In this third installment in my ongoing series (https://islamunmasked.com/2018/10/10/jesus-is-jehovah-god-according-to-the-jehovahs-witnesses-bible-pt-2/), I am going to show from the Bible, which the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) employ, that Jesus receives the same worship, which only God is supposed to be given.

Jesus is worshiped as Jehovah

Christ proclaimed that God himself wants everyone to give the Son the exact same honor that they render unto the Father:

“For the Father judges no one at all, but he has entrusted all the judging to the Son, so that all may honor the Son JUST AS they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” John 5:22-23

This essentially means that a person must show Christ the same love, devotion, worship etc., that they do to God, a fact confirmed by the over all teachings of the Scriptures themselves. 

For instance, the God-breathed revelations command believers to love God unconditionally, more than anything and anyone, even more than their own lives:

“He said to him: ‘“You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment.’” Matthew 22:37-38

This is the exact love and devotion that Jesus demands that his followers give to him:

“Whoever has greater affection for father or mother than for me is not worthy of me; and whoever has greater affection for son or daughter than for me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not accept his torture stake and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his soul will lose it, and whoever loses his soul FOR MY SAKE will find it.” Matthew 10:37-39

“Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake and keep following me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life FOR MY SAKE will find it. Really, what good will it do a man if he gains the whole world but loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?’” Matthew 16:24-26

“Now look! someone came up to him and said: ‘Teacher, what good must I do to gain everlasting life?’ He said to him: ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If, though, you want to enter into life, observe the commandments continually.’ He said to him: ‘Which ones?’ Jesus said: ‘You must not murder, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, and you must love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to him: ‘I have kept all of these; what am I still lacking?’ Jesus said to him: ‘If you want to be perfect, go sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come be my follower.’ When the young man heard this, he went away grieved, for he had many possessions… Then Peter said in reply: “Look! We have left all things and followed you; what, then, will there be for us?’ Jesus said to them: ‘Truly I say to you, in the re-creation, when the Son of man sits down on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands FOR THE SAKE OF MY NAME will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit everlasting life.’” Matthew 19:16-22, 27-29

There’s more.

The OT teaches that Jehovah has priests who serve him, and is the only Being whom his people are to call upon in their invocations, praises and worship:

“Exalt Jehovah our God and bow down at his footstool; He is holy. Moses and Aaron were among his priests, And Samuel was among those calling on his name. They would call to Jehovah, And he would answer them.” Psalm 99:5-6

“I love Jehovah Because he hears my voice, my pleas for help. For he inclines his ear to me, And I will call on him as long as I live. The ropes of death encircled me; The Grave had me in its grip. I was overcome by distress and grief. But I called on the name of Jehovah: ‘O Jehovah, rescue me!’… I will take up the cup of salvation, And I will call on the name of Jehovah…  I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving; I will call on the name of Jehovah.” Psalm 116:1-4, 13, 17

Jehovah is further said to dwell in light:

“Let me praise Jehovah. O Jehovah my God, you are very great. With majesty and splendor you are clothed. You are wrapped in light as with a garment; You stretch out the heavens like a tent cloth.” Psalm 104:1-2

Astonishingly, the Christian Scriptures proclaim that Jesus is the One that believers call upon and who dwells in glorious light!

“to the congregation of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in union with Christ Jesus, called to be holy ones, together with all those everywhere who are CALLING ON THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, their Lord and ours:” 1 Corinthians 1:2

“But Saul, still breathing threat and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that he might bring bound to Jerusalem any whom he found who belonged to The Way, both men and women. Now as he was traveling and getting near Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, and he fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ He asked: ‘Who are you, Lord? He said: ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ Now the men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing, indeed, the sound of a voice but seeing no one. Saul then got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he did not see anything, and he neither ate nor drank. There was a disciple named An·a·niʹas in Damascus, and the Lord said to him in a vision: ‘An·a·niʹas!’ He said: ‘Here I am, Lord.’ The Lord said to him: ‘Get up, go to the street called Straight, and look for a man named Saul, from Tarsus, at the house of Judas. For look! he is praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named An·a·niʹas come in and lay his hands on him so that he may recover sight.’ But An·a·niʹas answered: ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, about all the harm he did to YOUR holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all those calling on YOUR NAME.’ But the Lord said to him: ‘Go! because this man is a chosen vessel to ME to bear MY NAME to the nations as well as to kings and the sons of Israel. For I will show him plainly how many things he must suffer for MY NAME.’  So An·a·niʹas went and entered the house, and he laid his hands on him and said: ‘Saul, brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road along which you were coming, has sent me so that you may recover sight and be filled with holy spirit.’ And immediately, what looked like scales fell from his eyes, and he recovered his sight. He then got up and was baptized, and he ate some food and gained strength. He stayed for some days with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately in the synagogues he began to preach about Jesus, that this one is the Son of God. But all those hearing him were astonished and were saying: ‘Is this not the man who ravaged those in Jerusalem who call on THIS NAME? Did he not come here for the purpose of arresting them and taking them to the chief priests?’ But Saul kept on acquiring more and more power and was confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus, as he proved logically that this is the Christ.” Acts 9:1-22

Christ even has priests who serve him in the same way that they serve God!

“Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God AND OF THE CHRIST, and they will rule as kings with him for the 1,000 years.” Revelation 20:6

The Hebrew Bible also teaches that a person is to entrust their spirits or lives to Jehovah, since our spirits come from and will eventually return back to him:

“Into your hand I entrust my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Jehovah, the God of truth.” Psalm 31:5

“Then the dust returns to the earth, just as it was, and the spirit returns to the true God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7

And yet we find the first Jewish believers, in fact the very first Christian martyr, entrusting their very spirits to the Lord Jesus at the moment of death!

“As they were stoning Stephen, he made this appeal: ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’” Acts 7:59

The Bible further states that Jehovah is the One who hears and answers prayers,

“Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion; We will pay our vows to you. O Hearer of prayer, to you people of all sorts will come.” Psalm 65:1-2

Which is precisely what the NT says of the Lord Jesus, namely, Christ is the One who answers the prayers of all those who trust in him!

“Also, whatever you ask in my name, I will do this, so that the Father may be glorified in connection with the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14

“Then a man named An·a·niʹas, a devout man according to the Law, well-reported-on by all the Jews living there, came to me. He stood by me and said to me: ‘Saul, brother, regain your sight!’ And that very moment I looked up and saw him. He said: ‘The God of our forefathers has chosen you to come to know his will and to see the righteous one and to hear the voice of HIS mouth, because you are to be a witness for HIM to all men of the things you have seen and heard. And now why are you delaying? Rise, get baptized, and wash your sins away by your calling on HIS NAME.’ But when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw HIM saying to me: ‘Hurry up and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness concerning ME.’ And I said: ‘Lord, they themselves well know that I used to imprison and flog in one synagogue after another those believing in YOU; and when the blood of Stephen YOUR witness was being spilled, I was standing by and approving and guarding the outer garments of those doing away with him.’ And yet HE said to me: ‘Go, because I will send you out to nations far away.” Acts 22:12-21

“I write you these things so that you may know that you have life everlasting, you who put your faith in the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have toward HIM, that no matter what we ask according to HIS will, HE hears us. And if we know that HE hears us concerning whatever we are asking, we know that we are to have the things we ask for, since we have asked them of HIM.” 1 John 5:13-15

Moreover, the OT writings envision the time when all the nations of the earth will bow in worship of Jehovah:

“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Jehovah. All the families of the nations will bow down before you. For the kingship belongs to Jehovah; He rules over the nations. All the prosperous ones of the earth will eat and will bow down; All those going down to the dust will kneel before him; None of them can preserve their lives. Their descendants will serve him; The generation to come will be told about Jehovah.” Psalm 22:27-30

“All the nations that you made Will come and bow down before you, O Jehovah, And they will give glory to your name.” Psalm 86:9

“By myself I have sworn; The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, And it will not return: To me every knee will bend, Every tongue will swear loyalty.” Isaiah 45:23

“‘And from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, All flesh will come in to bow down before me,’ says Jehovah.” Isaiah 66:23

Astonishingly, the Apostle Paul took Isaiah 45:23 cited above, and applied it to Christ, stating that God would have every creature in existence bow down and confess Jesus as the exalted Lord!

“so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend—of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground—and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10-11

As if this weren’t astonishing enough, John is shown a vision where he sees and hears every creature in the entire creation giving the Lord Jesus the exact same worship that they give to God!

“When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, and each one had a harp and golden bowls that were full of incense. (The incense means the prayers of the holy ones.) And they sing a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slaughtered and with your blood you bought people for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.’ And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousand, and they were saying with a loud voice: ‘The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’ And I heard EVERY CREATURE in heaven and on earth and underneath the earth and on the sea, and all the things in them, saying: ‘To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.’ The four living creatures were saying: ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshipped.” Revelation 5:8-14

The fact that every created thing in existence renders to the Lamb the very worship given to God proves that Christ is no mere creature. By distinguishing the Lamb from all of creation, and placing him alongside God on the throne, John thereby affirms that Jesus is an eternal, uncreated, divine Person. And since Jehovah is the only One who is uncreated by nature, this proves that the Son must also be Jehovah God Almighty, in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit!

This explains why Jesus could quote the following Psalm, which speaks of Jehovah causing infants and children to glorify him in order to shame his enemies,

“O Jehovah our Lord, how majestic your name is throughout the earth; You have set your splendor even higher than the heavens!  Out of the mouth of children and infants you have established strength On account of your adversaries, To silence the enemy and the avenger.” Psalm 8:1-2

To justify the praise he was receiving from the children in the Temple in the presence of his opponents who were offended at what they were hearing:

“When the chief priests and the scribes saw the marvelous things he did and the boys who were shouting in the temple, ‘Save, we pray, the Son of David!’ they became indignant and said to him: ‘Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them: ‘Yes. Did you never read this, “Out of the mouth of children and infants, you have brought forth praise”?’” Matthew 21:15-16

Since Jesus is Jehovah God in the flesh, it only makes sense that the children in the Temple would render unto Christ the very worship that the Psalter says Jehovah ordains from the mouths of babes and sucklings!

Jehovah Jesus willing, I shall have additional installments to post in the near future.

 

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