Sign of the Last Days

The Watchtower Society uses two points as proof, two lines of argument that they say can pinpoint when Jesus returned and God's Kingdom was established, which of course, would occur in the last days of this world. First, bible chronology is needed to determine when the Gentile Times would end. They believe that the appointed times of the nations began in 607 bce and ended in 1914 a.d.  During this period, the nations would be allowed to rule without interference from God. And second, the "signs" that have occured since 1914, and there would be an enormous increase of each sign. From there it was believed that a single generation of people would witness these "signs of the last days", and that single generation would not die out until all of these signs happened. This is the main core of the JWs belief system. Everything they teach revolves around these two points.

Examining those signs should be the first step in determining whether these claims are true. We can see what the bible says, and then examine history to test the accuracy of these claims.

Matthew 24:3--As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

Now pay close attention to what Jesus says to them.

Matt 24:4,5--And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.

I am the Christ....or Christ approves of my teachings. That would include the setting of a specific date on when Christ would return.

Verse 6 reads--You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

Not yet the end? Interesting.

If you read on in chapter 4, there will be wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilences, persecutions (because of Christ's name), false prophets, and an increasing lawlessness. All signs of end times, right? 

Not exactly, as verse 8 says--But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Nowhere in those verses does Jesus ever say that any of these things he listed are "signs of the last days." In fact, it was more of a warning for his disciples to not be led astray when they see these things occur. Don't be misled, don't be frightened, this is not the end?  In fact, his answer to their question isn't until verses 27 onward. Note some of his comments.

Verse 27--"For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Verses 29-31---But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Now that's a sign. Obviously, everyone would be able to see it, which eliminates the notion that Christ returned invisibly.

Verse 36--But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

Isn't it contradictory to think that God would suddenly decide to hand a verifiable date over to a small group of people, and then tell them to preach that to the entire world?

End times religions would disagree with me. Especially the JWs, who point out that these signs of the last days have grown increasingly worse since 1914. Really? Let's test it out.

Famine

The Jws make this claim--"And in the wake of World War I came the greatest famine of all history." "Let Your Kingdom Come" p.122    

"The worst food shortages in human history followed on the heels of World War I.  "WT Oct. 15, 1975  page 634.

"In 1921, famine brought death to some 5 million people in the U.S.S.R. In 1929, famine caused an estimated 3 million deaths in China. In the 1930's, 5 million died of hunger in the U.S.S.R. Just a few years ago prolonged drought in countries bordering the Sahara Desert resulted in countless refugees and up to 100,000 deaths." Watchtower 1983 Apr 15 pp.5-6

By comparison, China alone had over 100 million die from famine during the 1800s. Now toss in the countries of India, England, Ireland, France, and many others, it is very clear that famine was much worse before the year 1914.

Pestilence

Their claim--"Right after World War I more people died of the Spanish flu than had died of any disease epidemic in the history of mankind. The death toll was some 21 million people!" p.151

By comparison, the Black Death plague killed at least 62 million people in 3 years. And there was no cure. The plague of Justinian in the 6th century, killed about 100 million lives. The smallpox epidemic in the 1520s may have killed over 30 million lives. And the 19th century Cholera took about 100 million lives in 5 great pandemics. Again, their claim is proven false.

Earthquakes

This one doesn't even need to be proven since they changed their view from this

"The frequency of major earthquakes has increased about 20 times what it was on an average during the two thousand years before 1914." Survival into a New Earth (1984) p.23

to this

"Some say that any reports of an increase in the number of earthquakes are simply due to advances in technology, which enable more seismic events to be detected. The U.S. National Earthquake Information Center reports that earthquakes of 7.0 magnitude and greater remained "fairly constant" throughout the 20th century. Note, though, that the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy does not require an increase in the number or power of earthquakes. All Jesus said was that there would be great earthquakes in one place after another. Furthermore, he stated that these events would mark the "beginning of pangs of distress." (Matthew 24:8) Distress is measured, not by the number of earthquakes or how they rate on the Richter scale, but by the effect that they have upon people." Awake! 2002 March 22 p.9     

It was proven beyond doubt that earthquakes had not increased since the year 1914, that the JWs were forced to change the meaning of the sign. But just to state the obvious,

"We continue to be asked by many people throughout the world if earthquakes are on the increase. Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant.

A partial explanation may lie in the fact that in the last twenty years, we have definitely had an increase in the number of earthquakes we have been able to locate each year. This is because of the tremendous increase in the number of seismograph stations in the world and the many improvements in global communications. In 1931, there were about 350 stations operating in the world; today, there are more than 8,000 stations and the data now comes in rapidly from these stations by electronic mail, internet and satellite. This increase in the number of stations and the more timely receipt of data has allowed us and other seismological centers to locate earthquakes more rapidly and to locate many small earthquakes which were undetected in earlier years. The NEIC now locates about 20,000 earthquakes each year or approximately 50 per day. Also, because of the improvements in communications and the increased interest in the environment and natural disasters, the public now learns about more earthquakes.

According to long-term records (since about 1900), we expect about 17 major earthquakes (7.0 - 7.9) and one great earthquake (8.0 or above) in any given year."

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/faq.php?categoryID=6&faqID=110 (27 Oct 2009)

Wars

Their claims.

"No generation previous to that of 1914 ever experienced a world war, never mind two." Watchtower 1983 Jul 15 p.7    

"Historians widely agree that World War I was the first war on a global scale." Awake! 1981 May 8 p.8    

"According to one study, World War I was reportedly seven times greater than all the 901 major wars of the previous 2,400 years"

By comparison, The War of Spanish Succession 1702-1713, The Seven Years' War 1756-1763, The War of American Independence 1775-1783, and The Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815 are all considered world wars by historians.

A comparison in death tolls shows that WWI had between 8 and 8.5 million soldiers killed, and including civilians, they estimate that between 10-12 million died as a direct result of that war. According to their last quote that I posted, this number is 7 times greater than all 901 major wars of the previous 2400 years. That would leave about 1.5 million as a collective death toll for all of those previous wars. Let's look at the numbers of some of those previous wars.

1. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) 9-11 million

2. The Manchu-Chinese War (1644) 25 million

3. The Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) 5-6 million

4. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) 20-30 million

5. The War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713) 1 million

6. The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) 1-2 million

7. The Lopez War (1864-1870) 2 million

Total estimated fatalities 63-87 million

WWI estimated fatalities 37.5 million.

Once again, the original claims by the JWs are false.

Lawlessness

Their claim,

"Space does not allow us to give further details of contempt for God's laws, but what has been presented clearly shows that since 1914 there is an increasing of lawlessness on a magnitude unlike any period in history!" Watchtower 1983 Jun 1 p.7

Any examination into history, and there is a wealth of material available, shows that lawlessness has not increased. It has always been there. Look at any time period and you will find it. Building walls around cities to keep the criminals out, or how about throwing Christians to the wild animals in front of an audience in an arena? Or take a look at the United States in the 1800s, and you might be shocked at what was going on then. And you will also realize what a ridiculous claim was made by the watchtower.

These "signs of the last days" were really not signs at all. Trying to claim that things are getting worse is an attempt at selling the end times slogan in order to gain converts, out of fear. How many times have you read the  "don't wait too long" articles? Historical facts show that none of the things mentioned are growing increasingly worse. And the one generation that was supposed to be eye-witnesses to all of these signs from 1914 onward has now been changed to "overlapping" generations. I'm wondering when they will decide to change the 1914 date as well. I think Jesus said it best when he stated the following,

Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him.