The dilemma facing apostate Jehovahs Witnesses, or apostate Dubs, as I have dubbed them, (no pun intended) is the very fact of their seeming success. What does that mean? One of the great ironies of the apostate movement, that presumptuously boasts of "know the truth about the truth," is that apostates themselves are bound by the Watchtower's own interpretive shortcomings, and hence are massively ignorant of Jehovahs judicial decisions regarding his organization. In what way? In that the presumption in operation is that if enough scandal and error can be brought to light regarding the Governing Body, the Watchtower Society's teachings, as well as individual Jehovah's Witnesses, then that somehow means that Jehovah's Witnesses have no connection with Jehovah God. That fatal presumption is tragically reinforced by the Watchtower's own presentation of itself as a near-perfect spokesman for God that is presumably above and beyond Jehovah's own rebuke.
In spite of the fact that the Bible's numerous prophecies and historical accounts of God's dealings with his people outline in considerable detail how Jehovah and Christ intend to deal with the present lawless situation aflicting us, the average Witness does not have the spiritual wherewithal and competency to apply these to the organization of which he is a part and still maintain his own loyalty to it. And, because the Watchtower, whom the faithful rely upon, has directed nearly all of the Bible's adverse counsel against the clergy, or they have relegated their fulfillment to the relatively insignificant 1914-1919 period, it has left the faithful vulnerable when they are exposed to the growing mountain of accusation against us. No wonder Christ mused: "When the Son of man arrives will he really find the faith on the earth?"
As an example of how the Bible speaks in an indirect manner to the present situation consider the case of Moses. He is presented in the Bible as one of the most important figures, and yet he received Jehovah's stern rebuke and what amounted to a death sentence. God is quoted as saying to Moses: "That is enough of you. Never speak to me again on this matter." And, yet, this Moses was considered by God himself to be the meekest man among his contemporaries. Furthermore, consider the accusations of apostates in Moses' day who accused Moses of leading them out into the Wilderness to die. After several decades of wandering in the Wilderness Dathan and Abiram would seem to have some justification in saying that Moses had not lead them into any land flowing with milk and honey, as they had been promised, and that Moses was responsible for their children dying in the desert. Were those accusations true? Yes. No doubt many Hebrew children and infants died in the desert due to the harshness of the environment. And, yet, Jehovah supported Moses and considered the accusations as directed against him personally, which of course they were for the reason that the Jews were wandering in the Wilderness as a result of Jehovahs sentence upon them. Moses had noting to do with it.
Those who have not lost all spiritual comprehension can see a definite pattern here, in that the Governing Body are similarly accused of not leading the faithful into any paradise earth as they supposedly promised. What is more, like Moses, the Governing Body is also accused of causing the deaths of our children by their misguided blood policy. Again, the prophecies assure the faithful, as well as the unfaithful, that at some point during the worlds great time of trouble, Jehovah is going to break his silence and take up the legal matters embroiling his organization.
David is another example of the most prominent leader of Jehovahs nation being on the receiving end of Gods withering rebuke, and not only that, but his folly brought ostracism upon the entire nation. Not just the bloodguilt and adultery in the case of the Bathsheba affair, but more relative to today's situation is the instance where David committed the blunder of ordering a census. The account specifically says that Satan induced David, against the advice of his own advisor, Joab. The result was that Jehovah brought a plague upon the nation that resulted in the deaths of several tens of thousands of David's subjects. A modern parallel to David's ill-advised census might be the numerous organizational formalities like reporting field service and such. In any case, the point being, that, as Jesus pointed out when discussing his faithful slave that those who are put in charge have more than usual demanded of them. And, that all of Jehovah's people can be held accountable for the error of their leaders. That point is lost upon those who abandon their faith merely because of the error and hypocrisy on the part of some of those taking the lead, as if that relieved any of us from standing before Jehovah in judgment.
As an example of how the prophecies speak to us, consider the oft-quoted verse of Zephaniah, where it speaks of God giving to peoples the change to a pure language. That change is to come about as it says in the preceding verse, when God pours out his denunciation upon the nations, in other words---during the tribulation. "Then," it says that God will give the foretold change to a pure and uncontaminated language of truth. Down in verse 11 God goes on to say that he will forgive his people of their transgressions and that, "I shall remove from the midst of you your haughtily exultant ones; and you will never again be haughty I my holy mountainAs regards the remaining ones of Israel, they will do no unrighteousness, nor speak a lie, nor will there be found in their moths a tricky tongue" That prophecy, in just a couple of verses, addresses everything that apostates have leveled at us and succinctly reveals the solution that Jehovah proposes.
The dilemma then facing apostates is this: While the Watchtower has not informed us about Jehovah's judgment upon the faithful slave and the organization as a whole, the Bible is quite clear that Jehovah's judgment begins with his own house first and that it is God's purpose to remove all faithless and arrogant ones from the midst of his people and reveal the whole truth. That revelation is to occur after the unfaithful are purged from our midsts. So, while the apostates' accusations are not without merit, just as the Devil who is the accuser of our brothers has legitimate grounds for his incriminations, the accusers fail to consider Jehovah's own judicial decisions and his ability and desire to show mercy to the faithful ones and initiate a true reformation and refining of his true ones.
That leaves the enemies of Jehovahs people with the lingering, and I should hope somewhat unsettling rhetorical question: "Now if it (the judgment) starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God?"
/ You Know
Edited by - You Know on 17 July 2002 9:13:41