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The context of Revelation chapter 11 is after the anointed are sealed (hence the measuring) but still on earth. "And a reed like a rod was given to me as he said: “Get up and measure the temple sanctuary of God and the altar and those worshipping in it." After the UN becomes the world power, they will trample Jehovah's organization on earth for 42 months. "But as for the courtyard that is outside the temple sanctuary, leave it out and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city underfoot for 42 months." Zechariah depicts the "two anointed ones" as standing beside Jesus. The transfiguration vision pictures Jesus standing beside "two witnesses" Elijah and Moses. When Jesus takes the throne just before the start of the great tribulation, all the anointed are sealed. He said "I will be with you all the days." Jesus also said "I will give you words and wisdom that all your opposers together will not be able to resist or dispute." The anointed remnant are close to Jesus and he gives them the words to speak. They are the two witnesses. "I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days dressed in sackcloth. These are symbolized by the two olive trees and the two lampstands and are standing before the Lord of the earth.If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and consumes their enemies. If anyone should want to harm them, this is how he must be killed. These have the authority to shut up the sky so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every sort of plague as often as they wish." The message of judgment against this system of things will be like a plague to those who don't love Jehovah's sovereignty. "When they have finished their witnessing, the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss will wage war with them and conquer them and kill them. And their corpses will be on the main street of the great city that is in a spiritual sense called Sodʹom and Egypt, where their Lord was also executed on the stake." The United Nations will put an end to the preaching of the anointed remnant. The "great city" is Babylon the Great. Although the institutions of religion (buildings and leaders) will have been destroyed by this point, the worshippers of false religion will still be alive. People will also still be worshipping other kinds of "idols" like governments or lifestyles or philosophies. Jesus was executed by members of false religion who worshipped government and "idols" (the Pharisees and scribes worshipped themselves and philosophy and money and fame). In a spiritual sense, those Pharisees and scribes and the Romans were part of Babylon the Great, which in a spiritual sense is also like Sodom and Egypt in being spiritually immoral and idolatrous. "And those of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their corpses for three and a half days, and they do not allow their corpses to be laid in a tomb. And those dwelling on the earth rejoice over them and celebrate, and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those dwelling on the earth. After the three and a half days, spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them: “Come up here.” And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them. In that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and 7,000 persons were killed by the earthquake, and the rest became frightened and gave glory to the God of heaven." Some of the "peoples and tribes and tongues and nations" become part of the great crowd. (None of the dead anointed are in heaven yet. Paul wrote that they all go at the same time.) When they see the anointed resurrected and raised to heaven, just like how Jesus was seen on earth after his resurrection and people saw him go up to heaven, there will be a figurative "7,000" who join true worshippers. (Reminiscent of the "there are 7,000 who haven't bent a knee to Baal".) "The second woe is past. Look! The third woe is coming quickly. The seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying: “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.” And the 24 elders who were seated before God on their thrones fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying: “We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king." When the anointed are all raised to heaven, then the kingdom is in place. "But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time came for the dead to be judged and to reward your slaves the prophets and the holy ones and those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” And the temple sanctuary of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple sanctuary. And there were flashes of lightning and voices and thunders and an earthquake and a great hail." The "dead" to be judged are the spiritually dead. Those aware of their spiritual need, even those who just lately learned about Jehovah, (as in "we will go with you for we have heard Jehovah is with you people") will be rewarded. "Then a great sign was seen in heaven: A woman was arrayed with the sun, and the moon was beneath her feet, and on her head was a crown of 12 stars, and she was pregnant. And she was crying out in her pains and in her agony to give birth." Again, another vision, different viewpoint of the same thing; the birth of the kingdom. The woman is God's "wife", the faithful angels in heaven. Paul said "Jerusalem above is our mother." (The kingdom was not born in 1914. It was not born until all the anointed were sealed.) "Another sign was seen in heaven. Look! A great fiery-colored dragon, with seven heads and ten horns and on its heads seven diadems; and its tail drags a third of the stars of heaven, and it hurled them down to the earth." Satan was not cast out of heaven in 1914 either. He is not cast out until Jesus takes the throne, which isn't until after all the anointed are sealed. "And the dragon kept standing before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth, it might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod." The "son" here is the entire 144,000. This son is "born" when all the anointed are sealed. (They were not all sealed in 1914.) "And her child was snatched away to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God and where they would feed her for 1,260 days." Though still on earth, the sealed anointed ones are under Jehovah's care. The Devil wants to destroy them, but Jehovah takes the kingdom heirs under his authority and protection. Just like Jesus said "I am with you all the days", so the angels are also with us all the days. They are with us "in the wilderness" of this system. That is why Jesus wrote the message of Revelation "to the angels of the congregations." The angels will not leave the faithful ones. "She is our mother." There is no way the angels are abandoning their "children"! The 1260 days are the length of the great tribulation. "And war broke out in heaven: Miʹcha·el and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has a short period of time.”" The anointed remnant "conquered" Satan by their witnessing, that is why they are now sealed and why the Devil has been proved a loser and is not cast out. He was not cast out in 1914 because the anointed had not yet been sealed, they had not finished that part of their witnessing. (If he had been cast out in 1914, then the scripture wouldn't have said "a short period of time" because from 1914 to present isn't a short period of time. The scriptures show that from the time Satan is cast out, it will be only 3 1/2 years, which IS a short period of time.) "Now when the dragon saw that it had been hurled down to the earth, it persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is to be fed for a time and times and half a time away from the face of the serpent." Again, the 3 1/2 years, the angels (the "woman") will feel horrible about the way Jehovah's worshippers on earth are getting treated during the great tribulation. But the faithful ones will be protected during the tribulation, which is like being in the "wilderness" (like how Jehovah protected the Israelites in the wilderness all those years, and how Elijah was fed in the wilderness and Jesus.) "And the serpent spewed out water like a river from its mouth after the woman, to cause her to be drowned by the river. But the earth came to the woman’s help, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon spewed out from its mouth. So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went off to wage war with the remaining ones of her offspring, who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness concerning Jesus." Other parts of Revelation show that John was given a little scroll and told to prophesy again to nations. There will still be preaching to do in the great tribulation. The numbers 3 1/2 and 42 months and 1260 days are repeated because it is clear. The time period is clear. You don't have to do fancy calculations. Any kid can figure it out. The great tribulation will be 3 1/2 years. Jehovah hides it from "wise and intellectual" ones and reveals it to kids. Jehovah uses lowly ones to relay messages. Let Jehovah be praised, He is the Source of all wisdom and understanding and glory and might. Praise Jehovah!

There is nothing good that can be said about the abolitionist John Brown. He profaned the name of God and used his misunderstanding of scripture to justify his murderous rampage. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63389806-john-brown That doesn't mean he was wrong about 1914CE

The Abyssment of Satan is coming... . "During that time {Jesus Christ} will stand up, the Great Prince who is standing in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress such as has not occurred since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, everyone who is found written down in the book. And many of those asleep in the dust of the earth will wake up, some to everlasting life and others to reproach and to everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:1-2) "And war broke out in heaven: {Jesus Christ and his angels} battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven." (Rev 12:7-8) The Scriptures also point out that Michael was sent and given the name to the glory of God the Father. "Keep this mental attitude in you that was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he was existing in God’s form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God. No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and became human." (Philippians 2:5-7) Yes, this very angel would be given the name to the glory of God the Father and have his Father's Name in him. “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, watch over them on account of your own name, which you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one."(John 17:11) "More than that, when he came as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, yes, death on a torture stake. For this very reason, God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the Name that is above every other name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend—of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground— and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:8-11) The Name (Jesus) when translated means “Jehovah Is Salvation.” Matter of fact, Jesus told his Opposers, "For I say to you, you will by no means see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in Jehovah’s name!’” (Matthew 23:39) Read more...

Looking at today's scripture text, I see that there is a fairly good reference to the concept of "core doctrines" in the commentary. Some have questioned whether this concept of core doctrines is correct, with the alternative being that we should accept ALL doctrines, great and small, with equal vigor. In other words, we should be ready to die for the our current teaching concerning "whether people of Sodom would be resurrected" just as strongly as we should be ready to die for the doctrine of the Ransom. The day's text is about the resurrection, and the commentary speaks of the importance of including this among our key doctrines, as if it might not have been "up there" with the rest. *** Text for Tuesday, December 10, 2019 *** What are the key teachings of your faith? Surely you would stress that Jehovah is the Creator and Life-Giver. You would likely mention your belief in Jesus Christ, who died as a ransom. And you would happily add that an earthly paradise is ahead, where God’s people will live forever. But would you mention the resurrection as one of your most cherished beliefs? We have good reasons to include the resurrection as a key teaching even if we personally hope to survive the great tribulation and live on earth forever. The resurrection is central to our faith. Had Christ not been resurrected, he would not be our ruling King, and our teaching about Christ’s rule would be in vain. (1 Cor. 15:12-19) However, we know that Jesus was resurrected, and we hold firm to our belief in the resurrection. Note that the text reminds us a few things that the great crowd, perhaps, do not get reminded of enough: We might die. The great hope is that "You May Survive Armageddon into God's New World." But since the book of that title came out, most of us who studied that book as JWs are now dead. The key teachings mentioned above are therefore: Jehovah is the Creator, Jesus' Ransom, Living Forever in an Earthly Paradise The Resurrection The Teaching about Christ's Kingdom I would agree that these are definitely the core teachings. Of course that final one might be a nod to "1914" as a key teaching, but it is worded here in such a way that no one could dismiss Christ's Kingdom as a key teaching. This is true whether one focuses on the Kingdom preaching beginning in 29 CE through 33 CE, or the Kingdom's beginning in 33 when Christ began to rule as king (1 Cor 15, Colossians 1, Acts 2, Revelation 1, etc.), or the historical outworking of the Kingdom with renewed emphasis on preaching since WWI, or the focus on what that Kingdom will bring to the new heavens and new earth. But the fact that 1 Cor 15 is quoted above as the context to the teaching about Christ's rule, and that Paul goes on in verse 25 to indicate that "sit at my right hand" is the equivalent of "rule as king" tells me that 1914 might have been left off on purpose. (Because Jesus sat at God's right hand in 33 CE., therefore he began ruling as king in 33 CE. --1 Cor 15:25) That's an easy solution to all the current difficulties and contradictions in the 1914 teaching. But it's not the "difficult teaching" I had in mind. If you look at the text through the Watchtower Library, you will also see that it is somewhat related to the material for the Midweek meeting (December 9-15), which starts out with a discussion of Revelation 11. *** Text for Tuesday, December 10, 2019 *** TREASURES FROM GOD’S WORD • “‘Two Witnesses’ Are Killed and Brought Back to Life”: (10 min.) Re 11:3—“Two witnesses” prophesy for 1,260 days (w14 11/15 30) Re 11:7—They are killed by “the wild beast” Re 11:11—The “two witnesses” are brought back to life after “the three and a half days” I'll explain later today.

via .ORGWorld News

This is a serious conversation between an individual and an elder, concerning Jesus’ apparent cleansing of the organization between the years of 1914-1919. (WT 7/15/2013 pg 11) He asks the elder a legitimate question, “what was this inspection and cleansing work that took place between 1914 and 1919”? I hope all JWs here, will take time to listen in. After 1919, the organiztion... Still celebrated Christmas until 1926 Believed in the cross until late 1920’s Celebrated birthdays until 1951 Still immersed in pyramidology teaching until 1928

Eruption of Sakurajima volcano, the most powerful in twentieth-century Japan, with Kagoshima, Japan in foreground, 1914 Via