armageddon

Realist

quick question:
they say 1914 is the date when the end begins or something like that? they also say that within the lifetime of that generation armageddon will come. since the last of that generation will die after at most 125 years (according to the bible) armageddon would have to be sometime before 2039? is that right?

Undecided

Hi Realist,

I stopped in to get a beer at a JMart and saw a caption on one of those far out Enquirers and it said in bold print,"Armageddon Has Started". It referred to the middle east crisis. Another one said,"Noah's Ark Found On Mars". I don't know which one to believe.

Ken P.

Elsewhere

Uhhhh, yeah! So you better quit your job and start pioneering right away! You should also sell all of your stuff and donate the money to the WTS.

"As every one knows, there are mistakes in the Bible" - The Watchtower, April 15, 1928, p. 126
Believe in yourself, not mythology.
<x ><

RunningMan

Well, Realist, I think you need an update in both JW and apostate doctrine. The JW's abandoned the generation doctrine in 1995(?). At one time the Society said that the generation that sees armageddon must have been at least 15 years old in 1914. Then as time passed, they lowered it to 10, then eventually, they got around to newborns. There has never been an upper limit on it, but whatever number you use, the generation idea has been blown away.

I'm not sure where the 125 years comes from.

expatbrit

Bollocks wrong thread.

Xenu

Seek not the days or events of the calamity that stares us in our abodes. Heed the master Yeshuas words. Remember the words of the Holy Saints. May you find approval in the eyes of G-D.

Elohim Bless

Nathan Natas

I think that the 125 years Realist mentioned was not meant to be "Bible based" but was a generous common-sense upper limit on just how long a "generation" could be. The US Census Bureau considers a generation statistically "extinct" (that's the word they use) after 119 years. It is possible that an old Bulgatian farmer born in 1900 might be alive in the year 2025, but no one would say that he was "representative" of his generation, especially if he never heard of the WTS. Certainly no member of the Governimg Body has even come close to such an advanced age.

Is the "new light" on "this generation" moving away from 1914 altogether? Do they now claim that 1914 was not significant? What about the "gentile times"? I knew that there were changes, but I didn't pay much attention to it before.

dmouse

Yep, RunningMan is right, the Society no longer link the 'generation' to 1914.

Watchtower 1995 11/1 17 A Time to Keep Awake ***
We do not need to know the exact timing of events. Rather, our focus must be on being watchful, cultivating strong faith, and keeping busy in Jehovah’s service—not on calculating a date.
Eager to see the end of this evil system, Jehovah’s people have at times speculated about the time when the “great tribulation” would break out, even tying this to calculations of what is the lifetime of a generation since 1914. However, we “bring a heart of wisdom in,” not by speculating about how many years or days make up a generation, but by thinking about how we “count our days” in bringing joyful praise to Jehovah. (Psalm 90:12) Rather than provide a rule for measuring time, the term “generation” as used by Jesus refers principally to contemporary people of a certain historical period, with their identifying characteristics.
page 19
8 Yes, the complete triumph of the Messianic Kingdom is at hand! Is anything to be gained, then, by looking for dates or by speculating about the literal lifetime of a “generation”? Far from it!
Therefore, in the final fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy today, “this generation” apparently refers to the peoples of earth who see the sign of Christ’s presence but fail to mend their ways.
*** Watchtower 1995 11/1 20 A Time to Keep Awake ***
15 Does our more precise viewpoint on “this generation” mean that Armageddon is further away than we had thought? Not at all! Though we at no time have known the “day and hour,” Jehovah God has always known it, and he does not change. (Malachi 3:6) Obviously, the world is sinking further and further toward terminal ruination. The need to keep awake is more critical than it has ever been. Jehovah has revealed to us “the things that must shortly take place,” and we should respond with an absorbing sense of urgency.

SEE ALSO:
Watchtower 1997 May 1st page 29. Questions from readers.
Watchtower 1997 June 1st page 28. Questions from readers.
Watchtower 1997 Sept 1st page 19. Main article

dmouse

...and, that's not to say Armageddon ain't just around the corner.
When the society realised that Armageddon wasn't going to come within the lifetime of those born in 1914 they had to do a quick re-think, and re-interpret the word 'generation'. At that time they said that they would no longer be setting dates or time limits for the time of the end.

However, the new understanding of the word 'generation' could stretch the 'time of the end' out indefinitely. Plummeting field service and meeting attendance gave the society the message that JW's just won't work as hard without the threat of imminent destruction.

So, time for the society to fall back to plan B. Reading my wife's assembly notes from last summer informs me that the society is plugging Matthew 24:22, that 'those days' (the tribulation) will be 'cut short on account of the chosen ones.' This means that, according to the Witnesses, Armageddon MUST come while some of the anointed are still alive.
It appears that great play was made at the assembly about the fact that most of the remnant are now very old; so Armageddon is once again put inside a time frame when it MUST occur: within the lifetime of very old anointed ones.

Nathan Natas

So what is the current teaching aboout 1914? Was it scrupturally significant or not?

Have they bacled away from all the "old light" about the Gentile Times?

If not, how do they reconcile concrete DATES with indeterminate "last days"? When did the "last days" begin?

armageddon

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