Sunday, September 27

We are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field under cultivation, God’s building.1 Cor. 3:9.

People who work together often develop close friendships. All who are dedicated to Jehovah have the privilege of being considered both his friends and his “fellow workers.” Indeed, as we engage in the preaching and disciple-making work, we gain greater insight into the marvelous qualities of our heavenly Father. We see how his holy spirit helps to equip us to carry out our commission to preach the good news. The greater our share in the disciple-making work, the closer we feel to Jehovah. For instance, we observe the way Jehovah thwarts opposers. Look back over the past few years. Have we not seen clearly the way God is guiding us? We marvel at the ongoing supply of rich spiritual food. Our convention and assembly programs reveal our Father’s loving insight into our problems and needs.

Commentary

Does Jehovah really thwart opposers?

According to the root of the word in Hebrew the word Satan literally means opposer or adversary.  With that in mind the apostle Paul foretold the presence of a man of lawlessness who stands in opposition. In other words he is an opposer. But he is not on the outside of those whom God recognizes as his people.

On the contrary, just as Judas, whom Jesus identified as “the son of destruction,” was an intimate associate of Christ and his disciples, so too, the man of lawlessness is also called the “son of destruction” and ultimately he will sit down in the spiritual temple of God and show himself to be a god.

This is of the utmost relevance for Jehovah’s Witnesses at this particular point in time. Who can deny that Jehovah’s Witnesses look to the Watchtower for spiritual food, for guidance in every day living, to solve their problems and give hope for the future?

And Bethel constantly reinforces the place it occupies as the mouthpiece of God and the role it plays as a liaison between Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jehovah.

Jehovah’s Witnesses hang on every word the Governing Body utters. In years past Jehovah’s Witnesses even used to refer to the organization as their “mother.” For all intents and purpose, the Watchtower is God in the eyes of Jehovah’s Witnesses, similar to the place the pope or Mary occupies in the minds of ardent Catholics. As Paul foretold, the man of lawlessness will exalt himself above every so-called god and object of reverence. Certainly that is how Jehovah’s Witnesses view the Watchtower. Has not the Watchtower used God’s word to elevate itself far above the gods of Babylon the Great?

While the Watchtower has trained Jehovah’s Witnesses that loyally following the Governing Body is how their loyalty to God is properly expressed, the downside is that within the present “arrangement” there is no way for Jesus to determine whether individuals are actually dedicated to his God or whether they are merely devotees of the earthly organization – mere followers of men.

For that reason Jehovah has determined to silence the Watchtower during the critical time of the end, which by all appearances is about to commence.

“So you will stumble in broad daylight, and the prophet will stumble with you, as if it were night. And I will silence your mother. My people will be silenced, because there is no knowledge.” – Hosea 4:5-6

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