False Prophets of Today Series-Jehovah's Witnesses' Former Presidents and Governing Body

          What comes to mind when you hear the words “false prophet?” To me I see some man talking about Jesus and God and the impending doom we are all going to experience before too long. In the Bible there is mention of several false prophets, especially during the Old Testament times. We’ll look at a few of these, just to get an understanding of things when it comes to false prophets, and then we’ll explain how the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses are false prophets and then we’ll work our way on how to tell if someone is a false prophet. I am sure it will be pretty easy to tell.

          In 1 Kings chapter 18, Elijah mentions meeting the false prophets who served false gods. Elijah issued a test to find out if Baal, the god of the Canaanites, or God was the true God. In most Bible translations, God’s name has been removed, but I think this will be a rare occasion where I mention so we don’t get confused, Jehovah is God’s name, so you will see it a lot especially since it makes up half of the name Jehovah’s Witnesses.

          Elijah had two bulls brought and prepared as an offering. Neither was to be set on fire, however. The test was not a test for Jehovah or Ball, but merely a way for Elijah to show that those who worshiped Baal were not worshiping the one true God. Elijah let the Baal worshipers call on him first. From the moment the bull was prepared until midday, Baal had still not set the bull on fire, despite the pleas of his worshipers. Elijah told them to shout louder, for he must have been sleeping or something. The people did, and they also cut themselves so that blood flowed from their bodies.

It was well into the afternoon before Elijah had them stop and watch as he began his little ceremony. He built an altar to Jehovah using twelve stones, each of which represented the twelve Tribes. He then dug a trench around it, arranged some wood, and cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. He told the people to bring him four large jars of water to disperse the water all over the bull and wood. He had them do this three times. Elijah stepped forward and prayed. He asked Jehovah to please send fire down on the offering, so that the people would know who God is and turn from the false prophets and the false god. Jehovah answered his prayer. All the people saw this, and began to worship Jehovah right there. Elijah ordered the false prophets to be seized, and then taken out to the Kishon Valley and killed.

The false prophets knew that their god was not a real god. They purposefully led the Israelites astray. This is how false prophets work. In Deuteronomy chapter 13, we are given two tests to tell if someone is a false prophet or true prophet. If a person tells you or miraculous signs and even gives them to you, but tells you to follow someone other than Jehovah, then they are a false prophet. Jeremiah talks about what God will do to false prophets in Jeremiah chapter 23. There are four warning signs we need to be on the watch for everyday in regards to false prophets. The first sign is that they of course appear to speak God’s message, but they do not live according to his principles. The second is that they water down God’s message in order to make it more palatable. The third is they encourage their listeners, often subtly, to disobey God. And the final one is they tend to be arrogant and self-serving, appealing to the desires of their audience instead of being true to God’s Word.

In Jeremiah what happens to these false prophets is quite just. God told Jeremiah that their path will become slippery and they will be banished into darkness, where they will fall. Disaster will be upon them in the year God punishes them. God says that they will also eat bitter bread and drink poisoned water. Such is only fitting for those who purposely lead others away from God who truly want to serve him. But is it fitting for those who truly believe that what they say is true, even if it isn’t? God is just, and anyone teaching false teachings and false prophesying deserves just punishment. From a human view on it, no it is absolutely not a fitting a punishment.

There are many other places in the Bible where it mentions false prophets, and it’s very clear that even today they are ever present. The founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses, or as they were called back before they had a name, Bible Students, believed truly that the pyramids of Giza held significant power to unlocking the secrets of the Bible. Well, there aren’t any secrets to the Bible, it’s pretty straight forward on everything, and the pyramids were used as a tomb for dead pharaohs. This in itself does not make Charles Taze Russell, a false prophet. What makes him a false prophet is that in the 1870’s he predicted two things. The first, in 1874, he claimed that Jesus had returned to rule of the kingdom, but was invisible. That right there goes against what the Bible tells us about Jesus’ Second Coming. Revelation 1:7 says, Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. (NIV Translation) We will clearly see Jesus when he returns. He will not be invisible. The second thing he predicted; was the time in which the battle at Armageddon would occur. He predicted that it would occur.

He was not the only one in the organization, or as it would eventually be called, The Watchtower and Bible Tract Society, or Jehovah’s Witnesses, to make such predictions. The president to replace him when he died, "Judge" Joseph Rutherford, also predicted the end of the world as we know it. He predicted that the second to final battle would occur in 1918. I say second to last, because after Christ’s thousand year reign, Satan, who was thrown into a fiery prison after losing this coming battle, will be allowed to roam once more and show God who truly his eternal servants are. Eventually, the only people left after this, will be true worshipers of God. He believed that the year 1914, was when Jesus would return, again invisibly, and that World War I was the war to usher in the new kingdom. We can clearly see that was faulty. You are here, and I am here. We should clearly not have ever been born if the end of World War I was going to bring about the end of the known world.

I am not sure if the last Armageddon prediction was made by a president or the Governing Body. I am not real sure when they went from a single person in charge to a group, of what else, but men. Women do not have much say in things, and they are very limited in their involvement in the group. But, that has already been talked about, so if you want to learn more about that, I believe the Title of the “talk” we’ll call it has the word women in it. I am not quite sure what I called it completely.

Anyway, it is the late sixties, early seventies, and the big mission is to tell potential converts about the end of the world coming in 1975. Again, we wouldn’t be here if that had happened. Well, I know that at least I wouldn’t be. I am assuming everyone reading this is from the eighties, and not earlier, or later. It is quite possible for someone to be reading this and being born before 1975. That is not only three failed prophesies about Armageddon, but two failed about Jesus’ return. There is mention in Mark chapter 13: For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform miracles to deceive the elect-if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you ahead of time. (Verses 22-23, NIV Translation) Later, Jesus says, “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. (Verses 26-27 NIV Translation) Jesus warns us to look out for those who come in his name, but do not bring truth, what they prophesy does not come to pass. Jesus also tells us how he will return when he does. Not only, will he return on clouds, but his angels will be gathering the harvest of his true followers.

When thinking about people claiming to be prophets, though some prophets are televangelists, but this fits them as well, we must ask ourselves some questions to determine if they are true servants of God, or false teachers. 1. Have their predictions come true, or do they revise them to fit what has happened? We can say no to the first part in regards to the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and yes to the second. 2. Does any teaching utilize a small section of the Bible to the neglect the whole? Well, I can answer this, but I won’t write my answer here, not because I am afraid of anything, but because I haven’t shown any proof to show yes or no to this question. It isn’t hard to find research to get an accurate yes or no answer. I love reading the testimonies of former Witnesses, they are so inspiring. A lot of them have come to Christ, and now have ministries of their own, usually geared towards helping other former Witnesses or to reach current ones, or both. There are tons of websites to go to that show their beliefs and use of the Bible, to help you with an answer. I encourage you to do your own research; there are several holes in this. I am focusing on key points about Armageddon and Jesus’ return, so there are a lot of other things that they have said or do say that I have left out. 3. Does the teaching contradict what the Bible says about God? Refer to question 2 on this one. Again, I have presented information on that, at least not at this time. 4. Are the practices meant to glorify the teacher or Christ? Nothing they do is to glorify Christ, it is all done, the average Witness thinks, in the name of God. Jesus is not as important to them as he is to us. They do not view him as we do, and can be seen from attending a meeting, reading their material, and doing research. However, I feel that unknowing to the average Witness; it is all done to glorify the leaders. And 5. Do the teachings promote hostility toward other Christians? Again, not something that we talked about, but while they do not promote hostility towards Christians (they aren’t Christians though they like to think so), they do get that reaction from Christians. We are often hostile towards them. We need to show them what they try to show us, love. I suggest you do your own research on the Jehovah’s Witnesses for yourself and see from your own research the answers to these questions.

All of the facts stated towards regard to Jehovah’s Witnesses Presidents and the Governing Body and their false predictions not only about the battle at Armageddon, but also Jesus’ return have come from the testimonies of former Witnesses who felt they weren’t getting what they needed from the society, and started studying and reading the Bible as it is meant to be, and not through publications written by a group of men who don’t even really know what they are talking about. These men have no formal religious training, only the training provided through the society, and it lacks in a lot. I have spent a lot of time with the average Witness, and they fully and completely believe the lies that they either were raised to believe or came into through interaction with average Witnesses. Trust me, the average Witness has no knowledge of what is presented before you here in this document. They only know about Jesus’ invisible rule starting in 1914, which as we saw goes against what it says in the Bible about his return to rule. If you ever get a copy of their Bible, read it side by side with your translation, you will see how little of Jesus is in it, and how differently it reads from yours. It is written to get their beliefs across and ingrained into the Witness’s mind. Witnesses do not get to think for themselves as Christians do when it comes to finding answers to religion questions, and many members have been “disfellowshiped” over asking questions about teachings over the years. I do not know if it is still that way today. The society has made many policy changes over the years, which of course, shows the false prophet, no true Christian religion or I guess denomination would ever change their policies or teachings over the years. A church within the denomination might, but not a whole denomination. Here is a good website to begin your research http://www.towerwatch.com. It’s a former Witness’s ministry site, and he has a lot of Witness things on there, including several of the testimonies I got my information from. I encourage you to check it out. It is a great place to begin that research.