has now been almost a century since 1914. And according to the Watchtower Society that is when the king of the north and the king of the south engaged in a “pushing.” The king of the north at that time is thought to have been Germany and the king of the south was the Anglo-American duo. After the defeat of Germany by the Allies in 1945 the USSR is believed to have become the king of the north and the foretold flooding over into the lands is thought to have been fulfilled by communist expansion throughout Eastern Europe. But for the past 20 years the USSR has not existed and all the lands that had supposedly been flooded over have become independent and come out from under Russian domination.  (The Watchtower also teaches that the "pushing" between the two rivals continued on into the Cold War era.)

The collapse of that entity previously identified as the king of the north has been a great humiliation for the Watchtower Society. For the most part the Society says very little in regards to this aspect of prophecy now.  In Bethel’s last commentary on the book of Daniel (1999) they were forced to admit they do not know who the king of the north is now and they have advised Jehovah’s Witnesses not to speculate on the matter, even though the Watchtower’s commentary itself is mere speculation. 

So here we are “deep into the time of the end,” as Jehovah’s Witnesses are fond of saying, when the prophecy of Daniel is supposed to be unsealed for the holy ones, and yet by their own admission the spokesmen for Jehovah’s Witnesses have no idea who the king of the north is at this present time.  But if the book of Daniel has been unsealed already, why the cluelessness on the part of those who claim to have been given insight? And if the prophecy has not been unsealed yet (as is apparent) that means the time of the end is not begun. 

There are other aspects of the Watchtower’s interpretation that do not line up with reality (such as the absurd notion that the United States, symbolized as Egypt in the prophecy, did not escape from the Soviet Union during the Cold War.)

Also, the prophecy states that the king of the north will be successful all the way until the end of the denunciation, and yet each political entity that the Watchtower has identified with the king of the north has failed, spectacularly; and as stated already, now the Watchtower does not even have a pony in the race.  It is probably best. 

The primary reason the Watchtower has no insight in these matters is that they are laboring under the same cloud of deception as the world in general. The reason they have failed so miserably in presenting a workable interpretation of prophecy is because they have based their interpretations on a faulty understanding of recent history.   No doubt the leadership of the Watchtower have succumbed to the popular myth that the British Empire no longer exists or that it is irrelevant.  And for that reason they are unable to put together the prophetic pieces of the puzzle.  

In reality the British Empire is very much alive. Its power is expressed through the IMF/floating exchange rate monetary and financial system headquartered in London. The British Empire is the king of the north, and as such, London has successfully dominated the world for the past two centuries.  The primary way in which the British Empire has dominated the nations is by preventing them from developing; by inducing developing nations into indebtedness and forcing them to devalue their currencies while the original debts incurred are required to be paid back at the original exchange rates; by forcing upon them nation-strangling IMF conditionalites; by pitting nations, religions and ethnic groups against one another so that they destroy themselves in war and civil war; by recruiting and training terrorists and deploying them throughout the world to create destabilization, in what has been called a “strategy of tension”; by corrupting and subverting nations politically so that they are ineffective in promoting their own national interests. This brings us to the “pushing” in the time of the end. 

As most people are aware, the global financial system nearly collapsed in 2008. The system has been kept propped up by massive injections of taxpayer money into the banking system and other backroom chicanery. It is a temporary fix however. In the meanwhile some of the most populous and resource-rich nations in the world are making moves to align themselves in mutual cooperation. This development has enormous strategic implications. A massive power shift is in play and it has the potential to break London’s stranglehold over the planet.  It appears as if the final pushing has already or will soon begin.

Although America has been subverted into taking over as the enforcer of Anglo-imperialism, the republican impulse is still strong. If the United States is allowed to join the developing new Pacific alliance of nations, it would be an historic game changer. Time is running out for the Empire. At this point it seems the only way that the alliance may be thwarted is by detonating World War III.

A Great War and End of a System

The clock is ticking. Time is definitely running out for the present system. Even persons who have no knowledge of prophecy realize that things cannot continue on as they are much longer. As a reflection of that, a "prepper" movement has emerged in recent years, as people prepare for the inevitable chaos ahead.

But as regards prophecy, most translations translate the Greek word syntelia using expressions such as the “end of the age,” or the “end of the world.” The New World Translation uses the expression the “conclusion of the system of things.”

While I am no Greek scholar and only have a passing interest in the nuts of bolts of translation, likely from a translator’s standpoint all of the English renderings of syntelia are acceptable; however, it appears as if the NWT is more appropriate in view of the fact we now stand at the brink of the end of the imperial system that has dominated the earth for over 2,000 years.

Never before in history has it been possible for a system to be imposed globally – just as the present computerized financial system – thus making it possible for an entire world system to abruptly conclude as well. This is a fairly big deal.

Of interest to students of prophecy, the prophecy of Daniel harmonizes with accepted history in indicating that the present imperial system began with Alexander the Great’s conquest of Persia. For example, the 8^th chapter of Daniel begins with the hairy he goat with a great horn vanquishing the ram. But the great horn is broken and replaced by four – symbolizing Alexander defeating Persia and then his sudden death and the break up of the empire into four. The long-running prophecy of the king of the north and the king of the south also commences with the breakup of Alexander’s empire. It is noteworthy that both prophecies conclude during the “time of the end” (Translated using “syntelia” in the LXX) as a single, world-conquering king is himself conquered by Jehovah’s reigning prince.

For the 23 centuries since Alexander world power has resided in various forms in Europe – first in Greece, then in Rome and Byzantium, and more recently in the form of the British Empire, which is expressed today as a global monetary, financial empire. It is that empire over money that has reached the end of its ability to exist in its present state. The convulsions now rocking the financial system is the death rattle of a dying empire.

As an indication that London’s global empire is doomed, the IMF recently declared the end of American economic dominance and the China would soon supplant the US as the leading economic power.  (In reality, the dollar’s place as the world’s reserve currency is actually the doing of London rather than Washington, due to their control of the FOREX and petrol dollar arrangement.)

According to prophecy, though, the last king springs from the same source from where power has presided since Greece. That means China will not supplant the Anglo-America power. But how can it possibly be prevented since it is quite obvious that the Anglo-America system is going down while China and Asia are ascending? The answer is war.

The lords of London and their agents in the US and client states, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, are moving rapidly to detonate a nuclear conflagration in the Middle East and Asia with the intent of sinking the already doomed financial system and imposing a global dictatorship – stripping all nations of the last vestiges of sovereignty and republicanism, even as debtor nations such as Greece have already become mere colonies of the bankers.

In the opening verses of the 10^th chapter of Daniel the prophet had a vision of a great war. “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, even a great warfare: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.” – American Standard Version

That vision prepared Daniel to receive the information conveyed by a visiting angel regarding the world destruction wrought by the king of the north. To be certain, the flooding over all nations by the king of the north and the subjugation of the king of the south will be brought about by the “great warfare” Daniel envisioned.

At the present moment the Anglo-America duo are indeed preparing for a great war. Without doubt, once unleashed will prove to be the most destructive war in history.

POST SCRIPT

As all of Jehovah's Witnesses know, the Scriptures foretell that whenever it is that they are saying "peace and security" then they are visited with sudden destruction. While the Watchtower has led Jehovah's Witnesses to believe that the sudden destruction will be wrought by God at Armageddon, that is not reasonable since the great tribulation will precede the final war. It is not likely that anyone will be talking about peace and security during the world's worst time of trouble. Besides, Paul said that Jehovah's day was coming as a thief in the night. Christ said he was also coming as a thief in the night. More reasonably, then, the talk of peace and security will immediately precede the great war, which will also be the genuine sign of Christ's thief-like arrival and the beginning of the conclusion of the system. It would seem then, that, although, the financial system is on its last leg and there is a definite build up towards nuclear war, the last piece of the puzzle is yet to fall into place.

All the more reason to keep watching, keep looking, as Jesus exhorted.

JEHOVAH

The name of God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and consequently the God of Israel, was represented in written form by the four Hebrew consonants YHWH. Probably the first appearance in writing of the so-called Tetragrammaton took place when God carved out the two stone tablets upon which he wrote the Ten Commandments for the Israelites. There, chiseled in stone by the very finger of God, the name of God appeared eight times.

Over the course of 15 centuries as the Bible was compiled by various writers, ultimately the name of God appeared in the vellum and papyrus scrolls in nearly 7,000 places – more than any other proper name. Originally the name of God was freely spoken by the Jews and used in everyday language. Hebrews often named their offspring names that incorporated some form of the divine name. For example, the common name, John, is a shortened form of the Hebrew name, Jehohanan, which means “Jehovah has been gracious.”

Places were also named names that honored God’s name. For example, when God prevented Abraham from offering Isaac upon a makeshift altar and instead provided a ram as a substitute, a grateful Abraham named the mountain Jehovah-Jireh, which means “Jehovah will provide.” Incidentally, Jewish tradition has it that the place Abraham named Jehovah-Jireh was the site where Solomon’s temple was built almost 1,000 years later, and which became known as the place where Jehovah caused his name to reside.

Tragically, their leaders led the Jews into idolatry and apostasy and the name of God was consequently defiled. To clear his holy name of reproach God foretold that he would cause Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple to be utterly destroyed and the Jews would be killed off and the survivors led off in chains to far-way Babylon. History verifies that God made good on his word.

Apparently, some time after the repentant Jews were repatriated to their homeland a superstition developed that forbid the Jews from speaking God’s name aloud for fear they would dishonor it. Consequently, because the name fell into disuse the exact vowels that were inserted when the name was read aloud has been lost. Nevertheless, when Jesus Christ triumphantly rode into Jerusalem on a donkey colt the 118^th Psalm (verse 26) was fulfilled when the crowds lining the road with their outer garments and waving palm branches hailed Jesus as the One coming in the name of Jehovah. A few days later Jesus stated in prayer that he had made God’s name known and that he would continue to do so.

In view of the fact that Jesus was executed the next day his campaign to make the name of God known must of necessity continue from the heavens, where Christ now resides as the immortal king of God’s kingdom. Indeed, after Christ ascended to heaven, from where he has ever since directed the work of dedicated Christians, the apostle Peter explained how the Hebrew prophecy recorded at Amos 9:12 was fulfilled by means of non-Jewish followers of Christ from all the nations having the name of Jehovah called upon them. Quoting from Amos at Acts 15:18 Peter went on to say that Jehovah was “known from of old.” Although Jesus existed from the beginning of the creation by God he was not known from of old among men. But Jehovah was known from antiquity.

Still, even though Peter applied the prophecy to the 1^st century the record states that it was by divine providence that the followers of Christ would be known foremost as Christians. But just as Peter had also applied a portion of the prophecy of Joel to the Pentecost phenomenon some years earlier, the truth is, both Joel and Amos are most applicable to the final judgment at the second coming of Christ.

In the ensuing centuries since Christianity was instituted the truth has been completely subverted. Just as the kings and priests misled the Jews, so too, the Christian leaders followed the same path of apostasy, paganism and idolatry. And just as the Jews refused to pronounce God’s name, those who hijacked Christianity went even further – first removing God’s name  from copies of the Greek, and centuries later when Bibles were mass produced they, for the most part, expunged God’s name from the Bible entirely. (The name Jehovah appeared in the original King James Version in four places, however, in the latest revision has removed the name completely.)

(Most common English translations that retain “Jehovah” are the Darby translation and the New American Standard, as well as New World Translation.)

But since the vowels originally associated with YHWH cannot be definitively ascertained, why do the few English translations and Jehovah’s Witnesses use the spelling of “Jehovah”?

Supposedly, about a thousand years ago, almost half millennia before the first Bible would appear in English, and before modern English was even developed, a priest coined the word by combining the vowels from the Hebrew word for God with the Tetragrammaton. That may or may not be true, in any case however, the name Jehovah most certainly is known from of old even in English. What is most certainly true, though, is that even if the precise vowels used in connection with YHWH were known God’s name would not be pronounced and spelled in English the same way it would be in Hebrew. The fact is, all proper Hebrew names are spelled and pronounced differently depending upon the language. However, the spelling and pronunciation of Jehovah is in keeping with the way dozens of other Hebrew names have been translated into English. (See YouTube video – YHWH Chalk Talk) Perhaps it was by divine providence that the name Jehovah has become the most widely used and recognized rendering of God’s personal name.

According to the word of God everyone who calls upon his name will be saved and Paul assured Christians that God does not forget those who have loved his name. That means that God recognizes those who use some form of his name. Not only that, but all the nations will eventually be made to know his name is Jehovah.

So, while people may quibble and quarrel over spelling and pronunciation, and others unwittingly continue to promote the silly notion that God’s name should not be pronounced by their insistence on using the unpronounceable YHWH, the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses has made the personal name of God known in an acceptable and pronouncable form throughout the earth in hundreds of languages (Presently, the Watchtower Society produces literature in 429 languages), making it possible for persons of faith to call upon the name of God.

Be that as it may, because Jehovah’s Witnesses are exclusively associated with the name Jehovah, the Bearer of that name will hold Jehovah’s Witnesses accountable – particularly the leadership. Just as the Jews defiled God’s name and brought reproach upon it, the Watchtower Society has also brought considerable reproach upon the very name they have promoted.

In brief, in God’s judgment Jehovah’s Witnesses practice a form of idolatry due to the excessive praise lavished upon the organization as the all-seeing prophet of Jehovah. And indeed, the leaders promote it. And the Society’s 1914 invisible parousia is merely an artfully contrived false story perpetuated in the name of Jehovah. For these and many other reasons already presented on this website, Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves will be made to know that he is Jehovah – the One showing exclusive devotion to his own name.

At some point during the tribulation the faithful who survive the coming purge and collapse of the Watchtower Society will pray the prayer of the exiled prophet, Daniel, who prayed these words: “Incline your ear, O my God, and hear. Do open your eyes and see our desolated conditions and the city that has been called by your name; for not according to our righteous acts are we letting our entreaties fall before you, but according to your many mercies. O Jehovah, do hear. O Jehovah, do forgive. O Jehovah, do pay attention and act. Do not delay, for your own sake, O my God, for your own name has been called upon your city and upon your people.” – Daniel 9:18-19

APOCALYPSE UPDATE

On October 2^nd, 1914, Charles Taze Russell, the President of the Watch Tower Society, announced to the Bethel staff at their morning breakfast: “The Gentile times have ended; their kings have had their day.”

At the time those words were unquestioningly accepted by the International Bible Students; after all, a couple of months before that announcement the nations of Europe had virtually all declared war upon each other and the clouds of war were indeed hanging low. Before too many more months would pass Europe would be plunged into the worst war in history up until then – The Great War, as it was called until the greater war erupted two decades later.

Now, though, only three years shy of a full century later, C.T. Russell’s bold announcement is meaningless. A question thinking Bible students ought to ask is, in what way have the nations and their kings had their day? Presumably, when the prophetic appointed times are fulfilled should it not be expected that the nations of the world would be prevented from any longer tyrannizing mankind? Back during that horrible time of the First World War the Bible Students expected the war to bring all the nations to ruin, with anarchy reigning and leading directly to the world-ending war of Armageddon. Instead, the nations recovered and fought an even more destructive and deadly war, from which the nations have also long-since recovered.

For these many decades the Watchtower Society has claimed that the 2nd Psalm was fulfilled back in 1914. Psalms 2: 1-2 reads: “Why have the nations been in tumult and the national groups themselves kept muttering an empty thing?  The kings of earth take their stand and high officials themselves have massed together as one against Jehovah and against his anointed one…”

The Psalm goes on to say that Jehovah at that time will then speak derisively to the tumultuous nations, declaring to them in his anger that he has seated his own son upon his throne. Again, Jehovah’s Witnesses whole-heartedly believe that the foretold tumult of the nations took place during the Great War. Presumably, the tumult carried over to manifest itself as the Second World War. But if that was true, why is it that the nations have settled down, so-to-speak? Why has there been a half-century of relative peace and prosperity since the last world war? Another question: In what way have the nations massed together as one against God? Surely the fabrication of the League of Nations could not possibly have been the fulfillment of the prophetic Psalm, since only 42 nations originally joined the League – the most notable absentee being the United States of America.

And besides, especially since the collapse of the avowedly atheist USSR, religion has enjoyed the protection and support of the political governments. Throughout nearly all of Europe, North and South America and the Pacific nations Jehovah’s Witnesses are free to practice their faith. How have the nations massed against God?

And according to the Psalm Jehovah will speak to the nations in his hot displeasure at the same time that they gather together as one against his kingdom. If the global tumult and subsequent gathering of the nations took place over 90 years, ago why has God remained silent up to this very day? There are many other unanswerable questions (from the standpoint of the Watchtower untenable position), such as why ought Jehovah’s Witnesses assume that Jesus intended the “appointed times of the nations” to begin with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians? And if the appointed time for the nations to trample that which was symbolized by ancient Jerusalem ended in 1914, why do Jehovah’s Witnesses still look forward to the nations in the form of a disgusting thing to trample the holy place? (See essay: A Closer Look at 1914)

The Watchtower would have Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that these questions emanate from the websites of “mentally diseased” apostates who are intent on wrecking your faith. Such is not the case. My purpose is reset the expectations of Jehovah’s Witnesses forward to the coming of Christ and all that that entails – including, foremost, the judgment of the house of God and the revealing of the man of lawlessness therein.

The Watchtower has successfully convinced millions of trusting adherents that Christ’s kingdom began ruling in 1914 and that virtually all prophecy has already been fulfilled. Meanwhile, the world is perched on the precipice of a yawning abyss.

At this moment in history the Anglo-American military and intelligence juggernaut are pushing the nations of the Middle East and South Asia into war. Up until now the nations that have been invaded and attacked by the US and NATO have not been great military powers. However, Iran is. And Pakistan is a nuclear power. So, the ongoing provocations and accusations against Pakistan can certainly trigger a war that could see the use of weapons of mass destruction. The ongoing drone attacks and killing of innocent civilians and illegal covert assassinations of suspected terrorists, seems intended to provoke a response such as the detonation of a nuclear device in an American city, as the pretext for the US to unleash shock and awe in South Asia – a World War Three scenario.

Driving the Anglo-American beast to this madness is the over-hanging reality that London’s global financial and monetary system is collapsing. Ground zero is London and Wall Street. The ongoing drama over Greece’s debt underscores that fact. All knowledgeable persons are aware that the bailout of Greece is not to help the Greeks, but is actually a bailout of the European banks. Greece cannot be allowed to default because it would trigger trillions in credit default swaps (CDS), a form of derivative contract that is bought and sold that ensures the bondholders. The global derivatives market is somewhere north of a quadrillion and growing like cancer.

To service this massive debt bubble and the derivative side bets money has to be supplied at a faster and faster rate. The central banks of the world are determined to keep the debt bubble from collapsing and so are committed to supplying an unlimited amount of money – even as the underlying economies of America and Europe collapse. Again, all knowledgeable persons are aware that at some point hyperinflation will quickly render the Dollar and Euro worthless.

One thing is clear: Things cannot continue as they are. At some point, soon, something has to snap. Bible prophecy points to the sudden destruction of the world’s economic system and the end of the nation-state system and a social upheaval, the likes of which have never occurred. The imposition of a global dictatorship is all but certain. (The tumult of nations and gathering as one)

Look at what is happening in Europe. Since the establishment of the European Union the nations of Europe, although sharing a common currency, have each continued to exercise a measure of sovereignty. Now, though, as a proposed “solution” to the so-called debt crises, each nation of the union is being forced to relinquish the last vestige of Westphalian, national sovereignty to a central authority that will determine economic policy for all member nations. A similar thing has just occurred in the United States, where the Congress has abdicated its constitutionally mandated authority to control the economy to a 12 member “super congress.”

Standing somewhat to the side of ground zero for the looming collapse of Europe and America is Russia and China. Their recent cooperation and nation-building endeavors, particularly the recent sacking of Russia’s finance minister who apparently offered to throw Russia’s foreign reserves into the Euro Zone’s black hole of debt, have put those two nuclear powers on a collision course with London’s empire.

It is no exaggeration to say that the world is facing the gravest crises in history.

Not only is global financial collapse and nuclear war looming on the near horizon, but also the nations are just one catastrophe away from widespread food shortages. (YouTube)

Meanwhile, the sun is going into a period of intensified coronal mass ejection and the earth beneath our feet is becoming more active with increased volcanic and seismic activity. It appears as if the Pacific Ring of Fire is in play for a massive quake and possibly a tsunami to hit the Pacific Coast of the United States. (The Extinction Protocol)

The Hour of Darkness Approaches

Immediately after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and anointed by God as the promised Messiah he was promptly led by the holy spirit into the wilderness in order to be tempted by the Devil. 

But that was just the beginning. After having failed to tempt Jesus into an act of disloyalty to Jehovah the gospel writer Luke noted that the Devil concluded the temptation, only “until another convenient time.” Some time later Jesus exposed his tempter as the wicked ruler of the world, the father of the lie and the original manslayer – charging his fellow Jews as being those desirous of doing the will of the wicked one.

On the night he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his captors that it was their hour and the authority of darkness  – meaning that Jehovah had removed his protection from Christ in order to allow the wicked one to test him to the limit. If you recall, on several occasions during his ministry the murderous Jews tried to kill Jesus, but could not. On other occasions the leaders wanted to have Christ destroyed but they were in fear of those who accepted him as a man of God. But all impediments to his destruction were swept away on that fateful Passover.

Jesus forewarned Peter that Satan had also demanded to have them, the apostles, in order to sift them as wheat, and by extension, everyone who has been called into the kingdom of Christ.

Although prior to his torturous death Jesus stated that he had beheld Satan already fallen from heaven just like lightening, Jesus did not mean to imply that Satan had already been deposed back then or that he is no longer the ruler of this evil system we presently live under. Jesus simply meant that the kingdom of God, which then powerfully manifested itself through the powers given to Christ and his followers, was certain to eventually, completely destroy the authority of darkness.

That the Devil was still very much in power is evident from Paul’s later writings regarding Satan being the god of this world who blinds the minds of the unbelievers. And, of course, the book of Revelation, a revelation of what is to occur during the conclusion of this present system, reveals that the demons and their wicked king are not evicted from heaven until the actual commencement of the reign of Christ. The overthrow of the wicked angels in heaven and their banishment to this tiny troubled sphere for a “short period of time” will result in the worst catastrophe this world has ever experienced.

Jesus said of that bleak time that the sun will turn into darkness, the moon will not give its light and the very stars will fall from the heavens – an hour of darkness indeed!

In advance of that earth-shattering event the Devil has been allowed to rig his system to collapse into chaos at the moment he is violently thrown down from heaven by the newly enthroned Michael the archangel.

The currently tottering global financial system is the most likely tripwire to cause an implosion that will bring civilization to its knees. The vast arsenal of nuclear and various and sundry other weapons of mass destruction, countless terrorist cells, governmental spying apparatus and pre-built concentration camps, are already in place for the Devil to bring the foretold “hour of test” upon the world.

After his ouster from heaven the maddened Devil will then be allowed an interval of time equivalent to the duration of the earthly ministry of Christ, during which time he will use his revived earthly political beast to terrorize the world into total submission, with the express intent of causing the chosen ones to betray their Lord. Did not Jesus foretell that men would become faint with fright in dread and foreboding during the dark night of the conclusion and that no flesh would even survive the ordeal unless God would cut the tribulation short?

As an indication of the change that will take place in the political system, the 13^th chapter of Revelation depicts a two-horned lamb that emerges from the bowels of the earth, as if returning from the dead. And which then begins to speak as a dragon in ordering mankind to create and worship an image of the resurrected beast. (The dragon is Satan the Devil according to Revelation 12:9)

Notably, the lamb is also a symbol of Jesus Christ. The two-horned lamb out of the earth symbolizes the Anglo-American duo after they recover from their now-impending crash. The lamb-like beast is an appropriate representation since both nations have ostensibly been “Christian” nations, espousing freedom and democracy and Christian values and are locked in a Special Relationship alliance; hence, two horns. Its speaking as a dragon denotes the tyrannical nature the beast will assume during the symbolic one-hour the eighth king is allowed to terrorize the world.

Knowing the great test that will come upon his disciples during the concluding hour of the authority of darkness, Jesus forewarned them to not become terrified or allow themselves to be deceived. Underscoring the criticalness of the time of trouble, Jesus said that the deception Satan would be allowed to work upon the world will be so effective that it could conceivably deceive the chosen ones – adding, “if that were possible.”

As an organization Jehovah’s Witnesses suppose that they are immune to the Devil’s deception. After all, Jehovah’s Witnesses have the truth and the Watchtower Society is the very mouthpiece of the Master’s faithful and discreet slave. How could Satan possibly influence or over-reach Jehovah’s earthly organization? The cultivated opinion among Jehovah’s Witnesses is that God would never allow that to occur.  Paradoxically, that prevailing assumption is the very thing that makes Jehovah’s Witnesses most vulnerable to the Devil’s trickery.

Consider, for example, King Solomon. He was, of course, the son of King David, a man whom Jehovah noted was a man after his own heart. And because of Solomon’s humble request for the wisdom to be able to guide God’s people, God graciously gave him wisdom and riches surpassing that of any man prior to him. Solomon had the privilege of building Jehovah’s temple and even contributed a significant portion to the collection of inspired scriptures.

In spite of his great wisdom, though, Solomon became apostate and brought ruin upon Israel by introducing the worship of numerous false gods in order to please his multitude of idol-worshipping foreign wives.

Most kings of Israel and Judah consequently promoted or tolerated idolatry and apostasy. 

Satan was also successful in infiltrating Christ’s original congregation. Even while Jesus was with his disciples the apostle named Judas Iscariot became a willing pawn of the Devil. During Paul’s ministry to the nations the apostle was compelled to expose the leading men of the Corinthian congregation as mere agents of Satan who had slyly disguised themselves as ministers of righteousness.  Eventually the demons took complete control of Christianity when Roman emperor Constantine inserted himself as its leader.

Blatant pagan teachings, idolatry, the bloodshed and plunder of the Crusades, the pogroms against the Jews and endless warmongering, political involvement, Bible burnings and murders of those who attempted to teach the truth, stand as undeniable evidence of the Devil’s influence over the churches.

In stark contrast to Christendom, the Watchtower Society has championed the truth; and the evidence is clearly discernable for all who wish to accept it that Jehovah’s Witnesses practice and preach the true faith, as revealed in the Scriptures.

“Surely they will keep saying what is according to this statement that will have no light of dawn. And each one will certainly pass through the land hard pressed and hungry; and it must occur that because he is hungry and has made himself feel indignant, he will actually call down evil upon his king and upon his God and will certainly peer upward. And to the earth he will look, and, lo! distress and darkness, obscurity, hard times and gloominess with no brightness.” - Isaiah 8:-20-22

That being said, the Watchtower Society has perpetrated one of the biggest hoaxes in history – the hoax that Christ invisibly returned in 1914.  In truth, the Watchtower’s cherished 1914 invisible parousia doctrine bears all the earmarks of the “operation of error” that Paul foretold God would permit to go to those who know the truth, in order to test their love of the truth.

The operation of error is not in reference to the pagan teachings of Christendom, as the Watchtower teaches. According to the inspired apostle, Satan would be allowed to set up a fake parousia, using an earthly man of lawlessness ensconced within the spiritual temple of God to make apostolic pronouncements and declarations that the presence had begun and the day of Jehovah was here – using all his wicked powers to make it appear as if the prophecies had been fulfilled. This would occur as an immediate prelude to the actual Parousia and day of Jehovah. (See article: Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Man of Lawlessness)

The great sifting that was imposed upon the apostles was effected in no small measure due to the erroneous assumptions the Jews held regarding the Messiah. In other words, God allowed an operation of error in the first century. (Not coincidentally, Jesus said Judas was “the son of destruction. The man of lawlessness is also called “the son of destruction.)

The error presently in operation upon Jehovah’s Witnesses will result in a great test of faith when the hour of the authority of the darkness arrives.

“We keep hoping for light, but, look! darkness; for brightness, but in continuous gloom we kept walking. We keep groping for the wall just like blind men, and like those without eyes we keep groping. We have stumbled at high noon just as in evening darkness.” - Isaiah 59:9-10 

The Watchtower Society Hedge Fund

UPDATED...

It seems the Watchtower Society is becoming more and more cozy with the big money players of this system. As was published on this blog some months back regarding representatives of the Watchtower attending a big hedge fund networking pow-wow last September (2010), they are once again listed as attendees for the September 13-14, 2011, conference in London at the British Museum.

It ought to be noted that it costs the equivalent of nearly $5,000. That means that Bethel writes a check out of the fund devoted to the worldwide work of preaching the kingdom, a fund which Bethel boasts receives lunch money from children and donations from needy widows. The board of directors of Watch Tower Inc approve of spending funds donated to Jehovah for the privilege of sending representatives to the hedge fund conference to network and sip cocktails with the mighty ones of this world.

Here is the 2011 attendees list. Note that Bethel is still hobnobbing with the UN, as one of the listed attendees is the UN Principles for Responsible Investing.

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