How do you explain...

by AwSnap 37 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  AwSnap

  1 Samuel 19:9? I thought God didn't commit evil...and this also appears to be predestination, no?

  (1Samuel19:9) And Jehovah’s bad spirit came to be upon Saul when he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music with his hand.

  That was the New World translation.

  The New International Bible says:

  9 But an evil [a] spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp, 10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.
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  Robdar

  You have to remember these were stories told in the desert to distract everybody from the fact they didn't have air conditioning.
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  dinah

  Good one, Robdar!!

  Saul and David were rivals, so the story goes...............
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  AwSnap

  Ahhhh, air conditioning . Wait! Focus- somewhere before that scripture, god fortells what is going to happen. Granted Saul was jealous over David because David conquered more men than Saul. But what does it mean that "an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul"?
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  dinah

  I would take that to mean that Jah was mad. Soo kids, this tells us that Jah really wanted David to be king. David was an asshole, as was Saul. What does that tell you about your God?
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  Satanus

  Yhwh put a demon on saul. Everybody worked for yhwh, back then. They just had different jobs. For instance, satan was sent by yhwh to test job. Of course, satan suggested it. But god okayed it.

  S
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  AwSnap

  ...it tells ME that god makes people do bad things.

  Can you explain it how a jw would explain it? Satanus, are you serious? I'm gullible .
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  Satanus

  How serious can i be, when dealing w fictional stories? In those ot stories, the satan character is not developed, yet. And so, god is given the credit. It wasn't until after the jews were released from babylonian servitude that a satan the devil character fully appeared. The jews picked up the idea from the persians and possibly the babylonians.

  S
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  Satanus

  *** w65 3/1 p. 159 Questions From Readers ***
  
  ? What does the scripture at 1 Samuel 18:10 mean when it says that “God’s bad spirit became operative upon Saul, so that he behaved like a prophet within the house”?
  
  In 1 Samuel 16:14 we are informed that “the very spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and a bad spirit from Jehovah terrorized him.” In this we can see an application of the principle indicated by Jesus at Matthew 12:43-45, namely, that if the mind and life are not filled with Jehovah’s spirit, then they are open to invasion of demon spirits. It is not that Jehovah actually sent an evil spirit to terrorize Saul, but by removing his holy spirit from the disobedient king a vacancy was left, a vacancy that was promptly filled by a bad spirit or mental inclination. Since Jehovah made the evilly inclined possession possible by the removal of his holy spirit, Jehovah is referred to as the source of the evil spirit.
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  Robdar

  The jews picked up the idea from the persians and possibly the babylonians.

  Nor do the jews deny this. It got added to the story but jews do not believe in Satan.