God’s name originally written in the Bible language of Hebrew was represented by 4 consonants called the Tetragrammaton. Because ancient Hebrew was written without vowels, it is not possible to know the exact pronunciation of God’s name or many other names in the Bible. However, it is common practice to translate these names into the oldest written form of a respective language. In English that would be Jehovah and Yahweh. This is what the Bible says at Psalms 83:18: That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
The sanctification of God’s personal name is the first thing that Jesus taught his disciples to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” The word “hallowed” means to regard as holy, venerated, and sacred.
Because of a superstition, many Bible translators have removed God’s name from their Bibles. This has confused many. Interestingly, the King James Bible has decided to restore God’s name to its proper place within a recent edition of their Bible. Nonetheless, Jesus actively made God’s name known and Christians follow his example. He said at John 17:6, 26: “I HAVE MANIFESTED THY NAME unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine were mine, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 26 AND I HAVE DECLARED UNTO THEM THY NAME, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Revelation 5:10 reads: “and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”
According to these words, those who go to heaven will rule as kings over the earth with Christ and have the enjoyable work of transforming the earth so that God’s will shall be done here on earth, as it is in heaven as Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s prayer. (Matthew 6:9, 10) Once God’s will for the earth is accomplished, Revelation 21:3, 4 will be fulfilled where it reads: “With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them. And they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away. 5 And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new. Also, he says: “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”
God used the familiar and simple analogy of Father and Son in reference to himself and Jesus to help us understand that not only are they two different people, but one is greater than the other. This is why in prayer to God Jesus referred to his Father as the only true God and to himself as the one that was sent forth by him. (John 17:3) All of Jesus’ apostles including Paul realized that Jesus was not God. Peter acknowledged that God resurrected Jesus. Jesus could not resurrect himself. (Acts 2:31, 32) Before his death Stephen saw a vision of heaven in which Jesus was standing at God’s right hand. This proved Jesus’ earlier words when he said he had been “alongside God” before he came to the earth. (Acts 7:56; John 17:5) Later Paul acknowledged that the God who made all things is the only true God who resurrected Jesus and appointed Jesus to judge the earth in righteousness. (Acts 17:24, 31) Out of his own mouth, Jesus admitted that the Father is greater than he, and when tempted by Satan he blatantly told him that it is Jehovah your God that you must worship and to him alone give your sacred service. (John 14:28; Matthew 4:10) As for the holy spirit, it is nameless in the scriptures because it is not a person at all. It is God’s active force that he uses in accomplishing his will and empowering his servants. Jesus taught us to pray for it, not to it. (Matthew 1:18; Acts 1:8; Luke 11:13)
The 1967 New Catholic Encyclopedia exposes the trinity doctrine as being created hundreds of years after the deaths of Jesus and all his apostles. It correctly states that the Trinitarian dogma is a late 4th-century invention. The formulation of one God in three Persons was not established and assimilated into “Christian” life and its profession of faith until the 4th century. The Holy Bible was completed long before this time which explains why it does not even mention the word trinity.
The Bible identifies Satan as the “god” of this system of things. (2 Corinthians 4:4) He instigated religious confusion to deter humans from worshipping God as He approves. This is why Jesus did not teach that all religious roads lead to the same place. He said that many are on the road to destruction, but few are traveling the road to everlasting life. (Matthew 7:13, 14) When comparing many popular religious teachings with the Bible, it becomes obvious that the diversity of religions is also because people have become followers of men instead of listening to God. (Mark 7:6,7) Despite this, it is possible to find the truth about God through prayer and a serious study of the Bible. God promises to draw close to those who draw close to him. (John 8:32; James 4:4)
2 Samuel 6:14, 15: And David was DANCING around before Jehovah with all his power, and all the while David being girded with an ephod of linen. 15 And David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of Jehovah with joyful shouting and sound of the horn.
Psalm 30:11: You have changed my mourning into DANCING for me; You have loosened my sackcloth, and you keep me girded with rejoicing.
Luke 15:25-27: Now his older son was in the field; and as he came and got near the house he heard a music concert and DANCING. 26 So he called one of the servants to him and inquired what these things meant. 27 He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father slaughtered the fattened young bull, because he got him back in good health.’
2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word, be at it urgently in favorable season, in troublesome season, reprove, reprimand, exhort, with all long-suffering and [art of] teaching.
I just answered this question for someone else. Here is what I believe.
People have been making predictions for centuries about the end of the world, none of which have ever come true. The fact of the matter is that planet Earth will always be here. The Bible teaches that: “Generations come and generations go, while the earth endures forever.” (Ecclesiastes 1:4) God originally put humans here to enjoy life on earth even though the earth is filled with many problems today. The natural disasters, political upheavals, wars, and economic collapses are all signs that we are living in what the Bible calls the last days. What will follow the last days? Instead of destroying the earth, Revelation 11:18 shows that God is going “to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” The upright and the blameless will be left in the earth, but the wicked and treacherous will be cut off from it. (Proverbs 2:21, 22) Following the destruction of only the bad people on the earth, conditions will return to paradise as in the beginning in the Garden of Eden. (Revelation 21:3-5)
Jesus said that no one would be able to predict when God would destroy the wicked, but he advised us to be alert to the signs he gave that the end is near. (Mark 13:32; Mark 13:4-8, 33; 2 Timothy 3:1-5) All of these signs are in clear evidence right now. One of the signs often overlooked is that worldwide the good news of God’s Kingdom will being preached and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14) Our positive response to this message about God’s Kingdom helps us to prepare for the end by learning God’s requirements and obeying his commandments. If you would like to learn more, contact your local Jehovah’s Witnesses. They volunteer their time to offer free Bible discussions.
We do not know from one day to the next what our life will be, but for centuries people have been predicting the end of the world, and none of those predictions have ever come true. The fact of the matter is that planet Earth will always be here.
The scriptures do not give extensive details about the men that visited Jesus, but Matthew 2:1 records that they were visitors from the “eastern parts”. The earliest substantial reference about those men (who are also known as Magi) comes from Herodotus, a Greek historian living in the fifth century B.C.E. Herodotus noted that the Magi belonged to a Persian priestly class who specialized in astrology, interpretation of dreams, and casting of spells. In Herodotus’ time, the religion of Persia was Zoroastrianism so it is likely that the Magi were Zoroastrian priests. This is confirmed by the book A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. It too says that the expression “wise men” translates “a Greek noun which originally referred to Persian priests who were experts in astrology. Today Persia is also known as Iran.
If you visit www.watchtower.org, go to the search field at the top right of the screen. Type in Christmas and it answers that question thoroughly. In summary, the website explains how the Bible does not even give the date of Jesus’ birth, but December 25 was chosen in the year 350 by Pope Julius I. Nowhere in the Bible will you find that Jesus’ disciples who walked with him ever celebrated Christmas. This is in part because none of God’s servants in Bible times celebrated birthdays. The Christmas celebration has roots in a pagan celebration honoring Saturn, the false god of agriculture and two other mythical sun gods. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe it is important to imitate the Christians of the Bible who honored Jesus by obeying his command to commemorate his death, not his birth. (Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) Every year there is a worldwide campaign inviting everyone to observe this occasion. When you visit the website, you will find that compared to the Bible almost every facet of Christmas is either a distortion of the Bible accounts or pagan in origin.