When did Jehovah’s Witnesses become idol worshippers? And make no mistake, they are worshipping idols. You’ll see why in a moment.
It is a tendency of the fallen flesh to worship something you can see over something that requires faith in the unseen.
Take the Israelites for example. God brought them out of Egypt using the ten terrible plagues to motivate Pharoah into letting them go, and then God divided the Red Sea, saving the nation of Israel while destroying the power of Egypt. And what did the Israelites do, just a few weeks later? They fashioned an idol to worship: the golden calf.
How does Jehovah God feel about idolatry? This scripture leaves no doubt:
“And I shall certainly annihilate your sacred high places and cut off your incense stands and lay your own carcasses upon the carcasses of your dungy idols; and my soul will simply abhor you.” (Leviticus 26:30)
I love that expression “dungy idols,” don’t you? Dung stinks. It’s repulsive to both eye and nose. That is how God feels about idol worship.
An idol need not be carved from wood, stone, or precious metal. A man or a group of men can be idolized just as easily. The Greek word we translate “worship,” proskunéo, means to bow down and kiss the feet of someone. It means to submit to another’s authority and to obey.
I’d bow down and kiss the feet of Jesus in a heartbeat, but a man like myself? Please?! Yet Witnesses want to obey the Governing Body. They grant the Governing Body the right to make rules to govern every aspect of their lives. Try this: Ask a Witness if the Bible said one thing and the Governing Body said another, which would they obey? I’ve yet to have a Witness tell me that they would obey the Bible over the Governing Body.
The Bible is the word of God. The Watchtower is the word of the Governing Body. If you obey what you are told to do in the Watchtower, then you’ve made the Governing Body your God. That is idolatry, plain and simple.
Let me give you an example. Jesus taught how to deal with a sinner in the congregation. He begins by saying:
“Moreover, if your brother commits a sin…” (Matthew 18:15a NWT)
Jesus does not qualify the type of sin. It could be drunkenness, fornication, or any other offense that might lead to expulsion from the congregation.
The Governing Body says you should report the brother to the body of elders. What does Jesus say you should do?
“Moreover, if your brother commits a sin, go and reveal his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” (Matthew 18:15)
So, if you go to the brother and confront him and he listens to you, you’ve gained your brother. End of story. It goes no further. But what if he doesn’t listen to you?
In that case, Jesus give this counsel:
“But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two more, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established.” (Matthew 18:16)
The purpose of taking along two or three is to reinforce the truth and help him see the gravity of his sin. The Governing Body, however, wants this handled by a committee of three elders. If the accused does not listen to these three elders, he is expelled. Jesus, though, adds a third phase.
“If he does not listen to them, speak to the congregation.” (Matthew 18:17a)
Imagine being a sinner and having everyone in the congregation sit down with you to reason with you. This is what we might call a congregational intervention. But no, the Governing Body claims that when Jesus said “speak to the congregation” he really meant for the sinner to sit in a private, secret committee meeting before three elders.
So, if your brother commits a sin that you are aware of, who are you going to obey? Are you going to speak with him directly as Jesus says, or are going to run off like some stool pigeon and report him to the elders?
Who will you obey? Who do you worship?
The worship of the Governing Body is growing and they seem quite willing to nurture this sinful adulation of men.
In video after video on JW.org we hear the phrase, “The Governing Body has decided…” The Governing Body has decided it is now acceptable for men to wear beards and for women to wear slacks. The Governing Body has decided that toasting is now permissible. The Governing Body has decided that higher education is suddenly a matter of personal conscience. The Governing Body has decided that publishers no longer have to report their time in the preaching work.
The Governing Body has no God-given right to rule on these matters. They have no authority from God to tell you what you can and cannot do.
But this attitude is nothing new. Paul contended with it in his day in his letter to the Colossians. This is Colossians 2 from the 2001 Translation:
So, don’t allow anyone to judge you over [what you] eat or drink, or over your views of festivals such as the New Moons or Sabbaths… For these were just shadows of things to come, while the realities belong to the Anointed One. And don’t allow anyone to steal your prize by suggesting some lowly form of angel worship and by making strong claims of things that [someone says] he’s seen. (Colossians 2:16-18a 2001 Translation)
The prize that these men were trying to steal was the reward of being in the kingdom of God with Jesus Christ. The heavenly calling open to all who wish to embraces it, but the Governing Body since Rutherford’s day says, Nooo! You cannot grasp this reward. What a job they’ve done in robbing the flock of this amazing hope.
Paul refers to “some lowly form of angel worship”. Did you know that the Greek word ἄγγελος (aggelos) translated here as “angel” really means messenger? Do not the men of the Governing Body claim to be God’s channel of communication? Doesn’t that constitute making them into the messengers of God?
Paul continues:
For [this man has become] overly impressed with something he just imagined in the flesh, and he’s no longer hanging onto the ‘head'… The one who holds the whole ‘body’ together with its joints and ligaments so that it keeps growing with the [type of] growth that comes from The God. (Colossians 2:18b 2001 Translation)
The Governing Body is clearly overly impressed with themselves, and they are no longer hanging on to the head which is Jesus Christ, since they have substituted themselves for Jesus and now proclaim themselves to be the channel between Jehovah and the congregation.
[plain future kings video]
But the anointed are not designated as kings in the Bible. The New World Translation has inserted the word “kings” where it doesn’t belong. I would recommend you look up these verses in an interlinear to see that the work “kings” has been added by the translators of the New World Translation.
Romans 5:17
“…rule as kings in life through the one person, Jesus Christ!” (NWT)
“in life will reign through the one Jesus Christ” (interlinear)
1 Corinthians 4:8 NWT
“. . .Have you begun ruling as kings without us? I really wish that you had begun ruling as kings, so that we also might rule with you as kings.” (NWT)
“…apart from us you reigned and I wish that you did reign so that also we you might reign with” (interlinear)
2 Timothy 2:11
“…we will also rule together as kings…” (NWT)
“…we will reign together [with him]…” (interlinear)
Revelation 5:10
“…and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.” (NWT)
“…and You have made them to the God of us a kingdom and priests and they will reign upon the earth.” (interlinear)
You see, we won’t be kings, because there is only one King of God’s Kingdom and that King is Jesus Christ. Ruling under the one King, Jesus, the children of God will be princes, not kings. There is a significant difference.
“They will be brought with rejoicing and joyfulness; They will enter into the palace of the king. In place of your forefathers there will come to be your sons, Whom you will appoint as princes in all the earth.” (Psalm 45:15, 16 NWT)
The children of God will enter into the palace of the one King, Jesus, and will serve in a subordinate role, ruling with him as princes under his direction. They will not for a moment think of usurping the power of King Jesus, but will be content to serve as princes for the restoration of humanity back into the family of God.
“. . .Look! A king will reign for righteousness itself; and as respects princes, they will rule as princes for justice itself. And each one must prove to be like a hiding place from the wind and a place of concealment from the rainstorm, like streams of water in a waterless country, like the shadow of a heavy crag in an exhausted land.” (Isaiah 32:1, 2)
But the Governing Body is not content with just being princes. They want to replace the King, even now. They want to be a substitute for Jesus Christ. So they marginalize mention of him, even in their Bible index. In the 2013 edition, there are 11 references to Jehovah, but only one to Jesus. Just one. Here is a closeup: you can see the list of references to the name Jehovah, but when we scroll down, there is only one for Jesus, the one where the angel tells Joseph what to name Mary’s child.
This is one of many indications that the Governing Body subtly pushes Jesus aside, substituting themselves for him as Jehovah’s channel of communication with the flock. They reinforce this deception by adding words to their own Bible translation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. As substitutes for Christ, we beg: “Become reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20 NWT)
The verb “substituting” and the noun “substitutes” have been inserted by the translators of the New World Translation. Those words do not appear in the original manuscript. So why add them?
An ambassador is not a substitute for the King. He is a representative who conveys messages from his government, his king. He is not a replacement for the king in the king’s absence.
The Governing Body is now imitating the Pope of Rome, known as “the Vicar of Christ.” Vicar comes from the Latin word vicarious, meaning a substitute. The Pope makes papal decrees that become Church law, and the Governing Body, setting themselves in the place of Jesus Christ, also makes rules. Hence the oft-repeated phrase, “The Governing Body has decided…”
Of course, a rule or law is meaningless unless it is backed by the power to enforce it. That is why the Governing Body continues to maintain its unscriptural shunning policy.
Brothers and sisters, please heed this warning:
“...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?” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-5)
Substituting for Christ, the Governing Body now acts like a god, demanding obedience on pain of death. Do you not remember this outrageous claim from the November 15, 2012 Watchtower:
Consider this extraordinary assertion from an article titled “Seven Shepherds, Eight Dukes—What They Mean for Us Today”: “At that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.” (w13 11/15 p. 20 par. 17)
So, the questions are: To whom do you belong? Which god will you obey? Do you worship Jehovah through Jesus who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)? Or do you belong to the Organization with its Governing Body as your idol, the god you worship?
Think on it. Think on it good and hard. Your eternal life is at stake.