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THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE FAITHFUL AND DISCREET SLAVE AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS— WHAT THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY DO NOT UNDERSTAND

By 20. October 2022October 28th, 2022The Governing Body

—REVIEW—

The illustrations of Jesus about the Kingdom of the heavens/the Kingdom of God exclusively deal with the 144 000 members of spiritual Israel that are heirs of the Kingdom. Only illustrations where it explicitly is shown that they are prophecies should be treated as such. Only four illustrations are prophecies, the illustration of the wheat and the weeds, the illustration of the sheep and the goats, the illustration of the dragnet, and the illustration of the minas.

The members of the Governing Body are guilty of two basic errors, 1) they treat all the illustrations as prophecies, and 2) they apply illustrations of the Kingdom of the heavens to other persons and things than to the 144 000 heirs of the Kingdom.

The article has four different sections.

The illustrations of Jesus’ great prophecy about his presence

The illustrations of the faithful and discreet slave, the discreet and foolish virgins, and the talents are not prophecies, and their details have no prophetic meaning. All three illustrations have the same meaning which is the following exhortation: Fulfill your Christian obligations, and keep on the watch so you are ready when the Son of Man is coming.”  Because the illustration of the sheep and the goats relates to the Kingdom of the heavens, it does not show how all humans on earth are separated into two groups, one that will inherit everlasting life, and the other that will be eternally annihilated. But it shows how some of the prospective heirs of the heavenly Kingdom will inherit everlasting life and other prospective heirs who have sinned against the holy spirit will be eternally annihilated.

The Kingdom of heaven has a high value

Five of the illustrations dealing with the Kingdom of the heavens have the same meaning, 1) the illustration of the treasure in the field, 2) the illustration of the pearl of a high value, 3) the illustration of the mustard grain that became a tree, 4) the illustration about the leaven, and 5) the illustration about a man casting seed.

The members of the Governing Body have treated three of these illustrations as prophecies and given them different interpretations. But these represent judicious guesses that have no basis in the text. All five illustrations have the same meaning and show the high value of the Kingdom of the heavens. They show that when a person is called to be a Kingdom heir, the situation may seem to be insignificant. But in time, the person is chosen as heir, and then the person understands the high value of the Kingdom

Spiritual Israel with 144 000 members will be saved  

Paul shows in Romans chapter 11 that the full number of the Jews and the full number of the people of the nations will be gathered, and in this way, all Israel will be saved.

The illustrations of the two children and the illustrations showing that people will be “pressing forward to the Kingdom of the heavens” also show that all the spiritual Israel will be saved.

The rejection of the prospective members of the kingdom of the heavens  

The illustration of the wheat and the weeds, which also is a prophecy, show how prospective members of the heavenly Kingdom will be “collected out from his Kingdom” because they have sinned against the holy spirit. The illustration about the sheep and the goats, which is a prophecy as well, shows exactly the same. These two illustrations are discussed in detail in the article,  “‘For many are called, but few are chosen’ — what the members of the Governing Body do not understand.”

The illustration of the dragnet is also a prophecy, and it is discussed in detail. The members of the Governing Body have given this illustration different interpretations that contradict the fact that the illustrations of the heavenly kingdom only deal with the heirs of this Kingdom. It is shown that this illustration also indicates how some prospective heirs of the Kingdom will be ”collected out of his Kingdom.“

The basic doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses have a solid basis in the Holy Scriptures. But in the last part of the 20th century and in the 21st century, some of these basic doctrines have been modified and new ones have been introduced. Of the new understandings that have been presented, a few represent progress, such as the present understanding of the generation in Matthew 24:34. But most new understandings have led the readers astray, such as the rejection of the full inspiration of the Bible and that both the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection have been devalued and restricted.

In connection with the understanding of the illustrations of Jesus and the accounts in the Hebrew Scriptures, there has been some progress, but in reality, the principles of the understanding of illustrations and Hebrew accounts have been turned upside down. The fact is that the principles that are applied to the Hebrew accounts should have been applied to the illustrations and vice versa.

The Watchtower of March 15, 2015, page 11, says:

7 For many years, God’s people found this approach [the type-antitype approach] to Bible accounts faith strengthening. Why, then, have things changed?…

10 Jehovah has helped “the faithful and discreet slave” to become steadily more discreet. Discretion has led to greater caution when it comes to calling a Bible account a prophetic drama unless there is a clear Scriptural basis for doing so. Additionally, it has been found that some of the older explanations about types and antitypes are unduly difficult for many to grasp. The details of such teachings—who pictures whom and why—can be hard to keep straight, to remember, and to apply. Of even greater concern, though, is that the moral and practical lessons of the Bible accounts under examination may be obscured or lost in all the scrutiny of possible antitypical fulfillments. Thus, we find that our literature today focuses more on the simple, practical lessons about faith, endurance, godly devotion, and other vital qualities that we learn about from Bible accounts.

On page 12 we read:

3 We noted in the preceding article that over recent decades, the faithful slave has gradually come to explain the Scriptures with less emphasis on symbolic prophetic pictures and more on practical application. In the past, our literature at times assigned specific symbolic meanings even to small details of Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins, including the lamps, the oil, the flasks, and so forth. Is it possible, though, that we were allowing the spotlight to shift from the parable’s simple, urgent message? As we will see, the answer is of vital importance.

The members of the Governing Body have abandoned the view that accounts in the Hebrew Scriptures represent prophetic types that have an antitypical fulfillment in our time. Only when there is “a clear Scriptural basis” will a Hebrew account be treated as a prophetic type. I agree that “a clear Scriptural basis” would be necessary. But the problem is that the members of the Governing Body interpret this requirement so strictly that very few Hebrew accounts are viewed as prophetic. For example, none of the details in the dramatic account of the Song of Solomon have any prophetic meaning for us; only some moral points can be learned from this book.

My Beloved Religion — And The Governing Body, pages 338-343, presents ten criteria for what is “a clear Scriptural basis.” Five of these criteria are in a few instances directly or indirectly applied by the members of the Governing Body. But this is done sporadically, and this does not contradict the view of the members that most of the accounts that the Watchtower literature through the years has treated as prophetic are not prophetic. This view is the same as rejecting the full inspiration of the Bible because of the denial that all accounts in the Bible are chosen with a purpose and have a particular meaning.

What is ironic in this connection is that this viewpoint perfectly fits the illustrations of Jesus. These illustrations only have prophetic meaning when there “a clear Scriptural basis” for this. When such a basis is lacking, an illustration only has “a practical application,” and the details have no prophetic meaning. For example, the practical meaning of the illustration of the discreet and foolish virgins is: “Fulfill your Christian obligations, and keep on the watch so you are ready when the Son of Man is coming.”   And the details of the illustration have no prophetic meaning, as I show below.

So, the error is that the principles that should have been applied to the illustrations of Jesus have wrongly been applied to accounts in the Hebrew Scriptures. Paul wrote in Romans 15:4:

For all the things that were written beforehand were written for our instruction, so that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope.

These words refer to the Hebrew Scriptures, and they show that “all things that were written” were written with the purpose of instructing those who worship God in spirit and truth. This means that all the accounts in the Hebrew Scriptures were chosen with a particular purpose, namely for “our instruction.”

We may use the prophet Elijah as an example, and I compare Malachi 4:5, 6 (above) and Revelation 11:3-7 (below):

“Look! I am sending to you E·liʹjah the prophet before the coming of the great and awe-inspiring day of Jehovah. And he will turn the hearts of fathers back toward sons, and the hearts of sons back toward fathers, so that I may not come and strike the earth, devoting it to destruction.”

I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days dressed in sackcloth.”These are symbolized by the two olive trees and the two lampstands and are standing before the Lord of the earth.If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and consumes their enemies. If anyone should want to harm them, this is how he must be killed. These have the authority to shut up the sky so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every sort of plague as often as they wish.

Malachi shows that Elijah is a prophetic type of someone who would come before the awe-inspiring day of Jehovah. Jesus showed in Mattew 11:14 that Elijah was a prophetic type of John the Baptist. But the words in Revelation chapter 11:3-7 show that the actions that are mentioned were the actions of Elijah and Moses. Therefore, Elijah was a prophetic type of one of the two prophets mentioned, and according to the context, these two witnesses were types of a group of persons and not only of one person.

This means that the mentioned actions of Elijah (and of Moses) must have a detailed antitypical fulfillment before the day of Jehovah. This must also be true with other actions of Elijah. We must therefore conclude that the details of the actions of Elijah must have an antitypical fulfillment and not only lead to one important point, such as “Be on the watch!” This must be the case with other accounts in the Hebrew Scriptures as well. But there is no reason to believe that the details in the illustrations of Jesus have a prophetic meaning, except those that are shown by the context to be prophecies. And this is what the members of the Governing Body have turned upside down, claiming that the details of Hebrew accounts, such as the dramatic details in the song of Solomon, have no peophetic meaning but the illustrations of Jesus’ have prophetic meaning.

THE PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF JESUS

In order to view the illustrations of Jesus in the right light, we need to understand some basic principles regarding the way he taught people. On one occasion, the disciples asked Jesus why he used illustrations, and we read in Matthew 13:10-18:

10 So the disciples came and said to him: “Why do you speak to them by the use of illustrations?” 11 In reply he said: “To you it is granted to understand the sacred secrets of the Kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not granted. 12 For whoever has, more will be given him, and he will be made to abound; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13 That is why I speak to them by the use of illustrations; for looking, they look in vain, and hearing, they hear in vain, nor do they get the sense of it. 14 And the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled in their case. It says: ‘You will indeed hear but by no means get the sense of it, and you will indeed look but by no means see. 15 For the heart of this people has grown unreceptive, and with their ears they have heard without response, and they have shut their eyes, so that they might never see with their eyes and hear with their ears and get the sense of it with their hearts and turn back and I heal them.’ 16 “However, happy are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things you are observing but did not see them, and to hear the things you are hearing but did not hear them.18 

The point Jesus made is that he used illustrations so the people should not understand his words. How does this make sense? Jesus refers to the words of Isaiah 6:9, 10, which indicate that his listeners were not interested in the truth about God. Jesus says that “the heart of the people has grown unreceptive” and “they have shut their eyes.” As a result of this, the people heard the illustrations, and they went away without understanding much.

The disciples of Jesus neither did understand the illustrations. But Jesus said in verse 16 that “happy are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear.” The reason was that his disciples had a different motive than the people in general; they wanted to understand the illustrations, and therefore we read in 13:36:

36 Then after dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples came to him and said: “Explain to us the illustration of the weeds in the field.”

The disciples asked Jesus to explain a particular illustration, and when he did that, they were able to understand it. The conclusion we can draw from this is that those who want to be followers of Jesus today can only understand the illustrations that Jesus explained or those where there are clues in the text itself or in the context. Making judicious guesses as to the meaning of certain illustrations, as the members of the Governing Body have done, only leads the readers astray.

From this, I gather the following principles for understanding, 1) Illustrations that Jesus has explained can be understood, and 2) illustrations that have clues for understanding can get a detailed or general understanding. To illustrate these principles I use the illustration about the sower who went out to sow in Matthew 13:1-10:

1 On that day Jesus left the house and was sitting by the sea. And such large crowds gathered to him that he went aboard a boat and sat down, and all the crowd was standing on the beach. Then he told them many things by illustrations, saying: “Look! A sower went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seeds fell alongside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil, and they immediately sprang up because the soil was not deep. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.Still others fell on the fine soil, and they began to yield fruit, this one 100 times more, that one 60, the other 30. Let the one who has ears listen.”

This illustration of Jesus does not include any clue that can identify parts of the illustration. The structure of the illustration with all the specific details shows that this is not an illustration that only should convey one single important truth, as for example is the case with the illustration about the pearl of a high value in Matthew 13:46. It is impossible to guess who represents the sower, the grain that was sown and the different kinds of soil where the seeds fell. This means that if Jesus had not explained the meaning of the illustration, we would not have understood anything. This becomes clear when we study the interpretation of Jesus in 13:18-23:

18 “Now listen to the illustration of the man who sowed. 19 Where anyone hears the word of the Kingdom but does not get the sense of it, the wicked one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; this is the one sown alongside the road. 20 As for the one sown on rocky ground, this is the one hearing the word and at once accepting it with joy. 21 Yet, he has no root in himself but continues for a time, and after tribulation or persecution has arisen on account of the word, he is at once stumbled. 22 As for the one sown among the thorns, this is the one hearing the word, but the anxiety of this system of things and the deceptive power of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 As for the one sown upon the fine soil, this is the one hearing the word and getting the sense of it, who really does bear fruit and produces, this one 100 times more, that one 60, the other 30.”

I will now discuss illustrations dealing with the Kingdom of the heavens showing that the Kingdom has great value for the heirs of the Kingdom.

We must remember that the illustrations of Jesus are parables and not prophecies, as for example the illustration in Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 that is discussed above. Only four of the illustrations have the characteristics of being prophecies. Two of these are the illustration about the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43, and the illustration about the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46 that were discussed in detail in the article, “‘For many are called, but few are chosen’, What the members of the Governing Body do not understand.”

The third illustration that is a prophecy is the one about the man of noble birth who traveled to a distant land to secure kingly power. What is important with this illustration is that the prophetic situation is easy to identify because of different clues elsewhere in the Christian Greek Scriptures. At the same time, we understand that several specific details only have a general application.

Luke 19:11-27 11 While they were listening to these things, he told another illustration, because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God was going to appear instantly. 12 So he said: “A man of noble birth traveled to a distant land to secure kingly power for himself and to return.13 Calling ten of his slaves, he gave them ten miʹnas and told them, ‘Do business with these until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent out a body of ambassadors after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to become king over us.’15 “When he eventually got back after having secured the kingly power, he summoned the slaves to whom he had given the money, in order to ascertain what they had gained by their business activity.16 So the first one came forward and said, ‘Lord, your miʹna gained ten miʹnas.’ 17 He said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because in a very small matter you have proved yourself faithful, hold authority over ten cities.’ 18 Now the second came, saying, ‘Your miʹna, Lord, made five miʹnas.’ 19 He said to this one as well, ‘You too be in charge of five cities.’ 20 But another one came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your miʹna that I kept hidden away in a cloth. 21 You see, I was in fear of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘By your own words I judge you, wicked slave. You knew, did you, that I am a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 So why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my coming, I would have collected it with interest.’ 24 “With that he said to those standing by, ‘Take the mi’na from him and give it to the one who has the ten miʹnas.’ 25 But they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten miʹnas!’— 26 ‘I say to you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 27 Moreover, bring these enemies of mine here who did not want me to become king over them and execute them in front of me.’”

Because there is a temporal and topical setting of the illustration — the return of the king in the heavenly Kingdom — this illustration is also a prophecy. According to Acts 1:11, Jesus should return in the same way that he ascended to heaven. This clue shows that the man of noble birth refers to Jesus, who went to heaven and would return with kingly power. In my book, My Beloved Religion — And The Governing Body, pages 50-63, I show there is strong evidence showing that Jesus came back with kingly power in the year 1914. As for identification, we can say that the man represents Jesus, the distant land represents heaven, and his return refers to the year 1914.

But what about the concrete things that are mentioned in the illustration: the citizens who hated the king, the ambassadors, three slaves, ten minas, ten cities, five minas, five cities, one mina, a cloth, a bank, and interest of the mina. Can we say that each of these things refers to something concrete in connection with the return of Jesus? Absolutely not! These things are mentioned in connection with the setting of the illustration, and taken together they make the situation of the illustration and the final fulfillment of the illustration.

When the heavenly Kingdom with Jesus as king was established on the year 1914, ambassadors were not sent to the Kingdom. But the nations of the world could be said to be hating the king because they did not accept that Jesus was the rightful ruler over all humans on earth. All the details with the three servants and the minas represent the situation in that Jesus would be judging his servants when he returned. The prospective heirs who were supporting his Kingdom would be rewarded with his approval, and the prospective heirs who did not fully support his Kingdom would be removed from the Kingdom. The situation is exactly the same that is described in the illustration with the wheat and the weeds, as I have described in detail in the article, “‘For many are called, but few are chosen’ — What the members of the Governing Body do not understand.” Prospective heirs of God’s Kingdom that do not serve God faithfully are “collected out from his Kingdom.”

The important point that we can keep in mind on the basis of this illustration is that each different thing that is mentioned in an illustration does not have any particular reference to the point where we can say, “this is that.” But all the details together create a particular situation, and this situation is the meaning of the illustration. This is seen in the first section below. I argue that all the details in the three illustrations in Jesus’ great prophecy about his presence and the conclusion of the system of things have the same message: “Continue to serve God faithfully, and keep on the watch because we do not know the day and hour when the Son of man is coming.”

The important point that is the common denominator in all illustrations that mention the Kingdom of the heavens or the Kingdom of God is stated in The Watchtower of November 15, 1967, page 685: Jesus’ illustrations of the kingdom of the heavens all have to do with persons who will be heirs with him in the heavenly kingdom.” This means that all these illustrations exclusively refer to the 144 000 members of the heavenly Kingdom. The members of the present Governing Body do not understand this, and they apply some of the illustrations to other persons and to other issues.

The illustrations about the Kingdom of the heavens/ the Kingdom of God can be subsumed under four basic themes, 1) Fulfill your Christian obligations, and keep on the watch so you are ready when the Son of man is coming. 2) The Kingdom of the heavens has a high value, 3) Spiritual Israel will be saved when the full number of Jews plus the full number of people of the nations are collected, 4) For many are called, but few are chosen.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS IN JESUS’ GREAT PROPHECY OF HIS PRESENCE AND THE CONCLUSION OF THE SYSTEM OF THINGS

According to Matthew 24:3, the apostles asked Jesus about the sign that would show that he had returned as king and were present and the conclusion of the system of things. Verses 3 to 22 refer to events that would occur in the first century CE until Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE, and similar but greater events that would occur in the conclusion of the system of things indicating that Jesus was present.

Verses 23 to 28 in chapter 24 refers to events that would occur between 70 CE and 1914 CE when the presence of Jesus started. Verses 29 to 51 in chapter 24 basically refers to events in connection with Jesus’ coming as the judge in the great tribulation at the end of his presence. Verses 1 to 46 in chapter 25 contain three illustrations that relate to the presence and coming of Jesus.

The mentioned four illustrations are the focus of this section, and I will apply the points above regarding which illustrations should be treated as prophecies and which ones cannot be treated as prophecies. The simple rule is that only when the text of an illustration or its context shows that the illustration is a prophecy can it be taken as such. Of the four illustrations, only the illustration about the sheep and the goats can be viewed as prophetic because it shows that particular events will happen in the time period after Jesus returned as king.

The members of the Governing Body do not understand the difference between illustrations that are prophetic and those that are not prophetic, and therefore they have caused much confusion. The Greek word erkhomai occurs 13 times in Matthew chapters 24 and 25, and The Watchtower of March 15, 2015, pages 12, applies eight of these occurrences to the coming of Jesus as the judge in the great tribulation. We read:

As was discussed in the July 15, 2013, issue of this journal, Jesus’ prophecy recorded in Matthew chapters 24 and 25 contains eight references to his “coming”; in each case, a form of the same Greek word is used. In every instance, Jesus was referring to the time during the great tribulation when he will come to carry out the judging work and then the destruction of this world system of things. Evidently, then, this parable applies during the last days, but its climax comes during the great tribulation.

Below we see the eight mentioned occurrences where the word erkhomai (translated “coming” and “arrival”) refers to the great tribulation, according to the members of the Governing Body:

Matthew 24:30 “They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds.”

Matthew 24:42 “You do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

Matthew 24:44 “At an hour that you do not think to be it, the Son of man is coming.”

Matthew 24:46 “Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so.”

Mathew 25:10 “While they were going off to buy, the bridegroom arrived

Matthew 25:19 “After a long time the master of those slaves came.”

Matthew 25:27 “On my arrival I would be receiving what is mine.”

Matthew 25:31 The Son of man arrives in his glory.”

We see that the subject of the verb “coming/arrival” is different. Only in three instances is “the Son of man” the subject. In the other instances, the subject is “lord, master, and bridegroom.” I will argue that only two of the occurrences of erkhomai where “the Son of man” is the subject refer to the great tribulation, that is Matthew 24:30, and 44. I argue that the occurrence in 25:31 where the Son of man is subject refers to the coming of Jesus Christ in 1914, at the beginning of his presence. The other five instances of erkhomai occur in the illustrations and have no prophetic references. I will start the discussion with the illustration of the five discreet and the five foolish virgins, where it is said in 25:10 that “the bridegroom arrived” (erkhomai).

THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE DISCREET AND FOOLISH VIRGINS

It is important to realize that each detail of the event that is described is based on real situations in ancient Israel. This means that none of these details has any prophetic significance. They are parts of the situation Jesus is describing, it is the whole situation that is significant. The message that Jesus wanted to convey to his listeners is expressed in the last verse: “Keep on the watch, therefore, because you know neither the day nor the hour.” Any attempt to try to apply any of the details of the illustration to modern events represents the mistreatment of the Holy Scriptures. The illustration is listed below:

Matt. 25:1-12 1 “Then the Kingdom of the heavens may be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were discreet. For the foolish took their lamps but took no oil with them,whereas the discreet took oil in their flasks along with their lamps. While the bridegroom was delaying, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.Right in the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here is the bridegroom! Go out to meet him.’Then all those virgins got up and put their lamps in order. The foolish said to the discreet, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are about to go out.’ The discreet answered, saying: ‘Perhaps there may not be enough for both us and you. Go instead to those who sell it, and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 While they were going off to buy it, the bridegroom came. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward, the rest of the virgins also came, saying, ‘Sir, Sir, open to us!’ 12 In answer he said, ‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you.’ 13“Keep on the watch, therefore, because you know neither the day nor the hour.

The interpretation of the illustration by the members of the Governing Body

The Watchtower of April 15, 1990, page 8, says:

JESUS has been answering his apostles’ request for a sign of his presence in Kingdom power. Now he provides further features of the sign in three parables, or illustrations.

The fulfillment of each illustration would be observable by those living during his presence. He introduces the first one with the words: “Then the kingdom of the heavens will become like ten virgins that took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were discreet.”

The claim of this quotation is not true. According to Matthew 24:3, the apostles asked Jesus for a sign of his presence and the conclusion of the system of things. The events Jesus mentioned in verses 4-22 represent this sign. This sign in miniature was seen in the 1st century CE, until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, And the real fulfillment has been seen since the year 1914. However, verses 23-28 refer to events between 70 CE and 1914, and verses 29-51 are dealing with the day and hour at the end of the presence of Jesus where he will come as the judge in the great tribulation. The claim that the illustration about the discreet and foolish virgins in 25:1-13 is a part of the sign of Jesus’ presence, therefore, is not true. This illustration shows the attitude his followers should have while they were waiting for Jesus’ coming in the great tribulation.

The article in The Watchtower that is quoted above said that the bridegroom pictures Jesus Christ, and the coming of the bridegroom according to verse 10, refers to the coming of Jesus as king in the year 1914. A new view of the way illustrations shall be interpreted was presented in The Watchtower of March 15, 2015, page 12:

3 We noted in the preceding article that over recent decades, the faithful slave has gradually come to explain the Scriptures with less emphasis on symbolic prophetic pictures and more on practical application. In the past, our literature at times assigned specific symbolic meanings even to small details of Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins, including the lamps, the oil, the flasks, and so forth. Is it possible, though, that we were allowing the spotlight to shift from the parable’s simple, urgent message? As we will see, the answer is of vital importance.

The argument that all the small details of an illustration should not be given a prophetic meaning is of course correct. And that the focus should be on the “parable’s simple urgent message” is imperative. But the problem is that this new system of interpretation is based on the same fundamental error as the old system of interpretation. This error is clearly seen in the new interpretation of the illustration of the discreet and the foolish virgins. Instead of only stressing the illustration’s “simple urgent message,” The Watchtower applies prophetic meaning to the main details of the illustration. But that is just as wrong as ascribing meaning to the small details of the illustration. When the context does not show that an illustration is a prophecy, no part of the illustration has prophetic meaning. The Watchtower of March 15, 2015, pages 12 and 13, says:

4 Let us take a look at Jesus’ basic message in this parable. First, consider the main characters. Who is the bridegroom of the parable? Clearly, Jesus was talking about himself. Why, on a different occasion, he even referred to himself as the bridegroom! (Luke 5:34, 35) What about the virgins? In the parable, Jesus says that the virgins have the responsibility to be ready with their lamps lit when the bridegroom arrives. Note the similar directions that Jesus gave to his “little flock” of anointed followers: “Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning, and you should be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage.” (Luke 12:32, 35, 36) Furthermore, both the apostle Paul and the apostle John were inspired to liken Christ’s anointed followers to chaste virgins. (2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 14:4) Clearly, Jesus intended the parable recorded at Matthew 25:1-13 as counsel and a warning to his anointed followers.

5 Next, consider the time frame. To what time period did Jesus’ counsel apply? Jesus supplies us with a clear time indicator toward the end of the parable: “The bridegroom came.” (Matt. 25:10) As was discussed in the July 15, 2013, issue of this journal, Jesus’ prophecy recorded in Matthew chapters 24 and 25 contains eight references to his “coming”; in each case, a form of the same Greek word is used. In every instance, Jesus was referring to the time during the great tribulation when he will come to carry out the judging work and then the destruction of this world system of things. Evidently, then, this parable applies during the last days, but its climax comes during the great tribulation.

6 What is the parable’s basic message? Remember the context. Jesus had just discussed his “faithful and discreet slave.” That slave would prove to be a small group of anointed men who would take the lead among Christ’s followers during the last days. Jesus warned those men that they must remain faithful. Next, he broadened his focus and gave this parable to admonish all his anointed followers in the last days to “keep on the watch” lest they miss out on their precious reward. (Matt. 25:13) Let us now go through the parable and see how the anointed have applied its counsel.

Both The Watchtower of April 15, 1990, and of March 15, 2015, agree that the bridegroom is a picture of Jesus Christ. But the former applies the coming of the bridegroom to the year 1914 while the latter applies it to the great tribulation. Both applications are wrong because the illustration is not a prophecy and the bridegroom is not a picture of Jesus Christ. Moreover, the claim of the article that all eight references of the word “coming” refer to the great tribulation is wrong as well, as I will show below.

Marriage in ancient Israel as the background for the illustration

The Jewish marriage consisted of two parts, the betrothal (the engagement) and the wedding. At the betrothal ceremony, a marriage contract was presented to the father of the bride. This was in reality a covenant, and it included the bride price and other provisions that the bridegroom had to make for the bride.

When the marriage covenant was made, the bridegroom left his beloved to go to his father’s house to prepare a wedding chamber for her. The time between the engagement and the wedding could be six months or even twelve months. The words of Jesus in John 14:2-4 are that of a bridegroom to his future bride. Jesus would take his bride to the room that he had prepared for her in his father’s house:

In the house of my Father are many dwelling places. Otherwise, I would have told you, for I am going my way to prepare a place for you. Also, if I go my way and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you home to myself, so that where I am you also may be. And where I am going, you know the way.”

A bride in ancient Israel did not know when the bridegroom would come and take her to the wedding chamber. It was the father of the bridegroom who decided when all was ready for the wedding. The bridegrooms in Israel usually came to get their brides late at night, often at midnight, and then someone would blow the horn (shofar) to mark the coming of the bridegroom. On the wedding day, the bridegroom would dress himself in a festive garment. He would proceed with his friend and other attendants to the house of the father of the bride. The virgins in the town would be outside waiting with their oil lamps lit until the shofar was blown and the cry, “The bridegroom is coming” was heard. They would then proceed with him to the entrance of the house of the bride’s father.

A small chariot was made for the bride. First in the procession to the home of the bridegroom was the bridegroom and the chariot with the bride. It began with a great celebration; the bridegroom, the bride, the friend of the bridegroom, the virgins, musicians, and many other friends and relatives would walk and dance, cast flowers, and sing songs. The bride was attired in her finest clothing, decked with jewels, and she carried a crown. The bride and the bridegroom would make cries of joy — “the sound of exultation and the sound of rejoicing, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride,” as we read in Jeremiah 33:11.

The procession with the wedding guests entered the house of the bridegroom, and the doors were shut.  The feast began with dancing and celebration lasting seven days, and all guests were given special garments for the feast. The bridegroom and bride were treated as king and queen, and they also wore special garments. They would take part in the festivities, drink wine, and join in the dancing.[1]

The basic point in the illustration

I have written this account of a wedding in ancient Israel in order to show that everything that Jesus spoke about in the illustration of the discreet and foolish virgins were taken from real weddings that Jesus and his followers were familiar with. The whole town would participate in the celebrations, but only those who were a part of the procession to the bridegroom’s house were the invited guests and would enter the house and participate in the festivities inside.

The ten virgins evidently were invited guests who should light their lamps and take part in the procession to the bridegroom’s house. When five of them did not take part in the procession, they were not invited into the house. The focus of Jesus was not on the bridegroom nor on the bride who was not mentioned. But the focus was on the ten virgins who were invited to the wedding, and that five of them were not allowed to participate in the wedding because they were foolish. So, the message of the illustration to those who are called and chosen to be heirs of the heavenly Kingdom is: “Fulfill your Christian obligations, and keep on the watch so you are ready when the Son of Man will be coming.”

The discussion above shows that the words in Matthew 25:10, “the bridegroom arrived” have nothing to do with Jesus Christ nor do they refer to the great tribulation. These words are just a part of the situation Jesus describes to show that the heirs of the Kingdom must keep on the watch.

[1]. https://www.jewishjewels.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Ancient_Jewish_Wedding.pdf. The study note in NWT13 at Matthew 25:1 confirms my account about weddings in ancient Israel.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE FAITHFUL AND DISCREET SLAVE

There is no other of Jesus’ illustrations that are more important for the members of the Governing Body than this illustration because it is the very basis for their authority. The mere fact that the members of the Governing Body rest their authority on an illustration is in itself questionable. However, the members of the Governing Body deny that the words about the faithful and discreet slave represent an illustration — they view these words as prophetic, as describing one trait of the sign of Christ’s presence. I will discuss this issue below and show what the members of the Governing Body do not understand.

Let us look at Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:45-47:

45 “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Happy is that slave if his master on coming finds him doing so! 47 Truly I say to you, he will appoint him over all his belongings.48 

These words do not look like an illustration, but very similar words represent a part of a bigger account in Luke chapter 12 that clearly is an illustration. And interestingly, the master who on coming would find the slave giving the domestics their food at the proper time is not a reference to Jesus Christ, as the members of the Governing Body believe. Below I compare the bigger account in Luke chapter 12 with the account in Matthew chapter 24.

Table 1:1 A comparison between Matthew 24:43-51 and Luke 12:35-48

MATTHEW 24:43-51 LUKE 12:35-48
 

42 Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.

45 “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Happy is that slave if his master on coming finds him doing so! 47 Truly I say to you, he will appoint him over all his belongings.48  “But if ever that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying,’ 49 and he starts to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards, 50 the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and in an hour that he does not know, 51 and he will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his place with the hypocrites. There is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be.

 

35 “Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning, 36 and you should be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage, so when he comes and knocks, they may at once open to him. 37 Happy are those slaves whom the master on coming finds watching! Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come alongside and minister to them. 38 And if he comes in the second watch, even if in the third, and finds them ready, happy are they! 3But know this, if the householder had known at what hour the thief would come, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also, keep ready, because at an hour that you do not think likely, the Son of man is coming.”

41 Then Peter said: “Lord, are you telling this illustration just to us or also to everyone?” 42 And the Lord said: “Who really is the faithful steward, the discreet one, whom his master will appoint over his body of attendants to keep giving them their measure of food supplies at the proper time? 43 Happy is that slave if his master on coming finds him doing so! 44 I tell you truthfully, he will appoint him over all his belongings. 45 But if ever that slave should say in his heart, ‘My master delays coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that slave will come on a day that he is not expecting him and at an hour that he does not know, and he will punish him with the greatest severity and assign him a part with the unfaithful ones. 

 

There can be no doubt that the account in Luke chapter 12 and Matthew 24 are parallels. This is seen by the red, blue, orange, and green text. The important point is that the account in Luke chapter 12 has a setting that is lacking in Matthew chapter 24. And this setting shows that the words in Matthew 24:45-47 are part of an illustration.

I have already shown that the words about the faithful and discreet slave are not a part of the sign of the presence of Jesus because this sign is described in verses 4-22 in Matthew chapter 24. That the words about the faithful and discreet slave also occur in Luke 12:42-44 confirms this because the sign of the presence of Jesus is not mentioned in this chapter.

Let us then look at the setting of the words about the slave in Luke chapter 12. Verses 35 to 38 is an illustration about a master of a group of slaves who is attending a wedding. Weddings in ancient Israel could last for seven days, and the illustration shows that the slaves would not know when the master returned from the wedding. The point in the illustration is that the slaves had to be awake and ready to open the door for the master regardless of which time he would return. In order to drive home his point Jesus tells another illustration about a householder who does not know when a thief would break into his house. Then Jesus stresses the points of both illustrations in verse 44: “You also, keep ready, because, at an hour that you do not think likely, the Son of man is coming.”

Please note that the master who would return from the wedding and the householder are persons in the illustrations, and therefore, they do not picture the Son of man. But the actions of the slaves of the master and of the householder illustrate the importance of the disciples of Jesus to be ready when the Son of man will return.

When Peter heard the illustration about the master and his slaves, he asked a question. The meaning of this question has been viewed differently because of the possible meanings of the Greek preposition pros. This preposition with the accusative can, according to Mounce, be rendered as “to; towards.” But it can also be rendered, “concerning; in respect to.” Because Jesus is speaking to his disciples and not to everyone, I think the meaning of pros as “concerning; in respect to” is the correct one. I, therefore, view the NIV rendering of Luke 12.41 as better than the NWT13 rendering: NIV says: “Peter said, “Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?” In other words, does this illustration refer to us disciples or to everyone?”

The pronoun “us” logically refers to the disciples of Jesus who are mentioned in 12:1, and “everyone” may refer to “a crowd of so many thousands” that are mentioned in the same verse. Peter refers to “this illustration” (parabolē), and the demonstrative pronoun “this” must refer to the illustration about the master and the slaves in verses 35 to 38. Thus, the question of Peter is whether the admonition to be ready to open the door for the master at any time only refers to the disciples.

Jesus does not answer Peter’s question directly but he tells another illustration that is formed as a question.:

“Who really is the faithful steward (oikonomos), the discreet one, whom his master will appoint over his body of attendants to keep giving them their measure of food supplies at the proper time?

The study note in NWT13 to Luke 12:42 has the following comments regarding the substantive “steward”:

steward: Or “house manager; house administrator.” The Greek word oi·ko·noʹmos refers to a person placed over servants, though he himself is a servant. In ancient times, such a position was often filled by a faithful slave who was placed in charge of his master’s affairs. Therefore, it was a position of great trust. Abraham’s servant “who was managing all [Abraham] had” was such a steward, or household manager. (Ge 24:2) This was also true of Joseph, as described at Ge 39:4. The “steward” in Jesus’ illustration is referred to in the singular, but this does not necessarily mean that the steward represented only one particular person. The Scriptures contain examples of a singular noun referring to a collective group, such as when Jehovah addressed the collective group of the Israelite nation and told them: “You are my witnesses [plural], . . . yes, my servant [singular] whom I have chosen.” (Isa 43:10) Similarly, this illustration refers to a composite steward. In the parallel illustration at Mt 24:45, this steward is called “the faithful and discreet slave.”

The explanation of the word “steward” is correct. But the last part of the quotation is an attempt to smuggle into the Scriptures the doctrine of Jehovah’s Witnesses about the superior position of the eight men in the Governing Body. But this attempt is amateurish because the clause, “Similarly, this illustration refers to a composite steward” is self-contradictory. It is correct that the words about “the faithful steward, the discreet one” represent an illustration. But the contradiction is the claim that the steward in the illustration is composite — the parts of the illustration only have a literal meaning.

The illustrations of Jesus consist of words that have literal references to a historical situation. The situation here is a household (oikos) with a master and a slave who is the steward or house administrator (oikonomos), as well as other slaves who have different duties in the household or are workers in the fields of the master. The meals in the household are at the same times every day (“the proper time”), and each slave will get a certain measure of the food supplies at each meal. The duty of the house administrator is to make the food ready at the proper time of the meals, so each slave gets his measure of the food.

The claim that the house administrator (oikonomos) is a “composite steward,” i.e., that there are two or more persons that are referred to as “the steward” is pure nonsense! This is an illustration in which Jesus used literal words to refer to a literal situation in historical time. What the person who wrote the note does is to treat the illustration as a prophecy, claiming that the faithful steward refers to several persons. But there are no clues in the context that this illustration is a prophecy. Moreover, to introduce a covert interpretation into an explanation of a Greek word, is to mislead the readers.

The background for these unscholarly comments is that the eight members of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that “the faithful steward, the discreet one,” is a prophetic reference to them, and that “the measure of food supplies” that should be given to each slave is a reference to the literature (spiritual food) that the members of the Governing Body publish. The words in the note are chosen to prepare the readers for this interpretation.

Let us then return to the illustrations of “the faithful steward, the discreet one” and “the thief that would come.” Jesus interpreted the illustration in the following way: “You also, keep ready, because, at an hour that you do not think likely, the Son of man is coming.” On the basis of these words, Peter asked whether the admonition to “keep ready” was meant only for the disciples of Jesus or for a greater audience.

Jesus did not answer this question directly, but he asked the question, “Who will it be?” “Who will be ready at the unlikely time for the coming of the Son of man?” In order to stress this question, Jesus connects it with another illustration that is quite similar to the illustrations of the master and the slaves. This illustration also includes the master of the house and his steward. The steward is in charge of the household, and his primary duty is to arrange the meals for the other slaves at the times decided by the master and to give each one “his measure of food supplies.”

Please keep in mind that this illustration represents a literal account of what happened in different households in Israel in the first century and that the illustration is not a part of the sign showing that Jesus had returned and was present. A steward who was doing his job by distributing the food to his fellow slaves at the meals was faithful and discreet. The contrast would be the steward who did not do his job but instead was beating his fellow slaves and ate the food supplies and drank so much wine that he became drunk.

This contrast between the two slaves would answer the question of Peter regarding the admonition to keep ready. Which steward was ready by doing his job when his master came? That would of course be the faithful steward, the discreet one. And now we better understand the reason why Jesus started his illustration with a question: “Who will prove to be like the faithful steward when his master comes? Jesus did not say that his admonition to keep ready only related to the disciples of Jesus whom Peter knew.

But he left the issue open: “Who will be ready?” In other words, any human being could prove to be faithful and discreet and, therefore, get the reward when his master came. The illustration of the five discreet and five foolish virgins that is discussed above relates to the Kingdom of the heavens, to persons who are heirs of the heavenly Kingdom. The illustrations that Jesus was telling according to Luke chapter 12 were not connected with the heavenly Kingdom. This means that being like the faithful slave, the discreet one, would be possible both for the anointed Christians with the heavenly hope and for those who according to the prophetic illustration in Matthew 25:31-46 should inherit the earthly Kingdom that God would create.

In order to understand the full force of Jesus’ illustrations in Luke chapter 12 and the similar illustrations in Matthew 24:42-51, we need to identify the master of the steward. This master does not refer to Jesus Christ, the Son of man. Why can we say that? Because of the personal pronoun his (autos) in the genitive, i.e., “his master.”  The master of the faithful steward in Luke 12:42 (the same as the faithful and discreet slave in Matthew 24:45) is the owner of the house (ho kyrios tēs oikias).

We can draw the same conclusion from Matthew 24:50. This is a part of a hypothetical situation because verse 48 starts with the words, “but if ever” (ean de eipē). If the slave becomes wicked, “the master of the slave” (ho kyrios tou dolou) will come and punish him. The coming of the Son of man in the great tribulation will be a real event that with certainty will happen. It does not make sense to portray a hypothetical situation and say that if the slave becomes wicked, Jesus, as the master of the slave will come and punish him. But true to the nature of the illustration, “the master of the slave” who will come if the situation turns out to be bad, must be “the master of the house.”

This conclusion is supported by the illustration in Mark 13:32-37:

32“Concerning that day or the hour nobody knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but the Father. 33Keep looking, keep awake, for you do not know when the appointed time is. 34 It is like a man traveling abroad who left his house and gave the authority to his slaves (doulos), to each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to keep on the watch. 35Keep on the watch, therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house (ho kyrios tēs oikias) is coming, whether late in the day or at midnight or before dawn or early in the morning, 36in order that when he comes suddenly, he does not find you sleeping. 37 But what I say to you, I say to all: Keep on the watch.”

This is an illustration that is similar to the one in Luke 12:35-38. Luke uses the designation “their master” (ton kyrion autōn) and Mark uses the designation “the master of the house” (ho kyrios tēs oikias). So, there can be no doubt that “his master” (ho kyrios autos) in Luke 12:42 and Matthew 24:45 refer to the master of the house and not to the Son of man, Jesus Christ.

But if this is correct, what is the relationship between the illustrations in Luke 12:35-48 and Matthew 24:43-51 and the coming of the Son of man as the judge in the great tribulation? The answer is found in Luke 12:40. “You also, keep ready, because, at an hour that you do not think likely, the Son of man is coming.” This is the only thing the illustration in Luke 12:35-38 about the slaves that should be watching shows. And this is the only thing that the illustration about the steward in Luke 12:42-44 who faithfully does his job whenever his master comes shows.

This means that the details of the illustrations do not have any prophetic meaning. But all the details portray the whole situation whose only purpose is to show the importance of the servants of God being occupied with Christian works and being ready and be watching when the Son of man comes in the great tribulation. Therefore, the claim that the faithful steward, the discreet one, and the faithful and discreet slave, picture a small group of eight men who will give others spiritual food at the proper time is a total misunderstanding of the words of Jesus.

I will now make a comparison, The verses of our interest are Matthew 24:45–47, and according to the context, the events described by these verses must occur during the great tribulation. These verses parallel Luke 12:42–46, and I will translate the verses and compare them:

Table 1.2 The translation of the words in Luke 12:42-44 and Matthew 24:45-46

Luke 12:42
Who then (tis ara) will be (estin, present) the faithful steward (oikonomos), the wise one, whom the Lord will appoint (kathistēmi, future) over his household of slaves (therapeia) in order to continue to give (didōmi, pres infin) their food allowance (sitometrion) at the appointed time (kairos)?
Matthew 24:45
Who then (tis ara) will be (estin, present) the faithful slave (doulos), even the wise one, whom the Lord will appoint (kathistēmi, aorist) over his household of slaves (oiketeia) in order to give (didōmi, aorist infin) their food (trofē) at the appointed time (kairos).
Luke 12:43, 44
43 Happy is that slave (doulos) whom the Lord will find (future) doing (present part) this when he comes (aorist part). 44 Truly I am telling (present) you that he will appoint him (kathistēmi, future) over all his belongings (hyparxō, pres part).
Matthew 24:46, 47
Happy is that slave (doulos) whom the Lord will find (future) doing (present part) this when he comes (aorist part). Indeed, I am telling (present) you that he will appoint him (kathistēmi, future) over all his belongings (hyparxō, pres part).

As we already have seen, the verses in Luke 12 and Matthew 24 are very similar. In Luke 12:42, the person is called “steward” (oikonomos), which refers to the slave who is in charge of the household of the master. This is confirmed in verse 43, where the steward is called “slave” (doulos). In the parallel in Matthew 24:45, the person is called “slave” (doulos). So the situation is exactly the same in both instances. The duties of such slaves were to arrange the meals and give the other slaves the food that they should have at the appointed times of the meals. Luke 12:42 uses the word “food allowance” (sitometrion)—what the slaves rightly should have—and Matthew 24:45 uses the word “food” (trofē). This word can also refer to a “portion,” so there is no real difference between the two words.

In the epithets of the slave, there is the conjunction kai (“and”) in Matthew. But this word is lacking in Luke. Literally, Matthew says: “who is the faithful slave and the wise (one).” In Greek, the conjunction kai needs not always be translated as “and.” In Galatians 5:16, for example, a good translation would be “even,” and I use this translation in Matthew 24:45.

In connection with the duty of the slave and his appointment, Luke uses the verb kathistēmi (“appoint”) in the future, while Matthew uses the same verb in the aorist. It is clear from the use of aorist in the Christian Greek Scriptures that it can refer to completed and uncompleted actions. Therefore, there is no linguistic reason to use English past tense or perfect for the aorist verb “appoint” in Matthew 24:45 and to use future in Luke 12:42.

The Greek form estin is the present form of the verb eimi (“to be”). Greek present is not a tense but the imperfective aspect, and it can be used for past, present, and future. Because Jesus asks a question about a situation that has not yet materialized, and he uses the future form kathistēmi, the temporal reference of estin must be future. Therefore, I translate “Who then will be the faithful steward/slave?” and not “Who then is the faithful steward/slave?”

Moreover, in Luke 12:35–40, Jesus admonishes his listeners to be ready. And as his reply to Peter’s question whether Jesus’ illustration only refers to the disciples or to all people, Jesus, in effect, asks: “Who will it be?” This means that each individual must decide, and the appointment as a steward must occur after the individual has made his or her decision. Because the words in Matthew 24:45–47 are very similar to the words in Luke 12:42–45, the setting must be the same, namely, who will be on the watch when Jesus comes.

This is confirmed by the words in Mark 13:33–37, which are very similar to the words in Luke 12:35–40. Thus, the appointment in Matthew 24:45, which is expressed by the aorist, must be future and not completed, just as it is in Luke 12:42.

Because Greek aorist is not a tense but only an aspect, the perfective one, it merely focuses on the action to appoint without any details visible as to manner and time, and the context shows that this action is future. This is exactly the same focus as Greek future. But a similar focus is made by different linguistic factors: In the case of the aorist, the aspect of the verb and the context indicate future reference, while in the other case, the future verb form alone and not the context indicates future reference.

One reason why it is easy to misunderstand the words in Matthew 24:45-47 about the faithful and discreet slave is that the context of these three verses is lacking in Matthew chapter 24. However, when we study the context of the similar words in Luke chapter 12, where we find the illustration of the slaves that should be watching for their mater’s return at any time, and that the words about the faithful and discreet slave represent the answer Jesus gave to Peter’s question, then we realize that the words about the faithful and discreet slave are not a prophecy but an illustration stressing the importance of being occupied with Christian works and being on the watch when Jesus comes in the great tribulation.

The “faithful and discreet slave” refers to any Christian who is faithful and keeping on the watch when Jesus comes as the judge in the great tribulation. It does not refer to a class or group that gives spiritual food during Christ’s presence.

The basic point of the illustration is: “Be occupied with Christian works, and keep on the watch because you do not know the day and hour when the Son of man is coming.”

In order to be complete, I also need to discuss the words “your Lord” in the two clauses in Matthew 24:42:

Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

Who is “your Lord” who is coming in this verse? At first glance, the reference seems to be to Jesus Christ because his coming is mentioned in Matthew 24:30, 39, 44. However, there are two problems with this view. The first problem is that when the coming of Jesus in the great tribulation is mentioned, the subject is always “the Son of man” and not “the lord,” The second problem is that the word “lord” (kyrios) is determined with the pronoun “your.”

When a substantive is determined in this way, there must be an antecedent, a particular reference. When the words “your lord” is used in a clause, there must be antecedents, i.e., both the persons referred to by “your” and “the lord” must be identified, usually before this mention, or in some instances afterward. But there are no such antecedents to “your lord” in the context. I suggest the following solution:

When we look at table 1:1, we see that the clauses, “Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming,” in Matthew 23:42 and “Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning,” in Luke 12:35 have the same green color.  The words “keep on the watch” and “be dressed and ready” have the same meaning, and, therefore, the two passages say the same thing. I have already pointed out that a part of the whole setting of the situation that is mentioned in Luke chapter 12 is lacking in Matthew 24. Because of this, I suggest the following changed setting:

Table 1.3 The comparison between the setting in Luke  chapter 12 and Matthew chapter 24

 

Matthew 24:35 [Luke 12:36-38] Matthew 24:43-44

42 Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord (kyrios) is coming. [ and you should be like men waiting for their master (kyrios) to return from the marriage, so when he comes and knocks, they may at once open to him. 37 Happy are those slaves whom the master (kyrios) on coming finds watching! Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come alongside and minister to them. 38 And if he comes in the second watch, even if in the third, and finds them ready, happy are they!] 43 “But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.

Luke 12:35-40

35 “Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning, 36 and you should be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage, so when he comes and knocks, they may at once open to him. 37 Happy are those slaves whom the master on coming finds watching! Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come alongside and minister to them. 38 And if he comes in the second watch, even if in the third, and finds them ready, happy are they! 39 But know this, if the householder had known at what hour the thief would come, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also, keep ready, because at an hour that you do not think likely, the Son of man is coming.”

 

I have moved the text in verses 36 to 38 in Luke chapter 12 to a position after verse 42 and before verse 43 in Matthew 24. If this new setting is correct, “your master” in Matthew 24:42 has a clear antecedent. The reference of “lord” (kyrios) in Matthew 23:42 is to “the master” (kyrios) in Luke 12:36, 37. This understanding will solve both the problems that I have outlined above.

I would like to mention the word “therefore” (oun) in Matthew 24:42. It could seem to refer to verses 37 to 41 in Matthew chapter 24. But it is more likely that oun refers to the following text. The reason why the persons should keep on watch should be that they did not know the time or hour.

I would like to stress that my suggestion is not an attempt to add anything to the text in Matthew chapter 24. But just as I show there is a setting in Luke chapter 12 for the words about the faithful and discreet slave in Matthew 24:45-47, a setting that is not written in Matthew chapter 24, the setting in Luke chapter 12 may also be applied to Matthew 24:42.

THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE TALENTS

This is the second illustration in Matthew chapter 25, and below are verses 14-30:

14 “For it is just like a man about to travel abroad who summoned his slaves and entrusted his belongings to them. 15 He gave five talents to one, two to another, and one to still another, to each according to his own ability, and he went abroad.16 Immediately the one who received the five talents went and did business with them and gained five more. 17 Likewise, the one who received the two gained two more. 18 But the slave who received just one went off and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.19 “After a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 So the one who had received the five talents came forward and brought five additional talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me; see, I gained five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master. 22 Next the one who had received the two talents came forward and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me; see, I gained two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’24 “Finally the slave who had received the one talent came forward and said: ‘Master, I knew you to be a demanding man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not winnow. 25 So I grew afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 In reply his master said to him: ‘Wicked and sluggish slave, you knew, did you, that I reaped where I did not sow and gathered where I did not winnow? 27  Well, then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my coming I would have received it back with interest.28 “‘Therefore, take the talent away from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30 And throw the good-for-nothing slave out into the darkness outside. There is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be.’

The members of the governing body treat the illustration as a prophecy

As the members of the Governing Body do with the other illustrations in Matthew chapters 24 and 25, the basic parts of this illustration are treated as prophecies as well. The Watchtower of March 15, 2015, page 20, says:

4 Read Matthew 25:14-30. Our publications have long explained that the man, or the master, in the illustration is Jesus and that he traveled abroad when he ascended to heaven in 33 C.E. In an earlier parable, Jesus reveals his purpose of traveling abroad, namely, “to secure kingly power for himself.” (Luke 19:12) Jesus did not immediately secure full Kingdom power when he got back to heaven. Instead, he “sat down at the right hand of God, from then on waiting until his enemies should be placed as a stool for his feet.”​—Heb. 10:12, 13.

5 The man in the illustration possessed eight talents, a huge fortune in those days. Before traveling abroad, he distributed the talents among his slaves, expecting them to do business while he was gone. Like that man, Jesus possessed something of great value before he ascended to heaven. What was that? The answer has to do with his life’s work…

7 What, then, may we conclude? When giving his followers the commission to make disciples, Jesus was, in effect, committing to them “his belongings”​—his talents. (Matt. 25:14) Put simply, the talents refer to the responsibility to preach and make disciples

9 In the time of the end, particularly from 1919 on, Christ’s faithful anointed slaves on earth have been doing business with the Master’s talents. Like the first two slaves, anointed brothers and sisters have done their best with what they have. There is no need to speculate about who received the five talents and who received the two talents. In the illustration, both slaves doubled what the master gave them, so both were equally diligent. What role do those with the earthly hope play? An important one! Jesus’ illustration of the sheep and the goats teaches us that those with the earthly hope have the honor of loyally supporting Jesus’ anointed brothers in the preaching and teaching work. During these critical last days, the two groups work together as “one flock” in zealously carrying out the work of making disciples.​—John 10:16

11 Jesus will come to settle accounts with his slaves toward the end of the great tribulation just ahead. What leads us to this conclusion? In his prophecy recorded in Matthew chapters 24 and 25, Jesus repeatedly mentioned his coming. Referring to the judgment during the great tribulation, he said that people “will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven.” He urged his followers living in the last days to be vigilant, saying: “You do not know on what day your Lord is coming” and “the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not think to be it.” (Matt. 24:30, 42, 44) Hence, when Jesus said that “the master of those slaves came and settled accounts,” he was evidently referring to the time when he will come to execute judgment at the end of this system ​—Matt. 25:19

16 What two lessons do we learn from the parable of the talents? First, the Master, Christ, has entrusted his anointed slaves with something that he views as precious​—the commission to preach and make disciples. Second, Christ expects all of us to be diligent in the preaching work. If we are, we can be sure that the Master will reward our faith, vigilance, and loyalty.​—Matt. 25:21,23, 34.

The members of the Governing Body compare this illustration with the illustration of the minas in Luke 19:11-27. The illustration of the minas deals with the Kingdom of God and a man of noble birth who traveled to a distant land to secure kingly power for himself and then return. This must be a prophecy of Jesus who would return from heaven as king in the Kingdom of God. The members of the Governing Body view the two illustrations as parallel and apply the prophetic nature of the illustration in Luke chapter 19 to the illustration in Matthew chapter 25.

But this is hardly warranted because there are great differences. Matthew only speaks of a man who traveled abroad and who settled the accounts with his servants when he returned. This illustration resembles the one in Luke 12:35-38 about the man who returned from a marriage and the servants who would open for him, and the illustration in Luke 12:42-44 and Matthew 24:45-47 about the faithful steward, the discreet one, who faithfully did his job and was giving the slaves their portions of food at the meals when his master came. Because there is no time frame or anything in the context indicating that the illustration about the talents is a prophecy, we cannot treat it as such.

The meaning of the illustration

The illustrations of Jesus that are not prophecies, and those that are not interpreted by Jesus, often express only one important point. For example, the important point expressed by the illustration of the faithful and discreet slave and the wicked slave in Matthew 24:46-51 is: “Fulfill your Christian obligations and jeep on the watch so you are ready when the Son of Man is coming.” The important point in the illustration about the discreet and foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 is: “Keep on the watch because we do not know the day and hour.” What is the important point in the illustration about the talents?

The illustration of the talents has several traits that are similar to the illustration of the faithful and discreet slave and the wicked slave. In this illustration, the faithful and discreet slave is portrayed as the steward of the master of the house, and he is faithfully doing his work of giving the other slaves the portion of food that they deserve. Because of this, the slave was rewarded by the master when he returned. The contrast is the wicked slave who beats his fellow slaves and drinks with the confirmed drunkards. He is punished with the greatest severity and is assigned to the place of the hypocrites, where the weeping and gnashing of his teeth will be.

In the illustration of the talents, two of the slaves had faithfully been doing their job, and they had doubled the talents that they received. Because of this, they were rewarded by the master when he returned. The slave who had received one talent had not worked faithfully with this talent and had not earned anything. This slave was punished by being thrown into the darkness outside where the weeping and gnashing of his teeth will be.

There is a clear parallel between the two illustrations. But there is a difference between the actions of the two servants that are punished. Beating his fellow slaves and drinking with the drunkards clearly are wicked actions. Therefore, this slave is said to be “wicked” in Matthew 24:48. The Greek word is kakos, and according to Mounce the meaning is “bad, of a bad quality or disposition, worthless, corrupt, depraved.” However, failing to do business with a sum of money will in our modern eyes seem to be a sin of negligence rather than a sin of wickedness.

However, in Matthew 25:26, this slave is called “wicked.” The Greek word is poneros, and according to Mounce the meaning is, “bad, unsound, evil, afflictive.” This is a strongly negative word, and it is used in 1 Corinthians 5:13 about persons who are permeated by wicked actions and who should be disfellowshipped from the Christian congregation. Each slave was given the number of talents “according to his own ability,” according to 25:15. The Greek word that is translated as “ability” is dynamis, and according to Mounce the meaning is “power, strength, ability.” The marginal references in NWT13 to “ability” are Matthew 22:27 (above) and Colossians 3:23 (below):

37 He said to him: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’

23 Whatever you are doing, work at it whole-souled as for Jehovah, and not for men.

The point of Jesus seems to be that the slave who received one talent did not work with this treasure in a whole-souled way. Just as the faithful and discreet slave who was doing his job when his master arrived, Jehovah expected that the slave who received one talent should faithfully do his job according to his own ability. But he did not do that, and therefore he was said to be “wicked.”

The words of Matthew 25:29 fit with the idea of being whole-souled:

29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

These words of Jesus may be better understood in the light of the words in John 15:1, 2:

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. He takes away every branch in me not bearing fruit, and he cleans every one bearing fruit, so that it may bear more fruit.

On the basis of the analysis above, the main point of the illustration about the talents is the same as the main point of the illustration of the faithful and discreet slave and the wicked slave: “Fulfill your Christian obligations, and keep on the watch so you are ready when the Son of Man will be coming.” That three illustrations in the same context express the same point in no way is strange because Jesus evidently told the illustrations at different times. Moreover, the basic idea of all the accounts about the coming of Jesus and his presence is: “Keep awake!”, as we see in Luke 21:34-36:

34 “But pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you 35 as a snare. For it will come upon all those dwelling on the face of the whole earth. 36 Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that must occur and in standing before the Son of man.”

The basic point of the illustration is: “Fulfill your Christian obligations, and keep on the watch so you are ready when the Son of man is coming.”

THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS

There is one more illustration in the great prophecy of the presence and coming of Jesus, and that is the illustration about the sheep and the goats. This illustration has a time setting, and therefore it is also a prophecy. I have discussed this illustration in detail in the article, “For many are called but few are chosen” —  what the members of the Governing Body do not understand.”

A cornerstone in the understanding of the members of the Governing Body as to the purpose of the worldwide preaching of the Kingdom is that this preaching will separate all humans into two classes. Those who accept the Kingdom message will get everlasting life, and all other persons will be eternally annihilated in the great tribulation. This is a false understanding, and I show this in detail in the articles, “The governing Body’s new view of the resurrection is contradicted by the Scriptures,” and “The members of the Governing Body have devalued and restricted the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ.”

The purpose of the Christian congregations in the first century CE was to gather persons who wanted to serve God to be heirs of the heavenly Kingdom. Most of the persons at that time who were not called and selected will get a resurrection in the thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ. Then they will get a personal possibility to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. The purpose of the Christian congregations in the 20th and 21st centuries CE is to gather persons who want to serve God so the number of 144 000 heirs of the heavenly Kingdom will be full. The purpose is also to gather persons who want to serve God to be heirs of the earthly Kingdom that will start with the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of Jehovah’s Witnesses is not to separate all humans into two groups, the Witnesses who will get everlasting life, and all others who will be eternally annihilated. But the purpose is to gather the rest of spiritual Israel of 144 000 members and persons who will be the foundation of the earthly Kingdom that God will create after the great tribulation. Most persons who live when Jesus comes as the judge in the great tribulation have not had the chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. Therefore, they will either survive the great tribulation or get a resurrection

The sheep in the illustration are those who will be heirs of the earthly kingdom. But the goats are not the eight billion or more other people on earth. But the goats are persons who either were members of a Christian congregation or had a close relationship with the Christian congregations but who rejected the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Most of the eight billion people who live today will either survive the great tribulation or more likely, they will get a resurrection from the dead and get the opportunity in the Thousand Year Reign to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice.

The basic point of the illustration of the sheep and the goats is again “Fulfill your Christian obligations and keep on the watch so you are ready when the Son of Man is coming.” This point is exclusively directed to persons with the hope of eternal life in the coming earthly paradise.

THE CONCLUSION OF THE FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE GREAT PROPHECY OF JESUS

The best way to have an overview of the four illustrations is to consider the eight instances that refer to the coming of Jesus in the great tribulation:

Matthew 24:30 “They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds.”

Matthew 24:42 “You do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

Matthew 24:44 “At an hour that you do not think to be it, the Son of man is coming.

Matthew 24:46 “Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so.”

Mathew 25:10 “While they were going off to buy, the bridegroom arrived 

Matthew 25:19 “After a long time the master of those slaves came.”

Matthew 25:27 “On my arrival I would be receiving what is mine.”

Matthew 25:31 The Son of man arrives in his glory.”

In three instances, the subject of the word coming (erkhomai) is “the Son of man.” I have argued that the two first examples (Matthew 24:30. 44) refer to the coming of Jesus as the judge in the great tribulation. The last example (Matthew 25:31) refers to the coming of Jesus at the beginning of his presence in the year 1914. The “coming” in the other six examples does not refer to the Son of man but to the coming of the master, the bridegroom, and the lord in the illustrations told by Jesus.

The conclusion is therefore that the members of the Governing Body do not understand the purpose and meaning of the illustrations of Jesus.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN HAS A HIGH VALUE

I will now discuss five illustrations that focus on the value of the Kingdom of the heavens, though seen from different angles.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE TREASURE IN THE FIELD AND THE PEARL OF A HIGH VALUE

The first two illustrations have simple constructions, and the comments of The Watchtower are simple as well, without any additions that have no basis in the text.

Matthew 13:44-46 44 “The Kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure, hidden in the field, that a man found and hid; and because of his joy, he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. 45 Again the Kingdom of the heavens is like a traveling merchant seeking fine pearls. 46 Upon finding one pearl of high value, he went away and promptly sold all the things he had and bought it.

The Watchtower of December 15, 2014, page 10 said:

16 Read Matthew 13:44-46. What is the meaning of the illustration about the traveling merchant and that of the hidden treasure? In Jesus’ day, some merchants would travel as far as the Indian Ocean to obtain the finest pearls. The merchant in this illustration represents righthearted people who go to great lengths to satisfy their spiritual needs. The “one pearl of high value” pictures the precious truth of the Kingdom. Having recognized the value of that pearl, the merchant was willing to sell “promptly” all the things he had so that he could buy it. Jesus also spoke of a man who was working in a field and found “hidden” treasure. Unlike the merchant, this man was not searching for treasure. But like the merchant, he was willing to sell “everything” in order to obtain the treasure.

17 Why did Jesus give those two parables? He was showing that the truth is found in different ways. Some people are searching for it and have gone to great lengths to find it. Others, although not searching for it, have found it​—perhaps by having it brought to them. Whatever the case, each man recognized the value of what he had found and was willing to make huge sacrifices to get ahold of it.

The comments show correctly that the truth about the Kingdom of the heavens has a high value, and sincere persons are willing to make huge sacrifices to become a part of this Kingdom.  The comments that some are searching for the truth of God and others find this truth without searching for it are also logical.

THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE MUSTARD GRAIN THAT BECAME A TREE

The comments of The Watchtower of the following illustration are speculative and do not have any basis in the text or its context.

Matthew 13:31-32: He presented another illustration to them, saying: “The Kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard grain that a man took and planted in his field. 32 It is, in fact, the tiniest of all the seeds, but when it has grown, it is the largest of the vegetable plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and find lodging among its branches.”

This illustration is also found in Luke 13:18, 19, and Mark 4:30-32, and the words are almost the same. This illustration has been explained in different ways.

Man’s Salvation out of World Distress at Hand, pages 206, and 207, says:

4 “The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard grain, which a man took and planted in his field; which is, in fact, the tiniest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the largest of the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and find lodging among its branches.”​—Matthew 13:31, 32;  Mark 4:30-32.

5 In this parable, Jesus Christ was referring to “the kingdom of the heavens” with its counterfeit in mind. This was not strange, for, in the parable just preceding this one, he illustrated how imitation Christians in great numbers would be produced. He, like the sower of the fine wheat seed in the field, was sowing the figurative “fine seed,” the “sons of the kingdom.” However, as, in the parable, the enemy came by night when men slept and oversowed the same field with weed seed, or bearded darnel seed, so later on, when baptized professing Christians did not keep awake and on the watch against the invasion of error and pretenders, Satan the Devil would sow imitation Christians in among the true “sons of the kingdom.” This would call for a separation of the true from the false at God’s appointed time, in the “conclusion of the system of things,” where we find ourselves today.​—Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43; compare Mt 13 verses 47-50. 6 The Lord Jesus Christ did not expect and did not predict world conversion to true Christianity. He did not predict that all the world of mankind would one day become “sons of the kingdom” in fact. To the prospective “sons of the kingdom,” he said: “Your Father knows you need these things. Nevertheless, seek continually his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Have no fear, little flock, because your Father has approved of giving you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:30-32) About sixty-five years after the giving of the parable of the mustard seed, the resurrected, glorified Jesus Christ transmitted a revelation to the apostle John and plainly stated that the “sons of the kingdom,” the spiritual Israelites, would number twelve times twelve thousand. Compare this with the present-day membership of Christendom, or 144,000 compared with 967,793,450.​—Revelation 7:4-8.

7 So Jesus Christ well knew that true Christianity, “the kingdom of the heavens,” was not to become a figurative “tree,” on the branches of which the birds could lodge or under which they could find ample shadow. In the earlier parable on the four types of soil upon which the fine seed, picturing the “word of the kingdom,” is sown, Jesus brought birds into the picture. Whom did he explain those “birds” to be like? “The wicked one,” “the Devil.” That is to say, the earthly agents of the wicked Devil. (Matthew 13:1-8, 18-23; Luke 8:4-8, 11-15Mark 4:15 calls him Satan. Reasonably, then, birds mentioned in the same context, in the same series of parables, would picture similar things. So the birds that find lodging in the mustard tree would picture the agents of the “wicked one,” “Satan the Devil.” They would correspond with the “weeds,” the imitation wheat, in the parable of the wheat and the weeds. They are the “sons of the wicked one.”

8 It is the fake “kingdom of the heavens,” the counterfeit, namely, Christendom, that is filled with these symbolic birds, “the sons of the wicked one.” Today it is big enough to hold them all. In the parable, the “man” that sowed the mustard grain pictures the “wicked one,” Satan the Devil. Outstandingly in the fourth century C.E. Satan the Devil planted or specially cultivated this symbolic “mustard grain” of contaminated, adulterated, imitation Christianity. He did so by then using a man who became the leading politician of the Roman Empire, namely, Constantine the Great. In 312 C.E. this bloodstained army man professed to be converted to Christianity, really, though, to the apostate Christianity of his day as professed by soldiers in the army. This ambitious man conquered his political rivals and gained the position of emperor of the Roman Empire. In this capacity he acted as the Pontifex Maximus or chief priest of the pagan Roman religion. He held onto this pagan religious title and position and authority despite claiming to be a Christian.

The Watchtower of October 1, 1975, pages 595-97, says:

4 Here we are now, in this year 1975, and the big question is, What does that grown mustard-seed tree picture? Babylon the Great, say the above-quoted two issues of the Watch Tower magazine. They do not say that this vegetable tree pictures the Kingdom class of 144,001 enthroned Christians in heavenly power. But what must we of today say? For one thing, we must bear in mind that this illustration of the mustard grain does not present a millennial picture, to show the final number of the Kingdom class reigning in heavenly glory and with all mankind taking refuge under this Messianic kingdom. It does not present a heavenly scene with regard to the heirs of the “kingdom of the heavens.” It pictures an earthly state of affairs at a particular period of time.

11 All things taken into account, it is apparent that the symbolic mustard-seed “tree” of today is the counterfeit “kingdom of the heavens,” namely, Christendom, with her clergy lording it over the laity. The full-grown “tree” could not consistently picture the remnant on earth today of the sealed spiritual Israelites, for these are merely a fraction, not the full numerical growth of the 144,000 Kingdom heirs. In fact, for more than twenty-seven years the spiritual remnant has been getting fewer in number. At the Memorial celebration of 1975 their number had dropped to 10,454.

God’s Kingdom Rules! (2014), page 90, says:

11 The parable of the mustard grain. A man plants a mustard grain. It then grows into a tree in which birds find shelter. (Read Matthew 13:31, 32.) What aspects of the growth of the seed are highlighted in this parable? (1) The extent of the growth is amazing. “The tiniest of all the seeds” becomes a tree with “great branches.” (Mark 4:31, 32) (2) Growth is assured. “When [the seed] has been sown, it grows.” Jesus does not say, “It may grow.” No, he states: “It grows.” Its growth is unstoppable. (3) The growing tree attracts visitors and provides lodging. “The birds of heaven come” and “find lodging under its shadow.”

12 (1) Extent of growth: The parable highlights the growth of the Kingdom message and the Christian congregation. Since 1919, zealous harvest workers have been gathered into the restored Christian congregation. At that time, the number of workers was small, but it grew rapidly. In fact, its growth from the early 1900’s to today has been phenomenal. (Isa. 60:22) (2) Assurance: The growth of the Christian congregation has been unstoppable. No matter how many layers of rocklike opposition God’s enemies placed upon the tiny seed, it kept growing​—pushing aside all obstacles. (Isa. 54:17(3) Lodging: “The birds of heaven” that find lodging in the tree represent many millions of righthearted individuals from some 240 lands who have responded to the Kingdom message by becoming part of the Christian congregation. (Ezek. 17:23) There they receive spiritual food, refreshment, and protection.​—Isa. 32:1, 2; 54:13.

The explanation of the illustration of the mustard grain in the 20th century is the diametrical opposite of the explanation from the year 2008 onward. In the 20th century, the view that the tree that grew up from the mustard grain was the counterfeit Kingdom of God, namely Christendom. And the birds that found lodging among the branches of the tree represent “the sons of the wicked one.”

One argument in favor of the view that the tree is the counterfeit Kingdom was: “So Jesus Christ well knew that true Christianity, “the kingdom of the heavens,” was not to become a figurative “tree,” on the branches of which the birds could lodge or under which they could find ample shadow.” But the present view is the opposite, that the tree “highlights the growth of the Kingdom message and the Christian congregation.”

Why could the explanations be so different? Because there is nothing in the illustration or in its context that suggest that the different parts of the illustration have a prophetic meaning. The reason is also that there is a common view behind the diametrically different explanations. This is seen in The Watchtower of October 1, 1975, page 595, § 4: “It [the illustration of the mustard grain] does not present a heavenly scene with regard to the heirs of the “kingdom of the heavens.” It pictures an earthly state of affairs at a particular period of time.”

Both explanations assume that the illustration pictures an earthly state of affairs and not a situation related to the heirs of the Kingdom of the heavens. This is a clearly wrong view because all the illustrations that include the words “the Kingdom of heaven/the Kingdom of God” focus on the heirs of the Kingdom.

Jesus used situations from the daily life of the people, and he described these situations with different details. It is important to note that each detail of a situation in most illustrations does not have a prophetic reference. For example, the illustration about the master who hired workers for his vineyard (Matthew 20:1-15) has many details. But each detail does not have a prophetic meaning, but the whole account stresses only one important truth: “the last ones will be first, and the first ones last” (verse 16).

On this background, let us look at the illustration one time more. Jesus used different illustrations at different times. Because of this, several illustrations describing different situations stress the same point. It seems to me that the illustration of the mustard grain stresses exactly the same point as the illustrations of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of a high value. Both illustrations show the high value of the Kingdom of the heavens for persons who are called to the Kingdom. Neither the pearl, nor the treasure, the field, or the things that both sold have any prophetic value, these things are the parts of each situation indicating the high value of the Kingdom of the heavens.

In a similar way, the illustration of the mustard grain that became a tree with birds lodging among its branches describes a situation that was known to those who listened to Jesus. And this situation may illustrate the high value of the Kingdom of the heavens for persons who are called to the Kingdom. The illustrations of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of a high value show that the persons were willing to give all they had for the Kingdom. The illustration of the mustard grain that grew into a tree may illustrate the high personal value the Kingdom of the heavens has for those who find the Kingdom truth. When a person finds the truth about the Kingdom, it may seem as insignificant as a tiny grain. But this tiny grain grows to a big tree of great value because its fruits and seeds can serve as food. A person who is called to the Kingdom of the heavens will not immediately anticipate the full value of the Kingdom. But when the person is chosen by God as a Kingdom heir, he or she experiences the high value of his or her special relationship with God. And when the person is resurrected to heavenly life the tiny mustard seed has really become a big tree.

The advantage of the explanation above is that the focus is on the heirs of the Kingdom and the personal value that the Kingdom has for them. And this accords with the focus of all the illustrations of Jesus about the Kingdom of the heavens/the Kingdom of God, namely, the situations of those who are called and chosen by God. The advantage is also that the explanation does not add anything to the Word of God by guessing that the tree and the birds have a prophetic application.

THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE LEAVEN

The illustration of the leaven has the same structure as the illustration of the mustard grain.

Matthew 13:33: 33 He told them another illustration: “The Kingdom of the heavens is like leaven that a woman took and mixed with three large measures of flour until the whole mass was fermented.”

Man’s Salvation out of World Distress at Hand, pages 211, and 212, says:

10 According to Matthew 13:33, immediately after the parable of the mustard grain Jesus Christ gave another illustration to show something further about the imitation “kingdom of the heavens.” We read: “Another illustration he spoke to them: ‘The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three large measures of flour, until the whole mass was fermented.’” (Also, Luke 13:18-21) How, now, has this illustration been fulfilled?

11 Leaven, in Bible times, was a piece of sour dough that had been preserved and that was added to a new batch of dough to make it ferment and form gas bubbles that would leaven or lighten the whole mass. The fermentation is really a breaking-down process, a corrupting, so that it often causes spoilage. For this reason it is generally used in the Holy Scriptures in a bad way figuratively. For instance, the unbelieving Pharisees and Sadducees were purveyors of spiritual leaven, regarding which Jesus told his disciples: “Watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” The disciples grasped this to mean the “teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:6-12) According to Luke 12:1, Jesus told his disciples: “Watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” This doctrinal and ritualistic leaven could also have a political tinge, as represented by the Jewish party followers of King Herod; so that Jesus said: “Keep your eyes open, look out for the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”​—Mark 8:15.

14 Like literal leaven or yeast, figurative leaven causes a souring of a religious organization. It is an agency that corrupts religiously. It is prepared by Satan the Devil, and he uses earthly human agents to introduce the figurative leaven into a clean religious organization with the design of corrupting it and making it unfit for God’s use and making it a reproach or discredit to God. In a letter written about thirty-one years after the founding of the true Christian congregation on the day of Pentecost in 33 C.E., the apostle Peter warned against such an insertion of religious leaven among the congregation, saying:

20 In this manner Christendom was founded, and, during the centuries since, it has grown to be what it is today. It is a huge religious mass today, and yet, from a bit of religious “leaven” kneaded into the organization at its beginning, it has become thoroughly leavened with paganism, worldliness, badness, wickedness, traditions of men, hypocrisy, doctrines of demons. Christendom made herself a part of Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion, and has grown to be the dominant single unit in that religious empire. (Revelation 17:3-6) The name Christendom may give the idea that her religious members are destined for the heavenly kingdom at their death. But today, more than at any time previous, Christendom is full of the “works of the flesh,” and what these works are and whether they are the basis for admission into the heavenly kingdom is stated by the apostle Paul:

The Watchtower of December 15, 2008, page 9, says:

10 Read Matthew 13:33. What is the meaning of the illustration of the leaven? This illustration also refers to the Kingdom message and what it produces. “The whole mass” of flour represents all the nations, and the fermenting process pictures the spread of the Kingdom message by means of the preaching work. Whereas the growth of the mustard grain is clearly observable, the spreading of the leaven is initially unseen. It is not until some time later that the effects become evident.

As in connection with the explanation of the illustration of the mustard grain, the views of the members of the Governing Body in the 20th and 21st centuries are mutually exclusive. Both explanations are nothing but judicious guessing because there are no clues in the text of the illustration or its context that can support any of the explanations.

However, the illustration is quite similar to the illustration of the mustard grain — something small that grows into something that is big and valuable. Because all the illustrations about the Kingdom of the heavens exclusively deal with different sides of the individuals who are called to be Kingdom heirs, the natural explanation is the same as in the case of the mustard grain.  When a person finds the truth about the Kingdom, it may seem as insignificant as a lump of leaven. But this lump ferments the measures of flour and the result is something valuable, something that can be used for bread baking. A person who is called to the Kingdom of the heavens will not immediately anticipate the full value of the Kingdom. But when the person is chosen by God as a Kingdom heir, he or she experiences the high value of his or her special relationship with God. And when the person is resurrected to heavenly life the real value of the lump of leaven is experienced.

THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE MAN CASTING THE SEED

This is the fifth illustration of Jesus that stresses the high value of the Kingdom of God for persons that are called to become Kingdom heirs.

Mark 4:26-29 26 So he went on to say: “In this way the Kingdom of God is just as when a man casts seeds on the ground. 27 He sleeps at night and rises up by day, and the seeds sprout and grow tall—just how, he does not know. 28 On its own the ground bears fruit gradually, first the stalk, then the head, finally the full grain in the head. 29 But as soon as the crop permits it, he thrusts in the sickle, because the harvesttime has come.”

The interpretations of this illustration by the members of the Governing Body have also differed. Let Your Kingdom Come, pages 98, and 99, says:

5 Alone of the Gospels, Mark’s account follows up this parable of the “sower” with an illustration involving a different “sower.” Just before giving this illustration, Jesus told his disciples in private: “Pay attention to what you are hearing.” Then he tied in the parable, saying:

“In this way the kingdom of God is just as when a man casts the seed upon the ground, and he sleeps at night and rises up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows tall, just how he does not know.” (Mark 4:24-27)

Obviously, this “man” is not the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, for the latter no longer needs an earthly night’s sleep. Nor would it be correct to say that the Son of God, who worked with his Father in creating all things, “does not know” how growth takes place. (Colossians 1:16) So in the context we can appreciate that the “man” has reference to the individual Christian who should be ‘paying attention’ to matters related to “the kingdom of God.”

6 Each “sower” should watch with what personality traits he is sowing, and also the environment in which he sows. Without our being aware of it, the development of our personality may be influenced for good or for bad, according to the “ground” or kind of people among whom we associate as we seek to develop Christian qualities​—be that inside or outside the congregation. (Compare 1 Corinthians 15:33.) Finally, “the full grain” will appear in the head, and we will harvest accordingly. (Mark 4:28, 29) How important that those of the “little flock,” and indeed all who reach out for everlasting life in God’s Kingdom arrangement, watch what and where they sow with regard to the developing of Christlike personalities!​—Ephesians 4:17-24; Galatians 6:7-9.

The Watchtower of July 15, 2008, pages 25, 16, presents a new interpretation. The growth of the seed pictures how Jehovah makes the Kingdom truth grow in the hearts of the disciples.

16 What point was Jesus making here? Notice that the emphasis is on growth and on the gradual way in which it occurs. “Of its own self the ground bears fruit gradually, first the grass-blade, then the stalk head, finally the full grain in the head.” (Mark 4:28) This growth occurs gradually and in stages. It cannot be forced or speeded up. The same is true of spiritual growth. This occurs in stages as Jehovah allows the truth to grow in the heart of a person who is rightly disposed.​—Acts 13:48; Heb. 6:1.

17 How does the sower take part in the harvest “as soon as the fruit permits it”? When Jehovah makes the Kingdom truth grow in the hearts of new disciples, they eventually come to the point where they are prompted by their love for God to dedicate their lives to him. They symbolize their dedication by water baptism. Brothers who continue to progress to maturity are gradually able to take on more responsibility in the congregation. Kingdom fruitage is reaped by the original sower as well as by other Kingdom proclaimers who may not personally have been involved with sowing the seed that produced that particular disciple. (Read John 4:36-38.) Indeed, “the sower and the reaper . . . rejoice together.”

It was previously explained in this magazine that the seed represents personality qualities that need to grow to maturity, being influenced along the way by environmental factors. However, it should be noted that in Jesus’ illustration the seed does not change into bad seed or rotten fruit. It simply grows to maturity.​—See The Watchtower, June 15, 1980, pages 17-19.

The Watchtower of December 15, 2014, page 12, interprets the illustration along the same lines as the Watchtower of July 15, 2008:

4 Read Mark 4:26-29. What is the meaning of Jesus’ illustration about the sower who sleeps? The man in the illustration represents individual Kingdom proclaimers. The seed is the Kingdom message that is preached to honesthearted ones. As in a normal routine of life, the sower “sleeps at night and rises up by day.” The growing process takes place over a period of time, from the initial planting to the final harvesting. During that period “the seeds sprout and grow tall.” This growth takes place “on its own,” gradually and in stages. In a similar way, spiritual growth occurs gradually and in stages. When an individual progresses to the point that he is motivated to serve God, he bears fruit in the sense that he dedicates his life to Jehovah and gets baptized.

5 Why did Jesus tell this illustration? Jesus helps us to realize that Jehovah is the one who makes the truth grow in the hearts of “rightly disposed” ones. (Acts 13:48; 1 Cor. 3:7) We plant and water, but we do not control the growth. We cannot force it or speed it up. Just like the man in the illustration, we do not know how the growth takes place. It often goes unnoticed by us as we go about our normal, daily activities. In time, though, the Kingdom seed may bear fruit. The new disciple then joins us in the harvest work, and we benefit from his assistance.​—John 4:36-38.

The different interpretations of this illustration are again judicious guessing because there is nothing in the text of the illustration or in the context that support any of these interpretations. Moreover, contrary to the words of Jesus that the illustration is related to the Kingdom of God, it is applied to all Christians, those with a heavenly calling, and those who look forward to living in the coming earthly Kingdom.

The simplest interpretation of the illustration is the same as in the case with the illustrations of the treasure in the field, the pearl of high value, and the leaven. Jesus stressed the high value of the Kingdom of God for the heirs of this Kingdom

A person who is called to the Kingdom of the heavens will not immediately anticipate the full value of the Kingdom. But when the person is chosen by God as a Kingdom heir, he or she experiences gradually the high value of his or her special relationship with God as one of his children. And when the person is resurrected to heavenly life the real value of the Kingdom is experienced.

SPIRITUAL ISRAEL WITH 144 000 MEMBERS WILL BE SAVED

In Romans chapter 11, Paul used the illustration of an olive tree with a finite number of branches. The original branches were Jews, but many of these branches were broken off, and branches representing people of the nations were grafted into the trunk. Paul explains his illustration, and the conclusion is that the full number of the Jews plus the full number of people of the nations are chosen, and in this way, spiritual Israel will be saved. (Romans 11;12, 25, 26)

In order to become a member of spiritual Israel, a Jew or a member of the nations had to be grafted into the trunk. This situation is described by Jesus, although in a different setting and with different words in Luke 13:23-30

23 Now a man said to him: “Lord, are those being saved few?” He said to them:24 “Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able. 25 When the householder gets up and locks the door, you will stand outside knocking at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ But in answer he will say to you: ‘I do not know where you are from.’ 26 Then you will start saying, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our main streets.’ 27 But he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Get away from me, all you workers of unrighteousness!’28 There is where your weeping and the gnashing of your teeth will be, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside. 29 Furthermore, people will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the Kingdom of God. 30 And look! there are those last who will be first, and there are those first who will be last.”

To get in through the narrow door is the same as being grafted into the trunk of the olive tree. Achieving this requires that a person exerts himself or herself vigorously because many will try this but will be rejected.

But what does it mean that people “will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the Kingdom of God”? This is the same as saying that people of the nations will become heirs of the Kingdom, while Jews, who were part of the Kingdom of God, will be “thrown outside.” The Jews that were the first would now become the last, and the people of the nations that were the last will now become the first.[1]

Jesus preached the good news about God’s Kingdom in Israel, and he told several illustration indicating who would become members of Gods Kingdom.

THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE TWO CHILDREN

This illustration shows that the religious leaders of the day were not called to the heavenly Kingdom, but persons who were counted for nothing would be called.

Matthew 21:28-32 28 “What do you think? A man had two children. Going up to the first, he said, ‘Child, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29 In answer this one said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward, he felt regret and went out.30 Approaching the second, he said the same. This one replied, ‘I will, Sir,’ but did not go out.31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said: “The first.” Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the Kingdom of God. 32 For John came to you in a way of righteousness, but you did not believe him. However, the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even when you saw this, you did not feel regret afterward so as to believe him.

Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1, page 1132, says:

(25The two children (Mt 21:28-31). Spoken in the temple at Jerusalem, the illustration was part of Jesus’ reply to the questions in verse 23: “By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?” Having handled their questions, Jesus used some illustrations to show the religious leaders what kind of persons they really were.

Jesus points to the application of his illustration in verses 31 and 32. He indicates that the chief priests and the older men of influence to whom he was speaking were comparable to the second child, professing to serve God but actually failing to do so. On the other hand, the tax collectors and harlots who believed John the Baptizer were like the first child; at first they rudely refused to serve God but later felt regret and changed their course.

The comments in Insight are excellent and to the point.

PRESSING FORWARD TO THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS

Two of the illustrations of Jesus may seem to suggest that some persons may use force in order to enter the Kingdom of the heavens. I will look at this issue.

According to Luke 13:24, which has been discussed above, Jesus says: “Exert yourselves vigorously (agōnizomai) to get in through the narrow door.” The words “exert yourselves vigorously” are translated from the Greek word agōnizomai, and according to Mounce the meaning is: “to be a combatant in the public games; to contend, fight, strive earnestly.” According to Louw and Nida, the meaning is, “to strive to do something with great intensity and effort.”

The word agōnizomai occurs seven times in the Christian Greek Scriptures, and all the nuances shown by Mounce, Louw, and Nida can be found in these passages. That the word does not necessarily include violence or the use of force is seen in Paul’s reference to Epaphras in Colossians 4:12: “He is always exerting himself  (agōnizomai) himself in your behalf in his prayers.” Because of the nature of God’s heavenly Kingdom, the definition of Louw and Nida’s “to strive to do something with great intensity and effort” may be the meaning of agōnizomai in Luke 13:24. Both Matthew and Luke show that some persons have been following this admonition of Jesus:

Matthew 11:11, 12 11 Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not been raised up anyone greater than John the Baptist, but a lesser person in the Kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of the heavens is the goal toward which men press (biazomai), and those pressing forward (biastēs) are seizing it.

Luke 16:16 16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John. From then on, the Kingdom of God is being declared as good news, and every sort of person is pressing forward (biazomai) toward it.

According to Mounce the meaning of the verb biazomai is, “to urge, constrain, overpower by force; to press earnestly forward, to rush.” According to Louw and Nida the meaning is “to experience a violent attack.”  The meaning of the substantive biastēs according to Mounce is, “one who uses violence, or is impetuous; one who is forceful in eager pursuit, Mt. 11:12” According to Louw and Nida the meaning is, “a person who employs violence in order to accomplish his purpose.”

The word biazomai occurs only in Matthew 11: 12 and Luke 16:16, and because it occurs in no other passages, we cannot construe its meaning on the basis of one or more contexts. The substantive biastēs occurs only in Matthew 11:12. The Greek substantive biazomai occurs one time in the Septuagint, in Judges 19:7.

Judges 19:7 When the man rose to go, his father-in-law kept begging (biazomai) him, so he stayed overnight again.

The Hebrew word from which biazomai is translated is pāzar, and according to Koehlenberger-Mounce the meaning of this word is “to insist on, bring pressure, persuade.” So, we see that the Septuagint and the Hebrew text do not include violence or the use of force in the meaning of biazomai. This means that the rendering “pressing forward” of the NWT13 is a fine rendering, and the two passages show that some persons are exerting themselves vigorously in connection with the Kingdom of the heavens, as Jesus said they should.

This also accords with the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23:

21 “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of the heavens, but only the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. 22 Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’

Persons who are practicing lawlessness will not enter the Kingdom of the heavens. But persons who are called to the Kingdom of the heavens who are doing the will of God will be heirs of the Kingdom. We should also note that being a humble person is a requirement of the Kingdom heirs, as we see in Matthew 18:1-4:

2 In that hour the disciples came near to Jesus and said: “Who really is greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens?” So calling a young child to him, he stood him in their midst and said: “Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the Kingdom of the heavens.Therefore, whoever will humble himself like this young child is the one who is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens.

The Watchtower literature has correctly argued that because the members of the Kingdom will help persons who live on the earth during the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus to progress toward perfection, persons with all kinds of backgrounds have been called and chosen. A member of the Kingdom who has experienced the same problems in his earthly life as a person who has been resurrected will better be able to help this person than one who does not have this experience. Jesus mentions one group that has difficulties in entering the Kingdom of the heavens in Luke 18:24-27:

24 Jesus looked at him and said: “How difficult it will be for those having money to make their way into the Kingdom of God! 25 It is easier, in fact, for a camel to get through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard this said: “Who possibly can be saved?” 27 He said: “The things impossible with men are possible with God.”

The illustration with the camel and the sewing needle indicates how impossible it is for a rich person to serve God. But because everything is possible with God, we can be certain that some rich people have been called and chosen.

[1]. The words about the gnashing of one’s teeth and seeing Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God are explained in Appendix 1.

THE REJECTION OF PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS OF THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS

Several of Jesus’ illustrations about the Kingdom of the heavens discusses how a number of persons who are called to be members of the Kingdom will be rejected and not chosen. In my article “‘For many are called, but few are chosen’ — What the members of the Governing Body do not understand” I discuss two of the four illustrations about the Kingdom of the heavens that are prophecies. The illustration about the wheat and the weeds shows that the weeds will be collected out of the heavenly kingdom, and the illustration about the sheep and the goats shows that the goats will be rejected by God.

In the first part of this article, I discussed the third illustration which is a prophecy, namely the illustration in Luke 19:11-27 about the return of Jesus when some of his prospective servants of God will be rewarded and others rejected. I will now discuss the fourth illustration which has a prophetic element.

THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE DRAGNET

The illustration of the dragnet is the fourth illustration that also represents a prophecy because it says that the separation of the wicked from among the righteous will occur in the conclusion of the system of things that began in the year 1914. The interpretations of The Watchtower of the illustration about the dragnet partially represent a rejection of the purpose of Jesus’ illustrations. The Watchtower of November 15, 1967, pages 685, and 566, says:

3 “Again the kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet let down into the sea and gathering up fish of every kind. When it got full they hauled it up onto the beach and, sitting down, they collected the fine ones into vessels, but the unsuitable they threw away. That is how it will be in the conclusion of the system of things (tē synteleia tou aiōnos): the angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous and will cast them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.”​—Matt. 13:47-50.

4 Jesus’ illustrations of the kingdom of the heavens all have to do with persons who will be heirs with him in the heavenly kingdom. Accordingly, the “fine” fish that are collected into vessels for profitable use picture those from among mankind who prove themselves suitable for reigning with Jesus Christ in the kingdom of the heavens. (Rev. 7:1-8; 14:1-5) God’s kingdom of the heavens was established at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914. The faithful apostles and many others of the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ had died before then. Who, then, are those symbolic fish who are caught and then sorted out and put, as it were, into vessels in the conclusion of the system of things, in which we now find ourselves? They are merely the remnant of Kingdom heirs, who today make up the “faithful and discreet slave” class on earth. (Matt 24:45-47) The “unsuitable” symbolic fish that are cast into the symbolic fiery furnace to be destroyed are those Christians who prove unfaithful to the heavenly calling, thus becoming “wicked,” and who deserves to be destroyed.

5 In the fulfillment of the parable of the dragnet, who are the ones that do the fishing and the hauling of the dragnet up onto the beach and then sort out the fish? They are the angels. Certainly the Christians on earth are not the ones that separate the fine symbolic fish from the unsuitable, and cast these latter ones into the symbolic fiery furnace. The anointed Christians are not the ones authorized to determine who is suitable for God’s heavenly kingdom and who, on the other hand, should be everlastingly destroyed. They are not the judges of those who have become God’s anointed servants. (Rom. 14:4) The angels who accompany the glorified Jesus Christ when he comes into his heavenly kingdom at the close of the Gentile Times are the ones that do this separating work under the direction of Christ. (Matt. 13:40, 41; 24:30, 31;25:31, 32) What, then, is the dragnet?

6 As Jesus’ parable depicts it, a dragnet gathers in fish and sea creatures indiscriminately. The Jews who were in a national covenant with Jehovah God were forbidden to eat certain fish and sea creatures. (Lev. 11:9-12) So Jewish fishermen had to sort out what a dragnet brought up. What was forbidden by God’s law they would throw away. In view of all this, the dragnet would symbolize an instrument in the hands of the holy angels under the direction of Jesus Christ. The dragnet symbolizes the earthly organization that professes to be God’s congregation that is in the new covenant with God through the Mediator Jesus Christ. So it claims to be the spiritual Israel, the holy nation that is anointed with God’s spirit to reign with Jesus Christ in the heavenly kingdom. It includes the true professors and the false or unfaithful professors. Logically it includes Christendom, with its hundreds of thousands of professed Christians, belonging to hundreds of sects called Christian.

The Watchtower of June 15, 1992, pages 20, and 21, says:

13 Do you think that unfaithful professors of Christianity had any part in the illustration of the dragnet? Well, there is reason to answer, yes, they did. The symbolic dragnet included Christendom…

15 So the dragnet represents an earthly instrument that professes to be God’s congregation and that gathers in fish. It has included both Christendom and the congregation of anointed Christians, the latter having continued to collect fine fish, under the invisible guidance of the angels, in line with Matthew 13:49.

16 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 came 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.

The Watchtower of November 15, 1967, has two fine observations. It shows that “Jesus’ illustrations of the Kingdom of the heavens all have to do with persons who will be heirs with him in the heavenly kingdom.” It also correctly shows that the unsuitable fish are “those Christians who prove unfaithful to the heavenly calling.” However, the article incorrectly claims that “the ones that do the fishing and the hauling of the dragnet up onto the beach and then sort out the fish are the angels, and not humans who preach the good news of the Kingdom.” The text of the illustration only says that the angels will do the work of separating the fine fish from the unsuitable ones. Those who are fishing and hauling the dragnet onto the beach are only implied and cannot be identified.

It is important for the members of the Governing Body to show that all persons who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses are, or will be, condemned to everlasting annihilation by God. In order to include the members of Christendom among the unsuitable fish, the dragnet is interpreted in the following way: “The dragnet symbolizes the earthly organization that professes to be God’s congregation that is in the new covenant with God through the Mediator Jesus Christ.” Because of this interpretation, the article says: “Logically it [the dragnet with the unsuitable fish] includes Christendom, with its hundreds of thousands of professed Christians, belonging to hundreds of sects called Christian.”

There are several problems here. The dragnet is not identified in the text, and therefore it cannot “symbolize” something. The point is that fish of every kind are gathered, and this fish is identified in the illustration. But the dragnet is unimportant for the understanding of the illustration. No meaning would be lost if the dragnet was deleted and it only was said that a fisherman gathered fish of every kind.

According to the article, the dragnet symbolizes “the earthly organization that professes to be God’s congregation.” This interpretation is used in order to include true Christians and Christendom, i.e., the members of different sects. But this is an artificial interpretation that has no meaning. There is no “earthly organization” that includes all persons that claim to be Christian. Moreover, the article says that the angels are doing the fishing with the dragnet and hauling it up onto the beach.  But this implies the angels are responsible for all the sects in Christendom and their members.  And this is clearly not correct.

We note that The Watchtower of June 15, 1992, incorrectly says that “For centuries the dragnet instrument gathered fine fish as well as many unsuitable, or wicked, ones.” But the illustration says that the time of the fulfillment is “the conclusion of the system of things” and not the centuries before that. I will now look at some new interpretations of the illustration in the 21st century. The Watchtower July 15, 2008, pages 20, and 21, says:

15 More important than the number of those who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ is the quality of those disciples. Jesus alludes to this aspect of Kingdom growth when he gives another illustration, one about a dragnet. He said: “Again the kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet let down into the sea and gathering up fish of every kind.”​Matt. 13:47

18 Literally millions of symbolic fish from the sea of humanity have been attracted to Jehovah’s congregation in modern times. Some attend the Memorial, others come to our meetings, and still others are happy to study the Bible. But do all of these prove to be genuine Christians? They may be “hauled up onto the beach,” but Jesus tells us that only “the fine ones” are gathered into vessels, which represent Christian congregations. The unsuitable are thrown away, eventually to be cast into a symbolic fiery furnace, denoting future destruction.

19 As with the unsuitable fish, many who once studied the Bible with Jehovah’s people have stopped studying. Some born to Christian parents have never really wanted to become footstep followers of Jesus. They have been unwilling to make the decision to serve Jehovah or after serving him for a while have ceased doing so. (Ezek. 33:32, 33) It is imperative, though, that all honesthearted ones allow themselves to be gathered into the vessellike congregations before the final day of judgment and to remain in a place of safety

Does this mean that everyone who has stopped studying or associating with Jehovah’s people has been thrown away as unsuitable by the angels? No! If someone sincerely desires to return to Jehovah, he will find the way open.​Mal. 3:7.

God’s Kingdom Rules! (2014), page 107, says:

18 Letting “a dragnet . . . down into the sea. The dragnet represents the Kingdom preaching that is taking place throughout the sea of humanity“Gathering fish of every kind.” The good news attracts people of all kinds​—those who take steps to become true Christians, as well as many others who may initially show some interest but do not really take a stand for pure worship. Collecting “the fine ones into containers.” Honesthearted ones are gathered into containerlike congregations, where they can render clean worship to Jehovah. Throwing away “the unsuitable” fish. Throughout the last days, Christ and the angels have been separating “the wicked from among the righteous.” As a result, those who lack the right heart condition​—who are perhaps unwilling to abandon wrong beliefs or practices—​have not been allowed to taint the congregations.

Jesus —the Way, the Truth, the Life (2015), page 11, says:

Finally, Jesus likens the Kingdom of the heavens to a dragnet that gathers up fish of every kind. (Matthew 13:47)

The comments on the illustration from 2008 onward have abandoned the view that the gathering of fish by the dragnet has occurred for many centuries. The focus is now on the conclusion of the system of things, as the illustration says. That tens of thousands of members of Christendom are included among the unsuitable fish is also abandoned.

The basic error in the interpretations since 2008 is that the correct observation of The Watchtower of November 15, 1967, has been abandoned. The magazine said correctly: “Jesus’ illustrations of the kingdom of the heavens all have to do with persons who will be heirs with him in the heavenly kingdom.” It is logical that the unsuitable fish are viewed as persons who have had some contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses but who do not become Witnesses. But none of these are called to be heirs with Jesus Christ in the heavenly Kingdom. This means that the collection of the fine fish and the throwing away of the unsuitable ones is the same as the separation of the wheat and the weeds in the illustration in Matthew 13;24-30, 36-43. This separation of anointed Christians from other persons basically occurred in the first part of the 20st century.[1]

The important point in the illustration is the separation of the fine fish from the unsuitable ones by the angels that would occur in the conclusion of the system of things. All the other things, the dragnet, the fishermen, the vessels, and the fiery furnace, do not have any independent prophetic meaning. But Jesus mentioned these things in order to make the right setting for the prophetic point of separating the righteous ones who are called and chosen from the prospective wicked membvers of the Kingdom of the heavens.

Table 1 shows the different interpretations that The Watchtower has given the parts of the illustration.

Figure 1.1

The dragnet
1967 The earthly organization that professes to be God’s congregation that is in the new covenant with God through the Mediator Jesus Christ, including Christendom.
2014 The kingdom preaching.
2015 The Kingdom of the heavens.
The fishermen
1967 The angels
2014 The preachers of the good news of the Kingdom.
The fine fish
1967 The heirs of the heavenly Kingdom
2014 The members of the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The unsuitable fish
1967 Christians who prove unfaithful to the heavenly calling, thus becoming “wicked,” as well as the tens of thousands members of the sects of Christendom.
2014 Persons who have associated with Jehovah’s witnesses but who are unwilling to abandon wrong beliefs or practices.

[1]. A detailed discussion of the illustration of the wheat and the weeds is found in the article, “‘Many are called, but few are chosen’ — What the members of the Governing Body do not understand.”

CONCLUSION

When we are trying to understand the illustrations of Jesus, the fundamental error is the failure to distinguish between the accounts that only are illustrations and those that are prophecies. The rule is that only when the illustration itself or its context explicitly shows that the illustration is a prophecy, can we take it as such. The most important clue for being a prophecy is when the illustration has a time element. This is the case with the illustration of the wheat and the weeds, the sheep and the goats, the dragnet, and the minas. All the other illustrations about the Kingdom of the heavens/the Kingdom of God lack any clues showing that they are prophecies.

The members of the Governing Body are guilty of two serious errors, 1) they treat most of the illustrations as prophecies, and 2) they fail to understand that all the illustrations of the Kingdom of the heavens exclusively deal with the prospective heirs of this Kingdom, and they apply these to other persons and things.

APPENDIX

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PUNISHMENT IN THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF JESUS

Several of the illustrations of Jesus portray faithful and good persons in contrast with unfaithful and wicked ones. The good persons get a reward while the wicked ones are punished. What is the meaning of the different forms of punishment? Below is a list of the punishments that are mentioned in the illustrations discussed in this article.

Table 1.1 The punishment mentioned in the illustrations

The discreet and foolish virgins. Matthew 25:1-12. The door was shut, and the foolish virgins could not attend the wedding feast.
The faithful and discreet slave and the wicked slave. Matthew 24:45-51. His master will punish the wicked slave with the greatest severity.
The talents. Matthew 25:14-30. The good-for-nothing slave was thrown out into the darkness outside.
The sheep and the goats. Matthew 25:31-46. The goats will depart to everlasting cutting-off.
The wheat and the weeds. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, People who practiced lawlessness will be pitched into the fiery furnace.
Will few be saved? Luke 13:23-30. The workers of lawlessness will be thrown outside.
The dragnet. Matthew 13:47-50. The wicked will be cast into the fiery furnace.
The wheat and the weeds. Matthew 13:42 The wicked will be weeping and gnashing their teeth.

In three examples, the punishment was to remain outside or be thrown outside. In two examples, the punishment was to be thrown into the fiery furnace. In one example, the kind of punishment was not mentioned, but the punishment was made with the greatest severity, and in one example the punishment was everlasting cutting-off.

It is important to keep in mind that the illustrations portray real situations that Jesus and his listeners were familiar with. This means that also the kind of punishment was something that was normal and that the listeners were aware of. Therefore, it would be wrong to try to find modern kinds of punishment that each form in the illustrations pictured. But let us look at the different forms of punishment.

The kind of punishment that the wicked slave that is mentioned in Matthew 24:48-51 would get is not mentioned. It is only stated that the slave was punished “with the greatest severity.” The foolish virgins were not admitted into the wedding feast but had to remain outside.

Being thrown out into the darkness outside

But how shall we understand the expression that the slaves were “thrown out into the darkness outside”? What does that mean? The members of the Governing Body believe that this is a prophecy, and the book Worldwide Security under the “Prince of Peace” (1986), page 64, says:

15 Those who have actually been part of the spirit-anointed remnant and entrusted with the Kingdom valuables, but who have quit making the effort to increase the interests of the returned Master, have been thrown out of the Master’s royal service. (Matthew 24:48-51) No longer do we find the sluggish “evil slave” class preaching “this good news of the kingdom.” Rather, they specialize upon their personal salvation instead of the interests of God’s Kingdom. They now find themselves in “the darkness outside,” where the world of mankind is. Their symbolic talent has been taken away from them and has been given to the class that has shown the willingness to use that talent during the remaining part of this “conclusion of the system of things.”

This is a wrong application because the account is just an illustration and not a prophecy. The understanding of the expression is simple. Evidently, the master settled the accounts with his slaves in the evening, when it was dark outside. So the point is that this slave was not allowed to “enter the joy of his master,” but had to be outside the house, just as the foolish virgins. And again, being “thrown out into the darkness outside” is a part of the illustration. It simply means that the slave was punished, and it does not picture anything for persons in the conclusion of the system of things.

Being pitched into the fiery furnace

Jesus referred to situations that were known by his audience. By looking at passages where burning is mentioned we can better understand the words about the fiery furnace. Let us first look at the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7-12:

When he caught sight of many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the baptism, he said to them: “You offspring of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath?Therefore, produce fruit that befits repentance.Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 10 The ax is already lying at the root of the trees. Every tree, then, that does not produce fine fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I, for my part, baptize you with water because of your repentance, but the one coming after me is stronger than I am, whose sandals I am not worthy to take off. That one will baptize you with holy spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clean up his threshing floor completely and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with fire that cannot be put out.”

John condemned the religious leaders because they did not follow the law of God. The point of John is that everyone needs to repent and produce the right fruits. John refers to Jesus who would separate those who had repented from those who followed a wrong course. In verse 12, he compares Jesus to a man who cleaned up his threshing floor by using a winnowing shovel to separate the wheat from the chaff. John refers to the custom of the day to burn up the chaff with fire.

But what is the meaning that the fire “cannot be put out.”? I will analyze the Greek words: First is the verb katakaiō (“to consume with fire”), then follows the substantive pyr (“fire”), and then follows the adjective asbestos (“unquenchable”). Literally, the text says: “will be consumed with fire, unquenchable fire.” We need to look more closely at the meaning of the adjective asbestos. It occurs only three times in the Christian Greek Scriptures, in Matthew 3:12, Mark 9:43, and Luke 3:17, so we cannot on the basis of its context ascertain the nuances of the word. According to Louw and Nida, the meaning is, “pertaining to a fire that cannot be put out.” But what exactly will that mean? To understand that we need to know how fire was lit in ancient Israel. An article from Biblical Archaeological Society discusses the find of an old stone slab:

The thick 9,000-year-old slab is punctured with two sockets and grooves connecting them…

[They would] rapidly rotate a wooden branch in the hollow (similar to a drill). The rotational energy was translated into heat, and when it came in contact with a flammable material placed inside the hollow, it began to burn and the fire was lit…

Tinder may have also been placed in the grooves running between the two sockets..Tinder can be any dry substance, like dry wood fibers, dry leaves, straw or wool. [1]

When the tinder was lit by the heated wooden branch, we can imagine that often the tinder started to burn, but instead of starting a bonfire, the small fire snuffed out. Then there was a new attempt until there was a bonfire. Jesus spoke Hebrew, and there is no Hebrew word with the meaning “unquenchable.” Franz Delitzsch translated the Christian Greek Scriptures into Hebrew, and he translated the Greek expression with katakaiō pyr asbestos as “with fire that will not be quenched. (bā’ēsh ’ashēr lo’ tikhbæ). So, the Greek adjective asbestos (“unquenchable”) that modifies pyr (“fire”) shows that this is not a fire caused by a heated wooden branch that ignites tinder but then snuffs out. But this is a real bonfire that will not be extinguished until all the chaff is burned to ashes. The adjective does not show that the fire cannot be extinguished or that it burns for a long time. But it shows that this is not a fire that easily snuffs out.

The important point to note is that different things that had no value were thrown into the fire and burned, as we read in Matthew 7:19 (above) and John 15:6 (below):

19 Every tree not producing fine fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

6 If anyone does not remain in union with me, he is thrown out like a branch and dries up. And men gather those branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 

We are discussing the illustration of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew chapter 13, and the points above show that Jesus refers to a situation that was known by his audience. When Jesus in Matthew 13:30 said, “First collect the weeds and bind them in bundles and burn them up,” this was the custom in Israel. When Jesus explains the illustration and says that the weeds pictures “the sons of the wicked one” and that the angels “will pitch them into the fiery furnace,” they are treated as weeds that will be burned to ashes.

In the illustration of the dragnet, the angels “will cast them into the fiery furnace,” according to Matthew 13:50. Burning fish without fins and scales (Leviticus 11:12) in a fiery furnace was not usual. But in order to show that humans who were the sons of the wicked one and were pictured by the unsuitable fish would be burned to ashes, Jesus used the imagery in connection with chaff and unfruitful branches.

The weeping and gnashing of their teeth  

The expression “their weeping and gnashing (or grinding) of their teeth” is found seven times in the Christion Greek Scriptures. The idea of gnashing or grinding one’s teeth is also found in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the following places:

Job 16:9: His anger has torn me to pieces, and he harbors animosity against me. He grinds his teeth against me. My adversary pierces me with his eyes.

Psalm 35:16: 16 The ungodly scornfully mock me, They grind their teeth against me.

Psalm 37:12: 12 The wicked man plots against the righteous; He grinds his teeth at him.

Psalm 112:10: 10 The wicked one will see and be upset. He will grind his teeth and melt away. The desires of the wicked will perish.

Lamentations 2:16: 16 At you all your enemies have opened their mouth. They whistle and grind their teeth and say: “We have swallowed her down. This is the day we were waiting for! It has arrived, and we have seen it!”

In four of the passages, persons are grinding their teeth against someone in order to scare him or attack him. In Psalm 112:10, we read that the wicked person will grind his teeth. The Hebrew word kā‘ās that is translated as “be upset,” means “to be angry.” This means that “grinding one’s teeth” in this verse is an expression of anger. In Acts 7:54 the expression is used in the same way as it is used in the four examples mentioned above, and it signifies anger.

Acts 7:54: When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.

Matthew 8:12: 12 whereas the sons of the Kingdom will be thrown into the darkness outside. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.”

Matthew 13:30, 42: 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest season, I will tell the reapers: First collect the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them up; then gather the wheat into my storehouse.’”

42and they will pitch them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.

Matthew 13:49, 50: 49 That is how it will be in the conclusion of the system of things. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous 50 and will cast them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.

Matthew 22:13: 13 Then the king said to his servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the darkness outside. There is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be.’

Matthew 24:51: 51 and he will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his place with the hypocrites. There is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be.

Matthew 25:30: 30 And throw the good-for-nothing slave out into the darkness outside. There is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be.’

Luke 13:23-28: 23 Now a man said to him: “Lord, are those being saved few?” He said to them:24 “Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able. 25 When the householder gets up and locks the door, you will stand outside knocking at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’ But in answer he will say to you: ‘I do not know where you are from.’ 26 Then you will start saying, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our main streets.’ 27 But he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Get away from me, all you workers of unrighteousness!’ 28 There is where your weeping and the gnashing of your teeth will be, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside.

In Acts 7:54 the expression is used with the same meaning as in Psalm 112:10 — it signifies anger. And it is the anger of the Jews against Stephen. However, in all the illustrations of Jesus, it is the reaction of those who receive an adverse judgment. The study note in Matthew 8:12 in NWT13 gives the following definition:

gnashing of their teeth: Or “grinding (clenching) their teeth.” The expression can include the idea of anguish, despair, and anger, possibly accompanied by bitter words and violent action.

Greek expressions can only be understood in the light of the use in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the contexts only suggest that “grinding one’s teeth” signifies anger. However, Jesus shows that weeping is associated with the grinding of one’s teeth, and that could signify anguish and despair together with anger. This would be the reaction of those who will get an adverse judgment. This does not mean that the persons are weeping and gnashing their teeth while they are tormented in a fiery furnace. Their reaction of anger and despair must logically occur before they are “burned to ashes.”

But what is the meaning of Luke 13:28 that persons will weep and grind their teeth when they “see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God.”? We must keep in mind that the words of Jesus in Luke13:23-28 represent an illustration. It is of course impossible for persons to be outside and see the mentioned persons in God’s Kingdom. The expression “God’s Kingdom” used by Jesus always refers to the heavenly Kingdom, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets who lived before Jesus gave his life as a ransom sacrifice were not called to the heavenly Kingdom. This is confirmed by Acts 2:34 (above) and John 3:13 (below). King David did not ascend to heaven, and Jesus says that no one had yet ascended into heaven.

34 For David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, ‘Jehovah said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand 35 until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.”’

13 Moreover, no man has ascended into heaven but the one who descended from heaven, the Son of man.

But why did Jesus mention Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the prophets? The transfiguration of Jesus may illuminate the issue. According to Matthew 17:3, Moses and Elijah were together with Jesus. However, they were in their graves and they had not been resurrected. Jesus says that his transfiguration was a vision, according to Matthew 17:9. The reason why Moses and Elijah were seen in the vision was that they were prophetic pictures whose antitypical fulfillment would occur in connection with the Kingdom of the heavens.

The illustrations of Jesus were not visions, but they pictured important truths, and the illustrations of the kingdom of the heavens picture important truths in connection with that Kingdom. Because Moses and Elijah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were prophetic pictures whose antitypical fulfillment would occur in connection with the Kingdom of the heavens, Jesus mentioned them in his illustration. One example corroborating the view that Jesus used Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the prophets as prophetic types in his illustration is his words in Matthew 11:14. Regarding John the Baptist, Jesus says, “he is Elijah who is to come.” John was not Elijah, but Elijah was a prophetic picture that was fulfilled by John.

Departing to everlasting cutting-off

These words about the goats are found in Matthew 25:46, and the contrast is that the righteous ones will depart into everlasting life. Because of this contrast, we must draw the conclusion that “everlasting cutting-off” refers to everlasting annihilation. As I have shown in the article, “‘Many are called, but few are chosen’ — What the members of the Governing Body do not understand” is that the goats do not include the inhabitants of all the nations of the world. But the goats are persons who have had some contact with the true Christians but who have rejected the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

But what about the punishment that the different slaves would get according to the illustrations of Jesus? Did Jesus by speaking about being thrown in the fiery furnace refer to eternal annihilation? We cannot positively say that. Why not? Let us make some reasoning.

In Romans chapter 11, Paul uses an olive tree as an illustration of the 144 000 members of spiritual Israel who are heirs of the Kingdom of the heavens. Originally, the Jewish nation was invited to produce the branches of the olive tree, i.e., to produce the full number of spiritual Israel. The nation did not accept this invitation, and the Jewish branches were broken off the trunk. People of the nations would now be grafted into the trunk instead of the Jewish branches.

But what would be the destiny of all those who were broken off — the whole Jewish nation? We note that the setting here is the 144 000 heirs of the heavenly Kingdom, and the issue is whether a person will become an heir of the Kingdom of the heavens. The Jewish nation was called, and when they did not accept the call, the Jewish branches were broken off.  Today, all the Jews that lived in the days of Paul in the first century CE are dead. Will they get a resurrection in the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ? The answer is that most of them will get a resurrection. How do we know that? Because Jesus bought all of Adam’s descendants, all of them must have a personal chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. And most of the Jews that lived in the first century CE did not have this chance. So, the branches that were broken off were not eternally condemned!

Jesus preached and made many miracles in Capernaum, but most of the inhabitants did not accept the message Jesus preached. According to Matthew 11:21-24, Jesus rebuked the inhabitants of Chorazin, Capernaum, and Betsaida. But in spite of this, he said that the inhabitants would get a resurrection on Judgment Day. When persons with the mentioned background will get a resurrection, we can be certain that most others who lived in the first century CE will get a resurrection as well.[2]

When we are discussing the destiny of individuals in relation to the Kingdom of the heavens, it is important to distinguish between those who are called and those who are chosen. I will illustrate this with the account of Luke 13:22-30. We learn that Jesus traveled from city to city and from village to village, and he was teaching. A man asked Jesus if only a few would be saved, and Jesus replied that one has to exert oneself vigorously to get through the narrow door. Then Jesus showed that many will not get through the narrow door. The conclusion of this discussion is found in verses 28-30:

28 There is where your weeping and the gnashing of your teeth will be, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside. 29 Furthermore, people will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the Kingdom of God. 30 And look! there are those last who will be first, and there are those first who will be last.”

Addressing those who did not manage to get through the narrow door, Jesus uses the pronouns “you” and “your.” Because at this time, only the Jews and not the people of the nations were the objects of the preaching about the Kingdom of the heavens, these pronouns must refer to the Jews. This is confirmed by the words that people of the nations would recline at the table in the Kingdom of God. The members of the Jewish nation were the first who would be last, and others from the nations who had been last would be first.

The illustration of the king who arranged a marriage feast also deals with the Jews and the people of the nations. Those who were unwilling to come according to Matthew 22:3 were the Jews. Therefore, people of the nations were invited instead, according to verses 9 and 10. The illustration ends with the words (verse 16 from RSV): “For many are called, but few are chosen.” The Jews were the first who became the last, and they included the many who were called, but few were chosen.

If a person is called, we do not know if he or she has had the opportunity to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. But when a person is chosen, we know that he or she has accepted the ransom sacrifice. Such a person, therefore, has a responsibility that is different from the responsibility of one who is called. This is expressed in Hebrews 6:4-6:

For as regards those who were once enlightened and who have tasted the heavenly free gift and who have become partakers of holy spirit and who have tasted the fine word of God and powers of the coming system of things, 6 but have fallen away, it is impossible to revive them again to repentance, because they nail the Son of God to the stake again for themselves and expose him to public shame.

According to Paul’s illustration in Romans chapter 11, the Jewish nations was called to produce 144 000 branches on the trunk that would be heirs of the Kingdom of the heavens. But they did not accept this call. Therefore, Jesus said to the religious leaders who represented the Jewish nation, according to Matthew 21:43: “The Kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits.” Because the individuals of the Jewish nation were called but not chosen, the words of Jesus do not say that individual Jews were completely rejected. Going through the narrow door meant to be chosen as an heir of the Kingdom of the heavens. As already mentioned, most of the Jews and members of other nations that lived in the first century and who had not gone through the narrow door will get a resurrection on Judgment Day.

But what about those who the angels, according to the illustration of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13:41, will collect out of his Kingdom? Will all of them be eternally annihilated? We cannot know the answer to this question. But there are some clues that can show that the answer is negative. There are many passages in the Christian Greek Scriptures saying that a great number of those who are called will not accept their calling. But no passage says that a great number of those who are chosen will not continue to serve God. And Matthew 24:24 seems to say the opposite:

For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will perform great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the chosen ones.

But let us look at Matthew 13:41 one time more. Would not the words about collecting some out of the Kingdom imply that those who are collected out are a part of the Kingdom of the heavens? When we keep in mind the words of Matthew 21:43 that the Kingdom of God would be taken from the Jews, we can say that the Jews also were collected out of the kingdom, or that they as branches of the olive tree were broken off. This means that most of those who were collected out of the Kingdom were not chosen by God any more than the members of the Jewish nation were chosen by God. The members of the Governing Body believe that those who are collected out of God’s Kingdom include tens of thousands of members of all the sects who call themselves Christian. But this view is wrong because the prophetic illustration relates to the Kingdom of the heavens. This means that it exclusively relates to the 144 000 heirs of the Kingdom.

But what about the words that those who are collected out of the Kingdom are those who practice lawlessness? Would not such persons deserve to be eternally annihilated? We must remember that many of the Jewish nation that were God’s Kingdom violated God’s laws and practiced lawlessness — that was the reason why the nation was rejected. But as already mentioned, most of these will get a resurrection. We can better consider the question about the destiny of those who were collected out of the Kingdom by looking at the fulfillment of these words.

During the centuries before the conclusion of the system of things started in the year 1914, there was a thin thread of true Christians — the wheat grew together with the weeds. But first in the conclusion of the system of things would there be a clear distinction between the wheat and the weeds. In the article, “‘For many as called, but few are chosen’ — What the members of the Governing Body do not understand” I argue that the distinction between the wheat and the weeds started to be seen when C.T. Russel and his friends started to study the Bible in the 1870s and restored the true Christian religion.

From this time and until the Kingdom of the heavens was established in the year 1914 persons were called to be heirs of this Kingdom. History shows that many persons associated themselves with the group led by Russel, and this group of true Christians was growing. However, some of those who associated with Russel’s group showed that they did not have the right motives. Some of those who at one time had a close relationship with Russel’s group became its enemies, and they even publicly rejected the ransom sacrifice of Jesus.

The issue, therefore, in the last decades of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century was the same as in the first century CE. If persons were called but were not chosen and were collected out of the Kingdom because they practiced lawlessness, these persons could be resurrected on Judgment Day. But persons who were chosen and were collected out of the Kingdom because they practiced lawlessness, would in reality reject the ransom sacrifice. Therefore, they would not get a resurrection, as is implied in Hebrews 6:4-6.

The prophetic illustration about the dragnet in Matthew 13:47-50 relates to the heirs of the Kingdom of the heavens. The fulfillment of this illustration is said to be in the conclusion of the system of things. Therefore, the separation of the wicked from among the righteous occurred in the same period when the wheat was separated from the weeds. Those who were thrown into the fiery furnace were said to be “the wicked.” This is a strong word, and it could refer to those who both were called and chosen but who rejected the ransom sacrifice. In that case, these persons would receive the same punishment as the goats that was everlasting cutting-off. But we cannot know if the word “wicked” refers to those who were called or to those who were chosen. Jehovah can read the heart of all persons, and his judgment is righteous.

 

 

 

[1]. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/ancient-fire-making-israel/

[2]. See my articles, “The Governing Body’s new view of the resurrection is contradicted by the Scriptures,” and “The members of the Governing Body have devalued and restricted the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ.”

Rolf Furuli

Author Rolf Furuli

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