Is the WT a false prophet? What does the WT say? Part 3

What does the WT have to say about all these false prophecies? I have been told “that the organization is still learning.” If that is so, then how can we trust what we are taught now by the Watchtower? Will what we are being taught now change also?

The Bible is clear, a true prophet of God won't err in prophesying (remember Deut. 18:22). Only a false prophet does. Jesus warned us about false prophets by saying, "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect -- if that were possible" (Matt. 24:24). How will we know false prophets? By their fruit. What is the fruit of a false prophet—obviously false prophesies.

What is the official WT position on these false prophecies?

(1) The WT has said, “in their human fallibility, they misinterpreted matters.” (Awake, March 22, 1993, pg. 4) However, Deut. 18 does not have exceptions. If their argument is an exception, then in ancient Israel, any false prophet could say the same thing and then stick around to further deceive Israel.

(2) The WT says that they are not false prophets because their intentions were good, “JW’s, in their eagerness for Jesus’ second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect.” (Awake, March 22, 1993 pg. 4) So is eagerness an excuse? Check out 1 Sam 13:8-14 and see if God accepted Saul’s eagerness as a valid reason for disobeying the Word of God. Of course God did not, it is not an excuse.

(3) The WT states, “we never said these were the words of God.” But remember The Watchtower, 4/1/72, p. 197, which says, "So does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet? . . . This "prophet" was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah's Christian Witnesses.”

Also note this quote. “Those who are convinced that the WT is publishing the opinion or expression of a man should not waste time in looking at it at all. Those who believe that God uses the WT as a means of communicating to his people, or of calling attention to his prophecies, should study the WT.” (The Watchtower, Jan 1, 1942, p.5).

So the WT is telling us that the WT and Awake magazines are communications from God. Once again remember Matt 7:15-16 where Jesus warned us to, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.” Again, what would be the fruit of a false prophet? False Prophecies! We will know them by their fruit no matter how much they try to disguise themselves as sheep.

The WT itself condemn False Prophets. Here is what they have to say: 

“Jehovah, the God of the true prophets, will put ALL false prophets to shame either by not fulfilling the false prediction of such self-assuming prophets or by having His own prophecies fulfilled in a way opposite to that predicted by the false prophets. False prophets will try to hide their reason for feeling shame by denying who they really are.” ”Paradise Restored to Mankind By Theocracy,” 1972, Pages 353 and 354

"To know whether one is a true or a false prophet. If he is a true prophet, his message will come to pass exactly as prophesied. If he is a false prophet, his prophecy will fail to come to pass" (WT, 15 May 1930, p. 154).

"This is an important point in studying prophecy, and the student must keep it in mind. The test was provided by Jehovah, and to such test all the prophecies must be subjected. If these prophecies have not been fulfilled, and if all possibility of fulfillment is past, then these prophets are proven false." (Prophecy, p. 22).

“Jehovah God is the grand identifier of his true messengers. He identifies them by making the messages he delivers through them come true. Jehovah is also the great exposer of false messengers. How does he expose them? He frustrates their signs and predictions. In this way he shows that they are self appointed prognosticators, whose messages really spring from their own false reasoning-yes, their foolish, fleshly thinking!" (WT, May 1, 1997 pg.8)

I did a blog series on the WT's BIG FOUR prophetic failures--Part 1 is here.