The Watchtower — February 1, 1965

Work Is a Blessing

WORK a blessing? Yes, rightly viewed and unless conditions are too burdensome, work is a blessing. And that is true for more than one reason, even as the Scriptures and the facts show.

The Bible tells us that God and Jesus Christ are workers and that they are happy. And concerning the blessing of work, a wise king of old, Solomon, once said: “Look! The best thing that I myself have seen, which is pretty, is that one should eat and drink and see good for all his hard work with which he works hard under the sun . . . and to rejoice in his hard work.” “It is the gift of God.”—Eccl. 5:18, 19; 3:13.

For one thing, work is a blessing because by means of it we can honestly supply our needs. More than that, there is more satisfaction in having earned something than in having received it as a gift. There is no question but what the unemployed man who is sincerely looking for work appreciates that work is a blessing. However, if one has the opportunity to work but does not want to, the Bible rule is “neither let him eat.”—2 Thess. 3:10.

The blessing of work is not limited to its supplying us with what we need in a material way—food, clothing, shelter, recreation, and so forth. We need work for our own well-being, both of body and mind. The Creator endowed us with the capacity for work, both physical and mental, and for true satisfaction and contentment we must make use of the gifts with which we have been endowed. That is why a man who earns his bread primarily by his thinking ability rather than by the use of his muscles finds that for sound health he needs to have some physical exertion.

Well has it been observed: “Working is as much a necessity to a man as eating and sleeping.” It is, in fact, the best justification for eating and sleeping. As much as we enjoy a weekend or sabbath of rest or a much-needed vacation, we could not enjoy resting indefinitely. Oh, you might think, If only I did not need to go to work Monday morning! Or, If only I had as many weeks of vacation as I could wish! All well and good for a few days or weeks, but before long you would simply long to do something useful.

We cannot escape it. We need the joy and satisfaction that come from doing good and useful work. In this we are but imaging our Creator, for his Word tells us that, upon the completion of creation: “God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.” True, not everyone can have the work he would most like to do. It may be that such work is not in demand, or does not pay sufficiently; or one may not have the necessary qualifications, such as the second violinist who would like to be conducting the orchestra.—Gen. 1:31.

But each one can take an interest, and should, in the work he finds it necessary to do to earn a livelihood for himself and those dependent upon him. Most important is that your work be honest and need doing. View it as presenting a challenge to you to keep doing ever better work or to do it ever more efficiently, and that whether you are a professional man or a laborer, an office worker or a housekeeper. Experience the joy and satisfaction that come from doing a good job, be it typing a business letter or repairing a piece of machinery, cooking a meal or cleaning rooms.

Because so many fail to appreciate the blessing that work can bring when viewed in this manner, today more and more the emphasis is solely on the wages or salary received, the fringe benefits and the limited hours. This does not make for happiness but, rather, is self-defeating. How so? Because the more they get the more they want, as can be seen from the ever higher demands of many unions; and the fewer hours spent the fewer they want to work, as can be seen from the current agitation in the United States Congress for a thirty-two-hour week.

The truth of the foregoing is borne out by many persons engaged in creative work, such as artists and writers. It is also proved true by many professional persons, such as educators and general practitioners, who could turn to some other activity for more pay but who remain in their profession because of the rewards that cannot be measured in dollars and cents.

Serving to highlight this principle is the policy of the publishers of one of the leading magazines in the United States. According to a former staff writer, it is against their policy to discharge a writer once they have hired him. Instead, if his work is not good enough, they put him to work on some mammoth project that they never intend to use, and eventually the writer quits out of sheer frustration and feeling of uselessness. Just receiving the pay check was not enough; the writer also needed the inner sense of satisfaction of producing something worth while.

But nowhere is it more true that work is a blessing than in the work of the man of God, the Christian ministry, for does not the principle also apply here that “there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving”? Surely! And as Jesus also said: “My food is for me to do the work of him that sent me.” While many observers shrink from the thought of going from house to house or standing on street corners preaching the good news of God’s kingdom, those who wholeheartedly engage in it find a blessing in it that cannot be compared with anything else.—Acts 20:35; John 4:34.

So, since work needs to be done and you need to work to supply your needs as well as for your own well-being, take an interest in your work, get joy and satisfaction out of doing good work. Then you will agree that work is a blessing, even as the Creator arranged for it to be!

Why Expect God to Listen to Prayer?

PRAYER, without doubt, is the most common of all religious practices. The religious man, whether an Australian aborigine or a modern scientist, makes use of prayer. Hindu and African voodoo worshipers, Moslems and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, as well as the Christian witnesses of Jehovah, all pray. Indicative of the interest in the subject is the fact that in the library of a well-known New York City theological seminary there are 1,200 books on the subject.

Especially in times of emergency do people start to pray. As one Sunday-morning animated religious cartoon character on television put it: “I was so frightened I even started to pray!” Typical was the reaction of the wife of the commander of the United States atom-powered submarine, the Thresher. Upon hearing that the Navy had been out of touch with that submarine for eight hours, she said: “Then we had better start praying.” No wonder General Eisenhower once observed, “There are no atheists in fox holes.”

Yes, man, especially in his extremity, instinctively turns to some power greater than he is, to God, for help. But when we consider how great the God of the universe is, the Creator of the infinite expanse with its numberless heavenly bodies, we may well wonder why he would be interested in puny man, a tiny speck on a tiny speck. That is, in fact, the attitude of the deist, who, while acknowledging the existence of God as the Creator, denies that God gave man any revelation of himself and that he is at all interested in man’s lot. According to the deist, God is “an absentee-God, who, once and for all having wound up the world-machine, has left it to run its own course and to work out its own self-evolution.”

But the Creator did not leave man without a guide. Why should he discriminate against his highest earthly creation? He endowed all the lower animals with infallible instincts to guide them, did he not? Certainly, then, he would also provide an infallible guide for man, and that he did in his Word, the Bible. The very fact that man has the qualities of love, wisdom and justice argues that God would have the same, and, having the same, he would not create man with an inquiring and reasoning mind and then not satisfy that mind with the answers that it needed for its own contentment and happiness. Man does not need to know the length of a light-year to be happy, but he does need to know his purpose of existence, where he came from and what his destiny is. And only a revelation can give him this information, which the Bible does.

The Bible also gives us a number of reasons why we may expect God to listen to prayer. And let it not be overlooked that prayer not only includes petitions, supplications and requests, but also praise and thanksgiving.

GOD COMMANDS US TO PRAY

First of all, we may expect God to listen to prayer because he himself commands that his people pray to him, and his Word gives many examples of faithful servants of God praying; so much so that the Bible may well be said to be The Book of Prayer. Thus the psalmist commands: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!” And Jesus told his apostles: “Pray continually, that you may not enter into temptation.” The apostle Paul repeatedly urged those to whom he wrote to pray and to continue in prayer: “Persevere in prayer.” “Pray incessantly.” And the disciple James, a half brother of Jesus, wrote: “Therefore openly confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may get healed. A righteous man’s supplication, when it is at work, has much force.”—Ps. 122:6, RS; Matt. 26:41; Rom. 12:12; 1 Thess. 5:17; Jas. 5:16.

As for examples of prayer, we find these in the Bible from the first book to the last. Abel’s sacrificial offering might be said to have been a prayer acted out, and it most likely was accompanied by a verbal petition. And the apostle John closes the book of Revelation with two brief prayers. And what a man of prayer David was! Of his more than seventy psalms, nearly all are either prayers or contain prayers in the form of praise directed to God, thanksgiving and/or petition.

Prayer occupied a prominent place in the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Repeatedly we read of his praying, when he was baptized, when he fed the multitudes, just before he chose the twelve apostles, at which time he continued all night in prayer, as well as of his going off by himself time and again to meditate and pray. Especially do we note his praying on the last day that he was on earth as a man: at the institution of the memorial of his death, then afterward the prayer recorded at John 17, three times in the garden of Gethsemane and twice on the torture stake.

Then there is the example of the apostle Paul. He touches on the subject of prayer some seventy-five times in his letters. How important he considered praying can be seen by his urging Christians to pray right after he had told them to put on the whole armor of God: “With every form of prayer and supplication you carry on prayer on every occasion . . . and with supplication in behalf of all the holy ones, also for me, that ability to speak may be given me with the opening of my mouth, with all freeness of speech to make known the sacred secret of the good news. . . . that I may speak in connection with it with boldness as I ought to speak.” Did King David, Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul expect God to listen to prayer?—Eph. 6:18-20.

FOR THE SAKE OF HIS NAME

The fact that God commands us to pray and fills his Word, the Bible, with examples of his servants praying should suffice to show that they can expect God to listen to prayers. But, it may be asked, Why? Why should this great Eternal One, the Most High and Universal Sovereign, listen to the prayers of his servants? One overriding or compelling reason is that the reputation of his name is involved. Thus Moses repeatedly pleaded with God successfully on the basis of God’s name and fame being involved: “Why, O Jehovah, should your anger blaze against your people. . . ? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out in order to kill them’?” “Were you to put this people to death as one man, then the nations who have heard of your fame would certainly say this, ‘Because of Jehovah’s not being able to bring this people into the land about which he swore to them he proceeded to slaughter them in the wilderness.”’—Ex. 32:11, 12; Num. 14:15, 16.

Thus also Jehovah listened to Joshua when, after the defeat at Ai, he prayed: “Excuse me, O Jehovah, but what can I say after Israel has turned his back before his enemies? And the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will certainly surround us and cut our name off from the earth; and what will you do for your great name?” The same was true of the prayer that Hezekiah, faithful king of the two-tribe kingdom of Judah, offered when confronted with the taunts of the sneering king of Assyria, Sennacherib: “And now, O Jehovah our God, save us, please, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Jehovah, are God alone.”—Josh. 7:8, 9; 2 Ki. 19:19.

Then again, at Psalm 79:9, we read the prayer: “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of your name.” And so did Daniel pray, as recorded at Daniel 9:19: “O Jehovah, do hear. . . . Do not delay, for your own sake, O my God, for your own name has been called upon your city and upon your people.” Many more examples could be given, but these should be sufficient to show that Jehovah God can be expected to listen to prayer, particularly when it is related to the vindication of his name.

BECAUSE OF HAVING KEPT INTEGRITY

Another reason why God’s servants can expect God to listen to their prayers is his love of righteousness: “Jehovah is righteous; he does love righteous acts.” Because of this we read: “Jehovah is far away from the wicked ones, but the prayer of the righteous ones he hears.” Those who follow an upright course can come to God on the basis of their having kept integrity with God.—Ps. 11:7; Prov. 15:29.

Thus Job made an eloquent plea to God on the basis of his having followed a righteous course. (Job Chapters 29-31) Likewise King David, in praying for God’s blessing at the time of gathering materials for the building of the temple, said: “I well know, O my God, that you are an examiner of the heart, and that it is in rectitude that you take pleasure. I, for my part, in the uprightness of my heart have voluntarily offered all these things.”—1 Chron. 29:17.

In the same vein we find Nehemiah praying: “Do remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my acts of loving-kindness that I have performed in connection with the house of my God and the guardianship of it.” The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, doubtless the apostle Paul, likewise shows the connection between purposeful prayer and right conduct: “Carry on prayer for us, for we trust we have an honest conscience, as we wish to conduct ourselves honestly in all things.” In fact, this very same principle is implied in the model prayer Jesus gave his disciples: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Yes, because of Jehovah’s love for righteousness all who are lovers of God’s righteousness and seek to practice it can expect God to listen to their prayers.—Neh. 13:14; Heb. 13:18; Matt. 6:12.

PRAYING ON THE BASIS OF INHERITED SIN

One of the basic requests imperfect creatures can make in their prayers is that God may forgive them their sins. As the apostle John expresses it: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous so as to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”—1 John 1:9.

When it comes to praying for God’s mercy and forgiveness of sin, God’s servants can use the fact of their inherited sin and imperfection. Thus David pleaded with Jehovah to forgive his sin against Uriah: “Look! With error I was brought forth with birth pains, and in sin my mother conceived me.” King Solomon took note of the same thing in his prayer at the dedication of the temple of Jehovah: “In case they sin against you (for there is no man that does not sin), and you have to be incensed at them and abandon them to the enemy, . . . and they indeed come to their senses . . . and they actually return and make request to you for favor . . . you must forgive your people who had sinned against you.”—Ps. 51:5; 1 Ki. 8:46-50.

In fact, Jehovah himself tells that he takes man’s inherited imperfection into consideration in dealing with him: “Never again shall I call down evil upon the ground on man’s account, because the inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth up; and never again shall I deal every living thing a blow just as I have done.” God’s servants, therefore, have ample reason for expecting God to listen to their prayers when they ask for mercy and forgiveness on the basis of inherited weakness, because of the original sin of Adam.—Gen. 8:21; Rom. 5:12.

JEHOVAH’S LOVING-KINDNESS

And lastly, God’s servants can always plead their cause with Jehovah, that is, expect him to listen to their prayers, on the basis of his being a God of loving-kindness and mercy. Thus, when Jehovah was ready to wipe out the Israelites because of their having rebelled, Moses pleaded, not only on the basis of Jehovah’s name as being involved, but also on the basis of his being a God of loving-kindness: “And now, please, let your power become great, O Jehovah, just as you have spoken, saying, ‘Jehovah, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, pardoning error and transgression . . . Forgive, please, the error of this people according to the greatness of your loving-kindness.”’ (Num. 14:17-19) Yes, Jehovah had told Moses that He is a God of mercy and loving-kindness, when Moses had asked to see his glory, and so now Moses could properly remind Jehovah of that fact. King David pleaded on this basis (Ps. 51:1) and so did the prophet Daniel on behalf of his people: “Incline your ear, O my God, and hear . . . for not according to our righteous acts are we letting our entreaties fall before you, but according to your many mercies.”—Dan. 9:18.

No question about it, the Bible does not reveal an absentee-God such as the deist would have us believe that the great Creator is. No, he is interested in his creatures, and that for good reasons. He therefore invites them, yes, commands them to come to him in prayer, in praise, thanksgiving and with supplications. He welcomes their prayers on the basis of his name and because of their having kept integrity. Furthermore, he lets them plead on the basis of their human imperfection and inherited sin and also on the basis of his glorying in showing loving-kindness.

The Bible speaks of God as the “Hearer of prayer.” But that does not mean he listens and favorably acts on all prayers, for, as is implicit in the foregoing, one must pray to the one true God and in the right manner and about right things to be heard by Him. Those meeting these conditions will find in their own lives that God is indeed the “Hearer of prayer,” that is, hearing in the sense of listening and answering prayer. Happy are those who thus pray!—Ps. 65:2.

The Dead Who Are in Line for Resurrection

“As regards the resurrection of the dead, did you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living.”—Matt. 22:31, 32.

1. In resurrection time, why may many be surprised at being brought forth?

MANY men and women of ancient history looked forward to a resurrection of the dead. Countless others had no knowledge of such a thing as a resurrection and had no such expectation. Their religions taught them otherwise. Will they be surprised with a resurrection from the dead when Almighty God uses his power during the reign of his kingdom over the earth?

2, 3. (a) What ancient book has authority to answer that question, and how do its opening and its closing chapters show that? (b) What does its final statement on the resurrection say?

² Only one ancient book of religion has the authority to answer that question. It is the only book that teaches such a thing as the resurrection of the dead by means of God’s kingdom, in which kingdom his most beloved Son will rule as king for the blessing of all mankind. This unusual religious book is the Holy Bible, which even today, nineteen hundred years since its completion, ranks first among all the books on the earth, religious or nonreligious. In its opening fifty chapters the Holy Bible points to a resurrection of the human dead. In its last twenty-two chapters it speaks of (1) the resurrection of the faithful Son of God, Jesus Christ, (2) the resurrection of his faithful disciples in what is called “the first resurrection,” and (3) the resurrection of mankind in general. (See Revelation 1:17, 18, 5; 2:10; 20:4-6, 12-14.) In that final statement of the resurrection the writer of that last section of the Bible says:

³ “And I saw a great white throne and the one seated on it. From before him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Haʹdes gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. And death and Haʹdes were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire.”—Rev. 20:11-15.

4. What kind of people did John there see resurrected, and what fact about supremacy will they come to know at least then?

⁴ Notice, in Re 20 verse 12 above quoted, that the writer, the Christian apostle John, does not say that those resurrected are either good or bad. He does not say, ‘I saw the dead, the good and the bad,’ but says: “I saw the dead, the great and the small.” In other words, people of all ranks of life. But whether great or small, they all came in for a judgment before the throne of the Judge of all creation, the Most High and Almighty God. At that time, if they have never known it before, they will know what Psalm 83:18 (King James Version) says to this supreme Judge, who is God: “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.” Thus the dead cannot escape a judgment by the Most High God named Jehovah.

5. In writing Revelation 20:11-14, why did not John as a Jew use the word Sheol?

⁵ Death is the state of being dead. But from what place will the dead ones about whom Revelation 20:11-14 prophesies come forth? Re 20 Verse 13 says: “And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Haʹdes gave up those dead in them.” All of us know what the sea is and know that many have found a watery grave in it. But what is Haʹdes? To most people this has been explained incorrectly, that is, not Biblically. The apostle John, although being a Christian, was a Hebrew or Jew by birth. He wrote Revelation 20:11-14 in the international language of his day, the common Greek, and so he used the Greek word Haʹdes. But if he had written in Hebrew, John would have used the Hebrew word Sheol. In fact, nine modern Hebrew translations of the Revelation to John use the word Sheol; and the Syriac translation, which was read in the Middle East, uses the related word Shiul.

6. In the complete Bible, how are Sheol and Haʹdes used, and by finding out who are there, what can we also know?

⁶ In other words, in the complete Holy Bible made up of the inspired Hebrew Scriptures and the inspired Greek Scriptures, Haʹdes and Sheol mean the same thing. Haʹdes or Sheol means the common grave of mankind dead in the dust of the ground. In fact, the Authorized or King James Bible Version translates the Hebrew word Sheol thirty-one times as “the grave.” So, now, by finding out from the Holy Bible who it says are in Sheol or Haʹdes, we can know who will be resurrected from there, aside from the sea.

THOSE WHO ARE IN SHEOL (HAʹDES)

7, 8. (a) In what connection was the word Sheol reported as being used in the Middle East in the eighteenth century B.C.E.? (b) In what connection was the word Sheol used soon afterward in Egypt?

⁷ More than seventeen hundred years before our Common Era people in the Middle East used the word Sheol to mean the common grave of those dying on land, not of those dying at sea. In the year 1750 B.C.E., when Joseph was kidnaped and sold into Egypt, his responsible brothers reported that he had been killed. So his father Jacob (or Israel) refused to take comfort from his other children and said: “I shall go down mourning to my son into Sheol!” (Gen. 37:35) Twenty-two years later nine of Jacob’s older sons wanted to take his youngest son Benjamin down to Egypt to help them to get food from there for the famine. At first Jacob refused and said: “My son will not go down with you men, because his brother is dead and he has been left by himself. If a fatal accident should befall him on the way on which you would go, then you would certainly bring down my gray hairs with grief to Sheol.” (Gen. 42:38) Later, Jacob’s fourth son Judah repeated those very words of his father when Benjamin seemed in danger of being kept as a slave down in Egypt. (Gen. 44:29) Judah also said:

⁸ “Then it is certain to occur that as soon as he sees that the boy is not there he will simply die, and your slaves will indeed bring down the gray hairs of your slave our father with grief to Sheol.”—Gen. 44:31. (The Greek LXX translates Sheol as Haʹdes.)

9. On his deathbed, with whom did Jacob say that he must lie?

⁹ At that critical time Jacob’s beloved son Joseph was found to be alive in Egypt as its Food Administrator. So there was a happy reunion there of all the sons of Jacob. The aged man Jacob was sent for and brought down to Egypt to live there the rest of his one hundred and forty-seven years. As his death drew near, Jacob said to his son Joseph, the prime minister of Egypt: “I must lie with my fathers, and you must carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their grave.” (Gen. 47:30) Joseph swore to do this.

10. (a) To whom did the dying Jacob tell his sons he was being gathered? (b) On dying and being buried, where did Jacob go, and to whom?

¹⁰ On his deathbed Jacob blessed all twelve of his sons and said to them: “I am being gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah that is in front of Mamre in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite for the possession of a burial place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah.” (Gen. 49:29-31, 33) This last request of Jacob was carried out, and thus the earthly remains of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob came to rest together in the same burial place, the cave of Machpelah, in what became the territory of Judah. (Gen. 50:12-14) Thus Jacob finally went down, not to his son Joseph, but to his forefathers, in Sheol.

11. (a) Where was Abraham in the days of Jesus Christ on earth? (b) From what information do we know that Jesus was speaking a parable in Luke 16:22-26, involving Abraham?

¹¹ From the Holy Bible it is thus established that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are in Sheol. Many centuries later Abraham was still there when his descendant, Jesus Christ, was on earth and told about a “certain rich man” and a “certain beggar named Lazarus.” Knowing as we do what the Holy Bible teaches about Sheol or Haʹdes, we know that what Jesus said about this “rich man” and this “beggar” must have been a parable or illustration. Thus Jesus talked in picture language, even using Abraham as a picture. To prove this to yourself, note how Jesus worded this story, in Luke 16:22-26, American Standard Version Bible:

12. How did Jesus involve Abraham and Haʹdes in this parable?

¹² “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: and the rich man also died, and was buried. And in Haʹdes [Sheol, Hebrew; Shiul, Syriac] he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here he is comforted, and thou art in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us.”

13. In testing out whether Jesus’ words there are to be taken literally, what questions should the reader ask himself?

¹³ Now let the reader ask himself, Did Jesus really mean that the angels carried the dead body of Lazarus, full of sores, to the cave of Machpelah in front of the city of Hebron and there laid the dead Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, crowding out Abraham’s dead wife Sarah? Furthermore, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are all in Haʹdes or Sheol. So did Jesus really mean that there is flaming fire in Haʹdes or Sheol, the place in which, Jesus said, the dead and buried “rich man” found himself? And does that flaming fire torment certain ones in Haʹdes or Sheol and not torment others? Can those in Haʹdes or Sheol see one another and talk back and forth across a “great gulf”? And is there water down in Haʹdes or Sheol into which a person can dip the finger?

14. (a) Are the “rich man” and “Lazarus” reported today to be buried at the traditional burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? (b) With reference to Jesus’ parable, what does the Bible teach is not so in the literal Haʹdes or Sheol?

¹⁴ Many religious Bible readers say that Jesus was not telling a parable or pictorial illustration but was telling things as they actually are. This makes Jesus ridiculous. It makes him talk contrary to the rest of the Bible as to what it has to say about Haʹdes or Sheol. Go, please, to the Middle East today, to the traditional location of the burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the city of Hebron, under a Mohammedan mosque. Will they tell you that either the beggar Lazarus or the “certain rich man” (the so-called Diʹves) lies buried there? No! Furthermore, the Holy Bible says that Haʹdes or Sheol is not the location of Paradise for some dead ones and of fiery torment for others, but that it is the place of silence and of inactivity in every respect; that the dead ones there do not speak even to laud and praise God, and that there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in Haʹdes or Sheol.—Isa. 38:18; Eccl. 9:5, 10; Ps. 6:5.

15. How did Jesus use Abraham in the parable, and why appropriately so?

¹⁵ The honest-hearted Bible readers have eyes of understanding to see that in Luke 16:19-31 Jesus Christ was telling a parable or pictorial illustration. Such readers see that Jesus was using Abraham as a picture of the heavenly Father, Jehovah God, who made the promise to his earthly friend Abraham to bless all the families of the earth by means of Abraham’s seed or offspring. Just as Abraham at God’s command presented his son Isaac for human sacrifice, so Jehovah God actually sacrificed his Son Jesus Christ, the real promised Seed of Abraham for the blessing of all the nations of the earth.—Gen. 22:1-18; John 3:16.

16. Whom do the rich man and Lazarus therefore picture, and on what is this explanation based?

¹⁶ Accordingly, the “certain rich man” and the “certain beggar named Lazarus” were not literal men; they simply pictured two classes of people. The one class died to its favored position with the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God, and thereafter had a tormenting religious experience on earth. The other class died to its unfavorable religious condition and was conducted by angelic power into the favor of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God, through his sacrificed Son, Jesus Christ. This understanding and explanation of Jesus’ prophetic parable is based upon the actual historical experience of the two general religious classes among the natural descendants of the patriarch Abraham in Jesus’ day.a

17. What are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob now awaiting, and how did Abraham show his faith in this?

¹⁷ Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Sheol are awaiting the fulfillment of Revelation 20:12-14 by their resurrection from the dead, when Sheol will give them up. Long ago when Abraham obediently attempted to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, he displayed his own faith in the resurrection of the dead. Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us so in these words: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, as good as offered up Isaac, and the man that had gladly received the promises attempted to offer up his only-begotten son, although it had been said to him: ‘What will be called “your seed” will be through Isaac.’ But he reckoned that God was able to raise him up even from the dead; and from there he did receive him also in an illustrative way.”

18. When Abraham thus received back Isaac, what did this illustrate, in fulfillment of what verse of Psalms?

¹⁸ Thus, when Abraham received his son Isaac back alive from the altar and was provided with a ram to offer as a substitute sacrifice, it illustrated how the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God, would receive his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ from the dead by a resurrection, thereby fulfilling Psalm 16:10: “Thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol; neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption [or, the pit].”—AS, margin.

19, 20. (a) How is the certainty of the resurrection of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob proved by Jesus’ discussion of resurrection? (b) What purpose of God did Jesus thus show?

¹⁹ The coming resurrection of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a certainty. The words of Jesus Christ strengthen this certainty. The religious sect of the Sadducees of Jesus’ day did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. To try to prove that the resurrection would be an unreasonable thing, they put a tricky question to Jesus, one having to do with a woman seven times married.

²⁰ To show that their problem would furnish no difficulty for God in the resurrection, Jesus said to these Sadducees: “You are mistaken, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God; for in the resurrection neither do men marry nor are women given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven. As regards the resurrection of the dead, did you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living.” (Matt. 22:29-32) In other words, if those three patriarchs were to stay dead forever, God would not have said regarding Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: “I am the God.” He would properly have said, ‘I was the God.’ But, knowing His own purpose to have those three faithful men “living” again by means of the resurrection, Jehovah said: “I am the God” of them.—Mark 12:24-27.

21. In what sense were the three patriarchs “living” to God?

²¹ That Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would live again by a resurrection from the dead was so definitely fixed that God spoke to Moses as if they were already alive, “living.” According to Luke 20:37, 38, Jesus said: “But that the dead are raised up even Moses disclosed, in the account about the thornbush, when he calls Jehovah ‘the God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob.’ He is a God, not of the dead, but of the living, for they are all living to him.” At the time that Jehovah God spoke to Moses at the burning thornbush in the wilderness of Arabia, Jehovah did not mean that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were then alive. If they had been then alive in the days of Moses, there would have been no need for resurrecting them from Sheol or Haʹdes and Jehovah’s words would have been no proof that there will be a resurrection of the dead. But only because it was God’s purpose that there be a resurrection, He spoke of the three patriarchs as though they were already living. From the standpoint of the coming resurrection they all are “living” to God.

WHAT OF THE FOREFATHERS?

22. (a) What questions come up regarding Abraham’s forefathers, and how are they answered? (b) To whom was Abraham to go at death, and when was this fulfilled?

²² At this point, however, the question of Abraham’s ancestors or forefathers comes up for attention. These being dead now for thousands of years, where are they? Will they also have a resurrection? How shall we settle these questions? By the written Word of God! According to Genesis 15:15, Jehovah God said to Abraham in the Promised Land: “As for you, you will go to your forefathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.” The fulfillment of this came ninety years later, concerning which we read: “Then Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and satisfied, and was gathered to his people. So Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite that is in front of Mamre, the field that Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried, and also Sarah his wife.”—Gen. 25:8-10.

23. To what people was Abraham gathered at death, and what, therefore, would thus also be true of those people?

²³ Thus, as God had said, Abraham went to his forefathers in peace; he was gathered to his people. Who were Abraham’s forefathers, and who were his people? Abraham’s immediate father was Terah of the city of Ur of the Chaldeans; and chapter eleven of Genesis lists the forefathers of Abraham all the way back, through nine generations, to Shem, the son of Noah. Noah died two years before Abraham was born, whereas Shem died only twenty-five years before Abraham died. To these men as his people Abraham was gathered, and to these as his forefathers Abraham went in peace at death. What, then, does this mean? This, that, if at death Abraham went to Sheol or Haʹdes, to which place Isaac and Jacob followed him, then Abraham’s people or forefathers back to Noah must also be in Sheol or Haʹdes, and there they too are awaiting the resurrection of the dead under God’s kingdom by his Christ.

24. To whom was Abraham’s son Ishmael gathered at death, and where?

²⁴ Isaac’s half-brother Ishmael was the son of Abraham by his Egyptian concubine Hagar. Ishmael lived one hundred and thirty-seven years, and then, as Genesis 25:17 tells us, “he expired and died and was gathered to his people.” His people included his father Abraham, whom both Ishmael and Isaac buried ninety years previously. Ishmael, too, was thus gathered to Sheol or Haʹdes, the common grave of the human dead who lie in earth’s dust.

25. To whom was Moses’ brother Aaron gathered at death, and at what time?

²⁵ God’s written Word mentions the gathering of others to their forefathers at death. Just a hundred and fifteen years after the patriarch Jacob died down in Egypt, his great-great-grandson Aaron was born and three years later Aaron’s brother, who became the prophet Moses. When Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old God said: “Aaron will be gathered to his people, for he will not enter into the land that I shall certainly give to the sons of Israel.” So God’s high priest Aaron died on Mount Hor east of the Promised Land. (Num. 20:23-29) Later that same year Jehovah said to the prophet Moses: “You must be gathered to your people, yes, you, just as Aaron your brother was gathered.”—Num. 27:13.

26. Where was Moses gathered to his people, and where is he now?

²⁶ Before this occurred, Jehovah had Moses execute vengeance upon the enemy Midianites. (Num. 31:1, 2) On the day of Moses’ death in 1473 B.C.E., Jehovah told him to climb Mount Nebo and view the Promised Land from there and then be gathered to his people. (Deut. 32:48-52) Moses obeyed this command; and the postmortem report about him says: “After that Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab at the order of Jehovah. And he proceeded to bury him in the valley in the land of Moab in front of Beth-peor, and nobody has come to know his grave down to this day.” (Deut. 34:5, 6) But wherever Moses’ grave was, he went to Sheol or Haʹdes. From there God can deliver him and also Aaron through a resurrection by means of Jesus Christ the King.

27. To whom were Joshua and his contemporary Israelites gathered at death, and to what did they then descend?

²⁷ Who succeeded Moses as the visible judge of God’s chosen nation? It was Joshua the son of Nun. He led the chosen people across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. He was faithful to God until he died. Concerning Joshua and others of his day Judges 2:8-10 tells us: “Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died at the age of a hundred and ten years. So they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres in the mountainous region of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash. And all that generation too were gathered to their fathers, and another generation began to rise after them.” The gathering of all these to their fathers signifies that they all descended to Sheol, Haʹdes.

28. (a) With whom did King David lie down at his death? (b) Where did the apostle Peter report David to be on Pentecost of 33 C.E.?

²⁸ Centuries later David of Bethlehem became king of all twelve tribes of Israel. He was the first Jewish king to rule at Jerusalem. In a number of the psalms that David wrote he speaks about deliverance from Sheol or Haʹdes. (Pss. 16:10; 18:5; 30:3; 86:13) He lived to see his wise son Solomon installed as his successor on the throne of Jerusalem. “Then David lay down with his forefathers and was buried in the city of David.” (1 Ki. 2:10; Acts 13:36) He joined his forefathers in Sheol or Haʹdes. Long afterward, on the festival day of Shabuoth (Pentecost) of 33 C.E., David was reported to be still in Sheol or Haʹdes. On that day the Christian apostle Peter reported that Psalm Sixteen Ps 16 (composed by David) had then been fulfilled in David’s promised descendant, Jesus Christ. As Peter said concerning David: “He saw beforehand and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he forsaken in Haʹdes nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses. . . . Actually David did not ascend to the heavens.” (Acts 2:1-34) According to Peter’s words David’s resurrection is yet future.

29, 30. (a) To whom did the prophetess Huldah say that King Josiah would be gathered, and how was this fulfilled? (b) Were all the kings prior to Josiah buried In the same place?

²⁹ One of David’s faithful successors to the throne of Jerusalem was Josiah of the seventh century before our Common Era. By turning back his people to the law of Jehovah God, Josiah tried to do what he could to prevent national calamity from coming upon them. When he inquired through the prophetess Huldah what the future held for his nation, Josiah was given this promise from God: “Here I am gathering you to your forefathers, and you will certainly be gathered to your own graveyard in peace, and your eyes will not look upon all the calamity that I am bringing upon this place.”—2 Ki. 22:20.

³⁰ Josiah died from a wound received in battle at Megiddo. So it was not during the terrible calamity that was to come upon Jerusalem. After Josiah was fatally wounded, “his servants took him down from the chariot and had him ride in the second war chariot that was his and brought him to Jerusalem. Thus he died and was buried in the graveyard of his forefathers; and all Judah and Jerusalem were mourning over Josiah.” (2 Chron. 35:22-24) Not all the kings of Jerusalem who preceded Josiah were buried in the same place at Jerusalem, in the “burial places of the kings of Israel.”—2 Chron. 28:27; 21:20; 24:25; 32:33; 16:14.

31, 32. (a) For such ancient personages to be gathered to their people, what about their individual graves? (b) From where will they all come forth in common, and how?

³¹ For all these kings and patriarchs to be gathered to their people or to go to their forefathers and to lie with their forefathers, it did not mean that they all had to be buried in the same grave or tomb. Certainly when the patriarch Abraham died and was “gathered to his people,” he was not buried in the same grave with his father Terah, who died up north in Haran in the Mesopotamian valley, nor in the same graveyard or cemetery with Noah and Shem.

³² Certainly when high priest Aaron died at Mount Hor and his brother Moses died at Mount Nebo and they were gathered to their people, they were not buried with their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the cave at Machpelah near Hebron in the Promised Land. Yet they were all gathered to Sheol or Haʹdes. They all lie dead in the one Sheol or Haʹdes; and from there, Revelation 20:13 tells us, the dead will come forth in a resurrection.

[Footnotes]

Part Two

1. (a) Who did Paul say to Governor Felix would come forth in a resurrection? (b) How can we make sure whether such kinds of persons are in line for resurrection?

ONCE the Christian apostle Paul spoke in court before the Roman Governor Felix, who did not believe in the Bible and its teaching of a resurrection. Paul said: “I am rendering sacred service to the God of my forefathers, as I believe all the things set forth in the Law and written in the Prophets; and I have hope toward God, which hope these men themselves also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:14, 15) Well, then, does the Bible teach that there are unrighteous persons in Sheol or Haʹdes, which place will be emptied of all its dead by God’s kingdom? We can make sure of the answer to this question. How? By learning who else are in Sheol (Haʹdes) and what the Bible has to say about their morality and their position during their past earthly life.

UNRIGHTEOUS PERSONS ALSO IN SHEOL (HAʹDES)

2. How, in the book of Numbers, does Moses use the word Sheol in calling down judgment upon three rebels and their households?

² The Hebrew word Sheol (Greek LXX, Haʹdes) occurs four times in the first book of the Bible, called Genesis and written by the prophet Moses. The next occurrences of Sheol are in the fourth book of the Bible, called Numbers, also written by Moses. Twice the word is there used, in connection with the households of the Israelites Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Those three men became rebellious against Jehovah, and so he used his prophet Moses to call down his judgment upon them. First the other Israelites were told to get away from the tabernacles of those three rebels and their households. Then Moses showed that the judgment would be from God by saying: “If it is something created that Jehovah will create, and the ground has to open its mouth and swallow up them and everything that belongs to them and they have to go down alive into Sheol [Haʹdes], you will then know for certain that these men have treated Jehovah disrespectfully.”—Num. 16:20-30.

3. So what punishment did Moses ask to come upon those condemned ones, and where did they go at their execution?

³ Notice that the prophet Moses did not pray or ask for those three family groups to go down into everlasting destruction. He did not call for the worst punishment possible to be executed upon them. He asked for the ground beneath them to open up and swallow them down alive and bury them out of sight, that in this way they might go down “into Sheol.” Did they go to Sheol (Haʹdes), or to a worse place? The very next verses (Num. 16:31-33) tell us, saying: “And it came about that as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them began to be split apart. And the earth proceeded to open its mouth and to swallow up them and their households and all humankind that belonged to Korah and all the goods. So down they went, and all who belonged to them, alive into Sheol [Haʹdes, LXX], and the earth went covering them over, so that they perished from the midst of the congregation.”

4, 5. (a) How was Korah himself executed at that time? (b) Who of those households were spared, and why?

⁴ Apparently the leading man Korah was not with those who went down alive in this manner into Sheol. He was a Levite and evidently was in the courtyard of the tabernacle of worship among the two hundred and fifty Levites who sided with Korah against Moses and Aaron. “And a fire came out from Jehovah and proceeded to consume the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.”—Num. 16:35.

⁵ Thus by the miraculous splitting of the ground and by miraculous fire those three rebels and their households were cleared out from the congregation of Israel at about the same time. Sheol or Haʹdes holds them. The sons of Korah did not side in with their father and hence were not burned up. As Numbers 26:9-11 tells us: “However, the sons of Korah did not die.” In support of this, see also the superscriptions of Psalms 42-49, 84, 85, 87, 88.

6. According to Deuteronomy 32:22, how far-reaching is the expression of God’s anger, and how does Amos 9:2 agree with this?

⁶ In the Bible’s fifth book, called Deuteronomy, Moses used the word Sheol. In his farewell song to the congregation of Israel, Moses warned them about how thoroughly God would express his fiery anger against those who incite him to jealousy by their false worship. In giving this warning Jehovah God says through Moses: “A fire has been ignited in my anger and it will burn down to Sheol, the lowest place, and it will consume the earth and its produce and will set ablaze the foundations of mountains.” (Deut. 32:22) In pictorial language this warns us that Jehovah’s fiery anger goes down to the very roots of things. It is so thorough in its execution that if people try to dig as far down into the earth as Sheol in an attempt to escape, they will be overtaken by Jehovah’s searching anger. The reach of his ability to execute destructive judgment goes as far as earthly man can go. (Amos 9:2) Jerusalem was a city built upon a mountaintop, but God’s expression of anger reached her and caused her destruction.

7. Against whom were Korah, Dathan and Abiram directly speaking, and so why would it have otherwise gone far worse for their rebellion?

⁷ In the above-mentioned cases of the Israelites Korah, Dathan and Abiram, we must remember that they were rebelling and speaking against typical or prophetic figures. Both Moses as prophet and his brother Aaron as high priest were types of Jesus Christ in similar offices. (Deut. 18:15-19; Acts 3:20-23; Heb. 3:1, 2; 5:4-6; 9:23-26) When Jesus was on earth and was being spoken against he said: “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the holy spirit, it will not be forgiven him, no, not in the present system of things nor in that to come.” (Matt. 12:32) Korah, Dathan and Abiram were speaking against the two men, Moses and Aaron, who were types or prophetic figures of the Son of man, Jesus Christ. Had that not been so, it might have gone far worse with them than merely to descend with their households into Sheol or Haʹdes.

8. How did King David use language like that of Moses when speaking to Solomon concerning the Benjaminite Shimei?

⁸ Another man who used language like that of the prophet Moses was David, the first Jewish king of Jerusalem. He also was a type or prophetic figure of Jesus Christ, who was born into David’s own royal family. When David gave final instructions to his son Solomon to whom he had abdicated the throne of Jerusalem, David said: “Here there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjaminite from Bahurim, and he it was that called down evil upon me with a painful malediction on the day that I was going to Mahanaim; and he it was that came down to meet me at the Jordan, so that I swore to him by Jehovah, saying, ‘I shall not put you to death by the sword.’ And now do not leave him unpunished, for you are a wise man and you well know what you ought to do to him, and you must bring his gray hairs down to Sheol with blood.” In due time Solomon carried out his father’s orders.—1 Ki 2:8, 9, 42-46.

9. How was this true also with regard to David’s former army general Joab?

⁹ Concerning his former army general named Joab, the aged David said to Solomon as his successor: “You yourself also well know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me in what he did to two chiefs of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, when he killed them and placed the blood of war in peacetime and put the blood of war on his belt that was about his hips and in his sandals that were on his feet. And you must act according to your wisdom, and not let his gray hairs go down in peace to Sheol.” In due time, in the interest of the peace and unity of the kingdom, Solomon found it necessary to send his army officer Benaiah to execute Joab, who tried to take sanctuary at Jehovah’s altar. “Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went on up and fell upon him and put him to death; and he got to be buried at his own house in the wilderness.” (1 Ki. 2:5, 6, 28-34) Thus Joab’s gray hair did not go down in peace to Sheol.—Contrast Genesis 42:38.

10. Did David understand his use of terms in the case of Sheol, and to what, therefore, did he ask Solomon to bring Joab and Shimei down?

¹⁰ When giving such instructions to his son Solomon concerning Joab and Shimei, King David knew what he was talking about. He understood the meaning of the language that he was using. He knew what Sheol meant. In eleven of his psalms David, under inspiration, used the word Sheol and used it in a correct way.a He foretold, in Psalm 16:10, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from Sheol. This resurrection of Jesus laid the basis for all others in Sheol to be resurrected during the rule of God’s kingdom by his Messiah Jesus the descendant of David. So, in ordering Solomon to bring down Joab and Shimei violently to Sheol, David knew that he was not asking Solomon to bring down these disobedient men to everlasting destruction without hope of any future existence.

11. In Psalm 31:17, 18 David asked for the wicked to be silenced where, and why was that the correct location?

¹¹ David’s psalms and those of other Israelites are in harmony with David’s orders to Solomon as to the place to which to bring down men like Shimei and Joab. In Psalm 31:17, 18 David appeals to God and says: “O Jehovah, may I not be ashamed, for I have called on you. May the wicked ones be ashamed; may they [the wicked] keep silent [where?] in Sheol. May false lips become speechless, that are speaking against the righteous one, unrestrainedly in haughtiness and contempt.” In reading the prayer of David let us remember that it was written under inspiration by God’s spirit and that the right terms and locations are used.

12. In Psalm 9:17-20, what appeal to God does David make against nations leaving Him out of account?

¹² In Psalm 9:17-20 the inspired David makes this appeal to God against the nations that leave God out of account and that therefore march to the attack upon David and his people: “Wicked people will turn back to Sheol, even all the nations forgetting God. For not always will the poor one be forgotten, nor will the hope of the meek ones ever perish. Do arise, O Jehovah! Let not mortal man prove superior in strength. Let the nations be judged before your face. Do put fear into them, O Jehovah, that the nations may know that they are but mortal men.”

13. In Job 21:7-14, who did Job say descended down to Sheol?

¹³ It was not the delirious raving of a deathly sick man when Job said concerning the location of wicked people after death: “Why is it that the wicked themselves keep living, have grown old, also have become superior in wealth? . . . They spend their days in good times, and in a moment down to Sheol they descend. And they say to the true God, ‘Turn away from us! And in the knowledge of your ways we have found no delight.”’—Job 21:7-14.

14. What did Job 24:19, 20 say snatches away sinners?

¹⁴ To those words Job added these about sinners: “The drought, also the heat, snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned! The womb will forget him, the maggot will sweetly suck him, he will be remembered no more. And unrighteousness will be broken just like a tree.”—Job 24:19, 20.

15, 16. (a) Do the lower animals go to Sheol or Haʹdes at death? (b) How is it that stupid men, though in honor, have been appointed to Sheol like sheep, but how is it different with the upright ones?

¹⁵ Do the lower animals, such as sheep, go to Sheol or Haʹdes? No; even though their carcasses may have been buried along with human corpses or though images of animals may have been put in the sepulchers of believers in the immortality of animal souls as well as of human souls. However, just as helpless sheep are slaughtered in great numbers, so persons of all stations, high and low, rich and poor, have been slaughtered or killed in great numbers and thus been brought down to the common grave of humans who are dead in the dust of the ground. (Ps. 44:22; Rom. 8:36) The Levite sons of Korah sang of this fact, in Psalm 49:12-15:

¹⁶ “And yet earthling man, though in honor, cannot keep lodging; he is indeed comparable with the beasts that have been destroyed. This is the way of those who have stupidity, and of those coming after them who take pleasure in their very mouthings. Like sheep they have been appointed to Sheol itself; death itself will shepherd them [as if they were slaughtered sheep, the flock of Death]; and the upright ones will have them in subjection in the morning [of the day of deliverance of the upright ones], and their forms are due to wear away; Sheol rather than a lofty abode is for each one. However, God himself will redeem my soul from the hand of Sheol, for he will receive me.”

17. How was the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, but against whom did he turn traitor?

¹⁷ There was a man who was high in honor in the court of King David. That man was Ahithophel, the intimate adviser of David. “The counsel of Ahithophel, with which he counseled in those days, was just as when a man would inquire of the word of the true God. That was the way all the counsel of Ahithophel was both to David and to Absalom.” (2 Sam. 16:23) However, Ahithophel turned traitor to King David and joined in the revolt of his son Absalom.

18. (a) How did Ahithophel die, and with whom was he buried? (b) In Psalm 55:13-16, what punishment did David pray to befall the treacherous one?

¹⁸ In Absalom’s chamber of counselors God caused the wily counsel of Ahithophel to be frustrated. Hence, Ahithophel went off and committed suicide, hanging himself. “So he was buried in the burial place of his forefathers.” (2 Sam. 17:23) The treacherous person referred to by King David in Psalm Fifty-five is understood to be Ahithophel. Concerning the treacherous friend, David says under inspiration: “But it was you, a mortal man who was as my equal, one familiar to me and my acquaintance, because we used to enjoy sweet intimacy together; into the house of God we use to walk with the throng. Desolations be upon them! Let them go down into Sheol alive; for during their alien residence bad things have been within them. As for me, to God I shall call out; and Jehovah himself will save me.”—Ps. 55:13-16.

19. (a) In this connection, of whom was David a type? (b) Of whom was Ahithophel a prototype, and why is this latter one barred from a resurrection?

¹⁹ King David was a type or prophetic figure of his most eminent descendant, Jesus Christ, the Permanent Heir of the kingdom. So Ahithophel was a traitor, not to the Messiah or Christ himself, but to one who was merely a type of the Messiah. In harmony with this fact David’s prayer was that those like Ahithophel committing treachery against him should go down alive into Sheol, just as the household of Korah, Dathan and Abiram had done in Moses’ day. However, Ahithophel was a prototype of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the real Christ to his enemies for thirty silver pieces of money. Hence, the crime of Judas Iscariot was far more serious than that of Ahithophel, and Jesus called Judas, not the son of Sheol, but “the son of destruction.”b Jesus also called him a “slanderer” or a “devil.” (John 17:12; 6:70, 71) The destruction of Judas bars any resurrection for him.

20. In harmony with Proverbs 5:5, 6 and Pr 7:27, why have many men gone down prematurely into Sheol or Haʹdes?

²⁰ Even among the Israelites there were those who paid no attention to God’s law. So he let others bring them down to Sheol sooner than necessary. Among persons used as tools for bringing about a man’s premature descent into the common grave of dead mankind has been the harlot or prostitute. Concerning her Proverbs 5:5, 6 warns us in these words: “Her feet are descending to death. Her very steps take hold on Sheol itself. The path of life she does not contemplate.” Thus, if we follow her, we know where we shall end up—in death, in Sheol. So do not go to her house or district: “The ways to Sheol her house is; they are descending to the interior rooms of death.” (Prov. 7:27) For this reason many men have gone to Sheol or Haʹdes early because of their immorality.

21. According to Proverbs 9:13-18, men who stupidly yield to a prostitute are bringing themselves into company with whom?

²¹ We should not be as stupid as a prostitute by listening to her words enticing us to sexual uncleanness. “Whoever is in want of heart—she has also said to him: ‘Stolen waters themselves are sweet, and bread eaten in secrecy—it is pleasant.’ But he has not come to know that those impotent in death are there, that those called in by her are in the low places of Sheol.” (Prov. 9:13-18) The prostitute may be connected with a pagan temple of religion, but that does not alter matters. The false god worshiped in such a temple cannot save the worshiper from the disastrous results of a course of immorality, even when religiously performed.

22. The “path of life” turns away from what, especially as regards a prostitute?

²² The path of life leads in the direction opposite from where the harlot lives and carries on her business. “The path of life is upward to one acting with insight, in order to turn away from Sheol down below.” (Prov. 15:24) The way to the unlawful satisfaction of sexual passion and to the prostitute is the way to the realm of prematurely dead ones.

WHAT ABOUT THE HEATHEN?

23. After examining the cases mainly of persons like Job, Abraham and Abraham’s descendants, what questions arise about others?

²³ In our Biblical examination of the matter up till now we have been looking mostly into the cases of persons who have been in relationship with Jehovah by a covenant with him or by the clean worship of him, such as Job, Abraham and Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites, Jews or Hebrews. But, now, what about the people whom Jews call Gentiles, pagans or heathens? After they die, where are they? Where does God’s written Word place them? Are they within God’s provision for a resurrection from Sheol?

24, 25. (a) As regards the idolatrous Egyptians, what attitude did Jehovah command his people to take toward them? (b) In Ezekiel 31:1-18, what did the prophet say to Egypt’s Pharaoh and his crowd?

²⁴ The idolatrous Egyptians were heathens. For many years in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries before our Common Era they cruelly oppressed the Israelites. Yet God’s law through his prophet Moses said to the Israelites: “You must not detest an Egyptian, for you became an alien resident in his country. The sons that may be born to them as the third generation may come for themselves into the congregation of Jehovah.” (Deut. 23:7, 8) When likening Egypt’s king to an outstanding tree among other trees, Jehovah God said these words through his prophet Ezekiel in an address “to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to his crowd”:

²⁵ “This is what the Lord Jehovah has said, ‘On the day of its going down to Sheol I shall certainly cause a mourning. On its account I will cover the watery deep, . . . At the sound of its downfall I shall certainly cause nations to rock when I bring it down to Sheol with those going down into the pit, and in the land down below all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, all those drinking water, will be comforted. With him they themselves also have gone down to Sheol, to those slain by the sword, and those who as his seed have dwelt in his shadow in the midst of nations. . . . This is Pharaoh and all his crowd,’ is the utterance of the Lord Jehovah.”—Ezek. 31:1, 2, 15-18.

26-29. According to Ezekiel 32:18-31, who else are in Sheol besides Egypt’s Pharaoh and his crowd?,

²⁶ However, Pharaoh the king of Egypt and his crowd are not the only Gentiles, heathens or pagans down below in Sheol or Haʹdes. Jehovah God, to whom Sheol or Haʹdes is naked and open, tells us of the many other Gentiles besides the dead Egyptians who are down there. In continuing his prophecy concerning ancient Egypt, Jehovah God says to his prophet Ezekiel:

²⁷ “Son of man, lament over the crowd of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the land down below, with those going down into the pit.” The ancient Egyptians practiced circumcision, but, to their chagrin, they were going to lie down in death with Gentiles that did not practice circumcision:

²⁸ “‘The foremost men of the mighty ones will speak out of the midst of Sheol even to him, with his helpers. They will certainly go down; they must lie down as the uncircumcised, slain by the sword. There is where Assyria and all her congregation are. . . . There are Elam and all her crowd round about her grave, all of them slain ones, those falling by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the land down below, those who have caused their terror in the land of those alive; and they will bear their humiliation with those going down into the pit. . . .

²⁹ “‘There is where Meshech and Tubal and all her crowd are. Her burial places are round about him. . . . And will they not lie down with mighty ones, falling from among the uncircumcised, who have gone down [where?] to Sheol with their weapons of war? . . . There is where the dukes of the north are, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain ones, . . . These are the ones that Pharaoh will see, and he will certainly be comforted over all his crowd. Pharaoh and all his military force will be people slain by the sword,’ is the utterance of the Lord Jehovah.”—Ezek. 32:18-31.

30. (a) Are there other Gentiles in Sheol besides those named by Ezekiel, and where is this indicated? (b) How sensational did Isaiah say the destruction of Babylon’s line of kings was to be?

³⁰ Notice that array of Gentile nations, whose dead people are in Sheol or Haʹdes, namely, Egypt, Assyria, Elam, Meshech, Tubal, Edom and Sidon. But that the dead of still other Gentile nations are there is indicated for us in the words addressed to the king of Babylon by Jehovah’s prophet Isaiah. He foretold the destruction of the family line of kings of Babylon who held the Jews as exiles for over seventy years. This destruction is spoken of as being so sensational as to cause even the dead in the common grave of mankind to get excited. It is so sensational as to wake them out of their death sleep and make them talk in amazement.

31. To what did Isaiah, chapter fourteen, liken the “king of Babylon”?

³¹ Jehovah’s prophet Isaiah likens the “king of Babylon” to a majestic tree against which no woodchopper had even been able to get but which is at last cut down. To this line of Babylonian kings the prophet Isaiah says:

32, 33. (a) What was to be agitated at the king’s coming, and who therein were to speak to him? (b) In what dishonorable state was the “king of Babylon” to be brought down to Sheol?

³² “Even Sheol underneath has become agitated at you in order to meet you on coming in. At you it has awakened those impotent in death, all the goatlike leaders of the earth. It has made all the kings of the nations get up from their thrones [with which they had been buried]. All of them speak up and say to you, ‘Have you yourself also been made weak like us? Is it to us that you have been made comparable? Down to Sheol your pride has been brought, the din of your stringed instruments. Beneath you, maggots are spread out as a couch; and worms are your covering.’

³³ “O how you have fallen from heaven, you shining one, son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the earth, you who were disabling the nations! . . . down to Sheol you will be brought, to the remotest parts of the pit. . . . All other kings of the nations, yes, all of them, have lain down in glory, each one in his own house. But as for you, you have been thrown away without a burial place for you, like a detested sprout, clothed with killed men stabbed with the sword that are going down to the stones of a pit, like a carcass trodden down. You will not become united with them in a grave, because you brought your own land to ruin, you killed your own people.”—Isa. 14:4, 9-20.

34, 35. (a) What does Isaiah’s prophecy thus reveal about the inmates of Sheol? (b) Where will more on this general subject appear?

³⁴ Thus the “king” or royal dynasty of Babylon is brought down to Sheol, but not with the glorious burial such as was given to kings and world rulers of the earth. However, besides that fact Isaiah’s prophecy shows that “goatlike leaders of the earth” and “kings of the nations” are in Sheol or Haʹdes. Such personages as these would be “the great” that will stand before the great white throne of judgment, when, as Revelation 20:11-13 says, “death and Haʹdes [Sheol] gave up those dead in them.”

³⁵ However, more concerning this general subject will appear in further articles of this series to be published in the forthcoming issues of The Watchtower.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 80]

Israelite rebels go down into Sheol

A Bible Theme We Must Learn

NO Bible reader can ignore the fact that one of the dominating themes of the Bible is the fall of Babylon. It is also forced on his attention that there are two Babylons, one greater than the other; and he reads of the fall of both of these cities. One is a prototype of the other, and the existence and fall of both of these cities has great effect upon the true worshipers of God, yes, upon the entire world.

It is a matter of historical record that the first Babylon has fallen and gone into complete ruin, without an inhabitant. Even to Jehovah God, the sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth, the fall of Babylon was very important, for he caused his prophet Isaiah to describe its fall and destruction more than 190 years before the event actually occurred. But long after the fall of the ancient city of Babylon, God again foretold through his greatest Prophet, Jesus Christ, the fall of a greater Babylon. Its prototype, Babylon on the Euphrates, was an enemy of God and a thresher of his people Israel, and her destruction was a cause for Israel to rejoice, but the fall and destruction of Greater Babylon are of universal consequence and occasions for rejoicing on the part of the heavens and those dwelling on earth who serve God in true worship.—Revelation, chapters 17, 18.

LIFE OR DESTRUCTION INVOLVED

This Bible theme, the fall of Babylon, is a theme that we must learn. Like ancient Babylon, Babylon the Great is an empire. Ancient Babylon was the center of false religion that opposed God. Babylon the Great has outdone its prototype in enmity against God, for it constitutes the world empire of false religion. It has misrepresented God, put men in bondage to fear and superstition, has influenced governments and set them against one another and has caused most of the bloodshed that has taken place on the earth. (Rev. 18:24) Babylon the Great, as in the case of ancient Babylon, is foretold to suffer, first, a fall that breaks her power to hold onto her captives, and, later, complete destruction and ruination. The outstanding feature of this theme is that if we are in Babylon we must get out quickly and after getting free be extremely careful not to touch her or have anything to do with her wickedness and spiritual fornication.—Rev. 18:4; Isa. 52:11.

In ancient times Babylon put men in fear of danger for their lives, but modern Babylon the Great puts men in graver danger. How? Jesus said that many will be resurrected: “The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28, 29) He tells us that even the people of such wicked cities as Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon, Nineveh, and the Jewish cities that did not like Jesus’ preaching, namely, Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, will come back for the great Judgment Day. (Matt. 10:15; 11:20-24; 12:41) But those who stay in Babylon the Great and refuse to come out till she is destroyed will lose even all opportunity of a resurrection, for these will go down into everlasting destruction with her.—Rev. 18:4, 21.

So this Bible theme is of paramount importance to us and we must understand it and its relation to God and his kingdom that now rules, in order to preserve our own lives and in order to help our loved ones and others to gain everlasting life on earth.

A PREVIEW OF BABYLON’S FALL

By understanding the theme of Babylon’s fall we can identify Babylon the Great and also understand what it means to escape before her complete desolation. In a vision given to Isaiah he not only heard about the fall of Babylon, but was actually given a preview of it and its conquerors. He said, under divine inspiration: “The pronouncement against the wilderness of the sea: Like stormwinds in the south in moving onward, from the wilderness it is coming, from a fear-inspiring land. There is a hard vision that has been told to me: The treacherous dealer is dealing treacherously, and the despoiler is despoiling. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! All sighing due to her I have caused to cease.”—Isa. 21:1, 2.

The “wilderness of the sea” is an expression referring to the region of ancient Babylon, for Babylon lay across the Euphrates River, the eastern half of the city being between the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers. When the two rivers overflowed, southern Mesopotamia became a wilderness sea. In order to reduce this recurrent condition, the Babylonians built a grand series of dikes, sluices, canals and catch basins. In the Bible the word “sea” sometimes refers to the west, and here may refer to the country west of the lands of Elam and Persia—Babylonia, which would become a wilderness state.

Now Isaiah saw a terrible storm coming upon Babylon from a fear-inspiring land that lay east of Babylon. The storm began to be stirred up when Cyrus II the Persiana made himself also king of Media. In his proclamation to the Babylonians Cyrus calls his ancestors, Teispes, Cyrus I and Cambyses I, by the title of “King of Anshan.” This same title is given to Cyrus II himself in the cuneiform inscriptions and in the Chronicle of Nabonidus of Babylon before Cyrus defeated and deposed Astyages, king of Media. Anshan was a district of Elam or Susiana and lay east of the Tigris River. Jeremiah, in 617 B.C.E., foretold a defeat of the Elamites. (Jer. 49:34-39) It is possible that Teispes conquered the district of Anshan (or, Anzan) in 596 B.C.E., to the south of which district the Persians had earlier located themselves. Teispes assumed the title of “Great King, King of the City Anshan.” So there was close association of the Persians with the Elamites as well as the Medes.

Therefore, this symbolic storm that Isaiah saw came from a bad source for Babylon, as from a fear-inspiring wilderness in the south. (Compare Job 1:19.) According to Isaiah’s prophecy, Babylon would become a treacherous dealer and a despoiler, especially toward God’s people Israel. Her overthrow would naturally end the sorrow of those whom she despoiled and bring joy to them.

FEAR SEIZES THE TREACHEROUS DESPOILER

Isaiah, depicting the effect of this storm upon Babylon, says: “That is why my hips have become full of severe pains. Convulsions themselves have grabbed hold of me, like the convulsions of a woman that is giving birth. I have become disconcerted so that I do not hear; I have become disturbed so that I do not see. My heart has wandered about; a shuddering itself has terrified me. The twilight for which I had an attachment has been made for me a trembling.”—Isa. 21:3, 4.

While dealing treacherously and acting as despoilers, the Babylonians could look forward to the twilight for a good night’s sleep without fear. But this storm would take away their comfort and wreck their sleep. Isaiah then addresses himself to the nobles of Babylon as though he could foresee the feast that Belshazzar later arranged. He says: “Let there be a setting of the table in order, an arranging of the location of seats, an eating, a drinking! Get up, you princes, anoint the shield. For this is what Jehovah has said to me: ‘Go, post a lookout that he may tell just what he sees.”’—Isa. 21:5, 6.

On the night of October 5-6, 539 B.C.E., there was great feasting in Babylon and great rejoicing over despoiled Jerusalem, with blasphemous defiling of the vessels Babylon had captured from Jehovah’s temple in 607 B.C.E. But that very night the city fell to the Medes and Persians. Then the Babylonian princes had to anoint the battle shield to defend the city. But this proved to be in vain. The conquerors entered the castle and killed King Belshazzar, making it necessary for the princes to anoint a new shield, install a new king. This new symbolic shield would have to be their conqueror; else it would go hard with the Babylonian princes.

Isaiah now tells what the watchman posted on Jerusalem’s walls reports: “And he saw a war chariot with a span of steeds, a war chariot of asses, a war chariot of camels. And he paid strict attention, with much attentiveness. And he proceeded to call out like a lion: ‘Upon the watchtower, O Jehovah, I am standing constantly by day, and at my guardpost I am stationed all the nights. And here, now, there is coming a war chariot of men, with a span of steeds!”’—Isa. 21:7-9.

So before the Chaldean lookout actually posted on Babylon’s walls in 539 B.C.E. saw the Medes and Persians coming against the city, the prophetic watchman on Jerusalem’s walls had a miraculous preview many years previously. This came to be a great comfort to God’s people when they later came into captivity in Babylon as they watched for the fulfillment of this and Jeremiah’s prophecies. Daniel, an exile for more than seventy years, was one who closely watched. He says: “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes, . . . I myself, Daniel, discerned by the books the number of the years concerning which the word of Jehovah had occurred to Jeremiah the prophet, for fulfilling the devastations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. And I proceeded to set my face to Jehovah the true God.”—Dan. 9:1-3.

Herodotus (I,80) records that Cyrus’ army carried its baggage on camels and that he even put riders on camels and used them in fighting against the horses of King Croesus of Lydia. He also used asses and camels as pack animals, and perhaps even to carry men into battle. The expression “war chariot” evidently describes a collection of chariots that the watchman saw, with steeds to pull them swiftly into battle. Or it may be that the two kinds of animals picture the two peoples in the siege of Babylon, the asses picturing the Elamites and the camels the Medes.

WE MUST BE ON THE WATCH

The watchman whom Isaiah sees in vision certainly sets us a fine example today in watching for and discerning the fall and the final destruction of Babylon the Great. Also Daniel, back in captivity in Babylonia, shows us the proper attitude toward this important Bible theme by watching and giving strict attention day and night.

Now the watchman calls out: “She has fallen! Babylon has fallen, and all the graven images of her gods he has broken to the earth!” (Isa. 21:9) This event would mean liberation and joy to God’s people back there and is the looked-for event that brings greatest joy to those on earth to whom God expresses his goodwill in this time of final judgment of Babylon the Great. Who was it that smashed the graven images of Babylon’s gods and broke them to the earth? Not the Elamites and Medes, for they did not go about doing this, but it was Jehovah himself, who by liberating his people and crushing Babylon, in effect threw all Babylon’s gods and images to the ground, for he proved that they were really no gods, that they were merely lifeless, helpless images. The Almighty God of heaven and earth merely used the Elamites and Medes as his weapons against Babylon. It is interesting to note that the victor Cyrus himself gives Jehovah God the credit, as recorded at 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23 and Ezra 1:1-3.

Now, long before it happened, the prophet Isaiah shows that Israel would receive a cruel threshing at the hands of Babylon: “O my threshed ones and the son of my threshing floor, what I have heard from Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you people.” (Isa. 21:10) Jehovah’s people had become rebellious and unfaithful and it was on his threshing floor that he would allow the instrument Babylon to beat down his people. But this would be only for a time and then God would bring vengeance upon the thresher, who did it out of hatred for God and his people. This would also give the comforting news that a faithful remnant would survive Babylon’s fall and would be returned to Jerusalem.

Today is a time when God has gathered together his people and is causing the good news of the Kingdom to be proclaimed throughout all the earth as a witness to the nations, according to Jesus’ prophecy at Matthew 24:14. The Kingdom now rules. Babylon’s power to hold her captives is broken and she is exposed as God’s enemy.b This prophetic preview of Isaiah shows that Babylon would tread down Jehovah’s people Israel but that a faithful remnant would survive this “threshing.” Accompanying this understanding of the vision is the knowledge that Jehovah’s people will see Babylon the Great go down, to their joy; in the meantime they aid many others to freedom and survival by teaching the good news to them now. These will rejoice, too, in the vindication of God over his ancient enemy and the establishment of true worship exclusively in the earth, without a rival. They will be well on the road to everlasting life. Those who hang on to Babylon until her destruction will do so in spite of the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom, and because they want and love Babylon and her ungodly ways. They will be gone forever.

Then many of Babylon’s victims of the ages past will come back in a resurrection, to rejoice in the fact that she is gone and that in the great mercy of God he brought them back for an opportunity to learn of true worship and to serve the great King, with the prospect of everlasting life. What a fine conclusion to the theme, and how favored the ones learning it! Further discussion of the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah in this magazine will help us to learn the theme more thoroughly.

[Footnotes]

Aid Others to Become God’s “Men of Good Will”

WHAT does it mean to be “men of good will”? The expression calls to mind the song that the angelic choir sang at the time of the birth of the babe Jesus: “Glory in the heights above to God, and upon earth peace among men of good will.” (Luke 2:14)a “Men of good will” means persons enjoying God’s goodwill or favor.

How does one go about gaining God’s favor, his goodwill, so as to be able to receive the peace of God? The Bible itself answers: “The one finding me [heavenly wisdom] will certainly find life, and gets good will from Jehovah.” (Prov. 8:35) We must be so concerned with what is right and good and wise in God’s sight that we will be in fear of him, which means to hate what is bad. (Prov. 8:13) Thus we are further told: “Jehovah is finding pleasure in those fearing him, in those waiting for his loving-kindness.” It follows, therefore, that only by taking in knowledge of Jehovah and his Son, Jesus Christ, and then acting upon it, by dedicating ourselves to do God’s will, can we hope to become God’s “men of good will” and receive the resultant peace.—Ps. 147:11.

Today there are many persons who are kindly disposed toward God, but unless they gain God’s favor or goodwill they will suffer destruction at the battle of Armageddon. Having become “men of good will” ourselves, we owe it to Jehovah and our neighbors to aid these kindly disposed toward God to obtain God’s favor and goodwill. Among other things, we must show them how to heed the Scriptural injunction: “Seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger.”—Zeph. 2:3.

Further, we want to set a fine example as to our conduct so that these will also want to become “men of good will.” Above all, we must give priority in our lives to the preaching of the good news of God’s kingdom to others. For those in the north February will be a cold month, and they will need to show fortitude and determination so as not to slacken in their efforts to aid others to become God’s men of goodwill. Resolve not to let the weather unduly interfere; prepare for it in your mind, and also in a practical way by dressing for it. Put forth a particularly earnest effort at the beginning of the month, knowing that the weather may well get worse as the month wears on. Severe inclement weather is often the best time to find persons at home and so you will be rewarded for the greater effort put forth, as well as for the added discomfort endured.

Let us never forget that for persons to become God’s “men of good will” they need more than just Bible literature. While featuring The Watchtower on a subscription basis, we do not want to forget to make return visits and to establish a regular Bible study with them if at all possible, so that they can continue to grow in knowledge and understanding to the point where they will dedicate themselves to do Jehovah’s will, thereby winning his goodwill, and, in turn, aiding still others to become men of goodwill. Jesus said: “You received free, give free.” Happy are we if we heed those words!—Matt. 10:8.

[Footnotes]

Serving as a Soldier of Christ

As told by Johan Henrik Eneroth

WHEN the nations were gripped in the throes of the first world war I was a young first lieutenant in the Royal Swedish Army. I had been a military man for five years, but then something happened that began to make me realize that there was a much more important war facing mankind than the one in which the worldly nations were engaged.

One day a package arrived in the mail containing Volume 4 of the Studies in the Scriptures, called “The Battle of Armageddon.” My mother had dropped in at a Bible lecture and after the talk obtained this book. Now she would be glad if I got as much out of it as she did. I replied that I saw it referred to the Bible, and as I had no Bible it would be impossible for me to read it. (To buy myself a Bible was out of the question. Fancy a Swedish army officer walking into a bookshop and asking for a Bible!)

However, mother wisely replied that I did not need a Bible in order to read the book, as the scriptures were quoted in it. So I had to start reading in order not to offend her. After a while I laid it aside. I had read enough to see that if this book was true, then I would be on the wrong side of the battle front at Armageddon. This I did not want to admit.

During the Christmas season I was granted two weeks’ leave and went home. There my mother tactfully dropped a word in season about Bible truth, and placed books within my reach. One night between Christmas and New Year’s Day I picked up a book from the table—it was Volume 3 of the Studies in the Scriptures, “Thy Kingdom Come”—and became so gripped by what I read that I continued reading for several hours. It convinced me that the Bible was really the Word of God. For the first time since I could remember I knelt down and prayed. Little did I know that this would, in the course of time, lead to a life career as a soldier in God’s army!

When my leave was up, I returned to my post in northern Sweden, where I continued to read the Watch Tower publications. My mother had the Watch Tower branch in Örebro send me the address of other Bible students, and, in time, I mustered up courage to call at their home. The man and his wife looked rather surprised when they saw a uniformed army officer standing at their door, but, when I explained that I was interested in studying the Bible, they welcomed me with open arms. Thereafter five of us met on Sundays to study the Bible with the help of the Watchtower magazine.

A CHANGE OF SERVICE

As time passed, it began to dawn upon me that I should not continue serving in the army; so I submitted an application for discharge. When my application was granted I went to work with a relative who had a farm near Gothenburg. There I began preaching the good news of God’s kingdom, as instructed by his appointed commander, Jesus Christ (Isa. 55:4; Matt. 10:7; 24:14), and attending meetings of the Gothenburg congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses.

In time I was invited to join the Bethel family at örebro, and in August 1920 I took up work there. My first job was translating the booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die into Swedish. This was to be distributed in connection with a number of public meetings scheduled during the coming visit of A. H. Macmillan, a special representative from the Society’s headquarters in Brooklyn.

SERVICE IN DENMARK

It was during this visit of Brother Macmillan in the fall of 1920 that a situation came to a head in the Swedish branch that resulted in my moving to Denmark. At Acts 20:30 the apostle Paul foretold that even in God’s congregation of spiritual warriors men would arise and try to “draw away the disciples after themselves.” Such was the case at the Örebro Bethel, and I felt it my duty to inform Macmillan.

The branch supervisor of the preaching work in Sweden had been directing attention to himself as leader, and had not been applying the instructions from headquarters. When I brought this situation to light, he received a heavy rebuke from Brother Macmillan. As a result, some weeks later the branch servant told me to leave the Swedish Bethel. It was then that some brothers in Denmark, who knew of the situation, invited me to come down there and stay awhile.

In Denmark I enjoyed many privileges of service on the front lines of the preaching work. I served as a full-time minister in the cities of Alborg and Arhus, working in the surrounding towns and rural territories as well. In time I was transferred to what was then called the pilgrim work, which involved traveling up and down the country strengthening congregations and study groups.

In March of 1925 I received a telegram from the branch office asking me to return to Copenhagen at once. There the branch servant handed me the March 1 issue of The Watchtower containing the article “Birth of the Nation.” He asked me to study it and let him know what I thought of it. I did so, and was then asked to prepare a talk for a two-day local assembly at Skive the following weekend. There I presented to the brothers the thrilling Scriptural proof that the Devil had been permitted to remain in heaven until the year 1914, at which time he was attacked by the newly installed king, Jesus Christ, and cast down to earth.

BACK TO SWEDEN

In Sweden things had gone from bad to worse, and the Watch Tower Society’s president, J. F. Rutherford, made arrangements for a Scandinavian convention in Örebro in May of 1925. I was planning to get married May 15, when on the 12th I received word to meet Brother Macmillan the next day at Gedser, where he would be arriving ahead of Brother Rutherford and Brother R. J. Martin from Switzerland. As it worked out, I was married on the 15th in Copenhagen, and the very next morning my wife, as a veritable soldier’s bride, waved good-bye to her husband as he left for Sweden. Brother Rutherford wanted me to assist in making preparations for the coming assembly.

Convention time arrived with 500 present. On the concluding day of the assembly when, instead of the Swedish branch servant, I stepped out to interpret for Brother Rutherford, there was a whisper of surprise. At the conclusion of his talk Brother Rutherford announced that a Scotsman, William Dey, was being put in charge of supervising the preaching work in all of Scandinavia and the Baltic States. I was to be secretary to Brother Dey and accompany him as interpreter on his journeys in Sweden. The Swedish branch servant promised to respect this arrangement.

Less than a month later, however, the branch servant refused to cooperate any longer, and I was put in his place. After assuming my duties in June of 1925, it was necessary to unify the brothers for the preaching work. Brother Dey and I visited the congregations throughout the country. In many places we had to line up the brothers literally on two sides, for and against the Society. In time, the remaining brothers began to work in an organized way and experience Jehovah’s blessing.

PREWAR YEARS

In the years prior to the second world war I enjoyed many interesting service privileges. When the booklet The Kingdom, the Hope of the World was presented to high government officials in 1932, I made the presentation to the king, to the crown prince, who is now King Gustaf VI Adolf, and cabinet ministers. The crown prince was especially friendly and I talked with him for twenty minutes.

Another assignment took me to Paris, where I recorded Judge Rutherford’s five-minute phonograph lectures in Swedish. From the use of these in the door-to-door ministry I remember a rather amusing experience. After playing one of these records for a couple in Stockholm, the woman said: “Your voice sounds so much like the one we heard. You must have listened to it many times.” Of course, I had!

On October 7, 1934, the brothers in Sweden joined in the worldwide protest to Hitler that demanded that he stop persecuting Jehovah’s witnesses in Germany. We know that a few of our telegrams reached Berlin, but within a few hours the telegrams were stopped. Such a warning was not considered fit to be sent to what was then considered a friendly government. Later the booklet Fascism or Freedom was banned because it called Hitler a representative of the Devil.

DURING WORLD CONFLICT

When Denmark and Norway were occupied by the Nazis in April of 1940, Sweden remained a neutral island in a war-tossed sea. So it became my job to gather information and reports, bring them to Brother Dey in Copenhagen, and then return to Sweden to mail them all to Brooklyn.

However, when I arrived in Copenhagen one morning late in 1940, instead of being met by someone from the branch office, two Danish police officers and German security men were waiting for me. They took all my papers and told me they would return them at my hotel. During the day I learned that Brother Dey had been seized, and was in prison. That evening one of the German security men called at the hotel to return my papers. He told me that he had been reading Dey’s correspondence and admired the spirit that marked our organization. I had the opportunity to tell him about Jehovah’s new order of things, and when I was about to explain what would then be the controlling power, he himself filled in, “Love!” We never did manage to find out what happened to this man.

It now became necessary to use theocratic war strategy in order to maintain desired contact with occupied countries. In order to get a visa to visit Norway I was appointed a commercial traveler, representing a brother who was a wholesale dealer in guts! We solved the problem of getting spiritual food into Norway by regularly sending them food packages, especially eggs, with each individual egg wrapped with several sheets of The Watchtower. When this was finally discovered by the Germans, we found another way.

During my visits to Norway I had contacted a friendly disposed commercial agent, who was forced to lodge a couple of German officers in his house. When these Germans asked him to have some extra foodstuffs brought from Denmark, this man said that he would arrange it if he could have a package for himself included in their shipments of food. They agreed, and so Watchtower magazines were always included in the foodstuffs that were taken to the military airport at Alborg, Denmark, and carried by Hitler’s own aircraft into Norway!

Magazines were taken into Denmark from Sweden in an equally unusual way. A young Danish sister was employed as a nurse in the home of an Axis diplomat in Copenhagen, and this man was very willing to bring gift packages back to her from Sweden. In such ways as this even God’s enemies came to be instrumental in helping his people to obtain spiritual food!

Another example of where worldly authorities were outmaneuvered occurred in Finland. There our literature was banned, and since the Watch Tower printing plant in Helsinki had nothing to do, it was in line for government take-over. But since the Finnish government was eager to get Swedish currency into the country, they agreed to let the plant print books and booklets to be exported to Sweden. As a result, not only was literature supplied for Sweden, but magazines were brought back into Finland!

GROWTH AND PROSPERITY

Although the army of Kingdom preachers in Sweden has met with much opposition, with the help of Almighty God it has come off victorious. For example, in 1951 we were turned down in our efforts to obtain the government-controlled Stockholm Stadium for our assembly. “It would not be consistent with the dignity of the stadium,” authorities explained. But four years later the use of the community-owned Johanneshov’s Sportsplace market a complete turnabout. At that time Stockholm streetcar conductors even cried out: “Johanneshov—Jehovah’s witnesses convention! Ever since then we been able to rent whatever hall or stadium we have wanted. In 1963 we used the largest stadium in the country, and over 25,000 were in attendance.

The growth of the Kingdom preaching through the years has indeed been marvelous. In 1926, when the branch office was moved from Örebro to Stockholm, we mustered together 325 spiritual warriors. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 these had increased to 1,361, and by 1951 a new peak of 5,140 ministers necessitated purchasing a new site at Jakobsberg, about twelve miles outside of Stockholm. Here a beautiful Bethel home and printery were constructed. When we moved in on April 1, 1954, it seemed impossible that we would utilize all the space this side of Armageddon. But by 1961 construction had to be started on a new addition, which was completed about a year ago. Now there are 10,300 spiritual warriors serving in Sweden.

Nowadays the various armies find it necessary, because of the rapid development of new methods of warfare, to arrange special courses where strategy and cooperation between the various branches of the armed forces are studied. Jehovah’s army has made a similar arrangement, and I am happy that I could, at the age of seventy-one, attend the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead in Brooklyn in 1964 to receive advanced theocratic training. My prayer is that “Jehovah, the God of armies,” and his appointed Commander in Chief, Christ Jesus, may strengthen all their spiritual warriors to carry on faithfully until the final victory.—Jer. 38:17.

Questions From Readers

● Why did David, a faithful servant of Jehovah, tolerate his wife Michal’s having a teraphim image among her possessions, as indicated in 1 Samuel 19:12, 13?

Here is the record at 1 Samuel 19:12, 13: “Immediately Michal had David descend through the window, that he might go and run away and escape. Then Michal took the teraphim image and placed it on the couch, and a net of goats’ hair she put at the place of his head, after which she covered it with a garment.”

According to the findings of archaeologists in Mesopotamia and adjacent areas, the teraphim images were just as vital to family inheritance as title deeds and written testaments are in our day. According to ancient custom, a son-in-law who possessed the family images could appear in court and make claim for the estate of his father-in-law. This may well have been true of the teraphim that Rachel took along when Jacob and his household secretly fled from Laban, even as noted in The Watchtower, December 1, 1953, pages 734, 735.

However, it is not likely that this custom had sanction upon Israel’s becoming an organized nation and receiving the Ten Commandments, the second of which expressly forbade the making of teraphim images, in view of their use in idol worship as well as serving the purpose of inheritance. If their use could have been justified, Samuel would not have told King Saul: “Look! To obey is better than a sacrifice, to pay attention than the fat of rams; for rebelliousness is the same as the sin of divination, and pushing ahead presumptuously the same as using uncanny power and teraphim.”—1 Sam. 15:22, 23.

According to the Soncino Hebrew Bible, the older Jewish commentators were greatly exercised to try to explain the presence of the teraphim in the household of David. As for David himself, we know that there was no worshiping of teraphim on his part, for he gave Jehovah exclusive devotion or we would not repeatedly read of his heart having been “complete” or perfect with Jehovah. (1 Ki. 11:4; 15:3) We can, therefore, only conclude that his wife’s heart was not complete with Jehovah and that either David did not know about her having the teraphim or else he tolerated it because of her being the daughter of King Saul.

Representative of David’s whole-souled worship of Jehovah is his expression in song: “For Jehovah is great and very much to be praised, and he is to be feared more than all other gods. For all the gods of the peoples are valueless gods. As for Jehovah, he made the heavens.”—1 Chron. 16:25, 26.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

To help many to become God’s “men of good will,” Jehovah’s witnesses will be diligent in calling on people everywhere during February to stimulate their appreciation for Bible truth. In addition to talking to them personally and pointing out in the Bible the grand hope that Jehovah God has set before mankind, they will offer a year’s subscription for this magazine, The Watchtower, along, with three Scriptural booklets, on a contribution of $1.

GET THE MOST FROM “THE WATCHTOWER”

What do you do with your copies of The Watchtower when you have read them? Do you save them and use them for the valuable reference works that they are? If you do, then you will want the Watch Tower Publications Index for 1964. This comprehensive index lists subjects and Scripture texts covered in both The Watchtower and Awake! for 1964. It will help you to locate the elusive points you: remember reading but cannot fully recall; it will direct you to other references or discussions of the same point; it will assist you with difficult texts you encounter in your regular Bible reading. Same page size as The Watchtower. Send for your copy today. It is only 10c.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

March 7: The Dead Who Are in Line for Resurrection. Page 73.

March 14: Part Two. Page 80.