---
title: Matthew 24:4
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-24-4/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-24-4.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Matthew 24:4
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Matthew 24:4

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "In answer Jesus said to them: 'Look out that nobody misleads you,'"

## JW Usage

Matthew 24:4 is read by JW publications as Jesus's general warning against false christs and false prophets in the last days — including the Christendom denominations whose preachers, on the Watchtower's reading, have led billions astray. The verse is treated as setup for the composite-sign apologetic (vv. 5-8): false christs, wars, famines, and earthquakes are the things to watch for, all increasing in intensity as evidence of the last days that began in 1914.

## Protestant Usage

Read v. 4 with Luke 21:8 as a parallel. Jesus warns his disciples not to be misled by people who say "the time is very near now" — exactly what the Watchtower has done since 1879. The verse is not a checklist for spotting Christendom; it is a warning against eschatological urgency that wrests the Olivet Discourse from its first-century context. Pair Matthew 24:4 with the failed-date list (1874, 1914, 1925, 1975) and the changing "this generation" definitions (1914 generation, anointed-overlap, etc.). The very organisation that quotes the verse to mock false christs has produced multiple failed predictions about the timing of Christ's return — and Jesus warned, by name, against exactly that error.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- ["Signs" Are Not "The Sign"](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/signs-not-the-sign.md) — Matthew 24:6–8 / Luke 21:8 [Eschatology]