Isaiah - Chapter One

Isaiah-An ancient prophet with a modern messageThis post is the first of a series of articles considering the prophecy of Isaiah. In the year 2000 the Watchtower Society published Volume I of Isaiah’s Prophecy. The following year the second volume was published. This series will not only consider the prophecy of Isaiah but also the commentary provided by the Watchtower Society.

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The Watchtower rightly points out that Isaiah is an ancient prophet with a modern message. Indeed, the message contained in the ancient prophecy of Isaiah is of the utmost relevance for the Watchtower Society and Jehovah’s Witnesses at this present time.

The name Isaiah means “salvation of Jehovah.” The name Jesus means the same thing only the wording is reversed in the construction of the name – the name Jesus meaning: “Jehovah is salvation.” The salvation of Jehovah is an appropriate name for the author of the prophecy considering the fact that not only are there many messianic prophecies contained in Isaiah, but the prophecy itself focuses upon Jehovah’s relationship with his nation of people and his intention to correct, discipline and ultimately save those who respond to his love.

The first chapter of Isaiah encapsulates the situation. God’s people have strayed far away from him and have treated the Holy One of Israel with disrespect. They have left Jehovah – meaning, they have become apostate. God is going to have to set matters straight.

Although Isaiah’s prophecy was written almost 200 years before Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, the opening chapter speaks from the vantage points of the city under siege. Isaiah 1:7-9 says: “Your land is a desolation, your cities are burned with fire; your ground—right in front of you strangers are eating it up, and the desolation is like an overthrow by strangers. And the daughter of Zion has been left remaining like a booth in a vineyard, like a lookout hut in a field of cucumbers, like a blockaded city. Unless Jehovah of armies himself had left remaining to us just a few survivors, we should have become just like Sodom, we should have resembled Gomorrah itself.”

The situation described in Isaiah is very similar to that depicted in the prophecy of Joel. Jesus also foretold that which is represented by the city of Jerusalem would be laid desolate and that God’s holy place would be trampled underfoot by strangers. Of course, Jehovah’s Witnesses understand that Jesus’ prophecy will be realized during the conclusion of the system of things. So too, while Isaiah’s prophecy initially focused upon the ancient city of Jerusalem the ultimate fulfillment relates to the remnant of the bride – the true “daughter of Zion." And Jesus said that the great tribulation would be cut short on account of the chosen ones. That is what Isaiah is foretelling in connection with the survivors of the desolation. This indicates that the judgments contained in Isaiah will be fulfilled during the tribulation. It will be as though God speaks to his people then through Isaiah.

Of course the Watchtower teaches that the holy place destined for desolation is Christendom. But if that were the case are we to expect the “few survivors” to come from Christendom? Also, why does Jehovah state his determination to set things straight between himself and his erring people and cleanse them of their sin?

"YOU DICTATORS OF SODOM"

Next God addresses the leaders of his people in a most unflattering way, saying to them: “Hear the word of Jehovah, you dictators of Sodom. Give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.”

Surely, this harsh rebuke could not possibly apply to the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses? 

Let the reader take note of the fact that Isaiah is speaking to those who formally worship Jehovah. That is why the prophet refers to “the law of our God.” Now consider the context in which God addresses the leaders of his people as the “dictators of Sodom.”

‘“Of what benefit to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?’ says Jehovah. ‘I have had enough of whole burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed animals; and in the blood of young bulls and male lambs and he-goats I have taken no delight. When you people keep coming in to see my face, who is it that has required this from your hand, to trample my courtyards? Stop bringing in any more valueless grain offerings. Incense—it is something detestable to me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of a convention—I cannot put up with the use of uncanny power along with the solemn assembly. Your new moons and your festal seasons my soul has hated. To me they have become a burden; I have become tired of bearing them.”’ – Isaiah 1:11-14

The law of God required the Israelites to regularly offer animal sacrifices at the portable tabernacle and later the temple in Jerusalem. As a Jew even Jesus kept the Law of Moses and attended the traditional festivals. But God became disgusted with such offerings because his people did not keep the weightier matters of the law; namely, righteousness, mercy and justice.  

Jehovah’s Witnesses may or not be aware of the fact that in many respects the Watchtower Society has modeled itself after the ancient Jewish system of worship. For instance, just as there were three main annual festivals that all the Jews were required to attend, the Watchtower requires Jehovah’s Witnesses to attend three special assemblies each year, presently consisting of one main convention and one circuit assembly and a special assembly day. (There is no indication that the 1^st century Christians ever met in large assemblies – excluding the thousands of Jews who gathered to listen to Jesus on several occasions.)

And just as the Jewish sabbath in the time of Jesus typically involved attendance at the synagogue, Jehovah’s Witnesses religiously attend one meeting on the weekend, usually Sunday, and one mid-week meeting as well. At such meetings public prayers are always offered up to Jehovah, which may be likened to the perfumed incense that the Hebrew priests used in their worship. And Jehovah’s Witnesses regularly offer up symbolic grain offerings in sacrifice to God in the form of the public preaching.

Now consider the Watchtower’s commentary found on page 22.

“Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed not only for their perverted sex practices but also for their hardhearted, haughty attitudes. Isaiah’s audience must be shocked to hear themselves being compared to the people of those accursed cities. But Jehovah sees his people just as they are, and Isaiah does not soften God’s message in order to ‘tickle their ears.’”

Further on in the material in the Isaiah’s Prophecy publication, the Watchtower states:

 “In our day, Christendom has likewise failed to win God’s favor with her ceaseless repetition of vain prayers and her other religious “works.” It is of vital importance that we do not fall into the same trap.”

So, the Watchtower applies God’s rebuke to Christendom. They are supposedly the “dictators of Sodom” whose hardheartedness and haughtiness God endeavors to correct. At the same time though, individual Jehovah’s Witnesses are cautioned to guard against falling into the same trap of practicing a hollow form of religion. But is it possible that in Jehovah’s eyes the entire organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses is guilty of practicing mere formalism? Some outsiders certainly view the Watchtower Society as a “works based” religion. And many of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been heard to bemoan the inordinate emphasis placed upon the number of hours one spends in field service, meeting attendance and the ever-constant pressure to conform for the sake of organizational unity.

It is undeniable that the religion presently practiced by Jehovah’s Witnesses has been molded into a Christianized version of Judaism, complete with Pharisees, high priests, regular festivals, synagogues, and an attitude of self-righteousness and superiority. Should not humility at least move Jehovah’s Witnesses to contemplate the possibility that Jehovah’s denunciation issued through the opening verses of Isaiah is directed to the leaders of the Watchtower Society during the judgment of the house of God?

Actually, the Watchtower admits as much, sort of.

A few paragraphs further on the Watchtower claims that in 1919 God made it clear that Christendom had been rejected. Here is their commentary in paragraph 24:

“Jehovah’s own people have made themselves his enemies. They fully merit divine vengeance. Jehovah will ‘relieve,’ or rid, himself of them. Does this mean a complete, permanent obliteration of his name people? No, for Jehovah goes on to say: ‘And I will turn back my hand upon you, and I shall smelt away your scummy dross as with lye, and I will remove all your waste products.”’

While applying half of God’s rebuke to Christendom the Watchtower then claims that God is in reality dealing with his people, not just those who falsely claim to be such. So, are Jehovah’s Witnesses led to expect God to cleanse the congregation? No. That supposedly has already taken place. Paragraph 25 says so:

“The prophecy at Malachi 3:1-5, written long after the Babylonian exile, showed that God would again do a refining work. It pointed to the time when Jehovah God would come to his spiritual temple accompanied by his “messenger of the covenant,” Jesus Christ. This evidently happened at the end of World War I. Jehovah inspected all of those claiming to be Christians, sifting the true from the false. With what result?”

Evidently…? God “evidently” smelted away the impurities of the International Bible Students at the end of World War I? This is an audacious statement for any organization to make. What the Society is claiming is that in 1918 Jehovah made their scarlet-red sins as white as snow. In other words, the Watchtower Society has declared itself to be pure and righteous in Jehovah’s eyes – “the City of Righteousness” and “Faithful Town” described in verses 26-27. There can be no future day of reckoning for those who are so privileged. But if the Watchtower’s interpretation is true, if Jehovah actually christened the Watchtower Society as the “City of Righteousness” back in 1918, why is not the other aspect of the prophecy in evidence? What aspect? The very next verse, which states: “And the crash of revolters and that of sinful ones will be at the same time, and those leaving Jehovah will come to their finish.”

According to the prophecy God’s judgments against apostates and sinful ones “will be at the same time.” What evidence is there that those who apostatized against Jehovah have come to their finish? Evidently, the judgment message contained in Isaiah is yet to be unveiled.

Unquestionably, the leadership of the Watchtower Society has claimed to be the rulers of the prophetic “City of Righteousness.” Their claim, however, is false. They are in actuality the haughty “dictators of Sodom” with whom Jehovah is yet to enter into judgment. It is they who have refused to take up the legal case of the fatherless boy. The princes of Bethel have perpetrated numerous frauds against Jehovah’s Witnesses and stubbornly cling to the 1914 hoax. They have used uncanny power against Jehovah's Witnesses, the part of which is evidenced in the evil subliminal images that litter the Society's literature, some of which even appear in the very same commentary on Isaiah under consideration here. The legal princes of Bethel have wickedly denied justice to thousands of sexually abused children, claiming in court that Christian elders have no obligation to protect children from the sexual crimes of a congregant; but when forced by the threat of a jury trial they have quietly paid out millions, only to slyly bind the victims with legal gag orders to prevent them from speaking about the crimes that were committed against them or the deplorable way their complaints were handled by the Watchtower Society. Bethel's princes travel the world giving public discourses and expecting in return the so-called "golden handshake," which is when brothers come up and shake hands with them and pass a gift of cash to them. All the while Bethel arrogantly claims to have been declared righteous by God while they in turn denounce the clergy using the very rebuke God intends for them - the dictators of Sodom!

“Your princes are stubborn and partners with thieves. Every one of them is a lover of a bribe and a chaser after gifts. For a fatherless boy they do not render judgment; and even the legal case of a widow does not get admittance to them.” – Isaiah 1:23

The next installment will consider the 2^nd chapter of Isaiah.



The Mountain of the House of Jehovah

The Watchtower is commonly accused of being a false prophet because of several failed predictions and raised expectations related to specific years, such as 1914 and 1925 and more recently 1975. In actuality, though, only a very small percentage of the Watchtower Society’s eschatology has to do with the things to come. That is because Jehovah’s Witnesses have been led to believe that nearly all prophecy related to the coming of Christ has been fulfilled already. The common expectation among Jehovah’s Witnesses is that the only significant aspect of prophecy yet to unfold is the destruction of the symbolic harlot of Revelation.

 The point is, for the most part the teachings accepted by Jehovah’s Witnesses as the reliable interpretation of prophecy are focused on past events. For the very reason that the Watchtower’s interpretations do not involve things that have not transpired it is a relatively simple matter to determine whether or not the things purported to be the fulfillment of prophecy actually are. Now consider Isaiah 2:2-4: “The thing that Isaiah the son of Amoz visioned concerning Judah and Jerusalem:”

“And it must occur in the final part of the days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills; and to it all the nations must stream. And many peoples will certainly go and say: ‘Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion law will go forth, and the word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem. And he will certainly render judgment among the nations and set matters straight respecting many peoples. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses realize that the mountain of the house of Jehovah is not any literal, earthly temple located on the ancient hills of Jerusalem. The Christian writers make it clear that Zion represents God’s heavenly kingdom. For example, in his letter to the Hebrews Paul used the expression “heavenly Jerusalem.” And, of course, Revelation depicts Christ and his fellow 144,000 world-conquerors standing upon Mount Zion, which symbolizes the completed heavenly kingdom of God. It is evident that the prophecy of Isaiah relates to the establishment of the kingdom of God “in the final part of the days.”

The Watchtower persuasively teaches that the prophetically designated period variously termed “the final part of the days” and “the time of the end” commenced nearly a century ago. Supposedly God has rendered judgment and set matters straight already and this is believed to be primarily evident by the refusal of Jehovah’s Witnesses to do military service and their organizational unity. Moreover, the Watchtower Society is believed to be the agency that has accomplished the fulfillment of the prophecy by its sponsorship of a worldwide preaching and teaching work that supposedly has elevated the worship of Jehovah above all other competing forms of worship.

To illustrate the point, on page 44 of the first volume of the Society’s Isaiah’s Prophecy commentary, paragraph 20, it states that God’s law and instructions, which issue out of heavenly Zion, is taught to Jehovah’s Witnesses in all nations via the “Bible-based publications” of the Watchtower Society. But Jehovah’s Witnesses are here encouraged to consider the facts.

To buttress their assertion on page 42 the Watchtower repeats a well-worn falsehood, stating:

 “Christ Jesus referred to “a conclusion of a system of things” as a time of harvest when the angels would gather in “the sons of the kingdom”—those with the hope of ruling with Jesus in heavenly glory. Since 1919, Jehovah has empowered “the remaining ones” of these sons to share with the angels in the harvest work. Thus, to start with, “the sons of the kingdom,” Jesus’ anointed brothers, are the ones gathered. Then they share in a further gathering work. During this time of harvest, Jehovah has progressively helped the anointed remnant to understand and apply his Word, the Bible. This too has contributed to the elevating of pure worship. Though ‘darkness itself covers the earth, and thick gloom the national groups,’ the anointed are “shining as illuminators” among humankind, having been cleansed and refined by Jehovah.”

As Jesus stated in the 13^th chapter of Matthew, the harvest is a conclusion of the system of things. However, nowhere in that particular illustration did Jesus state that Christian ministers have any share in the harvest that occurs during the conclusion of the system. (Jesus did liken the entire Christian ministry to a harvest when he said ‘the harvest is great but the workers are few…’) On the contrary, Jesus said the angels are to be dispatched to accomplish the harvest by first uprooting the weeds and then harvesting the sons of the kingdom. Moreover, reasonably, the concluding harvest is not carried out over many decades as the Watchtower implies. Just as a literal harvest takes place over a short period of time at the end of the growing season, the final harvest of the sons of the kingdom must likewise take place over a relatively short period of time, at which time the sons of the kingdom will shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (See the chapter: The Harvest)

Furthermore, Jesus indicated in his explanation of the harvest illustration that prior to the gathering of the wheat the angels will remove every person doing lawlessness and every cause for stumbling out from his kingdom. Conversely, that means prior to the harvest Christ’s congregation will be menaced by persons doing lawlessness and marred by numerous stumbling blocks. The removal of such evils will be swift, decisive and permanent. Now the question: Since the Watchtower Society asserts that it is the manifestation of Christ’s congregation why is the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses still plagued with persons doing lawlessness and littered with innumerable stumbling blocks?

As an example of a cause for stumbling that emanated directly from the leadership of the organization, as mentioned at the onset of this article, in the decade leading up to 1975 Bethel and many of its appointed traveling representatives vigorously promoted the notion that 1975 would mark the end of 6,000 years of human history and that very likely by that year or shortly thereafter the 1,000-year reign of Christ would commence, precluded by the world-ending war of Armageddon. In the years following that uneventful year untold numbers of disillusioned Jehovah’s Witnesses stumbled out of the organization.

More recently similar numbers of Jehovah’s Witnesses and interested persons have been stumbled by the exposure of the Watchtower Society’s secret 10-year partnership with the United Nations (See the chapter: Strange Bedfellows, also available as a brochure) and the child abuse scandal that has rocked the organization; as well as the debacle over Bethel’s latest redefinition of what constitutes the generation that will not pass away before all the things foretold occur.

While the leadership of the Society may steadfastly deny any responsibility for such doings and the vast majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses may similarly dismiss such things as the accusations of “opposers” and apostates, still, the unavoidable truth is, the aforementioned causes for stumbling exist. And since that is undeniably the case, therefore, it is evident that no such harvest has taken place yet. That means that the conclusion of the system and the final part of the days have not begun. (See the article: The Final Part of the Days)

Bluntly, the Watchtower’s 1914-parousia doctrine is a fraud. The invisible parousia hoax is perpetuated by the very “dictators of Sodom” whom the prophecy denounces. The fraudulent nature of the Watchtower’s prophetic interpretation is evident in the context of Isaiah itself; namely, that Zion’s mountain is lifted up in the aftermath of the destruction of that which is symbolized by Jerusalem. During the tumult of the tribulation is when the foretold ingathering takes place.

On page 43 the Watchtower cites the prophecy of Haggai.

The prophet Haggai foretold the appearance of this great crowd. He wrote: “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Yet once—it is a little while—and I am rocking the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry ground. And I will rock all the nations, and the desirable things of all the nations [those who join anointed Christians in pure worship] must come in; and I will fill this house with glory,’ Jehovah of armies has said.”

Just as there is no evidence that the angels have already initiated the harvest, neither is there any substance to the Watchtower’s assertion that the nations are being rocked at this present time. Perhaps one could make the case that the two world wars rocked the nations, but it has been almost a century since the First World War began and now 65-years since the end of World War Two. Besides, the influx of millions of persons becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses has taken place in more recent decades, during a period of relative global stability.  Are Jehovah’s Witnesses so unreasoning so as to believe that the fear-inspiring rocking of heaven and earth is now taking place? Such a notion is laughable.

Now consider the concluding verses of the second chapter of Isaiah, which say: “Enter into the rock and hide yourself in the dust because of the dreadfulness of Jehovah, and from his splendid superiority. The haughty eyes of earthling man must become low, and the loftiness of men must bow down; and Jehovah alone must be put on high in that day. For it is the day belonging to Jehovah of armies. It is upon everyone self-exalted and lofty and upon everyone lifted up or low; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up and upon all the massive trees of Bashan; and upon all the lofty mountains and upon all the hills that are lifted up; and upon every high tower and upon every fortified wall; and upon all the ships of Tarshish and upon all desirable boats. And the haughtiness of the earthling man must bow down, and the loftiness of men must become low; and Jehovah alone must be put on high in that day. And the valueless gods themselves will pass away completely. And people will enter into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the dust because of the dreadfulness of Jehovah and from his splendid superiority, when he rises up for the earth to suffer shocks. In that day the earthling man will throw his worthless gods of silver and his valueless gods of gold that they had made for him to bow before to the shrewmice and to the bats, in order to enter into the holes in the rocks and into the clefts of the crags, because of the dreadfulness of Jehovah and from his splendid superiority, when he rises up for the earth to suffer shocks. For your own sakes, hold off from the earthling man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for on what basis is he himself to be taken into account?”

Notice the expression that occurs twice in the passage above: “when he rises up for the earth to suffer shocks.” Surely, the prophecy of Isaiah parallels what is foretold in Haggai, which means the rocking of the nations is the great day of Jehovah and the great tribulation, which means the harvest ingathering is not accomplished by the worldwide work of Jehovah’s Witnesses under the direction of the Watchtower Society. The mountain of the house of Jehovah will be lifted up even as the nations of the world will be laid low. Also, it occurs after the destruction of the earthly Jerusalem. What is the earthly Jerusalem? That will be considered in the next article.

Jehovah's Witnesses and Jerusalem

Jerusalem was not considered a great city such as ancient Babylon or Rome. It was not an important commercial center, like Tyre once was. Jerusalem, though, had a long and rich history as the administrative capitol of Israel and Judah and the religious center for all the Jews, no matter where on earth they may have resided.

Since David captured the Jebusite stronghold about a thousand years before Christ appeared and shortly afterwards had the sacred ark of the covenant moved there, Jerusalem became the city where Jehovah chose to place his holy name. In fact, Isaiah 60:14 refers to Jerusalem as “the city of Jehovah.”

Significantly, Jerusalem was the birthplace of Christianity too; for it was on the day of Pentecost in the year 33 C.E. that holy spirit was poured out upon the small group of Jesus’ Jewish followers in an upper room of a dwelling in Jerusalem – thus inaugurating the Christian era. Afterwards, the apostles and newly anointed Jews and proselytes preached regularly in the environs of the temple of the city of Jehovah. Also, Jerusalem was for a time the unofficial headquarters and base of operations for the apostles and older men who were directing the congregations. For that reason Jerusalem is an appropriate symbol in prophecy for various aspects of Christ’s congregation and kingdom, particularly in relation to the Second Coming of the Messiah and the concluding harvest.

 Although millions of people hae been duped into believing that the modern state of Israel is the very centerpiece of Bible prophecy, Jehovah’s Witnesses realize that nuclear-armed Israel and the present-day city of Jerusalem, with its Islamic Dome of the Rock situated on or near the site of the demolished Jewish temple, does not factor into prophecy at all.

In actuality, the state of Israel was largely a creation and strategic asset of the British Empire. After the Treaty of Versailles brought an end to the First World War and the Ottoman Empire was dissolved, London stated their intentions to create a Palestinian state, in what is known as the Balfour Declaration. Then, after the Second World War, the modern state of Israel was established in 1947. Not to be overlooked, the ultra-wealthy Rothschild family – the banker of the bankers and monarchies of Europe – was also instrumental in the creation of the modern state of Israel.

In recent years an assortment of Elmer Gantry-type Bible hucksters – mostly associated with the so-called fundamentalist/evangelical movement – have become ardent advocates of what is known as Zionism. They espouse that it is the duty of every Christian to support the political state of Israel, whatever the cost – even if it leads to another world war. (It would certainly suit the Devil’s purpose to stage an all-out war in the Middle East. And it is quite likely that Israel will detonate nuclear war in a pre-emptive attack on Iran, with the blessing and support of sorely misguided right-wing religious fanatics, who imagine they are hastening the day of their rapture.)

But the truth is, the ancient Jewish system of worship fulfilled God’s purpose in connection with it long ago: When it produced the Messiah to an expectant faithful few. Upon his final sojourn and entry into the holy city Jesus prophesied that the kingdom of God was going to be removed from the Jews and given to a nation producing its fruitage. That “nation” to which the kingdom was given is what Paul referred to as “the Israel of God” – the Christian congregation, which will ultimately be revealed from heaven as the New Jerusalem.

That the earthly city of Jerusalem was no longer the place where Jehovah’s name was to reside was unequivocally confirmed in the year 70 C.E. That is when the Roman armies under the command of General Titus utterly demolished the holy city and Herod’s temple. In that manner the Jewish system of things concluded, as both Jesus and Paul had forewarned.

But just as the Jewish nation and Jerusalem had fulfilled God’s purpose and were subsequently made obsolete and were violently discarded, so too Christianity. It is also destined to fulfill God’s purpose in connection with it and come to an end.

"YOUNG CHILDREN, IT IS THE LAST HOUR”

In a noteworthy way Christianity did end shortly after the apostles died off; not suddenly, but gradually. Toward the end of his ministry the apostle John wrote of this future development, stating at I John 2:18-20: “Young children, it is the last hour, and, just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now there have come to be many antichrists; from which fact we gain the knowledge that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of our sort; for if they had been of our sort, they would have remained with us. But they went out that it might be shown up that not all are of our sort. And you have an anointing from the holy one; all of you have knowledge. I write you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie originates with the truth.”

Some ignorant persons imagine that John meant the world had entered its last hour some 2,000 years ago and have foolishly concluded that John was a false prophet. But the context of the apostle’s brief letter reveals otherwise. John was foretelling the coming of an antichrist. It was the “last hour” before his arrival. While the apostles were alive the many antichrists that had already infiltrated could not gain a lasting foothold in the congregations and so they were forced to go out from among them. For example, the original antichrist was Judas. He went out from among the apostles on the night of the last Passover, when Christ dismissed him with the words: “What you are doing get done more quickly.”

Although we do not know how the situation resolved, Paul similarly, boldly exposed the prominent leaders of the Corinthian congregation as being false apostles and deceitful workers. Paul also named Hymenaeus and Philetus as apostates and handed them over to Satan to be disciplined.

But history shows that as the protective influence of the apostles and other older stalwarts began to wane in the second century wicked imposters began to dominate the congregations and the truth was gradually supplanted by lies. The apostasy became complete in the fourth century when the Roman Emperor, Constantine, inserted himself as the ecclesiastical head of the corrupted Christian bishops. Christendom supplanted Christ. The antichrist had come.

Over the centuries, up until the Protestant Reformation and the invention of the printing press, the Vatican fiercely opposed translating the Bible into the common languages spoken by Europeans, making it virtually impossible for anyone other than the privileged, Latin-literate hierarchy, to study the Scriptures.

Because “no lie originates with the truth” and all of God’s anointed sons must know the truth, as John stated above, the gradual introduction of what has become a massive body of doctrinal falsehoods and outright paganism into the place of Christ effectively brought an end to the anointing of the bride class that began in 33 C.E. So, the last hour was in reference to the anointing.

Down through the centuries apostate Christianity principally became centered in Constantinople (named after Constantine) and Rome. The Roman branch, in particular, because it was associated with the seat of the Empire, became fabulously wealthy and powerful. It is understandable why the Watchtower Society applies the portion of Isaiah’s prophecy (below) to Christendom.

WHO ARE GOD’S PEOPLE NOW?

“For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob. For they have become full of what is from the East, and they are practicers of magic like the Philistines, and with the children of foreigners they abound. And their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no limit to their treasures. And their land is filled with horses, and there is no limit to their chariots. And their land is filled with valueless gods. To the work of one’s hands they bow down, to that which one’s fingers have made. And earthling man bows down, and man becomes low, and you cannot possibly pardon them.” – Isaiah 2:6-9

Doctrinally the great church systems and sects that have come into existence since the time of the great apostasy are full of what is from the East; that is to say, with what is from Babylon. (The Two Babylons) Institutions like the Vatican are fabulously wealthy, controlling billions of dollars; possessing priceless treasures of art, great cathedrals with impressive stained glass that took centuries to construct and countless tracts of real estate around the globe. Still, since the onset of the apostasy brought an end to the anointing, in what sense are the parishioners of Christendom God’s people? At what point has/will God forsake his erring people and the “house of Jacob, as Isaiah declares?

What is more, the prophecy of Isaiah indicates that Jehovah does not completely forsake his people. There is to be a remnant of holy ones who will survive the destruction of “Jerusalem.” Isaiah 4:2-3 states: “In that day what Jehovah makes sprout will come to be for decoration and for glory, and the fruitage of the land will be something to be proud of and something beautiful for those of Israel who have escaped. And it must occur that the ones remaining in Zion and the ones left over in Jerusalem will be said to be holy to him, everyone written down for life in Jerusalem.”

When Nebuchadnezzar razed Jerusalem to the ground and slaughtered the Jewish royal families and led the rest off in chains, he left behind a miserable few to tend the valuable vineyards of Judah. But they could hardly be said to have been holy to Jehovah. According to Jeremiah – who himself was left behind – the remnant of survivors were just as faithless and rebellious as the Jews who were killed or dragged off in chains to Babylon. That was demonstrated by their disobeying Jehovah’s explicit command through Jeremiah not to flee down to Egypt. (Jeremiah 43) As a result of their continued disobedience Jehovah maneuvered Nebuchadnezzar to turn his sword against Egypt in order to annihilate the remnant of faithless Jews who had fled there. In reality the prophecy of Isaiah could not have been fulfilled in connection with the literal destruction of Jerusalem. Besides, the second chapter of Isaiah points forward to “the final part of the days” for the ultimate fulfillment of Jehovah’s denunciation and restoration of the holy remnant of “Jerusalem.”

Since, as has already been considered, the modern state of Israel has nothing to do with the realization of prophecy, and Christendom could not possibly produce anything considered holy to Jehovah, how might the prophecy of Isaiah be fulfilled during “the final part of the days”?

Even though the great apostasy had snuffed out the light of truth and suspended the anointing the final part of the days or the conclusion of the system, as it is alternatively termed, is characterized by the harvest of the chosen ones.

Although there may have been a few scattered anointed individuals during the long night of spiritual darkness, prior to the late 1800’s none were successful in completely breaking free from Christendom’s spiritual shackles. During the period of the Inquisitions the clergy often burned at the stake any who dared. Even in the New World, originally settled by people seeking relief from religious oppression, the clergy still wielded great power and political influence. That situation began to change though when Charles Taze Russell and the Bible Students came on the scene in the 1870’s. After a few years of intensive Bible study to determine the basic doctrines contained in the Scriptures, C.T. Russell established Zion’s Watchtower and launched the most intensive preaching campaign the world has ever seen, which continues to expand to this day. Russell almost single-handedly demolished centuries of accumulated church dogma that prevented people from comprehending the precious truth. Although at the beginning of the 20^th century there were only a few thousand preachers distributing Zion’s Watchtower, nonetheless, Russell’s weekly sermons were read by millions of people around the world due to the fact that they also appeared in hundreds of newspapers. By the time the First World War erupted it was said that Russell had a larger readership than all of Christendom’s writers combined!

After centuries of domination by Satan’s counterfeit Christianity, as a result of the work of Pastor Russell, as he was then called, a recognizable form of primitive Christianity reemerged. And honest-hearted people responded.

The Bible Students regularly met in private homes, just like the original Christians.

Also, they all engaged in a public ministry and boldly exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of the day, just like the original Christians did.

They also clearly knew the distinction between Jehovah and Jesus, just like the original Christians.

 They also began to observe the annual memorial of Jesus’ death, just like the original Christians.

Jehovah’s spirit was obviously invigorating and anointing that vibrant little band of Bible Students, just as it had the original Christians.

And as proof of their anointing the Bible Students began to be viciously persecuted by those who professed to reverence God, just as the original anointed Christians had been.

A PEOPLE FOR THE NAME OF JEHOVAH

In 1931 the International Bible Students adopted the distinctive name of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This was extremely significant in view of the fact that those associated with the religions of Christendom generally do not accept the name of Jehovah and want nothing to do with it. Churchgoers have been deluded into imagining that there is no name greater than the name of Jesus.

To fully appreciate that momentous development in 1931 it must be remembered that Satan has waged a centuries-long campaign to have the name of God removed from the Bible and wiped from the minds of men.

Before the time of Christ the Devil successfully induced the Jews to stop speaking the Name on grounds that it was too holy to be uttered: This in spite of the fact that the Hebrew prophets liberally spoke the name of God, often prefacing their inspired pronouncements with the phrase: “This is what Yehowah has said…”

There is good reason to believe that the early copyists of the Greek manuscripts also were induced to remove the distinctive name of God from their copies of the so-called New Testament. It is simply unthinkable that Jesus would have followed the custom of the faithless Jews in refusing to utter his Father’s holy name. After all, Jesus said in prayer that he had made God’s name known to his followers. And he taught his followers to pray, foremost, that God’s name might be sanctified – made holy. Not only that, but Jesus frequently quoted passages directly from the Hebrew Scriptures where the YHWH appears. For example, in responding to Satan’s three temptations, each time Jesus said: “It is written…” and each time he then quoted, verbatim, passages that contained the Name. Yet the Name does not appear in any copies of the Greek. Given the ongoing demonic conspiracy to prevent people from calling upon God’s name there is little doubt that it was omitted from the Greek text when later copies replaced the originals.

After the Reformation wrested control of the Bible away from the Vatican the name of Jehovah began to appear in a few early English Bibles. But more recent translators of the Scriptures have resorted to the practice of expunging the name of Jehovah from the book he inspired. For example, in the original King James Version (1611) the name Jehovah appeared four times. But in the latest edition of the KJV the name Jehovah has been removed.

The latest fraud being perpetrated on the ignorant is that Jehovah changed his name to Jesus. What utter nonsense!

So, in 1931 when J.F. Rutherford boldly declared that those associated with the Watchtower Society wished from then on to be known as Jehovah’s Witnesses, it meant that the International Bible Students had indeed become a people for God’s name, just like the original Christians had also been. (See Acts 15) Who can deny that Jehovah’s Witnesses are inseparably associated with the name of Jehovah?

That change confirmed that the congregation of Christ had emerged from the time of darkness and is presently manifested to the world through Jehovah’s Witnesses. The work of Jehovah’s Witnesses has resulted in the name of God being declared to the ends of the earth, in hundreds of languages and dialects. The stage is now set for the nations to be made to know that he is Jehovah, as it foretells in Ezekiel in many places, as well as other prophecies. (Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves must also be made to know that he is Jehovah – the God of judgment.)

Furthermore, the Watchtower Society may be properly identifiable as the prophetic “Jerusalem,” the place where Jehovah has caused his name to reside in the modern world – the earthly city of Jehovah. It is this “Jerusalem” – the Watchtower Society – not Christendom, which is destined to come under Jehovah’s judgment in the final part of the days.

The prophecy of Isaiah is in full harmony with the scriptural precept that judgment starts first with the spiritual house of God; specifically, with the leadership of God’s people. That is what Isaiah 3:13-14 states in connection with the fall of Jerusalem: “Jehovah is stationing himself to contend and is standing up to pass sentence upon peoples. Jehovah himself will enter into judgment with the elderly ones of his people and its princes.”

Returning to the verse previously cited, regarding the remnant that escape the destruction of Jerusalem being considered as something holy to Jehovah, Jesus also foretold that Jerusalem would be trampled upon by a disgusting thing during the conclusion of the system, but in the aftermath of that astonishing event the angels will be dispatched to gather God’s chosen ones from the four corners of the earth.

Now consider Isaiah 43:5-7: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. From the sunrising I shall bring your seed, and from the sunset I shall collect you together. I shall say to the north, ‘Give up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not keep back. Bring my sons from far off, and my daughters from the extremity of the earth, everyone that is called by my name and that I have created for my own glory, that I have formed, yes, that I have made.’”

Those sons and daughters of God who are destined to be gathered to heavenly Jerusalem in the aftermath of the destruction of earthly Jerusalem are said to be “called by my name” – by the name of Jehovah that is. Notice, please, that the verse above does not state that they merely call on the name, but that they are called by his name. And they are called by his name before they are scattered. They can be none other than anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses.

But if the Watchtower Society is the antitypical “Jerusalem,” in what way has it stumbled, as Isaiah has said? How could Jehovah’s Witnesses ever speak against Jehovah or behave rebelliously, as Isaiah 3:8 says? – “For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah itself has fallen, because their tongue and their dealings are against Jehovah, in behaving rebelliously in the eyes of his glory.”

Those questions will be considered in the next installment of this ongoing series on the prophecy of Isaiah.



With Judgment and by the Spirit of Burning Down

(Previous articles appearing on this page are archived in ascending order on the Isaiah page as each new article is posted.)

When the Israelites were set free from their hard slavery in Egypt, in accord with God’s solemn promise to his friend, Abraham, Jehovah then established his covenant with them. No other people were in such a blessed relationship with Jehovah God. But the blessing was conditional. Only as long as the people listened to God would they be blessed. God would cause the rain to fall in due season and no enemy could make exactions upon them – if they obeyed. But the terms of the covenant between God and Israel also stipulated that if the people did not strictly obey voice of Jehovah God there would be dire consequences. Instead of the blessings there would be the maledictions. Jehovah would become their enemy. It was unavoidable if they rebelled. The curses were written into the Law covenant. The 28^th chapter of Deuteronomy lays it out in explicit detail.

Of course, Jehovah knew in advance that the nation would not keep his covenant. And so God actually foretold Israel’s desolation even before ever they entered into the Promised Land. For example, Deuteronomy 28:63 states: “And it must occur that just as Jehovah exulted over you to do you good and to multiply you, so Jehovah will exult over you to destroy you and to annihilate you; and you will simply be torn away from off the soil to which you are going to take possession of it.”

That is why portions of Isaiah’s prophecy, written approximately 800 years after the Israelites entered into the bond of the covenant, echoes part of the curse contained in the Law. As an example, below is the curse of the Law directed towards the “delicate and dainty woman,” which stated: “As for the delicate and dainty woman among you who never attempted to set the sole of her foot upon the earth for being of dainty habit and for delicateness, her eye will be evil-inclined toward her cherished husband and her son and her daughter, even toward her afterbirth that comes out from between her legs and toward her sons whom she proceeded to bear, because she will eat them in secrecy for the want of everything because of the tightness and stress with which your enemy will hem you in within your gates.” – Deuteronomy 28:56-57

Now consider Isaiah 3:16-25: “For the reason that the daughters of Zion have become haughty and they walk with their throats stretched forth and ogling with their eyes, they go walking with tripping steps, and with their feet they make a tinkling sound, Jehovah also will actually make the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion scabby, and Jehovah himself will lay their very forehead bare. In that day Jehovah will take away the beauty of the bangles and the headbands and the moon-shaped ornaments, the eardrops and the bracelets and the veils, the headdresses and the step chains and the breastbands and the ‘houses of the soul’ and the ornamental humming shells, the finger rings and the nose rings, the robes of state and the overtunics and the cloaks and the purses, and the hand mirrors and the undergarments and the turbans and the large veils. And it must occur that instead of balsam oil there will come to be merely a musty smell; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of an artistic hair arrangement, baldness; and instead of a rich garment, a girding of sackcloth; a brand mark instead of prettiness. By the sword your own men will fall, and your mightiness by war. And her entrances will have to mourn and express sorrow, and she will certainly be cleaned out. She will sit down on the very earth.”

As is apparent, this aspect of the prophecy of Isaiah is an enlargement of the curse in Deuteronomy. But even more profoundly significant, just as the Law and the prophets were actually preliminary to the advent of the Christ, it is also evident that the very same Law covenant and the prophets cast shadows of divine pronouncements against the people of Christ – the Israel of God, according to Paul – the product of the new covenant and the law of the Christ.

Consider more closely the details of the curse of the covenant and the overlapping features of prophecy: “Jehovah will raise up against you a nation far away, from the end of the earth, just as an eagle pounces, a nation whose tongue you will not understand, a nation fierce in countenance, who will not be partial to an old man or show favor to a young man.” – Deuteronomy 28:49-50

Written almost a millennium before Babylon destroyed the kingdom of Judah, before even Jerusalem became the famed “city of Jehovah,” the opening pronouncements of the prophecy of Habakkuk uses the exact same imagery as the curse contained in the Law – likening the ruthless Chaldean to an eagle speeding to snatch the prey. But any knowledgeable reader of Habakkuk is aware that the prophecy is actually a vision yet for the time appointed, that is to say: for the time of the end, also termed the conclusion of the (global) system. The Chaldean foreshadows the eighth king. (See chapter – Habakkuk)

Not only that, but the description of the executioner of Jehovah’s judgments – he being “a nation fierce in countenance” – is also the precise language found in the prophecy of Daniel regarding a “king fierce in countenance.” The significance is that the prophecy of Daniel is also earmarked to undergo fulfillment in connection with the holy ones of the kingdom in “final part of the denunciation” – during the “time of the end.” (See chapter – Daniel)

In recognition of the patterns cast in prophecy and the interconnectivity of the new and old covenants, the haughty daughters of Zion – whom Jehovah ultimately purifies and humbles through affliction – must foreshadow the individual members of the bride of Christ during the parousia. Not to be overlooked, the purpose of God’s withering punishment is, as stated above, so that “she will certainly be cleaned out.”

Did not Jesus similarly clean out the moneychangers from God’s earthly temple as a last act in his earthly ministry, which serves as a portent of his work as the messenger of the (new) covenant and the appointed laundryman destined to carry out the ultimate, fiery cleansing of the spiritual temple, as related in the third chapter of Malachi? Reasonably, then, the cleansing of the spiritual temple takes place immediately before the beginning of the new world.

The denunciation becomes even more graphic at Isaiah 4:4-5, where we read: “When Jehovah will have washed away the excrement of the daughters of Zion and he will rinse away even the bloodshed of Jerusalem from within her by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning down, Jehovah will also certainly create over every established place of Mount Zion and over her convention place a cloud by day and a smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; because over all the glory there will be a shelter. And there will come to be a booth for a shade by day from the dry heat, and for a refuge and for a hiding place from the rainstorm and from the precipitation.”

The Watchtower Society recognizes that the prophecy of Isaiah is a pattern for the judgment of Christ’s congregation. But as with their interpretation of virtually all prophecy, the Watchtower goes to great lengths to convince Jehovah’s Witnesses that God’s judgments have already been carried out back in the 1914-1919 timeframe, against Rutherford and company; or, that they apply to Christendom. Here is what the Isaiah’s Prophecy I commentary states on pages 71-72 regarding the span of verses above:

When faced with the scorching heat of persecution and the storms of opposition, the cleansed remnant will find Jehovah to be their Source of protection, security, and refuge. A beautiful prospect is thus set before them: If they leave behind the unclean beliefs and practices of Babylon, submit to the cleansing of Jehovah’s judgment, and endeavor to remain holy, they will remain safe, as if in “a booth” of divine protection. Notice that first comes the cleansing, then the blessings. This has proved true in our day. Back in 1919 the anointed remnant humbly submitted to being refined, and Jehovah “washed away” their uncleanness. Since then, “a great crowd” of other sheep have also allowed themselves to be cleansed by Jehovah. Thus cleansed, the remnant and their companions have been blessed—Jehovah has taken them into his protective care.

It is a serious thing to declare oneself to be righteous and clean in the eyes of God. That is essentially what the Pharisees did. However, Jesus denounced them as mere whitewashed graves; outwardly beautiful and decorated, but inside full of dead men’s bones and all manner of uncleanness. The leadership of the Watchtower Society has unwisely followed the path of the self-righteous and hypocritical Pharisees. They imagine that simply because they have discarded the doctrinal errors of Christendom that God has already declared them to be righteous. In actuality they have merely declared themselves to be clean and righteous. As an example of that mindset, at the 2010 annual meeting of the Watchtower elite one speaker immodestly boasted that the Governing Body was very close to being just like Christ himself. (See Back Page) What is left except for them to publicly declare the Governing Body to be a god? (See 2 Thessalonians 2:4)

According to Watchtower lore supposedly God was displeased with the leadership of the Society because they bowed to government pressure and censored the Finished Mystery of God in 1916 (The entire book was basically a work of fiction and a source of embarrassment to the Watchtower to this day) and that is why God allowed J.F. Rutherford and seven other directors of the Society to be briefly imprisoned. But did God really rinse away the bloodstains and excrement of the daughters of Zion back then? If that was the case, why then, for example, did the International Bible Students continue on celebrating Christmas and using the cross as a sacred symbol of Christianity for several years after the time that Jehovah supposedly rinsed away all of their religious uncleanness?

Unfortunately, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not possess the spiritual wherewithal to discern that the Society’s interpretation is sheer nonsense. And besides, if any of Jehovah’s Witnesses were to openly question the Watchtower’s 1914 doctrine they would be swiftly dealt with by the elders charged with enforcing the dictates of the “dictators of Sodom.”

The falsity of the accepted interpretation is evident in the way the Society plays fast and loose with the prophecy in question. To illustrate the point, from the very same context of scripture the Society has simultaneously divined two opposed interpretations; for example, on the one hand the judgment of apostate Jerusalem is said to foreshadow Christendom and her destruction, and at the same time it is alternatively construed to represent the Society, depending on how Bethel’s “prophets” spin it. In the verse under consideration that “Jerusalem” is said to symbolize the congregation of anointed Bible Students back during the First World War. But in what way did God enter into judgment with “the spirit of burning down”? By the Society’s own account Bethel’s presses never stopped rolling during the war and brief period of persecution and upheaval. And the question ought to be asked: In what way was Jehovah, alone, put on high in that day, as Isaiah 2:18 states? Obviously, he was not.

The context of the prophecy is Jehovah entering into judgment with his elderly men and princes of his people. “The spirit of burning down” has to do with the abject desolation of the city of Jehovah during a time of unprecedented tyranny. That is certainly what is conveyed in the opening words of the third chapter of Isaiah: “For, look! the true Lord, Jehovah of armies, is removing from Jerusalem and from Judah support and stay, the whole support of bread and the whole support of water, mighty man and warrior, judge and prophet, and practicer of divination and elderly man, chief of fifty and highly respected man and counselor and expert in magical arts, and the skilled charmer. And I shall certainly make boys their princes, and mere arbitrary power will rule over them.”

Since the Bible does not support the notion of a decades long, invisible parousia; and neither can the Scriptures be honestly interpreted to support the chronology the Society has connected to the “times of the gentiles,” it is as if the Watchtower has practiced a form of divination in conjuring up 1914. Originally Russell actually employed occult pyramidology to uncannily support the 1914 doctrine – as if he were an “expert in magical arts.” Unquestionably, the Governing Body is composed of “highly respected” men among the society of Jehovah’s Witnesses today. As the organization’s taskmasters, to this day the Governing Body and their helpers continue to perpetuate the magic Russell conjured. It is as if the leading men of the Society have skillfully charmed Jehovah’s Witnesses into believing an ‘artfully contrived false story’; leading them on as regards Jesus’ supposed invisible return nearly a century ago. That is why there is so much confusion regarding something as simple and straightforward as the meaning of Jesus’ expression “this generation will my no means pass away.” No doubt this is why Isaiah 3:12 states: “As for my people, its task assigners are dealing severely, and mere women actually rule over it. O my people, those leading you on are causing you to wander, and the way of your paths they have confused.”

As a glaring example of the sort of fraud practiced by the Watchtower Society on Jehovah’s Witnesses, commenting on the following verse (Isaiah 3:13-15): “You yourselves have burned down the vineyard. What was taken by robbery from the afflicted one is in your houses. What do you men mean in that you crush my people, and that you grind the very faces of the afflicted ones?” – the Watchtower states:

Instead of working for the welfare of the people, leaders engage in deceitful practices. They misuse their authority by enriching themselves and depriving the poor and needy. But these leaders must answer to Jehovah of armies for their oppression of the afflicted. What a warning this is to those in positions of responsibility today! May they be ever careful not to misuse their authority.

Yes, indeed, it is a sober warning to those in positions of responsibility today! But has the leadership heeded their own warning? Have the men behind the Watchtower similarly engaged in “deceitful practices,” as they accuse the clergy of doing? Jehovah knows they have. But as grievous as it is, the 1914 hoax is not the only instance wherein Bethel has misused their authority. As the “dictators of Sodom,” one way in which the Watchtower routinely misuses its authority is by wielding the threat of disfellowshipping against any who dare to take its leadership to task for their misdoings.

One of the most outrageous acts of deception the Watchtower has ever perpetrated against Jehovah’s Witnesses has undoubtedly been their secret 10-year partnership with the United Nations. And to this day the Governing Body and their apologists continue to lie about the extent of the Watchtower’s political involvement. That partnership required the Watchtower to hoodwink Jehovah’s Witnesses into unknowingly disseminating literature that had been slyly crafted to contain positive information regarding the United Nations, in order to fulfill the Society’s contractual obligation as an officially approved NGO in association with the United Nations. (See chapter: Strange Bedfellows)

The damage done by the Society’s treachery is incalculable. Although it is impossible to quantify, it is safe to assume that tens of thousands have been stumbled.

Considering the countless stumbling blocks the Watchtower has strewn in the path over the years, such as the 1975 fiasco, and many other things, not the least of which has been the deplorable way the Watchtower’s lawyers have denied any responsibility for the many children who have been sexually abused by the thousands of known sexual predators lurking among Jehovah’s Witnesses – the numbers of the stumbled – including those merely studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses – amount to millions. (In this connection the 36^th chapter of Ezekiel refers to entire “nations” being stumbled by God’s representatives.)

Even if only one precious soul has been stumbled by the Watchtower’s hypocrisy and double-dealing, that is one too many from Jehovah’s standpoint. Stumbling others amounts to killing them. Jesus spoke of the dire consequences for those who stumble his sheep, saying it would be better for them if a millstone were hung around their necks and they were tossed into the heart of the open sea.

The Watchtower Society is unquestionably blood guilty in the eyes of God for causing so many to stumble. And according to his declaration to Moses, although Jehovah is merciful and gracious and slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, he cannot possibly give exemption from punishment. Or as Jehovah states at Isaiah 2:9 in connection with Jerusalem: “And you cannot possibly pardon them.”

First must come the punishment – then the pardon and restoration for those whom Jehovah redeems. That is why Isaiah 4:4 speaks of Jehovah rinsing away, not merely the “excrement,” but also the bloodshed of Jerusalem – the “bloodshed” by causing others to stumble. Truly, only Jehovah’s scathing rebuke in – “the spirit of burning down” – could possibly humble the haughty leadership of the Watchtower Society.

How might Jehovah’s judgments be realized in the future?

To be continued…



JEHOVAH'S VINEYARD

Part 5 of an ongoing series on IsaiahThe overlaying theme of Isaiah; indeed, of virtually all the prophets, is the unfaithfulness, subsequent destruction of the faithless and punishment for the erring; then, the restoration and ultimate salvation of a chastened remnant.

When it comes to salvation, people generally think in terms of their own salvation. But from God’s standpoint, his purpose has always been tied to a nation - a covenanted group, a congregation of people – an organization, if you please.

Thus, the salvation God accomplished in times past was in behalf of an erring nation of people – Israel. (For simplicity Israel and Judah are here considered as one nation even though in Isaiah’s day they were two separate kingdoms.) And the reason God extended salvation to the Israelites was not primary for their benefit, but God did it for his own name’s sake.

Since Eden God’s stated purpose has been to produce the serpent-stomping seed of the woman – the Messiah. Eventually it was revealed that the seed would come through the offspring of the children of Abraham – specifically, the tribe of Judah and the House of David were chosen. But by the time of the writing of Isaiah the kingdom of Judah and its capitol, Jerusalem – the blessed city where Jehovah had placed his name – had become morally and spiritually corrupt. They were in no condition to receive their promised messianic king.

In the fifth chapter of Isaiah the prophet published an illustration, likening Judah and Jerusalem to a vineyard of God’s planting and through Isaiah Jehovah addressed his people, saying to them: “And now, O you inhabitants of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. What is there yet to do for my vineyard that I have not already done in it? Why is it that I hoped for it to produce grapes, but it gradually produced wild grapes? And now, please, may I make known to you men what I am doing to my vineyard: There will be a removing of its hedge, and it must be destined for burning down. There must be a breaking down of its stone wall, and it must be destined for a place of trampling. And I shall set it as a thing destroyed.”

It would seem as if the destruction of God’s symbolic vineyard would thwart his intention to introduce the Messiah to the world through his nation. No so. Jehovah would spare a cleansed remnant and by means of them his purpose would ultimately be accomplished.  That aspect of God’s purpose is clearly revealed in the in the preceding chapter of Isaiah, which states:

“In that day what Jehovah makes sprout will come to be for decoration and for glory, and the fruitage of the land will be something to be proud of and something beautiful for those of Israel who have escaped. And it must occur that the ones remaining in Zion and the ones left over in Jerusalem will be said to be holy to him, everyone written down for life in Jerusalem. When Jehovah will have washed away the excrement of the daughters of Zion and he will rinse away even the bloodshed of Jerusalem from within her by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning down, Jehovah will also certainly create over every established place of Mount Zion and over her convention place a cloud by day and a smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; because over all the glory there will be a shelter. And there will come to be a booth for a shade by day from the dry heat, and for a refuge and for a hiding place from the rainstorm and from the precipitation.”

As already stated, the destruction of God’s organizational vineyard does not thwart his purpose – far from it. The burning down of the city actually accomplishes Jehovah’s purpose; as it resulted in a purge of the faithless and the cleansing of a remnant of who escape. The prophecy of Isaiah uses imagery that harkens back to the exodus of Israel from Egypt, when God led the nation by means of a billowing cloud during the day and an immense torch-like flame at night. This indicates that God resumes his role as leader of a chastened nation. But as already established in preceding articles of this series, since the prophecy of Isaiah was earmarked for an ultimate realization during the final part of the days, what might the symbolic vineyard symbolize now?

The Watchtower’s commentary on Isaiah states:

Therefore, Isaiah’s condemnation of Judah applies today to Christendom. A study of her history—her wars, her crusades, her Inquisitions—reveals just how sour her fruit has been! Nevertheless, the true vineyard of anointed Christians and their “great crowd” companions must heed Isaiah’s words. If they are to please the vineyard’s owner, they must, individually and as a group, produce fruits that please him.

Although not stated explicitly, according to the Watchtower’s inchoate commentary Jehovah apparently has two vineyards: One that produces fine fruit and another that produces sour grapes, which pictures Christendom. But that is not what is conveyed in the prophecy at all. There is only one vineyard that God declares to be his own. What is more, the Watchtower claims that those who survived the modern day burning down of the one vineyard were the relative handful of International Bible Students associated with the Watchtower during the First World War. Obviously, though, there is nothing in such recent history of God’s people that compares with the burning down of Jerusalem.

But as regards the Watchtower Society’s commentary quoted above, God does not solely indict his nation for bloodshed, as the Watchtower implies by their citing Christendom’s bloody history. God also condemns his people for their unrighteous attitudes and practices, as will be considered. Even at that, though, the leadership of the Watchtower Society well knows that bloodguilt may be incurred by means other than the outright spilling of blood in warfare. For example, in order to motivate Jehovah’s Witnesses to preach the Watchtower teaches that any negligent minister may incur bloodguilt. And what about stumbling others? Surely that would incur bloodguilt too. And in that respect the Watchtower Society has incurred bloodguilt in a way that is not possible for Christendom. How many millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses and those on the periphery of the organization have been stumbled by the countless stumbling blocks too numerous to recount here, which the Society has left strewn in the path of life since its inception?

Jehovah has good reason to rinse away even the bloodshed of the modern day Jerusalem with the spirit of judgment and of burning down! 

Consider now God’s denunciation as expressed in the fifth chapter of Isaiah. “For the vineyard of Jehovah of armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plantation of which he was fond. And he kept hoping for judgment, but, look! the breaking of law; for righteousness, but, look! an outcry.”

Back in the 1^st chapter of Isaiah Jehovah warmly invites his people to let him set them straight. In the verse preceding that invite God gave this exhortation:  “Learn to do good; search for justice; set right the oppressor; render judgment for the fatherless boy; plead the cause of the widow.”

Since, as stated here repeatedly, and even as Jehovah’s Witnesses well know, the prophecy of Isaiah is really directed to the Christian Israel of God, as is evident by the opening verses of the second chapter: “And it must occur in the final part of the days.” So, it is in that final phase of Jehovah’s purpose to produce a people for his name that he sets matters straight with his erring nation – or congregation, if you prefer. And to place a finer point, God’s requirement for his worshippers to plead the cause of orphans and widows is just as binding upon Christians and especially elders today as it was when the Law was promulgated thru Moses.

If, then, according to the context of Isaiah, it will become necessary for God to set matters straight in the final part of the days, so as to make their scarlet and crimson colored sins as white as snow and wool, it must be that his people have missed the mark when it comes to their obligation of setting right the oppressor and rendering judgment for the fatherless boy and pleading the cause of the widow. These are the judgments that God kept hoping would exist within his organizational vineyard; but instead, upon his inspection he finds the breaking of law and an outright outcry!

Now consider: The Watchtower Society claims that God set matters straight with them back in 1918 and the Society’s “prophets” have cleverly redirected all other negative aspects of Jehovah’s judgments against “Israel” to Christendom. They have led Jehovah’s Witnesses to believe that God rinsed away the excrement of their babylonish ways a long time ago. But in the years since then, particularly in recent decades, it has become apparent that no such cleansing has taken place. How so?

What about the thousands of pedophiles among Jehovah’s Witnesses and their thousands of victims?

Could Jehovah possibly pardon the leadership of an organization that has calculatingly shielded pedophiles from exposure under the guise of protecting Jehovah’s name from being reproached; thereby leaving children vulnerable to the cunning of known child predators?

So what if Jehovah’s Witnesses have rejected pagan doctrines like eternal torment, the immortal soul and the trinity? That does not exempt one from practicing the weightier things of the law, such as the aforementioned obligations to set right the oppressor and render judgment for the fatherless boy and widow, does it?

It does not matter if leading men among Jehovah’s Witnesses have declared the organization to be righteous in the sight of God. It is Jehovah’s judgment that counts. And Jehovah is inclined to listen to the outcry of the lowly, the meek, the brokenhearted, the disaffected and oppressed – rather than to the corporation’s spokesmen and prominent men who wield authority over them.

Whereas, Jehovah’s law requires the leaders of his people to plead the cause of the afflicted, the Watchtower’s legal team has done the opposite – they have placed themselves as formidable legal opponents of children who have been raped and abused by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Instead of pleading their cause the Watchtower has been their adversary at law. After years of filing trivial motions to derail justice, only when faced with the potential of massive damages in court and negative publicity has the Watchtower been forced to settle with plaintiffs. (Watchtower Documents)

Not only that, but to their shame, in actual court briefs the Watchtower’s lawyers have claimed that Christian elders bear no fiduciary responsibility to protect children in their respective congregations from the crimes of a fellow congregant. (Related articles on Watchman Blog) Obviously, Jehovah has another perspective on that.

For these and other reasons, God is now determined to set fire to his vineyard.

To be continued... 

WOE TO THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY!

Upon his final pilgrimage to Jerusalem Jesus denounced the Pharisees with a scathing series of “woes.” Ultimately, on that same occasion, Jesus condemned the holy city of Jerusalem itself, saying to the Jews: “Look! Your house is abandoned to you.”

Jerusalem had fulfilled its purpose. It had received its promised messianic king – he being rejected and put to death outside its hallowed walls.

The 5^th chapter of Isaiah likewise issues a series of denunciatory woes against the leaders and inhabitants of Jerusalem.

As has already been discussed in previous installments of this commentary on Isaiah, Jerusalem typifies Christ’s congregation before it is refined. Although the prophecy is couched in the ancient setting of a vineyard the principles apply in our modern times. The Watchtower, of course, recognizes the truthfulness of that statement, but invariably they apply its meaning to Christendom or to individual Christians – certainly not the organization as a whole and especially not its leadership. But in view of the fact that Jesus primarily denounced the leaders of the Jews, and in recognition of the clearly established axioms that those whom people put in charge have greater accountability (Luke 12:48) and that teachers will receive a heavier judgment, this portion of the prophecy of Isaiah deserves a second look.

“Woe to the ones joining house to house, and those who annex field to field until there is no more room and you men have been made to dwell all by yourselves in the midst of the land! In my ears Jehovah of armies has sworn that many houses, though great and good, will become an outright object of astonishment, without an inhabitant. For even ten acres of vineyard will produce but one bath measure, and even a homer measure of seed will produce but an ephah measure.”

In recent decades the Watchtower Society has grown to become an international corporation with 101 branches and dozens of publishing facilities operating around the globe. Evidently, at one point during the 90’s the Watchtower Society was actually ranked as one of the biggest construction companies in the world due to its many building projects. It is rumored that the corporation is now planning to build another headquarters in New York State and exit Brooklyn altogether, likely in order to cash out of valuable Brooklyn real estate. The Society has also implemented the closure and consolidation of operations of several Central American branches. Evidently these developments have come about due to financial considerations, amounting to cost-cutting measures because of falling contributions – no doubt due to the economic downturn in recent years.

But what sort of precedent is there in the activities of the original Christians to justify the massive construction projects the Watchtower has sponsored over the years? There is none. The first century Christians did not engage in building temples or cathedrals or meeting places of any kind. Most certainly they did not construct factories, dormitories and office buildings. Jesus merely told his followers to go preach. And that is what they did. Jehovah’s spirit impelled them.

As it stands now, the Watchtower Corporation has filled the land, so to speak, as the prophecy states. There are thousands of kingdom halls all over the developed world (all owned by the Watchtower Society, though built and paid for by hard working rank-and-file contributors). While all credit is given to God, especially on occasions when facilities are officially dedicated to Jehovah, no doubt the men who have engineered the development of the organization consider the organization to be indispensable to the accomplishment of the Christian evangelical work. But is it?

Obviously not.

Jesus once said that God could make the stones cry out if men did not fulfill God’s mandate. And as already stated, first century Christians are said to have preached the kingdom message to the entire inhabited earth back then, all without so much as one magazine, tract, book, or anything other than a few tattered scrolls.

In spite of the massive corporation behind the worldwide ministry of Jehovah’s Witnesses today the results have not been particularly impressive, as the growth of Jehovah’s Witnesses in recent years appears to have stagnated. This has prompted the Governing Body to resort to accepting field service reports of 15 minutes and promoting the baptism of younger and younger children. All and all the growth of Jehovah’s Witnesses seems to have merely kept pace with population growth overall.

Could this be the meaning of the prophecy quoted above, wherein 10 acres of vineyard produces a mere bath measure? In other words, without Jehovah’s blessing it doesn’t matter what men do, their success will be limited.

In any case, although it is unthinkable and considered completely out of the realm of possibility in the minds of Jehovah’s Witnesses presently, the “many houses, though great and good,” which are destined to become “an outright object of astonishment, without an inhabitant,” must be the houses of worship and related facilities belonging to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. How may that be determined?

All prophecy is harmonious. And this portion of Isaiah harmonizes with the prophecy of Joel, which states in its opening words: “Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; and howl, all you wine drinkers, on account of sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouths. For there is a nation that has come up into my land, mighty and without number. Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the jawbones of a lion. It has set my vine as an object of astonishment, and my fig tree as a stump. It has positively stripped it bare and thrown it away. The twigs of it have become white. Wail, as a virgin girded with sackcloth does over the owner of her youth.”

Just as in Isaiah, in the prophecy of Joel Jehovah likens his earthly nation to a vineyard, the vine of which is made to become an object of astonishment. And just as in Joel, the concluding part of the fifth chapter of Isaiah describes the desolator of the vineyard as a growling lion. The significance of the harmony between the two prophecies is that Joel, although also set in ancient Israel, clearly applies to God’s special possession during the conclusion. (See Chapter 18 - Joel)

By the light of prophecy it is the Watchtower and all of its holdings worldwide that is destined to become an object of astonishment in the very near future!

Noteworthy, too, just as in Joel, Jehovah addresses the leaders of his waylaid nation as “drunkards” and “wine drinkers,” as he informs them that the sweet wine has been cut off from their very mouths, so too, the next span of verses in Isaiah issues a similar woe, saying:

“Woe to those who are getting up early in the morning that they may seek just intoxicating liquor, who are lingering till late in the evening darkness so that wine itself inflames them! And there must prove to be harp and stringed instrument, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts; but the activity of Jehovah they do not look at, and the work of his hands they have not seen.”

Considering the harmony of the two prophecies the drunkards are not to be understood as being literal wine drinkers or the imbibers of literal intoxicating liquors. Also, given the fact that the 28^th chapter of Isaiah is basically an enlargement of the prophecy under consideration here, and that part of Isaiah undoubtedly speaks to spiritual drunkards who are the leaders of God’s people at the time of Christ’s return, this segment of Isaiah must also be understood to speak to those who are spiritually drunk.

Jehovah’s Witnesses typically think of the common churchgoer as being drunk on Babylon’s wine. To be sure, they are drunk. Or as a famous communist once put it: “Religion is the opiate of the masses.”

But the truth can have an intoxicating effect also. It can cause one to become overly confident in their supposed righteousness and worth. And when men are given great honor and authority over others, that can have an intoxicating effect too. Did not Paul reprove some of the Corinthians for their unjustified cocksureness?

But how could the prophecy possibly apply to the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses? In what sense do they not look at the work of Jehovah’s hands? Well, could it possibly be pleasing to God if Christians praise Jehovah with their mouths and exalt over the success of their organization, such as is routinely done at assemblies and conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, while neglecting to properly care for the weak and defenseless? In that respect Jehovah’s Witnesses indeed imbibe of spiritual wine and intoxicating liquors and exalt with harp, stringed instrument, etc, but do not consider that Jehovah places a priority on pleading the cause of the proverbial fatherless boy.

As has been my unhappy duty to write about on many occasions, the many sexually abused children who have had the unfortunate experience of having the Watchtower as their adversary at law testifies against the spiritually inebriated and self-exalting leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The prophecy continues: “Therefore my people will have to go into exile for lack of knowledge; and their glory will be famished men, and their crowd will be parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has made its soul spacious and has opened its mouth wide beyond bounds; and what is splendid in her, also her crowd and her uproar and the exultant one, will certainly go down into it. And earthling man will bow down, and man will become low, and even the eyes of the high ones will become low. And Jehovah of armies will become high through judgment, and the true God, the Holy One, will certainly sanctify himself through righteousness. And the male lambs will actually graze as in their pasture; and the desolate places of well-fed animals alien residents will eat.”

As in the book of Joel, in Isaiah Jehovah declares those whom his judgments come against as “my people.” When Jehovah puts himself on high, the high ones and “the exultant one” will be brought low. This does not bode well for the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Woe indeed! The oncoming presence of Christ will not only discredit the Watchtower, seeing that they have been falsely heralding an invisible presence since 1874, but the entire organization is destined to go into exile, in the sense of having an awareness of having come under God’s rebuke. Ultimately, though, God will more directly become the shepherd of his people, so that is why immediately following the denunciation the male lambs are spoken of as peacefully grazing in their pasture.

The prophecy continues: “Woe to those drawing error with ropes of untruth, and as with wagon cords sin; those who are saying: ‘Let his work hasten; do let it come quickly, in order that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!’”

 This analogy well describes the directors of the Watchtower Society. For decades it is as if they have drawn their 1914 wagon with ropes of error and untruth, all the while declaring their eagerness for the day of Jehovah to arrive. Apparently they actually believe their own hokum, that Christ judged the house of God back in 1918. Woe to them when the actual day arrives and the counsel of the Holy One of Israel is unveiled against them!

The prophecy continues: “Woe to those who are saying that good is bad and bad is good, those who are putting darkness for light and light for darkness, those who are putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those wise in their own eyes and discreet even in front of their own faces!”

If there is any doubt the prophecy of Isaiah is intended to be directed against the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses in modern times the verse above should dispel it.

Although Jesus referred to a faithful and discreet slave on only two occasions, the pages of the Watchtower make reference to that phrase hundreds of times. At virtually every meeting and convention gathering, Jehovah’s Witnesses may be heard praising and thanking the leading men of the Watchtower for being faithful, wise and discreet.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, though, are oblivious to the extent to which they have been misled. Consider just one example. The Watchtower claims that the bridegroom arrived in 1914 and the wise and discreet virgins with extra oil were the early Bible Students. Presumably, they went into the marriage feast way back then and the door to the feast was shut. If that were true though that would mean the marriage of the Lamb has already taken place; which is to be immediately followed by the final war of Armageddon. Clearly, the bridegroom has not arrived. This is an example of their putting light for darkness and darkness for light.

To be sure, the foolish virgins are still among us. Woe, indeed, to those who claim the sons of the kingdom are now shining as brightly as the sun within the Watchtower Society. Their light is going to flicker out when the hour of darkness arrives.

The prophecy continues: “Woe to those who are mighty in drinking wine, and to the men with vital energy for mixing intoxicating liquor, those who are pronouncing the wicked one righteous in consideration of a bribe, and who take away even the righteousness of the righteous one from him!”

As has already been established, the leadership of God’s earthly organization is spiritually intoxicated. But in what way are they “pronouncing the wicked one righteous in consideration of a bribe”?

One facet of this evil is reflected in their secretive partnership with the United Nations. While the Watchtower used to resolutely denounce the United Nations as an abomination, after becoming officially accepted by the United Nations’ Department of Public Information as an associate level NGO, the Watchtower was obligated to use a portion of the corporate resources to present the public with positive information regarding the United Nations and their plethora of initiatives and programs. This they undeniably did, as has been painstakingly documented on this site. (See Chapter 11 – Strange Bedfellows)

In return for their promoting the United Nations the Watchtower received help for humanitarian relief programs, including the use of UN vehicles and aircraft. So, in effect, the Watchtower pronounced the UN to be a righteous institution in exchange for their assistance, which amounts to receiving a bribe in return for publishing positive information about the UN.

Conversely, the Watchtower Society has also taken “away even the righteousness of the righteous one.” How so? To date the Watchtower organization has never, ever admitted an error or accepted any responsibility for stumbling others. Anyone who dares to challenge the Watchtower for their hypocrisy is ruthlessly crushed.

Take the case of Barbara Anderson. She and her husband were both zealous Watchtower supporters for many years. They both were volunteer workers at Bethel. But due to her extensive research and close association with the Governing Body Sister Anderson became aware that the Service Department knowingly appointed pedophiles to positions of responsibility and maintained a database with the names of thousands of known pedophiles lurking within the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses, many of whom had never been disfellowshipped, nor were their vile crimes against children ever reported to the local police. When her concerns for the safety and welfare of the children in the congregations were dismissed by the princes of Bethel she became disillusioned and eventually went to the media as a whistleblower. Even though Barbara had left Bethel and eventually stopped associating altogether, in order to discredit Anderson the Watchtower Society ordered her former congregation to disfellowship her before the media aired their exposé. When queried by the press as to why Anderson was disfellowshipped right before the airing of the program the Watchtower's spokeman lied, implying that her disfellowshipping had nothing to do with her going to the press, but was because she was an immoral sinner. Consequently, a libel lawsuit against the Society is presently winding its way through the judicial system.

One thing became clear to the Andersons, as well as to many others too, the leaders of the Watchtower give the public image of the organization greater priority then the well-being and protection of children. But this is an example of how the Watchtower takes away the righteousness of the righteous. Of course, this is merely one example. There are many instances of righteous persons running afoul of the Society and paying the price for it. Woe, indeed, for the lawyers and policy makers of the Watchtower Society! Their day is coming!

Jesus foretold a day of reckoning between himself and the servants whom he appointed to feed the household of his domestic servants. What will the master find when he unexpectedly returns? As Jesus explained by means of numerous illustrations, he will find an ignorant but faithful faction and an unfaithful, evil, sluggish slave. The wicked slave will be put out into the outer darkness, where he is destined to weep and gnash his teeth. In other words, he will be put to death.

It is a serious responsibility to bear the name of God before the world. It is an even weightier thing to wield authority in the name of Jehovah and to teach his word. Inevitably, Jehovah must judge those who do. And it is only those who speak and teach in the name of Jehovah who can bring reproach upon the name and show disrespect for the God who bears that name. For that reason, woe, indeed, for the Watchtower Society!

“Therefore just as a tongue of fire eats up the stubble and into the flames mere dried grass sinks down, their very rootstock will become just like a musty smell, and their blossom itself will go up just like powder, because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of armies, and the saying of the Holy One of Israel they have disrespected. That is why the anger of Jehovah has grown hot against his people, and he will stretch out his hand against them and strike them. And the mountains will be agitated, and their dead bodies will become like the offal in the midst of the streets.”

To be continued....

"Here I am! Send Me"

A continuation of a series of articles based on IsaiahAfter issuing a series of denunciatory woes upon his national vineyard, in the concluding verses of the 5^th chapter God indicates the means by which his judgments will ultimately be executed. He will acquisition the armies of a far away empire, whistling for them, as it were, to hasten to carry out his destructive work, saying of them: “And he has raised up a signal to a great nation far away, and he has whistled to it at the extremity of the earth; and, look! in haste it will swiftly come in…The roaring of theirs is like that of a lion, and they roar like maned young lions. And they will growl and grab hold of the prey and bring it safely away, and there will be no deliverer. And they will growl over it in that day as with the growling of the sea. And one will actually gaze at the land, and, look! there is distressing darkness; and even the light has grown dark because of the drops falling on it.”

In actuality, God does not cause the calamity to occur, he simply does not prevent it from taking place. He allows his people to suffer the consequences of losing his favor and protection.

Noteworthy in this connection, in his prophecy concerning the conclusion of the system and the distress to come upon “Jerusalem” during the world’s greatest tribulation, Jesus used similar symbolisms as the growling of the sea and the heavens going dark, foretelling: “Also, there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations, not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation, while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

Since before the prophecy of Isaiah was written there has been an imperial system on the earth under Satan’s control and each has oppressed God’s people in varying degrees, as God has permitted. The Egyptian, Assyrian and Babylonian empires gave way to the Persian and Grecian empires, which gave way to the Roman and Byzantine empires, which eventually morphed into the European feudal and colonial imperial system, and finally the British Empire; which is expressed today in the London-based, global, financial/monetary empire over the nations. Over the past two centuries the American system and British imperial system have fought for domination of the world; being symbolized in the prophecy of Daniel as an incompatible iron and clay amalgam and as the rival kings of the north and south.

At this stage London’s monetary system is imploding and its collapse is leading to the impoverishment of nations and ultimately global war and the destruction of modern civilization in the coming short term. It will seem as if the very luminaries in the heavens have gone into eclipse and the vast sea of humanity is being buffeted by a terrifying tempest. The collapse of the present system will provide the backdrop for the emergence of the short-lived eighth king of Revelation. In that setting Jehovah’s judgments will be accomplished in connection with the Watchtower Society.

After being made aware of the certainty of the expression of God’s anger against his fellow countrymen Isaiah is privileged to see a vision of Jehovah himself and seraphs ministering to him in his temple. Isaiah fears for his life due to his unworthiness in the midst of God’s holy presence. But a seraph flies to Isaiah with a glowing coal that the angel had taken with tongs from off the fiery altar and he touches Isaiah’s lips with it, saying to him: “Look! This has touched your lips, and your error has departed and your sin itself is atoned for.”

Next Jehovah speaks and poses the question: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” To which Isaiah promptly responds: “Here I am! Send me.”

In view of the fact that the Law and the Prophets were a preview of various facets of what has now been given to the holy ones in Christ, Isaiah’s symbolic presence before God in heaven was a foregleam of the position anointed individuals occupy in Jehovah’s spiritual temple. As Paul said, though formerly anointed Christians were dead in God’s sight, through God’s undeserved kindness, together with Christ, they have been seated in the heavenly places. And their sins have been atoned, as portrayed by the seraphim touching Isaiah’s lips with the purifying coal.

However, the drama played out by Isaiah does not seem to typify all anointed Christians, in that, Isaiah volunteers to go for Jehovah and the unnamed Christ (“who will go for us?) to the unresponsive people of God. 

One striking feature of the book of Isaiah, even a reoccurring subtheme, is the impenetrable blindness of those whom God calls my people. For example, in the 42^nd chapter of Isaiah the blunt question is posed: Who is blind as the servant of Jehovah?

So, it is for the very reason that those who are the servants of Jehovah, but who exist in a spiritually blind condition, that Jehovah asked for a volunteer to represent Heaven’s interests to them; the commission being set forth at Isaiah 6:9-10: “Go, and you must say to this people, ‘Hear again and again, O men, but do not understand; and see again and again, but do not get any knowledge.’ Make the heart of this people unreceptive, and make their very ears unresponsive, and paste their very eyes together, that they may not see with their eyes and with their ears they may not hear, and that their own heart may not understand and that they may not actually turn back and get healing for themselves.”

Reasonably, if the Watchtower Society is to be the object of God’s denunciation in the near future, as the case is here being made, then who serves as a modern Isaiah?

Just as Isaiah answered the call to go to the covenanted people of God and layout before them Jehovah’s issues, in recent years I have served in a similar capacity relative to the Watchtower Society. After receiving a heavenly calling more than 15 years ago that involved a sudden opening up of the meaning of the prophecies, such as Isaiah, I have also unequivocally responded to an implied invitation: “Who will go for us?” Over the past decade through massive mail-out campaigns to thousands of kingdom halls and the more modest distribution of the first edition of Jehovah Himself Has Become King among dozens of branch offices of the Watchtower Society and various individuals and offices of Bethel, and via the constant global reach of the Internet, the words of Isaiah’s prophecy have been fulfilled, in that, I too have gone “again and again” to an unreceptive and unresponsive people of Jehovah.

Although the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses boast of having unique spiritual insights into prophecy, as Christ said of certain anointed individuals in Revelation: ‘You do not know that you are pitiable and blind and naked.’ Certainly, the Society’s doggedly clinging to their invisible parousia is exactly the sort of blindness Jehovah is addressing in Isaiah.

Next, Isaiah asks: “How long, O Jehovah?” The response being: “Until the cities actually crash in ruins, to be without an inhabitant, and the houses be without earthling man, and the ground itself is ruined into a desolation; and Jehovah actually removes earthling men far away, and the deserted condition does become very extensive in the midst of the land. And there will still be in it a tenth, and it must again become something for burning down, like a big tree and like a massive tree in which, when there is a cutting down of them, there is a stump; a holy seed will be the stump of it.”

The “cities” in this instance are not to be understood as being the literal cities of the nations, but rather, the city-like congregations and houses of worship. As presented in the previous article, the similarities between this portion of Isaiah and Joel are inescapable. And in Joel it is evident that the prophecy betokens the crash of the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

But if the subtheme of Isaiah is an indictment of the blindness of God’s people, in keeping with the very meaning of Isaiah’s name (Salvation of Jehovah), the overriding theme is the complete accomplishment of God’s purpose in connection with those who are blind prior to the unveiling of God’s judgments. How is that? As the closing words of the 6^th chapter reveal, although the nation-like tree is destined to be burned down, a holy seed and stump will remain – the holy seed and stump representing the chastened chosen ones who will ultimately become the seed of the woman – the very kingdom of God.



Unless You People Have Faith...

A continutation of the consideration of the prophecy of IsaiahIn the seventh chapter of Isaiah the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem are threatened by a coalition of Syria and Israel. The prophet Isaiah is instructed to confront the terrified king of Judea and assure him that Jerusalem would not fall. Instead, within a few years Ephraim (Israel) would altogether cease to exist. God’s words came true when the ongoing Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom became complete.

But it was in the context of that threat that Jehovah stated through Isaiah: “Unless you people have faith, you will in that case not be of long duration.”

It is noteworthy that the 10-tribe kingdom of Israel faithlessly allied itself with Syria against Judah – their own brothers. The Watchtower’s commentary points out that this was a scheme of the Devil intended to overthrow the throne of David in order to resist Jehovah’s purpose in connection with it. No doubt that is true. Although the king of Judah at the time, Ahaz, was not noted for his faithfulness to God either – being an idolater and faithlessly bribing the king of Assyria to come to his aid; nevertheless, Jehovah simply would not allow his earthly kingdom to be overthrown at that time. However, eventually Jehovah allowed the Babylonian Empire to swallow Judah.

In modern times the various denominations (tribes) of apostate Christendom have been like the 10-tribe kingdom of Israel in allying themselves with political powers for the purpose of resisting or even destroying the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Whenever governmental authorities take action against the Watchtower Society invariably there is behind the scenes clergy involvement. For example, the recent banning of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moscow is most assuredly the result of the influence of the Russian Orthodox clergy (Vladimir Putin is a Russian Orthodox) – just as the Catholic Church is undoubtedly behind the decade-old scheme in France to disallow the Watchtower Society from having tax-exempt status.

But like faithless Ahaz, the leadership of the Watchtower Society also has a history of compromise with political powers and other acts of faithlessness. (The Watchtower’s secret 10-year partnership with the United Nations is the most egregious.)

But as in the case of Judah, God will not allow his modern institution to be derailed by the follies of faithless men or opposing devils; at least not until his purpose in connection with it is fully accomplished.

 Next God calls to all people to devise a scheme against his purpose, saying: “Be injurious, O you peoples, and be shattered to pieces; and give ear, all you in distant parts of the earth! Gird yourselves, and be shattered to pieces! Gird yourselves, and be shattered to pieces! Plan out a scheme, and it will be broken up! Speak any word, and it will not stand, for God is with us!”

Of interest to us today is the fact that the prophecy speaks to “all you in distant parts of the earth.” Whereas, the tiny kingdom of Judah was probably unknown in the distant parts of the earth during the time of Isaiah, the Watchtower Society and Jehovah’s Witnesses are known internationally. The Watchtower has unquestionably published God’s name to the most distant parts of the earth. As an indication of the scope of the work the Watchtower Society is accomplishing, the message of Jehovah’s Witnesses is now published in an astounding 415 languages!

In modern times there is an ongoing scheme being pursued by the elites running the world to eradicate all that is connected with the Renaissance, including the nation-state system and Christianity, and revert to a corporatist-run feudal system administered by the United Nations – the so-called new world order. Ultimately, the Devil’s intention is to use that last kingdom to eradicate Jehovah’s people from the earth.

The Assyrian Empire’s conquest of the 10-tribe kingdom of Israel pictures the coming annihilation of Christendom by the eighth king. As Jehovah’s Witnesses are well aware, when the Assyrian king moved against Jerusalem one of Jehovah’s angels slew 185,000 Assyrians. What does that picture? It finds a parallel with the attack of Gog of Magog and the war of Armageddon.

But regarding the new world order conspiracy and the global genocide certain to be unleashed in the near future, the following verses of Isaiah are most relevant: “You men must not say, ‘A conspiracy!’ respecting all that of which this people keep saying, ‘A conspiracy!’ and the object of their fear you men must not fear, nor must you tremble at it. Jehovah of armies—he is the One whom you should treat as holy, and he should be the object of your fear, and he should be the One causing you to tremble.”

There is no conspiracy that can defeat Jehovah’s purpose. In fact, Jehovah fully sanctions the conspiracy for global government and intends to use the new world order as an instrument for destroying Christendom and all of Babylon the Great, even as Revelation reveals that God is going to put it into the minds of the last kings in order to impel them to carry out their wicked scheme to completion. (See Habakkuk for insight into the conspiracy)

The reason Bible prophecy, such as Isaiah, is relevant today is because God’s purpose to produce a kingdom seed is still a work in progress and the Devil is still opposing the accomplishment of it. But the efforts to date to hinder the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses notwithstanding, we should not suppose that any modern day scheme to stop the work of the Watchtower Society is what the prophecy relates to now. Ultimately, God’s purpose transcends any earthly organization. God intends to bring to birth an exclusive heavenly organization – the New Jerusalem – the very kingdom of God.

But that the aforementioned scheme has a modern application is evident from what is stated at Isaiah 8:14-18: “And he must become as a sacred place; but as a stone to strike against and as a rock over which to stumble to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and as a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them will be certain to stumble and to fall and be broken, and to be snared and caught. Wrap up the attestation, put a seal about the law among my disciples! And I will keep in expectation of Jehovah, who is concealing his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Look! I and the children whom Jehovah has given me are as signs and as miracles in Israel from Jehovah of armies, who is residing in Mount Zion.”

As God previously stated in this context, unless his people have faith in him they will not survive. How must this apply to Jehovah’s Witnesses at this point in time?

Interestingly, Paul quoted from the 18th verse in showing that the children whom Jehovah has given to Christ are those who are the adoptive sons of God. Paul went on to explain to the Hebrew Christians that they had approached a heavenly Mount Zion and that the earthly Zion would not remain. The Jewish form of worship had become obsolete.

In this past century and a-half God has seen fit to renew the calling and choosing of “the children”; and he has done so through the agency of the Watchtower Society – it corresponding to earthly Jerusalem, the place where Jehovah has placed his name. But the final phase of God’s purpose involves Jehovah concealing his face from his people – as stated in verse 17. Jehovah’s “concealing his face” will be manifest in the collapse of the Watchtower Society during the tribulation. In that respect the present form of worship – centered on the Watchtower institution – will become obsolete too.

As stated already, it must be pointed out that although Jehovah fought in behalf of Jerusalem when Assyria sought to sack it, that “Jerusalem” does not picture the earthly organization. How so? Because, just as is the case in the prophecy of Gog, the final attack comes after God allows his earthly organization to be laid low, after which God repurchases a faithful remnant. This is what the prophecy of Isaiah is all about. So, the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem prefigures the coming collapse of the Watchtower; whereas, the attempted Assyrian invasion pictures the final assault upon the sealed sons of the kingdom, after they have recovered from God’s disciplinary blow. Because the sealed ones will then be kings of the kingdom any assault upon them will be a direct affront to the heavenly Zion, which will be the trigger for the world-ending war of Armageddon.

In what sense will the children whom Jehovah gives become as signs and miracles? Jesus foretold that during the conclusion of the system of things the sons of the kingdom would shine as brightly as the sun in Jehovah’s kingdom. This is no ordinary affair. Paul referred to the phenomenon as “the revealing of the sons of God.” It will come about when the last of the children are sealed during the tribulation. That is why the next span of verses in Isaiah states:

“And in case they should say to you people: ‘Apply to the spiritistic mediums or to those having a spirit of prediction who are chirping and making utterances in low tones,’ is it not to its God that any people should apply? Should there be application to dead persons in behalf of living persons? To the law and to the attestation! 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.”

When the last of “the children” are sealed the Watchtower will at that point become something uncanny – no longer then serving as God’s mouthpiece on earth. For those who continue look to it for guidance during that time of distress and darkness – in whatever form it might exist in the post-crash world – it will be considered by God as a form of spiritism. And those looking to it for spiritual food will surely go hungry. In reality, Jehovah’s Witnesses who will refuse to accept Christ during his authentic parousia and instead cling to the Watchtower’s 1914 “operation of error” are those described in prophecy who “actually call down evil upon his king and upon his God.”

It is not that any then might actually resort to necromancy, but once “the children” have been begotten they fully come to life, being received into the kingdom of Christ as immortal sharers of the new creation, even though they will still be in the flesh for a short while. (See chapter: The Parousia) At the point they come alive those who are not part of the new creation are considered spiritually dead.

The opening words of the 29^th chapter of Isaiah state: “Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the town where David encamped! Add year upon year, you people; let the festivals run the round. And I have to make things tight for Ariel, and there must come to be mourning and lamentation, and she must become to me as the altar hearth of God. And I must encamp on all sides against you, and I must lay siege to you with a palisade and raise up against you siegeworks. And you must become low so that you will speak from the very earth, and as from the dust your saying will sound low. And like a spirit medium your voice must become even from the earth, and from the dust your own saying will chirp.”

The prophecy above likens God’s organization to a spirit medium too, just as in the eighth chapter. (Interestingly, years ago the Society responded to a question from a reader regarding the verse above and they applied to what they refer to as Jehovah’s organization during the tribulation. But in the more recent commentary on Isaiah no such explanation is given.)

But, it should be noted that Jesus foretold that Jerusalem and the holy would be besieged and surrounded by a palisade during the conclusion. So, all of the prophecies point to one thing: The crash of the present theocratic organization!

Just as Jesus foretold many will be stumbled, the modern day “Jerusalem” (The Watchtower Society) will become a stumbling block: “And many among them will be certain to stumble and to fall and be broken, and to be snared and caught.”

No wonder Jehovah emphasized the need to have faith in him and not in the assumed permanence of Jerusalem.

To be continued…

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Woe to Those Enacting Harmful Regulations

This is a continuation of the Isaiah series. Other articles in the series appear on the Isaiah page.

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In the 10^th chapter of Isaiah the denunciation continues: “Woe to those who are enacting harmful regulations and those who, constantly writing, have written out sheer trouble, in order to push away the lowly ones from a legal case and to wrest away justice from the afflicted ones of my people, for the widows to become their spoil, and that they may plunder even the fatherless boys!”

God has always required the judges of his people to look after the welfare of the helpless and disadvantaged.  God does not expect that they be given preferential treatment, just not neglected or taken advantage of or abused in any way. The obligation to do justice for the widows and fatherless boys was embedded in the Law of Moses and it is the prime requirement of true Christianity as well, according to James 1:27.

Now consider the Watchtower Society.  

As the world has become more and more godless and corrupt in the past half-century, Jehovah’s Witnesses have also been afflicted from within by many acts of lawlessness. The most grievous of which have been numerous crimes committed against children.

Only God knows exactly how many children of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been victimized by sexual predators over the years, but the number has to be quite sizable relative to the numbers of Jehovah’s Witnesses. 

Some years ago the Silentlambs organization revealed that Bethel kept a database of approximately 25,000 accused sexual offenders. No doubt many offenders have had multiple victims. And no doubt, too, many victims have never come forward for whatever reason. More disturbing, likely some perpetrators have never been found out. But considering how common child abuse is within the organization, it is not out of the question that as many as 100,000 children have been abused over the past 30 or 40 years. That would likely be a conservative figure considering that there are approximately 100,000 congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world – an average of one victim per congregation over the years.

That figure may well be comparable to the numbers of Israelite children who were cruelly sacrificed on the altars of Molech and Chemosh.

Considering the deep feeling both Jehovah and Jesus have for the tender young souls, the rape and abuse of one child is one child too many. That tens of thousands of children have fallen victim within the Watchtower’s supposed predator-free spiritual paradise is a matter that will at some point inevitably come before Heaven’s judicial review.

But while the crimes committed against innocent children is bad enough, the sad truth is, the Watchtower’s policies for elders on how to handle accusations of child abuse has been a contributing factor in actually protecting pedophiles from exposure, thus recklessly endangering even more children to the depredations of pedophiles. (See republished open letter: A Conspiracy of Silence Soon to End)

Since the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the various other individuals who are part of the Watchtower Inc. institution exert absolute control over what is taught, as well as the policies and procedures governing all matters pertaining to the function of every congregation throughout the earth, ultimately they are responsible for the crimes that have occurred on their watch. Expressed differently, it seems inconceivable that the Watchtower Society could be completely blame-free, considering they are responsible for writing the regulations that Christian elders are obligated to implement.

Nevertheless, up until this very moment the Watchtower Society has never publicly made any statement of apology or accepted any responsibility whatsoever for the policies it has required elders to enforce. The hypocrisy of their refusal, though, is manifest in the fact that behind closed doors the Watchtower’s lawyers have paid out millions to child abuse victims in order to avoid public exposure in open court.

But public exposure and court scrutiny are really not what the leadership of the Watchtower ought to be concerned with. Ultimately, those put in charge of the master’s house must answer to their master when he returns. That is why after issuing the woe to those writing out harmful regulations that have shoved the afflicted one away from justice, God then asks:

“And what will you men do at the day of being given attention and at the ruin, when it comes from far away? Toward whom will you flee for assistance, and where will you leave your glory, except it be that one must bow down under the prisoners and that people keep falling under those who have been killed? In view of all this his anger has not turned back, but his hand is stretched out still.”

 The Watchtower Society has indeed written out sheer trouble for itself.

To be continued… 



AGAINST AN APOSTATE NATION

A continuation of the consideration of the prophecy of Isaiah.

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Jehovah God has a purpose. That is a fundamental truth expressed in Scripture.  God is not aimless, haphazard, or uninterested in the goings-on of his wayward creation down here, as some may suppose. On the other hand, neither does he choose to control every detail and facet of life as some religionists believe. To be sure, though, God’s purpose is to set up a kingdom over mankind and destroy the present ruling elements over the world, which are certain to be weighed on the balances and found wanting.

Back in the beginning of the world, on the very day the original humans defected to follow the advice of a God-slandering snake, Jehovah issued the original prophecy, speaking to the original serpent, saying to it: “Because you have done this thing, you are the cursed one out of all the domestic animals and out of all the wild beasts of the field. Upon your belly you will go and dust is what you will eat all the days of your life. And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.”

Because, in their naivete, Adam and Eve apparently imagined that the serpent could actually speak, Jehovah addressed himself to the serpent as if it were the actual source of the misleading statements. Not until many centuries later with the revelation of the foretold primary seed of the woman, Christ Jesus, would the truth be revealed; namely, that the serpent was merely a front for an angel gone bad, who became the original liar and slanderer of Jehovah.  But in the concise, albeit cryptic prevision, Jehovah set into motion his dynamic purpose to produce a serpent-stomping, victorious seed.

Several centuries after the great Deluge drowned the nephilic seed of the serpent and forced the rebel angels to retreat into the invisible realm, Jehovah established a covenant with Abraham and revealed that all nations would be blessed through the seed of Abraham, through the line of Isaac and Jacob, also known as Israel. As the descendants of Abraham became populous, after about 500 years God formed the 12 tribes of Israel into a nation and established his covenant with them; giving them his law and setting up an organization of priests. In time the Israelites requested a human king to rule over them, and so God selected David, the son of Jesse and established a covenant with him, signifying that the Christ would be a descendant of David and sit upon Jehovah’s throne on Mount Zion.

Through the prophets of Israel many more details of the coming Messiah were revealed.  Concerning him Isaiah confirmed that the Messiah would indeed come through the line of Jesse and that he would judge the nations, save the meek and lowly, and kill off the earthly offspring of the Serpent: “And there must go forth a twig out of the stump of Jesse; and out of his roots a sprout will be fruitful. And upon him the spirit of Jehovah must settle down, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of mightiness, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah; and there will be enjoyment by him in the fear of Jehovah.”

But the same prophecies in Isaiah that foretell the coming of the twig from the stump of Jesse also decreed that the kingdom of David was going to be cut down and the seat of the kingdom, Jerusalem, would be plowed up as a mere field. That is because the enemy seed corrupted Jehovah’s nation. So, how could God fulfill his covenant to produce a kingly messiah through Judah and the line of David? Well, God corrected and restored his people to the homeland and the linage of David stayed entact. But the prophecy considered here pertains to Messiah's second coming. Going on the prophecy states:

“And he will not judge by any mere appearance to his eyes, nor reprove simply according to the thing heard by his ears. And with righteousness he must judge the lowly ones, and with uprightness he must give reproof in behalf of the meek ones of the earth. And he must strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the spirit of his lips he will put the wicked one to death. And righteousness must prove to be the belt of his hips, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” - Isaiah 11:1-5

The cobra is one of the most venomous and aggressive reptiles known to man. We do not know, but it may well have been a cobra that Satan used to speak to Eve in Eden. In any case, Isaiah goes on to foretell that under the reign of the Messiah the blessed ones of Jehovah will enjoy complete peace and security, such as once existed in Eden: “And the wolf will actually reside for a while with the male lamb, and with the kid the leopard itself will lie down, and the calf and the maned young lion and the well-fed animal all together; and a mere little boy will be leader over them. And the cow and the bear themselves will feed; together their young ones will lie down. And even the lion will eat straw just like the bull. And the sucking child will certainly play upon the hole of the cobra; and upon the light aperture of a poisonous snake will a weaned child actually put his own hand. They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.”

God’s original purpose for man and woman was for them to have in loving subjection all the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea and every animal upon earth. But because Adam and Eve subjected themselves to Satan instead ever since then the world of humankind has taken on an animalistic character. Instead of having in subjection the animal kingdom, men have dominated their fellowman. The cunning dominate the innocent. The aggressive dominate the passive. The wealthy dominate the poor. The strong dominate the weak. Empires dominate nations, and on and on it goes. So, according to Isaiah’s prophecy, Messiah’s rule will establish edenic tranquility among those who accept his reproof.

As Jehovah’s Witnesses realize, the prophecy really speaks of a changed condition among people, not animals. The aggressive, cunning and hurtful tendencies of sinful men and women will be tamed. No one will harm another person; not physically, mentally or emotionally. It will be an entirely new earthly system of things - nothing short of a new world. How wonderful that will be!

As strange as it may seem to the uninformed, though, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been led to believe that this new world of peace and absolute security has already come into existence in the form of the New World Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses. (Incidentally, the condition foretold in Isaiah has been termed by the Watchtower Society as “spiritual paradise,” although that exact phrase does not appear in the Scriptures.) But the so-called spiritual paradise envisioned in prophecy is not brought about by mere doctrinal uniformity, such as exists among Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide.

Spiritual paradise will be characterized by a complete absence of evil, such as existed for a fleeting moment in Eden. Needless to say, no such blissful condition exists presently among Jehovah’s Witnesses; neither did it exist among the original Christians. (See article Spiritual Paradise)  

But what is the significance of the fact that the twig of the stump of Jesse (Christ), who will bring about this blessed condition, will do so in the aftermath of the destruction of Israel? Surely, no such paradisiacal society came into existence when the impoverished Jewish exiles returned to Palestine from Babylon, which was before even the twig of the stump of Jesse sprouted! Hold that thought...

AGAINST AN APOSTATE NATION I SHALL SEND HIM

Reverting to the 10th chapter of Isaiah, there God declares his determination to set matters straight with his apostate nation. After issuing a chilling "woe to those enacting harmful regulations," God announces the means through which his denunciation shall be executed, saying: “Aha, the Assyrian, the rod for my  anger, and the stick that is in their hand for my denunciation! Against an apostate nation I shall send him, and against the people of my fury I shall issue a command to him, to take much spoil and to take much plunder and to make it a trampling place like the clay of the streets.”

The “apostate nation” and the people of God’s fury were originally the Israelites. In 740 B.C.E. the Assyrians plundered the Israelite capitol, Samaria, and led off into exile the Northern, 10-tribe kingdom of Israel. Emboldened by his conquest of Samaria, about eight years later the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, demanded that the Judean king, Hezekiah, also surrender to him. Isaiah attributed these words to the king of Assyria before ever he initiated his campaign against Israel: “Is not Samaria just like Damascus? Whenever my hand has reached the kingdoms of the valueless god whose graven images are more than those at Jerusalem and at Samaria, will it not be that just as I shall have done to Samaria and to her valueless gods, even so I shall do to Jerusalem and to her idols?’”

The Assyrian made a fatal mistake in assuming that Jehovah was a mere valueless, idol god. It was on that occasion that Jehovah dispatched an angel, who slew 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night; thus thwarting the conquest of Jerusalem. But the fact of the matter is, Jerusalem too had succumbed to idolatry. There were only a few faithful Judean kings - Hezekiah being one of them - who made significant reforms and who were faithful to the God of the covenant. But in that context, Jehovah stated: “And it must occur that when Jehovah terminates all his work in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I shall make an accounting for the fruitage of the insolence of the heart of the king of Assyria and for the self-importance of his loftiness of eyes.”

As all Bible students surely know, God eventually had Jerusalem destroyed as well by the Babylonians. But why then does God state that all his work in connection with Mount Zion and Jerusalem is terminated when the insolent Assyrian is called to account? Not only that, but the prophecy in the 10th chapter of Isaiah speaks about only the remnant of Jerusalem being saved. These questions are all the more relevant when the 28th chapter of Isaiah is considered. For example, in verse 21 God refers to his strange deed  and his work in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem by the nations. Clearly, then, God’s work in connection with Jerusalem did not end with the Assyrian defeat.

Why then does Isaiah 10:12 speak of the termination of all of God’s work in connection with Mount Zion and Jerusalem? Worded differently, why did God prevent the Assyrian from taking Jerusalem only to later sanction the Chaldeans to do so?

The answer is, the conquest of Israel and the salvation of Jerusalem and the remnant of Israel depicted in the 10th chapter of Isaiah is really a pattern for the Christian Israel of God at the coming of Christ. That ought to be apparent due to the fact, that, as mentioned above, the Messiah comes for judgment in the context of Israel’s downfall.

Interesting too, Isaiah 9:6 introduces the coming Messiah as the Mighty God and Prince of Peace, whereas Isaiah 10:21 states:  “A mere remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.”

“The Mighty God” in the context of this passage of prophecy is a prophetic reference to the Christ at his second coming. The “mere remnant of Jacob” that return to him are the so-called anointed remnant - those spiritual Jews remaining on earth after the first resurrection begins, who, together, are the true seed of Abraham.

But, a return to Christ, the Mighty God, by Christians must of necessity mean that they have left off following him. And for an anointed Christian to cease from following Christ would be tantamount to apostasy. Keep in mind that the reason for God’s denunciation in the first place is because his nation has become apostate. But God’s purpose in connection with his apostate nation will ultimately be successful due to the fact that a remnant will be saved. In other words, God’s purpose to establish a world-ruling kingdom composed of formerly sinful humans - transformed by Christ’s mediation and reproof in their behalf - is accomplished by means of the destruction of his earthly organization and the regathering of a chastened remnant into heavenly Zion. No true understanding of prophecy is possible without recognizing that vital fact.

Paul alluded to this truth of God’s purpose when he prophetically stated: “Why, do you not know what the Scripture says in connection with Elijah, as he pleads with God against Israel? ‘Jehovah, they have killed your prophets, they have dug up your altars, and I alone am left, and they are looking for my soul.’ Yet, what does the divine pronouncement say to him? ‘I have left seven thousand men over for myself, men who have not bent the knee to Baal.’ In this way, therefore, at the present season also a remnant has turned up according to a choosing due to undeserved kindness.”

Although Paul was ostensibly speaking with reference to the relatively small number of Israel who accepted Christ in the first century, the 11th chapter of Revelation similarly alludes to a return of “Elijah” and the 7,000 as an immediate prelude to Armageddon.

Not only that, but the prophecy of Malachi addresses itself to the preparatory work of Elijah prior to the end of the system. “Look! I am sending to you people Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah. And he must turn the heart of fathers back toward sons, and the heart of sons back toward fathers; in order that I may not come and actually strike the earth with a devoting of it to destruction.”

If “Elijah” returns to turn the hearts of fathers and sons back to each other, is that not an indication that their hearts have been led astray from Jehovah himself? Surely, such is the case.

While it is readily recognized by Jehovah’s Witnesses that the churches of Christendom are apostate and have been for centuries due to their many worldly entanglements - among other things - the mere suggestion that the Watchtower Society could possibly be judged by Jehovah as being apostate is unthinkable. And yet the prophecy of Isaiah (and all other prophecy for that matter), which constitute the very judgments and judicial decisions of Jehovah for the final part of the days, clearly indicate that God’s purpose is accomplished through the destruction of “Israel” by the "Assyrian." 

God always holds the leaders more accountable than the led - or the misled, as the case may be. In the instance of ancient Israel, not only were the judges guilty of enacting harmful regulations that defrauded the lowly, God indicted the leaders for faithlessly making alliances with Israel’s enemies. The purpose of God’s disciplinary action, as stated at Isaiah 10:20, is so that “it will certainly occur in that day that those remaining over of Israel and those who have escaped of the house of Jacob will never again support themselves upon the one striking them, and they will certainly support themselves upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in trueness.”

In their commentary on this chapter of Isaiah the Watchtower Society asks: "Will Jehovah’s faithful Witnesses perish along with Babylon the Great? No. God is not displeased with them. Pure worship will survive."

Thus, Bethel’s Bible interpreters recognize the surviving remnant of “Israel” to be Jehovah’s Witnesses. But according to the Watchtower visionaries Israel represents Babylon the Great. If that were true, though, then how is it that the surviving remnant are part of “Israel” up until the time the modern Assyrian annihilates it? Jehovah’s Witnesses believe they will have gotten out of Babylon long before it is destroyed.

This inconsistency of interpretation and lack of understanding on the part of the leaders of God’s people prior to the coming of Christ is ironically a significant feature of the prophecy of Isaiah itself. For example, Isaiah 29:10-12 states: “For upon you men Jehovah has poured a spirit of deep sleep; and he closes your eyes, the prophets, and he has covered even your heads, the visionaries. And for you men the vision of everything becomes like the words of the book that has been sealed up, which they give to someone knowing the writing, saying: ‘Read this out loud, please,’ and he has to say: ‘I am unable, for it is sealed up’; and the book must be given to someone that does not know writing, somebody saying: ‘Read this out loud, please,’ and he has to say: I do not know writing at all.’”

In terms of their understanding the judgments of Jehovah yet to be unveiled the prophecy of Isaiah is a closed book to the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses - sealed up, as it were.

In modern times the Watchtower Society has supported itself upon the modern “Assyrian.” This has been manifested in the disgusting compromise the Watchtower Society made with the United Nations, in consigning Jehovah’s Witnesses to serve as mere couriers for UN, globalist propaganda between the years 1992-2001. (See Strange Bedfellows) Even in the aftermath of that fiasco Bethel has spawned numerous subsidiary NGOs for the purpose of influencing European policy makers and courts and the OSCE in particular; even joining with Scientology and other NGOs to petition for human rights issues with the OSCE. (See Perimeno letters)

And undeniably, too, because of the inordinate place the Society and Governing Body hold in the minds and hearts of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a condition constantly reinforced by Bethel, from Jehovah’s standpoint the organization has become an idol. (See article: Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Idol)

Most recently the Watchtower Inc. has apparently become involved in hedge fund activity. (See article: The Watchtower Society Hedge Fund)

Some of Jehovah’s Witnesses may be inclined to rationalize and justify the Watchtower’s apparent move into the world of Wall Street hedge funds. After all, Jesus’ illustration of the slaves entrusted with their master’s money condemns the slave who did not deposit his master’s money in a bank so that his master might collect the interest. But to put things in perspective, Jesus’ illustration is not about money at all. Money is merely a symbol of the gifts and responsibilities Jesus gives to his slaves in expectation of their using their gifts in his behalf.

Moreover, as regards the literal money donated to the Watchtower by hard working Jehovah’s Witnesses and other generous donors, the Watchtower treasury has heretofore deposited those monies with the banks and have drawn a modest amount of interest on those monies.

The unseemly side of the hedge fund world is discussed in the article cited above, but in addition to the aforementioned, the entire Wall Street investment bank and hedge fund world is an extension of London’s monetary and financial empire over the world. And London’s empire is a hereditary extension of the Assyrian and Babylonian, Persian, Grecian and Roman empires of prophecy. That is why the book of Revelation and Daniel depict the symbolic beasts as being composites made up of a collection of successive empires. Empires by nature are supranational. And that is certainly the intent of the London monetary empire of today. That is evident when we take note of the fact that nations may issue their own currency, but it is from the privately owned central banks that they must borrow money in the form of debt sales, and it is the bankers who reap the interest from tax payers.

Also a sovereign nation’s financial affairs are often overridden by private banks and their imperial institutions, like the IMF. In recent years the financier’s power has been vividly displayed as the empire has forced nations into drastic austerity. People indispensable to a functional society, like teachers, police, nurses, firefighters and emergency responders, are being axed in order to pay off the financiers’ bad gambling debts. And hedge funds have been an integral part of the apparatus used by the empire to plunder nations.

The Watchtower is the proud recipient of the proverbial widow’s mite and the donated lunch money of school children who wish to contribute to the work sponsored by the kingdom of Christ. All indications are that the Watchtower is now intent on using a portion of those funds to share in the plunder of nations. The fact that the Watchtower Society is now intimately associated with the core appendages of the imperial system is an overt act of apostasy and faithlessness.

So, it is the Watchtower Society itself that is the “apostate nation” of Isaiah’s prophecy.

But what is the significance of Assyria’s success in conquering Israel and Jehovah’s subsequent defense of Judah and Jerusalem? That represents an important aspect of what is to occur. Israel symbolizes the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses presently due to the presence of anointed persons who are in the covenant of God, through Christ. As Jesus foretold, a disgusting thing is due to make desolate a place once considered by God to be holy. The takedown of the earthly organization, however, will coincide with the establishment of the heavenly Zion. The surviving remnant making up the seed of Israel will be gathered to heavenly Mount Zion. While they are still upon the earth following the desolation of the holy place the beast will make an attempt to exterminate them entirely. In that respect Jehovah will defend “Jerusalem,” that is, the heavenly, New Jerusalem, then represented on earth by the remnant. His purpose will then be fully accomplished as the kingdom will then go into operation to crush the seed of the serpent out of existence. It is also during that period, in the aftermath of the removal of all persons doing lawlessness from Christ's kingdom, from his congregation, that the spiritual paradise will come into existence.

But as regards the crash of the Watchtower Society, their apparent move into hedge funds may very well be the means of their undoing. As it stands presently London’s monetary system is rapidly approaching a dead end. Trillions upon trillions of dollars and pounds, and whatever else, have been created in recent years and thrown into the system to stave off collapse. But the moneymakers know that that is an end game, terminal strategy, which at some point will create an even bigger blowout of the system. But when the system blows there will be winners and there will be losers. Those with the actual title to the means of production will be the winners. Those holding worthless scraps of paper will be the losers.

The eighth chapter of Daniel depicts the last king as a king fierce in countenance who will bring the mighty ones to ruin, along with the people made up of holy ones. The 29th chapter of Isaiah portrays God’s spokesman-like nation being silenced at the critical time of the empire’s last campaign. Returning to the 10th chapter of Isaiah these are the words attributed to the Assyrian: “‘With the power of my hand I shall certainly act, and with my wisdom, for I do have understanding; and I shall remove the boundaries of peoples, and their things stored up I shall certainly pillage, and I shall bring down the inhabitants just like a powerful one. And just as if a nest, my hand will reach the resources of the peoples; and just as when one gathers eggs that have been left, I myself will gather up even all the earth, and there will certainly be no one fluttering his wings or opening his mouth or chirping.’”

The prophecies harmoniously envision the same development. So, when Jehovah terminates his work at Zion and Jerusalem and turns to the insolent Assyrian, the boastful words above that are attributed to the last kingdom verify that the empire is destined to crush and pillage all the nations, including that which belongs to Jehovah, removing national borders and plundering the middle class as well as the wealthy. Certainly, that is the stated intention of the London-centered empire today and their capacity for causing financial ruin has already been demonstrated in the latest crisis.

Not unlike the arrogant Assyrian, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, one Lloyd Blankfein, boasted a couple of years ago that he was doing "God's work." We may assume that his fellow financiers are also doing God's work too. As it turns out, ironically, God may indeed have one last assignment for the empire's plundering agents. In all likelihood, the looming global financial blowout will bankrupt the Society and cause their properties to be seized by their creditors. However it comes about, the fabled presses of Bethel are certain to roll to a standstill, soon. In this way "Ariel" will be silenced and humbled by means of the imperial stick that Jehovah will wield against his "apostate nation."

To be continued...

After initially being displayed on this front page as new articles appear all Isaiah articles are moved to the Isaiah page and appear in descending order.

The Coming Rise and Fall of Babylon

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A continuation of the Isaiah series. After initial posts on the Front Page these articles are archived in descending order on the Isaiah Page

The sudden overthrow of Babylon stunned the ancient world. The event is one of the centerpieces of Bible prophecy, having been foretold by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel - the reason being, Babylon had been an unwitting instrument in the hand of Jehovah to smash all the nations surrounding, including the kingdom of Judah and the very city where Jehovah had placed his name - Jerusalem. For that reason - to humble Babylon and her gods - Jehovah was also obligated to order mighty Babylon’s overthrow by King Cyrus and the Medes and Persians.  

The entire13th chapter of Isaiah relates God’s judgment against Babylon - or does it?  

A cursory reading of the prophecy might lead one to that conclusion - as the Watchtower Society has concluded - but, a comparison of this portion of Isaiah with the prophecies of Joel and Habakkuk ought to lead to a different conclusion.  

For certain, the opening words of the prophecy say: “The pronouncement against Babylon that Isaiah the son of Amos saw in vision.”  

However, verse three states: “I myself have issued the command to my sanctified ones. I have also called my mighty ones for expressing my anger, my eminently exultant ones.”  

While the opening words of this portion of Isaiah’s vision is against Babylon, the sanctified ones who are called to express Jehovah’s anger do not appear to be the Medo-Persian avengers. Instead, those mighty ones are the Babylonians themselves. The prophecy is presenting the reason why God will ultimately overthrow Babylon; because, even though God used them to express his anger, those “eminently exultant ones” were not godly avengers. God merely used a rapacious empire to do what it was naturally inclined to do anyway.  

As regards God issuing a “command to my sanctified ones,” through Habakkuk God similarly states that he has called to the Chaldeans, of whom Habakkuk writes: “O Jehovah, for a judgment you have set it; and, O Rock, for a reproving you have founded it.” 

Keep in mind that while the prophecy of Habakkuk ostensibly speaks of the Chaldeans executing God’s judgments, the vision of Habakkuk is “yet for the appointed time,” that is to say, for the time of the end, the conclusion; which, is also evident from the context of Habakkuk, particularly the third chapter, which portrays God coming down from heaven at Armageddon. (See chapter: Habakkuk)  

What should be of the utmost interest to God’s servants today is what is recorded at Isaiah 13:4-5, which states: “Listen! A crowd in the mountains, something like a numerous people! Listen! The uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathered together! Jehovah of armies is mustering the army of war. They are coming from the land far away, from the extremity of the heavens, Jehovah and the weapons of his denunciation, to wreck all the earth.” 

If the above passage speaks merely to the fall of ancient Babylon, why ought the prophet say that Jehovah’s army of war is commissioned to “wreck all the earth”? The conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE may have rocked the nations of the Middle East, but it seems greatly exaggerated to say that Cyrus or Babylon wrecked all the earth back then.  

Verse 13 also seems to overstate the fall of Babylon, saying: “That is why I shall cause heaven itself to become agitated, and the earth will rock out of its place at the fury of Jehovah of armies and at the day of his burning anger.” 

The Watchtower Society recognizes that the fall of Babylon foreshadows an earth-shaking event to occur during the day of Jehovah; however, Jehovah’s Witnesses presently believe that the fall of Babylon occurred in 1918. Supposedly, modern Babylon exists in the form of Christendom and all other forms of organized religion. Bethel states the following in their Isaiah’s Prophecy commentary:  

Since 1919 the message has sounded around the earth: “Babylon the Great has fallen!” When she was unable to hold God’s people in captivity, she experienced a fall. Soon she will be completely destroyed. 

Laughably, the Watchtower actually teaches that God brought punishment upon the Bethel leadership in 1918 because they compromised with governmental censors by removing a few offending paragraphs from the Finished Mystery book, a book that has long since been discarded as worthless nonsense. (See article on Back Page: The Unfinished Mystery)

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Greater Cyrus, Jesus Christ, liberated the International Bible Students from captivity to Babylon the Great, even though there were only eight Bible Students who were actually incarcerated at the time. (Faith on the March) 

Granted, the persecution of the Watchtower Society back then was fomented by the clergy, but surely Rutherford and company getting out of jail on bail hardly parallels the grand deliverance the Jews experienced when Cyrus captured Babylon and then opened the way for them to return and rebuild Jerusalem. 

Since Isaiah’s prophecy against Babylon places it in the context of the day of Jehovah, it ought to be clear that the prophecy does indeed foreshadow something of much greater significance than what took place two and a half millennia ago. But the question to consider is if the ancient Chaldean empire actually foreshadows Revelation’s Babylon the Great. After all, Babylon was a formidable military force that conquered, plundered and subjugated many nations and peoples by the edge of the sword; whereas, Babylon the Great misleads the world through her spiritism and commits fornication with the kings of the earth. 

Now compare Isaiah 13:6-8 with passages in Joel:

“Howl, you people, for the day of Jehovah is near! As a despoiling from the Almighty it will come. That is why all hands themselves will drop down, and the whole heart itself of mortal man will melt. And people have become disturbed. Convulsions and birth pains themselves grab hold; like a woman that is giving birth they have labor pains. They look at each other in amazement. Their faces are inflamed faces.”

At Joel 1:5-6 God similarly calls for his people to howl because of their having been overrun by invasionary forces: “Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; and howl, all you wine drinkers, on account of sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouths. For there is a nation that has come up into my land, mighty and without number.”

And as with Isaiah, Joel also describes the event as the precursor to the day of Jehovah, saying at Joel 1:15: “Alas for the day; because the day of Jehovah is near, and like a despoiling from the Almighty One it will come!”

Also, the imagery of Joel 2:6 is nearly identical with the passage of Isaiah quoted above - “Because of it, peoples will be in severe pains. As for all faces, they will certainly collect a glow of excitement.”

There are other parallels. Isaiah 13:9-11 states: “Look! The day of Jehovah itself is coming, cruel both with fury and with burning anger, in order to make the land an object of astonishment, and that it may annihilate the land’s sinners out of it. For the very stars of the heavens and their constellations of Kesil will not flash forth their light; the sun will actually grow dark at its going forth, and the moon itself will not cause its light to shine.”

Joel 2:1-2 reads: “Blow a horn in Zion, O men, and shout a war cry in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land get agitated; for the day of Jehovah is coming, for it is near! It is a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick gloom, like light of dawn spread out upon the mountains.”

Since there is only one day of Jehovah, the prophecy of Joel and the prophecy of Isaiah must be speaking to the same event - an event that far exceeds in severity anything that happened in the ancient past.

An interesting aspect of the prophecy of Joel, unlike all the other Hebrew prophecies (excepting portions of Daniel), Joel had no minor fulfillment in connection with ancient Judah or Jerusalem, yet it foretells that God will destroy the nations and save “Jerusalem” during the day of Jehovah. 

Any sober reading of the prophecy of Joel ought to be understood to be depicting a global calamity that brings and end to the ministerial work of God’s people and sends them reeling in confusion. (See chapter: Joel) That being the case, and in view of the obvious parallels, the 13th chapter of Isaiah must likewise relate to a greater Babylon acting in the capacity of Jehovah’s appointed executioner. 

One other important connection worth noting. Ezekiel and Jeremiah foretold that God’s judgments would come upon Jerusalem from out of the north. Daniel likewise foretells of a king of the north who will overrun God’s decorated land during the climatic time of the end. Also, during the time of the end the king fierce in countenance directs his world conquest in all directions, except the north, indicating that he also attacks from out of the symbolic north. Ezekiel likewise prophesied of a symbolic Gog attacking God’s sanctuary from out of the remotest parts of the north during the final part of the days. Isaiah also depicts God’s avenger as a smoke from the north. Lastly, the locust, caterpillar and cockroach onslaught that is destined to devour the world is also called “the northerner.” 

All of these entities attacking from the north symbolize the same thing. Putting these pieces of the prophetic puzzle together reveals that the 13th chapter of Isaiah is depicting Babylon, not as the world empire of false religion, but as the short-lived eighth king of Revelation, symbolized as the seven-headed scarlet-colored beast from the abyss; which, to be sure, will initially have the harlot of Babylon seated upon it, but as as part of its world-wrecking work in behalf of Jehovah, will ultimately devour her. 

But before the harlot is destroyed, the last king is destined to trample Jehovah’s earthly organization - the Watchtower Society and Jehovah’s Witnesses. That is the topic of the next installment of Isaiah. 

to be continued...

Jehovah's Counsel Against All The Earth

“O how you have fallen from heaven, you shining one, son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the earth, you who were disabling the nations!"

The fall of mighty Babylon vindicated Jehovah as the true God. Not only had he foretold that Babylon would serve as his punishing agent, wrecking all the earth, but God foretold the name of the man who would bring Babylon down, nearly two centuries before he was even born - naming Cyrus as the anointed of Jehovah, the liberator of God’s oppressed people; obviously, a type of Christ. 

In conjunction with that, in the latter chapters of the same prophecy of Isaiah the repatriated Jews and company were said to have been ushered into a new heavens and new earth. To be sure, that expression is also used in the 2nd letter of Peter and in Revelation, both in reference to the system to come. 

That being the case, the prophetic account of the fall of ancient Babylon did not merely vindicate God as a foreteller of future events, it led to the complete accomplishment of God’s overall purpose.

In the larger scheme of things Babylon’s overthrow must stand as a vivid pattern for the downfall of the last kingdom and the entire present system - including the iniquitous harlot, which is seemingly inseparably linked to the last king; thus, Babylon the great

Since ancient Babylon was a extremely religious society - invoking Marduk and a pantheon of lesser gods and goddesses, including the triad Shamash, Sin and Ishtar - to bless their warring and plundering, the prophecy of Isaiah makes no distinction between the empire and its demon-worshipping religion. 

Consider now, more closely, the recorded judgment upon the kingdom of Babylon. Isaiah 14:15-20 states: 

“However, down to Sheol you will be brought, to the remotest parts of the pit. Those seeing you will gaze even at you; they will give close examination even to you, saying, ‘Is this the man that was agitating the earth, that was making kingdoms rock, that made the productive land like the wilderness and that overthrew its very cities, that did not open the way homeward even for his prisoners?’ All other kings of the nations, yes, all of them, have lain down in glory, each one in his own house. But as for you, you have been thrown away without a burial place for you, like a detested sprout, clothed with killed men stabbed with the sword that are going down to the stones of a pit, like a carcass trodden down. You will not become united with them in a grave, because you brought your own land to ruin, you killed your own people. To time indefinite the offspring of evildoers will not be named.”

There is no reason to conclude that the literal Babylon of antiquity has been denied a place of honor alongside all the other kingdoms and empires that have existed down through the ages. The rise and fall of Babylon is just as much a part of the history of this system as any kingdom.

The fact that the 14th chapter of Isaiah depicts Babylon as being denied an honorable burial, unlike all the other great kings of the earth that have come and gone down through the centuries, indicates that the slaughter of Babylon finds a parallel to the judgment revealed in the last book of the Bible upon the kings of earth, whose slaughtered carcasses are destined to be left to rot on Armageddon’s battlefield, to serve as a carrion feast for all the birds. 

It is interesting that the reason given for the harsh judgment upon Babylon is because he killed his own people. This in spite of the fact, that, in reality, Babylon killed Jehovah’s people and multitudes of people in all the nations round-about.  There is no evidence that the kingdom actually committed genocide against the Babylonian people themselves. 

Why then does the prophecy indict Babylon for killing its own people? 

Because, as already stated in this article, and elsewhere on this site, Babylon typifies the last kingdom. The last kingdom is destined to be a world government - superseding the authority presently exercised by individual, national sovereignties. In that eventuality, all the people of the world would be under his rule; hence, “your own people.” 

Contrary to the Watchtower’s assertion that the United Nations is currently functioning as the eighth king, alongside the seventh, the last king has not come to power yet. (For a more detailed discussion see the chapters entitled: Downfall of America and An Eighth King)

The United Nations will most likely become the eighth king, but presently it is merely a hollow, bureaucratic shell, waiting to be empowered when once all the goatlike leaders of the nations are made to get up off their thrones, as Isaiah 14:9 foretells, saying: “Even Sheol underneath has become agitated at you in order to meet you on coming in. At you it has awakened those impotent in death, all the goatlike leaders of the earth. It has made all the kings of the nations get up from their thrones.”

But the mechanism for “disabling the nations,” as described in the 12th verse, may well be the financial trap that is clearly in place at this present moment in time; whereby, the nations have been seduced into taking on massive amounts of debt - even the debts imposed upon them through the fraudulent schemes of the bankers, who have literally ensnared nations, states and municipalities in their inscrutable derivatives swindle - now threatening them with credit downgrades, waging financial war upon their bonds and currencies, and no doubt in some cases through intimidation, threatening outright violence through their control over mafia assassins and terrorist assets. 

"IS THIS THE MAN THAT WAS AGITATING THE EARTH?"

It is noteworthy that Isaiah refers to the Babylon as a single individual, a man, saying at verse 16:  “‘Is this the man that was agitating the earth, that was making kingdoms rock...?”’

Today there are no individual kings that wield such great power. True, the British royal family possess unimaginable wealth and power. Her Majesty, the Queen, possesses more property around the world than any private entity - more than ten times that of the second largest private landholder - a member of the Saudi royal family. (Who Owns the World?)

But the truth is, there is an unseen entity that possesses greater power then mere monarchies and kingdoms - it is the so-called "invisible hand," the financier oligarchy. And of all the most powerful banking dynasties in existence today, none are as wealthy, powerful or influential as the secretive Rothschild family. 

Whereas, the Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the world measures their riches in the tens of billions, the Rothschild family controls wealth in the trillions. Through the European Inter-Alpha Group of banks, Rothschild presides over a banking empire that controls an unbelievable 80% of the world’s finances. 

Over the 250 years the family has been in business the Rothschild bankers have reputedly profited fabulously by financing both sides of every war. And as is common knowledge, the British East India Company invented the dope business and to this day many of the most prominent banks and their offshore hedge funds launder hundreds of billions from the illicit trade of narcotics. It may well be that the flood of dope money is the only thing keeping the banking system from complete collpase!

During the heyday of the British Empire Nathan Rothschild is quoted as boasting: "I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man who controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply." - The Independent

No doubt the same principle applies today; even more so, as a small clique of bankers control the entire world’s money supply. 

(By the way, the linked-to Independent news article on the end of the Rothschild gold trading monopoly made the statement that the family never established itself in the United States. That is not true. It is true in so far as they did not set up a private investment bank, but when one takes into consideration the fact that the United States Federal Reserve bank that was secretly set up and put in place in the dark of night is actually a privately owned corporation - reportedly owned by eight primarily European banking families - we may be fairly certain that one family is Rothschild - Who Owns the FED?)

When Jesus was on earth he faced the Tempter, who once boasted that all authority had been given him, and to whomever he wants to, he gives it. Apparently, these past two centuries Satan has foremost entrusted his world to the custody of a coven of financiers grouped around the Crown and the City of London, the Rothschilds being the most prominent of the financiers. 

As it stands presently, though, their monetarist, predatory, debt system has reached the end of the line, in that, it has seemingly extracted all the wealth from the world that is not absolutely vital for the maintenance of earth’s teeming numbers. If not continually fed though, their engorged debt bubble will contract and implode. The only alternative is to create money without limit, which will achieve the same result through a hyperinflationary explosion. Truly, we are witnessing the heading up to a conclusion of a long-standing, global system of things.

In the face of this reality it is becoming more apparent by the day that the empire of the financiers is making a move to begin the wholesale liquidation of vast numbers of humans in order to maintain their dominance. Apparently, their scheme is to completely offload their trillions of worthless debt obligations upon the governments, as has already been done in part, taking advantage of the many corrupt, negligent and downright stupid public officials, with the intent of sinking entire nations economically - killing off large numbers of their citizens in the process. And no doubt the apocalyptic horsemen bringing global war, famine and pestilence will assist to that end. 

By scuttling the present bankrupt system of independent nation-states, for their own convenience the financiers intend to throw their power behind the United Nations and use it as a supranational, world government, preventing the nations from recovering their power. To be sure, the constitutional system, such as has existed in America and which has defended and protected the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses up until this very moment, will become a thing of the past, unleashing an unprecedented flood of persecution and tyranny upon those “who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.” - Revelation 12:17

At some point afterwards the system of organized religion known as Babylon the great will be destroyed as well. In this way, the last king will rock all the nations and kill his own people. But what is meant by his ascending above the stars of God? 

“ABOVE THE STARS OF GOD I SHALL LIFT UP MY THRONE”

In the language of scripture stars may be a symbolic reference to the angels. Stars may also represent the sons of the kingdom. For example, as regards the last king, which is depicted in the eighth chapter of Daniel as a king fierce in countenance, the prophecy states: “And it kept getting greater all the way to the army of the heavens, so that it caused some of the army and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it went trampling them down. And all the way to the Prince of the army it put on great airs, and from him the constant feature was taken away, and the established place of his sanctuary was thrown down.”

Contrary to the Watchtower’s insistence that Jehovah is the Prince of the army, in actuality Christ is the great prince who leads God’s people. And since the prophecy is earmarked for fulfillment during the climatic “time of the end,” long after the time the Jewish sanctuary was thrown down by the Romans, the sanctuary due to be thrown down is the spiritual congregation of Christ. 

As is known, when once the parousia commences those dead who belong to Christ are resurrected first, in what is called "the first resurrection." Those chosen ones who are living during the return of Jesus are called “the remaining ones" because they are remaining on earth even while their anointed forerunners are joined with Christ in heaven. So, it is the small congregation of remaining ones who are like stars, since during the parousia, they will at some point see the glorious Christ and be transformed to be like him. They already have a place reserved for them in heaven which they will occupy when they are changed in the twinkling of an eye upon their inevitable death as humans.

In effect, though, prior to their deaths, the remaining ones will be given a full share in the kingdom at the coming of Christ, making them immortal kings even while in the flesh. For that reason they are appropriately symbolized as heavenly bodies - stars. 

The apostle John wrote of this phenomenon: “Beloved ones, now we are children of God, but as yet it has not been made manifest what we shall be. We do know that whenever he is made manifest we shall be like him, because we shall see him just as he is.” - 1 John 3:2

Obviously, the manifestation of Christ is not in reference to his revealing himself to heavenly creatures; after all, the revelation of someone or something means to reveal that which was previously undisclosed. Surely Christ does not need to be manifest or revealed to heaven’s audience?

Furthermore, at 1 John 2:26-28 the apostle exhorts the little children of God, saying to them: “These things I write you about those who are trying to mislead you. And as for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to be teaching you; but, as the anointing from him is teaching you about all things, and is true and is no lie, and just as it has taught you, remain in union with him. So now, little children, remain in union with him, that when he is made manifest we may have freeness of speech and not be shamed away from him at his presence.”

It is not reasonable that resurrected, immortals could be shamed away from Christ. No, the manifestation, or presence (parousia), will be on earth and as stated above, the children of God “shall see him just as he is” - that is to say, they will seem him as the glorious Christ, as Peter, James and John saw him on the Mount of the Transfiguration, which was, as Peter later wrote, a foregleam of his power and presence (parousia). 

Now, if the “little children” will see Jesus as he is, and not only that, but “shall be like him” when he is made manifest, we have a better appreciation what Paul meant when he stated that all creation was waiting for the revealing of the sons of God.

In other words, the sons of God upon the earth will, with unveiled faces reflect the glory of Jehovah. Or as Christ himself described the phenomenon - ‘the chosen ones will shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.’

Returning now to the 14th chapter of Isaiah, verses 12-14, which read: “O how you have fallen from heaven, you shining one, son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the earth, you who were disabling the nations! As for you, you have said in your heart, ‘To the heavens I shall go up. Above the stars of God I shall lift up my throne, and I shall sit down upon the mountain of meeting, in the remotest parts of the north. I shall go up above the high places of the clouds; I shall make myself resemble the Most High.’”

The 12th chapter of Revelation portrays the great dragon being hurled down from heaven with all his wicked angels in tow. The debased dragon then pulls down a third of the stars with his tail. 

Again, the stars represent the sons of the kingdom, the minority of whom (one-third) are on earth at that time. How then does he remove them from heaven? Satan’s going off to wage war upon the remaining ones results in his victoriously killing off all of the earthly sons of the kingdom, or as it says in the eighth chapter of Daniel, he tramples upon the stars. In that way the shining one, “the son of the dawn,” which appears to be a reference to the occultic Golden Dawn and their Illuminati, satanic new world order, exalts himself above the anointed stars of heaven - placing his own throne above God's. The brothers of Christ will be forced from off the earth, making it appear as if the shining one is the master of the world. (See article: Will Christianity Survive the End of the World? & The Secret Society of Lucifer)

But the instantaneously resurrected holy ones will then join Christ and the rest of the 144,000 kings and charge onto the battlefield to engage the shining one and his demonic controllers. Thus, Jehovah will avenge himself upon the Devil's world for their having indirectly put Christ to death by killing his brothers.

Ironically, various patriot groups and those who mistakenly imagine they are doing the work of Jesus, are urgently working to expose and oppose the banker’s scheme to take over America and the world. Little do they realize it is not merely a satanic conspiracy, it is the will of Almighty God, Jehovah, to subject a wicked , self-absorbed and godless world to such an inglorious and awful fate. 

“This is the counsel that is counseled against all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. For Jehovah of armies himself has counseled, and who can break it up? And his hand is the one stretched out, and who can turn it back?” - Isaiah 14:26-28

Philistia and the Catholic Church

A continuation of the Isaiah seriesFrom the latter part of the 14th chapter of Isaiah through the 19th chapter, are conveyed Jehovah’s judgments against numerous nations surrounding Israel. However, it is noteworthy that Jehovah entered into judgment with his own nation first. This is in keeping with the axiom that judgment begins with the house of God.

Although the 13^th and 14^th chapters relate the end of the executioners, namely Babylon and Assyria, the prophecy of Isaiah is not presented chronologically. Babylon went on to overthrow many other nations before God finally disposed of it. 

So, after Jerusalem and Judah were crushed by Babylon, the tempest from out of the north, as described by Jeremiah, God next called Philistia to account: “And with famine I will put your root to death, and what remains over of you will be killed. Howl, O gate! Cry out, O city! All of you must become disheartened, O Philistia! For out of the north a smoke is coming, and there is no one getting isolated from his ranks.” 

The Philistines were the implacable enemies of Israel dating back to the days of the judges, most notably Samson, whose inspired final performance before the Philistine nobles brought the house down – literally! (Perhaps prefiguring the killing of the last anointed witnesses as the trigger for the destruction of the harlot)

Also, it was the sea-faring Philistines that once captured the sacred Ark of the Covenant and placed it in the temple of their god, Dagon – the fish-headed idol. 

Although Dagon is no longer worshipped, the war-minded demons that promoted false worship and fought against Jehovah’s nation thousands of years ago still exist today and are still worshipped, albeit under a different guise. 

Back in the 1850’s Alexander Hislop published the first edition of the groundbreaking work called The Two Babylons.  Here is what Hislop had to say regarding the modern manifestation of Dagon:

Dagon, the fish-god, represented that deity as a manifestation of the same patriarch who had lived so long in the waters of the deluge. As the Pope bears the key of Janus, so he wears the mitre of Dagon. The excavations of Nineveh have put this beyond all possibility of doubt. 

The Papal mitre is entirely different from the mitre of Aaron and the Jewish high priests. That mitre was a turban. The two-horned mitre, which the Pope wears, when he sits on the high altar at Rome and receives the adoration of the Cardinals, is the very mitre worn by Dagon, the fish-god of the Philistines and Babylonians. 

There were two ways in which Dagon was anciently represented. The one was when he was depicted as half-man half-fish; the upper part being entirely human, the under part ending in the tail of a fish. The other was, when, to use the words of Layard, "the head of the fish formed a mitre above that of the man, while its scaly, fan-like tail fell as a cloak behind, leaving the human limbs and feet exposed." 

Of Dagon in this form Layard gives a representation in his last work; and no one who examines his mitreA, and compares it with the Pope's as given in Elliot's Horoe, can doubt for a moment that from that, and no other source, has the pontifical mitre been derived. The gaping jaws of the fish surmounting the head of the man at Nineveh are the unmistakable counterpart of the horns of the Pope's mitre at Rome. 

As the modern priests of Dagon, it was as if the Catholic Church captured the Christian “ark,” in the sense that the popes claimed ownership of the Holy Scriptures and prevented their translation into the common languages of Europeans. Those who promoted the Bible as the sole authority were often tortured and murdered by the Vatican’s henchmen. Eventually, though, the Scriptures were delivered to Christians who would use it to promote the worship of Jehovah and the faith of Christ as a preliminary to the judgment.

In more modern times Catholic and Orthodox priests have incited mobs to attack Jehovah’s Witnesses in order to do Dagon’s bidding. The book Enemies certainly exposed the Catholic Church’s deep-seated hatred of the truth. Rutherford’s tactics against the clergy might be likened to the terrorism Samson employed against the Philistines, when he set their wheat fields in flames by lighting fire to the tails of foxes. 

But in connection with the doom of the Philistine nation, Jehovah declared: “And what will anyone say in answer to the messengers of the nation? That Jehovah himself has laid the foundation of Zion, and in her the afflicted ones of his people will take refuge.” 

Although Zion was destroyed by Babylon, Zion, or Jerusalem, was a place of refuge during the Assyrian invasions. In that respect the prophecy relates to the ultimate coming of Christ’s kingdom – the heavenly Mount Zion. During that time of judgment and salvation all the demon worshipping religions of the earth will be effaced by the eighth king, also depicted as the king of the north in Daniel.

To be continued...

(Articles in the Isaiah series that originally appear on this front page are afterwards archived in descending order on the Isaiah page)

The Judgment of Moab

The 15^th and 16^th chapters of Isaiah are devoted exclusively to the denunciation of Moab. Moab, along with Ammon, were the nations that descended from Abraham’s nephew, Lot – the sons born by his daughters after their mother had been turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying the angel of Jehovah. 

As the Watchtower’s commentary on Isaiah points out, although closely related to the children of Abraham, having a similar language and customs, the Moabites and Hebrews were long-time enemies. The Jews, of course, were bound by the law covenant to exclusively worship Jehovah. The Moabites were not under any such covenant. Nevertheless, that did not mean they were not accountable to Jehovah.

As explained in numerous articles on this site, both the Assyrian and Babylonian military campaigns picture various aspects of the world conquest of the 8^th king.

Usually Moab and Ammon, along with Edom, are mentioned together in prophecy – but not in Isaiah. (See Amos and Obadiah)  What is more significant is that Moab, Ammon and Edom are used in prophecy to represent modern entities. That is evident by reason of the fact that the three now-nonexistent nations appear in the prophecy of Daniel during the time of the end. (Daniel 11:41)

Because Edom, Moab and Ammon were related to the Israelites and lived in the same region, yet worshipped different gods, the trio of nations must symbolize the three main branches of Christendom in relation to the spiritual Jews living today – Moab perhaps representing Protestantism.

With this connection in mind consider now Isaiah 16:4-6, which reads: “May my dispersed ones reside as aliens even in you, O Moab. Become a place of concealment to them because of the despoiler. For the oppressor has reached his end; the despoiling has terminated; those trampling down others have been finished off the earth.  And in loving-kindness a throne will certainly be firmly established; and one must sit down upon it in trueness in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice and being prompt in righteousness.”

The Watchtower recognizes the fact that Moab symbolizes Christendom and that Isaiah’s reference to the establishment of a throne of loving-kindness in the tent of David pertains to the establishment of the kingdom of Christ – the messianic son of David. However, Bethel’s seers offer no explanation as to a modern parallel regarding the requirement that the Moabites become a place of concealment for Jehovah’s dispersed ones. That is because the Watchtower Society is blind to Jehovah’s judgments, even as Isaiah’s prophecy foretells.

Since all prophecy is harmonious, this portion of Isaiah is in harmony with the parable of the sheep and the goats. Just as the Moabites would be judged as to whether they offered assistance to the besieged Israelites, Jesus explained that when the Son of man arrives and sits down on his glorious throne (“the tent of David”) then all the nations would be gathered before him for judgment. All peoples would be judged as to whether they offered assistance to Christ’s brothers (“my dispersed ones) during their time of persecution and hardship.

The reason the Watchtower Society is silent on the matter is because they have convinced Jehovah’s Witnesses that God’s judgment against the modern day house of God took place back in 1918. There is nothing in the Watchtower’s prophetic exegesis that allows for a despoiling and trampling down of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses – this in spite of the fact that Christ also foretold that a disgusting thing (the oppressor) will trample God’s holy place.

The concluding verse of the 16th chapter of Isaiah offers a bit of chronology that may have relevance to the time of the destruction of Babylon the great. That verse reads:  And now Jehovah has spoken, saying: “Within three years, according to the years of a hired laborer, the glory of Moab must also be disgraced with much commotion of every sort, and those who remain over will be a trifling few, not mighty.”

Since is has already been established that the prophecy relates to the coming of Christ, it may well prove to be the case that three years into the 1,260 day period of the time of the end that Christendom and Babylon the great will go down in disgrace.

To be continued…

Earthling man will look up to his Maker

This article is a continuation of the Isaiah series

The 17^th chapter of Isaiah is the denunciation of Damascus and Israel. But like most prophecies, although the setting is in ancient times the prophetic message pertains to the time of the end.

That ought to be evident from the concluding part of the prophecy, which says: “Ha for the commotion of many peoples, who are boisterous as with the boisterousness of the seas! And for the noise of national groups, who make a din just like the noise of mighty waters! The national groups themselves will make a din just like the noise of many waters. And He will certainly rebuke it, and it must flee far away and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before a wind and like a thistle whirl before a storm wind.”

“The commotion of many peoples, who are boisterous” like the mighty waters of a stormy sea, is a reference to the tumult of nations that will occur when the god of this world, Satan the Devil, is hurled down to the earth when once Christ begins wielding his mighty kingdom power.

Jesus similarly foretold that during the conclusion of the system the nations would be brought into a terrifying situation from which they would not know the way out, due to the roaring of the sea and its agitation. So, it is clear that God’s pronouncements against Damascus and Israel have prophetic significance far beyond those literal kingdoms of antiquity.

Damascus was one of the oldest cities on earth. (Although there is presently a city called Damascus in Syria, apparently it is not on the same site as the original.) It was in existence when Abram first sojourned through the land after leaving Ur. Due to a mild climate and abundant water from the mountain run-off, the region was agriculturally rich. Its geographic location also destined ancient Damascus to become an important center of trade and commerce. Eventually it became a powerful military force too and the capital of several Syrian kingdoms. Both the northern kingdom of Israel and Judah were alternatingly allies and enemies of Damascus.

But Jehovah’s decree was that Damascus should become a heap of ruin. The opening words of the prophecy state: ‘“Look! Damascus removed from being a city, and she has become a heap, a decaying ruin. The cities of Aroer that have been left behind become mere places for droves, where they actually lie down, with no one to make them tremble. And the fortified city has been made to cease out of Ephraim, and the kingdom out of Damascus; and those of Syria remaining over will become just like the glory of the sons of Israel,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.”

It is in the context of the overthrow of Damascus that a “harvest” occurs. Isaiah 17:4-6 states: ‘“And it must occur in that day that the glory of Jacob will become lowly, and even the fatness of his flesh will be made lean. And it must occur that when the harvester is gathering the standing grain and his own arm harvests the ears of grain, he must even become like one gleaning ears of grain in the low plain of Rephaim. And there must remain in it a gleaning as when there is a beating off of the olive tree: two or three ripe olives in the top of the branch; four or five on the fruit-bearing boughs thereof,’ is the utterance of Jehovah the God of Israel.”

God had always purposed that he would use Jacob, or Israel alternatively, to produce a righteous people, the Messiah being foremost. But when the Messiah was on earth, because so many of the Jews were faithless, he told them that the kingdom of God was being taken from them and given to a nation producing its fruit. That “nation” is what Paul called “the Israel of God” – Christ’s congregation. And did not Jesus speak of a great harvest that would take place during “a conclusion of a system of things”? So, it is apparent that “Jacob” represents the congregation from which Christ will harvest the faithful.

From the very beginning, when the people congregated at the foot of the mountain while Moses spoke with God, the Israelites have succumbed to idolatry. Beginning with Aaron’s golden calf, to the Baals and Solomon’s glorification of Moloch and Chemosh, the sons of Jacob repeatedly lapsed into idolatry.

That tendency was expressed in the new Israel too, albeit more subtly; evidenced by the situation that existed in the Corinthian congregation, whereby some believers proclaimed themselves to belong to Paul. Others claimed to belong to Apollos.

But idolatry is idolatry, whether it is bowing to some golden calf or claiming to belong to some religious leader. Idolatry is anything that stands in the place reserved for God.

Since sinful humans are inclined to give worshipful honors to creation rather than to the Creator, it should come as no surprise that idolatry will exist in the Christian society when Christ returns to accomplish the harvest. It is the very judgment of Christ that will, once and for all time, disabuse “Jacob” of the idolatrous form of worship he practices. It could be said that God’s intention to destroy idolatry is a sub-theme of the prophecy of Isaiah.

When Jesus commissioned his followers to go make disciples they copied Jesus’ example and walked through the land speaking to people in their homes, shops, on the streets, in market places, in the synagogues and temple. Since handwritten copies of the Scriptures were valuable and rare it is doubtful that very many early Christians even owned a personal copy of any Hebrew scroll.

John WycliffeAfter Constantine incorporated apostate Christianity into the Roman imperial system the preaching work of the original Christians effectively came to an end. Christendom became the means to keep the truth from the people. Anyone who dared to translate the Bible out of Latin or who preached anything other than that sanctioned by the pope were considered enemies of the Church. Fortunately, there were those few who dared.

In the 13^th century there was Peter Waldo, whose followers, the Waldensians, were itinerate preachers. In 14^th century England there was John Wycliffe and his followers known as the Lollards, who also were preachers.

But because it was not the appointed time for the truth to shine those groups were reabsorbed back into the black hole of Christendom. But the invention of the printing press in the 15^th century broke the power of the Church of Rome and London to keep the Bible locked in dying Latin. Jehovah apparently moved capable men to translate the Bible into the common languages of Europeans and with the new technology of the day Bibles could be printed in English, German, French, and Dutch faster than the clergy could burn them.

At the same time the Bible was becoming available to the common man the age of colonization began and the European colonialists and pilgrims set out with Bible in hand. With the founding of America – far from the reaches of the diabolical Vatican and the Church of England – interest in the Bible flourished. In spite of the newfound religious freedom, though, the new generations of Bible readers were still laboring under centuries of accumulated error heaped upon them by the clergy. But with the appearance of the International Bible Students in the late 19^th century the basic truth of the Scriptures began to flicker to life and the work of the kingdom began anew – this in advance of the harvest.

From the humble beginnings of Russell and his followers, the Watchtower Society has become a prominent global institution. It is reckoned as one of the top 50 corporations in New York City. Its Brooklyn complex is highly coveted real estate with an estimated market value of $1,000,000,000. Thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses have volunteered, some on a full-time basis, to build Watchtower Society facilities such as assembly halls, branch offices and factories and kingdom halls by the thousands. Every such structure is dedicated to God and undoubtedly has served to advance the all-important preaching work Christ commanded to be done. Because these facilities are an integral part of the worship of Jehovah’s Witnesses they have come to be viewed as indispensible – being reverently viewed as part of Jehovah’s “visible organization.”

The Governing Body has even forced persons who have been baptized in recent decades to publicly declare in their baptismal vow that they recognize themselves to be part of Jehovah’s “spirit-directed organization.” In other words, Christians have been induced to declare themselves to belong to an earthly, human institution – making themselves followers of men!

Still, there is no denying that Jehovah’s Witnesses, under the direction of their Watchtower, have accomplished a great work. But it must also be recognized that God does not need any sort of publishing company. First century Christians accomplished a great work too, with much less than Jehovah’s Witnesses have today. Jesus assured us that God could cause lifeless stones to cry out in witness to the truth if he chose to.

But on this matter of the Watchtower Society assuming the role of God’s “spirit-directed organization,” here are a few pertinent questions: Did God’s spirit direct the leadership of the Society to enter into a political partnership with the United Nations – the criteria for which, required Bethel to use a portion of their God-dedicated, publishing resources to promote the programs and activities of the UN? (See: Strange Bedfellows)

Are we to believe God’s spirit led the Society’s lawyers to deny that Christian elders have any fiduciary obligation to protect children from being preyed upon by pedophiles in the congregations they oversee? (See blog entry: Do Elders Have a Fiduciary Duty?)

Could God’s spirit of truth possibly be responsible for leading the Watchtower to promote a false parousia since its inception? (See article: Who is Behind 1914, Really?)

Keep in mind that even faithful men whom God once used to lead his people made grave errors of judgment. Moses once took credit to himself for miraculously providing the Israelites with water from a crag. Moses’ act of taking God’s glory to himself cost him the privilege of entering the Promised land. King Solomon, who had the privilege of writing three books in the Bible, eventually became apostate, which led to Israel being torn into competing kingdoms.

So it is today, like Moses, the Governing Body have glorified themselves as the faithful slave who provides nothing but the choicest fruits of truth direct from God’s mouth. They have required that Jehovah’s Witnesses recognize the organization as being the spirit-directed master of their faith. Similar to Solomon, the Governing Body has had the privilege of publishing Bibles and Bible commentaries and having their words read by millions of people who wish to know God, but from that institution has also come apostasy! (See article: The Apostasy Must Come First)

It is in connection with the earthly, visible organization, Jehovah’s Witnesses have built numerous altars, incense stands and sacred poles, as it were. And in the context of the tumult of nations, the next span of verse states: “In that day earthling man will look up to his Maker, and his own eyes will gaze at the Holy One of Israel himself. And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; and at what his fingers have made he will not gaze, either at the sacred poles or at the incense stands. In that day his fortress cities will become like a place left entirely in the woodland, even the branch that they have left entirely on account of the sons of Israel; and it must become a desolate waste. For you have forgotten the God of your salvation; and the Rock of your fortress you have not remembered. That is why you plant pleasant plantations, and with the shoot of a stranger you set it. In the day you may carefully fence about the plantation of yours, and in the morning you may cause the seed of yours to sprout, but the harvest will certainly flee in the day of the disease and incurable pain.”

The entire organizational structure, which is the focal point of the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, is destined to be abandoned. Kingdom halls, like “fortress cities,” will be left entirely. The “pleasant plantations” (“visible organization”) that Jehovah’s Witnesses have planted, will suddenly become like a desolate waste. The preaching of the good news will unexpectedly cease – “the harvest will certainly flee in the day.” (See chapter: Joel)

Because from the beginning the Watchtower has been inseparably tied to the 1914 operation of error, and all of Jehovah’s Witnesses are required to accept their artfully contrived false story of an invisible parousia, it is as though the plantations of truth the Society has carefully cultivated around the world are also set with the “shoot of a stranger” – the man of lawlessness.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have come to trust the Watchtower Society at the expense of Jehovah. For that reason the sudden collapse of the Society will be the day of “disease and incurable pain.” (See chapter: Collapse of the Watchtower)

With the all-imposing Watchtower (on the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses) laid low (made lean), earthling man will be forced to look to his Maker – the Holy One of Israel himself. Jehovah will then have accomplished his purpose in connection with the "visible organization."

Indeed, if the laying low of the Watchtower results in God gaining glory for himself, what true lover of Jehovah would object to such an outcome?

Note: Because Damascus was an important commercial center with which Israel was at times allied, Damascus may picture the world’s financial system today – or more specifically, Wall Street. It is no secret that the Watchtower Society has now partnered with the big hedge funds and is evidently using the master’s money to place big bets in the global financial casino, which may well, be the Society’s undoing come the inevitable hyperinflationary blowout. (See article The Watchtower Society Hedge Fund)

To be continued...

A Gift Will Be Brought to Jehovah of Armies

Continuation of Isaiah seriesThe 18^th chapter of Isaiah opens with these words: “Ha for the land of the whirring insects with wings, which is in the region of the rivers of Ethiopia! It is the one sending forth envoys by means of the sea, and by means of vessels of papyrus upon the surface of the waters, saying: ‘Go, you swift messengers, to a nation drawn out and scoured, to a people fear-inspiring everywhere, a nation of tensile strength and of treading down, whose land the rivers have washed away.’”

What is the land of the whirring insects with wings and what is the message of the envoys God commands them to send forth? And who are the fear-inspiring people and the nation of tensile strength to whom the messengers are sent?

Over the years that I have studied prophecy I have revisited the 18^th chapter of Isaiah many times to ponder it’s possible meaning. It remains maddeningly inscrutable. What seems clear, though, is that, the prophecy is intended to apply to the ultimate success of God’s purpose at the conclusion of the present system of things.

And what is God’s purpose?

As all of Jehovah’s Witnesses know, God’s grand, over-arching purpose is to bring forth a new creation composed of 144,001 humans that will ultimately be reborn into immortal, incorruptible spirits. Jesus is, of course, “the firstborn among many brothers,” as Paul described the Christ.

Because Mount Zion was the original site of the physical temple of God and the place where Jehovah initially caused his name to reside, Zion is used throughout prophecy as a symbol of God’s heavenly place of dwelling, where the new creation will also reign.

Now consider the last verse of the 18^th chapter: “In that time a gift will be brought to Jehovah of armies, from a people drawn out and scoured, even from a people fear-inspiring everywhere, a nation of tensile strength and of treading down, whose land the rivers have washed away, to the place of the name of Jehovah of armies, Mount Zion.”

The nation of treading down accomplishes God’s purpose by presenting to him a gift. What is that gift? The verses preceding supply the answer: “All you inhabitants of the productive land and you residents of the earth, you will see a sight just as when there is the raising up of a signal upon the mountains, and you will hear a sound just as when there is the blowing of a horn. For this is what Jehovah has said to me: ‘I will keep undisturbed and look upon my established place, like the dazzling heat along with the light, like the cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For before the harvest, when the blossom comes to perfection and the bloom becomes a ripening grape, one must also cut off the sprigs with pruning shears and must remove the tendrils, must lop them off. They will be left all together for the bird of prey of the mountains and for the beast of the earth. And upon it the bird of prey will certainly pass the summer, and upon it even every beast of the earth will pass the harvesttime.”

As is common knowledge, the harvest is the concluding phase of the vinedresser’s season-long work. But just as the previous chapter foretold the harvest would unexpectedly cease, so too this prophecy. Before the grapes can be gathered they are lopped off and left for the birds of prey and the beasts of the earth? What does this analogy signify in reality?

As Jesus foretold in his illustration, the harvest is a conclusion of a system of things, which is also known as the time of the end in the Hebrew texts. According to the prophecy of Daniel, the time of the end is marked by very specific, earth shaking developments among the nations that will have a profound impact upon the holy ones – (those invited to be part of the new creation.) What developments?

The eighth chapter of Daniel foretells that a king fierce in countenance will bring to ruin the mighty ones of the world, along with the holy ones, during a freedom for care.

The 11^th chapter of Daniel foretells that the king of the north will flood over all the lands during the time of the end and that he will even enter into the land of the Decoration. The land of the Decoration is God’s possession; or, as it states in the prophecy under consideration: “For this is what Jehovah has said to me: ‘I will keep undisturbed and look upon my established place, like the dazzling heat along with the light, like the cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.’”

Interestingly, the king of the north also subjugates “Ethiopia.” Ethiopia is referred to in Isaiah as the land of the whirring winged insects. It appears, then, that the “land of the whirring insects with wings” are the same as the locust swarms depicted in Joel that overrun God’s earthly sanctuary. The land washed away by the rivers parallels the lands flooded over by the king of the north.

Keep in mind that the rulers of the present evil world are not necessarily literal kings of individual nations. The real human rulers are the aristocratic oligarchs – powerful families that have ruled Europe for centuries. True, nominally they are grouped around the British Crown and lesser thrones of Europe. But even those literal kingdoms are expendable. The real levers of power are exerted through control of the monetary and financial systems. Through that mechanism the elites are able to control sovereign nations and through their control over political nations it is as though a single king can muster vast armies.

The prophecy of Joel portrays in symbolism God’s established place being overrun and the harvest devoured by Jehovah’s own military force, yet the assault merely accomplishes God’s purpose and the nations are ultimately destroyed. That would seem to be the message contained in this portion of Isaiah.

“Jehovah will remain undisturbed” while his established place is trampled. That trampling will serve as a sign to the nations that Christ’s kingdom has come.

The nations will see a sight, in what sense? They will witness nation rising against nation on a scale never before seen. According to Joel, the final sealing and outpouring of holy spirit will proceed after the harvest is interrupted and will be accompanied by blood and columns of smoke, which is undoubtedly a reference to the fear-inspiring mushroom clouds produced by nuclear explosions. They will see the raising of the signal on the mountains and hear as if the blast of a heavenly trumpet that will indicate Christ reigns upon Mount Zion.

But what is the meaning of the previously cited span: “They will be left all together for the bird of prey of the mountains and for the beast of the earth. And upon it the bird of prey will certainly pass the summer, and upon it even every beast of the earth will pass the harvesttime”?

The bird of prey and the beasts of the field represent the nations that bring the holy ones to ruin during the harvest. The “harvesttime” interval that the beasts are allowed to pass must find a parallel in the 1,260 day time period common to Daniel and Revelation.

But how does the nation of tensile strength present a gift to Jehovah in Mount Zion? By killing the sealed holy ones. Then they are changed in the twinkling of an eye into immortal spirits. When the last one is changed and presented to Jehovah on heavenly Mount Zion God’s purpose comes to a conclusion and the nations are destroyed.

to be continued...

The Doom of the American Republic

A continuation of the Isaiah seriesOther than Israel and Judah no other nation is featured so prominently in the Bible as Egypt. Before God even founded Israel Egypt existed as a great nation.

The father of all those with faith, Abram, along with Sari his beautiful wife, once sought relief from the famine in Canaan by going down to Egypt. Abraham’s offspring did too. In fact, Abraham’s great-grandson, Joseph, was appointed by Jehovah to be food administrator for all of Egypt, which of course, ultimately led to the Israelites becoming a multitudinous people while in slavery in Egypt over the course of four centuries. Over the hundreds of years after the great exodus the Israelites at times faithlessly looked to Egypt for security. And even the infant Jesus was taken to Egypt after Jehovah’s angel ordered Joseph to hide the family there until the murderous Herod died, this in fulfillment of prophecy.

So, Egypt served both as a benefactor and a snare for God’s people.

Because Egypt is an integral part of the history of the development of God’s purpose in connection with the children of Abraham, for that reason Egypt is also a prominent piece of the prophetic puzzle as well.

However, those who are unacquainted with the symbolizations in Bible prophecy may assume that nations of prophecy are the same as the original nations. But that is not how it works. For example, as all of Jehovah’s Witnesses well know, the modern nuclear-armed nation of Israel that came into existence in 1948 is not the Israel of “end-times” prophecy. Fleshly Israel ceased to be God’s nation when Christianity came into existence, particularly when non-Jews were invited to become sharers with Christ, and eventually God demonstrated he had forever cast off Jerusalem when the Roman armies destroyed the city and temple, as Jesus had foretold. So too, the various nations of prophecy have relevance in connection to their relationship to the Christian Israel of God.

To illustrate that fact, Egypt is undoubtedly the original ruling head of the symbolic wild beast of Revelation, which Christ and the holy ones will slay at the world-ending battle of Armageddon. For that reason Ezekiel 32:2 appropriately depicts Egypt as “a maned young lion of nations.” Likewise, the verse following describes Egypt as “the marine monster in the seas.” Bible students will likely recall the similarity to the composite monstrosity of Revelation that comes up out of the sea having seven heads all with the mouth of a lion.

Significantly, “Egypt” also appears in the prophecy of the king of the north and south during the time of the end – long after the Land of the Nile ceased from being a dominant nation on the world stage. Egypt was the original king of the south following the breakup of Alexander’s sprawling empire three centuries before the Christian era, which is why it then comes to be a symbol for the king of the south later in the prophecy. Also, the two witnesses of Revelation are said to be killed during the Lord’s Day “in a spiritual sense” in “Egypt,” where Jesus is also said to have been impaled. Jesus, as everyone knows, was not literally killed in Egypt, neither was he killed by Egyptians. This helps to establish the fact that ancient nations have prophetic meaning, as Revelation states – “in a spiritual sense.”

So it is, the prophecy in the 19^th chapter of Isaiah opens with these words: “The pronouncement against Egypt: Look! Jehovah is riding on a swift cloud and coming into Egypt. And the valueless gods of Egypt will certainly quiver because of him, and the very heart of Egypt will melt in the midst of it.”

When the time came to liberate the Israelites from bondage in Egypt Jehovah is said to have entered into judgment with the many gods of Egypt. For example, the Egyptians worshipped Ra, the sun god. So, Jehovah blotted out the sun for three days – in effect, killing Ra. Hapi was the Egyptian god of the Nile; so Jehovah turned the river into blood for a few days. Kuk was a frog-headed god of darkness; so Jehovah caused Kuk to run amok, as the land became overrun with slimy frogs. Nefertem was the god of healing, but it was rendered impotent when Jehovah struck the Egyptians with loathsome boils. Isis, the goddess of magic, was proven to be a fraud when her magic-practicing priests were unable to duplicate Moses’ miracle of making the dust turn into swarms of gnats, as they were forced to concede that it was “the finger of God.”

But the demons – the invisible force behind Egypt’s gods and goddesses back then – are still misleading the nations at the present moment. (Interestingly, after Christendom became the official religion of the Roman Empire it gradually adopted the Babel’s trinity, which had also been central to Egyptian mythology and promoted in the form of numerous triads, the most prominent being Osiris, Isis and their son, Horus.)

So, Jehovah wheeling his war chariot into Egypt on the roiling clouds of heaven not only betokens the judgment upon the peoples of the nation, but ultimately the judgment of their demon gods as well. Indeed, as Jeremiah 10:11 states: “The gods that did not make the very heavens and the earth are the ones who will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.” No wonder the heart of Egypt will melt in terror!

According to Revelation, the coming of Christ in his kingdom initiates a war in Jehovah's heaven, from where the demon gods of this world are ejected. Upon their confinement to this earthly sphere they orchestrate a conflagration that slays the ruling head of their own beastly political, financial system. In that respect, then, the judgment commences with the gods of this world themselves.

Just as Jesus indicated that the Law and the Prophets were until John (the Baptizer), secondarily, or rather – primarily – the Prophets are until the second coming of Jesus Christ. For a certainty, in actuality Jehovah’s judgment upon Egypt will find its fullest expression when Christ comes in glory to carry out God’s judicial decisions against all nations, beginning with Egypt. That is the prophetically encoded message contained in the 19^th chapter of Isaiah.

"A DAY BELONGING TO JEHOVAH IS NEAR"

The Jewish priest and prophet, Ezekiel, penned a much more extensive denunciation that also speaks to the downfall of “Egypt” during the bleak period of judgment designated in the Scriptures as the day of Jehovah. That is why Ezekiel was told to prophesy: “Howl, you people, ‘Alas for the day!’ for a day is near, yes, a day belonging to Jehovah is near. A day of clouds, an appointed time of nations it will prove to be. And a sword will certainly come into Egypt, and severe pains must occur in Ethiopia when one falls slain in Egypt and they actually take its wealth and its foundations are actually torn down. Ethiopia and Put and Lud and all the mixed company and Chub and the sons of the land of the covenant—with them they will fall by the very sword.” – Ezekiel 30:1-5

So, the question now to be considered is this: Since it is indisputable that “Egypt” is used in a spiritual sense, what does “Egypt” symbolize? The Watchtower has long claimed that “Egypt” merely symbolizes the entire global political system made up of a hodge-podge of various types of national governments. But if that were true why does the prophecy in Ezekiel portray the nation of Egypt as being greater than all other nations? And how could it be that the sudden fall of the Egyptian cedar shocks all the nations of the world if “Egypt” represents all the nations of the world? And please note that the prophecies do not say that "Egypt" is destroyed, only that it is delivered up to a hard master. So, who is the hard master to whom Egypt is forced to submit? The Watchtower goes so far to say that Jesus Christ is the tyrant of the nations to whom modern "Egypt" will be forced to bow!

Contradictorily, the Watchtower simultaneously teaches that the “Egypt” that appears at Daniel 11:42-43 represents the United States, which supposedly was made subservient to the now-nonexistent USSR during the Cold War. But ought not interpretations of prophecy harmonize with other prophecy, not to mention with historical reality?

Ironically, the Watchtower’s interpretation of “Egypt” as the American king of the south is insightful. But like so many other of the Society’s interpretations – the timing is off. There are numerous articles on this site that present the facts to show that the “time of the end,” also known as the “conclusion of a system of things,” did not commence in 1914. That being the case, the king of the north has not subjugated his rival yet. (So far the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses have failed to discern that the king of the south does not exist when Michael stands up against the king of the north. See chapter: King of the North)

As for the takedown of “Egypt” symbolizing the downfall of America, in October 1996 I was irresistibly compelled to embark on an intense, years long, reading and re-reading of all the prophets – beginning, of all places, in the middle of Ezekiel. It was immediately, back then, that I came to the realization that the Egypt of prophecy symbolizes America. That became apparent, not only due to the fact the judgment of Egypt comes about during the day of Jehovah, as stated above, but primarily because of the prophets’ description of Egypt itself. For example, “Egypt” is depicted as a grand tree, which casts a protective shadow over the earth that peoples long to live under. For several centuries America has stood for freedom and opportunity, beckoning the poor, wretched, teeming masses to come to its welcoming shores. And just as the ancient Land of the Nile was a breadbasket for the surrounding nations, so is America.

(My original research was shared exclusively with the Watchtower Society, but when it became apparent they had no interest in reconsidering their stale and absurd interpretations of prophecy, in 2002 I began to publish on the World Wide Web. Eventually, numerous essays on the topic were reworked into the book Jehovah Himself Has Become King. The chapter entitled Downfall of America is a distillation of the Egypt/America connection.)

So, having already presented the case for Egypt foreshadowing America what must the following bode for the future of the greatest nations that has ever existed? – ‘“And I will goad Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will certainly war each one against his brother, and each one against his companion, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt must become bewildered in the midst of it, and I shall confuse its own counsel. And they will be certain to resort to the valueless gods and to the charmers and to the spirit mediums and to the professional foretellers of events. And I will deliver up Egypt into the hand of a hard master, and strong will be the king that will rule over them,’ is the utterance of the true Lord, Jehovah of armies.”

A few years ago it may have seemed out of the question that the United States of America could ever descend into civil war again. But since the 2007-08 collapse of the massive mortgage-backed securities swindle and the bailout of the Wall Street and City of London swindlers with taxpayer funds, leading to the embitterment and immiseration of millions of formerly middle-class families, a social upheaval is inevitable and it would appear is presently in the beginning stages. As politicians are confused, bewildered and paralyzed by their own stupidity and cowardice, people are beginning to take to the streets in greater numbers. The current Occupy Wall Street movement may well explode along the lines of the so-called Arab Spring mass uprisings.

Not to be overlooked, there has always been an underlying racial divide as well. More unsettling is the fact that there are a growing number of well-armed militia groups who are convinced that armed insurrection is necessary to save their country from tyranny. But, it has been decreed by the King of the heavens that “Egypt” will be delivered up “into the hand of a hard master.”

Who is that hard master in reality?

Since the 13 colonies broke away from the British Empire and established a sovereign nation independent of the European colonial masters the Crown has worked relentlessly to destroy, undermine and subvert the United States and any nation that has sought to emulate the American model. After Lincoln defeated the London-sponsored Confederacy of slave states in the Civil War the Lords of London came to realize that the United States had become too powerful to defeat militarily. A new strategy was devised.

The Empire concocted a scheme to take over the finances of America. The first stage was implemented in 1913 when the privately held Federal Reserve Bank was instituted in the dead of the night. (Interestingly, the Federal Reserve Note (dollar) is graced with the osoteric symbols borrowed from Egypt; namely, the all-seeing eye of Horus and the uncapped pyramid.)

Another development took place in 1973 when the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system was scrapped. That allowed the value of a nation’s currency to come under control of speculators. Then the move to deregulate the world’s financial system in the late 90’s opened the door for massive fraud and financial plunder to become business as usual.

To get a better idea of who the hard master will be, take a look at what is happening in Europe right now. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union London was determined not to allow a reunified Germany to dominate Europe, so the Maastricht Treaty and the European Union was devised as a means of shackling unproductive nations to the German powerhouse. Numerous economic restrictions were imposed upon all nations. Now that that system is crumbling what do we see taking place? Formerly democratic, sovereign nations are now becoming nothing more than satrapies.

In Greece and Italy elected officials have been replaced by Goldman Sachs’ technocrats, in order to ensure that the bankers’ brutal austerity upon the people is carried out.

The new technocrat ruling Greece has promptly jailed powerful union leaders. It is a repeat of the takeover of Germany by the Nazis, who were similarly promoted by London’s bankers.

Is it not apparent that the “hard master” of prophecy is now manifesting himself as the financier oligarchy – the same oligarchic families and banking circles that have been aligned with the Crown and British Empire for centuries? (Meet the new global ruling class)

But the financier masters are faced with the reality that their money system has reached its terminal phase. The debtor nations and the banks themselves are bankrupt. But to scrap the system and begin a new and equitable system is unthinkable. Without doubt the only temporary, stopgap measure that will stave off immediate collapse is the printing of more money – lots of it – hundreds of trillions. Hyperinflation will be the order of the day, which will, of course, destroy the value of all money in a short while. Do not the prophets foretell that men will throw their worthless money into the street in the fire-filled day of Jehovah?

In the meanwhile the Empire is intent on setting the world aflame in order to topple the republic of the United States and prevent it from acting in the interests of its people and assuming a leadership role. In the aftermath of collapse a new system will inevitably emerge – a system of global communism. The hard master is determined to enslave the entire world!

"ALL THE WAGE WORKERS GRIEVED IN SOUL"

The Nile is the longest river on earth. It was the lifeblood of Egypt – the basis for the civilization that thrived on its banks for centuries. In the judgment against Egypt God decreed that he would dry up the Nile River and its canals. This would be an unprecedented economic calamity. Isaiah 19:5-10 foretells: “And the water will certainly be dried up from the sea, and the river itself will become parched and actually run dry. And the rivers must stink; the Nile canals of Egypt must become low and parched. The reed and the rush themselves must molder. The bare places by the Nile River, at the mouth of the Nile River, and every seedland of the Nile River will dry up. It will certainly be driven away, and it will be no more. And the fishers will have to mourn, and all those casting fishhooks into the Nile River must express sorrow, and even those spreading fishing nets upon the surface of the water will actually fade away. And the workers in carded flax must become ashamed; also the loom workers on white fabrics. And her weavers must become crushed, all the wage workers grieved in soul.”

Whether God actually caused the river to run dry is questionable. Whatever the case, though, since the Egyptians were totally dependent upon the river for their livelihood the drying up of the Nile, even in an illustrative way, would betoken disaster. And since Egypt was a grain exporter a failure of their crop would impact the peoples who were dependent upon them.

But what might this portend for the greater Egypt?

In the United States adverse weather events this past year, combined with the restrictions imposed by market speculators, have set the stage for food shortages in 2012. Of course, an economic collapse will also lead to widespread food shortages and unemployment, as the prophecy foretells. (LPAC special video) America’s once vibrant industrial economy is in the process of being shuttered – its “Nile” drying up. (Famine is the Empire's policy)

It is an astonishing thing to behold. Never before in the history of the world have the leaders of such a great nation been induced to destroy themselves. Although total destruction has not yet become a reality, certainly the process that has taken the USA from being the world’s greatest creditor to the world’s greatest debtor in one generation and turned a once thriving industrial powerhouse into a rusting hulk, has now reached the point where collapse is unavoidable.

Because the very men entrusted to secure the nation are responsible for its demise, Jehovah chides the national leaders, saying to them: “The princes of Zoan are indeed foolish. As regards the wise ones of Pharaoh’s counselors, their counsel is something unreasonable. How will you men say to Pharaoh: ‘I am the son of wise ones, the son of kings of ancient time’? Where, then, are they—the wise men of yours—that they may now tell you and that they may know what Jehovah of armies has counseled concerning Egypt? The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly, the princes of Noph have been deceived, the keymen of her tribes have caused Egypt to wander about. Jehovah himself has mingled in the midst of her the spirit of disconcertedness; and they have caused Egypt to wander about in all its work, just as someone drunk is made to wander about in his vomit. And Egypt will not come to have any work that the head or the tail, the shoot or the rush, can do.”

'Wandering about' is an apt description of America. It has lost its vision. It has forgotten its historic mission to repudiate empire. Now, it is about to be enslaved by the very enemy it could have easily defeated. The nation has become disconcerted indeed.

2012 is a crucial presidential election year, and already the cavacade of clownish candidates has begun. It is interesting to see the “keymen” of each political party touting their “solution” to the nation's ills. All of them are mere fools who do not even know that they have been deceived into continuing the policies that will ensure the total destruction of the United States. Like drunken men, they propose more of the same toxic medicine that got them into their predicament. Not one has a credible solution. And none of them have any inkling that the counsel of Jehovah had irreversibly decreed their situation more than 2,500 years ago!

Ironically, Lloyd Blankfein, the arrogant Goldman Sachs boss who boasted that Goldman was doing “God’s work,” was apparently right. As a Wall Street extension of the London-centered, global money-controlling apparatus, Goldman is a key instrument in ruining nations around the world and will likely play a key rule in toppling the American republic in the near future, thus accomplishing God’s work in delivering up the greater Egypt to a hard master.

The rest of the 19^th chapter of Isaiah will be considered in another essay.

Jehovah's Witnesses & The City of Tearing Down

A continuation of the Isaiah series

In 1492 Christopher Columbus led an expedition made up of three wooden sailing ships across the vast Atlantic Ocean in search of a way to the land of the East by sailing in the direction of the setting sun. But instead of the Orient Columbus “discovered” a new world, so-called. At least it was new from the perspective of the centuries-old European civilization. (The Vikings did not make permanent settlements.) Columbus’ initial discovery of Hispaniola launched the age of global exploration. In a short time newly discovered lands began to be colonized by the Spanish, French, English, Irish and others.

On September the 6^th, 1620, one group of colonists boarded a ship named the Mayflower and set sail from Plymouth, England, bound for the new world. On board were 102 Pilgrims, as they later came to be called. Originally, though, they were known as “Separatists,” because they had separated from the Church of England because of its corruption. As an example of its heavy-handedness, church attendance was mandatory and failure to attend services of the Church of England was punishable by fine. (And you thought that the Watchtower’s constant emphasis on kingdom hall attendance was harsh.)

At first the persecuted sect fled to the Netherlands, but the group feared losing its cultural identity among the Dutch and so the Separatists hired a ship and struck out for the new found land. The Mayflower dropped anchor in what is now called Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, on November 11^th. Other persecuted Christian sects from England followed the Pilgrims, such as the Quakers.

Less than a decade before the Mayflower set sail a very important development took place that would have a far-reaching impact upon the course of Christianity. The invention of the printing press had, at last, defeated the demonic scheme to keep the Bible locked in the dying language of Latin. Although there were numerous translations into European languages before the 17^th century they could never be produced in sufficient numbers until the invention of movable type. In apparent resignation to the technology of the day, and to control the content and quality, in 1611 the King of England authorized the release of the first official Bible for the Church of England – the King James Authorized Version. And no doubt those first English-speaking immigrants brought many precious copies of God’s word with them to America.

The year before, in 1610, the Vatican released their Douay Version of the Holy Scriptures in English for Catholics. Also, during this same period translations began to be published in all the common languages of Europeans.

Although the King James and Douay Bibles would eventually prove to be inferior to later translations, surely it was by divine providence that the colonization of the new world coincided with the sudden availability of the Bible in unlimited quantities.

As the fledgling colonies grew in numbers and prosperity eventually they broke free from England and became an independent nation – the United States of America.

Because many of the immigrants to the new land had fled the oppression of the Church and the Crown they sought to establish a nation that protected the freedom of the individual. After the Constitution of the new nation was ratified ten amendments were later added, known as the Bill of Rights. The very first amendment to the Constitution disallows the congress from imposing any restrictions upon religion and guarantees every citizen the right to express and publish their opinions, no matter how unpopular. The amendment also protects the right of people to assemble freely.

With the King James Bible in wide circulation it was not long before some readers began to more closely consider the message contained in its pages. This led to a Great Awakening movement of Protestantism in Britain and the colonies that began around 1740 and lasted for many decades. Some historians posit that the spiritual awakening ultimately led to the American Revolution.

It wasn’t long before there was another phase of revival that awakened anticipation of the return of Christ. What is known as the Second Great Awakening began around 1800 and is said to have waned in the 1870’s. The so-called second awakening spawned many new denominations and sects, such as the Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ and various Adventists groups. The movement awakened many in Britain and America to the evils of slavery, which was promoted by the monarchies and their associate merchants, and thus, the moral stand of many devout Christians eventually led to the abolition of that aspect of European colonialism.

Charles Taze Russell and the original Bible Students were the ultimate, perhaps inevitable, outgrowth of that Second Great Awakening. Not surprisingly, since 1909 the Watchtower’s headquarters have been located in Brooklyn, New York – known as the City of Churches. All things considered, the sudden appearance of an itinerate band of preachers under the direction of the Watchtower Society was a strong indication that God’s anointing spirit was once again being poured out – a second Pentecost phenomenon, as it were, and along with it, the creation of a dynamic Christian organization.

True enough, those original ministers were still saddled with many infantile ideas, particularly as regards prophecy, but in their defense it is as Paul said: ‘when I was a babe I spoke as a babe.’ The main thing was they were zealous for the truth that they had been given.

Concurrent with the spirit of Christian revival that swept the new nation, the 19^th century also saw many new revolutionary discoveries, like harnessing electricity that would power new inventions; devices such as the telephone, the phonograph, the electric light, moving pictures; not to mention the rotary press, and at the dawn of the 20^th century, the horseless carriage, the airplane and radio – to name but a few.

In the historical setting of the development of Christianity, as well as the political and physical developments in America, it was the perfect setting for Christ’s great work to commence in advance of his coming to take his bride to himself and lead a great flock of other sheep through the gate into paradise. The kingdom seed had found fine soil in the hearts of Americans, along with a perfect religious and political climate for sustained growth. Not only were many people open and receptive to Bible truth, but also virtually all the inventions listed above would be employed by the new army of ministers that were steadily being deployed. And the Bill of Rights would serve to protect God’s ministers so that they might accomplish his great work unhindered. As proof of that, in spite of the upheavals of world wars and the hardships of the Great Depression, the fanatical persecution by some religionists, the Watchtower Society has never failed to publish a single issue of their magazine.

Jesus foretold that the good news of the kingdom would be preached in the entire world as a prelude to the end. The prophets similarly foretold that the name of Jehovah would be manifested among all the nations. It is no coincidence that Jehovah’s Witnesses have made both the kingdom and God’s personal name known far and wide. With America as its safe-haven – its headquarters and base of operations – the Watchtower Society has trained and sent thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses missionaries throughout the earth. The world’s stage is now set for the finale.

(One caveat, presently not understood by Jehovah’s Witnesses: The stage being set also means that those who are presently doing the work assigned by Christ are also laboring under the 1914 operation of error for which God has made allowance.)

With this brief consideration of historical developments over the past few hundred years, as well as previously written articles on the Egypt/America connection, now consider the remaining part of the prophecy in the 19^th chapter of Isaiah.

“BECAUSE OF THE WAVING OF THE HAND OF JEHOVAH”

Just as ancient Egypt had served as a haven for the children of Abraham and even the infant Jesus and his parents found refuge there, the Greater Egypt, America, has served a similar purpose. As the apostle noted God makes all his work cooperate for the benefit of those who love him. So, even though Satan is the ruler of the world God can and does override the Devil in order to accomplish his purpose.

But now that the world wide work of Jehovah’s Witnesses is nearing completion there is no longer any reason for God to provide a haven for his people. So it is at the coming of Christ America will cease to be the “land of the free” and instead is destined to become the ‘land of the enslaved’ and the ‘home of the fearful.’ That is the message conveyed by Isaiah: “In that day Egypt will become like women, and it will certainly tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of Jehovah of armies which he is waving against it. And the ground of Judah must become to Egypt a cause for reeling. Everybody to whom one mentions it is in dread because of the counsel of Jehovah of armies that he is counseling against him.”

“The waving of the hand of Jehovah,” means he has signaled for the judgment to commence – for his Christ to begin ruling. As stated in the previous article, the judgment of Egypt coincides with the appointed times of the nations to be judged.

Jesus Christ was, of course, born into the tribe of Judah; hence, Christ is called “the lion of the tribe of Judah.” The patriarchal prophet foretold that the ruling specter would not depart from Judah. So, “the ground of Judah” that becomes “to Egypt a cause for reeling” signifies that the kingdom by Christ comes into close proximity to the earthly kingdoms – particularly the foremost kingdom of earth.

Of course, the parousia commences when the Lord of heaven and earth comes to judge his Father’s spiritual house and expels the wicked and sluggish slaves from it.  The counsel of Jehovah of armies against Egypt means the nation is going to be handed over to a hard master, which will be the means by which Christ will also chastise and refine the faithful – by means of the fires of tyranny, hardship and affliction.

The prophecy continues: “In that day there will prove to be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing to Jehovah of armies. The City of Tearing Down will one city be called. In that day there will prove to be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Jehovah beside its boundary. And it must prove to be for a sign and for a witness to Jehovah of armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry out to Jehovah because of the oppressors, and he will send them a savior, even a grand one, who will actually deliver them.”

As the Watchtower’s Isaiah commentary points out, “the language of Canaan” was Hebrew. The “speaking the language of Canaan” means that it is the language of spiritual Israel, since are also “swearing to Jehovah of armies” – obviously, swearing their allegiance to him.

Although the Watchtower erroneously teaches that Jehovah’s Witnesses presently speak the prophesied “pure language” of truth, the truth is, Zephaniah plainly indicates that the “change” to the pure spiritual tongue does not occur until God rises up to judge the nations. For the convenience of the reader here is what Zephaniah 3:8-9 says: “‘Therefore keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘till the day of my rising up to the booty, for my judicial decision is to gather nations, for me to collect together kingdoms, in order to pour out upon them my denunciation, all my burning anger; for by the fire of my zeal all the earth will be devoured. For then I shall give to peoples the change to a pure language, in order for them all to call upon the name of Jehovah, in order to serve him shoulder to shoulder.’”

God’s denunciation of the nations means that they are all delivered up to a hard master – beginning with the leading nation. It is then that the faithful call upon the name of Jehovah for salvation from the oppressor and it is then that they are refined and cleansed from all religious error and falsehood, so as to speak the pure language.

“THE CITY OF TEARING DOWN WILL ONE CITY BE CALLED”

It is a curious aspect of prophecy, is it not, that within Egypt would be a city called “The City of Tearing Down”? After all, wasn’t ancient Egypt subjugated by Assyria and then Babylon and Greece? Egypt was not overthrown from within, was it? Obviously, the prophecy relates to the Greater Egypt.

Since its bold Declaration of Independence, the Crown has never relented in its efforts to subjugate America.

Knowing that a direct military confrontation with America was out of the question, after the Civil War the Empire has sought to destroy the United States from within. Since the transplantation of the Venetian oligarchy’s master/slave system to the Isles, which is said to have been completed in 1688, the City of London has gradually become the seat of a global financial and monetary empire, controlled by means a coven of powerful banking families and their secret societies, in their endeavor to crush and dominate sovereign nations and their peoples.

Wall Street is merely an American franchise of the London-based financial system. History verifies that Wall Street bankers (EIR PDF) intended to use the Great Depression to crush the United States – even financing a coup intended to topple Roosevelt. That scheme failed and the Republic was persevered. As long as the financial system was regulated it could not crush the nation. But the regulations imposed upon Wall Street during the Roosevelt era have gradually been torn down. The repel of Glass-Steagall in 1999 and numerous deregulatory laws since then, has opened the way for commercial banks and a plethora of hedge funds and private equity funds to engage in virtually unregulated financial speculation. However, one aspect of the Roosevelt legacy still intact is the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), which insures the individual deposits of private accounts. (Video on repeal of Glass-Steagall)

The financial derivatives that have been devised since the 1990’s have now come to dwarf the underlying economy by orders of magnitude. Derivatives have been described as financial weapons of mass destruction and as a ticking time bomb.

The collapse of the Wall Street mortgage bubble in 2008 brought down Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. In order to prevent a total blowout of the quadrillion-dollar derivatives bubble then it was hastily arranged for Bank of America to absorb Merrill.

Just this past month the Bank of America has quietly moved Merrill’s worthless $55 trillion derivatives liabilities onto its FDIC insured commercial account, effectively making taxpayers liable for Merrill’s busted gambling debts – this on top of numerous other schemes in which all the big banks have offloaded trillions in speculative losses onto the taxpayers.

Not only that, but in order to prevent the imminent collapse of the Euro Zone the US Federal Reserve Bank, whose primary branch is in New York City, along with the US taxpayer-funded IMF, are being called upon to bailout the bankrupt Euro banks.

Derivatives are indeed time bombs that have the potential to destroy the entire political and economic system.

As a viable financial scheme the present system is doomed. Whether it collapses in a violent liquidity freeze or is incinerated in a hyperinflationary blaze is the only unsettled question at this point. (I tend to think the bankers will resort to hyperinflation to buy a few more months.) But as the means of the empire to tear down sovereign nations – the USA in particular – the financial system is proving to be very effective. So it is, that, the City of Tearing Down located within the symbolic Egypt is New York City.

(Interestingly, during the 13^th and 14^th centuries kings used the city of York as an auxiliary capitol during military campaigns against the Scots. In fact, it became known as the City of Kings. For a time the city even rivaled London for prominence. And a thousand years before that York (Eboracum) was the capitol of the Roman, northern province – called Britannia Inferior. Although it was originally called New Amsterdam, considering the role it is playing it seems appropriate that New York City ought to have been named after a key city of the Roman and British imperial system.)

The prophecy of Ezekiel (30:4) foretells that besides its wealth being confiscated, Egypt’s very “foundations” will be torn down as well. What does this signify? It means the Constitution of the United States will be dissolved. It means the Bill of Rights will be nullified. And even the governmental institutions outlined in the Constitution will be torn down.

Today even, as I write this blog entry, the US Congress is scheduled to vote for enactment of a law that would allow the US military to consider the United States as a battlefield and permit it to incarcerate US citizens with no formal charges and hold them indefinitely without trial. Already the President of the US has ordered the assassination of US citizens abroad – even a deposed head of state. Whether or not the bill passes is irrelevant, really, the fact that men within the government seem determined to tear down the American republic and overturn the principles upon which it was founded is significant. (Video: Senate votes to repeal Constitution)

At the present time that may not seem very worrying to Jehovah’s Witnesses, but gradually the United States has become more and more of a police state, and come a time of war hysteria, as in times past, Jehovah’s Witnesses will most certainly become demonized as enemies of the state, except this time they will not have any legal recourse, as they have in times past.

An institution also dedicated to the destruction of national sovereignties is the United Nations – also headquartered in New York City. Devised in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the United Nations was heavily promoted by the Rockefeller, Wall Street banking family. The Rockefellers even “donated” the land on the East River where the aging UN monolith still stands. Betraying its British roots, though, the UN is committed to London’s centuries-old policy of massive population reduction. And like the empire, it too is a means of subverting and overriding national sovereignties. One factoid of interest: In 2008 Britain sponsored secret talks with world leaders intended to revitalize the United Nations, in order to make it the seat of governance for a new world order.

No doubt when the financial system succeeds in tearing down the last vestiges of national sovereignties, the UN will be ready to fill the power vacuum – becoming the eighth and final king of Bible prophecy, the Greater Babylon, the executor of Jehovah's judgments. (See chapter: An Eighth King) That is when the “hard master” will implement his policy of global genocide. (See chapter: Habakkuk)

Situated on the border of the American Egypt, across the river from the City of Tearing Down, is also an altar erected to Jehovah – a memorial pillar to his holy name, erected by devoted worshippers of the God bearing that name. This exists in the form of the Bethel headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses – the physical infrastructure of which, significantly, has prominently displayed the recognized Anglicized form of the divine name for decades with the bold expression: Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom. That expression also appears on millions of Watchtower magazines.  

From there the leadership of the organization are certain to “cry out to Jehovah because of the oppressors,” when the “hard master” begins his reign of terror. The grand savior whom Jehovah will provide at that time can be none other than the Savior – Jesus Christ.

The concluding verse of the prophecy states: “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my inheritance, Israel.”

As already stated, God makes everything bend to accomplish his will. Over the course of the recent centuries the events have led up to conditions that would nurture a great evangelical work to be undertaken as a prelude to the conclusion of the system of things; whereby, God’s two-fold purpose is accomplished; namely, the completion of the choosing of the full number of spiritual Israel, as well as the gathering of persons who will inherit the earth – “my people Egypt.” Since America is said to be a great melting pot of ethnically diverse peoples, the Egyptians represent persons of faith from all nations – just as a vast “mixed crowd” left Egypt with the Israelites during the exodus.

But not only that, the Watchtower Society is unavoidably connected with the United States. In fact, that is one of the criticisms of the faith, that it is “an American religion.” Of course, that is only a half-truth. Jehovah’s Witnesses are an international brotherhood. Still, it is undeniable that the Watchtower Society began in America. Its legal corporations are chartered in America. All of the Society’s presidents have been Americans. Most of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been Americans. But so what? All of the apostles were Jewish. And Christianity spread abroad in the first century from Jerusalem.

In that respect, then, it appears as if America and her “five cities,” and particularly her "City of Tearing Down," have served a similar function in modern times – being the point of origin for the truth to be spread around the earth. Jehovah has indeed blessed his “people Egypt”!

Lastly, Assyria and Babylon are said to be the work of God’s hands too, in that, they will serve as Jehovah’s great military force and ultimately bring about the situation known as Armageddon, when they slay God's two anointed Witnesses on the streets of "Egypt."

too be continued...

Previous blog entries in the Isaiah series that have originally appeared on the Front Page are afterwards archived on the Isaiah page in descending order.

And How Shall We Ourselves Escape?

Continuation of the Isaiah seriesAfter foretelling the subjugation of Egypt and Ethiopia the brief 20th chapter of Isaiah relates an event that occurred during Isaiah’s ministry – the Assyrian military juggernaut swept down and conquered the strategically important Phoenician city of Ashdod. That conquest was a harbinger of things to come for Egypt. It was on that occasion that Jehovah issued a warning to his people that their looked-for hope and helper, Egypt, was doomed and they were left to ponder the unsettling question: “And how shall we ourselves escape?”

In previous articles of this Isaiah series, as well as other writings appearing on e-watchman, the case has been made that America is the Greater Egypt, as well as the king of the south during the time of the end. And both the Assyrian and Babylonian empires of antiquity foreshadow the world conquering eighth king of Revelation and the king fierce countenance, as well as the king of the north during the time of the end.

Although Jehovah’s Witnesses do not vote or take part in the political system, nor do Jehovah’s Witnesses enroll in the military, that does not necessarily mean that the leadership of the Watchtower Society does not look to the powerful institutions of the world for assistance. For example, for ten years the Watchtower was officially involved in a political partnership with the United Nations. In return for their propagandizing in behalf of the UN, the UN assisted the Watchtower Society in humanitarian relief efforts in Africa – the details of which are presented in the article, Strange Bedfellows.

Even after the Watchtower dissolved its NGO relationship with the UN in the decade since then it has created a half dozen European NGO organizations that are deeply involved with the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). 

Here is what the Watchtower wrote in the commentary on this section of Isaiah:

“Some might be impressed by today’s financial wizards, politicians, and scientists, who talk of solving man’s problems using man’s ingenuity and technology.”

Apparently some of the leading men of the Watchtower Society are “impressed by today’s financial wizards” – evidenced by their sending representatives to attend hedge fund conferences the past two years hosted by the wizards of the City of London. (Watchtower Society Hedge Fund)

Jehovah is certain to give attention to the organization’s brazen hypocrisy in the near future, which is largely what the prophecy of Isaiah is all about.

Upon the Watchtower, O Jehovah, I am Standing

A continuation of the Isaiah seriesThe overthrow of tyrannical Babylon is the subject of the 21^st chapter of Isaiah. God assured his prophet that the treacherous destroyer of nations and the persecutor of his people was going to be violently thrown down. The fall of ancient Babylon must have shocked the world back then.

How could this incredible event come about? The city of Babylon was considered to be an impregnable fortress. The prophecy continues: ‘“Go, post a lookout that he may tell just what he sees.’  And he saw a war chariot with a span of steeds, a war chariot of asses, a war chariot of camels. And he paid strict attention, with much attentiveness. And he proceeded to call out like a lion: ‘Upon the watchtower, O Jehovah, I am standing constantly by day, and at my guardpost I am stationed all the nights. And here, now, there is coming a war chariot of men, with a span of steeds!”’

History reveals that Babylon fell on one night without much of a fight. King Cyrus had somehow managed to temporarily dry up the Euphrates River, perhaps by opening floodgates upstream to divert the waters into flood detention ponds, sufficiently lowering the water level so that his army could wade across the river in the dead of the night. The prophet, though, does not see a vast army. From his watchtower vantage point the watchman sees only three war chariots – and ultimately a single war chariot with a span of steeds – reminiscent of the horsemen of the Apocalypse, led by the warrior Christ.

As far as the modern fulfillment of the fall of Babylon the Watchtower teaches that Babylon the Great of Revelation fell back in 1919. Their commentary on Isaiah states:

“What of Babylon the Great? By engineering the oppression of God’s people during World War I, she effectively held them in exile for a time. Their preaching work was virtually brought to a halt. The president and other prominent officers of the Watch Tower Society were imprisoned on false charges. But 1919 saw an astounding reversal. The officers were released from prison, the headquarters office was reopened, and the preaching work was recommenced. Thus, Babylon the Great fell in that her hold over God’s people was broken. In Revelation, this fall is twice heralded by an angel using the words of the announcement at Isaiah 21:9.”

True enough, apparently a few clergymen schemed to use their political influence to bring government pressure to bear against the Watch Tower Society back then. And Rutherford and seven others were railroaded off to prison on trumped up charges. But is it not also the case that the confusion and uncertainty that enveloped the International Bible Students back then had more to do with the unexpected passing of their beloved Pastor Russell than anything the clergy may have done to bring down the Society? A sizable number of Bible Students simply refused to accept Joseph Rutherford as their new leader and to this day Bible Student splinter groups continue to follow the dead Pastor. That schism, more than anything else, is what resulted in the preaching work momentarily coming to a stand still.

Not only the falling away of a large percentage of persons associated with the Watch Tower, but the very fact that the Bible Students had been riveted on 1914 and the climatic campaign that came with the release of the Photo Drama of Creation in that year as well, virtually insured that there would be a great let down in the years following. To lay it all off on the clergy as if they had taken the Bible Students captive is not an honest presentation of the facts.

Also, the Watchtower’s reasoning is faulty as regards Babylon’s fall supposedly being evidenced by false religion no longer having any hold over true Christians now. Back when Babylon was overthrown it was not just the Jews, God’s people then, who benefited. The Babylonian Empire ceased from persecuting all the nations. Yet, how could it be said that religion has lost its power over the nations since 1919?

And besides, Jehovah’s Witnesses have suffered much persecution from religionists since 1919. For example, the recent banning of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moscow was surely brought about by the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church. Is it really honest to claim that the clergy have no hold over the work of Christians when the facts show that in some parts of the world they still exert a powerful restraint? If false religion no longer has any power to restrain the preaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses why is it that the Watchtower’s “world-wide-work” is greatly restricted, if not totally prohibited, in countries dominated by Islam? It seems that the mythmakers brush these inconvenient facts aside.

Perhaps the most inconvenient facts are the contradictions inherent in the Watchtower’s convoluted interpretation of Revelation. According to the Society the scarlet beast that ascends from the abyss with the harlot as its mount did so in 1945 when the United Nations came into existence. That being the case, that means that Babylon the Great fell from power more then two decades before it rides the beast out of the abyss! But according to the context of the 17^th and 18^th chapters of Revelation, it is after the eighth king comes to power that the angel declares that Babylon the great has fallen and commands God’s people to “get out of her.”

Concurrent with the fall of Babylon the Great and the announcement to “get out of her,” the angel says that her sins have amassed clear up to heaven and that Jehovah has called her many sins to mind. The angel further relates that her judgment comes in one hour. But if the world empire fell in 1919 because her sins had massed clear up to heaven, why has her hour of judgment not followed? Why the delay?

Returning to the prophecy of Isaiah, by its very name the Watchtower implies it is the only source of reliable interpretation of prophecy and that all anointed Christians make up a so-called “watchman class.” However, as regards the biblical watchman, he is used by God to keep watch for what is coming. That stands in stark contrast to the Watchtower’s watchmen who do not really announce what is coming, but rather, the Watchtower Society uses prophecy to focus attention on what is already past.

But if the Watchtower were really fulfilling the pattern set by Isaiah in calling out what it sees as regards the fall of Babylon, shouldn’t we expect that Watchtower to have foreseen beforehand what was going to happen during World War One and its aftermath?  True, over the course of the decades since then the Watchtower has skillfully patched together a credible explanation that has convinced millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses that virtually all prophecy has been fulfilled already, but is that really the work of a watchman?

In truth, the prophecy of Isaiah is foretelling the coming fall of both the eighth king and his religious consort. That is in keeping with the fact that the original Babylon was both God's imperial executioner and the promoter of false relgion and idolatry. It is this last kingdom that is destined to thresh Jehovah's people, for which God will then require an accounting from them.

 to be continued...

For a fuller discussion of this topic, see the article: The Myth of the Fall of Babylon