Vol. 7, No. 6, 1990

Articles on Jehovah's Witnesses

David Henke

The Watchtower magazine has answered "Yes" to the question of whether Jehovah has a prophet to "declare things to come."

In the April 1, 1972 Watchtower they affirmed that the "prophet" was "a body of men and women... Jehovah's Christian witnesses (p. 197)."

Further in the same article they state that the message is proclaimed "under angelic direction and support," (p. 200).

In their book, The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah, they say that the "anointed remnant," the 144,000 having the heavenly hope, constitute a modern counterpart to the ancient prophet Ezekiel (pp. 58 & 70).

The title of the chapter in which this claim is made is Commissioned To Speak In The Divine Name.

This title is reminiscent of the test for a prophet in Deut. 18:22 which says, "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken...."

So the test of a true prophet is absolutely clear. When confronted with their many prophetic failures Jehovah's Witnesses commonly excuse themselves with the claim that they are only human and can make mistakes.

They have said in Reasoning From The Scriptures, "Jehovah's Witnesses do not claim to be inspired prophets. They have made mistakes. Like the apostles of Jesus Christ, they have at times had some wrong expectations.... Luke 19:11; Acts 1:6.... It is true that the Witnesses have made mistakes in their understanding of what would occur at the end of certain time periods..." (p. 136).

Most Christians do not know what to do with this objection when it is brought up. It is best to point out the difference between a prophetic utterance that begins with "Thus saith the Lord..." and what a person might say is one's own opinion.

In scripture the context is the first place to go to find out whether these are the opinions of men or whether the Apostles are false prophesying.

In the two passages listed in the above quote from the Reasoning book it is clear that the Apostles "thought" in the Luke passage that Jesus would establish his kingdom at that time.

They "thought," they did not say He would. In the Acts passage they asked, which is certainly not a prophecy, true or false.

What Christians should be aware of is that when the Watchtower speaks Jehovah's Witnesses must listen and obey for they are taught that it is Jehovah speaking through the Watchtower (Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1976, p. 124).

It is not an option for them to disagree publicly (Watchtower, Feb. 1, 1952, pps 79-80).

If they have a disagreement they are to put it on the shelf so to speak and wait on Jehovah to clarify the question.

To express disagreement is to show a rebellious attitude toward the channel which Jehovah has established.

Many former Witnesses tell of how they were threatened with disfellowshipment if they continued to express disagreement with the Watchtower about an issue.

The point of this claim of unquestionable authority is that if the Watchtower is going to excuse themselves from their false prophecies by claiming to be fallible men then they must also excuse the Witnesses who do not accept their predictions as coming from Jehovah.

However, if they are going to insist on complete submission to their dictates then they must be 100% accurate in what they say. There is no middle ground.

Occasionally the Watchtower tells the truth when they have some other religion in mind forgetting that what is said must also be applied to themselves unless they admit to a double standard.

In the Awake magazine they said, "True, there have been those in times past who predicted and `end to the world', even announcing a specific date.... Yet nothing happened. The `end' did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing? Missing from such people were God's truths and the evidence that He was using and guiding them," (Oct. 8, 1968, p. 23).