I'm sorry but I'm skeptical that Jesus returned in 1914.
I appreciate your scepticism.....but I find the details compelling...
WW1 didn't involve the whole world. Most of the worlds nations didn't fight at all, most of Africa, most of South America and most of Asia didnt fight. Even most North American nations didn't fight when you include the Carribean islands and central America. It was mainly fought in Europe with some naval battles here and there over minor territories.
If you do a little research, you will find that a very large portion of the world was involved in WW1.
About 30-32 countries officially fought and these were divided mainly into allied powers (Britain, France, Russia and later the USA.
There were central powers also like Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
About 70% of the worlds’s population were dragged into the conflict because major empires contolled vast territories.
Britain and France controlled huge parts of Africa, Southern Asia (India) Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Even if some were not engaged in actual combat, people and resources from those regions were drawn into the war.
About 70 million military personnel were mobilised, which included troops from India, Africa and the Caribbean.
There were heaps more wars before WW1, especially in Europe, wars that lasted centuries, not just a few years. For example the reconquista was a war between Christians and Muslims in the Iberian peninsula that lasted almost 800 years. It makes WW1 look like a very short skirmish and they were all convinced Christ was returning in their day just as the apostles did, yet it never happened.
It’s not the length of the war that mattered, but the scale. The Reconquista was not a single war but a process by which supposedly “Christian” Kingdoms in Spain, gradually took back territories from Muslim rulers....so it was basically taking back land that was taken from them by conquest.
Unfortunately these purportedly “Christian” (Catholic) Kingdoms fought each other as well.
Christians, Jews and Muslims all lived in Liberia.....sometimes they got along and sometimes they didn’t.
Old wars were way more horrific, they used to pillage, loot and burn villages, rape, torture and kill innocent people, beheadings, leave people dead on stakes to scare the opposition, it was a sport back then and it happened every year. In comparison our world is actually very peaceful since WW2.
I guess when you hear some of the stories that surfaced after the war was long over, you understand what whitewashing propaganda looks like. We were not told the half of it. Humans write history to make themselves look good...and the opposers look like the bad guys. That is what propaganda does.....it gives people a false view of what really happened.
And looking back on barbaric times we get to understand that there was little respect for human life down through the centuries....but as the last days drew near, the world had become a little more civilised, and as technology advanced and weaponry became more a case of mass destruction rather than hand to hand combat, it looks easier but the death toll was enormous, once bombs could be dropped from aircraft and then intercontinental ballistic missiles were employed to cause mass destruction of property far away, as well as many lives lost in a single hit....and then of course we have the nuclear weapons, capable of destroying all life on this planet if some idiots are stupid enough to employ them.....this is when you know that the wars in this era are not the same at all....their potential is unprecedented in history.
That's why i remain skeptical that Jesus has returned at all. I interpret Matthew 24:27-31 as saying everyone will witness his return, not just a few peope. That's my opinion anyway
Your opinion is duly noted but just to reinforce the time frame from the prophesy in Daniel, this is how we get to 1914....
Why 1914?
Under the heading...
Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses say that God’s Kingdom was established in 1914?
Two lines of evidence point to that year: (1) Bible chronology and (2) the events since 1914 in fulfillment of prophecy. Here we will consider the chronology.
So what follows is how we calculate the beginning of the “the time of the end”....but remember that it doesn’t tell us “the day or the hour” when it will end.....any more than Noah knew the exact time when the flood would begin. But we do know that Noah and his family were on board with all the animals that God brought to him, and everything was prepared when it started. Noah simply followed God’s instructions...”he did just so”.....this is what we have to do too.
It’s not a literal ark today because there will never be another flood, but there is a spiritual one that Peter spoke about...(1 Peter 3:20-21)
2 Peter 2:4-10 speaks of examples in the past that fit things that were to happen in the future.
2 Peter 3:5-7 speaks about the flood and what happened to the people of Noah’s day who ridiculed him....
“For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; 6 and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water. 7 But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people.”
Who were the “ungodly people” back then? It must have been a horrible time to live with the violence and immorality rampant in the world of Noah’s day....and the presence of the Nephilim.
Yet only Noah and his family survived....why?
Jesus answers....Matt 24:37-39...
“For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. 38 For as they were in those days before the Flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39 and they took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be.”
They failed to heed the warning that Noah gave them ...they ignored it....and ridiculed him.
Peter goes on to say....vs 9-13...
“Jehovah is not slow concerning his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance. 10 But Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, consider what sort of people you ought to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, 12 as you await and keep close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah, through which the heavens will be destroyed in flames and the elements will melt in the intense heat! 13 But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”
So how does this apply to us? How do we “keep close in mind” the coming “day of Jehovah” when his Son will do battle with all who disobey the teachings given to him by his Father?
“Sheep and goats” are all that he will find in the world when the judgment is handed down....
Will we be “sheep” or “goats”...what is the difference?
