Yes.
The word we translate as Jew was first used in the scriptures to refer to the army of Judah in war against Israel, as I understand it, from 2 Kings 16.
The kingdom was split into two, which then was called the "house of Judah" and the "house of Israel" or the southern and northern kingdoms, Judah and Israel.
Before reading straight through (my first time, eyeopening) I'd never realized a distinction, nor would ever have been able to comprehend it. But the story is there, the divorce of Israel the northern kingdom, keeping Judah and showing mercy a while longer (Hosea). Then the prophecies of restoration, which are yet to come, which maintain those distinctions in Jeremiah, and Zechariah. Further scriptural research sent me back to the tribes which made up the kingdoms, and started making the story unfold with incredible detail. The house of Joseph, with the birthright passed down to Ephraim and Manasseh, as opposed to the throne of David of Judah. There were people who were around from the ten-tribe kingdom in Christ's day, but there weren't ten tribes still around.
So my comment above was clarifying because one of the points that seemed to be a stumbling block for my dad was his disbelief that the Jews could fulfill the prophecies. But I couldn't get him to understand, that the Jews are, loosely speaking, only 20% of the whole of Israel. And they are one of the two houses or two kingdoms which comprised the United Kingdom of Israel (under Saul, David and Solomon). See also Ezekiel 37:15... The Jews aren't the fulfillment of the prophecies, they could only ever be "half" of the fulfillment, Israel is required.
I can keep going for hours, I have so much to ask and discuss, but I tend to overwhelm people like a child who won't stop asking "why" after each response.
So yes, I believe that the 144k are the natural born descendants of Israel, and that they are from the 12 tribes, which includes the Jews of the kingdom of Judah of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. I don't know why I called out that distinction, though I guess now I'm glad I did, because it was of interest.
Thoughts?
===
Do you know of any association of people who honestly did their best to study the scriptures in the way that Russell set out, originally, to do? I should put that in present tense.
With love, I say that I have no desire to go back and learn what Russell believed. I believe something he believed were truth, but as we're all imperfect I do not believe we can be in ourself the body of the truth because it requires the members of the body to come together to the head, and that head is truth, not us.
RR, I really appreciate your continued responses. I hope that in no one do I appear obstinate. I tend to think forward, while making use of whatever I can of the past. For instance, I have enjoyed bits of E.W. Bullinger, which I found after having stumbled into after having read an article by Fredrik Homer Robison which at the time I had no idea had been associated with the Watchtower in any way. It was also by the aid of the 1880's Watchtower articles written mainly by Russell that I was able to find freedom, and then was able to come to read Franz' Crisis and later In Search of Christian Freedom, at that point as validation for what I'd come to believe myself.
I think however, forward thinking, of Daniel's writings and his experience. His studied the writings to learn that it must be the time for this all to come to an end, and no sooner than he'd prayed did an answer come!
I'd like to be Daniel, sure! Who wouldn't? But that's not my point here. I am more intrigued by the statement which is a translation of trouble for me—Daniel 12:4. The Interlinear I have doesn't include the clause "many will go back and forth" or "Many will go here and there" to increase knowledge. It does indicate the Hebrew words for many being taught and knowledge increasing, which I feel is in context of the unsealing of the words of Daniel.
Though I was taught that a child, even of God, cannot understand the Word of God without the help of man, it seems that the scriptures say otherwise—do not lean upon your own understanding, but it points us to God so that in all our ways we take notice of him.
Thanks — I'm very much enjoying the conversation. It's precisely what I've been praying for!
I guess maybe I would say that I'm not looking for a group to join, but many individuals from which I can learn, in the spirit of "many will rove about" if that's indeed what Daniel 12:4 intended.
A favorite song of mine has always been "Lord, I was born a ramblin' (wo)man..."

=== Voting ===
I'm waiting for my white pebble—theocracy, rather than democracy. (Daniel 5:12,14, 12:3,4,9-13)
"He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things: "I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn't deny my faith—He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it." — Revelation 2:12...17, cf. Acts 26:10
Democracy me think of voting for the beast, Revelation 13:18:
"In this situation wisdom [1] is needed. Let the person who has insight [2] figure out [3] [the meaning of] the number of the beast, because it is a human number. The beast's number is 666."
- Greek sophia (or wisdom, insight, the root of sophisticated philosophy; the Greeks gave us democracy)
- understanding: mental capacity to exercise reflective thinking, intellect, receiving God's thoughts, through faith (Ro 12:2,3)
- "let him count": "indeed chiefly in the middle in the Greek writings to give one's vote by casting a pebble into the urn; to decide by voting"
===
n the thread that led me offsite and into the last two weeks of research brought me back here and to Gérard.
Somerset's Harvard Theological Review article only seemed to confirm my understanding as the name that has become YHWH is not our Father's and is instead both blasphemous and used in ancient magick associated with ancient Babylon mystery religions, Gnosticism and Freemasonry.
I ended up with a smattering of new pages on my work-in-progress website as well as being engaged in reading several books, a list to follow (your comments and critique appreciated, remembering that I'm perhaps softer skinned than others!)

As for the other thread, you followed up saying that you agree with me that JWs overuse YHWH—I don't believe that the overuse it, I believe it's a pagan name which while the innocent as dove's believe it to be our Father's name, they are not cautious as serpents—proclaiming it to the whole world as THE name. I understand your comment about not looking for an invented word in a Hebrew Lexicon, however, I care about what things mean—before I'd decide to name my child a name I created myself, I'd certainly do the research to find out what connotations and denotations it has. Strong's #3050 is clear, and while invoking the name YHWH, they treat it in the same manner as original language name. Thus, Yah becomes Jah, and it then becomes confusing—just how do you go from "hawah" to "hovah", if not by mischief? The intent is a somber joke—yes, he promised calamity and ruin on judgment day.
It's the simpler points that hit home with me, the poetry of the original name, the breathing vowel sounds. The pronunciation of theophoric Hebrew proper names passed down generation-to-generation (of four variations), the patronymic name Yehudah YHWDH, and the family name Yehoshua.
When I pray at night, now, I practicing breathing those Hebrew vowels as his name. At least I know that it's far closer than "YHWH", and is based on the witness of countless Hebrews both in the bible and those today who bear the name of the Father in their own. (I spoke to the Exalted Name guy who's publishing a new bible version—he's changing all the names to use "yeh", as in Eliyah > Elijah > Eliyeh. I had the gall to ask him how people would feel about his changing the spelling of their names—I hope he will respond, I really do wonder his thinking. His quote below.)
Furthermore, wherever the Hebrew 3050 is used, which is the abbreviated form of His name, it will customarily be found in use with another Hebrew word, thereby forming a name or an expression. The abbreviated presentation of His name is YEH, and we find that name hidden throughout Scripture in connective names like: Joel, Elijah, Judah and Benjamin, and it is hidden in the New Covenant as well in names, and even in words like, Halleluyeh… Those corrections are also made within The Exalted Name Bible™, which eliminates another few thousand misinterpretations. — Exalted Bible, on replacing Strong's #3050 with "Yeh"
- YHWH: The Horned Hunter on a Lost Gnostic Gem
- Yehowah יְהוָה and Theophoric Names
- Proofs of the Interpolation of the Vowel-Letters in the Text of the Hebrew Bible and Grounds Thence Derived for a Revision of its Authorized English Version (1857) by Charles William Wall, D.D.
- The Name of God YeHoWaH. Its Story (2002) by Gérard Gertoux
- In Fame Only: A Historical Record of the Divine Name, by Gérard Gertoux
- Un Nome eccellente, by Gérard Gertoux
- The Tower of Siloam (2003) by George Wesley Buchanan, published in The Expository Times, Vol. 115 No. 2 (November 2003): 37-45
- ‘Some Unfinished Business with the Dead Sea Scrolls’, Revue de Qumrân (1988, 13:49-52) (Mémorial Jean Carmignac (ed.), F. Garcia Martinez et E. Peuch (Paris, 1988), pp. 411–20. —The paper is expensive—200 Euros! Anyone got a copy???
- YHWH in An Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry and its Kindred Sciences: Comprising the Whole Range of Arts, Sciences and Literature as Connected with the Institution (1874) by Albert Gallatin Mackey, pg 370-381
- From Jewish Magic to Gnosticism (2005) by Attilio Mastrocinque
- The Gnostics and their Remains: Ancient and Mediaeval (1887) by C.W. King, pg. 313-319
- The “Horned Hunter” on a Lost Gnostic Gem by Roy Kotansky and Jeffrey Spier (1995), published in the Harvard Theological Review, Volume 88, Issue 03, July 1995 pp 315-337
- Gnosticism and Christianity in Roman and Coptic Egypt (Studies in Antiquity & Christianity)
(2004) by Birger A. Pearson
===
Flatlander, I feel as though by reading this thread I might offer insight. It seems as though rather than seeking to understand what Ros means in her words, you make assumptions about what she means, filling in the blanks as it were.
She was also being modest and didn't propose that her success in certain x-JW endeavors were "blessed" as it were, which may have led to some confusion.
I have found that the days that I progress in light—coming to understanding deeper truths, more and more—are those that I spend focused on the scriptures, as opposed to those scouring resources of commentaries and research. I find that relying more on faith that the holy spirit will be sent as our helper to guide us into truth means that when I stay focused on it as my teacher rather than man, I find what I need in that same "is it a coincidence?" kind of way Ros speaks of.
I write and write, compiling notes on my website which is a mess with eventual intent to share. It helps me figure out where I am in understanding—it means I can outline my own faith with my scriptural references.
I recently purchased Apostle on the Edge, a workbook for use in inductive study of the letters of Paul. I had finally come to the realization of the Great Sacred Secret, and thus divided the scriptures, with the intent to focus on those specifically address to the members of "Christ, the body". Perhaps you'd enjoy it too? It was nice to use a question and answer style guide which allowed me to consider my own beliefs and to interpret the scriptures as written rather than to read about someone else's beliefs and to consider them for use as my own. I'm over that after my days under the Watchful all seeing eye of the Tower.

I love Paul's books. I love E.W. Bullinger's commentary on the Great Sacred Secret, and the structure and intent and meaning behind the order of those books.
Corinthians felt like where I was— my first baby steps out of the divisions. Check out a version of the scriptures which allows you to see past your old thoughts—I chose The Message (read it via YouVersion, though I know own a copy, and a parallel version with NIV). The NLT is also useful in that same manner. You may miss nuances, but as a student as you are, you'll know and can choose other versions with different intents to keep certain of the Word. 1 Corinthians speaks to a congregation he adores, but while he came to them expecting to teach them about mystery of God, as members of the body of Christ, he realized that they were still babes—caught up in divisions of flesh—not recognizing that they should have by then been spiritual people, if they had followed the spirit over men. (1 Cor 1, 2, 3) Besides those scriptures of warning for us, the rest is mundane—they were babes and his letter describes simply the basics of our faith and correction of behavior. Does it whet your appetite though? It did mine. Paul as the prophet, I as the student, with God to help making me grow. It was fascinating! I'm almost done with my Apostle on the Edge workbook, and have my own understanding of Paul's letters and which are written about what we believe, which are correction, which are cheering us on. I think that the WT should be coming to a close right about now with their own version of this study, in the form of the book "Bearing Witness", but how different the outcome of those two paths are!
Flat, I am building my faith—if you are in the same position as I am, I would love to talk offline studying with you. Not as a teacher kind of thing, but as peers. Who knew I'd ever not want to be a babe!

===
Ashenden,
Hello darling!

Here's my story—on April 16th I registered "seekjehovah.org". It was after prayerful consideration of how it was that I would share information with others, specifically others like I who have long sought YHWH.
Last night I realized that while I pray for spiritual guidance and wisdom, the holy spirit to guide me into the truth, that I had something "real" to pray for too. What should be the new domain name?
This morning, laying in bed, I read Ros/Flat's thread on prayer/coincidences on my iPad and inadvertently logged out of the forum. This forced me out of bed, and after a series of distractions about an hour later I'm responding to Flat's post. I invited him at the close to consider building his faith with me as I build my own—I used the word cohort, then saw that sometimes it's considered derogatory, and I believe I edited it out and ended with a quip about being "a babe".
I closed the tab and it was realized—I had just invited Flat to join me in spiritual congregation.
Today, six months later, less one week, I registered spiritualcongregation.org. I immediately went to see if it was available, stopped to double check the meaning of the words, and to ensure the intent matched meaning.
I want to move away from the religious systems of man, and into recognition and discern of the body, the spiritual body.
Ashenden, I whole heartedly agree with your sentiments. I believe that if the correct pronunciation were important than we'd be given it—but that doesn't keep me from wanting to refrain from using what obviously isn't. I dated a German Greek once, also a JW. He spoke English, but I had to send him a book—"English as a second %*$#ing Language". He used curse word's without meaning what he said. But that wouldn't stop my mother from completely rejecting him from his innocent intent. Obviously our Father is far more forgiving that my fleshly mother—and my momma is totally cool! But once Samy knew that those were bad words, he immediately began removing them from his vocabulary so as not to offend.
I believe that in the last days the light will get brighter and brighter as the day draws near, and that their will be those who gain insight and whose faces will shine. I believe that Joel was fulfilled at the end of the Jewish system, and that it will be fulfilled again at the end of the Christian system.
Thus, personally I seek out truth and understanding, knowledge, insight and spiritual wisdom and to be taught by the holy spirit. What I learn I employ. I believe that I have submitted myself to a process of being refined, cleansed and purified, though trials have stumbled me in the past—I even stopped praying for years, after being stumbled by the WT of whom I believed their judgment represented YHWH's judgment upon me. That's the failure of faith leaving or being cast out of the WT—believing that the represent our Father.
I believe scriptures like Zechariah 13 apply today—
“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land." ... This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
Parallels 1 Peter 1, to the diaspora:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, whothrough faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
I believe Daniel 12:10 is going on right now, at the very least in my life alone:
Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means.
I am heeding the words of the Messias at Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from me gold [faith, cf. 1 Peter 1, above] refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
I pray as David:
Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea; listen to my cry.
Give ear to my prayer—it does not rise from deceitful lips.
May my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right.
Though you probe my heart and examine me at night,
though you test me, you will find nothing;
I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.
The earth was given the rainbow as a creation to remind us that he will never again destroy us by flood—if you believe the Word—But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value.
We know that the testing of faith develops perseverance.
2 Peter pretty much wraps it up—brings me back to the thoughts of Daniel's revelation of last days:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.b That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
I believe there is a spiritual fire that's been set, and I believe that the same manner that the flood occurred the fire will also occur. I believe the keys of the Kingdom lay in the Word given to us, and I find hidden treasure through all the keywords which are like golden threads through the scriptures.
I'm working on "getting out of her" in all the ways—in every way I learn about along the way—even in the simplest ways, for instance trying to remove "wish" from my expressions. Babylon the Great, whore and the mother of whores, (King James, Cambridge; American King James Version) was described as being "full of names of blasphemy". I believe her to be the mother of the Christian religious system (Bible, testament, God, Lord, Holy, Amen, Glory, Jesus, Christ, Church, Cross—all used in worship of the God of the Sun, as opposed that who Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshipped)
Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. — Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of our Father are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
As for me, personally, and my household of one, I will serve YHWH, and heed his warning. I share my faith with others. It is interesting to come to some of the same conclusions as what I was taught as a JW, but I come to them now through my own faith that I've worked out towards salvation. I think right now of the origin of birthday cakes.
I offer this with a full heart of love and expression of joy—hope that it is well received, as you are my friends and brothers!
Philia,
A.
===
I'm not sure what you mean by "who are you?"
“Go west and look in the land of Cyprus;
go east and search through the land of Kedar.
Has anyone ever heard of anything
as strange as this?
Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones,
even though they are not gods at all?
Yet my people have exchanged My esteem
for worthless idols!
The heavens are shocked at such a thing
and shrink back in horror and dismay,”
says YHWH.
“For my people have done two evil things:
They have abandoned me—
the fountain of living water.
And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
that can hold no water at all!
Bible—not a word used in the scriptures. Came from the Greek's name of the Phoenician city Gabel famous for it's export of papyrus. Gabel is from GB'L meaning "well or origin" of "El" (El being the most high of the cities pantheon). The Greek's called the city Byblos, for their worship of Byblis (a.k.a. Byble), and as papyrus was used to scribe, we come to the name eventually of "Bible".
from etymonline.com: Bible (n.) early 14c., from Anglo-Latin biblia, O.Fr. bible (13c.) "the Bible," also any large book generally, from Medieval and Late Latin biblia (neuter plural interpreted as feminine singular), in phrase biblia sacra "holy books," a translation of Greek ta biblia to hagia "the holy books," from Gk. biblion "paper, scroll," the ordinary word for "book," originally a diminutive of byblos "Egyptian papyrus," possibly so called from Byblos (modern Jebeil, Lebanon), the name of the Phoenician port from which Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece (cf. parchment). Or the place name might be from the Greek word, which then would be probably of Egyptian origin. The Christian scripture was referred to in Greek as Ta Biblia as early as c.223.
Testament—I shouldn't have listed it there, it's just a nitpick. Testament is for death, Covenant is for the life. Like witness and martyr, "people of the nations" and Gentiles. Intent is lost.
God—[Strong's #1409]The Scriptures (Explanatory Notes): Gad: Apart from Gad, the son of Ya’aqob (Jacob) there was another "Gad." The astrologers of Babel called Jupiter (Zeus) by the name "Gad." He was also well known among the Canaanites (the Kena’anites) where his name was often coupled with Baal, Baal Gad, which according to the Massoretic vowel pointing in the book of Yehoshua (Joshua) is pronounced: Baal God. This same name is discovered in the ancient Germanic languages as Gott, Goda, Gode, God, Gud, Gade. And searching further back into its Indo-Germanic (Indo-European) roots, we find that it traces back to the word GHODH, which means "union" even "sexual union."
Lord—points back to [Strong's 1167, 1168] Baal, another Phoenician deity—"Ba’al: This word it seems, gradually became a proper name. A similar Semitic word derives from the Aryan root Bhal, which means "to shine," according to some. According to W. H. Roscher’s well-known lexicon of mythology, Ba’al (Bel, Belos) was the ancestral and national deity of the Semites, and says that Ba’al was the founder of Babel (Babylon), according to secular history. He is identified with Zeus, Jupiter, Ammon, Asshur, Assur, Kronos, and Bel-Marduk. Morris Jastrow, Max Müller, and W. H. Roscher all three agree: Baal is the Babylonian sun deity. The Ba’als of the nations were sun deities, and Ba’al worship means sun worship." — We know all about YWHW condemning Ba'al worship.
Now the way that the WT transliterates and translates YHWH into JHVH into YHWH, applied to Baal Gad = Lord God. My grandmother with her accent would refer to "e'gad's", which is what she'd say so as not "to take the LORD's name in vain".
- Exodus—literally, in the Exodus, Israelites were told, "Do not invoke the names of other gods (elohim); do not let them be heard on your lips.”
- Deuteronomy 12:3 "Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah [consort of El, not YHWH] poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.”
- Joshua 23:7 "Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them.”
- Hosea 2:17 "I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked.”
- Zechariah 13:2 “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more”
Holy refers to helios. Sun worship. That "holy glow" or "halo" (from Gk. halos "disk of the sun or moon, ring of light around the sun or moon") around the Sun's head. Hebrew would be qadosh, or Greek hágios.
Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols (1961) states that "In practically all languages, the word "holy" has been derived from the divinely honored sun." and Encyclopedia of Religions (1987) (wanna buy me the set? I'd love to have one!) Holi is the Great Hindu spring festival, held in honour of Krishna, as the spring sun-god. (Date coincides with Easter) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
- Amen—see Hebrew Amein for the pure language. The translation brings us to Amen a God (god of life and procreation in Egyptian mythology) of the Thebans who around 1000BC became Amen-Ra, and was worshipped by Egyptians and Alexandrian's. Amen-Ra was the great solar deity and head of the Egyptian pantheon. (Seeing a theme here? Egypt, Babylon, Canaanites, Phoenicians,... now what do they all have in common? Apparently, a love of the sun, moon, and stars, and as YHWH would have it, idol worship.)
- Glory—let me paint a picture for you: naked woman, glorious light, zodiac signs, her name is Gloria, haloed Roman Goddess. Hebrew words kabod and kabad nor the Greek words doxa and dokeo have nothing to do with that. It's about esteem, not about glowing haloes of light, which is just imagery paying homage to solar deities and pagan religions, again.
- Jesus—just like there wasn't a J for YHWH, there wasn't a J for Jesus. J was a decorative I, Iesous was a name playing off of Zeus, which you'll see is linked to Jupiter and Jove, all solar God's. Follow the family tree back up to Apollo. Or read Ovid's Metamophesus. See also: healing goddess Ieso, Egyptian goddess Isis (ESU or ES in heiroglyphics) and her son Isu, the Gallic Esus (compare to Odin), and the mystery name of Bacchus (Tammuz) IHS. (Bacchus who hosted the parties on the Vaticanus hill before the Vatican was born on the flesh of the dead and those who wined and dined drunk from the vine of their rotted blood, literally. I learned SO MUCH living that short period in Rome!) Bacchus was, you guessed it, another sun-deity. Was just checking a fact—wanted to make sure I had it right, and here you go, found a link that has the list and much more detail and from my scan on the info is consistent with what I've learned: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Hebrew_Roo ... s_Birthday
- Christ—see Mithras (Rome) and Osiris (Egypt) as Chrestos and Chreston, worshipped at the same time as "Christ" (Christos) and "Christians" came to be. Christian(s) is not a word used but, what, twice even in our translations today? I love the Jewish Ghetto in Rome, the best fiori di zucca fritti! Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:1-2) were part of those Jews evicted by Claudius due to the conflicts over "Chrestos" vs "Christos", and the conversion of Jews in the Way. At least according to Romans and some scholars. Y'shua [literally, YHWH is Salvation. Nifty, huh? I love words that reveal.] was also referred to as Messias by the Greeks, that's what I use now.
- Church—Church is from kuriakon or kyriakon in Greek, as in “house of kurius”, “The Lord”; As in the "Lord God”; As in Baal worship of the Sun. Anglo-Saxon root, circe. Circe was the goddess-daughter of Helios, the Sun-deity. Circe was originally a Greek goddess (written and pronounced as Kirke). Kirke = "Church" in Scotland as kirk, in Germany as Kirche, and in Netherlands as kerk.
- “Church” errantly replaced Ekklesia (carrying the meaning of ‘congregation’ or gathering of people in scriptures) which literally a calling out of— as in "get out of her my people". Babylon and Egypt we've now seen were famous for their idol worship of solar deities, which were well linked to those worshipped in Greece and Rome. Babylon, the great city on the river Euphrates, where incidentally there are four angels waiting for the precise day, hour, and minute (was it?) to be released to kill a third of mankind are kept, is no longer. Instead we have Babylon the Great, the whore, mother of whores, and the abominations of the earth, who is described as being full of blasphemous names. The Jerusalem Bible (1966) that I bought thanks to Raymond Franz's recommendation interestingly notes that Babylon is the Church of Rome. The Church of Rome is obviously Catholic, Catholic is the creation of the Universal Christian doctrine. Babylon is the Church. "Church" is not in the scriptures, but Babylon is.

- The Cross—More imagery which is so completely telling if you've seen all the images around the world that I have. Constantine is responsible for co-opting the religion we speak of as Christianity, and turning it into the universal Roman Catholic Church. 4 years earlier he was Sol Invictus, and then there was that whole "the cross superimposed on the sun" in A.D. 312. Thus the cross became an image for Christianity, the combo of two sun symbols dating back to ~2500 B.C. and evidenced further by the Ptolemeus III coin from 247-222 B.C. An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, the labarum was also an emblem of the Chaldean sky-god. Compare the chi-rho symbol (superimposed) which looks an awful lot like Χ ξ ς (666) which you'll recognize as the symbol used in the epic imagery of the the WHO (Revelation 9:21, 18:23, 21:8, see Strong's G #5331,5332, but my momma says I can't consume tincture of one herb, though she promotes all other's as given to us by YHWH for natural healing... hmm... still don't know what to think about that.) and from there you can see it everywhere. (IHS = Trinity of Isis, Horus, Seb)
Ichthus (fish) as "Iesous Christos Theos Uios soter" incidentally refers to every bit of what I just spent all this discourse on, and in it not one word of The Word. But the symbol you see all over Europe's Churches resembles every bit of the Χ ξ ς.
The first time I saw the name YHWH as an inscription I knew that something was amiss. kakós.
[image is Solar Apollo with the radiant halo of Helios in a floor mosaic, El Djem, Tunisia, late 2nd century. Beautiful, isn't it? Looks like the Lord Jesus Christ Sun of God, doesn't it?]
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I woke up, read and realized that "Hebrew Roots" is a group. As my pseudo-name denotes, I am one and apart from any group and wanted to clarify that while I found that link via a search for the list of solar deities (Wikipedia didn't list Bacchus for some reason?) I don't endorse what I didn't even know was a group.
I also wanted to say that I believe that YHWH is THE most high GOD, and his son is THE christ. However, it's simply so much clear and succinct once you know the background of pagan roots in Christianity, or simply syncretism, to say that I confess YHWH and his son, Y'shua, the Messiah as my salvation.
Y'Zeus, J'Zeus, Jesus. Jupiter, J'Pater, Y'Pater. Jupiter is Jove, and Roman equivalent of Greek Zeus. Satan has had a field day with names, and thus I believe to know is to recognize by reputation. John 17:3
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As for your question—This one is interesting—isn't the reason the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one the fact that Our Father created us in innocence, and Satan took away our innocence (expose us to knowledge of good and bad)? Isn't it interesting, the love displayed? He said that man must die. Imagine living forever in a land of knowledge of good and bad. What do we learn from that? I take away we were created, as Ros pointed out, with choice. The ability for either. Innocence leaves us without mal intent. Without innocence we were fully aware and some came to chose what others do not. Steinbeck's East of Eden sticks in my mind with "thou mayest". מָשַׁל “But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.” [Genesis 4:7: "You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master."] Strong's 4910: timsal: מָשַׁל
To be something is not to demonstrate it. To have something is not to use it. Separate ability from action. There are some very rich homeless men, by choice.
Omniscient (infinite knowledge) “having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things.”
Job 26:6 Death is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.
Psalm 33:13 From heaven He looks down and sees all mankind
Psalm 139:4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely
Proverbs 5:21 For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
Jeremiah 16:17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.
Jeremiah 23:24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares Yehowah. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares Yehowah.
Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from Yehowah's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Now about that sight...
Ezekiel 10 I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like chrysolite. As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn aboutc as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels. I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.” Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
Omnipotence (unlimited power)
ruler of all, ruler of the universe, the almighty.
pantokrátōr (from 3956 /pás, "all" and 2902 /kratéō, "prevail") – properly, almighty; unrestricted power exercising absolute dominion.
Omnipresence (present everywhere)
2 Chronicles 16:9 The eyes of Yehowah search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
Psalm 139:7–10 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me”
Psalm 11:4 Yehowah is in his holy Temple; Yehowah still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth.
Omnibenevolence (perfect goodness)
Psalm 18:30 Elohim's way is perfect. All Yehowah's promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful Elohim who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
Psalms 18:25, 26 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
Now, I spent 20 years under the Watchful all-seeing eye of the Watchtower, and accepted things as I was taught, until I found salve for my eyes because I simply was so spiritually hungry! After fourty years you must be entirely malnourished if your experience was like mine. (I was so well behaved, I only studied the Watchtower, and as unfulfilling as I found it, I only picked at my food.) But you know what, you decided to leave that table—so leave it behind! It sounds like, though, based on your "I question everything now... twice." you must be eating at the tables of other still.
You know that the Spirit will come and guide you, right? I am pasting in below something I compiled for SeekJehovah.org.
Taught by YHWH
Jesus said, “No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him; and I will resurrect him in the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by YHWH.’ Everyone that has heard from the Father and has learned comes to me. Not that any man has seen the Father, except he who is from God; this one has seen the Father. Most truly I say to you, He that believes has everlasting life.”
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness and yet died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever; and, for a fact, the bread that I shall give is my flesh in behalf of the life of the world.”
Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I shall resurrect him at the last day; for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in union with me, and I in union with him. Just as the living Father sent me forth and I live because of the Father, he also that feeds on me, even that one will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not as when your forefathers ate and yet died. He that feeds on this bread will live forever.”
“What, therefore, if you should behold the Son of man [de]scending to where he was before? It is the spirit that is life-giving; the flesh is of no use at all. The sayings that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you that do not believe.”
For from [the] beginning Jesus knew who were the ones not believing and who was the one that would betray him. So he went on to say: “This is why I have said to you, No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
Owing to this many of his disciples went off to the things behind and would no longer walk with him. Therefore Jesus said to the twelve: “You do not want to go also, do you?”
Simon Peter answered him: “Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life; and we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God.” — John 6:44-69
Yes, there is no “where” to go away to—it is only Jesus that has sayings of everlasting life, and there is no salvation in anyone else, nor any other name under heaven that has been given by which we my be saved. — Acts 4:12
Jesus promised us, “If you love me, you will observe my commandments; and I will request the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, the spirit of the truth, which the world cannot receive, because it neither beholds it nor knows it. You know it, because it remains with you and is in you. I shall not leave you bereaved. I am coming to you. A little longer and the world will behold me no more, but you will behold me, because I live and you will live. In that day you will know that I am in union with my Father and you are in union with me and I am in union with you. He that has my commandments and observes them, that one is he who loves me. In turn he that loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will plainly show myself to him.” — John 14:15-21
Yes, we receive a helper, the spirit of the truth—Holy Spirit. Jesus promised “the helper, the holy spirit, which the Father will send in my name, that one will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the things I told you.” (John 14:26)
“That is why I also, since I have heard of the faith you have in the Lord Jesus and toward all the holy ones, do not cease giving thanks for you. I continue mentioning you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the accurate knowledge of him; the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he called you, what the glorious riches are which he holds as an inheritance for the holy ones, and what the surpassing greatness of his power is toward us believers. It is according to the operation of the mightiness of his strength, with which he has operated in the case of the Christ when he raised him up from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above every government and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this system of things, but also in that to come. He also subjected all things under his feet, and made him head over all things to the congregation, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills up all things in all.” — Ephesians 1:15-22
“And he came and declared the good news of peace to you, the ones far off, and peace to those near, because through him we, both peoples, have the approach to the Father by one spirit. Certainly, therefore, you are no longer strangers and alien residents, but you are fellow citizens of the holy ones and are members of the household of God, and you have been built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, while Christ Jesus himself is the foundation cornerstone. In union with him the whole building, being harmoniously joined together, is growing into a holy temple for YHWH. In union with him you, too, are being built up together into a place for God to inhabit by spirit.” — Ephesians 2:17-22
“Christ is head of the congregation, he being a savior of [this] body… the congregation is in subjection to the Christ… Christ also loved the congregation and delivered up himself for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it with the bath of water by means of the word, that he might present the congregation to himself in its splendor, not having a spot or a wrinkle or any of such things, but that it should be holy and without blemish… Christ also [feeds and cherishes] the congregation, because we are members of his body.” — Ephesians 5:21-30
“Christ set us free. Therefore stand fast, and do not let yourselves be confined again in a yoke of slavery.” — Galatians 5:1
Now back to Matthew 19:26, I took the scripture out of context. What was the context? If I find myself in an argumentative mode, I apply it against the method I learned from the WT. So instead of accepting a verse of scripture out of context, I seek the context and the real intent—I dig, as if the Kingdom of heaven were buried treasure!—What's the context? How would you apply it?
Flat, I'm glad your car is running like a top now. I hope you had a good drink to relax and enjoy the fruit of your work.
To close, I'll answer your question: "why would He need angels reporting anything?"
I added the emphasis. I don't think he "needs" anything. Did he need to create us—Was he lonely? I was watching the series Downton Abbey and they addressed this question from another aspect. A common man suddenly became a Lord, and he rebuked the ways of that lifestyle as being unnecessary. Of course, he was right. However, in doing so he learned a lesson. The man who dressed him, who he would no longer allow to do so, found it to be an honor to serve. It's what he does. It's his labour for which he finds honor and is paid. He took pleasure in it, and found satisfaction in the measure of his service.
All those angels, with nothing to do! Does he need them? No.
The animated movie "Bee Movie" addressed this. Once the bees realized they didn't have to make honey, they stopped. For a little bit they luxuriated in no work—vacation—but they were depressed later. No sense of purpose, nothing of meaning to do. Their work, when they were not slaves to it, was meaningful.
He allows the angels to serve him, he allows us choice or free-will.
If you do have an angel who is watching over you, then I imagine he's pretty sad. You've hurt his feelings, no?
By the end of a few episode, the new Lord realized the effect his actions and allowed the man who would have otherwise been without a job, literally, resume service. It was a simple but emotional moment. He simply asked the man's opinion for cufflinks, and then allowed him to set them.
Hope you eat well! Thou mayest!

A joke: "What's greater than Yehowah, worse than the devil, the angels live on it, but if man eats it, he'll die?"