The Watchtower — June 1, 1959

Intolerance Is a Sign of Weakness

WIDESPREAD, unfortunately, is that moral malady known as intolerance. It is not only widespread but also appears in many guises. Such is fallen human nature that one may be afflicted with it and not be aware of that fact. According to Webster, intolerance is the “refusing to allow others the enjoyment of their opinions, rights or worship.” Synonyms for intolerance are “narrowness, prejudice, dogmatism.”

Obviously, whatever else intolerance may be, it is a refusal to comply with the just, logical, loving “golden rule” that ‘all things that we want men to do to us we must likewise do to them.’ (Matt. 7:12) Of course, it is not intolerance for a government not to tolerate lawlessness and crime. Neither is it intolerance for a religious or fraternal organization to refuse to tolerate among its members opinions or practices contrary to those for which it stands. Membership in such an organization is voluntary, and if one does not agree with its principles and practices he should not want to be a member of it.

Thus also the Bible tells us that God eventually will annihilate all the wicked ones. (Ps. 145:20) He will not tolerate them in his universe, but that does not make God intolerant. Why not? Because God, by virtue of his creating all things, his sovereignty and his perfect attributes of power, wisdom, justice and love, is in position to dictate what is right and best for his universe. Intolerance might therefore be said to be a presumptuous refusal to tolerate the opinions, rights and worship of others.

While intolerance is invariably associated with feelings of superiority, these, more likely than not, are only superficial; underneath lies a feeling of insecurity, of inferiority; in fact, a fear because of weakness. Thus the campaign of anti-Semitism of the Nazis was so successful for the reason that so many German “Aryans” feared the Jews because of their achievements in the fields of finance, science and the arts. The same may even be said of the current world-wide racial intolerance; it is coupled with fear of harm. Not, in this instance, because of achievements but because of the numerical superiority of these other races.

Perhaps nowhere is intolerance more a sign of weakness than in the field of religion. Religious intolerance has been practiced from the days of Cain and Abel down to our day. The scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, present another example. That is why they said among themselves: “You observe you are getting absolutely nowhere. See! the world has gone after him.” Fearing the loss of power, prestige and material gain, they conspired together and caused to be committed the most heinous of all intolerant deeds, the murder of Christ Jesus.—John 12:10, 11, 19.

Constantine, termed by some the first Christian emperor, was one who practiced intolerance in the name of Christianity. Even though at his Council of Nice only one sixth of the bishops of Christendom came and even though after months of debate they could not agree as to whether Arius or Athanasius had the truth, yet Constantine, unbaptized pagan that he was, decreed in favor of the trinity and declared illegal all religious opinions that were not in line with that dogma.

We find the same religious intolerance prevalent today. In the Orient some people rise up in arms because a man dares to eat pork; others, because a man dares to eat beef. For many years many lands in Christendom have had laws on their statute books denying the right to worship publicly to all except those who practice the state religion, which most often is that of the Roman Catholic Church. Why this intolerance when the state religion claims from 90 to 99 percent of the population? Is it not fear because of what may follow if others were allowed to worship publicly? Is that not a sign of weakness?

A recent striking example of such intolerance took place in Peru. A spacious sports stadium had been contracted for for a national assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses, to take place January 8 to 11. But on the first morning a number of policemen entered the stadium bearing a document with a government stamp denying the right to hold this assembly. Why? Because the stadium was not considered a “closed place” or a “temple” in which any religious organization other than the Roman Catholic may hold meetings. As a result their assembly was held in their own two local Kingdom Halls; but in spite of such opposition a total of 1,350 were present on Sunday afternoon to hear the public lecture “God’s Kingdom Rules—Is the World’s End Near?”

Intolerance, however, does not have to be expressed in violence to be such. We may not think of resorting to physical violence, as some religious fanatics at times do, but, unless we are careful, we may get emotional to the extent of losing our temper, shouting or resorting to expressions of malice and ill will, all of which are likewise expressions of intolerance. These also are a sign of weakness; consciously or unconsciously we seek to compensate a lack of facts, logic or Scriptural authority by an overbearing manner.

God’s Word tells Christians how to wage their spiritual warfare and what weapons to use: “The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things. For we are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ.” The chief weapon used to accomplish this result is “the sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word,” which “is sharper than any two-edged sword” of steel. And that sword is wielded, not in anger, not in hate, not ruthlessly, but “with a mild temper and deep respect.” The truth is mighty, impregnable. All those who truly have it can afford to preach it in this manner, knowing that they are on God’s side. He will see to it that the truth prevails.—2 Cor. 10:4, 5; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; 1 Pet. 3:15

“Look! I Am Making All Things New”

1-4. (a) What glorious prospect now confronts all mankind? (b) Why should the facts in proof receive serious consideration?

SEE the happy people shown on this page. Would you not like to be one of them? Why, yes, you say. For here is the peace and harmony desired by all mankind. People of all races—the black, the white, the yellow—are mingling as one family. What joy! What unity! Obviously these people are not worrying about nuclear fallouts, or the threat of hydrogen bombs. Jet warplanes do not shatter the peaceful skies above this lovely park. There are no soldiers, no tanks, no guns. Not even a police baton is needed to keep order. War and crime simply do not exist. And no housing shortages, for everyone has a beautiful home to call his own.

² Just look at those children! Their play is a joy to behold. What animals to play with! No iron bars are needed in this park, for all animals are at peace with mankind and with one another. Even the lion and the lamb have become friends. See those gaily colored birds as they flit hither and thither, and hear their beautiful songs join children’s laughter in filling the air. No cages? No, for all is freedom and unrestricted joy in this domain. Just smell the fragrance of those flowers, hear the rippling of the stream, feel the tingling warmth of the sun. Oh, for a taste of the fruit in that basket, for it is the best that earth can produce, the very best, like everything that is to be seen and enjoyed in this glorious parklike garden.

³ But stop, someone says, where are the old people? Should they not share, too, in enjoying this happy society? Actually the old people are right there, but they are growing young again. In this park no one dies from old age. The young now grow up to mature manhood, and grow no older. Whether twenty years old or two hundred years old, each of the millions of persons living in this park rejoices in the zest of youthful living, in perfect health. Millions, you say? Yes, millions, for this park is being extended to the ends of the earth. In it will be all the glories of nature, from Fujiyama to the Himalayas, from Hong Kong to the Mediterranean, and thousands more. For all earth is being transformed into a paradise park. It will be paradise restored earth-wide.

⁴ Unbelievable, did you say? First, though, consider the facts in proof. It is possible for you and your family to survive the passing of the present troubled world, and to enter the new world represented in the picture on the preceding page.a

THE BOOK THAT EXPLAINS PARADISE

5. (a) What book explains these things? (b) In what ways is this an outstanding book?

⁵ All these glorious things, and the certainty of them, are explained in a book, the most wonderful book ever written. It is called the Bible. It is the oldest book on earth, its origins stretching back nearly 6,000 years. At the same time, it is the most up-to-date book in presenting sound, practical counsel for modern-day living. Its prophecies arouse bright hope for the future. It is the best seller of all history, over 2,000,000,000 copies having been distributed world-wide in more than 1,100 different languages.

6. What distinguishes the Bible from other holy writings?

⁶ No other holy book has had so universal a distribution, nor does any have origins even half as old. The Koran of Mohammedanism is less than 1,400 years old. Buddha and Confucius lived about 2,500 years ago, and their writings date from that time. The Scriptures of Shinto were composed in their present form no more than 1,200 years ago. The Book of Mormon is only 140 years old. None of these holy books can accurately trace human history back through 6,000 years, as does the Bible. To understand original religion, we must therefore go to the Bible. It is the only book with a universal message for all mankind.

7. What do thinking men say of the Bible?

⁷ The wisdom and beauty of the Bible message have been acclaimed by thinking men from all nations and from all walks of life. The famous scientist and discoverer of the law of gravity, Sir Isaac Newton, said: “No sciences are better attested to than the Bible.” Patrick Henry, the American revolutionary leader famous for the words “Give me liberty, or give me death,” also declared: “The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.” Even the great Hindu sage Mahatma Gandhi once told the British viceroy of India: “When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon of the Mount, we shall have solved the problems, not only of our countries but those of the whole world.” Gandhi was speaking of Matthew, chapters 5 to 7, in the Bible. Read these chapters yourself, and see if you do not thrill to their powerful message.

THE BIBLE AN ORIENTAL BOOK

8. (a) What were the origins of the Bible? (b) What kind of book is the Bible? (c) What did its writers say concerning its authorship?

⁸ Contrary to popular belief, the Bible is not a product of, nor does it glorify, the civilization of the West. Almost the entire Bible was written in Oriental countries. The men who wrote it down were all Orientals. The first human writings were made in the Middle East, nearly 6,000 years ago, by the first man, Adam. Nearly 3,500 years before the birth of Buddha, Adam wrote down “a history of the heavens and the earth in the time of their being created” (Gen. 1:1 to 2:4) and “the book of Adam’s history” (Gen. 2:5 to 5:2). The first man knew these things. He had been told them by his Creator, or he himself had experienced them, and so he could record them. However, he proved unfaithful to his Creator. Some 2,500 years later, and still 1,000 years before Buddha, Moses, the man of God, edited Adam’s histories and nine other histories by men of ancient times into one continuous record. This record begins the first book of the Bible, called Genesis. From this beginning, the Bible follows one harmonious theme right through to its final book of Revelation. The last book was written about six hundred years after Buddha. Did you know that the Bible is made up of sixty-six different books? Yes, the Bible is a library in itself! Over a period of 1,600 years, from Moses’ time on, some thirty-five different men shared in writing the completely harmonious record of the Bible. They testify that their writings were inspired by a Power far higher than mortal man.—2 Sam. 23:2; 2 Pet. 1:21; Luke 1:70.

9. (a) How did the Bible come down to our day? (b) What can be said as to the accuracy of modern-day Bibles?

⁹ Most remarkable, too, is the way the Bible has come down to this day. For thousands of years, and until the invention of printing about five hundred years ago, copies of the Bible had to be made by hand. It was copied over and over again, but always with great care. Today, there are still in existence about 16,000 handwritten copies of the Bible, or parts of the Bible, some even surviving from the second century before Christ. No other literary work of ancient times was so diligently copied and recopied. By comparing many handwritten copies, it has been proved that the errors made in recopying were very few, and, further, it has been possible to establish the original text of the Bible. A leading authority on Bible manuscripts, Sir Frederic Kenyon, says: “The last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed.” Moreover, accurate translations have been made into nearly all of earth’s languages, from the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek languages in which the Bible was originally written.

10. How have modern discoveries confirmed the Bible record?

¹⁰ Some have tried to discredit the Bible by saying it is inaccurate. However, in recent years, archaeologists have dug into the ruins of ancient cities in Bible lands and have found inscriptions and other evidence proving conclusively that the persons and places mentioned even in the oldest Bible records actually existed. They have unearthed much evidence proving a global deluge, which the Bible says took place more than 4,000 years ago, in Noah’s day. On this point, Prince Mikasa, who is well-known as a student of and authority on archaeology, states: “Was there really a Flood? As the result of excavations by archaeologists in recent years, the fact that the flood actually took place has been convincingly proved.”b

THE GOD OF THE BIBLE

11. (a) Is there an Almighty God? (b) Does he have a name?

¹¹ Just as some people have scoffed about the Bible, others scoff about there being an Almighty God. (2 Pet. 3:3-5) They say, “How can I believe in God, since I cannot see him? How is it possible to understand an invisible Creator higher than man? Does not God dwell in everything?” Others say, “There is no God or Buddha.” However, the Bible shows that just as all of us receive life through an earthly father, so our original ancestors received life from a heavenly Father or Creator, whose personal name is Jehovah.—Ps. 100:3.

12, 13. What are some outstanding facts about Jehovah God?

¹² Jehovah is the Author of the Bible. He is the Great Spirit, existing through all eternity. (John 4:24; Ps. 90:1, 2) His name Jehovah calls attention to his purpose toward his creatures. It is his purpose to vindicate that great name by destroying the wicked and releasing those who love him for joyous living in his new world. (Ex. 6:2-8; Isa. 35:1, 2) Being the Almighty God, he has the power to do this. As the Creator of all the universe, he is far above ordinary national gods and idols.—Isa. 42:5, 8; Ps. 115:1, 4-8.

¹³ Jehovah has made himself known to mankind through two great books. The greater of these books is the Bible, making known his purposes. (John 17:17; 1 Pet. 1:24, 25) The other book is the record of creation, to be seen and read in all nature.

14. How has the book of nature testified concerning God?

¹⁴ During recent centuries, men of science have given much time to studying the book of nature. What have they concluded? One of the discoverers of electricity, the famous British scientist Lord Kelvin, declared: “I believe the more thoroughly science is studied the further does it take us from anything compared to atheism.” The equally famous European-born scientist Albert Einstein asserted: “It is enough for me to . . . reflect upon the marvelous structure of the universe, which we can dimly perceive, and to try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifest in nature.” American scientist and Nobel Prize winner Arthur Holly Compton has said: “An orderly unfolding universe testifies to the truth of the most majestic statement ever uttered—’In the beginning God’.” He was quoting the opening words of the Bible.

15, 16. (a) How does the universe magnify God’s wisdom? (b) Illustrate the foolishness of saying that God does not exist.

¹⁵ Rulers of mighty nations may boast of their intelligence and scientific accomplishment in throwing Sputnik and its successors into outer space. But how insignificant are their space ships compared with the moon in orbit round the earth, and planets in orbit round the sun! How puny the achievements of these mortal men in comparison with Jehovah’s creation of billions of heavenly galaxies, each containing billions of suns like our own, and his grouping and setting them in space for measureless time! (Ps. 19:1, 2; Job 26:7, 14) It is no wonder that Jehovah regards men as mere grasshoppers, and mighty nations as “less than nothing.”—Isa. 40:13-18, 22, AS.

¹⁶ Do you live in a house? Probably you did not build the house yourself, nor do you know who did. However, the fact that you do not know the builder does not prevent you from accepting the truth that some intelligent person built it. To reason that the house built itself would appear very foolish! Since the great universe, and everything in it, required infinitely greater intelligence for its construction, does it not seem foolish to say there is no intelligent Creator? Truly, only the fool would say in his heart, “There is no Jehovah.”—Ps. 14:1.

17. Show that God is a person, and worthy to be praised.

¹⁷ The glorious wonders of nature, the flowers, the birds, the animals, the marvelous creation called man, the miracles of life and of birth—these all testify to the invisible Master Intellect that produced them. (Rom. 1:20) Where there is intellect, there is mind. Where there is mind, there is a person. The supreme intellect is that of the Supreme Person, the Creator of all things living, the very Fountain of life. (Ps. 36:9) The Creator is indeed worthy of all praise and adoration.—Ps. 104:24; Rev. 4:11.

18. Why does God have no part in the wars of the nations?

¹⁸ There are some whose belief in God was shaken by the hard experiences of World War II. At that time each country called upon its “God,” whether of the Catholic or Protestant religions, or of the Oriental religions. Could it be said that “God” gave victory to some of these nations and allowed others to be defeated? The Bible shows that none of these nations were calling on the true God. Jehovah God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is not responsible for the confusion and wars among the nations. (1 Cor. 14:33) His thoughts are far above those of the political and militaristic nations of this earth. (Isa. 55:8, 9) Likewise the true religion and worship of Jehovah has no part with the wars of the nations. Jehovah is far above militaristic gods, and is unique in being the God of peace-loving men and women in all nations. As the Bible says: “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34, 35) Men of good will in all nations are now learning the Bible, and embracing the worship of the one true God, the Creator of all mankind.—Acts 17:24-27.

19. What proves that Christendom is un-Christian and anti-God?

¹⁹ Some people point to the divisions in Christendom, which claims to follow the Bible. They also say, “How can I believe the God of the Bible, when the nations that have the Bible are busy testing atom and hydrogen bombs?” The fact is that, while the Bible remains always true, the nations of Christendom have become as far removed from Bible Christianity as the North Pole is removed from the South. They are hypocritical in professing Christianity. They have the Bible, but they do not obey its teachings. The American president who ordered the first atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima once exclaimed, “Oh for an Isaiah or a St. Paul!”—to guide men in this world crisis. Had he believed Isaiah of the Bible, he would never have dropped an atom bomb, for Isaiah advocated ‘beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning shears.’ Moreover, it was Paul of the Bible who declared: “We do not wage warfare according to what we are in the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly.” (Isa. 2:4; 2 Cor. 10:3, 4) However, instead of following the wise counsel of the Bible, the nations of Christendom have become involved in a great armaments race. Their claims to being Bible-obeying Christians are false. They face God’s judgment for failing to do his will.—Matt. 7:18-23.

JEHOVAH’S MIRACLES AND CREATIONS

20. Why is it reasonable to believe God’s miracles?

²⁰ Jehovah creates, and he performs miracles. Have you ever wondered about the turning of water into blood, the parting of the Red Sea, the virgin birth of Jesus, and other miracles in the Bible? Since man is of limited intellectual power, probably he will never understand how some of these miracles happened, the same as he cannot fully understand the miracle of the sun in rising and setting each day. The creation of man was a miracle. Modern man did not see that miracle, but he knows it happened, for he is alive today to prove it. Indeed, all life and all the universe is one perpetual miracle. So are we to doubt when God’s Word, the Bible, says that he performed specific miracles for specific times, even though there is no need for the same miracles today?

21. Describe God’s most marvelous creation.

²¹ All of Jehovah’s creation is miraculous and wonderful! However, of Jehovah’s marvelous creations, his very first creation was the most marvelous of all. This was the creation of a spirit Son. Concerning this Son, the Bible says: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible . . . All other things have been created through him and for him.” (Col. 1:15, 16; John 1:3) This heavenly Son was named “the Word.” Countless ages after his creation, he came to this earth, and was called the “man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 2:5) Then it was said of him: “So the Word became flesh and resided among us, and we had a view of his glory, a glory such as belongs to an only-begotten son from a father, and he was full of undeserved kindness and truth.”—John 1:14.

22. (a) How may the relationship between God and his Son be explained? (b) What proves that God created other spirit sons?

²² The relationship of the Father and Son may be compared to a business where there is a president and under him an executive who carries out the wishes of the president. The Son is represented in Proverbs 8:22, 30 as saying: “Jehovah himself produced me as the beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of long ago. Then I came to be beside him as a master worker.” Through this executive Son, Jehovah created many other spirit creatures, sons of God. Later, these rejoiced to see Jehovah’s master worker bring forth the material heavens and the earth on which we live. Do you doubt that these things were created? Jehovah asked of ancient Job: “Where did you happen to be when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you do know understanding. When the morning stars joyfully cried out together, and all the sons of God began shouting in applause?”—Job 38:4, 7.

23. What earthly creation of Jehovah is outstanding, and in what respects?

²³ In course of time, Jehovah created living, material things on this earth, the plants, the trees, the flowers, the fish, the birds and the animals. (Gen. 1:11-13, 20-25) Then God said to his master worker: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness . . . And God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:26, 27) Being created in the image and likeness of God, with God’s great attributes of love, wisdom, justice and power, the original man was much superior to the animals. Man is in a class apart from the animals in that he is able to reason, to plan for the future, and he has the capacity to worship God. Animals do not have intellect to reason with, but they live by instinct. How foolish to say that there is no Creator but that the richly endowed, intelligent creature man evolved upward from unintelligent lower animals!—Ps. 92:6, 7; 139:14.

24, 25. (a) What grand prospect was placed before man? (b) Why would there be no problem of overpopulating the earth?

²⁴ As God and his Son are both workers, so too God gave man work to do here on earth. (John 5:17) To Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, he said: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is creeping upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:28) Did this mean that man was to multiply, fill the earth, and then keep on multiplying until the earth was full to overflowing? No. When someone tells you to fill a cup with tea, you do not keep pouring until the tea overflows all over the table. You fill the cup and then stop. In the same way, Jehovah’s command to man, “Fill the earth,” indicated his purpose to have man comfortably fill the earth, and then reproduction of humankind would stop. This would present no problem in a perfect human society. It is only in today’s world of imperfect mankind that overpopulation presents a problem.

²⁵ God placed man in “a garden in Eden, toward the east.” It was a garden of pleasure, like the one shown at the beginning of this article, though there were only the two humans, Adam and his wife. Though this original paradise no longer exists, having been destroyed in the flood of Noah’s day, its approximate location in the Middle East is known, for some of the rivers named in the Bible as flowing through it exist to this day. (Gen. 2:7-14) Man had the grand opportunity to use this garden as a center from which to spread out and cultivate the entire earth, making it a global paradise.—Isa. 45:12, 18.

REBELLION AND DEATH

26. What questions now arise?

²⁶ If God’s purpose is to build a paradise earth, how is it that the earth today is so filled with wickedness, suffering and sorrow? Does this prove God is not so almighty after all? Is God the source of such misery? Is there hope of an end to such conditions? What does the Bible show?

27. How did rebellion enter the garden of God?

²⁷ The Bible reveals that when Jehovah created man on earth he placed one of his spirit sons, one “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,” in Eden to carry out certain privileges of service. This angel was “in Eden, the garden of God.” However, ‘his heart became lifted up because of his beauty’ and he came to worship himself, instead of Jehovah. (Ezek. 28:12, 14, 15, 17, AS) He formed the determination to turn the worship of the first man and woman away from their Creator, Jehovah, and to himself. Through a serpent, this angel lied to Eve, and induced first Eve and then her husband Adam to disobey Almighty God.—Gen. 2:15-17; 3:1-6.

28. Because of disobedience, what resulted to man?

²⁸ God had stated the penalty for disobedience—death. In now passing sentence upon the first woman, Jehovah said: “I shall greatly increase the pain of your pregnancy; in birth pangs you will bring forth children, and your longing will be for your husband, and he will dominate you.” To the man Adam he said: “In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Gen. 3:16-19) The disobedient couple were expelled from the paradise of happiness into the uncultivated earth. In course of time they died.—Gen. 5:5.

29. Who remains as the invisible ruler of mankind, and how does this world reflect his personality?

²⁹ The angel that deceived man came to be known as the Serpent. (2 Cor. 11:3) He is also called Satan, meaning “opposer,” and Devil, meaning “slanderer.” He, too, has been placed under sentence of death. (Gen. 3:15; Heb. 2:14) However, Jehovah has permitted him, for a season, to continue his domination over the nations and religions of fallen mankind. Do you not agree that Satan’s attributes of selfishness, lovelessness and injustice are to be seen everywhere in the world today? Truly, the present world reflects the badness of its invisible ruler. That is why the Bible says: “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”—1 John 5:19.

30. What is “sin,” and what is its result to mankind?

³⁰ It was only after they had fallen from the mark of perfection that Adam and Eve began to produce children. All men today are their descendants in imperfection, and hence all die. One Bible writer explains it in these words: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) What is this “sin”? It is a falling short of the mark of perfection or completeness. Jehovah God does not approve of, or keep alive, anything that is imperfect. Since all men have inherited sin and imperfection from the first man, Adam, all are subject to death. Fallen man dies, just like the animals.—Eccl. 3:19-21.

31. What is the “death” that mankind inherited from Adam?

³¹ What is this “death”? Death is the opposite of life. God had held before man the prospect of endless life on earth if he obeyed. However, he disobeyed, and the penalty was death, unconsciousness, nonexistence. (Ps. 146:4) God had said nothing about transferring man’s life to a spirit realm or to a fiery “hell” if he disobeyed or died. He had warned man: “You will positively die.” It was the manslaying Devil who had lied in saying: “You positively will not die.” (Gen. 2:17; 3:4; John 8:44) What all men have inherited from Adam is dustlike death.—Eccl. 9:5, 10; Ps. 115:17.

32. What glorious future awaits mankind and this earth?

³² Is there, then, no future for man who dies? There is a wonderful future! The Bible shows that God’s purpose of a paradise earth for all mankind, including those now dead, will never fail. Says Jehovah: “The heavens are my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” “I shall glorify the very place of my feet.” (Isa. 66:1; 60:13) Out of the abundance of his love, Jehovah sent his Son, the Word, to this earth, that the world of mankind might gain life through him. (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9) There are three important things that we must now discuss, and which Jehovah accomplishes through His Son, namely, (1) Providing a release from the power of death; (2) Restoring the dead to life; (3) Establishing a perfect government over all mankind.

RELEASE FROM DEATH

33, 34. (a) How only could man be redeemed from death? (b) Illustrate.

³³ From ancient times, God’s prophets have expressed their confidence, not in man’s immortality, but in the hope that God would “redeem them from death.” (Hos. 13:14, AS) But how could man be released from the bonds of death? Jehovah’s perfect justice required ‘soul for soul, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ (Deut. 19:21) Hence, since Adam brought inherited death to all mankind by willfully throwing away his own perfect life, another perfect human must substitute for Adam in paying over his perfect life, to buy back what Adam had lost.

³⁴ Let us illustrate this by a pawnshop. Since most people like to keep away from pawnshops, it may be fitting to describe man’s present condition in this way. If someone leaves a watch at the pawnshop, the only way to get that watch out of the pawnshop again is by paying over the money value of the watch. Thus it is possible to free the watch. Today, mankind, like that watch, is tied up to pawnshop-like slavery to imperfection, leading to death, just as a watch might in time deteriorate and become useless in the pawnshop. Like the watch, mankind cannot buy itself out of this miserable state. However, someone from the outside can pay over the price of release of mankind, just as with the watch. It was the forfeit of Adam’s perfect human life that brought man into slavery to death. Hence another perfect human life must be paid over to release man from the power of death.

35. How did Jehovah answer the need for a perfect human life as ransom?

³⁵ However, where could such a perfect human life be found? All men, as descendants of the imperfect Adam, have been born imperfect. “Not one of them can by any means redeem even a brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Ps. 49:7) In answering the need, Jehovah performed one of his greatest miracles. He transferred the perfect life of his spirit Son, the Word, to the womb of a Jewish virgin, Mary. The young woman conceived, and in due course brought to birth a son, who was named “Jesus,” meaning “Jehovah is salvation.” (Matt. 1:18-25) Do you doubt this virgin birth, simply because such an event has taken place only once in history? In God’s grand purpose, it was sufficient to perform such a miracle only once.

36. How did Jesus show his friendship for all men who desire life?

³⁶ Jesus grew to manhood, dedicated himself to Jehovah and was baptized. Jehovah then commissioned him to do His divine will. (Matt. 3:13, 16, 17) Jesus’ earthly life having come from heaven, and being perfect, he could sacrifice that perfect human life, using it to release all mankind from death. (Rom. 6:23; 5:18, 19) As he himself said: “I have come that they might have life and might have it in abundance.” “No one has love greater than this, that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends.” (John 10:10; 15:13) In submitting to death on a torture stake, Jesus showed his great friendship for all mankind who desire to gain life in abundance through his ransom provision.—Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6.

RESTORATION TO LIFE

37. How was the Son of God restored to life, and what proves this?

³⁷ Even though his enemies killed him, the Son of God never lost his right to perfect human life, for he had kept integrity to God. However, being dead in the grave, how could Jesus use this valuable thing, the right to human life, on behalf of humankind? It was here that Jehovah performed another miracle, the first of its kind. On the third day of Jesus’ being in the grave, Jehovah raised him up out of death, this time as a spirit creature, immortal. (Rom. 6:9; 1 Pet. 3:18) In order to establish belief in the resurrection, Jesus materialized human bodies and appeared on different occasions to five hundred and more of his disciples. None of these, nor the apostle Paul who was later blinded by an appearance of the glorified Jesus, had any reason to doubt the miracle of his resurrection.—1 Cor. 15:3-8; Acts 9:1-9.

38. (a) How does Jesus use the value of his sacrifice and first on behalf of whom? (b) What other great miracle did Jesus speak of?

³⁸ After forty days the resurrected Jesus ascended into God’s own presence in the heavens, there to present the value of his perfect human sacrifice as a release for all mankind. “But this man offered one sacrifice for sins perpetually and sat down at the right hand of God, from then on awaiting until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet.” (Heb. 10:12, 13) The first ones to be released through this ransom are a “little flock” of faithful Christians “who belong to the Christ.” (Luke 12:32; 1 Cor. 15:22, 23) These are “purchased from among mankind,” and hence in the resurrection they become spirit associates of Christ in the heavens. (Rev. 14:1-5) However, what of the great masses of mankind who now lie dead in their graves? When he was on this earth, Jesus spoke of another great miracle to be performed at the time he restores the paradise earth. He said: “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.”—John 5:28, 29.

39, 40. Explain exactly what is meant by “resurrection.”

³⁹ Note Jesus’ words, “Do not marvel at this.” Even so, how can one long dead be released from death, and brought back to life? Has not his body returned to the dust? Some of the particles that made up that body may even have been assimilated into other living things, such as plants and animals. However, resurrection does not mean bringing the same chemical elements together again. It means that God recreates the same person, with the same personality. He brings a new body forth from the earthly elements, and in that body he places the same characteristics, the same distinctive qualities, the same memory, the same life pattern that the person had built up until the time of his death.

⁴⁰ It may have been your experience in wartime that your house that you loved very much was burned down. However, you could easily have the same house rebuilt, for the pattern of all its beloved details is very clear in your memory. Surely, then, God who is the originator of memory can re-create men whom he has kept in his memory because he loved them. (Isa. 64:8) This is why the Bible uses the expression “memorial tombs.” When it comes God’s due time to bring the dead to life again, he will perform that miracle, just as he performed a miracle in creating the first man, only this time he will perform it many times over.—Gen. 2:7; Acts 24:15.

41. Why is everlasting life on earth reasonable and certain?

⁴¹ God will bring mankind back to life, with the prospect of never again dying off the earth. But how is everlasting life on earth possible? It is possible and certain because it is the divine will and purpose. (John 6:37-40; Matt. 6:10) The only reason that man dies off the earth today is that he inherited death from Adam. However, when we consider the infinite variety of wonderful things on earth that man was intended to enjoy, a brief life span of less than a hundred years is all too short! In giving this earth to the children of men, God purposed that man should keep on living to enjoy the splendors of His creation, not just for a hundred years, or even a thousand years, but forever!—Ps. 115:16; 133:3.

THE PERFECT GOVERNMENT OF PEACE

42. Why is there need for a perfect government, and what does Jehovah purpose in this regard?

⁴² From the time that man lost the first paradise till now, human government has remained under the control of Satan, “the god of this system of things.” (2 Cor. 4:4) The wars, the cruelties, the corruption and the instability of man’s governments prove this fact. The League of Nations and the United Nations have failed to bring peace out of the confusion. Mankind cries out for a government of peace. Is it not reasonable that the Creator, who purposes to restore paradise to this earth, would also provide a perfect government for that paradise? That is exactly what Jehovah has purposed to do. The king representing him in this government is his “Prince of Peace,” Christ Jesus, and “to the abundance of the princely rule and to peace there will be no end.”—Isa. 9:6, 7.

43. (a) What capital will this government have? (b) What will be the structure of the government in heaven and on earth?

⁴³ What will be the structure of that government? Will it be a democracy or a dictatorship? Will its ruling authority be situated in Washington or Moscow or Tokyo or any of the other great capitals of the present day? The Bible shows that the perfect government will be far superior to any present form of human government. It has a capital in the heavens, called Zion, and from this vantage point, the King Jesus Christ will effectively administer all the earth in righteousness. (Ps. 48:1, 2; Zech. 9:9, 10, AS) Moreover, he will have associate rulers in that invisible, heavenly government. These are chosen from among faithful humans, followers of Jesus who stuck with him through trials, and to whom he says: “I make a covenant with you, just as my Father has made a covenant with me, for a kingdom.” (Luke 22:28, 29) It is only a few from humankind who are taken to heaven to rule with Christ Jesus. It is similar to the nations today, where only a few are chosen to rule in the diet or parliament. The Bible shows that Christ Jesus will have just 144,000 associate rulers in his capital, Zion. (Rev. 14:1, 3) But will there be no visible administrators on this earth? To be sure, there will be. Psalm 45:16 speaks of some of these, ancient men of faith who will be resurrected, and whom the King will “appoint as princes in all the earth.” And there will be other earthly administrators, none of them power-grabbing politicians, but all of them appointed by the King because of their devotion to principles of righteousness.—Isa. 32:1.

44, 45. (a) What was the main theme of Jesus’ preaching on earth? (b) Why must the establishment of the perfect government wait? (c) What makes A.D. 1914 an outstanding year in prophecy and in world events?

⁴⁴ When and how is the perfect government established? When Jesus was on earth this kingdom was the main theme of his preaching. (Matt. 4:17; Luke 8:1) However, he did not establish the kingdom at that time, nor at his resurrection. (Acts 1:6-8) Even when he ascended again into the heavens, he must still wait for Jehovah’s appointed time. (Ps. 110:1, 2) Bible prophecy shows that appointed time came in 1914 (A.D.). However, someone will ask, Rather than perfect government, did not 1914 mark the start of world woes? That is exactly the point! There is a close connection between the coming of God’s kingdom and the catastrophic events of recent years, as we shall now see.

⁴⁵ For nearly forty years prior to 1914, The Watchtower (now the most widely distributed religious magazine on earth) had been calling attention to 1914 as a year marked in Bible prophecy. These prophecies began to have a remarkable fulfillment in 1914. One of these was Jesus’ own prophecy, uttered 1,900 years ago, concerning the “sign” that would appear at the end of the world, and which would prove his invisible presence with kingly power. In answer to his disciples’ question about this “sign,” he said: “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress.” (Matt. 24:3, 7, 8) In striking fulfillment, the first of the “world” wars started in 1914, bringing destruction four times greater than all the 900 wars of the preceding 2,500 years! Pangs of distress have continued ever since. Have you experienced the war destruction, food shortages or any of the great earthquakes that have plagued the earth since 1914? If so, you have been an eyewitness of the “sign” of the “time of the end” of this world.

46. How have events fulfilling the “sign” intensified in recent years?

⁴⁶ The “pangs of distress” have heightened through World War II, which was seven times as destructive as even World War I, and on into the nuclear age, fulfilling Jesus’ further prophecy: “On the earth anguish of nations, not knowing the way out . . . , while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth.” (Luke 21:25, 26) The increase in crime and wickedness, the disobedience and delinquency of children, and the growth of godlessness and immorality—these alarming developments were also foretold as marking the “last days” of this evil world.—Matt. 24:12; 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

47. Who is responsible for the woes on earth, and why have they increased since 1914?

⁴⁷ However, if the heavenly government was established in 1914, why is there all this distress on earth? It is Satan the Devil who is responsible. When Christ received Kingdom power, his first act was to wage war on Satan in the invisible heavens. As a result, Satan, “who is misleading the entire inhabited earth,” was hurled with his angels down to the vicinity of the earth. Knowing that his destruction draws near, he stirs up great trouble on earth. It is “woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.”—Rev. 12:7-9, 12.

48. (a) Will God permit selfish men to ruin this earth? (b) How, then, will Jehovah bring an end to the woes and those responsible for them?

⁴⁸ Will there be an end to these woes? Yes!—when heaven’s government itself, the Kingdom of Almighty God, goes into action to “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Rev. 11:18; Dan. 2:44) Never will God permit Communists, false Christians or anyone else to ruin his handiwork the earth with their nuclear devices. Rather, he declares: “My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger.” (Zeph. 3:8, AS) Jehovah, through his Christ, will use great forces that he controls in nature in bringing overwhelming destruction to Satan and all who follow him on earth. It will be on a global scale, similar in magnitude to the flood of Noah’s day.—Jer. 25:31-34; 2 Pet. 3:5-7, 10.

49. (a) What is “Armageddon”? (b) Who only may survive Armageddon?

⁴⁹ In the Bible this destruction of wicked nations is called God’s battle of Armageddon. (Rev. 16:14-16) Only meek persons, who seek Jehovah and righteousness, may survive Armageddon into God’s peaceful new world. (Zeph. 2:3, AS; Isa. 26:20, 21) Concerning these the Bible says: “But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” (Ps. 37:11) The grand work of restoring paradise to the earth will then commence!

EDUCATION FOR ENTERING PARADISE

50. Why is this a most critical time, and hence what grand work is now being accomplished?

⁵⁰ Mankind is now passing through the most critical time in all history. Speaking of today’s troubled world and the “sign” of its approaching destruction, Jesus said: “Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.” (Matt. 24:34) It is the generation of people now living who have the opportunity of learning the Bible and surviving the world’s end. Jesus further prophesied concerning this day: “And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.” (Matt. 24:14) The society known as Jehovah’s witnesses is vigorously doing this preaching work, with an ever-increasing band of 800,000 ministers active in 175 lands.—Isa. 43:10-12.

51. What steps should men of good will now take with regard to religion, and why?

⁵¹ Do you hear this witness? Do you realize its urgency? Do you want to survive out of this old world of confusion and sorrow into God’s new world of peace and joy? Then you must act, and act immediately! You must study to find the true religion. It is no longer safe to regard religion as a kind of furniture, something that has always been in the house but is necessary in your life only as it performs some social function. Nor can you afford to think that all religions are good and that all have the same goal. Many religions are selfish, and modern religion has failed to teach the hope of God’s new world, with its paradise earth. You must learn the Bible religion! Just as a proper secular education is necessary to fit a person for a place in everyday society, so a proper Bible education is necessary to equip one for entering the society that will survive to live in the paradise earth. (John 17:3; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17) Your safety and the whole future of yourself and your family depend on now studying the Bible, associating with the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses, dedicating yourself to your Creator, Jehovah God, and witnessing for him. Do not let the pursuit of material things or the cares of life rob you of this wonderful opportunity of life. Said Jesus: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things [the material necessities] will be added to you.”—Matt. 6:33.

52, 53. In what respect is the New World society different from other societies, and how has this been proved?

⁵² As you associate with Jehovah’s witnesses and God’s New World society, you will find it far different from any other society on earth. All in this society take to heart the first great command of the Bible: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” (Matt. 22:37) What overflowing love they have for their Creator, who gave them life, and who has also opened up the way to life in His new world, which includes the paradise earth! Moreover, they have great love for one another. (Matt. 22:39) This love and the practicability of uniting all mankind in love have been clearly demonstrated in their international assemblies. For example, over the eight days, July 27 to August 3, 1958, Jehovah’s witnesses met in the Divine Will International Assembly in New York city. It was then that two great stadiums, Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds, presented the spectacle of crowds totaling between 180,291 on the opening day and 253,922 on the final day, meeting in grand harmony to receive further education in the Bible. From 123 different lands they assembled, all brothers, united in bonds of true Christian love! So impressive was this display of harmony, that a New York Times report on the assembly was even incorporated in the U.S. Congressional Record, 1958, appendix, page A6907, from which portions are here quoted:

⁵³ “WITNESSES STYLED CITY’S BEST GUESTS—180,000 AT WORLD ASSEMBLY WIN PRAISE FOR COURTESY, QUIETUDE, AND NEATNESS . . . New Yorkers are unanimous in agreeing that the Witnesses’ conduct has been exemplary. . . . Their cleanliness is now almost legendary. . . . Courtesy has been their watchword. . . . Executive vice president of the New York Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, called the Witnesses ‘an asset to the community.’ He described their behavior as ‘out of this world.’”

54. (a) Why do Jehovah’s witnesses separate from this world? (b) What happy prospect is in store for them?

⁵⁴ Yes, “out of this world,” for these witnesses of Jehovah, gathered from ‘all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues,’ have separated from the world that is passing away. (Rev. 7:9; 1 John 2:15-17) Their hopes and affections are set on the glorious new world that Jehovah purposes to create. (Isa. 65:17, 18) They are convinced of God’s promises, and those who expect to live on this earth hope also to survive the end of this world, and to live on into the new world without ever dying. (Heb. 11:1, 6; John 11:26) Through the application of Christ’s sacrifice, they, together with the resurrected dead, will be renewed to human perfection. (Job 33:24, 25) Oh, happy, happy prospect!

55. (a) What intimate relationship will there be between Jehovah and his worshipers on earth? (b) What are some of the blessings in store?

⁵⁵ Continue, then, to study, and to grow in love and appreciation of Jehovah God, and His Son, and the heavenly government of righteousness. In describing the New World government and the blessings it will shower on mankind, the Bible prophecy says: “Look! the tent of God is with humankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them.” “God himself,” who is so far from the selfish, nuclear-crazed nations of this day, will be very close as a kind Father to all those who love and worship him in that new world. Indeed, there will be only the one religion, the true worship of Jehovah God, in the intimate relationship of children to Father. What a loving Father will he show himself to be! “And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more. The former things have passed away.”—Rev. 21:3, 4.

56. How can we be absolutely certain that Jehovah will “make all things new”?

⁵⁶ Thus the great miracle of establishing a paradise earth under a perfect heavenly government will be accomplished. It is as certain as that the sun will rise and set tomorrow. For the promises of Jehovah God, Creator of heaven and earth, are ever “trustworthy and true.” He it is who declares from his throne in heaven: “Look! I am making all things new.”—Rev. 21:5.

[Footnotes]

The Olive Tree—Literal and Spiritual

OF ALL the trees mentioned in the Bible the olive tree may be said to be of the greatest interest. The first reference to it is when Noah identified the leaf brought back by one of his doves as that of the olive tree.—Gen. 2:9; 8:11.

The leaves of the olive tree come in pairs and have a hoary or grayish-green appearance. At blossomtime an olive tree is weighed down with millions of blossoms, although less than 1 percent of these eventually bear fruit.

The olive tree is unique in its being both a leaf-bearing tree and an evergreen. It often reaches “an enormous age,” some trees living on century after century. An olive tree has “almost inexhaustible powers of regeneration, new trunks rising from the roots when the old ones have perished.”—McClintock & Strong’s Cyclopædia.

Of particular interest is the olive tree’s uniqueness as regards grafting. Branches of a wild olive tree when grafted on a cultivated olive tree produce excellent fruit. With other trees just the opposite is true, wild branches grafted on a cultivated tree produce only wild fruit.—Schaaf-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.

In Palestine the evergreen olive tree was much appreciated for its shade and was among the trees whose branches were used to make booths during the festival of booths. Its fruit, the olive berry, was eaten or was pressed for its oil. Its oil was a basic food in Bible times, the widow of Zarephath subsisting on flour and oil. (1 Ki. 17:8-16) The oil also served as a medicament, as noted by both David and Jesus. (Ps. 23:5; Luke 10:34) The lamps in the holy place of the tabernacle and the temple were fueled with olive oil. (Ex. 27:20) It was also one of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil.—Ex. 30:24.

David, after telling of the end of the wicked, exults: “But I shall be like a luxuriant olive tree in God’s house; I do trust in the loving-kindness of God to time indefinite, even forever.” An unknown psalmist promises “everyone fearing Jehovah” that “your sons will be like slips of olive trees all around your table.” The prophet Hosea used a like figure to foretell spiritual Israel’s prosperity: “His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree.” And at both Zechariah 4:3, 11-14 and Revelation 11:4 the anointed footstep followers of Christ that bear witness in all the earth are likened to two olive trees.—Ps. 52:8; 128:1-3; Hos. 14:6, AS.

The anointing oil used to anoint the kings and high priests of Israel, and which had a number of ingredients with olive oil as the base, pictures God’s holy spirit or active force with which Jesus Christ and the members of his body are anointed. We also repeatedly read of the ‘oil of joy or gladness.’—Isa. 61:3; Heb. 1:9; Acts 2:33; 10:38.

Perhaps the most familiar use of the olive tree as a symbol is that by Paul at Romans 11:17-24. It gains added force and meaning in view of the foregoing. Thus Jehovah God, the “olive’s root of fatness,” certainly is of “enormous age” and has ‘inexhaustible regenerative powers.’ Jesus Christ as a trunk of that Tree once died, but the Root caused him to come to life again. And as with the literal wild olive tree—in contrast with other fruit trees—the grafting in of the Gentile wild olive branches is not for the purpose of improving the tree but that it might bear fruit acceptable to Jehovah God, which it could not otherwise do.

Analogies might also be drawn between the usefulness of the natural and the spiritual olive tree. As the one provides soothing natural shade, so does the other provide soothing spiritual shade. (Isa. 32:2) As the one made possible natural light, so the other is a spiritual light. (Matt. 5:14) As the one bears natural fruit, the other bears spiritual fruit. (2 Pet. 1:8) And as the one made possible physical healing, so the other makes possible spiritual healing.—Jas. 5:14-16; Rev. 22:2.

Paying Attention to the Flock of God

“PAY attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God.” Never was this counsel more fitting than now, in this “the Lord’s day.”—Acts 20:28; Rev. 1:10.a

Overseers have a great responsibility by reason of their being appointed by the holy spirit. In what way did it appoint them? In that by inspiration it has laid down the requirements for overseers. Also, in that it matures Christians to be qualified to serve as overseers, and, further, in that those making appointments are guided by it.—1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9.

Impressing upon all overseers the importance of paying attention to the flock of God, as well as guiding them in doing so, are the further words of Paul at Acts 20:17-35, as well as those of Peter at 1 Peter 5:1-3. Particularly fitting for all overseers living in our apocalyptic times are the messages recorded by John at Revelation, chapters two and three, in which the overseers are likened to seven angels or messengers and to stars in Christ’s right hand, and the congregations to seven lampstands. If the lampstands are to shed forth their light, the overseers must properly discharge their duties. Incidentally, although John’s messages have direct application to the spirit-begotten and anointed Christians, the principles involved apply to all those of the other sheep.

The conditions in the seven congregations mentioned picture conditions that may obtain in Christian congregations today, and in each instance the overseer has a message to give regarding it. Have some, like those in Ephesus, cooled off? Then let the overseer go out and bring back the straying ones and rekindle their first love. Are some suffering severe opposition and bitter persecution, as those in Smyrna? Then, you overseers, encourage them to faithful endurance with the hope that Jehovah holds out to integrity keepers. Are there some who would bring in Pergamum-like modern phallicism or cause divisions, as did the sect of Nicolaus? If so, the overseers must be alert to combat such tendencies on the part of any. Is there the Thyatira or Jezebel spirit, that of women trying to dominate the congregation, inducing others to sexual immorality or being selfishly ambitious? Then, in the interests of theocratic rule and pure worship, the overseers must strongly warn the sisters against manifesting such tendencies.

Then again, should the overseer find a Sardis-like moribund condition, he must try to bring the spiritually dead ones to life by urging them to personal study, meeting attendance and field ministry. To those faithfully enduring, as did brothers in Philadelphia, let the overseers give encouragement to hold fast, that they lose not their reward. And finally, strong words are directed against those of Laodicea, those spiritually blind, naked, poor and lukewarm. Let the overseers stir up all such to become either refreshingly cold or stimulatingly hot, by renewed zeal, to become rich in right works, to put on their garments of identification by sharing in the ministry and to anoint their eyes with the eyesalve of the truths taught and the mental disposition manifested by Jesus.

How much there is to which the overseers must pay attention! What great responsibility is theirs in these apocalyptic times! Let each one of us co-operate with our overseer both by setting a good example ourselves and by assisting him in his efforts to remedy these conditions.

[Footnotes]

Part 15—“Your Will Be Done on Earth”

About October 1, 2 B.C., the “king for enforcing the supreme will” was born, while the pagan Roman Empire was holding world domination. He was preceded on earth by a forerunner, John the son of priest Zechariah. The angel Gabriel appeared in the temple at Jerusalem and announced to aged Zechariah that he was to be father to this forerunner. During the sixth month of the pregnancy of Zechariah’s aged wife Elizabeth, the angel Gabriel appeared to the virgin Jewess Mary of the ancestral line of King David, at Nazareth. Gabriel told Mary that she had been chosen to become the mother of the everlasting royal Heir of King David. She would conceive the child by the operation of Jehovah’s holy spirit, so that the holy child born would be in reality the Son of God. Submissively Mary agreed to this divine arrangement.

5. What took place when Mary visited and greeted Elizabeth?

MARY immediately conceived God’s Son Jesus, because holy spirit now came upon her and power of the Most High overshadowed her. She hastened to tell her pregnant relative, Elizabeth the wife of priest Zechariah, who Gabriel said was pregnant with John. As soon as Mary greeted her, John in her womb leaped and Elizabeth became “filled with holy spirit.” She said to Mary: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! So how is it that this privilege is mine, to have the mother of my Lord come to me? For, look! as the sound of your greeting fell upon my ears, the infant in my womb leaped with great gladness.”—Luke 1:39-44.

6. What acknowledgment did Elizabeth and unborn John thus make, and how was this in harmony with Psalm 110:1?

⁶ Here Elizabeth under the spirit’s operation acknowledged that Mary’s child was to be her “Lord.” Under impulse of the same holy spirit, Elizabeth’s yet unborn son John likewise acknowledged Mary’s child to be his “Lord.” Centuries previously, King David had made the same acknowledgment, in Psalm 110:1. Mary herself, under inspiration, magnified Jehovah God, the heavenly Father of her unborn son. She stayed with Elizabeth nearly till the birth of John and then returned to Nazareth.—Luke 1:46-56.

7. What prophecy did Zechariah make at his son John’s birth, and how was the carpenter Joseph encouraged to marry the pregnant Mary?

⁷ Elizabeth’s son was now born. Her husband called the boy’s name John and then, filled with holy spirit, he prophesied this about his son John: “But as for you, young child, you will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will pioneer before Jehovah to make his ways ready, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender compassion of our God.” (Luke 1:57-78) In the meantime the carpenter Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant. Thinking that she had committed immorality, he was inclined to cancel the marriage engagement rather than make a public charge of fornication against her and have her stoned to death. But one night a dream came to Joseph, and with it an angel who said that Joseph should marry Mary. Why? “For that which has been begotten in her is by holy spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you must call his name ‘Jesus’, for he will save his people from their sins.” After waking up, Joseph obeyed and took Mary to his home.—Matt. 1:18-25.

8. What happened so that Jesus was not born at Nazareth, and how did shepherds become witnesses of the birth of God’s Son?

⁸ Jesus, the Son of God, was not born there at Nazareth. Before he could be born, Joseph and Mary had to go more than sixty miles to the south to Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David in the province of Judah or Judea. Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire, decreed that all the inhabited earth under the empire should be registered at the place where each one’s family originated. So, about the middle of the Jews’ seventh lunar month called Ethanim, or about our October 1, in the year 2 B.C., Jesus the Son of God was born in Bethlehem. The winter rains had not yet begun and shepherds were still keeping their flocks out nights in the open fields around Bethlehem. There was a miraculous burst of light, in the midst of which an angel appeared and said: “Have no fear, for, look! I am declaring to you good news of a great joy that all the people will have, because there was born to you today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in David’s city. And this is a sign for you: you will find an infant bound in cloth bands and lying in a manger.” Then suddenly the shepherds saw with that angel a “multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: ‘Glory in the heights above to God, and upon earth peace among men of goodwill.’” The shepherds found the newborn babe and became witnesses to the birth of God’s Son. Then they bore witness of this to others, but not to wicked King Herod of Judea.—Luke 2:1-20.

9. Where, however, did Jesus grow up, and what work did John the son of Zechariah undertake, and why?

⁹ After being taken down south to Egypt till after King Herod the Great died, Jesus was brought back north to Nazareth. Here he grew and became a carpenter apprentice to his foster father Joseph. During this time John’s parents died, and according to God’s purposes John took up living in the wilderness of Judea. Here he grew to thirty years of age, living on insect locusts and honey. Then God sent John to begin baptizing and acting as the forerunner of the Son of God, Jesus, the Heir to the kingdom of David. (John 1:33, 34) So in the spring of the year 29 (A.D.), or in the “fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,” the successor of Caesar Augustus,a John began preaching in the wilderness of Judea and baptizing in the river Jordan the Jews who repented of their sins. John’s father, priest Zechariah, had prophesied concerning him: “You will pioneer before Jehovah to make his ways ready, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by forgiveness of their sins.” It was therefore appropriate for John to tell the Jews under the Ten Commandments to repent of their sins and to be baptized in symbol of their repentance.—Matt. 3:1-11; Luke 3:1-6.

10. The announcement of the coming of what did John make, and how did John know and show that he was the forerunner of God’s Son?

¹⁰ John also began announcing the coming of God’s kingdom. Did he say: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of David has drawn near’? Had John preached that message, the Roman emperor and also Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, would have got after John for stirring up insurrection and violating the law of laesa majestas (”injured majesty”). But what did John preach? This: “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” (Matt. 3:1, 2) God had told John that he was the forerunner of the Son of God and that he would have the privilege of identifying the Son of God, if not also baptizing him. John’s father, if not also his mother Elizabeth, had told John what the angel Gabriel had said inside the temple sanctuary, that John was to be a forerunner and, like the prophet Elijah, “get ready for Jehovah a prepared people.” Hence John was expecting Jehovah’s Son to come to him for identification. He told the repentant Jews: “I, on the one hand, baptize you with water because of your repentance; but the one coming after me is stronger than I am, whose sandals I am not fit to take off. That one will baptize you people with holy spirit and with fire.”—Matt. 3:11; Luke 1:17.

11. How did Jesus come to know his true relationship to Joseph and that he was the royal heir of the kingdom covenant with David?

¹¹ Jesus was still carpentering with his mother and his half brothers and half sisters up in Nazareth. But Jesus knew that he was not to keep carpentering always. His mother had told him how he was God’s Son by means of God’s holy spirit that had come upon her for her to conceive him. Joseph his foster father had also told him that he, Joseph, was not Jesus’ father but that he had been begotten in Mary by holy spirit. Mary had also told him that the angel Gabriel had said that Jehovah God would give Jesus the throne of his earthly forefather David and he would be king over the house of Jacob (or Israel) forever and his kingdom would never end. So Jesus knew he was the royal heir of the covenant that Jehovah had made with David for the everlasting kingdom.

12. How did Jesus know when to make his appearance as kingdom heir?

¹² But when was he to enter in upon his kingdom career? He was now in his thirtieth year of human life. He could not start out on his own accord. He had been told that the angel Gabriel said that John the son of priest Zechariah was to be his forerunner. So he must let the forerunner first appear and run on his mission for about six months, announcing the coming one. Then one day the news did come to Jesus at Nazareth that John had begun baptizing repentant Jews and that John was proclaiming: “The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” At that Jesus must have been stirred to the depths of his soul. Ah, now, the time had drawn near for him to appear as kingdom heir!

13. What prophetic week was then to begin, and where did Jesus go, and to have what done to him?

¹³ He was now reaching thirty years of age, the age of a fully mature man The sixty-ninth week of years, foretold by Daniel 9:24-26, was also coming to an end and the seventieth week of years counting from Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem was about to begin. Jesus here realized it was the due time for him to appear as the Messiah, the Christ, about whom the angel had made announcement at his birth in Bethlehem. Jesus laid down his carpenter tools. He left his shop and home. He headed southeast to his forerunner John, who was announcing there at the banks of the Jordan River the approach of the kingdom of the heavens. He would go, not to Jerusalem, the city of the great King Jehovah, not to the temple of Herod to be anointed as king of the Jews by the high priest, Annas. He would go to his forerunner, this priest’s son, not to be anointed with holy anointing oil as king over earthly Israel, but to be baptized in water.—Matt. 3:13; Mark 1:9.

14. Why was John backward about baptizing Jesus in water?

¹⁴ John the Baptist was glad to see Jesus. But why should Jesus ask to be baptized in water? John knew he was baptizing Jews who were sinners and who were repentant over their sins against the law of Jehovah God given to the nation of Israel through Moses. Jesus was no such repentant sinner. John knew that Jesus was holy, for he was God’s Son conceived in Mary by holy spirit. Why, John knew that when he was yet unborn in his mother’s womb he had leaped in her womb in acknowledgment of the then unborn Jesus as his “Lord.” So John tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized, saying: “I am the one needing to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?”

15. How were John’s objections overcome, and after baptizing Jesus what confirmation did John have made to him?

¹⁵ How did Jesus overcome John’s objections? Jesus said: “Let it be this time, for in that way it is suitable for us to carry out all that is righteous.” Submissively John joined in doing what was suitable for them at that time. He baptized Jesus the Heir of the kingdom covenant, Jesus praying during this procedure, not confessing any sins. Then John had the identity of the Son of God confirmed to him, not an identification of him merely in a human sense but one of him in a spiritual sense, in a sense different from his being begotten in a human womb. What happened?

16. How did this confirmation come to John, and how did he know in what way to understand it?

¹⁶ “After being baptized Jesus immediately came up from the water; and, look! the heavens were opened up, and he saw descending like a dove God’s spirit coming upon him. Look! also, there was a voice from the heavens that said: ‘This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.’” (Matt. 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-23) This was the miraculous event that John later told his disciples he had been awaiting: “I viewed the spirit coming down as a dove out of heaven, and it remained upon him. Even I did not know him, but the very One who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘Whoever it is upon whom you see the spirit coming down and remaining, this is the one that baptizes in holy spirit.’ And I have seen it and have borne witness that this one is the Son of God.”—John 1:32-34.

17. (a) To what was Jesus thus begotten, and of what did he become the Heir? (b) In him what was now found in the midst of the Jews?

¹⁷ By this divine act Jesus had been begotten by means of God’s spirit, apart from Mary’s womb, to become a spiritual Son of God, a “new creation” with spirit life in the invisible heavens in view. By this act also he had been anointed, not by Israel’s high priest with a horn of oil, but by Jehovah God and with holy spirit. By his human birth into the family of King David and by being adopted by the carpenter Joseph who was in the royal line, Jesus had become the heir of King David, naturally and legally, according to Jehovah’s covenant for the kingdom. But now by his being begotten from heaven and being declared to be God’s Son and by his being anointed with God’s holy spirit, Jesus became God’s Anointed One or Christ. He became the anointed Heir to a kingdom grander and higher than that of King David’s earthly Israelitish kingdom in the Promised Land of Palestine. Jesus became the Heir of the heavenly Kingdom. Truly in him Messiah, “the anointed one, the prince,” had come in that year of 29 (A.D.), at the end of the sixty-nine weeks of years, in accurately timed fulfillment of Daniel 9:25 (AS). Truly in him as Kingdom Heir the “kingdom of the heavens” had drawn near; in fact, it was in the midst of the Jews.—Luke 17:21.

18, 19. Why did John not baptize Jesus in a symbol of repentance, and why, then, did Jesus come to be baptized in water?

¹⁸ What, then, had the water baptism of Jesus signified? Not that he was a repentant sinner, for he had kept God’s law perfectly. He did this in a way far better than the Jew did who wanted to inherit everlasting life and who told Jesus: “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth on.” (Mark 10:17-20) Recognizing Jesus as the holy human Son of God, John did not baptize Jesus in symbol of Jesus’ repentance over sins. What form of words, if any, John used when submerging Jesus beneath Jordan’s waters the Bible does not tell us. But Jesus knew why he had come to be baptized. It was to do his heavenly Father’s will on earth as well as in heaven.

¹⁹ Paul the apostle explains it, saying concerning his Master Jesus: “It is not possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take sins away. Hence when he comes into the world he says: ‘“You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me. You did not approve of whole burnt-offerings and sin offering.” Then I said, “Look! I am come (in the roll of the book it is written about me) to do your will, O God.”’ After first saying, ‘You did not desire nor did you approve of sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt-offerings and sin offering’—sacrifices which are offered according to the Law—then he actually says, ‘Look! I am come to do your will.’ . . . By the said ‘will’ we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.” (Heb. 10:4-10) The apostle Paul was here applying to Jesus at his baptism prophetic Psalm 40:6-8.

20. What, then, did Jesus there symbolize, and what shows whether, at his baptism, his will died?

²⁰ By Jesus’ water baptism he was symbolizing his dedication of himself, body and all, to do Jehovah’s will in a way more than the law given through Moses demanded. At his water baptism, at his being buried by John under the waters, Jesus symbolically died to his past situation in earthly life. His will did not die, for when he was lifted out of the Jordan he still had his power of will. He said after that: “My food is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” “I seek not my own will but the will of him that sent me.” “I have come down from heaven to do, not my will, but the will of him that sent me. This is the will of him that sent me, that I should lose nothing out of all that he has given me but that I should resurrect it at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son and exercises faith in him should have everlasting life, and I should resurrect him at the last day.” And in prayer to God just before he was betrayed by unfaithful Judas, Jesus said: “My Father, if it is not possible for this to pass away except I drink it, let your will take place.” “Nevertheless, let, not my will, but yours take place.”—John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38-40; Matt. 26:42; Luke 22:42; see also 1 Corinthians 7:37.

21. Why was Jesus not a hypocrite when he taught his disciples to pray: “Let your will come to pass”?

²¹ Till the day that Jesus was actually baptized into literal death by impalement on a torture stake, he continually had to exercise his power of will in harmony with God his Father’s will. (John 21:22) He was not a hypocrite when he taught his disciples to pray to God: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth.”—Matt. 6:9, 10.

(To be continued)

[Footnotes]

“Every Discovery”

In a lecture on “Joseph in Egypt in the Light of the Monuments,” Professor A. S. Yahuda of London said: “In conclusion, let me say this—Every discovery made in Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, has confirmed the Bible, and now at length the linguistic evidence is coming forth to support and complement archaeological evidence. I hope, nay, I am sure, that future archaeological discoveries, excavations, and researches will assist us still further in establishing the accuracy of the Book of books.—Journal of Transactions of the Victoria Institute, Vol. LXV, p. 54

The Resurrection Hope

Even though some in Paul’s day doubted it, and in the time of Augustine it was a most controversial doctrine, and most theologians today ignore it, the Bible glows with the resurrection hope.

GOD’S Word, the Bible, gives abundant basis for the resurrection hope. To begin with, it tells of seven persons having been actually raised from the dead by the power of God: one each by Elijah and Elisha, three by Jesus, and two by God directly, the man whose corpse touched Elisha’s bones and Jesus himself. God’s Word also contains many prophecies of old, such as those recorded by Job, David, Isaiah, Hosea and others, that plainly foretell a resurrection of the dead. And Jesus Christ, the greatest of all prophets, not only repeatedly foretold his own resurrection but stated that “the hour is coming” in which he would call forth all those in the memorial tombs.—John 5:28, 29.

More than that, we find the four Gospel writers all telling of Jesus’ resurrection, giving varied, yet mutually compatible accounts thereof. Jesus’ disciples, though not highly educated, were intelligent and honest. They gave the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection at the very place it occurred and that without delay. Though Jesus had repeatedly foretold it, the actual fact took them by surprise. In preaching it they had nothing to gain from men except persecution and martyrdom. And only Jesus’ resurrection accounts for the fact, as The Encyclopedia Americana expresses it, that his disciples “passed out of a state of gloom and despair into joyous and unflinching boldness.”

With very good reason, therefore, the apostle Peter highlighted Jesus’ resurrection, doing so on the day of Pentecost, and upon his healing a certain cripple, when brought before the rulers (twice) and when witnessing to Cornelius. To Cornelius he said of Jesus: “God raised this One up on the third day and granted him to become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses appointed beforehand by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after his rising from the dead.”—Acts 10:40, 41.

Likewise, only the resurrection of Jesus and his meeting Saul of Tarsus face to face accounts for that highly educated, fanatically persecuting Pharisee’s becoming the Christian Paul. No wonder that the apostle Paul time and time again refers to Jesus’ resurrection and the resurrection hope of Christians, both in his preaching and in his letters. How forcefully and eloquently he argues the fact of the resurrection in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen! How logically he shows that without it Christians would be of all men “most to be pitied”! And how fitting his urging Christians to “become steadfast, unmovable, always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord, knowing that [such] labor is not in vain,” because of that resurrection hope!—1 Cor. 15:19, 58.

WHY A RESURRECTION?

In the beginning there was no need of a resurrection, as God created man to live forever, depending upon his obedience. And when the first human pair disobeyed, no need of a resurrection arose as far as they were concerned, as they had forfeited their right to life. God could have wiped them out immediately, together with the one who induced them to sin, Satan the Devil, but he did not. Why not? Because Satan boasted he could turn all creatures away from God. So God permitted Adam and Eve to live and bear children and Satan to live to try to prove his boast. God was confident that among Adam’s offspring there would be some who would successfully resist the Devil, thereby vindicating God and proving him free from any blame for Adam’s transgression.—Gen. 2:17; 3:19; Job chapters 1 and 2.

But regardless of what any of Adam’s offspring might do, they were under condemnation and dying due to Adam’s transgression. (Rom. 5:12) That deserving ones might get out from under divine condemnation, God provided for his Son to die as a ransom. And to give life to deserving ones who have gone into the grave he provided the resurrection. Yes, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life,” by means of a resurrection. Also, by means of the resurrection Jehovah God will have his original purpose regarding the earth realized, namely, for it to be a paradise filled with a perfect race of human creatures.—John 3:16; Gen. 1:28.

WHO, WHAT AND HOW?

The resurrection is one of the Creator’s most stupendous miracles. However, it should not stagger our faith, for God is both omniscient and omnipotent. With him nothing is too difficult or impossible. (Gen. 18:14; Matt. 19:26) It means the recreating of all those who are in “the memorial tombs,” that is, in God’s memory. Who are in his memory? None of the willfully wicked nor any who incurred family or community condemnation because of being associated with the wicked. All such God forgets. (Ex. 32:33; Prov. 10:7; 11:7) Only those will experience a resurrection from the dead who either have proved themselves keepers of integrity or at least had a leaning toward righteousness but who because of ignorance did not serve God and therefore are termed the “unrighteous.”—Acts 24:15.

What will be resurrected? The body? No, for it has disintegrated and its atoms have become parts of other living things, which, in turn, may have become part of other living creatures. Is it the soul? No and yes. No and yes? That’s right! No, if by “soul” you mean the creedal immaterial something not dependent upon any body and which is supposed to be immortal. But yes, if you have in mind the Scriptural meaning of soul, namely the psychosomatic whole, consisting of body, mind and breath of life. “The man came to be a living soul,” we read at Genesis 2:7. Not, “the man received a soul.” At death the soul, the individual, ceases to exist. “The soul that sins shall die.” And in death there are no knowledge, wisdom nor thoughts. (Ps. 146:3, 4; Eccl. 9:5, 10; Ezek. 18:20, RS) The resurrection restores to life that which died, the individual, the soul, God giving the individual a suitable body. Of course, as we have already noted, that applies only to those individuals whose life pattern is recorded in God’s memory. What factors govern the personality that we are or the life pattern that we display?

Our personalities are the result of four factors operating in our lives. First is heredity, by which we are stamped with certain inclinations and possibilities, mental, physical, moral and emotional. Second is environment, which largely determines whether those various traits will be developed or repressed. Third is the matter of human will. Persons at times have overcome great hereditary handicaps or unfavorable environment by reason of their will to do so. Finally, and most important, are the aids God provides, his holy spirit, his Word and his organization. These three have aided many persons in putting on a Christlike personality in spite of hereditary handicaps and environmental factors.

WHERE AND WHEN?

The Scriptures show that there are two kinds of resurrections: the one first both in time and importance, which one is heavenly; and the second or later resurrection, which will be earthly. To appreciate what the Scriptures have to say about these two resurrections we must first of all understand what they teach regarding two destinies for the obedient ones of mankind. On the one hand, there are many promises relating to a place prepared in the heavens for Christ’s followers, where they will sit on thrones, serve as kings and priests for a thousand years. They are spoken of as gaining a crown of life, a crown of righteousness, and as being ‘heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ’ and part of the Seed of Abraham that will bless all the families of the earth. Their number is a very limited one, just 144,000, therefore fittingly termed by Jesus a “little flock.”—Luke 12:32; John 14:2; Gal. 3:29; 2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 2:10; 20:6.

All these will share with Jesus in the first resurrection, he having been the first to experience it. Like him they must first have been born again and begotten to a living heavenly hope by God’s will and his holy spirit. They must have the witness of the spirit that they are God’s sons and, like Jesus, must prove faithful until death. Fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that the resurrection of these body members of Christ began when he came to his house for judgment in 1918. Only a remnant of this 144,000 remain, and these experience the first resurrection upon their death, even as Paul shows: “We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet.”—John 3:5; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52.

On the other hand, there are many scriptures that tell of God’s purpose regarding this earth, yet to be realized. It is to stand to time indefinite, even forever. It “will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.” Under God’s kingdom rule the meek will possess the earth and men will learn war no more. God will wipe out every tear from men’s eyes, “death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more.” These are the prospects held out for all those in the memory of God who do not share in the first resurrection.—Ps. 104:5; Isa. 2:4; 11:9; Rev. 21:4.

When will these come forth? Since they are coming forth to a prospect of living forever, it is but reasonable to conclude that they will be brought forth in God’s new world after God’s war of Armageddon wipes out this present wicked system of things, invisible as well as visible. Also, in view of the prophecy that Christ will make some of them princes in all the earth, it is but reasonable to conclude that those who proved their integrity in this life will have an early resurrection, especially since these are promised a reward.—Ps. 45:16; Heb. 11:39, 40; Rev. 11:18.

Truly, in God’s Word, the Bible, there is ample basis for the resurrection hope, and all its details harmonize beautifully and make sense. Having that hope, while we may mourn the loss of loved ones, we will not mourn as do others that have no hope. Further, that hope will enable us to keep integrity toward God come what may, knowing that by means of the resurrection everlasting life is assured us in God’s new world.—1 Thess. 4:13.

Pursuing My Purpose in Life

As told by Hermon Woodard

PRIVILEGED as I was to be brought up in the truth, my earliest recollection of contact with Watch Tower publications was the scenario of the Photo-Drama of Creation. Whenever I was sick I would pore over its pictures by the hour.

In 1916 the truth was accepted by my mother when a visiting witness of Jehovah (then known as a “Bible student”) showed her that the Bible did not teach hell-fire. During the testing of 1918-1919 she believed some of the lies about the Society’s officers and for a time associated with a part of the “evil slave” movement; but soon she realized they did not have Jehovah’s approval and she returned to activity with the Society. It was during this time that I started studying the Studies in the Scriptures and dedicated myself to Jehovah. Between the ages of eleven and thirteen I read all seven volumes and looked up or inquired the meaning of all the words. This was a wonderful help in my schoolwork.

I was backward about going in the door-to-door work myself but drove the car for others. But in 1933, pursuing my purpose in life, I started witnessing regularly by myself.

At that time I had an extremely monotonous and exhausting job by which I was supporting my father, mother and myself. Feeling responsibility toward them, I decided to get training for a job that would leave me a little more time, and went to mining school. After graduation I went to Arizona and started working in a mine. There I witnessed on weekends, driving many miles in the mountains to reach the isolated people.

During all this period I had a desire to pioneer but did not see my way clear financially. Finally, my mother told me that I did not have to worry about her, that Jehovah would provide, and that if I wanted to pioneer to go ahead.

Shortly after the 1940 Detroit convention, which I attended, arrangements were made for a group of pioneers to travel throughout Arizona, quickly working the spots where there had been persecution. I felt that this was the time to start pioneering. As usual, Satan tried enticements and I was offered promotions to stay on at the mine, but I could not feel right unless I went ahead; so I quit work at the mine and started pioneering September 1, 1940. At that time I had $180 and a 1937 car. I figured that when that was gone I would do some work to replenish my funds. My pioneer partners and I stretched it out by living for as low as $11 a month.

Finally, just after the 1941 St. Louis assembly, I was down to twelve cents. I bought eight one-and-a-half-cent stamps to send out the Children book question folders and went out in the service. I returned home that night with gas in the car tank and about a dollar in my pocket. Jehovah provided.

Then the special pioneer activity came along. In our first assignment we were arrested so much that the Society moved us to another town. Our case was thrown out of court without trial after the Supreme Court victory by the Society. This came just in time to allow me to be in the second class at Gilead School.

For six months I served in the southern United States and then was sent to a missionary assignment at Anchorage, Alaska. Leaving Seattle September 30, 1944, I got in on Alaska’s winter weather right away. At every port where the boat stopped it rained. I was assigned to contact all the subscribers for our magazines that I could on the way up, and this was very interesting. One isolated witness, an old “sourdough,” welcomed me, and in the October cold I slept on his floor. Not as yet being acquainted with sleeping bags, I did not find it too warm. For breakfast we ate potatoes and carrots from his root cellar. Also the same for dinner and supper, but we enjoyed it.

Then my partner and I settled down to our Anchorage assignment. Together with the friends, who had done some witnessing, we carried on group Bible studies throughout the year. Some good interest was found, but right away we ran up against the big problem in Alaska—temporary workers—so there was little growth for several years.

The next summer we went to Fairbanks. A fine little group started associating together and kept on studying after we returned to Anchorage. Then came word of the 1946 Cleveland convention, and the Fairbanks group made plans to drive over the Alaska highway. We picked up an old bus body and put it on a truck and made the trip all the way to Cleveland, Gilead, and New York and back again to Alaska.

About this time my health went downhill and I had severe headaches, so I went to Washington State for treatment. After the 1947 Los Angeles convention I came back to Alaska and teamed up with Brother Errichetti, both of our partners having married. We witnessed in all the places we could between Ketchikan and Anchorage up until the spring of 1948, when we had our first Alaskan assembly and visit from Brother Knorr in Juneau.

At this time Brother Errichetti was appointed circuit servant and I was assigned to travel with him, working all the territory we could and visiting the congregations.

Christendom’s missionaries have made a very bad name for themselves by sponging off the people. Our working for our passage on boats and doing odd jobs has had a very good effect on people who otherwise would be opposed, and Brother Knorr suggested that we continue to do this. We have sandwiched it in wherever we could, and it is surprising how little time it takes from the service. There are many small places where we could not get out of town for a week or even a month, and this gave us time to make back-calls and work to pay on our expenses.

At an isolated mining camp I stopped and talked to a lady. Several times she remarked that she wished her husband could hear this. So we arranged that if he did not have to work that evening they would drive down to another mine I had to visit and there pick me up. Just as I was about to give them up and start walking five miles to where I could get a room, they came along. I went back with them and we talked till 9:30 and then we had something to eat, as I had not had time even for supper. They invited me to stay overnight, and now every time I go there they have me in, and they have been reading ever since.

We continued working between Ketchikan and Fairbanks, and then in 1950 after our Juneau circuit assembly a brother took us out in his trawler to get to new territory. On this trip we had a wonderful time finding isolated interest. In one bay I took the skiff and went to look for a man we knew lived there. He was not at home, so I left three Awake! magazines in the door. Two days later we were able to come back; and as I went in, there were the three Awake! magazines all open on the table, and he said: “I’m ready to subscribe to that magazine.” He has been taking them ever since.

Just recently, while working with a local publisher in Anchorage territory, we came to a house where the lady was busy washing. We promised to come back. A few nights later I stopped by on my way home. The lady believes the Bible absolutely, but had never heard of the hope of life on earth. When scriptures were presented in an eight-minute sermon, she was thrilled and gave me fifty pennies for the book “Let God Be True.” A week later I called back with another publisher and the husband was home. He was disgusted with the confusion in the churches and stated to his wife, “Why should I go to church, the preachers themselves do not believe what they are preaching?”

We went over the eleven questions in the article “Religious Beliefs in America” and he agreed with the Bible answers on all of them. I said, “Do you know that there is only one religion that teaches those answers we agreed on?”

“What is that?”

“Jehovah’s witnesses.”

That was Friday. Monday we started the home Bible study. Monday and Tuesday evenings he read until past midnight. Wednesday they came to the book study at the service center. Saturday another study. After the study, proof for 1914 and 1918, in answer to their questions. Already they were thinking of learning all they could so they could start a group back home in Maine when they returned, because they had never heard of the witnesses of Jehovah there. Then Sunday to the Watchtower study and the public talk. “Why, I learned more about the Bible from that one talk than all the rest of my life.”

In 1958 Brother Errichetti and I traveled to New York to attend the Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Being present at this giant assembly was one of the most thrilling moments in my life. It encouraged me to press on in doing the divine will in my assignment.

For the present my partner and I are assigned to do missionary service by boat along the southern part of Alaska. Here we find considerable interest. Never have I regretted my years of pioneer service, but pursuing my purpose in life, I keep on enjoying the grand privilege of serving Jehovah.

While the missionary must be prepared for hardship, it is a blessed service. Do not the people of the nations endure some hardships to make a living and in hope of the passing rewards of a dying world? In missionary work the first few years are the hardest; but when those are behind. the difficulties fade into insignificance, and any hardships that one endures—drafty cabins, hard floors, cold and wet weather, storms and other dangers at sea, oppositions, all these things are not to be compared with the privilege of seeing the joy that comes to people who love righteousness when you bring them the comfort of the hope of Jehovah’s new world.

Questions From Readers

● What is the “place that is called in Hebrew Har–Magedon” (Rev. 16:16), and how can it be said that Jehovah’s witnesses are assembled at that place now, and since when?—See The Watchtower as of November 1, 1956, page 671.

During the ancient kingdom of Israel, when it exercised its greatest dominion from the river Euphrates up north down to the torrent valley of Egypt to the south, there never was a place called Har–Magedon, nor has there been such a place there since. But a place used to exist called Megiddo, a city in the plain of Jezreel, to the southeast of Mount Carmel. The king of Megiddo was defeated by Joshua when Jehovah brought his people into the land of Canaan and miraculously aided them to take possession of the land. (Josh. 12:7, 21) However, there was no Mountain of Megiddo, which is what the Greek word Har–Magedon means. There was no such place literally even in the days of the apostle John when he received The Revelation. Evidently, then, the “place” is symbolic, but it draws some of its meaning from the name Magedon or Megiddo, together with all its associations down till John’s day.

At Megiddo Joshua battled and whipped its king. At the “waters of Megiddo” Judge Barak, accompanied by Deborah the prophetess, defeated the military forces of Sisera, King Jabin’s general. At Megiddo King Ahaziah of Judah, after being mortally wounded by Jehovah’s anointed king Jehu, died. At Megiddo Pharaoh Nechoh of Egypt battled with King Josiah and wounded him to death. (Judg. 5:19; 2 Ki. 9:27; 23:29, 30) Thus at Megiddo decisive battles were fought, and deaths of public importance were caused there. In Revelation 16:14, 16, therefore, Har–Magedon is suitably associated with a decisive battle of the future, “the war of the great day of God the Almighty,” and at this place there should then occur a great mortality affecting all the national governments of this world.

The three symbolic frogs, or the three inspired utterances that come out of the mouths of the Devil, his beastly governing agency on earth and the Anglo-American world power acting as a false prophet, gather the visible rulers of this earth and their armies to Har–Magedon. Why? Well, the kings or rulers are too practical to be gathered to a mere unoccupied place or battlefield, just for the march that it would take to get there, Rulers could be induced to go with their troops to a certain place or location only because there was an object of united attack for them. The kings or rulers know whom they are attacking; it is not something imaginary or symbolic. The worldly rulers are natural men and do not discern spiritual things. So they must have some visible, tangible enemies there to attack. Whom?

The name Megiddo means “rendezvous or assembly of troops.” Har–Magedon would consequently mean “the mount of the assembly of troops.” This explains why the armies of the “kings of the entire earth” move there. They march to attack the troops that are already assembled at Mount Megiddo. Megiddo used to be in the land of Jehovah’s chosen people. So the people or troops already assembled there must be the remnant of the anointed followers of Jesus Christ, in this time of the world’s end, for they are the object of hatred by all the nations of the world and are the target of their attack. (Matt. 24:9) They are engaged in a spiritual warfare as they advertise God’s kingdom, and are equipped with the complete suit of the armor from God. This is why all the nations and their rulers feel emboldened to attack them in order to stop their proclamation of God’s established kingdom. Jehovah’s remnant of spiritual Israel, the remnant of anointed footstep followers of Jesus Christ, are thus identified with Har–Magedon. They are really represented by Har–Magedon, the place, or the Mount of the Assembly of Troops. The place is not what is under attack; it is the people that are there on their own territory, Jehovah’s people. This is why the book Light, Volume 2, published in 1930, said:

“The fact that it is Satan and his unclean instruments that are doing the gathering of all the kings of the earth unto Armageddon clearly implies that the troops are Jehovah’s troops and that they are now already gathered into the mountain or hill. In the vision John [the apostle] saw Christ and the 144,000 assembled on Mount Zion. (Rev. 14:1) These are troops of the Lord. (Mic. 5:1) Armageddon therefore symbolically represents God’s mountain, that is to say, Mount Zion, his organization which he has built up and at which he appears; therefore Satan is directing all of his forces against God’s organization. It is against the Lord’s troops that Satan makes war; therefore saith the Lord, ‘Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops; he hath laid siege against us.’—Mic. 5:1. (See Watch Tower, 1928, p. 376 [¶33].)”—Page 56.

Satan the Devil had been cast out of heaven and down to this earth by the year 1918. It is after this event that he by his inspired utterances through his visible worldly agencies gathers all earthly kings and their armies to Har–Magedon, to attack those who preach the good news of God’s kingdom and who therefore stand for that established kingdom. Ever since Jehovah’s remnant of anointed witnesses were restored from their Babylonish captivity to their theocratic place in His ministry in 1919, they have been assembling to the place called Har–Magedon. The particular assembling of the remnant class continued on till 1931, in fulfillment of Matthew 24:31. By then a full remnant were gathered to Har–Magedon.

Because of the spiritual prosperity and expansion that they enjoy, all the nations yield to Satan’s influence to attack the remnant at Har–Magedon. Since 1931 the Kingdom message has gone forth in increasing volume, and due to this enlarged proclamation the Lord’s “other sheep” have been assembled to Har–Magedon to the side of the remnant, to become with them one flock under one Shepherd. (John 10:16) All nations resent having some of their citizens flock to the spiritual remnant at Har–Magedon. The nations readily submit to being gathered by the inspired utterances coming forth from Satan and his visible agencies. Those inspired utterances gather them to Har–Magedon. The purpose of the nations is to inflict at Har–Magedon a defeat upon the remnant and their companions, just as Pharaoh Nechoh of Egypt inflicted defeat on King Josiah of Judah.

However, the nations will be the ones to suffer the Armageddon defeat. Jehovah’s remnant and their companions will depart from that Mountain of Assembly of Troops to devote themselves to the peaceful arts of Christ’s thousand-year reign. They will then not have to fight “against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places.” Armageddon will reach its climax in the abyssing of those devils with their wicked machinations. (Eph. 6:12, 13; Rev. 20:1-3) Then the war footing or embattled position symbolized by Har–Magedon will pass away from Jehovah’s witnesses on earth.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

During June Jehovah’s witnesses will continue to offer the new 256-page Bible-study aid From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained and an informative Scriptural booklet, on a contribution of 75c. Return calls will be made on all interested persons with a view to starting home Bible studies.

1959 AWAKE MINISTERS DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES

All over the world Jehovah’s witnesses will come together this year in four-day district assemblies. In the United States, Canada and Iceland, the Society has selected twenty-nine cities for your convenience. For the location and date of the assembly nearest you contact your local Kingdom Hall or write to Watchtower Convention, 117 Adams St., Brooklyn 1, N. Y. Plan now to attend and remain awake to Kingdom activity.

BROOKLYN BETHEL VACATION

The Society’s office, factory and Bethel home in Brooklyn, New York, will be closed from August 1 to August 16 inclusive. Orders and correspondence sent in during that period will not be handled until some time after the reopening of the offices. Please anticipate your needs and place your orders in ample time for attention before the vacation period.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

July 12: “Look! I Am Making All Things New,” ¶1-29. Page 325.

July 19: “Look! I Am Making All Things New,” ¶30-56. Page 331.