A continuation of the Jeremiah series.
When King Solomon officiated at the inauguration of the newly constructed Temple of Jehovah in Jerusalem, the God of Israel accepted the structure as His dwelling place by causing a dense cloud to envelop the sanctuary, which drove the priests out. Before the temple was built, God’s presence among the Israelites was symbolized by the portable tabernacle; however, with the construction of Solomon’s temple, God’s name became closely associated with Jerusalem. Jehovah called it the city where I have caused my name to reside.
As improbable as it sounds, Solomon, to whom Jehovah spoke on two occasions, was not done with temple building. Ignoring Jehovah’s warning about multiplying wives for himself—especially demon-worshipping foreign wives—in his old age, the reputed wisest man of his day foolishly incited Jehovah to outrage by building temples to the false gods that his many wives were devoted to. In response, Jehovah ripped away ten tribes from the center of worship in Jerusalem, leaving only Benjamin and Judah under the reign of David’s royal offspring.
In time, however, because of their persistent idolatry, Jehovah cast off the 10-tribe kingdom by allowing the Assyrian empire to conquer them. Even so, when King Sennacharib moved against Jerusalem, Jehovah’s angel snuffed out the entire Assyrian army as they slept. God’s miraculous defense of Jerusalem and the temple must have given the Jews a false sense of security. They imagined that because the temple represented God’s presence, the city was unconquerable. And it would have been had they been faithful to God.
Through Jeremiah, God warned the Jews not to succumb to this delusion, saying to them: “Reform your ways and your actions, and I will allow you to keep residing in this place. Do not put your trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah!” – Jeremiah 7:3-4
The Jews didn’t listen. Even as the Babylonians were laying siege to the city, the Jews apparently still imagined that God would intervene and save the day.
Jeremiah was under arrest in Jerusalem when he received the following message: The word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the Courtyard of the guard, saying: “This is what Jehovah the Maker of earth says, Jehovah who formed it and firmly established it; Jehovah is his name, ‘Call to me, and I will answer you and readily tell you great and incomprehensible things that you have not known.’” – Jeremiah 33:1-3
Even though Jeremiah did not ask, God went on to tell him what may have been incomprehensible to him and the Jews under siege. Although God brought against them war, pestilence, and famine—an obvious preview and parallel to the horsemen of the Apocalypse—Jehovah went on to foretell: “Here I am bringing recuperation and health to her, and I will heal them and reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.” (33:6)
God most certainly made that seemingly impossible promise come true when he caused Babylon to be suddenly overthrown, and God moved the conquering Persians to facilitate the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Eventually, the Messiah appeared to the restored Jews, revealing to them an abundance of truth.
Ultimately, though, God’s good promise applies to the Christian Israel of God. That truth can be discerned by the fact that the 33rd chapter of Jeremiah reveals that David’s royal offspring would rule over God’s restored nation. And as the Bible record confirms, the throne of David was never restored to Israel. In fact, Jesus’ early disciples mistakenly expected Jesus to restore the throne in Jerusalem.
Consider verses 19-22: And the word of Jehovah again came to Jeremiah, saying: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘If you could break my covenant regarding the day and my covenant regarding the night, to prevent day and night from coming at their proper time, only then could my covenant with my servant David be broken, so that he should not have a son ruling as king on his throne, and so also my covenant with the Levitical priests, my ministers.”
The Watchtower acknowledges that “David” is a reference to Jesus, who was even referred to as the Son of David by the Jews, and the reign of “David” is expected to begin with the second coming of Jesus Christ as the warrior King. As Jehovah’s Witnesses know, God’s covenant with David was fulfilled when Jesus was baptized and God’s voice was heard from heaven confirming His approval of Christ. However, as stated, Jesus obviously did not rule over the Jews. They ultimately declared they had no king but Caesar when they clamored for Jesus to be put to death.
While it is true that on Pentecost 33 CE Jesus became king over the newly-formed Christian Israel of God, with whom Jesus established a new covenant, and also a covenant for a kingdom so that those born-again, adopted sons of God might also sit upon thrones and rule with the Firstborn of many brothers—Christ—Pentacost was not when Jesus sat down upon his throne.
It is important to note the timing of God’s announcement of recuperation and salvation. It was when Nebuchadnezzar was laying siege to the holy city. And, as noted above, Jehovah specifically noted the three aspects of his adverse judgment were sword, famine, and pestilence, in that order.
The Watchtower is founded on the supposed second coming of Christ in 1914, as evidenced by the presumed opening of the seals of the Apocalypse, which brings war, famine, and pestilence in that order.
It used to be that the Watchtower (no doubt under Fred Franz’s leadership) realized that God’s discipline—even captivity to Babylon the Great — coincided with the coming of Christ. That is no longer the case. A few years ago, the Governing Body changed that. Now, Christianity went into captivity to the greater Babylon 17 centuries ago when Constantine hijacked apostate Christianity and made it the state religion of the pagan Roman Empire.
The truth is, Christ has not come. Period. The Great War that erupted in 1914 was not evidence of Christ’s enthronement. It was/is the work of Satan, whom God has allowed to perform every powerful work and lying sign and every unrighteous deception to create a faux parousia immediately before Christ returns. That means we are facing World War Three, and all that entails, including food shortages and pandemics. That is when God will speak to the spiritual Jews and assure them of salvation.
Is not the central feature of Christ’s coming during the conclusion the desolation of Jerusalem? And even though the Watchtower has interpreted nearly all prophecy as having already been fulfilled in the 20th century, including the trampling of the holy city mentioned in the 11th chapter of Revelation, they cannot explain away the disgusting thing standing in a holy place, as Jesus clearly placed this event as occurring immediately before the great tribulation.
According to the Watchtower, the conclusion of the system began 111 years ago. And because in the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus stated that the harvest is the conclusion of a system—obviously the Christian system—the Watchtower has been compelled to fabricate the most preposterous teaching that the angels weeded out millions of churchgoers from the Bible Students and threw them into the fiery furnace.
It is incredible, but the delusion is so powerful and is promoted by the same source that is constantly praised as the faithful and discreet slave, that otherwise spiritually insightful Christians never question the veracity of this absurdity. For example, Jesus said that during the harvest he would command his angels to go out and collect out from his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and all persons doing lawlessness. If the millions of devotees to Babylon the Great are the weeds that the angelic harvesters uprooted, why don’t intelligent JWs pose the simple question: How did the masses of false worshippers wind up in Christ’s Kingdom to begin with?
To be sure, Jehovah’s Witnesses have correctly been taught that prior to Christ’s coming, the kingdom over which Christ rules is his congregation, into which anointed persons are gathered. Paul explained it, writing to the Colossians: “He rescued us from the authority of the darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.” (1:13)
So, again, why was it necessary for the angels to gather the masses of Babylon the Great out from Christ’s congregation of the firstborn? Of course, no one can provide a sensible answer.
The coming wars, famines, and disease plagues will be the backdrop for the harvester angels to do their work. Jehovah explained it to Jeremiah: “For this is what Jehovah the God of Israel says concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that are pulled down because of the siege ramparts and the sword, and concerning those who are coming to fight the Chaldeans, filling these places with the carcasses of those whom I struck down in my anger and in my wrath, those whose evil has caused me to hide my face from this city…”
“This city” is, of course, a reference to Jerusalem. And Jerusalem represents Christ’s congregation, as Jesus was executed in Jerusalem and Christianity also originated there, which was the apostles’ unofficial headquarters until its destruction in 70 CE. Therefore, those whom Jehovah struck down in anger were apostate Jews. And God hiding his face from the city where he caused his name to reside is a foreshadowing of the adverse judgment that will come upon Christ’s congregation during the tribulation. That is when the wicked will be removed from the righteous and be abandoned to weep and gnash their teeth, knowing their fate is everlasting death.
In the aftermath, God will reveal an abundance of peace and truth through the revelation of Jesus Christ to the chosen.
