Why are women part of the large army?

[JennyM]

Psalms 68: 11 Jehovah gives the command; The women proclaiming the good news are a large army.

 

This thought has puzzled me for a long time. 

Is there something wrong on the part of 'men.'? 

 

Why women are being used? Women are easily deceived, more emotional and maybe more vulnerable to physical assault. ( in human point of view) 

 

In many cultures, they like men better women to be  soldiers but Jesus Christ have chosen more women.. 

 

How do brothers feel when they see many women at khall instead of men? I asked about it because historically women have been downgraded. It was just recently that we received privileges in  human society, right to vote, education, in the work.  

 

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2019 by carlos

[Ludwika]

Perhaps it's simply that Jehovah could foresee that women, generally not being the family breadwinner, would be able to do more. And, world wide, we truly are a large army. Also, it's often the case that women are more readily drawn to the truth. How many husbands have later followed their wives in turning to Jehovah, rather than the other way around? Faithful women can be used by Jehovah in a wonderful way! 

[JennyM]

@Ludwika And its a sacrifice for many to become single..When I was new, I couldn't accept that I can be single for many years  and coming.. but Jehovah made me happy. 

 

Or maybe men are just too wise in their own eyes. 

 

 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

There are men (our brothers) that have made big advancements for the truth (like the 12), but we are all here reminded of the very large contribution our sisters make.
There are also notable sisters that have books of the bible either named after them, or details of their account preserved.
If maths were involved, we could guess half of our organisation is made up of sisters. Jehovah values each one of individually, and some may need this reminder how Jehovah esteems such ones.
My guess is much like the comment above, our sisters probably make up more than half of our numbers. Truly a large and valuable part of Jehovah's organization.

Just Older

[booboo]

1 hour ago, JennyM said:

Why women are being used?

Here are some of Jehovahs thoughts on this.

[JennyM]

😀 thanks. I didn't notice that. 

 

 

[Thesauron]

Here are some of Jehovahs thoughts on this.

It is almost always better to post the text and a link to the source rather than a screenshot. It is much easier to read and deal with. Some of us also use text to-speech, which doesn’t work with images.

[Beggar for the Spirit]

We very much value your posts Sister Donna because you provide good research! We all need to see and read the Governing Body's viewpoint as this helps us adjust and improve our thinking. And you help us by means of your posts, so thank you!

 

For me, I like the screenshots, but maybe you can also include the text and a link as Johan mentioned, especially for those who do text to speech. While I like screenshots, this one you posted above appears very, very large, but I am not sure why it appears this way? Now I use a PC, but maybe your screen shot is a good size on a phone or tablet? So as a suggestion, if you post a screenshot, maybe you can preview it first to see how it looks. But whatever you do, please continue posting your good research!    

Edited June 14, 2019 by Beggar for the Spirit

[carlos]

6 hours ago, Thesauron said:

It is almost always better to post the text and a link to the source rather than a screenshot. It is much easier to read and deal with. Some of us also use text to-speech, which doesn’t work with images.

I think sister Donna was trying to show us how we can find that explanation ourselves, by going to the Bible in JW Library, clicking on the verse number and having the referenced article appear on the right. I find those explanations very useful since many of our members don't know they can do research about a scripture so easily.

 

In any case, this is the link to that article:

w14 8/15 10

Edited June 14, 2019 by carlos

[JennyM]

Study notes is quite new.. I haven't used it for some time.  I always overlook.. so thanks. 

[Myew]

Just a small addendum on the tech side for those who don't know how to post links. If you are using JW Library on an iPad or Android Tablet like in the picture above, you can access the web version from the "..." menu at the top right and select 'Open in Watchtower Online Library'. Your web browser will open to the page on wol.jw.org and you just need to copy the link from the address bar or use one of the many 'Share' functions to copy and paste.

[Thesauron]

16 hours ago, JennyM said:Why women are being used? Women are easily deceived, more emotional and maybe more vulnerable to physical assault. ( in human point of view)  

In many cultures, they like men better women to be  soldiers but Jesus Christ have chosen more women.. 

This scripture is interesting. Did you know that the original Hebrew text does not explicitly mention women at first glance? I’ll explain. The whole chapter is about warfare, and how Jehovah is a mighty warrior. A manly person of war, if you will. Then comes this little expression. KJV translated it “great was the company of those that published it.” But they misunderstood the verse. The participle (a verbal adjective, here used as a noun) they’ve translated as “those that published it” really is feminine plural. This is a feature of the Hebrew language. A feminine suffix takes the place of the feminine pronoun. “They” is feminine, just like ‘he’ or ‘she’ in English.

 

So, we know the writer then, is talking about women. So, Jehovah, this major military leader, is leading an army of women “proclaiming (gr. ‘euangelion’) the good news”. It must have made the Israelites men, the leaders, priests and kings, react. If they thought they were better than women, here Jehovah is proclaiming his will to use women to preach the good news as his large army of preachers.

[JennyM]

9 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

So, we know the writer then, is talking about women. So, Jehovah, this major military leader, is leading an army of women “proclaiming (gr. ‘euangelion’) the good news”. It must have made the Israelites men, the leaders, priests and kings, react. If they thought they were better than women, here Jehovah is proclaiming his will to use women to preach the good news as his large army of preachers.

I also noticed that the public listen to women carefully  when it comes to preaching.. Householders are mean to our bros preaching the good news , at least in our city. So they don't have chance to hear it. They give women chance to talk .. at least for preaching not teaching. 

[Yentle]

Last summer at the convention they brought out from the platform that when women and men are equal before Jehovah that means one is not better than the other they're just simply different women have hormones that make their packs fit the feelings they are feeling at the time for a week to 10 days men have the same feelings but they're able to hang onto the real facts that's why they're appointed head of the house women have equality men don't have they can walk in the room and if some chicks on the make for their husband they know it long before their husband does or pick up on things that let them know what a baby needs before it can talk men don't have that ability but they're able to hold on to the real facts there for Jehovah in his wisdom has appointed them head of the house and head of the congregation all of which I now appreciate

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[BenJepthah]

On 6/13/2019 at 7:07 PM, JennyM said:

Psalms 68: 11 Jehovah gives the command; The women proclaiming the good news are a large army.

 

This thought has puzzled me for a long time. 

Is there something wrong on the part of 'men.'? 

 

Why women are being used? Women are easily deceived, more emotional and maybe more vulnerable to physical assault. ( in human point of view) 

 

In many cultures, they like men better women to be  soldiers but Jesus Christ have chosen more women.. 

 

How do brothers feel when they see many women at khall instead of men? I asked about it because historically women have been downgraded. It was just recently that we received privileges in  human society, right to vote, education, in the work.  

 

 

 

 

1. Women have always had the more direct role in training the new troops. Like a Drill instructor in a military unit they put their children through Basic Training in Jehovah’s service. There really is no more important duty. 

    2. This verse , I suspect will be seen as Prophecy at some point in the near future. As Persecution occurs in various lands it is quite common that the Brothers are detained at a much greater rate than the Sisters often leaving an obvious Set of roles to be fulfilled within the congregations. During the Great Tribulation it may be the case thatMillions of the Brothers will initially be detained or even killed outright early on leaving a Large Reserve Army of Sisters organizing the final Campaign in many places. 

[JennyM]

1 hour ago, BenJepthah said:

1. Women have always had the more direct role in training the new troops. Like a Drill instructor in a military unit they put their children through Basic Training in Jehovah’s service. There really is no more important duty. 

    2. This verse , I suspect will be seen as Prophecy at some point in the near future. As Persecution occurs in various lands it is quite common that the Brothers are detained at a much greater rate than the Sisters often leaving an obvious Set of roles to be fulfilled within the congregations. During the Great Tribulation it may be the case thatMillions of the Brothers will initially be detained or even killed outright early on leaving a Large Reserve Army of Sisters organizing the final Campaign in many places. 

Yes.. It might.. It happened in Hongkong already.. more women there and they were given privileges 

 

[BenJepthah]

6 minutes ago, JennyM said:

Yes.. It might.. It happened in Hongkong already.. more women there and they were given privileges 

 

Wow! Fantastic!

[Vinnie]

Jehovah knew what he was doing when he made women.  Jehovah's dominant quality is love. Love for people and neighbour is a main quality needed to do the preaching work. Love is also an emotion that women are attuned to and can readily relate to.

 

Who do you think is behind the whole movement to downgrade women to keep them from reaching and understanding their full potential?  Satan knows what women are truly capable of and he has been working hard to keep this fact secret and hidden. Women are more capable than they have been led to believe. 

 

Jehovah says he uses the "weak" to put the strong to shame. Women are only called the weaker vessel. ( when we look at the word vessel, it's talking about the container or fabric that women  are made of that makes them more fragile.)  Women can be emotionally stronger and be able to put up with more than men.

 

Women's natural caring qualities are needed in this most caring work.

 

For the most part, women are the better communicators. Science has found that the brain is made up of white brain cells and grey brain cells.The white brain cells work better for things like communication than the grey. Women have 10x more white brain cells than men. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050121100142.htm

 

During war time, it's usually the men who are wiped out the most 

 

@JennyM What do you think now? 

[sunshine]

The contnext is indeed that the women would announce a natons victories with song and dance .. its also worth pointing out the scripture doesnt actually say "a larger army" or that there would be more women than men, only that they would indeed be numerous.

 

Anyway...I think women are generally more sensitive to spiritual matters.  Being the nurturers they are concerned about the future for their children.  Having a more submissive role they are generally more teachable.  Women also tend to be more communicative (we talk more) and when engaged women are stoic and hardworking.  Maybe it's also a strategic move on Jehovah's part, people tend to view us women as less threatening and our enemies will put our men in prison before the women, thinking women will fall apart without them.... that is before we start bible studies with their wives.

 

The brothers have done many profiles on some outstandjng women of faith past and present, this reflects Jehovah's love of his precious daughters!

 

Ralph Walls: “The Women Proclaiming the Good News"
https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/StudioTalks/pub-jwb_201708_2_VIDEO
 

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by sunshine

[JSmith]

In the world, when one group gains wealth, status, prestige, etc, its often at the expense of others.

 

Not so under Jehovahs rulership!

 

We shouldn't view Jehovah's recognition of the critical role our sisters play in telling the Good News as a swipe at the men.

 

Jehovah values your efforts and wants you to know it.  What a kind God we serve!

[Thesauron]

13 minutes ago, JSmith said:

We shouldn't view Jehovah's recognition of the critical role our sisters play in telling the Good News as a swipe at the men

No, but these words must have shocked the contemporary Jewish society, which was largely tribal and patriarchal. Men ruled, they were the kings, they were the priests and soldiers. And then Jehovah inspired his verse.

[JSmith]

58 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

No, but these words must have shocked the contemporary Jewish society, which was largely tribal and patriarchal. Men ruled, they were the kings, they were the priests and soldiers. And then Jehovah inspired his verse.

I don't know.  This is kind of what I was talking about.  Modern society has created divisions and then pitted them against one another.

 

 Today because of "womens lib" and feminism, people see a division between men and women and "us vs them" in a way that I dont know people in ancient times saw it.

 

The different roles men and women played had more to do with physical ability than thinking women were simply not capable of doing it. It was more a sensible division of labor rather than holding women back.  It became that way later on of course, but I dont know that is how its always been.

 

I would also point out that while Jehovah inspired the idea, he allowed a man to write it down in his own words.  So a man from that time period came up with the term.

 

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by JSmith

[Hope]

21 minutes ago, JSmith said:

I don't know.  This is kind of what I was talking about.  Modern society has created divisions and then pitted them against one another.

 

 Today because of "womens lib" and feminism, people see a division between men and women and "us vs them" in a way that I don't know people in ancient times saw it.

 

The different roles men and women played had more to do with physical ability than thinking women were simply not capable of doing it. It was more a sensible division of labor rather than holding women back.  It became that way later on of course, but I don't know that is how its always been.

 

I would also point out that while Jehovah inspired the idea, he allowed a man to write it down in his own words.  So a man from that time period came up with the term.

 

 

 

I think I would disagree with what I highlighted in blue.  Regarding physical abilities, men have had no problem whatsoever working women like beasts of burden in the fields, bearing children every year, lifting/carrying heavy loads, looking after livestock and gardens, getting up early and staying up late doing all the work required in the household, both inside and outside. Recall Rebekah's ability to water all those camels?  I doubt that's the first time she's ever had to do such work.

 

No, the different roles and related respect had very much to do with believing that women were somehow inferior or not as capable mentally, emotionally, intellectually as men. That is not a modern society attitude.    Many cultures throughout time saw no real need to send girls to school, allow them to own property, etc. They were married off for financial gain or for family alliances, regardless of it was a good match.  It was considered something to just put up with if the woman was abused.  In general, females were considered less valuable to families than male children. Boys carry on the family name; girls only cost their family a dowry, then they leave to become part of another family and *they* get to benefit from all her hard work. Consider China's one-child rule - girl babies were often aborted or abandoned after birth because of the perceived lesser value   Concepts like women's lib and feminism came about specifically because of the abuse, neglect and disrespect of women in society.

 

None of that treatment was Jehovah's way.  He authorized the landmark property ownership decision regarding the five daughters of Zelophehad, allowing them to receive the inheritance of their father rather than having it go away to male relatives.  He ensured widows and orphans were cared for and not taken advantage of.  Jehovah's dealings with women in the Bible has always only been kind and respectful and Jesus continued that attitude during his ministry.  They both always dignified women, quite often to the surprise of the men at the time.  Prophesying that women would be a large army in helping fulfill Jehovah's purpose is a fine honor in the face of men who may not give women credit for doing anything valuable.

[McKay]

On 6/13/2019 at 7:07 PM, JennyM said:

Why women are being used? Women are easily deceived, more emotional and maybe more vulnerable to physical assault. ( in human point of view) 

I would say that a) EVE was easily deceived, but that's not to say that's true for all women (ie. not inherited), b) men are equally emotional but are socially conditioned to bury or hide their emotions, and c) yes, sadly you're right about the physical assault part.

On 6/13/2019 at 7:07 PM, JennyM said:

 

In many cultures, they like men better women to be  soldiers but Jesus Christ have chosen more women.. 

This highlights, to me, how Jehovah and Jesus view women, not as second-class humans, but as valuable as men in some different ways.

On 6/13/2019 at 7:07 PM, JennyM said:

 

How do brothers feel when they see many women at khall instead of men? I asked about it because historically women have been downgraded. It was just recently that we received privileges in  human society, right to vote, education, in the work.  

I personally love it. Yes, women have been downgraded in the world but that's appalling to me (as is the recent elevation of women in society ABOVE men outside of God's arrangement). I think the presence of so many women -- and indeed, the fact that so many of our pioneers are women -- is proof of the superiority of Jehovah's thinking.