Study From The Watchtower, Week of February 27 to March 5, 2023, Convinced that the Word of God is the truth, Underlined Answers.

Study Of The Watchtower, 27-February-5-March-2023, Convinced that the Word of God is the truth, Underlined Answers.

Yellow: Direct Answer.

DYellow: Additional Answer.

Light Blue: Additional Points.

TEXT OF THE YEAR 2023: "The truth is the very essence of your word" (SAL. 119:160).

1. Why do many people mistrust the Bible?

IN OUR days there is a great crisis of confidence; people don't know who to trust. Many admire politicians, scientists, and businessmen, but wonder if they mean well. In addition, they do not have much respect for the leaders of the Christian Churches. So it is not surprising that they are wary of the book these leaders are supposed to follow, the Bible.

2. According to Psalm 119:160, of what must we be convinced?

2 Jehovah's servants are convinced that he is "the God of truth" and that he always wants the best for us (Ps. 31:5; Is. 48:17). We are confident that we can trust what the Bible says because “truth is the very essence” of God's Word (read Psalm 119:160) . We agree with what one Bible scholar wrote: “In all that God has said, there is not an iota of falsehood and no probability of its failure. God's people can trust what he says because they trust the God who said it."

3. What will we analyze in this article?

3 How can we help others to have that same confidence in God's Word? Let's look at three arguments: that the Bible's message has not changed, that its prophecies always come true, and that it has the power to change people's lives.

 THE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE HAS NOT BEEN CHANGED

4. Why do some people think the Bible has been changed?

4 Jehovah used about 40 faithful men to write the books of the Bible. But none of the original manuscripts exist today. We only have copies of copies. Because of this, some people wonder if what the Bible says is the same as what those men wrote. How can we be sure that the Bible has not been changed?

Two copyists write on parchments. Professional copyists of the Hebrew Scriptures went to great lengths to ensure that their work was flawless. (See paragraph 5).

5. How were the Hebrew Scriptures copied? (See cover drawing.)

5 In order to protect the message of his Word, Jehovah commanded that it be copied. He ordered the kings of Israel to make their own copies of the Law and told the Levites that they should explain it to the people (Deut. 17:18; 31:24-26; Neh. 8:7). After the exile of the Jews in Babylon, a group of professional copyists began to make many copies of the Hebrew Scriptures (Ezra 7:6, notes). These men were careful. Over time, they began to count words and even letters to make sure their work was flawless. Still, because they were imperfect, they missed a few small bugs. However, these errors could be detected later, because many copies of the same text had been made. Let's see how they were detected.

6. How can errors in copies of the Bible be detected?

6 Biblical scholars today follow a very good method to discover the errors of those who copied the text of the Bible. To understand this, suppose 100 men are asked to copy by hand a page of a certain text, and one of them makes a small mistake. How could it be detected? Comparing all copies. Similarly, scholars can find copyist errors or omissions by comparing many manuscripts of the Bible.

7. How do we know that many Bible copyists did a very careful job?

7 Let's look at an example that shows how careful the copyists of the Bible were. The oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Scriptures is the Leningrad Codex, from the year 1008 or 1009 AD. But a few decades ago many manuscripts and fragments of the Bible were discovered that are some 1,000 years older than the Leningrad Codex. One might think that, after copying and copying the manuscripts over the space of 1,000 years, there would be very few similarities between the Leningrad Codex and those older manuscripts. But it's not like that. What did the specialists discover when they compared the oldest manuscripts with the most recent? That although the wording is slightly different, the essence of the Bible's message has not been changed.

8. What is the difference between copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures and copies of other ancient works?

8 The early Christians followed the custom of copyists of the Hebrew Scriptures and carefully copied the 27 books of the Greek Scriptures, which they used in meetings and preaching. A Bible scholar compared manuscripts of the Greek Scriptures with works from the same period. Speaking of these Bible manuscripts, he said: “Generally, there are more copies … and they are usually more complete.” Referring to the Greek Scriptures, a certain work says: "We can be sure that what we read in a serious and current translation essentially contains what the ancient authors wrote" (Anatomy of the New Testament).

9. What certainty does Isaiah 40:8 give us about the message of the Bible?

The painstaking work of many copyists over the centuries has made it possible for the Bible we read and study today to be accurate.  No doubt Jehovah made sure that the message of his Word reached us intact.—Read Isaiah 40:8. But some people may say that just because the Bible's message hasn't been changed doesn't mean it comes from God. Now let's look at some evidence that God inspired the Bible.

THE PROPHECIES OF THE BIBLE ARE ALWAYS FULFILLED

ILLUSTRATION

Series of images: 1. Entrance of the ancient city of Babylon. Outside the immense walls there is a parade with soldiers, horses and a high official riding in his carriage. 2. The ruins of Babylon today, totally uninhabited. Bible prophecies were fulfilled in the past and are being fulfilled today . (See paragraphs 10 and 11). 

10. Mention a prophecy that was fulfilled and that confirms what 2 Peter 1:21 says (see the pictures).

10 In the Bible there are many prophecies that were fulfilled, and some had been written for centuries. History confirms that these prophecies were fulfilled. This does not surprise us, because we know that the author of these prophecies is Jehovah (read 2 Peter 1:21). Consider the fall of the mighty city of Babylon. About the eighth century before our era, Jehovah inspired the prophet Isaiah to predict that Babylon would be conquered. Isaiah even said that the conqueror would be called Cyrus and explained in detail how he would invade the city (Is. 44:27-45:2). He also prophesied that Babylon would eventually be destroyed and left completely uninhabited (Is. 13:19, 20). And everything was fulfilled to the letter.The once glorious city fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC, and is now nothing more than a heap of ruins (see the video The Bible Predicted the Conquest of Babylon, in point 5 of lesson 3 of the digital edition of the book Enjoy life).

11. How is Daniel 2:41-43 being fulfilled?

11 But the prophecies of the Bible were not only fulfilled in the past. Today we are seeing the fulfillment of other prophecies. For example, consider the impressive fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy about the United Kingdom-United States world power (read Daniel 2:41-43). According to the prophecy, this power would be "partly strong" like iron and "partly brittle" like clay. And that is exactly what we are seeing. Those two countries have been strong as iron, because they played a decisive role in the victories of the two world wars and continue to have great military power. Even so, its citizens have weakened its power with unions, civil rights campaigns and independence movements.An international political analyst recently said: "Politically, the United States is by far the most dysfunctional and divided country of all the world's advanced industrial democracies." And what about the United Kingdom, the other part of this powerhouse? In recent years, it has been sharply divided by differences of opinion about its relationship with the countries of the European Union. With so many divisions, the world power of the United Kingdom and the United States has found it very difficult to act decisively.

12. What do fulfilled prophecies in the Bible convince us of?

12 Knowing that many Bible prophecies have already been fulfilled further convinces us that God's promises for the future will also be fulfilled. We feel like a psalm writer who said to Jehovah: “I long for your salvation, for your word is my hope” (Ps. 119:81). Through the Bible, Jehovah lovingly offers us “a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11). Our hope for the future depends on Jehovah's promises, not on what human beings do. Let us continue to study biblical prophecies with determination so that our confidence in the Word of God is stronger.

THE TIPS OF THE BIBLE HELP MILLIONS OF PEOPLE

13. What is another reason to trust the Bible? (Psalm 119:66, 138).

13 Another reason to trust the Bible is that it helps people who follow its advice (see Psalm 119:66, 138). For example, couples that were on the verge of divorce are now happy and united. And the children of these Christian families live in a loving environment, where they feel safe and loved (Eph. 5:22-29).

14. What example shows that the advice of the Bible helps us to be better people?

14 Thanks to the wise advice of the Bible, even dangerous criminals can change. Let's see the effect that advice had on an inmate named  Jack. He was a violent criminal, and was known to be one of the most dangerous inmates on death row. But one day he sat down to listen to a Bible study. The kindness of the brothers touched him, so he also began to study. By putting into practice the advice of the Bible, his behavior and even his personality were improving. In time, he qualified as an unbaptized publisher and was baptized. He enthusiastically spoke to other inmates about the Kingdom of God, and he helped at least four of them learn the truth.When the day of his execution came, Jack was a different man. One of his lawyers said: “Jack is not the same person I knew 20 years ago. What he learned with Jehovah's Witnesses has changed his life.” Although Jack was executed, his example is clear proof that we can trust God's Word and that it has the power to help us become better people (Is. 11: 6-9).

Series of images of a brother representing Jean. 1. He has a gun in his hands and an ammunition belt slung over his shoulder. 2. Read the Bible. 3. he Converses with a man while he participates in the preaching. The advice of the Bible has improved the lives of many people from different backgrounds. (See paragraph 15).

15. Why are Jehovah's servants so different? (See the photographs).

15 As we put Bible truths into practice, Jehovah's servants enjoy peace and unity.—John 13:35; 1 Cor. 1:10. This draws a lot of attention, especially if we look at how divided the world is due to political, racial or social issues.Our unit made a deep impression on a young African man named Jean. When civil war broke out in his country, he enlisted in the army, but later fled to a neighboring country, where he met Jehovah's Witnesses. Says Jean: “I learned that those who practice the true religion are neither political nor divided. On the contrary, they love each other.” He adds: “I had dedicated my life to fighting for a country, but when I found out the truth I decided to dedicate my life to Jehovah.” This young man totally changed. Instead of fighting people from a different background than his own, he now teaches everyone the Bible's message of peace. The fact that the Bible's advice works so well on so many different people is convincing proof that we can trust God's Word.

LET US CONTINUE TO TRUST IN THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD

16. Why is it so important that we strengthen our confidence in God's Word?

16 Conditions in this world will go from bad to worse, and our faith in the truth will be tested. People may try to make us doubt that the Bible tells the truth and that Jehovah has appointed the faithful and wise slave to guide his people. But if we are convinced that God's Word always tells the truth, we will resist these attacks. We will be determined to obey Jehovah's standards “all the time, to the end” (Ps. 119:112). We will not be ashamed to tell others about the truth and encourage them to follow the advice of the Bible (Ps. 119:46). In addition, we will endure “with patience and happiness” even the most difficult tests, such as persecution (Col. 1:11; Ps. 119:143, 157).

17. What will the 2023 year text remind us of?

17 We can be very grateful that Jehovah has allowed us to know the truth. Although we live in a world that is increasingly lost and confused, the truth gives us stability, a purpose in life, and reliable guidance. It offers us a bright future under the Kingdom of God. May the text of the year 2023 help us to be more convinced that the truth is the very essence of all the Word of God (Ps. 119:160).

WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER?

How do we know that the message of the Bible has not been changed?

We know this because copies of ancient manuscripts were made to protect the word of God.

What strengthens your confidence in God's Word?

What strengthens our confidence is that many prophecies were fulfilled in the past and in the future we await Jehovah's promise to turn the earth into a paradise.

Why is it more important now than ever for us to be convinced that God's Word is the truth?

It is important to be more convinced that God's word is the truth, because that way we will be more determined to obey Jehovah and his righteous standards and we can tell others about Jehovah's purposes for all of us.