WATCHTOWER - JUNE, 1 1996

 

Page 5: Peter and Paul reassure us that Jehovah God himself is not partial. Peter stated: "For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him." (Acts 10:34, 35) The apostle Paul tells us: "There is no partiality with God."-Romans 2:11.

Contradiction: Then why does God's organization place everyone into various classes?

 

Page 5: Yet, Saul of Tarsus was able to shed his extreme prejudice. He even became a Christian himself!

Correction: Jesus changed Saul on the road to Damascus.

So I said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me." Acts 26:15-18.

 

Page 7: As you cope with prejudice and look ahead, follow the Bible's wise advice: "Be courageous, and may your heart be strong, all you who are waiting for Jehovah."-Psalm 31:24.

Clarification: Christians are to be waiting for the return of Jesus Christ.

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:4-7.

 

Page 9: "The woman" is not Eve but Jehovah's heavenly organization, the mother of his spirit-anointed servants on earth.

Correction: The woman being addressed in this prophecy is Eve. From Eve came the singular "Seed" Jesus Christ who destroyed the works of Satan.

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." Genesis 3:15-16.

 

Page 9: The 144,000, who are "born again...from water and spirit" and who are heirs of the heavenly Kingdom with Christ, are a subsidiary part of that seed of promise.

Correction: The 144,000 Jews mentioned in Revelation are on the earth.

Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. Revelation 7:3-4.

Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. Revelation 14:1.

For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3.

Page 10: It was outstandingly evident in this 20th century when Satan sought to destroy the Messianic Kingdom at its birth.-Revelation 12:1-4.

Correction: Revelation 12:1-4 refers to the nation Israel giving birth to the Messiah and Satan being ready to destroy Jesus Christ at His birth.

Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they were no more." Matthew 2:16-18.

 

Page 11: The vicious enmity of Satan was soon shown when he lured pagan astrologers on a mission that took them first to King Herod in Jerusalem and then to the house in Bethlehem where they found the young boy Jesus and his mother, Mary.

Correction: Then why did the wise men not attempt to kill Jesus but instead listen to God.

And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. Matthew 2:11-12.

 

Page 11-12: As a group, the scribes and Pharisees had consistently demonstrated what kind of people they were; so Jesus said: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut up the kingdom of the heavens before men; for you yourselves do not go in, neither do you permit those on their way in to go in."

Clarification: This is what the Watchtower is doing to its publishers.

Page 14: Only those who will make up the heavenly Kingdom are part of the seed of the woman. These are few in number.

God has limited the number of those who will rule with Christ in the heavens to 144,000, a relatively small number compared with all those benefiting from Christ's ransom.

April 1, 1996 Watchtower, page 7.

 

Page 12: Soon they were joined by Judas Iscariot, whom Satan induced to be an apostate.

Correction: Judas betrayed Jesus so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. John 17:12.

 

Page 12: Here is was the chief priests who took the lead in shouting for him to be impaled. When Pilate asked, "Shall I impale your king?"

Correction: Jesus was not impaled on a stake.

Impale: To pierce with or as if with something pointed. Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

 

Page 12: Moved by holy spirit, the apostle Paul warned against "the man of lawlessness" whose presence would be "according to the operation of Satan." (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10) This collective "man" has proved to be the clergy of Christendom.

Correction: This refers to the future world leader since numerous singular personal pronouns are used in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9.

 

Page 12-13: In scores of lands, Jehovah's Witnesses have been banned, mobbed, imprisoned, or thrown into concentration camps because of their firm stand for God's Kingdom and his righteous ways.

Clarification: Sadly, their suffering had no spiritual value since it was not for the name of Jesus.

You will betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will send some of you to your death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. Luke 21:16-17.

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 1 Peter 4:14.

 

Page 13: In imitation of Jesus Christ, true Christians have not let up in their fearless expose of the Serpent and his seed. In 1917 the Bible Students, as Jehovah's Witnesses were then known, published the book The Finished Mystery, in which they laid bare the hypocrisy of Christendom's clergy.

Correction: The Bible Students should have been reading the Holy Bible!

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you." Matthew 7:1-2.

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. Romans 2:1.

There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

James 4:12.

 

Page 14: Yet, there is a great crowd of others, yes, millions of them, who as worshipers of Jehovah look forward to eternal life on a paradise earth.

Correction: The great crowd will first be in heaven during the great tribulation and return with Jesus Christ at the end of the great tribulation.

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which on one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" Revelation 7:9-10.

And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Revelation 19:14.

 

Page 14: Now is the time when all mankind must make a choice. Do they want to worship Jehovah and uphold his sovereignty, or will they allow Satan to be their ruler by doing the things pleasing to him?

Correction: God chooses those who receive Jesus Christ into their lives.

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, "You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. Isaiah 41:9-10.

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

John 15:16.

Page 14: Jehovah's Witnesses say to all of these: The door of opportunity is still open.

Correction: One needs to open the door of their heart to Jesus Christ.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20.

 

Page 15: In spite of resistence by the Jews, the Roman forces bearing their idolatrous ensigns penetrated into Jerusalem in November 66 C.E. and then started to undermine the temple wall on the north. There was no doubt about it - a "disgusting thing" that could cause complete desolation to Jerusalem was "standing in a holy place"!

Correction: No Romans at this time ever penetrated into the Holy of Holies which was where the ark of the covenant was kept. What will cause the desolation will be a individual who will be the next world leader declaring himself to be God.

Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week (seven years); but in the middle of the week (seven years) he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one (individual) who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate. Daniel 9:27.

"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." Matthew 24:15-16.

Let on one deceive you by any means; for the Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

 

Page 17: Note that, in addition to what we have seen at Daniel 9:27, there are, at Daniel 11:31 and 12:11, further references to "the disgusting thing that is causing desolation." In neither of these latter instances is the destruction of Jerusalem being discussed. In fact, what is said at Daniel 12:11 appears just two verses after a reference to "the time of the end." (Daniel 12:9) We have been living in such a time period since 1914.

Correction: Daniel 11:31 refers to the profaning of the temple by Antiochus IV who did not destroy Jerusalem.

And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. Daniel 11:31.

Correction: After the future world leader declares himself as God, there will be 1,335 days till the Kingdom of God is set up on earth not the 80+ years that the Watchtower teaches.

And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days. Daniel 12:11-12.

 

Page 17: Flee out of what? Out of that which is the modern-day antitype of unfaithful Jerusalem, namely, Christendom, and out of all of Babylon the Great, the worldwide system of false religion.

Page 18: At Revelation 17:16, it is foretold that a figurative scarlet-colored wild beast, which has proved to be the United Nations, will turn on harlotlike Babylon the Great and violently destroy her. This will indeed show that the great tribulation has begun.

Page 19: The execution of divine judgment will start with the destruction of Babylon the Great.

Note: Religion in general is doing well and has not been destroyed. Obviously, we are not yet in "the time of the end" as the great tribulation has not started.

 

Page 18: This flight to safety is not a geographic move, such as Jewish Christians made when abandoning Jerusalem. It is a flight out of the religions of Christendom, yes, out of any part of Babylon the Great.

Correction: It will be a flight for Jews out of Jerusalem which is yet future.

"Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those with nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL THIS TIME, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE." Matthew 24:16-21.

 

Page 19: However, fleeing out of Babylon the Great involves much more than abandoning false religion. There is more to it than attending a few meetings at a Kingdom Hall or going out preaching the good news in field service once or twice a month.

Correction: A person needs to receive Jesus Christ into their lives by faith.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. John 1:12.

For you are all son of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26.

 

Page 19: We need to keep our minds and hearts fixed firmly on God's Kingdom and his righteousness.

Clarification: A person needs to have the Holy Spirit to have the righteousness, peace, and joy found in the kingdom of God.

For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17.

 

Page 19: By continuing to serve Jehovah loyally and joyfully during this system's conclusion, we may qualify to serve Jehovah forever.

Correction: A person needs to know Jesus Christ personally in order to be with Jehovah forever.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." John 14:6-7.

 

Page 27: The postwar year of 1919 found the remnant of spiritual Israel eagerly desiring to preach the good news of the Kingdom worldwide as a witness to all the nations.

Correction: The remnant of Israel is determined by God through grace not works.

Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. Romans 11:5-6.

 

MAIN INDEX

BIBLE INDEX

HINDU INDEX

MUSLIM INDEX

MORMON INDEX

BUDDHISM INDEX

WORD FAITH INDEX

WATCHTOWER INDEX

MISCELLANEOUS INDEX

CATHOLIC CHURCH INDEX