What is "The Good News?"

[EBA]

Tell me, what is "The Good News?"

Peace be to all.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 289 by postroad]

Why do you say that?

[postroad]

[Replying to post 287 by 2timothy316]

Because the sacrificed for 12 tribes that is an indication that the following prophecy had been quietly fulfilled without fanfare?

Isaiah 49:22-23 New International Version (NIV)

22 This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
I will lift up my banner to the peoples;
they will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their hips.
23 Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;
they will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in me will not be disappointed.�

[postroad]

[Replying to post 290 by JehovahsWitness]

You indicated that a renewed covenant wasn't possible. Are you satisfied that in fact it is possible?

Or is the Jehovah's Witness now a separate covenant from that which Jesus initiated in the first century?

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 290 by JehovahsWitness]

You indicated that a renewed covenant wasn't possible. Are you satisfied that in fact it is possible?

No. You sited two scriptures that make absolutely no reference to renewing anything and the other two refer to the same event and shuold rightly read "made" (not renewed) as by far the majority of bible translation testify.

English Standard Version
And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD

Berean Study Bible
So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD .

New American Standard Bible
The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD,

King James Bible
And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD,

Christian Standard Bible
Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the LORD's presence to follow the LORD

Good News Translation
He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the LORD to obey him,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the LORD

International Standard Version
The king stood beside a pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the LORD:

New Heart English Bible
The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD,

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The king stood beside the pillar and made a promise to the LORD

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the king stood on the platform, and made a covenant before the LORD,

New American Standard 1977
And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD,

Jubilee Bible 2000
And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD,

King James 2000 Bible
And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD,

American King James Version
And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD,

American Standard Version
And the king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah,

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king stood upon the step: and made a covenant with the Lord,

Darby Bible Translation
And the king stood on the dais, and made a covenant before Jehovah,

English Revised Version
And the king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD,

Webster's Bible Translation
And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD,

World English Bible
The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before Yahweh,

Young's Literal Translation
And the king standeth by the pillar, and maketh the covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commands,

Further none of the references allude to the Mosaic covenant which, if I am not mistaken, was your original point.



JW

[postroad]

[Replying to post 293 by JehovahsWitness]

For clarification you believe that all those texts indicate that completely new sets of regulations had been drawn up and agreed to?

The Law being read to the people and agreed to, as described in two chapters I linked to was not the same Law that was read and agreed to by their ancestors in the desert?

Is that what happened with the Jehovah's Witness's as well? You are following a different covenant than that instituted in the first century?

[JehovahsWitness]

What significance does the Law and the Levitical priesthood play in the JW Paradise?

I'm saying I believe the "new covenant" was indeed a new covenant and that it does not incorporate any features of the literal Levitical priesthood. I am saying that I do not beieve Christians are under the Mosaic law which was abolished with the death of Christ.

And that the Priestly Kings that will rule will do so under the terms of that new covenant which was instituted in the first century by Jesus.



JW

[postroad]

[Replying to post 295 by JehovahsWitness]

You haven't answered the question! What was being read and agreed to by those people standing in front of the rebuilt Temple?

And why if the whole of the first century church eventually apostatized was the JW organization able to be the restoration of that first church without the need for another covenant terms?

[JehovahsWitness]

And why if the whole of the first century church eventually apostatized was the JW organization able to be the restoration of that first church without the need for another covenant terms?

Because the new covenant was not made with the apostate church it was made with Christ's true church and has never been broken or annulled.

If one is seperated but not divorced, there is no need a new marriage contract when the parties come back together.

Jesus said the weeds were planted amongst the wheat, he didn't say the wheat turned into weeds. Jesus made it clear in Matthew 13 that his anointed brothers would continue to exist throughout the subsequent ages but they would be hard to see until what he called "the harvest" period, which we believe began in 1914.

True Christians were forced to leave the house and exist in a hostile environment, but there was no "divorce" There was thus no need for another covenant. They just needed to be brought back home.





JW

[postroad]

[Replying to post 297 by JehovahsWitness]

Then by the same standard the old covenant was never broken.

Will you answer the question about what was read and agreed to at the dedication of the second Temple?


Romans 11:1-5 New International Version (NIV)

The Remnant of Israel
11 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me�[a]? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.� 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.

1 Kings 19:10-18 New International Version (NIV)

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.�

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.�

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?�

14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.�

15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.�

[JehovahsWitness]

Then by the same standard the old covenant was never broken.

okay let us examine the two groups by the same standard....


Natural v Spiritual Isarael: A Comparative Analysis

• 1) Infidelity: Christ's church made up of "spiritual Israelites" was not disloyal, many of them remaining faithful in the face of terrible persecution. The nation of Israel was grossly disloyal for centuries, often being tempted to serve foreign God's in direct violation of the terms of agreement.
  
  2) Seperation: When faithful Israelites like Daniel, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were taken captive to Babylon and could not serve in an organised way at the temple as they wished, God did not "divorce" the nation, He allowed the separation. When faithful Christians were "taken captive" and could not serve God in an organization as they would have wished because of the influence of apostate imitation Christians, God did not divorce them either, he also allowed the "seperation".
  
  3) Divorce: When the Promised Messiah arrived to offer them further privileges, the majority natural Israelites rejected him, their religious leaders even clamoured for his execution. That was an offense too far and the "marriage" ended in divorce. When the newly installed king Jesus arrived in 1914 he found loyal believers willing to accept him as king and correct any mistakes they had made as a group during those "dark ages". There was no divorce, Jehovah simply put his house in order and gathered them to him once more.

Yes there were parallels between the faithless nation of Israel and the "nation" of spirit anointed Christians, but because the latter had a better heart condition, the outcome was happily entirely different.



JW