Paradise Cafe Discussions - A Place For Bible Research And Christian Encouragement

Full Version: New Light on Tent and Temple
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
I’ve listened to an mp3 recording of the July article in the Watchtower, so this is from memory and a few notes. No doubt, the transcript will become available soon.

The WS states that in the 1st century, responsible brothers among the anointed decided how to interpret difficult and deep matters related to the entire group, such as the requirements for Gentiles. This was done through the power of holy spirit. They state that in our time, the same method is in use by God.

This is the introduction to a theme that will take most of the anointed brothers and all of the sisters out of the work of discerning and publishing truth. I think this has been the case for a very long time anyway, but this article will lead to a conclusion based on scripture rather than just habit.

The majority of the anointed now have 3 prime objectives:

The ministry
Disciple-making
The encouragement of the congregations

The scriptural justification for the ‘new light’ on where the anointed fit, or don’t fit into Jehovah’s true tent is not given in the usual manner, where it is central to the discussion. This time, it appears to be an optional extra, perhaps for those who need explanation rather than just accepting the statements outright. It runs from approximately 11 mins 15 secs in the audio file to 13 mins 55 secs.

The central core of the argument seems to be that the tabernacles and the later spiritual temple were only a shadow pointing to God’s true tent.

They state that because:

(Jesus became) a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man (Hebrews 8:2).

this verse should be contrasted with:

(the anointed) are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph 2:20-22).

The reason for a different interpretation of tent and temple lies with their understanding that the true tent came into existence in 29CE when Jesus was baptised:

Christ came as the high priest of the good things that are now here. He also went into a much better tent that wasn't made by humans and that doesn't belong to this world (Heb. 9:11).


By 1971, they say, the responsible brothers of the anointed reckoned these ‘living stones’ and the spiritual tent could not be the same thing. If the true tent was made up of these living stones, it could not come into existence until these stones died and were raised during Christ's presence.

With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God's trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life. Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. From that time on we will all be with the Lord forever (1Th 4:16-17).

On the basis of this reasoning on these scriptures, they draw the conclusion that:

The anointed serve in the courtyard and the holy of holies of the spiritual temple, not the tent established in heaven in 29CE.

Remember, this is not from a transcript, but I hope I have got the gist of it right.
I predicted this new light some time ago, and not by Holy spirit, but by logical reasoning on the WT articles. They are dealing with the mass increase of those claiming to be anointed. with so many new anointed, they had to find a way to remove their authoity and status, and bolster the authority of the GB!
This is what I wrote last December, and it proves that their "new Light" was not by Holy Spirit:

The WTS has another delima on their hands lately, but as in the past, they will undoubtedly come up with a twist of doctrin, call it "new light", that will at least buy some time until they can fix it.
Example, when 1914 didn't bring the foretold Armageddon and the new Order, along with the raising to Heaven of the living Bible Students, they just changed it to Jesus' coming invisibly, and the instant resurection of the faithful "as they died"
By 1935, all was well again in the ranks but Rutherford saw another problem looming, because the number of followers was approaching 144,000; all JWs thought they were going to heaven back then, so how could they explain all these people. In a stroke of genius, the judge declared that the Heaven bound anointed Christians were limited to 144,000, and that number was filled. All others were Earth bound. All was well again, as the remaining number of the "Remnant" slowly decreased as they grew old and died. But oddly, by the 50s, more and more younger ones were partaking as anointed ones. This was explained away as replacements for dis loyal anointed ones. This explanation worked for awhile, but it just didn't add up, because it was rare that an anointed was disfellowshiped. Still, the total number of anointed continued to drop until 2001 when the number suddenly began to rise!
This is their current delima. It's nearly 100 years since 1914, and the total number of individuals reporting, just since 1914, is well over 144,000! We don't know the exact number, because the Soc. never reported that number. It is becoming apparent to even the simplest JW, that the total number of anointed, espically since Pentecost of 33 CE., must be in the millions!
What to do?
We can expect new light soon to be revealed, in fact it is already in progress, that will explain away this delima.
In the June 15, 2009 WT, in the article "The Faithful Steward and its Governing Body", they stoped short of claiming that the GB is the F&DS class, but they did say that they alone are appointed to distribute the spiritual food to the rest of the Slave Class.
They have long explained that the "domestics" of Math 14:45, are the individual members of the anointed "slave Class". These are the primary ones the Faithful Slave are to feed.
Here is a likely scenario of how they could shed new light on this growing problem.
With out having to change many other scriptureal interpretations, the number 144000 could be said to apply only to the part of the total anointed Slave Class, that is actually appointed to distribute the spiritual food, "the Steward"!
In the above mentioned article, they stated that even in the first century, not all the anointed followers of Christ were involved in writing the scriptures. With this explanation, many more then just 144000 could claim to be anointed and heaven bound! These would then take the role as "the domestics".
Scriptures such as Rev 7:4 would now apply only to the Steward appointed to distribute the spiritual food, not to all of the anointed. The "Little Flock" and "other sheep" can remain as is, because the little flock would still be less in number then the other sheep and the great crowd.
In 1935, the brothers were basically given the choice to decide whether they wanted to go to Heaven or Earth. The same would happen under this new light. Thousands more would be able to partake without the fear of ridicule. I posit that this new light will probably flash up within this new year. e-m
amen Em,

IF only all false teachings would just finally crumble to dust.
we might be able to begin anew.


Hang on TD.. the truth is almost here.. :thumbsup:

Wow, this is crazy. So the anointed now are broken into 2 parts, (144,000 and the rest) I do think in the parable of the faithful and discreet slave, the slave seems to be one appointed to a leadership position. So, I wondering if the slave would qualify for every anointed one? Would all anointed be in the position of distributing food? I'm not sure? But I do think the 144,000 encaptulate all the anointed living @ the time of the end whether in heaven or earth. One thing I'm certain of, is that the WS are not distributing the food. They have not a clue on how or what the anointed would be doing at the end times.

Bren.. The reasoning the the WS have, truly makes my head hurt. :headbang: Ofcourse the spiritual temple has living stones and ofcourse the temple that began forming in 29 CE is the temple in Rev. 21. 2 Temples now??????? Some of the bible students think that at the end, there will be 2 kingdoms of God, earthly = natural Jews, and the heavenly = the church.

Emag... Interesting how the partaking increased in 2001 and forward, as that is when I think the GT started and also when I began partaking as well when I was a JW. I think the light became significantly brighter @ that time. You explained the situation quite well. I will say that I feel that our light comes from the holy spirit dwelling in our hearts and not from a governing body. In Acts, the elders and the men in Jerusalem were giving advice one time only on the problem of the gentile christians getting along w/ the Jewish christians and how the gentile and the Jewish christian could compromise and yield for the sake of peace and unity.. Yet they weren't ordering it.. as they did not have the authority to do that. We know it was only advice as it ended with 'good health to you'. Some bible say.. 'In our opinion'.
ONE TIME ONLY AND IT WAS ONLY ADVICE>> that's it. Only Christ governs our heart and not in the oppressive manner as the WS..
Thanks for the info,Brendan.

Warm Christian Love
Bangalore
Hi Apryl,

I would love to see a detailed argument to support the view that the anointed in general do not make up the true tent. As you might guess, I think the scriptures are being abused to try to make them fit what is going on in their organisation.

I must admit that I didn’t know what the Bible Students were making of the two flocks, if I understand you correctly. But two flocks or two temples? And if they see two different temples, are they thinking similarly to the WS?

I’ll bet the WS is glad that the study articles are not as easily read as before. Nonetheless, I’m sure the transcript or the full article will be available before too long for whoever really wants it.

I’m curious about the ‘logic’ behind this scriptural ‘reasoning’. I’m tempted to place all the relevant scriptures on the table and figure it out, but what it all boils down to several men just playing with scriptures to keep bums on seats in Kingdom Hall? That would be a terrible waste of precious time. It may well be that simple – Emagine saw it coming out of their organisational need, and now here it is – but can you imagine how mad or how cynical a Christian would need to be to carry out such a travesty on God’s word? There was a topic just recently asking if these guys are sincere or not. What does this latest revelation say about them?

Regards,
Brendan.
Reference URL's