Hello everyone.
In the previous video, we learned that the view Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, and other apocalyptic religions have concerning the great tribulation is false. Those religions need their members to believe that their only hope of surviving the end of the world is to remain loyal to their religious leaders. Seventh-day Adventists teach that everyone who refuses to observe a weekly Sabbath day will die. Jehovah Witnesses say that salvation depends on remaining inside the ark-like Organization and working selflessly to promote the good news according to JW.org.
These are just self-serving lies intended to frighten people into compliance. We’ve learned that the great tribulation refers to the trials and tests that the children of God go through as a process of refinement. By successfully enduring that tribulation in the flesh, they are made perfect or complete for the task set before them, which is to rule with Jesus as a kingdom of priests. That priestly kingdom will be the means by which our Father restores humanity back into His earthly family.
This raises a question, however. When did this tribulation start? When did Yehovah’s servants begin to be tested as to fitness? A clue to help us understand and answer that question comes from this condemnation of the Pharisees delivered by Jesus not long before they murdered him.
“‘Look! I’ll be sending you Prophets, wise men, and writers, whom you’ll kill… You’ll hang some on poles, and you’ll whip others in your synagogues and chase them down in one city after another. ‘And that’s when you’ll become responsible for all the righteous blood that has been spilled on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah (son of Barachiah), whom you murdered between the Holy Place and the Altar.” (Matthew 23:34, 35 2001 Translation)
Obviously, the Jewish religious leaders were not alive when Abel was murdered. But they were part of a lineage, the seed of the serpent, that stretched back to Abel, the first martyr. It only makes sense that the great tribulation is called “great” because it has been going the longest, since the very start of this conflict between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
But the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses disagrees. They side with the theology of J. F. Rutherford who claimed that only 144,000 get into the kingdom of God. You can see the problem that Rutherford’s doctrine creates, can’t you?
Are we to believe that in the thousands of years since Abel was murdered, that only 144,000 qualify to be in the kingdom of God? I mean, think about it! After Peter’s speech on Pentecost, “about three thousand souls were added” (Acts 2:41). Then, later when Peter and John were preaching in the temple, we learn that “many of those who had listened to the speech believed, and the number of the men became about five thousand.” (Acts 4:4)
You see the problem? They’re already up to 8,000 who have received the holy spirit, and they haven’t yet started preaching to the Gentiles. So, what about faithful servants of God from pre-Christian times? Are we to believe that outstanding humans like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Judge Deborah, Rahab, and Daniel are not part of the kingdom of God? Just how many faithful servants of Yehovah were there in ancient times? The prophet Elijah thought he was alone, but he learned different when God told him:
“I have left for myself 7,000 men who have not bent the knee to Baal.” (Romans 11:4)
How was poor Judge Rutherford going to get around this major obstacle to his doctrine that only 144,000 get into the kingdom of the heavens?
A humble servant of God can admit when he’s wrong and change. All Rutherford had to do was admit that the number he thought was literal was in fact symbolic.
If he had truly being led by holy spirit, he would have done that, but by his own admission, he was not being led by holy spirit, but by angelic voices.
In the September 1, 1930, Watchtower on page 293, Rutherford, refers to the “servant” as one who is in a special relationship with Jehovah and in direct communication with God by means of angelic direction.
“If the holy spirit as a helper were directing the work, then there would be no good reason for employing the angels … the Scriptures seem clearly to teach that the Lord directs his angels what to do and they act under the supervision of the Lord in directing the remnant on earth concerning the course of action to take. It would seem there would be no necessity for the ‘servant’ to have an advocate such as the holy spirit because the ‘servant’ is in direct communication with Jehovah and as Jehovah’s instrument, and Christ Jesus acts for the entire body.” (w30 9/1 p. 293)
Since there was no other “servant” guiding Jehovah’s Witnesses from 1917 until his death in 1942, there can be little doubt that Rutherford was referring to himself as the one who was “in direct communication with Jehovah” and who was being directed by angelic messengers.
This explains so much. If he was truly led by holy spirit, then he would not have perpetuated a teaching that has kept millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses from accepting the offer of eternal life as children of God. The Governing Body continues to support Rutherford’s lie by telling its followers to refuse to partake of the emblems that represent their acceptance of the salvation Jesus is offering.
There is much more to this story than we can get into here, but we will do so in our next video. But for now, let’s continue our examination of how Rutherford and the current Governing Body manage to exclude thousands of faithful men and women from the kingdom of God. Here’s how: I’m quoting from the JW publication, Jesus—The Way (2015):
“When John’s disciples leave, Jesus assures the crowd that John is more than a prophet. He is “the messenger” of J ehovah prophesied about at Malachi 3:1. He is also the prophet Elijah, as foretold at Malachi 4:5, 6. Jesus explains: “Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not been raised up anyone greater than John the Baptist, but a lesser person in the Kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.”—Matthew 11:11.
By saying that a lesser one in the Kingdom of the heavens is greater than John, Jesus is showing that John will not be in the heavenly Kingdom. John prepared the way for Jesus but dies before Christ opens the way to heaven. (Hebrews 10:19, 20) John is, though, a faithful prophet of God and will be an earthly subject of God’s Kingdom.” (jy p. 96 pars. 6, 7)
They are making two assumptions here. They hope you’ll just go along with their assumptions unquestioningly. The first is that if a person dies before “Christ opens the way to heaven,” then they have missed the boat, as the saying goes. They pull their old trick of providing a scriptural reference in the hope that their readers will just assume that it backs up the statement they’re making. But we’ve learned not to trust them, so we’ll look it up.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness for the way of entry into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, which he opened up for us as a new and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh,” (Hebrews 10:19, 20)
You see? Their point isn’t that Jesus opened the way, but that a person has to be alive when or after Jesus opened the way. If a faithful servant of God is already dead, then he or she has missed out.
But do these men, these esteemed shepherds of God’s flock of Jehovah’s Witnesses not read their own Bible? What did Jesus say about the state of God’s faithful servants, men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
“As regards the resurrection of the dead, did YOU not read what was spoken to YOU by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living.” On hearing [that], the crowds were astounded at his teaching.” (Matthew 22:31-33)
So, since they are alive to God, he can apply the benefit of Christ’s ransom sacrifice to them.
The second assumption they make in that quote from the publication, Jesus—The Way, is that when Jesus said that “a lesser person in the Kingdom of the heavens” was greater than John the Baptist, he was referring to John’s salvation hope? But Jesus doesn’t actually say that, does he? So we are left to figure it out for ourselves. Anytime a Bible verse is unclear or ambiguous on its own, we have to go elsewhere in Scripture to resolve its meaning. But that doesn’t work if you have an agenda, so the Governing Body simply makes the following categorical assertions.
Faithful servants of God in pre-Christian times, though not begotten as spiritual sons of God with heavenly hopes, had God’s spirit…John the Baptist, for example, was “filled with holy spirit”; yet he did not go to heaven, for Jesus said of him: “A lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.” (g74 8/22 p. 28)
These princes will include all the men of faith from Abel on to John the Baptist. Will none of these be in heaven? No. (g73 5/8 p.7)
These excerpts are yet another example of eisegesis—imposing one’s interpretation onto a Bible verse, rather than letting the Bible speak for itself. You will recall from earlier videos that we learned that the first rule when trying to determine the meaning of an ambiguous verse is to discard any interpretation that conflicts with other parts of the Bible.
The Governing Body’s interpretation of Matthew 11:11 is wrong, because we have clear proof that John the Baptist and other faithful prophets of old will be in the Kingdom of the Heavens. We know this because Jesus says so.
There is where your weeping and the gnashing of your teeth will be, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside. Furthermore, people will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:28-30)
Does the Governing Body agree that the reference here to “the Kingdom of God” refers to the heavenly hope of anointed Christians? Yes! Reading from The Watchtower of March 15, 1990, we have:
“Many” refers to people who begged to be let in after a door was shut and locked. These were “workers of unrighteousness” who did not qualify to be with “Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God.” The “many” had thought they would be first “in the kingdom of God,” but they actually would be last, evidently meaning that they would not be in it at all.
The context shows that Jesus was dealing with entry into God’s heavenly Kingdom.
Common people who became Jesus’ disciples were in line to be accepted as spiritual sons when the heavenly calling did open up at Pentecost 33 C.E. (Hebrews 10:19, 20) Though vast multitudes heard Jesus, those who accepted him and later gained the heavenly hope were few. (w90 3/15 p. 31 “Questions From Readers”)
You might be scratching your head right now, wondering how they can say on the one hand that men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, along with all the prophets don’t have the heavenly hope, while on the other hand, admitting that Luke 12:32 refers to the heavenly hope when speaking of the Kingdom of God? If the Kingdom of God is the heavenly hope and “Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets [are] in the kingdom of God,” then “Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets” have the heavenly hope. How can they get around that obvious conclusion?
You’re going to love this! Pay attention.
“But the little flock of spirit-begotten humans receiving that reward could be compared to Jacob reclining at a table in heaven with Jehovah (the Greater Abraham) and his Son (pictured by Isaac). (w90 3/15 p. 31 “Questions From Readers”)
Do you see how they’ve twisted Scripture to cover over the plain truth being stated? If it is not readily obvious, let’s look again at the verse we’re trying to explain:
“There is where your weeping and the gnashing of your teeth will be, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside.” (Luke 13:28)
This verse has Jesus rebuking the Jewish leaders who think themselves righteous, but who will be thrown outside the Kingdom of God. But who will they see in the Kingdom of God? They will see the prophets of old. What does The Watchtower say about that? Nothing! They make no attempt to explain how all the prophets of old can be seen in the Kingdom of God, which they acknowledge refers to the heavenly hope bestowed upon their “little flock of spirit-begotten humans.”
How can they say that, when elsewhere they have categorically stated that the prophets before Christ only have an earthly hope? They can’t! So, they choose to ignore it, and hope Jehovah’s Witnesses will ignore it too. But they still have to explain how Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are in the Kingdom of God, when their official teaching is that those men do not have a heavenly hope.
This is where things get really silly. Jesus doesn’t mention that the wicked Jewish leaders will see a “little flock of spirit-begotten humans” as The Watchtower claims. He only mentions Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of course, all the prophets. So, they now press an old standby into service: types and antitypes. They say that when Jesus says “Abraham,” he really means “Yehovah,” and when he says, “Isaac,” he really means himself, and when he says “Jacob,” he really means his “little flock of spirit-begotten humans”!? Yeah! Right! Got it!
Gentlemen, please?! Jesus Christ isn’t speaking in code, and he certainly isn’t speaking to Jehovah’s Witnesses. He’s addressing these words to the Jewish leaders who were opposing him. Those leaders believed the scripture that promised that the forefathers of the nation of Israel would make it into the Kingdom of God as would the faithful prophets. They just assumed that they’d be there with them, because they considered themselves to be the most righteous of men.
Under the Mosaic Law Covenant, Yehovah had promised the kingdom to obedient servants.
“Now if you will strictly obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will certainly become my special property out of all peoples, for the whole earth belongs to me. You will become to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5, 6)
This is the old covenant, the covenant that Yehovah made with the Israelites. If they had kept that covenant, then He would have kept his promise. They would have become a kingdom of priests.
Was what Yehovah promised any different than the promise made through Christ for the new covenant which replaced the old?
No. Peter himself shows that it wasn’t. Quoting from Moses’ words, but applying them to the Christian congregation, he writes:
But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies” of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. For you were once not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not been shown mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9, 10)
The difference between the two covenants is the inclusion of the Gentiles. While the nation of Israel as a whole failed to keep the old covenant, a number of faithful men and women did keep it.
Yehovah is faithful and keeps his promises, so those faithful servants have their reward guaranteed to them by God. This is the message of Hebrews chapter 11, another passage that the Organization likes to obscure because it contradicts their theology.
And yet all of these, although they received a favorable witness because of their faith, did not obtain the fulfillment of the promise, because God had foreseen something better for us, so that they might not be made perfect apart from us. (Hebrews 11:39, 40)
This shows that the faithful pre-Christian servants gain the same reward Christians receive because they individually kept the covenant.
What do you think about the Governing Body’s attempt to twist the meaning of Luke 13:28? It clearly says that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets get into God’s Kingdom. The Governing Body says, “No, they don’t.” It’s just a metaphor. Come on! How stupid do they think we are? Evidently pretty stupid! And I count myself in that group. But I finally woke up. There is a saying that goes: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” But what can be said about being fooled hundreds and thousands of times for years and years?! All I can say is praise the Lord for his mercy in finally helping me, poor fool that I am, to see the light of truth!
But there’s still that nagging question: What did Jesus mean about John the Baptist being a lesser one? Now that we have the powerful Bible research tool that is exegesis and now that we are open to the holy spirit and not bound to support the dogma of men, let us re-examine the context of Jesus’ words concerning John the Baptist:
“‘Look! I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way ahead of you!’ Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not been raised up anyone greater than John the Baptist, but a lesser person in the Kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of the heavens is the goal toward which men press, and those pressing forward are seizing it. For all, the Prophets and the Law, prophesied until John…. Let the one who has ears listen.” (Matthew 11:10-13, 15)
The people saw John as a prophet, but now Jesus tells them he is much more than a prophet. He is God’s messenger. So it is within that context that his next words must be taken. When he says that “there has not been raised up anyone greater than John the Baptist,” he is putting John above all other prophets, including the greatest of them, Moses!
That must have been a stunning declaration for his Jewish listeners to hear. How could John be greater than Moses, whom Yehovah used to lead His people to freedom out of Egypt by means of the ten plagues, and by splitting the Red Sea? The answer was because something greater than Moses and all the prophets had arrived. The Son of God had come, and John was the messenger preparing the way for him. John introduced the King of the Kingdom of the heavens.
In verse 12, Jesus says that all before him had been pressing forward toward the goal which is the Kingdom, but now the Kingdom had arrived. So it is within that context that we must view his words that “a lesser person in the Kingdom of the heavens is greater than” John. Nothing in the context speaks of John’s salvation hope, but rather his role as both the prophet and the messenger announcing the Messianic King.
“The next day he beheld Jesus coming toward him, and [John] said: “See, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world! This is the one about whom I said, “Behind me there comes a man who has advanced in front of me, because he existed before me. Even I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing in water was that he might be made manifest to Israel.”” (John 1:29-31)
How is it then that this great prophet, John the Baptist, is less than the lesser one of those in the Kingdom of the heavens? Well, how would you answer these two questions? Is Jesus greater than John the Baptist? Are the apostles and first-century Christians greater than Jesus? Most of us would automatically answer yes and no. Yes, Jesus is greater than John. No, the apostles and first-century Christians are not greater than Jesus. But we’re answering without context. In other words, what do you mean by “greater than”?
When comparing himself with John, Jesus said: “But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.” (John 5:36)
But—and this is the clincher—when comparing himself with his followers, Jesus said:
“Most truly I say to you, He that exercises faith in me, that one also will do the works that I do; and he will do works greater than these, because I am going my way to the Father.” (John 14:12)
The key word here is “works”. When Jesus compares John the Baptist to a lesser one in the kingdom of God, he’s referring to the works of each one, not their salvation hope, nor their character or level of faith.
John was the greatest of all the prophets because his work as a prophet surpassed those who came before him. He announced the King of God’s Kingdom. They didn’t.
And that King, Jesus, did works greater than John because he preached the Kingdom of God.
And Jesus’ disciples did works greater than Jesus, because they preached the good news of the kingdom in all the inhabited earth. (Matthew 24:14)
I would not compare myself to John the Baptist. Who of us would consider ourselves his equal? Yet Jesus’ remarks were not about character or faithfulness or righteousness, but about the extent of the preaching of the kingdom.
It is wrong to teach, as the Governing Body does, that Jesus’ words about John the Baptist relate to his salvation hope, and that of all pre-Christian men and women of faith. It is not only unscriptural, but also illogical. Because if John being less than a lesser one in the Kingdom of the heavens means he gets a lesser salvation hope, then what salvation hope does Moses get? Remember, John is greater than Moses in the JW scenario, so to apply the silly logic of the Organization, there must be a graduated salvation hope. The apostles get the heavenly salvation because they’re greater than John, but John is greater than Moses, so John must get a better salvation hope then Moses. You see how silly it gets when we use eisegesis to support our own interpretation? To impose our own ideas on to what the Bible says. And all this silliness is the result of the Organization’s need to continue to support a doctrine that Judge Rutherford fabricated out of thin air almost a century ago! The Organization has hidden that from you. There are no references to it in the publications index, yet it is the start of everything that follows. We’ll expose it all in our next video and you’ll see why they don’t want Witnesses to keep old publications.
In conclusion, the great tribulation is truly great because it represents a time of testing upon faithful men and women from the very start of the conflict that Satan initiated when he seduced Eve to sin. When the full number of faithful men and women have been tested, then our Father can bring the end of this wicked world and begin the true healing of the nations that has been predicted.
For a more detailed account of what we’ve discussed today, you can pick up my book, “Shutting the Door to the Kingdom of God: How Watch Tower Stole Salvation from Jehovah’s Witnesses” which is available in English, Spanish, Russian, Italian, German, Czech, and soon in French.
Thank you for watching and for continuing to support our work.