The Boy Who Cried Wolf!

Recently, I spoke with a friend about what is happening in the world and what the Bible says about so many present world events regarding the end of the world as we know it. His immediate response was “They have been saying that for years and nothing ever happened.” My friend was right, ‘they’ have. The’ International Bible Students Association’ preached back in the late 1870’s that Christ came invisibly in 1874, would rapture his church from the earth in 1881 and that this world system would be totally destroyed before the end of 1914. The leadership of this same group later claimed this world system would end in 1915, then 1918, 1925, within months in 1941, any day now , 1975 and again, at any moment. In their January 1st, 1989 magazine, speaking of the apostle Paul and his missionary activity, they stated, “He was laying a foundation for a work that would be completed in our 20th century.”
Due to so many false predictions and dates of this group along with others, many, I believe, have been desensitized to warnings and signs that all is not well. Some may not differentiate between false teaching organizations and the Bible, therefore; believing both are unbelievable. Others know that all is not well but are left believing that ‘Armageddon’ will simply be the end of the world.
Anyone who does believe that there may be something to the warnings may also ask “How do I know who is right, or who can I trust considering all of the false predictions about dates and events?” God gave Moses the answer to that same question in the fifth book of the Bible, Deuteronomy 18: 21 & 22. He said that if what a prophet speaks in God’s name does not come to pass, “he has spoken presumptuously”, it did not come from God. Therefore, don’t believe anything else they might tell you. It is that simple.
Some may ask “How do we know that the Bible is right?” Again, simple; look at some predictions in the Bible and see whether or not they have come true. There are literally hundreds of prophecies in the Bible that you can check out, many regarding what is happening in the world right now. Some easy ones to check out concern Israel. Hundreds of years B.C. God told the Jews what was going to happen to them over time; Jerusalem would be destroyed (which happened in 70 A.D.), they would be scattered throughout the nations of the world where they would be persecuted for a long time and that God would finally bring them back to their own land. Ezekiel 36:19-24
In 1891 the International Bible Students first president taught; “That the re-establishment of Israel in the land of Palestine is one of the events to be expected in this Day of the Lord, we are fully assured by the above expression of the Prophet. Notice particularly, that it cannot be interpreted in any symbolic sense.”
As late as 1931, the second president of ‘The International Bible Students Association’, known as Judge Rutherford, taught that the Jews returning to Palestine was a very significant sign that God was about to set up His kingdom on Earth. In 1925 he had written a book entitled ‘Comfort for the Jews’ and in 1929 a book entitled ‘Life’ in which he writes, “But is Israel cast off forever? The answer is, No, indeed…” He continues “…is conclusive proof that it is God’s purpose to restore Israel…”
But then in 1931, at a convention in Columbus, Ohio, Rutherford announced a new name for the Bible Students, one they enthusiastically embraced; ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’!
So what is the significance of this new name for the Bible Students? Well, in the Bible we read (Isaiah 43:10) “You are My witnesses says Jehovah”, speaking to the Jews. Now the Bible Students are calling themselves ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’. A gentleman I know suggested that perhaps someone said to President Rutherford, “Hey Judge, if we are now Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Jews are Jehovah’s witnesses…?” “No problem, we’ll drop the Jews. We the Bible Students are now ‘spiritual Israel’! “ By 1931, Hitler as leader of the Nazi party, was well on his way to power, his hatred of the Jews was well known and at a time when anti-Semitism was already on the rise. I am sure that Rutherford decided that it was best for the Watch Tower Society to distance themselves from the Jews anyway for their own preservation.
Rutherford began teaching just the opposite to what he had taught for years. He was now teaching that God is through with the Jews and that the Jews returning to Palestine has no Biblical significance.
Well, in 1948 the Jews in Palestine officially became the State of Israel after not having sovereignty in their land for almost 2,600 years. In Bible prophecy God said of the Jews, that He would bring them back to their own land from among the nations who are persecuting them. In the 1967 ‘six day war’ against incredible odds, the revived nation of Israel took back Jerusalem. Today the United Nations spends about 60 percent of its time dealing with issues relating to Israel, a nation that makes up about .1% of the world’s population. Why is that? God says of Jerusalem “I will make you a cup of trembling…”Zechariah 12:2 -3.
President Ahmadinejad of Iran has stated that it is his divine mandate to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. The Bible says at Psalm 83:4 “They have said, Come and let us cut them off from being a nation: that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.”
The Bible tells us that Russia will lead an attack on Israel, but five sixths of their armies will be destroyed (Ezekiel 39:1 -5). In the Book of Daniel, 11:44 we read that the leader of the Revived Roman Empire (the expanding European Union?) who has broken his peace pact with Israel, is disturbed by news of forces from the East and the North moving toward the middle east. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, states that an Oriental army numbering 200 million is about to cross a dried up Euphrates River headed toward Israel (Rev. 9:16 and 16:12). China has boasted for a number of years that they can alone mobilize 200 million soldiers.
To sum up, the Bible tells us that the nations intend to destroy Israel. Israel was chosen by God beginning with Abraham about 4,000 years ago to represent him on earth and God is not going to allow Israel to be destroyed. The Bible teaches that Armageddon is not the end of the world but is the end of man’s rule which has very nearly destroyed the earth. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ will return to rule the earth. Both Christians and Jews are anticipating the return of their Messiah.
‘The International Bible Students’ now known as ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ have worked so hard for over 130 years spreading the Watch Tower message given to them by an organization who has been using them, causing them to cry wolf through all of those years.
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society have caused much more harm to their own people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, than to anyone else, perhaps one of the most critical instances in the 1930’s and during World War II. In 1933 the German Government confiscated Watch Tower property in Germany. In an attempt to get their property back, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society widely circulated a ‘Declaration of Facts’ in Germany and sent copies to the high officials of the German government. Rutherford also wrote a letter to Hitler hoping to sway him in their favour. The Watch Tower stated in their declaration that “The present government of Germany has declared emphatically against Big Business oppressors and in opposition to the wrongful religious influence in the political affairs of the nation. Such is exactly our position: … instead of being against the principles advocated by the Government of Germany, we stand squarely for such principles…” They also made the following statement; “It has been the commercial Jews of the British-American empire that have built up and carried on Big Business as a means of exploiting and oppressing the peoples of many nations…This fact is so manifest in America that there is a proverb concerning the City of New York…’the Jews own it, the Irish Catholics rule it, and the Americans pay the bills’.” The full context of these quotes can be seen in the Watch Tower’s own 1934 year book of Jehovah’s Witnesses where their ‘Declaration of Facts’ is printed.
It was only after Judge Rutherford’s attempts failed to ingratiate the Watch Tower organization with Hitler that he began to criticize the Nazis. There is no doubt that Rutherford’s writings got Hitler’s attention but only with the effect of irritating him and causing Hitler and his goons to focus all the more on the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany. While Judge Rutherford was safely back in The U.S.A., many Jehovah’s Witnesses suffered and many died in concentration camps amongst the Jews whom Rutherford had turned on.
In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus warns of many false prophets and many coming in His name even saying that they are the Christ. That organization, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, has been guilty of both.
If you have been disillusioned or simply annoyed by all of these false predictions, or if you believe that I am simply crying wolf as well, why not check out a few of the prophecies in the Bible. If nothing else, I think that you will find it at least interesting to compare them with so many of today’s headlines. There have been a number of very good commentaries written about Biblical prophecy concerning our time as well as web sites to help you navigate through the Bible to rather quickly see for yourself what the Bible has to say on the subject. Find a church that includes the second coming of Christ in their teaching and get the full picture.
If you care to relay your thoughts to me, whatever they may be, you can comment or you can e-mail me, confidentially if you like to: edwardbrown@xplornet.ca
Edward Brown