NO. 253: THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND THEIR PREDICTIONS

No. 253

Over the years the Witnesses have attempted to interpret some of the time proph­ecies in the Bible, having been very emphatic about some of them; but with every one of their efforts ending in complete failure – with time itself offering indisputable proof of our statement.

The first of such bunglings was their announcement that the High Calling would close at Passover 1918; but they themselves subsequently changed that statement sev­eral times; and even now they do not have a firm date for that event. However, their first real debacle toward the world (the 1918 date was something discussed among them­selves, and never received general publication) was the “Millions Now Living Will Never Die” – none need die after 1925, they emphasized – which they proclaimed in almost ev­ery meeting to the general public, with a very positive date of 1925 as the exact time for that great event to arrive.

Their main Scripture for this conclusion was 2 Chron. 36:21: “The land had enjoyed her sabbaths.... to fulfill threescore years and ten.” The “sabbaths” mentioned here are the 50-year jubilee-cycle sabbaths, of which there was to be one every fifty years. The first of these occurred in 1575 B.C.; and that would place the last one 3500 years later – in 1925. The installation and method of operation for the 50-year jubilees is given in the 25th Chapter of Leviticus; and we shall not go into detail here, other than to say their 1925 date was based upon a miscalculation of the overall operation of the jubilees – type and antitype. But 1925 came and went without the slightest hint that their predictions had been sound.

The humiliation for their President, J. F. Rutherford, was so overwhelming – and the dissatisfaction among his “dedicated devotees” was so tense – that he had to pro­duce something to offset his colossal failure. So what did he do? He seized upon Rev. 10:6, “There should be time no longer,” and interpreted this as meaning they were no longer to consider time prophecies in their teachings. Of course, that conclusion was self-evident nonsense, because the text in the King James version is a rank mistransla­tion. The Diaglott states it thus: “The time should be no longer delayed”; that is, “the secret of God should be completed” (see v. 7) – “no longer delayed.”

Nevertheless, the large majority of his followers accepted his erroneous conclu­sion on this mistrans­lation, and said almost nothing for some years about the time fea­tures of the great Plan of the Ages as outlined in the Bible. But after JFR’s death in 1943 his successors began again to nibble at time prophecies – all the while emphasizing imminent Armageddon and the subsequent destruction of all those who failed to join in with them. But in these hallucinations they lost one more essential teaching left them by Pastor Russell – they no longer have the truth on the chronology, the chronology they so ably defended against erroneous attacks by some people who had left their Society shortly after Pastor Russell’s death in October 1916.

However, more recently they have come up with the date of 1975 as the time for Armageddon’s occurrence; but that date has now come and gone – and once more they are publicly manifested as “false prophets,” in accordance with 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 hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

For the past year or two, seeing that conditions might not produce Armageddon by 1975, they were “suggesting” more than they were being positive; although we are informed that one of their English represent­atives came on the radio in the Spring of 1975 and vehemently and positively declared 1975 as the time for Armageddon – warning that all who did not join up with them would suffer annihilation in the approaching holocaust.

However, at their American’ headquarters, this another total failure on their part has manifestly been causing them to “sweat”; so they have come up in several of their papers with the words of Jesus: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the an­gels of heaven but my Father only.” (Matt. 24:36) This causes us to wonder if they have just now discovered that tent! During the early Parousia – from 1874 to 1914 ­that Scripture was the shibboleth of Babylonian errorists whenever the second coming of Christ was mentioned by the Watch Tower. They had no other answer to the subject; but it satisfied a large segment of their gullible followers. Now the Witnesses are using it as a crutch – just recently; and with them it goes a little deeper than meets the eye. With 1975 now a proven hoax, it leaves the Witnesses without any firm chronology; they are now floating around in space; and it remains to be seen whether their “dedi­cated” devotees will once again swallow this myth as readily as they have their many other revolutionisms against the finely-harmonious system of Truth that Pastor Russell left to them.

Their aberrations of the true chronology are finally making them an open spectacle, and revealing the unsoundness of all their dates. It is now impossible for them to produce any clear-cut compilation of time features, so they tell us that “no man know­eth the day or the hour.” This text does not say that no man ever would know; and we know from clear Scripture that Jesus came to know definitely the day and the hour ­even though He did not know it when He spoke Matt. 24:36. And we know, too, that Pastor Russell pinpointed 1914 as the end of the Gentile Times; and he did that more than 25 years before 1914.

MORE RECENT CONTENTIONS

During the “Millions” uproar in the twenties the Witnesses (then known as The Soci­ety – they did not adopt the Witnesses name until the thirties) did not offer the dire distress that would come upon those that did not accept their teachings. In fact, their intention was then to impress the general public with the appealing message of the ap­proaching Kingdom, which would eliminate all their physical and financial worries. Thus they placed great emphasis upon the comforting words of Rev. 21:14: “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” This is the very antithesis of their present mes­sage, in which they are proclaiming the total annihilation of all who do not now accept their errors – and they do this boldly, just as though they have been giving the truth in their publications over the years past. Thus, the words of Solomon concerning the lewd woman well apply to them: “She wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.” (Prov. 30:20)

It is well to recall here that shortly after 1918 (after their leader J. F. Rutherford and seven others were released from Atlanta Penitentiary in 1919) they published the claim that the “Lord came to His temple in 1918”; and there was fulfilled Mal. 3: 1-4, which made them a “clean” organization “as in the days of old.” But, at the same time they were making that claim, they also were starting the proclamation “Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” which time itself proved that message to be one of the most unclean teachings of the entire Gospel Age; there was not one word of truth in it.

All the errors they have concocted in recent years are a direct contradiction to the teachings of Pastor Russell. They are telling us that God’s Kingdom was set up on earth in 1914, but a short review of the parallel dispensations will easily reveal the folly of this contention. The Jewish harvest and subsequent destruction of Jerusalem’s temple and dispersion of the Jews was a small picture of the trouble that was to come upon Christendom since 1914. Note now what Pastor Russell has to say about this in his book “Thy Kingdom Come,” p. 149: “After telling of the burning of the tares (the parallel of the burning of the chaff in 70 A.D.—JJH), the parable further declares ‘Then shall the righteous (the wheat) shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.’ What better testimony than this could we have, that the true church is not set up in power, as God’s Kingdom, and that it will not be thus exalted until this harvest is ended? Then shall this sun of righteousness, of which Christ Jesus will always be the central glory, arise with healing in his beams, to bless, to restore, purify and disin­fect from sin and error the whole world of mankind (not just the Jehovah’s Witnesses—­JJH), the incorrigible being destroyed in the second death.

“Let the fact be remembered that in the typical Jewish harvest Israelites indeed and imitation Israelites constituted the Jewish or Fleshly House of Israel; that only the true Israelites were selected and gathered into the gospel garner, and honored with the truths belonging to the Gospel Age; and that all others of that nation, ‘chaff,’ were not physically destroyed, though many lives were lost in their trouble, but were cut off from all Kingdom favors in which previously they trusted and boasted. Then trace the parallel and counterpart of this, in the treatment of the tares, in the present burning time.

“Not only has the Lord shown us what to expect in this harvest, and our share in it, in being separated ourselves and in using as ‘reapers’ the sickle of truth to assist others to liberty in Christ and separation from false human systems and bondages, but in order to render us doubly sure that we are right, and that the separating time of the harvest has arrived, he provided us proofs of the year the harvest work began, its length, and when it will close. These, already examined, show that the close of 1874 marked the beginning, as the close of 1914 will mark the end of the 40 years of harvest; while the minutiae of the order and work of this harvest were portrayed in that of its Jewish Age type.”

This “Kingdom” book then proceeds to give details to substantiate the foregoing; and our readers would be well advised to read them. However, at no time during his life did Pastor Russell arrogate to himself any Kingdom powers, such as the Witnesses are now doing. They now feature headlines such as “Divine Sovereignty Assemblies,” etc. And in their October 1, 1975 Watchtower they say this: “Indeed, it was in 1914 that Jehovah enthroned Christ Jesus in the heavenly kingdom, on heavenly Mount Zion, with possession of the kingdom of the world... From 1919 on, a spiritual paradise under Christ’s head­ship was restored for God’s anointed remnant on earth. (It was about that time that the “Millions” hoax began to be preached with vigor—JJH) And beginning with 1935 a ‘great crowd’ of other humble worshipers came into evidence, joining with the anointed remnant of Jehovah’s Kingdom class in singing Jehovah’s praises throughout the earth. Now more than two million of these servants of God look forward to passing through the fast-­approaching ‘great tribulation’ into a cleansed earth, where a literal paradise will be restored throughout this globe, and for all eternity.”

Be it noted that since 1914 – when the Witnesses’ counterfeit kingdom was estab­lished – there has been more volume of error, more variety of error and more crime and disorder than ever before existed in the history of the human race. The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 4:4 that “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine unto them.” Apparently, the Witnesses do not even know what this “glorious gospel” is, or they would not be teaching what they do. St. Paul gives us a clear answer to this question in Gal. 3:8: “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached be­fore the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” From this statement it should be clear enough to any sound mind that the blessing of the nations could not possibly mean that the great majority of those now living are to be annihi­lated in Armageddon! Had they continued in the sound teachings of Pastor Russell, they would know that at this particular time there would be fewer and fewer people who would be able to “endure (embrace) sound doctrine.” (2 Tim. 4:3)

With the uproar that we see all about us today, the corruption that is being ex­posed in high places, etc., it is clearly evident that the “god of this world” is still doing a real good job of “blinding the minds” of the great majority – and this is just the reverse of what will prevail when the true Kingdom is established. “He laid hold on the devil (the god of this world)... and bound him a thousand years... that he should deceive the nations no more.” (Rev. 20:2,3) If a man is deceived, defrauded, can he justly be held responsible for his actions?

There is no Scriptural evidence that God is now judging the individuals of the world – although we are told that the great systems of error have been judged and marked for destruction. And, while their judgment has already been set, it is evident that their punishment has not yet come to the full. “When thy judgments are in the earth (when the true Kingdom is established), the inhabitants of the world will learn right­eousness.” (Isa. 26:9) When that time arrives, “The earth shall be filled with the knowl­edge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab. 2:14) At that time, “Will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:9) Then we may be sure there will not be any erroneous predictions making the rounds, such as “Millions Now Living Will Never Die” after 1925; no false predictions of Armageddon in 1975, and no false interpretations of God’s Word. The language of the true Kingdom will be a pure language – free from every vestige of error – published by perfect and flawless teachers.

The results of that Kingdom, “There shall be no more curse (the evils that now af­flict the human race)... no night there (no error of any kind)... for the Lord God giveth them light” (Rev. 22:3-5) – He who “balances the clouds... of Him which is per­fect in knowledge.” (Job 37:16) And the “good news” of the Kingdom – “glad tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people” – include the billions living today who fail or refuse to join with the Jehovah’s Witnesses: they will be privileged to receive the blessings of the Kingdom, and will also be privileged to experience the glorious results of that Kingdom if they so choose. Nor does this blessed privilege exclude the Jehovah’s Witnesses – many of them will come to a “knowledge of the Truth” at that time, and they will rejoice to know that their relatives and friends did not suffer annihilation in Armageddon because they refused to join with the Witnesses before Armageddon.

It is certainly sound appraisal that the general public is more confused religious­ly than they have ever been before. We see Babylon (confusion) at almost every street corner, which is Bible proof that we are now in “the evil day” (Eph. 5:16) – that day of which St. Paul wrote in 2 Tim. 3:13, Diaglott: “Evil men and impostors will make prog­ress for the worse, deceiving and being deceived.” Yet the Witnesses are telling these “deceived ones” that they must now “rightly divide the word of truth” – which means, of course, accept their teachings and agree with them and their errors, or be annihilated in Armageddon.

This idea of having a monopoly on God’s favor reaches back for many centuries. God had told the Jews: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:2); and, basking in this favor, the centuries eventually confirmed in them the be­lief that all others were “dogs,” without God and without hope in the world. The same attitude was eventually adopted by the Christians, and many of them narrowed it down to their particular sect. The Roman Catholic Church (of which the Witnesses are a small replica) branded all as heretics who would not agree with them; and the histories are replete with crimes that were committed through that false belief.

The Witnesses are now saying substantially the same thing – even though they have eliminated the eternal torment theory from their belief, they consign all who oppose them to Armageddon annihilation: In other words, those who oppose them are “dead men.” Even assuming that all of their claimed two million converts will inherit the Kingdom, that is a mere handful compared to around four billions now living. When we consider the words of the angel in Luke 2:10 – “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” – it requires quite a perverted twist of the mind to interpret that as meaning the merest handful of Witnesses now living. These people join well with the sayings of Solomon: “Of making many books there is no end.” (Ecc. 12:12) And the fact that some of their books directly contradict what is found in other of their books doesn’t seem to bother them at all.

Of all the groups that have emanated from the movement established by Pastor Russell the Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only ones who condemn all that do not join with them. The larger groups that have been formed since 1916 are attempting to give a comforting message of Truth to the general public, and for this they are to be commended. Some of them are distributing thousands of copies of The Divine Plan of the Ages; and it is well in order here to cite what the writer of that book said in his Foreword in 1916 – just be­fore his death: “The Author and the publisher desire publicly to acknowledge the favor of God which has permitted them to be identified with the circulation of this volume, and with the results – light, joy, peace, fellowship with God to many hungry, thirsty, bewil­dered souls. The first edition in its present form was issued in 1886. Since then, one edition has followed another in rapid succession and in twenty different languages, until now there are nearly five million copies in the hands of the people all the world over....

“The reader of THE DIVINE PLAN OF THE AGES at each step finds a strengthening of faith and a greater nearness to the Lord, and therefore a confidence that he is in the right way. After seeing the Truth, the errors are more and more seen to be absurd, worthless, injurious, and are gladly abandoned.” We add here that that is the response we personally have received from many thousands of people to whom we have presented this excellent book. The various groups that are now engaged in its distribution are cer­tainly doing a good work; and are attempting to live within the scope of Isa. 52:7: “How beautiful upon the mountains (the present great governments of earth) are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation (not annihilation in Armageddon—JJH).”

It is well that our readers keep ever in mind that only about ten thousand of the Witnesses two Million adherents are of the elect – the “great salvation” (Heb. 2:3); all the others are destined to receive the “common salvation” (Jude 3), and constitute the “great crowd” that has been garnered since 1935. Yet these heirs of the “common salva­tion” are required to sacrifice time, money, and many modern conveniences to receive this reward; whereas, the Bible tells us that when the true Kingdom is established, the glad call will go forth: “The spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:17)

Certainly this text is teaching just the extreme opposite of what the Witnesses are now telling to the general public, and to their own “dedicated” adherents; and we might add here that another so-called Truth movement is also preaching sacrifice and a “narrow way” to present consecrators – although they do not consign to annihilation all others who do not join their ranks. Nevertheless, they also are doing violence to Rev. 22:17 when they urge their newcomers to great sacrifice, although they eventually will receive nothing more than “the common salvation.” The teaching of this second group also finds no lodg­ment in any of the writings of Pastor Russell – just as the Witnesses also can find no support in his writings for their present contentions.

When the Witnesses emphasize that Armageddon will destroy completely “this present evil world,” they are again rejecting the clear Teaching of Pastor Russell an this sub­ject, based upon the Scriptures in 1 Kings 19:11-12 and Jer. 30:7. These Scriptures clearly indicate four great spasms in the destruction of the present order; namely, War, Revolution (Armageddon), Anarchy and Jacob’s Trouble. Or, if we merge Jacob’s Trouble with Anarchy, we still have three upheavals if we accept the prophetic vision of Elijah in the Kings episode. Here is part of the Berean Comment on 1 Kgs. 19:11: “An earth­quake – Symbol of revolution – God’s Kingdom will not follow the epoch of revolution (Armageddon—JJH) which is to follow the great wars.” It is our firm conviction that time itself will also prove the Witnesses wrong on this Scripture, which their founder explained so clearly and logically. Of course, when their present prediction of Arma­geddon is revealed as gross error, they will undoubtedly invent some “new light” (actu­ally mud splashes of error) as a cover-up – just as they did in 1925, after that predic­tion ended in total failure. In this we recognize that the Witnesses are prophets all right – FALSE PROPHETS; but they certainly are not earnest, sincere and reliable stu­dents of prophecy. Their entire course since 1917 (when J. F. Rutherford assumed lead­ership) has been confusion worse confounded, just as Papacy was in its hey-day – one con­tinuous stream of error after error; and their “dedicated” followers continue to cleave with the Witnesses as did the sectarian adherents with Papacy.

It is well to stress here that the Witnesses have long since abandoned The Divine Plan of the Ages – as they also have done with the other five volumes of Scripture Studies that the same author published at various times after 1886. Thus, they have lost the Truth on the real Plan of the Ages, and to that extent it may also be said of them: “blinded by the god of this world.” However, in rejecting these excellent Stud­ies in the Scriptures, they have at the same time produced many volumes of their own make-up, along with their numerous magazine publications; and they forbid their loyal adherents to question any of their writings.

We have been closely associated with quite a few persons who were expelled from their organization because they dared to question what they publish. Thus we would quote some more from p. 145 of Vol. 3 of The Studies in the Scriptures: “While indivi­dual liberty must outwardly be regarded as never before, we see that really there was never a time when the bands were so thoroughly drawn, to bind all wheat and tares into the many bundles. There never was a time when arrangements were so close, and so restrain­ing of all personal liberties, as now. (Written in 1891—JJH) Every spare hour of a zealous sectarian is filled by some of the many meetings or projects, so that no time for untrammeled thought and Bible study can be had. The principle design of these meet­ings, entertainments, etc., is sectarian growth and strength... Some wheat and many tares constitute these bundles, from which it daily becomes more difficult to get free.”

The foregoing is such an exact description of the present-day Witnesses that one might easily conclude that the writer was describing them. However, we would emphasize here that we are discussing the Witnesses as an organization, and not as individuals. It is our firm conviction that there are many – a minority of their two million, of course – conscientious Christians among them, who verily think that they do God service ­and which they do when they avoid the grossly sectarian supervision of their leaders. Sectarianism always warps the judgment of any individuals – whether with the Witnesses, or in other organizations. This same condition prevailed in the various sects of Chris­tendom prior to the beginning of the Harvest in 1874; but the true saints among them took a generous view of things, many of them admitting that there were Christians in other than their own group.

Rabid sectarians always rely upon the spirit of fear as one of their strongest crutches. Thus, the Roman Catholic Church, during the Dark Ages, when they were in their hey-day, threatened eternal torment to all who did not join them. Today, the same spirit motivates the Witnesses, who preach annihilation in Armageddon to all who do not join with them. Note the decided contrast in the statement by St. Paul: “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7) And with such an armor St. Paul could honestly say, “I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” (Heb. 13:6)

It is a tragic commentary on the morale of the human race that so many of them are actuated by fear; and many of the religious leaders, being good psychologists, have used this weakness to their own advantage. The Roman Catholic Church, even now, makes great boast of their superior numbers; and the same may be said of the Witnesses. They also display their two million “dedicated” followers as their strength; but their ‘founder’ Pastor Russell said of Great Papacy (as we now say of Little Papacy): Their numbers reveal their weakness. Yet, while they have the largest following of any of the groups that have come from them since 1916, they have rejected and revolutionized against more of the Truth given by Pastor Russell than have any of the others.

In their mad scramble to be ‘different,’ they have also ‘made’ their own Bible – ­made it to fit what they are now teaching. As one instance, Rev. 18:4 states in the King James Bible, “Come out of her (Great Babylon), my people.” So the Witnesses have translated this text, “Get out of her.” Here is the way Pastor Russell treats that text:

“The command is Come, not Go; because in coming out of bondage to human tradi­tions, creeds, systems and errors, we are coming directly to our Lord, to be taught and fed by Him, to be strengthened and perfected to do all His pleasure, and to stand, and not fall with Babylon.”

The Torture Stake – Another change the Witnesses have made is the translation of the word ‘cross,’ which they now translate as “torture stake.” Be it noted that all of the ablest Greek scholars use the word cross in their translations of the New Testament; not a one of them ever uses torture stake, instead of cross. Just to mention some of them – Young, Strong, Cruden Concordances, and Wilson’s Emphatic Diaglott translation of the New Testament. And Pastor Russell accepted the work of these eminent intel­lects, never once using the expression torture stake in referring to the manner of Je­sus’ death. (Please see our No. 155 for further elaboration on this subject. Copy free upon request.)

THE LORD’S SUPPER

This year 1976 the Witnesses celebrated this event on the evening of April 14 ­two days from the correct time. In doing this they stress the full moon after the Equinox as the proper date, but in this they show a confusion somewhat after the Jew­ish custom. In no place in the Bible are we told to celebrate the Memorial at the full of the moon. The only influence the moon has on the determination is to establish when Nisan 1 arrives. Once that is done, the Bible clearly and directly tells us it should be on Nisan 14, regardless of the condition of the moon on that date. Here again they set the Bible aside when it seems to suit their convenience.

The New Covenant – On p. 75 of their Feb. 1, 1976 Watchtower they tell us that “the little flock are the ones taken into the new covenant... the eleven faithful apos­tles... the nucleus of those later to be taken into the new covenant on Pentecost day of 33, C.E. (Luke 22:20).” This is what Pastor Russell had to say about that text:

“The New Covenant cannot become operative until the cup of the Lord’s sufferings which are left behind (including all faithful Christians of this Gospel Age—JJH) has been fully drained by the members of His Body.”

It seems that the Witnesses have now gone back to that vicious error that precipi­tated the 1908-11 sifting – the Murmursome-Contradictionism fifth sifting that caused the severest controversy among Truth people of the entire Harvest – from 1874 to 1914.

New Covenant – New Mediator – In Heb. 8:6 we are told, “Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant”; and Heb. 12:24, “Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.” The entire context of Hebrews 12 is describing the overthrow of Satan’s empire and the es­tablishment of the Mediatorial Kingdom. Thus, any one being under that new covenant (the contrast here is with the introduction of the old Law Covenant) would necessarily have to be under the Mediator of that covenant. Now the meaning of mediator is “middle man,” which means a go-between for parties that are at enmity with each other. Thus, to carry the comparison to a logical conclusion, the Witnesses’ “little flock” are now at enmity with God; whereas, St. Paul tells us that God’s true followers in this faith Age have peace with God. (Rom. 5:1,2)

On p. 76 of this same paper they summarize the subject with the following: “It is always a joy to see so many new ones attending the Memorial celebration. After the pro­gram, an occasion for happy fellowship is enjoyed with the new ones and with one another. This joyful fellowship is truly upbuilding and encouraging to everyone. The evening’s program, if it is reflected upon, always give much food for thought with grateful appreciation to Jehovah, reminding us of all that He has done out of love for us through the Ransomer, Jesus Christ our Lord... Upon arriving home after the program a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses may spend time discussing the meaning of this significant occasion.”

The teaching of Pastor Russell is in direct contrast to the foregoing, as the following from p. 478 of his Scripture Studies, Vol. 6 reveals:

“The service being thus ended (after partaking of the bread and the cup—JJH), we advise that the course of the Lord and the Apostles be followed to the end – that a hymn be sung in conclusion, and the congregation thus dismissed – without any concluding prayer. We advise that on this occasion the usual greeting, inquiries for health, etc., be dispensed with, and that each go to his home avoiding as far as pos­sible, anything that might disturb his reflections and communion, and that so far as possible each seek to continue to commune, not only on that night, but during the fol­lowing day, having in memory the Lord’s experiences in Gethsemane, and his need of sym­pathy and help, and the fact that each member of His Body may also have Gethsemane oc­casions, and need the comfort and help of fellow-disciples.”

The above is exactly in keeping with the words of Jesus Himself in Matthew 26:38: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” Then, if we add to this the pray­er of Jesus, and the things He said to His disciples that last night, as given in the Gospel of John (Chapters 13-17), we find not the slightest hint of the “happy fellow­ship” now recommended by the Witnesses. In fact, this is just one more confirmation that they have lost great quantities of the Truth and the Spirit of the Truth. It is little wonder that their predictions have consistently failed of performance, because we need not expect the Lord to give advancing Truth through such mouthpieces. And it con­firms our conclusion that they have not only lost many important doctrinal truths as given by Pastor Russell, but their conduct has also suffered accordingly – as we should expect.

Thus, they have not only revolutionized against the Truth, but against its arrange­ments also. Therefore, Psalms 107:10,11 pointedly applies to them: “Such as sit in darkness... Because they rebelled against the words of God (revolutionized against the Truth which once made them clean—John 15:3), and contemned the counsel of the most High” (rejected the arrangements given through the Lord’s faithful mouthpiece). Here St. Paul’s appraisal applies directly to them: “Ever learning (one new error after another), and never able to come to a knowledge of the Truth.” (2 Tim. 3:7)

In conclusion, we would advise our own readers to accept the counsel of St. Paul as given in 2 Tim. 3:14, Diaglott: “Do thou continue in the things which thou didst learn (from Pastor Russell, the founder of their organization) and wast convinced of, knowing by whom thou hast been instructed.”

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim