Challenging: Jehovah's Witnesses....

Among many other Scripturally incorrect statements, Jehovah's Witnesses proclaim themselves to be "Spiritual Israel," and believe that the prophecies directed to "Israel" in the Bible are actually directed to the Watchtower organization. Exactly WHERE in the Bible can one verify this? The truth is, the Bible never mentions "Jehovah's Witnesses" or the Watchtower. (As a matter of fact, the word "Jehovah" is never mentioned, either. In Hebrew, God calls Himself YHWH [Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey], not "Jehovah", which is a "worldly" mistranslation. Furthermore, the Hebrew word "hovah" means "disaster, ruin, or mischief": Strongs Concordance: #1943) The Jews alone were, are, and always will be "Israel," God's "Chosen People". What Christians need to realize, however, is that as "grafted-in" children, THEY too are part of Israel!

Apparently, Jehovah's Witnesses need to be reminded that, in the Old Covenant, YHWH used to have the Jews kill off entire cities of people (non-Jewish, usually pagan) so they could move in and take over. This was because God hated the pagans and idolaters, and didn't think twice about getting rid of them. He even killed His own "Chosen" people (the Jews) whenever they resorted to paganistic practices. Thanks to Yeshua's death on the cross, believing Gentiles can now also be assured a place in Heaven along with God's Chosen....

Jehovah's Witnesses are blatantly guilty of speaking untruths about the Bible. Some examples include:

  • The WTS claims it uses the Bible as its "supreme authority".

Where in the Bible does anyone count their time in preaching on a slip of paper and are assigned record cards of activity, determining this as a "gauge to their spirituality"? Where in the Bible are Pioneers, Auxiliary Pioneers, Bethelites, and Kingdom Halls? Where in the Bible does it say that anyone born after 1935 can not go to heaven, that Christians are required to attend five meetings a week, that men are prohibited from wearing beards, and that after a prophecy fails, if the prophet admits he made a mistake, he is no longer a false prophet (see Deut 18:20-22)? Where does the Bible say that a person must belong to an organization that will start in the late 19th century and be headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, in order to survive Armageddon?

  • The JW teaches that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will not reside with Christ in his heavenly kingdom.

If this is so, then how do you explain Mt 8:11 in which Jesus says, "But I tell you that many from eastern parts and western parts will come and recline at the table WITH Abraham and Isaac and Jacob IN the kingdom of the heavens"?

Furthermore: If there is no conscious awareness after death, how could the "spirits in prison", who lived during "Noah’s days", be preached to by Messiah after His death (1 Pet 3:18-20) and how could the good news be "declared also to the dead" (1 Pet 4:5-6)? If the "spirits in prison" of 1 Peter 3:19 refers to demonic angels, instead of the just people who died before the resurrection of Christ, then why would Yeshua "preach" to demonic angels?

  • They claim that "only a little flock of 144,000 go to heaven and rule with Christ" (and they believe these to be Jehovah's Witnesses).

Here's what the Bible actually says:

Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Revelation 7:9-10: 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

Revelation 14:4 These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. (Are the 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses virgin males? Yeshua said He would spit out of His mouth anyone who is "lukewarm" towards Him - JWs are NOT Torah observant and have twisted His Word beyond recognition...)

(Please read the last section below to discover the "secret" way that Jehovah's Witnesses are "chosen" to be among the elite 244,000....)

  • Sabbath observance was given only to the Jews and ended with Mosaic Law:

This is a common mistake many Christians make - they think the "Old Covenant" does not apply to them. Nowhere in the Bible does Yeshua ever say anything to that effect! Yeshua said He came to fulfill (Heb: kum - which means establish or confirm) the Law, not "abolish" it.

Luke 24:43-45: He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

Matthew 5:16-18: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Has "ALL" been accomplished? Yeshua's birth, sacrificial death, and resurrection fulfilled the Torah (what Christians mistakenly call "Law"). The word "Torah" translated directly from Hebrew means, "Teaching and Instruction."

Christians worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and as such, MUST obey His "forever" commands which include the Seventh Day Sabbath and the Biblical Feasts! It is ludicrous to think that God handed down separate rules for His natural and adopted children.

  • A Christian must have no part in interfaith movements:

None of the passages the JW cite on their website (2 Cor. 6:14-17, 2 Cor. 11:13-15, Gal. 5:9 or Deut. 7:1-2) says anything about having to have "no part in interfaith movements". Even the strongest one, Corinthians 6:14, says nothing about interfaith movements; it talks about not being yoked with unbelievers: "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?"....

  • Christ is God's Son and is inferior to him:

What absolute blasphemy again YHWH (Yahweh) who sent "His Son" who was an "arm of YHWH!

Philippians 2: 9 Therefore God raised him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name; 10 that in honor of the name given Yeshua, every knee will bow - in heaven, on earth and under the earth - 11 and every tongue will acknowledge that Yeshua the Messiah is ADONAI - to the glory of God the Father. (Stern's Complete Jewish Bible)

Yeshua was fully God and fully man, sent to earth to die for our sins on the cross so that we might have eternal life! As was the custom in His day, anyone who taught Scripture always quoted some teacher or rabbi; Yeshua did not. He spoke with authority on the Scriptures because He's the one who "wrote" them to begin with! God sent Himself to earth in the form of a man to reveal Himself to Man, to teach Man; and then to sacrifice Himself for all our sins so that we might be "saved" (because it was a proven fact that Man on his own could NEVER "get it right" and was then, and still is, as filthy rags in the eyes of God). Once Yeshua rose from the dead, He became the Holy Spirit whom we "ask into our hearts" in order to be saved. (That is the ONLY way to get into heaven.) The Watchtower Society speaks of "Jesus Christ, whom we understand from the Scriptures to be Michael the archangel" (The Watchtower, February 15, 1979, p.31). What Bible are they reading? Where are the Scriptures to support that allegation? If what they allege is true, then WHY did Yeshua, like YHWH in the Old Covenant, call Himself the "Alpha and Omega"? How can there be TWO "Alphas and Omegas"? Here are just a few examples:

Isaiah 44:6 - "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.

Revelation 1:8 - "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelation 21:6 - Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

Revelation 22:12-16: (Sterne's Complete Jewish Bible) "Pay attention!" says Yeshua. "I am coming soon, and my rewards are with me to give to each person according to what he has done. 13 I am the 'A' and the 'Z', the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." 14 How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! 15 Outside are the homosexuals, those who misues drugs in connection with the occult, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 "I, Yeshua, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the Messianic communites. I am the Root and Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.

The Bible mentions the Archangel Michael five times, yet NONE of the verses actually says that Michael is Jesus Christ! Rather than being merely "one of the foremost princes," as the Bible refers to Michael, Jesus Christ is "Lord of lords and King of kings" (Rev. 17:14, NWT) and is "far above every government and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this system of things, but also in that to come" (Eph. 1:21, NWT). And, unlike "Michael who did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words (he said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'" [Jude 9, Today's English Version]), Jesus Christ personally displayed His authority over the devil when He freely commanded him, "Go away, Satan!" (Matt. 4:10, NWT).

Hebrews chapter one shows the sharp contrast between angels and the Son of God. "For to what angel did God ever say, 'Thou art my Son...?' And again, when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, 'Let all God's angels worship him'" (vv.5-6, Revised Standard Version). Angels consistently refuse worship ("Be careful! Do not do that!...Worship God." - Rev. 22:8-9, NWT), but the Father's command concerning the Son is, "Let all God's angels worship him" (Heb. 1:6). Until 1970, the Watchtower's own New World Translation read thusly for some 20 years until the Society changed it to read "do obeisance to him" instead of "worship him". It seems there is a consistent campaign to eliminate from their Bible all references to the deity of Messiah Yeshua!

Jehovah's Witnesses also have a tendency to put a limit on the end times. Yeshua warned that we should never try to put a time limit on the end times:

Matthew 24:35-37 and Mark 13:31-33 both state: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

The above are only SOME of the lies and misconceptions that have originated with Jehovah's Witnesses. We pray they wake up and realize they have been deceived, and begin to check the Bible to see what God has REALLY said! There is ample documentation of their failed prophecies, doctrinal flip-flops, Scripture altering, and some bizarre and false teachings. Read on....


Election of the "Anointed" Among Jehovah’s Witness Followers

According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, the only ones who get to go to heaven to rule and reign with Christ, are the "elect" 144,000 of Revelation 14. These, of course, are members of the Jehovah's Witnesses. These "elected" are chosen during an annual rite of the memorial supper when any given member might receive a "sign" that he or she has been "elected" as members of "the little flock". Outsiders of the Witness organization do not generally know this information, as this is supposed to be a secret....

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have a very different notion about Christ’s instructions to the Apostles at the last supper in regards to the meaning and implementation of the "memorial" repast (what the Catholics call "Communion", or "Eucharist"; most Protestants simply refer to it as the memorial supper).

The Witnesses only perform the rite of the memorial supper one time annually. This memorial is scheduled as per a verse in the Bible that describes when the last supper occurred, and the definition or specification of that time is that it is always held after sundown on the first Sunday nearest the full moon corresponding to the Nisan 14 date on the Bible’s lunar calendar. In any case, the primary peculiarity we draw your notice to, here, is that they participate in the memorial repast only once a year!

Let us consider a description of how they accomplish observance of the memorial supper. As is the common practice amongst protestant Christians (Catholics have a very different mode of observing "communion" than protestants) the symbols of the meal are passed through the congregation at a meeting held on the appointed date, according to the first full moon after Nissan 14. As the bread is passed, very nearly on all occasions of the memorial supper, not one member partakes of it. That is to say, they merely pass it on to the congregation member sitting next to them, without partaking of it - without eating any of it. The wine is then passed about in the same manner. Each member passes the vessel of wine to the next person, and on very nearly all occasions of the annual observance of this memorial repast, no one partakes of the wine, either, but merely passes it on to the next congregation member, who in turn passes it on, none of them tasting it, as was the case with the bread.

On a rare occasion, an individual, upon receiving the "emblems", will, in fact, partake of them. And this is the "sign" by which God supposedly designates the "election" of an individual to the little flock who are, according to official Witness doctrine, to co-rule with Christ, in Heaven.

Interestingly enough, often when this occurs, there is generated in the congregation some resentment from some individuals who do not esteem the one apparently "elected", and it is often a cause of much friction and personality conflict in a congregation. It is frequently seen as a sign not of "election", but of conceit and arrogance on the part of the one who actually partakes of the emblems.

The central governing office of the "The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York" keeps extensive statistical records of all kinds of evangelizing activity of the organization, including total number of man-hours of "field work" (door to door proselytizing, total number of publications, etc.), and of course has for decades been keeping a log of the accumulating "elect". Not long ago, they found themselves in an inexplicable (embarrassing?) position of noting that the roll of 144,000 had become filled, and people were still being "designated", (though with decreasing frequency). They have had to hypothesize an interesting explanation to account for it, but basically the explanation is that some previously elected "spirit anointed" had fallen away from "the truth" and of course had to be replaced.

The Witnesses believe that all other Christian denominations (all believers outside their organization) are "apostate", and that the early Christian Church was universally "apostatized" shortly after its foundation by Christ; therefore, they are the only sanctioned by God organization to spread the Good News and who will inherit salvation; though, nowadays, they will admit the possibility that some outside of their organization may, in fact, come into an inheritance of God’s saving grace through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, "depending on their heart condition, which only Jehovah is qualified to judge".

They define all other Christian denominations as part of an entity that they refer to as "Christendom", and that that institution constitutes the "great whore" mentioned in Revelation. They formerly reserved this appellation only for Roman Catholics; but now, though they have a special animosity for Roman Catholics, they simply include them in with all the rest of the "apostate" Christian denominations as "the great whore". And they wonder why they are persecuted. Call a Catholic a whore, and how do you think that Catholic would feel about that Witness?

The Witness eschew common vernacular in discussing religion; they will not use the term "fundamentalist", and they are fond of euphemisms; their favorite euphemism for describing a fallen away Witness, or a newly converted to the organization member, as (in the former case) is having "fallen out of the truth"; or, in the latter case of a newly recruited member, as having "come into the truth". They believe that they are the only God-recognized organization to carry out the instruction of Christ in the matter of spreading the Good News, and that only they are in possession of an uncorrupted (not apostatized) version of it; the only God authorized version of the truth.

Ironically, they are one of the very fastest growing "Christian" denominations in the world today. They also make the claim that of all the extant religions, they draw more converts from Judaism than from any other faith; this is not surprising, as they attach much meaning and relevance to the Torah (indeed, they find more relevance than any other Christian denomination in all of the Old Testament), which, in their penchant for avoiding "Christendom" terminology, they refer to as "the ancient Hebrew Scriptures" In this same vein, they avoid the term "New Testament", and refer to that literature as "the Greek Christian Scriptures".

If you would like to find out more about Jehovah's Witnesses and how to help them see the Truth, please check out Watchman Fellowship.