YOU MAY SURVIVE ARMAGEDDON
INTO GOD'S NEW WORLD (1955)

(Investigator 229, 2026 July)

Type And Antiitype

You May Survive Armageddon Into God's New World (1955) is an official Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) book which sect-members studied together at their book-study meetings.

Another JWs book, Qualified To Be Ministers (1967), explains that You May Survive "considers the fulfillment of forty-two types and prophecies concerning the earthly heirs of God's new system of things." (p. 160)

"Types" are stories in the Bible, mainly the Old Testament, which, according to JWs, foretell or pictured 20th century history. JWs treated the Bible stories as prophetic "types, "dramas" or "pictures" with 20th-century parallels which they called "antitypes".

As an example consider the modern parallel or antitype to Samson and Delilah published in their book Government (1928):

•    Samson pictured a "great multitude" dedicated to God who don't join JWs but remain in
     other denominations;
•    Delilah pictured the ecclesiastical systems;
•    The Philistines pictured "the Devil's organization" (the ungodly modern world);
•    Samson blinded pictured the "great multitude" deceived by religion;
•   Samson pulling the Philistine temple down pictured that the "great multitude" at Armageddon
    "pull down the wrath of Satan's organization upon their own heads" but are by then "on 
     the Lord's side."  This happens at the "great tribulation [which] is Armageddon"  and "That
     tribulation is now beginning."
     (Government 1928, 259-271)

The 1936 reinterpretation made Samson and the "great multitude" (or "crowd") refer not to Christians in Christendom but to JWs. Samson's temple demolition now pictured the "faithfulness of Jehovah’s witnesses unto death". (w1936 1/1 3-12)

The JWs leaders revised many of the modern fulfilments (antitypes) several times during the 20th century. These revisions, along with numerous reinterpretations of other Bible verses, sometimes provoked the comment, "The Bible is like a fiddle on which any tune can be played."  You May Survive of course gives the JWs "tunes" of the 1950s.

Function And Benefits

You May Survive focuses on, as quoted above, "forty-two types and prophecies concerning the earthly heirs of God's new system of things…" The earthly heirs are JWs converted from 1935 onwards who anticipate eternal live on Earth. Before 1935 the sect gathered the "heavenly class", the "remnant" of the 144,000 who anticipate eternal ghost-like life  in heaven.

Therefore the pre-1935 interpretations of the modern antitypes focused on the "remnant". The book Preservation (1932), for example, spends 300 pages describing 20th century parallels of Naomi and Ruth, and Mordecai and Esther, from the Old Testament books Ruth and Esther.

The post 1935 interpretations of the types changed many details so as to include the second or "earthly" class — designated the "great multitude" or "great crowd" — in the modern antitypes. The New Testament actually says nothing about there being two classes of Christians. Therefore, to argue for two classes, the JWs leaders from 1935 onwards reinterpreted the Old Testament stories as predicting two classes of JWs.

For example consider the story (Genesis 24) of Abraham sending a servant to visit distant relatives to get a wife for his son Isaac and the servant returns with Rebekah. Rebekah typifies the "remnant" and Rebekah's attendants typify the "great crowd":

Abraham his father and the great ancestor of Jesus typified Jehovah God the heavenly father. Abraham's aged servant whom he used as his agent pictures the active force or holy spirit of God by means of which Jehovah begets the bride class [= the 144,000] and brings them to their Bridegroom. The ten camels picture God's perfect and complete Word, by means of which he sustains the bride class and imparts to them spiritual gifts and blessings. Rebekah typifies the bride of Christ, who are taken from this far country, the earth, to serve as his wife in heaven.

Rebekah's nurse was named Deborah and attended her marriage and waited upon her almost till Rebekah's death. (Genesis 35:8-19) Whom, then, do Deborah and the other lady attendants who journeyed with Rebekah to the meeting of her bridegroom typify?  The "great crowd"… Deborah and the other lady attendants left the homeland as did Rebekah never to return, that they might always attend upon her. Similarly the "great crowd" of Jehovah's temple servants forsake this world completely and accompany the remnant of the bride class on earth… (You May Survive, 224-226)

With theology like this JWs could make the Bible mean anything they wanted. The "types and antitypes" were nevertheless effective indoctrination. Firstly they required head-spinning concentration to understand, and uncritical attitudes to accept. Secondly they forced JWs to imagine themselves positively as the equivalent of all the Bible's good guys like Noah, Joshua, Samson, Naomi, Ruth, Mordecai, Esther, etc.

Many of the types included bad guys such as  Philistines, Amalekites and Goliath. The bad guys represented or typified groups such as Catholics, Christendom, governments, "big business" and ex-JWs. The deaths of the Bible bad guys, like the Egyptians at the Red Sea or Goliath by David's slingshot, pictured either JWs triumphs or Armageddon.

42 Prophetic Dramas

The 42 types are listed on pages 367-368 of You May Survive and are said to instruct  "this generation" how to survive Armageddon:

The same inspired Word that unerringly foretold many centuries ago the very situation that we face up to in this generation also drew many pictures, staged many prophetic dramas and presented many direct prophecies of the ones to be protected all through the war of Armageddon...

It sharpens our interest to consider that unavoidable war from the standpoint of those who will live through it into the grandeurs of God's new world. In fact, it becomes an absorbing, delightsome, thrilling consideration for us. To share this delight with our readers, we hope in following pages to look into at least forty-two of these typical pictures, prophetic life-dramas and direct prophecies regarding the Armageddon survivors... (p.17)

•    Jonathan, friend of David (pp 246-248)
•    Supporters of Mordecai/Esther (257-259)
•    Queen of Sheba (269)
•    Noah's sons and their wives (289-293)
•    Lot and his daughters (364).

"This generation" that would face Armageddon meant "this generation since AD 1914". (pp 191-192) Also: "Armageddon is so near at hand it will strike the generation now living." (p.11)  

Awake! magazine on its "Why Awake! Is Published" page, called this prophecy the "Creator's promise":

1984 May 15

Christendom's Destruction Deserved

You May Survive repetitiously castigates "Christendom" and blames it for most of the world's evil:

Christendom, has likewise proved to be a shameless "nation" before Jehovah God and his Christ, and to this day she has not repented of her hypocritical, selfish, unchristian course that has resulted in two world wars since 1914 and now threatens a third one. (p.59)

The correct timing of the start of the "time of the end" was proved by the raging of World War I in 1914, followed by all kinds of distress worldwide...

It was during this "beginning of pangs of distress" that the nations, particularly those of Christendom, brought great trouble upon the remnant of the temple class in an attempt to destroy the "spiritual house" of God. Because of such an attempt Christendom made her own coming destruction all the more deserved... (pp 109-110)

You May Survive makes no mention of the many failed prophecies of the Russellites (as JWs were previously called) — failed predictions for 1878, 1881, 1910-1912, 1914-1915, 1918, 1925-1926, etc, plus several thousand reinterpretations of Bible verses!

The statement "Christendom brought great trouble upon the remnant in an attempt to destroy the house of God" ignores the issue of how an organization that promotes thousands of errors can be the "house of God". The so-called "great trouble" occurred in 1918 when eight leading Russellites were found guilty under America's Espionage Act of hindering the war effort and spent a year in prison. JWs themselves bring "great trouble" via excommunication and ostracism on fellow JWs who disagree with only one or two points, let alone thousands! 

The claim that Christendom deserves "destruction all the more" diverts attention from the false predictions the sect preached during WWI. The Bible itself calls false prophecy "appalling and horrible" (Jeremiah 5:30-31) and the Law of Moses suggests false prophets deserve to die! (Deuteronomy 18:20)

Sovereignty

You May Survive condemns the nations for not immediately in 1914 accepting the "kingdom of God":

It was really against this kingdom that the nations became wrathful at its establishment in the heavens in 1914, not ceasing then from World War I nor peacefully handing over their sovereignty to it. (p.333)

JWs have never explained how the nations were supposed to "hand over their sovereignty" when no one knew about the alleged 1914 kingdom, not even the Russellites. Until 1925 they believed in an invisible kingdom set up in 1878! Furthermore, the supposed "house of God", i.e. the Russellites, was too preoccupied with disputing over their failing predictions to rule the world!

"The time of the end is fast running out... " (p.270) is false because in 1955 the alleged "time of the end" was 41 years old, but another 70 years have since passed. In 1955 the time was still just starting, not fast running out!

More Erroneous Claims

• The sheep and goats parable (Matthew 25) is fulfilled since WWI by Jesus judging and separating everyone according to how they treat the "remnant". (pp 190; 269)

Space limitations prevent deeper analysis. But enough is said to show that You May Survive was not "Bible study" but self-justifying sectarian nonsense. JWs now don't study it!

Theology Demolished

Until 2012 the heaven-bound "remnant" were also the "faithful slave" described by Jesus in Matthew 24:45-51. But in 2012 the JWs Governing Body expelled the "remnant" from that position. The Governing Body henceforth defined itself, about ten men, as the "faithful slave". This meant that many details in the modern fulfillment of the 42 types would again need revision.

Even more troublesome was that JWs publications, besides their 42 Bible "types" fulfilled by the "great crowd", also promoted 80 "types" fulfilled by the "remnant":

"… the Christian remnant today since 1919 are referred to or represented in more than eighty Scriptural and prophetic designations. With more than eighty strokes by the finger of Biblical prophecy, the God of heaven has painted a vividly accurate portrait of his official servant class on earth. The reality of this portrait in all its divinely foreordained details stands out on the world stage for all to see." (The Watchtower 1960  p.437; 1981 March 1 p.270)

So, are the antitypes of the Old Testament types now fulfilled by the Governing Body?  Are the stories about women such as Naomi, Ruth and Esther now "types" of only a small gang of men?

The answer came in 2014/2015. Reinterpreting 120 types would have entailed too much complicated stupidity even for JWs. Although the types-antitypes theology had been trumpeted as prophetic pictures from God for the 20th century it is now thrown out. The only antitypes of Old-Testament stories now accepted are those taught in the New Testament.
https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/types-antitypes/

Generations of JWs studied concocted modern antitypes, wasted billions of hours, and believed it to be "rich spiritual food" from God to identify the true religion. But instead of having "true religion" JWs were pathetic, time-wasting, victims of deception.

(BS)

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