QUESTION: What is the meaning of each of the 7 bowls of wrath, I mean how will they be manifested on earth, how will we see them? What do they symbolize? Are they literal? I know you have explained the final 2, but what about the others like the drinking of blood, the ulcers, the dying of fish in the sea, the burning from the sun [...]
Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since I first delved into the books of the prophets and discerned that the overthrow of Tyre and Egypt foreshadows the sudden downfall of the present Anglo-American dyad. This is what is also portrayed in the 13th chapter of Revelation as the mortal wound upon one of the heads of the beast. Basically, I know the end [...]
Tuesday, December 15 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after the people had marched around them for seven days. —Heb. 11:30. The Israelites were commanded not to attack Jericho but to march around the city once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day. Some soldiers may have thought, ‘What a waste of time and energy!’ But Israel’s invisible Leader knew [...]
Slightly edited repost from 2012 Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities on earth. The first mention of it in the Holy Bible is in the book of Genesis, in connection with Melchizedek – a type of Christ, a priest, who was also the king of Salem. The 76th Psalm, which states: “God is known in Judah; in Israel his name is great. And his [...]
Friday, December 11 At my guardpost I will keep standing. —Hab. 2:1. Habakkuk’s conversation with Jehovah gave him a calm heart. So he resolved to keep waiting confidently on Jehovah to act. This was not just a spur-of-the-moment reaction, for he repeated his resolve when he later said that he would “quietly wait for the day of distress.” (Hab. 3:16) What does Habakkuk’s resolve teach us? [...]
The 28th chapter of Isaiah begins with Jehovah’s denunciation of the leaders of the nation of Israel and a declaration of the means by which God would deal with them: “Woe to the eminent crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading blossom of its decoration of beauty that is upon the head of the fertile valley of those overpowered by wine! Look! Jehovah has someone strong and vigorous. Like a thunderous storm of hail, a destructive storm, like a thunderous storm of powerful, flooding waters, he will certainly do a casting down to the earth with force. With the feet the eminent crowns of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trampled down. And the fading flower of its decoration of beauty that is upon the head of the fertile valley must become like the early fig before summer, that, when the seer sees it, while it is yet in his palm, he swallows it down.”
When Joshua brought the Israelites into the so-called promised land it was described as a place just flowing with milk and honey. But after the Hebrews had lived in the land of Canaan for several centuries it was as if the beautifully decorated land had faded from its former glory, like a wilting bouquet of flowers. This was because the leaders of the people became corrupt. They stopped worshiping Jehovah in the way he had prescribed in the covenant, and so they lost their spiritual beauty. Eventually, God was obligated to take drastic measures – completely destroying the nation, as a means of effecting needed discipline in order that some might be restored.
Tuesday, December 8 Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life. —John 6:68. Some today have been stumbled by an adjusted understanding of a Bible passage. Others have taken sides with apostates and other opposers who misrepresent our beliefs. As a result, some have deliberately begun “drawing away” from Jehovah and the congregation. (Heb. 3:12-14) How much better it would have [...]
A consideration of the 27th chapter of Isaiah and related prophecies, originally published in 2010. The question of which shall end first—Christianity or the world—may seem like a strange topic to even consider. No doubt Jehovah's Witnesses naturally assume that true Christianity will without question outlive, not only the present evil world, but especially that brand of counterfeit Christianity known as Christendom. Jehovah's Witnesses likely consider [...]
“Is it really so that God has said you must not eat from every tree of the garden?”
With that seemingly innocuous question the father of the lie – the original manslayer – slyly implied that mankind’s Creator was untrustworthy. Ever since then the slanderer has heaped up a mountain of lies to cause mankind to distrust God. However, on the very day the Devil tricked Eve into tempting her husbandly head into disobeying God, Jehovah announced his far-reaching purpose to provide a forthcoming seed of the woman who would be bruised in the heel and ultimately crush the skull of the serpent.
In furtherance of that purpose God organized the nation of Israel, which ultimately produced the promised messianic seed. The tribe of Judah was specifically selected for that privilege.
With the appearance of Jesus, “the lion of the tribe of Judah,” the first aspect of the edenic prophecy was fulfilled when Satan maneuvered to have Jesus executed. Jesus’ trust in God was tested to the limit when he submitted himself to the torturous death the original serpent inflicted upon him. But his trust was not misplaced. As promised, God resurrected Jesus from the grave. Hence, the wound the serpent had inflicted upon Jesus proved to be temporary – as if a mere bruise upon his heel.
One of the underlying sub-themes of the book of Isaiah is the intractable blindness of the leaders of God’s people as regards the meaning of the prophecy of Isaiah itself. The Watchtower’s inability to comprehend the judgments of Jehovah – as contained in Isaiah – and all the prophets for that matter, is on full display in the volumes of commentary the Watchtower Society has published over the decades. Even outsiders who parrot the accusation that the Watchtower is a “false prophet” do not realize the full extent of Bethel’s error. But, of course, neither do outsiders (nor Jehovah's Witnesses) understand the judgments of Jehovah.
Happily for all, though, understanding prophecy is not a requirement for salvation – at least not now anyway.
Consider the contrast between the apostles and the Pharisees. Both groups were blind, to an extent. The apostles and other disciples simply could not comprehend the fact that Jesus was going to die and be taken from them. Jesus told them repeatedly the fate that awaited him, yet they simply could not grasp it. In fact, the scripture says it was hidden from them that they might not see through it. (Luke 9:45) But at least the apostles accepted Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah. That was crucial. They had faith.
