Jeremiah Source Material

by Bobcat 51 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Bobcat
    Bobcat

    Page 175 par.14

    The paragraph with its associated subtitle are reproduced here:

    BENEFICIARIES OF THE NEW COVENANT

    14 Upon learning that the 144,000 are in the new covenant, some may have thought that only these benefit from it. Perhaps they thought so because only anointed ones are to partake of the emblems at the annual Memorial of Christ’s death, where the wine represents the “blood of the covenant.” (Mark 14:24) Recall, though, that those in the new covenant are to be associates with Jesus as the “seed” of Abraham, by means of which all nations will be blessed. (Gal. 3:8, 9, 29; Gen. 12:3) Somehow, through the new covenant, Jehovah will fulfill his promise to bless all mankind through Abraham’s “seed.”

    To add some context, for those who haven't read this subtitle and/or the rest of the chapter: The WT maintains that there are three entities associated with the New Covenant. There is Jesus, the "primary part of the seed of Abraham." (par.15) There is the 144,000, who are in the New Covenant and form a secondary part of the seed of Abraham. In WT parlance only these 144,000 are "anointed Christians." And there is a third group, the rest of mankind, to whom the subtitle above is referring to as "beneficiaries." This third group, according to the WT, are not part of Abraham's seed, are not anointed with Holy Spirit, and are not part of the New Covenant (and thus don't partake of the Memorial emblems).

    Paragraph 14 is drawing on the promise to Abraham made in Geneisi 12:3, quoted here:

    "And I will bless those who bless you, and him that calls down evil upon you I shall curse, and all the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you."

    The emphasis the WT is using is that 'all the families of the ground bless themselves,' not by being part of the seed of Abraham and the New Covenant, but by associating with the 144,000 that are.

    Having laid out the WT stance (which I believe I have done accurately), please look at the context of Galatians 3:8, 9, which is also cited as support in the Jeremiah Book above:

    Galatians 3:1-14 (NWT)

    O senseless Ga·la′tians, . . . 2 This alone I want to learn from YOU: Did YOU receive the spirit due to works of law or due to a hearing by faith? 3 . . . 4 . . . 5 He, therefore, who supplies YOU the spirit and performs powerful works among YOU, does he do it owing to works of law or owing to a hearing by faith? 6 Just as Abraham “put faith in Jehovah, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

    7 Surely YOU know that those who adhere to faith are the ones who are sons of Abraham. 8 Now the Scripture, seeing in advance that God would declare people of the nations righteous due to faith, declared the good news beforehand to Abraham, namely: “By means of you all the nations will be blessed.” 9 Consequently those who adhere to faith are being blessed together with faithful Abraham.
    10 For all those who depend upon works of law are under a curse; for it is written: “Cursed is every one that does not continue in all the things written in the scroll of the Law in order to do them.” 11 . . . 12 . . . 13 Christ by purchase released us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse instead of us, . . . 14 The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham might come to be by means of Jesus Christ for the nations, that we might receive the promised spirit through our faith.

    (Less relevant parts were deleted for conciseness. - Bobcat)

    Now please look at the context of Galatians and see if I am misreading it:

    It appears to me that these Galatian Christians (who are Gentiles, i. e. from among the nations), who had received the Spirit (became 'anointed') and had entered into the New Covenant by faith (as opposed to the Old Covenant which depended on works of Law), that it is these ones that the writer of Galatians is saying form "the nations" who recieve "the blessing of Abraham," and as a result, "recieve the promised spirit through [their] faith."

    In other words, the 'nations who are blessed by Abraham's seed' do not form some outside, non-covenantal group. Rather, they are the very ones who become part of the New Covenant, and who become "Anointed" due to 'receiving the promised Spirit.'

    The WT's Jeremiah Book represents a shameful distortion of what the Book of Galatians is saying.

  • prologos
    prologos

    and of course in wt parlance

    the 144 000 are the Kings and Priests of the "New WT System".

    The Law Covenant embraced all Israelites, not just the tribes of Judah and Levi, who were in separate additional covenants.

    Wt writers still have to come clean on the distinction between the NEW COVENANT and the KINGDOM COVENANT.

    By its defining terms,

    All believers are in the new covenant wether

    wt wants to restrict it or not, and

    let the heavens* decide who is in the Kingdom Covenant.

    * if the story can be believed.

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