by Godlyman 349 Replies latest watchtower bible
Fisherman:
No hard evidence could convince the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.
Certainly not if the supposed genealogy in Matthew is to be believed đ. Compare Matthew 1:11-12 and Jeremiah 22:28-30. Little wonder the alternative genealogy in Luke removed mention of Jeconiah (aka Jehoiachin). See also here.
âscholarâ:
Nope The following factors mitigate against the Return of the Exiles in 538 BCE;
1. Chronology of Darius the Mede
2.. Timing of the Decree ?
3. Proclamation of the Decree throughout Empire
4. Preparations by the Exiles prior to their Journey
5. Return trip home- route and time of Journey?
6. Resettlement home in their cities ?
7.. Timing of Altar Inauguration - Cyrus. 1st to 2nd year?
8. Calendrical reckoning used by Ezra?
Just for completeness⌠đ
1. There was no âDarius the Medeâ per se but the character can be identified with the general who governed in Babylon until Cyrusâ arrival a few weeks after capturing the city. His tenure as âkingâ (actually governor) would therefore be a period during October of 539 BCE, which has no bearing on the Jewsâ return to Judea in 538 BCE. (As he was not actually a king, he has no accession period.)
2. Such decrees were generally made around the time of a kingâs accession, in this case Nisan of 539 BCE, allowing 6 months for the 4-month journey. (There wasnât actually a special decree just for the Jews but actually a more general policy of allowing conquered people to practise their native religious beliefs in order to help quell civil unrest among the conquered people.)
3. Not all of the Jews returned to Jerusalem after the initial âdecreeâ, (and many never left Babylon at all) so it was not necessary for the âdecreeâ to have reached everywhere in the empire for the initial contingent to make the journey.
4. Not all of the Jews returned, and those who wanted to could reasonably make preparations within two months allowing a full 4 months for the 4-month journey. Knowledge of Cyrusâ reputation may also have allowed people to anticipate the return prior to the official âdecreeâ allowing additional time to prepare, though this is not essential.
5. It is not necessary to speculate about the specific route of the journey. Ezra provides 4 months as the duration of the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.
6. Because not all of the Jews returned, it is not necessary that all Jewish cities were repopulated at that time, so it is not necessary to speculate about the details. They were in their cities by October 538 BCE, giving ample time to resettle before gathering in Jerusalem the following year.
7. Iyyar (May) 537 BCE, during Cyrusâ 2nd regnal year.
8. As with other post-exilic Jewish writings in the Persian period generally, Ezra used Nisan/accession dating.
Thus, any chronology for the Return must fully account for these factors and shows that to cram all of these in one year - 538 BCE is impossible but the following year- 537 BCE makes the impossible now possible and highly probable.
Every âelementâ has been accounted for sufficiently to show that the Jews who returned to Judea arrived by Tishri (October) 538 BCE, with temple work commencing May 537 BCE. (The claim about âcramming everything into 538 BCEâ is also demonstrated to be a lie.)
See also 607 for Beginners.
Above:
2. Such decrees were generally made around the time of a kingâs accession, in this case Nisan of 539 BCE, allowing 6 months for the 4-month journey.
Obviously an inadvertent typo, that should say Nisan of 538 BCE.
Contradiction Anyone?
Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Psa 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
Psa 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
"Since Jehovah God and Jesus Christ completely trust the faithful and discreet slave, should we not do the same?" Watchtower 2009 Feb 15 p.27
"The plain truth is that we cannot say that we trust in Jehovah if we do not trust in his earthly representatives - those whom Jehovah trusts. Today Jehovah leads the earthly part of his organization by means of "the faithful and discreet slave." The "Watchtower 2022 Feb p.4
"There are many reasons to have complete trust in the slave class. First and foremost, Jesus has appointed them over all his precious "belongings." This is a clear indication that he has complete trust in them." Organized to Do Jehovah's Will (2005) p.18
Who really is the Faithful Slave? That is an easy one. Just read Matthew 24:45 and look at what it says.
Matt 24:45 - âWho then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?
When I look at verse 45 I see that Jesus must be talking about Brooklyn New York and I clearly visualize 13 men sitting in a board meeting in 1919 publishing stuff about the great pyramid of GizaâŚGodâs stone witness.
And yes it is April of the year 1919 as this verse clearly points out. And these men are also writing about the faithful and wise servant, Pastor Charles Russell. And their namesâŚwell I see the name Rutherford in verse 45 but I don't see the othersâŚperhaps you can see them in your mind's eye. Now, this is all scriptural⌠and if you don't believe it and put your trust in these 13 chosen vessels, and those directors that came after them, you will be destroyed at Armageddon along with 8 billion non-Jehovahâs Witnesses.
The end
Now for what I really believe this verse is saying in the context of Matthew 24 and the chapters that follow.
The faithful servant is every Christian to whom Jesus will say, âWell done my good and faithful servant!â at his parousia.
Vanderhove7 (and others): In the verse who or what is the household and what is the food?
If " the faithful and wise servant" "is every Christian to whom Jesus will say, âWell done my good and faithful servant!â at his parousia", then who are the servants whom "the faithful and wise servant" has been in put in charge of? Are the other servants (the ones at the receiving end instead of being the ones in charge) also Christians? If not, who are they?
Is the household each congregation of Christians (in the sense of the people who congregated together) or some congregations of Christians (in the sense of the people who congregated together)?
Is the food scriptural statements (such as explanations of scripture) made to people, whether done vocally or in writing? Is it the reading out loud of the scriptures to others? Is the food literal food which is fed to people hungry for literal food to feed their literal tummies?
Is it the reading out loud of the scriptures to others? Is the food literal food which is fed to people hungry for literal food to feed their literal tummies?
Jesus did both, so do some charities.
âWho really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics?ââMATT. 24:45.
He answered the question : At Pentecost 33 C.E., Jesus appointed the faithful slave over his domestics. The slave represents all anointed Christians , his chosen on earth at that time. In 33 ce it was the 12 Apostles . Later On after 96ce as time ran out for the True Church , and as persecution increased , the amount may have spread abroad , till at one point near say ( 280 ad ) as The true church was apostatized by the influx of paganism , it was abandoned . At this point those faithful fled into the wilderness , to await another day.
By 300 AD , Paganistic Christianity had taken hold of most of the Roman Empire .
Today , who fits the profile of the Faithful and Discreet Slave , who has gone out of their way over the years to discearnably remove all the pagan issues off the table of Spiritual Food that Christ has waited to feed to his sheep .
Maybe if you cant recognize it , your not really looking at all for the signs he foreshadowed at Matt. 24:3
Read This ; https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/w20130715/who-is-faithful-discreet-slave/
Disillusioned JW:
Vanderhove7 (and others): In the verse who or what is the household and what is the food?
If " the faithful and wise servant" "is every Christian to whom Jesus will say, âWell done my good and faithful servant!â at his parousia", then who are the servants whom "the faithful and wise servant" has been in put in charge of? Are the other servants (the ones at the receiving end instead of being the ones in charge) also Christians? If not, who are they?
Is the household each congregation of Christians (in the sense of the people who congregated together) or some congregations of Christians (in the sense of the people who congregated together)?
Is the food scriptural statements (such as explanations of scripture) made to people, whether done vocally or in writing? Is it the reading out loud of the scriptures to others? Is the food literal food which is fed to people hungry for literal food to feed their literal tummies?
No. It's a parable. It isn't necessary that each and every element 'means something'. (Especially in Protestant denominations there is a tedious tendency to insist that every little statement in the Bible has some 'greater meaning'.)
Household 'servants' were responsible for preparing meals. The original audience would understand that it is a typical function of the 'servant' in the parable to prepare meals for the household.
Notice also that the admonition in Matthew 24:49 is about beating fellow slaves (i.e. other Christians) rather than denoting any kind of leadership role over any separate hypothetical 'class' of 'domestics'.
