IN THE BEGINNING


What do we know about our creator? We are told at 1 Corinth. 14:33 "For God is [a God], not of disorder, but of peace." (NWT) An other Bible renders this verse as "God is not one who likes things to be disorderly and upset. He likes harmony, …" (Living Bible).  To start to see how true those words are, all we need to do is look at creation to see how orderly that is. Especially if we raise our eyes to the heavens and realise as the Psalmist did Psalm 8:3-4 - "When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, The moon and the stars that you have prepared," as well as Psalm 19:1  - "The heavens are declaring the glory of God; And of the work of his hands the expanse is telling" and Psalm 75:1 - "Men have to declare your wondrous works" (NWT). The heavens are so precise and organised that we humans set our clocks by their movements. Does that not tell us that he likes order?


We are also given a very brief look into the heavens, and in these windows of the realm of God we see that things are organised. Take for example Psalms 103:20, 21 “20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. 21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.”


Of interest is the English word “hosts”. The Hebrew word here means - “a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially reg. organized for war (an army); by implication, a campaign, literally or figuratively (specifically, hardship, worship): —  appointed time, (+) army, (+) battle, company, host, service, soldiers, waiting upon, war(-fare).” Strongs Hebrew Lexicon word number 6635 – (underline mine) An army is a very structured and organised assembly of “people”


The NWT renders Verse 21 as “Bless Jehovah, all YOU armies of his, You ministers of his, doing his will” 




The Prophet Daniel gives us another look into the heavens. In this vision Daniel sees a royal court in session. The very idea of  loyal individuals gathered in a royal court suggests organisation.  - “I kept on beholding until there were thrones placed and the Ancient of Days sat down. His clothing was white just like snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool. His throne was flames of fire; its wheels were a burning fire. 10 There was a stream of fire flowing and going out from before him. There were a thousand thousands that kept ministering to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand that kept standing right before him. The Court took its seat, and there were books that were opened.” Dan. 7:9,10 (NWT)


From those two texts we see in the heavens God has an organised royal court with an army of angels attending. Does that not suggest "orgaisation:?


What about with us? The Bible makes this comment at 1 Corinthians 14:40 "Let all things be done decently and in order." (JKV). Again we are told by Paul under inspiration that God likes things done in an orderly fashion.


So how does that relate to the human family? Is it possible then, that our creator wants his subjects to be organised and to do things in an orderly manner?
From Adam down until the nation of Israel come out of Egypt, the order of "rule" was a patriarchal system. When Gods people came out of Egypt, they were a nation of 6 million or so. The system of "rule" changed. Lets take a trip through history to see how things were "organised" and the difficulties.


ADAM – PATRIARCHS


When Adam and Eve were on earth, life was very simple. There was only the two of them. There was no great need for "organisation" as we know today, but still things were organised. There were given this command at Genesis 1:28 "Further, God blessed them and God said to them: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth." and at Genesis 2:16-17 "And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: "From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die."


This may not seem much, but it was organisation. They were not just placed on earth and left to see what would happen. They were given a job to do and told what they could not do.


They chose not to keep their one and only "do not". They used independent thinking from that of their creator and lost life, and paradise for all of us.


NOAH, as a patriarch, was commissioned to build an ark for himself, his family and animals in order to survived the deluge. Jehovah gave that commission to Noah, and not to all his family at different times. Noah conveyed that message to his family. That too was simple organisation. The same situation applied to the other patriarchal families mentioned in the Bible eg Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The patriarch was the head or leader of those small "organisations".


The conclusion I draw from such examples, is that right from the beginning of human history, Jehovah has done things in an orderly fashion, even though it was on a small scale.


After the flood we have the record of the PATRIARCHS continues with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


We know Abraham left the Chaldean city of Ur to live in tents. It was not a small family affair. He travelled with his father and nephew, Lot. Both Abraham and Lot had substantial households of immediate family, herds, and herdsman (see Genesis 12:4,5,10 - 13:12). Abraham’s household included 380 men, slaves, born into his household. (Genesis 14:14-16) who were trained enough to act like a small army. Through the time of the patriarchs we do not learn a great deal but we do learn that they were organised with the patriarch taking the lead.


The conclusion I draw from such examples, is that right from the beginning of human history, Jehovah has done things in an orderly fashion, even though it was on a small scale.


MOSES – KINGS


By the time of MOSES, things had some what changed. From dealing with family groups, there was now a considerable nation to deal with.


Moses was spared from death at birth, because it was Gods intent that Israel was to be freed by Moses. Forty years before Jehovah had planned to have the Israelites released from Egypt, Moses decided that he would try to have the nation freed from bondage. His intentions were honourable but it just was not time. In his feeble attempt, he killed a man. (Ex 2:11-15; Ac 7:23-29)


His hast and his murderous action did not exclude our God from using him. Moses had lessons to learn. While in Egypt he was instructed in all the knowledge of that country. In fact he became powerful in both words and deeds (Ac 7:20-22)


What did Moses have to learn? "The qualities of patience, meekness, humility, long-suffering, mildness of temper, self-control, and learning to wait on Jehovah needed to be developed in him to a higher degree, in order for him to be the fitting one to lead God’s people. He had to be groomed and prepared to endure the discouragements, disappointments, and hardships he would encounter, and to handle with loving-kindness, calmness, and strength the multitude of problems a great nation would present." (italics added) (it 2 p 435). From being a man that was powerful with words, he was now the meekest of all men on the earth. (Num 12:3). But, now he did not want to be used to free Israel.


At this point, we'll skip some time, as most people are aware of what happened.
The Bible tells us how the Israelites and a vast mixed company came out of the land of Egypt. Was this an organisation? Consider what the word organisation means. (see definition in previous article)


Moses was their go between (mediator), between God and the nation of Israel. For a while (besides having Aaron as his spokes person) he had sole control over the affairs of this nation. Later he was urged by his father in law to appoint chieftains to help solve problems. (Ex 18:5-7) (Ex 18:13-37)


 Moses was still their leader, but now there was on order of doing things, (priests and chieftains) to use our language, an organisation.


Some of the people had difficulty recognising the channel that God was using. For forty years they roamed the desert wilderness due to the nation listening to men and not to what God had to say. (Nu 13:2, 3, 8, 16, 25) Even thou there were problems amongst their company, they were still God's People.


In time even chieftains (appointed men) started to speak up against Moses, become independent thinkers. I've copied a section from it-2 p184


"During Israel’s wilderness trek Korah rebelled against the authority of Moses and Aaron, doing so in league with the Reubenites Dathan, Abiram, and On, as well as 250 "chieftains of the assembly" or "men of fame." (Nu 16:1, 2) They contended that "the whole assembly are all of them holy and Jehovah is in their midst," asking, "Why, then, should you lift yourselves up above the congregation of Jehovah?" (Nu 16:3-11) Moses later sent to call Dathan and Abiram, but they refused to be present, thinking Moses had no right to summon them. (Nu 16:12-15) Korah, his assembly, and High Priest Aaron were told to present themselves before Jehovah, all supplied with fire holders and burning incense.—Nu 16:16, 17.


The following day Korah and the 250 men with him, all carrying fire holders with burning incense, stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Jehovah’s glory appeared to all the assembly and God spoke to Moses and Aaron, telling them to separate them selves from the midst of the assembly, "that I may exterminate them in an instant." However, Moses and Aaron interceded for the people, and God then directed Moses to have the assembly get away from the tabernacles of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. This was done. (Nu 16:18-27) Shortly thereafter, "the earth proceeded to open its mouth and to swallow up them and their households and all humankind that belonged to Korah and all the goods." They and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth covered them over.—Nu 16:28-34."


So Korah and his friends started to think independently from Jehovah's arrangement just as Satan did in the early part of mans history, and just as Adam and Eve did when they listened to Satan. The results were catastrophic.


There are many other example of Gods people (or some amongst their ranks) rebelling against organised procedure. But for now, back to Moses.


After being in the wilderness for some time, he (Moses) overstepped his authority by taking the credit for supplying water for the people. Because of this action, Moses had to be accountable for what he did. He was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, but he WAS NOT removed from his position of responsibility. (Nu 20:1-13; De 32:50-52; Ps 106:32, 33).


Jehovah had set up a way for things to be done (in our terms an organisation) and those that stayed by this arrangement entered the Promised Land.


The conclusion that may be drawn from the above is, Jehovah appointed an imperfect man (Mosses and later Joshua) to lead his people. Changes in the arrangement were made at times. Some of his people refused to stay by the arrangements (organisation) made, but God continued to use Moses and to stand by his people.


Before the kings JUDGES were appointed over the nation to guide and give some organisational structure to the nation. After a period of time the Israelites wanted to have king just like the nations around them had but for a period they had judged . These judges at times lead the Israelites in battle against enemies. This was not a highly structured organisation but it was still shows order. This from it-2 p. 134




Men raised up by Jehovah to deliver his people prior to the period of Israel’s human kings were known as judges. (Jg 2:16) Moses, as mediator of the Law covenant and God-appointed leader, judged Israel for 40 years. But the period of Judges, as usually viewed, began with Othniel, sometime after the death of Joshua, and extended until Samuel the prophet. Samuel is not usually counted among the Judges. So the period of the Judges extended about 300 years.—Jg 2:16; Ac 13:20.
The judges were selected and appointed by Jehovah from various tribes of Israel. Between Joshua and Samuel, 12 judges (not including Deborah) are named, as follows:
                                   Judge        Tribe
                                   Othniel      Judah
                                   Ehud         Benjamin
                                   Shamgar           (?)
                                   Barak        Naphtali (?)
                                   Gideon      Manasseh
                                   Tola          Issachar
                                   Jair            Manasseh
                                   Jephthah    Manasseh
                                   Ibzan         Zebulun (?)
                                   Elon          Zebulun
                                   Abdon       Ephraim
                                  Samson      Dan


The exact area over which each of the judges exercised jurisdiction and the dates of their judgeships cannot in every case be determined. Some may have judged contemporaneously in different sections of Israel, and there were periods of oppression intervening.




After the Judges came Kings. That implies a kingdom. The Israelite's had moved into a an era of greater organisation. I want to look at just one King. He had Gods favor but made some very serious mistakes, and yet God used him - gave him the  privilege – of penning portions of his Word the Bible. The example of this king has a direct bearing on the modern day "organisation" as an example dismiss a person from (the the case of the WTBTS aka JWs ) from being used by God because of some minor mistakes


DAVID showed great respect for Jehovah's organised arrangement. By the time of David, the nation of Israel had gone through several changes. After they had settled in the Promised Land, the people were governed by Judges. A Priestly system was in place for the spiritual upkeep of the nation. David was the second king for the nation. Saul was the first. Yes, Jehovah had organised his people into a solid nation.


When David was still very young, before Saul was dethroned by his death on the battlefield, he had been anointed as King designate. Saul, as the dully-appointed King, had gone astray after he began to think independently from Gods arrangement. "Saul’s sin consisted of his presumptuously going ahead with the sacrifice and not obeying Jehovah’s commandment, which had been given through his representative Samuel, to wait for Samuel to offer up the sacrifice. (Compare 1Sa 10:8.) As a consequence of this act, Saul’s kingdom was not to last.—1Sa 13:1-14." (It-2 p 871)


 When you read through the accounts it soon becomes clear that David respected Gods arrangement for things. Saul was out to kill David. David had opportunity and motive to kill Saul. David, however, recognised that it was not his place to make Saul step down from being King and to put himself in place (even though he WAS king designate to replace Saul). He waited on Jehovah to do things in his time. If you are not familiar with these accounts, the following reading may be advised.


1 Samuel 18:1-30; 19:1-18. 1 Samuel 26:1-25; 27:1-7; 31:1-6; 2 Samuel 1:26; 3:1-21; 5:1-10; 1 Chronicles 11:1-9.


David's kingship was not all-smooth sailing either. You are no doubt familiar with the account of David and Bathsheba recorded for us in 2 Samuel 11:1-27; 12:1-18; 1 Kings 1:1-48.


Yes David did receive some punishment for this act. (notice, though, that he did not receive the death penalty as the law required, God showed mercy). He was not removed as king, and, he was given the privilege of penning parts of the Bible.


Conclusions that can be drawn from this, is, David was an imperfect man that God used in overseeing his earthly arrangement (organisation). He (David) made a dreadful major mistake (that is mentioned above) but God continued to use him and give him a great privilege of writing parts of the Bible and of being a forefather to Jesus. So his very public mistakes DID NOT DISQUALIFY him from being used by God.