Theme was something about "Loyalty to Jehovah's visible organization".
I have neither the time nor inclination to summarize the whole thing, but a few points stood out:
1) Be loyal to visible org. even if it causes you personal hardship
Example: Joshua & Caleb returned from spy trip to promised land with good report, but were "outvoted" by the other 10 spies. Jehovah punished the faithless Israelites by forcing them to wander in wilderness for 40 years. Joshua & Caleb were right all along, but stuck with "Jehovah's organization" even though they suffered the penalty as well, through no fault of their own.
2) Be loyal to visible org. even if you get difficult-to-understand instructions
Example: After Israelites crossed Jordan river, but prior to attacking Jericho, Jehovah commanded all uncircumcised Israelites to get clipped. Seemed like very poor strategy -- they needed several days to recover, and were extremely vulnerable, being trapped between flood-stage river and hostile city. But they did it anyway, and Jericho did not attack - Jehovah protected them.
3) Be loyal to visible org. even if you know they are wrong
Example 1: 1st century "governing body" told Paul to ceremonially cleanse self before talking to Jews. He must have known it wouldn't work, and in fact it didn't work, as they tried to kill him & he had to appeal to Caesar. But that opened the way for him to give a witness in Rome. The 1st century "governing body" weren't thinking "what's the best way to get Paul to Rome", but it worked out that way - Jehovah used them to accomplish his will.
Example 2: During World War I, the WT did not promote a strong neutrality position, told Bible Students to "follow conscience" with regard to supporting war efforts. Some Bible Students knew this was wrong, and broke away. But soon after breaking away, they "faded and came to nothing." Eventually, by 1939, the organization got it right and published a series of WT articles on the importance of strict neutrality.
Sir82's comments: Wow! Simultaneously scary and puzzling. Scariest of all was the counsel, not only to blindly obey instructions you "don't understand", but to obey even if it will definitely cause you to suffer. I've never heard anything so explicit.
Also, I found it highly unusual that they would even hint that they might be wrong on some things. Of course, that was mitigated by the sheer gall of requiring absolute obedience anyway - "yeah, we might be wrong, but Jehovah is using us, so obey us anyway."
The target seemed to be people who were growing sick of the flip-flops and the endless boring treadmill of JW routine - trying to get them to stick around anyway. It wasn't exactly highly motivating, at least not to me - I'll see what reaction others have as I get a chance to talk to them.
Comments?