Q:
Hello
and good work on you're site...however you mention that witnesses are taught
that they can't have a relationship with Jehovah because of this teaching of
mediator, I have never thought that, as far as we have been taught is that
Christ died for us all including the GC
[great crowd], and we pray to
Jehovah through Christ as our mediator, also we are taught to safe guard our
relationship with Jehovah and to study and pray to strengthen our
relationship with him.
So we hear this all the time and read it in publications, no one I know
doesn't think they are not in a relationship with Jehovah and we do call him
father and regard ourselves as his son or daughter.
_________________________
A:
Thank you for writing. I don't mean to imply on my website that we are taught
that we can't have a relationship with Jehovah; but rather I am saying that our
teachings on the new covenant, Christ's mediatorship, sonship with God, etc.
etc., hinders us from having the sort of relationship with Jehovah the way he
has meant for all his sheep to have. This is due to our teaching of elitism,
that is, the only ones that can truly enjoy a close relationship with Jehovah
are the anointed. Says The Watchtower, (February 1, 2004, p. 9 par. 4,
"Lord, Teach Us How to Pray"):
"Spirit-begotten Christians are adopted as “God’s sons,”
and to him they can “cry out: ‘Abba, Father!’” While concerning the
“great crowd” of
Revelation chapter 7, it says that they "are not at this
time declared righteous with a view to being accepted as God’s sons."
―w69
3/15 p. 182 Declared Righteous.
Speaking of the special relationship "God's sons" have with Jehovah, a 1962
Watchtower article said this: "On the basis of their faith and
dedication and the ransom God declares these righteous, which means that while
they are still in the imperfect flesh he gives them the right to human life.
This they sacrifice so as to be able to accept God’s call to a heavenly reward,
by means of which God recognizes them as spiritual sons.
These, having been ‘born again by the water of the truth and God’s
holy spirit,’ enjoy a most precious relationship with God as his spiritual
sons, all based on Christ’s ransom. God is their Father in a distinct and
personal way. They have access to him in prayer, and at all times their
affairs are his concern. They have the witness in their lives that they are
God’s sons, while he is preparing them for life in the heavens. (bold
mine)
―w62
1/15 p. 38 Benefiting Now from Christ’s Ransom.
But that is not Jehovah's view. The shepherds have no more of a "distinct and
personal" relationship with Jehovah than have the sheep over whom Jehovah has
appointed them to feed and care for. He has appointed shepherds for the sake of
his sheep, not sheep for the sake of the shepherds. He will hold his anointed
shepherds accountable for the way they have dealt with his sheep. Read Ezekiel
chapter 34, just one example, that the Society applies to the clergy of
Christendom instead of to themselves.
Suppose you were born into a family with a large number of brothers and sisters.
(My parents had eleven children.) And suppose the father entrusts the oldest son
with the responsibility of looking after the well-being of his younger siblings
and care for them. The older son takes that to mean that he is indeed very
special to the father, the only one who is a true son, and thus starts to
dominate his younger brothers and sisters, even telling them that, although they
can call their father "father", he doesn't really consider them to be his sons
or daughters. Also, he insists that they, not being genuine sons and daughters,
don't have any inheritance rights as everything that belongs to the father
really belongs to him, including the necessity for all to obey him. Yes, of
course, they realize that the father cares for all his children by providing
them with a roof over their heads and food on the table, but they believe that
he does so only through the older son who keeps reminding the others that he is
the only one to enjoy that privileged close relationship. He even has taken the
authority upon himself to expel from the father's household any of his brothers
or sisters who dare to disagree with him. As long as everyone obeys the elder
son there seems to be peace, but some of the children have decided to move out
and fend for themselves, while a few others may even feel that they are better
off in a foster home. What do you think? How would that situation affect the
relationship of the children with their father? How close would they feel to
him? And further, if the father genuinely loves all his children, what do you
think will eventually happen to the older son?
This simplistically illustrates in what way many of us have been affected in our
relationship with Jehovah. I have received numerous letters from brothers and
sisters who have told me that they were never able to cultivate a close
relationship with their heavenly Father because of feelings of unworthiness. If
they didn't understand certain things about what we have been taught (perhaps because of
inconsistencies or contradictions) they thought that they were not qualified to
understand such things as everything has been written only for the anointed, the
Father's only true sons.
In Ezekiel Jehovah condemns his appointed shepherds for having had his sheep in
subjection "with harshness...even with tyranny." (Ezek. 34:4; 1 Peter 5:2,3)
Instead of feeding his sheep they have become feeders only of themselves. They
have trampled on the good pasturage meant for his sheep and befouled their clean
waters. The result has been, as foretold, that many of his sheep have become
skinny and sick, or scattered and wander about lost. Ironically, it has been
especially trialsome for those who trusted the "faithful" slave's interpretation
of prophecies the most. Of course, not all the sheep suffer to the same degree,
but the reality is that in the last thirty-five years we have lost approximately
one third of our brothers and sisters who once attended meetings with us and
shared in the preaching work. Keeping in mind Jesus' illustration of the man
having 100 sheep and one getting lost, and the effort he took to look for that
one lost sheep and the joy of finding it, gives us a pretty good idea of how
Jehovah views these many lost ones, and that he will hold accountable all those
who have been guilty of sharing in their dispersion. (Ezek. 34:11; Luke 15:3-6;
12:45,46)
Although there is the appearance of teaching us to worship Jehovah, much of what
is being taught today in our publications, and at our meetings and conventions,
has to do with instilling in us greater loyalty and trust in the self-proclaimed
"faithful and discreet slave," namely, the governing body. (compare Psalms
146:3-5; Matt. 15:8) (Although the Society officially teaches that the "faithful and
discreet slave" class includes all anointed Witnesses, they apply special
status only to the governing body members. See The Watchtower, May 1, 2007,
page 31) They have even hijacked the Memorial of Christ's death, making it
uniquely their own day. Often, on that occasion more time is spent on
emphasizing their superiority over the "other" sheep than on Jesus himself and the
value of the ransom he paid on behalf of the sheep. (John 10:14,15) Although it is true that Jehovah has chosen a "little
flock" of 144,000 to eventually rule in the heavens with his Son, it is
good to remember that while still on
earth they have been given the responsibility of feeding and caring for God's
sheep. Only if they do this conscientiously and faithfully, with humility, will
they receive the greater reward of sitting on heavenly thrones. (Luke 12:32,
42-46; John 21:15-17)
Jehovah will tolerate our present situation only a little while longer, as he
has promised to "deliver [his sheep] out of all the places to which they have
been scattered in the day of clouds and thick gloom," his great "day of fury" at
Armageddon. When the time comes for Jehovah to "hold an accounting with them," these wicked shepherds
will discover that "probably" they are not among those who may "be
concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger." (Ezek. 34:12; Jer. 6:15; Zeph. 1:14,15; 2:3)
I am glad that you feel close to Jehovah and your faith is strong. You are in a
position to encourage others in your congregation who feel they do not have that same
relationship. (See another
letter) May Jehovah continue to bless your faith and keep it strong in the
days ahead, for the apostle Paul forewarned regarding the last days that "wicked
men and imposters will advance from bad to worse, misleading and being misled."
(2 Tim. 3:13)