That sign is amazingly stupid. So jws will know when the GT starts when they see that sign? (It is interesting to me that the statement on that sign does not pop up on a search of the WOL)
Hasn’t the WTS already
said peace and security was announced in 1986?
Kingdom Ministry 2/1986
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/201986048#h=3:0-3:944
The True
Peace book takes note of the declaration by the United Nations that
the year 1986 begins special efforts by world leaders toward ‘peace and
security.’ Referring to
this declaration, the True Peace book says: “This,
no doubt, is a step toward the fulfillment of Paul’s . . .
words. . . . Yet the prophecy shows that the time will come when the
nations will declare that they have achieved a measure of ‘peace and
security.’”—1 Thess.
5:3.
Notice how in 2013 the
WTS backs away from the words in 1986:
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2013844#h=17:0-20:596
For example, in 1986, the United Nations
sanctioned a highly publicized International Year of Peace. That year, leaders from
many nations and religions joined the head of the Catholic Church in Assisi,
Italy, to offer prayers for peace.
11 However, neither that
proclamation of peace and security nor others like it have been the fulfillment
of the prophecy recorded at 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Why not? Because the
foretold “sudden destruction” has not yet occurred. (Is that a circular
self-serving statement?)
And
here in 2004:
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2004084#h=15:0-18:903
In recent years (18 years ago is recent), politicians have often
used the phrase “peace and security” (examples please) to describe various
human schemes. They even dubbed 1986 the International Year of Peace, although
that year did not live up to its name. Do such efforts by world leaders
constitute the complete fulfillment of 1 Thessalonians 5:3, or was Paul
referring to a specific event of such dramatic proportions as to claim world
attention?... Since
Bible prophecies are often fully understood
only after they are fulfilled or are in the process of fulfillment, we will
have to wait and see.
But in 2019 now it is yet to happen?
·
w19 September pp. 8-13
Armageddon Is Good News!
The
proclamation of “peace and security” precedes
“Jehovah’s day.” (Read 1 Thessalonians
5:1-6.) At 1 Thessalonians 5:2, “Jehovah’s day” refers to “the great tribulation.” (Rev. 7:14) How will we know when that tribulation is about to
begin? The Bible tells us about a most unusual proclamation. It will serve
as a signal announcing the great tribulation.
That will be
the foretold proclamation of “peace and security.” Why will
world leaders say that? Will religious leaders participate? Possibly.
Nevertheless, the proclamation will be just another demon-inspired lie.
to cause a
coalition of nations to turn on Jehovah’s servants. (Rev. 16:13, 14) That coalition is called “Gog of the land of Magog.” (What has the WTS said about who Gog of Magog
is?)
Here is a backtracking statement of the WTS in 2015:
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2015364#h=2:0-11:441
For a number of
years (how many years in the WOL 1953-1993), our
publications (passive, actually the active should say, the GB) have explained
that Gog of Magog is the
name given to Satan the Devil after his ouster from heaven. This explanation was based on the fact (so has the “fact”
changed?) that the book of Revelation identifies Satan the Devil as the
leader of the worldwide attack on God’s people. (Rev. 12:1-17) So it was thought that Gog must be another prophetic name
for Satan.
Who, then, is
Gog of Magog? To answer that question, we
need to search the Scriptures to find out who attacks God’s people. (so why did the Bible not reveal that to them
earlier?) The Bible speaks not only of the attack by ‘Gog of Magog’ but also of
the attack by “the king of the north” (for some time the GB (WTS) has said that
the king of the north was not identified) and of the attack by “the kings of
the earth.” (Ezek. 38:2, 10-13; Dan. 11:40, 44, 45; Rev. 17:14; 19:19) Do these represent separate attacks? Not likely. The Bible is no doubt referring to the same attack
under different names. Why can we draw that
conclusion? Because the Scriptures tell us that all the nations of the
earth will be involved in this final attack that prompts the war of
Armageddon.—Rev. 16:14, 16.
When we compare
all these Scriptural references about the final attack on God’s people, it becomes evident (why was it not evident
before this?) that the name Gog of Magog refers, not to Satan, but to a
coalition of nations. Will this coalition be led by the figurative “king
of the north”? We cannot say with any
certainty (but the GB did before).
But who is
referred to as “Gog and Magog” at Revelation 20:8?
During the
final test at the end of the 1,000 years, those who rebel against Jehovah will
manifest the same murderous attitude as ‘Gog of Magog,’ those nations that
attack God’s people at the end of the great tribulation.
It seems fitting, then, that all those rebels at the end of the Millennium be
called “Gog and Magog.”
As keen
students of God’s Word, we wait with eager
anticipation to see who in the near future will assume the role of “the king of
the north.” (KON)
Who has the
GB said is the KON?
1981
There can be no doubt that the modern-day “king of the north” is the Communist bloc, headed by the Soviet Union.
(This was
the case pre-1981 until 1993 when the GB said the KON could not be determined
(why? Because the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991)
1993
Who who is
the king of the north now? Is he to be identified with one of the countries
that were part of the old Soviet Union? Or is he changing identity completely,
as he has a number of times before? We cannot say.
Who will be the king of the north when Daniel 11:44, 45 is fulfilled? Will the rivalry between the two kings
flare up again? And what of the huge nuclear stockpiles that still exist in a
number of lands? Only time will provide the
answers to these questions. (But is does not stop the GB from
speculating on the identity)
