The Watchtower — August 15, 1953

Is Compromise Excusable?

ONE of the characteristics of this twentieth century is the spirit of compromise. Selfishness, ever prone to follow the line of least resistance, has made personal integrity a rare commodity. The lure of easy money has corrupted politicians and caused business and professional men to throw their ethics to the winds. The popular trend has also swept along the great majority of professed Christians. In totalitarian states those professing to be Christ’s followers often have great pressure brought to bear upon them to make them compromise or apostatize.

Referring to this matter, one Dr. Chas. W. Ranson, prominent Presbyterian churchman, at a banquet given by the Washington-North Idaho Council of Churches, stated: “There is a Christian church in China although there is never a guarantee that the church may not be destroyed. There may well be apostasy in the church in China, but what right have we who’ve never known persecution to judge?”—Spokane Daily Chronicle, February 24, 1953.

First of all let us ask, How is it that Dr. Ranson and his listeners of the Washington–North Idaho Council of Churches have “never known persecution”? Did not Christ Jesus plainly state to his followers: “You will be hated by all people on account of my name”? Did he not warn that they would receive the same treatment he had received? that as the world hated him it would hate them? (Matt. 10:22-25; John 15:17-21, NW) And did not Paul assure Christians that it would be through many tribulations that they would enter God’s kingdom, and that “all those desiring to live with godly devotion in association with Christ Jesus will also be persecuted”? (Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. 3:12, NW) Something is wrong. Either Christ and Paul are mistaken as to what a Christian is to expect, or some are professing to be Christians without the identifying marks of true Christianity.

No question about it, the totalitarian monstrosity exerts a great pressure upon those who would stand by their Christian principles. But can they be truly said to be Christians if they do not follow Christ Jesus? He did not compromise. In spite of the severity of the test he was undergoing—and it must have been severe or he would not have prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me”—he did not consider yielding but expressed his determination to remain faithful should his Father require that he drink that cup: “My Father, if it is not possible for this to pass away except I drink it, let your will take place.”—Matt. 26:39, 42, NW.

Instead of considering compromise, he appealed to his Father for help that he might keep his integrity: “In the days of his flesh Christ offered up supplications and also petitions to the one who was able to save him out of death, with strong outcries and tears, and he was favorably heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” (Heb. 5:7, 8, NW) There is the pattern for Christians to follow!

And the apostles did follow that pattern. They likewise did not yield to pressures and apostatize. When officials demanded that they stop preaching, they plainly stated: “Whether it is righteous in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your decision. But as for us, we cannot stop speaking about the things we have seen and heard.” And again, “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”—Acts 4:19, 20; 5:29, NW.

Compromise is compromise, whether done by ourselves or by others, and we may never view it with equanimity as though at times there were extenuating circumstances. For us to hold that it is excusable for others to compromise is to provide justification for our own vacillating and apostatizing in times of stress. We may leave no such vulnerable spot in our spiritual armor. Like the apostles we must be determined to obey Jehovah rather than men; and that we can do if we look to Jehovah for help and fear him and not man.

Christian integrity can be maintained in spite of totalitarian pressure, and is being maintained by Jehovah’s servants throughout the world. Look at Jehovah’s servants in Eastern Germany. Although constantly spied upon and threatened, although not being able to call upon one another without first making certain that they are not being followed, although being discovered with Watchtower literature in one’s possession means two or three years in prison for “distribution of instigation literature”, and although hundreds of the more mature brothers, those who had been taking the lead, are in prison, yet Jehovah’s servants in East Germany keep on preaching.

As a result the brothers there are in the greatest unity with one another, ever ready to go to the help of one in difficult circumstances; uncleanliness has been removed from them, and their preaching work has prospered. And has Jehovah blessed their efforts? He certainly has. The 1953 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses tells that in spite of all the obstacles, the number of ministers for Jehovah in Eastern Germany during 1952 increased 33 per cent over the previous year.

Nor is this the case only in Eastern Germany. The work in the Dominican Republic saw an increase in spite of such severe persecution that at one time more than a third of Jehovah’s servants were in prison during the past year. Also in Yugoslavia there has been an increase in spite of persecution, bans and imprisonments. And in iron-curtained Poland the past years saw a marvelous increase, even though no public activity is permitted and many witnesses are in prison. Funerals being permitted, these are used to give the witness, as many as 500 attending one funeral. More examples could be cited.

The great Judge, Christ Jesus, far from excusing compromisers, will ‘vomit them out of his mouth’. (Rev. 3:16, NW) Paul gives good counsel to all Christians desirous of maintaining integrity, at Hebrews 13:5, 6 (NW): “Let your manner of life be free of the love of money, while you are content with the present things. For he has said: ‘I will by no means leave you nor by any means forsake you.’ So that we may be of good courage and say: ‘Jehovah is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” Compromising is not excusable!

“Get a Firm Hold on the Real Life”

MANY persons live for the gratification of the flesh. They look to the riches they have accumulated as the means of providing fleshly enjoyment. When week ends roll around they have them filled with plans for pleasure. They may swim or boat on Saturday, and that evening dine and dance till a late hour. Sunday they lie in bed till a late hour, and then drive in the country for a picnic. That evening they spend in front of a television set. The entire week end is spent catering to the flesh. So on Monday morning when they go to work they detail their week-end activities to their fellow workers and sum it all up with the exclamation, “Boy, I was really living!”

But they were not really living. They were really dying. In fact, to give oneself over to pleasing the flesh is to become dead in God’s sight: “The one that goes in for sensual gratification is dead though she is living.” They are digging their graves by their selfish, fleshly course, burying themselves deeper in their sins and sinking farther and farther from the reach of God’s Word. To go the way of this world is to eventually die with this world. Christians must deaden the desires of the flesh to become alive to the works of the spirit: “It is you God made alive though you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you at one time walked according to the system of things of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now operates in the sons of disobedience. Yes, among them we all at one time conducted ourselves in harmony with the desires of our flesh, doing the things the flesh and the thoughts willed, and we were naturally children of wrath even as the rest. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, made us alive together with the Christ, even when we were dead in trespasses.”—Eph. 2:1-5; 1 Tim. 5:6, NW.

To be lifted out of our inherited deadness and made alive to God we must become alive to his Word, alive to his will, alive to the ransom he has provided for obedient men. Only after we become alive in these ways can we perform the works that will bring true riches and enjoyment, that will mean a good foundation for the future, that will give us a firm hold on the real life that will be enjoyed in Jehovah’s new world. As Paul said: “Give orders to those who are rich in the present system of things not to be arrogant, and to rest their hope, not on uncertain riches, but on God, who furnishes us all things richly for our enjoyment; to work at good, to be rich in right works, to be liberal, ready to share, safely treasuring up for themselves a right foundation for the future, in order that they may get a firm hold on the real life.” Only when we are alive to God and lively in right works are we really living and on the way to real life.—1 Tim. 6:17-19, NW.

The living faith that millions profess to have is really dead because it is inactive, without works to show it is living. “As the body without breath is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (Jas. 2:20, 26, NW) To perform right works is to acquire riches—not the kind that moths consume and rust corrodes and thieves steal—but the kind that endure. “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal. Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:19-21, NW) It is true that “the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains,” but “the blessing of Jehovah, it maketh rich; and he addeth no sorrow therewith”.—1 Tim. 6:10, NW; Prov. 10:22, AS.

It is the enriching of our lives by doing the work of Jehovah that will bring us real joy and worth-while living. This present life as the world lives it is not really living. This life is good for only one thing, namely, to get rich in right works, to treasure up a right foundation for the future, to get a firm hold on real life. We could have everything that this life has to offer, and yet if empty of right works it would be wasted and worthless. The days of this life are few and full of trouble and pain, sorrow and suffering, grief and disappointment, wickedness and death. (Job 14:1) The days are few, but there are enough of them for us to get rich in right works if we do not delay. Many will recall the fable about a race between a hare and a tortoise. The hare sprinted far ahead then slept, while the tortoise went slow but steady and won. However, we must copy neither. We cannot burst into a showy sprint for a short time then indulge in dangerous napping, for Armageddon is not poking along like the tortoise. Nor can we steadily poke along like the tortoise, for Armageddon is not napping like the hare. We must run the Christian course both fast and steady. This life is uncertain. In this life that comes and goes like the flowers and grass and fleeting shadows we must be quick to seize our opportunities to serve, to work at good, to get rich in right works.

HELPING OTHERS GRASP THE REAL LIFE

Those who think they are really living when the fleshly desires are gratified cannot see the real life. Without mental perception and heart appreciation, persons can have eyes but not see, ears but not hear, tongues but not speak. (Matt. 13:13-15) There can be more than what meets the eye. A city dog can go into the woods, come across a skunk, and see only a little black-and-white kitty to play with. By bitter experience it learns differently, and the next time it sees a skunk it sees in it more than a black-and-white kitty, though that is all that meets the eye. Similarly, a man may see that upon this generation have come unprecedented wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, fears, anxieties, delinquencies and other woes. But if his vision ends there, if he does not see in these things the sign of Jesus’ second presence, then he is spiritually blind.—Matt. 24:1-22.

There is sometimes more than just what meets the ear. A person may get a package that ticks, and think he has received a nice clock from the sender. But when opened it may be revealed as an exploding time bomb. If he survives the ordeal, the next time he receives a package that ticks he will hear in that sound more than a harmless clock, though that is all that meets the ear. Similarly, persons may hear the message of both comfort and warning that is spoken by Jehovah’s witnesses today. To the majority it is taken as the words of the witnesses speaking to them, nothing more. But to those who are yet-scattered “other sheep” the voice or message is recognized as from God and Christ. (John 10:4, 16, NW) They have ears that hear both literally and spiritually. Those who hear the words but do not discern the Ones behind the message are spiritually deaf.

There is sometimes more to what is said than what leaves the tongue. A child may be misbehaving in the presence of company or at a meeting, and the parent may say, “I’ll see you later.” The tongue really is saying more than the actual words it speaks, and the child knows that. The child knows that the parent does not mean he will merely gaze upon the offspring at a later time, but the child appreciates that some kind of action will be taken. So with Christians, there must be more than just words leaving the tongue. The words must be right words, and they must be followed by action. They cannot merely be said; they must be done, carried out. There must be not a mere saying of “Lord, Lord”, but a doing of the will of God and Christ. (Matt. 7:21; Jas. 1:22) Unless the mind can direct the tongue to speak proper words of praise to Jehovah and follow up with right works, the tongue is spiritually dumb.

It is with the foregoing spiritual meanings in mind that Isaiah prophesied of the work that would be done in our day: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped . . . and the tongue of the dumb sing.” (Isa. 35:5, 6) This work of spiritual healing must take place before persons devoted to fleshly pursuits who think they are really living can appreciate that they are really dying. It is God’s Word that is the healing message, and Christians must diligently study it so that they can preach it effectively to others. As Paul advised: “Ponder over these things, be absorbed in them, that your advancement may be manifest to all persons. Pay constant attention to yourself and to your teaching. Stay by these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.”—1 Tim. 4:15, 16, NW.

By effective preaching those who are spiritually deaf and dumb and blind can be healed, if they possess humility and honest hearts. The blindness in which Satan enshrouds their mind will vanish as the good news of Christ’s kingdom enlightens them, and further study will enable them to comply with Romans 12:2, NW: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over.” Thereafter they will shun the snare of materialism, without swinging to the other extreme of asceticism: “Those very things are, indeed, possessed of an appearance of wisdom in a self-imposed form of worship and mock humility, a severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in combating the satisfying of the flesh.”—Col. 2:23; 2 Cor. 4:4, NW.

Now, having eyes enlightened by God’s Word and ears open to its message and tongues loosed to speak it out, these persons appreciate that it is not fleshly gratification that is really living. They forsake such a dying course and become alive to God and Christ and the Bible. They are now able to make the most of this present life, which is to do the good outlined in the Bible, to perform the right works that will mean heavenly riches, to be liberal in sharing these works with others. Then, and then only, are they “safely treasuring up for themselves a right foundation for the future, in order that they may get a firm hold on the real life”.

‘Be Cautious as Serpents’

THE Bible has been provided to completely equip the Christian ministers of Jehovah for every good work. It points out to them what they are to do, why they must do it, and how. It shows us our need to study God’s Word in order to have a strong faith and in order to be able to answer all that demand a reason for the hope that is in us. It also points out to us the need of zeal and diligence, of fearlessness and freeness of speech in preaching, all of which is primarily based upon our having perfect love for Jehovah God. It also stresses the need of our living clean lives so that we may have a clear conscience and not stumble any by an inconsistent and hence hypocritical course of action.

There is still another quality that God’s Word shows that we must have to properly fulfill our commission, and that is wisdom. We must use tact, prudence, discretion, caution, sagacity; for are we not ambassadors for God and Christ in an enemy land? Particularly in times of danger and when face to face with threats of violence must we be calm and soberly consider what would be the best thing to do under the circumstances. That is why Jesus counseled: “Look! I am sending you forth as sheep amidst wolves; therefore prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves. Be on your guard against men.”—Matt. 10:16, 17, NW.

The Watchtower, July 15, 1942, in commenting upon Jesus’ instructions, “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another,” pointed out that where the opposition becomes so organized and all-embracing as to make further witnessing impossible the witnesses should leave and go elsewhere to preach. It pointed out that such was not a running away from a mere threat of violence, or to escape persecution, but was a following of Jehovah’s leading by turning from an unworthy city as one would turn from an unworthy house, leaving it to its destiny and going where work can be done.—Pages 217-220.

And more recently, in the issue of February 1, 1951, The Watchtower considered at some length just what Christians should do when threatened with violence. It pointed out that while in personal matters we do turn the other cheek and submit also to what officials ask of us, this “does not mean that Jehovah’s witnesses do not defend the Kingdom interests, their preaching, their meetings, their persons, their brothers and sisters and their property against attack. They defend those when they are attacked and are forced to protect such interests, and Scripturally so. They do not arm themselves or carry carnal weapons in anticipation of or in preparation for trouble or to meet threats. They try to ward off blows and attacks in defense only. They do not strike in retaliation. They do not strike in offense, but strike only in defense. They do not use weapons of warfare in defense of themselves or the Kingdom interests. (2 Cor. 10:4) While they do not retreat when attacked in their homes or at their meeting places, they will retreat on public or other property and ‘shake the dust off their feet’, so ‘not giving what is holy to dogs’ and ‘not throwing pearls before swine’. (Matt. 10:14; 7:6) So they retreat when they can do so and avoid a fight or trouble. They have a right to appeal and do appeal to officers and the law to come to their help in defense against attack or mob violence.”—Page 75.

PHILIPPINE INCIDENTS

While The Watchtower thus made clear that when mobs attacked us on public or other property not our own, it would be well to give way, rather than to force an issue and risk physical harm, it seems that some Christian ministers have failed to appreciate the points made. Thus certain reports have recently come to hand regarding mob action in the Philippines, where the course of our brothers, while very exemplary as regards zeal and fearlessness, seems to have left something to be desired in the way of tact and wisdom.

At Gerona, Tarlac, on Sunday, March 15, 1953, the witnesses of Jehovah were to use the Public Auditorium for their public lecture, having well in advance received written permission therefor. However, some time later permission to use the same building at the same time, from 1 to 6 p.m., was granted to the Executive Committee of the Gerona Town Fiesta for the purpose of presenting a program of folk dances. When on Sunday afternoon it was discovered that the auditorium was being used by the Fiesta committee, attempts were made to get in touch with the mayor. He was out of town at the time but had left word with his secretary that the witnesses were to move their meeting to another place, although they had not been previously notified of such a change. In view of the fact that the brothers had the permit to hold the public meeting they proceeded to the auditorium.

Upon arriving there they found admission was being charged and the folk dance program was in full swing, sound equipment having been set up, etc. The witnesses asked the ones in charge to end their program and remove their equipment, as the time was drawing near for the public meeting, and showed the permit authorizing them to have the use of the building. The chairman of the proceedings stated that he also had a permit to hold his folk dance program, but he was unable to produce it. Upon his refusing to vacate the stage, the ushers for Jehovah’s witnesses were told by the minister who was to give the lecture to remove the equipment and to clear the stage for the lecture, which they did.

At this point the mayor arrived on the scene, very much wrought up at the proceedings. He gave a short talk about his being the father of the town and that therefore all should obey him, and then he told the witnesses to move their meeting to another place. Noting that the witnesses were determined to go ahead with their meeting he pulled out a revolver, fired a shot into the air and faced the witnesses with it and asked, “Who among you dares to challenge me?” However, he was ignored, the speaker was introduced and he began his talk. The captain of the federal police joined in menacing the speaker with a revolver, a machine gun was mounted and pointed toward the speaker, and the city police appeared with rifles loaded ready for use. In spite of all this display of arms the speaker maintained his confidence and poise and proceeded with the lecture. Ushers for the witnesses intercepted the mayor as well as others who advanced to the speaker to force him to stop, for their pains receiving a number of blows from the would-be attackers.

As a final effort the wires for the sound system were disconnected, but the speaker merely raised his voice and kept on talking. At the conclusion of the talk the mayor approached the speaker and apologized for having lost his temper and having struck one of the ushers. He even went so far as to say that he had enjoyed the lecture. After this the witnesses returned to their convention hall for the closing features of their three-day assembly.

For a very similar incident please see the article on page 510, “Philippine Men Shame Bigots.”

Seemingly here were two instances where a good witness was given because of the zeal and fearlessness of the witnesses in the face of very serious threats of bodily harm. However, even though in these particular instances the results were for the best, yet it may be questioned if it was worth taking the risk and insisting on their legal and constitutional rights. How little more would it have taken for violence to break out and bloodshed, and then what? Can dead witnesses preach? And what about legal redress? Would it be wise to unnecessarily involve the Society, the legal arm of Jehovah’s witnesses, in legal actions costly in both time and money?

That such incidents do not always work out so favorably is apparent from still another report recently received from the Philippine Republic. In Barrio San Jose, Dumalag, Capiz, brothers had met on November 12, 1952, for a public meeting in connection with a three-day assembly, when a mob, greatly outnumbering the witnesses, approached and demanded that the meeting disperse. No police were on hand. The mob was led by the brother of the mayor who had given permission to hold the meeting and in the mob was a person who had previously arranged with the witnesses for them to use some of his property.

Failing to persuade the leader of the mob that Jehovah’s witnesses should not be molested, the one who was to give the lecture nevertheless insisted on his constitutional rights, and proceeded with his talk. Finding the witnesses unwilling to yield, the mob went wild, stormed the place and drove them, not only out of the meeting place, but also out of town and far into the surrounding hills. There the witnesses wandered for two days until they finally reached the next town, Kalibo. The mob destroyed all the literature and even invaded the homes of the local witnesses and smashed their furniture.

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING

The Devil’s purpose in bringing persecution to bear upon Jehovah’s servants is to cause them to compromise and so lose their integrity. By taking our stand boldly and fearlessly we can defeat this purpose of the Devil in spite of what may happen to us. But it also is his purpose to stop the witness work, and when we fail to use good judgment the work is unnecessarily interfered with. In the foregoing instances can we say that Jehovah furnished protection in two cases and not in the third? Or should we conclude that Jehovah expects us to use the spirit of a sound mind and to be cautious as serpents, and that if we fail in these respects we can expect trouble? Not that we can avoid all trouble, all persecution. Not at all, for as we have already noted we are to expect it. But by using wisdom, tact, discretion we can keep it at a minimum, not merely to avoid suffering, but primarily so that the work is not interfered with any more than need be. Witnesses dead or in hospitals cannot go about preaching. That is why Jesus commanded, “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another.”—Matt. 10:16, 23, NW.

In his own home town of Nazareth Jesus was attacked by a mob that “hurried him outside the city, and they led him to the brow of the mountain upon which their city had been built, in order to throw him down headlong. But he went through the midst of them and continued on his way”. No doubt by some quick moves he escaped their clutches. And when opposition got too severe in Judea Jesus stayed away from there, till obliged to go there, “because the Jews were seeking to kill him.” He knew his hour had not yet come.—Luke 4:28-31; John 7:1, 8-10, NW.

While on his missionary tours Paul left one city after another when persecution made further preaching impossible, in one place escaping by being let down from a window in a wicker basket. Under such conditions nothing would have been gained by insisting that he was a Roman citizen. But when arrested, and about to be beaten, he did protest his citizenship as he also did later when on trial. (Acts 13:50, 51; 14:5-7, 19, 20; 22:25; 25:10-12; 2 Cor. 11:32, 33, NW) When persecution became so severe in Jerusalem, the early Christians did not court martyrdom by remaining there, but scattered everywhere, except the apostles, and by this means the preaching of the good news spread far and wide.—Acts 8:1.

So there is a time for everything, a time to stand our ground and a time to yield. (Eccl. 3:1-8) If we are attacked at our homes or Kingdom Halls, then is the time to stand our ground and ‘fight for our brothers’. (Neh. 4:14) But even in such instances we should not anticipate trouble by equipping ourselves with carnal weapons, guns, etc., but if attacked should seek to ward off the blows the best we can with what happens to be convenient. We cannot assume the responsibility of shooting and killing an attacker. Jesus emphasized this point on the night of his betrayal.—Matt. 26:52.

However, when we meet at other places, in plazas, parks, public auditoriums, or are engaged in witnessing on the streets, then if a mob threatens and efforts to reason with it fail, it is the time to give way and go elsewhere rather than insist on our constitutional rights when it is apparent that the mobbers are not amenable to reason. Of course, if attacked, we seek to ward off the blows, and it is always proper to seek protection by the custodians of public order, the police. “A sensible man foresees danger, and hides from it; but the simple pass on, and are punished.”—Prov. 22:3, AT.

We must distinguish between discretion and caution and compromise. Under no circumstances will we heil men; we will not bow down to creatures or representations of any kind. If we are commanded to stop preaching we will obey God rather than men, and so long as we are able to come in contact with others we will be alert to opportunities to give the witness to hearing ears. When forbidden to go from house to house the cautious witnesses of Jehovah go from one house on one block to another house in another block; where forbidden to witness on the streets they strike up seemingly casual conversations with the people while ostensibly window-shopping; where public advertising of meetings is not permitted invitations are given privately. Thus caution indicates that certain more public forms of preaching be not used in such Roman Catholic lands as Ireland, Quebec, Italy, Spain and Argentina. And by using extreme caution Jehovah’s witnesses are able to carry on the preaching work even in Iron Curtain countries.

So let all Christian ministers of Jehovah thoroughly equip themselves for their commission and show zeal and fearlessness in fulfilling it to the best of their ability. But let them also remember that when faced with violent opposition such as mobs we must prove ourselves cautious as serpents so as to avoid unnecessary trouble. Failure to do so would amount to tempting God, and that we may not do. (Matt. 4:7, NW) Particularly at such times, “Let your reasonableness become known to all men.”—Phil. 4:5, NW.

Living Now as a New World Society

The following was delivered by the president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society before the New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Yankee Stadium, New York city, N.Y., Monday afternoon, July 20, 1953.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king for ever and ever.”—Rev. 11:15, NW.

1. Why is this still the same old world since 1914, but what has emerged, arresting the world’s attention?

WHEN the big guns of World War I thunderously began belching fire and smoke in the summer of 1914 a new-world society was due to be born. In the nearly forty years since then things have undergone a remarkable transformation. The map of the globe has changed, many governments have changed their political complexion, and vast bodies of people have been uprooted and displaced or come under unwanted overlords of oppression. Nothing is stable any longer, everything seems in a state of flux, humanity is swept on in an irresistible current of affairs. Mankind does not know where it is going, but it is on its way and it hopes desperately that it will move into a renovated world of better living, a new world of man’s making. But despite all the political, social, cultural, economic, scientific and religious changes since 1914, this is still the same old world. Only the face of it has changed, as any scratch beneath the surface will disclose. Its spirit is still an old-world spirit, its selfish divisions are still there with gaps threatening to widen; its self-reliant, self-determining aims are still there; and, most ominously of all, the unseen, superhuman forces behind the operation of this world are still there and feverishly active. Yet, in spite of all the factors for perpetuating the old world, a new-world society has emerged and grown until now it arrests the attention of the old world. From an unexpected and most unlikely quarter this has come, and the old world watches with an unfriendly eye to see what will become of it.

2, 3. Who only can be credited with producing this New World society, and why?

² How, then, did this New World society come into being? Political slogans that were used during World War I, such as “Make the world safe for democracy!” and the proposals that were made by rulers, businessmen and clergymen for the postwar era, never could have produced this New World society. Being such as it is today, only God’s power and wisdom can be credited with producing it according to his marvelous purpose. Only he could inspire in his obedient worshipers the vision of his promised new world and give them an understanding of its requirements; and this he has done by means of his written Word, the Holy Bible.

³ For decades before World War I God had been preparing a people to become this altogether different society of our day. To them he uncovered the teachings of his Word from which the religious clergy had strayed and from which their congregations had turned away in order to have their ears tickled with worldly wisdom, traditions and philosophies. He roused them to the realization that the time for the oft-prayed-for Kingdom to be fully established was getting close. Long in advance he even disclosed to them by his Word that the time for the Kingdom to assume power in heaven and in earth was A.D. 1914, for then the time he had allotted for the uninterrupted domination of the earth by the Gentile nations since Jerusalem’s first destruction in 607 B.C. would run out. It was highly urgent for his informed people to get ready for the exercise of the universal power of God’s kingdom by his glorified Son Jesus Christ. They earnestly endeavored to do this, and, just as they had been taught to expect, the tribulation upon the Devil’s world organization broke out in the year 1914.

4. Why did the enemies once think nothing was to be expected of Jehovah’s worshipers in the postwar period?

⁴ Four years later, when a sudden armistice brought World War I to a halt, these devoted worshipers and servants of the Most High God lay stunned in quite a desolate condition. Not only had international war disrupted their connections with their brothers throughout the earth, but they had undergone years of violent persecutions at the hands of the inflamed people egged on by the intolerant religious clergy. Bible literature of theirs, even their copies of the Bible itself, was under ban, many members of theirs were held in prisons and military establishments, and key officials of their legal corporation were lying in the penitentiary under heavy sentence and denied all appeal for fair and proper court treatment. They were in great odium, an object of hatred by all nations. Their enemies thought they had written out finis! for them. Little or nothing of consequence was to be expected of them in the postwar period, so the enemies thought.

5, 6. How were the remnant drawn together after World War I, and how did they come to be reorganized?

⁵ But where there is life there is hope. The little remnant of faithful survivors of those world war experiences still clung to their God, “whose name alone is Jehovah.” (Ps. 83:18) They still had faith in his Word and did not forget or forsake it. The fury of the enemy had not broken the bonds that bound them to their brothers and, notwithstanding all their enemies could do, those bonds would draw them together again. They saw now the meaning of their persecutions during the world war, yes, the meaning of that war itself and its concomitants, famine, pestilence, earthquakes and distress of nations. These things were proof that the time of this world’s end was upon us and that God’s kingdom of his Christ was now a fact. This gave basis for the startling message that a good-sized multitude, “millions,” they estimated, of people now living would never die. The postwar period offered an opportunity to serve Jehovah God further, and as long as they had breath they were determined to praise him before all nations.

⁶ God read the hearts of his loyal people in their affliction. He it was who had preserved them through the fiery trials, amid World War I. He had a purpose in doing so. Accordingly, by his strange providence, he loosed them from captivity to their foes. By the power of his spirit he freed them from the shackling effect of fear of men and of man’s organizations. He reorganized them and set his work before them, making known to them that this was the predestined time when “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations” and that this gospel was the all-important good news that God’s kingdom had been set up.—Matt. 24:14.

7. How did this New World society of today come into being, and why will it not be stamped out?

⁷ Today we can see that God’s purpose has been carried out. By all the means of passing out information this good news of Jehovah’s kingdom has been preached. Literature by the hundreds of millions of pieces in many languages has been distributed publicly and from house to house. To these printed sermons have been added the voices of these Kingdom announcers in personal testimonies and by Bible instruction in the homes and in public lectures before visible audiences and over the radio. Hundreds of millions have heard the message of this divine government of the new world, many of these hearing it over and over again during the course of the years. Thousands of readers and listeners have recognized this to be God’s life-giving message for this day. They have responded to it with joy and have dedicated their lives to him through Jesus Christ and have joined in holding aloft this bright signal of the Kingdom, until today there are Kingdom announcers organized and reporting activity on all continents and in the many islands of the sea. All together, these now hundreds of thousands form a society no part of this old world. The nations of this world will never be able to stamp out this society. It will grow and live forever, for it is the “planting of Jehovah” and he will not uproot it. (Isa. 61:3, AS; Matt. 15:13, NW) Amid the fire of persecution he has welded his people together into this New World society by his Holy Word and by his spirit and by the work that he has commissioned them to do.

PROBLEMS OF SOCIETY LIFE NOW

8. Why is this rightly called a “society”, and why will it continue on after Armageddon?

⁸ Is this rightly called a “society”? Yes, for it is a group of people, Christian people, organized and working together in a common work, meeting together regularly and worshiping the one true God, and striving to live according to a common standard, God’s standard. This society is not incorporated under any political state and its code of laws. No such state can charter such a society as this is. Its members spread beyond the bounds of any one nation or empire and its power of control. A man-made charter could not hold such a society together and keep it running. It is of God’s creation by means of his truth and his spirit. True, it has co-operated till now with the legal corporation, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, as its administrative, publishing and legal servant. But it will not cease when the Watch Tower Society loses its charter, either when the Watch Tower Society is dissolved by a hostile government the way the branch office in Eastern Germany was dissolved first by the Nazis and now recently by the Communist government, or when the chartering government passes away at the battle of Armageddon. A Watch Tower Tract Society existed and spread God’s message before ever Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society was incorporated in 1884 under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. After the battle of Armageddon obliterates this old world the New World society will continue on, for it will be approved and authorized by the only government then in power, the divine government. It will form the base, the nucleus, around which the population of the “new earth” will grow and fill all this planet.—2 Pet. 3:13.

9. Why are we as members of this society bound to have our problems now during this transition period?

⁹ As members of the New World society we are bound to have our problems now. We are not yet out of this old world. The “appointed times of the nations” ended in 1914, but this did not end the old world; it merely began the world’s “time of the end”. After that date Satan the Devil and his demons were cast out of heaven, but this did not destroy his world; it merely tied down to the earth the activity of the invisible spirit forces behind this world. The old world is still with us. Its interests conflict with those of the incoming new world. So this causes difficulties for us in this transition period.

10. How can we avoid becoming “condemned with the world” and, instead, ‘condemn the world’?

¹⁰ Just now we are surrounded by a world full of squabbles, racial and religious hatreds, national traditions, prides and rivalries, and numberless other divisive things. The members of the New World society are drawn from all nations and tribes, but such trouble-breeding things may not be carried into the society. They will not be carried over Armageddon. They must and will end there. So it does not bode us any good to hang on to such things or meddle in them now. We must abandon those worldly forms of selfishness, those jealousies, envies, egotistic ambitions, religious sectarian wars, persecutions of one another, and other manifestations of the spirit of the Devil, “the god of this system of things.” We do not care to bear any responsibility before God for the ruling systems and destructive conflicts of this old world. We do not want to share with the human race in its community responsibility for these things that are opposed to God and at war with his kingdom. Were we not to keep ourselves clean from its politics and its controversies, then we should “become condemned with the world”. It is our privilege to copy the example of Noah before the Flood, who, “after being given divine warning of things not yet beheld, showed godly fear and constructed an ark for the saving of his household, and through this faith he condemned the world.”—1 Cor. 11:32 and Heb. 11:7, NW.

11, 12. How are we in the same position in this world as Jesus was when on earth, and why must we be thus?

¹¹ As Christians we are in the same position as Jesus our Leader was when on earth. (John 17:14, 16; 15:19) We are in this world, but we are no part of it and are no friends of it. We are the friends of God’s new world; we uphold its divine government set up in the heavens. On account of this the world may hold us for its enemies, but there is no other way for us to be God’s friends. We love the new world and are looking forward to it, for that means that the love of the heavenly Father is in us. It has to be this way, because we are commanded, at 1 John 2:15-17 (NW): “Do not be loving either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.”

¹² In this world wars and fights, cravings for sensual pleasures, murdering and coveting go on. The disciple James denounced all Christians who turned back to such things as having unlawful intercourse with the world: “Adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God.” (Jas. 4:1-4, NW) There was no friendship between the apostle Paul and this world. The world viewed him as an accursed criminal condemned to a torture death on a stake; but the apostle in turn viewed the world as likewise accursed and condemned. Hence he said: “Never may it occur that I should boast, except in the torture stake of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been impaled to me and I to the world.”—Gal. 6:14, NW.

13. (a) What world must we love, and why? (b) Why does this not mean we are haters of mankind and of everybody?

¹³ How wonderful it will be to survive the battle of Armageddon and live in a world that we may love, a world that we can be friends with, that we can be in and be a part of without making ourselves the enemies of God! That is the world that Jehovah God loved so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believed in him should not perish but should have everlasting life. (John 3:16) We must love the world that God loved so much. Then our love will never come to grief, for that righteous new world will never pass away. Our not loving or being friends of this old world does not mean we are haters of mankind, haters of everybody; no more than were the disciples John, James and Paul, who expressed themselves as they did in their writings. If we were haters of everybody, then we would retire from contact with the people, like religious monks and nuns, and we would not go tramping from door to door, bringing the people God’s warning by word of mouth and printed page and beseeching them, “Become reconciled to God.” (2 Cor. 5:20, NW) The greatest commandment ever given is that we must love God first, that is, with all our mind, heart, strength and soul; and, in expressing that love for God, we must obey his second great commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves. This we try to do by leaving our cozy homes and calling on our fellow men at their own homes and sharing with them the God-given message, that they may be saved to the new world the same as we ourselves.

14. Why may we not look back at this world, and with whose example in mind?

¹⁴ But as for becoming the friends of this world in its desires, its aims, its ambitions, its politics, its systems, its religions and philosophies, we may never do that without becoming religious hypocrites, hated by God. We have answered his call to come out of this world; and now for us to look back at it as if we had deprived ourselves of something worth-while would make us God’s enemies and doom us to destruction. Said Jesus: “Remember Lot’s wife.” Why? Because, while fleeing from Sodom as fiery destruction rained down from heaven upon it, she looked back disobediently, slowed down in her flight and got encased with suffocating salt, to become a pillar of warning to all turncoats, renegades.—Luke 17:32, 33.

15. Though divided against itself, yet against what is the world united, and why?

¹⁵ Today we are living amid an international community that is split into two great blocs, a Communist republican bloc and a democratic bloc. Divided politically, economically and socially from each other, yet there are proofs to show that both blocs are unitedly against the New World society. Why? Because it does not follow the pattern of either bloc. The New World society is theocratic, as the righteous new world will be. It recognizes God as the rightful ruler, the supreme sovereign of heaven and earth. It abides by that fact in its organization and operations and holds fast to his Word, the Holy Bible, as furnishing us the supreme law. In the year 1914 his “appointed times of the nations” ran out and he brought to birth the kingdom of his Son Jesus Christ. Hence now we must say, in the language of Isaiah’s prophecy for our day: “Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jehovah is our king; he will save us.”—Isa. 33:22, AS.

UNDER THE KINGDOM NOW

16. Under what ruling factors must we live now, and how must we conduct ourselves under such?

¹⁶ It is a real kingdom that we are living under now. Of course, the kingdoms and republics of this world are living under it too, but they are not operating as its representatives or as political expressions of it nor as its loyal subjects. They are rather its foes, refusing to acknowledge its existence and sovereignty and so raging against it. Consequently they are destined to destruction by the iron rod of Jehovah’s anointed King, Jesus Christ. Meantime, as long as the King lets these earthly political powers remain and chooses to rule in the midst of his enemies, the New World society must live under such visible ruling factors. It must live peaceably and engage in no subversiveness of any kind. All man-made laws of righteousness we are exhorted by God’s Word to obey. But where a conflict arises between God’s law and that of human dictators and human legislatures, then we must show we recognize Jehovah’s sovereignty over earth and heaven and we must follow the theocratic example set forth by the apostle Peter, who declared before the Supreme Court of Jerusalem: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”—Acts 5:29, NW.

17. Why is it reasonable for us to give first place to God’s government and laws and render to Caesar only what belongs to him?

¹⁷ This is a reasonable position. Granted that we do live under the immediate government of this world’s political systems, yet we must ask, Under what do these same political systems live? Although they try to be on top of the earth, are they not just the same under heaven and hence under heaven’s government? They most certainly are! Heaven’s rule now means God’s rule by means of his enthroned Son, Jesus Christ. So in view of this determining fact we recognize the higher sovereignty of Jehovah God and give first place to his government and laws. To human ruling factors we merely pay back or render what debt we owe them for the limited services and benefits we enjoy from them. That is all that is due to them. The universal war of Armageddon is ahead of this generation, and those worldly ruling factors are not going to protect us or our property during that war. They are not going to get us through and past Armageddon and into the new world, for they themselves will not get through but will be dashed to pieces.—Ps. 2:1-9.

18. When will our debts to Caesar cease, and what debts will the political governments pay to God, and why?

¹⁸ It is to Jehovah God that we have to render and pay back what belongs to God, if we are to survive the war of Armageddon or if, dying before then, we are to be resurrected to life in his new, post-Armageddon world. Then we shall owe absolutely nothing to “Caesar”, for the political rulerships of this world will then have gone out of business. Their debts that they owe to Jehovah God for persecuting his faithful people they will pay for with their existence. (Matt. 22:21) It was all right, it was a Fatherly duty, for Jehovah God to express his anger with his own people for their shortcomings and chastise them during the period of World War I. But it was not the right thing for the political systems as the sword of the religious systems to oppress, persecute and try to destroy Jehovah’s people maliciously, and then not stop there but try to keep this up since the close of World War I. “Thus says the LORD [Jehovah] of hosts: ‘I am very greatly concerned about Jerusalem and Mount Zion, and I am exceedingly angry at the easy-going nations; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster.’”—Zech. 1:14, 15, AT.

19, 20. Why is the Kingdom, although heavenly, more real to us than the United Nations with its capital and buildings?

¹⁹ The Kingdom established in the invisible heavens in 1914 may be unreal to worldly politicians, but it is real to us, in fact more real than the United Nations. The United Nations now has a capital with secretariat and assembly buildings there on the west bank of the East River, in New York city, and how, then, you ask, could the Kingdom be more real without such visible, tangible things? In reply we say, There is no need of official buildings of brick, stone, concrete and steel made by man’s hands in order to prove the existence of a government. The universal government of Jehovah can function without material buildings on this earth. In the paradise of Eden the perfect human couple, Adam and Eve, had no man-made buildings by the banks of Eden’s river to symbolize Jehovah’s theocratic government over them, and they were not burdened with taxes to maintain such buildings. Much later the holy city of Jerusalem had a material temple dedicated to Jehovah God and marked by his name; but since Christ the true Christians who worship God with spirit and truth have not had to build such an earthly temple to practice his pure worship or to symbolize its existence.

²⁰ The actuality of a government is shown by its having subjects that submit to its power. Our recognizing a government and our submitting to it are displayed by our loyal obedience to it. The Kingdom’s reality and power are vividly impressed upon us, not by material buildings, official uniforms, flags, emblems and insignia, but by the visible signs in the earth. God’s Word, the Bible, foretold these would appear as evidences of the Kingdom’s establishment and operation, such as World War I, beginning in 1914, followed by unending distress of the peoples and perplexity of the nations, not knowing which way to turn in order to find a way out of the unparalleled crisis. Most impressive of all, the Kingdom’s work as foretold in divine prophecy is being carried out irresistibly before the end comes at Armageddon.—Matt. 24:3-14.

21. How do we follow Abraham’s course of walking by faith, and how do we endure the present consequences, like Moses?

²¹ In the face of these real things, why should not the Kingdom be real to us? We walk by faith as the ancient patriarch Abraham did. He did not trust in the material buildings of the city of Ur of the Chaldeans for a permanent government. Under Jehovah’s guidance he left Ur for the Promised Land. “By faith he resided temporarily in the land of the promise as in a foreign land, and dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the very same promise. For he was awaiting the city having real foundations and the builder and creator of which is God.” We today are in a better position than Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: “In faith all these died, although they did not get the fulfillment of the promises, but they saw them afar off and hailed them and publicly declared that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land. . . . But now they are reaching out for a better place, that is, one belonging to heaven. Hence God is not ashamed of them, to be called upon as their God, for he has made a city ready for them.” (Heb. 11:8-10, 13, 14, 16, NW) Like those faithful patriarchs, we of the New World society confess ourselves to be strangers and temporary residents in this old world. We have no business to meddle in its politics and gory brawls, all the more so now that we see that the Kingdom, the city having real foundations and built and created by God, has been put in power and is ruling. Although we suffer international hatred for this course of nonintermeddling, yet we endure it with God’s strength. With the vision of the Kingdom before us we do as faithful Moses did: “He continued steadfast as seeing the one that is invisible.”—Heb. 11:27, NW.

NOW THE TIME TO OBEY

22, 23. (a) Since 1914 with what do creatures and organizations in heaven and on earth have to reckon? (b) What example of the Israelites before they had a visible king may we not follow now?

²² Whether inside or outside the New World society, let everyone know one thing: The fact that Jehovah’s kingdom has been set up with his Anointed King in the throne puts us under a special responsibility. According to our faith we shall show seriousness about meeting it. A new power has come into force in the universe. It is the long-promised theocratic government, the capital organization of the universe that is dedicated to vindicating Jehovah’s sovereignty. All creatures, all organizations, in heaven and on earth have to reckon now with this new entity, the Kingdom. We cannot now afford to be like the Israelites of old. For hundreds of years after they had crossed the Jordan and settled in the land of Palestine their invisible Ruler, their King, was Jehovah. They did not have any visible king of the royal line of David, but God raised up judges for them to govern and deliver them from their enemies. (1 Sam. 8:7; 12:12) There was considerable self-interpreting and flouting of the theocratic law of their national covenant with Jehovah. The description of that time says: “In those days there was no king in Israel. As for everybody, what was right in his own eyes he was accustomed to do.”—Judg. 17:6; 21:25, NW.

²³ As long as this was done within the framework of their Law covenant with God, this was not out of order. It showed the degree of their freedom of action. But to ignore God and lean to one’s own understanding and do what was right in one’s own eyes was wrong, untheocratic, even before there was a visible king in Israel. Moses in his farewell speech to the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan warned against this, saying: “You must not do the same as all that we are doing here today, each one whatever is right in his own eyes, because you have not yet come into the resting place and the inheritance that Jehovah your God is giving you.” (Deut. 12:8, 9, NW) The setting up of a visible kingdom over the Israelites meant newer arrangements for them, with more specific instructions given to them and more demands made upon them. It meant a tightening up of the national organization, their feeling the ruler’s power and authority more.

24. How was the situation among Christians similar before 1914, and now whom do we have over us?

²⁴ Before the Kingdom was set up in the hands of the glorified Son of David, Jesus Christ, the situation among the faithful people of Jehovah God was very much like that among the Israelites before getting their Davidic kingdom: Christians were accustomed to do what was right in their own eyes. Thinking that the democratic system of government and living as exemplified in the Western democracies of the world was the best way for congregations to be organized and operate, they tried to interweave democracy with the instructions of the Holy Scriptures. This resulted in a widespread variety of private Scripture interpretations and personal predictions of the future, and a great deal of local rule, party spirit, strife and rivalries for official positions. But now since 1914, and particularly since the regathering of Jehovah’s people after World War I, this way of things according to what is right in the eyes of a person or of a congregation will not be followed by anyone loyal to Jehovah’s kingdom. It is no longer as in the days of Israel’s judges. There is now a King over us! This King “by the grace of God” is higher than all the kings of the earth. Said Jehovah God: “I also will make him my first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth.” (Ps. 89:27, AS; RS; AT; Mo; Da) He is not a mere figurehead, a mere national symbol, with a prime minister as the real ruler and a Congress or Parliament as the lawmaker for him and a Judiciary to tell him what is legal and constitutional or not. He is King of kings and Lord of lords by Jehovah’s decree. He is an absolute monarch under his God Jehovah. For the sake of our lives we must respect that fact!

25. Why is it now different with the remnant of faithful Christians from when the Jewish remnant returned from Babylon?

²⁵ Jehovah’s theocracy, his universal sovereignty, now functions through royalty, the royal rule of his Son, Jesus Christ. The “appointed times of the nations”, the Gentile times, have ended, and the political nations of this old world are now in the swiftly passing “time of the end”. Since the close of World War I in 1918 a remnant of faithful Christians has returned to Jehovah’s worship at his spiritual temple. Now, though, it is different from when the remnant of Jewish worshipers returned from Babylon in the days of Zerubbabel by the permission and decree of the Persian emperor Cyrus. At that time the “appointed times of the nations” had barely begun and had finished 70 out of 2,520 years to go, and the reborn nation of Israel was dependent upon the Persian world power. But now Jehovah has raised up a Greater Cyrus, just as he prophesied, and this King has delivered God’s people from this Babylonish world. (Isa. 44:28 to 45:13) We are indebted to the heavenly Kingdom and are dependent upon the Greater Cyrus, Jesus Christ, who now rules amidst his enemies, the Gentile powers whose “appointed times” expired in 1914.

26. Since 1914 does God’s Son have merely a spiritual kingdom over his followers, and so why may we not act independently?

²⁶ So now it must be different with us Christians than before 1914, than before our release from modern Babylon. Before then and from the apostolic days it was true of us Christians that “the Father . . . delivered us from the authority of the darkness and transplanted us into the kingdom of the Son of his love”. (Col. 1:12, 13, NW) But now that Son of God’s love has more than a spiritual kingdom over his own followers. He has been enthroned to rule now in the midst of his enemies in heaven and earth and to dash the nations to pieces at Armageddon and take over the literal control of the whole earth. He has been given the right to the earth and its domination. He enforces theocracy, he applies God’s rule, Jehovah’s sovereignty, toward this earth. He is a swift punisher of what is untheocratic. So watch out for him at Armageddon. We dare not act independently of him in religious matters. We may not do what we please. We must be theocratic in thought, deed, worship and organization, putting God’s rule before people’s rule. We may not be isolationists, individualists, squirming under the obligations and restrictions of organization, objecting to being organized, with God on top and us below.

27. What does the Kingdom mean now for God’s people on earth, and why may we not be separatists now?

²⁷ If we have faith in the Kingdom, if we are lovingly loyal to God’s anointed King, we shall be glad to obey his instructions and arrangements through his visible theocratic organization. The Kingdom means tighter organization for God’s people on earth. This is vitally necessary if we are to stand up against the combined forces of the enemy and overcome this world. No one can go it alone, and the King will not go it alone with such an individualist. He goes with his flock, his organized subjects. If we refuse organization instructions, if we forsake the gathering of ourselves together to avoid organization and its obligations, where could we go after Armageddon? Will there be separatists after Armageddon who will each make himself his own society and live as a hermit in a spacious earth, avoiding human contact and preferring animal society? For anyone to forsake the organized congregation of those who are destined to survive Armageddon means for that one never to get past Armageddon into the New World and its theocratic system. Like Noah’s family, we must now get into the ark all together!

28. What should we do about internal difficulties among ourselves now, and why?

²⁸ For us to be knit closely together now in organization while we are imperfect and have our selfish likes, dislikes and tendencies may result in a bit of rubbing and difficulty for a time. But if we try to show the mental attitude and spirit of Christ and put up with our brothers in love, we shall be able to straighten out our difficulties and hold together in one supreme common cause. We did not come out of the old world and its squabbles just to plunge ourselves into squabbles of our own making among ourselves. So we must learn to surmount our internal difficulties and straighten them out now. Better that than to have to contend with such things among us after Armageddon. Said Paul: “Be angry, and yet do not sin; let the sun not set with you in a provoked state, neither allow place for the Devil.” (Eph. 4:26, 27, NW) We might well say now: Let not Armageddon come down like a thief with you in an angered mood, in a provoked state against your brother. The thing to do is to seek peace and harmony with your brother now. The New World society’s Book, the Bible, instructs you how to do so.—Matt. 18:15-17.

THE SOCIETY’S COMMON LANGUAGE

29. Will the survivors have nationalistic divisions after Armageddon, and what about their language?

²⁹ Right after the battle of Armageddon will the survivors be living under nationalistic governments with divided loyalties, rival claims, proud traditions and ancient hatreds and suspicions? No, not after the King wields his scepter against the raging nations. The survivors will be those who have now come out of this world and who have risen above those selfish things cultivated by the “god of this system of things”. For the time being there will be language groups. Nevertheless, they will all be one theocratic family—even as they are now “one flock, one shepherd”. (John 10:16, NW) There will be no nations, but all will be citizens of the new world, under one King. It will be the same as it is now with Christ’s body, “where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all things and in all.” (Col. 3:11, NW) Already Jehovah God has turned to his people of all national extractions a “pure language”, and it will be the one language all will speak from the very start of the new world, namely, the theocratic Kingdom truth.

30. What essential requirement is now laid upon us even as it was laid upon the Israelites delivered from Babylon?

³⁰ To continue in the New World society one essential requirement is that we must speak the truth. Satan the Devil is the “father of the lie”, and lying is one characteristic of the system of things of which he is god. (John 8:44, NW) One of our great struggles is to get rid of the lies we have inherited by having been part of his old world, particularly the religious lies. After the ancient Israelites were delivered from mighty Babylon, the command that Jehovah God sent to them through his prophet Zechariah for their prosperity was this: “These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith Jehovah.” By this faithfulness to truth in speaking with their neighbor, and in holding court and rendering decisions without partiality in the city gates, and in swearing to no false oath for the purpose of hurting a neighbor against whom we devise evil, the city of Jerusalem was to become called “The city of truth”. (Zech. 8:16, 17, 3, AS) The apostle Paul saw this was a requirement for the Christians of his day. After telling them not to keep walking as the worldly nations do in the unprofitableness of their minds but to put on a new personality, he told them how to do this and said: “Wherefore, now that you have put away falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are members belonging to one another.”—Eph. 4:25, NW.

31. What does ‘speaking the truth’ mean for us today, and by our doing so the organization will get to be known as what?

³¹ This same requirement applies to the New World society today, whose members have been delivered from a false, hypocritical old world. We, too, must insist on speaking the truth. That means we must rid ourselves of the old-world lies and the practice of falsehood for any selfish reason. It means we must get free from the lies of false religion, which blaspheme God’s name and distort his purpose and way of salvation, and which lead mankind into destruction at Armageddon. “The truth will set you free,” said Jesus, and that truth we find in God’s Word. It is this truth that we must speak to one another in the New World society to build one another up on our most holy faith. (Jude 20) It is the truth that we should publish abroad outside the New World society, that others who are hungry for truth and righteousness may enter the society and be filled and set free. This is especially necessary where small communities in certain lands have become members of the New World society one hundred per cent. They dare not insulate themselves to enjoy the truth and peace all to themselves, sidestepping the hardships of the witness work. To avoid growing selfish they must get out and preach to those yet in the bondage of error and also support the spreading of the truth by others. By such persistent speaking of the theocratic truth to our neighbors far and near, the New World society will indeed get known as an organization of truth.

32, 33. (a) How has Jehovah restored judges and counselors to us as at the first? (b) What covenant did Jehovah conclude with the Israelites in Moab, and what did Moses then urge them to do?

³² Prophesying of the glorious days of restoration of Jehovah’s people to the theocratic way of organization and activity, Isaiah uttered this promise of Jehovah: “I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” (Isa. 1:26, RS) Having now enthroned his King as our Judge and “Wonderful Counselor”, Jehovah God has restored things as at the time when Jesus Christ was visibly present on earth in the flesh, and now we enjoy the counsels of God’s unfolding Word as never before. It is incumbent upon us to prove ourselves a faithful society, a loyal representative of God’s heavenly Jerusalem, the “faithful city” above. We stand now in a position like that of the Israelites on the desert plains of Moab shortly before crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Moses, knowing he was to die within a month’s time, assembled the Israelites and gave them a repetition of the Law covenant that Jehovah had made with them at Mount Horeb in Arabia, together with changes that were to go into force under the new conditions in the Promised Land.

³³ At the close of Moses’ repeating the theocratic law there in Moab we read: “These are the words of the covenant that Jehovah commanded Moses to conclude with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab aside from the covenant that he had concluded with them in Horeb.” (Deut. 29:1, NW) This used to be called a “covenant of faithfulness”; but it was in fact a covenant of the repeated law with revisions of the Horeb covenant to adjust it to the arrangements that would go into effect in the Promised Land. Hence the Bible book that contains this repetition of the law is called Deuteronomy. It corroborated and reinforced the law covenant that had been given to the nation of Israel at Horeb or Mount Sinai. It was after this that Moses urged the Israelites to be faithful to this covenant, taking heaven and earth as witnesses against them that he had set before them life and death, blessing and cursing: they should therefore choose life by faithfully keeping the covenant, that they might keep on living in divine favor and blessing.

34. How are we having Jehovah’s theocratic law and requirements restated to us now, and why is it now under the present conditions that we must choose the course of life?

³⁴ Today, since our deliverance from modern Babylon in 1919 and before our entering the new world after Armageddon, we are having Jehovah’s theocratic law and requirements restated to us as never before in Christian history. The whole Bible is being opened up. This is the work of Jehovah’s Greater Moses, Jesus Christ. We are being drilled in the requirements of the New World society, that we may know how to choose the course of life and keep living in God’s favor and blessing now; it may be we shall even be preserved through Armageddon into the new world at its start. The decision is ours to make now, in the light of the revealed theocratic law. It is now we have to meet these theocratic requirements, now in this “time of the end”, and not just after Armageddon. After that war there will be no heathen neighbors to surround us as they did the Israelites after Moses died and they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. No, in the new world there will be no pagans and false religious neighbors surviving Armageddon to beset us and tempt us to worship their false gods and offer their children to us in marriage provided we offer ours to them and thereby make leagues and alliances to our endangerment. It is now that we have to contend with such things. That is why the Greater Moses has restated and amplified God’s laws and requirements to us.

35. To what will our being steadfast now under adversity conduce, and to what course does the Greater Moses urge us?

³⁵ Now it is that we must decide to keep integrity and be faithful to theocracy in order to prove worthy of the coming world of the one true God. If we are steadfast now under adversity in this hostile old world, it will conduce to our being faithful then amid the unbroken spiritual and material prosperity without the temptations of the Devil and his depraved, selfish world. The present is the favorable time for us as members of the New World society to make our final choice between the two courses that the Greater Moses sets before us. His urgent advice is: “Choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring, by loving Jehovah your God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him, for he is your life and the length of your days.”—Deut. 30:19, 20, NW.

THE TIME OF MOURNING PAST

36. Why may we not sorrow with the world? Instead, what is it now the occasion for us to do?

³⁶ By keeping our eyes always to the front toward the new world that brightens upon our horizon, it will help us to hold to our decision to gain life in the new world that we represent as a society. Today the dying world mourns for its sufferings, its losses, its disappointments, but it is not saddened in a godly way that makes for repentance to salvation. There is nothing in the world that we have left behind and from which Almighty God has rescued us over which to mourn. We cannot afford to take the world’s mental attitude and estimate of things. To share with the world in its selfish sadness is not healthful for us: “the sadness of the world produces death.” (2 Cor. 7:9, 10, NW) As individuals we have been sinners in the past. We made our mistakes and transgressed God’s law or even opposed him and persecuted his people. Why, even the remnant of his heirs of the heavenly Kingdom erred in times gone by and were guilty of wrongdoing, shortcomings and failures during World War I, and Jehovah was angry with them and let them suffer Babylonish captivity to this world. But why mourn any more over the dead past? God has now delivered his remnant and with them also a “great crowd” of lovers of truth and righteousness and he has formed them into a New World society. Sorrow that led to repentance, and repentance that led to this deliverance, are now things of the past. Now it is the occasion for us, not to sorrow further and be saddened overmuch to our discouragement, but to rejoice at the present salvation we enjoy by Jehovah’s mercy.

37. Why is Jehovah God joyful at the present time, and why should we be joyful with him?

³⁷ Sorrow and sadness and mourning are weakening, but joy is strengthening. Jehovah our God is most joyful at this time. His kingdom by his beloved Son Jesus Christ has begun; his long-tolerated enemies, Satan and the demons, have been cast out of heaven and down to the earth; he has liberated his people from slavery to this world and made them a society of Kingdom announcers; and now the great war for vindicating his universal sovereignty once for all time draws closer, with the victory certain. It is for us to get out of any sorrowful, introverted contemplation of ourselves and think of what God has done, is doing, will do, to his unfading glory and the blessing of his faithful people. Why should we sorrow with God’s enemy, this world? Why should Jehovah’s people be sorrowful when he is glad, overflowing with righteous joy? His Son is here as a joyful Bridegroom, and the “marriage of the Lamb” nears its completion. (Rev. 19:7) Jehovah is gathering all things in heaven and in earth together into one under his sovereignty. We are in the antitype of the ancient theocratic festival of ingathering, the feast of the harvest of the year’s labors, the most joyful festival of all the year. Away, then, with useless mourning and grief over the past. This is the time to rejoice with Jehovah as his friends and lovers, for, in the language of Nehemiah, “the joy of Jehovah is your strength.”—Neh. 8:10, AS.

38. How have we obtained everlasting joy and gladness, and why does present suffering make no difference?

³⁸ The New World society should continue to be the most joyful and optimistic people on the face of the earth. Everlasting joy is upon our heads in the knowledge that the kingdom of Jehovah’s vindication is here for all time and we are its announcers. By coming into the New World society we have obtained gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing have fled away, despite the hatred and persecution that we must suffer internationally for a little while. We count it an honor to suffer for his sake.—Isa. 35:10.

“Make Sure of All Things”

1, 2. With what must we equip ourselves in this wicked day, and what assault should we make?

AFTER the foregoing speech, the President of the Watch Tower Society went on to make the first major release, of a new printed publication, to the assembly with the following words:

² Says the apostle: “Finally, go on acquiring power in the Lord and in the mightiness of his strength.” (Eph. 6:10, NW) We must do this for the endurance test that yet lies ahead and for the work that remains to be done. We are in a life and death struggle, not with flesh and blood in carnal warfare, but with the wicked spirit forces now furious because of being cast out of high heavenly places and restrained to this earth. We need to put on the full suit of armor from God in order, as a New World society, to stand firm and united in this wicked day, presenting a common front against the combined enemies. We have come to close grips with the enemy and, besides the shield of faith with which to quench all the wicked one’s burning missiles and to stop his thrusts, we must have in hand that invincible weapon, “the sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word.” (Eph. 6:12, 17, NW) With this mighty weapon of offense, we must go forth in obedience to divine command and assault the worldly strongholds of error, that lovers of life-giving truth may be set free. “For 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, and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:3-5, NW) To do this with courage and with assurance of victory we must make sure we have the truth and be convinced it is the truth, because it is backed up by God’s own Word.

3. What new printed aid has Jehovah provided for us in living as a New World society, and what are its main features?

³ Mindful of the acute situation we are in today, Jehovah God has provided a new aid for his people in living now as a New World society. This is the new book of 416 pages, in English, entitled “Make Sure of All Things”. This title is based on a text that was written to a Christian congregation under the fire of persecution, namely, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, which reads: “Make sure of all things; hold fast to what is right.” (NW) This is a book of nothing but select Scripture passages, 4,585 Bible texts being quoted at length and 458 additional, corroborative texts being just cited for reference purposes, making a total of 5,043 Scripture texts. However, these have been brought together and arranged under seventy main doctrinal titles, themes or headings that are most controversial today and for which the honest searcher for truth wants the uncolored Bible proof alone or the Bible disproof in the case of false doctrine. Under each of these seventy main headings the pertinent scriptures are grouped beneath numerous subheadings, thus breaking down the subject for you and helping you to a speedy and logical analysis of the subject.

4. In what way is the usefulness of this book enlarged to cover more than seventy main themes?

⁴ But the usefulness of this book is not limited to just these seventy themes. There are really 287 themes of which you can make a particular study by consulting the alphabetical listing of them that is given, with page references for finding the suitable scriptures on each aspect of your chosen subject for study. The Scripture quotations that are presented to you are taken from eleven Bible versions, Catholic and non-Catholic, to obtain the most appropriate or best-stated translation.

5. With this book how would we “make sure” whether many popular religious beliefs and practices are supported by God’s Word?

⁵ Do you want to “make sure” of whether the following are supported by God’s Word or not, namely, ancestor worship, animal worship, apostolic succession, blood transfusion, caste system, communism, confession, cross, evolution, incarnation, interfaith, Jews’ return to Palestine, the mass, purgatory, spiritism, the so-called “ten lost tribes”, transmigration, trinity, and worship of Mary? If so, then quickly find the subject you want in “Make Sure of All Things” and confront yourself with the array of Scripture verses given under an authoritative definition of the subject. In this way you let God speak to you on the subject through his own Word and thus you let him have the deciding say-so.

6. How can we find what God’s Word has to say in settlement of any controversy over certain basic Scriptural doctrines?

⁶ Or do you want to know what his Word has to say in settlement of any controversy over such subjects as baptism, the congregation of God, earth and its destiny, healing, Jehovah, judgment days, law, ransom, religion, return of Christ, sabbath, soul, spirit, superior authorities, tithing and speaking in tongues? These are all some of the seventy main themes, and you have sufficient scriptures under each heading you look up in order to determine God’s mind upon the matter and to “let God be found true, though every man be found a liar”.—Rom. 3:4, NW.

7. In what way does the book’s foreword give helpful advice, and of what may we be confident as respects the future of this book?

⁷ What a handy instrument this new book is for the use of the New World society! Providentially, the book contains a main heading entitled “New-World Living” with nine pages of scriptures quoted under analytical subheadings. For those who have it available in their language the book will be a telling aid in living and working as part of the New World society. There is a fine foreword to the book that gives helpful advice on how you may have this book constantly with you—it is a pocketsize edition—and use it in door-to-door witnessing, in making return visits on the interested, in Bible studies that you conduct in private homes, in your own family Bible study, in casual witnessing anywhere, anytime, and in preparing Bible talks, and in providing features for the weekly service meetings of congregations, yes, and even for informal group gatherings that you might hold now and then for relaxation so as to get real spiritual profit out of them and not fritter away the time in idle gossip and aimless chatter. The basis for this book was laid in years of study and preparation and compiling work, and now Jehovah has brought it forth through his visible New World society. We can be confident that he will bless the wise, courageous and faithful use of this aid for his people to wield the “sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word”. Eventually the benefits of this book are bound to spread to all lands in which the Kingdom truth is proclaimed, to encourage and assist his people in living as a New World society.

Brace up your minds for activity . . . sanctify the Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense before everyone that demands of you a reason for the hope in you.—1 Pet. 1:13; 3:15, NW.

Resolution

1, 2. Following the foregoing happenings, for what, then, did the international assembly at Yankee Stadium afford the opportunity?

IN LEADING the assembly on to still another surprise after the one just described, the president proceeded to say:

² What an opportunity this unparalleled occasion affords as we brothers are met together in international assembly with tens of thousands of representatives from the four quarters of the earth! To crystallize our realization of ourselves as one united New World society and to go on record before God and his kingdom and our absent brothers and all mankind, I move the adoption of the following

RESOLUTION

3. How is the scene of this world now changing and with what ignorance on the part of men and nations?

³ “THE scene of this world is changing.” (1 Corinthians 7:31, New World Translation) These inspired words, written nineteen centuries ago, cannot be challenged today, either by the lowly common man or by mighty world powers and ruling factors. Since the year 1914 the world has passed through strange and startling events, and their climax has not yet been reached. Everywhere men and nations are in a state of growing distress and perplexity, and confessedly they do not know what the final shape of things will be and whether it will be for human weal or for human woe.

4. What has that same Word foretold as ahead, and in view of the coming violent change what has Jehovah now prepared and commissioned for service?

⁴ The same Word that foretold the complete changing of the world scene foretold also the new scene that was to come to the view of mankind, a righteous new world of endless life amid an unbroken peace and prosperity. It is the infallible Word of the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth, that gives men this heartening good news written over his own name: “that they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth.” (Psalm 83:18, American Standard Version) In his wisdom and foresight he has in every case prepared his faithful worshipers for the destiny-making changes ahead; for instance, Noah and his household, who were warned and prepared to survive the global inundation with which the entire world of that day passed off the scene. True to his loving-kindness, and in view of the passing of the present old world off the scene shortly in a trouble the like of which has never yet been, the Most High God, Jehovah, has prepared a New World society and given it the Scriptural hope of surviving into that righteous new world which he has promised. Its members he has made his witnesses, to uphold and proclaim his rightful sovereignty over heaven and earth, to sound the final warning of the coming violent change of the world scene, and to recommend his Messianic kingdom as the one and only hope for a race that the Devil is driving to destruction.

5. Therefore what did those gathered in assembly seize the occasion for adopting?

⁵ THEREFORE we, as witnesses of Jehovah and as members of his New World society, gathered in our scores of thousands from scores of lands in international assembly here at Yankee Stadium, New York city, N. Y., this 20th day of July, 1953, seize this as a most fitting occasion to adopt the following resolution:

6. What did they resolve to continue declaring to the people as regards A.D. 1914?

⁶ THAT in all the nations represented by us we unitedly continue to declare to the peoples that in the year 1914 the Supreme Judge of men and nations brought to an end his “appointed times of the nations” for uninterrupted world domination. At the same time, to replace this long experiment of imperfect men at self-government on earth with all the sad consequences of failure, the Supreme Authority brought forth the kingdom of his Anointed Son Jesus Christ. This is therefore the only government with right and authority to continue to rule all the earth and its inhabitants. It alone now has the backing of the Most High God, Jehovah, and is empowered to fulfill toward afflicted mankind all the prophecies of his inspired Word by removing from them the oppressive superhuman rule of Satan the Devil, “the god of this system of things,” and his demons, and by exercising a righteous heavenly rule for the blessing of obedient men of good will with perfect human life and all its needs for happiness in a paradise earth.

7. For what benefits did they publicly acknowledge their debt, and what did they positively disavow in submission to God?

⁷ THAT we publicly acknowledge our debt to Jehovah for the vision and hope he has given us of his promised new world of righteousness. Gratefully and humbly we confess before all mankind what he has done for us as Christians who are wholly dedicated to him and his will and purpose. He has taken us out of this old world and made us his people, reserved for his new world. He has made us a New World society by his dealings with us according to his precious promises. This New World society thus derives its origin from no human source and it is dependent upon no earthly political states, applying to none of them for its incorporation as a body and for the chartering of its existence and activities. Although it is no part of this present distressed system of things but is preparing for life and service in the divine system of things to come, yet this New World society disavows all subversive movements against the institutions of this world. It cannot promote, approve or take part in any violent overthrow by men of governments of this world. It subjects itself under the mighty hand of Jehovah God and waits upon him to bring in his new world in his own way by the heavenly kingdom of his Son Jesus Christ.

8. To what things in common will we hold fast as ties, and accordingly how will we live?

⁸ THAT, as a New World society, we hold fast to the indissoluble ties that bind us. We are one people, without distinction according to race, color, language, tribe or nation. We have the one living and true God, Jehovah. We have one common Monarch under God, his Son and our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. We have a law common to us all no matter where we live, Jehovah’s theocratic law set forth in the Holy Bible. We have been taken out of the nations and divided off from the doomed world. We have the one country to which we are unitedly moving, the new world of God’s creating. We are one family of brothers under God’s one provision for salvation through Jesus Christ. In accord with these facts, we will live in peace and harmony with one another and, as far as within us lies, be at peace with all men everywhere, till the actual new world enters.

9. To what responsibility will we continue to measure up, and how?

⁹ And, finally,

THAT we continue to measure up to the responsibility that the divine statement lays upon us: “Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and I am God.” (Isaiah 43:12, American Standard Version) We count it a high honor and favor to be made Jehovah’s witnesses, and never want to prove finally unworthy of it. Hence, despite the hatred, the reproach and the persecution that men without understanding may heap upon us, we will press forward, true to our divine commission, bearing witness to Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and his holy name, preaching in all the inhabited earth the good news of the established kingdom of his anointed Son, Jesus Christ, and comforting all who mourn. This we will do by giving Bible education to all peoples publicly and from house to house, by all the means available, that all who will may take their stand on the side of the Kingdom and become a part with us of the New World society under Christ and share its hope and attainment of life eternal in Jehovah’s righteous new world.

10. What action was taken toward the proposed Resolution?

¹⁰ The motion in favor of adopting the above Resolution was seconded by Percy Chapman, the chairman of the New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The question now being put, the Resolution was adopted by a roar of acclamation and with sustained applause, by the assembly. The next issue of the assembly’s newspaper, the 1953 Convention Report of Jehovah’s Witnesses, contained the Resolution in full statement and was distributed by the conventioners throughout New York city and its environs.

Assessing the Blame for Communist Evil

GOD’S Word states that “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”. (Galatians 6:7) Making an interesting comment as to who helped sow the seed that is now being reaped by the nations in the form of that threat to world peace, international communism, is the following item, which appeared in the Edinburgh (Scotland) Evening News, December 26, 1952:

“The weapon of communism could not have been created but for the failure of the West to make an effort to master its own evils at home, states a leading article in the January issue of ‘Life and Work’, the magazine of the Church of Scotland. The Communist weapon—a weapon of ideas—was a Western creed created out of the West’s failure to master mass poverty, a creed conceived in Germany and brought forth in England. ‘It is a stolen weapon, the standing proof to the East, it may seem, that the West cannot produce evidence of its power and will to attack the want and hunger of the Eastern millions.’

“Did we remember that Russia had been the victim of Western aggression century after century and had come to regard the West with suspicion because of its long record of hostility? ‘When we speak of Communist aggression to-day how many of us remember that against this background it is defensive, the determination to break free of a threat which has never been long absent from Russian minds? We are guilty of superficial thinking when we say that we can’t understand how Soviet Russia can possibly consider herself threatened to-day by the “purely defensive” armaments of the West. Soviet Russia is holding in her mind, as suffering people always do, a long history of fear; she is not looking only at her immediate environment.’

“The Christian Battle”

“It was because of our failure to get to the roots of this old fear and new hope that we were seeing in our day the passing of the initiative from the West to the East in ideological, as distinguished from material, weapons. ‘We may contain Russia by the threat of atomic weapons, but we cannot win the Christian battle of the world by them and it is this battle which is now before us.’ One reality was what we had in our hearts to do for our hungry, ill-clad, sick neighboring nations, who were two-thirds of the human family. We were being judged by our attitude, our will, our desire, our concern, and our caring.”

Philippine Men Shame Bigots

IN Mangaldan, Philippine Republic, Jehovah’s witnesses made arrangements with the mayor for the use of the public plaza and kiosk (circular covered bandstand) for a series of four public lectures. The last of these was to be given on March 1, 1953, at 5 p.m., as the climax of a three-day assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses.

Upon hearing that an assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses was to be held the Catholic priest, Francisco Posadas, gave a sermon warning Catholics not to accept Jehovah’s witnesses into their homes, because, if they did, their homes would be burned. He also personally went from home to home, urging householders who had agreed to house Jehovah’s witnesses for the duration of the assembly not to admit the witnesses. A Mr. Lambino, who took in two of the witnesses, told them how he answered the priest. Said Mr. Lambino:

“Is it not written in the Scriptures, Love your fellow creature as you love yourself? Are the witnesses animals that I should not accept them? Are they bad people? I cannot find any scripture which says, Love only your fellow Catholics. Suppose I also visit places of Jehovah’s witnesses and request them to accommodate me in their homes. I do not think they would tell me, ‘Do not stay in our homes because you are a Catholic.’ Therefore I will let the witnesses stay in my home as long as they want to.”

Three days before the public lecture was to be given, the witnesses were informed by the acting mayor that arrangements had been made to give the Mangaldan Fiesta Executive Committee the use of the plaza on March 1. The governor of the province and the captain of the federal police were appealed to, both of whom issued instructions supporting the witnesses in their position.

Nevertheless, when the witnesses entered the plaza they found a mob of toughs armed with clubs and empty bottles, the local police and the acting mayor, all determined to prevent the public lecture. Dr. Garcia, who headed the Fiesta committee, threatened to kill the speaker if he entered the kiosk, which was to serve as the speaker’s stand, and another official reminded him of the fact that one of Jehovah’s witnesses had recently been killed under similar circumstances.

The witnesses, however, went ahead with the lecture with the help of a portable sound system, at which the band began to play to drown out the speaker’s voice. Federal police arrived and made the band stop. Shortly after the lecture Governor Rodriguez arrived. He had come to give the speech of dedication, but upon learning what had taken place he prefaced his speech with the following remarks:

“What happened this afternoon? What did you do to the witnesses of Jehovah? Why did you disturb their meeting? Don’t you know our God the Creator is a God of love and justice? Don’t you know that God said, Love your fellow creature as you love yourself? Are the witnesses of Jehovah troublemakers? Why didn’t you give them their constitutional rights? Don’t you know that the witnesses came from practically all the towns of Pangasinan? What will they relate to their friends and relatives when they return? They will say the Mangaldan town officials are religious bigots. Where did you put your heads this afternoon? You have made a bad impression. You have shown a shameful attitude toward the witnesses of Jehovah. Do you think that when you die God will accept you because you were a doctor, a mayor, an attorney or a governor? No! But God wants people who exercise love, justice, patience and kindness. What you have shown to the witnesses of Jehovah is an abomination in the sight of God. Shame on you Mangaldan officials!” After completing his dedication speech it was Dr. Garcia’s turn to speak, the one who headed the opposition to Jehovah’s witnesses. However, he was so taken back by what the governor had said that he asked to be excused on the grounds of weakness. Needless to say, this incident has become widely known in the province of Pangasinan, even as the governor had said.

Thus Philippine men of good will are helping to expose and shame religious bigots.

All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them; this, in fact, is what the Law and the Prophets mean.—Matt. 7:12, NW.

Questions From Readers

● Zechariah 12:10 states: “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” Jehovah is the speaker, and it sounds as though he was the one pierced instead of Jesus. Some argue this proves that Jehovah and Jesus are one in a trinity. So how is Zechariah 12:10 to be explained?—R. B., New York.

To avoid what seems to be a piercing of Jehovah some of the later Hebrew manuscripts read “look upon him whom they have pierced”, rather than “look upon me whom they have pierced”. At first these late Jewish manuscripts show this in the Keri, or corrected reading in the margin; but eventually in some manuscripts the change was brought up into the body of the text itself. Rotherham’s translation, on the basis of these late manuscripts, offers in a footnote “him” as an acceptable reading in place of “me”. So does the American Standard Version. Some modern translations, such as Moffatt and An American Translation and Revised Standard Version, use “him” instead of “me” in the main body of the text itself. However, the oldest and best Hebrew manuscripts read “me” rather than “him”.

As far as literal piercing is concerned, this occurred in the case of Christ Jesus, and at John 19:37 the prophecy of Zechariah 12:10 is quoted and applied to Jesus: “They will look upon the one whom they pierced.” (NW) They did not literally pierce God, who was in heaven and to whom Jesus spoke when he was on the torture stake. (Matt. 27:46; Luke 23:46) God could not die, and then resurrect himself. (Ps. 90:2) Yet inasmuch as Jesus Christ was Jehovah’s representative who became “the exact representation of his very being”, in piercing Jesus they could be said to be piercing Jehovah. (Heb. 1:3, NW) When sending out his followers to preach Jesus said: “He that receives you receives me also, and he that receives me receives him also that sent me forth.” (Matt. 10:40, NW) This shows that in receiving Jesus we receive Jehovah who sent him. In like manner, to pierce Jesus is to pierce Jehovah who sent him. It does not prove Jesus and Jehovah are one, any more than it proves Jesus and his followers are literally one. In another case Jehovah showed that to reject his representative is to reject Him. When Samuel was Jehovah’s appointed judge over Israel the people came requesting a king instead of a judge. Samuel was displeased when they said: “Give us a king to judge us.” But Jehovah told Samuel: “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me.” (1 Sam. 8:4-7, AS) In rejecting Jehovah’s representative they rejected Jehovah, in effect; but this did not make Samuel one with Jehovah in a trinity.

Some of those used as tools to accomplish Jesus’ impalement realized their mistake and became frightened; the crowds that had sanctioned the piercing smote their breasts when they saw their blunder, and later some involved ones repented and followed Christ. (Matt. 27:54; Luke 23:47, 48; Acts 2:23, 36-42) But the only bitterness and mourning that hit the religious instigators of the piercing was when things did not work out fully for their selfish interests. The ones who truly mourned were his faithful followers. (Luke 24:17) But as Zechariah 12:10 also foretold, about this time Jehovah’s spirit was poured out upon the faithful remnant of natural Israel, at Pentecost. So the text had its miniature fulfillment.

At the second presence of Christ Jesus the complete fulfillment takes place. His followers are persecuted and jailed and some are killed, and the work of announcing Jehovah’s King and kingdom is pierced and killed. These things done to Christ’s work and followers are counted as done to him; the persecutors are charged with piercing him. Any mourning by them is in selfish fear when they see coming upon them the dire consequences of their acts. The only true mourning is on the part of Jehovah’s people who had allowed themselves to fall short of their duties and be taken captive in Satan’s worldly system and made inactive in Jehovah’s service. But Jehovah comes to the rescue of this remnant of spiritual Israel, cleans them up, pours out his spirit or active force upon them, and under the enthroned King Christ Jesus the work is revived. (Matt. 25:40, 45; Rev. 1:7; 11:1-13) Their mourning gives way to gladness.

Hence Zechariah 12:10 cannot be properly understood to support the trinity doctrine.

Announcements

PRISONERS SECURE FREEDOM WITH HELP—Rom. 8:21, NW.

Efforts of men to secure real freedom for themselves have met with limited success. However, Jehovah God is now assembling the nucleus of an incoming new world society of freemen in the truest sense. He uses his witnesses to preach a message of liberation to all men of good will, calling this old world’s prisoners to ‘come forth’. (Isa. 49:9) During September Jehovah’s witnesses will offer to the public the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures and a bound book, on a contribution of only $2. All persons are invited to participate in this work of helping prisoners secure freedom by spreading vital knowledge. Also, if you would like to have a small tract that will enable you to help honest persons break the shackles of false religion’s grip, send for a packet of tract No. 2, “Hell Fire—Bible Truth or Pagan Scare?” The cost of 200 is only 25c.

1953 CONVENTION REPORT OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

Did you attend the New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Yankee Stadium, New York city? Did you hear about it? Or read about it in your local newspaper? Well, why not write for the complete report on that convention and get firsthand all the important details of the assembly? This report of 96 pages will contain many pictures of the various features and departments of the convention. It will have something to say about the organization of Jehovah’s witnesses and the world-wide activity of the Watchtower Society. To be sure you receive a copy of the report, send your order immediately. 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 so that we know where to send your report. Write today!

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of September 13: Living Now as a New World Society, ¶1-18.

Week of September 20: Living Now as a New World Society, ¶19-33.

Week of September 27: Living Now as a New World Society, ¶34-38; also, “Make Sure of All Things” and Resolution.

Check Your Memory

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

✔ Why it is odd to speak of Christians who have “never known persecution”? P. 483, ¶3.

✔ Where Christian congregations are increasing despite bans and imprisonments? P. 484, ¶5.

✔ Why some who think they are “really living” are really dying? P. 485, ¶2.

✔ What is the one thing this present life is good for? P. 486, ¶2.

✔ How persons can be ‘safely treasuring up for themselves a right foundation for the future”? P. 487, ¶4.

✔ When Christians put up a defense and when they turn the other cheek? P. 488, ¶4.

✔ Where a minister gave a lecture despite revolver and rifles and machine gun pointed toward him? P. 489, ¶4.

✔ How a mob drove Christians into the hills and destroyed much property? P. 490, ¶4.

✔ How Jesus coped with a mob? P. 490, ¶6.

✔ How a wicker basket enabled a Christian to elude persecutors? P. 491, ¶1.

✔ When divisive racial and religious hatreds and social and national prides end? P. 495, ¶10.

✔ Who are hated for refusing to meddle? P. 498, ¶21.

✔ How it is different with us Christians since 1914, and what all must we watch out for? P. 500, ¶26.

✔ Why we must now be drilled in the requirements of the New World society? P. 503, ¶34.

✔ The provision made to help us through the present acute situation? P. 505, ¶3.

✔ Which is the only government with the right to continue to rule all the earth? P. 508, ¶6.

✔ The fine remarks made by a governor in upholding the rights of Jehovah’s witnesses? P. 510, ¶7.