As has been already been detailed in Jehovah Himself Has Become King, Tyre and Egypt foreshadow the London-centered global empire and the United States of America, respectively. What, though, does the doomed city of Jerusalem foreshadow in the grand fulfillment? And to be certain, the prophecy in the 24^th chapter of Isaiah speaks to a much grander event than merely the fall of Jerusalem 2,500 centuries ago. That is apparent from the obvious cryptic, pre-Revelation reference to the judgment of the demonic kings and their earthly counterparts, and their being locked in a prison for 1,000 years and the ultimate fulfillment of God’s purpose to rule in the midst of 144,000 kings upon heavenly Mount Zion.

The last span of verses in Isaiah 24 read: “And it must occur in that day that Jehovah will turn his attention upon the army of the height in the height, and upon the kings of the ground upon the ground. And they will certainly be gathered with a gathering as of prisoners into the pit, and be shut up in the dungeon; and after an abundance of days they will be given attention. And the full moon has become abashed, and the glowing sun has become ashamed, for Jehovah of armies has become king in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and in front of his elderly men with glory.”

But first, before considering the meaning of the fall of Jerusalem, What importance does the Watchtower Society attach to this prophecy? Evidently very little, considering the fact that Bethel does not ascribe any modern counterpart to “Jerusalem” in their commentary on this portion of Isaiah.  Instead, they focus merely on the historical fulfillment. Yet, they do acknowledge that the “army of the height in the height” probably refers to the army of demons.

But it is worth noting that the Bethel “prophet class” makes the following statement in the concluding paragraphs of the 20^th chapter:

This part of Isaiah’s prophecy thus left the Jews with a wonderful assurance. In Jehovah’s due time, he would bring about the fall of ancient Babylon and restore the Jews to their homeland. In 537 B.C.E., when he demonstrates his power and sovereignty in this way in behalf of his people, it could truly be said to them: “Your God has become king!” In modern times, Jehovah ‘became king’ in 1914 when he installed Jesus Christ as King in His heavenly Kingdom. He also ‘became king’ in 1919 when he demonstrated the power of his kingship by liberating spiritual Israel from bondage to Babylon the Great. Jehovah will again “become king” when he brings an end to Babylon the Great and the rest of this wicked system of things.

 It ought to be evident by anyone with a working knowledge the biblical history that the leadership of the Watchtower is hopelessly lost when it comes to prophetic interpretation. They claim that the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon prefigures the destruction of Christendom and all of Babylon the Great during the great tribulation; but the release of the Jews from captivity to Babylon, which obviously comes after the desolation, found a modern fulfillment back in 1919, when eight Watchtower officials got out of prison on bail and held a convention. That is clearly a contrived interpretation.

Worst of all, the Watchtower ill advisedly trivializes the grand act of Jehovah becoming king by making it commonplace. But ought not common sense dictate that Jehovah becomes king on one occasion and one occasion only? The great irony is, when Jehovah ultimately asserts his kingship through “the kingdom of the Son of his love,” those “stupid prophets” in the midst of Jehovah’s people presently will be abashed and shamed for having published a lying vision in the name of Jehovah.

Now the prophecy: “Look! Jehovah is emptying the land and laying it waste, and he has twisted the face of it and scattered its inhabitants. And it must come to be the same for the people as for the priest; the same for the servant as for his master; the same for the maidservant as for her mistress; the same for the buyer as for the seller; the same for the lender as for the borrower; the same for the interest taker as for the one paying the interest. Without fail the land will be emptied, and without fail it will be plundered, for Jehovah himself has spoken this word. The land has gone to mourning, has faded away. The productive land has withered, has faded away. The high ones of the people of the land have withered. And the very land has been polluted under its inhabitants, for they have bypassed the laws, changed the regulation, broken the indefinitely lasting covenant. That is why the curse itself has eaten up the land, and those inhabiting it are held guilty. That is why the inhabitants of the land have decreased in number, and very few mortal men have remained over.”

The world now stands at the brink of the collapse of the centuries-old Anglo empire. The complete bankruptcy of the Eurozone banking system, itself an arm of London’s imperial system, is imminent. To underscore that reality, Rothschild’s Inter Alpha Group of banks need an immediate trillion dollar infusion and another five trillion in zero interest loans just to make it through 2012! No doubt the central banks will be accommodative, which will result in a hyperinflationary blowout, making the Euro and Dollar worthless. Do not the prophets foretell that men will throw their money into the very streets?

The inevitability of that crash is driving the financial oligarchs to pull every lever within their reach in order to detonate world war, so as to prevent Russia, China and India from stepping into the vacuum created by the collapse of London and America.

We may anticipate that they will be “successful” in destroying the last vestiges of national sovereignty and imposing upon mankind a totalitarian world government –an Orwellian nightmare to be sure. In that setting, in the heat of war, martial law brought on in the wake of economic collapse, inevitable food shortages and Spanish Influenza-scale pestilences, Jehovah will enter into judgment with his covenant-breaking people.

The “land” that is destined to be emptied and laid waste is the spiritual estate of Jehovah’s Witnesses – their presumed, unassailable, inviolable “spiritual paradise.”

In confirmation of that interpretation is Jesus’ own prophecy: “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place, (let the reader use discernment,) 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.”

Jesus gave explicit instructions to “those in Judea.” Jesus was himself a Judean. And Jerusalem was located in the territory of Judah. And, of course, the holy temple was in Jerusalem too. But since Jesus was ultimately prophesying regarding the conclusion of the entire system of things and a great tribulation unlike any previous cataclysmic event, it is evident that Judea and the holy place represent that which is in connection with Christ’s congregation; otherwise designated as “Jehovah’s visible organization.”

Contrary to the Watchtower’s insistence that the holy place symbolizes the vast conglomeration of denominations, sects and cults making up Christendom, Jesus indicated that the chosen ones would be directly impacted by the desolation of the holy place. Reasoning on the matter: Since Jehovah’s Witnesses pride themselves on being no part of Christendom, why would it be necessary for them to “flee to the mountains” in advance of the desolation of the holy place? Why did Christ exhort his followers to pray that their flight would not occur in wintertime or on the sabbath?

Jesus himself offered a hint to help us discern the meaning of his prophecy by directing the discerning reader to the prophecy of Daniel. These matters have been presented at length on this website. Let the Reader Use Discernment and What is the Great Tribulation and the Holy Place?

 Here is an excerpt from one of the above articles:

Tragically, few of Jehovah’s Witnesses realize just how convoluted the Society’s prophetic interpretations are. For example, the Watchtower teaches that the king of the north profaned the sanctuary and removed the constant feature when Adolf Hitler and the Fascists persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses. Contradictorily, the Watchtower also teaches that the king of fierce countenance profaned the sanctuary and removed the constant feature when the Anglo-American king persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses during the Second World War. Furthermore, the 12th chapter of Daniel also refers to the putting in place of the disgusting thing and the removal of the constant feature, which the Society applies to 1918 and the creation of the League of Nations.

So, three prophecies that essentially foretell the exact same thing are interpreted to have been fulfilled in three different ways – all in the past!

And yet in spite of applying the prophecies of Daniel regarding the holy place to the persecutions of the International Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses, albeit in three different ways, the Watchtower steadfastly insists that the holy place Jesus referred to, which is destined to be desolated by the disgusting thing of Daniel’s prophecy, represents Christendom! Incredible! No wonder Jesus advised the reader to use discernment. Could the Watchtower be any less discerning in these vital matters?

In view of the Watchtower’s tortured interpretation of prophecy it is actually an act of discernment on their part to have refrained from interpreting the portion of Isaiah under consideration here. But their blindness and dishonesty is what necessitates God’s intervention. So it is, “it must come to be the same for the people as for the priest” – meaning that both the chosen ones and the other sheep will suffer. “The same for the servant as for his master” – Governing Body members and zone, branch, district and circuit overseers, along with pioneers and publishers will come under Jehovah’s withering denunciation – none will be exempt! Those looked upon as towering pillars of spiritual strength and self-proclaimed “big trees of righteousness,” will wilt –“The high ones of the people of the land have withered.”

The prophecy of Isaiah and Joel bear remarkable similarities. For example, as quoted above, Isaiah states: “The land has gone to mourning, has faded away. The productive land has withered, has faded away.” Joel likewise foretold: “Grain offering and drink offering have been cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, have mourned. The field has been despoiled, the ground has gone to mourning; for the grain has been despoiled, the new wine has been dried up, the oil has faded away. Farmers have felt shame; vinedressers have howled, on account of wheat and on account of barley; for the harvest of the field has perished. The vine itself has shown dryness, and even the fig tree has faded away. As for the pomegranate tree, also the palm tree and the apple tree, all the trees of the field, they have dried up; for exultation has gone ashamed away from the sons of mankind.”

The Watchtower absurdly claims that the priests and ministers of the house of Jehovah “your God” are in reality the Jehovah-hating clergy of Christendom, who are now supposedly howling in agony, begging God for relief from the tormenting denunciation by Jehovah’s Witnesses and the despoiling of their “fertile fields of operation”! The Watchtower’s stupid prophets are apparently oblivious to the fact that God will ultimately answer the supplications of the ministers of his house and destroy the pestiferous invaders, otherwise known as “the northerner.” (For a detailed consideration of Joel)

Isaiah reveals that those inhabiting the “land” are held guilty. Joel similarly states: “Also, the droves of the sheep have been the ones made to bear guilt.”

As the Watchtower is aware, God deals with one organization. That is why God speaks to a singular individual, such as “Israel,” or “Jacob,” or “my servant” – singular. And as Jehovah’s Witnesses are also aware, an entire nation can suffer God’s displeasure for the sins of the few, particularly their leaders. As an example, when king David was over-reached by Satan and ordered a census to be taken God punished the entire nation – striking it with a plague.

“THEY HAVE BYPASSED THE LAWS, CHANGED THE REGULATION”

The reason God holds his nation guilty is as stated above: “And the very land has been polluted under its inhabitants, for they have bypassed the laws, changed the regulation, broken the indefinitely lasting covenant.”

The laws, regulation and covenant are not those handed down from Moses. Paul explained how the Law covenant had become obsolete after Christ fulfilled it and it was near to vanishing away entirely, which of course, it did when the temple and priesthood was destroyed by the “disgusting thing.” How then could the now-obsolete Mosaic covenant be considered “the indefinitely lasting covenant”? It could not. The everlasting covenant is the new covenant Christ instituted. And when Christ comes to his Father’s temple he will find that those who have been entrusted as keepers of the covenant will have “bypassed the laws, changed the regulation” and broken the covenant.

Consider one instance: One of the regulations of the new covenant is that Christians, especially elders, look out for the welfare of the weak and vulnerable – the proverbial “orphans and widows.” It is considered the only form of true worship, that, and keeping unspotted by the world. But, what accounting shall the leadership of the Watchtower make before Christ when called to answer for the thousands of children who have been sexually abused by predators within the congregations – predators that in many cases were shielded from punishment and exposure? Will the Society’s lawyers be able to bamboozle Jehovah or make an out of court settlement with the heavenly Judge to compensate for the rape of the innocents? (A Conspiracy of Silence Soon to End)

And what about being not seeking friendship with the world? Will Jehovah’s anointed Judge be persuaded by Bethel’s spokesmen to believe that the Watchtower’s 10 year partnership with the United Nations was an innocent mistake – that the dozens of cleverly written articles that appeared in Watchtower and Awake Magazines praising the UN and its plethora of programs, were not intentionally written to prove to UN officials that the Watchtower was faithfully carrying out their contractual obligation as an associate NGO? Shall the fiery-eyed Christ not require an accounting from the men who knowingly allowed millions of trusting ministers to unknowingly distribute literature that had been polluted with propaganda intended to inform the public about the activities and initiatives of the United Nations?

One of the regulations that the Watchtower has changed has to do with the sacred vows of baptism. Jesus clearly stated that his disciples were to go make other disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and holy spirit. But in recent decades the Watchtower has “changed the regulation,” so that now everyone baptized is required to also declare their membership in “God’s spirit-directed organization” – thus, elevating the Watchtower to the place of Jehovah and Jesus.  This is no trivial matter. It is quite similar to Aaron fabricating a golden calf and declaring it to be “Jehovah your God.”

Perhaps most offensive to God, in all the years of its existence, the Watchtower has never offered any sort of acknowledgment of wrongdoing on the part of its leadership. It has never offered one word of humble apology for having stumbled so many. That is why Jehovah’s curse will come upon “the land.”

“ALL REJOICING HAS PASSED AWAY”

Jehovah’s Witnesses have often declared themselves to be the “happiest people on earth.” If that is true then the contrast shall be all the greater. Again, echoing the prophecy of Joel, Isaiah 24:7-12 states: “The new wine has gone to mourning, the vine has withered, all those glad at heart have gone to sighing. The exultation of the tambourines has ceased, the noise of the highly elated ones has discontinued, the exultation of the harp has ceased. It is with no song that they drink wine; the intoxicating liquor becomes bitter to those drinking it. The deserted town has been broken down; every house has been shut up from entering. There is an outcry in the streets for want of wine. All rejoicing has passed away; the exultation of the land has departed. In the city an astonishing condition has been left behind; the gate has been crushed to a mere rubble heap.”

Isaiah’s prophecy harmonizes with what Jesus stated, namely: “Woe to you rich persons, because you are having your consolation in full. Woe to you who are filled up now, because you will go hungry. Woe, you who are laughing now, because you will mourn and weep.”

Besides being the happiest people on earth, the Watchtower regularly reminds Jehovah’s Witnesses that they are the best-fed people in the world, spiritually; receiving nothing but the finest, most nutritious spiritual food, served up regularly by a faithful and discreet chef. Since God made wine to make the heart of mortal man rejoice, the cutting off of wine in a spiritual sense means that the formal aspect of the worship of Jehovah’s Witnesses will be shut down. The sound of the kingdom melodies will cease. “Every house will be shut up from entering” is in reference to houses of worship. In other words, kingdom halls will be boarded up or destroyed. (Psalms 74:8)

The leadership of the organization has assumed that their vast building projects around the world will survive intact through the coming storm. Because of that assumption Jehovah’s Witnesses will be absolutely astonished when the very city-like headquarters of Jehovah’s visible organization is “left behind” – its protective gates “crushed to a mere rubble heap.” (See: Collapse of the Watchtower) And most amazingly, Jehovah foresaw this development hundreds of years ago!

“IN THE REGION OF LIGHT THEY MUST GLORIFY JEHOVAH”

^“For thus it will become in the midst of the land, in among the peoples, like the beating off of the olive tree, like the gleaning when the grape gathering has come to an end. They themselves will raise their voice, they will cry out joyfully. In the superiority of Jehovah they will certainly cry out shrilly from the sea. That is why in the region of light they must glorify Jehovah, in the islands of the sea the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. From the extremity of the land there are melodies that we have heard: ‘Decoration to the Righteous One!’”

At the time the city is left behind in an astonishing condition the harvest takes place. This is in complete harmony with what Christ foretold; namely, that in the context of abandoning the doomed city and holy place Christ will dispatch his angels who will gather the chosen ones from the four corners of the earth – or as Isaiah says, from the islands of the sea and “the extremity of the land.” The angels do not need any visible organization to assist them in their gathering work, nor does God need a publishing corporation to declare his message. “The region of light” is descriptive of those chosen ones who will see the glorious manifestation of the Christ in his visible parousia. That is when the revealing of the sons of light will take place.

But the prophecy continues: “And it must occur that anyone fleeing from the sound of the dreaded thing will fall into the hollow, and anyone coming up from inside the hollow will be caught in the trap. For the very floodgates on high will actually be opened, and the foundations of the land will rock. The land has absolutely burst apart, the land has absolutely been shaken up, the land has absolutely been sent staggering. The land absolutely moves unsteadily like a drunken man, and it has swayed to and fro like a lookout hut. And its transgression has become heavy upon it, and it must fall, so that it will not rise up again.”

Further on in the prophecy of Isaiah God speaks of the “flood” that will wash away the refuge of a lie that the leaders of his people have foolishly tried to conceal themselves in, which will be considered in greater detail in forthcoming articles. Suffice to say, though, the commencement of the actual parousia will wash away, once and for all, the artfully contrived false story that Jesus returned in 1914. And the publishing society that has peddled that lie for nearly a century now will absolutely be shaken up and burst apart, “so that it will not rise up again.”

Articles in the Isaiah series appearing on the Front Page are later archived on the Isaiah Page

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.

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