The expression the time of the end is found in five different places in the book of Daniel. When Gabriel appeared to Daniel, the angel explained to him that he had "come to cause you to discern what will befall your people in the final part of the days, because it is a vision yet for the days to come." The Watchtower has long-taught that the world entered into the foretold final part of the days and the time of the end in the year 1914. Is that true though? Furthermore, is there any way we may confidently ascertain one way or the other? If the time of the end is yet to begin, then Jehovah's Witnesses run this risk of being blindsided when unexpected events unfold. Since many prophecies hinge upon the time of the end---that period serving as a marker---it is vital that we be able to situate ourselves in relation to that period.

One inconsistency in the Watchtower's interpretation of the prophecy of Daniel has to do with what we read at Daniel 11:35, which reads: "And some of those having insight will be made to stumble, in order to do a cleansing and do to a whitening, until the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed." According to the Society's commentary on this verse in the Pay Attention to Daniel book, those with insight that were made to stumble by the king of the north had to do with Soviet agents that infiltrated the organization by posing as Jehovah's Witnesses. On page 275, "the time of the end," as quoted in the verse above, "must relate to the end of the period of time needed for God's people to be refined while enduring the assault of the king of the north. The stumbling evidently ended at the time appointed by Jehovah."

So it is that the Watchtower has arbitrarily interpreted the expression "the time of the end" to suit our own private interpretation. We have violated the use of that very specific time marker. For, if we believe that the time of the end began in 1914, and we explain Daniel 11:35 as pertaining to a period during the Cold War, how is it that the Scripture says that the time of the end is yet for the appointed time? Clearly, the Watchtower has obfuscated the meaning of the prophecy by assigning a totally different meaning to the simple expression---the time of the end. Apparently some of those having insight that are made to stumble are not our far-away brothers in Russia, but they are much closer to home. They are those who presume to teach Jehovah's Witnesses these vital prophecies, but who resort to cleverly contriving artificial interpretations of prophecy that will ultimately test the faith of all of Jehovah's Witnesses who rely on the Watchtower for spiritual guidance.

The prophecy of Daniel provides important information as to what does and what doesn't occur, during the critical time of the end. So, we should be able to affix where we are in the stream of time if we can determine the events described as marking the commencement of the time of the end. The problem, though, is if those events have not occurred yet. Daniel 11:40 relates what occurs during that period where it says: "And in the time of the end the king of the south will engage with him in a pushing, and against him the king of the north will storm with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships; and he will certainly enter into the lands and flood over and pass through."

The Watchtower has interpreted this portion of prophecy as applying to the USSR and the USA, during the period when those two antagonistic blocks of nations engaged in a pushing contest with each other in a Cold War stand off. But, we should ask why it is, that, if the time of the end began back in 1914, why would the prophecy only first mention it in connection with events that supposedly transpired in the 1950's through the 1980's? Why is there no mention of the beginning of the time of the end until we reach verse 40? We are taught that the stumbling and refining mentioned in the 35th verse took place during the period of the Cold War, yet the prophecy definitely says that those developments occurred before the appointed time of the end begins. So, why is it that a few verses further on in that very same context, where we find the first reference to the time of the end, we apply that to the very same period as when the testing and refining takes place, which the Scripture says occurs before the time of the end?

These are perplexing issues. The question is, can they be resolved? The answer is yes: we can resolve this question and determine what the time of the end is by using our power of reason. Since Paul wrote that all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are carefully concealed in Christ, let us consult the words of the Master teacher to see if he might be able to shed some light on the dilemma we are facing. In a series of parables in the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus explained that the harvest time that he used in his illustration was actually the period of the conclusion of this present wicked system of things.

In the parable of the wheat and weeds, Matthew 13:39 says: "The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things, and the reapers are angels. Therefore, just as 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."

And in the illustration of the dragnet, Jesus said at Matthew 13:49: "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."

The question is: has Christ sent forth his angels to separate the wicked from the righteous? No, obviously not. Matthew 24:40 situates the separation as taking place during the time of Christ's thief-like arrival, which is why in the 42nd verse he went on to urge us to "keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." The mere fact that Jehovah has an organization that is separate and distinct from the sects of Christendom doesn't mean that Christ has initiated the final separating.

As discussed elsewhere on e-watchman, the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are plagued with all the same evils as every other religion should stand as a stark rebuttal of the Watchtower's interpretation of Christ's illustrations regarding the conclusion. That there are literally tens of thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses who are disfellowshipped every year for various forms of lawlessness gives the lie to any assertion otherwise. Furthermore, there are numerous things that cause stumbling in the organization, so many that there is no need to enumerate them here. The reasonable mind can surely grasp the simple truth that Christ has not sent forth his angels to remove the stumbling blocks and lawless individuals in our midst. To insist otherwise is to embrace an unreality.

But, what does this have to do with the time of the end?

The Greek word translated as "conclusion" in the Christian Greek Scriptures is syntelia. In the Septuagint, which was the first translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, syntelia was used and thereafter translated into English as "the time of the end." So, the conclusion of the system of things is the same thing as the time of the end. Since, as discussed above, we are not in the harvest, or conclusion of a system of things, neither are we in the time of the end.

The implications of this will be discussed in the essay entitled The King of Fierce Countenance.

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Copyright © 2002, by Robert King
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