“They will waste their time. They will go from house to house carrying stories. They will find fault with people and say things they should not talk about.”

(1 Timothy 5:13, NLV)

It is obvious which group Paul had in mind when he wrote these warning words. Only Jehovah’s Witnesses “call from house to house, approach people on the street, and speak to them over the phone. Whether riding on a bus, walking in a park, or taking a break at their place of secular work, they eagerly look for every opportunity” to “find fault with people.” – “Bearing Thorough Witness” About God’s Kingdom, page 7.

But this ‘finding fault with people’ or “meddling in other people’s business” [NLT] is not limited to outsiders; rather it is very common within the congregation. If someone is not to be disfellowshipped, the currently valid Watchtower doctrines, “not any other pursuit, must become the focal point, or target, toward which his whole life is directed.” (The Watchtower, June 15, 1982, page 5) Jehovah’s Witnesses even meddle with the private life and, for example, dictate what a married couple is allowed to do and what not. – The Watchtower, September 15, 1977, page 558.

In his letter to Titus, Paul wrote that the same group would be “turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching.” (Titus 1:11, NLT) This surely applies to Jehovah’s Witnesses, too, since “frequently they referred to their … beliefs as ‘present truth.’” (Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, page 121) Hence their teachings were always true when they expressed them, but the former teachings are now false, and the current teachings had been false previously.

What should we do if we are Jehovah’s Witnesses? Paul reminds us of former brothers who gave a fine example: “Some of them have already left “ (1 Timothy 5:15, MSG) Leave Jehovah’s Witnesses before it is too late!

“It is in vain that you rise up early.”

(Psalm 127:2)

“In many congregations [of Jehovah’s Witnesses], there are publishers who rise early to speak with people at bus stops and train stations.” (God’s Word for Us Through Jeremiah, page 37) “Housewife pioneers and others have to arise early to take care of household chores so that they can devote a full morning to Jehovah’s service.” (The Watchtower, July 1, 1984, page 17) In the past 15 years, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany alone spent more than 400 million hours in the preaching work. This amounts to more than 45,000 years; at an average income they could have earned around ten billion dollars during that time. This money would have been enough to save roughly 300 million starving children.

Was it worth the effort? Did rising early and neglecting the own family and oneself and everything else pay off? Over the period considered, the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany decreased from 166,818 to 162,705. Indeed, you Jehovah’s Witnesses, “it is in vain that you rise up early!”

“Master, leave it alone for one more year until I dig around it and put on manure.”

(Luke 13:8)

In the first place, the parable of the barren fig tree was fulfilled by Jesus himself. “During … [the] fourth year of his ministry, he is … symbolically digging and putting manure around the Jewish ‘fig tree’ by zealously preaching and teaching in Judea and Perea.” (The Watchtower, October 15, 1988, page 8) His teaching was “manure.” Back then, “dung was used as manure,” and in the Bible, “dung or manure is also employed as a simile.” (Insight on the Scriptures, volume I, pages 658, 659) So, in a spiritual sense, Jesus spread dung in Judea and Perea.

In our time it is “Jehovah’s Witnesses who are carrying out the good work started by Jesus Christ.” (The Watchtower, March 15, 2000, page 8) “Millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses are … preaching and teaching” today, spreading “magazines, books, and brochures.” (The Watchtower, December 15, 1987, page 18; 2008 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, page 144) Thus these publications, “especially The Watchtower,” are the Greater Dung. – 1994 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, page 201.

“Make the heart of this people unreceptive … that they may not actually turn back.”

(Isaiah 6:10, NWT 1984)

Jehovah’s Witnesses “are eager to see as many people as possible saved from the impending ‘great tribulation.’” (The Watchtower, February 1, 1987, page 11) But is this God’s will? Not necessarily, since “the sanctification of Jehovah’s name is far more important than human salvation” and “our being freed from bondage to sin and death and gaining life.” – The Watchtower, October 15, 2008, page 15; January 15, 2007, page 10.

”The book of Ezekiel emphasizes … that the sanctification of Jehovah’s name is more important than anything else” – maybe Jehovah would love to save all people, but “as the prophecy shows, he will sanctify his name by destroying all.” (“All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial”, page 137) “Jehovah’s indignation is against all the nations, and his wrath is against all their army. He will devote them to destruction; he will give them to the slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, and the stench of their carcasses will ascend.” – Isaiah 34:2, 3.

As in the past, where Jehovah regularly “struck down” thousands among his own people “with a great slaughter,” so it will be in the future. (1 Samuel 6:19) Thus “the worldwide preaching work of Jehovah’s Witnesses” is opposed to God’s purpose, for how should the prophecy be fulfilled that “those slain by Jehovah in that day will be from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth” if too many people would leave the false religion and join Jehovah’s people? – The Watchtower, July 15, 1990, page 18; Jeremiah 25:33.

The “abundance of grain on the earth” promised by Jehovah is only possible if “those slain by Jehovah … will become like manure on the surface of the ground.” (Psalm 72:16; Jeremiah 25:33) But unfortunately, the “truth is not presented in a complex, difficult-to-comprehend manner in the Bible.” (The Watchtower, October 15, 1996, page 5) If too many people would get to know the truth, Jehovah would be unable to destroy them. Not only would there be a lack of manure, but also his name would not be sanctified, which “would cause Satan to rejoice.” (Keep Yourself in God’s Love, page 129) Isaiah knew that, therefor he asked Jehovah to act in the same manner as he did with the Egyptian Pharaoh: “Make the heart of this people unreceptive, make their ears unresponsive, and paste their eyes together, so that they may not see with their eyes and hear with their ears, so that their heart may not understand and they may not turn back.” (Exodus 7:3; Isaiah 6:10) This strategy worked out; today “most people reject the good news,” and Jehovah “will crush them to clear the way for a much-needed change.” (The Watchtower, August 15, 2005, page 21; Awake!, October 8, 1969, page 11) “O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are!” – Romans 11:33.

“You brought us into a hunting net; you put a crushing burden upon us.”

(Psalm 66:11)

How has Jehovah “brought us into a hunting net?” By using “fishers of men” who are “catching men alive.” (Mark 1:17; Luke 5:10) “Jehovah has put a deceptive spirit in the mouth of all … [his] prophets,” and “we have entered … into water” and were baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses. (1 Kings 22:23; Psalm 66:12, YLT) “Through his ‘faithful and discreet slave’” God “put a crushing burden” in form of field service, meetings, Watchtower volumes, incompetent elders and countless commands of men “upon us.” – Our Kingdom Ministry, May 1985, page 3.

Then, however, Jesus words were fulfilled toward us: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) Through personal experiences in the congregation, by own research, of due to loving care from apostates we came to “know the truth” about God, his word, and his witnesses. Our new knowledge “brought us to a place of relief.” (Psalm 66:12) “For such freedom Christ set us free.” – Galatians 5:1.

“What was left by the caterpillar, the locust has eaten; and what was left by the locust, the creeping, unwinged locust has eaten; and what the creeping, unwinged locust has left, the cockroach has eaten.”

(Joel 1:4, NWT 1984)

“The prophet Joel likened the work of God’s people to a series of plagues by insects … Jehovah’s people are like … swarms of insects.” (Live With Jehovah’s Day in Mind, page 172) The prophet Joel mentioned locusts and cockroaches, and “these locusts picture the anointed remnant of Christians.” (The Watchtower, May 1, 1992, page 11) But who today make up the cockroach class?

According to the aforementioned Watchtower issue, “the locust plague is succeeded by a huge plague of cavalry. How true this is today, as the few thousand remaining anointed Christians are reinforced by more than four million ‘other sheep.’” Hence the “cockroach” from Joel’s prophecy symbolizes the ‘great crowd of other sheep.’ Today “Jehovah’s anointed locusts” are “joined by … Jesus’ ‘other sheep.’” (The Watchtower, May 1, 1998, page 10) “Advancing like an army [they] enter into houses, and devour everything in their path … What a vivid portrayal of the perseverance and thoroughness of God’s people in carrying out the witnessing work in modern times!” – The Watchtower, July 15, 2008, page 4.

“Moreover, no man has ascended into heaven …

… but the one who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up, so that everyone believing in him may have everlasting life.” (John 3:13, 14)

Jesus usually spoke of himself in the third person; instead of, “I will be killed,” he said, “the Son of man must be lifted up.” (John 3:14) Instead of “wine” he mentioned “the product of the vine.” (Mark 14:25) Why did he use such complicated language? Did he want to imitate those who think they would “get a hearing for their use of many words?” (Matthew 6:7) No, the actual reason was the following: “I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, so that … they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:11, 12, NLT) Thus Jesus intentionally used intricate “parables” so that the people would not understand him and not believe in him, and he would not have to save them on the day of judgment.

Christians of today must ‘imitate Jesus’ expert preaching methods,’ of course. (The Watchtower, June 1, 1997, page 29) Hence we should no longer use the simple suggestions from the Reasoning book but rather prepare a sophisticated presentation. Instead of, “I’m looking for people who would like to live in a world free from war,” we could say, for example: “The Son of man was sent by the faithful and discreet slave to look for those who are deserving it because they have the right inclination of the heart by sighing and groaning and longing for a system of things in which nation will no longer rise against nation and kingdom and against kingdom, but in which humans will give up their animallike characteristics and will for time indefinite dwell together and not do any harm or cause any ruin in all God’s holy mountain, just like the mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken.”

Rather than, “We’ve been talking with your neighbors about what can be done to assure that there will be employment and housing for everyone,” we could use the following introduction: “The Son of man and the one walking near him want to confront all redeemable mankind that came into existence at Abel’s birth with a question of universal importance, that is, how can it be achieved that all human creatures of God always have plenty to do and have a place to lay down their heads, so that they can rest from their labors in all the places where the Lord has dispersed them?” If we choose our words carefully, we will preach in a way that no one does what we say. Then Jehovah can destroy more humans at Armageddon, Jesus needs to save fewer people, and we will have more space in paradise!

“I have a message from God for you.”

(Judges 3:20)

As Christians we are confident “that the wicked will soon be no more.” (Awake!, February 22, 1994, page 19) How will this promise come true? God gave a prophetic picture through Judge Ehud. The account shows how “the wicked” – that is, all people who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses – will come to their end. Ehud visited Eglon “in his cool roof chamber. Then Ehud said: ‘I have a message from God for you.’ … Then Ehud drew the sword from his right thigh with his left hand and plunged it into his belly … Ehud went out … closing the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locking them.” – Judges 3:20-24.

Eglon believed that Ehud would have “a message from God” for him – exactly like the people in our witnessing territory think that we would have “a message from God” for them. (Keep on the Watch!, page 7) But now “the slaughter work [must] go on,” thus we need to draw our sword and tell the homeowner: “That sword is the teaching of God!” (Judges 6:17, ERV; The Watchtower, January 15, 1972, page 52) This way we will “destroy all goatlike ones” in our witnessing territory. (What Does God Require of Us?, page 13) Afterwards we should leave the house and lock the door, according to Ehud’s example.

“Let the one who has no sword sell his outer garment and buy one [now],” according to Jesus’ unequivocal command in Luke 22:36. “We should not think that Jehovah is going too far … nor should we feel sorry for those executed by God’s [servants].” (The Watchtower, January 15, 1972, page 52). “The destruction … [must be] thorough.” – Insight on the Scriptures, volume II, page 799.

“The Kingdom of the heavens is like leaven.”

(Matthew 13:33)

Under the headline “The Exposing of the False Kingdom Refuge,” the Watchtower magazine said “that the Bible unvaryingly uses leaven to symbolize something bad, unrighteousness, error, sin … So the parable must illustrate something unfavorable about matters having to do with the ‘kingdom of the heavens.’” (October 1, 1975, pages 33, 34) The book “Let Your Kingdom Come” added: “When used figuratively in the Bible, leaven always has an unfavorable connotation … The apostle Paul counseled Christians to clear away the ‘leaven of badness and wickedness.’ … [The parable] pictures the stealthy corrupting of the professed Christian congregation with false Babylonish teaching and practice.” – page 101.

How would the “leaven” contaminate the whole Christian congregation with false teachings? The July 15, 2008 Watchtower explained: “The leaven ferments the whole mass … Like leaven, the Kingdom-preaching work … has expanded to the point that the Kingdom is now being preached ‘to the most distant part of the earth;’”; then it added that all Jehovah’s Witnesses are “part of this amazing expansion of the Kingdom work.” (page 20) Thus the “leaven” represents “the Kingdom-preaching work.” Jehovah’s Witnesses supposedly preach “the good news of the Kingdom,” but in actual fact they promote “false Babylonish teaching and practice” in all the earth.

According to the May 15, 1900 issue of Zion’s Watch Tower “we may be as sure that he [Jesus] would not use leaven as a symbol of righteousness as that he would not use leprosy as a symbol of holiness.” (page 154) No, “leaven … is used in the Scriptures to represent false teaching, a corrupting influence.” (Insight on the Scriptures, volume I, page 1179) That “the Kingdom of the heavens is like leaven” means that the teaching of this Kingdom is a “false teaching” which has “a corrupting influence” on the whole Christian until now.

“We want to … sacrifice to Jehovah our God.”

(Exodus 5:3)

“We will surely make whatever sacrifices Jehovah asks of us.” (The Watchtower, October 15, 2008, page 29) The inspired account in the book of Exodus shows clearly why we need to offer sacrifices to God and what kind of sacrifices please him.

Moses told Pharaoh: “We want to … sacrifice to Jehovah our God; otherwise, he will strike us with disease or with the sword.” (Exodus 5:3) So the right motivation for bringing sacrifices to Jehovah is fear of being punished by him. Not for nothing, the psalmist urged all people: “Serve Jehovah with fear.” (Psalm 2:11) The apostle Paul confirmed this when he advised the Philippians: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:11, KJV) “’Jehovah will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” – Hebrews 10:30, 31.

What can we present as a sacrifice to God? Jehovah explained in reference to a bull: “Its dung, you will burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.” (Exodus 29:14) Back then, dung was an acceptable “offering to Jehovah, a pleasing aroma.” (Exodus 29:19) But “in the Christian congregation, Jehovah does not require us to offer such formal, material sacrifices.” (The Watchtower, October 15, 2009, page 3) Today we have to turn to the ‘faithful and discreet slave’ in order “to offer up spiritual sacrifices.” (The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, page 118) Thus we need to offer spiritual “dung,” that is, “something worthless.” – Christian Dream Symbols.

“Many [Jehovah’s] Witnesses … contribute time and money to accomplish the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom.” (The Watchtower, August 15, 1953, page 490) But since everything that we teach will eventually be replaced by ‘brighter light,’ these witnessing efforts are “something worthless,” so to speak, ‘spiritual dung.’ (Proverbs 4:18) Are we not happy that we can have a share in the greater fulfillment of Exodus 29:14?