4. Did God’s favor return to Israel and did this indicate the soon return of the “princes”?
Yes: “Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and the prophets will be brought forth and be made leaders of the people. We may expect their return soon, because the favor of God has begun to return to Israel.”27
No: “By the publication of Volume 2 of the book Vindication that year [1932], Jehovah’s witnesses came to see that such a ‘back to Palestine’ movement was by the spirit of Jehovah’s archfoe, Satan, who has deceived the entire inhabited earth.”28
5. Will the “princes” return to Jerusalem when resurrected?
Yes: “We should, therefore, expect shortly after 1925 to see the awakening of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob….These will form a nucleus of the new kingdom on earth. One of the first things necessary will be to put Jerusalem in condition to be the capital of the world.”29
No: “It is confidently expected that in God’s due time some of the faithful men mentioned in Hebrews 11…will find an abode in that house [Beth-Sarim in San Diego] while carrying on the work the Lord will give them to do.”30
6. Will the “princes” be resurrected before Armageddon?
Yes: “Those faithful men of old may be expected any day now. The Scriptures give good reason to believe that it shall be shortly before Armageddon breaks.”31
No: “For years, Jehovah’s people thought that faithful men of old times, such as Abraham, Joseph, David, would be resurrected before the end of this wicked system of things.”32 “This view was adjusted in 1950…those earthly forefathers of Jesus Christ would be resurrected after Armageddon.”33
7. Is Psalm 45:16 to be applied only to the pre-Christian “princes”?
Yes: “In Psalm 45:16 it is written: ‘Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.’…This prophecy, therefore, shows that Christ the King will make those faithful men the princes or visible rulers in all the earth.”34
No: “Those to be made princes according to this text [Psalm 45:16] were long understood to be the faithful witnesses of ancient times before Christ who were to become the children of Christ the King by being resurrected from the dead.”35 “To our great delight, prospective princes are in our very midst.”36
8. Are the “princes” of Isaiah 32:1 the same as mentioned in Isaiah 45:16?
Yes: “The new earth will consist of righteous men who in times of old proved their integrity toward God and who the Lord shall ‘make princes in all the earth,’ which princes shall rule in righteousness under the direction of the righteous Lord (Ps. 45:16; Isa. 32:1).”37
No: “Because Isaiah 32:1 mentions princes and connects them with the King of the new world it was thought that these princes were the same as mentioned in Psalm 45:16. …However, from and after 1947 the columns of The Watchtower have not been quoting Isaiah 32:1 and applying it in that way.”38
9. In addition to “ancient worthies,” are there also “modern worthies”?
No: “In its issue of January 15, 1920 (pages 21-28)…The Watchtower discussed the question of ‘modern worthies’ according to the information and facts then available and said No! to such a class.”39
Yes: “Since they manifest a similarity of faith, there is nothing that Scripturally argues against his taking as many of these ‘other sheep’ as he requires and making them ‘princes in all the earth.’”40
10. Will Beth-Sarim be held for the perpetual use of the Lord’s people and the “princes”?
Yes: “When David and Joseph or some of the other ancient worthies return they will have it.”41 “The title to that house is in the Society, and is held in trust for the perpetual use of God’s faithful ones.”42
No: “The Society’s board of directors had voted unanimously to dispose of Beth-Sarim.”43
WRONG AGAIN
Watch Tower publications and William P. Heath, Jr., who stated that he “was in charge of the estate,” not only were wrong on their teachings concerning the “princes,” but they were also wrong in many additional matters. Two examples should suffice.
1. Before the San Diego Planning Commission on February 28, 1942, Heath argued that the Beth-Shan “property cannot be sold because it is held in trust for the ancient witnesses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob et al….As a consequence, it is impossible that this property will ever be sold to anyone else….”44 The deed conveying this property to its new owners, “B. Allison Gillies and Betty H. Gillies, husband and wife, as joint tenants” is dated March 29, 1945, and the grantors are William P. Heath, Jr., and his wife Bonnie.45
2. “The Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors contended that the [Beth-Shan] property could be conveyed and subdivided,” whereas the Witnesses argued that “under the law and the deed it cannot. It therefore became necessary to show that the deed contained a reasonable and legal trust.”46 Heath, who participated in the creation of the trust, “testified as a witness and explained to the court that the trust was for real men and was altogether reasonable and certain of performance.”47 Heath himself initiated the demise of the trust and made the certainty of its performance impossible, when it was sold. The property was subdivided, and the prediction that was made in 1942 by realtor G. A. Forbes that Beth-Shan was “beautiful residential land with view sites” that “will undoubtedly be developed into high-class homes”48 was realized.
What can be said concerning the Watch Tower record? Joseph F. Rutherford summarized it well: “Jehovah never makes any mistakes. Where the student relies upon man, he is certain to be led into difficulties.”49Edmond C. Gruss has written several books on the Jehovah’s Witnesses, cults, and the occult. Leonard Chretien is a director of Good News Defenders, and with his wife Marjorie the author of Witnesses of Jehovah (Harvest House, 1988).
Note: Because of space limitations many details and related issues could not be included in this study. A full book on the subject, Jehovah’s Witnesses — Their Monuments to False Prophecy (1997), is available from Witness Inc., P. O. Box 597, Clayton, CA 94517.
NOTES
1Jehovah’s Witnesses — Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1993), 76.2David A. Reed, “Proclaimers” Answered Page by Page (Stoughton, MA.: David A. Reed, 1994), 11; Randall Watters, “Review of the New Watchtower book: Jehovah’s Witnesses Proclaiming [sic] God’s Kingdom,” Free Minds Journal, September/October 1993, 3.36-8.49.5R. J. Martin, “The Truth about the San Diego House,”Golden Age, 19 March 1930, 405-7; “San Diego Officials Line Up against New Earth’s Princes,” Consolation, 27 May 1942, 3.6Book 873, 282-84, San Diego County Recorder.7Book 1075, 42-43, San Diego County Recorder.8In 1916 W. R. Young began to dig a series of tunnels in the canyon located near the N.E. corner of Montezuma Road and Fairmount Avenue.9Two telephone interviews with Fred Eason on 3 December 1996 and letter dated 12 December 1996. 10Ibid.11Ibid.12Ibid.13“Demon Rule Ending (Part 5),” Watchtower, 15 November 1941, 343. “Those That Forget God,” Watchtower, 1 July 1941, 202; “Europe’s Need of the Theocracy,” Consolation, 29 October 1941, 11; Revelation — Its Great Climax at Hand! (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1988), 246.14Eason’s interviews and letter. A “Refuge Farm” was a place of seclusion where Jehovah’s Witnesses would be protected from the soon-coming destruction of Armageddon. For full details see Duane Magnani, The End of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Clayton, CA: Witness, 1997).15Ibid., 162.16Consolation, 27 May 1942, 15.17Eason’s interviews and letter. Telephone interview with Betty Gillies on 9 December 1996.18Consolation, 27 May 1942, 14.19“Beginning the New World Society,”Watchtower, 1 November 1950, 414-17.20“Questions and Answers,”Watch Tower, 15 January 1925, 23.21J. F. Rutherford, Jehovah (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1934), 37.22Watch Tower, 15 January 1925, 23.23J. F. Rutherford, Deliverance (3.58 million ed.; Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1926), 324.24Watch Tower, 15 January 1925, 23.25J. F. Rutherford, Salvation (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1939), 310.26“Remaining Organized for Survival into the Millennium,” Watchtower, 1 September 1989, 20.27J. F. Rutherford, Life (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1929), 191.28“Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Part 10),” Watchtower, 15 May 1955, 296.29W. E. Van Amburgh, The Way to Paradise (Brooklyn: International Bible Students Assoc., 1924), 224.301931 Year Book (Brooklyn: International Bible Students Assoc., 1930), 36.31The New World (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1942), 104.321975 Yearbook (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1974), 213.33Jehovah’s Witnesses — Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, 76.34J. F. Rutherford, What You Need (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1932), 8.35“Princes Shall Rule in Justice,” Watchtower, 1 December 1951, 717.36Watchtower, 1 September 1989, 22.37“Righteous World,” Watchtower, 15 November 1938, 339.38Watchtower, 1 December 1951, 717.39“Beginning the New World Society,” Watchtower, 1 November 1950, 416.40Ibid., 417.41Martin, 406.421931 Year Book (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1930), 36.43“‘All Nations Expansion’ Assembly,”Watchtower, 15 December 1947, 382.44San Diego Planning Commission Minutes, 28 February 1942, 240.45Book 1853, 260-61, San Diego County Recorder.46Consolation, 27 May 1942, 13.47Ibid.48Minutes, 242.49J. F. Rutherford, Prophecy (Brooklyn: Watch Tower, 1929), 67-68.
Summary Beth-Shan, named only once in Watch Tower publications, gives another significant insight into the history and teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Predictions made concerning the resurrection of the pre-Christian “princes” failed, and the teachings concerning them over the years are in...
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