I follow you and agree with your views on 1914. Witnesses believe that Jesus cleared the heavens of Satan and his demons at the time of his enthronement. It is a false paradigm to conclude that 'since the world has completely changed since 1914' that, therefore, is proof that they are correct in their reasoning. What I would like to know is: Do Satan and his demons still have access to the heavens or have they been cast down to the vicinity of the earth?
The casting down of Satan and his demons coincides with the kingdom of God coming to power. Revelation 12:10-12 describes it this way:
“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 he has a short period of time.”
According to the span of verses above, Satan and his demons reside in heaven up until the kingdom commences its reign, which then sets into motion a series of events; the first of which is the expulsion of the demonic horde from heaven. That is why the scripture says “now have come to pass…the kingdom”
So, yes, Satan resides in heaven up to that very moment. He apparently has some face-to-face interaction with Jehovah’s righteous angels up until the final all-out war erupts between the two opposed spirit armies. That is why they rejoice after he is finally evicted. However, that does not necessarily mean that Satan has continual access to Jehovah up until his ouster.
According to the book of Job there are specific occasions when all the sons of God assemble before Jehovah. During the days of Job Satan used those assemblies as an occasion for challenging Jehovah before all the angelic audience. That certainly gives us the impression that even the angels do not always have constant access to Jehovah himself. Also, the fact that Jehovah challeneged Satan, saying: 'where do you come from?' implies that Satan had sort of barged in on the assembly uninvited.
So, even though Satan and the demons are not thrown from heaven until the establishment of the kingdom, that does not necessarily mean that they could come and go as they pleased. From Jehovah’s standpoint, and the standpoint of the loyal sons of God, the demons are disfellowshipped – put out of the family of the loyal sons of God. So, any interaction between the two hostile camps is strictly in opposition to each other – as is indicated in the book of Daniel, where Gabriel describes his being opposed by the demonic overlord of Persia for three weeks.
The greater question is: have Satan and the demons been thrown down already or is that event still in the future? The implications of a future casting down cannot be understated.
So, to answer that question we must reason honestly upon the facts at hand. Foremost of which is the fact that Revelation reveals that immediately after Satan’s ouster from heaven he persecutes God’s woman upon the earth for 1,260 days. That time period is also connected to several other crucial developments; one of which is the sudden death stroke of the seventh head of the wild beast. After the beast revives it then wars against God’s servants for 42 months – the same as Satan wars against God’s woman in the wilderness for 1,260 days (42 months).
It should be apparent, then, that the death stroke upon the seven-headed wild beast is a direct result of the wound inflicted upon the satanic seven-headed fiery dragon in heaven as a result of the warfare waged against it by Michael and his angels.
The Watchtower has ascribed that prophetic period of time to the First World War. But the question must be asked: what proof is there that the Anglo-American dyad suffered anything remotely analogous to what is described in the 13th chapter of Revelation? Frankly, there is none. (For a fuller discussion of the topic see the essay: The Last Hour and the 8th King)
While it is true that some historians say that WWI swept away an old order, for example the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires dissolved as a result of WWI and the Russian Revolution swept the Czarist monarchy off the throne; still, it is simply not in the realm of reality to suggest that the leading governments of Satan’s world collapsed or were even threatened with collapse as a result of WWI.
That being the case, it should be evident that Satan has not been thrown down yet. The death-stroke and subsequent revival of Satan’s political beast is an unprecedented and unique event that marks the beginning of Satan’s short period of time. (42 months) We may be sure that it will far exceed the disaster known as the First World War.
An ancient Hebrew prophecy also connects Satan’s ouster from heaven with the overthrow of an earthly kingdom – the kingdom of Tyre. Oddly, the Watchtower has never made the connection. (For a discussion of the significance of this vital prophecy see the concluding segment of the chapter entitled London and the Devil’s throne.)
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2 comments:
Thanks for clearing that up. I had wondered about that for some time.
Friday, February 10, 2006
To E-W:
A Further Look Into 1914
Psalms Chapter two which most of us are familiar with seems to take us to a point in time when Christ has become king and is moving to take possession of his inheritance, bringing the whole universe in harmony with his Father’s will. However, prior to that time, it seems obvious that he acts as a “great prince,” ousting Satan and his demons from the heavens and confining them to the vicinity of the earth. This event will usher in “a time of distress.” Jesus relates this time as a “great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.” --Revelation 12:7-9; Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:21.
So once Satan and his demonic hordes are ousted from the heavens, the faithful angels shout joyfully, announcing that the way is now clear for Christ’ coronation. --Revelation 12:10.
The idea that this event took place in 1914 is rather precocious, since we are not yet in the time of distress mentioned in Daniel chapter 12, nor the great tribulation Jesus talked about as shown in Matthew chapter 24. Furthermore, the nations have not yet massed together as one against Jehovah and his anointed one, under the tyrannical leadership of the king of fierce countenance as mentioned in the book of Daniel chapter 8 and 11.
However, we are most definitely at a point in time now where the seven-headed beast of Revelation is breathing life into an image of itself, which will become the eighth king of Bible prophecy. It is the same king of the north in the time of the end, solidifying its powers and authority so as to subjugate the whole earth, to the point of harassing and conquering the holy ones, during the appointed time, times and half a time, amounting to 3 ½ years or 42 months.
A simple way to understand this is by thinking of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian tyrant that devastated Jerusalem and the other surrounding nations back then in ancient biblical times. All other surrounding nations came under his authority. Yahweh gave them into his hands to serve the king of Babylon. One stark difference is that the time allotted for the king of fierce countenance is rather short. That is obviously because Christ will have taken his seat as King of kings and readying his cavalry for the decisive battle of Armageddon.
The Watchtower insightfully taught Jehovah’s Witnesses that the head of gold of Nebuchadnezzar’s image represent the king that destroyed Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. Likewise, this king’s counterpart during the time of the end is represented by the eighth king, the king of fierce countenance who conquers the holy ones, dispatching them so-to-speak out of the earthly realm of the land of Decoration. This is only a heel wound resulting in their immediate resurrection and glorification as spirit beings, since by that time we will have been in the actual time of the end.
Obviously the first resurrection will be in progress at that time, resulting in the gathering of the holy ones, past and present. So in retrospect, Jehovah’s contention with Nebuchadnezzar has not yet ended until his ultimate ascendancy as represented by the installing of his Son as King in heavenly Mount Zion. Does it seem to anyone that this event has occurred yet? If the proverbial horse is behind the carriage, then the carriage will not move. That’s why we have our heads stuck in the sand with the 1914 dogma, necessitating that our faith becomes an issue of severe test for the purpose of our disciplining and refining.
Meanwhile, the uneventful king of fierce countenance who understands ambiguous things is moving on with his plan to subjugate the whole world by means of deceit and falsehood, even occupying a place that rightfully belongs to Christ, by his incursion into the holy place and the setting up of his palatial tent in the land of the Decoration, finally dispatching the holy ones in death so that he has no rival. –Daniel 11:41, 45.
Likely at this point gullible leaders of this system, who in actuality will have proven themselves to be the seed of the serpent, will announce: “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape. --1 Thessalonians 5:3; Genesis 3:15.
Apparently, Jehovah will not recognize this scheme for peace and security as it was bought by the shedding of the blood of innocent ones who died as martyrs for the cause of truth and justice in harmony with his will. “They did not love their souls even in the face of death,” proving themselves to be the seed of the woman. --Revelation 12:11; Genesis 3:15.
But their sacrifice serves for the rightfulness and vindication of God’s sovereignty and the sanctification of his name. Of these Christ is foremost since he is like an unblemished lamb who takes away the sins of the world. His blood has redeeming value to repurchase that which rightfully belongs to God.
By our words and actions do we demonstrate that we belong to Jehovah? “Happy are all those taking refuge in him.” By means of God’s loving-kindness as exercised through his Son, let us do our utmost to follow after Jehovah “until the end of time.”
So what happened in 1914?
Was 1914 the end of the gentile times? Aren’t the nations continuing to do as they please? Indeed they are! No one can deny that.
I do not know much about trees, but I can understand the symbolism used in Daniel chapter 4 concerning the tree that was chopped down and kept under restraint “by the decree of watchers the thing is, and [by] the saying of holy ones the request is, to the intent that people living may know that the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind and that to the one whom he wants to, he gives it and he sets up over it even the lowliest one of mankind.”
If the tree represents God’s kingdom as correctly interpreted by the Watchtower, doesn’t it have to first sprout and become full grown again, before Jehovah “gives it and sets up over it even the lowliest one of mankind?” By emptying himself of his glory, Jesus found himself in the likeness of man, becoming “the lowliest one of mankind,” for the purpose of offering his life on our behalf and sanctifying his father’s name over the issue of God’s rightful sovereignty.
Now does anyone think that this tree was full grown in 1914 so that Jehovah would set up his Son as King on heavenly Mount Zion at that time? It would not seem so. Rather that time would indicate the removal of the bands of copper and iron, as oppose to Christ’s actual enthronement, with the issue of world domination becoming a heated subject, as in the first century with the birth of Christ and his subsequent death and resurrection.
It could very well be that this is why Revelation 12 describes the birth of the kingdom as a “male child,” as oppose to a full grown person capable of signing a contract with full capacity to execute its terms. Evidently this contract entered into by Jesus and his apostles will be fully realized when all its members are signed into it. Now did that happen in 1914?
Satan of course is diverting people’s mind from this symbolic tree, representing God’s kingdom, from sprouting by fostering his agenda for world domination, as seen in the League of Nations and the United Nations, presenting these as forum for peace and security and other croaking propaganda. So he wants to keep this tree in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the name of which is an alias for the king of the north during the time of the end; although the king himself admitted to God’s sovereignty, after which he regained his sanity and was allowed to return to his throne. Therefore, Satan the devil is the one pushing for world hegemony, not wanting to loosen his hold on mankind.
With humanity caught in the middle, this is going to come to a show-down leading into the great tribulation and Armageddon. By then Christ will have been crown King and the contract with the holy ones will have been completed, as seen by John in vision as they stood on Mount Zion with the lamb, Christ Jesus. Likely this will serve as the reports from the sunrising that will disturb the king of the North, sending him into a suicidal rage. –Revelation 14:1-5; 16:12; Daniel 11:44.
CG
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