Someday we might look back to this present period and recognize the parallel with what occurred 25 centuries ago; when the Babylonian military machine first began to go forth to crush the nations of the region. Jeremiah 4:7 marks a specific point in time when the Chaldean juggernaut began to roll. That verse reads: "He has gone up as a lion out of his thicket, and the one who is bringing the nations to ruin has pulled away; he has gone forth from his place in order to render your land as an object of astonishment. Your own cities will fall in ruins so that there will be no inhabitant." With the Anglo-American duo now recognized as the sole superpower in the world and with American militarism becoming the accepted order of the day, it seems as if the drive has begun in earnest for complete world hegemony. Astute observers of current affairs have certainly taken note of the ominous change in the nature of the beast since 9-11. It may well be that the beastly tyrant that is destined by prophecy to bring the democratic nations and the holy ones to ruin, while not completely transformed, has at last emerged from his thicket and is on the prowl. Certainly there exists a parallel between the ancient Babylonian kingdom and the future advent of the 8th king, in that for no other reason, from a long-range biblical perspective at least, both entities are part of the same system—symbolized in scripture as a single multi-headed beast. In the 5th Century B.C.E., the rapacious Babylonian superpower served as Jehovah's punishing agent upon the nations. Nebuchanezzar's unstoppable armies were like a searing desert wind sweeping through the lands. Judah and Jerusalem, in particular, came in line for God's judgment because they reproached Jehovah before the nations. That's why Jeremiah goes on to say: At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: "There is a searing wind of the beaten paths through the wilderness on the way to the daughter of my people; it is not for winnowing, nor for cleansing. The full wind itself comes even from these to me. Now I myself also shall speak forth the judgments with them. "Look! Like rain clouds he will come up, and his chariots are like a storm wind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, because we have been despoiled!" The pattern is established; the die is cast. Both the ancient Babylonian desolator and the modern "disgusting thing that causes desolation," did, and will yet do, the work of God in despoiling and meting out punishment upon Jehovah's people. A parallel obviously exists also in the attitude displayed by the Jewish leaders of Jeremiah's day with that of the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses today. For example, at Jeremiah 2:35, Jehovah says: "But you say, 'I have remained innocent. Surely his anger has turned back from me.' "Here I am entering into controversy with you on account of your saying, 'I have not sinned.' Why do you treat as very insignificant the changing of your way?" The Watchtower is not inclined to admit to any wrongdoing or error of any kind. The only exception is admitting that the old Bible Students association was wrong on a few things. Many of Jehovah's Witnesses have been driven absolutely mad by the double-speak employed by the Society to cover itself in this regard. But, it is undeniable that never has the Brooklyn Bible institution come close to offering even a feeble explanation or token apology for setting numerous stumbling blocks before millions of people. We might naturally expect that true and humble servants of God would take the lead in seeking forgiveness from heaven and men. On the contrary, the Watchtower's policy dictates that anyone of Jehovah's Witnesses who might point out inconsistencies or who voices the slightest complaint or criticism against the organization is usually disfellowshipped. The Watchtower is even on record as stating that any of Jehovah's Witnesses who even mentally disagree with it is guilty of apostate thinking. Even worse, apparently the Watchtower's new policy dictates that any Christian who dares to air any dissent publicly has automatically disassociated themselves. That means that the congregation simply dispenses with the formality of a judicial hearing. The offending brother or sister is summarily disfellowshipped—albeit the official theocratic terminology is "disassociated." By way of contrast, Nicodemus once spoke up before his fellow Pharisees to defend Jesus by saying: "Our law does not judge a man unless first it has heard from him and come to know what he is doing, does it?" It seems that the Watchtower has adopted the same mentality as the Pharisees. But Nicodemus was right. Condemning a man without a hearing is illegal. It runs completely counter to the Mosaic Law as well as apostolic Christianity. In proof of that, the letter of Jude exhorts elders to try and reach the hearts of brothers and sisters who have been stumbled. Even if they have fallen into serious wrongdoing, Jude 22-23 exhorts elders to "continue showing mercy to some that have doubts; save them by snatching them out of the fire. But continue showing mercy to others, doing so with fear, while you hate even the inner garment that has been stained by the flesh." However, instead of extending mercy to those in trouble, as the Bible prescribes, the Watchtower has been merciless—even ruthless, especially in dealing with victims of child abuse. Where is the honesty or justice in officially declaring that a brother or sister has voluntarily disassociated themselves when they haven't done so of their own accord? It is dishonest and unchristian. The final disposition of the Vicki Boer case is the most recent Watchtower atrocity. In what can only be described as a perverse miscarriage of justice, the judge that originally ruled in favor of Vicki Boer and awarded her the paltry sum of $5,000, (Canadian no less) has now ruled that she must pay the Watchtower's mountainous legal bill. We shutter to think what would have happened had Mrs. Boer lost her case at law. The Watchtower would have us believe that the Canadian court is solely responsible for the atrocious decision handed down. Apparently, though, the Watchtower's attorneys cunningly sought to exploit loopholes in Canadian law when they petitioned the court for restitution. In a rare moment of candor, the London branch now acknowledges (In a Watchtower letter posted on the Silentlambs' website) that the Watchtower originally tried to bribe Mrs. Boer into silence with $20,000 from the treasury of donated kingdom funds. At the very least, the Watchtower ought to write Mrs. Boer her $5,000 check and graciously call it even. They do not have to impose the court's ruling upon her. Apparently, though, the Watchtower has every intention of collecting, down to the last penny of the court ordered judgment. The 3rd chapter of Micah asks the leaders of Jehovah's people a searching question that seems appropriate for us to consider here. Micah 3:1 asks: "Hear, please, you heads of Jacob and you commanders of the house of Israel. Is it not your business to know justice? Indeed, where is the justice in using the vast resources of a billion dollar corporation to trample on the already-traumatized victims of child abuse? By no stretch of the imagination does this qualify as looking after widows and orphans in their time of distress. Where is the justice in demonizing and disfellowshipping long-time Jehovah's Witnesses who stand up for righteousness and become advocates for abuse victims? Where is the justice in denying brothers and sisters access to a judicial hearing and the right of redress in appeal and instead simply stamping their file: Disassociated? Being a representative of Jehovah God is a very weighty responsibility. Jehovah expects his shepherds to treat the flock with tenderness—not harshness. Jehovah expects those who are looked to for guidance by his people to reflect his own love and compassion—not heartlessness and ruthlessness. Jehovah expects the leaders of his people to follow the teachings of Christ by showing graciousness; being quick to go the extra mile to set things aright before others. Instead of the compassion of Christ, Jehovah's piercing vision sees something else. The tender-hearted Jehovah goes on to speak to the leaders of his people through the medium of Micah, saying to them: "You haters of what is good and lovers of badness, tearing off their skin from people and their organism from off their bones; you the ones who have also eaten the organism of my people, and have stripped their very skin from off them, and smashed to pieces their very bones, and crushed them to pieces like what is in a widemouthed pot and like flesh in the midst of a cooking pot." In the Vicki Boer case and sadly many others too, the Watchtower has gotten their proverbial pound of flesh, even as Jehovah's prophet graphically describes. Micah 3:5 is even more scathing in its denunciation. It reads: "This is what Jehovah has said against the prophets that are causing my people to wander, that are biting with their teeth and that actually call out, 'Peace!' that, when anyone does not put something into their mouths, also actually sanctify war against him." We would not be too far off the mark to say that the Watchtower sanctified war against Mrs. Boer; and they can congratulate themselves on their resoundingly victorious campaign. Similarly, any of Jehovah's Witnesses who do not speak of the Watchtower in worshipful tones may expect big trouble from on high. As the prophecy also relates, the organizational prophets and visionaries have caused Jehovah's Witnesses to "wander" from the path by misapplying vast portions of prophecy either to the 1914-1919 period or to Christendom. Because of the Watchtower's misleading interpretations, Jehovah's Witnesses have no Scriptural basis for expecting any sort of judgment from God at the actual arrival of Christ. The stage is now set for Micah 3:6-7 to be fulfilled, which reads: 'Therefore you men will have night, so that there will be no vision; and darkness you will have, so as not to practice divination. And the sun will certainly set upon the prophets, and the day must get dark upon them. And the visionaries will have to be ashamed, and the diviners will certainly be disappointed. And they will have to cover over the mustache, all of them, for there is no answer from God.'" The institutional visionaries and prophets who have doggedly insisted, among other things, that Christ returned in 1914 and that the wild beast revived from his foretold death-stroke way back then, will eventually have to account for unfolding realities beyond their ability to spin or reconcile. The justice of Jehovah demands that those who speak falsely in his name must be publicly humiliated. (Interestingly, the seven times calculations were originally tied to spiritistic pyramidology, which of course was long ago discarded. However, even tying the return of Christ to Bible chronology depends upon extra-biblical sources such as astronomical datings and Babylonish cuneiform scribblings. In Jehovah's estimation, trying to divine the unknowable by such a contrivance may constitute divination—as the verse above describes.) In recent years the Watchtower has demonstrated beyond any doubt that it has no interest in revising its unreasonable interpretations of prophecy to come more in line with the truth. On the contrary, the organization seems concerned primarily with the stability and financial welfare of the organization. Micah 3:11 describes this attitude and echoes Jeremiah's prophecy as well, in that, the leadership of God's people assume they have heaven's blessing and are above God's judgment. The verse reads: "Her own head ones judge merely for a bribe, and her own priests instruct just for a price, and her own prophets practice divination simply for money; yet upon Jehovah they keep supporting themselves, saying: "Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? There will come upon us no calamity." Now, to better situate ourselves in relation to the fulfillment of these denunciations, consider the context in which the prophecies are written. Two verses forward from the verse cited above, Micah 4:1 says: And it must occur in the final part of the days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills; and to it peoples must stream. And many nations will certainly go and say: "Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths." The Watchtower teaches that the "final part of the days" began back in 1914 and that since that time the mountain-like kingdom of God has become more prominent than all other mountain-like earthly institutions. But, is that really so? In what way has God's kingdom ascended above all else on earth? Does the mere fact that several million people have come to believe that Christ returned in 1914 fulfill the prophecy? That does not seem reasonable. Other religions are experiencing rapid growth as well. The Mormon religion is supposedly the fastest growing "Christian" religion in the world. Islam is the fastest growing religion. In what way, then, has the worship of Jehovah become more prominent then those religions? Obviously, it hasn't. Merely saying the sky is green when it is blue doesn't make it so. Furthermore, the oft-quoted 3rd verse of Micah's prophecy goes on to say: "For out of Zion law will go forth, and the word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem. And he will certainly render judgment among many peoples, and set matters straight respecting mighty nations far away. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war anymore. And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble; for the very mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken it." At this moment in history the nations are being manipulated into a clash of civilizations and World War Three by a relative handful of demon-controlled men. At no other time in the history are we in such urgent need for Jehovah God to intervene with his judgment to set matters straight. But, does the mere fact that Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to go to war mean that God has finally set matters straight among the nations? Has our not learning the art of carnal warfare brought peace to this war-ravaged world? Does the mere fact that our draft-eligible young men will not join the military make the world a safer place? Do the peaceful pursuits of Jehovah's Witnesses mean that we do not have to tremble at the now looming prospects of terror-inducing nuclear war? The answer to those questions is obviously no. The final part of the days when the prophecy is scheduled to be fulfilled must parallel the similar period known as the time of the end, which demonstrably is the period of tribulation. God's judgments that cause the nations to cease warring with each other, so as to allow his people to live in total security, have in no way become a reality yet. The only time that the prophecy could conceivably come true is during the holocaust of the tribulation. Micah's prophecy of peace can only have significance in the case of God's dramatic and profound intervention during a war that threatens to bring annihilation to the entire planet. That is good news, in that, we who are aware of so much that desperately needs God's urgent attention within our Christian organization no longer need to suppose that his judgments have already been carried out. The best possible news for those whose flickering faith has not been totally extinguished by doubt, is that our hope and faith in Jehovah need not conform to the Watchtower's mind-bending version of reality. According to the Bible's own definition of faith at Hebrews 11:1, which reads: "Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld"; the evident demonstration of realities that our faith allows us to behold is that the critical stage has been reached, both in world events and within the organization, fitting the biblical pattern that precipitates Jehovah's intervention to truly set matters straight in the near future. Copyright © 2003, by Robert King
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