"Keep waiting
(perimeno) for what
the Father has promised."―Acts 1:4
Good is Jehovah to the one hoping in him, to the soul that keeps seeking
for him.
Good it is that one should wait, even silently, for the salvation of
Jehovah.
―Lamentations 3:25,26
The Truth is simple! It
becomes complicated only when we deviate from it by going "beyond the
things that are written." —1 Corinthians
4:6
Please
Note:
The mention of "the
Society" in my articles refers to the "Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society" that is publishing our literature. By "organization"
I mean the entire brotherhood in all the congregations, who are expected
to be submissive and loyal to the Society and its Governing Body.
"Faithful and
Discreet"
or "good-for-nothing" slaves?
The foremost shepherd of God's sheep is Jesus Christ. (John 10:11)
But Jesus said that there would also be others, slaves of his, who would be
appointed to feed and care for the sheep. The faithful slaves would be
rewarded with greater responsibility, while any wicked or evil slave who
abused his position would
be dismissed and punished. That is why Jesus asked the rhetorical question:
"Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed
over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?" (Matt.
24:45)
The Governing Body members enjoin that Jesus was referring to them. Thus,
they love to refer to themselves as "the Faithful and Discreet Slave,"
having adopted this as their title of distinction. They claim to have
already been rewarded by their master and entrusted with all his
belongings.
But Jesus put any presumed importance of his "faithful and discreet slave"
into proper
perspective when he said: "[The master] will not
feel gratitude to the slave because he did the things assigned, will he? So
you, also, when you have done all the things assigned to you, say, 'We
are good-for-nothing slaves. What we have done is what we ought to have done."
―Luke 17:7-10, NWT
Clearly, it is highly presumptuous for anyone to declare himself to be a
"faithful and discreet" slave!
"This
Generation"
The
Watchtower of February 15, 2008, (pages 23-25), offered an updated
explanation regarding "this generation," as mentioned by Jesus at Matthew
24:34. But this was not a "new" understanding, as it returned to the
interpretation of 81 years earlier, in the
1927 Watchtower, February 15, page 62.
The changing explanations over the years of "this generation":
C.T. Russell taught that "this generation" referred to people in general,
who were living at a significant time in history. (Battle of Armageddon,
pages 603-605)
J.F. Rutherford changed this in 1927 to apply only to the members of
the "new creation," the anointed. "Some members of the new creation will be on the earth at the
time of Armageddon."
(W27, 2/15,
p 62,
click to view photocopy (res. 900x1191)
In 1942, "this generation" was no longer identified with
just the
anointed. (W42, 7/1, p 204, par. 43)
In 1949 it
was more clearly explained that it "had its modern counterpart in our
generation from A.D. 1914 forward. This generation is the one that sees the
Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven as foretold by Daniel." It was
expected that the generation of 1914 would be on hand to witness the
end of this system. (W49, 7/15, p 215, par. 19)
By 1995 time for "this generation" had run out and the explanation
needed to be updated. Therefore, "this generation" became "the wayward
people who make up this contemporary 'wicked and adulterous generation,'"
but no longer limited to any particular date. (w95 11/1 p. 15 par. 21)
Then in 2008, we were told: "As a class, these anointed ones make up
the modern-day 'generation' of contemporaries that will not pass away 'until
all these things occur.'" (W08, 2/15, p 23-25)
This explanation was a return to the one offered in 1927, which had already been discredited.
The April 15, 2010 Watchtower adds the following "increased light":
"[The word
'generation'] usually refers to people of varying ages whose lives overlap
during a particular time period; it is not excessively long; and it has an
end...[Jesus] evidently meant that the lives of the anointed who were on
hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914 would overlap with the
lives of other anointed ones who would see the start of the great
tribulation. That generation had a beginning, and it surely will have an
end."
Isaiah foretold: "O my people, those leading you on are causing [you] to
wander, and the way of your paths they have confused. . . Jehovah
himself will enter into judgment with the elderly ones of his people and its
princes." —Isaiah
3:12-14.
▪ Number of Peak Publishers
▪
Number Baptized
▪
Memorial Attendance
▪
Memorial Partakers
▪
Number of Congregations
▪ Number of Lands
Make Sure of All Things, Hold Fast to What is Fine.
―1 Thessalonians 5:21
Click on the Bible to
access the NWT
"I,
Jehovah,
am your
God,
the One
teaching
you
to benefit
[yourself], the
One
causing you
to
tread
in
the
way in which
you should
walk.
O if only you would
actually
pay attention
to
my
commandments!
Then
your
peace would
become
just like a
river, and
your
righteousness
like
the
waves
of the sea." Isaiah 48:17,18
Who Are God's People?
“'And they will
certainly become mine,' Jehovah of armies has said, 'at the day when I
am producing a special property. And I will show compassion upon them,
just as a man shows compassion upon his son who is serving him. And you
people will again certainly see the distinction between a righteous one
and a wicked one, between one serving God and one who has not served
him.”
—Malachi 3:17,18.
God tells us that he has a people for his name, and they constitute his temple. His spirit dwells in them;
therefore, they need to keep clean, holy!—Acts 15:14-17; 1 Cor. 3:16,17; 1 Peter
1:15,16.
God himself laid the foundation of his temple, of which Jesus Christ is
the precious cornerstone; while his bride, the 144,000, make up
the rest of the foundation. It is upon this foundation that God
has build his house in which we can render him sacred service. It is as
the apostle Paul explains: “You have been built up upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, while Christ Jesus himself is the
foundation corner-stone. In union with him the whole building, being
harmoniously joined together, is growing into a holy temple for Jehovah.
In union with him you, too, are being built up together into a place for
God to inhabit by spirit.”—Eph. 1:4,5; 2:20-22; Acts 13:48; Heb. 5:4,5;
1 Peter 2:4-6; Rev. 14:1, 3.
God's temple came into existence at Pentecost, when the new covenant
came into force, at which time the first living stones of the foundation
were put in place with the outpouring of the holy spirit upon the 120
disciples (the first ones of the eventual total of 144,000). Immediately following that event—which Peter explained to the crowd that
had gathered—God also began to build upon the foundation by adding
3,000 believers, the first ones of the countless numbers of worshipers
who have since followed. (Acts 2:1-4, 41, 47; 5:14) Throughout the many
centuries this has been God's only arrangement for true worship, and it
is still in existence today. It is only within this temple that anyone
can render sacred service that has God's approval. (Compare Leviticus
17:8,9) Any worship outside his temple is "in vain."—John 4:23,24;
Matt. 7:21-23; 15:7-9; Heb. 9:9,10, 14; Rev. 7:14,15.
It is the foundation that
determines where God's temple is, and, therefore, who God's people are!
The Scriptures have much to say in explaining the founding and rapid growth of this
temple in the first century; and also describing the situation that will exist
within this temple during the time of
the end, just prior to Christ's return. We are now seeing these in the
process of their fulfillment, including the judgment of God's people in
connection with
a "man of lawlessness" within his temple.—Dan. 12:1, 9,10;
Matt. 13:40-43; 2 Thess. 2:3-12; Tim. 3:1-7; 1 Peter 4:17,18; 5:1-4.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1975-
What did the Society's literature really
teach about 1975? Did individuals read too much into what
was being printed regarding 1975?
Did you read the book "Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of
God" (pages 26-30), published in 1966?
What conclusion did you reach prior to 1975? Did it affect your
outlook and expectations?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
“Happy is the
man that keeps on enduring trial, because on becoming approved
he will receive the crown of life, which Jehovah promised to
those who continue loving him.”—James
1:12; Matthew 24:13.
(The author of this website may not
necessarily agree with every detail in some of these articles.
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