Monday, October 30

You people must be born again.—John 3:7.

Before receiving this personal witness from God’s spirit, anointed Christians cherished an earthly hope. They longed for the time when Jehovah would cleanse this earth, and they wanted to be part of that blessed future. Perhaps they even pictured themselves welcoming back their loved ones from the grave. They looked forward to living in the homes that they built and eating the fruitage of trees that they planted. (Isa. 65:21-23) Why did their thinking change? They did not become dissatisfied with that hope. They did not change their mind because of emotional stress or turmoil. They did not give up on this earth, as if they suddenly felt that they would find living forever on earth to be tiresome or boring; nor did they merely want to explore some new frontier in heaven. Rather, they changed because of the operation of God’s spirit that not only called, or invited, them but also changed their thinking and hope.

The outworking of God’s purpose in the past is a pattern for the completion. Over the course of the 2,000 years from the time God selected Abraham as the father of all those having faith Jehovah dealt exclusively with the natural born offspring of Abraham’s grandson —Jacob, renamed Israel. Despite all of the waywardness and even the complete obliteration of Jerusalem and the temple in the 5th century, God accomplished his purpose in connection with Israel when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river and the holy spirit visibly came upon him in the form of a dove. Jesus acknowledged that very thing when he said that the Law and the prophets were until John, but from then on the Kingdom became the new thing.

The relatively few Jewish followers of Jesus were also anointed after Jesus returned to the Father. They immediately became bold preachers of the new reality. And in time non-Jewish believers were born again too. After the second destruction of Jerusalem it was evident that God had concluded his dealings with the fleshly sons of Abraham and had shifted his blessing upon the born again followers of the original anointed son —Jesus.

In time Christ’s congregation followed the same pattern of Israel and become idolatrous demon worshippers —Christendom was born and dominated Christians for centuries thereafter. But just as pagan Israel reformed sufficiently to allow for the work of the Messiah, the Watchtower appears to have come on the scene at a time when the Bible was becoming widely available. Thus, the anointing spirit began to be operative again. And just as the original anointed ones were zealous preachers of the Kingdom, so too the International Bible Students exhibited that same spirit, as do Jehovah’s Witnesses now. It is evident that those who have been born again in modern times have been in association with the Watchtower and the name of Jehovah. After all, eventually all of the 144,000 who are born again will have the name of Jesus’ God written upon their foreheads.

But is that the end of it? No. God’s purpose in connection with the seed of Abraham is not concluded yet. It will not be until the final members of the Kingdom have been sealed. And the sealing does not take place until Jesus returns —until the Second Coming of Christ, which is a foreign concept for Jehovah’s Witnesses —even those who have been anointed; the reason being, the Watchtower claims Jesus returned in 1914 and began his glorious parousia. The Watchtower also claims that Jesus came to his Father’s spiritual temple in 1918 and set all matters aright. So, the monumental return of Christ has been reduced to theocratic history. Except it is a lie —a delusion.

The very last chapter of Isaiah foretells the very thing the Watchtower insists has already happened —namely, the revelation of Jehovah’s glory via Christ and his coming to the temple. Hear the word of Jehovah, you who tremble at his word: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of my name said, ‘May Jehovah be glorified!’ But He will appear and bring you joy, and they are the ones who will be put to shame. There is a sound of uproar from the city, a sound from the temple! It is the sound of Jehovah repaying his enemies what they deserve.”

In the modern-day fulfillment of these prophecies, there was an important spiritual development in 1918 in connection with Jehovah’s worship. Jehovah and Jesus evidently made an inspection of all of those claiming to represent pure worship. That inspection led to the final casting off of corrupt Christendom. For Christ’s anointed followers, the inspection meant a brief period of refinement followed by a swift spiritual restoration in 1919. Isaiah’s Prophecy V.2 P. 397

To illustrate how the deluding influence operates, the Watchtower’s Isaiah commentary claims this prophecy was fulfilled back in 1918, when the last evil elements of Christendom were removed from the Bible Students organization. Besides the fact the Watchtower continued to embrace pyramidology, the cross and even Christmas for several years after Christ supposedly effected a clean sweep of all vestiges of false worship, if the prophecy applies to the clergy, just how were they  excluding the Bible Students?

Moreover, in what way might the words “may Jehovah be glorified” be attributed to anyone other than Jehovah’s Witnesses? Additionally, how might the clergy been put to shame or punished by God back in 1918? Surely, any clear-thinking JW can see the Watchtower’s interpretation of Isaiah is sheer nonsense.

It is the Governing Body and the Watchtower leadership who exclude anyone who does not submit to their parousia delusion. And it is they who will be put to shame when Jesus appears to the excluded ones during his parousia. Moreover, the coming of Christ to the temple will result in the adverse judgment of the evil slave, when he is thrown into the outer darkness to weep and gnash his teeth.

Just as the reformed nation of Israel produced the Messiah and was then destroyed, the Watchtower has accomplished the final phase –being a rallying point, a temporary holding pen for the last of the little flock. Once they are gathered then the earthly organization is discarded. Regarding the complete accomplishment of God’s purpose in connection with Christianity, the concluding verses of Isaiah speak of the birth of the Kingdom and the final gathering of those who are going to inherit the earth and those who will experience the final sealing resulting in their ultimate rebirth into the new creation: “Since I know about their works and their thoughts, I am coming to gather people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who escape to the nations—to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, those who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, and to the faraway islands—who have not heard a report about me or seen my glory; and they will proclaim my glory among the nations.They  will bring all your brothers out of all the nations as a gift to Jehovah, on horses, in chariots, in covered wagons, on mules, and on swift camels, up to my holy mountain, Jerusalem,” says Jehovah, “just as when the people of Israel bring their gift in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah.” Isaiah 66:18-20

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