NO. 410: LOOSING THE FOUR WINDS OF HEAVEN

by Epiphany Bible Students


No. 410

The subject for this paper is to be found in Rev. 7:1-3, which we quote from the Diaglott: “After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, re­straining the four winds of the earth, so that no wind might blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to injure the earth and the sea, saying ‘injure not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the bond-servants of our God in their foreheads.”’

Companion to the foregoing is Dan. 7:2: “The four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea.” And related to these two is Dan. 3:19: “Then the form of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision was changed against Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego ... he commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.”

It is our understanding that the “four winds of heaven” in these texts refer to the fallen angels – the evil spirits of Jesus’ day, which are counterfeited in the Greek and Roman heathen teachings of the “demigods” – creatures that were assumed to be half God and half man. They are the “giants” (the Nephilim) of Gen. 6:3 and Num. 13:33 ­the demons that were formed through the union of “the sons of God and the daughters of men” – “giants (Nephilim) in the earth in those days ... mighty men – men of renown.” The ten spies that brought back the evil report said, “There we saw the giants (Nephilim), the sons of Anak ... we were in our own sight as grasshoppers.” “And the people wept that night” (Num. 14:1), for they were terrorized at the mere mention of those demigods, which permeated most of the heathen religions of that day.

First, to explain the incident in Dan. 3:19-25: The golden image represented mil­itarism in the end of this Age, which demanded obeisance from all sections and groups in the various nations. Of course, many of the Truth boys refused to do this; and the treatment accorded many of them was something to contemplate. It is stated that the fiery furnace was heated seven times worse than had ever been done before; and those of us who were involved have vivid memory of the truth of that statement. Quite a few of the Truth brethren were put to death in some European countries; and, as we recall, a couple of them were slain here in the United States. But many others here were given most inhuman treatment. When some of the objectors came into that detachment they were so bruised they could not sit down, a few of them having to stand while eating for sev­eral days. It is difficult to believe that such abuse went on here in this great United States; but it did!

Names given to the people in the Old Testament often revealed certain characteris­tics or positions among the Lord’s people; and we believe the names of the three Hebrew youths are some of these, and they represent three classes living in the end of this Age the Little Flock, the Great Company and the Youthful Worthies – all of whom had to cope with Militarism, Sectarianism and religious hatred in the warring nations: Shadrach means ‘royal,’ and offers a strong hint to the “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9); Meshach means ‘guest,’ with allusion to those who are to be “guests” at the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9); and Abed-nego means ‘servant of the prophet,’ referring to the Youthfuls who are in the same class with the Ancients (Moses faithful in all his house as a ser­vant – Heb. 3:5). Much could be said about the treatment accorded to all three class­es during the first World War, but that is not the purpose of this article.

However, we would emphasize here that the meaning of the Hebrew names is strongly indicative of the truth of these types here in the end of the Age, because there have been Only Three such classes in the END OF THE AGE, the Ancient Worthies having no part whatever in the events that have taken place, because they were not here. Never­theless, we have other very strong types that prove four elect classes – the Little Flock, the Great Company, the Ancient and the Youthful Worthies. These types are to be found in the Tabernacle picture; and especially so in Noah’s Ark, which are defi­nitely and clearly pictured there: Noah and his wife – Christ and His Church; Shem and his wife – the Ancient Worthy leaders and the lesser lights among them; Japheth and his wife – the Great Company leaders and ledlings; and Ham and his wife – the Youthful Wor­thy leaders and ledlings.

Also 2 Tim. 2:20 is a very clear picture of the four elect classes: “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.” The gold – the Little Flock ­and the silver – the Great Company (see Berean comments on Mal. 3:3 and 2 Tim. 2:20); the wood – the Ancient Worthies and the earth – the Youthful Worthies. The great House of typical Aaron, Lev. 16:6; Num. 17:2, 3; 3:6-9, 17-20, consisted of his sons and the three typical class of Levites; accordingly, in the great House of our Great High Priest, there are four classes antitypical of these. And (additionally) vessels of honor (the faithful Restitutionists) and dishonor (the Goats of the next age).

It should be remembered here that That Servant emphasized that the six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures are a direct outgrowth of the Truth to be found in the Taber­nacle. Also, that the Ark types “Christ and the power in Him which will replenish and reorganize society.” The great deluge was a type of the Time of Trouble here in the end of this Age; and, just as Noah and his family began an entirely new Society after the flood, so these four elect classes will also develop an entirely new social order ­“which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people” (Dan. 2:44) – the four elect classes mentioned above shall be the benevolent absolute rulers of that Kingdom.

REV. 7:1-3 – Much confusing error has been produced by faulty interpretations of this text. As example, The Finished Mystery (JFR, et al) explain “the four angels of the earth” as God’s chosen people; but v. 2 says of these four angels “to whom it was given to hurt the earth (the present social order) and the sea” (the restless masses). At no time under present evil conditions are the Lord’s people ordered – or permitted ­to hurt the earth. They are never messengers of wrath; but rather, they are told to “follow peace with all men” (Heb. 12:14); and in Gal. 5:22 we are told that one of the fruits of the spirit is peace.

It is our understanding that these four angels of destruction represent four class­es of humanity, the same having been led into destructive error by a false teaching: (1) the Divine right of kings; (2) the Divine right of the clergy; (3) the Divine right of the aristocracy; (4) and the Divine right of labor. Our readers are all prob­ably familiar with the Divine right of kings, and the evils that have resulted from that obsession. Then with the clergy that same evil has produced the BIG I and the Little You. Don’t try to read your Bible; let us do it, and tell you what it means. We our­selves have known some Catholic priests who have gone into quite a flutter when some member of his congregation dared to ask some questions the priest could not answer. Also, in some countries, the aristocrats consider themselves the stewards and almoners of the earth, whose duty and privilege it is to mark out the domestic course of their hirelings. And with Labor, their outstanding fault is their belief that earth’s prod­ucts belong to their producers.

But these very evils did restrain the “four winds” (the fallen angels) from precip­itating the nations into destructive combat before the “due time”; namely, 1914 ­when the time had come for the glorified Lord to take to Himself His great power and to “rule the nations with an iron sceptre – as the earthen vessels it is breaking them to­gether.” (Rev. 2:27, Dia.)

However, it should be carefully noted that this restraint was to be only “that no wind (the great war) might blow on the earth ... till we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads” (7:1-3) – giving them sufficient knowledge of “Present Truth” to enable them to “come out of her, My people” (Rev. 18:4). But as each respective nation became involved in that war either directly or devastatingly indirectly – then the words of Jesus became painstakingly obvious: “The night cometh, when no man can work.” (John 9:4) It should not be difficult to understand that when the three Hebrews (God’s Harvest work­ers) were cast into the fiery furnace, the thought of any more Harvest work was definitely forced from their minds; they had more than enough to “Hold fast that which thou hast.” The time had indeed arrived “That the plowman (the Time of Trouble) shall overtake the reaper ...; and the mountains (autocratic governments) shall drop sweet wine, and the hills (liberal democracies) shall melt.” (Amos 9:13) And the progress continues with ever-increasing fury to this day.

THAT SERVANT’S COMMENTS

At the outset it had been our intention to use mainly in this paper quotations from That Servant; and the foregoing introduction has been much longer than we anticipated; but we now offer the following from the Watchtower of May 15, 1911, keeping in mind that the world at that time seemed in such a peaceful condition that only a handful of earnest believers accepted the idea of a world conflagration in 1914, which probably caused the following comments:

“Our recent visit to Europe revealed no more unrest amongst the people than our previous one. Indeed, we were surprised to find so many evidences of prosper­ity everywhere and so few manifestations of violent discontent. Some residents con­firmed this view, while others thought that there is a deep undercurrent of discontent not manifest on the surface. Our readers know that for some years we have been expecting this Age to close with an awful time of trouble, and we expect it to break out with sud­denness and force not long after October 1914, which, so far as we can understand the Scriptures, is the date at which the Times of the Gentiles – the lease of earth’s domin­ions to the Gentiles – will expire; the time, therefor, when Messiah’s Kingdom will be due to begin its exercise of power, which the Scriptures declare will dash the nations in pieces as a potter’s vessel. By that time we think the Scriptures indicate that the Church will be complete and will have passed beyond the second veil into the “most holy” and to perfection of spirit nature by a share in the First Resurrection. Nevertheless, how this is all to come about, as we have heretofore declared, is not plain to us – how it will be that all of the Church class will die before that date, changed in the moment of their dying – “in the twinkling of an eye.”

“But while considering these perplexities, and considering also the fact that we have no fault to find with the chronological features of the Bible, our mind is directed to an old Scripture which suddenly seems to have a new importance. We refer to the statement, “I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth that the wind (the World War—JJH) should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree ... Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” (Rev. 7:1-3)”

Here we would inject the thought that the war did not break out in any country until the saints there had been “sealed in their foreheads.” although   the United States did not become officially involved until April 7, 1917, all the plans had been made by the middle of 1916 to become officially involved, and all our industrial resources were engaged in helping our friends to carry on. President Wilson was wholeheartedly on the side of the Allies, but he used the slogan “He kept us out of war” to gain re-election in November 1916; then almost immediately after his second inauguration in March 1917 he declared war on the Central Powers.

Now more from the Tower quotation: “We have long seen that these symbolic winds rep­resent strife, anarchy, the great Time of Trouble which is held in check by Divine power until the completion of the harvest work, sealing of the living members of the elect class with Present Truth. We long ago pointed out that these four winds let loose, coming together, will constitute a whirlwind, which is the symbolical figure used in the Bible to represent the great Time of Trouble approaching. And this whirlwind corresponds to the typical one by which Elijah, the prototype of the Church, was taken away. Winds always represent false doctrines. (Eph. 4:14)

THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR

“Nothing that we see further contradicts any of the foregoing, but rather, corrob­orating it, throws a light upon it. The additional thought is that these winds or pow­ers of the air, held in restraint, represent the fallen angels, whose prince is Satan, “the prince of the power of the air.” Our thought is that the evil angels would long ago have done injury to the symbolic earth, sea and trees, had it not been for the re­straint of Divine power. Symbolically, the earth represents organized society; the sea represents the disorganized masses, and the trees represent the Household of Faith (or prominent ones in organized society—JJH). The letting loose suddenly of the fallen an­gels will account well for the suddenness of the coming trouble, which everywhere in the Scriptures is one of its particular features – ‘in one hour’ – ; ‘suddenly as travail upon a woman’; ‘as it was in the days of Noah,’ and ‘as it was in the days of Lot.’

“Again there is a resemblance between the days of Noah and the days of Lot (the flood burst suddenly upon ‘the world that was’ – just as the fire and brimstone fell sud­denly upon the Cities of the Plain—JJH), not merely in respect to the suddenness of the calamity which came, but also in regard to the violence of the calamity which came, but also in regard to the violence and licentious­ness of those periods. Already human prej­udice and passions are manifesting a heat such as never before was known – and this, not­withstanding the much greater provision of army and police regulations for the control of society. If discontent, selfishness, passion, frenzy, can sway mankind under present conditions, what may we expect when the ‘powers of the air’ shall be allowed to gain a temporary liberty for the very purpose of manifesting the evil tendencies of the unregen­erate heart; for the very purpose of demonstrating that no liberty can bring true happi­ness, except that which is in full accord with the Divine requirement.” (Reprints 4822, 4823 – May 15, 1911)

When That Servant emphasizes the suddenness with which the war would come, he did not fully realize just how suddenly it would be. The Archduke of Austria and his wife were driving thru the quiet peaceful countryside of Servia, when they were both assassinated. Within two days the armies of Germany, Austria, Russia, England and France were being mobilized. Then Germany gave Russia twenty-four hours to explain why they were mobilizing; and, receiving no answer, Germany then declared war on Russia; and in a few days England, Austria and France all declared war. The armies of Germany swept through France and Belgium with unbelievable rapidity; the whole European world was precipitated into a holocaust never before seen (“a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation”); the New York Stock Exchange was closed for ninety days; no one could buy or sell regardless of how pressing that necessity might be. And here it might be well to state that the date 1914 clearly pointed the finger to that Servant as the one mentioned in Jer. 1:5: “I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

It should be noted here that “God spared not the angels that sinned, but... deliv­ered them into chains of darkness [the atmosphere about this earth], to be reserved unto judgment [the great day of wrath]” – 2 Pet. 2:4. Since which time they have been abus­ing their freedom; will abuse it yet more in Armageddon; and will abuse it yet more in the fire of the great day, when Anarchy will prevail – “no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction.” (Zech. 8:10) At the end of this tribulation the Devil will be spirited away. “And he seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is an enemy and the Adversary, and bound him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:2, Dia.) The Epiphany (the Epiphaneia) means brignt shining and is manifesting persons, principles and things, which we see happening ever day.

MORE FROM THE WATCH TOWER

“SPARED IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE – ‘They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.’ Like many other prophecies, the words of the Prophet Malachi seem to have a general application throughout  the Gospel Age and a particular one at the close of the Age. Eighteen hundred years ago the Lord Jehovah began to make up His jewels. The first of these jewels was our Lord Jesus Christ, who was polished, perfected and taken on high. Jehovah did not cease His work with the perfection of His Son, our Lord. He has arranged that other jewels be cut and polished after the similitude of His Son, that they may shine with Him in the heavenly glory and Kingdom; as it is written, ‘We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.’ (Eph. 2:10)

“The Messenger of the Covenant is, primarily, our Lord Jesus, Who came more than eighteen hundred years ago and presented Himself to those who were heirs of the New Cov­enant – the Jews.

THE PRESENT WONDERFUL TIME

“In the closing scenes of the Gospel Age will be the most remarkable of the world’s history, the Church will then be completed. We are not at liberty to guess when the end of the trouble will be. Whether all of the trouble will come in the next two or three years we do not know. But we think that he most serious part of the trouble will occupy a very short time.

“Let us remember that we are living in most wonderful times. More can be accom­plished in one month now than could have been done in years sometime ago – more in one hour than in days formerly. (The cruising speed of our present-day passenger airplanes is about 625 miles per hour. When Jesus was here the finest of horses could do little more than ten miles per hour; and that they could not continue for more than an hour or two—JJH) We are still in the waiting attitude, so that the Lord can indicate His will in the matter for us. We believe that the year 1915 will be even more wonderful than the present. We fully believe that the year 1914 will see the end of the Gentile Times for we cannot find even one flaw in our Bible chronology. [Because of the great calm that prevailed in 1913, we were told by some brethren that Brother Russell selected some of his leading helpers, and asked them to check minutely as it is compiled in Parousia Vol. 2; but they could find nothing wrong with it.]

“We do not claim infallibility. To err is human. If, therefore, the Father per­mits us to blunder in respect to His word in this matter, nevertheless, He will undoubt­edly have a great blessing for us. And if it should be that the year 1914 should not mark the close of the Gentile Times, we would still believe that the time could not be far distant; for the nearer we come to that time, the nearer we see the fulfillment of the things which the Scriptures indicate will then occur.” (Reprints 5119, Oct. 15, 1912)

And in Parousia Vol. 2, p. 101, par. 1, there is this: “Be not surprised then when in subsequent chapters we present proofs that the setting up of the Kingdom of God is already begun, and it is pointed out in prophecy as due to begin the exercise of power in A. D. 1878, and that the battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14) will begin in A. D. 1914, and that it will end in the complete overthrow of earth’s present ruler­ship. The gathering of the armies is plainly visible from the standpoint of God’s Word.”

“Since the Church of Christ, which has been developing during the Gospel Age, is to be associated with her Lord in the great restitution work of the Millennial Age, the first work of Christ at the Second Advent must be the gathering of His elect Church, to which reference is made by the Prophet (Psa. 50:5), saying, ‘Gather my saints together unto me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.’ This gathering or harvest­ing time is in the lapping period of the two Ages. As will be shown, it is a period of forty years, which both ends the Gospel Age and introduces the Millennial Age. (Vol. 1, pp. 219-221, & Chart of the Ages) This harvest period not only accomplishes the separa­tion of wheat from tares in the nominal Gospel Church, and the gathering and glorification of the wheat class, but it is also to accomplish the burning ‘destruction) of the tares, or imitation wheat, not as individuals (the fire is symbolic as well as the tares), and the gathering and destruction of the corrupt fruitage of the Vine of the Earth (human ambition, greed and selfishness), which has been growing and ripening for centuries in the kingdoms of this world and in the civil and social organizations among men.” (Par. Vol. 2, pp. 104-105)

Also from Par. Vol. 2, p. 77, par. 5: “Fifthly, that by that date (the end of the Gentile Times—JJH), or sooner, Israel’s blindness will begin to be turned away (pub­lished in 1889—JJH); because their ‘blindness in part’ was to continue only ‘until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in’ (Rom. 11:25), or, in other words, until the full num­ber from among the Gentiles, who are to be members of the Body of Christ, would be proba­tionally selected.”

Further from p. 78, par. 1: “Seventhly, it will prove that before that date (em­phasis by That Servant—JJH) God’s Kingdom, organized in power, will be in the earth and then smite and crush the Gentile image (Dan. 2:34) – and fully consume the power of these kings. Its own power and dominion will be established as fast as by its varied influ­ences and agencies it crushes and scatters the powers that be, civil and ecclesiastical­ly, iron and clay.”

From the above it is clear enough that Brother Russell believed when first publish­ing Vol. 2 in 1889 (25 years before 1914) that all the saints would be selected by the end of the Gentile Times. However, after 1914 he did say the High Calling was still open. He came to that conclusion because so many were then coming into the Truth; but he did not realize that most of those were members of antitypical Lot, who began to flee from that “great city, which spiritually is called Sodom” (Rev. 11:8) when the fire and brimstone began to fall on Christendom with the outbreak of World War One. We are told of quite a few who had been waiting to see if Brother Russell’s 1914 date would prove correct – and they then left Babylon when the happenings did prove the date to be correct.

Here we should keep in mind, however, that not all of such were of antitypical Lot, as some of the saints did not come into the Truth until Passover 1916; but those saints were all sealed in the forehead before their native country was engulfed in the War; but the “night wherein no man could work” arrived when the respective countries became in­volved, at which time “the plowman (the plowshare of Trouble) overtook the reapers.”

But Brother Russell still taught that the Kingdom began to be set up in the Spring of 1878; and we agree with that conclusion. Most of our readers know than the “stone” is the Little Flock; and Brother Russell says this in Par. Vol. 1, p. 255:

“The stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which smites and scatters the Gentile powers, represents the true Church, the Kingdom of God. During the Gospel Age this ‘stone’ kingdom is being formed, ‘cut out,’ carved and shaped for its future posi­tion and greatness – not by human hands, but by the power or spirit of the truth, the invisible power of Jehovah. When complete, when entirely cut out, it will smite and de­stroy the kingdoms of this world. Not the people, but the governments, are symbolized by the image, and these are to be destroyed that the people may be delivered. Our Lord Jesus came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.—John 3:17.”

In view of the fact that the kingdoms of this world are being scattered and smitten after the end of the Gentile Times – 1914 after World War One began – we conclude that the reaping part of the Harvest was indeed a forty-year period – from 1874 to 1914.

(To be concluded in Part Two.)

“Therefore, Beloved, seeing ye know these things Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever.” (2 Pet. 3:17,18)

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

(Reprint No. 311, May 1981)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION – Who exposed the falsehood of the trinity, immortality of the human soul, and hellfire? Who warned of the dangers of evolution and spiritism?

ANSWER – The above question was posed in the March 15, 1990 Watchtower. Their answer:

“The facts show that it was a group of Anointed Christians associated with the publishers of the magazine Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence, now called the Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom.”

Their above answer, which they claim are the facts, would lead their readers to believe that a “group of Anointed Christians” gave them the above–mentioned truths and that this same “group of Anointed Christians” were the founder of their organization. In times past they have stated that Pastor Russell was the founder of their organization. He was the founder of their organization but not the founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses and their false teaching. However, they have retained the basic truths above-mentioned, because these fundamental doctrines lure people who believe in God’s Word. They accept these doctrines because they are Scripturally proven. This lulls them into believing that all their teachings are doctrinally true. So they close their eyes, open their mouths and swallow all their errors without question.

The truth is that Brother Russell was the editor of Zion’s Watch Tower and gave us the truths that they falsely claim were given to them by a “group of Anointed Christians.” Brother Russell was the author of the Studies in the Scriptures in which these truths were given, as well as the author of many other books. Bible Student groups reprint the Watch Towers, the Studies in the Scriptures, as well as his other books. Bible students distribute thousands of the Studies in the Scriptures yearly. Their public messages bring Glad Tidings of Great Joy to many people, while the messages of the Witnesses bring Bad Tidings of Great Misery to all those who do not join them.

For a time after Brother Russell’s demise, the Society used the Studies in the Scriptures in their meetings. Quite a few learned the truth from these books, and were quick to recognize the errors the Society began to promulgate. They are no longer Bible Students but are recognized by the name of Jehovah’s Witnesses since the 1930s when they were given this sectarian name. The Bible Student groups give a comforting message to all people just as did Brother Russell. Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only group to emanate from the movement of Brother Russell that predict dire consequences to those who do not join them.

Papacy is a prototype of the Witnesses. The Roman Catholic Church branded all who did not agree with them as heretics. History is replete with the hideous crimes they committed in their hey-day. The Witnesses are saying substantially the same things, although   in our day they cannot commit the crimes the Catholics did in the Dark Ages. Nor do they consign their opposers to eternal torment – just death with no chance of a resurrection.

They once taught that their “Great Crowd” would not die but live to the Kingdom. But so many of their devotees have since died, they had to change their teaching. They change their teaching to suit their purposes just as the chameleon changes its color.

The Papacy and the Witnesses boast of their large numbers as their strength, but their numbers are their weakness. Our Lord intimated by His question in Luke 18:8 that the truth would be scarce in our day, which indeed it is! “The earth [the present social structure] shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.” (Isa. 24:20) We see the reeling to and fro today but are comforted by our Lord’s Words in Matt. 24:35: “Heaven and earth [the present ecclesiastical and social order] shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

The Witnesses predicted “Millions Now Living Will Never Die” after 1925. That was a fiasco as all know. Also, they predicted Armageddon for 1975, which did not mature. They now preach that millions will die and never be resurrected if they don’t join them before Armageddon. They gain many simple-minded people to join them through fear, just as their prototype, Papacy, gained numbers to join them through fear of hellfire. We are reminded of the counsel given in Deu. 18:22: “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet has spoken presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

Brother Russell gave us the truth of God’s inspired Word as no other man has done since the days of the Apostles. It was because it was the “due time” for the truth to be revealed on His Plan of Salvation for all mankind. He never claimed perfection nor inspiration as the Apostles had. He never taught that his movement was God’s organization on earth – nor that all had to join him to get salvation. He always advised the brethren to prove any teaching he presented by God’s Word. He did not use fear to gain numbers, but most of the people went with him because of the love of God and appreciation of His “goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psa. 107:31)

Advancing light does not cast away former truth, but advancing error does. The Witnesses have cast away most of the teachings of Brother Russell – the Studies in the Scriptures, the Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s presence, and the Watch Towers edited by him. Those who have retained these truths have abided by the Apostle Paul’s counsel to Timothy: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.” (2 Tim. 3:14)

J. F. Rutherford, the Witnesses’ first president, eulogized and praised Brother Russell – said he was one of the greatest men that ever lived. He said that millions of the Studies in the Scriptures were distributed during his ministry from 1881 to 1914. He was the author of the “Photo-Drama of Creation,” which prior to his death, had been distributed to about twelve millions of people. JFR also referred to That Wise and Faithful Servant of Luke 12:42-44 and Matt. 25:45-47, saying that thousands of readers of Pastor Russell’s writings believe he filled the office of ‘that faithful and wise servant in his great work of the giving to the Household ‘meat in due season.’ (For further comments by “Judge” Rutherford about Pastor Russell see 1916 Watch Tower and Overland Monthly.)

However, it was not long until he changed his mind. Now the new light (?) the Jehovah’s Witnesses present have no resemblance to Brother Russell’s teaching. If they were God’s Kingdom on earth as they claim, they would make no false predictions nor would they need to change their teachings to suit their purposes.

In this “evil world” (Gal. 1:4) the “god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Cor. 4:4) The Witnesses are trying to get these “blind” people to join them. They have succeeded in getting them to join them, as there are many blind people in their organization. There are many good people in their organization the same as there are good people in other systems of error. People will accept any kind of hocus-pocus rather than the truth. But when God turns over a “pure language” (Zeph. 3:9) to the people in the Kingdom, the “inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9)

It is a misnomer to classify Jehovah’s Witnesses as “Truth People.” They are more responsible to God than other systems of error because they inherited the truth and cast it out. We can’t be sure that the Witnesses now teach a firm date for the close of the door to the High Calling. At one time they said the door was closed in 1918, but since that time some of their remnant became unfaithful and they had to open the door for others to take their place. So we can’t be sure what their position is now.