With or without the chronology, Jehovah’s Witnesses are absolutely convinced that the time of the end, and therefore the foretold harvest, commenced in 1914. However, this essay more closely examines some long-held assumptions and the implications of a future harvest period.

Jesus, of course, compared the Christian ministry to a harvest. At Matthew 9:36-38 Jesus spoke of the potential harvest and the need for harvest workers, saying: “Yes, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” According to Jesus’ illustration, the harvest was commencing then. However, in the 13th chapter of Matthew Jesus spoke of another harvest, one that would take place during the conclusion of the system. Specifically, Jesus stated: “The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things, and the reapers are angels.” So, it evident that Jesus used the illustration of the harvest in a general way to illustrate the work Christian ministers would do; but, Jesus also used the analogy in a very specific way to illustrate the final judgment that would occur. The two illustrations differ, in that, in the final harvest the angels are the reapers—not Christian ministers.

Nevertheless, Jehovah’s Witnesses persist in believing that the angelic harvesters have already been dispatched into the field. That is in keeping with the Watchtower’s teaching that the scripturally delineated period of the conclusion of the system began in 1914. That is not to say that there is not abundant evidence that angels oversee and direct Christian ministers; the question is whether the actual concluding harvest is already underway or not. Put another way: Might the evangelizing work of Jehovah’s Witnesses more readily compare to the harvest work the 1st Century disciples engaged in? After all, there are many aspects of Jesus’ parable of the conclusion that simply are not in evidence.

For example, Jesus stated quite clearly that the angels go out and first harvest out the weeds from among the wheat—not the other way around.  Jesus said: “Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the harvest season I will tell the reapers, First collect the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them up, then go to gathering the wheat into my storehouse.” The Watchtower’s interpretation of the illustration violates the ordering of the process that Jesus outlined. In order to support the untenable notion that the harvest began in 1919, the Watchtower resorts to twisting Jesus’ words to say that the wheat are collected and separated from among the weeds. Notice the August, 1st, 1981, Watchtower comment:

“When, after 1914, did the Son of man “send forth his angels” to separate the “sons of the kingdom” from “the sons of the wicked one,” the imitation “wheat,” that is, “persons who are doing lawlessness” and who include the “man of lawlessness,” the religious leaders of counterfeit Christianity? The answer must correspond with the facts, and these show that it was in 1919 that the spirit-begotten, anointed “sons of the kingdom,” symbolized by the “wheat,” began to be freed from the “weeds,” or false Christians, that had overrun the religious field of mankind…Only after 1919, when the truly spirit-begotten Christians were delivered from Babylon the Great, the Devil’s world empire of false religion, did a clear difference become visible between the “wheat” and the “weeds.””

Jesus was unambiguous in stating that the harvest is accomplished when the angels remove the wicked from among the righteous. However, the Watchtower’s present teaching of the parable assumes that the righteous are first separated from among false Christians.

In the parable the harvesting angels are said to accomplish a complete cleansing by removing and destroying all corrupting influences from within Christ’s kingdom. Jesus explained: “Therefore, just as the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be in the conclusion of the system of things. The Son of man will send forth his angels, and they will collect out from his kingdom all things that cause stumbling and persons who are doing lawlessness, and they will pitch them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be. At that time the righteous ones will shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him that has ears listen. “

In the illustration Christ’s kingdom is the Christian congregation. For example, Colossians 1:13 refers to Christians being delivered from the world of spiritual darkness and transferred by Jehovah “into the kingdom of the Son of his love.” The question is: If the weeds of Christ’s illustration represent the false Christians in Christendom, how could such individuals also be said to be in God’s kingdom? After all, Jesus said the weeds would collected “out from his kingdom.”

Also, how could it possibly hold true that the angels have already removed “all things that cause stumbling and persons doing lawlessness” from Christ’s kingdom? How could such a thing have been accomplished in 1919? Surely Christ was not saying that he would dispatch his angels to clear the stumbling blocks and lawless individuals out of Christendom, was he? Furthermore, if the angels commenced the removal of such things from among the true sons of the kingdom back in 1919, why are there still enumerable stumbling blocks and persons doing lawlessness among Jehovah’s Witnesses up to this present moment?

As an example, it is well known that beginning in the late 1960’s the Watchtower Society’s spokesmen began to cultivate the expectation among Jehovah’s Witnesses that Armageddon was going to commence in 1975, or thereabouts. In the ensuing years after that fiasco thousands of disillusioned witnesses left the organization. For them the 1975 hysteria was a spiritually upending stumbling block. More recently, in 1995, the Watchtower was forced to drop the teaching that individuals from the generation of 1914 would still be alive to personally witness the end of the system. Again, untold numbers of Jehovah’s Witnesses were stumbled, perhaps even some from among the true sons of the kingdom. Even more recently, the Watchtower’s NGO affair has also proven to be a cause of stumbling for Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is also the case that there are countless numbers of spiritually lawless individuals among Jehovah’s Witnesses—so much so that tens of thousands of witnesses are disfellowshipped every year.  So, how can it possibly be true that the angels have initiated the harvest that removes all such things from Christ’s kingdom? Are Jehovah’s powerful angels really so ineffectual?

Also, if the harvest truly commenced in 1919, and supposedly all the false Christians were bundled up to be thrown in the fire back then, why is that no such destruction has taken place yet? Instead, the entire generation of weed-like individuals, who were presumed to have been adversely judged back in 1919, has merely passed away—evidently being replaced by a new bumper crop of weeds. Sound reasoning insists that the concluding harvest is not conducted over decades of time but is accomplished in a relatively short period of time from among an already-gathered “crop.”

The fact of the matter is that the hundreds of divergent denominations and sects of Christendom could in no way be considered Christ’s congregation or kingdom. To appreciate what Jesus’ harvest illustration actually means it is helpful to consider what the apostle Paul had to say concerning these matters. At 1 Corinthians 3:9, the apostle wrote: “For we are God’s fellow workers. You people are God’s field under cultivation, God’s building.” In likening Christ’s congregation to a building under construction and a field under cultivation, Paul provided the means to understand Christ’s parable of the harvest. How so? Paul went on to illustrate the work on “God’s building” by comparing each one’s contributions to various types of building materials: "Now if anyone builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood materials, hay, stubble, each one’s work will become manifest, for the day will show it up, because it will be revealed by means of fire; and the fire itself will prove what sort of work each one’s is.”

The apostle recognized that both desirable and undesirable things were part of the anointed congregation—or kingdom of Christ—and both the inferior materials and the precious metals and stones would coexist in the same building, or organization, until the day of fire would put each one to the test. Some persons and things would remain and others would be consumed. The combustible materials (wood, hay and stubble) are comparable to the weeds of Jesus’ illustration. The reason Paul used the illustration in the first place was because some of the Corinthians were following men and had a tendency to form sects. Some were saying they belonged to Paul; some to Apollos and Cephas, and so on.

The illustration Paul used was meant to show that even though such individuals were part of the congregation, unless their faith was build solidly upon the foundation of Christ, they were building with mere wood, hay and stubble and their faith would not endure the fiery trials. In another illustration, Paul similarly referred to the congregation as a large house that contained both honorable and dishonorable vessels. So, the point is, as respects Christ’s illustration of the wheat and the weeds, both the wheat and the weeds exist within Christ’s congregation up until the day of fire. It means that the wheat and the weeds are not found scattered throughout the various denominations of Babylon the Great; but instead, the two sorts already coexist inside of Christ’s congregation.

That the wheat and the weeds are harvested from the same Christian organization is also apparent from the seven letters of Revelation; addressed to the seven congregations in the Lord’s day. Jesus’ counsel to the congregations plainly shows that some of the individual members within those congregations, even though anointed, do not necessarily meet with his approval and will not pass the test, unless they repent. For example, Christ said to the Sardis congregation: “Become watchful, and strengthen the things remaining that were ready to die, for I have not found your deeds fully performed before my God. Therefore, continue mindful of how you have received and how you heard, and go on keeping it, and repent. Certainly unless you wake up, I shall come as a thief, and you will not know at all at what hour I shall come upon you.”

No wonder Jesus concluded each letter to the congregations by saying to them: “Let the one who has an ear hear what the spirit says to the congregations.” Not coincidently, Jesus concluded his illustration of the wheat and the weeds with a similar admonition, saying: “Let him that has ears listen.”

 

"The kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet"

Another aspect to consider is that Jesus said that the weeds would experience “weeping and gnashing of their teeth.” What does that mean?

The expression “there is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be” was always used by Jesus to illustrate the condition of despair that the rejected ones would experience when they were put out of the kingdom. That specific phrase is never used in reference to the judgment upon the world in general. For instance, at Matthew 8:12 Jesus said: “Whereas the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the darkness outside. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.” Likewise in the illustration of the wedding of the king’s son, which is clearly pictorial of the marriage of the Lamb, the man who was allowed entry into the wedding feast, but who was later found to be improperly attired, was consequently bound and thrown into the outer darkness, which is where his weeping and gnashing of teeth occurred. Similarly, in the illustration of the faithful and discreet slave, the evil slave is said to weep and gnash his teeth when he is thrown out of God’s household upon Christ’s ultimate inspection. Moreover, the wicked and sluggish slave who misuses his master’s assets meets the same fate. Since the master has not settled accounts with his slaves yet, it is evident that the wicked and unfaithful slaves have not been put out of the master’s organization to weep and gnash their teeth on the outside.

Jesus used the expression weeping and gnashing of teeth in yet one other illustration. In the context of the parable to the wheat and the weeds, in the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus related a similar illustration; likening the kingdom of the heavens to a fisherman’s dragnet, saying: “Again the kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet let down into the sea and gathering up fish of every kind. When it got full they hauled it up onto the beach and, sitting down, they collected the fine ones into vessels, but the unsuitable they threw away. That is how it will be in the conclusion of the system of things: the angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous and will cast them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.”

What does the dragnet symbolize? According to the June 15th, 1992, Watchtower, the dragnet symbolizes Christendom, as well as Christ’s true congregation. Hence, we read:

“So the dragnet represents an earthly instrument that professes to be God’s congregation and that gathers in fish. It has included both Christendom and the congregation of anointed Christians, the latter having continued to collect fine fish, under the invisible guidance of the angels…”

However, Jesus gave no indication that the dragnet symbolized the multitude of organizations that merely professed to be God’s congregation. He said “the kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet.” That means that the dragnet represents God’s earthly congregation—not merely the Babel of institutions that falsely claim to be such. The Watchtower’s interpretation is glaringly inadequate in another way, too.

If the symbolic dragnet was figuratively hauled up onto beach and the foretold separation began back in 1919, as the Watchtower insists, that would mean that the judgment commenced then. Yet, almost everyone who lived back then has naturally passed away. Since there is to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous during the millennial reign of God’s kingdom, what purpose could possibly be served by the angels performing a separation of the righteous and the unrighteous when they are to be united in gravedom and then resurrected back to life on earth? After all, didn’t Jesus say that the unsuitable fish would be cast into the fiery furnace, along with the weeds? Are we to conclude that everyone who has not become associated with the Watchtower Society during this past century, but who have since died, have forfeited their resurrection and been cast into the symbolic fires of Gehenna? How reasonable is that?

Jesus’ parable of the dragnet illustrates a decisive, final separation that determines the everlasting destiny of those living at a definite point in time. As with the parable of the wheat and weeds, Jesus specified that the angels do the separating work—not men under angelic guidance. Furthermore, if the unsuitable fish have not been cast into the fiery furnace, which they obviously have not, than neither have the suitable fish been gathered.

Bethel’s teaching and writing staff ought to find an answer to the question: How many decisive separations are there? That is the appropriate question in view of the fact, at least according to the Watchtower, there are two harvest-like separations. One has supposedly been ongoing since 1919, and another is to occur in the future. But are the Society’s teaching really that contradictory? Yes, unfortunately they are. Consider another excerpt taken from the 1992 issue of the Watchtower discussing the Dragnet:

“You likely know that after 1919 the anointed remnant got busy in the preaching work in cooperation with the angels, who continued to use the symbolic dragnet to haul fish onto the beach, to separate the fine ones from the unsuitable ones. Statistics from that period show that the catch of fine fish for anointing with God’s spirit continued as the last ones of the 144,000 were gathered by the symbolic net. (Revelation 7:1-4) But by the mid-1930’s, the collecting of fine fish for anointing with holy spirit basically ended. Was the congregation of the anointed remnant then to discard the net, as it were, and simply sit idle, waiting for their heavenly reward? Not at all!”

So, according to the commentary above, the separating work has been ongoing since 1919. Nevertheless, in 1995 the Watchtower discarded the teaching that the sheep and the goats were being separated at this time. In the October 15th issue we read:

“We have long felt that the parable depicted Jesus’ sitting down as King in 1914 and since then making judgments—everlasting life for people proving to be like sheep, permanent death for the goats. But a reconsideration of the parable points to an adjusted understanding of its timing and what it illustrates. This refinement reinforces the importance of our preaching work and the significance of people’s response.”

What then does the parable illustrate? It illustrates a future judging and separating. And in proving their new position and “readjusted understanding,” the Society contradicts and nullifies everything they have established as to when the related parables of the wheat and weeds and the dragnet are fulfilled. The Watchtower continues:

“If we analyze Jesus’ activity in the parable, we observe him finally judging all the nations. The parable does not show that such judging would continue over an extended period of many years, as if every person dying during these past decades were judged worthy of everlasting death or everlasting life. It seems that the majority who have died in recent decades have gone to mankind’s common grave. The parable, though, depicts the time when Jesus judges the people of “all the nations” who are then alive and facing the execution of his judicial sentence.

In other words, the parable points to the future when the Son of man will come in his glory. He will sit down to judge people then living. His judgment will be based on what they have manifested themselves to be. At that time “the distinction between a righteous one and a wicked one” will have been clearly established. The actual pronouncing and executing of judgment will be carried out in a limited time. Jesus will render just decisions based on what has become evident about individuals.”

So, in one issue of the Watchtower, the Society correctly reasons that the judging of the nations does not take place “over an extended period of many years.“ The Watchtower insightfully recognizes that the parable teaches that Jesus’ judgment comes immediately before the final “execution of his judicial sentence.” But, as exhibited above and elsewhere, the Watchtower also insists that the harvest judgment commenced nearly a century ago and is ongoing! What can account for this maddening method of bi-polar Bible interpretation?

The only rational explanation for the Watchtower’s contradictory teachings is that they are determined to prop up the delusion that Christ began ruling the world in 1914—no matter the cost to their credibility. The obvious reason the parable of the wheat and weeds and the dragnet are attributed to 1919 is because Jesus indicated that those parables illustrate what is to occur during the conclusion of the system of things. If the Watchtower were to follow its own sound reasoning that is applied to the parable of the sheep and the goats, they would be forced to admit that the conclusion of the system has not begun yet. That is evidently unacceptable to the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Apparently, the Watchtower’s leadership is confident that most witnesses will not even notice their interpretive legerdemain, and so far apparently very few actually have.

The irony, though, is that the parable of the sheep and the goats situates the separating as taking place when Christ becomes king: Matthew 25:31 reads: “When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. “ In order to explain yet another contradiction, the Watchtower’s sophists explain the parable in terms of Christ sitting down on his judgment throne—not his kingly throne—as if there were two.

Rather than symbolizing Christendom, the dragnet would seem to picture the modern-day Watchtower Society itself, or more specifically, the evangelical organization associated with it. The world-wide preaching work sponsored by the Watchtower has brought in a sizable catch of “fish”—some suitable, and some unsuitable. It is these whom the angels will finally separate one from another during the conclusion of the system of things. Jesus foretold just such a separation when he said at Matthew 24:40-42: “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken along and the other be abandoned; two women will be grinding at the hand mill: one will be taken along and the other be abandoned. Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

To further establish the Bible’s teaching in this regard, and in order to overturn the “strongly entrenched” reasonings supporting the erroneous 1914 dogma, Revelation the 14th chapter situates the general harvest as occurring during the tribulation period. How so? As discussed elsewhere in this publication, the opening of the 6th seal initiates earth-shaking events associated with what Christ called a great tribulation. However, the tribulation does not lead immediately into Armageddon. Instead, the 7th chapter of Revelation indicates that the angels intercede to hold back the fours winds of God’s destructive judgment until all of the remaining 144,000 have been sealed. Jesus directly spoke of the same development when he said: “For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.”

So, the holding back of the four winds parallels the cutting short of the tribulation on account of the chosen ones of the 144,000. Evidently, the tribulation is suspended so that the final sealing may be accomplished. That being the case, the 14th chapter of Revelation establishes the ordering of events after that final sealing. That is because the vision of 144,000 standing upon Mount Zion can only signify that Christ’s remnant has finally been sealed at that point, so that the kingdom is complete. Their standing upon Mount Zion with the Lamb of God parallels the wheat being gathered into the heavenly storehouse. Contrary to the assumptions of most of Jehovah’s Witnesses, God’s purpose has not reached that stage yet.

At any rate, the vision of Revelation proceeds to reveal that after the last 144,000 brothers of Christ have been gathered into the storehouse, then the hour of judgment for the sheep and goats arrives. Thus, Revelation 14:6 reads: “And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, and he had everlasting good news to declare as glad tidings to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying in a loud voice: ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of the judgment by him has arrived, and so worship the One who made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters.’”

After the harvest of the “things in the heavens” and the angelic announcement of divine judgment, then the “harvest of the earth commences”:

“And another angel emerged from the temple sanctuary, crying with a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud: ‘Put your sickle in and reap, because the hour has come to reap, for the harvest of the earth is thoroughly ripe.’  And the one seated on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.”

The ordering of events in Revelation matches the sequence of events Christ foretold would occur during the conclusion. The judgment begins first upon the prospective heirs of the kingdom. During his discussion of the sign of his presence and the conclusion of the system of things in the 24th and 25th chapters of Matthew, Jesus gave a series of three parables to illustrate that very thing; namely, the illustration of the faithful and unfaithful slave; the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, and the parable of the talents. After foretelling how the evil and sluggish slaves will be dismissed from God’s household, then Christ gave the illustration of the sheep and the goats, which has to do with the judgment of all the nations. It is reasonable to conclude that the sheep are those who render good to Christ’s brothers during the time of tumult and persecution that marks the judgment upon God’s house.

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Copyright © 2005, by Robert King
All Rights Reserved.