Watchtower – Wrong again on basic Bible Facts:

Once again Watchtower is using its standard way of keeping its members under control with fear and propaganda. Take for example this latest study Watchtower article of January 2022 – “Those Seeking Jehovah Will Lack Nothing Good” it’s full of so much wrong teaching it would take hours to debunk it all but one thing is very clear, it’s designed to keep its members in a state of fear and expectation. Take paragraph 13 for example shown below. (Watchtower online link)

To prove all of this is just made up fear-mongering would be pointless as most witnesses will simply refuse to accept an alternative explanation. So to keep things simple and to show just how wrong Watchtower really is let’s just look at some basic points that by now Watchtower should have learned.

They have had over 120 years to get the basics right, they claim to have the best Bible translation so must have the best Hebrew and Greek scholars, however in spite of that they have not even got the basics correct. Go back and have a look at the picture above showing Jesus with his angels. Do you see a problem? Perhaps if you are a witness you don’t see it, so let’s make it clear the picture above shows the angels having “wings”. The problem is clear to anybody that has read the Bible. The Bible never says that angels have wings.

Let’s explain and prove that point using the original Hebrew language and the help of another wrong Watchtower. study edition June 2021 article “With Jehovah, You Are Never Alone” paragraph 3. (Watchtower online link)

In this article, they quote 1 Kings 19:5 (WATCHTOWER, New World Translation 2013.)

 Then he (Elijah) lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree. But suddenly an angel touched him and said to him: “Get up and eat.” bold ours

The word for angel in this verse is malʾāk in Hebrew or angelos in Greek that’s where we get our English word angel from
This is what a good Bible Lexicon (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament) has to say in part about the meaning.

keeping it simple the word malʾāk , “angel” is reffering only to the role they have such as messenger these may be of human origin or heavenly, but never with the added definition of having wings.

If you just go back 3 verses in your Bible to 1 Kings 19:2 (WATCHTOWER, New World Translation 2013). We get this example

 At that Jezʹebel sent a messenger to Eliʹjah, saying: “So may the gods do to me and add to it if by this time tomorrow I do not make you like each one of them!” bold ours

The word for messenger here is exactly the same word in Hebrew “malʾāk”. So should we assume that Jezebel too had the power to send a winged angel to kill Elijah? I don’t think so.

As stated before the Bible never says malʾāk “angels” have wings.
You may be thinking at this point that’s just not true the bible talks about cherubim and seraphim having wings in Exodus and Isaiah. Yes, it does but they are not malʾāk “angels” rather another type of heavenly being. See below for a brief explanation from a real Hebrew scholar.

“cherubim and seraphim are divine creatures. Both are said to have wings, though the number varies (Exod 25:20; 37:9; Isa 6:2). Cherubim are at times assigned four faces and both human and bovine body parts (Ezek 1; 10). Seraphim is the plural form of śārāp̱, a Hebrew word also translated “snake” (Num 21:6, 8; Isa 14:29). These descriptions are reflected in iconography from the biblical period. Neither is ever qualified with the term malʾāk, and so it is incorrect to think of cherubim and seraphim as angels.”” HEISER, MICHAEL S., Angels: What the Bible Really Says about God’s Heavenly Host (Bellingham, WA 2018) 25-26.

Do cherubim and seraphim ever come to earth to give messages to humans? No never. See Heiser below

“the terms malʾākı̂m (“angel”), keruḇı̂m (“cherubim”), and śerāp̱ı̂m (“seraphim”) are not interchangeable. They are, in effect, job descriptions performed by different spirit beings. In biblical literature, cherubim and seraphim are never sent to people to deliver messages. That task belongs to angels. Cherubim and seraphim are heavenly throne guardians, a role that at times brings them into contact with humans, but they are not sent to earth to instruct people. Conversely, angels are found in the divine presence as well. Old and New Testament writers place them there. Rather, the terminology distinguishes roles. HEISER, MICHAEL S., Angels: What the Bible Really Says about God’s Heavenly Host (Bellingham, WA 2018) 164.

Conclusion:

Every time the Bible uses the word malʾāk or malʾākı̂m (plural) it never has the idea of creatures with wings and yet Watchtower continually draw images showing they have wings.
After 120 years of professing to be speaking on God’s behalf as the only channel of truth, you would expect by now that they would have the basics correct.
As it is clear they do not, I put it to them that they have no scholarly understanding of Hebrew or Greek making their bible translation invalid and their bible exposition, theology, and teaching to be questionable at best and just plain wrong most of the time.

With this clearly in mind, how can we now trust any teaching they have about the future for this world.
I encourage all Jehovah’s Witnesses to stop listening to their errors, propaganda, and brainwashing rhetoric. Please wake up stop worrying about a cataclysmic future they predict. Start to learn what the Bible really has to say about the future. Start here

If you think this article is in error specifically (Watchtower, Elders, or Governing Body) Then prove it, email truth@thejw.org with your evidence.

More Evidence if you need it:

More examples of Watchtower errors angels with wings.

See this online video for some more great information. Is There Proof That the Holy Spirit has Left JW.org?

Why do people think angels have wings?

With respect to the New Testament, the primary appeal to angels having wings comes from Revelation 10:1:

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.

The argument goes: the passage never mentions wings, but because the angel “comes down from heaven,” he must have wings. The same argument (and omission of any reference to wings) is characteristic of Revelation 14:6, 17, where angels emerge from the heavenly temple and altar, respectively (cf. Matt 28:2).
The flaw in this argument is its dependence on descent language. It is not difficult to demonstrate its terminal weakness. Are we to conclude that Jesus has wings? After all, he descends from heaven (1 Thess 4:16). Does the Holy Spirit have wings? He descends on Jesus at his baptism (Matt 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22). The point with both examples is that for supernatural beings, descent from heaven does not require wings. The point may be a floating descent, or an urgent one, depending on the context. It may also be figurative language designed purely to denote point of origin—God’s abode. For example, the same language is used of Jesus’ first coming, which we know was by virtue of being born of Mary, having nothing to do with wings: “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). It is quite evident that descent language for divine figures does not require wings and so provides no support for angels having wings. HEISER, MICHAEL S., Angels: What the Bible Really Says about God’s Heavenly Host (Bellingham, WA 2018) 166-167.