Thursday, February 27
No weapon formed against you will have any success. —Isa. 54:17.
The inspired words of the scripture above are being fulfilled today. The following comforting words also apply to our time: “All your sons will be taught by Jehovah, and the peace of your sons will be abundant. You will be firmly established in righteousness. . . . You will fear nothing and have no cause for terror, for it will not come near you.” (Isa. 54:13, 14) Even “the god of this system of things,” Satan himself, is powerless to stop the educational work that Jehovah’s people are carrying out. (2 Cor. 4:4) Pure worship has been restored, and it will never be corrupted again. It is here to stay, for all eternity. No weapon formed against us will succeed! w24.02 4 ¶10
As a general rule, everything the Watchtower teaches doctrinally is true, and everything it espouses regarding the supposed modern fulfillment of Bible prophecy is false. There are a few exceptions.
The truth can stand up to scrutiny. Lies and falsehoods cannot. Take the Watchtower’s commentary on Isaiah 54:17, which says: “No weapon formed against you will have any success.”
Just on the face of it, this statement is false. Take the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. After the fall of the atheistic Soviet Union, Jehovah’s Witnesses were allowed to preach and assemble openly. The number of active JWs rapidly increased. Kingdom Halls were built, and an administrative center was constructed in St Petersburg. Then, in April 2017, the Russian Supreme Court ruled that Jehovah’s Witnesses were an extremist organization and outlawed all of the sect’s activities.
The fact that there was an NGO known as Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, which was used to lobby European leaders on behalf of the Watchtower, may have had something to do with the banning since Russia has restricted all foreign NGOs operating in the country. As a result of the ruling, the Watchtower’s properties were liquidated. Over 800 JW have been arrested, and a few have been sentenced to prison.
So, how can it possibly be true that no weapon formed against Jehovah’s Witnesses can have any success? Does the Governing Body consider it a success that the Watchtower has been liquidated and any Christian who defies the court ruling risks imprisonment? Moscow has even blocked jw.org in Russia. Is it a success that thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses have fled Russia and abandoned their ministry? Given these facts at hand, how does the Watchtower define “success”?
It is most unseemly for the Governing Body to boast that not even the Devil can stop them when the education work of Jehovah’s Witnesses has been successfully shut down throughout the vast Russian Federation. Perhaps more disconcerting, since Jehovah’s Witnesses once attributed their short-lived religious freedom to Jehovah, who is responsible for the Watchtower’s dissolution in Russia?
As regards the prophecy of Isaiah, let us consider the entire verse: “‘No weapon formed against you will have any success, and you will condemn any tongue that rises up against you in the judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness is from me,’ declares Jehovah.”
Everything the Watchtower teaches about the modern fulfillment of prophecy is wrong because of the 1914 delusion. The Watchtower claims that the second coming of Christ occurred 111 years ago. Supposedly, the judgment of the house of God began then too, and the hour of test has been ongoing for more than a century. The reason this is relevant is because Isaiah states that “you will condemn any tongue that rises up against you in the judgment.”
Mark Sanderson of the Governing Body speaks Russian. He attended the court hearings in Russia, representing the Watchtower. So, why didn’t Brother Sanderson speak up and condemn the Russian court? Why was the putative spokesman for Jehovah’s earthly organization merely a passive observer when the Watchtower was outlawed in Russia? The reason is because this is not the judgment. Christ did not return in 1914, nor has Satan been cast down.
Furthermore, the Watchtower is not the embodiment of “pure worship.” According to God, pure worship is defined as caring for orphans and widows in their tribulation and remaining spotless from any worldliness. The fact that the Watchtower maintains a database with the names of over 20,000 pedophiles and employs a contingent of lawyers who cut backroom deals with sexual abuse victims to keep the plaintiffs out of court disqualifies them from any claim of being the champions of pure worship.
How many widows and widowers has the Watchtower made by bestowing Jehovah’s blessing upon the vaccines that have killed an estimated 17 million people worldwide? How many widows have been plundered by the Watchtower’s theocratic marketing campaigns that have conned elderly Christians into signing over houses, stocks, bonds, jewelry, and financial assets? How many widows have been evicted from Kingdom Halls in their territories so Watchtower Inc. can profit by flipping the property that was once solemnly dedicated to Jehovah?
Jehovah will require an accounting for all of these things from those responsible. Jesus established the principle of accountability when he explained to Peter who really is the faithful and discreet slave. The Lord concluded his illustration by saying: “Indeed, everyone to whom much was given, much will be demanded of him, and the one who was put in charge of much will have more than usual demanded of him.” – Luke 12:48
If the judgment had begun in 1914, as the Watchtower claims, those who had been put in charge would have been judged long ago. But even according to the latest “new light” in 2013, the slaves whom the master appointed to feed his sheep have not been called to account yet. The fact that the Watchtower makes the obscene boast that it is the center of pure worship requires God to humble the haughty boasters.
Since Isaiah’s prophecy was ostensibly directed to the physical nation of Israel and history verifies that God used Babylon as his weapon for smashing Jerusalem—the city where Jehovah caused his name to reside—it is evident that God’s weapon was successful. It is understood that God’s promise of no weapon being formed against you only applied after God had restored Israel. And even then, God destroyed the rebuilt city and the temple in 70 C.E.
The seers at Bethel are well aware that the prophecy in question applies to the spiritual Israel of God at the time of Christ’s return. In keeping with the biblical pattern, grievous destruction must first come. Didn’t Jesus speak of Jerusalem’s desolation by a disgusting thing during the system’s conclusion? Is not the desolation of the antitypical holy city the central feature of Christ’s extensive prophecy concerning the coming of the Son of man? It surely is.
In the 21st chapter of Luke, Jesus alluded to Isaiah 54:17 when he spoke of the conclusion of the system and the persecution to come: “But before all these things happen, people will lay their hands on you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name. It will result in your giving a witness. Therefore, resolve in your hearts not to rehearse beforehand how to make your defense, for I will give you words and wisdom that all your opposers together will not be able to resist or dispute. Moreover, you will be handed over even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all people because of my name.”
Nothing in the modern history of Jehovah’s Witnesses can be pointed to as the fulfillment of Christ’s words. And no, the subjugation of Christianity to the Roman Empire in the 4th century does not in any way compare to the desolation of Jerusalem by the Babylonian and Roman empires.
It is noteworthy that the prophecy of Isaiah speaks to the desolation of “Jerusalem” at the time of Christ’s second coming. Chapters 28 and 29 are most instructive. Addressing the spiritual drunkards, God has said: “So hear the word of Jehovah, you boasters, you rulers of this people in Jerusalem, for you men say: ‘We have made a covenant with Death, and with the Grave we have made an agreement. When the raging flash flood passes through, it will not reach us, for we have made a lie our refuge And we have hidden ourselves in falsehood.”’ – Isaiah 28:14-15
What rulers of Jerusalem is God speaking to? Simply read the next verse: “Here I am laying as a foundation in Zion a tested stone, the precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. No one exercising faith will panic.”
Even casual Bible readers know that the heavenly Zion’s precious cornerstone is Jesus Christ. No such foundational stone was laid in the aftermath of Jerusalem’s destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. Besides, it refers to a “tested stone.” Jesus was tested when he was on earth as a man. He was tested even in the face of death and remained loyal to God. Furthermore, Jesus was not installed as King in the first century. So that rules out that Jerusalem from being the object of destruction.
Given that the metaphoric flood will wash away the lies and falsehoods of the rulers of God’s people when Christ comes as the King of Zion, the “Jerusalem” over which the spiritual drunkards rule must be the same “Jerusalem” Jesus foretold would come to desolation during the great tribulation. It is only in the aftermath of the destruction of Christ’s congregation that no weapon formed against the restored remnant of the chosen ones will have any success.
