“Jehovah’s Witnesses” Are Terribly Mislead
BY PGF
2 years, 6 months ago
They claim to be the 144,000 witnesses during the “Great Tribulation.”
Here are the verses about the 144,000.
“3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.” Revelation 7:3-8
These are they, best as we can reckon, that were saved, sealed, witnesses of the children of Israel (sons of Jacob) called Jews, that suffered for His name’s sake, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ up to and through the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. The 144,000 are Jews! They are not American of Caucasian and African lineage living today; they are not! And, suppose for a moment, they are not, but suppose they are real; if there are only 144,000 thousand of them; why are there millions of them running around?!?
We were going to post a reasoned and measured entry about Revelation 7, but sometimes bluntly stating something is good. And, I’m willing to be wrong, but you must prove it, from the 66 canonical books of the King James Version Holy Bible, with no other sources. Those claiming this station need to be saved, they need Jesus Christ, they are not simply another belief system.
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On May 31, 2022 at 9:22 pm, Coy said:
False Witnesses just another Cult
On June 1, 2022 at 7:27 am, Name (required) said:
If you had to prove you were NOT descended from Abraham, NOT part of one of those 12 tribes, how would you proceed?
God promised Abraham many descendants: Gen 17:4 and Gen 22:17. He delivered on those spectacularly! Roughly 3,000 years after Abraham, it would be hard to find a human who is NOT descended from him. We are all Israelites now.
On June 1, 2022 at 8:48 am, PGF said:
@Name, while I don’t disagree in general, the language of the passage in Revelation is very specific. You may have missed my point. While some may contend that the number and 12 tribes are symbolic language of all those saved in the first century, I would disagree. “of all the tribes of the Children of Israel” is very specific, even naming the 12 sons. I highly doubt it could mean the early church as a body while the Gospel went west to the gentiles. That specific 144,000 is what the JW’s claim. I’m still willing to be wrong about this. We rather know the truth than any other.
Indeed, praise the Almighty, a people numbered as the stars are fulfilling the promise born (again, John 3:3) out of the seed, which is Christ (Gal 3:16), to be His people. In the true church, there is no Jew or gentile; we are all one in Christ (Gal 3:28). Although many, perhaps a great many, are physically descended from Abram, for our purposes of understanding the church today, the physical bloodline succession of Abram ended in the first century with the birth of the church (John 1:12-13). All the records were destroyed so none would boast of blood lineage in the Kingdom of God. All the promises given to Abram have been fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God, which is His church, is ongoing until Christ’s return.
And most importantly, to accept is; bloodline does not find one before the throne of the Almighty forgiven and welcomed into heaven. A new birth, spiritual birth by the Spirit of God, is necessary.
On June 1, 2022 at 9:15 am, Bob in NC said:
JW’s used to come to our door frequently, because there is Kingdom Hall not far from where we used to live. This caused me to research JW beliefs rather than just politely decline to accept their material and close the door. It presents an opportunity to share the gospel. This resulted in a 14 page (!) Word document of all their false teachings.
I remember one time, on a very hot summer day, they agreed to come inside for a cool drink; normally they refuse because they want to avoid discussion.
Once the subject turned to who Jesus is the conversation did not last long.
The issue of the 144,000 anointed believers is an extremely important one for two reasons. First, it is biblically indefensible. Second, it has tremendous implications for how JWs read the entire New Testament. Consequently, it directly and immediately runs up against the criterion of Sola Scriptura.
Although the issue of the 144,00 is not as central to the Christian faith as the deity of Christ, it ought to lead Jehovah’s Witnesses to question whether the Watchtower is indeed teaching the Bible and if not, whether Jehovah’s Witnesses will acknowledge the Watchtower or the Bible as their ultimate authority on religious matters.
But inevitably, this false belief breaks down for them when you point out that it creates 2 classes of believers- the anointed one and the rest of believers.
Since this is easily provable from Scripture, it forces them to realize that the Watchtower is wrong and leave, though they will never say this openly.
There are many more problems with JW theology- not the least of which is their litany of false prophecies/prophets; here are just a few very obvious ones with the dates they were spoken included:
1880- the earthly kingdom will begin in 1914
1894 – 1914 will be the end of the Great Tribulation
1904 – there will be a rapture in 1914.
1920 – Kingdom and earthly resurrection to come in 1925
1968 – Armageddon in 1975
When questioned about these, they typically respond by saying that the men who spoke them (C.T. Russell and Nelson Barbour, founders of the JW religion)
never openly claimed to be prophets sent by God, and were just guilty of making ‘‘incorrect” statements…clearly, a distinction without a difference.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
On June 1, 2022 at 11:27 am, Steady Steve said:
I dated a lady in that cult. I even read their literature. They believe they are saved by works (wrong!), and that Jesus is not God in the flesh (also wrong!)
On June 1, 2022 at 5:17 pm, FeralFerret said:
Only those in verse 5 (tribe of Juda) are Jews. The Bible tells of Judah and Israel being at was with each other. They were strongly differentiated in the writings referring to King David and later descendants. The two southern tribes were Benjamin and Judah. The ten northern tribes were all of the others and are generally referred to as Israel from the time of King David.
On June 1, 2022 at 8:06 pm, PGF said:
@FF, Yes, I was careful to note, children of Israel (sons of Jacob) *called* Jews…
On June 1, 2022 at 8:07 pm, blake said:
Wasn’t there also a court case involving JW’s and the people who translated their “Bible?” I seem to recall the “scholarship” behind their translation was, to put it charitably, faulty.
On June 1, 2022 at 9:20 pm, Terry said:
So many miss the wonderful symbolism sprinkled throughout the Bible by thinking a translation from Hebrew or Greek to English is all that is required to understand. Symbolism is very common in the numbers used. The OT Jews and post Christ converts were not mystified by the use of numbers such as 666, 7, 12 and the 12 x 12 multiple of 144,000 that goes far beyond the common numerical meaning we would give them today. To be ignorant of this sees much understanding and wonderment lost.
On June 1, 2022 at 10:41 pm, 21stCenturyCassandra said:
The King James Bible! If it was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me! /sarc
On June 2, 2022 at 7:50 am, Name (required) said:
@PGF, God certainly knows who is descended from what tribe, and knows who those 144,000 will be. Yes, that passage is to be taken literally; every passage is to be taken literally unless the text says otherwise. My point is that it’s possible that you or I might be one of them, and possible that none of them will be people who identify as Jews.
Maybe the most important point is that salvation doesn’t come from our ancestry, but from Jesus, the messiah that the modern-day Jews reject.
On June 2, 2022 at 8:43 am, Herschel Smith said:
No. Every passage IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LITERALLY.
This is basic hermeneutics taught in seminary classes.
The Pentateuch is history and is to be taken as such. Poetry is in the Scriptures, and isn’t to be taken literally.
Didactic instruction, such as would be found in the Pauline epistles, for example, is taken differently than apocalyptic literature such as would be found in Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation. Apocalyptic literature is to be read much differently than Pauline doctrine.
When you try to glean more than one main point from a parable taught by Jesus, you’re screwing up. Parables have ONE main point, and trying to cipher 18 points of doctrine from a parable will lead you astray.
And so on and on.