"AND THIS GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM WILL
BE PREACHED IN ALL THE INHABITED EARTH FOR A
WITNESS TO ALL THE NATIONS; AND THEN THE END
WILL COME." Matt.24: 14, NW. Few scriptures of the
Bible are more familiar to Jehovah's Witnesses than the
one above. In their mind it conjures visions of
apocalyptic notions in confliction with their worldwide
proselytizing activity. They view their work as the
fulfillment of Jesus' words and a part of the sign that
proves Christ's invisible presence in kingdom power
since October, 1914. The prophetic value they place on
their preaching activity is illustrated in the following
quotation: "Actually, the work of Jehovah's witnesses
constitutes a further part of the sign that Jesus gave of
the nearness of the end of this system of things. He
said: 'And this good news of the kingdom will be
preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all
the nations; and then the end will come.'" -The
Watchtower, January 1,1974, p.4
This claim by the Watchtower Society warrants
consideration and examination. Do the historical facts
substantiate their claim? To whom or what was Jesus
addressing himself when he uttered those words? What
was the good news of which he spoke? What was to
come to an end? To find answers to these and other
questions we need to give consideration to the
surrounding verses and context in which we find those
words. The context shows, beginning in chapter 23,
that Jesus was addressing himself to the fate of the
city of Jerusalem. He had pronounced a scathing,
seven-fold denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees
and had charged the city with blood guilt. This
constituted God's official indictment against a city and
people who stubbornly refused correction. "Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those
who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather
your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, and you refused! So be it! Your house will be
left to you desolate, for, I promise, you shall not see
me any more until you say: 'Blessings on him who
comes in the name of the Lord!'" -Matthew 23:37-39
Jerusalem Bible
It was following this declaration of judgment,
according to Matthew's account, that the disciples drew
Jesus' attention to the buildings of the temple. In the
parallel accounts of Mark and Luke Jesus had just
offered an observation regarding those depositing gifts
of money in the temple treasury chests and had
pointed out that the needy widow had shown greater
generosity in this than others because she had given
out of her need-not her surplus. (Mark 13:41-44; Luke
21:14) The disciples drawing of Jesus' attention to the
temple buildings may have been prompted by a
measure of Jewish pride. About 16 years before the
birth of the Lord, Herod the Great had begun a
reconstruction and refurbishing of the temple that ':Vas
still in progress but was sufficiently completed so as to
be spoken of as having been completed. (John 2:20) It
was an impressive sight. The Jewish historian Flavius
Josephus wrote this descriptive account about the
temple: "Now the outward face of the temple in its
front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either
men's minds or their eyes; for it was covered all over
with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first
rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor,
and made those who forced themselves to look upon it
to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done
at the sun's own rays. But this temple appeared to
strangers, when they were coming to it at a distance,
like a mountain covered with snow; for as to those
parts of it that were not gilt, they were exceedingly
white. On its top it had spikes with sharp points, to
prevent any pollution of it by birds sitting upon it. Of its
stones, some of them were forty-five cubits (672 feet)
in length, five (7-1/2 feet) in height, and six (9 feet) in
breadth." -Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews,
Book 5, Chap.5, par.6
The situation that prevailed at the time the
disciples conducted their tour of the temple area and
drew Jesus' attention to the buildings and the stones
gave no clue of things to come. Under the Roman Pax
the Jews were free to practice their religion and
enjoyed a measure of security and tranquility. It must
have come as a shock to Jesus' disciples to hear his
response: "Do you not behold all these things? Truly I
say to you, By no means will a stone be left here upon
a stone and not be thrown down." -Matthew 24-:2 NW
Commenting on this verse the expositor Albert Barnes
wrote the following: "At the time this was spoken, no
event was more improbable than this. The temple was
vast, rich, splendid. It was the pride of the nation, and
the nation was at peace. Yet in the short space of forty
years all this was exactly accomplished. Jerusalem was
taken by the Roman armies, under the command of
Titus, A.D.70. The account of the siege and destruction
of the city is left us by Josephus, a historian of
undoubted veracity and singular fidelity." -Albert
Barnes, Notes on the New Testament, Vol.9, p. 250
Naturally, the disciples Peter, James, John and
Andrew were anxious to learn when this was to
happen. (Mark 13: 3) The Synoptics all give us a
version of how their collective question was phrased:
'Tell us when all this will be,' they asked, 'and what will
happen to show that it is the time for your coming and
the end of the age.''' -Matthew 24:3 Today's English
Version. "'Tell us when this will be,' they said, 'and tell
us what will happen to show that the time has come for
all these things to take place.'" -Mark 13:4, Today's
English Version. "'Teacher,' they asked, 'when will this
be? And what will happen in order to show that the.
time has come for it to take place.'" -Luke 21:7,
Today's English Version.
The focus of the disciples was on the temple and
when the calamity described by their master would
take place. While they had been instructed by Jesus
and accepted him as the messiah, still they were very
much Jewish in their temperament and perspective.
During their association with Christ they displayed a
consistent inability to grasp the sense of Jesus' words
period: 'For nation will rise against nation and kingdom
against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and
earthquakes in one place after another. All these things
are a beginning of pangs of distress.' These things
would be unmistakable indications to Christians that
the end was getting near. Also, specific things would
come upon is disciples because they announced the
true Messiah and followed his example. Jesus
continued: 'Then people will deliver you up to
tribulation and will kill you, and you will be objects of
hatred by all the nations on account of my name ...
And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in
all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations;
and then the end will come.' ~Matt 24:9-14. This was
fulfilled as the general lawlessness and lack of love for
God increased. The Jews, wherever they had been
scattered, claimed to serve God when they persecuted
Christ's disciples. Nevertheless, the Christians preached
the good news of the kingdom in all the inhabited
earth, particularly in the nations to which the Jews had
been dispersed." -Col 1 :6,23. -The Watchtower,
November 15, 1974, page 682 (Italics added)
From the above quotation it can be appreciated
that the Watchtower Society views Matthew 24: 14 as
having been fulfilled, along with all the other
prophecies up to verse 22, on Jewry and Jerusalem
prior to 70 A.D. How is it then that they insist that it is
now being fulfilled by Jehovah's Witnesses and
"'constitutes a further part of the sign that Jesus gave
of the nearness of the end of this system of things?"
The answer lies in their teachings regarding
parallelisms. In substance they argue that the events
on earth from A.D. 1914 until the end of the present
political-religious system of things parallel that of the
events Israel and Jerusalem experienced from A.D.33
to A.D.70. They argue that what happened in the first
century was only the minor fulfillment of Jesus' words
and the major fulfillment would occur when he
returned. This, however, is only a speculation on their
part.
The notion of time-sequence parallels is behind
their dating the resurrection of those "'dead in Christ"
as taking place in the spring of 1918 A.D. Because
Jesus' ministry lasted for three and one half years from
his anointing as the messiah until his resurrection. The
parallel to this, they say, is that from his taking
kingdom power in October,1914 until the spring of
1918 A.D. is three and one half years, therefore, his
deceased disciples experienced their resurrection at
that time. (1 Thess. 4: 16, 17) Charles T. Russell, from
whom Jehovah's Witnesses inherited their views of
parallelisms, taught that the "'dead in Christ" were
resurrected in the spring of 1878 three and a half years
following Christ's invisible return in October, 1874. This
mirrored, in his mind, the events of Christ's ministry,
death and resurrection.
Incidentally, teaching led to the first of many
disappointments experienced by Russell and his
followers. They expected their own glorification or
"'change" in 1878 This expectation was based on what
is stated at 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17 and 1 Corinthians
15:50-52 which indicates that when Christ returned the
living Christians would be changed immediately afterUsing 1 Corinthians 15:51,52 he argued that it was a
mistake to expect the living saints to be immediately
taken to heaven in 1878 when the sleeping saints were
resurrected. What Paul meant was that the living saints
who continued to live and eventually died a natural
death would then be instantly resurrected so as not to
sleep in death. This novel interpretation explained
away why the Bible Students were not "'changed" and
taken to heaven in 1878. (see Jehovah's Witnesses in
the Divine Purpose, pages 19,20) Later, the
resurrection of those "'sleeping in Christ" was moved
up to 1918-three and a half years following the new
date for the beginning of Christ's invisible presence-
October 1914.
It is to be acknowledged that there are different
views as to how the prophecy of Matthew 24, Mark 13,
and Luke 21, are to be partitioned in their application
toward Jewry and the world at large. But regardless of
how they are viewed they cannot be rightly interpreted
to contradict Jesus plain and emphatic declaration that
he would return in judgment at a time the disciples
were not in acute expectation. (Matt.24:36,42-44;
Mark 13:32-37) Jesus reinforced this still further
following his resurrection: "It is not for you to know the
times or the dates the Father has set by his own
authority." -Acts 1:7, NIV Not so! Says the Watchtower
Society who claims to know both the times and the
date. The "'time" is from 1914 and the "date" is within
that generation. Are Jehovah's Witnesses in
expectation? Do they view the end to be at hand? Of
course they do. Theirs, however, is not an expectation
born of spiritual wakefulness but rather one excited by
the reading of the signs of the times in relation to their
speculative dating calculations. They an expectation
born of spiritual wakefulness but (another one excited
by the reading of the signs of the times in relation to
their speculative dating calculations. They have
become captive of the very thing Jesus' words were
intended to prevent, namely, people saying, "the time
is near." (Luke 21: 8 NIV) The Watchtower Society
boasts that its "good news" is different from the one
that has been historically preached:
"Let the honest-hearted person compare the kind
of preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom done by the
religious systems of Christendom during all the
centuries with that done by Jehovah's Witnesses since
the end of World War I in 1918. They are not one and
the same kind. That of Jehovah's Witnesses is really
'gospel' or 'good news,' as of God's heavenly kingdom
that was established by the enthronement of his Son
Jesus Christ at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914."
The Watchtower, May 1, 1981, page 17 (Italics added)
To be sure, it is a different "good news" -something
the apostle Paul strongly warned against at Galatians
1:6-9. Since 1935 this different good news has offered
a different relationship with God through Jesus Christ
than the one preached by the disciples of the first
century. It has offered a different hope than the one
taught by the apostles of Christ. It has offered a
different relationship with God than the one preached
in the first century-one that revolves around accepting
an organization of men as essential to salvation. It has
denied that Jesus Christ acts as mediator between God
and all men to millions of Jehovah's Witnesses. No,
indeed, the preaching of Jehovah's Witnesses is not
fulfilling Matthew 24: 14.11. '
the resurrection of the dead Christians.
Understandably, Russell and his followers fully
expected their '" change" in the spring of 1878, three
and one half years after October 1874. When that
didn't happen Russell restructured his teaching on the
matter to salvage his erroneous time calculations.
Ron Frye 1985.
THE ARTICLE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.