There’s futility in trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. Babies learn this quickly, no matter how much you try and stuff it in, it doesn’t fit. Some will go until they break the peg or the hole, or both. When inserting something that doesn’t belong, problems will arise, like sugar with salt in your chocolate chip cookie might help your sodium deficiency, but you can’t claim it’s a toll house original recipe. False religions centered around the Bible attempt this, constantly adding their own invented doctrines which contradict the narrative of scripture. Jehovah’s Witnesses are guilty of this as well, evidence by one such of their beliefs. This surrounds the problems with the Jehovah’s Witness anointed class.
This doctrine is foundational, concerning the apparent 144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, supposedly chosen by God to rule with Christ in heaven over the great crowd of resurrected ones living on a paradise earth. They are those with the heaven calling, kings and priests, and given holy spirit. The anointed class view is essential, encompassing their leaders, the yearly memorial, their eschatology, and how they view the Scripture. Yet as you’ll see this belief has been forced into the Bible except the Bible won’t have it. Something is going to break, and reveal the issues.
It’s just a feeling?
Firstly, how someone becomes anointed. According to the publication, this isn’t a choice, but you must be chosen by God. That choosing, comes with a feeling, nothing more. In other words, you just know. Do they speak in tongues, or have gifts of the spirit? Do they act more righteously and have this change of behavior? Is there any external proof or validation? No, no and no. This is all based on feeling, not fact. There is however a caveat. The if someones second guesses their anointing, well you arn’t. Therefore it boils down to you just have to be really sure.
There’s some logical problems with this. Mainly self authentication, that forces someone to say, “I’m anointed because I think so.” Anointed is a objective, but subjective, showing no consistency and this feeling is different for everyone. Jehovah’s Witness have Now the JW org rips this out of Romans 8, explaining…
The answer is clearly seen in Paul’s words to the anointed brothers in Rome, who were “called to be holy ones.” He told them: “You did not receive a spirit of slavery causing fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which spirit we cry out: ‘Abba, Father!’ The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children.” – Watchtower January 2022 pg.22
There’s nothing clear about this. First, witnesses believe your spirit is impersonal, it’s your life-force, like electricity. So God’s impersonal force, bears witness, a personal act, to our impersonal life-force. Remember folks their spiritual food teaches..
Also, like electricity, the spirit has no feeling and cannot think. – What Does the Bible Really Teach?
Let me get this straight, You receive the confirming feeling and thought of being anointed, via your unthinking and unfeeling spirit? How does that make any sense? The Bible disagrees, teaching the opposite, your own spirit knows your thoughts.
For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the spirit of the person that is in him?
1 Corinthians 2:11
The spirit isn’t just electricity, it’s the immaterial part of your being, your conscious and what separates us from other living beings of creation. Side note, you can add this to the list of verses JW’s avoid. The text in Romans 8 is really about living in alignment with the Spirit, since you’re a redeemed child of God. There should be evidence in your life, if one having been sealed by the spirit, there will be a difference from your former life, than your current life in Christ.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons[f] of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:13-17
Now back to this anointed feeling, you might ask, since it’s all subjective, what if someone’s wrong. Don’t fret, the Watchtower has an answer, though one may claim to be anointed, many are wrong. There might be a mental or emotional imbalance. I’m glad they admitted such, but if that’s the case, we shouldn’t just believe anyone’s anointed claim. Right? Take their governing Body, How can you truly know they’re anointed, after all, there is no evidence, they could be faking, or mentally imbalanced. So being anointed basically breaks down to them asserting, “I have a good feeling I’m special, therefor I think I should be in charge, and tell you what the Bible really says.” Yeah I’m not basing my eternal life on your “trust me bro.”
No one before?
Feelings aside, let’s get deeper into the problem with the Jehovah’s Witness anointed. According to Jehovah’s Witness doctrine, only those after Pentecost have the distinct privilege of being anointed and going to heaven. Therefor everyone before, that includes all the prophets, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, King David, and even john the Baptist, will never be in heaven. Instead they’ll be resurrected on earth where’re they’ll be taught the accurate truth by active baptized publishers. ( One of the founders of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Joseph F. Rutherford, said that the patriarchs where going to live with him in his mansion.)
Jehovah’s Witnesses land on this in several locations, but there position breaks down to the following.
Jesus said: “No man has ascended into heaven.” (John 3:13) He thus showed that good people who died before him, such as Abraham, Moses, Job, and David, did not go to heaven. (Acts 2:29, 34) – JW.org “Bible Questions Answered”
First, just focusing on the misreading from John 3:13. Jehovah’s Witnesses take this verse and argue, “See no one ascended to heaven, therefor no one died and went to Heaven.” Wrong. They did, Hebrews 11:5 quite literally says Enoch didn’t die, and went up to God. Elijah went up to heaven as well, and he was in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). This was understood by the Jews, hence why they kept asking John the Baptist if he was Elijah(John 1:21). they expected him to come back, alive. But putting facts aside, let’s see what Jesus actually said in context in his talk with the questioning Nicodemus.
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
John 3:12-13
Witnesses read this no one has ascended into heaven, and have a full stop, but the context, this isn’t spiritual or resurrection ascension, but intellectually for the sake of gaining heavenly knowledge. Jesus is referring to multiple scriptures. First is Duet 30:10-12 that reads…
when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?
Deuteronomy 30:10-12
Christ’s statement is about his authority, the Son of Man has been to heaven, he’s better than any prophet, or Moses himself. This has nothing to do with death ascension, especially considering Jesus saying no one ascended except the Son of Man.
Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know!
Proverbs 30:4
Christ is also mirroring Proverbs 30:4, which speaks to the majesty and glory of God. Jesus is making a statement of divinity, as well as identifying himself as the Son of God, the one who has authority to speak of heavenly things, since he’s been to heaven. It’s also worth nothing, what’s written in John 3:13, is past tense, but Jesus hasn’t ascended yet. Therefore this must be a reference to one being in heaven, and gathering divine knowledge. Jehovah’s Witnesses are are cherry picking.
29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Acts 2:29, Acts 2:34
34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,
The Watchtower also uses Acts 2:29, 34. Here the Watchtower is trying to teach, “David is dead, and didn’t ascend to heaven.” Again, they’re picking cherries. The first sermon is about Christ filling the role of messianic prophecy. Peter’s whole point, King David was prophesying about the future Christ, in which these texts have their ultimate fulfillment. David’s body is dead, he didn’t rise from the dead, or ascend to the right hand of God. You need only read this in the context to see, but that’s not something the Jehovah’s Witness leaders want done. Bottom line, King David is in heaven, he said so himself, in Psalm 73:24 and Psalm 23:6 he’s going to glory, and will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever. Was he wrong Watchtower?
24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Psalm 73:24, Psalm 23:6
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Another used includes John the Baptist, from Matthew 11:11 yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” Again, just grabbing those cherries by the bucket. Here Jesus explains to the crowd, about a John the Baptist who is still alive. He was the messenger to prepare the way, the fulfillment of prophecy, one the greatest man ever born, but those in the kingdom, which is about receiving forgiveness of sin and adoption, are in a superior position. In other words, John is great, but the gift of grace you’ll receive is greater. Are we to assume the anointed are just greater than the average earthly class witness?
What sinks this whole, those in the before Pentecost don’t go to heaven. Matthew 8:11 and Luke 13:28, both presenting as plainly as possible, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be in heaven.
11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
Matthew 8:11, Luke 13:28
28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.
These verses destroy the anointed doctrine. These patriarchs will be in the Kingdom of heaven, and if those before went to heaven, therefore the 144,000 has already been filled, making the number incorrect as well. Jehovah’s Witness religion attempts an explanation, claiming all this..
It is therefore evident that in Matthew 8:11 Jesus referred to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob figuratively. On the occasion when Abraham offered up his son Isaac, Abraham represented Jehovah God and Isaac represented God’s only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, who was offered up in sacrifice. Accordingly Jacob represented the spiritual Christian congregation, the “kingdom of the heavens” class; for, just as the congregation gets life through Jesus Christ, so Jacob got life from Abraham through Isaac. – Watchtower March 15, 1962 pg.191
That’s nonsensical. Does the Bible ever compare Jehovah to Abraham, or Isaac to Jesus? Of course not. These verses are mentioning the patriarchs, which is common phrase repeated several dozens of places throughout the Bible. Each time, the writer is referring to real historically real people. Also if Jacob represents the anointed Christians, others anointed Christians will join all the anointed Christians? That’s… off. Adding another point, according the them, Jacob is an unanointed, yet represents all the anointed? But the final nail in the coffin, in Luke 13:28 the text adds the words and all the prophets. Therefore the prophets of old will be in heaven. How does the watchtower respond…they don’t.
They’ll also use hebrews 6:20, but again reading in their own doctrine. Christ is the one who provides the anchor, making a way for all people, past, present and future to enter into glory. As Hebrews Chapter 10 explains, Christ paid for sins for all time. Heaven doesn’t operate on our clock, God is timeless, and those who died before Christ were looking ahead, and their sins were washed by the future son of God. Those patricachs, the prophets, and many others are in heaven with God.
Who’s in Heaven?
Finally the famous 144,000 passage itself. Taken from Revelation Chapter 7 and 14. Now among the sea of analogies and metaphors in this apocalyptic literature, the Jehovah’s Witness religion holds firmly to this number being literal, and certainly not figurative. I’m going to highlight what the Watchtower says is literal in these passages..
And that’s it. Are the anointed class Jews? Nope. Part of a tribe? Nope. Virgins and men? No way. This is cherry picking at it finest. What’s actually happening in Revelation 7 is a picture of the redeemed in heaven. John uses the Hebrew numbering systems along with the and tribes. He’s explaining the promise to Abraham must have its fulfillment in the gentiles, the Hebrews are small and countable, all the nations are like the stars, uncountable. However, both are in heaven. While this section is the foundational for their anointed in heaven, and the great crowd being on earth, you only need to continue reading for that belief to be debunked. You can see from the passage, the great multitude is “before the throne”, and the very next verse, the creatures and elders in heaven, are also before the throne.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
Revelation 7:9-10
This is all happening in the same location, heaven. It is the epitome of foolishness and eisegesis to assume otherwise. The very text they use as evidence for their doctrine, disproves it if you only read one verse more. The Bible isn’t meant to be read verse by verse, but book by book. You can not understand this to mean anything else, unless you’re treating the text with malice. However, that doesn’t stop the Jehovah’s Witness religion. The Watchtower presents this insane explanation.
At Revelation 7:9, the great crowd is not seen as being in heaven. Their “standing before the throne” of God does not require them to be in heaven. They are simply in the sight of God. (Psalm 11:4) – Worship the Only True God pg.121
In his vision John did not see this “great crowd” as being in heaven. Their “standing before the throne” (Greek: e·noʹpi·on tou throʹnou, “in sight of the throne”) of God does not require that they be in heaven. Their position is simply “in sight” of God, who tells us that from heaven he beholds the sons of men. (Rev. 7:9; Ps. 11:4; compare Psalm 100:1, 2, also Luke 1:74, 75 and Acts 10:33, Kingdom Interlinear.) – United in Worship of the Only True God pg.104
Take notice, how the context is ignored. Instead the leaders give a vague concept that it’s all about being in the sight. They try and use a Greek explanation, however the word enópios isn’t just about sight, it’s about being in the presence, among, seeing directly because you’re in that location. Hysterically enough, they use Psalm 11:4, which states God’s throne is in heaven. Yes God can see everything, because he’s God. But heaven isn’t in our universe, and the Watchtower agrees. They act like Jehovah is captain of the enterprise and earth on the main view screen. The rest of the verses they apply as a defense have nothing to do with the subject matter, just the religion doing what it does best, mislead its members. They’ll also use Matthew 25:31, and say, Oh Jesus is coming, and all nations are before the throne, that’s that same.
Likewise, it is not necessary for “all the nations” to be in heaven for them to be before the throne of Christ (literally, “in front of him”), as described at Matthew 25:31, 32 – United in Worship of the Only True God pg.104
Again, nonsense out of context. Christ’s throne in Matthew is figurative, and speaking about his seat of judgment. This must be analogous, as he’s not literally going to heard everyone into two sides. Matthew is speaking on the judgment, Revelation is reward, and constantly and contextual speaking of scenes in heaven. Let me just break this down to prove the problems with the Jehovah’s Witness anointed.
2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.
Revelation 4:2-4
Lightning, thunder, the emerald seat, and around it the 24 elders the 4 living creatures. Undoubtedly this is describing the throne in heaven. It’s important to see, the phrase “before the throne”, is mentioned nine times in Revelation. Take a look at what and who is before the throne.
- The seven spirits of God (Revelation 4:5)
- A sea of crystal (Revelation 4:6)
- The twenty four Elders. (Revelation 4:10)
- The Great Multitude (Revelation 7:9)
- The angels, the four living beasts, and the twenty four elders. (Revelation 7:10)
- The martyred from the tribulation (Revelation 7:15)
- The prayers of all the saints in a golden altar (Revelation 8:3)
- All the dead at the final judgment (Revelation 20:12)
- And the 144,000 (Revelation 14:3)
So the Bible describes this heavenly scene, tells us who’s around and before the throne of God, but the organization want’s their members to think, there’s an exception when speaking about the great crowd? Why? The only reason, it contradicts with their invented doctrine. The anointed belief is obviously broken, but it’s difficult for Witnesses to see the truth. With the Watchtower’s direction, it makes it appear these anointed are legitimate, This is because the organization has basically applied everything about being a Christian, to the anointed. But if you read the text, these are for everyone, not a specific class.
JW’s the heavenly class are Christ’s brothers. But Matthew 12:50 reads “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” JW’s say only the anointed are given a kingdom, but Matthew 19:29, and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms on account of My name, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. The religion calls the anointed saints or holy ones. However, Acts 26:18 reads that all who have faith in Jesus will been sanctified ( Made Holy). They’ll also claim only the 1440,000 are God’s Children, but John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. All Christians are Kings and priests, fellow heirs with Christ, adopted as sons and daughters.
Being anointed is for anyone who’s been saved, inheriting the new heavens and new earth, freed from sin, given eternal life with God and enjoying him forever. This is for all who repents, and call on the name of Jesus for salvation, are given the anointing of the Holy spirit, who acts as a comforter, teacher and promise of eternal security in Christ. Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t understand, being sealed is more than a privilege or special role. Grace is the ultimate gift that no one could earn, and paid for by the blood of the innocent Son of God. Becoming anointed, isn’t because an organization, magazine, or someone with a really good feeling thinks so. It’s based on the promise in scripture, for anyone who put’s their trust in the person and work of Christ. The number of anointed are unlimited and available for anyone, because God says so.