[Analysis of the article on page 10 of the October 1, 2014 Watchtower]
If you are reading this, it is likely you just received—possibly from a Jehovah’s Witness who visits you regularly—a copy of the October 1, 2014 Watchtower. The article on page 10 attempts to prove from Scripture that Jesus has been ruling invisibly from heaven for over a century. This belief, held by close to eight million Jehovah’s Witnesses, may seem remarkable to you given the apparent lack of any observable supporting evidence. Nevertheless, if you go by the article, there appears to be ample evidence in scripture to support this belief.
Is there?
I should state before going further than I am a practicing Jehovah’s Witness and have been all my life. I believe that we understand many things correctly from the Scriptures, but like all other Christian denominations, we have some things wrong. Some important things wrong. The belief in the prophetic importance of 1914 is one of them. Therefore, in good conscience, I will not be offering the October Watchtower in the door-to-door preaching work.
It is important when examining anything others teach you about God’s Word that you exercise your own critical thinking. This is the instruction God gives us. (Hebrews 5:14; 1 John 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:21)
The article is presented in the pleasant, non-confrontational manner of two people having a friendly chat. The voice of the Jehovah’s Witness is played by Cameron, while the householder is Jon. Cameron’s reasoning is convincing on the surface. However, does it bear up well under more careful scrutiny? Let us see.
First let me say that I can’t shake the suspicion that this article is written more for those placing it then for the public at large. It lays no background before launching into the “proof”, so only one already familiar with our teaching will be able to follow it readily. To fix that, I’ll explain that the belief that Jesus began to rule invisibly in heaven is rooted in our interpretation of one prophecy in Daniel chapter 4. The historical setting is that the Jews had been taken into exile by Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar and now were enslaved. The king had a dream involving an immense tree that was cut down and lay dormant for a period of “seven times”. Daniel interpreted the dream and it was fulfilled during the lifetime of king Nebuchadnezzar. It is this dream that serves as the basis for our interpretation involving 1914. Eventually, that king died and his son replaced him on the throne. Then, many years later, his son was overthrown and killed by the invading armies of the Medes and Persians. This sequence is important to bear in mind for it will serve to show that the article starts out by misleading the reader.
Let’s get down to it. In the second column of page 10, Jon makes the valid point that in reading the prophecy of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, there is no mention of 1914. Cameron counters with the idea that “even the prophet Daniel didn’t understand the full meaning of what he was inspired to record!” Technically accurate, since he recorded a number of prophecies and by his own admission didn’t understand all of them. However, this statement is misleading as it is made in the context of one specific prophecy, one which Daniel did fully understand. This is evident from a simply reading of Daniel 4:1-37. The prophetic fulfillment is fully explained.
Nevertheless, we believe there is a secondary fulfillment, one we claim he didn’t understand. However, we have no right to make that claim until we can prove it; but instead of doing that, Cameron pushes off from this misleading statement to add, “Daniel didn’t understand because it was not yet God’s time for humans to discern completely the meaning of the prophecies in the book of Daniel. But now, in our time, we can understand them fully.” [Boldface added]
Using the internet it takes only minutes to learn that we, as Jehovah’s Witnesses, have changed our interpretation of Daniel’s prophecies many times. Therefore it is a very bold statement to make so publicly that we “now can understand them fully”. However, putting that aside for the moment, let’s examine whether the premise just given in the article is even truthful. We need proof, and the article attempts to provide it by quoting Daniel 12:9: “The words are to be kept secret and sealed up until the time of the end.”
The implication is that the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was kept secret, sealed up until our time. Jehovah’s Witnesses also believe the time of the end is synonymous with “the last days” and we believe the last days began in 1914.
But do the words of Daniel 12:9 apply to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream?
According to Insight on the Scriptures – Volume I (p. 577) published by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, the book of Daniel covers an 82-year span of time. Do God’s words at Daniel 12:9 apply to all the prophetic writings over that period? Based on the context of that verse, we must honestly answer in the negative, for verse 9 is an answer to Daniel’s own question from the previous verse: “O my lord, what will be the outcome of these things?” What things? The things he’d just seen in visions as described in chapters 10 through 12 were received long after he interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, in the third year of Cyrus of Persia. (Da 10:1)
Let’s revisit our timeline. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. It is fulfilled in his lifetime. He dies. His son takes the throne. His son is overthrown by the Medes and the Persians. Then during the rule of Darius the Mede and Cyrus of Persia, Daniel has a vision and at the end of it asks, “What is the outcome of these things?” He is then told that it’s not for him to know. Daniel wasn’t asking about some possible secondary fulfillment to a prophecy he’d delivered decades early. He wanted to know what all the strange symbols meant in the vision he’d just finished seeing. There are two reasons for trying to apply Daniel 12:9 to the prophecy of the immense tree. One is to provide the excuse for our interpretation and the other is to attempt to get around God’s law as stated as Acts 1:6, 7. (More on that later.)
That the article should start out with such a misleading misapplication is troubling and should move us to extra caution as we look at the remaining explanation.
On page 11 at the top of the second column, Cameron says, “In a nutshell, the prophecy has two fulfillments.” When asked how we know that, he refers to Daniel 4:17, “so that people living may know that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of mankind and that he gives it to whomever he wants.” [Boldface added]
I think we can agree that by removing the king of the ruling world power from the throne and then restoring it to him, Jehovah God was making the point that men rule only at his pleasure, and he can remove or appoint anyone he wants when he wants. It is an easy leap from there to the idea that when Jehovah wants to appoint his Messiah as king, he’ll do so and no one will stop him. This much is easy to derive from the prophecy and is in keeping with the central theme of the Book of Daniel which involves aspects of God’s kingdom.
However, is there also a basis to conclude the prophecy is given to provide us with a means to foreknow when the Kingdom comes? That is the gist of our belief. However, to get there, yet another leap must be made. Cameron says, “In the second fulfillment of the prophecy, God’s rulership would be interrupted for a period of time.” (p. 12, col. 2) What rulership? The rulership over the kingdom of mankind.
To explain what this interruption consists of, Cameron next explains that the kings of Israel represented God’s rulership. So the rulership was interrupted in 607 B.C.E. and was reinstated in 1914 based on a calculation of the length of the seven times. (We’ll wait for the follow-up Watchtower article in this series before looking into dates.)
Did you notice the inconsistency?
Daniel 4:17 speaks about God’s rulership over “the kingdom of mankind”. This rulership was interrupted. If true, then applying it to the lineage of Israelite kings makes Israel into “the kingdom of mankind”. That is quite a leap, is it not? Consider, God ruled over Adam and Eve. They rejected his ruldership, so his kingdom over mankind was interrupted. Then—if we accept Cameron’s logic—his kingdom was reinstated over mankind when he began ruling the nation of Israel. This occurred during the time of Moses hundreds of years before the first King (Saul) sat on the Israelite throne. So his kingdom didn’t need the presence of an earthly king. If the dominion of Babylon constituted an interruption in God’s rulership over the Israelites, then so did the years they spent during the pre-King time of the judges when they were ruled by the Philistines, the Amorites, the Edomites and others. God’s kingdom was interrupted then restarted multiple times by this reasoning.
Doesn’t it make more sense to conclude that when God says he can appoint anyone he wants over the kingdom of mankind, he means just that—not some subset of mankind like one branch of Abraham’s descendants, but all of mankind? Does it not also follow that his rule over the kingdom of mankind was interrupted when the first man—the first Adam—rejected it? From this we can see that the interruption will end when the last Adam, Jesus, takes kingly power and conquers the nations. (1 Corinthians 15:45)
In Summary
To accept Cameron’s arguments thus far, we must assume that Daniel 4:1-37 has two fulfillments, something not stated in the Bible. All the other prophecies in Daniel have only one fulfillment, so this premise is not even consistent with the rest of his writings. Next, we must assume that the secondary fulfillment involves a time calculation. Then to settle on a date, we have to assume that by “kingdom of mankind” God really meant “the kingdom of Israel”.
There are many other assumptions that are required, but we’ll hold off on exposing those until next month’s article comes out. For now, let’s address one final one: Cameron quoted Daniel 12:9 (“The words are to be kept secret and sealed up until the time of the end.”) making the point that only now can we (Jehovah’s Witnesses) fully understand these words. Why is that important? Why not believe that the first century Christians who received miraculous gifts of the holy spirit, were taught by Jesus and his apostles, and wrote the final books of the Bible could also understand it? The answer is to be found at Acts 1:6,7:
“So when they had assembled, they asked him: “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” 7 He said to them: “It does not belong to you to know the times or seasons that the Father has placed in his own jurisdiction.” (Ac 1:6, 7)
We have to explain how this injunction does not apply to us, so we misapply Daniel 12:9 to the prophecy in chapter 4 which occurred decades earlier, instead of restricting it to the vision Daniel wrote about in that very context in chapters 10 through 12. Any serious Bible student should hear alarm bells when he or she is being asked to accept a speculative statement based on a scriptural misapplication to get around a clearly stated prohibition from God.
Why are we trying so hard to prop up a fanciful interpretation now stretched incredibly thin after 100 years of disconfirmation? We’ll get to that in our next article.
Archived Comments
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Comment by kev c on 2014-07-24 07:50:30
I got to say i have given that talk on daniel 4 lots of times and the numerology is really stretching it i think its based more on someones imagination rather than real facts .ok it does say that the most high is ruler in the kingdom of mankind and to the one whom he wants he gives it true . But how do we know for sure that its a prophetic timetable when gods kingdom establishes its reign on earth . That view is not consistant with the rest of the bible no one knows the timing its coming as a thief and as lightening anyone he says these things is contradicting jesus himself .and what does that say about them . Couldnt jesus have worked it out if it was written there all along in daniel 4 . He seemed to know the rest of the book .kev
Comment by peely on 2014-07-24 12:32:37
Oh, my goodness. When will they really read the bible?
Acts 1:7 - He said to them, It is not for you to become acquainted with and know what time brings [the things and events of time and their definite periods] or fixed years and seasons (their critical niche in time), which the Father has appointed (fixed and reserved) by His own choice and authority and personal power. (AMP)
2 Thess 2:1,2 - But relative to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and our gathering together to [meet] Him, we beg you, brethren, Not to allow your minds to be quickly unsettled or disturbed or kept excited or alarmed, whether it be by some [pretended] revelation of [the] Spirit or by word or by letter [alleged to be] from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has [already] arrived and is here. (AMP)
So true, Meleti, “Using the internet it takes only minutes to learn that we, as Jehovah’s Witnesses, have changed our interpretation of Daniel’s prophecies many times. Therefore it is a very bold statement to make so publicly that we “now can understand them fully”.
“Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a ‘prophet’ of God. It is another thing to prove it. The only way that this can be done is to review the record. What does it show?” (W. 4/1/72. P. 197)
An apology to you Meleti, I have spelled your name wrong in the past. Very sorry.
peelyReply by Meleti Vivlon on 2014-07-24 13:21:08
Not to worry. I wish the worst thing that anyone had ever done to me was only to misspell my name. :)
Comment by SilverTop on 2014-07-24 22:45:09
Jesus has been ruling for 100 years?!? Excuse me, but I was under the distinct impression that according to Matthew 28:18 that "...All power has been granted me in heaven and on earth..." I'm just a simple country girl, but the words power and authority basically mean the same thing right? So if Jesus was given ALL power in heaven and on earth, wouldn't that mean that he was in a position of authority (rulership) since THAT time? I'm just sayin...
Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2014-07-24 22:51:47
Good point, SilverTop.
Reply by kev on 2014-07-25 02:35:27
Yeah good point silvertop jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth since the ascension in 33 ce . So in what sense did he begin ruling in 1914 .im under the impression that jesus is the head of the christian congregation .but what real proof is there that they claim that jesus has somehow differently turned his attention to the earth since 1914 . I dont deny that jesus prescence will come like those mentioned at 2 peter . But to say that its here now and has been for the last 100 years to my mind is going against everything the bible says about his 2 coming .surely we would see a much different world than the one we see today . Its just madness to me just as the scripture 2 peter 3 v9 kev
Comment by Sargon on 2014-07-25 01:27:38
I don't see how the governing body expects anyone to buy their teachings anymore. I thought they had to be joking with this latest article. I find it odd that they are going all in with the 1914 doctrine, as it is really their weakest teaching. In fact it worries me. The ridiculous jumps in logic the article makes is comical. Random scriptures in Daniel are quoted and made to be relevant to their argument. A simple google search will destroy the 607 date. As you know I do not think the governing body actually believes what they teach. They should know how illogical the doctrine is. It makes me wonder what they are planning next. I wouldn't be surprised if they want to actually downsize the organization in the near future.
Reply by Christian on 2014-07-25 01:35:42
Maybe they will downsize and sell off a few of the kingdom halls they have now surreptitiously 'acquired' thanks to the donations for loans wrangle.
I have no time or patience for these false prophets anymore!
Comment by search4truth on 2014-07-25 05:36:33
Why are we ( the Gb ) trying so hard to prop up a fanciful interpretation now stretched incredibly thin after 100 years of disconfirmation?
Simply to create a sense of urgency and sell the books and magazines they publish , I guess. So let's go and celebrate more then 100 years of false prophesying and do it in the Wt style, produce and disseminate more false info among gullible people . Oh, sorry they don't do that because Rutherford said it : Wt May 1 1938 p 143 - "The interpretation of prophecy, therefore is not from man , but is from Jehova ; and Jehova causes events to pass in fulfilment of the prophecy in due time. It is his truth, and not man's ; and when men attempt to give the honor and glory for the message of truth to a man or men, such make fools of themselves. Jehova provides the machinery, the printing presses, and all material for the purpose of preparing his fiery message that must be poured out or scattered upon " Christendom" , and this is done by his " faitful servant " class. The Devil tries to induce men to believe that the Watch Tower Bible and Truet Society is engaging in a book selling scheme. Only the Devil is capable of manufacturing such a lie. .......... The " servant " , or remnant class will not be deceived or discouraged by this slanderous statement of enemies that they are engaged in a book selling scheme. They carry the message of truth to the people in printed form; and this is done under commandment of Jehova and is the greatest privilege that had ever been granted the followers of Christ on Earth " . Either is Jehova somehow unable clearly communicate his message to his faitful class or the Wt for decades is making this all up, you decide.
Comment by Katrina on 2014-07-25 09:05:34
they believe the lie, or they are just Charlton's.
Comment by Anonymous on 2014-07-25 12:21:09
There are two fundamental problems with the organization's use of Luke 21:24 and Daniel 4, to suggest that the Jesus started ruling in heaven in 1914.
Firstly, Daniel 4 uses the expression "kingdom of mankind". This shows that Daniel 4 is really speaking about earthly political rulership. Daniel 4 was making the point that God is ultimately in charge of political rulership of earth's inhabitants and he can appoint any ruler over them that he desires, to express his rulership through that leader. Would God appoint a ruler in the "kingdom of mankind" before he is ready for that ruler to actively rule people? What would be the point of it? Such a ruler would impotent, a ruler in name only. Is Jesus the political ruler in the "kingdom of mankind"? Is Jesus ruling over earth's affairs today? According to what the organization teaches, the answer is no. He is ruling over the heavenly realm, and would only start ruling over the earth when he finally intervenes to overturn the governments of the earth. Therefore it is dishonest to apply the term "kingdom of mankind" to refer to Jesus' taking up rulership over the heavenly realm in 1914.
Lately, the with the claimed 100 year anniversary of the start of Jesus rule, the organization has been using the changes within the organization as evidence of Jesus' rulership starting in 1914. But this is dishonest. Why? Because any changes that happen within the organization overseeing the worldwide congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses fall under the jurisdiction of the "kingdom of the son of his love" which came into existence at pentecost 33 CE. The organization has been careful to differentiate between the "kingdom of the son of his love", which they say is Jesus' rulership of the congregation, and the messianic kingdom. So according to their own teaching it would be fallacious to use the goings on in the congregation as evidence of the messianic kingdom.
Secondly, Luke 21:24 says that Jerusalem will be trampled on until the times of the nations have ended. Did Jerusalem cease being trampled on by the nations since 1914? JWs will say that Jesus has been installed as king in heavenly Jerusalem which cannot be trampled on by the nations. Is that really so? When Jesus' anointed brothers were being viciously persecuted by Paul, what did Jesus say to Paul on the road to Damascus? "Paul why are you persecuting me?" Now given that Jesus is king of heavenly Jerusalem, would be reasonable to say that Jerusalem is not being trampled on by the nations when anointed christians are being persecuted? Would it be reasonable to say that Jerusalem is not being trampled on by the nations when there are countries where the work of anointed christians is under ban? It is a fact that anointed JWs received the most persecution after 1914. Clearly Jerusalem did not cease being trampled on by the nations in 1914!Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2014-07-25 12:57:16
What an excellent line of reasoning. Thanks for adding to the fund of our knowledge on this important subject.
Reply by pearldoxsey on 2014-10-18 13:10:44
The kingdom of mankind is identified at Matt.12:8; John18:37; Rev.1:5; 5:9,10.
Comment by smolderingwick1 on 2014-07-25 12:47:19
Corporate decisions require collective agreements. If we disqualify our complex 1914 evidence of Christ's enthronement so must we disqualify our 1919 evidence, i.e. the fall of Babylon the Great and appointment of the Faithful and Discrete Slave. Simple. Corporate decisions are simple. Arguing will only put you on a political backbench.
sw
Comment by smolderingwick1 on 2014-07-25 21:21:26
Quote from WT February 2014 “What reasons did Jews in the first century have for being 'in expectation' of the Messiah?”
"If the apostles and other early Christians had correctly understood the prophecy about the 70 weeks, we would expect them to have mentioned the prophecy as proof that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and that he had arrived on time. But there is no evidence that the early Christians did so.
"Another point is worth noting. Gospel writers often mentioned prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures that were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:22, 23; 2:13-15; 4:13-16) But none of them wrote that the prophecy of the 70 weeks had anything to do with Jesus Christ.
"To review: We cannot be sure that people in Jesus’ day correctly understood the prophecy of the 70 weeks. However, in the Gospels, there are other good reasons why the Jews would have been expecting the Messiah to arrive."
My comment? How is it that we were somehow inspired to know more than 1st century Christians inspired by the spirit to write such conclusions yet didn't. Are we so audacious to believe we were more inspired?
sw
Comment by ¿Wheresenoch? on 2014-07-26 15:09:13
Could anyone tell me what scripture says satan got kicked out of heaven in 1914. Ive read Rev 12:9 but 4 some reason my copy of the scriptures dont say a date.
Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2014-07-26 19:46:34
There isn't one. :) However, we "know" he got kicked out of heaven then because he was so angry that he brought woe to the earth. He got kicked out after October, because it was in October that the 2,520 years ended. Therefore, the first world war is evidence that he got kicked out and was really angry, because he started it. Don't let the fact that there had been a decade-long arms race with Germany building up a million-man army in preparation for the war mislead you. Satan knew ahead of time that he was going to get tossed out in 1914 because he can do the math as well as the next fellow. Foreknowing that he was going to have a major hissy fit, he started preparations at least ten years in advance so everything would be in place come the moment of his defeat and ouster. (It's hard to organize things when you're really upset, so this was just good time and resource management on his part. We're not the only ones who are organized, you know?) Anyway, he had it all planned, all the weapons and armies were in place. All the political agendas were made, the alliances were signed. It just needed one little match to light the fuse. Depending on how you look at it, you could actually take it as a courtesy to us, as it would give us a nice little milestone to confirm the fulfillment of the prophesy. Unfortunately, it appears the prince of darkness has a control issue. Somebody didn't get the memo, and jumped the gun--quite literally--killing the Archduke and his wife ahead of time. So the war began two months early, in August, while Satan was busy in heaven trying to stop the birth of the new kingdom. Sometimes a guy just can't catch a break. So by the time he was cast down, the party was already underway. Though, to be fair, he still had the Spanish Influenza to look forward to. NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INFLUENZA. OUR CHIEF WEAPONS ARE...no, wait, I think I got that wrong. Sorry.
Reply by MarthaMartha on 2014-07-27 02:40:14
:) ha!
Comment by ¿Wheresenoch? on 2014-07-27 06:29:57
Thanks Vivlon that cleared things up considerably. What is amazing 2 me is that while complex mathematical pseudo-theorems give birth 2 the almighty 1914, basic arithmetic collapses & dissolves this doctrine. For example, the 2 months btwn the start of the war & satans ouster that just wont go away! Also the simple problem of Christ millenial reign. He's only promised 1000 yrs. (Rev chap 20.). Which when translated, means he either only has 900 yrs left (& we are all slowly growing back 2 perfection & just dont know it) or he rules longer than 1000yrs-100 of which we felt no effects other than a rich history of failed prophecies. Btw, anthony morris, of GB fame, made an interesting closing statement @ the end of convention yesterday. He said 'where will u be 100yrs from now? If faithful, in paradise!' I was so overwhelmed with joy that i tried 2 find some1 who was present 4 rutherfords 'millions now living will never die' rant, 2 see how they felt-but they all died. Yet my confidence in Christ is even stronger now that i know he only made 1 mistake-his statement @ Acts 1:7. (he didnt know we would get THIS smart!)
Reply by Sargon on 2014-07-27 08:16:16
Hey I'm at this convention in Detroit. I was on the elevator with Morris as he headed to the basement before he went on stage. I wish I could meet you today. Haha. Typing away on my phone before the program starts.
Reply by on 2014-07-28 07:41:34
Ahhh i wish i would have been on that lift with him ..well funny .Especially with me tight pants .kev
Comment by ¿Wheresenoch? on 2014-07-27 10:58:50
Sargon it would be something 2 meet on the grid. Truthfully im just glad 2 know that one of my REAL brothers is here with me(Prov 18:24). That mustve been 1 long elevator ride! I know u wanted 2 ask him what kind of tricks he had up his sleeve lol.
Comment by johnamos880 on 2014-07-29 13:12:23
http://johnamos880.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/october-2014-watchtower-a-conversation-with-a-neighbor/
Reply by on 2014-07-29 14:26:01
Thanks john its incredible how repeatedly go against their own counsel . I think its a confidence trick it used to make me think we had the truth and could stand up against any scrutiny now i know different . Ask them the same questions they want us to ask so called christendom and your out . As ive found out first hand .and they are convinced ive left the truth .were any of us ever in it .at least im honest enough to stand up and say when i know somethings wrong . Kev
Comment by BeenMislead on 2014-08-12 18:25:50
Meleti said:
“First let me say that I can’t shake the suspicion that this article is written more for those placing it than for the public at large.”
I think your suspicion is right. The following quote is from the latest Kingdom Ministry (Oct 2014)
“The Scriptures encourage us to be “ready to make a defense” of our beliefs, “doing so with a mild temper and deep respect.” (1 Pet. 3:15) Realistically, we may find it challenging to explain deep Bible truths, such as how we know that the Kingdom started ruling in 1914. To help us, a two-part series entitled “A Conversation With a Neighbor—When Did God’s Kingdom Begin Ruling?” has been prepared. These articles appear in the issues of The Watchtower that we are featuring in our ministry during October and November. As you examine these articles, consider the following questions regarding the approach taken by Cameron, the publisher in the scenario.
How did he . . .
˙ use commendation to establish common ground?—Acts 17:22.
˙ display humility when explaining his beliefs?—Acts 14:15.
Why was it good that he . . .
˙ periodically summarized before covering additional points?
˙ paused from time to time and asked whether the householder understood what he had explained so far?
˙ did not try to cover too much information in one discussion?
—John 16:12.
How grateful we can be to Jehovah, our “Grand Instructor,” for teaching us how to explain deep Bible truths to those who hunger for them!—Isa. 30:20.” – (October 2014, Our Kingdom Ministry, Pg. 2, Explaining Our Beliefs About 1914)
Comment by When Did God’s Kingdom Begin Ruling? – Part 2 | Beroean Pickets on 2014-09-10 08:01:55
[…] Part 1 of this series appeared in the October 1, 2014 Watchtower. If you have not read our post commenting on that first article, it might be beneficial to do so before proceeding with this one. […]
Comment by pearldoxsey on 2014-10-18 13:18:00
Most acknowledge that unprecedented distresses have afflicted the globe since 1914. Rather than ascribe these things to the start of a Divine Kingdom, why not accept the Bible's explanation of the cause? Jesus describes the signs of the end as the "beginning" of "labor pains" (Mark13:8; Rev.12:1,2). Which comes first...labor pains?...or the Kingdom's birth? Does not the birth come AFTER labor pains? We all need to wake up, and OPEN our eyes.
http://4womaninthewilderness.blogspot.com/2014/08/what-happened-in-1914.html
Comment by pearldoxsey on 2015-02-27 10:10:34
Jesus told us when Satan fell from heaven, and how. It was not 1914.
" The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke10:17-20)
Jesus seeing Satan fall, is in the past tense, Satan is the "enemy". He and the demons, now had to "submit" to the apostles. Now the apostles names were "written in heaven". While their work subjugated Satan and the demons (fall from heaven);
the apostles replaced them in this raised position...
"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus," (Eph.2:6)
Both Christ, and his faithful chosen ones, began ruling in the first century, for a symbolic "Thousand Years". During that time, Satan was restrained from overcoming the light (1Pet.2:9; John1:5; Matt.5:14).
When he is released, the Great Tribulation begins, and the remaining ones ARE overcome (Rev.13:1,7,10; 9:1-3,10; Eze.2:6; 2Cor.12:7; Luke10:20), for a time.
This is why, when Christ arrives, they need to be refined (Mal.3:1-3; Zech.13:9; Rev.9:18,20,21; 8:7; Num.21:23; 1Cor.3:13,14; 2Cor.5:10; John12:48; Rev.20:12). A remnant will be refined by the fire of God's Word (Jer.23:29; Matt.3:11), when the spirit of Truth, arrives (John16:13; Rev.22:6; 1:1,2; 10:7).
Comment by WT Study: Jehovah Is the God of Love | Beroean Pickets on 2016-01-12 08:21:03
[…] The answer to this is, ‘Nothing.’ The Messianic Kingdom has yet to begin, or are we to believe the 1,000 year rule has begun? If so, then there are only 900 years left. (See When Did God’s Kingdom Begin Ruling?) […]
Comment by Biblicaly Inclined on 2020-10-09 12:51:37
It really amazes me how they can use the bible like this to support their false teachings without thinking about the consequences, one being making the bible very contradictory. For example they use Daniel 12:8 out of context to try and convince us that Daniel didn't understand what he was writing, but one can easily point to Daniel 10:1 which shows that he actually understood what he was writing. So now what, is Daniel contradicting himself or our understanding of the text is wrong. I don't think we need more evidence to discard the Watchtower as false teachers.