This falls into the category of "Here they go again." I'm referring to the September 2026 issue of the Watchtower magazine, which Jehovah's Witnesses will be studying the week of November 2. Reading just the first few paragraphs reminded me of what it was like to still attend Watchtower studies at the Kingdom Hall after I started to wake up. I attended to support my late wife, Reta, who was beginning to wake up as well.
Sitting with her to support her became increasingly difficult. Excruciating, in fact.
At times, I just wanted to stand up and shout, "Brothers, sisters, for the love of God, can't you see you're being lied to?"
Our Father designed our brains to be repelled by disgusting sights and smells. It's a protection — it keeps us from consuming things that will harm us. And the parts of the brain that light up when we're exposed to disgusting sights, sounds, and smells are the same parts that light up when we know we're being lied to.
To all you PIMOs out there, my heart goes out to you. I know what you're going through, especially if you have to attend the meeting when this particular Watchtower article is studied.
Let's look at the first paragraph and see just how many false teachings they can cram into a single, short paragraph.
"WE ARE living in the last of the last days. Earthshaking events will soon occur."
Notice there is nothing conditional about that statement. It is presented as an undeniable fact — which makes it a prophetic statement. The trouble is that Watchtower readers have heard that same prophetic statement over and over for about 150 years.
Consider this from the Prospectus in the first issue of the Watchtower, in 1879:
"That we are living 'in the last days' — 'The day of the Lord' — 'the end' of the Gospel age, and consequently, in the dawn of the 'new' age, are facts not only discernible by the close student of the Word, led by the spirit, but the outward signs recognizable by the world bear the same testimony..." (Prospectus, Watchtower, July 1879)
But Jesus had a prophetic statement of his own that runs contrary to what the Watchtower wants you to believe. He said:
"On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it." (Matthew 24:44)
Jesus' prophecy will prove true. The Watchtower's has failed over and over, decade after decade.
Oh, but there is more. So much more. Continuing with paragraph 1:
Jehovah will put into the hearts of the nations "his thought" — that they give "their kingdom to the wild beast," the United Nations. (Rev. 17:17) Then that greatly empowered beast, along with the full cooperation of all political powers, will remove the world's false religious organizations once and for all. (Rev. 17:16)
For a moment, let's assume their interpretation of the prophecy about the great harlot is correct. What are they missing?
This tiny detail: their understanding is that the harlot of Revelation, Babylon the Great, is comprised of all the false religious organizations on earth—and they are a false religious organization. Not one of their doctrines unique to Jehovah's Witnesses is true. The 1914 invisible presence of Jesus Christ? False. The generation of 1914? False. The 1918 resurrection of the anointed? False. The 1919 appointment of the Governing Body as the Faithful and Discreet Slave? False, on both counts. The other sheep as a lower class of Christians with a secondary salvation hope? That's the biggest one. False! I could go on, but you get the point.
Consider this as well. Jehovah's Witnesses are currently being investigated by many nations for their abysmal policies concerning the protection of children in cases of sexual abuse. The Organization is what you might call low-hanging fruit. If the nations are induced by God to attack organized religion, don't you think they'd go for the low-hanging fruit first? What a shock that would be to Jehovah's Witnesses who have been led to believe that their membership in the Organization guarantees God's protection.
Paragraph 1 concludes with this:
That event will mark the start of the great tribulation. Then what?
There is nothing in the Bible connecting the attack on Babylon the Great with the great tribulation. In fact, there is nothing to prove that the great tribulation is a singular, future event that precedes Armageddon.
The only place the great tribulation is mentioned is in Revelation 7:9-15, and even there it makes no reference to the other sheep, nor does it connect the great tribulation to any timeline or chronology.
What it does say is that those coming out of the great tribulation have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Since most Jehovah's Witnesses do not partake of the wine representing the blood of the Lamb, they cannot be part of this great crowd — because they have not washed their symbolic robes in his blood. That means they are not part of the great crowd that stands in God's temple. The Greek word used there is naos, which refers to the inner sanctuary where only the priestly class could enter.
Based on JW theology, the other sheep are not a priestly class of anointed ones. So they have no place in the inner sanctuary of God's temple.
Nothing about that vision fits with the JW version of an earthly class of other sheep, still imperfect and working toward perfection at the end of a thousand years.
Folks, it's all made up. It's a doctrinal fabrication going back to the days of J. F. Rutherford, who first concocted the Other Sheep doctrine to create his own clergy/laity class distinction—and the Governing Body has never thought to correct it. One wonders why.
And we've only covered one paragraph. Before going further, we must ask ourselves: why do they continue to prophesy that the end is right around the corner after more than 150 years of failure?
The answer is control. Jehovah God does not control us. He guides us, yes. And he disciplines us—but why? Because he loves us.
Here is what the New World Translation says:
"My son, do not belittle [the] discipline from Jehovah, neither give out when you are corrected by him; for whom Jehovah loves he disciplines; in fact, he scourges every one whom he receives as a son." (Hebrews 12:5, 6)
But the other sheep are supposed to be God's friends, not his sons. So this cannot apply to them. Do you see how their teaching has denied their flock the very relationship we all crave?
First, they sever your familial relationship with God as your Father. Then they control you with the carrot-and-stick method. Do what they want, serve them selflessly, and you'll receive praise and accolades. But remember: if you don't obey, you'll be cast out and die at Armageddon. It's a process that has worked for 150 years—but it is wearing thin.
Let's move on to paragraph 2:
Further climactic events will follow. The nations of this world will launch a coordinated, all-out attack on Jehovah's people. (Ezek. 38:14-16) Why? The book Pure Worship of Jehovah — Restored At Last! explains: "Egged on by Satan, the nations will try to efface true worshippers—and along with them pure worship—from the earth."
Again, notice the certainty with which they write. "Climactic events will follow." No ifs, ands, or buts.
The nations will launch an all-out attack on Jehovah's people, they say. Well, Jehovah's people, according to Jesus, worship the Father in spirit and truth — but Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to partake of the emblems representing spirit anointing, so there goes the spirit part of it. And we've already established that they don't teach the truth. So we must look elsewhere for Jehovah's people.
Paragraph 2 next cites Ezekiel 38:14-16, hoping that Witnesses will simply accept that it supports what the article claims. But reading the context of chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel makes that a difficult pill to swallow. So instead of providing proof from Scripture, they quote another of their own publications—the book Pure Worship of Jehovah—as if it carries the weight of holy Scripture.
What will follow this will be the most momentous event of all — the war of Armageddon. Jesus will lead his heavenly executional forces, including his 144,000 corulers, in removing this wicked world and in delivering us into a righteous new world. — Rev. 16:14-16; 19:11-21.
Again, unwavering in their bold assertions. They claim the war of Armageddon will remove this wicked world and deliver Jehovah's Witnesses into a righteous new world. But here's the thing: the only hope presented in Scripture for true Christians is to serve with Jesus in the kingdom of the heavens. There is no Scriptural hope for a righteous class of Christians to pass through Armageddon and live on earth. The Organization has taken prophecies regarding the restoration of Israel and applied their tried-and-true—though increasingly threadbare—claim that such things have a secondary or antitypical fulfillment.
I want to pause here and state clearly: I am not saying there will be no resurrection to earth. Jesus spoke of a resurrection of the unrighteous. They certainly aren't being resurrected to heaven. But the picture this Watchtower paints is that only Jehovah's Witnesses will survive Armageddon while billions of non-JWs perish forever. Where does the Bible say that? Please, show me.
The article quotes Revelation 16:14-16 and 19:11-21 as proof that all the wicked will be destroyed at Armageddon and Jehovah's Witnesses will survive. But take a moment to read those so-called proof texts and you'll see they prove nothing of the kind. They are filled with symbolism and require interpretation. So let's have a go at that.
I hold to the exegetical method of Bible study, meaning the Bible should interpret itself. Let the meaning emerge from the text rather than reading our beliefs into it.
Revelation 16:16 is the only place in the entire Bible where the word Armageddon appears. Let's read the immediate context:
Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. "Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed." Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. (Revelation 16:13-16)
Who is gathered, and why? The kings — the rulers of the world — are called to a place called Armageddon for battle. This is a war between God Almighty and the rulers of this world.
We are not talking about the extinction of the human race. Jehovah promised Noah that "never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood." (Genesis 9:11) Do you think our Father in heaven is playing word games? Do you think he has other methods of destroying all life held in reserve — fire, pestilence, hailstones? When Jehovah inspired Daniel to predict the destruction of Jerusalem, he described it as coming by a flood:
". . . And the city and the holy place the people of a leader that is coming will bring to their ruin. And the end of it will be by the flood. And until [the] end there will be war; what is decided upon is desolations." (Daniel 9:26)
There were no literal floodwaters in 70 CE. So why the flood imagery? Because we are dealing with Hebrew metaphor, not modern Western literalism. A flood sweeps everything before it, leaving not a stone upon a stone.
Armageddon is a war between God and the kings of the earth. When God's King, Jesus Christ, has defeated the rulers of this world and removed every human authority, he will establish the Kingdom of God we have all been yearning for since we first picked up a Bible. But a king without people to govern is no king at all:
"In a multitude of people is the glory of a king, but without people a prince is ruined." (Proverbs 14:28)
If God is going to destroy everyone and eradicate all those supporting false religion, then Jehovah's Witnesses won't be there either. Are we to believe God will grant forgiveness to none who lay down their weapons? Are we to believe Jehovah intends to install his king over a world devoid of subjects?
Such a thought does not serve the Governing Body, who need their flock to believe that their only hope of salvation is remaining in and supporting the Watchtower corporations.
There is so much more to explore in this Watchtower study, but one thing jumped out at me. Remember how in paragraph 2 the article claims that the attack of Gog recorded in Ezekiel refers to Satan inducing the nations to attack Jehovah's Witnesses? What proof did they offer? Was it from the Bible? No — it was from one of their own publications, the book Pure Worship of Jehovah — Restored At Last!
Then, when we reach paragraph 15, we read:
"God's organization has provided us with spiritual food designed to assure us of Jehovah's forgiveness, to convince us of our worth in his eyes, and to strengthen our confidence in his promise to care for our needs." (par. 15)
You don't need to prove things from Scripture when you have the publications of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to do it for you. Just consume the food provided by the Governing Body.
Where in Scripture do we find any endorsement of that arrangement? Nowhere. What we do find is this:
"And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge."
"As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to be teaching you; but as his anointing is teaching you about all things and is true and is no lie, and just as it has taught you, remain in union with him." (1 John 2:20, 27)
Of course, that doesn't work for Jehovah's Witnesses, because the Governing Body does not allow them to partake — and so they are told they don't qualify for the anointing of holy spirit that Jesus promised to all who believe in him.
One final point. This article introduces what the Governing Body likes to call New Light. For years they applied Psalm 91 spiritually:
"A thousand will fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but to you it will not come near. You will only see it with your eyes as you witness the punishment of the wicked. Because you said: 'Jehovah is my refuge,' you have made the Most High your dwelling." (Psalm 91:7-9)
The Organization always applied this spiritually — and rightly so. It is not about physical protection, because God's servants have often been tested to the point of death, as happened to Jesus and his apostles. But their eternal life could not be taken from them.
Now the Governing Body is applying it literally, because they need to give their other sheep followers some hope to cling to.
But consider the pattern. When Jehovah brought the Flood in Noah's day, where were Noah and his family? Safely locked away in the ark. When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, where were Lot and his family? Led out of the city first. When Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE, where were the Christians? Long gone — warned to flee years earlier.
Where will the true disciples of Jesus, the holy ones the Bible speaks of, be when Jesus begins his war with the kings of the earth at Armageddon? They will be gone — taken up in the twinkling of an eye, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. That is the divine pattern of protection for God's chosen when he comes to execute judgment.
To my former brothers and sisters: beware. The Governing Body is putting you in grave danger by telling you to trust them rather than to accept God's spirit and discern for yourself what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)
They have claimed to be your future kings.
If you believe that, then take these words of Jehovah to heart:
"Do not put your trust in princes [your future kings], nor in the son of man who cannot bring salvation." (Psalm 146:3)