Contributed
All of Jesus'
enemies have not yet been placed as a stool for his feet. So, his
"return" at Armageddon will be far greater than his initial
activity, when given "authority" to cleanse the heavens to 'prepare
a place' for us. (Rev. 12:7-10) The fulfillment of the following
parables therefore, was not likely finished in the past, as has been
claimed.
When scriptural understanding began opening up to me, I believed
that all such spiritual food should be forwarded to the Governing
Body. This was my belief due to the description of the slave, in
Matthew 24:45-47. Here it seemed obvious, that of all the slaves in
the household that were expected to be faithful and discreet, there
was a particular slave among them who had the distinction of being
the Steward over the others. This would be the one who would
determine, out of all the foodstuffs brought in by the other slaves,
which provisions would be served, and when.
This is a simple illustration, and it is simple to understand in
it's purity. Jesus gave it to Peter, and an accurate understanding
can be attained, if we consider how Peter himself would have
understood it.
In the first century, there were household slaves. No matter what
their position within the house, they were all required to be
faithful and discreet. So in the application of this illustration,
all in the household are to strive to be 'the faithful and discreet
slave', from the lowest (domestics under the steward), to the
highest (the Steward).
The distinction between the slaves comes to our attention when Jesus
points out the Steward (one of the slaves) as being over the others;
and he accurately points out that this is the position of oversight.
According to the accuracy of this illustration and the way Peter
would have naturally understood it, the Steward Slave of the
household, is not the source of the food he manages and dispenses.
He does not do the sowing of seed in the garden, nor the picking of
vegetables, nor the preparing of meals, nor the setting of the
table, nor the cleaning of the dishes afterward. He was usually an
older slave who had been with the Master a longer time, and who
already experienced working at many of the jobs now under him. Now
that he is older, his Master wisely uses this one's experience, and
mercifully relieves him of the labor intensive work. He is simply
asked to manage the household...to determine how it is conducted and
what the menu will be for the week, so to speak. Though he organizes
the feeding schedule, he does not directly provide the food.
So, to get back to my situation, I believed that as I was gathering
this spiritual food, it was proper to forward it to the Governing
Body, for them to determine how and when to dispense it. I was
unprepared for the announcement that went out through a Wt. study
article, that the men on the Governing Body consider themselves the
only source of any spiritual light, as well as it's dispensers.
When Jesus explained to us how this light would come, he said that
Holy Spirit would teach the anointed all things, and lead them into
all the truth. There are so many scriptures like Joel 2:28&29 and
Acts 2:17&18, that show that this ability to prophesy in the time of
the end, can come from even the lowest of the household slaves.
Remember, all slaves are to be faithful and discreet in presenting
whatever they are given. It is up to the Steward alone, to arrange
and dispense it in an orderly fashion.
If a Steward refuses the contributions of the other slaves, will he
really be able to properly care for the needs of the household?
Jesus said that such a Steward would be acting unreasonably, as if
drunk. What do the scriptures reveal as to the symbolic drink such a
one would become drunk by? It is likely the same drink being imbibed
by the "confirmed drunkards" he is now in the company of (Matt.
24:49). Those said to be in scripture, symbolic confirmed drunkards,
are drunk with power, such as Babylon the Great. (Rev. 17:2,6) So,
the position this Steward has been given, may have 'gone to his
head'. The absence of the Master has no doubt contributed to this.
We are told in Matt.24:48, that this steward begins these bad
behaviors, traits, and associations, because, as he puts it, "My
Master is delaying".
This does not necessarily mean that he wants his master to stay
away, so that he can get away with this deterioration and neglect of
the household. No, but he has become angry with the Master because
the Master is taking too long to arrive! He is irritated that he
must unexpectedly stay an extended time at his post. This delay
brings about unwelcomed changes, that he did not expect to be faced
with. Some of these developments reveal him to be unreliable.
He then expresses his resentment upon the slaves under him. When
they bring in to him the provisions for the day, he beats them.
Rather than appreciate the contributions of his fellow workers, his
drunken state of mind causes him to believe that because of simply
having this station of authority, all credit belongs to him for all
the household's needs being fulfilled. Such a Steward could no
longer be proficient in "giving the proper food at the proper time."
But this is not the only illustration Jesus gave to describe and
explain this development. When we combine the three he gave, all
three are clarified. In the next parable, the character that becomes
this Steward is the wicked slave of Matthew 25:24. What this wicked
slave states, gives us insight into the mind of the Steward. The
Wicked slave says to his returned Master, "I knew you to be an
exacting man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you
did not winnow. So, I grew afraid and went off and hid your talent
in the ground. Here, have what is yours." (Matt.25:24&25)
First, we are shown that this wicked slave does not really know his
Master intimately. He attributes bad motive to his Master, saying he
is "exacting". We recall the Jewish religious leaders that went
beyond the things written because of thinking this very way about
Jehovah. They were so interested in establishing their own
righteousness, that they increased the load of worship and took
pride in conforming to their own doctrines. They were so involved in
these things, that they ignored the "weightier matters", such as
humility, love, mercy, and justice. So in application, such men
would rather establish and defend their own righteousness, than risk
accepting other provisions through the contributions of others;
contributions that may not conform to their own "exacting"
doctrines. They come to believe their own doctrines are from an
exacting Master, and they expect others to agree. We see the
parallel with the Steward's rejection of contribution, when beating
his fellow slaves.
But then the wicked slave says that the Master "reaps where he does
not sow." Since we know we are talking about providing spiritual
food (from the household illustration), here we see the slave
believes that he is under duress to provide results without the
Master giving supplies. In other words, he thinks the Master expects
spiritual food to be served, without providing any source of food.
So, in the midst of all the provisions the domestics offer, the
wicked slave does not view the source as coming from the Master
himself. Jesus is providing an abundant source of food for the
Steward to dispense, but drunk with power, he does not humbly
recognize the value of the provision, and blames the Master for the
difficult task of providing food out of nothing. We see however that
in the end, this wicked slave will have to say, "Here, have what is
yours.", finally realizing the true source of what was given him.
We see in Matt. 25:25 that, eventually the brightness of spiritual
light coming from the other domestics becomes intimidating, causing
this wicked slave to "become afraid". This moves him to bury what he
views as a threat. This is in strange harmony with what the
Governing Body has done with the letters of understanding coming
from other faithful slaves around the world, discarding (burying)
and discouraging them, from contributing.
This brings us to the clarification that the last illustration
provides...that of the wise and discreet virgins.
First, these figures are clearly identified as anointed ones near
the very end of this system (Rev.14:4). For, the setting is just
previous to the Marriage of the Lamb, which has not yet occurred. We
see that the 10 virgins are divided into two groups of 5. We
understand this to mean that there is a 50/50 chance of being either
wise or foolish...a warning to anointed ones in the time of the end,
indeed!
Now, in this illustration, the spiritual food and talents are
translated into lamps of spiritual light filled with oil.
The foolish ones start out, by taking only their lamps into the
night to meet the Bridegroom. However, we note that unlike the
discreet virgins, they do not bring an extra receptacle (back-up
oil) (Matt.25:3,4). Why? They evidently have their own idea of how
long the Groom will take to arrive, and it is not very long.
Yet we see the discreet virgins take their receptacles filled up.
They ascribe dignity to the Groom, leaving his arrival to his own
discretion. They voice no insistent expectations as to time limits.
They prove their subjection by taking receptacles, remaining open to
whatever the spirit directs.
Well, as we know, the Bridegroom delays. This is a parallel to the
Steward's angry statement, "The Master is delaying!'
We see why the Steward desires to beat his fellow slaves, the
faithful and discreet ones. Because like Cain who jealously killed
his brother, the foolish virgins discern that, *as the night
prolongs*, the lamps of the wise virgin's are burning more brightly
than theirs. (Matt.25:7&8)
The foolish virgins demand of the wise, "Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are about to go out!" The oil providing light to their
lamps is Holy Spirit. These foolish virgins believe that God's
spirit is something the wise ones should give away in compromise, so
that the foolish ones lamps won't appear so darkened. The wise
virgins recognize the traits these foolish ones are manifesting, and
reply, "Perhaps there may not be enough for you and us".
They answer correctly. To compromise would mean a loss of spirit for
all. They are not willing to part with their precious possession. So
they then tell the foolish virgins, "Be on your way, instead, to
those who sell it and buy for yourselves."
Who is it that "sells" holy spirit (God's favor and blessing)? (Why,
here is the parallel to the "Confirmed Drunkards" that the steward
goes off to accompany.) These peddlers of the word have amassed
shameless luxury from selling their "wares" (Rev.18:3). Such
peddlers are the only source left to these foolish virgins to fill
their darkened lamps. Like Babylon the Great, the foolish virgin's
self-esteem is derived from their visible authority, power, and
accomplishments. Like the Jews of Jesus' day, who pointed to the
physical temple in Jerusalem as the sign of their authority, the
only source of their light is no longer from Jehovah. No wonder the
oil of God's spirit is in short supply within their lamps!
Rather than relying on the provisions of Jehovah, they have come to
stand on their own. Therefore, their new source of oil can only come
from those whom the foolish virgins are imitating. We see in the
parable that the foolish virgins comply to this suggestion, and go
off into the darkness to buy.
This is not to say that they have become part of this Harlot! Christ
simply called them foolish, but they are still considered virgins,
not harlots. They will however, if they do not repent, be shut out
of their reward. These one's will lose entry into the Marriage of
the Lamb, left unsealed when this system finally ends. (Rev.7:2-4)
All of Jesus' illustrations describing events leading up to the
birth of the Kingdom, are single layers that, when stacked, line up
to explain themselves. When examined in this way, they augment each
other. When viewed all at once in this manner, fine detail is
discerned, completing the picture. We have as our head a Great
Teacher, indeed....one who loved his own and saw to it we would have
a rich supply of knowledge to draw upon. Thanks and praise to
Jehovah for His loving care.
So then, what are the discreet virgins, as well as all the other sheep,
to do if they feel these prophecies are presently being fulfilled?
Well, even if such ones are enduring beatings from the Steward, we
MUST turn to Jehovah and His word for direction.
In all these three illustrations, never do the good slaves take
matters into their own hands. We are told that the Master, when he
returns, will settle accounts, punish that slave, and reward the
discreet.
We have given to us the example of David and Saul. The parallels are
exact. David was hunted by Saul. Even though David was in a position
to humiliate Saul, what did he do, and how did it turn out for him?
He respected that Saul was still the anointed of Jehovah. He did not
take matters into his own hands. He waited on Jehovah. Jesus has
told us the Master is going to return. That is enough for us. We
know that David's humble submission turned out well for him.
All should take heart that present developments may point to the
imminent arrival of Our Lord! Only the Steward will not expect the
hour of the Master's arrival. We are not in darkness. Take courage.
The things we are enduring are according to the footsteps of the
Christ. Who of us would want to beg off from such an honor?