THE ANTITYPICAL ELIJAH AND ELISHA DURING THE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST

THE WORK OF THE ANTITYPICAL ELIJAH

The antitypical Elijah should be present during Jesus’ present and “he must turn the heart of fathers back toward sons, and the heart of sons back toward fathers.” (Malachi 4:5), which meant “to get ready for Jehovah a prepared people.” (Luke 1:17) This means that those who were the antitypical Elijah should do the same antitypical actions that Elijah did.

The antitypical Elijah is identified in Revelation 11:1-7:

¹ And a reed like a rod was given to me as he said: “Get up and measure the temple sanctuary of God and the altar and those worshipping in it. ² But as for the courtyard that is outside the temple sanctuary, leave it out and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city underfoot for 42 months. ³ I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days dressed in sackcloth.” ⁴ These are symbolized by the two olive trees and the two lampstands and are standing before the Lord of the earth.

⁵  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. ⁶ 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.

⁷ When they have finished their witnessing, the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss will wage war with them and conquer them and kill them.

I have shown that Elijah should be present during Jesus’ present, and “he must turn the heart of fathers back toward sons, and the heart of sons back toward fathers.” (Malachi 4:5) This means that those who were the antitypical Elijah should do the same antitypical actions that Elijah did. As I have shown, not every detail connected with a prophetic type needs an antitypical fulfillment, but the basic points will be fulfilled.

Verse 5 of Revelation chapter 11 shows that some basic points that will be fulfilled. The words about fire from heaven refer to 2 Kings 1:9-11:

⁹ The king then sent to him a chief of 50 with his 50 men. When he went up to him, he was sitting on the top of the mountain. He said to him: “Man of the true God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰  But E·liʹjah answered the chief of the 50: “Well, if I am a man of God, let fire come down from the heavens and consume you and your 50 men.” And fire came down from the heavens and consumed him and his 50 men. ¹⁰ So the king sent again to him another chief of 50 with his 50 men. He went and said to him: “Man of the true God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down quickly.’” ¹² But E·liʹjah answered them: “If I am a man of the true God, let fire come down from the heavens and consume you and your 50 men.” And fire of God came down from the heavens and consumed him and his 50 men.

The quoted words represent prophetic types, and because they occur in the context of Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings chapters 1 and 2), the actions of these prophets must also represent prophetic types.

The words about shutting up of heaven with no rain for three and a half years are found in 1 Kings 17:1 (above), and 18:1, 45 (below):

¹ Now E·liʹjah the Tishʹbite, an inhabitant of Gilʹe·ad, said to Aʹhab: “As surely as Jehovah the God of Israel whom I serve is living, during these years there will be no dew or rain except by my word!”

¹ After some time, in the third year, Jehovah’s word came to E·liʹjah, saying: “Go, present yourself to Aʹhab, and I will send rain on the surface of the ground.” ² So E·liʹjah went to present himself to Aʹhab, while the famine was severe in Sa·marʹi·a… ⁴⁵ Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds, the wind blew, and a heavy downpour fell; and Aʹhab kept riding and made his way to Jezʹre·el.

1 Kings chapter 18 tells about the test between Jehovah and Baal performed by Elijah and the 450 Baal priests. So, this account must also represent a prophetic type. King Ahab and queen Jezebel are also mentioned in the chapter, and must, therefore, represent prophetic types. The account of Naboth and his vineyard is written in 1 Kings 21:1-14, between the accounts of the Baal priests and the fire that consumed all the men who hunted Elijah. Therefore, this account must also be a prophetic type.

EXCURSUS THE ANTITYPICAL ACTIONS OF ELIJAH ARE INTERTWINED WITH THE 1,260 DAYS MENTIONED IN DANIEL AND REVELATION The antitypes of the situations with Elijah, Ahab, Jesabel, and Nabot are described in detail in the book, Let Your Name Be Sanctified. The members of the Governing Body reject the antitypical explanations in this book. And they use these explanations as examples why they refuse to accept any account as antitypical if this is not explicitly said to be so. This standpoint is the same as rejecting the full inspiration of the Bible, because: 1)    Malachi 4:5, 6 say that the antitypical prophet Elijah should be present during Jesus’ presence, doing the antitypical actions of Elijah. 2)    Revelation 11:5 shows that the mentioned accounts of Elijah’s actions are prophetic types. 3)    Rejecting the antitypical explanations in Let your Name Be Sanctified is the same as rejecting the fulfillment of prophetic period of 1 260 days in Daniel 7, 12:7, Revelation 11:3, and 13:5. Point 3 is particularly important because this time period should be fulfilled on the people of God. The only group living today who claim that there is a period in their history, between 1914 and 1918, in which 1 260 days were fulfilled, is Jehovah’s Witnesses. The important point is that many of the antitypical events from the life of Elijah are intertwined with events connected with the 1 260 days. If we reject the antitypical fulfillment of Elijah’s actions, in principle we reject the fulfillment of the 1 260 days. And conversely, when we accept that God’s kingdom with Jesus as king was established in 1914, and accept the fulfillment of the 1 260 days from December this year, we have identified the time period for the antitypical actions of the prophet Elijah.

THE FIERY TEST BETWEEN ELIJAH AND THE 450 BAAL PROPHETS

THE PROPHETIC ACCOUNT IN 1 KINGS 18:21-40

²¹ Then E·liʹjah approached all the people and said: “How long will YOU be limping upon two different opinions? If Jehovah is the [true] God, go following him; but if Baʹal is, go following him.” And the people did not say a word in answer to him. ²² And E·liʹjah went on to say to the people: “I myself have been left as a prophet of Jehovah, I alone, while the prophets of Baʹal are four hundred and fifty men. ²³ Now let them give us two young bulls, and let them choose for themselves one young bull and cut it in pieces and put it upon the wood, but they should not put fire to it. And I myself shall dress the other young bull, and I must place it upon the wood, but I shall not put fire to it. ²⁴ And YOU must call upon the name of YOUR god, and I, for my part, shall call upon the name of Jehovah; and it must occur that the [true] God that answers by fire is the [true] God.” To this all the people answered and said: “The thing is good.”

²⁵ E·liʹjah now said to the prophets of Baʹal: “Choose for yourselves one young bull and dress it first, because YOU are the majority; and call upon the name of YOUR god, but YOU must not put fire to it.” ²⁶ Accordingly they took the young bull that he gave them. Then they dressed it, and they kept calling upon the name of Baʹal from morning till noon, saying: “O Baʹal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and there was no one answering. And they kept limping around the altar that they had made. ²⁷ And it came about at noon that E·liʹjah began to mock them and say: “Call at the top of YOUR voice, for he is a god; for he must be concerned with a matter, and he has excrement and has to go to the privy. Or maybe he is asleep and ought to wake up!” ²⁸ And they began calling at the top of their voice and cutting themselves according to their custom with daggers and with lances, until they caused blood to flow out upon them. ²⁹ And it came about that, as soon as noon was past and they continued behaving as prophets until the going up of the grain offering, there was no voice, and there was no one answering, and there was no paying of attention.

³⁰ At length E·liʹjah said to all the people: “Approach me.” So all the people approached him. Then he proceeded to mend the altar of Jehovah that was torn down. ³¹ So E·liʹjah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Jehovah’s word had come, saying: “Israel is what your name will become.” ³² And he went on to build the stones into an altar in the name of Jehovah and to make a trench, of about the area sowed with two seah measures of seed, all around the altar. ³³ After that he put the pieces of wood in order and cut the young bull in pieces and placed it upon the pieces of wood. He now said: “FILL four large jars with water and pour it upon the burnt offering and upon the pieces of wood.” ³⁴ Then he said: “Do it again.” So they did it again. But he said: “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time. ³⁵ Thus the water went all around the altar, and the trench also he filled with water.

³⁶ And it came about at the time+ that the grain offering goes up that E·liʹjah the prophet began to approach and say: “O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant and it is by your word that I have done all these things. ³⁷ Answer me, O Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that you, Jehovah, are the [true] God and you yourself have turned their heart back.”

³⁸ At that the fire of Jehovah came falling and went eating up the burnt offering and the pieces of wood and the stones and the dust, and the water that was in the trench it licked up. ³⁹ When all the people saw it, they immediately fell upon their faces and said: “Jehovah is the [true] God! Jehovah is the [true] God!” ⁴⁰ Then E·liʹjah said to them: “Seize the prophets of Baʹal! Do not let a single one of them escape!” At once they seized them, and E·liʹjah then brought them down to the torrent valley of Kiʹshon and slaughtered them there.

One of the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11:1-7 is the antitypical Elijah. The 1 260 days after which the witnesses were killed was fulfilled on the anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses between December 1914 and June 21, 1918.[1] This shows that the antitypical Elijah was the anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Both before and after World War I, the leaders of the Christian denominations were very active in their fight against the Bible Students. When eight of the Bible Students’ leaders were jailed in 1918, the evidence shows that politicians were pressured by religious leaders to arrest and sentence these leaders. The book Let Your Name be Sanctified applies the antitypical Baal prophets to the religious leaders of Christendom. This is a logical application.

What was the fiery test? According to Let your Name Be Sanctified the matter of contention was the year 1914 and what would happen in this year. The anointed Witnesses predicted a world catastrophe in 1914 while the religious leaders prayed for peace.

The situation started already in 1877 with the book Three Worlds, and The Harvest of this World, where C.T. Russell was co-publisher. On page 83 we read:

Hence, it was in B.C. 606, that God’s kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to the Gentiles, 2520 years from B.C. 606, will end in A.D. 1914, or forty years from 1874; and this forty years upon which we have now entered is to be such ‘a time of trouble as never was since there was a nation.’

The book The Time Is at Hand (1889) has a long description of the prophecy leading to 1914, and numerous Watchtower magazines in the last part of the 19th century and first part of the 20th century discussed the year 1914. In the year 1914, ten million copies of the tract The Bible Students Monthly, Volume 6, Number 1, with the title “End of the World in 1914,” were distributed.

Aftenposten, Norway’s biggest newspaper, for June 2010, had as an attachment of Ekko fra Talerstolen (Echo from the Pulpit) with the text of C.T. Russell:

I submit to you, dear friends, as my conviction, which is entirely based on scripture, but which, it seems to me, has been confirmed by what is happening in our days, that these 2520 years, which began in 606 BC, will end in October 1914 AD…And these 2520 years, we believe, will expire in October 1914; at that time, we believe, the reign of the Gentiles will have expired, and then the God of heaven will establish his kingdom in Israel.

We do not expect world peace to follow immediately, even though Christ is called the “Prince of Peace”. On the contrary, according to our understanding, the downfall of the nations will be caused by a wild struggle, a time of trouble that has not been there since the time a people came into being, in which time there will be no peace “for him who goes in, or for him who goes out”, because God will turn “every man’s hand against his brother”. We believe that the struggle between capital and labor and between ruler and people will be short, sharp and decisive and bring untold misery to all parties.

President T. Woodrow Wilson of the United States of America called on the clergymen of the nation to make October 4, 1914,  a day of prayer for peace in Europe. To this request, the president of the Watch Tower Society, Charles Taze Russell, responded as set forth in The Watchtower  of October l5, 1914:

Our Honorable President with praiseworthy intent requested all Christian people to make October 4 a day of prayer for peace in Europe. However, we cannot concur with our Worthy President in this matter.  Much as we appreciate peace— and we have all our life labored to be a peacemaker—we cannot pray the Almighty to change His plans to conform to those of our Honored President.

For twenty-five hundred years God, through the Bible Prophets, has been telling His people about this great war and concerning the more terrible Armageddon which will follow it; and can we expect Him to reverse the program at our behest?

The prayers of these millions praying for the prosperity of the Germans and the extermination of the Allies, and the prayers of other millions for the success of the Allies and the annihilation of the Germans, and the prayer of the Pope and of our President and other good people that this awful war shall promptly cease will all go unanswered. If we read our Bible aright…

“For forty years we have been proclaiming this very war and its glorious outcome, by sermons, oral and printed, and in our books on Bible study in twenty languages. Now, when the very year has come and the prophecy is being fulfilled, could we consistently ask the Almighty to change His program? Nay! Rather, our discourse on October 4 was from the Master’s words, respecting the present ‘DISTRESS OF NATIONS WITH PERPLEXITY, men’s hearts failing them for fear of those things to come on the earth’. —Luke 21:25, 26.

“Our address was given in the New York City Temple — fifteen hundred heard for two hours, and many were turned away.”[2]

After this quotation, the book says on page 308:

The modern prophets of Baal prayed earnestly for peace. No sign of peace, no fire from heaven, came to answer their agonizing prayer…However, for the Elijah class fire from heaven continued to fall by the piling up of proof that the Gentile Times had ended in 1914 and that the prophecy of Jehovah’s word was true.

I find the book’s explanations of the fiery test convincing, both because this is a real situation that happened before 1914 and in 1914, because 1914 is a very important date, and because the period of 1 260 days started in December 1914.

Does this application of the fiery test between Elijah and the 450 Baal prophets conform to how prophetic types have been applied in the Hebrew Scriptures? Yes, it does. In the article “Prophetic types and antitypes in the time of the end,” I show that historical individuals can be prophetic types of other individuals: Melchisedek was a prophetic type of Jesus, and Isaiah and his children were prophetic types of Jesus and his anointed followers.

However, historical individuals can also be prophetic types of events in the world. Isaiah’s son, Shear Jashub (“a remnant will return”), was a prophetic picture pointing to the future situation that inhabitants of Judah would be exiled to Babylon, but a remnant would return to their land.

Isaiah’s son Immanuel (“God with us”) was a symbol that Jesus would be a savior of God-fearing people. Isaiah’s son Mahēr shālāl hash baz (“Come quickly spoil; he has come quickly to plunder”) was a prophetic symbol that Assyria would plunder Syria and Israel, enemies of Judah.

On the background of how The Hebrew Scriptures use historical persons and their actions as prophetic types, the situation where the Bible students prophesied about a coming “wild struggle” among the nations of the world in 1914, while others prayed for peace, fit the antitypical test between Elijah and the 450 Baal prophets on Mount Carmel. When World War I started, it was as if fire from Jehovah were eating up the burnt offerings of Elijah. (1 Kings 18:38)

ELIJAH WAS FLEEING FOR HIS LIFE

THE PROPHETIC ACCOUNT IN  1 KINGS 19:1-8

¹ Then Aʹhab+ told Jezʹe·bel all that E·liʹjah had done and all about how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² At that Jezʹe·bel sent a messenger to E·liʹjah, saying: “So may the gods do, and so may they add to it, if at this time tomorrow I shall not make your soul like the soul of each one of them!” ³ And he became afraid. Consequently he rose up and began to go for his soul and came to Beʹer-sheʹba, which belongs to Judah. Then he left his attendant behind there. ⁴ And he himself went into the wilderness a day’s journey, and at length came and sat down under a certain broom tree. And he began to ask that his soul might die and to say: “It is enough! Now, O Jehovah, take my soul away,+ for I am no better than my forefathers.”

⁵ Finally he lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree. But, look! now an angel was touching him. Then he said to him: “Rise up, eat.” ⁶ When he looked, why, there at his head was a round cake upon heated stones and a jug of water. And he began to eat and drink, after which he lay down again. ⁷ Later the angel of Jehovah came back a second time and touched him and said: “Rise up, eat, for the journey is too much for you.” ⁸ So he rose up and ate and drank, and he kept going in the power of that nourishment for forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of the [true] God, Hoʹreb.

According to verse 20, Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah, and he fled for his life until he came to the mountain of Horeb. The book Let Your Name Be Sanctified, page 313, compares this situation to the prophecy in Revelation 11:2-8, where the account says that the two witnesses, which are antitypes of Moses and Elijah, were killed:

² But as for the courtyard that is outside the temple [sanctuary], cast it clear out and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. ³ And I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days dressed in sackcloth.” ⁴ These are [symbolized by] the two olive trees and the two lampstands and are standing before the Lord of the earth.

⁵ And if anyone wants to harm them, fire issues forth from their mouths and devours their enemies; and if anyone should want to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. ⁶ These have the authority to shut up heaven that no rain should 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.

⁷ And when they have finished their witnessing, the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war with them and conquer them and kill them. ⁸ And their corpses will be on the broad way of the great city which is in a spiritual sense called Sodʹom+ and Egypt, where their Lord was also impaled.

The situation in 1 Kings 19:1-8 describes the flight of the prophet Elijah and Revelation 11:1-8 describes the death of the antitypical Elijah, which are the anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses. The antitypical Elijah was killed on June 21, 1918, when eight officers of the Watchtower Society were jailed, and the religious work of the Bible students stopped.[3]

The work of the Bible Students was dead, but the eight jailed officers and individual Bible Students continued to live. In a similar way, the work of Elijah was as good as dead for Ahab and Jezebel, although he was physically living.

The flight and “death” of the antitypical Elijah is intertwined with the 1,260 days mentioned in Daniel 9:25, Daniel 12:7, Revelation 11:2, 3, 7, and Revelation 13:5. The importance of this period is shown by it being mentioned four different places in The Holy Scriptures.

 

[1]. See the book The Presence of Jesus Christ Leading to the Jubilee — The Chronology and Prophecies, page 212

[2]. Quoted from Let Your Name Be Sanctified, page 308.

[3]. See the book, The Presence of Jesus Christ Leading to the Jubilee — The Chronology and Prophecies,  page 212.

ELIJAH CONTINUES HIS SERVICE FOR JEHOVAH

THE PROPHETIC ACCOUNT IN  1 KINGS 19:15-19

¹⁵ Jehovah now said to him: “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and you must come in and anoint Hazʹa·el as king over Syria. ¹⁶  And Jeʹhu the grandson of Nimʹshi you should anoint as king over Israel; and E·liʹsha the son of Shaʹphat from Aʹbel-me·hoʹlah you should anoint as prophet in place of you. ¹⁷ And it must occur that the one escaping from Hazʹa·el’s sword, Jeʹhu will put to death; and the one escaping from Jeʹhu’s sword, E·liʹsha will put to death. ¹⁸ And I have let seven thousand remain in Israel, all the knees that have not bent down to Baʹal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” ¹⁹  Accordingly he went from there and found E·liʹsha the son of Shaʹphat while he was plowing with twelve spans before him, and he with the twelfth. So E·liʹjah crossed over to him and threw his official garment upon him.

The two witnesses were killed by the wild beast that ascends out of the abyss, according to Revelation 11:7, and this wild beast with seven heads and ten horns can be shown to be a symbol of all the governments of the world that refuse to give their sovereignty to God’s kingdom that was established in 1914.

A study of the sources of the jailing of the witnesses in 1918 shows that while the political authorities were responsible for the arrest and sentencing, religious leaders directly pressured them to do so. In a similar way, Jezebel, picturing religious leaders, decided to kill Elijah, and she pressured the political leader, Ahab, her husband, to try to do so.

The account in Revelation 11:11, 12 tells that the two witnesses came to life as if they received a spiritual resurrection:

¹¹ And after the three and a half days spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those beholding them. ¹² And they heard a loud voice out of heaven say to them: “Come on up here.” And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.

When Elijah was a fugitive in the cave of Mount Horeb, Jehovah spoke to Elisha through his angel, and we read in 1 Kings 19: 15-19. On March 25, 1919, the eight leaders of the Bible Students were released from prison. The book Let Your Name Be Sanctified from page 319, tells how the group of Bible Students was resuscitated and their religious work continued.

Of particular importance in our context is that Elijah, when he returned and continued his service for Jehovah, found Elisha and “threw his official garment upon him.” The book Let Your Name Be Sanctified, page 321, says that this situation with Elijah shows that antitypical prophet Elisha should follow the work of Elijah, and we read:

As Elijah anointed or commissioned Elisha of Gilead to be his successor, so the Elijah class were now really commissioning those who are carrying on the Elisha Work today. As Elisha ministered to Elijah and “poured out water upon the hands of Elijah,” so those carrying on the Elisha work today [1961] served with the ranks of the Elijah class and received theocratic training to carry out whatever of the commission the Elijah class would leave to be performed.

The point is that Jehovah’s words that Elijah should anoint Elisha as his follower came when Elijah was as good as dead for Jezebel, fulfilling the word in Revelation 11:7 that Elijah died. This is the basis for the view that members of the antitypical Elisha would be educated by members of the antitypical Elijah.

ELIJAH DIVIDES THE WATERS

THE PROPHETIC ACCOUNT IN  2 KINGS 2:4-8

⁴ E·liʹjah now said to him: “E·liʹsha, sit here, please, because Jehovah himself has sent me to Jerʹi·cho.” But he said: “As Jehovah is living and as your soul is living, I will not leave you.” So they came on to Jerʹi·cho. ⁵ Then the sons of the prophets that were at Jerʹi·cho approached E·liʹsha and said to him: “Do you really know that today Jehovah is taking your master from headship over you?” At this he said: “I, too, well know it. Be silent.”

⁶  E·liʹjah now said to him: “Sit here, please, because Jehovah himself has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said: “As Jehovah is living and as your soul is living, I will not leave you.” So both of them went on. ⁷ And there were fifty men of the sons of the prophets that went and kept standing in view at a distance; but, as for both of them, they stood by the Jordan. ⁸ Then E·liʹjah took his official garment and wrapped it up and struck the waters, and gradually they were divided this way and that way, so that both of them went across on the dry ground.

Second Kings 2:8 mentions Elijah’s last miracle. Elijah’s official garment symbolized his divine commission as Jehovah’s prophet. He struck the waters of the Jordan with his official garment so he could cross the river on dry ground; he performed an official act on behalf of God. What was the antitypical meaning of this action? Today, the Jordan River is between 28 and 30 meters wide and between 0.6 and 3 meters deep. Because the water is always flowing, damming up the river was a dramatic action.

What was the garment, the divine commission of antitypical Elijah? “He must turn the heart of fathers back toward sons, and the heart of sons back toward fathers.” (Malachi 4:5), and he must “get ready for Jehovah a prepared people.” (Luke 1:17)

After World War II, Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only religious group in which all members actively preach the good news of the kingdom. By doing this, they show that they have taken up the antitypical Elijah’s official garment and do the work shown in the purple text above.

But how have they struck the water of the antitypical Jordan and divided it with their divine commission?  We find some clues in Revelation 17:1, 15 (above) and 16:12 (below):

¹ And one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying: “Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters… ¹⁵ And he says to me: “The waters that you saw, where the harlot is sitting, mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.

¹² And the sixth one poured out his bowl upon the great river Eu·phraʹtes, and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun.

Just as the wild beast that killed the two witnesses (the antitypical Moses and Elijah), according to Revelation 11:7, is a symbol of all the governments in the world that refuse to transfer their sovereignty to God’s kingdom, the harlot Babylon the Great is a symbol of all the religions in the world apart from the one true religion. This harlot sits on many waters, which symbolizes the people who support her. Ancient Babylon was situated by the great river Euphrates, and when this river dries up, it means that Babylon the Great loses support from some people.

Now we have enough data to understand the antitypical action of Elijah dividing the River Jordan. The water of the river symbolizes people, and Elijah’s official garment symbolizes his divine commission to “get ready for Jehovah a prepared people. Dividing the water means following the divine commission to divide the people. The water that was stopped symbolizes a people prepared for Jehovah,  and the water that continues to flow below the divide flows into the Dead Sea where there is no life.

Here we have a situation that is unique for Jehovah’s Witnesses among all the Christian denominations of the world: Only the Witnesses have two groups among their members, one small group with the hope of receiving a heavenly resurrection and become a part of the 144,000 who will reign with Jesus, and a big group whose hope is to live forever as perfect humans in the coming earthly paradise.[1]

The division of the antitypical Jordan River explains the two different hopes: the heavenly and the earthly. How so?

The purpose of the preaching of the good news of the kingdom by Jesus and his followers in the first century CE was to find sincere persons who would be anointed by holy spirit, and who would reign with Jesus in heaven. Only a part of the 144,000 was gathered at that time.

The Bible Students in the late 19th century believed that Jesus bought all Adam’s descendants when he died, and that apart from anointed Christians with a heavenly hope, all Adam’s descendants would receive a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus to have a chance of everlasting life. It was not clear who the great crowd mentioned in Revelation 7:9-17 referred to. But they believed the great crowd was a secondary heavenly group.

This means that when the Bible Students preached the good news of the kingdom, they taught that anyone who believed in Jesus Christ and Jehovah God would be part of the 144,000-strong bride of Jesus and would receive a heavenly resurrection. However, the angel asked John: “These who are dressed in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” (Revelation 7:13) But there was no clear answer.

From the year 1918 onward, there were some small developments toward the answer to that question. It started on February 24, 1918, when J.F. Rutherford for the first time gave the lecture, “The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living May Never Die.” It held forth the hope that those who would turn to Jehovah could survive Armageddon and live forever on the earth that would become a paradise. However, there was no attempt to find these people, and the hope preached was to become part of the bride of Christ with a heavenly hope.

The next step was the lecture of J.F. Rutherford at the assembly in Los Angeles on August 25, 1923, where he discussed the illustration of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46. He argued that the “sheep” were people who do good to the remnant of Christ’s brothers and who will survive the battle of Armageddon and receive earthly blessings under God’s kingdom. But still, there was no attempt to find these people who were symbolized by sheep.

However, the convention in Washington D.C., May 21 to June 3, 1935, was a milestone. People who did good to the remnant of Christ’s brothers were called “Jonadabs” after the prophetic types of Israelite king Jehu and Jonadab. They were invited to this convention in The Watchtower of 1935, pages 98, 110, 127, 130, with the words:

“Heretofore not many Jonadabs have had the privilege of attending a convention, and the convention at Washington may be a real comfort and benefit for them.”

Regarding those who attended the convention, The Watchtower of July 1935, page 194, said that among those who attended “were a large number of Jonadabs who symbolized their consecration by water immersion.”

In January 1936, the book Riches was published. The Watchtower of January 15, 1936, page 18, said that this was a “publication particularly designed for the instruction of those who already are of and those who shall yet swell the ranks of the ‘great multitude.’”

There can be no doubt that Jehovah’s angels led the situation described above. The preparations for gathering the great crowd were made in 1918 and 1923, and by inviting the Jonadabs to attend the convention in 1935. But the real dividing of the water of the antitypical Jordan River started at the convention in 1935.

Jehovah God had answered the question of the angel in Revelation 7:13:

HERE IS THE GREAT CROWD WHO WILL SURVIVE THE GREAT TRIBULATION.

From now on, the focus of the preaching of the good news of the kingdom was gathering those who will be a part of the great crowd with the hope of living forever in the earthly paradise.

[1]. A detailed discussion proving from the Scriptures that there is a group of 144,000 who will reign with Jesus in heaven, and that there is  a group of billions who will live forever on the earth is found in my book, The Atonement Between God and Man, pages 11-38. https://mybelovedreligion.no/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Atonement-31.8.2023-til-trykkk.pdf

ELIJAH’S ASCENSION IN THE WINDSTORM

THE PROPHETIC ACCOUNT IN  2 KINGS 2:11-13

¹¹ And it came about that as they were walking along, speaking as they walked, why, look! a fiery war chariot and fiery horses, and they proceeded to make a separation between them both; and E·liʹjah went ascending in the windstorm to the heavens. ¹² All the while E·liʹsha was seeing it, and he was crying out: “My father, my father, the war chariot of Israel and his horsemen!” And he did not see him anymore. Consequently he took hold of his own garments and ripped them into two pieces. ¹³ After that he picked up the official garment of E·liʹjah that had fallen off him, and went back and stood by the shore of the Jordan. 

The fiery war chariot and the fiery horses separated Elijah from Elisha, and it was a sign that Elisha would now serve as Jehovah’s prophet. The words “ascending in the windstorm to the heavens” can be misunderstood. Both in the Pseudepigraphical books and in modern religious thought, the view is that Enoch did not die but was physically taken directly to the throne of God in the heavens.

The miracle showed that Elijah’s function as Jehovah’s prophet ended, and Elisha would now take his role. Elijah did not die, but he evidently was transferred to another place. We see this when we read 2 Chronicles 21:12-15:

¹² Eventually there came a writing to him from E·liʹjah the prophet, saying: “This is what Jehovah the God of David your forefather has said, ‘Due to the fact that you have not walked in the ways of Je·hoshʹa·phat your father or in the ways of Aʹsa the king of Judah, ¹³ but you walk in the way of the kings of Israel and cause Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to have immoral intercourse the same way that the house of Aʹhab caused the having of immoral intercourse, and even your own brothers, the household of your father, who were better than you, you have killed; ¹⁴ look! Jehovah is dealing a great blow to your people and to your sons and to your wives and to all your goods. ¹⁵ And you will be with many sicknesses, with a malady of your intestines, until your intestines have come out because of the sickness day by day.’”

The text says Elijah wrote a letter of condemnation to the wicked  King Jehoram of Judah, who began to reign in 917 BCE, five years before the death of Ahab of Israel in 922. This shows that the prophet Elijah still lived many years after his ascension in the windstorm to heaven.

The book Let Your Name Be Sanctified, pages 336-338, places the transition from the antitypical Elijah to Elisha to the year 1942, when J.F. Rutherford died on January 8, and N.H. Knorr became president of the Watchtower Society. No glaring miracle occurred, but there is no doubt the new administration marked a turning point for the preaching of the good news of the kingdom. This is especially seen in the antitypical action of Elijah who divided the waters of the Jordan River in the same way as Elijah had done.

ELISHA DIVIDES THE WATER

THE PROPHETIC ACCOUNT IN  2 KINGS 2:11-15

¹¹ And it came about that as they were walking along, speaking as they walked, why, look! a fiery war chariot and fiery horses, and they proceeded to make a separation between them both; and E·liʹjah went ascending in the windstorm to the heavens. ¹² All the while E·liʹsha was seeing it, and he was crying out: “My father, my father, the war chariot of Israel and his horsemen!” And he did not see him anymore. Consequently he took hold of his own garments and ripped them into two pieces. ¹³ After that he picked up the official garment of E·liʹjah that had fallen off him, and went back and stood by the shore of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the official garment of E·liʹjah that had fallen off him and struck the waters and said: “Where is Jehovah the God of E·liʹjah, even He?” When he struck the waters, then they were gradually divided this way and that way, so that E·liʹsha went across.

As I have shown, the Bible clearly teaches that there are two different hopes for the human family: Billions of Adam’s descendants will live forever in the restored earthly paradise, and a group of 144,000 humans will receive a heavenly resurrection and be a part of the heavenly government.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only group that teaches about these two groups and includes members of both. The realization in 1935 that the preaching of the good news, which had hitherto collected sincere persons with a heavenly hope, should now collect sincere persons with an earthly hope, could rightly be the antitypical fulfillment of Elijah’s dividing the waters of the Jordan River.

After Elijah ascended in the windstorm to the heavens, Elisha began to function as a prophet in Elijah’s place. The first thing he did was perform the same miracle as Elijah: He divided the water of the Jordan River and went across. We have seen that water symbolized people, and the division of the water in 1935 represented the division of sincere persons between heavenly and earthly hope, concentrating the preaching of the good news on people with an earthly hope.

The book Let Your Name Be Sanctified (pages 339- 347) points to the year 1942 as the division between the antitypical function of Elijah and Elisha. Can we see an antitypical dividing of the water, which represents human beings, from this year? Yes, we can!

In the year 1942, there were 113,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in 22 countries. The Watchtower of February 1, 1942, had an article entitled “Final gathering” dealing with the work of “fishing and hunting” (Jeremiah 16:16) for the members of the great crowd. A worldwide preaching had now started. The Gilead School for missionaries was instituted in 1943, and an advanced course of Theocratic Ministry was introduced in all congregations. In the congregations, members received interactive Bible teaching and learned how to preach the good news of the kingdom. And all over the world, an enormous preaching work was instituted.

This was clearly the antitypical dividing of the water in the Jordan River. The water below the point where the river was dammed up, which pictured human beings, floated down to the Dead Sea, where there was no life. But that was not the case with the dammed-up water.

The effectiveness of dividing the water is seen in the results of preaching the good news. The numbers of baptized Witnesses were first published in the Yearbook of 1971. But the numbers of publishers in the world were published in the Yearbooks from 1948:

Table 1.1 Number of publishers and yearly increase

YEAR	PUBLISHERS	INCREASE IN PERCENT
1948	230,532	27
1949	279,421	21
1950	328572	18
1951	384694	17
1952	426,704	11
1953	468,106	10
1954	525,924	12
1955	570,694	8,5
1956	591,556	3,6
1957	653,273	10
1958	717,088	9,8
1959	803,482	12
1960	916,332	6
1961	965,169	3,9
1962	989,142	4,1
1963	1,040,836	3,9
1964	1,075,523	4,7
1965	1,034,268	3,2
1966	1,118,665	2,4
1967	1,160,604	3,4
1968	1,155,826	5,6
1969	1,336,112	1,7
1970	1,483,782	10,2

The great increase of the great crowd (the water of Jordan) supports the explanation in the book Let Your Name Be Sanctified that the water was divided from 1942 forward.

The Yearbook of 1952 has a table of numbers back to 1918.

Table 1.2 Number of publishers and number of countries

YEAR	NUMBER OF PUBLISHERS	NUMBER OF COUNTRIES
1918	3,868	12
1928	23,988	31
1938	47,143	52
1948	230,532	95

Little progress occurred during World War II, so the numbers of countries where the good news was preached, and the number of publishers were about the same as in 1938. The increase in the number of countries almost doubled between 1938 and 1948, and the number of publishers increased by 500%. Most of this increase occurred between 1945 and 1948, and it illustrates the effect of the dividing of the water by the antitypical Elisha.

NABOTH’S VINEYARD

THE PROPHETIC ACCOUNT IN  2 KINGS 21:1-19

¹ And it came about after these things that there was a vineyard that happened to belong to Naʹboth the Jezʹre·el·ite, which was in Jezʹre·el, beside the palace of Aʹhab the king of Sa·marʹi·a. ² So Aʹhab spoke to Naʹboth, saying: “Do give me your vineyard, that it may serve as a garden of vegetables to me, for it is close by my house; and let me give you in place of it a vineyard better than it. [Or] if it is good in your eyes, I will give you money as the price of this.” ³ But Naʹboth said to Aʹhab: “It is unthinkable on my part, from Jehovah’s standpoint, for me to give the hereditary possession of my forefathers to you.” ⁴ Consequently Aʹhab came into his house, sullen and dejected over the word that Naʹboth the Jezʹre·el·ite had spoken to him, when he said: “I shall not give you the hereditary possession of my forefathers.” Then he lay down upon his couch and kept his face turned, and he did not eat bread.

⁵ Finally Jezʹe·bel his wife came in to him and spoke to him: “Why is it that your spirit is sad+ and you are not eating bread?” ⁶ At that he spoke to her: “Because I proceeded to speak to Naʹboth the Jezʹre·el·ite and say to him, ‘Do give me your vineyard for money. Or, if you prefer, let me give you another vineyard in place of it.’ But he said, ‘I shall not give you my vineyard.’” ⁷ Then Jezʹe·bel his wife said to him: “Is it you that now exercise the kingship over Israel? Rise up, eat bread and let your heart be merry. I myself shall give you the vineyard of Naʹboth the Jezʹre·el·ite.” ⁸Accordingly she wrote letters in Aʹhab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the older men+ and the nobles that were in his city dwelling with Naʹboth. ⁹ But she wrote in the letters, saying: “Proclaim a fast, and HAVE Naʹboth sit at the head of the people. ¹⁰ And MAKE two men, good-for-nothing fellows, sit in front of him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king!’ And BRING him out and stone him that he may die.”+

¹¹  So the men of his city, the older men and the nobles that were dwelling in his city, did just as Jezʹe·bel had sent to them, just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast+ and had Naʹboth sit at the head of the people. ¹³  Then two of the men, good-for-nothing fellows, came in and sat down in front of him; and the good-for-nothing men began to bear witness against him, that is, Naʹboth, in front of the people, saying: “Naʹboth has cursed God and the king!” After that they brought him out to the outskirts of the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. ¹⁴ They now sent to Jezʹe·bel, saying: “Naʹboth has been stoned so that he is dead.”

¹⁵ And it came about that, as soon as Jezʹe·bel heard that Naʹboth had been stoned so that he died, Jezʹe·bel immediately said to Aʹhab: “Rise up, take possession of the vineyard of Naʹboth the Jezʹre·el·ite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naʹboth is no longer alive, but dead.” ¹⁶ And it came about that, as soon as Aʹhab heard that Naʹboth was dead, Aʹhab at once rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naʹboth the Jezʹre·el·ite, to take possession of it.

¹⁷ And Jehovah’s word came to E·liʹjah the Tishʹbite, saying: ¹⁸ “Rise up, go down to meet Aʹhab the king of Israel, who is in Sa·marʹi·a. There he is in the vineyard of Naʹboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. ¹⁹ And you must speak to him, saying, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?”’ And you must speak to him, saying, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naʹboth, the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours.”’”

The book Let Your Name Be Sanctified has the following comments on the account of Naboth, on pages 324 and 325:

This issue between the false religious vineyard and the true spiritual vineyard of God was illustrated with the vineyard of Naboth, whose name means “Fruits.” His vineyard was on God-given land inherited from his forefathers; and from it Naboth was not to be separated, according to Jehovah’s law. King Ahab wanted this land next to his palace in Jezreel. “It is unthinkable on my part from Jehovah’s standpoint,” said Naboth to King Ahab, “to give the hereditary possession of my forefathers to you.” He stuck to Jehovah’s theocratic arrangement for Israel. Queen Jezebel then stepped into the situation and had Naboth publicly framed as a blasphemer against God and a seditionist against the king of Israel. Naboth, the adherent to Jehovah, was stoned to death along with his heirs, his sons; and Queen Jezebel directed King Ahab to take over Naboth’s vineyard as State property. At the vineyard the prophet Elijah, sent there by Jehovah, appeared before Ahab. He pronounced Jehovah’s condemnation on this foul conspiracy against the life and fruitful property of one of Jehovah’s remnant of witnesses. He told of terrible punishment to come to King Ahab, his house and Jezebel.

In the years since World War I self-determination of peoples and nationalism have worked as strong forces on people. Christendom, putting man before God, has insisted on nationalism. The remnant of Jehovah’s anointed witnesses, like Naboth, produced the fruitage of Jehovah’s spiritual vineyard by preaching and spreading the Kingdom interests. Christendom’s political rulers wanted to control the area of activity of the modern Naboth class by not letting the bearing of Kingdom fruitage coexist or thrive alongside the nationalistic, Baalistic movement. The Naboth class stood firm for Jehovah’s arrangement and for retaining the spiritual vineyard of Kingdom fruits. Then the Jezebelian clergy of Christendom conspired with the political against these anointed bearers of Kingdom fruitage. The modern Jezebel used her influence with political governments. She painted up the fruitful Kingdom heirs as unchristian blasphemers, as unpatriotic obstructors of the expansion of nationalist aims, as seditious. In this manner she had them stoned to death as far as their reputation and good influence in Christendom is concerned. She tried to counteract the fruitfulness of the anointed remnant who would not bend down to modern Baalism, which is, in effect, Devil worship. She demanded for men what belonged to God.—Acts 5:29.

This called for the Elijah class to make strong protest. It made it necessary for them to point out from Jehovah’s prophetic Word the disastrous consequence: that would come from this committing of aggression against Jehovah’s anointed remnant,the “faithful and discreet slave” class. The doom of the political element and the clergy element to violent destruction had to be pronounced.

As an instance, at the London, (England) international convention of May 25-31,1926, in the public address on the subject “Why World Powers Are Tottering—The Remedy”…

The Watchtower of March 15, 2015, page 7, rejected most of the accounts in The Hebrew Scriptures as prophetic types with a modern antitypical fulfillment. The example used to show how nonsensical it is to use accounts in The Hebrew Scriptures as antitypes was the application in Let Your Name Be Sanctified, as quoted above. We read:

Can we conclude, though, that every character, event, and object described in the Bible foreshadows someone or something?

⁹ In the past, such an approach was often taken. Consider, for example, the account about Naboth, whose unjust trial and execution were arranged by wicked Queen Jezebel so that her husband, Ahab, could seize Naboth’s vineyard. (1 Ki. 21:1–16) Back in 1932, that account was explained as a prophetic drama. Ahab and Jezebel were said to picture Satan and his organization; Naboth pictured Jesus; Naboth’s death, then, was prophetic of Jesus’ execution. Decades later, though, in the book “Let Your Name Be Sanctified,” published in 1961, Naboth was said to picture the anointed, and Jezebel was Christendom. Hence, Naboth’s persecution at Jezebel’s hands pictured the persecution of the anointed during the last days. For many years, God’s people found this approach to Bible accounts faith strengthening. Why, then, have things changed?

¹⁰ As we might expect, over the years 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.

¹¹ How, then, do we now understand the account about Naboth? In much clearer, simpler terms. That righteous man died, not because he was a prophetic type of Jesus or of the anointed, but because he was an integrity keeper. He held to Jehovah’s Law in the face of horrific abuse of power. (Num. 36:7; 1 Ki. 21:3) His example thus speaks to us because any one of us may face persecution for similar reasons. (Read 2 Timothy 3:12.) People of all backgrounds can readily understand, remember, and apply such a faith-strengthening lesson.

The reason given for rejecting prophetic types is strange. The Watchtower literature has never claimed that “that every character, event, and object described in the Bible foreshadows someone or something,” as the 2015 article claims. But the claim has been that a great part of the account in the Hebrew Scriptures is prophetic types; in my view, this is a correct claim.

The argument of the Watchtower article is that the application of prophetic types is arbitrary, as seen by the fact that the antitypical application of the account of Naboth and his vineyard has changed.

The author of the article could hardly have chosen a worse example than the vineyard of Naboth to show the folly of searching for prophetic types in The Hebrew Scriptures. Let us see.

First: What is the purpose of including the account of Naboth and his vineyard in The Hebrew Scriptures? The purpose of including the Law and the historical books is to identify the people of God with the lineage of the Messiah, and to show how the law pointed to the Messiah and his work. (Galatians 3:24) The account of Naboth and his vineyard does not fit into this purpose.

We can also look at the situation in the light of the words of Paul in Romans 15:4:

⁴ For all the things that were written aforetime were written for our instruction, that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope.

The author of the article on the rejection of prophetic types claims that the purpose of the account is to give an example for persons who are unjustly persecuted. There are many such examples of this both in The Hebrew Scriptures and The Christian Greek Scriptures. But the account of Naboth does not give us “instruction” so we “might have hope.”

However, if the account is a prophetic type of events during Jesus’ presence, it gives Jesus’ followers hope.

Second: The account of Naboth and his vineyard is part of a larger account of prophetic types that Scripture directly says will be fulfilled in the people of God during Jesus’ presence.

Malachi 4:5 says that the antitypical Elijah will be present during Jesus’ presence. This must be the anointed followers of Jesus because “Elijah” will turn people’s hearts back to God. Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only ones who preach the kingdom of God worldwide and gather people loyal to the kingdom.

This is confirmed by the prophecy in Revelation 11:2-8 that the two Witnesses, one being the antitypical Elijah, should prophesy for 1,260 days and then be killed. These days were fulfilled between December 1914 and June 21, 1918.

Third: There is no arbitrariness regarding the antitypes of Naboth’s vineyard. Malachi 4:5 and Revelation 11:8-10 directly identify the antitypical Elijah as the anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses during Jesus’ presence. The rest is a walk in the park, because Ahab and Jezebel have the same relationship to Naboth as they had to Elijah.

The wild beast that killed the two witnesses is a symbol of all the governments in the world that are led by Satan the Devil. (Matthew 4:8, 9) The harlot Babylon the great is a symbol of all religions in the world aside from the only true religion. In 1918, the leaders of the Bible Students were jailed and by this wild beast, “killed,” by the political authorities under pressure from leaders of Christian religions. Thus, history proves that Ahab was a prophetic type of political leaders who oppose God’s kingdom during Jesus’ presence. And Jezebel must be the prophetic type of the leaders of the Christian religions who persecute Jehovah’s Witnesses and, by this, oppose God’s kingdom.

This means that regarding the antitypes of Naboth’s vineyard, there is historical evidence that Elijah is a prophetic type of the anointed Jehovah’s Witnesses, Ahab is a prophetic type of the politicians who persecute the Witnesses, and Jezebel is a prophetic type of the religious leaders who instigate the persecution of the Witnesses by the political authorities.

But what about Naboth and the vineyard? The book Let Your Name Be Sanctified, page 324 says:

The remnant of Jehovah’s anointed witnesses, like Naboth, produced the fruitage of Jehovah’s spiritual vineyard by preaching and spreading the Kingdom interests.

Matthew 20:1 says that “the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.” The following illustration shows how the vineyard was used to spread the kingdom message and gather disciples. Naboth’s vineyard is a prophetic picture of how the kingdom’s interests are cared for during Jesus’ presence through preaching the good news of the kingdom and gathering disciples.

In the account, both Elijah and Naboth are prophetic types of Jehovah’s anointed Witnesses. This does not question the application, as Revelation 14:3 illustrates:

³ And they are singing as if a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to master that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been bought from the earth.

A study of the context in which the 24 elders are mentioned suggests they are identical to the 144,000 who “have been bought from the earth.” But in the quoted verse, both groups are mentioned together. The reason may be that the text uses two different angles. The number of 144,000 refers to those who will receive a heavenly resurrection from an earthly perspective. After they receive their resurrection and are in heaven, they are called “the 24 elders.”

In the account of Naboth’s death and Ahab and Jezebel’s confiscation of the vineyard, Elijah does not play a role. But after the event, Elijah enters the scene and pronounces Jehovah’s judgment. Thus, Naboth and Elijah participate in two different situations.

THE DEATH OF ELISHA — THE END OF HIS ANTITYPICAL WORK

THE PROPHETIC ACCOUNT IN  2 KINGS 13:1, 2, 10, 11,14

¹ In the twenty-third year of Je·hoʹash the son of A·ha·ziʹah the king of Judah, Je·hoʹa·haz the son of Jeʹhu became king over Israel in Sa·marʹi·a for seventeen years. ² And he continued to do what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes and went walking in pursuit of the sin of Jer·o·boʹam the son of Neʹbat, with which he caused Israel to sin. He did not turn aside from it…

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Je·hoʹash the king of Judah, Je·hoʹash the son of Je·hoʹa·haz became king over Israel in Sa·marʹi·a for sixteen years.  ¹¹ And he continued to do what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes. He did not depart from all the sins of Jer·o·boʹam the son of Neʹbat, with which he made Israel sin. In them he walked…

¹⁴ As regards E·liʹsha, he had taken sick with the sickness with which he was to die.+ So Je·hoʹash the king of Israel came down to him and began to weep over his face and say: “My father, my father, the war chariot of Israel and his horsemen!”…

²⁰ After that E·liʹsha died and they buried him.

The prophet Elisha served the nation of Israel as a political and religious leader. He counseled the kings of Israel and Judah on military strategy, and he gave relief in times of crisis. Before his death, he gave King Joash a prophecy that Israel would defeat Syria several times.

Elijah performed eight miracles, while Elisha performed 16, and there is no doubt that the preaching of the good news of the kingdom worldwide was greatly expanded after 1942 compared with before this date.

THE END OF THE ELISHA WORK IN THE YEAR 1992

1992The year 2026 marks 84 years since the work of the antitypical Elisha began. Is the antitypical Elisha work still continuing? There are reasons to answer no. More than 90% of the doctrines that were directly based on the Bible in 1961, when Let Your Name be Sanctified was written, still exist. But members of the Governing Body have introduced doctrines and procedures that violate biblical principles, and the organization today is very different from what it was in 1961, when the book was published.

The most important actions of both Elijah and Elisha were dividing the waters of the Jordan River. The antitype of identifying the great crowd in 1935, and the great preaching work that started after World War II, were the most important sides of dividing the water.

I have lived with and participated in this great preaching work. It seems to me that all the changes that the members of the Governing Body have made in the 21st century contradict the work of the antitypical Elisha. I suggest that the antitypical Elisha work ended in the year 1992.

On December 7, 1941, Frederick William Franz, Nathan Homer Knorr, and Hayden Cooper Covington were summoned to Rutherford’s bedside to receive his final instructions (Let Your Name Be Sanctified, page 335). These three men became the leaders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and of the antitypical Elisha work.

Nathan H. Knorr died on June 8. 1977; Hayden C. Covington died on November 21, 1978; and Fredrick W. Franz died on December 22. 1992. In my view, the Elisha work ended in 1992 when Franz died. What is the reason for this conclusion?

In 1965, the Watchtower had 12 articles on the resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus. These articles defended the ransom sacrifice of Jesus, that he died for all Adam’s descendants and bought them all. The conclusion of these articles was that because of the ransom sacrifice, most of Adam’s descendants who have died will receive a resurrection.

However, The Watchtower of June 1, 1988, had an article that seems insignificant but was a dramatic reversal of the belief in the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection. Jesus said explicitly that the inhabitants of Sodom would receive a resurrection. But the new article denied Jesus’ words, and it denied the conclusions of the 12 articles about the resurrection from 1965.

That Jesus died for all Adam’s descendants was defended on the surface through the year 2000. But after that year, and until today, the view is that Jesus did not die for “all” humans but only for “all kinds” of humans, for those who will be saved. And far fewer people will be resurrected than the 12 articles in 1965 said.

The following negative highlights ended the antitypical Elisha work: 1980: The rejection of the full inspiration of the Bible by denying the words of Jesus regarding the resurrection. 1992: The death Frederick W. Franz, the last champion of the Elisha work.

NUMBERS SUPPORTING THE END OF THE ELISHA WORK

Below are tables showing the number of baptisms per year, the growth in the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and how many have left the organization. I compare the numbers in the years 1972 to 1999 and 2000 to 2025.

Table 1.3 shows that the growth in the number of Witnesses is much lower in the 21st century than in the 20th century. Between 2000 and 2025, the number of publishers was almost double what it was from 1972 to 1999. But the number of baptisms was almost similar. This suggests that the quality of the preaching and teaching in the 21st century is inferior to the quality in the 20th century.

We also see that more Witnesses left the organization. In the 26 years between 1972 and 1999, 1,658,400 Witnesses left the organization, either because they were disfellowshipped or for other reasons. In the 26 years between 2000 and 2025, 3,717,627 Witnesses left the organization, and this is more than half of the number of the 6,887,389 baptized Witnesses during this period.

In my view, the members of the Governing Body have in the 21st century done the very opposite of what the antitypical Elisha started in 1942. By introducing doctrines and procedures that contradict the Bible, they have, in reality, worked hard to demolish the organization from the inside.

The results of dividing the waters to help sincere persons serve God also show that something is not right.  We have already seen that the number of publishers increased by 500% between 1942 and 1948. But the numbers of increase in the 20th century differ much from the numbers in the 21st century, as Table 1.3 shows:

Table 1.3 Much less increase in publishers in the 21st century

YEARS	INCREASE	YEARS	INCREASE	YEARS	INCREASE
1948	27	1971	9,1	2000	2,3
1949	21	1972	5,7	2001	1,7
1950	18	1973	3,8	2002	2,8
1951	17	1974	13,5	2003	2,2
1952	11	1975	9,7	2004	2,0
1953	10	1976	3,7	2005	2,2
1954	12	1977	-1,0	2006	1,6
1955	8,5	1978	-1,4	2007	3,1
1956	3,6	1979	0,5	2008	2,1
1957	10	1980	3,7	2009	3,2
1958	9,8	1981	3,3	2010	2,5
1959	12	1982	4,2	2011	2,4
1960	6	1983	6,8	2012	1,9
1961	3,9	1984	6,8	2013	2,1
1962	3,9	1985	6,9	2014	2,2
1963	4,1	1986	7,1	2015	1,5
1964	4,7	1987	6,9	2016	1,8
1965	3,2	1988	10.0	2017	1,4
1966	2,4	1989	7,1	2018	1,4
1967	3,4	1990	5,9	2019	1,3
1968	5,6	1991	5,9	2020	-0,6
1969	8,7	1992	5,3	2021	0,7
1970	10,2	1993	4,5	2022	0,4
1994	5,0	1997	3,6	2023	1,3
1995	5,0	1998	3,6	2024	2,4
1996	4,4	1999	2,0	2025	2,5

The green numbers represent the years from 1948 to 2025. The blue numbers represent the increase in publishers between 1948 and 1999, and the purple numbers represent the increase between 2000 and 2025. Overall, the increase is much smaller in the 21st century than in the 20th century.

We see the same tendency when we compare the numbers of baptized Witnesses. The Yearbooks started to list the numbers of baptized Witnesses in 1971. So, I compare the numbers from this year to 2025.

Table 1.4 Number of baptized Jehovah’s Witnesses between 1971 and 2025

YEARS	BAPTIZED	PUBLISH.	YEARS	BAPTIZED	PUBLISH.
1971	149,808		1998	316,092
1972	163,123	1,658,990	1999	323,439
1973	193,990		2000	263,855	6,035,564
1974	297,872		2001	263,431
1975	295,079		2002	265,469
1976	196,656		2003	258,845
1977	124,459	2,223,538	2004	262,416
1978	95,052		2005	247,631
1979	113,672		2006	248,327
1980	113,779		2007	298,304	6,957,854
1981	119,836		2008	289,678
1982	128,540		2009	286,233
1983	161,896		2010	294,368
1984	161,100		2011	263,131
1985	189,800		2012	268,777
1986	225,868		2013	277,344
1987	230,843	3,395,612	2014	275,581
1988	239,868		2015	260,273
1989	263,855		2016	264,535
1990	301,518	4,017,213	2017	284,212
1991	301,945		2018	281,777	8,579,909
1992	301.002		2019	303,866
1993	296,004		2020	241,994
1994	314,818		2021	171,393
1995	338,491		2022	145,552
1996	366,579		2023	269,517
1997	375,923	5,599,931	2024	296,267
			2025	304,643	9, 205,326

 

Table 1.5 Number of baptized Witnesses versus those who left 1972-1999

Publishers in 1972	1,658.990
Baptized between 1972 and 1999	5,807,400
Theoretical growth 1972-1999 (publishers 1972: 1,658,900 + baptized ones 5,807,400)	7,466.390
Real growth per 1999	5,653,987
Witnesses who left (Theoretical growth 7,466.390 – real growth 5,807,400)	1,658,400

 

Table 1.6 Reasons why Witnesses left between 1972 and 1999

Died between 1972 and 1999 (0,5% of the Witnesses)	455,000
Disfellowshipped between 1972 and 1999 (0,8% of the Witnesses)	728,000
Left for different reasons	475,990

 

Table 1.7 Number of baptized Witnesses versus those who left 2000 – 2025

Publishers in 2000	6,035,564
Baptized between 2000 and 2025	6,887,389
Theoretical growth 2000-20205 (publishers 2000: 6,035,564 + baptized ones 6,887,389)	12,922,953
Real growth per 2025	9,205,326
Witnesses who left (Theoretical growth 12,922,953 – real growth 9,205,326)	3,717,627

 

Table 1.8 Reasons why Witnesses left between 2000 and 2025

Died between 2000 and 2025 (0,5% of the Witnesses)	975,000
Disfellowshipped between 2000 and 2025 (0,8% of the Witnesses)	1,560,000
Left for different reasons	1,182.627

I have compared the situation during the 26 years between 1972 and 1999 and the 26 years between 2000 and 2025.

The tables suggest that something changed in the 21st century compared with the 20th century. The number of publishers almost doubled from 2000 to 2025 compared with 1972 to 1999. But the number of baptized Witnesses was only a little higher between 2000 and 2025 (6,887,389  baptized) compared with 1972 to 1999 (5,807 400 baptized).

We also see that more Witnesses left the organization in the 21st century compared with the 20th century. Table 1.7 shows that 3,717,627 Witnesses left between 2000 and 2025, and Table 1.5 shows that this is more than double (1,658,400 Witnesses) who left between 2000 and 2025.

PROPHETIC TYPES OR FAIRY TALES

When someone would claim that the death of a 72-year-old man San Diego in California in January 1942 is a part of Bible prophecy, I would naturally say that this is a fairy tale. But what if the claim was that this was part of a greater situation? Should I then write off the claim as impossible, or should I listen to the evidence that was presented?

Please consider the words of Daniel 12:7, 11, 12:

⁷ And I began to hear the man clothed with the linen, who was up above the waters of the stream, as he proceeded to raise his right [hand] and his left [hand] to the heavens and to swear by the One who is alive for time indefinite: “It will be for an appointed time, appointed times and a half. And as soon as there will have been a finishing of the dashing of the power of the holy people to pieces, all these things will come to their finish.”

 ¹¹“And from the time that the constant [feature] has been removed and there has been a placing of the disgusting thing that is causing desolation, there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.

^{12 “Happy is the one who is keeping in expectation and who arrives at the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days!}

The setting of the chapter is the time of the end, and verse 7 shows that God, in the time of the end, will have a people that can be identified and distinguished from all other peoples. It is called “the holy people.” The mentioned time prophecies must be fulfilled on “the holy people.” But the expression “the one” in verse 12 shows that individuals will be a part of the fulfillment of the prophecies.

Therefore, we cannot just dismiss a claim about the fulfillment of a prophecy because one or more people are included in the claim.

There are two basic reasons why we can believe that the prophetic types Elijah and Elisha fulfilled on Jehovah’s Witnesses have a sound basis:

• Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only group that claims the time periods 1,260 days, 1,290 days, and 1,335 days are fulfilled on them—the 1,260 days are connected with the antitypical Elijah in the time of the end.[1]
• The antitypical Elijah work means “to get ready for Jehovaha prepared people,” which, according to Revelation chapters 7 and 14, consists of 144,000 who are “bought from among mankind,” and the great crowd with an earthly hope. Jehovah’s Witnesses is the only group where both groups are found: some members have a heavenly hope and others have an earthly hope.

All readers are invited to make a thorough study of the different sides of the antitypical Elijah work and the antitypical Elisha work and compare the conclusions with the Bible and with history, in order to see that this is not fairy tales but sound prophetic types.[2]

 

 

[1]. See Kapittel 10 i boken The Presence of Jesus Christ Leading to the Jubilee — The Chronology and Prophecies. https://mybelovedreligion.no/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/THE-PRESENCE-%E2%80%94-FINAL-9.9.2026-.pdf

[2]. For patterns for the understanding of prophetic types, see the article, “Prophetic types and antitypes in the time of the end.” https://mybelovedreligion.no/2026/10/21/prophetic-types-and-antitypes-in-the-time-of-the-end/

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CONCLUSION

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