In the 13th chapter of Ezekiel Jehovah commanded his watchman to denounce the “stupid prophets” of Israel – Jehovah spoke to Ezekiel: “Son of man, prophesy concerning the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and you must say to those prophesying out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of Jehovah. This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “Woe to the stupid prophets, who are walking after their own spirit, when there is nothing that they have seen!’”
Jehovah went on to state concerning the “stupid prophets”: “They have visioned what is untrue and a lying divination, those who are saying, ‘The utterance of Jehovah is,’ when Jehovah himself has not sent them, and they have waited to have a word come true. Is it not an untrue vision that you men have visioned, and a lying divination that you have said, when saying, ‘The utterance of Jehovah is,’ when I myself have spoken nothing?”’
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses claims to be the voice of a modern-day Ezekiel-like prophet. The Watchtower Society also takes to itself numerous titles besides the “Ezekiel class,” such as the “Jeremiah class,” the “Micah class” and the “John class”; while the modern counterpart to the house of Israel in this instance is supposedly all of Christendom. Though not claiming to be directly inspired, as were the original prophets, the Watchtower Society boasts of having unique insights into the biblical prophecies and inspired visions and an exclusive appointment from on high to serve in the capacity of a prophet by announcing the coming destruction of Christendom and all the realm of Babylon the Great. In so doing, the Watchtower Society unquestionably speaks in the name of Jehovah, saying as it were: “The utterance of Jehovah is…”
But the question considered here is: Has the prophet class spoken the truth in the name of Jehovah, or is the Watchtower Society guilty of issuing “an untrue vision” and practicing a “lying divination”? What do the facts show? The truth is virtually all of the prophetic interpretations the Watchtower has published over the years are in varying degrees of error.
Admittedly, Bethel’s commentaries on the prophets are extensive and a detailed analysis of them all in a single article such as this is not practical. But many aspects of the Watchtower’s interpretations have already been examined in the book Jehovah Himself Has Become King; so, the intent of this article is to present the reader with only an approximation of the extent of the Society’s error. Hopefully, the reader may thereby gain a deeper appreciation of why Jehovah is determined to demolish the whitewashed organizational and doctrinal wall that has been built up by those whom the prophecy of Ezekiel denounces as the “stupid prophets.”
WAS 1914 THE END OF THE APPOINTED TIMES?
The notion that Jesus became king over the world in 1914 is without question the paramount prophetic teaching of the Watchtower. It is no exaggeration that in one way or the other the Watchtower Society has tied virtually all Bible prophecy to 1914. The importance of 1914 to the faith to Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot be understated.
Indicative of the emphasis placed upon that date, any of Jehovah’s Witnesses who may reject the Society’s 1914 dogma on the grounds that it is not solidly based on the authority of the Scriptures are often subjected to a judicial inquisition and disfellowshipped from the organization as faithless apostates. Persons studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses who do not fully accept 1914 as the commencement of the invisible return of Christ are typically not allowed to even be baptized. Why, the justification for the very existence of the organization itself rests upon the 1914 foundation.
Even though the Watchtower’s teaching regarding 1914 is given such importance the doctrine itself is based upon a most specious interpretation of Christ’s end-times prophecy; namely, that “the appointed times of the nations” to trample Jerusalem began in 607 BCE and ended in 1914. Although in some circles a debate has raged for many years regarding the correct date for the fall of Jerusalem, and many active Jehovah’s Witnesses may even privately harbor reservations about the validity of the Watchtower’s method of reckoning chronology, the fact of the matter is there is absolutely no scriptural justification for attaching the date of the original destruction of Jerusalem, regardless of what year that may have been, to the beginning of the period Jesus referred to as “the appointed times of the nations.” The 607 debate is absolutely meaningless as regards calculating the time of Christ’s arrival.
That means that one of the Society’s most fundamental teachings is based upon a false premise and is a demonstrably artificial application of prophecy and chronology. Indeed, the Watchtower’s entire prophetic exegesis, which has subsequently been built upon 1914, is an “untrue vision.” It is as if the Watchtower Society is a towering whitewashed wall built upon the understructure of 1914. And like the prophecy of Ezekiel states, ever since 1914 the Watchtower’s prophets and visionaries “have waited to have a word come true” regarding their predictions – but in vain.
It is very unwise for the Society to have anchored the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses, not to mention their own credibility, and more importantly the very reputation of Jehovah himself, upon such a faulty foundation. But year after year the Watchtower continues to defend and justify their error, as if plastering coat after coat of whitewash upon a shabbily built doctrinal wall. Without doubt the men responsible for using the authority of the Scriptures to perpetuate their “lying divination” fit the profile of the stupid prophets.
APPOINTED OVER ALL OF HIS BELONGINGS?
Closely related to the teaching that Jesus began ruling the world in 1914 is the notion that Christ arrived as a thief in the night to inspect God’s spiritual temple in 1918 and subsequently appointed a faithful slave over all of the Master’s earthly interests in 1919. What is the scriptural basis for the teaching? Like the chronology connected with the “appointed times,” there is none. The Society merely employs circular reasoning, insisting that since it is an established fact that Christ returned in 1914, it therefore must be the case that he shortly thereafter rewarded and punished his faithful and unfaithful slaves.
This doctrine has forced the Watchtower to identify a handful of disgruntled Bible Students of several generations past as the “evil slave class,” who were supposedly sent packing in 1918 to weep and gnash their teeth in the spiritual darkness outside the Watchtower Society. Frankly, though, such an interpretation is ridiculous and disharmonious with the teachings of Christ.
For example, the March 1st, 2004, issue of the Watchtower states concerning those who were supposedly judged as being evil slaves:
“Before 1914 they had not enthusiastically shared their hope with others, and they did not want to start in 1919. How did Jesus respond to their insolence? He took away all their privileges. They were ‘thrown out into the darkness outside, where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth would be.’”
There is no basis for the assertion that the original Bible Students who split off from the Watchtower after the death of C.T. Russell wept and gnashed their teeth in anguish and remorse. Furthermore, it cannot honestly be claimed that Christ “took away all their privileges.” The truth is that many Bible Students who left the organization after Joseph Rutherford became president continued to preach and publish the writings of Charles Taze Russell’s. In fact, dozens of Bible Student groups continue to this day and even appear to be growing in numbers, due in large measure to their using the Internet to promote the teachings of the Watchtower’s Founder.
No wonder the Watchtower does not offer any proof to back up their contention that the offshoots of Bible Students are weeping and gnashing their teeth due to Christ’s adverse judgment of them. It should be evident that the inspection of God’s household is not an ongoing process the spans decades, as the Watchtower insists.
The pattern is set by Christ’s inspection of his Father’s temple in the 1st century, which occurred suddenly and unexpectedly and resulted in a sweeping purge of the moneychangers and merchandisers. It did not go on and on day after day, year after year. Similarly, the coming of Jesus to his Father’s spiritual temple will result in the swift expulsion of the unfaithful from the midst of the congregation of God. It will not go on and on for generations.
What is more, according to no less an authority than Jesus, the master comes at an hour his slaves do not think likely. In urging his disciples to remain vigilant Christ specifically stated: “for you do not know when the appointed time is.” Obviously that rules out being able to pinpoint the appointed time by means of chronology. If the faithful slaves have already passed the test why must they remain in expectation for the master to arrive again? That is not to say that there is no such thing as a class of anointed slaves who have been appointed by Christ to feed the domestics, only that the master has not arrived yet to judge his slaves, nor has he rewarded the faithful slave with the second appointment over all his belongings. Furthermore, in view of the fact that the “stupid prophets” reside in the intimate group of God’s people up until the actual day of Jehovah, it stands to reason that they correspond to the evil slaves of Christ’s illustration.
ARE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES THE LOCUSTS?
Of all the Society’s commentary on the prophets, their interpretation of the prophecy of Joel is probably the most absurd. Since the days of J.F. Rutherford the Watchtower has taught that Jehovah’s Witnesses are the symbolic swarming locust and cockroach plague that devours the earth; while the afflicted priests who cry out to Jehovah for aid represent the clergy of Christendom; who are supposedly driven mad by the Society’s stinging exposure.
But alas, the prophecy of Joel plainly sets forth that Jehovah destroys the locust plague by driving them into the sea and he then makes compensation to those who have suffered loss due to the devouring insect-like army of the “northerner.” According to the straightforward reading of Joel Jehovah’s holy place is destined to be devastated by an oncoming army of pillagers as a necessary prelude to the fear-inspiring day of Jehovah. The Watchtower’s interpretation is so off the mark one has to wonder if anyone at Bethel has ever actually read the book of Joel. But of course, they have. So, what can account for their gross lack of insight? No doubt the primary underlying reason the Watchtower’s institutionalized prophets have so badly misinterpreted Joel (and numerous other prophecies) is because of their laboring under the delusion that the organization will survive the oncoming judgment. That is evident from comments such as the following, taken from the November 15th, 1976,Watchtower:
“Jehovah’s advancing theocratic society will be a going concern, a go-forward organization, right down to and through the great tribulation.”
But will the Watchtower Society really “be a going concern…through the great tribulation”? The answer is flatly, no! Not according to Joel and the rest of the prophets. Jehovah’s holy place is to be desolated by a disgusting thing during the finale. Yet, contrary to the word of Jehovah issued through his true prophets concerning God’s coming judgment upon his people, the “stupid prophets” declare that all is well, saying: ‘”There is peace’! when there is no peace.”
So, after 80 years of intense Bible research why does the Watchtower tenaciously cling to such absurdities, as in connection with Joel? The only reasonable explanation is that the organization is under the influence of the “stupid prophets,” who, as Ezekiel indicates, remain “in the intimate group of my people”until such time as Jehovah’s judgment is executed against them.
Other organization-glorifying teachings that serve as examples of the practice of “divining a lie” is the Watchtower’s fraudulent “spiritual paradise,” as well as the notion that Jehovah’s Witnesses are presently speaking the “pure language” of truth.
The prophecies paint a vivid picture of spiritual paradise as being a condition comparable to the Garden of Eden. In the original Garden, before Satan made himself into the dastardly Tempter, there was no evil or danger of any kind to threaten the newly created man and his wife. Adam and Eve enjoyed complete security and peace with God. Should anyone suppose that the promised spiritual equivalent of Eden should be any less? Is it beyond God’s ability to see to it that Satan cannot any longer infiltrate Christ’s congregation with wicked and harmful men? Is Jehovah exaggerating when he states that not even one stupid or harmful person will wander about on the highway of holiness reserved for the redeemed? According to the Watchtower, yes; since their spiritual paradise is merely characterized by organizational conformity and people getting along and being nice to each other. However, the ugly side of the Watchtower’s faux paradise is the fact that the organization is rife with immoral persons, including pedophiles and predatory con-men.
By using their ecclesiastical authority to misapply the sacred prophecies the “stupid prophets” have made themselves guilty of “divining a lie.”
In spite of teaching so many falsities the Watchtower also boasts of speaking the prophesied “pure language” of truth. But has the promised “change to a pure language” occurred already, or is it something that God will perform in the future? The Watchtower insists the change has already taken place. For instance, the April 1st, 1991,Watchtower states:
“Pointing to fulfillment of the prophecy at a particular period of time, Zephaniah 3:9 says: “For then I shall give to peoples the change to a pure language.” When is that? Verse 8 answers that it is during the time that Jehovah is ‘gathering the nations,’ before he ‘pours out upon them his burning anger,’ that he gives to meek ones of the earth the change to a pure language.”
But does the 8th verse and surrounding text really indicate that the foreordained change comes before God pours out his anger—as the Watchtower presumes? Not at all! The 8th verse says that the change takes place concurrent with the expression of God’s judgment, not before. Zephaniah 3:8-9 reads:
“Therefore keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘till the day of my rising up to the booty, for my judicial decision is to gather nations, for me to collect together kingdoms, in order to pour out upon them my denunciation, all my burning anger; for by the fire of my zeal all the earth will be devoured. For then I shall give to peoples the change to a pure language, in order for them all to call upon the name of Jehovah, in order to serve him shoulder to shoulder.’”
The prophecy clearly states that the change to the pure language comes about on “the day of my rising up to the booty,”—meaning during the judgment period—during the conclusion of the system of things. “For then” (during the outpouring of Jehovah’s “judicial decision”) is when the change comes about—at least that is what the Bible says.
In keeping with the fact that the day of Jehovah and the presence of Christ are evidenced by the outbreak of global war, the preceding verses, Zephaniah 3:6-7, say: “I cut off nations; their corner towers were desolated. I devastated their streets, so that there was no one passing through. Their cities were laid waste, so that there was no man, so that there was no inhabitant. I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept discipline’; so that her dwelling might not be cut off—all that I must call to account against her. Truly they acted promptly in making all their dealings ruinous.”
To further establish the truth concerning when it is that the change comes, Zephaniah 3:11-13 indicates that “the change to the pure language”comes about as a result of Jehovah’s fiery judgment, which purges the insolent priests and haughty judges from the midst of God’s congregation; those, who, with a “tricky tongue,” are the very ones would have seduced Jehovah’s Witnesses into believing that God has already become king. Contrary to everything the Watchtower has ever published, the great purge will immediately precede the meek finally inheriting the earth. Zephaniah 3:11-13 reads:
“In that day you will not be ashamed because of all your dealings with which you transgressed against me, for then I shall remove from the midst of you your haughtily exultant ones; and you will never again be haughty in my holy mountain. And I shall certainly let remain in the midst of you a people humble and lowly, and they will actually take refuge in the name of Jehovah. As regards the remaining ones of Israel, they will do no unrighteousness, nor speak a lie, nor will there be found in their mouths a tricky tongue; for they themselves will feed and actually lie stretched out, and there will be no one making them tremble.”
The truth is Jehovah has not become king yet. His kingship will finally become a reality when he has removed the lawless element from his organization and cleansed his people of all defilements. Then, the remaining ones, the meek, are given “the change to the pure language.” At that point the judgment is concluded and Jehovah rules as king over his people, as is apparent from the closing words of the prophecy of Zephaniah. (End of excerpt)
Ironically, the very fact that the leadership of the Watchtower Society immodestly boasts of speaking the pure language and they are willing to twist the Scriptures in order to deceive Jehovah’s Witnesses with their lies, the very prophecy of Zephaniah that they misapply to themselves rightly describes such men as the “haughtily exultant ones.” Since all prophecy is harmoniously intertwined, apparently the boastful priests who mislead Jehovah’s people with a “tricky tongue” and who are scheduled to be purged from God’s congregation during the judgment phase, are the same as the “stupid prophets” of Ezekiel, who also are destined to be removed from the intimate company of those whom they have misled.
DID THE ANGLO-AMERICAN KINGDOM COLLAPSE DURING WWI?
The Watchtower insists that biblical prophecy cannot be understood until after it is fulfilled; which, ironically, would seem to negate the purpose of prophecy – that being to cast a light upon future events. Even though the Watchtower considers most prophecies to have already been fulfilled since 1914, the facts do not support that assumption. Consider the Watchtower’s interpretation of the 13th chapter of Revelation, as an example.
According to the Revelation Climax commentary the death-stroke was administered upon the Anglo-American 7th head of the political wild beast during the First World War. In so teaching, though, the Society seems to be oblivious to the facts of history; namely, that the United States and Great Britain were victorious! True, Great Britain suffered an enormous loss of life, as did France and Germany. That is the nature of war and the Great War of 1914 was unquestionably one of the bloodiest wars in history. (The United States lost about the same number of soldiers as were killed in the Vietnam War – 58,000.)
But there was no chaos or political crisis in the Anglo-American realm. The governments of Great Britain and the United States did not collapse. Civil society did not experience an upheaval. In view of these simple facts of history how can it be said that the head of Satan’s political system suffered anything remotely comparable to the calamitous death-stroke envisioned in Revelation? Unlike the Battle of Britain during WWII, for instance, Great Britain was spared the devastation of the First World War since it was fought largely on the European mainland – France in particular.
Nevertheless, the Climax book states that “the huge British Empire staggered under the blow and never fully recovered”; but the reality is that while the Ottoman, German and Austro-Hungarian empires completely disappeared from the map the British Empire actually consolidated its power and emerged from the Great War with even greater dominion. It was only in the years after the Great War that the formal British Empire gradually began to dissolve. The Watchtower’s interpretation of Revelation is at odds with historical fact.
The Climax commentary also makes the claim that Great Britain was economically “shattered” by the war. While it is true that England accumulated an enormous debt as a result of the Great War, it is a gross exaggeration to infer that the nation was somehow “shattered.” Besides, Great Britain’s main creditor at the time was the United States, which, as the other entity of the Anglo-American dual world power, emerged from the Great War as a formidable economic and political power. In actual point of fact, through the Treaty of Versailles the victors imposed punitive war reparations upon Germany, resulting in economic devastation for that vanquished nation.
Such glaring inconsistencies notwithstanding, the death-stroke and subsequent “miraculous” recovery of the wild beast initiates a period of judgment for the world based upon whether people worship the resurrected beast or its image. Revelation plainly states regarding those who worship the beast: “the name of not one of them stands written in the scroll of life of the Lamb.”
What does it mean to have one’s name recorded in the scroll of life? On page 192 of the Climax book the Society implies that only the names of the anointed are written down in the scroll of life. Elsewhere, though, the Society correctly states that the great crowd (as well as all those in the memorial tombs awaiting a resurrection) also have their names recorded in the symbolic book of life. (See Insight volume under the heading of “Life.”) Conversely, that means that those whose names are not written down in the scroll of life are subject to the second death – a death from which no resurrection is possible.
So, according to the Watchtower, since the beast was killed during the First World War and then revived in 1919 and its image came to life in the form of the League of Nations and later as the UN, virtually every person since then (except Jehovah’s Witnesses) has already received the irrevocable sentence of everlasting death; since, according to the Watchtower, all persons have in one way or the other either actively or passively supported the present political system.
The Grand Climax commentary actually implies that all persons who have supposedly rejected God’s rulership have been blotted out of the scroll of life since 1922. But here is what the October 1st, 1983,Watchtower stated:
“That symbolic “wild beast” was known at first as the League of Nations. It descended into the abyss of inaction during World War II of the years 1939-45 and then ascended out of the abyss in the form of the United Nations after that war. So since 1945 a perilous situation prevails that might affect the seeker after life eternal on a Paradise earth. He may be deceived into taking a course that will disqualify him for having his name written on “the scroll of life.”
Whether since 1922 or 1945, the Watchtower’s doctrine has made a mockery of Jehovah’s judgments. Shall the God of justice blot a person’s name out of the book of life merely because they might support the UN in some way? Is a blue-bereted UN 
peacekeeper more worthy of everlasting death than other men? Or how reasonable is it that the peoples of the nations have already been marked with the irremovable symbolic 666 mark of the beast by merely passively acknowledging an irrelevant organization like the UN? Besides, the 666 is a permanent, indelible mark of doom. It symbolizes Jehovah’s irreversible judgment. But according to the Watchtower it is evidently possible to get rid of the mark by becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. At least that is the conclusion we would have to draw since many persons who formerly used to actively support the political system in the years since 1945 have become Jehovah’s Witnesses. And what about the many hundreds of millions who have already died since 1945 who did not become Jehovah’s Witnesses? Apparently they will not receive a resurrection since their names are not written down in the scroll of life! What blasphemous nonsense the “stupid prophets” have espoused in the name of Jehovah!
WHAT ABOUT THE NEW WORLD ORDER CONSPIRACY?
From the moment the League of Nations was formed after the First World War the Watchtower identified it as a blasphemous counterfeit of God’s kingdom. Since then, the League’s successor, the United Nations, has also been viewed in the same light.
Oddly, though, while many of Jehovah’s Witnesses may scoff at what is derisively called “conspiracy theories,” the Watchtower actually teaches that the United Nations is the centerpiece of the world’s most monstrous conspiracy! For example, the April 1st, 1987, Watchtower, states:
“National entities inside and outside the United Nations are in reality lined up against the government of the “Prince of Peace.” As God views it, the United Nations is a colossal world conspiracy.”
One of the primary prophecies used to support the Watchtower’s view is the 2nd Psalm, which says:“Why have the nations been in tumult and the national groups themselves kept muttering an empty thing? The kings of earth take their stand and high officials themselves have massed together as one against Jehovah and against his anointed one.”
According to the Watchtower the nations “massed together as one against Jehovah”beginning in 1914. However, the Psalms indicates that the nations’ opposition to Jehovah’s anointed one meets with an immediate response. The 2nd Psalm goes on to say: “The very One sitting in the heavens will laugh; Jehovah himself will hold them in derision. At that time he will speak to them in his anger and in his hot displeasure he will disturb them, saying: ‘I even I, have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain.”’
“At that time,” is in reference to the nations having massed as one in opposition to God’s newly installed king. Since God has not disturbed the nations “in his hot displeasure” it is apparent that Jehovah did not install his king in 1914. Clearly, the massing “together as one” is a future development – something unlike anything the world has witnessed to date.
Taking all the relevant prophecies into consideration leads to the conclusion that the massing “together as one” bespeaks of the imposition of a genuine world government intended to replace and oppose God’s kingdom. More than likely the prophecies will be fulfilled when the United Nations becomes a tyrannical world government and the presently independent nation-states are made subject to it – amassing together as one entity under the umbrella of the United Nations.
Now, though, the United Nations is a relatively impotent and ineffectual organization and in no way fits the Bible’s description of the tyrannical king that is destined to compel everyone on earth to worship it upon pain of death. While the United Nations Organization has the potential to function as a world government it should be apparent that it is not such at the present moment. Just as it is apparent that the 7th head of the beast has not received the sword stroke yet, it is also equally evident that the 8th king has not received his kingdom either. Contrary to the Watchtower’s baseless assumption, the conspiracy to oppose divine rule has not come to fruition yet for the simple reason that God’s kingdom has not been born. That being the case it is necessary to reconsider a number of prophecies.
Consider the vision of Habakkuk. The prophecy pertains to an unbelievable work sanctioned by God revolving around a conspiracy to commit global genocide. Of that hideously evil activity God says: “Be amazed; for there is an activity that one is carrying on in your days, which you people will not believe although it is related.”
The unbelievable work of God relates to the Chaldean being granted authority to serve as Jehovah’s appointed executioner of the nations. The context of the prophecy, however, indicates that it has a much greater application to the 8th king, who will do a similar work as the Chaldean, only earth-wide.
The Watchtower is well aware that “the vision is yet for the appointed time,”which includes the atrocities of the Chaldean. In spite of that fact, the Watchtower identifies the modern executioner of God’s judgments with numerous 20th-century tyrants, such as the Nazis and Communists and virtually all the warring nations. The February 1st, 2000, issue of the Watchtower states:
“Who is this man who “cannot be satisfied”? With voracity like that of Babylon of Habakkuk’s time, this composite “man,” made up of political powers—whether Fascist, Nazi, Communist, or even so-called democratic—fights wars in order to expand his lands. He also fills Sheol, the grave, with innocent souls. But this treacherous composite “man” of Satan’s world, drunk with his own self-assured importance, meets with no success in “gathering to himself all the nations and collecting together to himself all the peoples.”
Despite the fact that the original Chaldean was a singular nation, comparable to a drunken, self-assuming man, the Watchtower teaches that all the warring nations make up a modern composite Chaldean. The Watchtower also wrongly states that the Chaldean is unsuccessful in his attempt to gather all nations to himself. That is not what the prophecy says at all. The Chaldean is said to be very successful, just as the final manifestation of the king of the north is said to succeed in annihilating many peoples. The Chaldean is so successful he is likened to Sheol, in that he has an insatiable appetite for the souls of men. He only fails to meet his goal in the fact that he cannot successfully oppose God.
In the same article the Society also states that the neo-Chaldean is going to accomplish the work of God by destroying Christendom, but they also imply that Jehovah sanctioned the numerous genocidal atrocities of the Nazis, Fascists and Communists of the 20th century! More blasphemous and contradictory nonsense from the “stupid prophets”!
The Watchtower promotes a similar nonsensical interpretation of the 8th chapter of Daniel in identifying the king fierce in countenance as the Anglo-American dual world power, who supposedly fulfilled prophecy by bringing the mighty ones of this world to ruin during the Second World War, as well as Jehovah’s holy ones. (See Daniel)
Even more ridiculous, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been taught that God thwarted the king of fierce countenance by intervening to set his holy place aright by means of some obscure and trivial organizational adjustments that were announced in the pages of the Watchtower back during WWII! Embarrassingly, the latest Daniel commentary states:
“For the holy place to be “brought,” or restored, to what it should be, the 2,300 days must have begun when it previously was in the “right condition” from God’s standpoint. At the earliest, this was on June 1, 1938, when The Watchtower published part 1 of the article “Organization.” Part 2 appeared in the issue of June 15, 1938. Counting 2,300 days (6 years, 4 months, and 20 days on the Hebrew calendar) from June 1 or 15, 1938, brings us to October 8 or 22, 1944. On the first day of a special assembly held at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on September 30 and October 1, 1944, the Watch Tower Society’s president spoke on the subject “The Theocratic Alignment Today.” At the annual corporate meeting on October 2, the Society’s charter was amended in an effort to bring it as close to a theocratic arrangement as the law would allow. With the publication of clarified Biblical requirements, theocratic organization was soon more fully installed in the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Perhaps the most blasphemous utterance of the “stupid prophets,” though, is their commentary on Ezekiel’s tyrannical “despot of the nations.” Even though the May 15th, 1977, Watchtower points out that Nebuchadnezzar was the original despot, the Society inexplicably exclaims:
“What interests us today is, Who is the modern “despot of the nations,” and who are the “strangers, the tyrants of the nations”? They are the fear-inspiring Communist bloc of nations, are they not? To this we flatly answer, No!…It will not be Jehovah’s Christian witnesses, who today number just some two million scattered among 210 lands around the globe. They are not despotic, not tyrannical, and strike no terror in people’s hearts, for which reason they are openly persecuted as a helpless, defenseless religious minority…Jehovah’s instrument is the glorified Jesus Christ and his armies of heavenly angels. Hardheaded politicians of today may laugh at such a thought.”
While on the one hand the Watchtower identifies the Babylonian king of Habakkuk’s prophecy with numerous 20th century dictatorial tyrants, who were supposedly doing the Lord’s work when they snuffed out millions of lives, the Watchtower Society claims that prophetic Babylonian “despot of the nations” in Ezekiel is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ! What stupidity! Apparently, though, none of Jehovah’s Witnesses are offended by the suggestion that while Jehovah’s Witnesses are not tyrannical, Jesus Christ is! Ironically, while proclaiming that the United Nations is part of a “colossal world conspiracy,” the Watchtower is blind to the very prophecies, such as Habakkuk, Daniel, Isaiah and Ezekiel, which foretell that a genocidal tyrant will come to power by means of a brilliant Satanic deception in order to terrorize and execute large numbers of people during this world’s nightmarish finale.
Instead of recognizing that it is Jehovah’s judgment to allow the world to be subjected to a totalitarian tyrant the Watchtower repeatedly prophesies that the relatively benevolent United Nations, with its international cadre of blue-helmeted peacekeepers, is suddenly going to destroy all organized religion around the globe. How ridiculous!
Jehovah’s Witnesses are apparently oblivious to present political realities; namely, that the United Nations is virtually powerless. It does not even have a standing army to deploy or any sophisticated weaponry. Besides, are Jehovah’s Witnesses so naïve so as to believe that the nations would allow the United Nations to violate their sovereignties or that the billions of religious people in the world would sit back and let their cherished religions be destroyed by UN peacekeepers?
If the word of God is to be accomplished first the democratic nations must fall during a time of global crisis brought on by financial collapse and war. Then – and only then – will the 8th king arise, to whom all the rulers of the world will be terrorized into obeying.
It is during that time of international crisis that the Watchtower’s whitewashed organizational wall will collapse. (See footnote for discussion of why the prophecy of Ezekiel has a greater application) Then, when the genuine sign of Christ’s presence becomes manifest by war, pestilence and famine, on a scale far exceeding the 1914-1918 period, it will become evident that Jehovah’s Witnesses have been led astray by the “stupid prophets” in their company.
Let the “stupid prophets” be put on notice again, of Jehovah’s now-onrushing judgment against them:“And my hand has come to be against the prophets that are visioning untruth and that are divining a lie. In the intimate group of my people they will not continue on, and in the register of the house of Israel they will not be written, and to the soil of Israel they will not come; and you people will have to know that I am the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, for the reason, yes, for the reason that they have led my people astray, saying, “There is peace!” when there is no peace, and there is one that is building a partition wall, but in vain there are those plastering it with whitewash. Say to those plastering with whitewash that it will fall. A flooding downpour will certainly occur, and you, O hailstones, will fall, and a blast of windstorms itself will cause a splitting. And, look! the wall must fall. Will it not be said to you men, ‘Where is the coating with which you did the plastering?’ Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘I will also cause a blast of windstorms to burst forth in my rage, and in my anger there will occur a flooding downpour, and in rage there will be hailstones for an extermination. And I will tear down the wall that you men have plastered with whitewash and bring it into contact with the earth, and its foundation must be exposed. And she will certainly fall, and you must come to an end in the midst of her; and you will have to know that I am Jehovah.’”
* This article has been sent to select Governing Body members and department heads at the Watchtower headquarters.
ADDENDUM
What justification is there in applying the 13th chapter of Ezekiel beyond the destruction of Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s day? For one thing, in the 5th verse Jehovah says the “stupid prophets“ will “certainly not go up into the gaps, neither will you build up a stone wall in behalf of the house of Israel, in order to stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah.”
In the case of the fall of Jerusalem, Jeremiah counseled all the citizens of Jerusalem to capitulate to Nebuchadnezzar. Any Jew who might be tempted to resist would be killed. But Ezekiel’s prophecy intimates that an opportunity will exist to stand and fight for the truth in the day of Jehovah’s war, but that the stupid prophets would forfeit that opportunity because of their having misled Jehovah’s people prior to the outbreak of God’s battle. Why the discrepancy? The reason for the apparent discrepancy is because Ezekiel’s prophecy is intended to apply to the “stupid prophets” in “the intimate group” of Jehovah’s people at the coming of Christ – for that truly will be “the day of Jehovah.” And like the evil slave, the “stupid prophets” will not be able to stand before Christ’s judgment seat, whereas those judged to be faithful and discreet will.
That the prophecy applies to the coming of Christ is also evident from the fact that Ezekiel’s prophecy describes Jehovah’s judgment against the whitewashed wall as being like a flooding downpour; windstorms and hail. So what? That happens to be exactly how Isaiah also describes Jehovah’s day. For example, Isaiah 28:14-19 says:
“Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, you braggarts, you rulers of this people who are in Jerusalem: Because you men have said: “We have concluded a covenant with Death; and with Sheol we have effected a vision; the overflowing flash flood, in case it should pass through, will not come to us, for we have made a lie our refuge and in falsehood we have concealed ourselves”; therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “Here I am laying as a foundation in Zion a stone, a tried stone, the precious corner of a sure foundation. No one exercising faith will get panicky. And I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the leveling instrument; and the hail must sweep away the refuge of a lie, and the waters themselves will flood out the very place of concealment. And your covenant with Death will certainly be dissolved, and that vision of yours with Sheol will not stand. The overflowing flash flood, when it passes through—you must also become for it a trampling place. As often as it passes through, it will take you men away, because morning by morning it will pass through, during the day and during the night; and it must become nothing but a reason for quaking to make others understand what has been heard.”
Like the “stupid prophets,” whose whitewashed wall is destined to be sweep away by the flood of Jehovah’s indignation, the braggarts who are ruling over God’s people will similarly have their illusional agreement with Death and the grave swept away by the torrent of God’s adverse judgment. Clearly, the prophecies bespeak of the exact same judgment. (Not coincidentally, the Governing Body boasts of having already passed the test and they immodestly claim to have been appointed over all the Master’s belongings. In essence they imagine that they have concluded a covenant with Death and do not expect to face God’s adverse judgment at any time in the near future.)
The significance of Isaiah’s version is that it connects the “flood” of divine judgment with the establishment of Christ’s kingdom, which is symbolized by the placing of the tried and tested, precious cornerstone as a foundation for heavenly Zion. The apostle Peter applied Isaiah’s stone to Christ Jesus.
Another interesting similarity between the 28th chapter of Isaiah and the 13th chapter of Ezekiel is that Isaiah 28:5 refers to the faithful standing and fighting in the gate in the day of Jehovah. Again, no such stand was taken during the Babylonian siege.
There is, therefore, no valid scriptural basis to doubt that the 13th chapter of Ezekiel has the utmost relevance for the now-imminent day of Jehovah and the inevitable humiliation of the “stupid prophets” during the actual presence of Christ.
