Congregation "Bible Study" Comments - Week Commencing 05 October 2009

LUKEWARM

*** lv chap. 11 pp. 121-132 "Let Marriage Be Honorable" ***

"Rejoice with the wife of your youth."-PROVERBS 5:18.

Q1, 2. What question will we consider, and why?ARE you married? If so, is your marriage a source of happiness, or are you experiencing serious marital problems? Have you and your spouse drifted apart? Are you enduring married life but not enjoying it? If so, you likely feel sad that the warm marital bond you once enjoyed has cooled. As a Christian, you surely would like your marriage to bring glory to Jehovah, the God you love. Hence, your present circumstances may well be a source of concern and heartache to you. Even so, please do not conclude that your situation is hopeless.

Why do they always focus on the negatives - "serious marital problems", "drifted apart" "not enjoying it", "feel sad" - are witness marriages unhappy?

2 Today, there are fine Christian couples who once had marriages that were merely surviving, not thriving. Yet, they found a way to strengthen their relationship. You too can find more contentment in your marriage. How?

DRAWING CLOSER TO GOD AND TO YOUR SPOUSE

Q3, 4. Why will marriage mates draw closer together if they strive to draw closer to God? Illustrate.3 You and your spouse will draw closer together if you strive to draw closer to God. Why? Consider an illustration: Imagine a cone-shaped mountain-wide at the base and narrow at the top. A man is standing at the foot of the northern slope while a woman is standing on the other side, at the foot of the southern slope. Both begin to climb. When both are still near the mountain base, a long distance separates them. Yet, as each climbs higher and higher toward the narrow summit, the distance between them becomes less and less. Do you see the reassuring lesson in this illustration?

Seriously, I wonder which genius concocted this illustration?
4 The effort you put forth to serve Jehovah to the full could be compared with the effort it takes to climb a mountain. Since you love Jehovah, you are already trying hard to climb, so to speak. However, if you and your spouse have grown apart, you may be climbing opposite sides of that mountain. What happens, though, when you continue to climb? Granted, a considerable distance may separate you at first. Nevertheless, the more effort you put into drawing closer to God-into climbing higher-the closer you and your mate become. Indeed, drawing closer to God is the key to drawing closer to your spouse. But how can you actually do that?

What does "serve Jehovah to the full" mean?

"love Jehovah" is demonstrated by following the dictates of the WTS?

"...you are already trying hard" - is the WTS indirectly admitting that their "commands of men" make worshipping God hard?

Why is an illustration about serving God linked to the strenuous effort in climbing a mountain? Didn't Jesus teach that his yoke was light and refreshing and doesn't the Bible say that Gods commands are not burdensome?
Q5. (a) What is one way to draw closer to Jehovah and to one's marriage mate? (b) How does Jehovah view marriage?5 One important way to climb, as it were, is for you and your spouse to heed the counsel on marriage as found in God's Word. (Psalm 25:4; Isaiah 48:17, 18) Consider, therefore, a specific point of counsel stated by the apostle Paul. He said: "Let marriage be honorable among all." (Hebrews 13:4) What does that mean? The word "honorable" implies that something is esteemed and precious. And that is exactly how Jehovah views marriage-he esteems it as precious.

Can "...heed the counsel on marriage as found in God's Word" be done independently of the WTS and via the exercise of personal conscience?
YOUR MOTIVATION-HEARTFELT LOVE FOR JEHOVAH

Q6. What does the context of Paul's counsel about marriage show, and why is that important to keep in mind?6 Of course, as servants of God, you and your spouse already know that marriage is precious, even sacred. Jehovah himself instituted the marriage arrangement. (Matthew 19:4-6) However, if you are currently experiencing marital problems, just knowing that marriage is honorable may not be enough to motivate you and your mate to treat each other with love and respect. What, then, will move you to do so? Note carefully how Paul addressed the subject of showing honor. He did not say, "marriage is honorable"; rather, he said, "let marriage be honorable." Paul was not merely making an observation; he was giving an exhortation. Keeping that distinction in mind may help you find added motivation for rekindling esteem for your spouse. Why is that the case?

Are "...servants of God" only JW's?

Why did Jesus not use the name "Jehovah" in Matthew 19:4-6?
Q 7. (a) What Scriptural commands do we carry out, and why? (b) What good results come from obedience?7 Consider for a moment how you regard other Scriptural commands, such as the commission to make disciples or the admonition to meet together for worship. (Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 10:24, 25) Granted, carrying out those commands may at times be a challenge. The people to whom you preach may respond negatively, or the secular work you do may leave you so exhausted that attending Christian meetings is a struggle. Even so, you keep on preaching the Kingdom message, and you keep on attending Christian meetings. No one can stop you-not even Satan! Why not?ecause your heartfelt love for Jehovah moves you to obey his commandments. (1 John 5:3) With what good results? Sharing in the preaching work and attending meetings gives you inner peace and heartfelt joy because you know that you are doing God's will. And those feelings, in turn, renew your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10) What is the lesson here?

How is the WTS following "the commission to make disciples" teaching them "all that I have commanded you" (all that Jesus taught as outlined in the gospels)? Why are they preaching 1914, last days, paradise earth, 144,000 etc which Jesus did not teach?

Why is the scriptural "admonition to meet together for worship" perverted, from meeting in private homes and breaking bread to the WTS imposed 2 meetings a week in kingdom halls?

"Granted, carrying out those commands may at times be a challenge" - no kidding! Their man made rules are passed on as Gods commands, just the Pharisees of old!

"No one can stop you-not even Satan! Why not? Because your heartfelt love for Jehovah moves you to obey his commandments" So when the membership cannot keep pace with your useless rules either its Satan has won or your love for God is waning. Guilting the masses again sub-consciously!

"the preaching work and attending meetings gives you inner peace and heartfelt joy because you know that you are doing God's will" is another message to pass on their man made rules as "Gods will".
Q8, 9. (a) What may move us to obey the exhortation to honor marriage, and why? (b) What two points will we now consider?8 Just as your deep love for God moves you to obey the commands to preach and to meet together despite obstacles, so your love for Jehovah can move you to obey the Scriptural exhortation to "let [your] marriage be honorable," even when that appears to be difficult. (Hebrews 13:4; Psalm 18:29; Ecclesiastes 5:4) Additionally, just as your efforts to share in preaching and in meeting together bring rich blessings from God, so your efforts to honor your marriage will be noticed and blessed by Jehovah.-1 Thessalonians 1:3; Hebrews 6:10.

More guilting by implying lack of love for God if one does not "obey the commands to preach and to meet together despite obstacles"

Reinforcing the benefits message and Gods approval sub-consciously by saying: "efforts to share in preaching and in meeting together bring rich blessings from God".
9 How, then, can you make your marriage honorable? You need to avoid behavior that will damage the marital arrangement. In addition, you need to take steps that will strengthen the marital bond.

quietlyleaving

lol the mountain illustration. Yes I think the WTS is admitting that worship is such hard work that it can drive a cone shaped mountainous wedge between couples if they're not careful.

edit: the mountain is a powerful progressivistic image too

carla

You and your spouse will draw closer together if you strive to draw closer to God.-- Only for jw's though, if one is not a jw the org does not allow the couple to even discuss God.

MidwichCuckoo

Thanks for posting Luke. I think the WT recognises that JW marriages (generalising here) are 'fake', ie, a lot of JWs marry fellow members under pressure (as pointed out in another thread, eg sex), and so is trying to 'normalise' unhappy/struggling marriages.

teel

Exactly Carla, it's not God at the top of the cone, it's the Watchtower Society. If I work to actually draw closer to God by departing from WT's man-made rules, and accepting the Bible to teach me instead of their literature, I will depart from my wife (or rather she from me, but in a twisted way JWs will of course say it's my fault). What does that tell us about that mountain?

WTWizard

That mountain has to be right up there among the stupidest illustrations I have ever heard. May be climbing the same mountain? What if they are not? And, what if both partners would simply go around the mountain, in opposite directions, until they met? Wouldn't they come together just as much as they would at the top?

Besides, we are not talking physical separation. We are talking about a situation where the excitement is gone, and that is probably a result of stagnation. The dead end jobs the witlesses end up getting is enough. Add to that all the rules, having to waste all one's time in field circus, and that criteria for selecting marriage partners in the first place are not left unmeddled with--they have something to say about even that. Wasting all your time on God, while not working on the marriage itself, also contributes significantly to this problem. Finally, not being allowed a trial run of the marriage caused the couple to get together and then find out that they were not compatible.

They can take that f***ing Keep Yourselves in God's Tyranny book and shove it.