The Watchtower — June 1, 1950

Announcements

“LIVING UP TO THE NAME” TESTIMONY PERIOD

Do you profess or would you like to be one of Jehovah’s witnesses? Then you sincerely want to walk worthy of the name. You will appreciate, too, the intent of the June Testimony Period, entitled “Living Up to the Name”. We are sure you will be with us in carrying out the program of activity for that month. Toward delivering the witness in harmony with our God-given name, we shall be offering the three bound books “Let God Be True”, “The Kingdom Is at Hand” and “The Truth Shall Make You Free”, on the nominal contribution of one dollar for all three books. It is mutually strengthening to have your cooperation in this testimony, and our joined efforts work together to give a more impressive witness and to prove that the Most High God has a people on earth who uphold the honor of his name. He knows all the efforts you put forth, not for praise from man but from him. Nevertheless, we should appreciate your making out a report of the month’s work and results, on our form therefor, that we may compile a combined report.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of July 2: “A Mind Freed for Godly Combat,” ¶1-21 inclusive, The Watchtower June 1, 1950.

Week of July 9: “A Mind Freed for Godly Combat,” ¶22-45 inclusive, The Watchtower June 1, 1950.

SAVE

your personal or home copy of each issue of The Watchtower. Do not throw them away, but preserve them in a binder or drawer or on library shelves. At the end of each year, in its December 15 issue, The Watchtower contains an index of subjects and an index of all the scriptures cited, quoted and commented upon in all the leading articles throughout the year. By saving your copies and keeping them in date order you will have an invaluable reference library for consultation in your study of the Bible. Organized companies should preserve copies in the library of their local Theocratic ministry course school.

USE RENEWAL SUBSCRIPTION BLANK

The renewal blank sent you prior to the expiration of your Watchtower subscription should be filled out and returned to the Brooklyn office or to the Branch office in the country where you reside. Servants in the companies, and individuals, when sending in renewals for The Watchtower, should always use these blanks. By filling in these renewal blanks you are assured of the continuation of your Watchtower from the time of expiration, and without delay. It will also be a great help if you sign your name uniformly, and note any recent change of address, on the renewal slip.

A Mind Freed for Godly Combat

“Tear down the altar of the Baal that your father has, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it. Then build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold with the material.”—Judg. 6:25, 26, An Amer. Trans.

1. With what freedom did God endow man? Illustrate.

JEHOVAH is not a God of captivity. He imprisons none of his creatures behind iron bars. He does not tie down even the mental processes of the individual, but allows freedom of thought in the minds that he created. He brought into existence no physical or mental robots to mechanically move in the ways he ordained, but provided his creatures of intelligence with minds not only capable of knowing right and wrong but also free to choose either course. Did not he extend this freedom of choice, accompanied by cautioning counsel, to the first human pair in Eden? And did not his spokesmen do likewise with the nation of Israel? “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed; to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice.” But, “If it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve.”—Gen. 2:17; Deut. 30:19, 20; Josh. 24:15, Am. Stan. Ver.

2. How did Satan become a captive? and how has he drawn others into bondage with him?

² The spirit creature now known as Satan the Devil chose to serve himself, and became captive to his own evil pride and ambitious greed. (Isa. 14:12-14) Prodded on by those jailers of his mind, Satan set out to imprison others. In the name of securing greater mental liberty for Eve, he took her mind captive, and through her appeal to Adam’s selfish desires Satan was able to draw the husband into captivity. Since that time the majority of the descendants of that first pair have been “taken captive by him at his will”. (Gen. 3:3-6; 2 Tim. 2:26) Though their bodies be unfettered, Satan has “blinded the minds of them” to a state of dungeon darkness. (2 Cor. 4:4) Yet it is these blinded ones, themselves captives, who would blaze a trail to freedom for mankind. “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved.” (2 Pet. 2:19, Rev. Stan. Ver.) Just as the captive Satan could bring no liberty to Eve, so men today enslaved by sinful lusts and corruption can play no effective role as liberators. Blind leaders and blind followers together will topple into the ditch of destruction.—Matt. 15:14.

3. Who cannot open the doors to mental freedom? but what will?

³ Without literal bars Satan the Devil has jailed the minds of men, and to prevent any prison breaks he has many visible jailers standing guard over his mental prison-houses. Devilish Lucifer is known as one that “opened not the house of his prisoners”; hence his jailers have no keys that unlock the cells. Why, they themselves have “taken away the key of knowledge”, and that is the only key that throws wide the doors to mental freedom! Did not Jesus say, “Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”? (Isa. 14:17; Luke 11:52; John 8:32) The most vital truth is that contained in God’s Word, the Bible. Do you doubt that? If Scripture truths were known and followed there could be no racial prejudice, religious hate, national greed, no juvenile delinquency nor adult crime nor international wars. It would be a changed world, a new world. Bible truth would free the mind from satanic captivity and give it a new outlook that would reveal what would be really good and pleasing and perfect for mankind. Romans 12:2 states: “You must not adopt the customs of this world but by your new attitude of mind be transformed so that you can find out what God’s will is—what is good, pleasing, and perfect.”—An Amer. Trans.

4. Why is mental freedom more important to ministers than bodily liberty?

⁴ Hence it is Bible truth that will enable mankind to make a successful prison break from Satan’s jailhouses, that will spring humanity from bondage into the freedom of knowing and serving the true God. When the mind is free, Jehovah’s people can serve him even though their bodies languish in prison cells or suffer in concentration camps. When the apostle Paul was incarcerated he wrote: “Now I want to assure you, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in furthering the preaching of the good news. Thus it is generally known throughout the Imperial Guard and elsewhere that it is for the sake of Christ that I am in prison, and so most of the Christian brothers have been exceedingly encouraged by my example to declare God’s message without any fear of the consequences.” (Phil. 1:12-14, An Amer. Trans.) Freed from error and fear of consequences, the mind filled with Bible truth fights in godly combat to liberate others for Jehovah’s service.

5. What is the divine purpose in freeing men from satanic captivity?

⁵ Was it not in the interests of freedom of worship that the Almighty God swept Egypt with devastating plagues in order to deliver the Israelites held captive by Pharaoh? (Ex. 5:1-9) Again, centuries later, when the Israelites were liberated from Babylonish captivity and returned to their homeland, it was not for the purpose of establishing their political independence as a nation, but was in order that the temple at Jerusalem might be rebuilt and Jehovah’s true worship restored. (Ezra 1:1-4; Isa. 61:1-6) Similarly today, the freedom that comes by Scripture knowledge is to be used in serving God. Persons freed by hearing the truth should then preach that truth to free others, that as many as will may be free to worship God according to his commands. And once liberated, stand fast in that freedom, as counseled: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1) That some succeed and others fail is shown by prophetic events that befell Israel in the days when judges ruled.

CAPTIVITY DUE TO UNFAITHFULNESS

6. What conditions relative to worship existed during the period of the judges?

⁶ The period of the judges was a turbulent time in Israel’s history. It was marked by ups and downs, ups and downs in proportion to their obediences and disobediences. When the Israelites possessed the promised land they did not drive out the demon-worshipers, but put them under slavery. True to God’s warning, this course led the Israelites into the snare of heathen religions. (Deut. 7:16) They compromised and made leagues with the inhabitants of the land, failed to root out and destroy false worship, and came under bondage to it. Hence Jehovah said to Israel concerning the demon worshipers: “They shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.” Permitting themselves to be ensnared by demon religion, “the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about.” Nevertheless, “the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them,” but when the delivering judge died “they returned, and corrupted themselves”. After each deliverance and upswing to the high plane of true worship, the Israelites would soon start hobnobbing with the demon-worshiping worldlings, and again the unstable Israelites would succumb to the bondage of heathen religions. (Judg. 2:1-23) The following shows that to be the state of affairs just prior to the rise of Gideon as judge:

7, 8. What was the state of affairs in Israel just prior to Gideon’s judgeship, and why so?

⁷ “Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so that the LORD delivered them into the power of Midian for seven years, and the power of Midian prevailed over Israel. It was because of Midian that the Israelites made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites put in seed, the Midianites, Amalekites and Kedemites used to come up, and attack them. They encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of the land as far as the vicinity of Gaza. They would leave nothing in Israel for the sheep, oxen, and asses to live on; for they used to come up with their cattle and tents; they used to come like locusts for number.”—Judg. 6:1-5, An Amer. Trans.

⁸ Israel reaped the harvest for disobedience, as Jehovah had forewarned: “Ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.” (Lev. 26:13-17) What had they done that “was evil in the sight of the LORD”? Jehovah told them, when he sent a prophet in answer to the cries for help that Israel raised: “It was I who brought you up out of Egypt, and brought you out of a state of slavery; I rescued you from the power of Egypt, and from the power of all your oppressors; I drove them out of your way, and gave you their land. So I said to you, ‘I, the LORD, am your God; you must not stand in awe of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.’ But you have not heeded my injunction.” (Judg. 6:8-10, An Amer. Trans.) Jehovah God had liberated them from Egyptian bondage and established them in the promised land for the very purpose of enabling them to worship him freely; but they had abused and misused freedom of worship to practice Baalism. This Devil religion had captured their minds, and heathen oppressors fattened on the fruits of their physical labors.

9. In what way are such conditions prophetic of Christendom’s religious status?

⁹ All of this is a prophetic drama that foreshadows conditions in this twentieth-century world. The peoples of Christendom take the name of God and Christ, and are supposed to be serving Jehovah, freed from the ignorant and contaminating practices of heathendom. But only a glance suffices to show how unChristian is Christendom, how so many of its works are evil in God’s sight, how his injunctions have gone unheeded. Even religiously, Christendom has been taken in the snare of modern Baalism. Careful students of ancient religions know that all of the basic doctrines stem from the Babylon founded by Cush and Nimrod, and that Baal can be traced to them, and that Nimrod is the one responsible for the present-day popular conception of the Devil as horned and tailed and cloven-hoofed. When Nimrod’s tower-building project collapsed and the peoples were scattered by the confusing of tongues, the peoples took with them their religious beliefs. That is why the various false religions have so much in common: they sprang from the one source of ancient Baalism.—Hislop’s The Two Babylons, pp. 21-40.

10, 11. When and how did Baal-worship ensnare the system that has now developed into Christendom?

¹⁰ Nor has modern Christendom evaded this snare of Baal worship, for many of her doctrines can be traced, along with the teachings of heathen religions, back to ancient Babylon. The Scriptures foretold that evil men would bring in destructive heresies after the death of the apostles; and this contamination was climaxed A.D. 325, when Emperor Constantine fused apostate Christianity with paganism. Shortly thereafter the Roman Catholic Church had its beginning, and when centuries later Protestantism split off it carried with it many of the pagan religious teachings. Today those who follow what is known as the “Christian religion” are not mentally free to worship God properly; their minds have been enmeshed with the modern forms of Baalism and are blinded to Biblical true worship. To establish the common ground of paganism and orthodox “Christian religions”, consider the following quotations.

¹¹ “The copious transfusion of heathen ceremonies into Christian worship, which had taken place before the end of the fourth century, had, to a certain extent, paganized (if we may so express it) the outward form and aspect of religion.”—Church History, by Dean Waddington.

12. How does Van Dyke’s Popery show the heathen origin of Catholicism’s practices?

¹² “The worshippers of Buddha in Burma, Siam, and the Chinese Empire . . . have their relics and their images, the objects of supreme veneration; their temples costing fabulous sums of money; their saints canonized by ecclesiastical authority; their priests with shaven heads, vowing chastity, poverty and obedience; their wax candles burning night and day; their penances and self-inflicted tortures; their endless traditions, and hair-splitting moral distinctions; and even their confessional. They have also their Lent, when for four or five weeks all the people are supposed to live on vegetables and fruits; their acts of merit, repetition of prayers, fasting, offerings to the images, celibacy, voluntary poverty, enforced devotions, and munificent gifts to temples, monasteries and idols. Even the rosary, a string of beads used in saying prayers, and supposed by Papists to be a device specially revealed to St. Dominic, is part of the sacred machinery of the devout Buddhist.”—Popery, by Van Dyke.

13. How does Cardinal Newman corroborate the fact that Roman Catholic worship stems from paganism and demonism?

¹³ “Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the very instruments and appendages of demon worship to an evangelical use, and feeling also that these usages had originally come from primitive revelations and from the instinct of nature, though they had been corrupted; and that they must invent what they needed, if they did not use what they found; and that they were moreover possessed of the very archetypes, of which paganism attempted the shadows; the rulers of the [Roman Catholic] church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace, as well as the philosophy of the educated class. The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the [song] Kyrie Eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church.”—Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, by Cardinal Newman.

14, 15. Can demonism be sanctified by adoption into a so-called “Christian” church? and what conditions in Christendom paralleling those in Gideon’s day support your answer?

¹⁴ Certainly Christendom has dipped deep into paganism for her religious lore, though it bears the name “Christian”. Contrary to some religious belief, it is no more possible to sanctify demonism by adopting it into orthodox Christian Churches than it was for Israel to whitewash Baal worship. (2 Cor. 6:14-17) Because of her deflection from Jehovah’s true worship as set forth in the Bible, Christendom does not have God’s protection and her peoples suffer mental captivity and bodily oppression. Today the people are in a position paralleling that of the Israelites under Midian. The Midianites and their allies picture Satan’s visible agents that ride roughshod over the peoples that must bear them up.

¹⁵ Political, commercial, religious and military systems rule and oppress the mass of the people. Like robbers and plunderers and murderers they prey upon the defenseless and take away the fruits of their labor. The common people toil to produce food and raiment and homes, while others, who have produced nothing, reap the benefits of the work. The Israelites had to make dens in which to hide their substance, in order to eat. At the present time the people skimp and save for an uncertain future, but the ruling factors seek out these savings and dip into salaries and wages as they levy exorbitant taxes, which are used not so much for necessary expenditures in the interest of the people but for fat salaries made fatter by graft, for useless schemes and governmental blunders and outright waste. Big business seeks all the profit it can get by keeping the prices spiraling upward, while lowering the quality of its wares. Parasitic false religions beg and wheedle money from people who think they thereby serve God, but who in fact forward the modern Baalism that lies at the root of so much of their trouble. Disillusioned and oppressed, in bitterness many cry out to the Lord in their distress; but when slight relief and temporary prosperity come they forget God. Just as the Israelites did in the days of the judges.

“THROW DOWN THE ALTAR OF BAAL”

16. What message is brought to Gideon, and what is his reaction to it?

¹⁶ Among the Israelites that cried out in sincerity was Gideon. Our first view of him is in Ophrah threshing wheat by a winepress, and not on the open threshing-floor where the plundering Midianites might easily spot him. He has a visitor. An angel of the Lord addresses him as “thou mighty man of valour”, and says, “Thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?” “Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house,” responds Gideon. He did not think more highly of himself than he ought, but was meek and lowly of heart. Yet he was willing to take on the dangerous service, if he could be sure that God would back him up. Hence he asked for a sign, and got it when the angel caused fire to burst out of a rock and consume a food-offering Gideon had provided.—Judg. 6:11-24.

17. What did Gideon quickly do, in response to whose instruction?

¹⁷ Jehovah God was not slow in instructing Gideon how to proceed, nor did Gideon tarry over acting on those instructions. The record reads: “That very night the LORD said to him, ‘Take the choicest of the bulls that your father has (it has been the choice bull for seven years), and tear down the altar of the Baal that your father has, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it. Then build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold with the material, and take the choice bull, and offer it up as a burnt-offering with the wood of the sacred pole which you are to cut down.’ So Gideon took ten of his slaves, and did as the LORD told him; but since he was too afraid of his father’s household and the townsmen to do it by day, he did it by night.”—Judg. 6:25-27, An Amer. Trans.

18. Whom did Gideon picture and how was the position of these prefigured ones similar to Gideon’s when the angel visited him?

¹⁸ In this prophetic drama Gideon pictured Christ Jesus and the remnant of anointed body-members. During and immediately after World War I the true Christians were in a position similar to Gideon’s at the time of the angel’s visit. Like the Israelites in the promised land, they were located in a position to serve God, and did some sowing of the seed of truth, but were unable to bring their Christian fruitage to full harvest. They had been contaminated with some of the religions practices of the modern Baal-worshipers around them, and thus blinded did not frame the message in just the straightforward and uncompromising way that it should have been presented. They looked upon the rulers of the world as the “higher powers” mentioned in Romans 13, were afflicted by a degree of creature worship and fear of man, and did not preach as openly and boldly as they should have. Oppressive worldlings exercised harsh control over them, held them in mental restraint, and jailed many. They were not free for godly combat.

19. How did the anointed remnant react to the coming of Christ Jesus to the temple, in 1918?

¹⁹ Then Christ Jesus came to the temple in 1918, as prefigured by the visit of the angel to Gideon. Their commission to preach was made clear to them. Yes, they were but a small group, least among men so far as numbers and influence were concerned, and from all appearances could do nothing. But the truths that now illuminated their minds and cleared away misunderstandings signified to them that God was with them in the work, and they came to sudden life in Kingdom service, though the enemy thought these imprisoned ones appointed to death were as good as destroyed. (Ps. 79:11; Isa. 42:7; Rev. 11:9-11) Convinced that God’s power was now operating on their behalf, and filled with the new truths that flooded forth from the temple, this small band of Christians closed in to attack the false religions that were blinding men of good-will.

20. As Gideon had done, how did Christians use in godly service things once misused in improper sacrifices?

²⁰ Gideon and his fellows struck with boldness against Baalism, uprooting the image of Baal, chopping down the sacred pole, and laying hold on the bull dedicated to Baal. This substance previously misused they now put to work in God’s service. With the material they build an altar for Jehovah, slaughter the choice bull, and use it as a burnt-offering to God, feeding the flames with the sacred pole they had hacked down. Similarly, following World War I Jehovah’s revived witnesses consumed in Kingdom service things once appropriated by oppressing world systems. Time and energy once misspent now go into God’s service. Material possessions are used to Jehovah’s honor. (Prov. 3:9) Words once used in improper religious ways are now offered as sacrifices of praise to God, as sacrificial bullocks wholly devoted to Jehovah by burnt offering. “Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good: so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips.” “In his name let us continually offer praise as our sacrifice to God—the utterance of lips that glorify God’s name.”—Hos. 14:2, Am. Stan. Ver.; Heb. 13:15, An Amer. Trans.

21. How does the Christian’s sacrifice of praise dispose of and throw down modern Baalism?

²¹ Just as it was Gideon’s sacrifice to God that consumed Baal’s goods, so it is the Christian sacrifice of praise that disposes of false religion’s doctrines. When Christians cite Ezekiel’s words, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” the religious doctrine of immortality of the human soul perishes. When they quote Paul’s words, “The wages of sin is death,” the fable of eternal torment for the wicked goes up in smoke. When they repeat Jesus’ words, “My Father is greater than I,” the trinitarian’s claim that God and Christ are equal is proved a lie. As for the three-in-one doctrine of trinity, only one text in older Bibles supports it, and now that scholarly research has proved it spurious and it no longer appears in accurate modern translations, it has been blasted from the pages of God’s Word. (Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 6:23; John 14:28; 1 John 5:7) These and other words of praise that Christians catch up from the Bible and use in their preaching overturn the false teachings of today’s organized “Christian religions”. The traditional creeds and teachings of Christendom that trace back to paganism rather than Holy Scripture are thrown down; they have no more standing in the minds of sincere, informed men than did Baal’s image and the sacred pole after Gideon and his helpers leveled them to the ground.

22, 23. (a) How, in type and antitype, does the meaning of Gideon’s name have significance? (b) In type and antitype, how do opposers react to the throwing down of Baalism?

²² Gideon’s name means “feller, hewer; warrior”. To the unclean implements of Baal worship Gideon did act as a feller and hewer in uprooting them, and his subsequent conduct vindicates his name’s meaning of “warrior”. The greater Gideon, Christ Jesus, reveals truths and judgments from the temple that bring low down the Devil’s system in the minds of His followers, and these followers share in this leveling-off work against modern Baalism by relaying these cutting, smashing truths on to others. With what reaction from listeners? For a clue, note the repercussions Gideon’s typical actions touched off: “When the townsmen rose early next morning, there was the altar of the Baal torn down, and the sacred pole which was beside it cut down, and the choice bull offered up on the altar which had been built! Then they said to one another, ‘Who has done this deed?’ When they had inquired and investigated, they declared, ‘Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this deed.’ So the townsmen said to Joash, ‘Bring out your son that he may die; for he has torn down the altar of the Baal, and has cut down the sacred pole which was beside it.’”—Judg. 6:28-30, An Amer. Trans.

²³ Doubtless these men were among those who had previously cried to the Lord because of their afflictions. They had probably heard the answering message God sent by the prophet, who told Israel that their backslide into Baalism was at the root of their trouble. Yet when the cause of their woes was attacked they rose up in a mob against its exposer. They wanted more of the thing that plagued them. They could not meet the situation with reason and logic, but in true mob spirit flatly demanded the life of the Baal-exposer. Today when Jehovah’s witnesses expose the orthodox religions as of pagan origin and contrary to God’s Word, and thereby cast down false religion in the minds of some hearers, many others raise a great howl against God’s servants, demand their arrest, want them jailed, form mobs against them, and even go so far as to demand and sometimes get the life of the servants of God. Periodically the world leaders in religion or politics plead for more of what plagues them, cry out that what is needed is more of their religion. When their sore tribulation descends upon them at Armageddon, let them call to their chosen gods of heathen origin for deliverance, and not to Jehovah God.—Judg. 10:14.

24. What proves the falsity of Baal worship, whether ancient or modern?

²⁴ Gideon’s father Joash stopped the mob in their tracks with these words: “Will you take the Baal’s part, or will you champion him? Whoever takes his part will be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him take his own part; for his altar has been torn down!” But Baal could not answer for himself, nor can modern-day Baalism maintain its teachings in the face of declared Bible truth or withstand by logical argument the testimony brought against it by Jehovah’s witnesses. The Christian faith is proved by works, Baalism is disproved by the absence of good works. Hence, “Gideon was named Jerubbaal that day, meaning, ‘Let the Baal take his own part against him; for he tore down his altar.’” (Judg. 6:31, 32, An Amer. Trans.) That altar of Baal had belonged to Joash, yet Gideon did not feel as many today do, that the religion of their father is good enough for them; and Joash was willing to change his worship when his god was proved powerless.

25. Why is it so necessary to oust demon worship before one can enjoy Jehovah’s backing and blessing?

²⁵ So away with all false religion that holds men’s minds captive, restrains and blinds mental faculties so that they cannot perceive God’s true worship! Down with Baal’s altar, the images, the sacred poles, the offerings! God would not deliver Israel as long as the Baal stood to be credited with the deliverance; he saves only when there is no strange god among his people. (Isa. 43:12) Before Jehovah directed steps against the invading hordes of Midianites in Gideon’s day, Baal was cast down and the sincere Israelites were cleansed of its taints. Antitypically, before Jehovah sent his witnesses against the Devil’s systems in bold attack he caused them to undergo a spiritual cleansing under the oversight of the Greater Gideon Christ Jesus at the temple, all to the end that they might “offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness”.—Mal. 3:1-5; 1 Pet. 4:17.

ASSEMBLY CALL FOR THE FEARLESS

26. What may the enemy have been shrewd enough to grasp, and with what reaction on their part?

²⁶ Disobedience to God had led the Israelites into a state of virtual captivity; obedience was the key that would unlock the prison and free them to drive out the oppressors. Ousting Baal worship was the first necessary step on the comeback trail to true worship. The heathen looters of the land may have been shrewd enough to grasp this fact, and to see in the purge against Baalism the first signs of concerted uprising against their customary plundering of the land. Anyway, it was at this critical time that all the oppressors joined forces, at least 135,000 strong, and their hordes spilled down over the banks of Jordan, churned across the river, and streamed into the heart of Israel, into the fertile valley of Jezreel. There they squatted, a sprawling enemy camp bristling with swords to cut down any opposition that might rise against them.—Judg. 6:33; 8:10, An Amer. Trans.

27. How did Gideon meet this major threat, and with what concern for God’s backing?

²⁷ The record recounts how Gideon was spurred on by the Lord’s spirit to meet this invasion by sounding the alarm, sending messengers to certain territories, and mustering troops to oppose the invaders; how he sought more assurance from Jehovah that He was going to be with them in the fight and save Israel; and how this assurance was given by God’s causing dew to settle first on the fleece while the ground remained dry, and then on the ground while the fleece collected none. Previously Gideon had checked to be sure of divine guidance when the angel came; now he double-checked in this test to make certain of the rightness of his position. Then “Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley”.—Judg. 6:34-40; 7:1.

28. What lawful sifting of Gideon’s force did God now order, and why?

²⁸ With a mere 32,000 Israelites assembled in the hills above, and an enemy horde of 135,000 spread out in the valley below, Jehovah God issued this amazing command to Gideon: “There are too many men with you, for me to hand over the Midianites; Israel might glory over me by claiming, ‘My own hand has won the victory.’ Come now, issue this proclamation to the people, that ‘anyone who is terrified and trembling must go home.’” (Judg. 7:2, 3, Moffatt) This time the test was not one asked by Gideon to show correctness of position or assurance of Jehovah’s backing, but it was a sifting by God himself of those assembled for the fight. The scared ones were told to go home; and 22,000 left the assembly, retreated from the fighting force. Ten thousand remained at the well of Harod; the name of which well, incidentally, means ‘’trembling, palpitation”. Odds against Israel once four to one now become thirteen to one! Yet, Jehovah wisely acted within his law: “The officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.”—Deut. 20:8.

29. What has taken place to fulfill the typical gathering of the Midianites against Gideon, and his testing for God’s backing?

²⁹ In fulfillment of these parts of the prophetic drama, following the enthronement and temple-coming of Christ Jesus and the cleansing of the anointed remnant on earth, Satan’s organization set itself for battle against Kingdom publishers. (Rev. 12:17) Several prophecies predict that at that time men and nations would conspire and join forces to resist the witnesses, now mentally freed from many false religious ideas that hamstrung their service to God. (Psalms 2 and 83; Isa. 8:9-12; Rev. 11:17, 18) Greatly outnumbered, as was Gideon’s band, Jehovah’s anointed witnesses must rely upon God’s help; of themselves they can do nothing. So they continually test their position, examine themselves, search the Scriptures to see that their preaching remains in harmony therewith, look for evidences of Jehovah’s direction and blessing, and stay alert to profit by any divine rebuke or correction. As Gideon checked and re-checked, so they continue to test their standing with God as they move along in the stream of time.—2 Cor. 13:5; 1 Thess. 5:21; Heb. 12:5-11.

30. Today, how does fear operate to separate many from Christian assembling?

³⁰ As the witnesses preach throughout the earth they invite others to assemble with them. Many hearers agree in their heart with the message against hypocritical religion, but refuse to assemble. Others agree and assemble, like the 32,000 Israelites. But at these meetings they discern the fight involved, see the enemy host arrayed against the witnesses, discover that persecution comes to those who stand for Jehovah, and after a brief period of meeting attendance they withdraw from the company of the fearless ones. Not having the perfect love for God that casts out all fear, they are snared by fear of man and fright binds their mind in bondage. The meetings where the waters of truth flow forth become places of trembling and palpitation for them, just as did the well of Harod for the 22,000. They prefer a good standing in the community rather than a good standing with God, as prominent men did in Jesus’ time: “A number even of the authorities believed in him, though they would not confess it on account of the Pharisees, in case of being excommunicated; they preferred the approval of men to the approval of God.” (John 12:42, 43, Moffatt) So their feeble try at a prison break from Satan’s jailhouse systems ends as they lose courage, forsake assembling, and return to captivity.—Prov. 29:25; Matt. 5:10-12; 2 Tim. 3:12; Heb. 10:25; 1 John 4:18.

SEPARATING THE LAZY FROM THE ZEALOUS

31-33. How were the ranks of Gideon’s army further thinned out, and why?

³¹ Jehovah God made this test to weed out the fearful. He did it by revealing truth disclosing the fight ahead, that the Devil’s organization was to be exposed, and such disclosures brought fear to the surface. The truth cut out from the flock of sheep those who would not courageously follow their Leader, Christ Jesus. It sacrificed quantity for quality, but still further revelations of truth were to thin out the ranks even more, as foreshadowed by what next happened to Gideon’s army of ten thousand:

³² “And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.”—Judg. 7:4-7.

³³ Odds against Israel rocketed to 450 to one! What could this mere handful do against 135,000 enemy swordsmen? Of themselves, surely nothing! Any deliverance that might now come through them would certainly not be due to their strength of numbers. Never could they later swell with pride and boast, “My own hand has won the victory.” Not to the Baal now thrown down and uprooted, not to their ranks now so thinned out and depleted, but only to Jehovah God could credit for any forthcoming victory go!

34. What existing circumstances provided a sound basis for the drinking test?

³⁴ But why were the 9,700 who kneeled to drink sent home, rejected? It is readily agreed that fearfulness was a good reason for weeding out the 22,000; but what sound basis could this drinking test have? Well, remember that Gideon’s force was on the outskirts of the enemy camp, that the opposition was in range of vision, that a fight was just ahead. Did not the circumstances call for alertness, watchfulness? And how much can a man see who bows over or prostrates himself to greedily suck in water, oblivious to his surroundings? Did not the 9,700 show carelessness, negligence, indifference, a lack of appreciation for the criticalness of the situation, by getting off their feet and sinking down comfortably to satisfy their personal needs? Yes; just as much so as the 300 showed the opposite good qualities by keeping their feet on the ground, handing the needed water up to their mouths by scooping with cupped palms, having eyes front and heads up to the events that were rapidly reaching a climax. While slaking their thirst, they forgot not the fight.

35. Today, where are symbolical watering-places for many, and what Scriptural support has your answer?

³⁵ The prophetic significance of this? Well, the Scriptures overflow with evidence that water represents life-giving truths from Jehovah. Such expressions as wells of salvation, fountains of living waters, rivers of life, and being cleansed by the “washing of water by the word” are but a few examples. (Isa. 12:3; Jer. 2:13; Ezek. 47:1-12; Amos 8:11; Eph. 5:26; Rev. 22:1, 17) While one may drink of the truth waters privately in his own home, he should also drink in congregational assemblies. Such meetings are watering-places for many; and in the drama being considered it was an assembled group doing the drinking. Hence the drinking test in modern times has manifested itself at the assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses.

36. What class was foreshadowed by the 9,700 who failed in the drinking test in Gideon’s day, and when was it particularly in evidence?

³⁶ The 22,000 scared ones did not hang around the well of Harod long enough to quench any thirst, but the 9,700 did. Many today come to a meeting or two and are frightened away by the prospects of service and persecution before they really get the taste of the truth waters, but others do continue to assemble and drink in the message. They attend meetings, get off their feet and assume positions of ease and comfort, enjoy the harmonious explanation of difficult scriptures that is as beautiful music to their ears, and drink in the descriptions of new world blessings that strike them as a very lovely song; but they will not make that beautiful music for others, they will not sing the lovely song for other ears, they will not get on their feet for witnessing, or open their eyes to service, or face the enemy in the field. (Ezek. 33:30-33) Their only expansion program is a selfish one, to enlarge their own head, to puff up with a knowledge unaccompanied by understanding, to hoard truth to themselves as a miser buries gold. This class, foreshadowed by the 9,700 in Gideon’s time, was particularly in evidence during the 1920’s, when so many were ensnared by the self-centered process of developing “character”, and when so few saw the need for field service. When the necessity to do service in the field was repeatedly pounded home at meetings, that truth was too hard for many to take and it removed them from the assembly of Jehovah’s people.—Prov. 4:5, 7; John 6:60-66; 1 Cor. 8:1.

37. How do others show purpose and alertness at meetings that makes them comparable with the faithful 300 in the drama?

³⁷ How different the attitude of the antitypical three hundred when they attend meetings! They must drink, and do; but to them the message is not just a nice Sunday sermon to tickle ears and be forgotten, not beautiful music to drift in one ear and out the other, not a lovely song to lull one into daydreams about a new world. When they enjoy at meetings instructive experiences or practical demonstrations, their mind is on the lookout as to how they may use that instruction in their own field service. When the Watchtower magazine is studied by the congregation and good Scriptural points are brought out, they not only enjoy that truth themselves but think how they can use that knowledge in their own preaching work. They are “doers of the word, and not hearers only”. (Jas. 1:22) They fill up with the waters of truth that gush forth at meetings, but as they do they keep eyes and ears open to service opportunities wherein they can let truth flow to others. As they themselves learn, the desire to tell others builds up pressure till it approaches the bursting point; then they get relief by opening lips and letting the message bubble out for others to enjoy, as Elihu did.—Job 32:17-20, An Amer. Trans.

38. During the 1920’s how were the ranks of the anointed witnesses diminished, yet why was their fewness no cause for loss of courage?

³⁸ During the 1920’s the testings that came by the continuing new truths and judgments from the temple cleansed and purged the anointed remnant till only the unshakable few were left, the tried and tested, the fearless and unselfish, the alert fighters “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”. (Isa. 6:5-7; Zech. 3:1-5; Eph. 6:10) A small band of witnesses in comparison with the enemy hordes to be faced; still, numbers are not needed for victory when Jehovah sides with the few. (1 Sam. 14:6; Luke 19:40; Rom. 8:31) Developments proved that principle true in Gideon’s day; antitypical events corroborate it today.

WHY MINDS ARE MADE FREE

39. How did and do the majority resent and resist the efforts toward spiritual cleansing, both in the drama and today?

³⁹ But before plunging into the Scriptural narrative of the actual fight and paralleling with its events the antitypical fulfillments, take some time out to reflect on the drama up to this point. All Israel was in an unclean state in God’s sight, due to Baal worship. They were in virtual hiding from cruel occupation forces. They cried to the Lord in their distress. He answered, by sending a prophet, and an angel, and raising up a judge as deliverer. The majority resisted the message sent through the prophet, and wanted to kill by mob violence the judge raised up by the angel’s visit. They preferred popular Baalism to true worship. Likewise today, it is the orthodox but false religions of Christendom that are popular, and the unadulterated Bible truths sounded by Jehovah’s witnesses that rile mobs to violence.

40. How are the anointed remnant prepared for battle, and what folly do they avoid?

⁴⁰ But faithful Gideon and his men threw Baal to the ground, sent out invitations to assemble, prepared their forces for battle by weeding out the fearful and the selfishly lazy, and kept on the alert for action. Today a similar group, an anointed remnant, is in existence. They have been prepared for battle by ousting false religious ceremony and doctrine from their minds, freed mentally from modern Baalism, with minds open to receive the truths from God’s Word and from the Greater Gideon at the temple. They study, privately and in assembly, free from fear and selfishness. They do not cease assembling and return to Baalism. Lot’s wife looked back at Sodom, the Israelites in the wilderness looked back at Egyptian pleasures, the washed sow goes back to the mire, the dog returns to his vomit; but Christians delivered from modern Baalism do not return, do not look back after putting hand to the plow of Kingdom service.—Gen. 19:26; Num. 11:4-6, 18-20; 2 Pet. 2:20-22; Luke 9:62.

41, 42. How do mentally free witnesses use God’s truth, as shown by Bible symbolisms?

⁴¹ With minds made free, and filled with the truth that makes men free, these anointed witnesses went forth and still go forth to free others. They engineer prison breaks, not from literal cells, and not by using saws or explosives, but by the truth of God’s Word, which is sharper that any two-edged sword, and which can slash free minds bound by devilish cords. The sword of the spirit stabs and slashes, waters of truth overflow the hiding-places of error, hard cutting truth like hail rips away the refuge of lies, as a scourge it vexes and terrorizes clerical jailers unable to cover over their fraudulent ministry, fiery truth consumes the religious chaff, and like a hammer cracking rocks it pulverizes the doctrinal stumblingstones that trip up so many when they try to follow the pathway of true worship. It is as Isaiah and Jeremiah say:

⁴² “The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. . . . When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation when he shall make you to understand doctrine. For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.” (Isa. 28:17-20, margin) “The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?”—Jer. 23:28, 29; Isa. 62:10; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12.

43. Aside from throwing down modern Baalism, what else is accomplished by the truth? and how should Christ’s followers declare such truth?

⁴³ The truth as to the pagan origin and Baal-like qualities of Christendom’s religious doctrines frees the mind of the hearer from them, overturns them, upsets them from any Christian standing they once had in the person’s mind. But Bible truth does more than root out, pull down, throw down and destroy, as shown by Jeremiah’s commission: “I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (Jer. 1:10) As Gideon built up true worship after downing Baalism, so today the anointed remnant plant and build up correct teaching after clearing out the doctrinal rubbish of the supposed Christianized paganisms. In performing this service Christ’s followers should shun foolish speculations and quarrelings, and be meek and gentle and persuasive, that the learner may recover the mental freedom snatched from him by Satan. “Avoid foolish, crude speculations; you know they only lead to quarrels, and a slave of the Lord must not quarrel, but treat everyone kindly; he must be persuasive and unresentful, correcting his opponents with gentleness; for God may possibly let them repent and acknowledge the truth, and they may yet return to their senses and escape from the toils of the Devil, who has caught them to make them do his will.”—2 Tim. 2:23-26, An Amer. Trans.

44. Why have Jehovah’s witnesses been mentally freed? and how are they equipped to fulfill that purpose?

⁴⁴ It is for such godly combat in the interests of liberation that Jehovah’s witnesses themselves have been mentally freed. The truth that has freed them must be used to free others, as shown by the parable of the pounds. (Luke 19:11-27; Matt. 5:14-16) They fight as soldiers of Christ, enduring hardness, separate from worldly entanglements. (2 Tim. 2:2-4) Armed not with carnal weapons but with Bible truth, they can overthrow the mental prison-houses and strongholds, and any argument or obstacle raised by the visible jailers can be smashed, and minds once captive to Satan become bound in obedience to Christ and God. “Though I do live an earthly life, I am not carrying on an earthly war, for the weapons I use are not earthly ones, but divinely strong for destroying fortresses. I destroy arguments and every obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, and I take captive every thought and make it obey Christ.”—2 Cor. 10:3-5, An Amer. Trans.

45. What questions remain for settlement in the next issue?

⁴⁵ When we turn back to the ancient prophetic drama involving Gideon and his little band of three hundred, when we follow them into battle against the enemy that spread over the valley of Jezreel like locusts for number, will we find prefigured there the Christian warfare that uses no carnal weapons? Will the outcome of the battle in the days of the judges match the results of Christian combat in these last days of Satan’s world? For the facts in answer please see our next issue.

A Completely New World for This Globe

A NEW WORLD! Who can create such a thing? What will it be like? According to whose ideas will it be made? Will it suit everybody that lives? Will it endure forever? The right answer, backed by authority that cannot be questioned, comforts those who mourn because of the present wicked conditions, and quiets all fears of the future that is shrouded in darkness and uncertainty. It fills the hearts of righteous persons with hope. Receiving that authoritative information, such ones are put at ease with the assurance that the new world will be absolutely perfect and will completely satisfy their heart’s desire and more than fulfill their highest expectations.

Now is the time for all lovers of righteousness and truth to take courage and rejoice. It is a time for all who would live under a rule of justice and peace to examine the facts in the light of that incoming new world and to learn the truth and then be guided by it. The difficulties in the way and the cost of time and study on your part are not to be compared with the rewards you receive in knowledge, understanding, peace, joy and hope of life. The time is short. Those who do not inform themselves and who do not now choose the new world which the true Higher Powers will shortly establish will never live to enter into its blessings and glories. It is for those who desire it and prepare for it. None will be forced into it against their will and choice.

The new world means more than the nations realize. It calls for more than they can muster. The bald fact is that they do not want it. For that reason the promised new world of lasting peace should not be confused with the so-called “new order” or “new world order” that was held up and widely advertised a few years ago by the political and religious dictators as a lure to the people. The righteous new world is the very opposite of that selfish and ambitious human scheme. Such scheme seeks realization by harsh, brutal might, by the destruction of millions of lives and peaceful homes, by the forcing of the common people contrary to their conscience and personal free choice, and, for shame! by the cooperation of organized religion to persuade the subjected peoples that such “new order” is according to the will of Almighty God. Set up by such means and ways and for such purposes, that man-made “new order” can never be the expression of the will of a God of truth and justice. Neither can it last or endure, for it stands in the way of the glorious new world of righteousness, and it poses as a counterfeit substitute for God’s promised kingdom. Doomed to failure, it will perish!

Not by human wish and power and effort shall this be, but by the almighty power and decree of the great Ruler of the universe. He is the great Authority on questions affecting the universe, including our earth and the nations and people thereon. He is the One Source of dependable information that satisfies the longing of honest hearts for the truth. His revealed Word, the sacred Bible, is his means or channel for bringing this unerring information to the teachable persons who seek righteousness and life. He is the One Interpreter of his own prophetic Word. He brings to pass in our day the conditions and events which fulfill and make clear the hidden meaning of the prophecy, and then he opens the eyes of the searchers of his Word to see the agreement or correspondency between prophecy and the hard facts in evidence today. (2 Pet. 1:20, 21) Therefore, to the great Ruler of the universe all credit, honor and thanksgiving are due for all the revealed information on the new world which will completely transform the lives of humankind on earth.

Great upheaval is under way on earth. On the one hand, there are new methods of atomic warfare, modern means of travel and communication, startling discoveries of science, and, on the other hand, there are flashes of truth exposing the unfounded “new order” schemes of religion. As a consequence, great changes are under way. The need of a new is admitted; the old must pass out. However, humans are prone to cling to the old, because accustomed to it, notwithstanding it has been to their hurt. The few selfish men who have reaped profit, advantage, power and control from the old, prefer it and try to stop or control any movement toward the new. For their selfish interests they offer things which they call new, but which are merely camouflaged with modern names and dress and are underneath the same old things. Careful investigation discloses that there are forces stronger than man which prevent him from setting up a truly new system of things. Man can change only the surface appearance of a few things on the earth, and can make them look new for only a short time; he cannot control the things which are higher than man and unseen to him. However, the One who sits upon the throne of the universe has said: “Behold, I make all things new . . . Write: for these words are true and faithful.”—Rev. 21:5.

Man’s talk about a “new world” by human accomplishment is very recent and is really designed to check man’s progress and freedom. Already nearly six thousand years ago the Creator foretold the building and coming of a grand new world and that it would liberate obedient men from deception, oppression and death. And why, in the early dawn of man’s existence, did the Creator of perfection foretell of a coming new world? For an answer to that question it is necessary to review the facts concerning the world which the Creator originally made, as well as the facts concerning the world that now exists and which is responsible for the present distress.

TWO PARTS TO ORIGINAL WORLD

The word “world” as used by the great Creator is not limited to the earth and the things visible to man. The inspired Scriptures of truth show that a “world” includes the heavens, or things higher and unseen to man, as well as the earth. It includes the invisible and visible together, the invisible dominating and affecting what is visible to the human eye. Let there be no confusion on what Scripturally constitutes the two parts of a world. “Heavens” here does not refer to the celestial stars and planets of stellar space, nor does the “earth” have reference to this physical terrestrial globe that swings through an annual solar orbit. In a symbolic sense, the “heavens” and the “earth” of a world are made up of intelligent creatures rather than inanimate objects, the heavenly part being composed of invisible creatures, while human creatures make up the visible earthly part. That this definition and explanation of what constitutes a world is no cunningly devised fable, but is according to the holy Scriptures, we shall see from a careful study of the Bible.

The world that God created originally, and as man first knew it, was made up of visible and invisible elements. The superior part, the “heavens”, was composed of spirit creatures, spirit sons of God, all perfect, glorious and holy, all organized in an orderly manner for God’s service. Some were given positions as seraphim, others as cherubim, and still others as angels or “messengers”. All of these countless myriads of glorious spirit creatures made up God’s universal organization, and all were in harmonious agreement with Him and subject to His direction.—Ps. 80:1; 99:1, Am. Stan. Ver., margin.

In the orderly arrangement of that original world, God placed an invisible princely one, an “anointed cherub”, over the visible earthly part for the purpose of caring for and watching out for the welfare of man. Concerning this one it is recorded: “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; . . . Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.” (Ezek. 28:13, 14) Altogether different from these spirit creatures who made up the “heavens” of that first world were Adam and his helpmeet, Eve, who were “of the earth, earthy”. (1 Cor. 15:47) “There are heavenly bodies, and there are earthly bodies, but the beauty of the heavenly bodies is of one kind, and the beauty of the earthly bodies is of another.” (1 Cor. 15:40, An Amer. Trans.) Thus it was that the original world was made up of two parts, both perfect and righteous.

But did it remain pure and virtuous in its integrity? Did that first world continue as a part of God’s universal organization, submissive to Jehovah’s sovereign domination? The tragic facts that followed and which are now a part of mankind’s woeful history show that it did not. Rebellion broke out. Covetousness and lawlessness entered the heart of the “anointed cherub”, and since then he has been known by such names as the Devil, Satan, Dragon, Serpent and Lucifer. The human pair as well as many angelic creatures, now called demons, joined Satan in that rebellion. Thus it was that both parts of that original world of righteousness met their downfall.

As a result, the wicked spirit creatures were placed under surveillance, while disobedient Adam and his companion in sin were driven out of the garden of perfection to begin their sentence of death amid conditions of sweaty labor and sorrow. The children they brought into existence were all by inheritance imperfect, sinful and unclean, and condemned to death.—Rom. 5:12.

That first and fallen world lasted only sixteen and a half centuries before it came to its disastrous end in the overwhelming flood of Noah’s day. “The world that then was,” says the apostle Peter, “being overflowed with water, perished.” (2 Pet. 3:6) That “world” that perished was not this globe, for there is much historical and geological evidence to prove that it was our present sphere that experienced the flood. What then perished in the flood? Why, human society in its corrupt and degenerate generations, and also broken up was the organizational setup of Satan’s invisible demon hordes that were misleading and oppressing mankind. This brought to an end that first world, even though the heavenly part, wicked angels, did not perish, but only had its then existing organization disrupted. Proof, this is, that it takes both parts to constitute a world.

PRESENT WORLD TO BE REPLACED BY NEW

The Devil’s invisible demon forces not being destroyed at the flood, it was not long before they were reorganized and thereafter succeeded in turning most of the offspring of Noah away from God. Thus another world, made up of invisible and visible parts, sprang into existence, and because of its sinful course, and because it has continued on down to the present time, it is spoken of in the Scriptures as “this present evil world”. (Gal. 1:4; Titus 2:12) This world has no relationship with God’s promised new world. It is the Devil’s world. He is its chief invisible “prince”, the “god of this world”. (John 14:30; 2 Cor. 4:4) And again Christians are warned that “the whole world lieth in the evil one”. (1 John 5:18, 19, Am. Stan. Ver.) Still another scripture there is, that proves that a world is made up of visible and invisible parts. “For we [as God’s witnesses] are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and men.”—1 Cor. 4:9, Am. Stan. Ver.

For our good cheer in this present time of the seeming triumph of wickedness the sure Word of Almighty God declares: “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isa. 13:11, 13) That the Lord Jehovah will this time shake down and consume in a fiery destruction the invisible as well as the visible elements of the Devil-ruled world, note what the apostle Peter declares: “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”—2 Pet. 3:7.

Many blind followers of religious creeds contend that Peter’s statement here means that this literal globe of ours is going to be burned to a crisp. Foolish people! Have they never read the infallible words of the Lord: “The earth abideth for ever”? (Eccl. 1:4) Moreover, by taking such a view churchy religionists are found in the ridiculous position of claiming they are going to heaven when the earth is burned up, the same heaven which Peter says “being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat”. (2 Pet. 3:12) So if, to get off the horns of this dilemma, the religionists admit that in the one case the “heavens” are symbolical rather than literal, then they are forced to admit that the “earth” referred to in the same passage is also symbolical, which is the simple truth of the matter.

The fact, however, that the Lord has predetermined to completely destroy this present wicked world, this present system of visible things under the direction of the invisible satanic powers of wickedness, should give no cause for alarm, worry or dismay. No, for the apostle continues with this heart-gladdening statement: “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Pet. 3:13) Ah, yes, a completely new world! And all “according to his promise” made back there in the garden of Eden when rebellion first broke out. (Gen. 3:15) Thus purposing from the beginning to establish a righteous world, with righteous heavenly creatures supervising the activities of perfect earthly creatures, Almighty God, by the mouth of his prophets, from time to time gave reassuring promises that in his due time he would accomplish his purpose. “Behold,” Jehovah says, “I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create.”—Isa. 65:17, 18.

Who, then, can create such a thing? Why, Jehovah God, the one who created the original righteous world. What will it be like? The visible part will exist in the most beautiful, perfect and soul-satisfying garden that can be imagined, and then some! Unlike the Devil’s present world of woe in every detail. According to whose ideas will it be made? Only according to the perfect design of the great God whose wisdom, love, justice and power are supreme. Will it suit everybody that lives? Most assuredly, for only the lovers of righteousness and those that delight themselves in the abundance of peace will live forever in that world. Under Theocratic rule directed by the invisible “heavens” with Christ Jesus the King and overlord, all will be happiness, peace and blessedness on earth. Sickness and disease and want and fear will be unknown, the worship of Jehovah will be pure and free, in spirit and in truth, and man and the lower animals will be at peace. Will it endure forever? Yes, for the Devil and all his wicked spirit associates will be destroyed, never again being allowed to turn a righteous world into sin and disobedience.

Esther Manifests Divine Wisdom

“EVERYTHING has its appointed hour, there is a time for all things under heaven: a time to kill, a time to heal, . . . a time to cry, a time to laugh, . . . a time for silence and a time for speech.” Appreciation of the wisdom of these words, recorded at Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3, 4, 7 (Moffatt), will help all servants of Jehovah who would frustrate the designs of the enemies of truth and righteousness and make the most of their opportunities to serve him. Such will therefore peruse with interest and profit the record of one Esther, a Jewish maiden who followed this wise course.

Esther lived in the royal city of Shushan, capital of Persia, in the early part of the fifth century B.C., at the time when Xerxes (Ahasuerus) ruled the 127 provinces of the empire which extended from Ethiopia to India. Orphaned at a tender age, she had been reared by her cousin, Mordecai, a Benjamite. Her name “Esther” was the Persian equivalent for the Jewish “Hadassah”, meaning “myrtle”.

Esther first appears in the book by her name after Xerxes had deposed his queen Vashti for a serious act of insubordination and when the most beautiful virgins of the empire were being brought to the capital as likely candidates to replace the deposed queen. Esther was among those so chosen, for she was “fair and beautiful”, and from the record that follows it is quite apparent that she had a lovely disposition. It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that she immediately received preferment above all other virgins by the keeper of the king’s women, Hegai, when her time came to prepare her visit to the king.

Esther manifested wisdom by obeying Mordecai’s instructions not to reveal her identity as a Jewess; for why should racial prejudice disqualify her? Here was a time for silence. And after the prescribed beauty course, which lasted for twelve months, when it came her turn to visit the king and she was permitted to ask for anything she wished so as to appear before him in the most attractive manner possible, again she showed wisdom and contentment by keeping silent; trusting the maturer judgment of Hegai and asking for nothing save what he prescribed. Some girlish notion might easily have spoiled things.

Regarding her visit to the king we read: “The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won favor and kindness in his presence more than all the maidens; so that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” Following this the king made a great feast, declared a national holiday and gave lavish gifts, all in honor of Esther his new queen.—Esther 2:16-18, An Amer. Trans.

Not long thereafter Esther’s cousin Mordecai revealed to her a plot to kill the king, which she made known to the king and which upon investigation was found to be so. Here again she showed wisdom, for, while making sure to advise the king that it was Mordecai that had uncovered the plot, she ‘did not make known her kindred and people’. Though now a queen she still heeded the wise instructions of this wise and devoted servant of Jehovah the same as before.

Vashti had been deposed in the third year of Xerxes’ reign; four years had passed by the time Esther succeeded her. Now it was the twelfth year of his reign, about 475 B.C., as one day her maidens brought her the report that all the Jews in Shushan, including Mordecai, were in great distress, weeping, wailing and fasting and covering themselves with sackcloth and ashes. Perplexed, Esther sends clothes to Mordecai so that he could discard his garments of sackcloth, but he refuses to accept them. Troubled Esther then sends one of the king’s chamberlains, Hatach, who was at her service, to “learn what this was and why it was”.

Mordecai advises him of all that had happened to him and regarding the exact sum of money ($18,000,000) that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. He also gives Hatach a copy of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy all the Jews on the 13th day of the twelfth month (Adar), which date had been determined by the casting of lots, that he might show it to Esther, and charges her to go in to the king and implore him on behalf of her people.—Esther 4:1-9.

But Esther hesitates, and not without seemingly good reason: “All the king’s servants . . . know,” she tells Mordecai, “that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court who is not summoned, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter that he may live; but I have not been summoned to come to the king these thirty days.” Was the king angry with her? Had she displeased him in some way and so was no longer, or at least not for the time being, in his favor? Thirty days seemed like a long time to ignore his lovely queen.—Esther 4:11, An Amer. Trans.

But Mordecai firmly stands his ground: “Think not,” he sends word to Esther, “to yourself that you will escape inside the royal palace any more than all the rest of the Jews. For if you remain altogether silent at this time, then relief and deliverance will rise up for the Jews from another quarter, . . . and who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Appreciating his line of reasoning, Esther, with her trust in Jehovah, replies: “Go, assemble all the Jews that are to be found in Shushan and fast for me . . . three days. . . . I also and my maidens will likewise fast, and then I will go to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:13-16, An Amer. Trans.) Without doubt, with the fasting went prayers to Jehovah for guidance and help.

At the end of the three days Esther put on her royal robes—she was going to appear at her best—and then ventured into the king’s presence. When the king saw her she met with his favor and so he extended his scepter to her and inquired: “What is your wish, Queen Esther, and what is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of the kingdom.” Did Esther immediately blurt out all the facts regarding the dire straits she and all the Jews were in because of Haman’s foul conspiracy? No; urgent though the matter was, she showed tact, self-control and wisdom, appreciating that there was a time for everything, and so simply requested that the king and his grand vizier Haman come to a banquet she had prepared. First she would put the king in the best possible frame of mind, and by inviting Haman she not only would throw him off guard but would have him present at the time of his exposure.—Esther 5:1-4.

The king and Haman attend the banquet. At this she requests their presence at another banquet the following day, at which she would make known her petition. At the end of the second banquet she answers the king’s third request for her petition with the well-chosen words: “If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request; for we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my peace, since the distress would not have been worth disturbing the king.” Coming at just this particular occasion, what a shock this news must have been to the king! No wonder he exclaimed in amazement: “Who is he, and where is he who dares presume in his heart to do so?” Where is he? Note here the wisdom of having Haman present at the banquet as she replies: “An adversary and an enemy, this wicked Haman.” Before the day was over Haman was hanging on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, and Haman’s estate was given to the queen, who placed Mordecai in charge of it. Esther was well rewarded for her patience, courage, wisdom, and, above all, her trust in Jehovah.—Esther 7:1-10, An Amer. Trans.

The great enemy of the Jews was dead, but his work was yet to be undone, for his decree of destruction of all the Jews still stood. So Esther again ventured into the presence of the king, this time falling at his feet and beseeching him with tears to avert the evil planned by Haman, and again the king extended his scepter to her. Note how, with what eloquence she pleads, not for her own life, but for the life of her people: “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman. . . . For how can I endure to see the calamity that will come upon my people?”—Esther 8:2-6, An Amer. Trans.

In response to this petition the king authorized the making of a counter-decree, and so Mordecai wrote to all the Jews in the provinces to fight for their lives on Adar 13, and even to take the offensive against their enemies. The letters were sealed with the king’s signet and sent out by the fastest means at the disposal of the king. Moreover “Mordecai went from the presence of the king in royal garments . . . with a great crown of gold . . . and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad . . . and many from among the peoples of the land became Jews”.—Esther 8:8-17, An Amer. Trans.

Due to this turn in events the officials everywhere sided with Mordecai, Esther and the Jews; and, as a result, when that dreaded 13th day of Adar came, instead of all the Jews’ being destroyed, 75,000 of their enemies throughout the provinces licked the dust and in Shushan alone 500 perished. And while the decree permitted the Jews to despoil their enemies, the record states that “they laid not a finger on the plunder”.—Esther 9:10, Moffatt.

Commenting on this news King Xerxes asked his queen Esther what else she wished, and it would be given her. This being “a time to kill”, Esther requested that the Jews in Shushan be given another day to avenge themselves on their enemies, and that the ten sons of Haman, already slain, be hung on a gallows. And so while the Jews throughout the provinces rejoiced and celebrated on Adar 14, the Jews in the capital city of Shushan hung Haman’s ten sons on a gallows, most likely the very one their father had made for Mordecai and on which Haman himself was hung, and the Jews continued their work of avenging themselves on their foes with the result that 300 more fell. Then they feasted and rejoiced on the 15th of the month. Both Mordecai and Esther then sent letters to the Jews throughout the provinces ordaining the 14th and 15th of Adar as days for rejoicing; and the Jews to this day still celebrate these two days, known as the “feast of Purim” because of the lots “Pur” that Haman had cast to determine the day for the destruction of the Jews.

Jehovah’s servants can learn much from Esther’s wise example, especially now as legal conspiracy and lawless acts against them continue to increase. It emphasizes that there is indeed a time for silence, for avoiding the arousing of prejudices needlessly and being careful not to divulge information that the enemy could use to injure the Lord’s people and his work. It also shows that there is a time for speaking, for being bold and fearless, yet having full trust in Jehovah that he will come to their aid after they have done all they possibly can. It shows the need of being faithful and loyal to one another and the wisdom of listening to and being submissive to the instructions and counsel given by the mature and devoted servants of Jehovah whom he is using at the present time to direct his work in the earth. Additionally, the drama of Esther is fraught with prophetic significance, foreshadowing events in our day and giving us a glimpse into the near future, assuring us that the designs of the enemies of God’s people will fail, for he will preserve all those who love and serve him.

Letter

“ON THE DIVINE MANDATE”

October 9, 1949

Dear Brother:

Answering your recent letter regarding birth of children to the “other sheep” class surviving Armageddon:

The Watchtower has a number of times pointed out that Christ Jesus is not yet begetting earthly children and for this reason the present members of the “other sheep” class are not justified to life eternal on earth. The remnant of the anointed members of Christ’s body are likewise not the mother of the “other sheep” class of today, and it would not be right for the “other sheep” to address the remnant as either father or mother in a spiritual sense. During the thousand-year reign of Christ those who come forth from the tombs and gain eternal life are not spoken of as the children of the earthly princes but are said to be “equal unto the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection”. (Luke 20:35, 36, Am. Stan. Ver.) As their life on earth is gained through the sacrifice of Christ’s perfect humanity, he also is spoken of as their “Everlasting Father”. The life these get will be not a life in a spiritual way but in a very literally human or earthly way, and the “princes” do not give them this.

To speak of the “other sheep” that survive Armageddon who marry and bring forth children by intermarriage as being like the “sons of God” that married the daughters of men in Noah’s day is wrong. Their intermarriage is not a turning from the spiritual to the human or earthly, to produce a mongrel race of unapproved hybrids. To say that marriage after Armageddon and then producing children is turning from the spiritual to the carnal is the same as saying for the anointed Christians to intermarry and produce children is turning from the spiritual to the carnal. In cases the apostle Paul advised anointed Christians to marry “in the Lord”, and surely he was not telling them to turn from the spiritual to the carnal and produce a hybrid offspring disapproved by God and doomed to destruction. Nor when an anointed member of the remnant marries one of the “other sheep” and children result is it a dropping from the spiritual to the fleshly and the producing of mongrel children. At 1 Corinthians, chapter 7, the apostle says that where one member of a family union is not Christian, still the children of such union are holy and the unconsecrated husband is sanctified by the believing wife and the unconsecrated wife is sanctified by the believing husband. Why, then, should it be different when Armageddon survivors of the “other sheep” marry, both being consecrated and divinely approved with survival, and then bring forth children? Their children will certainly not correspond to the gibborim or men of renown whom the “sons of God” and the daughters of men brought forth in Noah’s day.—Genesis 6:1-4.

Since both of these “other sheep” marrying are devoted to righteousness, then their children are conceived in righteousness and are righteous. You try to force into the word “righteous” the meaning of physical perfection. Evidently you have forgotten that the booklet ‘The Meek Inherit the Earth’ says, on page 28: “The marriage of these faithful and meek survivors of Armageddon will cause homes and family circles to spring up throughout the earth. Beautified earth will cheerily ring with the sweet voices of children, whom these devoted parents will conceive and bring forth in righteousness. Not yet perfected themselves, the parents will not be able to generate their children in perfection, but will do so in righteousness. They will thereafter bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord God and under the righteous supervision of the ‘new heavens’.”

The flood was a real physical catastrophe to the old ungodly world. The Battle of Armageddon will be likewise a physical catastrophe to this present evil world, and not something just spiritual. The ark of salvation that we enter is not a literal ark but is God’s organization; and as for Noah’s family’s not having children while in the ark, if the “other sheep” class’ now having natural children in the “ark” condition vitiated the picture of the childlessness of the ark’s occupants, then the anointed remnant’s having natural children now would also vitiate the “ark” picture or type. But it does not. Children born now are not born in fulfillment of the divine mandate reissued. When God reissued this mandate to marry and reproduce to Noah after the flood (Genesis 9:1, 7) the mandate was fulfilled in a typical way by a token fulfillment, 70 (10 X 7) generations being listed in Genesis, chapter 10, as springing from Noah and his sons. In the same way the fulfillment of the divine mandate reissued after Armageddon will be, not by crowding it with inhabitants to the saturation point, but by a token fulfillment that will allow for the resurrection of the dead with plenty of room for these resurrected ones. Thus, as pointed out in the Watchtower article “The Apostle’s Counsel on Wedlock”, February 1, 1947, page 45, column 2, footnote, God will show that he can have the divine mandate fulfilled in a very literal way in vindication of his world and he will give a faithful demonstration of its fulfillment. Those having part in its fulfillment will still ‘serve God in his temple day and night’ (Rev. 7:15), they will fulfill Deuteronomy 6:7 as to bringing up their children, and their children will fulfill Ephesians 6:1-3 as to obeying their parents, in the same way that the anointed remnant and their children are instructed to obey these divine commandments.

Faithfully yours in Theocratic service,

WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY

Field Experience

PREACHING DESPITE PHYSICAL HANDICAP

While group witnessing in Pasadena, California, finding very little interest, I came to a house on the corner. A goatish woman at the door cared more for her religious fodder than for the bread of life, so I went to a small house in the rear, and in response to my knock a voice answered, “Come in!” On entering I saw a man sitting in a wheel chair, his arms no longer than twelve inches, with no hands; his knee joints are at his hips, and his legs very short, and, of course, he is unable to walk. He was born that way. He at once recognized the Kingdom message as the truth, took three bound books, and later subscribed for The Watchtower and Awake! He had previously heard of J. F. Rutherford, a former president of the Watchtower Society. I proceeded with a home Bible study with him. He is self-supporting, a radio announcer, and leaves books with persons in Hollywood that would be difficult for others to reach. He now is a publisher, averages fifteen hours a month, makes back-calls and conducts Bible studies. His brother cares for him, and both attend the company studies. He plans to go to the New York assembly and be immersed. All this in six months’ time.—Publisher in California.

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory . . . believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.—1 Peter 1:7, 8.