I was completely
unaware. There appeared no reason for me to be concerned. The two softly
spoken, well dressed and extremely friendly people opened their bibles and,
showing me various verses, they told me what the future held for me.
They said that my
recently deceased mother, though not a Jehovah’s Witness, will be resurrected
to the earth and given a second chance. When I asked if I would see her again,
they offered me three potential scenarios:
1) If I died before Armageddon
- God’s coming judgement which was to happen very soon - I may also be given a
second chance and be reunited with my mum.
2) If Armageddon comes
whilst I am still alive, they told me this was very possible, I will probably
be annihilated.
3) If I became a loyal and
obedient follower of Jehovah, I could survive Armageddon and be reunited with
my mother. We can then join the great crowd who are tasked with restoring earth
to its paradisical beginnings.
So, I bought the suit
and the briefcase and began to study with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now let us return
to the Memorial Meal.
The brother was now to
address his next question:
Who will benefit from
Jesus’ loving sacrifice?
As the brother asked this
second question, a picture appeared on the screen.
It showed Jesus sitting on a throne in heaven,
with 144,000 behind him. Before him, as if on earth, were a great crowd wearing
white and waving palm branches.
If you are attending the
Memorial Meal as a Jehovah’s Witness, the picture, and its meaning, would have
not needed any explanation; but if you were an invited non-witness guest you
were about to be taught a belief peculiar to the Watchtower.
Though they never call
it such, the picture portrayed a two-tier salvation. Watchtower theology
teaches that only those with a heavenly hope are in the new covenant. They are
the only ones that need to be born again and they alone have Jesus as their
mediator.
Oblivious to the eternal
implications of this false teaching, most Jehovah’s Witnesses blindly follow what
their leaders tell them. They are taught that, because they only have an
earthly hope, they need not be born again, but what did Jesus say:
“Most
truly I say to you, Unless anyone is born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 (NWT)
Note the word ‘anyone’. Jesus
did not say ‘unless you as one of the 144,000 is born again.’
Also, what of the devastating
teaching that Jesus is only a mediator for the 144,000? This is what The Watchtower
says:
At a time when God was selecting those to be taken into that new covenant, the apostle Paul wrote that Christ was the “One mediator between God and men.’ (1 Tim. 2:5) Reasonably Paul was here using the word ‘mediator” in the same way he did the other five times, which occurred before the writing of 1 Timothy 2:5, referring to those then being taken into the new covenant for which Christ is “mediator.’ So in this strict Biblical sense Jesus is the “mediator” only for anointed Christians. The new covenant will terminate with the glorification of the remnant who are today in that covenant mediated by Christ. “This great crowd” of “other sheep” that is forming today is not in the new covenant. However by their associating with the little flock of those yet in that covenant they come under benefits that flow from that new covenant.’[1]
Could this sound any
more like a two-tier salvation?
The brother, perhaps
pre-empting people’s thoughts, was quick to point out that whether your future
lies in heaven or on the earth, Jehovah loves you just the same. In other
words, there is no need to feel bad if he has not chosen you for heaven. Jesus’
loving sacrifice benefits all, but it appears he especially loves those called
to a heavenly hope.
Who gets to heaven and
who will be on the earth?
If you asked the question:
How do you get to heaven as a Jehovah’s Witness?
The answer would be: Well,
Jehovah just chooses you.
If you asked: How do you
know Jehovah has chosen you?
The answer is: Well, you
just know.
We were told that if you
we in any way unsure, if we have any doubts about whether we are called to
heaven, then we are not.
The verse often wheeled
out at this point will be familiar to evangelical Christians. Romans 8:16 (NWT)
The spirit itself bears witness with our
spirit that we are God’s children.
Rather than understanding Paul’s words to be applicable to all those
who are born again of the Spirit of God, the Watchtower teaches that Paul was speaking
to a limited number of ‘born-again’ ones. With zero exegetical reasoning, the
Watchtower inexplicably rationalises that Paul was speaking about the 144,000
found in Revelation 7.
With no consideration to the context, and no reference to historical
Christian belief, the brother began to explain the image on the screen. Beginning
with the words ‘The Bible teaches that…’ he said that a limited number (144,000) will
be in heaven with Jehovah and Jesus and a limitless number of people will live
on a paradise earth. There was no in-depth Bible study to show why this was
true. He showed no working out – he just declared that what he was saying was what
the Bible teaches.
He then made a statement and posed a question: ‘This is the hope
that the Bible holds out for two groups of obedient mankind, but who goes to
heaven?’
Do good people go to heaven?
The brother rightly pointed
out that the popular belief that only good people go to heaven is not true.
None of us are good. So, who gets to heaven?
Well, that is limited to the 144,000.
Revelation chapter 7 not only informs the reader of the number
144,000, but also that these ones are from the 12 tribes of Israel. The
Watchtower contends that the listed tribes of Israel are to be understood spiritually.
Can you guess who they teach spiritual Israel to be?
Welcome to the inconsistent and baffling hermeneutic of the
Watchtower Society. They believe 144,000 (Revelation 7:4) to be a literal
number, but the then listed 12 tribes (Revelation 7:4-8) to be only figurative
– go figure!
They also consider everything else mentioned about the 144,000 to
be figurative: from the tribes of Israel; having the name of Lamb
and Father on their foreheads; they are virgins; having no falsehood in their
mouths; and without blemish… If all this is figurative then why should
the 144,000 be literal? Or, if the 144,000 is literal, why can’t everything
else in the following context be understood literally?
There is no rhyme nor reason for their interpretation, other than
to support their erroneous man-made doctrine.
In fact, if one reads Revelation 6:12 through to Revelation 7:17,
noting that there were no chapters and verses in the original language, we find
the opposite of what the Watchtower teaches. The 144,000 are seen to be on the
earth (note the description of their location), with the great crowd in heaven
(note the description of their location).
If you were to have Jehovah’s Witnesses read these verses in their
own bible, pointing out that it says the opposite of what they have been
taught, you will quickly hear a denial. They will respond with things like:
‘you need to consider all that the Bible says’ or ‘you don’t understand
the context’ or something similar. In reality, it is they who fail to consider
the immediate and entire biblical context. They will believe whatever their
‘real’ authority tells them.
This can be demonstrated by asking them the following question: Where
is the great crowd located?
They will always say the great crowd is on the earth. You should
then ask them to read Revelation 19:1 in their bible:
‘After these things I
heard what was as a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven. They
said: “Praise Jah, YOU people! The
salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God…’
Even though this verse clearly places the great
crowd in heaven, they will still insist that the great crowd are on the earth.
This clearly shows that they are not following biblical truth, but rather Watchtower
doctrine.
In part three next week, we will conclude my visit
to the Memorial Meal. We will consider who may partake of the emblems and how a
person can show appreciation to Jehovah and Jesus.
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