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IS THE GOVERNING BODY THE FAITHFUL AND DISCREET SLAVE?

Find more discussion about the Governing Body by clicking here:

Recently, the Governing Body has modified the definition of the Faithful and Discreet Slave to exclusively apply to themselves and to not include the thousands of other anointed.

In the past, Jehovah’s Witnesses have believed that The Faithful and Discreet Slave is the collective body of “anointed” Christians alive on earth and that they exercise teaching authority in all matters pertaining to doctrine and articles of faith.  This belief is based on an interpretation of Matthew 24:45-47.

Watch Tower Society publications teach that Jesus uses this group exclusively “to publish information on the fulfillment of Bible prophecies and to give timely direction on the application of Bible principles in daily life as the only means of communicating God’s messages to people.  Hence, it is referred to as God’s “prophet and “channel”.

Appointments to positions of responsibility and decisions on doctrines, activities and oversight of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide are made by the members of the Governing Body, who are said to serve as representatives of the “slave class”.  However no global network of anointed Witnesses exists to reveal new spiritual truths, and the remainder of the “slave class” are not consulted when making decisions.

Recently, some members of the anointed class wrote the Governing Body disagreeing with the way they were treating God’s household and questioning some of the teachings.  The Governing Body has permanently resolved this problem of dissent by cutting the other anointed out of the Faithful and Discreet Slave class, thereby completely consolidating their power and eliminating all opposition.

Do you believe the Faithful and Discreet Slave class of Matt 24:45-47 is:

* The Governing Body
* All “Anointed” JWs
* All “Anointed” Christians, even if not JWs
* C.T. Russell
* Not sure of the answer
* Other (Explain by posting a comment)

How would you apply the verses in Matt 24:45-47?

We would love to hear your thoughts.

————————————————————

UPDATE

“Reports are emerging of an announcement at the 128th Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania that the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses now considers itself to be the Faithful and Discreet Slave Class of Matthew 24:45 in its entirety.”

“Suspicions were raised in the minds of many thinking Witnesses after reading articles such as the Questions From Readers of the August 15th 2011 Watchtower, where it was admitted that the Governing Body has no actual communication with memorial partakers (the “anointed”) and even feels that some of these ones may be mentally imbalanced. (see w11 8/15 p. 22)”

Find the source of this information here:

I am not totally satisfied that this new change is well documented, so if anyone has additional concrete information or support, please share it with us.

 

227 comments to IS THE GOVERNING BODY THE FAITHFUL AND DISCREET SLAVE?

  • Christian Legnetti

    What amazes me Regarding The Governing body is that as a group they stated they represented the F & D slave for over 35 years, all of a sudden now they alone are the slave. Why was this new light not given to Franz? & the other old Governing body?

  • ian howat

    i have been a jw since 1963 im now disgusted with the govering body because of their lies and cover up of child abuse. also they have denied the sheep a relatiinship with christ and placed themselves as mediator in his place. i believe that they are now the evil slave and are cursed by God nothing they do now will succeed only failiure and humiliaton awaits them. im sure jesus will reject then shortly.

    • Jacqueline (Bible Student)

      Hi Ian, welcome and thank you for your expressions. I for one understand your disgust. I fought them on this issue of child molestation and their attitude about the poor 5 year old until she was 11 was she was a well developed child although she was molested by no lest than 5 elders. They said I would ruin the man reputation if I told others in the congregation and the DO and CO threatened me with disfellowshiping.
      So I understand.
      Tell us how you came to know about this and your story.
      I really and truly don’t think the guys, governing body, cares anymore because they are multimillionaires and money has that effect of making you think you are above being touched by God.
      But Russia is proving they can have their property seized, which is all they care about, not the poor souls that don’t have sense enough to use just the Bible and meet in houses.
      You are welcome here for association and spiritual food from all the articles written to show what the Bible says on the same subjects that the witnesses explain.
      Now that you are awake, no one can fool you. Holy Spirit will greet you if you ask for it from Jehovah in Jesus name. He promised.
      What you have experienced is what it no doubt took for you to awaken. It makes you tough and alert for the task ahead with God’s people of Christians on this earth and in heaven.
      Are you just coming out? If so you will go through emotions and anger. But it is okay with us as this is the site to vent until you stand up straight on your feet and realize definitively that you can get to God thru Jesus and not an anti Christ (instead of Christ).
      Just watch how they pose for pictures with people and receive glory, wrist watches and all wear the big rings on their finger.
      I think you have accessed them correctly. Take Care. Jacqueline

    • greg (Bible Student)

      Greetings, Ian.

      I well appreciate (and share) your disgust, and the events and information that have propelled you forward. I’d like to welcome you warmly, and I’d also like to acknowledge your courage and what I assume to be your resolve/determination to love God and Christ Jesus while avoiding the veneration of men. Bravo!

      Please, feel free to share with us all whatever you are so inclined to share. Meantime, I hope you can bask in the warmth of knowing you are not alone, not the only one waking up to the hypocrisy, and not the only one that perhaps flounders a bit whilst not knowing which way is forward.

      Warmly and encouragingly,
      -greg

    • Ted R.

      Hi Ian– I too have come out of the “dark side” after 48 years. I got tired of watching young people being cut off by their parents because they gave in to adolescent desires. Parents need to help their children through these difficult periods, not shut them out. While we don’t condone certain actions, a parent should be able to give council and aid if their children are in need. JW’s view of disfellowshiping is wrong! Other things that helped me wake up was the recent change on the “generations”. Also, I see too many good people who are giving their life to follow Christ and according to the JW, they will be destroyed at Armageddon because they do not accept the WT teaching. This has never made sense. Christ gave his life as a ransom for ALL who exercise faith in him. Satan is still actively misleading people. Judgement cannot be fairly exercised until these worldly religious, political, and economic systems have been done away with,and Satan is abyssed during the millennial reign of Christ. We are now living in the harvest age when Jehovah is selecting the Bride of Christ from among the weeds. I encourage you to read “Gods Divine Plan of the Ages”. Contact the Bible Students. Peter Karavas from this sight was able to put me in touch with several brothers who have been a great help in coming out of the “dark side”. Please feel free to contact me or any of the other Bible Students on this sight if you would like further help or encouragement. I am new to the Bible Students, but I have already learned more about the truth of the Bible than I did in 48 years of being a Witness.

    • Lee Anthony (Brandon)

      Hello Ian and welcome,
      I too am an ex Jw. This is a great place to freely express yourself and to perhaps give you a place to meet others from a similar background and study the scriptures without rules and regulations telling you what is right or wrong. Today I am happy and I have a real relationship with Jesus and am able to be open and come to Jehovah approaching the throne of grace without hindrance. The fear has left and I have found so much help from the brothers and sisters through this site. My family and I never knew the bible students still existed most Jw’s think they are long gone. Hope you will share more of your story, I am sure most if not all of us can relate in some way.
      Brandon

  • It is a question only Christ answers with a preceding mega-temple-judgment. In general it has been human and anointed in a capacity of “slave of Christ”.

    But, God determines this in reality because ACTUAL faithfulness, not fictions and acting, is what God and Christ look at.

    And its revelation leads to an announcement, it is not a gold medal for the “slave” it is selection for final warning, on an individual basis of God given awareness.

    Because even if you said you are a faithful slave, Christ was that, and look how they treated him. Expect no better from men, but expect help from God to “gitterdone” just as Christ did and recieved forever.

    We have to announce the coming of Christ with far more certain indications of certain arrival as this matures. (Matt25:1-13)

    So a “faithful slave” whatever is also a “five discreet virgins” and LIGHT announcement this final time, in final form, will be the final mission. (Rev10:5-11; Rev11:1-7)

    All illustrations and parables are just that, BUT they do parallel big prophecy fulfillment event frameworks to add extended details by those obvious connections.

    • Bret (B.S)

      Chuck;

      Just to add to your thoughts…
      this is a parable and Jesus gave several in a row not to mention we do not assume the 10 virgins in Matt 25 are 10 individuals of today or the five talents parable is individuals today…
      The Faithful slave was appointed before the master went away, and if this is to be understood as a prophecy and not a parable the the faithful slave would be 2,000 yrs old…. amazes me how this is not ever considered..

      • Peter K. (admin)

        Brett,

        Yes. Thanks. I agree that the process of distributing talents to the servants began 2,000 years ago. (Matt 25:14-15)

        Interestingly, in Luke 12, 23 have Jesus explaining the Daniel 12:12 1335 day prophecy (“blessed,” “come” “wait”)

        Luke 12:35-37 (NKJV)
        35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;
        36 “and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.
        37 “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.

        So at Jesus return he promises to serve food to his servants (plural).

        Rev 3:21 (NKJV) “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

        Same as Luke 12:35-37 “knock,” “open” and “dine”

        How does Jesus feed his servants food at his return?

        Luke 12:42 (NKJV) “And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward (singular – 7th Messenger Rev 3:14), whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?”

        Advantage of one individual: to avoid confusion of elders wanting to rise up and rule with their own agenda while brothers and sisters can exercise Christian liberty and persuade with reason and scripture.

        • Bret (B.S.)

          Peter;

          Please clarify…

          Are you saying that yes he did appoint a slave (Singular) 2,000 years ago and this position is passed on succession?
          Or are you somehow saying that this slave doesn’t appear until the time of the end?

          In the opening statement he puts that “Slave” over his household before leaving..
          Luke 12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall set over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?

          Then upon his return that slave is found carrying out the work given prior to his departure…
          43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
          44Of a truth I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath

          Then Jesus gives several possible outcomes for that slave…

          45 But if that servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
          46 the lord of that servant shall have come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the unfaithful.

          Next It tells of the slave that didn’t do accordingly…
          47 And that servant who knew his lord’s will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes;

          In verse 48 there is a statement that Jesus uses elsewhere that drives home the point of the parable…
          48 but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. “And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more”.

          In the parables that follow the “Wise Servant” in Matthew 24 they are basically the same idea told in a different manner but all focusing on the individuals not estimating the time of arrival but staying faithful to their assignment. The parable of the 10 virgins estimated the time of his return and so it is with the five talents parable.

          Each parable focuses on the exact same thing and that is not getting caught calculating the time of the Lords return but keeping busy doing the work entrusted until his return….

      • Yes it is a parable. All parables, well most of them, are parallels of a prophecy, and some prophecies parallel each other.

        It is a temple judgment parable for now, the future. All that both the faithful slave and 10 virgins boil down to is some are evil and some are foolish, some are faithful some are not. That is determined now by Christ with a marked judgment as in all times past. This coming one comes with the start of the “tribulation of those days” phase.

        The even split in the 10 virgins means it will be significant in a falling away. And we know the end is not as close as many think as per 2Thess2:1-2, there is a final phase of warnign work to come in this temple judgment cycle.

        Faithful slave and discreet virgin like anointed will spearhead the final warning, but some will fall away, as usual. But this is the last cycle, its pre-Christ arrival explanations of world government ramifications will all come true to the long awaited arrival, but it takes at least 15 more years for them to complete 8th King world government.

        That final time period must be used wisely. (Rev10:5-11; 11:1-7)

        It will, because God is who is really doing the final warning.

        Jesus makes the appointment as result of the temple arrival which precedes the full arrival for conquest, there has to be a final “second witness” of the “two witnesses” which are just anointed Christians encapsulated in Bible symbology for the job then at hand clear as day:

        (Revelation 10:11) 11 And they say to me: “You must prophesy AGAIN with regard to peoples and nations and tongues and many kings.”

        JW org dissolution is the Daniel 8:13-14 timed sign of temple judgment this time. It will be marked by the attempted global destruction of the JWorg for UN NGO and many crimes, and it will be catastrophic so all will know what we are talking about afterwards.

        JW org downfall is the sign of the near future, it takes 3.19 years minimum of “the evening” of desolations required by the prophecy.

        • Bret (B.S.)

          Chuck;

          I take it as though you are a JW?

          I think just about every conclusion given by the organization has been wrong and the world turning on the Organization is quite wrong..

          Let me list just a few with regards to their generation prophesies alone….

          1) Generation is 40 yrs; 1914 to 1954 WRONG! “Rutherford told ones at a 1942 convention they wouldn’t graduate high school or have children because it was a 40 yr generation…. No UN at that time to attack the ORG… WRONG!!!

          2) 1975 was the marked 6,000 yrs since creation and would usher in yr 7,000 and the millennium, also within that 70-80 yr generation… WRONG!

          3) Generation is 70-80 yrs; 1914-1984 or 1994 WRONG! This was around the time I came into the organization and in your reasoning book it said exactly that the generation would be within 70-80 yrs and that prompted me to move to baptism..

          Consider your JW supposed outcome by reading Zech 12:1-10
          Here are highlights of those verses…

          2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem. 3 And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.

          All the nations come against Jerusalem or the Supposed “Organization”

          8 In that day shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

          Next Jehovah fights for Jerusalem…

          But here is an important point always left out by the “Bethel writers”

          10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and
          “they shall look unto me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for the firstborn”.

          So if “Jerusalem” is the anointed or Organization that means they rejected Yahweh or jehovah at some point and have to repent and put faith in him….

          It is funny how this is always put aside as a anomaly in order to fit their doctrine…..

          • Bret (B.S.)

            I meant of course the rejected Christ at some point according to verse10

          • Jacqueline (Bible Student)

            Brett hello, Zechariah and Isiah speaking of Israel as finally accepting Christ is why I began to openly speak out in the congregation book study of the Isaiah book. I said this can’t be JW when good things and Christendom when bad things are said. The elders asked me not to question the governing body and if it was wrong they would correct it. They asked me not to dispute anything in the book or they would stop calling on me. I said why don’t I do you a favor and never attend your book studies again as they violate my heart. Never attended again. I finally left the entire organization in August 2009 having never attended book study and refusing to turn in a time slip to men.
            So much of what you mention many of us had to realize Natural, real Jewish Israel isvwho is spoken of here.
            The organization can’t acknowledge this because the whole worship of the governing body is based on them being the city without walls that the government’s will turn on.
            My sister in law and husband have been in Bethel over 40 years and told me they at Bethel are just waiting for the attack to began on them. The attack that did began was the revealing of the pedophile issues within the organization. I had been fighting for young women and men to get justice on this issue since a giant blow out in Cleveland Ohio in 1985. So they are not Israel of Isaiah or Zechariah.

            • Bret (B.S.)

              Hello Jacqueline;

              Yes I remember you telling me this over a phone conversation. I had a similar problem but I was conducting a book study and these things came to my mind while preparing the study and realizing that so many of the prophecies are only mentioned the studies when positive for the supposed “Org”or spiritual Israel as they say…
              My problem was my conscience was bothering me while conducting the study and knowing this was a contradiction and didn’t fit…
              I dealt with this crisis of conscience for years, not knowing where else to turn.. The Bethel writers so often put into the mind Where else will you go? As though you must belong to some organization or religion…. Complete brain washing that is difficult to break…

  • Read what the bible says will happen to the antichrist, So many of you say I can go do willful sin knowing it is against God, And get second chance ,.Then that person will not likely change,. I will not pray for any thing bad to happen to any body, I will start back reading the bible again,. study more but not watch tower books,.

  • Jehovah does not know who you are

  • My statement are being blocked, Are the Jehovahs witnesses running this program ,. I do not want childess games from anybody including my self, I am one of Christ followers weather any body at wallkill likes it or not, I choose Jehovah before I knew his name and he draw me to Christ, God will strike you soon, I will only pray, Jehovah and Christ knows me lets see if he knows you, you can be forgiven soon it will be to late,.

    • Jacqueline (Bible Student)

      Kevin no, your comments are not being blocked. One went into moderation for whatever reason and I just saw it. I am going out of town to be with my family so I won’t monitor but maybe once a day as I enjoy my grandchildren. So if something goes awry we will eventually see it. Have a great day and hopefully with your family. Take Care Kevin I approved your one comment. Thanks for making us aware.

  • No sinful man is the faithful slave on earth Only some one from heaven could be the faithful slave,.

  • Bret (B.S.)

    James;

    So your saying Jehovah brings a new Judgment upon men, because the judgment upon Adam was paid for with the Random price, but this is only spplied after their death in Adam and then a resurrection in Christ.

    1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall “All” be made alive.

    Here it is that “ALL” shall be made alive. Paul brings out same thought at Romans 5:18, That “ALL men receive a justification to life. Notice Benjamin Wilson Diaglott

    Romans 5:18
    Therefore, indeed, as through One Offense, sentence came on ALL men to Condemnation ; so also, through One Righteous act, sentence came on “ALL men” to Justification of Life.

    Just as no man can get out of the sentence of death in Adam, no man can get out of the sentence to justification of life, that is a resurrection and then judgement.

    Heb 9:27 as surely as it is reserved for men to die once, but after this a judgment,

    James…. Inhereted sin and death from Adam is what every man faces and after that a judgment…

    What you are saying James makes no sense…
    Men who are already sentenced to death… Receive another sentence to second death because they lack faith in the Ransom which is a free gift, has already been paid AND doesnt require faith because it is by the underseved kindness of God or GRACE…

    Oh and never mind Christ words at John 12:47,48

    47 But if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I came, not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He that disregards me and does not receive my sayings has one to judge him. The word that I have spoken is what “will judge him in the LAST DAY”;

  • James

    Bret

    It sounds like the under-comer gets the second death. It would lack total motivation if the Church told the believers. He means if you fail, don’t worry you can still beat the second death as an under-achiever or at worse case scenario, a earthly creature.

    James

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