Study July 6, 2003 Listen to What the Spirit Says

by jgnat 14 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    Study July 6, 2003 Listen to What the Spirit Says WT May 15, 2003

    Jezebel Women in the Congregation!

    5 Let no self-appointed prophetess seek to manipulate others in the present-day Christian congregation . 7 The Thyatira congregation was warned not to tolerate the evil influence of apostatizing women. Good girls "... do not try to exercise authority over men and do not lure any brothers into spiritual or physical fornication ."

    The article suggests there are apostate women in the congregation luring the men away with Spiritual Fornication. Watch for more inquisitions and broken families in the future. A mainstream commentary treats the revelation Jezebel taunt as more figurative rather than literal, and,

    ..suggests that Jezebel and her clan may not have been an actual part of the congregation, but a separate community trying to entice away its members.

    IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press and by Gospel Communications International

    Here is an alternative view of Jezebel, http://www.phoenicia.org/jezebel.html

    Overseers Discipline for Jesus! 6 Overseers dare not yield to such wicked teaching and influence (7 spiritual fornication )
    15 Anointed overseers must uphold true worship. 18 Christian overseers are glad to help them be conscious of their spiritual need so that they become ‘rich in faith’ 18 Furthermore, overseers need to assist them to apply spiritual “eye salve ”.
    19 Jesus reproves and disciplines all those for whom he has affection. Overseers under him must with tenderness do the same thing. 22 ..loving Christian elders are moved to commend individuals and congregations that are doing well spiritually. Where weaknesses exist, the elders help fellow believers to apply Spiritual remedies. 23 ..may we always be determined to pay attention when Christ speaks.

    Wealth-loving, Idolatrous Cities! Isn’t it odd that the WT writers describe every city this way. Every single one. The WT description of Sardis is particularly misleading, as the commentary linked above describes it as a city in decline. That commentary strives to note the differences between these cities and congregations, so that the various reproofs could be better understood.
    The universal we! Manipulative language at it’s best:

    4

    Even if we have a fine record, however, we must never be careless about our morals .
    9 What if we have the reputation of being awake spiritually but we are largely asleep to Christian privileges and our service activities are perfunctory and spiritually “ready to die”? 9 ... we should revitalize our efforts in sacred service. 9 We certainly ought to start participating wholeheartedly in Christian meetings. 11 What if we discern that we are getting sleepy spiritually? We should act quickly for our own good. 11 Suppose we are being drawn to ungodly ways or are becoming lax in meeting attendance or in our ministry. 22 All of us can continue to benefit from ...counsel...as long as we apply it prayerfully and without delay.

    My study questions this week:
    Why do the women get all the fun - are there not also Jezebel men in the congregations as well?
  • With such vitriol directed at a single sex, why would a modern woman want to be part of such an organization?
  • Is wealth the great evil or is it covetousness?
  • Every word out of an elder’s mouth comes from Jesus. Congregation members are to obey without delay.. Are elders advised to get personal liability insurance for wrongheaded decisions?
  • When I confront you with a problem, I list specifics, and allow you to explain your side. When we talk about our problems, we instead lay a blanket guilt on everyone who hears. How can we correct our behaviour, if we are not sure if we are one of the guilty party?
  • direct WT quotes in red .

  • noko
    noko
    Why do the women get all the fun - are there not also Jezebel men in the congregations as well?

    Doesn't the Bible say women are the feebler vessel? 1pe: 3:7. In any case I would say more Jezebel spirited men have lead congregations then women. Also in my house I am surely the servant of my wife. She rules the roost so she thinks .

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    Happy to make your acquaintance, noko. I can relate to what you say:

    In any case I would say more Jezebel spirited men have lead congregations then women. Also in my house I am surely the servant of my wife. She rules the roost so she thinks

    I am sure my JW honey would be lost if I left him in charge. I have also discovered that if I don't make dinner, he would surely starve to death.

  • termite 35
    termite 35
    Why do the women get all the fun - are there not also Jezebel men in the congregations as well?

    This type of attitude really p****s me off.

    The society directs the Elders to perpetuate the myth of inequality through articles designed to paint a derogatory picture of women.

    They label us with offensive innuendos that keep chipping away at our supposedly 'weak' characters,

    untrustworthy natures and Matahari like conniving tendancies for spiritually or sexually 'ruining' any man ( as if he is powerless to resist )

    Do they think they are so weak that they cannot help their fall from grace once we set our sights on corrupting them ?

    Or are all women, whether outside or within the congregation; potential 'Eve's' just awaiting their opportunity to be the executer of the next man's ruination ?

    I have always had a problem with male 'authority' in any situation due to an overbearing, cold and abusive father and struggled with 'subjecting' myself to men within the congregation, which was partly the reason for my perceived 'attitude' problem.

    I now choose to reject all scripture that leads the reader to think women are inferiorto men and need their direction.

    So, I have had to reject the Bible in my life at this point.I still try to keep to the good principles within it; sermon on the mount etc; but the abuse of women within it's pages is so monsterous that I can't tolerate any Christian man now if they start spouting 'wifely subjection' passages at me.

    The only reason I would intermittantly accept their 'authority' was that the scripture that women should keep quiet and not teach would be thrown at me and I could'nt argue with it- it was there in black and white and if I wanted to be approved of I had to accept it and hope those 'taking the lead' would'nt abuse their position; but they did.

    Now I can fully reject all those scriptures and go back to being the man -hating women I always was ( joke ! )

    Thanks for this Jgnat; boy , am I glad to be out of there.

    Termite of the 'I-love -men-but-could'nt- eat- a- whole- one ' class

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    Termite, this JW mindset has probably done more to push me to feminism than anything else. If such articles are designed to justify the removal of Jezebel women, who will be left in the organization?

    • Weak-minded men
    • Jezebel men
    • Weak-minded women

    A terrifying trend, I think, is the constant reference to corruption within. That has got to build a paranoid society, not healthful at all.

  • reporter
    reporter
    4 Even if we have a fine record, however, we must never be careless about our morals .
    9 What if we have the reputation of being awake spiritually but we are largely asleep to Christian privileges and our service activities are perfunctory and spiritually “ready to die”? 9 ... we should revitalize our efforts in sacred service. 9 We certainly ought to start participating wholeheartedly in Christian meetings. 11 What if we discern that we are getting sleepy spiritually? We should act quickly for our own good. 11 Suppose we are being drawn to ungodly ways or are becoming lax in meeting attendance or in our ministry. 22 All of us can continue to benefit from ...counsel...as long as we apply it prayerfully and without delay.

    Same old, same old. Do more, do more, do more...and when you've done that do some more and reach out for those Christian Privileges™

    meetings=spirituality, service=spirituality, Laxness = spiritual death and ungodliness, complacency=spiritual danger, blah, blah, blah.

  • Francois
    Francois

    I see problems lurking on the horizon. As the WTBTS gets in deeper and deeper do-do I predict Witch Hunts that will make Salem look like a Methodist picnic. Watchout you single women, widows, etc.

    Mark my words

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    I believe you, Francois. I wonder, though, if the targets will rather be married women (the headstrong ones) and non-believing spouses, both sexes. After all, it is these folk that are unlikely to swallow the WT line.

    I see broken homes. Lots of broken homes.

  • termite 35
    termite 35

    Since meeting up with a recently disfellowshipped elder's wife I have now heard of 4 women within that congregation who have left their husbands and have all emerged ready to emancipate themselves - they are really coming to terms witht he fact that they are as good as men after years of taking a subserviant role.

    Their wake up call happened from within, slowly but surely and I'm wondering whether as our culture advances, slowly but surely in the right direction, that the witnesses will see such a huge divide between the culture of today's world and their backward society that their views on the world will be too obviously weighted in favour of men to work as the catalist for the disapearence of thousands of women.

    Let's hope they take their husbands with them. After all, hopefully the jw boys of today should be a little less like their fathers due to the policies and views at their schools that they will have experienced from the age of 5-18. Finger's crossed !

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    Yah, I tell my honey the Amish do a better job of shunning the World than the witnesses do. Better throw out the buttons and the zippers, not to mention the car. How can he retort to that, "Yes, but, but, the Amish are too extreme!"

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