The Watchtower — May 15, 1961

Do You Tread on Others’ Toes Needlessly?

DO YOU? To tread on the toes has been defined as “to give offense unintentionally by encroaching on one’s rights or privileges, wounding in a tender spot, and so forth”; “to give offense.”

Note that the emphasis is on needlessly treading on others’ toes. Any person of righteous principles and with strong convictions is certain to offend some. That has been true of all lovers of righteousness from Abel on down to our day, and of none more than of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They all could have spared themselves much suffering and difficulty had they been willing to compromise. But where principle is involved one may not be unduly concerned about offending those who have no love of righteousness.—Matt. 15:12-14.

However, in our everyday relations it usually is not a matter of principle but simply one of thoughtlessly or unwittingly giving offense. It is as though we did not realize how big our own feet were or failed to yield enough of the path to the other fellow.

There are ever so many little ways in which we might be treading on the toes of others. Some are sensitive about their age, weight, health or some physical defect, such as a birthmark or an unusually large nose. To call attention to any such tender spot, and especially to make a joke of it, certainly would be treading on their toes. Thoughtfulness in such instances will be repaid by conscious or unconscious gratitude.

A very talkative person is likely to tread on others’ toes, and especially if his talk is gossip. Said a wise king: “In the abundance of words there does not fail to be transgression.” “The foolish one speaks many words.” The more the words the less the care with which they are uttered and so the greater the likelihood of their offending others.—Prov. 10:19; Eccl. 10:14.

In fact, one may needlessly offend by one’s very choice of words; either too high-toned and artificial or coarse and vulgar. Even by their tone of voice some tread on the toes of others, it being haughty, condescending or harsh and rasping. Off-color jokes as well as “practical” jokes are certain to wound some. Carelessness regarding personal hygiene, such as bad breath or body odor, or smoking tobacco where a sign plainly says “No Smoking” will cause one to tread on the olfactory toes of others. Actually, any breach of good manners, any tactlessness, will cause one to err.

A person may be treading on others’ toes repeatedly and yet not be aware of it, due to the diffidence of his friends. But God’s Word says: “Better is a revealed reproof than a concealed love.” Friends often shrink from giving reproof because of fear as to how it might be taken. Paradoxically, the ones prone to tread on the toes of others are usually those most sensitive themselves; the most tactless expecting the most tact on the part of others.—Prov. 27:5.

If your best friends will not tell you, how can you know? By the way they act toward you. They may be polite, tactful, seemingly friendly, but withal a bit cautious so as not to tread on your toes. Not feeling free in your presence, they are not likely to take you into their inner sanctum of friendship and make you the recipient of special expressions of love. Your outstanding qualities are ignored because of your treading on their toes.

What causes one to tread on the toes of others? Basically it is a lack of empathy, an inability to put oneself in the shoes of others, as it were; a lack of understanding, of sensitive mental discernment; in short, a lack of neighbor love. This may be due to a lack of knowledge of the customs of a people or of the circumstances of a particular individual. Or it may be due to one’s being very much an extrovert. Such a one often lacks in sensitive mental discernment and so finds the discomforts, handicaps or suffering of others amusing, especially if such happen to be introverted. For this reason it has been said that to label persons as extroverted or introverted is just another way of saying that some are thick-skinned and others thin-skinned. The golden mean is to be what is termed ambiverted, avoiding both extremes, not readily giving nor quickly taking offense.

The critical perfectionist is also likely to tread on others’ toes because of a lack of empathy. Instead of appreciating and praising the good points, he sees and comments upon only the weak points, the flaws, thus treading needlessly on others’ toes. Because of his critical nature he misses many opportunities to give a helping hand.

The same may be said about those that harp on efficiency. They often are so concerned with punctuality, orderliness or economy that they become blind to the need of fellow feeling, to human values. In the family circle it might work something like this: The wife prepares a special meal and the husband grumbles about the cost. Or he brings home a gift and she complains about the extravagance. Lacking in empathy, both overlook the fact that going beyond prudence is just the thing that love requires at times to express itself!

Nor may we overlook that all manner of prejudices betray a lack of empathy and cause some to tread on others’ toes. By one’s tone of voice, words and actions one might betray a deep-seated prejudice, thereby touching tender spots. To whatever the prejudice may be due—difference in color, nationality, economic or educational level—it is the very antithesis of empathy, betraying an utter inability to put oneself in the shoes of others.

There is so much suffering in this old world, so much misunderstanding and unhappiness. Let us not add to it by needlessly stepping on others’ toes. Rather, let us try to grasp the way others think and feel about things; the more others differ from us the more we need to be on guard, and this also applies to the basic differences of the sexes.

God’s Word is filled with good counsel along this line, such as: “Clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness.” “Go on walking in wisdom” and “let your utterance be always with graciousness.” Heed this counsel and you will not tread on others’ toes—needlessly.—Col. 3:12; 4:5, 6.

What Is Happening to Faith?

Is materialism destroying faith? Can strong Christian faith exist today?

FAITH is not a gift that some persons receive and others do not. It is not something a person is born with, but it is a quality that must be cultivated. Men of ancient times who became famous because of their faith were not supermen. They were human just like us. They had to cultivate their strong faith as they grew in knowledge and understanding of Jehovah God. They could see his wisdom and power reflected in the things of creation, and they were familiar with how he dealt with people that lived before their day. Their own experiences with him also contributed to the building of their faith. Upon the basis of the knowledge they gained about him, they cultivated implicit trust in him.

It was faith in Jehovah that enabled Moses confidently to tell the fleeing Israelites: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will perform for you today. For the Egyptians whom you do see today you will not see again, no, never again. Jehovah will himself fight for you and you yourselves will be silent.” (Ex. 14:13, 14) It took faith for him to lead two million or more people across the Red Sea and into a desert wilderness where food and water were scarce, but Moses trusted God to be with them, for he was doing as God commanded him.

Many were the men who cultivated a strong faith that enabled them to do great things to the honor of Jehovah. “What more shall I say? For the time will fail me if I go on to relate about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David as well as Samuel and the other prophets, who through faith defeated kingdoms in conflict, effected righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, stayed the force of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from a weak state were made powerful, became valiant in war, routed the armies of foreigners.” (Heb. 11:32-34) Their faith made them outstanding.

WHERE IS FAITH TODAY?

When reading the Scriptural record about the great faith shown by men of ancient times, do you wonder where such faith is today? Do you ask yourself, What has become of faith? Where are there men with the faith of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jeremiah? Look throughout the modern world and you will find little genuine faith in man’s Creator. Materialistic thinking so dominates the world that more trust is placed in man’s opinion than in God’s Word, in man’s laws than God’s laws and in man’s strength than in God’s power.

By trusting in human wisdom and military might as their protective arm the people of this generation show themselves to be without faith in the Supreme Sovereign. “This is what Jehovah has said: ‘Cursed is the able-bodied man who puts his trust in earthling man and actually makes flesh his arm and whose heart turns away from Jehovah himself. And he will certainly become like a solitary tree in the desert plain and will not see when good comes.’”—Jer. 17:5, 6.

Because Jesus foreknew that the world would become filled with professed Christians who would draw near to God with their mouths but whose hearts would be far removed from him, he said: “When the Son of man arrives, will he really find this faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) He cannot find it in the religions of Christendom, because they have made themselves close friends with the governments of this world. They are quick to express faith in human leaders and human schemes for peace but are slow to express trust in God’s kingdom as the only hope for mankind.

Faith in God’s kingdom and trust in his protective power can be found, however, in the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses. Instead of putting its trust in the arm of flesh to bring about a peaceful world, it puts its trust exclusively in Jehovah God.

STRONG FAITH

If you are a dedicated Christian in the New World society, you must continually strive to cultivate a strong faith and to maintain it. Because you live in a world where faith is lacking, you cannot afford to become lax about cultivating it. You must not permit materialism to encroach upon your interests and time until your faith is weakened. At all times you need the attitude of Jesus’ followers who said to him: “Give us more faith.”—Luke 17:5.

How does your faith compare with that of Moses or of the apostle Paul? Do you have the same faith that moved Paul to endure many dangers for the sake of the ministry? “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I experienced shipwreck, a night and a day I have spent in the deep; in travels often, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from highwaymen, in dangers from my own race, in dangers from the nations, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers among false brothers, in labor and toil, in sleepless nights often, in hunger and thirst, in abstinence from food many times, in cold and nakedness.” (2 Cor. 11:25-27) Do you have the faith it takes to face such dangers and physical discomforts for God’s service? Is his service that important to you? If it is not, what has happened to your faith? Have you failed to continue cultivating it?

Paul maintained a strong faith in Jehovah until the day of his death, about thirty years after his becoming a Christian. He did not permit a long period of service to dampen his zeal or to weaken his trust in God. He did not hold back from giving the ministry his very best effort. Can you say that you are doing the same?

EXPEND YOURSELVES

The extent to which you expend yourselves in the Christian ministry can, in a way, be a measurement of your faith. If you make little effort on your own to serve God and allow other interests to take up most of your attention and time, your faith is very weak. Your lack of enthusiasm for God’s service indicates that you do not fully trust him to do as he has promised. You need to build up your faith, cultivating it so that it will become strong. This is essential for your own survival and for winning God’s approval. “Without faith it is impossible to win his good pleasure, for he that approaches God must believe that he is and that he becomes the rewarder of those earnestly seeking him.”—Heb. 11:6.

Do you hold back from giving student talks in the ministry school or from accepting a position of responsibility in the congregation because you feel a lack of ability? Did not Moses feel a lack of ability to do what God asked him to do? Did not Jeremiah feel as if he were a child when presented with the very responsible task of being God’s prophet? Yet by faith these men did what they thought they could not do. By the same faith, you can do things in the ministry that you may think you cannot do. If you refuse privileges of service, what has happened to your faith? Do you not trust God to help you by means of his spirit? “If anyone ministers, let him minister as dependent on the strength which God supplies.”—1 Pet. 4:11.

For those in the New World society there is the opportunity to devote a great amount of time to the ministry as a pioneer. Many express a desire to do this work but are reluctant to reduce their material possessions and make changes in their secular employment so they can. Is this because their faith is weak? Are they unwilling to show the faith of Paul by offering to serve God directly with most of their time as he did? They should take stock of themselves and build up their faith if this is why they hold back. If you are one who is not tied to unavoidable obligations, manifest your faith by devoting your time to God’s service as a pioneer. Cultivate the trust in God and the zeal for him that Paul had.

Men of ancient times expended themselves in God’s service because they knew that was the right thing to do. They knew that the work they did was for the good of man and for the honor of Jehovah God. Does your faith move you to do as they did? Although they did not, at the time, receive fulfillment of the divine promises for faithfulness, they will, in due time, by being resurrected from the dead. Of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob we read: “In faith all these died, although they did not get the fulfillment of the promises, but they saw them afar off and hailed them and publicly declared that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land.” (Heb. 11:13) They knew that their service to Jehovah was not in vain and that he would fulfill every promise to them. You can exercise the same trust today without disappointment. You can plan for the future “upon the basis of a hope of the everlasting life which God, who cannot lie, promised long ago.”—Titus 1:2.

The strong faith possessed by men of ancient times can exist today. It can be cultivated through accurate knowledge of the Scriptures, activity in the ministry and love for God. Although the world in general trusts in the arm of flesh, all in the New World society who are cultivating faith put their implicit trust in the arm of God. He is their strength, their protection and their hope, and they will not permit materialism or anything else to break down their faith in him. Like the men of ancient times, they trust in him and expend their vital energies in his service. “Blessed is the able-bodied man who puts his trust in Jehovah, and whose confidence Jehovah has become.”—Jer. 17:7.

Rejoicing in New World Associations

“Rejoice before Jehovah your God in every undertaking of yours.”—Deut. 12:18.

1, 2. (a) What quality does Jehovah purpose that we show in our worship of him? (b) How was this shown in connection with the establishment of the early church?

JEHOVAH our God is “the happy God,” and certainly he rejoices in everything he undertakes to do. (1 Tim. 1:11) It is his purpose that all his faithful creatures rejoice and be happy in their worship of him. Thus it is most fitting that we find this command in the Bible addressed to God’s typical nation of Israel: “You must eat before Jehovah your God and rejoice in every undertaking of yours, you and your households, because Jehovah your God has blessed you.” “You must rejoice before Jehovah your God in every undertaking of yours.”—Deut. 12:7, 18.

² Later, with the establishment of the Christian congregation as the spiritual “Israel of God,” Jehovah made it clear to those called to be its members that they were called to a happy association in which they were to rejoice together. Jesus, in his sermon on the mount, pronounced “happy” those who appreciated their spiritual need, who hungered and thirsted for righteousness, and who pursued the way of peace. Even when bitterly persecuted they were to “rejoice and leap for joy.” Likewise, we find the apostle Paul writing in his happifying letter to the Philippians: “Continue rejoicing in the Lord.” “Always rejoice in the Lord. Once more I will say, Rejoice!”—Gal. 6:16; Matt. 5:3-12; Phil. 3:1; 4:4.

3. What sound reason has Jehovah provided for the rejoicing of his people?

³ Today Jehovah God is inviting all lovers of truth and righteousness to assemble together with the happy New World society of his witnesses. God himself provides the sound reasons for rejoicing among his people. At one time Jehovah’s modern witnesses found themselves in a stricken and unhappy state, particularly at the end of the first world war, in 1918. They were depicted in prophecy as persons dressed in sackcloth, and even as dead corpses lying in the streets. (Rev. 11:3, 7-10) But Jehovah caused the condition of his people to be changed from that of sorrow and mourning to one of joy and happiness. He delivered his faithful witnesses from their deathlike state of inactivity, put his spirit upon them and caused the prophetic words of Isaiah to be fulfilled toward them, namely: “Then the redeemed ones of Jehovah themselves will return and must come to Zion with a joyful outcry, and rejoicing to time indefinite will be upon their head. To exultation and rejoicing they will attain. Grief and sighing will certainly flee away.”—Isa. 51:11.

4. What do persons of good will note, and what do they desire?

⁴ It is therefore not strange that so many people in the world take note of the happiness of Jehovah’s people. Indeed, it is a factor that draws many persons to associate with us. They find themselves sharing the desire of the psalmist, who wrote: “That I may see the goodness to your chosen ones, that I may rejoice with the rejoicing of your nation.”—Ps. 106:5.

5. Name some things that contribute to the joy of the New World society.

⁵ Many things contribute to the joy of the New World society. What joy there is in knowing and understanding Bible truth, being aware of the fact that Jehovah has now taken up his power to rule by establishing Christ Jesus as King in the heavenly kingdom and that shortly Jehovah’s universal sovereignty will be vindicated by means of this kingdom when it destroys all that oppose its rule! (Ps. 97:1-12) The hope we have of living forever in the New World at hand, the evidence of the outpouring of Jehovah’s spirit upon his people in these last days, along with thrilling revelations of truth and the gathering of a great crowd of persons of good will into the New World fold, are further causes for rejoicing. And, knowing the needs of his creatures, Jehovah provides the right climate for rejoicing—the happy companionship and association of others of like faith.

6, 7. On what is the happiness of Jehovah’s creatures dependent? Therefore, what should be safeguarded?

⁶ Jehovah himself does not need the companionship of others in order to be happy. He is complete in himself. Yet he chooses to delight in his servants and to find pleasure and cause for rejoicing in his people. “Jehovah your God is in the midst of you. As a mighty One, he will save. He will be glad over you with rejoicing. He will become silent in his love. He will be joyful over you with happy cries.” Concerning the restoration of his people to spiritual prosperity in these last days, Jehovah says: “I will be joyful in Jerusalem and exult in my people.” On the other hand, none of God’s creatures is complete in himself as He is. All depend on Jehovah for their happiness. They all have certain needs, which must be satisfied in order for them to be truly happy. And this is most certainly true of us imperfect humans on earth. One of these needs is for right companionship and association, and this Jehovah provides in various ways, especially in the Christian fellowship of the New World society.—Zeph. 3:17; Isa. 65:19.

⁷ Hence, if we want to continue rejoicing in every undertaking of ours as God’s people, we need to safeguard and maintain the joyfulness of our association. Joy does not come of itself but is the result of a right course of conduct in the climate of harmony and peace with the people of God. It is one of the fruits of the spirit. (Gal. 5:22) We should by all means pray for joy to be in our midst, but we also need to cultivate it by making our own contribution to building up happiness in congregational association.

EXPRESSING GENEROSITY IN OUR ASSOCIATIONS

8. Who benefit from the expression of generosity, and what example illustrates this?

⁸ Generosity is a quality very closely associated with rejoicing. Did you ever know of a person who was mean, stingy, bigoted and narrow-minded who could be spoken of as rejoicing in all his undertakings? A person who is always trying to get something out of life without giving anything in return is never a happy person. Joy begets generosity, and generosity begets joy. Speaking of the Christians in Macedonia, the apostle Paul wrote that “their abundance of joy . . . made the riches of their generosity abound.” Generosity gives joy to the giver, the more so when he appreciates that it is only because of Jehovah’s undeserved kindness to him that he is in a position to give, and it produces rejoicing also in the receiver and indeed in those who witness the results of the generosity. When King David was making provisions of materials for the temple to be built later by his son Solomon, “the people gave way to rejoicing over their making voluntary offerings, for it was with a complete heart that they made voluntary offerings to Jehovah, and even David the king himself rejoiced with great joy.” And so David prayed to Jehovah: “Do keep this forever as the inclination of the thoughts of the heart of your people and direct their heart to you.”—2 Cor. 8:1, 2;1 Chron. 29:9, 14, 18.

9. In addition to being generous with material things and our labor, in what other way can we demonstrate this quality?

⁹ And so today when we share together in some project, such as building a Kingdom Hall or working at an assembly, when we give of our labor or our money voluntarily, not forced or solicited, this produces rejoicing. As we witness the generosity of our brothers in such work it causes us to rejoice, and indeed awakens the spirit of generosity in the hearts of all in the congregation. But generosity with our material possessions or with our time and labor is not in itself sufficient if we are to share fully in the joy of Jehovah’s people. We need to be generous with ourselves, generous in our dealings, in being forgiving and long-suffering and in sharing our companionship and fellowship with one another, particularly in connection with our Christian activities.

10. (a) From what does the desire for companionship basically spring? (b) What often controls the selection of friends by persons of the world?

¹⁰ The seeking of association with others is basically an expression of love of self, though not necessarily of selfishness in a bad sense. We have need for companionship; that is the way we are made. Right at the beginning God saw good to give man a companion and helpmate, because it was not good for him to be alone. (Gen. 2:18) It is this desire for companionship that is an initial moving cause that leads a man or woman into marriage. (Gen. 2:24) Likewise the making of friends is basically the filling of the need for companionship. In this world people seek to have for their friends persons having similar social or educational backgrounds, or with whom they share common interests or hobbies, so that there is some common ground for conversation or activity. They make friends with persons who have something to contribute toward their own happiness. More often than not such worldly friendships are limited to just the satisfying of the selfish need, and when the one no longer can contribute to the need of the other, or if some more advantageous friendship comes along, the original associate is discarded. This lack of true affection in so-called friendships is most noteworthy today, with men having become so much “lovers of themselves.”—2 Tim. 3:2, 3.

11. What do we need to guard against in enjoying fellowship in the New World society?

¹¹ In the Christian fellowship of the New World society we need to be on guard that our associations with our brothers do not become limited by only self-interest and the satisfying of our needs for companionship. When we come into the truth we find ourselves among all kinds of men from all kinds of social, educational and racial backgrounds. If we had been still in the world perhaps we would not have sought some of them out to be our friends, feeling that they would have nothing to contribute to our happiness. And even in the New World society we find ourselves drawn to certain ones more than others, do we not? Certainly it is natural to seek the association of those with whom we feel readily at ease and whose companionship we find exhilarating and satisfying. But if we limit our association just to such ones whom we find easy to get along with, is that not giving in to self-interest? If we always associate with just the same ones when we are at the Kingdom Hall, would this not contribute to the making of cliques and divisions? Yes, we might find ourselves thoughtlessly making partial distinctions on the basis of what others are according to the flesh.—Jas. 2:4.

12, 13. Are special friendships wrong? Yet what must we do?

¹² Does this, then, mean that it is wrong to enjoy some special friendships with others in the congregation, friendships that are closer than those we share with others? No, not necessarily. The Scriptures speak of John as the “disciple whom Jesus used to love [prefer, margin],” and other references indicate that there was more than usual friendship between John and Jesus. But Jesus did not thereby exclude the others from his association and love. He was most generous in his expressions of love for his brothers, expending himself in their behalf, to the extent of laying down his life for them. Certainly in his case he ‘rejoiced in every undertaking of his.’ Because he wanted his followers to share the joy he had in doing the Father’s will and in showing such unselfish love for others, he exhorted them just before his death: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and your joy may be made full. This is my commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you.”—John 21:7; 15:11, 12.

¹³ But we need to make allowance for there being such personal friendships in addition to the fellowship we enjoy in common with all our brothers. Persons who have been long in the truth together, who have shared certain experiences, and who have endured like trials of faith, naturally arrive at a common understanding and mutual friendship. This friendship has grown in the personal knowledge of each other’s qualities of faithfulness and integrity, and such friendships are things we can rejoice at and they certainly should be no cause for jealousy. Jealousy can sometimes be the reason for some seeking personal friendships with other brothers, especially with those in prominent positions in the organization; but, being a product of self-interest, such does not produce happiness. As we grow in the truth, share with our brothers in the Kingdom ministry, endure along with them persecution and reproach, the bonds of Christian love and fellowship will grow strong in a natural and lasting way to our mutual joy.

BROADENING OUR AFFECTIONS

14. How can the principle “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving” apply to our associations in the New World society?

¹⁴ We do not want to be ‘cramped for room in our affections’ for the brothers. Rather, ‘widen out’ your love for the brothers, taking them all in, sharing your own association generously with them. The principle “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving” applies very appropriately to this matter of association. For example, a person of good will begins to attend the meetings. Due to shyness and lack of education he finds difficulty in expressing himself. At first we find it difficult to converse with him, but, because we have love for this new sheep, we continue our efforts to make him feel at home with us. In the climate of happy Christian fellowship he begins to lose his shyness. Through training in the ministry school he learns to express himself about God’s purposes, and then to be able to share effectively in the ministry. Soon he finds himself enjoying happy experiences in the preaching work, and these he shares with us. Gone are the shyness and reticence. Instead he is bubbling over with joy, and we rejoice with him in seeing his advancement in the truth and his happy association with us as a brother. This we would have missed if our hearts had remained ‘cramped,’ not ‘widened out’ to include this new one in our midst.—2 Cor. 6:12, 13; Acts 20:35.

15, 16. How can we show interest in our brothers?

¹⁵ To be generous in your associations means to be interested in your brothers, “keeping an eye, not in personal interest upon just your own matters, but also in personal interest upon those of the others.” Have a sincere interest in the spiritual progress of your brothers, rejoicing in each forward step they take on the way to Christian maturity. How happy we are when someone with whom we have been studying begins to come to meetings, makes his first comment at the Watchtower study and starts out in the field service! We eagerly relate the new one’s progress to our fellow Kingdom publishers. When he comes to meetings we are happy to introduce him to the servants and others in attendance. After all, is this not a letter of recommendation for us as ministers? But to guard against any tendency to boast, as though this was as a result of our own efforts, let us be just as ready to rejoice with our brothers in their like experiences and with other new ones making the same steps in Christian growth.—Phil. 2:4; Rom. 12:15, 16.

¹⁶ Be interested too in those who are weak and irregular in attending meetings and who are in danger of lapsing into spiritual ill-health. Be ready to speak encouragingly to them when they come to meetings or when you visit them. Let them feel warmed by such association. Paul wrote: “Let each one keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person.” Sometimes a friendly smile, a warm handshake or a shared experience can be the means of stirring up the hearts of the spiritually ailing ones to a desire for renewed activity in Jehovah’s service. This generous giving of ourselves, being interested in one another, contributes greatly to the joy of the congregation with which we are associated.—1 Cor. 10:24.

17. Where one feels a lack of warm association among the brothers, what would it be well for one to do?

¹⁷ Once in a while one may hear the complaint: “There is something wrong in our congregation. There is no warmth among the brothers, and I feel ignored when I come to the meetings.” Certainly if there is some lack of Jehovah’s spirit and hence of joy in the congregation, this is a matter for concern for all in the congregation, and especially the overseer. But would it not be well for the one who feels the lack of warmth rather to honestly ask himself: “What am I doing to promote joy among the brothers? Am I going to the meetings just to get something for myself, or do I go with the desire to contribute something in the way of comments and in my association with the brothers? Do I make a point of warmly greeting others and meeting new ones? Am I really interested in my brothers, or have I become self-centered, with my eye on just my own interests?” Perhaps it is the complainer who is cold, lacking in warmth, not approachable. For love to produce real joy there has to be a contribution from both sides. At the same time, because one fails to respond we will not give up doing what is right in continuing to speak encouragingly to such one as we have opportunity.

18. In what matters concerning our brothers should we show interest, yet what should be avoided?

¹⁸ Our “personal interest” in our fellow Christians does not mean trespassing on their private and family affairs, thus becoming a “busybody in other people’s matters.” Certainly we can enjoy the social company of our brothers as we have opportunity, and such times can be most enjoyable and contribute much to our happiness. (See The Watchtower of February 15, 1960, pages 115, 116.) But to encroach on the private affairs of another, or even to spend overmuch time in social visiting, can quickly detract from, or even spoil altogether, the joys of spiritual fellowship. (1 Pet. 4:15; Prov. 25:17) It is in the theocratic activities and spiritual welfare of our brothers that we should be interested, deriving joy from their theocratic association, rejoicing in their service experiences, happy to be sharers with them in praising the name of our God, Jehovah. Yes, in our brothers we find great joy. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians: “My brothers beloved and longed for, my joy.”—Phil. 4:1; 1 Thess. 2:19, 20.

19, 20. (a) What things will help us build New World associations on right foundations? (b) In what way is association in the New World society like that of a family?

¹⁹ To enjoy fully the privilege of New World association we need to be sure that our relationship with the brothers is built on the right foundation. If we are young we should guard against showing disrespect for older ones in the congregation, treating them in an overly familiar manner. Rather, treat them like “fathers.” Show respect for the difference in the sexes, keeping associations clean and wholesome, never abusing the privilege we enjoy of Christian fellowship. To rejoice in one’s association with the brothers does not mean one has to be overly effusive or gushing. We want to guard against just a hypocritical show of friendship that lacks genuine interest in one another.—1 Tim. 5:1, 2; Rom. 12:9.

²⁰ When one enters into association with those in the New World society it is like coming into a family. Within a family the members get to know one another well, both as to their faults and their good qualities. But they make allowances for one another. They do not try to put up a front of self-righteousness, for they know the other members of the family will quickly see through it. And, indeed, they are happy for that, being able to be natural, as themselves, and they trust the other family members to have consideration for them and not reject them because they may have mannerisms and ways of doing things different from them. Likewise in the New World society, our brothers trust us and so are themselves, natural, not putting on a show of self-righteousness. This makes for a happy relationship. At the same time we are all interested in helping one another to make our minds over to conform to New World ways of living. Let us individually always seek to contribute to the spirit of rejoicing within the New World society by being generous, kind, considerate, interested in one another more than in ourselves, building one another up in joyful Kingdom service to Jehovah’s praise.—Rom. 12:2; Prov. 19:22.

Overseers for the Joy of the Flock

1. What is essential to continue diligently in any undertaking?

IT IS difficult to continue diligently at any task when there is no joy in the doing of it. After a time the task becomes burdensome and the desire to quit grows. That is why Jehovah calls on his servants to ‘rejoice in every undertaking of theirs,’ so that they will not ‘give up doing what is right.’ One who is sad and despondent would not be able to help cure the sighing and crying of those who witness the terrible conditions around them in this old world. As Proverbs 17:22 puts it: “A heart that is joyful does good as a curer, but a spirit that is stricken makes the bones dry.”—Deut. 12:18; Gal. 6:9.

2. What does an overseer need to have first before he can serve for the joy of the flock?

² Overseers in the congregations of God’s people are anxious to help their brothers endure faithfully in the Kingdom service. For that reason it becomes their concern to see that the spirit of joy and rejoicing is found among the flock. First the overseer must be joyful about his own assignment. If he allows his own assignment of service to his brothers to become burdensome to him, and he gives of his time and energy sparingly, grudgingly, as though under compulsion, he will tend to ‘lord it over the flock’ and will be lacking in joy, eagerness and willingness. So the overseer must have a deep appreciation for his wonderful privilege of service, being thankful for it, always looking to Jehovah to sustain him by holy spirit so that he might serve for the joy of the flock.—1 Pet. 5:2, 3.

3. What is the overseer’s principal concern?

³ Whatever assignment of service one has in the congregation organization, be it that of accounts servant, magazine-territory servant, or suchlike, the duty of the servant is not just in keeping records like some clerical worker, nor is it just a matter of relaying instructions from the governing body to the brothers. Rather, the most important part of his assignment is the caring for the spiritual well-being of the congregation, that it might render the most effective praise to Jehovah. Good physical health is reflected in a zest for living. Good spiritual health is reflected in zeal for Jehovah’s service along with a happy and joyful spirit. Be alert to the symptoms of spiritual ill-health: lack of joy, the feeling that the preaching work is burdensome, lack of results in the ministry. Then prayerfully seek to apply Scriptural healing to restore to spiritual health those thus affected.

4. How should the overseer give counsel, and what is required for this?

⁴ Sound advancement in the Kingdom work is never achieved by driving or scolding. There may be some initial progress or increase, but this falls away due to lack of joy on the part of the brothers. It is easy to be critical, to see faults or weaknesses. It takes time and prayerful thought to be in a position to present good upbuilding counsel that will encourage and strengthen and yet will give practical aid in overcoming the weaknesses. The overseer will seek to do this if he is truly interested in his brothers, if he is joyful himself in his service and has the desire to see his brothers ‘rejoice in every undertaking of theirs.’

5, 6. (a) What is one basic requirement for joy? (b) How does the overseer show he appreciates this requirement?

⁵ To cultivate joy among the brothers one must know the things that make for joy. Paul indicated one basic requirement for joy when he wrote: “I will also keep on rejoicing, . . . in harmony with my eager expectation and hope.” Certainly Paul himself had an eager expectation and hope of gaining eternal life with Christ Jesus. The clear vision he had of his hope, with an appreciation for the thrilling privileges of service it held out, gave him a joy that sustained him through all kinds of persecution and difficulties. And how true this was of the Master, Jesus, himself, who “for the joy that was set before him . . . endured a torture stake.” Whether one holds the hope of heavenly life as one of the remnant of the “little flock,” or of earthly life as one of the “other sheep,” it is important that that hope be a confident one if it is to sustain one joyfully in Jehovah’s service.—Phil. 1:18-20; 3:13, 14; Heb. 12:2; Luke 12:32; John 10:16.

⁶ To have a strong faith or an “assured expectation of things hoped for” requires a sound knowledge of the Word of God. Appreciating this, the overseer will be a good student himself and will encourage personal study of the Bible by all in the congregation. In caring for the oversight of the congregation he will see that the meetings are alive, upbuilding, instructive and encouraging. In his conversations with the brothers he will speak of the hope they share. If, in his own personal study of the Bible, The Watchtower, and other publications of the Society, he is alert to note new truths, encouraging suggestions and points of upbuilding counsel, he will be prepared in a practical way to build up his brothers and strengthen their hope. In calling on weak or inactive publishers, let it not be just a routine call to collect a field service report or make arrangements for going out in preaching activity, but use the opportunity to build the person up, quickening his desire for knowledge, remembering that if that one is to undertake Jehovah’s work and stick at it he needs to have the right appreciation for it and joy in doing it.—Heb. 11:1; 1 Thess. 5:14.

7. In what way does Paul express the proper concern of a good overseer?

⁷ If you have the privilege of being an overseer be sure that your concern for the congregation takes in all those associated therein. Let it be your desire to help each one to rejoice in Jehovah’s service. Like Jesus and the apostles, be ready to expend yourself generously in their behalf. Paul expressed himself this way: “Notwithstanding, even if I am being poured out like a drink offering upon the sacrifice and public service to which faith has led you, I am glad and I rejoice with all of you. Now in the same way you yourselves also be glad and rejoice with me.” Notice the words: “I rejoice with all of you.” In another fine expression of what should be the desire of every overseer, Paul further writes: “I shall remain and shall abide with all of you for your advancement and the joy that belongs to your faith, so that your exultation may overflow in Christ Jesus by reason of me through my presence again with you.”—Phil. 2:17, 18; 1:25, 26.

8. How can the overseer or ministerial servant “rejoice with all” in the congregation?

⁸ As an overseer you may be busily occupied when at the Kingdom Hall for the congregation meetings. Before and after meetings there are necessary things to attend to with the other servants of the congregation. But still take out some time, if only a few minutes, to speak with the different brothers and sisters. In large congregations it is not possible to speak individually to all the brothers at each meeting, but make it a point to speak to different ones each time. Note ones you have missed and make it a point to talk with them at the next meeting, and have something encouraging to say. This would likewise apply to other ministerial servants in the congregation. The Bible study servant, for example, may note a new Bible study report turned in. Perhaps it is the first Bible study conducted by that Kingdom publisher. The servant’s personal interest will move him to take a few minutes to speak to that brother, expressing his joy at the brother’s progress in the ministry and asking interestedly after the new study started. A kind, though perhaps of necessity brief, word from the overseer or other servant is much appreciated by the publishers and does much to contribute to their joy in service. In doing this you rejoice with them and they, in turn, are glad and rejoice with you. Never be so busy with organizational matters that you never have time for an encouraging, upbuilding word for your fellow ministers.

9, 10. (a) What response on the part of the congregation makes the service of the overseer joyful? (b) What proves to be damaging to the joy of the congregation?

⁹ But for an overseer to do his work well, and have joy and satisfaction in doing it, there needs to be a happy response from those he serves, as expressed by Paul above. If the members of the congregation show respect for the theocratic organization, being obedient and submissive to the divine will and to the orderly way of carrying out the divine will under the direction of the spirit-appointed overseers, quick to respond to suggestions and counsel, and putting away any spirit of murmuring, how this contributes to the happiness of the overseer, and how much more effective his care for the spiritual lives of the flock! So then, “be obedient to those who are governing you and be submissive, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will render an account, that they may do this with joy and not with sighing, for this would be damaging to you.”—Heb. 13:17.

¹⁰ How true those words are! Where there is a lack of unity and co-operation between the congregation and the overseer, resulting in the overseer’s caring for his duties with “sighing,” perhaps in a spirit of exasperation or discouragement, is this not damaging for all of us, leading to a loss of joy in our Christian activities and meetings? On the other hand, “how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” It is in such a climate of peace and unity that good Christian work can flourish, and the fruits of the spirit will grow abundantly to the joy of all.—Ps. 133:1.

PRACTICAL WISDOM AND FORESIGHT

11, 12. How can a lack of practical wisdom and foresight affect the peace and unity of the congregation?

¹¹ Such blessed conditions need to be cultivated and maintained, and practical wisdom and foresight contribute much to this end. Lack of these qualities may produce conditions that greatly disturb unity and peace in the congregation. For example, almost all of us have heard of the proverbial family starting out on a picnic. They set off in the family car, full of high hopes for a pleasant day in the country. Trouble starts when they fall out as to the best road to take. Then on a lonely stretch of road, exposed to the hot sun, the car stutters to a stop—father forgot to fill up with gas! Reaching for a refreshing drink of coffee to soothe their nerves, they find the thermos empty—mother forgot to fill it! And so it goes, and a day that began with bright promise ends in quarreling, futile recriminations and disappointment for all. In a similar way fine prospects from theocratic activities can be blighted due to lack of planning and foresight. It might be in the planning to build a Kingdom Hall, arranging transport for an assembly, some special field activity in isolated territory or presenting a public meeting series. Careful advance planning of details will ensure good success and rejoicing in whatever undertaking it may be.

¹² It is good also to be clear and explicit when making arrangements for any activity. Ambiguity leads to misunderstandings, which, in turn, lead to disappointment and wasted time and energy. True, we ought to be long-suffering and forgiving, making allowances for the mistakes of others, but we can avoid putting an undue strain on these qualities by the use of practical wisdom and foresight, which make for the successful outworking of what is purposed.—Prov. 11:14.

MAINTAINING JOY BY WISE OVERSIGHT

13. Why is it important to explain the purpose and reason for any activity or counsel?

¹³ Something else that contributes to rejoicing in any undertaking is to appreciate not only what is to be done, and how to do it, but also the reason for it. When one is encouraging some particular activity or stressing some new method or arrangement, it is always good to help the congregation understand the reason for it, why it needs to be done, and how it will benefit others. Without this the matter may not get wholehearted support. In giving counsel to a congregation a circuit servant, for example, should allow time to show the benefits of following certain counsel, why it is preferable, and how it will contribute to the well-being of the congregation. Then the brothers will respond gratefully, appreciating the privilege of service. Yes, the spirit in which one tackles a job has much to do with having joy in the doing of it.

14, 15. How does this apply to family life, and yet what does this not mean?

¹⁴ The same is true in the training of children. Theocratic parents are concerned with the joy and happiness of their children. Thus, when assigning children to jobs around the home or correcting them in the way they do things, wise parents take time to explain why, so that the children may get satisfaction in being obedient, appreciating they are sharing in the welfare and happiness of the whole family. This does not mean that parents have to give in to any rebellious tendency on the part of the child. It takes time for children to grow to appreciate why some things are right and others bad, and it takes discipline in the process. But always the parents have the children’s interests at heart; and as the parents grow in understanding, they will be ready to help the children to advance in appreciation of the good things, so that they will learn to be satisfied with what is right and rejoice in knowing and doing the divine will.

¹⁵ Likewise in the congregation, while being concerned for the joy and happiness of the brothers in Jehovah’s service, the overseer will never compromise on Bible principles. He will never abandon good theocratic order to accommodate selfishly rebellious ones. At the same time he will not burden the brothers under unnecessary rules and regulations, but will seek to serve his brothers, providing arrangements for them to work and meet together in the most effective and convenient manner.

16. (a) How will the overseer show balance in handling difficulties? (b) What searching questions can well be asked under such circumstances?

¹⁶ When difficulties arise in the congregation the overseer must maintain a sound balance. An overseer can become so concerned with protecting the organization, keeping it clean, that he may lose sight of the situation of the one who has gone wrong and the need to try to restore that one in love. Of course, where a person manifests the spirit of wickedness, being willfully rebellious and unrepentant, disfellowshiping from the congregation may be the only course open. But in other cases can we restore the erring one? Indeed, we might ask ourselves, Could his mistake have been prevented by prior counsel and advice on our part? Were we sufficiently alert to his becoming spiritually weak? Was it a lack of the right spirit of joy and happiness in the congregation that led to his weakened state? As we sincerely consider these questions we may be led to see a need even greater than that of our erring brother, a need that affects the whole congregation and us ourselves as ministerial servants.—Gal. 6:1, 2; 2 Cor. 2:7, 8.

17, 18. What qualities in Philemon and Timothy do the Scriptures commend?

¹⁷ Certainly conditions that produce sadness and discouragement in a congregation need to be urgently remedied, and the overseer will show his concern for the joy of the brothers by giving such matters his prompt attention. (2 Cor. 1:24–2:4) At all times let the work of the overseer be the product of intense interest in the welfare of the flock that is under his care, having in mind especially their being saved to everlasting life. To that end the overseer will “most gladly spend and be completely spent.”—2 Cor. 12:15.

¹⁸ What a blessing overseers of that kind are to the brothers! Their service in the congregation becomes a source of much joy and upbuilding. To such overseers the commendation given to Philemon is most suitable: “I get much joy and comfort over your love, because the hearts of the holy ones have been refreshed through you, brother.” Yes, they are like faithful Epaphroditus and Timothy, whose service among the early Christians was such a blessing for them. Of Timothy it was written that there was “no one else of a disposition like his who will genuinely care for the things pertaining to you [the congregation at Philippi].”—Philemon 7; Phil. 2:25-30, 19-23.

19. What, then, will traveling overseers have in mind when talking to their brothers?

¹⁹ Like Epaphroditus and Timothy, who were traveling representatives of the governing body of the early church, so today, those brothers who travel to visit the congregations, such as circuit and district servants, zone and branch servants, can profit well from their example and what was said of them. In these days when the pressures from the great enemy Satan are so great in his efforts to discourage Jehovah’s servants and cause them to quit His service, how great is the need to speak encouragingly to the hearts of the brothers! Such visiting ministers, then, will want to do more than be limited to an analytical discussion of the conditions they find and to providing practical counsel for improvement; they will speak with warmth and encouragement in order to stir the hearts of their brothers to joyful activity. The purpose of the visit to the brothers at Ephesus by Tychicus, “a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord,” was that he might “comfort [their] hearts.”—Eph. 6:21, 22.

20. What undertaking can we now share in, and with what spirit?

²⁰ The prospects of Kingdom service ahead of us, before the destruction of this present system of things at Armageddon brings an end to our preaching of the good news, are thrilling. The increasing flood of persons of good will from all nations into the New World society is evidence of the great ingathering now on. How long the privilege of sharing in this grand undertaking will last we do not know. But let us determine to share in it fully with joy. Let us pursue the things that make for peace, and rejoice with the rejoicing of Jehovah’s nation.—1 Pet. 3:11, 12; Ps. 106:5.

The Thought Behind the Proverb

THE book of Proverbs is a rich mine of practical counsel. Every phase of human relationship seems to be covered. There is counsel on how to treat friends, the rearing of children, the snares that lurk in the path of young and old, and the perils of overconfidence. To benefit from this mine of truth requires digging on our part. “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.” (Prov. 2:4, 5) Examining the thought behind the inspired proverb is a most profitable way of digging for the treasures of divine wisdom.

PROVERBS 1:8, 9

“Listen, my son, to the discipline of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother. For they are a wreath of attractiveness to your head and a fine necklace to your throat.”

A child ought to get its first ideas of God from his parents, and his father’s and mother’s love ought to be the stepping-stones by which he rises to understand the love of God, his Father in heaven. So the proverb teaches. Instruction and discipline of wisdom may at first seem difficult and hard, like fetters of iron restraining the corruption and rebellion that is inborn, but in time they become like chains of gold, worn like ornaments and no burden at all.

PROVERBS 1:17

“For the net is spread simply for nothing before the eyes of anything owning wings.”

The Revised Standard Version explains the verse to mean that, unlike birds that do not allow themselves to be caught when nets are spread before their very eyes, wicked men go to their own destruction blindly. In this chapter the wicked are represented as scheming privately to ensnare the innocent. If their designs were known, the innocent would evade the snare, “for the net is spread simply for nothing before the eyes of anything owning wings.” The wise counsel is to attend to Jehovah’s instructions and you will see the designs of the wicked and so be able to avoid their snares, as does the bird that sees the net before its eyes.

PROVERBS 11:26

“The one holding back grain—the populace will execrate him, but there is a blessing for the head of the one letting it be bought.”

It seems that the fast way to make money in olden times was to buy up grain when prices were low and then wait till famine pressed heavily and then sell the grain at famine prices. It was sort of an ancient version of the black market. Even though some good was done by the individual’s practice, by his limiting consumption and maintaining a reserve, yet the people despised him for his selfishness and blessed him who refrained from making high profits out of an emergency. Such a one will receive his reward from God.

PROVERBS 13:23

“Plowed ground of persons of little means yields a great deal of food, but there exists the one that is swept away for lack of judgment.”

The sense here is that a little is made much by work and God’s blessing, and that much can be made little by wickedness and carelessness.

PROVERBS 20:5

“Counsel in the heart of a man is as deep waters, but the man of discernment is one that will draw it up.”

Counsel sometimes has the thought of purpose. Jehovah says: “My own counsel will stand.” (Isa. 46:10) The purpose of a man, his real heart-deep intention, often lies like the waters of a well, deep down. It is hard to get at this counsel. It requires patience and skill to draw it up from the very center of him. When this proverb was written, water was not available easily; it was deep down in wells. This meant work. It took real work for Rebekah to draw up water for the camels of Abraham’s servant. (Gen. 24:19, 20) So it is with the counsel deep in the heart of a man. To get at this purpose one has to let down his bucket and haul it up. The man of discernment, wanting to know what is in another person’s heart, must do some probing. He may approach from one avenue and then another. His persistence finally brings up the purpose of the other person. Then the man of discernment will know whether that person is hostile or a good person to associate with. Likewise the purposes of God are not on the surface. Many persons read the Bible but do not get an understanding of the divine will. Why? They do not let down their buckets; they do not put forth the necessary effort. By going to congregational meetings of God’s people, one shows he is willing to let down his bucket, thereby drawing up the refreshing truths of God’s Word.

PROVERBS 27:17

“By iron, iron itself is sharpened. So one man sharpens the face of another.”

A blade that has seen much hard service must come in touch with another hard instrument to restore its edge. So the intellectual and spiritual state of man becomes, at times, in need of sharpening. Contact with uncongenial persons and things and disappointments have a tendency to exhaust our energies and depress our spirits. When we are in such a condition a look of sympathy and a word of encouragement from one who understands us is very uplifting indeed. When such encouragement is based on an accurate knowledge of God’s Word, it has tremendous power to bring to life in us fresh hope for renewed action.

PROVERBS 28:1

“The wicked do flee when there is no pursuer, but the righteous are like a young lion that is confident.”

The man who flees when no one is pursuing is in a sense running away from himself, his own conscience; therefore, his efforts are fruitless. The righteous man has true courage, being conscious of his own innocence and of the approval of Jehovah God.

No Prophet out of Galilee?

“GO NORTH for riches, go south for wisdom.” So advised a Jewish proverb in the time of Christ. Why was this proverb coined? Because, although Galilee in the north of Palestine was the most prosperous part of it, the temple, the Sanhedrin and the educated classes were to be found in the south, in Judea and Jerusalem.

The point of the proverb, however, was not altogether true. Yes, Galilee, with its many wealthy cities and flourishing towns, with its fertile soil and productive lake, abounded in material riches. But Judea and Jerusalem, in spite of their pretensions, could not lay claim to excelling in wisdom. Since we read in God’s Word that “the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom,” and that “he will cause the meek ones to walk in his judicial decision and he will teach the meek ones his way,” it was in Galilee, rather than in Judea, where true wisdom was manifested, for its people were far more meek and teachable, manifesting far more of the fear of Jehovah, which are prerequisites for divine wisdom.—Ps. 111:10; 25:9.

None were more mistaken than the smug Pharisees, who, upon hearing Nicodemus say of the Galilean Jesus Christ: “Our law does not judge a man unless first it has heard from him and come to know what he is doing, does it?” replied with a taunt and a sneer: “You are not also out of Galilee, are you? Search and see that no prophet is to be raised up out of Galilee.” How sadly mistaken those highly conceited Pharisees were! The greatest Prophet this earth ever saw or ever will see was a Galilean. Besides that, of the twelve apostles that that Galilean prophet chose, the eleven that continued faithful were also Galileans and the one who turned traitor was a Judean.—John 7:51, 52.

What caused the Pharisees to speak in such a vein about Galilee? Was there such a striking difference between Judea and Galilee as their remark seems to indicate? Indeed there was, and in ever so many ways. Judea and Galilee, the two main theaters of Jesus’ preaching and teaching, differed in climate, in appearance, in natural resources, in fruitfulness, in the temperament and learning of the people and, most important of all, in the response each accorded to the ministry of Jesus Christ and his apostles. To note these differences will enhance our understanding and appreciation of much that appears in the inspired Record regarding Jesus’ life. Additionally, this information has a vital lesson in it for all who are seeking for the truth.

GALILEAN VERSUS JUDEANa

Galilee at the time of Christ was the garden spot of Palestine if not of the whole world. Its climate was one of perpetual spring. It had a rare beauty and an unusually prolific productivity; all manner of fruits and nuts, as well as honey and grain, were abundant and excelled in quality. Its cities were many and prosperous.

All this was in striking contrast to Judea, which at that time had the least attractive and least fertile land in all Palestine and many of whose cities were decaying or already in ruins. Its summers were hotter, its winters colder than those of Galilee. And whereas the Sea of Galilee contained a superabundance of fish, the Dead Sea, which bordered on Judea, quickly killed all fish that reached it by means of the Jordan River.

There was almost as great a difference between the Galileans and the Judeans as there was in their lands. The Judeans regarded the Galileans with more or less open contempt. This attitude on their part most likely was due, in part, to the fact that the Galileans were not of such pure stock as the Judeans, among them being the descendants of those who had been forcibly circumcised by the Maccabeans a century previous, as well as the fact that the Galileans as a whole were not as well educated as the Judeans.

The Judeans were haughty, reserved and considered themselves the real keepers of the Law. Were not the Hebrew Scriptures in the main written as well as copied in Judea? True, Pharisees and Sadducees quarreled with each other continually, but they were united in their attitude toward the lowly Galileans. The scribes and Pharisees, who “seated themselves in the seat of Moses,” who said but did not do according to their words, and who would ‘bind up heavy loads and put them upon the shoulders of mankind, while they themselves were not willing to budge them with their finger,’ were primarily Judeans, and the Galileans smarted under their religious yoke.—Matt. 23:2-4.

In contrast, the Galileans were a warmhearted, friendly, wholesome and enthusiastic people, though with a somewhat rough exterior. Impulsive Peter, and James and John the two “sons of thunder,” were typical. It was said of these Galileans that they were “healthy as their climate, cheerful as their own sky.” Even when moved by religious intolerance, they proceeded differently from those of Judea. When incensed at the plain talk of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth, they did not procure false witnesses and scheme for Jesus’ death, but impulsively, in the heat of anger, sought to hurl him from the precipice of their city.—Mark 3:17; Luke 4:28-30.

The religious leaders of Jerusalem looked down upon the common folk, the farmers, fishermen and others who engaged in honest manual toil, which is what most of the Galileans were. The latter cared more for a good name; the former, for riches. While not sticklers for the niceties of the law, the Galileans nevertheless took their worship of God seriously. Galileans stressed the written law; the Judeans, the tradition of the older men.

The Galileans faithfully went to Jerusalem for the annual feasts, and, whereas the Judeans were inclined to dedicate things to the priests, the Galileans more frequently dedicated their offerings to Jehovah God. With the Judeans religion was largely a matter of form; with the Galileans, a matter of the heart, of personal relationship with God, as emphasized by the prophets. With the Judeans freedom from the Roman yoke was largely a matter of politics; with the Galileans, freedom and the triumph of righteousness.

JESUS’ GALILEAN MINISTRY

Jehovah God in his wisdom saw to it that Jesus was born in Judea, at Bethlehem, to fulfill his prophecies and in keeping with Jesus’ royal ancestry and future role as King of kings. At the same time he maneuvered matters so that Jesus was reared in Galilee, the territory having the most favorable environment for Jesus’ youth as well as the most favorable soil for his preaching and teaching once he had begun his earthly ministry. Even as John the Baptist found a favorable reception in Galilee, so did Jesus. But in his zeal for righteousness John spoke out against the misconduct of Herod Antipas, with the result that Herod had John imprisoned.

“Now when [Jesus] heard that John had been arrested, he retired into Galilee. Further, after leaving Nazareth [where he had been reared], he came and took up residence in Capernaum [Galilee’s largest city] beside the sea [of Galilee] in the districts of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘O land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, along the road of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the nations! the people sitting in darkness saw a great light, and as for those sitting in a region of the shadow of death light dawned upon them.’ From that time on Jesus commenced preaching and saying: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’”—Matt. 4:12-17.

Being themselves lowly and mild-tempered and earnestly looking for the coming of the Messiah and God’s kingdom, no wonder the Galileans responded to the message and the manner in which Jesus presented it as he went “preaching in their synagogues throughout the whole of Galilee,” after which “he again entered into Capernaum,” his home. It is not at all likely that in Judea his sermon on the mount, with its plain speech as to what was truly important, would have been received the way it was in Galilee, where Jesus gave it. There they not only heard Jesus through but were greatly impressed: “The effect was that the crowds were astounded at his way of teaching; for he was teaching them as a person having authority, and not as their scribes.” As a result, “after he had come down from the mountain great crowds followed him.”—Mark 1:39; 2:1; Matt. 7:28 to 8:1.

Jesus’ teaching was simple, not involved, abstruse or complex; his homely illustrations appealed to these Galileans. Not that he here did not also meet with indifference and opposition. We have already noted the time his home townfolk wanted to hurl him over the cliff on which the town was built. It was of this very home town that Jesus said: “A prophet is not unhonored except in his native territory and in his own house.” And it was of three other Galilean cities and towns that Jesus exclaimed: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! because if the powerful works that have taken place in you had taken place in Tyre and Zidon”—where he did, nevertheless, give a token witness—“they would long ago have repented sitting in sackcloth and ashes. . . . And you, Capernaum, will you perhaps be exalted to heaven? Down to Haʹdes you will come!” And all three of these did come down to Haʹdes, for they no longer exist today. However, those were not his strongest words of denunciation. Those he saved for Jerusalem: “It is not admissible for a prophet to be destroyed outside of Jerusalem.”—Matt. 13:57; Luke 10:13-15; 13:33.

JUDEA NOT NEGLECTED

Because the synoptic Gospels deal chiefly with Jesus’ Galilean ministry some have jumped to the conclusion that Jesus neglected Judea, but not so. Not that he could not have ministered to the Judeans without going to their district, for the record tells that great crowds came up from Judea to hear Jesus, as did many scribes and Pharisees.—Luke 5:17.

Still Jesus taught at length and repeatedly in Jerusalem, as John shows in telling of Jesus’ trips to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover. Besides, did not Jesus, in pronouncing woe upon Jerusalem, state: “How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings! But you people did not want it”? And did he not say, when on trial before the Sanhedrin: “Day after day I used to sit in the temple teaching, and yet you did not take me into custody”?—Matt. 23:37; 26:55.

In fact, Jesus would not have been justified in his strong denunciation of Jerusalem and her religious leaders had he not borne them thorough witness. Further, his friendship with Lazarus, Mary and Martha, who lived in Judea not far from Jerusalem, would indicate that he was their frequent guest and so must also frequently have preached in Judea. No, Jesus was sent to all the lost sheep of the house of Israel and he did not neglect any of them. In the last year of his ministry he did spend more time in Galilee, but only because he knew his time had not yet come: “Now after these things Jesus continued walking about in Galilee, for he did not want to walk about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.”—John 7:1.

Then did the synoptists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, give us a one-sided picture of Jesus’ ministry? Not necessarily. Even as today the extent to which one has preaching experiences to relate depends more on the number of hearing ears found than upon the actual time spent preaching, so with those who have recorded for us the experiences Jesus had in his ministry. The straightforward, warmhearted, honest, humble and plain Galileans simply responded more readily to Jesus’ ministry than did the haughty, rich and learned people in Judea and especially in Jerusalem.

Since Jews out of Judea followed Jesus in Galilee and Jews from Galilee followed Jesus in Judea, it may well be that the crowd that hailed Jesus as king five days before his death was composed largely of Galileans who had been following Jesus or came up for the feast of the passover. It may well have been mostly because of these that the leaders in Jerusalem feared to apprehend Jesus in broad daylight. The fact that, after Jesus’ body had been removed from the torture stake, it was “women who had come with him out of Galilee” who were concerned about embalming his body would seem to indicate this. Quite likely, too, the crowd that clamored for Jesus’ death at his trial was largely composed of Judeans, those more readily influenced by the clergy of Jerusalem.—Luke 5:17; 23:55; Matt. 27:20-25.

No question about it, the Pharisees who spoke so disparagingly about Galilee had permitted prejudice to blind them to the truth and the facts. They find their counterpart in the pharisaical clergy of today. Thus a criticism that appears time and again in religious publications is that among the Christian witnesses of Jehovah in the New World society there are comparatively few university graduates or men of higher learning. To whatever extent this is so is entirely irrelevant to the message Jehovah’s witnesses bring. In fact, it is an argument in their favor, for did not the apostle Paul, himself a learned man, write that not many wise in a fleshly way, or powerful and noble were called; and was not this exactly the case in Jesus’ day?—1 Cor. 1:26.

Therefore do not let caste or culture, race or learning rob you of your ability to examine with open mind and heart the message brought to you by Jehovah’s witnesses. Compare it with your Bible and then act upon what you find to be the facts. Let all bear in mind that with God a good heart counts more than a full head!

[Footnotes]

[Map on page 309]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

GALILEE

THE GREAT SEA

SEA OF GALILEE

Opening Up the Way to Life for the Peoples of India

THE year 1912 was a most important one for the peoples of India. It was impossible for anyone at that time to foresee just how important it really was. It marked the beginning of a movement in India that ultimately will spell everlasting life for many of its people.

Understanding of truth concerning Almighty God, the Creator, is essential to eternal life; but that truth has never been popular, because “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one,” Satan the Devil. As “god of this system of things,” Satan has “blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.” (1 John 5:19; 2 Cor. 4:4) So any movement that will open those blinded eyes of understanding and light up the way to eternal life is certainly an important movement. Just such a movement started in India in 1912.

That year a party of seven men made a tour of the world. It was part of a campaign sponsored by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, as it is known today. The Society was pledged to spread the message of the establishment of God’s kingdom throughout the world, in obedience to and in fulfillment of Jesus Christ’s prophetic words recorded at Matthew 24:14: “And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.”

C. T. RUSSELL VISITS INDIA

Those seven men were men of action, men of hope. Their hope was based on the sure Word of God, which Christendom professes to believe and teach. Those men wanted to find out for themselves whether the Christian missions were in fact doing what they were supposed to be doing: that is, bearing witness to the approaching end of this old system of things and teaching people the truth about God’s kingdom and the blessings that kingdom will bring to the earth.

So these men traveled. From America they went to Hawaii, Japan, China and on through Asia to India. In India they delivered Bible lectures in Trivandrum, Kottarakara, Nagercoil, Puram, Madras, Vizagapatam, Calcutta, Benares, Lucknow and Bombay. Crowds listened. A few listened with keener interest than the others. One in particular listened with more than passing interest. He discerned truth he had never before grasped. He sought a private interview with the chairman of this committee of seven men, Charles T. Russell. In such a busy program, Russell offered to give young Joseph, for such was his name, a half-hour interview. That interview lasted two hours and led to a permanent arrangement for the continuation of this Bible teaching in India, which today has resulted in bringing the hope of eternal life to many of India’s humble people.

Back in the days of 1912, basic truths were being learned but without much in the way of theocratic organization as regards the method of preaching them. Preaching services were held every week, and study classes were organized. Some of the more zealous ones would spend time distributing tracts or talking to the public at advertised meetings, as well as privately from house to house. But it was a beginning of a movement in India that was to grow and become God’s instrument for making known his will and purpose.

At first this movement was confined to southern India, particularly Travancore, as the present state of Kerala was then called. Bible study classes were organized in many places, and the members came to be known as “Bible Students,” from the designation of the British branch of this world society, the International Bible Students Association. Soon afterward a representative from the American headquarters was sent to India to help forward the work. But World War I broke out in 1914, and it was soon seen to be expedient that this one return home. There was some lag in the work. Then another man was sent out from headquarters, and the work expanded; but again war conditions forced him to leave the country. There was a short period of anxiety for this youthful movement. It was in the year 1926 that the way again opened up for a forward push and expansion of this life-giving work.

AID FOR THE INDIAN FIELD

Following an important convention of Jehovah’s witnesses in London in the month of May, 1926, two men were selected for work in India. The companion of one of them had returned to his preaching assignment in south Wales, rather wondering what the future might hold for him now that his partner had been taken away for foreign service. Just a day or two later this young man, F. E. Skinner, returned to his lodging after distributing some invitations to a Bible lecture and found a telegram awaiting him.

The telegram read: “Brother Rutherford wants to see you.” Brother Rutherford was in London at the time, and it was known that some of the brothers from the British field were being sent to foreign lands to organize the preaching work. So the first thought surging through that young man’s mind as he journeyed up to London by the next morning train was, “What does this mean? Surely it must mean some foreign service. I wonder where?” One thing was quite definite in that young man’s mind, and that was, “Wherever it may be, I’m ready to go.”

With that attitude of mind he arrived at the London branch office of the Society and quickly found Brother Rutherford. “Do you mind what part of the earth you work in?” asked Brother Rutherford. “No,” was the reply. “Would you like to go to India?” came the next question. “When do you want me to go?” answered the young man. So in a matter of minutes decisions were made and the two former companions were again to be associated together in enlarged responsibilities: organizing and spreading abroad in India the Kingdom work that had its beginning there in 1912. George Wright, the first of the young men invited to this task, lived in London, while his companion’s home town was Sheffield. So George had the immediate task of arranging for passports and reservation of sea passage from London to Bombay, while his companion made a quick dash to Sheffield to say Good-by to parents and friends—for time indefinite. It all seemed like the call Abram received: “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 he went out although not knowing where he was going.”—Gen. 12:1; Heb. 11:8.

The voyage to India was full of new and novel experiences, as mile after mile, day after day the ship sped on through ever-warmer waters, through the wonderfully blue Mediterranean Sea, to Port Said. Here was the first glimpse of the life of the East, but they were only halfway there. On through the Suez Canal, past those frightfully barren, grassless mountain wastes of Sinai that the nation of Israel had crossed on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. Down through the long Red Sea to Aden, and then across the Arabian Sea to Bombay on India’s western coast. There on the pier was an Indian brother, the same Brother Joseph who had contacted Pastor Russell fourteen years before. After a day or two spent together talking over the plans for the future, our two British companions were left to themselves in the great city of Bombay to get started in the important work they were commissioned to do: get the message of everlasting life through Jehovah’s kingdom to the millions of persons in India.

It was not easy going. Plans were immediately made for two publicly advertised Bible lectures with the startling titles: “Millions Now Living Will Never Die!” and “Where Are the Dead?” It was a mixed audience that came to hear those talks, but some left their names for further discussion and were visited. Then a little while later a series of lectures was advertised in a railroad workman’s institute. These lectures resulted in the organizing of regular weekly Bible study classes; and there are stalwart servants of God still actively serving as Jehovah’s witnesses who first attended those meetings. It was a work that turned the minds of men from religious traditions to the pure Word of God and gave them hope of everlasting life on a paradise earth.

But the movement was not to be confined to Bombay, nor to Travancore. All India must be given the opportunity to hear. There were isolated individuals and small groups in several places in India and these had to be visited. So arrangements were made for our two companions in Bombay to take turns in touring the country to visit these isolated ones. North, south, east and west they went, mostly to the cities where the British or those of British descent (Anglo-Indians) were located.

TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS

It was obvious that so vast a country with so enormous a population could never be adequately covered by two or three men. So a call was sent for additional workers. Two more came in 1928, and again two more in 1929. But that was insufficient. Moreover, the means of travel were very inconvenient, not to mention the facilities for lodging in the smaller towns and villages. So to overcome the latter problem a Ford car, the renowned model A, was purchased and fitted with a closed body equipped with sleeping accommodation and cooking facilities. That at least made the travelers independent of hotels, and often there were none.

Then in 1931 three more Britishers volunteered for service in India and built up the working force. Also, another house car was purchased and touring work expanded. Not long afterward a local brother bought a house car, and another brother also bought one. During 1933 one pioneer traveled alone during the whole year in a house car equipped with a cinema outfit for showing “The Photo-Drama of Creation”; thus many thousands of persons were given a thorough witness concerning the Kingdom hope. So by 1934 there were four house cars constantly touring India, distributing printed literature containing the message of eternal life.

In 1937 the book Riches was published in four Indian vernaculars; this Bible-study aid helped many obtain a good knowledge of the truth. A report from the Punjab in 1937 said: “The Riches book in Urdu is seen in the hands of every Urdu-reading man and woman in the Christian villages around Khanewal.” That year there were 28 pioneers and 365 congregation publishers preaching the good news of God’s kingdom in India.

By the time the second world war broke out in 1939, this little team of workers had distributed far more than half a million books and booklets, covering most of the important towns and many villages of this vast subcontinent. Thus the basic truths of God’s purposes were brought within the reach of many millions of persons.

Many and varied were the experiences of the pioneers in those days before petrol pumps, or gas stations, were strung out along the highways. Often the roads were but oxcart tracks. Rivers were invariably unbridged, and more than once those house cars had to be unloaded in midstream and the rear wheels jacked up from the mud under a foot or so of water, to get across. Or a long stretch of burning sand had to be crossed during the dry season, necessitating half deflating the tires so as not to sink down in the sand and reinflating them with a foot pump on the other side. During 1940 a party of pioneers in Travancore hired a boat and made a tour of villages isolated in the “backwaters.” About a thousand persons listened to lectures, and some six hundred books and booklets were placed with people. The same year the manager of the Talkie Theater asked for certain records of the series “Government and Peace” to be played at intervals during the showing of the film “Nazi Spy.” As a result many books were placed.

“WATCHTOWER” GOES TO PEOPLE DESPITE BAN

During World War II a ban was placed on all importation of the Society’s literature into India; in Calcutta pioneers had their literature taken away from them. But the officials could not ban the truth, for this work was ordained of God, and nothing could stop it. Though The Watchtower was banned, not a single issue was missed. And more than that, we printed copies of every issue and got them into the hands of those who wanted to read them.

Toward the war’s end, in 1944, some members of the Legislative Assembly took up the case of the ban on our literature. It was not long before the Minister for Home Affairs declared the ban lifted. A convention was held at Jubbulpore amid great rejoicing, for once again it was possible to advertise a public Bible lecture and, without threat of police action, to distribute Bible literature.

During the war years the Society opened a Bible training school in America, known as the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. This was for the purpose of training men and women for foreign missionary service. Would India share in this provision? Yes, indeed. It was one evening during the weekly service meeting at a Bombay congregation that the branch servant, F. E. Skinner, was handed a telegram. Thinking it was an urgent call for literature from some pioneer, he opened it and read: “Attend Gilead.”

Though the war was over, there was still no regular shipping service available to the public. It became a problem as to how to get from India to America in time for Gilead’s next term. At last a booking was made on what was a troopship made available for civilian passengers. It made the trip from India eastward across the Pacific Ocean via Singapore and Shanghai. What a thrill it was to get ashore at San Francisco and find warm hospitality in the home of an American brother! Then across the American continent to Chicago, Buffalo and on to Ithaca, New York, and Gilead School.

Gilead training was followed by six months of touring of congregations in America in the circuit work. After that, year after year, more missionaries were assigned to India from Gilead. The hope of everlasting life was planted in the hearts of many persons. From some 300 members of the New World society in 1950, it grew to well over 1,500 by 1960.

NEW BRANCH BUILDING

Impetus was further given by visits of the president of the Watch Tower Society. Then came another important step forward: India was to have its own new branch office building and housing accommodations for the office staff. Work was started on the foundation for a spacious office building in the suburbs of Bombay, near the sea and in a clean, quiet locality. Gradually a fine building emerged from the cement framework, and the question now was, When and by whom would it be officially opened and dedicated to Jehovah, the Giver of this provision?

It was now November, 1960, and it was customary for a traveling representative of the Society to visit India in December. Yes, the anticipated visit was announced. How fitting it would be for him to dedicate the new building! So a dedication program was arranged. It happened that the district servant, Brother Sanderson, was on vacation and could easily come to Bombay for the occasion; and he, too, was invited to address the happy gathering.

The branch servant was the first of a symposium of speakers. He discussed the vision described by the prophet Zechariah, where Jehovah’s organization is symbolized by a city without walls because of the multitudes in it, protected by a “wall of fire all around,” even by Jehovah himself, whose glory filled the place. He sketched the early beginnings of the Kingdom work in India, its growth up to the present day and the further prophecy of Zechariah wherein he described “ten men” taking hold of the skirt of a man who is a Jew (spiritual Israelite) because it was a recognizable fact that “God is with you people.”—Zech. 2:4, 5; 8:23.

Next came a discourse by the district servant, speaking on the present work of preaching the good news in India. He emphasized the importance of maintaining integrity under difficulties, citing examples of how brothers are doing this. He related the case of a brother who found a wallet on the roadside containing a considerable amount of money. He then noticed a Roman Catholic priest walking slowly down the road, obviously in distress, looking first one way, then another. The brother approached the priest and asked him if he was looking for something. Yes, he had lost his wallet. The brother returned the lost wallet, to the great relief of the priest. Asked who he was, the brother said: “I used to be a Roman Catholic, and if I still was one I would have kept that wallet and said nothing, but now I am one of Jehovah’s witnesses. Here is your wallet.”

Brother Dower, a member of the Bombay office staff, next spoke on “Building for the Future.” He pointed out that God does not dwell in temples made with hands, but that he is pleased to use buildings to carry out his purposes. Then came the dedication speech by the zone servant, G. D. King. It was a well-expressed statement of gratitude to Jehovah, the Giver of this fine new building, which is to be exclusively devoted to the doing of his will. This was followed by prayer; then Brother King delivered a service talk to the audience of 263, drawn from the various congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses in Bombay.

The building itself is a two-story structure of concrete frame, with brick filling. The entire front is faced with stonework, adding beauty and dignity to the building. At one end is a main entrance flanked with gray marble panels, and on each side of the steps there are built-in boxes for flowers. The entrance lobby also forms a reception room, and this is beautified by a glass panel of deep-etched glass portraying a fine picture of the paradise earth. On the ground floor are dining room, kitchen and general storage facilities. Upstairs are six bedrooms and a spacious, well-lighted Kingdom Hall accommodating 250 persons. Up on the terrace roof is adequate space for open-air meetings. The whole building is enclosed in a garden, which, in time, will grow to paradisaic beauty.

Such, then, is the growth of a movement that began in a small way in India in 1912. It is a common saying in India that “all religions teach the same,” “all religion is good,” “all lead to the same goal.” But is this really so? No, for Jesus said: “Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it.” (Matt. 7:13, 14) It is the narrow way, in contrast to this world’s ‘broad road,’ that leads to everlasting life in the new world. Yes, it was a most important movement that started showing the people of India this narrow way to life in 1912.

[Picture on page 313]

New branch office building in India

“The Head of All These Kingdoms”

HAZOR, a Canaanite city in the days of Joshua, was no small or unimportant place. Describing Hazor briefly, the Bible says: “Joshua turned about at that time and captured Hazor, and its king he struck down with the sword, because Hazor was before that the head of all these kingdoms.” (Josh. 11:10) An archaeologist has commented on how apt a description the Bible gave. Reported the New York Times of May 12, 1959: “An Israeli archaeologist reported yesterday that excavations of the Biblical city of Hazor in Israel’s Galilee had disclosed ‘the best picture to date’ of the material culture of the ancient Canaanites and Israelites. At the same time, Dr. Yigael Yadin, an authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls, said that the discovery of Mycenaean pottery last November in the Hazor diggings established that the Biblical Joshua had conquered Hazor in the thirteenth century B.C., along with Jericho, as the Israelites crossed the Jordan into the Holy Land. The pottery discovered, he said, places Joshua’s campaign about 3,300 years ago, which coincides with the Biblical account. . . .

“For the last four years, Dr. Yadin has headed the James A. de Rothschild–Hebrew University archaeological expedition at the northern Galilee site. He has uncovered the remains of twenty-one cities. . . . His excavations, Dr. Yadin said, indicated that the greatest of the twenty-one cities, and probably the largest in Canaan, was the Hazor that Joshua conquered and burned. . . . The excavations of Hazor, Dr. Yadin said, indicated that the city fitted the brief Biblical description as ‘the head of all those kingdoms.’ ‘Joshua’s Hazor was a city of approximately 150 acres; it could have held 25,000 to 30,000 people,’ Dr. Yadin said. ‘We can gather some idea of its impressive size for those days when we realize that Megiddo, the famous fortress city guarding the Valley of Jezreel—Armageddon—covered only some fifteen acres, and the Jerusalem of King David’s time, centuries later, covered about ten acres.’”

Questions From Readers

● What did Jesus mean by the words, “You are mistaken, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God; for in the resurrection neither do they marry nor are they given in marriage”? (Matt. 22:29, 30) What is contained in the Hebrew Scriptures that the Sadducees should have known about the resurrection and not marrying in it?—A. E., United States.

The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection, as is clear, not only from the Gospel accounts, but also from the record at Acts 23:6-10, which tells of the strife between the Pharisees and Sadducees that Paul caused by stating that he believed in the resurrection of the dead. The tricky question the Sadducees asked, about a woman having had seven brothers in succession as husbands and whose wife she would be in the resurrection, was meant to prove Jesus mistaken, but he turned the tables on them and proved them mistaken. In doing so Jesus could have quoted from many scriptures showing that the dead would arise, such as the words of Job (14:13-15), Hosea (13:14), Daniel (12:13) and others. But because the Sadducees held that only the Pentateuch was inspired, Jesus used the words of Jehovah to Moses at the burning bush to prove his point.—Matt. 22:31, 32.

This was really a master stroke on the part of Jesus, for the Sadducees prided themselves on knowing the Pentateuch and yet they had not seen in it the clear implication of the resurrection that Jesus pointed out to them. They had not gained the import of what God said to Moses at the burning bush to indicate that he, Jehovah God, is the Deity, not of the dead, but of the living. For the then dead Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to live again to worship their common God they would have to experience a resurrection from the dead. Jehovah God was equal to this miracle of the resurrection of the dead.—Ex. 3:6.

The fact that God had the resurrection power had been illustrated even by Jesus himself as the Son of God prior to the time that the Sadducees tried to stump Jesus with their tricky question. For these patent reasons Jesus could straightforwardly tell these Sadducees that they were not so smart after all, that they were wrong in discounting the resurrection of the dead and that their being mistaken on this score was because they did not know either the Scriptures by Moses, and the rest of the prophets, or the miracle-working power of God.

Jesus easily cut through their resurrection problem by informing the Sadducees that those who will be resurrected to life on earth neither marry nor are given in marriage, and hence there will exist no question as to whose wife the woman will be who in this old world had seven brothers successively as her husband. Jesus thus showed that, though the Sadducees were familiar with the recorded Scriptures, particularly the law of Moses, they had no real knowledge of their meaning and prophetic force. Had the Sadducees known the Scriptures they would have known that the Scriptures taught the resurrection. Had they known the power of God they would have known that God would be equal to any problem involved in the resurrection.

● We are an engaged couple that expect to get married soon and we would like to know if it would be proper for Witnesses to have one of the popular wedding marches played and to throw rice after the bridal party.—J. B., United States.

If one desires to have music at a wedding, it would seem to be more fitting to have Kingdom songs at a theocratic wedding than one of the popular wedding marches, which have pagan or mythological backgrounds. However, Kingdom music should not be used for dancing.

As for throwing rice, The Encyclopædia Britannica, 1959 edition, Volume 4, page 122, states: “The throwing of rice, a very ancient custom but later than the wheat, is symbolical of the wish that the bridal may be fruitful.” Since this is of pagan origin and, in effect, an invoking of magic, a performing of a rite in the hope of beneficial results, it should be avoided by Christians. As regards other wedding arrangements, moderation is indicated; and it would always seem best to err on the conservative side, exercising more restraint than needed rather than less than what is necessary.—See The Watchtower, June 15, 1952.

● What is the authority for the use of the expression “magic-practicing priests” in the New World Translation of the books of Genesis, Exodus and Daniel? I cannot find another translation that uses this expression.—L. B., United States.

The Hebrew word translated “magic-practicing priest” in Genesis, Exodus and Daniel, as, for instance, in Genesis 41:8, is hhartumimʹ. This word is defined by the Lexicon in Old Testament Books by Koehler and Baumgartner, Volume I, page 333, column 1, as “epithet of magic practicing priests,” and it shows the ancient derivation of the word. It also suggests rendering the word in translations as “soothsayer priests.” This lexicon was published in completion in 1951.

This rendering of the New World Translation is therefore both literal and explicit, in keeping with its being a literal translation.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

Through Jehovah’s undeserved kindness he has made provision for paradise to be restored on earth under the kingdom by Christ. Jehovah’s witnesses everywhere demonstrate kindness by directing the attention of sheeplike persons to Jehovah’s own loving-kindness. This they will do during May by offering the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, with a booklet, for a contribution of 75c.

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

Still taking the lead in popularity, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures is a modern English version that makes Bible reading even more enjoyable and understandable. The Hebrew Scriptures are available in five volumes: Vol. I (Genesis to Ruth), Vol. II (1 Samuel to Esther), Vol. III (Job to The Song of Solomon), Vol. IV (Isaiah to Lamentations), Vol. V (Ezekiel to Malachi). The Christian Greek Scriptures (Matthew to Revelation) are available in one volume. Regular edition, each volume, $1; deluxe edition, each, $3. Send today.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

June 25: Rejoicing in New World Associations. Page 296.

July 2: Overseers for the Joy of the Flock. Page 302.