Thursday, July 25 2024 Unless those days were cut short…

[PJ54]

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Thursday, July 25 2024​

The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself.—Prov. 22:3.

Jesus said that “great earthquakes” and other disasters would occur before the end comes. (Luke 21:11) He also spoke of an “increasing of lawlessness,” which is evident in crime, violence, and terrorist attacks. (Matt. 24:12) Jesus never said that these calamities would impact only those whom Jehovah has abandoned. In fact, many of Jehovah’s faithful servants have been victims of disasters. (Isa. 57:1; 2 Cor. 11:25) Jehovah may not miraculously protect us from all disasters, but he will give us whatever we need to remain calm and at peace. We will find this easier if we have planned in advance how to respond. But does preparing indicate that we lack faith in Jehovah? Not at all. In fact, preparing for a disaster shows that we do have faith in his ability to care for us. How so? God’s Word advises us to prepare for potential disasters. w22.12 18 ¶9-10
Examining the Scriptures Daily—2024​

Unless those days were cut short…

Question: There are concerns that the earth might be struck by a large asteroid or comet and that the Yellow Stone caldera might erupt, either of which could destroy the world. Do you think something like this might be what Armageddon is? The earth has had numerous

e-watchman.com

Question: There are concerns that the earth might be struck by a large asteroid or comet and that the Yellow Stone caldera might erupt, either of which could destroy the world. Do you think something like this might be what Armageddon is?

The earth has had numerous catastrophes over the few billion years of its existence. It has taken direct hits from huge meteors and comets. The most recent impact from flying cosmic debris was not that long ago —in 1908, the so-called Tunguska meteor was set ablaze in the atmosphere. Fortunately, it exploded over Siberia, a sparsely populated area. Had it hit the heart of Europe or the east coast of the U.S., it would have flattened entire cities.

As for the Yellowstone volcano, scientists warn that an eruption could be an extinction event. Not only would it blanket most of America in volcanic ash, but it would darken the sun for years to come, resulting in planet-wide crop failures and famine.

The popular Hollywood movie —Armageddon —popularized the notion that Armageddon is some sort of natural disaster. It is not. According to the book of Revelation Armageddon is the war of the great day of God the Almighty. In the 19th chapter of Revelation Jesus Christ is depicted as the leader of a heavenly cavalry —an army of angels and the 144,000 holy ones. They are destined to smash the nations and slaughter every person who is an opposer of God. That is no natural disaster.

God’s stated purpose is to exalt himself as the true God, the only God. The Hebrew prophecy of Ezekiel foretells that the nations will have to know that “I am Jehovah.” Ezekiel further states that Jehovah is going to sanctify himself before the eyes of the nations. That harmonizes with what Jesus said regarding his Second Coming; that the people of the nations will beat themselves in grief when they see the sign of the Son of man as he comes upon them riding the clouds of heaven. In other words, people will realize that they are being adversely judged by Jesus. And apparently, they will also be forced to know that Jesus is the one sent by Jehovah —the Jesus preached by Jehovah’s Witnesses and not the phony “Jesus” promoted by Christendom.

God’s purpose to sanctify himself cannot be accomplished by the mere destruction brought on by some sort of natural disaster. That being said, the greatest threat facing mankind is not lurking in outer space or in the bowels of the earth. The most likely extinction scenario is not from natural disasters, but from manmade catastrophes. And I am not referring to the climate change scare that is being promoted by the British oligarchy as an existential threat to mankind. The greatest peril that hangs over the world like the sword of Damocles is a nuclear war. It is well known that Russia and the US alone have enough active warheads to obliterate the world several times over. Altogether the nations’ nuclear arsenal stands at about 15,000, some many times more powerful than the two bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. According to some estimates a limited nuclear exchange of a mere 100 bombs —a small fraction of the warheads available —could bring on the phenomena known as nuclear winter.

A limited nuclear war seems destined.

Back during the Cold War standoff between the West and the USSR, nuclear annihilation was avoided by the doctrine known as MAD, an acronym for Mutually Assured Destruction. Since no sane person would deliberately initiate a war that would kill every person on this planet people feel confident that no such mutually assured destruction will take place. However, such reasoning does not take into consideration the existence of the demons, who do not share human sympathies. And according to the word of God, “inspired” utterances of the demons will influence the kings of the world to induce them into a conflict with God at the symbolic place known as Armageddon.

But why would the demons destroy the world they revel in ruling over? The Scriptures reveal that events set in motion by the coronation of Jesus Christ will result in war —a war between Christ and Satan. It is true, God’s angels and Satan have always been at enmity. But the establishment of God’s Kingdom will bring the conflict to the fore. The long-simmering animosity will come to a roaring boil. Revelation reveals Satan and his angels will be vanquished and violently hurled down from heaven. Revelation then sounds the ominous warning: “Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.” (The Devil Has Come Down to You)

The certain knowledge that there is only a short period of time for them will provoke the maddened demons into igniting a nuclear conflagration. It wouldn’t take much to push men over the edge, where they now stand.

But would God really permit the demons to cause a global catastrophe that would surely bring about the deaths of billions? The answer is yes. That is what the end of the world is. Jesus himself spoke of a great tribulation that is coming upon the entire inhabited earth —a catastrophe so terrible nothing like it has ever happened before, nor will anything so terrible ever happen again. Jesus went on to say that if God did not intervene, no flesh would survive.

So, God does not cause the extinction event known as the great tribulation. It is therefore not a so-called natural disaster. On the contrary, divine intervention will prevent the demons from blowing up the entire planet. But it is appropriate that God will allow men to vent their hatred of him to the full —using their stockpiles of fiendish weapons to bring destruction on a scale never-before-experienced in mankind’s bloody history.

The world’s dark night of terror will bring Jehovah’s salvation to the fore. It is beautifully worded in Isaiah: “Raise your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below. For the heavens will disperse in fragments like smoke; the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants will die like gnats. But my salvation will be eternal, and my righteousness will never fail.” —Isaiah 51:6

 

[Watchman]

The full Proverb says: "The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself, but the inexperienced keep right on going and suffer the consequences."

On one of their monthly Updates during the pandemic, Anthony Morris cited the verse above and applied it to Jehovah's Witnesses who did not take their scaremongering seriously. He claimed it was reckless and foolhardy to venture outdoors. Of course, there is no scientific basis for making the claim that one exposed themselves to more significant risks being out in the fresh air and sunshine. In fact, there is no evidence anyone ever contracted Covid out of doors. The Governing Body's advice made no sense. Locking oneself in a house or apartment and breathing stale air with other people is an environment far more likely to promote contagion. The GB seem not to know that the sun and fresh air are God's powerful disinfectants. In fact, sunlight on our skin produces vitamin D, which is vital for the immune system to function properly. Of course, the GB were not concerned about the health of JWs. If they were, they would not have promoted the injections. Their scaremongering was for the purpose of conditioning JWs not to engage in the ministry.

Fresh air and sunshine

Sunday, May 30 He will be filled with holy spirit even from before birth. —Luke 1:15. Throughout the Bible, there are many examples of men of faith who received holy spirit; yet, they did not

e-watchman.com

 

[BARNABY THE DOG.]

The full Proverb says: "The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself, but the inexperienced keep right on going and suffer the consequences."

On one of their monthly Updates during the pandemic, Anthony Morris cited the verse above and applied it to Jehovah's Witnesses who did not take their scaremongering seriously. He claimed it was reckless and foolhardy to venture outdoors. Of course, there is no scientific basis for making the claim that one exposed themselves to more significant risks being out in the fresh air and sunshine. In fact, there is no evidence anyone ever contracted Covid out of doors. The Governing Body's advice made no sense. Locking oneself in a house or apartment and breathing stale air with other people is an environment far more likely to promote contagion. The GB seem not to know that the sun and fresh air are God's powerful disinfectants. In fact, sunlight on our skin produces vitamin D, which is vital for the immune system to function properly. Of course, the GB were not concerned about the health of JWs. If they were, they would not have promoted the injections. Their scaremongering was for the purpose of conditioning JWs not to engage in the ministry.

Fresh air and sunshine

Sunday, May 30 He will be filled with holy spirit even from before birth. —Luke 1:15. Throughout the Bible, there are many examples of men of faith who received holy spirit; yet, they did not

e-watchman.com

Do you really think that the epidemic was used to shut down the ministry? I thought the watchtower promoted it to gain government money.

 

[Watchman]

Do you really think that the epidemic was used to shut down the ministry? I thought the watchtower promoted it to gain government money.

A lot of money was distributed to promote the vax, but I am not aware of any monetary gain for the WT in shutting down the ministry. There was no reason for it other than that they had the power to countermand Christ, and they did.

 

[BARNABY THE DOG.]

A lot of money was distributed to promote the vax, but I am not aware of any monetary gain for the WT in shutting down the ministry. There was no reason for it other than that they had the power to countermand Christ, and they did.

I was under the impression that they shut down the ministry under instruction from the government. I.e., lockdown. That was what happened in England. It was all letter writing and whatever. I know the could have carried on in principle, either under the principles laid out in scripture, or because they were informed as of it being a hoax - if they knew. Would they have known? There are still brothers going out on the ministry here, door to door.

 

[SusanB]

I was under the impression that they shut down the ministry under instruction from the government. I.e., lockdown. That was what happened in England. It was all letter writing and whatever. I know the could have carried on in principle, either under the principles laid out in scripture, or because they were informed as of it being a hoax - if they knew. Would they have known? There are still brothers going out on the ministry here, door to door.

It is interesting though that they did this world wide and here in Hawaii they could have conducted religious meetings and there was no ban on going to door to door except from the Org. Some places on the planet were more strict and some less strict but their “ban” was world wide with no consideration to local sensibilities. A huge departure from how they handled things previously. And, then they immediately stop counting preaching time. I am wondering if it is a long term goal to stop the door to door. They are relying more and more on videos and smart phones to do the preaching and at least it seems to me to be less on sharpening conversation skills. And, they are ramping up their dramas with the ones on Jesus, which I still have not watched because I stubbornly won’t say that I’ve attended the assembly. I’ll have to go online and see if its opened up now. My point is that it does seem like the flow is being directed at less and less of the public ministry. It would be a huge shock to just stop and so perhaps it is being introduced incrementally.

The public ministry has no doubt prevented some people from even considering the bible message which is evident in the ridicule that goes along with it. So, perhaps they are thinking they can bring in more people if they stop the door to door work? Just wondering.

 

[Watchman]

I was under the impression that they shut down the ministry under instruction from the government. I.e., lockdown. That was what happened in England. It was all letter writing and whatever. I know the could have carried on in principle, either under the principles laid out in scripture, or because they were informed as of it being a hoax - if they knew. Would they have known? There are still brothers going out on the ministry here, door to door.

No. There was no law that ordered people to stay in their homes. I pointed out many times that Trump volunteers called on about 500,000 homes per week in the summer of 2020 while JWs were locked in their homes.

 

[Melinda Riling]

No. There was no law that ordered people to stay in their homes. I pointed out many times that Trump volunteers called on about 500,000 homes per week in the summer of 2020 while JWs were locked in their homes.

On March 16 2020 Trump announced his 15 days to stop the spread campaign where he encouraged everyone to stay home and not go out to restaurants, avoid travel and gathering in large groups. I don’t think it was a law but that’s when everything shut down.

 

[Watchman]

Right. 15 days to slow the spread. But it turned into almost two years. But, still there was no law. 15 days was a reasonable request and nobody thought anything of it.

 

[BARNABY THE DOG.]

No. There was no law that ordered people to stay in their homes. I pointed out many times that Trump volunteers called on about 500,000 homes per week in the summer of 2020 while JWs were locked in their homes.

So would it be (more or less) correct to say that the preaching work was abandoned in favour of what appears to be a move to tele-evangelism. I know this is not cast in stone so to speak but I would really like to get a better understanding of intent on their part and prophesy and to see the pattern for myself. I feel it an important point - the more so with scriptural meaning and application because I don’t really want to go with generalising - not that anyone is intentionally, - but with more links to scripture and or ‘types’ if that applies . I would just like to see more clearly the gravity of what is happening.

 

[a watcher]

"...on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short". (Matt 24:22) Thank you, Jehovah.

 

[SusanB]

So would it be (more or less) correct to say that the preaching work was abandoned in favour of what appears to be a move to tele-evangelism. I know this is not cast in stone so to speak but I would really like to get a better understanding of intent on their part and prophesy and to see the pattern for myself. I feel it an important point - the more so with scriptural meaning and application because I don’t really want to go with generalising - not that anyone is intentionally, - but with more links to scripture and or ‘types’ if that applies . I would just like to see more clearly the gravity of what is happening.

Perhaps we will get clarity with the next pandemic, which appears to be in the works. From what I see locally a lot of the preaching is now with the literature carts, but the brothers and sisters are almost never engaged in conversation. It almost seems mind-numbing to just sit at the carts with no one to talk with. I think the new book they study with bible students has videos to listen to in pretty much each lesson. And, perhaps this is also being directed so that a more clear clergy/laity class distinction takes shape, which I definitely see happening. It’s tough to listen to this video because it is all about the GB but I think I see how they are directing the attention to them and the videos they are producing.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtAnnMtg/pub-jwb_202102_5_VIDEO

 

[Goldie]

In all fairness, if the organization had continued with door-to-door preaching during the pandemic, wouldn't they have been accused of putting Jehovah's Witnesses and the householders at risk of contracting covid? Certainly! At the time, nobody fully understood what covid was or how contagious it was. I don't know many Jehovah's Witnesses who would have felt safe engaging in door-to-door ministry. Personally, I wouldn't have felt comfortable doing so. However, the organization didn't stop witnessing altogether; instead, they used methods like letter writing and phone witnessing, which had some measure of success. So, I disagree with the notion that they stopped preaching altogether. Just my thoughts.

 

[BARNABY THE DOG.]

Perhaps we will get clarity with the next pandemic, which appears to be in the works. From what I see locally a lot of the preaching is now with the literature carts, but the brothers and sisters are almost never engaged in conversation. It almost seems mind-numbing to just sit at the carts with no one to talk with. I think the new book they study with bible students has videos to listen to in pretty much each lesson. And, perhaps this is also being directed so that a more clear clergy/laity class distinction takes shape, which I definitely see happening. It’s tough to listen to this video because it is all about the GB but I think I see how they are directing the attention to them and the videos they are producing.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtAnnMtg/pub-jwb_202102_5_VIDEO

Thank you for sorting that video out for me to watch Susan. Yes, it certainly was “painful” to watch! I also read @goldie remark too and which I agree with. It is probably closer to the point to say that the preaching work has lost is focus than to say it’s stopped. Even so, that is not the point and which is probably, just as you say, in that the watchtower has negated preaching - “preach if you want” etc; and has taken control of the preaching itself on a take it or leave it basis. It brings in to focus the motive behind removing the obligation to preach through the dropping of recording hours. That is where the key appears to be. Not that the preaching has been abandoned, but the control and organisation, the motive, has been removed.

Why would anyone think that, with eight million souls at hand willing to personally preach and motivate a reason for belief, that it somehow is better to produce film that only reaches those whom already seek “god”? Was it not Jehovah’s intention that “people be warned?” for their own good and have someone to arrive on their doorstep and present the good news regardless of their interest or not? Yes it was. That way, there was and is, no excuse for ignorance - and which was an issue that watchtower made clear for decades. It was not just preaching the word, but delivering a warning.

This then adds clarity to the issue, because as Goldie also points out, there was a very real sense of danger along with the pandemic - no one wants to put themselves and family at risk to an unknown reaction. People certainly died and were lied to as well. As with all things satanic there is no certainty or truth, just confusion. And also, there are remaining in watchtower the honest hearted ones, who are blind and deaf - easily led then! Deceived. That is the basis for all of this - deceit.

The outcome is clear to, as you say, a clergy/laity, who are not responsible for each other; the clergy enjoying the reverence, money, income and authority, ….making a comfortable bed for themselves with no litigation to worry about whilst still coining income from residual preaching door to door and having a “congregation” - ergo, a “legitimacy” for their business. Just as Lett finished his talk with a huge “donate anyway you can” (it’s all good!), he stated their motive clearly.

I think I’m going to have to keep up with watchtower if I am to be better informed about their behaviours within prophesy. It’s going to be debilitating if Lett is going to continue his acting career this way, practically dancing on the spot as he was at one time. I thought he was about to break into a Ginger Rogers dance routine at one point! Thanks again for finding the video. It was a very good eye-opener!

 

[Ana]

It is interesting though that they did this world wide and here in Hawaii they could have conducted religious meetings and there was no ban on going to door to door except from the Org. Some places on the planet were more strict and some less strict but their “ban” was world wide with no consideration to local sensibilities. A huge departure from how they handled things previously. And, then they immediately stop counting preaching time. I am wondering if it is a long term goal to stop the door to door. They are relying more and more on videos and smart phones to do the preaching and at least it seems to me to be less on sharpening conversation skills. And, they are ramping up their dramas with the ones on Jesus, which I still have not watched because I stubbornly won’t say that I’ve attended the assembly. I’ll have to go online and see if its opened up now. My point is that it does seem like the flow is being directed at less and less of the public ministry. It would be a huge shock to just stop and so perhaps it is being introduced incrementally.

The public ministry has no doubt prevented some people from even considering the bible message which is evident in the ridicule that goes along with it. So, perhaps they are thinking they can bring in more people if they stop the door to door work? Just wondering.

Perhaps we will get clarity with the next pandemic, which appears to be in the works. From what I see locally a lot of the preaching is now with the literature carts, but the brothers and sisters are almost never engaged in conversation. It almost seems mind-numbing to just sit at the carts with no one to talk with. I think the new book they study with bible students has videos to listen to in pretty much each lesson. And, perhaps this is also being directed so that a more clear clergy/laity class distinction takes shape, which I definitely see happening. It’s tough to listen to this video because it is all about the GB but I think I see how they are directing the attention to them and the videos they are producing.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtAnnMtg/pub-jwb_202102_5_VIDEO

Casi es mejor que en este caso Lett, de pase a un vídeo o imágenes.