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Some Crackpot Predictions made by the leadership of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society more commonly known as the Jehovah's Witnesses by Jack Kettler “But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Matthew 24:36 Some people just don't get it. Jesus was emphatic about this question of His coming. Unfortunately, many people throughout the ages have been mistaken about His coming. The passage of time has vindicated Jesus and shown every predictor to be wrong. We plainly can't know when “the end” will come. A Biblical Warning: To start, consider: “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken, but the prophet has spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of him” Deuteronomy 18:22. If someone makes a false prophecy or prediction, they are false prophets and are not to be listened to nor feared. Do the Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be a prophet of God? Let's let them speak: “So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come? …He had a “prophet” to warn them. This “prophet” was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses. …Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a “prophet” of God. It is another thing to prove it. The only way that this can be done is to review the record. What does it show?”1 Regarding the passage from Deuteronomy, whether a man or organization is making prophetic predictions, it only takes one false prediction to qualify as a false prophet. The following examples are some of the many times this organization has predicted the end of the world: In 1899 “...the 'battle of the great day of God Almighty' (Revelation 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced.”2 After the failure of the prophecy in 1914, they recalculated and predicted in 1918: “Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews 11, to the condition of human perfection.”3 As the time grew closer they became even more audacious, saying: 1922 “The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures than 1914.”4 An almost fever pitch is reached in 1923 when proclaimed: “Our thought is, that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures. As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge.”5 Reality begins to set in, and the leaders start preparing the faithful in case they were wrong again. They now begin to backtrack: “The year 1925 is here. With great expectation Christians have looked forward to this year. Many have confidently expected that all members of the body of Christ will be changed to heavenly glory during this year. This may be accomplished. It may not be. In his own due time God will accomplish his purposes concerning his people. Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire this year.”6 Unbelievably, in 1925 the Watchtower leaders try to blame on Satan, their own teachings concerning the end of the world. They say: “It is to be expected that Satan will try to inject into the minds of the consecrated, the thought that 1925 should see an end to the work.”7 They keep on going with more date setting: “The year 1940 is certain to be the most important year yet, because Armageddon is very near. It behooves all who love righteousness to put forth every effort to advertise THE THEOCRACY while the privileges are still open.”8 They still had more to say in 1940: “The Kingdom is here, the King is enthroned. Armageddon is just ahead. The glorious reign of Christ that shall bring blessings to the world will immediately follow. Therefore the great climax has been reached. Tribulation has fallen upon those who stand by the Lord.”9 After admitting there have been many false predictions about the end of world, the Watchtower is at it again. In 1968 they say: “True, there have been those in times past who predicted an 'end to the world', even announcing a specific date. Yet nothing happened. The 'end' did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing?.. Missing from such people were God's truths and evidence that he was using and guiding them.”10 Again in 1968, the Watchtower boldly says: “Why are you looking forward to 1975?”11 The year 1975 came and went with nothing extraordinary happening. The Jehovah's Witnesses, as with all per-millennial cults are obsessed with date setting. Their flawed eschatology which engages in Eisegesis of Scripture forces them into the error of date setting. As seen from the partial list of erroneous predictions this organization has made, the one who has wisdom should stay away from its grasp. The following information will greatly help the interpreter carefully and safely study the Scriptures. The Grammatico-Historical-Hermeneutical Method: This method of interpretation focuses attention not only on literary forms but upon grammatical constructions and historical contexts out of which the Scriptures were written. It is solidly in the ‘literal schools’ of interpretation and is the hermeneutical methodology embraced by virtually all evangelical Protestant exegetes and scholars. Exegesis, the interpretive Norm: Exegesis (from the Greekἐξήγησιςfrom ἐξηγεῖσθαι'to lead out') is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage, it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term “Biblical exegesis” is used for greater specificity. The goal of Biblical exegesis is to explore the meaning of the text which then leads to discovering its significance or relevance. Exegesis includes a wide range of critical disciplines: textual criticism is the investigation into the history and origins of the text, but exegesis may include the study of the historical and cultural backgrounds for the author, the text, and the original audience. Other analysis includes classification of the type of literary genres present in the text and an analysis of grammatical and syntactical features in the text itself. Eisegesis, the Interpretive Danger: Eisegesis (fromGreekεἰς "into" and ending from exegesis from ἐξηγεῖσθαι "to lead out") is the process of misinterpreting a text in such a way that it introduces one's own ideas, reading into the text. This is best understood when contrasted with exegesis. While exegesis draws out the meaning from the text, eisegesis occurs when a reader reads his/her interpretation into the text. As a result, exegesis tends to be objective when employed effectively while eisegesis is regarded as highly subjective. An individual who practices eisegesis is known as an eisegete, as someone who practices exegesis is known as an exegete. Notes:
Mr. Kettler has previously published articles in the Chalcedon Report and Contra Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend the Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. Mr. Kettler is the author of the book defending the Reformed Faith against attacks, titled: The Religion That Started in a Hat. Available at: www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com For More Study: Matthew 24 and the Great Tribulation by Brian Schwertley at: http://www.reformedonline.com/…/reformedonl…/Tribulation.htm The Great Tribulation by David Chilton at: Some Great Resources: Biblical Hermeneutics main page: http://hermeneutics.kulikovskyonline.net/h…/hermeneutics.htm Biblical Interpretation (Hermeneutics) Introductions to Biblical Interpretation: http://www.bible-researcher.com/links16.html Online Bible Study tools:
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