The Watchtower — June 1, 1953

New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses

THE Watchtower magazine has had much to say about the New World society and how it is now forming and manifesting itself throughout the world. People have come into this society from all walks of life and they are looking forward to the wonderful and blessed time when the new earth will be in full operation with lovers of righteousness as its inhabitants. How wonderful it will be living together in peace and happiness! Students of God’s Word want to be of that New World society.

If you are one praying for God’s kingdom to come and asking to be blessed by it, why not plan to be at the New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses July 19 to 26? They will be coming from almost all the nations of the world and will gather together at Yankee Stadium in New York city to worship Jehovah in holy array.

What time are you going to arrive at the New World Society Assembly? In time, we hope, for the start of the first session. You will want to be there all the first day from the time the program begins Sunday morning, July 19, and especially for the afternoon session when you will see the graduation of the twenty-first class of Gilead. This will be a heart-gladdening scene to witness.

In order to be in New York for the initial meetings, it is good for you to plan to arrive in the convention city Saturday, July 18. The first thing you will want to do is to get located in your room so you will be all set to enjoy the very beginning of the convention. You will be looking forward to every day, because the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has planned a full program. Take it all in; do not miss a thing. While you will not be able to get into the stadium itself on Saturday, the 18th, you may be interested in looking around the stadium, meeting friends and getting acquainted with the grounds, particularly to know how to get into the cafeteria lines and to know where refreshment stands are located. Every conventioner should get settled in his room Saturday.

If by the time convention period comes along you have not received your room assignment through the mail, you can go directly to the rooming department, where you can get a room to your liking. If you arrive before Saturday, you will find the rooming department operating at the rooming headquarters’ address at 557 W. 157th Street through Friday, July 17. However, starting the first thing, early Saturday morning, July 18, the rooming department will be in full swing under the bleacher portion of Yankee Stadium. You may gain entrance to this department at the corner of 161st street and River avenue.

If until this time you have thought it impossible to attend the convention, you might take inventory of your circumstances again. Maybe you can attend. Think of the convention in terms of eight days, not just the two week ends or the days that you think will be high points. Why not be there every session? Make out a room request form now showing the accommodations desired. You can get them from the congregation servant of any congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses or through the branch organization of countries other than the United States. We are sure there will be accommodations for all, as the New York brothers are diligently working to obtain rooms in the homes of the people as well as lining up rooms in the numerous hotels. When you ask for a room keep in mind that Jehovah’s witnesses of New York have worked hard to get these accommodations, and they hope an excellent impression will be left with the householders while you make your stay with them, as was done by those who stayed in the homes of New Yorkers in 1950. We hope that all will take the assignment that is given them by the rooming committee.

Maybe you are just an interested reader of The Watchtower and not one of Jehovah’s witnesses, and it may be that you think that the New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses is just for them. No, all the meetings will be open to persons interested in the work carried on by the witnesses. We invite everybody to come. Maybe some of the readers of this magazine go to New York once a year on business or for a pleasure trip. Why not make it during this summer from July 19 to 26 and drop in at Yankee Stadium? You will see something and hear something that the imagination cannot comprehend. You will read about it later in The Watchtower, and you may hear friends of yours tell you about it, but still you will not feel the full force of the New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses unless you are there in person. So be sure to come. You are welcome. Drop in and say hello if you are in the city for even a few days.

Now getting back to living in New York. We are going to have a New World Society trailer city. If you wish to stay in the trailer city, which will be equipped with loudspeakers tied in by direct wire with Yankee Stadium, space will be available for you. Many brothers are working diligently, laying the foundation work for this trailer city. We expect to have more facilities at the New World Society trailer city than we had in 1950, such as additional showers, washrooms, refreshment stands and larger stores for the convenience of those residing there. Many of those staying in the New World Society trailer city will decide to come to Yankee Stadium at certain times during the week if not for every session. Anyway, it is expected that enough automobiles will be coming to New York daily to bring in those who want to come. That will all be worked out at the trailer city.

We expect that all attendance records will be shattered again at this assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses and that things will be really crowded around Yankee Stadium, but we hope that we will be able to take care of your needs through all the departments that will be set up for your accommodation. Most of the departments, such as the bookroom, administration, etc., will be located where they were in 1950, but you may familiarize yourself with the general layout of the stadium by studying the diagram in the program. Those who come to the stadium on Saturday, the 18th, will be able to get copies of the program, and they will also be distributed at the trailer camp on the 18th.

Very likely the bleacher section of the stadium will always be filled this time. You may recall that this part of the stadium has no covering; therefore we suggest that in order to keep from bleaching in the sun everyone bring along a sun hat or a shade of some kind that you can wear if you have to sit in this section of the stadium. Those who will not want to sit in the bleachers will have to come early to get their seats well before the sessions begin, but please follow the instructions of the attendants when they direct you to places where seats are available. Always be prepared with a shade for the sunny days.

The cafeteria and refreshment stands on the lots outside the stadium will be opened on Saturday afternoon, July 18, for the convenience of brothers coming for rooms and to use the day for fellowship and visiting. No one except assigned workers will be allowed in the stadium, because big preparations must be made to get things running Sunday morning. During the convention we know you appreciate that we cannot serve everybody at once in the cafeteria, so please be patient and just keep in line. If everyone keeps moving in the cafeteria lines and does not use the cafeteria tents for conversing, we think we can feed all the people who want to eat there between the sessions. There will be no need for brothers to rush out of the stadium after the meetings in order to get in line. Take your time. Talk to your friends. Stay in your seats a little while if you wish, because not everyone can be served at once. If you do this it will certainly be a co-operative gesture, and your patience will help the organization.

Since parking facilities around the neighborhood of the stadium are extremely limited, we suggest that the brothers travel to and from the convention grounds by subway or bus. If your room happens to be a little distance beyond the last station of the subway train, you may find it best to drive to a suitable subway stop and park your car there and then take the train on to the stadium. A word of caution is appropriate here. When you park your car in New York city or anywhere else be sure you do not leave anything inside the car, even though you lock it well. The New York police department advises us to tell you to take this precaution. It is very easy to lose valuable things in New York when they are kept in cars. You will find the New York policemen very courteous and they will be pleased to help you with directional information.

Arrangements have been made with the police department so the private buses arriving at the stadium may unload their passengers on 161st street near Rupert Place. After the passengers are discharged the buses will be directed to a street-parking location about five miles away, where they can be left for eight days. Of course, it is up to the driver to decide where he wants to keep his bus.

All who attend the New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses will want to bear witness to Jehovah’s kingdom sometime during the assembly. This will be done largely in the door-to-door work, witnessing to the people in their homes where you stay, talking to people you meet around New York and in the street work advertising the public meeting and distributing magazines. We want to give New Yorkers a warm welcome to attend our assembly, and we sincerely hope that you will plan to be there.

The U. N. a Modern Noah’s Ark?

OCTOBER 1952 saw the completion of the United Nations capital in New York city. The project took five years to build and cost some 67 million dollars. In describing the General Assembly building, the last to be completed, Life, November 5, 1952, likened it to “a kind of Noah’s ark for all species of men from all parts of the earth”. Is this comparison fitting?

Noah’s ark served to bring together those persons who at that time were sincerely interested in a better world and they worked together harmoniously. The ark they built served Jehovah’s purpose of preserving all that took refuge in it, bringing them safely through the flood to begin life anew in a cleansed earth.

Can the same be said of the United Nations organization and its capital? Not by any means! The worst enemies of a righteous new world, faithless, power-hungry hypocrites, both totalitarian and democratic, have made it their refuge, and, far from being united, not only is it divided into Eastern and Western blocs, but there is division within each bloc.

And instead of the United Nations organization’s serving as a place of refuge from Jehovah’s fury at Armageddon, it is, to use Jesus’ prophetic words, a “disgusting thing that causes desolation”. (Matt. 24:15, 16, NW) It is a disgusting thing in God’s sight because it is considered lofty and is idolized by men. (2 Chron. 15:8; Luke 16:15, NW) And it causes twofold desolation: first, it desolates the people’s hope and faith in God’s kingdom, posing as a substitute for it; and, secondly, all who accept the substitute of the United Nations in the place of God’s kingdom will have their lives desolated at Armageddon, the expression of Jehovah’s vengeance foreshadowed by the flood of Noah’s day.—Matt. 24:37-39; Rev. 16:14, 16, NW.

Instead of the United Nations organization’s being a modern Noah’s ark, it would be more fitting to term it a modern tower of Babel; for, like that ancient structure, the U. N. is a symbol of man’s lack of faith in Jehovah God, his vain ambition, his futile efforts to unite, his confusion.

Not the United Nations organization, but a new system of things being created by Jehovah God, is the modern counterpart of Noah’s ark. Today men are taking refuge in it by seeking Jehovah, meekness and righteousness, and by associating themselves with the servants of Jehovah who are already functioning as a new world society, under the new system of things. Those who take refuge in it will be preserved just as surely as were those who took refuge in the ark Noah built.—Zeph. 2:1-3, AS.

Sharing in the Prosperity of God’s People

“EXCEPT Jehovah build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” (Ps. 127:1, AS) While giving lip service to that truth politicians have ignored Jehovah and, together with the religious leaders, have looked to the schemes of men for prosperity. No wonder they are chagrined and dismayed.—Jer. 14:19, AS.a

That Jehovah is indeed the source of prosperity is proved by the prosperity existing among his people today, as a result of which they are the happiest people in all the earth. Not that they were always so happy. In 1918, due to the fear of man and lack of understanding, they were in a poor condition, some in literal prisons, all in the spiritual prison of the Devil’s world system, and their voice of public preaching was quite muffled.

Then they prayed to God: “Oh visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the prosperity of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation.” (Ps. 106:4, 5, AS) That prayer, offered with the right motive and in harmony with God’s will and his prophecies, Jehovah answered. Though angry with them, yet for his name’s sake he was not willing that they should be destroyed. So he opened their eyes and showed them that deliverance was promised in his Word and that there was yet much work to be done.

Today, Christendom has no evidence of divine favor; it is perplexed and in extreme fear; it has no timely message for the people, and prays and crusades vainly for peace. But Jehovah’s people are enjoying prosperity; God’s sacred secrets are being unraveled to them; they have no uncertainty as to their purpose on earth; they have evidence of Jehovah’s spirit and approval; they have courage; their number of ministers is constantly increasing and their table is filled with rich spiritual food.

Jehovah’s organization is assured prosperity, but our personal sharing in it depends upon our holding fast to it, living up to its principles and being worthy to be retained in it. We may not, like Israel, show lack of faith, forgetting Jehovah’s wonderful works; show lack of submissiveness by rebelling against Jehovah’s duly appointed representatives; we may not turn back to the filthy practices of the old world.—Ps. 106:6-46; 1 Cor. 10:1-12.

If we would share in the prosperity God has given to his people we must “believe his prophets”. (2 Chron. 20:20) That means to study God’s Word privately and in company with others. Nor may we neglect our responsibilities, for only if we are diligent to advance Jehovah’s Word and Kingdom interests shall we prosper, for he has promised that these would prosper. (Isa. 9:7; 55:11) At the same time we must exercise care that we do not become overconscious of our prosperity, letting it go to our heads, for then there is danger of disobeying.

And while we are now enjoying prosperity, our prayer is not fully answered, for it says: “Save us, O Jehovah our God, and gather us from among the nations.” (Ps. 106:47, AS) Yes, not just ME but others also, US. There are other sheep yet to be gathered.

So let others see and hear us as Jehovah’s witnesses; let them see our spiritual prosperity; let them feel an overwhelming desire to share it. There is plenty of prosperity for all—we can afford to be generous! Doing so our own happiness will increase as we see God’s visible organization prosper more and more.

[Footnotes]

Christianity Advances in Northern Rhodesia and Ethiopia

Continuing the report on the African trip of the president of the Watch Tower Society, N. H. Knorr, and his secretary

SINCE November 17, when we left New York, we had visited Sierra Leone, Liberia, South Africa, Nyasaland, Southern Rhodesia, and now, on December 24, we were arriving at Lusaka, the capital of Northern Rhodesia. A meeting had been scheduled for the European brothers and seventeen attended that evening. Quite an increase over our last visit, five years ago, when just one European manifested interest. On the morning of the 26th we flew from Lusaka to Ndola, and then drove forty miles to Kitwe, in Northern Rhodesia’s Copper Belt, where the national assembly was to be held, December 26 to 28.

A large area on the outskirts of one of the mining camps, Nkana, had been put at the disposal of the Society free of charge by the mining company. Since it would be impossible to accommodate in private homes the thousands expected, the brothers built seventeen shelters, some of which were 700 feet in length. As the assembly drew nearer it became apparent that these would not be sufficient. No further supplies for making grass-thatched roofs being available, a second “layer” consisting of bamboo tables was made for three of the shelters and which extended their full length. In this way the shelters were able to accommodate 8,004; a like number being taken care of in the homes of the brothers and the public. The seven sleeping shelters were like giant spokes of a wheel with the seating arena as the hub.

In the seating arena bamboo benches were erected to seat over 18,000, set out with dividing aisles in a semicircular style. A beautiful platform was constructed by leveling a large abandoned anthill and erecting a grass-covered shelter. At the back of the platform the 1953 yeartext of Jehovah’s witnesses, “Worship Jehovah in Holy Array,” was displayed in the Cibemba language. Buildings were also erected to house the various assembly departments.

Such a vast construction project involved the hauling of some 30,000 bundles of grass, 3,500 large poles and 16 truck loads of bamboo poles. Additionally 60 truck loads of fork-shaped poles were brought in for the construction of the seating. Much material was also carried in by the brothers on bicycles and by sisters on their heads. Cut by the brothers in nearby forests, the cost of the material was negligible. All this work was well rewarded, for the assembly proved to be the happiest ever held by Jehovah’s people in Northern Rhodesia. Indeed, it was the largest ever held anywhere in Southern Africa.

Brothers came by foot, bicycle, trucks, buses and trains. Some traveled two weeks on bicycles from the northern part of the territory more than 500 miles away; brothers carrying their wives and children on their bicycles, over dirt roads and through the “bush”. From the southeast some walked four days through an area full of wild beasts, and then traveled two more days by primitive bus to reach the assembly. From the southwest they came part of the way by boat on the Zambezi river and then by rail: a five-day trip. Brothers from the Machusa tribe in Tanganyika sold their cows to find the £7.0.0 for the round trip, which took one week each way. Yes, knowing that the assembly was an arrangement of Jehovah’s organization, the brothers were determined to get to it. Nothing could stop them. All roads led to the theocratic assembly.

THE ASSEMBLIES AT KITWE

And what a blessing was in store for these brothers when they got to the assembly! Driving through the trees, one came upon the assembly suddenly, and there laid out before him was an unforgettable sight. Sitting under the open sky was this huge crowd of African witnesses, the multicolored hats of the sisters giving the effect of a garden of flowers of every hue. They were orderly and gave close attention to what was being said, trying not to miss a word. Had they not come many miles for just this?

However, there was something that made an even greater impression upon a visitor to this assembly—the singing! Led by a choir of 1,010, the singing at this assembly was something that sent thrills up the spine, and brought tears to the eyes, it was so beautiful. No musical instruments were needed. Indeed, they would have been out of place. At the signal from the conductor they began; and what seemed to be complicated part-singing was handled with wonderful ease. The harmony was exquisite, with the sound first coming through like the rustle of the trees in the wind and building up to a grand climax, like that of a thousand reeds. Although they composed much of the music by themselves, and some of the words are original with them also (based on Scripture texts), their songs all center around the true worship of Jehovah God, just as do the songs Jehovah’s witnesses sing in other parts of the earth.

The assembly opened with almost 14,000 in attendance, Friday, December 26. On this day 1,195 symbolized their dedication to do Jehovah’s will by being immersed. By Saturday morning 16,000 were present, and when the time came for the public meeting 20,000 had packed out the arena and overflowed into the surrounding area. Due to the kind assistance of a local European, the sound system was well nigh perfect, and the huge crowd easily heard every word of the public lecture, “It Is Time to Consider God’s Way.”

The brothers who came to the assembly came to learn pure worship and the way to live together as members of a new-world society. They had left behind the many superstitious ways of the old world. For instance: In some districts when a man dies his brothers are not allowed to wash for three months. In other places at death the whole community sits up all night beating drums and moaning in order to drive away the evil spirits. In yet another locality, if the headman of a village dies, all the villagers move away to another place, leaving their homes and gardens, lest the spirit of the dead headman come back to trouble them. Another superstition calls for the putting of a certain medicine on the upper lip of a newborn child so that the top teeth come through first; otherwise there is danger of the baby’s turning into a crocodile! Well, Jehovah’s witnesses quit these practices, for they see that such are foolish and demonic.

An assembly for the European brothers was also held at Kitwe. This furnished a pleasant surprise, for when we visited the country previously, five years ago, no European assembly could be held, for the simple reason that there were no European congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses in Northern Rhodesia. This time at the public talk 145 were in attendance, with a peak of 92 at the other assembly sessions. Seven Europeans were baptized.

At both assemblies the second edition of “Let God Be True” was released, much to the joy of the brothers. They had not had the first edition, due to there being a ban upon it, so that it could not be imported.

Outstanding in connection with the assemblies was the co-operation of the various officials that had to be contacted—quite a change from five years ago, when the mere mention of the name “Jehovah’s witnesses” aroused antagonism on the part of most of them.

There are thousands of people in Northern Rhodesia that want to become Jehovah’s witnesses, but we will not allow them to call themselves such until we first examine them and are sure that they know the teachings of Christ and the purposes of Jehovah God. Then, after they symbolize their dedication to do Jehovah’s will by water immersion, we allow them to say they are Jehovah’s witnesses.

Jehovah’s witnesses, now about the largest unified body in Northern Rhodesia, are of one mind and what they want and what they are preaching is God’s kingdom, the only hope for the world. Various political factions and other groups would like to have Jehovah’s witnesses swing into their movements and support them. Some influential men of such large organizations attended the African assembly to hear what was said and see how we managed our affairs. They were absolutely amazed to see such orderliness and peacefulness even though the people were from every part of Northern Rhodesia and represented all the tribes. God’s spirit has worked marvels, but the world will not accept this answer. They think there is something else behind it that causes this oneness of action. Jehovah’s witnesses have Jehovah’s spirit because they study his Word, they believe it and preach it.

THROUGH KENYA TO ETHIOPIA

On Monday, December 29, we left for Ndola, there to catch our plane for Ethiopia. En route we stopped overnight at Nairobi, where we had to make connections for the Ethiopian airlines. We were entertained at the home of one of Jehovah’s witnesses, and from 6:45 in the evening until 12:30 a.m. we had a meeting with eight brothers and sisters, two of whom had traveled hundreds of miles over dusty roads to be with the brothers at Nairobi for this meeting. We answered their many questions and gave them interesting information about Jehovah’s work and organization and what we felt should be done in Kenya and Uganda.

Early the next morning we left Nairobi and soon passed over Mount Kenya, about 17,000 feet in altitude. Far below were the plains and jungles of Kenya. We also saw many lakes between Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Africa does indeed offer many sights of beauty from the air.

At Addis Ababa we were met by brothers at the airport and had a nice trip to the heart of the city. It has a population of about 300,000 and lies at an elevation of 8,000 feet. In it we found a modern civilization being built up alongside an old one, also many buildings started by the Italians when they took over the land, and which were not completed because of their sudden departure.

Ethiopia lies in the eastern part of Africa, the southern part being just 250 miles north of the equator. Most of the cities and villages are perched on high plateaus, providing perpetual springtime for the inhabitants. The first Watch Tower missionary arrived in Ethiopia in September 1950. Now there are eleven in the country and three congregations have been established. Because the government requires missionaries to aid in the education of its citizens the Society at present operates two elementary schools, at Harar and Dire Dawa, and a night school at Addis Ababa.

The native tongue, Amharic, presents a great problem. It is a very ancient language and in some respects resembles Hebrew and Arabic. Its alphabet has 276 characters, each with its individual sound. Some are strange explosive expressions and others are clucking sounds.

An assembly was arranged for four days and the students were invited to attend, school being dismissed while it lasted. When the assembly opened, the missionaries that had been in the country, one five and a half months, were happy to see one of their number act as chairman and give an enthusiastic address of welcome. And the Amharic brothers were especially well pleased.

That evening Brother Henschel addressed the sixty-one in attendance by means of an interpreter, on the subject “Integrity”. He left on Saturday, January 3, to take care of speaking appointments in Cairo while I remained until Monday and spoke to the brothers several times on Saturday and Sunday. A high spot of the assembly was the immersion, held in a small stream dammed up a bit to make the water deep enough for immersion. Six symbolized their dedication by baptism.

ETHIOPIANS MANIFEST GREAT INTEREST

The missionaries told some very interesting experiences. Shortly after the ones assigned to Dire Dawa arrived, day after day persons of good will would come to their home in groups of as many as fifteen and ask them to study the Bible with them. In the beginning this grew to such a point that it was impossible to study with all of them. So the missionaries turned their studies into lectures, giving a different public lecture each night for a month.

At first it was thought that this interest was due to its being a new mission and that the interest would subside when the novelty of it had worn off. But not so, the interest has been maintained. Many Bible studies have been started and a number of those who heard that series of talks have taken a firm stand for the principles of the truth and are now preaching to others. A group of five Arabs are coming regularly for Bible study, which is being carried on in Arabic and English.

Hyenas are so numerous in this neighborhood that many people are afraid to go out at night. Consequently few studies are held in the evening. Those who do venture forth carry a big club with them for protection.

The peak in visitors for study for one afternoon was fifty. They were inquiring students from the Swedish Mission who came to the home to ask questions. Critical at first, they were so taken aback by the ready answers they received that they soon let the missionaries keep right on talking about the new world. By the time the talk was concluded sarcasm had been replaced by meekness and humility. The man who took the lead asked if he could have a regular Bible study.

At his second call he arrived early and overheard the summary of a previous lesson showing there was no trinity. In amazement he exclaimed, “You mean Jesus isn’t God?” Further explanation was given to him and after that he went back to his mission and told them that the Bible did not teach the trinity. The only answer he got was that Jehovah’s witnesses were false prophets and that he should not listen to them. Not satisfied by that answer, he has continued his studies and now feels he wants to be the right kind of minister, one of Jehovah’s witnesses.

Another example in another territory was that of a young man who was a student priest. He could not speak a word of English. The missionary at the time could not speak a word of Amharic, and so their first discussion was through an interpreter. When controversial points arose the student priest would resort to the ancient-language Bible in Geez. It is a dead language not used by the people, but only by those who are studying to be priests. This version of the Bible is looked upon as authoritative. This translation proved to be very good, not having that favorite text of the trinitarians, 1 John 5:7: “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one,” which is found in the King James Version in English. So the student priest was shown very quickly that the entire doctrine of the trinity was wrong. Many other points of the discussion were proved by the Geez Bible and it was not long before the student priest changed his attitude. He came for studies three or four times a week, bringing others with him. He left the seminary where he was being trained and moved in with an Ethiopian brother. They talked the truth for hours.

The next morning the school clerk of the seminary came to the mission with a policeman and took the student priest away. It was a hectic day, going from one office to another, to the headmaster’s secretary, to school officials, the police, and it seemed that no one knew what to do with this man now. The missionaries were involved because here was a man who was changing his beliefs, no longer believing like the state church. The missionaries were asked to tell their story, and they pointed out simply and clearly that this priest had come to their mission voluntarily, wanting to study. He had had full permission of the headmaster to find out what Jehovah’s witnesses believe. The brothers stood by this young man and defended him before his accusers.

Later he was locked up in a seminary for four days. But he finally sent a note out to the missionaries, telling them not to feel sorry for him. He was rejoicing that he was a prisoner for the sake of Jehovah. “Do not think I will go with them,” he said. ‘No man that has put his hand to the plow looks at things behind.’

On the fifth day of imprisonment he managed to have his private guards take him to the mission and he told the brothers that he would be sent to Addis Ababa. This occurred, but soon after he arrived in Addis Ababa he was allowed to go free. He attended the meetings of the brothers in Addis Ababa. He came to the assembly and there was immersed with the other brothers. He is very zealous and anxious to preach the gospel.

Many more experiences could be related showing the eagerness on the part of the people to learn the truth. Arranging for Bible studies is a simple matter. All missionaries have far more Bible studies than they can handle. We look for big increases in this country, even though the brothers must teach school in addition to taking care of the teaching of the truth regarding God’s kingdom. It was a joy to be with them.

Be Clothed with Humility

NO GARMENT is better styled or more becoming to the servant of God than the gracious garment of humility. None is better designed to please Jehovah. Humility will help us to become unassuming, natural, simple, sweet. It is styled to make us gracious, gentle, forgiving, kind. It is not attracted or distracted by outward appearances, the height of stature, personal abilities or personalities. It helps us to see ourselves as God sees us: “For Jehovah seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh on the heart.”—1 Sam. 16:7, AS.

Humility means submissiveness; submissiveness means obedience; obedience means to do God’s will. God’s will as expressed in his Word teaches us humility. “Unless you turn around and become as young children you will by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens. Therefore, whoever will humble himself like this young child is the one that is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens.” (Matt. 18:3, 4, NW) “All of you gird yourselves with humility of mind toward one another, because God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to the humble ones. Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” (1 Pet. 5:5, 6, NW) “For though Jehovah is high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly; but the haughty he knoweth from afar.” (Ps. 138:6, AS) “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?”—Mic. 6:8, AS.

Humility will help us to walk humbly before our God. It will safeguard us from becoming haughty, assertive, boastful, proud. It will save us from our own self-importance in personal bearing, in our manner of dress, and in our style of living. It will keep us from the vanity of our abilities and attractions and protect us against the damaging, ego-inflating effects of higher learning, a collegiate education, a diploma or an honorary degree. It will check us from exalting ourselves in the presence of the lowly, it will not be abashed in the courts of the mighty of the earth. It will help us guard against seeking the favor of men, the praises of others, or searching for flattery when our work is done. It will guide us to do our best and leave it with Jehovah, and not look for the praise and plaudits of men.

Humility will help us in our prayers to God. It will make us keenly aware of our need of Him, of our inability and imperfection. It will save us from trying to justify ourselves; from becoming like the Pharisee mentioned in Jesus’ illustration, who 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.” Rather, humility will help us to maintain a lowliness of mind, a meekness and modesty about ourselves, which says: “O God, be gracious to me a sinner.”—Luke 18:11-13, NW; Acts 20:19.

Humility teaches us to incline our ear toward Jehovah, and not away from him. “Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul. Show me thy ways, O Jehovah; teach me thy paths. Guide me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee do I wait all the day.” (Ps. 25:1, 4, 5, AS) It moves the heart to say: “Oh magnify Jehovah with me, and let us exalt his name together.” (Ps. 34:3, AS) It directs the humble to a life of dedication, praise and honor to God. But it also teaches, “before honour is humility.”—Prov. 15:33; 16:18; 18:12.

HUMILITY IN THE ORGANIZATION

Humility will help the dedicated servant of God to appreciate Jehovah’s organization, his arrangement for doing things in the earth, and it will aid him to see that only by staying in the organization, maintaining integrity, remaining faithful to Jehovah, will he be safe from all harm. It will help him keep his proper place in the organization and work in harmony with it. It will help him to think soberly, according to the facts of God’s Word, the Bible, which tells us honestly what we are. A humble man will not think he ought to be in this or that job or position. He knows that “the reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah is riches, and honor, and life”; and that Jehovah exalts the humble and abases the proud.—Prov. 22:4, AS; Luke 14:11.

Humility will help the servant when dealing with his brothers in the congregation. It will save him from self-consciousness. It will take away the constant sense of his own importance, and the desire of wanting to be the center of attraction, the thought of being the object of observation and attention; also from wanting to steal the whole show. When dealing with the brothers, it will help him treat the flock of God with affection, courtesy and kindness, even as Christ did. It will caution him not to be more exacting of others than God is of him. It will help him not to become easily offended if his kindnesses are not appreciated, knowing that God is kind to the thankful and the unthankful alike.

Humility will keep us subdued when we seem to be overflowing, allowing for love but not envy, for consideration but not prejudice. It will not allow the servant of God to say, “I am all right and you are all wrong.” Rather, as Jehovah says: “Come now, and let us reason together.” (Isa. 1:18) It will restrain the self-confident and tone down the arrogant in spirit from saying: “‘Today or tomorrow we will travel to this city and will spend a year there, and we will engage in business and make profits,’ whereas you do not know what your life will be tomorrow. . . . Instead, you ought to say: ‘If Jehovah wills, we shall live and also do this or that.’”—Jas. 4:13-15, NW.

Humility will shield us from bragging and prating about ourselves in a vainglorious way before our family, in the presence of strangers, or in the Christian congregation. It will keep us from assuming that others are as much interested as we are in our personal achievements. It will save us from taking offense because people may seem to ignore us, because perhaps our congregation servant did not recognize us or did not call upon us to make a comment or take a part on the service meeting program.

Humility will not allow us to have a high opinion of ourselves, nor will it grant a display of self before others, nor will it permit us to belittle others of whom we may be envious or for whom we may have contempt. No matter how elated or enthusiastic we may become over our accomplishments or merits, humility will keep self out of sight and under control. It will suppress the tendency to swagger and boast. It leaves no room for feigned piety or poses of sanctimoniousness and mock humility, which is commonly seen among the clergymen.—Col. 2:18, 23, NW.

Humility teaches us respect for our fathers and mothers, for the brothers and sisters in the truth, and for the whole Christian organization. It keeps out pride of nationality, race or color. It leaves no room for division. It teaches man that God “made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth, and he decreed the appointed seasons and the set limits of the dwelling of men, for them to seek God, if they might grope for him and really find him”.—Acts 17:26, 27, NW.

Humility teaches the humble Christian that these truths belong to Jehovah God, that the servant merely bears fruit of Jehovah’s production. It counsels us that God’s will is reasonable, practical, right. The humble are conscious of their devotion and zeal toward God, and they earnestly strive to measure up to their God-given responsibilities. They are slow to err, quick to forgive. It teaches man that the most ignorant can be proud and haughty, but only a wise man can be humble. The proud are stubborn, brittle, and break easily. The humble are meek but not weak; wiry and unbreakable in integrity.

Humility is knowing one’s own insignificance in relationship to everything else. It clothes man with a lowliness of mind. It esteems others as better than he. It heeds the apostle’s counsel “to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with complete lowliness of mind and mildness, with long-suffering, putting up with one another in love, earnestly endeavoring to observe the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace”. (Eph. 4:1-3, NW) It allows no room for fornication, uncleanness of any kind or greediness, nor room for “shameful conduct nor foolish talking nor obscene jesting, things which are not becoming, but rather the giving of thanks”.—Eph. 5:3, 4, NW.

Humility keeps us from trusting in ourselves or men, but it teaches us that it is wisdom to ‘trust in Jehovah with all our heart; and to lean not unto our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct our paths’. (Prov. 3:5, 6) It teaches us that Satan the Devil is the father of pride and the god of confusion. It was he who thought of himself more highly than he ought, and he has been debased and will be still further debased by Almighty God. He will be squeezed out of existence. Humility teaches us we must remain humble if we are to receive God’s approval. “God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to the humble ones. Humble yourselves in the eyes of Jehovah, and he will exalt you.”—Jas. 4:6, 10, NW.

Humility will help you see that “evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate”. (Ps. 34:21) It will help you walk obediently before Jehovah, not demanding justice from others but always rendering justice and mercy as far as possible. It will help you to stand on the streets and pass out handbills and offer magazines to passers-by; it will help you to go from house to house with literature and to make return visits and start home Bible studies. It will aid you to get on a platform and deliver a public address and serve faithfully in a congregation.

It requires humility, increased humility, to do these and other parts of the organizational work in delivering a world-wide witness to God’s name and kingdom. It is the garment styled by Jehovah himself. Wear it. “Walk humbly with your God.”—Mic. 6:8, AT.

Predestination and Jehovah’s Foreknowledge

“Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.”—Acts 15:18.

1. How do predestination and foreknowledge differ?

JEHOVAH has the power of predestination and the faculty of foreknowledge. What he predestinates takes place because he has foreordained that it shall, regardless of what any creature in the universe may do to hinder or halt it. What he foreknows takes place because of the infallibility of his power of perception into the future, the exercise of which in no way does violence to the free will of any creature. Generally, predestination has to do with classes or groups and with events, without foreordaining the specific individuals that will be involved in these classes or events. On the other hand, divine foreknowledge does not limit itself to groups or events but frequently indicates specific individuals that will be involved in them.

2. What was the nation of Israel?

² Our preceding issue laid a solid basis for the position that when the Greek Scriptures speak of predestination or foreordination relative to those who will reign with Christ in heaven, they are referring to such ones as a class and not as individuals. The same is true when Jehovah expresses his purpose to have a holy nation. In ancient time Israel became the typical holy nation, for to it Jehovah said: “Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” Again, “Thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.” (Ex. 19:6; Deut. 7:6, AS) It was an elect or chosen nation, spoken of as “Israel mine elect”.—Isa. 45:4.

3. Though of an elect nation, individual Israelites might fail in what?

³ But the mere fact that it was an elect nation did not automatically include every individual Israelite as a finally chosen one. Jehovah himself destroyed many of them in the wilderness journeyings and thereafter, as well as allowing enemies to reduce their ranks because of unfaithfulness. When Christ came only a remnant of the Jews accepted him, and non-Israelites were brought in to complete the foreordained number of the “Israel of God”. (Gal. 6:15, 16; Eph. 2:11-22, NW) It was not enough to be a Jew outwardly, in a fleshly way. Members of the “Israel of God” must be Jews inwardly, in a spiritual way. (Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:6, NW) When too few natural Israelites accepted the Messiah, “God for the first time turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name.” When natural Israelite branches refused to bear godly fruitage they were broken off and heretofore wild Gentile branches were grafted in to take their place. Thus did God, when the sensibilities of many in natural Israel were dull to their duty, bring in Gentiles to complete the foreordained number of spiritual Israel, or the “Israel of God”: “A dulling of sensibilities has happened in part to Israel until the full number of people of the nations has come in, and in this manner all Israel will be saved.”—John 15:1-8; Acts 15:14; Rom. 11:17-21, 25, 26, NW.

4. What shows spiritual Israel includes Gentiles, and where does the “great crowd” fit in in type and antitype?

⁴ That God’s typical holy nation, natural Israel, foreshadowed spiritual Israel, and that the latter would be made up in part by Gentiles, is shown by Peter’s application of Exodus 19:6 and Deuteronomy 7:6 to Christ’s body-members composed of both Jew and Gentile: “You are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies’ of the one that called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. For you were once not a people, but are now God’s people.” (1 Pet. 2:9, 10, NW) The complete number of those who reign with Christ is fixed at 144,000. (Rev. 14:1-4) At Revelation 7:4-8 this same number is apportioned among the twelve tribes of Israel, and since this is the complete number and includes Gentiles, the Israel referred to here must be spiritual Israel. The “great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues” next seen could not be of the heavenly class, for that would swell the number far beyond the foreordained 144,000. (Rev. 7:9, NW) Actually, it makes the parallel complete. Just as when typical natural Israel left Egypt they were accompanied by a “mixed multitude” of non-Israelites, so in the antitype when spiritual Israel separates from this old world under Satan a great multitude, a Gentile crowd when compared with spiritual Israel, associates with them. Salvation they gain through Christ’s redeeming blood.—Rev. 7:10, 14.

5. What does all this disclose relative to predestination?

⁵ What does all this disclose relative to predestination? It shows that though natural Israel was elect as a nation, many of that nation fell away and only a remnant remained faithful. Being typical of spiritual Israel, it shows that spiritual Israel is elect as a class or holy nation, but not as to individuals comprising its numbers, for many individuals fell away and only a remnant of the total numbers once called, sanctified, justified, redeemed and of the election remains faithful. Moreover, the foregoing shows that not just the elect or chosen spiritual Israel that reigns with Christ in heaven are redeemed by Christ’s blood, but a great crowd with no fixed or predestinated number also come under the ransom’s saving benefits. Presbyterians, chief champions of predestination, deny this, saying: “Neither are any other redeemed by Christ . . . but the elect only.”a In contending that only the elect ones who reign with Christ are saved, the predestinarians pose another dilemma for themselves: Since the elect or chosen ones become a part of the Abrahamic seed, along with Christ Jesus, who are the families and nations of the earth blessed by this seed? (Gen. 12:3; 22:18; Gal. 3:16, 29) Actually, it is an earthly class whose numbers are drawn from all nations, and the present-day part of which becomes the “great crowd” of Revelation 7:9.

FOREKNOWLEDGE CONCERNING INDIVIDUALS

6. Do the cases of Samson, Jeremiah and John the Baptist support predestination?

⁶ In trying to prove their point that individuals generally are predestinated, devotees of that doctrine will cite as cases in proof such individuals as Samson, Jeremiah, Cyrus, Esau and Jacob, John the Baptist, Judas, and also Jesus. It is true that before their birth Jehovah foreknew that Samson would begin to deliver Israel, that Jeremiah would be a prophet to the nations, and that John the Baptist would perform a work like Elijah’s in preparing the people for Messiah’s coming. (Judg. 13:3-5; Jer. 1:5; Luke 1:13-17) However, these cases do not match the doctrine of predestination. That doctrine requires that the final destiny of individuals be inflexibly ordained from before the time of Adam and Eve; but there is no evidence of that in these cases. There is nothing to indicate that God’s foreknowledge as to these specific individuals existed much before the time of conception. Moreover, that foreknowledge seemed to concern their activities rather than final destinies; whereas predestination concerns final destinies, and that “without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature”.b The divine foreknowledge shown in these cases is something quite different from predestination.

7. Why does not the case of Esau and Jacob support predestination, and why did Jehovah handle it as he did?

⁷ The pronouncement concerning the twins Esau and Jacob was not made before Adam and Eve’s creation, but while the babes were in their mother’s womb; neither was it concerning final destiny, but was, “the elder shall serve the younger.” It meant the younger, in contrast with the usual procedure, was to get the birthright that ordinarily went to the first-born son and which made him, upon the death of his father, head of his father’s household and made his other brothers subservient to him. And all this was “when they had not yet been born nor had practiced anything good or vile, in order that the purpose of God respecting the choosing might continue dependent, not upon works, but upon the One who calls”. One of these twin boys would get the birthright, which in this case carried with it the Abrahamic promise. While making the selection before birth, before either had done good or bad, Jehovah showed that the choosing of those sharing in the Abrahamic promise was not dependent upon works. This was a contrast with the Law covenant, which caused the Jews to stress works. It highlighted undeserved kindness or grace, and the spirit. It left the selection entirely up to the one who calls candidates for these blessings, namely, Jehovah God. His free choice in this matter, completely unbound by customs or usual procedures according to men’s expectations, such as giving the birthright to first-born sons, is further emphasized by his selection of the younger son instead of the older one. So Jehovah was clarifying his purpose concerning his covenant, not indulging in a whim, by acting as he did in the case of Esau and Jacob.—Gen. 25:23-26; 27:29, 37; 28:13, 14; Rom. 9:11, NW.

8. Why was this no eternal condemnation of Esau, and yet how did he turn out in vindication of Jehovah’s foreknowledge?

⁸ Jehovah’s decision to give the birthright to Jacob or his allowing the older Esau to be a temporary slave to the younger one did not predestinate Esau to eternal condemnation, as predestinarians must contend. Being in a subservient position did not prohibit Esau from gaining God’s approval. Did not some of the Canaanites, even though under an inspired curse to serve the descendants of Shem, attach themselves to Israel and gain Jehovah’s blessing? (Gen. 9:25-27; Josh. 9:27) And as for the birthright, receiving it is not a requirement for salvation. If so, then only first-born sons would be saved and all others automatically condemned. And what about Jehovah’s statement: “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau”? (Mal. 1:2, 3; Rom. 9:13, NW) The record does not specifically state that this judgment was entered while the babes were in Rebekah’s womb, that it did not await their subsequent conduct as a basis for it. But regardless of that possibility, Jehovah’s power of foreknowledge could disclose to him the course each twin would take and provide all the needed basis for loving one and hating the other. His power to read the inherent dispositions of unborn babes cannot be doubted. Certainly Esau had such a disposition, and it persisted despite the good religious training he received from his parents. In contrast with Jacob’s faithfulness, Esau was an irresponsible hunter, sought out the accursed heathen women as wives, showed contempt for the Abrahamic promise by selling his birthright to Jacob, and yet later tried to cheat Jacob out of the birthright that was Jacob’s by both purchase and God’s gift. Of his own free will Esau did all this and earned Jehovah’s hatred.—Gen. 25:27-34; 26:34, 35; 27:34-36, 46; 1 Sam. 16:7; Job 31:15; Eccl. 11:5.

9. Why cannot the cases of Judas, Peter and Cyrus prove predestination?

⁹ Jehovah God prophesied that one of the apostles of Jesus would betray Jesus, but the specific one is not named. (Ps. 41:9; 109:8) There is no evidence for saying that Jesus knew when he chose Judas Iscariot that this was to be the betrayer. However, Jesus’ power from Jehovah enabled him to perceive the thoughts and intents of the human mind and heart, and as soon as Judas began drifting in that direction Jesus was aware of it. To demonstrate that he was the Messiah he spoke of this coming betrayal in advance: “From this moment on I am telling you before it occurs, in order that when it does occur you may believe that I am he.” (John 2:24, 25; 6:64, 70, 71; 13:11, 18-30; Rev. 2:23, NW) The predictions made that identified Judas personally as the betrayer came after he was grown, after he was an apostle. The same may be said for those involving Peter personally, as to his denial of Christ, his recovery afterward, and the way he would die. (Mark 14:30; Luke 22:31, 32, 34; John 21:17-19) None of this could be called predestination, the fixing of individuals’ destinies before the original world’s foundation. As for Cyrus, it was by Jehovah’s prophetic power of foreknowledge that he was named as the one to overthrow Babylon and release Israelite captives, and this some two hundred years before the event occurred. But Presbyterian or Calvinist predestination is not involved. It did not fix Cyrus’ final destiny. He did not become a true worshiper of Jehovah, but served many false gods, and never became of Jehovah’s elect class.—Isa. 45:1-4.

10. Despite its exceptionalness, what about Jesus’ case?

¹⁰ As for Jesus, his earthly course and final destiny as the Seed of God’s woman and King of the new world were not predestinated before the foundation of the original world. It was after the fall of the first pair that prophecies began to be given concerning Christ Jesus. (Gen. 3:15) The Hebrew Scriptures do identify him as Jehovah’s elect or chosen One. (Isa. 42:1) He was foreknown before the new world’s foundation at the time of his death, and was “one delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God”. (Acts 2:23; 1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8, NW) Without predestinating the specific individuals to act against him when on earth, the prophecies did predict many of the events that occurred: “Even so, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with men of nations and with peoples of Israel were in actuality gathered together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you made Christ, in order to do what things your hand and counsel had determined beforehand to occur.” (Acts 4:27, 28, NW) But whether Jesus’ case be called predestination or foreknowledge, it was highly exceptional and does not prove individual predestination for all persons from before the time of Adam and Eve.

11. Why was divine foreknowledge exercised in the foregoing cases?

¹¹ In fact, all the foregoing cases involving the exercise of divine foreknowledge relative to the course of individuals are very exceptional. These persons were concerned in special ways in Jehovah’s purposes, being types or patterns or fulfillments of prophecies, or in some other way being used to contribute to the enlightenment of Jehovah’s people or to show forth Jehovah’s power. Jehovah can and does maneuver events in their affairs so that all works out for the fulfillment of his foreknowledge. But these few exceptional cases that did involve Jehovah’s foreknowledge cannot be used to successfully prove he has exercised a similar degree of foreknowledge in the case of every human creature.

12. Why do Acts 15:18 and Romans 8:28 fail to help predestinarians?

¹² In an endeavor to prove such a complete exercise of foreknowledge some quote Acts 15:18: “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” The New World Translation renders Ac 15 verses 17 and 18 as follows: “Jehovah, who is doing these things which he has known from of old.” A marginal reading is, “who has been making these things known from of old.” Regardless of the version used, it is clear that Jehovah is here showing that he foreknew his works. It does not say that he foreknows the works of every person. Nor may Romans 8:28 be properly used to prove God foreknew all events or acts of men: “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” More accurate translation shows it is the works of God, not the deeds of men who may persecute, that are for the good of his servants: “We know that God makes all his works cooperate together for the good of those who love God.” (NW) Jesus showed that when men fall victims to violence or accidents it cannot rightly be attributed to fatalism or predestination, but that it is more in line with the fact that “time and chance happen to all of them”.—Eccl. 9:11, AT; Luke 13:1-5.

13. Why can we not say Jehovah foreknew the fall of the covering cherub and Adam and Eve?

¹³ Can it be said that Jehovah foreknew that the covering cherub placed over Adam and Eve in Eden would turn rebel? Or that Jehovah foreknew that Adam and Eve would succumb to that rebel’s temptings? Neither Scripturally nor logically can it be maintained. The Bible shows that Jehovah’s foreknowledge is exercised regarding his works, but the cherub’s rebellion and Adam and Eve’s transgression were not works of Jehovah. He did not intrude his powers of foreknowledge into the affairs of these creatures. He is not a suspicious God, always suspecting his creatures, seeking to find flaws in their mind and heart, looking for trouble. He waits and allows them to manifest their failures. A man may go straight until some special temptation faces him, and then flaws in his integrity show up. So it apparently was with the cherub. After being assigned to his position and after Adam and Eve were created, the situation became a temptation to the cherub. Not a temptation from Jehovah, but one that the improper thoughts and desires of the cherub created for himself. (Jas. 1:13-15; 1 John 2:15-17) He saw the human pair, knew of their power to multiply, the divine command for them to do so, and envisioned the earth filled with human creatures. He wanted their worship, and proceeded to alienate this first pair from Jehovah’s worship. But all that Jehovah had foreordained in these matters was that obedience would mean life and disobedience would mean death, and he so informed Adam, and through him Eve.—Gen. 2:16, 17.

14. Why would Jehovah not need to foreknow their rebellion to cope with it?

¹⁴ In the face of absolutely no Scriptural evidence that Jehovah foreknew this trio’s transgressions, on what basis can it be argued that he did? No sound basis. He would not have to foreknow the rebellion of these three in order to cope with it. Nor need he foreknow the works of demons and men at this time in order to accomplish his purposes. No more so than would a man, intending to cut the weeds from a plot of ground to make a garden, have to foreknow the acts of insects dwelling in the jungle of weeds and which constitutes their home. Regardless of what the insects might do, they could no more prevent the man from cutting the weeds than man could prevent God from accomplishing the divine works. God needs to foreknow man’s opposing efforts no more so than the man needs to foreknow the insect’s. (Isa. 40:22) In either case the intended purpose can be carried out regardless of the opposition, since it is so insignificantly feeble in comparison with the power of the purposer.—Isa. 46:11; 55:11.

[Footnotes]

Foreknowledge Compatible with Free Will

“I know what their temperament will lead to, even now, before I bring them into the land, which I promised them on oath.”—Deut. 31:21, AT.

1. How do Presbyterian teachings deny man’s free will?

IT IS not denied by predestinarians that men are free moral agents, yet their own teachings certainly deny it. Do not the following statements from their publication rob of real meaning their contention that men are free to will good? “Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation.” But when God intervenes to convert an otherwise helpless sinner he “enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good”.a God promises to “give unto all those that are ordained unto life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe”.b So those not ordained have no free will or ability to believe. Similarly, God is “renewing and powerfully determining their wills” in order to make men “willing and able” to answer his call.c Even after starting in the right way the “perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election”.d And where is the free will of individuals to be found in their statement that God is “governing all his creatures; ordering them, and all their actions”?e If God did “unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass”, and to show his sovereign power over some did “ordain them to dishonor and wrath”, and to show his grace toward others did predestinate them to life “without any foresight of faith or good works”, then how can it be argued that there is no “violence offered to the will of the creatures”? Yet such is the caliber of predestinarian logic. Little wonder they give up reasoning on the matter and refer to their doctrine as “this high mystery of predestination”!f

2. In what respect do Presbyterians parrot the Pharisees?

² From all eternity God is supposed to have decreed whatsoever takes place, and to have fixed the destiny of all men and angels to either everlasting life or everlasting death, yet neither making use of his foreknowledge to do it nor violating the free will of any creature in doing it.g To fit into such a scheme Jehovah would have to create each individual in such a way that it would automatically do just what he had predestined for it to do. This puts the predestinarians in the same doctrinal boat with the Pharisees, about whom Josephus wrote: “When they determine that all things are done by fate, they do not take away the freedom from men of acting as they think fit; since their notion is, that it hath pleased God to make a temperament, whereby what he wills is done, but so that the will of man can act virtuously or viciously.”h From the foregoing it is evident that predestinarians pay only lip service to individual free will, while doctrinally denying it in all practical respects.

HOW JEHOVAH MOLDS US

3. What do some contend, and how do they support their contention?

³ Some will contend that Jehovah God does shape man in such a way as to force him into a certain course of conduct, doing violence to the creature’s freedom of will or choice, and thus making things work out according to the divine predestination of matters. They cite the text that speaks of Jehovah as the great Potter and men as helpless clay to be molded as he sees fit. Also they point to the time when God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, which hardness brought Pharaoh into destruction in the Red sea. Can these cases be harmonized with individual freedom of will? Yes, and by way of laying a foundation for solid answers consider some points relative to changing or molding anew the human mind.

4. How do messages from the five senses reach the brain, and what then happens?

⁴ Men know much about the mind, but much more they do not know. Yet a mixture of fact and theory gives this basic view of the mind’s function. When light enters the eye it is changed into electricity by the time it reaches the gray matter of the brain’s cerebral cortex. When sound enters the ear it reaches the gray matter as electrical impulses. Similarly messages come to the brain from the senses of smelling and tasting and feeling, reaching the brain’s cortex as electrical currents. Inside the cortex of gray matter is the white matter of the brain, and through this the gray matter sends electrical messages, to connect up with other cells or cell groups in other sections of the gray matter. Thus when the vision section sees danger it speeds messages to the motor section to inaugurate necessary muscular action, either for fight or for flight. So in all other mental processes the gray matter communicates with its various parts, doing so by setting up circuits through the white matter.

5. What further sheds light on the brain’s operation and marvelousness?

⁵ Every thought, every action is recorded as an electrical path through the white matter. If it is an old idea or frequent act it uses the previously made circuit, strengthening and entrenching it still more. That is why repetition fixes thoughts firmly in mind, and repeated actions become habitual. They come easy thereafter, and are hard to remove. New thoughts and new deeds require the setting up of new circuits, and that is more difficult. At birth the brain of the human babe is almost blank, only a few circuits being there, such as the instinct to suck and a few other basic patterns necessary for survival. But it is not a near blank for long. The five senses pour in their messages, and as the years pass an appalling maze of circuits accumulate—more, it is estimated by scientists, than all the hookups of telephone wires, exchanges and receivers in existence. One scientist estimated that “the human brain has sufficient storage capacity to remember fifty times as much information as is contained in the seven million volumes of the Library of Congress”. Truly man is “fearfully and wonderfully made”! (Ps. 139:14) How careful we should be to take in the right thoughts, do the right deeds, set up the proper circuits, that we do not get our mental wires crossed and snarled up in evil thinking and acting!

6. How do men and animals differ in these respects, and what makes a man what he is?

⁶ If we did not possess free will, but instead our course were fixed for us, we would not have the power of molding our minds according to our wishes, according to the things we chose to take into the brain. We would be more like creatures of instinct, like lower animals. Their brains are not so blank as humans’ at birth; most of their circuits are already there, and they can add but few thereafter. They come nearer to being predestinated at birth than do men. They primarily follow God-given instinct. Man, on the other hand, makes up his own mind. And because each one does it differently, each one is a separate individual, a distinct personality. It is a person’s thoughts and acts that make him what he is. Jehovah God so states: “Just as he hath thought in his own mind, so he is.” (Prov. 23:7, Ro) From the heart, which frequently stands for the mind, come words and acts. (Matt. 12:34; 15:19) So what a person thinks, says and does is largely governed by the mind. To change himself, to remold himself, he must change his thinking; for as he thinks, so is he.

7. What command is given to men, and why, and how can they heed it?

⁷ Because men in this old dying world think and speak and act wrong, because such unbelievers are vessels of wrath headed for destruction, and because they must be remolded into vessels of glory to Jehovah if they are to escape being shattered like a potter’s vessel by the King’s rod at Armageddon, the vital command to them is: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over.” (John 3:36; Rom. 12:2, NW) If they make their minds over they are changed persons; for as they think, so are they. They must let the old circuits put into their brains by the schemes and propagandas, the lusts and immoralities of the old world fade out through disuse, and replace them with new circuits built up by the right thinking and acting recommended by Jehovah’s new world. If so, they will be remolded into a new personality: “You should put away the old personality which conforms to your former course of conduct and which is being corrupted according to his deceptive desires; . . . you should be made new in the force actuating your mind, and should put on the new personality which was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loving-kindness.” “Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality which through accurate knowledge is being renewed according to the image of the one who created it.”—Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9, 10, NW.

8. Why can it be said Jehovah can change men without forcing them?

⁸ So it is by taking in accurate knowledge about Jehovah and Christ that human creatures made of dust or clay can be remolded, changed from vessels of wrath to vessels fit for divine mercy. (John 17:3) On the other hand, this information, instead of remolding men born under wrath and condemnation into vessels of glory, hardens some even more as vessels of wrath, even driving them to murder. (John 8:37-45; Acts 7:54-60; 2 Tim. 3:8) And this testimony that either hardens vessels of wrath or remolds them into vessels fit for mercy, where is it found? In God’s Word, the Bible. So through his Word Jehovah either makes persons more stubbornly wicked or changes them into his glorious servants, and this without any forcing of the creature, but rather it is as the creature himself wills to react. It is like a person that receives a letter from a certain man and which makes the person change his mind, and as a result the person says, “That man made me change my mind.” Yet there was no forcing involved; the person changed of his own free will.

9. How is Romans 9:21-24 to be understood, and what other text shows this understanding true?

⁹ It is with this view of matters that Romans 9:21-24 (NW) should be considered: “What? Does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for an honorable use, another for a dishonorable use? If, now, God, although having the will to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known, tolerated with much long-suffering vessels of wrath made fit for destruction, in order that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory, namely, us, whom he called not only from among Jews but also from among nations, what of it?” Does not Jehovah have a right to declare his message to all men taken from the same place, the dust of earth, and allow it to shape them for or against him, according to their own freewill reactions to its declaration? Certainly, and beforehand he indicated in his Word that one class would be hardened as vessels of wrath and another class would be flexible in their thinking when hearing the truth and welcome it and make their minds over in accord with its impact, thereby becoming vessels of mercy. That the individual himself can, by his own course in harmony with Jehovah’s will, make himself into a “vessel for an honorable use” is specifically stated at 2 Timothy 2:20-22 (NW): “Now in a large house there are vessels not only of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for an honorable purpose but others for a purpose lacking honor. If, therefore, anyone keeps clear of the latter ones, he will be a vessel for an honorable purpose, sanctified, useful to his owner, prepared for every good work. So, flee from the desires incidental to youth, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, along with those who call upon the Lord out of a clean heart.” To say Jehovah forces men to be a good or bad vessel is unscriptural. He does mold us through his Word, for good if we will let him.

10. How did God harden Pharaoh’s heart without violating free will?

¹⁰ Now to consider the controversial text wherein Jehovah said: “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you.” (Ex. 7:3, 4) Now Jehovah did not actually harden the heart of Pharaoh so that Pharaoh lost his free will in the matter. His heart hardened because of the message declared to him by Moses and Aaron. It was what caused him to react in hard stubbornness and anger. But since the message Moses and Aaron declared was really Jehovah’s message, the account says Jehovah hardened his heart. The repeated extension of God’s mercy to him by the lifting of plague after plague did not soften the Egyptian ruler, but as is usual in the case of bullies and tyrants this forbearance only made Pharaoh more intolerable, brought to the fore all the more his bullying characteristics. At Exodus 8:15 the result of relief is shown: “When Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart.” And again after the lifting of one of the plagues: “Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also.” (Ex. 8:32) Also 1 Samuel 6:6 states: “The Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts.” Does it not say Pharaoh hardened his own heart? Yes, because that was actually what happened. It only says Jehovah did it because that was how Pharaoh reacted to Jehovah’s message. Mercy shown to such arrogant men only serves to let them store up more wrath against themselves. (Rom. 2:4, 5) It is not unusual for wicked men to interpret Jehovah’s long-suffering as a sign of weakness and thus become more set in their evil ways, thinking the time of reckoning will never come: “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” (Eccl. 8:11) Pharaoh’s heart was so set in him.

11. How does the Bible itself interpret a similar situation, proving the viewpoint to be no private interpretation?

¹¹ The charge that such a view of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is private interpretation cannot be proved, because the Bible itself so interprets a similar expression. At Isaiah 6:10 Jehovah tells Isaiah: “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” Now, God did not mean for Isaiah to actually go and fatten their hearts and stop up their ears and close their eyes to forestall any repentance; but he was predicting that that would be the effect of the message that Isaiah had been commanded to go and tell the people, that the people themselves would show closed eyes and unhearing ears and fatty hearts, that they would not repent and turn to Jehovah for healing spiritually. The message declared made these rebellious ones unreceptive because it did not please them, and since Isaiah delivered it he was said to have done these things to them. But that they did it to themselves is shown by no less an authority than Jesus himself, for in quoting this prophecy as having fulfillment upon rebellious ones in his day he said: “The heart of this people has grown thick, and with their ears they have heard with annoyance, and they have shut their eyes.” Years later Paul quoted it in the same words. Though in Isaiah’s prophecy it speaks of Isaiah as doing it, both Jesus and Paul show the people themselves did it, and not actually Isaiah.—Matt. 13:14, 15; Acts 28:25-27, NW.

12. Who makes men’s paths straight, men or God?

¹² Another instance of this is where God’s servants are commanded to “keep making straight paths for your feet”, and yet elsewhere it is said concerning Jehovah: “He will make straight your paths.” (Prov. 3:6, AT; Heb. 12:13, NW) Who makes the paths straight? Predestinarians say it is God, not men, and try to prove it by quoting Jeremiah 10:23: “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Man in himself cannot do it, but Jehovah will do it for him, not through predestination, but through His Word: “How can a young man keep his path pure? By heeding thy word.” “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light on my path.” (Ps. 119:9, 105, AT) It is you that must of your own free will “keep making straight paths for your feet”, but since you can do it only by heeding God’s Word it is also correct to say Jehovah “will make straight your paths”, by means of his Word.

FOREKNOWLEDGE NO VIOLATION OF FREE WILL

13. What shows Jehovah’s power of foreknowledge?

¹³ Jehovah God can penetrate the innermost thoughts of the mind, and foresee the course that will be taken by not only individuals but also classes. (1 Sam. 16:7; Eph. 3:20; Heb. 4:12) He created the mind that directs man, knows its intricate operation, and can instantly detect the bent of man’s mind and know what that bent of mind will eventually lead to. He took just such a measure of men’s minds before the Noachian flood, and found them unreformable. (Gen. 6:5, AT) Before the Israelites entered Canaan Jehovah gave testimony against them for future reference, to show he foreknew what their mental disposition would lead them to and that they had been forewarned: “I know what their temperament will lead to, even now, before I bring them into the land, which I promised them on oath.” (Deut. 31:21, AT) He also foreknew and described in advance as a warning for us the wickedness of men in these last days of this old world; also the existence of a “great crowd” that would serve him. (2 Tim. 3:1-5, 13; Rev. 7:9, NW) So Jehovah foreknows that the majority of mankind today will perish with Satan at Armageddon, and that only a minority will side with him and live. (Isa. 24:6; Jer. 25:33) Hence he foreknows the fate of millions as a class, and so it is no great thing if he foresees the end of an individual. Yet in general he restricts his foreknowledge to classes rather than to the individuals comprising them.

14. What are some contentions concerning foreknowledge, yet what shows free will of individuals is preserved?

¹⁴ Foreknowledge, without certain prior conditions existing by which to determine the logical result to be expected, amounts to the same thing as predestination. Predestinarians disagree, for they say predestination is not based on any foreseen works of the individuals involved, as that would make destiny-fixing dependent on future works, and that they will not accept. Yet others still contend that God’s foreknowledge that some individuals in view of certain inward conditions will fail, forces them to fail in order that the divine foreknowledge be proved right. Or, for that matter, that God’s foreknowledge that the majority will perish at Armageddon rules out any widespread conversion to godliness. Their analysis fails to reach the root of the matter. The point is, the mere exercise of his foreknowledge based on certain existing conditions is not what makes the foreseen happen. His exercise of it is a gracious service to men, for it makes possible the warnings in his Word. Since they primarily concern classes without fixing the fate of individuals, it makes it possible for individuals to put themselves in the surviving minority class and to shun the perishing majority group. To be saved individuals must be, not according to the King James Version “ordained to eternal life”, but according to modern translation “rightly disposed for everlasting life”, and such personal disposition is unaffected by foreknowledge. (Acts 13:48, NW; Ro; ED) The individual’s inmost thoughts, his heart condition and his deeds are the basis on which judgment and destiny rest. (Rev. 2:23, NW) Otherwise, why would Jehovah test persons, and why would the Devil rage like a lion to devour the faithful? The issue of integrity would become meaningless, unreal.

15. What illustrations concerning inanimate things show foreknowledge does not make things happen?

¹⁵ To illustrate how the mere exercise of such conditioned foreknowledge does not of itself destroy independent action, consider examples of the limited use human creatures make of it. An astronomer can foretell when a certain comet is going to streak through the sky, or when there will be an eclipse of the sun or moon. Does his foreknowledge of the comet’s visit or the eclipse make such things happen? An engineer may know bridges, and see a weak brace, and know that when a heavy freight train comes along the brace will give way and the bridge collapse. Does his mere knowledge of the weakness make the brace break and the bridge fall? A machinist may use X ray to see a hidden flaw within a steel part of a machine and thus know the part will break under the strain of operation. But would not the part break regardless of whether the machinist knew the weakness or not? We know the sun will rise tomorrow, but it is not our knowing that fact that makes it rise.

16. What illustrations involving animate things make the same point?

¹⁶ Or take illustrations of animate things. We know that a cat will play with a mouse and a dog will chase a rabbit. We know that because of our knowledge of cats and dogs. But our mere knowing it does not bring it about. If we were totally ignorant of the ways of cats and dogs when in the presence of mice and rabbits, the tormenting play and the frantic chase would still take place. You may know someone who is an alcoholic, and know that when he begs money from someone he is going to spend it for liquor. But your foreknowledge of that does not make him do it. When you have close friends and learn their mannerisms or mental tendencies or peculiarities, you often know in advance what they will do under certain circumstances. But your foreknowledge due to insight into their personalities does not force them to so act, does it? They still act of their own free will, unmaneuvered and uncoerced by your foreknowledge, do they not? You may know how the quarreling nations of East and West will react under certain conditions, but because of that you would not think it just for you to be blamed for the squabbles, would you?

17. Why is it illogical to blame God for what he reads in a human mind?

¹⁷ So why blame God for what his foreknowledge reveals to him? He knows what is in the human mind, how it works, and is aware of its bent toward good or evil. But just that he can read what is in a man’s mind and see the way it will go does not make him responsible for what is in that mind, any more than we are responsible for what we may read in a book. It is the one who wrote the book that is responsible for its contents, and it is likewise the individual that harbors improper thoughts that is responsible for them. The thought is not put there by God, any more than we put the printed thought in the book we read. And just as we can either read or refrain from reading the book, so Jehovah can either look into or refrain from looking into our mind, can either foresee the course our mind will direct us into or withhold such knowledge from himself. In any event, we are created free moral agents and use that freedom as we choose.

ADAM MADE “VERY GOOD”

18. Why did Jehovah make man, and what illustration shows this purpose could be realized more so if man was a free moral agent?

¹⁸ Some, still stubbornly seeking to shift blame to God, criticize him for making man with free moral agency, saying if he had not done so man could never have gone wrong. Their reasoning is very shallow. Jehovah created man for His pleasure, and faithful men do give pleasure to God. (Ps. 35:27; 147:11; 149:4; Rev. 4:11) And it is the faculty of free will in man that greatly contributes to Jehovah’s pleasure. This is illustrated in man’s affairs, who was given dominion over the earth as God holds it over the universe. Man can make a mechanical dog, wind it up, and watch it hop around, knowing exactly what it will do. It is void of will, restricted by mechanical design. It may entertain for a time, but is not nearly as enjoyable as a live dog. The live dog has a certain measure of choice, and when we exercise dominion over it and train it we derive pleasure from it. The dog may be trained to do tricks, or render valuable service, such as that performed by a sheep dog. We are pleased because the dog does not obey us just because it has to, can do no differently. It gives us pleasure when it obeys us out of free choice, thus showing attachment to us. But if it rebels against our training, such as sheep dogs sometimes do by turning killer, we have no pleasure in it and are forced to destroy it because it misused its power of choice.

19. (a) So why was man given free moral agency, and how was he safeguarded? (b) How does God’s creating for his pleasure rule out Calvinist predestination?

¹⁹ In the same way man’s proper use of free will brings pleasure to God. Jehovah had many creations without free will, such as the stars and planets, which mechanically obey his laws of motion and stay in their assigned orbits; and even lower animals, and especially insects, are rather mechanical in action, since they are governed largely by instinct instead of reason. Man was to be something different, something higher, something suitable to put over the rest of earthly creation to exercise proper dominion over it, as a faithful servant of Jehovah. To make him “very good” for such an assignment Jehovah made man in God’s image, with qualities of justice, love, wisdom and power. (Gen. 1:26-31) A mechanical man, which is what one without free will would amount to, might have power, but would lack the other divine attributes. Justice implies the ability to choose between right and wrong. Wisdom involves among other things the intelligence needed to make the right choice. Love is shown by obedience to the commands of the Creator, and must be freely and cheerfully given to be genuine and a pleasure to the recipient. (1 John 5:3) God gave man these qualities, and the instructions for their proper use, and even added a conscience to guide when doubts as to right or wrong arose. (Rom. 2:12-16) But if the man rebels he is destroyed, just as is the sheep dog that turns killer. Yes, Jehovah could have made a robot instead of a man, but it would have given him no more pleasure than a mechanical dog gives us. So just as we prefer live dogs over mechanical ones, so Jehovah wanted live men with free moral agency instead of mechanical men. And, incidentally, since Jehovah created all things, including men, for his pleasure; and since he takes no pleasure in the death of men, he would hardly have predestinated many to die before he made them. Such creations would have brought him no pleasure, and would be a violation of his expressed principle of creating only for his pleasure.—Ezek. 18:23, 32; 33:11.

20. Despite some chronic complainers, what shows man would not wish to be other than a creature of free will?

²⁰ Those who complain about being made with free will would not have it otherwise. They do not want to be a machine, or even a living insect guided only by instinct, responding in a mechanical way to environment, devoid of intelligence, unable to make decisions or cope with unanticipated changes in conditions. As men they would not welcome partial removal of their free will, such as happens when men go to prison, having little say as to where they go, what they do, how they live, and so forth. Even persons of Satan’s world are hemmed in and their free will is circumscribed to an extent. They are enslaved by a rotten system, their minds shaped by demonistic propaganda, spiritually blinded by false religions, physically bound down to an office desk or factory assembly line, with noses kept to irksome grindstones to meet the obligations of time payments and other accumulated responsibilities under a system that regiments humanity to facilitate the exploitation thereof. Men fight and die for freedom. They want freedom of worship now, but some object because God gave it to Adam and Eve. That pair misused their freedom; so some say they should never have had it. Many men misuse freedom of worship today; is that reason to deny it to all?

21. For what should we be thankful, and busily do what?

²¹ We are free moral agents, thank Jehovah for that. We are not motorcars at whose wheel God sits and steers in the right or wrong way, guiding us beyond our power to control. He does not run us by some celestial remote-control system as men can drive cars or sail ships or fly planes by remote control. We are not predestinated to go this way or that, like puppets with strings attached and which God sits around and pulls to suit his whim. He made us men, not puppets, not machines. Instead of fretting over it, quibbling with God about it, we should busy ourselves in using it rightly, in harmony with divine requirements, and thereby assure ourselves of everlasting life.

22. What do some critics say, but what illustration shows them wrong?

²² When Jehovah pronounced his earthly creation, including man, “very good” it meant perfect: “His work is perfect.” (Deut. 32:4) Yet some say, If Adam and Eve had been perfect they would not have wrongly used their freedom of will and choice. But not necessarily so. A machine may be well designed, of flawless materials, of excellent workmanship, and accompanied by clear instructions as to the kind of fuel that will suitably run it, and warnings against using inferior fuels. Now, if the wrong fuel is deliberately used in defiance of the manufacturer’s careful instructions and the machine is fouled up and ruined, can the maker be blamed for producing an inferior machine? Not rightly so. It was the same with Adam and Eve. Their minds were perfect. Their bodies were perfect. Their provided food for mind and body was perfect. They were clearly and perfectly instructed as to what fuel to take in and what to reject. Then Satan through the serpent suggested a change in fuel, saying it would give them more power, give them a lift, make them like gods. So Eve took in the wrong fuel and got fouled up. She gave some to Adam and he was fouled up. Both were beyond repair; they were deliberate in their disobedience to instructions. Of them it is true: “God made mankind right, but they have sought out many villainies!” —Gen. 2:16, 17; 3:1-6; Eccl. 7:29, Fenton.

23. What was the test in Eden to measure or demonstrate?

²³ If Adam and Eve could not have used their free moral agency wrongly, it would not have been really free. God put them to a simple test to see how they would use it, to determine their holiness. It was a question of holiness, not of physical perfection. God knew they were perfect, and if that meant inability to fall away he would never have posed the test, knowing that due to their perfection they could not fail. The covering cherub was perfect until iniquity was found in him. (Ezek. 28:15) His perfection did not prevent his fall. His lack of holiness brought on his fall. Today some men choose to do right and serve God in holiness, but that does not make them perfect. Conversely, Adam and Eve chose to do wrong and be unholy, but that did not mean they were imperfect to begin with. It just means men are free moral agents, able to choose for themselves, and their right use of this ability is not a matter of perfection but of holiness. So the test in Eden was not to measure perfection or imperfection, but was to demonstrate holiness or unholiness.

24. How must Jehovah’s people now demonstrate holiness?

²⁴ In these closing days of wickedness Jehovah’s people must demonstrate holiness. They must not foul their minds with the filthy mental food on the propaganda tables of this old world, but must feed on the feast of fat things Jehovah provides. (Isa. 25:6; 28:8) Minds must be cleansed and made over, mental circuits formed by old-world thinking and acting faded out and new ones put in according to new-world specifications. By privately studying regularly, by attending all meetings regularly, and by engaging in all features of the preaching work regularly mental circuits are deepened and such good activities become habitual, not at all the struggle they are when the mental circuits are weak and faint because used only occasionally. For ourselves and for others, make them strong!—1 Tim. 4:16.

25. What are the varying effects of the message when preached in the territories, and why is clay a fitting symbol for people?

²⁵ The others for whose sake we must diligently preach are those out in the territories. When the message reaches them, how will they react? Will their mind, like pliable clay, be impressed with the truth, allow itself to be reshaped by it, brought into conformity with righteous Bible principles, be molded into ways of holiness to Jehovah? Or will the message come up against a mind that resists it, hardens against it, opposes it, ridicules and scoffs at it in a vain display of worldly superiority? Clay is a good symbol, for to shape into fine vessels it must be the right kind of clay, ground fine with no coarseness or hard lumps remaining, saturated with water, easily molded, able to hold its form and not sag out of shape, and not crack when burnt in the kiln. Similarly, persons must be of the right kind of soil, not rough or coarse in conduct nor with hard or stubborn streaks in them, but be saturated with the water of truth, fine-textured, smooth, pliable, meek, easily shaped to allow for thorough remodeling after the image of Christ, and then never drift back or collapse to the former shape or crack under the fiery tests of persecution sure to come. (Matt. 13:23; Heb. 10:39; 1 Pet. 2:21; 4:12) Jehovah, through his Word declared by his witnesses, will mold both vessels of wrath and vessels for glory. When a witness tells one householder there is no eternal torment the person may respond, “You make me so happy!” The next householder may cry, “You make me so mad!” It is the message that really makes them react, one so differently from the other. It is the message that makes the witnesses a sweet odor to one and a foul odor to the other, that molds one as a vessel of wrath and the other as a vessel of mercy.—2 Cor. 2:14-16, NW.

26. Of what may we be sure, and what question faces each individual?

²⁶ Of this all may be sure. We will allow God to either reshape us or make us shapeless. We will become vessels of mercy and conform to the molding influences of his Word, or we will harden as vessels of wrath and be reduced to formless rubble by his King’s iron rod. (Ps. 2:6-9) The question before each individual is, Do we choose to remain a vessel of wrath, or to reform as a vessel of mercy? We are free moral agents empowered to answer as we choose, unhindered by predestination, uncoerced by foreknowledge.

[Footnotes]

Questions From Readers

● What is the correct understanding of Exodus 4:24-26? Also, Exodus 4:20 reads as though Moses had returned to Egypt, but the next verse speaks of that return as still future. Why?—J. K., Japan.

At Exodus 4:20 it states: “Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt.” Ex 4 Verse 21 continues: “And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt”; which contradicts the thought that he had already returned. The difficulty is in the translating of Ex 4 verse 20. It reads as though the return was complete, whereas actually the Hebrew verb form indicates the return was under way but not completed. Other translations allow for this view. “Moses taketh his wife, and his sons, and causeth them to ride on the ass, and turneth back to the land of Egypt.” (Yg) “So Moses took his wife and sons, and mounted them on an ass, to return to the land of Egypt.” (AT) Hence it is perfectly logical for Ex 4 verse 21 to speak of the return as future, since it was not accomplished as yet.

Exodus 4:24-26 (AS) recounts an incident taking place during this return journey: “And it came to pass on the way at the lodging-place, that Jehovah met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me. So he let him alone. Then she said, A bridegroom of blood art thou, because of the circumcision.” It seems that Moses had been delinquent in some respect. For one thing, he had not circumcised his son, and thus had failed to live up to God’s covenant of circumcision made with his forefather Abraham. (Gen. 17:9-14) Jehovah, through his representative angel, met Moses along the way and was going to execute the uncircumcised child. Moses’ wife, Zipporah, realized what was necessary to right matters. She took a sharp stone, a customary instrument in those days, and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it, not at the feet of Moses, but at the feet of the angel representing Jehovah. Meeting this requirement appeased the anger of Jehovah and the child was spared.

Then Zipporah said to Jehovah, through the representative angel, “Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me.” By her compliance with the requirements of the covenant of circumcision, Zipporah acknowledged and entered a covenant relationship with Jehovah, and Jehovah became as a husband to her and she as a wife to him. That such a covenant relationship with Jehovah can make him as a husband married to the other party of the covenant is shown by the Law covenant made with Israel. Because of this covenant Jehovah says concerning the Israelites: “I was an husband unto them.” (Jer. 31:32) So by this rite of circumcision Zipporah said to Jehovah’s representative angel, “A bridegroom of blood art thou.” Or, according to the King James Version: “Surely a bloody husband art thou to me”; “a bloody husband thou art.” So through Zipporah’s quick action “he let him alone” (AS); that is, Jehovah’s angel let the child alone, not slaying him as he otherwise would have. (Gen. 17:14) But Jewish tradition makes Moses the one whose life was threatened for his remissness. Moses was responsible for the treatment of his son.—See The Watchtower, Nov. 15, 1944, page 347, ¶38.

Announcements

SHARING IN THE PROSPERITY OF GOD’S PEOPLE

In all the world today there is no sure and lasting prosperity among the nations. In sharp contrast with this condition, the organization of Jehovah God abounds in the prosperity that really counts, rich spiritual prosperity that brings salvation. No wonder the psalmist prayed to God for the opportunity of enjoying this prosperity with Jehovah’s chosen people. (Ps. 106:4, 5, AS) There are many persons of good will who will desire to share in the great spiritual prosperity of God’s people once they learn of it. To this end Jehovah’s servants will go forth in June with an offer of three bound books on a contribution of $1.50. Three booklets will be given free with each set of three books. Where there is opportunity to do so, go into isolated territory and visit people who do not regularly have opportunity to hear the good news. Take a good supply of tracts with you and use them during June in all your preaching activity.

THREE VALUABLE BOOKS

It is only natural to conclude that any books having reached a distribution of more than 16,000,000 (sixteen million) copies over a short period of just a few years must be books of interest to the general reading public. That is why we urge all readers of the The Watchtower to send for “Let God Be True”, “This Means Everlasting Life” and What Has Religion Done for Mankind? These three books, each of more than 300 pages, have a combined distribution of more than sixteen million copies, and the end is not in sight yet! They contain a wealth of information on the basic doctrines of the Bible, presenting scriptures to support the conclusions drawn. The history of both true and false religion comes in for detailed treatment. With attractive covers of brown, red and yellow, respectively, the three books are complete with scripture indexes, and two have subject indexes. Write today for these three books, asking for them by name and enclosing a remittance of $1.50 to cover costs.

BROOKLYN BETHEL VACATION

The Society’s offices, factory and Bethel home in Brooklyn, New York, will be closed from July 31 to August 10 for the annual vacation. The Bethel family will also be occupied with convention matters from July 19 to 26, although the home and factory will be open for four days following the convention, July 27 to 30, for inspection by visitors. This means that, in the period from July 19 through August 10, very little mail will be handled and few orders shipped. To avoid delays, anticipate your literature needs now and place your orders immediately.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of July 5: Predestination and Jehovah’s Foreknowledge; also, Foreknowledge Compatible with Free Will, ¶1-6.

Week of July 12: Foreknowledge Compatible with Free Will, ¶7-26.