Three items about Jehovah's Witnesses by B.J. Kotwall appear below: 1
The
WTS Separates "Sheep"
& "Goats"
2
Separation of Sheep
and Goats Stopped – Jesus Rejects Assignment from God 3 Separation of Sheep and Goats – Quotes THE WTS SEPARATES "SHEEP" & "GOATS" B J Kotwall (Investigator 27, 1992 November)
The Watchtower
Society
(WTS) teaches:
(Life – How did it get here? By evolution or by creation? 1985 p. 247)
The basis of
the
judgment (according
to the WTS) is the attitude people take towards the message preached by
Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs). Those judged as "sheep" are those who accept
the teachings of the WTS unquestioningly, regard the WTS as God's
exclusive
channel and become JWs. These will all be saved at Armageddon.
Those who do not
accept
the WTS's teachings
are considered "independent". They are the "goats" and will all be
destroyed
at Armageddon – within the generation of people alive in 1914. So in a
very
short time over five billion people are going to be destroyed.
(Paradise
Lost to
Paradise Regained 1958
p. 210; You May Survive Armageddon 1955 pp. 165-167, 217, 347; The
Watchtower
1981 November 15 pp. 15-17, 21)
Furthermore, all
these
billions of people
are to be judged on individual choice:
We should note
that King
Christ Jesus does
not separate the nations into two classes, one class against another
class
in political differences. Rather he divides the people who live in
those
nations, thus allowing each person to make his own individual choice
regardless
of what the government over him does… On what basis does this
separation
work take place? On the basis of their support of Christ's kingdom or
their
rejection of it. (Our Incoming World Government - God's Kingdom 1977
p.163)
Has the WTS managed to convey their message to all the peoples of the world so that each and every person can make his own "individual choice"? Let's look at the WTS's latest "Service Year Report of Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide" published in The Watchtower of January 1 1992 pp. 10-13. According to the report the WTS is represented, and its 4,278,000 followers allowed to preach unhindered, in 186 countries/territories of the world. The population of each land is given in the table and the total for all 186 lands comes to 3,621,981,381. In 25 other unnamed countries: "the work is banned and the reports are incomplete." (p.13) By deducting the above figure of 3,621,981,381 from the present estimated world population of 5.1 billion we get a total population of 1,478,018,619 in the 25 countries where the work is banned. The figures supplied in the four-page table in The Watchtower are impressive but the work is unevenly distributed and is minuscule when compared with the world population. There are still billions of people who have not been reached by the WTS and know nothing about JWs. For example, one of the 25 countries where the work is banned would be China. China has an estimated population of 1.1 billion, is officially atheist, and has very few JWs.
Even in many of
the 186
lands where the work
is allowed the ratio of JWs to the population is insignificant.
In Bangladesh the ratio is 1 to 3,353,760.
Furthermore, the
JWs are
distributed
unevenly in any one country, which means some people are contacted
repeatedly
and others never.
The above
analysis gives
the lie to statements
like:
By means of
these
organized people, the
vital Kingdom issue is being presented to people everywhere… (Survival
Into A New Earth 1984 p. 18)
The 1989 YEAR BOOK OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES refers to the Bible in Revelation 7 where a "great multitude" is predicted to survive the "great tribulation".
The YEARBOOK
next refers to
the JWs and their:
This indicates the completion of the JW preaching (and hence of the occurrence of Armageddon) within the 20th century. Those decades
run out in 8
years, which seems
too little time for:
SEPARATION
OF SHEEP & GOATS
STOPPED –
B J Kotwall (Investigator 47, 1996 March)
Watchtower
Society (WTS)
The Watchtower (WT) The Watchtower, October 15 1995 did an amazing turnabout. Since 1923 the Watchtower Society taught that the separation of the sheep and the goats, described in Matthew by Jesus, began in 1914. Now they say it is future. In Investigator 27 the WTS's concept of the separation was shown to be ridiculous. The "separation"
teaching
was one of the
most stressed doctrines of the WTS from the time it was revealed to
them,
apparently as a "flash of light", in 1923. (United in Worship 1983 p.
103-104;
Watchtower Publications Index 1930-1985 p. 228)
The separation
supposedly
was being achieved
by Jesus and his angels, since 1914, by peoples' response to the WTS's
preaching – whether they accepted the message and joined the Jehovah's
Witnesses
or not. The parable was of course made to fit WTS's scheme of things i.e. the 1914 date of return of Christ which date was also the beginning of the generation that would see the end of the world. It was
maintained that:
Jesus'
"coming in
glory"
(Matthew 25:31) marked
the beginning of his reign. (Children 1941 p. 85)
Jesus' main
"assignment"
given him by God [or,
as it now appears, given him by WTS] was the "separation" work.
(WT 1984 March 15 p. 17) All persons
of the
world,
including children,
were subject to the judgment. The children would also be condemned as
"goats"
due to their wayward elders.
(WT 1951 May 1 p. 286) Although,
before
1905,
the WTS believed that
the judgment would start during the millennium, it was definitely not
so
now.
(WT 1984 February 15 p. 17; God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years has Approached 1973 p. 262) The
judgment and
separation work by Jesus was
proof of his presence since 1914.
(Reasoning from the Scriptures 1989 p. 344) The purpose
of Jesus'
arrival in 1914 was for
the judgment of sheep and goats.
(The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived 1991 p. 111) The time
came when
angels
also got involved
in the separation work.
(WT 1992 June 15 p. 20) Separation
of sheep
and
goats is a glorious
fulfillment of the prophecy of Matthew 25:31-33. (WT 1993 January 1 p.
19)
The WTS completely contradicted the above assertions in its WT of October 15 1995: Jehovah's
Witnesses have
published much
evidence that Jesus' period of waiting expired in 1914, when he became
ruler of the God's Kingdom in the invisible heavens. Revelation
11:15,18
says: "The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and
of his Christ..." The wars, earthquakes…since 1914 confirm that Jesus
is
now ruling in Gods Kingdom...
Although Jesus is now King of the Kingdom, his further activity mentioned at Matthew 19:28 will include sitting on a throne during the Millennium. At that time he will judge all mankind…(p. 21)
Does this
parable [Matthew
25:31,32] apply
when Jesus sat down in kingly power in 1914 as we have long understood?
… But what judging did he do soon thereafter? It was not a judging of
"all
the nations". Rather, he turned his attention to those claiming to make
up "the house of God" (I Peter 4:17... Yet nothing indicates
that
at that time, or for that matter since, Jesus sat to judge people of all
the nations finally as sheep and goats… Jesus' 'sitting
down on
his glorious throne'
for judgment, mentioned at Matthew 25:31, applies to the future point…
(p. 22)
Understanding the parable of the sheep and goats in this way indicates that the rendering of judgment on the sheep and the goats is future. It will take place after "the tribulation…" (p. 23). The doctrine of the
separation of the sheep
and goats has, like many other doctrines of the WTS, been inconsistent
and vacillating:
In 1899 it
was
believed
that the "separation
and judging would occupy the entire millennial age".
(Studies in Scriptures Volume 5 1899 p. 479-480).
(WT 1984 February 15 p. 17) In 1917 it
was
believed
that the separation
would be at the close of the Millennial Age.
(The Finished Mystery 1917 p. 307). A further "clarification of belief" was received on the subject in 1923 and 1936 and was apparently consolidated in the late '30s that Jesus had come into his kingdom in 1914 and had started the judgment. (Watchtower Publications Index 1930-1985 p. 228; United in Worship 1983 p. 103-104; Children 1941 p. 98; Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose 1959 p. 140). Now since the WT of October 15, 1995 was released, the belief is that Jesus has not even started his judgment. It will now "take place after the tribulation"! The WTS has,
over the
last over 70 years,
made hundreds of statements about Jesus executing separation judgment
since
1914. We have extracted only a few of these statements from the WTS's
own
publications, available on a CD-ROM which contains reproduction of a
selection
of their publications after 1950. Only the first two quotations, and
the
last one, which were not available on the CD-ROM have been added. The
quotations
are reproduced below.
The WTS has
woven a
tangled web of nonsense.
************************************************** SEPARATION
OF "SHEEP" &
"GOATS" – QUOTES
***Refugees
1940
25-26***
***Children
1941 85, 98
[pp. 116 &
133 in the Australian edition]***
The book called Salvation submits the proof that the Lord Jesus Christ came to the temple in the year 1918. On page 160 this appears: "In the year 1914 the Lord Jesus was enthroned as King of the world. (Matthew 24:3-14) Three and one-half years thereafter Christ Jesus the King appeared at the temple of Jehovah and gathered unto himself his faithful followers and commissioned them and set them forth to "preach this gospel of the kingdom"; and thus is marked the beginning of the Lord's judgment of the nations, and concerning which is written: "And before him shall be gathered all the nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left."–Matthew 25:32,33. ***w1950 4/15
119-20
Servants Feed the
Flock***
With Christ Jesus the Shepherd-King in charge since the regathering of the remnant after 1918, things moved along rapidly toward the setting up among them of a Theocratic organization similar in design to that in existence 1,900 years ago. This meant they all recognized the fact that Jehovah is the Great Shepherd over and above all; that Christ Jesus, the enthroned and reigning King of the heavenly Theocratic government, is Jehovah's Chief Shepherd; that here upon earth the "faithful and wise servant" organization has been placed in charge of all the Kingdom interests, and that in such Theocratic arrangement mature and faithful brethren have been appointed as various servants to look after, wait upon and care for the needs of the Lord's sheep. At first the flock that followed Christ Jesus were few in number, only a "little flock", and when the regathering work began after the Lord's coming to the temple in 1918 there was only a small remnant of this flock remaining on earth. (Luke 12:32) However, today there is a great and mighty flock of sheep, meek and teachable people, following the Good Shepherd, even as Jesus said there would be. "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold [not of the "little flock" fold]: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (John 10:16) The parable of the "sheep and goats" reveals that Christ Jesus would begin to gather and "bring" these "other sheep" following his enthronement as King in 1914 and his coming to the temple for judgment in 1918. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats."–Math. 25:31, 34. In such separating work, now progressing among the nations, the "other sheep" class are placed on the King's right hand of favor. ***w195l 3/1
152 No
Relief for the Rich,
but Comfort for the Poor***
***w195l 6/1
286
Questions from Readers
***
*** w195l
6/15 368 The
Place of God's
Word in Our Lives ***
*** w1956
12/15 759
Telling the Good News
from Day to Day ***
*** w1958
3/15 177
Shepherd of Israel***
***w1959 1/15
50
Surviving with the New***
***w1959 3/1
158 Day of
Decision***
This dividing work has to be done while the old system of things with its sea of mixed peoples is still existing. It is not something that can be done quickly; it requires a period of time, just as Noah's preaching did. Since Christ revealed in his illustration that he, the King, would be the One to supervise the separating of the people, he must be ruling in Kingdom power during the time when it is being done. Thus he would rule for a period while his enemies are still in power, and that is precisely what he has been doing since the last days of this system of things began in 1914. *** w196l
10/15 632 The
Time for God's
Kingdom to Come***
*** God's
Kingdom of a
Thousand Years
Has Approached 1973 259-260***
***w1965 3/15
174-175
Our own Twentieth-Century
Generation and the Resurrection ***
*** Our
Incoming World
Government – God's
Kingdom 1977 170-171
***g1980
12/22 4 Have
You Ever Wondered–What
Is Jesus Christ Doing Now?***
*** You can
Live for
Ever in Paradise
on Earth 1982 183***
*** United in
Worship
of the Only True
God 1983 103-104***
***w1984 2/15
17 The
Recent Pen for "Other
Sheep"***
*** w1984
3/15 17 God's
United "Mighty
Nation" to Fill the Earth ***
*** Did Man
Get Here by
Creation or Evolution?
1985 247
***Reasoning
from the
Scriptures 1985
344***
I Thess. 4:15, 16: "This is what we tell you by Jehovah's word, that we the living who survive to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep in death; because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel's voice arid, with God's trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first." (So, those who will rule with Christ would be resurrected to be with him in heaven – first those who had died in years past and then those who would die following the Lord's return.) Matt. 25:31-33: "When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left." ***You Can
Live Forever
in Paradise on
Earth 1989 183***
***w1990 5/15
8 When
Christ Arrives In
Kingdom Power***
Humans cannot see angels in their heavenly glory. So the arrival of the Son of man, Jesus Christ, with the angels must be invisible to human eyes. The arrival occurs in the year 1914. But for what purpose? Jesus explains: "And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left." *** The
Greatest Man
Who Ever Lived 1991
111***
***w1992 6/15
20 What
Do the Dragnet and
Fish Mean for You?***
Hence, in accord with Matthew 13:47-50, a crucial separating work under angelic guidance has been in progress since "the conclusion of the system of things" began in 1914. This became particularly evident after 1919, when the remnant of anointed ones were freed from temporary spiritual bondage, or captivity, and became a more effective instrument for accomplishing the fishing work. ***w1993
1/119
Shepherding With Our Grand
Creator ***
The designation "my servant David" points prophetically to Christ Jesus, the "seed" who inherits David's throne. (Psalm 89:35, 36) In this day of judgment of the nations, Jehovah's associate Shepherd and King, Christ Jesus, the Son of David, continues to separate the "sheep" of mankind from those who may claim to be "sheep" but are actually "goats." (Matthew 25:31-33) This "one shepherd" is raised up also to feed the sheep. What a glorious fulfillment of this prophecy we see today! While politicians talk of uniting mankind through a new world order, the one Shepherd is actually uniting the sheep of all nations through a multilanguage witnessing campaign such as only God's organization on earth could ever begin to undertake.
*** w1995
5/15 20
Vindication and the
"Great Crowd"***
...it was seen that this prophecy [Revelation 7:9-17] referred to the numberless great crowd from all nations who are now being gathered and whose hopes are earthly. They are "the sheep" of Matthew 25:31-46 and the other sheep of John 10:16. ************************************************** Although their leaders claim God reveals Bible based teachings to them, they have changed thousands of their interpretations. > https://investigatormagazine.net Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses at: |