Peace and Security, Great Tribulation, Armageddon

[cme]

2 hours ago, cme said:

The elders here have decided to implement this practice as a congregation.  Some congregations are doing the same.  No this is not something in the watchtower nor, announced by the GB.

 

However, the elders out here are pretty proactive and I guess they just want to be ready as to what to do in the event of an emergency.

My husband has corrected me on this statement.  He said it was the Circuit Overseer that had us meet in the park.

[Doug]

1 hour ago, cme said:

 He said it was the Circuit Overseer that had us meet in the park.

 

Perhaps due to your close proximity to world headquarters and the GB?

[Tortuga]

18 hours ago, cme said:

Here in the USA we are already practicing for meetings in the parks, basements, cellars etc.  2 weeks ago we all met in the park for field service.  The entire congregation was there.

We use to meet in a park because it was closer to the territory and more convenient for many of the friends.

 

Did the CO or elders specifically say why the congregation was meeting in the park?

 

Do you personally know of any congregations that are meeting in basements or is that an assumption?

Edited August 9, 2023 by Tortuga

[Shawnster]

3 hours ago, cme said:

My husband has corrected me on this statement.  He said it was the Circuit Overseer that had us meet in the park.

And did he say this was practice for the great tribulation {or emergencies) or is that a conclusion you reached? 

Edited August 9, 2023 by Shawnster

[Allabord4Jah]

If this thought does not go with these pages, please forgive me, and place it where it belongs.  

 

I have been keeping an eye on the weather lately, particularly around the entire world.  Since Covid hit, and it seems everything else too.  But what caught my attention is the hail storms, flooding, weird wind storms with mass amounts of hail (where it looks like mounds of snow) in villages, towns, cities all over the planet.  In Germany, just yesterday August 7, 2023, a town was hit by a violent out of nowhere storm.  Every corner, alley, street, road and hwy in and out, plus trees snapping and coming crashing down. The hail so intense, it was approximately 16 inches deep and the emergency crews couldn't make it across the streets or alleys and other parts to clean it up.  A few did, they were outside in shorts shoveling out the hail piled up to their tires and doors of vehicles and their doorsteps.  If the people are stuck, having a hard time cleaning up and very important moving about, imagine now at Armageddon, when the coalition (Gog of Magog) comes against us during that time and Jehovah let's loose, his storehouses of snow, and hail (Job 38:22 & 23), friends those of us alive during thus time, we have nothing to fear! Jehovah will be in total control!  Our heads lifted up and we can give that hailstones message, that will draw their attack on us.  If today, the crews can't function to remove 16 inches of hail. From the streets, imagine when Gog of Magog, can't rush to get to us.  Perhaps some on foot but how far?  Their tanks how far, their plows how far?  Their drones flying in the worst blizzard ever to hit all the skies above our heads, during Armageddon? Jehovah, opens up his storehouses!!!! 

And let me not forget the Angel's holding back the 4 winds!  Woohoo!  Reading and watching the weather news worldwide, and the arm of Jehovah, being with us during that time of great distress and never to be repeated!  I am not in fear. There no reason for those who make it into that time, we have no fear, cause they will not lay a hand on us!  

Left up our heads because our deliverance is right above our heads!  The thought came to me while watching the weather and human made natural disaster (polluting our air, the plastic/trash filled oceans, and other materials in our soil, etc) and they are in a standstill with 1 inch of ice, 20 ft of flooding, 6 inch size hail stones or more,  the weight of baseball size or more hail.  Wow, how do you feel about this! Job 38:22 & 23.  Jehovah, already has his battle plans laid out.   

[Sofia]

6 minutes ago, Allabord4Jah said:

If this thought does not go with these pages, please forgive me, and place it where it belongs.  

 

I have been keeping an eye on the weather lately, particularly around the entire world.  Since Covid hit, and it seems everything else too.  But what caught my attention is the hail storms, flooding, weird wind storms with mass amounts of hail (where it looks like mounds of snow) in villages, towns, cities all over the planet.  In Germany, just yesterday August 7, 2023, a town was hit by a violent out of nowhere storm.  Every corner, alley, street, road and hwy in and out, plus trees snapping and coming crashing down. The hail so intense, it was approximately 16 inches deep and the emergency crews couldn't make it across the streets or alleys and other parts to clean it up.  A few did, they were outside in shorts shoveling out the hail piled up to their tires and doors of vehicles and their doorsteps.  If the people are stuck, having a hard time cleaning up and very important moving about, imagine now at Armageddon, when the coalition (Gog of Magog) comes against us during that time and Jehovah let's loose, his storehouses of snow, and hail (Job 38:22 & 23), friends those of us alive during thus time, we have nothing to fear! Jehovah will be in total control!  Our heads lifted up and we can give that hailstones message, that will draw their attack on us.  If today, the crews can't function to remove 16 inches of hail. From the streets, imagine when Gog of Magog, can't rush to get to us.  Perhaps some on foot but how far?  Their tanks how far, their plows how far?  Their drones flying in the worst blizzard ever to hit all the skies above our heads, during Armageddon? Jehovah, opens up his storehouses!!!! 

And let me not forget the Angel's holding back the 4 winds!  Woohoo!  Reading and watching the weather news worldwide, and the arm of Jehovah, being with us during that time of great distress and never to be repeated!  I am not in fear. There no reason for those who make it into that time, we have no fear, cause they will not lay a hand on us!  

Left up our heads because our deliverance is right above our heads!  The thought came to me while watching the weather and human made natural disaster (polluting our air, the plastic/trash filled oceans, and other materials in our soil, etc) and they are in a standstill with 1 inch of ice, 20 ft of flooding, 6 inch size hail stones or more,  the weight of baseball size or more hail.  Wow, how do you feel about this! Job 38:22 & 23.  Jehovah, already has his battle plans laid out.   

Stay tuned for our next Awake! number 2023.

People are aware of this. We read everywhere the word "unprecented... " weather; bushfires; floods; Hail storms; Hurricanes; high temperatures... etc.

UN statements show that there´s a huge concern about the future of our planet. 

GT was never so close! It may come sooner than we think ...

[trottigy]

31 minutes ago, Sofia said:

Stay tuned for our next Awake! number 2023.

People are aware of this. We read everywhere the word "unprecented... " weather; bushfires; floods; Hail storms; Hurricanes; high temperatures... etc.

UN statements show that there´s a huge concern about the future of our planet. 

GT was never so close! It may come sooner than we think ...

 

I sure hope you all are correct. I can't help feeling that we are still close to a decade away.

[Tortuga]

3 minutes ago, trottigy said:

 

I sure hope you all are correct. I can't help feeling that we are still close to a decade away.

I agree. We have seen a lot of momentous changes but everything takes time. Many thought the onset of the pandemic was a milestone but that was over 3 years ago and barely gets mentioned in the news anymore.

[just1-4all]

34 minutes ago, trottigy said:

 

I sure hope you all are correct. I can't help feeling that we are still close to a decade away.

I would like to associate myself with that thought. Would be nice if it were 6 months from now, or no more than a year away, but ... I could also see things stretching out longer. "Soon" is such a slippery, hard-to-nail-down word. It just is. 

 

All I know is it is definitely the time to "Stay Awake, Stand FIrm, and Grow Mighty"! as the song goes. It (i.e. Jehovah's Great Day) certainly feels "speeded up" and approaching toward us quickly, that much is for sure. 

[Leonard Match Valid]

You are reading a part of the Book ""Live with Jehovah's Day in Mind""

The Day of Jehovah—A Vital Theme — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (jw.org)
jd chap. 3 pp. 29-41  The Day of Jehovah—A Vital Theme

 

 

I highlight the texts in it:

 

Zephaniah 1:14 to 18

It says about noise

Distress and affliction

Storm and desolation

Darkness

Thick and dense clouds

Noisy day

Death from the gut

 

 

Jeremiah 16:4

Terrible diseases

No burials

Killed by weapons

Killed by famine

 

 

Joel 2:30-31

Fire

Smoke

Sun and moon looking different

 

 

Amos 5:18

'Woe to those who long for the day of Jehovah! What will the day of Jehovah mean to you? It will be darkness, not light.

 

 

Zechariah 14:7

It will be only one day

There will be no day and night

There will be no light in the night

 

 

Zechariah 14:12-15

"...their flesh will rot while they are still standing, their eyes will rot inside their sockets, and their tongue will rot inside their mouth." (Zechariah 14:12-15)

Confusion

Man killing man

 

15 "And a scourge similar to that scourge shall also strike the horses, the mules, the camels, the asses, and all the flocks that are in those camps.

Death of many animals or destruction of war equipment

 

 

Malachi 4:1-5

Hot furnace

People will be like dry straw

Dead people will be trampled underfoot

 

 

Hosea 9:9

Those who were on the side of the true people will be corrupted, sin and fall away

 

 

Habakkuk 3:16       NOTE / Lit.: "and my belly trembled".

There will be physical symptoms of weakness among God's servants

But those servants will be reassured

 

 

Joel 3:15

The sun and the moon will be darkened And the stars will lose their brightness.

 

 

Amos 8:9

Darkness during the day, solar eclipses

 

 

Micah 1:4

Mountains and hills losing land, avalanches, earth tremors, earthquakes

Quote from the book::

""""These words are perhaps symbolic, but we can conclude from them that God's actions will have disastrous effects on the earth and its inhabitants. Not on all humans, however. The same prophets have indicated many blessings for those who 'seek what is good' and who will therefore live on.""""

 

By this sentence above in the article, I sometimes wonder how much worse it can get to get to one of these situations described in these texts above.

 

The article in the book emphasizes that "GOD'S ACTIONS" would bring these calamities to mankind

So what we see today would only be the "HUMAN ACTIONS" controlled by Jehovah not to "devastate and destroy" the Earth

 

But if Jehovah's actions will make the earth suffer, it means that a part of the Great Tribulation could be caused by Jehovah and the earth will suffer a very big setback.....

 

The brothers mention the weather and other things that are bad....will be worse

 

Of course, these are just mental notes and thoughts....

[Osprey]

When you are talking about a weather I certainly have to agree. Here in Slovenia past weekend we suffered catastrophic floods described as the biggest natural disaster from the time that Slovenia exists as an independent country. Floods have done enormous damage, people almost cant believe their eyes, most of them never imagined something like this can happen here, international help is coming into country. This happens after numerous heavy storms that already did a lot of damage in previous two months. People see that totally abnormal things are happening but instead of recognizing sign of times that we live in, they are believing many other theories, mainly that weather is artificially influenced (probably by USA to destroy Europe in combination with war in Ukraine). That looks insane, but we actually hear that now very often in the ministry. People just want to have an explanation, but believe such a conspiracy theory more than the bible truth. But despite that we can have some very interesting conversations with some sincere people.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Osprey

[ChrisW]

1 hour ago, trottigy said:

 

I sure hope you all are correct. I can't help feeling that we are still close to a decade away.

I try not to estimate. 10yrs? I don't think so. I hope not at least. 

[Sofia]

2 hours ago, Tortuga said:

I agree. We have seen a lot of momentous changes but everything takes time. Many thought the onset of the pandemic was a milestone but that was over 3 years ago and barely gets mentioned in the news anymore.

You are so right 

[felito]

And the beauty is .......  Everything is on time. Jehovah's time is perfect.

The best is yet to come.......

 

 

 

 

.....and coming back to reality    God   Why it take so long......😅

[Tortuga]

4 hours ago, ChrisW said:

I try not to estimate. 10yrs? I don't think so. I hope not at least. 

Just to add some perspective to the timeframe. Russia banned Jehovah's Witnesses over 6 years ago. It seems like yesterday and many thought it was a milestone. 6 years ago...

[New World Explorer]

14 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Just to add some perspective to the timeframe. Russia banned Jehovah's Witnesses over 6 years ago. It seems like yesterday and many thought it was a milestone. 6 years ago...

You know.. year after year passes so quickly.

If someone told me the end is coming in 6 years. Instead of complaining..oh...so long to wait.

I would be jumping from joy and ..shouting ..Finally! 

6 years in this system is fast. (at least that's how I perceive time passing) 

 

That's me below...trying to keep up with heavenly chariot! things are developing so quickly right now.

 

[GeordieGirl]

6 hours ago, Allabord4Jah said:

In Germany, just yesterday August 7, 2023, a town was hit by a violent out of nowhere storm.  Every corner, alley, street, road and hwy in and out, plus trees snapping and coming crashing down. The hail so intense, it was approximately 16 inches deep and the emergency crews couldn't make it across the streets or alleys and other parts to clean it up.  A few did, they were outside in shorts shoveling out the hail piled up to their tires and doors of vehicles and their doorsteps.  

 

I have also noticed the changing weather in many places.

 

I consulted Herr Google about Germany and found this short article from the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/weather/2023/aug/07/weather-tracker-german-city-reutlingen-hail-freak-summer-storm

 

As well as the few places commented on in that article, being an ex-pat from England and having a brother living in South Wales, I keep an eye on what is going on over there and they have been having some unseasonal weather along with the high temperatures.

 

Meanwhile, here in WA, things carry on as normal weatherwise at this time - though, having said that, I have noticed that a lot of my outside plants have been putting on new growth right through Winter when they should be dormant. 🤔

 

[Tortuga]

42 minutes ago, New World Explorer said:

You know.. year after year passes so quickly

Just to add some perspective on how quickly 10 years can pass. On October 7th, 2023 it will be 10 years since the JW Library app was released. Time flies...

[Dhanyel]

But imagine the year 2033 imagine how the world will be, then I'm thinking about the generation issue again 😄

[bagwell1987]

Yes it does, it's August brothers, AUGUST! Where did May go?

I'm happy/not happy at how fast it goes because I get older, and no one told/warned me about the whole age thing! 

I see myself through the camera on my Ring doorbell as I walk to my truck, I think 'who in heaven's name is that old lady on my walkway?'

 

**Note to self, "don't hunch over no matter how bad your back hurts'. 

 

Seriously  I'm ok with time flying. Kinda weird experience but it makes sense to me.

In 1985 I was pregnant with my son, I was due end of June. It's was a hot summer, much like this year, hot since last of spring. So by July when he hadn't come I was miserable. It was 100plus. No air conditioning,  on a mink farm with tons of black flies, an active bored 4 year old daughter. And I waited, 1 week....2 weeks....3 weeks....he was labeled the child that wouldn't be born.

Finally on July 21st I went into labor. I was so big the monitor wouldn't strap on, I have pictures of giant safety pins holding it on. I begged for it to be taken off as it was so tight. Then finally on the 24th, with 2 nurses helping me push he came. 10 pounds and near 25 inches long. (Baby size 2!) VERY late, his skin was covered in a mucus layer, normal for a late birth.

This experience taught me when I was told soon I had no choice. I waited. I cried. I got impatient. I moped. I did the nesting thing.

 

For today I'll cry for rescue, I'll go in service and associate and go to meetings, get mad that it's not here yet now I'm boxing up all unnecessary things I really don't need. In conclusion I'm nesting. I'm nesting folks.......get ready the birth is about to happen!!! 😇

[JennyM]

3 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Just to add some perspective to the timeframe. Russia banned Jehovah's Witnesses over 6 years ago. It seems like yesterday and many thought it was a milestone. 6 years ago...

It is a milestone. And covid has been unprecedented. 

The intensity of hardship has increased.Energy crisis , inflation and now global food shortage. 

 

We have been already prepared for GT. and Jehovah's people are ready for it. Unlike the world, theyre not ready on  whats coming. 

 

Anyday now it will come. I trust the Governing Body. I have no doubt on them .We are living in the last of the last days. 

 

 

 

 

[ChrisW]

And the world just keeps getting crazier.

 

Kim Jong Un fires top general, orders North Korean military to ‘gird for war’

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/10/asia/north-korea-top-general-replaced-intl-hnk-ml

[Tortuga]

10 minutes ago, JennyM said:

Anyday now it will come. I trust the Governing Body. I have no doubt on them .We are living in the last of the last days. 

So true. 10 years ago there were several WT articles that said the end was imminent. Now, 10 years later we are 10 years closer.

[jps]

1 hour ago, Tortuga said:

So true. 10 years ago there were several WT articles that said the end was imminent. Now, 10 years later we are 10 years closer.

true

but these are the last remaining days of the last days

 

we have never been this close before 

(😄)

[IceBreeze]

2 hours ago, JennyM said:

...I trust the Governing Body. I have no doubt on them .We are living in the last of the last days...

That is a positive thought @JennyM! 😁