George88

The way I look at it is this:
When Armageddon comes there is absolutely NOTHING I can do to avoid it, or hurry it up, or slow it down.
This is God’s War, not mine. Obviously the Creator of the Universe is going to win.
Just like the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, if it occurs in my lifetime, I intend to just sit back and watch the show!
…. and perhaps eat popcorn, and microwaved big greasy hot dogs!

You are definitely on the right track. There is no need to explain Matthew's understanding, as it is already complete. It appears that the key to the solution lies in understanding the complement in Matthew 24:42. This is absolutely undeniable.  Be alert and vigilant! It seems that you have already shared that verse in Matthew 24:36, 42. Hence, it is absolutely crucial for anyone who wishes to repent to heed Jesus' admonition to stay vigilant for signs of prophetic significance at the end of times.
Scripture leaves no room for confusion, as we are also reminded in Luke 21:36. If an organization believes that the end of days began in 1914, it would be subjective and not like any other prophetic prediction made by others.
These fellows thought Jesus would return in 1901.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Apostolic_Church
John Chilembwe thought the Millennium would begin in 1915.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chilembwe
John Wroe predicated Armageddon would occur in 1977.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wroe
On that same year, William M. Branham predicted the rapture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Branham
Jesus sounded the alarm bell in his time, and its resounding echoes continue to resonate. Its sound is one that cannot be ignored or silenced. That predication can't be undone.
 

I think what SS was referring to, or alluding to was what  if Russell and Rutherford had been  Chinese …. so rourd the irrustrations in the Socrities pubrications.

in that respect I see no difference between Jehovah’s Witnesses management team and any number of corporate, government, or military organizations such as the US Treasury Department, the United States Marines, or the Environmental Protection Agency.
As the number of legs on the spider grows, it subtracts from the brain, until it is all legs, and no brain.
This is NORMAL.
Justice we get from Jehovah God…… All else, and I mean ALL ELSE , is merely due process that we are due, but sometimes it’s justice, and sometimes it’s just due process.
it’s like those sliced square lunch meats with the pimentos and olives in them. 
I like fat greasy hot dogs like bratwurst, microwaved until the sodium nitrite preservatives squirt out and the skin splits … knowing the danger.
Pick your poison.
…. or don’t eat.
 
 
 

That is what is called “ The Hook”.
Appealing to  man’s better nature …. sometimes for what turns out to be nefarious ends.
Sometimes ….

“When your own thoughts are forbidden, when your questions are not allowed and our doubts are punished, when contacts with friendships outside of the organization are censored, we are being abused, for the ends never justify the means. When our heart aches knowing we have made friendships and secret attachments that will be forever forbidden if we leave, we are in danger. When we consider staying in a group because we cannot bear the loss, disappointment and sorrow our leaving will cause for ourselves and those we have come to love, we are in a cult… If there is any lesson to be learned it is that an ideal can never be brought about by fear, abuse, and the threat of retribution. When family and friends are used as a weapon in order to force us to stay in an organization, something has gone terribly wrong.”
― Deborah Layton, Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple