Chapter 24 – JEREMIAH

Agreat crash is bearing down from the land of the north and Jehovah himself has set it into motion. The ruthless army of Babylon is like an onward sweeping tempest; a terrible juggernaut, crushing everything in its path. Blow the horn! Sound the alarm! Take cover! — “Look! A people is coming from the land of the north, and a great nation will be awakened from the remotest parts of the earth. They will grab hold of the bow and the javelin. They are cruel and will have no mercy. Their voice will roar like the sea, and they ride on horses. They draw up in battle order like a man of war against you, O daughter of Zion.” (Jeremiah 6:22-23)

Will Jehovah permit the pagan hordes from the land of the north to destroy his city? The prophets and priests were confident that no such calamity would befall them. Why, the very temple of Jehovah was located in Jerusalem, and it was the place where Jehovah caused his name to reside. Likely, the Judeans felt secure in the knowledge that Jehovah’s angel had previously destroyed Sennacherib’s mighty Assyrian army when it threatened Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah. Surely, God would intervene this time, too?

Contributing to their misplaced confidence, competing prophets issued contradictory messages. Jeremiah, on the one hand, warned that a calamitous crash was exactly what Jehovah had decreed, and God had even commissioned Nebuchadnezzar as his servant to carry out that work. Other prophets, though, whom Jehovah called “the prophets of Jerusalem,” wrote with what God described as a “false stylus.” They assured the people that all was well with Jehovah—that there was peace. According to them, Jehovah would break the Babylonian yoke from off Judah. Consequently, Jehovah advised the Judeans not to put their trust in the seeming permanence of the temple, nor in the utterances of the false prophets. Jeremiah 7:4 reads: “Do not put your trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah!’” Jeremiah, of course, was vindicated as the true prophet. Jerusalem and its temple fell in a great crash.

There are numerous reasons for believing that the prophecy of Jeremiah establishes a prophetic pattern for the future judgment of the house of God—a judgment that will be accomplished by means of a great global crash.

As pointed out in the preface, since the 2016 edition, the Watchtower has quietly dropped the long-held teaching that the Jerusalem of Jeremiah’s day represents Christendom. So, that portion of this chapter has been deleted. (Apparently, Bethel still clings to the notion that the “Jerusalem” that will be desolated by a disgusting thing during the tribulation is Christendom, and even Babylon the Great.)

However, to put a finer point on it, the Jews were intimately associated with the distinguished name of God. That is why Jeremiah pleaded with God for mercy on the basis of the fact that God’s name was called upon them. Jeremiah 14:9 says in part: “For you are among us, O Jehovah, and your name has been called on us.”

As all of Jehovah’s Witnesses know, Christendom has gone to great lengths to erase the name of Jehovah from the minds of men, and even in the relatively rare instances where some form of the YHWH is acknowledged as the personal name of God it is often falsely claimed to also be the name of Christ.

Just as there was only one temple where Jehovah placed his name in ancient times, there is only one “house” associated with the name of Jehovah now. It is the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watch Tower Bible Society. For instance, every issue of the Watchtower magazine bears the very name of God emblazoned on its cover—“Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom.”

Anointed Christians are in a binding covenant arrangement with Jehovah God, just as were the Jews, making them the modern spiritual house of God “upon which my name has been called.” This is because Revelation depicts the 144,000 sons of God as having both the name of Jesus and the name of Jehovah written upon their foreheads. Furthermore, Jeremiah drew a contrast between the Jews who called upon the personal name of God and the people of the nations who did not call on the name of Jehovah. At Jeremiah 10:25, the prophet supplicated Jehovah to “Pour out your wrath on the nations who ignore you and on the families who do not call on your name.”

An obvious parallel exists in that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not only literally called by God’s name, but they also call on the name of Jehovah—both publicly and privately—in contrast with the various other religious persons who do not use God’s personal name in worship and prayer.

Jesus quoted directly from Jeremiah the seventh chapter when he threw the moneychangers out of his Father’s house—charging them with having made it into a “cave of robbers.” The Watchtower insightfully recognizes that Jesus established a pattern for the future cleansing of Jehovah’s spiritual temple during the judgment phase. However, while on the one hand the Watchtower teaches that Jesus cleansed the spiritual temple back in 1918-1919, the very prophecy in Jeremiah, which the Lord Jesus Christ invoked when he threw the moneychangers out of his Father’s temple, was applied to Christendom.

The Watchtower’s interpretations are obviously self-serving. Like the prophets of Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day, it is as though the reams of prophetic commentary penned by the Watchtower over the decades have been written with a “false stylus” and are not reliable indicators of Jehovah’s future activities. And as a consequence of their falsity, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been misled into believing that the organization will never come under his inspection or disapproval. For example, the March 15, 1951, Watchtower said:

“We belong to God’s theocratic organization under his kingdom. His visible organization will not pass away, but is as stable and permanent as his kingdom. Therefore, come what remarkable, violent changes may in the earth’s physical appearance at the end of Satan’s world, we will not fear.”

By teaching that “his visible organization will not pass away, but is as stable and permanent as is his kingdom,” Jehovah’s Witnesses have been subtly seduced into putting their trust in “deceptive words”—mouthing, as it were: “the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah!”

As has already been considered in detail, the 1914 parousia doctrine, which is central to the Watchtower’s claim of authority, is written with a “false stylus”—being cleverly crafted in trickiness.

And because the Watchtower speaks prophetically in the name of Jehovah, the following words of Jeremiah are most fittingly applied to the very institution which boasts of being “God’s theocratic organization”: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or commanded them or spoken to them. A lying vision and a worthless divination and the deceit of their own heart is what they are prophesying to you. Therefore this is what Jehovah says concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my name, though I did not send them, and who say that no sword or famine will occur in this land: ‘By sword and by famine those prophets will perish.’” (Jeremiah 14:14-15)

Surely the clergy of Christendom cannot be charged with prophesying falsely in the name of Jehovah, can they? No, that is not reasonable. There is only one organization and one people today who could possibly be held accountable for speaking falsely in the name of Jehovah— Jehovah’s Witnesses!

It is noteworthy too that Jeremiah’s prophecy is in harmony with the apostolic revelation that the judgment starts with the house of God. Jehovah told his prophet to pass the symbolic cup of judgment among the nations, saying to them: “For look! if I am bringing calamity first on the city that bears my name, should you go unpunished? (Jeremiah 25:29)

“NO CALAMITY WILL COME UPON YOU PEOPLE”

It is a weighty thing to speak in the name of Jehovah. Jeremiah himself originally tried to beg off from speaking Jehovah’s judgment messages—modestly protesting that he was but a mere boy. But unlike Jeremiah, it seems that the appointed shepherds of God’s nation had no similar compunction motivated by fear of God. And Jehovah took note that they were evoking his name in falsehood, saying at Jeremiah 27:15: “‘For I have not sent them,’ declares Jehovah, ‘but they are prophesying lies in my name, with the result that I will disperse you and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.’”

Though their shepherds convinced them no calamity from God would come upon them, the eventuality for the Jews under the misleading influence of their preferred prophets was disastrous. Those who were not destroyed during the Babylonian siege were scattered from their homeland. Hence, Jehovah called down woe upon the negligent shepherds of his sheep at Jeremiah 23:1, which reads: “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!”

That was the case in Jeremiah’s day, but is there a modern parallel? Indeed, there is. Jeremiah 23:19-20 locates the ultimate fulfillment as occurring “in the final part of the days.” Those verses read: “Look! The windstorm of Jehovah will burst out in fury; like a whirling tempest it will whirl down on the head of the wicked. The anger of Jehovah will not turn back until he has carried out and accomplished the intentions of his heart. In the final part of the days you will clearly understand this.”

Up to this point — having examined the Society’s prophetic interpretations in some detail—it is no exaggeration to say that virtually everything that Jehovah’s Witnesses have been taught regarding the modern-day fulfillment of prophecy is false. And as pointed out already, even the Watchtower has sheepishly admitted in an obscure little “teaching box” (16a) that their interpretation of the prophecy of Jeremiah—specifically that Jerusalem foreshadows Christendom—was not true.

That being the case, to whom else but the leadership of Jehovah’s people must the following words apply? — “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my inner circle, they would have made my people hear my words and would have caused them to turn back from their bad way and their evil deeds.” (Jeremiah 23:21-22)

It does not matter that the Watchtower does not claim to be inspired in the same sense as the biblical prophets. What does matter is that men who serve as the shepherds of God’s flock and who preach and teach in the authority of the name of Jehovah, do so falsely. The reason God’s judgments will only be understood in “the final part of the days” is that the false prophets have deluded Jehovah’s Witnesses regarding the true meaning of God’s prophetic word. Only when the judgments are brought against the false prophets will the prophecies, such as Jeremiah, be given meaningful consideration.

Just as Hananiah, Pashur, and certain other unnamed prophets in the book of Jeremiah rose up to negate Jehovah’s message, a similar scenario is unfolding today. In spite of their abundant errors, the Watchtower has proclaimed itself to be the true, Jeremiah-like messenger of Jehovah. It is true of them, “they ran”—being quick to prophesy doom upon the religions of Christendom, while proclaiming the Society to be the expression of pure worship.

As a result of their efforts to nullify Jeremiah’s judgments, God’s people have been deluded. Consider the span of verses preceding those above: “This is what Jehovah of armies says: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are deluding you. The vision they speak is from their own heart, not from the mouth of Jehovah. They are saying again and again to those who disrespect me, ‘Jehovah has said: “You will enjoy peace.”’  And to everyone who follows his own stubborn heart they say, ‘No calamity will come upon you.’”

Truly, the aforementioned litany of errors testifies against Bethel’s prophets. “The vision” they promulgate is all about glorifying the Society.

True to Jeremiah’s prophecy, “again and again,” Jehovah’s Witnesses are told that the organization is a spiritual paradise; thus equating it with the very Kingdom of God.

In essence, that makes the Watchtower’s message a mere variation of the theme the prophecy foretells: ‘Stick with Jehovah’s organization and no calamity will come upon you people.’

Jehovah’s Witnesses have become vain—condemning Christendom while condoning various evils and indulging in their own forms of hypocrisy and self- righteousness—all the while being assured that the judgment of the house of God is a thing of the past.

Hence, as is portrayed in the prophecy of Joel, the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah foretells that the pasture grounds will be dried up and the land will be enveloped in deadly gloom: “‘For the land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land has gone into mourning and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course is evil, and they abuse their power. Both the prophet and the priest are polluted. Even in my own house I have found their wickedness,’ declares Jehovah. ‘So their path will become slippery and dark; they will be pushed and will fall. For I will bring calamity on them in the year of reckoning,’ declares Jehovah.” (Jeremiah 23:10-12)

“FROM THE PROPHETS OF JERUSALEM APOSTASY HAS SPREAD”

According to God’s judgments, it is “in my own house I have found their badness.” Another way to express the phrase “my own house” is Bethel—the house of God.

The leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses has undeniably abused its power in many ways. Most reprehensibly, they have shielded pedophiles from prosecution and become adversaries at law with the victims. Although Bethel claims that all such criticisms emanate from apostates and opposers, God certainly sees all. That is why God posed the rhetorical question at Jeremiah 23:23-24: ‘“Am I only a God nearby,’ declares Jehovah, ‘and not a God also from far away? Can any man hide in a concealed place where I cannot see him?’ declares Jehovah.”

To be sure, Jeremiah 23:15b indicates that apostasy emanates from the top down: “For from the prophets of Jerusalem apostasy has spread throughout the land.”

This is in accord with the facts. It is the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses who have served as prophets, even boasting of being the modern Jeremiah class. It is they who determine prophetic interpretation and who twist the Scriptures to suit their agenda. It is they who have declared themselves faithful and discreet. It is they, and their Legal Department, that have created ruinous child abuse policies, which have resulted in lasting injury to thousands of tender souls. It is they who refuse to take up the legal case of the proverbial “fatherless boy.”

It is the Governing Body that knowingly committed the entire organization to a secret political partnership with the United Nations, and who, to this very day, continue to faithlessly pander to the OSCE and the UN. It is the Governing Body that treacherously promoted Bill Gates’ World Health Organization vaccination scheme.

In view of these undeniable facts, there is no other conclusion that can be drawn except that the Governing Body and the many departments within the Watchtower Inc have sown the seeds of apostasy against Jehovah God.

Just as the Christian prophet revealed that Christ’s congregation would be menaced by a man of lawlessness who would foment apostasy as an immediate prelude to the manifestation of Jesus Christ, Jeremiah 5:26-28 chillingly depicts the organization of God’s people as though they were hapless flying creatures stalked by wicked bird-catchers who are crouched down, as it were, lurking within Christ’s congregation— “For among my people there are wicked men. They keep peering, as when birdcatchers crouch down. They set a deadly trap. It is men whom they catch. Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deception. That is why they have become powerful and rich. They have grown fat and smooth; they overflow with evil. They do not plead the legal case of the fatherless, that they may gain success; and they deny justice to the poor.”

The writings of Jeremiah also harmonize with the teachings of Jesus on another matter. Just as Christ gave numerous illustrations depicting how both good and bad servants of God would exist within the same organization up until the final judgment—variously depicting them as wheat and weeds, faithful and sluggish slaves, wise and foolish virgins, etc., so too, the 24th chapter of Jeremiah employs a similar illustration— likening the blessed ones and cursed ones to good and bad figs in a basket.

How does Jehovah intend to discipline his ignorant slave and purge the wicked men from their midst? Jehovah answers: ‘“This is what Jehovah of armies says: ‘Here I am sending against them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I will make them like rotten figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, and a curse, and an object of astonishment, something to whistle at, and a reproach among all the nations to which I disperse them, because they have not listened to my words that I sent to them with my servants the prophets,’ declares Jehovah, ‘sending them again and again.’” (Jeremiah 29:17-19)

The intent of Jehovah’s judgment is that the men who have dishonored the name of Jehovah will no longer have the privilege of calling upon it—even as Jeremiah 44:26 states: ‘“Here I swear by my own great name,’ says Jehovah, ‘that my name will no longer be called on in an oath by any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt who says, ‘As surely as the Sovereign Lord Jehovah is alive!’”

As has already been established in this chapter, and surely none of Jehovah’s Witnesses will dispute this fact, the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses and their Watchtower Society are inseparably linked to the name of God. Of course, the fools will argue until the moon turns to blood that YHWH is not pronounced Jehovah. However, their misguided opinions are of no consequence. The truth of the matter is, there are literally hundreds of various spellings and pronunciations for the YHWH, depending upon the language and dialect into which it is translated and spoken. The fact that the name “Jesus” is an anglicized form of the Greek, which is itself a derivation of the Hebrew name Joshua, proves that replicating the original Hebrew pronunciation of the divine name in the thousands of languages in which it is spoken is not the important thing. What does matter is that God long ago foretold that his name would be associated with a particular group of men “in the final part of the days.”

And as a consequence of those men falsely prophesying in God’s sacred name, abusing the prestige and authority of that name, God will hold an accounting and ultimately remove his name from their mouths.

Obviously, then, if Jehovah has already determined to remove his name from the mouths of men who falsely speak in his name, that means that prior to that, they must use some commonly accepted form of the divine name. They must speak it. His name must be on their tongues. Now, obviously, the clergy of Christendom are not associated with the name of God as contained in Scripture; nor do they wish to be. In order for the word of God to be fulfilled, the name of Jehovah must be removed from the very organization that has, up until now, possessed the name as if a corporate trademark.

“THE SWORD, THE FAMINE AND THE PESTILENCE”

Because Judah compromisingly sought out political alliances with the surrounding nations and refused to trust Jehovah, heaven’s judicial decision called for the sword, famine, and pestilence against her. Those three calamities are mentioned in that exact order fifteen times in the prophecy of Jeremiah alone. For instance, at Jeremiah 24:10 Jehovah said: “And I will send against them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and to their forefathers.” And Jeremiah 32:24: “Look! Men have come with siege ramparts to capture the city, and because of the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, the city will certainly fall into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it; what you said has all happened, as you now see.”

What is the relevance of the judgment of the sword, the famine and the pestilence? The sword, the famine and the pestilence are the means by which God destroyed the wicked and faithless from among his people in ancient times. Significantly, it also happens to be the same events that mark the beginning of the final part of the days, that is to say, the harvest, when the weeds are uprooted from among the wheat. With the addition of earthquakes, the gospel of Luke records Jesus as foretelling the events that will accompany the concluding harvest: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (sword); and there will be great earthquakes, and in one place after another pestilences and food shortages.”

The opening of the second, third, and fourth seals of Revelation similarly unleashes symbolic horsemen: “and authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague…”

But even at the critical stage when Nebuchadnezzar actually began to lay siege to Jerusalem, Jehovah mercifully offered his people salvation from the sword, famine, and pestilence. In order to keep living, the Jews had to give up. Essentially, they had to come out with their hands up and surrender. They would, of course, lose their homes, possessions, and even their freedom. But Jehovah offered them their souls as spoil. God commanded Jeremiah to notify the people of Jerusalem of his terms for salvation: “Here I am putting before you the way of life and the way of death. Those who remain in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will keep living, and he will have his life as a spoil.”

Christ’s enigmatic sign of the conclusion of the system of things shares certain features with Jeremiah’s prophecy. Notably, in the context of war, famine, and pestilence, Jesus also instructed his disciples to flee when the disgusting thing presented itself, standing in the holy place—the same as Jehovah instructed the besieged Jews through Jeremiah. Christ specifically warned his disciples to be prepared to leave all behind—“let the man on the rooftop not come down…”

In the face of Nebuchadnezzar’s assault on the city of God and the threatened desolation of Jerusalem in the days of the apostles, in both instances, the terms for survival were the same—God’s people had to flee from what had previously been Jehovah’s special property. In the anti-typical fulfillment, discerning the disgusting thing standing where it ought not will serve as the signal to abandon a doomed Bible society.

The primary purpose of the oncoming calamity is that it will serve as discipline, as indicated at Jeremiah 30:11: ‘“For I am with you,’ declares Jehovah, ‘to save you. But I will make an extermination among all the nations to which I scattered you; however, you I will not exterminate. I will discipline you to the proper degree, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.’”

But considering the Watchtower’s interpretations, if the desolation of ancient Jerusalem pictures the extermination of all of false religion by the eighth king, how can that be reconciled with the fact that Jehovah specifically excluded the Jews from being exterminated along with the nations, only punishing them to the proper degree? God punished his people to correct them—to disabuse them of their folly. That is in harmony with the fact that Jehovah scourges every son of his. That was true of his nation-like son—Jacob, and it is also how God intends to correct his Christian sons “to the proper degree.”

It is worth noting here that Jesus also spoke on the matter of disciplining the otherwise faithful slave for his ignorance. Consider the concluding words of the illustration regarding the faithful and wicked slaves, where Jesus stated: “Then that slave who understood the will of his master but did not get ready or do what he asked will be beaten with many strokes. But the one who did not understand and yet did things deserving of strokes will be beaten with few. Indeed, everyone to whom much was given, much will be demanded of him, and the one who was put in charge of much will have more than usual demanded of him.” (Luke 12:47-48)

In Jesus’ parable, could it not rightly be said that both the willfully disobedient slave, as well as the slave who was ignorant regarding his master’s will for him, were corrected by the lash to the proper degree? Since the Watchtower Society claims to be the voice of the faithful slave and occupies a position towards God as those who have been “put in charge of much” —it also being abundantly clear that some of the stewards of Bethel are ignorant as regards the judgments of their heavenly Master, while others are willfully wicked —it is they who are “deserving of strokes.”

According to the pattern established in the prophecy of Jeremiah, God’s judgment first brought about the desolation of Jerusalem and Judah. Afterward, God used the Chaldeans to wreck the surrounding nations. After more than six decades in captivity, Cyrus the Persian, whom Isaiah describes as Jehovah’s anointed one, overthrew Babylon and released the Jews from bondage. By those means, Jehovah punished and corrected his erring people, then he redeemed the faithful and renewed his covenant with them, and the repurchased people of God re-established true worship upon Jehovah’s holy mountain.

God’s prophetic word is assuredly a reliable reflection of the intelligence of its Author. That being accepted as a true statement, surely the ordering of events established throughout prophecy stands as a pattern for “the final part of the days.”

Returning to the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah, Jehovah denounced the shepherds of his sheep because they were responsible for the sheep being destroyed and scattered by the sword, pestilence, and famine. Their negligence necessitated God’s intervention to rescue his scattered flock. Hence, Jeremiah 23:3-6 reads: ‘“Then I will gather together the remnant of my sheep from all the lands to which I have dispersed them, and I will bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and become many. And I will raise up over them shepherds who will really shepherd them. They will no longer be afraid or be terrified, and none will be missing,’ declares Jehovah. ‘Look! The days are coming,’ declares Jehovah, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous sprout. And a king will reign and show insight and uphold justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will reside in security. And this is the name by which he will be called: Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.’”

The means by which God collects his scattered flock is through the “righteous sprout” of David. Of course, the Jews who were scattered by the Babylonian siege were not repatriated to the land of Judah under the renewed kingdom of David. So, the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah is really a messianic prophecy related to the coming of Christ to rule the world.

But the obvious fact remains: First, the symbolic sword of war, famine, and pestilence disperses the sheep. Only afterwards does Jehovah bless them. That being the case, let the self-proclaimed “Jeremiah class” explain how the sword, famine, and pestilence connected to the supposed coming of Christ in 1914 may have accomplished the foretold judgments of God.

“I WILL CONCLUDE…A NEW COVENANT”

The 31st chapter of Jeremiah goes on to foretell of a new covenant that God would establish with Israel. In reality, though, Jehovah did not conclude a new covenant with Israel after their return from Babylon. He merely renewed the relationship that had been severed, a process known as a “repurchase.”

The new covenant did not come into existence until Jesus became its mediator with his apostles. Nevertheless, according to Jeremiah, Jehovah establishes a new covenant with his people immediately after they are disciplined to the “proper degree.” Not only that, but the establishment of the new covenant results in God’s people coming to know Jehovah to the extent that none of God’s sons and daughters who are drawn into the new covenant will need to be taught about Jehovah anymore—they will simply know him.

It is apparent that, even though Jesus mediated the new covenant with his apostles and first-century disciples, the original Christians did not experience its ultimate realization. That is evident from the fact that the apostles and disciples carried on a teaching campaign intended to help others to come to know Jehovah. Likewise, the Watchtower Society is also currently engaged in an educational campaign to acquaint people with Jehovah. But the full realization of the new covenant results in a cessation of all such teaching. Here is what the prophecy foretells: ‘“Look! The days are coming,’ declares Jehovah, ‘when I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their forefathers on the day I took hold of their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, ‘my covenant that they broke, although I was their true master,’ declares Jehovah. ‘For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares Jehovah. ‘I will put my law within them, and in their heart I will write it. And I will become their God, and they will become my people. And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know Jehovah!’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them,’ declares Jehovah. ‘For I will forgive their error, and I will no longer remember their sin.”’ (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Since the establishment of Christianity, no Christian, not even the apostles, can boast of knowing God and Christ completely. The apostle Paul acknowledged that he only had partial knowledge, saying: “For now we see in hazy outline by means of a metal mirror, but then it will be face-to-face. At present I know partially, but then I will know accurately, just as I am accurately known.”

So, even though Jehovah inaugurated the new covenant with anointed Christians in the first century, the ultimate purpose of the new covenant has not been realized yet. That is where the pattern established in the prophecy of Jeremiah illuminates future developments.

The modern movement of Jehovah’s Witnesses has brought into existence an organization that is called by God’s name, as were the Jews in the time of Jeremiah. Because the core of the organization is composed of anointed persons in covenant with Jehovah, the Watchtower Society has become the modern-day city of God and temple in which the name of Jehovah has been called. As such, Jehovah God will judge the organization, as he did Jerusalem.

Following afterwards, God will renew his covenant with his chastened people. Only this time, the restoration of God’s friendship will come about by the outpouring of the full measure of God’s spirit upon those already in the new covenant. The fact that the new covenant produces a people who know God and no longer need anyone to teach them to know Jehovah indicates that the prophecy of Jeremiah points forward to the culmination of the Christian era.

Having Jehovah’s law written upon their hearts means that those redeemed Christians will inherit the incorruptibility reserved for them. They will never, ever, defect again or require God to chastise them “to the proper degree.” God will forgive their error and they will at last, along with all the resurrected holy ones, become one with the Son of God—seeing him “face-to-face.”