The 2025 public version of the Watchtower, now published only once a year, focuses on the impact of war. An article is titled “How War and Violent Conflict Affect Us All” was recently posted as a banner article on JW.org, no doubt because of the Israeli-US attack on Iran. Naturally, they quote from a UN official, who said:
The world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War and 2 billion people—a quarter of humanity—live in places affected by such conflict.” – United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, January 26, 2023.
It is true, we are hearing of wars and reports of wars. The 2025 WT was obviously published before the most recent war in the Middle East. Even so, have you personally been affected? Gasoline costs more. Food costs may increase, but we experienced that during the phony pandemic lockdowns.
It is noteworthy that the UN’s Deputy Secretary-General specifically said that a quarter of humanity has been affected by conflicts. It is noteworthy because Revelation states that the horsemen of the Apocalypse have authority “over a fourth part of the earth.” Except that the foretold war, famine, and pestilence do not simply affect a quarter of the earth. The prophecy states that the riders are given authority “to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
In the event that the seals of the apocalyptic scroll are undone now, it would result in the deaths of over 2 billion people. That ghastly death toll is unimaginable—especially for Jehovah’s Witnesses since they are laboring under the delusion that the four horsemen began their deadly gallop through the earth in 1914. As I have written previously, here, if we were to add all of the deaths from the First World War and take the high end of the estimates of the death toll from the Spanish Influenza, the liberal figure is 100,000,000. According to AI, the world’s population in 1920 was 1.8 billion. That means the combined deaths from WWI and the Spanish Flu are a little over 5%—nowhere near a fourth of mankind living at that time.
The question we must face is whether the Revelation is just hyperbole or if it is intended to provide an approximate death toll for the ravages of war, famine, and deadly plague. Since nothing else the Watchtower teaches regarding 1914 adds up, we must face the facts: The world is lurching towards the Apocalypse.
If there is any good news and comfort to be had, we are informed that the Grave is following the last horseman, the pale horse named Death. That means that the “quarter of humanity” that is destined to perish will receive a resurrection. That is important to note since those who survive the crash of civilization will be brought into judgment during the “hour of test” coming upon the world. Those who will pledge their allegiance to the revived beast or its image will not have their names written in God’s book of life—meaning permanent death.
Click image to enlarge