The Watchtower — October 15, 1961

Why Must You Know Your Bible?

THE Bible is Almighty God’s written revelation to mankind. It contains the thoughts of God in the language of men. It is the only inspired book that reveals God, his purposes, the duties of man and the requirements for life. As Sir Matthew Hale, lord chief justice of England, once said: “The Bible is the only source of all Christian truth;—the only rule for the Christian life;—the only book that unfolds to us the realities of eternity.”

You must know your Bible to know God. This is important because without a knowledge of God no man will gain everlasting life. Jesus Christ said: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3) So knowing God and Christ and having knowledge of God’s requirements for gaining everlasting life are closely linked together.

The Bible is the only sure guide in the worship of God, which is another reason why you must know your Bible. Worshipers of Jehovah should “be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual discernment, in order to walk worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasing him.” (Col. 1:9, 10) Yes, we must know God’s will if we are to “walk worthily” before him.

By means of such God-approved worship one finds peace with God, peace with one’s fellow man and peace with oneself, which is so vital to happiness. Wrote the psalmist: “Abundant peace belongs to those loving your law, and for them there is no stumbling block.” The American journalist Horace Greeley declared: “It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.” Are not the gaining of divine approval, the finding of peace and freedom worth-while reasons for knowing your Bible?—Ps. 119:165.

In addition to these, there is another compelling reason why you should know your Bible. We are living in the time when, as God has foretold, he will sweep away all wickedness and firmly establish an everlasting new world of righteousness. This he will do by means of his kingdom, his heavenly government in the hands of his Son Jesus Christ. To survive that time of destruction and gain the blessings of God’s new world, we must submit to the rule of his kingdom now. The Bible, the book that has as its very theme the kingdom of God, shows us how. Yes, a knowledge of the Bible with obedience to it means life.

When All Nations Unite Under God’s Kingdom

This public address delivered by the president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society was heard by audiences totaling four hundred eighty-one thousand one hundred and ninety-five throughout North America and Europe during the past summer.

1. (a) What question does the subject of this address raise at the start? (b) What indicates that God’s kingdom is a matter of concern to the nations, and to which nations?

THERE are many nations. But who says that there is such a thing as “God’s kingdom”—that God has a kingdom? Many persons may ask that challenging question, not merely atheists and Communists, but also very religious persons. All peoples live under some form of government, whether it be called a kingdom, a republic, or a dictatorship or something else. But today, as never before, all peoples are faced with the world-wide proclamation of “God’s kingdom.” It must be a matter that concerns all nations; otherwise, it would not be proclaimed in all the inhabited earth, to all the nations of whatever political form. It does concern all nations—the nation that holds to the Hindu religion and worships Trimurti as god; the Islamic nation that holds that the only god is Allah; also the nation that worships chiefly before the shrine of Buddha as god. It concerns the nations of Christendom that worship a triune god, one god in three persons. It concerns the Jewish nation (represented in the Republic of Israel) that worships the traditional god of its forefathers. Indeed, it concerns the Communist nations that say they worship no god. The god of no one of these nations has thus far united people of all earth’s nations under either his worship or his government. Is there a God that can do this?

2, 3. (a) What facts show whether for world unity we need more than the United Nations? (b) What must be said as to whether the United Nations became the expression of God’s kingdom since 1945?

² But there is also this question: Does this modern world need an invisible spirit God to unite all nations under his kingdom? Do we need more than the United Nations of today? Has mankind ever before seen such a thing—ninety-nine nations united in one association? No! But at the same time has the world ever seen such a show as it is making, such a failure at unification? Is it living up to its big-sounding name? Is it by nations outside the United Nations that the “cold war” is being fought today with a ruthlessness that does not care even though it keeps all the rest of the world in fear and anxiety? No; it is by the leading nations right inside the United Nations. Have we reason, then, to expect that the United Nations will prove to be a satisfying man-made substitute for “God’s kingdom”? Let us not forget that the United Nations is the successor of the League of Nations, and that during its existence before World War II the League of Nations was religiously called the “political expression of the kingdom of God on earth.” So has the United Nations become the political expression of God’s kingdom on earth since 1945? Ask Hindu India! Ask Communist Russia! Ask Buddhist Japan, Burma, Thailand! Ask Islamic Turkey, Indonesia, United Arab Republic!

³ Did these and other nations join the United Nations because they wanted to be under God’s kingdom, and is this why they stay in it? Did the love of God move them to join up? We do not have to wait for their answer. Common sense and honesty answer No!

4. As regards God’s kingdom, what questions do we ask because so many gods are also represented in the United Nations, and have all these gods strengthened that body?

⁴ However, one big fact does remain: Not merely many political systems but also many gods are represented in the ninety-nine nations making up the United Nations. So, then, if all nations are yet to be united under God’s kingdom, will all the gods of the many nations get together in conference in the way that the national delegates do in the United Nations General Assembly? Will they then decide which one is to be king over all the gods? Or will they decide to set up a three-member secretariat, a trinitarian governing body, each member of which will represent a certain group of gods or religious creeds? Is God’s kingdom thus to be set up, namely, by the common consent, as it were, of all the gods represented in the United Nations? Will there thus be democratic action among all the gods to unify themselves under one god as king of heaven and earth? Since the human worshipers of these gods differ and disagree among themselves, their gods could hardly be expected to unite and agree and exercise a unifying influence. Certainly the having of so many gods behind the United Nations has not strengthened that body.

5. (a) From where do we get the assurance that all nations will unite under God’s kingdom? (b) In agreement with that Book, what do things observed about our universe prove?

⁵ Where, then, do we get the idea, where do we get the strong assurance that all nations will unite under God’s kingdom? We get that wonderful vision of the whole human family prosperously at peace with itself and with its God from a Book. It is an old Book. Its wisdom, understanding, knowledge and foresight make it the Book of books. This Book is not contradicted by the facts of today, by the world situation of today. Neither is it contradicted by the actually proved science of today. That Book is backed up by the unity and stability of the known universe. The more that we examine the unity, harmony and stability of the universe, the more do these impressive things prove what this Book says, namely, that there is one God who is over all, who is the Creator of all, who is the Lawgiver of all, who is the central Governor of all.

6, 7. (a) How does the Americana describe God? (b) Of what Book is he the Author?

⁶ In order that we may have some expressed idea of what God is, we quote from The Encyclopedia Americana, page 743 of Volume 12, of its 1929 edition, which says, under the heading “God”:

The Supreme Being, the First Cause, and, as considered nowadays throughout the civilized world, a spiritual being, self-existent, eternal and absolutely free and all-powerful, distinct from the matter which he has created in many forms, and which he conserves and controls. There does not seem to have been a period of history where mankind was without belief in a supernatural author and governor of the universe. The most savage nations have some rudimentary ideas of God. Man is a religious as well as a rational animal.

⁷ The so-called Book of Nature is God’s book. The written Book of which he is the Author is called The Holy Bible.

8. (a) What specially makes the Bible different from other religious books? (b) Why can we have confidence about the fulfilling of the prophecy concerning the uniting of all nations?

⁸ Long ago this indestructible Book foretold the uniting of all nations under God’s kingdom. That is, of course, a prophecy. But, different from all other religious books, the Bible is full of prophecies. We must admit that, to make prophecies, the Author of the Book had to be sure of himself; he had to have foresight and foreknowledge. The failure of his prophecies would prove that he is not God. However, the prophecies of the Bible have stood the test of time. Many prophecies have been fulfilled. Others are now having a startling fulfillment. Surely, then, those prophecies of the Bible that tell of yet future things that are of importance to us all will be just as certainly fulfilled as have the prophecies applying to the past or to the present. And as respects the prophecy about the uniting of all nations under God’s kingdom, God already has a model on earth. What is it? This we are going to see.

9. (a) What facts about man argue that God is a Person and intelligent? (b) Where do we learn his name, and why should we not let nationalism prejudice us against that God so named?

⁹ This God is a Person, an intelligent Being. His Book tells us that he created man in his image and likeness. So if man is a person, an intelligent individual, and he resembles God, then God must likewise be a person. He is no nameless God. Neither has he left us to guess at his name. He has caused it to be written many times, not in the Book of Nature, but in the Holy Bible. Thousands of times in the Bible he tells us that the name of the Most High, Almighty, All-wise, All-just, ever-living God and Creator is Jehovah. Our mere mention of that name may cause prejudice to rise up in the hearts of many. Many will associate that name with the Jews, with the Israelites, who recently established the Republic of Israel in the midst of Arab nations in the Middle East. Since they believe that Jehovah is the national God of the Jews, such prejudiced persons do not want him as God. But Jehovah is not a nationalistic God. He is not a God for Jews only. How could he be the national God of the Jews and at the same time admit all nations to his worship and under his kingdom of blessing?

10. (a) Worshiping Jehovah as God does not mean what as regards natural Jews? (b) What should be our attitude toward the people today worshiping Jehovah as God, and why?

¹⁰ Jehovah did not begin when the Jewish nation began, just about three thousand six hundred years ago, in 1712 B.C.E. (Gen. 49:28-33) So, if you worship Jehovah as God, you do not exalt the Jews or glorify the Republic of Israel. Worshiping Jehovah does not mean that you must unite with the Republic of Israel or worship in Jewish synagogues, or even at modern Jerusalem. But it is true that any people that has had Jehovah as its God has been honored and blessed because of this. When General Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated as United States president for the second time, in 1957, and took his oath of office, he had his hand on the open Bible (American Standard Version), at Psalm 33:12, which reads: “Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah, the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” So the main thing is our having respect for the true God himself, rather than our having respect for the people having him as God. The reason why the natural Jews or the Israelites of today do not evidently have divine blessing is that they do not have Jehovah as their God any more. Yet there is today a people that does worship Jehovah as God with spirit and truth. They are not to be despised, for to despise these faithful ones means to show disrespect and dishonor to God.—John 4:21-24.

THE “KING OF ETERNITY”

11. Under whose kingdom will all nations unite, and what promise of this does Psalm 86:8, 9 contain?

¹¹ It is under the kingdom of Jehovah God that all nations will unite for their everlasting blessing. One of God’s own promises of this is found in the Bible, in Psalm 86:8, 9, which we quote: “There is none like you among the gods, O Jehovah, neither are there any works like yours. All the nations whom you have made will themselves come, and they will bow down before you, O Jehovah, and will give glory to your name.”

12. How does Micah 4:3, 4 show whether unity under God’s kingdom is desirable?

¹² One of the blessings from this international unity under God’s kingdom is this, as foretold in Micah 4:3, 4: “And [Jehovah] will certainly render judgment among many peoples, and set matters straight respecting mighty nations far away. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war any more. And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble; for the very mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken it.” In view of this, is God’s kingdom desirable? Yes.

13. How is the Bible divided up today, and yet what makes it a unity?

¹³ The Bible, which presents these hope-inspiring prophecies, is divided up today into sixty-six inspired books. Nevertheless, the Bible is a unity in itself, just one book as a whole. It is in full harmony within itself, in its many parts, from its first book, Genesis, to its last book, Revelation. One dominant idea, subject or theme runs through the whole Bible and binds it together. What is that? God’s kingdom, the best government in all the universe, and the only one that will endure forever, to mankind’s blessing.

14. (a) When did mankind once have no human kings, empires or colonial powers over them? (b) Why do we have such things today, and why has this been providential for us?

¹⁴ Since World War I of 1914-1918 kings, or rulers bearing that title, have been on their way out. Once upon a time there were no human kings nor any human empires nor any colonial powers on earth. There was only a heavenly King over mankind. Who was he? Jehovah God. In the last book of the Bible he is called the “King of eternity.” (Rev. 15:3; Jer. 10:10) Why, then, do we have the human kings of today, why the empires, why the colonial powers? Why international communism? Yes, why the United Nations? It is because of the original rebellion against the “King of eternity.” Was that rebellion not put down at once? No, it was not. Why were not the rebels executed all at once to keep the rebellion from spreading? Well, if they had been at once executed, we would not be here today, with an opportunity of being united under God’s kingdom. Why not? It was because the rebels included our first human parents. We are the latest descendants from those rebels against Jehovah God.

15, 16. (a) How did there come to be an opposition god, and what is he named? (b) How did he make a god of himself, and what did Jesus and Paul call him?

¹⁵ Let us not overlook one fact of stern reality. There is an opposition god in the universe. This invisible, spirit creature is, in Bible language, called Satan the Devil, that is to say, the Opposer the Slanderer. He was the ringleader in the rebellion. He broke up the original happiness, peace and health of the human family. He was the one to begin opposing Jehovah God. In order to get our first parents to rebel against God, he slandered Jehovah God their Creator, saying that Jehovah was a liar, that he was an undemocratic censor of knowledge and information that the people were entitled to have for freeing themselves and lifting the standard of living. Satan said that man had nothing to fear from rebelling against Jehovah God. “You positively will not die. For . . . you are bound to be like God, knowing good and bad,” Satan said.

¹⁶ First the woman, Eve, and then the man, Adam, joined Satan the Devil in his rebellion. Then that disloyal spirit creature became a god, an opposition god against Jehovah God. This meant the beginning of a divided universe. (Gen. 3:1-7) Thousands of years later, the loyal Son of God was sent into this world, and he said that Satan the Devil is the “ruler of this world” and the one “who is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (John 12:31; 14:30; Rev. 12:9) The Christian apostle Paul called him the “god of this system of things,” “the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now operates in the sons of disobedience.”—2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2.

17. What has that rebellion of long ago meant to us today?

¹⁷ We today are almost six thousand years removed from that original rebellion against the King of eternity. Yet we know, we feel, we see what it has meant to us. It has meant death to us. (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12) It has meant the loss of the garden of Eden, the paradise of pleasure, to us. (Gen. 3:22-24) It has meant our coming under human political governments, not founded or backed up by the King of eternity, but inspired and backed and dominated by the “god of this system of things,” “the ruler of this world.” We find the situation as the Christian apostle John described it: “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”—1 John 5:19.

18. How do we know that Satan’s rulership is foredoomed to fail?

¹⁸ But what of this? What if the opposition god, Satan the Devil, is “ruler of this world,” “the god of this system of things”? His rebellion is foredoomed to fail; and he and all those who persist with him in this rebellion will suffer the penalty of annihilation, an absolute blotting out from all existence. When Jehovah God held court and pronounced sentence upon the three original rebels, he said to Satan the Devil, who had misled the woman Eve by means of a serpent: “I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.”—Gen. 3:14, 15.

19, 20. (a) What does Genesis 3:15 really mean, and from then on what theme runs throughout the Bible? (b) How does Revelation 15:3, 4 point forward to unity of all nations?

¹⁹ In those words Jehovah God declared that, in his own chosen time, he would crush the rebellion by crushing its ringleader together with the seed or disciples of that ringleader. He would thus reunite his universe in heaven and in earth under his everlasting kingdom. To win this universal victory for the kingdom of God he would use his own loyal Seed, his own Son, whom he would produce by means of his own loyal “woman.” We find this remarkable Kingdom promise in chapter three of the first book of the Bible. Then the theme of that Kingdom runs all through the sixty-six inspired books of the Bible to the last book, in which we read this thrilling prophecy of the final uniting of all nations under God’s kingdom:

²⁰ “Great and wonderful are your works, Jehovah God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of eternity. Who will not really fear you, Jehovah, and glorify your name, because you alone are loyal? For all the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous decrees have been made manifest.”—Rev. 15:3, 4.

21. What message startled the Roman world nineteen centuries ago, and what two witnesses started the proclamation of the message?

²¹ When those words were written nineteen hundred years ago, the Roman Empire was yet dominating Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Several decades of years before the apostle John wrote those words, a bold announcement startled the Middle East. Soon it was reported throughout the Roman world. It was this: “The kingdom of God has drawn near.” This was a message that worshipers of Jehovah God had waited for thousands of years to hear. At the start there were two proclaimers of that message, two witnesses to the truth of that message, first a faithful worshiper named John the Baptist and, shortly after him, Jesus Christ, whom his disciples confessed to be the Son of God.—Matt. 3:2; Mark 1:14, 15; John 1:49.

22. (a) How did John and Jesus suffer for loyalty to God’s kingdom? (b) How was the heel wound of God’s Seed remedied, and how will matters now be reversed?

²² The head of John the Baptist was chopped off for his being loyal to the kingship and law of Jehovah God. Jesus Christ was nailed to a stake to die for preaching and upholding the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the heavens. Satan the Devil, “the god of this system of things,” interpreted such preaching to mean sedition and revolt against the Roman Emperor. Using this false charge, Satan the Devil as the Great Serpent was able to bruise the heel of the Seed of God’s “woman.” But God Almighty healed the wound of his Seed, his Son Jesus Christ, by raising him from the dead on the third day and by having him return to heaven from which he had been sent. (1 Cor. 15:3-7, 24-28; Rom. 1:1-4; Acts 2:22-36) Now matters were to be reversed and Satan the Serpent, the devilish leader of rebellion against the King of eternity, must have his head crushed.

23. How did Jesus prove his worthiness of kingship, and what earth-wide proclamation did he foretell?

²³ Jesus Christ was born on earth in the line of kings, he being a direct descendant of ancient King David of Jerusalem. (Matt. 1:1, 17) He was anointed with God’s spirit to become the acting king in the future kingdom of God. (Luke 3:21-23, 38; 4:1-21) His worthiness of rulership he proved by all the time preaching God’s kingdom. He taught his disciples the model prayer: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:9, 10) He trained and sent out his disciples to preach God’s kingdom. (Matt. 10:5-7; Luke 9:1, 2; 10:1-3, 8, 9) Because God’s kingdom is for the blessing and uniting of men of all nationalities and races, Jesus foretold that in due time the Kingdom message would be proclaimed everywhere. He said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end [of Satan’s system of things] will come.”—Matt. 24:3, 14.

24. Because people were expecting God’s kingdom back there, what illustration did Jesus give to correct them?

²⁴ To the close of Jesus’ earthly life, many persons to whom he had preached thought that God’s kingdom was to be set up back there nineteen centuries ago. Concerning Jesus’ last trip up to Jerusalem, where he suffered martyrdom, we read of this popular expectation, in these words: “While they were listening to these things he spoke in addition an illustration, because he was near Jerusalem and they were imagining that the kingdom of God was going to display itself instantly. Therefore he said: ‘A certain man of noble birth traveled to a distant land to secure kingly power for himself and to return. . . . Eventually when he got back after having secured the kingly power, he commanded to be called to him these slaves to whom he had given the silver money, in order to ascertain what they had gained by business activity.’” After dealing with those slaves as respects their zeal and faithfulness for the interests of the kingdom, the king turns his attention to the opposers of his kingdom and says: “Moreover, these enemies of mine that did not want me to become king over them bring here and slaughter them before me.” (Luke 19:11-27) Woe, then, to all those who refuse to unite under God’s kingdom!

25, 26. (a) How did Jesus thus illustrate that it would be a long time before God’s kingdom would be put in power? (b) What earthly benefit will Jesus’ kingship mean for mankind, and how did he give assurance of that while he hung on a stake?

²⁵ To go to a distant land and then to return by the means of travel of nineteen hundred years ago, not by jet plane, would require a long time. By this point of the illustration Jesus indicated that it would be a long time from then before God’s kingdom would be actually put in power over our earth. As pictured by the “man of noble birth” in this illustration, Jesus Christ, who was the Son of the King of eternity as well as the descendant of King David, had to go to a “distant land” to secure for himself kingly power. He had to go far beyond outer space and its planets and galaxies, namely, to heaven itself, to Jehovah God, who is the source of all ruling power. As it is written: “There is no authority except by God.” (Rom. 13:1) From God as the source of rulership Jesus Christ would receive kingly power for mankind’s benefit. Benefit, indeed, because the setting up of his kingdom over mankind in the name of Jehovah God means the restoration of Paradise to our earth.

²⁶ Even while Jesus was hanging upon the stake with the sign above his head, “Jesus the Nazarene the King of the Jews,” he declared that his kingdom would bring back to earth the Paradise from which mankind had been cast out. (John 19:12-22) One of two evildoers who were hanging on stakes on each side of Jesus said with faith in a future day of judgment before God: “Jesus, remember me when you get into your kingdom.” He felt that Jesus would be declared innocent before the judgment seat of God and would be given a kingdom. Jesus agreed with this and said to this sympathetic evildoer: “Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43) Such a glorious promise showed that Jesus Christ believed in his own resurrection from the dead and that under his kingdom there would be a resurrection of all the dead in the graves, the righteous ones and the unrighteous. Thus this well-disposed evildoer would come back to life on earth and would enjoy Paradise under the kingship of Jesus Christ.—Acts 24:15; John 5:25, 28, 29.

27. (a) How was Jesus made alive again, and how did he prove it to his disciples? (b) When did he go to a “distant land,” and when was evidence given of his arrival there?

²⁷ On the third day from his death for preaching God’s kingdom, Jesus was resurrected, “he being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18) During the forty days that he lingered here at the earth to make appearances to his disciples there were “upward of five hundred” witnesses to the actuality of his being alive again, as a spirit person who could appear and disappear as holy angels of God had done on numbers of occasions. (1 Cor. 15:3-8; Luke 24:15-36; John 20:19-26) On the fortieth day from his resurrection from the dead he began traveling to the “distant land,” and this before the very eyes of his faithful apostles on the Mount of Olives. Two angels appeared and said to them: “Why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who was received up from you into the sky will come thus in the same manner as you have beheld him going into the sky.” (Acts 1:1-11) Ten days later, on the festival day of Pentecost, miraculous evidence was given that Jesus Christ had arrived, that he was in the presence of Jehovah God and was seated at God’s right hand in the heavens.

28. On that day what did Peter say to confirm Jesus’ arrival there?

²⁸ That day the apostle Peter under inspiration by God’s spirit said to three thousand or more listeners: “This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses. Therefore because he was exalted to the right hand of God and received the promised holy spirit from the Father, he has poured out this [spirit] which you see and hear. Actually [King] David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, ‘Jehovah said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.”’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for a certainty that God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you impaled.”—Acts 2:1-36.

THE TIME OF RETURN WITH KINGLY POWER

29, 30. (a) Where is God’s kingdom properly set up, and why? (b) How will Christ return with kingly power, and how will this become evident?

²⁹ That was nineteen hundred years ago. Thus a long time has intervened between then and now. But where is the kingdom of God? Where is the return of the Son of God with kingly power? Well, where else should God’s kingdom be but up in heaven? “The heaven is my throne,” Jehovah God says. (Acts 7:49) So for the Son of God to return to this earth with kingly power it is not necessary for him to become a man on earth again. He becomes a man no more, inasmuch as he sacrificed his human nature forever in order that he might offer to God in heaven the value of this human sacrifice in behalf of us, dying mankind. On this remarkable point it is written: “When Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come to pass . . . he entered, no, not with the blood of goats and of young bulls, but with his own blood, once for all time into the holy place and obtained an everlasting deliverance for us. For Christ entered . . . into heaven itself, now to appear before the person of God for us.” (Heb. 9:11, 12, 24) For this reason the setting up of God’s kingdom through Christ means the lifting of the condemnation off obedient mankind and the bestowing of eternal life upon them.

³⁰ Just before his death Christ told his disciples: “A little longer and the world will behold me no more.” (John 14:19) Hence he will accomplish his return with kingly power invisibly, by extending his kingly power from heaven to earth and by bringing in changes here on earth in fulfillment of the prophecies of God.

31. (a) When did God want his Son to step into office for his work as king? (b) Why is the time period involved called the “appointed times of the nations”?

³¹ Here, now, is the question: When would God want his Son to step into office and begin reigning, to slaughter off his enemies and to bless the people who unite under this kingdom of God? This is an event of universal importance. God has a fixed time for it. Jesus, when prophesying about the “conclusion of the system of things,” foretold that all this would be when the “appointed times of the nations” ended. (Luke 21:24) Those times were the times that Almighty God appointed for the worldly nations to rule the whole earth without interruption or interference by the kingdom of God.

32. (a) When did those “appointed times” begin, and when did they end? (b) Why can we be thankful that those “times” were not to go on forever?

³² We must remember that more than twenty-five centuries ago Jehovah God had a miniature kingdom of God here on earth with its capital at Jerusalem. That was why Jesus Christ called the Jerusalem of his day “the city of the great King.” (Matt. 5:35) But in the year 607 B.C.E. Jehovah God permitted the empire of Babylon to destroy Jerusalem for the first time. So he let the worldly nations take over the visible control of the entire earth. There the “appointed times of the nations” began. We today, who are faced with the worst world situation in all human history, can best appreciate what the “appointed times of the nations” has meant for mankind. Thank God, those “appointed times of the nations” were not to go on forever, that is, till the nations destroyed themselves. God appointed an end to them, to be followed by the re-establishment of God’s kingdom. According to God’s own appointment, the end of those times came in that marked year of 1914.

33. (a) Why was it not by accident or miscalculation that World War I broke out in 1914? (b) How can we calculate that date, but how can we also otherwise prove the date?

³³ It was not merely accidental, it was not by mere miscalculation on the part of some maniac, that World War I broke out in 1914 and that the world has never been the same since then. It was because the “appointed times of the nations” ended in 1914. That year was God’s own chosen time to renew the kingdom of God over the earth and put his self-sacrificing Son Jesus Christ on the heavenly throne to rule mankind and to destroy the enemies of God and of man. By means of the Bible’s time schedule, together with historical chronology, we can calculate the date 1914 exactly, as being 2,520 years from Jerusalem’s destruction in 607 B.C. But even if we did not have the means to calculate the date, we have the visible evidences foretold by divine prophecy to prove the date.

34. What evidences did Jesus Christ foretell to prove his invisible return, and when did those evidences begin?

³⁴ A few days before Jesus Christ was put to death he was asked about the evidences to mark his invisible return and the end of this system of things. The evidences that he foretold are there in the Bible for us to read, in Matthew chapter 24, Mark chapter 13 and Luke chapter 21. Check for yourselves those chapters. Then you will not be surprised that it was in 1914 that World War I began, followed by famines and food shortages, by pestilences more destructive than the war, by earthquakes in one place after another, by persecution of the true followers of Christ, by the setting up of the League of Nations, by the increasing of lawlessness and the cooling off of human love, by the growing distress of nations with perplexity, the politicians not knowing the way out, yes, and by the preaching of the good news of God’s kingdom in all the inhabited earth to all the nations, this preaching being done, as the facts show, by the Christian witnesses of Jehovah. Jesus Christ foretold all this combination of things as the unmistakable visible, feelable evidence that he had returned invisibly with kingly power to rule in the midst of his enemies, the worldly nations.

35, 36. (a) Of what is Christendom made up, and where and how did Jesus answer the question about her wanting him to return? (b) In answer to the question, what does Revelation 11:15-18 show?

³⁵ Now let us turn to the last book of the Bible, as it is said to be “a revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place.” (Rev. 1:1) This book, Revelation, was written in the year 96. This means that Jesus Christ had been back in heaven for sixty-three years when he gave this prophetic revelation to his apostle John, who was then exiled on the penal island of Patmos. In that book Jesus Christ answers the question as to whether Christendom, which is made up of so-called Christian nations, would really want him to return and rule over them. His answer is in these words of Revelation 11:15-18:

³⁶ “Loud voices occurred in heaven, saying: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.’ And the twenty-four older persons who were seated before God upon their thrones fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king. But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time for the dead to be judged, and to give their reward to your slaves the prophets and to the holy ones and to those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.’”

37. What, therefore, did the year 1914 mark, and what will God’s dealing with earth’s ruiners mean?

³⁷ According to that, there was to be wrath of the nations when the kingdom of the world became the kingdom of Jehovah God and of Christ Jesus and when God by Christ began to rule forever and ever. The year 1914 marked the explosion of the wrath of the nations, beginning right in Christendom itself; and since 1914 they have been ruining the earth for mankind as never before. They need to be ruined themselves; and God Almighty will do it by his king Jesus Christ. When God does so, that will mean the end of this system of things, to be followed by God’s New World system of things.

THE UNITING UNDER WAY

38. (a) Who believe in the establishment of God’s kingdom that year, and what do they do? (b) What fears should there not be about future domination of the earth, and accordingly what do Jehovah’s witnesses do?

³⁸ Do you accept those evidences of the establishment of God’s kingdom in the heavens in 1914? Many persons of all nations now do so. Under this kingdom, in the establishment of which they believe, they now unite. Yes, Jehovah’s witnesses, who are at present found in 181 lands and island groups around the earth, unite under God’s kingdom. From his Word they know that his kingdom by Christ will take charge of the whole earth. There is no need for the democratic Western bloc of nations to fear that the Communist bloc will take universal control of the earth. There is no need for the socialist Communist bloc to worry in fear that the democratic Western bloc of nations will take over world domination. There is no need for the neutral bloc of nations to try to keep in the middle, siding with neither bloc, for fear that either bloc of “cold war” fighters will gain final victory and then what will they do if they have sided with the losing bloc? None of those national blocs will gain the world domination, no matter which bloc dominates at present in outer space. The universal rule, including domination of the whole earth, has already been conferred, not on the choice of the Democrats, nor on the choice of the Communists, nor on the choice of the neutrals, nor on the choice of any man, but on God’s choice of ruler, mankind’s Savior Jesus Christ. At the end of the “appointed times of the nations” in 1914, Jehovah God took his power and enthroned Jesus Christ in the heavens. So in loyalty to the “King of eternity,” Jehovah’s witnesses unite under God’s kingdom, no matter in what lands they are found. They preach it everywhere.

39. (a) According to Jesus’ illustration of the man of noble birth, what event is fast approaching, and what will this mean to the nations? (b) Unlike human dictators, what regulation will Christ apply to the earth, and what will this mean to choosers of him?

³⁹ According to Jesus’ illustration of the man of noble birth who went to a distant land to get kingly power and to return and hold judgment with his servants and with his enemies, the time is fast approaching for Christ to slaughter his enemies in the war of all wars. Revelation 16:14 calls that war the “war of the great day of God the Almighty.” This will mean an Armageddon disaster for all nations hostile to God’s kingdom, including the nations of Christendom. We must either submit to Christ’s rule or be slaughtered. Throughout history the policy followed by human dictators has been, Rule or ruin! But the regulation now to be applied to all the earth by God’s installed King, Jesus Christ, is, Be ruled or be ruined. This will not ruin or spoil things for any of those who choose to be ruled, for they will be ruled in God’s loving way. That will mean lasting life, peace and happiness for them.

40. (a) What prayer have billions prayed for centuries, and what test is now on for those praying it today? (b) What question do we raise as to the spectacle presented by the choosers of God’s kingdom?

⁴⁰ For centuries billions of persons have taken upon their lips the prayer taught by Jesus: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:9, 10, AV) Now in this day of decision, when the vast majority of mankind are going contrary to God’s will and kingdom, the honesty and sincerity of each one who offers that prayer is being tested. Does one really mean it? There are those who do mean it. Though all the world be against them, they choose to be ruled in God’s way, by his kingdom under Christ. What has been the result of this choice of theirs? What kind of spectacle do these choosers present to the rest of mankind? Do they present a spectacle of disunity, of international suspicions, of mutual rivalries and jealousies, of racial prejudices, such as the United Nations organization displays? A candid investigation answers No!

41. What working model do these choosers present, and for the secret of what must we turn to them?

⁴¹ These choosers of God’s kingdom present the actually alive model demonstrating how people of all nations can now unite and will unite under God’s kingdom after it has brought to ruin those who are ruining the earth and after it has bound the one chiefly responsible for the ruinous course of the nations, Satan the Devil. Today, amid a world in turmoil, these united ones out of all the nations are an example of unity on a global scale, and this in spite of their own inherited human imperfections and weaknesses. Not to the United Nations, but to these exemplary people we must turn and ask, What is the secret of their loving, peaceful unity? How do they attain to it?

HOW THEY DO IT

42. (a) How have they attained such loving, peaceful unity? (b) Why are there no politics in God’s kingdom?

⁴² They attain it because they have accepted, not the United Nations, but God’s kingdom as the only hope of humanity. They have accepted God’s kingdom by Christ as the rightful ruler of the whole world, not of just a part of the world. There are no politics in God’s kingdom. The Ruler on the heavenly throne of God’s kingdom is not the choice elected by the Democrats or the Republicans, or by the Communists, or by the neutrals, or by any other national groups or party. Christ is the choice by the Most High God. How, then, could there be any politics under God’s kingdom, which is a theocratic government ruled from the Top down and not from the people up? So those who have united in preaching “this good news of the kingdom” everywhere have not only come out of 181 lands and political divisions but also left their politics behind them. They have not brought their national or local politics into the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses.

43. (a) In prayer what did Jesus say as to his disciples and the world? (b) What course of action do they today take toward the world?

⁴³ When Jesus offered his prayer for his disciples, he said to God: “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world. I in union with them and you in union with me, in order that they may be perfected into one.” (John 17:14, 23) So, although now being order-keeping citizens of 181 political divisions, they let the world run itself. But they themselves let God rule them in harmony with the Holy Bible. In the words of Acts 5:29 they say to all opposers: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”

44. For unity, from what else have they broken away, and so what fatherhood and brotherhood do they really enjoy?

⁴⁴ Not only have they come away from all the political parties and wranglings of this world, but they have also broken away from all the variety of gods that they once worshiped. They have come away from the thousand or more disunited religious sects of Christendom. They have united in the worship of the one God, the Most High and Almighty God, the Creator of all things good. Certainly only such a God, only the one “living and true God,” would be able to make his sincere worshipers one. Only in the case of such worshipers could we speak of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. In harmony with His being the “one living and true God,” he bears a name that is borne by no other personage in the universe. That name is Jehovah.—Ps. 83:18; Isa. 42:8.

45. (a) What is their book of religion, and how is it a powerful factor in unifying them? (b) On learning from it what is God’s will, what do they do?

⁴⁵ Only the one Book reveals and names this Most High and All-powerful God. It is the Book of which he inspired the writing and of which he is therefore the one Author, and that is the Bible. To those who are united under God’s kingdom the Bible is their book of religion. This book is a powerful factor in unifying them, for from this one Book they get the one faith or belief, the one hope, the one rule of life. From this one Book they learn what is the will of God, and they dedicate themselves to God through the ransom sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ in order to do that will. These united worshipers symbolize their dedication of themselves to God by being baptized in water, the one and the same baptism that their Lord Jesus Christ set as an example for them.

46. (a) What else is a potent force for unifying them? (b) What has this potent force made it possible for them to realize now in fulfillment of prophecy?

⁴⁶ There is also another potent force for unifying these baptized believers in God’s Word the Bible. It is something that the United Nations and all the rest of this world do not have. For its part, the United Nations, which is a representative of this world, has the spirit of this world. We are all acquainted with what the spirit of this world is, because the fruitage of that spirit is seen in abundance on every hand. But, says the apostle Paul to the dedicated, baptized adherents of God’s Word: “Now we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been kindly given us by God. These things we also speak, not with words taught by human wisdom, but with those taught by the spirit.” (1 Cor. 2:12, 13) The fruitage of that spirit is love, love toward God, love toward Christ, love toward the brotherhood of the Christian worshipers of Jehovah God. (Gal. 5:22) Nothing else holds people together as love does. For this reason God’s Word says: “Clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union.” (Col. 3:14) This spirit of love is what has made it possible now, before Armageddon, to realize the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”—Isa. 2:4, AV.

47. What powerful set of things does Paul enumerate for holding them together, and how long will this loving unity hold?

⁴⁷ The apostle Paul pointed to the secret of this unbreakable unity of the modern-day Christian witnesses of Jehovah God, when he wrote down this command to them: “Walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with complete lowliness of mind and mildness, with long-suffering, putting up with one another in love, earnestly endeavoring to observe the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace. One body there is, and one spirit, even as you were called in the one hope to which you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all persons, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph. 4:1-6) What a powerful set of things to be enjoyed in common for holding together those who today unite under God’s kingdom, regardless of the nation or race to which they belong at present! This loving unity will hold despite the increasing disunity of this selfish, loveless world, even when the whole worldly system of things crumbles in disunity at its Armageddon in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty.”

PROTECTION AND SURVIVAL

48. (a) Who on earth claim to be the principal protectors of the people, but against what can they not protect the people? (b) With regard to such claimed protectors, what decision do we have to make?

⁴⁸ Those who today are united under God’s kingdom have the greatest government of the universe to protect them. In these days of world-wide fear of a third world war with nuclear weapons and missiles, the various governments set up by puny men view themselves as the principal and most powerful protectors of the people. By their own monumental foolishness they create a world situation that threatens to wipe out modern civilization, yes, wipe out the human family. At the same time they claim to be the biggest and best protectors against such a thing. But if they can protect themselves from their own international conflicts, they cannot protect themselves against God’s universal war against Satan the Devil and Satan’s world. They do not appreciate that by being bound together in the United Nations they are united against God and his kingdom by Christ. They do not believe that the “appointed times of the nations” ran out in 1914 and that it is time to make way for the kingdom of God to take full, undisputed, unhindered control of all the earth. They do not discern that by their own opposition against God’s kingdom he is forcing them into a unity in which they will be slaughtered in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty.” So what shall WE do? Be united under God’s kingdom for our salvation or be united with them to be slaughtered with them?

49. How does Zephaniah 3:8, 9 warn us and then show us the correct course to take?

⁴⁹ The prophecy of Zephaniah 3:8, 9 warns us:

“‘Therefore keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘till the day of my rising up to the booty, for my judicial decision is to gather nations, for me to collect together kingdoms, in order to pour out upon them my denunciation, all my burning anger; for by the fire of my zeal all the earth will be devoured.’”

And then, to show us the correct course to take for our salvation, Jehovah says:

“For then I shall give to peoples the change to a pure language, in order for them all to call upon the name of Jehovah, in order to serve him shoulder to shoulder.”

50. In view of this scripture, what do Jehovah’s witnesses do, and under what government do they enjoy protection?

⁵⁰ Serving shoulder to shoulder signifies unitedness. It is the way that the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses has determined to serve him. They have been given a change of language from the language of this doomed world. Hence in unison they call upon the name of Jehovah God through his reigning King Jesus Christ. Under God’s kingdom they unite, shoulder to shoulder, because his denunciation and the fire of his zeal is against all other existing kingdoms or governments. God’s kingdom is the only government of protection, the only government that can and will preserve us. In the coming test of strength of governments, God’s kingdom by his Christ will prove stronger and will win.

51. For whom does Daniel 2:44 foretell the victory, and how?

⁵¹ The prophecy of Daniel 2:44 assures us of this, saying: “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”

52. Who is the one for us to seek, and with what qualities, and with what probability?

⁵² The God of heaven who has set up this kingdom is the One whom the Bible tells us to seek with righteousness and meekness, not by our violently rising up against any human rulerships. With authority God tells us that if we thus righteously and meekly seek him we may then “be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger.” His anger, his war operation, is the main thing from which to be hidden, for he can destroy and none of his enemies can escape total destruction by vainly trying to hide themselves from him.—Zeph. 2:3.

53. What is the way in which we should serve him and call on his name?

⁵³ Let us, then, act according to Bible wisdom, which is heavenly wisdom. Satan the Devil, “the god of this system of things,” keeps on dividing this world by all sorts of selfishness and materialism, in spite of its United Nations. To continue serving Satan the Devil as god means our ruin. The one “living and true God,” Jehovah, is the God for us to choose and serve. Let us all together seek him. Let us close ranks today under God’s kingdom. Let us call upon the name of Jehovah with the language of love, faith, hope and truth, as subjects of his all-conquering kingdom. Thus let us serve him and the interests of his kingdom “shoulder to shoulder.”

54. How must we go through Armageddon, and how too will we serve after it?

⁵⁴ In order to be hidden and mercifully preserved through the universal war of Armageddon, we must go through that war united in the worship of Jehovah God. After that we shall begin life in the New World, all of us united in love’s perfect bond of union, under the triumphant kingdom of God. Unitedly we shall peacefully address ourselves to the healing of the earth that has been so ruined by selfish exploiters and warmongers. Unitedly we shall bend our energies to transforming this earth into a paradise like the garden of Eden. Unitedly we shall make preparation for the dead to return from the memorial tombs by the resurrection power of God. Unitedly we shall get ourselves ready to educate these resurrected ones in the truths of God’s one pure religion and in the laws of his kingdom. Thus these will be helped to gain eternal life with us in bodily and mental perfection in God’s righteous new world.

55. (a) When must we begin seeking unity, and how has it been made possible for us to do so? (b) In appreciation, what will we do, and what result will we show?

⁵⁵ Regardless of what have been the racial and national backgrounds of us people today in this divided world, perfect peace and loving unity will forever mark that new world under God’s kingdom. But now is the time to begin seeking that unity. We just have to do so. And Jehovah God has made it possible for us to do so now by his Son Jesus Christ and by his congregation of Kingdom witnesses. The opportunity is ours today regardless of what our race or nationality is at present. In appreciation of this goodness of Jehovah God we will together take up his worship and service and message, and by his spirit we will show what happens when all nations unite under God’s kingdom.

The Time for God’s Kingdom to Come

DO YOU pray for God’s kingdom? If you do so with sincerity, then you will be intensely interested in knowing the time for God’s kingdom to come. Jesus’ first-century followers wanted to know and four of them came to Jesus while he was on the Mount of Olives, inquiring: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?” With what interest the disciples must have listened as Jesus related the world-shaking events that would mark his second presence and the establishment of the Kingdom!—Matt. 24:3.

Oftentimes today the remark is heard: “O I pray for the kingdom and I believe it will come sometime, but it won’t be in my lifetime.” Surprisingly, such remarks are usually made by persons who have not examined the Bible prophecies concerning the last days and the establishment of the Kingdom. But you who, like the early disciples, are intensely interested in Jesus’ second presence will find to be of absorbing interest an examination of Jesus’ answer as to the time for God’s kingdom to come.

Jesus knew that after he finished his work on earth many impostors would rise up and delude future generations. So he warned: “Look out that nobody misleads you; for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.”—Matt. 24:4, 5.

Jesus also knew that during the centuries, before the time for God’s kingdom to come, men would fight many ordinary wars. Therefore, he continued: “You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet.” (Matt. 24:6) Next, Jesus began enumerating the world-shaking events that would mark his invisible second presence. Let us examine them in the light of present happenings to see if this is the generation Jesus was speaking about that would “by no means pass away until all these things occur,” including “the conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 24:34, 3) First, Jesus said:

“NATION WILL RISE AGAINST NATION”

Has this prophecy seen fulfillment? Has the world ever been involved in a war that saw the mobilizing of entire kingdoms and nations for warfare in such a way that it stood out as different from preceding wars? Yes—in this generation. In recognition of the fact that the 1914-1918 war was different from any previous one in human history, historians call it the FIRST WORLD WAR. It was the first war of its kind.—Matt. 24:7, 8.

More than thirty nations fought in World War I, involving some 1,700,000,000 persons, which represented about 93 percent of all people living on the earth. A study of wars made by Harvard University and printed in Collier’s magazine of September 29, 1945, shows that World War I was seven times greater than all the 901 major wars of the previous 2,400 years put together.

Indicating the tremendous change that the first world war made in human history, the New York Times Magazine of August 1, 1954, said: “The first war marked a far greater change in history. It closed a long era of general peace and began a new age of violence in which the second war is simply an episode. Since 1914 the world has had a new character . . . Thus the first World War marks a turning point in modern history.”

In keeping with Jesus’ words that this war and its associated miseries would be only the “beginning of pangs of distress,” the world soon plunged into another war. This second world war, with its 22 million dead, 34 million wounded and estimated cost of $1,300,000,000,000, made the first war pale into insignificance by comparison. However, ‘nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom’ was only one part of the sign. Jesus said his second presence would also be marked by

“FOOD SHORTAGES”

Just as Jesus predicted, on the heels of the first world war came the worst food shortage in human history. Every day saw 15,000 people die in China because of the famine following World War I. In sixteen Russian provinces 13,772,613 were actually starving as of February, 1922. The Nation of June 7, 1919, reported: “Plague and famine are rampant in India. Death stalks the land, taking its toll. The existing conditions are unparalleled in the history of the world.”

But this was just the beginning of the distressing pangs of hunger to be suffered by people of this generation. About twice as many persons were affected by food shortage following the second world war as after the first. Look magazine, in its issue of June 11, 1946, observed: “A fourth of the world is starving today. Tomorrow will even be worse. Famine over most of the world now is more terrible than most of us can imagine. . . . There are now more people hunting desperately for food than at any other time in history.”

Contrary to what some may think, famine continues to stalk the world. Dr. Josué de Castro, chairman of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s executive committee, said in his book The Geography of Hunger, that in the Far East, Middle East and certain Central American countries “millions of people regularly and ‘normally’ starve to death.” After making a tour of underdeveloped countries, Raymond Scheyven, former chairman of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, made this report in 1957: “Hunger leads the procession of miseries. . . . the percentage of the world’s population which is definitely undernourished has risen from 38.6 per cent before the war to 59.5 per cent at the present.”

Certainly Jesus’ prophecy concerning there being “food shortages” has been fulfilled in our day. But this in itself is not proof that this is the time for God’s kingdom to come. It is only another feature of the sign. As recorded at Luke 21:11, Jesus, in answer to his disciples’ question, said his second presence would also be marked by

“PESTILENCES”

Was such a thing realized after World War I broke out? Yes, indeed! Hand in hand with war and food shortages came diseases in epidemic proportions. Notable was the Spanish influenza, which put 500,000,000 persons to bed all around the globe, over 20,000,000 of whom never got up. The Saturday Evening Post of September 26, 1959, observed: “No recorded pestilence before or since has equaled the 1918-1919 death toll in total numbers. In those two years an estimated 21,000,000 died of influenza-pneumonia throughout the world, some 850,000 in the United States alone.”

Since that time disease and pestilence have continued to rage. It is estimated that throughout the world 2,000,000 persons die every year of cancer. Heart attacks strike down some 400,000 people annually in the United States alone. Thousands more die from other heart diseases. Venereal diseases are now reaching epidemic proportions. Epidemics of polio, cholera and typhoid occur periodically to remind one of Jesus’ words, that there would be “pestilences.” However, besides pestilences, Jesus said there would also be

“EARTHQUAKES IN ONE PLACE AFTER ANOTHER”

Therefore, for this to be the time of Jesus’ second presence earthquakes would have to be in evidence in an outstanding way. Are they? There can be no question about it. Terrifying earthquakes have rocked the globe with increasing severity and frequency during recent years. A university seismologist declared: “Something is going on all over the planet that is hard to put a finger on. Great forces are at work stirring up things far underground, causing vast land drifts on several continents. The further you are from the last big earthquake, the nearer you are to the next.”

Significantly, since 1914 there have been more major earthquakes than in any previous period of similar length in recorded history. The severest of all, as indicated by modern seismographs, was the Assam quake of August 15, 1950. In December, 1957, Outer Mongolia experienced an upheaval described as “one of history’s greatest earthquakes.” Then, last year, tremendous quakes shook Chile, Morocco and the Persian town of Lars. Scientific American declared: “Major quakes used to occur in clusters, each period of activity being followed by a rest period. Since 1948 the pattern has entered a new phase, with approximately one great quake a year.”

Unprecedented war, food shortages, pestilences and earthquakes have indeed resulted in unparalleled suffering. Such calamities have contributed to a climate of fear that hangs over the entire world. However, immediately following these predictions, Jesus indicated there would be something unique to cause fear to grip at the hearts of men, for he said, as recorded at Luke 21:11, that there would be

“FEARFUL SIGHTS AND FROM HEAVEN GREAT SIGNS”

Not to be dismissed from consideration as being in fulfillment of these words of Jesus are the new things that modern science is discovering and bringing to the attention of the people, which have resulted in unprecedented fear and mental anguish. High-energy cosmic rays originating from an unknown source in outer space have been found to be striking the earth in great numbers and with energy enough to penetrate hundreds of feet.

Adding to the fears of men are the steps under way to reach the moon, with the end in view of establishing military bases there. What a terrifying prospect! Terrorizing weapons aimed and ready to shower destruction from the sky on any location on the earth! Never before in history have men had the ability to end civilization by blowing the earth into a desolate, radioactive wasteland. In recognition of the fearful prospects facing humanity during the time of his second presence, Jesus went on to say, at Luke 21:26:

“MEN BECOME FAINT OUT OF FEAR”

In fulfillment of this prophecy a heavy cloud of fear hovers over the world. Dr. Harold C. Urey, Nobel prize winner and atomic scientist, declared: “We will eat fear, sleep fear, live in fear and die in fear.” This fear has resulted in “anxiety heart disease,” which Dr. Jackson A. Smith said afflicts more than half the people who consult doctors for cardiac symptoms. Yes, men today have indeed become “faint out of fear.”

In describing what his own followers would experience during the time of the end, Jesus said that they would be objects of

“HATRED BY ALL THE NATIONS ON ACCOUNT OF MY NAME”

Any person acquainted with the Christian activity of Jehovah’s witnesses will recognize that these words of Jesus have been fulfilled in them. (Matt. 24:9) Because of faithfully imitating Christ in preaching God’s kingdom and keeping themselves separate from the world their organization has been banned in over fifty lands in recent years, and their Bibles and Bible literature have been taken away. They have suffered countless cases of mobbings and beatings world-wide, and have been arrested and thrown into prisons, where in many cases they have been tortured to death. Thousands suffered martyrdom in Germany, and many in Communist-controlled lands continue to die for their faith. Even in the United States they have experienced such fiendish persecution that Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy said: “Jehovah’s Witnesses are living proof of the fact that even in this nation, conceived as it was in the ideals of freedom, the right to practice religion in unconventional ways is still far from secure. . . . They have suffered brutal beatings; their property has been destroyed; they have been harassed at every turn . . . ”

“MANY FALSE PROPHETS WILL ARISE AND MISLEAD MANY”

True to Jesus’ words, many false prophets, both individuals and organizations, have arisen to mislead many, turning them from God’s kingdom to support substitutes that are doomed to destruction. Outstandingly mentioned in Scripture is the two-horned “wild beast,” the Anglo-American world power, that serves as a “false prophet” in advocating the “image of the wild beast,” the United Nations, as the organization to which all mankind is to pay homage.—Matt. 24:11; Rev. 13:11, 14, 15; 19:20.

“INCREASING OF LAWLESSNESS”

Facts presented in a speech in Washington, D.C., last year, by J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, made it clear that this part of Jesus’ prophecy has certainly realized fulfillment in our day. (Matt. 24:12) He said: “Since 1950, crime has increased 69 per cent—four times as fast as our expanding population. Today, we find ourselves confronted with the worst era of lawlessness in the Nation’s history.” Nor is the “increasing of lawlessness” confined to the United States. “Japan is in the middle of the biggest crime wave in its history,” says a newspaper report.

Turning to India, one finds this candid report: “People in their sixties still recall with nostalgic memories their early days, when crime sometimes took a holiday.” However, now, it continued, “when you X-ray [Bombay] you will find a cesspool of drunkenness, debauchery, corruption and public apathy, gangsterism, racketeering, pandering and plundering.” The president of the University of Helsinki used words that well describe the entire world, when he said: “There have been committed such terrible acts of violence in the country that even still twenty years ago it would have been thought that such could never happen in Finland.” Such a moral breakdown in human society has led to the fulfillment of Jesus’ next prediction:

“THE LOVE OF THE GREATER NUMBER WILL COOL OFF”

This lawless world rejects the Bible’s godly principles of conduct, and as a result the nations of Christendom, claiming to be footstep followers of Christ, have become just as wicked and immoral as the rest of the world. The actions and conduct of the vast majority of professed Christians prove that their love toward God, his Word and their fellow man has grown cold.

“THIS GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM WILL BE PREACHED”

This forecast of a world-wide preaching of the established kingdom of God has been realized by no other generation, but today it is being fulfilled. “Jehovah’s Witnesses have literally covered the earth with their witnessing,” so observed C. S. Braden in his book These Also Believe. How true that observation is! Preaching in 181 lands and islands of the sea with the aid of the Bible in 1,165 tongues and Bible-study aids in 144 languages, Jehovah’s witnesses spend upward of 130 million hours a year spreading the good news that God’s kingdom has already been established in the heavens, that soon it will wipe out all wickedness and extend marvelous blessings to men on earth. Just since 1942 they have printed over one and a half billion magazines and hundreds of millions of books, booklets and tracts carrying this good news.—Matt. 24:14.

Consider with us more features of the sign given by Jesus and be convinced that this is the generation identified by his prophecy for God’s kingdom to come. Next Jesus foretold the rising of a

“DISGUSTING THING THAT CAUSES DESOLATION”

When Jesus was presented to the Jews as king, the religious priests of the first century rejected him. Appealing to the political ruler Pontius Pilate in order to bring about his death, they cried: “If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar. . . . We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:12, 15) What a disgusting thing in God’s sight that religio-political alliance responsible for killing his Son! A similar disgusting conspiracy was to be a feature of Jesus’ second presence. It is here now. Today that religio-political world alliance against God’s kingdom finds its most powerful expression in the clergy-blessed United Nations. How so?—Matt. 24:15.

During the first world war, when evidence pointed to the second presence of Christ in Kingdom power, the clergy of Christendom turned their backs and, instead, hailed the League of Nations, the United Nations’ predecessor, acclaiming it as “the political expression of the kingdom of God on earth.” In effect they were saying, ‘We have no king but the League of Nations.’ Right to this day Christendom’s clergy continue to support and encourage the people to have confidence in the United Nations and other human governments rather than strengthening their faith in the kingdom of God. What a disgusting thing this clergy-supported alliance that stands before the attention of the people where God’s kingdom should stand! Bible prophecy assures its desolation in the

“GREAT TRIBULATION SUCH AS HAS NOT OCCURRED SINCE THE WORLD’S BEGINNING”

This tribulation on Satan’s organization began in 1914 when Christ warred with the Devil and his angels, casting them down to the vicinity of the earth. (Rev. 12:7-12) But as foretold by Christ, it was stopped temporarily, “cut short,” so that true Christians could manifest themselves and conform to righteous principles, and thereby be saved. (Matt. 24:21, 22) This tribulation will be resumed, within this generation, at the fast-approaching war of Armageddon. There Satan’s entire organization, including the United Nations, will be completely desolated. Jesus said that after the tribulation of those days

“THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT”

After the 1914-1918 feature of tribulation upon Satan’s organization developments began to proceed involving natural phenomena, as likewise described in Luke 21:11, commented on in a paragraph above.—Matt. 24:29.

“AS THE DAYS OF NOAH WERE”

To draw a vivid parallel for the benefit of his followers, Jesus compared the time before the flood in Noah’s day to the time of his second presence in Kingdom power. Then people were absorbed in eating and drinking and having a good time. They “took no note” of Noah’s message concerning the imminent destruction. They were indifferent, having the attitude that, if there was a Jehovah, ‘he would not do good, and he would not do bad.’—Matt. 24:37-39; 2 Pet. 2:5; Zeph. 1:12.

How perfectly our day fits the circumstances before the Flood! People are so absorbed in the cares of life that they take no note of the evidence that we are now living in the time of Jesus’ second presence. People generally are indifferent to the message that Jehovah’s witnesses bring concerning the “conclusion of the system of things.” In fulfillment of Jesus’ words they will soon be swept away as God’s kingdom comes against this wicked system in all its destructive fury.—Dan. 2:44.

“FAITHFUL AND DISCREET SLAVE”

Jesus foretold that he would have a watchman that would faithfully be on the alert dispensing spiritual food at the time of his arrival. (Matt. 24:45-47) Was there in evidence such a “faithful and discreet slave” class pointing the people to the year 1914 as the time for God’s kingdom to come? Yes, indeed! The World, a leading New York newspaper, in its August 30, 1914, edition, told of this group, saying: “For a quarter of a century past, through preachers and through press, the ‘International Bible Students,’ best known as ‘Millennial Dawners,’ have been proclaiming to the world that the Day of Wrath prophesied in the Bible would dawn in 1914. ‘Look out for 1914!’ has been the cry of the hundreds of traveling evangelists who, representing this strange creed, have gone up and down the country enunciating the doctrine that ‘the Kingdom of God is at hand.’”

Ever since 1914 these anointed footstep followers of Jesus, using the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society as their legal and publishing instrument, have continued to enlighten people to the meaning of the momentous happenings of this generation. They show how these events have fulfilled Bible prophecy and that, therefore, Jesus did begin ruling in the heavens in 1914, and soon, within this generation, he will resume the tribulation on Satan’s organization, completely destroying it in the war of Armageddon.—Rev. 16:14-16.

“HE WILL SEPARATE . . . THE SHEEP FROM THE GOATS”

Continuing his discussion with his four disciples, Jesus said that, on his arrival, “he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.” (Matt. 25:32, 33) Since his arrival for judgment work in 1918 Jesus has been doing this separating of the peoples, some to the right side for preservation and others to the left for destruction. How is this separating done? Jesus showed that classification as a “sheep” or a “goat” was based on the way an individual treated his followers on earth and the Kingdom message they carried. This separating work is nearing completion as all peoples are identifying themselves either in support of God’s kingdom, or in opposition to it.

OTHER PROPHECIES

In addition to the extensive sign of the last days given by Jesus, features of which we have just considered, another inspired prophecy was recorded by the apostle Paul. It says: “But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power; and from these turn away.”—2 Tim. 3:1-5.

Do you not see on every hand these very conditions? Look at the millions of money lovers that make material things their chief aim in life! See the unprecedented increase of disobedience and delinquency among youth. Observe how the nations talk, talk, talk, but are not open to any agreement. Note the fierceness and lack of self-control of people who, in their drive to get ahead, have lost all love of goodness. See the millions of pleasure lovers whose love of God has grown cold. Note how they pretend to be Christian, “having a form of godly devotion,” but that it exercises no power in their lives to motivate them to love and right works as followers of Christ.

In spite of the overwhelming evidence some will scoff: “Conditions are the same as they have been for generations.” But even such ridicule of the scoffers is in fulfillment of Bible prophecy concerning the last days, for the apostle Peter wrote: “For you know this first, that in the last days there will come ridiculers with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires and saying: ‘Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as from creation’s beginning.’”—2 Pet. 3:3, 4.

Do not hastily dismiss the evidence that this is the time for God’s kingdom. Bible chronology pinpoints the year 1914 as the time that Christ arrived and began ruling in the midst of his enemies. (Ps. 110:1, 2) The events of the past forty-seven years support the chronological evidence as correct. The kingdom of the heavens is here! And soon, within this generation, it will come in all its destructive force against Satan and his wicked system of things. Under its rule this earth will become the everlasting paradise home of obedient mankind. So act in harmony with your prayers for God’s kingdom to come by joining the hundreds of thousands of Jehovah’s witnesses in preaching ‘this good news of the Kingdom in all the inhabited earth.’

Why Do They Fear Bible Discussion?

RECENT publicity that reached into many lands made known to the world that the Roman Catholic Church does not want its people to discuss the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses. This makes many sincere Catholics wonder, ‘What is it that the Witnesses have that we do not? Why is it that they do not hesitate to speak about their faith with persons of any religion, while we Catholics are told that we might get confused if we tried to do the same?’

It was an article published in the national Catholic weekly magazine America, of June 24, 1961, that touched off comment on the matter in the public press. The article “These Jehovah’s Witnesses,” by Albert Muller, one of the founders of a group dedicated to counteracting the preaching efforts of Jehovah’s witnesses among Catholics, had this to say: “The Jehovah’s witnesses are specialists in their own peculiar way. In general, they know more about the Bible than most Catholics. Since they insist on carrying on all discussions on the basis of the Bible, a Catholic involved with them will be forced to meet them on their own grounds. While the Witnesses’ view of the Bible is a distorted one [though he does not cite a single scripture to prove the claim], the deplorable lack of knowledge that a Catholic is likely to have of the Holy Scriptures puts him at a serious disadvantage.” So Catholics are told to “avoid them.”

Similar instructions have been issued to Catholics in other lands, including Spain. There, in Palma de Mallorca, as an example, a paper distributed to all homes said this: “If you should receive a visit from a pair of propagandists, that try to talk to you, Bible in hand, about prayer, about the Kingdom of God, about the imminent end of the world, about death, about hell, about Christ as a perfect man and not God . . . Do not converse with them—Do not accept the magazines and booklets they offer you—Close the way to any discussion, begging them not to return.”

THE CHRISTIAN VIEW

How different from the instructions that Jesus gave to those he instructed! Well aware that they would come in contact with people of various religious persuasions, Jesus sent them out to preach. Consistent with this, the apostle Peter urged his Christian brothers: “Sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you.”—Matt. 10:7; 1 Pet. 3:15, Catholic Douay version.

It is in response to this counsel in the Word of God that Jehovah’s witnesses call at your door. If you would not have turned away the apostles of Jesus Christ, why refuse those who adhere to the apostolic example today? Acknowledging that Jehovah’s witnesses are the ones following this apostolic example, Catholic priest John A. O’Brien, in the Alamo Messenger, official Catholic newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, for July 7, 1961, said: “The secret of the phenomenal success of St. Paul was his tireless use of the house-to-house method of recruiting converts. It is ironic that this apostolic method is now used by non-Catholic sects, especially Jehovah’s witnesses, whose numerous converts put us Catholics to shame.”

In explaining its position on Bible discussion, the Church may say that the Bible is not enough, that the traditions of the Church must also be considered in matters of faith. But this should present no barrier to discussion between Catholics and others. Why so? Because, if the teachings of the Church are truly those of Christ and his apostles, none of the traditions will conflict with the Bible itself. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of his day who ‘made void the commandment of God for their tradition.’ (Matt. 15:6, Dy) True followers of Jesus are therefore careful to avoid any tradition that nullifies the Word of God. They use the Bible as their guide.

Of interest in this connection is the following statement in the Catholic Dictionnaire de la Bible:a “Although the Apostles based their preaching directly upon Jesus Christ and proved the divinity of religion by the ministry, miracles and the resurrection of the Savior, a careful reading of their writings quickly convinces one that they prove the truth of their teaching by the Holy Scriptures and that they consider the latter to be the principal depositary of the revelation . . . No reservations, no restrictions; Jews and Christians alike, at that time, recognized the Word as a direct manifestation of God’s thoughts.”

Of course, the Roman Catholic Church makes it plain that it occupies a position of special authority as the church founded by Christ, and that it is therefore the only real authority in these matters of faith. If the facts bear out this claim, then the Church should be anxious to have its members make a thorough study of the teachings of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible and to compare the facts of history proving that the Catholic Church is really that true church. Catholics should feel free to discuss the matter with non-Catholics, knowing their position to be impregnable, and, more than that, they should be anxious to direct such persons to their faith if they know and can prove it to be the one approved by God. On the other hand, if the Church does not adhere to the teachings of Jesus Christ, if the facts of history show that the Church has not been truly Christian, then it would be embarrassing to the Church for its members to become well acquainted with these facts by discussion with others. Do you feel free to discuss your religion with others?

YOUR OBLIGATION

If after years of membership in the Catholic Church you feel that your faith is so weak that a few minutes of Bible discussion with one of Jehovah’s witnesses will raise doubts in your mind, perhaps even moving you to change your religion, then you owe it to yourself to ask Jehovah’s witnesses to explain to you the reason for their unshakable hope. On the other hand, if you really believe that yours is the true religion, then you are under obligation before God and his Son Jesus Christ to leave yourself open to Bible discussion with other persons so that you can fulfill the obligation that your own Bible places upon you when it says: “I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming and his kingdom: Preach the word.” (2 Tim. 4:1, 2, Dy) To be a real Christian, you must be willing to discuss your faith with others.

Jehovah’s witnesses will be happy to discuss with you the teachings found in your own Bible. They are glad to help strengthen your faith in the promises of God, to assist you to know your Bible well enough to be able to give sound reasons for your hope.

[Footnotes]

Bible Knowledge Made Plain Through Modern Translation

WHAT are your tastes in literature? Are they for history, poetry, philosophy, science, biographies, travel or wise sayings? Perhaps you especially enjoy heroic tales of adventure or tales of romance or something about the future. These and many other literary subjects can be found in a library that you can carry in one hand. What makes this library so fascinating is that its stories are true-life adventures. Its statements about the future are not imagination. Its literary works in the various fields of knowledge are so accurate and authoritative that they need no changing although written from 1,900 to several thousand years ago. This remarkable, compact library that brims with knowledge and wisdom is the Holy Bible, the written Word of man’s Creator.

Because the Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, its incomparable knowledge could be made available to people of many nationalities only through translations of it. It was the purpose of its Author that all people should be able to read it, not merely a scholarly minority. John Wycliffe realized this nearly 600 years ago at a time when the Bible’s knowledge was closed to the common people because it was kept in its original languages and in the dead language of Latin. So that the man on the street might have the pleasure of reading it and might benefit from its wisdom, he proceeded to make an English translation of the Bible from a Latin version. His noble effort was the beginning of a long struggle against keeping the Bible in a language the common people could not read. After a fight that lasted for centuries the Bible was finally given a wide distribution. It is now available in so many languages and in such great numbers that it has become the most popular book in the world.

WHY MANY TRANSLATIONS

When a new Bible translation is published in English many people wonder why, because a great many English versions already exist. Some may even argue that the King James Version gives us the Bible in English; so why produce new translations? The principal reason is to give the public a translation of God’s Word that accurately expresses the fine shades of meaning contained in the Hebrew and Greek of Bible manuscripts and that at the same time is understandable to the average person living today. The King James Version itself was actually a new translation in its day, really a revision of previous English versions. It met the need for a clearer translation of God’s Word then, and now new versions again meet our need for an easily understood version.

The English language has changed since 1611, when the King James Version was released. Many words that were used then are no longer used today or their meanings have changed. For example, do you understand the language of the King James Version in its rendering of Genesis 25:29? It says: “Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint.” In a new translation that uses the English we speak today this verse reads: “Once Jacob was boiling up some stew, when Esau came along from the field and he was tired.” (NW) Since the purpose in reading the Bible is to learn from it, is not that goal more easily attained when the language used in it is the English that is spoken in this twentieth century rather than that spoken in the seventeenth century?

The translations of the Bible of which the King James Version was a revision were based upon a small number of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. Many thousands of manuscripts have been found since then, some being as much as a thousand years older than those. The fact that these manuscript copies are older means they are closer in time to the original writings and are, therefore, more accurate, having fewer copyist errors. Their existence urges the production of new translations that can incorporate the refinements they make possible.

The continually improved knowledge scholars are gaining of the ancient languages of Hebrew and Greek is another factor that makes new Bible versions necessary. They have a much better understanding of these languages today than did the Bible translators of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

It was not until the close of the eighteenth century that archaeological findings revealed that the Greek-language manuscripts of the Bible were written in a form of Greek that was spoken by the common people. It differed a little from the classical Greek, just as the English spoken by a laborer often differs from that spoken by the upper class in society. Prior to this discovery scholars made their translations according to their understanding of classical Greek. This resulted in inaccuracies because word meanings according to classical Greek often differed somewhat from the common, or koine, Greek. For example, the King James Version renders Matthew 6:27 this way: “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” The word it translates “stature” or size was right in Luke 2:52 and Lu 19:3 and Ephesians 4:13, but the common, or koine, Greek also gave the word the meaning of age or time of life. Knowing the extended meaning of the word, modern translators make this verse plainer and more accurate. One version says: “Who of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span?” (NW) So the thought should be life span instead of stature.

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

Despite the fact that there are many fine Bible translations in modern-day English, the need for new and fresh translations has not ceased. Every refinement benefits the public by making Bible knowledge plainer and by giving them a more accurate expression of the Scriptures. Recently a new translation of the Bible was released that incorporates numerous refinements as well as eliminating certain shortcomings that were objectionable in other versions. This superb translation is called the “New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.”

To an enthusiastic assembly of more than 51,000 ministers and Bible students the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was released in one compact volume on June 23, 1961, at Yankee Stadium, New York city. The assembled ministers were surprised at its compact size, yet with easily readable type, and delighted by its nominal price, a price that would make it easily available even to people of small financial means.

Taking advantage of the oldest Bible manuscripts that have been found as well as the improved understanding of koine Greek, the translators of this version have produced a copy of the Bible in English that is extremely accurate. It carefully expresses the fine shades of meaning in the Hebrew and Greek words. Its literalness, however, is not carried to the point where reading is made difficult. At all times an easy, expressive flow of thought is maintained. Its accuracy makes it more desirable than a free translation, that is, one in which the translator takes the general thought and expresses it freely in his own words. The extreme care taken to make the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures accurate is an assurance to readers that what they read is as near to the original thoughts as is possible to express them at this time.

An outstanding feature of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures that is a decided improvement over other versions is the faithful manner in which it restores God’s name, Jehovah, to its rightful place in the Scriptures. Wherever the Hebrew letters for it appear in Bible manuscripts this translation renders the name Jehovah instead of using one of the many substitutions for it that superstitious copyists employed centuries ago. Aside from restoring it to the Hebrew Scriptures, this version is outstanding in its restoration of the divine name to the Christian Greek Scriptures, or New Testament, wherever the Greek Scripture writers made quotations of portions of the Hebrew Scriptures containing the Name. Thus a translation of the Bible finally exists in English that magnifies the Most High by using his proper name in the 7,198 places where it belongs.

How this modern translation helps to make Bible knowledge plain can be quickly seen by comparing it with some well-known versions. Look at the chart on the next two pages and examine the selected verses listed there. See how the readability and expressiveness of this version make God’s Word more understandable.

The Bible should not be regarded as an antique showpiece that is displayed in a home but never used. Recognize its value as a library that is filled with literary masterpieces. It has a wealth of information that is vital to you. It alone records man’s history from the very beginning, and it alone records history in advance, history that has not yet been made. Its prophecies give an accurate glimpse of future events that can help you direct your life in a way that is best for your own welfare. It gives high moral standards that are essential for a happy, rewarding and healthful life. It provides wise counsel on human relationships so you can live peacefully and harmoniously with your fellow man. It reveals the basic requirements for a successful and tranquil marriage. But more important than all these, it gives instruction on how you can live in harmony with your Creator.

What you can learn from this divine library is immense if you apply yourself to reading it. Its knowledge can be made plain to you by means of a modern translation and helpful Bible-study aids. “Acquire wisdom; and with all that you acquire, acquire understanding.”—Prov. 4:7.

Renderings of Scripture Texts Compared

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“But he would refuse and would say to his master’s wife: ‘Here my master does not know what is with me in the house, and everything he has he has given into my hand.’”—Gen. 39:8.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“But he, in no wise consenting to that wicked act, said to her: Behold, my master hath delivered all things to me, and knoweth not what he hath in his own house.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Lo, having me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand.’”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but as respects my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them.”—Ex. 6:3.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“That appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty: and my name ADONAI I did not shew them.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“You sons of men, how long must my glory be for insult, while you keep loving empty things, while you keep seeking to find a lie?”—Ps. 4:2.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing?”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?” (Verse 3)

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“O men, how long shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies?”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.”—Matt. 5:3.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“But from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens is the goal toward which men press, and those pressing forward are seizing it.”—Matt. 11:12.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent bear it away.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

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

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“Be not conformed to this world: but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and the acceptable and the perfect will of God.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“Let each one keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person.”—1 Cor. 10:24

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“Let no man seek his own, but that which is another’s.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“Everything that is sold in a meat market keep eating, making no inquiry on account of your conscience.”—1 Cor. 10:25.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat: asking no question for conscience’ sake.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“That you should put away the old personality which conforms to your former course of conduct and which is being corrupted according to his deceptive desires; but that you should be made new in the force actuating your mind, and should put on the new personality which was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loyalty.”—Eph. 4:22-24.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“To put off, according to former conversation, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desire of error. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind: and put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“As for us, our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which place also we are eagerly waiting for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”—Phil. 3:20

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“But our conversation is in heaven: from whence also we look for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“For this is what we tell you by Jehovah’s word, that we the living who survive to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep in death.”—1 Thess. 4:15.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them who have slept.” (Verse 14)

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“That statement is faithful. If any man is reaching out for an office of overseer, he is desirous of a fine work. The overseer should therefore be irreprehensible, a husband of one wife, moderate in habits, sound in mind, orderly, hospitable, qualified to teach, not a drunken brawler, not a smiter, but reasonable, not belligerent, not a lover of money.”—1 Tim. 3:1-3.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“A faithful saying: If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. It behoveth therefore a bishop to be blameless, the husband of one wife, sober, prudent, of good behaviour, chaste, given to hospitality, a teacher, not given to wine, no striker, but modest, not quarrelsome, not covetous.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“The saying is sure: If anyone aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task. Now a bishop must be above reproach, married only once, temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt teacher, no drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and no lover of money.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“In like manner, you wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, in order that, if any are not obedient to the word, they may be won without a word through the conduct of their wives, because of having been eyewitnesses of your chaste conduct together with deep respect.”—1 Pet. 3:1, 2.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“In like manner also, let wives be subject to their husbands: that, if any believe not the word, they may be won without the word, by the conversation of the wives, considering your chaste conversation with fear.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“Likewise, you wives, be submissive to your husbands, so that some, though they do not obey the word, may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, when they see your reverent and chaste behavior.”

NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

“Everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world.”—1 John 2:16.

AUTHORIZED VERSION (KING JAMES)

“All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

CATHOLIC DOUAY VERSION

“All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life, which is not of the Father but is of the world.”

REVISED STANDARD VERSION

“All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.”

Questions From Readers

● How are the comments on feminine adornment at 1 Timothy 2:9, 10 and; 1 Peter 3:3, 4 to be understood?—J. H., United States.

The texts in question read: “Likewise I desire the women to adorn themselves in well-arranged dress, with modesty and soundness of mind, not with styles of hair braiding and gold or pearls or very expensive garb, but in the way which befits women professing to reverence God, namely, through good works.” “And do not let your adornment be that of the external braiding of the hair and of the putting on of gold ornaments or the wearing of outer garments, but let it be the secret person of the heart in the incorruptible apparel of the quiet and mild spirit, which is of great value in the eyes of God.”

Bible commentators, such as Adam Clarke, tell of the elaborate coiffures, or braiding of the hair and interspersing it with gold ornaments, that were the vogue among pagan women in the days of the apostles. Such a glamorous and showy display was most unbecoming to Christians and therefore was spoken against by both Paul and Peter.

Those sects of Christendom, however, who go to the extreme of forbidding all feminine adornment on the basis of these apostolic injunctions are obviously mistaken. We may not conclude that all braiding of the hair or all wearing of ornaments is wrong, for Peter includes “the wearing of outer garments,” and certainly women must wear such. The point of this Scriptural admonition is not what Christian women may or may not wear but on what they are to place the emphasis: not on the outward but on the inward adornment, on the mind and heart, on the right kind of disposition, if they would be attractive and appealing. Alas, it is far easier to wear the outer than to develop the inner adornment!

The Christian woman will do well to dress moderately, modestly and with tastefulness, avoiding gaudiness and sensuousness. Just as she should not attract undue attention by wearing gaudy or flashy jewelry, so she should be careful that her use of cosmetics is not unduly obvious. That adornment in moderation is not objectionable can be seen from the general use of jewelry by the ancient servants of Jehovah.—Gen. 24:53; Ex. 3:22; 2 Sam. 1:24; Jer. 2:32; Luke 15:22.

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NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

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“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

November 12: When All Nations Unite Under God’s Kingdom, ¶1-18. Page 612.

November 19: When All Nations Unite Under God’s Kingdom, ¶19-37. Page 616.

November 26: When All Nations Unite Under God’s Kingdom, ¶38-55. Page 621.