jayhawk1,
It supposedly already happened. The two witnesses were "killed" by the imprisioning of the notable notables after a preaching work that apparently went from October 1914 to...well, darn. They don't say exactly when that preaching work ended, do they? Maybe we can find out when the two witnesses were killed, that surely was the terminus. One thing is for sure, though. It was a LITERAL 1,260 days, 42 months, etc. Of the sackcloth, the Revelation Climax book says:
11 These faithful anointed Christians needed the quality of endurance, for they had to prophesy “in sackcloth.” What did this mean? In Bible times sackcloth often symbolized mourning. Wearing it was a sign that the person had been brought low in sorrow or distress. (Genesis 37:34; Job 16:15, 16; Ezekiel 27:31) Sackcloth was associated with the mournful messages of doom or grief that God’s prophets had to proclaim. (Isaiah 3:8, 24-26; Jeremiah 48:37; 49:3) The wearing of sackcloth could indicate humility or repentance in view of divine warning. (Jonah 3:5) The sackcloth worn by the two witnesses appears to indicate their humble endurance in announcing Jehovah’s judgments. They were witnesses proclaiming his day of vengeance that would bring mourning also to the nations.—Deuteronomy 32:41-43.
With such confident statements as a precursor, maybe paragraph 12 will enlighten us to some solid conclusions we can glean.
12 The John class had to preach this message for a definitely stated time: 1,260 days, or 42 months, the same length of time that the holy city was to be trampled underfoot. This period seems to be literal, since it is expressed in two different ways, first in months and then in days. Additionally, at the beginning of the Lord’s day, there was a marked period of three and a half years when the hard experiences of God’s people matched the events prophesied here—starting from the outbreak of the first world war in the latter part of 1914 and continuing to the early part of 1918. (Revelation 1:10) They preached a “sackcloth” message concerning Jehovah’s judgment of Christendom and the world.
So after basically admitting they didn't know for sure WHAT the sackcloth meant, they go on to infer that they know for sure EXACTLY what it meant by finding a period of time in their organization's history that matched those events. All except...from October 1914 to the death of the two witnesses must equal exactly 1,260 days for the prophecy to be fulfilled.
In paragraph 21 we finally get the precise terminus to the 1,260 days. Except, what's this? It only says, "In the spring..." Huh, you'd think that if an organization could boast having fulfilled such a precisely timed prophecy they would toot their horn a bit. Oh, wait. They have tooted their horn about fulfilling this prophecy. But not the precision of the timing, which was emphasized repeatedly as meaning a literal 1,260 days. I wonder why?
Oh, and here's an interesting footnote on paragraph 21:
Notice that in examining the experiences of God’s people at this time, it appears that while the 42 months represent a literal three and a half years, the three and a half days do not represent a literal period of 84 hours. Likely, the specific period of three and a half days is mentioned twice (in verses 9 and 11) to highlight that it would be only a short period compared with the actual three and a half years of activity that precede it.
So...the surrounding time period was literal, but this time period was figurative. Why? Because they have already decided what time period it fit, and the events that happened don't allow for a literal interpretation of the three and a half days. Even though Jonah and Jesus have already set a motif in the Scriptures of a literal three and a half days, this three and a half days is figurative. Because they say so, that's why.
But back to this 42 months/1,260 days...it is LITERAL, as we have repeatedly been urged. And it started in October 1914, as has long been decreed by the Watchtower Society. Hey, I know! I can just add 1,260 days to October 1914 and it will come out to the right place, when the two witnesses were killed! Because this organization fulfilled the prohecy, dontchya know.
Starting from Octiber 1, 1914 and running out 1,260 literal days, we arrive at March 13, 1918. So sometime between March 13, 1918 and April 12,1918 the two witnesses died when the leadership was imprisoned. YAY! We have our time frame now. Because this organization fulfills prophecy.
But wait...when were the leaders of the organization imprisoned? On May 7, 1918.—Proclaimers (1993) p. 70
Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993) p. 69 A Time of Testing (1914-1918)
On June 21, 1918, J. F. Rutherford and several of his close associates were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, having been falsely convicted of conspiracy. Their feelings? In a handwritten note dated June 22-23 (shown below), from the Raymond Street jail in Brooklyn, New York, Brother Rutherford wrote: “There are probably no men on earth today more highly favored and who are happier than the seven brethren now in prison. They are conscious of their entire innocence of intentional wrongdoing, and rejoice to be suffering with Christ for loyally serving Him.”
Oh dear. The two witnesses died to late for the 1,260 days to be literal. They, therefore, must be figurative. But, isn't it interesting that the Revelation book editors did not include these well known, precise dates. They chose, instead, to use a season that seemed to convey accurate fulfillment stretching 1,260 days from October 1914 to the spring of 1918, knowing full well when the terminus date they were assigning (the imprisonment of the leadership) came to pass, and knowing that the time frame did not fit a literal interpretation of the 1,260 days as applying to this time period for the organization.
In other words, the editors of the Revelation book lied, intentionally deceiving people into believing this organization fulfilled a prophecy regarding a specific literal time frame (1,260 days) that they knew the organization did not specifically fulfill.
saki2fifty, Fisherman, lurkers, this is the same organization that has trained thirdwitness to lie. They know they are wrong and they teach it as truth anyway. There is no updated correction on paragraph 21 of chapter 25. They are considering this lie as current truth in the upcoming Congregation Book Study. This is not ancient history, it is current dogma.
And it is an intentional deceit.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul