In the Questions from Readers column of the February 2026 Watchtower, the question was asked: When will the nations proclaim “peace and security”? The Watchtower responded: “We do not know for sure.”

The article next presents two possible scenarios. The first possibility is stated as follows:

The proclamation of “peace and security” will be made just before the outbreak of the great tribulation, which begins with the destruction of Babylon the Great —the world empire of false religion. This future proclamation has been described as the final signal that the great tribulation is about to begin.

First, Paul makes it clear that those saying “peace and security” are the ones who will suffer “sudden destruction.” In the Watchtower’s suggested scenario, the religious leaders would have to be the ones proclaiming peace and security. This is very unlikely, especially since there appears to be another great conflict developing between Islam and “Christianity.”

If the leading nations of the world are the ones who will be saying “peace and security”—as is surely the case—why would they suddenly turn on religion? It doesn’t make any sense.

There is an underlying assumption that is never questioned. About 30 years ago, I began to notice that whenever the Watchtower matter-of-factly states that the great tribulation will begin when the beast destroys false religion, there is never any scriptural citation offered for such an assertion. Occasionally, the writers may cite a verse in the 17th chapter of Revelation. Still, there is nothing in that context to support the claim that the nations will destroy Babylon the Great at the outbreak of the tribulation. That means there is no scriptural support for the Watchtower’s oft-repeated prognostication regarding the beginning of the great tribulation.

For the unfamiliar, the Watchtower initially based its interpretation on the fact that Jesus foretold that a disgusting thing would desolate Jerusalem during the great tribulation that is coming upon the entire inhabited earth. It is assumed, albeit wrongly, that Jerusalem represents Christendom, and even all of Babylon the Great.

If Jehovah’s Witnesses were to follow the apostolic exhortation to make sure of all things and to test the “inspired expressions” to see if they originate with God, they would surely question the authenticity of the Watchtower’s long-held teaching. It is not an act of disloyalty to Jehovah to seriously scrutinize what those who claim to speak for God actually teach. The Watchtower claims its teachings are Bible-based. It is our solemn obligation to determine if their claim is true. 

For one thing, if we use our powers of reason, we ought to ask: If Jerusalem represents Christendom, why must God’s people abandon “Jerusalem” when they see the disgusting thing standing in a holy place? Stated differently, if Jehovah’s Witnesses have gotten out of Babylon the Great and Christendom is the most prominent part of Babylon, why will it be crucial to flee without delay? Needless to say, you will never see the Watchtower publish a question from a reader that asks such things.

Moreover, if the great tribulation is merely the liquidation of false religion, why must God intervene to cut it short? If no flesh would be saved without divine intervention, that obviously involves something much more potentially destructive than the end of organized religion. Besides that, a significant percentage of the population has no religious affiliation. So, how is it that even the irreligious will not survive unless God acts to cut the tribulation short? As for the other possibility posed by the Watchtower, here is what is stated:

However, after further careful consideration, it seems that there is another possible explanation that we cannot rule out. Perhaps the proclamation of “peace and security” will be made after the destruction of false religion.

Suppose the Governing Body had actually given “careful consideration” to the question, they would surely have taken note that Paul’s prophecy has to do with the second coming of Christ and the Lord’s descent from heaven with the powerful voice of an archangel. If we give careful consideration to the context, Paul was writing to the Thessalonians about the first resurrection and our being gathered to Christ during the parousia. Then Paul said, “Now as for the times and the seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2

The reason those first-century Christians did not need anything to be written to them about times and seasons was because they already knew the day of the Lord was coming as a thief in the night. They knew because Christ said he was coming as a thief in the night at a time we do not think to be it. 

(It should be noted that Paul used the expression “day of the Lord” at 1 Corinthians 5:5. He also used similar terms such as “the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6 & 10) Since there are no original Pauline letters, the Watchtower cannot state with certainty that Paul did not intend to write, “the Lord’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night.”)

As regards the Watchtower’s hypothetical second possibility, how likely is it that Christ’s thief-like arrival will take anyone by surprise after God intervenes to save the world from self-destruction? It is absurd to suppose Christ will come as a thief in the night at a time when men are faint with fear, anticipating all the dreadful things coming upon the world.

The real question is: Has peace been taken from the earth? If the Lord’s day began in 1914 and peace was taken from the earth then, has it since been restored? If so, when? We really ought to consider the question: Are you personally affected by war? I do not personally know of anyone who is. Sure, there are wars here and there in distant parts of the world. But it is a gross exaggeration to claim that peace has been taken from the earth.

Even during the First World War, the Northern Hemisphere was not directly impacted by the war in Europe. The last war on the North American continent was the American Civil War. How can it be claimed that peace was taken from the earth in 1914 when American involvement in the war was concluded in less than two years, and the homeland was unaffected by warring armies?

The very fact that the Watchtower has assured millions of trusting Christians that there cannot be another series of wars, food shortages, and pandemics that will be the authentic sign that the conclusion has begun and surpass what has already occurred has set the stage for Christ’s unexpected visitation as if a thief in the night.

If we are honest, we will take note of the fact that Jesus warned us that his coming as a thief in the night is to judge those whom he has appointed to watch over his household of servants. Also, in his message to the anointed Sardis congregation, Jesus said: “Therefore, continue mindful of how you have received and how you heard, and go on keeping it, and repent. Certainly unless you wake up, I will come as a thief, and you will not know at all at what hour I will come upon you.” – Revelation 3:3

Please note that Christ is destined to come as a thief—not to the billions of humanity that do not know the truth—but to those who have received and heard the truth and who are expected to keep it. Given that undeniable fact, and the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses are laboring under the delusion that there cannot be another world war and that the Lord’s day has already begun, the die is cast. The Lord will come upon Jehovah’s Witnesses like a thief, and you will not know at all at what hour he will come upon you.

Are you—you who claim to be watchmen—unaware that President Trump is on a mission to bring an end to war? It does not matter if he is on an impossible mission. It only matters when it seems that peace has been attained, and they say they have achieved peace and security.

Do you not know that the war in Ukraine is, in reality, London’s proxy war against Russia? This is a serious confrontation between two nuclear powers. And are you also oblivious to the fact that a multipolar world is emerging, threatening to end centuries of Anglo domination? Are you ignorant of the role the British overlords have played throughout modern history in fomenting wars, coups, assassinations, and financial crises? Are you unaware that, as the king of the north, the British concocted various schemes, legal warfare, and even attempted assassination, to prevent Trump from becoming president out of fear he would do the very thing he is now doing?

In the second-to-last paragraph, the article states:

We will have to wait and see what happens. Bible prophecies are often fully understood when they are being fulfilled or after they have been fulfilled.

This statement is patently false. We have God’s word that he “will not do a thing unless he has revealed his confidential matter to his servants the prophets.” Surely, the reason God reveals his secrets to his prophets is so they may issue his warning. “The lion has roared! Who will not be afraid? The Sovereign Lord Jehovah has spoken! Who will not prophesy?” – Amos 3:7-8

The problem for those who pretend to be lookouts on the watchman’s tower is that they have deluded themselves into imagining that nearly everything has already been fulfilled, all anchored to 1914. For example, although there is not a shred of historical evidence to support it, the Watchtower asserts that the seventh head of the beast suffered a calamitous mortal wound and then miraculously recovered during the 1914-1918 period. This is a fairy tale. But it is the very foundation of the Watchtower. 

Jehovah has, in fact, revealed to me his confidential matter. No, an angel did not whisper in my ear. I study the prophecies and put them together independently of those who have been blinded by the operation of Satan—matters which I have written about extensively over the past two decades.

What we are facing is world war, the crash of the Anglo-American empire and the global financial system, and the imposition of a tyrannical world government. It does not take a great deal of imagination to see this catastrophe coming as an immediate consequence of their saying “peace and security.”

 

This article is being mailed to various Governing Body members and branch offices of the Watchtower.