2023 Governing Body Update #8 / BEARDS!!!

[Doug]

6 minutes ago, Dave said:

 

What about the sisters? We have 3 anointed sisters in our congregation. Funny how you don’t see them depicted as women in artwork showing anointed ones in heaven. Remember too, they’ll be serving as “kings and priests”.

 

 

Right?   And don't we agree it's their feminine / maternal qualities that will be put to good use in their heavenly assignment?

[Tsheppar]

8 minutes ago, Dave said:

What about the sisters? We have 3 anointed sisters in our congregation. Funny how you don’t see them depicted as women in artwork showing anointed ones in heaven. Remember too, they’ll be serving as “kings and priests”.

I think that is because once they go to heaven they are not a male or a female. They are spirits, which is not of our physical realm .  The headship and leadership  arrangement is male based therefore  they are depicted as being all male. Some spirits are shown to be lions , that does not mean they are actual lions . They have the" qualities "of a lion.  Many women  are needed in heaven because of the amazing qualities women possess and physical men do not . As spirits in a heavenly realmn they are not a woman in heaven, they simply retain those qualities. They will rule over us and be in leadership roles. So in artwork they are shown to be male to depict the "quality" of headship and ones of leadership  guidance to follow. 

[Pjdriver]

10 hours ago, Dave said:

 

What about the sisters? We have 3 anointed sisters in our congregation. Funny how you don’t see them depicted as women in artwork showing anointed ones in heaven. Remember too, they’ll be serving as “kings and priests”.

 

Dave, it’s interesting that the Bible speaks of Jehovah having both Male and female qualities.....but before he "created male and female” Gender did not exist. He specifically gave females certain qualities and males certain qualities. However he encourages all of  us to learn from both  qualities. A child raised with 2 good parents will generally be a more balanced in their views and appreciate both qualities, male and female. 

 

In the Bible, when referring to God and angels, including Satan, the pronouns used are typically masculine, such as "he," "him,"  “his”, and Father and son in many instances.  This is the case in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures.  

 

Angels, when mentioned with pronouns or names, also use masculine terms. The two angels named in the Bible, Michael and Gabriel, are given masculine names. In narratives involving angels, they are described using masculine pronouns. For example, in Genesis 19:1-5, the angels who visit Lot in Sodom are referred to as "men," and masculine pronouns are used throughout the account.

 

Way Back in the day, masculine terms were often used generically to refer to persons whose gender was not specified or when referring to a group that included both males and females.

 

As for Jehovah, while masculine pronouns are used, it's important to note as our current WT study shows...that Jehovah is described as having qualities that we might consider feminine as well. For instance, Isaiah 66:13 portrays God as comforting His people "as a mother comforts her son."

 

But since the Bible always depicts heavenly creatures as male.....the artwork follows that pattern.

However, this in no way diminishes the value of feminine  qualities that all heavenly creatures including the creator himself possess . Men do not possess superior qualities than women by any virtue of just  being a man.  Men were created to be the  head of the woman but he was not created superior to the woman. 

 

 

 

Edited April 7 by Pjdriver

[Pjdriver]

Getting back to our recent relaxing of the dress code.....does anyone get the feeling we may be preparing to blend in more as the GT approaches , especially in the ministry?    

Edited April 12 by Pjdriver

[Tortuga]

7 minutes ago, Pjdriver said:

Getting back to our recent relaxing of the dress code.....does anyone get the feeling we may be preparing to blend in more as the GT approaches , especially in the ministry?    

I have heard that several times but I don't really think it will make a difference. Look at the persecution in other lands, many of them were arrested at home after they were secretly investigated. Wearing a beard or slacks won't make a difference if someone reports you to the authorities. 

[cme]

We have thought about that.  Maybe, in the GT when crowds are in the streets we, just blend in and get to where we need to get for safety.  Its anyone's guess.

[Amen]

30 minutes ago, cme said:

We have thought about that.  Maybe, in the GT when crowds are in the streets we, just blend in and get to where we need to get for safety.  Its anyone's guess.

Whatever the reason behind this guidelines (beard and trousers) The bottom line is that Jehovah prepares us day by day for the great tribulation 

[Mike047]

The GB seem to be preparing us for things ahead. These changes take some of us outside of our 'comfort zone', because of upbringing, culture or other personal history. We will need to show our trust by accepting any new directives or advisories given us. 

 

There are may difficult things ahead. May we have the right attitude to all instructions given us.

[Tortuga]

1 hour ago, Pjdriver said:

Getting back to our recent relaxing of the dress code.....does anyone get the feeling we may be preparing to blend in more as the GT approaches , especially in the ministry?    

It is always possible that someone could report you to the authorities and describe you as the man in the black pants, blue shirt, beard and driving a blue car instead of describing you as the man in the black pants, blue shirt, nice tie and driving a blue car. I can see how that might confuse them...

[Pjdriver]

11 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

It is always possible that someone could report you to the authorities and describe you as the man in the black pants, blue shirt, beard and driving a blue car instead of describing you as the man in the black pants, blue shirt, nice tie and driving a blue car. I can see how that might confuse them...

 

Now, they could confuse us with Amash

Whatever we can do to confuse them.

Edited April 12 by Pjdriver

[Mike047]

There was a time in the past when we considered wearing garments that were reversible, so were less easy to identify, or that was the thought.

 

"I was sure he had a beard, but now he looks clean shaven" well, that was a close shave!

 

 

[Tortuga]

16 minutes ago, Pjdriver said:

Whatever we can do to confuse them.

It seems that most of the brothers that I know are wearing beards, it won't take long before everyone in the territory realizes that Jehovah's Witnesses are wearing beards. I really think it will be a complete non-issue when the GT starts. 

[Pjdriver]

16 minutes ago, Mike047 said:

There was a time in the past when we considered wearing garments that were reversible, so were less easy to identify, or that was the thought.

 

"I was sure he had a beard, but now he looks clean shaven" well, that was a close shave!

 

 

 

Our Congregation Servant as they were called back in the day,  was an assassin, out get Nazi high ranking officers for the Polish Govt’ during WWII.

Long interesting story but I remember him having demonstrations using his wife to show how we could preach under ban door to door or just making RVs. She wood enter a building dressed a certain way....she rearranged a couple things and came out looking very different.

You could tell, they’ve done this before. 

 

This brother escaped from a Nazi camp, made it to the U.S. The Nazi that was assigned to track him down came to the U.S. after the war and both met each other at a convention when one seen the other getting baptized. 

Years later, after being in the same congregation as the assassin,  I was then in the same congregation as the son of the Nazi sent to get my old assassin  Congregation Servant. 

 

In the 1960s I was letting my hair grow a little to blend in....not real bad, but he came up to me messed my hair up and said in a serious tone: “Are you trying to be a girl?”   I got my hair cut! 

Edited April 12 by Pjdriver

[Mike047]

I was going to get some old clothes from one of the local second-hand shops. I would go for well worn stuff so the 'hum' of the garments met the 'hum' of the wearer, and we could harmonise.

 

 

[Pjdriver]

15 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

It seems that most of the brothers that I know are wearing beards, it won't take long before everyone in the territory realizes that Jehovah's Witnesses are wearing beards. I really think it will be a complete non-issue when the GT starts. 

I enjoy watching the NBA. I would say about 3/4 of the players have beards.

I see them more now than ever.    I think there’s is something very natural about it. Think about it. Women were distinctly created with a smooth complexion. 

Why would Jehovah create man with facial hair that grows as fast as the the hair on your head if it wasn’t natural....in fact that’s what makes it natural.

 

Was Adam created with a full grown beard?  Or was he smooth and then let it grow? Or did he shave?

Edited April 12 by Pjdriver

[jwhess]

Our chairman for the midweek meeting last night had grown a beard but he shaved it off a couple of weeks ago.  His 20 year-old son grew a beard at the same time.  It looks nice.  the son had a student part on the program last night and his dad was his counselor.

 

One part of counsel was "facial expressions".  His father said he did well but we all had a little trouble identifying the expressions under the hair...😀

[Hope]

Interestingly, I pay more attention to the brothers' faces with beards.  They also seem more authoritative, mature - in a good way - to me. There's a settled confidence that I get... not sure how to describe it.  Maybe it's only that way from men to women... but it's curious and cool to me.

 

It never really made much difference one way or the other with non-Witness men.  But it's very effective on you brothers.  Well done! ❤️ 

[DancesWithWife]

5 hours ago, Tortuga said:

t seems that most of the brothers that I know are wearing beards, it won't take long before everyone in the territory realizes that Jehovah's Witnesses are wearing beards. I really think it will be a complete non-issue when the GT starts. 

That's true. My sister-in-law who is not a JW, asked my wife why is every Jehovah's Witness that's a brother wearing a beard? Yes, they are noticing, it won't even be an issue very soon. On a sidenote, I saw a car pull into our apartment parking lot, two men got out both wearing beards, no ties. The women were wearing skirts or dresses. As I looked at them, I realized they were witnesses. I was going to tell them they cannot work our apartments as the are no trespassing and they will call the police. This is pretty serious in Oregon as you can be fined up to $1,000. Turns out it was a new elder in our congregation and he wanted to come by and say hi to us. 

[carlos]

9 hours ago, Tortuga said:

I have heard that several times but I don't really think it will make a difference. Look at the persecution in other lands, many of them were arrested at home after they were secretly investigated. Wearing a beard or slacks won't make a difference if someone reports you to the authorities. 

 

I agree. I keep hearing that but I don't think it will make any difference for the authorities whether we use a beard or trousers or a tie. Sometimes we are a bit obsessed with every small detail being a sign that the GT is about to start.

[Andrey]

I wonder if people would have the same reaction if we started shaving off beards en masse?

[Dages]

9 hours ago, Andrey said:

I wonder if people would have the same reaction if we started shaving off beards en masse?

It's too cute 🥰 

[Andrey]

10 hours ago, Andrey said:

I wonder if people would have the same reaction if we started shaving off beards en masse?

 

Judging by the reaction to the shaved beards, I realized what would cause chaos and confusion in the world and the attack of Gog from Magog at Armageddon.

[Cushi]

Did anyone notice the brother with the beard (paragraph 8) in the latest Watchtower? Does anyone know if this is the first Watchtower illustration depicting a brother with a beard?

 

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-september-2024/Become-Doers-of-the-Word/

Edited June 19 by Cushi

[jwhess]

14 minutes ago, Cushi said:

Did anyone notice the brother with the beard (paragraph 😎 in the latest Watchtower? Does anyone know if this is the first Watchtower illustration depicting a brother with a beard?

 

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-september-2024/Become-Doers-of-the-Word/

We have no idea what the previous Watchtower (August issue) looks like yet.  I believe the September issue you are referring to is the first depiction that we have received.

[Andrey]

https://www.jw.org/finder?srcid=share&wtlocale=E&lank=pub-com-rep23_5_VIDEO

 

Geoffrey W. Jackson (3:45)