They just posted the Simplified August 2015 Study Watchtower on JW.org.
Paragraph 11 of the "Expectation!" Article says this:
"So even if we feel that we have been waiting a long time, this does not mean that the end is far away or that it is not coming in our lifetime." Whose lifetime? An 80-year-old Witness' lifetime or a 40-year-old's? 10-year-old's? How do they know? Seems like I heard this before? "Millions now living will never die!" (circa 1925)
Can these people get anything right the first time. It has long been a wonder to me how anyone in their right mind could put trust in an organization that just cannot get its story right. About anything. No, it's not just that the "light is getting brighter." They are scraping old explanations left and right and giving us new ones which, undoubtedly, they will also scrap and come up with even newer ones.
Who is Gog of Magog mentioned in the book of Ezekiel?
For a number of years, our
publications have explained that Gog of Magog is the name given to Satan
the Devil after his ouster from heaven. This explanation was based on
the fact that the book of Revelation identifies Satan the Devil as the
leader of the worldwide attack on God’s people. (Rev. 12:1-17) So it was thought that Gog must be another prophetic name for Satan.
However, that explanation raised some
important questions. Why so? Consider this: When referring to the time
that Gog is defeated, Jehovah says regarding Gog: “I will give you as
food to all kinds of birds of prey and the wild beasts of the field.” (Ezek. 39:4)
Then Jehovah adds: “On that day I will give Gog a burial place there in
Israel . . . That is where they will bury Gog and all his hordes.” (Ezek. 39:11)
But how could a spirit creature be eaten by “birds of prey and the wild
beasts of the field”? How could Satan be given “a burial place” on
earth? The Bible clearly shows that Satan will be abyssed for 1,000
years, not eaten or buried.—Rev. 20:1, 2.
We are told that at the end of the
1,000 years, Satan will be released from the abyss, and “he will go out
to mislead those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them together for the war.” (Rev. 20:8)
But how can Satan mislead Gog if he himself is Gog? Therefore, “Gog”
does not refer to Satan in either Ezekiel’s prophecy or the book of
Revelation.
Who, then, is Gog of Magog? To answer
that question, we need to search the Scriptures to find out who attacks
God’s people. The Bible speaks not only of the attack by ‘Gog of Magog’
but also of the attack by “the king of the north” and of the attack by
“the kings of the earth.” (Ezek. 38:2, 10-13; Dan. 11:40, 44, 45; Rev. 17:14; 19:19)
Do these represent separate attacks? Not likely. The Bible is no doubt
referring to the same attack under different names. Why can we draw that
conclusion? Because the Scriptures tell us that all the nations of the
earth will be involved in this final attack that prompts the war of
Armageddon.—Rev. 16:14, 16.
When
we compare all these Scriptural references about the final attack on
God’s people, it becomes evident that the name Gog of Magog refers, not
to Satan, but to a coalition of nations. Will this coalition be led by
the figurative “king of the north”? We cannot say with any certainty.
But this thought does seem to be in harmony with what Jehovah says about
Gog: “You will come from your place, from the remotest parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly, a vast army.”—Ezek. 38:6, 15.
Similarly, the prophet Daniel, who
was a contemporary of Ezekiel, says of the king of the north: “Reports
out of the east and out of the north will disturb him, and he will go
out in a great rage to annihilate and to devote many to destruction. And
he will plant his royal tents between the grand sea and the holy
mountain of Decoration; and he will come all the way to his end, and
there will be no helper for him.” (Dan. 11:44, 45) This clearly parallels what the book of Ezekiel says about Gog’s activities.—Ezek. 38:8-12, 16.
What occurs next as a result of this
final attack? Daniel tells us: “During that time Michael [Jesus Christ]
will stand up [at Armageddon], the great prince who is standing [since
1914] in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress
[the great tribulation] 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.” (Dan. 12:1) This action on the part of God’s representative Jesus is also described at Revelation 19:11-21.
But who is referred to as “Gog and Magog” at Revelation 20:8?
During the final test at the end of the 1,000 years, those who rebel
against Jehovah will manifest the same murderous attitude as ‘Gog of
Magog,’ those nations that attack God’s people at the end of the great
tribulation. And the outcome for both groups will be exactly the same—everlasting death! (Rev. 19:20, 21; 20:9) It seems fitting, then, that all those rebels at the end of the Millennium be called “Gog and Magog.”
As keen students of God’s Word, we
wait with eager anticipation to see who in the near future will assume
the role of “the king of the north.” But no matter who may take the lead
in this coalition of nations, we are certain of two things: (1) Gog of
Magog and his armies will be defeated and destroyed; and (2) our
reigning King, Jesus Christ, will save God’s people and usher them into a
new world of peace and true security.—Rev. 7:14-17.
Looking at all the doctrinal teachings over the last five years, it's
almost impossible for any person of conscience who originated such
doctrine to do a complete u-turn and change it and still believe it when the passage of time has proved beyond doubt that doctrine is no longer credible.
I say this with reference to the Generation of 1914. They were so sure. It was part of the Awake! masthead for decades that those who saw the events of 1914 would also see the Great Tribulation.
Now, imagine the old GB 1.0. For decades they believed and
taught that the 1914 generation would not pass before the GT began. In
the 1993 conventions there were rumors that there would be a change and
in 1994 there was little mention of the generation of 1914 that year,
which was by now already eighty years old.
Until 1995 - the Awake! masthead removes reference to 1914 and leaves the beginning of the tribulation open-ended.
So what were the then Governing Body members actually thinking? Could
they still believe with all their heart that their 1914 Generation was
really true? Surely some doubts must have set in?
So when the changes begin in 1995 this continues on for the next
decade until more changes are announced. The generation of 1914 are
first the anointed, then the wicked people living in the mid 1990s, then
back to the anointed.
Until 2012 or so when the generation becomes two overlapping generations.
Can anyone see how utterly ridiculous this is? We laugh at this and
wonder how could the GB believe this crap? Seriously? Two overlapping
generations?
Then this new revised teaching starts to get printed in the new releases at this year's district convention.
And I'm beginning to wonder about the sincerity of the Governing Body.
Either they are fooling themselves OR they are perpetuating a SCAM on the body of believers.
I am now inclined to think, that this is not a group of seven
misguided elderly anointed who sincerely believe they have the truth,
because no sane person could possibly u-turn so many times on one single
teaching and yet still believe they had the truth...so...
I am of the strong opinion that they have been caught with
their pants down - chronology has backed them in a corner, and they have
no way out except to change the teaching, but in doing so they have
lost credibility among themselves and the flock who wait in perpetuity
for the Great Tribulation.
They are deliberately and wilfully perpetuating a scam to fool the
masses because they have to keep the Great Watchtower engine well oiled
or the whole thing comes to an end.
Hence all the distractions, like the grey Bible, the JW.org web site etc.
We're not dealing with sincere elderly anointed who genuinely believe what they teach but scam artists.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/135M-Awarded-to-Bible-Teacher-Gonzalo-Campos-Alleged-Abuse-Victim-Jose-Lopez-281031832.html#
The National Organization for Jehovah's Witnesses was ordered to pay
$13.5 million to a San Diego man who says he was abused as a child by
his Bible teacher. NBC 7's Rory Devine reports on Oct. 30, 2014.
(Published Thursday, Oct 30, 2014)
Thursday, Oct 30, 2014 • Updated at 9:46 PM PDT
A $13.5 million
judgment was awarded Wednesday to a San Diego man who says he was the
childhood victim of “very aggressive abuse” at the hands of his Bible
study teacher.
Jose Lopez, now 35 years old, came forward as one of eight children
who accuse Gonzalo Campos of sexually abusing them between 1982 and
1995, according to his lawsuit
Campos served in the leadership of the Linda Vista Spanish
Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Playa Pacifica Spanish
Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Pacific Beach, Lopez’s attorney
Irwin Zalkin told NBC 7.
In about 1986, when Lopez was 7 years old, Campos was first
introduced and portrayed to him as a fatherly figure who could teach him
about the Bible
Instead, the accused perpetrator used his position and time alone with Lopez to groom him, according to Zalkin.
"After a period of grooming him, which Campos was very adept at, one
day he took him and he seriously molested him in a private residence,"
he said
The attorney believes Campos would take his victims to a home his mother cleaned in La Jolla.
Although the alleged molestation happened on one occasion, the high
amount awarded by a judge reflects the severe consequences Lopez has
faced as a result, including post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction
and trust issues, Zalkin explained.
But the lawsuit does not seek damages from Campos himself, or even the Linda Vista congregation.
Instead, it names the defendant as the Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society of New York, the entity that oversees Jehovah’s Witness
churches.
Zalkin said $10.5 million of the amount was for punitive damages as a result of the Watchtower’s response to the Campos scandal.
"Damages that reflect the reprehensible conduct of the Watchtower in
how they covered this up for years and allowed multiple children to be
injured,” said Zalkin. “They protected and harbored a criminal."
The Watchtower told NBC 7 it plans to appeal the judgment, saying the
award given after a hearing at which it was barred from participating.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses abhor child abuse and strive to protect children
from such acts,” the organization said in a statement. “The trial
judge’s decision is a drastic action for any judge to take given the
circumstances of the case. We will seek a full review of this case on
appeal.”
As for Campos, Zalkin said he is in Mexico, where he moved as soon as they started investigating this case.
