Wednesday, May 5
Let no one lead you astray. —2 Thess. 2:3.
Satan blurs people’s view of Jehovah. After the death of Jesus’ apostles, some who claimed to be Christians began to spread false teachings. (Acts 20:29, 30) These apostates started to blur the identity of the only true God. For example, they stopped using the divine name in their copies of the Bible and preferred such expressions as “Lord.” By removing God’s personal name and replacing it with “Lord,” they made it difficult for a Bible reader to see how Jehovah is different from the other “lords” mentioned in the Scriptures. (1 Cor. 8:5) They used the same term, “Lord,” for Jehovah and for Jesus, making it difficult to understand that Jehovah and his Son are different individuals with distinct positions. (John 17:3) This confusion contributed to the development of the doctrine of the Trinity —a doctrine not taught in God’s Word. As a result, many see God as mysterious and believe that we cannot know him. What a lie! —Acts 17:27. w19.06 5 ¶11
Everything stated in the paragraph above is true. The Watchtower has conducted a successful campaign to overturn the centuries-old falsehoods promoted by the churches, falsehoods such as the Trinity. Commendably, the Watchtower has restored the name of God to its rightful place in the Scriptures and reproduced the Bible in over 100 languages.
But considering the context of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 the apostolic warning regarding not allowing ourselves to be led astray pertains to something else entirely—something much closer to home for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Paul was quite specific. He warned the brothers not to allow themselves to be led astray by those who produce written documents as though from the apostles and authoritatively proclaim that the presence has begun and the day of Jehovah is here. That, of course, is exactly what the Watchtower has done since its inception up until this very moment.
Read the verse for yourself in context: “However, brothers, concerning the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be alarmed either by an inspired statement or by a spoken message or by a letter appearing to be from us, to the effect that the day of Jehovah is here. 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.”
The Governing Body has in recent years begun to refer to the apostles as the first-century governing body. There is nothing particularly wrong with that designation. What is troubling is that by doing so the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses elevates itself to the status of the inspired apostles. And that is intimated in Paul’s prophecy as well. (See article: Those Who Say They Are Apostles)
It is undeniable that, although not openly claiming inspiration per se, the Governing Body has cloaked itself in the prophet’s mantle—boldly proclaiming that the Kingdom has come. Thus, by spoken messages from the “slave class” thundering through loudspeakers at massive conventions and assemblies, and through literature written with apostolic-like authority, the Watchtower has fulfilled the prophecy as the source of the misleading statements claiming the parousia has begun and the day of Jehovah is here—exactly as Paul forewarned.
Of course, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not realize that 1914 is a giant fraud—part of a sweeping operation of Satan. And so they cannot grasp the significance of the apostle’s warning. That is because to a greater or lesser extent all JW’s are under the influence of the man of lawlessness who poses as the faithful and discreet slave. That is why Paul referred to the man of lawlessness as the son of destruction, which was the designation Jesus gave Judas. Judas is remembered as the betrayer of Christ, but originally he was an apostle and one of Jesus’ intimates.
The Watchtower claims the man of lawlessness is the clergy. If that were true, what influence does the clergy have over Jehovah’s Witnesses? Virtually none. Just look at the way the Daily Text was cleverly twisted to fit the Watchtower’s narrative. Simply reading the context ought to reveal to anyone with an open mind that Paul was warning Christians about those who would claim Jesus has already returned. Anointed Christians are especially eager for Christ to come. That makes them vulnerable to false information that appears to be based on the Scriptures. That is why Paul was so emphatic: “Let no one lead you astray”—no matter how faithful and discreet they claim to be!
It is virtually impossible for Jehovah’s Witnesses to come to grips with it. Such is the nature of the potent operation of Satan that Jehovah allows to go to those who know the truth—for example, the truth about the relationship between Jehovah and Jesus.
‘But what about the faithful and discreet slave’, Jehovah’s Witnesses will retort? How can a man of lawlessness co-exist with the faithful slave? Did not Jesus warn of the existence of a wicked slave, one who will be cast out into the outer darkness—like Judas?
The truth that is buried under layers and layers of double-talk and obfuscation is this: the slaves who are appointed to feed the household of fellow slaves are appointed before the master of the house arrives for the inspection. Isn’t that simple enough? And the master has not arrived. With me so far? When he does arrive the daily feeding program will be concluded. Even Jehovah’s Witnesses would readily agree. And contrary to the core belief (lie) that is the foundation of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the arrival of the master does not conclude an invisible parousia. Quite to the contrary: It will mark the beginning of a very visible presence of Jesus Christ among the chosen.
Jesus explained this to his apostles (including Judas) in the 12th chapter of Luke, where he said: “Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning, and you should be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage, so when he comes and knocks, they may at once open to him. Happy are those slaves whom the master on coming finds watching! Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come alongside and minister to them. And if he comes in the second watch, even if in the third, and finds them ready, happy are they! But know this, if the householder had known at what hour the thief would come, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also, keep ready, because at an hour that you do not think likely, the Son of man is coming.” — Luke 12:35-40
As Jehovah’s Witnesses should know, the Greek word “parousia” literally means to come alongside. And that is exactly what Jesus said he would do to those slaves whom he finds ready and watchful—he will come alongside and minister to them.
It is noteworthy that Jesus evoked the occasion of the first Evening Meal when the Lord took off his outer garment and girded himself as a lowly slave and washed the feet of the 11 apostles. (Judas had already gone out) Paul explained that the observance of the Evening Meal will be concluded when he comes (1 Cor. 11:26) and that is precisely the inference Jesus was making in Luke—as if his coming is the same as when Jesus ministered to the apostles after the Evening Meal. When the Son of man comes as a thief in the night he will come alongside the chosen ones and minister to them—revealing himself to them.
While the Watchtower has fixated on 1914 as the “most important date in all human history” and Jehovah’s Witnesses have seemingly been mesmerized by the supposed fulfillment of everything prophetic, meanwhile, the flood of funny money unleashed on the world to prevent the collapse of the City of London’s financial empire is finally reaching the Tsunami stage of hyperinflation—soon to create a huge impact on the price of stuff like food. Coupled with the intentional policy to curtail food production as part of the Green New Deal and the global pandemic of dubious origin; with who knows how many mutations yet to come or even deadlier microbial agents still percolating in the bio-weapons laboratories; against the backdrop of the relentless propaganda campaign on the part of the British Empire pushing America into war with Russia and China, the horses of the Apocalypse are clearly champing at the bit.
“You also, keep ready, because at an hour that you do not think likely, the Son of man is coming.”
