Great Tribulation: Thank God It's Not true

by Red Piller 20 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Red Piller

  I grew up dreading the GT. Armageddon not so much. I was a pretty good kid so I figured I'd be saved. And if I wasn't, it'd be over quick. But, the GT, was another story. Maybe I'd be raped as a male - or be forced to watch as someone I cared for was abused/tortured or killed. What if I caught pnemonia in the concentration camp? I'd be dead in no time.

  Crazy fantasies as I lived in one of the safest/stable countries of the world. Even as I am active, for now, it is a relief it is to know I and my family won't be directly targetted by Gog of Magog - yadda yadda yadda.

  It's great to simply appreciate the same thing as James Brown: Living in America!
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  Quarterback

  Well, the GT will mean something diferent dependent on where you live, of course. The account says in Rev that most of the beasts as represented as governments will exist down to the very end. So some order will still be in effect. But, having morbid thoughts about this is no good. I had those thoughts many years ago. Then I realized that God would not be so cruel to his servants. He didn't let the Israelites see the Egyptians die in the sea. It says they were covered up by the waters. Jehovah hates violence. Watch the Big Bang Theory, or other sitcoms to think about more upbeat funny things.
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  transhuman68

  LOL. I always thought that if the persecution came, I would just renounce the Witnesses, and get out of it. My Dad really disliked all the Witnesses and never took them seriously, so maybe I'm like him....
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  Quarterback

  The GT will involve more than persecution of others. It will affect how we live. Just look at Somali, Africa...borders along Kenya. There is a great deal of starvation going on in this country right now. There are wars in their country, and no way of delivering the food to them. So, the Somalies have to travel to Kenya to survive. The GT, will have elements of human cruelty, but, most of all it will engulf us in famine, war, sickness, and lack of leadership by our governments. Finding a JW to torture will be last on their minds.
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  transhuman68

  LOL It hasn't happened yet, and people have been waiting for 2,000 years.

  What makes you think you've hit the jackpot?

  Even the guys who wrote the Dead Sea scrolls in the 1st century thought that prophecy was being fulfilled in their time by Simon Maccabee. Close to the end? They were... wrong.
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  Red Piller

  Hi Quarterback, I agree. No one is waking up in the morning with their first priority finding a JW to torture. But, we were told the opposite. That the whole world will align itself against JW's right before Armageddon. And yes it would have affected how we lived. Between seeing other countries in misery like Somalia and being told tales of Zimbabwe in the WT - it was easy to imagine it happening.

  It is morbid. And it was indoctrinated. So it is a relief to be free from thinking all of this is going to happen. I realize now that I am an upbeat person. And I like to think of funny and upbeat things. These thoughts were implanted by years of WT studies.

  Transhuman, too funny! You were smarter than me!
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  Vanderhoven7

  The Great tribulation of Matthew 24 is over and done with.

  Here is something I picked up.

  THE GREAT TRIBULATION — FUTURE OR FULFILLED?

  Matthew: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (24:21, 22).

  Mark: “For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days” (13:19, 20).

  Luke: “For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled . . . for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles” (21:22-24).

  Unless we completely ignore the setting, it is evident that the tribulation mentioned here is that which was to come upon the people of Jerusalem and Judea — tribulation which would result in the destruction of the city and temple. As we have seen, Jesus spoke of various things that would come to pass first — wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, etc. None of these would be the sign of the impending desolation. But when they would see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then they would know that the desolation was nigh, and they should flee into the mountains. Why? “For then shall be GREAT TRIBULATION”, wrote Matthew. Luke’s account says: “For then shall be GREAT DISTRESS in the land [Judea], and wrath upon this people [the Jews]. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles.”

  According to the scriptures, the “great tribulation” of which Christ spoke was to bring great affliction, distress, and wrath upon the Jews and destruction upon their city and temple."

  Notice that the Jews surviving the onslaught would be shipped off to all nations. That is history; post-tribulation history.
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  cantleave

  Hey Pint - run that global flood thing past me again!!!
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  sizemik

  lettersandnumbers . . . could you answer my question at the end of this thread please . . .

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/211822/1/End-of-the-World
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  leavingwt

  Red Piller: I recall how wonderful it was to realize that Armageddon wasn't real, but merely the specific Boogey Man used by the high-control organization we were members of. What a relief!