Another Date Change?

Only several members of the Governing Body remain alive today. According to the Watchtower Society, this small, anointed group is Jehovah’s “channel” of communication for others of the “faithful and discreet” slave class left on earth today. The anointing of this group, which was taught by the Society to have begun back at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), was also said to have ended in 1935. Following that year, Jehovah’s Witnesses were taught to focus their attention on the earthly class, or “other sheep,” who would be given the opportunity to live through Armageddon and to enter the new system of things.

As a result, those who came to the organization after 1935 – and especially those who came after 1966 – understood that they had no hope of being part of the heavenly bound “little flock” of Jehovah’s Witnesses. An exception to this rule was made only when one of the anointed was unfaithful. In this case, Jehovah would replace the fallen witness with someone who was faithful.

Today, however, many new Jehovah’s Witnesses have become convinced that they too are of the anointed class, and that they also have a heavenly hope. This is reflected in the May 1, 2007 issue of The Watchtower. In “Questions from Readers,” on pages 30-31, a reader asks, “When does the calling of Christians to a heavenly hope cease?” The Society answers by clarifying to its followers that “the number of genuine anointed ones who have become unfaithful is likely not large. On the other hand, as time has gone by, some Christians baptized after 1935 have had witness borne to them that they have the heavenly hope. (Romans 8:16-17) Thus, it appears that we cannot set a specific date for when the calling of Christians to the heavenly hope ends.”

In this simple, short answer to the reader, the Watchtower Society has once again served up “new light” for its followers. Faithful Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world – especially those who have been in the organization for many years – are essentially being told that what they have believed, and what the Society has clearly taught over many decades about the year 1935, was incorrect.

On the other hand, this pattern of setting dates and having to “clarify” years later is nothing new for the Watchtower Society. Over the past century, the Society has predicted – and many of its leaders have prophesied – Christ’s return and Armageddon on multiple dates, (e.g., 1874, 1914, 1925, and 1975).

Unfortunately, many sincere Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to follow the Society’s changing teachings rather than heed the clear, unchanging teachings of Scripture. In Deuteronomy 18:21-22, God provides his people with a simple standard for all who profess to speak for Him: “You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

Ironically, the October 1, 1968 issue of AWAKE!, makes the following statement: “True, there have been those in times past who predicted an ‘end to the world,’ even announcing a specific date…Missing from such people were God’s truths and the evidence that he was using and guiding them.” The May 15, 1930 issue of The Watchtower (p. 154), states that when one discovers false prophets, “the people should no longer trust them as safe guides.”

Rather than heeding the advice of Scripture – and even the recommendation of the Society itself – sincere Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide willingly continue to follow an organization whose predicted dates fail and teachings change. Sadly, they ignore Scripture’s clear command for Christians to “examine everything carefully” and to “hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). Rather than placing their eternal security on “The Rock,” they have chosen to follow an organization whose teachings shift as frequently as the sand.