Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 12-16-2012 WT Study (PROMISES)

"We have no doubt whatever in regard to the chronology relating to the dates of 1874, 1914, 1918, and 1925. It was on this line of reckoning that the dates 1874, 1914, and 1918 were located; and the Lord has placed the stamp of his seal upon 1914 and 1918 beyond any possibility of erasure. What further evidence do we need? Using this same measuring line.... it is an easy matter to locate 1925, probably in the fall, for the beginning of the antitypical jubilee. There can be no more question about 1925 than there was about 1914." (Watchtower, p. 150, May 15, 1922)

In the 1920's, the Watchtower was still teaching that Jesus presence started in 1874.

"Bible prophecy shows that the Lord was due to appear for the second time in the year 1874. Fulfilled prophecy is otherwise designated the physical facts; and the facts are indisputable." Watchtower 1922 Nov 1 p.333

Yet how indisputable were the facts? Whose promise was not kept, God’s or the WTS?

Thousand Year Reign book ka chap. 11 pp. 209-210 par. 55 “Here Is the Bridegroom!” ***

In the year 1943 the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society published the book “The Truth Shall Make You Free.” In its chapter 11, entitled “The Count of Time,” it did away with the insertion of 100 years into the period of the Judges and went according to the oldest and most authentic reading of Acts 13:20, and accepted the spelled-out numbers of the Hebrew Scriptures. This moved forward the end of six thousand years of man’s existence into the decade of the 1970’s. Naturally this did away with the year 1874 C.E. as the date of return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the beginning of his invisible presence or parousia… What, then, about the parousia (presence) of Christ? Page 324 of the above book positively says: “The King’s presence or parousia began in 1914.”

START OF ARTICLE

1. How does Jehovah’s word differ from that of sinful humans?

JEHOVAH is “the God of truth.” (Ps. 31:5) Sinful

men cannot always be trusted, whereas “it is impossible

for God to lie.” (Heb. 6:18; read Numbers

23:19.) What he purposes for mankind’s benefit always

comes true. For example, everything that God

said he would do at the beginning of each creative

epoch “came to be so.” Thus, by the end of the sixth

creative day, “God saw everything he had made and,

look! it was very good.”—Gen. 1:6, 7, 30, 31.

COMMENTS

Do you think that jws read any of the cited scriptures not marked “read”?

Did Jesus’ presence come true in 1874 as the WTS said?

“creative days” – how many remember what the definition was before 1987?

Has the WTS every directly said in print that it has changed?

2. What is God’s rest day, and why did he “make it sacred”?

2 Having reviewed his creative works, Jehovah

God announced the beginning of a seventh day—not

a 24-hour day, but a long period of time during

which he has rested from further works of earthly

creation. (Gen. 2:2) God’s rest day still has not ended.

(Heb. 4:9, 10) The Bible does not reveal exactly

when it started. It was some time after the creation

of Adam’s wife, Eve, about 6,000 years ago. Ahead

of us lies the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ,

which will ensure the fulfillment of God’s purpose

in creating the earth to be an everlasting paradise

filled with perfect mankind. (Gen. 1:27, 28; Rev.

20:6) Can you be sure that you will have such a happy

future? Indeed you can! For “God proceeded to

bless the seventh day and make it sacred.” This was

a guarantee that no matter what unforeseen problems

might arise, God’s purpose would unfailingly

come true by the end of his rest day.—Gen. 2:3.

COMMENTS

Creative day – not 24-hour day, “long period of time”

*** w67 7/15 pp. 446-447 The Removal of Mankind’s Chief Disturber ***

According to the Bible timetable, man’s history on earth has been nearly 6,000 years. Adam was created in 4026 B.C.E., which means that six thousand years of human history end about the fall of 1975 C.E. We are in the great 7,000-year rest day of God, starting at the time he rested after the creation of Adam and Eve. There are, therefore, a thousand years left to run.

7 th creative day started with Eve’s creation – a fact the WTS did not clarify until 1975

*** w75 10/1 p. 579 The End of 6,000 Years of Man-Rule Approaches—What Has Been Accomplished? ***

SINCE a new Jewish lunar year began in September 1975 a significant point in human history was reached. What was that? According to the Bible’s count of time, mankind then completed 6,000 years of existence on earth. Yes, the first man Adam, if he had chosen to remain obedient under God’s rulership, would have still been alive and 6,000 years old in September of this year.

Does this mean, then, that mankind has now reached 6,000 years into the 7,000-year period that God ‘blessed and made sacred’ as his great “rest day”? Does it mean that Christ’s millennial Kingdom rule, as the final 1,000 years of that “rest day,” is to be reckoned from September 1975?—Gen. 1:27, 31; 2:2, 3; Rev. 20:1-6.

No, it does not mean that. Why not? Well, the Bible record shows that God’s creations on the “day” just preceding that 7,000-year “rest day” did not end with Adam’s creation. It shows a time lapse between the creation of Adam and that of his wife, Eve. During that time, God had Adam name the animals. Whether that period amounted to weeks or months or years, we do not know. So we do not know exactly when Jehovah’s great “rest day” began, nor do we know exactly when it will end. The same applies to the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign. The Bible provides us no way to fix the date, and so it does us no good to speculate when that date may be.—Gen. 2:18-25; Matt. 24:42, 44.

3. (a) After the start of God’s rest day, what rebellion took

place? (b) How did Jehovah state his intentions to crush the

rebellion?

3 After God’s rest day began, however, disaster

struck. Satan, an angelic son of God,

set himself up as a rival god. He told

the first lie and deceived Eve so that

she disobeyed Jehovah. (1 Tim. 2:14)

Eve, in turn, got her husband to join the

rebellion. (Gen. 3:1-6) Even at that low

point in universal history when God’s

truthfulness was being called into question,

Jehovah did not see the need to

confirm with an oath that his purpose

would still come true. Instead, in words

that would be understood in God’s due

time, he simply stated how the rebellion would

be crushed: “I shall put enmity

between you [Satan] and the woman

and between your seed and her seed. He

[the promised Seed] will bruise you in

the head and you will bruise him in the

heel.”—Gen. 3:15; Rev. 12:9.

COMMENTS

Did Satan say anything about being a god to Eve? Why did this so-called perfect woman think she was talking to a talking snake? Would you an “imperfect” person have talked to that snake?

The WTS has called into question God’s truthfulness by predicting many dates that did not come true.

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/1800s.php

SWORN OATH

—A USEFUL LEGAL TOOL

4, 5. What legal tool did Abraham at times

make use of?

4 At that early stage in human history,

it is doubtful that swearing to the

truthfulness of a matter was a necessary

part of the vocabulary that God

gave Adam and Eve. Perfect creatures

who love God and imitate him do not

need to make an oath; they always tell

the truth and have complete trust in

one another. But things changed with

the introduction of human sin and imperfection.

Eventually, when lying and

deception were common among men, it

became necessary for them to swear to

the truthfulness of important matters.

COMMENTS

Doubtful – WTS vocabulary for adding to the bible

Do imperfect creatures have to make an oath?

Does the WTS swear to their statements in the WT publications?

5 Making oaths was a legal tool that

the patriarch Abraham used to good

advantage on at least three occasions.

(Gen. 21:22-24; 24:2-4, 9) This occurred,

for example, when he returned from defeating

the king of Elam and his allies.

The kings of Salem and Sodom came

out to meet Abraham. Melchizedek, the

king of Salem, was also “priest of the

Most High God.” As such, he blessed

Abraham and praised God for giving

Abraham the victory over his enemies.

(Gen. 14:17-20) Then, when the king of

Sodom wanted to reward Abraham for

rescuing the king’s people from the invading

armies, Abraham swore: “I do

lift up my hand in an oath to Jehovah

the Most High God, Producer of heaven

and earth, that, from a thread to a sandal

lace, no, I shall take nothing from

anything that is yours, in order that you

may not say, ‘It was I who made Abram

rich.’”—Gen. 14:21-23.

COMMENTS

OT example – Abraham

Is this saying that jws cannot swear oaths to non-jws?

JEHOVAH’S SWORN

PROMISE TO ABRAHAM

6. (a) What example did Abraham set for us?

(b) How do we stand to benefit from Abraham’s

obedience?

6 For the benefit of sinful mankind,

Jehovah God has also made use of oaths

by using expressions like “ ‘As I am

alive,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign

Lord Jehovah.” (Ezek. 17:16) The Bible

describes more than 40 different occasions

when Jehovah God made sworn

oaths. Perhaps the best-known example

was in God’s dealings with Abraham.

Over a period of many years, Jehovah

had made several covenant promises

to Abraham that when combined show

that the promised Seed would descend

from Abraham through his son Isaac.

(Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15:5, 18; 21:12)

Then Jehovah put Abraham to a severe

test, commanding him to offer up his

beloved son. Without delay, Abraham

obeyed and was about to sacrifice Isaac

when an angel of God stopped him.

Then God made this oath: “By myself I

do swear . . . that by reason of the fact

that you have done this thing and you

have not withheld your son, your only

one, I shall surely bless you and I shall

surely multiply your seed like the stars

of the heavens and like the grains of

sand that are on the seashore; and your

seed will take possession of the gate

of his enemies. And by means of your

seed all nations of the earth will certainly

bless themselves due to the fact that

you have listened to my voice.”—Gen.

22:1-3, 9-12, 15-18.

COMMENTS

What sworn oaths has God made to the WTS since 1879?

Does the WTS think that the 2 baptism questions are oaths; if so to whom, a spirit-directed organization?

7, 8. (a) For what purpose did God swear to

Abraham? (b) How will Jesus’ “other sheep”

benefit from God’s sworn promise?

7 Why did God swear to Abraham

that His promises would come true? It

was to reassure those who would become

joint heirs with Christ, making

up the secondary part of the promised

“seed,” and to strengthen their faith.

(Read Hebrews 6:13-18; Gal. 3:29) As

the apostle Paul explained, Jehovah

“stepped in with an oath, in order that,

through two unchangeable things [his

promise and his oath] in which it is impossible

for God to lie, we . . . may have

strong encouragement to lay hold on the

hope set before us.”

COMMENTS

Reassure only the 144,000 said to be only members of the WTS since 1879?

Did you know that the 144,000 and Jesus were considered The Christ?

From the Millions book (1920),The word Christ here means anointed one. The word Messiah means the same thing. The Christ consists of Jesus glorified, the head, and the members of his body, which constitutes the church. "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." - p. 76. Millions book (1920)

Messiah's kingdom once established, Jesus and his glorified church constituting the great Messiah, shall minister the blessings to the people they have so long desired and hoped for and prayed might come. - p. 88. Millions book (1920)

From the Harp of God book (1921, 1928 ed.),

The word "Christ" signifies anointed. ... The Christ is the instrument or channel for the blessing of mankind. The Christ is composed of Jesus, the great and mighty head, and 144,000 members. (Revelation 7:4) Christ Jesus is the head and the church his body. - p. 191.

"The mystery" is the Christ, the anointed class, Jesus the head and his body members, designated in the Scriptures as 'the seed of Abraham, according to the promise'. (Colossians 1: 26, 27) It is the repeatedly announced purpose of Jehovah that through this seed all families of the earth shall be blessed. (Galatians 3: 8,16,27, 29) - p. 329.

8 Anointed Christians are not the

only ones who benefit from God’s

sworn oath to Abraham. By means of

Abraham’s “seed,” Jehovah swore that

people of “all nations of the earth

[would] bless themselves.” (Gen. 22:

18) Such blessed ones include Christ’s

obedient “other sheep,” who have set

before them the hope of everlasting

life on an earthly paradise. (John 10:16)

Whether your hope is heavenly or earthly,

“lay hold” on it by continuing to live

a life of obedience to God.—Read Hebrews

6:11, 12.

COMMENTS

The 144,000 benefit first and the rest supposedly only the 144,000.

CARROT: everlasting life on an earthly paradise; BTW paradise and earth never appear together in the bible.

A life of obedience to the WTS actually.

*** w11 7/15 p. 28 par. 16 God’s Rest—What Is It? ***

We can enter into Jehovah’s rest—or join him in his rest—by obediently working in harmony with his advancing purpose as it is revealed to us through his organization.

*** w10 4/15 p. 10 par. 12 Holy Spirit’s Role in the Outworking of Jehovah’s Purpose ***

By being obedient and loyal to the direction received from the earthly part of God’s organization, you show that you are keeping pace with Jehovah’s celestial chariot and are working in harmony with his holy spirit.—Heb. 13:17.

RELATED OATHS OF GOD

9. What sworn oath did God make when Abraham’s

descendants were in slavery to the Egyptians?

9 Centuries later, Jehovah again swore

with respect to the above-mentioned

promises when he sent Moses to speak

to Abraham’s descendants, who were

then in slavery to the Egyptians. (Ex.

6:6-8) Referring to that occasion, God

said: “In the day of my choosing Israel,

. . . I lifted up my hand in an oath to

them to bring them forth from the land

of Egypt to a land that I had spied out for

them, one flowing with milk and honey.”—

Ezek. 20:5, 6.

COMMENTS

The bible says God spoke to Abraham; did he speak in the same way to the Israelites or how?

PICTURE: Abraham will soon see Jehovah’s promises come true

10. What promise did God make to Israel after

delivering them from Egypt?

10 Then, after Israel’s deliverance

from Egypt, Jehovah made another

sworn promise to them: “If you will

strictly obey my voice and will indeed

keep my covenant, then you will certainly

become my special property out

of all other peoples, because the whole

earth belongs to me. And you yourselves

will become to me a kingdom of

priests and a holy nation.” (Ex. 19:5, 6)

What a privileged position God thus offered

Israel! It meant that if obedient, individuals

from that nation could have

the hope of being used by God as a

kingdom of priests for the blessing of

the rest of mankind. Later, in describing

what he had done for Israel on that

occasion, Jehovah stated: “I proceeded

. . . to make a sworn statement to you and

enter into a covenant with you.”—Ezek.

16:8.

COMMENTS

Obey God or a human organization?

11. How did Israel respond to God’s invitation

to come into a covenant relationship with him

as his chosen people?

11 At that time, Jehovah did not

oblige Israel to make a sworn oath that

they would be obedient; nor did God

force the Israelites into this privileged

relationship. Instead, they said of their

own free will: “All that Jehovah has spoken

we are willing to do.” (Ex. 19:8)

Three days later, Jehovah God made

known to Israel what he would require

of his chosen nation. First they heard

the Ten Commandments, and then Moses

related to them further commands

that are recorded from Exodus 20:22

to Exodus 23:33. What was Israel’s response?

“All the people answered with

one voice and said: ‘All the words that

Jehovah has spoken we are willing

to do.’ ” (Ex. 24:3) Then Moses wrote

down the laws in “the book of the covenant”

and read them aloud so that the

whole nation could hear them again. After

that, for the third time, the people

vowed: “All that Jehovah has spoken we

are willing to do and be obedient.”—Ex.

24:4, 7, 8.

COMMENTS

God did not force Israelites, of own free will = baptism questions, baptism understood; is the WTS trying to make a point that a six-year old can choose baptism of his/her own free will?

12. What were the responses of Jehovah and

of his chosen people to the covenant that had

been established between them?

12 Jehovah immediately began to fulfill

his side of the Law covenant by arranging

for a tent of worship and a

priesthood that made it possible for sinful

humans to approach him. Israel, on

the other hand, quickly forgot their dedication

to God and “pained even the

Holy One of Israel.” (Ps. 78:41) For example,

while Moses was busy receiving

further instructions on Mount Sinai, the

Israelites became impatient and began

to lose faith in God, thinking that Moses

had deserted them. So they made a

golden image of a calf and said to the

people: “This is your God, O Israel, who

led you up out of the land of Egypt.” (Ex.

32:1, 4) Then they held what they called

“a festival to Jehovah” and bowed down

and sacrificed to their man-made image.

Upon seeing that, Jehovah told Moses:

“They have turned aside in a hurry from

the way I have commanded them to go.”

(Ex. 32:5, 6, 8) Sadly, from then on Israel

had a history of making vows to God

that they later broke.—Num. 30:2.

COMMENTS

Did Abraham need a priesthood to approach God, or Isaac, or Jacob, or their families?

Remember Aaron was not punished for making the golden calf, while thousands of others were executed by their fellow idolaters. (see 12-6-12 Comments)

TWO ADDITIONAL OATHS

13. What sworn promise did God make to

King David, and how does it relate to the promised

Seed?

13 During the reign of King David, Jehovah

made two more sworn promises

for the benefit of all who obey him.

First, he swore to David that his throne

would last forever. (Ps. 89:35, 36; 132:

11, 12) This meant that the promised

Seed would be called “the Son of David.”

(Matt. 1:1; 21:9) Humbly, David addressed

this future descendant as his

“Lord” because the Christ would occupy

a superior position.—Matt. 22:42-44.

COMMENTS

God swore to David pre-adultery and murder. David was not punished according to the law. I guess being king is good.

14. What sworn promise did Jehovah make

concerning the promised Seed, and how do we

benefit from it?

14 Second, Jehovah inspired David to

foretell that this unique King would also

serve as mankind’s High Priest. In Israel

the kingship and priesthood were

completely separate. The priests were

from the tribe of Levi, and the kings

were from the tribe of Judah. But concerning

his illustrious future heir, David

foretold: “The utterance of Jehovah

to my Lord is: ‘Sit at my right hand until

I place your enemies as a stool for

your feet.’ Jehovah has sworn (and he

will feel no regret): ‘You are a priest to

time indefinite according to the manner

of Melchizedek!’ ” (Ps. 110:1, 4) In

fulfillment of that prophecy, Jesus

Christ, the promised Seed, now rules

from heaven. Also, he serves as mankind’s

High Priest by helping repentant

ones to come into an acceptable relationship

with God.—Read Hebrews 7:

21, 25, 26.

COMMENTS

Well, if God could bypass the law in the case of David, why not bypass this regarding the priesthood and kings being from separate tribes?

Where is proof that Jesus is reigning from heaven now?

THE NEW ISRAEL OF GOD

15, 16. (a) What two Israels are referred to in

the Bible, and which one has God’s blessing today?

(b) What command did Jesus give his followers

about the making of vows?

15 Because of rejecting Jesus Christ,

the nation of Israel finally lost their favored

status with God along with the

prospect of ever becoming “a kingdom

of priests.” As Jesus told the Jewish

leaders: “The kingdom of God will

be taken from you and be given to a

nation producing its fruits.” (Matt. 21:

43) That new nation was born at Pentecost

33 C.E. when God’s spirit was

poured out on about 120 disciples of

Jesus gathered in Jerusalem. These became

known as “the Israel of God” and

soon numbered into several thousand

made up of people from every nation of

the then-known world.—Gal. 6:16.

COMMENTS

The only place you find that phrase “Israel of God” is in Galatians and the WTS builds part of the 144,000 doctrine from that.

16 Unlike natural Israel, God’s new

spiritual nation has kept on bearing

good fruit by its continual obedience

to God. One of the commands that

its members obey concerns the making

of sworn oaths. Oath-taking was

being abused when Jesus was on earth,

with people swearing falsely or swearing

about trivial matters. (Matt. 23:16-

22) Jesus taught his followers: “Do not

swear at all . . . Just let your word Yes

mean Yes, your No, No; for what is in excess

of these is from the wicked one.”

—Matt. 5:34, 37.

COMMENTS

Bearing good fruit? Many unfulfilled predictions? Can jws make oaths?

17. What questions will be considered in the

next study article?

17 Does this mean that it is always

wrong to make a sworn oath? More important,

what is involved in letting our

Yes mean Yes? These questions will be

considered in the next study article. As

we continue to meditate on God’s Word,

may we be motivated to keep on obeying

Jehovah. Then he, in turn, will delight to

bless us forever in accord with his precious

sworn promises.

COMMENTS

Are WTS promises in the name of God proven true?

PICTURE: Jehovah’s promises always come true

CLOSING COMMENTS

Next week, LET YOUR YES MEAN YES.

Yes to God or the WTS?

Love, Blondie

C.O.B.E.Beef

Thank you Blondie. Your weekly comments have been very helpful to me in reaching my wife. She is " out " now mentally and we are moving on. Keep up the good work!

WTWizard

So I am supposed to have faith that Jehovah is going to fulfill my needs based on a few isolated incidents where he made a deal with a few hand-picked people more than 2,000 years ago? I see total fallacy in this: Every single one of these deals was between Jehovah and a few specific leaders of one specific nation. And within a specific time frame. Trying to extend that to Gentiles and to our time now is dangerous. Where did Jehovah directly make a deal with Gentiles in modern times that he has reasonable proof of having fulfilled? Never.

To benefit from these deals, one would have to be Jewish, in the line leading to Jesus himself, and within that time frame. Last I recall, less than 1% of the general population is Jewish--I suppose everyone else is supposed to work for a fulfillment that, at most, applies to only 1% of the population. And, even within that 1%, none of them are in the line leading to Jesus. So they, too, are excluded from this. And these deals are all out of date, so even if their ancestors were included, they are not.

Beyond that, since when does the promise include making a paradise of the whole earth? When I read that account in Genesis, it seems Satan was in the right for preventing a global tyranny that Jehovah was trying to impose. Promise to live forever as a slave? Then Jehovah, the sore loser he is, goes and curses mankind for wanting freedom. These promises were for a specific purpose, related to bringing Jesus to the earth to provide a guilt trip for everyone living as humans would live. It is all about restoring that tyranny that Jehovah intended for mankind. We live as slaves to Jehovah, never to enjoy our own lives. We are trained not to fight back. We are trained to be afraid of Satan's trying to upbuild us spiritually, even when such does nothing for us. We are trained to go above and beyond when we are ordered to do something in the name of God. Right in their own LIE-ble! The washtowel makes this even worse.

I do not fit any of the characteristics or qualifications for any of those deals. I do not want to exist as one of Jehovah's slaves. Therefore, nothing in the washtowel rag is of any use for me.

Gorbatchov

Thank you Blondie.

JW GoneBad

Comment on par 15 & 16: ‘The only place you find that phrase “Israel of God” is in Galatians and the WTS builds part of the 144,000 doctrine from that.’

Good observation Blondie. As we all know too well, WT is very creative when it comes to its different doctrines and teachings. In fact many of their teachings are built not on scripture at all but on pure 'hit and miss' speculation and they have 7.5 million followers who have bought into the koolaid!

ziddina

Blondie - thanks!!

freesia

JW GoneBad

BTTT

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 12-16-2012 WT Study (PROMISES)

blondie

C.O.B.E.Beef

WTWizard

Gorbatchov

JW GoneBad

ziddina

JW GoneBad

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