WITCHTOWER

JANUARY

THE

1, 2010

EXPOSING JEHOVAHS WITNESSES

The

Three Magi
and their modern
antitype

The Witchtower 01/2010

The Witchtower
Downloadable in 194 countries

3 The Three Magi and Their Modern Antitype

7 How Alcohol Helped Me to Face Hard Times (Part 2)
10 Slavery A Blessing
15 The Bibles Viewpoint: Are Furnaces for Christians?
16 Who is Outside?

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The Witchtower 01/2010

Everyone knows the story of the three Magi

who travelled a long way to pay homage to baby
Jesus two thousand years ago. But this is not
only a nice story. No, like many things in the
Bible, this event was a prophetic preview of a
greater fulfillment that should happen in our
day.
In Germany the three Magi are called Holy
Three Kings though they actually were neither
holy nor three nor kings. They came from eastern parts. (Matthew 2:1) At the very east of the
United States is New York City, and again in
the east of this city is Brooklyn. There too lives a
group of men who consider themselves the holy
ones of the Supreme One and future kings.
They say of themselves: The anointed are
already sanctified in a very special way, being
declared righteous and holy. The prophet
Daniel speaks of them as the holy ones of the
Supreme One, who receive the Kingdom under
the son of man, Christ Jesus. The Watchtower, February 1, 2002, page 21.
Also in the book Pay Attention to Daniels
Prophecy they write about themselves, under
the headline Who Will Rule the World?: The
holy ones of the Supreme One will receive the
kingdom, said the angel. The other holy
ones having a share in the rulership are the
144,000 faithful spirit-anointed Christians.
page 146.

The original Magi were Kasper, Melchior and Balthasar

Brooklyn is in eastern parts

Cooperation with Politics

When King Herod sent for the Holy Three

Kings, they gladly accepted the call. They set
forth their journey to Jerusalem with his support. Likewise the holy ones from Brooklyn did
not refuse to cooperate with political organizations. In a letter dated 4 March 2004, the United
Nations Department of Public Information (DPI)
stated: The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
of New York applied for association with DPI
in 1991 and was granted association in 1992. By
accepting association with DPI, the organization
agreed to meet criteria for association, including
support and respect of the principles of the
Charter of the United Nations.
No Genuine Kings

But in actual fact, the Holy Three Kings

were no kings at all but astrologers. Astrologers
are characterized by making many predictions
with only few or none of them coming true. For
example, German astrologer Kurt Allgeier foretold that seven million people in Stuttgart area
(in Germany) would be killed by a nuclear blast
in 2002. His Romanian colleague Radu Moisoiu
predicted that George W. Bush would die at
August 19, 2004. Antonio Vazquez Alba predicted the suicide of Britney Spears for 2008. Not
even the prophecy of Nikki Pezaro that a giant
rabbit would be discovered in England in 2008
has come true.
The Witchtower 01/2010 3

The same feature unfulfilled prophecies

characterizes the anointed Christians from
Brooklyn as the antitypical astrologers. They
even considered it an established truth that the
final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the
full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will
be accomplished by the end of A. D. 1914. (Millennial Dawn, volume II, The Time is at Hand,
1889 edition, page 99) Based on Bible verse
constellations, they predicted: With the end of
A. D. 1914, what God calls Babylon, and what
men call Christendom, will be passed away.
Millennial Dawn, volume III, Thy Kingdom
Come, 1891 edition, page 153.
Like real astrologers, unfulfilled predictions
did not keep them from making new ones.
Hence they wrote some years later: We should,
therefore, expect shortly after 1925 to see the
awakening of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Melchisedec, Job, Moses, Samuel,
David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, John
the Baptist, and others mentioned in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. These will form a
nucleus of the new kingdom on earth. One of the
first things necessary will be to put Jerusalem
in condition to be the capital of the world. (The
Way to Paradise, 1925 edition, page 224) Supposedly the year 1925 [was] a date definitely
and clearly marked in Scriptures, even more
clearly than that of 1914. The Watchtower,
July 15, 1924, page 211.
Decades later, they asked if the battle of
Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of
1975, and the long-looked-for thousand-year
reign of Christ will begin by then and added: It
may involve only a difference of weeks or
months, not years. (The Watchtower, August
15, 1968, page 499) But while the year 1975 was
described as an established fact in public talks,
it was rather described as a probability in the
magazines.
Awake, May 22, 1969

But the Holy Kings from Brooklyn employed a similar strategy as astrologers to save
their reputation: woolly predictions. Rather than
stating an exact year, they wrote: Within our
twentieth century, the battle in the day of Jehovah will begin against the modern antitype of
Jerusalem, Christendom. (The Nations Shall
Know That I Am Jehovah How?, page 217)
Some years earlier, in the February 22, 1961
Awake! issue, they stated: The kingdom of God
will, within the twentieth century, cleanse
the entire earth of wickedness and even added:
Armageddon will come in the twentieth
century. (pages 7, 8) Even the January 1, 1989
Watchtower still said that the preaching work
would be completed in our 20th century.
page 12.*
But that didnt help; these prophecies too
have definitely failed. But as the people do not
stop trusting literal astrologers, as do millions of
people continue to trust the antitypical astrologers from Brooklyn.
Oxen

One reason for that is related to the kind of

people that these self-proclaimed kings draw to
their organization. According to traditional
descriptions, the original three Magi came to a
shed where, besides baby Jesus, there were ox,
donkey and sheep. Likewise the Watchtower
Society looks for antitypical oxen, donkeys and
sheep.
The German edition of Encyclopaedia Wikipedia says: The ox is indulgent and can be
used as a draft and work animal in agriculture.
In a similar way, the kings from Brooklyn look
for people who like oxen put up with everything and are not about any work. With regard
to themselves and their oxenlike followers, they
wrote in the July 15, 1990 Watchtower: The
anointed know they must eventually finish their
earthly course in death as Jesus did, but they
have companions to share with them the glorious treasure of service, to help them by doing
the bulk of the work of the preaching of the good
news of the Kingdom. page 20.
In the Watchtower Library on CD-ROM, the expression in
our 20th century has been changed to in our day. In the
German edition, it still reads in the 20th century.
*

Their predictions are as reliable as those of astrologers

The Witchtower 01/2010

Actually the oxenlike publishers sacrificed

more than 1,500,000,000 hours for the purposes
of the holy ones from Brooklyn during the past
year. They relinquished any pay and bore any
arising cost by themselves! Not for nothing, the
word horn-ox is a German swearword for a
stupid human. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm,
German Dictionary, volume X.
Donkeys

Which feature characterizes donkeys? The

German edition of Encyclopaedia Wikipedia
says: Horses tend to flee in stress situations.
Donkeys often stop dead in their tracks. Additional stress, e. g. by beating or yelling, rather
adds to the stiffness, what is the cause for the
donkeys reputation as an especially stubborn or
stupid animal. For Jehovahs Witnesses, stress
situations arise when doctrines are changed,
such as 1995 the one regarding the generation.
The increasing number of anointed which
contradicts the doctrine of the 144,000 can also
lead to stress situations.
While horselike people flee that is, leave
the Watchtower organization in such situations, donkeylike people stop dead in their
tracks. The holy ones from Brooklyn increase
the stress by beating the publishers with additional tasks or higher requirements. (Matthew
24:49) Instead of running away, donkeylike
publishers stubbornly stick to the organization,
saying: But after all it is the truth! They follow
the instruction from an old Kingdom Song:
Keep to the way, and there ever stay. Sing
Praises to Jehovah, Song 111.

Oxen are good plodders

Like stubborn donkeys, the publishers dont run away

Sheep

Finally, the wannabe kings are also looking

for sheeplike people [who] are willing to sacrifice time, energy, and material resources. (The
Watchtower, May 1, 1989, page 19) Why? The
German edition of Encyclopaedia Wikipedia
says: In common parlance the sheep is usually
considered as epitome of stupidity, and
scholars often follow this evaluation. Jehovahs Witnesses look for stupid people as publishers. Thats why they advise youths: If you
pursue secular education beyond what is required by law, wisely examine your reason for
doing so. (The Watchtower, December 1, 1996,
page 19) They even tell their followers: Something useful that can become a valueless thing
is secular education. The Watchtower, April
15, 2008, page 4.
Uneducated and stupid people can easily be
manipulated and used as plodders like oxen.
Theyre afraid of running away even when they
notice that they have been cheated. And even if
they want to run away, they dont know where.
Hence the self-assumed holy ones from
Brooklyn resemble the astrologers who visited
baby Jesus in the first century.
The Witchtower 01/2010

Presents

The astrologers offered presents to baby Jesus gold, myrrh and incense. The Governing
Body of Jehovahs Witnesses which was foreshadowed by them sacrifices gold too. The
truths in the Bible may be likened to gold.
The Watchtower, September 15, 1990, page 3.
They sacrificed these Bible truths by adhering to false doctrines out of a desire to retain
their power, such as the doctrine of the year
1914 or of a Governing Body in the first century. Instead of Bible truths, they tout the
gradual developments involving Gods earthly
organizational arrangement as gold to their
followers, as explained in the June 1, 2001
Watchtower issue under the title Moving
Ahead to Final Victory!
Another gift of the astrologers was myrrh.
According to the German edition of Encyclopaedia Wikipedia, myrrh was used as aphrodisiac in ancient times, and beds had been
sprinkled with it before sexual intercourse.
But this is not the purpose for which the
Watchtower Society uses myrrh, of course.
They explain it themselves: Myrrh had a
narcotic and stupefying effect. The Watchtower, March 15, 1978, page 32.
In a similar way, the Watchtower Society
keeps their followers busy with meetings, assemblies, field ministry and with a neverending spate of literature which must be read,
studied and distributed. The monotonous voice
of many speakers and the repeating topics
together have a narcotic and stupefying effect
on the publishers, so that they do not notice at
all how they are cheated and exploited.
As a third present, the ancient astrologers
offered frankincense. In a transferred sense,
the Governing Body of Jehovahs Witnesses
alledgedly representing the faithful and discreet slave too provides incense to their
followers with statements like: We have sound
reasons to be grateful for the faithful and discreet slave. The Watchtower, July 15, 2006,
page 20.

An earlier issue said: We should be thankful for the abundant spiritual food we are receiving through the faithful and discreet
slave. (The Watchtower, August 1, 1980, page
20) And the February 1, 2007 issue said: What
a contrast we see between the spiritual prosperity of Gods people and the religious confusion of Babylon the Great! (page 23) Such
statements make the publishers adulate or
cense the faithful and discreet slave.
Though the astrologers promised Herod to
tell him where the child could be found, they
finally withdrew to their country by another
way, and Herod noticed that he had been
outwitted by the astrologers. (Matthew 2:12,
16) Likewise the Watchtower Society declared
itself ready to comply with the United Nations
goals for the sake of benefits. But in actual fact
its leaders wouldnt dream of it.
Rather they wrote in the December 15,
1929 Watchtower issue: The whole tendency of
the League of Nations is to turn the people
away from God and from Christ, and it is
therefore a desolating thing, the product of
Satan, and an abomination in the sight of
God. (page 374) The May 1, 1999 issue quoted
the above statement and added: In time, the
League gave way to the United Nations. Jehovahs Witnesses have long exposed these human peace organizations as disgusting in Gods
sight. page 15.
Who is behind it?

Who is actually behind the Watchtower Society? Is it really God, as they claim? The
church father Jerome wrote that the three
Magi were instructed by demons. Regarding
the star that led them to Jesus, the Watchtower
wrote: That star was actually a scheme of
Satan the Devil. December 15, 1982, page 9.
Hence we can conclude that the Governing
Body of Jehovahs Witnesses too is instructed
by demons and that not God, but Satan the
Devil is behind it.
The Witchtower 01/2010

HOW ALCOHOL HELPED ME TO FACE HARD TIMES (2)

As told by Jeshua ben Joseph

Continued from The Witchtower, December 2009

Few days later, an old acquaintance called
Jairus sent for me. He thought that his daughter would have died. Of course he could not
know that she had been out with me all night in
Zadoks dance bar and was simply sleeping.
At once I went to Jairus and told him: The
young child has not died, but is sleeping. I went
to her and said: Maiden, I say to you, Get up!
Immediately she rose, and we had breakfast
together. I instructed Jairus to not broadcast
that his daughter would have been dead.
When I left the house, two blind men followed behind and shouted: Have mercy on us,
Son of David! I asked them: Do you have faith
that I can give you something? Yes, Lord,
they answered. I told them: According to your
faith let it happen to you and gave them a silver coin. Then I sternly charged them: See that
nobody gets to know it, because I was afraid
that all other beggars of the area might come to
me too.
Carpenters were not well-paid in Israel, but
due to my career as a prophet, I had gained
some wealth. Hence, when I came home to Nazareth, the people said with regard to me: Is this
not the carpenters son? Is not his mother called
Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and
Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not
all with us? Where, then, did this man get all
these things? They always thought that one
could not earn much as a prophet.
To further increase my income, I was also
acting as a management consultant. A rich landowner engaged my services to help him optimize
the harvest. Previously, the gathering in of the
harvest had taken so long that some of the crop
rotted in the meantime. I analyzed the situation,
and in my final report I told him: The harvest
is great, but the workers are few. I recommended sending out more workers into his harvest.

A little later, I came to know that some of my

disciples kept donations and commodity contributions for themselves. I reminded them: Do
not procure gold or silver or copper for your
girdle purses, or a food pouch for the trip, or two
undergarments, or sandals or a staff, but hand
all receipts over to me! We were in Bethlehem
on that day, and I asked around where we could
go out in the evening. When the people told me
that there was no such thing as nightlife, I was
horrified and said: It will be more endurable for
the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that
city.
Some say that we would have been objects
of hatred by all people, but that is a bit exaggerated. But with my increasing wealth, there
were more and more people who were not welldisposed towards us. Thus I decided to learn to
shoot, and we joined a local shooting association.
My disciples were afraid of the rifles, but I reassured them: Do not become fearful of those
weapons who only hurt the body but cannot kill
it; but rather be in fear of those that can both
hurt and kill.

Bethlehems nightlife was quite boring

The Witchtower 01/2010

At the shooting exam we had to fire at sparrows. A cage with 50 sparrows was opened, and
each of us had to bring down at least 10 of them.
My disciples could not imagine that the exam
was monitored accurately; they were afraid that
passing depends solely on the examiners favor.
I calmed them, saying: Not one of the sparrows
will fall to the ground without the examiners
knowledge. But the very bullets in your rifles
are all numbered. Therefore have no fear: the
exam is fair.
A bit later, we were in fact raided at night.
As we had partied with plenty of wine until
early morning, we were unable to fight back.
Fortunately, we didnt have much cash with us,
but this was now gone. What should we eat
during the journey home after all, three days
journey? Luckily, nearby the day before there
had been a donkey race with more than 5,000
spectators. We went there and found not only
lots of fragments but even complete barley
loaves and fishes more than enough provisions
for our journey home. Each of us took five loaves
and two fishes; if we had gathered together
everything, we surely could have filled twelve
baskets.
After we came home and rested from the exhausting journey, we went to Lake Galilee to
relax. But there was pretty hard wind on that
day, so it wasnt as comfortable as expected at
the beach. So I made a bet with Andreas, claiming that despite the wind, his fishing boat would
not be fast enough to keep me afloat on two
planks. (I heard that this concept has been developed further and is now called water ski.)
Anyway, I lost the bet, as the boat reached
an incredible speed in the severe wind, and I
could glide over the water for several minutes.
Some people at the beach saw me, and later
claimed that I would have walked over the waters. Peter wanted to attempt it too, but after a
short time, he started to sink. Im not sure
whether it happened because of the calming
down wind or because of Peters overweight.

For a while, I dabbled in grocery. I offered

beef and self-made wine, which I called Blood
because of his dark red color. My shop was decorated with a large sign that read: If anyone is
thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He that
does not feed on my flesh and does not drink my
Blood misses something! Unfortunately, some
passersby misunderstood this slogan, and the
business didnt work well.
I closed the shop and roamed the land again,
preaching everywhere. Once a woman followed
us and begged: Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of
David. My daughter is badly demonized. In the
first place, I didnt react at all, for I knew that
diseases are not caused by demons. But after
some time, the disciples told me: Send her
away; because she keeps crying out after us. So
we stopped, and I asked the woman about her
daughters problem. She replied that her daughter was much too thin for her age. I advised her
to stop taking the bread of her children and
throwing it to little dogs instead.
Some days later, we met a drunkard who
had partied too long in Elijahs Tavern the night
before. He told us: I observe what seem to be
trees, but they are walking about. We brought
him home and told his wife to bring him to bed.
The next day, he had slept it off and could see
clearly again.
Then I had a new business idea. I wanted to
develop the Lake Galilee region into a tourist
area and build a viewing tower in the wilderness. Hence I began searching for a suitable
location together with Peter. Finally we found a
decent rock, and I said to Peter: On this rockmass I will build my viewing tower! But finding
investors was difficult. Many remembered the
tower in Siloam that had collapsed shortly before, killing 18 passersby.
In the end I sat down and calculated the expense, to see if I had enough to complete the
tower. Otherwise, I might lay the foundation but
not be able to finish it, and the onlookers could
start to ridicule me, saying, This man started to
build but was not able to finish. Unfortunately,
there was never enough money, and we had to
abandon the project.
The Witchtower 01/2010

Some weeks later, I had to go to Jerusalem

to file my application for the annual adjustment
of prophet tax. On that occasion, I wanted to
visit a friend who lived nearby, so that I would
be away from home for about ten days. As Mary
and Martha were also not at home, I called Peter and told him: I will give you the keys of my
house. Can you take care of the flowers while
Im away? Unfortunately he wasnt attentive,
so that most flowers died. When I returned and
saw what happened, I was really upset and
yelled at Peter: Get behind me, Satan! You are
a stumbling block to me, because you thought,
not about my flowers, but only about your fish!
In Jerusalem I had come to know that some
of the Pharisees and Sadducees questioned my
authority as a prophet. I thought about how to
counteract. Finally I had an idea, which we put
into action the next day: Andrew dressed up as
Moses, and Philip disguised as Elijah. Then I
ascended a mountain with Peter, James and
John along with Moses and Elijah, while the
remaining disciples went to the nearby villages,
asking the people to follow us onto the mountain. From then on, virtually no one questioned
my authority any longer.
Some days later, my disciples argued about
who really was the greatest of them. I didnt
want to watch that any longer, so I went to the
marketplace and purchased a measuring tape.
I measured every disciple and found that Thomas was the greatest of them with 1.82 meters.
The same day, someone told me of a nearby
shepherd who had lost one of his hundred sheep.
Rather than staying with the 99 remaining
sheep and at least keeping an eye on these, he
went searching for the lost one. He didnt find it
though, and when he returned, from the 99
other sheep there were only 70 left.
During the next months we preached everywhere in Judaea and Galilee and Samaria.
Then, shortly before the Festival of Tabernacles,
I went down with flu. Hence I said to my disciples: You go up to the festival; I am not yet
going up to this festival. Three days later, I felt

better and hit the road too. I came to a Samaritan village and wanted to stay overnight. Unfortunately, there was no vacancy in the hotels, so
I decided to continue to walk all night. I saw
some meteors which the uneducated Samaritans
called fire from heaven.
At the Festival of Tabernacles we purchased
an innovative fishing net, with which we could
harvest fish from the lower realms of the lake.
We checked it out right after our return and
indeed took a good catch. At our stall we told the
people: The other fish are from the realms
above; our fish are from the realms below.
After we had sold all fish, we went preaching
again. On the road we met a man who wanted to
follow us, but he was very dirty and smelled of
cowshed. Thats why we told him: Go wash in
the pool of Siloam, and then follow us! However, we didnt see him again. That was not so bad,
as we were 70 persons in the meantime, and it
was difficult enough to keep such a crowd together. From time to time someone stepped on a
serpent or a scorpion and had to be treated by a
physician.
Once, when we were on our way from Jerusalem to Jericho, we went past a Samaritan who
lay unconsciously by the wayside. Likely he had
been raided and battered by highwaymen. Since
we were Jews, were not allowed to help him
though. Anyway, sooner or later a Samaritan
would come around, and he could take care of
his compatriot. However, we decided to keep an
eye on our wallets.
Fortunately, I always had enough wine with
me, so that I could stand all difficult situations.
In the months to come, I should have to make
use if it many times.
What happened when he met Martha and
Mary again after a long time? How did the Pharisees react on his growing popularity, and how
did Alcohol always prove to be a support to him
in difficult times? These questions will be answered in the next issue.
The Witchtower 01/2010

Would you be surprised to know that a certain form of slavery is recommended

in Gods Word the Bible? (The Watchtower, January 15, 1970, page 61)

Under the influence of apostate Christianity, slavery has largely disappeared. But is this
development in harmony with Gods will? Under the title A Happy, Prosperous Nation
Under Gods Law, the Watchtower wrote even
decades ago: There was the matter of slavery.
When we examine the laws regarding it, we
find that it was a blessing to Israel. June 15,
1970, page 373.
Slavery in Israel

Indeed, slavery was explicitly arranged in

the law that God gave to the Israelites. Jehovah explained to his servants: As for your
slave man and your slave girl who become
yours from the nations that are round about
you people, from them you may buy a slave
man and a slave girl. And also from the sons of
the settlers who are residing as aliens with
you, from them you may buy, and from their
families that are with you whom they had born
to them in your land; and they must become
your possession. And you must pass them on as
an inheritance to your sons after you to inherit
as a possession to time indefinite. You may use
them as workers. Leviticus 25:44-46.
The Israelites were not only allowed to purchase foreigners. Regarding Israelite slaves,
Jehovah instructed them: In case you should
buy a Hebrew slave, he will be a slave six
years. If his master should give him a wife
and she does bear him sons or daughters, the
wife and her children will become her masters. (Exodus 21:2, 4) Unlike foreigners, male
Jewish slaves were not handed on from generation to generation. They could be released if
they were willing to leave their wife and children behind.

This special provision did not apply to

women though. In case a man should sell his
daughter as a slave girl, she will not go out in
the way that the slave men go out. (Exodus
21:7) After all, women were not considered
independent persons at that time. Unmarried
women were viewed as the possession of their
fathers, married women as the possession of
their husbands. Hence the owner of a slave girl
could not simply set her free, as free women
had no place in the Israelite society. The owner
of a slave girl either had to take her for a concubine or sell her to a Jew. Exodus 21:8.
If an Israelite wanted to marry a woman
who was not already his slave, he had to buy
her from her owner. According to Gods perfect
law he had to to obtain her as his wife for
the purchase price, and he was to pay over
the money at the rate of purchase money for
virgins. (Exodus 22:16, 17) So the price for a
virgin was determined by law, similar to the
food prices in communism.
Simply Employees?

Some believe that the slaves in Israel were

no real slaves but a kind of employees. But the
Bible does not support this claim. The Ten
Commandments say: You must not desire
your fellowmans house. You must not desire
your fellowmans wife, nor his slave man nor
his slave girl nor his bull nor his ass nor anything that belongs to your fellowman. (Exodus
20:17) Wives and slaves were on a par with
houses, bulls, asses and other belongings.

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A businessman who beats his employees so

that they die the next day would be sentenced
for manslaughter in our time. But for the Israelites, Jehovah had another provision: If a
slave owner hits a slave, male or female, with a
stick and the slave dies on the spot, the slave
must be avenged. (Exodus 21:20, MSG) He
added: If the slave lives a few days after the
beating, you are not to be punished. After all,
you have already lost the services of that slave
who was your property. (Exodus 21:21, CEV)
Someone who abused his slave girl so that she
died the next day was considered completely
innocent. This arrangement too shows that the
slaves in Israel could not be compared to employees.
Slavery disestablished by Christ?

Some may argue that the Mosaic Law was

disestablished by Jesus and is no longer valid.
That is true, but was slavery abolished together with it? No, for as the prohibition of blood,
as did slavery already exist before the Law
covenant. Even Abraham, a man of faith,
owned slaves born in his household. (Genesis
14:14) Slavery did not come into existence with
the Mosaic Law; thus it was also not abolished
along with it.

Slaves and wives weighed as much as donkeys in Israel

When an Israelite wanted to marry, he had to buy the

woman either from her father or from her owner

According to German philosopher Joachim

Kahl, even around 200 B.C. a slave-free mankind was considered possible in some Greek
social utopias. (Das Elend des Christentums,
page 22) But Jesus Christ, the son of God, did
not mention such an idea at all. He called himself more than Solomon. (Luke 11:31) His
great exemplar, King Solomon, kept levying
[people] for slavish forced labor. 1 Kings
9:21.
Therefore, Jesus too supported slavery and
taught his disciples: Who of you is there that
has a slave plowing or minding the flock who
will say to him when he gets in from the field,
Come here at once and recline at the table?
Rather, will he not say to him, Get something
ready for me to have my evening meal, and put
on an apron and minister to me until I am
through eating and drinking, and afterward
you can eat and drink? He will not feel gratitude to the slave because he did the things
assigned, will he? Luke 17:7-9.

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The previously mentioned philosopher Joachim Kahl outlines the first Christians attitude
towards slavery as follows: Indeed, the New
Testament polemicizes in barbed words against
copulation without license, against homosexuality, against short hair for women. However, that
countless humans are exploited as living implements by few others and hawked as goods is not
named and shamed or even banned. Not even
the idea that slavery is in principle reprehensible and only because of the power relations
cannot be abolished yet appears. Das Elend
des Christentums, page 22.

Like other rulers of his time, Solomon

constrained people to forced labor

Christians and Slavery

That shows that slavery is an eternal

arrangement from Jehovah which existed
before and during the Law covenant, persists
in Christianity and will also have a place in
the new world. As the book of Revelation
shows, Jehovah will then disestablish death,
mourning, outcry and pain, but not slavery.
Even in the New Jerusalem, Gods slaves will
render him sacred service. Revelation 22:3.

So Jesus agreed with his disciples owning

and exploiting slaves. Some years later, the
apostle Paul confirmed this attitude when the
eloped slave Onesimus came to him. Though
his owner was a Christian, Onesimus ran away
from him maybe he was ill-treated by Philemon. Maybe he hoped for Paul speaking out
against slavery.
But Paul knew that God himself has slaves.
(Revelation 1:1; Matthew 21:35) And he advised Christians: Become imitators of God.
(Ephesians 5:1) Thus he made Onesimus a
Christian and sent him back to his owner. The
Watchtower says: Onesimus had become very
useful to the imprisoned apostle. In fact, Paul
would have kept him there, but apart from
being against the law, this would have been an
infringement on the rights of Philemon. (January 15, 1998, page 30) Paul respected the
divine arrangement of slavery and Philemons
proprietary right in Onesimus.

Saint Martin owned 20,000 slaves

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Before the great apostasy began, faithful

Christians carefully complied with the divine
provision of slavery. Saint Martin of Tours (in
compliment to whom St. Martins Day is still
celebrated) owned 20,000 slaves. Later popes
issued a number of laws according to which
certain peoples became church slaves. Pope
Nicolas V assigned the Kings of Spain and
Portugal to invade, search out, capture, and
subjugate the pagans and any other unbelievers and to reduce their persons into perpetual slavery. (Papal bull Dum diversas from
June 18, 1452) But in the 19th century, when
the apostate clerics advanced from bad to
worse, they abolished slavery.

The United Nations have conspired

against God and banned slavery

The United Nations organization which is

actually a worldly confederacy against Jehovah
God and his dedicated Witnesses on earth and
an enemy of God even claimed 1948 in a socalled Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude;
slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited
in all their forms. The Watchtower, September 1, 1987, page 20; Gods Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached, page 311.
The Lesson for Us

Awake! magazine noted: Abusive slavery is

incompatible with the Bible. (September 8,
2002, page 15) We should bear in mind that
abusive slavery is involved. Normal slavery
though, as shown above, is not only compatible
with the Bible but even an eternal divine arrangement. Thats why, under the title Christian Slavery Provides True Friends, the Watchtower asked: Would you be surprised to know
that a certain form of slavery is recommended in
Gods Word the Bible? January 15, 1970, page
61.

After prayerful considerations, fathers

could sell their daughters as slave girls

In most countries, slavery is banned, but

may we never forget: We must obey God as
ruler rather than men. (Acts 5:29) How can we
stick to divine principles and cultivate slavery
in this devil-controlled world?
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Slavery within the Congregation

It would be a good opportunity to start

within the congregation. Family heads could
sell their daughters to the elders. (Exodus 21:7)
They could use the money to reduce their work
and start pioneering. A detailed price list for
slaves, grouped by age, sex, virginity and field
service hours, will shortly be sent to the elders,
so that all things [can] take place decently and
by arrangement. 1 Corinthians 14:40; compare Exodus 22:17.

May we never forget: Slavery is a universal

arrangement from Jehovah. That Satan nearly
managed to eradicate it from his world does
not absolve us from the obligation to cultivate
it. When we love Jehovah God and Jesus
Christ, we will keep a sharp lookout for opportunities to apply the divine principles regarding slavery in our lives!

We could specifically look for foreigners and

unbelievers in our territory, lure them into the
kingdom hall and lead them as slaves. (Leviticus 25:44-46) The apostle Paul called one of his
bond slaves my body and explained: I buffet
my body (handle it roughly, discipline it by
hardships) and subdue it. (1 Corinthians 9:27,
MSG) Publishers in Russian-speaking congregations could ask their relatives at home to
establish contact with the Mafia. We could also
import slaves from Sudan.
What could we utilize our slaves for? In Israel they were used, among others, as gatherers of wood and drawers of water. (Joshua
9:21) Abraham used his slaves to conduct war.
(Genesis 14:14) We could instruct our slaves to
gather wood on the off chance that the public
burning of apostates becomes allowed again.
They could perform the preaching ministry for
us or underline our Watchtower. Slave girls in
Israel often became concubines and were forced
to help fulfill the divine assignment from Genesis 1:28; Abraham used his slave girl Hagar
for this purpose too. (Genesis 16:4) Since a
brother is less likely to kill his slave girl when
she is pregnant from him, Paul wrote that a
woman would be kept safe through childbearing. 1 Timothy 2:15.

When a Christian doesnt find an appropriate wife,

his mother could purchase a slave girl for him

Child slaves can be utilized for the witnessing work

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THE BIBLES VIEWPOINT: ARE FURNACES FOR CHRISTIANS?

As true Christians we must always be on our
guard to remain clean from Babylonian and pagan
rites. Some ask with good reason whether it is
advisable for Christians to use a furnace. They
mention three faithful servants of Jehovah who
were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:21) Actually, furnaces were used as an instrument of execution in ancient Babylon; a letter
reads: Thus says Rm-Sin your lord: Because he
has cast the slave-lad into the oven, do you cast the
slave into the furnace. (quoted from All Scripture
Is Inspired of God and Beneficial, page 139) How
do we appraise the issue in the light of the Bible?
At first, we have to notice that Gods word often
speaks of furnaces or ovens in a negative context.
For example, the prophet Hosea said: All of them
are adulterers, like a furnace. (Hosea 7:4) So
furnaces are compared to adulterers, and adultery
is a detestable thing to God. (Leviticus 20:10) Does
that mean that Christians may not use furnaces on
any terms?
Some Christians may think so. Anja, a zealous
publisher from Austria, reports: When I draw
near the furnace, I always felt an unusual and
vicious heat. I prayed to Jehovah and decided to
abandon the use of the furnace. Even after a short
time, the unexplainable heat that always had
existed near the furnace disappeared. I am very
grateful to Jehovah that he supported me during
those troublous times.
There are also indications that seem to show
that Christians may use furnaces under certain
circumstances. For example, the Bible also mentions Jehovah whose furnace is in Jerusalem
(Isaiah 31:9) The question arises though which fuel
is appropriate for Christians. Interestingly, the
Bible mentions heating by coal almost exclusively
in a negative context. The prophet Isaiah said
regarding the manufacturing of idols: As for the
carver of iron with the billhook, he has been busy
at it with the coals. ... Also, he has become hungry,
and so without power. He has not drunk water; so
he gets tired. (Isaiah 44:12) Indeed, coal-fired
furnaces were used to produce false gods.
The prophet Jeremiah too gained negative experience with coal furnaces. The king [the apostate Jehoiakim] was sitting in the winter house, in
the ninth month, with a brazier [a metal pan for
holding burning coals] burning before him. Then it
came about that as soon as Jehudi had read three

or four page-columns [from Jeremiahs scroll], he

proceeded to tear it apart with the secretarys
knife, pitching it also into the fire that was in the
brazier until all the roll ended up in the fire that
was in the brazier. (Jeremiah 36:22, 23) This
enemy of true worship used a coal fire to burn the
words that Jeremiah sent to him in Jehovahs
name.
In the night of Jesus detention they had built
a charcoal fire not his disciples, but the slaves
and officers in the courtyard of the high priest.
(John 18:18) Indeed, it were usually enemies of
Jehovah who used coal for heating and fire lighting. We can be confident that he did not for nothing
include those accounts into his word.
Jehovah himself uses coal only to annihilate infidels. The psalmist asked: What will one give to
you, and what will one add to you, O you tricky
tongue? Sharpened arrows of a mighty man, along
with burning coals. (Psalm 120:3, 4) And David
prayed to God: Do not grant, O Jehovah, the cravings of the wicked one. May the trouble of their
own lips cover them. May burning coals be dropped
upon them. Psalm 140:8-10.
Which fuel is appropriate for Christians then?
Jesus provided an important clue when he mentioned the vegetation of the field, which is here
today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven.
(Matthew 6:30) Hence, plants including trees
are acceptable fuel. Accordingly the reference book
Insight on the Scriptures says: Wood was likely
the main fuel of the Israelites. (volume I, page
875) The prophet Ezekiel had been instructed by
God to bake his bread upon dung cakes of the
excrement of mankind, but he refused and used
cattle manure instead. Ezekiel 4:12, 15.
Consequently, if at all, only herbal and animal
fuel, such as wood, cowpat or rape oil, is suitable
for the furnaces of Christians. The use of coal however is a pagan custom and not acceptable to God.
If we have electric heating, we should ask our
electricity provider for a statement that the electricity does not come from coal power stations.
May we never allow Satan the devil to lead us
into temptation at cooking! If our Bible-educated
conscience allows us to use a furnace, we must
under all circumstances avoid heating it with coal!
In that case we wont be annihilated by Jehovah at
the day that is burning like the furnace.
Malachi 4:1.

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WHO IS OUTSIDE?
Not only dogs are known for going outside in all weathers. Jehovahs
witnesses go out in the rain, the cold, too. (The Watchtower, June 15,
1970, page 369) They go from house to house in all kinds of weather.
The Watchtower, August 15, 1970, page 498.
Even back in the 1940s, George Fredianelli, a Jehovahs Witness in Italy,
prompted the audience at a meeting: Those for the truth and Jehovahs
Witnesses follow me outside! Those against the truth can remain.
quoted according to 1982 Yearbook of Jehovahs Witnesses, page 189.

Outside are the dogs

and Jehovahs Witnesses.

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