Part 10
The Bible is not easy to understand. Jesus often spoke in illustrations that have to be interpreted. That can be a little tricky. Even the apostle Peter acknowledged that in Paul’s writings, there were some things that were hard to understand, which the untaught and unsteady were twisting to their own destruction. Then there is prophecy and chronology.
To be sure, a higher intelligence inspired the Holy Scriptures, so we may be confident that it all makes sense, even if we do not understand everything. Let’s at least be honest with ourselves, though; if someone’s interpretation or some religious institution’s explanation doesn’t make sense and contradicts the Scriptures and violates even common sense, then we may be sure it is not true.
Take the Trinity, for example. Catholic doctrine holds that God exists in three persons and that none was before or after the others. That means that even though Jesus addressed God as his Father and God referred to Jesus as his Son, they do not have a father/son relationship as we understand it. Why then do they refer to each other as “my Father” and “my Son’? No one can explain it—at least not in a sensible way. And the reason no one can explain it is because it is not true. The Trinity is a demon-inspired lie. No matter how skillfully a lie is constructed, it cannot stand up to scrutiny, provided we allow God’s word to have the final say.
The same is true with the Watchtower’s chronology. It simply doesn’t add up—no pun intended. It is contradictory and has all the telltale signs of being a demonic lie. That may hurt someone’s feelings. Jehovah’s Witnesses may refuse to believe it even when presented with the scriptural evidence. The Watchtower may denounce the presenter of a sensible argument as an apostate, but that does not change a lie into the truth. 1914 is a fabrication built upon misapplied chronology. That is the truth, and it will become painfully evident when Christ comes and it all comes undone.
Of course, there is biblical chronology. God is the Father of time and an exacting time-keeper. For example, the ninth chapter of Daniel uses weeks of years to foretell the precise year that the Messiah would appear and even the length of his ministry. But as we shall see, God’s allowance for an operation of Satan is based upon an artificial interpretation of biblical chronology.
As all of Jehovah’s Witnesses know, C.T. Russell pointed forward to 1914 as early as 1879. However, he did not claim it would mark the second coming since Russell taught that an invisible presence had begun in 1874. Rather, the Watchtower’s Founder claimed that 1914 would initiate global anarchy and culminate in the world-ending battle of Armageddon.
Although the vast majority of International Bible Students who followed Pastor Russell’s predictions stumbled when everything went sideways, and Russell himself unexpectedly passed away on Halloween, 1916, over the course of the following years, up to around 1930, the Watchtower reworked everything to make 1914 the anchor date for the beginning of the parousia and the coming to power of God’s Kingdom.
And Lo and Behold! Satan did his part with every powerful work and lying signs to convince Christians that the Great War, as it was originally called, along with the horrific Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 and the brief persecution of the leadership of the Watchtower, synced with the chronological expectations tied to 1914.
For the unfamiliar, Russell’s chronology was based on the seven times of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness. Because Jesus also spoke of the “times of the Gentiles,” it is claimed that the “seven times” correspond to the “times” allotted for Jerusalem to be trodden down by the nations. The Watchtower adopted an equation that calculates the seven times to equal 2,520 years, counting from the year Babylon destroyed Jerusalem.
There is only one Bible writer who recorded Jesus’ words concerning the times of the Gentiles, or “appointed times” as the New World Translation phrases it—Luke. In context, Christ was speaking about the tribulation that was destined to come upon the city of Jerusalem. First, a disgusting thing would stand in a holy place. Then the enemy would pitch a fortification of pointed stakes around the doomed city. Finally, Jesus said: “And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.” – Luke 21:24
A few days before the Mount of Olives discourse, Jesus had said the temple would be thrown down without a stone remaining upon a stone. The disciples wanted to know when this disaster would befall them. And Jesus complied with their request. When Jesus said the nations will trample on Jerusalem, it is simply inconceivable that the apostles would have understood Jesus to have meant that the trampling had already begun and that the appointed times for the trampling began when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple. Obviously, Jerusalem and the temple had been rebuilt. The apostles were not asking about history. They wanted to know when the rebuilt city and temple would be torn down.
Even so, we are not Preterists. We do not believe for one moment that the great tribulation that Jesus said was destined to come upon the entire inhabited earth and require divine intervention to prevent the extinction of the human race took place in the first century.
So, what are the appointed times that God has allowed for the nations to trample Jerusalem?
It is a historical fact that no one doubts: The Romans obliterated Jerusalem in the year 70 C.E. The Arch of Titus in Rome still stands as a monument to the fulfillment of Christ’s words.
If we but read the very next span of verses in Luke, it should be evident to any honest searcher that the trampling of Jerusalem has a modern fulfillment connected with the presence of Christ. Here is what Jesus said in context: “Also, there will be signs in the 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. People will become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But as these things start to occur, stand up straight and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is getting near.”
Please take note of the little adverb “also” at the beginning of the quotation. “Also” is in addition to the nations trampling upon Jerusalem. So, the question really comes down to this: What does Jerusalem represent? As has already been stated, Jerusalem is a symbol of Christ’s congregation. Even the Watchtower recognizes this simple fact — at least when it is convenient.
As for the appointed times for the nations to trample Christ’s earthly organization, appropriately, the book of Revelation provides the key to unlock the mystery: “And a reed like a rod was given to me as he said: “Get up and measure the temple sanctuary of God and the altar and those worshipping in it. But as for the courtyard that is outside the temple sanctuary, leave it out and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city underfoot for 42 months. I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days dressed in sackcloth.” These are symbolized by the two olive trees and the two lampstands and are standing before the Lord of the earth.” (11:1-4)
To underscore the artificiality of the Watchtower’s 1914 eschatology, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been deluded into believing that the holy city was trampled by the nations for an appointed time of 42 months beginning in 1914.
After correctly identifying the sanctuary as having to do with Christ’s congregation, here is what is stated in the Grand Climax publication:
We have noted that the inner courtyard pictures the righteous standing on earth of spirit-begotten Christians. As we shall see, the reference here is to the literal 42 months extending from December 1914 to June 1918, when all professing Christians were put to a severe test. Would they uphold Jehovah’s righteous standards during those war years? Most did not. En bloc, the clergy of Christendom put nationalism ahead of obedience to divine law. On both sides of the war, which was fought mainly in Christendom, the clergy preached the young men into the trenches. Millions were slaughtered. By the time that judgment started with the house of God in 1918, the United States had also entered that bloodspilling, and the clergy of all of Christendom had incurred a bloodguilt that still cries out for divine vengeance. Their being cast out has become permanent, irreversible.
Contradictions made to sound like inspired statements of truth and even declarations made with apostolic authority may sound authentic, but it is exactly what Paul warned us about when he said not to believe every inspired statement or documents pretending to be authored by the apostles.
If we but reason on the statement above and ask: If the appointed times for the nations to trample symbolic Jerusalem ended in 1914, how is it that 1914 also marked the beginning of a 42-month period for the nations to trample the holy city and sanctuary? How can chronology mark the end of a period of trampling and simultaneously mark the beginning of another appointed time of trampling? Is God’s word so convoluted? Or is it the Watchtower’s specious reasoning that is suspect?
Of course, Jehovah’s Witnesses are oblivious to what is a glaring contradiction. Even if one were to point out the obvious, they would be dismissed, marginalized, or even punished for having the audacity to question the “faithful and discreet slave.”
We should not suppose, though, that men concocted this fanciful “explanation” on their own. No, the fact that Russell was “inspired” to establish an expectation centered on 1914 and when the war began the spokesman for the Watchtower announced to the Bethel family that the Gentile times had ended, and there is what can be construed as a 42-month period in there, somewhere, provided we squint and look really hard into the hazy past, it has all the earmarks of a powerful work and lying sign of Satan to begin and end the war to coincide with the phony application of the appointed times.
The Watchtower, while correctly identifying the sanctuary and holy city as having to do with Christianity, the fabricators fail to take into consideration that Jesus placed the trampling of Jerusalem in the context of the great tribulation.
As for the chronology, the 42 months, otherwise expressed as time, times, and half a time, as well as 1,260 days, is the period allowed for the nations to trample on the Kingdom of God from the point at which the sealing takes place. That is when the strong angel will declare that the sacred secret is brought to a finish. The Kingdom is trampled upon because those who are chosen to be kings with Christ will be persecuted and killed during the reign of the last king.
End of part 10
