1
The
WTS Separates "Sheep"
& "Goats"
2
Separation of Sheep
and Goats Stopped – Jesus Rejects Assignment from God
3
Separation of Sheep
and Goats – Quotes
THE WTS SEPARATES "SHEEP" & "GOATS"
B J Kotwall
(Investigator 27, 1992 November)
The Watchtower
Society
(WTS) teaches:
The basis of
the
judgment (according
to the WTS) is the attitude people take towards the message preached by
Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs). Those judged as "sheep" are those who accept
the teachings of the WTS unquestioningly, regard the WTS as God's
exclusive
channel and become JWs. These will all be saved at Armageddon.
Those who do not accept the WTS's teachings are considered "independent". They are the "goats" and will all be destroyed at Armageddon – within the generation of people alive in 1914. So in a very short time over five billion people are going to be destroyed. (Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained 1958 p. 210; You May Survive Armageddon 1955 pp. 165-167, 217, 347; The Watchtower 1981 November 15 pp. 15-17, 21)
Furthermore, all
these
billions of people
are to be judged on individual choice:
Has the WTS
managed to
convey their message
to all the peoples of the world so that each and every person can make
his own "individual choice"? Let's look at the WTS's latest "Service
Year
Report of Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide" published in The Watchtower
of January 1 1992 pp. 10-13.
According to the report the WTS is represented, and its 4,278,000 followers allowed to preach unhindered, in 186 countries/territories of the world. The population of each land is given in the table and the total for all 186 lands comes to 3,621,981,381.
In 25 other unnamed countries: "the work is banned and the reports are incomplete." (p.13) By deducting the above figure of 3,621,981,381 from the present estimated world population of 5.1 billion we get a total population of 1,478,018,619 in the 25 countries where the work is banned.
The figures supplied in the four-page table in The Watchtower are impressive but the work is unevenly distributed and is minuscule when compared with the world population.
There are still billions of people who have not been reached by the WTS and know nothing about JWs. For example, one of the 25 countries where the work is banned would be China. China has an estimated population of 1.1 billion, is officially atheist, and has very few JWs.
Even in many of the 186 lands where the work is allowed the ratio of JWs to the population is insignificant.Furthermore, the JWs are distributed unevenly in any one country, which means some people are contacted repeatedly and others never.
The above
analysis gives
the lie to statements
like:
The 1989
YEAR BOOK
OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
refers to the Bible in Revelation 7 where a "great multitude" is
predicted
to survive the "great tribulation".
The YEARBOOK
next refers to
the JWs and their:
This indicates the completion of the JW preaching (and hence of the occurrence of Armageddon) within the 20th century.
Those decades
run out in 8
years, which seems
too little time for:
SEPARATION
OF SHEEP & GOATS
STOPPED –
JESUS
REJECTS ASSIGNMENT FROM
GOD
B J Kotwall
(Investigator 47, 1996 March)
Watchtower
Society (WTS)
The
Watchtower (WT)
The Watchtower, October 15 1995 did an amazing turnabout. Since 1923 the Watchtower Society taught that the separation of the sheep and the goats, described in Matthew by Jesus, began in 1914. Now they say it is future.
In Investigator 27 the WTS's concept of the separation was shown to be ridiculous.
The "separation" teaching was one of the most stressed doctrines of the WTS from the time it was revealed to them, apparently as a "flash of light", in 1923. (United in Worship 1983 p. 103-104; Watchtower Publications Index 1930-1985 p. 228)
The separation
supposedly
was being achieved
by Jesus and his angels, since 1914, by peoples' response to the WTS's
preaching – whether they accepted the message and joined the Jehovah's
Witnesses
or not.
The parable was of course made to fit WTS's scheme of things i.e. the 1914 date of return of Christ which date was also the beginning of the generation that would see the end of the world.
It was
maintained that:
Although Jesus is now King of the Kingdom, his further activity mentioned at Matthew 19:28 will include sitting on a throne during the Millennium. At that time he will judge all mankind…(p. 21)
<>Does this parable [Matthew 25:31,32] apply when Jesus sat down in kingly power in 1914 as we have long understood? … But what judging did he do soon thereafter? It was not a judging of "all the nations". Rather, he turned his attention to those claiming to make up "the house of God" (I Peter 4:17... Yet nothing indicates that at that time, or for that matter since, Jesus sat to judge people of all the nations finally as sheep and goats… Jesus' 'sitting down on his glorious throne' for judgment, mentioned at Matthew 25:31, applies to the future point… (p. 22)Understanding
the parable
of the sheep and
goats in this way indicates that the rendering of judgment on the sheep
and the goats is future. It will take place after "the tribulation…"
(p.
23).
The WTS has
woven a
tangled web of nonsense.
**************************************************
SEPARATION
OF "SHEEP" &
"GOATS" – QUOTES
***Refugees
1940
25-26***
Those
persons who are
later enlightened,
and who have goodwill towards God and Christ Jesus, turn to the Lord
and
seek protection and safety. Where will they find refuge and safety? ...
They associate themselves with God's annointed in the service,
announcing
the THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. These are the ones who constitute the "other
sheep", which the Lord declares he is now gathering to himself. (John
10:16).
They are the sheep class mentioned by the Lord in Matthew 25:31-46. If
they remain faithful and true to God's organization they shall be
ultimately
saved.
***Children
1941 85, 98
[pp. 116 &
133 in the Australian edition]***
The coming
of Christ
Jesus in power and
glory marks the beginning of his reign as King (Matthew 25:31)…
The book called Salvation submits the proof that the Lord Jesus Christ came to the temple in the year 1918. On page 160 this appears: "In the year 1914 the Lord Jesus was enthroned as King of the world. (Matthew 24:3-14) Three and one-half years thereafter Christ Jesus the King appeared at the temple of Jehovah and gathered unto himself his faithful followers and commissioned them and set them forth to "preach this gospel of the kingdom"; and thus is marked the beginning of the Lord's judgment of the nations, and concerning which is written: "And before him shall be gathered all the nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left."–Matthew 25:32,33.
***w1950 4/15
119-20
Servants Feed the
Flock***
REGATHERING
SCATTERED
FLOCK
The facts
that have
come to pass in "the
cloudy and dark day" of this twentieth century show beyond all doubt
that
the complete fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy has taken place in our
day.
Jehovah has gathered the "remnant" of his people out of the far
countries
of Christendom where they were scattered. Over them God has set up "my
servant" Christ Jesus the Greater David, and this "one shepherd", the
Chief
Shepherd, is feeding them. For some time prior to A.D. 1918 the
preparing
of the Lord's way was going on and then suddenly the Lord came to his
temple,
there to take account with his servants rewarding those that had been
faithful
and punishing the unfaithful. This is described for us by Jesus in his
great prophecy on "the end of the world" in Matthew 24:42-51. As
Malachi
foretold, it would be a time of fiery judgment and one that would last
for some time, until all the evil servants were purged and cleaned out
from among the Lord's remnant.–Mal. 3:1-3. The gathering together of
the
remnant, the visiting of evil upon their oppressors, the installing of
the Chief Shepherd as King, and the reestablishment of the Theocratic
organization
as it existed in apostolic times were also foretold by still another
prophet,
namely, Jeremiah. (Jer. 231-8) With Christ Jesus the Shepherd-King in
charge
since the regathering of the remnant after 1918, things moved along
rapidly
toward the setting up among them of a Theocratic organization similar
in
design to that in existence 1,900 years ago. This meant they all
recognized
the fact that Jehovah is the Great Shepherd over and above all; that
Christ
Jesus, the enthroned and reigning King of the heavenly Theocratic
government,
is Jehovah's Chief Shepherd; that here upon earth the "faithful and
wise
servant" organization has been placed in charge of all the Kingdom
interests,
and that in such Theocratic arrangement mature and faithful brethren
have
been appointed as various servants to look after, wait upon and care
for
the needs of the Lord's sheep.
At first the flock that followed Christ Jesus were few in number, only a "little flock", and when the regathering work began after the Lord's coming to the temple in 1918 there was only a small remnant of this flock remaining on earth. (Luke 12:32) However, today there is a great and mighty flock of sheep, meek and teachable people, following the Good Shepherd, even as Jesus said there would be. "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold [not of the "little flock" fold]: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (John 10:16) The parable of the "sheep and goats" reveals that Christ Jesus would begin to gather and "bring" these "other sheep" following his enthronement as King in 1914 and his coming to the temple for judgment in 1918. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats."–Math. 25:31, 34.
In such separating work, now progressing among the nations, the "other sheep" class are placed on the King's right hand of favor.
***w195l 3/1
152 No
Relief for the Rich,
but Comfort for the Poor***
But now in
this short
period of God's patience
before the world destruction at Armageddon the "other sheep" class hear
the Right Shepherd's voice sounding the divine call to come out of
worldly
Babylon. They do so, flee to the upraised Signal of Jehovah's kingdom,
and gain entrance to the one flock under his royal Shepherd. These
sheep
the Shepherd puts to his right and divides them off from the "goats".
The
great unbridgeable chasm of divine judgment allows for no fellowship
between
faithful persons and those who unbelievingly reject the Kingdom. "Thy
judgments
are a great deep."–Ps. 36:6.
***w195l 6/1
286
Questions from Readers
***
Our present
day is
also a time of judgment,
and it is this that the objectors to the answer In the November 15 Watchtower
apparently fail to fully appreciate. For seventy-one years The
Watchtower
has been publishing the warning of God's Word, and since 1919 Jehovah's
witnesses have been active as never before in giving world-wide
witness,
in this time of judgment when the enthroned King is separating the
nations
as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats.
*** w195l
6/15 368 The
Place of God's
Word in Our Lives ***
We are
living at the
time of the presence
of Christ Jesus in his glorious kingdom, and one of the visible
evidences
of this is his separating of the people of all nations into two
classes,
sheep and goats, symbolically speaking. Mighty angels attend this
separation
work, for Jesus predicted respecting this time: "When the Son of man
arrives
in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his
glorious throne." Those angels are not just ornaments, but are with
Jesus
for some service in the work to be done.–Matt. 25:31, NW.
*** w1956
12/15 759
Telling the Good News
from Day to Day ***
By his
Associate
Judge, Jesus Christ, he
is separating the peoples of all the nations as anti-Kingdom goats and
as pro-Kingdom sheep. Judgment he will execute at the great war of
vindication
and liberation.
*** w1958
3/15 177
Shepherd of Israel***
This
wonderful saving
power of Jehovah toward
his people was displayed by his setting of the chosen King upon the
heavenly
throne in 1914 and by the victorious war in heaven that effected the
expulsion
of Satan and his wicked angels. Then in 1918 Jehovah, with his
King-Son,
appeared at his temple for judgment and commenced the separation of his
"sheep" from the "goats". Rev. 12:7-9; Matt. 25:31-46.
***w1959 1/15
50
Surviving with the New***
"To the
extent that
you did it to one of
the least of these my brothers, you did it to me," said the King Jesus
Christ to the "other sheep" in his parable of the sheep and goats, the
last part of his prophecy on the world's end.–Matt. 25:40. In this day
of the judgment of the nations, Jesus Christ the King, seated on his
heavenly
throne for judgment work, turns to his right and says to these sheep:
"Come,
you who have my Fathers blessing, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the world's foundation… I was in prison and you came to me." Since
the year 1914 that heavenly kingdom is here and this green earth is its
realm. These sheeplike persons of the Ebed-melech kind do not have to
die
and be resurrected in order to enter into the realm of that kingdom of
God's new world. They are already living in the Kingdom's earthly
realm.
This is the realm they must inherit, and so they are not going to be
evicted
from this earthly inheritance of theirs. Christendom is cursed, but
these
sheep have the blessing of the King's Father, Jehovah God. Christendom
with its goats will be destroyed, for it has no place in this earthly
Kingdom
realm.
***w1959 3/1
158 Day of
Decision***
SHEEP AND
GOATS
Christ gave
an
illustration that foretold
how earth's inhabitants would be divided by their attitudes toward the
good news of the Kingdom and the proclaimers of it. He said: "When the
Son of man arrives in his glory and all the angels with him, then he
will
sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered
before
him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd
separates
the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand,
but the goats on his left." (Matt. 25:31-33) Thus the two groups that
result
from the world-wide preaching of the good news of the established
Kingdom
will be separated to Christ's right hand of favor and to his left hand
of disfavor.
This dividing work has to be done while the old system of things with its sea of mixed peoples is still existing. It is not something that can be done quickly; it requires a period of time, just as Noah's preaching did. Since Christ revealed in his illustration that he, the King, would be the One to supervise the separating of the people, he must be ruling in Kingdom power during the time when it is being done. Thus he would rule for a period while his enemies are still in power, and that is precisely what he has been doing since the last days of this system of things began in 1914.
*** w196l
10/15 632 The
Time for God's
Kingdom to Come***
"HE WILL
SEPARATE...THE SHEEP FROM THE GOATS"
Continuing
his
discussion with his four
disciples, Jesus said that, on his arrival, "he will separate people
one
from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And
he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left."
(Matt.
25.32, 33) Since his arrival for judgment work in 1918 Jesus has been
doing
this separating of the peoples, some to the right side for preservation
and others to the left for destruction. How is this separating done?
Jesus
showed that classification as a "sheep" or a "goat" was based on the
way
an individual treated his followers on earth and the Kingdom message
they
carried. This separating work is nearing completion as all peoples am
identifying
themselves either in support of God's kingdom, or in opposition to it.
*** God's
Kingdom of a
Thousand Years
Has Approached 1973 259-260***
Earthly
Subjects of
the Kingdom of God
At that time
the
"presence" or parousia
of the Lord Jesus Christ began. Hence, what is described in the parable
of the sheep and the goats happens during his parousia. This includes
the
gathering of all the nations before him as the King who is present on
his
throne. This was quite the right thing to happen.
***w1965 3/15
174-175
Our own Twentieth-Century
Generation and the Resurrection ***
However,
among our own
generation there
are many who will share the final destiny of Satan the Devil and his
demons.
These will be those whom Jesus Christ compared to goats. He gave a
prophecy
on the conclusion of this wicked system of things and closed this
prophecy
with his parable of the sheep and the goats. This parable or
illustration
is found in Matthew 25:31-46. In our generation the symbolic "goats"
are
people from all the present-day nations, and they are separated from
the
righteous class of persons whom Jesus likened to sheep. Both these
"sheep"
and the "goats" are earthly classes of people; that is to say, they
have
no call from Jehovah God to the heavenly inheritance with his Son Jesus
Christ but are earthly minded.–Matt. 25:31-33.
*** Our
Incoming World
Government – God's
Kingdom 1977 170-171
A "Great
Crowd" Hails
the Incoming World
Government ***
Regardless
of whether
anyone likes the thought
of it or not, Jesus' illustration closes with regard to the judgment
executed
on the faulty "goats" and the righteous "sheep," saying: "And these
[symbolic
goats] will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones
into everlasting life." (Matthew 25:46) When will Christ the King tell
these cursed "goats" to go off into the symbolic "fire," the
"cutting-off"
(Greek: kola-sis)? After the preaching of the Kingdom good news
has been carried on earth wide by his spiritual "brothers" and "the
end"
comes on this system of things that is now in its "conclusion."
(Matthew
24:3, 14) Then the "great tribulation" will break out world wide, but
the
"goats" will never survive it.–Matthew 24:21, 22.
***g1980
12/22 4 Have
You Ever Wondered–What
Is Jesus Christ Doing Now?***
IF NOW
RULING, WHAT IS
HE DOING?
He is
finding those
who really want to be
his subjects and is gathering these into a united worldwide
brotherhood.
Jesus indicated this in a parable that described the start of his rule
when 'he sits on his glorious throne.' He gives his attention to "all
the
nations" and begins to "separate people one from another, just as a
shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats."–Matt. 25:31-33.
*** You can
Live for
Ever in Paradise
on Earth 1982 183***
Judgment Day
and
Afterward
Yes, since
Christ
returned and sat down
on his heavenly throne, all humankind has been on judgment. This
present
"day of judgment" comes before the 1,000-year Judgment Day begins.
During
the present judgment people are being separated as "goats" to Jesus'
left
hand or as "sheep" to his right.
*** United in
Worship
of the Only True
God 1983 103-104***
A Great
Crowd Before
Jehovah's Throne
For
centuries the
identity of this "great
crowd" was not understood. But the progressive understanding of related
prophecies prepared the way. In 1923 it was discerned that the "sheep"
of Jesus' parable at Matthew 25:31-46 and the "other sheep" to which he
referred at John 10:16 were persons now living who would have
opportunity
to dwell forever here on earth. In 1931 the ones described in Ezekiel
9:1-11
as being marked in their foreheads by the man with the secretary's
Inkhorn
were identified with the "sheep" of Matthew chapter 25. Then, in 1935,
the "great multitude," or "great crowd," of Revelation 7:9-17 was seen
to be the same as the "sheep" of Jesus' parable of the sheep and goats.
Although beck in 1923 it was realized that some such sheeplike
individuals
had already begun to manifest themselves, it was not until 1935 that
their
numbers began to grow rapidly. Today there are literally millions who
are
seeking to be identified as part of that divinely favored "great crowd"
of the "other sheep."
***w1984 2/15
17 The
Recent Pen for "Other
Sheep"***
In the year
1905 it
was thought that that
parable would apply during the Millennial Reign of Christ after "the
war
of the great day of God the Almighty" at the battlefield of
Har-Magedon.
(Revelation 16:14-16) However, we must bear in mind that the parable of
the sheep and the goats was the final part of Jesus' answer to his
disciples'
question as to what would be the sign of his "presence and of the
conclusion
of the system of things." (Matthew 24:3) So the fulfillment of this
parable
must be realized during this conclusion of the system of things that
started
in the year 1914.
*** w1984
3/15 17 God's
United "Mighty
Nation" to Fill the Earth ***
With the
beginning of
World War I in 1914,
the old system of things entered its "last days." (2 Timothy 3:1)
Kingdom
rule also began in 1914. (Revelation 12:10-12) Christ was then
authorized
to begin separating the "sheep" from the "goats." Thus, God's holy
spirit
began to act mightily on his faithful servants. (Compare Acts 2:16-21.)
*** Did Man
Get Here by
Creation or Evolution?
1985 247
What Choice
Will You
Make? ***
The
declaring of the
Kingdom worldwide is
resulting in a clear separation of people. In illustrative language
Jesus
foretold for our day: "All the nations will be gathered before him, and
he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates
the sheep from the goats."
***Reasoning
from the
Scriptures 1985
344***
Return of
Christ
What are
some of the
events with which the
Bible associates the presence of Christ?
Dan. 7:13,
14: "With
the clouds of the heavens
someone like a son of man [Jesus Christ] happened to be coming; and to
the Ancient of Days [Jehovah God) he gained access, and they brought
him
up close even before that One. And to him there were given rulership
and
dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages
should
all serve even him."
I Thess. 4:15, 16: "This is what we tell you by Jehovah's word, that we the living who survive to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep in death; because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel's voice arid, with God's trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first." (So, those who will rule with Christ would be resurrected to be with him in heaven – first those who had died in years past and then those who would die following the Lord's return.)
Matt. 25:31-33: "When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left."
***You Can
Live Forever
in Paradise on
Earth 1989 183***
Judgment Day
and
Afterward
Yes, since
Christ
returned and sat down
on his heavenly throne, all humankind has been on judgment. This
present
"day of judgment" comes before the 1,000-year Judgment Day begins.
During
the present judgment people are being separated as "goats" to Christ's
left hand or as "sheep" to his right. The "goats" will be destroyed
because
they fail to help Christ's anointed brothers in their service to God.
***w1990 5/15
8 When
Christ Arrives In
Kingdom Power***
Jesus is
still with
his apostles on the
Mount of Olives. In answer to their request for a sign of his presence
and the conclusion of the system of things, he now tells them the last
in a series of three illustrations. "When the Son of man arrives in his
glory, and all the angels with him," Jesus begins, "then he will sit
down
on his glorious throne."
Humans cannot see angels in their heavenly glory. So the arrival of the Son of man, Jesus Christ, with the angels must be invisible to human eyes. The arrival occurs in the year 1914. But for what purpose? Jesus explains: "And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left."
*** The
Greatest Man
Who Ever Lived 1991
111***
Sign of the
Last Days
Humans
cannot see
angels in their heavenly
glory. So the arrival of the Son of man, Jesus Christ, with the angels
must be invisible to human eyes. The arrival occurs in the year 1914.
But
for what purpose? Jesus explains: "All the nations will be gathered
before
him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd
separates
the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand,
but the goats on his left."
***w1992 6/15
20 What
Do the Dragnet and
Fish Mean for You?***
Let us now
consider
the time element. For
centuries the dragnet instrument gathered fine fish as well as many
unsuitable,
or wicked, ones. Then the time come when the angels got involved in
doing
a crucial separating work. When? Well, Mt. 13 verse 49 clearly says
that
it is during "the conclusion of the system of things." This matches
what
Jesus said in the illustration of the sheep and the goats: "When the
Son
of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will
sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered
before
him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd
separates
the sheep from the goats."–Matthew 25:31, 32.
Hence, in accord with Matthew 13:47-50, a crucial separating work under angelic guidance has been in progress since "the conclusion of the system of things" began in 1914. This became particularly evident after 1919, when the remnant of anointed ones were freed from temporary spiritual bondage, or captivity, and became a more effective instrument for accomplishing the fishing work.
***w1993
1/119
Shepherding With Our Grand
Creator ***
The
designation "my
servant David" points
prophetically to Christ Jesus, the "seed" who inherits David's throne.
(Psalm 89:35, 36) In this day of judgment of the nations, Jehovah's
associate
Shepherd and King, Christ Jesus, the Son of David, continues to
separate
the "sheep" of mankind from those who may claim to be "sheep" but are
actually
"goats." (Matthew 25:31-33) This "one shepherd" is raised up also to
feed
the sheep. What a glorious fulfillment of this prophecy we see today!
While
politicians talk of uniting mankind through a new world order, the one
Shepherd is actually uniting the sheep of all nations through a
multilanguage
witnessing campaign such as only God's organization on earth could ever
begin to undertake.
*** w1995
5/15 20
Vindication and the
"Great Crowd"***
...it was
seen that
this prophecy [Revelation
7:9-17] referred to the numberless great crowd from all nations who are
now being gathered and whose hopes are earthly. They are "the sheep" of
Matthew 25:31-46 and the other sheep of John 10:16.
**************************************************
The JW leaders have changed thousands of their supposedly "Bible based" teachings and interpretations,
as is revealed on this website:
Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses at:
https://ed5015.tripod.com/jwdictionary/