Shipwrecked on Revelation - Part One 

by Donald CB Cameron

Recent crises are leading to some renewed interest in the Book of Revelation in those churches that have previously ignored the signs of the times, or scoffed at “the promise of His coming” (2 Pet. 3:3-4). ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ (JW’s hereafter), have long used their own highly distorted interpretation of a crudely translated Revelation to capture people’s interest, before preaching their false gospel. They are aware of this increased interest and are taking advantage of it. It is a great pity that more mainstream churches do not do the same at this opportune time. But they have shipwrecked themselves by their false interpretation of the book of Revelation.

Whenever we encounter a body that fails so miserably the: ‘What think ye of Christ?’ test, we should be prompted to explore and reinforce the foundations of our own faith. This wonderful last book of the Bible introduces itself as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” From the first verse to the last, our Saviour is both victorious and gloriously vindicated in the world that once rejected Him. But one group that claims to honour Him, uses the Book of Revelation to demean Him; usually in subtle ways, but occasionally quite blatantly, as I propose to demonstrate.

I have acquired copies of three May 2022 JW pamphlets on the Book of Revelation, namely: ‘Study Articles 19, 20 and 21’. Jesus Christ is described as our Leader, but never our Saviour. In Article 19 they write: “Our Leader, Christ Jesus, is well aware of our spiritual condition ... He knows what we need to do in order to continue enjoying Jehovah’s approval ... Read Revelation 2:3-4. We must not lose our first love for Jehovah.”

The Bible which they quote is the remarkably inaccurate, and sometimes deliberately modified, New World Translation.

Christ’s own approval is made subordinate. The approval in this passage, addressed to the Ephesian church, is Christ’s and the love they have lost is surely for Him. This artificial gulf between Christ and ‘Jehovah’ is maintained throughout these articles, which are evidently intended for internal consumption – training manuals perhaps. Their “Watchtower” magazines are more muted in their spiritual conceit. None of our regular PW readers would be fooled by these articles. Indeed, so outrageous are some of their claims that they would be amusing were they not so serious. At least half of what is contained in these articles would be familiar to our readers, but the sequence is astonishing – almost as if they had cut out select para- graphs from Pre-Millennial commentaries on Revelation, put them in a hat and shaken them up before adding their own poisonous contributions. For instance, we read: “The book of Revelation reveals that God’s heavenly kingdom has been established and that Satan has been expelled from heaven (Rev 12:1-9).”

Since when was God’s heavenly kingdom not established?  ...

(Only part of this article has been reproduced here).

Also in this issue

Powerpoint - Warnock Watson 
From The Editor  
In Touch with the General Director 
Shipwrecked on Revelation part one - Donald CB Cameron 
The Birth of The Church - John Williams 
Signs of The Times - Tony Pearce
The Eschatology of The Invisible Church - Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Th.M., Ph.D. 
Israel Desk - Tony Pearce 
What In The World Is Happening? - Brian Papworth 
‘What’s On?’ 
Book Of The Month