Troublemaker and Poisoner – Part 1

“Then a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch. And it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water …. One third of the water turned bitter. Many people died as a result of the fact that the water had become undrinkable.” (Rev.8:10, 11)

In December 2018, when the Russian Orthodox Church of Ukraine separated from the Moscow Patriarchate, the Patriarch of Moscow heard that a “Church of Satan” had sprung up in Ukraine. That sounds familiar. This is what the leaders of a church have always called for when their church broke up. Each time the new sect was considered with the worst of expressions. Anyone who does not share their religious view seems to be the child of the devil. And the Watchtower Society is no real exception here! It also refers to people who turn their backs on them for moral reasons as “kitchen helpers of Satan.” I have been thinking about it for a long time, and early on I got the suspicion that all those who judge other people are also servants of the demons. That sounds harsh and it could give the impression that I am self-righteous about others. I am aware of this danger. That is why I want to be objective and let the Bible speak for itself.

The ruler of this world

According to Jesus, Satan is the ruler of this world. It is necessary to make explicit reference to this fact, because the world diminishes the appearance of evil and uses it as a character to make scary films. But the chill that spills over some of our contemporaries may mislead us that evil is omnipresent and a serious threat to all of us. The Bible gives us a vivid picture of the evil influence:

“We do not fight against people of flesh and blood, but against demonic forces, against the world rulers of darkness, against the evil spirits in the invisible world.” (Eph. 6:12)

“This lawless, with Satan’s help, will perform and do all sorts of powerful deeds, signs and wonders, blinding people. … They will succumb to him because they have refused to love the truth that saved them. ” (2. Thes. 2:9, 10)

These warnings of the devil, his demonic and human helpers are not to be overlooked. You only have to take it seriously as a Christian. The work of the evil focuses especially on one person: on Jesus Christ.

And for good reason

Because Jesus is for his flock “the way, the truth and the life”! (Joh. 14: 6) Jesus is the truth of God, the way to God and the life through God. He is therefore compared in the Bible with a guiding cornerstone in which the spirits divide (Joh. 9:39), and everything depends on that. He himself said: “No one comes to the Father except through me!” The Christian faith stands or falls with Jesus Christ! No one can ignore Jesus! So Jesus is the central figure of the Christian faith!

“For every knee shall bow before the name of Jesus – in heaven, on earth and under the earth. And every tongue shall confess, ‘Jesus Christ is the Lord!’ This is done to make the glory of God the Father even greater.” (Phil. 2:10, 11)

If the role of Jesus is so important, then it is natural for Satan to relativize or deny that role. And that is exactly what the Antichrist mentioned in the NT does! Precisely because Jesus is the way or the portal to God for his sheep, his significance must be downplayed by the Antichrist. Since the demons also believe in God in their own way, that is, they cannot deny his existence well, they must deny Christ or cast him in the bad light. Jesus and the apostles have warned against imposters from the spiritual realm. Paul wrote to Timothy:

“The Spirit of God expressly says that at the end of time some will fall away from the faith. They will seek out fraudulent spirits and follow the teachings of dark forces – deceived by hypocritical liars branded in their own conscience.” (1. Tim. 4: 1; also: 2. Cor. 11: 4; Gal. 1:7; 1. Joh. 2:18, 4:3; Rev. 16:14)

The teachings of dark forces are followed by many people today, and it does not matter if they succumb to political or religious seductions. Especially in the Christian religion, there are so many conflicting special teachings about Jesus that a distorted image of him arises. I do not want to go into the dogmas and ideas of the great churches here, nor the many special teachings of the smaller communities, but to those of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The distorted image of Christ by the Watchtower organization

It is worth taking a look at the various “teachings” of the “slave” on the subject of “Jesus Christ”:

• Assertion: Jesus should be the Archangel Michael. He is therefore seen as an angel!
• He allegedly ascended to the throne in 1914, and not immediately after his resurrection.
• Claim: Jesus is first the sacrifice for the 144,000. (The Bible: Ro. 3:22-24; 1. Joh. 2:2; 4:10)
• He allegedly uses the Watchtower Society as a mouthpiece and tool. He is their guide.
• Assertion: Only the 144,000 are reborn through Jesus; all others are, in the meaning of Joh. 1:12, 13; Ro. 8:14-17 and Gal. 3:26, 27; 4:5-7, no children of God!
• Assertion: Jesus sealed only the 14400 with the Holy Spirit, which contradicts the whole NT! (The Bible: Eph. 1:13; 4:30; 2. Cor. 2:22)
• Claim: Only the 14400 belong to the family of God, all others can become friends of God. (The truth is here: Eph. 1: 6, 7, 11, 13; 2:19-22)
• Jesus cannot be invoked! (The early Christians prayed to Jesus! 1. Cor. 1:2, 9; Acts. 7:59, 60)
• At the memorial meal, only the “spirit-anointed” (144,000) may partake of bread and wine! Everyone else should not have fellowship with Jesus on this occasion either. (The truth is here: 1. Cor. 10:16, 17)
• Jesus serves primarily as a model for the ministry.
• Jesus is the “basis for repentance” (Baptism vow), not the real savior, in whose name a Christian must be baptized.

(There are more inconsistencies, almost all have been treated on BI-Aktuell.)

A matter of importance: how does this distorted picture of Christ come about?

Is it inability of the “governing body”? Is it sloppy thinking? Or is it the usual fault of mankind? I cannot answer “yes” to any of these questions! I do not want to do wrong to anyone, but in that case, I cannot deny certain insights. I hesitated for a long time to draw a conclusion. But now it does not work anymore.

The reason

Again, and again, the apostles point to the supreme position of Jesus: He is the Son of God! He is the head of the Christian congregation, the “stone” where the spirits depart. He is through his sacrificial death the savior of all the faithful, their king and brother in heaven. He is the Word of God, who through his Spirit acted in the prophets. (1. Pe. 1:10 11) and the one who makes the word of God come true. God has transferred everything to his Son so that he can save the people who believe. Can you “explain away” everything? Can one overlook the words of 1. Joh. 4:1-5?

“Beloved, do not believe anyone who says he is filled with the Spirit of God, but test what he says, whether it really comes from God.
Because many false prophets spread their teachings in the world. If anyone has the Spirit of God, you can recognize it by this feature:
Those who profess that Jesus came to us as a real man have the Spirit of God.
Those who do not believe in Jesus do not belong to God.”

Almost every person who leaves the Watchtower organization has this special experience:

He consciously begins to read the Bible without wearing the Watchtower Society glasses and soon realizes that the role of Jesus is being reinterpreted or distorted by the Watchtower Society. He quickly realizes that he has been confronted with a Christ that does not exist in the Bible! Although Jesus is mentioned frequently, one only accepts what is for one’s own purposes. Many churches do it that way. But the biblical reader who becomes subject to the Bible will soon realize that he cannot get past Christ himself. He reads that he should and must invoke Jesus. After some hesitation, he then gets used to thanking Jesus personally. And at some point, he also comes across Revelation 9, with the image of grasshoppers coming out of an abyss and asks himself: “These are supposed to be the “spirit-anointed ones”? These are supposed to be the evangelizers. And the angel of the abyss Abaddon or Apollyon, shall Jesus be?

What did he read there? Revelation 9:1 says that a “star” that fell from the sky receives the key to the abyss and opens it. From chapter 8:10 he knows that the “star” fell from the sky, fell on the “water” and poisoned it, causing people to die from it. In Revelation 12, he will read about the war in heaven and learn that Satan and his angels have been banished to earth. And he will remember the “star” again when he remembers the adversary, who has been called the “brilliant morning star,” and that Paul, in 2. Cor. 11:14, has designated as “angel of light”. He may also remember that Jesus himself said that he saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning (Luk. 10:18) and that Jesus in Joh. 12:31 said that “now the ruler of this world is thrown out”. So, if a “star” has been thrown out of the sky, then it can only be Satan! And the enlightened one will think, “That is how one can explain away Jesus”! And I believed that for a long time.” In him comes a bad suspicion: Should the Watchtower Society really try to “explain away” Jesus? If Jesus is not an angel, then what? And how does it explain the text from Revelation 20: 1, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, who had the key to the abyss …”?

Just the fact that Jesus is not an angel gives rise to many more conclusions. For if Jesus also created the angels (Col. 1:15-23), then he cannot be an angel himself. In the letter to the Hebrews, the apostle makes it very clear that God, when he spoke to Jesus, did not turn to an angel! (Hebr. 1:4-14) I just want to quote two verses from this:

“He (Jesus) stands as high above the angels as the sonship he inherited surpasses every angelic name.”
“Or would God ever say to an angel, ‘Sit on my right side until I make your enemies a footstool for you?'”

For the Watchtower Society, the “angel of the abyss” is Jesus Christ, who it wants to mark as Abaddon and Apollyon. But if this is an angel then Jesus cannot be meant here. And the Watchtower Society claims now that it should be Jesus! The enlightened Bible reader will continue to research and find out that the role of Jesus in general has been downplayed. He will remember that every Jehovah’s Witness concludes his prayer with the formula “In the name of Jesus, Amen!”, but otherwise is only marginally speaking of Jesus. Quite different is the role of Jesus in the letters of the apostles, which sheds light on Jesus’ real role. And his eyes open when he reads this:

“Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” or:
“Let Christ the Lord be the center of your life!” (1. Petr. 3:15)

I have deliberately quoted only the first part of this verse, because whenever this text is mentioned or quoted in the writings of the Watchtower Society it is only about defending the message and that it should be done with mildness and deep respect. The first part of the text is explained only once in this context, in the book Insight on the Scriptures on page 1117 in Part 1. Otherwise, the first part of 1. Petr. 3:15 never received! I think that is remarkable.

Is Christ the center of their life among Jehovah’s Witnesses?

This is something to think about, and the more one reads in the NT, the clearer the answer will be: Christ is certainly not the center of life when one is a Jehovah’s Witness! Because in the center there is clearly the organization. Everything is about them. It is the grid that everything has to be based on. While it is claimed to be directed by the Spirit of God, many of its actions prove the opposite (see membership in political organizations such as UN, OSCE and many others, unethical banking, state recognition, membership in cult cartels such as WANGO, CESNUR). Almost everything that Jesus Christ does for his disciples is attributed to the organization or the Father. Jesus is seen as an angel, as a servant of the Father, as a model of an obedient servant. Is that so?

The separation from Jesus

The Antichrist and his helpers want to separate from Christ! Within the Watchtower organization, invoking Jesus is prohibited! Consequently, I must not have a personal relationship with Jesus! A Jehovah’s Witness should not pray to Jesus to thank him and ask for his help! Because this happy relationship is possible only through a personal relationship with him. And personal attachment to Jesus is inconceivable without contact with him. But those who invoke Jesus Christ directly in prayer must expect to be excommunicated. And one more thing is not granted to the ordinary Witnesses: it is the spiritual rebirth that a person experiences when he is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the opinion of the Watchtower Society, only one rules together witch Jesus in the kingdom of God experiences spiritual rebirth, that is the ominous 14400 again. But according to the words of Jesus and his apostles, every Christian begins a new life after baptism. He experiences a spiritual rebirth because he no longer lives in the spirit of the world, but under the new spirit that God gives through Christ (Joh. 3:3-8; Gal. 3:26-29; 1. Joh. 5:1; 1. Petr. 1:22, 23; 2:2). His rebirth begins at baptism, otherwise Jesus could not have said:

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (Joh. 3:5)

Baptism in the water should be done in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! It depends on his spiritual rebirth. But what is the baptismal formula of Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Also, at the memorial meal, which celebrates his disciples in memory of Jesus’ sacrificial death, the Watchtower Society has prohibited the “other sheep” from taking bread and wine. It is shocking! Because when a Christian partakes in the symbolism, he shows that he is connected to Christ:

“For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, stays with me internally and I with him.” (Joh. 6:55, 56)

And if he does not partake in the symbolism? Yes, then he probably has no fellowship with Jesus. It is not just about the symbols, but about their meaning. It is about being connected to the Son and the Father. Anyone who does not partake in the symbolism probably indicates that he does not confess to the Son. This can have serious consequences.

“For those who deny the Son have no connection with the Father. But whoever confesses to the Son also belongs to the Father.” (1. Joh. 2:23)

In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, at baptism, in prayer, and even more so during the memorial meal, access to Jesus is prevented!

(The Gnostics denied the sacrifice of Jesus, claiming that at the baptism of Jesus, a Christ coming from heaven had come upon the man Jesus, and who had left him before his death. So Jesus did not offer his perfect human body as a sin offering! It means that the human being Jesus as a simple man also died, and not as a sacrifice for mankind. With that, the son of God was denied!)

Did the name of God ever exist in the NT?

And you can deny Jesus in another way. The Watchtower Society claims that God’s name initially existed in the NT. It is proud to have reintroduced the Tetragrammaton into the text of the New Testament after the renegade Christians allegedly removed him from it! That is a completely unproven statement! For in the more than 6,000 surviving early manuscripts of the New Testament, there is not even one that contains the name of God or the Tetragrammaton! In view of the importance of Jesus, it is also very strange when in the text of the New World Translation “Jehovah” has been inserted in some places where Jesus is clearly mentioned. Thus, the real meaning of Jesus is simply shifted to his father. One example of this:

The New World Translation translates Ro. 10:13 thusly: “For everyone who invokes the name of Jehovah will be saved.” But in the Greek text, it says, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Paul quotes from the prophet Joel here. But who did he mean? Whose name was so important now in the Christian era that it absolutely needed to be invoked to be saved? The textual context makes it clear, because he speaks clearly of the important role of Jesus. This can be seen by reading verses 9 through 12. Peter, too, expressed himself as follows: Acts. 2:21. Peter, too, expressly meant Jesus when one considers his words in context!

Through this skillful shift of focus, one directs all attention to Jehovah, to God. This is Bible forgery, because God has put the salvation of the people in the responsibility of his Son! Jesus has taken on this task and therefore there is no way around him:

“No one else can find salvation, for there is no comparable name under the whole sky. Only this name has been given to humans. We have to be saved through him.” (Acts 4:12)

This is what the apostles said after they had healed a man by “the name of Jesus” and had therefore been accused. The religious leaders wanted to forbid them to continue talking about “this name”, i.e. about Jesus Christ.

In Ro. 10:14 Jehovah’s Witnesses always see the Father of Jesus, Jehovah. But Jehovah was known to the Jews! The name of God did not have to be made known to them. They believed in God, but not in the Messiah Jesus. That is why Jesus had to be proclaimed.

Everyone is called to reflect on his position on Jesus. Because he should know what Jesus said:

“At me, the ghosts must be divided! “I have come into the world to make those who do not see come to see and show those who see themselves as blind.” (Joh. 9:39)