The Watchtower — September 1, 1960

The Age of Rebellion

NO GENERATION has seen more rebellion than ours—all forms of rebellion, especially the revolt of youth. Today’s age of rebellion might well be called “the revolt of youth” were it not for the fact that rebellion by adults has spawned the whole tragic business. One rebellion lays the groundwork for another kind of rebellion.

“What makes the revolt of modern youth serious,” explains Judge Elijah Adlow of Boston’s Municipal Court, “is that it bears little resemblance to what was once viewed as juvenile delinquency.” He explains that “today the crimes of violence in which the young indulge can never be mistaken for boyish pranks” of previous ages. “The fact of the matter is,” says psychologist Dr. Robert Lindner, “that the mutiny of the young is not an ordinary social ailment, but a virulent epidemic affecting the race of man.” Thus each country has its own terminology for today’s youthful delinquents; and in the United States they have become known as “rebels without a cause.”

Youthful rebels have been divided into two general classes. One group makes up those delinquents inclined toward violence. The other group is made up of those who rebel against restriction so that they can live by their sensual desires, enjoying the excitement of the moment. This latter group has been termed the “Beat Generation.” Since the Soviet sputniks went into orbit these youthful rebels are commonly called “beatniks.” Authorities differentiate between the juvenile delinquents and the so-called beatniks, since the latter have certain beliefs, attitudes and convictions about life and society. The beatniks’ living-for-the-moment way of life is their religion.

An article called “The ‘Beat’ Generation” appeared in the December 7, 1959, issue of Current Affairs Bulletin, published by the Department of Tutorial Classes in the University of Sydney, Australia. The article brings out that the “Beat Generation” made its appearance just after World War II. “Jack Kerouac, the best known novelist and prophet of the American group, coined the phrase ‘Beat Generation.’ His novel, On the Road, describes the way of life of himself and a circle of friends, and attempts to describe their intensely private vision. A group of high-spirited young men travel back and forth across the United States, either hitchhiking or using secondhand cars, going to wild parties . . . , living on very little or nothing, occasionally stealing, and always talking intensely about love, God and salvation, listening ardently to jazz in small crowded joints and availing themselves freely of casual, generous and beautiful girls. . . . The quest for ‘immediate experience’ means that first place is given to sexual freedom. . . . Like many jazz enthusiasts the Beat Generation may indulge marijuana, morphine and other drugs. . . . The beatnik is not so much an addict as an ironical and detached admirer of his state of bliss.”

To enjoy a self-styled paradise on earth the beatniks live for the sensations of the moment. This “new group of rebels,” the University of Sydney publication explains, lived a subterranean existence until 1957, when the publication of Kerouac’s novel gave them a kind of bible: “‘The only people for me are the mad ones,’ says Sal Paradise, the narrator of On the Road, ‘the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.’ . . . The book tries also to express the irremediable antagonism of interest between people who enjoy themselves without inhibitions, who take all they can get from life and have a scorn for safe living, and people who are curbed by scruples from following all their impulses and satisfying all their appetites.”

The article says that the rebellion of the beatniks “reflects a widespread calling into question of industrial civilization” and adds: “The romantic conviction that every young person has a unique mission to fulfill if only he or she could know what it was, has created a general enthusiasm for vague ideas, partly as a substitute for a dying religion. Kerouac is noted for his insistence that the basic impulse of the Beat Generation is a religious one: to find oneself is to find God.”

Where, then, lies the blame for today’s youthful rebels? In the rebellion of the adults—husbands, wives and, yes, Christendom’s clergy.

Wives, rebelling against the headship of their husbands, have really rebelled against God, who commands in his Word: “Let wives be in subjection to their husbands as to the Lord.” (Eph. 5:22) Fathers who fail to bring up their children “in the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah” have rebelled against God. (Eph. 6:4) With parents themselves in rebellion, the home’s discipline, cohesiveness and happiness have been shattered; the groundwork has been laid for a rebellion by youth.

The clergy have been powerless to check the rebellion of youth, for they themselves have long been in rebellion against God. The fundamentalist clergy, in direct violation of God’s Word, have added traditions and philosophies of men. The modernist clergy have rebelled against God by rejecting the Bible and by putting modern man on a pedestal to worship. Viewing the religions of Christendom as “a dying religion,” the beatniks have developed their own religion. Their rebellion is also against God and his divine commandments, but they have not received guidance from modern society, which in itself has rejected God by its actions.

Christendom, then, is in revolt against God, for the mass of professed Christians have become what the Bible calls “rebels against light.” (Job 24:13) The Holy Bible is the Book of Light, and the “good news of the kingdom” that Jesus said would be “preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations” is a message of light. (Matt. 24:14) By rejecting God’s established kingdom, Christendom’s professed Christians make themselves “rebels against light.”

The revolt of youth has thus been spawned in this age of rebellion. It is rebellion against God, his divine commandments and his established kingdom.

They Lie About the Dead

SOME say there are more lies told about the dead than the living, that no two authorities seem to agree on the subject. A biologist states that death is a necessary factor in the order of nature, that it is stupid to say there is no death. A physician says: “There has to be death,” it is natural. On the other hand, a clergyman has asserted that it is just as stupid to say man’s death is natural and necessary as it is to say there is no death. And again, not all clergymen agree with that. Now, of all these, whom are you going to believe?

Despite the universal reality of death, there are intelligent people that insist that death does not exist. For example, clergyman Norman Vincent Peale of New York city states bluntly: “There is no death. No death!” However, the Committee on Christian Faith, composed of forty-three Protestant theologians of the United Church of Canada, after five years of intensive Bible study, reports: “It is a mistake to say, ‘there is no death,’ for that is a lie.” “Death is one of the major facts of life.” So what is truth to one is a lie to another.

The corruption of the physical body is a mere matter of observation. That may be true, some say, but our soul survives the body. The booklet What Happens after Death?, a Roman Catholic publication, says: “One of the elementary teachings of the Catholic Faith is that ‘man is a creature composed of body and soul’—two parts which are not loosely connected but united to form one individual human nature. . . . When man dies his soul and body are disunited. His body loses that which made it a living human body. It decays and is reduced to the elementary materials of which it was composed. The human soul, however, does not die.” The Register, August 16, 1959, states: “The soul cannot die because it cannot disintegrate, fall into parts, as it is simple, not made up of parts.” It “is a substantial being. It can think, it can will.”

Commenting on this division of soul and body, the Committee on Christian Faith reported: “Deathlessness is not a quality of the human soul any more than it is a quality of the human body. Indeed, this division of man’s being into an immortal soul and a mortal body does not come from the Bible and actually clashes with the Christian teaching that life beyond death is a work of God’s grace, not a natural unfolding of man’s constitution, and that the Christian hope is in resurrection, a being raised from the dead, rather than in a natural immortality. As we have said, the idea that man consists of two separable parts, soul and body, does not come from the Bible; it comes from the Greek philosophers.”

The committee’s findings about the soul and the dead were widely publicized and hailed as new discoveries. Let it be known that for more than eighty years Jehovah’s witnesses have known, printed and preached what these clergymen are just now finding out! Certainly soul’s mortality and man’s hope in the resurrection of the dead are not new discoveries, for they have been in the Bible for thousands of years! However, for years clergymen have stubbornly refused to admit these facts. They lied about the dead. Now, after years of misinforming the public, some of them admit Bible truth, and they make over it as if it were a newly found gem. Not so.

There are also lies told about man’s mortality. For example, movie actress Deborah Kerr writes: “Man is immortal. He never dies. He simply IS.” “The real I,” she says, “will live on. Rather, it will return to the oneness with God. That is true immortality.” God’s Word, the Bible, however, disagrees with the actress. It says man is mortal. “This which is mortal must put on immortality,” said the apostle Paul. If creatures were already immortal, how could they “put on immortality”? Paul’s statement would be superfluous, unnecessary, untrue.—Job 4:17; 1 Cor. 15:53.

The Unconscious Dead

Others believe that the dead are alive, conscious, that they have communicated with living humans. Dr. Leslie Weatherhead, minister of City Temple in London, England, said: “I am convinced that the dead live and that in some cases—relatively few—communication has been established with them.” How can this be true, since the Bible says the dead “are conscious of nothing at all”? Certainly unconscious souls cannot communicate.—Eccl. 9:5.

Evangelist Gavin Hamilton states: “The belief that the soul sleeps at death, and is altogether unconscious of either bliss or woe, is based upon the false assumption that the physical body is necessary to activity and consciousness. . . . We know that they are eternally active and conscious.” Not only does the above-quoted scripture, Ecclesiastes 9:5, give the lie to that statement, but so does Jesus Christ, the Master Teacher, for he often spoke of death as a sleep. A certain ruler came to Jesus and said: “By now my daughter must be dead; but come and lay your hand upon her and she will come to life.” When Jesus entered the ruler’s house, the people were mourning the girl’s death. Jesus said to them: “Leave the place, for the little girl did not die, but she is sleeping.” Then Jesus raised the girl from her death-sleep.—Matt. 9:18, 23-25.

On another occasion Jesus said he was going to the home of Lazarus “to awaken him from sleep.” The disciples thought Jesus was talking of a natural sleep. Then Jesus said to them: “Lazarus has died.” No doubt with this thought in mind, the New York Times, December 7, 1959, stated editorially of the 1,102 men who had died in the sunken battleship Arizona, that they “sleep forever.” Generally, however, death is referred to as a sleep because of the hope of their being raised again in the promised resurrection of the dead.—John 11:11-14.

No Support for Hell-Fire

Many Protestants and Catholics believe that the dead who have not gone to heaven are either in purgatory or in hell-fire suffering excruciating pains. A Catholic publication distributed by the Knights of Columbus says: “There can be no doubt that purgatory is real, that suffering there is real.” As for those in hell, it says they are hopelessly lost. Hell and the Lake of Fire, a Protestant pamphlet, states: One man will enjoy the pleasures of heaven forever. “The other man is suffering everlasting punishment and shall be in hell and the lake of fire forever and forever.”

There is absolutely nothing in the Bible to support either of these doctrines. The word “purgatory” cannot be found in Catholic or Protestant Bibles. As for the word “hell,” it has its origin with the Greek word Hades and the Hebrew word Sheol. The original word in each language means mankind’s common grave, a pit, a location where the dead and buried ones are unseen. The Bible says that Jonah and Jesus were in hell. Of Jesus, Peter said: He was not “forsaken in Hades [hell, AV],” that is, the Bible hell, the grave. The Revelation prophetically states that “death and Hades [hell, AV] gave up those dead in them.” Here The Revelation states that the dead in Hades or hell are dead, not living, and that they do have hope of deliverance. The Bible is conclusive on this point, that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” If they are not conscious, then they cannot be suffering. Further: “There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol [the grave, AV], the place to which you are going.” Those who teach otherwise lie about the dead.—Acts 2:31; Rev. 20:13; Eccl. 9:5, 10.

Visions of Heaven

There are those who claim that the dying get a glimpse of heaven just before death. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale is reported as having talked with the wife of the famous inventor Thomas A. Edison about his view of the afterlife. Peale writes: “When Edison was close to the moment of death, his physician saw that he was attempting to say something. He bent over and distinctly heard the dying man say, ‘It is very beautiful over there.’ The observed experience of men and women as they pass into the so-called valley of the shadow,” Peale says, “indicates that on the other side there are both life and beauty.” He continues: “A nurse who has seen many people die told me, ‘Many patients have given expression, at the moment of death, of having “seen” something, and often they spoke about wondrous light and music. Some spoke of seeing faces which they recognized. There was often a look of incredulous wonder in their eyes.’”

What do they see? To deny that these persons see anything is to dismiss the testimony of reputable witnesses who have nothing to gain by falsifying at such a time. However, not all dying people see things. Morgan and Wyatt Earp, brothers of American frontier fame, promised each other that, when one or the other was about to die, that one would try to leave for the other the truth of what he saw. Wyatt dismissed such experiences as a lot of nonsense, while Morgan partly believed in them. When Morgan was in the last few seconds of his life, Wyatt says, he asked him to bend close. “I guess you were right, Wyatt,” he whispered. “I can’t see a damn’ thing.” That is all he said before he died.

What, then, can we conclude about those who do see things? The Bible conclusively states that the dead are dead, that they are unconscious, that they are in the graves awaiting the resurrection. The only logical conclusion that can be reached is that what these see is not reality but what the imagination creates in the mind’s eye. Many of these persons have longed for heaven or have dreaded hell; now the mind before death paints pictures of heaven for them; others say they feel torments. Just as a thirsty man in a desert sees an oasis and a starving man sees and smells food and as a drowning man has his past life flash before him, just so these now have “visions” of heaven, quiet places or even torment. None are real. We cannot under any circumstances set aside the testimony of God’s Word for man’s. To reject God’s Word is to lie about the dead.

Truth About the Dead

The only sure way to arrive at truth about the origin and condition of death is to accept what the Bible has to say. It has stood the test of thousands of years. Being the Word of God, it speaks with authority on death and life. Briefly, here is what it teaches.

When all the vital functions of a living organism, be it small or large, simple or complex, cease completely, that organism is dead. What happens at death? The Bible simply states: “For dust you are and to dust you will return.” No informed persons will argue with those words.—Gen. 3:19.

What is the cause of death? Only the Bible can give us a reasonable answer. The apostle Paul states: “The wages sin pays is death.” Death is not merely a natural fruit of sin, but its just punishment, an expression of divine justice. It is sin’s wage. What is sin? The Bible answers: “All unrighteousness is sin.” Sin is the transgression of God’s law, the missing of the mark of perfection. The first record of sin is found in Genesis, when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. Their willful disobedience was sin, and the wages of sin is death. Adam and Eve both died as a result of sin.—Rom. 6:23; 1 John 5:17; Gen. 2:16, 17; 3:17-19.

The offspring of Adam, being conceived in sin, were born sinners. They had no choice but to reap sin’s wage. Therefore the Scriptures state: “Who can produce someone clean out of someone unclean? There is not one.” “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.”—Job 14:4; Rom. 5:12.

What is the condition of the dead? We have already touched on that. The Bible speaks of the dead as being asleep, resting, unconscious. As for the soul, the witness of the Bible is that “man came to be a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7) Soul and man are used synonymously in the Bible. A living, breathing, sentient creature, animal or human, is a soul. Nowhere does the Bible say the soul is immortal. It plainly speaks of the soul as mortal. At Ezekiel 18:4 we read: “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.” It was not God but the Devil that told Eve: “You positively will not die.” People to this day have clung to that lie.—Gen. 3:4.

Where are the dead? They have returned to the dust from which they were made. The Bible speaks of a resurrection for “the righteous and the unrighteous.” As for wicked persons, there is no hope of a resurrection for them. Such ones are “comparable with the beasts that have been destroyed.” The righteous will receive a blessing, whereas the wicked will not. “The mention of the righteous one is due for a blessing,” say the inspired Proverbs, “but the very name of the wicked ones will rot.”—Acts 24:15; Ps. 49:20; Prov. 10:7.

At a funeral a group of skeptics present asked what hope there was for the dead. “My friends,” replied a friend of the deceased, “I do not know what you believed yesterday and I do not know what you may believe tomorrow, but for today we hope in God.” Those who know the truth about the dead and of God’s purpose to resurrect them in his new world of righteousness do not despair. They rest their hope, not in a nonexistent immortal soul, but in the true and living God, who has raised his Son Jesus “to be judge of the living and the dead.”—Acts 10:42.

“God Loved the World So Much”

“Sometimes Christianity is presented in such a way that it looks as if it was the work of a gentle and loving Jesus to pacify a stern and angry God, as if Jesus did something which changed the attitude of God toward men. The New Testament knows nothing of that. The whole process of salvation began because God so loved the world.”—Barclay in More New Testament Words.

Abraham, “Father of All Those Having Faith”

“YOUR word is a lamp to my foot, and a light to my roadway.” One of the ways this is true of God’s Word is by its record of God’s dealings with faithful men, among the most striking of whom was Abraham. Time and again the true God Jehovah is identified as “the God of Abraham,” and to be in “the bosom position of Abraham” meant to bask in Jehovah’s favor. Not without good reason is Abraham designated “Jehovah’s friend,” and “the father of all those having faith.”—Ps. 119:105; Matt. 22:32; Luke 16:22; Jas. 2:23; Rom. 4:11.

Abram, as he was first known and which name means “lofty father,” was born 352 years after the Deluge and lived to the ripe old age of 175 years. From him sprang the Israelites, Edomites and Ishmaelites, also the Medanites and Midianites. Not only does archaeology testify to the historicity of Abram and his forebears but, above all, Jesus Christ and his apostles did, for they referred to him more than seventy times.—1 Chron. 1:28, 32, 34.

Ur, the city of his home, was situated about fifty miles from the Persian Gulf near the juncture of the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers. The city was said to be “of the Chaldeans,” because it was situated in the lower part of Mesopotamia, which, centuries after Abram’s day, was occupied by the Chaldeans.—Gen. 11:28, 31; 15:7; Acts 7:2.

In Abram’s day Ur was no mean city, although no longer the powerful Sumerian capital that it was some 150 years earlier, before the Elamites invaded it. Within its oval-shaped, partly-broken-down wall lived at least a quarter of a million inhabitants. According to Keller, in The Bible as History, Ur at that time was a “powerful, prosperous, colorful and busy capital city.”

But, above all, Ur was a religious city. The entire northwest quarter of it was given over to pagan worship, chiefly that of the moon god Nanna and his consort Ningal, and in this section were located the ziggurat and temples. As if this were not enough, chapels for the worship of other gods were scattered throughout the city, and every home, except those of the poorest people, had its own chapel. “Its religion was a polytheism of the grossest type,” says archaeologist Woolley in his book Abraham. Such, then, was the city in which Abram was reared.

“FATHER OF ALL THOSE HAVING FAITH”

Faith is proved by works. (Jas. 2:14-26) That Abram had faith he proved by his works for upward of a hundred years. The first real test of faith that came upon Abram, according to God’s Word, was when he quite likely was about seventy years of age and God appeared to him and said: “Go your way out of your country and from your relatives and from the house of your father to the country that I shall show you, and I shall make a great nation out of you and I shall bless you and I will make your name great; and prove yourself a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and him that calls down evil upon you I shall curse, and all the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you.” Stephen makes it clear that this call to Abram was issued “while he was in Mesopotamia, before he took up residence in Haran.”—Gen. 12:1-3; Acts 7:2.

It took real faith for Abram, together with his father Terah and his nephew Lot and all in their household, to leave Ur. Traveling many miles to the northwest, they lingered for a time in Haran. Haran also was devoted to the worship of the moon god, and so it is not surprising that at the death of Terah, at which time Abram was seventy-five years old, Abram moved on toward the land God had promised him.—Gen. 11:32; 12:4.

Most fittingly, the apostle Paul, in his discussion of faith, stresses Abram’s, saying: “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed in going out into a place which he was going to receive as an inheritance, and he went out although not knowing where he was going. By faith he resided temporarily in the land of the promise as in a foreign land, and dwelt in tents. . . . For he was awaiting the city having real foundations and the builder and creator of which is God.” Jesus Christ gave similar testimony: “Abraham your father rejoiced greatly in the prospect of seeing my day, and he saw it and rejoiced.”—Heb. 11:8-16; John 8:56.

Because of Abram’s faith Jehovah God was very real to him. Repeatedly we read of Abram’s erecting altars to Jehovah and of his calling upon Jehovah’s name, that is, declaring or preaching it, and, on the other hand, we read that Jehovah time and again appeared to Abram. When Jehovah promised Abram a son in his old age, his faith did not stagger but he “put faith in Jehovah, and he proceeded to count it to him as righteousness.” After Abram’s wandering about for twenty-four years, God instituted the covenant of circumcision with him and his household, at which time God also changed Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning “father of a multitude.” In the meantime Abram, upon Sarah’s suggestion, had a son by her maid Hagar, whom he named Ishmael; but it was Jehovah’s will that through Sarah the promised heir was to come.—Gen. 15:6; 17:5, 9-14, 24-27.

Finally, after Abraham had waited in faith for many years, the promised heir, Isaac, was born. Tested as his faith had been during all this time, his greatest test was yet to come, when Isaac had become a young man. Then it was that Jehovah appeared to Abraham and said: “Take, please, your son, your only son whom you so love, Isaac, and make a trip to the land of Moriah and there offer him up as a burnt offering on that one of the mountains which I shall designate to you.” With what heavy heart Abraham must have heard those words and set out on that journey!—Gen. 22:2.

No greater test of Abraham’s faith and obedience could Jehovah God have devised than this one, for without a doubt no human father, before or since, ever loved his son more than Abraham loved Isaac. Had he not pleaded with Jehovah: “What will you give me, seeing that I am going childless and the one who will possess my house is a man of Damascus, Eliezer?” Had he not waited many years for Isaac? Besides, had not God promised that in Isaac his seed would be called? And now he was being commanded to sacrifice him. How, then, could that promise be fulfilled?—Gen. 15:2.

But Abraham’s faith did not waver. “He reckoned that God was able to raise [Isaac] up even from the dead.” Obediently he set out on that journey to Mount Moriah. There he built an altar of stones, set the wood in order, bound his beloved son hand and foot and then “put out his hand and took the slaughtering knife to kill his son.” Having met the supreme test of faith, Abraham was permitted to go no farther with it. An angel of Jehovah called out to restrain Abraham’s hand and provided a ram in the place of Isaac.—Heb. 11:19; Gen. 22:3-14.

After Abraham had offered up this ram, God’s angel further said to him: “By myself I do swear, is the utterance of Jehovah, that by reason of the fact that you have done this thing . . . I shall surely bless you and I shall surely multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens and like the grains of sand that are on the seashore, and . . . by means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves.” Not long thereafter Sarah died, and Abraham took as wife Keturah by whom he miraculously had six more sons.—Gen. 22:16-18; 25:1, 2.

GENEROUS AND HOSPITABLE

Truly with good reason Abraham is called “the father of all those having faith” and “Jehovah’s friend.” What an example his life of faith is for all Christians! Not only in the matter of faith, but also in generosity, in hospitality and in being free from the love of money did Abraham show himself to be exemplary. Leaving his homeland and going he knew not where certainly involved no small financial sacrifice, for the country around Ur was exceedingly fertile because of being irrigated from the Euphrates; but no sooner had Abraham entered Canaan when he had to go to Egypt because of the famine in Canaanland. How free from the love of money was his treatment of his nephew Lot! Though he was the older and the head of the party, Abraham let Lot take the choicest pasture lands and he took what was left! Later, after rescuing his nephew Lot from invader kings, Abraham not only refused to accept so much as a thread or a sandal lace as spoils but offered a tenth of all he had to King-Priest Melchizedek.

And what generous hospitality he displayed toward the three strangers that one day apparently chanced to pass by! He prevailed upon them to accept the comforts of his place while he had a good and tender ox slaughtered, had his wife Sarah fix round cakes of fine flour and then set these, together with milk and butter, before his guests; offering them his very best.—Gen. 13:5-13; 14:17-23; 18:2-8; Heb. 13:1, 5.

AN EXEMPLARY FAMILY HEAD

As a family head Abraham also set a fine example. In keeping with the instructions that Jehovah later gave to both natural and spiritual Israel, Abraham ‘commanded his sons and his household that they should keep Jehovah’s way.’ No question about his training his son Isaac in the right way or Isaac never would have submitted to his aged father’s binding him hand and foot to offer him up as a sacrifice! And as a wise father, Abraham was deeply concerned that his son marry a believing wife, not a pagan.—Gen. 18:19; 24:3, 4.

When his nephew Lot was captured, together with his household, Abraham assumed the responsibility of rescuing him. With 318 of his servants he swooped down upon the enemy at night to set free Lot and those with him. Thereby Abraham doubtless became the first warrior of Jehovah and fought what may well have been the first of the battles recorded in the “book of the Wars of Jehovah.” Also, when Jehovah’s adverse judgment threatened the entire territory in which Lot resided, Abraham pleaded with Jehovah: “Is the Judge of all the earth not going to do what is right?” Abraham showed himself the right kind of family head, whether it involved the use of weapons of war or prayer to God!—Gen. 14:13-16; 18:25; Num. 21:14.

Far from being the henpecked husband that some higher critics insinuate he was, Abraham was addressed by Sarah his wife as “lord.” More than that, she readily fell in line with his suggestion that she represent herself as his sister in order to save the life of her husband. Since Abraham is nowhere censured for pursuing this strategy, and since in both instances that he pursued this course Jehovah maneuvered matters to protect Sarah from harm, we are precluded from finding fault with Abraham on this score. Both Abraham and Sarah recognized the fact that in their day women were considered expendable.—Gen. 18:12; 12:11-20; 1 Pet. 3:6.

PROPHETIC FEATURES

Abraham’s exemplary life also serves as a light to our roadway in that it was filled with prophetic significance. Repeatedly he is used to picture Jehovah God. Thus Abraham’s name being made great and his becoming a blessing pictured that Jehovah would make his own name great and that He would be a blessing.—Gen. 12:2; Mal. 1:11.

Further, even as Sarah continued long barren, so God’s heavenly Jerusalem, his wifelike organization, continued long barren, until she produced Jesus as the anointed ‘seed of the woman.’ And as Abraham upon two occasions hid his relationship to Sarah, so it has seemed as though Jehovah God had denied his wifely organization or hid his relationship to her for a long period of time, tempting Satan’s agents to violate her representatives upon earth.—Isa. 54:1-8.

As Abraham had two sons by two women, so Jehovah God has had two peoples, the natural Jews by an earthly organization and the spiritual Jews by a heavenly organization, Jerusalem from above. As Hagar, the bondmaid, served in a temporary capacity, so the nation of Israel, in bondage to the law covenant, served in a temporary capacity. As Sarah, the free woman, brought forth the promised seed, so the free heavenly Jerusalem brought forth the promised Heir.—Gal. 4:21-31.

Abraham’s offering up his son Isaac pictured that Jehovah would offer up his only-begotten Son. And finally his sending forth Eliezer to procure a bride for Isaac pictured that Jehovah would send forth his holy spirit, beginning with Pentecost, to procure a spiritual bride for his Son.—John 3:16; Gal. 3:16.

Truly the Bible’s record of the lives of such men as Abraham underscores the fact that it is indeed a lamp to our foot and a light to our roadway!

“Church Depending on Lifts by the State”

Under the heading quoted above writer Bo Stromstedt, in the Stockholm Expressen, January 6, 1959, concluded an article on the discussion as to whether State and Church ought to separate, as follows: “It cannot be helped; it certainly would make a cleaner look, and at the same time be the only proper thing from the viewpoint of the law about religious freedom, if the Church would once for all give up the thought of getting lifts by the State’s old horse and would instead dare to embark ‘alone in fragile vessel’, as all other denominations must do. With the fare paid all by herself.”

Taking Up Service Where the Need Is Great

WATCHTOWER articles on Pursuing My Purpose in Life have always been a source of great stimulation and encouragement to me. As I read of the advancement of these brothers and sisters in the truth, their courage in facing obstacles and their perseverance in pursuing their purpose in life, I found enjoyment in sharing their experiences. Yet it was not until I personally took up serving where the need is great that I fully appreciated the heartfilling joy that could be had in this work. Let me tell you about it.

After hearing the stirring convention talk “Serving Where the Need Is Great,” followed by the Society’s letter of September 10, 1957, to all congregations, including the one where I was located in Canada, I began to give serious thought to expanding my ministry. Though I married about this time, this did not prevent me from reaching out for greater fields of service.

First, we had to determine where there was the greatest need, and all spare waking moments were spent in poring over reports in the Yearbook and issues of The Watchtower and Awake!, not to mention many lunch hours spent in libraries and other information centers. After selecting three countries, as suggested, we made our intentions known to the branch office. A reply came immediately, with much helpful information, including names of firms with which employment might be obtained.

Days and weeks flew, and our file of correspondence grew larger and larger. Our enthusiasm was sorely tested and our spirits rose and fell as the replies were received: “No openings available”; “Your qualifications not suitable”; “Suggest you remain where you are.” While we suffered disappointments many times, our determination became even more firm.

Satan used other means, too, to entice us from enlarging our service to Jehovah. When I began to think about serving where the need is great, my employer, who at that time knew nothing of my plans, offered me a special training course that would result in a promotion, raise in salary and an assured future in the business world. It was a tempting offer, but I was resolute in my determination to serve Jehovah where I was most needed, so I kindly but firmly told him why I could not accept. He endeavored to convince me that I was rejecting a wonderful future. However, after explaining why the ministry was the only worth-while career and the one I had chosen, I climaxed the conversation by tendering my resignation, to take effect within six months. It was a wonderful opportunity to witness to those with whom I had been associated in business over the past twenty years.

Meanwhile our goal had been determined—Sarawak, a large island in the Far East where two missionaries had established a very small congregation; surely this was a place where there was need of assistance. As yet nothing definite had been arranged regarding employment, but we were sure that the small income we had, plus our savings, would enable us to remain abroad at least a year; and with Jehovah’s backing, much could be accomplished in that time.

While we were making our plans, a widowed sister, though not young in years but “aglow with the spirit” and with twelve years of pioneer experience, expressed her desire to serve in a foreign field. She felt that this door was closed to her, as she was well past the age for admission to Gilead. You can imagine her joy on being invited to come along with us. Final plans were made without further delay.

EN ROUTE TO THE FAR EAST

October 16, 1958, dawned bright and clear over New York city—we know, because we were too excited to sleep! Breakfast over, we headed for the Brooklyn waterfront. The ship was experiencing the normal presailing hustle and bustle. By five o’clock the last rope was cast off, and we were on our way. It was hard to leave families and friends behind, but, facing in the direction of the ship, we set off to serve where there was a greater need, in the Far East.

The first few days at sea were spent in resting up after the rush of our departure, getting acquainted with the eight other passengers and struggling with sickness. Our first port of call was Alexandria, Egypt. The ship was due to dock for about twenty-four hours, so all the passengers prepared to go ashore. The majority were going to sight-see, but we were more hungry for the companionship of our spiritual brothers, and our concern was to contact them in the short time available.

When the ship touched the dock that bright Sunday morning, we were poised at the gangplank ready to disembark. After clearance by the Customs we raced for the nearest telephone. How thankful we were to get in touch with the branch servant! With his help we were soon at the Kingdom Hall. The Kingdom Hall sign, while written in unfamiliar Arabic, was easily identifiable and to us it meant “Welcome.” On pressing the doorbell we were warmly greeted by the city servant and the others who were busy preparing platform equipment for the forthcoming assembly.

What a joy it was to meet those brothers from many different national groups, whose firm handshake and warm smiles so easily bridged the language barrier! Nothing could dissuade them from extending the warmest hospitality. We had lunch at the home of one of the sisters, and there we had our first taste of some delicious Egyptian foods. After enjoying fellowship with this theocratic family, we were taken to see some of the beautiful gardens and other interesting sights of the city. We returned to the Kingdom Hall in time for the regular Watchtower study, which is held in three languages: Greek, Arabic and French. Having served in Montreal, we had some knowledge of French, so we were able to enjoy the study in that language. Both before and after the study we mingled with the more than 120 brothers who were there. We could not help but note that they do not just arrive on time but are there half an hour early and remain long afterward to enjoy the association of their brothers. After a leisurely supper with a group of the friends, we began to make our way back to the ship. Words are difficult to find to express the strengthening effect this brief association had on us. This was one of many blessings we were to enjoy because of our desire to serve where there is a greater need.

Leaving Alexandria, we made brief stops at Port Said and Suez before entering the Red Sea, through which Moses led the Israelites. At Jeddah, Arabia, we saw Moslem pilgrims on their once-in-a-lifetime trek to Mecca. At Port Sudan there were the fuzzy-wuzzies with their masses of wirelike bushy hair. After a brief pause at Aden, perched on a rocky promontory, we turned east across the Indian Ocean.

STOPOVER IN SINGAPORE

The journey rapidly drew to a close. The rattle of the anchor chain’s descent had barely faded before a group of our brothers from Singapore were aboard the ship to welcome us. How glad we were to renew acquaintances with the branch servant and his wife, whom we had met at the Divine Will International Assembly in New York, and the warmth of the greetings by our new Chinese brothers and sisters made us feel right at home immediately! Willing hands disposed of our luggage, and within a short time our feet were firmly planted on solid ground after a month at sea.

For the duration of our stay, we were not quartered but rather absorbed into the family of a local sister. How kind and loving they were! I will never forget the startled looks on the faces of the sisters as they glanced ceilingward during supper that first evening to see small lizard-like creatures dashing around the lights as they feasted on the insects. We soon realized what a help they were and accepted them as part of the household equipment in the Far East.

The days were fully occupied as we enjoyed service privileges and came to realize the great need for mature publishers to care for the many persons of good will. You may better understand the sense of urgency we felt when I say that, instead of reporting the normal seventy-five hours as two-week vacation pioneers, we spent 120 hours in the field service that month, in addition to considerable time spent in preparations for the forthcoming district assembly.

The bond of love with our brothers and sisters grew and grew until it was as though we had known them all our lives. With the assembly over, the time had come for us to set off once again for Sarawak. After a final get-together with our brothers, we began the last stage of our journey. Any hesitation we may have felt before had long since disappeared and, spiritually strengthened by theocratic association, we eagerly looked ahead to the privileges that awaited us.

SERVICE IN SARAWAK

We were able to find comfortable living quarters shortly after arrival, and within a matter of days, as we joined forces with the two enthusiastic missionaries, we began to taste the thrill of witnessing in largely virgin territory. Picture, if you will, the scene as individuals ask about Jehovah. Dark heads nod in agreement as Scriptural answers are given; smiles of appreciation flash across their faces, and they readily accept the Bible literature.

We had heard of tropical downpours, but they have to be experienced to be appreciated. One evening in the midst of a heavy shower we started out after dark to attend a family Bible study, and on arrival we found that the house could be reached only by walking along a 450-foot raised plank walk. With flashlight in one of my hands, umbrella in the other, and clutching a brief case under one arm, we teetered along until we reached the house. After an enjoyable study, illuminated by windblown flames from a broken oil lamp, many more Bible questions were asked and answered before we departed. Outside it was still raining, and a small lake had formed. On leaving we took off our shoes and socks, raised trousers and skirts as high as possible and inched our way along the now-submerged plank to the road.

The more we worked among our neighbors the more we grew to understand and love them. Literature was readily placed, and within a short time there were few homes in our immediate area that did not have some. Studies, too, were easy to start—many on the first call. We showed the Society’s films in halls, private homes, hospitals and even in a leper settlement, with an average of a hundred in attendance at each of thirteen showings. Results were soon evident. Attendance at the Watchtower study climbed from six to ten and twelve, and when a regular program of public meetings began, attendance rose to fifteen, with peaks of twenty or more—all this in less than six months.

One of the missionaries received a letter from a Chinese schoolgirl who had been impressed by what she saw in one of the Society’s films. While her parents were Buddhist, she ‘felt drawn by the “good news” and wanted to learn more,’ she explained. A study was quickly arranged, and within a short time this teen-ager was attending meetings and taking a regular part in field service, where she was able to render valuable aid in reaching Chinese-speaking residents.

At another home Bible study a friend of the householder dropped in for a visit and, on being invited to share, he did so willingly. Although the original study was discontinued, this truth-hungry one persevered and, before even completing a study of the booklet, began attending the Watchtower study and commenting, even though this meant a fourteen-mile round trip by bicycle in broiling sun or pouring rain.

Of course, our activity did not go unnoticed by the other religious missions, particularly when many of their students turned to us for answers to their Bible questions. A campaign of intimidation was begun. While some discontinued their studies, others held firm. Then pressure was brought to bear on the political elements, and our visas were canceled. We appealed for reconsideration of the matter, but the appeal fell on deaf ears. We were forced to leave our island assignment.

As our ship left the dock, many of our new-found friends were there to express their loving appreciation for the help that had been given them. Our prayers on their behalf have been long and earnest, and Jehovah has not forsaken them. By mail we have learned that the stronger ones are doing much to help the others, and the Watchtower study is being held regularly. Regardless of the efforts of the false shepherds to withstand the divine will, Jehovah’s arm is not shortened, and those who continue to follow the Right Shepherd will gain life in the new world.

Although we had been forced to leave Sarawak along with our three-month-old daughter, born shortly after our arrival, our desire to serve where the need is great had not diminished. Millions of other people live in this part of the world; we felt that we could too. We want to be where there is the most need for help. Soon the way was opened for us to enter another such place— Malaya.

Since our arrival in this new assignment the privilege of special pioneer service has been opened to us, and we are grateful for it. We are now in our second year in a foreign field, and by submerging ourselves in the ministry we have found protection from the very real danger of materialism and the other evils of Satan’s world. Our small income and savings have proved to be like the bread and fish that Jesus used to feed the multitude; we have ample to sustain us. How richly Jehovah has blessed us! How happy we are that we responded to His call to serve where the need is great!—Contributed.

Choosing the Right Form of Worship

“O come in, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker. For he is our God and we are the people of his pasturage and the sheep of his hand.”—Ps. 95:6, 7.

1. What factors often govern one’s choice of religion, but what is the more important consideration?

WHY do you worship in the manner that you do? The majority of those who practice some religion probably adhere to the faith of their parents. In many cases one’s friends and neighbors directly influence one’s choice. Others have searched out the church that they feel best meets their needs as an individual. However, the consideration that is of far greater concern should be finding and holding to the form of worship that has divine approval.

2. What is true worship, so how can one find the right form of worship?

² Our worship is our service to God. As the Most High, he is exalted in wisdom and power far above all creation. “He is doing according to his own will among the army of the heavens and the inhabitants of earth. And there exists no one that can check his hand or that can say to him, What have you been doing?” (Dan. 4:35) How foolish it would be to ignore his will! How unwise to practice a form of worship that is not according to his good pleasure! Rather, the wise course is to study the Bible in order to prove to ourselves what is the good and acceptable and complete will of God. Thus directed, we will know how we ought to walk in order to please God. It will mean that we will in truth be worshiping Jehovah God, serving him, doing his will, not simply pursuing a course that may please us from a human standpoint.—Rom. 12:2; 1 Thess. 4:1.

3. Why cannot Christians take the viewpoint that all religion is good?

³ Since the Bible speaks of the “form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father,” the implication is that there is worship that is not clean and undefiled from God’s standpoint. If it does not find favor with God, it is futile. The right form of worship is the one that God approves.—Jas. 1:26, 27.

THE RELIGION OF ONE’S PARENTS

4. Is it wise to hold to the religion of one’s parents?

⁴ Those who cling to the religion of their parents may be wise or they may be foolish. If their parents have inculcated in them a knowledge of the Word of God and have helped them to build their lives in harmony with it, it would be the part of wisdom to continue to pursue that course. But in by far the majority of cases parents have not set this course for their children. Instruction in the Bible, even in so-called Christian homes, is often limited to a few passages that are favorites of the parents. These may be read together, perhaps even memorized, but seldom is their meaning given serious consideration. For many families religion simply means attending church at certain times, but it has little direct bearing on the other activities of life. Of such religion that calls for lip-service but does not reach the heart and deeply affect one’s daily life, God’s Word says: “It is in vain that they keep paying respect to me.” (Matt. 15:8, 9) One may have grown up in a churchgoing household, but if one has not been taught the Word of God, or if the doctrines of the church tend to nullify the truths of the Bible, or if the fruits of the church manifest in the conduct of its members are not godly fruits, how foolish it would be to continue to embrace such a religion!

5. (a) Why is it often very difficult for one to change his religion, and how did Jesus warn of this? (b) When faced with family opposition, what decision must be made by one who learns the truth, and how will Jehovah bless those who show faithfulness under these circumstances?

⁵ Even when a person is convinced that the religious doctrines he formerly believed were not Scriptural and his way of life was not truly Christian, when it comes to his abandoning such a religion, especially if it is the religion of his parents, it can be very difficult. Of course, if the other members of his family love God’s Word they will be glad to know from him what it teaches, but if not, they may be bitter in their opposition. Unable to refute the Bible truth, they may demand that the newly interested one stop associating with Jehovah’s people. To keep him from further study, they may even destroy his Bible study literature. By his patience, by his tactfully speaking about the Bible when appropriate, and by his right conduct he will lovingly try to help his relatives to see the truth; but in some cases persons who have expressed their sincere desire to serve Jehovah God have been disowned by their relatives. The Lord Jesus knew that this would happen, and he said: “A man’s enemies will be persons of his own household.” It is only natural that a man feels strong ties to his family and will do all he can to preserve these ties, but in this case a decision must be made: Should he continue to worship the way God commands, and so incur the disfavor of his relatives, or should he forsake what he knows to be right in order to preserve good relations with his fleshly relatives? Jesus answered: “He that has greater affection for father or mother than for me is not worthy of me; and he that has greater affection for son or daughter than for me is not worthy of me.” (Matt. 10:36, 37) Our greater obligation is to Jehovah God, our heavenly Father, and his Son Jesus Christ. If the one faced with this trialsome situation holds fast his integrity to God, Jehovah will reward him with homes and relatives a hundredfold now in the New World society, and everlasting life in the new world.—Mark 10:29, 30.

6. Why are children whose parents are Jehovah’s witnesses in a particularly favored position, but what must they do as individuals, and why?

⁶ Children whose parents are dedicated servants of God have much for which to be thankful. In the early years of their life they are helped to lay a firm foundation for a life of theocratic service. They are able to enjoy the very best association possible on earth today—that of God’s New World society. Daily they can hear the Bible read and can participate in discussions of it. Having been instructed in God’s righteous principles, they are able to avoid the pitfalls that mar so many lives with lasting regret. In that the family follows the divine pattern of worship, this will exercise a powerful influence for good on the lives of the children. However, being “raised in the truth,” or growing up in a home where one’s parents are Jehovah’s witnesses, is not enough. It is required of each individual that he love Jehovah God with all his mind and all his heart and all his vital force. So in each case it is up to the children to make the religion their own, to take a personal interest in studying the Bible and learn what it teaches, to cultivate a love for it so it fills their hearts, and to exert themselves to participate in right worship. “Remember, now, your grand Creator in the days of your young manhood,” counseled Solomon. If your parents advocate such a course for you, by all means follow their good advice.—Eccl. 12:1.

SOCIAL INFLUENCES

7. How has religion become a mere social convenience to some, and why is such a practice dangerous?

⁷ Inasmuch as the social activity of a community may center around the churches to a large extent, there is a strong tendency to attend the same church that one’s friends and neighbors do. Advertisements frequently recommend that you attend “the church of your choice.” The argument given in favor of such a practice is based on the erroneous idea that any religion is good, that the important thing is to have some religion. But, as has already been pointed out from the Scriptures, there is worship that is futile in the sight of God; there are those of whom God says that it is in vain that they pay respect to him. Such religion definitely is not good. This is true, not only of the idol-worshiping, superstitious pagans, but also of professed Christians. Claiming to be a Christian, acknowledging Christ as Master or Lord, is not enough. Said Jesus: “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Master, Master,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. Many will say to me in that day: ‘Master, Master, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ And yet then I will confess to them: I never knew you at all. Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matt. 7:21-23) It is a dangerous practice to permit one’s religion to become a social convenience. We fool ourselves if we try to argue that there are good people associated with all these groups and that they are all doing good in the community. The question that we ought to ask is this: Are they doing the will of the Father who is in heaven?

8. In what way can a Christian employ the human tendency toward conformity to good advantage, but what must be guarded against?

⁸ Generally speaking, people tend to be conformists. They go with the crowd. What others do, they do. They adopt the practices of the people around them. For that human trait to serve to a person’s advantage, he must watch his associations. If the people with whom he associates serve God and love righteousness, the way of life to which he will tend to conform will be upbuilding and for his lasting welfare. Whereas if a person keeps company with worldly people, their thinking will begin to permeate his mind and their practices will begin to rub off on him.

9. What do the Scriptures mean by “bad associations”?

⁹ Never should we think ourselves so strong that we could not fall out of the faith. “Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.” (1 Cor. 15:33) What is meant by bad associations? Are they only associations with people who use foul language, are immoral or get drunk? To be sure, such people would be bad company. Yet the Scriptures make the application more all-embracing by saying: “What portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever?” (2 Cor. 6:15) Bad associations are those with people who are unbelievers. True, we cannot avoid all contact with them, otherwise we would have to get out of the world. But we can avoid choosing them as the ones whose company we keep.

10. How may worldly associations lead to unwise marriage, but what is the mature Christian viewpoint toward religion as a factor in selecting a marriage mate?

¹⁰ Especially when one selects a marriage mate it is important to call to mind the counsel: “Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers.” (2 Cor. 6:14) It may start with an evening of entertainment in company with worldly acquaintances. However, the attraction between the sexes is strong, one’s emotions easily become involved, and emotions can be very effective in regimenting one’s power of reason to work for them, justifying their inclinations instead of correcting them. When the friendship leads to marriage, the believer may feel sure in himself that the marriage mate is of good will and will be helped thereby to come into the truth. That is not the way God tells us to reason on the matter. His command to his covenant people Israel was: “You must form no marriage alliance with [the unbelievers in the land]. Your daughter you must not give to his son, and his daughter you must not take for your son. For he will turn your son from following me and they will certainly serve other gods, and Jehovah’s anger will indeed blaze against you and he will certainly annihilate you in a hurry.” (Deut. 7:3, 4) To Christians the command is given to marry “only in the Lord,” that is, only those persons who have already proved themselves to be in union with the Lord God by making a dedication to serve him. Thus the Bible shows that seeking association with worldly people is a step away from true worship.—1 Cor. 7:39.

RELATION TO SECULAR WORK

11. How does the Devil use secular employment as a means to keep newly interested ones from taking up the right form of worship?

¹¹ Business interests also have a powerful grip on the lives of the people. In some places where clergy control is strong, a person who wants to leave the church to become one of Jehovah’s witnesses may be threatened with loss of his secular employment. At times the relatives of a person have been threatened with economic reprisals simply because he was studying the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses. Thus the Devil through his visible agents continues to advance the argument presented in the case of Job. He contends that men will serve God only as long as they prosper materially, but that if their economic security is endangered they will abandon Jehovah’s worship. Yet many are the individuals who refuse to make their worship dependent on economic considerations. They believe that God, who cares for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field, will see that they too have their daily bread if they put their worship of him first.—Job 1:9-12; Matt. 6:25-34.

12. What proper position may secular employment occupy in one’s life, but what dangers must be avoided?

¹² When one has taken up the worship of God in spirit and truth one must continue to be alert to materialistic influences that might cause one to stumble. Jesus warned: “You cannot be slaves to God and to Riches.” (Matt. 6:24) If we truly serve God, we must obey his commandments. If Riches is our master, our secular employment will govern our lives. It is not necessarily the rich man who is a slave to riches; it is often the one who has to struggle day by day to get enough money to support his family who finds that he has become a slave in the economic treadmill. We are servants of the one we obey. Wisely we must keep secular employment in its place, as the means by which we support ourselves and provide the things needed by our families, but never should we permit our freedom to do the divine will to be choked off by involvement in the “commercial businesses of life.”—2 Tim. 2:4.

DIVINE GUIDANCE

13, 14. (a) Why do we need accurate knowledge in order to worship God acceptably? (b) What are some of the common religious teachings that are not Scriptural, but what organization today does practice the form of worship approved by God? Why do you so answer?

¹³ In all these circumstances with which we are confronted and which in some way affect our worship, the Bible provides us the divine guidance we so much need. It shows us the course that is well pleasing in the sight of God. We dare not be like those spoken of by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Christians at Rome when he said: “I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God; but not according to accurate knowledge; for, because of not knowing the righteousness of God but seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” (Rom. 10:2, 3) They thought they were serving God, but, lacking accurate knowledge, they were simply following their own human inclinations and so were serving themselves.

¹⁴ Only when a person has an accurate knowledge of the Word of God is he in position to know how to worship Him. Until then he can lean only on his own imperfect, and possibly erroneous, opinion or that of other persons. But when he permits the Bible to be his measuring rod as to what is truth, it becomes evident that such doctrines as the trinity, immortality of the human soul and hell-fire, use of images in worship, religious interfaith, and so forth, are not included among the things that God approves. With the Bible as his guide, he can easily see who are the people that are doing the divine will today, because they keep separate from the affairs of the world, follow the example of Jesus in making known the name of Jehovah God, show themselves to be Christ’s disciples because they love one another and are not divided due to race or national background or economic standing, and use their tongues in a right way by preaching the good news of the established kingdom in obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus and in the way that he directed—publicly and from house to house. Knowledge of the Bible makes it possible for men of good will to discern that, of the many religious organizations on earth, the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses is the one group that is carrying on the form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of God.

15. Having taken up the right form of worship, what further knowledge should we strive to obtain, and why?

¹⁵ Having taken up true worship, we should keep in mind the counsel to “go on perceiving what the will of Jehovah is.” (Eph. 5:17) We need accurate knowledge, not only of fundamental truths, but of all the good things that were written aforetime “for our instruction, that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Rom. 15:4) This calls for us to make advancement in our study, to cultivate appreciation for more than the milk of the Word, to long for the meat. We must press on to maturity.—Heb. 5:14–6:3.

16. Why should we regularly read the Bible, but why should we not be satisfied with simply reading it?

¹⁶ In addition to our private and congregation study of the Watch Tower Society’s publications, we should regularly take time to read the Bible itself. Every Christian minister should make it a point to read through the entire Bible, and to do so often, if possible. But, having read the Bible through, it would be unwise to continue simply to read over material that one does not fully understand without pausing to ponder its meaning. That requires interest on our part, a constant awareness of the fact that what we are reading is, in fact, the Word of God. (1 Thess. 2:13) God is no waster. He did not have recorded in the Bible material that is dispensable. What is there has been provided for our instruction, to guide us in the decisions with which we are confronted in life so that we pursue a course that is in harmony with the form of worship approved by God, and to equip us for effective work as his ministers. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) If it is thus to benefit us, we must seek more than a knowledge of what it says. We need an understanding of its meaning and an appreciation of how to use it. “Acquire wisdom,” says the inspired proverb, “and with all that you acquire, acquire understanding.”—Prov. 4:7.

17. What things might we well take note of when reading the Scriptures?

¹⁷ Think actively when you read the Bible. If it is prophetic material, give careful attention to its fulfillment, both in a miniature and a final way. Take note of fundamental Bible truths that are touched on in the account and guiding principles that are embodied there. Whether the information is prophetic or otherwise, when you read it keep before your mind questions such as these: How does this affect my life? Does it call on me to make any adjustments to bring my attitude or my actions into harmony with this expression of the divine will? What relation does it have to the other Bible teachings I have learned? How do they support it, or how does this corroborate them? How can I use it in my ministry? If you do not understand a certain scripture, do not lightly pass over it. Put forth the effort to find out what it means.

18. How can we acquire understanding of what we read in the Bible?

¹⁸ Jehovah God, the Author of the Bible, is also the great Teacher who helps us to understand it. We need to show recognition of and appreciation for the provisions Jehovah has made to help us understand his Word. If we are keenly aware that he is our Instructor, we will seek him in prayer whenever we sit down to read the Scriptures, asking for his spirit to aid us. (Jas. 1:5) We will also avail ourselves of the congregation meetings. In addition to these, God has provided, through “the faithful and discreet slave,” study aids to help us gain understanding. All of these should be read and studied when we receive them, and as they are scheduled in the congregation, but they may also be used for reference work. When you read scriptures in the Bible but do not fully grasp their application, look them up in the Scripture indexes in the Society’s bound books and in the December 15 issues of The Watchtower, and read the discussions to which they refer you. So doing, you show sincerity in your desire to understand the truth and appreciation of the means that Jehovah has provided to help you. Additionally, there are brothers in the congregation who have been appointed as servants, individuals who are “qualified to teach.” They, too, have been provided to help you. If you have tried to find the answer to your question but without success, ask one of these mature brothers. He will be glad to share with you the knowledge he has acquired through study or to search out the information with you.—1 Tim. 3:2.

19. What viewpoint does Proverbs 2:1-6 show we should take toward a study of God’s Word?

¹⁹ How well the inspired proverb describes the way we must apply ourselves to get understanding! “My son, if you will receive my sayings and treasure up my own commandments with yourself, so as to pay attention to wisdom with your ear, that you may incline your heart to discernment; if, moreover, you call out for understanding itself and you give forth your voice for discernment itself, if you keep seeking for it as for silver, and as for hid treasures you keep searching for it, in that case you will understand the fear of Jehovah, and you will find the very knowledge of God. For Jehovah himself gives wisdom; out of his mouth there are knowledge and discernment.” (Prov. 2:1-6) Understanding is a priceless treasure; we have to dig for it and put forth the effort to seek help in finding it. If we will apply ourselves, Jehovah will bless our efforts with success.

20. What is required on our part to find and hold on to the right form of worship?

²⁰ It is evident that choosing the right form of worship requires both appreciation and effort on our part. We must appreciate that our relationship to God is of far greater importance than any human tie. We must appreciate the value of God’s Word enough to apply ourselves to a study of it. Having found the form of worship that meets with divine approval, keep your appreciation alive, continue to progress in knowledge, and conscientiously apply God’s Word to all your activities in life.

Awake Worshipers in the Time of the End

1. Why is it so important to be spiritually awake now?

FACED as we are with the impending destruction of the wicked world at the hands of Jehovah’s executioner Christ Jesus, how vital it is to be awake to the responsibilities that rest on those who practice the religion of the Bible! We must guard against the pitfalls that could drag us down into destruction with the wicked, because the Devil, like a roaring lion, seeks to devour those who falter. Care should be exercised to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the new world immediately before us.—1 Pet. 5:8.

2. What attitude did the apostle Peter urge his Christian brothers to have, and why is that advice appropriate for us in the time of the end?

² It was just about six years before Jerusalem’s destruction by the Roman armies A.D. 70 that the apostle Peter wrote his second letter to those of the Christian congregation, giving inspired counsel that is of even greater force now in these days immediately preceding the destruction foreshadowed by that of Jerusalem. Addressing those who had already obtained the faith, he stressed their dependence upon God, consequently their need to walk humbly before him, when Peter said that they had obtained the faith “by the righteousness of our God and the Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 1:1) All of us are indebted to God for life and the innumerable provisions that sustain it. We have nothing to boast of in ourselves, but we do have much for which to be thankful. Even as we are indebted to God for our present life, so too our hope of eternal life in the new world is founded on his provisions.

DIVINE PROVISION FOR DELIVERANCE

3. On what is our hope of salvation based?

³ Though born in sin and under sentence of death, when we heard the good news we were awakened to the fact that the only means by which redemption is available is through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus, of which provision Jehovah God is the Author. Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life,” and no one comes to the Father except through him. (John 14:6) Those Christians who become “sharers in divine nature” as spirit sons of God and joint heirs with Christ in the heavenly kingdom have such a hope because of the ransom. To them the apostle Paul says: “Now that we have been declared righteous as a result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have gained our approach by faith into this undeserved kindness in which we now stand, and let us exult, based on hope of the glory of God.” (2 Pet. 1:4; Rom. 5:1, 2) The hope cherished by the “great crowd” of believers who inherit the earthly realm of the Kingdom is also based on this provision, and they publicly proclaim: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:10) They deeply appreciate this divine provision. It is not something in which they profess faith but that they do not understand. They teach others about it, and regularly avail themselves of prayer to God in the name of the one who gave his life as a ransom.

4. (a) By what means is deliverance from destruction at Armageddon possible? (b) Instead of putting trust in men, what attitude must we have?

⁴ Accepting Jesus Christ as the one through whom God provides deliverance is also the means by which it is possible to survive the cataclysm of Armageddon. In Noah’s day only those who put faith in Noah as God’s prophet and submitted to his headship were preserved through the flood. When Armageddon strikes in this generation, only those who have proved their faith in the Greater Noah Jesus Christ as God’s great Prophet and reigning King and who submit to his headship will be preserved into the new world. (1 Pet. 3:20, 21) Those who have put their trust in earthling men will find themselves to be without help. Man with all his scientific know-how will find his missile interceptors powerless to head off the forces of nature that God will turn upon the wicked to destroy them; nor will man be able to devise any means by which he can escape judgment by flight to some other part of the universe. Of the wicked God says: “If they dig down into Sheol, from there my own hand will take them; and if they go up to the heavens, from there I shall bring them down.” (Amos 9:2) Instead of putting confidence in the works of men, those who are awake to the situation that now faces mankind will in humility seek the face of God and the favor of his Son, the King Jesus Christ. “God opposes the haughty ones, but he gives undeserved kindness to the humble ones.”—1 Pet. 5:5; Ps. 2:12.

BEARING THE RIGHT FRUIT

5. What qualities should be manifest in the lives of those who want life in the new world, and in what will this result now?

⁵ All this requires effort on our part. It means directing our lives in such a way as to bring them into line with God’s righteous requirements. In view of the prospects for life that God has set before us, Peter admonished: “Yes, for this very reason, by your contributing in response all painstaking effort, supply to your faith virtue, to your virtue knowledge, to your knowledge self-control, to your self-control endurance, to your endurance godly devotion, to your godly devotion brotherly affection, to your brotherly affection love.” (2 Pet. 1:5-7) Faith, which is a well-founded conviction that the hope set before us through God’s Word will be fulfilled, is required in order to please God. Virtue is uprightness of conduct, in harmony with God’s standard of morality; without this our worship would not be acceptable. Knowledge is a necessity if we are to be ‘workmen with nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of the truth aright.’ (2 Tim. 2:15) Self-control is important in order to bring our lives into harmony with what we know to be right. Endurance enables us to stay firm in the faith even under difficult circumstances. Godly devotion moves us to put our heart into our worship. Brotherly affection and love hold us close to God, to our brothers and to the theocratic organization. “If these things exist in you and overflow, they will prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful regarding the accurate knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”—2 Pet. 1:8.

6. (a) What fruits has Christendom brought forth, and why? (b) What kind of fruit is evident among Jehovah’s people, and why?

⁶ We cannot afford to be inattentive or drowsy worshipers. This is a time for activity. Our course of action now will determine our opportunity for life in the new world. All men are known by their fruits. A paper entitled “Memento,” specially prepared for “Passion Sunday” and distributed in the Netherlands, in commenting on the fruits of Christendom’s religion, said: “We are guilty of the frayed unity of the Church of Christ and the disintegration of the Truth. . . . We are guilty of the thirty-three million communists who deny God, because we do not love zealously enough. . . . We are weak because we have turned the gospel into a sweet formula for outward decency and secure living . . . We are weak because we shake off the Christian morals . . . We are weak because we do not pray.” Their fruits manifest that theirs is not the religion of the Bible, because their fruits do not spring from an “accurate knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” However, the one who hears the Word of truth and gets the sense of it really does bear fruit of a right kind. He brings forth in his life fruitage of Christian qualities, referred to at John 15:8, and which brings glory to the Father. He is consistent in offering “to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name.” (Heb. 13:15) This results in more persons hearing the good news and becoming dedicated Christians, heartwarming letters of recommendation testifying to the fruitfulness of the ministry in which we participate as “God’s fellow workers.”—2 Cor. 3:1-3; 1 Cor. 3:5-9.

7. If one does not bear Christian fruitage, what is wrong? What should be done about it?

⁷ If these proper traits and activities were missing from our lives, something would be seriously wrong. “For if these things are not present in anyone, he is blind, shutting his eyes to the light, and has taken on a forgetfulness of his cleansing from his sins of long ago.” (2 Pet. 1:9) If any have become negligent in these matters and have not been putting forth the “painstaking effort” that is required, now is the time to correct the situation. We cannot afford to be indifferent or halfhearted. It would be most unwise to put off for some future time our service to God, especially in view of the shortness of the remaining time. We must be awake to the requirements of true worship. Only by recognizing the need to conform to God’s requirements and putting forth wholehearted effort to serve him now will there “be richly supplied to you the entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”—2 Pet. 1:11.

LOVING REMINDERS

8. What did the apostle Peter say was his reason for writing his second letter?

⁸ Why was it that Peter wrote these points of counsel to his Christian brothers? Did they not know the things of which he wrote? He answers: “For this reason I shall be disposed always to remind you of these things, although you know them and are firmly set in the truth which is present in you. But I consider it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to rouse you up by way of reminding you.” (2 Pet. 1:12, 13) It is true that by this time two or three of the Gospel accounts had been written, as well as the book of Acts. Paul, too, had written most of his fourteen inspired letters, and Peter makes mention of these. Yet he says: “Beloved ones, this is now the second letter I am writing you, in which, as in my first one, I am arousing your clear thinking faculties by way of a reminder, that you should remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.” (2 Pet. 3:1, 2) He knew that it would stimulate them to continued spiritual wakefulness. It was a safeguard for them to review these important truths, to keep their appreciation alive and to enable them to be ‘always ready to make a defense before everyone that demanded of them a reason for the hope in them.’—1 Pet. 3:15.

9. How have we today been provided with reminders, and what effect do they have on us?

⁹ We who live in this time of the end likewise need such loving reminders. The Bible itself contains reminders for us. (Ps. 119:2) Also, by means of articles that appear in The Watchtower and others of the Society’s publications our thinking is stimulated by way of a reminder. True, we may recognize many of the basic truths as things that we have studied before, but this reminder is vital to keep our appreciation alive, and without appreciation even the knowledge we have would soon fail to move us to active service. With a view to spiritual wakefulness, take full advantage of these divinely provided reminders.

10. What made Peter so confident of the truthfulness of the prophecies, and why do we today have even greater reason for confidence?

¹⁰ What Peter wrote was not imagination. He was not basing his teaching on “artfully contrived false stories.” He had personally been with Jesus at the time of his transfiguration and had, in a vision, there seen the Lord in Kingdom glory. Moreover, he had heard the voice of God himself from heaven, saying: “This is my son, my beloved, on whom I have set my approval.” It was because of these faith-confirming experiences that Peter argued that “we have the prophetic word made more firm, and you are doing well in paying attention to it.” (2 Pet. 1:16-19) If Peter had reason for faith then, we have even stronger reasons today, for we have seen fulfilled before our very eyes the prophecies that unmistakably prove that Christ is now present in Kingdom power and glory, that he has already taken action against the Devil and ousted him from heaven, and that soon this time of the end will reach its climax with the destruction of all wickedness, opening the way for God’s everlasting new world. Keeping these facts constantly before our minds helps us to be wide awake in the performance of our worship.

PITFALLS TO BE AVOIDED

11. (a) What helps us as Christians to be watchful? (b) Against what two serious offenses are we warned at 2 Peter 2:10?

¹¹ What a shame it would be to lose out on the new world when we are now at its threshold! Yet we could do just that if we failed to heed the warnings recorded for our protection. “Jehovah knows how to deliver people of godly devotion out of trial, but to reserve unrighteous people for the day of judgment to be cut off, especially, however, those who go on after flesh with the desire to defile it and who look down on lordship.” (2 Pet. 2:9, 10) Note the two offenses against which we are particularly warned: going after flesh with the desire to defile it, and looking down on lordship.

12. (a) If any “go on after flesh with the desire to defile it,” what hope do they forfeit? (b) How did the experience of the Israelites show the need to be alert to this danger?

¹² There is no point in ignoring the warning. It will do us no good to argue that we are born in sin and for that reason easily give in to weaknesses of the flesh. “Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom.” (1 Cor. 6:9, 10) We are never so near the new world that we can let down our guard. We must stay awake to the danger. Near the end of their forty-year trek through the wilderness, as they were about to enter the Promised Land, thousands of Israelites sold out their opportunity to enter the land that God had given them by succumbing to fleshly passion and having “immoral relations with the daughters of Moab.” (Num. 25:1) Any today who have left the defiling conduct of the world and then succumb to enticements to immorality and take up that way of life have disowned the owner who bought them, Jesus Christ. “The saying of the true proverb has happened to them: ‘The dog has turned back to its own vomit, and the sow that was bathed to rolling in the mire.’”—2 Pet. 2:22.

13. What is wrong with a person who indulges in immorality, so what must we guard, and how?

¹³ Those who take such a course have bad hearts. “They have eyes full of adultery and unable to desist from sin, and they entice unsteady souls. They have a heart trained in covetousness,” says Peter. Jesus pointed to the same cause when he said: “Out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications,” and so forth. (2 Pet. 2:14; Matt. 15:19) How did such desires ever get into the heart, the seat of motive, so as to control it? A person does not act on every thought that ever enters his mind, but it is those things that he dwells on, those thoughts that he retains in his mind until they become fertile, on which he eventually acts. (Jas. 1:14, 15) If a person makes it a habit to feed his mind on immorality, he is endangering his Christian integrity. “More than all else that is to be guarded, safeguard your heart, for out of it are the sources of life.” (Prov. 4:23) This we can do by cultivating the right habits of thinking that are recommended in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well spoken of, whatever virtue there is and whatever praiseworthy thing there is, continue considering these things.” To do so is to safeguard the heart.

14. Who are the “glorious ones” spoken of by Peter, and why is it important to show proper respect toward them?

¹⁴ What about those who “look down on lordship”? Of them the apostle further says: “Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble at glorious ones but speak abusively.” (2 Pet. 2:10) The “glorious ones” here referred to are not any who are bright and shining in their own eyes or who are glorious in the eyes of others due to their personal achievements. When praying to his Father, Jesus said of those who had become his footstep followers: “I have given them the glory which you have given me.” (John 17:22) The glory is, therefore, God-given. They have had conferred on them privileges, which, coming from God, indeed are glorious. Those who are the brothers of the King Jesus Christ have been selected as heirs of the heavenly kingdom—a glorious privilege indeed! This favor shown by God cannot be ignored by others of mankind who would gain life. For that reason, in his parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus showed that others would be judged as to their worthiness of life in the new world on the basis of their attitude toward the King’s brothers and the message they bear concerning the Kingdom. To speak abusively of these Kingdom ambassadors would be to show disregard for the Kingdom, for the King, and for the lordship of the One who empowered the King, Jehovah God himself. As a collective group, the remnant of these Kingdom heirs yet on earth constitute the “faithful and discreet slave,” to which God has committed the Kingdom interests on earth. Under the direction of holy spirit, this “slave” has designated individuals as servants in the congregations to shepherd the flock of God. It is important that we recognize and fully co-operate with the ones to whom God has thus given special responsibility, or authority, and not look down on the arrangement or speak abusively of those to whom these privileges have been entrusted.

15. How do those who ‘speak abusively of glorious ones’ show themselves to be like unreasoning animals?

¹⁵ Those who fight against God’s visible organization, as the “evil slave” has done, show themselves to be unreasoning, without appreciation of Jehovah God and their accountability to him. Failing to appreciate spiritual things, “these men, like unreasoning animals born naturally to be caught and destroyed, will, in the things of which they are ignorant and speak abusively, even suffer destruction in their own course of destruction, wronging themselves as a reward for wrongdoing.”—2 Pet. 2:12, 13.

16. Of what can we be sure in view of the divine execution of judgment in times past?

¹⁶ Let none who show themselves to be heedless of the divine warning think that God will withhold punishment for their God-defying conduct. He did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned, or the wicked world in Noah’s day or the immoral people of Sodom and Gomorrah. (2 Pet. 2:4-7) At Armageddon he will execute judgment upon those who follow in the footsteps of their wicked predecessors, but he will also preserve those who show that their hearts are fixed on him by conforming to his righteous ways.

PROPER VIEW OF GOD’S PATIENCE

17. Why does the scoffing of unbelievers at the idea of the end of the world not shake a Christian’s faith?

¹⁷ Having had our thinking stimulated by God’s Word, even when confronted by the scoffing unbelief of the world we find that our faith is not shaken. Worldlings may say: “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. 3:4) But we know that is not true! Informed by the infallible Word of God, we are awake to the fact that we are living in the time of the end. Though men scoff at the idea of destruction of the wicked world in the battle of Armageddon, we do not. We are well acquainted with the sacred and secular historical records of the flood of Noah’s day, by means of which “the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water.” That set a pattern of things to come. “By the same word [of God] the heavens [Satan and his demons] and the earth [ungodly people] that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.” (2 Pet. 3:5-7) That judgment is sure; it is nothing to scoff about.

18. (a) When scoffers argue that God is slow, why is their reasoning wrong? (b) How should we view the patience now being shown by God?

¹⁸ In their endeavor to minimize the seriousness of the situation, and reflecting their own unbelief, scoffers argue that if God ever purposed to bring in a new world he would have done it a long time ago; they consider him slow. However, Peter counsels: “Let this one fact not be escaping your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” A thousand years is a long time to a man who has a life span of only seventy or eighty years, but to God, who inhabits eternity, it is as a day would be to us. So there is no cause to doubt when we pause to consider that less than six of these thousand-year days have passed since man’s fall into sin, and we are now living in the very generation that will see the new world come in. “Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:8, 9) Those who are busy in the work of the Lord are not complaining because of God’s patience; they are working hard to find those who are the Lord’s sheep and help them into the fold of safety while there is yet time. While looking forward with keen anticipation to the time when wickedness will be brought to an end and God’s name will be forever vindicated, they are anxious to do all they can before that time to help those with a right heart condition to attain to repentance and survive with them into the new world of righteousness.

19. Why will destruction come on the old world as a thief, but why will Jehovah’s faithful witnesses not be caught unawares?

¹⁹ Although the world has been warned, the unbelieving, disobedient ones will be caught unawares because they give no heed. Jehovah’s day will come upon them as a thief—unwanted, and at a time when they do not expect. “But you, brothers, you are not in darkness, so that that day should overtake you as it would thieves, for you are all sons of light and sons of day.” (1 Thess. 5:2-5; 2 Pet. 3:10) No, Jehovah’s faithful witnesses will not be caught unawares. They take to heart the advice: “Since you are awaiting these things, do your utmost to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace.” They live every day with a keen sense of awareness of the nearness of the day of Jehovah’s execution of the satanic world. They know that God’s kingdom already rules in the heavens and that they are its publicity agents. Zealously they advocate it by both word and deed. These awake worshipers of Jehovah God earnestly endeavor to rouse others to spiritual wakefulness now so that they will not go down into perpetual sleep with the wicked at Armageddon, but will survive with the awake worshipers into the new world to worship Jehovah forever.—2 Pet. 3:11-14.

The Name of God

In their Tract No. 12, published in La Paz, Bolivia, the Maryknoll priests inadvertently admitted that the name of God is Jehovah. Catholic translations make the name Jehovah conspicuous by its absence, but here is the quotation from the Catholic tract:

“This precept [the 2nd commandment] commands us not to abuse the name of God. The Jews of the Old Testament had so much respect for the name of God that they began to avoid the pronouncing of this name. In the book of Leviticus we read, ‘Whosoever curses the name of Jehovah will be punished with death’. Then the punishment of ‘taking the name of God in vain’ was death. For that reason, Moses commanded that the blasphemers, who take the name of God in vain, be stoned to death by the people.”

Does the Bible version you use contain the name of God? His name does appear in the original Hebrew Scriptures over 6,800 times.

Following Jehovah’s Way in His Name

AMONG the many promises Jehovah God caused to be recorded in his Word for our instruction, comfort and hope as his dedicated Christian witnesses is the one found at Isaiah 30:21: “And your own ears will hear a word behind you saying: ‘This is the way. Walk in it, you people,’ in case you people should go to the right or in case you should go to the left.” In view of world conditions, how timely this counsel is!a

We all do want to follow Jehovah’s way, for it is a plain way, a way of righteousness and wisdom, a way of happiness and peace, a way of everlasting life. Surely there is no better way to follow than it.—Ps. 27:11; Prov. 3:13-18.

Following Jehovah’s way, however, is not following the line of least resistance. Far from it! Jesus told us that it is a narrow and cramped way, consequently a way that few find. But it is not so difficult that any, even those who are aged or of tender years, infirm or unlearned, cannot walk in it if they sincerely wish to do so.—Matt. 7:13, 14.

Note also that Jehovah has only one way, not many different, conflicting and confusing ways. He is a God of order, so he requires that all his servants on earth follow his one way, that they may all be at unity and speak in agreement.—1 Cor. 1:10.

What does it take, what do we need to follow Jehovah’s way? We need, first of all, the right heart condition, the right mental disposition, one of humility, sincerity and mildness. (Ps. 25:9) We also need knowledge, for ignorance will lead us only blindly into the ditch of destruction. We must therefore ‘rove about’ in God’s Word and in the helps he has provided, so as to ‘make our true knowledge abundant.’ We may not be content with knowing merely the first or elemental things about Jehovah’s pure worship but must progress to maturity.—Dan. 12:4; Heb. 6:1.

Today, even as in times past, Jehovah has a visible organization upon the earth. One of its chief purposes is to help Christians to follow Jehovah’s way; so we must avail ourselves of all its provisions. Scripturally identified as the “faithful and discreet slave” class, it provides servants, pastors, teachers and missionaries as well as printed publications. We also need God’s holy spirit, which he provides generously to all who ask him in sincerity and truth.—Matt. 24:45-47; Eph. 4:11, 12.

What does it mean to follow Jehovah’s way in his name? It means to serve as his representatives, bearing his name as his witnesses. It means following his righteous example and being exclusively devoted to the vindication of his name, even as he is. It means following the many instructions he has set forth in his Word. That means we must show a willing spirit and put the interests of his kingdom first in our lives. We may not follow our own whims or inclinations, nor may we content ourselves with haphazard service. It also means learning to work in harmony with his earthly organization and with those dedicated Christians with whom we are associated. There is much work to be done and a short time in which to do it; only by fully cooperating with one another can we work effectively and efficiently. It means working hard to make a success of every assignment given us, whether an assignment for a part in a meeting program or in the training program.

Knowing Jehovah’s way, it would be sin for us to fail to follow it, as well as folly. Let us wisely follow it, for it is the way of happiness and life.—Jer. 7:23; Jas. 4:17.

[Footnotes]

The Bible Lights Up History

FEW history books today really shed much light on history. They may state what happened at a certain time, but the reasons why this or that happened are often pure guesses of men. What is wrong? Worldly historians too often ignore the Word of God; without a knowledge of the inspired Word they are unable to understand history.

When worldly historians ignore the Holy Bible, the result of their works is to put too much emphasis on man, to glorify man and his accomplishments. History, when illuminated by the Bible, really glorifies God and not man.

Though few historians today illuminate their history with rays of light from the Word of God, there have been historians in the past that gave full credit to God. One of them was Charles Rollin, who in the eighteenth century published a four-volume set generally called “Rollin’s Ancient History.” In the introduction he writes the following:

“Although profane history treats only of nations who had imbibed all the chimeras of a superstitious worship, and abandoned themselves to all the irregularities of which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became capable; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of the Almighty, his power, his justice. . . . We must therefore consider as an indisputable principle, and as the basis and foundation to the study of profane history, that the province of the Almighty has, from all eternity, appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms and empires. . . .

“God has vouchsafed to discover to us in holy Scripture, a part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people; and [it] diffuses great light over the history of those nations, of whom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired writers. They alone display, and bring to light, the secret thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish pride, their impious and cruel ambition; they reveal the true causes and hidden springs of victories and overthrows; of the grandeur and declension of nations; the rise and ruin of states; and teach us what judgment the Almighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we ourselves ought to entertain of them. . . .

“Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appears . . . visibly governed by a Providence. . . . Being come at the head of his army to two highways, the one of which led to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites, this king, not knowing which of them would be best for him to strike into, debates for sometime with himself, and at last casts lots. God makes the lot fall on Jerusalem, to fulfill the menaces he had pronounced against that city; viz.: to destroy it, to burn the temple, and lead its inhabitants into captivity.

“One would imagine, at first sight, that this king had been prompted to besiege Tyre, merely from a political view, viz.: that he might not leave behind him so powerful and well fortified a city; nevertheless, a superior will had decreed the siege of Tyre. . . .

“When we take a view of the grandeur of empires, the majesty of princes, the glorious actions of great men, the order of civil societies, and the harmony of the different members of which they are composed, the wisdom of legislators, and the learning of philosophers, the earth seems to exhibit nothing to the eye of man but what is great and resplendent; nevertheless, in the eye of God . . . it was wholly polluted and impure. . . . Since it is certain, that all these great men, who were so much boasted of in profane history, were so unhappy as not to know the true God, and to displease him; we should therefore be particularly careful not to extol them too much.”

So the study of history without guidance from God’s Word leads one into many pitfalls, including hero worship and false conclusions as to the reasons for the fall of cities and kingdoms. The wise person lets the Bible light up history not only that he might discern the truth but that God may be glorified.

Questions From Readers

● At Daniel 11:20 reference is made to “one who is causing an exacter to pass through” the land. In “Your Will Be Done on Earth,” page 249, paragraph 57, this is applied to the issuing of a decree of registration mentioned at Luke 2:1-7. But is there not a difference between the two words? How can the issuing of a registration decree be termed an exaction?—W. B., U.S.A.

The word “exactor” has reference to exacting tribute or tax and is used in this sense, for instance, at 2 Kings 23:35, which refers to King Jehoiakim’s taxing Judah in order to pay tribute to Egypt’s Pharaoh Nechoh. This signification, however, does not debar the word “exactor” from being applied to the agent whom Caesar Augustus sent throughout the land at the time that Jesus was about to be born. It is true that some translations refer to what Caesar Augustus there decreed as an enrollment of the world, whereas the New World Translation speaks of it as a registration, but we must remember that this enrollment or this registration was not merely for the purpose of finding out how many people there were in the Roman Empire, or in a province of the Roman Empire. It had an ulterior motive, and as the book, “Your Will Be Done on Earth,” shows, that ulterior motive could be the exaction of men for the army or the exaction of taxes. This exaction would be determined and administered according to the number of people enrolled or registered in any one district or province of the empire. So the end result is the same although the Hebrew word in Daniel 11:20 may be different from the Greek word in Luke 2:1-7.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

September will complete the three-month campaign during which Jehovah’s witnesses are offering to all persons who show interest in the Word of God the Bible-study book “Your Will Be Done on Earth,” along with another book and two booklets, for $1. Special effort should be made to reach those living in areas previously unworked during this campaign.

ANNUAL MEETING AT PITTSBURGH

On Saturday, October 1, 1960, at ten o’clock in the forenoon, the annual meeting of the members of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania will be held at the Society’s office located at 4100 Bigelow Boulevard, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Notice of the annual meeting will be sent to all the members. So that the letters of notice will reach the members shortly after September 1, all should be certain that the secretary’s office has their present addresses.

Proxies will accompany the notice of meeting. Each member should complete and return his proxy promptly whether he is going to be at the meeting personally or not and should do so so that the proxies will reach the office of the secretary of the Society not later than September 15.

YOUR PART IN A NEW WORLD

“New heavens and a new earth!” That is one of the wonderful promises of the Bible. Do you know what it means? Its fulfillment will involve, in one way or another, every living creature. To be sure of your part, be informed! Send for and read the two hard-bound books “New Heavens and a New Earth” and “Your Will Be Done on Earth.” They total 768 pages of vital Bible instruction and counsel. Send $1 at once and receive free two timely booklets also.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

October 2: Choosing the Right Form of Worship. Page 529.

October 9: Awake Worshipers in the Time of the End. Page 535.