The Watchtower — May 15, 1960

In What Do You Boast?

BOASTING is not in itself wrong. It all depends upon in what or whom you boast. Boasting about the wrong thing or person may not only be foolish but harmful and even wicked. That is the way man’s only sure Guide, the Bible, presents the matter.

Some make their ancestry, nationality or race their boast; others, their physical charms, their fine clothes or other material possessions. Still others boast because of their cultural, scientific or artistic achievements. And then there are those who make their religious titles their boast. All such boasting shows a lack of understanding and appreciation of one’s relationship with his Creator and his fellow man.

Fittingly, the Word of God asks of those who thus boast: “Who makes you to differ from another? Indeed, what do you have that you did not receive? If, now, you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”—1 Cor. 4:7.

Forcibly driving home the same point, Jehovah’s prophet likens man to the saw and ax: “Will the ax enhance itself over the one chopping with it, or the saw magnify itself over the one moving it back and forth?” An extreme analogy? Not at all! As the ax and saw are wholly dependent upon human hands to accomplish anything, so man is wholly dependent upon his Creator for his spark of life, the means to sustain it as well as all his mental and physical faculties. If mankind everywhere appreciated this truth, what harmony and peace we would see between races, peoples and individuals!—Isa. 10:15.

Perhaps someone will say, But surely I can boast if I make wise and energetic use of my faculties and opportunities, since so many fail to do so. No, such a one cannot; God’s Word likewise rules that out. In the first place, all God’s gifts are conditional. He therefore rightfully requires that those who receive his gifts show appreciation by making the best possible use of them. As the great Teacher, Jesus Christ, once put it: “When you have done all the things assigned to you, say, ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves. What we have done is what we ought to have done.’”—Luke 17:10.

Furthermore, no matter how hard we may work and how wisely, factors over which we have no control invariably are involved if we have success; even as the farmer depends upon the weather. For Christians, God’s blessing is the all-important factor. Note how forcibly the apostle Paul made this point to the fleshly-minded Corinthians: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept making it grow; so that neither is he that plants anything nor is he that waters, but God who makes it grow. For we are God’s fellow workers.”—1 Cor. 3:6, 7, 9.

In particular should we guard against boasting of our virtues or moral strength. “Let him that thinks he has a firm position beware that he does not fall.” The apostle Peter felt so sure of himself that he boasted that even if all the other apostles deserted Jesus he would not, and he reiterated his boast after Jesus had warned him that he would deny him three times that very night. He thought he had a firm position, but before that night was far spent Peter had proved his Master’s words true by denying him three times.—1 Cor. 10:12; Matt. 26:31-35, 69-75.

Boasting about our plans for the future the Scriptures likewise show to be unwise. “Do not make your boast about the next day, for you do not know what a day will give birth to.” How uncertain life is can be seen from the mishaps, accidents and disasters the press daily reports. So, “do not let one girding on boast about himself like one unfastening”—he may not return alive for “the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle.” Why not? “Because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.”—Prov. 27:1; 1 Ki. 20:11; Eccl. 9:11.

The disciple James uses some strong words in speaking to such boasters: “You do not know what your life will be tomorrow. . . . Instead, you ought to say: ‘If Jehovah wills, we shall live and also do this or that.’ But now you take pride in your self-assuming brags. All such taking of pride is wicked.”—Jas. 4:13-16.

Perhaps the most common as well as the most unwise of all such human boasting is hero worship, boasting in human leaders, religious, political, financial, cultural and suchlike, and in the achievements of man. All such boasting not only is bound to end in disappointment but incurs the wrath of Jehovah God. Why? Because the exaltation and worship of creatures robs God of what is justly and solely due him. Thus also, lauding the United Nations as man’s only hope pushes aside the divinely provided remedy, the kingdom of God. So, “let no one be boasting in men,” nor in the achievements of men. That command was first given because some had been boasting in such men as the apostles Peter and Paul. If there was no reason for boasting in these, certainly there is none for boasting in anyone living today!—1 Cor. 3:21.

And finally, let it be noted that throughout eternity no one will ever have grounds for boasting because of having gained salvation. It will all have been due to Jehovah’s undeserved kindness, as his Word so clearly shows: “By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been saved through faith; and this not owing to you, it is God’s gift. No, it is not owing to works, in order that no man should have grounds for boasting.”—Eph. 2:8, 9.

There is One and only One in whom we can boast, and the more we learn of him the more we will want to boast in him. He is Jehovah God, the Most High, the King of eternity, the Source of all life, the Father of celestial lights, the Giver of every good gift and of every perfect present; the One perfect in power, wisdom, justice and love. Yes, “he that boasts, let him boast in Jehovah.”—1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17.

Assembly Realizations Exceed Anticipations

REALIZATION is greater than anticipation! How true that is, not in the old world, but in the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses! But is that not what we should expect? Did not Jesus tell his apostles that they would receive a “hundredfold now” for all they had given up to follow him? And did not the apostle Paul state: “Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, neither have there been conceived in the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him,” but which ‘God has revealed through his spirit’? No question about it, the peace with God, the understanding of his purposes, the hope of the new world, the association of others of like mental disposition, the progressive learning of new truths and the privilege of giving them out to others far excel what men of honest heart anticipated when they first came in touch with Jehovah’s people.—Mark 10:30; 1 Cor. 2:9, 10.

Striking proof of this is seen in the blessings received at the larger assemblies held by the New World society. These most forcefully bring home to each one in attendance that “all your sons will be persons taught by Jehovah,” that it is good and pleasant when brothers meet together in unity, also that “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.”—Isa. 54:13; Ps. 133:1; Acts 20:35.

At this time all Christian witnesses of Jehovah and their good-will companions are looking forward to the Peace-pursuing District Assemblies that are to be held throughout the world during 1960. Much happiness is in store for all that attend them, and we may be certain that all will find that here again realization will exceed anticipation, even as it did in previous assemblies.

This certainly was true of the Theocracy’s Increase Assembly held in 1950 at the Yankee Stadium. Would the Witnesses fill the place? They not only filled it but packed it out, with a total of 123,707 at the Sunday public talk. For eight days Witnesses from sixty-seven lands heard Bible programs presented in twenty-one different languages, and 3,381 were baptized. There the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released. What a surprise that was! Also, The Watchtower appeared for the first time in its present form, a 32-page instead of a 16-page journal. New also was the Bible-study aid “This Means Everlasting Life” as well as several booklets, including a new songbook. In addition to these publications in English there were many new ones in other languages.

That 1950 assembly had no more than closed when the attention of Jehovah’s witnesses world-wide was directed to the series of “Clean Worship” assemblies to be held in Europe and which reached their climax with one held at the Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., in October. Hundreds of Witnesses from abroad converged on London, Paris, Rotterdam, Frankfurt and other places for these assemblies. How glad they were that they had made the effort to attend, and how happy their hosts at these convention cities were to welcome their brothers from so many faraway places! At the London assembly a set of tracts was introduced as well as the Bible-study aid What Has Religion Done for Mankind? Here it was brought out that the prophecy at Isaiah 32:1, 2, about “princes” is having fulfillment at the present time. After hearing the thrilling reports of these assemblies, not a few of those who had failed to go abroad for them resolved that if there ever were another series of European assemblies they would attend them. Such had their opportunity in 1955. But in the meantime came the delightful district assemblies of 1952 and the magnificent 1953 New World Society Assembly, also held at Yankee Stadium.

High as the hopes for it ran, here too realization exceeded anticipation. More were baptized—4,640; more attended the public lecture—165,829; and nearly three times as many new publications were released—seventy-five in all. Among the more notable ones in English were “Make Sure of All Things,” “New Heavens and a New Earth,” and the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Vol. I, containing the Octateuch, the eight books from Genesis through Ruth. Here the training program, with the objective of making each Witness capable of giving doorstep sermons, was initiated. And among the many new things learned were that the “precious things” of all nations, of Haggai 2:7, were the great crowd of “other sheep” now being gathered and that Gog, of Ezekiel’s prophecy, was none other than Satan the Devil himself.

At the close of this memorable second Yankee Stadium assembly the president of the Society, N. H. Knorr, told of plans for the 1955 assemblies, which were to spread across the United States and on through Europe. For two years the Witnesses looked forward to these, in the meantime enjoying the district assemblies of 1954. They planned, and saved and worked for them, and made them the subject of their prayers. As a result, when the time came, Witnesses by the thousands, from the four corners of the earth, traveled to Europe for “probably the biggest mass movement of Americans through Europe since the Allied invasion during World War II.”

“Triumphant Kingdom” was the name of these assemblies and a triumph they proved to be for God’s kingdom. Each five days in length, they began in Chicago, Illinois, and ended in Helsinki, Finland. Included in the new Bible literature introduced at the English-speaking assemblies was the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Vol. 11, Qualified to Be Ministers, You May Survive Armageddon into God’s New World, and What Do the Scriptures Say About “Survival After Death”? Appreciated by all, but especially by those who came underground from East Germany to the German assemblies at Nuremberg and Berlin, was the talk “Cautious as Serpents Among Wolves,” which showed that the Scriptures justify the “war strategy” of hiding true facts from the enemy.

The Iron Curtain kept the Witnesses from visiting their brothers in Russia. Most fitting therefore was the feature of the 1956 district assemblies: a petition to the U.S.S.R., requesting, among other things, that the Witnesses outside of Russia be permitted to visit their brothers residing within that country.

Of the rich “Life-giving Wisdom” district assemblies of 1957 it also was true that realization exceeded anticipation. Especially outstanding were the five talks based on the Bible’s five poetic books. The New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Vol. III, which consists of these books, was released at the close of the last of these talks, “The Loved Woman of the Superlative Song.”

And what a convention the 1958 Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses was! For eight days huge throngs of Witnesses from 123 different lands filled both Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds. Many striking new truths were heard, regarding the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel in particular. New publications released included the beautiful and simply penned From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, “Your Will Be Done on Earth,” and the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Vol. IV. Perhaps the most thrilling feature was the adoption of the Resolution that exposed Christendom’s perfidy and showed to the world where the Witnesses stood: foursquare for Jehovah’s name, Word and kingdom. Indicative of the magnitude of the assembly was the number baptized—7,136—and the public meeting attendance—253,922.

Only yesterday, it seems, we had the stimulating Awake Ministers District Assemblies of 1959. In the United States twenty-two of these were held, at which 230,566 attended the public lecture and 4,890 symbolized their dedication by water baptism. Of particular interest were the two talks, “Practical Wisdom in the Space Age,” and “Keeping ‘Clean from the Blood of All Men.’” A special treat at most of these assemblies was the new publication Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, containing a comprehensive and up-to-date history of the modern witnesses of Jehovah.

Truly, all who attended any or all of these assemblies had reason to confess that realization exceeded all anticipation. They found Jehovah to be true to his promise: “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says [Jehovah] of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.”—Mal. 3:10, RS.

In addition to all the foregoing there were still many other joys that accrued to those who attended these assemblies. Think of the joys of anticipation and preparation, of planning and saving to attend the assemblies, especially the international ones. Think of the joys of traveling together to and from the assemblies, not overlooking the opportunities of witnessing along the way. And at the assemblies, in addition to the spiritual feast provided, there were the joys of meeting old friends and making new ones, of serving in an assembly department as well as in the field ministry.

Will you put Jehovah to the test this year by attending at least one of the Peace-pursuing District Assemblies? If the obstacles to your doing so seem insurmountable, remember that God blesses us according to our faith and that, by the very nature of things, the greater the cost and effort, the greater our spiritual appetite and enjoyment; the more we pay for something the more we value it. So let all who love peace and would pursue it, witnesses of Jehovah and their good-will companions, “taste and see that Jehovah is good” by leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to attend one of these assemblies and learn that here again realization can be indeed greater than anticipation.—Ps. 34:8.

1960 ASSEMBLIES

Peace-pursuing assemblies will be held in the following locations shown in the United States, Canada and England:

JUNE 16-19: Manchester, England, Manchester City Football Ground.

JUNE 23-26: Fort Worth, Tex., Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum; Nashville, Tenn., Grandstand, Tennessee State Fairgrounds.

JUNE 30–JULY 3: Toronto, Ont., Canada, Grandstand, Exhibition Park.

JULY 7-10: Los Angeles, Calif., Wrigley Field.

JULY 14-17: Sydney, N.S., Sydney Forum; Washington, D.C., Griffith Stadium; Wembley, Middlesex, England, Empire Pool.

JULY 21-24: Sacramento, Calif., Grandstand, State Fairgrounds; Birmingham, England, Bingley Hall.

JULY 28-31: Detroit, Mich., Briggs Stadium; Edmonton, Alta., Canada, Edmonton Gardens; Portland, Oreg., Multnomah Stadium; Glasgow, Scotland, Crossmyloof Ice Rink.

AUGUST 4-7: Salt Lake City, Utah, Utah State Fairgrounds Coliseum.

AUGUST 11-14: Boston, Mass., Fenway Park.

AUGUST 25-28: Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City Municipal Stadium; Miami Beach, Fla., Miami Beach Exhibition Hall.

The president of the Society will be visiting branch offices in Europe as well as serving at assemblies, or speaking to congregations, in the following cities:

LILLE, FRANCE: June 10-12, Palais de la Foire Commerciale.

PARIS, FRANCE: June 13, Salle Pleyel.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: June 16-19, Manchester City Football Ground.

OSLO, NORWAY: June 22, Nordstrandshallen.

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN: June 23-26, Svenska Mässan.

HELSINKI, FINLAND: June 30, July 1, Messuhalli.

AALBORG, DENMARK: July 2, 3, Aalborg Race Track.

HAGUE, NETHERLANDS: July 7-10, Houtrusthallen.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM: July 11, 12, Dancing Palace.

LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG: July 13, 14, City’s Theater.

STUTTGART, GERMANY: July 14-17, Neckar Stadium.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA: July 21-24, City Hall.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: August 11-14, Fenway Park.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI: August 25-28, Municipal Stadium.

[Picture on page 293]

Yankee Stadium

Polo Grounds

Failing “Both God and Man”

In his first sermon as rector of Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church in New York city, cleric Albert Brown Buchanan declared that Christendom’s Christianity “has become respectable and largely sterile.” Calling New York “the greatest missionary area on the face of the earth,” the clergyman explained that the churches have failed, so much so that “practitioners of psychiatry are doing more to save souls than are Christian churches.” Continuing, Buchanan said: “Christianity has compromised in the attempt to gain acceptance and broad success. . . . We feel more and more overwhelmed by the sense of our own puniness, our own impotence. . . . The church has failed both God and man in New York.”—New York Times, September 14, 1959.

Baptism According to the Divine Will

“The patience of God was waiting in Noah’s days, while the ark was being constructed, in which a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water. That which corresponds to this is also now saving you, namely, baptism.”—1 Pet. 3:20, 21.

1. What call is Jehovah sending out before Armageddon, and with what response?

WE SURELY live in momentous times. A whole world, the present system of things, is madly and blindly rushing toward its destruction in the universal war of Armageddon, when the age-old issue of Jehovah’s supremacy and universal sovereignty is going to be settled once and for all time. But out of that doomed old world Almighty God is calling people of good will of all nations, kindreds and tongues to come and find refuge in the righteous new world that he is creating. Every year thousands upon thousands, from all four quarters of the earth, are responding to the call and take their stand for Jehovah and his kingdom. In time they learn that it is their privilege and obligation to get baptized, according to the divine will.

2, 3. Of what significance is baptism in connection with Jehovah’s purpose of saving people?

² What, then, has baptism to do with the possibilities of being. saved out of the dying old world into the endless new world, which the living God is making? The apostle Peter referred to Isaiah’s prophecy about new heavens and a new earth, which reads: “‘For here I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart. . . . They will do no harm nor cause any ruin in all my holy mountain,’ Jehovah has said.” (Isa. 65:17-25) So Peter wrote: “There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.” Then he goes on to say: “Consider the patience of our Lord as salvation”; and in another place, as quoted above, he speaks of how God’s patience was waiting in Noah’s days, and mentions that eight souls were carried safely through the water. Then he argues: “That which corresponds to this is also now saving you, namely, baptism, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the request made to God for a good conscience) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”—2 Pet. 3:12, 13, 15; 1 Pet. 3:20, 21.

³ We have the Master’s own word for it that this has application right now, for he said that as the days of Noah were, so should the days of the Son of man be. (Matt. 24:37) At that time Jehovah deluged to destruction the then-existing system of things but saved eight persons, who had heeded his warning. In other words, baptism of the whole world in water brought death to the majority and salvation to only a few. So now, when the present order of things will be dissolved, the ungodly men will be destroyed but those who have heard and obeyed Jehovah’s warning message will be saved. That is what Peter is referring to when he speaks of the saving baptism.

4, 5. What was required of those who were saved in Noah’s day? What are the corresponding requirements for salvation in our day?

⁴ He did not mean, though, that the literal act of immersion in the waters of a river or lake is the means of saving, but the condition of being exclusively devoted to God, whereof water baptism is a symbol. How is that? Well, those who were with Noah in the ark and were baptized to him, when the ark was surrounded by the surging waters that fell from the windows of heaven, first had had to put faith in Jehovah’s warning message, which came to them through Noah; then they had had to work with him on the ark and thereby demonstrate their belief in God’s word and their willingness to obey him. And they had to continue in that condition right down to the day when Jehovah himself shut the door behind Noah and those who had actually gone into the ark with him.—Gen. 7:13-16.

⁵ What, then, is it in our day that corresponds to the ark wherein God saved Noah? It is the arrangement for preservation that Jehovah God builds through his Son, the glorified Christ Jesus, that is, “the new system of things.” Here on earth that new system of things is now represented by Jehovah’s witnesses, who have come into it and are organized as a New World society to bear witness to Jehovah’s name and purposes, his King and kingdom, and to live according to the divine will, thus showing the people of good will the way to salvation.

6. Is baptism a matter of choice for those who want to do the divine will?

⁶ All who do come to this New World society in order to learn the way to life and who give themselves to Jehovah God in dedication should be baptized in accordance with Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19, 20: “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. And, look! I am with you all the days until the consummation of the system of things.” So baptism in water is not left as a matter of choice for those who want to do the divine will, as Jehovah is still making disciples of people of all the nations, but it is a requirement that has to be complied with; and an ever-growing number of dedicated persons are now submitting to such baptism every year. A striking example of this was given on that memorable day during the Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses, in New York city in the summer of 1958, when 7,136 persons were immersed in water.

WHO MAY BE BAPTIZED?

7, 8. Of what is baptism a symbol, as illustrated in Jesus’ case?

⁷ Now, as to who should be baptized and in what way, in order to be in harmony with the divine will, Peter said that baptism is what saves, not a cleansing of the filth of the flesh, but rather “the request made to God for a good conscience.” Thus infant baptism is ruled out at once, because an infant cannot make such a request to God. Baptism is, in fact, a symbol, an act of confession, of what has already taken place in the heart of the baptized one: that he has dedicated himself to Jehovah God, to live henceforth according to the divine will. This is what Jesus’ own baptism meant. He is the great Exemplar to be followed by all who want to serve Jehovah God.

⁸ Matthew tells us that John the Baptist was immersing Jews who had repented of their sins against the Law covenant, which Jehovah had made with that nation. One day Jesus came to John to be baptized. But John hesitated to do it, because he knew that Jesus had not transgressed the covenant. Jesus then said that it ought to be done, in order to “carry out all that is righteous.” (Matt. 3:15) And the apostle Paul writes, in Hebrews 10:9, that at that time Jesus fulfilled the words of the psalm: “Look! I am come to do your will,” O God. (Ps. 40:7, 8) Jesus had now dedicated himself to do the special work that the divine will prescribed for him, and that was written “in the roll of the book,” that is, in the Hebrew Scriptures, which contained “the sacred pronouncements of God.” (Rom. 3:1, 2) And so, when John dipped Jesus completely under the water of the river Jordan, that was a symbolic act that testified that Jesus was now dead as to his earthly way of life up till then.

9. How must the act of baptizing be performed in order to make the proper symbol?

⁹ Jesus set the pattern as to why baptism must be performed in that way, by complete submerging, in order to be a picture, a symbol. The baptized one, in being dipped out of sight, is “buried” in the water. That such was the way John was baptizing is shown, aside from the fact that the Greek word translated “baptize” means “to dip, to submerge,” by the statement found in the apostle John’s narrative: “John [that is, the Baptizer] also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was a great quantity of water there.” (John 3:23) But the baptizer does not leave the person submerged there to die in the water. No, the baptizer raises him up again, as a symbol of the fact that he is now to walk in a new way of life, wholly devoted to Jehovah God, whose divine will must henceforth be his guide. Those who are being baptized do thereby testify that they have broken loose from the old world, in which they were born as the imperfect children of Adam, and which world is ruled by Satan, the great opposer of God and his kingdom; and they have come to seek refuge in the arrangement that Jehovah has made for men and women who believe, and that corresponds to the literal ark in Noah’s day.

10-12. (a) What does it mean that baptism is done “in the name of the Father”? (b) In the name “of the Son”? (c) In the name “of the holy spirit”?

¹⁰ When Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of people of all the nations, he said, as quoted above, that these disciples should be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit.” The act of baptism, then, must be a confession of the fact that the baptized one has come to know that Jehovah God is the Supreme One, the almighty Creator and Giver of life, the righteous and all-wise God and the loving Provider of salvation from sin and its woeful results. He must also have seen the great issue that overshadows everything else in the world and that is soon to be settled forever, to Jehovah’s eternal praise, namely, the issue of universal domination: Is Jehovah God to rule the universe, or is the Devil? Connected with that is this lesser issue: Can men on earth serve Jehovah with integrity when subjected to trials and persecutions? With this knowledge the one who is going to be baptized according to the divine will has dedicated himself to Jehovah, willing to do His will at whatever cost.—Job 1:9-11; Jude 25.

¹¹ Today, too, the baptized one also confesses that he has seen that Jehovah has given to his first-born, beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the name that is above every other name, so that there is salvation in none other. Jesus Christ is Jehovah’s chosen King and has now come in the glory of his kingdom and as the righteous Judge, and all who desire to live must “kiss the Son,” that is, hail him as King and obey his orders, and in due time he will become their Everlasting Father.—Acts 4:12; Matt. 25:31; Ps. 2:12; Isa. 9:6, AS.

¹² That baptism is also done in the name of the holy spirit means that the baptized one is testifying to the fact that he has come to know that the holy spirit is the active force of the living God, which he sends out through his Son, Christ Jesus, and which operates toward Jehovah’s people, enlightening and directing his theocratic organization on the earth today as it did in the days of the apostles; and that the immersed one has rendered himself in submission to this holy force.—Acts 1:8; 20:28; Joel 2:28, 29.

13. What did Jesus do after he had received the holy spirit following baptism?

¹³ It was this holy spirit or enlightening and empowering force from God that came over Jesus when he rose out of the water of Jordan; and now mark what he did after that. After he had been in the wilderness for forty days and had been tempted by the Devil, he began to proclaim: “The kingdom of God has drawn near. Be repentant and have faith in the good news.” (Mark 1:15) The Devil had offered Jesus all the kingdoms of this world, but Jesus refused to have anything to do with him, for “it is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Luke 4:6-8) It was Jehovah’s kingdom that he desired, and for it he was going to work, bear witness and suffer persecution, yes, he was willing even to lay down his life for it. And why was he put to death? It was because of his absolute loyalty to Jehovah’s kingdom, which is the instrument for vindicating his Father’s holy name and bringing salvation to obedient creatures, by means of Jesus’ redeeming blood.—John 18:33-37; 19:12-16.

14. What should one who contemplates getting baptized ask himself?

¹⁴ In view of this faithful example the one contemplating baptism should ask himself: Am I willing to do as Christ did, to publish the kingdom of heaven and stay loyal to it? Can I see myself as part of that happy crowd that John described in Revelation who stand before the throne and joyfully cry out: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb”? They were shown as having palm branches in their hands; just as when Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, seated upon the colt of an ass, the crowd that was then gathered there took branches from palm trees and went out to meet him and shouted: “Blessed is he that comes in Jehovah’s name, even the king of Israel!” In the great crowd of worshipers who now “meet” him and hail him publicly is where everyone belongs who dedicates himself now to Jehovah God.—Rev. 7:9, 10; John 12:12-15.

15. (a) Baptism marks the beginning of what? (b) What must the baptized one do in order to live forever? What counsel did Paul give in this connection?

¹⁵ The baptism or immersion really marks the public announcement of something new. Here now is a person who has dedicated his life to Jehovah God. He thereby, so to speak, seals the contract made in prayer that binds him to Jehovah, to obey his divine will and support his worthy cause. He is expected to be what James 1:25 calls “a doer of the work ‘ and he is to be “happy in his doing it.” Salvation is not assured to you once the step of baptism has been taken, but rather you must, as Paul says, “keep working out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil. 2:12) When one has given himself to Jehovah to be his slave he must not leave Jehovah’s service—it means his life, and it is for life! In order to live forever one must forever be Jehovah’s obedient slave. In order to be that, it is necessary to associate now with his New World society, which is under the command and direction of the Greater Noah, Christ Jesus. This requires one to study God’s Word both privately and in meetings that are arranged for this purpose, and these keep one spiritually fit to have a share in spreading the good news of the ruling kingdom. The apostle Paul gave good advice in this regard when he wrote to the Hebrews (10:23-25): “Let us hold fast the public declaration of our hope without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to incite to love and right works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.” The day that he referred to has now drawn very near indeed. This must never be forgotten.

16. (a) What should the baptized one be careful to avoid? (b) What course under persecution meets with Jehovah’s approval?

¹⁶ The one who undergoes baptism should remember also that he must not let material riches allure him and cause him to leave the proper course of exclusive devotion to Jehovah, not even to get some temporary economic advantage from using the methods of the selfish old world. The danger of being ensnared into letting material things mean more to one than the high principles of New World living must always be watched. Neither should bad repute or threats of persecution, because of participating in the work of bearing witness, be allowed to hinder one from following the right course. ‘Think of Jesus,’ counsels the apostle, ‘who has endured such contrary talk by sinners.’ Think of the apostle John, who served Jehovah faithfully even in his old age, although it meant being exiled and put to hard labor as a prisoner on the island of Patmos; and of how Paul himself kept on faithfully amid great and continued persecution. (Heb. 12:2, 3; Rev. 1:9; 2 Cor. 11:23-27) Think of Jehovah’s witnesses in Germany in Hitler’s day and now behind the Iron Curtain and elsewhere under various dictatorships, how sufferings and privations have only spurred them on to greater zeal and how Jehovah has wonderfully blessed their efforts.

17. What special warning did Jesus give for our day?

¹⁷ One must never become so sure of himself that he thinks he is immune from being tempted to leave Jehovah’s service for one reason or another. He should remember that the King, Jesus Christ, himself warned, in Matthew 24:12, 13: “Because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off. But he that has endured to the finish is the one that will be saved.” It is necessary to be mindful also of the seemingly small things in connection with Jehovah’s work; for example, to stick to one’s agreements in the training program that is carried on in the congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses, not to neglect to report service results, and so on.

18. Should one think of the truth only when attending meetings?

¹⁸ In Revelation 12:9, 17 we read that “the great dragon . . . , the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan,” who is now confined to the vicinity of the earth, is wrathful and wages war against those “who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.” For this reason it is all the more necessary to be on constant watch, to put on the complete suit of armor from God and to learn how to use the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, both to defend oneself and to be able to take the offensive against the enemy. (Eph. 6:11-18) To take the offensive is, in fact, the best defense. In the spiritual war, wherein Jehovah’s servants are engaged, this means to go out and tell other people about our great and wonderful God and show them the way to life. The Christian should not think of the truth only when at meetings, but should have it in his heart. The psalmist wrote: “How I do love your law! All day long it is my concern.” (Ps. 119:97) And not only in the daytime was that so, but also at night: “O God, you are my God, I keep looking for you. . . . When I have remembered you upon my bed, during the night watches I meditate on you half-aloud.” (Ps. 63:1, 6) When the heart is full of the truth, it is not difficult to speak to others about it; and that is what one should do, for “with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation,” says Paul in Romans 10:10. And Peter says that Christians should always be “ready to make a defense before everyone that demands of [them] a reason for the hope” they have.—1 Pet. 3:15; Luke 6:45.

19. What should be the motive for dedication and baptism, and how is that motivating power manifested in our day?

¹⁹ If out of love one makes a dedication and obeys the command to get baptized, then the keeping of God’s other commands, such as that about public declaration of one’s faith and about attending meetings, will be easy, for they are fruits of love also. The exercising of love in association with fellow Christians results in greater appreciation of God’s requirements. The proverb says: “By iron, iron itself is sharpened. So one man sharpens the face of another.” (Prov. 27:17) Refraining from active service after baptism, like holding back from baptism itself, leaves one just outside that inner circle of nearness to God. At Acts 2:46, 47 we read that “day after day they [the apostles and the other early Christians] were in constant attendance at the temple with one accord, . . . praising God and finding acceptance with all the people.” Today all the great crowd of “other sheep” that have associated with the remnant of the joint heirs of Christ have been baptized with one accord and they have now joined in one accord in preaching the good news of the Kingdom.

20. (a) What song are Christians now singing against Satan? (b) Who will be saved when Gog makes his final attack?

²⁰ In doing so these Christian spiritual warriors will also be singing the taunting song against Satan, the oppressive ruler of the old world, telling the people that his time is limited, until Jehovah’s great Vindicator, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will send him and all his hordes of wicked demons into the abyss. Before that happens, however, Satan, the Gog of Ezekiel’s prophecy, will make his final, all-out, desperate attack on Jehovah’s people, whereof the prophet tells in chapters 38 and 39, and then only those will be saved who have ‘acknowledged their belief in Christ, the King, before men.’—Isa. 14:3-20; Luke 12:8, 9.

21. Why is it proper for one who is contemplating baptism to scrutinize himself, and for what should he then look?

²¹ Now, as to the appropriateness of getting baptized, it must be remembered that Jehovah searches the hearts and tries the minds of those he accepts for baptism. Proverbs 21:2 says: “Jehovah is estimating hearts.” We stand or fall before him and are accountable to him. So it is proper that each one who is contemplating baptism should scrutinize himself in the light of God’s Word to see whether there is something that would really prevent him from getting baptized. This will be further discussed in the following article.

“What Prevents Me from Getting Baptized?”

1, 2. Why did Philip not prevent the newly converted Ethiopian from getting baptized?

THE great work of discipling people of all the nations and baptizing them found one of its earliest converts in the person of a cabinet minister from Ethiopia, a Jewish proselyte, who was returning to his homeland after a journey to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. He was sitting in his chariot reading the prophecy of Isaiah. Jehovah’s angel directed Philip to go and preach to him, and this Philip did. After Philip’s explanation that the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy applied to Jesus, the Ethiopian eunuch had made up his mind. This was it! This was the truth! And so, as the account at Acts 8:36-38 relates: “Now as they were traveling over the road, they came to a certain body of water, and the eunuch said: ‘Look! a body of water; what prevents me from getting baptized?’ With that he commanded the chariot to halt, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.”

² Philip did not prevent the Ethiopian eunuch from getting baptized. He knew that as a Jewish proselyte he had enough knowledge and understanding to know what he was doing. Philip knew this was no snap decision on the spur of the moment. He also knew that the Ethiopian qualified as a candidate for baptism in the matter of moral cleanness. Was he not just returning from worship at the temple and had he not gone to the extent of a strenuous journey to do so? Had not Philip been called by the holy angel to witness to this man, indicating that God had ‘estimated the heart’ of the Ethiopian and was calling him into God’s organization for service? Yes. So why would Philip prevent the baptism?

3-5. What requirements must a person meet in order to qualify for baptism?

³ No man can prevent another from being baptized if he meets God’s requirements. It is Jehovah God who decides what qualifications must be met by candidates for baptism. Persons not meeting the requirements Jehovah sets are automatically prevented by him as being ineligible. The baptizer, or an understanding baptized ordained Christian minister knowing the facts, would then explain why such one does not qualify. Those desiring to do the divine will must come to God on his terms and meet his requirements. Only those persons who acknowledge the universal sovereignty of Jehovah, who trust in the ransom and are washed clean, who submit to the kingship of Jehovah’s Son, Christ Jesus, and who follow the leading of the holy spirit qualify for baptism. In this respect it should be noted that understanding and recognition of these fundamental doctrines is even more required than is technical Scriptural knowledge concerning them. Advanced detailed knowledge of the Scriptures may, and often does, come after baptism. Paul said concerning Christians in his day: “But you have been washed clean, but you have been sanctified, but you have been declared righteous in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God.”—1 Cor. 6:11.

⁴ Another requirement for all candidates of baptism is recorded for us at Isaiah 52:11: “Turn away, turn away, get out of there, touch nothing unclean, get out from the midst of her, keep yourselves clean, you who are carrying the utensils of Jehovah.” Thus it is clear that all who wish to do the divine will must separate from the world and be clean. They must make whatever adjustments are necessary in their lives to conform to the moral standards laid down in God’s Word.

⁵ The requirements for baptism, then, can be summed up as (1) having enough knowledge and understanding to know what is being agreed to, and (2) being morally clean. In some countries the organization of Jehovah’s witnesses has had to take measures to make sure that both of these requirements are met. If someone does not yet understand the implications of baptism, then it is not the overseers in the organization who are preventing him from being baptized. Rather, baptism is temporarily postponed because of the ineligibility of the candidate. He does not understand and therefore could not be in harmony with God’s requirements. In the same way, a child under the age of reason is not eligible for baptism, because he does not understand all it means. In certain adults this lack of ability to understand the seriousness of the step they are taking is sometimes observed. In lands where this is common, the organization requires that a certain period of study be completed before a candidate is eligible. In the same manner, persons who need to make adjustments in their moral standard of living to conform to God’s righteous requirements should not be baptized until those changes have been made.

6, 7. (a) Who must answer the question as to whether there be something that prevents baptism? (b) When should dedication and baptism take place?

⁶ Now for all who have reached the point in life where they have accepted the truth and are prepared to come to Jehovah God as clean vessels, the time has come when they must ask themselves the same question as did the Ethiopian eunuch: “What prevents me from getting baptized?” His question was really one of self-scrutiny. Everyone must answer that question with a good conscience toward God.

⁷ If one recognizes the truth that Jehovah is and that his Son reigns, that his ransom applies to oneself and that Christ Jesus is dispensing the holy spirit in connection with God’s visible organization on the earth; if one has no problem relating to clean living that takes time to readjust; if one has been thinking seriously of giving one’s life to God’s service, what can one say in good conscience to the query: “What prevents me from getting baptized?” Nothing, except to express the same conclusion as the Ethiopian: Nothing prevents! There you have it! At the moment when one realizes that there is nothing preventing him is when he must be obedient to God and not postpone the receiving of water baptism.

8, 9. (a) Why are some dedicated ones postponing the step of baptism? (b) Will such postponing help in meeting responsibilities?

⁸ There are some dedicated ones, however, who for one reason or another are postponing their baptism. In some places in the earth as many as twenty-eight percent of those who publish the kingdom of God have not yet been baptized. If they are dedicated to God through Christ, what are the reasons for this? What is preventing them? A few are babes in knowledge and understanding and they should study more to have proper appreciation. Some others, new in the truth, have not had time to strip off the unclean habits of the world or straighten up their way of living with the opposite sex. These should get their lives straightened out first, become clean and stay clean. But by far the greatest number of these are persons who have enough knowledge to know the seriousness of the step of dedication. They are clean. If they have made a dedication and are still postponing baptism, they are disobeying a command. If they are not yet dedicated, then the answer is very simple: They should give themselves to God in complete dedication and stop holding back.

⁹ What prevents a clean person? Nothing, except a little thought in the mind of one who thinks that by postponing dedication a little longer he will be better able to meet the responsibilities. That is not so. In Asia, in Africa, in many countries where people have not had any Christian background those desiring to do the divine will have been able to come to a conclusion that they must change their lives over to Christian living in order to qualify for salvation. Oh, it takes a fierce inner struggle for a while, but as soon as the struggle is over and the realization that this is the truth dawns on him, that person quickly dedicates himself to Jehovah and submits to water immersion. But, remember, baptism is the symbol; it is not your dedication. Being dipped in water does not make the change. The heart must have changed. In many cases this change takes place in just a few months. Then there must be the holding faithful to the dedication.

10. Why should one not be fearful of dedicating himself although some have failed to be faithful?

¹⁰ How, then, can an answer be made to God in good conscience that there is some good reason to postpone dedication and baptism? No answer can. Some may be thinking that they know someone who made a dedication and failed. That may be, but what about those thousands upon thousands of dedicated ones all over the earth that are not failing, that are holding faithful to their dedication and baptism under great stress, persecutions and pressures of all kinds? There are certainly many more examples of those who dedicate and succeed than of those who dedicate and fail. It is not at all necessary to be fearful any longer. If one knows he should dedicate himself to God and be baptized and does not do so, the responsibility before Jehovah is the same as if he did. The man who makes a dedication and fails will not survive Armageddon, but neither will the man who postponed dedication and never took the steps to qualify him for life. Both will be equally dead. Why be in either class?

11. Could there be a more favorable time for dedication than the present?

¹¹ Could the desire for a more favorable time to dedicate one’s life to God because of the reluctance to give up the pleasures of the world be preventing baptism? There could certainly never be a more favorable time than now. As for the urgency of the time now and the pleasures of this world, the apostle admonishes at 1 John 2:17: “The world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.” There is no reason to delay longer, but every reason now to make up one’s mind to do the divine will all the way. There will never be a better or more urgent time to do so than right now.

12, 13. Give modern examples of how former ties have been broken by members of various faiths and a firm stand taken for Jehovah’s clean worship.

¹² The one submitting himself to baptism has broken former ties with Christendom or heathendom. This seemingly difficult step is being taken every day. In Africa the influence of witch doctors and fear of voodoo have been broken through the determination of newly dedicated and baptized Christians. In the Orient the powerful hold of ancestor worship has been repudiated even by old grandmothers who have worshiped their ancestors for many decades. This step has lost them old friends and acquaintances—something that is not easy for them, for to most Oriental people the standing among their friends and neighbors is more important than anything else in life. From all kinds of former beliefs people have come, dedicating and symbolizing that dedication by water immersion. Then they keep right on walking in their integrity. They have done what the Scriptures tell them to do, at 2 Corinthians 6:17: “‘Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing,’ ‘and I will take you in.’”

¹³ That is just what Jehovah has done today. How marvelous it is and how awe-inspiring it has been to see the spirit of Jehovah work on the minds of those formerly bound by pagan customs to repudiate the worship of demons and become ardent worshipers of Jehovah! This means making the mind over, and sometimes even a change of circumstances, but nothing has prevented them from dedicating and then being baptized. Some of these baptized ones were formerly followers of Buddha, striving for the nothingness of nonexistence. Some were formerly Confucianists, believing the best way of life was to follow a passive course of character development. Some were fiercely nationalistic Shinto worshipers of the Japanese emperor; some were Taoists, Mohammedans, Hindus, demon worshipers and atheists. Jehovah has taken them all in. Dedication and baptism became the door through which they were taken in. Any dedicated ones today thinking of postponing baptism should look at these marvelous modern-day examples of faithfulness from every quarter of the globe. By not holding back they have overcome all obstacles that might have prevented them from getting baptized.

14. Why must dedication never be “halfhearted”?

¹⁴ Dedication can never be a “halfhearted” thing. The footnote rendering of Psalm 119:113 substitutes the expression, “the double-minded ones I have hated,” for the main rendering, “the halfhearted ones I have hated.” Those understanding the necessity of dedication and baptism, but who for some reason hold back, are really being double-minded. One mind urges them to dedicate, the other influences them to try to hold on just a little longer to the glittering pleasures of this world. The greatest of Jesus’ two commandments was to “love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul.” (Matt. 22:37) No room for halfhearted dedication there. James (4:8) admonishes the “indecisive ones” to draw close to God, and he will “draw close to you.” Those who hold back are also holding themselves just outside that close, warm relationship with our Creator that comes with full dedication.

15. How should desire for dedication and baptism be developed in the hearts of the good-will people?

¹⁵ Jesus’ command to go and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them, was given to faithful Christians of the early congregation. These loyal ones taught the seriousness of baptism to the new converts. So today, it is the responsibility of the mature to teach the seriousness of baptism. It is part of the upbuilding of the weak, for which the strong are responsible to the great Shepherd. By patient, tactful teaching and example they develop in the new person the desire for baptism. This is done gradually, but from very early in the weekly home Bible study that one conducts with the good-will person. Paul says: “For ‘anyone that calls upon the name of Jehovah will be saved’. However, how will they . . . hear without someone to preach?” (Rom. 10:13-15) In the same manner, how will people of good will know the way to translate their newly learned truth into New World living and dedication if the mature Christians do not develop the desire in the hearts of these good-will persons?

16, 17. (a) Could one overdo encouraging to get baptized? (b) Why should premature baptism be guarded against?

¹⁶ Encouraging baptism can be overdone to the point where the baptism is no longer the decision of the individual, and this should be avoided. All Christians take a personal interest in their future brothers and they want them to take this necessary step of obedience for life and be baptized. Yet, no Christian can urge baptism on another against his will. Baptism follows a private dedication of the heart to do the divine will of Jehovah. It must be a freewill decision, the deciding one knowing well what is involved and being willing to accept the responsibilities of service that go with it. The practice of being obedient to one’s elders that exists in many Oriental countries cannot be applied when it comes to deciding on baptism. One should never be baptized to please parents or the influential head of a family who might happen to be one of Jehovah’s witnesses.

¹⁷ Premature baptism should be guarded against. Baptism prematurely without the proper appreciation results in double-minded persons who look back into the world and long for the things left behind. That one’s separation from the world is required should definitely be first understood. Jesus said: “No man that has put his hand to a plow and looks at the things behind is well fitted for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) In the year 1959 there were 86,345 persons who put their hand to the plow. May they never turn and look at the things behind!

18, 19. What responsibility rests upon overseers and other mature Christians toward the newly interested ones?

¹⁸ In the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, when Philip heard him reading the prophecy of Isaiah he asked him: “Do you really know what you are reading aloud?” (Acts 8:30) This was in effect an examining of the Ethiopian and then, by explaining the Scriptures to him, Philip made sure he did know. A discerning minister is able to point out the things the student needs to know in such a way that he will see the necessity of dedicating himself, and he will never have to be asked to dedicate himself to God. A skillful and discerning minister knows how to do this. At Proverbs 20:5 it is written: “Counsel in the heart of a man is as deep waters, but the man of discernment is one that will draw it up.” The mature minister will not be timid to make known to the future candidate for baptism what Jehovah’s moral requirements are. The new person will then seek his counsel. Those who bear the vessels of Jehovah must be clean. Where moral standards have to be changed to conform to Bible principles, tactful early drawing up of the deep waters of counsel by the minister is needed so that the candidate can begin to rearrange his life where necessary. If a minister has been timid to bring up these matters, the candidate may have to meet the issue too suddenly and it may come as a shock of cold water.

¹⁹ Overseers and study conductors in the congregation organization also take an interest in the new persons of good will. In First Thessalonians, in the second chapter, 1Th 2 verses 3-12, the role of the mature overseer and conductor is summed up: “For the exhortation we give does not arise from error or from uncleanness . . . at no time have we turned up either with flattering speech, (just as you know) or with a false front for covetousness . . . we became gentle in the midst of you, . . . to the end that you should go on walking worthily of God who is calling you to his kingdom and glory.” The desire to give one’s life to God in dedication is developed patiently by the mature ministers, overseers and study conductors of the congregation.

20. (a) What advice is given in Ecclesiastes 5:5, 6? (b) Who in our day speak, in effect, like the apostles, as recorded in John 6:68?

²⁰ Now, before a person decides to dedicate himself to be one of Jehovah’s obedient servants, whatever may happen to him because of that, he must have counted the cost. In the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohéleth (Ec 5:5, 6), it says: “Better is it that you vow not than that you vow and do not pay.” There is no compulsion from God in this matter. But if one has tasted that Jehovah is good, he will unquestionably want to be on His side, as the apostles answered Jesus: “Master, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life.”—John 6:68.

BY WHOM?

21. By whom should baptism be performed in order to be in accord with the divine will?

²¹ And by whom should he be baptized? Well, in these days of the established kingdom of God, who on earth are publishing those sayings of everlasting life? There is no question about it; it is Jehovah’s witnesses, the people upon whom he has been pleased to place his own holy name and into whose care he has committed the interests of his kingdom. Hence it is proper that immersion in symbol of dedication should be performed by one of these witnesses and by no other men. Arrangements for baptism are always made at every circuit and district assembly of the Witnesses, and may be made occasionally in local congregations when special circumstances call for that.

22-24. (a) Should candidates be asked questions before being admitted to baptism? Why? How should they be answered? (b) What is the substance of the first question? (c) Of the second one?

²² Before candidates are admitted to baptism it is proper that they answer two questions, so that all those assembled with them for the occasion may be witnesses who have heard from the candidates’ own mouths that they understand what they are doing and that they have taken the required steps. Those who can answer the questions in the affirmative should say, “Yes,” after each question, and should say it loudly and in unison, that is, all at the same time.

²³ The first question is: Have you recognized yourself before Jehovah God as a sinner who needs salvation, and have you acknowledged to him that this salvation proceeds from him, the Father, through his Son Jesus Christ?

²⁴ The second question is: On the basis of this faith in God and in his provision for salvation have you dedicated yourself unreservedly to God to do his will henceforth as he reveals it to you through Jesus Christ and through the Bible under the enlightening power of the holy spirit?

25. What should the baptized ones remember?

²⁵ Everyone who has answered “Yes” to these two questions is eligible for baptism and should be baptized at that same circuit or district assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses. The baptized ones should remember the day; it is the day of their symbolizing their dedication because of which dedication they receive an ordination to preach the good news of the kingdom of heaven. They should make a notation of it, the date and the year, lest they ever forget it. And they should remember also that that day of great and deep joy is no time to show hilarity or fanaticism; it is a serious occasion, and the ones undergoing baptism should have a prayerful attitude, just as we read about Jesus, that he prayed when he went up out of the water.—Luke 3:21.

26. What should all who learn the truth and take their stand for God now do?

²⁶ The conclusion of the matter, then, is that it behooves all who learn the truth about Jehovah God and about his Son, the Redeemer and Savior of man, and take their stand by dedication on the side of the Creator to get baptized without fail in symbol of it, according to the divine will, and then continue in loving obedience to that will. For “he that does the will of God remains forever.”—1 John 2:17.

Jehovah Has Become King

Has God always ruled the earth? What will his kingdom mean for mankind?

FOR many years the ancient people of Israel slaved under tyranny to Egypt. Its Pharaoh even embarked on a policy of genocide to wipe them out. What a time of rejoicing it was when, on Nisan 14, 1513 B.C., they marched out of Egypt! Fittingly God commanded them to commemorate this date. Although Pharaoh not long thereafter put them once more in jeopardy at the Red Sea, momentarily, and they themselves had to war to take possession of the land of Canaan, that date did mark the turning point, the beginning of their full deliverance.—Exodus, chaps. 1-15.

In modern times other peoples annually commemorate other dates as turning points in their quest for freedom. For the people of the United States it is July 4, 1776; for those of Brazil it is November 15, 1899; for those of China it is the “double ten,” October 10, 1911.

But the most important date for all human creation is 1914 (about October 1), for that marked the greatest turning point in all human history. It will eventually result in giving all men of good will toward God freedom not only from political tyrants, but from all forms of tyranny, by unseen demons, by economic giants, by powerful religious organizations, and even freedom from sin, sickness, pain and death. How so? Because from that year on the prophetic words apply: “Sing to Jehovah a new song. . . . Say among the nations: ‘Jehovah himself has become king.’”—Ps. 96:1, 10.

JEHOVAH AS KING

But perhaps you will ask, Has not God always been King—from the very time he had at least one subject, his only-begotten Son? Yes, that is true regarding his heavenly dominions but not of his earthly one. While Adam and Eve remained obedient God’s rule did directly extend to this earth, but not since their rebellion. Since then there has been no direct rule of God upon this earth save in the tiny area held by the nation of Israel and while its kings did “sit upon Jehovah’s throne.” These served as deputy kings for Jehovah as it were. With the overthrow of the last of these kings, Zedekiah, began “the appointed times of the nations.”—1 Chron. 29:23; Luke 21:24.

True, whenever his purposes have been involved Jehovah has exercised rule “in the kingdom of men,” maneuvering men and nations according to his sovereign will. But such men and nations have not been his deputies nor his kingdoms. Rather, they have been the deputies and kingdoms of Satan the Devil. For this reason that one is termed “the ruler of this world,” and “the god of this system of things,” in whose power “the whole world is lying.” Had it been otherwise Jesus would not have taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come.—Dan. 4:17, AS; John 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 John 5:19.

Why has God tolerated rebellion upon this earth, and that for so long? He has permitted it only—and that temporarily—because of Satan’s boast that he could turn all men away from God. (Job, chaps. 1, 2) At his appointed time Jehovah God takes action, for he cannot forever permit these conditions without, in effect, denying his sovereignty, which it is impossible for him to do. (2 Tim. 2:13) When he displays his sovereignty by establishing direct rule toward this earth, the prophetic words apply: “Jehovah himself has become king!” “Yahweh hath become king.”—Ps. 97:1; Ro.

Failure on the part of most translators of the Bible to appreciate these truths accounts for the fact that most versions render the psalmist’s words, “Jehovah [or, The Lord] reigns!” (AS, AV, RS, AT) And so we also find that Biblical commentators generally apply these words either to God’s eternal rulership or to certain annual celebrations of the Jews. However, such renderings and explanations are neither in line with the original Hebrew word used nor with the circumstances that called forth Psalm 96.

The original Hebrew word here rendered by so many “reigns” does not mean a continuous or eternal reigning but refers to the beginning of a reign. That is why Bible writers used it in regard to the beginning of the reigns of Adonijah, Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah.—1 Ki. 1:18; 22:41; 2 Chron. 29:1.

That the beginning of a reign is indicated can also be seen by noting the circumstances that caused King David, for one, to exclaim, “Jehovah himself has become king!” The sacred ark of the covenant had been taken by priests into battle to assure Israel victory, as though it were a magic charm that would work miracles even though the Israelites were under God’s displeasure. To the dismay of the Israelites, the Philistines captured it, but the latter were only too glad to get rid of it because of the havoc it wrought among them. For years it then lodged at the homes of two Levites, Abinadab and Obed-edom, until King David directed bringing it to Mount Zion. Because this ark was a symbol of Jehovah’s presence, David could now shout that Jehovah himself had begun ruling on the royal mountain.—1 Chron. 16:7-36.

SINCE 1914

Jehovah God reigns by and through his Son Jesus Christ. So, when Jesus ascended into heaven, forty days after his resurrection, God said to him: “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.” When that time came the prophetic words were fulfilled: “I, even I, have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. . . . You are my son; I, today, I have become your father. Ask of me, that I may give nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your own possession.”—Ps. 110:1; 2:6-8.

In keeping with these prophecies Jesus Christ likened himself to a nobleman who went to a far country to receive a kingdom and then returned, thereby clearly tying in the beginning of God’s kingdom with the return of Christ. When was he to return? In answer to that question Jesus gave the prophecies recorded at Matthew 24, 25, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Among the various evidences marking the sign of his return Jesus listed wars, famine, earthquakes and pestilence. He also foretold that lawlessness would greatly increase and that “this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations.” The facts show that all these words of Jesus are seeing a most striking fulfillment since the year 1914.

Since that year we are also seeing the fulfillment of Paul’s prophecy: “But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, . . . without self-control, fierce, . . . lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power.”—2 Tim. 3:1-5.

Many scoff, ridicule and mock when such things are brought to their attention, but they cannot point to another period of time in world history when these prophecies have had such thorough-going fulfillment. In fact, their very ridicule is further evidence, for it also was foretold: “In the last days there will come ridiculers with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires and saying: ‘Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as from creation’s beginning.’”—2 Pet. 3:3, 4.

KINGDOM ESTABLISHED IN THE HEAVENS

That 1914 indeed marks the year Jehovah became King is conclusively proved by the voices in heaven that John in his apocalyptic vision heard: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king for ever and ever.” “We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king. But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time . . . to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” Without doubt, 1914 marks the time when the nations became wrathful as never before.—Rev. 11:15-18.

What actually took place in the heavens at that time the apostle John goes on to tell. After introducing God’s heavenly organization of angelic creatures under the symbol of “a woman arrayed with the sun,” and Satan the Devil as “a great fiery-colored dragon,” he describes the beginning of God’s kingdom as the birth of a son “who is destined to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.”

Since Satan had been ruler of this wicked world or system of things without any interruption since 607 B.C., it is not to be expected that he would let the birth of God’s kingdom take place without putting up a fight. And so we read that “war broke out in heaven: Michael [Jesus Christ] and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.” That this conflict was a real fight can be seen from Daniel 10:13, which tells of an instance where one of God’s angels was held up for twenty-one days by one of Satan’s demons.—Rev. 12:7-9.

Just how long this war in heaven lasted the Bible does not say. However, in view of what other prophecies reveal about Jehovah and his Son coming to the spiritual temple of God for judgment in 1918, it follows that the war in heaven must have been over at least by then. That victory meant gladness for those in the heavens but “woe for the earth.”—Rev. 12:12.

But why, it may be asked, since God’s time had come for him to extend his direct rule toward the earth, did not Michael and his angels press their attack against Satan and his demons and rid the earth of their baneful influence? Primarily for four reasons, as the Scriptures explicitly show: (1) To have Jehovah’s name and kingdom made known to all the earth. (2) To permit God’s people, who had fallen into error, to recover themselves, clean up and become active in God’s service. (3) To enable men of good will toward God to heed the call: “Get out of [antitypical Babylon, or Satan’s world organization], my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.” (4) To warn all the wicked so that when they suffer destruction at God’s hands at Armageddon they will know it is from God and that he is supreme.—Ex. 9:16; Isa. 12:1; Rev. 18:4; 16:14, 16.

THE KINGDOM RULE ON EARTH

With the destruction of all the wicked on earth and with Satan and his demons cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years “that he might not mislead the nations any more,” the Kingdom rule will bring to this earth joy, freedom from all bondage and fulfillment of the desire of every righteous heart. Then God’s will will be done on earth as in heaven. Then the earth will “be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.” Then “the meek ones themselves will possess the earth and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” Then God “will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more.”—Rev. 20:3; Isa. 11:9; Ps. 37:11; Rev. 21:4.

More than that, under God-rule mankind will gradually get rid of all imperfection and sinfulness. Then men will no more groan as did the apostle Paul: “For what I wish, this I do not practice; but what I hate is what I do. Miserable man that I am!” What a blessing freedom from that frustration will be!—Rom. 7:15, 24.

Surely the good news that all these blessings are right at the door is cause for singing. Those who have the sure hope of these things are now publishing it far and wide in some 175 lands and territories, using printed publications in over 125 tongues. They bring this good news to the people by word of mouth, printed page, radio and television. They talk about it on the streets, at the doorsteps and in the homes of the people as well as at their Kingdom Halls.

So let all men of good will toward God take heart. Let them not grow apprehensive because of the failures of men, nor blindly hope against hope that somehow, sometime men will bring righteousness and peace to this earth. Let them not permit religious prejudice to close their ears to this beautiful song that Jehovah himself has begun to rule as King and that therefore these blessings are imminent. Rather, let them put their trust in Jehovah and his kingdom. Let them learn this new song themselves and then join in singing it that still others may hear. All those doing so become the happiest of all persons on earth today and have the prospect of enjoying superlative happiness throughout eternity in God’s happy new world.

Part 38—“Your Will Be Done on Earth”

Wonderful will be the earthly blessings bestowed upon mankind when the will of the heavenly Father, Jehovah God, is done on earth. Since A.D. 1914 mankind has been living in the “time of the end” of this wicked world system of things. In order to give warning of the approaching end in a time of trouble such as mankind has never experienced since the day of creation, Jehovah God mercifully raised up the remnant of his spiritual children on earth, who are his sanctuary class because he dwells in them by means of his holy spirit as it they were a sanctuary or temple. He has made this remnant preachers of righteousness, like Noah, who over four thousand years ago warned of the destruction due to come upon that wicked antediluvian world by means of a global flood. Noah and his wife and their three sons and three daughters-in-law survived the flood in an ark built at God’s instruction.

10, 11. (a) Who expect to survive Armageddon along with the great crowd of “other sheep”? (b) In favor of this expectation, what consoling words of Peter do they have in mind?

¹⁰ Like Noah’s wife, who survived with her sons and daughters-in-law, the remnant of the sanctuary class expect to survive the delugelike destruction at Armageddon along with the great crowd of sheeplike worshipers of Jehovah God, who fully dedicate themselves to Him through the Greater Noah, Jesus Christ. They have in mind the apostle Peter’s consoling words. Peter described the ending of the ancient world and then likened the firelike consuming of the Devil’s organization to the burning up of heaven and earth. He said: “By those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water. But by the same word the heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.” To show that the sanctuary class will survive by not turning ungodly but by keeping clean and holy as a sanctuary, Peter added:

¹¹ “The heavens being on fire will be dissolved and the elements being intensely hot will melt! But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell. Hence, beloved ones, since you are awaiting these things, do your utmost to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace. Furthermore, consider the patience of our Lord as salvation.”—2 Pet. 3:6, 7, 12-15.

12. With such fellow survivors, what will the great crowd be able to do like what Noah and his family did right after the flood?

¹² With this remnant of the sanctuary class as fellow survivors, the great crowd of “other sheep” will be in excellent position to renew Jehovah’s worship on the purged globe, just as Noah’s sons and their wives joined in with their father and mother in offering thanks and sacrifice to Jehovah God right after the flood.

13. (a) That his will may be done on earth as well as in heaven, what does Jehovah create and establish? (b) Although they will survive Armageddon, how do they expect to become part of the “twenty-four elders” around God’s throne?

¹³ That the heavenly Father’s will may come to pass and be done on earth as well as in heaven, he creates and establishes the promised new heavens and new earth. The heavenly kingdom for which Jesus taught his followers to pray is the promised new heavens, composed of Jesus Christ and the 144,000 other members of the sanctuary class. True, the remnant of the “spiritual house” expect to survive Armageddon and to dedicate the “new earth” to Jehovah’s worship after the old world’s destruction. However, they also look forward to finishing their earthly course in the new world and dying as a sacrifice of praise and vindication to God. They do not expect to sleep in death but expect to experience instantaneously a spiritual resurrection to life immortal in the heavens with their chief Joint Heir, Jesus Christ. There they will be among the “twenty-four elders” clothed in white, crowned and enthroned around Jehovah’s throne. (Rev. 2:10, 11; 20:6; 4:4; 1 Cor. 15:42-54) They will leave the “new earth” where God’s will is being done.

14, 15. Are the great crowd of the Armageddon survivors the only “other sheep” there are to be on earth, and what arrangement by the Right Shepherd shows whether?

¹⁴ The new earth will be composed of the dedicated “other sheep” for whom the Right Shepherd sacrificially died. (John 10:14-16) Those other sheep who survive the end of the old world and its bad heavens and earth will be members of this post-Armageddon new earth. By continued, unswerving obedience to the royal new heavens they will gain the right to endless life on earth and will never die.

¹⁵ These Armageddon survivors are not all the “other sheep” yet to be. There are many of these other sheep who will have died before Armageddon and will be resting in the memorial tombs. Such other sheep include the just ones like Daniel and other pre-Christian witnesses of Jehovah, from John the Baptist all the way back to the first martyr Abel. For all of these also the Right Shepherd surrendered his soul or laid down his life. In due time under the Kingdom they will be restored to earthly life when there comes the “resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) These righteous ones like Daniel, David and Abel will quickly become a dedicated part of the new earth of God’s new world.

16, 17. (a) Under what symbols did the apostle John see the new world coming into being? (b) What are we to understand by his words, “and the sea is no more”?

¹⁶ Under entrancing symbols the apostle John saw in vision the coming into being of the new world and its capital city under Christ the spiritual Bridegroom. John says: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Rev. 21:1, 2) That the will of the Father in heaven may be done on earth, the “sea is no more.”

¹⁷ We must not misunderstand by this that the great bodies of water so vital to creature life and that mark our globe as different from the other planets of the solar system will be no more with all the exciting variety of plant and animal life that grow in the seven seas! No; but that wicked element of mankind will be no more, out of which the four wild beasts of Daniel’s vision arose to prey upon mankind or out of which the seven-headed, ten-horned wild beast arose to act as the entire visible ruling organization empowered by Satan the Devil. (Dan. 7:2, 3, RS; Rev. 13:1, 2) No more a peaceless body of peoples that is commercialized by the Devil’s organization Babylon and that tosses up messy stuff like seaweed and mire!—Isa. 57:20, 21; Rev. 17:1, 2, 15.

18. Why will the new earth be peaceable?

¹⁸ The symbolic “new earth” will be peaceful because it has God’s approval. There will be “upon earth peace among men whom he approves.” (Luke 2:14, margin) The Prince of Peace, together with his 144,000 happy peaceable ones, will be reigning in the new heavens and preserving the peace on earth. At the climax of Armageddon he will have bruised the original Serpent, Satan the Devil. He will have cast him and his demons into the abyss for a thousand years, to keep him out of ruinous, peace-disturbing mischief.

19. (a) What was God’s original purpose for this earth? (b) Under whom and how will this begin to be carried out after Armageddon?

¹⁹ What, though, was God’s original purpose for this earth? It was that his earthly children, Adam and Eve at that time, should fill the earth with their perfect human kind and should subdue the earth and have all the lower animal creation in subjection. (Gen. 1:26, 28) After the coming of His kingdom this unchanged part of God’s will must be done on earth. By means of the great crowd of “other sheep” who have survived the battle of Armageddon, God will begin to fill the earth with a righteous race. Married survivors of Armageddon and the single survivors that will marry will bring forth children conceived in righteousness, not to die but to take advantage of the opportunities of everlasting life on earth that the Kingdom offers. Such bringing forth of righteously disposed children in the “new earth” will be carried on under the “Father for eternity.” He is the “last Adam,” the glorified Son of man. The “inhabited earth to come” will be subjected to him. (Isa. 9:6; 1 Cor. 15:45; Heb. 2:5; Ps. 8:4-8) He is the Greater Noah, in whose symbolic ark the great crowd of “other sheep” from the three great branches of the human family have survived the end of this wicked world.—1 Pet. 3:20, 21.

20, 21. (a) How will the Armageddon-surviving great crowd proceed to subdue the earth? (b) As for whom of ancient times will Jehovah do for them, that his will may be done on earth?

²⁰ In all parts of the globe will the “other sheep” and their righteously trained offspring be found. They will set themselves to the carrying out of God’s will, to subdue the earth as well as to have the lower animal creatures in subjection. At man’s beginning Adam and Eve were to start with their Paradise, their garden of Eden, and subdue all the earth outside to a Paradise development and beauty. After Armageddon all “those ruining the earth” will have been brought to ruin. Only those eager to upbuild the earth and to “cultivate it and to take care of it” will remain. (Rev. 11:18; Gen. 2:15) Under the “last Adam” in heaven and in collaboration with their “princes in all the earth,” the other sheep and their sheeplike children will proceed to subduing the earth.

²¹ In progress of time, under the blessing and guidance of the kingdom of God, all the earth will be “like Eden,” even “like the garden of Jehovah.” (Ps. 45:16; Isa. 51:3) God will do for these dedicated sheep as he agreed to do for ancient Israel if they obeyed him as King of Israel: “Jehovah will also make you overflow indeed with prosperity in the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your domestic animals and the fruitage of your ground, on the ground that Jehovah swore to your forefathers to give you. Jehovah will open up to you his good storehouse, the heavens, to give you the rain on your land in its season and to bless every deed of your hand.” (Deut. 28:11, 12) As including a global paradise, Jehovah’s will is certain to be done on earth.

22. In the light of what experience of the Israelites down in Egypt for 215 years, why may the “other sheep” surviving Armageddon expect to increase to millions in no great length of time?

²² Long ago down in Egypt faithful Jacob and his family, seventy souls, took up residence to stay there for a while. In the course of 215 years down there and in spite of the tyranny of later Pharaohs, the children of Israel came to number millions, with “six hundred thousand able-bodied men on foot, besides little ones.” (Gen. 46:26, 27; Ex. 1:1-5, 12; 12:37) After Armageddon there will be, not seventy, but likely hundreds of thousands of surviving “other sheep” on hand with which to begin filling the earth with righteous offspring. With no devilish Pharaonic tyranny to defy, but under the blessing of God’s kingdom, these far more than seventy “other sheep” survivors should reproduce and become millions in no great length of time. No obedient ones will be dying.

23. (a) How and why will the “last Adam” not let the surviving “other sheep” then overpopulate or fully populate the earth? (b) When may the past doers of good come forth, and to what will the unrighteous come forth?

²³ At the proper time the glorified Son of man, the “last Adam,” will cause childbearing to cease. He will not let those survivors of Armageddon overpopulate the earth, or even fully populate it. Why not? Because he will fulfill what he said: “The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who have given heed will live. . . . the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:25, 28, 29) Past doers of good things, like Daniel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Moses and King David, and sheeplike ones dying now before Armageddon, will come out of the memorial tombs, doubtless early during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ with his 144,000 joint heirs. (Luke 20:35-38; Heb. 11:2, 39, 40) In agreement with this, the apostle Paul said: “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) The unrighteous, the former practicers of vile things, who come forth to a resurrection with judgment in view, will come forth to opportunities for everlasting life on earth under the kingdom. Providently enough room must be allowed on earth for these to dwell, bringing the earth to a fullness of population, to a comfortable density and spread of population.

24. What kind of day is the thousand-year reign of Christ, and yet why do Psalms 96 and 98 tell us to rejoice because it will be such a day?

²⁴ The thousand-year reign of Christ is a judgment day. (2 Pet. 3:7, 8; Acts 17:30, 31) Nevertheless, Psalms 96:12, 13 and Ps 98:8, 9 call upon the earth to exult and cry out joyfully because Jehovah comes to judge the peoples with righteousness and faithfulness. In ancient times when Jehovah was King over Israel he raised up judges according to the need. Those judges were used to deliver the Israelites from their enemies and to restore them from false worship to the true worship of their God and King. (Judg. 2:18) So Jesus Christ the King he makes the Judge, to deliver all earth’s inhabitants from their inherited weaknesses and imperfections. He will apply to the obedient believers the benefits of his perfect human sacrifice toward perfecting them physically, mentally and spiritually. He will not let the billions of resurrected practicers of vile things form a “sea” for the development of wicked organizations on earth. He will judge toward their improvement even to human perfection, that they may show themselves worthy to dwell in complete happiness in the earthly Paradise forever.—Isa. 11:1-9.

25. What will be done to those resisting the uplifting judgments, and so by the end of the thousand years what will be the condition of all those living on earth?

²⁵ During the thousand-year “day of judgment” any unrighteous ones that resist the uplifting judgments and stubbornly refuse to reform and do God’s will, the Judge Jesus Christ will execute as deserving no further opportunity. They will not be permitted to defile the holy Paradise, the Edenic sanctuary, as opposers and stumbling blocks to the righteously disposed “other sheep.” They will be punished with the “second death” of complete, everlasting destruction. Thus by the end of the thousand years all who then live in the earth-wide Paradise will be humans as perfect as Adam and Eve were when created and put in the garden of Eden. By then the prophecy of Revelation 21:3, 4 will have been realized: “God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more. The former things have passed away.”

26. At that time, what will be done with the kingdom, and at the same time who appear on the scene?

²⁶ That is the time when Christ’s millennial reign ends and “he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, . . . For he must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet. As the last enemy, death is to be destroyed.” This handing over of the kingdom to God will be that “God may be all things to everyone.” (1 Cor. 15:24-28) However, at this time of human perfection and Paradise perfection Satan the Devil and his demons appear on the scene. It is God’s will that “he must be let loose for a little while” at the end of the thousand years spent in the abyss. (Rev. 20:1-3, 7) So release of these wicked spirit forces must come to pass at that time. Why? it may be asked in surprise.

27. At man’s beginning in Eden, what was permitted and now what must be determined respecting perfected mankind in Paradise restored?

²⁷ At man’s beginning Adam and Eve were permitted to be put to a test by that original Serpent, Satan the Devil. Not otherwise, all perfected humankind in the future earthly Paradise sanctuary must be put to a final decisive test. To make sure that all who are favored with the gift of everlasting life in Paradise will forever do God’s will on earth as it is done by loyal angels in heaven above, the King of eternity must put these perfected humans to the determining test. They are now directly in his hand.

28. What question will Satan then put in dispute, and what decision will each one have to make for himself?

²⁸ That is why “Satan will be let loose out of his prison, and he will go out to mislead those nations in the four quarters of the earth.” He will war against the kingdom of Jehovah God over the earth. The question that he puts in dispute will be Jehovah’s universal sovereignty, as to whether it takes in the Paradise earth. How he and his demons will proceed to try to mislead perfected humanity is not revealed. However he tries it, each person will have to decide for himself whether he will be for all time fully committed to Jehovah’s universal sovereignty. Will he be true to his dedication to God through Christ for time without end?

29. How many will let themselves be misled, and what will happen to them and also Satan and his demons?

²⁹ The number of those who selfishly let themselves be misled is left as indefinite as the sand particles of the seashore. All such will be destroyed so completely that it will be as if they were plunged into a lake of fire and sulphur, as if fire came down from heaven as it once did upon Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them irrecoverably. They will suffer the “second death,” a death that Jesus Christ will not destroy. (Rev. 20:7-9, 14, 15) Then, too, Satan the Devil and his demons, having served the purpose of their being let loose for only a “little while,” will themselves be forever consumed in that same lake of fire and sulphur, “the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.” (Rev. 20:10; Matt. 25:41) Hallelujah! The Serpent and his seed visible and invisible are thus at last bruised in the head to their eternal destruction. Heaven and earth are free of them forever!

30. Who will pass this final test, and how will the Supreme Judge express his approval, with what result to the approved?

³⁰ Those who keep their hearts perfect will pass this soul-searching test. Fully assured now of the incorruptible loyalty and exclusive devotion of these, the Supreme Judge Jehovah will express his joyful approval of these ever-faithful ones. He will justify them or pronounce them perfectly righteous. They have followed the example, not of the “first man Adam,” but of the “last Adam,” their beloved “Father for eternity,” Jesus Christ. Together with the judicial declaration of their being righteous, Jehovah God will confer upon them the gift of eternal life, with the right to it. Forever they will enjoy their Paradise in Jehovah’s new world, doing his will on earth as it is done up in heaven.—Rom. 8:33; 6:23.

31. What prayer taught by God’s Son will thus be fully answered?

³¹ According to Jehovah’s unchangeable purpose from the beginning, his holy, perfect and loving will will thus have “come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth.” The prayer that his dear Son taught us to pray will have been fully answered.

(To be continued)

Questions From Readers

● Dr. Bruce M. Metzger, a member of the faculty of Princeton, New Jersey, Theological Seminary, writes: “In the New World Translation it is stated (page 9 of New Testament volume), ‘To each major word we have assigned one meaning and have held to that meaning as far as the context permitted.’ My question arises from the failure to abide by this self-imposed rule at Philippians 2:11, where the word kyrios, elsewhere rendered ‘Jehovah’ 237 times, is not rendered ‘Jehovah’ despite the clear allusion to Isaiah 45:23 and following where the word Jehovah appears. Could it be that the Arian theology of the translators overrode their expressed rule of translating?” Do you deem this inquirer’s question deserving of a sound and thorough reply?—U.S.A.

A number of Watchtower readers, evidently unacquainted with New Testament Greek, have written us a similar question, apparently inspired by the publicity that Dr. Metzger has given to a discussion of this matter. The doctor quotes from the second paragraph on page nine of the Foreword, where we read:

“To each major word we have assigned one meaning and have held to that meaning as far as the context permitted. This, we know, has imposed a restriction upon our diction, but it makes for good cross-reference work and for a more reliable comparison of related texts or verses. At the same time, in order to bring out the richness and variety of the language of the inspired writers, we have avoided the rendering of two or more Greek words by the same English word, for this hides the distinction in shade of meaning between the several words thus rendered.”

The theological doctor quotes part of the above and leaves his reader to imagine that the translators of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures were arbitrary, or self-determining, in their rendering of the Greek word kyʹrios (without the Greek definite article) by the divine name, Jehovah. But in its very Foreword the translators show that they were not acting arbitrarily in rendering the Greek word kyʹrios (without the definite article) into English as Jehovah. If Dr. Metzger has read the Foreword of the above volume through, then he should have learned on what basis the New World translators restored the divine name, Jehovah, to the English translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Beginning on page 19, he should have read the following:

“RESTORING THE NAME: What is the modern translator to do? Is he justified, yes, authorized, to enter the divine name into a translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures? Every Greek reader must confess that in the LXX the Greek words kyʹri·os and the·osʹ have been used to crowd out the distinctive name of the Supreme Deity. Every comprehensive Greek-English dictionary states that these two Greek words have been used as equivalents of the divine name. Hence the modern translator is warranted in using the divine name as an equivalent of those two Greek words, that is, at places where Matthew, etc., quote verses, passages and expressions from the Hebrew Scriptures or from the LXX where the divine name occurs.”

Then to that paragraph there is added a footnote of three paragraphs quoting from three different Greek-English lexicons to show that in the Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew Scriptures the Greek words kyʹrios and theosʹ were used to substitute for the divine name, Jehovah.

Now on page 20 of the Foreword, paragraph one says: “How is a modern translator to know or determine when to render the Greek words Κύριος and Θεός into the divine name in his version? By determining where the inspired Christian writers have quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures. Then he must refer back to the original to locate whether the divine name appears there. This way he can determine the identity to give to kyʹri·os and the·osʹ and he can then clothe them with personality.”

This Foreword shows that in the course of time nineteen translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures, or of parts of them, have been made from the Greek into the ancient Biblical Hebrew, and that these Hebrew translators, including Professor Franz Delitzsch and also Dr. Isaac Salkinson and Dr. Christian David Ginsburg, used the name Jehovah or the Hebrew tetragrammaton (with vowel symbols) in translating the writings of Christ’s apostles and disciples, generally known as the New Testament. Thus, before the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures came along, these Hebrew translators put the divine name in the Christian writings officially called the New Testament.

Consequently on page 20 of the Foreword the New World Bible Translation Committee says in the second paragraph: “To avoid overstepping the bounds of a translator into the field of exegesis, we have tried to be most cautious about rendering the divine name, always carefully considering the Hebrew Scriptures. We have looked for some agreement with us by the Hebrew versions we consulted to confirm our own rendering. Thus, out of the 237 times that we have rendered the divine name in the body of our version, there are only two instances where we have no support or agreement from any of the Hebrew versions. But in these two instances, namely, Ephesians 6:8 and Colossians 3:13, we feel strongly supported by the context and by related texts in rendering the divine name. The notes in our lower margin show the support we have for our renderings from the Hebrew versions and other authorities.”

In view of the above we wonder why the faculty member of the Princeton Theological Seminary quoted only partially from page 9 of the above-mentioned Foreword, but left unquoted to you all the above information in the Foreword concerning how the translators determined upon the fitness of putting the divine name back into the Christian Scriptures. These portions, which the theologian fails to call to your attention, show why kyʹrios (without the definite article) is not always rendered as Jehovah in the New World Translation.

The theologian says that Philippians 2:11 clearly alludes to Isaiah 45:23 and following material. Let us see. These verses, as translated by the American Standard Version, read: “By myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Only in Jehovah, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come; and all they that were incensed against him shall be put to shame. In Jehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.”

However, Philippians 2:9-11 in the American Standard Version reads: “Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord [kyʹri·os], to the glory of God the Father.”

This is not the same as the Isaiah quotation. Philippians 2:11 does not say that every tongue should swear to Jesus. It says that every tongue should confess something concerning Jesus to the glory of God the Father. So this is not an allusion to Isaiah 45:23 such as would require Jesus to be identified with Jehovah.

Remember that “Jehovah” is a name, the divine name, but Philippians 2:9-11 says that the name of the Son of God is Jesus, not Jehovah; and the name Jesus really means “Jehovah is salvation” or “the salvation of Jehovah.” So what Philippians 2:11 says is that every tongue is going to confess the occupancy by Jesus of a certain titular office, to the glory of God the Father, namely, lordship. This title “Lord” in the Greek text is kyʹrios (without the definite article).

Anyone familiar with the New Testament Greek knows that this word kyʹrios (without the definite article) is used in places when addressing a person and hence does not mean Jehovah. It means Lord or Sir. That is the way the New World Translation and other versions render the anarthrous kyʹrios in the appropriate places. Also, when kyʹrios is used as a title it appears without the definite article, as in cases like that of Philippians 2:9-11.

All the English versions of Christendom, even those in Hebrew, show that in Philippians 2:11 the kyʹrios without article is used as a title, not as a personal name. That is the reason why the New World Translation renders Philippians 2:11: “Every tongue should openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” No Christian has to confess that Jesus Christ is Jehovah, because that is not the truth. Jesus told us to pray for his Father’s name to be hallowed or sanctified, and every informed Bible scholar knows that the name of God the Father is Jehovah.

The apostle Paul at 1 Corinthians 8:5, 6, says: “For even though there are those who are called ‘gods’, whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’, there is actually to us one God the Father, out of whom all things are, and we for him, and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and we through him.” So what Christians must confess is that Jesus Christ is Lord, or kyʹrios (without the definite article).

The word kyʹrios without the definite article is thus used also in 1 Corinthians 12:3. There in the Greek text the same expression occurs as in Philippians 2:11, namely, KYRIOS YESOUS. In both texts the Greek word kyʹrios is a title by which a person of a certain name is to be addressed. Hence it would be wrong, in fact ridiculous, to render that expression KYRIOS YESOUS “Jehovah Jesus.” None of the Hebrew translations render it “Jehovah Jesus,” but recognize the Greek word kyʹrios there as a title and hence use the Hebrew word Adón, meaning Lord, instead of the name Jehovah.

Hence the New World Translation is consistent, and it violates no general rule of action set forth in its Foreword when it renders the expression in 1 Corinthians 12:3, as well as in Philippians 2:11, “Jesus is Lord,” not “Jesus is Jehovah.” So the translators are not to be charged with being influenced by the theology of the antitrinitarian Arius for doing so.

A recent translation entitled “The Authentic New Testament” by a Jew named Hugh J. Schonfield, published in 1955, renders the expression as an address to Jesus, reading: “And no one is able to say, ‘Lord Jesus!’ except by the holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3) This Jewish translator renders Philippians 2:11: “And every tongue acclaim Jesus Christ as Master, to the glory of God the Father.”

It is very easy for a trinitarian theologian of Christendom to carp at a Bible translation that does not agree with his trinitarian doctrine. But when he does so by concealing the basis upon which the criticized translation makes its consistent rendering, is he fair and scholarly? Or has he proved his point? We leave you to answer the question.

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