THEY'VE DONE IT!!!! The WBTS set a new date!

by dmouse 208 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  DJ

  LOL @ Nathan

  dmouse,

  I read that 4 times and I disagree with your conclusion. You have to read between the lines and have an overactive imagination to conclude that they set a new date. It is just their way of paralleling imo. It says what is says to me and nothing more. The danger is that we have a tendency to make things say one thing but mean another. That is what the jws do when they read the bible. They make verses mean other things than what was actually written or intended. Be careful of that learned behavior. It took me a long time to see that I was reading more things into stuff than what was actually said. I still have to watch that tendency. If you think about it enough, you'll see that we learned that behavior from them. Take care. dj
• 

  William Penwell

  Not reading all the posts, but what about the scripture that says "This generation will by no means pass away till all these things occur". That means some would have to be over 120. I am sure the WT would have an explaination for this.

  Will
• 

  logansrun

  I don't see the Society setting a new date here, although the article could be interpreted that way if one "reads between the lines."

  It's a stretch. I doubt the writer of the article was implying 2034 as the date for armageddon. It seems more likely he was just drawing a parallel -- the time was of limited duration in Noah's day as is the time for the wicked world today.

  Bradley
• 

  lisaBObeesa

  This generation will by no means pass away till all these things occur". That means some would have to be over 120. I am sure the WT would have an explaination for this.

  Will,

  The Org already explained this problem away when, I believe 1995, they came out with 'new light' saying that the 'generation' in this scripture is not a literal generation.

  -LisaBObeesa
• 

  Loris

  One thing I just noticed as I saved the WT pages. The artwork is old rehashed - rehashed "seen that dozens of times" pictures. I have seen that guy in the mask several times. Wasn't he in the You can Live Forever book? The other pictures are all repeats too. Is the art department devoid of artists? Just wondering.

  Loris
• 

  dmouse

  OK, I looked again at what the article said. And I am convinced more than ever that something is afoot.

  Consider the title of the article: Our Watchfulness Takes On Greater Urgency

  Why? What has changed? Why should ?our? watchfulness suddenly take on greater urgency?

  The very title implies that something has occurred, or there have been new developments, or that time is running out for some special reason.

  Paragraph 3 sets out the reason for the article:

  Hence, the question that we must reflect on is: ?What will help us to strengthen our conviction that the end is near??

  What is the Watchtower asking? HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE END IS NEAR?

  So what do they say immediately after that question? Paragraph 4 launches straight into the flood account and how it parallels our day, mentioning the scripture where Jesus says that ?just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the son of man will be.? It adds: ?Having a clear understanding of the parallel between that time and our day should fortify our conviction that the end of the present world is near.?

  Ask yourself ? How can the parallels of Noah?s time convince you that the end is not only coming but ?near?? What parallels could they possibly mean? It can only mean one thing ? that Noah?s time gives an indication of how near Armageddon might be. How can it do that?

  Noah?s time must mirror our time in some way.

  How?

  Now read paragraph 6 and 7 again. The connections are so clear to me I just can?t understand why many can?t see it. The Society are giving the JWs the pieces of jigsaw on a plate. What do you do with pieces of jigsaw? It seems strange to me that some of you are saying in effect ?well, all I can see is a bit of nose, and a mouth, a couple of ears, maybe the odd eye or two?but I certainly don?t see a face.?

  This difference of opinion is healthy of course, and is fascinating to me. If I am wrong, please tell me specifically where my logic and understanding of the way the Org works is breaking down.

  Cheers,

  dmouse
• 

  minimus

  If I told you that you must be watchful and be urgent about it because------in over 30 years something big is going to happen, you'd say "OK, sure. Whatever you say". If I told you that the end is near----so near!----that within 30 years it was gonna come and you better be ready now, you'd think, "OK, sure. Whatever you say". For a hundred years the Watchtower has been saying ,"Just as in the days of Noah, so the presence of the Son of Man will be." (Quoting from scripture)......The 120 years is nothing new......If the supposedly "bright ones, the discerning, sharp ones" can figure out that the Society is in fact setting a new date, what do you think the result will be when the "sharp ones" let the "dumb ones" know what the Society is now saying? Guaranteed----There will be a major slowdown in activity. Who's going to want to get up on Saturday morning and preach when you know that the Society just set a new date of 2037 or whatever it is? Who's going to make sure they get to all 5 meetings because now, more than ever before there's a real urgency? After all, in over 30 years, the end's a comin'. Who's going to not go to college, take plenty of overtime, get married, have babies, spend money, flirt a little with sin???------Trust me. If your 40 or 50, you've deprived yourself for your entire life, and now you know the Society's setting a new date and you've got 30 plus more years to get into the new system, you're going to relax. You will have no sense of urgency. To suggest otherwise is closing your eyes to what the Society would never want to do. They want you to believe that tomorrow, the end could come. In the 60's when the Life Everlasting book came out, they geared people up because they gave a short span under one decade----not 3 decades, for the end to come. You might fool "honest-hearted" people for a few short years but to think they would try to make people wait in an "urgent" state for 30 years is ludicrous. The parallels are involving Jesus' words of "Just as in the days of Noah". That's it.
• 

  lisaBObeesa

  Hi, it?s me, lisabobeesa, with another 2 cents ?..

  Minimus, you said:

  If I told you that you must be watchful and be urgent about it because------in over 30 years something big is going to happen, you'd say "OK, sure. Whatever you say". If I told you that the end is near----so near!----that within 30 years it was gonna come and you better be ready now, you'd think, "OK, sure. Whatever you say".

  No, I as a JW (if I were one) would think, ?wow, 30 years?my, isn?t it encouraging to know it is so close! After all this time, it is really close now! I mean, I will live to see it! My kids will live to see it. This is so great. Thanks, Jehovah!! What? You say I should go out in service more because we REALLY are in the time of the end now? OK!!"

  For a hundred years the Watchtower has been saying ,"Just as in the days of Noah, so the presence of the Son of Man will be." (Quoting from scripture)......The 120 years is nothing new....

  No, but comparing Noah?s 120 years to now and then saying, ?we are 90 years into the end so what does that mean?? is new.

  As an experiment, I asked my mom this very question, and she said, ?it means that they are saying there are about 30 years left of this system.? And I will tell you, my mom is one of the ?sharp ones.? (so sharp, she got out! ) If my mom says that is what it means, then that is that. (ok, so not my best argument..)

  If the supposedly "bright ones, the discerning, sharp ones" can figure out that the Society is in fact setting a new date, what do you think the result will be when the "sharp ones" let the "dumb ones" know what the Society is now saying? Guaranteed----There will be a major slowdown in activity.

  I don?t think so. I think it will be very encouraging for the r&f, and the activity will increase.

  Who's going to want to get up on Saturday morning and preach when you know that the Society just set a new date of 2037 or whatever it is? Who's going to make sure they get to all 5 meetings because now, more than ever before there's a real urgency? After all, in over 30 years, the end's a comin'. Who's going to not go to college, take plenty of overtime, get married, have babies, spend money, flirt a little with sin???------Trust me. If your 40 or 50, you've deprived yourself for your entire life, and now you know the Society's setting a new date and you've got 30 plus more years to get into the new system, you're going to relax. You will have no sense of urgency. To suggest otherwise is closing your eyes to what the Society would never want to do.

  JWs go to 5 meetings a week and do all that stuff because they BELIEVE.

  They BELIEVE because they are AFRAID not to believe because the end is coming!

  Since 1995, the 'end' has just been sort of maybe coming sometime soon. The terrible ?end? became vague and almost unreal in some ways, especially to the youth. That is not enough to keep JWs AFRAID and thus to keep them working selling mags.

  Well, with this new article, once again the end has a face and it is looking real?it is looking like 30 years.

  Consider this:

  If you TOTALLY BELIVED the end of the world was coming in 30 years, AND you believed you could survive it IF you did the right things, then you would absolutely get busy right now.

  I think even Minimus would get busy if he really believed. (Wouldn't you, min?)

  They want you to believe that tomorrow, the end could come. In the 60's when the Life Everlasting book came out, they geared people up because they gave a short span under one decade----not 3 decades, for the end to come. You might fool "honest-hearted" people for a few short years but to think they would try to make people wait in an "urgent" state for 30 years is ludicrous. The parallels are involving Jesus' words of "Just as in the days of Noah". That's it.

  I believe the JWs were urgently waiting for decades before 1975. And of course just before 1975 things got really urgent. I don?t think the article will bring things up to that level of urgence by any means. But it will restart the ball rolling. And if the past is repeated, the momentum will build as the last 30 years of this system of things slip by!

  Not only that, but MOST IMPORTANT, they will be able to convert more people: ?And so you see Mr. Study, we can see that we are in the last 30 years of this system of things! If you want to make it, you need to get baptized and get your family baptized to while you are at it!?

  I find this article and everyone's responses so interesting!

  Thanks for listening to my thoughts,

  -Lisa
• 

  jayhawk1

  After reading many of the posts here, I can start to see the arguement for 2034. Does not the Bible plainly say in Matthew...

  Just as in the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. Mt. 24:37

  So I am starting to see how the Watchtower might twist that to mean 120 years too.
• 

  unclebruce

  Thanks mouse,

  All the uncertainty was driving me crazy. OK guys, lets party on till 2033 and then get ourselves down to the kingdom hall lest we fall down jehovah's big crack!

  surfing jehovah, unclebruce.