I agree the apostasy of course had started to creep into the true worship of God even when the disciples were still here, but that has nothing to do with the Catholic church. Gods people are Gods people, and Satan's Babylonian church are as distinct as night and day. There is nothing that anyone on earth could do or say that will ever change my mind. Jehovah's witnesses are Gods people, the holy place and the holy people. The Vatican is the Tower of Babel.
That's probably exactly how devout Christians felt in the first Century when people said that they were drifting away from true Christianity. It's the same way the devout Jews felt when Jesus told them they were rejected by God. They defended their traditions and their history instead of listening to Jesus words and doing a self examination of their worship of God. I can appreciate how anyone would feel, as I have gone through those feelings myself. But it doesn't change the fact that true religions become false slowly but surely and it's hard to believe when they do. I didn't believe it at first, I didn't want to but reality was too much to deny. I hope you get there Joshua. I hope you will soon see that the Watchtower has drifted pretty far and are on shaky ground.
God's love and friendship with Abraham and his promise to bless the nations through his loving and faithful friend.
That is not why, that was a byproduct. Why was Noah one of Gods poeple, why was Job, because of a promise to Abraham? No...
Because they knew the true nature of God, they knew their God. That fact alone made them Gods people.
I'm at a Royals game, I'm sure you can figure it out. How many times did Jehovah mention true worship compared to the worship of false gods? This is the most fundamental understanding in scripture, and nothing has changed.
When Jehovah chose Abraham, Abram was an idolator and worshiper of false gods. But when confronted to leave it all behind, Abram had enough faith in Jehovah to do it and he became Jehovah's friend. At that time he knew very little of Jehovah and to think or teach otherwise is a lie and not the facts. He may have grown over time to have understood more about Jehovah but he didn't know it all by any means. Joshua then assembled all the tribes of Israel together at Sheʹchem and summoned the elders of Israel, its heads, its judges, and its officers,+ and they stood before the true God. 2 Joshua said to all the people: “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says, ‘It was on the other side of the River* that your forefathers+ lived a long time ago+—Teʹrah the father of Abraham and the father of Naʹhor—and they used to serve other gods.+ Joshua 24 Biblical Anthropology tells us that Terah, Abrams father was a Horite Priest and manufactured idols. Look it up. So he did not know all he needed to know about Jehovah when Jehovah chose him. As a matter of fact he knew very little. But he had faith and that little something that Jehovah was looking for. He knew that Abram would do his will to the best of his ability despite his shortcomings and sins. That is also apparently what Jehovah saw in Charles Russell, who was far from a perfect man and far from having full knowledge of God. But what he had, Jehovah saw and liked. That's why he and Abram were friends and it is why he was friends with Abram. Jehovah's Witnesses have a lot of the same qualities of Abraham and Russell, they are not perfect but if they love God with their whole heart, mind, and life they are acceptable to him despite their lack of true understanding. The real understanding of Jehovah will happen in the Kingdom, not in this system. Man is too corrupt, even the good ones.
You think the worship of Jehovah started with Abraham, your sadly mistaken. You still don't seem to grasp the identifying factor of God's people... No reason to discuss it further.
Why do you keep bringing them up? I never did... Your not very good conceptually. Just constructive criticism. Look at history Frank, nothing's changed. God's people know his true nature, nothing more, nothing less. If you would like to read more into God's people in history, you tell me if they never sinned or needed reproved. It's as if you don't conceptualize the Bible as a whole. The Bible has a theme. As a brother I would highly suggest you take a step back, and start with the holy spirit, it's no one's wife. If I didn't care, I wouldn't bother. You interpret, without letting scripture explain itself. You still don't even understand the significance of Rev 18:11, you ignore it...
You have a lot to learn Joshua, but have no fear, Jehovah will give you 1,000 years to get it down. I wish you the best.
Matthew 24:11: and many false prophets will arise and mislead many. Matthew 24:24: For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. John 10:12 The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock. 2 Peter 2:1: But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. 1 John 4:1: Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Hi Daz One of my favourites is that last scripture, taken from 1 John 4:1 ("testing the inspired expressions".) Brothers and sisters will need to keep their wits about them.
Here is some interesting information about the deeper meaning of the Greek word translated in to English as “test”, in 1 Jo 4:1. The word is dokimazo (dok-im-ad'-zo), to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals. It comes from the word dokimos (dok'-ee-mos) 1. accepted, particularly of coins and money. 2. accepted, pleasing, acceptable In the ancient world there was no banking system as we know it today, and no paper money. All money was made from metal, heated until liquid, poured into moulds and allowed to cool. When the coins were cooled, it was necessary to smooth off the uneven edges. The coins were comparatively soft and of course many people shaved them closely. In one century, more than eighty laws were passed in Athens, to stop the practice of shaving down the coins then in circulation. But some money changers were men of integrity, who would accept no counterfeit money. They were men of honour who put only genuine full weighted money into circulation. Such men were called “dokimos” or “approved”. (Donald Barnhouse) “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 Jo 4:1 NASB )