Watchtower Web Site Offers Old Light to Visitors (updated 4/27/99)

Watchtower watchers recall that in 1995 the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses decided to reinterpret the meaning of "generation" as spoken by Jesus in reference to the "last days." Instead of the time-worn explanation offered to millions of Armageddon-anxious devotees that the time we are living in since 1914 marks a "generation" (chronologically speaking, 70 or 80 years) of people that would survive Armageddon (1975 was the last attempted forecast), it was necessary to define "generation" as spoken by Jesus (Matthew chapter 24) as, not a time frame, but a group of wicked opposers to Jehovah and his purposes (meaning all who were opposed to the Governing Body and their big organization).

The following is an excerpt from the web page entitled, "God's Purpose Soon to Be Realized":

¹⁴ Have those things that Jesus and Paul foretold taken place in our time? Yes, they certainly have. World War I was by far the worst war up to that time. It was the first world war and was the turning point in modern history. Along with that war went food shortages, disease epidemics, and other calamities. Those events from 1914 onward were, as Jesus put it, "a beginning of pangs of distress." (Matthew 24:8) They began the foretold period of time called "the last days," the beginning of the last generation when God would permit wickedness and suffering.

 

¹⁵ Likely you are familiar with the events of the 20th century. You know the chaos that has arisen. Some 100 million people have been killed in wars. Hundreds of millions of others have died from hunger and from sickness. Earthquakes have taken countless lives. Disregard for life and property grows. Fear of crime has become part of everyday life. Moral standards have been shoved aside. The population explosion poses problems that are not being solved. Pollution is spoiling the quality of life and is even endangering it. Truly, we have been in the last days since 1914 and are nearing the culmination of Bible prophecies involving our time.

 

¹⁶ How long a time period would these last days prove to be? Jesus said regarding the era that would experience the "beginning of pangs of distress" from 1914 onward: "This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur." (Matthew 24:8, 34-36) Thus, all the features of the last days must take place within the lifetime of one generation, the generation of 1914. So some people who were alive in 1914 will still be alive when this system comes to its end. That generation of people is now very advanced in years, indicating that there is not much time left before God brings this present system of things to an end.

Education for Entering Paradise

⁵¹ Would you like to live in Paradise? If your answer is 'Yes,' you will be thrilled to know that when Jesus spoke of today's troubled system and "the sign" of its approaching destruction, he added, "This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur." Some, at least, of the generation that saw the "beginning of pangs of distress" in 1914 will live to see Paradise restored on earth. (Matthew 24:3-8, 34) However, it is a sad fact that most people today are on the broad road that leads to destruction. (Matthew 7:13, 14) There is little time left for them to change. How thankful you can be that Jehovah has provided warning in time! Because Jehovah wants you to have life, he will help you to take the right steps.-2 Peter 3:9; Ezekiel 18:23.

This article can be seen in its entirety at: http://www.watchtower.org/library/lmn/article_11.htm

UPDATE

The Watchtower of May 1, 1999 (p. 11,12) directly contradicts what is posted on their website, utilizing the newer argument that "this generation" does not represent a time period per se, but rather "unbelieving contemporaries" of the faithful servants of Jehovah:

In the years leading up to 66 C.E., Christians would have seen many of the preliminary elements of the composite sign being fulfilled-wars, famines, even an extensive preaching of the good news of the Kingdom. (Acts 11:28; Colossians 1:23) When, though, would the end come? What did Jesus mean when he said: 'This generation [Greek, ge.ne.a'] will not pass away'? Jesus had often called the contemporaneous mass of opposing Jews, including religious leaders, 'a wicked, adulterous generation.' (Matthew 11:16; 12:39, 45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36) So when, on the Mount of Olives, he again spoke of "this generation," he evidently did not mean the entire race of Jews throughout history; nor did he mean his followers, even though they were "a chosen race." (1 Peter 2:9) Neither was Jesus saying that "this generation" is a period of time.

 

Rather, Jesus had in mind the opposing Jews back then who would experience the fulfillment of the sign he gave. Regarding the reference to "this generation" at Luke 21:32, Professor Joel B. Green notes: "In the Third Gospel, 'this generation' (and related phrases) has regularly signified a category of people who are resistant to the purpose of God. . . . [It refers] to people who stubbornly turn their backs on the divine purpose." *

 

The wicked generation of Jewish opposers who could observe the sign being fulfilled would also experience the end. (Matthew 24:6, 13, 14) And that they did! In 70 C.E., the Roman army returned, led by Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian. The suffering of the Jews who were again bottled up in the city is almost beyond belief." Eyewitness Flavius Josephus reports that by the time the Romans demolished the city, about 1,100,000 Jews had died and some 100,000 were taken captive, most of those soon to perish horribly from starvation or in Roman theaters. Truly, the tribulation of 66-70 C.E. was the greatest that Jerusalem and the Jewish system had ever experienced or would ever experience. How different the outcome was for Christians who had heeded Jesus' prophetic warning and had left Jerusalem after the departure of the Roman armies in 66 C.E.!

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For decades now Jehovah's Witnesses have taught that the current fulfillment of the sign proves that a "great tribulation" is yet to come. The present wicked "generation" will see that tribulation. It seems that there will again be an opening phase (an attack on all false religion), just as Gallus' attack in 66 C.E. opened the tribulation on Jerusalem.* Then, after an interval of unspecified length, the end will come-destruction on a worldwide scale, paralleling that in 70 C.E.

It is very clear that on one hand, the Watchtower is still saying the generation is a time period starting in 1914 that would not pass away as again reproduced here:

¹⁶ How long a time period would these last days prove to be? Jesus said regarding the era that would experience the "beginning of pangs of distress" from 1914 onward: "This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur." (Matthew 24:8, 34-36) Thus, all the features of the last days must take place within the lifetime of one generation, the generation of 1914. So some people who were alive in 1914 will still be alive when this system comes to its end. That generation of people is now very advanced in years, indicating that there is not much time left before God brings this present system of things to an end.

...and on the other hand is trying to shift the meaning of "this generation" to mean "unbelieving contemporaries" and NOT a specified time period as again reproduced here from the above quote:

So when, on the Mount of Olives, he again spoke of "this generation," he evidently did not mean the entire race of Jews throughout history; nor did he mean his followers, even though they were "a chosen race." (1 Peter 2:9) Neither was Jesus saying that "this generation" is a period of time.

Perhaps the dismal drop in meeting attendance and loss of members in recent months has forced them to reconsider how to goad the apathetic Witnesses into further action and excitement about how near is the end of the world by Jehovah's hand.

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