Lying Spirits and Rutherford
Ken Raines
"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to lying spirits and doctrines of demons." -- 1 Timothy 4:1.
"Judge" Rutherford claimed that he and the rest of the "remnant" of Jehovah's Witnesses were in communication with angelic spirits. This article reviews briefly both his claims and the evidence that these were demons.
Rutherford's Claims
As we documented in the first two issues of this journal, Rutherford claimed that his writings did not contain his opinions or interpretations of Scripture. He said what was published in The Watchtower came from God as "meat in due season" and was the "proper" or correct interpretation of Scripture. It was thus, not the word of man, but the word of God. He did not receive this "new light" from the Holy Spirit because in 1918 the Holy Spirit was taken away from the remnant. After 1918 angels were used to enlighten the remnant:
Since 1918 the angels of the Lord have had to do with showing the Ezekiel class the truth.1
Angels transmitted into his mind information, instructions, and interpretations of Scripture. These claims did not mean, he said, that The Watchtower magazine was the inspired Word of God, but it meant that the information in it came from angels.2
Uninspired Revelations From God?
It is important to note that Rutherford therefore claimed that what he wrote was to be viewed not as his opinions but as revelations from angels that unlocked the meaning of Scripture and its prophecies. God revealed to him through angels when prophecies were being fulfilled and what would shortly come to pass:
The temple in heaven is open, and those who have been so marvelously favored by being brought into the temple now receive a vision of the prophecies that have come to pass. Jehovah graciously permits those in the temple to see other things that shall shortly come to pass.3
... by his grace and his spirit God makes known to his 'elect servant' some things that are shortly to come to pass,...4
In the light of prophecy in the course of fulfillment, and of the further illumination thereof by Jehovah, the remnant class is permitted to see other things that are shortly to follow,.... Jehovah takes the remnant into his confidence in a measure by revealing to them the previous things that are in his keeping.5
Now Jehovah, true to his promise, discloses to the faithful the former things that have come to pass in fulfillment of prophecy, and now he discloses new things unto them, and before these things spring forth he makes known the meaning thereof to the faithful.6
God reveals to his people the information of things that must shortly come to pass,...7
Angelic Prophecies
He said that God would and did inform the remnant by angels when Armageddon would start before it began, to give them time to prepare for it and to prophesy or warn others of its approach:
The prophetic picture then shows the cherubs, who are officers of Jehovah's great organization, taking coals of fire and handing the same to Jehovah's witnesses, and these go out and scatter the fire over the city. This means that the Lord, by and through the officers of his organization who are invisible to man, provides the fiery message that proceeds from God and which is used to notify "Christendom" and all portions of Satan's organization of God's purpose to destroy them. This is proof that the message does not originate with man, but that it is God's message which he commands men to deliver to others.8
No man can properly interpret prophecy, and the Lord sends his angels to transmit correct information to his people,... The Greater Gideon [Jesus] does not begin the Armageddon battle until the message of truth from Jehovah God concerning the same is transmitted by his angels to the faithful remnant on the earth.9
Likewise Christ Jesus knows in advance of the attack of Satan's forces that will be launched against God's people at the battle of Armageddon, and the Lord Jesus, through his angels, transmits that warning to his faithful people now on the earth.... Jehovah now forewarns his faithful witnesses of the coming assault, and thus he does by using Christ Jesus at the temple to disclose to the temple company these truths and through them gives information to others concerning the meaning of the prophecy. The warning from the Lord is brought by his faithful messengers and his servants on earth,...10
Spiritism and Rutherford
Spirits come in two flavors or varieties as the Society has pointed out:
Yes, the Bible shows that there are not only good angels but also wicked ones.11
The wicked spirits or demons, unlike the good angels, frequently lie to those they communicate with and are thus called "lying" or "deceitful spirits." (1 Timothy 4:1) Rutherford believed that he was only informed by "holy angels." He did not believe that any of the angels that transmitted information and Biblical interpretations into his mind were demons:
The Lord used The Watch Tower to announce these truths. Doubtless he used his invisible deputies to have much to do with it. This is not what some may call spiritism, by any means; but it does mean that God can direct his people without any audible communication with them.12
If the angels that communicated with Rutherford were demons, this would make him a medium or "channel of communication," not of God, but of demons. It would be, by definition, spiritism.
The Blue Ribbon Liars of Creation
The Golden Age said that demons are the blue ribbon liars of creation and that not a word that they say can be believed.13 Rutherford claimed to have been in contact with angels, but the angels gave him false information -- false dates, predictions that failed, twaddle -- in short, general rubbish. Rutherford's "angels" were certainly at least candidates for blue ribbon liarhood. He claimed angels transmitted into his mind interpretations of Biblical prophecies. He said angels informed him about the future -- what was to come to pass.
If these claims were true, the interpretations of Scripture that led to his 1925 and World War II prophecies came from angels. These were false prophecies. Rutherford in his own words made an "ass" of himself over the 1925 fiasco. The angels that gave him these prophecies lied to him. The angels made an "ass" out of Rutherford. Many gave up marriage, sex, and children because of Rutherford's "revelations" as to the "correct" interpretation of Scripture from these angels. Does 1 Timothy 4:1-3 apply to Rutherford and his angels? What about all the false prophecies and "rubbish" published in The Golden Age by Woodworth -- a man who admitted he was demon possessed only a few years before he took that position? Could any of this material from Woodworth and Rutherford have come from God through angels?
Demons
The "light" from God that Rutherford published came not from the Holy Spirit but from angels. They lied to him and others of the remnant such as Woodworth, gave them false information and dates. They could not have been good angels sent by God, but by definition were "lying" or "deceitful" spirits and thus demons. The information given by these spirits, if believed and acted upon, would lead individuals into false hopes for medical cures, belief in erroneous information, false prophecies and a false gospel (Millions Now Living Will Never Die). Jehovah's Witnesses today still are plagued by bald heads, disease, death, and sin. Armageddon did not occur in 1925 or during World War II. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel, and others have still not returned to Beth-Sarim. Beth-Sarim has long since been sold by the Society. Their words have fallen to the ground.
I believe the following statements by the Watchtower Society (directed to others) apply to themselves and express my views about them and the spirits that have guided them:
No, neither God nor his loyal angels could possibly be responsible for such God-dishonoring messages. Who then are responsible?.... Which spirits could be the source of these messages? They are spirits, true, but of which kind?.... these are wicked spirits! Throughout the Bible they are referred to as demons.14
They know that they are what the Scriptures term "lying spirits", because they have been lied to by the spirits that communicated with them: but they insist that there are good spirits, and they think that sometimes they have had communications with these. But this proposition we dispute...15
Notes
1 J. F. Rutherford, Vindication III, 1932, p. 316.
2 For documentation see the first two issues of this journal. The next journal will also document his claims.
3 J. F. Rutherford, Vindication I, 1931, p. 340.
4 Ibid., p. 16. Angels occasionally used the "holy spirit force" to transmit the information to the remnant.
5 The Watch Tower, January 1, 1930, p. 7, §24.
6 The Watch Tower, January 1, 1931, p. 5, §21.
7 Light, book 1, 1930, p. 120; 1931 Yearbook, Daily Texts and Comments, Oct. 4.
8 J. F. Rutherford, His Vengeance, 1934, p. 6.
9 The Watchtower, February 15, 1935, p. 52, §7, 8. See also 1935 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, Daily Texts and Comments, November 13.
10 The Watchtower, July 1, 1938, pp. 199, 200, §24, 25; 1939 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, Daily Texts and Comments, June 22.
11 Awake!, May 22, 1971, p. 28.
12 J. F. Rutherford, Light, book I, 1930, p. 64; The Watchtower, May 15, 1938 p. 158.
13 The Golden Age, March 30, 1932, p. 391.
14 Awake!, June 22, 1968, pp. 6, 7.
15 The Watch Tower, March 15, 1922, p. 90.
