The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (WBTS) is now in its 131st year as a corporate entity. It was founded in 1884 as Zion’s Watch Tower and Tract Society by Charles Taze Russell (1852 -1916). Russell claimed to have discovered the true meanings of the Bible’s texts. Later, in 1931, his successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869 – 1942), adopted the generic name of Jehovah’s Witnesses for the organization.
We have written extensively on the theological errors of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in other articles on the MarketFaith Ministries website (see: http://www.marketfaith.org/non-christian-worldviews). Those false teachings include faulty doctrines of: the nature of God; the deity of Jesus Christ; the authority, interpretation, and translation of Scripture; the way of salvation; and life after death.
One other area of theology that the WBTS has majored on for all of its history is that of eschatology, i.e., the last days or the end times. Since the earliest stages of Charles T. Russell’s writing and preaching, his organization has dogmatically asserted that they know the signs and dates for the return of Christ (invisibly), and the great final battle at the end of days.
That last battle, called Armageddon, according to the WBTS, will usher in the Kingdom of God on Earth and the Millennium. The Hebrew term, transliterated into Greek as Armageddon, or Har-Magedon, is only mentioned once in the Bible, in Revelation 16:16. Literally it means the “Mountain of Migiddo,” a place where the last great battle between God’s forces, led by Jesus, and evil will occur. “This name is directly associated with ‘the war of the great day of God the Almighty.’ The term applies specifically to the condition, or situation to which ‘the kings of the earth’ are gathered in opposition to Jehovah and his kingdom by Jesus Christ” (Insight on the Scriptures, vol. 1, 1988, p, 1037).
WBTS literature implies that Jehovah’s Witnesses will not, themselves, be involved in the war. Rather Jehovah’s armies of angelic hosts will cause major natural disasters to destroy the evil world order. “Since the vision of Revelation 19 reveals only armies in heaven as participating in the warfare as supporters of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, it indicates that none of Jehovah’s Christian servants on earth will participate in the fighting” (Insight on the Scriptures, vol. 1, 1988, p, 1038).
One particular agency to be targeted in the worldwide destruction will be “Christendom,” the WBTS’ derisive term for Historic Christianity, which they call “Babylon the Great.” The WBTS interprets the false religion of Babylon mentioned in Revelation as referring to Roman Catholicism. Protestant or evangelical churches are considered its demonic offspring.
The problem the Jehovah’s Witnesses have had, however, is that so many times their infallible prophetic predictions have failed. Here are a few quotes from past WBTS documents.
“The date of the close of that ‘battle’ (Armageddon) is definitely marked in Scripture as October, 1914. It is already in progress, its beginning dating from October 1874.” (The Watchtower, Jan. 15, 1892). On January 1, 1914, the WBTS rescinded this prediction but continued to predict the end was very close.
“Our Lord, the appointed King, is now present, since October 1874, A.D., according to the testimony of the prophets.” (The Battle of Armageddon, 1897, p. 621)
“The Lord Jesus is present and has been since 1874…” (The Watchtower, Jan. 1, 1924).
By 1918 Joseph F. Rutherford had changed the scheme saying that the date of 1914 was the end of the “Times of the Gentiles” which supposedly had begun in 607 B.C. That is still the WBTS’ historical dating for the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. Nearly all non-WBTS scholars, however, agree that the actual date for that event was 586 or 587 B.C.
In any case, 1914 is still seen as the beginning of the time of the end by Jehovah’s Witnesses. That was when Jesus established his kingdom in heaven and forced Satan down to earth, where he now is running rampant causing wars and other evil deeds. “We have already learned that ‘the appointed times of the nations’ began in the year 607 B.C.E. So by counting 2,520 years from that date, we come down to 1914 C.E….This means that Jesus Christ began to rule as king of God’s heavenly government in 1914” [emphasis in original] (You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1982, p. 141).
The WBTS insists that in 1914, Jesus’ kingship in heaven was invisible. This assertion directly contradicts this statement in Acts 1:9-11: “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.’” (NASB)
The WBTS insists this last days scenario is known, not only from its bizarre interpretation of Scripture, but also by visible signs of the end times. Those signs include wars (starting in 1914 with World War I), food shortages, earthquakes, pestilences (diseases), lawlessness, fear, disobedience to parents, greed, loving pleasure, false religion, and pollution. When we look honestly at those issues, we have to ask, “What’s so new about those things? Haven’t they always been part of the human condition? Further, in the more than a century since 1914, are things that much worse than before?” Actually, many things have greatly improved. Food production and supplies have grown so worldwide famine has never happened. Medicine has progressed so that great outbreaks of deadly diseases have decreased enormously. Some diseases that used to terrify humanity have been totally eradicated. Also, people are living longer than ever before.
As late as the, the WBTS was teaching that the generation of Jehovah’s Witnesses who were alive in 1914 would not die off before the coming of Armageddon. This, they claimed, was foretold by Jesus in Matthew 24:34, 14. In the 1982 book, You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (p. 154) the WBTS asserted, “Which generation did Jesus mean? He meant the generation who were living in 1914. Those persons yet remaining of that generation are now very old. However, some of them will still be alive to see the end of this wicked system. So of this we can be certain: Shortly now there will be a sudden end to all wickedness and wicked people.”
Of course, that 1914 generation is now completely gone, so the WBTS has, once again, had to revise its chronological system for Armageddon. In 2010 The WBTS stated this new and confusing interpretation: “Jesus evidently meant that the lives of the anointed ones who were on hand when the sign began to be evident in 1914 would overlap with the lives of the other anointed ones who would see the start of the great tribulation. We do not know the exact length of ‘this generation,’ but it includes these two groups whose lives overlap. Even though the anointed vary in age, those in the two groups constituting the generation are contemporaries during the part of the last days” (The Watchtower, June 15, 2010, p. 5).
We have to ask, “When will, or did, the ‘great tribulation’ begin?” In any case, the old doctrine apparently has been scrubbed from WBTS books and literature, so younger Jehovah’s Witnesses are probably completely unaware that the WBTS even taught that concept.
Anyway, back to the history. In 1920 Rutherford predicted that many Old Testament characters, particularly the Hebrew Patriarchs, would be resurrected in 1925. In his book, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, based on his famous sermon of that name, Rutherford said, “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 chapter eleven, to the condition of human perfection.”
In 1925, however, the WBTS again retracted their dated prediction that the Patriarchs were coming back that year, “It may not be. In his due time God will accomplish his purposes concerning his own people” (The Watchtower, Jan. 1, 1925, p. 3). The organization still expected the Old Testament saints to return soon. In fact, in 1930, it built a mansion in San Diego, California, for them to live in called Beth-Sarim (House of the Princes). Of course, until they came, someone had to live in the house, so Joseph F. Rutherford spent every winter there until his death, after which the WBTS quietly sold it. It never explained why the Patriarchs and other Old Testament saints failed to show up.
The WBTS continued through the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, to warn that Armageddon was coming near. “The year 1940 is certain to be the most important year yet, because Armageddon is very near. It behooves all who love righteousness to put forth every effort to advertise THE THEOCRACY while the privileges are still open” (The Informant, May 1940, p.1).
In the 1960s, the WBTS set a new date for the Jehovah’s Witnesses to expect Armageddon. Based on WBTS biblical chronological theory, Adam was created in the year 4026 B.C. So they stated that the end of the sixth millennium since the creation of the Adam was soon to arrive. “According to this trustworthy Bible chronology six thousand years from man’s creation will end in 1975, and the seventh period of a thousand years of human history will begin the fall of 1975 C.E. (Common Era)” (Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God, 1966, p. 29). (Note the math, 6000 minus 4026 equals 1974. However, the calendar has no year zero, so when counting years from B.C. to A.D. we have to add one. Thus 6000 – 4026 + 1 = 1975.)
Because Jehovah’s Witnesses were so sure the end was coming in 1975, many of them sold their homes and businesses in order to give all their time and money going door-to-door spreading the message. In the 1990s, I had occasion to meet many former Jehovah’s Witnesses who had sacrificed their lives, trusting the organization’s prediction. One disillusioned couple, I recall, had decided to remain childless in the early 1970s so they could concentrate completely on their ministry work until 1975.
In late 1975, the WBTS had to admit that their prediction, as often before, had failed to come true. They excused it by saying that the 6,000 years of world history had not started at the creation of Adam, but at the creation of Eve, but they did not know how much later that was in time. They never mentioned it again, and it was quickly forgotten. Nonetheless, as a result of that failure, thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses, in the late 1970s and early 80s, left the movement. Sad to say, most Jehovah’s Witnesses today, unless they are over the age of at least 55, probably have no idea that the 1975 prediction ever occurred.
So where does the WBTS stand today concerning the time of Armageddon? Apparently, it has not set any new specific dates for the end. Perhaps it has finally caught on that setting dates and then having to retract them is counter productive and embarrassing. Nonetheless, as far as I can tell, the WBTS still wants its followers to believe the end of the world is just around the historical corner. Therefore, faithful Jehovah’s Witnesses need to continue to go door-to-door “publishing” the “good news” of Jehovah’s kingdom.
In conclusion, no matter what the WBTS is saying today, and despite its efforts to hide the facts from its members, nothing can erase the history of failed prophesies that have characterized that organization since its formation. The Old Testament clearly warned against false prophecy and false prophets. In Deuteronomy 18, God warned the Hebrews about false prophets and how to judge what was or was not true.
“But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” (Deut. 18:20-22 NASB) For other scriptures dealing with counterfeit teachers, see also: Matthew 7:15-23; 24:1-51; Mark 13:21-22; Gal. 1:6-9; 1 John 4:1-3; and 2 John.
Given the WBTS’ record of incorrectly predicting dates for Armageddon and the end of the world, it is clear its prophesies do not meet the above criteria. The Bible warns that false prophets and teachers will plague the church until Christ truly returns. Christians should be wary of anyone, or any organization, proclaiming to know the date for Armageddon or Christ’s Second Coming.
So then, just when will the Armageddon occur? Only God knows. It could be sooner or later. One movement that surely does not know is the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have demonstrated time and again they are totally unreliable for predicting the future. For genuine Christians, we should not try to guess about biblical prophesy. What really matters is that we have work to do and little time to do it (regardless of how long it may be). As Jesus strongly stated to His disciples just before He ascended to heaven: “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8 NASB).
© 2016 Tal Davis