As you can already see, the purpose of this section is to show that the hundred-something-year history of Jehovah's witnesses and their Bible Student forebears is part of the progressive revelation of God's purpose to reconcile humanity to himself as recorded in the Scriptures.
The study then begins chapter 3, “Jehovah Reveals His Purpose”. Paragraph 2 invites us to “consider a brief overview of how Jehovah has revealed truths about the Kingdom throughout history.”
Aside from some quibbles, there's not much to take issue with for the rest of this week's study. The prophecy at Genesis 3:15 is rightly taken as the initial installment, then God's promises to Abraham, Jacob, Judah and David are briefly discussed, and then the focus shifts to Daniel.
Daniel's prophecy, recorded in chapter 9 of the Bible book bearing his name is certainly relevant to the progressive revelation of information about the Messiah, but Daniel receives more emphasis than others in this section. Why? Because something he said has enormous significance to the way Jehovah's Witnesses view themselves. Paragraph 12, the last paragraph to be considered this week, ends by telling us that “after being given a vision involving the establishment of God’s Kingdom, Daniel was told to seal up the prophecy until the time appointed by Jehovah. At that future time, true knowledge would “become abundant.”—Dan. 12:4”
The foundation has been laid for the concept of true knowledge being hidden until the beginning of the last days – a little over a century ago, from the book's standpoint – and then a renewal of progressive revelation in our time. Does this concept hold water? Future CLAM reviews will analyze that question as the organization's argument is, er, progressively revealed over the next few weeks.
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Comment by Deo_ac_veritati on 2016-10-31 23:28:13
Another CLAM meeting, another count of "zero" on the mentions of Jesus (sigh). Yes, there were a few allusions to the Messiah towards the end of the Gods Kingdom Rules, study, but other than that, a big, fat doughnut. So disappointing.
Interestingly, what was emphasized repeatedly through the meeting was that it was Halloween Night. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm hardly promoting celebrating it, but the way it was presented was almost paranoid. First, we got an email prior to the meeting about how the Ministerial Servants would be on high alert and extra vigilant, and that if anyone needed "extra help" (???) - just let them know.
Then, while going to the parking lot to get an aspirin (yeah, got another headache from the meeting) I saw at least four or five MS gathered together in the lot. I asked what was going on and was told that they were keeping extra watch over everything - I guess in case things got really bad.... I don't know, maybe they thought some six year old in a "Captain America" costume would vandalize the cars.
Finally, during the final remarks, we heard from an elder how on this demonic night, we had to be careful, because we know that people are out there "to do us harm." They requested that we all email our study conductors to let them know we made it home safely. I honestly think they thought their might be marauding bands of heathen out there, blocking roads with bonfires and sacrificing babies. And no, I'm not exaggerating (well, not much anyway!). I ventured a glance around the hall - but everyone seemed entranced by this statement - apparently I was the only one who was trying to keep from laughing. Then, an hour after we got home, another email asking us if we made it home safe.
OK, so I'm a bit torn on this - I do hate to be completely cynical about it, and I'm not promoting Halloween in any way shape or form, but we don't live in downtown Detroit or anything - we live in a very safe area of suburbia. So let's get real. I can understand a bit of concern in a few high crime areas of the country, but let's face it, in most areas crime generally doesn't spike up that much on this night. Yes, I did the research on this to back up my claim - Safestreetsusa.com summarized it like this:
If your neighborhood is generally a peaceful, safe place the other 364 days of the year, statistics show it likely will be on Halloween night too. If, on the other hand, your neighborhood has issues, you might want to keep your guard up.
While I don't want to brush off genuine love by our fellow Christians, the whole thing came across as a bit ludicrous and paranoid, indeed kind of surreal.... almost like the elders wanted us to feel like we were about to be persecuted - like we should be fearful. It reminded me of a comment I made at a WT study some months back about being motivated by love, instead of fear. Love unites, but fear divides. 1 John 4:18 brings this point out wonderfully - “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts fear out, because fear restrains us. Indeed, the one who is fearful has not been made perfect in love.”
I don't know, tell me if I'm being petty, but the whole thing just kind of creeped me out....Reply by AndereStimme on 2016-10-31 23:39:15
It would be interesting to know if those instructions came down from on high or were just your local elders running slightly amok. But if you want to market yourself as the Great Protector to someone who isn't actually in danger, you do need to fabricate a menace. It sounds like paternalistic instincts on hallucinogenic steroids to me, but if it came from higher up it might be something a little more sinister. Obviously, I'm not a very good source of non-cynical feedback.
Reply by Deo_ac_veritati on 2016-11-01 08:36:42
AndereStimme: I actually told the guys in the parking lot that I thought it was a bit ludicrous to think that all Hades was going to break out just because it was Halloween. The response was "we're just following direction" (there's a surprise, huh?). I can only speculate as well, but knowing how incredibly centralized this religion is, I would bet that this is coming down from on-high, and not just a local thing. Perhaps someone else on the forum who had a meeting that night can let us know if they saw any of this.
Upon further reflection, I also felt that the one elder's comments about how it was a night where "people were out to harm us" was totally inappropriate. I mean, between that comment and all the other innuendo, I would imagine that there were at least some kids in the audience, of a certain age, that wondered if they'd even make it home safe or not. Don't they think about that?Reply by THE DRIFTER on 2016-11-01 09:38:09
" I would imagine that there were at least some kids in the audience, of a certain age, that wondered if they’d even make it home safe or not. Don't they think about that?"
Of course they do, in *fact, ...they rely on it!
*see publications.Reply by Deo_ac_veritati on 2016-11-01 10:34:56
Point taken Drifty. What the heck was I thinking, anyway?!! In all seriousness, though, I find it just this side of disgusting to frighten little kids like that....
Reply by AndereStimme on 2016-11-01 12:48:01
Well, I don't know how frightened the kids were. When I was a kid sitting through those long, boring meetings, it would have been the highlight of my night to hear that we'd have to run over mutant zombies by the score just to get home. I'd be more worried about the teenagers. Surrounded by a world that tantalizingly treats the idea of moral accountability to a Higher Power as hokum, hearing one of your spiritual leaders mouth such utter nonsense will probably seem like confirmation. I know when I was a rowdy teenager looking for an excuse to throw off the shackles of Christian restraint, the implied pairing of godliness and brain death was not exactly spiritually uplifting.
Reply by THE DRIFTER on 2016-11-01 12:54:52
@Deo
@Andere
Lest we forget the *fireballs!
--
*See Revelation, the Grand Climax and You Can Live Forever on a Paradise Earth.
Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2016-11-01 09:05:48
One of the characteristics of a cult mentality is the consensus among the group that everyone in the outside world is trying to get you.
Reply by Rufus on 2016-11-02 00:01:39
Actually, Halloween this year is extra spooky, since Charles Taze Russell entered his zombie phase exactly 100 years ago, on Oct 31, 2016. Rutherford transmogrified the Pastor's soul from “the faithful and wise slave” back to the Laodicean Messenger.
By driving this wooden stake into his heart and building a tall pyramid next to his grave in Pittsburgh, Rutherford set himself up to be the avenging angel, assuring himself of sole and unchallenged owner of the Word. The “faith and discreet slave” was thus set in rulership position, communicating with spirit powers to guide his organization.
Comment by cx_516 on 2016-10-31 23:48:22
From the way the material was presented in the meeting, I was reminded of ingratiating tactics a.k.a. 'being made to feel indebted to someone'. Even though the wording states correctly that Jesus gives us truth, the message actually is: You're indebted to the organization through whom you learned basic bible truths.
This has always made me deeply uncomfortable. At its most simple, the chain of learning could perhaps be illustrated:
Jesus -> Bible -> individual teacher(s) -> me understanding biblical truth
(In this scenario, I'm happy I met the individual teacher or teachers who guiding my understanding. I feel an natural appreciation, but the teachers would never hold over me a "remember it was ME that taught you" attitude. That's silly, because we all know its 'God that makes is grow'.)
The concept being introduced with the application of Daniel 12 could be illustrated with the revised path of:
Jesus -> Bible -> a corporation/organization -> individual teacher(s) -> me understanding biblical truth
(In this scenario, I'm being directly told by the corporation/organization "remember it was ME that taught you" so you kinda owe me)
When discussing matters with friends regarding the true history of our organization and the changing doctrines so obviously not guided by Jesus, I've quite often heard the phrase for organizational loyalty "Well, that may be, but we should forget where we got the truth from."
Upon reflection, it feels like a form of emotional blackmailReply by tyhik on 2016-11-01 05:28:39
I too sense an attempt to make us feel indebted by this week's text. Matt 10:8 tells us "You received free, give free". With no strings attached. Isn't preaching the good news a privilege? The GB tends to forget that they are just slaves of God, who got it free, too.
Reply by Deo_ac_veritati on 2016-11-01 08:49:57
Well put cx_516 (interesting handle by the way). Somewhat related to that was another feature of last night's CLAM which was the talk "Are you making good use of the JW.ORG Contact cards?"
We had the usual spiel about how much these cards would help us in our ever-important preaching work, but then the brother giving the talk made a very telling remark (that I'm sure most everyone else missed) - he noted how the card made it so easy to lead people to (get ready for it) - The Watchtower. No, not lead them to the Bible. Lead them to The Watchtower. Kind of fits with your point, no? It's amazing to me how subtle these little things are, yet how telling - and how the audience simply accepts it without question.
I long for the day when this Organization simply conveys to people the need for the Christ. Simply emphasizes the simplicity of the message found at Romans 10:9-10:
"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified (made right), and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."
Reply by AndereStimme on 2016-11-01 12:54:12
Can you imagine telling someone, "I taught you about God, so remember now, no matter what I do, you have to be loyal to me"? Or, "You must never question anything I say or do"? Emotional blackmail is right.
Comment by Meleti Vivlon on 2016-11-01 09:00:28
Jesus said, “. . .YOU received free, give free.” (Mt 10:8) However, the Governing Body want us to feel like we owe them something. True, I did learn many Bible truths from them. I also learned many lies, which I unwittingly taught others.
I do owe Jesus something. In fact, I owe him everything. But then, he never lied to me. He never taught me anything that caused me regret.
Perhaps a more accurate statement that all Witnesses should ponder is, 'Stop and think: How did that false teaching come to you?'Reply by Deo_ac_veritati on 2016-11-01 10:09:01
"He never taught me anything that caused me regret."
Truly a lovely sentiment, Meleti.
Reply by mailman on 2016-11-01 21:11:32
It is worth remembering Romans 14:8 - If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
Did we just read we belong to an organization?
Comment by mailman on 2016-11-01 21:23:56
"For a century, its King, Jesus Christ, has been actively ensuring that God’s people are taught the truth.” - Really? Can the truth be manipulated? Can it be bended, corrected or adjusted over time?
Can we cite at least one in Christ teachings that need to be rectified by himself or by God himself?