They're toying with the witnesses, in my opinion. They have mastered the art of "saying without saying". They will manage to get people in a frenzy when that time draws close, and then when nothing happens they will say that they never pointed toward that date. It's old hat by now.
2034...
by Tuesday 27 Replies latest jw friends
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stillajwexelder
*** w03 12/15 pp. 14-15 Our Watchfulness Takes On Greater Urgency
"Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming."—MATTHEW 24:42.
"ABOVE all other things, the twentieth century was shaped by war," says author Bill Emmott. While admitting that all periods of human history have felt the weight of wars and violence, he adds: "The twentieth century did not differ in kind, it differed in degree. It was the first century to feature a truly world-spanning conflict . . . And, as if to emphasize the point, it featured not just one such worldwide conflict, but two."
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Wars that involve ‘nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom’ were foretold by Jesus Christ. However, they are just one aspect of ‘the sign of Christ’s presence and of the conclusion of the system of things.’ In this great prophecy, Jesus also mentioned famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. (Matthew 24:3, 7, 8; Luke 21:6, 7, 10, 11) In many respects, such calamities have increased in scope and severity. The badness of man is abundant, as seen in his attitude toward God and fellowman. Moral breakdown and increase in crime and violence are evident. Men have become lovers of money rather than lovers of God, obsessed with pleasure. All this testifies that we are living in "critical times."—2 Timothy 3:1-5.3
How do you view the worsening trend in human affairs? Many are indifferent, even callous, to distressing events of the day. The world’s influential and intellectual men do not discern the meaning of "the signs of the times"; neither have religious leaders given proper guidance in this matter. (Matthew 16:1-3) But Jesus admonished his followers: "Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." (Matthew 24:42) Jesus here encourages us not only to be watchful but to "keep on the watch." To keep on the watch, we must remain alert and vigilant. This requires more than simply acknowledging that we are living in the last days, more than recognizing that times are hard. We must have firm conviction that "the end of all things has drawn close." (1 Peter 4:7) Only then will our watchfulness take on a sense of urgency. Hence, the question that we must reflect on is: ‘What will help us to strengthen our conviction that the end is near?’4
Consider the conditions prevailing during the time preceding a one-of-a-kind event in human history—the great Deluge of Noah’s day. People were so bad that Jehovah "felt hurt at his heart." He declared: "I am going to wipe men whom I have created off the surface of the ground." (Genesis 6:6, 7) And he did just that. Drawing a parallel between then and now, Jesus said: "Just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be."—Matthew 24:37.5
It is reasonable to assume that Jehovah feels about the present world as he felt about the pre-Flood world. Since he brought an end to the ungodly world of Noah’s day, he will certainly destroy the wicked world of today. Having a clear understanding of the parallel between that time and our day should fortify our conviction that the end of the present world is near. What, then, are the similarities? There are at least five. The first is that a warning of coming destruction is given in no uncertain terms.Warned
of "Things Not Yet Beheld"6
In Noah’s day, Jehovah declared: "My spirit shall not act toward man indefinitely in that he is also flesh. Accordingly his days shall amount to a hundred and twenty years." (Genesis 6:3) The issuance of this divine decree in 2490 B.C.E. marked the beginning of the end for that ungodly world. Just think what that meant for those then living! Only 120 years more and Jehovah would bring "the deluge of waters upon the earth to bring to ruin all flesh in which the force of life is active from under the heavens."—Genesis 6:17.7
Noah received the warning of the upcoming catastrophe decades in advance, and he wisely used the time to prepare for survival. "After being given divine warning of things not yet beheld," says the apostle Paul, "[Noah] showed godly fear and constructed an ark for the saving of his household." (Hebrews 11:7) What about us? Some 90 years have passed since the last days of this system of things began in 1914. We are certainly in "the time of the end." (Daniel 12:4) How should we respond to warnings we have been given? "He that does the will of God remains forever," states the Bible. (1 John 2:17) Now is therefore the time to do Jehovah’s will with a keen sense of urgency.8
In modern times, sincere students of the Bible have learned from the inspired Scriptures that this system is doomed to destruction. Do we believe this? Notice what Jesus Christ clearly stated: "There will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again." (Matthew 24:21) Jesus also said that he would come as God’s appointed Judge and would separate people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. Those found unworthy would "depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life."—Matthew 25:31-33, 46. -
stillajwexelder
so 2034 is not stated - but 120 years is consistent - and so is 1914 -- the WTBTS would love it if all the JWs got fired up and started getting fired up with the sort of activity seen from say 1967-1975 - and then they can also turn around and say - -we never said (or implied) 2034 - we just said the work was similar to Noahs day and that we were doing a "Noah-like work"
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stillajwexelder
*** w02 3/1 pp. 6-7 Why Did That Ancient World Perish? *** What Went Wrong?
With all its advantages, pre-Flood society had a bad start. Its founder, Adam, was a rebel against God. Cain, the builder of the first recorded city, murdered his own brother. Little wonder that evil snowballed! The consequences of the defective legacy that Adam left his offspring were cumulative.—Romans 5:12.
Things were evidently coming to a head when Jehovah determined that he would allow the situation to continue just another 120 years. (Genesis 6:3) The Bible says: "The badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time. . . . The earth became filled with violence."—Genesis 6:5, 11.
In time, Noah was told specifically that God would destroy all flesh in a deluge. (Genesis 6:13, 17) Although Noah became "a preacher of righteousness," it was evidently difficult for people to believe that everything around them was going to end. (2 Peter 2:5) Only eight people heeded the warning and were saved. (1 Peter 3:20) Why is this important for us today?
What
Significance for Us?We live in times similar to those of Noah. We regularly hear about horrifying acts of terrorism, campaigns of genocide, mass killings by gunmen with little apparent motive, and domestic violence on a shocking scale. The earth has again become filled with violence, and as before, the world has been put on notice of a judgment to come. Jesus himself said that he would come as God’s appointed Judge and separate people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. Those found unworthy, said Jesus, "will depart into everlasting cutting-off." (Matthew 25:31-33, 46) The Bible says that this time, however, there will be millions of survivors—a great crowd who worship the only true God. In the world to come, these will enjoy life in permanent peace and security as never before.—Micah 4:3, 4; Revelation 7:9-17.
Many scoff at such Biblical statements and at warnings about the judgment act that will show such statements to be true. But the apostle Peter explained that such cynics are ignoring the facts. He wrote: "In the last days there will come ridiculers . . . saying: ‘Where is this promised presence of his?’ . . . For, according to their wish, this fact escapes their notice, that there were heavens from of old and an earth standing compactly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; and by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water. But by the same word the heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men."—2 Peter 3:3-7.
A worldwide warning about this coming day of judgment and a message of good news about the peace that will follow are today being zealously preached in obedience to Jesus’ prophetic command. (Matthew 24:14) This warning is not to be taken lightly. Almighty God keeps his word.
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stillajwexelder
so it is not just a one-off paragraph in one publication like the 1975 comment was
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Tuesday
Hmm, so technically this could be something like "His days should not amount to more than 120 years" therefore if the beginning of the end began in 1914 (how to continue to cling to that year, WWI and all that jazz) his days should not amount to MORE THAN 120 years, so it's 90 years...holy cow it could be any day now. Jehovah will not wait right to the end, it will come like a thief in the night, people will expect 120 but it COULD come sooner, but no later than 120 years which brings us to 2034. Showing more than one publication makes it a bit more feesable. Maybe I'm just grasping at straws here, 1975 was a bit before my time, it's high time for a new end day. There's been one for every generation, time for Generation X to get their end date
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darth frosty
Tuesday I am sooo, glad that you posted this issue. I have been looking to post it for some time, but since quotes went down y'no. But this was the straw that broke my back. I remember going over this lesson and thinking 'awright we got 30 years to go in this system and I have no retirement or pension plan. Then the capper was at the hall the day the lesson was studied, I ask one of my MS friends did he pick up on the 30 years left in this system thang and he missed it. WTF?!? Then when I explained it to him he says 'oh thats not what they ment'. If thats not what they ment then why make the comparison.
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rmt1
There's a generational attention span that must elapse before the next major deception. The generation that swallowed the traumatic deception of 1975 must be largely attritioned, fallen away or inactive for the next installment to work properly. People minimally old enough to contextually comprehend the deception in '75 (15yo?) will be _at least_ 74yo by the time 2034 rolls around and Brooklyn is hammering in earnest. This segment of wisdom and empirical experience will be severely under-represented in the publisher mix. As far as the periodicity of punctuated deception, Big Brother has nothing on Brooklyn.