The Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are Arian or Unitarian in their beliefs deny that Jesus Christ is God. In fact, they deny that Jesus Christ possessed any deity, insisting that He was God’s first created, but in no way God. Yet it is a simple matter to prove the absolute deity of our Lord Jesus Christ by using their own translation of the Bible.
We will use the "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures" (Jehovah’s Witnesses bible) to show that Jesus Christ is God.
Job 19:26, 27 we read the following: “And after my skin, [which] they have skinned off,—this! Yet reduced in my flesh I shall behold God, Whom even I shall behold for myself, And [whom] my very eyes will certainly see, but not some stranger.”
Linking the above verse with their translation of I John 3:1-2, we find, “See what sort of love the Father has given us, so that we should be called children of God; and such we are. That is why the world does not have a knowledge of us, because it has not come to know him. Beloved ones, now we are children of God, but as yet it has not been made manifest what we shall be. We do know that whenever he is made manifest we shall be like him, because we shall see him just as he is.”
There is a perfect linking of the two passages. Both Job and John were talking about God the Father. However, we are told that this God is going to appear, and that mankind will be able to behold Him. Who is coming back?
Acts 1:11 tells us that Jesus is the One who is returning. Who are we going to behold? John 4:24 tells us that God is a Spirit. How can we behold a Spirit?
And to make the case even more airtight, we read in Zechariah 12:10 that they will look to the One whom they pierced. Can there be any mystery as to who this could be? It seems quite evident that Job, John, and Zechariah were all looking for the same One to return, Jesus Christ.
Going to Zechariah 14:3-5 we read, “And Jehovah will certainly go forth and war against those nations as in the day of his warring, in the day of fight. And his feet will actually stand in that day upon the mountain of the olive trees, which is in front of Jerusalem. . . . And Jehovah my God will certainly come, all the holy ones being with him.”
According to this translation, it is Jehovah that is returning. But, in going once more to Acts 1:11, we find that Jesus Christ is returning to the Mount of Olives, the exact place that Zechariah gives as the point of return for Jehovah. The conclusion to be drawn from this comparison is quite evident.
This point is only strengthened by quoting Titus 2:13: “While we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of [the] Savior of us, Christ Jesus.” From Revelation 22:6-7 we read, “‘These words are faithful and true; yes, Jehovah the God of the inspired expressions of the prophets sent his angel forth to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. And look! I am coming quickly.’” Going to verse 12 of the same chapter, we find, “‘Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me.’” We now link the two above verses with verse 16 of the same chapter which says, “‘I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear witness to you people of these things for the congregations.’” Finally, in verse 20 we read, “‘Yes; I am coming quickly.’ Amen! Come, Lord Jesus.”
Once again, from the words of an Jehovah's Witnesses translation of the Bible, we have positive confirmation that JESUS is God!
Quoting from the first two chapters of Revelation. In Revelation 1:7 we read the following: “Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him.”
Then in the next verse we read, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says Jehovah God, ‘the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.’” So, we see from verse 7 that Jesus is returning, and from verse 8 that Jehovah God is returning. Is there a chance that they are the same?
We see a close comparison of these verses found in Revelation with that of Zechariah 14:5. In Zechariah we read, “And Jehovah my God will certainly come, all the holy ones being with him.” But, in going to II Thessalonians 1:7, we find the following: “The Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels.” In Revelation 1:17-18 we read, “And when I saw him, I fell as dead at his feet. And he laid his right hand upon me and said: ‘Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last, and the living one; and I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.’” And in Revelation 2:8 it says, “‘And to the angel of the congregation in Smyrna write: These are the things that he says, “the First and the Last,” who became dead and came to life [again].’”
The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures therefore admits that Jesus is the First and the Last. It would be interesting to discover how many firsts and how many lasts the Jehovah’s Witnesses would lead us to believe exist. Their very own translation says in Isaiah 48:11, 12, “‘And to no one else shall I give my own glory.... I am the first. Moreover, I am the last.’” If Jesus is not Jehovah, then it must be explained to us how He can possibly be the first and the last. How can a created being be the first.
Questions to Ask Jehovah's Witnesses
(1). Why doesn't the Watchtower [WT] translate "ego eimi" as "I am", 133 out of 134 New Testament occurrences, except where it proves Christ is God in John 8:58? Here they translate "ego eimi" as "I have been". Why?
(2). Why does the WT translate the New Testament word for Lord (ie. "Kurios") as Jehovah, except where it proves Christ is God? For example, "Jesus Christ is Lord" in Philippians 2:11 and "Jesus is Lord" in 1 Corinthians 12:3.
(3). Can you say that Jesus Christ is Lord? (see 1 Corinthians 12:3).
(4). Why does the WT add "other" four times in Colossians 1:16, 17 and in Philippians 2:9 to deny Christ's deity, when "other" is not in any New Testament manuscripts? Is it right to add words to the Bible which change Bible doctrines?
(5). Why does the WT change "worship" in Hebrews 1:8 in the 1961 NWT edition, to "do obeisance" in the 1971 NWT edition, to deny Christ the worship as God?
(6). Do you give worshipful honor to the Son as God, just as you give honor to the Father as God? (JW: No). Then you are not honoring the Father (John 5:23).
(7). Whose name were you baptized in? (see Matthew 28:19; Acts2:38).
(8). Do you agree that Deuteronomy 18:21-22 teaches that a true prophet of God gives prophecies coming true 100% of the time, and a false prophet gives prophecies that don't come true.
No comments:
Post a Comment