( Apologies to Blondie. I have an excess of energy today, I just had to "run ahead". I hope you are doing OK today.
Comments You Will Not Hear at the 11-28-04 WT Study (October 15, 2004 2 nd article)
Review comments will be in black and parentheses ()WT quotes will be in red and quotes ""
Quotes from other sources will be in blue Summary: This article is a bland and unashamed promotion of the brochure, ?See the Good Land?. Offered at conventions in 2003 and 2004. This glossy, full-colour brochure surely cost more to produce than the regular prophetic rehash. Is it possible that sales are flagging? ?Go About in the Land? "Go about in the land through its length and through its breadth.? Genesis 13:17--NWT
Gen 13:17
(ASV) Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.
(BBE) Come, go through all the land from one end to the other for I will give it to you.
(Darby) Arise, walk through the land according to the length of it and according to the breadth of it; for I will give it to thee.
(KJV+) Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
Arise (qum) (koom): A primitive root; to rise (in various applications, literally, figuratively, intensively and causatively): - abide, accomplish
Forgive me, but the Watchtower article makes this energetic promise sound more like a tour of Disneyland. Abraham was not merely on a map-making trip. Here?s the logic used to justify the oddly satisfying activity of studying maps. Can you spot the flaws?
(para 4) God?s Word comments: ?The heart of the understanding one acquires knowledge, and the ear of wise ones seeks to find knowledge.? (Proverbs 18:15) There are many subjects about which one might gain knowledge, yet accurate knowledge related to Jehovah God and his dealings is of key importance. Certainly, what we read in the Bible is central to that. (2 Timothy 3:16) Note, though, that understanding is involved. That is the ability to see a matter, to discern or grasp the connections between its parts and the whole. This is true of facts about places in the bible...
Here is what I see:
1. Wise ones seek knowledge. (Solomon says so)
2. Knowledge related to Jehovah God is of key importance. (Paul says so)
3. Knowledge related to Jehovah?s dealings is of key importance. (Paul says so)
4. Accurate knowledge is better than inaccurate knowledge (implied but not supported)
5. The bible is the central source for such knowledge. (Paul says so).
6. We have to understand what we read in order to absorb such knowledge. (duh)
7. Understanding means grasping the connections between things. (I am not surprised they have to spell this out. Most ?understanding? is provided to JW?s in WT literature with no requirement to think the matter out for themselves. Rarely is a passage of scripture discussed and analysed in context; either on the page or historically.)
8. Connecting the dots on a map will help us connect the dots in our understanding. (My, my, the opportunities to broaden a JW?s understanding of the scriptures has just been stuffed in to a thimble.)
Aside from the regular references to the lovely maps available in ?See the Good Land?, the JW?s are mentally flogged to keep up the good fight.
- Gideon fought all night (Judges 8), so (para 10) ...Christians too may tire physically, but is it not vital that we keep on doing God?s will?
- The Isrealites had not (para 12) exercised faith so they were condemned to forty years of wandering. In our case, we are on the threshold of the promised earthly Paradise. What is the lesson for us? ...Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest, for fear that anyone should fall in to the same pattern of disobedience.? - Hebrews 3:16-4:1 1. So there it is, boys and girls, the ninety years of waiting since 1914 is YOUR FAULT. Wow. What a blatant display of bad faith.
- The Gibeonites saved their necks by deception and were allowed to keep their lives. (para 14) The Gibeonites continued to manifest a willingess to do humble tasks in Jehovah?s service....We can imitate their attitude by striving to maintain peace with God and being willing to handle even humble assignments in his service. What is with the Watchtower habit of glorifying obviously flawed models of humanity? Lot was weak and greedy. The Gibeonites grovelled and lied to save their sorry necks. The Watchtower likes Lot because he grinned and bore it as he sat on a manure pile. How different the bible account would have been if Lot had lived in the hills with his uncle? He may never have been kidnapped - twice - lost his home - lost his wife - date raped by his own daughters?
- Elders in Ephesus walked fifty kilometers to hear Paul speak. (Acts 20:14-38) (para 17) Are you not impressed by the appreciation they showed in walking that distance to be with a traveling minister who could inform and encourage them? (I hear Blondie speaking through me...here it is...could it be that donations and support for modern-day travelling ministers is flagging? Oh, how ungrateful the masses!
- (para 19) ...we need to do our part, fearing Jehovah and sticking to his ways. By doing so, we will contribute toward enhancing and beautifying the spiritual paradise that now exists in the worldwide Christian congregation. If Watchtower materials and three meetings a week with virtual strangers (doubting, doubting, always wondering if I am bad association) is paradise, kill me now. I guess the brothers and sisters are not doing their part to bring about this glorious paradise. Bad, bad followers of this man-made organization.Question 19. What two paradises merit our ongoing attention?oo, oo, I know, I know!
1. The Spiritual Paradise existant only in approved
TM
Kingdom Halls.
2. The Physical Paradise on EARTH, EARTH, repeat after me, EARTH ONLY, coming very soon now.
Does this theology match the bible account?
In the King James version, there are three references to Paradise in the New Testament, Luke 23:43 2Cor 12:4, Rev 2:7...but in Corinthians Paul was ?taken up? to an existant Paradise. A heavenly paradise, then. We are down to two references to paradise, with no direct link to "earth". There are no examples in the King James bible that have "earth" and "paradise" in the same verse. There are no examples in the KJ bible that hae "spiritual and "paradise" in the same verse.
By comparison, there are 33 references to the ?Kingdom of Heaven?. Jesus talked about it a lot. Is it fair for me to talk constantly about chocolate, if I have no intention of sharing?
Is there any indication that Jesus or Paul distinguished between a ?Spiritual Paradise? and a ?Physical Paradise?? Naughty, Watchtower, you are ?adding to what is written. (Rev 22:18)?