“I am a worm and not a man.”

(Psalm 22:6)

“David was ‘a man agreeable to Jehovah’s heart.’” (The Watchtower, January 1, 1989, page 23) Nevertheless he considered himself a feckless “worm.” This was in compliance with the words of Bildad who had said centuries before: “Even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in … [God’s] eyes, how much less so mortal man, who is a maggot, and a son of man, who is a worm!” – Job 25:5, 6.

God’s word emphasizes the worthlessness of us humans in many places. “The sons of mankind are a delusion. When laid together on the scales, they are lighter than a mere breath.” (Psalm 62:9) Indeed, “all men have turned aside, all of them have become worthless.” (Romans 3:12) Even whole “nations are like a drop from a bucket, and as the film of dust on the scales they are regarded” – how much less than a dust particle is then a single human? – Isaiah 40:15.

Does keeping God’s commandments and doing his will reduce our drossiness? No, Jesus clearly stated: “When you have done all the things assigned to you, say: ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves.’” (Luke 17:10) No doubt this is true. God would not even need Christians to proclaim his word; he could simply make the stones cry out. (Luke 19:40) So regardless how much we exert ourselves – in God’s eyes we will always be worthless, a worm, a mere breath, a tiny fraction of a dust particle.

“Jehovah is a Killer.”

(1 Samuel 2:6, NWT 1984)

At all times “Jehovah killed” people. (Exodus 13:16) When the Israelites were dwelling in Egypt “Jehovah let Pharaoh’s heart become obstinate” so that he had reason to send a “destroyer” through the country. (Exodus 10:27, NWT 1984; Hebrews 11:28) Shortly afterwards he was fed up with his own people, “and Jehovah began striking the people with a very great slaughter.” – Numbers 11:33.

Sometimes, though, “Jehovah kills” indirectly. (1 Samuel 2:6) Admittedly, we usually blame humans for earthquakes, floods, plane crashes, terror attacks, and other calamities. However, the Bible says clearly and unequivocally: “If a calamity occurs in the city, is it not Jehovah who has acted?” (Amos 3:6) The book of Revelation also states that God instructed a horseman “to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.” – Revelation 6:8.

Without doubt, “Jehovah is a killer,” even if at times he makes it look like a natural disaster or lets assistants do the actual slaughtering. He announced to kill even more people in the future, so that “those slain by Jehovah in that day will be from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth.” (Jeremiah 25:33) Certainly “the slain of Jehovah will be many.” – Isaiah 66:16.

No wonder that the apostle Paul wrote: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) Let us, therefore, avoid Jehovah and his witnesses!

“Be praising our God, all you his slaves.”

(Revelation 19:5)

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that “a global paradise [is] just before” us. (Live With Jehovah’s Day in Mind, page 99) How will God accomplish that? Will he reshape the earth himself? Will Jesus, the King of his Kingdom, lend a hand?

Jesus is “the Greater Solomon,” thus we can learn from Solomon’s approach how Jesus will act in the new world. (The Watchtower, August 15, 2010, page 29) How did Solomon implement his buildings? “All the people … who were not part of the people of Israel … were conscripted by Solomon for forced labor as slaves until this day.” – 1 Kings 9:20, 21.

We can assume that Jesus Christ too will conscript ‘all the people who are not part of the spiritual Israel for forced labor as slaves.’ He will follow his father’s example, who even in the New Jerusalem will have “slaves” that must “offer him sacred service.” (Revelation 22:3) What wonderful prospects lie ahead!

“Every man is a liar.”

(Romans 3:4, KJV)

This short statement in the Bible is of great significance. “The Bible itself tells us that its contents of sixty-six smaller books were written by men.” (Holy Spirit – The Force Behind the Coming New Order!, page 57) “Jesus was a man” too (“Come Be My Follower”, page 152) And we must not forget that “even … the ‘faithful and discreet slave’ [is] made up of imperfect fleshly men.” – The Watchtower, August 15, 1981, page 28.

But were the Bible writers not inspired by God? The apostle Peter wrote that “men spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:21) The “faithful and discreet slave has also been called God’s channel of communication,” at least by himself. (The Watchtower, September 1, 1991, page 19) However, although God “cannot lie,” it is still possible that his delegates do so. In the days of King Ahab “Jehovah allowed a spirit creature to become ‘a deceptive spirit’ in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets. That is to say, this spirit creature exercised his power upon them so that they spoke, not truth.” (Insight on the Scriptures, volume II, page 245) God made his prophets lie, and he might have influenced the Bible writers or the “faithful and discreet slave” the same way.

The Bible writers, Jesus Christ, the “faithful and discreet slave” – they all are men, and “all men are liars,” whether they are lying on behalf of God or on their own accord. (Psalm 116:11, NASB; 1 Kings 22:23) So it is completely out of the question “that it is folly to trust in imperfect humans,” because “trusting in man leads to disaster.” (The Watchtower, March 15, 1988, page 10; May 15, 1979, page 3) Furthermore, we cannot be saved anyway, since “all people are liars,” and “all the liars … will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.” – Psalm 116:11, ISV; Revelation 21:8.

“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.

“Every swarming creature of the earth is something loathsome.”

(Leviticus 11:41)

Obviously there are ‘loathsome creatures.’ It is impossible that they were created by God because “every creation of God is fine.” (1 Timothy 4:4) “All of God’s creative work is perfect,” and “in God’s handiwork both big and small are beautiful.” (Awake!, May 8, 1977, page 27; November 8, 1995, page 10) Furthermore, the apostle Paul wrote that only apostates who are “paying attention to misleading inspired statements and teachings of demons … [and] speak lies” would “command people to abstain from foods that God created.” (1 Timothy 4:1-3) But the Mosaic Law came from God; when he commanded to abstain from certain foods, he must have referred to foods that someone else had created.

Since the ban explicitly mentions ‘creatures,’ someone must have created them, for “we know that everything made has a maker.” (Awake!, October 22, 1973, page 23) The Bible tells us who is was: “When the Most High passed the peoples to the Gods, when he divided humankind, he determined the territories of the peoples according to the number of the Gods.” (Deuteronomy 32:8, Einheitsübersetzung) So there were multiple gods, that is why Jehovah said to the other gods during creation: “Let us make man in our image.” (Genesis 1:26) For the Jews, of course, Jehovah was “the God of gods,” and they refused to worship other gods – but they never denied their existence. (Deuteronomy 10:17) Thus it must have been one of these other gods who created the ‘loathsome swarming creatures.’

“Happy is the man who fears Jehovah … Wealth and riches are in his house.”

(Psalm 112:1, 3)

The Bible makes it clear that true worshippers of God can be recognized by their wealth. Moses advised the Israelites to “remember that it is Jehovah your God who gives power to you to make wealth.” (Deuteronomy 8:18) Faithful Hannah also knew: “Jehovah … enriches.” (1 Samuel 2:7) “The wisest man of antiquity, King Solomon,” also pointed out: “The blessing of the LORD brings wealth.” – Awake!, February 22, 1984, page 9; Proverbs 10:22, NIV.

Hence it is easy to determine whether someone is a true Christian or not. Whoever possesses “wealth and riches … in his house” is surely someone “who fears Jehovah” and has his “blessing.” If someone is poor, however, this proves beyond doubt that he is “taking up worthless pursuits” and does not stand “on Jehovah’s side.” – Proverbs 28:19; Exodus 32:26.

“I will completely wipe out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens.”

(Exodus 17:14)

Jehovah promised that “all memory of Amalek is to be completely uprooted from the earth.” (Exodus 17:14, BBE) Was he able to keep his promise? The facts speak for themselves. The “memory of Amalek” is alive in the Bible where “Amalek” and “the Amalekites” are mentioned 57 times. And the Bible is not just any book; it is “the most widely translated and circulated book in the world.” (The Watchtower, April 1, 2002, page 29) Even back in 1959 there had been “over 2,000,000,000 copies of the entire Bible or major sections thereof … distributed in some 1,810 languages;” today there are even more copies in 2,557 languages. – “Look! I Am Making All Things New”, page 5; Scripture Language Report 2012.

“Nearly everyone on earth today has access to the entire Bible or portions of it,” and with it to “the memory of Amalek.” (The Watchtower, September 15, 2001, page 5) The Amalekites are even mentioned in Children’s books. (My Book of Bible Stories, Study Questions for story 56) True, God had promised to “completely erase any memory of the Amalekites from the earth.” (Exodus 17:14, GWT) But the millions of Google results for “Amalek” prove otherwise.

Thus the prophecy about Amalek is one of the many promises that God made but did not keep. Abraham’s offspring should own the land of Israel “until time indefinite,” David’s throne should “be firmly established forever,” the lion should “eat straw” – but so far, all worshippers of Jehovah have “died, although they did not receive the fulfillment of the promises.” (Genesis 13:15, NWT 1984; 2 Samuel 7:16; Isaiah 11:7; Hebrews 11:13) God’s promises can at best “be compared with the promises of politicians, who say that they will do one thing and finish up in doing something else.” (The Watchtower, February 1, 1979, page 6) What do we learn from this? “Bible prophecies that have … [not] been fulfilled give us the confidence that all other promises made by Jehovah God will also [not] come true.” – The Watchtower, November 1, 2004, page 32.

“A mouth they have, but they cannot speak … they make no sound with their throat.”

(Psalm 115:5, 7)

The psalmist vividly described the nature of false gods: They have a mouth, eyes, ears, a nose, hands, and feet, but they cannot speak, see, hear, smell, feel, or walk. But what about Jehovah? “Claiming that God has a literal mouth, nose, and ears creates serious problems” and is definitely wrong; “God is not a man.” – The Watchtower, March 15, 1985, page 6; Numbers 23:19, NWT 1984.

What is the difference between these false gods and the true God? The false gods have a mouth, eyes, ears, a nose, hands, and feet – the true God does not have such. But all gods, whether true or false, “cannot speak … cannot walk … [and] make no sound with their throat.” (Psalm 115:5-7) “Would you conclude that it is not worthwhile to go on serving Jehovah?” (The Watchtower, August 15, 2004, page 13) Yes, this is undoubtedly the case. Hence we should follow King Joram’s example who wondered: “Why should I wait any longer for Jehovah?” – 2 Kings 6:33.

“Make the heart of this people unreceptive … that they may not actually turn back.”

(Isaiah 6:10, NWT 1984)

Jehovah’s Witnesses “are eager to see as many people as possible saved from the impending ‘great tribulation.’” (The Watchtower, February 1, 1987, page 11) But is this God’s will? Not necessarily, since “the sanctification of Jehovah’s name is far more important than human salvation” and “our being freed from bondage to sin and death and gaining life.” – The Watchtower, October 15, 2008, page 15; January 15, 2007, page 10.

”The book of Ezekiel emphasizes … that the sanctification of Jehovah’s name is more important than anything else” – maybe Jehovah would love to save all people, but “as the prophecy shows, he will sanctify his name by destroying all.” (“All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial”, page 137) “Jehovah’s indignation is against all the nations, and his wrath is against all their army. He will devote them to destruction; he will give them to the slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, and the stench of their carcasses will ascend.” – Isaiah 34:2, 3.

As in the past, where Jehovah regularly “struck down” thousands among his own people “with a great slaughter,” so it will be in the future. (1 Samuel 6:19) Thus “the worldwide preaching work of Jehovah’s Witnesses” is opposed to God’s purpose, for how should the prophecy be fulfilled that “those slain by Jehovah in that day will be from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth” if too many people would leave the false religion and join Jehovah’s people? – The Watchtower, July 15, 1990, page 18; Jeremiah 25:33.

The “abundance of grain on the earth” promised by Jehovah is only possible if “those slain by Jehovah … will become like manure on the surface of the ground.” (Psalm 72:16; Jeremiah 25:33) But unfortunately, the “truth is not presented in a complex, difficult-to-comprehend manner in the Bible.” (The Watchtower, October 15, 1996, page 5) If too many people would get to know the truth, Jehovah would be unable to destroy them. Not only would there be a lack of manure, but also his name would not be sanctified, which “would cause Satan to rejoice.” (Keep Yourself in God’s Love, page 129) Isaiah knew that, therefor he asked Jehovah to act in the same manner as he did with the Egyptian Pharaoh: “Make the heart of this people unreceptive, make their ears unresponsive, and paste their eyes together, so that they may not see with their eyes and hear with their ears, so that their heart may not understand and they may not turn back.” (Exodus 7:3; Isaiah 6:10) This strategy worked out; today “most people reject the good news,” and Jehovah “will crush them to clear the way for a much-needed change.” (The Watchtower, August 15, 2005, page 21; Awake!, October 8, 1969, page 11) “O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are!” – Romans 11:33.