taught me how to read the bible. He taught me how to
question the bible and look for answers from the bible.
That
would be great for all here to do…then you would know what it really means to
be “Awake” and know the so-called “TTATT”. But as it stands now, I have yet to
see any here that are “Awake” or have ANY understanding of what is true.
You
have concluded that all the lies, bad policies, misapplications, changes
(so-called new light), etc…and all else that can be included in regards to the
teachings/beliefs of JW’s from the WTS/GB…you have concluded that this is a
sign of not being God’s people, and for many because of this have concluded
that there is no God at all.
To
the contrary, if what is in the above quote was followed, you would know that
all the negative that is rightly pointed out in regards to JW’s and their
beloved WTS/GB, that it is all suppose to be that way prior to the beginning of
the GT.
It
will be the GT that will correct everything…it is the true time of refinement
that was said to have occurred back in 1914-1918. The biggest lie that the
WTS/GB put forth and maintain is that that refinement took place in the
past…but the fact that it is still yet to come clearly shows that God’s people
would surely be in a present state of needing refinement along with a great
purging.
______________________________________
Simplified version
[5-1-98 WT- The locust plague is a harbinger of
something. Of what? Joel plainly tells us, saying: “Alas for the day; because
the day of Jehovah is near, and like a despoiling from the Almighty One it will
come!” … At Joel chapter
2, verse 11, God identifies the locust army as “his military force.” Yes, he was the Source of the locust plague that would devastate the land
and cause severe famine. When? Just before “the day of Jehovah.” … “Jehovah
himself will certainly give forth his voice before his military force, for his
camp is very numerous. For he who is carrying out his word is mighty; for the
day of Jehovah is great and very fear-inspiring, and who can hold up under it?”
Yes, Jehovah God will send forth his military force of locusts—before his great day.]
[6-15-85 WT- Another remarkable divine utterance will come to
pass when Jehovah symbolically puts “hooks” in the jaws of Gog, challenging him
and his “military force” to attack His people on earth. (Ezekiel 38:2-4, 8-12)]
Ezekiel 39:23 And the nations will have to know
that it was because of their error that they, the house of Israel, went into
exile, on account of the fact that they behaved unfaithfully toward me, so that
I concealed my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries,
and they kept falling, all of them, by the sword. 24 According to
their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I did with them, and I
kept concealing my face from them.’
[3-15-61 WT-
Isaiah
29:4 reads: “And you must become low so that you will speak from the very
earth, and as from the dust your saying will sound low. And like a spirit
medium your voice must become even from the earth, and from the dust your own
saying will chirp.”
The opening verse of Isaiah 29 shows that
these words are addressed to Ariel, concerning which the footnote of the New
World Translation states: “‘Ariel.’ Meaning, perhaps, ‘the altar
hearth of God’; or, ‘the lion of God.’ Designating Jerusalem here.” This
prophecy would therefore apply to spiritual Jerusalem as represented upon earth
by the remnant.
These words show that God’s earthly organization would
come under attack and would be reduced to a very low state by the enemies of
God’s kingdom. God’s people would be, as it were, crushed to the earth, at the
time of Gog’s attack upon them, so that what utterance they made, what vocal
sounds they made, would come up from low down in their abasement. It would be
sound coming up from the very dust of the earth. It would be as if a spirit
medium were talking with the vocal sound coming from the dust of the earth.
However, the next verses show that God would turn his attention to his faithful
people who had been brought so low and he would work miracles on their behalf
to deliver them from the power of the enemy so that their enemies and
oppressors would become like dust and chaff that are quickly blown away by a
violent windstorm.]
Isaiah 29:13 And Jehovah says: “For the reason that
this people have come near with their mouth, and they have glorified me merely
with their lips, and they have removed their heart itself far away from me, and
their fear toward me becomes men’s commandment that is being taught, 14
therefore here I am, the One that will act wonderfully again with this people,
in a wonderful manner and with something wonderful; and the wisdom of their
wise men must perish, and the very understanding of their discreet men will
conceal itself.” 15 Woe to those who are going very deep in
concealing counsel from Jehovah himself, and whose deeds have occurred in a
dark place, while they say: “Who is seeing us, and who is knowing of us?” 16
The perversity of YOU men!
__________________________________________
Version for those willing
to put the time into understanding.
[Joel 1:5,8,9,13,14 “Wake up, YOU drunkards, and weep;
and howl, all YOU wine drinkers, on account of sweet wine, for it has
been cut off from YOUR mouths. Wail, as a virgin girded with sackcloth
does over the owner of her youth. “Grain offering and drink offering have been
cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, the ministers of Jehovah,
have mourned. “Gird yourselves, and beat YOUR breasts, YOU
priests. Howl, YOU ministers of [the] altar. Sanctify a time of fasting. Call
together a solemn assembly. Gather together [the] older men, all the
inhabitants of the land, to the house of Jehovah YOUR God, and cry
to Jehovah for aid.
Joel 2:12,17 “And now also,” the utterance of Jehovah
is, “come back to me with all YOUR hearts, and with fasting and with weeping
and with wailing. “Between the porch and the altar let the
priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep and say, ‘Do feel sorry, O
Jehovah, for your people, and do not make your inheritance a reproach, for nations
to rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples: “Where is their
God?”’]
[1-15-04 WT- As foretold in Ezekiel chapter 38, Satan
will soon complete his role as “Gog of the land of Magog.” This will involve a
worldwide attack on Jehovah’s people. It will be an all-out attempt on the part
of Satan to break the integrity of God’s loyal ones. As never before,
worshipers of Jehovah will need to call upon him earnestly, even crying
for help.]
[Quote from Ciro Aulicino speaking about
Gog’s attack. “What the Future Holds” talk-
“What's the point? Brothers, we should expect them to
despoil us of our human rights. We should expect them to confiscate all of
Jehovah's belongings and close down and take possession of all our branches,
factories, depots, kingdom halls, assembly halls, everything. Don't make any
mistake about it. We are all in this together. We have a common enemy.”]
[Joel 1:6 For there is a
nation that has come up into my land, mighty and without number. 7
It has set my vine as an object of astonishment, and my fig tree as a stump. It
has positively stripped it bare and thrown [it] away. The twigs of it have
become white. 10 [The] field has been despoiled, [the] ground has
gone to mourning; for [the] grain has been despoiled, [the] new wine has been
dried up, [the] oil has faded away. 11 Farmers have felt shame;
vinedressers have howled, on account of wheat and on account of barley; for the
harvest of [the] field has perished. 12 The vine itself has shown
dryness, and even the fig tree has faded away. As for [the] pomegranate tree,
also [the] palm tree and [the] apple tree, all the trees of the field, they
have dried up; for exultation has gone ashamed away from the sons of mankind.
16 Has not food itself been cut off before our very eyes; from the house
of our God, rejoicing and joyfulness? 17 Dried figs have shriveled
under their shovels. Storehouses have been laid desolate. Barns have been torn
down, for [the] grain has dried up. 18 O how the domestic animal has
sighed! [How] the droves of cattle have wandered in confusion! For there is no
pasturage for them. Also, the droves of the sheep have been the ones made to
bear guilt. 19 “To you, O Jehovah, I shall call; for fire itself has
devoured the pasture grounds of [the] wilderness, and a very flame has consumed
all the trees of the field. 20 The beasts of the field also keep
longing for you, because the channels of water have dried up, and fire itself
has devoured the pasture grounds of the wilderness.”]
[6-1-81 WT- Joel 3 2-16, 19 It tells us why Jehovah is
angry with the nations—because of the way they have treated his servants. They
scattered them among the nations, making slaves of them. Also, they robbed
Jehovah’s temple of its gold, silver and other desirable things, and brought
these into their own temples. They did violence to the sons of Judah and shed
innocent blood.]
[Ezekiel 38:13 Is it to do
much plundering that you have congregated your congregation, in order to carry
off silver and gold, to take wealth and property, to get a very great spoil?”’ 14
“Therefore prophesy, O son of man, and you must say to Gog, ‘This is what the
Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “Will it not be in that day when my people
Israel are dwelling in security that you will know [it]? 15
And you will certainly come from your place, from the remotest parts of the
north [Someone coming from the north is referred to as being a
northerner], you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a
great congregation, even a numerous military force. 16 And you
will be bound to come up against my people Israel, like clouds to cover the
land. In the final part of the days it will occur, and I shall certainly bring
you against my land,’]
[Joel 1:6:
2:3,4,5,11 For there is a nation [the northerner], that has come
up into my land, mighty and without number. “There is a people numerous and
mighty; one like it has not been made to exist from the indefinite past, and
after it there will be none again to the years of generation after generation.4
“Its appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like steeds is the way
they keep running. 5 As with the sound of chariots on the
tops of the mountains they keep skipping about, as with the sound of a flaming
fire that is devouring stubble. It is like a mighty people, drawn up in battle
order. 11 And Jehovah himself will certainly give forth his
voice before his military force [the northerner], for his camp
is very numerous.
[10-1-07
WT- “the northerner”—the insect assault.] [5-1-98 WT- God identifies the locust army as “his military force.”]
[Isaiah 29:1 “Woe to
Ar´i·el, to Ar´i·el, the town where David encamped! Add year upon year, YOU
people; let the festivals run the round. 2 And I have to
make things tight for Ar´i·el, and there must come to be mourning and lamentation,
and she must become to me as the altar hearth of God. 3 And I must encamp on all sides against you, and I must lay
siege to you with a palisade and
raise up against you siegeworks.]
[siegeworks-The
surrounding and blockading of a city, town, or fortress by an army attempting
to capture it.
palisade- A fence of pales forming a defense
barrier or fortification.
pale-A stake or pointed stick; a picket.]
[Luke 19:43
Because the days will come upon you when your enemies will
build around you a
fortification with pointed stakes and will encircle you and distress you from every side,]
[Luke 21: 20
“Furthermore, when YOU see Jerusalem
surrounded by encamped
armies, then know that
the desolating of her has drawn near. 21 Then let those in Ju·de´a begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her
withdraw, and let those in the country places not enter into her; 22
because these are days for meting out justice, that all the things written may
be fulfilled. 23 Woe to the pregnant women and the ones suckling a
baby in those days! For there will be great necessity upon the land and wrath
on this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.]
[Revelation 11:2 But as for the courtyard that is
outside the temple [sanctuary], cast it clear out and do not measure it,
because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.]
[Revelation 13:5 And a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies was given it, and authority to act forty-two
months was given it. 6 And it opened its
mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his residence, even
those residing in heaven. 7 And there was granted it to wage war with
the holy ones and conquer them, and authority was given it over every tribe and
people and tongue and nation.]
(This authority to act forty-two months is associated with the time the two witnesses prophesy for
forty-two months and the holy city is given to the nations to be trampled, which takes place during the time the 6th
angel blows his trumpet/the 2nd woe.)]
[Ezekiel
39:23 And the
nations will have to know
that it was because of their error that they, the house of Israel, went into exile, on account of the fact that they behaved
unfaithfully toward me, so that I concealed my face from them and gave them into the
hand of their adversaries, and
they kept falling, all of them, by the sword.’]
[6-1-81 WT- Joel 3 2-16, 19 It tells us why
Jehovah is angry with the nations—because of the way they have treated his servants.
They scattered them among the nations, making slaves of them.]
[Joel 2:17 ‘Do feel sorry, O Jehovah, for your people, and do
not make your inheritance a reproach, for nations to rule over them.’ Joel 3:2 I will also collect together all the nations and bring them down to the low
plain of Je·hosh´a·phat; and I will put myself on judgment with them there on
account of my people and my inheritance Israel, whom they
scattered among the
nations; and they
apportioned out my own land.]
[Joel 1:6 For there is a nation that has come up into
my land,]
[Ezekiel
38:16 In the final part of the days it will occur, and I shall certainly bring
you against my land,]
[Isaiah 29:3 And I must
encamp on all sides against you, and I must lay siege to you with a palisade
and raise up against you siegeworks.]
[Luke 19:43
Because the days will come upon you when your enemies will
build around you a
fortification with pointed stakes and will encircle you and distress you from every side,]
_________________________________
[3-15-13 WT- THE churches of
Christendom have generally avoided using God’s name. For example, the
introduction of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible
says that it is “entirely inappropriate” for the church to call God by any
name.
2 In
contrast, Jehovah’s Witnesses are proud to be called by God’s name and to
honor it. (Read Psalm 86:12; Isaiah 43:10.)]
[6-1-91 WT- Like ancient Jerusalem, Christendom
looks to worldly alliances for security, and her clergy refuse to take
refuge in Jehovah. Why, they do not even use his name, and they
mock and persecute those who do honor that name.]
[9-15-10 WT-
The Governing Body
publishes spiritually encouraging
literature in many languages. This spiritual food is based
on God’s Word. Thus, what is taught is not from men but from
Jehovah.—Isa. 54:13.]
[Ezekiel 13:1
And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: 2
“Son of man, prophesy concerning the prophets of Israel who are prophesying, and
you must say to those prophesying out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of
Jehovah. 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said:
“Woe to the stupid prophets, who are walking after their own spirit, when there
is nothing that they have seen! 4 Like foxes in the
devastated places are what your own prophets have become, O Israel. 5
YOU men will certainly not go up into the gaps, neither will YOU build up a
stone wall in behalf of the house of Israel, in order to stand in the battle in
the day of Jehovah.” 6 “They have visioned what is untrue and
a lying divination, those who are saying, ‘The utterance of Jehovah is,’
when Jehovah himself has not sent them, and they have waited to have a word
come true. 7 Is it not an untrue vision that YOU men have visioned,
and a lying divination that YOU have said, when saying, ‘The utterance of
Jehovah is,’ when I myself have spoken nothing?”’ 8
“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “‘For the reason
that YOU men have spoken untruth and YOU have visioned a lie, therefore here I
am against YOU,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.” 9
And my hand has come to be against the prophets that are visioning untruth and
that are divining a lie. In the intimate group of my people they will not
continue on, and in the register of the house of Israel they will not be
written, and to the soil of Israel they will not come; and YOU people will have
to know that I am the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, 10 for the reason,
yes, for the reason that they have led my people astray, saying, “There is
peace!” when there is no peace, and there is one that is building a partition
wall, but in vain there are those plastering it with whitewash.’11
“Say to those plastering with whitewash that it will fall. A flooding downpour
will certainly occur, and YOU, O hailstones, will fall, and a blast of
windstorms itself will cause a splitting. 12 And, look! the
wall must fall. Will it not be said to YOU men, ‘Where is the coating with
which YOU did the plastering?’13 “Therefore this is what the
Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘I will also cause a blast of windstorms to
burst forth in my rage, and in my anger there will occur a flooding downpour,
and in rage there will be hailstones for an extermination. 14
And I will tear down the wall that YOU men have plastered with whitewash and
bring it into contact with the earth, and its foundation must be exposed. And
she will certainly fall, and YOU must come to an end in the midst of her; and
YOU will have to know that I am Jehovah.’ 15 “‘And I will
bring my rage to its finish upon the wall and upon those plastering it with
whitewash, and I shall say to YOU men: “The wall is no more, and those
plastering it are no more, 16 the prophets of Israel that are
prophesying to Jerusalem and that are visioning for her a vision of peace, when
there is no peace,”’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.]
The ‘stupid prophets’ are said to be in the in intimate
group of Jehovah’s people and they are leading his people astray with lies and
untruths. The core ‘lie’ that these ‘stupid prophets’ perpetrate is saying, “There is peace!” when there is no peace. This
said peace, is the claim that Jehovah and or Jesus has already refined and
judged his people faithful, and views them as being in an approved state as a
group/organization. This claim is a ‘lie’ and the fact is that this refinement
is still yet future and takes place in the 3 ½ years leading to the great day
of Jehovah/Jesus’ arrival at Matthew 24:30.*
(Luke 19:43,44; Isaiah 29:2-4 Luke 21:20-24; Revelation 11:2; Revelation 13:5)
* [3-1-97 WT- The Bible links “the great day of Jehovah”
with “the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2
Thessalonians 2:1, 2)] (1 Corinthians 15:51,52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Matthew 24:30,31)
In order to
maintain this ‘lie’, the ‘stupid prophets’ have to continue to tell more and
more lies to keep the ‘lie’ going. This is likened to plastering
the ‘lie’ with whitewash, coat after coat, trying to keep all the cracks filled
in to keep the ‘lie’ intact.
Gog’s attack
in Ezekiel
38, the calamity in Joel’s
account, the holy city being trampled on in Rev 11:2, the attack upon Ariel in
Isaiah 29, the major fulfillment of the disgusting thing in the holy place,
etc… are all counterparts of one another and is what the future great
tribulation will entail. This will occur at the time that the wild beast
receives his 42-month authority, which will then at that time make him the 8th,
and final king that will soon go off into destruction after those 42 months are
up.
At the time that the wild beast receives his 42-month
authority it will not only be a great tribulation upon Jehovah’s people but
will also be for the rest of the world as well. This is the time that ‘the
mark’ will be given out and all those that refuse it will either be
incarcerated or killed. Even before one of those two fates meet up with these
that refuse ‘the mark’, they will have already begun to have a difficult time
being that they can no longer buy or sell at this point.
Those that
refuse ‘the mark’ are refusing the counterfeit kingdom of Satan and are holding
out for the true heavenly kingdom of Jehovah God under his son and Christ,
Jesus. Those that are refusing ‘the mark’ will be calling upon Jehovah’s name
and it stands to reason that the majority of those will be those that already
today call upon his name and have faith in Jehovah and his son Jesus and their
heavenly kingdom, but during that time many more will understand and join
themselves together to take a stand for Jehovah’s kingdom. These combined are
who will make up the great crowd. (Revelation 13:5, 7; Daniel11: 33,34; Revelation 7:9,10,13,14)
While
Jehovah’s Witnesses are warned by their Governing Body about the attack that
Jehovah’s people will face by Gog, they close their eyes and ears and are
silent when it comes to Ezekiel
39:23-29. While Jehovah’s
Witnesses are warned by their Governing Body that the attack on Ariel is the
counterpart of Gog’s attack (See 3-15-61 WT p.192) they close their eyes
and ears and are silent when it comes to Isaiah 29:9-16.
While Jehovah’s Witnesses are told by their Governing Body that it is Jehovah’s
people that he will act on their behalf at Joel 3:2-16, 19, they close their eyes and ears and are
silent when it comes to Joel 3:1, 21, as well as
completely twist and misapply chapters 1 and 2 of Joel and close their eyes and ears and are
silent when it comes to Joel
2:20 even thou they admit
that the locusts (insect assault) is ‘the northerner’ in verse 20.
While the
Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses apply Revelation 11:2 as to coming upon
them, it is claimed that it already occurred back in 1914-1918. This all
(and of course more not mentioned here) is in order to maintain the ‘lie’ that
‘there is peace from Jehovah’ since 1919.
The inspection and cleansing work did not occur back at that time, it occurs upon those that are alive just
prior to Armageddon arriving.
(Luke 19:43,44; Isaiah 29:2-4
Luke 21:20-24; Revelation 11:2; Revelation 13:5)
They have to be refined and cleansed to such a degree at
that time (pre-Armageddon) because they are the ones that will live on in
post-Armageddon without ever having to die.
Like Jehovah’s
people of old, the following still applies to today:
[Jeremiah 5:31The prophets themselves actually prophesy in falsehood;
and as for the priests, they go subduing according to their powers. And my own
people have loved it that way;]
[Isaiah 30:10 who have said to the ones seeing, ‘YOU must not see,’
and to the ones having visions, ‘YOU must not envision for us any straightforward
things. Speak to us smooth things; envision deceptive things.]
But as Jehovah
said through Ezekiel:
[8 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has
said: “‘For the reason that YOU men have spoken untruth and YOU have visioned a
lie, therefore here I am against YOU,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord
Jehovah.” 9 And my hand has come to be against the prophets
that are visioning untruth and that are divining a lie. In the intimate group
of my people they will not continue on, and in the register of the house of
Israel they will not be written, and to the soil of Israel they will not come;
and YOU people will have to know that I am the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, 10
for the reason, yes, for the reason that they have led my people astray,
saying, “There is peace!” when there is no peace, and there is one that is
building a partition wall, but in vain there are those plastering it with
whitewash.’]
And Ezekiel
continues:
[11 “Say to those
plastering with whitewash that it will fall. A flooding downpour will certainly
occur, and YOU, O hailstones, will fall, and a blast of windstorms itself will
cause a splitting. 12 And, look! the wall must fall. Will it
not be said to YOU men, ‘Where is the coating with which YOU did the
plastering?’ 13 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord
Jehovah has said, ‘I will also cause a blast of windstorms to burst forth in my
rage, and in my anger there will occur a flooding downpour, and in rage there
will be hailstones for an extermination. 14 And I will tear
down the wall that YOU men have plastered with whitewash and bring it into
contact with the earth, and its foundation must be exposed. And she will
certainly fall, and YOU must come to an end in the midst of her; and YOU will
have to know that I am Jehovah.’
15 “‘And I will bring my rage to its finish upon the
wall and upon those plastering it with whitewash, and I shall say to YOU men:
“The wall is no more, and those plastering it are no more, 16
the prophets of Israel that are prophesying to Jerusalem and that are visioning
for her a vision of peace, when there is no peace,”’ is the utterance of the
Sovereign Lord Jehovah.]