Most people who have studied the Watchtower Society’s history are well aware of the fact that, in 1929, they constructed a Spanish-style mansion in San Diego, California, and named it Beth-Sarim: House of the Princes. This mansion was built, according to the accounts written at the time, to house such faithful Old Testament characters as listed in Hebrews 11:1-40 who, it was believed, would be resurrected back to earth to rule as princes and oversee the world-wide work of the Watchtower Society. When this resurrection failed to occur, the Society doggedly clung to its claims for almost twenty years until, in 1947, they finally sold Beth-Sarim.. By so doing, another extremely embarrassing false prophecy was quietly swept into the background. Not surprisingly, recent Watchtower publications have conveniently glossed over these bizarre events by re-writing their history and inventing another, novel purpose behind the building of Beth Sarim.
However, as farcical as the claims and events surrounding Beth-Sarim may be, there is a far less known, well kept secret, from that same period in the Watchtower Society’s history. Recent research has established that the Watchtower Society prepared TWO mansions in California to house the Old Testament characters they expected to be resurrected at that time. In 1939, the Society secretly purchased another property which they named Beth-Shan: House of Security (pictured above). This property remained in their possession until the end of the Second World War in 1945.
Beth-Shan, a 75 acre property located next to Beth-Sarim, vaunted a mansion that dwarfed Beth-Sarim. It had several out-houses, a 16,000 litre tank of diesel, 7 acres of cultivated land, a well, plus a 40,000 litre water-storage tank. It also had two secret underground bomb-shelters with storage shelves and 1 metre thick concrete ceilings. Access to Beth-Shan was by a dirt track—at the end of which was a gate guarded by Watchtower Society personnel. Like Beth-Sarim, the title to Beth-Shan was held:
"...in trust for the use and benefit of the following named persons, whose names appear in the Bible at the book of Hebrews, chapter eleven, verses one to forty, to wit: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sara, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jeptha, David, Samuel."
Beth-Shan was such a secret that it was mentioned only once in Watchtower literature—in the magazine Consolation (1942, May 27, p.9). The context was a dispute over the burial of the deceased ‘Judge’ Joseph Rutherford (second President of the Watchtower Society). The Society had requested permission from local authorities to place Rutherford’s body in a crypt that had been constructed within the grounds of Beth-Sarim. The local authorities, however, rejected the Society’s request and so, as reported in Consolation, permission was sought to place his body in the grounds of Beth-Shan—a request that was also turned down. Apart from this one, incidental reference to Beth-Shan, there is nothing else recorded in any of the Watchtower Society’s annals.
What was the real reason behind the Watchtower Society’s purchase and development of this second property adjoining Beth-Sarim, named Beth-Shan? Although, according to the deed, the property had been acquired to accommodate those faithful Old Testament characters listed in Hebrews 11:1-40, there is strong evidence to suggest that there had been another (more sinister) motivation behind the Society’s purchase of Beth-Shan.
By examining the Watchtower leaders’ expectations and predictions during this period of their history, it appears that there were more self-seeking motives on the part of the Watchtower leaders of that time—which may also well account for the secrecy surrounding Beth-Shan.
In the June 2, 1926 issue of The Golden Age magazine* the Society predicted that:
"The next war will be …an annihilation! There will be poison and explosion everywhere, beneath the canopy of the heavens" (p. 55)
and while, in a 1935 booklet entitled Universal War Near, reference was made to:
"...the few remaining months until the breaking of that universal cataclysm." (p. 27)
another booklet, Face The Facts (published three years later), predicted that the:
"...totalitarian combine is going to get control of England and America." (pp. 20-21, 27)
The Watchtower leaders of the time (not the least being ‘Judge’ Rutherford) proclaimed, in print and by radio broadcasts, that these cataclysmic events would all culminate in the great Battle of Armageddon. But, just how close were these events in their minds? So close, that Watchtower leaders counseled the rank and file Witnesses to forgo marriage and having children!**
The Society’s predictions of a fascist ‘totalitarian combine’ shed light on the ’need’ for secret, underground bomb-shelters and their storage shelves at Beth-Shan. This is reinforced by an ‘opinion’ expressed in 1941 by the Society:
In passing, the opinion is here expressed for the information of those who have hearing ears, that a great famine is certain to afflict the many nations of the earth in the very near future. The United States is also in line for much suffering.
(The Watchtower, Nov. 15, 1941, p.343)
Earlier, in that same year, on page 288 of the Sept. 15 issue of The Watchtower, the Watchtower Society had made reference to ‘the remaining months before Armageddon’. So now, with these catastrophic events being predicted as just months away, is it any wonder that the Watchtower leaders had prepared, ahead of time, by the purchase of a property with such a well-hidden, secret bomb-shelter# that was adequately equipped with shelves for storing un-perishable food throughout the coming, predicted ‘great famine’ and period of ’much suffering’? However, in 1945, with the end of the War, the Watchtower Society had once again been exposed as having spoken as a false prophet. Events did not transpire as predicted—there was no Nazi/Fascist take-over and ‘the remaining months before Armageddon’ rolled on—and have continued to roll on—to years, even decades! Little wonder that the Society has been so silent about Beth-Shan!
Nevertheless, that which has been hidden has now been exposed for all to see. The leaders within the Watchtower Society may manage to keep this knowledge from the rank and file Jehovah’s Witnesses—but only for a time. Because, as the apostle Paul reminds us, there is a day coming ‘when God shall judge the secrets of men’ (Romans 2:16). So, if not before, then on that day the secretive schemes and lies of the Watchtower Society will be laid bare for all to see.
If you, dear reader, are a Jehovah’s Witness, you can do something about this for yourself—TODAY! Examine these things. Do as the apostle Paul counsels:
Make sure of all things;
hold fast to what is fine.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NWT)
We are here to assist you to do just that.
