This article is in response to the August 2023 Watchtower article entitled Learn From Bible Prophecy.
Paragraph three advises us to get a guide to help us understand Bible prophecy, saying:
In a similar way, Jehovah knows where we are in the stream of time and what is on the road ahead of us. So to understand Bible prophecy, we must humbly ask for Jehovah’s help.
This is surely true. Only Jehovah knows the day and hour when Jesus will commence the judgment, beginning first with the house of God. As far as our knowing prophecy, there are a few restrictions; for example, the book of Daniel, which the Governing Body presumes to know, is sealed up until the time of the end. True, the Watchtower has always taught that we are living in the time of the end. And now, deep into the time of the end. Incidentally, initially, the Watchtower claimed that the time of the end began in 1799 and that Jesus had invisibly returned in 1874. So, there is a predisposition to believe the time of the end has begun. Perhaps those earnest Bible Students did not humbly ask for God’s guidance? Maybe the Governing Body ought to reexamine their own beliefs too.
In any case, I have always had a deep interest in Bible prophecy. Until recently I had always eagerly read everything the Watchtower published. Back in 1992 when the USSR dissolved, having been indoctrinated with the Watchtower’s teaching that the Soviets were the king of the north, at first I wondered if the king of the north had come to his end. As time went on though I took up the question if the USSR was ever the prophetic king of the north.
In October 1996, for no particular reason, I began an intensive, months-long study, not only of Daniel but of all the Hebrew prophetic books. It may seem immodest of me, but at the time I never humbly asked Jehovah for guidance. It was given without my asking. Sort of like when the spirit picked up Ezekiel by the tuft of his hair and transported him from Babylon to Jerusalem to inspect the temple doings. Ezekiel had no choice but to go along. It is hard to resist the spirit. (See article: Me and Lyndon LaRouche)
4) Like any good parent, Jehovah wants his children to have a happy future. (Read Jeremiah 29:11.) But unlike any human parent, Jehovah can foretell the future with complete accuracy. He had prophecies recorded in his Word so that we can know about important events before they happen. (Isa. 46:10) Bible prophecies are loving gifts from our heavenly Father. But how can you be certain that what the Bible foretells really will come true?
It used to be that the Watchtower published in-depth articles that challenged the reader to use their minds. Not anymore. It is hard to say exactly when they changed the curriculum to kindergarten-level ABC lessons. As with society in general, it has been a gradual process of dumbing down. Amazingly, Jehovah foresaw this development long ago and our loving heavenly Father has explained it to those who will listen. “To whom will one impart knowledge, and to whom will one explain the message? To those who have just been weaned from milk, those just taken away from the breasts? For it is “command after command, command after command, line by line, line by line, a little here, a little there.” — Isaiah 28:9-10
The Watchtower article under consideration provides “a little here, a little there” to keep up the pretense that it is the Explainer of all things prophetic. Continuing on with the nursery school lesson paragraph five states:
At school, our young ones are often surrounded by those who have little or no respect for the Bible. Their comments and conduct can raise doubts in the mind of a young Witness.
No doubt that is true. But it seems that the Governing Body and their helpers have little respect for the Bible either. Is it not true that the conduct and comments of the elders and leaders of the organization have caused many to doubt that the Watchtower is the true religion? Continuing on, paragraph eight states:
Examine your motives. Is your study of Bible prophecy motivated by a strong desire to know the truth? If it is, Jehovah will help you. (Why else might someone study prophecy? Some may do so in hopes of finding evidence that the Bible is not inspired by God.
Let’s be honest and no longer allow ourselves to be deluded. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not study Bible prophecy. They are not allowed to. Jehovah’s Witnesses study the Watchtower and whatever the Watchtower says Bible prophecy means is what Jehovah’s Witnesses are required to accept as the truth. God does not factor into it at all. For example, if you do not think that to be true just bring up a topic, let’s say the 666 mark of the beast, and if you might be so bold and dare to call into question the reasonableness of the Watchtower’s teaching that people of the world have been invisibly tattooed with the mark of eternal doom since 1922, God-be-damned, you will quickly find out that your type of Bible study is not allowed!
9) Be humble. Jehovah promises to help the humble. (Jas. 4:6) So we need to pray for His help to understand Bible prophecy. We must also acknowledge that we need the help of the channel he is using to give us our spiritual food at the proper time. (Luke 12:42) Jehovah is a God of order, so it makes sense that he would use just one channel to help us understand the truths contained in his Word.
Jehovah is a God of order. He is also humble and cannot countenance haughty boasters. However, what if the channel he is using is hijacked by arrogant apostates who have their own agenda? It is not like such a thing has never happened before. Read the history of Israel and Judah.
Take for example the Watchtower’s teaching that Jehovah’s Witnesses are enjoying the condition portrayed in prophecy where the lion and the lamb lie down together and no one will cause any harm in all of Jehovah’s holy mountain—what the Watchtower calls “spiritual paradise.” It is no secret that thousands of children have been sexually abused by sexual predators within the congregations. But how can that be? When Adam and Eve briefly resided in a literal paradise they were not menaced by vicious animals. Something is very wrong with the information coming through Jehovah’s Channel. Obviously, the controllers of the channel have changed the meaning of spiritual paradise. Is God aware? Does He intend to address this situation?
On the matter of humility. The spokesmen for Jehovah’s Channel similarly claim that Jehovah’s Witnesses are enjoying the fulfillment of Bible prophecy by speaking the “pure language.” But if we were to follow the advice of the Watchtower and humbly ask for Jehovah’s guidance and we were to actually open the Bible to the prophecy of Zephaniah and read with untainted minds what God has actually said we might have an epiphany, realizing that the change to a pure language does not happen until Jehovah rises up to judge mankind and pour out his rage. Here, read it: “So keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ declares Jehovah, ‘Until the day when I rise up to take plunder, for my judicial decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them my indignation, all my burning anger; for by the fire of my zeal the whole earth will be consumed. For then I will change the language of the peoples to a pure language, so that all of them may call on the name of Jehovah, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.” — Zephaniah 3:8-9
In regards to humility, when the hammer falls there are some men who presently enjoy the honor and status of modern-day apostles who will not be privileged to speak the pure language. Why not? Jehovah answers: “For then I will remove the haughty boasters from among you; and you will never again be haughty in my holy mountain. I will allow a humble and lowly people to remain in your midst, and they will take refuge in the name of Jehovah. Those remaining of Israel will practice no unrighteousness; they will not speak a lie, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths; they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.” — Zeph. 3:11-13
Isn’t Bible prophecy amazing? Finally, the article introduces a bit of actual Bible prophecy in paragraph 12:
Read Daniel 2:41-43. In the dream that Daniel interpreted for King Nebuchadnezzar, the feet of the image that the king saw were made of “iron mixed with soft clay.” By comparing this prophecy with others in the books of Daniel and Revelation, we can conclude that the feet represent the Anglo-American alliance, the dominant world power today. Regarding this world power, Daniel says that “the kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile.” Why partly fragile? Because the common people, pictured by the soft clay, undermine its ability to act with ironlike strength.
When Jehovah first began privately tutoring me I realized the iron and clay symbolized the Anglo-American dyad—an unworkable fusion of imperialism and republicanism embodied in the Anglo-American alliance. In 1998 the Watchtower published Pay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy, which was an update of Let Your Will Be Done, published in 1958. I read it with interest expecting to gain some insight. Instead, six years into the post-USSR world the spokesmen for God claimed they did not know who the king of the north was and they said it was wise not to speculate. They also claimed that the iron and clay symbolized “a politically divided world.” How odd. How can they not know since they claim we are living deep into the time of the end?
After numerous letters sent to Bethel and articles which I published on the World Wide Web, a few years ago the Watchtower came around and admitted that the iron and clay represent the Anglo-American alliance—except, they still don’t get it. Let me explain. The iron represents the empire—specifically, the British Empire. No, not the United Kingdom. The British Isles are only the host of the British imperial system and the City of London. London is the seat of the latest version of the Roman Empire. The clay represents the American Republic. Those who have been dumbed down may not realize it but America was a novelty. It broke free from the grip of the British Empire and established a government later described by Abraham Lincoln “as a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” That’s your clay. The common people. Not the aristocrats.
13a) From Daniel’s description of the dream image and particularly its feet, we learn several important truths. First, the Anglo-American World Power has shown its strength in some ways. For example, it played a key role in winning World War I and World War II. However, this world power has been weakened and will continue to be weakened by internal conflicts among its own citizens.
After the American Civil War, which was orchestrated by the British Empire in an effort to divide and conquer their breakaway colony, with the driving in of the golden spike heralding the completion of the transcontinental railway, Lincoln’s American system of economy exploded on the world’s scene. America was nation-building like none before.
Germany, Russia, and Japan, as well as many other nations, had sent representatives to America’s world fair in 1878(?) And they were keen to replicate what they saw. The British Empire, which derived its power from maritime dominance, could not allow Europe to develop transcontinental railways. King Edward VII devoted his life to laying the groundwork for what later became known as the First World War.
At the time America was strictly neutral. It was only after the intentional sinking of the Lusitania and London’s propaganda campaign that eventually swayed America into an alliance with the British. (See the chapter King of the North) Thus, the king of the north succeeded in forcing America out of isolation and into the geopolitical trap of being the empire’s police.
13b) Second, this alliance will be the last world power to rule before God’s Kingdom puts an end to all human kingdoms. Even though other nations may at times challenge the Anglo-American World Power, they will not replace it. We know that because “the stone” representing God’s Kingdom will crush the feet, the part of the image that depicts the Anglo-American alliance.
Are we learning Bible prophecy yet? It does not appear so. The would-be Masters have much more to learn. (See article: The Masters and the Learners) Why is it that Bethel cannot understand the place of the eighth king? Surely, no serious historian would ever consent to describe the long-defunct League of Nations as any sort of world government. As I have pointed out many times before, the United States Senate refused to ratify the treaty. That being true, why would the All-knowing God describe it as an eighth king? And even with all of its bureaucratic tentacles extending around the world, neither is the United Nations a functioning world government—although that will likely change in the near future.
Suppose we follow the Watchtower’s advice and ask for Jehovah’s guidance. How might we reconcile the fact that the Kingdom stone strikes the metallic image on the feet of iron and clay? Does that not indicate that the entity represented by the iron/clay fusion is the last kingdom of man? Well, think about the image itself. Why would God project the historical succession of empires in inverted order? What does that mean? As we know, Babylon was succeeded by the Persians. Persia was conquered by Alexander. The Grecian empire fractured into four kings, which were eventually swallowed up by the Roman Empire. So, since each empire is built upon the former should not Babylon be the foundational feet, Persia the legs, and so on? Or are we to image a hovering, bodiless golden head, eventually gaining a torso and arms and then legs, and finally after 25 centuries being able to stand on its own two feet made of iron and clay?
Keep in mind that Daniel specifically told Nebuchadnezzar that God had shown the king what is to occur in the final part of the days. So, what does the image itself represent? It symbolizes the eighth king which springs from the seven, or in the case of the metallic image, from the five. (Egypt and Assyria had already been eclipsed by Babylon when Daniel interpreted the vision)
The kindergarten teachers are going to be schooled some more.
End of part one.