I'm gonna try to fill Blondie's shoes this week for this particularly terrible article.
SEVEN SHEPHERDS, EIGHT DUKES—WHAT THEY MEAN FOR US TODAY
WT 11/15/2013 pp. 16-20
“We shall also have to raise up against him seven shepherds, yes, eight dukes of mankind.”—MIC. 5:5.
CAN YOU ANSWER?
How did Hezekiah, Isaiah, Micah, and the princes of Jerusalem prove to be fine shepherds in the eighth century B.C.E.?
Who correspond to the seven shepherds and eight dukes today? In what ways?
What is the most important thing that you can do now to prepare for any future attack on God’s people?
Watchtower loves to pick and choose OT accounts and rewrite them to fit their theology. This study article is a prime example of ignoring the role of Jesus and Christianity and picking out some events in the ancient history of a failed state to support the authority of the GB down through the rest of the JW clergy structure.
Now grab your airsickness bags, because this particular article is a doozy!
1. Why was the plot of the Syro-Israelite league bound to fail?
SOMETIME between 762 B.C.E. and 759 B.C.E., the
king of Israel and the king of Syria declared war on
the kingdom of Judah. Their goal? To invade Jerusalem,
remove King Ahaz from the throne, and replace
him with another man, perhaps one who was not of
the line of King David. (Isa. 7:5, 6) The king of Israel
should have known better. Jehovah had decreed
that one of David’s descendants would occupy His
throne permanently, and God’s word never goes unfulfilled.—
Josh. 23:14; 2 Sam. 7:16.
More fuzzy chronology and assumptions... "sometime", "perhaps". The last half of the paragraph is contradictory. They say, "Jehovah had decreed that one of David’s descendants would occupy His throne permanently," and use that to assert that "The king of Israel should have known better," and "God’s word never goes unfulfilled," these are just not true. The kingdom of Judah was later completely destroyed and there was no davidic king in Jerusalem for centuries. Evidently, WT has forgotten that the promise to David was fulfilled in Jesus, not in the line of failed Judean kings.
So, by the end of paragraph 1, the article has 1) ignored Jesus, 2) introduced a lot of guesswork, opinion, and error into the story.
2-4. Explain how Isaiah 7:14, 16 was fulfilled (a) in the eighth
century B.C.E. (b) in the first century C.E.2 At first, the Syro-Israelite alliance seemed to
have the upper hand. In one battle alone, Ahaz lost
120,000 valiant fighting men! Maaseiah, “the son of
the king,” was killed. (2 Chron. 28:6, 7) But Jehovah
was watching. He remembered his promise to David;
thus, he sent the prophet Isaiah with a most encouraging
message.3 Isaiah said: “Look! The maiden herself will actually
become pregnant, and she is giving birth to a
son, and she will certainly call his name Immanuel.
. . . Before the boy will know how to reject the
bad and choose the good, the ground of whose two
kings you are feeling a sickening dread [Syria and Israel]
will be left entirely.” (Isa. 7:14, 16) The first part
of that prophecy is often applied to the birth of the
Messiah, and rightly so. (Matt. 1:23) However, since
the “two kings,” the king of Syria and the king of Israel,
were no longer a threat to Judah in the first century
C.E., the prophecy about Immanuel must have
had an initial fulfillment in Isaiah’s day.4 Soon after Isaiah made that remarkable
announcement, his wife became
pregnant and bore him a son named
Maher-shalal-hash-baz. One possibility
is that this child was the “Immanuel”
referred to by Isaiah.* In Bible times,
an infant might be given one name at
birth, perhaps to commemorate a special
event, but be known by his parents and
relatives by another name. (2 Sam. 12:24,
25) There is no evidence that Jesus was
ever addressed by the name Immanuel.
—Read Isaiah 7:14; 8:3, 4.The Hebrew word translated “maiden” at Isaiah
7:14 can mean either a married woman or a virgin.
Thus, the same word could be applied both to Isaiah’s
wife and to the Jewish virgin Mary.
Wow. So Isaiah was proven to be a prophet by getting his wife pregnant. We should be impressed? More guesswork on stuff about naming. This type of material is designed to deceive the sheeple into thinking, "This is so deep and complex, I'm glad I have WT to explain this to me in such a stupified fashion!"
5. What foolish decision did King Ahaz make?
5While Israel and Syria were focusing
on Judah, another nation, a militaristic
one, had ambitions toward the region.
It was the rising world power of
Assyria. According to Isaiah 8:3, 4, Assyria
would carry off “the resources of
Damascus” and “the spoil of Samaria”
before attacking the southern kingdom
of Judah. Instead of trusting in God’s
word through Isaiah, faithless Ahaz entered
into a disastrous pact with the Assyrians,
which ultimately led to Judah’s
being oppressed by them. (2 Ki. 16:7-
10) What a disappointment Ahaz was
as a shepherd of Judah! We might ask
ourselves, ‘When I have important decisions
to make, do I put my trust in God
or in men?’—Prov. 3:5, 6.
Interesting that WT clearly points out not to trust in men. The kingdom of Judah was established by Jehovah. It was his organization. Clearly the lesson becomes, DO NOT TRUST AN ORGANIZATION OR ANY HUMAN 'SHEPHERD'!
A NEW SHEPHERD TAKES
A DIFFERENT APPROACH6. Compare the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah.
6 Ahaz died in 746 B.C.E., and his son
Hezekiah inherited the materially impoverished
and spiritually bankrupt
kingdom of Judah. As the young king ascended
the throne, what would his priority be?
To shore up Judah’s ailing economy?
No. Hezekiah was a spiritual man,
a worthy shepherd of his national flock.
His first act was to reestablish pure worship
and to reinforce the wayward nation’s
frayed relationship with Jehovah.
When he understood God’s will for him,
Hezekiah acted decisively. What a fine
example for us!—2 Chron. 29:1-19.
You can tell that an actual consideration of the recorded stories are not going to be considered in this article. They've gone straight to the sweeping conclusions because careful analysis is not part of WT's agenda.
7. Why was it important for the Levites to be
assured of the new king’s support?7 The Levites would play a vital role
in the important task of restoring pure
worship. Therefore, Hezekiah met with
them to assure them of his support. Picture
the faithful Levites who were present
at that meeting, tears of joy streaming
down their faces as they heard their
king declare: “You are the ones whom Jehovah
has chosen to stand before him to
minister to him.” (2 Chron. 29:11) Yes,
the Levites had a clear mandate to promote
pure worship!
There's nothing in the account about "tears of joy streaming down their faces." If the Levites had cared at all about "pure worship" before Hezekiah told them to get back to work, the temple wouldn't have been such a complete mess.
8. What further steps did Hezekiah take to
shore up the spirituality of the nation, and with
what result?8 Hezekiah invited all of Judah and Israel
to a great Passover celebration, followed by
the seven-day Festival of Unfermented
Cakes. The people enjoyed the
festival so much that it was extended
for seven days more. The Bible reports:
“There came to be great rejoicing in Jerusalem,
for from the days of Solomon the
son of David the king of Israel there was
none like this in Jerusalem.” (2 Chron.
30:25, 26) What an inspiration that spiritual
feast proved to be for all the people!
From 2 Chronicles 31:1, we learn: “As
soon as they finished all this, . . . they
proceeded to break up the sacred pillars
and cut down the sacred poles and pull
down the high places and the altars.” In
a mighty way, Judah thus began to turn
back to Jehovah. This spiritual cleansing
would be of the utmost importance in
view of what was to come.
This account clearly demonstrates that Israel and Judah only for a few very brief periods came close to really worshipping Jehovah exclusively and following his law. When WT claims "Jehovah always had an organization," the correction would be "Organizations claiming to be Jehovah's are usually lying."
THE KING PREPARES FOR TROUBLE
9. (a) How were the plans of Israel frustrated?
(b) Sennacherib had what initial success in Judah?9 True to Isaiah’s word, the Assyrians
conquered the northern kingdom
of Israel and deported its inhabitants,
thus frustrating Israel’s plans to place
a usurper on David’s throne. But what of
Assyria’s plans? The Assyrians now set
their sights on Judah. “In the fourteenth
year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib the
king of Assyria came up against all the
fortified cities of Judah and proceeded
to seize them.” Reportedly, Sennacherib
conquered 46 Judean cities in all. Imagine
how you would have felt if you had
lived in Jerusalem at that time. One after
another, Judah’s cities fell before the advancing
Assyrian armies!—2 Ki. 18:13.
Jehovah couldn't protect 46 fortified cities. Suddenly, King Ahaz doesn't look so foolish for not relying on Jehovah for any protection.
10. Why might Micah 5:5, 6 have encouraged
Hezekiah?10 Of course, Hezekiah was aware of
the approaching danger, but rather than
desperately enlist the help of a pagan nation,
as his apostate father, Ahaz, had
done, Hezekiah placed his trust in Jeho-
vah. (2 Chron. 28:20, 21) He may have
been aware of the words of the prophet
Micah, a contemporary who foretold
concerning Assyria: “As for the Assyrian,
. . . we shall also have to raise up
against him seven shepherds, yes, eight
dukes of mankind. And they will actually
shepherd the land of Assyria with
the sword.” (Mic. 5:5, 6) These inspired
words would surely have encouraged
Hezekiah, for they show that a most unusual
army would be raised up against
the Assyrians and that the hostile aggressors
would ultimately be defeated.
When they have to put "might" in the question and in the paragraph,"may have been aware of", "would surely have", this is all guesswork.
11. When would the prophecy concerning seven
shepherds and eight dukes have its primary
fulfillment?11 The prophecy concerning seven
shepherds and eight dukes (“princes,”
The New English Bible) was to find its
primary, or most important, fulfillment
long after the birth of Jesus, the “ruler in
Israel, whose origin is from early times.”
(Read Micah 5:1, 2.) This would be at
a time when the very existence of Jehovah’s
servants would be threatened by a
modern-day “Assyrian.”What forces will
Jehovah, through his now-reigning Son,
marshal to confront the fear-inspiring
foe? We shall see. But first, let us consider
what we can learn from the action
Hezekiah took in the face of the Assyrian
menace.
Now it's time to take a huge illogical jump from an obscure OT prophecy to how it's "modern-day" fulfillment. Jesus barely gets a mention here, only in a very "matter of fact" fashion.
HEZEKIAH TAKES PRACTICAL STEPS
12. What steps did Hezekiah and those with
him take to protect God’s people?12 Jehovah is always willing to do for
us what we cannot do for ourselves, but
he does expect us to do what we can.
Hezekiah consulted “his princes and his
mighty men,” and together they decided
“to stop up the waters of the springs that
were outside the city . . . Furthermore,
[Hezekiah] took courage and built up all
the broken-down wall and raised towers
upon it, and on the outside another wall,
. . . and made missiles in abundance
and shields.” (2 Chron. 32:3-5) In order
to protect and shepherd His people at
that time, Jehovah used a number of valiant
men—Hezekiah, his princes, and the
spiritually strong prophets.
A couple of noteworthy points: 1) If you were in the 46 fortified Judean cities, you are out of luck. Jehovah didn't help them and he clearly didn't care about them. 2) Don't just "rely on Jehovah," build your resources like everyone else that DOESN'T "rely on Jehovah." Evidently that was where those fortified cities screwed up... they "relied on Jehovah" rather than prepared for battle.
13. What was the most important step that
Hezekiah took to prepare the people for the
coming attack? Explain.13 What Hezekiah did next was of
even greater value than stopping up the
waters or fortifying the city walls. Concerned
shepherd that he was, Hezekiah
gathered the people and encouraged
them spiritually with the words: “Do not
be afraid nor be terrified because of the
king of Assyria . . . , for with us there
are more than there are with him. With
him there is an arm of flesh, but with
us there is Jehovah our God to help us
and to fight our battles.” What a faith
strengthening reminder—Jehovah would
fight for his people! Upon hearing this,
the Jews “began to brace themselves
upon the words of Hezekiah the king of
Judah.” Notice that it was “the words of
Hezekiah” that caused the people to take
heart. He and his princes and mighty
men, as well as the prophets Micah and
Isaiah, proved to be effective shepherds,
just as Jehovah had foretold through his
prophet.—2 Chron. 32:7, 8; read Micah 5:
5, 6.
It relying on Jehovah was so important, why did they bother with all the other preparations? What happened to the Jehovah that was able to destroy the armies of Egypt without the Hebrews needing to do anything to prepare for battle?
14. What role did Rabshakeh play, and how
did the people react?14 The king of Assyria set up camp at
Lachish, southwest of Jerusalem. From
there, through three envoys, he ordered
the city to surrender. His spokesman,
whose official title was Rabshakeh, used
a variety of tactics. Speaking in Hebrew,
he urged the people to betray the king
and to submit to the Assyrians, falsely
promising to relocate them to a land
where they could enjoy a comfortable
life. (Read 2 Kings 18:31, 32.) Then Rabshakeh
asserted that just as the gods
of the nations had been unable to protect
their worshippers, so Jehovah would
be unable to deliver the Jews out of the
Assyrians’ clutches. Wisely, the people
did not try to respond to the slanderous
propaganda, a course often followed
by Jehovah’s servants in our day.—Read
2 Kings 18:35, 36.
Maybe if Jehovah had been able to protect the 46 fortified Judean cities, the residents of Jerusalem could have had complete confidence in Jehovah. But Jehovah had allowed the kingdom to be devastated and a faithful, Jehovah fearing king to be trapped in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage.
But wait, how does that situation have anything to do with JWs today? "Slanderous propaganda" against "Jehovah's servants in our day"? Sorry WT, but when people point out your false prophecies, flip-flops, and failure to protect children from pedophiles, those are called FACTS!
15. What was required of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and how did Jehovah bring salvation
to the city?15 Hezekiah was understandably upset,
but instead of turning to a foreign
power for help, he sent for Isaiah the
prophet. Isaiah told Hezekiah: “He [Sennacherib]
will not come into this city nor
will he shoot an arrow there.” (2 Ki. 19:
32) All that was required of the inhabitants
of Jerusalem was that they stand
their ground. Jehovah would fight for Judah.
And fight he did! “It came about
on that night that the angel of Jehovah
proceeded to go out and strike down
a hundred and eighty-five thousand in
the camp of the Assyrians.” (2 Ki. 19:
35) Judah’s salvation came, not by Hezekiah’s
stopping up the fountains of waters
of the city nor by his building up its
walls, but by divine intervention.
So, why did they bother with all the work of building up defenses? Wouldn't it have been far more impressive if the first little lightly defended Judean city would have conquered the Assyrian army? That didn't happen. Regarding the killing of 185,000 in the Assyrian camp, wouldn't it have been helpful if other nation's historical records agreed with this account? Maybe some archaeological evidence that this "divine intervention" happened?
LESSONS FOR TODAY
This heading basically means, "time to stretch this OT fiction to some instructions for the sheeple to just shut-up and obey."
16. Who today are represented by (a) Jerusalem’s
citizens (b) “the Assyrian” (c) the seven
shepherds and eight dukes?16 The prophecy about seven shepherds
and eight dukes has its major fulfillment
in our day. The citizens of ancient
Jerusalem were attacked by the
Assyrians. In the near future, Jehovah’s
apparently vulnerable people will come
under attack from the modern-day “Assyrian,”
whose intent will be to wipe
them out. The Scriptures refer to that
attack as well as the attack of ‘Gog of
Magog,’ the attack of “the king of the
north,” and the attack of “the kings of
the earth.” (Ezek. 38:2, 10-13; Dan. 11:40,
44, 45; Rev. 17:14; 19:19) Do these represent
separate attacks? Not necessarily.
The Bible could be referring to the same
attack under different names. What ‘secret
weapon’ does Micah’s prophecy indicate
Jehovah would raise up against
that implacable foe—“the Assyrian”? A
very unlikely one—“seven shepherds,
yes, eight dukes”! (Mic. 5:5) The shepherds
and dukes (or, “princes,” NEB) in
this implausible army are the congregation
elders. (1 Pet. 5:2) Today, Jehovah
certainly has provided an abundance of
spiritual men to shepherd his precious
sheep, to strengthen his people for the
future attack of the modern-day “Assyrian.”*
Micah’s prophecy states that they
will “shepherd the land of Assyria with
the sword.” (Mic. 5:6) Yes, among ‘the
weapons of their warfare,’ you will find
“the sword of the spirit,” God’s Word.
—2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:17.* The number seven is used frequently in the
Scriptures to signify completion. The number eight
(one more than seven) sometimes represents an
abundance.
Time for more error: "The citizens of ancient Jerusalem were attacked by the Assyrians." Wrong. Jerusalem wasn't attacked because they had strengthened the defenses of the city. The 46 other Judea cities were attacked... and fell to the Assyrians. Tough luck for them.
Time for a lot more guesswork: "Not necessarily. The Bible could be referring to the same attack under different names." When those statements are in the very center of the paragraph, it's clear that the entire application is completely lacking in a stable foundation.
Time to throw more persecution complex into this study. The simple reality is that the rest of the world doesn't care at all about Watchtower Corporation. They are only important in their own mind. "The shepherds and dukes (or, “princes,” NEB) in this implausible army are the congregation elders." Implausible, indeed. Are those princely elders going to disfellowship the attacking Assyrians? Maybe throw gray bibles at them? With the elders getting older and fewer, how can they defend anything?
But this odd paragraph isn't really the point of the article...
17. What four conclusions can the elders draw
from the account we have considered?17 Elders who are reading this article
can draw some useful conclusions from
the account we have just considered:
(1) The most practical step that we can
take to prepare for the coming attack of
“the Assyrian” is that of strengthening
our faith in God and helping our brothers
to do the same. (2) When “the Assyrian”
attacks, the elders must be absolutely
convinced that Jehovah will
deliver us. (3) At that time, the lifesaving
direction that we receive from
Jehovah’s organization may not appear
practical from a human standpoint. All
of us must be ready to obey any instructions
we may receive, whether these appear
sound from a strategic or human
standpoint or not. (4) Now is the time
for any who may be putting their trust
in secular education, material things, or
human institutions to adjust their thinking.
The elders must stand ready to help
any who may now be wavering in their
faith.
For any of you that have heard the GB member Stephen Lett speak, you notice that among his peculiarities is his numberfication of the points he's trying to make. Here we have just such an example. Four conclusions are numbered, but when you actually examine these points, they don't really relate to the material under consideration. There is no clear relation between the OT account and any modern application. So many details are completely ignored: Who is the King of the North? What is the application of the 46 destroyed Judean cities? Why was the water stopped up and defenses constructed? What role does Jesus play in salvation or it the visible organization that strikes down the Assyrian army? Let's take a closer look:
(1) The most practical step that we can take to prepare for the coming attack of “the Assyrian” is that of strengthening our faith in God and helping our brothers to do the same.
That seems kinda silly when you look at the fact that the residents of Jerusalem strengthed the cities defenses and prepared for physical battle as "the most practical step." There would have been thousands of Jews that had celebrated the Passover and sacrificed to Jehovah at the temple... but they died or were taken as slaves because they were in the 46 cities that were conquered. Clearly, strengthening their faith in Jehovah had not been nearly enough!
(2) When “the Assyrian” attacks, the elders must be absolutely convinced that Jehovah will deliver us.
...just like Jehovah DIDN'T deliver the Jews living in the 46 cities that were conquered.
(3) At that time, the lifesaving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.
Clearly, this is the real point of this article: BLIND FAITH IN WATCHTOWER!
Let's not pretend that this point is connected to the OT account in any way. Jerusalem had prepared for a physical seige. The territory was so badly conquered to this point that they couldn't have called to any other nation for rescue, so they were completely at a loss, saying "God, help us!" Did the last Jews in Jerusalem have to obey instructions that seemed unsound? No. They chose to try to defend the city because they couldn't trust the Assyrians. They'd already learned that during the kingship of Ahaz. So now WT is trying to twist this account to say, "Do whatever your told, even if it comes across as completely crazy."
Why? What is the organization going to ask the sheeple to do that would appear not sound?
Since they use the phrase "At that time..." if they were under ban, telling them to run and hide would appear sound. Telling them to lie to the police would be, well, expected. But the point of this seems to be obedience not "At that time". They state, "All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive...", so they aren't expecting unquestioning obedience just in the future, but right now.
Since WT has inserted so much guesswork into this article, I'll insert my own guesswork here. Don't be surprised if WT becomes much more aggressive about needing congregation funds and personal assets in order to advance "kingdom interests." What else could WT do that would be described as "whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not". I remember when WT sent out a letter "encouraging" the congregations to "deposit" any extra congregation account funds with the society... so they could use them for "kingdom interests." This was as they were also selling off property worth millions of dollars. To me it sounded completely illogical for many reasons. Yet a year later, the CO twisted the elders arms to send several thousand dollars to the society. Can demanding the same thing from all the publishers be far behind?
... especially after looking at #4:
(4) Now is the time for any who may be putting their trust in secular education, material things, or human institutions to adjust their thinking.
How wrong it was for those people in Jerusalem to have strengthened the cities defenses! Right? Nope. If Jerusalem hadn't made all those physical preparations, that city would have fallen just like the 46 cities before it.
Time for more guesswork on my part: But the point WT wants to make is that the sheeple shouldn't trust in money. No! It would be much better for the JWs to send their money to WT so that it can be used for "kingdom interests." Then they can "adjust their thinking" to put their trust in WT!*
*"put their trust" indicates something invisible. So JWs should be prepared for invisible support coming from WT. This includes invisible healthcare, invisible food, invisible clothes, invisible housing, invisible pandas, etc.
18. How might reflecting on this account benefit
us in the future?18 The time will come when God’s
modern-day servants will appear to be
just as vulnerable as the Jews trapped
inside Jerusalem in Hezekiah’s day. At
that time, may all of us draw strength
from Hezekiah’s words. Let us remember
that with our enemies “there is an
arm of flesh, but with us there is Jehovah
our God to help us and to fight our battles”!—
2 Chron. 32:8.
LOL. They have to put "might" in the last question. Let's be honest. This last paragraph is a short and meaningless as possible in hopes that the sheeple will only remember the points for the previous paragraph.
If they want to talk about JWs being vulnerable, let's talk about the remote compound. When I was still a believer and headquarters was to stay in Brooklyn. I saw that as strategic. The government would never bomb right next to the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan. In NYC the entire bethel family could have disappeared into the city in a very short time. If WT would have bought St. George, they would have direct access to the subways and easy escape from police. But in that remote compound, the GB would be sitting ducks. A couple drone strikes and it's all over. One of the particular things I noted about Patterson was that there was only one road. The younger bethelites could escape through the woods, but all the oldies would be goners.
Perhaps the best way to escape from the attack on Jehovah's Witnesses now is to not be known as a JW! So tell those elders that those aren't really Christmas lights, those are decoys so that the neighbors won't think to attack you when JWs are attacked by the still unidentified King of the North... Santa Claus!
Now for your comments, please!
