THEOCRATIC MINISTRY SCHOOL for the week of 11JANUARY 2010

Jan. 11 Bible Reading: Joshua 21-24
No. 1: Joshua 24:1-13
No. 2: Is God Uncaring and Hard-Hearted?
No. 3: Does the Bible Say That the Soul Survives the death of the body? Rs p.169 pp 1-5

No. 1: Joshua 24:1-13
And Joshua proceeded to assemble all the tribes of Israel together at She′chem and to call the older men of Israel and its heads and its judges and its officers, and they went taking their stand before the [true] God. 2 And Joshua went on to say to all the people: “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said, ‘It was on the other side of the River that YOUR forefathers dwelt a long time ago, Te′rah the father of Abraham and the father of Na′hor, and they used to serve other gods. 3 “‘In time I took YOUR forefather Abraham from the other side of the River and had him walk through all the land of Ca′naan and made his seed many. So I gave him Isaac. 4 Then to Isaac I gave Jacob and E′sau. Later to E′sau I gave Mount Se′ir to take possession of it; and Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 5 Later on I sent Moses and Aaron, and I went plaguing Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought YOU out. 6 When I was bringing YOUR fathers out of Egypt and YOU came to the sea, then the Egyptians went chasing after YOUR fathers with war chariots and cavalrymen to the Red Sea. 7 And they began to cry out to Jehovah. So he placed a darkness between YOU and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them and covered them, and YOUR eyes got to see what I did in Egypt; and YOU took up dwelling in the wilderness many days. 8 “‘Eventually I brought YOU to the land of the Am′or•ites who were dwelling on the other side of the Jordan, and they went fighting against YOU. At that I gave them into YOUR hand that YOU might take possession of their land, and I annihilated them from before YOU. 9 Then Ba′lak the son of Zip′por, the king of Mo′ab, got up and went fighting against Israel. So he sent and summoned Ba′laam the son of Be′or to call down evil upon YOU. 10 And I did not want to listen to Ba′laam. Consequently he blessed YOU repeatedly. Thus I delivered YOU out of his hand. 11 “‘Then YOU went crossing the Jordan and came to Jer′i•cho. And the landowners of Jer′i•cho, the Am′or•ites and the Per′iz•zites and the Ca′naan•ites and the Hit′tites and the Gir′ga•shites, the Hi′vites and the Jeb′u•sites began fighting against YOU; but I gave them into YOUR hand. 12 So I sent the feeling of dejection ahead of YOU, and it gradually drove them out before YOU—two kings of the Am′or•ites—not with your sword and not with your bow. 13 Thus I gave YOU a land for which YOU had not toiled and cities that YOU had not built, and YOU took up dwelling in them. Vineyards and olive groves that YOU did not plant are what YOU are eating.’

No. 2: Is God Uncaring and Hard-Hearted?
*** w08 11/1 p. 10 A Lover of Justice ***
Why does God allow such things to happen?’ The truth is that Jehovah God hates all injustice. His Word, the Bible, assures us that hard-hearted practicers of sin will not escape divine retribution. Let us consider the apostle Paul’s words recorded at Hebrews 10:26-31.


*** w08 11/1 p. 10 A Lover of Justice ***
Paul writes: “If we practice sin willfully after having received the accurate knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left.” (Verse 26) Willful sinners are most reprehensible. Why? First, they do not commit an isolated sin in a moment of weakness—the kind of mistake we all make at times because we are imperfect. They make a practice of sin. Second, their sins are intentional. As The Bible in Basic English puts it, they “do evil on purpose.” Deeply ingrained badness fills their heart. Third, their sins are not the result of ignorance. They have an “accurate knowledge of the truth” about God’s will and ways.
How does God view unrepentant, malicious sinners? “There is no longer any sacrifice for sins left,” says Paul. The sacrifice of Christ—God’s gift to humankind—covers the sins we commit because of our imperfection. (1 John 2:1, 2) But those who practice sin without repentance show that they have no regard for this precious gift. In God’s eyes, they have “trampled upon the Son of God and . . . esteemed as of ordinary value the blood of” Jesus. (Verse 29) By their course, they show contempt for Jesus and treat his blood “as a cheap thing,” as having no more value than that of any imperfect human. (Today’s English Version) Such ingrates are in no position to benefit from Christ’s sacrifice.
What can the wicked expect? The God of justice has promised: “Vengeance is mine; I will recompense.” (Verse 30) Let all who are bent on practicing sin at the expense of others beware. No one can flout God’s righteous laws with impunity. Often, their wicked ways catch up with them. (Galatians 6:7) At the latest, they will stand before God in the near future when he comes to rid this earth of all injustice. (Proverbs 2:21, 22) Paul warns: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”—Verse 31.Learning that Jehovah God does not condone willful sin is both comforting

*** w08 11/1 p. 10 Maibigin sa Katarungan ***
Ano ang pangmalas ng Diyos sa mga taong sinasadyang magkasala at hindi nagsisisi? “Wala nang anumang haing natitira pa para sa kasalanan,” ang sabi ni Pablo. Ang hain ni Kristo—ang kaloob ng Diyos sa sangkatauhan—ay para sa mga kasalanang nagagawa natin dahil sa ating di-kasakdalan. (1 Juan 2:1, 2) Pero walang pagpapahalaga sa mahalagang kaloob na ito ang mga taong namimihasa sa kasalanan at hindi nagsisisi. Sa paningin ng Diyos, ‘niyurakan nila ang Anak ng Diyos at itinuring na may pangkaraniwang halaga ang dugo’ ni Jesus. (Talata 29) Sa kanilang ginawa, hinamak nila si Jesus at ‘nilapastangan’ ang kaniyang dugo, na para bang wala itong halaga gaya ng sa isang di-sakdal na tao. (Magandang Balita Biblia) Ang gayong tao ay hindi makikinabang sa hain ni Kristo.


No. 3: Does the Bible Say That the Soul Sur-
vives the Deat\h of the Body?
(rs p. 169 ¶1-5)
Does the Bible indicate whether the dead experience pain?
Eccl. 9:5, 10: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all . . . All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol,* the place to which you are going.” (If they are conscious of nothing, they obviously feel no pain.) (*“Sheol,” AS, RS, NE, JB; “the grave,” KJ, Kx; “hell,” Dy; “the world of the dead,” TEV.)
Ps. 146:4: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts* do perish.” (*“Thoughts,” KJ, 145:4 in Dy; “schemes,” JB; “plans,” RS, TEV.)

Does the Bible indicate that the soul survives the death of the body?
Ezek. 18:4: “The soul* that is sinning—it itself will die.” (*“Soul,” KJ, Dy, RS, NE, Kx; “the man,” JB; “the person,” TEV.)
“The concept of ‘soul,’ meaning a purely spiritual, immaterial reality, separate from the ‘body,’ . . . does not exist in the Bible.”—La Parole de Dieu (Paris, 1960), Georges Auzou, professor of Sacred Scripture, Rouen Seminary, France, p. 128.
“Although the Hebrew word nefesh [in the Hebrew Scriptures] is frequently translated as ‘soul,’ it would be inaccurate to read into it a Greek meaning. Nefesh . . . is never conceived of as operating separately from the body. In the New Testament the Greek word psyche is often translated as ‘soul’ but again should not be readily understood to have the meaning the word had for the Greek philosophers. It usually means ‘life,’ or ‘vitality,’ or, at times, ‘the self.’”—The Encyclopedia Americana (1977), Vol. 25, p. 236.