The Watchtower — October 1, 1964

What Is the Spirit of a Sound Mind?

OFTENTIMES you will hear people caution, “Now, use the spirit of a sound mind.” It may be that this counsel is given to a person departing on a long trip. Or perhaps a particularly hazardous or touchy situation has arisen in which emotions could easily erupt into violent behavior. In such circumstances there is certainly a need to exercise the spirit of a sound mind.

What is generally meant by this expression is to use good judgment; be reasonable; do not take foolish chances or act rashly. Of course, this is good counsel. However, in a given situation, what individuals consider to be good judgment or a reasonable course of action often varies a great deal. So how is one to determine what actually is the spirit of a sound mind?

Unfortunately no one is born with a truly sound mind. To the contrary, as the faithful Bible writer David acknowledged: “With error I was brought forth with birth pains, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Due to inherited sin, the Christian apostle Paul explained that “there is not a righteous man [one who is sinless and therefore perfectly sound in mind and body], not even one.” And rather than association with this system of things contributing toward soundness of mind, the Bible says: “The god of this system of things [Satan the Devil] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers.” By blinding the minds of people to the truth about God and his purposes, Satan has kept them in a state of mental unbalance.—Ps. 51:5; Rom. 3:10; 2 Cor. 4:4.

But despite the disabilities of inherited imperfection and the influence of an unrighteous world, God has made it possible for people to exercise the spirit of a sound mind. “For God gave us not a spirit of cowardice,” his Word explains, “but that of power and of love and of soundness of mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7) But how is it that God imparts soundness of mind to his people?

It is through his inspired Word the Holy Bible that Almighty God communicates his thoughts to man. This Word contains His perfect standard of truth and righteousness, and so it is through its pages that one becomes acquainted with the perfect mind of God, which is sound. Consequently, to whatever extent a person is able to set aside his own mind, or judgments, and accept the direction of the mind of God on matters, to that extent he will have the spirit or disposition of a sound mind.

This does not mean that one’s brains undergo some sort of change, but, rather, that under the operation of God’s spirit a person gradually learns to rectify the errors of his own judgment in respect to the various questions that may arise. He begins to make decisions and to act in harmony with the teachings of God’s Word, which is an expression of the perfect mind of God. This brings about a change in his life, as is explained in Romans 12:2: “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.”

So it is by adjusting one’s thinking to harmonize with the perfect standard, which is God’s mind as it is expressed in the Bible and in the life of Jesus Christ, that an imperfect human can exercise soundness of mind. To illustrate: Suppose we had a clock that was a poor timekeeper and was without means of regulation. But suppose also that we had access frequently to a chronometer of absolute correctness, which showed us that our clock lost thirty minutes every twenty-four hours. We could now learn to correct our clock by resetting it from time to time. Moreover, we could learn also how to estimate its error at any point in the day.

Likewise it is with our judgment in the various matters and affairs of our life. When we measure it with the perfect standard, we find that we are either too fast or too slow, too weak or too strong, in our mental and physical emotions. And while we are not able to match the perfect example of Jesus Christ, nevertheless we are enabled to regulate our thoughts and judgments so that they conform to the perfect standard to a remarkable degree.

Therefore, a Christian exercises the spirit of a sound mind by determining what the Scriptural evidence indicates is the proper decision to make, or course of action to take. He asks himself: “What would Christ have done in a similar situation? Is there any Bible principle that governs in this matter?” He then goes to Jehovah God in prayer and asks his blessing on the course of action determined upon as a result of consulting his Word. This is the way to exercise the spirit of a truly sound mind.

Since the majority of people do not use the perfect chronometer, God’s Word, to govern their lives, it is not surprising that what they consider to be exercising the spirit of a sound mind differs a great deal. For example, when a law was issued in ancient Persia, proclaiming that prayer to anyone except the king would be a crime punishable by death in the lions’ den, many probably reasoned that it would be using the spirit of a sound mind to refrain from praying to God until the restriction was lifted. But the faithful Hebrew Daniel did not reason this way. He let God’s Word govern his actions, and continued to pray to Jehovah. Contrary to what the majority may have thought, this was exercising the spirit of a sound mind. Jehovah was pleased with Daniel’s faithfulness and protected him.—Dan. 6:4-28.

So rather than be influenced by what other imperfect humans may think or what seems to be the reasonable thing to do in one’s own eyes, look to Jehovah God and his Word for direction. Heed the counsel of the inspired Bible proverb: “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding. In all your ways take notice of him.” By so doing, you will be exercising the spirit of a sound mind.—Prov. 3:5, 6.

Believers in Good Luck

Are they wise? What is their destiny?

SURPASSING strange it is that a people with such a long history of divine acts of blessing and protection, the Jews, should be addressed by God’s prophet in these words: “But you men are those leaving Jehovah, those forgetting my holy mountain, those setting in order a table for the god of Good Luck and those filling up mixed wine for the god of Destiny.” (Isa. 65:11) Yet they had indeed forgotten Mount Zion, where a holy temple stood, as the place of exclusive worship of Jehovah. Oh, they still went through a form of worship there, but their hearts were not in it. Pagan superstitions and human reasonings had completely degraded their view of Jehovah’s holy mountain. To them the presence of the temple in their capital city was a token that Jehovah was obligated to protect and bless them regardless of their failure to walk in his statutes. It was like a talisman.—Jer. 7:1-15.

Picture for yourself that beautiful complex of buildings situated upon a prominent plateau, constructed of gleaming white stone, ornamented with plates of beaten gold that catch and reflect the rays of the sun!¹ Imagine how resplendent would be the sight! If such a structure were located in the capital city of your native land and were closely identified with your religion, how proud you would be!

Keep in mind this impressive backdrop as you read the account recorded at Luke 21:5, 6: “Later, as certain ones were speaking concerning the temple, how it was adorned with fine stones and dedicated things, he [Jesus] said: ‘As for these things that you are beholding, the days will come in which not a stone upon a stone will be left here and not be thrown down.’” Few Jews of that day would ever give credence to such a forecast. Were they not the natural descendants of Abraham and therefore the favorites of God? Was it not their destiny to become a great nation, the greatest, in fact? So no matter how degraded or corrupt they became, if only they stuck close to the holy temple and city they would get by somehow.

One can well imagine how such believers in shrines would consider Jesus’ further words of warning: “Furthermore, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near.” (Luke 21:20) Yet that same generation was to fill up the measure of their wickedness, beyond the point of Jehovah’s merciful long-suffering, by rejecting and violently killing his own Son, the Messiah. God’s goodwill was about to run out. Their rejection was nearer than they thought. God’s decree against them would be executed: “And I will destine you men to the sword, and you will all of you bow down to being slaughtered; for the reason that I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen; and you kept doing what was bad in my eyes, and the thing in which I took no delight you chose.”—Isa. 65:12.

In the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus we can read of the astounding fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy as it began to unfold just thirty-three years after Jesus stated it. This Josephus became a prisoner of war to the Romans and an unwilling witness of the many terrible woes that engulfed his own people. There were many factions among the Jews, many radical fanatics, sowers of sedition against the Roman domination, restless seekers after innovation in all spheres of life. Roman legions under Cestius Gallus were finally dispatched in the year 66 C.E. to quell rebellion and punish offenders. His armies penetrated the suburbs of Jerusalem spreading havoc, but most of the inhabitants retired behind the city walls and prepared for siege. The rank and file would gladly have opened the gates to Cestius. However, a group of extreme revolutionists were in control, and they would hear of no capitulation. The enemy armies surrounded the city. Then came a most unexpected development, as recorded by Josephus: “It then happened that Cestius was not conscious either how the besieged despaired of success, nor how courageous the people were for him; and so he recalled his soldiers from the place, and by despairing of any expectation of taking it, without having received any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any reason in the world.”²

WARNING SIGN IGNORED

How proudly exultant the Jews would be at this apparent victory! They doubtless assumed that Jehovah had been with them and that this was another evidence that they were justified in hoping for the best. They should, in fact, have been giving attention to Jesus’ urgent warning: “Then [when they had seen Jerusalem surrounded by armies] let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw, and let those in the country places not enter into her because these are days for meting out justice, that all the things written may be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:21, 22) Only a few thousands, followers of the despised Jesus of Nazareth and the few who were influenced by them, took note of the warning signal of surrounding encamped armies and fled to the mountains of Gilead across Jordan soon after Cestius’ troops withdrew.

On the other hand, the faithless, superstitious Jews stuck with their holy city and temple, while other multitudes moved in from the country places for fear of expected reprisals by the Romans. In fact, at Passover time in the year 70 C.E. a vast crowd from all over Palestine swelled the population far beyond normal. At this juncture the legions of General Titus laid siege to the city. The historian relates how Titus determined to “build a wall round about the whole city, which was, he thought, the only way to prevent the Jews coming out any way. . . . So all hope of escaping was now cut off from the Jews, together with the liberty of going out of the city.”³

Josephus relates how, at one critical point, as the Romans sought to capture the temple hill, fanatical Jews, worn out by hunger and the ardors of the siege, still staged a desperate attempt to save their holy house from desecration. Despair, mingled with a wild belief that somehow at the last moment Jehovah would step in and fight for them, galvanized them to fierce onslaughts against the invaders. Soon, however, against Titus’ expressed wish, the temple was in flames, and as Josephus puts it, “thus the holy house burnt down without Caesar’s (Titus’) approbation.”⁴ A melancholy sight it must have been for the Jews still surviving to see their glorious holy place reduced to a blackened stone shell filled with the charred and smoking remains of all the beautiful carved cedar furnishings.

Shortly the entire city was at the mercy of the Romans. Over a million Jews had perished, either in the fighting or in the famine occasioned by the siege. Some 97,000 captives were shipped off as slaves to Egypt and other faraway places. Parents, who had endured the misery of helplessly watching their young children waste away and die of starvation, now also had to suffer the anguish of having surviving children torn from them and sent into slavery with little hope of any future reunion. How terribly accurate had been the prophecy by Jesus: “Woe to the pregnant women and the ones suckling a baby in those days! For there will be great necessity upon the land and wrath on this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations.” (Luke 21:23, 24) Where now was their favored status with God—to hope for the best?

Josephus then reports that “Caesar gave orders that [his legions] should now demolish the entire city and the temple . . . This was the end which Jerusalem came to by reason of the madness of those who were for innovations [fanatical, rebel Jews], a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind.”⁵ Truly, not a stone upon a stone was left there, just as Jesus had forewarned. Even the sacred vessels and the furniture, all they could lay their hands on, were carried off by the enemy to grace the victory procession of General Titus at Rome.

WHERE DO WE STAND?

Yet, still in our critical era, people are heard to say, ‘There’s nothing we can do but just hope for the best.’ They are mere believers in Good Luck. How foolish to permit ourselves the vain idea that we are lucky to have been born into some certain race or nation; that we are safe as long as we stick close to some great and imposing religious organization; that our particular nation is the superior one, the favorite of the gods, with a glorious destiny ahead! Is our case any stronger than that of the Jews? Their advantages failed them. They had to witness their dream of a glorious destiny dissolve into rubble and ashes because they disobeyed God.

The wise course is to take stock of our position and ascertain how we may flee, separate ourselves, from a doomed system of things, as did those faithful followers of Christ who forsook Jerusalem at the opportune time. They were the ones who survived and who could gain comfort from the expectation aroused by Jesus when he added to his prophecy: “And Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24) Instead of worshiping at the altars of Good Luck and Destiny, we should turn to the one Creator God, Jehovah, and worship him in spirit and in truth, for he it is who can and will replace the corrupt rule of the nations with his glorious Kingdom rule, which will be for the blessing of men and women of every race and nation who fear him and work righteousness.—Acts 10:34, 35.

REFERENCES

¹ Wars of the Jews, Book V, chap. v, par. 6.

² Ibid., Book II, chap. xix, par. 7.

³ Ibid., Book V, chap. xii, pars. 1-3.

⁴ Ibid., Book VI, chap. iv, par. 7.

⁵ Ibid., Book VII, chap. i, par. 1.

The Bible and Creation in the Light of Modern Science

“Know that Jehovah is God. It is he that has made us, and not we ourselves.”—Ps. 100:3.

1, 2. Why do many feel that science has disproved the Bible?

THE race for the moon and outer space keeps the eyes of many focused on science and its achievements. Protection of nations is sought by means of scientific advancements in military weapons. Underdeveloped nations look to machines that science has fashioned as the way to industrial progress. In the medical field science is thought to give much hope for the elimination of sickness and disease. Yes, the progress that science has made in some fields causes many to feel that it can be relied upon for the ultimate answer in many other fields of knowledge.

² Therefore, when respected scientists comment on the origin of man they are thought to be speaking of fact. Because most scientists accept and teach that man evolved from the lower animals, the masses of mankind believe this to be true. Since science is defined as “a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws,” people feel that the scientists have facts when they speak about the ascent of man from beast. As this idea contradicts the Bible teaching that man was created by God, many feel that they can no longer believe the Bible; they think modern science has disproved it.

3. What will the facts show?

³ However, modern science has not disproved the Bible, not one line of it. Actually, the opposite is true. Although the Bible was not written as a scientific treatise, where it touches on things scientific it does not conflict with the facts, but it does conflict with some of the unproved theories and speculations of men. The “body of facts or truths” that have come to light in modern times has in no way contradicted the Bible, especially its account of man’s creation. To the contrary, modern scientific “facts or truths,” as opposed to speculations, have repeatedly corroborated the words of Jesus when he said: “Your word is truth.”—John 17:17.

WHY DO MANY DISBELIEVE?

4, 5. Why do some not believe the Bible?

⁴ If science corroborates the Bible, then why is it that so many people today do not believe the Bible and do not accept it as God’s Word, a guide for their lives? Most assuredly, it is not because science has disproved the Bible. Some have been led to believe it has, and for this reason they turn away. But there are also other reasons why many disbelieve the Bible, reasons that the Christian would do well to keep in mind so as not to be duped by unscientific mouthings just because they issue from prominent scientists. Keeping these reasons in mind will help you to “guard what is laid up in trust with you, turning away from the empty speeches that violate what is holy and from the contradictions of the falsely called ‘knowledge.’ For making a show of such knowledge some have deviated from the faith.”—1 Tim. 6:20, 21.

⁵ Some do not believe the Bible because they are simply ignorant of its contents, not having studied it with an unprejudiced mind. Others abandon the Bible because of Christendom’s ridiculous explanations of what it contains, such as teaching that the creative days in Genesis were each twenty-four literal hours long. Also, their doctrine of hellfire, their blaming God for wickedness, their wars, inquisitions and political meddlings have soured many on the Bible, who have been led to think that the basis for Christendom is the Bible. Many of such, if honest-hearted, can be reached with the message of truth when they see that the Bible, too, disagrees with the teachings and bad practices of Christendom.

6-8. What selfish reasons are there for rejecting the Bible?

⁶ Others, however, give up the Bible because they object to its pure laws, though they would hesitate to admit it. They want to gratify their lusts, their greed for money, power, fame, pleasures or immorality. The Bible’s righteous principles condemn such lusts and therefore stand in the way of those indulging in them. Rather than doing what is right, they push the Bible aside. Their selfish desires come first.—2 Tim. 3:1-4; 2 Pet. 3:3.

⁷ Some disbelieve the Bible because accepting it would deflate their ego. They desire to be well thought of in the world. Accepting the Bible would mean humbling themselves in submissiveness to Jehovah, his Son and his visible organization. They would not like that, as their adoration and adulation by others, or by themselves, would have to cease. Also, they would have to acknowledge that many of their previous concepts were in error. Their pride will not permit them to do so. It is as John 12:42, 43 records of some prominent ones in Jesus’ day: “They would not confess him, in order not to be expelled from the synagogue; for they loved the glory of men more than even the glory of God.”

⁸ Still others find the Bible too energetic for them. They will be required to do God’s will, associate with his visible organization, engage in the preaching activity and study for advancement to spiritual maturity. They feel that this is too much trouble; so they take the course of least resistance and look for an easier religion or none at all.—Luke 13:24.

9. Why should such disbelief not disturb the Christian?

⁹ For these and similar reasons many do not believe the Bible; so when a theory such as evolution comes along they eagerly grasp it to gain some comfort in their rebellion against God and his righteous requirements. But never let it disturb you because many do not believe the Bible. This harmonizes completely with the fact that we live in the last days of this system of things. Jesus foretold this when he stated: “The love of the greater number will cool off.” (Matt. 24:12) Satan the Devil, the god of this system of things, knows his time is nearly up. He is trying desperately to turn all men away from God. So how could we expect the majority of humanity to turn to the Bible? Only a minority will. “Narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it.” (Matt. 7:14) It is not that the road is unavailable, but that most persons are not looking for it. Jesus assured us that those sincerely looking for the right way would find it: “Keep on asking, and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you. For everyone asking receives, and everyone seeking finds, and to everyone knocking it will be opened.”—Matt. 7:7, 8.

GOD CREATED

10. What confidence can truth seekers have?

¹⁰ Truth seekers can have confidence that “all Scripture is inspired of God.” (2 Tim. 3:16) They can also be confident in the knowledge that modern science has corroborated the Bible in a most marvelous way. This is especially true of where the greatest attack against the Bible has come, and that is in respect to the first few chapters of Genesis, which chapters scoffers think science has disproved. But remember, science is defined as “a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths,” so that it is necessary to separate facts from fancy.

11. How have the first words of the Bible been confirmed?

¹¹ At one time evolutionists ridiculed the very first words of the Bible, which state: “In the beginning God created.” They claimed, as had the Greek philosophers centuries ago, that matter had always existed and therefore the physical universe had no beginning. But with the advent of the age of atomic energy it became known that some elements of the earth give off radioactivity. If matter had always existed, then this process of radioactive decay would have been completed long ago. But it is still going on. Thus, it is now acknowledged that the universe had a beginning, and its age is estimated in the billions of years, for which the Bible record allows. One group of scientists said: “It is interesting to note that by declaring the universe had a beginning, the Bible anticipated modern science by some thousands of years.”a

12. How has the Genesis account of the creation of life been verified?

¹² Another problem for evolutionists was to explain how life started. They dismissed the Genesis account of creation and said that life arose accidentally out of dead matter. They believed much like the philosopher Aristotle, who wrote: “All dry bodies which become damp, and all damp bodies which are dried, engender animal life.” The Roman poet Virgil said seriously that bees were sometimes produced from the decaying internal organs of cattle. A famous physician in the reign of Louis XIV of France wrote: “The smells which arise from the bottom of morasses produce frogs, slugs, leeches, grasses, and other things.”b But then Louis Pasteur, the French chemist, performed his famous experiments that should have destroyed the notion that living things spontaneously arose from dead matter. He proved that smaller forms of life did not originate by themselves but came from other bacteria already existing. This showed that living things on earth come only from other living things.

13, 14. Why could not a living cell have arisen by accident?

¹³ In spite of this evidence, evolutionists who are atheists still believe that a living cell arose by accident. But even the most capable scientists with all their elaborate equipment have not succeeded in creating one tiny living cell! As one “distinguished authority on evolution” admitted: “No living chemist can shape a dinosaur, no living hand can start the dreaming tentacular extensions that characterize the life of the simplest ameboid cell.” (Harper’s Magazine, March 1964) If this cannot be done under the best of experimental conditions, it could hardly have happened by accident. The Bible correctly points to the source of life at Psalm 36:9 when it says: “For with you [Jehovah] is the source of life.”

¹⁴ One might be tempted to think of a living cell as being so simple that it could accidentally arise out of inanimate matter. However, as one scientist said, each cell is “a system so intricate and delicate that its complete functioning has so far escaped our study.”c Of its performance, he stated: “Each cell performs . . . activities with a precision that by comparison makes the running of even the finest watch a clumsy affair.” Another described a cell as “a little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and numerous as the stars of heaven.”d A magazine declared: “The cell is as complicated as New York City.”e

15. Show why anything organized demands an organizer.

¹⁵ No one possessed of his senses would claim that New York, London, Moscow, Paris, Tokyo or other cities came into existence by themselves. As one physicist said: “No material thing can create itself.”f But one living cell contains trillions of tiny units, each automatically performing functions more complicated than those performed in any city. Also, there are trillions of cells in just one adult human body! And we are asked to believe that this all came about by accident! No, nothing organized can ever come about by accident. If a housewife wanted to bake an apple pie, would she wait for some apples to fall off a tree accidentally into her oven, which accidentally happened to have flour, eggs and other ingredients in it, and then hope these would accidentally arrange themselves into a pie, which would accidentally cook itself just the right length of time? That would, of course, be ridiculous. But making a pie is simple compared to making living things, and if simple things cannot happen by accident, surely the infinitely more complex could not either.

16. How do parts of the human body speak of a Creator?

¹⁶ Consider, too, parts of the human body such as the eye, so intricate it took scientists centuries to discover some knowledge of how it operates. The camera is a clumsy imitation of the eye, but it took the genius of inventors, the accuracy of mathematicians, the skill of craftsmen years to develop. Did the far more complicated human eye just happen to develop by itself because some blind jellyfish wanted to see? How did it know it wanted to see when it could not possibly have known what seeing was? No, the human eye is a marvel of creation, brought into existence by One who could already see, as Psalm 94:9 says: “The One planting the ear, can he not hear? Or the One forming the eye, can he not look?”

17, 18. How do modern inventions show the universe had a Creator?

¹⁷ An astronaut comes back from orbiting the earth in a capsule of a few tons and is hailed as a hero. The scientists who devised the mechanism are lauded. What would they think if you declared that the thousands of pieces of metal just chanced to assemble themselves into a capsule and rocket, just happened to be filled with fuel, just happened to ignite when the man was accidentally in the capsule, and then the entire affair just chanced to go into orbit? They would dismiss you as a joker or a mental incompetent. Yet, Jehovah put the earth, weighing an estimated six and a half sextillion tons, into perfect orbit with millions of living things on it, with no reentry problems, no worries over oxygen supplies, no need to squeeze food from a tube or to be concerned about how to get rid of body wastes. And we are asked to believe that this just happened by itself!

¹⁸ It takes thousands of men constantly working to keep the schedules of one railroad or airline from going wrong so that no accidents occur, and they occur anyway. At the same time, suns and planets of incredible size move through space with a speed and precision that stagger the imagination, and that grand system is supposed to have had no designer! Sensible persons appreciate the truth of the words written by Isaiah: “Raise your eyes high up and see. Who has created these things? It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he [Jehovah] also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing.” (Isa. 40:26) David similarly exclaimed: “When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you [Jehovah] have prepared, what is mortal man?” (Ps. 8:3, 4) So, too, in our day, honest persons recognize that what modern scientific discoveries and inventions emphasize over and over again is the fundamental truth recorded in Genesis, that “in the beginning God created.” Of those who do not believe this, the psalmist states: “The senseless one has said in his heart: ‘There is no Jehovah.’”—Ps. 14:1.

SPECULATIONS DISPROVED

19, 20. What changing theories have evolutionists advanced?

¹⁹ During the last century evolutionists believed that different forms of life came about by things slowly changing from one kind into another. Some thought giraffes got their long necks by stretching higher and higher for the top leaves of trees, and so their offspring were born with long necks. It was thought that people living near the equator got tanned from the hot sun, and then passed the tan to their children, resulting in dark skin. But then an Austrian, Gregor Mendel, discovered the facts of heredity, which prove such things untrue. He found out about the definite, orderly laws that fixed things from parent to offspring “according to its kind,” just as Genesis had recorded. This made the slow change of one form of life into another impossible, for while it allowed for great variety in color, size and shape, it did not result in new forms of life.

²⁰ Evolutionists next said that things must have evolved, not by slow changes, but by fast changes in the genes, by mutations. However, of this a scientist recently said: “Whether the mutations are natural or induced by some artificial means such as radiation . . . the evidence today suggests that much more than 99 percent of mutations are undesirable.”g Mutations distort, they do not create new kinds.

21. How does fossil evidence corroborate creation?

²¹ To help them out of their difficulties evolutionists have searched extensively for fossil remains that would show the connections between family kinds. But no such fossils have been found of creatures whose fins were changing into arms or legs, or whose feet were changing into wings. In short, all the many gaps between family kinds have remained, simply because no connections ever existed! As an article in the London Times (May 19, 1963) on the subject said: “The fossil evidence is really of little help [for evolution] here . . . it is only by a stretch of the imagination that one can visualize a specific transformation of particular specimens . . . into their alleged modern descendants.”

22. What has archaeology discovered?

²² As the lower animals were created suddenly, so was man. He was given a high mental capacity that the animals lacked. This is just what science corroborates, and not a slow ascent from a mud puddle. In the book New Discoveries in Babylonia About Genesis the author states: “It was expected that the more ancient the period, the more primitive would excavators find it to be, until traces of civilization ceased altogether and aboriginal man appeared. Neither in Babylonia nor Egypt, the lands of the oldest known habitations of man, has this been the case. When civilization appears it is already full grown. . . . In the face of these facts, the slow progress of early man is a disproved assumption, and the idea that an infinitely prolonged period elapsed before civilization appeared cannot be maintained.”

23, 24. What are some facts that disprove the notion that there were “prehistoric” men?

²³ But what of those so-called “prehistoric” men one frequently hears about? Some of such fossil remains are not human at all, but are animal. Others are simply varieties of the human family who were living at the same time “modern-type” man was, just as today there are many sizes and shapes in different living peoples. The Neanderthal man was at one time regarded as “prehistoric,” an ancestor of modern man in the evolution scale, but note what an encyclopedia now says: “Neanderthal man cannot be regarded as an ancestor of modern man. Neanderthal man and men of the modern type . . . must be looked upon as descendants of a common ancestor.”h

²⁴ Many of these so-called “prehistoric” men were not a “low” type at all. Of those who are called “Cro-Magnon” a university professor stated: “The Cro-Magnon race . . . are conservatively appraised as on a par with the finest stock today intellectually and physically.”i Another scientist reported: “These men represent in many ways the finest type the world has ever seen.”j Embarrassingly for those who persist in believing the speculation of evolution, Science Digest (April 1961) said: “Since the Cro-Magnon man . . . the human brain has been decreasing in size.” How accurate the simple Genesis account of man’s creation, his fall into sin and subsequent degeneration!

25, 26. What other facts show that “prehistoric” men did not exist?

²⁵ Evolutionists have also combed the earth looking for a people who speak a primitive language, as they feel this would support their theory. The book The Miracle of Languages says: “They have found none. . . . The language of the bushmen [of Australia] and the Sari [of lower California] are elaborate, and show evidences of decay. . . . All languages appear to have descended from one universal parent language.” Science News Letter (Sept. 3, 1955) confirmed this by saying: “There are no primitive languages. The idea that ‘savages’ speak in a series of grunts and are unable to express many ‘civilized’ concepts, is very wrong. . . . Typically, their grammars are much more complex . . . than any modern language.” How well this, too, fits the Biblical account of man’s having one language that was confused after the Flood, resulting in many languages spreading throughout the world, gradually degenerating.

²⁶ So-called “prehistoric” men exist only in the imagination of those who choose to ignore the facts, because no evidence derived in the entire history of archaeology has sustained the speculations of evolution. It is just as an article in Harper’s Magazine (July 1963) stated: “We have yet to unearth traces of the intelligent apes that gave rise to humanity.” And this article was written in support of evolution! Think of it, after more than a century of frenzied searching by hordes of evolutionists the record of the rocks shouts out louder than ever that “God created”! Evolutionists cannot “unearth traces of the intelligent apes that gave rise to humanity” simply because they never existed, except, as the London Times intimated, ‘in someone’s imagination.’

27. What truth does all the evidence affirm?

²⁷ In the face of such evidence, honesthearted persons will be convinced, but the skeptic never will be, since he wants to cling to the error that suits his purpose. “That is why God lets an operation of error go to them, that they may get to believing the lie, in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thess. 2:11, 12) God-fearing persons are not taken in by satanic speculations that belittle the Bible, God’s Word, and water down its effect; that make God unnecessary as Creator, Sustainer and Provider; and that push aside the reality of man’s fall into sin and his need for redemption. Humble ones say as the psalmist of ancient times did: “How I do love your law! All day long it is my concern.” (Ps. 119:97) These know for a certainty, as the evidence of modern science shows, that “Jehovah is God. It is he that has made us, and not we ourselves.”—Ps. 100:3.

[Footnotes]

God’s Word the True Guide for Man

“Your word is a lamp to my foot, and a light to my roadway.”—Ps 119:105.

1, 2. What correct appraisal can we make of science?

SCIENCE, in its different branches, is also thought to have answers to many of the everyday problems of life. Many feel that the answers it does not now have it will soon get, so that eventually man’s problems, such as those concerning food, clothing, housing, disease, and even social and moral problems, will all be solved.

² There is no doubt that science has done good in some of these areas. It has raised the living standards for some and has provided many conveniences. It has fashioned astonishing mechanisms, such as the airplane for quick travel, telephones for efficient communication, as well as other time- and labor-saving devices. In medicine advancement has been made toward alleviating some of man’s suffering. None of this progress is minimized. But at the same time science has also helped produce a very unbalanced machine age that has resulted in frightful tension, mental illness, delinquency, marital strife, crime and violence. The more “advanced” a nation has become scientifically the more these problems have increased. Some estimates show that in the United States alone, one of the most advanced countries of this scientific age, as many as 18 million persons need some kind of mental help! One out of every two hospital beds in the country is occupied by a mental patient!

3. What resources are misused by science, with what consequences?

³ In addition, it is science that has fashioned the weapons that have killed more people in two world wars than were killed in the wars of all previous history combined. It is science that has fashioned engines of destruction in our day that could destroy most of the life on earth in a matter of minutes! People thus live in constant dread of these monstrous weapons possessed by both Eastern and Western nations. To provide for all of this, as the New York Times pointed out in its issue of March 13, 1962, there are “more than 50,000,000 people in uniform or producing for those in uniform, a number greater than the total population of France.” It also noted that total world military spending annually “now amounts to $120,000,000,000, or more than the total income of all the under-developed countries.” What could all this money and manpower accomplish if used for the good of mankind? It is estimated that adequate housing could be provided for about 240,000,000 people, the hungry among the world’s three billion people could be fed, and the sick of the world could be provided with medical care!

4. How do others recognize the failure of science to solve the basic problems of man?

⁴ That science has not solved the basic problems of man, many recognize. A German medical publication reported: “The mental health of all civilized peoples is endangered today to an extent never before known. . . . What man has gained through science, technical knowledge, industry and organization . . . he is three times over in danger of losing because of the strong threat against proper body and mental balance.”a Said the Saturday Evening Post (June 15, 1963): “Science and technology continue to outstrip social, political and philosophical progress at a frightening rate.” That science contributes to social and moral ills can be seen from the conditions prevailing in many of the large industrial cities throughout the world. The Manchester Guardian of May 16, 1963, reported: “Our great cities . . . are a disgrace to any body of men who call themselves civilized: the press, the pace, the congestion, the irritation are so great that the sensibilities of motorists must be coarsened. Even considerate drivers are forced . . . to behave subhumanly. These conditions operate upon us gradually and imperceptibly. The machine is uncivilizing us: attitudes which it engenders must spill over into other departments of living.”

5. Show why science is not a true guide for man.

⁵ Truly, science has not solved the world’s social, moral and spiritual ills, but has added to them. It has not proved to be a true guide for man in the past, or at present, nor will it prove to be such in the future. As a noted newspaper columnist remarked: “This age of science has no natural limits we know of, and what is dawning on us now is that it is also uncontrollable. Science simply does not know what it is doing or where it is going, in any universal sense; and if the good it does is fundamental, the damage it does is absolutely unrepairable.”b This responsibility for causing ill was also noted by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Harold Urey,c who said that the intellectual ideas of the scientific revolution have eroded morality and religion. He stated that the skepticism of the scientific community already has spread into the general population, and he predicted that it will spread ever more widely in the future, adding that this may even be indirectly responsible for the rise of social evils such as delinquency. In view of all this, it is little wonder that one author acidly said: “If the present condition of international hatred, mass murder, violated treaties, forgotten honor, and civilian extermination in the holy name of war are the best that evolution can accomplish, we should hand the whole mess back to the monkeys and ask them to stir up another batch!”d

GOD’S SERVANTS KNOW THE TRUE GUIDE

6. Has the failure of science to guide man proved a surprise to God’s servants?

⁶ While much of this may come as a surprise to those who thought science would provide solutions to man’s problems instead of causing more of them, it does not come as a surprise to servants of God. They have not turned to false guides, but they rely on the only true guide available to man, God’s Word, the Holy Bible. That is why God’s people remain unperturbed in the midst of world turmoil. They have long known that the Bible foretold exactly the distressing things we see taking place throughout the world in our day, for it warned: “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.” Would these conditions improve? Those fortified with truth from God’s true guide for man know that in these last days “wicked men and impostors will advance from bad to worse, misleading and being misled.” They recognize the truth of Jesus’ words when he prophesied the anguish of nations so evident today: “While men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth.”—2 Tim. 3:1-4, 13; Luke 21:26.

7, 8. Why do God’s servants make his Word their guide?

⁷ Those who love God and have respect for his Word are not fooled by the high claims and promises of those who assure the people that things will get better and that their problems will be solved in time, especially now that science is at work. God’s servants respect what properly controlled science can do, but they do not worship it nor do they make it a guide for their lives. They know that the Creator of man is the only one who can provide what man needs in order to walk properly. He has done that by providing his Word, the Bible, which gives them the knowledge they need to guide them in matters of peace, morality, life and worship. It tells them accurately why things are as they are and what the future holds, because its Author knows all these things; as it is written: “Remember the first things of a long time ago, that I am the Divine One and there is no other God, nor anyone like me; the One telling from the beginning the finale, and from long ago the things that have not been done; the One saying, ‘My own counsel will stand, and everything that is my delight I shall do’; . . . I have even spoken it; I shall also bring it in. I have formed it, I shall also do it.” (Isa. 46:9-11) What confidence Jehovah’s servants have in his Word because they know that the all-controlling, all-knowing God, Jehovah, is the One who by his spirit inspired it, seeing to it that what his servants need as a true guide has been recorded for them!

⁸ This Word of God is like a bright light shining in a dark place. Who can move about with confidence in the dark? This evil-filled world is covered with such darkness, just as prophesied through Isaiah: “For, look! darkness itself will cover the earth, and thick gloom the national groups.” (Isa. 60:2) But would that be true of Jehovah’s people? No, for they have the illumination of his Word! “Your word is a lamp to my foot, and a light to my roadway.” (Ps. 119:105) Of Jehovah’s people, Jesus said: “He that follows me will by no means walk in darkness, but will possess the light of life.” (John 8:12) As Jesus respected God’s Word and used it to guide his life, so now the Word of God provides an infallible guide that will enable his followers to find their way through this dark system of things, even past its disastrous end into a new system of things, into a perfect “new earth” where righteousness is to dwell!—2 Pet. 3:13.

PROVIDES MENTAL FOOD

9, 10. Why is the wisdom of man alone insufficient as a guide?

⁹ The Bible provides the mind with food necessary for mental balance. When men turn away from the one true source of wisdom and guidance, then only chaos can be expected, as has come to pass. Relying solely on the wisdom of men, however intelligent, cannot be sufficient for man to govern his affairs successfully. Man is not the Creator; he is the one created. How can the one created know better than the One creating? But instead of relying on God’s thinking, the worldly-wise have substituted their own thinking. As a result man’s mentality and order of things break down. It is like trying to run a high-powered automobile by putting rubbish instead of high-test gasoline in the fuel tank! Or like a person eating dirt and garbage as a steady diet instead of proper food. His body mechanism will soon break down. So, too, with the mind. The only way it will operate as it should is if it gets the proper fuel that comes from God and is revealed through his Word, the Bible.

¹⁰ Man is but a babe in God’s sight. His foolishness in human affairs proves he is no more able to control his destiny than a newborn babe. A person would not think seriously of allowing his baby’s scribbling on a piece of paper to be used as a guide for a long, hazardous journey. Relying solely on man’s mentality, to the exclusion of God’s Word, is the same. Man is a babe in a demon-controlled world. He is up against spirit forces far beyond his power to control. Hence, he needs the wisdom and direction that come from above.—Eph. 6:10-18.

11. What is necessary for man’s mind, and how has Jehovah provided it?

¹¹ The mind of man must have what God meant for it to have to be healthy. It must feed on the spiritual diet provided by God’s Word. The apostle Paul showed this by stating: “Keep holding the pattern of healthful words that you heard from me with the faith and love that are in connection with Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 1:13) That such healthful words would be available in abundance in our day, the prophet Micah foretold: “And it must occur in the final part of the days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills; and to it peoples must stream. And many nations will certainly go and say: ‘Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.’”—Mic. 4:1, 2.

12, 13. What has the healthful pattern of instruction done for God’s servants today?

¹² What has this healthful pattern of instruction done for God’s servants in these last days? Under the direction of God’s spirit it has made it possible for them to do what no other earth-wide society of people has accomplished in our time! It has made it possible for peoples from all nations, of all colors, kindreds and tongues, formerly of many differing religions and social levels, to live and work together in complete peace and unity! This marvelous harmony that has resulted is just what the Bible foretold would be produced when humble persons took in the healthful teaching from God’s Word and applied it, for it said: “And [God] 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.” (Mic. 4:3) This is the condition prevailing now in the peaceful society of Jehovah’s witnesses. But they do not give themselves credit for solving this problem of bringing global peace to persons of different nationalities. No, they recognize that it is only by the power of God’s Word and spirit that this has been accomplished.

¹³ Jehovah’s witnesses appreciate this power of God’s Word to transform man’s thinking and turn it into proper channels. They apply themselves to do just that and have succeeded where the worldly-wise have failed. This accurate knowledge that comes from God is the key to their success, for they have obediently followed the recommendation of this true guide: “Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality, which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it.”—Col. 3:9, 10.

14. (a) Explain the part love plays among God’s people. (b) How has science recognized the importance of love?

¹⁴ God’s guide for man also brings to his attention the vital quality of love. This is necessary for unity and peace, for love “is a perfect bond of union.” (Col. 3:14) Jehovah’s witnesses have learned what this Bible love is. They are cultivating it now and will continue to do so until they have acquired it to perfection. This love smooths all their relationships, allowing them to come together and work without the frictions experienced in the old system of things. Even science now acknowledges the importance of such love in human relationships. As a chairman of the Mental Health Research Fund in London said: “By far the most significant discovery of mental science is the power of love to protect and restore the mind.”e The Bible knew about this love long ago. That is why a society of people who live by God’s Word and obey the law of love are able to live in peace and happiness with one another and can keep their mental balance while others engage in strife and go mad.

TRUE GUIDE FOR FUTURE

15. (a) What else does the Bible provide that science cannot? (b) How can meek ones walk in God’s ways?

¹⁵ Not only does the Bible provide a true guide for everyday living, but it provides a true guide for the future, which science cannot do. The most science can do is to extend one’s life-span briefly, although at the same time it makes the future very uncertain for others. But God’s infallible Word promises a happy future for obedient mankind. It reveals a wonderful new order of things in which peace, prosperity, health, everlasting life and joy will prevail on an earth-wide paradise. But before that glorious time comes, wickedness must be eradicated from the earth. God’s true guide for man also shows that this lawlessness is very near its end and that shortly God Almighty himself will cause it to cease by completely destroying wickedness and wicked people. “And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; and you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” (Ps. 37:10, 11) How important it is, therefore, to learn of God’s ways now so that we can begin walking on that narrow path that leads to life! How vital it is to heed the counsel of God’s true guide when it says: “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding. In all your ways take notice of him, and he himself will make your paths straight.” (Prov. 3:5, 6) Yes, God’s guidebook for life will provide you with what you need to walk in his ways, for “all Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.”—2 Tim. 3:16, 17.

16. What urgent counsel should we take to heart? Why especially so now?

¹⁶ There is a special urgency about being guided by God’s Word now, for the time in which we live will see the complete end of this old system of things. That means we can have the hope of surviving its end and of never dying at all! “The world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2:17) Our day is similar to when Jehovah’s people of ancient times were standing at the very threshold of the Promised Land. Note the fine words of counsel Moses gave, which words take on even more importance in our day, since it means not just a temporary deliverance, but a deliverance to everlasting life: “Apply your hearts to all the words that I am speaking in warning to you today, that you may command your sons to take care to do all the words of this [God’s] law. For it is no valueless word for you, but it means your life, and by this word you may lengthen your days upon the soil to which you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of it.” (Deut. 32:46, 47) Yes, apply your hearts to following God’s guide for man and you can be among those spoken of by the psalmist when he said: “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.”—Ps. 37:29.

17. What appreciation should we show toward God’s Word?

¹⁷ Appreciate, therefore, the Bible for what it is, God’s remarkable communication to the human race. Let it be your guide. Using man’s schemes, scientific or otherwise, however clever, will lead you only to disappointment and disaster. The Bible, confirmed by all the honest findings of modern science, has proved itself accurate in detail as a road map for us through this dark system of things. No, the Bible is not out of date as a true guide for man. It has been around a long time, but so has eating, and you would not give that up as being out of date, would you? Neither will life seekers give up God’s life-sustaining thoughts contained in his Word, the Bible, spiritual food that has proved itself vital throughout the ages. Humble persons will certainly not want to be like the four journalists who had been invited to participate in a television discussion on Christianity.f When they were asked if any one of them had given five consecutive minutes to an adult consideration of what Christianity had to say, every one of them admitted that he had not, even though all were men of above-average intelligence! How typical of many in the world who want their problems solved, who want a better future, but who will not go to the only place where they can get the information to make that possible!

18. Even though others reject God’s Word, why should we not be discouraged?

¹⁸ Nor should you be discouraged when you offer God’s guide to others and they scoff, ridicule and turn away. Even with the mountain of evidence testifying to the reliability and integrity of the Bible, many will remain unconvinced. Remember, Jesus said: “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.” (Luke 16:31) Some may find this hard to believe, but the truth of it was demonstrated when Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, because shortly afterward “the chief priests now took counsel to kill Lazarus also.”—John 12:10.

19. What will all sheeplike persons do?

¹⁹ Sheeplike persons will believe. They will recognize the ring of truth in the Bible. They will note that, when exposed to the light of true science, the Bible shines more brilliantly than ever as a lamp for our feet, a guide for our lives. They will take in these life-giving waters of truth and will rejoice with Jehovah’s people who have brought these truths to their attention. Then together they will look forward to the time when Jehovah completely vindicates his Name, Word and people. They will look to the great day of the execution of divine judgment in which Jehovah will cleanse the earth of wickedness. They will look with keen anticipation beyond that time to God’s new order where Jehovah will shower down blessings on humankind, and where true science, controlled and guided by its Creator, will be used to bring joy to the hearts of all those who loved God’s Word, lived by it, and survived the end of this disbelieving old human society. Thus, all who now have respect for God’s Word and look to it as a guide say as did the psalmist: “For Jehovah is a great God and a great King over all other gods, he in whose hand are the inmost depths of the earth and to whom the peaks of the mountains belong; to whom the sea, which he himself made, belongs and whose own hands formed the dry land itself. O come in, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker.”—Ps. 95:3-6.

[Footnotes]

Listened to a Neighbor

◆ One of Jehovah’s witnesses in Curitiba, Brazil, was witnessing from house to house when she was interrupted just as she was about to read a Bible text, the householder saying: “Would you please be so kind as to go away and convert the pagan Catholics, because I was converted twenty years ago and don’t need your advice.” The Witness kindly tried to explain the reason for her visit, but she was not given an opportunity. The reception she received at the next house was different. The householder was pleasantly surprised by the explanations given and took the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. On the following Sunday, when the Witness returned to give her further explanations as she had promised, the lady said: “You know, I showed this book to my neighbor and she was thrilled with it, so she asked me to tell you that she would like one of these books.” The Witness went to her. She took the book and said: “I, who thought that I knew everything, don’t know anything. But Jehovah will help me to learn what I did not learn during the twenty years I was a Baptist.”

The Power of Kindness

◆ Christian kindness can attract people of a good heart to Jehovah’s truth. This is the way it happened in the case of one individual in Canada: “One Saturday afternoon during the circuit servant’s visit my husband and I were making our last call in the field ministry for that day. The lady who lived next door was just locking up her house to go away. We asked her if she would like a ride as we were going on to Andover, and it turned out that this lady was going to Andover to visit some friends. When we arrived there we found that her friends were just leaving to go across the border to a funeral and would not be back that night. As a result this lady was stranded. So we invited her to go to the meeting with us and after the meeting we would take her home. She accepted our invitation to the meeting and enjoyed it so much that she went with us to the public talk the circuit servant gave in Bristol the following week. She enjoyed this so much that she went with us to the public talk the next week and has expressed a desire to be one of Jehovah’s witnesses.”

Are You Enduring or Have You Grown Weary?

IT IS one thing to start a race; it is another thing to finish it as a winner. It is one thing to go forth into battle; it is another thing to return from it victoriously. Likewise it is one thing to dedicate your life to the doing of the will of God and to follow in Jesus’ foot steps, and quite another thing to endure therein as a winning runner, a victorious warrior.—1 Ki. 20:11.

Today, wherever we look, we see a lack of endurance. Ever so many students in schools and ever so many marriage partners show by their quitting that they cannot “take it,” they cannot endure. This tendency is to be seen even among some dedicated Christian ministers. Are you one that is enduring, or have you grown weary?

If you are among those that have grown weary, examine yourself, take an inventory. Ask yourself: Could it be that God no longer comes first in my life? Have I grown lukewarm like the members of the congregation at Laodicea? Has my appreciation of spiritual things decreased? Have I lost the love of God that I had at the first? Am I slowing down or perhaps even coming to a halt? If so, then look for the reason.—Rev. 2:4; 3:16.

Could it be that you have lost perspective and have become like the seed sown among the thorns, regarding which Jesus said: “These are the ones that have heard, but, by being carried away by anxieties and riches and pleasures of this life, they are completely choked and bring nothing to perfection”? Or could it be that you have forgotten that man does not live on bread alone but on every utterance proceeding from Jehovah’s mouth and so have neglected to take in spiritual food regularly, and, as a result, are now suffering from spiritual anemia? Could it be that the ways of this ungodly world, with its uncleanness and loose living, have regained their grip on you, so that you no longer feel comfortable in spiritual activities? Or could it be that opposition by acquaintances, relatives and others has caused you to become discouraged?—Luke 8:14; Matt. 4:4.

Regardless of the reason, spiritual weariness is a danger sign. It is an unhappy state that can lead only to disaster. So arouse yourself! Keep reminding yourself that there are at least three good reasons why you should be determined to endure and not grow weary: By enduring you share in the vindication of God’s name, making his heart glad and proving the Devil a liar when he boasted that no creatures could endure. By enduring you are able to help others to endure, both by your example and by your ministry. And by enduring you assure yourself lasting happiness and endless life.—Job 2:4, 5; Prov. 27:11; 1 Tim. 4:16.

JEHOVAH GOD PROVIDES HELP

Of course, you could not endure without God’s help; but of that you are assured. For one thing, he has provided his Word, the Bible. In it God encourages you to endure by holding out rewards: “He that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved.” “You have need of endurance, in order that, after you have done the will of God, you may receive the fulfillment of the promise.” “Happy is the man that keeps on enduring trial, because on becoming approved he will receive the crown of life.” Keep in mind that endurance is not merely a matter of survival, it is a matter of winning, even as the apostle Paul shows: “Do you not know that the runners in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may attain it.”—Matt. 24:13; Heb. 10:36; Jas. 1:12; 1 Cor. 9:24.

In addition to urging us to endure, Jehovah God through his Word gives us many encouraging examples of those who have endured, chief of whom is Jesus Christ. As he himself said: “I have said these things to you that by means of me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage! I have conquered the world.” Yes, as the apostle Paul admonishes us: “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, as we look intently at the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus. . . . Indeed, consider closely the one who has endured such contrary talk by sinners . . . that you may not get tired and give out in your souls.”—John 16:33; Heb. 12:1-3.

Among other examples the Bible gives of servants of God who endured is Job, concerning whom the disciple James wrote: “We pronounce happy those who have endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome Jehovah gave, that Jehovah is very tender in affection and merciful.”—Jas. 5:11.

Hardly less outstanding is the example of endurance that the apostle Paul gave. What he endured! “I five times received forty strokes less one, three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I experienced shipwreck, a night and a day I have spent in the deep,” to mention but a few of the things he endured. Nor would we overlook modern examples of endurance, as given in the recent past by the witnesses of Jehovah in Nazi Germany, and at the present time in Spain, in Cuba, in Portugal and in Iron Curtain countries.—2 Cor. 11:24-27.

By means of a visible earthly organization Jehovah God furnishes further help so that you might endure and not grow weary. This organization helps you to understand God’s Word and how to apply its counsel to your life so that you will be able to endure. For that purpose it publishes a veritable stream of Bible literature, such as this magazine you are reading, and arranges for five weekly meetings wherever possible, where spiritual strength can be gained to endure. This organization uses the Watch Tower Society as its legal instrument and is under the direction of the “faithful and discreet slave” Jesus mentioned at Matthew 24:45-47.

Further, Jehovah God has made available his holy spirit to help you to endure. As he foretold, his people endure, not because of a military force, nor because of any human, physical, material power, but by means of his spirit. His spirit upon his servants has ever enabled them to do mighty works and to endure.—Zech. 4:6.

DOING YOUR PART

While Jehovah does his part, that is not sufficient for you to endure. You must also do your part. For example, he provides the spiritual food and drink, but unless you put forth effort to partake of it, you will continue to be spiritually famished. So buy out time from other things so as to be able to read the Bible regularly and to study it with the helps that God has provided. Never let a day go by without taking in some such spiritual food. That is every bit as essential for you as it was for Joshua and the kings of Israel who were told to peruse God’s Word daily.—Josh. 1:8; Deut. 17:18-20.

Good as that is, however, it is not enough. You must also arrange your affairs so as to meet regularly with your fellow Christians, who, like you, are concerned with enduring and are in a position to help you and whose very example can encourage you to endure. They will incite you to “love and fine works,” and, in turn, you will be able to aid others. Christians are like the members of the human body; they cannot get along without one another.—Heb. 10:24, 25; 1 Cor. 12:14-27.

Further, to endure you must make yourself susceptible to and receptive of God’s holy spirit, for that is what gives you the strength to endure. Nor is prayer to be overlooked. And even as physical activity is essential to bodily health, so spiritual activity, in the Christian ministry, is essential to spiritual health.

QUALITIES AIDING YOU TO ENDURE

By taking advantage of God’s Word, association with God’s people, God’s holy spirit and prayer you will be able to cultivate the qualities that will help you to endure and not grow weary. Among such qualities are faith and hope. These enabled Abraham and Moses to endure long years in God’s service and they can help you likewise to endure. As the apostle Paul shows: “If we hope for what we do not see, we keep on waiting for it with endurance.” “We bear . . . in mind your faithful work and your loving labor and your endurance due to your hope.” Just as an anchor helps a ship to endure in a storm, so the anchor of hope will help you to endure the storms of life.—Rom. 8:25; 1 Thess. 1:3; Heb. 6:19; 11:8-10, 24-27.

Joy and contentment are two further Christian qualities that will enable you to endure. “The joy of Jehovah is your stronghold,” Nehemiah told his people. And of Jesus we read, “For the joy that was set before him he endured a torture stake.” As for contentment, along with godly devotion, “it is a means of great gain.” Contentment simplifies matters and makes it easier to endure the rugged life of a Christian soldier.—Neh. 8:10; Heb. 12:2; 1 Tim. 6:6, ftn. 1950 edition.

But above all, love, love for Jehovah, with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love of your neighbor as yourself, will help you to endure. If you love Jehovah your God you will want to please him, you will want to make his heart happy by keeping integrity, you will want to make known to others his name and his glorious attributes, and to do all that takes endurance. And if you love your neighbor as yourself you will want to help him to gain everlasting life by your example and your ministry, and that takes endurance. As we read, “Love is long-suffering and kind. . . . It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” Yes, above all else, love will help you to endure!—1 Cor. 13:4, 7, 8; Matt. 22:37-39.

It is not easy to endure. But was anything worthwhile ever gained by following the line of least resistance? God does his part; you can do your part. For the sake of his name, for the sake of others and for your own sake, resolve that with the help of God you will endure!

Expansion of True Worship in the Solomon Islands

JUST ten years ago the first one of Jehovah’s witnesses arrived in the Solomon Islands to preach the good news of God’s kingdom. By 1958 there were still less than a dozen Kingdom preachers in all the islands. But in the years since then this small group has multiplied many times over until, in May 1964, a peak of 366 active ministers was reached!

Several months ago it was the pleasure of these zealous islanders to make arrangements to hold an “Everlasting Good News” Assembly. The Kingdom publishers in the small village of Magi on the island of Malaita served as hosts for the conventioners. They were happy for this privilege, and worked for months in advance in order to assure that their brothers would be well fed and comfortably accommodated.

A large garden was planted exclusively for the purpose of supplying the cafeteria. The women harvested over 7,000 sweet potatoes, and, after washing them in a stream, carried them to the convention site. Surely this would be enough for everyone, they thought. But as more and more people kept arriving another trip to the garden had to be made. By the end of the assembly all the foodstuffs had been consumed, including additional supplies brought by conventioners from other places.

The men also were busy making preparations. They built dormitories, for it was obvious that there would not be enough space in the private homes to accommodate the numbers expected. But where did they get the idea for erecting such quarters? Why, from the motion picture “The New World Society in Action” in which they had seen the sleeping accommodations that the African brothers built for their assemblies! So with that as a pattern, the islanders constructed their dormitories from poles and sago palm leaves sewed together, using as thread the vines of the jungle.

What a surprise it was to find that even before the first day of the assembly all available space was filled! However, nobody was upset because of this. Instead, all warmly welcomed the new arrivals and immediately volunteered to help build additional shelter. Before breakfast, when the tropical heat had not yet dispersed the morning crispness, a group set out to gather building materials, and, with the cooperation of many willing helpers, a structure fifty feet by fifteen feet was completed by early afternoon.

The Kingdom Hall was the assembly auditorium. Despite the fact that it had been enlarged for the occasion, it was filled to overflowing right from the start. The remarkable attendance for the first session was 500, nearly 200 more than the total number of Witnesses in all the islands! How happy the installation workers were to pull down the side walls and to extend the sago-palm-leaf thatch! Trees were also felled and cut into suitable lengths to be used as benches. These last-minute extentions were certainly appreciated as the assembly progressed, for by the time of the public talk the crowd had swelled to a peak of 675!

Included in this large audience were Melanesian people from several language groups and, in addition, persons from Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sweden. Some sixty Witnesses from the city of Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal chartered a ship to make the trip. An outstanding delegation of about two hundred men and women, along with their children, came from the north coast of Malaita. Some of them had to travel three days on foot and by canoe on the open sea in order to be present. Thirteen of the twenty-one that were baptized were from this area.

These conventioners had not traveled long distances to attend a social event. No, but they had come to take in life-giving knowledge concerning the true God, Jehovah, and his Son Jesus Christ. (John 17:3) To help them do this, every discourse was supplemented by illustrations on calico or on a blackboard, and at the end of every session the people would crowd around the boards lined up on the platform to copy down the information.

This zealous desire to learn Bible truths and to become better ministers is what has been responsible for the rapid expansion of true worship in the Solomon Islands. As we watch the delegates tuck their notebooks away in their luggage and head for home, we feel sure that the good news of God’s kingdom will realize even greater proclamation in the islands in the days to come.

Pay Attention to Prophecy

“PAY attention to yourselves,” said Jesus when instructing his disciples on proper attitude toward his prophecy concerning the time of the end. (Luke 21:34) Such a strong warning is especially appropriate now, because world developments have caused individuals and even governments to realize the desirability of looking into the future. They have many “prophets”: students of history and politics, news analysts and even astrologers, an inheritance from ancient Babylon. But these have failed, just as they failed ancient Babylon, and they continue to fail to be able to foretell the future with accuracy and dependability.—Isa. 47:12-15; 44:25, 26.

PROPHECIES PROCLAIMED EARTH WIDE TODAY

Unlike the prophecies or forecasts of men, which are at best only educated guesses, the prophecies of Jehovah are from the mind of the One who created the universe, the One powerful enough to direct the course of events to fulfill his word. Jehovah’s prophecies are in his Word, the Bible, available to all persons. All have opportunity, if they desire, to take heed and sincerely seek understanding of them. Those who do not read can hear, for God has on earth today a prophetlike organization, just as he did in the days of the early Christian congregation. (Acts 16:4, 5) He designates these Christians as his “faithful and discreet slave.” (Matt. 24:45-47) This “slave” group is strictly commanded: “Do not treat prophesyings with contempt.” (1 Thess. 5:20) This has proved true of Jehovah’s anointed witnesses on earth. They pay attention to prophecy with the greatest respectfulness. They have corrected themselves when prophecy revealed their own shortcomings. They have not held back when prophecy has condemned practices followed even in Christendom. (Isa. 58:1) Yes, they have proclaimed the prophecies written in God’s Word even though this has brought world hatred toward them.—Matt. 24:9.

JEHOVAH’S PROPHECY COMES TRUE

For outstanding proof of the need to pay attention to prophecy, let us look briefly into a section of history near the end of the kingdom of Judah, ruled by kings of the line of David. We break in at the time of King Manasseh, fourteenth king after David. Succeeding his father, good King Hezekiah, to the throne, he ruled for fifty-five years. He had ample opportunity to know the history of the nation and the prophecies that Jehovah had caused to be fulfilled toward his forefathers. God had prophesied concerning any king on the throne of David: “When he does wrong, I will also reprove him with the rod of men and with the strokes of the sons of Adam.” Directly contrary to God’s word and prophecy, Manasseh turned to Babylonish religion, such as astrology, magic, omens, sorcery, divinations and professional foretellers of events. He even performed human sacrifice, of his own royal sons, to the Canaanite god Baal. He set up altars for the worship of the sun, moon and stars in two courtyards of Jehovah’s own temple in Jerusalem, and also set up “the carved image that he had made” in this holy temple. God’s prophecy, therefore, came true on him through the heavy hand of Assyria, the Second World Power, as God’s instrument to fulfill the prophecy.—2 Sam. 7:14; 2 Chron. 33:1-7.

But Manasseh’s contempt for God’s word through Moses and his other prophets brought more than punishment on Manasseh himself. His rebelliousness led Judah to act more wickedly than the pagan inhabitants of the land. Jehovah God sent a stinging prophecy that should have opened his ears: “Here I am bringing a calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, of which if anyone hears both his ears will tingle. . . . and I shall simply wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes the handleless bowl clean, wiping it clean and turning it upside down. And I shall indeed forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hand of their enemies.”—2 Ki. 21:10-15.

Manasseh’s stubborn course resulted in the shedding of innocent blood in the land “in very great quantity.” (2 Ki. 21:16) This, according to the literature of the Jewish rabbis, included the blood of Isaiah, whom they say was sawed apart at King Manasseh’s command. Manasseh despised a very similar prophecy that Isaiah brought from Jehovah stating: “Look! Jehovah is emptying the land and laying it waste, and he has twisted the face of it and scattered its inhabitants. . . . Without fail the land will be emptied, and without fail it will be plundered, for Jehovah himself has spoken this word. The land has gone to mourning, has faded away. . . . And the very land has been polluted under its inhabitants, for they have bypassed the laws, changed the regulation, broken the indefinitely lasting covenant [based on the Ten Commandments]. That is why the curse itself has eaten up the land, and those inhabiting it are held guilty. . . . And its transgression has become heavy upon it, and it must fall.”—Isa. 24:1-20.

Manasseh’s acts of wickedness caused God to determine that now Jerusalem and the land of Judah were so defiled that they could not escape being emptied and desolated for a period of time. (2 Ki. 23:26, 27) But, for ignoring God’s word and prophecy, Manasseh first had to be punished. We read: “Jehovah kept speaking to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. Finally Jehovah brought against them the chiefs of the army that belonged to the king of Assyria,a and so they captured Manasseh . . . and took him to Babylon [which the king of Assyria had made one of his residences].” Manasseh’s subsequent repentance and attempt to restore true worship and God’s response with mercy to him are recorded at 2 Chronicles 33:10-17.

ATTENTION TO PROPHECY BRINGS PROTECTION

Manasseh was succeeded by his son Amon, who resumed pagan idolatry. He was murdered, but the people loyally stuck to the house of David and put his eight-year-old son Josiah upon the throne. Thus David’s line retained the throne, as God had prophesied. (2 Chron. 33:18-25) At nineteen years of age King Josiah began to cleanse the whole kingdom of false worship. He paid attention to Jehovah’s prophets. (2 Chron. 34:1-7) Therefore the Second World Power, Assyria, was never able to take Judah and Jerusalem into captivity. Josiah saw Assyria itself fall in 633 B.C.E., fulfilling the prophecy of Nahum concerning Nineveh, capital of Assyria, which was destroyed by the kingdom of Media and its allies. (Nah. 1:1; 3:1, 5, 7; 1:15) This proves that Jehovah the God of prophecy is true and is the Universal Sovereign.

Present at Nineveh’s fall was the commander of the Chaldean army, Nebuchadnezzar, son of King Nabopolassar, who had been a general of King Assurbanipal of Assyria. Nabopolassar had taken over the kingship of Babylon at the time Assurbanipal died. He was a Chaldean by descent, a Semite (the Assyrians were also Semites). He established a dynasty of kings that ended with Belshazzar. After the fall of Nineveh, Nebuchadnezzar was associated with his father in the kingship of Babylon.b

Josiah took six years to complete his work of cleansing the land of Judah and the temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem of false worship, which included Babylonish astrology and professional foretellers of events. While having Jehovah’s temple repaired, High Priest Hilkiah found the “book of Jehovah’s law by the hand of Moses.” This was doubtless the original book of the law written by Moses, which would cause a sensation. (2 Chron. 34:8-15) The book climaxed with the words: “And it must occur that just as Jehovah exulted over you to do you good and to multiply you, so Jehovah will exult over you to destroy you and to annihilate you; and you will simply be torn away from off the soil to which you are going to take possession of it. And Jehovah will certainly scatter you among all the peoples from the one end of the earth to the other end of the earth . . . ” On hearing this read, conscientious King Josiah was terrified.—Deut. 28:63-65; 2 Chron. 34:19.

Josiah with great earnestness sent High Priest Hilkiah with a delegation to “inquire of Jehovah in my own behalf and in behalf of what is left in Israel and in Judah concerning the words of the book that has been found, for great is Jehovah’s rage that must be poured out against us . . . ” God answered them through the prophetess Huldah in Jerusalem: “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘Here I am bringing calamity upon this place and its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that they read before the king of Judah, due to the fact that they have left me and gone making sacrificial smoke to other gods, in order to offend me with all the doings of their hands and that my rage may pour forth upon this place and not be extinguished.’”

But Jehovah showed loving-kindness and considerateness to King Josiah, saying: “Here I am gathering you to your forefathers, . . . and your eyes will not look upon all the calamity that I am bringing upon this place and its inhabitants.”

King Josiah then held a meeting of all the people at the temple in Jerusalem, reading to them “all the words of the book of the covenant, which had been found at the house of Jehovah.” Then he led the people in concluding a covenant of faithfulness to Jehovah. The good results of the king’s respectfulness for Jehovah’s word and prophecy were: “All his days they did not turn aside from following Jehovah the God of their forefathers.”—2 Chron. 34:21-33.

After reigning thirty-one years, Josiah inadvisedly took action that resulted in his death, in 628 B.C.E. It came about in this way: The one-time First World Power, Egypt, had been overthrown by Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, and, after a revolt, had been reconquered by his son Assurbanipal. But Nineveh was later destroyed and southern Assyria and also the title to Egypt, Palestine and Syria had fallen to Babylonia under King Nabopolassar. Now, Nechoh (Necho), Pharaoh or king of Egypt, asserted himself against domination by Babylon, Assyria’s successor as the new world power. He led his armies northward toward Carchemish on the Euphrates River about fifty miles west of Haran.

King Josiah led his armies out, evidently to block the passage of the armies of Nechoh. Pharaoh Nechoh tried to dissuade Josiah, saying: “Refrain for your own sake because of God, who is with me, and do not let him bring you to ruin.” However, “Josiah did not turn his face away from him, but to fight against him he disguised himself and did not listen to the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the valley plain of Megiddo.” Besides ignoring God’s warning, Josiah’s move was bad in that it favored Babylon, ever the enemy of Jerusalem. Josiah’s disguise did not shield him, for an Egyptian arrow found him and he died.—2 Chron. 35:20-25.

Josiah’s younger son Jehoahaz then ruled badly for three months and was captured by Pharaoh Nechoh, who made Jehoahaz’ older brother Eliakim king of Judah, changing his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim’s unrighteous reign lasted eleven years.—2 Chron. 36:1-5; 2 Ki. 23:30-37.

JERUSALEM SUFFERS FOR IGNORING PROPHECY

At the beginning of King Jehoiakim’s rule God sent word to His prophet Jeremiah that He would make His temple like the tabernacle set up in the city of Shiloh, forever bereft of the sacred ark of God’s covenant. So far had Judah drifted from the worship of Jehovah that the priests, prophets and people considered this true prophet treasonous and laid hold of Jeremiah, saying: “You will positively die.” But when Jeremiah made his defense before the princes of Judah, they found no basis for putting him to death and set him free for the time being.—Jer. 26:1-24; 7:1-34.

In 625 B.C.E. Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon, the Third World Power. In that year he defeated Pharaoh Nechoh the king of Egypt in battle at Carchemish by the Euphrates River. (Jer. 46:1, 2) In that year Jeremiah, by inspiration, foretold a seventy-year-long desolation of Jerusalem and the land of Judah for despising the word of Jehovah and his prophets. Jeremiah warned: “Therefore this is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘For the reason that you did not obey my words, here I am sending and I will take all the families of the north, . . . even sending to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about . . . And all this land must become a devastated place, an object of astonishment, and these nations will have to serve the king of Babylon seventy years.’” (Jer. 25:1-11) The age-old enmity between these two cities was approaching unavoidable military clash, which will be discussed in the next article of this series.

In the prophecy King Nebuchadnezzar was likened to a drinking cup of Jehovah’s rage. Jeremiah said: “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel said to me: ‘Take this cup of the wine of rage out of my hand, and you must make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink it. And they must drink and shake back and forth and act like crazed men because of the sword [of Nebuchadnezzar] that I am sending among them.’”—Jer. 25:15, 16.

NATIONS TO DRINK CUP OF JEHOVAH’S RAGE

In a symbolic way Jeremiah, by prophesying, passed the cup to the nations, making them drink the prophetic message before drinking its fulfillment: “I proceeded to take the cup out of the hand of Jehovah and to make all the nations drink to whom Jehovah had sent me: namely, Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and her kings, her princes, to make them a devastated place, an object of astonishment, something to whistle at and a malediction, just as at this day.” After putting Jerusalem first in the order of being served with the cup of wine of divine rage, Jeremiah mentions in rapid order the countries of Egypt, Uz, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, Dedan, Tema, Buz, Arabia, Zimri, Elam, Media. Yes, “and all the other kingdoms of the earth that are on the surface of the ground.”—Jer. 25:17-26.

Finally Jeremiah climaxes the serving of the cup from Jehovah’s hand by adding: “And the king of Sheshach himself will drink after them.” (Jer. 25:26) Jewish tradition has it that this name Sheshach is a cipher for the Hebrew name Babel (or Babylon), on the system by which the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet (taw) is substituted for the first letter of the alphabet (aleph), and the next to the last letter (shin) is substituted for the second letter of the alphabet (beth), the third last letter (resh) for the third (gimel), and so on.c Besides, the name Sheshach has the thought of humiliation, which was due for Babylon. Another suggestion is that Sheshach means “copper-gated,” which description was true of Babylon. This prophecy would mean, then, that the king of Babylon would cease to be the symbolic cup in Jehovah’s hand, but would, in turn, have the symbolic cup of wine, in the form of another king, put to his own lips. In that case it would be exclaimed: “O how Sheshach has been captured, and how the Praise of the whole earth gets to be seized! How Babylon has become a mere object of astonishment among the nations!”—Jer. 51:41.

So God would use Babylon as a convenient executional instrument, yet for Babylon, his bitter all-time enemy, the hater of Jerusalem, the city that stood for his name, Jehovah prophesied utter desolation: “And it must occur that when seventy years have been fulfilled [on Jerusalem and the land of Judah] I shall call to account against the king of Babylon and against that nation, . . . their error, even against the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it desolate wastes to time indefinite. And I will bring in upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it, even all that is written in this book that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. For even they themselves, many nations and great kings, have exploited them [Jehovah’s people] as servants; and I will repay them according to their activity and according to the work of their hands.”—Jer. 25:12-14.

According to the Christian apostle Paul, even the events that we have just reviewed are themselves prophetic, typical of something greater. Here was a people that had God’s name upon them and who went farther than the pagan nations in bringing reproach upon his name. Christendom has taken God’s name and that of his Son Jesus Christ, yet has brought more reproach upon the name of God and Christ than the pagan nations. Also, in Babylon, the ancient hater of God and his people, there is pictorial significance of the world empire of false religion, always God’s bitter enemy. The prophecy of Jehovah came to be true upon Jerusalem and later upon Babylon. His words cannot fail today, to bring destruction upon those who despise his Word. Those who pay attention to prophecy by diligently studying and quickly acting as prophecy directs will receive his favor. Jehovah is “the One telling from the beginning the finale.” He commands: “Listen, and your soul will keep alive.” So, if you wish to keep alive, pay attention to prophecy!—Isa. 46:10; 55:3.

[Footnotes]

Diligent in Declaring the Everlasting Good News

TODAY many persons are diligent. Politicians are diligent in seeking election or reelection. Bankers, businessmen and manufacturers are diligent in seeking to increase their power or profits or both. Medical researchers are diligent in seeking to find causes and cures for diseases. And many a parent is diligent in seeking to provide for his family.

If human reasoning and the wisdom of this world justify diligence in such endeavors, how much more reason do dedicated Christians have for being diligent in acting on the everlasting good news concerning which the apostle John wrote: “I saw another angel flying in midheaven, and he had everlasting good news to declare as glad tidings to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying in a loud voice: ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of the judgment by him has arrived.’”—Rev. 14:6, 7.a

Of course, that ‘the hour of God’s judgment has arrived’ is not good news for Satan the Devil nor for any who have his spirit, but it is good news for all lovers of righteousness. It means an end of this wicked system of things with all its sorrow, pain, crying, sin and death, and the bringing in of a new order free from all such things. The enjoyment of that new order, however, is to be had only on God’s terms, and so only for those willing to comply with God’s terms is this indeed good news.—Rev. 21:4.

The fact that John saw an angel having this good news indicates that the preaching of it would be under the direction of angels, and this is what we could expect in view of the role the angels played in bringing to humankind the good news of Jesus’ birth nineteen centuries ago. (Luke 2:9-14) Moreover, did not Jesus prophesy that angels would accompany him when he returned? (Matt. 24:30, 31; 25:31, 32) Besides, are we not told that these angels are “spirits for public service, sent forth to minister for those who are going to inherit salvation”? It is indeed a great comfort and source of encouragement to know that God’s angels are guiding, backing up and protecting those who are declaring the everlasting good news.—Heb. 1:14.

What a grand privilege it is to declare the everlasting good news! It brings glory to God and life to those who accept it, as well as to ourselves. This being so, what if opposers, at peril to themselves, try to stop us or at least to slow us down? That is no reason for fear. Jehovah God is to be obeyed, not men! So let us speak out boldly and be diligent in doing so, for the time is short. When Babylon the Great goes down in destruction there will be no more opportunity for any hearers to take their stand on Jehovah’s side and find safety.

How can we manifest diligence in courageously declaring the good news? One way is by being diligent in equipping ourselves so as to be able to present the good news intelligently and convincingly. We want not only to ‘count time’ but to make time count! More than that, we must set aside time for this preaching work, for if we wait until we have nothing else to do we will never engage in declaring the good news. That means to “go on walking in wisdom toward those on the outside, buying out the opportune time for yourselves.” In other words, we must take time from other activities or affairs for use in declaring the everlasting good news.—Col. 4:5.

More than that, to be diligent in declaring the good news we must take care to see that the inhabitants of every home in our assignment have an opportunity to hear the good news, and that repeatedly. We also want to make certain that we call back on all persons manifesting interest and, wherever possible, start home Bible studies with interested lovers of righteousness, potential persons of goodwill.

We want to show not only courage and diligence in declaring the good news but also endurance. That endurance would be required is clear from the words reported by John in this connection: “Here is where it means endurance for the holy ones, those who observe the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” While we know that the time is comparatively short, we do not know just how short. So it will require endurance on our part, a resolve to endure regardless of what we may be called on to endure and regardless of how long it may yet be until Jehovah calls a halt to the declaration of the good news.—Rev. 14:12.

During the month of October dedicated Christians will be declaring the good news by offering the Awake! magazine on a subscription basis, each issue of which has something to say about the everlasting good news.

[Footnotes]

Questions From Readers

● Is it right to say that Jehovah’s witnesses do a converting work or a proselyting work?

According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, to convert is “to bring over or persuade (a person or group) to a particular belief, view, course, party, or principle often from a previously held position” or “to bring about a spiritual conversion in (as a religious conversion in a person or group).” A proselyte is defined as “one who has been converted from one religious faith to another.” Hence, to proselyte is “to convert from one religion, belief, opinion, or party to another.” A proselytizer is therefore “one that makes or tries to make proselytes.”

In Bible times, some foreigners became converts to the Jews’ religion. They were referred to in the Christian Greek Scriptures by the Greek word proseʹlytos, meaning “one who has come over to Judaism, a convert, proselyte.” (A Greek-English Lexicon, by Liddell, Scott and Drisler, 1849, page 1272) The Scriptures and Jesus himself called such ones proselytes, though this term is not applied in the Greek Scriptures to those converted to Christianity. (See Matthew 23:15; Acts 2:10; 6:5; 13:43.) Yet, according to modern dictionary usage, it can be said that a person who turns from some other religion to Christianity is a convert or proselyte.

The Greek word for “convert” is strépho, which means “to turn.” It is rendered “turn around” in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures at Matthew 18:3, where Jesus said: “Unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” A related word, epistrépho, meaning “to turn about” or “turn upon” is used at James 5:20, where it is said: “Know that he who turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” The Greek noun epistrophé, which is akin to epistrépho, means “a turning about, or round, conversion” and was used at Acts 15:3. At Acts 15:1-3 Luke did not try to avoid indicating that early Christians made converts. No, but after saying that Paul, Barnabas and others were sent to inquire of the apostles and older men at Jerusalem regarding circumcision, he explained that during their journey “these men continued on their way through both Phoenicia and Samaria, relating in detail the conversion of people of the nations.” So, when persons at that time embraced Christianity, they were converted.—See An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W. E. Vine, pages 238, 239.

To his followers Jesus said: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, . . . teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) Were they not to do proselyting work, to make disciples? Indeed they were, and Christ’s modern-day followers do the same thing. If turning pagans from false worship to Judaism was proselyting them, then, also, turning pagans to Christianity means proselyting them. Of course, they do not use force or unchristian methods in their preaching work. No coercion is employed to bring about conversion. Instead, Biblical truths are taught today by Jehovah’s Christian witnesses. Those with righteous hearts respond to the truth. It is not the personal force of the minister that changes the person, for Christ said: “No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him.” (John 6:44) It is the truth of God’s Word, as preached by Jehovah’s witnesses, that sets persons free from religious bondage. (John 8:32) Those who hear the message of truth must individually decide whether to accept or reject it. They determine whether to turn around, to make a change in life, to quit being fashioned after this system of things and become converts to true Christianity.—Rom. 12:2.

But Jehovah’s witnesses are doing a proselyting work, a work of conversion, just like that of the early Christians. Due to their ministry, hundreds of thousands of persons have abandoned Babylon the Great. And we joyfully look to the future, for there still remains some time for others to heed the admonition: “Get out of her, my people.”—Rev. 18:4.

● What does Acts 6:15 mean when it says that Stephen’s face “was as an angel’s face”? Was he transfigured, as Jesus was?

The Bible account at Acts, chapters 6 and 7, tells about Stephen’s defense before the Sanhedrin, and Acts chapter 6, verse 15, says: “As all those sitting in the Sanhedrin gazed at him, they saw that his face was as an angel’s face.” The scripture here does not necessarily mean that Stephen’s face was transfigured, as Jesus was on the mount of transfiguration. Yet there must have been something about Stephen’s face that fascinated the members of the Sanhedrin. It was not unusual, of course, for the judges to observe the countenance of the prisoner before them, which sometimes is an indication of guilt or innocence. Now, Stephen appeared before the court, not with the downcast face of one guilty of a crime, but with the countenance of an angel, a messenger sent by God, one with confidence that he had the backing of God. His face gave no evidence that he was guilty of wrongdoing. He displayed courage. His face showed that he was serene and unperturbed, because of his confidence in God. As Jesus had said not long before this: “I give you my peace. . . . Do not let your hearts be troubled nor let them shrink for fear.”—John 14:27.

The Bible’s description of the appearances of angels who manifested themselves at times to Jehovah’s servants also reveals that an angel’s appearance is awe-inspiring. So Stephen, filled with holy spirit, reflected the countenance of a representative of the God of glory, and Stephen’s facial appearance, for the moment, seemed to overawe his hostile judges. But the impression of the opposed Jews changed from wonderment to chagrin when Stephen exposed their guilt as to the murder of the “righteous One,” Jesus Christ. After Stephen’s rebuke, the judges “felt cut to their hearts and began to gnash their teeth at him.” But Stephen, “being full of holy spirit, gazed into heaven and caught sight of God’s glory and of Jesus standing at God’s right hand.” With this vision to strengthen him, he could face those unrighteous judges with confidence that he had indeed done the will of God.—Acts 7:52, 54, 55.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

Jehovah God has provided everlasting good news that is today being proclaimed to all peoples, and it is the privilege of his servants on the earth to share in this proclamation. During October, Jehovah’s witnesses will continue to do this by giving brief Bible sermons to the people in their homes, by conducting free home Bible studies with those who manifest interest, and by offering the Awake! magazine on a subscription basis; $1 for a year.

NOTICE TO READERS!

Did you know that this magazine you hold in your hand has a companion? It is Awake! Like The Watchtower it is spiritually awake because it is governed by true Bible principles, not philosophy or expediency. But it does not deal exclusively with Bible doctrine. It is a magazine of facts, news, everyday problems, practical sciences, human interests and the wonders of God’s creation. It is instructive, wholesome reading for all, but not from a materialistic standpoint. Send for a year’s subscription and receive three booklets on timely Bible subjects free. One year, $1.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

October 25: The Bible and Creation in the Light of Modern Science. Page 584.

November 1: God’s Word the True Guide for Man. Page 590.