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Unbanned Bible Publications |
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Defending God’s Truth in Church Doctrine and Political History – Renette Vermeulen |
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(Continued from In the masonic words of JW founder Russell)
DID ANY OF THE MANY JEHOVAH’S WITNESS PROPHESIES COME TRUE? Discerning between true and false prophecy is a serious matter. To establish what the term ‘false prophet’ really means, we must believe what God stated in Deuteronomy 18:21-22, “How will we know the word which the Lord has spoken? When a prophet speaks in the Name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which The Lord has not spoken…” Þ Despite the fact that many Jehovah’s Witnesses deny that they are prophets, the Watch Tower issue of April 1, 1972, p. 297, declares unmistakably that all JWS are prophets. As a result, all JWS share in the truth or falsehood of the following prophesies which should still be available in their church libraries. The Society’s ‘bible,’ the Watchtower, is viewed as the ‘voice’ of God. Therefore, it is to be expected that all Watchtower prophecies and teachings should be flawless. Remember, these were not really ‘inspired,’ as Biblical Scriptures were ‘given’ by the Holy Spirit, Who is God Himself. Rather, the Watchtower see themselves as the direct ‘spokesman’ of God. Thus, every word in the Watchtower and other Jehovah's Witnesses literature was, and is viewed as ‘dictated’ by God Himself as if they are the puppets and His pulls the strings. Well, is the Watchtower really flawless? Let us see. The 1889 issue, "The Time is at Hand," declares on p. 101, "The battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914, with the complete overthrow of earth's present rule, is already commenced." We all know 1914 also came and went and this prophecy did not come true. The Watchtower tried to ‘rectify’ this prophecy and predicted in the 1918 issue of "Millions Now Living Will Never Die," p. 89, "Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the apostle in Hebrews 11 to the condition of human perfection." This is an absolutely false addition to Bible Scripture. We must look forward to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ on the physical clouds as the angels promised His disciples while they watched Him physically ascend into heaven! (Acts 1:9-11.) The old patriarchs were ordinary human beings and are, according to what Jesus taught in Luke 16:19-31, either in heaven or in hell since the moment they died — from where no one ever returns, (Luke 16:27-31; Mark 9:43-48!) To this day in 2022 this prophecy too, did not come true. Nevertheless, in the August 1968 issue of, ‘Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?’ p. 494, the return of Christ in 1975 was prophesied again! This too, did not come true. In all fairness towards humanity and Jehovah’s Witnesses in particular, how can anyone tolerate, defend, and follow such false prophets, and belong so such a disobedient, deceitful, masonic system, based on Egyptology and pagan philosophy? IS GOD’S ‘PERSONAL NAME’ JEHOVAH, AS JWS CLAIM?The Judaist Jehovah’s-Witness’ claim that “Jehovah is the personal and only name of God.” Supposedly, “God” is “merely a title, and the real name for God is ‘Jehovah.’ Unless one calls on the ‘true’ name of God, ‘Jehovah,’ one [allegedly] cannot be saved.” Let us test this exclusive religious assertion in the light of contextual historical and Biblical truth; not in the false ‘light’ of ‘personalized’ Russellite bibles, (the masonic agent Charles Taze Russell was one of the main founders of this organization,) such as the “New World Translation,” or any other so-called ‘authoritative’ writings such as their Watchtower magazine! The Jewish Encyclopaedia: “Jehovah” - a mispronunciation of the unpronounceable Hebrew Name YHWH. [Ancient Hebrew pronounced only non-vowel sounds or consonants (B,T,G,H,W,V…) Thus, to add vowels, (A,E.I,O,U) to the Hebrew language twists God’s Name and the meaning of His Names.] YHWH is not “Jehovah” but “I Am Who I Am,” which AS GOD HIMSELF COMMANDED, is the ONLY Name of God. The pronunciation [of YHWH] is grammatically impossible. The form 'Jehovah' is a philological impossibility." God said to Moses at the burning bush, “Thus you will say to the children of Israel [in Egypt,] I AM [JHWH] sent me to you…. THIS IS MY NAME FOREVER, and this is My memorial to all generations, [TO THE END OF TIME,]” (Exodus 3:14-15!) ¨ It is no “coincidence” that Jesus referred to Himself as “I AM” [YHWH.] He Is God incarnate or revealed in the “flesh.” Hence, He constantly declared, “I AM the Truth; [He did not say He only spoke the truth,] I AM the Way, [He did not say He only shows the Way,] I AM the Life; [He did not say He only preaches or represents Eternal Life,] I AM the Resurrection, [He did not say He only teaches on the resurrection,] I AM the Bread [or Spiritual Life Itself] from heaven...” The Universal Jewish Encyclopaedia: “Jehovah is an erroneous pronunciation of the tetragrammaton of the Name of God, [YHWH] made up of Hebrew letters. The word "Jehovah" is a misreading for which there is no warrant and which makes no sense in Hebrew.” The New Jewish Encyclopaedia: “It is clear that the word Jehovah is an artificial composite.” Encyclopaedia Judaica: “The true pronunciation of the tetragrammaton YHWH was never lost. The Name was [artificially] pronounced Yahweh. It was regularly written YHWH until 586 B.C., as is clear from the Lachish Letters written shortly before this date.” ¨ Even when they made God’s Name, “I AM Who I AM” (YHWH) into the ‘pronounceable’ word “Yehowah,” the latter is neither ‘a name’ nor a ‘personal name’ in itself. In original Hebrew, God’s Eternal Name YHWH is unpronounceable as Hebrews pronounced only consonants. So God’s “Personal Name” is not “Jehovah,” which is also an erroneous Christian Jehovah Witness transliteration of ‘The Lord’ or ‘Master:’ Adonai. ¨ Orthodox Jews still call God “Hashem” (The Name,) as they believe His Name “I AM” (YHWH) is too Holy to say out loud. So, I could not find a Scriptural reference to where Jesus’ first disciples called Him YHWH, or by the Hebrew transliteration of Jesus “Yeshua,” or something similar. The New Testament was written in Greek NOT in Hebrew! So, they probably would not have called Him by the FULLY LEGITIMATE English pronunciation of the Greek Name “Jesus.” His first disciples called Him “The Lord,” “Master” or “Teacher,” (Rabbi.) They understood that Jesus’ “I AM” declarations, (“I AM the bread of Life… BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM…”) referred directly to Exodus 3:14-15; 6:2-3 & 8, when He plainly said to Moses, “I Am [YHWH], the Lord.” The general conclusion of these passages is that “The Lord” in itself does not mean YHWH, (I Am Who I Am.) “The Lord” is one of God’s Titles that firmly connects to His Eternal Name “I AM.” So God said, “I Am [YHWH] the Lord…’” Strong’s Concordance: paraphrased according to Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush, “The [so-called ‘Hebrew’] transliteration Yehowah [is actually the unpronounceable YHWH,] which, [in Exodus 6:2-3 & 8, connects to] ‘The Lord,’ [which means] Self-Existent or Eternal [Master.]” ¨ That is why Jesus declared to His disciples, “YOU CALL ME TEACHER [‘Rabbi] AND LORD, [Master,] and YOU SAY WELL, FOR SO I AM… [YHWH,]” (Jn. 13:13; 14:5-6; Ex. 3:14.) Conclusion: Most scholars of the Bible who interpret God’s Word in it’s true context agree that God has only One Eternal Name: the unpronounceable Hebrew Name YHWH, (I AM.) Additionally, He has three primary ‘Titles’ namely, GOD (Eloah — singular; erroneously translated in the plural form Elohim which means “mighty ones:” Deuteronomy 4:6-9; Mark 12:29,) Master or Lord (Adonai,) and Teacher, (Rabbi,) Exodus 3:14-15. Besides these, the God of the Bible is called by nearly a hundred compound ‘Descriptive Titles.’ Consequently, when we say “The Lord created the heavens and the earth,” we actually say, “YHWH [I AM] the Lord [the Master] created the heavens and the earth.” If ever there was a UNIVERSAL, so-called ‘personal Name’ for God, then it is the most Honorable Title, “Father!” Jesus Christ, being “One” in Essence, Nature, and Divinity with the Father as God Himself, taught all His disciples to address God as “our Heavenly Father,” (Col. 2:9; Mt. 6:9.) IS SALVATION POSSIBLE IN THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESS SOCIETY? (The 144,000)As proved beyond a shadow of doubt, this Society is rooted in Charles Taze Russell’s Egyptology and masonic teachings and declarations. Additionally, Russell gave Jehovah’s Witnesses extremely false prophesies. The whole society stands on the false transliteration of the so-called ‘saving name of Jehovah’ as seen above. They reject the one and only saving Name, full atoning sacrifice, and Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, (Jn. 14:6.) They are guided by The Watchtower magazine, instead of God’s contextual Word in the Scriptures. And their voices are “heard on the streets” where they aggressively evangelize the world with their distorted doctrines, instead of following the leading of the Holy Spirit to preach the True Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ according to everything HE had said, (Isaiah 42:2; Mt. 12:18-19; 28:19-10.) Thus, they have already badgered 8.4 million people into their society and drove them away from True, Scriptural Salvation, as explained in the full context of the Lord Jesus’ Eternal New Testament Covenant, (Acts 4:12! Jn. 1:1-14; 3:3-5; 3:16-18.) Þ What’s more, they believe that only their ‘born again anointed’ will be resurrected from physical death. These are only “144,000” Jehovah’s Witnesses from the “lost Tribes of Israel,” who are supposedly ‘the bride of Christ’ and ‘the Israel of God,’ who will go to heaven. The “remnant” will live forever in a ‘restored paradise on earth,’ and the ‘unfaithful’ who did not join their organisation, will simply be ‘annihilated,’ because the Scriptural hell that Jesus taught, does supposedly “not exist.” The doctrine of the “144,000 elitists,” the so-called “Lost Tribes of Israel” that “governs the whole world,” is easily abused by masonic orders because it is humanly incomprehensible. It can only be found in Revelation 7:4-17; 14:1-5, and it does not fit into Jesus’ unchangeable New Testament Covenant, Gospel teachings, prophesies, or any other contextual Bible Scripture, (Mt. 28:18-20.) God completely annulled His Old Testament Covenant with the Hebrew nation and the land of Israel, to establish His eternal New Covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ with every single believer, (Israeli’s too,) who believes in Him, accepts, and follows Him, (Heb. 8:13; Jn. 3:16.) So, it is no surprise to find this pure masonic doctrine of British/Afrikaner/American, Israelism at the core of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ teachings as well. But if we read Revelation 7:4-17 for ourselves, we find in verses 4-8 that those mysterious 144,000 people are portrayed as Jesus’ sincerely believing disciples from “ALL THE [TWELVE] TRIBES OF ISRAEL: 12,000 FROM EVERY TRIBE.” There is NOT A SINGLE NON-JEW or ‘LOST TRIBE’ HERE! And here are the tribes mentioned in this passage: “From the tribe of Judah 12,000; Reuben 12,000, Gad 12,000, Asher 12,000, Naphtali 12,000, Manasseh 12,000, Simeon 12,000, Levi 12,000, Issachar 12,000, Zebulon 12,000, Joseph 12,000, and Benjamin 12,000.” The ‘TRIBE OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES’ is definitely not mentioned at all! Þ What’s more, JWs say salvation is possible only through Christ's ‘ransom sacrifice.’ This deception is taught in most Christian churches. They see Jesus’ sacrifice as a debt that was paid to Satan as he allegedly ‘held humanity ransom” since the fall in the garden. So, God had to ‘pay him a ransom price’ to set his captives free! However, Scripture makes it plain that “all the souls are God’s;” He Alone decides their final destination according to their personal choices, (Ezk. 18:4; Deut. 30:19; Jn. 1:12-13!) “Total depravity” or the Islamic/Christian predestination doctrine where God chooses some Muslims or church members and “annihilate” the rest of humanity, is a very false Calvinist dogma. Man was created with a free will. So, Satan could not ‘steal’ humanity. In the garden, they chose to sin and fell under God’s judgment into spiritual death and soulical (mind) darkness, (Gen. 3:1-15; 1 Ths. 5:21-23.) This is a spiritual state or position of lostness, (mind) bondage, and cursedness outside the holy presence of God, which all of humanity inherited since that day, (Rom. 5:12; 2 Cor. 10:3-5.) Even in the Old Testament, (just as in Jesus’ New Covenant,) Satan had to ask God’s permission to “test the faith” of the righteous Job, while the unrepentant sins of Israeli kings and citizens, (just as under the New Covenant,) gave Satan a “foothold” to deceive and control them! (Job 1:6-12.) Only God Himself decided how He would reconcile fallen humanity to Him, (Gen. 3:15!) No one could ever keep His entire Law to be righteous again like Adam and Eve were before the fall. Hence, humans remained spiritually and mentally under the power of darkness through their sinful state without a relationship with God. That is why Jesus, the Second Sinless Adam, (God Himself,) was “begotten” not created as a mere human, (Jn. 3:16.) He came to keep and fulfill the entire Law in the place of ALL sincerely believing humanity, so that His complete sacrifice on the cross, spiritually redeems them to live holy before the most righteous throne of the All-Righteous, Highest God, (Rom. 5:12-21!) From the context of both the Old and New Testament Covenants in the Bible, it is clear that God does NOT have to negotiate ANYTHING with the unholy, fallen angel Satan,” (Gal. 5:1-6; 1 Pt. 2:9-10; Mt. 5:17; Col. 2:8-15; Jn. 19:27-30!) Þ JWs also believe they cannot be saved until they repent from all their sins, [which is totally impossible although we must strive to live holy,] call only on the name of Jehovah, and belong to ‘Gods’ [JW] society. Water baptism is also ‘a vital step toward salvation.’ [Wikipedia.] Þ Although they supposedly declare the “True Jesus Christ,” JWS say, “Jesus Christ is not the Mediator between Jehovah God and all mankind. He is the Mediator between his heavenly Father, Jehovah God, and the nation of spiritual Israel, [JWs,] who are “limited to only 144,000 [heavenly] members.” [Wikipedia.] As seen, their 144,000-elite doctrine is a total misconception according to Revelation 7:4-10 and chapter 14! The TRUTH of God’s Word plainly proclaims that Jesus the Eternal High Priest and no one else is indeed the Mediator between God and all men! 1 Timothy 2:3-4, “God our Savior… [Jesus] desires all men to be saved [by coming] to the [saving] knowledge of the [real truth [of Scripture.]”
Biblical “born again” believers versus JW ‘born again elite class’Jehovah’s Witnesses’ “Born Again” Definition is: “Being born again involves being baptized in water (“born from water”) and begotten by God’s spirit (“born from... spirit”), thus becoming a son of God with the prospect of sharing in the Kingdom of God. (John 3:3-5) Jesus had this experience, as do the 144,000 who are heirs with him of the heavenly Kingdom.” The rest of the JWs, the “discreet slave class” only have an ‘earthly hope’ to live in the ‘restored paradise on earth.’ Firstly, the “water of the Word” is Jesus’ real Scriptural truth; of which physical water in the baptism of His true disciples is the mere symbol, (1 Pt. 1:23; Jn. 1:12-13; 3:3-5; 7:38-39; 4:14.) Secondly, everyone on earth, in order to be saved, must personally believe in and accept Jesus as Christ, God, and Lord, (Jn. 14:6.) Sincere, personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the ONLY spiritual rebirth, which every believer in Christ worldwide has to experience. John 1:12-14, “As many as received Him, [as Christ and God,] to them He gave the right to become children of God, to [all] those who believe in His Name; (Jn. 3:16) who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, [churches, societies, organizations and their doctrines] but of God…” That is why Jesus commanded in John 3:3-5, “Unless one is [spiritually] born again, [through personal faith in Christ,] he cannot see [perceive or understand] the Kingdom of God… Unless one is born of water [Jesus Himself and the truth of the Word, Jn. 14:6; 1:1-3,] and the [conviction and power of the Holy] Spirit [Who Is God Himself,] he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh, [of this world,] is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit,” (Jn. 16:8.) (See Worldwide Security Under the Prince of Peace, 1986, p. 10) The Watchtower instructs Jehovah’s Witnesses that they cannot be “born again” (except for the so-called ‘born again’ elite class of 144,000,) and claims that spiritual “adoption” is only for their small group of people whose positions in heaven have already been filled.” In reality, the real Bible clearly teaches, “God so loved the whole world that whoever [personally] believes in [Jesus Christ His Son,] will not perish but have eternal life!” (Jn. 3:16.) Someone wrote, “The Watchtower Society prevents people from a personal relationship with Jesus by claiming it is improper to pray to Jesus,” as they say He is not God. Yet, all Jesus’ disciples proclaimed and worshipped Him as Lord and God, (Mt. 14:33; Mt. 28:9, 17; Jn. 20:28.) Hence, Jesus told His disciples, “Whatever you ask in My Name, that I will do…” “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us…” (Jn. 14:14; 1 Jn. 5:14-15!) Jesus was God in the form of a mere man, (Heb. 1:1-14.) Paul prayed to Jesus in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9. The dying Stephen prayed to Jesus in Acts 7:59, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit…”
Salvation is only in and through the organization The entire context of Biblical truth, as manifested in the New Testament Christ Jesus, declares that salvation is only by God’s grace through personal faith in and discipleship of Him Alone. However, JW Russellites say they believe in Jesus and what He has done for “them” at Calvary, (not for the whole world as well,) “but that is just not enough.” They “must do Jehovah’s will” by [aggressively] distributing Watchtower literature from home to home, in the streets, at bus stops, train stations, online, by phone, and everywhere else they can possibly make new converts. “Incomplete Atonement.” As millions of church and other denominations worldwide, JWs recite Luke 13:23-24 ‘as evidence’ of the doctrine of ‘incomplete atonement,’ which calculates as follows, faith + works = salvation. If only all people would read God’s Word, the Bible, for themselves and in context! This passage in Luke does not say we must accept Jesus and His complete atonement in our place, and then also work religiously to add to our salvation. The context of Jesus’ answer in Luke 13:23-28 pertains to the question whether only a few ‘believers’ such as the so-called ‘special’ JWs or any other ‘chosen church denomination,’ etcetera, will be saved. Jesus commanded, “Strive to enter through the Narrow Gate, [Who is Jesus Himself,] for many… will seek to enter and will not be able,” because they glide along the broad road of legalistic religion, and never ‘strive’ to get into God’s Kingdom through His Son, the Man Jesus Christ, (the Narrow Way, the Living Word of God, and the Only Way that leads to everlasting life, (Jn. 1:1-14; 3:3-5; 14:6.)] Thus, That Day when Jesus returns to earth, (according to the real Bible,) to fetch all His Scriptural believers to be with Him in heaven, [not a ‘paradise on earth,’] all legalistic church members as well as all diligent Kingdom Hall attendees will have to hear His judgement, “I never knew you. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity... There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth… [which is eternal hell, not a so-called ‘annihilation’]” (2 Ths. 1:6-12! Mt. 7:21-24!) (Continue) |