Posted by:
Nightingale
(
)
Date: September 21, 2021 05:56PM
(Please: No politics - I make a fleeting political reference at the beginning of my post but it's not the main subject, and besides No Politics Allowed at RfM).
The US President today in a speech at the UN General Assembly used the phrase “peace and security”. I instantly thought of JWs and the end of the world as they teach that “Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them…”
Their central and strong belief that we’re living in the Last Days comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:3:
KJV:
“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
New World Translation (JW Bible):
“Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them.”—1 Thess. 5:3.
JW article re the phrase signifying our “Last Days”:
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1981844Excerpts:
“…a South African magazine reported: “Mankind would appear to have reached an all-time low of savagery, immorality, irresponsibility, selfishness and greed.”
The article cites non-JW sources to back up the JW teaching that the end of the world is nigh. It goes on to outline JW theology on this topic:
“Conditions in human society today certainly parallel what happened on earth just before God destroyed an ancient world by means of a global flood, sparing only righteous Noah and his family. Of those days, the Bible says: “Jehovah saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth . . . And the earth came to be ruined in the sight of the true God and the earth became filled with violence.” (Gen. 6:5, 11) “Just as the days of Noah were,” Jesus Christ foretold, so it is in our time. (Matt. 24:37) Once again the entire earth is “filled with violence” because “the badness of man” is abundant. Such conditions before the Flood gave evidence of the impending end of that ancient system of things. So today the evidence of world conditions in fulfillment of Bible prophecy clearly establishes the fact that this present system of things is in its “time of the end,” its “last days.” This has been so since the year 1914 C.E.—Dan. 12:4; Matt. 24:3-14; 2 Tim. 3:1-5.
“The saying of “Peace and security!” thus comes just before the “sudden destruction” of the world empire of false religion, which empire is called “Babylon the Great” in Bible prophecy. (Rev. 17:5) She also is spoken of as “the great harlot . . . with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication.” (Rev. 17:1, 2)
"Why such a severe judgment upon this world’s religious system? God’s Word answers: “For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven.” (Rev. 18:5)
"False religion continues to amass bloodguilt right down to this day. For example, the New York Post of May 18, 1981, reported: “Former President Carter said yesterday that hate and violence make it seem that ‘the world has gone mad.’” He also said that “deep religious conviction which should bind people in love seems often to be part of the madness and murder.” Similarly, two days earlier an editorial by Mike Royko in the same publication stated that Catholics, Protestants, Moslems and Jews “are expressing their devotion to [God] by killing each other.” He observed: “I guess they figure that if one side can wipe the other side out, it will prove that their way of worshipping is correct.” He also noted that while the pope of the Roman Catholic Church is said to be a peaceful man, “his followers have been known to shed a few million gallons of blood when their tempers are up.”
“Thus, the “great tribulation” rightly begins with the destruction of the blasphemous, hypocritical world empire of false religion. It is a righteous judgment because worldly religion, “Babylon the Great,” has claimed to serve God, but in fact has served the Devil. So by her “spiritistic practice,” hundreds of millions of people have been deluded into serving the Devil’s interests.
“World-shaking events will mark the “sudden destruction” of false religion and all of Satan’s world. But that destruction is immediately preceded by the saying of “Peace and security!”
“… after God’s “day of vengeance” is finished, his faithful servants will enter a righteous new system of things to begin endless life on a cleansed earth that will be transformed into a paradise. (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 7:9-17)
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The article goes into a lot of detail about this central JW belief. It gets a bit complicated. But basically the entire JW message is that this world and its inhabitants are doomed and Paradise will be restored (which was the original intention of God before the whole Adam and Eve thing didn’t work out, they say).
I was a starry-eyed teen when I met a nice JW lady (the mother of my favourite schoolteacher). It made sense to me at the time that, as she said, all the ills of this world weren’t how things were supposed to be and there would come a day when peace and paradise would be restored. Sounded great to me at the time and I joined up. I liked it enough to eventually choose to be a missionary for them, travelling to Quebec with my best friend and my high school French. A year into my (fruitless) missionary endeavours my father had a serious accident that threatened his life and I returned home to see my dad and help out my mom and younger sibs. The loving, peaceful JWs, aka God’s chosen ones, exerted pressure on me not to go, with my best JW friend saying “they’re not your family any more”. Nice.
My father’s bad day (and subsequent long and painful convalescence) is “all” it took for me to give my head a shake. Sure, paradise is a nice dream but meanwhile we have to live and cope with where we’re at in the meantime. Ever since that experience I see that actions demonstrate truth better than fine words. What good is preaching paradise if your faith beliefs prompt you to be mean and stifled?
Anyway, hearing the words “Peace and Security” on the news today instantly transported me back to the JW days. In retrospect, far from being appealing due to all the talk of paradise, their beliefs are hellishly depressing because as a member the teachings make you feel worthless (so “sinful”) and constantly thinking of the “End Times” is a total downer 24/7.
The fact that the words were uttered at the UN will undoubtedly be even more fodder for JW leaders as “Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God will use the United Nations to destroy "false religion", wherein all institutionalized religions except Jehovah's Witnesses will be destroyed, which they refer to as the beginning of the great tribulation.”
Funny the power of words. Some of these messages obviously sunk deep into my cerebral matter and are difficult to dislodge. It’s not that these words and ideas influence me any more, just that when they pop up they summon the memories.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2021 05:59PM by Nightingale.