The Watchtower — August 1, 1951

“Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land”

THE following is the public address which was delivered by the president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society to audiences in Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Philippine Islands, Japan, and other places in the Pacific Ocean area during March, April and May of 1951. Because of its cheerful theme and importance we are reproducing it here for reading enjoyment and for close study.

“In the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”—Lev. 25:9, 10.

1, 2. What is this the day for proclaiming, and what makes it fitting?

THIS is the day for liberty to be proclaimed throughout all the earth, among all races and nations. That is the reason for the message here delivered, and we purpose to show that it rests on the right foundation and sounds the right note of liberty.

² The proclaiming of liberty denotes that people are to be made free. Its proclamation will be welcome news to all those who love justice and truth and who yearn for a true liberty for ALL mankind, and not for just their own nation or race. Since the close of World War I, in the year 1918, the hunger for liberty has been gnawing at the vitals of humanity as never before. Violent endeavors are being made by many to satisfy that hunger. For centuries great masses of people have lain under the oppression of the few, whether those few be a few men as rulers or be a few powerful nations. With conditions in the world continually growing worse, it makes the conditions of oppression seem more and more unbearable. Discontent is everywhere. Certain ideas and systems of rule have long operated, and the sense of revolt against them is growing and spreading, especially under the lash of radical agitators. The long-oppressed ones, being so many more in number, are expressing sympathy toward one another and are feeling their numerical strength. Through their representatives they are growing more outspoken and insistent in their demands.

3. What has been the result from attempts by human liberators?

³ Many sincere men have taken up the cause of the liberty of the people, but what can they offer the people? Only a human theory or scheme of liberty, which falls far short of the true liberty and leaves the people at last disappointed. At the same time many men, greedy for power, have marked the craving of the masses for release from long-established tyrannies and oppressions and have put themselves forward as liberators in order to exploit the people’s desire for liberty to their own advantage and ambitious designs. As a result the masses come under new robbers of liberty. Their plight becomes no better, if not worse, under new rulers who are slaves of their own ambition. As someone of old time with a prophetic vision nicely expressed it: “While they are promising them freedom, they themselves are existing as slaves of corruption.”—Quoted from 2 Peter 2:19, NW.

4. How is democracy generally regarded? How secure is it today?

⁴ It is quite generally thought that to have an independent government and to enjoy self-rule means real liberty. In many lands democracy, which means the rule by the people through public servants of theirs, is held to be the peak of liberty. To win the people’s support and to justify the entering of the United States of America into World War I President Wilson invented the slogan, “Make the world safe for democracy.” But today, after more than thirty years, so-called “democracy” has never been in greater peril. True, many absolute monarchies or kingdoms have disappeared since then, and yet the oppressions upon the people have not decreased nor has their freedom been enlarged.

5. Who fight against the people’s liberation? By what means?

⁵ There are men who have a contempt for the ability of the people to rule themselves by servants whom the people select and who draw their power from the consent of the people they govern. Certain political figures and certain religious hierarchies resent the effort of the people to gain greater liberties and to have more control of the government over them and to make their rulers answerable to the people. And so to fight against the liberation of the people, they establish totalitarian governments or personal dictatorships or strict authoritarian rule. They glorify the political state. They believe that the state has the absolute right to plan all the activities of human society and to demand the unquestioning obedience of all the citizens. Thus today mankind in general is divided between two political ideas of rule and two ideas of how far the freedom of the people may go. Hot and cold wars that are being fought over these political considerations rage and the liberties of the people are suffering great restrictions and damage. True freedom by human means appears farther off than ever, despite all the modern-day slogans.

NOT ORIGINAL WITH DEMOCRACY

6. Is it fitting to proclaim liberty also in America? If so, why?

⁶ The United States of America enjoys what some people call a democracy or people’s rule, and some effort is being made to popularize it among other peoples. But not all peoples seem to want the democracy or kind of democracy that the American people enjoy, for they see in it what look like serious flaws; and the way the democracy is being carried out in practice comes under criticism from many quarters. Yes, even in the United States of America, with all its worthy democratic features, the people do not enjoy the real liberty. Even there there is need for the great liberation. There as well as in all other parts of the world it is very fitting to proclaim the great message of true liberty.

7. Did the words of our subject originate with the American Republic? From whom does freedom’s spirit come?

⁷ It was this American Republic that popularized the famous words contained in the subject of this address. After the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on July 8, 1776, the Liberty Bell was rung from Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On this bell appears the quotation, “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.—Lev. xxv, 10.” But these words are really no part of any American propaganda. They did not originate with American republicanism or democracy. They originated with THEOCRACY, which means “God’s rule”. They are not the words of man, even though uttered by the Hebrew prophet Moses. They are the words of God. The God whom the Hebrews worshiped is named “Jehovah”, and these words are a part of His law to them. It is Jehovah God who is the great Liberator and the great Proclaimer of liberty for the people. The spirit of true freedom comes down from Him. Just as one of his proclaimers of liberty wrote under inspiration: “Now Jehovah is the spirit; and where the spirit of Jehovah is, there is freedom.”—2 Cor. 3:17, NW; Ps. 83:18.

8. Is the proclaiming of liberty now meant to stir up things like those in America in 1776? How do we determine our answer?

⁸ So the newborn man-made American Republic in 1776 merely adopted the historic words of liberty, but it did not carry out the real meaning of the words. The Republic used the words merely as a slogan to further its rebellion against the sovereignty of the British government. It mixed up these words with a political revolution, a change from a colonial status to independence as a responsible government among the family of nations. A sanguinary revolution followed, which finally made independence secure. However, our proclaiming of liberty throughout all the earth in these uneasy days is not meant to stir up any such things as those political events of 1776. When we examine the words in their original setting, we see they were the words of liberty gained by obedience to the Most High God, liberty through peaceful procedure. We see that this liberty was sounded throughout the land, not by ringing a man-made bell, but by blowing a ram’s horn, the trumpet of Jubilee.

9. What is the substance of Leviticus 25:9-13?

⁹ Let me quote the original words and context according to a modern translation: “You must hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it is to be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his own possessions, and each of you shall return to his own family. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you, when you must not sow, nor reap any aftergrowth in it, nor gather grapes from the undressed vines in it; for, being a jubilee, it is to be sacred for you; you must eat its produce out of the field. In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own possessions.”—Lev. 25:9-13, AT.

10, 11. (a) Why is that law of interest to us today? (b) Who began the proclamation of liberty, and who must now take it up?

¹⁰ In the sixteenth century before our common era or our Anno Domini period, the prophet Moses handed that down as God’s law to his chosen people, the nation of Israel. That law is not being kept today, and so it would have nothing more than a passing historical interest for us in these troublous years if it were not for the fact that that Jubilee law was prophetic in its meaning. It was a good thing for that ancient nation of Israel, and it was a shadow of substantial good things to come in the then distant future, but a future which is now close upon us today.

¹¹ God, whose name alone is Jehovah and who is the great Liberator, was there making a picture of a great liberation to come, not merely to people of the nation of Israel, but to all mankind. One of his inspired proclaimers of liberty tells us this in plain words, saying: “The Law has a shadow of the good things to come.” (Heb. 10:1, NW) Also the man with whom the great movement of real liberation began referred to that ancient Jubilee prophecy and indicated that it foretold the work he was going to do. That man was a son of God, and he had come down from heaven to earth to live for thirty-three and a half years as a man in order that he might begin this liberation movement and its proclamation. His name was Jesus Christ, who was born in the royal line of David, the king of Jerusalem for many years. This Jesus Christ began the proclamation and laid the foundation for the great liberation nineteen hundred years ago. So now his true followers today must take up the joyful proclamation and must boldly sound it as with a trumpet blast to all races, peoples, nations and languages.

12. How did Jesus show authority for his liberation work, and how does his work compare with that of Moses?

¹² Toward the beginning of his proclamation work or preaching, Jesus gave a public talk in the religious meeting place of his home town, Nazareth, in the land of Palestine. On that occasion the attendant of the Jewish synagogue handed him the scroll containing the book of the prophecy of Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah had also made some reference to the Jubilee year of release for Jehovah’s people. So now Jesus found this passage of Isaiah’s prophecy and read it, saying: “Jehovah’s spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news to the poor, he sent me forth to preach a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind, to send the crushed ones away with a release, to preach Jehovah’s acceptable year.” Then Jesus said to his listeners: “Today this scripture that you just heard is fulfilled.” And with that introduction he gave them a talk that made them all marvel. (Luke 4:16-22, NW) In this way Jesus Christ set out on a work of release or liberation which was to spread beyond the Jews or nation of Israel and to reach all peoples. His work of release was a work greater than that done by the ancient prophet Moses. The Law given through Moses foreshadowed this great benefit to all mankind through Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus Christ was a Greater Moses, and the ancient prophet Moses himself foretold that Jehovah God would raise up a Prophet like Moses but greater than him. That Greater Prophet was Jesus Christ, and he brings a liberation to mankind which was prefigured by the Jubilee law of release.—Deut. 18:15-19; Acts 3:19-23.

ANCIENT PATTERN OF LIBERATION

13. What led up to delivering the Jubilee law?

¹³ Let us then briefly examine that ancient Jubilee law and see how it means the grandest of things for us today. For more than eighty years the people of Israel, to whom the prophet Moses belonged, had been slaves under cruel, exhausting labor in the land of Egypt. Backed by mighty military power, the oppressive government was trying to wipe out these Israelites. Then Almighty God, Jehovah, sent the prophet Moses to his people and, by means of marvelous miracles, delivered the Israelites from wicked Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai in the land of Arabia. Jehovah God promised to give them the land of Palestine, and now he was leading them there. But before bringing them into the Promised Land he gave them his laws, theocratic laws, for their government when they were finally established in the Promised Land. Among the laws was this one to celebrate the Jubilee every fifty years, and it is set out in detail in Leviticus, chapter 25.

14. What problems now facing us were handled in that law? Why justly so?

¹⁴ Among the great problems facing mankind today are the distribution of the land, the preservation of the land in good condition, and the wiping out of poverty among all the people, and the putting of all members of human society on an equal level. The Jubilee law illustrated how these vital problems will be solved by the all-wise God whose name is Jehovah. He is the Author of the Jubilee law and also of its grand fulfillment upon all mankind. It was a just law. It worked no injustice and hardship even to those who up till the Jubilee year had become rich. By a miracle Jehovah God brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, and by further miracles he freed that land of the wicked, devil-worshiping people who had no right in the land. This took years, and then the distribution of the land to the Israelites took further years, fourteen years all together according to tradition, after which the land could be peacefully worked and the Jubilee system begin to count. So the land was a God-given land, and Jehovah had a right to dictate how it should be used. All the earth is his creation. He made provision, no, not for great land barons to hog the land and crowd the common people into the cities, but for every family to have a fair-sized piece of land which was to continue in that family from generation to generation. Not even the king could legally take away this ancestral inheritance from a family. One king tried to do it by underhand means and Jehovah God had him executed for it.

15. How did poverty, landlessness and slavery develop in Israel?

¹⁵ God promised the Israelites that if they kept his law there would be no poor in the land. (Deut. 15:4) But God foresaw that because of sin, imperfection and selfishness in this world many Israelites would become poor, whereas some would become rich and would selfishly want to hold onto their riches at the expense of their fellow Israelites. So he added these words: “The poor will never cease to be in your land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your poor and needy fellow-countryman in your land.” (Deut. 15:7-11, AT) To meet their expenses some Israelites would become obliged to sell part of their ancestral land or even all of it and thus for the time become landless. Others would have to sell members of their families or sell even themselves to be slaves to their fellow Israelites or to foreigners in the Promised Land. If a relative was not able to buy back his land for him or to settle his debt and procure his release, or if meantime he did not acquire the means to secure these benefits for himself, then the Jubilee year held out bright hope for him.

16. How was the Jubilee a year of release for land and people?

¹⁶ The Jubilee year was one of release, of liberation. It took care of all these unfortunate developments, for in that year all such Israelite slaves were to be set free. All ancestral estates that had been sold were to be returned to the rightful owners, and families were to be reunited. As for the land itself, the Jubilee was a year of rest for it. Every seventh year was a sabbath year for the land, when it must lie fallow. The forty-ninth year was thus a sabbath year, but in addition to that the fiftieth year was also a sabbath year for the land, so that it got an extra year to revitalize itself. What grew of itself could be eaten, but it must not be harvested and stored up. Thus not only did the Israelites have a chance to recuperate materially and start out on a new basis, in possession of property and on a level with their fellows, but also the land had an opportunity to build up its productive strength again. By God’s blessing for their faithfulness the forty-eighth year would have yielded such a rich harvest that it would provide food for three successive years, till they reaped the crops they sowed the next year after the Jubilee.

17. How did Jehovah show Israel he took this sabbath-year law seriously?

¹⁷ Because of what this wise and loving provision foreshadowed for all mankind’s future, God took this sabbath-year and Jubilee-year arrangement seriously. For improperly keeping these sabbath years he punished the Israelites by exiling them that the God-given land might rest for seventy years while the disobedient Israelites were captives in the land of Babylon. They had sold themselves into this captivity by their sin against Jehovah’s law. But in the spirit of the sabbath-year benefits he acted mercifully as their Liberator. He broke the enemy oppressor’s power and restored them to their homeland. Here again Jehovah displayed himself as the God and Author of liberty.

18. How did the law work no unfairness to legal buyers of land and slaves? Was it carried out with revolution and bloodshed?

¹⁸ By requiring slaveholders to free their Israelite servants and by requiring buyers to restore ancestral estates to their rightful owners God committed no unfairness with those who had made legal purchases. All purchases were required to be made based on the number of years that remained till the Jubilee. Furthermore, the land all belonged to earth’s Creator. That is why his law said: “The land must not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is mine, since you are only resident aliens and serfs under me.” (Lev. 25:23, AT) They must all remember, too, that they were liberated slaves, once oppressed in Egypt and later on in Babylon. And just as Jehovah had had mercy upon them for his name’s sake and had delivered them from servitude in the enemies’ land, so they must show the divine quality of mercy and let their Israelite slaves go free on the Jubilee year in obedience to the great Liberator’s command. “For it is to me that the Israelites are slaves, being my slaves whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, I, the LORD, your God.” (Lev. 25:55, AT) Thus the entire arrangement was just and merciful. It was carried out without violent revolution and bloodshed. The Jubilee horn therefore sounded peace and joy throughout all the land.

19. How has man been enslaved by man and the land been handled?

¹⁹ This foretells a greater release from debt and slavery for mankind and a greater revitalization of the earth. And to think, it is just at our doors! That man has been enslaved by his fellow man there is no question. This is so, whether it has been done by military power, by usurpation of political power, by great monopolies, cartels and commercial and industrial systems, or by the trickery and hypocrisy of religious clergymen. Moreover, the land has been gobbled up by the selfish, the rulers and the aristocrats and the religious clergy. In recent years there has been some breaking up of the great landed estates and the distribution of these to the people. But this has been brought about with great reluctance on the part of the owners, and only by pressure from governments that favored such a policy. In Italy, the cradle of Roman Catholicism, there have been loud complaints and violent moves because of the slowness of the republican government in carrying out its election promise to distribute the land to the poverty-stricken people. One Oriental ruler has recently announced his purpose to have his large estates broken up and apportioned out to his subjects the people. But this is no part of the fulfillment of the promised Jubilee for mankind. It is only part of the desperate efforts of the rulers and systems of this world to perpetuate man’s rule of man or the people’s rule of themselves independent of Jehovah God. Even if all the workable lands of the earth were distributed among all the families of the earth, there would still remain a great liberation to be effected from mankind’s great oppressors.

THE ESSENTIALS OF TRUE FREEDOM

20. How did the great oppressor scheme to enslave all mankind?

²⁰ The chief oppressor of the human race is Jehovah God’s great adversary, Satan the Devil. His very name Satan means “opposer”, whereas his name “Devil” means “slanderer, false accuser”. Jehovah God stands for true liberty of all his creatures. Satan the Devil stands for their enslavement. He opposes the divine purpose to free them, because this means freeing them from the Devil’s power. For this reason he slanders and falsely accuses the true and living God and wants to have all creation believe that Jehovah is the one who is the tyrant. Satan the Devil has coveted the earth as his possession, and he has sought to wrest it from God’s universal sovereignty. Satan claims all mankind as his slaves. He has challenged God to put on earth a man who would assert his independence of Satan’s rule and swear his allegiance to God and keep it faithfully under the most extreme test. He saw the opportunity to enslave all mankind in man’s original home, the garden of Eden, which lay somewhere over in the Orient in the neighborhood of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At that time he was a son of God and was a mighty angel whom Jehovah the Creator had stationed over the first man and his wife as their “covering cherub”. (Ezek. 28:13-18) By getting control of our first parents, Adam and Eve, he could make all their offspring his slaves from birth.

21, 22. How, then, did slavery begin in God’s universe?

²¹ So the “covering cherub” rebelled against Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and transformed himself into Satan, or God’s opposer. Then to win over the man to join in the rebellion he now approached the man’s wife Eve. He made himself a Devil or slanderer by falsely accusing Jehovah God to her, telling her that God was keeping her in ignorance by his commandments and was holding back what would make her and Adam like gods, independent and able to decide for themselves what was right and wrong, good and bad. He said that God’s threat of death to rebels was beyond carrying out, because they certainly would not die for eating the forbidden fruit. So they should make a break for liberty and eat what they saw to be good for themselves. Thoroughly deceived by this fraudulent liberator, Eve broke God’s law and afterward gave some of the fruit to her responsible head, her husband Adam. Under inducement by his wife, Adam ate, and this act spelled his willful rebellion against his Maker and God, Jehovah.

²² In this way slavery began in God’s universe. Satan the Devil became the slave of his own selfish ambition. By their rebellion Adam and Eve lost their true liberty under God and became slaves of God’s opposer, Satan the Devil. For the sake of selfish appetite they sold us all into a slavery from which it is impossible for any of us to make ourselves free. Hence all of mankind, down to us today, have been born from slave ancestors.—Genesis, chapter 3.

23. How has Satan built up an invisible organization? For what purpose?

²³ Since then Satan the Devil has built up his organization all about the earth. He not only led mankind into rebellion against the Creator but also induced spirits of heaven, angels who were once sons of God and just as holy as man’s “covering cherub” had been, to desert God’s free organization and join that of Satan the Devil. They have become devils or demons and have flooded the earth with demon worship in one form or another. Deceivers that they are, they have led men under the pious idea of worshiping their ancestors into the worshiping of demons instead of worshiping the true God. So the invisible part of Satan’s organization is superhuman and it is utterly impossible for mankind, or any government of mankind, including the United Nations, to break the power of the invisible satanic control and set men free. Resent our saying it as much as they want to, men cannot rid human society and human governments of the dominating influence and interference of Satan the Devil. He has made himself what the sacred Scriptures call him, “the god of this system of things” who blinds men’s minds to the truth. This accounts for the corruption, the decline and the fall of every man-made government that has existed on the face of the earth.—2 Cor. 4:4, NW.

24. How does mankind’s liberation come, by man, by democracy, or by what?

²⁴ Men who lift themselves up and pose as the liberators of the people are deceiving themselves and also those who follow them as leaders. Democracies and people’s republics do not blaze the trail to freedom. It is THEOCRACY, God’s Government, his great Jubilee Kingdom, that is to deliver mankind. It will wrest this earth, God’s creation, from the grasp of the oppressive land baron, Satan the Devil, and will restore earth’s domain and its inhabitants to the sway of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty, as free members of his universal family of intelligent creatures.

BONDAGE OF CORRUPTION

25, 26. Who presented himself as the Apostle of liberty? Who opposed him?

²⁵ But there are other things besides Satan’s organization from which mankind needs to be emancipated. The son of God, “the man Christ Jesus,” plainly pointed out what these things are. He showed, too, how release from them will be brought about. He was not deceiving the people when he presented himself as the Apostle of liberty, but his heavenly Father Jehovah God sent him on this mission to give rest to mankind from all their troubles. He was anointed with his Father’s spirit. So he rightly took upon his lips the prophecy of Isaiah and applied to himself the commission there stated, “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” (Isa. 61:1, 2, AS) He was opposed, no, not specially by the political rulers Pontius Pilate and King Herod, but by the religious oppressors of the people, namely, the priests and their scribes and the religious sects of the Pharisees and Sadducees, clergymen, who, as Jesus said, “bind up heavy loads and put them upon the shoulders of mankind, but they themselves are not willing to budge them with their finger.”—Matt. 23:1-4, NW.

²⁶ To prevent the people’s liberation, these religious opposers wanted to kill Jesus, and he said to them: “You are from your father the Devil and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him.”—John 8:44, NW.

27. To what else did Jesus show the Jews they were slaves?

²⁷ On this same occasion Jesus showed in what way they were slaves who could not escape by their own efforts, and how he must loose them from all enslavers. Yes, they were in the power of Satan the Devil, but they were subject besides to something more personal than the Devil. Slaveholders use lies to get the people in their power. Hence Jesus the Son of God said: “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The Jews showed they felt hurt at this hint that they were slaves. And so Jesus exposed the servitude in which they were by saying: “Most truly I say to you, Every doer of sin is a slave of sin. Moreover, the slave does not remain in the household forever; the son remains forever. Therefore if the Son sets you free, you will be actually free.”—John 8:31-36, NW.

28. Despite their descent and laws, why were they still not free?

²⁸ These words of the Son of God prove that all mankind are slaves of sin, because all are doers of sin. The Jews to whom Jesus spoke were descendants of the faithful patriarch Abraham and God had given them his law through Moses. Because of being descendants of Abraham by his free woman, his wife Sarah, the Jews thought themselves to be free, and not subject to the power of Satan the Devil. Also they tried to establish their own righteousness by keeping the law of Moses, and they had a priesthood under this law to offer animal sacrifices for their sins against the Law; and so they considered themselves righteous and not the slaves of sin. But that very law of Moses, instead of declaring the Jews to be righteous, condemned them as sinners and as being liable to God for punishment for sins. They were sinners like all the rest of the world and their mouths could not brag of self-righteousness. By that law of Moses and its ten great commandments we get the knowledge that we are, not self-righteous, but sinners unable to help ourselves. “Now we know,” says the apostle Paul, “that all the things the Law says it addresses to those under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become liable to God for punishment. Therefore by works of law no flesh will be declared righteous before him, for by law is the accurate knowledge of sin.”—Rom. 3:19, 20, NW.

29. Why are we not slaves of sin and corruption because of God’s creation?

²⁹ How is it, then, that all the world are slaves of sin and in the bondage of corruption? It is not because all the visible, material creation is evil, corrupt, or bad in itself; it is not because the great Creator Jehovah God made man and woman evil at the start. That is an impossibility, for Jehovah God is not the source of sin, imperfection and corruption. Showing us that the fault lies with us and not with Jehovah God, we read: “His work is perfect; for all his ways are justice: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish.” The wise man King Solomon agrees with those words of Moses and says: “Only see this which I have found, that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many contrivances.” (Deut. 32:4, 5, AS; Eccl. 7:29, AT) The inspired account of man’s creation informs us that God made Adam and Eve absolutely perfect, put them in the paradise of Eden, and commanded them to produce perfect children to fill this earth and to spread out their perfect paradise home to the ends of the earth. But before ever producing any children, Adam and Eve joined Satan the Devil in his rebellion and became sinners against their Creator and Lawgiver.

30. How, then, did we all become subject to sin, corruption and Satan?

³⁰ By this they became the slaves of sin, and were driven out of the paradise of Eden into the uncultivated, unsubdued earth. Themselves now slaves of sin, they could not bring forth perfect, righteous children. Hence all of us their descendants were born as slaves to sin. From our birth we were imperfect and subject to corruption. We were also born into the wicked world of Satan the Devil, “the god of this system of things.” Consequently we were born subject to his power.—Gen. 1:26-28; 2:7, 8.

31, 32. (a) What other king has reigned, and why over all of us? (b) Why is life not through the Mosaic law, and so how is it possible?

³¹ Together with these circumstances another merciless king has been ruling over us and we have suffered as his subjects and been burdened down with sorrow and mourning. Who is that king who has filled our lives with such grief and heartaches? It is death, and the countless graves are a bitter testimony to his unrelenting rule. How did death become king over all mankind? It is because our first parents sinned against the great Lawgiver and Life-giver before any of us were born. God had warned the first man Adam that if he disobeyed God and sinned he would die. On the other hand, if Adam continued to obey God he would live on the paradise earth forever and would be the father of an earthful of perfect children. But Adam and his wife sold themselves into sin, and God rightfully sentenced them to death. He told the woman Eve that she would bring forth children with great pain and sorrow. Not perfect children, but imperfect, sinful children, condemned to death from their birth. For we read: “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” (Job 14:4) So we were all subject to the cruel king death from our birth by being born from Adam, and not even the law of Moses proved to be a way of escape from his reign. This explains why everybody is sinful, imperfect, and dies.

³² Hence we read: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned—. For until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not charged against anyone when there is no law. Nevertheless, death ruled as king from Adam down to Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of the transgression by Adam.” But, whereas the law of Moses only showed up all mankind, including the Jews, to be sinners, God’s undeserved kindness came to man’s rescue and provided a way for fallen mankind to gain righteousness, the reward of which is everlasting life in a righteous new world. So we read further: “But where sin abounded, undeserved kindness abounded still more. To what end? That, just as sin ruled as king with death, likewise also undeserved kindness might rule as king through righteousness with everlasting life in view through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Everlasting life in a restored world of righteousness is therefore possible only through Jesus Christ the Son of God. In proof of this fact, the foregoing Scriptural argument goes on to say: “The wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.”—Rom. 5:12-14, 20, 21; 6:23, NW.

THE COST OF LIBERATION

33. In what respects, then, does the Son of God actually set us free?

³³ Now we can appreciate why Jesus Christ the Son of God said: “If the Son sets you free, you will be actually free.” We cannot, and no human government on earth can, free us from the slavery to sin, error, death and Satan the Devil. If the law of Moses failed to do it, then no earthly human government can make us righteous by law and give us a clean standing before God. How, then, can we be freed from the condemnation to death which rests upon us because of being born in sin? Only by what God’s undeserved kindness does for us through his Son Jesus Christ. Only through him can we gain a Jubilee rest from the slavery of sin and death under Satan the Devil. This was foreshadowed by the Jubilee-year arrangement. How?

34. (a) What day did Jubilee begin? (b) What did those sacrifices picture?

³⁴ Mark this important fact about that prophetic law: It was on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, that is to say, “on the day of atonement,” that the Jubilee trumpet was to be blown, not before the sacrifice for the atonement of the people’s sin had been offered, but after. Thus the Jubilee year could not begin until first the sins of the entire people of Israel against the law of God had been atoned for by the sacrifices made at God’s temple by his priests. (Lev. 25:9, AT) Those atonement sacrifices on the atonement day all pictured the one sufficient sacrifice which the “man Christ Jesus” as High Priest would offer to God for the sins of all mankind. This sacrifice was not some lower animal like a bull or a sheep or a goat, but was his own human life; and he presented the value of this human sacrifice, not in the temple in Jerusalem on earth, but in heaven itself, in God’s very presence, for Jehovah God does not reside in man-made temples on earth. On this we read: “He entered, no, not with the blood of goats and of young bulls, but with his own blood, once for all time into the holy place and obtained an everlasting release for us. For Christ entered, not into a holy place made with hands which is a copy of the reality, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the person of God for us.”—Heb. 9:12, 24, NW.

35. How did Jesus die, and how were the benefits of his death not undone?

³⁵ Jesus, who had been born perfect by God’s miraculous power, kept his sinlessness, and he died, not because of sinning, but as a sacrifice. He died at the hands of his religious enemies, because he bore witness to the truth and preached the coming kingdom of God to be the only rightful rule of the earth and the only hope of all mankind. In order that Jesus’ human sacrifice might not be taken back but might remain for mankind’s benefit, God raised his Son Jesus Christ from the dead as a glorified spirit Son, clothed upon with immortal life. Because he had died faithful to Jehovah God’s universal sovereignty, God resurrected him from the dead to be the heavenly King of the new world.—1 Pet. 3:18, 22.

36. So when first could the grand Jubilee begin?

³⁶ From this we can see that the grand Jubilee release for mankind could not really begin until first after the atonement sacrifice that takes away sin had been laid down by God’s High Priest Jesus Christ on earth and had been presented to God in heaven.

37, 38. (a) What year was the Jubilee, and what day was the spirit poured out? (b) Of what liberation was this a proof, and for whom?

³⁷ It is interesting to note this fact: The Jubilee was the fiftieth year. Correspondingly, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead came the Jewish feast of weeks or Pentecost. (Pentecost means “fiftieth day”.) It was on this feast day of Pentecost that the faithful disciples had God’s holy spirit poured out upon them, and they began a great work of preaching and of spiritual liberation.

³⁸ This pouring out of the spirit on them was a visible sign that Jesus Christ had ascended to heaven and entered into God’s presence and offered to him the value of his human sacrifice. It was proof that Jesus Christ was now sitting at God’s right hand in heaven as the great Priest and King like the ancient Melchizedek, who was “priest of the most high God”. (Acts 2:1-36; Gen. 14:18; Heb. 7:1-27) Thus those faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who began to receive the holy spirit on that Pentecostal or Fiftieth day were released from the condemnation of sin and were freed from bondage to Satan the Devil, who is “god of this system of things”. The Holy Scriptures inform us that these anointed disciples who prove faithful till death will finally number 144,000. They, too, are to experience a spiritual resurrection from death, a resurrection to immortal life in heaven, there to reign with their Leader Jesus Christ in his heavenly kingdom of the righteous new world.—Rev. 14:1, 3; 2:26-28; 3:21.

THE GOVERNMENT OF EMANCIPATION

39. Why is this now the time to sound out the news of the Jubilee?

³⁹ Now, after nineteen hundred years in which humanity in general has suffered, groaned and died in servitude to sin, imperfection, selfishness, Satan’s world-wide organization, and death, NOW has come the time to sound out the good news of the great Jubilee of the new world as by a blast on a trumpet. At man’s beginning the great Liberator Jehovah permitted mankind to come under bondage to sin, death and Devil, but he never purposed that mankind should forever continue in such bondage. Away back there in the paradise of Eden immediately after sin had entered into the world through Adam and along with it death and the rule of Satan the deceitful Serpent, Jehovah God sounded out a prophecy of liberation for mankind by a Liberator, the Seed of God’s woman. This Seed of his woman, God prophesied, would bruise or crush the head of the great Serpent, Satan the Devil, the originator of what is evil and bad. (Gen. 3:15) That Seed of God’s woman is his Son Jesus Christ. God is the great Timekeeper, the One who fixes times and seasons and who runs things exactly according to his scheduled time. So he fixed a definite time for Satan’s rule to end. That meant he also fixed a set time for himself to rule over the earth by his promised kingdom. We are now in the “time of the end” of Satan’s rule. It began some thirty years ago, in 1914. That date can be determined by the time schedule in God’s Book, the Bible.

40, 41. (a) Why did 1914 mark the time for God’s kingdom? (b) What evidences have we it began there and we are at the world’s end?

⁴⁰ There the “appointed times of the nations” ran out, because those nations are subject to Satan the Devil and are oppressors of God’s people. The nations, subject to the devilish enslaver, have misruled the earth and failed to bring liberation to the oppressed people. As their “appointed times” of power expired in 1914, the time then arrived for God the Creator to resume his power over the earth, his creation, the same as over all the rest of the universe. (Luke 21:24, NW) This he did by installing his kingdom in the heavens for the government of the earth and its peoples from then on, and this government he put in the hands of his anointed King, Jesus Christ. There need be no uncertainty about this in any honest person’s mind. Shortly before his sacrificial death Jesus foretold the sign which was to give evidence that we were in the “time of the end”, in the “consummation of this system of things”, and that the accomplished end of this oppressive world of slavery was drawing near. We now see the sign. Every informed person knows the world’s history since 1914. It began with the first total war, whole nation ranged against whole nation, entire kingdom against entire kingdom.

⁴¹ This first world war was attended by the horrors of food shortages, pestilence, earthquakes, violent persecution of true Christians who are heirs of God’s kingdom, failure of all peace efforts and peace alliances, rising fears of the nations with no knowledge of the way out by human means. ALL these experiences of this generation were foretold by Jesus Christ as stamping our time the “time of the end” of Satan’s world and the time for God’s kingdom to rule in the midst of all its enemies seen and unseen. Jesus said: “When you see these things occurring, know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, This generation will by no means pass away until all things occur.”—Luke 21:31, 32, NW.

42. What is therefore at hand for mankind’s emancipation?

⁴² God’s kingdom by his Son Jesus Christ is the one and only government of liberation. The great atonement sacrifice of Christ Jesus the High Priest has been presented in heaven, and during the past nineteen centuries his faithful followers have received the benefits of it through faith. Now in addition Jehovah’s theocratic government with Christ as King has been established. As the people’s emancipator it must completely destroy the Devil’s world organization, visible and invisible, and bring it to a complete end. This it will do at the universal war of Armageddon, the final battle toward which all the nations are now being marched under the influence of Satan and his demons.—Rev. 16:14-16.

43, 44. (a) How did Jesus foretell the Jubilee proclamation now? (b) What does its proclamation prove?

⁴³ With the covering of mankind’s sins now possible through Christ’s sacrifice and with God’s kingdom now set up, NOW is the time for proclamation of the Jubilee for all mankind to be blasted forth. Who is to proclaim it? Christ’s anointed followers and all persons of good will who receive the message with faith and joy. Jesus said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.”

⁴⁴ Jesus included this preaching of the Kingdom to all nations among the many features of the sign which would mark the “time of the end” and the time of his presence in the Kingdom. In a notable way since 1919 this good news of God’s established kingdom has been preached by Jehovah’s witnesses everywhere on earth to all nations. Every year this Kingdom witness increases in spite of religious, political, judicial and military opposition and persecution. Here, then, we have another powerful visible proof that the Kingdom for mankind’s emancipation is in power, ruling now in the midst of its enemies before it destroys them at Armageddon.—Matt. 24:3-14, NW; Mark 13:4-9; Luke 21:7-28.

45. (a) Where and how will the power of the enslavers be smashed? (b) What must liberty-lovers therefore now do?

⁴⁵ When the Kingdom witness, the modern-day sounding of the Jubilee trumpet, has been given everywhere to the extent that God has decreed, then at his own appointed day and hour the battle of Armageddon will come suddenly like a thief upon Satan’s world. Its enslaving control over this earth and its inhabitants will be smashed and forever removed. All who continue in willful slavery to it will be destroyed with it. For this reason it is that NOW the Jubilee trumpet must be sounded by giving the witness to God’s kingdom, the government of everlasting life in a free new world. By the power of the truth concerning God’s kingdom the people of good will who hear the Jubilee trumpet must make their break for liberty from Satan’s world of slavery. They must flee to God’s kingdom as the rightful government of all mankind, the one and only answer to the prayer Jesus taught us, “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:9, 10, NW) He also assured us, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” He said, too, that God’s Word in the Holy Bible is the truth. (John 17:17) So now in this short period before Armageddon listen to the Jubilee proclamation, learn the truth, and then act upon it without further delay, that you may gain your freedom. Then, as free men and women, join your forces world-wide to “proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof”. By that course you may live through Armageddon and never die!

46. How will the new world complete mankind’s liberation?

⁴⁶ The righteous war of God at Armageddon will free mankind of Satan’s domination. Then the new world will begin and will complete mankind’s liberation. King Death will reign no more, but all the sinful effects of our birth from Adam which brought death will be removed from all those who obey God’s kingdom. Yes, death will be forced to release those whom it holds lifeless in the graves, for Christ Jesus will utter his voice and all those in the graves will hear his voice and come out. All will be taught the righteous requirements and the truth of the Most High God, and all the obedient will be lifted out of their sinful, imperfect condition to perfect manhood and womanhood.

47. To correspond with the Jubilee, what will be done with the land?

⁴⁷ Forever it remains true, “The earth is Jehovah’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Ps. 24:1, AS) No more will greedy land barons monopolize the land, or wars for territorial expansion and for natural resources rage and ruin the earth’s surface and reduce the people to homeless poverty. Nor will soil erosion and exhaustion lay the land desolate and uninhabitable. The King Christ Jesus will allot each faithful subject a place in the earth to cultivate and enjoy to Jehovah the great Landowner’s pleasure. Under divine blessing the earth will become most fertile and will yield plenty for all human needs. Paradise will become an earth-wide reality.

48. How will mankind gain the right to everlasting life?

⁴⁸ The benefits of his perfect human sacrifice Christ Jesus the King will bestow upon all his obedient subjects, to fulfill the prophecy, “His name shall be called . . . Everlasting Father.” (Isa. 9:6, AS) Those who then prove their allegiance to the universal sovereignty of Jehovah and to his King will be declared worthy of the right to everlasting life in the endless world of peace, health and happiness.

49. Thus what word which God has given will he vindicate?

⁴⁹ Here, then, the great heavenly Liberator, Jehovah God, will vindicate the word which he has given, “that the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:21, NW) Let the glorious good news of this liberty now at hand be loudly proclaimed throughout all the land to all of earth’s inhabitants. Do your part.

They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it. For all the peoples walk every one in the name of his god; and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and ever.—Mic. 4:4, 5, AS.

Theocracy’s Increase in Southeast Asia

A report by N. H. Knorr, president of the Society

ABOARD the KLM Constellation Milton Henschel and I had a few moments to reflect on what we had seen in Singapore and the enjoyable days spent there, but our attention was drawn away by thoughts of Thailand (Siam) and what we might expect there. Our plane was behind schedule and we hoped our brothers in Thailand would wait for our arrival. The flight was smooth and there was nothing below but the waters of the Gulf of Siam. Darkness settled down upon us and it was 9 p.m. when the “Holland” came to a stop at Don Muang airport, 13 miles from Bangkok, capital city of Thailand. At first we could not see the faces of the people we saw standing behind the fence at the terminal, but when we walked nearby we recognized the graduates of Gilead and many of the Thai publishers we had met four years ago. There were about thirty in all who met us. It took considerable time to clear customs on account of the fact that some Chinese passengers had dutiable articles in their possession and they were ahead of us. But our brothers patiently waited for us and when we cleared we shook their hands and got into the cars that awaited.

On the way into the city we passed several road blocks. While it is true that there is no war in Thailand, still for security reasons travelers at night are checked. On our way the branch servant, Brother Babinski, told us that they, from the time they first heard of the proposed visit of the president of the Society to the Far East, had looked forward to it with keen anticipation and began early preparations. We were to arrive on April 4 and now that date had come. The brothers were happy because the time for their assembly to open had arrived.

The assembly was well organized. A miniature stage with a white picket fence was prepared on the Society’s grounds, patterned after the style of the one at the Theocracy’s Increase Assembly in New York in 1950. All of our evening meetings were held outside, this being much more pleasant than indoors, as April is the hottest month in Thailand. There was always a breeze following sunset. Pressure lamps were provided for lighting, because the output by the power company is rather weak and all lights are dim. Some sessions were in the Kingdom Hall, which is located on the Society’s property and was repainted for the occasion.

The publishers put on the biggest advertising campaign ever launched for the Theocracy in Thailand. Weeks in advance articles began appearing in the leading English, Thai and Chinese newspapers relative to the Society’s work and the coming visit of the Society’s president. Thirty thousand attractive two-color handbills were printed for the public lecture, “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land,” to be given on April 8, and ten thousand of these were given to the newspapers to be inserted between the pages of the papers a few days before the lecture. This was done. The remainder of the folders were distributed to the homes and on the streets. In addition, three large banner signs were prepared and hung in busy parts of the city.

An entirely new advertising feature was introduced into Thailand, namely, advertising by publishers wearing placards on the streets in the busiest sections of the city. The traffic of cars, jeeps, buses and tricycles, as well as pedestrians, is so heavy in Bangkok that the streets are logically the best place to advertise. Most of the publishers were apprehensive as to how this feature of the work would go, but all co-operated very willingly and they found it gave a tremendous and unusual witness. Furthermore, large car signs were prepared and those who had cars mounted these on top. One side of the signs announced the lecture in Thai, and the other in English, and this too gave a striking witness.

Another part of the preliminary work was the mailing of more than one thousand letters of invitation to magazine subscribers, and many letters were also handed to interested persons by the publishers. Several Thai newspapers published articles labeling our work communism. By doing so they just showed their ignorance and revealed what a poor standard of reporting they have. They prefer sensationalism and lies in order to sell papers. But the truth cannot be hurt by such public statements, and so it is best to ignore them. They also published pictures of our brothers on the streets wearing placards, as “proof” of their statements. Preaching the good news is our work, and so we keep it up no matter what the papers and religionists say. We cannot be sidetracked by worrying over what the misinformed or haters of truth say. The reliable papers, the best ones in Bangkok, gave truthful reports of our work and we appreciated that. All the publishers joined in the work. Those from faraway North Siam had a big share in the advertising work.

The physical needs of the brothers were not forgotten either, and a cafeteria was set up at the branch. So the publishers were able to obtain their meals right at the convention. They found the shade of the trees in the yard very comfortable as they used woven mats for a table, while sitting on the grass.

As the convention began Friday, April 6, the usual Friday service meeting was pushed forward to Thursday evening, and that marked the beginning of the big feast all were to enjoy during the next several days. This meeting was very enjoyable in that two demonstrations were given entirely in the Thai language by some of the missionaries, graduates of Gilead School, even though they had been in the country but a short time. It should be noted that Thai is a very difficult language for foreigners, as it contains 32 vowels and 44 consonants and it has 5 tones. Brother Burkhart demonstrated how to begin a study in the Thai Watchtower and Brothers Ross and Stallard gave a street-witnessing demonstration. Brothers Burkhart and Stallard have been in the country only fourteen months, but because of their good pronunciation many they witness to in Cheingmai ask them if they were born in Thailand. It was a surprise to me to hear these brothers do so well.

BANGKOK CONVENTION

Friday morning at nine o’clock the convention officially opened and a large group assembled for field service. During the afternoon the publishers went out into the placard-walking and leaflet-distributing work. On Friday evening the branch servant gave a brief address of welcome in Thai. Brother Henschel followed with a discourse on maintaining godly devotion, and then I spoke on divine healing. Both talks received close attention.

Saturday began with a pantomime acted out by two Thai pioneers and two missionaries, Brothers Burkhart and Laakso. The demonstration had seven scenes, beginning with one publisher offering a magazine on a street corner and ending with two publishers on the same street corner about two months later—a 100 per cent increase—the new publisher being the one who had taken the magazine on the street two months before.

After morning field service there were three 15-minute talks to begin the afternoon, by Brothers Ross and Thomas and a Thai publisher. After further field service the conventioners assembled for the evening session. At that time Brother Gruber, a graduate of Gilead, handled the whole program in the Thai language. It began with singing songs in Thai, a feature much enjoyed at all the sessions, followed by two personal experiences from former Buddhists as to how they came into the truth. They said they had been Buddhists from birth and Buddhism had been deeply implanted in them; in fact one had been a nun. They had considered Buddhism by far the superior religion. First when the publishers called they did not believe the message, but after repeated back-calls and many Bible studies they came to see that Bible knowledge was more powerful and life-giving than Buddhist teachings and doctrines, and that life could come only from Jehovah through Christ Jesus. Both expressed great gladness at knowing the truth, which they said they would never forsake. It was most thrilling to hear these testimonies, because up till now it has been a rare thing for real Buddhists to come into the truth. Not only do we have some Buddhists now in the truth, but they are very enthusiastic about it. They are thirsting for more Bible knowledge and make good students. None of us can ever let up on our study of God’s Word, and they appreciate that now. Following this, Brother Henschel gave a strengthening talk on preaching in spite of opposition, followed by my talk.

Sunday brought the climax of the three-day assembly, and it began with a baptismal discourse by Brother Burkhart, the circuit servant. It was very gratifying to see eight persons sitting in the front row as immersion candidates, most of them former Buddhists. To the speaker’s question “Do you agree to serve Jehovah God throughout all eternity?” they gave the interesting reply in Thai, “rup-rong”—that is, they guaranteed they would. Following this talk there was a very pleasant baptismal service in a nearby pond. The sisters wore sarongs.

The site of the public meeting was the auditorium of the University of Political and Moral Sciences. It is a large plant with many buildings, this school of higher learning, and it faces the famous Chao Phya river on the east bank. Law is one of the principal subjects. By 3 p.m. people began arriving, but we found that there was nobody to open the doors. This was so in spite of the fact that the University had been hired from 2 to 6 p.m. and had been promised with everything in readiness for the meeting. So for the next one and a half hours there was much hurrying and scurrying to find someone who had the authority to open the auditorium. A few minutes before 4 p.m. the janitor was located, but he refused to open the doors, because, he said, he knew nothing about the lecture. But we insisted that he telephone the secretary-general of the University; and he gave permission for the doors to be opened. About fifteen minutes before 4 p.m. I told Brother Babinski that if we could not gain admittance I was ready to speak to the waiting audience on the University grounds, under the large bo tree nearby, which is considered sacred by worshipers of Buddha. It would provide wonderful shade, and there along the river would be a place just as good to give the talk on liberty as inside the school. But we did not have to resort to that.

As soon as the doors were opened the people rushed in. A few of the seats were in place, which were quickly filled, but other seats had to be moved into proper position. We began a little late because of arranging of seats, opening windows and getting things in order. Early in the lecture I showed the difference between communism and democracy. This made it clear to the audience that we were not propagating communism as some of the newspapers had claimed. As I continued and began mentioning the name of Jesus, several groups filed out noisily, as though the name of Jesus was distasteful to them. But though some left, their seats were soon taken by others who kept on coming in. The audience listened attentively to the end of the one-and-a-half-hour lecture, which was interpreted into Thai at the same time. It was a varied audience, including businessmen, doctors, government officials, students, 7 Buddhist priests, Europeans and Chinese, in addition to the main body of Thai people. The attendance count was 367, and 300 booklets were given away free at the end of the lecture. This was Bangkok’s biggest public lecture attendance for Jehovah’s witnesses to date, and all the brothers were pleased with this witness.

Following the public lecture we again assembled on the grounds of the branch office and missionary home and the evening session began with Brother Powell giving a field experience in the Thai language, followed by a 20-minute coverage of The Watchtower. Brother Henschel followed with an hour talk on the pioneer service and I concluded with a coverage of our trip through the Pacific area, Australia and the Far East, ending with words of appreciation for the increase of the work in Thailand. I was very happy that Thailand had attained its 35 per cent increase in peak number of publishers, and I told the assembly it was the first country on this trip that had attained that goal and very likely Thailand would do even better before the year ends.

As to preaching the gospel in Thailand, an excellent increase was made since my last visit. In 1947 they reached a peak of 31 publishers, and now in March 1951 they had gone up to 119.

There are a number of Thai brothers and sisters that have taken up the pioneer work, too, in addition to the graduates of Gilead. Two sisters are on their way to the south of Thailand to begin work where there are no publishers and open up new territory. They were put on the special pioneer list to aid them in meeting their expenses. These two pioneers were very enthusiastic about the idea of leaving Bangkok and going into new territory, and the convention was a great stimulus to many in this regard.

BUDDHISM

New publications are being prepared in the Thai language. They already have “Let God Be True”, which has been a great aid in conducting studies in the homes of the people, and the new book “This Means Everlasting Life” is about one-third translated. These new publications will greatly aid the Thai people to grasp the knowledge of the truth and see the difference between Buddhism and the kingdom of God. The Buddhists have the idea that in a very short time great changes will take place in the earth and there will be a thousand-year reign of blessings. So it takes great patience on the part of the publishers to show them that the things they believe are different from that which is set forth in God’s Word, the Bible. The general conception of the Buddhist is that the body in which they reside is an unnecessary thing, and they do not have any great longing for life. At least that is the way they are taught. But there are some Buddhists that really desire to live and they love life, but their religion teaches them not to love life. The majority of the people look forward to death’s coming in the natural way. Nirvana is their ultimate goal, and the priests that go about in their yellow robes believe that their next step in life when they get rid of this fleshly organism will be nirvana. Then there will be no work, thinking, action, nor material things. They think they become a sort of nothing, and that is what they are striving for. The Devil has injected into their minds some peculiar beliefs and the Buddhist ideas are hard to understand. Why one should not want to live when he has the opportunity seems strange. It shows that he has no conception of the great Creator Jehovah, who is life and has given life to man. But a peculiar thing exists even among these millions of people that follow Buddha’s teachings—they have drugstores and doctors and when people become ill they try to get better. They are not really sure of their future. Even though they are not to love life they try to keep their old frame together just as long as they can. When a Buddhist receives the truth and accepts it he certainly sheds a lot of weights and cares and then he sees that life is worth living and he can enjoy it. How many Buddhists will show their desire to serve God is hard to guess, but Jehovah’s witnesses have the command from the Lord to go and disciple all nations and to preach the good news in all the world for a witness, and that is what they are doing in Thailand and many other parts of the world regardless of the beliefs of the individuals. If once the message is preached to the people the responsibility becomes theirs to accept or reject it. It can be said that the people of Bangkok and Chiengmai and some other cities where Jehovah’s witnesses are located know of the work and know what we are teaching, and if they are of good will and are seeking after truth and righteousness the organization is there to aid and teach and show them the way to go.

Monday following the convention we had the opportunity to see some of the territory that the missionaries and local publishers have not yet worked. We took a ride in a launch through some of the klongs (canals) that are the highways for many of Thailand’s people. We began at the edge of the river Chao Phya right in the heart of Bangkok near our hotel. The Gilead graduates were all with us. The river is a very busy artery of Thailand’s traffic and all types of craft may be seen. Steamers from the oceans enter the mouth of the river and dock at Bangkok. There are tugboats and sampans. Barges are used extensively for hauling wood, rice, coconuts and other products of the land. We went north past the rice grain elevators and under the new Memorial bridge and then we routed westward up one of the major klongs in Bangkok. Along the sides were the venders in their dugout boats, selling drinks, food, vegetables, or ice cream. There were sawmills and weaving mills. We saw yards of native cloth that had just been dyed hanging up to dry. Homes were built right beside the klong, with steps leading down into the water. People were taking a bath or doing laundry in water that looked very uninviting, to say the least. Often we would come to a wat (temple), many of which were quite run down and in need of repair. We saw few people worshiping and we inquired to learn whether the people were forsaking Buddhism, but it seems they choose to build new temples rather than keep the small ones going. They were a fitting symbol of decadent demon worship.

An interesting item on the way was the sight of the little houses set atop a post in front of the homes of the people. These, we were told, are devil houses and they are erected before the people build a house in order to provide a place for the spirits so the spirits will not come and live in their house with the people. The people are very superstitious and often they put food in these houses to keep the evil spirits contented. When the ants eat the food the people see it disappear and think it has been taken by the devils. Sometimes these little houses are very nicely painted and well kept, but other times they are not looked after.

On the few klongs that we saw thousands of people live. We were told that almost all of the people in Thailand can read and write their own language, including the ones who lived as the people we saw; so there is a big field for the distribution of theocratic publications in that country. But more publishers will have to be found to reach all the people.

We enjoyed our visit to Bangkok. The spirit of the publishers is good and the progress of the work is encouraging. In addition, Bangkok is the kind of city one would dream about if he were going to dream of the Orient, for here you find the great temples of Buddha sticking up all through the city and the pomp and magnificence of royalty. Gold leaf decorates the roofs of many a temple and great ugly statues “guard” the entry places. Huge Buddhas have been erected and altars burn sweet incense that is carried on the breeze far from the temples. Some temples contain fabulous jewels. It has the touch of the East of the storybooks. Evidently their religion was the greatest power in the land over the people in years gone by, but many of the people now appear to be putting commerce and politics first and they are interested in the ways of the West. It is a land of plenty, however, and many of the country people credit Buddha with giving them such a wonderful land that they never worry about starvation. They realize, of course, that mighty and powerful nations are now at work in the world and as in other places there is not the absolute feeling of security. The present crisis in the Orient has favored Thailand, for she has the rice to feed millions more than there are subjects in the country and many business establishments from abroad have made headquarters in Bangkok. Things are more normal in Thailand than in other points of the Far East, but the people have reminders with them that not long ago war struck their land, for bridges that were bombed and gutted temples are there to say trouble may come again. This may cause some of the people to look for the truth.

ON TO BURMA

The peak of the heat of the day comes just past noon and it was at that time we were to report to Don Muang for our hop to Burma. Our brothers went to the airport with us and showed much consideration by going at that time. It was the afternoon of April 10 and we were to take off at 2 p.m. But the plane was held up awaiting the arrival of a late plane carrying passengers who were to make connections to go into Burma. That meant we had an extended visit with the publishers who accompanied us to the airport and our wait was thus made pleasant in spite of the heat.

At 4 p.m. it was announced that our departure would occur. Leaving this group would be different in that we would not be leaving them for many years, because in a few days we were going to come back and spend another twelve hours with them en route to Hong Kong. So it was just a good-by for three days.

As we flew away we saw the brown, parched, cracked land of the rice paddies; it was the dry season. Just a few green things could be seen along the shores of the rivers and many canals. In a few months there would be monsoon rains and plenty of mud, and rice planting would begin. Over the level plain we flew and then came the mountains which separate Thailand and Burma. We went straight west until we came to the coast of Burma, and then took a northerly direction toward Rangoon. Flying brought a brief taste of cool air, but when we landed and that closed-in cabin soaked up the sun’s rays we felt the heat more than ever.

Worldly Knowledge versus God’s

I finally arrived in New York city, and then by bus and taxi over to Paterson, New Jersey, and the home of my niece and her husband. I was anxious to give them a good witness concerning the kingdom of Jehovah; and after dinner, as we were all comfortably seated in their beautiful living room, the husband gave me the opening. So I told them of the three worlds, the Bible proof regarding the times in which we are living, that this gospel of the Kingdom had to be preached, about the kingdom for which all Christians had been praying, etc.

The next day we visited the new factory of the Watchtower Society and saw their new Bethel home. The four of us were simply overcome with amazement at the functioning of this factory. The husband, being an engineer himself, fully appreciated what a wonderful organization the Society has there. After completing the tour through the plant and returning to the office, he procured a number of Bible aids, including subscriptions for the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Next we visited the new Bethel home, which houses the Watchtower workers. The modern equipment in the kitchen, the laundry, and the beautiful murals were most impressive. I was never so happy in all my life as to see all these things myself, and to see the impressions they made on our party. I know that God blessed them with the privilege of receiving the truth.

This man is one of the famous doctors who gave Nuclear 238, the Atomic bomb, to the United States government. He cannot sleep nights for thinking how much misery his invention and discovery has caused. He is through with it all. He has received many honors from Congress, but knows now that he has been serving the Devil. From here on out he is going to study the Bible.

I asked him, “Can you see why these brothers and sisters, ministers all, of the gospel of the Kingdom, stand on the street corners, all over the world, with the Watchtower and Awake! magazines?” “Uncle John,” he said, putting his hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eye, “God grant that I myself someday in the near future may be good enough to secure this privilege, to be his servant in public. I have much to overcome, but I surely know that these people are blessed and true.”—J. J., Colorado.

The Watchtower

“THERE is a large building at 117 Adams street, Brooklyn, which the editor of Islaah visited last week. What he told us about it is as follows:

“This building belongs to Jehovah’s witnesses and is where the Awake! and Watchtower magazines are printed. It has nine stories, and thus is well equipped to prepare and publish those two magazines as well as other books which the directors of the movement think should be done so men might know that what they believe is the truth inspired by God in the Bible.

“Not being in position to discuss religious views, but only to describe what we have seen, we give the following points. On each floor there are various workers and the needed instruments and tools to accomplish different kinds of work. Not only did we see the latest modern machinery in operation, but we observed those young men working there in complete order, with joy for what they were doing. Yes, their love for their work and their wholehearted devotion to do it well and perfect it were things we felt the effect of more than the big machines which one looks at with admiration and awe.

“After this we visited another building called ‘Bethel’, located at 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn. This is the home of those workers we saw at the ‘Watchtower’ building. We asked one of them about the wages they get, and he said $12 a month for each one, with his room and board. After having our supper we gave an elementary lesson in Arabic to some students who will go to Arabian countries to serve and witness to Jehovah, to whom they have consecrated their education, knowledge and efforts—even their lives.

“What amazes the visitor in both buildings is the spirit of satisfaction and contentment, rather the conviction that prevails over all of them. There you see doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, builders, cooks, translators of divers languages, and all kinds of workers going according to one system as happy children obeying the instructions of their parents—nothing worries them except doing the work they are given, every one within his capacity and with honesty and sincerity.

“Although these workers work in ‘The Watchtower’ and live in ‘Bethel’ (meaning ‘house of God’), yet there is no supervision over them whatsoever, no leader, no ‘great man’ to be extolled or honored, because they all believe that God is the best watcher and supervisor over them, and they ‘by their deeds’ are his best witnesses.”—From March 5, 1951, issue of Islaah, and written by the Roman Catholic priest who edits this Arabic triweekly, of New York city.

Fearless Testimony Rewarded

● I tried to obtain school buildings and other available places for our public meeting series, but after explaining the nature of our work I was turned down at each place. As a last resort I called on the local judge and requested permission to use the courtroom for our public lectures. After a lively discussion concerning the nature of our work the judge said: “Are you not connected with that sect whose members refuse to fight for their country and whose children refuse to salute the flag? And you have the nerve to come and ask for my courtroom to hold meetings to instruct the people in such things?” I frankly called his attention to the Lord’s message and the dividing of the people, read a few excerpts from the booklet God and the State concerning the stand that Jehovah’s witnesses have taken, and then mentioned that Jehovah’s witnesses are law-abiding citizens who have the greatest respect for the laws of the United States and the principles for which the flag stands. After a brief silence the judge exclaimed: “You seem to be earnest enough in your convictions, therefore I will not make a hasty decision regarding your request. Write a letter stating the reason for the use of the courtroom and I will take it up with the county authority.” The letter was written and sent. Result? Courtroom obtained; attendance, first meeting, 53; second meeting, 75.—C. J., Virginia.

Constantine’s “Sign of the Cross”

WORSHIP today of the so-called cross of Christ leans heavily for support on the story told about Constantine the Great as he set out to conquer the world. It seems he had a vision, then a dream, then a victory, and subsequently was “converted” to Christianity, and all this was due, it is said, to the miraculous power of Christ’s cross.

In the year 312, Constantine, who at the time was emperor of what is now known as France and Britain, set out with his army to war against Maxentius, then emperor of Italy, and who, incidentally, was the brother of Constantine’s wife. Somewhere along the way one day, at about high noon, Constantine was amazed to see in the sky a pillar of light in the form of a cross on which was written Hoc Vince, meaning “By this, Conquer”.

The following night, so the story goes, Jesus Christ himself appeared to Constantine while he was asleep, and told him to make a banner bearing this heavenly cross and to carry it at the head of his army, for it was to be a token or sign of victory. This he did, and, besides, had the monogram cross painted on the shields of his warriors before the final and decisive battle at the Milvian Bridge near Rome where Maxentius was killed.

On the face of it there are many things about this story that seem incredible. But when the honest seeker after the truth digs into the historical facts in search for authenticity, one is simply amazed that anyone calling himself a Christian would put any credence in this purely pagan fable. First of all, the story is based only on the ancient writings of Eusebius, Lactantius and a few others, and all of these violently contradict one another. True, many famed writers of history since their day have rewritten the story, but their strained efforts to iron out the conflicting defects are purely conjectural guesswork and hence of no authentic worth.

To begin with, take the simple matter of time and place where Constantine is supposed to have had his vision and dream. Eusebius in his Life of Constantine (L. ii, c. 28, p. 410) states in no uncertain language that the emperor determined to go to war with Maxentius only after he had seen the cross, after he had had the dream, and after he had set the crossbearing banner at the head of his army. Now all historians agree that Constantine determined to wage war on Maxentius while he was still in Gaul, now called France, and before he had crossed the Alps. So Eusebius definitely places the “miracle” north of the Alps. However, Lactantius, with as much authority, says in his treatise, De Mortibus Persecutorum (c. 44, p. 999), that Constantine got his vision and dream after he had crossed the Alps and just before the decisive battle near Rome. Whom, then, are we to believe?

WAS THE VISION FROM THE LORD?

Passing over this discrepancy to more important questions, one must consider who this man Constantine was to whom it is said the Lord bestowed this singular favor. Prior to receiving the vision Constantine had lived the life of a soldier. Killing people was his business and in this enterprise he was very successful. Publicly, he had distinguished himself on the battlefield, first as a soldier and then as a general, and in his private life he had murdered his own father-in-law, Maximian Herculius.

Religiously, Constantine was a worshiper of the sun, like other pagans of his day. Apollo was his “patron saint”. It may be related, for example, that after putting down rebellion among the Franks in the year 308, he went immediately to the temple of Apollo and offered up gifts and prayers of thanksgiving to that pagan god.

Now to such a man, we are supposed to believe, the Lord gave exceeding precious privileges and blessings. What, then, were the results? Did Constantine demonstrate that he did such things in ignorance and was at heart really an honest and sincere man? Did this soldier follow the course of the centurion Cornelius, make a consecration to God and symbolize it by being baptized? (Acts 10) Did Constantine immediately reform, turn about, abandon his old course and become a true Christian and faithful follower of Jesus’ example? Did he do all of this and besides enter the field of gospel-preaching in imitation of Saul who became Paul the apostle? (Acts 9) Did he give up his emperorship and abandon this old world which is under the overlordship of the Devil, even as all true Christians must do?—Jas. 4:4; John 15:19; Luke 4:5-8.

No! is the emphatic answer to these questions, an answer that fairly screams from the pages of history. Instead of abandoning his former course of iniquity Constantine simply enlarged his field of activity, increased his appetite for conquest, and expanded his business of killing people. His pride, high-mindedness and arrogance ripened to the full. Like the avaricious dictators of modern times, he coveted world domination in the worst way and was not content until he was sole ruler of the Western world.

Constantine’s sideline was a sort of “Murder, Inc.”, a hobby with him, out of which he seemed to get a special joy. Of his known murders, his father-in-law headed the list. His second victim, the first after seeing the vision of the cross, was his sister Anastasia’s husband, Bassianus by name. Next he killed his 12-year-old nephew, Licinianus, the son of his sister Constantina. His wife, Fausta, he killed in a bath of boiling water. Next was a friend named Sopater. Then his sister Constantina’s husband, Licinius, he murdered. Number seven on the list was his own son, his firstborn, Crispus, whom he beheaded.

People in their gross ignorance may call Constantine a “Christian”; they call the butcher Franco a “fine Christian gentleman”; but, praise be to God, none of such murderers will ever enter the kingdom of the new world! (Gal. 5:21; 1 Pet. 4:15; 1 John 3:15; Rev. 21:8; 22:15) So, if there were no further proof than this, the claim that Constantine was “converted” to Christianity falls flat. He was a son of the Devil.—John 8:44.

ONLY A FICTITIOUS CHRISTIAN

Apologists who attempt to defend Constantine’s “Christian” qualities overlook and excuse his monstrous crimes as due to mere human frailty and weakness. They tear down Maxentius as a tyrant, and Maximian, the Eastern emperor, they portray as a cruel persecutor of Christians. The other emperor, Licinius, they charge with treachery and double-crossing. This accomplished, they then build up Constantine and justify his liquidation of the other emperors, and thus robe and crown him as a savior and deliverer, a chosen vessel of the Lord. With triumphant jubilation they hail his victorious edicts issued from Rome in favor of Christians as proof conclusive of his conversion through the power of the cross. Such specious arguments, however, demand closer examination.

Constantine’s highly advertised edicts in favor of the so-called Christians offer absolutely no proof that the man had been converted. Long before he saw the apparition in the sky he had proclaimed similar laws throughout Gaul. His edicts issued after Rome’s capture were therefore only an extension of a policy he had already established, and which was like the one fashioned by his father, who was in no sense a Christian. Be it noted, this policy did not raise up and exalt apostate Christianity above the other religions and at their expense. The same freedom, privileges and favors granted to the so-called Christians were extended to all the other sects. It is therefore very apparent that the motive behind this shrewd politician’s middle-of-the-road policy was to strengthen his own power and domination over the religiously divided Roman empire.

To say that the vision of the cross, or the dream that followed, in any way turned this profane imperial dictator away from his pagan ways is to deny and contradict all the facts in the case. After this pagan became supreme ruler, “as pontifex maximus he [Constantine] watched over the heathen worship and protected its rights.” (Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4, p. 299) Seven years after the vision Constantine the pagan issued laws protecting the demon-worshiping soothsayers. Eight years after the vision this pagan decreed that if lightning struck a public building or an imperial palace the officials were to consult the soothsayers and heathen diviners as to what the significance of the omen was, and then send him their report. Nine years after his vision this confirmed pagan dedicated one day of the week for special worship of the sun, dies solis, or “Sunday”.

And eighteen years after supposedly being converted by the vision, he had the city of Constantinople dedicated to his own honor with a great display of heathen pageantry, concerning which the Catholic Encyclopedia (vol. 4, p. 299) says: “The chariot of the sun-god was set in the market-place, and over its head was placed the Cross of Christ [that phallic symbol of pagan origin], while the Kyrie Eleison [another relic of the pagans according to Cardinal Newman] was sung.”

VISION FROM THE DEVIL

The idea that the Lord God Almighty commanded Constantine to make a military banner and go forth conquering in such a sign is wholly inconsistent and contrary to God’s Word of truth. God takes no sides in the conflicts between dictators of this old world, whose god is the Devil. (2 Cor. 4:4) “My kingdom is not of this world,” declared Christ.—John 18:36.

Did the individual who is said to have appeared to dreamer Constantine command him to abandon his pagan ways, forsake his murderous course, and refrain from his proud and wanton living? Did he tell Constantine to give up the sword lest he perish by the sword? (Matt. 26:52) Did he point out that God’s heavenly kingdom is mankind’s only hope? He did not!

The eminent historian, J. L. von Mosheim warns against such demonic impersonators. “Let us beware,” he says, “lest by too eager defence of the miracles told us by the ancients in their age, we should do injustice to the majesty of God, and to the most holy religion which teaches us to subdue ourselves, not our enemies.”—Mosheim’s Historical Commentaries on the State of Christianity, Murdock’s trans., 1853, vol. 2, p. 478.

Had God shown Constantine a sign in the heavens to represent the instrument upon which His beloved Son had been put to death, he would have shown him a simple torture stake and not a phallic cross used by the sex-worshiping heathen. In our issue of The Watchtower, November 1, 1950, much proof was given to show that Christ was hung on an upright stake without any crossbars, whereas the cross in its various forms was shown to be the emblem worshiped by all the ancient pagans as a filthy symbol of life.

The historian Edward Gibbon, in questioning the authenticity of the story in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 20, says: “If the eyes of the spectators have sometimes been deceived by fraud, the understanding of the readers has much more frequently been insulted by fiction. Every event, or appearance, or accident, which seems to deviate from the ordinary course of nature, has been rashly ascribed to the immediate action of the Deity; and the astonished fancy of the multitude has sometimes given shape and color, language and motion, to the fleeting but uncommon meteors of the air.”

Taking advantage of this superstitious trait of ignorant men, the Devil causes those who worship him to communicate with the unseen demon forces. In ancient times the pagans always consulted their demon gods before every major undertaking. It was a common thing for them to see visions and have dreams like those of Constantine. A modern case in illustration is that of demonized Hitler, who also saw in his mad dreams a vision of a cross, the swastika, which he interpreted to be the sign by which he should conquer the world.

But to say that such visions originate from the Lord God Almighty is wicked blasphemy of his great and holy name. This claim Constantine made, not at the time, but many years later, when he got around to uniting the degenerate Christianity of his day with all the pagan customs, beliefs and superstitions, to form what has since been known as the Roman Catholic church. It was then that he intimated to Eusebius, a bishop in his church-state setup, that this apparition he had seen many years prior could just as well be labeled “Christian” as pagan, and so it was. Hence, only the tag on this tale resembles Christianity.

Experience from Quebec City

During his sickness, Brother Bilodeau was visited almost like the faithful Job. His brothers, sisters, priests, Franciscan Fathers, Jesuits, nuns and one of his sons were afraid for him. All of them in general tried to bring him back into the Devil’s organization. Regularly we visited him and very often he said: “Something makes me tired.” He was too weak to say more. Under the bed we found a large idol tied there. We showed it to him and destroyed it, after which he said, “I am happy.” Many times we had to do that after finding idols under his bed. Brother Bilodeau kept integrity till death.

His relatives said that the funeral was good, much better than any other religion, and that they were surprised to hear what the Bible said concerning the dead. One of them, his son from Lauzon, said that our sincerity and devotion for his father opened his eyes and that, “I will be very glad to continue to open my eyes by studying the Holy Bible with the great help of Jehovah’s witnesses who will visit us in my house.”

Life-giving Knowledge

THIS old world considers itself pretty smart. Its institutions of learning pride themselves in the crop of mental giants they have turned out, men highly educated in political, commercial, philosophical and military affairs. Its brainy scientists and engineers proudly brag of their accomplishments in chemical synthesis and nuclear fission. But the sad fact remains: Socially and morally, physically and mentally, this is a very sick, diseased and dying old world. With all of its boasted learning in the arts and sciences, it simply is not able to relieve the pain or remedy the killing conditions that afflict its people. It cannot give them eternal joy, health, happiness and life!a

Why is this? Because the mighty men of this old world, wise in their own conceits, are woefully ignorant of the Source of life and its blessings. They have absolutely no knowledge of the great Fountain of Life, Jehovah God. The highly respected religious leaders, who are looked up to and followed, have rejected the Book of Life, the Bible, have thrown away the key of knowledge, and have substituted pagan philosophies and the traditions of men for the wisdom of God. Posing as saviors of the world, they have promised the people freedom, while at the same time they themselves are in bondage as slavish captives of sin and death. A simple case of the blind leading the blind.—Isa. 9:16; Matt. 15:5-9, 14; 23:16; Luke 11:52; 2 Pet. 2:19.

But just as truly as this crowd of unrighteous ones “are destroyed for lack of knowledge”, so also is the converse true: “Through knowledge shall the righteous be delivered.” (Hos. 4:6; Prov. 11:9, AS) The latter class turn away in disgust from the blind leaders of the world and seek instruction from the only Source of true knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Appreciating that there is a way that seems right but which leads to destruction, that it is not in man to direct his own steps aright, and having a proper fear of Jehovah which “is the beginning of knowledge”, these wise ones seek to be guided and taught by Jehovah God.—Prov. 1:7; 14:12; Jer. 10:23; Ps. 111:10.

In such meekness there is great reward. (Ps. 25:9) God provides these, not only with his Word of truth, but also with a trustworthy instructor, Christ Jesus, who in reality is Jehovah God’s Dispenser of life, as it is written: “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. He that exercises faith in the Son has everlasting life; he that disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.” This is why Jesus in his prayer to the Fountainhead of Life said: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”—John 3:35, 36; 17:3, NW.

If therefore you will be wise, do not put your trust in the vain philosophies and fantastic schemes of this old world. Such would only keep you in bondage; they cannot give you life or even temporary relief from suffering. Take in life-giving knowledge of Jehovah God. Learn about his beloved Son who is now enthroned as the great Messianic king. Soon this glorious one will destroy those that destroy the earth, in order that he may transform this globe into a beautiful paradise of perfection like the garden of Eden. Ah, what wonderful prospects for all men of good will—eternal life with health and happiness, peace and contentment!

[Footnotes]

Questions From Readers

● Exodus 33:20 states: “There shall no man see me, and live.” Yet Exodus 24:10 says concerning Moses and some of the elders of Israel: “They saw the God of Israel.” How can these apparently conflicting statements be harmonized?—C. B., Pennsylvania.

It is literally true that no flesh-and-blood organism could see Jehovah God and live. As a spirit creature Christ is “the image of the invisible God” and “the exact representation of his very being”, yet a partial revealment of his glory was so intensely brilliant that it blinded Saul of Tarsus, and sight returned only after a miracle of God. (Acts 9:1-18; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3, NW) A full view of “the Father of the celestial lights” would be more than human flesh could endure.—Jas. 1:17, NW.

When the Bible speaks of Moses or others as seeing Jehovah God it means that they see a manifestation of his glory, and this is usually given by means of an angelic representative of the Almighty. Hence it is that Exodus 24:16 speaks of “the glory of the LORD” abiding upon Mount Sinai, rather than Jehovah himself, when Moses and others were reported as seeing “the God of Israel”. This “glory of the LORD” was due to the presence of one of Jehovah’s angels, for his glory and his angel are associated together, as at Luke 2:9 (NW) when announcement of Jesus’ birth was made to the shepherds: “Suddenly Jehovah’s angel stood by them and Jehovah’s glory gleamed around them.”

We have direct testimony that Jehovah personally did not come down to Mount Sinai and appear and talk to Moses and deliver the Law to him. That Jehovah appeared and spoke only representatively is shown by the following scriptures. “You who received the Law as transmitted by angels but have not kept it.” “It was transmitted through angels by the hand of a mediator.” Paul referred to the Law as “the word spoken through angels”. (Acts 7:53; Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2, NW) Because at Sinai God did not speak with his own voice but by that of his angelic representative, Exodus 19:19 states: “Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.” The foregoing also enlightens us that it was the back of Jehovah’s angel or glory that Moses saw, and not Jehovah himself, as recorded: “When my glory passes by . . . I will take away my hand, so that you may see my back, while my face shall not be seen.”—Ex. 33:22, 23, AT.

Another instance where God’s Word interprets itself for us on this matter is the case of Moses and the burning bush. Exodus 3:4, 6 states that “God called unto him out of the midst of the bush” and “said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. But Ex 3 verse 2 tells us that “the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush”. Hence Jehovah appeared and spoke only representatively.

Again, when Jacob wrestled with a man that was actually a materialized angel of Jehovah he was blessed with a new name, that of Israel. Israel means “ruling with God; soldier (wrestler) with God”; and Jacob called the location “Peniel”, meaning “face of God”, saying, “I have seen God face to face.” (Gen. 32:24-30) But actually it was only Jehovah’s materialized angel that he had seen and wrestled with, and who withheld his name, as was usual with such materialized spirit creatures. Also, when an angel of God appeared to Manoah and his wife they viewed this representative as God himself: “Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.”—Judg. 13:3-22.

The foremost representative of Jehovah God is Christ Jesus, and in his case also this principle is confirmed. Jehovah God is rightly referred to as the Creator of all things, yet we know from the Bible record that after he directly created his “only-begotten Son” the remainder of the creation work was performed by and through that Son, in his capacity as the Logos or Word. But since he was Jehovah’s representative and workman in this creative activity, and empowered by God to do it, Jehovah himself is spoken of as the Creator of heavens and earth. (Isa. 40:26, 28; John 1:10; Col. 1:16; Rev. 3:14) For similar reasons, and because Jesus’ course and speech on earth were so perfectly representative of Jehovah God, Jesus said: “He that has seen me has seen the Father also.” (John 14:9, NW) So this text proves no trinity teaching, no more so than do references that seeing angels was seeing God prove the representative angels were embraced in any trinity godhead.

● Was Jesus’ side pierced with the spear before or after his death on the torture stake? The accounts of Matthew and John seem to conflict on this point.—D. L., Washington.

The weight of evidence is that it was after death that his side was pierced. Matthew 27:49, 50 (NW) says: “But the rest of them said: ‘Let him be! Let us see whether Elijah comes to save him.’ Another man took a spear and pierced his side, and blood and water came out. Again Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and ceased to breathe.” The New World Translation has a footnote that states that the sentence about the man piercing his side and blood and water coming out is in some important manuscripts but is not in others. The belief by many is that this statement was later interpolated from John’s Gospel, but was misplaced by the interpolater. Some translations leave it out entirely, others set it off in brackets or parentheses, and some put it in along with an explanatory footnote, as did the New World Translation.

However, there is nothing questionable about John’s account of the matter. It reads: “The soldiers came, therefore, and broke the legs of the first man and those of the other man that had been impaled with him. But on coming to Jesus, as they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Yet one of the soldiers jabbed his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” (John 19:32-34, NW) The legs of the other impaled ones were broken to hasten death, and if Jesus had not already died his legs would have been broken. His early death worked for fulfillment of the prophecy that none of his bones would be broken. (Ps. 34:20; John 19:36) That his death did come more quickly than usual in such cases is shown by Pilate’s surprise upon hearing that he was already dead. (Mark 15:44, 45) Possibly the soldier speared Jesus’ side to remove all doubt of his death, and eliminate any later revival that might be falsely heralded as a resurrection, as could have happened if Jesus had only fainted.

But what caused his death to come so soon? Many take the view that he died of a broken heart, and in this way explain not only his quick death but also the flow of “blood and water” from the spear wound. By a literal rupture of the heart or one of the great blood vessels where it attaches to the heart blood would be discharged into the pericardium, the membrane that loosely encases the heart and in which is also contained the watery pericardial fluid. In writing on the physical cause of Jesus’ death one doctor said that such a rupture did take place and blood gushed into the pericardium, there to separate into watery serum and red, soft clotted matter. He pointed out that such separation of the blood’s constituent parts seldom occurs in a dead body except under such cases of extravasation, that is, where the blood is forced or let out of its proper vessels. Then if a soldier standing below Jesus’ body on the stake would thrust a spear upward into the side, it could easily travel upward, under the ribs, pierce the pericardium bulging with serum and clotted matter, and cause the flow of what would appear as “blood and water”. Or, it is possible for the ruptured heart or aorta to force blood into the chest cavity, and in this unnatural place the blood would soon begin separating into serum and red clotted matter. Out of the big gash made by the upthrust spearhead this watery serum and clotted matter would gush.

There are Scriptural grounds for the belief that Jesus died of a broken heart. His mental anguish at the moment was intense, as indicated by his words: “My God, my God, to what end have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46, NW) This expression of his feeling abandoned was foretold at Psalm 22:1, along with several other verses in that psalm that were prophetic of Christ Jesus at the time of his death. A broken heart could certainly be seen in the words of Ps 22 verse 14: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” Ordinarily blood would not flow from a corpse, but the piercing of the pericardium in the above-described state would be like puncturing a bag of water. And if he were pierced before death, as Matthew’s account indicates, blood would gush out but it would be whole blood, and not separated into its constituent parts to give the appearance of “blood and water”.

Hence the evidence is that John’s account is the accurate one, and certainly he was an eyewitness very near at hand, so near that the impaled Jesus spoke to him.—John 19:25-27.

Announcements

REMAINING FEARLESS TO THE ACCOMPLISHED END

Today fear and anxiety grip nearly all of earth’s inhabitants as they look ahead to what is coming upon mankind. Foretold in Bible prophecy, the approach of the accomplished end of this present old world is marked with mounting troubles and woes, of kinds and intensity without parallel in human history. For these very days of uncertainty and insecurity Almighty God has decreed that a comforting, confidence-inspiring message be taken to all willing hearers. Support and strength can come only from the true Source: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear.” (Ps. 46:1, 2) To find this refuge, and to learn how to gain this strength, we must study God’s Word, both individually and with others, and then share in announcing Jehovah’s kingdom. Have you prepared to participate in this work during September, by fearlessly making known this good news in your neighborhood, offering the book “Let God Be True” and a 32-page booklet on a contribution of 35 cents? Report your activity as you help others in remaining fearless to the accomplished end.

“LET GOD BE TRUE”

In this day when honesty among men, high and low, is sadly lacking, great satisfaction results from knowing that humanity has one sure and trustworthy source of truth. That source is the true and living God, Jehovah. Accurate knowledge of him and his revealed purposes anyone can now gain through study of his Word, the Bible. Helpful for such Bible study is the book “Let God Be True”. In its 320 pages, basic truths and sound doctrines are made plain and understandable. God’s truth is clearly set forth; lies and errors of men and their traditions are boldly identified and dispelled. With a complete index of subjects and scriptures, this book (available in 26 languages) is sent, postpaid, on a contribution of 35c.

ADDITIONAL EUROPEAN CONVENTIONS

After the assemblies in London, Paris and Rotterdam, the president of the Society will serve a number of other assemblies. Listed below are the countries, cities, auditoriums, and dates:

Germany

Frankfurt/Main

Stadion

August 24-26

Denmark

Copenhagen

K. B. Hallen

August 31–September 2

Finland

Vaasa

Kaupungintalo

September 5-6

Helsinki

Rasastushalli

September 7-9

Sweden

Stockholm

Eriksdalshallen

September 14-16

Norway

Lillehammer

Idrettshallen

September 21-23

Austria

Vienna

Konzerthaus

September 28-30

Readers of The Watchtower are invited to attend. Information about the assemblies or rooming accommodations may be obtained by writing to the branch office of the Society for the country which you desire to visit. The addresses are listed in the back of the Yearbook and other publications of the Society.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of September 2: “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land,” ¶1-24.

Week of September 9: “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land,” ¶25-49.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love throws fear outside, because fear exercises a restraint. Indeed, he that is under fear has not been made perfect in love.—1 John 4:18, NW.