by Matt_fs 9 Replies latest watchtower bible
In proverbs 4:18 as you know all, says that the path of the righteous ones would get brighter and brighter. What does the brighter and brighter exactly mean? How would you explain that to someone? I've looked up some websites explaining that its a choice between 2 paths which I understand, but im having a hard time explaining what the brighter and brighter means.
Any suggestions?
Cheers
Paul Grundy answers your question, in much detail, here:
http://www.jwfacts.com/index_files/light.htm
-LWT
This scripture is refering to earlier times when Tesla and Edison invented electricity and light globes...."the light got brigter and brigter till the day appears..."
they have such a fantistic illustration of how it should work!....seriously...but they just dont follow it or get it:
w8112/1p.16pars.2-3‘LightHasFlashedUpfortheRighteous’******
2
Note that the shining of light on the path of the righteous is progressive. It keeps "shining ever brighter." We might illustrate this by a man who gets up before daybreak and who sets out on foot to travel through the countryside. He might see an outline of a building in the distance, but at first cannot tell whether it is a barn or a house. Gradually as day dawns and he gets closer he can see that it is a house. After a while he is able to tell that it is a wooden, not a brick, house. Then, later, he can make out the color of the house, and so forth.3
The experience of God’s servants has been just like that.Yep that is how it SHOULD work....and the experience of WT and their FDS has NOT been just like that....because their version of paragraph two would have at least one more sentence:
As the light gets even brigher, towards midday, the man sees that the wooden yellow house is now a ping-pong table!
That just pisses me off that they actually use such a great illustration.........and nobody sees that this would elliminate NEW Light........oompa
That's a really good illustration, oompa. So, according to that, the person would not see change backwards to an earlier understanding of what he was seeing. The house would not be seen as red and the green and then red again.
Yet, the jws do exactly that, such as, the people of Sodom/Gomorrah will be/ will not be/ will be/ will not be resurrected. If the society would just leave things alone that they have no clue about or at least admit when they are wrong.
Not gonna happen.
You start in darkness.
You stumble forward a few steps.
Gradually grey seems to be emerging before your eyes.
You start to see little details - the sand the rocks the stones.
You see the rocks coming up, and walk round them.
The light is getting brighter and you have to squint to see the way ahead.
The light is right in your eyes, so you cannot see the drop ahead and step off it into a ravine.
The full sunlight continues to shine down indifferently on your carcase rotting in the heat, just like those Jehoobie killed at Armageddy.
HB
IT MEANS THAT WHEN 1874 WAS WRONG 1914, 1925 1975..... WAIT I SEE NEW LIGHT WAIT... HOLD IT .... ITS GETTING A LITTLE BRIGHTER AALLL SHIT SOMEONE JUST TURN ON THE LIGHT IN THE ROOM . WHAT DOES THAT MEAN ??? WE WERE IN THE DARKNESS ALL THE DAM TIME!!!!!!
It means Lost Technology: they must have had oil lamps with DIMMERS back then
Mustang
In proverbs 4:18 as you know all, says that the path of the righteous ones would get brighter and brighter. What does the brighter and brighter exactly mean? How would you explain that to someone? I've looked up some websites explaining that its a choice between 2 paths which I understand, but im having a hard time explaining what the brighter and brighter means.
I think that is a mistranslation....surely this is a better translation:
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."
In all seriousness however, you just need to read the verse in its overall context -- "walk" is a metaphor for one's course of action in day-to-day life; a similar metaphor gave rise to the notion of "halakha" in accommodating the commandments of the Torah to the niceties of everyday life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halakha). The behavior of the righteous man is contrasted with that of the wicked. The metaphor runs through the whole chapter at a number of different levels: the wise person is not to walk without restriction (v. 11-12), but neither is he to walk without regard to his footfalls lest he fall (v. 12), the path of the wicked is an alternate course to take that the righteous person is to avoid even if it seems easy (v. 14-15), the wicked stay up all night scheming of ways to make others fall who walk along their path (v. 16), the path of the wicked is a path of darkness where even the wicked cannot see what makes them fall (v. 19), the righteous however may start out in darkness but wisdom illuminates their way so that they may take sure steps (v. 18), the righteous person also has his eyes fixed on what lies ahead so he may watch his steps with care (v. 25), and he should step on places that are level and firm (v. 26), he should not swerve right or left from the path he is on (v. 27), and most of all he should keep his feet from walking towards evil (v. 27).
Have you ever walked in darkness without light to guide your way? You may be unsure of where to place your feet in case you bump into something or step down and loose your balance. The chapter is talking about wisdom providing a light that would help guide you on your way: "Do not forsake wisdom and she will protect you, love her and she will watch over you" (v. 6). The notion of the light increasing has nothing to do with the dispensing of "true understanding" from God in a progressive fashion. It is all about how an individual learns wisdom from his father's instruction (v. 1), by paying attention and gaining understanding from parental teaching (v. 2). The wise person says: "When I was a boy in my father's house still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, 'Lay hold of my words with all your heart, keep my commands and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding, do not forget my words" (v. 3-5).
In short, the meaning is not hard to grasp once you simply read the verse in its natural context. It is about what happens when a person grows up and learns how to properly behave by walking in his father's instruction. It is not about learning doctrines or having God gradually reveal his purposes to his special channel.
Notice how the verse is mischaracterized in the JW literature:
*** w61 2/1 p. 77 par. 3 Keep on the Watch as Sons of Light ***In contrast to this, Jehovah God is letting the light of truth shine brighter and brighter as he reveals his purposes to sincere men and women who look to his Word for enlightenment.
*** w74 9/15 p. 571 par. 19 "Continue Observing His Commandments" ***
While the darkness of the world grows more dense, the light of truth from the Word of God grows brighter.
*** w61 2/1 p. 77 par. 3 Keep on the Watch as Sons of Light ***
In contrast to this, Jehovah God is letting the light of truth shine brighter and brighter as he reveals his purposes to sincere men and women who look to his Word for enlightenment. To his organization he cries out
The light is supposed to be getting brighter. Instead, the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger keeps people dependent on trick lighting to make them do things that are bad for self and society, in order to control people.
My light didn't come on until I clicked onto my first apostate web site.
