Why was the old mag called the "ZION'S" Watchtower?

by reporter 12 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  reporter

  I've been doing some reading on the Zionists lately and there seem to be some interesting connections...needless to say, some of the stuff is politically controversial, but considering probable links between Russell and freemasonry and the occult, pyramids and the sundisk, etc., I'm sure some here have further readings and insights into the role that Zionism had to play in the WTS' early years. Based on the posts I searched for here containing the word "Illuminati", I've come to the conclusion that there is probably no links to this secret society vs. the WTS. David Icke sneaks a point here or there but mostly he's out to lunch. The problem with the secret societies is precisely that they are secret. However, with Zionism, and their antics, there appears to be documentation not so secret.

  But with Zionism, the Mossad, etc., there are more probable and factual occurrences of skullduggery that have taken place, even to this day. I've exhausted NWO and Illuminati conspiracy theories, while interesting, they offer little in the way of conspiracy facts and probabilites. I've found it true, however, that certain groups do/have/will carry out agendas, whether to our good or not. It's just strange that the first magazine is called ZION'S Watchtower...from what I've read, these Zionists can be very mean-ass people!

  What do you think? For me, exploring these historical connections can provide deeper insight into why the WT cult came into being, and its current and future influence and direction may be better understood. More importantly for me now, is finding root causes into the current Middle East conflicts and their ramifications for world events.
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  onacruse

  Perhaps Russell's dual thought in naming it Zion's Watch Tower is given in the December 1879 issue, in the article titled The Building of Zion (p. 56):

  That not only the earthly Jerusalem is called Zion, but also the heavenly is evident, from Heb. xii. 18, 22: "Ye are not come to the mount that might be touched...but ye are come to Mt. Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." A literal mountain could be touched and stands associated with literal or earthly things. The earthly is but a symbol of the heavenly, which is therefore called a mount which could not be touched. None we think can object to the double application, who see that in God’s plan nearly everything is double; the two standing related to each other as the natural and the spiritual.

  To build up Zion implies a process, and so far as relates to the earthly Jerusalem, includes the restoration of the Jewish nation or Israel according to the flesh, in all its parts; and we believe in its application to the Gospel church, the same must be true. That from 1878 to 1914 is the last half of the last trump, has often been shown, and also that this is the period during which Jerusalem is to be restored.

  So, there was the figurative idea of being "Zion's" watchtower for the spiritual sons of God, as well as in the earthly sense of anticipating and reporting signs of the restoration of the literal nation of Israel. This latter idea pervaded the WTS until well after Russell died, eventually being dropped in favor of the spiritual Israel only.

  Craig
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  greven

  Russell and the early Biblestudent were influenced by Zionist ideas and litterature of that period. In Russell's Studies in the Scriptures he frequently speaks about the restoration of Israel, Jerusalem would be the center of the world again and the Jews would be returned to the favour of God. He also delivered a sermon for the jews you might have heard about: Comfort for the Jews. This sentiment continued well into the 1930's attracting Hitler's attention. After that it was quickly abandoned and replaced by mild anti-zionism and anti-jewish sentiments in an attempt to fool Hitler. See for example the Declaration of Facts printed in the 1934 yearbook. Obviously it didn't work.

  Greven
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  Guest 77

  reporter, try Khazars.

  Guest 77
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  reporter

  Interesting...thanks you 3, for your posts.

  Right off the bat, to avoid the jjrizo fiasco last year on this board, one would want to make a distinction between "Zionists" and the Jews/Semites. Most critical of the Zionists, in fact, are many Jews themselves! Also, one would have to consider Ariel Sharon's government policies, and their roots. "Anti-Semitism" is a quick label used to discredit many who even discuss these topics, so one would tread carefully, yet it would be disingenuous to suggest that some Jews are not involved; it would be like discussing the Italian mafia without mentioning Italians involved. The Zionism I'm talking about is an extreme form, of which its members are barbaric, and many Jews themselves are disgusted and rightly critical of their actions.

  With the early WTS, it's quite interesting that the belief was in the restoration of a physical Israel. It's funny, but didn't Jesus reject the physical Israel and propose a New Jerusalem? When modern day "Israel" was granted their homeland in 1948, at the expense of the Palestinians already living there, it seems to have caused problems to no end. Not to mention Guest 77's pointing to the Khazars, a people whose rulers converted to Judaism sometime during the 800's AD. The irony of the "law of return" is that many of today's Jews have no direct ancestral link to the Jews of the OT. Many, if not most, Jews are people descended from the Khazars. Radical Zionists are capable of killing even fellow Jews in order to advance their cause! Similarly, even Witnesses today will spiritually kill and ostracise a fellow member, if it promotes the "clean utensils of Jehovah" doctrine. And Israel's "intelligence" organisation, the "Mossad"'s motto is: "By way of deception thou shalt do war." Does that sound a tad familiar? Like theocratic warfare, for instance? Already, we can see streaks of character similarities between Zionism and the Zionist mafia, and the WTS foundations under Russell. As this thread progresses, it is my intention to bring to light more of the characteristics of Zionism, how it developed through the late 1800's to today, and why they are dangerous, and deceptive, and how this compares to WTS' traits.
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  DanTheMan

  This is a little off topic, but one of the interesting things I've learned since leaving the JW's also concerns the title of Russell's mag - in that it contained the word "Herald". Apparently, there were many loosely associated Adventist groups existing in the mid-to-late 1800's, many of which published their own magazine. And a common characteristic of these various publications was that they almost always contained the word "Herald" in their title. This was significant for me because the WT portrays Russell and his followers as if they were something entirely new under the sun, and wholly separate from any other religious group existing at that time.

  I think that genealogically speaking, Chuckie & the Bible students were an Adventist offshoot, and any similarities to Zionist groups existing then or still in existence is coincidental. I don't think there are any direct ties.
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  Room 215

  Because of his belief in the Jews' restoration to Divine favor and that the resurrected ``ancient worthies'' would rule the New Earth, of which literal Jerusalem would be the world capital of the Theocracy, he was dubbed the ``most prominent Christian Zionist." He actually urged Jews to repatriate to the Holy Land a la Rothschild and others.
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  blondie

  From the Proclaimers Book page 724

  July 1879

  Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence .

  January 1, 1909 The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence

  Zion's was dropped.

  January 1, 1939 The Watchtower and Herald of Christ’s Kingdom .

  Watch Tower became Watchtower

  Presence finally became Kingdom even though the WTS says it was teaching that since 1914

  And only 2 months later

  March 1, 1939 The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom,

  And finally Christ's became Jehovah's as Jesus disappears from the picture.

  Herald is replaced with Announcing cutting that last Adventist tie.

  Blondie
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  reporter

  Dan The Man: Thanks for bringing up the "Herald" part of the title and its significance. Over the years, their obsession with being different, just for the sake of being different, hasn't changed at all, and is a stumbing block to policy changes, admitting mistakes, etc. Many of JW doctrine is just different, not honestly Biblical, or containing any sort of common sense.

  Room 215: That's interesting. "Christian Zionist" ... sounds like an oxymoron. And I do see how they arrogated to themselves their supposed God-given "right" to reclaim "their holy land". The kicker is, orthodox Jewry doesn't believe in Christ's messiahship, whom they believe usurped their authority.

  Blondie: Thank you for showing how the titles have changed over the years...maybe the legalistic and control traits of Zionism are kicking in again...by removing the prominence of/denying the divinity of Jesus and sneaking in Jehovah, and how many of the doctrines (like blood and two witnesses) are still rooted completely in Mosaic law. It is through these insidious attempts to foist Jewish law that iron-fisted control can be manintained over the congregations; because Christ preached freedom from the law. Jehovah's Witnesses can't seem to accept the fact that Jehovah delegated complete control of Kingdom affairs to Jesus, and fail to appreciate His divinity, by those title changes.
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  Kenneson

  An interesting article on the evolution of thought about Jews from Russell to Rutherford are traced in "Jehovah's Witnesses, Anti-semitism and the Third Reich." Can be found by scrolling down at

  http://watchtower.observer.org/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=JWANDHITLER