Very good post
The Gentile times have ended; their kings have had their day.
by Londo111 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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AnnOMaly
Londo, your excellent post got my head firing:
Why October 2?
It isn't new moon/beginning of the Jewish month nor is it full moon, so why did Russell pick that day to declare the Gentile times had ended? I understand that October is chosen because of Gedaliah's murder, but all we know is that it was in Tishri. The Bible doesn't pin it down further than that and it's entirely speculation that the murder and the Jews' flight to Egypt occurred in the first half of the month.
Then we have this:
*** w75 11/1 p. 661 par. 15 The Time for Choosing God as Sovereign ***
This fact of universal interest has been true since the year 1914 C.E. In that year “the times of the Gentiles,” or, “the appointed times of the nations,” ended about October 4/5, when counted from the desolation of Jerusalem and the land of Judah by the Babylonians in the year 607 B.C.E.
*** w71 12/1 pp. 717-718 par. 1 What Its “Right Condition” Means for Us Today ***
The Gentile Times had begun about the middle of the lunar month Tishri in 607 B.C.E., and so their 2,520 years of duration would end in 1914 about Tishri 15, which corresponds with October 4/5.
*** w68 12/15 p. 749 par. 37 “Your Deliverance Is Getting Near” ***
We need not here repeat the proof that the Gentile Times, “the appointed times of the nations,” ended around October 1, 1914. History proves it!
*** w64 11/1 p. 651 par. 19 Jerusalem—“A Burdensome Stone to All the Peoples” ***
Because in the seventh Jewish lunar month of that year, or about October 1, 1914, the “times of the Gentiles” ended.
*** w50 7/15 p. 216 par. 1 Postwar Enlargement of the Theocratic Organization ***
October 1, 1914, on taking his place at the breakfast table in the Brooklyn Bethel dining-room, he [Russell] in a strong voice denoting conviction announced: “The Gentile Times have ended!”
Do we actually know when the Gentile times were supposed to have ended? Was it October 1, October 2 or October 4/5, 1914?
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blondie
Here is the Gedaliah explanation:
*** w72 6/1 pp. 351-352 Questions From Readers ***
Questions From Readers
● Why did the beginning of World War I not coincide with the early part of October, when the “appointed times of the nations” ended?—U.S.A.
As has often been shown in this magazine, the conferring of kingship over the nations on Christ Jesus took place in 1914 C.E., at the expiration of the “appointed times of the nations” or the Gentile Times. (Luke 21:24; Dan. 4:16, 17, 31, 32) Those “appointed times” began 2,520 years earlier, after the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. and the assassination of the Jewish governor Gedaliah. The murder of Gedaliah in the month of Tishri (September/October) (“at the seventh new moon,” Byington translation) prompted those Jews left remaining in the land of Judah to flee. (Jer. 41:1, 2; 43:2-7) By the time the fearful Jews fled to Egypt it must have been at least the middle of Tishri, to allow enough time for the events mentioned in the Bible as taking place between the assassination and the flight. (Compare Jeremiah 41:4, 10–42:7.) This would place the start of the Gentile Times about Tishri 15, 607 B.C.E.
At the end of the Gentile Times, about Tishri 15 (October 4/5), 1914 C.E., Revelation 11:15 was fulfilled: “The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” By enthroning his Son Jesus Christ, Jehovah God took his power to rule as King over the world of mankind. The rulership of the great Adversary, Satan the Devil, was due to end.
Being the ‘ruler of the world’ of mankind alienated from God, Satan certainly did not want to see the Kingdom take full control of earth’s affairs. (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) Over nineteen centuries earlier he maneuvered matters in such a way that, had it not been for divine intervention, Herod the Great would have killed the infant Jesus. (Matt. 2:13) Similarly, even before the birth of the heavenly kingdom, Satan readied himself and his demons for an attack. This is symbolically described at Revelation 12:3-5, where we read: “Another sign was seen in heaven, and, look! a great fiery-colored dragon, with seven heads and ten horns and upon its heads seven diadems; and its tail drags a third of the stars of heaven, and it hurled them down to the earth. And the dragon kept standing before the woman who was about to give birth, that, when she did give birth, it might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was caught away to God and to his throne.”
It should not be surprising, then, that World War I broke out about two months before the end of the Gentile Times, and hence before the birth of the symbolic “son” or heavenly kingdom. Satan the Devil did not need to wait until after kingship over the nations had been placed in the hands of Jesus Christ to maneuver the nations into a large-scale war. The start of that sanguinary conflict was doubtless part of his scheme to blind persons to what had happened in the heavens in fulfillment of Bible prophecy and also, if at all possible, to hinder the Kingdom from ruling over the world of mankind .
*** po chap. 14 pp. 176-177 par. 19 Triumph for the “Eternal Purpose” ***
The symbolic “seven times” began when the armies of Babylon left Jerusalem and the land of Judah a desolation, with no governor to replace the murdered Governor Gedaliah in the land, about the middle of the lunar month of Tishri. So they would end about that time of the year in 1914 C.E., or about October 4/5, 1914.
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Separation of Powers
It's a Long Day for those kings...don't you think?
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SonoftheTrinity
The Gentile times have ended. Colonialism is dead, Zionism is nearly dead, the Rastafarians are going back to Ethiopia, and Isis is trying to reestablish the Caliphate. Christendom will soon be apologizing to the Rastafarians for persecuting them, and to the Orthodox Church for not listening to its timeless Wisdom, and Ethiopia will be the front line between Al-Islam and Christendom, which both need to grow up and fight in scholarly debates, not with guns and bombs. American Christians have it all assbackwards. Christian Fundamentalism is Babylon with its ridiculous literalism. Listen to some Bob Marley and read some Augustine and Chrysostom and a little Enoch, not just the Bible. Come out of her my people.
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Londo111
baldeagle, punkofnice, heartofaboy: thank you.
Ann: Good point! Watchtower dates can be very malleable when needed. Likely after the death of Freddy, there is nobody else that will posit a new chronology.
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Rattigan350
October 1 1914. Whatever happened to not knowing the day or hour or month or year?
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sparky1
Personally, I think that poor old Charles Taze Russell has been misquoted all these years.
"The Gentile Times have ended; their Kings have had their day." C.T. Russell October 2, 1914
As you may recall, Charles and his wife Maria had a sexless marriage. My own personal opinion is that on the night of October 1, 1914 they finally consummated their marriage and had sexual relations. I believe what he really said that morning was:
"The Genital Times have ended; I feel like a KING today!" C.T. Russell October 2, 1914
(This is my opinion only and not to be confused with any New Light)
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Londo111
Of course, Chuck and Maria were divorced in 1908...but funny!
