Pure Worship, page 198:
Sometime after false religion is devastated, Jehovah may well have his people deliver a hard-hitting message, one that the book of Revelation likens to a hailstorm in which each hailstone weighs about 45 pounds (20 kg).
Hailstone message AND everyone will be saved? Questions
by slimboyfat 144 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Jeffro
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Mikejw
The everyone will now be saved part is the largest change in the history of the organisation.
The official change takes some thinking about.
Old light is that you have to die before Armageddon if you were unrighteous. But now they are saying you don’t have to die beforehand if you are unrighteous.
They did not think this through and they should have run it past someone intelligent before announcing it.
But now the cat is out of the bag. So many older ones with unrighteous loved ones have been so relieved that their loved ones don’t need to die before the end!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jeffro
The Watchtower, July 2023, page 2:
How will we respond if we are asked to preach a hard-hitting judgment message and unbelievers oppose us? (Rev. 16:21) We will need endurance to obey Jehovah, trusting that he will protect us. What will we do if our brothers lose some or all of their material things? (Hab. 3:17, 18) We will need compassion to move us to provide them with relief. How will we react if, as a result of the attack by a coalition of nations, we have to live in close quarters with our brothers and sisters for a while? (Ezek. 38:10-12) We will need strong love for them to help us get through that difficult time.
The Watchtower, May 2022, page 7:
During the great tribulation, the final judgment message will become more hard-hitting.
The Watchtower, November 2022, page 7:
Why is it vital to read the Bible and meditate on it? Doing so gives us the inner strength we need to preach the Kingdom message now and to proclaim the hard-hitting judgment message that we may deliver in the near future.
The Watchtower, May 2020, page 15:
That symbolic hailstorm may take the form of a hard-hitting judgment message delivered by Jehovah’s people. It could be that this message provokes Gog of Magog into attacking God’s people with the intention of wiping them off the earth.—Rev. 16:21.
15 This hard-hitting message and the final attack by God’s enemies may be the same events referred to at Daniel 11:44, 45.Life and Ministry Meeting Workbook, August 2020, page 3:
During that tumultuous time, we may well deliver a hard-hitting judgment message.
The Watchtower, October 2019, page 16:
During the great tribulation, the message that we proclaim will likely change. Currently, we are preaching the good news of the Kingdom and we are endeavoring to make disciples. But at that time, we may well deliver a message as hard-hitting as hailstones.
The Watchtower, 15 July 2015, page 16:
This will not be the time to preach the “good news of the Kingdom.” That time will have passed. The time for “the end” will have come! (Matt. 24:14) No doubt God’s people will proclaim a hard-hitting judgment message. This may well involve a declaration announcing that Satan’s wicked world is about to come to its complete end.
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nicolaou
Mikejw: They did not think this through and they should have run it past someone intelligent before announcing it.
But now the cat is out of the bag.This 100% but with one big caveat - most JW's just don't care. It's more doctrinal unraveling that the boomers may well resent but it'll be a very comfortable fit for millennials, genZ's and the rest of the 'just be nice/don't judge anyone' generations.
Perhaps the GB actually DO know what they're doing. Shedding doctrine, service obligations, grooming requirements and fostering a much more casual approach to being a Jehovah's Witness.
Easy to stay, easy to pay.
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FFGhost
It is awfully muddled, isn’t it?
That’s one of the things I’ve noticed over the past decade or so - their “continuity checks” seem to be lacking. I’ve seen contradictions not just a few weeks or months apart, but even in the same magazine.
Anyways, my best guess would be something like this:
Old Light: when JWs give their “hailstone message”, it’s going to be a sort of “ha ha, God’s gonna get you suckas, you’re doomed doomed DOOMED and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
New Light: when Jaws give their “hailstone message”, some people might be shocked into repentance and they can join at the last minute, “Ha ha suckas, you’re DOOMED but if you act in the next 15 minutes and decide to join our side, God might let you. Clock’s ticking.”
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BluesBrother
Although they now hold out hope for previous non supporters that even during the GT , the door remaining open…..but in order to be saved those people still have to “ turn to Jehovah “ and humbly approach the Watchtower and ask to join.
I don’t know but perhaps a hard message might be something like “ there’s no alternative now. You have to join us or get fried!”
That would go down well ?….
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Drearyweather
What have they done with the idea of the “hailstone message”? Have they given it a new interpretation, abandoned the idea, or just ignored what they said previously?
It was answered in the Annual meeting by Geoffrey Jackson in his talk - “Trust in the Merciful ‘Judge of All the Earth.’” - Part 2
What is “the end” referred to there? Well, it’s the final part of the great tribulation. So that means that during the great tribulation, the good news of the Kingdom will still be preached. And it’s still good news to us but not to the rest of the world. That good news will become more hard-hitting as time goes on, causing people to make a decision one way or the other, whether they accept the Kingdom or not.
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Diogenesister
Jeffro Apparently it's very important to let people know what a hypothetical warning weighs. 🤦♂️
🤣🤣🤣
👍🏻Love it, Jeffro!
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Listener
The daily text they will read on December 7, 2024 currently states
He had everlasting good news to declare to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.—Rev. 14:6.
The “good news of the Kingdom” is not the only message that God’s people are to declare. (Matt. 24:14) They also need to support the work of the angels who are described in Revelation chapters 8 through 10. These angels announce a series of woes for those who reject God’s Kingdom. Thus, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been declaring a judgment message, likened to “hail and fire,” revealing God’s judgments on the various elements of Satan’s wicked world. (Rev. 8:7, 13) People need to know that the end is near so that they can make drastic changes in their lives and survive Jehovah’s day of anger. (Zeph. 2:2, 3) But this message is not popular. Declaring it calls for courage on our part. During the great tribulation, the final judgment message will become more hard-hitting.—Rev. 16:21. w22.05 7 ¶18-19They talk about a different message, not the 'good news', that message being woes announced by angels.
It quotes W 22.05
The good news of the Kingdom is not the only message that God’s people are to declare. They also need to support the work of the angels who are described in Revelation chapters 8 through 10. These angels announce a series of woes for those who reject God’s Kingdom. Thus, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been declaring a judgment message, likened to “hail and fire,” revealing God’s judgments on the various elements of Satan’s wicked world. (Rev. 8:7, 13) People need to know that the end is near so that they can make drastic changes in their lives and survive Jehovah’s day of anger. (Zeph. 2:2, 3) But this message is not popular. Declaring it calls for courage on our part. During the great tribulation, the final judgment message will become more hard-hitting.—Rev. 16:21.
But they say that JWs have already been declaring this judgment message, it's just that during the GT it becomes more 'hard hitting'.
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TonusOH
Declaring it calls for courage on our part.
"Courage" isn't the term I'd use. Confidently telling everyone that they'd better join up or they will be personally killed by god himself takes some gumption, for sure. Courage will be required when nothing happens and you have to admit your dramatic message was just one in a long, long line of failed predictions (and far from the first time your organization did this!).