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Who did Adam meet in the garden?
Genesis chapters 2 & 3 reveal both the creation of man and the direct communication that Adam had with his maker in the garden of Eden. Genesis 2:15 & 16 show that after Adam was created, Jehovah God took him and put him into the garden of Eden. There God gave Adam instructions that were vital to maintaining their relationship. When Adam sinned by disobeying God's direct instructions, the Bible shares that God came personally to talk with Adam and Eve about their sin. Genesis 3:8-11 shares that Adam heard the sound of Jehovah God walking in the garden and so he hid from God's very presence. When God called to Adam, Adam answered, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." Gen 3:10. Even though the Bible clearly teaches that Adam had a personal relationship with Jehovah God in the garden, the Watchtower denies that God ever talked directly to Adam.
According to the Watchtower Aug. 1, 1995 page 13, Jehovah did not speak directly to Adam. The Watchtower says that Jehovah God could have talked to Adam directly, if he wanted to, but he did not. Instead they say that it was likely the prehuman Jesus who was the one who walked and talked with Adam. Since the Watchtower denies that Jesus is the Almighty God, they are in essence denying that Adam ever had a direct relationship with Jehovah God. Why is this important?
The Watchtower's teaching that the Almighty God did not directly communicate with Adam presents two problems. First it clearly contradicts the Biblical account in Genesis 3:10 that states that Adam personally heard the voice of God. Secondly it sets a precedence that denies the average Jehovah's Witness a direct relationship with God through communication from God. Only the special anointed class of Jehovah's Witnesses known as the 144,000 are given a direct relationship with Jehovah God. Only to this special class is Jehovah truly known as "Father". To all others Jehovah becomes their Grandfather according to the Watchtower August 1, 1995 page 13.
Does a Jehovah's Witness have a direct relationship with God?
To Jehovah's Witnesses, their relationship with God depends not on their love for him or their desire for communication with him. Their relationship with God depends solely on their relationship with the Watchtower organization. Once a Jehovah's Witness leaves the security of the Society for any reason, that one is said to have lost their relationship with God. No Jehovah's Witness is allowed to have a relationship with God without the Society.
The Watchtower's teaching of a God who distances himself from those he created, is vastly different from the Biblical God who personally reaches out with compassion for his lost children. Over a hundred times in the Gospels alone we read 'Father'. This is the New Testament Revelation about God. The remote 'Jehovah' of the Old Testament has become the close intimate Father of the New.
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