There was not anything particularly unique about the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. It was, in fact, commonplace for the Assyrian and Babylonian empires to sack and plunder cities and entire nations. What was unique, though, is that Jehovah sanctioned the Chaldeans to completely devastate Jerusalem and its magnificent temple. In fact, Jehovah's judicial decree was that the execution of the wicked should begin within the hallowed walls of his very sanctuary.

In the vision of the secretary's inkhorn in the 9th chapter of Ezekiel, the symbolic killers were commanded by God: "And from my sanctuary you should start." So they started with the old men that were before the house. And he said further to them: "Defile the house and fill the courtyards with the slain ones. Go forth!"

In reality, though, the Chaldean siege against Jerusalem lasted for nearly two years and the temple was the last edifice to be destroyed. It would have been impossible for Nebuchadnezzar's army to literally start from Jehovah's sanctuary. That being the case, apparently the vision of the secretary's inkhorn has significance for the judgment to come. That's because Jehovah's judgment against his own temple in Ezekiel's day harmonizes with the ordering of events during the conclusion of the present system; even as we read at 1 Peter 4:17: "For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God?"

Given the obvious parallel between the judgment commencing in the sanctuary of the ancient house of God and the Christian house of God, a brief consideration of the 7th chapter of Ezekiel reveals other interesting comparisons.

We note one similarity at Ezekiel 7:15, which reads: "The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine are inside. Whoever is in the field, by the sword he will die, and whoever are in the city, famine and pestilence themselves will devour them."

The terms "sword, pestilence and famine" appear together in triplicate over 20 times in Isaiah and Ezekiel. Since the sword was the primary weapon of war in Ezekiel's day, the sword represents warfare. As all of Jehovah's Witnesses know, Jesus also foretold that the conclusion of the system of things would be initiated by wars, food shortages and pestilence. So, we note that the conclusion of the Jewish system of worship was accomplished by means of war, pestilence and famine taking its toll.

(Note: While the Jewish system was restored, the kingship was not; and neither were certain aspects of the temple worship. For example, the Ark of the Covenant was apparently permanently lost. In that respect, then, the destruction by the Babylonians was a conclusion of a system of worship.)

Some Bible students among us may have difficulty grasping the concept that the so-called sign of the conclusion that Jesus foretold, has to do with any sort of judgment directed towards Jehovah's Witnesses. But, according to Jesus Christ in his parable of the wheat and the weeds, the actual conclusion of the system of things will result in a harvesting of the weeds out from among the true sons of God and permanently remove all causes for stumbling from Christ's kingdom. (See Time of the End essay.) It seems hard to imagine that such a grand and far-reaching harvest could be accomplished without considerable tumult and trauma.

Interestingly, at this year's Walk With God District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses, in the talk entitled "Avoid Any Cause for Stumbling," the Watchtower quietly applied this aspect of Christ's parable to the future. The reason that is remarkable is because the Watchtower's official interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the weeds places its fulfillment in 1919. No explanation was given, of course, as to why the Society now considers the parable to also have a future application. Perhaps common sense has temporarily raised its voice to insist that the removal of all things causing stumbling has not taken place yet. And since that is obviously the case, and since the removal of such stumbling blocks and lawless persons from Christ's kingdom takes place during the conclusion of the system of things, it means that the conclusion has not begun. Sound reasoning further suggests that war, famine and pestilence are the means by which the harvest of the wheat and weeds is accomplished during the actual conclusion.

Returning to the seventh chapter of Ezekiel, we note another corresponding pattern in the 16th verse, which says: "And their escapees will certainly make their escape and become on the mountains like the doves of the valleys, all of which are moaning, each one in his own error."

The 59th chapter of Isaiah also depicts those who endure God's punishment as doves mournfully cooing. There we read: "We keep groaning, all of us, just like bears; and like doves we mournfully keep cooing. We kept hoping for justice, but there was none; for salvation, but it has stayed far away from us." For the sake of brevity, suffice it to say that the context of Isaiah does not apply to Christendom but applies to God's judgment upon the anointed congregation as a prelude to their being repurchased by Christ. That being the case, Ezekiel the 7th chapter must also apply to Christians who are disciplined by Christ during the conclusion.

As regards the escapees, there were no escapees of the Babylonian juggernaut. The Jews who were not killed were dragged off in chains to Babylon. And those who ran off down to Egypt were overtaken when the Babylonian army invaded that land too. But, Jesus spoke about those who escape during the tribulation; during the time when justice is finally meted out upon an antitypical Jerusalem. In the 36th verse Jesus stated: "Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man."

At Luke 21:20, Jesus also said: "Furthermore, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near. Then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw, and let those in the country places not enter into her; because these are days for meting out justice, that all the things written may be fulfilled."

As we know, even though Christ referred to Jerusalem as a holy place, the Watchtower insists that Jerusalem typifies Christendom. However, the Watchtower's interpretations are not consistent. For example, Daniel's prophecy also makes reference to a holy place and sanctuary that are profaned and made desolate during the time of the end and the Watchtower connects that "holy place" and "sanctuary" to Jehovah's Witnesses. Such inconsistency violates the internal harmony of God's Word and betrays the Watchtower's interpretations as springing from a private source, instead of God. (See II Peter 1:20)

The seventh chapter of Ezekiel similarly calls for a place holy to God to be over-run by plunderers, where it says: "And I will give it into the hand of the strangers for plunder and to the wicked ones of the earth for spoil, and they will certainly profane it. And I shall have to turn away my face from them, and they will actually profane my concealed place, and into it robbers will really come and profane it."

If the destruction of Jerusalem really pictures Christendom, why then does the verse say "they will actually profane my concealed place"? If it were not actually holy to God how could it be profaned? Only something holy can be profaned. That's what profane means: To treat something sacred with contempt.

Lastly, we note another intriguing similarity. Ezekiel 7:19 foretells: "Into the streets they will throw their very silver, and an abhorrent thing their own gold will become. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah's fury."

Will this aspect of Jehovah's judgment upon ancient Jerusalem find a modern parallel? Yes! How do we know? The letter of James, which is not usually thought of as a prophetic book, nevertheless issues a similar condemnatory judgment upon rich Christians during the last days. It reads: "Come, now, you rich men, weep, howling over your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your outer garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are rusted away, and their rust will be as a witness against you and will eat your fleshy parts. Something like fire is what you have stored up in the last days."

From ancient times until relatively recently, gold and silver have been accepted as genuine money by nearly all peoples. And as money, the value of gold and silver has remained near-constant for thousands of years.

Question: So, why would a people under siege throw their gold and silver into the streets, as Ezekiel describes? It is hard to imagine a besieged people throwing away gold and silver at the very time that it could conceivably be used to buy scarce provisions or bribe soldiers to gain one's freedom. (As an aside, it is worth noting that the historian, Josephus, recorded that in the 1st Century destruction of Jerusalem some of the Jews swallowed gold coins and then surrendered to the Romans—imagining they could retrieve their treasure afterwards. Unfortunately, the Roman soldiers heard of it and started gutting the Jews to get at the booty. But, the point is the besieged Jews in the 1st Century did not throw their gold into the street.)

Perhaps the doomed Jews of Ezekiel's day did not literally throw their gold and silver into the streets back then either. But whatever the case, we may be sure that their money could not appease Jehovah during the time of his anger.

As noted above, Christian prophecy also calls for gold and silver to fail its possessors during the last days. (Christ referred to the time when "unrighteous riches" will fail.) However, few people today even possess gold or silver money. The bankers even contemptuously refer to gold as a barbaric relic. That's because in modern times gold and silver have gradually been replaced by paper currencies and certificates—so called fiat money. Apparently, then, because paper money was unheard of in Bible times, gold and silver simply represent what we moderns do recognize as money.  

No doubt as a portent of things to come, modern history records numerous instances when paper monies have become as worthless as confetti that is thrown into the streets. The case of the German Reichsmark is the most outstanding example of how the value of paper money can be destroyed overnight through hyperinflation. Ironically, the holders of the German currency were all trillionaires; but alas, it took billions of Reichsmarks to even buy a loaf of bread.

Is it possible that such a disaster could befall the present global financial system? According to politicians, mainstream economists and their media propagandists, it is only remotely possible that the system could utterly fail. Other observers are not so sure that things are not going to end badly. What is indisputable, though, is that the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world is drowning in a sea of debt. What is true of individuals and businesses is also true of nations; you certainly do not need an MBA in economics to know that that there is a breaking point when accumulated debt can no longer be sustained.

"Easy money" has been likened to heroin that hooks the user into requiring larger and larger doses of the drug or else painful withdrawal symptoms ensue—even death. That analogy appears valid, as can be seen from the fact that the mere suggestion of a miniscule quarter percent rise in interest rates from the US central bank sends shudders of fear through the financial markets. It would appear that the financial markets are totally addicted on cheap money.

Famed economist, Ludwig Von Misses of the Austrian School of Economics, coined the term "crack-up boom" to describe the disastrous end result of unbridled credit expansion—such as has been taking place in recent years. Some observers are of the view that the Wall Street financial system has entered into the final phase of a so-called "crack-up boom."

Not only is the debt-laden financial system a major vulnerability; the system's main Achilles' heel is oil. Any disruption of oil supplies could drive the price of oil into the stratosphere—with dire, far-reaching consequences for the world's oil-thirsty nations.

As if on cue, the world's largest producer of oil, Saudi Arabia, is now the target of terrorism.

Ominously, supposedly the US Central Bank has embarked on a catastrophe-prevention liquidity-pumping spree in recent weeks. One writer asks: "What awful calamity do they see? Something is up. This is unprecedented, unheard-of pre-catastrophe M-3 expansion. M-3 is up an amount that we've never seen before without a crisis - $155 billion over the past 4 weeks, a $2.0 trillion annualized pace, a 22.2 percent annualized rate of growth!!! There must be a crisis of historic proportions coming, and the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States is making sure that there is enough liquidity in place to protect our nation's fragile financial system. The amazing thing is, the Fed's actions mean they know what is about to happen. They are aware of a terrible, horrific imminent event. What could it be?"

Undoubtedly, we shall soon find out.

To add to the suspense, the US and Canadian governments have both warned of the elevated risk of an imminent terrorist attack with WMD.

However, there is also more to this than meets the eye. The so-called neo-conservatives presently in power in the United States drew up plans to dominate the world, including vitally-important oil supplies, well before 9-11. The terror attacks of September 11, 2001, were merely a convenient pretext for asserting Anglo-American hegemony. Being a presidential election year in the US, those suspicious of the government fear that the present administration might actually even welcome another disaster as a means of gaining political support from a terrified citizenry; or perhaps they may even use such a catastrophe as a pretext for canceling the election altogether and placing the nation under martial law.

The similarity between the Nazi takeover of the German Republic and the takeover of the United States by the so-called neo-conservatives has not gone unnoticed by thinking people. It seems highly unlikely at this late stage of affairs that the neo-con apparatus, now firmly ensconced in control of the world's most powerful military machine, will simply walk away from power and allow their wild-eyed dreams of a New Roman Empire to dissolve unrealized.

Jehovah's Word must come true. There will arise a king fierce in countenance who will bring the mighty ones of the world and the sons of the kingdom to ruin and rule over the hidden treasurers of the world. There is no question but that the world is in a perilous situation indeed!

One thing is clear to this watcher: The foretold end is coming.

The world now seems poised to experience a truly unique, unheard-of disaster; even as the New International Version words Ezekiel 7:5: "Disaster! An unheard-of disaster is coming.  The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. It has come! Doom has come upon you-you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near; there is panic, not joy, upon the mountains." –Ezekiel 7:5-7 NIV

However, the doom and disaster foretold in Ezekiel is directed at what we call "Jehovah's organization." According to the parallel events Christ foretold would occur during the conclusion of the system, we may expect the judgment upon the spiritual house of God to occur in the context of a global disaster.

But, how could a world-wide calamity possibly be considered as a judgment upon Jehovah's people?

For one thing, in times past, at least in democratic lands, the Watchtower has always been able to defend itself using the laws of the land. The US Constitution and Bill of Rights has been invoked many times by the Watchtower in order to protect the interests of Jehovah's Witnesses. But what happens if such constitutional legal guarantees are scrapped under the heat of a national or global emergency? Undoubtedly, the so-called free world would fall into the grip of totalitarianism. Although most people prefer to believe that such a thing could never happen; few have any inkling how easily it could come about. (Click here to read an important article on this topic.) 

In the event that the US and other democratic nations go the way of the former Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, who will Jehovah's Witnesses look to then for legal protection from tyranny? Surely, the collapse of the Watchtower does not factor into Jehovah's Witnesses' view of the future.

Secondly, the Watchtower has led all of Jehovah's Witnesses to believe that we will be more-or-less idle by-standers during the tribulation. Because of the elevated status the Watchtower has bestowed upon itself from the prophecies, we have been made to presume that everything the organization does is pleasing to God. We suppose that as a congregation, we have his unqualified blessing and are due to march as a triumphant throng through the Gates of paradise, even in our present sorry spiritual state.

How presumptuous!

Perhaps that is why Ezekiel 7:10 speaks about presumptuousness sprouting among God's worshippers, saying: "Look! The day! Look! It is coming. The garland has gone forth. The rod has blossomed. Presumptuousness has sprouted."

Although comparisons are frequently made between the original Christian congregation and the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, the complexities of the Watchtower publishing corporation bears little resemblance to the organization that the lowly, sandal-shod apostles oversaw. For that matter, the modern world is much more complex than the Roman world of the 1st Century.

Like any large corporation, no doubt the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc., has substantial monetary holdings totaling into the hundreds of millions of dollars; which funds are undoubtedly entrusted to various financial institutions. In the event of the inevitable financial crash, whether such crashes of its own dead-weight or its demise is hastened by a WMD terror attack or international war, or some other impending calamity, the Society's multi-million dollar publishing enterprise would suffer as if they were forced by the desperation of the day to throw their gold and silver into the very street.

One possible scenario is that if there is some sort of fuel or paper rationing, such as occurred during previous world wars, the Watchtower might find itself at the bottom of the list. By such means, Jehovah could demonstrate that he has withdrawn his blessing and support—even as the 11th verse says: "Violence itself has risen up into a rod of wickedness. It is not from them, nor is it from their wealth; and it is not from their own selves, nor is there any eminency in them. The time must come, the day must arrive."

We can only imagine the panic and confusion that would develop among Jehovah's Witnesses if the Watchtower's present assumptions, regarding how the future is supposed to unfold, are discredited at the very time when Watchtower itself is also silenced. Again, the scripture says: "The time must come, the day is near. There is confusion, and not the shouting of the mountains." –Ezekiel 7:7

As the God of justice, we may have confidence that Jehovah will set things straight—beginning with his people first! The Watchtower, as millions of readers are aware, has frequently condemned Christendom for its hypocrisy, political meddling and child abuse scandals—the very things we too are guilty of. Jehovah's Witnesses have judged Christendom to be worthy of public humiliation by being destroyed at the beginning of the tribulation by the political elements.

Assuming we are Jehovah's people, it does not bode well for the Watchtower Society that Jehovah's judicial decree is that his people will be made to know that he is Jehovah when God judges his people "with their judgments."

The concluding verse of the 7th chapter of Ezekiel foretells: "The very hands of the people of the land will get disturbed. According to their way I shall act toward them, and with their judgments I shall judge them; and they will have to know that I am Jehovah."

Ironically, the Watchtower Society has issued a new brochure exhorting all of Jehovah's Witnesses with Christ's words to Keep on the Watch!

It sounds like timely advice.

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Copyright © 2004, by Robert King
All Rights Reserved.