This weeks study of Daniel's Prophecy book. This one made me really feel sick....
Chapter 16, page 273-275 #7-10. I never saw this and it was there - all the time! I know that it has been throughoutly commented how crappy interpretations are in that book (thanks, thousand thanks to leolaia).
7 “When they [God’s people] are made to stumble they will be helped with a little help,” said the angel. (Daniel 11:34a) The triumph of the king of the south in the second world war had resulted in some relief for Christians living under the rival king. (Compare Revelation 12:15, 16.) Similarly, those who were persecuted by the successor king experienced relief from time to time. As the Cold War wound down, many leaders came to realize that faithful Christians are no threat and thus granted them legal recognition. Help came, too, from the swelling numbers of the great crowd, who responded to the faithful preaching of the anointed ones and helped them.—Matthew 25:34-40.
8 Not all who professed to have an interest in serving God during the Cold War years had good motives. The angel had warned: “Many will certainly join themselves to them by means of smoothness.” (Daniel 11:34b) A considerable number showed an interest in the truth but were not willing to make a dedication to God. Yet others who seemed to accept the good news were really spies for the authorities. A report from one land reads: “Some of these unscrupulous characters were avowed Communists who had crept into the Lord’s organization, made a great display of zeal, and had even been appointed to high positions of service.”
I had to stomach this first. So, you mean: Elders, CO's, DO's, Branch committees are appointed by Holy Ghost....how does this work then? HG appointed KGB people? Oh no, if you read further it says that this was actually a good service to keep everybody clean and nice. So, HG is switched off if they are appointing the "bad guy" and switch on again if they where appointing a "real elder"? I mean, what kind of deal was this between Jehovah/HG/URSS?
How could they get to high positions of zeal (I know personally that this is true, I know REAL cases, most people in the bookstudy read this, but don't know what it really means....)
9 The angel continued: “And some of those having insight will be made to stumble, in order to do a refining work because of them and to do a cleansing and to do a whitening, until the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.” (Daniel 11:35) The infiltrators caused some faithful ones to fall into the hands of the authorities. Jehovah allowed such things to happen for a refining and a cleansing of his people. Just as Jesus “learned obedience from the things he suffered,” so these faithful ones learned endurance from the testing of their faith. (Hebrews 5:8; James 1:2, 3; compare Malachi 3:3.) They are thus ‘refined, cleansed, and whitened.’
Now lets see. Those KGB bastards where in reality Jehovahs friendly helpers? "Hey, lets use this KGB guy to beat the crap out of these faithfull sisters, so that I can get rid of that weak brother that is pestering around...." Or: "These guards could come handy to keep everybody faithfull and clean...lets allow them to have some fun....call the angels off, lets see how good they are doing they're jobs" "Lets send ALL the witnesses to Siberia - children, woman and elderly freezing their asses, to see how we can get rid of the false witnesses....will see who stumbles first."
COME ON! This can't be serious?
This is very hard for me to write....but some of the experiences that JW went through in those countries where gruesome. I don't know how to reconciliate this, only thoughts like the ones expressed by RunningMan in his book would help....
10 Jehovah’s people were to experience stumbling and refining “until the time of the end.” Of course, they expect to be persecuted until the end of this wicked system of things. However, the cleansing and whitening of God’s people as a result of the intrusion from the king of the north was “for the time appointed.” Hence, at Daniel 11:35, “the time of the end” must relate to the end of the period of time needed for God’s people to be refined while enduring the assault of the king of the north. The stumbling evidently ended at the time appointed by Jehovah.