The post is a brief review of the study article appearing in the July, 2020 Watchtower

The apostle Peter exhorted Christians to stay focused on God’s word as if it were the only light shining in a dark place. He wrote that in the context of discussing the Transfiguration of Jesus, of which he was an eyewitness. He reminds us that “it was not by following artfully contrived false stories that we made known to you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but rather, we were eyewitnesses of his magnificence.”

The apostle went on to forewarn that there will be false teachers among true Christians who will exploit them with counterfeit words. Specifically, the apostle wrote the following: “However, there also came to be false prophets among the people, as there will also be false teachers among you. These will quietly bring in destructive sects, and they will even disown the owner who bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. Furthermore, many will follow their brazen conduct, and because of them the way of the truth will be spoken of abusively. Also, they will greedily exploit you with counterfeit words.” —2 Peter 2:1-3

Peter knew that oppressive wolves would enter into the flock, which, of course, happened over the centuries after the apostles died off. But Peter was inspired to foresee the same thing for the congregation of God as an immediate prelude to the return of Jesus, which was what the Transfiguration foreshadows —“the power and presence of our Lord Jesus.” That is why he went on to say of the false teachers: “But their judgment, decided long ago, is not moving slowly, and their destruction is not sleeping.”

At no time in over the course of the past 2,000 years of Christianity has God ever directly destroyed those in opposition. No, the epistle of Peter is in harmony with the Hebrew prophets as regards the day of Jehovah coming against the false teachers. Now let us consider their counterfeit words. Paragraph five states:

To keep walking in the truth, we must be convinced that Jehovah is the God of truth, that everything he tells us in his Word, the Bible, is true. And we must also be convinced that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Many today doubt that Jesus has been anointed as King of God’s Kingdom. John warned that there were “many deceivers,” who could mislead those who were not prepared to defend the truth about Jehovah and Jesus. (2 John 7-11) John wrote: “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” (1 John 2:22) The only way we can avoid being deceived is by studying God’s Word. Only if we do that will we come to know Jehovah and Jesus. (John 17:3) And only then will we be convinced that we have the truth.

Please note carefully how everything in the statement above is true. That is how counterfeiters work. When it comes to fake currency a good counterfeit is only detectable by an expert. Perhaps, read the paragraph again though, and take note of the subtle reference to those who “doubt that Jesus has been anointed as King of God’s Kingdom.”

A casual reader might infer that the Watchtower means that Jesus was anointed as Christ and King when he was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptizer. However, Jehovah’s Witnesses should know that that is not what the Watchtower means. They are referring to people like myself who do not believe Christ returned in 1914. Except I am not a mere doubter. I am a knower. I know Jesus has not returned. I know the Watchtower is lying. I know they are weak. I know that a coven of demon-worshipping Masons sit in positions of power over Jehovah’s Witnesses —for now anyway.

The Holy Scriptures precisely foretold this very thing; namely, that immediately before the coming of Christ there would be false teachers who proclaim that Jesus has already come —that he has already begun ruling in his Kingdom. I have written about this for years. According to the Watchtower you cannot walk in the truth unless you believe their artfully contrived false stories. Truly, their violent end is not slumbering.

Paragraph 11 states:

We must reject apostate teachings. Since the beginning of the Christian congregation, the Devil has been using many deceivers to plant doubts in the minds of God’s faithful servants. As a result, we need to know how to discern the difference between facts and lies. Our enemies may use the Internet or social media to try to undermine our trust in Jehovah and our love for our brothers. Remember who is behind such propaganda, and reject it!

This is a classic subterfuge technique of Satan —make yourself disappear. Make it appear as if the Devil is outside and not inside. The Watchtower exhorts JW’s to study the Bible as the only way to walk in the truth. And what does the Scripture say? Paul exposed the false teachers who were posing as apostles in the Corinthian congregation, saying of them: “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light. It is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness. But their end will be according to their works.” —2 Corinthians 11:13-15

Paragraph 12 states:

To resist Satan’s attacks, we need to deepen our trust in Jesus and in the role he plays in God’s purpose. We also need to trust in the only channel that Jehovah is using today. (Matt. 24:45-47) We deepen our trust by regularly studying God’s Word. Then our faith will be like a tree that has roots that go deep into the ground.

By all means, we all should earnestly study God’s word. The Watchtower has been instrumental in teaching many things. Here is the catch though. That which has until now been the “only channel” will become a snare. That is because in order to demonstrate that we have true faith and trust in God we will be required to leave what may be regarded as the source of truth. That is what Jesus was talking about when he said “Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house, and let the man in the field not return to pick up his outer garment. Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! Keep praying that your flight may not occur in wintertime nor on the Sabbath day; for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.”

As regards the tree analogy, Jude was inspired to write regarding the same false teachers, likening them to “rocks hidden below water at your love feasts while they feast with you, shepherds who feed themselves without fear; waterless clouds carried here and there by the wind; fruitless trees in late autumn, having died twice and having been uprooted; wild waves of the sea that cast up the foam of their own shame; stars with no set course, for which the blackest darkness stands reserved forever.”

The Watchtower is foaming in its own shame as the persecutor of sexually abused children. Fruitless trees indeed. The Watchtower is a dead fruit tree. The only reason it existed in the first place was to provide direction and encouragement as well as printed material for Christ’s ministers. Now that the self-feeding shepherds have shut the work down what further need is there for a massive publishing company? There is no need at all. Their having “died twice” means that the evil slaves will receive the judgment of the second death.

The blackness of oblivion awaits them.

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