Because of the Jews' false expectations, their much-anticipated appearance of the Messiah became a stumbling block to the Jewish nation as a whole. The Messiah was, according to their understanding, expected to not only turn out to be their powerful, glorious king from the line of David, but one that would restore the throne of David, with Jerusalem as its seat, casting off the Roman yoke of slavery. That this was the expectation of Israel is evidenced by the question that the disciples put to Jesus following his resurrection when they asked "Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?"

It was inconceivable to the Jews living at the time that the Messiah would not become an integral part of the already-established, well-respected, and highly revered Jewish establishment. After all, they were God's people and had been for well over a thousand years!

And there most certainly was no provision in the Jews' messianic doctrine for Christ to appear a second time!

So it followed that over the course of Jesus' time upon the earth as a human, as Jews began to see that Jesus wasn't meeting their mistaken expectations, they began to view him as little more than a rebel-rouser. Eventually they turned on him altogether when Jesus was ingloriously executed at the insistence of the chief priests and Pharisees.

But, when the Romans obliterated Jerusalem and its temple less than forty years after the Jews had called out in unison to have Jesus put to death, the Jewish system of worship that had existed for fifteen centuries came to an abrupt end, and with it, any possibility that any future messiah would be forthcoming from among the Jewish nation. From Jehovah's standpoint, the Jewish system had served its purpose, regardless of the false expectations of the Jewish people for him to carry that purpose out in a way that they anticipated. It had produced the promised Messiah as God had intended, and then that system of worship was brought to a conclusion.

In writing to the Hebrews, it appears that Paul's intention was to prepare the Hebrew Christians for the coming end of the Jewish system of things. For example, Paul wrote at Hebrews 13:12-14: "Hence Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us, then, go forth to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach he bore, for we do not have here a city that continues, but we are earnestly seeking the one to come."

It is perhaps difficult for us today to understand just how challenging it was for even the anointed Jewish Christians and apostles of the first century to completely separate their faith from the Jewish institution that they lived under.

As an example of how deeply ingrained Judaism was, consider the account in the 21st chapter of Acts. That is where the apostles were concerned about the Jews' accusations that Paul was teaching an apostasy. The apostles advised Paul to ceremonially cleanse himself and go make an offering at the temple in order to quell the rumors that he was preaching an apostasy from Moses and circumcision. Humbly, Paul complied even though, as the apostles knew and personally agreed, his teaching that Christ's death brought an end to the Mosaic Law and that circumcision was no longer a requirement to be approved before Jehovah God was a correct teaching. However, even his demonstrated compliance with Mosaic Law did not quell their anger or hostility, and upon discovering his location in the city, they sought to kill him for preaching that the system of worship--the established way of doing things-- that had been approved by Jehovah for generations, was to end, and in effect, had already ended.

Because the first century Christians were now in expectation of Christ's "imminent" return, it seems that they also came to assume that Jesus would eventually return to the physical city of Jerusalem. However, at Hebrews 9:26, Paul wrote that Christ had "manifested himself once for all time at the conclusion of the systems of things." Because the Jewish ways (system of worship) were soon going to conclude, Paul reminded the Hebrew Christians that they did not have, in Jerusalem, "a city that continues."

While the destruction of Jerusalem would absolutely devastate the false messianic expectations of the Jews who had rejected Jesus, it would also test the faith of those who had accepted Jesus but who were, to some extent, still under the influence of Judaism. After the holy city was destroyed, those Jewish Christians would have to demonstrate to God that they were truly "seeking the one to come."

Because Paul used the expression "the conclusion of the systems of things," in connection with Jesus' first appearance, we may be sure that the first century pattern has special importance for those Christians who would be living "the second time that he appears," during the conclusion of the entire present system.

We may, therefore, expect that, like the Hebrew Christians and apostles, who themselves apparently labored under faulty assumptions concerning Jerusalem continuing as the City of Jehovah, our faith will similarly be tested to the limit when Christ finally arrives.

Indeed, the prophet Malachi assures us of that very astonishing event when he asks: "But who will be putting up with the day of his coming, and who will be the one standing when he appears?"

In the 12th chapter of Hebrews, Paul reminds us of God's awesome power when Jehovah reveals himself to us, by recounting the occasion when the Israelite nation was gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai to receive the Law covenant. As Jehovah spoke to Moses on top of the summit, in an awesome and fear-inspiring display, the mountain shook and was enveloped in fire and smoke. As if to dispel any notion that the phenomenon was a natural volcanic occurrence---deafening trumpets blared from the invisible.

Paul next explains the significance of that event by quoting from the prophet Haggai. He wrote: "At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, saying: "Yet once more I will set in commotion not only the earth but also the heaven." Now the expression "Yet once more" signifies the removal of the things being shaken as things that have been made, in order that the things not being shaken may remain. Wherefore, seeing that we are to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken..."

In the first century, "the things being shaken" proved to be the entire Jewish religious system, with its Holy City, temple, and priesthood being shaken out of existence. Yet, the prophecy of Haggai from which the apostle quoted went on to say that Jehovah was going to "rock all the nations," not just the tiny nation of Judah. So, it is evident that anointed Christians and the world are facing the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecies that are calling--yes, demanding for the entire system of things to be rocked into oblivion when Christ appears for the second time. The only thing that will remain standing after the dust has settled will be the kingdom of God and those who actually had faith in God's unshakable kingdom.

At that point, the issues raised in Eden will have been emphatically settled with finality.

Jehovah's Response to Issues Raised in Eden

Since the time that Adam and Eve rebelled against Jehovah and were, as a consequence, expelled from the Garden of Eden, the human race has been alienated from God. The trusting relationship that Adam briefly enjoyed with his Creator was ruined. Where, once, Jehovah was described as strolling about in Eden and conversing with Adam at leisure on a daily basis, the subsequent annals of history outside of Eden of Adam's wayward children is a sad testament to just how lost we have become without God's personal supervision and direction. As time marched forward, even the most righteous of Adam's offspring would come to find it a challenge to really know and trust Jehovah.

Jehovah God, though, has been like a determined and long-suffering parent with a problem child, in that he has not given up on us. But, he, in his vast wisdom, knows that the only way that we might be purged from our foolishness, and actually comprehend the benefits of both trusting and obeying his just ways, is if we are allowed to suffer the painful consequences for our prideful folly and lack of faith.

As Jehovah's Witnesses know, central to God's purpose to redeem mankind is the establishment of Christ's kingdom. Associated with Jesus in his heavenly kingdom are 144,000 chosen ones from among mankind, who will eventually be invited to approach Jehovah's very residence in heaven---the City of God. How many of us, though, have really stopped to think about and appreciate what all of that means?

Back in Eden, the Devil had accused God of untrustingly holding something good back from Adam and Eve. Later on, in Job's day, Satan further accused God of inducing his servants to obey him through mere bribery (which, by the way, is the very thing the Devil later hypocritically tried to do with Jesus when he offered him all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for one act of worship).

God's answer to Satan's slanderous accusations has gone far beyond what any angel or human could have correctly anticipated, or even imagined. Not only would Jehovah himself provide the means to legally ransom and restore mankind to paradise-- thus proving he had mankind's best interests at heart-- in his magnanimity, Jehovah purposed to choose some from among mankind and exalt them to heaven.

As if that was not enough to suit him, God's graciousness extends far beyond merely recreating some humans into angelic spirit creatures: Jehovah purposes to grant his chosen ones to have life in themselves. That is something that no human can possibly possess, because earthly creatures, by nature, are dependent upon outside forces to sustain our lives. Immortality is not merely having everlasting life; even God's angels in heaven have not been granted immortality. Immortality means to possess life as a deathless and indestructible being. Immortal creatures are no longer even dependent upon Jehovah to sustain them. (Jesus Christ, by the way, was the first creature to attain immortality, after his resurrection.) Thus, Jehovah not only willingly exalts mere human creatures into his very presence-- some even from the dregs of degraded human society-- but he also wills them to become exactly like himself in nature---glorious, deathless, divine beings.

Lest we forget: that is the very thing that Satan told Eve that Jehovah was supposedly afraid to give up, when he said: "For God knows that in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened and you are bound to be like God, knowing good and bad." According to the Devil, Jehovah didn't trust his creation and his creation wasn't trustworthy. But Jehovah has seen fit to lovingly bestow the incomprehensible gift of becoming exactly like himself upon select wayward sons of Adam-- the very ones who have caused him so much grief and reproach. In a marvelous and masterful way, then, Jehovah has truly established himself as The God of gods. Not only has he proven himself more powerful, and infinitely wiser, but God has also been delighted to demonstrate his moral superiority over his human and demonic accusers in every conceivable way.

In the face of the outworking of this unexpected, wonderful way that Jehovah has responded to the Devil's challenge, the Devil--as if to assuage his own humiliation and in order to diminish God's glorious purpose--has vigorously peddled the clever lie that humans have an inherent immortal soul. Similarly, he has promoted the blatantly false religious doctrine that all "good" people go to heaven when they die, as if that privilege were somehow our birthright and not dependent on Jehovah's choosing and benevolence toward mankind.

Clearly, the Devil's aim is to devalue God's special gift in our eyes by making it seem ordinary. The truth is, Jehovah does not grant any man a heavenly audience with himself, much less, immortality, unless first they demonstrate that they have an unbreakable faith in him and in his son, Jesus Christ.

However, in order to create within his chosen ones an indomitable faith, they must first endure Jehovah's displeasure and his tempered discipline; for even their Lord Jesus learned obedience from the things he was made to suffer.

That brings us back to the letter of Hebrews and why, after talking at length about all the acts of faith by men of former times, the apostle exhorts God's sons to endure his disciplining. At Hebrews 12:8, Paul wrote: "But if you are without the discipline of which all have become partakers, you are really illegitimate children and not sons." A few verses down in that same 12th chapter, Paul partially quotes from Isaiah, where he said: "Hence straighten up the hands that hang down and the enfeebled knees, and keep making straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather that it may be healed."

The 35th chapter of Isaiah, which Paul quoted from, is Jehovah's exhortation to Israel after they had endured God's punishment of them as a nation. That is why we find Jehovah telling his people to take heart, because he is opening up a highway of holiness in order for the redeemed ones to return to Zion. In reality, the prophecy applies to spiritual Israel after they are disciplined. So it is that the apostle Paul is really exhorting Christians who would be living during the conclusion of the entire system of things, when Jehovah rocks the heavens and the earth, and severely disciplines those whom he calls his sons. That would mark the occasion when spiritual Israel would finally come to stand before the awesome heavenly Mount Zion.

"Your grand instructor will no longer hide himself"

As the Originator and rightful ruler of the universe, God is uniquely qualified to instruct his creation and reveal his mind on matters. However, it may also suit God's purpose to remain in the background, to hide himself, and simply allow events to take their natural course in order to teach his creation a vital lesson. From Jehovah's standpoint, the history of the human race since our expulsion from Eden has been one long exercise in futility. In his wisdom, Jehovah has allowed his wayward creation to come to the point it is now, where civilization appears to be poised to learn the final lesson: namely, that autonomy from God is a complete and disastrous dead-end.

Jehovah, of course, has already seen the end from the beginning, but we ourselves must experience the finale in order to fully benefit from what God has yet to teach us. This world's catastrophic finale is not some capricious act of an irrational and angry God, as some might suppose. Instead, it is the result of the sheer accumulation of human folly, wickedness, and lack of faith in God: a dangerous mixture that will inevitably lead the world to the brink of extinction.

It is in the context of the distressing events immediately preceding the end of the world that Jehovah becomes the Grand Instructor and Savior of those who trust him. That is why Isaiah 30:20 says: "And Jehovah will certainly give you people bread in the form of distress and water in the form of oppression; yet your Grand Instructor will no longer hide himself, and your eyes must become eyes seeing your Grand Instructor."

Since Jehovah's Witnesses claim Jehovah as our Grand Instructor, at what point does God no longer "hide himself" from us? Have we really become so enlightened as to say that our eyes have seen our Grand Instructor? If we, as an organization, imagine that we have been taught all that we need to know to make that claim, we should consider what Paul told the Corinthians: "If anyone thinks he has acquired knowledge of something, he does not yet know it just as he ought to know it."

According to the context of the 30th chapter of Isaiah, Jehovah reveals himself as our Grand Instructor during Judgment Day. That's why Isaiah 30:18 says: "And therefore Jehovah will keep in expectation of showing you favor, and therefore he will rise up to show you mercy. For Jehovah is a God of judgment. Happy are those keeping in expectation of him."

Since Jehovah has obviously not taken up his judgments yet, it is evident that neither has he shown mercy to his people during a time when they are afflicted with distress and oppression. That being the case, Isaiah 30:21 must have a still-future fulfillment, during the time of the revelation of Christ. That's where it says, "And your own ears will hear a word behind you saying: "This is the way. Walk in it, you people," in case you should go to the right or the left."

If we use our power of reason and ask: If Jehovah is supposed to now be leading and instructing his people (as we now claim, believe and have faith in), and his people hear his voice as if emanating from behind them, does this not indicate that God's people are going the wrong way and must eventually do an about-face? In other words, if we claim to be God's people, we must eventually come to terms with the fact that, as an organization, the prophecies indicate we have gone astray.

"Write it upon a tablet that it may serve as a witness for a future day"

No human can foretell the future. In fact, historians cannot even agree on the past! Only God can unerringly foresee what is to come in the days ahead. When prophecy is fulfilled, it not only serves to vindicate Jehovah as God; it also, because God has not been in direct communication with humans since the days that the Bible was written, serves as the means by which God conveys his instructions and judicial decisions at the appropriate time. So, prophecy written down thousands of years ago can contain vital messages for those living much later. Thus, Jehovah instructed his original prophet, Isaiah, saying to him: "Now come, write it upon a tablet with them, and inscribe it even in a book, that it may serve for a future day, for a witness to time indefinite." (Isaiah 30:8)

In the 1st century, Christ gave specific life-and-death instructions to those disciples who would be living in Jerusalem at the time when the Roman armies made their initial assault upon the city. When Christians saw the foretold "disgusting thing" standing in Jehovah's holy temple, they were to immediately flee out of the city and Judea. Yet, Jesus' prophetic instructions also extend to Christians living at the time when the final "great" tribulation engulfs the entire earth. Thus, the 1st century events are given as the pattern for events which we can then anticipate will be repeated when, in our day, God's holy place is desolated.

Unfortunately, the Watchtower and Jehovah's Witnesses are, through expectations derived from our mistaken understanding of numerous prophecies, failing to recognize just what the holy place is that Jesus said would become desolated. (See essay Was 1914 the End of the Gentile Times?)  

That and our other mistaken expectations have brought us into an awkward position, whereby, we are, as an organization, most certainly going to be waylaid by unforeseen and unanticipated events. The 74th Psalm undoubtedly speaks to the situation that will develop when Christ's prophecy concerning the holy place becomes a reality.

For example, the Psalm says: "Everything the enemy has treated badly in the holy place. Those showing hostility to you have roared in the middle of your meeting place. They have set their signs as the signs." (Psalms 74:3-4)

Verses 8-10 go on to say: "They, even their offspring, have said together in their own heart: "All the meeting places of God must be burned in the land." Our signs we have not seen; there is no prophet any more, and there is no one with us knowing how long. How long, O God, will the adversary keep reproaching? Will the enemy keep treating your name with disrespect forever?'"

The Psalmist's reference to "our signs" not being seen, and our being without a prophet who discerns what has taken place, can only be the end result of the false expectations that we, as an organization, have accepted. Ironically, Jehovah has prophesied that our institutional prophets should lead us down a dead-end path, where we will eventually reach a point when it seems that Jehovah's Word has failed. The accusation that Jehovah's Witnesses are "false prophets" will appear to be true. The enemy's placing "their signs as the signs" is in harmony with the prophecy of Daniel that foretells that the king of fierce countenance "kept throwing truth to the earth." (Also, see essay: The Mystery of the Antichrist )

As all of Jehovah's Witnesses know, our expectations are that Christendom goes down at the beginning of the great time of trouble. That is one of the "signs" that we have come to expect to see come to pass. Among other things, that is what our organization's "prophets" have foreseen from their examination of God's Word concerning our future. No one among us really questions the particular ordering of events that form our body of expectations.

So, when events fail to come about as we have been led to believe by our trusted teachers, it will serve to test our faith just as if false prophets would have actually misled us.

Even worse, our "prophets" have not discerned that the calamity we expect to be visited upon Christendom actually comes upon Jehovah's people instead! Could there be a greater reason for our enemies to reproach the name of Jehovah, the God whose name we bear? Hence, that is why Paul exhorted Christians not to give out when we are disciplined, as we surely will be. And that's why Isaiah was inspired to write an encouragement to us to stay in expectation of Jehovah's judgment, even if all seems lost.

If we accept that, we will find ourselves in a position to discern what the prophecy of the 30th chapter of Isaiah is really foretelling, and why God said to "inscribe it even in a book, that it may serve for a future day, for a witness to time indefinite." Since the prophecy is supposed to serve as a witness for a future day, and since it is written for spiritual Israel, what exactly does it envision for us? That brings us to the topic at hand, the coming collapse of the Watchtower.

"'Woe to the stubborn sons' is the utterance of Jehovah"

Isaiah 30:1 is not the first place where God pronounced woe upon his people. In fact, every chapter of Isaiah, beginning with the 28th chapter, through the 31st, begins the same way. Isaiah 28:1 says: "Woe to the eminent crown of the drunkards of Ephraim..." Isaiah 29:1 reads: "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel..." Isaiah 31:1 says: "Woe to those going down to Egypt...but who...have not searched for Jehovah himself."

Isaiah 30:1 says in full: "Woe to the stubborn sons," is the utterance of Jehovah, "those disposed to carry out counsel, but not that from me; and to pour out a libation, but not with my spirit, in order to add sin to sin; those who are setting out to go down to Egypt and who have not inquired of my own mouth..."

Jehovah's "sons" have access to their Father's counsel, but they stubbornly refuse to rely upon God's wisdom. Instead, they make a pretense at doing things God's way while at the same time trusting in their own power and in human alliances. As the context indicates, this development has much further-reaching implications than merely ancient Israel. The ultimate fulfillment comes about during the unveiling of God's judgments during the conclusion of the system of things. As the 8th verse indicated, it is God's witness to serve for a future time, to time indefinite.

Can Jehovah's modern witnesses be likened to those stubborn sons of Israel? Sadly, yes. We are "disposed to carry out counsel," meaning that we are demonstrating a desire to worship God; but our offering is not necessarily in accord with God's spirit. The pouring out of a "libation," clearly not from Jehovah's spirit, can be seen in connection with the Watchtower's disgusting NGO compromise , and in using the Awake to disseminate pro-globalist propaganda.

Apparently, lawyers representing the Society have also cut "backroom" deals with various political agencies in order to advance the Watchtower's interests in certain countries. For example, in the late 1990's, the Watchtower was denied legal recognition by the Bulgarian government because it was understood that the Watchtower coerced its members into refusing blood transfusions by hanging over them the threat of disfellowshiping. So, the lawyers struck a compromise. The Bulgarian government would grant the Watchtower legal recognition and "conscientious objector" status, and, in return, the Watchtower would agree not to disfellowship Bulgarian Witnesses that took blood transfusions. [LINK]

There have been compromises for legal advantage in other matters as well, such as in the areas of voting and alternatives to military service. Such willingness to "bargain" in matters of faith indicates that the modern-day spiritual leaders and spokesmen for Jehovah's Witnesses do fit the profile described in prophecy as being "those disposed to carry out counsel, but not that from me." Seeing that there is a disposition towards compromise for the sake of protecting the Watchtower's own interests, how do we suppose the Society will react when faced with its own extinction? Really, how will we react?

Indeed, the prevailing belief among Jehovah's Witnesses is that God will protect his organization from the calamity that is coming upon the world. It is inconceivable to us that the Society could possibly become the object of Jehovah's wrath. Yet Isaiah 30:25 foretells that recuperation is in store for God's people only after the disastrous "day of the big slaughter when the towers fall." The 26th verse says: "In the day that Jehovah binds up the breakdown of his people and heals even the severe wound resulting from the stroke by him."

Since Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be God's people, then we must recognize that the prophecy that calls for "his people" to suffer breakdown and severe wounding is actually God's judgment against us. But, the Watchtower's Bible interpreters have chosen to remain blind to such divine judgments. They seem to prefer maintaining the delusion that the Watchtower is a flawless mouthpiece of God and that God is somehow obligated to bestow his glory upon us, rather than recognizing that we, as an organization, have been found warranting Jehovah's displeasure and discipline.

Unquestionably, the leadership of the Watchtower is proving that they are like the stubborn "sons," in that they stubbornly cling to outdated, inaccurate interpretations of prophecy, even though they must realize that such teachings are wrong. They also have turned a deaf ear to the outcry of complaint against them for the Watchtower's ruinous policies involving the child abuse issue. And, as just mentioned, they exchange reliance upon Jehovah for "deals" and "compromises" with the nations.

And if these were not sufficient reasons for God to strike his people with a severe wound, the organization has increasingly resorted to repression. In order to keep up the lie and maintain control over the congregations, local elder bodies at times have functioned in a manner akin to the horrid Catholic inquisitors or the modern day Taliban. Many honest and sincere Christians have become the subjects of a judicial tribunal for merely questioning the rightness of the Watchtower's teachings or policies.

Like the ancient Jewish establishment that tried to silence Jehovah's prophets, the Society is also disposed to muzzle any suggestion that Jehovah's judgments might apply to us. That's why God further says to his stubborn sons: "For it is a rebellious people, untruthful sons, sons who have not been willing to hear the law of Jehovah; who have said to the ones seeing, 'You must not see,' and to the ones having visions, 'You must not envision for us any straightforward things. Speak to us smooth things; envision deceptive things."'

While virtually every Bible prophet straightforwardly foretells how spiritual Israel will be brought into judgment with God, the Watchtower has determined to apply all negative aspects of those prophetic visions to Christendom or else they have simply ignored those proclamations altogether. "Untruthful sons" indeed! We have demonstrated ourselves unwilling to hear the law of Jehovah in this regard. "The ones having visions" are those who "see" the correct understanding of the prophetic visions that Jehovah originally gave to the biblical visionaries, seers, and prophets. But, just as the Jews were unreceptive, we too have been unwilling to accept God's counsel as contained in Scripture. We have preferred to hear "smooth talk" about how we are living in a "spiritual paradise" and how Jehovah is glorifying his so-called 'visible organization.' Jehovah is thus obligated to deal his stubborn sons a withering disciplinary blow to awaken them to their folly.

Because, as an organization, we have not unreservedly accepted God's word, it is quite likely that when the system crashes and the day of tyranny begins that the Watchtower will desperately try to save itself by "going down to Egypt," as it were, by seeking aid from worldly sources. Thus, another tragic evidence of "adding sin to sin."

In light of such proofs, it appears that the most important thing to the organization has become perpetuating the organization. Ironically, though, the more "successful' the Watchtower becomes, the more vulnerable it becomes. That is because a huge publishing organization, like the Watchtower has become in recent decades, is also vitally dependent upon the continued stability of this system of things in order to accomplish its work. Another world war, a global depression or outright financial collapse, martial law due to domestic terrorism or a global dictatorship, massive class action law suits against the Watchtower, or a combination of these and other unforeseen difficulties, could bring extreme pressure to bear upon the Watchtower Society. Inevitably, when we are brought under pressure, that is when we find out if we really trust God or not.

"Their error will become like a broken section about to fall down,
a swelling in a highly raised wall"

God's prophet goes on to write: "Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel has said: "In view of your rejecting of this word, and since you men trust in defrauding and in what is devious and you support yourselves on it, therefore for you this error will become like a broken section about to fall down, a swelling out in a highly raised wall, the breakdown of which may come suddenly, in an instant.""

While we cannot say exactly how the future will unfold, we can judge by the past performance of the leadership of the Watchtower and project how they might respond when faced with severe adversity. According to the prophecy, though, whatever political and financial clout the Society has so far acquired for itself in the world will not prevent the complete and utter collapse of the organization in the near future.

For a certainty, the 1914 doctrine, which the Watchtower has tenaciously clung to in spite of the mounting evidence testifying to its error, and which is the prophetic foundation of the organization, will collapse instantly at the actual presence of Jesus Christ. The Watchtower's erroneous biblical interpretations have been built up just like a massive wall that we have unwisely come to lean upon. But, no amount of dogmatism or legal maneuvering can prop up the Watchtower's wall that is doomed to fall.

The modern history of Jehovah's Witnesses has convinced many of us that the Watchtower Society will always come out on top. In times past when Jehovah's Witnesses have been persecuted, there have always been places of refuge for us. Oftentimes we have found relief by appealing to governmental constitutions that have built-in legal guarantees of religious freedoms. To this day, the Watchtower's legal department has pursued the cause of freedom of religion in behalf of Jehovah's Witnesses. The organization has been a support for Jehovah's Witnesses in times of distress and disaster, too. We have come to assume that the organization always speaks and teaches the truth and does the right thing. So, naturally we have come to rely upon the Watchtower as if it were a protective wall around us. But, relying upon any human institution, especially one that claims to be Jehovah's visible organization, is a grave mistake. The opening example of the Jews' reliance upon the Jewish institution should be sufficient evidence of that.

There is little doubt that it is what we call God's "earthly" organization, with its body of teachings and policies, as well as the physical infrastructure of the Society, that it is destined by prophecy to come crashing down. However, because we have erroneously relied upon an organization rather than Jehovah, the prophecy goes on to foretell the end result: "And one will certainly break it as in the breaking of a large jar of the potters, crushed to pieces without one's sparing it, so that there cannot be found among its crushed pieces a fragment of earthenware with which to rake the fire from the fireplace or to skim water from a marshy place."

Yes, Jehovah's "earthly" organization is going to be shattered to pieces!

Jehovah's Witnesses may prefer to believe that this prophecy doesn't apply to the modern-day Israel of God, with its associate Watchtower Society, but the very next verse indicates that, indeed, it does. Isaiah 30:15 goes on to say: "For this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, has said: "By coming back and resting you people will be saved. Your mightiness will prove to be simply in keeping undisturbed and in trustfulness." But you were not willing."'

According to Jehovah's declaration, in order to receive mercy and salvation when the tribulation comes upon us, we must remain undisturbed and simply trust in God. No doubt, Jehovah's Witnesses assume that we will naturally do just that.

We might ask, though: What basis is there for Christendom to trust Jehovah in order to be saved? There is none. So, then, those whom Jehovah expects to trust in him can be none other than Jehovah's Witnesses. But, according to the prophecy, those whom Jehovah would favor with salvation are not going to trust him when the time comes. No doubt that's because we have come to trust in our own strength and in human organizations and institutions. However, no human agency will be of any assistance during the heat of Jehovah's anger. The result will be that "a thousand will tremble on account of the rebuke of one; on account of the rebuke of five you will flee until you will have remained like a mast on the top of a mountain and like a signal on a hill."

What a pathetic sight that will be, when Jehovah's proud people cower before the tyrannical enemy. Such a humiliating experience will provide the circumstance whereby we are brought to our knees and made to recognize that we should never presume upon Jehovah or make a pretense at serving him. But, because Jehovah's purpose is bound up with his anointed congregation, our trembling before the enemy obligates Jehovah to take up the cause of his chastened people.

During the judgment we will be forced to make a full confession before God for all the wicked and foolish things we have done, both as an organization and as individuals. And Jehovah's Witnesses will have to beg God for mercy for the tremendous reproach we have brought upon the sacred name. That's why the 18th verse goes on to say: "Therefore Jehovah will keep in expectation of showing you favor, and therefore he will rise up to show you mercy."

The painful lesson that all men must soon learn is that Jehovah God is the rightful sovereign of this world. The nightmare that is destined to visit this world will prove beyond all doubt that humans simply do not have the wisdom to rule themselves.

Ultimately, Jehovah's Witnesses must also come to know that Jehovah is God in a way that we have heretofore not known. True, we already mentally acknowledge that Jehovah is God. But, at times we live as if he were not. And because Jehovah has remained hidden from us until such time as his judgments are due to be revealed, we have been inclined to follow our own counsel and rely upon our understanding and strength. Our organizational path to salvation has become deeply rutted. The end result of our self-willed course will be its own disaster from which only our merciful God can save us. 

By our accepting Jehovah's severe disciplining and his instruction the 22nd verse foretells: "And you people must defile the overlaying of your graven images of silver and the close-fitting covering of your molten statue of gold. You will scatter them. Like a menstruating woman, you will say to it: "Mere dirt!""

According to the apostle Paul, a lofty thing among men is a disgusting thing to Jehovah. During the judgment, Jehovah will let his disgust become known, so that never again will Jehovah's people foolishly exalt any so-called "earthly" organization to the lofty place now occupied by the Watchtower. Once we discard the unclean things that have caused us to stumble, and once we accept Jehovah as our Grand Instructor, then, and only then, will God bring about true liberation by pouring out in full measure his long-awaited blessing of spiritual paradise.

Truly, it is then when Jehovah's chosen ones 'will shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.' That's because Jehovah will personally pour out his holy spirit directly upon each one. The result will be brilliant new light and a new spirit within each one, the likes of which none of us have ever before experienced or imagined.

At Isaiah 30:26, Jehovah indicates the magnitude of the truth that is yet to be revealed by making a comparison to literal light. It reads: "And the light of the full moon must become as the light of the glowing sun; and the very light of the glowing sun will become seven times as much, like the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah binds up the breakdown of his people and heals even the severe wound resulting from the stroke by him."

"When the very people in Zion will dwell in Jerusalem,
you will by no means weep"

The Bible's recorded history of Jehovah's dealings with ancient Israel indicates that oftentimes, severe discipline is the only way that God can reach the hearts of his people. But, we are also reassured that although Jehovah will not give us exemption from deserved punishment, he is also, afterwards, "good and ready to forgive."

Most encouragingly, the prophet Isaiah says: "When the very people in Zion will dwell in Jerusalem, you will by no means weep. He will without fail show you favor at the sound of your outcry; as soon as he hears it he will actually answer you."

We should not suppose that anyone might receive salvation unless first we are brought into dire straits and a helpless condition, so that we are forced to make an outcry to Jehovah for his favor. In reality, God has been preparing our faith to be able to withstand the coming severe wounding by him so that he may at last allow us to enter into his kingdom.

That brings us back to the letter that Paul originally wrote to the Hebrews. Perhaps now we can better appreciate why the apostle admonished Christians not to beg off from standing before the awesome heavenly Mount Zion. The real city of God exists in the heavens, not on earth. Hebrews 11:18 says: "For you have not approached that which can be felt and which has been set aflame with fire, and a dark cloud and thick darkness and a tempest..."

If we do not have here on earth a city that remains, that can be seen or "felt," as Paul said, we are misleading ourselves if we trust in the pre-supposed permanence of any so-called visible "earthly" organization. As Psalms 127:1 reads: "Unless Jehovah himself builds the house, it is to no avail that its builders have worked hard on it. Unless Jehovah himself guards the city, it is to no avail that the guard has kept awake."

No, the coming collapse of the Watchtower Society will not be the end of our faith as Jehovah's Witnesses: it will be the moment of truth for our faith, its necessary testing by fire. It will mark for us the beginning of Jehovah's awesome Judgment Day, and will provide the much-needed discipline and humbling for the leadership of the organization, and the much-needed discipline and refinement of our own misconceptions and errant reliance upon the permanency of a system which is in existence only to serve a brief role in Jehovah's Purpose, just as the Jewish system of worship once was.

And, the utmost reason to look forward to the coming collapse of the Watchtower is that it will allow Jehovah to finally and fully vindicate himself as God and Savior.

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Copyright © 2003, by Robert King
All Rights Reserved.