Friday, December 11
At my guardpost I will keep standing. —Hab. 2:1.
Habakkuk’s conversation with Jehovah gave him a calm heart. So he resolved to keep waiting confidently on Jehovah to act. This was not just a spur-of-the-moment reaction, for he repeated his resolve when he later said that he would “quietly wait for the day of distress.” (Hab. 3:16) What does Habakkuk’s resolve teach us? First, we must never stop praying to Jehovah, no matter what trials befall us. Second, we need to listen to what Jehovah tells us through his Word and organization. Third, we should patiently wait on Jehovah, fully trusting that he will relieve our pains in his own time. If we continue to talk intimately with Jehovah and listen to him with a waiting attitude, as Habakkuk did, we too will gain a calm heart, which will help us to endure. Our hope will strengthen our patience, which in turn will help us to rejoice despite all the adversities we may face. Hope gives us confidence that our heavenly Father will act. —Rom. 12:12. w18.11 15-16 ¶11-12
It has been gradual. But over time the Watchtower has more and more watered down the message of the prophets —turning them into behavioral lessons. As demonstrated in the daily text, instead of considering any aspect of the actual prophecy of Habakkuk the teachers of the teachers focus on how Habakkuk must have felt —as if the prophecy is a lesson on how to be mentally well-adjusted. And these are the life-giving pronouncements we are to listen to emanating from the organization?
The Watchtower claims to be the modern-day prophet class. No one can understand the esoteric message of the biblical prophets except the officially anointed seers. Since Jehovah’s Witnesses have no choice but to accept the interpretations and pronouncements of the Watchtower as being the very word of God, consider what the Bible actually says concerning those who are regarded as prophets and seers.
“For upon you men Jehovah has poured a spirit of deep sleep; and he closes your eyes, the prophets, and he has covered even your heads, the visionaries.” — Isaiah 29:10
Take note that Jehovah does not dispute that they are prophets and visionaries. On the contrary, Jehovah conceals his matters from them because they are prophets. The Watchtower’s blindness concerning the prophecy of Isaiah is the subject of the ongoing series on Isaiah.
“They have denied Jehovah, and they keep saying, ‘He is not. And upon us no calamity will come, and no sword or famine shall we see.’ And the prophets themselves become a wind, and the word is not in them. That is how it will be done to them.” — Jeremiah 5:12-13
The words imputed to the Jews aptly apply to the leadership of the Watchtower. They expect to have a front-row seat to witness the destruction of Christendom and all of Babylon the Great. No calamity for them. Thousands of children sexually abused under their watch has no consequences. Windy words perfectly describe it, like today’s text.
“The prophets themselves actually prophesy in falsehood; and as for the priests, they go subduing according to their powers. And my own people have loved it that way; and what will you men do in the finale of it?” — Jeremiah 5:31
In the beginning, the Watchtower claimed an invisible parousia began in 1874 and the Kingdom of God began ruling in 1878. Then around 1930, they shifted it all to 1914, and ever since they have proclaimed the time of the end began then. And Jehovah’s Witnesses love to be lied to. They feel special that no one else can understand the chronology used to divine 1914.
And Jehovah went on to say to me: “Falsehood is what the prophets are prophesying in my name. I have not sent them, nor have I commanded them or spoken to them. A false vision and divination and a valueless thing and the trickiness of their heart they are speaking prophetically to you people. Therefore this is what Jehovah has said concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my name and whom I myself did not send and who are saying that no sword or famine will occur in this land, ‘By sword and by famine those prophets will come to their finish.” — Jeremiah 14:14-15
To demonstrate the “trickiness of their heart,” there is no such thing as an invisible presence. Jesus has always been invisibly present. Did Christ not assure his friends that where two or more are gathered in his name he is in their midst? Did he not also say that he would be with his disciples all the days until the conclusion?
The parousia of Christ is something entirely different. It is the same thing as the revelation and manifestation of Jesus. If something or someone is made manifest or revealed it is no longer invisible. For example, Peter was an eyewitness to the transfiguration. Later he wrote that it was not by artfully contrived false stories that the apostles acquainted Christians with the parousia but it was by having been an eyewitness to the event that is a portent of the parousia. How is it that Peter was an eyewitness of Christ’s presence and the Watchtower claims the presence has been invisible from 1874 —scratch that —1914? Because they claim the sword, famine and pestilence have come and gone they will be directly subjected to the terror of the unleashed horsemen of the Apocalypse.
“And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: “Son of man, prophesy concerning the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and you must say to those prophesying out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of Jehovah. This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “Woe to the stupid prophets, who are walking after their own spirit, when there is nothing that they have seen!” — Ezekiel 13:1-3
By their own words, none of the seers have seen the manifestation of Christ. Yet, the core doctrine of the Watchtower is that Jesus Christ has already come. Although Jehovah’s Witnesses may not even realize it the WT teaches that the Second Coming of Jesus already took place. They claim to have seen the sign vividly —although in rare sober moments the prophets will admit that all the features of the sign have not become evident. So, according to the WT, the sign of the conclusion unfolds gradually over more than a century and we are still waiting to see some events unfold. Truly, contrary to their strong assertions the stupid prophets have seen nothing!
“This is what Jehovah has said against the prophets that are causing my people to wander, that are biting with their teeth and that actually call out, ‘Peace!’ that, when anyone does not put something into their mouths, also actually sanctify war against him, ‘Therefore you men will have night, so that there will be no vision; and darkness you will have, so as not to practice divination. And the sun will certainly set upon the prophets, and the day must get dark upon them. And the visionaries will have to be ashamed, and the diviners will certainly be disappointed. And they will have to cover over the mustache, all of them, for there is no answer from God.’” — Micah 3:5-7
The Watchtower has implied that it is impossible for the sign of Christ to become apparent in the future. Imagine their horror when the world erupts in war, when food shortages and actual pandemics stalk the world killing billions. The visionaries will be put to shame. And the diviners will certainly be disappointed.
Meanwhile… “At my guardpost I will keep standing, and I will station myself on the rampart. I will keep watch to see what he will speak by means of me and what I will reply when I am reproved.”
