Bible Questions and Answers
Published 03/16/2017
Who are Jehovah's Witnesses and what are the biggest differences between Christianity and the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses? I know that Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in hell, when in fact Jesus Christ spoke more about hell than about Heaven. Why don't they believe in hell?
Answer:
Jehovah - translation error
The Jehovah's Witnesses sect states:
In the eyes of God, names are important, and He has given man the desire to distinguish people and things through names. Thus, angels, people, animals, as well as stars and other inanimate objects, have names. Would it be consistent for the Creator of all this to remain without a Name Himself? Of course not!…
Article on the topic: Religion Jehovah's Witnesses - can they be considered Christian?
Another quote:
One of the basic and essential features of biblical Revelation is that God has a Name: He has a personal Name by which He can and even must be invoked.
Referring to the book of Exodus 3:14-15, they convince that God’s name is “Jehovah.” Therefore, let us consider in more detail the indicated passage in the book of Exodus.
Jehovah - translation
SENODAL TRANSLATION
13 And Moses said to God, Behold, I will come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they will say to me: What is His name? What should I tell them? 14 God said to Moses: I am who I am. And he said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: Jehovah [Jehovah] has sent me to you. 15 And God said again to Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is My name forever, and the remembrance of Me from generation to generation. (Ex.3:13-15)
MODERN TRANSLATION
13 Then Moses asked, “But if I go and say to the people of Israel, “The God of your ancestors has sent me,” and the people ask, “What will I tell them?” 14 God answered Moses: “I am Jehovah. When you go to the people of Israel, tell them: Jehovah has sent me to you.” 15 And God also said to Moses: “This is what you must tell the people: (Ex. 3:13-15)
The Synodal “I Am Who I Am” is a translation of three Hebrew words: “eh'ye asher eh'ye (iod he vau he) .
Literally, these three words can be translated: “I am Who I am (or will be),” and the direct and precise meaning of this expression is: “I am and will be Who I am and will be” - obviously, this depicts eternity and immutability Creatures of God.
“I am the One Who exists in Myself, Who primarily has being and being” - that is, Independent, Beginningless, Infinite, Limitless. “I am Being Itself, I am Self-Existing Life.”
The Septuagint expresses this in one word: “O ON” - “Sy”, “Existing”.
The concept of such a Person is expressed by the double use of the personal verb . ” They are connected by a linking pronoun to indicate that the only self-sufficient reason for the existence of this Personality lies in Herself.
Further in Art. Exodus 15 we read:
“So say to the children of Israel: The Lord (“Jahwe”) , the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and I will be remembered from generation to generation.”
Here the Name “Jahwe” represents the 3rd person singular of the future tense of the verb “to be”, and means “he is” or “he will be”, which completely coincides with the meaning of this Name in verse 14, where the Lord is represented as speaking from His Name, and thus expressed in the 1st person - “I am who I am” - “eh'ye” .
So, this Name itself expresses the ever-present Deities. Not only its literal meaning, “Sy,” but especially its future form strengthens this expression.
In Hebrew, this form of verbs is used to denote an imperishable future, or a one-time action that is about to take place. Therefore, proper names in Holy Scripture are usually expressed in the form of the future tense. So, for example, “Jacob” means not only “the one who stumbles,” but also, in fact, the “future one who stumbles” (Gen. 27:36).
Accordingly, “Jahwe” means not only “Existing”, but also “Having to be,” which expresses ever-present, eternity, and, therefore, immutability.
Taking into account the analysis of the words “eh'ye” (verse 14) and “Jahwe” (verse 15), let us summarize what the true meaning of verses 14 and 15 of the 3rd chapter of the book of Exodus is.
Due to unconditional originality, God is always equal and unchanging to Himself in His actions; one can and must rely on His word. And if now the Jehovah who appeared to Moses is at the same time the God of the fathers of the Jewish people, then there is no longer any reason to doubt that He will fulfill His promise to lead their descendants out of Egypt. In view of this, the words of Moses, the messenger of Such a God, deserve complete trust.
From all that has been said, it follows that “Jahwe” is not the proper Name of God, but a designation of one of the properties of the Being of God.
And the Old Testament biblical tradition knows more than one such Name of God.
Related article: The Name of God in the Bible. More than 55 options.
Let's name some of them:
“Elohim” – the main meaning of this name is unknown, most likely: “He Who is the subject of fear or reverence.”
“Adonai” – “My Lord”; actually means “Lord”.
“Tsebaoth” (slav. “Sabaoth”) - the names “Jahwe” and “Elohim” are often found in the Bible in combination with this word, which literally means “Armies” (in prophetic literature, the word “Tsebaoth” refers to the heavenly armies).
“Shaddai” – “Almighty”; translation “Dominion” or “All-conquering Power” is also possible. In the Septuagint this word is usually translated as “Pantocrator” - “Almighty.”
To summarize, we note: The Name of God in the Jewish biblical tradition contains the concept of the nature of the Divine and always speaks of His relationship to the created world, to people.
The name “Jahwe” was never perceived as a certain individual given, as the own personal Name of the Highest Being; it was varied and varied.
Not Personal Name of God
This is how Justin the Philosopher (+166) speaks about it:
Indeed, God cannot be called by any proper name. For names exist to designate and distinguish objects in their multitude and variety, but there was no one before who would give God a name, and He had no need to give Himself a name, being only one, as He Himself testifies through His prophets, saying:
“I am God the first and the last, and besides Me there is no other god” (Is. 44:6).
Therefore, God, sending Moses to the Jews, does not mention any of His name, but mysteriously designates Himself through the sacrament (“He”) and thereby makes it known that He is one..., contrasting Himself, as the Existing One, to those who do not exist... For God, seeing that the false thought of polytheism, like some disease, burdened the souls of people, wanted to destroy it; Therefore, He first appeared to Moses and said to him: “I am He”... Then, sending him to the Jews, He commanded them to also say: “He has sent me to you.”
Elsewhere Justin writes:
God wanted to show Moses His eternity, since the word “He” means not one time, but three times: past, present and future.
God, according to Justin, seems to say to Moses:
“I am Jehovah, the Living God (by the way, the name “Jahwe” can also mean “He is alive”), for you have heard that there are gods, but they are not living, not existing. I am the only Lord, the God of your fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the everlasting God.”
As we see, this St. the father of the 2nd century, “God-loving, very much occupied with faith” (St. Epiphanius ), “deserving general astonishment” ( Eusebius of Caesarea ), “profound Christian philosopher” (St. Photius ), also did not see the name “Jahwe” as an indication in the personal name of God.
Jehovah - translation error
Note: Deacon Andrey Glushchenko
It should also be noted that the form of the Name of God “Jehovah” used by this sect is essentially incorrect and has no meaning. It arose through a misunderstanding in the 16th century, when Europeans began to study the Old Testament in the original language.
Related article: The First Name of God El - 7 meanings
There were no vowels in the Hebrew alphabet (as there are not now), therefore, in the corresponding places of Scripture, the indicated Name of God was conveyed only by four consonants: “JHWH” - “YHVG” , and the latter was not read. It is impossible to establish the exact pronunciation of this word, that is, to restore the vowel sounds, but it is now believed that perhaps it was “a” (after the 1st letter) and “e” (after the 3rd), and it sounded like “ Jahwe" - "Yahwe" .
This word was forbidden to be used in oral speech, therefore, when reading Scripture in synagogues, the reader had to replace it with “Adonai” - “Lord”.
With the invention of vowel signs by the Masoretes to the four consonant letters of the sacred Name (“JHWH”), to help the reader, they began to sign the vowel signs of the word “Adonai” (“a” “o” “a”; but the first, due to the peculiarities of grammar, was replaced by “e” ), resulting in a combination of the consonants of one word with the vowels of another - “Jehowa(h)”. But the reader understood that the implied “Adonai” should be pronounced out loud.
European researchers of the New Time era did not know this, and the absurd “Jehowa” came into use firmly and for a long time.
For a Jew, both ancient and modern, this word has exactly as much meaning as the word “Soyo” (consonants from “Sy” and vowels from “Lord” - so to speak, the “literal translation” of “Jehowa”) , that is, it has none.
Therefore, I would propose from now on to call these sectarians “Witnesses of Soyo,” that is, of their illiteracy.
In discussing this topic, it is important to mention that today for the salvation of the soul it is important to know which Name to call on. And you can read thoughts about this in this article:
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!
Jehovah's Witnesses: what does the New Testament say about this
The last prophecy that was recorded before the coming of Christ pointed to two witnesses to the Most High Yahweh - these were Elijah and Moses. The Prophet warned: ''Remember the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel, as well as the rules and regulations. Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet to you before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal. 4:4-6). Therefore, the apostles, being with the Lord Christ on the mountain, saw precisely these two prophets (Luke 9:28-31.).
Who did they mean?
In the first century, these were:
1)John the Baptist, who was the great Elijah (Matt. 17:9-13.). His ministry was to prepare the figurative soil - the hearts of the Jews - to receive a blessing from heaven, the Lord Christ (Luke 1:16,17. Psalm 71:6.).
In the Gospel, John is called the greatest of all the prophets (Matt. 11:10-15.), and he was the image of the entire Mosaic law, which led the Israelite “sheep” to faith in the true Shepherd. This is how the Apostle Paul wrote about the law: “The law was our guide to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). Having fulfilled his destiny, John - ''Elijah'' had to die without entering into the New Agreement (Matt. 11:11,12. Luke 5:36-39. Gal. 4:22,24,30. Heb.11 :32,35,39,40.).
2) The Greater Moses was Jesus Christ himself, the great Teacher (Acts 7:37. Deut. 18:15,18,19. John 12:48-50.).
Punishment for breaking the law
The law establishes punishment for figures who conduct prohibited propaganda on the territory of the Russian Federation. Administrative, civil and even criminal liability is provided for calling for extremism. Legal practice now extends to Jehovah's Witnesses. For voluntary participation in meetings of a religious community, which is now recognized as illegal, followers of the doctrine face a prison sentence of 2 to 6 years.
According to current regulations, serious punishment is provided for officials found in extremist meetings. They will no longer be able to hold positions in the following areas:
- state and municipal service;
- military service under contract;
- work in law enforcement agencies;
- work in educational institutions;
- security or detective activities.
The law also establishes responsibility for the distribution, storage, and release of extremist materials. Violators may be subject to administrative, civil or criminal liability, depending on the severity of the crime.
Despite the fact that in Russia there is no bill regulating the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses, their movement is subject to the law on extremism. The religious community was declared prohibited and a decision was made to liquidate branches in all populated areas of the country.
