Someone among the top brass in Brooklyn have had a rare moment of thought and come up with another “adjustment” in the endless line Watchtower Society “New Light”.
Some of you probably remember when they became tired of the expression: “The Society says”, which of course identified to clearly who is really God in the lives of the Witnesses, so they had to tell the Witnesses to stop using that expression because it was extremely embarrassing.
This time it is another expression that shouldn’t be used. Not at all of the magnitude of the example above but still sufficiently important to someone, probably in the GB. I guess it took a couple of heated sessions in the GB to get this approved. Anyway, here goes:
OUESTIONS FROM READERSThe magazine answers:
Is it correct to say that Jehovah's mercy tempers his justice?
30 THE WATCHTOWER MARCH 1, 2002
Although this expression has been used, it is best to avoid it since it seems to imply that Jehovah's mercy softens or restrains his justice, as if his mercy were superior to the harsher quality of justice. This is not correct.
30 THE WATCHTOWER MARCH 1, 2002
Well, of course! We can’t have anyone believing that God’s mercy is superior to or stronger than his justice. For those who cling to the idea that God is omni this and that can’t have any internal imbalance in his qualities you know!
Jehovah is a God of both justice and mercy. (Exodus 34:6, 7; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 145:9) His justice and his mercy are both perfect, and they work together harmoniously. (Psalm 116:5; Hosea 2:19) Both qualities perfectly balance or complement each other. Hence, if we were to say that Jehovah's mercy tempered his justice, we would also have to say that his justice tempered his mercy.Who were the idiots that didn’t have this profound wisdom in the first place? Of course it couldn’t be the Faithful and discreet slave could it? Well, let’s have a look:
30 THE WATCHTOWER MARCH 1, 2002
*** w65 7/1 415 Tempering Justice with Mercy ***
As during Noah’s day when Jehovah tempered his justice by deferring execution for 120 years, so today he tempers his justice by deferring his war, called “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” (Rev. 16:14) Since 1918, he has shown undeserved kindness toward disobedient mankind by holding back his executional forces in the heavens in order that some “flesh would be saved.”
Apparently Jehovah didn’t possess this perfect balance in the days of Noah because we have the Word of the Watchtower magazine itself that Jehovah had to “temper his justice” for 120 years. Of course it will be equally wrong to say that Jehovah will show anyone “undeserved kindness”. Since he is perfect he will be unable to show mercy towards those who don’t deserve it, right?
Jehovah seems to have several problems according to the Watchtower magazine because here he is again:
*** w97 12/1 10-11 Jehovah, a God "Ready to Forgive" ***Again Jehovah seems to be quite a shoddy “potter” having made such bad quality pottery. But according to the Bible he at least seems to be aware of how he has screwed up, at least some times. But the Watchtower magazine has occasionally reminded us about how utterly without any chance we are if it wasn’t for God’s constantly tempers his “cold justice” with “kindness and mercy”:
Why Is Jehovah “Ready to Forgive”?
4 We read: “As far off as the sunrise is from the sunset, so far off from us he has put our transgressions. As a father shows mercy to his sons, Jehovah has shown mercy to those fearing him.” Why is Jehovah disposed to show mercy? The next verse answers: “For he himself well knows the formation of us, remembering that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:12-14) Yes, Jehovah does not forget that we are creatures of dust, having frailties, or weaknesses, as a result of imperfection. The expression that he knows “the formation of us” reminds us that the Bible likens Jehovah to a potter and us to the vessels he forms. (Jeremiah 18:2-6) A potter handles his clay vessels firmly yet delicately, ever mindful of their nature. So, too, Jehovah, the Great Potter, tempers his dealings with us according to the frailty of our sinful nature.—Compare 2 Corinthians 4:7.
*** w65 7/1 413-4 Tempering Justice with Mercy ***
Tempering Justice with Mercy
IN THE shop of an apothecary there usually is a set of balance scales that is capable of weighing very small amounts of fine powder. A standard weight is placed on one pan and powder is put on the other one until there is enough powder to balance the weight. Justice is like that scale. When a person’s actions are compared with a specific law and they do not balance out because he has been disobedient to that law, justice requires that he be punished. This action balances the scales of justice. But should the rendering of justice be limited to the cold balancing of matters?
The great God of the universe has given mankind good laws, and from time to time he has had to balance the scales of justice by punishing those who violate those laws. In so doing, however, he warms up cold justice and tempers it with kindness and mercy. A representing angel said of him: “Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth.” (Ex. 34:6) Such are the gracious qualities he puts into the scales of justice.
When one violates God’s law, thus throwing off balance the scales of divine justice, action must be taken to right matters. Strict justice calls for punishment to the full extent specified by the law. However, when heartfelt repentance is shown on the part of the wrongdoer, mercy can be extended. Such mercy is not something that God owes to one who violates His law; it is an undeserved kindness, but the sincere repentance of the sinner provides a basis for mercy to be shown. As a result there may be a lessening of the punishment administered. In the case of King David, the sentence of death was not carried out on him when he sinned with Uriah’s wife because of his sincere repentance. “David now said to Nathan: ‘I have sinned against Jehovah.’ At this Nathan said to David: ‘Jehovah, in turn, does let your sin pass by. You will not die.’” (2 Sam. 12:13) But he was punished by losing his infant son by Bathsheba.
Above we get a reminder of how Jehovah apparently meted out his “tempering” of his “cold justice” in the case of David. Of course he did this by killing Bathsheba’s baby. Well, those of us who are familiar with Jehovah and Moses treatment of Midianite and Canaanite babies and children aren’t very surprised. Babies are quite expendable and who would bother to ask Bathsheba what she would think about her dead baby? How about parenting?
*** w55 7/15 421 How Bible Principles Apply to Your Life ***
The instructions about child training? The responsibility is upon the parents to train the children in the right way. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proper parental authority must be exercised: “Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.” However, this should never be in anger, just to ease the parent’s emotions, but should be tempered with mercy, justice and love, and should be consistent, just as Jehovah tempers his discipline with mercy, justice and love and is always consistent. To parents who themselves set the right example, and who properly discharge this obligation, delinquency is no problem.—Prov. 22:6; 23:13, 14, A .
Well, now no Jehovah's Witness can imitate Jehovah again, because Brooklyn has come to the conclusion that Jehovah does not TEMPER his justice. So when you feel it is appropriate you should follow the Biblical counsel of beating the crap out of your children and stone them if necessary.
*** w52 8/15 489-90 In the Image and Likeness of God ***Yes, isn’t it heartwarming to see how Jehovah’s organization cares for the hungry and the unfortunate children in the world? In stark contrast to the UN and the Churches of Christendom, the “Man of Lawlessness” which never do anything. I mean the Watchtower Society do almost as much (gasp) as Jehovah himself to help the poor.
God’s law in Israel stipulated regular provision for the poor, and not on the basis of favors in return, either. (Ex. 23:11) Furthermore, Jehovah tempers his absolute justice with undeserved kindness, something for which modern man has no parallel in his merciless international dealings. Were it not for this mercy none of us would have been born following the rebellion of Adam. But this does not require God to simply overlook this fallen world’s travesty on justice, as he shows by the warning to Israel when guilty of the same:
*** op 28 Our Problems-Who Will Help Us Solve Them? ***Aw, that pesky free will! Why didn’t these idiots understand that free will isn’t really FREE? I mean free will doesn’t mean that it is FREE. Like Jehovah's Witnesses is only free to do what they tell them to do from Brooklyn, so was Adam and Eve only free to do what Jehovah wanted them to do. That was FREE will! But then it wasn’t really free you might say, shut up we don’t want to hear about that. But if someone tells you that you have free will but that he will kill you if you use it, is that really free will?
“The Bible tells us that our problems started when the first human pair that God created misused their free will and chose to disobey God’s wise instructions. God had warned them of the punishment for doing so—loss of perfection, loss of their Paradise home, and loss of their right to continue to live on earth forever. God justly enforced his laws. This left their offspring crying, as it were, because of their great loss. But because God tempers his justice with love, he arranged to give humans the chance to regain what the first pair had lost. Like the kind gentleman in the illustration, God provided the exact price of what had been lost. He did this by sending his own spirit son from heaven to be born on earth as a human known as Jesus Christ. When Jesus willingly sacrificed his perfect human life, which was equal to the life that the first man, Adam, had forfeited, and presented the value to God, then that price could be used to buy back for humankind what had been lost, namely, perfect life forever on a paradise earth.”
If a jailer releases you from jail and say you are free to go, then also tell you that he will shoot you if you go, is that really a free choice? Well anyway that’s the kind of free will that was offered Adam and Eve, and it is exactly the kind of free will all those wonderful Christians are recommending so warmly.
How wonderful it is to have done a little investigation and a little thinking and being able to see how much the justice and love of God really sucks?
Norm.