They will bow down to you

At Revelation 3:9 Jesus said: “Look! I will give those from the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews, and yet they are not but are lying—look! I will make them come and do obeisance before your feet and make them know I have loved you.”

Who are those whom Jesus depicts as belonging to “the synagogue of Satan”? The Society says that they are simply Jews that become Christians. In the 11th paragraph we read: “Perhaps, as in Smyrna, the congregation has had problems with the local Jews. Jesus designates these as “the synagogue of Satan.” Nevertheless, at least some of those Jews are about to realize that what the Christians have been preaching about Jesus is the truth. Their ‘doing obeisance’ will likely be in the manner described by Paul at 1 Corinthians 14:24, 25, so that they actually repent and become Christians, fully appreciating Jesus’ great love in surrendering even his soul in behalf of his disciples.”

The Watchtower’s explanation makes absolutely no sense. Nowhere does Jesus say that those who fraudulently claim to be Jews are forced to do obeisance to the Philadelphian Christians by actually become converts. Why would Jesus force Satan’s agents to become Christians?

Secondly, the Society offers no explanation of what it means to falsely claim to be a Jew. Why would anyone try to pass themselves off as Jewish if they were not actually Jews?

Those who falsely claim to be Jews must claim to be spiritual Jews – that is to say, they lyingly claim to be anointed and participants in the new covenant. Like the symbolic weeds in Jesus’ harvest illustration that were over-sown by the enemy Devil, and like the evil and sluggish slaves that are thrown out of the master’s service, those of the synagogue of Satan must represent the agents of the Devil operating within Christ’s congregation at the moment the master arrives. They will cringingly do obeisance by being forced to recognize the true sons of God when the revealing of the sons of God takes place. That is where the weeping and gnashing of their teeth will occur.

Furthermore, the nations that offer themselves to the sons of God do so after Jehovah repurchases his people from the nations. That is destined to occur during the tribulation – not before.