Congregation "Bible Study" Comments - Week Commencing 3 August 2009

by LUKEWARM 3 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  LUKEWARM

  *** lv chap. 8 pp. 86-96 God Loves Clean People ***
  
  "With the one keeping clean you will show yourself clean."-PSALM 18:26.
  
  Q1-3. (a) Why does a mother make sure that her son is neat and clean? (b) Why does Jehovah want his worshippers to be clean, and what motivates us to want to keep ourselves clean?A MOTHER prepares her little boy to go out. She makes sure that he is bathed and that his clothes are neat and clean. She knows that good hygiene is crucial to his health. She also recognizes that her son's appearance reflects on his parents.
  
  2 Jehovah, our heavenly Father, wants his servants to be clean. His Word says: "With the one keeping clean you will show yourself clean." (Psalm 18:26) Jehovah loves us; he knows that keeping clean is best for us. He also expects us as his Witnesses to reflect favorably on him. Indeed, our clean appearance and fine conduct will bring glory to, not reproach on, Jehovah and his holy name.-Ezekiel 36:22; 1 Peter 2:12.
  
  "...his servants" - only JW's?"...expects us as his Witnesses" - Didn't Jesus say that Christians would be 'witnesses of ME'?Why did Jesus not use Jah's name yet JW's need to be ever conscious to "not reproach on...his holy name"3 Knowing that God loves clean people motivates us to keep clean. We want our way of life to bring honor to him because we love him. We also want to remain in his love. Let us, then, examine why we need to keep clean, what being clean involves, and how we can keep ourselves clean. Such an examination can help us to see whether there are areas in which we need to make improvement.
  
  Where is Jesus?WHY DO WE NEED TO KEEP CLEAN?
  
  Q4, 5. (a) What is the primary reason why we need to keep clean? (b) How is Jehovah's cleanness evident in his visible creations?4 One way Jehovah leads us is by example. His Word thus urges us to "become imitators of God." (Ephesians 5:1) Here is the primary reason why we need to keep clean: Jehovah, the God we worship, is clean, pure, and holy in every respect.-Leviticus 11:44, 45.
  
  "Jehovah leads us" or the WTS leads JW's?5 Jehovah's cleanness, like so many of his qualities and ways, is evident in his visible creations. (Romans 1:20) The earth was designed to be a clean home for humans. Jehovah has put into place ecological cycles that clean our air and water. Certain microbes act as a kind of sanitation department, transforming waste into harmless products. Scientists have utilized some of these hungry microorganisms to clean up oil spills and other pollution caused by human selfishness and greed. Obviously, cleanliness matters to "the Maker of the earth." (Jeremiah 10:12) It should also matter to us.
  
  "Scientists have utilized..." - which/where/who?"...oil spills and other pollution caused by human selfishness and greed" - so why does the WTS publishing and Printing Corporation waste and pollute the earths resources with its publications - much of which are thrown out?Q6, 7. How did the Mosaic Law emphasize that cleanness was required of those who worshipped Jehovah?6 Another reason why we need to keep clean is that Jehovah, our Sovereign Ruler, requires cleanness of his worshippers. Under the Law that Jehovah gave to Israel, cleanness and worship were inseparable. The Law specified that on the Day of Atonement, the high priest had to bathe not once but twice. (Leviticus 16:4, 23, 24) Officiating priests were required to wash their hands and feet before offering sacrifices to Jehovah. (Exodus 30:17-21; 2 Chronicles 4:6) The Law outlined some 70 causes of physical uncleanness and ceremonial defilement. While in an unclean state, an Israelite could not have any part in worship-in certain cases, under penalty of death. (Leviticus 15:31) Anyone refusing to undergo the required purifying procedure, including bathing his body and washing his clothes, was to be "cut off from the midst of the congregation."-Numbers 19:17-20.
  
  "...our Sovereign Ruler..." - Why does the WTS interfere and lord it over the JW's so much then?"Law outlined some 70 causes of physical uncleanness..." - so does that mean that when JW's have sex or when a woman has her menstrual cycle they are unclean?7 Although we are not under the Mosaic Law, it gives us insight into God's thinking on matters. Clearly, the Law emphasized that cleanness was required of those who worshipped God. Jehovah has not changed. (Malachi 3:6) Our worship cannot be acceptable to him unless it is "clean and undefiled." (James 1:27) We thus need to know what he expects of us in this regard.
  
  "...under the Mosaic Law, it gives us insight into God's thinking on matters" - if Jesus came to abolish the law then why is this consideration worthy for Christians?"clean and undefiled." (James 1:27) - Why is the WTS quoting this scripture out of context? Is it because they don't encourage JW's to do what that scripture says Christians should do?WHAT BEING CLEAN IN GOD'S EYES INVOLVES
  
  Q8. In what respects does Jehovah expect us to keep clean?8 In the Bible, the idea of being clean means more than just physical cleanness. Being clean in God's eyes touches all aspects of our lives. Jehovah expects us to keep clean in four basic respects-spiritually, morally, mentally, and physically. Let us consider what each of these involves.
  
  Q9, 10. What does it mean to keep spiritually clean, and what do true Christians avoid?9 Spiritual cleanness. Put simply, keeping spiritually clean means not mixing true worship with false. When the Israelites left Babylon to return to Jerusalem, they were to heed this inspired exhortation: "Get out of there, touch nothing unclean; . . . keep yourselves clean." (Isaiah 52:11) The Israelites were returning home primarily to restore Jehovah's worship. That worship had to be clean-not tainted by any of the God-dishonoring teachings, practices, and customs of Babylonish religion.
  
  "..not mixing true worship with false" - What is true worship when they keep changing their mind?http://www1.tip.nl/~t661020/wtcitaten/part4.htm"The Israelites were returning home primarily to restore Jehovah's worship" - Why are they discussing isralites and not what Jesus set forth for Christians?"...tainted by any of the God-dishonoring teachings, practices, and customs of Babylonish religion" - Why did the prophet Daniel (described as a desirable man by God in the Bible) choose to become the 3 rd person in charge in the kingdom, even accepting to have his name changed to a false Babylonish God??10 Today, we as true Christians must be careful not to become contaminated by false worship. (1 Corinthians 10:21) Caution is essential in this regard, for the influence of false religion is pervasive. In many lands, various traditions, activities, and rituals are connected with false religious teachings, such as the notion that something inside us survives death. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10) True Christians avoid customs involving false religious beliefs. We will not allow pressure from others to cause us to compromise the Bible's standards of clean worship.-Acts 5:29.
  
  "...true Christians" - Only JW's?"contaminated by false worship" - The WTS arrogantly points the finger at others rather than looking at itself

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschatology_of_Jehovah's_Witnesses

  "We will not allow pressure from others..." - What pressure, by whom and why do they never elaborate what the disagreements are?
• 

  insearchoftruth

  Thanks Lukewarm, guess the blood discussion is done!
• 

  passwordprotected

  Good summary.

  This ties in with my father telling my son that "Jehovah wants us to be smart" when my son confessed to wearing jeans to church. What a cult.
• 

  WTWizard

  Now they are pushing cleanliness. What they don't know is that they are among the filthiest people (especially among Christian denominations) in a spiritual sense, on the planet. Spiritual cleanliness means not being polluted with excess rules and obligations--or imposing them on people in an unfair way. Once you start requiring people to do things that waste resources and time, you are imposing spiritual filth on them.

  Other aspects of cleanliness are also interesting. Moral cleanliness is also not what the Washtowel Babble and Crap Slaveholdery would like you to think. Moral cleanliness means being honest. And this is more than returning that $100 to its rightful owner. If one is doing what is bad, one must be honest and make a reasonable effort to stop (and, what is bad includes the scam that the religion is pushing). Protecting pedophiles and silencing the victims is not honest, and therefore is moral filth. It is moral filth to promise something and then not deliver, dogging fulfillment of your promises. It is moral filth to tell people that they need to pio-sneer, or they are going to die. It is moral filth to put out an article to the public stating that it is good to analyze one's faith, and then another to the members that it is not. It is moral filth to ban independent research, putting one's life at stake, if one is not absolutely sure that they are correct and willing to take full responsibility for any errors.

  Mental cleanliness is also not what they want people to believe. In fact, true mental cleanliness is extremely rare in today's society--once people believe that they were inherently wicked and low down, they are mentally unclean. Mental uncleanness is taught in churches, mosques, and Kingdumb Hells throughout the earth--teaching people to put their present life on hold for the hereafter. And, when the leaders impose this mental uncleanness on the masses, that is itself moral uncleanness as well as mental. Notably, most schools teach mental uncleanness by presenting material in disjointed, out of context fashion. A truly mentally clean person can think clearly, and will be able to instantly solve problems that baffle most adults (including those so-called adult-proof medicine bottles that small children, who are mentally clean, can easily remove while mentally polluted adults cannot).

  Physical cleanliness is in fact a plus--it prevents disease and can keep things working longer (if your computer is physically clean, it will work properly; a physically dirty one will often conk out before its time). The problem here is that, in order to physically clean oneself and one's home, one must take time away from field circus. They will make a big issue about dirty homes. Yet, there is an unwritten rule that one must never take time out from field circus to attend to personal needs (they will hound you if your field circus time drops as your home gets cleaner).

  For obvious reasons, you will never hear this description of cleanliness--at least not more than once--at the Kingdumb Hell. Anyone that makes this comment at the Kingdumb Hell is going to have a trip to the back room with Brother Hounder.