http://www.svhelden.info/witchtower/2013/11/who-are-gods-executional-forces-today/
Who Are God’s Executional Forces Today?
Reprint from The Witchtower, October 2010
“God’s executional forces strike without regard to age or sex. For God instructs them to show no mercy.” – The Watchtower, February 1, 1985, page 4
The prophet Ezekiel foretold a great “slaughter” or “destructive work” that would be conducted in our day. (The Watchtower, January 15, 1971, page 52; November 1, 1972, page 660). In “a vision that is fulfilled during our time … God’s executional forces are pictured … by six armed men.” (The Watchtower, April 15, 1987, page 11) Who are these “executional forces” today, and for how long have they executed their “destructive work?” The book The Finished Mystery explains the prophecy as follows:
“Ezekiel 9:2. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the North, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. … The writer’s inkhorn symbolizes that the seventh man’s function was to write. God identified him thus: When The Watch Tower Bible And Tract Society was at Allegheny, Pa., an open Bible was to be painted on one of the large front windows of the office. A sign painter, not in the Truth, painted the open Bible; and without instruction from any one, of his own volition, he painted the Bible as open at Ezekiel, Chapter 9. The man of linen was the Laodicean servant, the Lord’s faithful and wise steward, Pastor Russell. When Pastor Russell saw this, he turned pale. Ezekiel seeing the man in linen, types Pastor Russell thereafter seeing himself to be the antitype of that man – one of the most prolific writers of the Age.” – pages 417, 418.
So it is evident that the “man of linen” was Charles Taze Russell, the first official president of the Watch Tower Society. He diligently completed the task that God had assigned to him:
“Ezekiel 9:4. And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. … Hither and thither, traveling and preaching for nearly forty years Pastor Russell obeyed this command; and through the printed page of books, tracts and newspapers he went into every corner of the world. … Ezekiel 9:11. And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by His side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as Thou hast commanded me. – Pastor Russell was faithful to his great task of writing and publishing the Truth … In October, 1916, he died, and beyond the veil has, ere this, undoubtedly, reported in the presence of Christ that he has done the work he was given to do.” – The Finished Mystery, pages 418, 420.
But “it was not the linen-clad man that did the destructive work. It was the ‘six men’ with weapons.” (The Watchtower, November 1, 1972, page 660) “The six with the Sword … symbolize all the Elijah class,” and “the Elijah class [is] the faithful and discreet slave.” – The Finished Mystery, page 417; The Watchtower, April 15, 1995, page 25.
Accordingly the marking work conducted by Brother Russell was completed with his death in 1916. Then the other “six men” started their “destructive work.” Hence God’s executional forces are the members of the “faithful and discreet slave” who appeared on the scene after 1916, with Joseph F. Rutherford and the following Watchtower presidents the leading way. Ezekiel’s prophecy continues to describe the assignment they received from God:
“Ezekiel 9:5. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity. – After Pastor Russell’s writings have reached an individual, the other members of the Elijah class, the ‘Truth people,’ approach him with the sword … Ezekiel 9:6. Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children, and women … and begin at My Sanctuary.” – page 419.
Joseph F. Rutherford and his successors ‘went after Pastor Russell,’ but not to mark the people but rather to “slay” them. At God’s “sanctuary” – the organization founded by Charles Taze Russell – they ‘began.’ Contrary to Brother Russell who had put emphasis on Christian qualities and freedom, they implemented a dictatorial organization and made preaching slaves out of Watch Tower readers.
Of course they did not “slay” literally – because it is forbidden by secular law – but in a transferred sense many people lost their lives through the activities of these “executional forces.” (compare The Watchtower,November 15, 1952, page 703) These persons are still breathing, but they must “live no longer for themselves.” (2 Corinthians 5:15) They are “devoting their entire lives to Jehovah’s … [Witnesses]”; many keep strolling from house to house for decades, trying to give uninteresting magazines to uninterested people. – The Watchtower, August 1, 1977, page 466.
Some resign from their job or leave their family to have even more time for the Watchtower Society’s interests. (The Watchtower, May 1, 2007, page 9; 1980 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, pages 18, 19) And “God’s executional forces” will continue to “strike without regard to age or sex. For God instructs them to show no mercy.” (The Watchtower, February 1, 1985, page 4) Hence, also in the future “utterly old and young, both maids and little children, and women” will get caught in the Watchtower organization’s clutches and be exploited for its purposes.
What should we do to escape the executional forces? Since they are not allowed to go near “to any man upon whom there is the mark,” and this “mark” must be applied by Pastor Russell, it would be wise to heed his counsel. He provided an important hint in a reply to a reader’s letter: “Beware of ‘organization.’ It is wholly unnecessary … Do not seek to bind others’ consciences, and do not permit others to bind yours.” – Zion’s Watch Tower, September 15, 1895, page 216.
Thus let us avoid the Watchtower Society and all other religious organizations. Then God’s “executional forces” – the “faithful and discreet slave” – will be unable to harm us.
