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Alternative Daily Text for Saturday, December 7, 2013
“All of this befell King Nebuchadnezzar.” (Daniel 4:28)
Some 2,600 ago, King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. He “slaughtered [King] Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the princes.” (Jeremiah 52:10) Then “the Jews [were] deported as slaves from Jerusalem to Babylon.” (Awake!, July 8, 1994, page 27) Do these events have a meaning for our time?
Definitely, for “Nebuchadnezzar’s work … pictured the work of Jesus Christ during this ‘time of the end,’ where we are now.” (The Watchtower, May 15, 1980, page 17) Who, therefor, will soon “be destroyed by one greater than Nebuchadnezzar, the now reigning heavenly King, Jesus Christ?” (The Watchtower, March 1, 1980, page 21) Following Nebuchadnezzar’s example, Jesus will ‘slaughter the king’s sons’ in the first instance. Certainly the king today is not Zedekiah, because Jehovah’s Witnesses have been preaching “the good news that Jehovah had become King” since 1914. (Isaiah’s Prophecy – Light for All Mankind, volume II, page 187) Thus ‘the king’s sons’ to be slaughtered by Jesus are ‘the anointed,” since these are “called ‘sons of God.’” – The Watchtower, November 1, 2004, page 12.
Nebuchadnezzar “also slaughtered all the princes.” (Jeremiah 52:10) And obviously “does Isaiah’s description of ‘princes’ fit the role of Christian elders today.” (The Watchtower, May 15, 1993, page 14) “At any rate, the experienced elders and overseers will be available for the Messianic King to appoint as ‘princes’ … from the very start of his thousand-year reign”, so that he can “slaughter” them right after their appointment. – Man’s Salvation Out of World Distress at Hand!, page 363.
What about the remaining “Jehovah’s Witnesses” who “practice the true religion” in our day? (What Does the Bible Really Teach?, page 175) In Nebuchadnezzar’s time, “the Jews had … the true religion.” (Insight on the Scriptures, volume II, page 474) Accordingly, “Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem … and carried most of the Jews off into exile in Babylon” and boasted about ‘having built Babylon the Great.’ (Daniel 4:30; The Watchtower, January 1, 2000, page 7) So the Jews became slaves of Babylon the Great – and the same will happen in our day, since “Nebuchadnezzar … pictures Jesus.” (Watch Tower Publications Index 1930-1985) All who practice the true religion will become slaves “of ‘Babylon the Great,’ the world empire of false religion” at Jesus’ instigation. (The Watchtower, May 15, 2008, page 16) “Yes, the day will come when the anointed remnant and their companions will become mute.” – The Watchtower, December 1, 2003, page 29.
In times of old, the Jews remained in Babylonian captivity even beyond the death of Nebuchadnezzar and the fall of his dynasty. Only after decades, when the Babylonian empire was overturned, they were released. (2 Chronicles 36:22, 23) But “Jesus, the Eternal Father, will live forever,” and “there will be no end to his Kingdom.” (Luke 1:33; Isaiah’s Prophecy – Light for All Mankind, volume I, page 131) Accordingly, “the visible theocratic organization of Jehovah God,” pictured by “the city of Jerusalem” in ancient times, will never be rebuilt after its destruction. – Paradise Restored To Mankind – By Theocracy!, page 148.