Sunday, August 30
Old men and young together. Let them praise the name of Jehovah. —Ps. 148:12, 13.
If you are a Christian youth, why not make it your aim to take an interest in older ones? You might respectfully ask them to relate an experience from their years of service. You will find this very upbuilding, and both you and they will be even more motivated to let the light of truth shine. And all of us can make it a point to welcome those who attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall. If you are assigned to handle a meeting for field service, you can do much to help older ones to have a share in the ministry. Do they have suitable territory? In some cases, you may choose to assign them to work with a younger companion who can provide physical support. You can also show understanding to those whose health and circumstances limit what they can do. Yes, your consideration and discernment can help young and old, experienced and less experienced, to preach the good news with zeal. —Lev. 19:32. w18.06 23-24 ¶10-12
It is astonishing how quickly the Watchtower has become unnecessary. Here it is the 30th of August and for the past five months, there have been no meetings at any kingdom hall anywhere in the world. There has been no organized field service either. Yet, the daily text for today, presumably read by several million Jehovah’s Witnesses, pretends as if nothing has changed.
I realize the Daily Text is written before the start of each new year. That has been necessary in the past because millions of paper pamphlets had to be printed up, translated into hundreds of languages, and distributed. I get that. But given the fact that all of the communication and “spiritual food” that Jehovah’s Witnesses now receive is via the Internet and there is a rather large headquarters staff connected with the writing, publishing and translating committees, as well as a skilled contingent of tech support, one has to wonder why the daily text is not rewritten to reflect the changed circumstance? Isn’t it supposed to be food at the proper time? I mean, how difficult would it be to pull a more relevant paragraph out of an old Watchtower and paste it in the day’s text box and press “enter”?
It seems to me that the Watchtower is trying to make itself irrelevant. How can they be so disconnected from reality? It really underscores the fact that without the preaching work there is no reason for the Watchtower to even exist.
Considering the daily scripture, without meeting together and going out publicly preaching, how is it possible for Christians to join together and praise the name of Jehovah? What is the meaning of the word “together”?
The longer the Watchtower’s self-imposed lockdown goes on it is becoming more and more apparent, at least to me, that this is the apostasy that Paul forewarned comes first —first, before the parousia.
Nearly 20 years ago it came to light that the Watchtower had enjoined itself to the United Nations as an associate-level NGO, which obligated the organization to devote a portion of its ability to reach the public to propagandize in behalf of the UN —informing the public, not about God’s Kingdom, but about the United Nations. For 10 years the Watchtower faithfully did that very thing, which I have meticulously documented here. That partnership amounted to an act of apostasy. Yet, their NGO affiliation was dissolved. And to this day most of Jehovah’s Witnesses are still oblivious to Bethel’s treachery. The Watchtower’s spokesman said it was all a misunderstanding. The Governing Body repented. Fine.
As egregious as that was, littering Awake! magazines with snippets of UN propaganda and cleverly written articles touting the accomplishments of the United Nations and its dozens of departments and using millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses as unwitting couriers of such trash —this is worse. Countermanding Christ and ordering all of Jehovah’s Witnesses to cease meeting together to praise the name of Jehovah and forbidding the public preaching of his name is far, far worse.
Concerning the apostasy, consider the context. Paul was writing concerning the second coming and the fiery destruction of opposers. In the first chapter of his second letter to the Thessalonians the apostle referred to “the time when he comes to be glorified in connection with his holy ones and to be regarded in that day with wonder among all those who exercised faith, because the witness we gave met with faith among you.”
The glorification of Christ in connection with the holy ones is what takes place during the parousia, when Jesus will come alongside those whom he finds watching in order to minister to them. Paul then sternly warned the brothers not to be unduly alarmed by authoritative reports even if they appear to be from the apostles, claiming that the parousia and the day of the Lord is here. Paul went on to say in the second chapter: “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. He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things?”
Another Scriptural reason for showing respect for the faithful slave is that anointed Christians on earth are figuratively spoken of as a “temple” that Jehovah inhabits “by spirit.” As such, they are “holy.” It is to this holy temple class that Jesus has entrusted his earthly belongings, which means that certain rights and responsibilities within the Christian congregation belong exclusively to this collective slave. For this reason, all in the congregation view it as their sacred duty to follow and uphold the direction coming from the faithful slave and its Governing Body. — 07 Wt para 13
“It will not come” is in reference to the parousia —the second coming. So, the apostasy comes first before the parousia. No, not centuries before, such as the Watchtower claims. Please note that the scripture indicates that the man of lawlessness exalts himself and sits down in the temple of God immediately prior to the manifestation of Christ. The man of lawlessness is the source of the fraudulent proclamation that the day of the Lord is here. His proclamations are part of an operation of Satan, backed up by powerful deceptive signs intended to convince the unwary that Jesus has already come.
The man of lawlessness is regarded as a fine, upstanding Christian leader. How so? The designation “son of destruction” links him to Judas, who, of course, was one of Christ’s handpicked 12 apostles. At John 17:12 Jesus referred to Judas as the son of destruction. It is the only other place in the entire Bible where that expression is used. This means that the man of lawlessness is within the so-called “temple class” of anointed Christians.
Being one of the 12 Judas was empowered to cure the sick and even expel the demons. Judas was alongside Jesus all the time up until the final Passover meal when Jesus handed him the morsel and Satan entered into him and off he went into the night. Likewise, the man of lawlessness exalts himself as an apostle, which is why Paul warned against messages and written statements “appearing to be from us” —from the apostles. (See article: Those Who Say They Are Apostles)
Jesus is the head of the congregation. As Jehovah’s Witnesses know, Jesus is properly called a god and he has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. One of the last things Jesus said to his disciples was in the form of a command: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”
As soon as the pandemic began to spread out of China the Governing Body was quick to claim it was in furtherance of the sign that has been in evidence since 1914. In reality, the coronavirus panic is part of the ongoing operation of Satan with lying signs and wonders and every unrighteous deception. It is being used as a pretext for countermanding Christ. By ordering Christians to cease publicly preaching, teaching, and making disciples, the Governing Body now stands in opposition to Jehovah —just as Paul said of the man of lawlessness.
By presenting their prohibition as being motivated by the love of neighbor and even a life-saving effort, as the preaching work once was not that long ago, the Governing body is exalting itself above every object of reverence and every god, including Christ Jesus.
Even before Satan entered into Judas the Bible reveals he was a thief. He was the treasurer for the apostles and he used to help himself to the money collected. The Watchtower has similarly been engaging in thievery. In recent years hundreds of congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been dispossessed from the kingdom halls they built and paid for. Perfectly suitable houses of worship were sold off for no reason other than profit.
Even the iconic Brooklyn headquarters was sold off to the highest bidder. Obviously the money changers and kingdom property-flippers at Bethel realized how the real estate bubble had inflated the value of the property in New York and London and they saw a great money-making opportunity.
Below is a slick video the temple-marketers put together a few years ago to promote Jehovah’s real estate, making every effort to appeal to wealthy, sensuous worldlings.
Come, Lord Jesus!
