AboutDerrick Holland Expertise I was raised in the religion known as Jehovah`s Witnesses for 13 years. Since becoming a born-again Christian, I have researched extensively this religion, especially their doctrines and their history. I can answer questions about their doctrines from the perspective of Biblical Christianity.
Experience 23 years of Biblical research into the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, and how they differ from the teachings of the Watchtower.
Question what do jehovah witnesses believe will happen in the end times. thanks,
Peter Costas
Answer Hello Peter. Thank you for the question.
The JWs beliefs concerning the end times change periodically, but I will try to describe to you the basic framework of their belief system.
First of all, it should be stated that Jehovah's Witnesses do NOT believe that Jesus Christ will return again to the earth, as the Bible teaches. Instead, they teach and believe that Jesus already returned INVISIBLY in the year 1914, and has been ruling over the earth ever since that year.
Until recently, JWs also taught that the generation of 1914 would be the final generation in this system, before the Battle of Armageddon.
In the religion's early days, it was predicted that Armageddon would be completed by the year 1914, and God's new order would be here. Of course, this failed to transpire. The teaching was later adjusted to say that 1914 marked the year of Christ's "return", and that the years following 1914 would be the last generation.
This "generation" was originally applied to those who were at least 15 years old in 1914, or born no later than 1899. It was stated emphatically that this "generation" would not include those who were still babies in 1914. As time elapsed, it was necessary to change the teaching, to allow for a little more time. It was then said that the final "generation" could possibly include those who were 10 years old. Then, as more time elapsed with nothing happening, the Watchtower decided that perhaps the "generation" could include babies after all.
Well, the teaching about the "generation of 1914" has been dropped altogether, since it has lost all credibility with the youngest of the "generation" now being 89 years old! This year is now simply regarded as the year of Christ's "invisible return". In other words, all of the VISIBLE aspects of their predictions have been dropped due to their failure, and only the INVISIBLE (and unprovable) aspect has been retained.
Now, to sum up your question.....
JWs do not believe in salvation through faith in Christ ALONE, as Bible-believeing Christians do. Instead, they believe in a "works-oriented" salvation. More will be said about that later.
JWs believe that, sometime in the near future, God will destroy all wickedness, all false religion (churches other than themselves), Satan, demons, and only Jehovah's Witnesses and those who accept their message will survive Armageddon into God's New World Order. In JW language, this new order is usually referred to as the "new system". Then, Christ will set up His millenial reign, and faithful JWs will still be on trial until then. If they remain faithful through this final test, then hopefully, they will be rewarded with eternal life on a restored paradise earth, which brings us to another peculiar teaching of this religion....
JWs believe that heaven will not be the home of most Christians, but only for a limited number....144,000. They believe this remnant of 144,000 consists of the early Christians, all the way down until the year 1935, when the door to the "heavenly hope" was shut. After the year 1935, they believe that God began calling Christians to an "earthly hope", meaning that they will not go to heaven, but instead will live on a restored paradise earth. As far as I know, this is the only religion on earth that teaches 2 separate hopes for Christians, and 2 different destinies.
Suffice it to say, because of the works-oriented salvation of the Watchtower Society, there is not a JW on earth who can say for a 100% fact that he/she knows that they are saved. They must keep working, and obeying the dictates of the Watchtower in order to be saved.
What does the Watchtower teach is necessary for eternal life? According to their book, "YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER IN PARADISE ON EARTH", a number of things are needed....
1. Take in knowledge (pg. 127-128)
Simply put, this means a Bible study. They believe it is necessary to "take in knowledge" of the teachings of the Bible. Oh, did I mentione that this "bible study" has to be with Jehovah's Witnesses? In other words, personal Bible study is not enough.
2. Righteous conduct (pg. 129-132)
In reading this fascinating section of "requirements", we find that we must abstain from polygamy, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, which I am in full agreement with, because the Bible forbids these practices also. But we are told by the book that it is o.k. to drink alcohol, provided we don't get drunk. We are then told that we must be honest, and shouldn't committ murder.
There is a catch here, also, however. Since many non-JW Christians also have high standards against these things, then there must be even more required to save us than simply living moral lives. Otherwise, non-JWs would be saved too.
3. Loyalty to God's Government
In short, this means we are required to go out door-to-door and spread the "good news" of the Watchtower, in order to show our loyalty to "God's Government".
Make no mistake about it....When a JW comes to your door to talk with you, he/she believes this is what God requires of them in order to gain eternal life. I am not saying that they do not care about you, because I am sure many of them are caring and compassionate people. But the threat of eternal destruction is a motivator as well.
I know this is alot more detail than you asked for, but I simply want you to understand the whole picture of being a member of this religion. Yes, they do believe in eternal life, but none of them can know for sure that they have it, until the very end when they have endured and passed all the tests. I feel this is tragic, because the Bible offers full assurance of salvation through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
JWs believe that the "end" is coming soon. In fact, they have a very embarrassing history of predicting dates for the end to come. For the time being, it seems that they have given up setting a specific date, but JWs are still motivated by the believe that the "end is near". Of course, I too believe the time of Christ's return is near, but again, JWs do not believe that Jesus is coming back.
JWs do not believe in a literal 7-year period of tribulation that is coming to the earth, after the removal of Christ's church to Heaven, which I believe is a definite Bible teaching. Nor do they believe that God is going to restore Israel to Himself during this tribulation, as He promised, but instead, they believe that God has transferred His promises originally made to Israel, to them. In fact, they believe they are "spiritual Israel".
Finally, when all is said and done....after Armageddon, after the Millenial reign of Christ, and after Satan is loosed to tempt the faithful once more, JWs believe that God will restore the earth to a Garden-of-Eden-like state, where man will populate the earth, and live on it forever. The 144,000 will be rulers over this earthly paradise from their position in Heaven.
I hope this has helped answer your question. I realize the answer was somewhat lengthy and scattered, but if you have any quesions about specifics, or any thing that I said, please do not hesitate to ask. Take care, and have a great day!
