The Deed To "Beth Sarim"
At 4440 Braeburn Road, San Diego, Ca., in the rich and prestigious neighborhood of the “Kensington Heights” neighborhood sits one of the biggest embarrassments in the long and continuing list of embarrassments the Watchtower Society has created for itself.
Beth-Sarim cost $25,000 to build. That was in 1929. Two months after the mansion was completed, Rutherford was quoted in the San Diego Sun saying he had been offered $75,000 for it. Keep in mind that this was in the Great Depression. I have lately seen homes in the neighborhood selling for $800,000 and up, and
every one of them are dumps compared to Beth-Sarim. None of them has anywhere near the 5,156 square feet (per the deed when the house was last sold) as does Beth-Sarim, either.The purpose of Beth-Sarim is explained in J.F. Rutherford's book "Salvation", it states:
"At San Diego, California, there is a small piece of land, on which, in the year 1929 there was built a house, which is called and known as Beth Sarim. The Hebrew words Beth Sarim mean 'House of the Princes'; and the purpose of acquiring that property and building the house was that there are those on earth today who fully believe in God and Christ Jesus and in His Kingdom, and who believe that the faithful men of old will soon be resurrected by the Lord, be back on earth, and take charge of the visible affairs of earth. The title to Beth Sarim is vested in the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in trust, to be used by the president of the Society and his assistants for the present, and thereafter to be forever at the disposal of the aforementioned princes on the earth ... It stands there as a testimony to Jehovah's name; and when the princes do return, and some of them occupy the property, such will be a confirmation of the faith and hope that induced the building of Beth Sarim." - (Salvation, J.F. Rutherford, p. 311)
Indeed, the mansion was built with funds that were a direct contribution for that purpose. But the purpose of the house itself was somewhat different than the Society claims today. It was intended to be occupied by no one less than Abraham himself and other ancient worthies from the bible. The people who spent their money to make Beth-Sarim possible, would not particularly have had Judge Rutherford in mind when paying for it.
The deed reveals:
"Both the grantor and the grantee are fully persuaded from the Bible testimony which is the word of Jehovah God and from extraneous evidence that God's Kingdom is now in the course of establishment and that it will result beneficially for the peoples of earth; that the governing power and authority will be invisible to men but that the kingdom of God will have visible representatives on the earth who will have charge of the affairs of the nations under supervision of the invisible ruler, Christ. That among those who will be thus the faithful representatives and visible governors of the world will be David, who was once King over Israel; and Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jepthai, and Joseph, formerly ruler of Egypt, and Samuel the prophet and other faithful men named with approval in the Bible at Hebrews 11th. chapter."
If the old worthies were soon to occupy it, there was no need for imposters taking it away from them, and for that matter the deed stated:
"Any persons appearing to take possession of said premises shall first prove and identify themselves to the proper officers of said Society as the person or persons described in Hebrews chapter eleven and in this deed."
Above is a copy of the Deed to Beth-Sarim, it is in a 8x10 format, perfect for printing.
After Rutherford's death the Watchtower Society decided to sell the property. On August 15, 1947 the Society's President Knorr’s made this announcement concerning the property:
The audience...applauded when informed that the Society’s board of directors had voted unanimously to dispose of Beth-Sarim, either by outright sale or by rent, because it had fully served its purpose and was now only serving as a monument quite expensive to keep; our faith in the return of the men of old time whom the King Christ Jesus will make princes in ALL the earth (not merely in California) is based, not upon that house Beth-Sarim, but upon God’s Word of promise.( "All Nations’ Expansion’ Assembly," The Watchtower, 15 December 1947, p. 382.)
Beth-Sarim is a physical monument to a failed Watchtower prophecy.
From the record of history it must be concluded that Beth-Sarim bears a testimony — it is a monument to a false prophet and to false prophecy. Rutherford asked, "How are we to know whether one is a true or a false prophet?" His answer was, "If he is a true prophet, his message will come to pass exactly as prophesied. If he is a false prophet, his prophecy will fail to come to pass.... — Deut. 18:21, 22."
: was the second president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. "Judge" Joseph F. Rutherford (he was actually an attorney, not a judge) was elected to the office after the death of Charles Taze Russell in 1916. A man of tremendous fortitude and ingenuity, he restructured and reorganized the Watchtower to essentially give it the form we see today. It was actually Rutherford who coined the term "Jehovah's Witnesses" as the name of the movement corporate.
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