Friday, July 10
Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need. —Matt. 5:3.
Unlike the animals, you have a spiritual need, which only your Creator can satisfy. (Matt. 4:4) When you listen appreciatively to him, you gain insight, wisdom, and happiness. God satisfies your spiritual need by means of his Word and the abundance of spiritual food that he provides through “the faithful and discreet slave.” (Matt. 24:45) And how varied and rich that food is! (Isa. 65:13, 14) The spiritual food that God provides will give you wisdom and thinking ability, which can protect you in many ways. (Prov. 2:10-14) For example, these qualities open your eyes to false teachings, such as the view that there is no Creator. They protect you against the lie that money and possessions are the key to happiness. And they help you to recognize and resist wrong desires and self-destructive behavior. So continue to search for godly wisdom and thinking ability, viewing them as treasures! w18.12 20 ¶6-7
Jehovah’s Witnesses are regularly reminded that they are being provided with the finest spiritual food available by the faithful and discreet slave. It is assumed that such will be the case up until the moment the master arrives. There is, however, another aspect to it.
Since it is undeniable that the Watchtower dominates the spiritual lives of Jehovah’s Witnesses it is not without foundation to suppose that the Devil has slyly promoted the subtle idolization of the Organization. Idolatry is anything that diminishes Jehovah.
In the case of Job, Job had no idea he had become the focus of an issue between Satan and Jehovah. Even after the test was concluded there is no record that God informed him of what had taken place in the invisible. God is, after all, the Potter. Humans are the clay that He molds. The potter does not have to answer to the pottery he creates. Now consider Isaiah’s prophecy.
“How you twist things! Should the potter be regarded the same as the clay? Should what is made say about its maker: “He did not make me”? And does what is formed say about its former: “He shows no understanding”? — Isaiah 29:16
The 29th chapter of Isaiah sheds light on how God intends to accomplish his project. It is not for humans to question His methods. And what is God’s project? We are. His people are His project.
Long before the Watchtower ever existed God addressed the inherent problem that would inevitably come with having imperfect men preside over an organization touted as Jehovah’s earthly organization. The problem is, people tend to be idolatrous. God describes the problem that presently exists: “This people approaches me with their mouth and they honor me with their lips, but their heart is far removed from me; and their fear of me is based on commands of men that they have been taught.”
Please note that God does not indicate that “this people” do not belong to him or that they are untaught. It is not as the Watchtower says, that such people only (falsely) claim to serve God. “This people” honor Jehovah with their lips. In other words, they preach and teach about Jehovah. They pray to Jehovah with their mouths in public prayer. “The commands of men” must, therefore, emanate from those who are overseers; ultimately, from the faithful and discreet slave. They are the teachers who teach the commands of men.
God’s solution to the problem of half-hearted devotion is revealed in the next verse: “Therefore, I am the One who will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their discreet men will be hidden.”
What is involved in God performing wonderful things? It has to do with the coming of Christ, who himself is described in Isaiah as “the Wonderful Counselor.” The wonders that Christ will perform will take place outside the authority of the men in charge. The wisdom of the wise and discreet slave will not come into play. What authority or credibility could the Watchtower posses in the face of the actual parousia of Jesus Christ?
To underscore the blindness and inability of the seers to understand the situation, the 29th chapter of Isaiah opens by describing the siege of Ariel, a symbolic name for Jerusalem. Isaiah goes on to describe the city being surrounded by a palisade, which is exactly what Jesus said would befall “Jerusalem” during the conclusion of the system. The Watchtower claims the holy place that will be desolated during the tribulation is really all of Christendom and Babylon the Great. Their spiritual discernment is even as the scripture says: “For Jehovah has poured a spirit of deep sleep on you; He has closed your eyes, the prophets, and he has covered your heads, the visionaries.”
