stuckinarut2: "is this evidence of a lack of divine blessing", NO. This is the separation work the weeds
from the wheat. The same was said after 1975, Jehovah cleaning out his organization.
Every 30 or 40 years Jehovah must clean house, Apostate keep wondering into the ranks.
They scare the B-jesus out of the RF and the numbers goes up, the great crowd the end in near.
After the RF realize the GB is full of sh--t the numbers go down, it's time to chop weeds.
A vicious cycle in Jehovah's organization.