Friday, October 20
I well know, O Jehovah, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.—Jer. 10:23.
From the Bible we learn that humans are not created with the right of self-determination, to be independent of God, and that ignoring this fundamental truth will have sad consequences. This is critically important to our welfare. Only by recognizing God’s authority can we enjoy peace and harmony. How loving of Jehovah that he chooses to reveal this important truth! A loving father is deeply concerned about the future of his children, wanting them to have a real and meaningful purpose in life. Regrettably, most people are in the dark about the future, or they spend their life pursuing goals that bring no lasting benefits. As God’s children, we feel truly loved because Jehovah has promised us a wonderful future. That gives genuine meaning and purpose to our life.
How sad that the Watchtower has become so throughly marinated in hypocrisy. While expressing pity for the poor masses groping in darkness the princes of Bethel are cocksure of their future success. Jehovah will never abandon his earthly organization —especially now that the gleaming granite headquarters in Warwick has become the virtual capital of the new world.
The situation confronting Jehovah’s Witnesses today is very similar to what occurred in Jerusalem prior to the Babylonian invasion. Jerusalem was the center of pure worship —or at least it was before it became corrupted. It was the city where Jehovah caused his name to reside. Because Jehovah blessed and protected it the Jews came to trust in the permanence of the visible organization. See a pattern?
That is why Jeremiah was told to tell the Jews “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!’”
It was in the face of Jeremiah’s warning to the Jews of God’s coming judgment that the prophet himself said the words cited in the daily text. In context Jeremiah said: “For the shepherds have behaved senselessly, and they have not inquired of Jehovah. That is why they have not acted with insight, and all their flocks have been scattered. Listen! A report! It is coming! A great pounding from the land of the north, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a lair of jackals. I well know, O Jehovah, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step. Correct me, O Jehovah, with judgment, but not in your anger, that you may not reduce me to nothing. Pour out your wrath on the nations who ignore you and on the families who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob, yes, they have devoured him to the point of extermination, and they have desolated his homeland.”
The leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses have behaved senselessly. And they are certain to preside over a scattered flock. They have not acted with insight. They claim that Christ has already come and given them his irreversible approval. Their stupid prophets claim that all the judgments contained in Scripture apply to Christendom; but alas, why does Jeremiah plead with Jehovah to punish the “families who do not call on your name”? This implies that Jeremiah is pleading for mercy based upon his calling upon God’s name.
The central feature of Christ’s prophecy reading the conclusion also revolves around the desolation of Jerusalem. Jesus connected the trampling of Jerusalem by the nations with the prophecy of Daniel, which the Watchtower applies to itself —supposedly having been fulfilled back during the First World War and then again during WWII. Jesus also went in to reveal the length of time the nations would trample upon the holy city, which he called the appointed times of the nations.
In a display of sheer senselessness the Watchtower claims that the trampling of Jerusalem occurred long before Jesus even appeared on earth and spoke of the coming tribulation upon Jerusalem.
The “great pounding from the north” that came down upon Jerusalem in the 5th century BCE, was a reference to the literal armies of Babylon —the pounding of horses hoofs and the rattle of chariot wheels. The antitypical expression of the great storm from out of the north will be fulfilled by the prophetic king of the north. Of his future activity Daniel relates: “In the time of the end the king of the south will engage with him in a pushing, and against him the king of the north will storm with chariots and horsemen and many ships; and he will enter into the lands and sweep through like a flood. He will also enter into the land of the Decoration, and many lands will be made to stumble. But these are the ones that will escape out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites. And he will keep thrusting out his hand against the lands; and as regards the land of Egypt, she will not escape. And he will rule over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the desirable things of Egypt. And the Libyans and the Ethiopians will be at his steps.”
Foolishly, the Watchtower’s shepherds imagine that the time of the end began in 1914. Again, as the scripture says, they do not inquire of Jehovah. They already know everything. Thus, they have no insight at this critical time. That is why they no longer even delve into prophecy. They are always wrong. That is why they have no idea who the king of the north even is or when the land of the Decoration is inundated by the symbolic flood of tyranny.
But that is the backdrop against which Jeremiah pleads for God to correct him, but not in his anger. Further on in the book of Jeremiah God responds, saying: “‘For I am with you, is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘to save you; but I shall make an extermination among all the nations to which I have scattered you. However, in your case I shall make no extermination. And I shall have to correct you to the proper degree, as I shall by no means leave you unpunished.’”
In their arrogance and hypocrisy the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses have asked for God to correct them. I am confident he will.
“But if ever that slave should say in his heart, ‘My master delays coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day that he is not expecting him and at an hour that he does not know, and he will punish him with the greatest severity and assign him a part with the unfaithful ones. Then that slave who understood the will of his master but did not get ready or do what he asked will be beaten with many strokes. But the one who did not understand and yet did things deserving of strokes will be beaten with few. 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.”