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Why We Have Not Been Told “That Day and Hour”The Watchtower—1975 | May 1
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The general time period is clearly marked in God’s Word. The “generation” that Jesus foretold would see not only the events of the year 1914 but also the “great tribulation” is now well up in years. That adds a note of urgency to the situation and should move us to consider carefully whether we personally are really living in full recognition of the fact that God’s “day and hour” for judgment are at hand.
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How Are You Affected by Not Knowing the “Day and Hour”?The Watchtower—1975 | May 1
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How Are You Affected by Not Knowing the “Day and Hour”?
1. What does God’s dominant quality have to do with his not revealing the “day and hour” for the “great tribulation” to start?
JEHOVAH GOD has had a purpose in not revealing the “day and hour” for the “great tribulation” to begin its wrecking work upon the present system of things. That purpose is closely linked with God’s dominant quality—love. (1 John 4:8) Being a God of love, he wants as his servants only those who really do love him deeply. (Ps. 119:97; 1 John 5:3) It is not his desire to have intelligent creatures cringe before him in terror, serving because they are in dread of punishments that he might bring upon them. His dealings with people have always been such as to invite their love while, at the same time, allowing them to show what is really in their hearts.
2. How has Jehovah demonstrated his love for imperfect humans?
2 Expressing great undeserved kindness, Jehovah has permitted even thankless, unappreciative humans to benefit from the natural cycles that he put into operation to make life on earth possible. (Acts 14:16, 17; 17:24, 25) Then, too, over a period of sixteen centuries, he inspired some forty men to produce a written record that makes known just what kind of God he is and what he requires of those whom he approves. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) That record, contained in the Bible, provides sound guidelines that make it possible for us to get the very best from life even now despite problems and difficult circumstances. (Ps. 19:7-11) It also acquaints us with the extraordinary love that God displayed when he gave his only-begotten Son to lay down his life in our behalf. This opened up to mankind the opportunity to gain an approved relationship with the only true God and made possible the prospect of life free from sickness, the weakness of old age, and death.—John 3:16; Titus 3:4-7; Rev. 21:3, 4.
3. Why is Jehovah’s bringing the “great tribulation” not inconsistent with his being a God of love?
3 But how can it be that such a God would also bring a tribulation that will be fear-inspiring in its destructiveness to humankind? Really, his being a God of love demands that he do so. This may sound strange to many people today. It also sounded strange to many Israelites when, some twenty-seven centuries ago, the Hebrew prophet Micah announced that Jehovah would bring calamity upon the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel and the two-tribe kingdom of Judah. In unbelief, they asked, “Has the spirit of Jehovah become discontented, or are these his dealings?” Jehovah’s answer to this was, “Do not my own words do good in the case of the one walking
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