The September 1, 2011, issue of The Watchtower states, on page 10, the following about “when” Armageddon will occur/take place:
“The term ‘Armageddon’ (‘Har-Magedon”) . . . refers to a unique war . . . in which ‘the kings of the entire inhabited earth’ are mobilized for a final battle with God. . . .
When will Armageddon take place? God’s Son plainly stated: ‘Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.’ (Matthew 24:36) Even so, in speaking about Armageddon, the Warrior-King Jesus Christ added this warning: ‘Look! I am coming as a thief.
. . . .
Thus, this global war is associated with Christ’s presence, which Bible prophecies show is now here.
Armageddon will destroy only the incorrigibly wicked, and there will be ‘a great crowd’ of survivors.” (Bold emphasis mine.)
WRONG!!! So sad. These people who write these articles just don’t get it. They MIX different biblical texts concerning different events and create a hodgepodge of doctrines to make them say what their doctrine is rather than what is true.
When Christ made the statement he did, recorded at Matthew 24:36, he was not speaking of Armageddon, he was speaking about “that day” of his return—which is not the same thing as Armageddon. It is AFTER he returns and gathers his own that they will rule with him for a thousand years. AFTER the thousand years, Satan is let loose from being abyssed and he (Satan) goes forth and misleads those then to the war of the great day of God the Almighty. Armageddon happens AFTER the thousand years—not before it. If Armageddon happened when the Master returns, before the thousand years, then Armageddon didn’t do what it was supposed to do considering that ANOTHER uprising occurs AFTER the thousand years. If Armageddon is going to destroy “only the incorrigibly wicked” when the Master returns before the thousand years begins, then it’s not the “final battle” the Society purports it to be as there’s going to be another uprising again after the thousand years has ended. What good is the first Armageddon? Are there going to be two Armageddons?
The Society’s writers are not all the bright.
Not only that, but the “great tribulation” from which a ‘great crowd comes out’ occurs BEFORE the Master returns because the Master is said to return “immediately after the tribulation.”
The “great tribulation” and “Armageddon” are different events entirely unrelated to each other and occur a minimum of a thousand years apart.
--Inkie