Did you know that there is something in the Bible that directly condemns the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses? I mean it. There is a Scripture that describes the speeches of the Governing Body as unholy, that says they are ungodly, that compares their doctrine to rotten flesh, and that states they’ve deviated from the truth and are subverting the faith of others.
That’s quite a statement for me to make, but I’m not making it. The Apostle Paul makes it.
What am I talking about? This:
“But reject empty speeches that violate what is holy, for they will lead to more and more ungodliness, and their word will spread like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them. These men have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already occurred, and they are subverting the faith of some.” (2 Timothy 2:16-18 NWT)
And exactly how does the Governing Body factor into that, you ask? Buckle up! This is quite the ride.
Let’s start with when they claim that the first resurrection occurred. That’s right! Like Hymenaeus and Philetus, the Governing Body claims that the resurrection has already occurred. Here we go:
“At this point, it may be helpful to consider what might be viewed as a Bible parallel. Jesus Christ was anointed as the future King of God’s Kingdom in the fall of 29 C.E. Three and a half years later, in the spring of 33 C.E., he was resurrected as a mighty spirit person. Could it, then, be reasoned that since Jesus was enthroned in the fall of 1914, the resurrection of his faithful anointed followers began three and a half years later, in the spring of 1918?” (w07 1/1 p. 28 pars. 12-13 “The First Resurrection”—Now Under Way!)
Here's the first problem with that and it shows just how stupid and shortsighted they are. They are referring to the first resurrection which is described in Revelation 20:5, 6.
“This is the first resurrection. Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and they will rule as kings with him for the 1,000 years.” (Revelation 20:5, 6)
The first problem with this is what is stated as occurring before or in conjunction with the first resurrection. The preceding verses say this:
“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years. And he hurled him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not mislead the nations anymore until the 1,000 years were ended. After this he must be released for a little while.” (Revelation 20:1-3 NWT)
It doesn’t take a genius to see that the thousand-year reign of Christ begins with the first resurrection, and the first thing Jesus does is to throw Satan and his demons into the Abyss, locking them away for a thousand years. So, dear friends, if the first resurrection occurred in 1918, then Satan and the demons were already locked away, and we are now into the second century of the thousand-year rule of Jesus. Looking back over the past 100-plus years, would you say there is clear evidence that Satan hasn’t been active and that Jesus has been ruling?
Seriously?!
Oh, but there’s more. The craziness isn’t over.
Paul has this to say about the first resurrection:
“For this is what we tell you by Jehovah’s word, that we the living who survive to the presence of the Lord will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep in death; because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first. Afterward we the living who are surviving will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NWT)
The dead are resurrected first, then “we the living who are surviving will, TOGETHER WITH THEM, be caught way in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
“Together with them” doesn’t mean more than a century later.
Oh, but there’s more. Did you notice that the resurrection occurs when the Lord descends from heaven with a commanding call…and “with God’s trumpet”? Did anyone see Jesus descending from heaven in 1914 or in 1918? Was the blast of a trumpet heard around the world? Even if you consider that these are symbolic, the point is that there is a trumpet blast marking the point in time that the resurrection occurs. Okay? Okay.
Now read Paul’s words to the Corinthians:
“Look! I tell YOU a sacred secret: We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51, 52)
There’s the trumpet again. And what happens then the trumpet sounds? The dead rise, and the living are changed, transformed.
So, were all the anointed changed in 1918? There were close to 100,000 anointed Christians in the various Bible Student groups associated with the Russell’s Watch Tower Society in 1918. Did they suddenly disappear off the face of the earth, transformed in fulfillment of prophecy? If so, what happened to Freddy Franz and J. F. Rutherford. Did Jesus forget about them?
Seriously, the sudden mass disappearance of thousands of Christians around the world would surely have made the front page of every major newspaper on earth.
But that didn’t happen.
There is nothing in the Bible that talks about the resurrection starting in a particular year, then continuing ongoing for over a century, then ending finally in the transformation of the remaining children of God being taken up to be with Christ.
Is this just a little mistake? A teensy, weensy little booboo? Not according to Paul. Let’s go back to our opening Scripture:
“But reject empty speeches that violate what is holy, for they will lead to more and more ungodliness, and their word will spread like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them [as is the current Governing Body]. These men have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already occurred, and they are subverting the faith of some.” (2 Timothy 2:16-18)
I’ll say they’re subverting the faith of some—of some eight million people.
Well, they are not going to change. The question is for those of you who are still in league with them, what are you going to do?
“And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4)
Nuf’ said.