“Knead the dough and make round cakes.”

(Genesis 18:6, NWT 1984)

Abraham wanted to regale Jehovah with cake. Baking cakes was women’s work already back then, so Abraham charged his wife with this task. That was in harmony with the teachings of the ‘faithful and discreet slave,’ for “children can see, for example, that men build houses and women bake cakes.” (The Watchtower, September 15, 1973, page 554) “You teen-age girls, have you taken an interest in preparing meals for your household? How many pastries and cakes have you learned to bake?” – The Watchtower, February 1, 1978, page 5.

Likewise today, men can instruct their wives or daughters to bake cakes. But they should not follow the example of Sándor Völgyes who “asked his wife to bake cakes and to put Watchtower articles into them.” (1996 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, page 104) Such may have been possible in the 1950s, but today the Watchtower magazines are printed with toxic ink for financial reasons. However, the Bible mentions another detail that is important when it comes to cake baking.

Abraham had asked Sarah to bake “round cakes.” Later the Israelites “began to bake the flour dough that they had brought out from Egypt into round cakes.” (Exodus 12:39) According to the Mosaic Law, only “ring-shaped cakes” were fit for sacrificial use (Leviticus 7:12) Centuries later, when an angel raised the prophet Elijah out of his sleep, “there at his head was a round cake.” – 1 Kings 19:6.

So all acceptable cakes had been round back then. A widow in Zarephath once slid into a dangerous situation when she had to tell Elijah: “As Jehovah your God is living, I have no round cake.” Elijah did not punish her, though, but rather said to her: “Do not be afraid … Only from what is there make me a small round cake.” (1 Kings 17:13) Since “all the things that were written aforetime were written for our instruction,” Jehovah surely included this detail in his word by intention.

Obviously it is God’s will that women and girls bake round cakes. Once Tamar, David’s daughter, ignored this command and baked “heart-shaped cakes.” What were the consequences? She was raped and spent the rest of her life in isolation. (2 Samuel 13:14, 20) What a terrible punishment she had to suffer because she did not bake a round cake!

If we want to please God, we must not bake square or heart-shaped cakes. False prophets flood today’s world with sheet cake recipes, but in reality this propaganda comes from Satan. Only “round cakes,” baked by women or girls, are acceptable to worshippers of Jehovah. We must not take this issue easy; even King David warned of “the apostate mockers for a cake.” (Psalm 35:16) No, we must heed God’s just principles in every aspect of our lives, also when baking.

“Solomon offered … 120,000 sheep.”

(1 Kings 8:63)

“Solomon proceeded to offer the communion sacrifices that he had to offer to Jehovah … a hundred and twenty thousand sheep, that the king and all the sons of Israel might inaugurate the house of Jehovah.” (1 Kings 8:63, NWT 1984) As is known, “Jesus Christ [is] the Greater Solomon,” and soon he will offer a similar sacrifice for the inauguration of the great spiritual temple. (Awake!, February 22, 2002, page 9) Considering the greatness of this temple, the sacrifice will have to be much bigger – a “little flock” would never be enough. (Luke 12:32) It is a good thing that Jesus has “millions of ‘other sheep’” at his disposal. (The Watchtower, August 15, 2009, page 10) Sure, they “look forward to living right on into an earthly paradise.” (The Watchtower, April 15, 1995, page 31) But in actual fact, “Jesus Christ, the greater Solomon,” will offer them to his father as a communion sacrifice.

“On the mountains he has not eaten.”

(Ezekiel 18:15, NWT 1984)

Ezekiel divided his contemporaries into two groups. On the one hand he mentioned someone who “he has eaten … upon the mountains” and said with regard to him: “A detestable thing is what he has done … He positively will not keep living … He will positively be put to death.” (Ezekiel 18:11-13, NWT 1984) On the other hand he spoke of a man who “happens to be righteous and … has executed justice and righteousness; on the mountains he did not eat.” (Ezekiel 18:5, 6, NWT 1984) He said about this righteous man: “On the mountains he has not eaten … my judicial decisions he has carried out; in my statutes he has walked … He will positively keep living.” – Ezekiel 18:15-17, NWT 1984.

So whoever ‘eats upon the mountains’ will be eliminated by Jehovah. To whom does this apply today? “Jehovah’s Witnesses are … streaming to ‘the mountain of Jehovah’s house’ in ever-increasing numbers” and taking “rich spiritual feasts” there. (The Watchtower, July 15, 2002, page 25; January 15, 1985, page 28) Thus as a group they “will positively be put to death,” that is, cease to exist.

“Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

(Matthew 6:32)

Jesus told his disciples: “God your Father knows what things you are needing.” (Matthew 6:8, NWT 1984) Does this mean that Christians do not have to worry about anything because God cares for them? No, this is not the case. The key to understanding Jesus’ words can be found in another statement that he made a white later: “Two sparrows sell for a coin of small value, do they not? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.” – Matthew 10:29.

So God also “knows” when birds “fall [dead] to the ground, and still “as many as 988 million birds die annually in window collisions” alone. (The Washington Post) Millions more are killed by cats and other predators, or dying from starvation or disease.

What can we learn from this? Granted, God knows when birds “fall to the ground” – but they do “fall to the ground.” God knows that they perish, but he does nothing about it. In the same way he cares for Christians: God ‘knows what things they are needing,’ but he does not give these to them.

“The lion will eat straw like the bull.”

(Isaiah 11:7)

As is known, “the Bible says that in the garden of Eden the diet of the animals was vegetation.” (Happiness – How to Find It, page 188) “None of the animals in the garden of Eden were killers,” rather they “had a vegetarian diet in Eden, as did humans.” Only after Adam and Eve sinned, “the animals … began to live off one another.” (Awake!, October 8, 1982, pages 10, 11) “Further, during the Flood of Noah’s day, eight humans and ‘flying creatures and all moving animals of the ground’ were obliged to live on vegetable matter exclusively for more than a year,” proving “that animals and humans were meant to be vegetation eaters.” – Awake!, January 8, 1983, page 28.

Also in the future paradise “animals will be at peace with one another, able to be around one another without risk.” (The Watchtower, December 15, 1991, page 30) Lions “will eat straw” or other vegetarian diet, just like all other animals. Even the polar bears at the North Pole and the penguins at the South Pole will eat grass which will grow there in abundance. Spiders will create “intricate webs” in order to catch leaves flying around. (Awake!, July 8, 1972, page 5) “The cheetah finds the open grasslands ideal footing for its lightning-quick sprints. Its lean body blurs as it races across the plains in pursuit of prey” consisting of grass blades and other plants. (Awake!, February 22, 2003, page 16) Even crocodiles will eat vegetables growing underwater or in the proximity of the shore; fish will no longer eat other fish or shellfishes. Carnivorous plants like the Venus flytrap and carnivorous mushrooms like the lawyer’s wig will change their dietary habits and live on vegetarian diet.

Granted, “the earth [will] cause grass to sprout, seed-bearing plants and fruit trees,” but it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to feed all humans and animals. (Genesis 1:11) Antelopes will no longer be eaten by lions, but maybe they will starve because lions have eaten up all the grass. However, the dietary change will have more far-reaching effects. The human population is growing above average in times of peace, and the same will apply to the animal population when there is “peace among animals.” (The Watchtower, February 15, 1996, page 18) Some animals reproduce rapidly, for example, “the common brown rat … the black rat … and the house mouse” – a single female of these “can produce 2000 descendants in one year.” (Stopest) Mice and rats have many natural predators in our day, but once these have become vegetarians, a single mouse can have roughly 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 descendants within only ten years. Thus the “abundance of grain on the earth” will not persist because mice and other animals will eat it up in a minimum of time. “On the top of the mountains it will overflow,” not of food, but of mice, rats, hares, birds, and many other fast reproducing animals. (Psalm 72:16) The oxygen content of the air will also be reduced, since “phytoplankton account for half of all photosynthetic activity on Earth … [and are] responsible for much of the oxygen present in the Earth’s atmosphere,” but it will be the exclusive source of food for all sea dwellers in paradise. – Wikipedia.

In summary: “God’s restoration of Paradise on earth through Christ” will cause an extreme shortage of grass, grain, and other vegetables. (The Watchtower, September 15, 2007, page 12) Animals will reproduce without hindrance. If there would not be food shortage and lack of oxygen, earth would be covered with a meters thick layer of mice, rats, worms, and other animals after few years. Then the survivors will rightly proclaim: “The former things” – lush meadows, biodiverse forests, full pantries – “have passed away.” – Revelation 21:4.

 

“The righteous have enough to eat.”

(Proverbs 13:25, GNT)

“The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization … estimated that 842 million people are undernourished … Malnutrition is a cause of death for more than 3.1 million children under 5 every year.” (Wikipedia) Who is to blame for that? Tyrannical rulers who exploit their population? The western industrial nations? The climate change?

No. According to the Bible, this is not the case, since “the Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger.” (Proverbs 10:3, NASB) “Those seeking Jehovah will lack nothing.” (Psalm 34:10) The Bible’s conclusion is clear: When someone starves, it’s his own fault, because only “the stomach of the wicked is empty.” (Proverbs 13:25, HCSB) Accordingly, true Christians do not share in efforts to alleviate world hunger.

“You have been weighed on a scale and found to be too light.”

(Daniel 5:27, GWT)

“Belshazzar … made a great bread” and “was drinking wine.” (Daniel 5:1, NWT 1984, Fn.) As a result he suffered from short weight, and he was “weighed on a scale and found to be too light.” (Daniel 5:27)  All Christians struggling with obesity can follow his example and live on nothing but bread and wine. Jesus did that too, indicating that he also was overweight. – Matthew 26:26, 27.

“If he also asks for an egg, will [you] hand him a scorpion?”

(Luke 11:12)

“Jehovah’s Witnesses write Easter off.” (Awake!, May 22, 1986, page 8) When their children are confronted with Easter eggs and Easter bunnies in shops and elsewhere, they basically claim that “anyone who eats their eggs would die.” (Isaiah 59:5) But can this strict position be justified with the Bible?

Obviously not. Jesus said to his disciples: “Which father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he also asks for an egg, will hand him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11, 12) So there were Christians who were asked by their children “for a fish” and “an egg” – without doubt this happened during the Passion Week where they ate fish on Friday and hunted Easter eggs on Sunday. So it is certain that the first Christians celebrated Easter.

Christians of today should also do that, especially if they have children. However, when purchasing Easter eggs, they must consider the advice given by the “faithful and discreet slave,” God’s channel of communication: “Whether the large, medium or small eggs are the best buy can be determined if you remember this: if the price of medium eggs is seven·eighths as much as large eggs, the cost is actually the same for both sizes.” (Awake!, November 22, 1969, page 23) Christian parents can utilize the Egg hunt to teach their children precious Bible truths, for example that the Easter bunny is a ruminant – Leviticus 11:6

“Drag these people away …

… like sheep to be butchered! Set them aside to be slaughtered!” (Jeremiah 12:3, NLT)

”Jesus had described his followers as sheep.” (Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, page 212) He called himself “the fine shepherd.” (John 10:14) That is why Jehovah’s Witnesses are working hard to turn ever more people into “sheeplike persons.” – 1996 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, page 254.

What fate awaits the “little flock” and the “other sheep?” (Luke 12:32; John 10:16) “More than 30 million sheep are slaughtered … each year in Australia … A single abattoir kills thousands of sheep and lambs every day. Their final moments are spent surrounded by … the screams of their companions.” (The Truth About Sheep Used For Food) Even the “mother ewes will be slaughtered … after they have been worn out mentally and physically.” – Sheep and Lambs.

The butchering of sheep is absolutely in compliance with Jehovah’s purpose. “Sheep have from earliest times been offered in sacrifice.” (Insight on the Scriptures, volume II, page 916) They “are born to be caught and destroyed” like all animals. (2 Peter 2:12) In Biblical times, sheep were ‘singled out for slaughtering and set apart for the day of killing.’ (Jeremiah 12:3) King Solomon had “120,000 sheep” slaughtered on one day to provide food during the inauguration of the temple. (1 Kings 8:63) The same fate will befall the “’great crowd’ of ‘other sheep.’” – The Watchtower, May 15, 2008, page 26.

“Gather together the fragments left over …

… so that nothing is wasted.” (John 6:12)

Though he could miraculously produce it in abundance, “Jesus carefully avoided wasting food.” (Awake!, August 22, 2002, page 10) Thus, after a feeding, he instructed his disciples to gather up not only leftover breads but even “fragments” from the dirty ground. What does that mean for Christians today?

”Jesus Christ provides the perfect model to follow.” (The Watchtower, September 1, 1993, page 11) Hence we should gather up the leftover crumbs from the floor after every meal, “so that nothing is wasted.” (John 6:12) Only “unappreciative and thoughtless … [people] who are self-centered and governed by fads and trivial likes and dislikes” would “waste … food.” – Awake!, August 22, 2002, page 7.

Regarding crumbs and fragments, Jesus’ model leaves no doubt. But what “if food looks or smells suspicious?” Note that Jehovah says through his channel of communication: “Food-borne illness often comes and goes without severe consequences.” Indeed food poisoning “can be fatal” sometimes, but for such cases there is always “the wonderful resurrection hope.” – Awake!, November 22, 1995, page 22; The Watchtower, July 15, 1993, page 28.

“We Christians should be aware that tests of faith may be many and varied.” (The Watchtower, May 15, 1998, page 14) The “faithful and discreet slave” warns us against such a test: “Imagine that you are about to eat a tasty piece of fruit but then notice that a part of it is rotten. What will you do? Well, you could eat the entire fruit, even the bad part; you could throw away the entire fruit, including the bad part; or you could cut the bad part out of the fruit and enjoy the good part. What choice will you make?” (“Keep Yourselves in God’s Love”, page 62) Indeed, “what choice will you make” if you want to please God?