Deliverance At Hand

The theme of this year’s annual Watchtower Society convention is “Deliverance at Hand.” Most interestingly, the announced theme is not stated in the form of a question, so as to merely pose the possibility of a future deliverance. No, it is in the form of a positive assertion – even a quasi-prophetic proclamation, intimating that salvation is imminent.

No doubt the provocative convention theme is intended to raise anticipation among Jehovah’s Witnesses as to the nearness of the end of this present unsatisfactory system under which we live and the ushering in of the new world order of God’s making.

But how do they know that the end of the present civilization is near, other than the obvious, which any discerning person could recognize from ominously threatening world conditions? Might Bethel be privy to some special knowledge as regards the nearness of the end? Has Jehovah perhaps revealed his intimate, confidential, matters to the Governing Body? If not, what can account for such a bold announcement such as ‘deliverance [is] at hand’?

True deliverance, of course, comes about as the end result of a sequence of events initiated at the coming of Christ. And Jesus alerted his followers to the significance of developing conditions in the world that would signal the nearness of the promised deliverance, saying: “But as these things start to occur, raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near.”

The question is: as what “things start to occur”? Among other things, Jesus foretold there would be wars, food shortages, pestilences and men becoming faint out of fear. But according to the Watchtower “these things” started to occur over 90 years ago, way back in 1914.

And needless to say the generation that saw the supposed “beginning pangs of distress” in 1914-1919, and who consequently lifted up their heads in hopeful anticipation of deliverance, have passed away entirely without ever realizing their precious hope.

So, what scriptural basis do Jehovah’s Witnesses now have to anticipate deliverance?

Considering that the Watchtower has stated in numerous places that the next major event to occur in the outworking of God’s eternal purpose is the destruction of organized religion by what they term the “militarized horns” of the wild beast of Revelation (formerly thought to be the United Nations) and since there is no basis in reality to expect such a radical development to occur within the present political framework, it must be concluded that the Watchtower has no scriptural basis for declaring that deliverance is at hand – at least not in the Watchtower’s already established prophetic framework.

Ironically, though, there is every reason to believe that the genuine presence of Christ is at hand. Wars and civil disorders are erupting around the world; a virulent avian virus threatens to mutate and develop into a devastating pandemic, possibly surpassing the horrors of the Spanish flu. Complicating matters further, the debt-gorged, casino-like, global financial system is over-ripe for a catastrophe. And most ominously, the Anglo-American-Israeli triad is threatening to unleash another round of “shock and awe” as pre-emptive nuclear warfare upon its perceived enemies. (See e-watchman blog)

However, the Watchtower is in a predicament. It cannot legitimately point to presently looming potentialities as evidence of the nearness of deliverance unless Bethel is willing to discard the notion that the sign of Christ’s presence has been manifest ever since 1914. Of course, jettisoning 1914 is an anathema to the Watchtower. Sooner would Bethel disfellowship half the membership of the organization who might question it, and sooner would they deny Jehovah’s existence itself, then discard the 1914 dogma. After all, the dozens of prophetic interpretations attached to 1914 are the very basis for the Watchtower’s claim to have already been appointed over all of Christ’s interests on earth. By their own artifice Bethel’s very authority has become inextricably bound to that date.

So, again, what biblical basis does the Watchtower have in proclaiming that deliverance is at hand? Unless Bethel intends to demolish its own whitewashed organizational wall and start afresh there is no basis in the Society’s existing prophetic pedagogy for expecting deliverance any time soon.

But is that the end of the matter? No, not at all.

The word of God is alive, as the apostle Paul declared. While Jehovah is in no way bound by the proclamations of the Watchtower Society or any council of men, and God is most certainly not obligated to act in order to bail out the Watchtower Society and vindicate a century of erroneous prophetic teachings, his Bible does have something to say on the matter of the Watchtower’s expected deliverance.

The most significant aspect of the Watchtower’s startling convention theme, indeed the most ironic side of it, is that the Society’s very proclamation may well be a precursor of Jehovah’s judgment upon a defiled house of God. That’s because a striking parallel exists between the ancient house of God associated with the name of Jehovah and its modern counterpart. Jeremiah 7:8-11 relates Jehovah’s incisive judicial decision, saying:

‘“Here you are putting your trust in fallacious words—it will certainly be of no benefit at all. Can there be stealing, murdering and committing adultery and swearing falsely and making sacrificial smoke to Baal and walking after other gods whom you had not known, and must you come and stand before me in this house upon which my name has been called, and must you say, ‘We shall certainly be delivered,’ in the face of doing all these detestable things? Has this house upon which my name has been called become a mere cave of robbers in your eyes? Here I myself also have seen it,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.”

In ancient times the house upon which the name of Jehovah was called was the temple situated on the summit of Mount Moriah, in Jerusalem. From the very time of its construction by King Solomon, the temple was known as the house of Jehovah. In fact, the exact expression – “house of Jehovah” – occurs 246 times in the New World Translation of the Bible.

Is there a modern counterpart to the place where God had placed his name – a modern house of Jehovah? Most assuredly there is. It is the institution commonly called “Jehovah’s organization,” with its Bethel headquarters, which literally means “house of God” in Hebrew.

Even those who hate Jehovah’s Witnesses are forced to acknowledge the fact that no other organization on earth is as inseparably linked to the name and person of Jehovah as Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower Society are. The Watchtower Society is undeniably the antitypical house where Jehovah God has placed his name.

That being the case, it is also apparent that prophecies such as Jeremiah apply to Jehovah’s Witnesses, especially its leadership. Like the ancient Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses have also been induced to put our faith in “fallacious words.” In Jeremiah’s day the “fallacious words” were in the form of the mantra-like chant: “The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah they are!”

Instead of obeying the terms of the law covenant the Jews trusted their salvation to an institution. Like the ancient Jews who unwisely assumed that no harm would ever come to the temple or city where Jehovah had originally placed his name, Jehovah’s Witnesses similarly trust in the organization’s presumed righteous standing before God.

To that end the Watchtower Society has thoroughly convinced Jehovah’s Witnesses that the biblical judgment upon the house of God took place back in 1918-1919 and that a faithful slave has already passed the test and received heaven’s irreversible blessing. Jehovah’s Witnesses’ blithe assumption is that any future judgments from Jehovah will be directed against Christendom and other ungodly “opposers” of Jehovah’s organization.

The attitude of Jehovah’s Witnesses today is identical to that of the Jews in Jeremiah’s day. By a slight variation of wording, the prevailing mindset among Jehovah’s Witnesses toward the so-called faithful slave “temple class” is best expressed in the form of the mantra: ‘Jehovah’s organization, Jehovah’s organization, Jehovah’s organization they are.’

Fallacious words indeed!

At Jeremiah 7:6 Jehovah reiterated the terms under which the Jews could avoid bringing calamity upon themselves. God said: “If no alien resident, no fatherless boy and no widow you will oppress, and innocent blood you will not shed in this place, and after other gods you will not walk for calamity to yourselves.” But the very fact that Judah suffered a horrendous calamity indicates that they refused to abide by God’s simple commands.

From Jehovah’s standpoint, though, the judgments contained in Jeremiah’s prophecy directed against the ancient temple-keepers are just as relevant today in connection with the Watchtower Society. That’s because, as indicated in the Bible book of James, looking after orphans and widows and remaining unspotted by the world is the very foundation of Christianity. And sadly, as an organization the Watchtower has neither fulfilled its obligation to look after the disadvantaged nor remain unblemished by worldly corruption.

As shocking and unbelievable as it may seem to the uninformed, the Watchtower Society has actually repudiated Christianity. No, not overtly, but privately – behind closed doors. They have done this by denying in court that Christian elders bear any moral obligation to protect the children under their charge from the depredations of sexual predators in their congregations. (For details see commentary “Elders Shall Receive Heavier Judgment”)

The Society is obviously intent on protecting their kingdom coffers from litigation, so instead of accepting responsibility for the thousands of criminal acts perpetrated against children of Jehovah’s Witnesses by Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Society is willing to spend millions of dollars on attorney’s fees in order to convince the courts that congregation elders, who are appointed and trained directly by the Watchtower Society, bear no responsibility to protect Jehovah’s children from being victimized by pedophiles.

As far as remaining unspotted by the world, nothing further need be written here regarding the Watchtower’s spiritually adulterous tryst with the United Nations. (See essays “Strange Bedfellows” and “Plumbing the Depths of the Watchtower’s Prostitution.”)

This brings us back to this year’s Deliverance at Hand convention theme. In view of recent developments within the Watchtower Society, Jehovah’s rhetorical question posed to his people in the 7th chapter of Jeremiah is most relevant today. Slightly rewording the indictment, Jehovah may be heard to ask the leading men of Jehovah’s Witnesses some variation of the following: ‘Can there be child molestation and the quashing of the legal rights of orphans, the making of a secret pacts with the United Nations and deceiving my people as regards the presence of Christ in 1914, all the while pontificating about being ‘Jehovah’s clean organization’; and must you now declare that your deliverance is at hand?’