The Watchtower magazine has used the word
SOON
on many an occasion to point out to its readership how near Armageddon really is.
A word that can mean anything, in effect, actually means nothing.
Consequently, let's examine what "soon" actually means by definition and use.
There can only be three stages of time:
Before
During
After
Wouldn't you agree with that? Pretty simple.
If some event happened in the past it was BEFORE now.
If an even is happening now it is occuring DURING your reference to it.
Once the event has passed you talking about it would be AFTER.
Okay?
But, what if an event has not yet happened?
What if the event is scheduled to occur?
How could refer to the proximity of the near event IF YOU DON'T KNOW exactly when it is scheduled to take place?
Could you mention the event with any precision at all?
Stop and think about it.
You either know when or you don't.
If you use a word like "SOON" it would have to indicate some knowledge of "when" automatically.
A child asks his Mom when they will go to the zoo. the Mom says "Soon."
When is soon? It is a vague word, after all. Could the child reasonably conclude going to the zoo would take place within his lifetime?
What if his Mom never took him to the zoo after telling him "Soon"??!!
Would his Mom be guilty of misleading him? Forgetting? Lying?
What would you make of it?
Is the word "SOON" just a way of keeping somebody in a state of anticipation and readiness without a timetable?
Is it a ruse? A trick? Or, is it merely a tool of conversation to imply something could and might happen in such a short space of time that it might be prudent to keep the impending event uppermost in one's mind?
Either way: if an event is accurately termed as occuring "SOON" it has to happen within the lifetime of the person hearing it.
Otherwise it is a misleading and utterly cynical statement.
Thanks, Watchtower for misleading and lying about Armageddon.
Examples:
"During the past fifteen years, in obedience to God's commandments, Jehovah's witnesses have been giving this testimony to the nations....The Scriptural evidence and the physical facts strongly indicate that such witness work is now almost done, and when it is done the universal war will begin. Universal war is absolutely certain to come, and that soon, and no power can stop it.... During the few remaining months until the breaking out of that universal cataclysm the powers that rule the nations of the earth will continue to make treaties... They will continue to persecute and oppose Jehovah's witnesses who are trying to get the truth to the people" (Universal War Near, 1935, pp. 26-27)
"Can we do better in April? The enemy is now hastening the nations to Armageddon, and Christ Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats" (The Director, April 1936, p. 1).
"It is not for them to know just how soon the curse will fall, that is to say, just what hour or year Armageddon will take place. They certainly know that it cannot be far removed from the present day, because that work marked out for them, and which they are doing,immediately precedes Armageddon" (Watchtower, 1 December 1936, p. 365).
"All witnesses for the Lord must be unusually diligent to carry the truth to the people now, and this work must be completed before Armageddon, which will follow shortly after the Hierarchy has reached the zenith of its arrogance and power" (Informant, May 1937, p. 1)
"If anybody acquainted with God’s Word and the present-day events has any doubt about the approaching battle of Armageddon, the activities of the old harlot throughout the earth should fully convince him. In every country Catholic Action is being pushed against God’s kingdom. This of itself is evidence that Jehovah is permitting the enemy to go his limit now, just before Armageddon... [W]ithout the aid of the radio (which is still completely State-controlled and will probably so continue until Armageddon) or of sound cars, and with only a very limited number of phonographs yet available, we have still been able to keep our ground [in Sweden]" (1938 Yearbook, p. 159, 189).
"Would it be Scripturally proper for them nowto marry and to begin to rear children? No is the answer which is supported by the Scriptures.... Those Jonadabs who nowcontemplate marriage, it would seem, would do better if they wait a few years, until the fiery storm of Armageddon is gone" (Face the Facts, 1938, pp. 46, 50).
"JEHOVAH’S faithful people on earth publicly emphasized the importance of the dates 1914 and 1918 and 1925. They had much to say about these dates and what would come to pass, but not all they predicted came to pass. The predictions, as to the dates, were correct, but what came to pass could not be fully seen in advance. The failure to come to pass of some of the things predicted has afforded Satan’s agents in 'Christendom', particularly the clergy and the 'man of sin', an opportunity to ridicule and reproach the faithful servants of the Most nigh God, and to say of and concerning them and their published statements: ‘All their visions and predictions have failed; and such proves that they are all wrong, and that all their predictions for the future must fail.’ ...To be sure, no man can say precisely what day or year Jehovah’s battle at Armageddon will be fought, but it is easy to be seen that now conditions among the people are such as to indicate that a great crisis is near. ... God’s kingdom has begun to operate. His day of vengeance is here, and his terrible battle at Armageddon is near and certain to fall upon 'Christendom', and that within an early date. God’s judgment is upon 'Christendom' and must shortly be executed.... Jesus gave answer to the question as to what should come to pass at the end of the world, and he said that, following the World War, which began in 1914, false prophets and false Christs would arise. False prophets and false Christs’ being thus mentioned together shows that there would be co-operation between the false prophets and the false Christs in their opposition to the truth of God’s kingdom message. The ‘evil servant’ class claim to be the anointed of God and, these being false, they are therefore false Christs....Those once enlightened by the truth and taken into the covenant, and who are in line for the kingdom, and who now refuse to testify to Jehovah’s kingdom, and oppose those who are so doing, by their actions declare that ‘the Lord has delayed his coming’ " (Watchtower, 1 September 1938, pp. 269-270)
"The enemy has rapidly closed in on the Lord’s people during the year. The witness work, as far as being openly and actively done, has been destroyed by the gangster Hitler and his cohorts, directed by the great adversary Satan, in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Poland, Luxemburg, Austria and Danzig. Still there has been some individual work done by faithful servants of Jehovah in these lands. The Society’s property has been seized in the countries of Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, and many of the servants of the Lord have been driven out of the land. It is quite evident that the witness work is near an end in continental Europe, and this is further proof that Armageddon is near at hand.... One brother writes: ’Jehovah knows that our company had not a sound-car. It is doubtful if we shall have it before Armageddon. For that reason he has blessed our company with more than usually strong rowers, and boats, and provided us with a territory very rich in lakes' " (1940 Yearbook, p. 132, 192).
"The prophecy of Daniel, at the eleventh chapter, proceeds to detail the struggle between the 'king of the north' and 'the king of the south', and definitely tells of the everlasting end of the totalitarian rule and that the Axis combine, the dictatorial rule,shall soon cease for ever...While the two kings, 'the king of the north' and 'the king of the south', engage in the most deadly and destructive war of all time, the God of heaven sets up his kingdom... [T]hese present-day events will be quickly followed by the complete destruction of Satan's rule, there shall follow quickly "the battle of the great day of God Almighty" (Comfort all that Mourn, 1941, pp. 16, 21).
" 'The year 1940 is certain to be the most important year yet, because Armageddon is very near.' It behooves all who love righteousness to put forth every effort to advertise THE THEOCRACY while the privileges are still open" (Informant, May 1940, p. 1)
"Dictators and their allied enemies prevent the convention extending to countries outside of America. That is a greater reason why persons of goodwill in America should now assemble together to comfort and edify each other. There may not be many more such conventions before Armageddon. Those who love the Lord will do what they can now to aid others to see and to appreciate the great convention that shall follow Armageddon" (Watchtower, 1 June 1940, p. 172)
"The Watchtower clearly proves that Armageddon is not far off. It therefore behooves all of the anointed and their companions to work with even greater diligence than ever before while it is still day. There is no time now to slack the hand. We should have at least 60,000 model studies going every week. That is only an average of one model study per publisher. It can be done, and if each one realizes his responsibility to The Theocracy he will put forth every effort to attain this quota" (Informant, September 1940, p. 2).
"Whether it shall be the Lord’s will that another Yearbook be published before Armageddon, of course, no one can say. What the immediate future holds it would be unwise to try to predict. All the surrounding circumstances, however, indicate that the battle of Armageddon is near at hand, which means the end of wickedness in the earth and the full ushering in of righteousness.... The trying experiences of the year past, the persecution and reproach of God’s people by the enemy, and which persecution daily increases, testifies that we are near Armageddon and that soon we shall see a complete change. The present time is the day ’when the wicked spring up as the grass, and when all the workers of imquity do flourish’. Never at any time has there been such wickedness and lawlessness against Christians in America as today....Comfort and aid those of good-will. The day of deliverance is near!" (1941 Yearbook, p. 246, 249).
"Cartons of Children that had been deposited in The Arena were now opened, and Judge Rutherford instructed the children how to come and each get a copy thereof.... Never was there a more moving sight in these "last days". Many, including strong men, wept at the demonstration. Receiving the gift, the marching children clasped it to them, not a toy or plaything for idle pleasure, but the Lord’s provided instrument for most effective work in the remaining months before Armageddon" (Watchtower, 15 September 1941, p. 288).
"Just how long thereafter THE FINAL END comes is not revealed to creatures up to the present time. No one has authority to attempt to say just what day or hour THE FINAL END arrives.... Today (1941) "the king of the north" is easily identified as being represented in the so-called "Axis powers" composed of Greater Germany, Italy, and the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, with chief offices at Vatican City. Here again politics and religion, or demonism, form a combination to rule and to keep the people in ignorance of Jehovah’s gracious provision for mankind. The chief objective of this present-day ’king of the north' is world domination.... The undisputed facts show that Hitler and his allies are moving forward with that very purpose in mind.... The Bible and physical and historical facts plainly identify "the king of the south" as the world ruling-power that claims the right to rule and rules in the name of Democracy.... "The king of the north" and "the king of the south" are both violently opposed to each other, and both claim the right to rule, and hence both are seeking world domination.... "And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over." (Dan. 11:40) At this point of the prophecy of Daniel it appears that the fulfillment thereof relates particularly to the time beginning in the summer of 1939 and continues thereafter. At that time "the king of the south" took the initiative and "the king of the north" was warned by "tile king of the south" that the invasion of Poland meant war.... This was the kind of ’lightning war" staged by the Nazis against Poland, Holland and other countries. The attack was made, obviously, under demon timing and direction. All the attacks of "the king of the north" strongly indicate that Gog, the demon field marshal of Satan, is directing the blitzkrieg, or lightning-war....It cannot be taken to mean that the British Commonwealth of Nations or the United States of America, and the other Americas, will be wiped out by "the king of the north". In fact, the prophecy does not disclose which of these 'kings' will be victorious in the present war, but the opinion is here expressed that neither one will have a complete victory. The end of the war will come about in a manner somewhat different from what worldly prognosticators say... Will the present world conflict between the "Axis powers" and the so-called "democracies", the opposers, end in a decisive victory for either side? The prophecy indicates the contrary result; and since we have no way of determining the future save by the prophecy of God, as set forth in the Bible, we know that that way is correct. All the prophecies and the present-day facts indicate that the contending nations will before long enter into some sort of peace treaty.... Then the proclamation of world peace by that combined ruling power, particularly the religious element, will be made.... By the time that "Peace and safety" proclamation is announced the totalitarian, demonized rulers will conclude that everything on the earth is well in hand, and that Jehovah’s witnesses and companions are safely tucked away. But when the emphatic message is heard by them from ’the north and the east’, that is, from Jehovah and Christ Jesus, the demonized ruling elements will conclude that they must completely rid the earth of Jehovah’s witnesses.... That battle of the great day of God Almighty will bring the demons’ rule to its final end. That battle is not to be fought between "the king of the north" and "the king of the south", because at that time all nations will be absorbed into the demon-controlled totalitarian rule. The great and final fight is the battle of Armageddon, in which Christ Jesus, the glorious King, makes war upon all the forces of Satan, both visible and invisible. The totalitarians’ structure is what is now called "the new World Order", "the new League of Nations"; and those rulers expect it to endure forever. (Watchtower, 15 September 1941, "Demon-Rule Ending, Part 1", p. 278; 1 December 1941, "Demon-Rule Ending, Part 6," p. 355, 358; 15 December 1941, "Demon-Rule Ending, Part 7," p. 372-373, 375-376).
"Those who love God and his Kingdom pay no attention to this great opposition and move ahead with the one thing they are commissioned to do, namely, 'comfort all that mourn,' in this time of world distress culminating in Armageddon" (1942 Yearbook, p. 216). (quotations assembled and emphasized by Leoleia)
