Part nine
Satan is extremely cunning. The apostle Paul warned Christians that the Devil is adept at disguising himself as an angel of light. It is no wonder Satan is capable of mastering such a clever disguise since he once was a trusted, benevolent messenger of God.
How can one tell the difference between an angel and a devil? Only by adhering to God’s word. Have we not been warned by the apostle not to believe “every inspired expression”? If a teaching presented as “inspired” is not from God, from what source is it?
We know the god of this world long ago hijacked Christianity and infused it with the occult mysteries of Babylon. The ministry of Jehovah’s Witnesses has aimed at overturning the deeply entrenched, popular falsehoods that have been institutionalized as Christian theology.
Even so, Jehovah’s Witnesses are unaware of just how powerful and shrewd the sly old serpent is. That is because the Deceiver operates undetected within the Watchtower institution.
This is nothing new. In the first century, Paul exposed those whom he dubbed “the superfine apostles,” who had disguised themselves as ministers of righteousness while, in reality, they were deceitful workers and false apostles. The fact that Paul called them “false apostles” means that they passed themselves off as genuine apostles. No doubt they were the most prominent men in the congregation—men of stature.
The fact that these prominent men criticized the founder of the Corinthian congregation as having a weak personal presence and being a detestable public speaker indicates that the impostors were polished Greek orators, even charismatic, well-spoken agents of Satan. That was the context wherein the inspired apostle said that Satan had also disguised himself as an enlightening angel. And Paul feared that the naive Corinthians might be corrupted by their influence. (See 2 Corinthians, the 11th chapter)
As regards the second coming of Christ, we have been forewarned by the Lord himself that many false prophets and false Christs will arise and mislead many. Satan is already deceiving the whole world. He is intent on misleading the chosen ones. He surely knows who they are—especially will that be so in the future, once the harvest and final sealing have taken place.
Already, though, the pretending angel of light has cleverly conned those who are otherwise lightbearers; deceiving them into believing that Christ has come; that the Kingdom reigns; that the demons have been hurled down from heaven and are relentlessly persecuting the offspring of the woman; that spiritual paradise prevails and pure worship has been restored; that these are the last days, and on and on the falsehoods go—enshrined as The Truth.
Paul forewarned that God would allow an operation of Satan to employ “every powerful work and lying signs and wonders and every unrighteous deception.” To what end? As the context indicates and has already been expounded upon, to create a false parousia designed to convince anointed Christians that the Lord’s day has already begun and that Christ’s presence is here.
Most disconcerting, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been thoroughly deceived by those who are looked to as the source of truth. Sadly, like all persons who have been deceived, they are unaware that they have been deceived. Witnesses have been subtly conditioned to believe that everything the Watchtower teaches is from God and that to question even the most specious teaching and reasoning presented as the truth is tantamount to apostasy. Elders have unwittingly become the enforcers of the delusion.
We may be sure that the one whom Jesus referred to as the wicked one knows the Bible better than any mere human. He has had thousands of years to examine it—to plot, to scheme, to mentally condition, to manipulate. Thus, the satanic angel can create powerful works and lying signs designed to convince us that Bible prophecy has been fulfilled when such is not the case.
Virtually everything the Watchtower has ever published pertaining to the second coming has been interpreted to that end—to convince trusting Christians that all has been fulfilled. And it is all an unrighteous deception.
As an example, consider the 10th chapter of Revelation. The vision reveals something extraordinary: “And I saw another strong angel descending from heaven, arrayed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars of fire, and he had in his hand a little scroll that had been unrolled. And he set his right foot on the sea, but his left one on the earth, and he cried out with a loud voice just as when a lion roars. And when he cried out, the voices of the seven thunders spoke.”
Clearly, this strong angel is Jesus Christ. His face, glowing like the sun, is a sure giveaway. No Trinitarian can accept this since their mystery religion requires belief that Jesus is God and therefore cannot be an angel. The Watchtower, however, offers some insight and correctly identifies the angel as Jesus Christ when he descends to declare his dominion over the earth.
When will this vision become a reality? Here is where the operation of Satan comes into play with lying signs and every unrighteous deception.
The Watchtower claims that the Bible Students were handed the symbolic little scroll in 1919. According to Watchtower lore, The Finished Mystery, published in 1916, proved to be “inadequate.” So Jesus required the John class to rework it and get it right to “prophesy again about peoples and nations and tongues and many kings.”
Since the Watchtower’s last commentary on Revelation was published more than a quarter century ago, and The Finished Mystery was long ago consigned to the rubbish bin, it is doubtful that most Jehovah’s Witnesses have any idea how utterly ridiculous and absurd the book was. Why the publishers would need someone from heaven to tell them what should have been obvious to any thinking person is even more preposterous.
The falsity of the Watchtower’s interpretation of the 10th chapter of Revelation is clear to anyone willing to use their God-given powers of reasoning—provided they are even interested in the truth.
By considering the words of the strong angel, any honest person knows that Christ is speaking about the end of Christianity—or more appropriately, the accomplishment of God’s purpose in connection with the Christian ministry. Here is what the strong angel swore to God: “The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the earth raised his right hand to heaven, and he swore by the One who lives forever and ever, who created the heaven and the things in it and the earth and the things in it and the sea and the things in it: “There will be no delay any longer. But in the days when the seventh angel is about to blow his trumpet, the sacred secret that God declared as good news to his own slaves the prophets is indeed brought to a finish.” – Revelation 10:5-7
The reason the Watchtower titled their book The Finished Mystery is because the King James version used the word “mystery” instead of “sacred secret.” Either way, nothing came to a conclusion in 1919 or at any time since then.
If the Bible Students were enlightened by supposedly eating the symbolic little scroll, why does the Watchtower still teach absurdities such as the Anglo-American head of the beast suffered the prophesied mortal head wound during the First World War, when there is not a shred of historical evidence that London or Washington experienced any instability or unrest, let alone suffered collapse? And why does the Watchtower still teach the lie that the League of Nations had authority over all nations (Though the USA was not even a member) and that people of the world have received the 666 mark of the beast and had their names blotted out of Jehovah’s book of life beginning back in 1922 because they may have hoped the League was a good idea?
These are not insignificant, trivial details. The facts are the facts. And because the Watchtower’s interpretations do not align with historical facts, they are indicative of falsehood. Since we have already determined that the operation of Satan is intended to create a false parousia, and the Watchtower’s interpretation cannot be true, the fact that men who present themselves as apostles adamantly support a blatant fabrication is evidence of Satan’s insidious influence in conjuring powerful works, lying signs, and every unrighteous deception.
The purpose of Christ commanding John to prophesy again to nations and many kings symbolizes what will take place after Jesus manifests himself to the chosen. Did not Jesus tell his disciples that during the conclusion they would be made to stand before governors and kings to give them a witness, and that no one would be able to dispute their word because the holy spirit would be the one speaking? This has never happened in the modern era.
The disguised angel of light has also convinced Jehovah’s Witnesses that the two witnesses have already come on the scene performing miracles like Moses and Elijah, and have been killed. Laughably, the Governing Body claims the prophecy was fulfilled when J.F. Rutherford spent a few months in prison. In truth, the 11th chapter of Revelation portrays the climactic conclusion of Satan’s reign.
End of part nine
