Tuesday, August 30

You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the Law.Acts 21:20.

If we are to have Jehovah’s favor and blessing as individuals, we must support his organization and accept adjustments in our understanding of the Scriptures. Consider this: After Jesus’ death, there were thousands of Jewish Christians who were zealous for the Law and found it hard to break free from it. With the help of Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, however, they accepted the fact that they had been sanctified, not by means of sacrifices “offered according to the Law,” but “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.”  Undoubtedly, most of those Christians of Jewish descent adjusted their thinking and moved ahead spiritually. We too need to study diligently and be open-minded when there are adjustments in the understanding of God’s Word or in our preaching work.

COMMENTARY

A truly diligent study of the Bible and an open-minded consideration of the role the Watchtower has and is playing can only lead one to the conclusion, that the organization is the modern counterpart of the law-bound Jewish system, for which first century Jewish Christians were zealous.

The apostle’s letter to the Hebrews informed them that the real city of God is spiritual, not physical. He said that because the Jewish converts —including the apostles and “governing body” —were very much tied to the Law and the physical city of Jerusalem. Paul was preparing them for the moment when the disgusting thing would stand in the holy place, which would be the signal for them to flee out of the doomed city and abandon their support for the Jewish organization.

Jehovah’s Witnesses find themselves in the same position now —being tied to a religious organization and duty-bound to be loyal to it until the end. It is assumed that the Governing Body are going to be instrumental in issuing life-saving direction in the future. It is naturally assumed that the organization will always be a source of unfailing light and truth.

In that respect Jehovah’s Witnesses are like the Jews in Jeremiah’s day who felt secure in their attachment to the city of Jerusalem and its grand temple. However, Jehovah instructed Jeremiah to tell them: “Do not put your trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah!’”

A reader sent me this YouTube video which is a compilation of various kingdom hall interiors and their faux pillars design that underscores the perception Bethel wishes to impress upon Jehovah’s Witnesses that their meeting places are mini temples under the auspices of the grand organization. 

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