by picosito 18 Replies latest jw friends
Lu 21: 7,8
Then they questioned him saying: "Teacher, when will these things actually be, and what will be the sign when these things are destined to occur?" He said: "Look out that you are not misled, for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, 'I am he,' and, 'THE DUE TIME HAS APPROACHED.' DO NOT GO AFTER THEM." (Caps mine.)
There it is in a nutshell, right from the NWT. Jesus himself said not to pay attention to JW rantings about "the end" nor "to go after them."
Millions of fundy christians choose to ignore it too.
SS
They ignore many scriptures.
This one also comes to mind.
From the J.W. NWT
Deuteronomy 18:22
when the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, that is the word that Jehovah did not speak. With presumptuousness the prophet spoke it. You must not get frightened at him.
Uhhhhh,,,,hello!!
Its like God is trying to warn everyone of false prophets.
The W.T.S uses fear to control J.W.s by threatening death at armageddon. If witnesses would just open the bible, they would see that they do not need to fear this false prophesying organization.
Its so bizarre how the truth can be so apparent but still hidden from so many.
They just believe it applies to everyone else except them.
They are the 'Truth' after all, so they get a special exemption certificate.
Apostate: So let me get this straight, you admit that the Society makes false prophecies, causes the death of thousands through misguided health edicts, protects paedophiles, acted hypocritically by becoming a registered supporter of the UN and generally screws peoples lives; and you still think it's the truth?
JW: Absolutely!
for many will come on the basis of my name,
I take this as a reference to ALL religion.
As to why that scripture, amung others, is ignored...I wouldn't mind hearing from some of the elders and xelders on the board.
During the whole process of becoming an elder and advancing to P.O. there must come a time when these scriptures become the topic of conversation.
How are those of you in those positions instructed to address these scriptures? To just ignore them?
No matter how thin you slice it there are always two sides
Obviously you haven't thought this through all the way. If one aspect of the sign of Christ's presence is that there would be those claiming that the due time had arrived, and that they were Christ, then that in itself is evidence of the nearness of the end of the system. It is what is known as a paradox, because concurrent with the false prophets are those who are preaching the good news of the kingdom. There are in fact many religious leaders now who are jumping on the Armageddon bandwagon saying that the end is near and that Jesus is coming back soon. It is exactly what Jesus warned would happen. In fact, Jesus forewarned that false Christs and false prophets would be empowered to perform great signs and miracles that would be so convincing that it could even fool the chosen ones.
One possible scenario: At this point it is not at all out of the question that there will be a war in the Middle East using weapons of mass destruction. (WMD) In fact, it seems inevitable that at some point the nukes are going to start popping. In that type of situation people become hysterical and highly suggestable and can easily be manipulated. Under such a scenario any number of characters could step on the scene claiming to be Christ and that 'the time has approached,' and 'I am he.'
Remember, that when Jesus was on the earth the demons frequently spoke to Jesus through humans that they possessed. Many of those demons hailed Jesus as the Son of God. Were they lying? No. But were they doing God's work by announcing the Messiah? Not hardly. They were simply being mischievous and trying to create confusion. The demons haven't changed. They are still up to their same trickery. They know the end is coming, just as they knew that Jesus was the Christ. And it suits their purpose to get in on the action, so-to-speak, by roiling the waters with all kinds of ideas about the end of the world and the return of Christ. The thing is that their propaganda is designed to lure people into their trap. Hope that helps / You Know
Good point Picosito: The term "Christ" is the same as "Anointed." The scripture could easily have been translated: ": "Look out that you are not misled, for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, 'I am he,' [I am the Christ or I am the Anointed] and, 'THE DUE TIME HAS APPROACHED.' DO NOT GO AFTER THEM." (Caps mine.)"
The point of Jesus comments is that many comes making special claims. Also wars, rumors of war, food shortages, etc ... but Jesus said not to be troubled, for the end is not yet ... and then at the close of his comments he finally describes his "Presence" as that of lightening, seen all the way from the east to the west ... or an an eagle not missing the carcass. His "Presence" or better translated "coming" will be sudden, brilliant, clear as eagle sight, and NO ONE WILL MISS IT ... none of this secret chamber or in the wilderness stuff where only JWs see it ... no, all people will see it.
Thanks for highlighting this scripture. A good one to show JWs when they come to the door.
Following Bible principles, we will avoid trying to live - or demand others to live - by an extensive and rigid set of dos and don'ts that go beyond the teachings of the Bible. The Watchtower, 4-15-02, pg 22, pp 15
Plmkrzy:
The Society does not comment directly on this passage very much. When it does it pretty much relegates this particular ‘component’ of the ‘composite sign’ to the first century and the destruction of the temple. Please note the following quote:
“Those misleading men would not come saying, ‘I am Jesus,’ but would come using the title Messiah and would come saying: “I am the Christ.” For Jews, those professed Messiahs would have to be Jews, not Gentiles. In view of the threatening destruction of Jerusalem, they would come as Liberators, Preservers, of the Holy City, for which reason they would have much appeal to the Jews and would mislead many.” -- W70 1/15 p.43; w57 10/15 p. 614; God’s Kingdom Has Approached - p. 296)
It’s also used as a general warning to the flock that there would be ‘false prohets’ to watch for. (w64 11/1 p. 645; w57 10/15 p. 614)
It’s was also used to warn the ‘shepherds’ not to go ahead of the FDS (w54 6/15 p. 378)
YK: “are preaching the good news of the kingdom”
What is the Good News? Hint: See 1Cor 2:2 and 2Tim 2:8. This is not what the JW preach!
What is the Good News? Hint: See 1Cor 2:2 and 2Tim 2:8. This is not what the JW preach!
Jesus said that the good news of THE KINGDOMwould be preached. We do teach about Jesus and what his death means but that's not what Jesus was talking about at Matthew 24:14. The good news of the kingdom has to do with God's government taking over the world and that is the main message of Jehovah's Witnesses at this particular point in time. / You Know
