Ann O'Maly

Here are few more, Ann.
KINGDOM MINISTRY 11/90 p. 1 -  Directing Bible Students to Jehovah’s Organization:
"Bible students need to get acquainted with the organization of the “one flock” Jesus spoke about at John 10:16. They must appreciate that identifying themselves with Jehovah’s organization is essential to their salvation. (Rev. 7:9, 10, 15) Therefore, we should start directing our Bible students to the organization as soon as a Bible study is established."

WT981/11/15 p. 212  “Come to Jehovah’s organization for salvation” 

MAKE SURE OF ALL THINGS, pg 323 – Righteous flee to God’s Mountain-like Organization”

Isa 57:13 – “When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!  The wind will carry all of them off, a breath will take them away.  But whoever takes refuge in Me will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.”


 

 

Nope. Watchtower's own comments that contradict your claim.
In short, nothing to do with your statement about being saved by works of law and the apostle Paul's rebuttal to that idea.

Didn't you read the quotes? What did I twist and manipulate? The quotes are verbatim and properly referenced so that anyone can check the wider context for themselves. They are what they are. Too bad if you don't like it.
 
What has that to do with your statement about being saved by works of law and the apostle Paul's rebuttal to that idea (my Gal. quote and your Eph. reference)? 

Never?
*** w93 9/15 p. 22 They Compassionately Shepherd the Little Sheep ***
But if we were to draw away from Jehovah’s organization, there would be no place else to go for salvation and true joy. (Compare John 6:66-69.) 
*** w89 9/1 p. 19 par. 7 Remaining Organized for Survival Into the Millennium ***
Only Jehovah’s Witnesses, those of the anointed remnant and the “great crowd,” as a united organization under the protection of the Supreme Organizer, have any Scriptural hope of surviving the impending end of this doomed system dominated by Satan the Devil. (Revelation 7:9-17; 2 Corinthians 4:4)
*** w85 3/1 p. 22 par. 21 Jehovah ‘Speeds It Up’ ***
Let us point all homing “doves” to the way of “salvation” behind the protective walls of Jehovah’s organization and increase “praise” to him at its gates. 
*** w81 11/15 p. 21 par. 18 ‘Stay Awake and Keep Your Senses’ ***
And while now the witness yet includes the invitation to come to Jehovah’s organization for salvation, the time no doubt will come when the message takes on a harder tone, like a “great war cry.”
*** w67 8/15 p. 499 par. 4 The Way to Security ***
So the visible congregation of God’s people has something to do with the provision of salvation today. Indeed, it has an important place in that provision. Every congregation forms a small part of God’s people. We cannot remain outside the organization of God’s people, separated from it, if we want to have Jehovah’s protection.
*** w67 8/15 p. 503 par. 19 The Way to Security ***
If we want to assure our everlasting salvation, we must stay within the bounds of Jehovah God’s loving provision associated with his visible organization, presided over by his High Priest. 
 
 

Nope. Watchtower's own comments that contradict your claim.
In short, nothing to do with your statement about being saved by works of law and the apostle Paul's rebuttal to that idea.

Another's? It was his own religion Jesus was criticizing. 

Didn't you read the quotes? What did I twist and manipulate? The quotes are verbatim and properly referenced so that anyone can check the wider context for themselves. They are what they are. Too bad if you don't like it.
 
What has that to do with your statement about being saved by works of law and the apostle Paul's rebuttal to that idea (my Gal. quote and your Eph. reference)? 

Thanks for those quote, Ann.  
It's also certainly implied in the November 15, 2013 wt:
[w13 11/15 p.20 Study Edition] At that time, the lifesaving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.
In the simplified edition, the WTS directions are to be followed even if they sound strange or unusual, and even if JWs don't agree with them:
[w13 11/15 p.20 Simplified Edition] At that time, the direction that you receive from Jehovah’s organization may seem strange or unusual. But all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether we agree with them or not, because obeying these instructions will save our lives.

Never?
*** w93 9/15 p. 22 They Compassionately Shepherd the Little Sheep ***
But if we were to draw away from Jehovah’s organization, there would be no place else to go for salvation and true joy. (Compare John 6:66-69.) 
*** w89 9/1 p. 19 par. 7 Remaining Organized for Survival Into the Millennium ***
Only Jehovah’s Witnesses, those of the anointed remnant and the “great crowd,” as a united organization under the protection of the Supreme Organizer, have any Scriptural hope of surviving the impending end of this doomed system dominated by Satan the Devil. (Revelation 7:9-17; 2 Corinthians 4:4)
*** w85 3/1 p. 22 par. 21 Jehovah ‘Speeds It Up’ ***
Let us point all homing “doves” to the way of “salvation” behind the protective walls of Jehovah’s organization and increase “praise” to him at its gates. 
*** w81 11/15 p. 21 par. 18 ‘Stay Awake and Keep Your Senses’ ***
And while now the witness yet includes the invitation to come to Jehovah’s organization for salvation, the time no doubt will come when the message takes on a harder tone, like a “great war cry.”
*** w67 8/15 p. 499 par. 4 The Way to Security ***
So the visible congregation of God’s people has something to do with the provision of salvation today. Indeed, it has an important place in that provision. Every congregation forms a small part of God’s people. We cannot remain outside the organization of God’s people, separated from it, if we want to have Jehovah’s protection.
*** w67 8/15 p. 503 par. 19 The Way to Security ***
If we want to assure our everlasting salvation, we must stay within the bounds of Jehovah God’s loving provision associated with his visible organization, presided over by his High Priest. 
 
 

*Sigh* I see you've completely missed the point of Jesus and the Christian gospel.
If salvation was incumbent to following God's laws and commandments, the biblical 'true religion' would still be Judaism and everyone would still be doomed.
Galatians 3:10-14New Living Translation (NLT)
10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”[a] 11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”[b] 12 This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”[c]
13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”[d] 14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised[e] Holy Spirit through faith.
biblegateway.com

Really? *Runs off to look* Holy blunders! You're right! 
I think so too. It was poorly worded. It would have been better phrased, "The 2,520 years began in October 607 B.C.E., when  after Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians and the Davidic king was taken off his throne."
Or better yet, insert the real year (587 B.C.E.) ... and delete the '2,520 year' part. But that's another discussion. 
The October thing is to do with Gedaliah's assassination in the 7th month (September/October) and when the remaining Jews fled to Egypt. Russell and Barbour maintained right from the beginning that the '70 years' related to the period when the land was 'desolate, without an inhabitant' and that only happened, according to their interpretation, once the remnant Jews fled to Egypt.
Of course, as we know, Jeremiah's '70 years' related to the nations' servitude to Babylon which began long before Jerusalem's destruction. Not only that, but according to Ezekiel, there were still people living in Jerusalem's ruins in December:
Ezekiel 33:21 - At length in the 12th year, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month of our exile, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said: “The city has been struck down!”
Ezekiel 33:23-29 - Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying: 24 “Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins are saying concerning the land of Israel, ‘Abraham was just one man, and yet he took possession of the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
25 “Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “You are eating food with the blood, and you lift up your eyes to your disgusting idols, and you keep shedding blood. So why should you possess the land? 26 You have relied on your sword, you engage in detestable practices, and each of you has defiled his neighbor’s wife. So why should you possess the land?”’
27 “This is what you should say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “As surely as I am alive, those living in the ruins will fall by the sword; those in the open field, I will give as food to the wild beasts; and those in the strongholds and the caves will die by disease. 28 I will make the land an utterly desolate wasteland, and its arrogant pride will be brought to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be desolated, with no one passing through. 29 And they will have to know that I am Jehovah when I make the land an utterly desolate wasteland because of all the detestable things that they have done.”’
 

At this point it only shows that some modern translators of Romans 10:9 thought that Jesus is Jehovah. Romans 10:9 does not say the equivalent of haAdohn (THE Lord) in the Greek text. I am bringing these up to show that it is a mistake to rely on the "J Docs" (Hebrew versions) without recognizing what they are. They were produced for missionary purposes. In other words, they were produced for teaching the concept that the NT and OT could be connected in a way that Jewish readers should be able to see more clearly if the terms for Lord and God were replaced with "YHWH" or "the Name" or "Jehovah" etc.
When early missionaries went to the Native American tribes ("Indians") many of them in the 1600's and 1700's also had the concept that they would more easily understand the concept of the Lord Jesus of the NT being the same as the Lord Jehovah.of the OT. In fact, America was still seen as a "Promised Land" with native Americans thought of as related to the "lost tribes of Israel." This was not just a Mormon concept, but was also believed by many of the Puritans (pilgrims) who landed on Plymouth Rock. It's not surprising then that early native American translations also added in the term "Jehovah" to the NT. Note:
Choctaw version translated in 1949 by Cyrus Byington, a missionary from Massachusetts, says at John 20:28:
Chan [John] 20:28 Toma [Thomas] said to him "My Lord and My Chihowa! [Jehowa]"
A Mohawk translation says the following in John 1:1: 
"The Logos was with Yehovah. In fact, the Logos was Yehovah."
 

The WTS has two opposing views on the Bible’s reliability.

While on the one hand they maintain that the Bible manuscripts have unquestionably come down to us exactly as God had inspired them to be written; on the other hand they say the NT manuscripts have been tampered with in “one of the saddest and most reprehensible” ways, by removing “Jehovah” from them……which might make them wonder what other parts were tampered with. 

Bible reliability:
 
  Awake, 6/11/1972: Almighty God himself has unquestionably had a hand in seeing that his Word has been preserved so faithfully all these years. Any way one looks at it, the overall reliability of the Bible text is beyond question.

Road to Paradise tract, pg. 3: HAS NOT THE HOLY BIBLE BEEN TAMPERED WITH? Almighty God could by no means allow such a thing……... When our present-day Bible is compared with such old manuscripts, it becomes quite clear that the text we have today is the same as that which God inspired his ancient servants to write.

Insight-1 p.321: Copies—Hebrew or Greek—Soon after the originals were written, manuscript copies began to be produced. The copyists exercised great care to transmit the text accurately; the Masoretes counted even the letters that they copied. 

Insight-1 p.448: The available evidence convincingly demonstrates the remarkable accuracy and care that distinguished the copying of the Bible books, resulting in the preservation of their internal integrity. 

Insight-2 p.313: What assurance is there that the Bible has not been changed? Despite the care exercised by copyists of Bible manuscripts, a number of small scribal errors and alterations crept into the text. On the whole, these are insignificant and have no bearing on the Bible’s general integrity. They have been detected and corrected by means of careful scholastic collation or critical comparison of the many extant manuscripts and ancient versions. NWT introduction: Since the Bible sets for the sacred will of the Sovereign Lord of the universe, it would be a great indignity, indeed an affront to his majesty and authority, to omit or hide his unique divine name.

Bible tampered with:
 
  Close to Jehovah, p.8: God’s personal name has been removed from countless Bible translations and replaced with titles, such as “Lord” and “God”. This is one of the saddest and most reprehensible things that has been done in the name of religion.

Insight-2 p.10: Why, then, is the name absent from the extant manuscripts of the Christian Greek Scriptures or so-called New Testament? Evidently because by the time those extant copies were made (from the third century C.E. onward) the original text of the writings of the apostles and disciples had been altered. Thus later copyists undoubtedly replaced the divine name in Tetragrammaton form with Ky′ri·os and The·os′. 

Insight-1 p.324: Eventually, in most translations of the Bible the divine name was completely replaced by expressions such as “Lord” and “God.” It is noteworthy that only the most vital name of all—Jehovah—was tampered with; other Bible names were not.

Watchtower 10/1/1997 p.20: Show discernment in the selection of the Bible you use. (Proverbs 19:8) If a translation is not honest about the identity of God himself—removing his name from his inspired Word on whatever pretext—might the translators also have tampered with other parts of the Bible text?

I have a question I was hoping someone here could answer. I know JW's say that Jewish scribes removed the name of God from the Greek New Testament manuscripts, but I have not seen any documented evidence from reputable scholars to substantiate that claim. In fact, today I was reading through the Watchtower edition #4 under the section titled "The Bible Survived Attempts to Alter Its Message" and I found an interesting quote there. Basically, it makes the argument that due to the strict standard involved in copying the manuscripts, the sheer volume of Greek manuscripts available, and the availability of early manuscripts as early as the second century, we can be confident that the Greek manuscripts read nearly exactly as the originals.
So, if that is true, and I agree it is, how can the claim be made on one hand that the Bible has been accurately transmitted through the centuries, and on the other hand say that Jewish scholars took the name of God out of all 27 books of the New Testament? Either one believes the integrity of the Bible has been preserved through the centuries, or one doesn't. If the name of God has truly been omitted, how can we trust many other things haven't been omitted or changed?
Below is the quote from the Watchtower article.i would be interested to see the sources from credible scholars that show evidence that the name of God has been omitted.
______
A member of the editorial team of the Dead Sea Scrolls concluded that one scroll “provides irrefutable proof that the transmission of the biblical text through a period of more than one thousand years by the hands of Jewish copyists has been extremely faithful and careful.”
The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Ireland, features a collection of papyri that represents nearly every book of the Christian Greek Scriptures, including manuscripts dating from the second century C.E.—only about 100 years after the Bible was completed. “Although the Papyri supply a wealth of new information on textual detail,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary observes, “they also demonstrate remarkable stability in the transmission history of the biblical text.”
“It may be safely said that no other work of antiquity has been so accurately transmitted”
THE RESULT: Rather than corrupting the Bible text, the age and multitude of Bible manuscripts have actually improved it. “No other ancient book has anything like such early and plentiful testimony to its text,” wrote Sir Frederic Kenyon about the Christian Greek Scriptures, “and no unbiased scholar would deny that the text that has come down to us is substantially sound.” And regarding the Hebrew Scriptures, scholar William Henry Green stated: *****“It may be safely said that no other work of antiquity has been so accurately transmitted.”*****
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2016247
Originally asked in here

There is a lot of readily available research on this topic already online. As I began to join in, I also realized that I might be repeating information that has already come up in other questions and topics on this forum.
I'll start with the J docs that I arbitrarily assigned to Category #4. ,
The J Docs initially referred to about 19 different Hebrew translations (from Greek to "modern" Hebrew) numbered J1, J2, J3, etc, up to J19. A few more have now been added to the 1985 Reference NWT, but these include even more modern non-Hebrew translations that use a form of "Jehovah" in the NT.
From the standpoint of how the Greek Scriptures (NT) should be translated into English (or any other language) the "J Docs" are meaningless. I think that several of us have misinterpreted their importance. These have nothing to do with what the ancient Greek texts said or meant. They are not old texts from the viewpoint of the Scriptures. They are "modern" texts. (J2 is the oldest from about 100 years before Columbus and the next oldest J7 is from about 100 years after Columbus. The rest are mostly from the 1800s through the late 1900's).
They are modern Hebrew translations of the New Testament. They were sometimes simply the work of biased Trinitarian missionaries who wanted to create a Christian ministry to Jewish speakers of Hebrew. They added the divine name in the places in the NT where they thought these verses should show a direct connection between the God/Lord of the OT and the God/Lord of the NT. They referred to God as YHWH even in cases where the NT was not quoting the OT. The problem is that the Trinitarian bias allowed these "translators" to pick several cases where even Jesus as Lord is directly connected to Jehovah as Lord.
Note this information about J18.  The 1969 edition of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation says:
Our old NWT Bibles (1950, 1951, 1963) used to include a statement about them altogether like this:
All together, the appearances of the sacred Tetragrammaton in the 19 Hebrew versions to which we have had access total up to 307 distinct occurrences."
But we didn't count all of the "distinct occurrences." There are over 100 additional distinct occurrences that we didn't count because we couldn't use them. Just a few examples will show why. This has already been started on other sites that I copy from below. They include HollyW's examples:
1 Corinth. 12:3 in J14
"...no one can say "Jesus is Lord (יהוה), except by the Holy Spirit."
1 Thess. 4:16,17 in J7,8,13,14,24
2 Timothy 1:18 in J7,8,13,14,16,17,18,22,23,24
Hebrews 1:10 in J8 in which Jehovah addresses the Son using the Divine Name.
1 Peter 2:3 in J13, J14
1 Peter 3:15 in J7
J20 (Concordance to the Greek Testament) cites יהוה at both 1 Peter 2:3 and 1 Peter 3:15.
Revelation 16:5 in J7,8,13,14,16
Romans 10:9 in J12-14, 16-18, 22
Acts 26:14,15 in J17,J18
"'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' But I said, 'Who are you Lord?" And the Lord (haAdohn - Jehovah God) said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.'"
[Several places in the J Docs even name the Holy Spirit as YHWH.]
 

Let's take a look at the Bible evidence Russell had been saying would prove him right about the end of the Gentile times. This is from his book called "The Time Is At Hand" which he wrote in 1889:

In this chapter we present the Bible evidence proving that the full end of the times of the Gentiles, i.e., the full end of their lease of dominion, will be reached in A.D. 1914; and that that date will see the disintegration of the rule of imperfect men. And be it observed, that if this is shown to be a fact firmly established by the Scriptures, it will prove:
Firstly , That at that date the Kingdom of God, for which our Lord taught us to pray, saying, "Thy Kingdom come," will begin to assume control, and that it will then shortly be "set up," or firmly established, in the earth, on the ruins of present institutions.
Secondly , It will prove that he whose right it is thus to take the dominion will then be present as earth's new Ruler; and not only so, but it will also prove that he will be present for a considerable period before that date; because the overthrow of these Gentile governments is directly caused by his dashing them to pieces as a potter's vessel (Psa. 2:9; Rev. 2:27), and establishing in their stead his own righteous government.
Thirdly , It will prove that some time before the end of the overthrow the last member of the divinely recognized Church of Christ, the "royal priesthood," "the body of Christ," will be glorified with the Head; because every member is to reign with Christ, being a joint-heir with him of the Kingdom, and it cannot be fully "set up" without every member.
Fourthly , It will prove that from that time forward Jerusalem shall no longer be trodden down of the Gentiles, but shall arise from the dust of divine disfavor, to honor; because the "Times of the Gentiles" will be fulfilled or completed.
Fifthly, It will prove that by that date, or sooner, Israel's blindness will begin to be turned away; because their "blindness in part" was to continue only "until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Rom. 11:25), or, in other words, until the full number from among the Gentiles, who are to be members of the body or bride of Christ, would be fully selected.
Sixthly, It will prove that the great "time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation," will reach its culmination in a world-wide reign of anarchy; and then men will learn to be still, and to know that Jehovah is God and that he will be exalted in the earth. (Psa. 46:20)  The condition of things spoken of in symbolic language as raging waves of the sea, melting earth, falling mountains and burning heavens will then pass away, and the "new heavens and new earth" with their peaceful blessings will begin to be recognized by trouble-tossed humanity.  But the Lord's Anointed and his rightful and righteous authority will first be recognized by a company of God's children while passing through the great tribulation--the class represented by m and t on the Chart of the Ages (see also pages 235 to 239, Vol. I); afterward, just at its close, by fleshly Israel; and ultimately by mankind in general.
Seventhly, It will prove that before that date God's Kingdom, organized in power, will be in the earth and then smite and crush the Gentile image (Dan. 2:34)--and fully consume the power of these kings.  Its own power and dominion will be established as fast as by its varied influences and agencies it crushes and scatters the "powers that be"--civil and ecclesiastical--iron and clay. Available online at http://wtarchive.svhelden.info/english/books-and-tracts/ and http://www.ctrussell.us/ctrussell/ctrussell.nsf
So, these are the events you would be expecting when you imagine yourself in the dining room that day in October 1914 when C.T. Russell announced that the Gentile times had ended.  These events are the evidence that would prove October 1914 was the correct date Biblically for the end of the Gentile times.  Perhaps someone who feels strong enough spiritually to defend him or her self biblically could show which, if any, of these events took place.
 

Whoops!
Maybe what I meant to remember was that he was never "disfellowshipped" which means that technically he is not "officially" an "apo-state." I see that his experience says nothing of being DF'd, but then again, I've seen people DF'd for less.
Everything he says about his discussions with Albert Schroeder and John Albu "rings true," perfectly. (John Albu was a brother in NYC, but not a Bethelite) I was put in contact with Albu for access to some of his books and his expertise for research projects.
Alan says:
I have believed the same thing, but never knew for sure. I think the general outline of that 1981 book was to be prepared from a couple of older Watchtowers with updates meant to specifically answer new questions raised about Ptolemy's canon and several other sources that Carl Olof Jonsson had written about. I remember that Bert Schroeder, Gene Smalley and others were angry about COJ's manuscript but wouldn't attempt to answer it. It got passed around like a hot potato around the Writing Department for years. Finally, Fred Rusk (the brother who gave my wedding talk) got it as an assignment to produce a Watchtower article in 1980. Rusk knew that the best researchers in-house at the time were Napolitano&Lengtat but he didn't like them because they had been friends with Ray Franz and had helped work on the Aid Book. He let it sit in his office for several months. I had a very strong feeling that it would end up being turned into an assignment for John Albu. John had been open-minded about discussing anything doctrinal, even things controversial up through 1981. But he seemed to close himself off completely in 1981 and for the rest of his life (until 2004), as far as I could tell.

The shift really began in the 1943 book, The Truth Shall Make You Free. P. 239:
"In Nebuchadnezzar's time the year began counting from the fall of the year, or about October 1, our time. Since he destroyed Jerusalem in the summer of 606 B .C., that year had its beginning in the fall of 607 B .C. and its ending in the fall of 606 B .C."
  

I'm sure Ann knows this, but I just saw the question. It was done in two parts: partly in 1943, and finished in 1944. The best research I've seen on this topic comes from a non-JW who opposes the JWs, but he was never baptized. (AlanF) So no one should technically call him an apo-state. At any rate his research is all true. I've looked up all his resources.
http://corior.blogspot.com/2006/02/evolution-of-606-to-607-bce-in.html
 

Absolutely.
ZWT 1892, Feb. 15, R1372:
The seventy years which followed the overthrow here depicted are frequently referred to as the seventy years captivity, but the Scriptures designate them the seventy years desolation of the land--a desolation which had been predicted by the prophet `Jeremiah (25:11`), saying, "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and this nation shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." The completeness of the desolation is shown in `verses 8 and 9` of this lesson and also in `2 Chron. 36:17-21`; and although the king of Babylon allowed certain of the poor of the land to remain, and gave them vineyards and fields, yet it was the Lord's purpose that the land of Israel should be desolate seventy years, and so it was. In the same year Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made governor and under whom many of the Jewish fugitives were disposed to return from neighboring countries, was assassinated, and the entire population speedily removed into Egypt for fear of the wrath of the king of Babylon.--`2 Kings 25:21-26`; `Jer. 41:1-3`; `43:5,6`.
 
ZWT 1896, May 15, R1980:
PERIOD OF THE "70 YEARS DESOLATION OF THE LAND."
This period began after Zedekiah's kingdom was overturned when the land was left desolate (`Jer. 40:6-13`; `40:10-18`; `43:5-7`)
Jer. 40 and 43 are about Gedaliah's assassination and the Jews' flight.
There is such a thing as 'prophetic hyperbole.' E.g. 
Zephaniah 1:2, 3 - “I will completely sweep away everything from the surface of the ground,” declares Jehovah.  3 “I will sweep away man and beast. I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked ones; And I will remove mankind from the surface of the ground,” declares Jehovah.
This was just about punishing Judah.
There is some archaeological evidence that areas of Judah remained inhabited throughout the Babylonian hegemony. Desolation/devastation doesn't necessarily mean complete depopulation. E.g.
Nehemiah 2:3 - Then I said to the king: “Long live the king! Why should I not look gloomy when the city, the place where my forefathers are buried, lies in ruins, and its gates have been consumed by fire?” 
Nehemiah 2:17 - Finally I said to them: “You can see what a terrible situation we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, so that this disgrace will not continue.” 
The Jews had been repatriated decades before, yet Jerusalem was still considered to be a devastated, ruined place.
 
 

 
 

The shift really began in the 1943 book, The Truth Shall Make You Free. P. 239:
"In Nebuchadnezzar's time the year began counting from the fall of the year, or about October 1, our time. Since he destroyed Jerusalem in the summer of 606 B .C., that year had its beginning in the fall of 607 B .C. and its ending in the fall of 606 B .C."
  

Hmm.
But they were literal trees, right? 
Why, after A & E sinned, did the ToL have to be guarded if it was just a symbol? Why not remove the symbolism of the tree and make it ordinary instead? If sinful A & E had got to the ToL and eaten its fruit, what would have happened?
Genesis 3:22-24 - Jehovah God then said: “Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad [This was after eating literal fruit from the literal tree - Ann]. Now in order that he may not put his hand out and take fruit also from the tree of life and eat and live forever,—” 23 With that Jehovah God expelled him from the garden of Eʹden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 So he drove the man out, and he posted at the east of the garden of Eʹden the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning continuously to guard the way to the tree of life.
 
 

Hmm.
But they were literal trees, right? 
Why, after A & E sinned, did the ToL have to be guarded if it was just a symbol? Why not remove the symbolism of the tree and make it ordinary instead? If sinful A & E had got to the ToL and eaten its fruit, what would have happened?
Genesis 3:22-24 - Jehovah God then said: “Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad [This was after eating literal fruit from the literal tree - Ann]. Now in order that he may not put his hand out and take fruit also from the tree of life and eat and live forever,—” 23 With that Jehovah God expelled him from the garden of Eʹden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 So he drove the man out, and he posted at the east of the garden of Eʹden the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning continuously to guard the way to the tree of life.
 
 

Relevant extract from July 15, 2014 letter to the BOE:
8. Determining who may participate in public witnessing: The Congregation Service Committee will select qualified publishers to participate in this feature of the ministry. Those selected should be known to present themselves in a dignified way. Their appearance and dress should be professional, well-arranged, and modest. Those selected should demonstrate discernment and a willingness to witness in different public settings, should enjoy and promote good relations with others, should be committed to taking the assignment seriously, and should be willing to cooperate with the body of elders. 
9. If it is possible and practical, the service overseer or someone designated by the body of elders should organize a midweek and weekend schedule for each selected location. There is an advantage to having the literature displays set up in the same location, on the same days, and at the same times. They serve as a constant feature readily recognized by those in the area.  
10. It is usually best for two or more persons to be assigned to work together. The safety of participants as well as their varying abilities should be taken into account when scheduling. Partners should remain watchful over each other since the conditions in a normally safe area can unexpectedly change.—Prov. 22:3; Eccl. 4:10, 12. [emphasis in red mine]
There is nothing in there about not being allowed to sit or disabled people barred from taking part (discrimination!). In fact, whenever I see a literature cart in my town, the JWs are often sitting. If what you describe is all there is to it, it sounds like your local elders are making up unnecessary rules.

From what I've seen in the WTS publications, it's fine as long as the hospital respects the medical beliefs of JWs.
And, really, until the WTS sponsors and owns its own hospital, what other choice do JWs have.