The "Shibboleth" Test

[Apollyon (Rev. 9:11)]

"The Shibboleth Test"


In Judges 12:1-6, there is an interesting “test” that was given to the men of Ephriam. They failed this test and it meant their lives! We are soon facing such a test regarding our worship of Jehovah. We need to know the “pure language” of truth, for it surely will mean our lives!

This is because many in these days are finding that the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses is in trouble. This is particularly distressing for those of us who have given many years of our lives to this form of worship of Jehovah. Many have now been questioning the Jehovah’s Witnesses Governing Body’s involvement with the UN, doctrines such as 1914 are being seriously questioned as unsound bible teachings, the child abuse problem remains an issue with upwards of 24,000 cases being looked into. Add to that now the Jehovah’s Witnesses teachings on the bible prohibition on blood are being scrutinized as being misleading to their own members in their publications. The list of problems people are finding with this religious organization are mounting by the day, it seems. If so many problems exist, one comes to the conclusion that Jehovah has left the land!

This causes the question to be formed in the sincere lover of Jehovah’s mind…where is Jehovah? What’s with this pathetic condition of God’s Name People? Where can I go to find Jehovah?

Brothers and sisters feel vulnerable when they look outside the “organization” for Jehovah. Now you’re out in “open waters” so to speak, not knowing exactly where to turn. There are actually many JW Websites that you can go to, but which one, if any, does Jehovah reside at? Are they all “apostate”? How can you tell, and don’t forget that the bible cautions us that there will be many false prophets in our day.

(Matthew 24:11)
11 And many false prophets will arise and mislead many…

But I knew Jehovah is somewhere…and he is not pleased with WTBTS and their apostasy. I never thought Jehovah would leave all together, just leave mankind to completely destroy themselves. So I was bound and determined to figure this thing out. Many places in the bible say that there would be LIVING WATERS, which is DIVINE TRUTH. I felt that Jehovah would lead me to this LIVING WATERS if I relied on him. It is this divine truth that I wanted to find. Check out these scriptures…

(Ezekiel 47:1)
47 And gradually he brought me back to the entrance of the House, and, look! there was water going forth from under the threshold of the House eastward, for the front of the House was east. And the water was going down from under, from the right-hand side of the House, south of the altar.

(Ezekiel 48:35)
35 “Round about [there will be] eighteen thousand [cubits]; and the name of the city from [that] day on will be Jehovah Himself Is There.”

(John 4:13-14)
13 In answer Jesus said to her: “Everyone drinking from this water will get thirsty again. 14 Whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty at all, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water bubbling up to impart everlasting life.”

(Revelation 22:1-5)
22 And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of its broad way. And on this side of the river and on that side [there were] trees of life producing twelve crops of fruit, yielding their fruits each month. And the leaves of the trees [were] for the curing of the nations. 3 And no more will there be any curse. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in [the city], and his slaves will render him sacred service; 4 and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Also, night will be no more, and they have no need of lamplight nor [do they have] sunlight, because Jehovah God will shed light upon them, and they will rule as kings forever and ever.

(Revelation 22:17)
17 And the spirit and the bride keep on saying: “Come!” And let anyone hearing say: “Come!” And let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.

This seems to me to be a “life or death” matter, for us to find Living Waters of Divine Truth from Jehovah. We want to avoid false prophets and make sure we find the truth. We need to identify ourselves as Jehovah’s servants, and carefully examine God’s Word daily, like a “beroean”.

(Acts 17:11)
11 Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thes·sa·lo·ni´ca, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so.

As a worshipper of Jehovah, we need to know Jehovah. We need to know from reading Jehovah’s word what he would want us to do. That way we can avoid being misled by false prophets and those who worship men instead of worship of the true God. We need to be able to recognize the pure truth. There will be false prophets offering to us “counterfeit living waters”, not the truth. We need to be able to detect these false teachings and stay away from them.

(2 Peter 2:33)
Also, with covetousness they will exploit YOU with counterfeit words. But as for them, the judgment from of old is not moving slowly, and the destruction of them is not slumbering.

(Zephaniah 3:9)
9 For then I shall give to peoples the change to a pure language, in order for them all to call upon the name of Jehovah, in order to serve him shoulder to shoulder.

In Judges, chapter 12, verses 1 through 6, it tells of a test given to identify those that belonged to the men of Ephriam.

(Judges 12:1-6)
Then the men of E´phra·im were called together and crossed over northward and said to Jeph´thah: “Why is it that you crossed over to fight against the sons of Am´mon, and to us you did not issue a call to go with you? Your very house we shall burn over you with fire.” 2 But Jeph´thah said to them: “I became a special contender, I and my people, with the sons of Am´mon. And I proceeded to call to YOU for aid, and YOU did not save me out of their hand. 3 When I got to see that you were no savior, then I determined to put my soul in my own palm and go over against the sons of Am´mon. At that Jehovah gave them into my hand. So why have YOU come up against me this day to fight against me?” 4 Immediately Jeph´thah collected all the men of Gil´e·ad together and fought E´phra·im; and the men of Gil´e·ad went striking E´phra·im down, for they had said: “Men escaped from E´phra·im is what YOU are, O Gil´e·ad, inside of E´phra·im, inside of Ma·nas´seh.” 5 And Gil´e·ad got to capture the fords of the Jordan ahead of E´phra·im; and it occurred that when the escaping men of E´phra·im would say: “Let me pass over,” then the men of Gil´e·ad would say to each one: “Are you an E´phra·im·ite?” When he would say: “No!” 6 then they would say to him: “Please say Shib´bo·leth.” And he would say: “Sib´bo·leth,” as he was unable to say the word correctly. And they would lay hold of him and slay him at the fords of the Jordan. So there fell at that time forty-two thousand out of E´phra·im.

So, forty-two thousand out of Ephraim fell. The word was not something that an Ephriamite could say correctly. Being able to say that word correctly meant their life. Just being “close” was not enough back then for those Ephriamites. And, as with us, gaining an accurate knowledge of Jehovah’s word is critical. We need to know the pure language, in order for us to call upon the name of Jehovah, in order to serve him shoulder to shoulder. We will need to test everything we learn as the following scripture brings out.

(1 John 4:1)
4 Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

So in view of the condition we find Jehovah’s Witnesses in, let us keep up our search for Living Waters. Do not give up now on your search for the truth! If we continue our search, Jehovah God will bless us and guide us to fountains of waters of life.

(Revelation 7:17)
17 because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them, and will guide them to fountains of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.

[Madmary1]

This seems to me to be a “life or death” matter, for us to find Living Waters of Divine Truth from Jehovah. We want to avoid false prophets and make sure we find the truth. We need to identify ourselves as Jehovah’s servants, and carefully examine God’s Word daily, like a “beroean”.

(Acts 17:11)
11 Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thes·sa·lo·ni´ca, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so.

As a worshipper of Jehovah, we need to know Jehovah. We need to know from reading Jehovah’s word what he would want us to do. That way we can avoid being misled by false prophets and those who worship men instead of worship of the true God. We need to be able to recognize the pure truth. There will be false prophets offering to us “counterfeit living waters”, not the truth. We need to be able to detect these false teachings and stay away from them.

You have made some excellent points here!

What some do not realize is what this Greek word "christ" actually means:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Christ is the English representation of the Greek word Χριστός (transliterated as Khristós), which means anointed.

So when the bible warns of "false christs" it is actually warning one about some who claim to be anointed but actually are not.

(Matthew 24:24) 24 For false Christs [anointed] and false prophets will arise and will give great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the chosen ones.

(Mark 13:21-22) . . .. 22 For false Christs [anointed] and false prophets will arise and will give signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the chosen ones.

This thought gives new meaning to the phrase, "anointed Christian," doesn't it? It even looks like double-talk to me.

Again, thanks for bringing this information out as the “Shibboleth Test” shows us we have to be really discerning at this time.

Love,
Madmary1