INTRODUCTION
The Watchtower of May 2024 puts a smokescreen over the resurrection hope. The two articles “Trust in the Merciful ‘Judge of All the Earth’!” and “What Do We Know About Jehovah’s Future Judgments?” were evidently written to counter the criticism of the Governing Body’s standpoint on the resurrection in my book The Atonement Between God and Man and criticisms from other sources.
I will now discuss how the rejection of the members of the Governing Body of an important part of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ has prevented them from accepting what the Bible says about the resurrection of the dead.
THE PURPOSE OF PREACHING THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM
It may sound strange, but the members of the Governing Body have completely misunderstood the purpose of the most important work of Jehovah’s people, namely, the preaching of the good news of the kingdom of God.
The purpose of the preaching of the good news in the first century CE was not to separate all the people into two groups: those who would get everlasting life and those who would not get everlasting life. But the purpose was to find sincere persons who would rule together with Jesus Christ in the kingdom of the heavens. The purpose of the preaching in our time has not been to separate all people into two groups, one that would get everlasting life and the other that would not get everlasting life. But the purpose was first, to gather the rest of the 144.000 who would rule with Jesus, and second, to gather sincere persons who would be a part of the great crowd that would survive the great tribulation.
THE VALUE OF THE RANSOM SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST
The essence of the ransom sacrifice is that Jesus died for Adam and for all his descendants, and that he bought them all. We read in 1 Timothy 2:5, 6:
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself a corresponding ransom (antilytron) for all (pas)—this is what is to be witnessed to in its own due time.
The Greek word antilytron is correctly translated by the expression “corresponding ransom,” which means that the ransom had exactly the same value as that which was sold. And this value was the perfect human life of Jesus corresponding to the perfect human life of Adam. So, Jesus bought Adam and all his unborn offspring when he died.
This is the only explanation that uses the full force of the Greek word antilytron. The Bible Students in the rime of Russell understood this, and the same did Rutherford, who published some of the best explanations of the ransom sacrifice that I have seen. But the present members of the Governing Body do not understand this. And the explanations in the Watchtower literature in the 21st century have been incorrect, and have not taken into account the full force of the “corresponding ransom.”
The purpose of the ransom sacrifice and that all humans were bought by Jesus, was that every descendant of Adam should get a personal chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. The words of Jesus in Matthew 12:31, 32 put the ransom sacrifice in the correct setting. We read:
31“On this account I say to YOU, Every sort of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. 32 For example, whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the holy spirit, it will not be forgiven him, no, not in this system of things nor in that to come.
These words of Jesus make a sketch of the situation of the human family. It shows that all humans who have lived and died since Adam and all humans who die before and under the great tribulation, regardless of how wicked they have been, will get a resurrection on the thousand-year-long Judgment Day. Only the few persons who have sinned against the holy spirit will not get a resurrection.[1]
I have already mentioned that Jesus bought Adam. But because he sinned when he was a perfect man, he sinned against the holy spirit. Therefore, will he not get a resurrection.
I am sorry to see that the members of the Governing Body do not understand the ransom sacrifice. They say that Jesus is a ransom sacrifice for “all kinds of men” and not for “all men” and that he died for those who will be saved and not for all Adam’s descendants. Because of their wrong view of the ransom sacrifice, the members of the Governing Body believe in a restricted resurrection and not that most humans who have lived, will get a resurrection.
[1] For a discussion of sin against the holy spirit, see my article, “The members of the Governing Body have devalued and restricted the ransom sacrifice” in the category, “The Governing Body.”
GETTING ADAM’S CHANCE
ecause Jesus bought all Adam’s descendants, his ransom sacrifice guarantees that each one will get the same chance that Adam got. What does that mean? Adam was a perfect man without sin, and in this condition, he got the chance to worship Jehovah and follow his laws or to refuse to do that. Each descendant of Adam will get a similar chance. How is this possible in this old system of things where all are sinners? It is not possible to get this chance in this old system of things.
Therefore, the eternal destiny for Adam’s descendants will not be decided in this wicked system of things, except for two small groups: The 144 000 that will reign with Jesus Christ in heaven, and those who have sinned against the holy spirit. This means that most humans who have lived on the earth will get a resurrection on Judgment Day in order to get Adam’s chance.
| “Adams chance” is for a perfect man or woman without sin to choose if he or she will worship Jehovah God and follow his laws or not. Most persons who have lived on the earth will get a resurrection on Judgment Day in order to get Adam’s chance! |
PREVENTED FROM GETTING ADAM’S CHANCE
In Romans 7:20, Paul said:
20 If now, what I do not wish is what I do, the one working it out is no longer I, but the sin dwelling in me.
These words could seem to be an excuse for doing bad things. But this is not the case. What Paul says in this verse, and in the whole chapter, is that in this old system of things it is not possible to get Adam’s chance, the sin is preventing us from that.
I have already shown that the purpose of the preaching of the good news is not to separate all humans into two groups: those who believe will get everlasting life, and those who do not believe and will be eternally annihilated. But the purpose of the preaching in our time is to find sincere people who want to serve God and to become a part of the great crowd. Even these people have not gotten Adam’s chance. But because of the ransom sacrifice, God approves them even though they are sinners.
But what about all the others who refuse to believe in God or who are practicing wicked actions? What did Jesus say? He said that all sins would be forgiven except sin against the holy spirit. This shows that regardless of how wicked persons are, they have been bought by Jesus, and they will get a resurrection in order to get Adam’s chance. Paul pointed out the reason why wicked persons will get a resurrection: The sin dwelling in them prevents them from making a real personal choice to serve God or not to serve God in this wicked system of things. This sin prevents them from getting Adam’s chance!
EXAMPLES OF THE WORK OF “THE SIN DWELLING IN THEM”
The best way to understand God’s purpose is to see how Jesus treated people and what he said about these people. One example is Matthew 11:20-24:
20 Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his powerful works had taken place, for they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Cho·raʹzin! Woe to you, Beth·saʹi·da! because if the powerful works that took place in you had taken place in Tyre and Siʹdon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more endurable for Tyre and Siʹdon on Judgment Day than for you. 23 And you, Ca·perʹna·um, will you perhaps be exalted to heaven? Down to the Grave (hadēs) you will come; because if the powerful works that took place in you had taken place in Sodʹom, it would have remained until this very day. 24 But I say to you, it will be more endurable for the land of Sodʹom on Judgment Day than for you.”
Why did Jesus reproach the inhabitants of Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida? Jesus had spent much time in these cities. He had preached the good news of the Kingdom to the people, and he had done miracles in these cities. But the people refused to believe in him. The point of Jesus was that the inhabitants of these cities should have believed in him, at least because of his works. (John 10:38)
Some people may say: “These people were wicked and not worthy of everlasting life because they rejected the Son of God.” They may have been wicked. Nevertheless, Jesus said that they would get a resurrection on Judgment Day together with the inhabitants of Sodom. Do you agree that it was “the sin dwelling in them” that prevented them from believing in Jesus? Or do you think that this view is an excuse for wrongdoing?
About 70 years ago, Jehovah’s Witnesses started to preach in Quebec in Canada. Most of the inhabitants were fanatic Catholics, and there are several accounts of mobs that were formed to chase the preachers out of a town. There are also accounts that mobs made some preachers physically harm. Were the people who were part of such a mob wicked and not worthy of God’s Kingdom? Most of these people were filled with religious hatred, and evidently, they believed that what they did was right. It is even some accounts that persons who were a part of a mob later became Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Because Jesus said that the inhabitants of Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida would get a resurrection in order to get Adam’s chance, they were not beyond repentance, and they had not sinned against the holy spirit. And the same would be true of the mobsters in Quebec.
I will also discuss another situation when Jesus spoke about the resurrection. We read Matthew 12:38-42:
38 Then as an answer to him, some of the scribes and the Pharisees said: “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” 39 In reply he said to them: “A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Joʹnah the prophet. 40 For just as Joʹnah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.41 Men of Ninʹe·veh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because they repented at what Joʹnah preached. But look! something more than Joʹnah is here. 42 The queen of the south will be raised up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solʹo·mon. But look! Something more than Solʹo·mon is here.
The important point here is that the mentioned “wicked and adulterous generation” will get a resurrection. I demonstrate in my book The Atonement Between God and Man that “this wicked and adulterous generation” includes all the people who lived in Israel at the time of Jesus, including the inhabitants of Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida. These people were wicked and adulterous because of “the sin dwelling in them.” But only some Scribes and Pharisees and a few others, who had sinned against the holy spirit, will not get a resurrection to get Adam’s chance.
Revelation 20:13 shows that all the dead in hadēs will get a resurrection, and the corresponding Hebrew word is sheōl. I show in the mentioned book that great numbers of wicked people and nations who were enemies of God are said to be in sheōl, and therefore will get a resurrection. This includes the inhabitants of Babylon, Pharaos and the Egyptians, the inhabitants of Elam, Meshek, Tubal, Edom, Sidon, and many other people. As a matter of fact, all the people who in the Hebrew Scriptures are said to have died, are said to have come to sheōl, and all these people will get a resurrection.
All the individuals of these nations who have not committed the unforgivable sin, will at the end of the thousand-year reign of Jesus stand before Jehovah as perfect humans without sin. And they will get the same chance that Adam got. They will have the chance to choose to worship Jehovah or to follow the Devil. Now, the purpose of the ransom sacrifice has been fulfilled.
THE ENEMIES OF GOD WILL ALSO GET ADAM’S CHANCE
Regarding the great tribulation, The Watchtower of May 2024, page 10, 11, paragraph 10, says:
Will all who die during the events of the great tribulation be destroyed forever with no hope of a resurrection? The Scriptures make it clear that outright opposers whom Jehovah and his forces will destroy at Armageddon will not be resurrected. (2 Thess. 1:6-10) But what about others, for example, who may die from natural causes, from accidents, or at the hand of other humans? (Eccl. 9:11; Zech. 14:13) Could some of these people be among the “unrighteous” who will be resurrected in the new world? We simply do not know.
It is true that that the text says that those who are mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, will be everlastingly annihilated. But who are these people? Verse 6 says,
This takes into account that it is righteous on God’s part to repay tribulation to those who make tribulation for YOU.
Those mentioned were persons who persecuted the Thessalonians. These people will not live when the great tribulation comes. But I show in the mentioned book that people who are like these persecutors will be everlastingly annihilated in the great tribulation. These persons must have sinned against the holy spirit. But the words in 2 Thessalonians cannot be applied to other persons because an author believes that they are enemies of God.
The members of the Governing Body say that they do not know what will happen to others who will die from “natural causes” in connection with the great tribulation. But on the basis of the words of Jesus, we know that these will get a resurrection. But what about those who are killed in the great tribulation by the heavenly forces? Revelation 19:19 says:
19 And I saw the wild beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the one seated on the horse and against his army.
There are about 110 million soldiers in the world, and they are waging war with Jesus Christ by attacking his people on the earth. Does this mean that each soldier is a wicked person who has sinned against the holy spirit? Absolutely not. The soldiers follow orders from their superiors, and the superiors follow orders from the politicians. These soldiers are not more responsible before God than the inhabitants of Chroazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida, or the Roman soldiers in the days of Jesus.
We note that verses 19 and 20 say that the political organizations symbolized as the false prophet and the wild beast were hurled into the lake of fire, which symbolizes the second death. But the soldiers in the armies were killed and not hurled into the lake of fire. So, they are not eternally annihilated. The enemies of God who have sinned against the holy spirit will be eternally annihilated in the great tribulation. But they and all others who die will get a resurrection on Judgment Day. The ransom sacrifice guarantees this.
THE DISTORTED VIEW OF HUMANS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY
Is it not arrogant or presumptuous to claim that the members of the Governing Body have a distorted view of humans, while the view that I present is the correct one? Not at all! When I claim this, I am in good company. C.T. Russell and the Bible Students argued strongly in favor of the view that all Adam’s descendants should get Adam’s chance. And J.F. Rutherford and Jehovah’s Witnesses in his days, followed suit. They also believed that all humans would get Adm’s chance. In the first years when N.H. Knorr was the president of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, this view came somewhat in the background. But in 12 articles in The Watchtower of 1965 about the resurrection, most of the previous biblical view of the resurrection was reestablished.
So, Russell and the Bible Students, Rutherford and Jehovah’s Witnesses in his days, and Knorr and the others who were leaders in 1965, would agree with me that the present members of the Governing Body have a distorted view of humans and of the purpose of Jehovah God. And a detailed discussion of this is found in my book The Atonement Between God and Man (2023).
God’s purpose is that all Adam’s descendants who were bought by Jesus will get Adam’s chance. This means that the eternal destiny of only two groups is decided in this old system of things ruled by Satan the Devil: The 144,000 who will reign with Jesus Christ in heaven is one group, and those who have sinned against the holy spirit is the other group. On the basis of how sin against the holy spirit is explained in the Scriptures, we can conclude that most humans who ever have lived will be resurrected on Judgment Day. During the thousand years of Judgment Day the great crowd and the resurrected ones will be led to human perfection and sinlessness. And in this position, they will have to chose if they will worship Jehovah God and serve him or support Satan the Devil. In this way, all of them get Adam’s chance!
The members of the Governing Body do not believe that Jesus died for all Adam’s descendants and bought them all. And they do not agree that the ransom sacrifice guarantees that each one of Adam’s descendants will get a personal chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice.
Their distorted view of humans is seen in the system of disfellowshipping that they have created. In addition to the 11 disfellowshipping offenses mentioned in the Bible, they have created 37 other disfellowshipping offenses. And most of the instructions to judicial committees in connection with disfellowshipping cases contradict the text of the Bible. The result is that about 80,000 Witnesses are disfellowshipped each year, and the view of the members of the Governing Body is that those who are not reinstated when they die or when the great tribulation comes, will be eternally annihilated without any hope of resurrection. So, they have created a system that prevents all descendants of Adam to get Adam’s chance. More than 90% of the disfellowshipped ones should not have been disfellowshipped if biblical principles have been followed.
The irony in all this is seen by the fact that the inhabitants of the three cities north of the Dead Sea heard the preaching of Jesus and saw his miracles. But they refused to believe in him. But according to Jesus, these people will get a resurrection in order to get Adam’s chance. But a Witness today who smokes a cigarette a few times or fondles the breasts of a female to whom he is not married on a few occasions will be disfellowshipped and will not get a resurrection, according to the Governing Body.
The distorted view is also seen by their rejection of a basic part of the ransom sacrifice, and in their view that the resurrection from the dead is limited. There was one glaring U-turn in the Watchtower of May 2924, that not all people who die in the great tribulation will be eternally annihilated. However, in most of the two articles, the members of the Governing Body are pleading ignorance. And the reason for this evidently is to counter any criticism of their view on the resurrection.
The new belief that some who died in the great flood and in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra may get a resurrection do not change their overall view of the resurrection, that it is limited and that the final destiny of most of Adam’s descendants is decided in this old system of things.
But there is one litmus test for the members of the Governing Body regarding their belief in the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection:
| 1) Do the members of the Governing Body believe in the words of Jesus that the inhabitants of Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida who refused to believe in Jesus will be resurrected on Judgment Day?
2) Do the members of the Governing Body believe the words of Jesus that the members of “this wicked and adulterous generation” will be resurrected on Judgment Day? |
I will be very surprised if the members of the Governing Body do not try to twist clear from giving direct answers to these questions. But we must wait and see.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
I have written three articles on The Watchtower of May 2024. Some readers could think that these articles represent big changes of view in the positive direction. But the truth is that the changes that are presented — for the most part they represent a pleading of ignorance — are just cosmetic changes, as far as the value and application of the ransom sacrifice is concerned.
The members of the Governing Body still reject the basic Scriptural view that Jesus died for Adam and all his descendants and bought them all. And they still reject that each person, except the few that have sinned against the holy spirit, will get a resurrection to get Adam’s chance.
Instead, they claim that the eternal destiny of many humans is decided in this old system of things and not on Judgment Day. And they even “help” God to find those who are not worthy of everlasting life by disfellowshipping Witnesses who do not follow their manmade rules — disfellowshipping that will lead to eternal annihilation.
During the 21st century, the members of the Governing Body have ruined the lives of more than 1.5 million Witnesses and their families by disfellowshipping them. This is because of their distorted view of human beings, and because they follow their own viewpoints and not the viewpoints of God that are found in the Bible. But all of us who love Jehovah should turn to the Bible and accept what it says regarding the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection.
