As the clouds of war gather once again over the land of Israel especially with the massive missile attack from Iran only the last few days the Watchtower finds itself at odds with world events and Bible prophesy.
If you have been paying attention they keep alternating on their website two articles under the section "KEEP ON THE WATCH" which serves for all intents and purposes in the digital era as their Awake! Magazine of times pasts. Unfortunately both articles have one thing in common, they decry the fact that recent developments in the land of Israel have nothing to do with Bible prophesy and that you should look away.
The article in question that I'm dealing with this time has the theme :"Does Bible Prophecy Point to the Modern State of Israel?" And in brief the following paragraph explains why the Watchtower doesn't believe that the modern state of Israel has anything to do with Bible prophesy.
Paul wrote: “He is not a Jew who is one on the outside, nor is circumcision that which is on the outside upon the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit, and not by a written code. The praise of that one comes, not from men, but from God.”—Romans 2:28, 29.That verse helps us understand a controversial comment Paul made. In his letter to the Romans, Paul explained how the unbelieving natural Jews were like branches of a symbolic olive tree that were lopped off so that “wild” Gentile “branches” could be grafted in. (Romans 11:17-21) Concluding this illustration, he states: “A dulling of sensibilities has happened in part to Israel until the full number of people of the nations has come in, and in this manner all Israel will be saved.” (Romans 11:25, 26) Was Paul foretelling an eleventh hour mass conversion of the Jews to Christianity? Clearly, no such conversion has taken place.
Now this is very interesting because many Jehovah's Witnesses do not realize that this is part of their religion's history. You see Charles Taze Russell amongst other controversial things he believed ,like the Pyramids or 1914 he also believed that since we are living in the last days we should also anticipate the physical Jews to start returning back to their original homeland. That is why several attempts were made during hid tenure as the President of the Watchtower and later on by Rutherford to convert Jews to their religion but their attempts were met with indifference. Subsequently, as it is always the case, they abandoned all attempts to proselytize the Jews and they changed their theology to reflect this failure. That is why they say they don't expect an 11th hour conversion, not because the Bible says so but because they failed to convert Jews in any successful rate. Now here is the thing, like with everything else,they pretend they arrived to this conclusion after having contacted a thorough study of the 11th chapter of the book of Romans.This can not be any further away from the truth. As always they pretend to be all scholarly but they are really are not.
The whole premise of the 11th chapter of Romans is based on the wrong assumption the Gentile Roman Christians had that the physical Jews had been replaced by the Christian congregation, this is the well known replacement theology which is true up to a point. Yes the physical nation of Israel has been replaced by the spiritual Israel of God forever but the promises of God to the physical Israelites have not. Paul explains it best in Romans 11:7,NWT
What, then? The very thing (=physical)Israel is earnestly seeking he did not obtain, but the ones chosen(=the first Christian Jewish apostles) obtained it. The rest(=the rest of the physical Israelites) had their senses dulled
If you as a reader need more clarification on this verse as to what the majority of the physical Israelites failed to obtain then look no further than the NWT's cross reference on this verse in John 1:11,12:
He came to his own home, but his own people did not accept him. 12 However, to all who did receive him, he gave authority to become God’s children(=spiritual Israel), because they were exercising faith in his name
What happened to the ones who did not receive him are they going to burn forever and ever in the lake of fire? No! Paul further explains in the following verse in Romans 11:25:
For I do not want you to be unaware of this sacred secret(=mystery), brothers, so that you do not become wise in your own eyes: A partial dulling of senses(=porosis, hardening of the heart) has come upon Israel until the full number of people of the nations has come in,
Why is it a partial hardening of the hearts? Because it won't last forever, right? That's why is called partial and not total hardening,right?
True, with respect to the good news, they(=who? The physical Israel) are enemies for your sakes; but with respect to God’s choosing, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.(11:28)
Who is Paul talking about here? Only the spiritual nation of God as the Watchtower will have you believe? Or the physical Israelites? It is quite clear up to this day the physical Israelites are rejecting the Gospel but the covenant that God established with their forefathers like Abraham or Jacob or David is still in place, and it will still be in place up to the end of this system of things. They are still beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
Now before you start packing your suitcases and start moving to Israel, hold on and think for a moment! God didn't remove this partial hardening of the heart when the United Nations by decree they announced the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948. This the Watchtower has got it right, look what their article further says:
The modern Israel is governed as a secular democracy that officially makes no claim to rely on the God of the Bible. Did the Israelis in 1948 recognize Jehovah God as the one responsible for their declaration of statehood? They did not. Neither the name of God nor even the word “God” was mentioned anywhere in the original text of the proclamation. The book Great Moments in Jewish History says this of the final text: “Even at 1:00 P.M. when the National Council met, its members could not agree about the wording of the proclamation of statehood. . . . Observant Jews wanted a reference to ‘the God of Israel.’ Secularists balked. Compromising, Ben-Gurion decided that the word ‘Rock’ would appear instead of ‘God.’”The modern State of Israel to this day bases its claim to statehood on a UN resolution and what it calls the natural and historic right of the Jewish people. Is it reasonable to expect that the God of the Bible would perform the greatest prophetic miracle in the 20th century in behalf of a people who refuse to give him credit?
The modern state of Israel was not established by God and the physical Israel will not come to God by a UN decree but through tribulation. The physical territory of Israel is being set up for the End Time Events that will bring many from the physical Israel to Christ through tribulation and bo other way.The people currently living in that area will be caught in world events that will create the environment for conversion of physical Israelites. Here are some verses that point to this outcome.We read in Revelation 1:7:
Behold, he(=Jesus) is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him(=the whole world), even those who pierced him(=who are those who pierced him? The physical Israelites today), and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him
This wailing is caused from their realization that this is the Christ they rejected 2000 years ago.
Also again the book of Revelation we are being introduced to the 2 Witnesses, deep in the Great Tribulation, where they will be put to death in the actual city of Jerusalem, we read in Revelation 11:8:
And their corpses will be on the main street of the great city that is in a spiritual sense called Sodʹom and Egypt, where their Lord was also executed on the stake.
These are only 2 scriptures that point to End Time Events taking place in the land of physical Israel and that is why today as the time goes by we see the escalation of events taking place in the area of the world.
Do not pay attention yo the blind leaders of the Watchtower, God is not finished with Israel yet!