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.

Michael the Archangel and Jesus

The JWs teach that Jesus is Michael the Archangel. He existed as Michael before he came to earth and became Jesus, and then returned to heaven once again as Michael. Don't believe me? Read it for yourselves.

"So the evidence indicates that the Son of God was known as Michael before he came to earth and is known also by that name since his return to heaven where he resides as the glorified spirit Son of God."—Reasoning from the Scriptures, 1985, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, p. 218

First, we should examine the scriptures that include Michael the Archangel.

Daniel 10:13--"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.

There is already a problem here. If Michael is one of the chief princes, that indicates there are more of them. Jesus is supposed to be a unique, one of a kind being. (John 3:16) But here, if he is indeed Michael, is listed as one among a group of equals.

Daniel 10:21--"However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.

Not any indication here of how this connects to Jesus.

Daniel 12:1--"Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.

Here Michael is listed as a great prince during end times. Wouldn't he be mentioned as a King if he and Jesus were the same being?

Revelation 12:7--And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war,

Michael and his angels? Does this prove that he must be Jesus? Not at all. A general will lead his soldiers under his command in to battle, but he is still following orders of a higher ranking officer. If a claim is made that the angels were his, couldn't we also make the identical claim that Michael is God? Archangel is a higher rank than angel, so it is fairly easy to surmise that even so, he is still an angel, and therefore falls under the same laws that govern those angels.

Jude 1:9--But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

Jesus rebuked the devil. Yet Michael was not allowed to. In all of those verses, nothing indicates that Jesus and Michael are the same being. The strength of the argument from the JWs comes in the following verse.

1 Thessalonians 4:16--For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Since it is the lord himself descending out of heaven with the voice of an archangel, surely this must mean that Jesus and Michael are one and the same. Then again, doesn't having God's trumpet mean that Jesus is God? You can't claim part of the verse as truth and discard the rest of it. The argument needs to be consistent with the entire verse.

There are other verses to consider. Hebrews chapter one is all about Jesus being much better than the angels.

Verse 4 states--having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

Verse 5 adds--For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?

If Jesus is the son of God, yet no angel has ever been told that, wouldn't that leave Michael out as well?

Verse 6 says--And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM."

Notice how it says all of the angels, which of course would include the archangels.

Hebrews 2:5--It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.

But in Luke 1:32-33 it says the following--He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." 

Or Revelation 1:5--and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,

I don't know about you, but I see some major differences there. But here is more verses to consider.

Col. 1:16-17--For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

All things created by him.....including the angels.

I could probably hunt down more scriptures to add and thoroughly dismantle this teaching from the JWs, but I think the information that I listed is solid enough. Once again, the JWs have taken something out of context and put their twisted stamp on it. And why not. They once taught that Michael the Archangel was the Pope. Apparently they claim to have a new and better understanding of another falsehood they have created.