BaruQ
Food for Thinking Jehovah's Witnesses
“‘But you are seeking great things for yourself. Stop seeking such things. For I am about to bring a calamity on all flesh,’ declares Jehovah, ‘and wherever you may go, I will grant you your life as a spoil.’”
Disclaimer: this site does not claim to hold the truth. The reader should be able to exercise good judgment, carefully examining the Scriptures as to whether these things are so. (Acts 17:11)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Robert King (e-watchman)
When will the lies end?
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Robert King (e-watchman)
When will the lies end?
angel-harvester
Commentary on the Daily Text: 12/11/2016
The Kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet let down into the sea and gathering fish of every kind. — Matt. 13:47
Jesus likened the preaching of the Kingdom message to all mankind to the lowering of a large dragnet into the sea. Just as such a net indiscriminately catches large numbers of “fish of every kind,” our preaching work attracts millions of people of all kinds. Not all those attracted to the truth will take a stand for Jehovah. Many have associated with us at our meetings. Others have been willing to study the Bible with us but are not willing to make a commitment. Still others are no longer associating with the Christian congregation. Some youths have been raised by Christian parents and yet have not developed a love for Jehovah’s standards. No matter what the situation, Jesus emphasized that everyone needs to make a personal decision. Those who do are viewed by him as “the precious,” or “desirable,” things “of all the nations.”
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Musings About God
How the Ransom works...
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Musings About God
How the Ransom works...
So much has been told and written about the ransom in the past two thousand years, but few have understood how really the ransom works. What follows is an explanation more logical than religious about the functioning of the ransom. This text is taken from the site MusingsAboutGod.com.
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Perimeno
King of the North
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Perimeno
King of the North
Q: Who do you believe to be the king of the north today, and why do you so answer?
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Seeing Christ, Face-to-Face
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Seeing Christ, Face-to-Face
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This is a review of the congregation Bible Study material for the week of November 7-13
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Robert King (e-watchman)
The Operation of Satan with Every Powerful Work
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Robert King (e-watchman)
The Operation of Satan with Every Powerful Work
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This is the fourth installment of the consideration of the Bible study material for the week of October 17-23.
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Jehovah’s Witnesses Respond to Russia’s Religious Ban
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Jehovah’s Witnesses Respond to Russia’s Religious Ban
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By Russia’s legalistic definition Jehovah’s Witnesses are an extremist cult. But so were the original Christians. Jehovah’s Witnesses are charged with breaking up families. Why should they deny it? Did not Jesus say in Matthew 10:34-37: “Do not think I came to bring peace to the earth; I came to bring, not peace, but a sword. For I came to cause division, with a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Indeed, a man’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever has greater affection for father or mother than for me is not worthy of me; and whoever has greater affection for son or daughter than for me is not worthy of me.”?
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Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
RUSSIA: Police harassment as Supreme Court considers ban
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Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
RUSSIA: Police harassment as Supreme Court considers ban
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Russia's Supreme Court is due to resume considering a total ban on Jehovah's Witness activity on 12 April. Already police in several towns have disrupted their worship. A Moscow community's rental of a hall to mark their main annual commemoration was cancelled after an FSB visit.
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Felix Corley, Forum 18
KAZAKHSTAN: Lawyers now face trial for defending client
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Felix Corley, Forum 18
KAZAKHSTAN: Lawyers now face trial for defending client
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The two lawyers for a Jehovah's Witness now on trial in Astana are themselves under criminal investigation. The KNB secret police investigator accuses them of "revealing information from a pre-trial investigation" by appealing to President Nazarbayev for the case against their client to be halted.
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News
The Russian Case
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News
The Russian Case
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Developments around the trial of the Russian Jehovah's Witnesses in April 2017
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Will we be able to talk with God someday?
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Will we be able to talk with God someday?
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QUESTION: The Israelites communicated to Jehovah via a theocracy. As Christians we now pray to him through Jesus, but still require faith that our prayers are heard. Is there any basis in the Bible to believe that those living on Earth in the new system we will be able to communicate individually with Jesus and Jehovah?
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Maintaining the Devil’s Invisible Parousia Hoax
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Maintaining the Devil’s Invisible Parousia Hoax
Studies-in-the-Scriptures
This is a continuation of commentary on the God’s Kingdom Rules!
Bible study material for the week of October 10th, 2016.
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Who will be able to stand when he appears?
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Who will be able to stand when he appears?
Son-of-man
This is a consideration of the study material for the congregation Bible study covering chapter two of God’s Kingdom Rules!
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Watchtower Changes Its Pedophile Policy
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Watchtower Changes Its Pedophile Policy
By courtasy of Alexas_Fotos, Pixabay.com
Over the course of the past 15 years the Watchtower has come under increasing scrutiny regarding child sexual abuse among Jehovah’s Witnesses. There have been numerous high profile lawsuits brought against elders and the Watchtower corporation, multi-million dollar judgments, capped in 2015 with the Royal Australian Commission holding a public inquiry and the subsequent bombshell revelation that of over 1,000 known cases of child abuse in Australia not a single crime was reported to the police.
As the heat has gotten hotter the Watchtower’s spokesmen have been adamant in claiming that Jehovah’s Witnesses abhor child abuse and the organization’s policies are effective —that is, until now. As of September 2016 the Watchtower’s Legal Department has quietly begun to institute a new policy.
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Robert King (e-watchman)
God’s Kingdom Rules! – or does it? Lessons 1 and 2
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Robert King (e-watchman)
God’s Kingdom Rules! – or does it? Lessons 1 and 2
Russel 1914
This week the midweek book study begins in the new book entitled God’s Kingdom Rules! At the request of a few readers The Watchman’s Post will feature a weekly commentary based upon each lesson. This article actually considers the information presented in the first two lessons.
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Until He Comes
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Robert King (e-watchman)
Until He Comes
Commentary on the Daily Text: Thursday, September 8, 2016
Keep doing this in remembrance of me.—1 Cor. 11:24.
Night has fallen, but a full moon bathes Jerusalem in soft light. It is the evening of Nisan 14, 33 C.E. Jesus and his apostles have celebrated the Passover, commemorating Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage 15 centuries earlier. With 11 loyal apostles, Jesus now institutes a special meal—one that will memorialize the death he will experience before this day ends. Jesus says a blessing and passes unleavened bread to the apostles, saying: “Take, eat.” He takes a cup of wine, again offers thanks, and says: “Drink out of it, all of you.” Jesus will not pass other food items to them, but he will have much more to tell his faithful followers on this momentous night. So it was that Jesus instituted the Memorial of his death, also called “the Lord’s Evening Meal.”
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Robert King (e-watchman)
You Will See Your Grand Instructor
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Robert King (e-watchman)
You Will See Your Grand Instructor
Commentary on the Daily Text: Friday, July 29 2016
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your spirit is good; may it lead me on level ground.—Ps. 143:10.
Although Jehovah makes his counsel freely available, he does not force anyone to follow it. We need to ask for his holy spirit, and he will give it to us generously. It is essential, though, that we ‘pay attention to how we listen.’ For example, it would be hypocritical to ask Jehovah for help to overcome an inclination toward immorality while continuing to look at pornography or watch immoral movies. We actually need to put ourselves in places or circumstances where Jehovah’s spirit is. We know that his spirit is at the congregation meetings. Many servants of Jehovah have avoided disaster by listening to Jehovah during our meetings. As a result, they have become aware of wrong desires developing in their heart and have corrected their ways.
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Robert King (e-watchman)
When Is the Great Crowd?
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Robert King (e-watchman)
When Is the Great Crowd?
Commentary on the Daily Text: Saturday, August 20, 2016
The eyes of Jehovah are on the righteous, and his ears listen to their supplication.—1 Pet. 3:12.
The righteous include “a great crowd” who “come out of the great tribulation.” (Rev. 7:9, 14) These survivors are not just “a crowd.” They are “a great crowd”—a very large number of people. Do you see yourself among them as a survivor of “the great tribulation”? Where do those making up the great crowd come from? They are being brought together because of what Jesus foretold as part of the sign of his presence. He said: “This good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:14) In these last days, this is the chief work of God’s organization. Because of the global preaching and teaching activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses, millions of people have learned to worship God “with spirit and truth.”—John 4:23, 24. w14 5/15 4:6, 7
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Robert King (e-watchman)
When Is “Then”?
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Robert King (e-watchman)
When Is “Then”?
Commentary on the Daily Text: Thursday, July 21 2016
People will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations.—Matt. 24:9.
As followers of Christ and Witnesses of Jehovah, we are persecuted in nations around the world. This is to be expected. In the face of such hatred, however, we endure in the Kingdom-preaching work and continue to prove ourselves holy before Jehovah. Although we are honest, clean-living, and law-abiding citizens, why are we so hated? (Rom. 13:1-7) Because we have made Jehovah our Sovereign Lord! We render sacred service to “him alone” and will never compromise on his righteous laws and principles. (Matt. 4:10) We are also “no part of the world.” Therefore, we are neutral with regard to the world’s wars and political affairs. (John 15:18-21; Isa. 2:4) If we are focused on God’s sovereignty and we trust in him, nobody can cause us to compromise and be ensnared by cowardly fear.—Prov. 29:25. w14 11/15 3:8-10
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Perimeno
What is your take on the scriptural viewpoint on the prohibition on blood as stated in Acts 15?
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Perimeno
What is your take on the scriptural viewpoint on the prohibition on blood as stated in Acts 15?
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Since it has become apparent to me that the WTBTS has missed the mark on many scriptural issues because of their dogged defense of 1914, 1918 et al., I have to ask your scriptural viewpoint on the prohibition on blood as stated in Act 15 and other pertinent places in scripture. I have always felt that the societies viewpoint was well supported scripturally, but at this point I find myself questioning everything. What is your take on this subject? I don't recall seeing you weigh in on this. If you have, I have missed it. Again, I would value your response. Please support your reply scripturally. Thank you in advance.
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Perimeno
If Jehovah's Witnesses can celebrate wedding anniversaries, why not birthdays?
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Perimeno
If Jehovah's Witnesses can celebrate wedding anniversaries, why not birthdays?
By courtesy of Daniel Ribeiro Cortat Arastoro  on Pixabay.com
I am a Witness and want you to know that I appreciate your website (perimeno.ca). I look up the Scriptures you use and often do additional research to satisfy myself that they agree with other scriptures on the subject. It has helped me in clearing up a number of things that I had difficulty explaining before, while it also has confirmed some things that I already knew. But there is one thing I have not been able to explain to myself scripturally, and I haven't seen discussed on your site and that is, why don't we celebrate birthdays? I recently went to a party of a relative of mine, which turned out to be on his birthday, and which an elder counseled me about later when he found out I had been there. (I don't know how he found out.) I told him that when I went I was not aware that it was a birthday party and asked him why it is wrong to celebrate birthdays anyways. I must admit that even if I had known I probably would have gone anyways. This relative recently moved to our state and last year I went to his 10th wedding anniversary. I asked the elder why it is ok to celebrate wedding anniversaries but not birthdays. He gave me the usual reply that the Society gives, which I already know, but no Scriptures.
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Eberhard
Is it necessary to be baptized to survive Armageddon?
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Eberhard
Is it necessary to be baptized to survive Armageddon?
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On this article we’ll try to answer 2 questions about baptism:
Q1: I had a question about baptism. I was wondering if its true that one must be baptized in order to survive armageddon. Of course I want to be baptized but I would like to know what would happen if I didn’t get the chance?
Q2: I would like someone to explain to me the discussion of baptism last Saturday. Is it precisely the concept expressed in regard to baptism as a requirement for salvation?
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Perimeno
A Generation Pure In Its Own Eyes
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Perimeno
A Generation Pure In Its Own Eyes
"There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes but that has not been washed from its own excrement."
―Proverbs 30:12, NWT.
Jesus asked: “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?” (Matthew 24:45) He thus indicated that there would be a household that would have a slave appointed to feed and take care of the members of that household. Eventually Jesus, as the master, would hold the appointed slave accountable for how he carried out the responsibility he was entrusted with. The apostle Peter also clearly indicates that God has a household, and Paul told the Ephesians that they were members of God’s household. (1 Peter 4:17; Ephesians 2:19) Jesus promised his disciples that he would be with them until “the end of the age”,  therefore his household would survive until the time of its inspection.―Matthew 28:20; 24:46-51.
Where today do we find God’s household? Is it made up of all those who profess to follow Jesus? Jesus himself said that there would be many who would claim to belong to him, but he would tell them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:22,23) None of us want to be among such ones. Is it possible today to identify God’s household? Indeed, does belonging to God’s household guarantee that a person has God’s approval?
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Perimeno
“You are My witnesses, says Jehovah, and I am God”
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Perimeno
“You are My witnesses, says Jehovah, and I am God”
Does Jehovah have his witnesses today? Does a person become a witness of Jehovah simply by identifying himself with God's name?
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Perimeno
Disfellowshipping - Is it Discipline or Punishment?
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Perimeno
Disfellowshipping - Is it Discipline or Punishment?
Illustration: John Hain on Pixabay.com
Jehovah's Witnesses are well known for their practice of disfellowshipping unrepentant wrongdoers. But it is not just sinners who lack any remorse that are disfellowshipped or cast out of the organization. Also expelled are persons who may have addiction problems or any who manifest the works of the flesh, such as the apostle Paul listed in Galatians 5:19-21, "immorality, impurity, indecency, Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like." Since Paul goes on to say that "those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God”, any who are baptized Witnesses and are guilty of practicing such things are put out of the organization, they are disfellowshipped.
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Gérard Gertoux
The Book of Job: Why?
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Gérard Gertoux
The Book of Job: Why?
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The book of Job is a fascinating publication. First book of the bible that has been written, it gives yet the answers to the main questions of men: why is there evil, and what is the remedy. The book of Job not only recounting the ups and downs of its main character, but offers the hope that human race will experience the relief of his pain by revealing the identity of the redeemer. We must not believe that the question of the universal sovereignty of Jehovah only looks at our little planet, but on the contrary it has an universal dimension: Satan has posed a challenge to Jehovah, thinking that he would not be able to meet it without breaking his own laws. In the heaven a chess game is played that is beyond us.
Gérard Gertoux, in his publication The Book of Job - Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, try to combine archaeology and biblical text in order to demonstrate the usefulness of the book of Job. The reading may seem daunting, and requires an intense thought to be able to hang on to the ideas of his author, and, even if the thesis is seductive, some doubts remain on some of the explanations. Below you will find an excerpt under the title: The Book of Job: Why? As always, you are encouraged to give your point of view in the space for comments.
Baruq
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Featured Posts
Let us examine our beliefs:

the existence of God

If a Christian, and especially a Jehovah's Witness, is asked to provide proof of the existence of God, it is very likely that he will quote verse four of the third chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, "every house is constructed by someone, but the one who constructed all things is God".

The reasoning may be right, nothing came from nothing but everything on earth is due to the will of a designer, it is still good to note that Paul was not trying to argue about the existence of a Creator. He spoke to his Hebrew Christian companions who certainly did not question the fact that the universe was ruled by a powerful being who is behind everything. Moreover, in antiquity the problem was certainly not the non-belief in God but rather the opposite: people tended to believe in a multitude of gods. Furthermore, Paul, on one occasion, noticed that an altar dedicated to an unknown god had been made, certainly for fear of forgetting to revere a deity.

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Acalia & Marta
Parables for Our Days (Part 1)
Carl-Bloch-Sermon-on-the-Mount
What do the parables of Jesus have to say to us? Are they related to our days? First, we must identify and understand which of them have a prophetic application. For example, the parable of the prodigal son contains an excellent teaching for us, but is not prophetic, it announces no event! How then to distinguish the types of parabolas? As usual, it is very simple: we will stick to what Jesus Christ Himself said, without adding or taking away. We will limit the interpretations to the only elements that can be derived directly from narratives or other particular and relevant texts. For the rest, we will gladly content ourselves with the Lord's reply: "It does not belong to you to know the times or seasons that the Father has placed in his own jurisdiction" – Acts 1:7
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