Examining the Scriptures Daily Commentary Archive for November, 2023

“Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning, and you should be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage, so when he comes and knocks, they may at once open to him.” – Luke 12:35-36

The hour has drawn near for the Son of man…

Tuesday, November 30th – Sit down here while I go over there and pray.—Matt. 26:36.

On the final night of his life on earth, as his ministry came to an end, Jesus sought out a quiet setting where he could meditate and pray. He found that setting in the garden of Gethsemane. On that occasion, Jesus gave his disciples some timely counsel about prayer. When they arrived at the garden of Gethsemane, it was very late, perhaps past midnight. Jesus asked the apostles to “keep on the watch,” and he went off to pray. (Matt. 26:37-39) But while he was praying, they fell asleep. When he found them sleeping, Jesus again urged them to “keep on the watch and pray continually.” (Matt. 26:40, 41) He realized that they had been under much stress and that they were tired. Jesus compassionately acknowledged that “the flesh is weak.” Still, two more times Jesus went off to pray, and when he returned he found his disciples sleeping rather than praying.—Matt. 26:42-45. w22.01 28 ¶10-11

Jesus gave his disciples something more than timely counsel about prayer. Because they failed to heed his kindly exhortation Jesus harshly rebuked them, as the next passage of scripture indicates: “So leaving them, he again went off and prayed for a third time, saying once more the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them: ‘At such a time as this, you are sleeping and resting! Look! The hour has drawn near for the Son of man to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us go. Look! My betrayer has drawn near.’ While he was still speaking, look! Judas, one of the Twelve, came and with him a large crowd with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people.'”

Jesus’ last day, death, and post-resurrection appearances foreshadow many things to come. That one of the Twelve was a betrayer and became a witting pawn of Satan certainly finds a modern counterpart in the man of lawlessness, who is an instrument in an elaborate operation of Satan, posing as a faithful and discreet slave. The fact that all of the disciples were stumbled and scattered is a portent of what is to come in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy that many will be stumbled. Christ’s rebuke of his slumbering apostles, who were sleeping at the very moment Jesus was arrested, casts a long prophetic shadow. Did not Jesus sternly warn his disciples to stay awake and be ready for the thief-like arrival of the Son of man?

Of course, it is not possible or advisable to literally stay awake perpetually. Jesus was simply illustrating the point that he was coming at an hour that his disciples did not think likely and so they had better be spiritually prepared and in expectation of his arrival. Even though Jesus had explained everything to his apostles beforehand, they were still taken off-guard and temporarily waylaid by the suddenness of the turn of events. In a similar way, Jehovah’s Witnesses have certain expectations of what is to occur, but no inkling of the extent of the operation of error, otherwise known as the deceptive influence.

Even now, as the nations are preparing for total war the Governing Body has deemed it impossible that there could be another world war. Thus, it is a certainty that the sudden arrival of the Son of man is going to find them sleeping and taking their rest in Warwick Castle.

Although you offer many prayers, I am not listening

Wednesday, November 29 – Whoever stops up his ear to the cry of the lowly one will himself call and not be answered.—Prov. 21:13.

All Christians seek to imitate Jehovah’s mercy. Why? One reason is that Jehovah will not listen to those who fail to show mercy to others. None of us would want Jehovah to refuse to listen to our prayers, so we carefully avoid developing a hard-hearted spirit. Rather than turn a deaf ear to a fellow Christian in pain, we must always be ready to listen to “the cry of the lowly one.” Similarly, we take to heart this inspired counsel: “The one who does not practice mercy will have his judgment without mercy.” (Jas. 2:13) If we humbly remember how much we need mercy, we are more likely to show mercy. We especially want to show mercy when a repentant wrongdoer returns to the congregation. Bible examples of those who were kind and merciful can help us to embrace mercy and to avoid harshness. w21.10 12 ¶16-17

The Watchtower’s hypocrisy is stunning. How many child abuse victims are there? We know at the very least the WT has the names of over 20,000 known pedophiles on their database, and that was 20 years ago. And those are just the abusers that have been named. That means there are at a minimum 20,000 victims. No doubt some pedophiles have abused multiple children. There could be double or triple the number of victims who have not reported the crimes committed against them by congregants. 100,000 victims is not out of the realm of possibility. Jehovah knows.

How has the Watchtower dealt with this issue? By protecting pedophiles from prosecution and persecuting the victims. If that is not the case in what way has the leadership of the organization listened to the plaintive cry of the lowly?

I have had direct dealings with the WT on two cases of child abuse. As an elder who protested to Bethel the way a known pedophile was molly cuddled I received a written reply to “wait on Jehovah.” I wish I would have saved the letter. At the time I did not realize that thousands of victims have been brushed off with the exact same platitude – “Wait on Jehovah.” It may have just as well been stenciled on with a rubber stamp.

“Wait on Jehovah” sounds good, but when it lies in the power of the judges to do good to those who have been victimized to be told to “wait on Jehovah” it is simply the theocratically correct way of turning a deaf ear to the complainant.

I wonder if the Governing Body and their lawyers and public relations people have any idea what is going to happen when the wait for Jehovah is over? It is not going to be pretty, I am sure of that. Interestingly, the daily text points out that if we fail to show mercy Jehovah will not listen to us when we call for help. How true that is. And you may be assured that no one is above God’s justice. To be sure, everything in the Scriptures points to the fact that leaders of Jehovah’s people, be they kings, priests or prophets of Bible times, or anointed elders who serve at Bethel, are held to a higher standard. In Ezekiel, Jehovah forewarns that he will judge the leaders of his people according to their judgments. That does not bode well for the kings of Warwick.

As for God not listening to prayers, Isaiah informs us of God’s position: “And when you spread out your palms, I hide my eyes from you. Although you offer many prayers, I am not listening; Your hands are filled with blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove your evil deeds from my sight; stop doing bad. Learn to do good, seek justice, correct the oppressor, defend the rights of the fatherless child, and plead the cause of the widow.” – Isaiah 1:15-17

Just imagine if the legal department had instructed all elders to immediately call law enforcement whenever there was a complaint of child abuse. Forget the two-witness rule. Bring in the cops. Bring in child protective experts. Use their findings as a second witness. Instruct elders to fully cooperate with prosecutors if it goes that far. Pedophiles might think twice before they groom some innocent child. Sure, the elders can visit the pedophile perp in prison. And that is just for starters. How do you minister to the abused? The WT set up Hospital Liason committees to coordinate with doctors and patients on the blood issue, so why not involve qualified JWs with psychology backgrounds, especially females, to travel the country ministering to victims?

Of course, the leaders of Bethel would never do anything like that. Their solution to abuse is to stay out of court and secretly pay off victims and use legally binding gag orders to silence them. So, “wait on Jehovah” turns out to be good advice. When the wait is over God’s arrival will be a thing to behold.

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