Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The "Man of Lawlessness" Revealed!

When I first learned the "identity" of the "Man of Lawlessness" as presented by the Governing Body of the Watchtower Society, I had problems with it. Coming out of Christendom, I never saw any of Christendom's preachers trying to "lift [themselves] up over everyone who is called "god" or an object of reverence" and "sit down in the temple of The God, publicly showing [themselves] to be a god."-2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

As bad as Christendom is, they have never, ever done this. Has anybody ever done this? And how can they sit in "the temple of The God" if the temple no longer exists? Let us see.


The Temple of The God

To really learn who the "Man of Lawlessness" is, we need to figure out what the temple of God is. As said above, since the original temple is long destroyed, there has to be another temple on earth today so that the "Man of Lawlessness" can sit inside of it. Does the Bible reveal what the temple of God is? Yes.

"What! Do you not know that the body of you people is the temple of the holy spirit within you, which you have from God? Also, you do not belong to yourselves, for you were bought with a price. By all means, glorify God in the body of you people." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) So, this temple is made up of true followers of Jesus Christ.

In the Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2, it is said that the only the anointed are the temple of God and the great crowd are not part of it. Does the Bible teach this, though? No, it doesn't. At 2 Corinthians 6:16, Paul says, "What agreement does God’s temple have with idols? For we are a temple of a living God; just as God said: 'I shall reside among them and walk among them, and I shall be their God, and they will be my people.' " In this Scripture, Paul is quoting Leviticus 26:12. This Scripture is talking about the whole nation of Israel, paralleled by the great crowd and the anointed, and not just the priest, paralleled by the anointed. Require more proof? Here:

Jesus Christ is said to be the cornerstone of the temple. "Christ Jesus himself is the foundation cornerstone." The anointed are the foundation of the temple. "You have been built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets." Regarding us, the great crowd, "You are fellow citizens of the holy ones and are members of the household of God," the "holy ones" being the anointed. If the "holy ones" are the anointed and the people Paul is speaking to were "fellow citizens of the holy ones", then these ones cannot be those same anointed. The context shows that the "holy ones" are the Jews and the "fellow citizens" are the Gentiles. There is no differentiating between the two. Together, all of us are, Jew, Gentile, Anointed, and Great Crowd, "being harmoniously joined together...growing into a holy temple for Jehovah...a place for God to inhabit by spirit."-Ephesians 2:19-22

This is important for all of us to understand because the Bible says, "Do you not know that you people are God’s temple, and that the spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you people are." (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) Yes, "in accord with the Holy One who called you...also become holy yourselves in all your conduct, because it is written: 'you must be holy, because I am holy.'-1 Peter 1:14-16

Now that we have seen that we, Jesus Christ, the anointed, and the great crowd make up the temple, we can have a better understanding of what Paul meant when he said that the "Man of Lawlessness" will sit down in the "temple of The God, publicly showing himself to be a god."

If we are the temple of The God, the "Man of lawlessness" will elevate himself over all of us and declare himself to be a god. How has he done this, making himself a god? At Brother Perimeno's website and on this blog, evidence has been documented showing how the Governing Body, starting in Rutherford's day, has changed the meanings of Scriptures to fit their ideas and elevate themselves over us - and even Jehovah.

When anyone takes Scriptures, including Christendom, and changes the meanings of them, they are claiming that they know better then Jehovah God or Jesus Christ, the ones who inspired and uttered these words. We have seen this done with the Watchtower Society's 1914 doctrine, Jesus' words regarding divorce in Matthew 19, and the teachings on the New Covenant. By saying they know better then Jehovah and Jesus, they are elevating themselves over those two.

A person may ask themselves, "If these people are really the anointed, and the anointed is the 'Faithful and Discreet Slave', then how can these people be the 'Man of Lawlessness?' " That is a good question and can be answered by going to look at the words of Jesus Christ.


The Evil Slave

Just as the anointed who have left the Truth become part of the antichrist, so those who do not leave the Society but begin to act contrary to how a member of the 'faithful slave' should act become known as the "evil slave." (1 John 2:18-21) The words of Jesus, presented below, show that this transition is possible. He said:

"Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. Truly I say to you, He will appoint him over all his belongings. But if ever that evil slave should say in his heart, 'My master is delaying,' and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and in an hour that he does not know, and will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his part with the hypocrites. There is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be."-Matthew 24:45-51

Now the Governing Body claims that the "faithful and discreet slave" is not each individual anointed but all of the anointed alive at a certain time. This, though, is not correct. Following his pronouncement of the faithful slave and the evil slave, Jesus relates a parable in regard to them. (Matthew 25:14-30) This parable reveals that each anointed individually is a "faithful and discreet slave" charged with feeding the sheep of Christ until his return. That means that each of them can become an evil slave.

Furthermore, the words of the Apostle Paul also show that the "faithful and discreet slave" is made up of individual anointed ones when he says, "Let a man so appraise us as being subordinates of Christ and stewards of sacred secrets of God. Besides, in this case, what is looked for in stewards is for a man to be found faithful." (1 Corinthians 4:1-2) The words of the Bible are clear for all to see in this regard.

How, though, does one of anointed become one of the evil slave? Jesus said that he would say in his heart " 'My master is delaying,' and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards." The Governing Body has done this, eating and drinking at the "table of demons", who, like their leader Satan, twist the words of the Bible to say what they want. (1 Corinthians 10:21; Matthew 4:5-6) They also beat their "fellow slaves" by taking away their right to dispense "food at the proper time", saying that this is solely their right. Again, this is another way in which they have elevated themselves over the temple of God.

The evil slave also makes life very hard for each of us, anointed and great crowd alike, by constantly pressuring us to "do more, do more, do more", by hanging the threat of disfellowshipping over us, by labeling us apostates if we start to believe even the tiniest thing differently then what they say we should be. The evil slave even goes so far as to say that we will die at Armageddon if we do not believe everything they say! Yes, they make the way of the Truth more difficult then it needs to be.-Matthew 11:28-30; 1 John 5:3; Luke 13:24


How Do They Manage This?

How do they get away with this? How come so many believe that the position the Governing Body is in is their rightful place? By claiming certain prophecies that have not been fulfilled yet have been accomplished, even though they have no Scriptural proof to back them up. What prophecies do they use to back themselves up?

1 Peter 4:7-"For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God?" The Governing Body teaches that this happened back in 1918-1919.

" 'On arriving' to inspect the 'slave' in 1918, Christ found a spirit-anointed remnant of faithful disciples who since 1879 had been using this journal and other Bible-based publications to provide spiritual 'food at the proper time.' He acknowledged them as his collective instrument, or 'slave,' and in 1919 entrusted them with the management of all his earthly belongings."-The Watchtower, April 1, 2007

Only by saying that Jesus Christ has approved them and placed them over "all his earthly belongs" can they do what they do. However, there are a few problems with this reasoning. The Watchtower Society has said that Christ 'arrived' in 1914 and has been present ever since. How could he have been present since 1914 yet arrive in 1918?

Another problem that we find can be seen by "all his earthly belongs." The Bible says that Jesus Christ will place them over all his belongings. By saying that when Jesus came back he appointed the 'faithful slave' over all his earthly belongings, they show a lack of ignorance as to what Christ was going to appoint them over!

The last major problem is what will happen when Christ returns to inspect and approve the faithful and discreet slave. As well as approving the faithful slave, Christ will judge the evil slave. This will happen at the same time. The ones approved will be appointed over all his belongings while the ones not approved will be punished "with the greatest severity" and labeled a hypocrite, "where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be."

While we see that the evil slave will suffer this fate at the when the master comes, what will happen to the "Man of Lawlessness" when the master comes? We get an idea of what is meant by "where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be" by what we see happens to the evil slave under the title of the "Man of Lawlessness".

The Apostle Paul said, "The Lord Jesus will do away with [the Man of Lawlessness] by the spirit of his mouth and bring [him] to nothing by the manifestation of his presence." (2 Thessalonians 2:8) Yes, when Jesus Christ returns, he will "bring to nothing" the "Man of Lawlessness!" What a joy that will be when the evil slave is done away with and we are under the rule of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his anointed brothers!


But...


People may ask, "Why should we stay in the world-wide brotherhood if the Governing Body, those who beat us into submission, have taken control and are part of the 'evil slave' and the 'Man of Lawlessness?' "

Why? Simply put, it is a command. "And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25, Holman Christian Standard Bible) We have to be concerned about each other! If we are concerned for our brothers and sisters who have not seen the truth about the Governing Body and the Watchtower Society, we will stay and try to assist them as much as possible. I have tried this lately, making little statements to gauge the loyalty to the Governing Body on the part of some in our brotherhood. Unfortunately, either they are too scared to say anything wrong or they are completely and unswervingly loyal.

Although many people are still loyal and others are starting to fall away from the faith due to confusion, we need to continue to help all to stay in the faith as Witnesses of Jehovah. We need to upbuild ourselves - and others - in our "most holy faith." (Jude 20) We can only do this by continuing to attend the meetings.

Another reason we need to stay in the faith is because this is still God's household. (Ephesians 2:19; 1 Timothy 3:14) There is something, though, that still needs to happen concerning this household and it is this: the judging of this household by Jesus Christ. Jesus wants to clean out his congregation. Can we expect anything less? So do not worry. The Governing Body will be punished.*

As Jehovah's people, we have a responsibility to not push ahead and try to change the way things are but to wait on Jehovah. "Good it is that one should wait, even silently, for the salvation of Jehovah." (Lamentations 3:26) We also never need to be caught in the trap of approving of the way things are. Jehovah said this about the Israelites, "An astonishing situation, even a horrible thing, has been brought to be in the land: The prophets themselves actually prophesy in falsehood; and as for the priests, they go subduing according to their powers. And my own people have loved it that way." (Jeremiah 5:30-31) While waiting on Jehovah, let us never forget the sins of the Watchtower and begin to 'love it that way.'



With Sincere Christian Love and Affection,
Brother Ebed Abodah


*Interestingly, the Governing Body teaches that the judgment was over the "faithful and discreet slave" as a group but the Bible reveals that it is actually each individual being judged and is future. "If the righteous man is being saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly man and the sinner make a showing?"-1 Peter 4:17-18; Matthew 24:46-47, 50-51, For More proof regarding the self-exultation of the Watchtower Society, see past Watchtower articles and an article on brother Perimeno's website called The Faithful and Discreet Slave.

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