Treasures from God’s Word and Digging for Spiritual Gems –

Zechariah 14:3, 4 – Those outside Jehovah’s valley of protection will be destroyed (w13 2/15 p19 par. 10)

The reference claims that the division of the mountain of the olive trees “occurred when the Messianic Kingdom was established at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914”. Is that true? Let us read Zechariah 14:3, 4 again. “And Jehovah will certainly go forth and war against those nations as in the day of his warring, in the day of fight”. When did this happen? We cannot say for sure, but what we can say is that Jehovah definitely did not “go forth and war against those nations” in 1914. The time mostly likely indicated is Armageddon, when Jesus Christ, on Jehovah God’s behalf will “go forth and war against nations” (Revelation 16:14). It therefore cannot be until that time that Jehovah splits the figurative Mount of Olives to provide a valley of protection.

 Zechariah 14: 5 (w13 2/15 p20 par. 13)

This reference then states “It is imperative that we remain in the valley of protection” referring to our present day. Based on our findings from vs. 3 and 4 this statement therefore also has to be incorrect.

 Zechariah 14: 6, 7, 12, 15 (w13 2/15 p20 par. 15)

This third reference is fine until after citing these verses in Zechariah. Then it says: “No section of the earth will escape destruction”. However, on reading the context, the very next verse (vs. 16) says “and it must occur that, as regards everyone who is left remaining out of all the nations that are coming against Jerusalem”. So the scriptures here indicate there will be survivors, ones not seeking the protection of Jehovah. Therefore, not all the unrighteous will be destroyed.

To continue living the same verse goes on to say that “they must also go up from year to year to bow down to the King, Jehovah of armies and to celebrate the festival of booths.” In doing this they would be showing gratitude for their deliverance, just as the Jews celebrated their deliverance from Egypt. The following verse (17) shows that if they do not come up to celebrate the festival of booths then “even upon them no pouring rain will occur” indicating they would not get Jehovah’s blessing. (See also Isaiah 45:3)

At the end of the reference, it cites Jeremiah 25:32, 33, but a close examination of the context especially the early part of the chapter will enable the reader to understand that these verses referred to the Babylonian’s and nations surrounding Judah who would later be punished for their actions against Jehovah’s people. There is nothing here or elsewhere in the Bible to suggest that an anti-type exists and therefore could apply to the time of Armageddon. It had its one and only fulfillment in the fifth and sixth centuries before Christ.

Zechariah 12:3, 7 (w07 7/15 p22-23 par. 9; w07 7/15 p25 par. 13)

The context of these verses such as Zechariah 12:10 & Zechariah 13:7 refer clearly to events that befell Jesus the Messiah. That would indicate the surrounding verses likewise had a first-century fulfillment. Once again, there is no indication of a present-day (antitypical) fulfillment. The interpretation given in the two references is exactly that, a wishful interpretation made in an attempt to add weight to the claim that Jehovah’s Witnesses today are God’s chosen people.

Initial Call (g17/6 p14-15)

It is interesting to note that in this article no attempt is made to justify the inclusion of Jehovah’s name in the Greek Scriptures, unlike in recent weeks when the King James Bible capitalising ‘LORD’ in 4 scriptures (all quotes of Psalm 110:1) was used to partially justify replacing ‘Kyrios’ or Lord with Jehovah 237 times. (See Appendix 1d in the NWT Reference edition and Appendix A5 in the NWT 2013 edition for a flawed defence of their position.[i])

Bible Study (ji Lesson 5) – What will you experience at our Christian meetings?

Many people have stopped attending religious services because they find no spiritual guidance or comfort” Never has a truer word been spoken in the literature! Have you stopped attending or missing the meetings because you find you get no proper spiritual guidance or comfort? If so, you are not alone.

Talking of the first century, “they held meetings to worship God, to study the Scriptures, and to encourage one another”. Yes, they met, but not on with rigid and structured formality as today. Yes, they studied the Scriptures, but not publications full of (disavowed) antitypes and dubious interpretations. Yes, they encouraged one another, but they had time to do that. Today after a long and tiring formal meeting full of prescribed content, how many feel like staying on to encourage their fellow brothers and sisters? Do not most go home almost immediately?

The benefit of learning how to apply Bible principles.” When was the last time we had a meeting program dedicated to understanding a fruit of the spirit?  What it is, and in what situations we particularly need to apply it, and how we can cultivate it?

On the basis of these points would you want to invite someone to a meeting at the Kingdom Hall?

Jesus, The Way (p. 6, 7) – The Way, the Truth, the Life

Nothing really to disagree with here except for the assertion that this book will be better than Tatian’s Diatessaron. That remains to be proven. For more information on the Diatessaron and the transmission of the Christian Greek Scriptures a very good, detailed summary is to be found here.

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[i] The writer accepts some of their reasoning, but when reading the context of many of these ‘replacements’ it becomes clear they have gone overboard in their zeal to highlight Jehovah’s name. This has resulted in the replacement of “Lord” by “Jehovah” in a number of places where the context clearly indicates the writer intentionally used the Septuagint version containing Lord when quoting, and deliberately applied the Scripture to Jesus. Even today, do we not often quote a famous saying and remove the name of the original person (or a word) and substitute it with another name (or word) to make our point?

Tadua

Articles by Tadua.
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