The Watchtower — January 15, 1953

The Mental Breakdown

LAZINESS works untiringly because it is easy for it to work—in the mind! Just let thinking take a holiday, and it may take a permanent vacation. Just exchange reasoning and logic for emotionalism and sensual thrills and the mind is imperiled with an ominous threat: that of a mental breakdown.

“Danger, Emotion at Work” is a sign that could well be posted at every newsstand, for any careful appraisal of what is for sale graphically illustrates why a breakdown of the public mind is manifesting itself today. Look over the glamorous array of magazines. Are the majority thought-provoking? Do they call for sober thinking? Sales are stimulated by voluptuously uncovered “cover girls”. Magazines and newspapers sell better if they are of the “quick” kind and contain, for the most part, pictures. Pulp magazines grind out issue after issue of sordid immoral life; fornication and sexual lusts subtly normalized! Do the pocket-size books that purvey sex, sadism, murder, vice, passion and crime, and which sell by the millions of copies, require real thinking? No, it is emotion that is at work, sweeping the reader along with jetlike propulsion and wedging an opening in the mental window frame for laziness of thinking to climb in. The public tends to demand fiction; even these “dream world” novels must be of a comparatively light nature. Works by Shakespeare, Browning, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas are losing appeal, for their writing requires the use of a dictionary!

The public mind today avoids a dictionary like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. Reading, like traveling, can acquaint one with entirely new vocabularies. Yet the mass reading of today with its strong emotional impact anesthetizes thinking so the reader believes he does not need to look up a word in the dictionary. Some people, regardless of what they are reading, will never go to the dictionary. Dictionary-phobia is part of the mental breakdown.

Mental laziness is perceived in the language of the “man on the street”—riddled with vulgarism and slang. The trend is for the mass public mind to distrust and dislike material involving an intellectual structure which must be built up through reasoning. At San Francisco recently, Governor Stevenson spoke: “I don’t believe, as some say, that I’ve talked over anyone’s head either. I don’t believe I could if I tried.” This criticism of the presidential candidate’s style of speaking: is it really a condemnation of Stevenson or of the public mind? A letter that Stevenson received from a lady aptly answers the question: “I do not believe you talk above our heads. I am easily swayed by emotion, until I think, which I sometimes do.” The public mind thinks “sometimes”, but thinking “sometimes” is not sufficient for self-protection and self-realization. Thus, even in the matter of political opinion, preference for a candidate is determined only to a small extent by logical thinking based upon knowledge of social conditions and of the actual policies of the parties.

Draft rejection figures spotlight the mental breakdown. About one in every six is turned down for “mental” reasons. Yet schools and colleges are plentiful. Could it be that the mental breakdown has its inception at an early age? Youths are frequently seen at newsstands with handfuls of comic books and teen-agers stroll out of drugstores with a good supply of “Who did its?” generously spiced with lascivious living. Thus mental laziness stalks youth; minds become impervious to thought-provoking material.

Another insidious facet in the mental breakdown picture is the craze for TV. Does TV entail thinking? Does it even stimulate thinking? No! Why, adults and children who wish to improve their mind in a TV home are sometimes forced to leave the house for a private place to study. Concentration is difficult with TV. Complained one announcer: “The number of commercials is driving even me batty.” The TV industry itself, subjecting its adults to stultifying time-killers, seems to assume the public has moron mentality. Mature minds viewing the present trend in TV, in journalism, in the radio, in motion pictures, in magazines, in best-selling books, in mass response to emotionalized propaganda, and in public aversion to dictionaries, wonder: Has Uncle Sam grown into a perpetually adolescent man—with a comic book always in his grasp? If so, he is not so much a man as a boy who has outgrown his breeches.

Some may contend, however, that there is good in TV blood-chillers, pocket-size “Who did its?” with their accent on sex and violence. Good, because it enables a person to get the evil intentions out of his system “vicariously”. But if one can eradicate evil tendencies by reading such abjectly perverse material, and then go out and do good, could not the opposite hold true? Read the Bible, get the good out of you, and then go out and do evil! No, such reasoning is specious, for what the mind is filled with determines the type of actions that ensue on the part of adults and children alike. Children naturally are more susceptible to the mental breakdown. Can a child who sees corpses strewn about like popcorn at a circus—via TV programs, movies, comic books, etc.—understand that it is just “vicarious” for him? Hardly! In Brooklyn one six-year-old son of a policeman asked his father for real bullets because his little sister “doesn’t die for real when I shoot her like they do when Hopalong Cassidy kills ‘em”.

The mental breakdown thus inexorably marches on alongside its sinister twin, the moral breakdown, both of which were foretold for these last days by the Bible. (2 Tim. 3:1-5) Christians must be diligent to guard against the encroachments of emotion and laziness, which work so easily in the mind. God’s own Word says: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah.” (Isa. 1:18, AS) Such reasoning means to study his Word, to ascertain God’s will, and then to exercise the mind continually in good works. The mental breakdown must be avoided by Christians. Paul’s advice to them is fitting today: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well spoken of, whatever virtue there is and whatever praiseworthy thing there is, continue considering these things.” (Phil. 4:8, NW) No one will receive the gift of everlasting life in the new world who does not use his mind now to the glory of its Creator, Jehovah.

Marriage Copied from Divine Patterns

WHEN we think of marriage it is fitting to think of Jehovah. He is the Author of marriage. He arranged for the first marriage. In Eden God saw that it was not good for the man to be alone, that he needed a helper as a complement to him: “And Yahweh God said, It is not good that the man should remain alone, I will make for him a helper as his counterpart.” Jehovah filled this need when he made “a woman, and brought her in unto the man”. Immediately thereafter the two are spoken of as man and wife, as being of “one flesh”.—Gen. 2:18-25, Ro.

Marriage is used in a figurative way to illustrate the close ties in certain heavenly relationships, and brief consideration of these divine patterns will deepen our appreciation of the earthly marriage relationship. First, Jehovah God uses the figure of marriage to show the relationship between himself and his universal organization, referring to himself as the Husband of his womanlike organization. (Isa. 54:5) Again, the marriage relationship is used to illustrate the close bond between Christ and his church, he being spoken of as the Bridegroom and the church as his bride, and their marriage as being consummated in heaven.—2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7.

Just as in Eden the man and the woman are spoken of as being “one flesh” and also human marriage partners thereafter, so God and the chief one of the universal organization, Christ Jesus, are called one. And Christ and his bride, the church, are referred to as being one. (Matt. 19:4-6; John 14:10; 17:21-23) However, the Bible clearly shows that Jehovah and Christ are not one in any mysterious pagan trinity. Nor are Christ and the 144,000 members of the church class literally made into one; no more so than do man and wife, two persons, literally become one after marriage. In all three cases the oneness is in aim, purpose, goal, desire and direction of effort. And these divine unions that make two or more unite as one require some sort of headship, for a head is required to give intelligent direction to the energies of those united. A headless union would lack proper directive force. On the other hand, a two-headed union would be freakish, doubtless divided against itself, and hence unable to stand. (Matt. 12:25) Everyone has a head over him, except Jehovah God. “I want you to know that the head of every man is the Christ; in turn, the head of a woman is the man; in turn, the head of the Christ is God.”—1 Cor. 11:3; 15:28, NW.

EXACTING DUTIES UPON HUSBANDS

In some countries, such as the United States, where there is a strong tendency for many women to try to share or take over the family headship, loud objections rise against the divine assignment of man to be family head and the woman to be subject to him. It is viewed as oppressive and discriminatory against women, and too difficult a load for them to bear up under. However, sober reflection will disclose that it is the husband who has assigned to him the more difficult role in the marriage arrangement. He must strive to copy the flawless examples of Jehovah God and Christ Jesus as they play their husbandlike roles in the figurative marriages.

Jehovah God, as the Creator of the universe and the Father of all living, is the supreme Head over all creation, visible and invisible. He brought all things into existence, established the laws that both animate and inanimate creations must follow to exist, and provides for their continuance. Even in his own acts Jehovah consistently follows righteous principles and conducts his headship in justice and wisdom, and, above all, in love. Jehovah’s example is copied by Christ Jesus, as that one administers his headship over the church. Justice and wisdom, love and compassion are outstanding. Did not Jesus work tirelessly in the interest of his body members when he was on earth, teaching and preaching, providing the spiritual sustenance that is so much more vital than literal bread? Did he not show exemplary patience and long-suffering in dealing with his earthly disciples, making allowances for their fleshly frailties? Did he not endure persecution and torture in maintaining integrity toward God, and thus making himself a safe model for his followers? And finally did he not go the limit and lay down his life for his bride and wife, the church class?

So it is in the case of human husbands. They must try to measure up to the perfect way Jehovah plays his husbandlike role as Head of his womanlike universal organization, and the excellent way Christ Jesus enacts his headship as Husband over his wife, the church. The human husband must provide food, clothing and shelter for his wife. He must give proper direction to their united efforts by making wise decisions, shoulder the responsibilities for these decisions and cope with any consequences that may follow in their wake. And at all times in the exercise of his headship he must show a patience and long-suffering, a mercifulness and forgiveness, and, above all, a love that are patterned after that shown by Jehovah toward his universal organization and that shown by Christ toward his Christian church organization. To measure up to such high requirements is certainly more difficult than being submissive under such upright headship.

PATTERNS FOR WIFELY SUBJECTION

The outstanding member of Jehovah’s universal organization, Christ Jesus, did not find it galling to be in subjection to the great Husband and Head of that organization. He delighted to do Jehovah’s will, declaring the work that God assigned to him to be as vital food for his sustenance. (Ps. 40:8; John 4:34; Heb. 10:7) His endurance of persecution and torture and death was not only a fine model for his followers, but also a dramatic testimony for Jehovah’s side of the issue concerning integrity, a heavy contribution in vindication of Jehovah’s name. It showed Jesus’ complete subjection to Jehovah’s headship. Never did he seek to seize that headship from God or try to share it as an equal of God: “Keep this mental attitude in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he was existing in God’s form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God. No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men. More than that, when he found himself in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient as far as death, yes, death on a torture stake.”—Phil. 2:5-8, NW.

Christian wives should have the mental attitude of Christ, and not the attitude of many worldly wives that clamor for equality with and ofttimes even dominancy over their husbands. Christian wives will not even untheocratically consider seizing a part or all of the husband’s divine assignment of headship. They will be submissive to the marriage arrangement as it has been ordered, not by any man, but by God himself. To rebel against the arrangement is to rebel, not against man, but against God. Jesus delighted to do the good will of Jehovah; Christian wives should be pleased to have the theocratic headship of their husbands. It was the covering cherub in Eden that was headstrong and felt cramped and oppressed by Jehovah’s headship and thereupon rebelled and became infamous as Satan the Devil. Wives who are not submissive to their husbands are copying Satan, not Christ.

Again, there is an example for wives in the submission of the church to its Head, Christ Jesus. Taking on the obligations to preach as one of Christ’s anointed body members brings upon one a certain amount of persecution and tribulation in the flesh, but the joys of serving under the loving headship of Christ far outweigh the fleshly tribulations. Submission to such an upright headship is not difficult or degrading, though heady and haughty ones down through the centuries have thought so, and in these last days such ones have made themselves into an “evil slave” class by their rebellion against Christ’s headship. It is the “faithful and discreet slave” class that finds real joy by submissiveness to Christ. Rebellion brings no happiness to the “evil slave”, for he lands outside with the hypocrites, and “there is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be”. (Matt. 24:45-51, NW) Christian wives who are not submissive to their husbands are copying the “evil slave”, not the “faithful and discreet slave”.

EACH A HELP TO THE OTHER

Hence the sum of the divine patterns is, properly exercised headship is not oppressive to the one under it. The husband must strive diligently to act as a just and wise and loving family head. If he does this to the best of his ability, wifely subjection to him should not be too difficult. And if the wife meets her duties to the best of her ability, the husband’s administration of proper headship will be that much easier. Both are imperfect. Both make mistakes. Both need to receive and extend patience and forgiveness, love and respect. Because of differences in mental and physical and emotional make-up, each needs the other, each can supply a lack in the other, each is made to be a complement to or counterpart for the other. But to mesh all these qualities harmoniously requires each one to play the role assigned by God. Neither can grasp at the other’s duties. Remember, Adam was Eve’s head, but when she ran ahead of him and ate the fruit she ducked out from under her head, and lost her life. And when Adam tolerated her rebellion and weakly tagged along the trail she blazed he discarded his role as head, and it cost him his life and the life rights of his offspring. All man’s troubles are traceable to rebellion against proper headship, to the time when the covering cherub in Eden refused to submit to Jehovah’s and when Eve stepped out from under Adam’s.

So it is for the mutual good of both marriage partners to stick to the roles assigned them by Jehovah God. The wise family head earns wifely respect, and the submissive wife increases the husband’s love. God’s Word counsels: “Let wives be in subjection to their husbands as to the Lord, because a husband is head of his wife as the Christ also is head of the congregation, he being a savior of this body. In fact, as the congregation is in subjection to the Christ, so let wives also be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, continue loving your wives, just as the Christ also loved the congregation and delivered up himself for it. In this way husbands ought to be loving their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no man ever hated his own flesh, but he feeds and cherishes it, as the Christ also does the congregation, because we are members of his body. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will stick to his wife, and the two will be one flesh.’ Nevertheless, also, let each one of you individually so love his wife as he does himself; on the other hand, the wife should have deep respect for her husband.”—Eph. 5:22-25, 28-31, 33, NW.

Dictators rule over their subjects oppressively and to their physical and mental and spiritual hurt. The Christian husband is to be no dictator in that sense. His appointment to headship is no license to be a tyrant. He loves his flesh, provides for its needs, inflicts no deliberate injury upon it, and strives to keep it in comfort. He should show the same love for his wife, who is one flesh with him. And as the man’s flesh never fights against his head but takes its direction through nerve impulses from the head, so the wife, who is part of his flesh, must show similar submission. For all this blending of two different dispositions and temperaments and personalities a high degree of love is called for. Just how great that love must be is shown at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NW): “Love is long-suffering and obliging. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” Nor will a marriage founded on such love ever fail!

A MARRIAGE BRACE THAT IS THEOCRATIC

Today’s matrimonial seas are cluttered with the wreckage of many marriages that have gone on the rocks. Often strange flesh outside the marital union rises up as a lure that draws the marriage to its final crash. Such marriage triangles are common in this delinquent world, and occur when the marriage is built on the shifting sands of fickle flesh. The safeguard is to build the marriage on the rock foundation of God’s Word. Conform to its requirements. Let each one measure up to the divine standard, each one supplying what his or her assigned role requires. Then the marital union will stand, unwrecked by the stormy assaults that collapse so many marriages today.

No strange flesh will intrude to form a lusty triangle, for the place of a love stronger than that between man and wife will already be filled. Not by the minister or civil official that officiates at the ceremony, nor by the legal papers required by the state; though such services and documents are necessary. (Luke 20:25; 1 Thess. 5:22) It will be occupied by Jehovah God. He is the real witness in the theocratic marriage ceremony. It is not just a matter of a man and woman entering into an agreement between themselves, but of the two of them entering into an agreement before God. He is witness to the theocratic marriage vows, and the real uniter of the two, since Jesus said: “What God has yoked together let no man put apart.” (Matt. 19:6, NW) Hence if the married couple abide by his marriage regulations he will become the unselfish Friend in a theocratic marriage and will brace it against the worldly pressures and strains brought against it. If the man and woman reserve their greatest love for God, put him first, obey him first, give him first call on their time and energy and substance, their marriage will not become more driftwood on the matrimonial seas.

This putting of God first by married couples is shown by the apostle Paul, at 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, NW: “Moreover, this I say, brothers, the time left is reduced. Henceforth let those who have wives be as though they had none, and also those who weep be as those who do not weep, and those who rejoice as those who do not rejoice, and those who buy as those not possessing, and those making use of the world as those not using it to the full; for the scene of this world is changing.” Paul is not here saying to withhold the various marital dues and responsibilities, for in this very chapter he admonishes that these should be rendered. (1 Cor. 7:3-5) What he is admonishing is that whole or chief attention should not be given over to personal, selfish matters relating to the flesh, whether these be enjoying a husband or wife, or rejoicing overmuch in pleasure pursuits, or allowing ourselves to be swallowed up in our sorrows and griefs and even drawing an unhealthy satisfaction from self-pity, or seeking to accumulate extensive possessions by unduly entangling ourselves in worldly businesses—all of which excessive caterings to the flesh are characteristic of this old world and are to pass away with it. Hence the Christian should not bury or sink himself too deeply in these things to the neglect of what is eternal, and specially so now that the “time left is reduced”. Nothing should be allowed to so engross the Christian’s time that he has none left for Jehovah’s service. So it is within this qualified view that the married couple lives as though unmarried, always putting Jehovah first.

Only marriages meeting the foregoing divine requirements are truly successful marriages, and they have the opportunity of succeeding gloriously. They may endure on into Jehovah’s new world, wherein earthly married couples will finally carry out the mandate first issued by God in Eden, to “multiply and fill the earth”.—Gen. 1:28, Ro.

James, the Brother of Jesus

JESUS, the Son of God, once stated: “A prophet is not unhonored except in his native territory and in his own house.” That he himself had this experience in regard to his immediate family is apparent from the record made by his preferred disciple John: “His brothers were, in fact, not exercising faith in him.” Matthew and Mark name four brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. (Matt. 13:55-57; Mark 6:3; John 7:5, NW) After Jesus’ death and resurrection, however, at least some of his uterine brothers (having the same mother but a different father) did exercise faith in him, for we read that, pending Pentecost, the eleven apostles with one accord “were persisting in prayer, together with some women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers”.—Acts 1:13, 14, NW.

In view of the fact that some of our readers may object to the statement that Mary had other children besides Jesus, holding that she was “ever virgin”, before considering what the Christian Greek Scriptures have to say about James, the brother of Jesus, let us briefly consider that objection. If Mary was “ever virgin” then why did Matthew say at chapter one, verse twenty-five Mt 1:25, that Joseph “knew her not”, that is, “had no relations with her until she gave birth to a son”? (Dy; NW) And why did Luke describe Jesus as her “firstborn”? (Luke 2:7) Had Mary given birth to no other children would he not have referred to Jesus as her “only” son? Clearly Matthew and Luke did not consider that Jesus was Mary’s only son or they certainly would have emphasized the point; especially if they had thought this matter as vital as some religious organizations do.

Nor can it be argued that these “brothers” were not of Jesus’ immediate family, but were kinsfolk or cousins, for the word used literally means “from the same womb”. (Young’s Concordance) Had mere kinsfolk been meant the inspired writers doubtless would have used the Greek word translated cousin and cousins at Luke 1:36, 58. (”Cousin” and “kinsfolks” in the Douay) Neither is the position tenable that these “brothers” were his spiritual brothers or disciples, because, as we have already seen, they did not exercise faith in Jesus at the time. That these “brothers” were separate and distinct from his disciples John’s record makes clear, for in it we read: “After this he [Jesus] and his mother and brothers and his disciples went down to Capernaum.”—John 2:12, NW.

PROMINENT IN EARLY CONGREGATION

Of these flesh-and-blood brothers who became Jesus’ disciples after his resurrection James was foremost. Evidently foreknowing the role James would play in the early Christian congregation, Christ Jesus singled him out for special attention, for Paul, in giving proof of Jesus’ resurrection, seems to refer to Jesus’ brother James, when he writes: “After that he appeared to James,” the only one Paul mentions by name, aside from Peter and himself, as ones to whom Jesus appeared individually.—1 Cor. 15:7, NW.

Peter likewise gives James special mention. When visiting the group of Christians assembled at the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, after his miraculous release from prison, Peter instructed them: “Report these things to James and the brothers.” (Acts 12:17, NW) And that James was not only foremost among his flesh-and-blood brothers but also prominent among his spiritual brothers seems apparent from the fact that he evidently presided at the special meeting held at Jerusalem to discuss the question of whether Gentile converts to Christianity should be circumcised or not, for he summed up the proceedings. His recommendations were adopted and instructions in keeping therewith were sent to the various Christian congregations.—Acts 15:14-21, NW.

Not only did Peter at the time of his miraculous release from prison make it a point that James should be notified, but Paul likewise specially mentions him. In telling the Galatians of his first years as a Christian minister he states: “Later I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. But I saw no one else of the apostles, only James the brother of the Lord.”—Gal. 1:18, 19, NW.

Undoubtedly James the brother of Jesus played a most prominent role in the governing body of the early Christian congregation situated at Jerusalem. He would be the logical one to write the letter bearing the name of James. The apostle James, who was the brother of John, was martyred far too early to allow his authorship of such a letter, and since of James the son of Alphaeus practically nothing is known, it is not likely that he would have written this letter and not identified himself as an apostle. Peter and Paul repeatedly mention the fact that they are apostles, while John in his letters leaves no doubt of his being an intimate associate of Jesus. Particularly in view of the outspoken nature of the letter, had the writer been an apostle he would have so stated so as to add weight to his message, instead of merely beginning with “James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”.—Jas. 1:1, NW.

In view of the foregoing it also follows that this letter was sent out by at least A.D. 62. How so? Because, according to secular history, it was in that year that the procurator of Judea, Festus, died; and before Albinus, who was to take his place, arrived, the Jews staged an outbreak in which James, the brother of Jesus, was haled before the Sanhedrin. There, due to false charges made against him by the high priest, who, it seems, had convened this council for this very purpose, James was delivered over to be stoned to death.

THE LETTER OF JAMES

It seems that by the time that James wrote this letter the early church had grown considerably, had become quite firmly established and was enjoying a measure of freedom from persecution. As a consequence some were growing careless and were allowing themselves to become spotted by the world and were seeking friendship with it. There were gossiping, yielding to selfish desires and even willful sinning. To arouse Christians to the danger of the Devil’s thus corrupting them James wrote his letter.

James, throughout his letter, shows keen discernment as to the motives prompting individuals and he counsels with the greatest directness. Beginning by telling his brothers to rejoice in trials because of the fruits that endurance of such trials brings with it, he then shows the need of wisdom which God gives liberally to all if we will but ask in confidence. He next puts his finger on the cause of temptation, showing that it does not come from God. “Each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire.” So put aside all “moral badness” and become doers of the Word, and not hearers only. And “keep oneself without spot from the world”.—Jas. 1:1-27, NW.

In the second chapter James first reproves those who judge by outward appearance, who show favoritism to the rich; such is not loving one’s neighbor as oneself. Then the part which shows how practical the letter is: Faith without works to back it up is meaningless. If your brother is hungry, cold, naked, and all you say is, ‘Be filled, be warm, be clothed,’ how much benefit does he receive? Were not Abraham and Rahab declared righteous because they proved their faith by their works? “Indeed, . . . faith without works is dead.”—Jas 2 Vs. 26.

Further practical admonition James gives as he discusses the use and the power of the tongue. The tongue is a tiny member but it can do immense harm, even as a great conflagration can result from just a little fire. To use our tongues to praise God on the one hand and to slander or curse men on the other simply does not make sense. Bitter jealousy, lying and such traits are earthly, animalistic and demonic. “But the wisdom from above is first of all chaste, then peaceable, reasonable, ready to obey, full of mercy and good fruits, not making partial distinctions, not hypocritical.”—James, chapter 3.

Those motivated by selfish desire cause trouble in a Christian congregation, and these James next admonishes by asking them: “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.” Those taking such a course of action betray high-mindedness, pride, and therefore should beware, for “‘God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to the humble ones.’ Subject yourselves, therefore, to God; but oppose the Devil, and he will flee from you.”—James 4.

James begins his fifth chapter by giving some of the strongest condemnation of the rich to be found in the Scriptures. He censures them for their greedy and sensual course and warns that their ill-gotten gains will be a witness against them, crying out for vengeance. They have not only oppressed their workers but killed the righteous one. Next James counsels us to be patient and to consider the example of Job as regards endurance.

Some have taken James’ exhortation for Christians to pray for one another to mean that we may expect divine healing, since “a righteous man’s supplication when it is at work has much force”. However, the context makes it clear that spiritual, not physical, sickness is what James was referring to: “Therefore openly confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may get healed.” To hold that this refers to physical sickness is to accuse all those suffering from bodily infirmity of being gross sinners and implying that all those who enjoy good health are good Christians.

Truly the letter of James is a most practical one.

JAMES, THE APOSTLE AND BROTHER OF JOHN

James the son of Zebedee, together with his brother John, left his fishing business to become among the first followers of Christ Jesus. It is generally held that of the two James was the older, not only because of his being mentioned first, but also in view of John’s living to about the year A.D. 100. It has also been suggested that James and John were acquainted with Jesus before he called them to follow him.—Matt. 4:21; Mark 1:19, NW.

Among his twelve apostles Jesus preferred three, and James was among these. He was therefore with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration; was with him when he raised the daughter of Jairus, and accompanied Jesus farther into the garden of Gethsemane on the night of his betrayal; the other two of this favored group being, of course, Peter and John.—Matt. 26:36-39; Luke 8:41, 51-56; 9:28-36, NW.

James and his brother John were termed Boanerges, “sons of thunder.” On one occasion when a certain city refused Jesus entry they were ready to call down fire from heaven to devour its inhabitants. They also had an ambition to be first in Jesus’ kingdom, as betrayed by their mother’s request.—Matt. 20:20-28; Mark 3:17; 9:33-35; 10:35-40; Luke 9:51-55, NW.

Although the book of Acts gives little information concerning James it seems reasonable to conclude that this ‘son of thunder’ was an outspoken minister of the good news. This would account both for his being the first of the twelve apostles to suffer martyrdom and for the Jews’ being so greatly pleased at this murderous action of Herod Agrippa.

Jesus warned that his followers would be persecuted. James the disciple and brother of Jesus and James the apostle and brother of John both had the privilege of proving themselves “faithful even with the danger of death”. They set a good example for all Christians living since their day.—Matt. 10:16-31; Rev. 2:10, NW.

Unhappy Complainers

“Why should a living son of earth complain, let a man complain because of his sins? Let us search out our ways and examine them well, and let us return unto Yahweh.”—Lam. 3:39, 40, Ro.

1. What does Jehovah know about man’s mind, and how can man now be happy despite the world trouble?

JEHOVAH knows the mind of man. He knows that if a man does not train his mind to think correctly, he will be unhappy. The thoughts and ways of this old world are not right because they are not based on God’s way of thinking as expressed in his Word. But some of the human family know why we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity, and they have looked to Jehovah for relief from the conditions in which they find themselves. They understand that “a living son of earth” should not complain, because the trouble and distress he endures is due to Adam the first human father. Jehovah’s witnesses have searched the Scriptures and they know the truth about being born in sin and shaped in iniquity, but at the same time that is no license for wrongdoing now on the part of a Christian. As Christians they must look at themselves and make careful examination of the way they have lived and where it has led them up till now, and decide what they will do in the future. They have come to the conclusion: “Let us return unto Yahweh.” That is why they have dedicated their lives to Jehovah’s service. Knowing that sorrow, sickness and death were brought upon them by their first parents, Adam and Eve, they do not complain of their plight. Rather, there is every reason to be happy; they know the way out of this trouble, for God has made provision for salvation. You, too, can learn the way out from Jehovah, “the happy God,” and he wants his creation to be happy.

2. In the midst of this world, who is the happy person, according to Psalm 1?

² You as an individual can be happy. You do not have to be in a large congregation to have happiness, although many happy people coming together make up a happy congregation. Wherever throughout the world there is one of God’s servants, even though he may be far away in a missionary home or in an isolated territory, he can have happiness. When an individual has the right viewpoint, he will feel like the man concerning whom the psalmist wrote. Using Rotherham’s translation, which gives the name-form Yahweh instead of Jehovah, we read: “How happy the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the lawless, and in the way of sinners hath not stood, and in the seat of scoffers hath not sat; but in the law of Yahweh is his delight, and in his law doth he talk with himself day and night.” (Ps. 1:1, 2, Ro) How true this is! For when one seats himself with sinners, he becomes unhappy. Just look at the world and consider its condition. The people are not really content. They cannot be, because the world is filled with evil. They ignore God and his provisions for life. As a result they are not happy either individually or collectively. One who shuns the world is happy.

3. In what way does such man talk with himself, and about what?

³ The psalmist says this man ‘talks to himself day and night’. This is an odd expression, is it not? But it means he meditates. What does he meditate about? He meditates on the provisions God has set forth for him in the Bible, just as Joshua meditated upon God’s Word. God said to him: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” (Josh. 1:8, AS) Joshua was to talk to himself day and night. He was to meditate on these truths that God had spoken to Moses and which were now in written form. Then, living according to them, he would be happy. Yes, happiness comes to the man who does what is right; and individual service to the Most High is right because it is the worship of God.

4. Who was the nation whose God used to be Jehovah, and why were there not too many occasions for happiness over this fact?

⁴ The Most High God does not restrict happiness to individuals. He will deal with a whole nation and make it a happy nation. “How happy the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people he hath chosen as his own inheritance!” (Ps. 33:12, Ro) That chosen nation was Israel. God had made a covenant with their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That nation had every reason to be happy, because its God was Jehovah, the Sovereign Ruler of all the universe. But often they turned away from following the wise counsel of their God. Instead they chose a sinful course and ignored God, and as a result the whole nation lost its felicity. We see from the Bible account of this nation that there were not too many occasions for happiness, because they were a stiff-necked race and a faultfinding people. They did not give true worship to Jehovah; therefore God’s blessing was not forthcoming. Jesus stated the matter truly when he said: “If anyone loves me, he will observe my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our abode with him.” (John 14:23, NW) Too often the Israelites did not want to make their abode with Jehovah, but their desire was to return to Egypt and to the worship of heathen gods.

5, 6. Who are the happy nation now, and what contributes to their happiness?

⁵ Today we see Jehovah’s witnesses as a nation that Jehovah has raised up, a chosen people taken out from all nations, kindreds and tongues; and they are a happy nation. Why is this? Because they have observed Jesus’ words; and therefore the Father loves them and has made his abode with them. They worship their Father in heaven in spirit and in truth. They are not thinking of doing things their own way but are anxious to do the Father’s will and to follow the commandments of Christ Jesus, the Son of God. They find happiness in preaching the gospel of Jehovah’s kingdom in all the world for a witness. God’s gift to them is a knowledge of the truth, and Jehovah’s witnesses are happy to be giving this truth to others throughout the world. They are not selfish, holding it to themselves. They publish Bibles, books, booklets and magazines, distributing these far and wide in many languages throughout all the world.

⁶ Adherents of false religions of the world cannot understand why all of Jehovah’s witnesses are so active; but their activity is their worship of the Most High. Jehovah’s witnesses are seeking life in happiness, and they are gaining happiness as they live now. They have found the secret of being happy even in this present evil world. They have proved to themselves that there is more happiness in giving the truths of God’s Word which they have received so abundantly to all the nations of the world; so they give constantly of what they have received. The organization of Jehovah’s witnesses is filled with a happy people. They are friendly, and they are anxious to have others join with them in their happiness and in their true worship of the Most High. That is why one finds them going from house to house, from city to city, from country to country, fulfilling Jesus’ command, ‘This gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world for a witness.’ Jehovah’s witnesses as a nation are happy because their God is Jehovah.

7. What is the reason that some in the organization slip back into the world and lose happiness?

⁷ Sometimes we see one here or there in the organization who slides back into the world. Why is this? The reason is simple. It is that he has stopped preaching; he has stopped giving. There is no place for a person in God’s organization unless he is worshiping God. If he stops worshiping, he takes himself out of the organization. When one stops studying the truth and forsakes Jehovah he has nothing to give to others any more. Then the truth is not in him. Study is essential to keep in Jehovah’s organization. If one does not continually take in the truths and the light that shines more and more until the perfect day, he will become indifferent toward his privileges of preaching the good news of the Kingdom. He will soon begin to feel that he has nothing to tell the people. The reason for that is that he has allowed his mind to go idle. In effect he says, I do not want any more food from Jehovah’s table. Then he stops using the knowledge he has; he does not give it out to others, and his happiness fades away. Happiness comes largely through giving.

TYPICAL EXAMPLES

8. Despite deliverance from Egypt why did Israel not keep happy?

⁸ Take a look at the children of Israel when they were in the wilderness. Consider what Jehovah had done for them in delivering them from Egypt. There they had been under an oppressive slave-driving organization, but now the God of heaven, Jehovah, had delivered them and led them into the wilderness. He had protected them by the use of his great power in guiding them through the Red sea from Egypt to the wilderness. He fed them for forty years as they wandered about this strange territory. Consider the greatness of God’s love for these people in leading them to the Promised Land. But with all of this and despite their deliverance the Israelites still were not content. They lacked love. They were not giving God true worship as a nation, and they were not happy.

9. Why do individuals at times feel the load too heavy for them, and how did Moses illustrate this?

⁹ However, there were many individuals within the nation who had the joy of serving God and who were faithful to the instructions given them. Sometimes even such faithful individuals feel that the load is too much for them to bear when responsibility is placed upon them. In such case they lack faith in God’s provisions. Moses, for example, served as mediator between God and the Israelites. But at one time he felt as though too much was required of him. The children of Israel were complaining, faultfinding and crying for flesh. They said in substance: ‘This manna that God is giving us and telling us to gather every morning does not satisfy us. What we want is flesh. We want meat.’ They were crying to Moses to supply it for them. They had complained often before and now were in an unhappy state of mind, and their murmurings finally got Moses in that same attitude of mind. To appreciate the full account read Numbers 11:11-15 (AT). Here we find Moses saying: “Why hast thou been so hard on thy servant? . . . Why have I not found favor with thee, that thou shouldst put the burden of all this people on me? Was it I who conceived all this people? Or was it I who gave them birth, that thou shouldst say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse would carry a sucking child, to the land which thou didst promise on oath to their fathers’? Where can I get flesh to give to all this people? For they weep on my shoulder, saying, ‘Give us flesh to eat.’ I am not able to carry all this people by myself, because they are too heavy for me. If this is the way thou art going to deal with me, pray kill me at once, if I find any favor with thee, and let me see no more of my trouble.”

10. Why was Moses not happy at that time of feeling so much responsibility?

¹⁰ That was not a very happy frame of mind in which to be. Moses’ faith was getting weak; his confidence in Jehovah was failing. It certainly must have been so depressing to Moses to be associated with those people that it brought him to the point where he wanted God to kill him that he might get away from them. Moses showed the wrong spirit under this heavy trial. He did not want to carry the responsibility that God had placed upon him. Then, too, he was not putting full trust in Jehovah God at that moment. Moses felt very bad; and as he looked at the great number of people, he really questioned God’s power. He should have reflected on the wonderful things that God had done in times past. It would have been much better for Moses to wait upon Jehovah and to pray to him, asking, “What shall I do? What will you do for this people?” Moses did not want to give to these people and thought no one else should either. He was not happy, that is sure.

11. How did Moses here show some lack of faith, and what like attitude would correspond with it today?

¹¹ God told Moses that He would give flesh to the Israelites, not one day, or two days, or five days, or ten or twenty days, but for a whole month, ‘until it comes out of your very nostrils and becomes loathesome to you—because you have spurned Jehovah who is in your midst.’ (Num. 11:18-20, AT; AS) Moses said to God in effect, ‘You cannot feed 600,000 footmen. You cannot supply flesh in order to feed all of these people, two million or more, including women and children. Why, there are not enough fowl in the heaven to feed these people; there are not enough cattle in the herds to satisfy them all. You do not know them, God. I know what kind of people they are. They are the most selfish, the most stiff-necked, the most unhappy people, the greatest complainers. Oh, it would be better if I were dead.’ However, Jehovah spoke to Moses in these words: ‘Is Jehovah’s power so limited? You shall see now whether my word will come true for you or not.’ (Num. 11:23, AT; AS) Can you imagine anyone’s questioning God and saying that he could not do what he said he would do? Moses questioned God’s power here. It is just like someone’s saying today that God cannot protect his people at the battle of Armageddon and take them through into the new world; that it is too great a task. Well, have you ever stopped to think that Jehovah did protect Noah and his family in the flood and brought them from the “world that then was” into this present, evil world? That is history, and it shows God’s power has already been proved. Do you not believe he can do it again? Where is your faith? Moses thought that God’s power was limited; but Jehovah has all power in heaven and in earth. He has even given such power to his Son.—Matt. 28:18.

12. Why did God’s miracle not result in happiness to many Israelites, and what purpose should this historical example serve for us?

¹² Well, what happened in the wilderness should certainly impress us so that we may never doubt the Word of God. When we read God’s Word as he sets it forth in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, we should accept it as absolutely true and right. He talks to us about real life as it existed many centuries ago and uses those things as examples of what is going to happen at the present time. Even though this great mediator Moses made a mistake, that is no reason why we today should doubt Jehovah and make a similar mistake. That is why these things were written beforetime, for our admonition and our learning. Anyway, later, outside the Israelite camp the quails they caught were stacked up in great quantities. Jehovah brought them in from somewhere and gave the people all they could possibly eat. But they did not appreciate what Jehovah had done, and God became displeased by the greedy way in which the Israelites used these provisions. Here Jehovah was the giver, an abundant giver; but lack of appreciation was shown by the Israelites. Jehovah proved to Moses that his word was right and dependable, and he showed Moses his power. His hand was not shortened. He proved his sovereignty. If only the Israelites had given praise to Jehovah for his goodness, then they would have had happiness in their living.—Num. 11:31-35.

13. Why should we not be complainers, as illustrated in the case of Aaron and Miriam?

¹³ Then there is an account in the Bible about the complainers Miriam and Aaron, who spoke against Moses. ‘Is it only through Moses alone that Jehovah has spoken?’ they said. “Has he not spoken through us as well?” (Num. 12:2, AT; AS) On a previous occasion Moses had saved the life of his brother Aaron when Aaron failed to follow true worship. At Deuteronomy 9:20 (AS), Moses said: “And Jehovah was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.” Now these two prominent persons among the Israelites, Moses’ brother and sister, showed that they were not satisfied with God’s provision to have Moses as the spokesman. They did not like God’s way of handling things, and as a result of their complaining Miriam was struck with leprosy. Moses interceded with prayer for his sister, and after she was sent outside the camp to be cleansed according to the law, she was saved from such a loathsome existence. (Num. 12:9-15) So we see that no one should complain against God because he does not do things as we want them done. Remember that Jehovah is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. He knows how to handle his organization and his work much better than those who serve him. All should be happy where Jehovah places them in his organization and in his service. What God requires of us is integrity and faithfulness to him; and if we give him these we shall be happy.

LACK OF FAITH

14. On the return of the twelve from spying out the Promised Land, how was lack of faith displayed, and with what consequence?

¹⁴ Another striking example occurred when Moses sent the twelve spies into the land of Canaan to look over the inheritance God had promised the Israelites. Moses chose one of each of the twelve tribes and sent them forth to spy out the land. Remember that God had told them: ‘I am going to give it to you. It is the best land in that part of the earth, that you are inheriting.’ But when the twelve returned, ten of them said, ‘No, we don’t want to go up there. It is a terrible country inhabited by giants. It would be better to go back to Egypt and be slaves. All that will happen is that we will be destroyed, because the people of that land are mightier than we.’ It was a bad report that was given on the land that God had given to the Israelites. Out of the twelve spies only two, Joshua and Caleb, came back with a good report. They were grateful for what God had provided, and they brought back proof that it was a prosperous land. They advised: ‘Let us go up right now!’ But the majority said: ‘Ah, no, we will stay right here. We are satisfied with things the way they are.’ The Israelites and ten of the spies who looked over the land were too indifferent to work for the inheritance God had promised them. The ten spies of little faith influenced the whole nation, and as a result the older generation never got into the Promised Land. Instead it was their children who received the promise, and Caleb and Joshua accompanied them into the Promised Land because they were faithful and gave a true report.

15. Hence what pertinent questions face us today, and how will we answer them?

¹⁵ Do you have faith in God’s provisions today? Are you willing to go ahead under God’s direction? Is it your preference to stay in this old, dying, corrupt world? or would you rather associate with people like Caleb and Joshua, forward-looking men who are fighters for the new world? If you prefer to follow Jehovah’s direction, then you will preach this gospel of the Kingdom in all the world for a witness and practice the true worship of the Most High.—Num. 13:1-33; 14:1-3.

16. How did the Israelites complain at Kadesh, and why?

¹⁶ Listen once more to the complaining Israelites at Kadesh in the fortieth year of their journey: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place, since it is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates, nor is there any water to drink?” (Num. 20:5, AT) The Israelites had not starved thus far on their journey. Their shoes had not even worn out, and they had not died of thirst. But there they were complaining again. No, they could not wait for Jehovah. The big issue was water. They wanted plenty of water, and they wanted it right away for themselves and for their cattle. And so they complained.

17. How do some today a short time with the truth show a lack of faith, and why are they not happy?

¹⁷ We find people like that today, even associated with God’s organization. Some have been with the organization for six months, others for a year, when soon we hear them complain and begin to say: ‘Nothing is happening. I thought you said Armageddon was just a little way off. Why, I have known about this for a whole year now and Armageddon has not come yet. Do you think I am going to stick with this organization all my life?’ A few have the attitude that unless God runs things their way, they will not stay with it. But God has not asked us to advise him. We should be grateful to Jehovah for what he has given us. We understand his truths and appreciate his promises, and we believe them. We are happy in our worship and service and have the privilege of bringing much comfort to people of good will. Those who can see this are rejoicing in their work at the present time, whereas the novice or critical person may not have learned it yet; perhaps he has not even taken the time to study. He just wants to complain. Such ones are very much like the Israelites who were never able to wait on Jehovah. As a result they have no happiness, nor do they appreciate the provisions God made in times past and is still making. They want things their way, not God’s.

18. Why did Moses not enter the Promised Land, and with what warning to us today?

¹⁸ Going back to the account of the Israelites again as they complained about the lack of water: Moses then told them they would get the water all right, but he neglected to give the praise to the One who gave him the power to produce water. Read the account in Numbers 20:10-13 (AT; AS): ‘Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels; is it from this rock that we have to produce water for you?” And raising his hand, Moses struck the rock with his staff twice, whereupon water in abundance gushed out, and the community and their cattle drank. But Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me by paying me due honor in the presence of the Israelites, that is why you shall not bring this community into the land which I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah [finding fault], where the Israelites found fault with Jehovah, but where he vindicated himself among them.’ For failing to sanctify Jehovah before the Israelites who complained at this time Moses did not receive the inheritance the Lord Jehovah had promised them. Neither will those who complain today about God’s way of handling things and who do not give God the glory inherit the blessings of the new world. They will lose out before that, even though so near.

19, 20. What should be, and is, the attitude of Jehovah’s witnesses toward God’s giving further “water of truth” to the people?

¹⁹ Moses as God’s servant for the congregation certainly had a wonderful opportunity here to honor Jehovah and to direct the minds of the Israelites to the only true God. But Moses was very much displeased with the people; he looked at them as rebels and forgot that God was dealing with them. He should not have rebuked them in the manner he did. Even though they were complainers, still they were God’s organization and it was up to Jehovah to handle them the way he wanted. If He wanted to give the Israelites water, that was his responsibility, and it was not Moses’ place to leave God out of the transaction. If Jehovah today wants to give more people the opportunity of hearing the truth so that they may learn the way to life before Armageddon strikes, then it is not good for anyone of us to complain. Rather, we should rejoice that there is more time in which to preach the gospel. Of course, some will say that God is slow; but is it not due to Jehovah’s patience in these last days that thousands of people have learned of salvation? Read the account at 2 Peter 3:15 for yourself.

²⁰ There are always some who will complain and find fault. But why associate with complainers and get in their frame of mind? If God wants to give the truth to more people and gather together yet more of the other sheep, then we should be glad. Jehovah’s witnesses in these days are certainly happy that they still have the opportunity of preaching the good news. There is no reason for Jehovah’s witnesses to complain because they have more time to preach, but rather they should be happy to be permitted to continue in true worship. With joy they should say, ‘We received free, let us give free.’

Dispelling the Spirit of Complaint

1. Are Jehovah’s witnesses trying to find fault with the people? And what shows whether?

THOSE who have dedicated themselves to serve God must look to the interests of God’s kingdom and the vindication of his name. They should never get puffed up or high-minded because of having the truth or because of knowing the way to life. Just because they have this knowledge does not make them better than anyone else. But they have sense enough to take in this knowledge of truth, to get the understanding that is available to them, and to work in Jehovah’s interests. They are grateful to Jehovah. Jehovah’s witnesses are not trying to find fault with the people who ask for them to visit them in their homes. Rather they are happy for the opportunity and ask the people of good will if it will be all right to come and study with them. They are anxious to share with the people what they have received. Having the truth, they want to give it to all who have an ear to hear, whether it be in the morning, afternoon, evening—any time convenient to the hearer. Jehovah says his people will sing his praises day and night in his temple, and this means that Jehovah’s witnesses must be carrying on true worship day and night, serving him by preaching the good news.

2. What was the source of the troubles of the Israelites in the wilderness, and how can we show faith and gain happiness today?

² When we look back over the unhappy experiences of the Israelites in the wilderness, we find that the troubles were due to complainers and faultfinders. But what happiness could have been theirs if they had followed the arrangements of God! Faith was all they needed; it was such a simple matter. And the same is true today. If we fall in line with the arrangements that God is making for us, we show our faith. We can give the truth to others through our house-to-house witnessing, and by so doing we can gain happiness. There is no reason why we should not be happy in our living.

3. How can difficulties be adjusted in a missionary home?

³ Let us look at things in a practical way. Students graduate from the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, and they move out into a missionary home. There is no reason why they should not get along in happiness, because they will be able to give the truth to others all the time in their new assignment. If petty difficulties and trials arise in the home between brothers there, we can be sure that at least one of them is at fault. But who is it? There is no doubt that the trouble lies with those who are quarreling; so the thing to do is to get them together and find out what is at the bottom of all the trouble. If each does a little giving or yielding, that is, if there is a little giving from each side, the trouble probably can be straightened out and nothing more will be said about it.

4. What do we need to do to make living together successful, and why ought we to do so?

⁴ If the difficulties are straightened out but grudges remain on both sides, there still will not be happiness. In a missionary home you must want to get along with your brothers and your sisters. This is true, too, in any home; there must be a desire to get along with one another. Remember that all are servants of God just like yourself. You all have so much to live for because of your knowledge of the truth of God’s Word. You all want more knowledge. Already you have been given much information and you certainly know God’s Word as a result of your diligent study. But you still want to study; you still enjoy the reading of his Word, and you want to show your faith in it by communicating this good news to others. Now if all of you are of this same mind and are preaching the Word of God in the field, why can you not get along in agreement on other things? Why can we not live as God would have us live: in happiness, not complaining to one another? All we need to do to make living successful is to give or yield a little. All in Jehovah’s organization must render their true worship to him. They must show love also to their neighbor and strive for contentment in their life.

5. Why are the haughty believing a falsehood, and why are they not happy?

⁵ The psalmist said: “How happy the man who hath made Yahweh [or, Jehovah] his confidence, who hath not turned unto the haughty, nor gone aside unto falsehood.” (Ps. 40:4, Ro) A proud man never has happiness. He thinks only of himself, not of his neighbor, and especially does he forget Jehovah his God. When Miriam and Aaron became haughty toward Moses their brother, they were brought low; and today we can never become haughty if we realize our position before Jehovah, the Superior One. We are the inferiors; so there is no reason for us to get proud or big-headed. As soon as we do we are believing a falsehood; we think we are important. We fail to remember that the great issue is the vindication of Jehovah’s name and the preaching of his message in all the world. By our daily service let us show that this is not the way we view the matter, but let us live in a way that will honor Jehovah’s name and purpose.

NOT FINDING FAULT OVER OPPOSITION AND PERSECUTION

6. Why should not we be unhappy over the repression of the witnesses in some lands, but rather what should we do?

⁶ Jehovah’s witnesses are not discouraged at this time because of the happenings in the world. We are in the midst of a wicked organization, ‘the Devil’s world,’ as the Bible calls it. It is filled with grief and sorrow and is in a miserable state; but there is no reason why Jehovah’s witnesses should be unhappy even though living in it. Though we are in it, we do not have to be a part of it. When we look at Jehovah’s organization, we marvel at its prosperity and its growth despite all the pressure that has been brought against it by those who oppose the good news. Jehovah’s witnesses have seen their work stopped or hindered in many countries, but that does not discourage them. Are we now to complain to God and tell him he does not know how to run his business? Are we to look at Russia and say, “God, why have you failed to get missionaries of Jehovah’s witnesses into that land to preach?” We cannot dictate to God because of certain unhappy experiences that occur to Jehovah’s witnesses behind the Iron Curtain. Those of Jehovah’s witnesses who are there have the same Word of God, and they are continuing to faithfully preach the good news. Jehovah’s witnesses in other countries where there is greater freedom should go about and preach the message of God’s kingdom even more extensively and be grateful that they have the opportunity. Do not neglect your freedom to speak in your territory. Sometimes our brothers in democratic lands where there is freedom of speech do not show as much zeal in going from house to house as the publishers do who live in countries where there is continuous opposition.

7. What questions should we ask and answer about serving under conditions like those in such lands?

⁷ Stop and think for a moment. What would you do if your government told you that you could not worship Jehovah God any longer and that you could not put your God ahead of the state? What would you do under those circumstances? Where would you find happiness? Would it be by changing your mind over to worship according to the decree of the state? Or would your happiness come only in worshiping Jehovah God as he directs through his Word? Would you quit preaching to others if you encountered opposition? Or would you stand firm to preach the gospel as you had the opportunity? Would you complain as some do and say: “God, why did you bring this on me?” Maybe you would think: “Why could I not have been born in some other country where there is not as much trouble? Why does not the Watch Tower Society move me from this country to another and have me preach there?” A true Christian servant of the Most High could not give up his preaching of the good news of God’s kingdom. Oh, there are many things we could complain about; but if we have the right heart condition, we will be grateful to God for the opportunity to serve wherever he sends us or wherever we may be, because we know that this gospel of the Kingdom must be preached everywhere. People are people no matter where we find them, and there are good and bad among them. If there are “sheep” there, we want to find them.

8. Why do Jehovah’s witnesses preach no matter where they are and under unfavorable conditions?

⁸ Remember that God is directing his organization, and he is going to have this gospel of the Kingdom preached in all the world for a witness. So no matter where we go, no matter what we have to do, we must stand firm to continue in that preaching work. It is a work that must be done. We do not want to become complainers, for then we are apt to stop preaching the truth; and once we stop giving out the truth to others we shall lose our happiness. Many faithful witnesses today are happy even in prisons and concentration camps, and even in such places they keep busy by preaching the gospel to other inmates. Jehovah’s witnesses are happy in countries where the message of the Kingdom has been banned. They keep on talking about the truth though they have hard times with opposition and persecution. They remember that Peter said: “Indeed, who is the man that will harm you if you become zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are happy. However, do not become afraid of what they are afraid of, neither become agitated. But 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, but doing so together with a mild temper and deep respect.”—1 Pet. 3:13-15, NW.

9. How is the one who is attentive to the poor happy today?

⁹ Jehovah is very well pleased with those who are interested in the poor of this world, because it is this class of people who listen to the message of the Kingdom. The psalmist said: “How happy is he that is attentive to the poor, in the day of calamity will Yahweh deliver him: Yahweh will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be pronounced happy in the land, do not then give him up at the desire of his enemies!” (Ps. 41:1, 2, Ro) We certainly cannot quit preaching this gospel of the Kingdom just because it is the desire of our enemies. Rather, Jehovah’s witnesses will be pronounced happy if they keep these truths concerning Jehovah’s kingdom before the poor of the world, those who are sighing and crying because of the abominations of this old system. When we think of our brothers and sisters and of all the servants of God in other lands and how the enemy has kept them under assault, we should be very thankful to God for the freedom we have and should show our gratitude by preaching the gospel to a greater extent while we still have the opportunity. All should show their maturity by setting the right example in house-to-house witnessing, by conducting home Bible studies and by aiding the immature ones to be more consistent in their field service.

10. Through what attitude and action respecting Jehovah’s organization may we be happy?

¹⁰ Never allow yourself to start complaining about the place you have in God’s organization. Instead be happy with the organization and stay in it. “How happy are the people who know the joyful sound! O Yahweh! in the light of thy countenance shall they firmly march along; in thy Name shall they exult all the day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.” (Ps. 89:15, 16, Ro) Jehovah’s people are very happy as they march along in holy array, keeping firm. All around the globe we hear God’s servants as they make a joyful sound of worship to Jehovah in holy formation. Each one must hold to his position and try to improve his efficiency in the service. There is no reason to have any doubts as to the outcome of the matter. God’s Word has revealed his purposes to us; so his faithful servants in the earth know what he is going to do, and they should march shoulder to shoulder, never breaking their ranks. We realize that some will make mistakes, but that is no reason for complaint. The thing to do is to correct the mistakes.

HAPPY THROUGH CORRECTION

11. How is the person whom Jehovah corrects to keep happy for it?

¹¹ “How happy the man whom thou correctest, O Yah! and whom out of thy law thou instructest!” (Ps. 94:12, Ro) If we were not corrected and we kept on going in our wrong way, we should soon find ourselves back in the Devil’s organization. The only way we can have happiness is by being corrected and by staying in line with the new system of things in Jehovah’s organization. The God of the heavens is not going to come down to earth or send some angel to sit down with us to explain matters to us. No, it may be that our brother will do the talking. It may be our mother or our father. It may be a company servant or a circuit servant who brings us the corrective information. It may come through the Watchtower magazine. It will come from within Jehovah’s organization, and it is for the benefit of those in the organization. The correction may hurt; it may hit hard, and if you cannot take the correction you are going to lose your happiness. Of course, there is no joy at the moment the correction is given; but afterward when we see the error of our way and when we get back in line with God’s arrangements again, then we can rejoice and appreciate the value of the correction. “It is for discipline you are enduring. God is dealing with you as with sons. . . . True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness.” (Heb. 12:7, 11, NW) The real servant of Jehovah will be glad for the correction; so it is true that a man who is corrected by Jehovah is happy.

12. How should we not spurn correction, and why not?

¹² Do not spurn correction. If someone comes to you and starts telling you that you are wrong about something, listen to him. Do not get excited right away and say: “Well, now let me tell you something.” No, the thing to do is to listen to that person if he has something on his mind he believes he should tell you. Think—maybe there is something wrong with you, and probably there is, because we are all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. There is one thing we know, that we want to remain in Jehovah’s organization. And if we are receiving a correction even though we have done no wrong, the correction still is not going to hurt us; but if we have done wrong, then the advice and counsel will be of great benefit to us and we shall not find ourselves slipping off into the Devil’s organization. If we ever find ourselves outside Jehovah’s organization because of wrongdoing, we can be sure we shall never enjoy the same happiness in the world that we enjoyed in his organization. Therefore we must always keep our minds on the things of God. We must make our minds over and keep on correcting ourselves.

13. Why should none feel they need no correction?

¹³ We have already received much correction, especially at the time we came into the truth. We received correction in our understanding of God’s Word through Bible studies. All this correction was given to us in a very kindly manner and there is no reason why servants in the company or elder brothers should not still admonish us in a kindly way. It may be that some who have been in the truth ten or twenty years feel they do not need any correction. But remember, the children of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years, and they needed correction continually. Reproof and instruction are the way to life; so take the correction and profit by it. You will be happier for it.

CHILDREN AND YOUNGSTERS

14. How should the children of the righteous be helped to be happy?

¹⁴ “A kind man one may call a great man, but a faithful man who can find? As for a righteous man walking in his integrity how happy are his children after him!” (Prov. 20:6, 7, Ro) Jehovah’s witnesses fully appreciate the need of God’s spirit in order to walk in integrity and keep faithful to God. We want to see the children of Jehovah’s witnesses grow up in the truth and stand firm too. It is not pleasant to see children act obstreperously. Sometimes it appears that the parents do not care how their children act. When we look at the younger generation even among those who are dissatisfied with conditions and who have turned to the truth, we sometimes find that they have a saucy, indifferent attitude. Of course, that is the way the world trains its children, to be tough. But when a person begins to study God’s Word and to make his mind over, he should see that people can get along much better by following the principle of love, not by trying to show toughness. In these last days of the Devil’s organization when we find so much discontent in the homes and among the people of the world, it is no surprise that when new ones come into the organization they sometimes bring along some of that old-world attitude with them. But our ways are not God’s ways, and his thoughts are much higher than our thoughts; so we must change.

15. How do some young in years show impertinence toward Jehovah’s organization, and what is the corrective for such youngsters?

¹⁵ Once in a while we hear a young brother, eighteen or nineteen years of age and who may have been in the truth from the time he was in his early teens, who starts to tell some of his older brothers what should be done and how to do it. He thinks that, even though in his youth, he knows how to run Jehovah’s organization better than those who have been in it for fifteen or twenty years. The young lad, when he has not been properly trained by his parents, feels that he is fully qualified and tries to do things his own way. But these young folks still have to learn what the older ones in the truth learned years ago. They must learn obedience and patience, and above all they must learn the truth from God’s Word. They must make their minds over and start absorbing knowledge before they can give admonition to others. It is often observed, too, that when some responsibility is placed on young folks who feel that they are qualified, they fall down on their responsibilities. They do not like to carry the load, and lose their interest in it. So youth should accept wisdom from those who are older and thus gain knowledge. Title or position is of no value, but giving glory and honor to Jehovah’s name is the important thing.

16. Why, according to the apostle Paul, should such not be entrusted with a high responsible position?

¹⁶ Maturity is necessary in Jehovah’s organization because responsibility always accompanies a position of supervision. Remember the apostle Paul said: “If any man is reaching out for an office of overseer, he is desirous of a right kind of work. . . . not a newly converted man, for fear that he might get puffed up with pride and fall into the judgment passed upon the Devil.” (1 Tim. 3:1-6, NW) So it is good to seek the right kind of work, but keep studying and training so that you are well qualified for it, and you will have God’s blessing.

17. Why should those under a load of responsibility not want to get away from it as Moses once did? And does that make for happiness?

¹⁷ Moses was in Jehovah’s organization a long time, and he was able to carry responsibility and handle it well. But when he had the nation of Israel crying on his shoulder, he said: ‘Let me die.’ The Israelites were not much of a help to this grand leader who pictured the greater one to come, Christ Jesus, who is our Leader now. But the point made here is this: responsibility brings with it great burdens, and one must be mature to hold up under them. However, we never want to feel as Moses did and want to get away from it all. There is no reason why we should feel that way, because Jehovah’s organization today is peaceful, prosperous and happy. The servants are co-operative and want to help in every way to see that this great work is accomplished to the honor, glory and vindication of Jehovah’s name. There is a work to be done at the end of this system of things. The gospel of the Kingdom must be preached before the accomplished end comes, and whether it comes in five years, ten years or more years within this generation should not make any difference to Jehovah’s witnesses. They are God’s ministers, and they want to be faithful to the task. God has given them the work to do, and his servants are happy to bear the whole load of responsibility. They have taken on the work, and, by his undeserved kindness, they are going to keep on doing it until it is finished. You who have started in this work, stay in it and always give the good message you have to those who want to hear. As long as you continue giving freely of the truth, you will enjoy happiness in great measure.

18. Why should those falsely accused and persecuted be happy, and how should they express it?

¹⁸ The great trouble to hinder our preaching work will not come from within God’s organization; but, as Christ Jesus indicated, it will be by pressure from the Devil’s organization outside. Jesus told his disciples: “Happy are you when people reproach you and persecute you and lyingly say every kind of wicked thing against you for my sake. Rejoice and leap for joy, since your reward is great in the heavens; for in that way they persecuted the prophets prior to you.” (Matt. 5:11, 12, NW) Yes, Jehovah’s witnesses can be happy under reproach and persecution. So happy are they that they leap for joy. That is an expression of happiness! It is because God’s servants know they are on the right side and that they have the truth. They can be happy even though people lie about them, and even though persecution is great they will keep right on talking to others, not to the persecutors, but to onlookers and even to those who may be imprisoned with them. When you once learn there is more happiness in giving the truth to others than in just receiving it, then you will keep on giving it even though every kind of wicked action is brought against you. You know your doing so brings honor to Jehovah and to his Son Christ Jesus.

19, 20. Rather than being somebody or knowing somebody, what brings the complete happiness?

¹⁹ It is necessary to stay in God’s organization. And it is what you do with what you know that will bring you happiness. It is not who you are or whom you know that brings contentment in living. Remember, “Jehovah giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” (Prov. 2:6, AS) Each person must stand on his own feet to obtain happiness. For Mary it was not merely being Jesus’ mother that brought her happiness, but it was the truth she knew concerning her Son that made her especially happy. You have read about the woman who called out from the crowd and said: “Happy is the womb that carried you and the breasts that you sucked!” But Jesus said, “No, rather, Happy are those hearing the word of God and keeping it!” (Luke 11:27, 28, NW) Knowing the mother of Jesus was not the important thing, nor did her bearing the Savior in itself bring complete happiness. The real thing, as Jesus pointed out, is hearing the word of God and keeping it, being a real servant and a true worshiper of Jehovah God. That is what brings happiness.

²⁰ So we can see that one’s position in Jehovah’s organization, whether he has graduated from the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and has become a missionary, or whether he is a company servant or a circuit servant or is in a branch home, does not necessarily make that person happy. It is not the position that gives the happiness, but what he is doing in that position. Has he heard the word of God and is he keeping it? If he is, and if he is serving his brothers well, giving of what he has to help his brothers and the people of good will, then he will be happy. The truth is what is important, not the position. So while many in Jehovah’s organization have different positions, these positions are not to be glorified or worshiped or honored, but the work that is done is what is pleasing to him. And, of course, anyone who pleases Jehovah God is certain to please his brothers in the truth. If the truth is in you and you live according to the truth, then you will be a happy person.

21. Rather than a forgetful hearer, who is the happy person, regardless of his position?

²¹ Listen to the words of James: “He who peers into the perfect law that belongs to freedom and who persists in it, this man, because he has become, not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, will be happy in his doing it.” (Jas. 1:25, NW) That is the only thing that is going to bring happiness: giving, talking, preaching the good news of the Kingdom to other people. The receiving of a diploma or the holding of an office might make a person a forgetful hearer if he begins thinking that he knows it all now. Of him who has much, more will be required; therefore every person in God’s organization should be more zealous and diligent to perform the work that God has committed into his care. Let us keep making our minds over to think as God thinks, in his new system of things, and then gain happiness by giving.

SOURCES OF HAPPINESS

22. Why is Jehovah the “happy God”, and so what should we want to be?

²² Jehovah’s servants are happy today because they have faith in God’s Word and in Jehovah himself. They do not expect any miracles to be performed in their behalf in these days nor any outward sign to help keep them in Jehovah’s organization. Jehovah’s Word is sufficient for his people to follow. It has made us free from the Devil’s organization, and we propose to remain free. Paul was happy in his work because he had ‘the glorious good news of the happy God, with which he was entrusted’. (1 Tim. 1:11, NW) Our God is a happy God, and since we are made in his image and likeness there is no reason why we should not be happy also. His happiness came through giving, and he has given us so much that we have plenty to give to others. All normal creatures want to live. We love life, and we want to get the best out of it. The one thing we want most from life is happiness, for life without happiness would be dull and uninteresting.

23. How do some seek happiness, but what contributes the greatest happiness to us?

²³ Today men seek for happiness in many ways. Some receive it from their family or close friends, others by visiting the seashore or the woods or by playing with their children. But the greatest happiness comes from giving to others rather than from just receiving pleasure. While we take great delight in receiving things from our earthly friends and in giving to those we love, our greatest friends are Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. They have given us so much in knowledge and understanding that we can give of this in abundance to others. “This means everlasting life [to those others], their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”—John 17:3, NW.

24. Why should we never come to the point of not wanting to give the truth out to others?

²⁴ Never let it happen that we come to the point where we no longer want to give to others the truth that we have received. If we ever come to such a state of mind where we do not want to tell someone else about the glorious provisions that Jehovah God has made through his Son Christ Jesus and we become ashamed of the true religion, then Jehovah God will become ashamed of us. There will be no place in Jehovah’s organization for such a person. Also never let us be deceived into thinking that we have done enough now in Jehovah’s service. We should not think that because we have been in the truth for forty or fifty years or even longer we can retire from service. As long as we have breath we must praise Jehovah. Remember that we expect to live thousands of years, yes, on into the millions of years, even into time indefinite, right in Jehovah’s organization. It will be a pure and clean organization and every one in it will be worshiping Jehovah. So why should we now think of stopping our worship and service because we are sixty or seventy years of age?

25. How can the youthful ones early attain happiness?

²⁵ What a joy it is now for a young girl or a young boy to start serving Jehovah, to begin making the mind over in youth, to begin thinking as God thinks, to study his Word and to be filled with it, to have these fine qualities that a Christian must possess of love, devotion, patience and kindness! With all this and with the spirit of giving, what happiness can be theirs for all eternity!

26. Rather than the world’s riches and poverty, what do we want and how do we strive to get it?

²⁶ Let us all be content with what Jehovah God has given us and look well to the responsibilities that have been placed upon us. Let us serve our brothers with joy and gladness. It was the writer of the Proverbs who said, “Remove far from me falsehood and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and use profanely the name of my God.” (Prov. 30:8, 9, AS) Jehovah’s witnesses today do not want the riches of this world, nor do they want the poverty. Instead we ask as Jesus taught his disciples to pray: “Give us today our bread for this day.” All we need are the necessities of life: shelter, food and clothing. With these and with godly devotion we should be content. God has promised all the necessary things to keep us alive and active in his service, and we put forth daily effort to obtain these for ourselves and our family. But more than that, we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from out of the mouth of God.—Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4.

27. So in what do we want to be rich, and how shall we continue to be the happiest people on earth?

²⁷ So then it is in the abundance of knowledge that we want to be rich. We want to be removed far from falsehoods and lies. We never want to deny our God Jehovah. Because they do not take Jehovah’s name in vain, Jehovah’s witnesses are the happiest people in the world. They do not have the burden or the responsibility of trying to patch up this old world and hold it together. However, they do have the answer for today’s problems and the most comforting, cheerful and optimistic message anyone can hear and the one with the most far-reaching effects. They have the message of the kingdom of God which will bring blessings of prosperity and happiness to all those who love righteousness. They will keep on giving this message, for they know there is more happiness in giving than in receiving. So whether you are a company publisher, a pioneer, a circuit servant, a district servant, a missionary, a worker in a branch or anywhere else in Jehovah’s organization, hold to your position faithfully. Continue to give out the good news, worshiping Jehovah in holy array.

Words That Mean Life

THE spoken word of Jehovah God carries greater power than that at the disposal of all this world’s atom-smashing scientists and far greater efficacy than anything concocted by modern medicine’s wizards of healing. Jehovah spoke into existence the depths of the fathomless universe, molding it to his will. When our primitive earth was swathed in darkness, “God said—Light be. And light was.”—Gen. 1:3, Ro.

Think, therefore, of the force and power behind the message contained in the Bible, God’s Word. Some presumptuous men set themselves up as the Bible’s critics, hastily overlooking the long period of divine inspiration during which God’s spirit rested upon the many varied men from diverse walks of life to compose one harmonious book pointing up one all-absorbing purpose, God’s sovereignty and its vindication by his kingdom. Critics have brushed aside all recognition of the undeniable way in which Bible prophecy has been fulfilled. Such ones infer that God spent 1,600 years on a masterpiece only to await their judgment upon where it should rank in respect to books that are of mere human origin. Can they destroy the Word that declared the beginning of creation?

Does this mean then that Bible believers worship a book? No, but in the case of the Bible they worship the One who is revealed therein. They readily conform themselves to the formula for pleasing God which the Bible unfolds. They do these things because in the Bible, alone of all literature in this world, is the way to life. In prayer to his Father, the Bible’s great Author, Jesus had the right attitude and did not try to exalt himself to the position of critic of God. (1 Tim. 6:19; John 17:3, 17, NW) His earthly life left a glowing example for championing God’s Word, moving his future apostle Paul to write:

“Keep this mental attitude in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he was existing in God’s form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God. . . . Keep doing all things free from murmurings and arguments, that you may come to be blameless and innocent, children of God without a blemish in among a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you are shining as illuminators in the world, keeping a tight grip on the word of life, that I may have cause for exultation in Christ’s day, that I did not run in vain or work hard in vain.”—Phil. 2:5-16, NW.

“Keeping a tight grip on the word of life” today certainly means upholding the most important name in that Word, the name of its author, Jehovah. In the Hebrew Scripture canon the name Jehovah appears 6,823 times; yet some seek to hide that name! If Jehovah is our life-giver, if we must learn his purposes to conform to them and win his favor and have life, then must we not at the very start learn his name, the name that is our “strong tower” of refuge, the name of Him that is the “fountain of life”, the name of the rightful great “King over all the earth”?—Prov. 18:10; Ps. 36:9; Zech. 14:9, AS.

In 1950 the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society released the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, a literal, modern-speech translation which presented scholarly support for its position in rendering the divine name consistently in the Greek Scriptures, or “New Testament”. For this and its many splendid features this work won the admiration of unbiased authorities of many quarters.

What a privilege to be on the side of God’s Word today, its upholders and defenders, not its opposers! Think of it—to be used as messengers as the word of life flows out, fills the earth, eventually to cover it as the waters do the sea! (Hab. 2:14) Certainly none of the other instrumentalities of God’s creation question the wisdom of his Word. The stars do not. The planets do not. The animals following their natural laws do not. The floral life does not. And by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness we will not. We will not, as the scoffers, deride the timeliness of the Word of life’s message, clinging to the old life of this dying world as better, smarter or more practical. “‘All flesh is as vegetation, and all its glory is as a flower of the vegetation; the vegetation becomes withered, and the flower falls off, but the word spoken by Jehovah endures forever.’ Well, this is the ‘word spoken’, this which has been declared to you as good news.”—1 Pet. 1:23-25, NW.

This good news we, as God’s living servants today, obediently offer to all mankind of good will toward God. It is all we can do and the best. The Word of God endures. You want to endure, do you not? Then read it, study it, believe it, follow it and live it.

Questions From Readers

● What is meant by Ecclesiastes 7:16, 17, where we are told to “be not righteous over much” and “be not over much wicked”?—C. R., Pennsylvania.

To give a little more of the setting and also clarify the expressions by using modern speech, we quote Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 from An American Translation: “I have seen all sorts of things in my empty life: for example, the righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and the wicked prolonging his life in his wickedness. Do not be over-righteous, and be not excessively wise; why should you ruin yourself? Be not over-wicked, nor play the fool; why should you die before your time? It is well that you lay hold of one thing, and also that your hand let not go of another; for he who fears God will come forth with both.” Moffatt’s rendering of Ec 7 verse 18 is interesting: “The best way is to take the one line, and yet not avoid the other; he who stands in awe of God shall avoid both extremes.”

This admonition to avoid both extremes seems to be the key to unlock the meaning of these verses. Some are extreme in their views concerning righteousness, and look down upon others as being wicked if they do not measure up to the extremists’ conceptions of what is righteous. Of this class were those in Isaiah’s time who said: “Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.” But rather than considering them holy Jehovah says of them: “These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.” (Isa. 65:5) Similarly self-righteous were the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, who thought themselves so righteous and others so wicked. This is highlighted by an illustration Jesus gave, as follows:

“He spoke this illustration also to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and who considered the rest as nothing: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and began to pray these things to himself: “O God, I thank you I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give the tenth of all things I acquire.” But the tax collector standing at a distance was not willing even to raise his eyes heavenward, but kept beating his chest, saying: “O God, be gracious to me a sinner.” I tell you, This man went down to his home proved more righteous than that man; because everyone that exalts himself will be humiliated, but he that humbles himself will be exalted.’”—Luke 18:9-14, NW.

The Pharisee thought himself so righteous, and adulterers and even the tax collector wicked and far below him; yet it was the apparently wicked tax collector that was more righteous in God’s sight. And Jesus said on another occasion to the self-righteous chief priests and older men of influence: “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the harlots are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God.” That is, after abandoning their oppressions and immoralities. (Matt. 21:23, 31, NW) The self-exalted Jewish religionists were not righteous and wise according to God’s Word, but according to their traditions of men, which Jesus said went counter to the commandments of God. (Matt. 15:1-9) Their righteousness was all outward show. It was so bogged down in fussiness over ceremony and ritual and minor matters that it never did get around to fulfilling the weightier matters. (Matt. 23:23-32) These Jewish religionists were both righteous and wise, but only in their own eyes and in their own conceit. Certainly they were not so regarded by God and Christ, for they were told that the eternally destructive judgment of Gehenna awaited them. (Matt. 23:33) In righteousness such as theirs they were to perish.

These self-righteous ones, on the other hand, considered the true servants of God wicked. They heaped abuse and beatings upon the faithful, accusing them of being evil seditionists and blasphemers and profaners of the temple. (Acts 17:5-8; 24:5, 6) By the men of Satan’s world Christians are viewed as wicked, as Jesus foretold: “Happy are you when people reproach you and persecute you and lyingly say every kind of wicked thing against you for my sake.” (Matt. 5:11, NW) But let Satan’s dupes view the service of Christians as wicked if they wish; nonetheless it is by such so-called “wickedness” that Christians prolong their lives. Yet they must be cautious not to become over-righteous, that is, becoming fanatical and extreme on immaterial or minor points, doting on character development to appear righteous in their own eyes, all to the neglect of real service as a witness of Jehovah. Neither should they become wise in their own eyes. That would mean their ruin. Of course, they must not be over-wicked, actually committing wrongs against God and man, and rightly “suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a busybody in other people’s matters”. They will not play the fool and deny God, and bring upon themselves untimely death.—Ps. 14:1; 1 Pet. 4:15, NW.

With the foregoing in view, it seems that Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 is telling us not to affect extraordinary righteousness as an outward show and try to appear so righteous in our own eyes and in the eyes of others, for we would perish in that sort of hypocritical righteousness. Nor are we to seek excessive wisdom to shine before others, for that would not be true wisdom but only a wisdom in our own conceited eyes, and would bring us to ruin. We will strive to prolong our lives by serving God, even though this may be viewed as wicked by the world under Satan. We will not, however, sink to real wickedness in God’s sight and bring upon us destruction from him. So we will lay hold of godly righteousness but will shun the extreme of Pharisaical self-righteousness, and we will not let go of the so-called “wickedness” of God’s service but will always shun the extremes of real wickedness. Thus we can serve God acceptably and at the same time not go to extremes, neither trying to appear more righteous than we really are nor becoming actually wicked just to avoid appearing like character developers.

● What does Solomon mean when he says he found a true man in a thousand, but never a true woman?—J. K., New Hampshire.

Ecclesiastes 7:27-29 states (AT): “‘See, this is what I have found,’ says Koheleth, ‘adding one to one to find the total, which I have sought repeatedly, but not found; one man out of a thousand have I found, but not a woman have I found among all these. Only see this which I have found, that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many contrivances.’” Moffatt renders verse 28 as follows: “Here is what I have found, says the Speaker: one true man in a thousand, but never a true woman!”

This can hardly be taken to mean that men are better than women. It cannot be taken literally to mean that there are no true women, for the Bible speaks of faithful women, and there are more women who are Jehovah’s witnesses today than there are men. Solomon could have been speaking from his personal experience, for he had a thousand wives and concubines all told. There may not have been a single one of these that was devoted to Jehovah God, though he doubtless did know some men who were faithful to God. So he may have had his own unhappy domestic situation in mind when he wrote as he did.

However, there is another possible meaning that seems more sound. One thousand is a multiple of ten, which represents earthly completeness. So the thousand may refer to all the women ever to live on the earth, not one of which was or is a perfect woman. Eve did not remain such, in fact never did pass the test that would have shown her perfect in integrity to God. The virgin mother of Jesus, Mary, was not perfect. As for men, the thousand there would also represent earthly completeness and embrace all the men that ever lived upon the earth. The situation of men is different from that of women. Whereas there has never been a perfect woman that held faultless obedience to Jehovah God, there has been one such man, namely Christ Jesus. He is the one true, perfect man, and the only one that ever lived on the earth. So it is very likely that this great truth is embraced by the words of Solomon at Ecclesiastes 7:27-29. The conclusion announced in verse 29 is a sweeping summation that embraces all mankind, man as a race rather than men as contrasted with women, and thus it supports the view last presented rather than the first possibility that Solomon’s words might be referring to his own personal experience.

Ho, Everyone Come to the Feast!

Yankee Stadium will once again serve as a mammoth table before which Jehovah’s witnesses of many nations will gather for a spiritual feast. You are invited to attend. But will you be there?

At the last international assembly held by Jehovah’s witnesses in the stadium, the ‘windows of heaven opened and literally poured out such a bounteous spiritual blessing that there was not room enough to receive it’. (Mal. 3:10) Never was so luxurious a table set before so many. The very first day seemed to hold in a spiritual way more than one could contain. There were new Kingdom songs of live praise to Jehovah God, the timely talk “The Way of Success”, the graduation of the 15th class of Gilead School and expressions from the 120 graduating students, and more! Each day brought a pleasant program with new thrills and surprises. There was a well-planned service meeting that stressed maturity into full-time ministry, demonstrations of refutations made from door to door; also experiences of missionaries in other lands. The foreign speaking brothers heard speakers from their native land and in their own language, and branch servants gave firsthand reports of difficulties encountered and of expansion. Each day was punctuated with a chain of mature brothers that offered timely counsel in Christian conduct and ministry. Truly, those present were saying as David of old was moved to say: “My cup runneth over.”

Who is there to say what the 1953 assembly at Yankee Stadium will bring? Certainly it will not be less in magnitude and wondrous in spirit. And we can be sure that the spiritual spread will not be lacking.

The question remaining is: Will you be there? Do not let petty excuses keep you away. (Luke 14:15-34) Be sure to secure this one week (July 19-26, 1953), that you may be present during the feast at the Yankee Stadium.

Announcements

CHOOSING NEW WORLD LIFE—Deut. 30:19, 20, AT.

Every sane person chooses to live. That is why we eat, drink, breathe, sleep and work. But more than the doing of these things is required to gain life in Jehovah’s new world. We must demonstrate that we want new world life ‘by loving the LORD our God, by heeding his injunctions, and by holding fast to him; for that will mean life to us’. Therefore one must come to know Jehovah by studying his Word. During February you can help others to learn of Jehovah by offering The Watchtower for one year on a contribution of $1, with three booklets free. Preparing the way for Watchtower subscriptions, you can distribute the small Bible tract Life in a New World. Friends, neighbors, relatives and others will enjoy reading this little two-color illustrated tract of six pages. A supply fits conveniently in your pocket or purse. It is just what you need to have part in spreading the good news. A packet of 200 costs only 25c. Ask for tract No. 8, Life in a New World.

1953 YEARBOOK AND CALENDAR

If you have not already written for your copy of the 1953 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, may we suggest that you do so now. During the past year there was a monthly average of 426,704 active witnesses for Jehovah’s kingdom working from door to door and in the homes of the peoples of the world. The Yearbook reports on their accomplishments in the ministry, both here in the United States and in scores of faraway lands. A great many interesting experiences provide a world-wide view of the public response to the ministry of Jehovah’s witnesses. Also available now is the 1953 calendar. In beautiful colors it depicts various ways in which God’s servants worship him and aid persons of good will. The calendar pad sets forth a Scriptural theme for each month. A contribution of 50c will bring you a copy of the 1953 Yearbook; and calendars may be had for, 25c each, or five or more to any one address for 20c each.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of March 1: Unhappy Complainers; also, Dispelling the Spirit of Complaint, ¶1-5.

Week of March 8: Dispelling the Spirit of Complaint, ¶6-27.