Predictions and dated expectations

“we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomplished by the end of A.D. 1914.”

“the 'battle of the great day of God Almighty' (Rev. 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced.”

“our readers are writing to know if there may not be a mistake in the 1914 date. ... We see no reason for changing the figures—nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble.”

“will be accomplished near the end of A.D. 1915. ... which will end in A.D. 1915, with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership”

“may it not be that the kingdom will not be ushered in for five, ten or even twenty-five years? Our reply is, we are not a prophet; we merely believe that we have come to the place where the Gentile times have ended.”

“The author acknowledges that in this book he presents the thought that the Lord's saints might expect to be with Him in glory at the ending of the Gentile Times. This was a natural mistake to fall into ... Our mistake was evidently not in respect to the ending of the Times of the Gentiles; we drew a false conclusion, however, not authorized by the Word of the Lord.”

“prove that the Spring of 1918 will bring upon Christendom a spasm of anguish greater even than that experienced in the Fall of 1914. Reexamine the table of the Parallel Dispensations in STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, Vol. 2, pages 246 and 247; change the 37 to 40, 70 to 73 and 1914 to 1918”

“Also, in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions, it shall be that any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to learn the meaning of the downfall of 'Christianity.'”

“And every island fled away.—Even the republics will disappear in the fall of 1920. And the mountains were not found.—Every kingdom of earth will pass away, be swallowed up in anarchy.”

“we may expect 1925 to witness the return of these faithful men of Israel from the condition of death, being resurrected and fully restored to perfect humanity ... Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old”

“that 1925 shall mark the resurrection of the faithful worthies of old and the beginning of reconstruction, it is reasonable to conclude that millions of people now on the earth will be still on the earth in 1925. Then ... we must reach the positive and indisputable conclusion that millions now living will never die.”

“The indisputable facts, therefore, show that the 'time of the end' began in 1799; that the Lord's second presence began in 1874; that the harvest followed thereafter”

“The physical facts show beyond question of a doubt that 1914 ended the Gentile times ... The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures because it is fixed by the law God gave to Israel.”

“Our thought is, that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures, marking the end of the typical jubilees. Just exactly what will happen at that time no one can tell to a certainty; but we expect such a climax in the affairs of the world that the people will begin to realize the presence of the Lord and his kingdom power.”

“The year 1925 is a date definitely and clearly marked in the Scriptures, even more clearly than that of 1914; but it would be presumptuous on the part of any faithful follower of the Lord to assume just what the Lord is going to do during that year.”

“The year 1925 is here. With great expectation Christians have looked forward to this year. Many have confidently expected that all members of the body of Christ will be changed to heavenly glory during the year. This may be accomplished. It may not be. ... Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire during this year”

“The end of 1925 is about here. Some have expected to see the work of the church in the flesh completed this year. ... It is to be expected that Satan will try to inject into the minds of the consecrated the thought that 1925 should see an end of the work”

“Again in 1925 many said: 'The ancient worthies have not returned; and some who seem to be saints are still on the earth: surely the Lord hath forgotten us.'”

“the said WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY shall hold said title perpetually in trust for the use of any or all of the men above named as representatives of God's kingdom on earth ... Any persons appearing to take possession of said premises shall first prove and identify themselves ... as the person or persons described in Hebrews chapter eleven”

“The title to Beth-Sarim is vested in the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society in trust, to be used by the president of the Society and his assistants for the present, and thereafter to be for ever at the disposal of the aforementioned princes on the earth.”

“the 'times of the Gentiles' ... would continue and extend to the fall of A.D. 1914. ... the Government at its birth in A.D. 1914 ... Christ's coming to the temple in 1918 was entirely unexpected, even to his devoted faithful followers.”

“The actual meaning of these words is, beyond question, that which takes a 'generation' in the ordinary sense, as at Mark 8:12 and Acts 13:36, or for those who are living at the given period.”

“According to this trustworthy Bible chronology six thousand years from man's creation will end in 1975, and the seventh period of a thousand years of human history will begin in the fall of 1975 C.E. ... How appropriate it would be for Jehovah God to make of this coming seventh period of a thousand years a sabbath period of rest and release, a great Jubilee sabbath”

“Eight years from the autumn of 1967 would bring us to the autumn of 1975, fully 6,000 years into God's seventh day, his rest day. ... Does this mean that the year 1975 will bring the battle of Armageddon? No one can say with certainty what any particular year will bring.”

“Are we to assume from this study that the battle of Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of 1975, and the long-looked-for thousand-year reign of Christ will begin by then? Possibly, but we wait to see how closely the seventh thousand-year period of man's existence coincides with the sabbathlike thousand-year reign of Christ.”

“That seven-year period will evidently finish in the autumn of the year 1975. Does this mean that the above evidence positively points to 1975 as the time for the complete end of this system of things? Since the Bible does not specifically state this, no man can say. However, of this we can be sure: The 1970's will certainly see the most critical times mankind has yet known.”

“If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years. ... Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.”

“Reports are heard of brothers selling their homes and property and planning to finish out the rest of their days in this old system in the pioneer service. Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining before the wicked world's end.”

“The year 1925 came and went. Jesus' anointed followers were still on earth as a class. The faithful men of old times—Abraham, David and others—had not been resurrected to become princes in the earth. ... 'Instead of its being considered a "probability," they read into it that it was a "certainty," and some prepared for their own loved ones with expectancy of their resurrection.'”

“Since a new Jewish lunar year began in September 1975 a significant point in human history was reached. What was that? According to the Bible's count of time, mankind then completed 6,000 years of existence on earth.”

“If anyone has been disappointed through not following this line of thought, he should now concentrate on adjusting his viewpoint, seeing that it was not the word of God that failed or deceived him and brought disappointment, but that his own understanding was based on wrong premises.”

“There has been an overall 1.4-percent decrease in the number of Kingdom publishers. ... there were 2,086,698, on the average, who shared in making known the 'good news' compared with 2,117,194 the year before. The peak number of publishers came to 2,182,341, which is also below that of last year.”

“With the appearance of the book Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God ... considerable expectation was aroused regarding the year 1975. ... there were other statements published that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility. It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones”

“If Jesus used 'generation' in that sense and we apply it to 1914, then the babies of that generation are now 70 years old or older. ... Jehovah's prophetic word through Christ Jesus is: 'This generation [of 1914] will by no means pass away until all things occur.' (Luke 21:32) And Jehovah ... will bring about the fulfillment of his Son's words in a relatively short time.”

“Before the last members of the generation that was alive in 1914 will have passed off the scene, all the things foretold will occur, including the 'great tribulation' in which the present wicked world will end.”

“This later led to the idea—sometimes stated as a possibility, sometimes more firmly—that since the seventh millennium of human history would begin in 1975, events associated with the beginning of Christ's Millennial Reign might start to take place then. ... some of their time calculations and the expectations that they associated with these gave rise to serious disappointments. Following 1925, meeting attendance dropped dramatically in some congregations in France and Switzerland. Again, in 1975, there was disappointment”

“A few years after Brother Rutherford's death, the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society decided to sell Beth-Sarim. Why? 'The Watchtower' of December 15, 1947, explained: 'It had fully served its purpose and was now only serving as a monument quite expensive to keep'”

“From Mr. Barbour ... Russell also came to be persuaded that Christ's invisible presence had begun in 1874. ... [fn. i] A clearer understanding of Biblical chronology was published in 1943, in the book 'The Truth Shall Make You Free,' and it was then refined the following year”

“The purpose of Awake! is stated clearly on page 4 of each issue: 'This magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away.'”

“Jehovah's people have at times speculated about the time when the 'great tribulation' would break out, even tying this to calculations of what is the lifetime of a generation since 1914. ... Rather than provide a rule for measuring time, the term 'generation' as used by Jesus refers principally to contemporary people of a certain historical period, with their identifying characteristics.”

“A brief review of what is stated on page 4 of each issue of Awake! ... 'Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world that is about to replace the present wicked, lawless system of things.'”

“Previously, this journal has explained that ... 'this generation' mentioned at Matthew 24:34 meant 'the contemporaneous generation of unbelieving Jews.' ... So Jesus must have been referring to his disciples when he made the statement”

“He evidently meant that the lives of the anointed who were on hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914 would overlap with the lives of other anointed ones who would see the start of the great tribulation.”

“We understand that in mentioning 'this generation,' Jesus was referring to two groups of anointed Christians. The first group was on hand in 1914 ... The second group ... were anointed with holy spirit during the time that those of the first group were still on earth. ... at least some of 'this generation will by no means pass away' before seeing the start of the great tribulation.”

“The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction. In fact, the Watch Tower Publications Index includes the heading 'Beliefs Clarified,' which lists adjustments in our Scriptural understanding since 1870.”