Fear itself III

Joshua1-5NWT(2013 Edition)

1 After the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah, Jehovah said to Joshua*+ the son of Nun, the minister+ of Moses: 2 “Moses my servant is dead.+ Now get up, cross the Jordan, you and all this people, and go into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.+ 3 I will give you every place on which you set your foot, just as I promised Moses.+ 4 Your territory will extend from the wilderness up to Leb′a·non and to the great river, the Eu·phra′tes—all the land of the Hit′tites+—and to the Great Sea* on the west.*+ 5 No one will be able to take a stand against you as long as you live.+ Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.+ I will neither desert you nor abandon you.+ 6 Be courageous and strong,+ for you are the one who will cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their forefathers I would give to them.+

7 “Only be courageous and very strong, and observe carefully the entire Law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not deviate from it either to the right or to the left,+ so that you may act wisely wherever you go.+ 8 This book of the Law should not depart from your mouth,+ and you must read it in an undertone* day and night, in order to observe carefully all that is written in it;+ for then your way will be successful and then you will act wisely.+ 9 Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and strong. Do not be struck with terror or fear, for Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go.”+

10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people: 11 “Pass throughout the camp and give this command to the people, ‘Get provisions ready, because in three days you will cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that Jehovah your God is giving you to possess.’”+

12 And to the Reu′ben·ites, the Gad′ites, and the half tribe of Ma·nas′seh, Joshua said: 13 “Remember what Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you:+ ‘Jehovah your God is giving you rest and has given you this land. 14 Your wives, your children, and your livestock will dwell in the land that Moses has given you on this side* of the Jordan,+ but all you mighty warriors+ should cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers.+ You must help them 15 until Jehovah gives your brothers rest, just as he has given you, and they also take possession of the land that Jehovah your God is giving them. Then return to the land you were given to occupy and take possession of it, the land that Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you on the east side of the Jordan.’”+

16 They answered Joshua: “We will do all that you have commanded, and we will go wherever you send us.+ 17 Just as we listened to everything Moses said, so we will listen to you. Only may Jehovah your God be with you just as he was with Moses.+ 18 Any man who rebels against your order and does not obey every command you give him will be put to death.+ Only be courageous and strong.”+

 

2 Then Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out from Shit′tim+ as spies. He told them: “Go and inspect the land, especially Jer′i·cho.” So they went and came to the house of a prostitute named Ra′hab,+ and they stayed there. 2 The king of Jer′i·cho was told: “Look! Israelite men have come in here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 At that the king of Jer′i·cho sent word to Ra′hab: “Bring out the men who came and are staying in your house, for they have come to spy out the entire land.”

4 But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said: “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And at dark when the city gate was about to be closed, the men went out. I do not know where the men went, but if you quickly chase after them, you will catch up with them.” 6 (However, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among stalks of flax laid in rows on the roof.) 7 So the men chased after them in the direction of the Jordan at the fords,+ and the city gate was shut once the pursuers had gone out.

8 Before the men lay down to sleep, she came up to them on the roof. 9 She said to the men: “I do know that Jehovah will give you the land+ and that the fear of you has fallen upon us.+ All the inhabitants of the land are disheartened because of you,+ 10 for we heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt+ and what you did to the two kings of the Am′or·ites, Si′hon+ and Og,+ whom you devoted to destruction on the other side* of the Jordan. 11 When we heard about it, we lost heart,* and no one has any courage* because of you, for Jehovah your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.+ 12 Now, please, swear to me by Jehovah that, because I showed loyal love to you, you will also show loyal love to my father’s household; and you must give me a sign of good faith.* 13 You must spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and you must save us* from death.”+

14 At that the men said to her: “We will give our lives for yours!* If you do not tell about our mission, then we will show loyal love and faithfulness toward you when Jehovah gives us the land.” 15 After that she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on a side of the city wall. In fact, she was dwelling on the wall.+ 16 Then she said to them: “Go to the mountainous region and hide there for three days, so that those pursuing you may not find you. Then, after your pursuers have come back, you can go on your way.”

17 The men said to her: “We will be free from guilt respecting this oath that you made us swear+ 18 unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window by which you let us down. You should gather your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household with you into the house.+ 19 Then if anyone goes out the doors of your house into the open, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be free from guilt. But if harm comes to* anyone who remains with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads. 20 But if you report our mission,+ we will be free from guilt respecting your oath that you made us swear.” 21 She replied: “Let it be according to your words.”

With that she sent them off, and they went their way. Afterward, she tied the scarlet cord in the window. 22 So they left and went to the mountainous region and stayed there for three days, until the pursuers returned. The pursuers had been looking for them on every road but did not find them. 23 The two men then descended from the mountainous region and crossed the river and came to Joshua the son of Nun. They related to him all the things that had happened to them. 24 Then they said to Joshua: “Jehovah has handed over the entire land to us.+ In fact, all the inhabitants of the land are disheartened because of us.”+

 

3 Then Joshua got up early in the morning, and he and all the Israelites* departed from Shit′tim+ and came to the Jordan. They spent the night there before crossing over.

2 After three days, the officers+ passed throughout the camp 3 and commanded the people: “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God being carried by the Levitical priests,+ you should depart from your place and follow it. 4 But keep a distance of about 2,000 cubits* from it; do not come any nearer to it, so that you may know which is the way to go, for you have not traveled on this way before.”

5 Joshua now said to the people: “Sanctify yourselves,+ for tomorrow Jehovah will do wonderful things among you.”+

6 Then Joshua said to the priests: “Take up the ark+ of the covenant and pass ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

7 Then Jehovah said to Joshua: “This day I will start to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel,+ so that they may know that I will be with you+ just as I was with Moses.+ 8 You should give this command to the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you should stand still in the Jordan.’”+

9 And Joshua said to the Israelites: “Come here and listen to the words of Jehovah your God.” 10 Joshua then said: “By this you will know that a living God is among you,+ and that he will without fail drive away from before you the Ca′naan·ites, the Hit′tites, the Hi′vites, the Per′iz·zites, the Gir′ga·shites, the Am′or·ites, and the Jeb′u·sites.+ 11 Look! The ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth is passing ahead of you into the Jordan. 12 Now take 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe,+ 13 and as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the Ark of Jehovah, the Lord of the whole earth, touch* the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from upstream will be halted and they will stand still like a dam.”*+

14 So when the people departed from their tents just before crossing the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark+ of the covenant went ahead of the people. 15 As soon as the carriers of the Ark reached the Jordan and the priests carrying the Ark dipped their feet into the edge of the waters (now the Jordan overflows its banks+ all the days of harvest), 16 the waters flowing from upstream stood still. They rose up like a dam* very far away at Adam, the city near Zar′e·than, while the waters descending toward the Sea of the Ar′a·bah, the Salt Sea,* drained away. They were halted, and the people crossed over opposite Jer′i·cho. 17 While the priests carrying the ark of Jehovah’s covenant kept standing still on dry ground+ in the middle of the Jordan, all Israel crossed over on dry ground+ until the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

 

4 As soon as the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, Jehovah said to Joshua: 2 “Take 12 men from the people, one man from each tribe,+ 3 and give them this command: ‘Take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood still,+ and carry them over with you and set them down in the place where you will spend the night.’”+

4 So Joshua called the 12 men whom he had appointed from the Israelites, one man from each tribe, 5 and Joshua said to them: “Pass ahead of the Ark of Jehovah your God to the middle of the Jordan, and each of you should lift up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. If your children* should later ask you, ‘Why do you have these stones?’+ 7 you must tell them: ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were halted from before the ark+ of Jehovah’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were halted. These stones will serve as a lasting memorial* to the people of Israel.’”+

8 So the Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded. They took up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as Jehovah had instructed Joshua, to correspond to the number of the tribes of the Israelites. They took them over to the place where they would spend the night and set them down there.

9 Joshua also set up 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood,+ and the stones are there to this day.

10 The priests carrying the Ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything that Jehovah had ordered Joshua to tell the people to do was completed, in harmony with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. All the while, the people hurried across. 11 As soon as all the people had finished crossing over, the Ark of Jehovah and the priests crossed over in the sight of the people.+ 12 And the Reu′ben·ites, the Gad′ites, and the half tribe of Ma·nas′seh crossed over in battle formation+ ahead of the other Israelites, just as Moses had instructed them.+ 13 About 40,000 soldiers armed for battle crossed over before Jehovah onto the desert plains of Jer′i·cho.

14 On that day Jehovah exalted Joshua in the eyes of all Israel,+ and they deeply respected* him all the days of his life, just as they had deeply respected Moses.+

15 Then Jehovah said to Joshua: 16 “Command the priests carrying the ark+ of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.” 17 So Joshua commanded the priests: “Come up out of the Jordan.” 18 When the priests carrying the ark+ of the covenant of Jehovah came up from the middle of the Jordan and the soles of the feet of the priests stepped onto dry ground, the waters of the Jordan resumed their course and overflowed the banks+ as before.

19 The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gil′gal+ on the eastern border of Jer′i·cho.

20 As for the 12 stones that they had taken out of the Jordan, Joshua set these up at Gil′gal.+ 21 Then he said to the Israelites: “In the future when your children ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’+ 22 you must explain to your children: ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry land+ 23 when Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before them until they had crossed it, just as Jehovah your God did to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we crossed it.+ 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know how mighty Jehovah’s hand is+ and so that you may always fear Jehovah your God.’”

 

5 As soon as all the kings of the Am′or·ites+ who were on the west side* of the Jordan and all the kings of the Ca′naan·ites+ who were by the sea heard that Jehovah had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, they lost heart,*+ and they lost all courage* because of the Israelites.+

2 At that time Jehovah said to Joshua: “Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise+ the men of Israel again, a second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the men of Israel at Gib′e·ath-ha·ar′a·loth.*+ 4 This is why Joshua circumcised them: All the males of the people who left Egypt, all the men of war,* had died in the wilderness on the journey after they left Egypt.+ 5 All the people who left Egypt were circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness on the journey after they left Egypt were not circumcised. 6 The Israelites had walked for 40 years+ in the wilderness until the entire nation had died off, that is, the men of war who left Egypt who did not obey the voice of Jehovah.+ Jehovah swore to them that he would never let them see the land+ that Jehovah had sworn to their forefathers to give to us,+ a land flowing with milk and honey.+ 7 So he raised up their sons instead of them.+ These Joshua circumcised; they were uncircumcised because they had not circumcised them during the journey.

8 When they finished circumcising the entire nation, they remained where they were in the camp until they recovered.

9 Then Jehovah said to Joshua: “Today I have rolled away from you the reproach of Egypt.” So that place has been called Gil′gal*+ until this day.

10 The Israelites continued to camp at Gil′gal, and they observed the Passover on the 14th day of the month,+ in the evening, on the desert plains of Jer′i·cho. 11 And they began to eat the produce of the land the day after the Passover, unleavened bread+ and roasted grains, on this same day. 12 Then the manna stopped on the day following when they had eaten some of the produce of the land; there was no longer manna for the Israelites,+ but they began to eat the produce of the land of Ca′naan in that year.+

13 When Joshua was near Jer′i·cho, he looked up and saw a man+ standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand.+ Joshua walked up to him and asked: “Are you on our side or on the side of our adversaries?” 14 To this he said: “No, but I have come as prince* of Jehovah’s army.”+ With that Joshua fell with his face to the ground and prostrated himself and said to him: “What does my lord have to say to his servant?” 15 The prince of Jehovah’s army replied to Joshua: “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy.” At once Joshua did so.+

On sanctifying our Father's name.

The Challenge of Knowing God by Name

 

THERE is someone who wants to prevent you from knowing Jehovah’s name and enjoying a close relationship with Him. Who is this evil foe? The Bible explains: “The god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers.” The god of this present ungodly world is Satan the Devil. He wants to keep you in darkness so that your heart will not be illuminated with “the glorious knowledge of God.” Satan does not want you to know Jehovah by name. How, though, does Satan blind people’s minds?—2 Corinthians 4:4-6.

Satan has used false religion to hinder people from coming to know God by name. For example, in ancient times some Jews chose to ignore the inspired Scriptures in favor of tradition that called for avoiding the use of God’s name. By the first centuries of our Common Era, Jewish public readers had evidently been instructed, not to read God’s name as it appeared in their Holy Scriptures, but to substitute the word ʼAdho·nai′, meaning “Lord.” Doubtless, this practice contributed to a tragic decline in spirituality. Many lost out on the benefits of a close personal relationship with God. What, though, about Jesus? What was his attitude toward Jehovah’s name?

Jesus and His Followers Made God’s Name Known

Jesus declared in prayer to his Father: “I have made your name known . . . and will make it known.” (John 17:26) Jesus would undoubtedly have pronounced God’s name on numerous occasions when he read, quoted, or explained portions of the Hebrew Scriptures containing that important name. Jesus would thus have used God’s name just as freely as all the prophets did before him. If any Jews were already avoiding the use of God’s name during the time of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus would certainly not have followed their tradition. He strongly criticized the religious leaders when he said to them: “You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition.”—Matthew 15:6.

Jesus set the example in making known God’s name

Faithful followers of Jesus continued to make God’s name known after Jesus’ death and resurrection. (See the box “Did the First Christians Use God’s Name?”) At Pentecost 33 C.E., the very day the Christian congregation was formed, the apostle Peter, quoting from a prophecy of Joel, said to a multitude of Jews and proselytes: “Everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.” (Acts 2:21; Joel 2:32) Early Christians helped people from many nations to come to know Jehovah by name. Thus, in a meeting of the apostles and older men in Jerusalem, the disciple James said: “God . . . turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name.”—Acts 15:14.

Nevertheless, the enemy of God’s name did not give up. Once the apostles were dead, Satan wasted no time in sowing apostasy. (Matthew 13:38, 39; 2 Peter 2:1) For example, the nominal Christian writer Justin Martyr was born about the time John, the last of the apostles, died. Yet, Justin repeatedly insisted in his writings that the Provider of all things is “a God who is called by no proper name.”

When apostate Christians made copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures, they evidently took Jehovah’s personal name out of the text and substituted Ky′ri·os, the Greek word for “Lord.” The Hebrew Scriptures did not fare any better. No longer reading God’s name aloud, apostate Jewish scribes replaced the divine name in their Scriptures with ʼAdho·nai′ more than 130 times. The influential translation of the Bible into Latin that was completed by Jerome in 405 C.E. and that came to be called the Vulgate similarly omitted the personal name of God.

Modern Attempts to Efface God’s Name

Churches have suppressed God’s name in the Bible because of Jewish tradition or even for the sake of profit

Today, scholars are aware that Jehovah’s personal name appears some 7,000 times in the Bible. Thus, some widely used translations, such as the Catholic Jerusalem Bible, the Catholic La Biblia Latinoamérica in Spanish, and the popular Reina-Valera version, also in Spanish, freely use God’s personal name. Some translations render God’s name “Yahweh.”

Sadly, many churches that sponsor Bible translations pressure scholars into omitting God’s name from their translations of the Bible. For example, in a letter dated June 29, 2008, to presidents of Catholic bishops’ conferences, the Vatican stated: “In recent years the practice has crept in of pronouncing the God of Israel’s proper name.” The letter gives this pointed direction: “The name of God . . . is neither to be used or pronounced.” Furthermore, “for the translation of the Biblical text in modern languages, . . . the divine tetragrammaton is to be rendered by the equivalent of Adonai/Kyrios: ‘Lord.’” Clearly, this Vatican directive is aimed at eliminating the use of God’s name.

Protestants have been no less disrespectful in their treatment of Jehovah’s name. A spokesman for the Protestant-sponsored New International Version, published in English in 1978, wrote: “Jehovah is a distinctive name for God and ideally we should have used it. But we put 2¹⁄4 million dollars into this translation and a sure way of throwing that down the drain is to translate, for example, Psalm 23 as, ‘Yahweh is my shepherd.’”

In addition, churches have hindered Latin Americans from knowing God by name. Steven Voth, a translation consultant for the United Bible Societies (UBS), writes: “One of the ongoing debates in Latin American Protestant circles revolves around the use of the name Jehová . . . Interestingly enough, a very large and growing neo-pentecostal church . . . said they wanted a Reina-Valera 1960 edition, but without the name Jehová. Instead, they wanted the word Señor [Lord].” According to Voth, the UBS rejected this request at first but later gave in and published an edition of the Reina-Valera Bible “without the word Jehová.”

Deleting God’s name from his written Word and replacing it with “Lord” hinders readers from truly knowing who God is. Such a substitution creates confusion. For example, a reader may not be able to discern whether the term “Lord” refers to Jehovah or to his Son, Jesus. Thus, in the scripture in which the apostle Peter quotes David as saying: “Jehovah said to my Lord [the resurrected Jesus]: ‘Sit at my right hand,’” many Bible translations read: “The Lord said to my Lord.” (Acts 2:34, NIV) In addition, David Clines, in his essay “Yahweh and the God of Christian Theology,” points out: “One result of the absence of Yahweh from Christian consciousness has been the tendency to focus on the person of Christ.” Thus, many churchgoers are hardly aware that the true God to whom Jesus directed his prayers is a Person with a name—Jehovah.

Satan has worked hard at blinding people’s minds about God. Even so, you can become intimately acquainted with Jehovah.

You Can Know Jehovah by Name

To be sure, Satan has waged war on the divine name, and he has cleverly used false religion in the process. However, the reality is that no power in heaven or on earth can stop the Sovereign Lord Jehovah from making his name known to those who want to know the truth about him and his glorious purpose for faithful humans.

Jehovah’s Witnesses will be pleased to help you learn how to draw close to God through a study of the Bible. They follow the example of Jesus, who said to God: “I have made your name known to them.” (John 17:26) As you contemplate the scriptures that reveal the various roles that Jehovah has occupied for the blessing of mankind, you will come to know the many beautiful facets of his exalted personality.

The faithful patriarch Job enjoyed “intimacy with God,” and so can you. (Job 29:4) With knowledge of God’s Word, you can know Jehovah by name. Such knowledge will give you confidence that Jehovah will act in harmony with what he said was the meaning of his name—‘I Will Become whatsoever I please.’ (Exodus 3:14, footnote) Thus, he will surely fulfill all his good promises to mankind.

Did the First Christians Use God’s Name?

During the days of Jesus’ apostles in the first century C.E., Christian congregations were formed in many lands. The members of those congregations regularly met together to study the Scriptures. Did those early Christians find Jehovah’s name in their copies of the Scriptures?
Since Greek had become the international language, many congregations used the Greek Septuagint, a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures completed in the second century B.C.E. Some scholars claim that from the time it was originally translated, the Septuagint had always replaced God’s name with the title Ky′ri·os, the Greek word for “Lord.” But the facts show otherwise.
The fragments illustrated here are portions of the Greek Septuagint that date from the first century B.C.E. They clearly show Jehovah’s name, represented in the Greek text by the four Hebrew letters יהוה (YHWH), or the Tetragrammaton. Professor George Howard wrote: “We have three separate pre-Christian copies of the Greek Septuagint Bible and in not a single instance is the Tetragrammaton translated kyrios or for that matter translated at all. We can now say with near certainty that it was a Jewish practice before, during, and after the New Testament period to write the divine name . . . right into the Greek text of Scripture.”—Biblical Archaeology Review.
Did Jesus’ apostles and disciples use God’s name in their inspired writings? Professor Howard notes: “When the Septuagint which the New Testament church used and quoted contained the Hebrew form of the divine name, the New Testament writers no doubt included the Tetragrammaton in their quotations.”
Therefore, we may safely conclude that the first Christians could read God’s name both in their translations of the Hebrew Scriptures and in their copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures.

A promise unfulfilled.

"Rumors of war"II

The rise of the machines?

A paper moon.

So now you know III.

Groping in the dark

The divine Law and blood III

Questions From Readers

Do Jehovah’s Witnesses accept any minor fractions of blood?

The following answer is reprinted from the issue of June 15, 2000.

The fundamental answer is that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept blood. We firmly believe that God’s law on blood is not open to reform to fit shifting opinions. Still, new issues arise because blood can now be processed into four primary components and fractions of those components. In deciding whether to accept such, a Christian should look beyond possible medical benefits and risks. His concern should be what the Bible says and the potential effect on his relationship with Almighty God.

The key issues are quite simple. As an aid to seeing why that is so, consider some Biblical, historical, and medical background.

Jehovah God told our common ancestor Noah that blood must be treated as something special. (Genesis 9:3, 4) Later, God’s laws to Israel reflected the sacredness of blood: “As for any man of the house of Israel or some alien resident . . . who eats any sort of blood, I shall certainly set my face against the soul that is eating the blood.” By rejecting God’s law, an Israelite could contaminate others; thus, God added: “I shall indeed cut him off from among his people.” (Leviticus 17:10) Later, at a meeting in Jerusalem, the apostles and older men decreed that we must ‘abstain from blood.’ Doing so is as vital as abstaining from sexual immorality and idolatry.—Acts 15:28, 29.

What would “abstaining” have meant back then? Christians did not consume blood, whether fresh or coagulated; nor did they eat meat from an unbled animal. Also ruled out would be foods to which blood was added, such as blood sausage. Taking in blood in any of those ways would violate God’s law.—1 Samuel 14:32, 33.

Most people in ancient times would not have been troubled over the consuming of blood, as we can see from the writings of Tertullian (second and third centuries C.E.). Responding to false charges that Christians consumed blood, Tertullian mentioned tribes that sealed treaties by tasting blood. He also noted that “when a show is given in the arena, [some] with greedy thirst have caught the fresh blood of the guilty . . . as a cure for their epilepsy.”

Those practices (even if some Romans did them for health reasons) were wrong for Christians: “We do not include even animals’ blood in our natural diet,” wrote Tertullian. The Romans used food containing blood as a test of the integrity of real Christians. Tertullian added: “Now, I ask you, what sort of a thing is it, that when you are confident [that Christians] will turn with horror from animals’ blood, you should suppose them greedy for human blood?”

Today, few people would think that the laws of Almighty God are at issue if a physician suggested their taking blood. While Jehovah’s Witnesses certainly want to keep living, we are committed to obey Jehovah’s law on blood. What does this mean in the light of current medical practice?

As transfusions of whole blood became common after World War II, Jehovah’s Witnesses saw that this was contrary to God’s law—and we still believe that. Yet, medicine has changed over time. Today, most transfusions are not of whole blood but of one of its primary components: (1) red cells; (2) white cells; (3) platelets; (4) plasma (serum), the fluid part. Depending on the condition of the patient, physicians might prescribe red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma. Transfusing these major components allows a single unit of blood to be divided among more patients. Jehovah’s Witnesses hold that accepting whole blood or any of those four primary components violates God’s law. Significantly, keeping to this Bible-based position has protected them from many risks, including such diseases as hepatitis and AIDS that can be contracted from blood.

However, since blood can be processed beyond those primary components, questions arise about fractions derived from the primary blood components. How are such fractions used, and what should a Christian consider when deciding on them?

Blood is complex. Even the plasma—which is 90 percent water—carries scores of hormones, inorganic salts, enzymes, and nutrients, including minerals and sugar. Plasma also carries such proteins as albumin, clotting factors, and antibodies to fight diseases. Technicians isolate and use many plasma proteins. For example, clotting factor VIII has been given to hemophiliacs, who bleed easily. Or if someone is exposed to certain diseases, doctors might prescribe injections of gamma globulin, extracted from the blood plasma of people who already had immunity. Other plasma proteins are used medically, but the above mentioned illustrate how a primary blood component (plasma) may be processed to obtain fractions.*

Just as blood plasma can be a source of various fractions, the other primary components (red cells, white cells, platelets) can be processed to isolate smaller parts. For example, white blood cells may be a source of interferons and interleukins, used to treat some viral infections and cancers. Platelets can be processed to extract a wound-healing factor. And other medicines are coming along that involve (at least initially) extracts from blood components. Such therapies are not transfusions of those primary components; they usually involve parts or fractions thereof. Should Christians accept these fractions in medical treatment? We cannot say. The Bible does not give details, so a Christian must make his own conscientious decision before God.

Some would refuse anything derived from blood (even fractions intended to provide temporary passive immunity). That is how they understand God’s command to ‘abstain from blood.’ They reason that his law to Israel required that blood removed from a creature be ‘poured out on the ground.’ (Deuteronomy 12:22-24) Why is that relevant? Well, to prepare gamma globulin, blood-based clotting factors, and so on, requires that blood be collected and processed. Hence, some Christians reject such products, just as they reject transfusions of whole blood or of its four primary components. Their sincere, conscientious stand should be respected.

Other Christians decide differently. They too refuse transfusions of whole blood, red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma. Yet, they might allow a physician to treat them with a fraction extracted from the primary components. Even here there may be differences. One Christian may accept a gamma globulin injection, but he may or may not agree to an injection containing something extracted from red or white cells. Overall, though, what might lead some Christians to conclude that they could accept blood fractions?

“Questions From Readers” in The Watchtower of June 1, 1990, noted that plasma proteins (fractions) move from a pregnant woman’s blood to the separate blood system of her fetus. Thus a mother passes immunoglobulins to her child, providing valuable immunity. Separately, as a fetus’ red cells complete their normal life span, their oxygen-carrying portion is processed. Some of it becomes bilirubin, which crosses the placenta to the mother and is eliminated with her body wastes. Some Christians may conclude that since blood fractions can pass to another person in this natural setting, they could accept a blood fraction derived from blood plasma or cells.

Does the fact that opinions and conscientious decisions may differ mean that the issue is inconsequential? No. It is serious. Yet, there is a basic simplicity. The above material shows that Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse transfusions of both whole blood and its primary blood components. The Bible directs Christians to ‘abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from fornication.’ (Acts 15:29) Beyond that, when it comes to fractions of any of the primary components, each Christian, after careful and prayerful meditation, must conscientiously decide for himself.

Many people would be willing to accept any therapy that seems to offer immediate benefit, even a therapy having known health risks, as is true of blood products. The sincere Christian endeavors to have a broader, more balanced view that involves more than just the physical aspects. Jehovah’s Witnesses appreciate efforts to provide quality medical care, and they weigh the risk/benefit ratio of any treatment. However, when it comes to products derived from blood, they carefully weigh what God says and their personal relationship with our Life-Giver.—Psalm 36:9.

What a blessing for a Christian to have such confidence as the psalmist who wrote: “Jehovah God is a sun and a shield; favor and glory are what he gives. Jehovah himself will not hold back anything good from those walking in faultlessness. O Jehovah . . . , happy is the man that is trusting in you”!—Psalm 84:11, 12.

[Footnote]

See “Questions From Readers” in The Watchtower of June 15, 1978, and October 1, 1994. Pharmaceutical firms have developed recombinant products that are not taken from blood and that may be prescribed in place of some blood fractions used in the past.