Are the Greek scriptures now directed solely to the Governing Body?
by wallsofjericho 3 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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wallsofjericho
(Double posted for formatting.... sorry) So I have been thinking about this lately, sorry if it has already been brought up here on another thread. But if the greek scriptures are directed to the 144,000 does this cause trouble for our most recent "new light" on F&DS=GB? First off, some quotes from the WTS regarding the 144,000 *******Only the 144,00o have Jesus as mediator- "So in this strict Biblical sense Jesus is the "mediator" only for anointed Christians." Watchtower 1979 April 1 p.31 "Likewise, the Greater Moses, Jesus Christ, is not the Mediator between Jehovah God and all mankind. He is the Mediator between his heavenly Father, Jehovah God, and the nation of spiritual Israel, which is limited to only 144,000 members." Worldwide Security Under the "Prince of Peace" pp. 10-11 *******the Greek scriptures are mainly written for them- Revelation, it's Grand Climax at Hand pp. 317-318 "Yes, these words are primarily "for the congregations." This is a message, first of all, for the congregation of anointed Christians on earth. Everything in Revelation is addressed primarily to anointed Christians, who will inhabit New Jerusalem. Through that congregation, the great crowd is also privileged to gain understanding of these precious prophetic truths." United in Worship p.111 "Special attention was being given to making up the government that would rule mankind for 1,000 years, and nearly all the inspired letters in the Christian Greek Scriptures are primarily directed to this group of Kingdom heirs - "the holy ones," "partakers of the heavenly calling." Watchtower 1974 June 15 p.376 "Also, it is to the spirit-anointed Christians who will rule in that kingdom that most of the Christian Greek Scriptures is directed, including the promises of everlasting life." ******************* Yet online at JW.org we can still read this from the w07 4/1 pp. 21-25
Loyal to Christ and His Faithful Slave “On arriving” to inspect the “slave” in 1918, Christ found a spirit-anointed remnant of faithful disciples who since 1879 had been using this journal and other Bible-based publications to provide spiritual “food at the proper time.” He acknowledged them as his collective instrument, or “slave,” and in 1919 entrusted them with the management of all his earthly belongings. ........
Giving Loyal Support 14 The humble submission of the other sheep to the anointed members of spiritual Israel was foretold in the prophecy of Isaiah: “This is what Jehovah has said: ‘The unpaid laborers of Egypt and the merchants of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, tall men, will themselves come over even to you, and yours they will become. Behind you they will walk; in fetters they will come over, and to you they will bow down. To you they will pray, saying, “Indeed God is in union with you, and there is no one else; there is no other God.”’” (Isaiah 45:14) Symbolically, the other sheep today walk behind the anointed slave class and its Governing Body, following their leadership. As “unpaid laborers,” the other sheep willingly expend their physical strength and their resources in support of the worldwide preaching work that Christ assigned to his anointed followers on earth.—Acts 1:8; Revelation 12:17. 15 The other sheep are happy and grateful to serve Jehovah under the oversight of the slave class and its Governing Body. They recognize the anointed as members of “the Israel of God.” (Galatians 6:16) As figurative “strangers” and “foreigners” associated with spiritual Israel, they joyfully serve as “farmers” and “vinedressers” under the direction of the anointed, the “priests of Jehovah” and ‘ministers of God.’ (Isaiah 61:5, 6) They zealously share in preaching this good news of the Kingdom and in making disciples of people of all the nations. They give wholehearted assistance to the slave class in shepherding and nurturing newly found sheeplike ones.
*********** the WTS has said that the other sheep are "walking behind" the anointed and GB. What does the prophecy at Isa 45:14 mean now that the other sheep and non-GB anointed are all members of the "domestic class"? Above,the WTS says: "They recognize the anointed as members of “the Israel of God.” (Galatians 6:16) As figurative “strangers” and “foreigners” associated with spiritual Israel, they joyfully serve as “farmers” and “vinedressers” under the direction of the anointed, the “priests of Jehovah” and ‘ministers of God.’ (Isaiah 61:5, 6" How are the other sheep strangers and foreigners to those of the anointed that are of the same domestic class as they are? If the GB are alone the Israel of God then how can the non-GB anointed be said to be "strangers" to the F&DS that is the GB? I don't feel I have completed all my research on this by any means, but I just got to thinking on this and I just had to post. Any thoughts on whether or not the GB will soon be the "Israel of God" and if so, what the impact of this would be? I hope some of you can piece together where my mind is trying to go with this.....
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Bobcat
I'll let you in on a little secret the WT will never openly talk about:
Based on what Paul said, Isaiah 45:14 (about the unpaid laborers) and Zech 8:23 (about the 10 men of the nations that grab hold of the skirt of a Jew) began to have their fulfillment in the first century.
In 1 Cor. 14:25 Paul is alluding to both of these scriptures. The ref. column in the NWT after the last word in 14:25 has these verses. But I first found these verses via a reference called Commentary on the NT Use of the OT.
Based on how Paul is using the allusion, the "unpaid laborers" and the "10 men of the nations" refers to "ordinary people or unbelievers." Once a person became a Christian, in the fulfillment he would become the Jew that Isa 45:14 and Zech 8:23 was referring to.
So if Paul was inspired, this is the Christian application of those prophecies. The great crowd, having "washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb," would definitely not qualify as "ordinary people or unbelievers."
The WT's unscriptural application amounts to an unlawful slavery of their brothers, fellow Jews for which Jehovah, via Isaiah, had something to say. (58:3-7)
Having said that, there is some truth to those WT quotes, but not in the way that the WT intended. Try reading those WT quotes again, but with the understanding that all Christians are intended to be anointed, in the New Covenant, have Christ as mediator, are part of the "Israel of God." The "other sheep" are Christians of Gentile descent. The 144,000 are drawn from among these.
"Anointed remnant" is a WT created misnomer. The "remnant" part (in WT parlance) is drawn from "remaining ones" in Rev 12:17. The Society believes only the 144,000 make up "the woman's seed." That is why they gloss "remaining ones" as a "remnant." In English, a "remnant" is a small leftover part. There is a Greek word in the NT that means "remnant." It is only used at Acts 15:17 (Quoting from Amos.) "Remaining ones" from Rev 12:17 means "the rest." It is mostly used by John to refer to the vast majority or a large segment. (e.g. Rev 9:20= 2/3s; 11:13=9/10s; 19:21= all mankind besides the warriors killed in 19-20; 20:5= all mankind besides those who rule with Christ)
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Christ Alone
If you begin at around 10:30 on this video, they begin to explain that they (the 2 JWs speaking) are not included in the NT. It was written only to the annointed. It's an interesting subject to pursue with other JWs, I think...