Faithfull Slave Teaching Leaves something out!

by DeWandelaar 16 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  DeWandelaar

  For years the so-called faithfull slave has brainwashed us with their doctrine. A couple of days ago in my mind something happened. It is a thing I think is NEVER looked at because it is in between the sentences. I am wondering what YOU guys make of it.

  Here the text about the slave states the following in Matthew 24:45-47:

  “Who then is v the faithful and w wise servant, 3 whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 x Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, y he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master z is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants 4 and eats and drinks with a drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come b on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place c there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

  There are some very important factors in this text:

  1. Faithfull and wise servant 2. wicked servant 3. master 4. household 5. possessions 6. fellow servants

  Now... number 1 and 2 are the same servant in the parabel... they are the same person but get a "stamp" according to what their actions are... there is NO seperate servant. It is a condition.

  number 3 is the master... this is Jesus of course...

  number 4 ... household... who are they? Are they the slaves? I do not think so to be honest!

  number 5 fellow servants ... is the 'so-called' faithfull slave alone? he is just one of the other servants...

  number 6 the possessions? Do we know? Is it materials, people etc? For one thing: it is NOT people... it is belongings

  Now comes the part where my brain got me in... who get's inspected... the servant(s), the household... or both?

  According to the text ONLY the servants are being inspected! Does this mean that the household gets destroyed while Christ comes to check the servant out? No! Only the servants gets inspected and the household is left in its state... Does a slave get the authority over the household? Absolutely not! He gets (if he fits the conditions) the power over the possessions but he is NOT gonna own the HOUSEHOLD itself since he is still a servant... the household is NOT the same as the possession.

  In all these years the Brooklyn bobo's mix these things together... but a slave is NEVER bigger then the master and NEVER bigger then the household... he still remains a "slave" and he is not allowed to kick his fellow servants...

  So... what does this mean? It means (as most of us already know) that every servant is judged seperately. It is also parabel with the illustration of the Maidens that comes in the texts right after it. It was an illustration instead of a prophecy!
• 

  Oubliette

  DeWandelaar: It was an illustration instead of a prophecy!

  The elders would like to meet with you!

  Seriously, it's an amazing thing to see the light go on for someone.

  Your analysis is spot on. The WT leadership have twisted this illustration regarding faithfulness and readiness in order to assert their authority.

  It really is crazy that the have been able to use an illustration about a slave to become master over the faith of millions of people. They seized authority and we allowed them to have it over us.

  It's nice to wake up to TTATT.
• 

  Joey Jo-Jo

  brainwash is not the correct term, that's something television often erroneously uses to describe non-coercive persuasion (or mind control)
• 

  Londo111

  The parable is really a searching question for each person to reflect on individually. “Am I a faithful and discreet servant? Or could I be showing wicked, domineering tendencies?”
• 

  Separation of Powers

  DeWandelaar,

  Very good analysis. I appreciate the text you used for Matthew 24:45-47. The NWT does not use "household" but rather, "domestics." For some, that may not be a big deal, but for me, it immediately puts that "faithful slave" in a position of prestige. With that simple term, he is now distinct, he is now elite. It is interesting to me that the majority of other translations use terms like "other household servants"(New living translation) and "other slaves" (NET Bible) so as to not distinguish the faithful slave from his counterparts, the "household". He is still a slave. The ONLY thing that distinguishes him is his responsibility and if he fails to live up to that responsibility, he is deemed "evil." I appreciate the way one translation renders it, "On the other hand, that servant, if he is wicked, may think that it will be a long time before his master comes." (God's Word Translation) This rendering makes it plain that the parable is referring to the same "slave."

  If, then, the Master is happy with the "faithful" slave, he appoints him over all his "goods" or "possessions." Notice that it does not say over his "household." The "household" or "other servants" are already being tended to by the "faithful servant, logically, there is no need to appoint him over them. This understanding distinguishes further the appointment. The "faithful slave" has the responsibility of looking after his other servants, making sure they are fed, i.e cared for. If he does good, then he is "placed over" the possessions of the Master.

  Today, this parable can have many interpretations. However, if you consider ancient Jewish life and the audience that Jesus was speaking to, i.e. the impoverished, abused, and uneducated masses, many of which were slaves or had family members enslaved, it is not difficult to understand that Jesus was speaking to his audience about individual responsibility and accountability.
• 

  EdenOne

  To me the household represents Christianity as a whole - all religions and organizations who claim to be disciples of Christ. They are, collectively, the Lord's "household" where each individual slave serves.

  Eden
• 

  Emery

  Also, there is no concept of the Master communicating his wishes or will via channel to the slave in his absence.
• 

  stillin

  What gets me is that Jesus is asking a question, "who really is the F&D slave...?" And that it's an illustration, not a prophecy and that the question isn't even important enough for the other gospel writers to have included in their accounts, yet the WBS has appointed themselves as fulfillers of a "great prophecy being fulfilled in our day,"
• 

  sd-7

  I think understanding the evil servant is a key here. First, the evil servant has in mind a specific time his master is due to come back. When enough time passes and nothing happens, he begins to wonder if the master is coming back at all. He then appoints himself master, and starts doling out discipline, 'beating his fellow slaves', that would have been reserved only for the master. The master gave him authority to feed everyone, but not to enforce the rules of the household or punish/be the judge of fellow slaves. His job was to do his job, not to make sure everyone else was doing theirs, otherwise he's an overseer, which is a bit different.

  He can be pronounced happy if he's doing what he was told to do when the master arrives. What was he told to do? Feed everyone at the proper time. Was he told to rule in the master's stead, or create new rules and enforce them? No. Was he told to offer predictions from his own mind as to what time the master would get back? No. Was he told to use the master's resources to build really big houses for himself? No. If he bears in mind his position, he wouldn't even think of doing stuff like that. If he had authority to do that before the master came back, there'd be no need for the master to appoint him over all his belongings at the end! It'd be the equivalent of giving him what he already had!

  So...there you have it.

  --sd-7
• 

  Sapphy

  Let me make this clear:

  The parable is actually a prophecy that began literal fulfilment in 1919. The prophecied faithful slave is literally the members of the governing body, and before the governing body it was a few to be determined men at New York Bethel, sorry we're light on the details here, but it's true because the governing body says so, however the evil and wicked slave is not literal and is just a figurative warning.