Q:
What is
your understanding of Zechariah 8:23? Is it possible that those with an
earthly hope could be a spiritual Jew one who is approved by God?
_________________________
A: The Watchtower said the following in explanation of Zechariah 8:23:
"The Bible book of Zechariah
speaks of “ten men” who approach “a man who is a Jew” and say: “We will go with
you people.” (Read Zechariah 8:23.) Since “a man who is a Jew” is spoken of as
“you people,” he is a composite man. In our time, he represents the remnant
of spirit-anointed Christians—part of “the Israel of God.” (Gal. 6:16) The “ten men
out of all the languages of the nations” represent the great crowd of other
sheep. Just as the anointed Christians follow Jesus no matter where he goes, the
great crowd ‘goes with,’ or accompanies, the faithful and discreet slave. Those
of the great crowd should never be ashamed to identify themselves as companions
of the “partakers of the heavenly calling.” (Heb. 3:1) Jesus is not ashamed to
call the anointed ones “brothers.”—Heb. 2:11.
(w09 2/15 p. 27 par. 13 They
“Keep Following the Lamb”) Bold mine.
Before answering your question allow me to first of all comment on one of the
strangest and also most far-reaching interpretations the Society offers, because
it reveals why they have come to put such great emphasis on "the remnant of
spirit-anointed Christians," as they do in the above quote. The prophet
Isaiah foretold the birth of a nation as "in one day," saying: “Who has heard of a thing like this? Who has seen
things like these? Will a land be brought forth with labor pains in one day? Or
will a nation be born at one time? For Zion has come into labor pains as well as
given birth to her sons.”
(Isaiah 66:8)
Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost with the outpouring of the holy
spirit, when the new covenant went into operation and the
Christian congregation was born, a nation born “in one day.” On that day 120
disciples (including the twelve apostles) were baptized with the holy spirit;
and another 3,000 who responded to Peter's speech were added to their number,
after having repented and then being baptized in the name of Jesus "for
forgiveness of their sins." (Acts 2:1-4, 37-42) This sudden birth was in contrast to the nation of
Israel (which took over 400 years to be born, starting with the birth of Isaac)
when God made the old covenant with them
at Mount Sinai. (see
“Born
Again—What Did Jesus Mean?”) Yet, the Society in their publications has
consistently
applied Isaiah’s prophecy to the release of Judge
Rutherford with his
seven associates from a federal
penitentiary in 1919 (after
eight months of imprisonment), when, as they explain, the nation was born as in
one day. The
Watchtower of July 1, 1982 explained it this way:
“Before she [that is,
another Jerusalem] began to come into labor pains she gave birth. Before birth
pangs could come to her, she even gave deliverance to a male child. Who has
heard of a thing like this? Who has seen things like these? Will a land be
brought forth with labor pains in one day? Or will a nation be born at one time?
For Zion has come into labor pains as well as given birth to her sons.”—Isaiah
66:7,8.
Is there a modern counterpart
of the “birth” of the restored Israelites as a “nation” in 537 BCE? Yes, for
in
the year following the first world war of 1914-1918 a spiritual “nation” was
born, under the Greater Cyrus, the enthroned King Jesus Christ! How so? Well,
during the war the headquarters of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, the
publication agency of the International Bible Students, had been dismantled at
Brooklyn, New York, and moved back to smaller quarters in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Its latest pieces of literature had been banned in Canada and the
United States of America, and the Society’s president, its secretary-treasurer,
and six other members of the headquarters’ staff of workers had been sentenced
in 1918 to long terms of imprisonment. The intent of the enemies behind all of
this was like that expressed in Psalm 83:4: “Let us efface them from being a
nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” But in the spring of
1919, to the shocking surprise of Christendom, there came release! That same
year the persecuted International Bible Students held their first postwar
convention in Cedar Point, Ohio. To the conventioners the publication of a new
magazine, in addition to the Watch Tower magazine, was announced, namely, The
Golden Age (now called Awake!).
Thus, five years after the end of the “times of the Gentiles” in 1914, and
the establishment of God’s kingdom in the hands of the Greater Cyrus, Jesus
Christ, a new “nation” came into existence, a spiritual “nation.” The members of
this new “nation” were to serve as ambassadors of God’s kingdom newly born in
the heavens and as witnesses bearing his name. He has put the “nation” in its
rightful “land,” its earthly realm of activity, its symbolic “land,” now that
the Gentile Times for trampling his visible organization underfoot have
ended.—Luke 21:24, AV.
(w82 7/1 p. 16, 18; par.
14, 20-21 Birth of the Royal Nation on a Newborn Land)
Did they really believe that this footnote in the Society's history was of
greater significance than the day of Pentecost; or was it merely an attempt to
justify the lofty yet unauthorized position over God's sheep that Judge
Rutherford assumed at that time? (Acts 20:28-30; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
This explains how self-exalted and presumptuous the rulers of the Society became
early on, placing great but undue importance on themselves, and which has
greatly influenced all their interpretation of the Scriptures. (Luke 17:10) Even the secular corporation that was
formed in order to facilitate the preaching work, in accordance with the law of
the land, came to be viewed as from Jehovah; and this has caused them to
misapply various prophecies in connection with any changes made within the
corporation. They have failed to differentiate between the common and the holy
things, not a little matter in God’s eyes. (Ezek. 22:26, 28)
You may already have noticed that the expression “spiritual” Israel, or
“spiritual” nation, which they apply to
themselves, does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Some have accused me of
quibbling over semantics, and to them this seems petty stuff. But if we
introduce expressions and terms that are not used in the Bible then we get to
define it to mean whatever we want it to mean, with the resulting danger that we
introduce doctrines by which
we make God’s word invalid, and applying prophecies in a self-serving way. (1
Cor. 4:6) There is a big difference between what the Bible says about the
“Israel of God” and the “spiritual” Israel of the Society, where they have come
up with the nonscriptural teaching that “spiritual”
Israel (the 144,000) actually replaced natural Israel (the Jews), as if there would have been no “Israel
of God” if natural Israel had remained faithful and accepted the Messiah.
(Exodus 19:5,6; Gal. 6:16; 1 Peter 2:5,6, 9) (see "Did
'Spiritual Israel" Replace Natural Israel?")
Their “spiritual” Israel, or "spiritual" nation doctrine has resulted in confusion
on many topics. I suppose this falls within what Paul foretold
that “God lets an operation of error go to them, that they may get to believing
the lie, in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the
truth.” (2 Thess. 2:11,12)
Zechariah 8:23 is one such misinterpreted prophetic scripture, which they
have applied to themselves. They effectively use this prophecy to reinforce
their claim that the
“ten men out of all the
languages of the nations, which represent the great crowd of other sheep," must
submissively accompany them as "the faithful and discreet slave," just as they
follow Jesus, on account of their
special relationship with God.
Yes, as they say, "those of the great crowd should never be ashamed to
identify themselves as companions of the 'partakers of the heavenly calling.'”
Compare that to what Jesus himself said, namely that he is our one and only
Leader; and rather than the "great crowd" following the 144,000, it is the
144,000 as the bride of Christ, who "keep following the Lamb no matter where he
goes." (Matt. 23:10; Rev. 14:1, 4)
What is Zechariah in his prophecy talking
about? The same thing that other prophets were inspired to make mention of,
namely, that people of the nations would turn to God in connection with, no, not
any anointed “spiritual” Jew, but rather because of the Messiah, who would be “a
light to the nations.” (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6; Zech. 2:10,11; 9:9,10)
These “ten men out of all languages of the nations” who “take hold of a man who
is a Jew” on account of God being with them, are the same ones Jesus pointed to when
he said: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must
bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one
shepherd.” (John 10:16) Jesus was referring to the many prophecies, including
Zechariah’s, which foretold that people of the nations—the “other sheep”—would
come to worship Jehovah in association with the Jews on account of the Messiah, for they too were to benefit
from the ransom. These people of the nations would eventually outnumber Christ's
Jewish disciples [figuratively 10 to 1], making one flock, one
shepherd. (Acts 13:45-48; 28:24-28; Zech. 8:3, 20-22) (see "John
10:16—Who Are the 'Other Sheep'?")
When the apostles and older men in Jerusalem met together to discuss whether
Gentile believers who turned to God needed to be circumcised, James explained
that the prophets had foretold that God would turn “his attention to the nations
to take out of them a people for his name. . . [Jews] (the booth of
David) together with people of all the nations, people who are called by my
name, says Jehovah, who is doing these things, known from of old.” (Acts
15:14-18) The countless prophecies throughout the Hebrew Scriptures foretold
that people of the nations would turn to God and join the Jews in worshiping
him. There would no longer be any distinction between them. (Rom. 2:28,29; Eph.
2:11-18) These
prophecies have been fulfilled. Bringing any “spiritual” Israel, that the
Society teaches, into the picture just beclouds the basic and simple truth!
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