leaving_quietly

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Posts by leaving_quietly

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  3

  Joel or Ezekiel

  by johnamos in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  is anyone here aware of any so-called new info (from wts) regarding the book of joel or ezekiel chapter 38 and 39?

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  leaving_quietly

  I believe it was at the Annual Meeting that they changed who Gog was. Gog is no longer Satan, but a coalition of nations, yet unnamed. See this post.
  
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  14

  Today's WT Study based on a theme that adds words not found in the original Greek.

  by leaving_quietly in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  today's wt study, from the december 15, 2014, is based on mark 7:14, which says:.

  so calling the crowd to him again, he said to them: listen to me, all of you, and understand the meaning.

  the two words at the end, "the meaning", are not found in the greek.

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  leaving_quietly

  Sorry for coming back to this thread. This lesson just bugs me. I keep finding stuff. Saw this one during the meeting.

  Par. 16: "Jesus also spoke of a man who was working in a field and found "hidden" treasure."

  Matt 13:44: “The Kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure, hidden in the field, that a man found and hid; and because of his joy, he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.

  Where in the parable does it say the man was working in a field? I thought WTBTS was all about "accurate knowledge"!!!
  
  
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  14

  Today's WT Study based on a theme that adds words not found in the original Greek.

  by leaving_quietly in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  today's wt study, from the december 15, 2014, is based on mark 7:14, which says:.

  so calling the crowd to him again, he said to them: listen to me, all of you, and understand the meaning.

  the two words at the end, "the meaning", are not found in the greek.

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  leaving_quietly

  Matt 13:11,12 was the "read" scripture in paragraph 3:

  For whoever has, more will be given him, and he will be made to abound; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
  

  If they couldn't discern the understanding of these parables by 1975, and felt the need to later change them to something so completely opposite, one must wonder if they ever had understanding.

  At the end of the meeting, the brother with the closing prayer thanked God for the understanding of these spiritual gems. I had to wonder what God thought of the prayers back in 1975 for the "spiritual gems" back then.
  

  As always the wtbts wants us to ask questions that can only be answered in wt literature. So ask any question you like but only get your answer from us. "We are the only reliable source of troof" don't you know!

  
  
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  14

  Today's WT Study based on a theme that adds words not found in the original Greek.

  by leaving_quietly in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  today's wt study, from the december 15, 2014, is based on mark 7:14, which says:.

  so calling the crowd to him again, he said to them: listen to me, all of you, and understand the meaning.

  the two words at the end, "the meaning", are not found in the greek.

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  leaving_quietly

  Para 4 is a real winner. "First, we need to be willing to take the time to study and meditate on what Jesus said, to do the necessary research, and to ask the appropriate questions." Then the article proceed with giving the explanations for us, so for most JWs, that's "studying" and "researching".

  I should mention that the 1975 explanations did change sometime after that, but before today. I wanted to find out 'what we used to believe', though.
  
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  14

  Today's WT Study based on a theme that adds words not found in the original Greek.

  by leaving_quietly in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  today's wt study, from the december 15, 2014, is based on mark 7:14, which says:.

  so calling the crowd to him again, he said to them: listen to me, all of you, and understand the meaning.

  the two words at the end, "the meaning", are not found in the greek.

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  leaving_quietly

  What about traveling merchant who found a treasure? What about the man seeking fine pearls? Today, the traveling merchant represents "righthearted people who go to great lengths to satisfy their spiritual need". oday's focus is on the one man who WAS looking for pearls, and the other man who WAS NOT seeking anything, but found a treasure. So, today focuses on the various ways people find "the truth", some going to great length to do so, and others who happened upon it and recognized it of high value.
  

  In 1975, however...
  

  23 In the parable of the treasure hid in the field, it is only one man that discovers this treasure and “sells what things he has and buys that field.” All the others have their sense of values applied in a different direction because their eyes were as if ‘pasted shut’ and did not see the hidden value in that field.—Matt. 13:44.
  24 In the parable of the “one pearl of high value,” it is only one “traveling merchant” that craves having the rarest pearl that can be found. He is the only one that “went and promptly sold all the things he had and bought it.” All the other traveling merchants were looking for something else that they considered valuable, likely something that would not cost them all that they had in order to get the purchase price.—Matt. 13:45, 46.
  --w75 10/1 p. 594 pars. 23,24
  
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  14

  Today's WT Study based on a theme that adds words not found in the original Greek.

  by leaving_quietly in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  today's wt study, from the december 15, 2014, is based on mark 7:14, which says:.

  so calling the crowd to him again, he said to them: listen to me, all of you, and understand the meaning.

  the two words at the end, "the meaning", are not found in the greek.

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  leaving_quietly

  What did the leaven represent? Today, "the whole mass" represents all the nations, and the fermenting represents the spread of the Kingdom message by means of the preaching work. In 1975...
  

  Today, what permeates the whole mass of the churches of Christendom? True Bible teaching and structure and procedure and observance? No! It is the fusion religion that Pontifex Maximus Constantine promoted, in which the Babylonish doctrines and procedures are the fundamental things rather than the teachings of God’s inspired Holy Word. Constantine was the one who as presiding officer of the Council of Nicaea settled the dispute over the personality and attributes of Jehovah God by ruling in favor of the Babylonish doctrine of the Trinity. Jesus Christ foretold this process of corrupting Christian doctrine and practice by giving the parable of the leaven. He said: “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three large measures of flour, until the whole mass was fermented.”—Matt. 13:33.
  9 The fermentation of the whole mass of Christendom has now had sixteen centuries of time in which to take place. Who can deny that Christendom is completely leavened today by the corrupting influence of Babylonish doctrine and worldliness and Nimrod-like defiance of the universal sovereignty of Jehovah God? This corrupting of the tremendous mass of Christendom’s imitation “sons of the kingdom” has made the false earthly “kingdom of God” an excellent place for the agents of Satan the Devil to take refuge in, like the “birds of heaven” lodging among the branches of the full-grown mustard-seed tree.—Matt. 13:31, 32.
  --w75 10/1 p. 597 pars 8, 9
  
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  14

  Today's WT Study based on a theme that adds words not found in the original Greek.

  by leaving_quietly in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  today's wt study, from the december 15, 2014, is based on mark 7:14, which says:.

  so calling the crowd to him again, he said to them: listen to me, all of you, and understand the meaning.

  the two words at the end, "the meaning", are not found in the greek.

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  leaving_quietly

  What did the mustard grain used to represent? Today it represents the Kingdom message and the Christian congregation. Back in 1975, this wasn't the case.
  

  All things taken into account, it is apparent that the symbolic mustard-seed “tree” of today is the counterfeit “kingdom of the heavens,” namely, Christendom, with her clergy lording it over the laity. The full-grown “tree” could not consistently picture the remnant on earth today of the sealed spiritual Israelites, for these are merely a fraction, not the full numerical growth of the 144,000 Kingdom heirs. In fact, for more than twenty-seven years the spiritual remnant has been getting fewer in number. At the Memorial celebration of 1975 their number had dropped to 10,454.
  -- w75 10/1 p. 598 par. 11

  
  

  
  
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  14

  Today's WT Study based on a theme that adds words not found in the original Greek.

  by leaving_quietly in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  today's wt study, from the december 15, 2014, is based on mark 7:14, which says:.

  so calling the crowd to him again, he said to them: listen to me, all of you, and understand the meaning.

  the two words at the end, "the meaning", are not found in the greek.

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  leaving_quietly

  Today's WT Study, from the December 15, 2014, is based on Mark 7:14, which says:

  So calling the crowd to him again, he said to them: “Listen to me, all of you, and understand the meaning.

  The two words at the end, "the meaning", are not found in the Greek. The statement should read: "Listen to me, all of you, and understand."

  Also, this is another example of cherry-picking a verse and pulling it out of context, using it to apply to something else entirely. The original context is this (Mark 7:1-15):
  

  Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him. 2 And they saw some of his disciples eat their meal with defiled hands, that is, unwashed ones. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands up to the elbow, clinging to the tradition of the men of former times, 4 and when they come from the market, they do not eat unless they wash themselves. There are many other traditions that they have received and cling to, such as baptisms of cups, pitchers, and copper vessels.) 5 So these Pharisees and scribes asked him: “Why do your disciples not observe the tradition of the men of former times, but they eat their meal with defiled hands?” 6 He said to them: “Isaiah aptly prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far removed from me. 7 It is in vain that they keep worshipping me, for they teach commands of men as doctrines.’ 8 You let go of the commandment of God and cling to the tradition of men.”
  9 Further, he said to them: “You skillfully disregard the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 For example, Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Let the one who speaks abusively of his father or mother be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother: “Whatever I have that could benefit you is corban (that is, a gift dedicated to God),”’ 12 you no longer let him do a single thing for his father or his mother. 13 Thus you make the word of God invalid by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.” 14 So calling the crowd to him again, he said to them: “Listen to me, all of you, and understand the meaning. 15 Nothing from outside a man that enters into him can defile him; but the things that come out of a man are the things that defile him.”
  
  
  
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  6

  Evidently, the 24 Elders are directing the Governing Body

  by compound complex in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am grateful for holy spirit's ability to dredge up long-forgotten spiritual gems that lurk in dark caverns of the mind.. it has been revealed -- for your edification and enlightenment -- that the resurrected anointed among the symbolic 24 elders do, indeed, play a vital role in the new but typically confusing developments in the world of jw theology.. in the much revered but oft maligned book, "revelation: its grand climax at hand!

  " we discover the reason behind it all:.

  ] resurrected ones of the 24-elders group may be involved in the communicating of divine truths today.

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  leaving_quietly

  The belief that the 24 elders are the 144,000 is ludicrous. How can you sing before yourself?

  
  Rev 14:1-3: Then I saw, and look! the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who have his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. 2 I heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; and the sound that I heard was like singers who accompany themselves by playing on their harps. 3 And they are singing what seems to be a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one was able to master that song except the 144,000, who have been bought from the earth.
  

  
  
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  11

  Jehovahs Chariot ... as driven by the GB

  by Simon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  someone mentioned "jehovahs chariot is on the move" on another topic and i immediately had flashbacks to those articles where they tried to explain how a chariot could have wheels that went in every direction and also had eyes, something idiotic.. i had a chuckle because the image that then popped into my head when i thought about those wheels going every direction was not one of those clever honda devices with the clever wheel thingy - no, it was a supermarket trolley.

  you know the ones where one or two of the wheels wobbly and have a mind of their own and typically want to veer off suddenly into an elaborate display of tinned food?.

  that is jehovahs chariot as driven by the governing body.

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  leaving_quietly

  Hehe, funny.

  
  Like "paradise earth", the phrase "Jehovah's Chariot" is also not found in the Bible.