Hear the Story of Gideon and the Alter of Baal as told by one of the Bible Students most cherished speakers, Ex-JW Robert Seklemian. Enjoy this inspiring tale that everyone who loves Jehovah will want to hear. Robert Seklemian is a beloved and heart warming speaker who, by bringing this marvelous story to life, will touch your heart with Gideon’s faith and action. The spiritual depth, uplifting counsel and practical lessons to be learned from this speaker are legendary. You can listen to this amazing story by clicking on the link below:
Robert Seklemian_Gideon And The Altar Of Baal
You can read about Robert Seklemian’s years at Bethel and how he became a Bible Student here:
Anonymous, the scriptures you quote are taken from the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament. One thing that distinguished Jews from pagans is that Jews had only one God. Their God had a
name, written as four Hebrew letters (the tetragrammaton), transliterated Yahweh or Jehovah.
Ancient Israelites used it in everyday speech. Not only does it appear over six thousand times in
the sacred Hebrew writings, but forms of it appear as part of many Israelite names. After the Jews were exiled in Babylon nearly six hundred years before Jesus’ birth, there was a change in their use of the divine name. Gradually it began to be viewed as too holy to pronounce.
After Jews were dispersed throughout the pagan world, many who returned to Israel from the
exile spoke Aramaic instead of Hebrew. By the time the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into
Greek a century or two before Jesus’ birth, the Greek word kyrios (lord) was widely used in place of the Hebrew divine name. The early Christians viewed Jesus as the divine Son of God the EternalFather and the only one through which the Father could be accessed. (Rom 5:1; Eph 2:18) Historical and biblical evidence suggests that common use of the divine name had completely disappeared by Jesus’ day. Early Christians did not transliterate the Hebrew name of God into Greek, nor focus attention on the Father to the exclusion of his official representative, Jesus Christ. Jesus represented his Father perfectly, and was given all authority in heaven and earth, so their focus on Jesus in no way detracted from his Father, for it was the Father’s will that all honor the Son just as they honor the Father: “He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.” (John 5:23 & Col 1:15) In Mark 9:7 we have a direct command Jehovah to listen to Jesus. Yes, Jesus prayed for God’s name to be sanctified, but perhaps out of concern for their beliefs regarding God’s name, he never mentions it. His apostles/disciples continued this consideration and therefore YHWH is not found in any of their writings.
Paul calls the early Christian congregations “the body of Christ” (Rom 12:4-5)
Jesus, in fact, said that they would be his witnesses to the most distant part of the earth. (Acts
1:8) That is why Jesus’ followers were called Christians. They were his servants, for Jesus said:
“My Father will honor the one who serves me.”—John 12:26
On a personal note Anonymous, there is no reason for you to be angry or upset just because someone doesn’t share your point of view. In Christian love, Caleb…
The theme of the inspired writings is about God’s coming kingdom. That’s what Jesus talked about and the apostles continued with after Jesus death. However, Jesus did not tell His followers they were to be witnesses of His Father, but of Him. Actually Jesus never mentions His father by name. If you read Isaiah 43 you’ll see God is talking to the nation of Israel. Jehovah’s witnesses were the Jews, as Christians we are to be witnesses of Jesus,as the word “Christian” implies. I know I probably won’t change your mind, just as no one could tell me different when I was a JW, but perhaps you’ll think about it.
And now it all becomes clear.
What’s the first thing Jesus prayed for in his most famous prayer? “Father, hollowed be thy name.”
“For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of YHWH.”
You just took what I said about YHWH’s sovereignty being the main theme of the bible, took focus off God, and put it all on Jesus. Jesus would not and did not do that. You act as if Jesus has no Father, saying “Jesus never mentions His father by name,” even using capitals for Jesus pronoun. When Satan tempted Jesus with “If you are the son of God,” Jesus didn’t give into pride. Again in Jude, “But Michael, the chief messenger, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him but said, “YHWH rebuke you”.
Jesus took emphasis off of himself and put it on his rightful Creator when he said to Mary, “Your God, my God.”
How true the prophets words when he spoke of you: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves.”
“In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
“They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong.”
“These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit, and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
Maybe you can fool most people, but I’ve lived with deceitful people all my life, and yet you you think you can fool me with your baseless, see-through arguments? “Hypocrites! Offspring of vipers! How will you escape God’s coming destruction?”
Anonymous – You are confusing me. Why are you so upset? I don’t see anyone challenging YHWH’s sovereignty. Of course he is superior to his son Jesus.
However, we are to clearly follow not only YHWH, but also his son, Jesus.
Matt 16:24 (NASV) – Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Jesus did not refuse worship. See Matt 28.
9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.
17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Anonymous, sorry it took me so long to respond. The reason I asked that question is because if you are Jesu’s follower, you should read Acts 1:8 and see who He says we should be witnesses of.
Acts 1:8 says to follow Jesus as do plenty of other scriptures. The theme, however, of the Inspired Writings is not about Jesus’ sovereignty, but YHWH’s. – Isaiah 42:8
http://www.biblestudytools.com/web/isaiah/42-8.html
Hi Anonymous, I have a question. Do you consider yourself a disciple and follower of Jesus, the Son of God?
Caleb (interesting name btw), why do you ask if I follow Jesus, the Son of God?
P.S. Do you consider yourself as such? (Consider yourself as a disciple of Jesus)
Anonymous – Some people feel the JWs de-emphasize the importance of Jesus. Perhaps that is what Caleb had in mind. Hopefully he will return to the site and respond to you himself.
If Gideon was a witness of the true God Jehovah, and you are an EX-witness, then you witness against Jehovah and have learned nothing from Gideon’s experience.
Anonymous – Personally I am not an Ex-JW. I have been a Bible Student all my life. We Bible Students are just like the original Bible Students in the days of the early Watchtower. Nothing has changed in our beliefs. We agree with the early Watchtower through 1916. As such, for Bible Students the light grows brighter (clearer) as we see prophecy continue to unfold (i.e. Israel) and find further evidence in the Bible to substantiate the Truth. For JWs the light has pivoted and changed as the Governing Body has pronounced various changes.
I don’t understand your comments.
“We Bible Students are just like the orignial…”
“Nothing has changed in our beliefs”
“for Bible Students the light grows brighter”
“For JWs the light has pivoted and changed as the Governing Body has pronounced various changes.”
First, you use the words “pivot”, “change”, “various changes” to describe JWs. Then you say you have made no changes. If for true Bible students the light always gets brighter (which means logically it should CHANGE), you have admitted that you are not a true Bible student and that JWs are. I don’t get it, are you trying to prove them right, or did you do that by accident?
Friend – “The light growing brigter” does not mean that the light changes, but rather that it becomes more clear. For example, in Dan 12:4, it says, “knowledge and travel will increase.” That is more clear today now that man has been to the moon than in was in the early 1900’s when people were traveling by train. Also, the early Watchtower taught that Jehovah was bringing back the Jews to Israel to establish them as a nation. That Truth is more clear today now that they have been a nation since 1948.
Imagine that you wake up in the morning and notice an object in front of you, but couldn’t make it out, because it is too dark. As the sun rises and more light comes through the window, you notice the object is a chair. As even more light comes in the room, you can see the detail and colors of the chair. At no time does the chair turn into a table. With Bible Students, we can now more clearly see the details of the chair. With JWs, the chair has turned into a table.
Oh. Interesting. How has the table turned into a chair with JWs and how do you know this?
Friend – The illustration of a chair turning into a table is to illustrate that the Governing Body / JW Organization often changes it’s position on the interpretation of scriptures. Are you taking the position that they do not? We don’t focus on those changes too much on this website as the Internet is full of examples and others deal with that. In our July 3 “Apostasy” article posted, we give the example of changes in view over the decades as to whether or not the people of Sodom will be resurrected.
No offense, but who really cares if the people in Sodom will be resurrected.
You say that with JWs, their beliefs have turned from a table into a chair. So if JWs believe they have the right religion, that is quite a charge, considering it’s the same as Satan turning himself into an “angel of light.” Like Jesus said, “if that light is darkness, how great that darkness is.”
Should we be friends with people who associate themselves with darkness? And yet the site that I am now typing on cliams to be “Friends of JWs.” If you are accusing JWs of skewering the bible’s message then claiming close associates with them, you might as well be cast into Gehennah along with them!
How can I take any position if you have no proof to support your claims?
Hi Anonymous, thank you for posting. I think maybe you miss why the site’s name is FOJW. Many like myself are no longer a witness for various reasons. (my personal reasons are stated on ask jacqueline).Many beliefs of Jehovah witnesses and the BS are held in common. It is almosr seamless to find a resting place among the BS if you were once a JW. Most of Christianity do not hold the views of the JW nor BS, so you can see why we have reached out to other JW, that have chosen on their own to leave the organization of JW. We do not recruit or try to influence any witnesses to leave the organization of JW. Most are not aware that the Bible Students still exist, as we were told they were all dead and the evil slave class. That was not the truth. Heb. 10:23-25 in part says the purpose of seeking out and associating with ones of like faith is: “And let us be concerned with one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. 25 Let us not give up the HABIT of MEETING TOGETHER (caps mine), as some are doing. Instead let us encourage one another, all the more since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming near.” I had stopped going to the meetings but was listening in for 6 months on the hook-up. I just stopped going after 61yrs, not a soul checked to see why. So one day I saw a Dawn Bible website and it said the Chicago Bible Students are meeting in Addison, Il for a convention. I recognized the articles of truth on their site and just knew they had similar beliefs just like me. So on the coldeest day ot the year in Jan. 2010 I found the convention site. I fit right in. They were not foreign at all, there was a slight difference to some doctrine, but I knew I had found poeople I could associate with as I relearned how to worship only Jehovah and Jesus. Listening to others and associating to upbuild one another would and have helped me and many others considerably.
I employed them to help people like me, ones that have left the JW org. and are not ever going back. I still had a deep love for Jehovah, Jesus and the doing of his will. I could not just leave others just like me behind without letting them know,( if they wanted it) that there was a place to go and fit in almost seamlessly. The Bible Students are a little different in their approach on acceptance, they welcome with open arms and not condemnation. As a witness and a pioneer I was taught if they don’t accept after studying leave them alone, showing love would have been a better course instead of indoctrination. I am just trying to help you understand this particular site. It is different from most other Bible Student sites. It might be said that it is a special needs site dealing with a specific group of people. Those Christians and lovers of God’s word, that have chosen to leave for whatever reason on their on, but need to associate with persons of like faith. This site has helped so many people! It might not be what you are looking for. There is a sister site, so to speak, called jwstruggle.com, that has helped many ones come to grip with things they see in the JW org. Some of them would like to join us on our Wed. study and I will join them alone with others on their discussions on Thursday. It is indeed a struggle to come out of JW organization and find Jesus, we already know about Jehovah but never had any real focus on Jesus as saviour lately, in the past 30 years. We went over as witnesses to the Governing body as the saviour. This is not acceptable to the “Concious class” of Christians within the JW org. In Millenium, however, everyone will have the oportunity to learn the truth about the truth, and oh! what a blessed time that will be.
I hope I have explained to you what this site is about. Please fill free to ask other questions and we will answer to the best of our ability. We know this is a diffent type.of website, and we appreciate the Chicago Bible Student Friends in their kind and generous assistence in feeding and helping JW that are just out there. Not being able to fit in with other christian religions, because of beliefs, but fitting in well with the original Bible Students from Br. Russell and his group that started toward the end of the 19th century. In Christian love, Jacqueline
Anonymous – Jesus told us to “love your enemies” (Luke 6:27), how much more would that apply to our JW brethren. If you are saying the JWs are in darkness, do then find denominational Christian’s to be in the light with their views on hell, trinity and immortality of the soul? You rhetorically asked, “who really cares if the people in Sodom will be resurrected?” Jehovah and Jesus did.
Ezek 16:55, 61,62 – Sodom and her daughters, return to their former state NKJV
Matt 11:20-24 – it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you… if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day
Remember that “God is love.” 1 Jn 4:8. Let’s follow Jehovah’s example.