Jehovah and the Spider

[The Librarian]

CO, Steve Elumbaugh (Georgia Circuit 15) mentioned this in one of his talks.

Jehovah and the Spider

During World War II, the persecution had been intense. Alone in the jungle, a brother could hear the soldierscoming in his direction.  Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock.Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safefor the moment, he realized that once the soldiers lookingfor him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search allthe caves and he would be killed. As he waited, he prayed, asking Jehovah, if it be your will, please protect me.Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Afterpraying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He saw a spider begin to build a web over the front ofhis cave.  As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.‘Hah,’ he thought. 'What I need is a brick wall and what Jehovah has sent me is a spider web.’  As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he prepared himself for death.  To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on.  Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.  'Jehovah, forgive me,’ prayed the young man. 'I had forgotten that in you a spider’s web is stronger than a brick wall.’  We all face times of great trouble.  When we do, it is so easy to forget what Jehovah can work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways.  And remember with Jehovah, a mere spider’s web can become a brick wall of protection.

Via

[ARchiv@L]

 

http://illustrationstoponder.blogspot.gr/2010/08/fwd-jehovah-and-spider.html

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

Is this a "composite story", made up from fragments of real life experiences, or a "teaching story" made up completely from someone's imagination?

If it is real, it should have a date, a place, details of the person, a name, and other details to corroborate it's authenticity.

Where did this story come from?

Years ago (circa 1969) there was a notice on Kingdom Hall bulletin boards, and I saw them in both Richmond, Virginia, and a year later in Hollywood, California, that astronomers had via "calculations" determined that the Sun had actually stood still for a day during the times of ancient Israel ... and Brothers picked up on it, and gave talks citing this reference ... everyone (but me) that I met in the Truth KNEW this to be true.

It wasn't.

Fairie Tales told by the easily deluded or fanciful need to be disregarded ..

Fairie Tales told by genuine Fairies can be given more credence..

In the 7th Grade I learned that "stories" need to have "Who, What, When, Where, How Much, and sometimes Why?" to be credible, otherwise we make ourselves into complete fools .... where the credibility gap is equaled by the gullibility fill.

Choose !!!

I know Bro. Elumbaugh who used to be in our Circuit, and his homespun humor often includes stories like this, which I enjoyed, as homespun stories .... but the average person does not understand this .. and it is NECESSARY .. IF ... Is this a "composite story", made up from fragments of real life experiences, or a "teaching story" made up completely from someone's imagination .. IT IS CLEARLY IDENTIFIED AS TO BEING A PARABLE.

In practice, this is almost NEVER done.

That is why it is presented here as fact ... and without backup .. that is extremely embarrassing to have to see.

 

NOTE:  Eight days ago JW Insider responded to my posting on the Archive calendar board as follows:

" There will be Witnesses who think it's true, and that it's about a JW.

It's not, of course. It was once supposed to be about a soldier ("Robert the Bruce") in Scotland back in the 1300's. http://www.wrensworld.com/s... and that story ended: "Where God is, a spider's web is as a stone wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider's web."

It was also attributed to a Midrash about King David a couple thousand years prior to that: http://www.azamra.org/Bible...

"One Midrash tells that David was actually saved by a . . . web-spinning spider. . . . He discovered the benefits of spiders' webs when once forced to hide in a cave, over the entrance to which a spider spun a web, making those searching for David assume he could not have entered the cave."

It's called a traditional Jewish tale here, too: http://www.beliefnet.com/lo...

In 18th and 19th century book collecting expeditions I've picked up old books called "Ideas for Sermons" and have learned that a lot of Circuit Overseers have likely seen such books before I did.

I remember the "Joshua" astronomy discovery, too. And it also made it onto our bulletin board. You weren't the only one to question it. But it stayed up long after it was questioned."

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