ARMAGEDDON "SO VERY NEAR"

(Investigator 169, 2016 July)

Suppose your great grandfather was told that Armageddon is near and that to avoid death he had to preach door to door. He preached but he still died. Suppose the same happened to your grandfather and your father.

For example, Awake! magazine (1969 April 22 page 19) says:



Suppose you've grown old and you still hear that "Armageddon is near" — should you believe it?




The Watchtower Library CD (2007) has most of the Jehovah's Witness (JW) publications from 1950 to 2007. The main omissions are Awake! magazine prior to 1970 and the monthly meeting guide called Kingdom Ministry prior to 1970.

The Watchtower Library (2007) search function lists 11,463 occurrences of the words "near", “nearing” and “nears” in JW publications. Not all occurrences are in an Armageddon context since "near" can also refer to emotional nearness, or a travel destination, or a scheduled secular event. But many of the 11,463 instances do refer to Armageddon or allied events such as the annihilation of other religions, the future paradise on Earth, the removal of Satan the Devil, or the resurrection of the dead.    

Sometimes these events are alleged to be "very near", "so near", "now near" or "so very near".




In the 19th century and into the 1920s the Watchtower Society's publications used the word "near" in reference to Armageddon sparingly. This was because the sect that became Jehovah's Witnesses focused on specific dates such 1874, 1878, 1881, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920 and 1925, and this made reminders of "near" unnecessary.

By 1930 the leaders realized that although false prophecies for specific dates "bring in the sheep", many "sheep" are lost when the predictions fail.

Therefore they reduced the emphasis on specific calendar years and brought the word "near" into regular use as well as its synonyms such as "shortly", "short time", "about to", "close", "imminent", "soon", "impending", "time is fast running out", "at hand" and "fast approaching".

Here are some "near" examples from The Watchtower magazine of 1930:


The second and eighth quotes threaten sect-members living in 1930 with punishment by God if they neglect door-to-door activity. This warning is regularly repeated through successive generations.




Many of the occurrences of "near" listed on Watchtower Library (2007) are qualified with "very", "now" or "so" or other words that imply the "near" period is well-advanced. We get for example:
•    very near 286
•    so near 186
•    now so near 50
•    now so very near 4

Hear are some examples of "very near":


The "day of Jehovah" in the first quote referred to the period since 1914. This interpretation has since been revised and "day of Jehovah" is now synonymous with Armageddon.

The sixth quote says that the Millions Now Living Will Never Die message "expressed the conviction that the time for the realization of that hope was very near". That message, however, did not merely predict "very near", but predicted 1925:


The sixth quote further calls the Millions message "exciting". The JW Governing Body may think false prophecy is "exciting", but the Bible calls false prophecy, "appalling and horrible". (Jeremiah 5:30-31)

The seventh quote, published in 1970, links "very near" with "this generation". Until 1995 JWs predicted that the people who experienced 1914 would live long enough to experience Armageddon. Therefore, "very near" in 1970 meant at most several decades and was another false prediction.




"Ominously near" occurs only once on Watchtower Library 2007:


In 1971 the emphasis was on 1975 for Armageddon to occur — hence "ominously near".

JWs today deny that 1975 was a definite prediction because their main theologian at the time, Frederick W. Franz (1893-1992), said: "Don't any of you be specific."

So how definite was 1975 as the date for Armageddon?

According to JW doctrine Armageddon would occur at the completion of 6000 years of evil on Earth, and Adam was created in 4026 BC. Since there was no year "0" this comes to 1975. The reason for being non-specific was that evil began after Eve was created, but the Bible does not state how long Adam was alone.

However, on at least three occasions JW publications stated or implied that Adam and Eve were created in the same year — thus confirming Armageddon for 1975 (or possibly 1976). The three references are:


In late 1975, with no Armageddon in sight and prophetic failure looming, The Watchtower denied that Adam and Eve were created in the same year, putting it like this:


We are now 41 years past 1975 which means JWs believe that Adam lived alone for at least 41 years!




The 11,463 occurrences of "near", "nears" and "nearing" on Watchtower Library include 57 of the phrase "The time is near".

Regarding "the time is near" Jesus said:




The cult that became JWs predicted magical events for 1874, 1878, 1881, 1914, 1915, 1918 and 1925 but was wrong every time and its members died disappointed.

In 1971 Armageddon was "ominously near" because it was due in 1975. Those JWs too were disappointed and about half of them have died and hundreds of thousands left the sect.

There were other dates such as 1942, the "generation of 1914", and "within our twentieth century". Most JWs of 1942 have died, the generation of 1914 has died out, and the 20th century is gone.

Armageddon clearly had not been "near" despite thousands of repetitions that it was.

Spurred by prophecy many JWs deserted their careers, dropped out of high school, sold homes, and even avoided marriage to preach "The time is near". They ignored Jeremiah who called false prophecy "horrible", and Jesus who said "Beware that you are not led astray..."