He says we can buy from Him, therefore He sells to us, and therefore we sell to others in service to Him. (Heb 13:15) If the wild beast says you must adopt the images 666 to serve God in your church, you would have to make a choice, wouldn't you? The choice would be to flee spiritual Jerusalem when you see it surrounded like this. All that matters is: What did Christ mean by buying and selling in Revelation? The speaker must define their own words. If Jesus establishes what buying and selling is then applying our own understanding is wrong. Remember, he spoke in metaphor. It seems clear to me He established what it meant in Rev 3:18. Hence why the merchants mourn when BTG goes down. The merchants are priests. Joshua
Below is an interesting comment [in red] from a witness about a statement in the latest WT study article [in blue] from the JW kosher forum: jwtalk dot net/topic/51976-peace-and-security-great-tribulation-armageddon/page/245/ w24 May pg 8 par 2 "We can be certain that by the time the great tribulation starts we will know all we need to know in order to endure faithfully and even prosper during that challenging period". "So, maybe we won't be hiding in the basement or attic? Maybe our unity and courage will put the world on notice that Jehovah is the True God and no weapon formed against us will have any success. I will keep on the watch for more hints from the GB that we will prosper during the GT." I am sure Jesus would agree, for He said about the great tribulation, which is to happen immediately before His return, that people would be 'eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be.' Mat 24:38,39 It looks like JWs will indeed prosper during the great tribulation on 'Christendom,' when they will be handing the 'apostates' over to the 'new system' authorities to be put to death, perhaps even receiving rewards for doing their 'sacred service' to Jehovah, as intimated by Jesus. Mat 10:21,22; Joh 16:1,2 Now, of course, JWs deny that the flood wiping out the world in its day was meant as a type for the return of Christ in our near future - directly contradicting His word - because Christ's presence in 1914 obviously did not wipe out the world of a century ago; but that is another subject. Harry
It would indeed be a tribulation for God's people if things did not occur as they imagined. If instead of governments coming against Christendom, they instead come against the WT, those within will have to decide who they truly worship. Joshua
If past performance is any indication about future developments, the Fateful Slave will again sell the sheep to the slaughter, like they did when urging complicity in genocide in Jehovah's Name under the guise of keeping them in the 'land of the living.' Harry
Hence the 666... As you know, I believe Jesus defines buying and selling as service to Him in Rev 3:18. I also believe the deathstroke is not the abyssing and that beast is already here, in the form of the UN. The Vatican is the woman, healed head riding the beast; BTG. 666 represents apostasy throughout Scripture, and only the faithful can apostate. When the beast sets up a religious equity agenda, the WT will adopt it and demand the rank and file to support this agenda and preach support of it to others, receiving the mark while buying and selling in service of the Lord. If they do not support the image, they will be DF. In fulfillment of Ezekiel's brick, the WT will eventually go down completely, no longer existing. At that point, God's people will be spread throughout the world and BTG. They will no longer exist when the beast goes into the abyss. The two witnesses call for rebuilding the true spiritual temple of God, and it is this newly gathered collective of Christ's remaining brothers that is attacked when the DT is placed. Joshua