“The land had no disturbance and there was no war against him during these years, for Jehovah gave him rest.”—2 Chronicles 14:6.
[Study 38 from ws 09/20 p.14 November 16 – November 22, 2020]
This week’s review will be approached as a series of Propaganda and Reality checks.
Paragraph 9:
Propaganda: “During these exciting last days, Jehovah’s organization has spearheaded the greatest preaching and teaching campaign the world has ever known”.
Reality Check: Are these the last days of this system of things? What proof is there? Why would these last days be exciting? If they truly are the last days mentioned by the Apostle Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-7, would you view them as exciting or difficult? Note what the Apostle Paul wrote “But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. …”. Not exactly the kind of prospect that most people would view as exciting is it?
Reality Check: What has the allegedly greatest preaching and teaching campaign actually accomplished? A maximum growth through 150 years to around 8 million. In a similar timeframe, the Mormon faith has grown to around 14 million as one example. What about the missionaries of Christendom who brought entire islands and nations to Christianity?
Paragraph 10:
Propaganda: “How can you take advantage of a time of peace”? Why not examine your circumstances and see if you or a member of your family could have an increased share in the preaching work, perhaps even serving as a pioneer?
Reality Check: We are in the middle of a global pandemic of Covid 19. Many European countries are in either partial or full lockdown, and even the USA has restrictions. Is this a time of peace and tranquillity? Or fear, and suffering, both mentally, physically, and economically?
Reality Check: Most witnesses cannot go from door-to-door. So, how can they pioneer and reach the hour requirements (which by the way many pioneers spend driving from one end of the territory to the other to avoid actually having to preach to many people)? Oh, is it by writing unsolicited letters and sending unsolicited literature through the post at their own expense of course?
Reality Check: Why are they ignoring a serious problem? They just ignore the fact that many witnesses like non-witnesses may have lost their jobs and depending on the country they live in, may not even have any government-funded social support to just pay their minimum bills to survive. Also, they just ignore the fact that many of the brothers and sisters may have contracted the virus and while they may not have been seriously ill, nonetheless are dealing with the fatigue and other health problems caused by the short-term and long-term effects of this virus. Yet the Organization ignores all that and more and suggests they try and pioneer!
Paragraph 11:
Propaganda: “Many publishers have learned a new language so that they can use it in preaching and teaching”.
Reality Check: At first sight, a commendable suggestion. Reality is much harsher. Take the following experience of one brother who did that and then evaluate if that is really such a commendable goal. He spent the past 30 plus years learning a language difficult for English speaking people to learn. He regular pioneered much of that time and got a menial job to cover the expenses of him and his wife. For most of those years, he played a leading role in establishing first a group then later a congregation in that language. Everything was good, they had a circuit overseer visit which came and went. 4 days later he received a letter from the Organization, stating that the next meeting at the weekend would be the last, as the congregation was being closed. At a stroke, most of his adult life’s work was liquidated and discarded by the Organization. Needless to say, this had quite a devastating effect on this until now, a strong supporter of the Organization.
Paragraph 16:
Propaganda: “Jesus foretold that in the last days, his disciples would “be hated by all the nations.” (Matthew 24:9)”
Reality Check: That is misleading. Matthew 24:9 in full says the following: ”Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name.” Note: the hatred would be on account of the name of Jesus, not Jehovah, or the God-dishonouring policies that the Organization pursues like shunning, covering up child sexual abuse, and kangaroo court justice in their judicial committee processes.
Paragraph 18:
Propaganda: “He [Jehovah] is guiding “faithful and discreet slave” to provide nourishing spiritual “food at the proper time” to help us remain steadfast in our worship.”
Reality Check: Even before the author “woke up” he was spiritually starving at the congregation meetings and often spent much of the meetings reading the Bible so as to give himself some real spiritual food as the material being provided was so devoid of any real content. Since awakening, the quality of the so-called “food at the proper time” has only deteriorated further. Jehovah cannot be behind the organization. In this article, published after the Covid-19 pandemic was in full swing, there is no one allusion or reference to it. It is completely ignored as if it is not happening and life still goes on as normal. Things may be pretty much normal in the Ivory Towers of Warwick, upstate New York, but elsewhere brothers and sisters are experiencing the worst period in living memory for disruption to normal life.
Archived Comments
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Comment by Chester on 2020-11-15 17:03:09
Hi. I must say many fine points made here, where to start?!
When the organisation says about their accomplishments, it never compares to other Christian religions. Look at how Gods word was spread, and the organisation has jumped on the back of that success. If Gods backing is suggested by the number of followers, as you have mentioned the Mormons as a good example. Then look at the Southern baptists, now number 141/2 million.
When I was in the ministry if someone had said that to me I would’ve been a bit embarrassed.
But I would like to thank you for bringing out one very important point. The WHOLE context of Matthew 24:9. It is on account of the name of Jesus that people would be objects of hatred, a name of which is hardly ever mentioned at the meetings. When I was an elder, I must admit that we were coerced into praying for for the Governing body than for the blessing of Jesus in our actions, just a token at the end of the prayer when his name is mentioned. Yet the organisation is encouraged to be praised, the elders, COs, GB members. Hardly anything for the head of the congregation our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you for this excellent article!
Peace to you all.
Comment by Zacheus on 2020-11-15 19:30:41
This latest outburst by the gb is akin to a recent posting I saw where there were jw standing before a headline "How long will peace last?" ...Peace?The date on the news headline behind them was 1942. During the world war!
and,
re demonstrations and counter demonstrations. I saw a news clip of peole out with their kids getting assaulted by the street scum. I am reminded of a saying,
"Keep down, keep moving, Keep away from crowds"..
Comment by marielle on 2020-11-16 03:46:58
Au paragraphe 18 nous trouvons la répétition pour ne pas dire le martèlement, que Jéhovah AGIT sur l’esclave fidèle et avisé pour donner la nourriture en temps voulu.
Je reprends le passage de I Samuel 15 : 29 faisant suite au récit sur Saül qui n’a pas obéi à la parole de Jéhovah (jw télédiffusion de novembre).
I Samuel 15 : 29
« Le glorieux Dieu d’Israël+ ne mentira pas+ et ne changera pas d’avis*, car il ne change pas d’avis comme un simple humain+. »
Cette idée enracinée dans l’esprit d’un TDJ, que Jéhovah laisse l’esclave fidèle et avisé qu’il a choisi pour diriger son peuple, enseigner des erreurs, juste parce que ce n’est pas « le temps voulu » pour Lui, de dévoiler la vérité est une injure faite à Jéhovah.
Comment by Meleti Vivlon on 2020-11-16 09:46:36
Locally, I've learned that one congregation sent out people to count the businesses in their area in preparation for a letter writing campaign. They were told only to count but not take down addresses. Then the same people were sent out again to take down addresses and names. This is obviously "busywork". It is a way of counting more time. The couple in question were pioneering.
In Germany, one brother received a postcard from another brother with a preaching message on the back. He knew the brother and phoned him up to ask why he would send a postcard to a fellow believer. The answer was that they had been encouraged to do so in the hope that people handling the postcard along the way, like the mailman and postal workers sorting the mail, would read the message and receive a witness. Thus, they were able to count their time. Since the all important thing is to count one's time, all of these ridiculous tasks make sense to a Witness.
Comment by wish4truth2 on 2020-11-16 17:05:43
Yes I remember reading the Bible a lot during the meetings. Especially in the last years I was there, I did not realize at the time, why. Listening to the meeting became so painful,so repetitiously devoid of any content, and couple of others I was aware of in our congregation, would shut it out by reading the Bible until it was time to stand and sing the song....
Reply by Naomi on 2020-11-22 01:03:10
I had been doing that too. I knew why, I had to keep my mind on something beneficial & interesting. So I would look up various scriptures on topics that came to mind and do lots of cross-reference it. And since we could bring our iPads I was able to research different topics as well making it even more interesting and this would get me through the meetings.
Comment by Frankie on 2020-11-16 17:16:30
Thank you Tadua for your review and for your work for all of us. I'd like to mention two aspects that came to my mind when reading this WT study article.
Diminishing the significance of Jesus Christ
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I have been noticing the WT's strong focus on the Old Testament for a long time. And how many articles and organizational regulations are based on OT.
This is also the case with this article. Do we have few examples from the New Testament that can be used? Is there a lack of wise and useful guidance from our Lord Jesus Christ and from the apostles for every situation in our lives?
In this article, our Lord is mentioned only 3 times, in paragraph 16. And it's similar in other WT magazines. IMO, it is a gross disrespect for one who is our Lord and, at the same time, our brother. The order of subordination is clear: Jehovah - Jesus - man. If we are servants, who is our master? (Romans 1: 1). In the first paragraph, the GB tell us that we are serving Jehovah. Are we not servants of Jesus? After all, it was Jehovah who sent Jesus so that we obey our Lord. It is Jehovah's decision! Not for the first time, the GB boldly ignores the position of Jesus Christ in our lives. Why is it a problem for GB to say that we are servants of Jesus Christ, like apostle Paul did?
Another example is the intentionally erroneous translation of Acts. WT stated in paragraph 8: "the disciples put forth great effort to declare "the good news of the word of Jehovah. " (Acts 15: 30-35).
There should be "the word of the Lord" (according to all interlinears), because the gospel is about the Kingdom of God and about Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:20; Luke 8: 1; 1 Cor 15: 1-11)! We preach what Jesus commanded us.
Times of peace
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Are the GB members the jolly jokers? It is a joke to talk about today's situation in the world as a peaceful time. But it is bad joke, some kind of dark humor at a time when millions of people are economically on their knees and mentally at the bottom. Rate of suicides from depression is on the rise; loss of lives because of neglected treatment of diseases other than Covid and due to Covid is enormous and for many people, their homes have become prisons. Really idyllic times.
I think it's because the WT study editions are written months in advance. But the WT claims that they provide food at the proper time. It is another joke. Today, in mid-November, the WT study article, which will be studied on April 4, 2021, has already been issued - nearly 5 months in advance. Do the GB members even know what will happen in 5 months in these turbulent times? How they know that what they write today will be a food at the proper time in 5 months? What we read in WT article today, was written 5 months ago - the proper time came 5 months ago.
Dear brothers and sisters, be patient. The last days of the last days will occur in five months at the earliest.
Instead of consolation and encouragement in difficult times that is a heavy burden for many people, including JWs, we are "encouraged" - work, work, work. Yes, when I work hard, I often don't notice what's going on around me. And then I often do not notice the anxiety and existential problems of my brothers and sisters and the need to help them and to comfort and encourage them from the words of our Lord and His apostles.
And so let's spread around all of us love, comfort, and encouragement in these difficult times, "for, yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay ...." (Hebrews 10:37).
Peace and love to all. FrankieReply by Leonardo Josephus on 2020-11-17 05:06:22
Hi there Frankie. What you write reminds us that we are all here working as a team. It is not up to Tadua to find all the flaws in the WT article, or all the good points (which there are on occasions) although he does very well to pick out most of them. We can all contribute, just as you have.
I particularly appreciated your comment on Acts 15:35 (see paragraph 8) .Some months ago, I cannot recall exactly when, but it was during the monthly broadcast, the GB explained their use of Jehovah's name in the Christian Greek scriptures, going into detail about how it was now correctly supporting what was originally in the Hebrew scriptures, thereby making the NWT so wonderful. No attempts have since been made by the GB to support the many times Jehovah's name has been used when there is every reason to think it probably refers to Jesus Christ.
You have highlighted one of those occasions, and it is seems so obviously incorrect. When we go through all the references to "good news" in the NT, we find many of them simply say "good news" about this, or that. A number refer to the "good news of the Kingdom" or the "Good news about the Christ or Jesus", in which case the word for Christ or Jesus is in the text. Sometimes we read "the good news of God", in which case the Greek word "Theos" is being translated as "God". We will also find "the good news of the word of God".
Is there any justification for translating "lord" as Jehovah at Acts 15:35 ?
Quoting from "The Tetragrammaton and the Christian Greek scriptures :-
Every indication is that the Christian Greek Scripture writers saw no conflict in using Kyrios to represent both the divine name and to identify Jesus. We are left with the conclusion that they did so because they understood Jesus himself to share Jehovah's eternal attributes.
This does not mean that the inspired Christian writers understood Jehovah and Jesus to be a single entity.[15] It means that the inspired Christian writers could say of Jesus regarding his eternal characteristics that which they also understood to be true of Jehovah.
Therefore Acts 15;35 is a deliberate insertion of Jehovah's name, and "Kyrios" should have been translated as Lord, as it is not sufficiently clear who is being referred to.
Thank you again, Frankie and Tadua and anyone who has kindly read this comment..Reply by Tadua on 2020-11-17 08:56:23
Thank you Leonardo and Frankie.
It’s very enjoyable for me to read both your comments. We all benefit from one another’s comments. In my research and reviews I constantly come across those type of issues, but I will admit I do not spot every one as I might be focussing on particular points or the theme of the WT article.
I don’t know if anyone else has examined all the references in the NWT where it is wrong to use Jehovah in the context, but that subject is something I want to review as a cohesive whole in the near future.Reply by Leonardo Josephus on 2020-11-18 09:34:39
Hi Tadua. I have done the examination myself, but have only kept a copy of a very useful summary prepared on Tetragrammaton.Org. It can be found through Google under the heading - Appendix:Comparison of 237 Jehovah References. and appendix b comes up with a very useful list. You may already be aware of this, of course. Your nudging might get me to do some further work on this.
Reply by Frankie on 2020-11-30 14:40:06
Hi Tadua.
I noticed one interesting thing about the translation of this WT into Slovak language. You pointed out the word "exciting" in paragraph 9 very well. But in the Slovak version of this WT, the word "last" - last days - is used instead of "exciting". Due to the very bad social situation in Slovakia (something like Covid social experiment is going on here), the translators probably did not dare to use the Slovak word for word "exciting".
Love. Frankie
Reply by Frankie on 2020-11-29 16:54:23
Thank you Leonardo for your comment. I've been thinking about your comment and good pointing out the various occurrences of the words "good news", as well as about the final part of your comment:
"Therefore Acts 15:35 is a deliberate insertion of Jehovah's name, and "Kyrios” should have been translated as Lord, as it is not sufficiently clear who is being referred to.”
I think we could find an explanation in verses John 17:7-8 :
"Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
The words that Jesus spoke to the disciples are words from Jehovah ("I have given them the words that you gave me") and everything that Jesus has, he has from his Father ("everything that you have given me is from you”). Jesus commissioned us, as Christians, to preach "good news of the Kingdom" and "good news about the Christ or Jesus." We received these words from Jesus. But those words of Jesus are actually Jehovah's words about Jesus and the Kingdom.
In this sense (IMO), the word Kyrios in interlinear translation essentially means both Jesus and Jehovah (John 17:22), and replacing Kyrios with Jehovah is not correct. Behind such substitutions, I see a systematic effort to diminish the significance of Jesus Christ in our eyes. After all, at the center of the whole New Testament is Jesus, our Savior. I like the term that one of my ex-JW brothers used some time ago - New Covenant is "Christ-centric".
LJ, thank you for food for thought.
Frankie
Comment by Fani on 2020-11-17 03:12:03
Dans ma lecture quotidienne je lis aujourd'hui : Actes des Apôtres 5: 28
[28]Ne vous avons-nous pas défendu expressément d`ENSEIGNER en CE NOM LÀ ? Et voici, vous avez rempli Jérusalem de votre enseignement, et vous voulez faire retomber sur nous le SANG DE CET HOMME !"
Quel est ce nom au nom duquel les apôtres enseignaient ? La fin du verset dit : vous voulez faire retomber sur nous le sang de cet homme.
Il s'agit bien du Christ. La base de leur enseignement était Christ mort pour nous et ressuscité ! La persécution des 1ers chrétiens découlait du fait qu'ils proclamaient Christ.
La persécution ne venait pas du fait qu'ils traduisaient mal la bible, qu'ils étaient extrémistes en rejetant leurs enfants ou parce qu'ils n'étaient pas soumis aux autorités en ne protégeant pas les tout-petits... comme certains...
En France, quand j'allais en prédication, je me présentais en tant que chrétienne. Pourquoi pas en tant que témoin de Jéhovah ? Parce que les gens ne savent pas qu' on est des chrétiens.
C'est un comble pour un chrétien de ne pas être connu comme chrétien !
(suite à l'information d'Eric, je me demandais si les frères compteront le temps juste de l'écriture de la carte postale ou tout le temps qu'elle mettra pour arriver à son destinataire ; après tout, il ne faudrait pas oublier le temps du facteur qui va peut-être lire... ?)
Bonne journée à tous
NicoleReply by marielle on 2020-11-17 04:45:33
Oui, ce chapitre montre que les apôtres étaient connus pour parler au nom de Jésus, pas pour être de nouveaux leaders en tant que collège central du 1er siècle.
Ils furent battus, et on leur ordonna de plus parler AU NOM DE JÉSUS.
Actes 5 : 40
Aujourd’hui nous trouvons l’enseignement suivant lors de la réunion du 8 novembre.
nous devons écouter toute instruction venant de l’organisation de Jéhovah, et y obéir rapidement et sans réserve. Cela est valable même s’il ne nous paraît pas important de suivre ces instructions ou si nous n’en comprenons pas les raisons (Lc 16:10).
Reply by safeguardyourheart on 2020-11-22 05:57:40
Peter said it SUFFER as A CHRISTIAN not as a JW even bear the suffering in that name and glorify God in that name 1 Peter 4:14,16
Comment by Naomi on 2020-11-22 00:57:49
I can’t thank you enough, Tadua. The points you brought out are just what I was thinking as I read through this article. I could not understand how or why they claim this is a time of peace. And they never once mention the pandemic, the fear, the rioting & the political divisiveness that is going on. They act like the preaching work goes on full speed in the same manner it had been. When in reality it has been reduced to letter writing, phone witnessing* & some calls. Even their newest videos do not show any social distancing, mask wearing or the different manner of their preaching work at this time. They seem to portray that everything is normal. It’s just More Evidence that God’s spirit is not guiding them.
Comment by PIMO2020 on 2020-11-22 07:46:39
I really love this format!!! Not sure if it would be regular, but hope to see it especially when the article is that typical give more, pray more, do more, feel guilty it's your fault kind of articles.
All of you- please keep up the great works!!
Comment by Ad_Lang on 2020-12-08 12:34:16
I've found something similar in my local congregation here: I've been particularly isolated this year, but had less than 10 attempts from individuals here to contact me. Yet, there are 31 individuals who can do pioneering on the letter-writing ministry. Aren't we missing something here?
Mind, I do understand some will find me a difficult person to approach, since they never got to know me too well. I also find that coming across these people in the street is usually a good experience; I even got offered a lift from a physically "vulnerable" couple yesterday. So let's not forget that we're all people with difficulties and weaknesses. Yet, this is a time that we really need to have our priorities set right. After all, if there's no such thing as love and companionship etc. in a congregation, how will ones feel drawn to it?
On the spiritual food, I've concluded that Jehovah can use any means to provide it. The organisation can be one of them, but it is certainly not the exclusive "channel".