The Watchtower — May 1, 1959

Is God to Blame?

There are many people in the world who feel that somehow God is to blame for the plight of the human family. They may feel that when God made the first man he knew what the outcome would be and, for that reason, the sin, suffering, wars and death that overwhelm humankind are a part of his will. When death takes a loved one, they resignedly say, “It is the will of God.” And many calamities are termed “acts of God.” But the Bible clearly shows that God is not to blame.

Having created the earth and the plant and animal life upon it, Jehovah God specially beautified a portion of it in Eden, and in these delightful surroundings he placed Adam and his lovely wife Eve. They were perfect, the crowning earthly creation of God, all of whose activity is perfect. “After that,” the inspired account relates, “God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.”—Gen. 1:31.

Every provision was made to supply the needs of man. Surrounded as he was with these loving provisions of his heavenly Father, man was given the opportunity to demonstrate his appreciation for them by willing obedience. “And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: ‘From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.’” (Gen. 2:16, 17) But Adam did eat of it, and he died. Does that not prove that man was imperfect? One who is perfect cannot do wrong, some may reason.

It is true that when the United States Air Force launched its Pioneer rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on October 11, 1958, its failure to reach the moon and swing in an orbit around it indicated imperfection. That rocket had been manufactured with the express purpose of reaching the moon and all its controls had been adjusted with that goal in view. Its failure proved imperfection.

However, man was not made like a rocket, with electronic controls by which the Almighty would move him and guide his course. He was not a robot, mechanically efficient but devoid of sensibility. Man had the divine gift of free will. Therefore, at a later date Joshua could say: “Now if it is bad in your eyes to serve Jehovah, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve.” (Josh. 24:15) Had man, endowed with free will, been unable to choose bad, that ability to choose would have been incomplete, hence imperfect. Therefore, the very fact that man could choose either good or bad argues, not that he was imperfect, but rather that even in this respect he was a perfect creation. His sin resulted from entertaining wrong desires.—Jas. 1:13-15.

Another idea that lingers in the mind of some is that God must bear the blame for man’s sin in that He placed the tree of the knowledge of good and bad in the garden, in that way putting temptation before man. Had there been no tree, there would have been no sin. Therefore, the tree produced evil results and the Maker of it must bear the blame, they feel. Such reasoning is in error.

For example, at a drugstore you may purchase medicine that is marked: “Danger. For External Use Only.” Properly applied, the medicine has a healthful effect; but if someone ignores the plainly printed instructions and swallows the medicine, it may bring his death. Is the druggist to blame? Did he lay temptation before the customer? Of course not!

Neither did God do injury to man in planting the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. It was an altogether good thing that gave man opportunity to exercise his free will in a right way and so to learn obedience. Properly viewed, it would have had a healthful effect; but when man, urged by the Devil and motivated by his own wrong desire, ignored the plainly given warning that “in the day you eat from it you will positively die,” he brought the sentence of death upon himself. How true, then, the statement found at Deuteronomy 32:5: “They have acted ruinously on their own part; . . . the defect is their own”!

The same is true today when homes are broken by divorce and delinquency. God is not to blame. His will is expressed in the Bible. When it is followed, ‘wives are in subjection to their husbands,’ ‘husbands keep on loving their wives,’ and together they bring up their children in “the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah.” To those who listen to God’s counsel, family life is a source of rich blessing and deep satisfaction.—Col. 3:18-21; Eph. 6:4.

Nor was the destruction of an estimated 10,000,000 human lives by the fifty-seven nations participating in combat in World War II God’s doing. To the contrary, it was a violation of His declaration of the sanctity of human life. So with sin and death; God is not to blame. The Scriptures make clear that, not as a result of what God has done, but “through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.”—Gen. 9:4-6; Rom. 5:12.

In Eden it was the Devil that led off in rebellion against God, and man followed. So today it is Satan the Devil “who is misleading the entire inhabited earth,” and man has followed in blaming God for all distress and in ignoring His Word, the Bible.—Rev. 12:9.

Almighty God is the Author of “every good gift and every perfect present.” He lovingly gave the first man a perfect start in a paradise home. When man sinned, God’s goodness did not cease. He mercifully made provision for those of the human family yet to be born to have opportunity to gain what Adam lost. By means of His kingdom, for which all Christians pray, he will see that those evildoers, including the Devil himself, who are to blame for the woes of man will be cut off. “But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”—Jas. 1:17; Ps. 37:9-11.

Break Free to Do the “Complete Will of God”

“Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and complete will of God.”—Rom. 12:2.

1. What triumphant announcement is now being proclaimed, and where?

JEHOVAH gave the command: “Proclaim liberty in the land to all its inhabitants.” (Lev. 25:10) Even though darkness covers the earth, and the thick gloom of the nuclear age has settled upon the nations, liberty is now being proclaimed to the ends of the earth. How? By the grand, triumphant announcement that “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord [Jehovah] and of his Christ, and he will rule as king for ever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15-18) It spells doom to all enemies of God and mankind. It proclaims that soon all earth will “be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea,” and that men of good will may now enter upon an eternity of freedom and happiness as one united human family, praising its Creator and Great Benefactor.—Isa. 11:1-9.

2. Where only is this good news to be found?

² What wonderful good news! It is good news to warm the heart of every honest soul, whatever his race, nation or tribe, and wherever he may live—in Africa or the Americas, in Asia, Europe or the islands of the sea! This joyous news of liberation is to be found only in God’s Book of Freedom, the Bible, concerning which God’s Son, Jesus, said: “Your word is truth.”—John 17:17.

3. (a) In what way is this world a prison house? (b) How did Jesus identify snares of tradition?

³ In proclaiming liberty to captive mankind, the Bible also identifies clearly the death-dealing snares that have turned this present world into a vast prison house. This world a prison house? Yes, a prison house, in which both Christendom and heathendom are held in bondage by entangling religious traditions. More than nineteen centuries ago that great freedom-fighter, Jesus Christ, condemned the prison keepers of the Jewish nation, saying: “Why is it you also overstep the commandment of God because of your tradition? . . . you have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition. You hypocrites.” (Matt. 15:3, 6, 7) Hypocritically they paid outward respect to God, while teaching and living the traditions of a system of worship in bondage to Satan. However, the snares of tradition have not been confined to the Pharisees’ day. Bonds of tradition and custom are now restraining peoples of all nations on earth today.

4. How may one break free to do God’s will?

⁴ How may one break free from this bondage? One may break free by heeding the words of Jesus the great freedom-fighter. This Jesus was anointed by Jehovah to “tell good news to the meek ones . . . , to call out liberty to those taken captive and the wide opening of the eyes even to the prisoners.” (Isa. 61:1) He it is that opens eyes of understanding by teaching truth, Bible truth. To those who believe his teaching he says: “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31, 32) The truth sets free from tradition, so that one can prove and do “the good and acceptable and complete will of God.”—Rom. 12:2.

5. What kind of fight is necessary to break free, and keep free? Is it worth it?

⁵ Like their Master, Jesus’ disciples spoke of the world-wide bondage and of the determined fight required to break free. One of these, the apostle Paul, declared: “This, therefore, I say and bear witness to in the Lord, that you no longer go on walking just as the nations also walk in the unprofitableness of their minds, while they are in darkness mentally, and alienated from the life that belongs to God.” (Eph. 4:17, 18) However, to stop walking with the nations, men of good will must bring “every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:3-5) They have to fight, and fight hard, to break free from confusing, vain thoughts and customs of a world that does not know God. Then, having broken free, they must fight on to maintain this freedom. It may mean effort and great sacrifice, but the rewards that God bestows are compensation a hundred times over!—Mark 10:28-30.

6, 7. (a) What traditional pattern is to be found worldwide? (b) To what extent has idolatry become a snare?

⁶ “Be transformed by making your mind over,” says Paul. Transformed from what? From the world’s traditional pattern. This may differ slightly from country to country, but the general pattern is the same. It is based, not on truth or love, but on superstition, falsehoods and selfishness. Solomon took in this big world when he described it all as “the greatest vanity” and a “toiling for the wind.”—Eccl. 12:8; 5:16.

⁷ The big part of this world-wide pattern is the bond of religious formalism. Both in Christendom and in heathendom there are the sacred processions, the candles, the offerings of incense, the idols and the “saints.” Those familiar with so-called “Christian saints” need express no surprise when, on visiting the Orient, they find Buddhist idols wearing halos and clasping rosary beads. It is all part of this world’s pattern. Paul’s advice is good for truth seekers world-wide: “My beloved ones, flee from idolatry.” (1 Cor. 10:14) Idol worship is a snare, blinding multitudes to the worship of the one true God.—2 Cor. 4:3, 4.

8, 9. (a) Are “Christmas” and like feasts confined to Christendom? (b) What does Peter say about such revelries?

⁸ However, the many who have broken free from idol worship and other formalistic rites must beware of more subtle forms of idolatry. World-wide, there are ingrained customs of religion, and often national customs, that run counter to God’s Word. One must break free from these, too, if he is to find life in God’s new world. Many of these customs have taken on a kind of universality, being shared by Christendom and heathendom alike. For example, there are the revelries of “Christmas,” which Christendom has borrowed from heathendom.a However, heathendom, so called, is now borrowing “Christmas” back again, as shown by the following news report from Tokyo in Buddhist Japan: “According to a police poll up until the morning of the 25th, Christmas Eve crowds totaled 3,700,000. It was a postwar peak of reveling.”b

⁹ The “Christmas” pattern is the same world-wide. But is it Christian? Emphatically, No! Are New Year celebrations, spring festivals and feasts of harvest thanksgiving, as observed world-wide, in harmony with Bible teaching? Or are they worldly “escapism”? To those who are ‘making over their minds’ Peter says: “For the time that has passed by is sufficient for you to have worked out the will of the nations when you proceeded in deeds of loose conduct, lusts, excesses with wine, revelries, drinking matches, and idolatries that are without legal restraint.” (1 Pet. 4:3) Avoid the worldly pattern!

10, 11. (a) How has the universal doctrine of immortality imposed great burdens on the people? (b) How does Bible truth concerning the dead bring comfort?

¹⁰ As John said: “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) It was the “wicked one,” Satan, who told mankind’s ancestors: “You positively will not die.” This was the first lie, from the father of lies, including his later lie about the inherent immortality of the soul. (Gen. 3:4; John 8:44) Contrary to God’s clear statement, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” the religions of the world hold fast to Satan’s teachings. (Ezek. 18:4, AS) In line with their belief that the soul is immortal, both professed “Christians” and “heathens” make long prayers on behalf of the spirits of “the departed,” and at certain seasons hold pilgrimages to family shrines or tombs. In Western lands funerals are often lavish, and prayers for the dead are expensive, but these are even more costly in some Oriental countries. The Chinese save throughout their lifetime so that their death may be celebrated with the utmost extravagance. Children, grandchildren, cousins and other relatives are expected to do obeisance to the living and the dead, and to wear various shades of mourning for years afterward.

¹¹ However, those who ‘make their minds over’ to know God’s perfect will may break free from such religious bondage. Moreover, having Bible truth, they can comfort bereaved ones by telling them of the “hope toward God . . . that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) Those having “hope toward God” do not pattern their course according to the world’s way of honoring the dead. Instead, they honor Jehovah and make known his loving purpose concerning the dead.—John 5:28.

12. What living force can overcome materialism and restraining feudalistic traditions?

¹² This world’s forms of bondage invade every activity of life. In Western lands, “those who are determined to be rich” fall into the miserable slavery of death-dealing materialism. (1 Tim. 6:9, 10) In the Orient others are so bound down to customs and obligations that it is most difficult for them to think clearly or to reason for themselves. They must hold to a servile position in a feudalistic society, at least so they think. The Buddhists of Thailand say a Christian minister might as well play the violin to a water buffalo as try to explain the Bible to them. However, this is not always true, for even Buddhists are breaking free, to become part of “the precious things of all nations,” worshiping Jehovah God. This is truly testimony to the powerful, living force contained in Jehovah’s Word, the Bible.—Hag. 2:7, AS; Heb. 4:12.

13. What warning does Paul give concerning bonds of worldly wisdom?

¹³ Then there are the shackles of worldly wisdom. So many, in both the West and the East, are in bondage to human philosophies. Confucius emphasized wisdom, head learning. To this day there are the intellectuals, so called, who set learning up on a pedestal, wandering from one kind of learning to another. They call it seeking culture. Concerning such, Paul warns: “Look out: perhaps there may be some man that will carry you off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ.”—Col. 2:8.

THE COMPLETE BREAK FOR FREEDOM

14. (a) What is now urgent? (b) How may true happiness now be gained?

¹⁴ For those who are in bondage to any part of the old world, there has now come the glorious opportunity to make the break, the complete break for freedom. It is urgent, now, to make this break, for this world is in its “last days.” (2 Tim. 3:1) How necessary accurate knowledge is in this day! “The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge.” (Prov. 1:7) Seeing God’s awesome works in nature and the beauteous variety of his creation, surely all men of good will must appreciate that he is! However, the God of the Bible is no nameless abstraction. He is the Supreme Person, “the King of eternity, incorruptible, invisible, the only God.” (1 Tim. 1:17) He is the Source of all life and energy. He is Jehovah, the Great Purposer, whose thoughts and ways are far above mere human wisdom. (Isa. 55:8-11) Happy the person who learns of Jehovah, and who gains true wisdom. (Prov. 3:13-18) Happy, indeed, the person who studies to know and love Jehovah ‘with his whole heart and with his whole soul and with his whole mind.’ (Matt. 22:37) This one will “be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual discernment, in order to walk worthily of Jehovah.” (Col. 1:9, 10) He will come to really appreciate the marvelous provision Jehovah has made through His Son, Jesus Christ, for breaking free to do the “complete will of God” and for surviving the world’s end.

15. What worthy examples are cited of those who broke free?

¹⁵ The pages of the Bible are brimming with examples of those who have made this break to be free to do the complete will of God. These are integrity keepers who fought on through a lifetime in doing the complete will of God, and that was a lifetime of joy and satisfaction. There were the three faithful Hebrew captives in Babylon who refused to go along with the crowd in their idol worship. It took courage to stand alone, just as it takes courage for a professing Christian or Buddhist today to break away from idolatrous practices handed down to him by his ancestors. There was Jeremiah, who stood apart from national apostasy and proclaimed the Word of Jehovah. It took courage, just as it takes courage for a Hindu or an African to separate from a national or tribal religion, and to witness for Jehovah. There was Moses, who abandoned the materialism of Egypt’s high society for the humble society of God’s people. It took courage, but consider the abundance of spiritual riches he found, surpassing all the materialistic advantages even of this modern world.—Dan. 3:13-18, AS; Jer. 1:4-10; Heb. 11:24-27.

16. What rewards are to be had in breaking free?

¹⁶ Throughout Christendom and heathendom today, hundreds of thousands have likewise made the break for real freedom. They are “the people that know their God,” and through faith in God and Christ Jesus they have grown strong as one New World society earth-wide. (Dan. 11:32, AS) Relatives and former friends may scoff, and say, “What do you get out of it?” What do they get out of it? Why, the riches of the knowledge of God’s perfect will, the sure hope of eternal life in a glorious new world, the surpassing love of real friends now and forever in Jehovah’s New World society! The present world will never understand that love. They see it and they marvel at it, but they will not understand it, unless as individuals they become part of this society. (John 13:34, 35) Jehovah’s witnesses get everything that one’s heart could desire out of wholehearted dedication to the Sovereign Ruler of the universe!

17. What positive action is required in breaking free, and how have many failed in this?

¹⁷ Dedication? Yes, dedication to Jehovah is the ultimate step in breaking free to do the “complete will of God.” However, positive action is needed in making this freedom-break, and in all the steps leading up to it; positive effort to get thinking differently from the world, positive study to get to think God’s thoughts, the Bible way, and a positive association with God’s own people in the New World society. (Col. 3:23, 24) It must be a positiveness that follows through all the way to dedication to Jehovah. Here is where many have failed. They have never fully made over their minds, or made up their minds. They have never made that unreserved dedication. They think it would be “lovely” to live in a peaceful new world. They may even go in God’s service occasionally. However, they leave it at that, never dedicating. They miss the real joy that absorbs the New World society and that should absorb them, too. It is not sufficient to give Jehovah just a small part of the heart, and keep the rest for selfish purposes. “You must love Jehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your vital force . . . for Jehovah your God in your midst is a God exacting exclusive devotion.” (Deut. 6:5, 15) This means to transform one’s mind completely, to the point of dedication.

18. How was Ruth an outstanding example in her dedication?

¹⁸ Whether one lives in Christendom or in heathendom, his breaking free should be in the same spirit as that of Ruth the Moabitess. Her upbringing had been against a background of pagan religion. However, Jehovah’s worshiper, Naomi, taught her concerning the true God, Jehovah. Ruth was willing to abandon her old associations, abandon her own people even, and to set out for a new country, for a new way of worship. She not only started on that way, but she followed right through, throwing everything she had in with God’s people, Israel. When she was given opportunity to return, never a thought of it! To Naomi she declared: “Where you go I shall go and where you spend the night I shall spend the night. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Her heart went out in dedication to Jehovah God. She declared that nothing but death would separate her from Jehovah and his people. How rich her reward in the land of God’s people, Israel! How rich the reward for her faithfulness will be in the resurrection! Not even death can separate her from that! Nor can death separate the dedicated, faithful servant of Jehovah today from the blessings Jehovah has in store in the resurrection.—Ruth 1:16, 17; 4:13-15.

19. What appreciation of values is had by God’s dedicated servants?

¹⁹ How happy the lot of those who make the complete break for freedom! They are the ones who have the true appreciation of values, who appreciate Jehovah and his goodness and who declare: “One thing I have asked from Jehovah—it is what I shall look for, that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the pleasantness of Jehovah and to look with appreciation upon his temple.” (Ps. 27:4) “Jehovah, I have loved the dwelling of your house and the place of the residence of your glory.” (Ps. 26:8) Happy, dedicated servants who live up to their dedication, serving day and night in his temple, always rejoicing in associations with His people!—Rev. 7:9-17.

FREEDOM’S SLAVES

20. (a) Is it a contradiction to say that those who break free become “slaves”? (b) In what respects are they slaves?

²⁰ What glorious freedom, a freedom that can last forever! Yet God’s freemen are also termed “slaves.” A contradiction in terms? Not as viewed by these willing, happy, joyful slaves of Jehovah, as they carry out their dedication vow. The point is that their freedom is a relative freedom, always subject to the will of Jehovah God. As they delight to do that will, He blesses them with wonderful joys and freedoms, but always within the proper boundaries of His theocratic arrangement. Hence they are slaves, slaves of Jehovah. (Rev. 19:4, 5) They are also slaves of Jesus Christ, in that he bought them with his own lifeblood. “For you know that it was not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, as a ransom that you were released from your fruitless form of conduct received by tradition from your forefathers. But it was with precious blood, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, even Christ’s.” (1 Pet. 1:18, 19) They have therefore become “Christ’s slaves, doing the will of God whole-souled.”—Eph. 6:6.

21. What is the contrast of old-world slavery with the lot of Jehovah’s slaves?

²¹ However, those who do not dedicate to Jehovah are also slaves, a different kind of slaves. They are the unhappy slaves of Satan and his world. Every person on this earth today has either to be an abject slave of this miserable world, or he must break free to become the joyful slave of Jehovah. Each one must choose. (Josh. 24:15) As Jesus stated: “No one can be a slave to two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves to God and to Riches.” (Matt. 6:24) The wise declare: “I rejoiced when they were saying to me: ‘To the house of Jehovah let us go.’” (Ps. 122:1) Eternal pleasures are in store for all who resolutely take the step of dedication and then hold fast to that dedication.

22, 23. What family problems may arise for those dedicating to Jehovah, and what counsel is given for handling such problems?

²² However, the pattern of the old world presents many problems to those dedicating. In many lands the wife is slave to her husband, and in some places the husband is slave to the wife. How does this bear on the question of dedication? 1 Corinthians 7:24 reads: “In whatever condition each one was called, brothers, let him remain in it associated with God.” While remaining with an unbelieving husband, a newly dedicating wife must recognize that now she becomes also a “slave of Christ” and “associated with God.” (1 Cor. 7:22-24) In other words, she cannot give her husband such abject subservience as would hinder her Christian worship. However, this does not mean leaving her husband. While standing firmly in Jehovah’s worship, she is also diligent to do what is required of her in the home. (Prov. 31:27, 30) She has love for her husband and for their children, and she will be a worker in the family interest. Her new way of life in harmony with Christian principles may even make a great impression on her husband.—1 Pet. 3:1-4.

²³ At times the expression is heard, “My husband is opposed.” But is he really opposed? There are some who have never discussed the matter of their dedication with their marriage mate. No one should ever think that he or she can get by just doing some service when the unbelieving mate is not around. How much better to explain straightforwardly what this dedication means. The one newly dedicating to Jehovah can let the marriage mate know that in family affairs it can mean getting along better than before, as the Bible says one should. (1 Tim. 5:8; 3:11) However, as regards spiritual matters, there are meetings to attend, and field service that needs to be done, one’s sacred service to God. (Rom. 12:1) These can often be discussed tactfully and pleasantly, always making plain the heartfelt desire to co-operate. Wives should continue to respect the husband’s headship in home affairs. What joy if he responds to the truth! But if he chooses not to listen, the wife’s humble course of action can often do a lot of talking, silently proving she is a better wife.—1 Tim. 2:8-10.

24. What should be the Christian’s attitude toward secular occupations?

²⁴ Many individuals are in slavery to their employer or their business. They feel that their obligations go beyond the hours of work, that they must get involved in social and sports activities arranged for the firm’s employees. Others become so engrossed in their secular job that they work at it day and night, or seven days a week. Whatever the material advantages, or whatever the promotion in view, none of it can begin to compare with the glorious prospects of eternal service in God’s new world. The wise person will keep secular pursuits in their place. “No man serving as a soldier involves himself in the commercial businesses of life, in order that he may meet the approval of the one who enrolled him as a soldier.”—2 Tim. 2:4.

25, 26. (a) How does Paul counsel concerning burdensome traditions? (b) What united, progressive front is presented by God’s ministers?

²⁵ Indeed, the bonds of the old world prison house are many. In view of this, Paul admonishes to “put off every weight and the sin [lack of faith] that easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, as we look intently at the leader and perfecter of our faith, Jesus.” (Heb. 12:1, 2) Away with the heavyweighted slaveries of this evil world!

²⁶ Associate in, and be absorbed in, New World activity! What precious associations these! God’s ministers may come from many different religious backgrounds, from many different walks of life, from many different nationalities. But the truth has made them one. (John 17:20-23) In brotherly love they have tender affection for one another. All are aglow with the spirit. All are willing slaves of Jehovah, rejoicing in the hope ahead, enduring under tribulation, persevering in prayer. No one loiters in this business of New World activity. (Rom. 12:10-12) All who really break free delight to do the “complete will of God.” So doing, the days of their lives become long, joyful days, many days, stretching into all eternity!

[Footnotes]

Attain Completeness in the New World Society

“You must accordingly be complete, as your heavenly father is complete.”—Matt. 5:48.

1. To what do God’s servants hold fast, and what do they shun?

DARKNESS covers the earth, and the slaves of the present evil system of things continue to dwell in that darkness. However, those who break free to do Jehovah’s will rejoice in the light. They press on to attain Christian ‘completeness.’ Appreciating all that Jehovah has done for them, they hold fast to their blessed position as “sons of light.” (1 Thess. 5:5) They shun the course of this world that wants its own kind of freedom, freedom to do as it pleases without regard to God or fellow man. This self-styled freedom is indeed a slavery of the most miserable sort.

2. How may one hold to the Source of life?

² The freedom of the man who denies his dependence on God is the freedom of the bird that flies from its cage to die in unaccustomed surroundings. The disobedient cannot find life by fleeing from its Source. Says Paul: “The wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for you were once darkness, but you are now light in connection with the Lord. Go on walking as children of light, for the fruitage of the light consists of every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord.”—Eph. 5:6-10.

3, 4. (a) What reward did disobedience bring to Israel? (b) What reward does it bring to Christendom? (c) Where only are godly qualities of obedience now to be found?

³ The Bible gives warning examples of disobedient men and disobedient nations. Israel, though specially favored of Jehovah, became wickedly disobedient, and brought shame and reproach upon His name. Against her came the stinging lash of Jehovah’s judgment by the mouth of Jeremiah: “But this word I did express in command upon them, saying: ‘Obey my voice, and I will become your God and you yourselves will become my people, and you must walk in all the way that I shall command you in order that it may go well with you.’ But they did not listen, neither did they incline their ear, but they went walking in the counsels in the stubbornness of their bad heart, so that they became backward in direction and not forward, from the day that your forefathers came forth out of the land of Egypt until this day . . . And you must say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah its God, and have not taken discipline. Faithfulness has perished, and it has been cut off from their mouth.’ Shear off your uncut hair and throw it away, and upon the bare hills raise a dirge, for Jehovah has rejected and will desert the generation with which he is furious.”—Jer. 7:23-29.

⁴ Disobedience brought Israel to ruin. Today it is hurrying Christendom on to destruction at Armageddon. However, though national groups may fail, individual slaves of Jehovah have brought glory to his name by their uncompromising and positive obedience. “We must obey God as ruler rather than men” has been their resolute stand from which nothing, not even torture and death, could shake them. (Acts 5:29) Now in these last days, the same godly qualities are to be found, not in sham Christendom, but in a body of people who have been humble enough to go back to the primitive Christianity of the Bible. These obediently pay back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but are careful also to pay back to God all that is His.—Matt. 22:21.

5. How must true Christians meet the issues of the day?

⁵ Since Caesar is, and always has been, a bully, it means unceasing vigilance to prevent him from grabbing what is God’s. Some issues, like those involving Christian neutrality, freely expressing truth, and in some countries the right to preach the good news from house to house and even meet together, test their obedience in a crucible fired by savage hostility. However, in all their trials they have before them the example of “the Chief Agent of their salvation” who was made “perfect through sufferings” and who “learned obedience from the things he suffered.” (Heb. 2:10; 5:8) They, too, are learning.

THEOCRATIC HEADSHIP

6. (a) What two important points are made in 1 Corinthians 11:3? (b) How does Jesus exercise headship?

⁶ One of Jehovah’s principles, explained and illustrated throughout the Scriptures, is that of headship. Headship involves obedience. In the family, “the head of a woman is the man.” Men may like to remind their wives of this point, but are all men as anxious to grasp the point of the preceding phrase, that “the head of every man is the Christ”? Some may feel that the headship of Christ is less tangible than that of man. However, this is not so. Having received authority from Jehovah, Jesus exercises his headship. But at the same time Jesus recognizes that “the head of the Christ is God.” (1 Cor. 11:3) Taking Paul’s illustration of the organization as a human body with its great variety of functions, it can readily be appreciated that the head does not do everything, but it does direct. It employs the members of the body to do its bidding. The whole body under the direction of the head moves and acts as a beautifully co-ordinated unit, perfectly organized. In the same way Christ, the Head, employs the organization that is his body to carry out his assigned work. His orders reach the whole of the organization on earth through the governing body, and on down through the Branches to the congregations.—1 Cor. 12:12-18; Matt. 24:45-47.

7. How does one hold to the headship of Christ?

⁷ To hold to the headship of Christ, it is therefore necessary to obey the organization that he is personally directing. Doing what the organization says is to do what he says. Resisting the organization is to resist him. Furthermore, the order of things requires that the men take the lead in being obedient to Christ’s instructions through God’s Word and his organization. Otherwise, their talk of headship will sound hollow and meaningless, and they will be inconsistent in requiring recognition of their headship by their wives and sisters in the congregation.

8. (a) What is one obstacle to obedience? (b) Show with examples what false reasoning leads to disobedience.

⁸ One obstacle to obedience and submission is the tendency in imperfect humans to pass judgment on the fitness or otherwise of the instructions that come down to them. Instead of accepting these as from Christ through the organization, they debate within themselves, or with others, what they shall do. This may be normal procedure in the present evil world, but it has no merit in Jehovah’s eyes. On one occasion King Saul considered it sensible to salvage some of the enemy’s possessions. Worldly reasoning might have agreed with him. However, Jehovah did not agree with him. He had instructed otherwise. Through the mouth of his prophet Samuel he declared: “Does Jehovah have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Look! to obey is better than a sacrifice, . . . for rebelliousness is the same as the sin of divination, and pushing ahead presumptuously the same as using uncanny power and idolatry.” (1 Sam. 15:22, 23, margin) Eve, likewise, was attracted by the idea of deciding for herself what was good and what was bad, rather than leave this to Jehovah. (Gen. 3:1-6) God’s people today should avoid the same mistakes.

9. How does Jehovah guide man, and what kind of obedience does he require?

⁹ To make a horse or mule obey, a bit is put in its mouth, and a bridle is used to guide it. Man, however, has the power of reason and understanding. Jehovah guides man by supplying the needed knowledge through His Word, the power through His spirit and the direction through His organization. It is up to each one to obey. Through David, Jehovah gave admonition: “I shall make you have insight and instruct you in the way you should go. I will give advice with my eye upon you. Do not make yourselves like a horse or mule without understanding, whose spiritedness is to be curbed even by bridle or halter before they will come near to you.” (Ps. 32:8, 9) The Universal Sovereign wants no forced obedience, but rather the obedience that comes from a heart filled with understanding and with love for Jehovah.

BE QUICK TO OBEY

10, 11. What example of obedience is to be seen in (a) Abraham? (b) Rebekah?

¹⁰ Jehovah loves those who are quick to obey. Many are the examples in the Scriptures that prove it so. Abraham is one of these. When Jehovah told him to sacrifice his son, there was no quibbling or debate about it. Abraham had faith in Jehovah and he obeyed, even to the point of raising his knife to plunge it into the breast of his son. Through faith and obedience Abraham gained the distinction of being called “Jehovah’s friend,” and his place as a prince in God’s new world is assured.—Jas. 2:23.

¹¹ Another example of obedience and its blessings is that of Rebekah. From the account in Genesis chapter 24 the ready obedience of Rebekah shines out even more beautifully than the ornaments that Eliezer presented to her. When he asked her for a drink of water her response was prompt: “So she quickly lowered her jar from off her and said, ‘Take a drink, and I shall also water your camels.’” Then, as Eliezer explained that Jehovah had led him there, “the young woman went running and telling the household of her mother about these things.” Later, when the question arose whether Rebekah would be willing to go to Isaac and whether she would agree to depart immediately, her answer was, “I am willing to go.” (Gen. 24:46, 28, 58) Rebekah’s readiness to obey gained for her the privilege of bearing Jacob, the father of the tribal heads of the nation of Israel and prominent in the Messianic line.

12, 13. (a) What appreciation did Jesus’ apostles show, and how? (b) What qualities does Jehovah bless?

¹² The apostles also showed, from their very first contact with Jesus, that they appreciated the need for prompt obedience. Of Peter and Andrew, the record says at Matthew 4:19-22: “And he said to them: ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once abandoning the nets, they followed him.” The response of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, was the same: “At once leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.” Time and again the apostle Paul also demonstrated that he had this desirable quality of prompt obedience. The record at Acts 9:20 states that after his conversion “immediately in the synagogues he began to preach Jesus.” Later, when he received in vision the call to “step over into Macedonia and help us,” he and those with him obeyed quickly. “Now as soon as he had seen the vision, we sought to go forth into Macedonia, drawing the conclusion that God had summoned us to declare the good news to them.” Jehovah blessed their quick response with fruitage, Lydia and her household quickly accepting the truth and being baptized.—Acts 16:9-15.

¹³ In all these examples, observe the readiness to obey, the absence of self-will, of indifference or of mere good intent. These zealous witnesses showed eagerness, zeal, willingness, vigilance, earnestness, promptitude, devotion and diligence. For this, Jehovah loved them.

14. What privileges are to be had by those who obey?

¹⁴ Wherever one serves in Jehovah’s organization, he is there by undeserved kindness. He remains only if he obeys. He will be truly happy only if he is quick to obey. Today willing slaves all have the privilege of being publishers of the good news. Indeed, they are under orders to preach it. (1 Cor. 9:16) In addition to this basic honor and privilege there are many places of responsibility for those who obey. There are the various categories of pioneer activity. There are the positions of service in the congregations. There are privileges of going abroad as missionaries, or of traveling as circuit, district or zone servants. Others may serve as members of Bethel families. In all these assigned places, obedience and loyalty are required. The reward is joy!—Heb. 13:17.

15. What appreciation should all of Jehovah’s slaves show and what shortcomings should be remedied?

¹⁵ All of Jehovah’s slaves should be filled with appreciation of the glorious treasure of service. (2 Cor. 4:7) However, some do just as little service as is necessary to keep them on the congregation records. Is this not like an insurance premium grudgingly paid to Jehovah to ward off disaster? One who serves grudgingly must quickly correct this. (2 Cor. 9:6, 7) Constantly coming late to meetings, refusing assignments or treating them as unwelcome burdens, being easily discouraged, having no desire to take responsibility, being slow to follow instructions—these are symptoms of a wasting spiritual condition, calling for an immediate remedy. If there is the need, be quick to seek that remedy. Ready obedience will bring the blessing of Jehovah that makes rich.—Prov. 10:22.

16. How should discipline from Jehovah be regarded?

¹⁶ Due to human imperfections, even the most earnest desire to be obedient to Jehovah will not prevent the creature’s falling short at times. Hence it is necessary to have the right attitude toward discipline. Discipline corrects careless tendencies and prevents them from hardening into rebellion and defiance. “‘My son, do not belittle the discipline from Jehovah, neither give out when you are corrected by him; for whom Jehovah loves he disciplines, in fact he scourges everyone whom he receives as a son.’ . . . True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness.” (Heb. 12:5-11) When discipline comes through God’s Word or through his organization, accept it humbly, as coming from Jehovah himself. Remember, “the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.”—Prov. 6:23.

CHRISTIAN COMPLETENESS

17. How does Matthew 5:48 apply today?

¹⁷ At Matthew 5:48, Jesus admonishes: “You must accordingly be complete, as your heavenly Father is complete.” How could this apply to imperfect humans at this world’s end? It applies in that every individual coming into the New World society must stretch out for the full growth of a Christian. No negative holding back! Each one must strive to copy the heavenly Father in His completeness. To become complete means to advance from an unbalanced childlike state to Christian maturity.

18. Why is Christian completeness now so important?

¹⁸ In the time of the early Christians this matter of maturity received great stress. (Eph. 4:11-16; Heb. 5:12-6:3) But how important it becomes for all of God’s servants in this day, when the Devil has come down to earth, and seeks to devour all who obey Jehovah! (Rev. 12:12, 17) While in many countries of the West and the Orient materialism and superstition have been laid out as subtle snares, Jehovah’s servants behind the Iron Curtain have a different kind of testing, in that they have to withstand fierce persecution. Here, too, Christian completeness is needed. They must resolutely stand fast in their Christian freedom. They must be ever ready to obey, even at risk of life itself. They must keep witnessing “even despite the danger of death.”—Rev. 12:11.

19. What are some of the trials endured by Jehovah’s witnesses behind the Iron Curtain?

¹⁹ Look beyond the Iron Curtain and observe, for example, the activity of Jehovah’s witnesses in East Germany. How would you feel about going out in Kingdom service tonight, not knowing whether you would return home afterward or finish up with a four-year sentence in a Communist penitentiary? How would you regard this prospect, knowing that in prison lack of nourishment and shocking sanitary conditions would likely break your health? How would you relish having to travel to a faraway place secretly to get your copy of The Watchtower, and with risk of being imprisoned for several years if it were found on your person? How would you like to have just one day to study The Watchtower, when you could get a copy, and then have to pass it on to other hungry readers? How would you regard being appointed to serve a group of publishers, knowing that two or three times already the servants who preceded you had been taken away and put in prison for four or five years? How would you feel about taking up the ministry again as you return home on a kind of parole, after a five-year prison term imposed for preaching the good news? How would you like to be interrogated over and over again by Communist security police, as they endeavor to arrest you for sharing in organized Kingdom activity? What would your reaction be to constant pressures exerted by neighbors, workmates, party members, or upon your children at school, in order to get you or them lined up with their political and military organizations in some way? How would you feel about being thrown out of work, or having your property taken away, or being driven from your home, simply because you are one of Jehovah’s witnesses?

20, 21. How do Jehovah’s servants show Christian completeness under such trials?

²⁰ These and similar problems are everyday routine for many of Jehovah’s witnesses in Communist countries. In East Germany alone more than three thousand of them have been imprisoned since 1950. Of these, about a thousand were women. Sentences have averaged nearly four years each. However, they keep right on doing the divine will, as shown by the following message some of them sent from prison to the Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in July, 1958: “Walking in integrity sixteen brothers feel closely united with you. Isaiah 12:3, 4.” The scripture reads: “With exultation you people will be certain to draw water out of the springs of salvation. And in that day you will certainly say: ‘Laud Jehovah, you people! Call upon his name. Make known among the peoples his dealings. Make mention that his name is to be put on high.’”

²¹ Would you be able to exult under such conditions? Would you be mature enough to stand the strain, in and out of prison, for years, and continue to preach with love and kindness? Testifying to such Christian completeness is this report from a brother in East Germany, who wrote about the arrest of his son: “He was arrested by the SSD and after seven weeks of imprisonment on remand sentenced to four years in the penitentiary. He was charged with having brought literature into East Germany from West Berlin. I myself was imprisoned from 1950 to 1956 and another one of my children from 1951 to 1954, because of the truth. Both of us who are back home are determined here in East Germany to continue serving the Lord with our humble power, and may He give us further of His undeserved kindness.”

FACTORS IN ATTAINING CHRISTIAN COMPLETENESS

22. What basic quality is needed in gaining completeness?

²² Like these faithful servants, it is needful for all who please Jehovah to be well rounded out in their Christian completeness. The basis of all their efforts must be love. This is clear from the context of Jesus’ words about Christian completeness: “You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those persecuting you; that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous. For if you love those loving you, what reward do you have? are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing? And if you greet your brothers only, what extraordinary thing are you doing? Are not also the people of the nations doing the same thing? You must accordingly be complete, as your heavenly Father is complete.”—Matt. 5:43-48.

23. What other qualities are necessary for completeness?

²³ To become complete, the Christian must develop maturity, with its qualities of integrity. He must honestly observe his weaknesses, and work hard to eliminate them. He must apply Jesus’ counsel daily: “If you want to be complete, go sell your belongings and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come be my follower.” Spiritual values must be placed higher than the material, and completeness attained by obediently following in Jesus’ steps.—Matt. 19:21.

24, 25. (a) What must be said about New World and old-world associations? (b) What is the “fruitage of the spirit,” and how may it be cultivated?

²⁴ Associations must be watched. Often relatives or former worldly friends would like to impose on the time set aside for New World associations. Do not let them do it! Be firm about it! Those hours set aside each week for meeting attendance and for Kingdom service are the most precious hours of the week. They are hours that belong to one’s Christian worship, and no one of the old world has a right to interfere with them. To those who might get involved in such relationships, Jesus says: “Keep following me.” If relatives and old-world friends want to follow along too, they can be given every loving assistance. However, never let them distract from your own growth to maturity and attaining Christian-completeness.—Matt. 8:21, 22.

²⁵ The need for right associations is something that the newly interested person, the long-dedicated person, and everyone in between, should engrave on his heart. Old-world associations will die with the old world. Why run the risk of dying with it? Association with one’s brothers in the New World society brings joy, peace, satisfaction and, in the end, eternal life. These are the associations to cultivate, associations with those who are showing the “fruitage of the spirit.” Through these associations, all come to dwell in the same love, the same joy and peace, the same long-suffering, the same kindness and goodness, the same faith, the same mildness and self-control. There is the place to attain Christian completeness! Right in there in the loving association of the New World society!—Gal. 5:22, 23; Heb. 10:24, 25.

26. How will good study habits help in attaining completeness?

²⁶ Another factor in attaining completeness is diligent and systematic study of Jehovah’s Word. Is not half an hour of personal study daily of more value than a well-earned half hour of rest or sleep? Form the study habit. With the habit of rising each morning combine the habit of considering the morning’s text. With the habit of the noon-hour break combine the habit of some theocratic reading. With the habit of going to bed each night combine the habit of further meditation on God’s Word. Read the Bible daily. Good study habits will help in ‘making over the mind’ for a joyful, zealous share in New World activity as the complete minister of God. How wonderfully worth while, in attaining to Christian maturity!—Josh. 1:6-8.

27. Who are most privileged of all earth’s people today, and what must these do?

²⁷ Who will be content with a minimum of service or of association? Having made the break for freedom, let all hold fast that freedom. (Gal. 5:1) Press on to attain completeness in the New World society. Most privileged of all is the lot of all those who, in complete dedication to Jehovah, continue to ‘present their bodies a sacrifice, living, holy, acceptable to God, a sacred service with their power of reason.’ Let the break from “this present evil world” be complete, lasting, irrevocable! With minds completely made over to New World thinking, and lives completely given over to New World living, let all strive to “be complete, as your heavenly Father is complete.”

“According to Their Wish”

Writing in the Union Bible Companion, S. Austin Allibone says: “Sir Isaac Newton . . . was also eminent as a critic of ancient writings, and examined with great care the Holy Scriptures. What is his verdict on this point? ‘I find,’ says he, ‘more sure marks of authenticity in the New Testament than in any profane history whatever.’ Dr. Johnson says that we have more evidence that Jesus Christ died on Calvary, as stated in the Gospels, than we have that Julius Caesar died in the Capitol. We have, indeed, far more. Ask anyone who professes to doubt the truth of the Gospel history what reason he has for believing that Caesar died in the Capitol, or that the Emperor Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III in 800. . . . How do you know that such a man as Charles I ever lived, and was beheaded, and that Oliver Cromwell became ruler in his stead? . . . Sir Isaac Newton is credited with the discovery of the law of gravitation. . . . We believe all the assertions just made respecting these men; and that because we have historical evidence of their truth. . . . If, on the production of such proof as this, any still refuse to believe, we abandon them as stupidly perverse or hopelessly ignorant. What shall we say, then, of those who, notwithstanding the abundant evidence now produced of the authenticity of the Holy Scriptures, profess themselves unconvinced? . . . Surely we have reason to conclude that it is the heart rather than the head which is at fault;—that they do not wish to believe that which humbles their pride, and will force them to lead different lives.”

Concerning those who would ignore such truths as the great flood of Noah’s day, God’s Word says it is “according to their wish.”—2 Pet. 3:5.

Gilead Graduation

THE stimulating spiritual feast that a Gilead graduation provides attracts many dedicated Christians from far and near. With 130 students from fifty-three lands, this thirty-second class proved to be both Gilead’s largest and most colorful.

The outstanding feature of the graduation, which took place February 15, 1959, was the powerful discourse by N. H. Knorr, president of the School as well as of the Watch Tower Society, on the subject “Ordained Ministers—Before God or Before the Nations of the World?” He pointed out that regardless of what worldly nations may think or do, what really matters is having God’s recognition and approval as ministers. Forcefully he developed the theme that every dedicated and baptized Christian is a full-time minister, even though secular work may greatly limit his preaching activity. Such secular work is merely engaged in to pay the expenses of the ministry, as it were.

Among the scriptures he elaborated on was that by Jesus about Christians being the light of the world and a city that cannot be hid and those by Paul: “Whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory,” and “whatever it is that you do in word or in work, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Matt. 5:14; 1 Cor. 10:31 Col. 3:17) Christians must be on the watch all the time. Christian living is their vocation, their chief occupation—not a hobby. It was ideal admonition for all 1,924 present.

Preceding Brother Knorr’s remarks, parting words of admonition were given by the Kingdom Farm servant and Gilead’s four instructors First to be heard was John Markus, who emphasized rightly using one’s knowledge and abilities if we would have God’s blessing. Following him Robert Porter stressed that, important as our sacrifices of praise are, obedience is still more important. Next Jack Redford spoke on the need of enthusiasm, joy and love. Maxwell Friend pointed to the need to remember in times of stress the lesson of Ebenezer: ‘Up till now Jehovah has helped with his continued aid this too will pass.’ (1 Sam. 7:12) Brother Schroeder likened the class of missionaries to a great fireworks display that will scatter its light to the four corners of the globe, to the fifty-four countries to which they were assigned. Many telegrams and cablegrams received from all quarters of the earth were read and appreciatively received by all.

After diplomas were distributed, a student read a Resolution on behalf of the class in which its members expressed their “deepest and warmest appreciation” for the training they received while at Gilead and their resolve to perform their dedication vows with “renewed strength and fearless determination.” Then a few closing remarks by Brother Knorr, a song and prayer brought the program to a conclusion.

Extending and Peopling our Spiritual Paradise

SOME twenty-five hundred years ago Nebuchadnezzar built a paradise along the Euphrates in the heart of the city of Babylon for the pleasure of his wife. It consisted of five terraces, each raised fifty feet higher than the previous one for a total of 250 feet. ‘The terraces were exquisite gardens with the rarest and most beautiful plants. There were flowering fountains and tame animals disported at ease.’ It was known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Jehovah God himself is the greatest of all constructors of paradises, spiritual and literal past, present and future, for those whom he loves. His paradises are far more beautiful, are far larger and far more enduring. All of his gardens are distinguished by their beauty, peace, happiness, pure worship and life-giving fruits.a—Gen. 2:8, 9.

The first, of course, was the one planted eastward in Eden for the benefit of Adam and his offspring. They were to extend it until it eventually filled the whole earth. However, because of Adam’s rebellion that Paradise was destroyed at the Deluge.

Another Paradise mentioned in the Scriptures is that one to which Jesus referred in his dying promise to the friendly evildoer that was staked alongside him. That will be a literal Paradise and will cover the whole earth, in keeping with God’s original purpose regarding the earth.

The early Christian congregation from the time of Pentecost on enjoyed a paradise-like condition of spiritual prosperity. It was a foretaste of the heavenly Paradise that the conquerors will receive by means of the first resurrection.—Rev. 2:7.

Because of apostasy after the death of the apostles that spiritual paradise on earth ceased to exist until 1919. After the kingdom of God had been established in the heavens and Satan and his demons cast out, Jehovah delivered the faithful remnant of anointed Christians from their captivity to modern Babylon, in 1919. Their spiritual prosperity has kept on in creasing, a striking demonstration of it being the Divine Will International Assembly.

Today we see the New World society fulfilling Ezekiel 36:10 in that it is being peopled by increasing numbers, its cities are being inhabited and its waste places are being built. Let all of us who are enjoying these blessings share in further extending and peopling our spiritual paradise by aiding others to an appreciation of these marvelous expressions of Jehovah’s love for his creatures.

[Footnotes]

Pursuing My Purpose in Life

As told by Mary M. Hinds

YES, it can be done! Down through the ages faithful men and women have done it. Today men and women are still doing it. And one of the most satisfying ways of doing it—that is, giving Jehovah an answer to Satan’s boast—is to be in the pioneer service.—Prov. 27:11.

My earliest recollections are of God-fearing parents studying the Society’s publications and, thanks to them, inculcating right principles in us children. Regularly attending and participating in the Watchtower study (whether at home or at the home of the nearest witness to which we traveled eighteen miles in a horse-drawn buggy), putting out tracts after school—these good habits had become such a part of my life that I took the truth for granted and somehow overlooked the need of making a personal decision if I would have the approval of the great Creator.

At the age of eighteen I enrolled in a university for a four-year course of training. Face to face now with life’s stern realities, I was bewildered and desperately homesick. But tucked down in the corner of my trunk, betokening a dedicated mother’s thoughtfulness—and hopefulness—was a little green book, The Harp of God. I clasped it eagerly, read it, studied it together with the Bible. It meant so much more to me now than ever before! It brought comfort and hope. This life-giving knowledge alerted me to a future far more satisfactory than anything I could possibly have hoped to attain as a result of my own efforts and led to my dedication and to baptism at the first big assembly I ever attended, in Toronto, Canada, in 1927. Within me there was quickened an unquenchable desire to pioneer. But there was a college debt that I could not conscientiously shift to another to settle, and that increased before I could possibly qualify to cancel it. How I stretched my pay checks for a full year to cancel that debt. Yes, and there was eight dollars left to my credit!

‘Seek first the kingdom and all these other things will be added’ was an assurance that kept ringing in my ears; and having ‘counted the cost,’ I could not reconcile myself to anything less than to pursue my purpose in life as a pioneer. (Matt. 6:33) So I resigned my position, burned the bridges behind me, and in September, 1930, right in the midst of a great economic depression, started really running on life’s race-course. I have always been so glad that I did that, for it meant more to me then than any of the many perfectly proper things this old world could offer, and it still does. It has meant tasting of Jehovah’s goodness and singing his praises every day, thereby resulting in peace of mind to face whatever comes.

That first winter the going was hard for an inexperienced pioneer, and many times the nagging suggestion to go back to a salaried position pestered me. I soon learned that real determination on my part and complete reliance on Jehovah and his organization were necessary to stick to the work. Changing from rural to city territory with the permission of the Society solved my problem during that first winter, and I worked with the Indianapolis, Indiana, congregation until the Columbus, Ohio, convention in 1931, where the receiving of the “new name” climaxed the year. There I arranged to work with a precious sister twenty years older than I and with some twenty-five years of pioneer work to her credit; she had a car. What a help she was!

For the next six years we worked happily together, doing chiefly a planting work in rural territory. From the level corn-belt of northern Indiana, through the bluegrass and tobacco sections of Kentucky and Tennessee, and on to the cotton plantations of southern Alabama we preached. In our endeavor to reach every home in our assignment, we forded rivers, walked foot logs, climbed mountains, filled gulleys in the road with stones so the car could pass, got stuck in everything from Mississippi gumbo to Lookout Mountain sand. We were misrepresented by religious fanatics who would call ahead to warn the neighbors that we were coming; we visited “feudin’ hollers”; we were driven out of mining camps at the point of a gun. Whatever the difficulty may have been, it turned out for joy when we found real interest—so often at that last house at the end of the way. Never did we knowingly pass by a single home, for we knew that faithfulness in little things would lead to faithfulness in greater things. We sowed abundantly and reaped bountifully in those twenty-nine counties of isolated rural territory.

Our spiritual diet was the best: the Bible and The Watchtower, which we studied eagerly, always finding that each truth was just as fresh and sweet as ‘when we clasped it first to heart.’ Our finances? Oh, we had learned the difference between wants and necessities, and that ‘neither life nor happiness depends on the things possessed,’ so we fared marvelously. (Luke 12:15) By economizing we had funds to attend the conventions too, to keep us stimulated for the lifesaving work we were privileged to do.

Rich as those years were, greater things were to be done. We were indeed grateful, again at Columbus, Ohio, in 1937, to be invited to participate in the special pioneer work. Through the change from the democratic to the theocratic manner of organization we worked with the Louisville, Kentucky, congregation and joyously watched Jehovah give the increase as many of those on whom we made backcalls associated themselves with us and became dedicated witnesses. Then on to Jeffersonville and New Albany, Indiana, where more interest was aroused and more never-to-be-forgotten friends were made. In 1941 we were assigned to Union City, Tennessee. In early 1942 I was called home by the sudden death of my beloved mother, who had always encouraged me to keep faithful in the service. The blow was hard; and at the end of ten days when I returned to my territory I found my companion in the throes of an illness that forced her out of the pioneer service a few months later. Her thirty-six years of pioneering made me appreciate more the value of those sterling qualities of patience and endurance. Through all this I came to know that being in pioneer service does not exempt one from the problems and temptations “common to men,” and neither does one meet them in one’s own strength. (1 Cor. 10:13) A very close walk with God is the pioneer service! And He succors and sustains those casting their burdens upon Him!

At the New World Theocratic Assembly in Cleveland, Ohio, that year emphasis to the truth that Jehovah’s organization is not static came when the spine-tingling suggestion was made that soon perhaps some of our brothers might be sent to do service on foreign shores. That, I was sure, could never apply to me, and I headed back to my assignment in Union City, where my new partner and I shared the joy of organizing a small congregation.

Then came the unforgettable surprise. Two long envelopes from the President’s office! “Confidential” stamped across them! Feverishly we opened them, scanned the contents, went home. With a mixed feeling of gratitude, humility, joy, and excitement we wanted to shout to the world: “Gilead! Missionary fields! Foreign assignments! Theocratic expansion!” That enclosed questionnaire was indeed sobering. If it were filled out and accepted it might mean that I would never see my loved ones again, once having departed from the States. It would mean learning a new language at the age of thirty-five, and language had always been hard for me. Maybe it would mean a complete readjustment in my manner of life. On the other hand, could I afford to miss the great privilege of making proper reflection in other lands of the great “Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort”? (2 Cor. 1:3) You have guessed the answer. The questionnaire was sent in, and the days crept by as a reply was eagerly awaited. Meantime we went on to our next assignment, Pineville, Kentucky. Nestled in the Cumberland Mountains not too far from Harlan, where our brothers had been accused of sedition a short time before, this little town proved to be a most heart-warming territory. Soon we were absorbed in laying the groundwork for a future congregation that we never met with, for before it was formed our invitation to attend Gilead’s second class came!

Gilead! What a combination of pleasantness, happy association, intensified study and instruction, peace, truly a foretaste of New World conditions! How those five months did fly! How our faith was strengthened, our understanding enriched! How we were benefited by that loving scrutiny by our understanding instructors! How our lives were broadened by close association with all there! How our love was deepened by our living as a New World family! Graduation day came altogether too soon in January, 1944.

Yes, we must now leave Gilead, but its spirit was to continue with us and grow and be imparted to our brothers wherever we went. Now the full-time service took on a new grandeur and beauty. We lived in small groups, working together “shoulder to shoulder” for the advancement of the glorious good news. The group I was with was assigned to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, which served as a foretaste of the future, due to its many nationalities. I was indeed grateful for the companionship of my new partner, at last a sister of my own age, Hazel Burford, whose story you have read in these columns. Our brothers were waiting for us in Perth Amboy and extended such a hearty welcome and had so lovingly arranged for our comforts that soon the “hurt” of leaving Gilead began to heal. They had collected furniture for the apartment they helped us to find (no little task in those war years), stocked our cupboards with groceries, even did our household laundry. Working with the congregation brought more joys as we saw a healthy increase; and those brothers endeared themselves to us until we wished we could take them with us to our foreign assignment.

That came in the late summer of 1945, to Colón, Republic of Panama. Now this was really new, this business of getting passports, visas, etc., and how excited we were! The reassurance of still being used by Jehovah in His organization compensated for the one-way ticket, though I have been back to the States for three assemblies since then. What a theocratic welcome the brothers in our new assignment gave us! They treated us like something “special” and were so generous, kind, and willing to co-operate. Years of service with them has proved their genuineness and love and we have thrilled together as theocracy’s increase in this land has kept pace with the rest of the world, causing us literally to ‘enlarge the place of our tents’ as we have outgrown one hall after another.

Each assignment has had its peculiar charm, and has produced its heartgripping, joy-evoking experiences. Would you not feel tender compassion for those who, through lack of instruction, had never legalized their matrimony, but who, when understanding Jehovah’s requirements, cleaned up their lives, even coming with their own children as witnesses to legalize their marriage? Would you not be thrilled too if one you had brought the truth to a few years ago, in a language not your own, became a pioneer, then a special pioneer, and then came to the Divine Will National Assembly accompanied by some of the fruits of her labors of love and there told you: “Now you have eleven grandchildren, all mature and singing Jehovah’s praises”? Would you not be glad for the dear newly dedicated one who comes and says: “I want to be a good letter of recommendation for you, so please teach me more and more how to do Jehovah’s will”? These things duplicated many times make us happy to stay in our assignment.

Another thing, pursuing my purpose in life has helped me to appreciate the Society’s personal interest in and care for its full-time ministers. The privilege of living in a missionary home, of working and living together as a family, of being revitalized, as it were, by hearing the circuit, district, zone and branch servants relate their experiences in their far-flung territory; this, I say, would never have come to me apart from the full-time service. In sickness, too, one need have no dread of being forced out. I am sure that one great contributing factor to a speedy recovery from a serious illness, hospitalization and an operation was the permission to stay where my heart is—in my assignment.

This past year, my twenty-eighth year of pioneer service, has been the richest of them all. My leave of absence and vacation made it possible to visit again so many dear ones of my personal acquaintance to whom I owe such a debt of love and gratitude for their love, constancy, generosity, and kindness expressed to me through the years. Climaxing the year was the great Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses. To have been there as a missionary, identified as one of the “signs and wonders” with that great throng of the ‘desirable things of the nations’ (among whom was my now zealous fleshly sister); to have been entertained in the home of one that I had had the pleasure of studying with soon after my arrival in Colón and who had married and moved to New York city, and who is now very active in theocratic ministry; to have faced up to the divine will and to have learned more about it, calls for an expression voiced long ago by King David: Jehovah, “you have crowned the year with your goodness.”—Ps. 65:11.

Immediately after the Assembly I came back to Panama; and as the plane gently settled on the landing strip I thanked Jehovah for a safe return to the dearest spot on earth to me, my assignment, to continue pursuing my purpose in life. When will you begin pursuing yours?

Make me walk in your truth and teach me, for you are my God of salvation.—Ps. 25:5.

Part 13—“Your Will Be Done on Earth”

In the second year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as the dominator of the ancient world Jehovah God foretold the “march of world powers,” which is the subject of Chapter 4 of our Bible study aid, “Your Will Be Done on Earth.” The prophetic dream that He sent to prefigure this was forgotten by the dreamer, King Nebuchadnezzar. Jehovah’s prophet Daniel was used to save the situation from becoming disastrous for the wise men of Babylon who were unable either to recall the dream or to provide an interpretation. Giving Jehovah God the credit for solving the mystery, Daniel described the dream in detail. The king had dreamed of a great metallic image, the head of which was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze or copper, and the legs of iron, and the feet and toes of iron mixed with clay. The entire image, however, suffered total destruction under the blow and grinding operations of a stone cut out of a mountain without hands that struck the image. The gold head, so Daniel explained, was King Nebuchadnezzar. What, then? Did the body under the gold head represent some static organization under King Nebuchadnezzar, with only prophetic features in its lower legs and feet and toes?

17. Rather than being mostly a static symbol, what does the metallic image represent, and how is Nebuchadnezzar the symbolic head of gold?

¹⁷ No! That symbolic image is not a static picture with prophetic properties in only its lower parts. It is progressive and prophetic from head to foot, and what happens to it is also prophetic. Nebuchadnezzar personally is not represented somewhere low down in the image, somewhere in the legs of iron. He could not be down there and at the same time be the head of the image. As king of kings in the Babylonian world power by the permission of the God of heaven, who permitted him to destroy both Jerusalem and its sanctuary, Nebuchadnezzar is the golden head of the symbolic image.

18. What larger meaning does that golden head take on, and so when did that head come into existence?

¹⁸ He is the head of gold as he is the head of a dynasty of rulers over the Babylonian Empire. So the golden head in fact symbolizes the dynasty of the Babylonian world power beginning with Nebuchadnezzar. The Bible itself mentions two others in that dynasty, namely, Evil-meródach and Belshazzar. (2 Ki. 25:27; Jer. 52:31; Dan. 5:1-30, RS) Nebuchadnezzar is reported to have reigned forty-three years from his enthronement in 625 B.C., or for twenty-five years after he destroyed Jerusalem and its sanctuary in 607 B.C. Evil-meródach began to reign in 582 B.C. as immediate successor to Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzara brought to an end the dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar in 539 B.C., when he was put to death violently. (Dan. 5:30, 31, AV) Thus the golden head of the symbolic image really came into existence when Nebuchadnezzar became world ruler at Jerusalem’s destruction in 607 B.C., after which event the “seven times” began.

19. How did the metallic image show that the Babylonian world power was not to last, and how did Daniel’s interpretation state this?

¹⁹ The head of gold was not all there was to the dream image. Underneath was a body of several layers of metals. So the dynasty represented by the golden head was not to last. Secular histories list other kings in the line from Nebuchadnezzar to Belshazzar. From Jerusalem’s destruction onward the Babylonian world power lasted only till 539 B.C., or less than seventy years. Pointing to this termination of Babylonian world power, Daniel said further in interpretation: “After you [that is, your dynasty] shall arise another kingdom inferior to you.” (Dan. 2:39, RS) This kingdom was foreshadowed by the breast and arms of silver. What kingdom, then, does this part of the image symbolize?

20. In what way was this silverlike “kingdom” after, and in what way inferior to the golden head kingdom, and what was foretold about Babylon’s conqueror?

²⁰ This was the “kingdom” or world power of the Medes and Persians. The expression “After you” refers to time, and reminds Nebuchadnezzar that another rulership will succeed his dynasty to the world’s domination. It was yet to come. The expression “inferior to you” refers to the level of the new world power or its quality as compared with the Babylonian world power. It was lower than the head of gold and was of a metal less precious, silver. This world power of the Medes and Persians developed a civilization of brilliant worldly splendor, which was not secondary to that of Babylon. But it did not have the eminent distinction before Jehovah God of overturning his typical kingdom at Jerusalem. Before Medo-Persia became a world power, the fourth world power in Bible history, King Cyrus the Persian succeeded in uniting Media and Persia, after which he conquered the powerful kingdom of Lydia in western Asia Minor. Jehovah’s prophetic Word foretold that Cyrus would come against Babylon and topple it from its heaven-high position. After that he would be used as an instrument in doing a restoration work that Jehovah purposed for this Persian conqueror to do.—Isa. 44:28.

21, 22. In proof that it was Jehovah who delivered Babylon into Cyrus’ hands, what did Isaiah declare long in advance?

²¹ In proof that it was really the Most High God that delivered the world-powerful Babylon into the hands of Cyrus the Great, the prophet Isaiah declared about two hundred years in advance:

²² “This is what Jehovah has said to his anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue before him nations, so that I may ungird even the hips of kings; to open before him the two-leaved doors, so that even the gates will not be shut: ‘Before you I myself shall go, and the swells of land I shall straighten out. The copper doors I shall break in pieces, and the iron bars I shall cut off. And I will give you the treasures in the darkness and the hidden treasures in the concealment places, in order that you may know that I am Jehovah, the One calling you by your name, the God of Israel. For the sake of my servant Jacob and of Israel my chosen one, I even proceeded to call you by your name; I proceeded to give you a name of honor, although you did not know me. I am Jehovah, and there is no one else. With the exception of me there is no God. I shall closely gird you, although you have not known me, in order that people may know from the rising of the sun and from its setting that there is none besides me. I am Jehovah, and there is no one else.’ ‘I myself have roused up someone in righteousness, and all his ways I shall straighten out. He is the one that will build my city, and those of mine in exile he will let go, not because of hire nor because of bribery,’ Jehovah of armies has said.”—Isa. 45:1-6, 13.

23. (a) How did Cyrus’ forces get inside the walls on Babylon, and who was associated with the Persians in its capture? (b) How did a message turn Belshazzar’s feasting to dismay?

²³ Because the gates of Babylon were strangely left open on the night of October 6-7, 539 B.C., the conquering troops marched down the dried-up bed of the Euphrates River and over the river quays and were able to get inside the towering walls of Babylon. Jehovah’s prophecies through Isaiah foretold that warriors of Elam and Media would be associated with Cyrus in conquering Babylon. (Isa. 13:17-22; 21:2, 9) In harmony with this, Cyrus’ uncle, Darius the Mede, joined forces in this victorious action against Babylon. The prophet Daniel was in the city at the time. He was a student of God’s prophecies, including that through Jeremiah, who had likewise foretold the fall of Babylon or Sheshach. (Dan. 9:1, 2, AV; Jer. 25:12-26; 50:1 to 51:64) On the night that mighty Babylon fell and its last king, Belshazzar, was killed, Belshazzar and his many lords were feasting, feeling quite secure behind the city walls. Feasting turned to dismay when Jehovah caused the appearance of a man’s hand to write in strange alphabetic characters on the wall of Belshazzar’s dining room. Finally the prophet Daniel had to be called in to read and interpret the handwriting on the wall. Under inspiration Daniel found the miraculous message to confirm what Jehovah’s prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah had said long previous. Daniel declared that his God, the God of Israel, had written the message. He said:

24. What did Daniel read and interpret that message to say?

²⁴ “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL and PARSIN [the plural number of the word PERES]. This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

25. How did the message come true that night, and what change of world domination took place?

²⁵ Before that night had passed, the handwritten prophecy on the wall came true, in vindication of Jehovah’s word and of his prophet Daniel. “That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” (Dan. 5:24-28, 30, 31, RS) At this death of the last king in Nebuchadnezzar’s dynasty over Babylon, the golden head of his dream image ceased to exist as a world power. Medo-Persia, as the symbolic breast and arms of silver, came into the control as the fourth world power of Bible history. That was in 539 B.C.

26. When and how was the prophecy of the Jewish restoration fulfilled, and did Babylon’s desolation begin at once?

²⁶ Evidently at the death of his uncle, Darius the Mede, Cyrus the Persian became the sole head of the Persian Empire. He did the work of restoration foretold by Isaiah. In 537 B.C.b Cyrus’ decree went into effect toward the captive Jews then exiles in Babylon, and the faithful Jewish remnant were released to go back to their homeland and rebuild the sanctuary of Jehovah and the holy city of Jerusalem. The conquered city of Babylon did not at once go to ruin in fulfillment of Jehovah’s prophecy concerning its lasting desolation, but King Cyrus ruled from this city.

27, 28. (a) What did the silver breast and arms of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream image picture? (b) How did Cambyses enlarge the Persian Empire, and what connection did Xerxes I and Artaxerxes I have with two noted Bible characters?

²⁷ The silver breast and arms about which Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed pictured a “kingdom,” the line of kings beginning with Cyrus the Great, who reigned jointly for a time with his uncle, Darius the Mede, and continuing for more than two hundred years. In this line of Persian kings there were more than the few whom the Bible names. Cyrus was the first Aryan or the first of the Japhetic branch of the human family to become world ruler. As world ruler, Cyrus the Great reigned for nine years and was succeeded in 529 B.C. by King Cambyses, who extended the Persian Empire by conquering Egypt in 525 B.C. A usurper followed him, in 522 B.C., a Magian named Gaumata who pretended to be Smerdis. He reigned for less than eight months, and was put to death by the first Persian king named Darius, who thus became king in 521 B.C.

²⁸ This Persian Darius I launched a campaign against Greece but met a signal defeat at the battle of Marathon. He was followed, in 486/485 B.C., by Xerxes I or Ahasuerus, the husband of the Biblical Queen Esther. (Esther 1:1-3; 3:7) He too set out to conquer Greece but failed, meeting with military disaster at Thermopylae and with a naval disaster in the battle of Salamis in 480 B.C. He was succeeded by Artaxerxes I, surnamed Longimanus because his right hand was longer than the left. It was in the twentieth year of this Artaxerxes, or in 455 B.C., that he commissioned his Jewish cupbearer Nehemiah to be governor of the province of Judea and to go to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls. At Nehemiah’s rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls the count began of the “seventy weeks” of years, of Daniel 9:24-27, which set the dates for the appearance and the death of the Messiah or Christ, Jesus of Nazareth.—Neh. 1:1; 2:1-18.

29. With the reign of what king did the Persian world power end, and by whom was the next world power established?

²⁹ Then, in order, came King Xerxes II; Darius II (the Persian); Artaxerxes II, surnamed Mnemon; Artaxerxes III, surnamed Ochus; Arses, who reigned two years (338-336 B.C.); and finally Darius III, surnamed Codomannus, whose reign was abruptly terminated in 331 B.C. With him the Persian world power, symbolized by the silver breast and arms of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream image, ended. This was by his defeat that year in the battle of Gaugamela, near where Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian Empire, had once stood. By whom was he defeated? By the Macedonian who established the next world power, the Macedonian or Grecian Empire, the fifth world power, namely, by Alexander the Great.

FIFTH, SIXTH AND SEVENTH WORLD POWERS

30. How did Daniel in his interpretation foretell this Macedonian or Grecian Empire, and how did it become one to “rule over all the earth”?

³⁰ Now in our study of the metallic image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream we come to “its belly and thighs of bronze [or copper].” The prophet Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that this part of the image represented a kingdom or line of kings. Said Daniel: “After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.” (Dan. 2:39, RS) Alexander was the son of King Philip II of Macedon, who imposed his power upon all Greece to the south and put an end to the city-state system of the Greeks. Alexander carried out the ambition of his father and proceeded to the conquest of the Persian Empire to the east, in Asia. This Alexander the Great was therefore foretold in the prophecy of Daniel, as we shall see. He gained one victory after the other over the Persian king, Darius III, and in 331 B.C. took from him the city of Babylon and defeated him at the Battle of Gaugamela. With that the Persian world power collapsed, and Alexander of Macedon became world ruler, establishing the fifth world power of Bible history. In 327 B.C. he extended his conquests into the western parts of India. His empire was greater than any of those that preceded his. From this standpoint this bronze or copper kingdom was one “which shall rule over all the earth.”

31. Because of Alexander’s empire-building expeditions, what became the international language, and for what good news did this become the proper medium to spread the news to all parts?

³¹ As world ruler, Alexander the Great lived only eight years, dying in Babylon in 323 B.C. During his military expeditions the so-called koiné or common Greek was developed, in which language the Christian Greek Scriptures of the Holy Bible were written. Because of the great sweep of Alexander’s empire and the Grecian colonies that he established, the koiné Greek became the international language. Hence it was the proper language medium by which to spread the good news of God’s kingdom under Christ to all parts of the then known world in the days of Christ’s apostles.

32. Why did the kingdom pictured by the belly and thighs of bronze not come to an end at Alexander’s death, and by whom was there a gradual swallowing up of his empire?

³² When Alexander died in 323 B.C. the “kingdom” pictured by the belly and thighs of bronze (copper) did not come to an end and give way to the iron part of the symbolic image. Alexander’s two sons and his brother, who were in line to succeed him, were murdered within fourteen years. Alexander’s empire became broken up, four of his generals taking power, each one over a section of Alexander’s empire. Within less than half a century after Alexander’s death three distinct Hellenic or Grecian empires had established themselves, each one with its own line of kings. One of these Hellenic empires was based in Macedon, another in Syria and the third in Egypt. The latter two made it their effort to Hellenize or Grecize Egypt and the Middle East and Asia as far east as India. It was during this period that the Hebrew Scriptures of Jehovah’s prophets were translated into the common Greek of that time, to form what is called the Greek Septuagint used by the early Christians. In the course of time the rising power of Rome, Italy, swallowed up these Hellenic empires, first that of Macedonia, then that of Syria, and finally that of Egypt in 30 B.C.

33. How was this next world power foretold by Daniel in interpretation, and why should not the two iron legs suggest division?

³³ In that year the Hellenic empire of Egypt was subjected to Rome, and Egypt became a Roman province ruled by a Roman governor. By that year (30 B.C.) at the latest, Rome became the dominant world power, the sixth world power. The march of world powers, as marked out by the metallic image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, had now descended to the legs of iron. Daniel, interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, foretold this to him, saying: “And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things; and like iron which crushes, it shall break and crush all these.” (Dan. 2:40, RS) The fact that there were two legs of iron did not mean that the world power symbolized by the legs was divided into an East and a West or a North and a South, any more than the fact that there were two silver arms meant that the Persian world power was divided politically into two opposite parts. The Roman world power, the sixth world power in Biblical history, went through changes and proved stronger than the golden, silver and bronze (copper) empires prior to it. For strength and ability to crush, it was indeed like iron.

(To be continued)

[Footnotes]

“Cuneiform allusions to Belshazzar have thrown so much light upon the role which he played that his place in history stands clearly revealed. There are many texts which indicate that Belshazzar almost equalled Nabonidus in position and prestige. Dual rulership during most of the last Neo-Babylonian reign is an established fact. Nabonidus exercised supreme authority from his court at Têmâ in Arabia, while Belshazzar acted as co-regent in the homeland with Babylon as his center of influence. It is evident that Belshazzar was not a feeble viceroy; he was entrusted with ‘the kingship.’”—See page 186 of Chapter XIV, entitled “The Meaning of Non-Cuneiform Allusions to Belshazzar,” of Volume XV of the above series under the title “Nabonidus and Belshazzar—A Study of the Closing Events of the Neo-Babylonian Empire,” by Raymond Philip Dougherty, William M. Laffan Professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature and Curator of the Babylonian Collection, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Sharing the Good News by Contributing Personally

“Your contribution prospects” aids kingdom expansion everywhere

BACK in August, 1879, this magazine said: “‘Zion’s Watch Tower’ has, we believe, JEHOVAH for its backer, and while this is the case it will never beg nor petition men for support. When He who says: ‘All the gold and silver of the mountains are mine,’ fails to provide necessary funds, we will understand it to be time to suspend the publication.” The Society did not suspend publication, and The Watchtower has never missed an issue. Why? Because during the nearly eighty years since The Watchtower stated this policy of reliance upon Jehovah God, the Society has not deviated from it.

How about today? Does the Society still maintain this position? Yes. Has the Society ever begged you for money? No. Jehovah’s witnesses never beg for funds. They never petition, dun, pass a collection plate, charge admission, rent pews, conduct gambling or canvass businessmen.

What has the Society done? Given, not solicited; distributed, not begged. Jehovah’s witnesses give of what they have. They have the Kingdom good news and this they give, to the blessing of others.

Earth-wide, Jehovah’s witnesses are united in faith and in endeavor. This unity is evident in spiritual things and also in material things. They know that Proverbs 3:9 states: “Honor Jehovah with your valuable things and with the first fruits of all your produce.” Because every Branch, congregation and individual earnestly seeks to contribute to the welfare of all, the entire New World society is made spiritually strong and prosperous. Material prosperity does not lead to spiritual prosperity. Spiritual prosperity, however, does bring material prosperity sufficient for the needs of Jehovah’s work.

WAYS TO SHARE

There are many ways in which persons can share the good news by contributing personally. One way is in respect to Kingdom Halls. Kingdom Halls have various needs. All in the congregation use them. Someone has provided funds for their construction or rental, their lighting, heating and upkeep. Congregational support by everyone is necessary.

Contributions can be made to the Society for training, transporting and maintaining missionaries in sections of the world where the good news has not heretofore been preached. Donations can be made to the headquarters’ office in Brooklyn and to any Branch office in the world. Contributions made to any Branch help the work in all lands.

When one makes a donation, he does not always know exactly how it will be used, but he sees the results by the expansion of Kingdom preaching. There is no denying the expansion. Reports in the 1959 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses show that the Kingdom good news is being preached in 175 lands and islands of the seas by at least 798,326 Christian ministers. This is heart-cheering. Any gift, regardless of size, aids in sharing the good news with others.

The Society does not publicize contributions, in harmony with what Jesus said: “When making gifts of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your gifts of mercy may be in secret; then your Father who is looking on in secret will repay you.” (Matt. 6:3, 4) To assure those who contribute that the donations are safely received and are greatly appreciated, the Society acknowledges contributions.

Is there anything greater that we could share with others than the good news? Indeed, whatever we do should have that ultimate objective, as Paul put it: “I do all things for the sake of the good news, that I may become a sharer of it with others.”—1 Cor. 9:23.

NOT UNDER COMPULSION

To share the good news with others, sometimes it is necessary to share material things. Paul shows the propriety of making announcement when a privilege of sharing in this respect arises. Nothing Paul said is a justification for solicitation: “I thought it necessary to encourage the brothers to come to you in advance to get ready in advance your bountiful gift previously promised, that thus this might be ready as a bountiful gift and not as something extorted. Let each one do just as he has resolved in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”—2 Cor. 9:5, 7.

In harmony with Paul’s words, each year the Society calls attention to your privilege of making personal contributions and of indicating to the Society the prospects for such donations through the ensuing year. In doing this, the Society is not taking up pledges. Such announcement does not change any donation made in response thereto from being a voluntary donation. For example, in the preparation for constructing the tabernacle, Moses said: “This is the word that Jehovah has commanded, saying, ‘From among yourselves take up a contribution for Jehovah.’” The response? “The sons of Israel brought a voluntary offering to Jehovah.”—Ex. 35:4, 5, 29.

When David prepared for the temple building, he asked: “Who is there volunteering to fill his hand today with a gift for Jehovah?” The response? “It was with a complete heart that they made voluntary offerings to Jehovah.”—1 Chron. 29:5, 9.

Voluntary contributions today show Christian maturity. A child is not mature and he is also dependent, but he grows up. As Christians we should grow up respecting our responsibility to share the good news in whatever ways we can. When one is no longer a child, not only does he support himself, but he is able to care for others. So it is with individuals and congregations comprising the New World society. We reach the point of assisting in material things. A congregation can provide its own Kingdom Hall and then help some other congregation to obtain a Kingdom Hall, and otherwise advance the Kingdom work.

Were most persons on earth devoted to Kingdom activity, money might not be needed. Firms could make gifts to the Society of paper and other printing supplies: transportation facilities could carry Bibles and Bible-study helps without charge; construction contractors and workers could erect the needed Branch and Kingdom Hall facilities free. Postal systems could carry mail free of charge; supply houses could furnish brothers at Bethel with the needed food and clothing. But not everybody is interested in sharing the good news with others, and the Society does not own the paper mills and transportation facilities. The Society pays its way. If a person wishes to assist us in the work we are doing, we accept such assistance and appreciate it. However, we do not ask for it; they offer it. What we can do for such persons is to minister to their spiritual needs.

So that the Society can properly plan its activity for the coming year, there is a voluntary provision known as “Your Contribution Prospects.” This is not a pledge but merely a statement of what one hopes to be able to contribute during the coming year. How may you express yourself in this matter? By writing a card or letter to the Society’s Branch office of the country in which you live. For the United States address your card or letter to: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Treasurer’s Office, 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn 1, N. Y.

The expression could say something like this: “It is my hope that during the next twelve months I shall be able to donate to the work of preaching the good news of God’s kingdom the amount of $——————, which contribution I shall make in such amounts and at such times as prove convenient to me and as I am prospered by the undeserved kindness of Jehovah through Jesus Christ.” [Signed] On page 258 of this issue is a list of English-speaking Branch offices. A complete list is found at the back of most of the Society’s books and booklets.

Is it not a joy to stand before the world as a hard-working, self-supporting New World society? Is it not an inspiring joy to share the good news with others? As Kingdom preaching continues to expand and move mightily, we now again affirm that Jehovah God is truly the Backer of his work and his people.

Questions From Readers

● Did those who submitted to John’s baptism have to be rebaptized later with Jesus’ baptism?—A. R., U.S.A.

What is referred to as “the baptism of John” was the baptism of those natural Jews and proselytes who repented of their sins against the Law covenant. It was a baptism authorized by Jehovah, but which he instructed John to perform. (Luke 3:2, 3; John 1:33) Inasmuch as the baptism of such repentant Jews was an evidence of their repentance of sins against the Law covenant, its performance would be valid as long as the Law covenant was. That means that this baptism could be validly performed until Pentecost A.D. 33. There is no record that any who were validly baptized with John’s baptism were rebaptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

John was sent by Jehovah to prepare the people for the appearance of the Messiah. The Law had been given to them as a tutor to lead them to Christ, but as a nation they had not followed its teaching and were not in position to recognize and accept the one to whom it directed them. (Gal. 3:24) Luke 3:3-6 explains: “So he came into all the country around the Jordan, preaching baptism of those repenting for forgiveness of sins, just as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘A voice of a man crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of Jehovah, make his roads straight. Every gully must be filled up, and every mountain and hill leveled down, and the curves must become straight ways and the rough places smooth ways; and all humanity will see the saving means of God.”’” After having identified Jesus as “the Lamb of God” John the Baptist himself explained the reason for his preaching and baptizing, saying: “The reason why I came baptizing in water was that he might be made manifest to Israel.”—John 1:31.

When Jesus began his ministry he did not tell his disciples who had been instructed by John to be rebaptized in the name of Jesus. Not at all. Their baptism had been performed by a servant of God in accordance with Jehovah’s own instructions and was therefore valid. Nor did he instruct them to perform a different baptism on those who would become his followers during his earthly ministry. Therefore, when we read at John 3:22 that “Jesus and his disciples went into Judean country, and there he spent some time with them and did baptizing,” we understand that the baptism performed had the same significance as did that performed by John.

However, if anyone was baptized with John’s baptism after Pentecost A.D. 33, it was improper. It would indicate that such a one did not appreciate the significance of that baptism. We read of such a case in Acts 19:3-5: “And he said: ‘In what, then, were you baptized?’ They said: ‘In John’s baptism.’ Paul said: ‘John baptized with the baptism of those repenting, telling the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they got baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Inasmuch as this occurred when Paul was out on his third missionary tour, which began about A.D. 52, it is evident that these persons had been baptized after John’s baptism had ceased to have value in the eyes of Jehovah God. Properly, they were baptized again.

However, it is not necessary to be rebaptized every time another prophecy in God’s Word is fulfilled or some truth is more clearly understood. A baptized servant of God who has truly repented of his past course is going to follow Jehovah’s leading in these matters. Thus, when Christ was enthroned as King A.D. 1914 it was not necessary for all true Christians to be rebaptized in recognition of his ruling position. So too, when John the Baptist pointed out Christ as “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world,” it was not necessary for his disciples to get baptized all over again. Their acceptance of Jesus as the Christ was only consistent with the baptism to which they had already submitted. And just as their baptism continued valid at that time, so when Christ ascended to heaven and “God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name,” there was no need for his disciples to show their recognition of this by being baptized again.—Phil. 2:9.

However, a change in baptism was due to come when the Law covenant ceased to be valid. Therefore, not at the beginning of his ministry. but after his resurrection and before his ascension to heaven, Jesus said to his disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) He further told them: “Do not withdraw from Jerusalem, but keep waiting for what the Father has promised, about which you heard from me.” “You will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:4, 8) So from Pentecost on a different baptism was performed, not for repentance of sins against the Law covenant, but “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit,” symbolizing the believer’s dedication.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

For the first time the easy-to-understand and beautifully illustrated book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained will be distributed from house to house by Jehovah’s witnesses during May. The contribution for it will be 75c, and a free booklet will be given with it. Arrangements will be made to call back on those accepting the offer to start home Bible studies.

GET THE MOST FROM BIBLE READING

Has your reading of the Bible led you to conclude that God’s Word contains more than you are getting from it? You can find a wealth of pleasure and profit in its pages by considering its message along with the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. The simple and direct language of this beautifully illustrated Bible aid will thrill you as you come to see the glorious future God has in store for those who love him. It is yours with a free booklet for only 75c if you send at once.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

June 14: Break Free to Do the “Complete Will of God.” Page 261.

June 21: Attain Completeness in the New World Society. Page 268.