Trying to understand the primary and secondary seed of Abraham.

by bohm 4 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  bohm

  Recently, i stumbled upon the whole 'primary/secondary seed' discussion, and it seem to be a quite untouched subject if i can trust the search function. As allways when i am extremely confused about a WTS interpretation i begin to think they just made it up. I understand the definition of the seed (primary: jesus, secondary: 144'000) but i simply cannot grasp the argument. When you type in 'secondary seed' in the WTS CD it seems to me you have to go back to the 80's to find articles where it is really discussed (are they trying to retire the 'secondary seed' as a term?), and if i have to pick an 'argument' it look something like this:

  *** w89 2/1 p. 16 par. 4 Will You Benefit From God’s Covenants? ***

  We have already seen that God made a covenant with Abraham involving a seed who would be instrumental in blessing “all nations of the earth.” (Genesis 22:17, 18) The Israelites became a fleshly seed, but in the more important spiritual sense, Jesus Christ proved to be the principal part of the seed of Abraham. Jesus was also the Son, or Seed, of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah. Christians who “belong to Christ” make up the secondary part of the seed of Abraham. (Galatians 3:16, 29)

  I am not trying to pick quotes to make the WTS look bad, it seem the argument is scattered over the entire article and i cannot really grasp what it is. The scriptures quoted is:

  (Galatians 3:16) 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It says, not: “And to seeds,” as in the case of many such, but as in the case of one: “And to your seed,” who is Christ.

  (Galatians 3:29) 29 Moreover, if YOU belong to Christ, YOU are really Abraham’s seed, heirs with reference to a promise.

  I know the argument for applying the secondary part of the seed to just the 144000 must be lame (well, its wrong), but whats worse it simply seem to be missing! If i apply the scriptures and negate it, all jws who are not part of the 144000 "do not belong to christ". is that really what they want to say? "Hello i am bob. I am a jehovahs witness. I do not belong to christ, but i sure want to give you a bible study!" (well who DO you just belong to, Bob?). Even if that is so, where is the argument?

  To end, i have to quote the author of 1 Timothy:

  "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all—[this is] what is to be witnessed to at its own particular times." (1 tim. 2:5-6)
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  EndofMysteries

  Wow, that's quite confusing mess by many who don't seem to understand. I suggest keep reading and doing what your doing. Do you have faith to let God teach you, and instruct you and give you understanding?

  JW's teach that ALL first century Christians were annointed, you may find that even then there had been a distinction between the two. Tracing and comparing what seed is what, etc is quite the project too. If your not sure if your able to, see what the bible says in regards to learning and getting understanding. Will warn you, it may be painful though. (going in sweet as honey, but bitter to stomach, least it has been that case for me).
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  Doug Mason

  bohm,

  Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians and he died in 64 CE, before the destruction of Jerusalem, before any Gospels were written, and most importantly while the People of the Way (they were not called "Christians" at the time he wrote Galatians) were considered as being grafted on to the Jewish religion (not the other way around).

  These incoming Gentiles were thus being drawn into the promises that had been made to his Jewish people, and thus inherited the benefits of the promises made to Abraham and his descendants.

  Doug
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  blondie

  *** w06 6/1 p. 24 par. 11 Jehovah Tells "From the Beginning the Finale" ***Yes, Jehovah determined ahead of time that a limited number of humans would make up a secondary part of the seed of God’s woman and share with Christ in dispensing the benefits of the ransom. (Romans 8:28-30) The apostle Peter refers to these as "a holy nation." (1 Peter 2:9) The apostle John had the privilege of learning in a vision the number of those who would become Christ’s joint heirs—144,000. (Revelation 7:4-8; 14:1, 3) United with Christ as King, they serve "for the praise of [God’s] glory."—Ephesians 1:12-14.

  *** w00 9/1 pp. 21-22 par. 14 Our Precious Heritage—What Does It Mean to You? ***The nation to which the Kingdom was given is "the Israel of God," spiritual Israel, made up of 144,000 spirit-begotten followers of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 6:16; Revelation 5:9, 10; 14:1-3) Some of those 144,000 were natural Jews, but most were from the Gentile nations. In that way Jehovah’s promise to Abraham, that through his "seed" all the nations would be blessed, began to be fulfilled. (Acts 3:25, 26; Galatians 3:8, 9) In that initial fulfillment, people of the nations were anointed with holy spirit and adopted by Jehovah God as spiritual sons, brothers of Jesus Christ. Thus, they too became a secondary part of that "seed."—Galatians 3:28, 29.

  *** w89 2/1 p. 12 par. 14 Covenants Involving God’s Eternal Purpose ***Paul went on to indicate that God would ‘multiply Abraham’s seed’ in the spiritual fulfillment. He wrote: "If you belong to Christ, you are really Abraham’s seed, heirs with reference to a promise." (Genesis 22:17; Galatians 3:29) Such ones are the 144,000 spirit-anointed Christians who form a secondary part of the seed of Abraham. They are not in opposition to the primary part of the seed but "belong to Christ." (1 Corinthians 1:2; 15:23) We know that many of them cannot trace their ancestry to Abraham, for they are from non-Jewish nations. More crucial in the spiritual fulfillment, though, they are not naturally part of the family of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah; rather, they come from the imperfect family of sinner Adam. So we will need to see from later covenants how they can qualify to become part of "Abraham’s seed."
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  blondie

  *** w07 4/15 p. 21 par. 7 Let the Congregation Praise Jehovah***

  What we read at Hebrews 2:12, 17 is significant. It shows that in an inclusive sense, Christ was a member of a congregation where he declared God’s name to his brothers. Who were those brothers? Those forming part of "Abraham’s seed," the spirit-anointed brothers of Christ, "partakers of the heavenly calling." (Hebrews 2:16–3:1; Matthew 25:40) Yes, the primary sense of "congregation" in the Christian Greek Scriptures is thecompositegroupofspirit-anointedfollowersofChrist. These 144,000 anointed ones constitute "the congregation of the firstborn who have been enrolled in the heavens."—Hebrews 12:23.

  *** w06 2/15 p. 19 par. 12 An Administration for Fulfilling God’s Purpose ***One aspect of that secret involved Jehovah’s selecting a "little flock" of 144,000 humans to be associated with his Son as part of the seed, to reign with him in heaven.—Luke 12:32; Revelation 14:1, 4.

  *** w02 12/1 p. 29 Questions From Readers ***As matters turned out, aside from Jesus Christ, Abraham’s "seed" numbers 144,000, which Jesus called the "little flock."—Luke 12:32; Galatians 3:16, 29;

  *** w02 12/15 p. 30 Do You Remember? ***The text says that those misled will be "as the sand of the sea." In the Bible, that expression often means an unknown number, without suggesting that it is immense. Abraham’s seed, which was to be "like the grains of sand that are on the seashore," turned out to be 144,000 persons, aside from Jesus Christ. (Genesis 22:17; Revelation 14:1-4)—12/1, page 29.

  *** w99 1/1 p. 20 par. 20 "Make Your Hearts Firm" ***In the first century, many from all nations—starting with fleshly Israel—exercised faith in this Seed of Abraham and became anointed sons of God, members of a new, spiritual "Israel of God." (Galatians 3:26-29; 6:16; Acts 3:25, 26) They had an assured expectation of immortal spirit life in the heavens as corulers in God’s Kingdom. Only 144,000 would be blessed in this way, and few of them remain. (Revelation 5:9, 10; 7:4) Last year, 8,756 testified to their belief that they were of this number by partaking of the emblems during the Memorial celebration.

  *** w99 4/15 p. 11 par. 8 The Only Way to Everlasting Life ***Others were to be selected from among humankind, and these would join him in heaven to share in ruling, and thus they would come to constitute a subsidiary part of the woman’s seed. (Galatians 3:16, 29) In the Bible the number of these corulers with Jesus—all taken from among sinful humankind on earth—is given as 144,000.—Revelation 14:1-3.

  *** w98 2/1 pp. 14-15 par. 8 Greater Blessings Through the New Covenant ***Paul told the Galatian Christians, of whatever background: "If you belong to Christ, you are really Abraham’s seed, heirs with reference to a promise." (Galatians 3:29) For those Galatians, the blessing through Abraham’s Seed included their being participants in the new covenant and also being coheirs with Jesus, associates with Jesus in the seed of Abraham. We do not know the population of ancient Israel. We know only that it came to be "like the grains of sand that are by the sea for multitude." (1 Kings 4:20) We do, however, know the final number of Jesus’ associates in the spiritual seed—144,000. (Revelation 7:4; 14:1) Those 144,000 come out of "every tribe and tongue and people and nation" of mankind and share in administering to yet others the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant.—Revelation 5:9.

  *** w96 6/1 p. 9 par. 3 The Serpent’s Seed—How Exposed? ***Thewoman’s"seed" is primarily Jesus Christ, who was anointed with holy spirit in 29 C.E. The 144,000, who are "born again . . . from water and spirit" and who are heirs of the heavenly Kingdom with Christ, are a subsidiary part of that seed of promise. These began to be added to the woman’s seed from Pentecost 33 C.E. onward.—John 3:3, 5; Galatians 3:16, 29.