Is the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses preparing its flock for difficult changes to come? It certainly appears so, if a recently leaked video presented to the Bethel family is any indication.
In the leaked video, the speaker spends much of his time preparing his audience for those coming changes by encouraging appreciation for—and obedience to—the "gifts in men" that Jesus and Jehovah have supposedly given to Jehovah's Witnesses.
Now, I don't know about you, but if Jehovah gave me a gift, I'd certainly want to show my appreciation because:
"Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, coming down from the Father of the celestial lights, who does not vary or change like the shifting shadows." (James 1:17)
Which raises an obvious question: If the "gifts in men" are from Jehovah, why aren't they "perfect presents"? Even the finest elder is still imperfect and flawed, and he’s probably the exception.
The answer is simple: the Governing Body is deceiving you.
I know that's a bold statement to make but consider this: they have promoted the scholarly credentials of the New World Translation ever since its first release in 1950. They even produced a complete revision in 2013. Yet this blatant mistranslation remains.
Let's examine it.
The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures inserts a word that does not appear in the original Greek manuscripts—a word that radically changes the meaning of Ephesians 4:8.
"For it says: 'When he ascended on high he carried away captives; he gave gifts in men.'" (Ephesians 4:8)
Now compare that with the evidence.
On the English version of BibleHub.com, there are more than forty Bible translations, and not one—not a single one—renders Ephesians 4:8 as "gifts in men."
Instead, they translate it as "gifts to men," "gifts unto men," or, more accurately, "gifts to people."
Why is "people" a better translation than "men"?
Look at the Greek interlinear. The word is anthrōpos. Greek has two different words that can be translated "man." One is anēr, which refers specifically to an adult male. The other is anthrōpos, which refers to human beings in general—men and women alike, both created in the image of God. In other words, humankind.
Now notice something else in the interlinear. One word is left untranslated: tois. According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, depending on the grammatical context, it can be rendered as "the," "this," "that," "one," "he," "she," or "it."
But never "in."
Never.
The word simply is not there.
So why would the Governing Body deliberately allow such a mistranslation to remain?
Notice that in Jehovah's Witness theology there are no "gifts in women." Only certain men are presented as God's gifts to the congregation—gifts to be appreciated, gifts to be obeyed.
And it isn’t Jesus nor Yehovah who appoints these men. It is the Governing Body, through its hierarchy structure, who determines who these "gifts" are. Only those men appointed through its network of circuit overseers are presented as God's gifts to the congregation. Everyone else—other brothers and all the sisters—are expected to submit to the direction of the elders, circuit overseers, branch representatives, and ultimately the Governing Body, all of whom are men.
And the entire premise for this authority structure rests on a verse that has been twisted to mean something the apostle Paul never wrote.
Our Lord, after ascending to heaven, gave gifts through the holy spirit—not to a select class of appointed men, but to all believers, men and women alike.
Please read the context.
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: 'When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.'" (Ephesians 4:4–8, NIV)
There is one Lord over all.
That Lord is Jesus—not a Governing Body made up of men.
Jesus gave gifts to all believers—spiritual gifts, "good and perfect presents." But the Governing Body wants to take those gifts away from you and persuade you that they are God's gift to you.
They have convinced millions that Yehovah has given them gifts in the form of congregation elders, circuit overseers, and members of the Governing Body.
But the Bible never says that.
Don't take my word for it. Just keep reading.
Paul doesn't leave us guessing about these gifts. He immediately explains their purpose:
"So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of the Christ, until we all attain to the oneness of the faith and of the accurate knowledge of the Son of God..." (Ephesians 4:11–13)
Notice what Paul does—and what he does not do.
He doesn't say that Christ gave the congregation as gifts a special class of rulers to whom everyone else must unquestioningly submit.
He says Christ gave different functions within the congregation to accomplish a purpose: to equip all the holy ones for the work of ministry.
Who does the ministry?
Not just the apostles.
Not just the shepherds.
Not just the teachers.
All the holy ones.
The shepherds and teachers are not the end of the process—they are the beginning of it. Their role is to equip everyone else so that the entire body grows to maturity.
Then Paul drives the point home:
"...speaking the truth, let us by love grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ. From him the whole body, being harmoniously joined together and made to cooperate through every joint that gives what is needed, according to the functioning of each respective member, promotes the growth of the body..." (Ephesians 4:15–16)
Every member has a gift.
Every member has a function.
Every member contributes to the growth of the body.
There is only one Head, and that Head is Christ.
The Governing Body's translation turns Paul's teaching upside down. Instead of Christ giving gifts to his people so that the whole congregation can mature, they would have you believe that Christ gave certain men to rule over everyone else.
That isn't what Paul wrote.
And it isn't what the Greek says.
They have twisted Scripture to support their authority over millions of sincere followers.
Any argument, any line of reasoning, or any exhortation they base on Ephesians 4:8 is therefore null and void, because it is built on a foundation that does not exist.
It is theocratic vaporware.