The Watchtower — August 1, 1953

The Bible and Medical Science

MANY professed Christians feel called upon to apologize for what they term the Bible’s unscientific features. But far from the Bible’s being unscientific, the fact is that the more scientific science becomes, the more it harmonizes with the Bible.

For example, the Mosaic Law declared that only animals that both part the hoof and chew the cud should be eaten, and regulations covered birds and fishes also. Recent studies have shown that the pig is subject to trichinosis; the rabbit to tularemia; certain fish to tape worms. Eating of blood was forbidden for spiritual reasons, but even from a health standpoint its avoidance was good because of such dangers as septicemia and parasites.—Gen. 9:4; Lev. 3:17; 7:26; 17:10, 11, 14; 19:26; Acts 15:19, 20, 28, 29; 21:25.

Today Jehovah’s witnesses believe this prohibition would include blood transfusion. Science is learning more and more of the dangers to health through blood transfusions. Transfused blood has spread such diseases as syphilis, malaria and especially serum hepatitis. One report claims 25 per cent of the seriously wounded in Korea were infected with serum hepatitis from transfusions. Science now is finding effective blood substitutes that spread no disease and violate no law of God. Moreover, in many cases they have been found more effective than either whole blood or plasma, saving lives where blood proved ineffective. Also, every person’s blood is different, just as much so as are fingerprints. So exact typing of blood is impossible. Big differences kill, and what aftereffects are caused by the smaller differences no one can authoritatively say.

In this connection note the following report appearing in the Providence Sunday Journal, May 17, 1953: “The Army will henceforth use dextran, a substance made from sugar, instead of blood plasma, for all requirements at home and overseas, it was learned last night. An authoritative Army medical source, who asked not to be quoted by name, said ‘a complete switchover’ to the plasma substitute has been put into effect, after ‘utterly convincing’ tests of dextran in continental and combat area hospitals during the last few months. This official said a major factor in the switchover to dextran was that use of plasma entails a ‘high risk’ of causing a disease known as serum hepatitis—a jaundice-like ailment. Not all plasma carries this hazard, he emphasized, but he added that dextran is entirely free of the hazard. ‘We have begun to fill all orders from domestic and overseas theaters with dextran instead of plasma.’”

Certainly Jehovah God knew what he was doing when he forbade the use of blood, and increasing knowledge is bound to vindicate him more and more.

Study to Be Fruitful

IT IS easy for us to drink water, because it runs down. It is hard for a tree to drink water, because it runs uphill. The hill is steep, straight up, sometimes more than four hundred feet in the air. The water must travel fast, sometimes as much as one hundred and fifty feet an hour. It must go up in large volumes, some thirsty trees using one hundred gallons a day. How can they drink it up, and so much, and so fast?

Science is not sure, but evidence points to two forces. One is root pressure. The root system fingers out through the ground, absorbs moisture from the soil and when saturated it exerts some pressure to start the water upward. However, this root pressure alone is not sufficient, and science assigns the main role to what it calls shoot tension, which is an upward pull exerted upon the columns of water in the tree trunk, which pull comes from high up in the tree itself. In the leaf water is lost through perspiration and used in making food and producing fruit. As water is used in the upper regions of the tree and more is needed a drawing force lifts the water columns. So while the roots supply some push, it is primarily the urgent need for water in the treetop that pulls it up from the roots, draws it uphill, fast, and in quantity. And all this just to be fruitful.

Christians must be fruitful also. Just as the root must penetrate through the moist soil to pick up water, so the mind of the Christian must penetrate through the hundreds of pages of the Bible, which is the great reservoir of the waters of truth. The mind must by careful study reach into every book, every chapter, every verse, to draw out the truth waters, to fill both mind and heart with them, until such waters within the Christian become as a deep well for others to draw from. Some food faddists say, You are what you eat. But the Bible says, You are what you think. Proverbs 23:7 states: “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Eventually the true heart condition manifests itself by both word and deed. (Matt. 12:34; 15:19) Hence the necessity of filling the heart with Bible truth, like a deep well full of pure water.

This very fullness of mind and heart with truth that comes by study of God’s Word builds up a pressure within us that tends to make us speak up, just as saturated roots develop some pressure to start water upward. Yet just as root pressure alone is not sufficient to push the water into the treetops to there produce fruit, so study and knowledge alone are not enough to propel the Christian into preaching activity and the bringing forth of Kingdom fruit. Some study much and gain knowledge, yet stay home and preach not. Just as in plants the more important force is shoot tension that comes from the urgent need of water in the treetops, so in Christians it is the surroundings and environment that urgently need truth that powerfully draws it from Jehovah’s servants. Surrounding us are millions who need the waters of truth desperately. Many are not aware of their need, but others are. “Happy are those who are conscious of their spiritual need.” (Matt. 5:3, NW) When they meet Jehovah’s witnesses they by inquiry and discussion draw out from these vessels of God the waters of truth. It is the presence of such needy, thirsty ones in the territories that draws Jehovah’s servants into the preaching work. Love moves God’s witnesses to make themselves available to the thirsty ones, to be at their disposal so that they can draw out the waters of truth and quench their spiritual thirst.

KEEPING THE WATER DEEP

This drawing power is shown at Proverbs 20:5, AS: “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.” Many times you will find that a man who has studied much and meditated in God’s law day and night is inclined to be preoccupied with his own thoughts. He may not speak much, may not volunteer unsolicited information. He does not make a display of his wisdom, but if you talk to him, question him, draw him out, you may learn much, things you never realized he knew. Often the ones who talk the most know the least. They spend so much time talking they have little left for learning. When you talk you teach, but when you listen you learn. There is a time for both, and neither should be neglected. It is necessary to study and store up truth in mind and heart like deep water; it is also necessary to prevent its becoming stagnant by making it available for others to draw upon. Once acquired, it must be made available to others.

Many in the territories for witnessing will not choose to draw out the spiritual truth waters, but there are others who are men of understanding, men who understand their spiritual need and crave understanding of Jehovah’s purposes. They will question the informed minister of Jehovah and thus draw out information previously stored in his mind and heart. The real sheep of Jehovah perform this mental labor with the zeal of a man dropping a bucket into a well and then pulling it up hand over hand to bring water to the surface for use. And this benefits the giver of the water of truth. When water is withdrawn from a well, fresh water seeps in to replace it. This keeps the water in the well from getting stale and stagnant, keeps it pure and fresh. So it is with us in the preaching work. To have our supply of truth waters tapped by men of good will and understanding, to have them draw out from our minds and hearts the truths that are there refreshes our own minds on these points that might otherwise become a little stale in our memories.

As we witness to others and more and more questions confront us, we must continually go to the Bible and draw from it to keep the water in our wells fresh and deep. If we do not, if we become shallow, if the waters of truth stored within us become low, an inquirer may drop the bucket of inquiry in and come up with it only half full, or a fourth full, and not have his thirst satisfied. His questions will not be fully answered. Instead of drawing out water of truth from us he may draw only a torrent of dry words. He cannot get water from a dry well. But there is no excuse for our wells to go dry. The Bible is an inexhaustible storehouse of water of truth. If we are men of understanding we will regularly resort to this Book of divine counsel that is like deep water, and from it we will draw plenty to keep ourselves filled to overflowing, so that when others draw on us they will not come up with only an empty bucket. Study!—2 Tim. 2:2; Heb. 5:12.

The question is, How much do we want to serve God? How much do we want to speak for him, to be equipped to speak for him, to be able to defend and give reasons for the new-world hope within us, to give answers seasoned with salt that will be tasty to the listener and that will work toward his preservation? (Col. 4:6; 1 Pet. 3:15, NW) The only way we can show that we want to do this very much is to study very much, to learn the answers God in his Word gives to these questions. It does not take long to get some truth water in our system, but it will be shallow at first. Just as water may seep slowly into a well, so it takes time to get the waters of truth in our minds. To get the first shallow waters to deepen, to understand the deeper truths of God’s Word, to digest the strong meat of it, requires much private study and also reviewing and meeting attendance.

Proverbs 18:4 (AT) states: “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.” Running water is fresh water, and deep wisdom should bubble forth for the refreshment of many. Our words should be deep waters, not shallow waters; they should come out as a bubbling brook, not a babbling brook. We should not be and will not be shallow babblers if we are truly interested in the deep waters of God’s Word. The things that interest us are the things that we remember. Some are interested more in gossip and idle rumors, which are to them dainty morsels, and these follies quickly penetrate their minds and lodge there, and are remembered and drawn forth on many occasions thereafter, to the hurt of both speaker and listener. It is as Proverbs 18:8 (AT) declares: “The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels; they penetrate into the innermost being.” Because gossipers are consumed with interest in such whisperings, they remember and cherish them and by means of them bring forth ungodly fruit. Jehovah’s witnesses, on the other hand, should not be interested in hearing or remembering or repeating such follies, but should be deeply interested in the truth waters of Jehovah’s Word, and when they study it and hear it it should penetrate to their innermost heart and fill them like a deep well, and they should thereafter delight to draw it forth at every opportunity and offer it to others.

“The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things. For we are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.” (2 Cor. 10:4, 5, NW) You would not go out to level a fortress with a bean blower, would you? It would take more than a bean propelled by hot air to crash through a stronghold. A catapult hurling huge stones would be necessary. “Hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.” (Isa. 28:17) Shallow waters would hardly make an overflowing, but deep waters would be needed to flood out the lies and liars. Similarly, it requires heavy, weighty truths unerringly hurled to topple the false religious reasonings raised up against the knowledge of God, and a flood rather than a trickle of Bible proof to overflow the refuge of doctrinal lies behind which Christendom’s religious organizations hide. Also, our fight is against the “wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places”, the leader of which, “the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone.” Would you try to ward off the attack of a lion with a pin when a sword was available? So why be shallow in knowledge and try to work with only a few scriptures that would be only a pinprick to Satan and his system, when by study we can have for use a complete “sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word”?—Eph. 6:12, 17; 1 Pet. 5:8, NW.

From all the foregoing, then, we can see the importance of study to get the waters of truth from the Bible into ourselves and then out to others, that Kingdom fruit may be produced abundantly. When we have the truth within us, and see all the blasphemies against Jehovah round about us, and the need of other sheep that thirst for the truth they could draw from us, we cannot in good conscience sit idly by, but feel pushed by our knowledge and drawn by the territory’s needs. As we preach and truth is drawn from us and the demand grows and the fruitage increases, we keep pace with the needs by studying more and more to get more and more truth, to keep it fresh and plentiful to answer all the questions.

JESUS’ ILLUSTRATIONS

Just as Christ Jesus talked to many to find the few, so we must approach hundreds to find one who is really interested. Jesus’ words were so framed as to test the hearers, to determine whether they were worthy of more complete knowledge or not, whether they were men who understood their spiritual need or not. He would use parables or illustrations. Many were intrigued by them, but after their utterance passed on. Why? Because they thought that was all they were, just little stories? No. For centuries that people had specialized in illustrations, they were used to them, their Scriptures were full of them, and Psalm 78:2 even foretold that their Messiah would open his mouth to them in parables and so teach them. So they knew that there was significant meaning behind the illustrations that Jesus spoke, but they were unwilling to draw out from him the hidden meaning and thus drink deeply of the waters of truth. They were not interested enough. They feared the meaning might be hard on them, expose them, bring no gain to them, mean a change for them in their selfish ways of living. They were not anxious for truth and preferred to remain blissfully ignorant, unresponsible, and so they walked off.—Matt. 13:1-15, 34, 35, NW.

But not all listeners walked out on him. Honest-hearted ones tarried. They understood their spiritual need, and inquired of Jesus the hidden meaning, and thus drew out from him more complete knowledge. To those who had a desire for knowledge more was given, but those who had no desire lost even what little knowledge they had. By illustrations Jesus eliminated the ones not interested, and then concentrated on the men of understanding who tarried to draw out the full meaning. (Matt. 13:16-18, 36, NW) Today Jehovah’s witnesses must go from door to door and make an introductory witness. The majority are not interested, but a few are attracted to the message, listen, and ask questions to draw out more information. On such interested ones the witnesses then concentrate by calling back and conducting studies.

But Christendom generally is as fruitless as was the Jewish nation at the time Jesus was on earth. That nation was pictured by a fig tree that bore no fruit, because that nation did not accept the Messiah and produce fruits of praise to God. In one illustration Jesus spoke of a fig tree that had gone fruitless for three years, and it was to be given one more year of special care to see whether it would produce fruit during this added season of opportunity. (Luke 13:6-9) Jesus gave this illustration in the fall of 32, after three years of preaching as Messiah. For those three years he had concentrated on the Jewish nation, but as a national organization it produced no acceptable fruit. A fourth season of special care and attention was to be allowed this tree. Then in the fourth year of his Messianic ministry, just three days before he was put to death by the Jewish nation, Jesus figures in another incident with a fig tree. Coming from Bethany toward Jerusalem he saw a leafy fig tree, but when he inspected it in search of fruit he found none, and the tree was cursed and it withered and died. (Mark 11:12-14, 20) So even with an added year of special care the Jewish nation as such bore no fruit, though it put up an appearance of godliness, just as the fig tree’s leafy display would lead one to expect fruit.

The Jewish nation withered and died so far as being a people for Jehovah’s name, but a remnant did not. They heard Jesus’ illustrations, liked them, drew out their hidden meanings by questioning, and followed Jesus in the preaching work. Their zeal eventually bore so much fruit that opposers screamed they were turning the world upside down. (Acts 17:6) Christians today must be just as zealous in their fruitfulness. They will be accused of turning this old world upside down because of teaching opposite to it; actually they point the way to a new world that will be rightside up and will so remain forever. To point the way effectively, we must study and be filled with the truths concerning that new world.

But our food is not just to take in knowledge by study. We must give it out by preaching in accord with Jehovah’s will. As Jesus said: “My food is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34, NW) If we study the truth but never give it out it will become stagnant and we shall become introverts. Yet if we give it out but do not replenish it by more study we shall run dry of new material and get into a rut and fruitless routine. We must both study and preach. Get it in, then give it out. Keep the stream of truth flowing from the Bible to us and from us to others. If the column of sap in a plant is broken it ceases to flow. If the flow of truth from the Bible through us to others breaks, we wither and die spiritually, producing no fruit to God’s glory. And if we produce no good fruit Jehovah will not recognize us as his servants and we suffer destruction.—Matt. 7:16-20, NW.

If we produce good fruit we are good trees; if bad fruit, we are bad trees; if no fruit, we are lazy, useless trees fit only to be cast aside. (Jude 12; Rev. 3:15, 16) We should be good trees producing the fruits of life from God’s Word. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that is wise winneth souls.” (Prov. 11:30, AS) So in this work of life and death we must equip ourselves and use time wisely.

CONSERVING STRENGTH FOR FRUIT BEARING

If one only studied and quoted scriptures and displayed his knowledge and put on the appearance of being Christian but bore no fruits in Kingdom service, he would be like the fig tree whose only crop was showy leaves. That tree was full of sap, but the sap was used to no good purpose. The sap was used only to make a showy leafy appearance. We do not want to be as fruitless trees filled only with sap. The excess leaves and twigs we want to prune out so that the strength once used for them can be better used in fruit bearing. An orchard man prunes out unproductive branches so that the strength they used can be diverted to making fruit. By this pruning process the tree produces more fruit. Jesus said: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Every branch in me not bearing fruit he takes away, and every one bearing fruit he cleans, that it may bear more fruit.”—John 15:1-3, NW.

Roots can send up only so much sap. If it all goes into twigs and leaves there will be no fruit. So we must prune out the unfruitful branches so that the sap can work at making fruit. We have only so much time and energy. If we use it on nonessentials there is no time left for Kingdom fruitfulness. If we branch off into excessive viewing of television or movies or too many week-end jaunts or other pleasure pursuits that rob us of our time and energy, these branches that bear no fruit should be pruned off, cut out of our lives, so that in this time of opportunity we will not waste time in unfruitfulness. (Eph. 5:16, NW) This will make us more mature. And just as a tree produces more fruit as it reaches maturity, so also will it be with us.

As far as the preaching work is concerned, now is the time of summer, now is the time of harvest, now is the time for fruitfulness unto salvation. (Jer. 8:20) In winter the sap does not flow and fruit does not form. Trees that have produced no fruit by the time of Armageddon will be withered by fiery judgments. There will be no added season given for opportunity of belated fruit bearing. So now is the time to study and work and prepare for surviving Armageddon’s storm.

The root system of some big trees spreads over three acres and reaches far underground to get food and water. Not only does this root system feed the tree, but it also anchors it against uprooting by gales. Just so we must sink our minds deep into God’s Word, not only for spiritual food and drink but also to anchor us against windy worldly wisdom and stormy persecutions. Thus we can bear Kingdom fruit both “in favorable season, in troublesome season”. (2 Tim. 4:2, NW) Then when Armageddon comes and those who have sown the wind reap the whirlwind and are uprooted from the land of the living, we with our roots deep in God’s Word shall be able to stand upright in his sight and bear fruit to his praise forever in the new world.—Hos. 8:7; Heb. 13:15.

Studying The Watchtower

SOME will dismiss the Watchtower magazine with the words, I have the Bible and that is all I need. Yet they attend church and listen to sermons. Why bother? Why do they not stay at home and read their Bible, if that is all they need? Because few understand what they read in the Bible. They seek clarification by going to hear sermons. But is not a printed sermon as good as an oral one? Better, in fact, since they can refer to it frequently for careful study? The articles in The Watchtower may be viewed as printed sermons, and they merit careful and frequent study.

Taken alone The Watchtower would be of little value. Taken along with the Bible it is invaluable. It is a timesaver. The Bible, for example, has texts on a certain subject scattered here and there throughout its hundreds of pages. We do not have time to read the Bible through from cover to cover to learn what it says on this one subject. Surely every time a new subject arises we cannot read the entire Bible to take into our view all the texts relating to that topic. However, within the few pages of a Watchtower article many texts on certain subjects are brought together. Truly it is a timesaver.

Not only does this method save time, but it makes for systematic teaching, for rapid learning. Basic truths are called to notice, and upon these additional truths are built up to complete the picture. Then events and conditions in the world today are placed alongside Bible prophecies and it becomes clear that the former are fulfillments of the latter. This lets us know where we are in the stream of time, that we live in the last days, that soon Armageddon will sweep aside this old world of wickedness to make way for God’s new world of righteousness. The divine requirements for preservation through this battle of God Almighty are given, and thus The Watchtower shows the Bible to be the one practical guide for modern times. It is all-important to study the Bible, and since The Watchtower assists in understanding the Bible, its study is also essential.

CONGREGATIONAL STUDY OF “THE WATCHTOWER”

Private study of the magazine is essential. We should set aside sufficient time to digest its contents. Just as we take time to eat temporal food and allow it to digest properly, so we should set aside sufficient time to not only read but also reflect upon the Watchtower’s contents. Food bolted down on the run does us little good, and the same applies to spiritual food. We must allow time for our minds to dwell upon it and assimilate it completely. That applies to the magazine’s entire contents, not just the leading study articles. We eat from all the dishes of a temporal meal in order to get variety and a balanced diet. We should also read and digest all the articles in The Watchtower. This will equip us more completely for speaking to others the truths it contains. Just because time does not permit a congregational study of all the articles in the magazine does not mean they are unimportant. They should be studied as diligently as the leading articles provided for congregational study. But our present purpose is consideration of the group study of the articles provided for that purpose. How should such a study be conducted for the greatest benefit to all?

The conductor should make brief preliminary remarks highlighting the main points that will be developed during the study. He may do this by raising three or four questions that the study will answer, questions that capture the theme of the assignment for study. If the study is a continuation of an article started the week previous, he might very briefly restate the high points established in that previous study and connect it up with what is to be next considered. His opening comments should not be lengthy; no more than two or three minutes.

Starting the study itself, he will propound the printed question found at the bottom of the page provided for the first paragraph of the assigned study. Those in the audience may volunteer by raising their hands, and answering when called upon by the conductor. However, the conductor may call upon someone in the congregation without that one’s volunteering.

It is assumed that all have studied the lesson in advance and know the answers as contained in the paragraphs. There are many who hesitate to volunteer a comment, but who will speak when called upon. This method may also cause some who have become negligent in advance study of the lesson to recover from the bad habit they have drifted into. It may act as a spur to move all of us to a more thorough advance preparation for the congregational study. If so, it will make the meeting more profitable for everyone there. Hence starting with the congregational study of this issue of the magazine, the conductor may call on persons whether they volunteer or not.

However, the conductor should use good judgment in doing so. He should seek to avoid embarrassing anyone. He should not call on newcomers not in the truth. If a publisher is new and still immature and has never volunteered to comment, it would be well not to call on that one. Even if one has volunteered and commented but is rather new, the conductor should not call on him to answer the more difficult questions. For the newer ones or those backward about speaking, select the easier questions, the ones with simple and short answers. Call upon the mature witnesses for answering the more involved questions. And remember the volunteer method is still a part of the procedure. The conductor may call on only those who volunteer by raising their hands, or he may call on some who do not raise their hands, or he may call on one who has not volunteered and then on one or two who have, all on the same paragraph. So on some paragraphs maybe only volunteers will speak, on others only those called on without volunteering will speak, and on still other paragraphs perhaps both volunteers and nonvolunteers will answer. But the conductor must at all times use good judgment and avoid embarrassing those in attendance.

After the question or questions on the paragraph are answered by the congregation, then the paragraph under consideration will be read by a competent reader. The conductor of the study will then ask the question on the next paragraph, and so on for the hour’s study. When necessary, the conductor of the study may make a comment himself or enlarge on an expression made, to clarify the subject matter; but this would be necessary maybe only once or twice in the hour.

The conductor should also conclude the study within the allotted time of one hour, and lengthy announcements should be avoided. An hour for the actual study, plus no more than ten minutes for the opening and closing prayers, songs and announcements, should be sufficient. If the conductor will regulate the study, marking off the amount that should be covered by the fifteen-minute mark, the thirty-minute mark and the forty-five-minute mark, and holding to that schedule, he should have no difficulty in concluding on time. He will not lag during the first part of the study and have to speed through the latter part, but can keep a good steady pace throughout. And those who comment can help by speaking briefly and to the point.

This brings up the matter of commenting. It is a privilege. It should be viewed as such. It should also be viewed as a duty to be performed for the welfare of the meeting. If the attendance is large, perhaps no one person need comment more than once. Even if the group is small and several comments are needed from each one, if the commenting is generally distributed one or a few will not be doing all the commenting. As many as possible should participate. Some never comment because they do not study enough to be sure of themselves. Some are nervous. All speakers feel initial nervousness, but it passes when we get to speaking. That is why the second comment you make in a meeting is easier than the first one. Whatever the problem, overcome it and make yourself give at least one answer. You will have contributed to the meeting, and will feel better for it. You will get more out of the study. And when you comment, speak loud enough for all in the hall to hear.

If all study diligently in advance, they will be full of the answers, so that when the conductor draws upon them during the study they will be prepared to contribute to the meeting. (Prov. 20:5) They will be able to share one with another the good things during this period of oral teaching. (Gal. 6:6, NW) Each one will sharpen the others by this discussion, and all will benefit. As Proverbs 27:17 (AT) states: “As iron sharpens iron, a man sharpens the face of his friend.” So let each one do his part at the congregational study of The Watchtower, edifying one another and whetting one another so that all will be that much sharper for preaching when we go from door to door.

The Greater Happiness of Giving

THERE is happiness in receiving gifts. Especially the gifts of God’s Son and of his Word, the Bible, have brought us much happiness. And when Jehovah pours out his spirit upon his servants at local, national and international assemblies, they are made still happier.—Mal. 3:10; Matt. 5:45; Jas. 1:17.

There is a happiness, however, that is far greater than that which could possibly come from receiving such gifts, and that is the happiness that comes from giving to others.a Were that not so, then we, who receive God’s gifts, would be happier than God who bestows them upon us, and that is unthinkable. (1 Tim. 1:11, NW) In his unselfish giving he has set the perfect pattern, and by imitating him we also shall know the greater happiness that comes from giving.

Christ Jesus followed his Father’s perfect example. Both by word and by actions he demonstrated and counseled that “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving”. (Matt. 20:28; Luke 14:12-15; Acts 20:35, NW) Unselfishly he gave to men who had nothing they could give in return. He taught his apostles to do the same. He gave them the truth and miraculous powers and then sent them forth to preach and to heal the sick, to cast out demons and to raise the dead. In carrying out those instructions they received much happiness. They were to use none of these benefits for themselves. They had received free, they were to give free.—Matt. 10:1-15.

Paul also set us a good example. He freely gave of the good news of Christ’s ransom sacrifice and the hope of the heavenly kingdom, publicly and from house to house. And so unselfishly was he concerned for his brothers’ welfare that he admonished “each one with tears”. Rather than be a burden to others, he worked with his hands to provide the things needed by himself and those with him.—Acts 20:20-35, NW.

Jehovah God, his Son Christ Jesus and his apostles have set the pattern for us in this matter of giving. Let us take in the knowledge of God’s Word to the point of overflowing and then give it out. Be like the bubbling spring that overflows, not like the sponge that has to be squeezed. And let us give generously, cheerfully, not begrudgingly, or we shall miss out on much happiness, because only to the extent that we give bountifully shall we reap bountiful happiness.—2 Cor. 9:6, 7, NW.

If our happiness is not overflowing, if we fail to have interesting experiences, then we should ask ourselves, How much preaching are we actually doing? Or is it that we need help to improve our ministry? Others will be happy to help us if we will but be conscious of our spiritual need and ask and accept help.—Matt. 5:3, NW.

There is no pleasure in living without happiness. God’s Word gives us the secret of happiness so that we can have it day in and day out throughout the years. That secret is, Give to others of what we have received.

[Footnotes]

The Sadducees of Jesus’ Day

AT THE time Christ Jesus was upon the earth there were three main Jewish sects, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. In the Christian Greek Scriptures, or “New Testament”, the Pharisees are referred to by name some one hundred times; the Sadducees are mentioned as such only fourteen times, whereas the Essenes do not appear at all. Having previously considered the Pharisees,a let us now note what the Bible and other historical works have to say about the Sadducees.

The Sadducees were the sacerdotal or priestly aristocrats. Thus we read at Acts 5:17 (NW): “But the high priest and all those with him, the then existing sect of the Sadducees.” The chief priests Annas and Caiaphas were Sadducees. (Luke 3:2) It was therefore the Sadducean chief priests that, together with the Pharisees, dispatched officers to arrest Christ Jesus.—John 7:32; 11:47, 57; 18:3.

This is further borne out when we consider the origin of their name. The term “Sadducean” is the Greek translation of “Zadokite”. Since the name “Zadok” has the meaning of morally clean or righteous, some have held that the Sadducees took this name because of their self-righteousness and strict adherence to the law of Moses. However, the weight of evidence links their name to the Levite Zadok, who was high priest in the time of David and Solomon. (1 Ki. 1:32-45; 2:35; 2 Chron. 31:10) This priestly class continued to bear the name Sadducee or Sadducean, even though the high priest line was transferred to another house, the Hasmonean, in the days of the Maccabees.

Among the Sadducees were a group known as the Boethusians, referred to in the Scriptures as the “party followers of Herod” or “Herodians”. (Mark 3:6, NW) We find these linked with the Pharisees in their efforts to discredit Christ, as recorded at Mark 3:6 where we read that “the Pharisees went out and immediately began holding council with the party followers of Herod” to destroy Jesus. (NW) Christ Jesus warned against the Sadducees’ teaching even as he did against the teaching of the Pharisees: “Keep your eyes open, look out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” (Mark 8:15, NW) In view of the similarity of these two texts in Mark to Matthew 16:1, 6, it is quite likely that Matthew simply referred to these as Sadducees, whereas Mark further distinguished or identified them as the “party followers of Herod”. It seems therefore that among the Sadducees were to be found both the chief priests and the “party followers of Herod”.

SADDUCEES VERSUS PHARISEES

Being of a political frame of mind, the Sadducees believed in using statecraft in dealing with other nations. They would work out the salvation of the Jewish nation, not waiting for the Messiah to deliver them; outstanding example of this being the sons of Mattathias known as the Maccabees, 166-63 B.C. The Sadducees were wealthy and favored the rich class. Both because of their favored position and because of their teachings they had little influence with the people. In striking contrast with these stood their rivals, the Pharisees, who looked for the coming of the Messiah to rid them of their national ills and who were popular among the common people although they themselves looked down upon them.—John 7:49, NW.

The Scriptures enlighten us on some of the chief differences between the teachings of the Sadducees and those of the Pharisees: “Sadducees say there is neither resurrection nor angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees publicly declare them all.” (Acts 23:8, NW) Their disbelief in the resurrection is familiar to all by reason of their trying to stump Jesus in the matter of the woman who had seven husbands.—Matt. 22:23-32.

A third major difference between the two was, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, that the Sadducees held that man was a completely free moral agent and that his prosperity depended entirely upon himself; whereas the Pharisees inclined toward a fatalism and held to a form of predestinarianism. The Pharisees held that man has an immortal soul (again, according to Josephus; other writers holding that only some of the Pharisees believed this) and that there were rewards of bliss for well-doing and punishment in Haʹdes for evil-doing after death. The Sadducees denied all this.

As regards the Scriptures, the Sadducees accepted only the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses, and rejected not only the inspiration of the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures but also the oral tradition that the Pharisees claimed had been brought down from Moses’ day. Because of their rejection of the oral law or tradition they were termed by some as “Scripturalists” and “Bible followers”.

While claiming to reject the oral tradition, it seems, if the accounts of discussions recorded in the Pharisees’ Mishnah accurately present their views, that the Sadducees objected chiefly to the later innovations. Actually they were as bad as the Pharisees when it came to ‘straining out the gnat and gulping down the camel’.—Matt. 23:24, NW.

According to the Sadducees, the law of levirate marriage applied only to betrothed virgins, whereas the Pharisees held it to be applicable to widows. Understanding this distinction adds meaning to the question the Sadducees raised as to which of the seven husbands would have the woman in the resurrection; for according to them the woman could have actually become the wife of only the seventh. By raising this question the Sadducees were attacking both the teaching of the resurrection and that of the levirate marriage as taught by the Pharisees. The Sadducees required that the spurned woman spit in the face of the reluctant brother-in-law, whereas the Pharisees required only that she spit before his face.—Deut. 25:5-9.

In the law of retaliation, which required that a man who had given false testimony against his neighbor be punished with the same penalty he sought to bring upon another, the Sadducees required a literal carrying out of the ‘eye for eye, hand for hand’ law, but the Pharisees allowed money payments to be substituted for the actual requirements. On the other hand, the Sadducees only required payment of the literal penalty if the false testimony actually resulted in injury, whereas the Pharisees held that the intent to harm was in itself sufficient to require punishment. God’s Word on the subject reads: “Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to do unto his brother.”—Deut. 19:16-21, AS.

In general it might be said that the Sadducees interpreted the law conservatively and applied its penalties with rigor, while the Pharisees endeavored to please the people by mitigating its penalties wherever possible to do so by some specious reasoning. The Sadducees interpreted the law so literally that they forbade the rendering of conjugal dues for forty days after the birth of a male and for eighty days after the birth of a female infant, on the basis that the law spoke of a woman as being unclean for such periods of time. They even went so far as to forbid the rendering of such dues on the sabbath because of the exertion involved.—Lev. 12:2-8.

RESPONSIBILITY

The Sadducees shared with the Pharisees the guilt of putting Jesus to death. They were extremely self-righteous and Christ warned his followers against their teaching even as he warned them against the teaching, “yeast,” of the Pharisees. (Matt. 16:6, 11, 12, NW) And while his scathing denunciation recorded at Matthew, chapter 23, was directed against the scribes and Pharisees, we are not to think that the Sadducees were less reprehensible. Rather, it seems that because of their keeping aloof from the people they came less frequently in contact with Jesus.

It was the most politically minded wing of the Sadducees, the Boethusians or party followers of Herod, that endeavored to trap Jesus on the question of the tribute money. Their feigned sincerity and their flattery of Christ did not cause him to walk into their trap. He pulled off their mask with the question, “Why do you put me to the test?” and avoided their trap by having them produce a coin with Caesar’s image upon it and then answering them, “Pay back Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.”—Mark 12:13-17, NW.

It seems that right after Pentecost it was the Sadducees who figured chiefly in the persecution of the apostles, “being annoyed because they were teaching the people and were plainly declaring the resurrection from the dead in the case of Jesus” as well as because with their preaching the apostles seemed ‘determined to bring the blood of Jesus upon their heads’. (Acts 4:1, 2, 19; 5:17, 28, 29, NW) With the destruction of Jerusalem A.D. 70, the Sadducees quickly disappeared from the Jewish scene.

Forty years prior thereto, John the Baptist had warned them, as well as the Pharisees, of that impending destruction. “When he caught sight of many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the baptism he said to them: ‘You offspring of vipers, who has shown you how to flee from the coming wrath? So then produce fruit that befits repentance; and do not presume to say to yourselves, “As a father we have Abraham.” For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree, then, that does not produce fine fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.’”—Matt. 3:7-10, NW.

The Sadducees, in many respects, find their counterpart in the modernist clergy of Christendom who manifest very little faith in God’s Word, show a self-righteous spirit, look to worldly governments rather than to God’s King and his kingdom and oppose the servants of Jehovah who bring this hope to the people. And with Armageddon they will pass from the world scene even as did the Sadducees with the destruction of Jerusalem.

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.—John 3:35, 36, NW.

[Footnotes]

Gathering Men of All Nations into One Flock

This speech was delivered by the president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society at the graduation of the 21st class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, Sunday afternoon, July 19, 1953, before the New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Yankee Stadium, New York, N.Y., U.S.A.

“As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.”—Ezek. 34:12, AS.

1. What heart yearning concerning the human family will be satisfied, and why right soon?

IT IS heart-cheering to think that men of all the many different nations will be gathered into one flock. All men are of one flesh, all are one human race, the welfare of one means the welfare of all; and, oh, how the sincere heart yearns for the time when all who live on earth will be united as one family, with justice and equality enjoyed by all and with love binding the members indivisibly one to another! That heart yearning of those who are sickened at the sight of mankind selfishly and violently divided against itself will be satisfied, and that right soon. No one desires a united human family more than does man’s Creator himself, and this he has purposed to bring into existence. In writing over his own name he has told us so, and he will never let his written Word become a mere scrap of paper, unfulfilled. His own name is at stake; the lasting good of men of all nations is at stake. These things are of high concern to the self-respecting Creator, for which reason he will gather all men of good will into the one peaceful fold. We are living at the chosen time for him to do it, and it is a wonderful time in which to be living and witness his doing it.

2. How have all men been like sheep, and what do they have need of?

² All men are like sheep, from many standpoints. The way men perish without an understanding of their Creator and in such vast numbers, as victims of murderous slaughter, as victims of death in general, they could be sheep. The inspired psalmist correctly described their case, saying: “Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol [the region of the dead]; death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home.” (Ps. 49:14, RS) Like sheep they have been prone to follow a leader en masse, but to their sorrow and destruction they have followed and entrusted themselves to wrong leaders. Ambitious men have assumed to be shepherds of humanity, just to take advantage of them and serve themselves, and then abandon them in danger and feed them to the slaughter. Mankind have gone astray and been subjected to all kinds of hardships without any comforter. They have been in need of a right shepherd, a genuine one with tender feeling for the sheep, one to whom they could be loyal and submissive with perfect safety to themselves.

3. Who, in particular, could be expected to care for poor human sheep, and why?

³ Who could be expected to care for these poor human sheep more than does the Creator himself? It would be a poor kind of creator that would not take an interest in his creations, especially creatures with feelings and dependent upon his guidance and provision and needing his protection from enemies. The true and living God is not a heartless, self-centered creator, with less pity and consideration than what a human shepherd has for his sheep. The very quality of tenderness and fondness that a lowly shepherd feels for such trusting, obedient, harmless creatures was implanted in the human heart from the time the Creator made the perfect man and commanded him to have dominion over all the lower animal creation. (Gen. 1:26-28) It is in mankind’s favor that God the Creator likens men to sheep, for that discloses the tender feeling that he has for his human creatures. If they are like sheep to him, then it must be that he views himself as their Shepherd. He also appreciates the responsibility that becomes his as their Shepherd when they are in perilous conditions. If they have strayed and lost their way and become the prey of vicious men or wild beast, then it becomes his part to go out, make a search and try to recover the poor sheep at any cost. Although it called for great condescension on his part, the loving Creator, faithful to his creatures, has not held back from doing this in discharge of his responsibility as mankind’s Shepherd. Promising to take this action at the time of our direst need, Jehovah God the Creator caused his prophet to declare this:

4. At Ezekiel 34:11-16, what action did Jehovah promise to take regarding the sheep?

⁴ “For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture; and upon the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord Jehovah. I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.”—Ezek. 34:11-16, AS.

5. What does it show when the Lord Jehovah himself has to act as shepherd and go to the rescue of his sheep?

⁵ It must be a serious situation indeed when the Lord Jehovah himself has to perform the part of a shepherd and go in search and recovery of his sheep. With humanity in such a terrible plight as they are today, this appears to be the time of all times when the Lord Jehovah would feel compelled to fulfill his own prophecy and go to the rescue. And it is! And the activities of the divine Shepherd can clearly be seen in fulfillment of the prophecy. The sad predicament of the sheep bespeaks terrible neglect and foul action on the part of someone. Certainly it has been neglect and foul action, not on the part of the Lord Jehovah, but on the part of men who undertook to play the shepherd of God’s sheep for selfish reasons, telling Jehovah God to keep his hands off.

6. Who can easily be identified as the harmful shepherds, and to what has their misconduct exposed their flocks today?

⁶ It is not hard to identify these harmful shepherds. Everyone knows whom the people of Christendom have willingly followed or been obliged to follow as their leaders. The religious clergy are well known for claiming their congregations as their flocks, over which they are pastors. But in the Holy Scriptures the political princes are also spoken of as shepherds, the governmental guides and caretakers of the people. So the political rulers of the nations that claim to be Christian are also to be classed as shepherds. With such political shepherds the religious shepherds have co-operated. They have followed and supported the secular shepherds in their political schemes, even when these went to the extent of seizing dictatorial or totalitarian power; and they have blessed their armies of aggression, leading to the slaughter of millions of the sheep of their flocks. They have led their flocks into becoming with them an active part of this corrupt world. For the sake of the financial and other support of the political shepherds they have been willing to let their religious flocks lie in a backward state mentally and economically. Especially have they withheld from their flocks the spiritual food of God’s written Word, thus leaving them in a deplorable state of Bible illiterateness. All this has left their flocks exposed to the menace of a new would-be political shepherd, the ungodly communism that menaces Christendom itself. Showing up this result of the course of such religious shepherds is the statement made by the New York Times of May 21, 1953, under the editorial heading “Fascism versus Democracy”, that, despite the billions of dollars of American support poured into that once-Fascist land, “Italy has the largest Communist party in the world outside the Soviet bloc” and “would now have a Communist regime but for our help”.

7. Whose sheep also have such shepherds invaded and scattered, and when, and what has Christendom now failed to produce?

⁷ These religious and political shepherds have sheared and fleeced their own claimed flocks and fattened themselves at their expense and driven them in ways ending in death and destruction. Not only that, but they have been guilty of invading the true flock of the Lord Jehovah and scattering sheep of his. This occurred especially during what Jehovah calls the “cloudy and dark day”, the period of World War I, when the witnesses of Jehovah were swept by a wave of persecution throughout the world at the instigation of the religious shepherds of Christendom. With clear foresight Jehovah God prophetically said to the shepherds of Christendom: “With force and with rigor have ye ruled over them. And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and there was none that did search or seek after them.” (Ezek. 34:4-6, AS) To this day since that first world war Christendom has failed to produce a shepherd or an organization of shepherds able to gather men of all nations into one harmonious flock within one secure fold. The civilization that she brags of is threatened with extinction.

MANKIND’S ONE SHEPHERD-RULER RAISED UP

8. To whom, therefore, must the sheep look for rescue, and what has he done exactly as he promised?

⁸ There is no mistaking it. It has been left absolutely to the Creator, Jehovah God, to rescue the sheeplike ones of mankind. To him all the lost, strayed, sick, diseased, broken sheep who hunger and thirst after righteousness must look. If they do so, taking him at his word, they will not look in vain. “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep,” he has declared. He has acted as he has declared. How? By raising up one competent, proved shepherd to seek after all his sheep and gather them together in the unity of the family of God. This is the very thing he promised, saying: “Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it.”—Ezek. 34:22-24, AS.

9. Who is this Shepherd-Prince, and why not the literal David?

⁹ Who is the Shepherd-Prince whom Jehovah has now set up over his sheep to save them and feed them? It is the great Son of David, Jesus Christ. He is the Heir of the Kingdom covenant that Jehovah made with King David. This covenant guaranteed that he would raise up to King David a seed or descendant who would sit upon the throne forever and whose kingdom would have no end. (2 Sam. 7:12-17; Ps. 89:34-37; Luke 1:31-33; 22:28-30) Nineteen centuries ago when he rode in royal style into the city of Jerusalem, the multitude in his procession kept crying out: “Hosanna to the son of David.” That is to say, “Save, we pray, the Son of David!” (Matt. 21:15, NW) For thousands of years King David has been dead, but we do not need to wait for his resurrection from the dead for Jehovah to fulfill his promise. The name “David” means “Beloved”, and applies to Jehovah’s Messiah, his Christ or Anointed One. Jesus Christ is the one of whom Jehovah God said from heaven: “This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.” He is therefore the Greater David, or Beloved One. Even King David of old spoke of him as his Lord or Superior, saying: “Jehovah said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet.’” (Matt. 22:43, 44, NW; Ps. 110:1, AS) After preaching to the lost sheep of the house of Israel Jesus died faithful to God without forfeiting his heirship to the covenant for the Kingdom. So God raised him from the dead and received him up into heaven and seated him at his own right hand in the throne of Jehovah, far above the one-time earthly throne of his forefather King David.

10. Whose sheep did David acknowledge himself to be, whose sheep was Jesus, and in what occupation did he follow that One?

¹⁰ As a lad his forefather David was a shepherd, unafraid to face a lion and a bear for the deliverance of his father’s sheep, or even to engage a giant in combat for the deliverance of Jehovah’s human sheep, the nation of Israel. In turn, David looked upon himself as a sheep of his God. He composed the twenty-third psalm Ps 23:1, which opens with the words: “Jehovah is my shepherd.” Likewise with Jesus Christ. He confessed Jehovah as his great Shepherd and himself as Jehovah’s sheep; and the Scriptures speak of Jesus as the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”. (John 1:29, 36, NW; Rev. 5:6, 12) Jesus acknowledged himself as being the one whom Jehovah God appointed to take care of his earthly sheep, even to laying down his life for them. In a beautiful illustration he said: “I am the right shepherd; the right shepherd surrenders his soul in behalf of the sheep.” And that he followed the occupation of his heavenly Father as a shepherd, Jesus further said: “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them everlasting life, and they will by no means ever be destroyed, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. . . . and no one can snatch them out of the hand of the Father. I and the Father are one.”—John 10:11, 27-30, NW.

11. On becoming King did Jesus Christ cease to be shepherd, and what shows whether?

¹¹ Even as the king of the nation of Israel David was spoken of as the shepherd of his people. Jehovah said to David: “You shall shepherd my people Israel, and you shall be a leader over Israel.” Israel’s judges who preceded King David were called shepherds, Jehovah speaking of them as the “judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel”. (2 Sam. 5:2; 7:7, AT; AS) This is true also of Jesus Christ. When his Father Jehovah God makes him King of the new world Jesus does not cease from being caretaker of sheep, lowly though that occupation may seem. He becomes the governmental shepherd of all his subjects, for they are the ones for whom he surrendered his human soul, laid down his human life. Him we hail today; for him we cry “Hosanna!” because he is the One, and only One, whom Jehovah God has raised up to be the Shepherd of the flock of humanity! In 1914, at the end of the “appointed times of the nations”, the Supreme Sovereign of the universe enthroned him in the high heavens to be the reigning King of the new world; and by this act he made him the royal Shepherd of all who will gain everlasting life in the righteous new world. At the birth of his kingdom from the womb of God’s theocratic organization the prophecy was carried out: “And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is destined to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” (Rev. 12:5, NW) In the defense of his sheep he will wield the iron scepter against the worldly nations, dashing them to pieces as though they were fragile vessels of a potter.

12. Why at his coronation on Mount Zion was Jesus Christ appointed to be a Shepherd-Prince?

¹² We must appreciate why the Most High God has appointed Jesus Christ to be a Shepherd-Prince. Since his being coronated on the heavenly Mount Zion there has been a great scattering of his sheep on earth as a result of World War I and its terrible aftermath. Men have called this postwar period the Age of the Displaced Person, but it has been rather the Age of the Scattered Sheep. What a dire need has arisen, therefore, for the gathering of the sheep out of all the nations into which they have been scattered and leading them together into one peaceful flock! Hence Jehovah’s own determination, “As a shepherd . . . , so will I seek out my sheep.” Hence, too, this decision of his to act, “I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David.” Consequently, vast shepherding activities were due to follow among men of all nations.

PASTORAL WORK

13. In view of David’s and Israel’s experience, why should we not feel frustrated because Jehovah and Jesus do not visibly appear and act as shepherds?

¹³ Nobody needs to bring himself now to a feeling of frustration by saying, “But Jehovah God and Jesus Christ are spirit, are invisible, and have remained so. They have not visibly appeared to go seeking and gathering the displaced and scattered sheep of humanity. So where is there anything to show that they have come and searched and recovered the lost sheep?” Remember that the psalmist David adoringly said, “Jehovah is my shepherd,” although the great, loving God had never visibly appeared in the costume and with the rod and staff of a tender of sheep. Notwithstanding, David had experienced all the tender care of a gentle sheep at the divine hands, and he describes it in his beautiful psalm. Remember, too, that Jehovah was the Shepherd of the ancient nation of Israel. Says the psalmist Asaph: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock.” Another Israelite psalmist writes: “For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” (Pss. 80:1; 95:7, AS) Despite his remaining unseen, Jehovah God led his national flock of Israel up out of Egypt, through the terrifying wilderness and into their fold in Palestine, where he faithfully tended to them as his sheep as long as they showed the sheeplike traits of submissiveness, trust and loyalty to him. What was possible and what historically was true back there in Israel’s day can be possible and is historically true since the “cloudy and dark day” of World War I. Today, as we look at it, it is marvelous in our eyes.

14. What would Jehovah’s searching for his sheep and raising up his Greater David really mean, then, and what would this mean for the political and religious shepherds of Christendom?

¹⁴ Jehovah’s own going in search of his sheep and his raising up his Greater David as prince to tend them means, not Jehovah’s coming out of the invisible, but his qualifying of faithful servants here on earth and his sending these forth as his pastoral representatives to all nations to do the hunting, gathering, guiding and feeding of his sheep, under divine supervision. He says: “And ye my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord Jehovah.” (Ezek. 34:31, AS) Now, just whom would the Lord Jehovah send out in this world-wide pastoral work? Would it be the religious and political shepherds of Christendom, seeing that Christendom is the modern counterpart of ancient Israel? No; for in view of their misconduct in office he is against them. “As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely forasmuch as my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my sheep; therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.” (Ezek. 34:7-10, AS) The time is here for a change! The indignant Owner of the sheep has decided for the dismissal of all those in Christendom who have claimed to be the religious and political shepherds of his sheep “by the grace of God”, but who have led the mass of mankind into the mess it is in today. His swift action in this regard was foreshadowed when his prophet said: “I cut off the three shepherds in one month.” (Zech. 11:8, AS) He will require his sheep at their hands.

15. Whom would Jehovah send forth to represent him in this pastoral work, and what was first necessary in their case?

¹⁵ Whom, then, would the Lord Jehovah send forth visibly to represent him in his pastoral work? Who would these most likely be? Who could these be other than those whose God is Jehovah, those not ashamed to bear his name and speak in his name—Jehovah’s own faithful witnesses? And how appropriate this is, for his own “one shepherd”, Jesus Christ himself, declared himself to be “the faithful and true witness”! (Rev. 3:14) This Shepherd-King would therefore use as his representatives men of his own class—witnesses! However, at the close of World War I the remnant of Jehovah’s witnesses were themselves like a flock that had been scattered. The enemies of God’s kingdom had duplicated the action taken by Judas and the religious and political shepherds of Jesus’ day and had rejected Jehovah’s Shepherd-King. This they did by rejecting the Kingdom message and by persecuting his followers, the message-bearers. They had thus given final fulfillment to the prophecy: “Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” (Zech. 13:7; Matt. 26:31) Hence the scattered remnant had to be gathered first if they were to share in the pastoral work of Jehovah under his Shepherd-King. From 1919 on the loving Creator proceeded to reassemble his sheep, for the political and religious shepherds of this world made no effort to do so. He caused his sheep to hear the voice of the One he had raised up and put in charge of his flock. The voice was the message of the Shepherd-King, the Greater David. It assured them that God’s kingdom had been established in his hands and that “this good news of the kingdom” must be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations before the complete end came upon this world.

16. (a) Why were they not gathered to a condition of idleness? (b) What name did they embrace, and why may the enemies not cavil at them for bearing it?

¹⁶ The sheep of his royal “little flock” knew this unique, inimitable voice of the Greater David and responded. From the ends of the earth to which they had been scattered they flocked together in their thousands into a unity of organization under his care. There they would be safe against the approaching end of the world and would be sure of life-sustaining spiritual food. But these sheeplike followers of the Lamb of God have not been idle. Throughout the years there had to be a great deal of action on their part, for it was necessary for them to copy their Leader and go out searching for the strayed and scattered sheep and serve them the needed spiritual food and guide their steps to the fold of divine care and protection. As an acknowledgment that Jehovah God had regathered them and as a confession that they were his flock, the remnant of the “little flock” embraced the name distinguishing them as the witnesses of Jehovah. That was in 1931, but to this day they have lived up to the name. It is beside the point for the enemies to cavil at them and ask who made them His witnesses. Rather, let the enemies point out where they have failed to do what the name calls for—bear witness to Jehovah.

“OTHER SHEEP”

17. In 1931 God broadened the vision of his regathered remnant to see what?

¹⁷ The gathering of all of God’s sheep alive on the earth was not fully accomplished by 1931. The divine Caretaker, who had made himself responsible for bringing together and feeding his own, broadened the vision and understanding of his regathered remnant, yes, in that very year of 1931. He opened their eyes to see that there was a great shepherding work for them yet to do. Multitudes of persons of good will had to be marked in their foreheads by the truth for life everlasting. The remnant had to go out and hunt for these people that cried and sighed because of all the abominable things committed in Christendom. They must mark them in the seat of intelligence, that they might identify themselves as belonging to Jehovah God and as being subject to his King Jesus Christ. (Ezek. 9:1-4) This has proved to be a tremendous work.

18. (a) For whom else did She Right Shepherd die, and for what action does this call before the world’s end? (b) How is it that the unity of one flock can be created?

¹⁸ Jesus the Right Shepherd died for more than the “little flock” of those inheriting the heavenly kingdom with him. He died also for those who will attain to perfect human life in the earthly paradise of the new world. These he must begin to gather now before the end of this old world and the start of the new. In view of the oncoming world destruction they must be marked for preservation. It was these that Jesus meant when he said: “And I have other sheep, which are not of this [Kingdom] fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:16, NW) That mention of “one shepherd” fits in with Jehovah’s prophecy for our day: “I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David.” It identifies Jesus the royal Son of David as being the one Jehovah spoke of as “my servant David”, the “one shepherd”. (Ezek. 34:23) It is only because there is the one shepherd that the unity of one flock can be created, earth-wide unity, regardless of the great variety of nations from which the members of the flock are gathered. In glaring contradistinction to this hopelessly and destructively divided old world the Almighty Jehovah has successfully accomplished this unification of his one flock under his “one shepherd”, his reigning King. There is no attractive, unifying force in the universe like the one living and true God and his one Shepherd-King. “And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it.” (Ezek. 34:24, AS) What unifying power there is in that declaration!

19. How did the remnant’s organization become a pastoral one, and what disclosure in 1935 did they hail with joy?

¹⁹ As soon as the regathered remnant of God’s royal “little flock” saw in his Word that the work of his “one shepherd” was to gather his “other sheep” and that he must begin now before the old world ended in disaster, they enthusiastically set themselves to join him in his pastoral work. In this way their entire theocratic organization became a pastoral organization. With joy, shouting and clapping of hands they hailed the disclosure in 1935 from God’s Word that a “great crowd”, a numberless drove of these “other sheep”, was to be assembled out of “all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues” before this world’s final tribulation; and that these, also, must actively serve Jehovah God day and night at his spiritual temple.—Rev. 7:9-15, NW.

20. Whom have they since welcomed into the flock, and how have these copied the “one shepherd”?

²⁰ Ever since then they have rejoiced at how God has rewarded their pastoral work. Each year they have greeted and welcomed the influx of multitudes of “other sheep” into the flock at God’s temple. These “other sheep” have imbibed the spirit of the little remnant; they have come to realize their obligation to copy the “one shepherd” and take part with him in searching for still other strayed, lost and scattered sheep. So they have gone forth and loyally worked side by side with the remnant under the leadership of the heavenly Pastor, the Greater David. Not even the ruthless rule of Fascist and Nazi and Communist and religious-totalitarian dictators, no, not even the outbreak of the second global war, halted the spread of their pastoral activities earth-wide.

21. How did the Shepherd-King encourage his sheep to go on the offensive, and so what school was conceived in 1942?

²¹ The Shepherd-King Jesus Christ was not one to let dictatorial regimentation of the people and total mobilization of the warring nations discourage his sheep away from the gathering work. He continued on the offensive. He encouraged them to plan and organize for larger work. In 1942, through God’s Holy Bible, he revealed that World War II would not merge into the world-smashing battle of Armageddon but would be followed by a peace, a postwar period. Such peace—would it last? To that question the answer that Jehovah’s witnesses gave from the Bible was to quote God’s own flat No! However, for as long as the peace before Armageddon would last, there would be a vast amount of work, urgent work, to be done all over the earth, and this in lands where search for the “other sheep” had not yet penetrated. With such Bible-inspired confidence in a postwar pastoral work, and with the determination to prepare for it at once and to go on the offensive immediately, the missionary-training school, the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, was conceived in the year 1942.

22. When did the school graduate its first class of missionaries, and in what did the divine providing of funds for the school result ten years later?

²² In February of 1943, during the very throes of World War II, the first class of students, all of them already ordained witnesses of Jehovah, began their studies and training for a term of five intensely packed months. Early in the following summer, just ten years ago, the School of Gilead sent forth its first graduates, eighty-four in number. How long this free missionary school would keep open its doors, how long it would hold classes, graduating two highly trained missionary groups each year, was not known back there in that war-torn year. But the great Overseer of the sheep, by his “one shepherd”, has provided the funds till now, and today at Yankee Stadium, New York city, the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead has the profound joy of graduating its twenty-first class of missionaries, drawn from twenty-eight different lands. At the same time, present in the vast body of onlooking conventioners, are the prospective students of the twenty-second class. At the same time, too, other hundreds of thousands of Jehovah’s witnesses all over the earth, with their hearts, minds and prayers directed here, applaud this happy event.

“GILEAD”

23, 24. How, in view of the forward part of this school in the pastoral work, is the name “Gilead” fittingly associated with it?

²³ Not without deep meaning is the Bible name “Gilead” linked with this missionary school. Gilead was the land just to the east of the Jordan River and lay between the Arnon River on the south and the Yarmuk River on the north. Today it is occupied by the Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan. It is a land rugged with hills and mountains, somewhat like the location of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead in the highland section east of Lake Cayuga, upper New York state. One particular feature attracted Israelite settlers to Gilead fifteen centuries before Christ, and that was its highland grazing grounds. The twelve tribes of Israel had reached the fortieth year of their long-protracted journey out of Egypt. Provoked into a fight by the pagan inhabitants of these highlands, the Israelites, under Moses, fought and conquered and took possession of the land of Gilead. Of the twelve tribes of Israel the tribes of Reuben and Gad had a great deal of livestock. When they saw the well-watered tablelands of Gilead they saw it was suitable for grazing and they chose to settle in Gilead rather than cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.

²⁴ To this Moses agreed, provided that the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh sent over a contingent of soldiers to help the other Israelites until they had taken possession of the land of milk and honey. To this they replied: “We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place.” (Num. 32:1-17, AS) So in time the stone flock pens of the two and a half tribes dotted the highlands and became a marked feature of Gilead. How fitting, then, that the Watchtower Bible School, which through its graduate missionaries is taking such a forward part in the pastoral work of Jehovah’s “one shepherd”, should have the name “Gilead” prominently associated with it!

25. In view of what Israelite judge from the land of Gilead is the name significant for the missionary school, and why?

²⁵ Gilead, too, was the land of one of Israel’s prominent judges, Jephthah the son of Gilead. In behalf of victory over aggressor Ammonites, Jephthah vowed to sacrifice to Jehovah whatever came out first from his home to meet him on his victorious return. His only child, his unmarried daughter, proved to be the one first to meet him there with dances in celebration of Jehovah’s victory. She did not rebel at being the one to be thus sacrificed to her father’s God, who had vindicated himself over the foes of his people. But before being dedicated to a life of virginity as God’s sacred property not touchable by a man, she and her girl companions went up and down upon the mountains of Gilead bewailing the loss of married life that she must undergo. At the end of two months of this she came home, and Jephthah in faithfulness to his vow dedicated her to the exclusive, virgin-pure service and disposition of the God who had blessed him with victory. In this prophetic, true-life drama of vindication his dedicated, virgin daughter pictured the great crowd of “other sheep” who have been gathered already in hundreds of thousands, especially since the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead was founded. With great joy this modern daughter class hail the victory of the Greater Jephthah, their “Everlasting Father”. They yield their lives of service to Jehovah God and keep themselves in virgin purity from contamination from this world. They do not violate the vow of the Greater Jephthah, the “one shepherd”, who has presented them to the temple service of the Most High God.—Judg. 11:1-40.

26. For what medicinal product was Gilead famous, and how is this in lovely agreement with the purpose served by the school?

²⁶ Another thing: The land of Gilead was noted for its medicinal balm drawn from its plentiful bushes. (Gen. 37:25; Jer. 8:22; 46:11) Far and wide this balm was carried, and it became symbolic of God’s means of spiritual healing. In lovely agreement with his product of Gilead and its healing properties, the missionary graduates of the Watchtower Bible School have carried the curative balm of Jehovah’s message of comfort and of reconciliation to all nations and have applied it for the spiritual healing and recovery of multitudes facing spiritual death.

27, 28. (a) What does the name “Gilead” mean, and does it refer to quantity, size or greatness? (b) What is the historical background of the name?

²⁷ As for the name itself, “Gilead” means, according to the derivation that the Bible gives it, “heap of witness,” or, “witness heap.” This does not refer to the quantity, size or greatness of the testimony that Jehovah’s witnesses have given in all the earth. In obedience to God’s orders, the ancient patriarch Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, left Syria and the service of his father-in-law Laban, without previous notice. He and all his household and vast flocks and herds were pursued and overtaken by Laban. Before they parted again, Laban proposed that they enter a covenant or contract. So Jacob raised a pillar and had his servants pile up a heap of stones, and there on or by the stone heap he and Laban and their companions ate a friendly sacrificial meal. The Record then says of the stone heap:

²⁸ “And Laban called it [in Aramaic] Jégar-sahadútha, and Jacob called it [in Hebrew] Gáleed. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Gáleed,—and Mizpah; for he said, Let Jehovah watch between me and thee, when we shall be hidden one from another: . . . see, God is witness between me and thee! And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have set up between me and thee: let this heap be witness, and the pillar a witness, that neither I pass this heap to go to thee, nor thou pass this heap and this pillar to come to me, for harm.”—Gen. 31:47-52, Da.

29, 30. In view of its background what does “Gilead” really signify, and how is the name appropriate for the Shepherd’s one flock?

²⁹ Both the Aramaic name Jégar-sahadútha and the Hebrew name Gáleed mean “heap of witness”. The name Gilead is popularly drawn, by the change of a couple of vowel sounds, from Gáleed, and its true meaning is therefore taken to be “heap of witness”. The name “Mizpah” means “the watchtower”. Just as Mizpah and Gáleed or Gilead were thus closely linked, so the names Watchtower and Gilead (or, “heap of witness”) are tied together in this Bible School of Jehovah’s witnesses for advanced training of missionaries. In the light of what gave rise to these names, Gilead means the heap that bears testimony to the making of a covenant or solemn agreement to keep peace within the family relationship and never to prove disloyal to it or to harm the members of it. Jehovah is the all-seeing One who watches to see that the binding contract is kept.

³⁰ When we keep the flock of the “one shepherd” in mind, how appropriate the name Gilead is! It denotes the obligation to unbreakable unity and solidarity on the part of the members of the one flock whom the “one shepherd” has now assembled. Just as Jacob and Laban swore by God to keep the peace of the family relationship for mutual benefit, so by their vow of dedication to God the members of the one flock have sworn to keep peace within their ranks and never to seek the hurt of any member of the flock. They are committed to this peaceful, helpful way of getting along together under their “one shepherd”. This prevents the sheep of the flock from being scattered by the operation of any selfish spirit inside the flock. The peaceful, harmonious relationship of this “one flock” throughout the earth is a witness, a testimonial, that they are the faithful flock of their Shepherd-King. Jehovah God himself is witness to it and therefore blesses them with prosperity.

31, 32. Despite the above meaning of “Gilead”, what proves that the School of Gilead has had an outstanding part in the witness delivered and in the pastoral work?

³¹ The foregoing is the basic meaning of the name “Gilead” as applied to the missionary school. Still, an astounding witness to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son has been given since the first class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead graduated ten years ago. The stream of missionary graduates that has poured forth from that school each year has had a large and outstanding part in the unequaled witness delivered and in the vast ingathering of the strayed and scattered sheep into the one flock.

³² Ten years ago the service year of 1943 closed with an average of 109,794 sheep reported as in the flock and taking an active part monthly in the pastoral work. They devoted a total of 28,726,524 hours to field activity for the year, under the 21 branches of the Watch Tower Society functioning then despite the raging global conflict. As this service year of 1953 wends toward its close the number of branches is over three times that many and the number of sheep in the flock is a half million who are reporting activity in the pastoral work, and that in many lands never heard from before. Many here in this mighty audience at Yankee Stadium this afternoon are here because of the functioning of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and the assigning of its graduates to their lands. Even some of this now graduating twenty-first class are prepared to receive their diploma of merit because of the activity of previous graduates of the school. This is undeniable evidence that the faithful Creator has blessed the school and that it is a part of his providence. What it has effected in the world-wide witness to God’s kingdom is an inerasable proof that Jehovah has kept his prophetic promise and that he has raised up his Servant, the Greater David, his one Shepherd-King, and has faithfully used him in the gathering of the scattered sheep.

ENEMY CHAGRIN AT THE PASTORAL WORK

33. How, in general, do the political and religious shepherds of Christendom show displeasure at the success of the gathering of Jehovah’s flock?

³³ Not unexpectedly, the political and religious shepherds of Christendom are displeased at the success of the assembling of Jehovah’s flock. They claim the field as theirs; they claim all the sheep as theirs for selfish exploitation. They resent it that the “one shepherd” enters their field and calls his sheep out from under their power and brings them into his “one flock”. By banning the Kingdom message and its bearers from what they call their own pastures they try to prevent the sick, wounded, needy sheep from hearing the Shepherd’s voice. To turn the ears of the sheep away from the true Shepherd’s voice, they misrepresent the pastoral work of Jehovah’s witnesses and try to create difficulties for it with the governments of this world.

34-36. What instance of this misrepresentation is there on record for Africa?

³⁴ An instance of this is in connection with Africa, where the gathering of sheep out of nations, tribes, colors and languages has had phenomenal success. In the Cape Town Parliament the statement was made by a member of that House that the Watch Tower movement was responsible for the Mau Mau atrocities in Kenya, East Africa. The source of his information was admitted to be what appeared in a London (England) magazine The Twentieth Century of January, 1953, under the title “Background to Mau Mau”.

³⁵ Says the article: “Movements that combine ‘politics’ and ‘religion’ are no new thing in Africa, where the distinction in any case is unknown in the tribe. . . . At any rate, so much have the cults increased that a high Catholic dignitary declared recently in private conversation, and not entirely by way of a joke, that the eventual heir of all the ages in Africa will be the Watch Tower. This latter phenomenon, perhaps the most widely spread politico-religious movement at the present time, is linked, as are so many, with a source in America, in this case Judge Rutherford, the New York founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose English disciples are to be seen any week-end selling leaflets from cloth knapsacks on the drab side-walks of any English provincial town. They too, like the Africans, want to feel relevant, to kick against Authority and the great ones of this world. . . . These movements are all either derived from Protestantism or spread among déracinés [uprooted ones]. There seem to be fewer movements of this nature in the Catholic world, perhaps because of the superior symbolism of Catholicism, its less active education, and its superior psychology, which does not run so often head on against the main stumbling block of Protestant Africa, the plurality of wives.”

³⁶ As of February 24, 1953, the newspaper Cape Argus said under the heading “WATCH TOWER” this: “It had come to light that the basis of the trouble in Kenya could be traced to the Watch Tower movement from America. The organization had distributed its literature extensively in Kenya and in Rhodesia. The authorities were at present investigating the matter.”

37. In a recent special issue of a popular magazine on Africa, how did it join in speaking prejudicially against Jehovah’s witnesses?

³⁷ Later, in the same endeavor to uphold the delinquent pastors of Christendom and to discredit the pastoral work of Jehovah’s “one shepherd”, came the special issue of the magazine Life, of May 4, 1953, with its lengthy article on “Africa”. On page 126 under “Half-convinced converts” the writer said this: “Even the Christianity we have given them seems superficial. I have found that except for those trained by the Catholics, the missions seem not to have produced satisfactory or trustworthy converts. This is at least the consensus among those who have employed mission boys. I can offer no explanation except perhaps that the native is quick to see that the white man seldom practices what he preaches. And it is scarcely enough to teach a boy to sing hymns and read the Bible, and the girls to cover their comely nakedness with Mother Hubbards, and to expect that the Christian virtues of charity and honesty will be immediately inculcated.” Then on page 178 in its editorial on “Americans and Africa” this same issue of Life inserts this comment: “Of U. S. missions in Africa, not the least influential are Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose gospel, so far from encouraging ‘civilization,’ abets the Africans’ worst daydreams.”

38. Why are modern civilization and Christianity not one and the same thing, and what Christianity do Jehovah’s witnesses encourage and work for in African believers?

³⁸ If by the word “civilization” that editorial means progress of the people in the arts, science and statecraft of this decadent old world, then Jehovah’s witnesses are far from encouraging it. The crucial point that should be argued, the really relevant question to ask and answer is, Are they encouraging Christianity? It is not their fault that civilization today is pagan even in its religion, and that civilization and true Christianity are not one and the same. The Christianity that the witnesses of the Most High God encourage and work for in the African believers is one that acquaints them with the one, living and true God and his provision for salvation by the sacrifice and the kingdom of his Son Jesus Christ; a Christianity that frees them from their pagan and demonistic superstitions and practices, that teaches them to live by Christ’s code of one wife to a husband, to bring up their children in the fear, worship and service of God, to be honest and dependable workers for their employers, to read and understand God’s Holy Book, to live in peace, unity and brotherly love although from different colors, tongues and tribes, and to become preaching witnesses of Jehovah and thus have a part in the highly important pastoral work of Jehovah’s Shepherd-King Jesus before this doomed, old-world civilization ends at Armageddon.

39. What can be said to the charge that Jehovah’s witnesses are a politico-religious movement, and what does the Africans’ taking to the gospel that the witnesses bring demonstrate?

³⁹ Jehovah’s witnesses are no politico-religious movement; they do not combine politics and religion. They wash their hands absolutely clean of this world’s politics, known for what it is. They conform to the disciple James’ definition of the “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father”, namely, to keep oneself unspotted from the world. The gospel that they preach and that the Life editorial said “abets the Africans’ worst daydreams” is the gospel that Jesus Christ predicted would be preached in this postwar period. It is “this good news of the kingdom”, the very same gospel that they are preaching on all other continents of the earth and that Jesus said must be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, and this includes Africa too. (Matt. 24:14, NW) If the Africans take to this gospel by the tens of thousands, then it satisfyingly demonstrates that they have the same degree of intelligence, the same noble desires and legitimate hope, the same capability for good will toward God and the same God-given power to recognize the Right Shepherd’s voice and respond to it as all his “other sheep” on all other continents. It is in this way that they will lay firm hold on eternal life in God’s righteous new world and will enjoy it after this atomic-age civilization will have perished forever.

40. In harmony with their diploma, for what lofty mission will the missionary school’s graduates show themselves qualified, and with whom will they co-operate everywhere?

⁴⁰ On the diploma of each graduate of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead this statement appears: “He is therefore graduated as specially qualified to engage in educational work, promoting good will and working in behalf of permanent peace and the law of perfect order and righteousness among all peoples.” The members of the present graduating class will go forth to show their qualification for this lofty mission the same as have the previous twenty classes, in the many lands to which they are assigned to go and preach the Kingdom good news. They will co-operate with all other witnesses of Jehovah throughout the field, the world.

41. Whether of the remnant or of the “other sheep”, what are Jehovah’s witnesses today, and what will they continue doing despite everything?

⁴¹ Whether some are of the remnant of the heavenly Kingdom heirs or are of the majority, the “great crowd” of other sheep with the earthly paradise as their destiny, Jehovah’s witnesses are one united flock under his “one shepherd”. Fearless of all the howling false shepherds of Christendom, and in defiance of all the malicious slurs and slanders, all the antagonism from the political and religious shepherds of this world, all the persecution and oppression, they will follow their King-Shepherd in his pastoral work until all of his sheep of this generation have been found and gathered out of all nations into the one flock, there safely to abide and attain endless life in Jehovah’s new world.

[Picture on page 472]

Gilead Campus

Too Many “Witnesses”

● Under that title the Pentecostal Evangel of the Assemblies of God Churches said, July 13, 1952: “A missionary in South Africa reports serious problems in combating the work of the ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses.’ ‘They are pressing in everywhere,’ he says, ‘with their gospel of a second chance, and a message which does not demand a separated life. How it appeals to the unregenerate African, and somehow closes his ears and heart to receiving the truth of the gospel.” Apparently it does not matter to the Evangel’s writer that Jehovah’s witnesses have no message of a second chance, reject old-world corruption, and appeal to hundreds of thousands around the world who really examine the Bible. These facts escaped the Evangel’s notice, just as similar ones escaped the Jews who brought Paul before Felix and falsely accused him. Perhaps if the complaining missionary would teach true doctrine, the Africans would listen to him too.—Acts 24:5, 6.

Questions From Readers

● Why did Noah curse Canaan when Ham was the offender?—E. M., England.

The occasion of this curse is described at Genesis 9:20-27 (Ro): “And Noah began to be a husbandman, so he planted a vineyard; and drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself in the midst of his tent. And Ham the father of Canaan saw his father’s shame, and told his two brethren outside. And Shem and Japheth took a mantle and put it on the shoulder of them both and went backwards, and covered the shame of their father, but their faces were backwards, and the shame of their father saw they not. And Noah awoke from his wine, and came to know what his youngest son had done to him. And he said, Accursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren! And he said, Blessed be Yahweh, God of Shem, and let Canaan be their servant: God give extension to Japheth, but make his habitation in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be their servant.”

The record of this incident is very brief and likely leaves out details that would be illuminating. Many Bible scholars believe that Canaan was involved in some way not specifically mentioned. The account shows that when Noah awoke he “came to know what his youngest son had done to him”. Rotherham’s translation has a footnote on “youngest son”, which reads: “Undoubtedly Canaan, and not Ham: Shem and Japheth, for their piety, are blessed; Canaan, for some unnamed baseness, is cursed; Ham, for his neglect, is neglected.”

Jewish religious authorities take a similar view. The Pentateuch and Haftorahs, edited by J. H. Hertz, comments: “This vague narrative refers to some abominable deed in which Canaan seems to have been implicated. . . . Instead of showing filial respect and covering his father, Ham deemed the occasion food for laughter, and mockingly repeated the incident to his brothers.” After noting that the Hebrew word translated “son” in Ge 9 verse 24 may also mean “grandson”, this source states: “The reference is evidently to Canaan.” The Soncino Chumash, edited by A. Cohen, points out that some believe Canaan “indulged a perverted lust upon him”, and that the expression “youngest son” refers to Canaan, who was the youngest son of Ham. That some abuse or perversion or base lust, rather than a mere exposure of nakedness, may have been embraced by the words “saw the nakedness of his father” is apparent when it is remembered that incest or other sexual sins are meant when the Bible speaks of uncovering one’s nakedness or seeing one’s nakedness.—Lev. 18:6-19; 20:17.

In fulfillment of Noah’s pronouncement, Shem was blessed by becoming “the ancestor of all the Hebrews”, the chosen people of Jehovah and from whom the Messiah came. (Gen. 10:21, AT) On the other hand, in fulfillment of the curse the descendants of Canaan that were not destroyed when Israel entered the Promised land were put under servitude to the descendants of Shem. As Joshua said to some of these spared Canaanites: “Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” And of other spared Canaanites it is written: “Upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.” (Josh. 9:23; 1 Ki. 9:21) The Canaanites were not wronged, but rightly deserved their treatment. They were idolaters, they indulged in shameful and abominable vice, they went beyond other nations in practicing human sacrifice. God doomed them to extermination not only as punishment for their wickedness, but also to prevent their seducing his covenant people. He used the Israelites as executioners, and those Canaanites not exterminated or driven out were put under bondage, in fulfillment of the prophetic curse uttered by Noah. Incidentally, when some try to say this curse caused some men to be black-skinned they show ignorance of the Bible record, for colored peoples did not descend from the cursed Canaan.

Hence it seems that Canaan may very likely have been guilty of some abuse or perversion against the person of his grandfather Noah, and that Ham witnessed this without interfering. Instead he spread the story of the shaming of his father. Shem and Japheth acted to cover this shame. So they were blessed, the likely perpetrator Canaan was cursed, and the guilty bystander and tale-bearer Ham was personally ignored yet suffered through the shame brought upon his offspring. Such is the reasonable view taken by many careful Bible scholars, though the greatly abbreviated record as it has come down to us in the Bible does not supply all the details. God does not need to justify to us his dealings with such situations by giving all the details, which in this case might clarify Canaan’s role in the matter. The important point is supplied, namely, that Jehovah caused Noah to utter the prophecy and Jehovah brought about its fulfillment.

● Where do we find the command to “hate thine enemy”, as expressed at Matthew 5:43?—A. H., England.

It was in the sermon on the mount that Jesus stated: “You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those persecuting you; that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous.”—Matt. 5:43-45, NW.

Jesus said the Jews had heard, “You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” but he did not say they had heard all that from the Law of Moses. The first part, about loving your neighbor, was a part of the Law. (Lev. 19:18) But the second part, about hating your enemy, was not. It really was contrary to the Law, which said: “If you chance upon your enemy’s ox or ass going astray, you must be sure to take it home to him. If you see the ass of one who hates you lying prostrate under its load, you must refrain from deserting him; you must be sure to help him get it up.” (Ex. 23:4, 5, AT) The Hebrew Scriptures forbade any feeling of malicious joy when an enemy met with disaster, and even commanded that he be assisted when in trouble: “If your enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink.”—Job 31:29; Prov. 24:17; 25:21, AT.

The part about hating your enemy was something added by the teachers of tradition, and it was this addition that made void God’s Word that Jesus condemned. Since they were told to love their neighbors, the Jewish teachers inferred that in contrast they were to hate their enemies. To them “friend” or “neighbor” meant one of the Jewish race, and all others they considered natural enemies. To rout this false idea from one of the learned scribes or lawyers of his day Jesus used an illustration. He told of a man that had been robbed, stripped, beaten and left half-dead. Both a Jewish priest and a Levite by-passed this sufferer, but a despised Samaritan came along, felt pity, tended to his wounds, and took him to an inn and paid for his further care. This non-Jewish Samaritan was then identified as the real neighbor of the injured man, and not the Jewish priest and Levite. (Luke 10:25-37, NW) But in view of the traditional understanding of “neighbor” as being limited to a fellow Jew and in view of their known hatred and enmity relative to Gentiles, it is not difficult to see why they were led to add “and hate your enemy” to the divine law “You must love your neighbor”.

So Jesus corrected them and showed that they were to love not only their neighbors but also their enemies. The word “love” (Greek, agape) here used means a moral or social love, a love based on the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety. It is a matter of doing what is right, as reasoned from the head, rather than the love (Greek, philéo) that means a sentimental, personal attachment and affection, as is usually thought of as coming from the heart. As a matter of following right principles we will show this moral love to all men, even to those who may persecute us personally. We will allow no personal enmities to make us abandon love or conduct based on right principles, but will follow such with all men. We will even pray that those who persecute us in ignorance may have their eyes opened to see the truth concerning Jehovah’s new world.

But we will not pray for those Jehovah has condemned, those he has passed final judgment against. To do so would be a violation of Jehovah’s commands. (Jer. 7:16; 11:14) To love those who are confirmed enemies of Jehovah would displease God: “Shouldest thou help the wicked, and love them that hate Jehovah? for this thing wrath is upon thee from before Jehovah.” (2 Chron. 19:2, AS) Not those who may be our enemies for personal reasons, but those who have demonstrated their willful hatred of God we hate and count as our enemies because they are God’s enemies: “Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: they are become mine enemies.” (Ps. 15:4; 139:21, 22, AS) But in all cases we “return evil for evil to no one” and leave all vengeance to Jehovah.—Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:17, 19, NW.

Announcements

REPORT OF YANKEE STADIUM ASSEMBLY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

By the time this issue of The Watchtower reaches most subscribers, the great New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Yankee Stadium, New York city, will be history. But it is a convention that will not soon be forgotten, and it is something of which you will want to have a permanent record. To that end, a 96-page report on the assembly will be published in the near future. It will be complete with pictures of the assembly’s various features, and will record many of the high lights and details of the convention. In order to receive your copy of this report, send your request now. Order copies for your friends and business associates, and for persons of good will who are interested in the activity of Jehovah’s witnesses. Specify clearly the number of copies of the 1953 Convention Report of Jehovah’s Witnesses that you want, and enclose a remittance of 25 cents a copy. Type or print your name and address plainly. If your address should change between now and October 1, please be sure to advise us.

THE GREATER HAPPINESS OF GIVING

“There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving,” says the apostle Paul. (Acts 20:17-35, NW) Paul was an outstanding example of one who gave his energy, time and goods in preaching good news to his brothers and to anyone who was interested in God’s purposes. In this he imitated Christ Jesus, who was filled with happiness at his opportunities for giving to others the wonderful things he heard from his Father. Dedicated servants of Jehovah today can find no greater happiness than that which comes in magnifying Jehovah’s name by giving people of good will the surpassing knowledge of his magnificent purposes. During August all Kingdom publishers, refreshed by the world assembly at New York, will return to regular preaching from house to house, with an offer of three bound books for only $1.50, with three booklets free. Some congregations will again be working in unassigned areas during this month, but all will strive to be regular preachers. Write the Society or contact Jehovah’s witnesses locally if you wish to participate.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of August 30: Gathering Men of All Nations into One Flock, ¶1-16.

Week of September 6: Gathering Men of All Nations into One Flock, ¶17-41.

Check Your Memory

After reading this issue of “The Watchtower”, do you remember—

✔ Why the United States army switched from blood plasma to the blood substitute called dextran? P. 451, ¶4.

✔ What force helps draw the water of truth from Jehovah’s servants? P. 452, ¶4.

✔ Why some remember gossip, and others remember Bible truth? P. 454, ¶2.

✔ What is pictured by a fruitless fig tree Jesus discussed? P. 455, ¶4.

✔ Why Christians must have a good “root system”? P. 457, ¶2.

✔ What comparison and arguments show we should read all the articles in “The Watchtower”? P. 458, ¶1.

✔ What new method will be used in group study of “The Watchtower”? P. 458, ¶4.

✔ Why the Sadducees were not waiting for the Messiah? P. 461, ¶5.

✔ What harmful shepherds do, even resulting in the spread of communism? P. 466, ¶6.

✔ How the invisible Jehovah now shepherds his sheep on earth? P. 469, ¶14.

✔ Of what meaning and significance is the name Gilead? P. 474, ¶29.

✔ What growth occurred since Gilead School opened in 1943? P. 475, ¶32.

✔ What slur “Life” magazine made against Gilead’s missionaries in Africa? P. 476, ¶37.

✔ Why Noah cursed Canaan? P. 478, ¶2.

✔ Where the Jews got the command to hate their enemy? P. 479, ¶3.