3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
11 Woe to them! They have taken theway of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
I think this is wonderfully written. The writer is a bit melodramatic at times, but it's very cool to think that these words are so old yet still their elegance is not lost in translation.
The bold parts are phrases that remind me of the Watchtower:
Yet these people slander whatever they do not understandNational politics, science and philosophy are a few things that the Watchtower targets with their pervasive slanderous writings. An examination of their arguments exposes them as ignorant of the topics they so vehemently refute.
the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals doWitnesses are notoriously instinctual. They become quickly emotional and irrational when confronted with facts about their beliefs they are not aware of or in denial of.
They have taken theway of CainWhen Witnesses don't understand the actions of their brothers they "kill" them by shunning them for life. Sometimes even without an official disfellowshipment. A quick and merciless death just like Cain gave to his brother Abel.
they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellionKorrah's rebellion, as the story goes, was rather needless and driven by a lust for power. The Watchtower broke off on their own over 100 years ago and have since then become drunk with absolute power over the decades.
shepherds who feed only themselvesThe Governing Body are described to a TEE here. The Governing Body is only interested in furthing their HUMAN ideologies and their HUMAN interpretations of the Bible. Even though they call themselves "spiritual food dispensers" they are really looking out for their own interests both spiritually AND physically as their rigid world view is fading from our culture.
These people are grumblers and faultfindersYou can't pick up a Watchtower without full articles being dedicated to "exposes" of various concepts that threaten, or challenge, Watchtower ideologies. They are not interested in honest debate. They are much more interested in finding fault for use in smearing good names.
they follow their own evil desiresThe Watchtower is always in hot pursuit of the "root of all injurious things": money. They are a group with an agenda and like any group with an agenda the fuel is money. The Watchtower has never earned an honest buck and therefore following a heavily self-serving path off the backs of their members.
they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantageThey will boast, at EVERY OPPORTUNITY, about their organization and it's obvious superiority. They are walking sales pitches for their way of life. The Watchtower recently described the lifestyle of the average Witness as a "tranquility" unknown to the outside world. The Watchtower is a shameless self promoter.
-Sab
