“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.” - Revelation 10:2-3 No one can ignore a nearby thunderstorm. Even a distant bolt of lightning can produce a roaring rumble that can rattle windows and shake [...]
Part 11 While the “holy city” is trampled underfoot by the nations for 42 months, the two witnesses will prophesy for the same period, expressed as 1,260 days. Some Bible readers at least have a passing interest in the prophecy of the two witnesses. Yet, it seems no one—including the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses—has ever considered why they are called “my two witnesses” or what [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Part eight Having presented the case for a visible manifestation of Christ to the chosen, what does the Scripture mean that “every eye will see him”? That statement is made in the opening chapter of Revelation, which says: “Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in [...]
Part seven John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. John experienced the Transfiguration of Christ and, as a captive of the Roman empire, was exiled to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. By inspiration, the aged apostle came to be on the Lord’s day. Although the apostle saw heavenly things, he was not initially transported in vision into the heavens. His perspective was as [...]
Part six On his final trip to Jerusalem, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees, and they asked him when the Kingdom of God was coming. The Lord answered them, saying: “The Kingdom of God is not coming with striking observableness; nor will people say, ‘See here!’ or, ‘There!’ For look! the Kingdom of God is in your midst.” - Luke 17:20,21 Jesus had just cured 10 lepers [...]
Part five Search the Scriptures through and through, and you will not find the phrase “invisible presence.” As common sense would have it, Jesus has always been invisibly present. The parousia is something very different. To illustrate the point and prove that the manifestation of Christ is the same thing as the parousia, the apostle John wrote the following: “So now, little children, remain in union [...]
Part four After describing all these things destined to occur, Jesus spoke a series of illustrations---each showing the same outcome. The lesson is, there will be a decisive separation among Christians. Jehovah’s Witnesses have no realistic expectation of such a thing. The Watchtower claims the concluding harvest took place over 100 years ago. Supposedly, the angels separated the Bible Students from the mass of members of [...]
Part three Having established that the presence of Christ with the holy ones, yes, his coming alongside them, does not take place until we “see all these things,” now we will distinguish his coming from his presence. This is all the more necessary because of the eschatological mess the Watchtower has created. While Charles Taze Russell did well to differentiate the two Greek words “parousia” and “erkhomai” [...]
