The Bible is a hodge podge of inconsistencies. It is coherent only to those who make a decision that it IS the word of God. That decision is made a priori.
It is easier for me to think of the Bible something like DNA. It has been copied over and over. In the process certain things were added in because they seemed important at the time. Once something was considered important it continued to be replicated. This commitment has resulted in a very interesting record of the priestly caste of the Jews.
At the same time there are several books and events where individuals seemed to have received extraterrestial visitors who in turn gave them revelations. Although the Watchtower interpretations are completely incoherent my personal interpretations seem to be statistically outside the realm of mere chance.
I believe the prophecies in the Bible are the way our extraterrestial brothers can assist us in a minimal way to make it through the transition from a Nation/Boundary oriented world to a united cooperative planet. This is a cultural evolutionary process that has probably occurred on countless planets that have evolved living organisms.
The purpose of the establishment of the Israelite nation was to have a context for the appearance of the Messiah. Jesus became a new paradigm- Self sacrifice and rejection of nations with geographical boundaries. He pointed to the sky as a new organizing principle. The ground is green = selfish. The sky is blue and unifying. Everyone shares the same sky. Jesus knew that he was merely planting the seeds of survival and that his followers would revert to nationalism. He did this just in time when the temple was destroyed. The temple, sitting on a geographical location toward which all Jews prayed, represented the narrow nationalistic view.
The great tribulation is a series of events that results in the total collapse of the old Nation/Boundary orientation. Jehovah's Witnesses claim allegiance only to the Kingdom of the Sky. They are unique in this. All other religions give their allegiance to their own country. Because of this they will survive the great tribulation and become an example for the rest of the world.
I have posted my interpretation all over this board.
Babylon the Great = USA (wealthiest entity on earth)
Wild Beast = Russia (It died as the Soviet Union in 1991 and will shortly dominate the world)
The Great Tribulation starts with a Russian bomb(s) exploding in New York and perhaps other cities. Yes Russian bomb but it will be blamed on terrorist.
JW's will discern that the USA is Babylon the GReat. They will flee to their brothers in other lands.
After a short interval the USA will figure out that Russia was the real source of the attack.
Russia will finish off the USA pre-emptively.
Russia will survive to dominate the whole world.
Many will join Jehovah's Witnesses because it will be clear that they survived the destruction of the USA.
This will anger Putin who will threaten the rest of the world with nuclear black mail if they don't exterminate these so-called blessed survivors.
Yes Putin is the anti-christ. He is the stern faced king (look at him) who is a master of deception (KGB Spy) who became powerful but not by his own power (never held political office before Yeltsin appointed him.)
JW's are wrong in all the right places. Their ignorance and unfulfilled expectations were necessary to get them to work hard to produce a new nation (without boundaries). Their weird requirements (blood,holidays etc.) served the same function as the old law - to create a semi-permeable boundary to protect the emerging brotherhood.
Their work is done in the USA. It is obvious. You can never get more than 1 out of a 100 people to join a group that requires such an investment in time and energy. They have finished their work. It remains for the great tribulation to start at which time they too will be humbled by the real "truth".
Fantastic? Ridiculous? We'll see.