Prophecies

The Watch Tower Society's 1925 Expectation

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "The Watch Tower Society's 1925 Expectation." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/prophecies/the-watch-tower-societys-1925-expectation.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). The Watch Tower Society's 1925 Expectation. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/prophecies/the-watch-tower-societys-1925-expectation

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-the-watch-tower-society-s-1925-expectati,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {The Watch Tower Society's 1925 Expectation},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/prophecies/the-watch-tower-societys-1925-expectation},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society's published expectation, under president Joseph Franklin Rutherford, that 1925 would see the resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and other faithful figures from before Christ, as evidence of the nearness of God's kingdom. The date passed without the expected resurrection, and the Society allowed the specific expectation to recede from its teaching without the kind of formal, public acknowledgment it later gave the failed 1975 expectation.

Facts

Fulfillment

Documented Response

Unlike the 1914 date, which the movement retained and reinterpreted, and the 1975 date, which it later publicly addressed, the specific 1925 expectation was allowed to recede from Watch Tower teaching without a comparable formal acknowledgment; Beth Sarim itself was sold in 1948. Historians of the movement, M. James Penton among them, document the 1925 failure as a significant cause of membership loss and internal disillusionment in the years that followed, distinct in character from the movement's handling of its other dated expectations. 1

Origins

Attributed Author / Compiler

Joseph Franklin Rutherford, second president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. 1

Debunked

Claimed Fulfillment

The resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and other faithful figures from before Christ, expected in 1925, alongside the general nearness of Armageddon. In anticipation the Society built a house in San Diego, Beth Sarim, deeded in trust for the resurrected patriarchs. No resurrection occurred, and Rutherford himself lived in the house until his death in 1942. 1

Dating

Predicted Date

1925, as taught in Rutherford's 1920 book Millions Now Living Will Never Die. 1

Date Attributed

1920, in Millions Now Living Will Never Die. 1

Attributions

Tradition

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, predecessor of Jehovah's Witnesses. 1

Sources

Primary Source

Joseph Franklin Rutherford's Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1920) sets out the claim; the Beth Sarim deed and its 1948 sale are documented in the secondary scholarly histories cited alongside it. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections