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Welcome, everyone!
In this program,
we are going to find out
what the yeartext will be for 2023.
So stay tuned.
But first, here are a few updates.
No doubt we all enjoyed
the “Pursue Peace”! Convention.
Wasn’t that an outstanding program?
It was so practical.
And how thrilling it was
to hear the announcement
that we’re planning in-person
regional conventions for 2023!
After three years,
it’ll be so good to meet together
with our brothers and sisters
in person at a convention.
It’s also exciting that we’ll return
to the house-to-house ministry
starting September 1
—just in time for our worldwide campaign
to start Bible studies!
And I’m sure the angels
are going to be excited too
because it’ll give them opportunities
to help us with our ministry.
We pray for Jehovah’s
rich blessing on our efforts
to offer Bible studies
to as many people as possible.
It’s been so refreshing
—hasn’t it?—
to resume more and more
of our theocratic activities in person.
We’re grateful
for the good direction Jehovah is providing.
It strengthens our faith in him
and our confidence in his organization.
What a contrast with the world!
People today are suffering
from a crisis of confidence.
They have doubts
about whether the people they look up to
—politicians, scientists, businessmen—
really have their best interests at heart.
They wonder, ‘Do they really care about me,
or are they just out for themselves?’
What about the clergy of Christendom?
Many have lost respect for them too.
So it’s not surprising that they’re skeptical
about the book the clergy claim to represent
—the Bible.
How can we help people to have the same
confidence in God’s Word that we have?
Let’s consider three reasons
why we can trust the Bible:
the accuracy of the text,
the fulfillment of Bible prophecy,
and the Bible’s power to change lives.
First, the accuracy of the text.
Bible writing was completed
almost 2,000 years ago.
And as far as we know,
not one of the original manuscripts
has survived to our day,
so all we have are copies of copies.
Understandably, some wonder
if with all that copying and recopying,
the Bible’s message has been changed.
After the Babylonian exile,
a group of professionals intensified efforts
to make copies of the Hebrew Scriptures,
and they took their work seriously.
Later copyists were very conscientious.
They began to count not only the words
but even the letters they copied
to make sure that no changes were made.
Even so, because of human imperfection,
some small errors crept into the Bible text.
Modern scholars have a reliable way
of identifying those errors.
How so?
Let’s illustrate.
Suppose 100 men are assigned
to copy a page of text
and one of the men
makes a slight error in his copy.
Now, one way we could find that error
is by comparing his copy with the 99 others.
Similarly, by comparing
a number of Bible manuscripts,
scholars are able to identify errors
or omissions that one copyist made,
and these can be corrected.
So we can have confidence
that our modern Bibles
accurately reflect God’s message to mankind.
Just how diligent
were those men in copying Bible manuscripts?
The oldest complete manuscript
of the Hebrew Scriptures
dates back to 1008 or 1009
of our Common Era.
It’s called the Leningrad Codex.
In recent times,
a number of Bible manuscripts
and fragments have been discovered
that are about 1,000 years older
than the Leningrad Codex.
We might think that after those manuscripts
were copied and recopied
over a period of 1,000 years,
there’d be a big difference
between the text of the Leningrad Codex
and the older manuscripts.
That’s not the case.
Scholars have carefully compared
the earlier manuscripts with the later ones
and have found
that God’s message to mankind
has been accurately preserved.
The early Christians diligently made copies
of the Greek Scriptures,
which they used
at congregation meetings and in the ministry.
Scholars who have compared
copies of those manuscripts
have concluded
that our Bibles carry the message
that the original writers wrote down.
No doubt it was Jehovah
who made sure that his message to mankind
was accurately preserved.
We’re reminded
of the words found at Isaiah 40:8:
“The word of our God endures forever.”
Of course, some may argue
that just because the Bible
has been preserved
doesn’t prove that it was inspired by God.
Fair point.
So let’s consider evidence
of the Bible’s inspiration.
The Bible contains many prophecies
that have already been fulfilled.
Daniel’s prophecy
regarding the Anglo-American World Power
is just one example.
Let’s read the prophecy
as found at Daniel chapter 2,
verses 41 to 43,
and you can follow the text
on-screen if you wish
—Daniel 2:41-43.
“And just as you saw the feet
“and the toes to be partly of clay
of a potter and partly of iron,
“the kingdom will be divided,
“but some of the hardness
of iron will be in it,
“just as you saw
the iron mixed with soft clay.
“And as the toes of the feet
were partly of iron and partly of clay,
“so the kingdom
will be partly strong
“and partly fragile.
“Just as you saw iron mixed with soft clay,
“they will be mixed with the people;
“but they will not stick together,
one to the other,
just as iron does not mix with clay.”
According to the prophecy,
Britain and America
would be partly strong and partly weak.
They showed their strength
when they played a role
in winning World War I and World War II.
But their power has been weakened,
not so much by their enemies
as by their citizens!
The citizens insist on their rights
through labor unions, civil rights campaigns,
and independence movements.
One expert in world politics
recently observed:
“There is no advanced
industrial democracy in the world
“more politically divided,
or politically dysfunctional,
than the United States today.”
What about the other part
of the dual world power, Britain?
It’s been especially divided over the ties
it should maintain with the European Union.
So it’s been almost impossible
for the Anglo-American World Power
to act decisively.
Seeing this prophecy and so many others
being fulfilled strengthens our faith
that Jehovah will keep all of his promises.
What does the song say?
“What he foretells comes to be.”
For a third reason
why we can trust the Bible,
let’s see how following the Bible’s advice
affected a violent criminal we’ll call Jack.
Now, Jack was in prison
waiting for the death sentence
to be carried out.
He had the reputation of being one
of the most dangerous inmates on death row.
One day, Jack sat in on a Bible study,
and he was impressed by the love
and the kindness of the brothers
who were conducting the study,
so he asked for his own study.
As he applied what he was learning,
his conduct and personality began to change.
In time, he got baptized.
During his time in prison, he helped at least
four of the inmates to learn the truth.
When the day of his execution arrived,
one of his lawyers said:
“Jack is not the same person
I knew 20 years ago.
The teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses
have changed his life.”
Well, we know
that it’s the Bible that changes lives.
Jean is another person
whose life was radically changed
by Bible principles.
He grew up in an African country.
When civil war broke out,
he joined the army
but later fled to a neighboring country
where he came in contact with the Witnesses.
He says: “I learned
that followers of the true religion
“don’t get involved in politics
and are not divided.
Rather, they love one another.”
Jean says: “I had dedicated my life
to defending a country.
“But when I learned Bible truth,
I was moved to dedicate my life to Jehovah.”
Jean changed completely.
Instead of fighting against people
of a different background,
now he shares the Bible’s message
with everyone he meets.
The fact that the Bible’s advice
works so well
for people
from so many different backgrounds
is powerful proof
that we can trust God’s Word.
So we’ve considered
three simple lines of evidence
that we can point to
in order to convince people
that they can have confidence in God’s Word.
Remember what they were?
The Bible’s message
has been accurately preserved,
ancient Bible prophecies
are being fulfilled today,
and the Bible changes lives.
As this world goes from bad to worse,
our confidence in the truth
will be put to the test.
People may try to sow doubts in our mind
—doubts about the truthfulness of the Bible,
for example.
If we are convinced
that God’s Word is always true,
we will be able to resist
such attacks on our faith.
Bible truth stabilizes us,
it gives us a definite purpose
and clear direction in our lives,
and it provides us
with a wonderful hope for the future.
The writer of Psalm 119
was absolutely convinced
that God’s Word is a reliable guide.
Now, we don’t know who that writer was,
but we do know
that he cherished God’s Word.
To remind us
of how important Bible truth is to us,
the Governing Body has chosen
as our yeartext for 2023
words from the 119th Psalm.
Are you ready?
Here it is,
the yeartext for 2023:
“The very essence of your word is truth.”
“The very essence of your word is truth.”
—Psalm 119:160.
With these thoughts in mind,
how wonderful it will be
to share in our worldwide campaign
to help honesthearted people to study
the precious truths found in God’s Word!
May Jehovah bless us all
as we share in the campaign!
From the World Headquarters
of Jehovah’s Witnesses,
this is JW Broadcasting®.

2022 Governing Body Update #6