*** it-2 p. 681 Presumptuousness ***
Disrespect for God's Sovereignty. When a person acts presumptuously toward God he is showing disrespect for Jehovah's sovereignty and Godship. Those claiming to be his servants and misrepresenting him are most reprehensible. Of the false prophets, Jehovah said: "The prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak ... that prophet must die.... When the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, ... with presumptuousness the prophet spoke it."--De 18:20-22.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 20 "'However, the prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 21 And in case you should say in your heart: "How shall we know the word that Jehovah has not spoken?" 22 when the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, that is the word that Jehovah did not speak. With presumptuousness the prophet spoke it. You must not get frightened at him.'
The measure of a true or false prophet in the Nation of Israel was not whether the prophet parroted the words of the Organization on earth at that time. The measure, the only standard directly stated in the Bible, was whether the words spoken in Jehovah's name come true.
*** it-2 p. 656 Portent ***
As false prophets arose in Israel, so the foretold apostasy in the Christian congregation would produce a "man of lawlessness" whose presence would be evidenced by "the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and portents." (2Th 2:3-12) Thus, the evidence marshaled to support the apostate movement would not be weak or puny but would manifest Satan's might. The portents would be lying ones, however, either fraudulent on their face or deceptive as to the conclusions to which they would lead. Appearing to manifest God's benevolence and blessing, they would in reality divert persons from the source and path of life.--Compare 2Co 11:3, 12-15
Again, any portents and wonderful works would be lying ones. Not that such works would prove worthless. How could works possibly be viewed as powerful or portentious, if also ineffectual? The Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses/Watchtower Bible and Tract Society condemns itself as a false prophet, despite its great works, by speaking in Jehovah's name things that do not come true. "Correcting" themselves later does not suddenly convert them into true prophets. According to Deuteronomy, they do not have to claim to be prophets. They merely have to speak in Jehovah's name about future events that do not come true.
Can a false prophet become a true prophet by apologizing? Even if such a one could change through recognizing and apologizing for having misled many, the organization known today as the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses has not apologized for its erroneous teachings. It has only adjusted them and acknowledged that the previous viewpoints proved to be in error.
*** it-2 p. 545 Official Garment ***
However designed, these official garments of hair appear to have been an identifying mark of certain prophets. When King Ahaziah heard the description of "a man possessing a hair garment, with a leather belt girded about his loins," he immediately recognized that it was the prophet Elijah. (2Ki 1:8) This official garment served as the anointing instrument that was thrown upon Elisha when he was 'called' to leave the plow and follow Elijah. (1Ki 19:19-21) Later, at the time Elijah went up in the windstorm, this garment was left for his successor, who soon used it in dividing the Jordan River, just as his master had done. (2Ki 2:3, 8, 13, 14) False prophets, it appears, sometimes wore similar garments of hair to deceive the people into accepting them as reputable prophets of Jehovah, thus making their messages seem more credible.--Zec 13:4.
Garments of hair were outward signs of authority from Jehovah. But such outward signs could not be trusted. Only a true prophet had the right to wear such garments. How could one identify false prophets, one who wore outward signs falsely? By using the measure found at Deuteronomy 18:20-22.
I invite A Friend In Need, JCanon, Shadow Elder, or any others who are convinced that this organization is God's organization to explain this to me: How can a false prophet become a true one later? How can a false prophet rightly call itself "Faithful and Discreet"? I take to heart the closing of the paragraph in Deuteronomy, "You must not get frightened at him." I am not speaking abusively of glorious ones, I am not an apostate, they have already proven that.
Respectfully,
OldSoul