Better late than never, huh? Here are some of my comments from last week's study. I started to prepare a rebuttal to the "six lines of evidence" that we are living in the last days, and I got bogged down. Maybe later. Let's just say the WTS is masquerading speculation as hard evidence. For example, can we definitively say who the King of the North is? Ollie North perhaps?
Yes, Blondie, Juan is very poor illustration for keeping awake through the night. The WT moral?
A sleeping man cannot guard his possessions . Is the WTS saying if the man stayed awake night after night, every night, he could have kept his possessions safe? It is obvious why that would not work. The man would eventually drop from exhaustion or start hallucinating. In either case, he would be in no shape to guard his treasures.
Or, perhaps, they are suggesting he could have safeguarded his treasures if he knew precisely which night the thief was coming. The WTS has claimed since about, 1847, that they knew the precise day of His coming. The dates are fuzzier these days, but it is very soon now. Again, trying to maintain a constant state of alertness to protect our treasures does not work over the long haul.
As a young Christian, I often puzzled over this scripture.
When the strong man fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him his whole armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. Luke 11:21, 22 ASV
Jesus said this smack in the middle of his demon casting sermon. As there is plenty of mental illness in my family, I am interested in what Jesus had to say about it. I have interpreted this scripture to mean that no man is completely secure against mental attack. Every man has a particular vulnerability depending on the "strong man at the door", the strength of his own mental defences. What Jesus hints here, is that He is the ultimate strong man, allowing even congenitally weak people to rise above their own inability. We want that ultimate "strong man" defending us.
Perhaps Juan would have slept better if he had a really big strong man guarding his family and his treasures, instead of relying on his own strength.
Also, Juan’s hiding place under the bed was not very secure. Does the bible say anything about where our treasures are to be kept? Why, yes, it does dear readers, yes it does.
Give what property you have in exchange for money, and give the money to the poor; make for yourselves money-bags which will not get old, wealth stored up in heaven which will be yours for ever, where thieves will not come nor worms put it to destruction. (Luke 12:33 BBE)
Heaven is a secure storage place. Building riches in to our lives and relationships is secure. The richness of our life and who we become cannot be stolen by any petty thief or petty tyrant. How is this to work for the "other sheep", I wonder? Will the Anointed keep your treasures for safekeeping, and send them to earth in trust, perhaps?
What did Jesus have in mind when he asked us to be alert? Did He mean for us to prop our eyes open until we drop from exhaustion? Out of curiosity, I studied all the "take heed" (prosecho) scriptures. I found an interesting pattern, that I will share later.
