Man's Indefinite Domain

by Maze 11 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Maze

  The purpose is that you may walk in the way of good people and that the paths of the righteous ones you may keep. For the upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it. Proverbs 2:20-22
  
  http://niv.scripturetext.com/proverbs/2.htm
  
  Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. Proverbs 2:20-22

  The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it. Psalm 37:29

  http://niv.scripturetext.com/psalms/37.htm
  
  The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. Psalm 37:29
  
  There are many other scriptures that use the word “land” or "earth" in identifying man's indefinite domain. The writing of Proverbs was completed in 717 B.C.E. This was long before the fundamental scientific understanding of the earth as a spherical planetary body in a solar system of nine planets. Some translations aside from the New World Translation use the word “earth” instead of “land.”
  
  http://kjv.us/proverbs/2.htm
  http://kingjbible.com/proverbs/2.htm
  http://drb.scripturetext.com/proverbs/2.htm
  http://websterbible.com/proverbs/2.htm
  http://yltbible.com/proverbs/2.htm
  There's only one organization that teaches humanity will reside indefinitely in their natural habitat (the earth). How should Proverbs 2:20-22 and other scriptures that specify the earth (or land) as man's eternal home instead of a supernatural dimension like "heaven" be understood?
• 

  maksym

  I think it is important to understand that when cherry picking scriptures for getting the proper exegesis of them you must place them within the context of when they were written.

  In dealing with the scriptures above. You should ask;

  What audience were these scriptures written to at the time they were written. Also a good rule of thumb is to use 20/20 vision or, read 20 verses before and after the verse to gain better contextual meaning.

  And also you should realise what genre the book is in to better understand the way it presents itself. These are basic exegetical strategies to help understand the scriptures.

  Also If you can't figure it out, a good way see others views is to get a Bible with a Commentary at the bottom of the pages. Use a Bible from several different backgrounds that allows conservative and broad appeals to other theologions both present and past.

  And of course this would not be complete without prayer and asking God to supply you with Holy Spirit in your understanding. Be humble and keep an open mind are also good.

  Those are just some tips I learned and has helped me out tremendously.

  Lastly uniqueness is a danger sign. I looked those passages up in my Bible and there is no deep underlying all encompassing future fulfillment to those verses. Contextually they were written to the nation of Israel during troubled times where they struggled both spiritually and were persecuted by enemies near them. Those words were written as encouragement to stay close to the Lord and there land would not be taken away.

  Finally "Earth" and "Land" have different meanings so you may want to get a Hebrew word study and reference Bible to compare what certain uses of them were and how they are translated.

  In short those verses are not in any way linked to a paradise kingdom government.
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  maksym

  I almost forgot to say that these verses are poetry. A major blunder is read these verses in a literal sense in every way.

  I hope that helps

  Peace

  Maksym
• 

  jeckle

  Also I follow a protestant am station while in my work van driving from job to job. Most talk of an earthly promise.I think most people would be surprised at what is being taught. I find it very encouraging and helped me not to loose faith.
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  trevor

  "How should Proverbs 2:20-22 and other scriptures that specify the earth (or land) as man's eternal home instead of a supernatural dimension like heaven" be understood?"

  Like all mystical and poetical writings, they should be used for recreation only.
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  cofty

  Hi Maze. In the pre-exile world of the Jews there was no concept of eternal punishments or rewards. It was naively believed that god blessed the good and punished the wicked in this life. The poetic literature is full of statements like the ones you have referred to that serve to reinforce this belief in the minds of the people. "All will be well for the good - the wicked will be smitten". Incidentally the GBs favourite verse about the light getting brighter and brighter is just another one of these couplets.

  So when good things happened it was seen as god's blessing and reversals in fortune were seen as direct punishment for sins. When things did not seem to be going well there were plenty of these ditties the pious could take emotional refuge in.

  Later books like Ecclesiastes and Job dared to question this simplistic worldview. It was only after the Babylonian exile that the idea of Satan was adopted from Zoroastrian infuence and a dualisitc view became popular where good things were from god and bad things from his nemesis. Not until the inter-testiment period do we find the idea of eternal reward in the Maccabean period. It may have been the deaths of the Maccabeean martyrs (& brothers, their mother and teacher) that prompted a rethink of post-death rewards for the faithful.

  As Maksym said you need to consider the context and style of writing, I no longer have any faith in the bible as inspired but its ironic that non-believers often pay more respect to the intentions of bible writers than beleivers who treat it like a box of fortune cookies.
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  Maze

  I think it is important to understand that when cherry picking scriptures for getting the proper exegesis of them you must place them within the context of when they were written.

  Contextual apparatus: I can only come to grips with two when interpreting the Bible.

  1. The thinking and social environment of the Bible writer. All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The means or agency for the inspiration of “all Scripture” was God’s holy spirit, or active force. That holy spirit operated toward or upon men to move them and guide them in setting down God’s message.
  
  2. There's also context in associated scriptures to consider. There are more than 125,000 marginal (cross) references in the New World Translation. These citations demonstrate that there is at least a second witness to almost every Biblical matter. A careful comparison of the marginal references and an examination of the accompanying footnotes will reveal the interlocking harmony of the 66 Bible books, proving that they comprise one book, inspired by God.
  
  

  And of course this would not be complete without prayer and asking God to supply you with Holy Spirit in your understanding.

  
  
  A person cannot receive God's Spirit outside of Jehovah's Organization.
  
  

  In short those verses are not in any way linked to a paradise kingdom government.

  
  
  How can you say these verses are not in any way linked to a “paradise kingdom government?”
  
  And he laid his right hand upon me and said: “Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last, and the living one; and I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Ha′des. Revelation 1:17-18
  
  And he went on to say: “Jesus, remember me when you get into your kingdom.” And he said to him: “Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:42-43
  
  “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite; forasmuch as you beheld that out of the mountain a stone was cut not by hands, and [that] it crushed the iron, the copper, the molded clay, the silver and the gold. The grand God himself has made known to the king what is to occur after this. And the dream is reliable, and the interpretation of it is trustworthy.” Daniel 2:44-45
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  transhuman68

  Most of us believed what you still believe now; that is the way the Bible was interpreted to us by the WTS. It doesn't stand up to strutiny though, and the real inside story of the Bible is far more interesting than we were told. Download this book and have a look at it: it's a good place to start ...http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6928

  The obvious problem with 2 Timothy 3:16 is that when those words were written, only the scolls of what we now call the Old Testament were written, and which books were included, and which weren't still hadden't been finally decided.

  There are many cross-references in the Bible, that is deliberate. There are also mistakes, too: New Testament authors quoting Scriptures that don't exist, or quoting the wrong prophet. The Bible is a very interesting book, but hardly inspired.
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  doubtful

  I'm just posting so I will have this thread on file! Lol.
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  doubtful

  Crofty,

  Could you please elaborate on the whole idea of Satan being borrowed from the dualistic zorastrian religion? Wasn't Job written before the exile? The Persians wouldn't have had much influence on Hebrew theology until 537.