@Essan:
DJ, everything you just wrote is irrelevant to this topic.
Ok.
@djeggnog wrote:
In both of these quotes, you contend that a kingdom cannot come without its king, correct? Well, tell me this what happened when, in the year 1914, invisible to human eyes, the kingdom of God became established in the heavens, with Jesus actually coming into his kingdom, which event has been discerned by Christians? You well know that from the beginning until January 1, 1939, the Watchtower had changed its banner from "And Herald of Christ's Presence," since Russell had, since 1874, considered Jesus' presence as having begun in 1874, to "Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom," in March 1, 1939, in acknowledgment of the fact that Jehovah had taken His "great power and begun ruling as king" representatively through His Son, Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of Revelation 11:17 when Jesus came into his kingdom in 1914.
@Essan wrote:
Again I have to ask, are you really that stupid or is this another ham-fisted attempt at deceptive 'sleight of hand' to fool unwary readers?
Please answer the question:
Tell me this what happened when, in the year 1914, invisible to human eyes, the kingdom of God became established in the heavens, with Jesus actually coming into his kingdom, which event has been discerned by Christians?
If you do not have an answer or you feel uncomfortable answering this question, then you should not do so. This is not a "sleight of hand" on my part. What this is IMO is evasion on your part, an unwillingness to bring reasonableness to the table and a desire -- again on your part -- to obfuscate the issue that I am raising in response to your "interest" in Pastor Russell's beliefs as if those beliefs are relevant to Jehovah's Witnesses today. What's relevant, in my view, @Essan, is that you find a place to put this anger and bitterness that has you out here making an issue out of a non-issue when you know good and well that absolutely no human being can predict the future with any degree of accuracy. Jehovah is the true God; He is the only One that can accurately do so. No human is able to do so, and you know this is true, which is why you keep beating the proverbial horse here about what I call a non-issue regarding Russell.
An entire chapter in the book you brought forward for consideration in this thread -- the Time is at Hand book -- is called "The Times of the Gentiles," and if one actually sits and reads this chapter without a predisposition to believe it to be a chapter that predicts a future event, then it will be clear that the language that Russell uses in this chapter alone provided only a supposition as to what will follow the end of these Gentile Times in 1914, but he leaves no doubt that he is convinced of the conviction that the date 1914 is a date that anyone can calculate for himself or herself being exactly 2,520 years after the Gentile Times began! He hopes that what he calls the "Gospel age" will end and the "Millennial age" will begin in 1914, but he doesn't pretend to know what's going to happen in 1914.
In this chapter we present the Bible evidence proving that the full end of the times of the Gentiles, i.e., the full end of their lease of dominion, will be reached in A.D.: 1914; and that that date will see the disintegration of the rule of imperfect men. And be it observed, that if this is shown to be a fact firmly established by the Scriptures, it will prove Firstly....
This is what Time is at Hand actually says, and specifically where we read the words --
and that that date will see the disintegration of the rule of imperfect men.
-- or instead should read the words --
and that that date will be the farthest limit of the rule of imperfect men.
-- the point being made -- and I really don't want you to miss it, @Essan -- is that the year 1914 is when "the kingdom of the world" became "the kingdom of our Lord [Jehovah] and of his Christ [Jesus], and he will rule as king forever and ever," And the Time is at Hand book says "if this is shown to be a fact firmly established by the Scriptures," the operative word there being "if," in case you missed it, then "it will prove Firstly..., Secondly..., Thirdly...," and so forth. Russell writes "if" because we isn't able to predict what will occur when the Gentile Times had come to an end, but if what he had said "is shown to be a fact firmly established by the Scriptures," then blah, blah, blah. I the English language, the word "if" introduces a hypothetic clause conditioned on the conditions expressed being true. Get it?
Jesus made the point in his prophecy at Matthew 24:3, 14, that it would be during his invisible presence as king that this good news of the kingdom of God, which is now established, would be "preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations" of Jehovah's Messianic kingdom by Christ Jesus and this very prophecy is being fulfilled today by Jehovah's Witnesses! We are, in fact, proclaiming to all that Christ is now present in Kingdom power and we make no bones about that! Jehovah had set a fixed time -- "the farthest limit of the rule of imperfect men" -- a fixed time when "the disintegration of the rule of imperfect men" would come to an end, for Jesus has already conquered in heaven by stretching his rod of strength out against the chief enemy of God's Messianic Kingdom in casting Satan and his demons down to the earth, and thus cleansing the heavens of his rebellious spirit, but whose ouster had brought great woe to the earth, for Satan now knows that but "a short period of time" remains before his abyssing by Jesus. (Psalm 110:2; Revelation 12:9-12)
The time for the Gentile nations' trampling God's Messianic Kingdom is over and now God's Messianic Kingdom is doing the trampling of these Gentiles nations whose rulership God had permitted until "the farthest limit," that is to say, at the full limit of the appointed times" to "gather all things together again in the Christ, ... the things on the earth." (Ephesians 1:10) Jehovah's Witnesses are the ones who, as ambassadors and envoys of the Messianic Kingdom, are announcing to all of the nations of the earth this incoming world government to which all now living must become reconciled as willing subjects, just as Jehovah's Witnesses are to it, for as the only rightly government that God has given authority since 1914 to take charge over the earth's affairs, it is important that all submit to the rulership of the Messianic Kingdom. (2 Corinthians 5:19, 20)
You are free to chatter with all of your might about the mistakes of Russell, but I'd rather you subject yourself to the doing of God's will because I'm telling you, man -- and I'm not joking around here -- your beef with Russell and with the WTS will not lead to reconciliation with God through Christ. You are just going to be numbered among earth's billions that are probably going to perish because they had not taken the necessary steps that would lead to their survival at Armageddon. You want to believe Armageddon isn't coming? That's fine, but is this a practical thing for you to believe what with all of the evidence all around us that suggests that the end is quite near?
@djeggnog