The Watchtower — October 15, 1965

Why Not Desire to Do What Must Be Done?

THERE are ever so many things in life that we must do. Whether we are old or young, man or woman, professional person or laborer, housewife or schoolteacher, by our very presence in this world there are certain obligations that fall upon us. It begins early in life and continues as long as we live.

These things may be getting up in the morning with the alarm clock, making “honest provision” in the sight of all men, paying taxes, obeying traffic regulations, doing as we should at home, in school or at our place of employment. Regardless of who we are and regardless of our environment we simply cannot escape certain obligations, whether we want to discharge them or not.—2 Cor. 8:21.

Because there are so many things that we must do, our imperfect human natures may rebel, no doubt due to the spirit of independence or rebellion we inherited from our first parents and which we see manifested all about us, today more than ever before. It often seems easier to do things we do not have to do than to do those things we should or must.

Yet, since life is so much a matter of doing things we must do, what can we do about it? We can make it a great deal easier for ourselves if we cultivate a desire to do that which we must. We can tell ourselves all the reasons why we should do a certain thing, such as paying taxes or obeying traffic regulations, and that, under the circumstances, it is both the wise and the right thing to do. Yes, when performing an obligation consider the benefits as well as the duty. This in itself will help you to do what you should.

On the other hand, is it not true that if we desire to do a thing we are likely to do it much better and are likely to get it done with less effort, with more enjoyment out of doing it? Wisely the ancient Israelites were commanded to “rejoice before Jehovah your God in every undertaking of yours.” Nothing was to be done in a spirit of complaining or with reluctance. Rejoicing in it implied desiring to do it.—Deut. 12:18.

Today many housewives complain of boredom always doing the same thing, making beds, cleaning house, washing clothes, preparing meals, and so forth. But as one housewife author recently observed: ‘Boredom is what you make of it, and at least the housewife can tell herself she’s working for people she loves, which is more than many a man can say about his job. Advertising gives a romantic glamor to marriage, but the whole system actually is based on the idea that Father goes out and earns the bread, and Mother spreads the peanut butter on it.’a So the wise housewife enjoys doing things for her family, takes pride in doing them well, and glows with satisfaction when she succeeds in keeping her family healthy and happy.

Thus also the wise father is one who desires to do justice to his family obligations, who wants to make his wife happy and to rear his children to be God-fearing and law-abiding. Such a father is more likely to succeed and enjoy being a father than is the one who begrudges the time his family takes and the burden of obligation wife and children represent. Such begrudging fathers must share the responsibility with negligent mothers for what much of present-day youth is like.—Deut. 6:6, 7; Eph. 6:4.

The same is true of the schoolteacher. She who puts her heart into her work, who truly desires to teach the young, knows that this contributes much both to her happiness and to her success. Likewise with her students: Learning is a must for them, but how much they learn and retain will depend in no small measure on their attitude toward learning. Taking in knowledge can be delightful, yes, exciting, and can fill them with hope as to the future. A wise teacher will therefore seek to stimulate in her pupils the desire to learn, to take in knowledge.

And when it comes to the more intimate relationships of life, we simply cannot do them justice without wanting to do what we should do. Generally marriage mates start out wanting or desiring to do things for each other, to make each other happy. But unless they are careful to keep feeding this desire, their relationship may become routine and mechanical; and they will find themselves slighting each other and proving unfaithful in little things, if not also in big ones. They must work at wanting or desiring to do right by each other and to make each other happy even though it is at the same time a duty.—Eph. 5:22-33; Titus 2:4.

Yes, you can train yourself to desire or want to do what you must do, even as you can train yourself along other lines. Our inclinations, our emotions, are susceptible to discipline, even as our minds and bodies are. You can dwell on the positive side of things and so counteract any tendency toward complaining, frustration and boredom.

Especially when it comes to our relationship with God, desiring or wanting to do his will is important. Some may try to shove aside all feeling of responsibility toward God, saying that they are not religious; but that does not relieve them of the obligation that falls upon them as creatures who enjoy life and who daily avail themselves of the provisions that the Creator has made to sustain life. Others perform their service to God, making known his name and purposes to their fellowmen, because they feel the responsibility that rests upon them as Christians; and it is true that they do have an obligation in this regard. (1 Cor. 9:16, 17) But how much happier is the one who earnestly desires to do God’s will, seeing it as the grand privilege that it is to serve the Creator and to aid others to gain the prize of everlasting life!

We cannot escape it. Life is largely a matter of discharging our obligations, and it may involve much repetition and hard work. Since this is so, let us cultivate the desire to do what must be done, keeping in focus the benefits that come from doing it, for only then can we do it well and with enjoyment.

[Footnotes]

World Government on the Shoulder of the Prince of Peace

Beginning at the same time in Dublin, Eire, and Edinburgh, Scotland, on Sunday, June 13, 1965, the delivery of this message “World Government on the Shoulder of the Prince of Peace” progressed around the globe during the succeeding weeks and months. Thereby hundreds of thousands of many lands and languages had their appreciation awakened and deepened of what is one of the grandest prophecies on record, now due to reach the climax of its fulfillment. Too good to be lost, the message is printed here for you and millions of others to read and to prove from the Holy Scriptures of prophecy.

1. What will world government mean and symbolize?

WORLD government for all mankind will mean only one supreme government over all the earth. It will be a symbol of the oneness of all the people, in peaceful human brotherhood. It is staggering to think of what such a government could do for the good of all the people under it, without favoritism toward anybody and with prejudice toward nobody.

2. What is being done today by citizens of this twentieth century regarding world government?

² Will such a world government ever come into existence over our one human family? Today the matter is at least being talked about very seriously, in view of threatening world conditions. One well-known encyclopediaa says on the subject: “The tremendous problem of world government challenges citizens of the 20th century even more than it did the people of previous centuries.”

3. The result of a certain study of the subject suggests that world government will not be established till what conditions are met?

³ Till now such a political rulership has never been undertaken with the support of all the people who would come under its sway. Humanly speaking, world government needs quite a widespread desire of the people for it. The encyclopedia just quoted from says that a certain study of the subject “suggests that world government will not be established unless, first, there is present in the minds and hearts of many millions of the people in various countries of the world a consensus, common desire or group consciousness to form a base for world control; and, second, there is put into operation some type of governmental machinery which provides for making laws to control directly some but not all of the conduct of individuals in any nation or state of the world, for enforcing such laws by direct action on individuals, and for protecting groups of people against aggressive or oppressive conduct on the part of other groups.”

4. Why have the League of Nations and the United Nations not been real world governments?

⁴ Somebody may well ask, Do we not already have world government in the form of the United Nations organization, which has its headquarters in New York City? No, replies the same encyclopedia: “Neither the League of Nations nor the United Nations was built on the broad group consciousness essential for world government; nor was either [organization] given law-making power, law-enforcing power, or effective power to restrain aggressive or oppressive national or group conduct.”

5, 6. (a) Of what “authority” did Pope John XXIII speak in his encyclical “Peace on Earth” of 1963? (b) What “earnest wish” did the encyclical express regarding the United Nations?

⁵ The late Pontifex Maximus of Vatican City, Pope John XXIII, did not consider the United Nations to be a world government. On Thursday, April 11, during the Holy Week of the year 1963, he signed his famous encyclical entitled “Pacem in Terris” (“Peace on Earth”), which he addressed not only to the “clergy and faithful of the whole world” but also “to all men of goodwill.” In Part IV of this encyclical he spoke of a “public authority of the world community,” and went on to say:

⁶ “It is our earnest wish that the United Nations organization—in its structure and in its means—may become ever more equal to the magnitude and nobility of its tasks, and that the day may come when every human being will find therein an effective safeguard for the rights which derive directly from his dignity as a person, and which are therefore universal, inviolable and inalienable rights. This is all the more to be hoped for since all human beings . . . are becoming more consciously aware that they are living members of a world community.”

7, 8. (a) What gathering did that encyclical apparently spark, and what “body” did the speakers emphasize as being necessary? (b) What did historian Toynbee say regarding the need for world government?

⁷ Apparently this encyclical sparked the holding of a four-day gathering in New York City, on February 17-20, 1965, of the International Convention of Peace under the sponsorship of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. It is reported that this convocation “had as its purpose a study of the practical applications of Pope John’s encyclical Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), published in April, 1963.” More than 2,000 invited guests attended the sessions in the New York Hilton Hotel, these being from fourteen nations and including religious clergymen, scholars, scientists and statesmen. The secretary-general of the United Nations attended and spoke. The various speakers emphasized that a “strong international organizational body was essential in view of the alternative of nuclear war.” (New York Times, February 21, 1965) An Associated Press dispatch datelined New York, February 20, said:

⁸ “Famous British historian Arnold J. Toynbee declared today that civilization had reached a point where the very continuity of the human race depends on formation of World Government. ‘It is the mutual interest of the nations to subordinate their national sovereignty to world authorities,’ he said. ‘This is the only condition in which the nations can survive in an atomic age.’”

9, 10. (a) What should world government not mean? (b) What is the United World Federalists, Incorporated, working for, and how do its leaders disagree with Communist Russians?

⁹ How should such an institution be produced? Right-minded workers for it agree that world government should not mean the domination of the world by one powerful nation that seizes control and maintains itself in control by brutal force. The democratic nations of the West claim that international communism purposes to dominate the world; and at such a thing those nations shudder. Says the above-quoted encyclopedia on this feature of the subject:

¹⁰ “One of the largest groups working for the ‘support and development of the United Nations into a world government with limited powers adequate to assure peace’ is organized into United World Federalists, Inc. Leaders of world federalists are not likely to agree easily with those Russians who would develop world government by transforming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics into a World Socialist Soviet Republic.”

11. What stark realities of the day dim the hope for men to set up a satisfactory world government?

¹¹ When we look at the stark realities of the day, is it not vain for us to hope for men to establish a satisfying world government? Today the cold war rages between Eastern and Western blocs of nations dominated by opposite political ideologies, with great rifts dividing even each of these blocs of nations, with internal political disagreements splitting up each individual nation. This gives us no basis for hoping that the needed world government will come even though we are all under the threat of nuclear war with all humanity as its victim. Love of national sovereignties is too strong in the hearts of men who have the spirit of this world. Fanatical devotion to political ideologies is too powerful among men who think they have the only workable system of government. A change of heart is not to be expected in men who cannot be convinced against their will. If we have to judge by the experiments that men have made with all sorts of political government and by the practical results of their experiments, what kind of world government would men give us anyway?

12. For what is world government necessary, and to whom can we look to bring it in?

¹² World government is necessary to the preservation and happiness of the human family. This fact is being admitted more and more as time goes on. But can it come only by human means? Is man of this so-called Brain Age the final one for us to look to for bringing in the all-necessary world government? Is there nothing beyond man and his boasted science to which to look and to appeal? Happily there is! There is the great Governor of the universe, of which our earth is a tiny part. For Him it should not be hard to govern our earth. As earth’s Creator, he should be expected to govern it. He will do so. Who can prevent him from doing so?

13. Why is it now unnecessary for men to go on arguing about things having to do with world government, and to what will such continued arguing lead?

¹³ Today, after coming to see the need for it, men do not need to go on endlessly arguing as to what kind of world government it should be, how it shall be put in operation, and who shall hold the post of governor, and how such world governor shall be named and chosen. Long before this system of things got started, world government for all mankind had already been decided upon by the highest authority alive. Men in general have ignored this authority and his decision and purpose. For the leading men of this nuclear age to continue ignoring him means nothing but putting themselves to needless trouble and at last getting nowhere but into the very disaster that they hope to avoid by man-made world government.

14, 15. (a) Why is the subject of world government nothing new to the supreme authority? (b) What governmental decree did this Authority cause to be published in Jerusalem in the eighth century B.C.E.?

¹⁴ The supreme authority is the one source of all rightful government. To him world government over mankind is nothing new, modern or recent. More than two thousand six hundred years before this nuclear age was born he caused a governmental decree to be published, that promises to be fulfilled in our own time. The decree was published in the eighth century before our Common Era. At that time Assyria, with its capital at Nineveh, was the leading world power, but, despite its great aggressions, it did not become a world government. There was a city that Assyria threatened but never did subdue. This was Jerusalem. In this city the following governmental decree was pronounced and published; and here we give the translation of the decree into English, approved of by the late Pope John XXIII:

¹⁵ “A child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and forever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”—Isa. 9:6, 7, Dy.

THE PROMISED PRINCE

16, 17. (a) What did that governmental decree foretell? (b) How was that title “Prince of Peace” misapplied in India not long ago?

¹⁶ In those words God foretold the setting up of a world government of endless peace, for the rulership would rest upon the shoulder of one who was to be called the Prince of Peace. This title was to be borne by no one else but the one who would rule over mankind. Not many years ago the title was wrongly applied to a mighty general and political ruler. While still holding the presidency of the mightiest military republic of the Western bloc of nations, he was paying a courtesy visit to India. December 9, 1959, was the date of his arrival in India’s capital city, New Delhi, and one of many magazines reporting on this event said:

¹⁷ “India had not experienced such a mob scene since the death of [Mahatma] Gandhi. More than a million villagers and city folk thronged New Delhi’s streets waving and shouting . . . (“Long live Eisenhower!”) . . . (“Hail Eisenhower!”) Above the hue and cry stretched red and white banners proclaiming: ‘EISENHOWER—PRINCE OF PEACE.’”—The Watchtower, as of September 15, 1960, page 549.

18. Why could not the promised Prince of Peace, also called God the Mighty, be president of any republic on earth today?

¹⁸ However, sad to relate, since that event, his own nation took part in warfare in southeast Asia, which threatened to grow into a conflict that would take peace from the whole earth. All this proves how vain it is to tack the title “Prince of Peace” onto a mere man, even though some Hindus thought that he was Vishnu Ka Avatár, a reincarnation of the god Vishnu. True, the governmental decree of the Lord of hosts said that the promised Prince of Peace would also be called God the Mighty, but he could never be president of the United States of America nor of any other republic on earth today. The Lord of hosts says that the Prince of Peace had to “sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom.”

19, 20. (a) What did that call for the Prince of Peace to be as to his descent? (b) What covenant requiring this did the Lord of hosts make with faithful David?

¹⁹ This called for the Prince of Peace to be a descendant of David of Bethlehem, who was king of Jerusalem in the eleventh century before our Common Era and whose kingdom extended finally from the Euphrates River southward to the River of Egypt. (Gen. 15:18) To this faithful David, the Lord of hosts made a solemn promise that kingdom power would remain in his family for all time and that his kingdom would therefore be forever. (2 Sam. 7:1-17) In the language of the Douay Version of the Holy Bible, one ancient inspired psalmist worded God’s promise in this way:

²⁰ “Then thou spokest in a vision to thy saints, and saidst: I have laid help upon one that is mighty, and have exalted one chosen out of my people. I have found David my servant: with my holy oil I have anointed him. . . . my mercy I will not take away from him: nor will I suffer my truth to fail. Neither will I profane my covenant: and the words that proceed from my mouth I will not make void. Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David: his seed shall endure for ever. And his throne as the sun before me: and as the moon perfect for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven.”—Ps. 88:20-38, Dy; Ps. 89:19-37, AV.

21, 22. (a) What, therefore, must this Prince of Peace be as to heirship? (b) What other prophecy did Isaiah give regarding the birth of this Prince?

²¹ Since the Lord of hosts decreed concerning the Prince of Peace that “his empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace,” this Prince upon whose shoulder the government is laid must be the Permanent Heir of King David. For this to become true, the Heir of David’s everlasting kingdom must be born on earth in David’s line. His birth was foretold, and it was to mark a turning point in history. Another prophecy of the birth of this Prince was made by the prophet Isaiah at a time when the kingdom of the royal house of David at Jerusalem was threatened by an alliance of enemy nations. To the king then ruling, Isaiah said:

²² “Hear ye, therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.”—Isa. 7:13, 14, Dy.

23. What does Matthew Levi write regarding the birth of this son as being a historical fact and as a fulfillment of divine prophecy?

²³ The birth of this son has long been a historical fact. It is noted in the records of history that are beyond denial and that cannot be wiped out, to prove that the Lord of hosts has performed this miraculous birth, as he promised that he would do. A tax collector of the Roman Empire, named Matthew Levi, explains how the birth occurred by divine power. He names the virgin mother as Mary. To call attention to the fact that this was a fulfillment of the prophecy of the Lord of hosts by means of Isaiah, Matthew Levi says: “Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” (Matt. 1:22, 23, Dy) According to God’s command, the child was named Jesus.

24, 25. (a) What investigation about birth did Doctor Luke of our first century make? (b) What did he report the angel Gabriel as saying to Mary regarding the son to be born?

²⁴ A medical doctor of the first century of our Common Era made an investigation to establish the truthfulness of the then current report about this miraculously born Jesus. Then this Doctor Luke wrote the facts to his friend Theophilus to strengthen the faith of this believer. Doctor Luke reports that at the time that Mary was told that she was God’s choice for becoming the virgin mother of the Son of God, the angel Gabriel said to her:

²⁵ “Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. . . . The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. . . . no word shall be impossible with God.”—Luke 1:28-37, Dy.

26, 27. (a) Information by Luke helps us to determine what regarding the birth and its location? (b) According to Luke, how did God raise up witnesses of the child’s birth that night?

²⁶ Doctor Luke supplied historical facts and figures by means of which we can calculate the year of Jesus’ birth. He shows how the birth of Jesus came to take place at the city of Bethlehem, as foretold by the prophet Micah seven centuries earlier. (Luke 2:1-7; Matt. 2:1-16; Mic. 5:2) The birth took place in a stable in an overcrowded city, where a person could be overlooked for the crowd. But the birth was not allowed to go without witnesses besides the child’s mother Mary and foster father Joseph. God raised up witnesses to this birth of his Son. He sent an angel to give to the shepherds out in the fields at Bethlehem the needed directions on how to find this newborn babe in a stable manger.

²⁷ The angel identified who the child really was and told what his future was to be by saying: “For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.” Besides those shepherd witnesses, there were also heavenly witnesses, for, after the announcement of the child’s birth, “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.” Right after that the shepherds found the newborn babe just as described and became eyewitnesses of the birth of the Son of God. Then they returned to their flocks, “glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”—Luke 2:1-20, Dy.

28. (a) The child was to hold what position toward King David? (b) What question arises as to the child’s government, and why?

²⁸ This child was to become God’s Christ or Anointed One, and he was to become also King David’s Lord. King David, to whom God’s promise of an everlasting kingdom was made, ruled over only a small land area in the Middle East. Also, according to what the angel Gabriel said to Mary, her Son Jesus was to be given “the throne of David his father” and was to “reign in the house of Jacob,” that is to say, in the nation that descended from the patriarch Jacob the grandson of Abraham. How, then, could the government that was to be laid upon the shoulder of Jesus Christ be a world government, a government over all mankind?

29. (a) What did his lordship over King David indicate? (b) How did David indicate that he would have a Lord over him?

²⁹ That his government would be greater than that of King David was indicated in the angel’s announcement that the newborn Jesus would become, not only the foretold Christ, but also Lord, that is to say, Lord over even King David the king of Israel or Jacob. David himself indicated that he would have a Lord over him, when he wrote down what the Lord God said to him. David wrote: “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: until I make thy enemies thy footstool. The Lord will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thy enemies.”—Ps. 109:1, 2, Dy; Ps. 110:1, 2, AV.

THE WRONG WORLD GOVERNMENT REFUSED

30. (a) Why has no successor of the Caesars of Rome been a world governor? (b) In what year did John the Baptist appear preaching?

³⁰ In the first century of our Common Era, with the events of which we now deal, the Roman Empire was the dominant world power. But it was not a world government. Many governments outside the boundaries of the empire did not acknowledge Rome as the central government of the earth. They clung to their national sovereignties. Hence no successor to the Caesars of Rome has become a world governor with world government resting upon his shoulder. According to mundane history, the fifteenth year of the Roman emperor, Tiberius Caesar, ended on August 13 of the year 29. It was before that date during the fifteenth year of Tiberius that John the Baptist appeared in the Middle East, proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom of the heavens, or the kingdom of God. This was a government higher than that of imperial Rome.

31, 32. (a) When did Jesus come first to John the Baptist, and why? (b) What sign did John get for which he was waiting?

³¹ About six months after John the Baptist began his work and announced the coming of someone greater than he, Jesus the Son of Mary came to him to be baptized. He had no sins to confess, but he insisted that John baptize him. After he did so, John got the sign that he had been told to watch for. Matthew 3:16, 17 reports:

³² “And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”—Dy. See also John 1:29-34.

33. (a) At that event, into what position did the baptized Jesus come? (b) What covenant did God make with Jesus when anointing him with spirit?

³³ There Jesus became the Christ, for there God his Father anointed him with the holy spirit. From then on he could be called Jesus Christ. His forefather, the shepherd David, had been anointed with oil to become king of his nation. Likewise, Jesus was anointed, not with oil, but with holy spirit from heaven. This designated him to be king, yes, even Lord over King David because of coming into a higher kingdom. By being born from Mary in the line of David, Jesus had a natural right to David’s throne and kingdom, which were earthly. However, by being anointed with holy spirit from God in heaven, Jesus became heir to a heavenly kingdom. When anointing him, God made a covenant with Jesus his Son for a heavenly kingdom; just as Jesus later said to his faithful apostles: “I dispose to you, as my Father hath disposed to me, a kingdom; that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and may sit upon thrones.” (Luke 22:29, 30, Dy) This kingdom surpassed David’s.

34, 35. (a) What was offered to Jesus forty days after his baptism, and how? (b) What did Jesus say in answer to the offer?

³⁴ Forty days after Jesus was baptized and anointed with holy spirit, he was offered world government. By whom? Not by God who had made with him the covenant for the heavenly kingdom. No, but by Satan the Devil. Jesus was then completing a fast of forty days. It was then that the Adversary, the Devil, made an offer that ran counter to God’s covenant for the everlasting heavenly kingdom. The Devil tried to tempt Jesus Christ with an offer of earthly world government. Regarding this one of three great temptations that were placed before Jesus, Doctor Luke says:

³⁵ “And the devil led him into a high mountain, and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And he said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them. If thou therefore wilt adore before me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answering said to him: ‘It is written: Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’”—Luke 4:5-8, Dy.

36. What would such a world government have meant for mankind, and why was Jesus’ refusal of it no disservice to mankind?

³⁶ You can imagine what might have happened to the pagan Roman Empire of that day, if Jesus had accepted the Devil’s offer. Would the Holy Roman Empire have been set up in the year 800 C.E., to last for over a thousand years? Would ancient Jerusalem have become the world capital? But such a world government as the Devil proposed for Jesus Christ would have meant a world government under the invisible control of the Devil, whom Jesus called “the prince of this world” and whom the Christian apostle Paul called “the god of this world.” (John 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4, Dy) It would have meant a world government no better than the one that is advocated today by the United World Federalists, Incorporated, or by historian Arnold J. Toynbee. It would have meant no kingdom of God, no kingdom of the heavens, with the anointed Prince of Peace in the throne. Well, then, did Jesus Christ do a disservice to mankind by refusing world government from Satan? Not at all!

37. About three and a half years later, how did the “kingdoms of the world” treat Jesus at Jerusalem?

³⁷ How thankful we can be that Jesus stuck to the covenant that the Lord God had made with him for the everlasting heavenly kingdom! He refused to worship anybody but the Lord his God. About three and a half years later the “kingdoms of the world” that the Devil had offered to Jesus as a reward for Devil worship turned upon Jesus and brought about his death. The fanatical mob in Jerusalem rejected him as their king and shouted: “We have no king but Caesar.” King Herod Antipas of Galilee made no effort to save Jesus from execution; and Pontius Pilate the Governor representing Imperial Rome turned the innocent Jesus over to be executed, to please the howling mob.—John 19:14-22; Luke 23:1-12; Acts 4:25-29.

38. Why cannot Christendom complain at such disgraceful conduct of nineteen centuries ago?

³⁸ That was disgraceful conduct indeed! But can Christendom today find any ground for complaining at such conduct on the part of peoples and kingdoms nineteen hundred years ago? Are not the “kingdoms of the world” of today doing the same things, in effect or in principle? They fought World War I and World War II, but not for the kingdom of God. In the year 1919 they chose the League of Nations, and in 1945 the United Nations, and thus refused the kingdom of the heavens by Jesus Christ. In their extreme nationalism and their jealous holding onto their national sovereignties they keep saying before the Lord God: “We have no king but Caesar.” Besides that, what have they done to those true Christians who have loyally chosen Jesus Christ as king instead of Caesar? The historical records concerning this speak for themselves.

LAYING THE BASIS FOR RIGHT WORLD GOVERNMENT

39, 40. (a) What did those ancient “kingdoms of the world” accomplish by opposing God’s Anointed One? (b) How, on Pentecost, did the apostle Peter explain how God defeated the intentions of the “kingdoms of the world”?

³⁹ What, however, did those ancient “kingdoms of the world” really accomplish by opposing the One whom God anointed to be ruler in the promised kingdom of God? Certainly they did not block God’s purpose for a righteous world government over all mankind living and dead. How God defeated the malicious intentions of the “kingdoms of the world” was explained by the Christian apostle Peter fifty-one days after Jesus Christ was put to death.

⁴⁰ Speaking to thousands of Jewish celebrators of the festival of Pentecost in Jerusalem, Peter said: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you also know: this same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, as it was impossible that he should be holden by it. . . . This Jesus has God raised again, whereof all we are witnesses. Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath poured forth this which you see and hear. For David ascended not into heaven: but he himself said: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus whom you have crucified.”—Acts 2:22-36, Dy.

41, 42. (a) By thus exalting Jesus to heaven, how did God fulfill his covenant regarding the Prince’s position, as set out in Psalm 88:27, 28, Dy; Ps. 89:26, 27, AV? (b) Thus this exaltation provided the necessary condition for what regarding the Prince?

⁴¹ In this most startling way Jesus, the one-time carpenter of Nazareth, was made “Christ the prince,” foretold by the angel Gabriel to the prophet Daniel. (Dan. 9:21-26, Dy) By his exaltation to heaven, to God’s own right hand, this “Christ the prince” was made the “Lord” over his forefather, King David. This exaltation fulfilled God’s promise as contained in the covenant that he made with David for an everlasting kingdom; just as this covenant is phrased for us in the inspired psalm: “He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father: my God, and the support of my salvation. And I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth.”—Ps. 88:27, 28, Dy; Ps. 89:26, 27, AV.

⁴² This exaltation of Jesus Christ to God’s right hand in heaven to be the “Lord” of King David and to be “high above the [other] kings of the earth” provided the necessary condition for world government to be laid upon the shoulder of the Prince of Peace.

MORE THAN SUPRANATIONAL

43. (a) What do men argue that the world government should be politically, and why would it not prove successful? (b) Why is the heavenly Prince of Peace needed for the job?

⁴³ Men on earth who advocate man-made world government argue that it must be supranational, that is to say (according to the dictionary), “extending beyond the political limitations inhering in the nation-state or being free of such limitations.” Even of themselves, men might set up such a supranational government to rule the world of mankind. But it would never fully meet the needs and thus never prove successful. The successful world government needs to be more than supranational. It needs to be supranatural, that is to say, above the natural or transcending the natural, or supernatural. It needs to be superhuman, beyond anything that we human creatures can produce. Only God, who is not earthly or natural, can provide such a supranatural government for all the human family. Only a person who is supranatural and superhuman could serve with success in the post of world governor. That is why the heavenly “Christ the prince” is needed for the job.

44. Will the supranatural world government be part of the “kingdoms of the world,” and when did Jesus speak definitely about that?

⁴⁴ That supranatural world government will not come from the “kingdoms of the world,” which Jesus Christ refused to accept at the hands of the Devil. It will not be a transformation, enlargement and refinement of the United Nations organization of today. It will be no part of the “kingdoms of the world.” Jesus Christ said so, when he stood before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to disprove the false charge that he was a seditionist against Rome. After the governor asked: “Art thou the king of the Jews? . . . What hast thou done?” Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence.”—John 18:33-36, Dy.

45, 46. (a) From what source would Christ’s kingdom be and how would it compare with that of King David? (b) In the dream vision sent to Daniel, what did the four beasts symbolize, but who took possession of the kingdom?

⁴⁵ Thus the kingdom of Jesus Christ was not to be either of human source or of devilish source. It was to be from God. It was to operate from heaven. It was to be inclusive of the kingdom of David but far greater than David’s Middle Eastern kingdom. When on earth Jesus spoke of himself as the Son of man. More than five hundred years before Christ, God revealed that the government of this Son of man would be, not a national one, but a worldwide one. To his prophet Daniel God sent a dream vision during the first year of King Baltasar (Belshazzar) of Babylon. In the dream vision Daniel saw four ferocious beasts, one after another, and God’s angel explained the symbolic meaning of these wild beasts, saying:

⁴⁶ “These four great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High God shall take the kingdom: and they shall possess the kingdom for ever and ever.”—Dan. 7:1-18, Dy; also AV.

47. After the execution of the four beasts, what did Daniel see in the vision of the night?

⁴⁷ After Daniel tells of the opening of the divine court in heaven and the execution of God’s judgment upon the four symbolic beasts, he says: “I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom; and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.”—Dan. 7:13, 14, Dy.

48. (a) Who will share with him in his heavenly kingdom? (b) Why do we not need to fear regarding his ability to shoulder the responsibility of world government?

⁴⁸ Daniel (7:27) plainly repeats that the saintly footstep followers of Jesus Christ, the Son of man, would share with him in this heavenly kingdom. However, to have the government of all the world of mankind rest upon his shoulder will be a tremendous responsibility for the Prince of Peace, the Son of man. Yes, but never fear, he can well take care of the job. Before he ascended from the earth and returned to heaven, he said to his disciples: “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.” (Matt. 28:18, Dy) Even when he was on earth as a man, he showed his willingness and his ability to undertake world jobs and problems.

A BIG WORLD PROBLEM

49. (a) What big world problem did Jesus come to earth to face and dispose of? (b) What did John the Baptist indicate by referring to Jesus as the “Lamb of God” that takes away the world’s sin?

⁴⁹ One of the biggest world problems is the removal of the “sin of the world.” This problem is being pointed up in these days by the steady increase of crime throughout the earth. The Son of God purposely came to earth to face up to this world problem, though it called for the greatest unselfishness and self-sacrifice, the laying down of his human life innocently. After forty days of fasting and then being tempted by the Devil, the baptized and anointed Jesus returned to John the Baptist. When seeing him again, John the Baptist pointed to him and said to his disciples: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29, Dy) John the Baptist was the son of a Jewish priest and knew that lambs were sacrificed at the temple in Jerusalem for the spiritual benefit of his nation in its relationship with God. So when John called Jesus “the Lamb of God,” it indicated that God had provided his Son Jesus for sacrifice, that his blood might be shed for cleansing away the sinfulness of the whole world.

50, 51. (a) As pictured in the law given through Moses, what was necessary for cleansing away the sins of fallen mankind? (b) What prophecy of Isaiah did Jesus know had to be fulfilled toward him?

⁵⁰ An inspired letter to the Christian Hebrews tells of how God established his covenant with the nation of Israel and gave the Law through his mediator Moses for Israel to obey. Then Hebrews 9:22 remarks: “And almost all things, according to the law, are cleansed with blood: and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Jesus knew that, in order to provide the human blood to cleanse away the sins of fallen mankind, he had to lay down his human life in innocence. He knew that the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter fifty-three, must be fulfilled toward him. As it is written:

⁵¹ “But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth. Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because he hath delivered his soul unto death, and was reputed with the wicked: and he hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors.”—Isa. 53:5-7, 12, Dy.

52, 53. (a) What did Jesus say about giving a redemption for many? (b) For whose life did Jesus give his flesh, and for whose sins did he become the propitiatory sacrifice?

⁵² Near the end of his earthly life Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many.”—Matt. 20:28, Dy.

⁵³ Also, shortly after he miraculously fed an audience of five thousand men, with women and children, from five bread loaves and two fishes, he said: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.” (John 6:51, 52, Dy) Hence, when the apostle John wrote to fellow believers, he was obliged to say: “But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just. And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”—1 John 2:1, 2, Dy.

54, 55. (a) How does the blood of the Lamb of God compare with that of animal sacrifices in religious ceremonies or of warriors dying on the battlefields? (b) According to Hebrews 5:5, 6, what did God make his Son to be for this sacrificial service?

⁵⁴ All the blood of animal victims shed in religious ceremonies, yes, more than that, all the human blood of warriors shed on the battlefields all through the past centuries, could not take away sin and its penalty, death, from condemned mankind. But the blood of the perfect, unblemished, sinless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, provided the means acceptable to God for cleansing away the “sin of the world,” and for giving mankind a clean record with God. This provision opened up the way for mankind to gain everlasting life on a Paradise earth in God’s righteous new order of things under the heavenly kingdom of his Christ. To have this sacrificial service carried out, God made his Son his High Priest, to serve in behalf of all the sinful world of mankind. This is the teaching of Hebrews 5:5, 6 (Dy), which says:

⁵⁵ “So Christ also did not glorify himself, that he might be made a high priest: but he that said unto him: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten, thee. As he saith also in another place: Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech.”

56. (a) Because of his sacrificial work, why is he rightly called the Prince of Peace? (b) What did Jesus say to show whether his providing for mankind’s everlasting life was for only the living?

⁵⁶ He is now no earthly priest, but, as Hebrews 8:1 reminds us: “We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens.” (Dy) By presenting to God the value of his perfect human sacrifice, this High Priest paved the way for mankind to be reconciled to God, to bring them into a sweet peace with God. This is one of the reasons why this One, on whose shoulder is laid the world government for God’s new order of things, is called “Prince of Peace.” At the sacrifice of his own perfect human life, he made provision for the everlasting life of all those of mankind who obey him. This includes also the resurrection of the dead, for Jesus Christ said: “I am the resurrection and the life”; and, “The hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life.”—John 11:25; 5:28, 29, Dy.

57. (a) Why will the title “Father of the world to come” also prove fitting to the Prince of Peace? (b) This raises what question regarding human world government?

⁵⁷ By giving everlasting life to his earthly subjects, the heavenly Prince of Peace will act like a father to them. For this reason another of his fitting titles is “Father of the world to come,” or “everlasting Father.” (Isa. 9:6, Dy; AV) In fulfillment of this fatherly office he will perform cures such as he did when he was the Son of man on earth and he will impart perfect bodily and mental health to obedient mankind, lifting them up finally to vibrant human perfection on an earth transformed everywhere into a Paradise like the garden of Eden, the “paradise of pleasure.” (Gen. 2:8, Dy) What world government, set up by the politicians of this world of today, could give such benefits to even those living under such a government, not to speak of the countless billions of those who died before it was established?

REMOVING A SUPERHUMAN OBSTACLE

58. (a) For ages what has been for mankind an obstacle to universal peace? (b) What could no human world government ever do regarding this obstacle?

⁵⁸ For ages of time there has been for mankind a superhuman obstacle to universal peace or to freedom from war. That obstacle has been Satan the Devil and his demons. Worldly-wise men may laugh at his existence and may deny that he has any part in human affairs, but Jesus Christ did not do so. He resisted actual temptation at the instance of Satan the Devil and called him “the prince of this world.” (John 16:11, Dy) That Satan the Devil is really worshiped by men, unknown to themselves, the apostle Paul indicated when calling him “the god of this world.” In keeping with this fact, Satan the Devil offered to give Jesus a world government if Jesus would adore and worship him. (2 Cor. 4:4; Matt. 4:8-10, Dy) Satan the Devil is not alone but has demon angels, whose number we do not know. The last book of the Holy Scriptures says that Satan the Devil “seduceth the whole world.” (Apoc. 12:7-9, Dy) No world government set up by men could ever throw off the backs of mankind this invisible, spiritual, superhuman god and prince of this world, and his demons.

59, 60. (a) What kind of world governor does the situation therefore call for, and how does the Prince of Peace meet the need? (b) In what “short time” are we doubtless living, and for what do men clamor?

⁵⁹ That is why the situation calls for a world governor who also himself is invisible, spiritual, superhuman and more mighty than the “god,” Satan the Devil, and his demon angels. It calls for a world governor who can seize this false god of the world and bind him and put him and his demons out of action. Such a needed world governor the Lord God furnishes us in his heavenly Son, the “Prince of Peace.” In the last book of the Holy Bible, the Apocalypse, which is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to make known to his servants the things which must shortly come to pass,” it foretells that the Prince of Peace will restrain Satan and his demons. (Apoc. 1:1, Dy) In symbolic language it gives us a picture of the birth of God’s kingdom in the heavens.

⁶⁰ Immediately following this marvelous event a great battle takes place in heaven, and Satan the Devil and his demon angels are cast down to the earth, where he “hath but a short time” for further wicked activities among mankind. This casting of Satan and his demons to the earth produces a time of “woe to the earth, and to the sea.” (Apoc. 12:1-12, Dy) Why should any observing man or woman doubt that we are in that “short time” of unparalleled woe for people on the earth and on the sea, right now? World distress due to such woe makes men clamor for world government.

61. (a) Where did Jesus answer the question regarding the sign of his coming into world government? (b) Where should we reasonably locate the “beginnings of sorrows” that Jesus foretold?

⁶¹ Nineteen centuries ago Jesus was asked by his apostles what would be the sign of his coming into God’s promised world government. The lengthy answer of Jesus to this question you may read in Matthew, chapters twenty-four and twenty-five; Mark, chapter thirteen, and Luke, chapter twenty-one. Jesus foretold that the “beginnings of sorrows” would be international war, with “kingdom against kingdom,” and pestilences, famines and earthquakes. (Matt. 24:7, 8, Dy) Did such “beginnings of sorrows” strike us in the year 1914 when the first world war broke out, to be accompanied by these other horrors and disasters? If they did not do so then, when in mankind’s history should we place them? What must we yet expect that could be called “the beginnings of sorrows”?

62. (a) According to Jesus’ prophecy, how can we be different from the people who perished in the flood of Noah’s day? (b) To what should we turn now, and why?

⁶² Now is the time to act wisely and to read the unmistakable sign that shows the meaning of things according to God’s prophetic Word. We do not want to be like the people in the days of Noah before the great flood. Concerning them Jesus said in this same prophecy about the “beginnings of sorrows” and the things to follow them: “They knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matt. 24:37-39, Dy) If the “beginnings of sorrows” just a half century ago were so terrible, what will the grand climax of sorrows, the closing features of those sorrows, be like? So now is the time to turn to the world government resting on the shoulder of the Prince of Peace. It alone can protect and preserve us through the end of this system of things now so near. It alone can resurrect our dead loved ones from the grave to live under a perfect rulership.

63. Who must make way before the world government of the Prince of Peace, and when will the “short time” of present woe cease?

⁶³ The “kingdoms of the world” must make way before the world government of the Prince of Peace. So must Satan the Devil and his demon angels. These seducers of the whole world, these breeders of war, turmoil, crime, moral decay and false worship must be bound and imprisoned within an abyss, far away from any and all contact with men on earth. With this superhuman accomplishment the “short time” of terrible “woe to the earth, and to the sea,” will cease.

64. For how long will the program of work of that world government run, and why will this require no successor in the governorship?

⁶⁴ Then the world government on the shoulder of the Prince of Peace will hold uncontested sway over all the earth. Its program of work for all mankind, living and dead, will be no so-called Five-Year Plan or plan that is limited to the brief span of life of a human ruler. According to God’s Word it will be a thousand-year program of work, without interference of the Devil and his demons. (Apoc. 20:1-6, Dy) The Prince of Peace now has immortal heavenly life and, as world governor, he will need no successor and there will be no successor.—Heb. 7:15-25, Dy.

65. (a) To whose good and to whose glory will the carrying out of that program of work redound? (b) Why will the angels not have said in vain what they did in Luke 2:14?

⁶⁵ Clothed with all power in heaven and on earth as he now is, what good he will be able to accomplish for all mankind during the thousand years of his reign with his glorified church or congregation! How grandly this will redound to the glory of God his Father! Not in vain, then, did the army of heavenly angels say in unison at the time of his human birth nineteen centuries ago: “Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.” (Luke 2:14, Dy) The prophecy that foretold his birth, his government and his titles says: “His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace.” (Isa. 9:6, 7, Dy) Consequently the future for all mankind is sure. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform the prophecy.

66. To enjoy the endless peace promised to men of goodwill, what should we henceforth seek?

⁶⁶ All you for whom the Lamb of God died and was raised to life again and exalted to heaven, do you want to enjoy that endless peace? Since you do, then from henceforth seek that everlasting life as offered by the Lord God through his Prince of Peace and through the world government resting on his shoulder.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 620]

Jesus refuses all the kingdoms of the world

[Picture on page 623]

“See, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!”

A Powerful Identification of the Messiah

FROM the very beginning, immediately after the fall of man in Eden, God spoke a prophecy of hope. He promised that there would be a seed that would crush the head of God’s enemy. (Gen. 3:15) He expanded on that promise and strengthened the faith of men of old by giving information concerning that Seed, eventually showing that the Seed would be this One who would be called in the Hebrew language the Messiah. It was in this Messiah that the nations would hope. Hoping and trusting in the right one, the true Messiah, was a matter of life or death. It would follow that we must be provided with unmistakable identification of the Messiah, so that our hope will not be misplaced, to our disillusionment and loss of salvation. For there would be false messiahs.

God through his Word the Bible provided this unmistakable identification. In the pre-Christian Hebrew Scriptures God had set down hundreds of details, qualifications the Messiah would have to meet and things he would be required to fulfill. All these things would be so dovetailed and interwoven that the probability of any impostor fulfilling all of them would be in the order of one out of billions, virtually an impossibility, in fact, truly an impossibility, since the Great Almighty God was directing matters so that there would be an unmistakable identification of his promised Messiah. There were many means of identification, including genealogy, place, event, manner of events, and time. There is one of these, time, which also ties in other factors such as place and event, to which we wish to call your attention in this article.

Those who do not believe the Bible to be inspired, if they sincerely consider this matter, cannot be but convinced at least to look further into God’s Word with greater respect. Persons of the Jewish faith who believe in God’s Word and who believe that God’s prophets could not and did not lie will be constrained to reexamine the position of their religion on the matter of Messiah’s coming.

The prophecy in question is one given by the prophet Daniel, who had a very favorable standing before God and who is mentioned in God’s Word as a man of highest integrity. In the ninth chapter of Daniel’s prophecy, Da 9 verses 24 to 27, he was inspired to say:

“There are seventy weeks that have been determined upon your people and upon your holy city, in order to terminate the transgression, and to finish off sin, and to make atonement for error, and to bring in righteousness for times indefinite, and to imprint a seal upon vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. And you should know and have the insight that from the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty two weeks. She will return and be actually rebuilt, with a public square and moat, but in the straits of the times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off, with nothing for himself. And the city and the holy place the people of a leader that is coming will bring to their ruin. And the end of it will be by the flood. And until the end there will be war; what is decided upon is desolations. And he must keep the covenant in force for the many for one week; and at the half of the week he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease. And upon the wing of disgusting things there will be the one causing desolation; and until an extermination, the very thing decided upon will go pouring out also upon the one lying desolate.”

From the reading of this prophecy it is evident that here is a real jewel in the matter of identifying the Messiah and that it is of utmost importance to determine the time of the beginning of the seventy weeks and also the length of these prophetic weeks. We might say at the outset that if these were literal weeks of seven days each, then Messiah came more than twenty-four centuries ago in the days of the Persian Empire and was not identified. Also, the other hundreds of qualifications in the Bible were therefore not fulfilled. So it follows that the seventy weeks were symbolic of a much longer time. When did this time begin and end?

In Daniel’s prophecy above quoted, Da 9 verse 25 shows us that, from the time that the commandment would take effect, a marked period of time would follow that would indicate the exact year in which the Promised Seed of God’s woman or the Messiah would make his appearance on earth. To determine when this commandment took place and when it went into effect it is necessary to determine who was the king who gave the commandment and to establish the year when this king began his reign, for it was in the twentieth year of this king that the command went forth. Nehemiah tells us: “And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him, and I as usual took up the wine and gave it to the king.” (Neh. 2:1) At this time Nehemiah brought to the king’s attention the sad state of Jerusalem and asked to be commissioned to go back to rebuild the city. The date of this conversation was 455 B.C.E. and the king was Artaxerxes of Persia, as shown by the following historical facts.

FOUR KINGS WHO PRECEDED ARTAXERXES

At Daniel 11:1 he mentions Darius the Mede and in Da 11 verse 2 he prophesies that there will yet be three kings standing up for Persia and a fourth one who will amass greater riches than all the others and who “will rouse up everything against the kingdom of Greece.” The third king was Darius I, who began ruling the Persian Empire in 522 B.C.E. He had been preceded since Darius the Mede by two kings, Cyrus the Persian and Cambyses, Cyrus’ son. In 490 B.C.E. King Darius ordered a second Persian invasion of Greece. The Persian forces far outnumbered the Athenians, but at Marathon, Greece, the Persians were defeated. King Darius intended to invade Greece a third time but died in 486 B.C.E. before he could finish preparations.

Then the fourth king mentioned by Daniel rose up to make further attempts to conquer Greece. In some modern Bible translations his name is mentioned as Xerxes. (Esther 1:1-3, AT, Mo) In other Bible translations he is called Ahasuerus, as rendered according to the Hebrew. If Ahasuerus is Xerxes, he began to reign in December, 486 B.C.E. The reason that King Xerxes I figures in a discussion of the seventy weeks of Daniel’s prophecy is that he was the father of King Artaxerxes, who issued the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. (Neh. 1:1; 2:1, 7, 8) King Xerxes I was the ruler who gave legal sanction to the Jews to defend themselves against being massacred by their enemies. Mordecai, the cousin of Xerxes’ Jewish wife Esther, was then acting as prime minister for Xerxes and he established for the Jews the memorial festival of Purim or Lots on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the twelfth lunar month, Adar (February/ March). (Esther 9:20, 21) Xerxes was then ruling in his twelfth year (Esther 3:7) and his rule must have extended over into his thirteenth year, to some time in 474 B.C.E., for after the decree of Xerxes other things took place, as stated at Esther 9:32 to 10:3:

“The command of Esther also confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in a book. Now King Xerxes laid a tribute on the land and the coast-lands of the sea. All the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai, the Jew, was next in rank to King Xerxes, and great among the Jews, and a favorite with the mass of his fellow-countrymen; for he sought the good of his people and voiced the welfare of his entire race.”—AT.

The third invasion of Greece had taken place before Xerxes’ twelfth year. Crossing the Hellespont in 480 B.C.E., Xerxes’ invasion forces, greatly outnumbering the Greeks, were defeated through the tactics of the Athenian general Themistocles. There was a Greek delaying action at Thermopylae that inflicted great losses on the Persians and that was followed by the destruction of more than half of Xerxes’ fleet. The following year the Greeks defeated the Persian army that had been left behind under the command of one of its ablest generals. On the same day the remains of the Persian fleet were destroyed near the promontory of Mycale in Asia Minor. The Persians never invaded Greece again. Thus the efforts of the Fourth World Power to invade deeply into Europe were checked in 479 B.C.E., the eighth year of Xerxes’ reign. Nevertheless, the Persian Empire continued to hold world domination for a century and a half.

BEGINNING OF ARTAXERXES’ REIGN

Here we present historical evidence that the reign of Artaxerxes began in 474 B.C.E.: Even though Themistocles had accomplished these victories and had greatly strengthened the Grecian defenses, he later on began to lose the confidence of the people. He was finally accused of treasonable negotiations with the Persians. He fled to Asia Minor and was proclaimed a traitor and his property confiscated. We read, however, that he was well received by the Persians:

He . . . ultimately sought protection at the Persian court, where he gained high favor with the reigning monarch, Artaxerxes Longimanus. He was deeply engaged in plans for the subjugation of Greece by the Persians, which he had promised Artaxerxes to compass, when, . . . according to some accounts, he took poison; . . .—The Encyclopedia Americana, edition of 1929, Volume 26, page 507.

It was during Artaxerxes’ reign that the exiled Themistocles died in Asia Minor. According to the annals or chronology of Diodorus the Sicilian, a Greek historian of the first century B.C.E., the date of Themistocles’ death was 471 B.C.E. He must have arrived in Asia Minor in 473 B.C.E., according to the following information: Upon arriving in Asia Minor he sent a letter to King Artaxerxes and asked him for an audience, but he begged first for one year’s time in which to learn to speak Persian, after which he would come and lay before Artaxerxes some plans for subduing Greece. This request was granted by Artaxerxes, and Themistocles appeared at his court at the end of the year.

The Greek historian Thucydides of Athens lived during the reign of Artaxerxes the Persian, and tells us that General Themistocles fled from his home country to Asia (Persia) when Artaxerxes had but “lately come to the throne.”—See Thucydides in Book I, chapter 137.

Nepos, a Roman historian of the first century B.C.E., backs up Thucydides by saying: “I know that most historians have related that Themistocles went over into Asia in the reign of Xerxes, but I give credence to Thucydides in preference to others, because he, of all who have left records of that period, was nearest in point of time to Themistocles, and was of the same city. Thucydides says that he went to Artaxerxes.”—Nepos, Themistocles, chapter 9.a

Jerome’s Eusebius places Themistocles’ arrival in Asia in the fourth year of the 76th Olympiad (four-year periods beginning in 776 B.C.E.), that is, in 473 B.C.E. The German scholar Ernst Hengstenberg says that Artaxerxes’ reign commenced in 474 B.C.E.

On the basis of these historical records we can establish the very important date: the first year of Artaxerxes’ reign. For since he had “lately come to the throne” when Themistocles arrived in Asia in 473 B.C.E., this would support other sources that point to 474 B.C.E. as the beginning of Artaxerxes’ reign.

WHEN THE SEVENTY WEEKS BEGAN

Now, as to the start of Daniel’s time prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27, Nehemiah leaves no doubt. His calendar year began with the month Tishri (September/October, just as the Jews’ civil calendar today) and ended with the month Elul (August/ September) as the twelfth month. The month Chislev, in which Nehemiah got reports of the plight of the Jews and the bad physical state of Jerusalem, was the third month from Tishri and fell partly in November and partly in December. Nehemiah tells us (Neh. 1:1, 2):

“Now it came about in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, that I myself happened to be in Shushan the castle. Then Hanani, one of my brothers, came in, he and other men from Judah, and I proceeded to ask about the Jews, those who had escaped, who had been left over of the captivity, and also about Jerusalem.”

What year in the currently used Gregorian calendar would be the twentieth year of Artaxerxes? We set forth here the chronological evidence: Xerxes began to reign in December, 486 B.C.E. Since the record in the book of Esther counts the year as beginning in the spring (Nisan, or March/April), Xerxes’ first year on that calendar would end February/March, 485 B.C.E. (Esther 9:1) Xerxes’ twelfth year ran from March/April of 475 through February/March of 474. It is possible that Xerxes lived beyond his twelfth year (that is, beyond Adar [February/March of 474] into his thirteenth year, as mentioned above). Artaxerxes succeeded him in the same year, 474. But Nehemiah’s calendar counted the year as beginning in the fall (Tishri, or September/October), so the calendar year running from Tishri 475 to Tishri 474 would be the year in which Artaxerxes’ rule began.b (Neh. 1:1; 2:1) Artaxerxes’ twentieth year ran, therefore, from September/October of 456 B.C.E. through August/September of 455 B.C.E.

Nehemiah, a zealous servant of Jehovah God, was vitally interested in true worship at the place where Jehovah had put his name, the city of Jerusalem. On hearing the bad news about Jerusalem, he prayed to Jehovah, desiring to be used to bring Jerusalem relief. In the seventh month of the lunar calendar year in this same twentieth year of Artaxerxes, which would be Nisan (March/April) according to Nehemiah’s reckoning, in the year 455 B.C.E., Nehemiah as cupbearer had opportunity to present the matter, to obtain the king’s approval, as he relates: “And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him, and I as usual took up the wine and gave it to the king.” “So it seemed good before the king that he should send me, when I gave him the appointed time.” (Neh. 2:1, 6) Nehemiah acted promptly.

Just as the ending of the seventy years of desolation of Jerusalem took place when the decree of Cyrus went into effect at the arrival of the Jews in Jerusalem to lay the foundation of the temple, so there would be seventy weeks of years from the time the commandment of Artaxerxes took effect, that is, after the Jews with Nehemiah reached Jerusalem and when he gave the orders to build the city walls. Let us see next just when the command to build the city actually took effect.

It would take about four months to make the trip from Shushan, the king’s winter capital, to Jerusalem, placing Nehemiah’s arrival at about the beginning of the eleventh month Ab. Nehemiah rested and held conferences for three days, inspected the city walls by night, then gave orders for the building to begin. This would be about the third or fourth day of Ab, 455 B.C.E., or about July 26-27 or 27-28, 455 B.C.E., still in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes.c (Neh. 2:11-18) It marks our starting point for the count of time given by this important prophecy of Daniel. This is when the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem took effect.d

LENGTH AND END OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS

As to the length of the prophetic weeks, An American Translation and Dr. James Moffatt’s translation render the expression at Daniel 9:24-27 “seventy weeks of years.” These, then, were seventy “weeks” of seven years each, or 490 (70 x 7) years. It would be after 69 (7 + 62) weeks of years that the Messiah would appear. Starting with 455 B.C.E., to what date does the prophecy bring us for the coming of Messiah the Leader?

[Chart]

So 29 C.E. is the date the Messiah could be expected to appear. History proves that it was in that year that Jesus appeared, to be baptized by John in the Jordan, and the holy spirit descended from heaven to anoint him and make him the Messiah or the Christ, which means “Anointed” or “Anointed One.” Prior to this time he had been the man Jesus, but could not be called the Anointed One until the time of his anointing with holy spirit. John bore witness to his anointing, and Jehovah bore witness by the symbol of a dove and his own voice speaking from heaven. (Luke 3:1, 2, 21-23) An interesting fact in connection with the accuracy of this time count is that the year in which the 69 weeks had their start began, not in the month Nisan, but in the month Tishri, which is the month in which Jesus was baptized and anointed. The date of the beginning of the wall building is derived from the statement at Nehemiah 6:15, which reports: “At length the wall came to completion on the twenty-fifth day of Elul [the twelfth month], in fifty-two days.” The month Ab, which preceded Elul, had thirty days, so the building work must have begun on the fourth of Ab, 455 B.C.E., or July 27-28, and ended on September 16-17, 455 B.C.E., still within the twentieth year of Artaxerxes.

Certainly Daniel’s prophecy was true, that the year 455 B.C.E., which was the twentieth year of the Persian emperor, Artaxerxes Longimanus, was a marked year beginning a time of divine favor to Zion. It was one of the most prominent dates in history, for it was the start of the sixty-nine weeks of years leading up to the arrival of the long-promised Seed of God’s woman, the Messiah.—Dan. 9:25.

This remarkable prophecy of Daniel served for more than 400 years as a light. Not only that: it was one of the most powerful provisions for identifying the Messiah to the Jewish nation and to us today. Before the 483 years were up, the prophecy about the Messiah’s forerunner was fulfilled and the Jews heard John the Baptist announcing the Messiah’s appearance. As a matter of fact, the Jews were looking for the appearance of Messiah the Leader as they considered the prophecies, including Daniel’s time prophecy, and the work of John the Baptist. Luke 3:15 says: “Now as the people were in expectation and all were reasoning in their hearts about John: ‘May he perhaps be the Christ?’” As Daniel had foretold, in the middle of this final week of years, or after three and one half years of Jesus’ ministry, he was cut off. He died on the torture stake on Nisan 14, the middle of the lunar year that began in the fall with the month of Tishri. Three and a half years later the seventieth week of years came to an end with the anointing of Cornelius, the first Gentile to be brought into the body of Christ, to be among the body of anointed ones.—Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3; Dan. 9:24.

When a reasoning person thinks of the foresight and tremendous power involved to bring about the fulfillment of such a prophecy, which dealt not only with individuals but with whole nations, he cannot help but see or at least give the strongest consideration to the identity of Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Those who really desire life will do so, for the Messiah is the Seed of God’s woman and the Seed of Abraham by whom God’s enemies will be destroyed. Also, through him all the families of the earth will bless themselves by exercising faith in and following the commands of this Anointed King and Leader, the Son of the Almighty God Jehovah.—Gen. 22:17, 18.

[Footnotes]

When proving that Artaxerxes’ reign began in 474 B.C.E., Hengstenberg says, on page 395: “Krueger . . . places the death of Xerxes in the year 474 or 473, and the flight of Themistocles a year later.” On page 399 Hengstenberg speaks of “a fifty-one years’ reign of Artaxerxes,” whereas the Greek historian Ctesias, of the fifth century B.C.E., calculates that Artaxerxes reigned only 42 years.—See the English translation from the German by Reuel Keith, first edition, New York (1836-1839), in three volumes.

Hengstenberg gives as a possible reason for the evident mistake in Ptolemy’s Canon when assigning to Xerxes a reign of 21 years, that, when Ptolemy compiled his list of kings from the record of ancient chronologers he mistook the Greek ia for ka, which for the Greeks stand for the numerals 11 and 21 respectively.

Archbishop James Ussher, of Ireland, (1581-1656) as a chronologist, held (on page 131 of Annales Veteris et Novi Testamentorum, under “The Persian Empire,” as published in 1650,) that Artaxerxes Longimanus ascended the Persian throne in 474 B.C.E., but his date for this was not put in reference Bibles. The celebrated writers Vitringa (1659-1722) and Krueger (1838) agreed with Ussher in dating the accession of Artaxerxes to the Persian throne in 474 B.C.E.

“Word of Truth” Assemblies of Jehovah’s Witnesses

DURING this past summer more than half a million persons gathered at the “Word of Truth” assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses in Europe and North America. There they heard convincing evidence that God’s Word of Truth, the Holy Bible, contains the answers to the problems facing mankind. The smooth operation of these assemblies, accompanied by a prevailing spirit of love and peace, was powerful testimony that the application of Bible principles can indeed produce marvelous results.

In Edinburgh, Scotland, and Dublin, Eire, where the series of assemblies opened simultaneously June 9 to 13, public officials and visitors were simply amazed at what they observed: “If only people on the outside could see you in action,” noted one Edinburgh reporter, “a lot of prejudice they have against you would disappear.” And over in Dublin the director of the soccer grounds where the assembly was held said: “I have never seen anything so well organized. . . . You have everything under control.”

The love and peace among the delegates made a real impression on visitors. One of them attending the Edinburgh assembly confessed: “I have been a minister since the 1920’s and have been to many religious conventions in all parts of the British Isles, but never before have I found a spirit of joy and brotherhood such as can be noted here.” A family from Finnish Lapland who were told about this spirit of brotherly love made a 530-mile trip to the Helsinki, Finland, assembly to see for themselves. One of them explained: “We decided to find out whether true love really exists among Jehovah’s witnesses, since this was so important to us as it is the distinguishing mark mentioned by Jesus. Now we really know it does exist and we will continue with the study in order to be able to defend the word of truth with you people.”

During the “Word of Truth” Assembly in Sacramento, California, the Sacramento Union admitted, in effect, that the Bible does contain the answer to present-day difficulties. In a July 9 editorial entitled “Witnesses of Godliness,” the paper said of Jehovah’s witnesses: “In all their beliefs they are down-to-earth, completely sincere, fully wedded to belief in the Old Testament as well as the New, . . . Suffice it to say that if all the world lived by the [Bible] creed of the Jehovah Witnesses there would be an end of bloodshed and hatred, and love would reign as king.” Could there be any greater recommendation for the Bible?

The keynote address delivered on the first day of each assembly struck right at the assembly’s theme. The subject, “Answering the Question, ‘What Is Truth?’” dealt with this very question asked by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate of Jesus Christ.—John 18:38.

The assembly speaker, who at many of the assemblies was either the Watch Tower Society’s president or vice-president, established that “under the circumstances under which the question was raised, the Bible’s answer must be: The ‘truth’ is God’s kingdom with Jesus Christ the ‘Son of David’ serving as King-Priest in the throne.” And then, tying in to the assembly’s theme, he continued: “Since the Holy Bible supplies us fully the details about this kingdom, the Holy Bible is rightly spoken of as ‘the word of truth.’”—2 Tim. 2:15; John 17:17.

Another principal address of each assembly that highlighted the truthfulness of the Bible was entitled “Let God Be Found True.” In it the speaker emphasized that, despite the waywardness of men, “God will always carry out what he says in his Word.” “Therefore,” the assembly speaker concluded emphatically, “we declare unequivocally that our position is the same as that taken by the Christian apostle Paul when he wrote: ‘Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.’” (Rom. 3:4) At the conclusion of this address the beautifully illustrated new book “Things in Which It Is Impossible for God to Lie” was released.

For added proof of the Bible’s truthfulness, evidence from secular sources was presented on the assembly program. Speaking to an attentive audience of 35,210 persons assembled in New York’s famed Yankee Stadium, one of the Society’s directors, Grant Suiter, furnished abundant archaeological testimony in support of the authenticity of various Bible accounts. Another assembly address, “The Book of Truthful Historical Dates,” demonstrated the accuracy of Bible chronology.

So with good reason assembly speakers pointed to God’s Word as the only reliable guide by which to live. In the speech, “The Bible’s Place in the Modern Home,” the sixty-year-old German-born speaker at the Vienna, Austria, assembly urged: “Let the Bible hold an honored position in our home, . . . Let us not only have family Bibles but let us be Bible families! Let us make Bible talk a habit, a relaxing joy, a pleasure.” And on the Saturday afternoon program a symposium of three talks emphasized the absolute necessity in this age of gross immorality for Christians to live closely by the righteous principles found in God’s Word. In Edinburgh, a good portion of this sound Bible counsel was reported on the front page of the following morning’s Scottish Sunday Express.

Another part of the program that caused considerable comment was the practical instruction received in the Sunday morning discussion, “Applying the Word of Truth to the Problems of Life.” An evidence of the fine effect it had was exemplified by what happened in Basel, Switzerland. After the talk one of the delegates came over to the speaker and explained that he had been quite disturbed when a wrongdoer had not been disfellowshiped from the local congregation. But now he could see the Biblical basis for extending mercy to wrongdoers who sincerely repented. He thanked the speaker for helping him to appreciate Jehovah’s loving, merciful way.

Those privileged to attend the New York City assembly were treated to something special. Two full days there were devoted to a demonstration of what goes on in the classes of the Watchtower Society’s Gilead School. Usually the school class periods are an hour and fifty minutes long, but they were condensed to thirty minutes so that the audience could look in on seven different ones. How much everyone learned from just those three and a half hours of “visiting” the Gilead classrooms!

But that was not all. The assembly audience were also privileged to sit in on two of the lectures that are regularly given in conjunction with the school courses. On one day they heard the Society’s vice-president, F. W. Franz, speak on the subject “The Book of Ruth,” and the second day they heard N. H. Knorr, the Society’s president, discuss “Making the Most of Your Opportunities,” after which he released a revised edition of the booklet “This Good News of the Kingdom.” It was also thrilling to listen in on the different language classes, and to see the amazing progress the students have made in learning the languages taught—French, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.

Brother Knorr concluded the special two-day program by drawing attention to the marvelous increase realized in the twenty-two years since the Gilead School started operations in February 1943. The year before the school’s opening, he pointed out, there were only 106,000 Kingdom preachers throughout the world, but now there are well over one million proclaiming the good news in 194 countries! Missionaries have had a major part in this increase, and Brother Knorr emphasized the need for more of them.

Of course, the highlight of each of the assemblies was the address that the public was especially invited to hear, “World Government on the Shoulder of the Prince of Peace.” This speech, which quoted exclusively from Catholic editions of the Bible, was prepared especially with the Catholic population of Dublin in mind. It was, therefore, gratifying to see that for the first major assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in that country 3,948 persons were present to listen.

For the series of forty-one assemblies in Europe, North America and the islands of Hawaii and Bermuda announced in the Watchtower magazine earlier this year, the combined public talk attendance totaled 506,950, and 8,595 new ministers were baptized. But already many additional “Word of Truth” assemblies have been held, and many are yet to take place in other parts of the world.

For most of Jehovah’s witnesses, the closing remarks of an assembly are most memorable. In New York City Brother Knorr gave a report on the ten European assemblies that he and Brother Franz had attended. How faith-stimulating it was to hear about the courage and love of the brothers there! In Berlin, for example, only about two hundred were able to get through from the Eastern zone to attend the assembly. All of these were older brothers, and the Eastern authorities did not care whether they returned or not because of their advanced age. However, after the “Word of Truth” Assembly these faithful Witnesses did not want to stay in West Berlin, even to enjoy a short vacation. As one of them expressed it: “We are anxious to get back as quickly as possible and take the things we have learned to our brothers.” What a spirit to have! What love and faith!

NEW BOOK THRILLS DELEGATES

In his concluding remarks Brother Knorr also drew attention again to the new book “Things in Which It Is Impossible for God to Lie,” released at all the “Word of Truth” assemblies. He urged: “Spread it throughout your territories so that people can read it and know that Jehovah’s witnesses stand for the Word of Truth.” This beautiful new book, he said, not only has already been published in English and Spanish, but is now in the process of being translated in over sixty languages, with the goal of having it published in fifteen of the major languages of the world by the end of the year.

This book is just what people need to learn God’s Word of Truth. It has universal appeal; reaching not only the minds of people in Christendom, but also persons of other lands. In its opening chapter it copes with the rising of unbelief by giving powerful proofs of God’s existence. It then acknowledges that different peoples have their own “holy” books, but straightforwardly shows that the Holy Bible is the only one inspired by Almighty God. In chapter three the book has a synopsis of the contents of the entire Bible, thereby providing background to prepare persons for the examination of the basic Bible doctrines that follow. It should truly prove to be a marvelous aid to help people of all kinds to come to a better knowledge of the Word of Truth. No wonder the new book thrilled the many thousands of assembly delegates!

Another Bible-study aid released in English at these assemblies was “Make Sure of All Things; Hold Fast to What Is Fine,” a 512-page book that gathers scriptures together in a logical arrangement on 123 principal subjects. Other Bible-study aids were also released in Danish, German, Finnish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Norwegian and Swedish.

UNIQUE FEATURES OF VARIOUS ASSEMBLIES

Although the program was essentially the same at each assembly, there were certain features that distinguished one assembly from the others. For example, in Dublin there was the visit to the Chester Beatty Library to see some of the oldest Bible manuscripts in existence. The delegates’ intense interest in God’s Word was evidenced by the fact that more people visited the library during the assembly than normally do in an entire year. After watching hundreds pass through one day, an official of the library exclaimed: “I have never seen such an orderly group of people. One of the [Witness] guides I listened to knew more about the library than I did myself. We would be glad to open the library any time to any of Jehovah’s witnesses who would like to come.”

Over in Oslo the following week people were simply amazed by the sudden transformation of one of the city’s soccer fields. On Wednesday night Norway played a soccer game with Yugoslavia, but by 1:40 p.m. the next afternoon the field was changed into the picturesque scene of an old Norwegian village. Scattered here and there on the field were little old houses with grass growing on their roofs. There were also wooden fences, a big pond and plenty of flowers and big rocks made out of painted canvas. It was a very lovely, realistic setting for the assembly, and it drew a great deal of comment from visitors.

Under the headline “Miracle During the Night—Unbelievable Effort by Jehovah’s Witnesses,” one of the major Oslo papers wrote: “Ecstasy and shouting yesterday, but today: the playing field transformed to the cleanest Sunday idyl. . . ! That’s what it is like when Jehovah’s witnesses take over the premises. It is impossible to understand how something like this could be done in just a few hours, rather than the two to three weeks one would consider reasonable.”

During the next week Helsinki, Finland, experienced what the travel bureaus called the greatest peacetime “invasion” of foreigners the country has ever experienced. Over 6,000 Swedish delegates made the long trip to Helsinki to help swell the attendance to well over twice that ever realized at an assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in Finland before; 17,088 persons attended the public talk. The assembly’s rooming department did a marvelous job of accommodating everyone, finding lodging for more than 11,000 delegates.

Another unique feature of this assembly was the thirteen-car special train that transported over 560 convention delegates from above the Arctic Circle down to Helsinki. Among those aboard were Witnesses from the Soviet Union who had met the train in Finnish Lapland. Most of these northern delegates slept right in the sleeping cars during the assembly; the state railway having provided washing facilities nearby to make this convenient.

A heartwarming feature of the Vienna, Austria, assembly was the welcoming of more than 1,200 Greek-speaking delegates who arrived on a special train from Athens. In Greece, Jehovah’s witnesses are not permitted to hold assemblies as they are able to in countries that permit religious freedom. So a real effort was made by these Greek delegates to make the forty-hour train trip to be present for this spiritual feast in Vienna. For most of them it was the first time to meet freely with their brothers in a large assembly. What a joyous occasion!

The Austrian brothers, too, were delighted. They were glad for the opportunity to be hosts to these faithful Christians, and showed this by arranging for twelve rented buses and over a hundred privately owned automobiles to take them from the station to their accommodations. As the train pulled in, the delegates were given a warm welcome over the train station’s public-address system. What a happy meeting! And what a grand time was enjoyed associating together for the next several days! Many close friendships were cultivated.

It was, therefore, a touching scene when, at five o’clock one morning the following week, the Greek brothers departed for home again. It was moving to see them there at the station exchanging parting embraces with their brothers of like precious faith. Over the public-address system the Greek brothers, now on the train, were assured that they would always hold a dear place in the hearts of their friends in Vienna. When hearing the words “Auf Wiedersehen!”, they leaned out of the coaches and clapped their hands. As long as the train was visible, the brothers at the train station stood there waving their handkerchiefs in a last parting greeting.

At the same time, similar touching scenes were being enacted over in Basel, Switzerland, where delegates from thirty-one nations had congregated, including over 2,000 from Spain and Portugal. However, some Witnesses from these countries on the Iberian Peninsula were not able to come, for officials learned they planned to attend a Christian assembly and denied them passports. But how happy were those who made it! What a joy it was for them to meet openly without the fear of being dragged off to jail for worshiping God! Even here, however, these Christians were careful to use only first names to protect themselves from reprisals from Iberian authorities who might learn they had attended a Christian assembly.

The Basel assembly was also unique in that the sessions were conducted in five different languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and French. It was truly an international audience of 36,785 that listened to the public talk! Another high point of the assembly was when a resolution drawn up by the Spanish brothers was read to the entire audience. “We appreciate not only what you have done,” it said, “but also have in mind what it has cost you in effort, in time spent, and in love shown.”

So, among other things, it was resolved: “To carry back to the brothers in Spain all the marvelous things learned at this assembly. . . . To also transmit to our brothers there all the love that you have shown. . . . And finally, we resolve to continue putting in first place, together with you, the worship of our God Jehovah, and the vindication of his name and sovereignty.” How moving was this expression from those who were returning to carry on the preaching work underground! What a stimulant to God’s service the “Word of Truth” assemblies were!

EVIDENCE OF JEHOVAH’S SPIRIT

The operation of God’s spirit was apparent at these Christian assemblies in so many ways. For example, when efforts were made to obtain baptismal facilities for the Seattle, Washington, assembly there were absolutely none available. A certain swimming pool was the last known possibility, but the manager said that his swimming pool, too, was booked up for the summer. After the dire need for a baptismal pool was explained to him, he said: “Well, I know we are booked up completely; however, I will make another check to see.” On doing so he found that he had only two hours all summer that were still open. These were from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, July 25, the exact time that had been scheduled for the baptism!

In Dublin, Eire, the guiding hand of Jehovah, too, was clearly seen. In that Catholic stronghold there was a great deal of opposition to Jehovah’s witnesses’ holding an assembly. Efforts to obtain one place after another failed. But finally the way opened and Tolka Park, a local soccer grounds, was obtained despite vehement protests. In time, many fair-minded Catholic people voiced themselves publicly in favor of freedom of worship, and a fine assembly with much good newspaper coverage was held. Certainly an evidence of Jehovah’s direction!

The smooth functioning of these assemblies, made possible by the loving labors of many willing volunteer workers, was also an evidence of the operation of Jehovah’s spirit. Observed the Edinburgh Evening News: “If it is a problem of organization, just take note of how Jehovah’s witnesses go about it. Even the Army would have trouble rivaling their precision.” And in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, the arena manager commented: “The way you are organized you could run the whole city, more than that, you could run the country or even the whole world, and it would be much better for it.”

Divine guidance was also evident from the quietness, orderliness and considerateness of the crowds. How unlike worldly gatherings! In Rotterdam one of the police officers approached the head of the assembly’s attendant department and asked him how they managed to keep the area in front of the stage cleared with just a little rope. He said they always needed a force of twenty policemen to hold back the people. In Luxembourg the manager of the convention hall was dumbfounded. “I don’t know what to say,” he exclaimed. “The children are so quiet. How do you do it?”

The answer, of course, is by applying the principles of God’s Word of Truth. Jehovah’s witnesses believe the Bible, they regularly study it, and they live by it. The “Word of Truth” assemblies furnished another powerful testimony to persons in many lands of the wonderful atmosphere of peace that prevails when it is applied by Christian people.

[Chart on page 639]

ASSEMBLY CITY — PUBLIC MEETING — IMMERSION

Dublin, Eire 3,948 65

Edinburgh, Scotland 31,501 576

Oslo, Norway 12,332 199

Helsinki, Finland 17,088 426

Seattle, Washington 15,575 196

Rotterdam, The Netherlands 21,816 406

Hamilton, Bermuda 286 9

Monterey, California 12,059 103

Victoria, British Columbia 5,654 105

Charleroi, Belgium 11,710 310

Luxembourg, Luxembourg 3,835 80

Sacramento, California 15,802 182

San Diego, California 31,537 356

Vernon, British Columbia 4,865 46

Basel, Switzerland 36,785 1,086

Vienna, Austria 12,266 409

Albuquerque, New Mexico 10,186 165

Regina, Saskatchewan 4,266 40

Sudbury, Ontario 3,788 41

Berlin, Germany 8,916 137

Lubbock, Texas 5,011 88

Peterborough, Ontario 6,740 83

Wailuku, Maui 350 8

Brandon, Manitoba 3,737 46

Chattanooga, Tennessee 10,238 107

Corpus Christi, Texas 4,608 126

Fairbanks, Alaska 593 11

Honolulu, Oahu 2,380 47

Memphis, Tennessee 15,706 280

Odessa, Texas 6,187 70

Kitchener, Ontario 9,348 91

Buffalo, New York 24,044 255

Minneapolis, Minnesota 20,893 268

Nashville, Tennessee 11,547 153

Quebec, Quebec 2,028 60

St. Petersburg, Florida 18,036 270

Calgary, Alberta 7,040 105

Saint John, New Brunswick 3,160 57

New York, New York 74,649 1,361

London, Ontario 14,430 140

Sydney, Nova Scotia 2,010 32

506,950 8,595

[Picture on page 635]

N. H. Knorr delivers keynote talk in Dublin.

Questions From Readers

● What is “the River” spoken of in Psalm 72:8?—V.B., U.S.A.

In this psalm regarding the extensive, peaceful rule of King Solomon we find the promise, “He will have subjects from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”—Ps. 72:8.

We can appreciate what boundary is meant by the term “the River” when we recall Jehovah’s promise to Abraham. That man had once lived “on the other side” of the Euphrates River, and there his father had served other gods. (Josh. 24:2, 15) However, after he came to Canaan, God promised that his descendants would receive the land “from the river of Egypt,” south of Canaan, “to the great river, the river Euphrates.” (Gen. 15:18) Thus the Euphrates was understood to be one of the boundaries of the Promised Land. (Compare Exodus 23:31 and Deuteronomy 11:24.) During the reign of King Solomon the territory Israel controlled did extend to the Euphrates.—2 Chron. 9:26.

Interestingly, the Jewish Targums, paraphrases or interpretive translations of parts of the Hebrew Scriptures into Aramaic, read “Euphrates” in place of “River” at Psalm 72:8.

Having subjects from sea to sea and from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth indicated an extensive rule in the case of Israel’s kings. The Greater Solomon, Jesus Christ, will enjoy an all-embracing or earthwide rule, in grand fulfillment of this prophetic psalm.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

In the first century of our Common Era the apostles of Jesus Christ urged the people: “Get saved from this crooked generation.” (Acts 2:40) If the need to do so was great then, how much more so is it urgent today! For that reason, Jehovah’s witnesses regularly call at the homes of people everywhere, talking to others about the purposes of Jehovah God and leaving with interested persons literature that will build up their appreciation for the Bible. As they engage in this work during October they will be offering a year’s subscription for the magazine Awake!, along with three Bible-study booklets, for $1.

PEACE SOON? YES! LEARN HOW!

Thousands of lives have been sacrificed in man’s effort to rule the world. Yet, to many persons, a unified rule of all people seems to be farther away than ever. Without it, lasting peace is impossible. Does that make the prospects seem hopeless? It would if it were not for the special sacrifice of one particular life that has opened the way. Men of all nations will be united and our generation will see it accomplished! The main article in this magazine has shown you how and what your part in such a future can be. Now this thrilling news, delivered as a talk to hundreds of thousands this summer at the “Word of Truth” assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses, is available in the 32-page booklet World Government on the Shoulder of the Prince of Peace. Share this good news with others. Each booklet, 5c; seven for 25c.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

November 14: World Government on the Shoulder of the Prince of Peace, ¶1-33. Page 613.

November 21: World Government on the Shoulder of the Prince of Peace, ¶34-66. Page 619.