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“Look! I Am With You All the Days”The Watchtower—2013 | July 15
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10 First, collecting the weeds. Jesus says: “In the harvest season I will tell the reapers, First collect the weeds and bind them in bundles.” After 1914, the angels began to “collect” weedlike Christians by separating them from the anointed “sons of the kingdom.”—Matt. 13:30, 38, 41.
11. Till this day, what has set true Christians apart from imitation Christians?
11 As the collecting work progressed, the distinction between the two groups became ever clearer. (Rev. 18:1, 4) By 1919, it became evident that Babylon the Great had fallen. What especially set true Christians apart from imitation ones? The preaching work.
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“Look! I Am With You All the Days”The Watchtower—2013 | July 15
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13. What does Revelation 18:7 reveal about the present attitude of the harlot, or Babylon the Great, including Christendom?
13 Third, weeping and gnashing. After the angels bundle the weeds, what happens? Speaking about the condition of the weed class, Jesus states: “There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.” (Matt. 13:42) Is that happening right now? No. Today, Christendom, as part of the harlot, still says about herself: “I sit a queen, and I am no widow, and I shall never see mourning.” (Rev. 18:7) Indeed, Christendom feels very much in charge, even presuming to ‘sit as a queen’ atop the class of political leaders. Presently, those represented by the weeds are boasting, not weeping. But that is about to change.
14. (a) When and why will imitation Christians ‘gnash their teeth’? (b) How does our adjusted understanding of Matthew 13:42 harmonize with the thought expressed at Psalm 112:10? (See endnote.)
14 During the great tribulation, after all organized false religion has been destroyed, former adherents will run for cover but will find no secure place to hide. (Luke 23:30; Rev. 6:15-17) Then, realizing that there is no escape from destruction, they will weep in desperation and ‘gnash their teeth’ in anger. As Jesus foretells in his prophecy about the great tribulation, at that dark moment, they “will beat themselves in lamentation.”e—Matt. 24:30; Rev. 1:7.
15. What will happen to the weeds, and when will that event occur?
15 Fourth, pitched into the furnace. What will happen to the bundles of weeds? The angels “will pitch them into the fiery furnace.” (Matt. 13:42) That means complete destruction. Hence, those former adherents of false religious organizations will be destroyed during the final part of the great tribulation, Armageddon.—Mal. 4:1.
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“Look! I Am With You All the Days”The Watchtower—2013 | July 15
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e Paragraph 14: This is an adjustment to our understanding of Matthew 13:42. Previously, our publications stated that imitation Christians have been ‘weeping and gnashing their teeth’ for decades, bewailing that “the sons of the kingdom” expose them for what they are—“sons of the wicked one.” (Matt. 13:38) It should be noted, however, that the idea of the gnashing of teeth is connected to destruction.—Ps. 112:10.
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