Saturday, January 2
The Devil . . . is a liar and the father of the lie. —John 8:44.
Satan’s lies about the dead slander Jehovah. Those lies include the false teaching that the dead suffer fiery torment. Such teachings slander God! How so? In effect, they attribute to him, the God of love, the personality of the Devil. How does that make you feel? More important, how does it make Jehovah feel? After all, he hates all forms of cruelty. Satan’s lies about death undermine belief in Christ’s ransom sacrifice. Another satanic lie is that humans have an immortal soul. If that were true, everyone would live forever. Christ would not have had to give his life as a ransom for us to gain everlasting life. Keep in mind that Christ’s sacrifice is the greatest expression of love ever shown to the human family. Imagine how Jehovah and his Son must feel about teachings that undermine that precious gift! w19.04 14 ¶1; 16 ¶8-9
Satan’s influence over the world should not be underestimated. The original lie the serpent conveyed to Eve that “you positively will not die” has been perpetuated for these past 6,000 years in a variety of forms, like reincarnation, and the immortal soul taught by the churches. The Devil’s influence is all the more apparent considering the fact that the widely accepted Book of Truth, otherwise known as the Holy Bible, teaches very plainly that death is the cessation of life and all consciousness. No matter. All of the big denominations teach lies —not only about the nature of the soul but about God himself.
The Watchtower really did shine a bright light into the darkness that blankets the so-called Christian world —championing long-hidden basic truths. However, we should not suppose that that which is touted as Jehovah’s earthly organization is untouchable. Quite the contrary. The Adversary has always coveted that which belongs to God. The wicked one has successfully corrupted God’s people and property in the past.
Just take Solomon for example. Jehovah appeared to David’s son twice. And because Solomon asked for wisdom God generously gave him a deep knowledge and insight no one else possessed. But Solomon did not keep listening to Jehovah. God warned him not to multiply wives for himself. Solomon didn’t listen. He acquired 700 wives and 300 concubines. God warned Solomon that women from other nations would turn his heart away from God. Solomon didn’t listen. Because of their influence, Solomon built temples and idols for his hundreds of demon-worshipping wives that he loved so much.
Solomon wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Solomon even coined the saying “better is a poor but wise child than an old but stupid king, who no longer has enough sense to heed a warning.” — Ecc. 4:13
The wisest man of that day became an old and stupid king. As a consequence of his apostasy, the nation was torn in two and never really recovered.
Then there was the first century congregation. As long as the apostles were alive their influence kept the apostates in check. But as they gradually died off wicked men and imposters proliferated and by the time of Constantine, the congregation was turned over to the Roman Empire. There was never anything that remotely resembled the original truth-bearing congregation until modern times and the appearance of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
With the reappearance of an anointed congregation and a people for God’s name, Satan has changed tactics. Actually, the wicked one has a variety of ploys he uses. For those on the outside, Satan pushes the line that the Watchtower is a dangerous cult. Trinitarians are deluded into believing that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not even Christians. But the Devil has a special package of lies for Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Deceiver has deluded them into believing that he has no influence over the Watchtower. Brilliant!
As the center for the operation of Satan that God allows, the Watchtower has wielded a deluding influence over everyone in the truth. The underlying basis for the delusion is the lie that Christ has already come —that an invisible parousia began in 1914. Built upon that foundational lie is a whole structure of falsehood, such as the lie that the organization is a spiritual paradise, that pure worship has been established and many others besides. That is why prophecy depicts the falsehood as a whitewashed wall that requires constant applications of plaster to maintain.
To demonstrate the powerful delusion that presently grips Jehovah’s Witnesses ask them to explain what the mark of the beast is —the 666 that the doomed will receive on their forehead or hand. Jehovah regards those who accept the mark as being stricken with “a hurtful and malignant ulcer.” Since 1922 they have been marked in public as having rejected the living God. Their political schemes have no success, and they suffer anguish. Spiritually, they are unclean. — Revelation Grand Climax page 223
The reason that is an important question is because the WT claims that people have already been marked, beginning back in 1922! The reason the WT teaches that is because they claim the head of the wild beast received a mortal blow and miraculously recovered during the First World War and the image of the beast came alive in the form of the League of Nations.
The reason they are compelled to fabricate such a nonsensical interpretation is because the beast receives the blow as a result of Satan and his angels being forcibly evicted from heaven when the Kingdom of God comes to power.
The Watchtower implies that everyone in the world has already been put under compulsion to worship the image under the pain of death. Where is the proof? The WT is skimpy on details, for example, how those who do not receive the mark have been prevented from buying and selling.
Some JW’s may brush off these questions as unimportant. But what if the Watchtower is wrong? What if the beast has not been killed and revived? After all, can you explain how the Anglo-American duo was as good as dead as a result of their victory over Germany in WWI?
What if the scarlet-colored beast has not ascended from the abyss? What if the ascendency of the eighth king has not taken place yet? What if all mankind has not been put under compulsion to worship the speaking image of the beast? What will it mean for you and your loved ones if in the future a tyrannical world government is installed? Are you under the delusion that you will not be impacted? What if the seeming benevolent lamblike beast begins speaking as a dragon in the future —issuing orders that are intended to compromise our faith? What if the hour of test did not begin in 1914, as the Watchtower claims? What if the judgment of the house of God did not take place in 1918 as the Watchtower teaches?
HE STANDS IN OPPOSITION AND EXALTS HIMSELF
What if the Watchtower takes a stand in opposition to Christ? Impossible, you say? Think again. The Governing Body has already countermanded Jesus by ordering Jehovah’s Witnesses to stay at home.
Keep in mind that the operation of Satan is channeled through a man of lawlessness. And who exactly is this man of lawlessness? The Watchtower claims it is the clergy. Think again. Read the context. Paul had written about the parousia and “our being gathered to him.”
Then the apostle warned the brothers not to be quickly shaken from our reason or alarmed by written messages pretending to be from the apostles or authoritative announcements declaring that the presence has begun and the day of the Lord is here. Has not the Watchtower been the sole source of announcements heralding that the Kingdom of God and an invisible presence has begun?
Paul went on to say: “Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things?”
What will not come? In a word: Jesus. The presence and manifestation of Christ will not begin unless the apostasy comes first. In other words, the apostasy will immediately precede the sudden and unexpected arrival of Jesus Christ.
Keep in mind Solomon was wise and discreet. But he did not keep listening to God. And he became an apostate and misled the whole nation. Judas, whom Jesus referred to as the “son of destruction,” sat at the Passover table with Jesus and the other apostles. And the 11 were oblivious when Satan entered into him and induced their fellow apostle to betray Jesus.
According to the Watchtower, the apostasy that comes first took place 1,700 years ago. But no church in all of Christendom has ever heralded the presence of Christ. Only the Watchtower.
The delusion is powerful. Since Jehovah’s Witnesses wrongly suppose that Jesus has already begun ruling no apostasy can emerge among Jehovah’s clean people. Meanwhile, by countermanding Jesus Christ the Governing Body has exalted itself above every god and object of worship —including the only-begotten god, Jesus.
As 2021 begins the United States is embroiled in an existential crisis. Globalism and populism are locked in a deathmatch. Only one can survive.
The globalists under the direction of the Crown and the City of London are intent on eliminating the United States as a republic. If that occurs then there will be no legal protection for anyone. If the central banks coordinate a swift collapse of the monetary and financial system —as is easily within their power to do —then a system could be imposed that requires all citizens of the world to make some sort of pledge of alliance to a world government they intend to install. The eighth king of Revelation.
As it stands the United Nations is a paper tiger. However, it does have the bureaucratic infrastructure in place. If power is transferred away from nation-states then it could function as a world government.
Google will soon have a supercomputer in operation that is so powerful it will be able to decrypt everything, including every bank account, cryptocurrency, and military communications —everything! China is also in the quantum supremacy race. With such power, a single government could become all-pervasive —controlling everything and tracking everyone. With quantum computing, a cryptocurrency could be created and controlled by a single superbank. Then it would be possible to prevent those who do not give their alliance to the beast from buying or selling. Those who refuse to comply could easily be identified and eliminated.
Do you see now why I bring up the question about the death and resurrection of the beast? Satan is far more influential than you imagine. And the Watchtower doesn’t have a clue as to what is about to go down.