The Watchtower — November 1, 1968

Be Wise—Be Slow to Anger

IT HAPPENED on a warm spring evening back in April. Four young boys, just about teen-age, shouted and carried on noisily in and out of a three-story apartment building in the Bronx, New York city. A postal worker who was trying to sleep because of working nights leaned out of his second-story window and called to the boys: “Stop the noise!” The boys, however, ignored him, and so he came downstairs with a pistol. As the boys started to run, he fired a shot, striking one of them in the back. “The boy fell face down to the street fatally wounded. He was pronounced dead by a doctor from Lincoln Hospital.”—New York Times, April 16, 1968.

Being quick to anger can indeed bring tragic results. But anger in itself is not necessarily wrong. It may have a just cause. There is nothing wrong with being angry or indignant at injustices or disregard of another’s rights. Because of the great amount of wickedness in the earth, Jehovah God, who is a righteous Judge, “has indignation every day.” (Ps. 7:11, RS) Likewise time and again Jesus Christ, the Son of God, when upon earth became angry or indignant, as when he called the religious leaders of his day “Hypocrites!” “Serpents, offspring of vipers”! And at times his anger even overflowed into actions, as when he overturned the tables of the money changers and with a whip of ropes chased the cattle dealers and their livestock out of the temple.—Matt. 23:13-33; John 2:15-17.

But at no time have Jehovah and Jesus Christ ever let their anger get the best of them. They never lose their tempers. They do not let their anger master them, but they always have full control of it. Their anger might be said to serve them as a slave. At no time does it dominate them so as to result in unwise or unjust actions. They are at all times slow to anger.

Being slow to anger is also referred to in the Scriptures under the term “long-suffering.” In the original language in which the Christian Greek Scriptures were written, the word is ma·kro·thu·miʹa, and means to be long of spirit, the opposite of quick-tempered. Long-suffering does not of itself mean to suffer long, for one could be compelled to suffer long and yet not be long-suffering, if he chafed, rebelled and was impatient about it. To be long-suffering means to be patient, slow to anger, tolerating, putting up with that which annoys, offends or causes vexation. According to one Greek authority, “long-suffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish.” It is one of the fruits of God’s spirit.—Gal. 5:22.

What will help one to overcome the tendency to be quick to speak and act in anger? For one thing, considering what God’s Word has to say about the example set by none other than Jehovah God himself in the matter of long-suffering. Although being almighty and having all authority and being perfect in wisdom, he is not hasty to act when angry. As he told his prophet Moses: “Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth.” Yes, time and again he has “tolerated with much long-suffering vessels of wrath made fit for destruction.” Among the many examples of his long-suffering that might be cited are his waiting for so many, many years before sending the flood in Noah’s day and before letting his disobedient nation of Israel go into exile to Babylon.—Ex. 34:6; Rom. 9:22; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Chron. 36:15, 16.

Also helpful in becoming slow to anger is for one to consider the direct counsel given in God’s Word on the subject. Thus we read that “he what is quick to anger will commit foolishness.” “One that is impatient is exalting foolishness.” “An enraged man stirs up contention, but one that is slow to anger quiets down quarreling.” “He that is slow to anger is better than a mighty man” who is not slow to anger. “Have you beheld a man hasty with his words? There is more hope for someone stupid than for him.”—Prov. 14:17, 29; 15:18; 16:32; 29:20.

Yes, one should keep telling himself how unwise, how foolish, how stupid it is to be quick-tempered, lacking in self-control. Angry words can break up friendships, can make it necessary for one to apologize. Being quick to anger can even result in lifelong regret, as in the case of the postal worker who shot that teen-age boy. Once the prophet Moses spoke and acted hastily in anger, and it resulted in his not being permitted to enter the Promised Land.—Ps. 106:32, 33.

Especially should one work at self-control. Learning to exercise self-control in all of life’s activities, such as in eating, drinking, in recreation and pleasure will help one to exercise self-control when under pressure. When you feel yourself becoming disturbed, resolve not to speak or act until you are calm. As the psalmist David counseled: “Be agitated, but do not sin. Have your say in your heart, . . . and keep silent.”—Ps. 4:4.

And what an aid love of neighbor is to being slow to anger! The Bible tells us that “love . . . does not become provoked. . . . It bears all things, . . . endures all things.” “Love covers a multitude of sins.” That is, love forgives, it holds back from retaliating, quickly punishing another.—1 Cor. 13:4, 5, 7; 1 Pet. 4:8.

Another help is empathy. God’s Word says that “the insight of a man certainly slows down his anger.” (Prov. 19:11) If we are able to put ourselves in the place of others, it will help us to understand why they say and do certain things and this will help us to be slow to anger. Then when we are reviled, instead of reviling in return, we will bless.—1 Cor. 4:12.

When we consider all the trouble that could be avoided if people were only slow to anger—it even being good for their health—we can see how true is the inspired proverb: “He that is slow to anger is abundant in discernment.”—Prov. 14:29.

The “Good News” of a World Without False Religion

“They will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But anything not sacred and anyone that carries on a disgusting thing and a lie will in no way enter into it.”—Rev. 21:26, 27.

1. Who is the Archenemy of false religion, and how did he show his displeasure in false religion early in man’s history?

MAN started out without false religion. Man’s Creator is the Archenemy of false religion. Man never got false religion from Him. Man’s history, as far back as the records of man go, has been marked by religion. The record reveals that early in man’s history he got involved in false religion, that is, the worship of a false god. False worship in the earth was wiped out by its Archenemy by means of a global flood, the only survivors being worshipers of man’s Creator, the Archenemy of false religion. That was 1,656 years after man’s creation on the earth.

2. What happened after the flood of Noah’s day, proving what?

² After that flood destroyed the false religionists, man got started again without false religion. Again, since then, man’s history has been dominantly marked by religion. Secular history and archaeology in all parts of the earth prove that fact, so that antireligious people cannot correctly say that man is not religious in his very makeup. However, both history and archaeology prove that man’s form of worship has been largely false religion. Thus, historical fact proves that man has had to have his religion to satisfy his natural craving, even if it was false religion.

3. What proves than man can do without false religion, and what will the Archenemy of false religion do soon?

³ Man can do without false religion. He did so at his very beginning about six thousand years ago. He did so immediately after the Flood of 2370-2369 B.C.E. He will do so again, and that shortly, in a new order of things introduced by the Archenemy of false religion, man’s Creator. The result will be a world of mankind without false religion, much to the pleasure and happiness of man’s Creator, the only living and true God. The everlasting benefits of such a new order will stand out in stark contrast with the conditions of the world of mankind in this time when false religion is coming to its grand climax. Is this not good news?

4. (a) Since there is a “false” religion, what else must there be? (b) Why is “false” religion’s prevalence over mankind soon to end?

⁴ When one speaks of “false” religion, it means that there is also a “true” religion, a true form of worship of man’s Creator, the Archenemy of false religion. From early after the Flood of more than four thousand three hundred years ago the true religion has been continually assaulted in order to wipe it out of existence. It is still under heavy assault, but today its assailant, false religion, is being assaulted as never before and its further prevalence over mankind will be very short. That is why the world without false religion is near and gets nearer all the time.

5. (a) What is the Communists’ view of all religion? (b) Yet what is the situation with true and false religion in the Russian Communist Republic?

⁵ Today false religion is being heavily attacked from many directions, and it is weakening. But attack from which direction will prove successful? That is, Which attack will not only destroy it but leave surviving mankind benefited for their lasting good? Will this be the attack by the so-called godless Communists that will thus succeed? The Communists find fault with the “good news” of a world without false religion; they want it to be a world without any religion at all. The leader of their revolution that took over Czarist Russia in the year 1917 C.E. said: “Religion is the opium of the people.” From experience with false religion, he and his fellow Bolsheviks could not conceive of a true religion, a pure religion with benefit to mankind. To them religion was religion, and it was all wrong, regardless of the existence of a correct, true religion. But after fifty years now of the Russian Communist Republic and its bitter antireligious campaign backed by the State, what is the situation there today? False religion still operates there openly in a number of denominational forms, but the Christian witnesses of Jehovah are driven underground.

6. (a) What questions are asked regarding the Communist effort to stamp out all religion, and what is the answer to all the questions? (b) To what have the people in Communist lands now turned?

⁶ Has this violent effort of the Communist Party in Russia to stamp out all religion brought them the “Paradise” that was promised to them not long ago by one of their now deposed leaders? Has it brought them real security against the steadily darkening future? Has it given the people a comforting hope of anything beyond the present life in this corrupt, oppressive system of things? The news out of that Communist land answers No! The majority of the people in whom it has destroyed all religious appreciation have been made the idolaters of a particular political system, the godless victims of selfish materialism and secularism.

7, 8. Define “secularism,” and tell to what kind of life it leads.

⁷ Secularism? Yes. It is a word that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy makes much of, rather than materialism. An exhaustive dictionary (Webster’s) defines secularism as “a view of life or of any particular matter based on the premise that religion and religious considerations should be ignored or purposely excluded”; but, more specifically, “a system of social ethics based upon a doctrine that ethical standards and conduct should be determined exclusively with reference to the present life and social well-being without reference to religion.”

⁸ In other words, a person should live just for the present, enjoying the good of this life as sufficient and adapting himself conveniently to the present and its standards with no regard for what religion of any kind has to say. Be concerned with this saeculum, this life, this age, and do not be concerned with the future to which religion refers. This leads to the attitude described by a first-century writer: “If the dead are not to be raised up, ‘let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we are to die.’” (1 Cor. 15:32) But what a life the secularist is now obliged to live, with no hope of the future!

9. What methods has Christendom used for centuries when sending her missionaries to the pagans or heathen?

⁹ Not yet has Christendom been knocked out by international communism, which considers her as a system of false religion. In her view of matters, Christendom herself has been carrying on an attack upon false religion. For centuries she has sent out her missionaries to lands that she has called heathen or pagan. To increase the membership of her church systems she has not stopped at using flame and sword in order to force the heathen to become baptized members of her organization. Take, for example, her slaughter of the native Indians of Central and South America, such as the Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Incas, because of their refusal to submit willingly to the Spanish conquistadors and get baptized into the church. Think of the military crusades against the Moslems in the Middle East, the crusades against the so-called heretics in Europe itself. But, in the end, what did this violent assault upon false religious worship accomplish?

ASSAULT BY CHRISTENDOM UNSUCCESSFUL

10. What efforts has Protestantism made to gain the heathen, but what has really been the case?

¹⁰ In more recent times Protestantism has sent out its missionaries using more peaceful means to gain the heathen, offering to them education and material benefits. But their assault on false religion has made little dent upon the heathen steeped in demon worship and rank idolatry. And what has really been the case is that one form of false religion has been trying to impose itself upon people of another form of false religion. This is true, for Christendom is really a disguised form of pagan religion, clothing itself with Christian garments but underneath holding fast to pagan religious beliefs and practices. This has really meant no actual destruction of false religion at all.

11. What false doctrines no more hold the interest of the people, and to what are people now looking instead of false religion?

¹¹ Because Christendom has thus proved false to the Holy Bible that it has possessed so long, she herself is now under the attack by those who are pressing the assault upon false religion. More of the people around the earth are becoming too enlightened to swallow her false doctrines any longer, such as eternal torment of immortal human souls in a hell of literal fire and brimstone managed by devils, also an inexplainable trinity of three coequal persons in one God, the infallibility of the pope of Vatican City, the end of the world in a fire that destroys our earth and all the stars of the heavens, and other related doctrines that are mere traditions of uninspired men. Man is living today in what is styled the Brain Age of intellectualism, the Space Age, the Atomic Age. The men of science are making many discoveries and producing remarkable inventions, and the people are looking more to them than to the religious clergy of Christendom. Their theory of the evolution of man from the spontaneous generation of life in dead matter, a theory that denies a Creative God, is being taught everywhere as if it were the truth, a fact.

12. What is happening to Christendom, and how is she trying to strengthen her position?

¹² Consequently, even Christendom is being battered by the forces and influences of this modern world with its widely accepted theories and philosophies, the change in viewpoint of the people regarding morals and conduct. Christendom, putting the traditional teachings and ceremonies of men ahead of the Bible, has no defense against these continual assaults from this Modern Age, and her religious stronghold is crumbling. As in all her past course of history, she continues to make compromises with this world. Divided into hundreds of religious sects, Christendom desperately seeks to strengthen her position and preserve herself by trying to unify all her religious denominations, believing that in unity there is strength.

13. Why is Christendom unable successfully to fight false religion, and why is her goal of world conversion unreachable?

¹³ Really pagan herself, Christendom has no real weapons with which to fight false religion and destroy it. Her teaching and her course of action make it plain that there is a difference between Christendom and true Christianity. Since her hundreds of millions of professed Christians are found to be “having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power,” how can Christendom successfully meet the attacks upon all false religion and prevail with the “power” of godly devotion? She cannot do so. For this reason her professed goal of wiping out all false religion by world conversion of all mankind to her religious organization is not being reached. Year after year, with the lessening rate of her conversions and with the world population steadily “exploding,” this goal of world conversion is getting farther and farther out of her reach. In the approaching world without false religion the credit will never be given to Christendom for having brought about that world of true religion. Even Christendom will not then exist. Salvation will not be by means of her.

14. Since Christendom and communism cannot successfully attack false religion, is there any organization that can, and, if so, is it received by Christendom and communism?

¹⁴ The more the results of their efforts are examined, the clearer it becomes that neither Christendom nor international godless communism is making a successful attack upon false religion, with good promise of finally extirpating it from the earth. It is true, as they may insist, that error has no right to exist. False religion has no right to exist. Yet by the permission of the divine Archenemy of false religion it does exist and poses a big problem for all lovers of truth and of pure worship. Is there, then, no one, no organization, that is conducting a successful assault on false religion for the liberation of the people? There should be, and there is! And all those who are fighting against all religion and who want to make this a world without any religion at all have been unable to destroy or even weaken this one particular religious organization. Almighty God, who is the Archenemy of all false religion, has protected and preserved it, to prove that there is a true religion and that he has a unified organization of true religion in the earth. What is it?

THE TRUE RELIGION

15. (a) Define what true religion is. (b) When did true religion get its start?

¹⁵ It was established in the first century of our Common Era centuries before Christendom got started. It was the organization to which a former resident of the town of Nazareth in Galilee wrote these words: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”—Jas. 1:1, 26, 27, AV; AS; RS.

16, 17. (a) How do we know James was not writing to the natural, circumcised Jews as those having the pure religion? (b) How did Jesus Christ view the Jewish leaders when he walked the earth?

¹⁶ According to those opening words of greeting, was this James addressing himself to the natural circumcised Jews who were scattered about throughout the then known world and indicating that they had the pure and undefiled religion of God the heavenly Father and that they were the one organization of true religion? No! James, the “servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,” wrote his letter sometime before his death in the year 63 C.E. and hence years before the destruction of Jerusalem and her temple in the year 70 C.E. and before the carrying of the captive Jews into all known nations, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus Christ, in Luke 21:20-24. True, the nation of natural circumcised Jews had once been favored with having the true religion of the day, but by the time that Jesus Christ came upon the Jewish stage of action the religious situation had changed. These Jews had been making some assault upon false idolatrous religion in foreign lands, but in early spring of the year 33 C.E. Jesus Christ at Jerusalem said to their religious leaders:

¹⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one you make him a subject for Gehenna twice as much so as yourselves.”—Matt. 23:15.

18, 19. (a) According to Jesus Christ, why could not the Jews be converting people from pagan religion to the true religion? (b) How did Jesus show that as a nation Israel would be cut off as God’s channel for truth?

¹⁸ According to those words of Jesus Christ, those Jews could not have been converting people from pagan religion to the true religion, not when they make these converts twice as much subjects for destruction in Gehenna as they themselves were. Why was this so? Jesus supplied the answer when he said to the scribes and Pharisees: “Why is it you also overstep the commandment of God because of your tradition? . . . You hypocrites, Isaiah aptly prophesied about you, when he said, ‘This people honors me with their lips, yet their heart is far removed from me. It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach commands of men as doctrines.’” (Matt. 15:1-9; Isa. 29:13) Showing that this nation would be cast off from being God’s channel for truth and pure religion, Jesus Christ denounced its religious leaders just three days before the day they had him put to death at Jerusalem and he said:

¹⁹ “Serpents, offspring of vipers, how are you to flee from the judgment of Gehenna? . . . Truly I say to you, All these things will come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent forth to her,—how often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings! But you people did not want it. Look! Your house is abandoned to you.”—Matt. 23:33-38.

20. (a) What positive proof have we that the nation of Israel was abandoned by God as his channel of truth? (b) To whom, then, was the disciple James writing when he mentioned “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad?”

²⁰ That this house or temple of theirs had really been abandoned to them was proved by its being destroyed by the Roman legions under General Titus in the year 70 C.E. (Matt. 24:1, 2) Since, now, this “house,” this temple of religion at Jerusalem, was abandoned by God, as announced by his Son Jesus Christ, it meant indeed that the nation of Israel worshiping at this house of religion was also abandoned by God from being any further his channel of truth and of correct religion. Logically, then, the disciple James, when addressing his letter to the “twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” was not writing to the twelve tribes of the nation of natural, circumcised Israel. He was writing to spiritual Israel, Israel being the only nation made up of twelve tribes, so that the expression “the twelve tribes” stood for Israel. At God’s rejection of the ancient nation of natural, circumcised Israel, the spiritual Israel became God’s channel for religious truth and the up-to-date pure and undefiled religion. By refusing to accept the newly revealed truth and the pure, undefiled religion, the natural Israel took her stand with the Gentile pagan nations. Through the centuries she has been terribly persecuted by Christendom, but not by spiritual Israel.

21. (a) What is it hard for people today to believe? (b) How can we assure ourselves that true, revealed religion existed in the first century?

²¹ In the face of all the religious confusion for thousands of years, and especially today, it is hard for people to believe that there was ever a true religion or form of worship or that any organization ever had the true religion. Yet the true, revealed religion did exist in the first century of our Common Era and there was an organization that really had it. If that were not so, the disciple James could not have addressed himself to it by letter.

22. How did the apostle Paul show there was an organization of revealed truth?

²² His fellow disciple, the apostle Paul, wrote of this organization as having the truth and the true godly devotion and as thus practicing the true religion. In his first letter to Timothy, a young overseer in that organization, the apostle Paul identifies that organization of revealed truth and godly devotion. Paul said: “I am writing you these things, . . . that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in God’s household, which is the congregation of the living God, a pillar and support of the truth. Indeed, the sacred secret of this godly devotion is admittedly great: ‘He [that is, Jesus Christ] was made manifest in flesh, was declared righteous in spirit, appeared to angels, was preached about among nations, was believed upon in the world, was received up in glory.’ However, the inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons.”—1 Tim. 3:14 to 4:1.

23. Why was there no uncertainty about the true, revealed religion in the days of the apostles, and of what can we be assured today?

²³ There was no uncertainty about it: back there, nineteen centuries ago, that “congregation of the living God” had the truth, the religious truth, and it knew accurately the mystery or “sacred secret” of the true godly devotion that had not only the form but also the power of it. Hence, it could be the “pillar and support of the truth,” in the midst of a world of error and false religion. The fact that in later periods of time some who professed to be of the “congregation of the living God” fell away from the true faith and became apostates does not deny or disprove that the one and only organization of true religion did exist in the days of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. If it existed back there amidst a world of false religion, it can exist today. It does exist. That “pillar and support of the truth” still stands in vindication of the “living God,” the Archenemy of false religion.

AN EXPANSIVE RELIGION

24. How was the congregation of spiritual Israel under a different command than natural Israel?

²⁴ Only the one organization of religious truth and of pure, undefiled religion can successfully make an assault on false religion with benefit to the people, with promise of their everlasting salvation. This “congregation of the living God,” this spiritual Israel, was not to be like the ancient nation of natural circumcised Israel and stay isolated to itself in its God-given Promised Land, as it were. No; rather, it was under express command to get out among the nations that were riddled with false religion. Recall that in describing the admittedly great mystery of godly devotion the apostle Paul said that Jesus “was preached about among nations,” not just ancient natural Israel. Jesus Christ himself is the one of God’s sacred secret whose godly devotion was foretold and described in the inspired Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible. How and why did he come to be “preached about among nations”?

25-27. What shows that Jesus did not intend for his followers to separate themselves from people?

²⁵ He did not instruct his apostles and early disciples to separate themselves from the people of the world and make recluses of themselves in caves in the desert or make monks and nuns of themselves by building monasteries and nunneries and retiring to themselves within such community buildings, thus holding back the revealed light of truth from shining into a darkening world. To the contrary, some days after his resurrection from the dead and before his ascension into heaven to appear to angels and be received up into glory, Jesus Christ said to his disciples:

²⁶ “All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth. Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”—Matt. 28:18-20.

²⁷ Emphasizing again that his followers were to go to the people of all the pagan nations in order to make disciples of Christ, Jesus Christ made this final statement just before they saw him ascend heavenward: “You will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.”—Acts 1:8.

28. (a) What meaning did Jesus’ instructions in Acts 1:8 have? (b) Could there by any doubt that the spirit-filled Christians had the true religion? Why?

²⁸ That meant nothing less than bearing witness and making disciples of Jesus as the promised Messiah of God outside of Jewry, where the true religion had been confined till then, and in all the non-Jewish nations that were steeped in false religion. What else could this mean but an attack on all false religion by spirit-filled Christians who had the true religion? There is no room for doubt and for saying, ‘Well, maybe they had the truth and the true religion, and maybe they did not,’ inasmuch as Jesus’ promise to them debarred such a likelihood or possibility. Concerning that holy spirit that was to impart power to them and for which they were told to wait in Jerusalem, Jesus said to them on the night before his sacrificial death: “When that one arrives, the spirit of the truth, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak of his own impulse, but what things he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things coming.” (John 16:13) They did receive this “spirit of the truth” on the day of Pentecost, Sivan 6, of the year 33 C.E., ten days after Jesus’ ascension to heaven.—Acts 2:1-36.

29. When and how did the attack on pagan false religion begin?

²⁹ About three years and four months later, in early autumn, about Tishri 1, of the year 36 C.E., the attack on the false religion of the pagans was begun by the spirit-filled members of the “congregation of the living God, a pillar and support of the truth.” This was when, under direct command from heaven, the apostle Peter went up from Joppa to Caesarea in Judea and for the first time entered into the home of an uncircumcised Gentile, a non-Jew, an Italian centurion named Cornelius. While Peter was yet preaching the message of truth to Gentile Cornelius and those whom he had gathered into his house to listen to Peter, the holy spirit fell also upon these believing Gentiles. In evidence thereof they began speaking in foreign languages not heretofore learned by them. (Acts 10:1 to 11:18) From then on the door stood wide open for the Christian truth to attack the false religion in all the Gentile nations.

The Crowning Assault upon All False Religion

1. What had the ancient Hebrew Scriptures prophesied, and how did many in the nations respond to Paul’s preaching?

EVEN the prophecies of the ancient inspired Hebrew Scriptures had indicated that in God’s appointed time the light of the truth was to assault the darkness of false religion. The apostle Paul quoted such a prophecy when he said to the people gathered together in the Jewish synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia about eleven years after the conversion of Cornelius to true religion: “Look! we turn to the [Gentile] nations. In fact, Jehovah has laid commandment upon us in these words, ‘I have appointed you as a light of nations, for you to be a salvation to the extremity of the earth.’” After the apostle Paul quoted that prophecy to his mixed audience, what happened? This: “When those of the nations heard this, they began to rejoice and to glorify the word of Jehovah, and all those who were rightly disposed for everlasting life became believers. Furthermore, the word of Jehovah went on being carried throughout the whole country.”—Acts 13:14-49; Isa. 42:6.

2. How was the action of “those of the nations” proof that a successful attack had been made by Paul in his preaching?

² Would you call that a successful attack on false religion? Yes, because it resulted in real liberation of victims of false religion and putting them in the way of “everlasting life” in the new order of Jehovah God, where there will be no false religion. This was a liberation of people from the power of the god of all false religion, to free them for the worship and service of the God of true religion, the Archenemy of all false religion. Such liberation was the gist of the commission given to the apostle Paul when the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him and went on to say: “I have made myself visible to you, in order to choose you as an attendant and a witness . . . while I deliver you from this people and from the nations, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, in order for them to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by their faith in me.”—Acts 26:14-18.

3. How does Satan wield his authority, and when did he first begin in this manner?

³ Note those words of this commission to Paul: “to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God.” Satan the Devil wields his “authority” through false religion, through religious “darkness.” True to his name Satan, which means “Resister; Adversary,” he resists the one living and true God, whose name is Jehovah. (Ps. 83:18) Satan began his resistance of Jehovah God at the garden of Eden during the presence there of the perfect Adam and Eve, and through deception he introduced false religion into the garden of Eden. (Gen. 3:1-15) After the expulsion of the rebellious Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, Satan caused religion of a false kind to flourish outside Eden until the flood of the prophet Noah’s days, which flood brought an end to the violence with which the earth was filled as a result of false religion.—Gen. 6:1 to 8:22; 2 Pet. 2:5; 3:5, 6.

4. (a) How was false religion reorganized after the flood of Noah’s day? (b) Who is worshiped as a god in the Babylonish world empire of false religion?

⁴ After this global flood Satan the Devil finally succeeded in reestablishing and organizing false religion, especially in the days of Noah’s great-grandson, the founder of the city of Babylon (Babel) and a “mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah.” (Gen. 10:8-10; 1 Chron. 1:10) Babylon became the central stronghold of all false religion on the earth, and starting out from here a world empire of false religion was built up. This religious empire is the mysterious thing that the Holy Bible calls “Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth.” (Rev. 17:1-5) This Babylonish religious empire has come to include even Christendom. Through this religious empire Satan the Devil is worshiped as god. This is not an overstatement, for the apostle Paul says: “If, now, the good news we declare is in fact veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.”—2 Cor. 4:3, 4.

5. Why have the political rulers tried to protect false religion?

⁵ The said “god of this system of things” also has the political rulers under his control. Jesus Christ knew this about Satan the Devil and called him “the ruler of this world.” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) This explains why the political rulers of this world have tried to protect and foster false religion. This has made it more difficult for the practicers of the true religion to assault the Babylonish world empire of false religion and turn persons “from the authority of Satan to God.” Yet this assault has been successfully carried on among all nations.

THE PATTERN FOR SUCCESSFUL ASSAULT

6, 7. What tactics did the ancient Israelites follow in attacking false religion, and are these to be the tactics of Christians?

⁶ The apostles of Jesus Christ set the pattern as to how this attack upon the false form of worship should be carried on. They were no iconoclasts or image breakers, such as the ancient Israelites were when subduing the Promised Land in the Middle East under the generalship of Joshua the son of Nun, beginning in the year 1473 B.C.E. At the time of the Israelite invasion of the land, it was filled with idols of the false gods of the pagan inhabitants of the land and the moral conditions among these pagan worshipers were very low and degraded, filthy.

⁷ “Consequently,” said Jehovah God, “the land is unclean, and I shall bring punishment for its error upon it, and the land will vomit its inhabitants out.” (Lev. 18:21-30) Not only were the Israelites to exterminate the false religionists of the land, but, said Jehovah, “the graven images of their gods you should burn in the fire. You must not desire the silver and the gold upon them, nor indeed take it for yourself, for fear you may be ensnared by it; for it is a thing detestable to Jehovah your God. And you must not bring a detestable thing into your house and actually become a thing devoted to destruction like it.”—Deut. 7:23-26.

8. Why was such drastic action like that necessary, and did it fully succeed?

⁸ That was drastic action, indeed, but not too drastic. The purpose was, not only to destroy false worshipers and their false religion out of the Promised Land, but also to protect the Israelites from being infected by it and falling victim to it and becoming like the pagan inhabitants of the land. Only in this way could Jehovah God, the Archenemy of all false religion, have the Promised Land be a land without false religion. The Israelites failed to take this drastic action completely, and the Bible history of the Israelites describes the sad consequences.

9, 10. (a) What authorization did Christians not have, and why? (b) What did Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10 show was the Christian’s method of attacking false religion?

⁹ The apostles of Jesus Christ and the other spiritual Israelites were not to be iconoclasts or image breakers like that. They were not authorized or commanded to go into pagan lands and smash their idols and tear down their temples of false worship. They were not told, neither did they expect, to stamp out false religion from the face of the whole earth. That work the Almighty God Jehovah reserves for himself, in the near future. And yet the twelve apostles and fellow spiritual Israelites did destroy false worship out of the lives of numberless victims of it. To the Christian congregation in the immoral idolatrous city of Corinth, Achaia, the apostle Paul wrote: “You know that when you were people of the nations, you were being led away to those voiceless idols just as you happened to be led.” (1 Cor. 12:2) To the congregation in the Macedonian city of Thessalonica, the apostle wrote:

¹⁰ “We first entered in among you and how you turned to God from your idols to slave for a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from the heavens, whom he raised up from the dead, namely, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath which is coming.”—1 Thess. 1:9, 10; compare Acts 14:14-16; 17:1-10.

11, 12. (a) Show how Paul described the Christian’s spiritual weapons. (b) What did Paul say about the Christian’s fight?

¹¹ How did the apostle Paul and his companions Silas and Timothy enter in among the pagans of Thessalonica? Not with the carnal weapons of the iconoclast, but with the “word of Jehovah,” “the good news of God,” “the word of God.” (1 Thess. 1:8; 2:8-13) Thus, in their warfare against false religion, they used spiritual weapons. Wrote the apostle Paul to the Corinthian congregation: “Though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage warfare according to what we are in the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things. For we are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God; and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:3-5) Very fittingly, then, the apostle Paul compares the word or saying of God to a sword. Of course, in going into these strongholds of false religion, the apostles and fellow workers exposed themselves to the assaults of demonism. The protection against this was a spiritual armor and sword. The apostle Paul describes this to the congregation in pagan Ephesus, saying:

¹² “Put on the complete suit of armor from God that you may be able to stand firm against the machinations of the Devil; because we have a fight, not against blood and flesh, but against the governments, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places. . . . Stand firm, therefore, with your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and with your feet shod with the equipment of the good news of peace. Above all things, take up the large shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the wicked one’s burning missiles. Also, accept the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word.”—Eph. 6:11-17.

13. How did the apostles and fellow disciples do more than preach the good news of the Kingdom? Give an example.

¹³ Safeguarded in this way with the “complete suit of armor from God” against the demon gods of false religion, the apostles and fellow disciples made their attack on false religion with the “sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word.” They did this, not just by preaching, proclaiming, heralding the good news of God’s kingdom, but backed up by teaching. This prevented them from moving rapidly from place to place, from city to city, especially as they had no printed literature of the modern style to explain God’s written Word to the searchers of the Holy Scriptures. In order to carry on a teaching course anywhere, they had to stay over a sufficient period of time with the object of ‘making disciples of people of all the nations.’ This is what the apostle Paul and his companions did in Thessalonica of Macedonia. They taught intensively for three weeks in succession, and they would have continued longer in the teaching work there had it not been that jealous religious enemies stirred up a riot, thus obliging these teachers of God’s Word to leave by night for the next city in their missionary tour.—Acts 17:1-10.

14. Why did not the apostle Paul have to force his way into the homes and destroy books and idols of false religion?

¹⁴ In the city of Ephesus, Asia Minor, the teaching program of the apostle Paul continued for going onto three years. (Acts 20:31) It might have continued longer, had it not been for an uproar that was raised in the city of the temple of Artemis (Diana) because the teaching work of Paul was so devastating to false religion. Paul did not need to force his way into the homes of demon worshipers and seize their books of false religion and burn them to ashes. Those who became believers as a result of Paul’s teaching did that themselves: “quite a number of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them up before everybody. . . . Thus in a mighty way the word of Jehovah kept growing and prevailing.” Paul did not need to take up a battle-ax and war club and go smashing the beautifully sculptured idols and miniature silver shrines to destroy the false worship of the Ephesians. Those who accepted Paul’s teaching and became believers did that themselves, figuratively speaking, by forsaking these things, destroying them out of their lives. This became so widespread that the idol-making industry suffered!

15. How do we know a considerable number of persons listened to Paul and then took action?

¹⁵ No wonder Demetrius the silversmith of Ephesus stirred up a violent protest, saying to a meeting of his fellow craftsmen: “Not only in Ephesus but in nearly all the district of Asia this Paul has persuaded a considerable crowd and turned them to another opinion, saying that the ones that are made by hands are not gods.” Paul won over that considerable crowd of believers by remaining in this fruitful territory and teaching week in and week out for as long as he could. Only the citywide riot stirred up by Demetrius the silversmith made it advisable for Paul to leave and move to a new territory for his attack on false religion.—Acts 19:8 to 20:1.

TODAY AS WE NEAR A WORLD WITHOUT FALSE RELIGION

16. How did Jehovah show that true religion would be practiced in this “time of the end”?

¹⁶ Thus the use of the spiritual weapons was successful against false religion in the first century of our Common Era. It should be so today in this twentieth century, despite the modern times. It is equally successful today, yet, with even greater results. Not the Communists, not Christendom, but those who practice the true religion today find it so. We say “the true religion today” because God can have the true religion on earth today, in spite of all the worldwide religious confusion, just as he had the true religion in existence and at work in the first century. He promised that he would have the true religion being practiced in this “time of the end,” in this “conclusion of the system of things,” and he has fulfilled his promise, his prophecy. In harmony with that Jesus Christ prophesied that at the time of his second coming and during the time of his invisible presence he would have a “faithful and discreet slave,” whom he would place over all his belongings. All the modern evidence is that he has found this “faithful and discreet slave,” not an individual man, but a composite “slave,” the remnant today of his faithful followers.—Matt. 24:3, 45-47.

17. What did Jesus say would be done in spite of world problems, and by whom?

¹⁷ In his prophecy on the “conclusion of the system of things” Jesus said that despite world war, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, religious persecution, “this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:14) His “faithful and discreet slave” class would be the ones under the absolute obligation of a “slave” to see that this prophetic command is carried out.

18. Who is it that have been giving this international, worldwide witness, and how does their official magazine agree that they are indeed doing so?

¹⁸ For almost a half century now, or since 1919, that prophecy has been carried into effect to give this worldwide, international witness. The determining question now is, By whom? The facts of modern history provide the one answer, By the Christian witnesses of Jehovah. According to the official 1968 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, they are active in 197 lands and territories, in all these places proclaiming the kingdom of Jehovah God as the one and only hope of mankind. In agreement with this their official magazine, which goes out at the rate of 5,450,000 copies of each issue and in seventy-two languages, reads on its front page, “The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom.”

19. What shows that the remnant of the true congregation today have the true religion?

¹⁹ The Christian “congregation of the living God” during the first century knew that it had the truth and the pure, undefiled religion or form of worship. Why should it be strange or thought to be presumptuous if the remnant of that same congregation today claims to have the true religion? This remnant of dedicated, baptized followers of Jesus Christ have obeyed the divine command given in Revelation 18:4 and have come out of Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion, including Christendom. On coming out of Babylon the Great they have not joined any antireligious organization such as the atheists, the freethinkers, the evolutionists, the Communists. No, but they have come out of the world empire of false Babylonish religion into the one true religion as the people of Jehovah God, “my people,” as He calls them. Attack all false religion they do, not like and in company with the godless antireligious groups of this world, but in the way that the apostles of Jesus Christ did, with the “sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word,” the only successful weapon.

20. (a) How have Jehovah’s witnesses shown themselves to be a “pillar and support of the truth”? (b) Their preaching and teaching the Bible has resulted in what accomplishment?

²⁰ Like a “pillar and support of the truth,” they stick to the teaching of the apostles and their inspired Christian associates as set out in the twenty-seven books of the Christian Greek Scriptures, in addition to the thirty-nine books of the inspired Hebrew Scriptures. As did the Christians of apostolic times in the first century, they study, uphold and follow the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. As did the apostles themselves, they go from house to house, today placing Bibles in the homes of the people and Watch Tower Society literature explaining the Bible, in 167 languages. (Acts 5:41, 42; 20:20) When Jesus in his prayer to his Father in heaven said: “Your word is truth,” this included also the then inspired written Scriptures. (John 17:17; Ps. 119:160) The whole Bible is the complete Book of true religion. The preaching and teaching of this Book by these house-to-house witnesses of Jehovah is mightily spreading the true religion and pushing back the false religion. God is certainly backing up this work.

21, 22. (a) Of what are the relatively small number of true worshipers today merely a forerunner? (b) What is the Archenemy of false religion, Jehovah, determined to do?

²¹ Already close to a million dedicated, baptized worshipers of Jehovah as God have joined the anointed remnant in this modern-day attack on all false religion. Their cooperation indicates how successful has been the continuous attack carried on by the remnant, Christ’s “faithful and discreet slave.” But what are one million of true worshipers against two thousand millions or more of the false religionists of Babylon the Great? True, but God’s attack forces against false religion have never been many in the earth, and they are relatively not many today. As the tremendous organizations of false religion scoff at the small band of assailants and reunite themselves for their security, let them remember that this insignificant number of Christian witnesses of Jehovah are merely the forerunners of the coming assault that will really destroy forever false religion out of the earth. This is the assault that the almighty Archenemy of false religion will himself make upon Babylon the Great and her political paramours. Says he, in the prophecy of Isaiah 28:21, 22:

²² “Jehovah will rise up just as at Mount Perazim, he will be agitated just as in the low plain near Gibeon, that he may do his deed—his deed is strange—and that he may work his work—his work is unusual. And now do not show yourselves scoffers . . . for there is an extermination, even something decided upon.”

23. What action by Jehovah will soon be brought on false religion, her political associates and Satan the Devil, and where is this foretold?

²³ Strange and unusual indeed it will seem when Jehovah God the Almighty by means of his forces in heaven and on earth (the ten horns and the wild beast) brings about the speedy destruction of that world empire of false Babylonish religion, to be followed shortly by his destruction of all her political associates in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Armageddon. (Rev. 17:15 to 19:21) This will be immediately followed by the binding of the god of false religion, Satan the Devil, and all his demons and the hurling of them bound into the abyss of deathlike inactivity during the reign of God’s kingdom by his Son Jesus Christ. (Rev. 20:1-6; 21:26, 27) All this is prophesied in God’s written Word, and he will never break his word but faithfully keep it and fulfill all these desirable things.

24. What follows the destruction of false religion that will be to mankind’s eternal benefit?

²⁴ Only in this way will God produce a world without false religion. His witnesses in the earth who are now proclaiming this “good news” of such a world will be preserved by him and will be the ones with whom he will start his promised world of true religion. Then “the earth will be filled with the knowing of the glory of Jehovah as the waters themselves cover over the sea.”—Hab. 2:14.

[Picture on page 656]

Due to Paul’s preaching many became Christians and burned their books on magical arts

Remember Our Creator Now, Whether Old or Young

SOME three thousand years ago the royal Congregator, King Solomon, under inspiration counseled: “Remember, now, your grand Creator.” (Eccl. 12:1) That is good advice for all, both old and young.a

Among the many ways that we can remember our grand Creator is by manifesting the qualities that he approves, such as the fruits of the spirit listed at Galatians 5:22, 23. Among these qualities or fruits of the spirit is that of goodness.

What is goodness? Goodness is that which is good, that which is suitable and fitting, that which is becoming. Goodness is also virtue, moral excellence. What does goodness include for the Christian? All that Jehovah God approves.

Goodness will help us remember our Creator by keeping us from lying, stealing, committing sexual immorality, overindulging in food and drink. In particular does goodness aid us in the positive virtues. It will cause us to be law-abiding citizens. Goodness will cause married persons to be fully loyal to their mates; children to be obedient to their parents. It will aid members of a Christian congregation to obey those who are taking the lead among them and to be submissive.—Heb. 13:4, 17; Rom. 13:1.

Remembering our grand Creator includes also the virtue of modesty, both as to not having too high an estimate of ourselves and having proper decorum and attire. And the quality of goodness should result in clean Christians, both as to their person and their homes, both as to physical cleanliness and moral cleanliness.—2 Cor. 7:1.

Remembering our Creator also means manifesting goodness by singing his praises. (Ps. 148:1, 12, 13) There are many opportunities for Jehovah’s witnesses to praise him. At the Kingdom Hall as they meet in sweet assembly they can praise him by joining in heartfelt song, by commenting as opportunity affords, by bringing their children and by inviting others to come.

And there is the remembering of our Creator by praising Jehovah in the field ministry: by going from house to house and standing on the street corners offering Bible literature, by making return visits and conducting Bible studies in private homes. Nor to be overlooked is witnessing at other times as opportunity affords.

Truly there are many fruitful ways in which we as Christians can manifest goodness, and thus show, whether we be old or young, that we remember our grand Creator now.

[Footnotes]

Your Soul, Your Spirit and the Hereafter

PERHAPS you have experienced the empty feeling that comes with losing a loved one in death. On such occasions most persons feel not only sad but also very helpless. It is only natural to wonder: What happens to a person when he dies? Is he still conscious somewhere? Is there a real hope that the dead will live again? The Bible contains a comforting answer to these questions.

Simply stated, death is the opposite of life. In sentencing the first man Adam for his willful disobedience, God said: “You [will] return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Gen. 3:19) Consider now: Where was Adam before God formed him from the dust and gave him life? Why, he simply did not exist. At his death Adam returned to the same lifeless, unconscious state. He went neither to a fiery hell nor to heavenly bliss, but died—as God said he would.—Gen. 2:17.

The Bible clearly teaches that the dead are unconscious and lifeless in the grave. Note what Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 (AV) says regarding the condition of the dead: “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”

This means, therefore, that the dead cannot do anything and cannot feel anything. Their thoughts have ceased, as the Bible states: “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”—Ps. 146:3, 4, AV.

DOES MAN HAVE AN IMMORTAL SOUL?

But what about the soul? Is it not a part of man that separates from his body at death and goes on living? To answer this properly we need to determine what the soul is.

You may be surprised to know that animals as well as men are called “souls” in the inspired Scriptures. For instance, Numbers 31:28 speaks of “one soul [Hebrew, nephʹesh] out of five hundred, of humankind and of the herd and of the asses and of the flock.” Notice here that both humans and animals are classed as souls. If you have a Bible that shows marginal readings either alongside or below the columns of Scripture verses, you can look at Genesis 1:20, 30 and note that fish, birds and animals are in the “living soul” class—the marginal readings showing “soul” for “life” in these verses.—See also Revelation 16:3, where the Greek word for “soul,” psy·kheʹ, appears.

What, then, is the soul? Let us see what the Creator’s own written Word says about it. At Genesis 2:7 we read: “And Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.”

Note, please, that after God started man breathing “the man came to be a living soul.” Hence the man was a soul, just as a man who becomes a doctor is a doctor. (1 Cor. 15:45) Since the human soul is man himself, then it cannot be some shadowy thing that merely inhabits the body or that can exist apart from the person.

In harmony with this fact, the Bible makes plain that the human soul possesses physical qualities. For example, the Bible speaks of the soul’s desiring physical food, saying: “Your soul craves to eat meat.” (Deut. 12:20; see also Leviticus 17:12.) It says, too, that souls have blood traveling through their veins, for it speaks of “the blood of the souls of the poor innocents.” (Jer. 2:34, AV) Yes, your soul is really you, with all your physical and mental qualities.—Prov. 2:10.

What, then, of the texts that use such expressions as “my soul,” or those that speak of a person’s soul as though it is within him? These texts, of course, must harmonize with the scriptures already considered, for there can be no contradiction in God’s Word. It becomes evident, then, that the word “soul” may be used in different senses. At times it refers to one’s own self as a soul. So just as one says “myself” he also can say “my soul,” meaning basically the same thing. Thus the psalmist wrote: “My soul has been sleepless from grief.”—Ps. 119:28.

“Soul” can also refer to the life one enjoys as a living soul or person. Now, we can say that someone is alive, meaning he is a live person. Or we can say that he has life, meaning he has life as a person. In the same way, man, according to the Bible, is a soul; but, as long as he is alive, he can be said to “have soul.”

So, just as we speak of one’s losing his life, we can speak of his losing his soul. Jesus said: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26, AV) When Rachel had trouble in giving birth to Benjamin, her soul (or life as a soul) went out from her and she died. (Gen. 35:16-19) She ceased to be a living person and became a corpse. And when the prophet Elijah performed a miracle in connection with a dead child, the child’s soul (or life as a soul) came back into him and “he came to life.” He was no longer a corpse but was again a living soul.—1 Ki. 17:17-23.

Since the soul is the person himself, what happens to a soul at death? The Bible is very clear in stating that the soul is subject to death, saying: “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.” (Ezek. 18:4, 20) The apostle Peter quoted from the writings of Moses concerning the future Prophet Jesus, saying: “Indeed, any soul that does not listen to that Prophet will be completely destroyed from among the people.”—Acts 3:23.

Consistent with this basic truth, not once in any of its verses does the Bible say that either human or animal souls are immortal, deathless, cannot be destroyed or cannot perish. There are, however, dozens of scriptures that show that the soul can die or be killed. (Lev. 23:30; Jas. 5:20) Even of Jesus Christ the Bible says: “He poured out his soul to the very death.” (Isa. 53:12) We see, then, that the human soul is the person himself, and when the person dies, it is the human soul that dies.

Much of the misunderstanding about death has been due to the confusion in many persons’ minds as to the meaning of “soul” and “spirit.” The Bible shows they are not the same, as we shall see.

WHAT IS THE SPIRIT IN LIVING CREATURES?

From Job 34:14, 15 we learn that there are two things that man (or any other conscious earthly creature) must have in order to be and stay alive: spirit and breath. There we read: “If he [God] sets his heart upon anyone, if that one’s spirit [Hebrew, ruʹahh] and breath [Hebrew, neshamahʹ] he gathers to himself, all flesh will expire together, and earthling man himself will return to the very dust.” Also the Bible speaks of Jehovah God as “the One laying out the earth and its produce, the One giving breath to the people on it, and spirit to those walking in it.”—Isa. 42:5.

We know that the first man was formed by God out of the “dust of the ground,” that is, the elements taken from the soil. At the time of Adam’s creation, God caused the billions of cells in his body to live, to have in them the force of life. This active life force is what is meant here by the word “spirit” (ruʹahh). But for the life force to continue in each of Adam’s billions of cells, they needed oxygen, and this was to be provided by breathing. So, God next “breathed into his nostrils the breath [neshamahʹ] of life.” Then Adam’s lungs began to function and thereby sustain by breathing the life force in his body cells.—Gen. 2:7, AV.

This was similar to the case of certain newborn babies. Although there is life in the baby when born, it sometimes does not begin to breathe right after birth. The doctor finds it necessary to spank the child to make it start breathing, for without breath the child would soon die. So, too, the life in Adam’s body cells had to be sustained by the breathing process in order for Adam to carry on the activities of a living person.

Whereas the human soul is the living person himself, the spirit is simply the life force that enables that person to be alive. The spirit has no personality, nor can it do the things a person can do. It cannot think, speak, hear, see or feel. In that respect, it might be likened to the electric current of a car’s battery. That current can ignite the fuel to make the engine produce power, cause the headlights to shine, sound the horn, or cause the car’s radio to produce voices and music. But, without the engine, headlights, horn or radio, could that battery current do any of these things by itself? No, for it is merely the force that enables the equipment to perform and do such things.

This spirit or life force is found in all living creatures, being passed on from parents to offspring at the time of conception. Thus, God told Noah that he would cause a flood of waters “to bring to ruin all flesh, in which the active force [ruʹahh, spirit] of life is,” both of animals and men.—Gen. 6:17, margin, 1953 edition; see also Ge 7:15, 22, AV, marginal reading.

Because they all have this same life force or spirit, man and the animals die in a similar manner. For that reason, Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20 says: “There is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit [ruʹahh] . . . All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust.”

Since God is the Giver of life, his Word says that when a person dies “the dust returns to the earth just as it happened to be and the spirit itself returns to the true God who gave it.” (Eccl. 12:7) At death the life force eventually leaves all the body cells and the body begins to decay. All conscious thought and actions end. (Ps. 104:29) How, then, does the spirit ‘return to God who gave it’? Does the life force literally leave the earth and travel through space to God’s presence? No, but it returns to God in the sense that now the future life prospects of the person rest entirely with God. Only God can restore the spirit, causing the person to live again.

Some persons live in fear of the dead and make offerings to appease dead ancestors. But we can find comfort in knowing that, since the dead are unconscious, it is not possible for them to harm the living. And though one may have loved very much some person who died, God’s Word shows that one cannot benefit the dead person by having religious acts or ceremonies performed for such one, perhaps at great expense to the survivors. (2 Sam. 12:21-23) The knowledge of the true condition of the dead also protects us against the practice of trying to speak with the dead. The Bible warns that those who claim to speak with the dead are really getting in touch with demons, wicked spirits that falsely pretend to be the one who has died.—Deut. 18:10-12.

WHAT IS HELL?

Many religious organizations teach that the wicked are tormented endlessly in a hellfire. At its ecumenical council a few years ago the Roman Catholic Church reaffirmed belief in the reality of hell as a place of eternal punishment. But is this belief taught in God’s Word? You may know the meaning that your own particular church organization gives to “hell,” but have you ever investigated to see the meaning given it in the Scriptures? What is hell according to the Bible?

In the Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible the word “hell” is translated from the Hebrew word sheolʹ. This word occurs 65 times in all. The King James Version of the Bible, however, translates sheolʹ 31 times as “hell,” 31 times as “grave,” and 3 times as “pit.” The Catholic Douay Version of the Bible translates sheolʹ as “hell” 63 times and as “pit” once and as “death” once. In the Christian Greek Scriptures the word “hell” is sometimes translated from the Greek word haʹdes. Both the King James and Douay versions translate haʹdes as “hell” in each of its ten occurrences.

Is hell a hot place? Do sheolʹ and haʹdes refer to some place where the wicked suffer after death? It is plain that they do not, for we have already seen that the dead are not conscious and therefore cannot suffer. The Bible does not contradict itself with regard to the condition of those in hell. This is proved by the fact that the Bible says that Jesus was in hell. (Acts 2:31, AV, Dy) When the apostle Peter stated this on the day of Pentecost, he clearly meant that Jesus had been in the grave, not in a place of fiery torment. (1 Cor. 15:3, 4) In saying this the apostle quoted from Psalm 16:10 (15:10, Dy]. Here the Hebrew word sheolʹ was used, and at Acts 2:31 this word is translated by the Greek word haʹdes. This shows that sheolʹ and haʹdes refer to the same thing. The Bible “hell” is actually mankind’s grave.

As further proof of this, consider what occurred after the prophet Jonah was swallowed by the big fish. The Bible says: “Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.” (Jonah 2:1, 2, AV) Where was Jonah? In some fiery place? No. Jonah was in the fish’s belly, which would have been his tomb or grave if God had not delivered him from there. That is why the marginal reference in the King James Version substitutes here “the grave” for “hell.”

Also consider the case of the righteous man Jacob. When sorrowing for his son Joseph, he said: “I will go down to my son into hell [sheol΄; the grave, AV], mourning.” (Gen. 37:35, Dy) Now think: Did Jacob believe that his good son Joseph was in a fiery-hot place, and did he himself want to join him there? It is obvious that Jacob merely thought his son was dead and in the grave, and in his sad state Jacob himself wanted to die.

Job, a righteous servant of God, who was suffering much, prayed to God: “Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell [sheol΄; the grave, AV], and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a time when thou wilt remember me?” (Job 14:13, Dy) How unreasonable to think that Job desired protection in hell if it is a fiery-hot place! Clearly, this “hell” is simply the grave, and Job desired to go there so that his sufferings might end. Good people as well as bad people go to the Bible “hell,” the common grave of all mankind.

RICH MAN AND LAZARUS

There is one place where haʹdes occurs, however, that has caused some persons to believe that the Bible hell is a place of physical torment. That is where Jesus spoke of the rich man and Lazarus, and said that the rich man died, and in haʹdes experienced torment. (Luke 16:22-31) Why is the use of haʹdes here so different from its use in other places? Because Jesus was giving a parable or illustration and was not speaking of the literal haʹdes or the grave.—Matt. 13:34.

Consider: Is it reasonable or Scriptural to believe that a man suffers torment simply because he is rich, wears good clothing and has plenty to eat? Is it Scriptural to believe that one is blessed with heavenly life just because he is a beggar? Consider this too: Is “hell” literally within speaking distance of heaven so that an actual conversation could be carried on? Also, if the rich man were in a literal burning lake, how could Abraham send Lazarus to cool his tongue with just a drop of water on the tip of his finger? What, then, was Jesus illustrating?

In this illustration the rich man stood for the class of religious leaders who rejected and later killed Jesus. Lazarus pictured the common people who accepted God’s Son. The Bible shows that death can be used as a symbol, representing a great change in one’s life or course of action. (Compare Romans 6:2, 11-13; 7:4-6.) A death, or change from former conditions, happened when Jesus fed the Lazarus class spiritually, and finally by Pentecost they came into the favor of the greater Abraham, Jehovah God. At the same time, the false religious leaders “died” with respect to having God’s favor. Being cast off, they suffered torments when Christ’s followers after Pentecost forcefully exposed their evil works. (Acts 7:51-57) So this illustration does not teach that some dead persons are tormented in a literal fiery hell.

GEHENNA AND PURGATORY

Perhaps someone may object and say that the Bible does speak of “hell fire.” (Matt. 5:22, AV, Dy) True, some versions use this expression, but in such cases the original Greek word here used for “hell” is Geʹenna, and not haʹdes. “Gehenna” occurs twelve times in the Christian Greek Scriptures, and refers to the valley of Hinnom outside the walls of Jerusalem. When Jesus was on earth this valley was used as a huge garbage dump where fires were kept burning by adding brimstone (sulfur) to burn up the refuse. Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volume I, explains: “It became the common lay-stall [garbage dump] of the city, where the dead bodies of criminals, and the carcasses of animals, and every other kind of filth was cast.”

So when Jesus said that persons would be thrown into Gehenna for their bad deeds, what did he mean? Not that they would be tormented forever. Jesus used that valley (Gehenna) of fire and brimstone as a proper symbol of everlasting destruction. That is what his first-century listeners understood it to mean. The “lake of fire” mentioned in Revelation has a similar meaning, not conscious torment, but “second death,” everlasting death or destruction. It is evident that this “lake” is a symbol, because death and hell (ha΄des) are thrown into it. Such things cannot literally be burned, but they can be done away with, or destroyed.—Rev. 20:14; 21:8.

What, then, about purgatory? This is said to be a place where human souls are conscious and going through fiery purging after death. Since the Bible clearly shows that the dead are unconscious, how could God be tormenting anyone in such a place? (Ps. 146:4 [145:4, Dy]) Actually, neither the word “purgatory” nor the idea of a “purgatory” occurs in the Bible.

WILL THE DEAD LIVE AGAIN?

The Bible teaching on the true condition of the dead relieves one’s mind of much unnecessary fear and worry regarding those who have died. To know that such ones are not suffering helps us to appreciate far more God’s love, and his justice. Yet, one may still wonder, If a man dies and simply goes to the grave, what hope is there for the dead? The Bible reveals that there is a wonderful hope, the hope of living again.

During his earthly ministry Jesus Christ showed his power over death, actually bringing dead persons back to human life. (Luke 7:11-16; John 11:39-44) He thus provided a preview of what he will do on a grand scale in God’s new system of things. The heartwarming prospect is that then hell, mankind’s common grave, will be emptied of its unconscious dead. (Rev. 20:13) Some receive a resurrection to heavenly glory as spirit creatures, even as did Jesus Christ. (Rom. 6:5) However, the vast majority of mankind will be brought back to enjoy life in a restored earthly paradise.—Acts 24:15; Luke 23:43.

In God’s new system the resurrected dead, if they carry out God’s righteous laws, will never need to die again. (Isa. 25:8) Certainly this grand provision for blessing mankind is reason for us to take in more knowledge of Jehovah and his Son, Jesus Christ. Doing so can lead to our eternal life and blessing.

What Did You Get Out of Your “Good News” Assembly?

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES, old and young, enjoy gathering together at assemblies, even as commanded at Hebrews 10:24, 25. That is why hundreds of thousands traveled many miles to attend one of the “Good News for All Nations” District Assemblies. These were held in more than 120 cities in upward of twenty-five lands in the northern hemisphere during July and August of this year. And in what crowds they came! In nearly every land the attendance was from 10 to 30 percent above that of the previous year, for a total of 928,756.

Witnesses not free to assemble in large numbers in their own lands traveled to lands where they could so meet. Some 5,000 traveled from Spain to Toulouse, France, as also did more than 600 Portuguese Witnesses. More than 2,000 from Yugoslavia were at the assembly in Villach, Austria, and upward of 500 from Greece enjoyed an assembly in Ulm, Germany. Of course, all these assemblies were held in their own native tongues.

How well the young folks were represented at these assemblies! Time and again the public press commented on this fact and noted that there was no ‘generation gap’ among the Witnesses. Thus B.T. (one of Denmark’s largest dailies), published an interview with a number of youthful Witnesses, giving their outlook on the Bible, morals, marriage, dress and other things. In its introductory remarks it stated:

“This is not an old people’s affair—there are many younger married couples and single young people, youths, teen-agers and children. All listen attentively and confidently to the talks and Biblical explanations given by their elders. There is no youth rebellion among Jehovah’s witnesses. That which holds them united could be expressed in one word: truth. But what kind of truth is so strong that it completely overpowers the young, changes their entire attitude to life completely and gets them to follow a way of life that in almost every way separates them from all others of their same age?”

That these young folks appreciated these assemblies could also be seen by the parts they themselves had on the programs and by the way they pitched in and helped out in the various departments, such as refreshments, cafeteria and cleaning. And they showed it by the efforts they put forth to get to the assemblies, not all parents being able to stand the added cost of bringing their whole families. Thus in Ireland, two little boys, seven and eight years of age, chopped sticks into kindling wood and then sold it so as to have the means to get to the assembly. Out in the state of Washington youngsters gathered “night crawlers,” large worms used by fishermen, by the tens of thousands, selling them at a penny apiece, so as to be able to get to the assembly. In the Bronx, New York, teen-age girls did domestic work after school, baby-sitting in the evenings, and a boy took on a newspaper route so that they could get to the Washington, D.C., assembly.

SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS WITH “FRINGE BENEFITS”

Without a doubt all who attended the assemblies received many minor blessings that might be termed “fringe benefits.” They enjoyed sharing meals and visiting with their brothers, meeting old friends and making new ones, and having a part in the singing of songs. But it would have been a mistake to have contented oneself with such in view of the larger, more important spiritual blessings available. How much did those in attendance get from the assembly program itself? How much did you get from it?

The various features of the assembly program were exceedingly well thought out, and much preparation went into them. A report from Ireland stated regarding them: “Never has a district assembly program had such an impact; never has interest been so easily maintained throughout all four days; never have our hearts been so stirred to apply Jehovah’s principles to our everyday lives and ministry. . . . This was an assembly to be remembered for its potent influence on our spirituality and for its provision of a superb instrument to assist us as ministers of the good news.”

However, a number were not able to attend these assemblies. Then again, some who attended were busy with operating the convention organization and so missed portions of the program. And it is likely that many a strong point was lost to listeners because of distractions that are difficult to avoid with large crowds. So it seems well to review briefly the program day by day and note the highlights.

THE FIRST DAY

These assemblies opened with the address of welcome: “The ‘Good News’ Has Brought Us Together.” “Where would you be if it were not for the ‘good news’?” the speaker asked, and then added, “Some of you might not even be alive.” ‘This good news has changed our lives, given us peace of mind and security; it has given us something to live for. By your concentrating on the concentrated spiritual food presented at this assembly it may well be a milestone in your Christian life.’

Next came the chairman’s talk, “Appreciating What God Has Done for Us.” Among other things the speaker pointed to the many marvels of creation, such as the human hand, without which no human production from tiny transistor to mighty ocean liner could be possible, and to the human eyes, two beautifully formed tiny spherelike motion-picture cameras. He also took note of the many spiritual blessings, chief of which has been the gift of God’s Son as mankind’s Ransomer. This talk was a masterpiece for increasing appreciation for what God has done, and it served as a fine start.

It was followed by “What Are You Doing with Your Life?” a dramatic presentation that accomplished a number of things. It showed how Christians can have a spiritually profitable time when they come together on social occasions by reading a certain portion of the Bible, a few verses at a time, and then discussing them. It also showed how Esau’s despising his birthright can serve as a warning to Christians today who may lack in appreciation of their inheritance. (Matt. 25:34) And further, the drama served to make Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Esau live as never before in the minds of those who heard it. The touching portrayal of Abraham’s offering up Isaac brought tears to many an eye.

The evening’s program opened up with interesting experiences and fine remarks by young folks in the full-time pioneer ministry. Typical were such expressions as: “I found it took more than just wanting to pioneer. It took determination to pioneer.” “The pioneer work offers the most of the thrill of helping people come to dedication.” At more than one assembly high school graduates told of turning down college scholarships in order to pioneer.

After these expressions came the two-hour drama “What Young Folks Are Doing in the Ministry.” With a cast of some thirty characters, all of whom spoke their lines, it frankly and dramatically portrayed the problems facing Christian youths in the ministry, such as the snare of materialism and the temptation to commit fornication, and how these can be met successfully. Based largely on true-life incidents, the drama stressed what parents can do to help their children. Forcefully parents were told: “It is not enough that your children attend meetings and go out in the service; do you know why they do? Do you know just what their viewpoints and aspirations are? Do you know where their real interests lie?” In conclusion parents were told: “Your children are clay in your hands. You can help Jehovah to mold them as vessels for an honorable use, or . . . abandon them to this system’s molding of them as vessels for a dishonorable use. The choice is yours!”

THE SECOND DAY

Friday, the second day of the assembly, featured a morning immersion service, “Baptism in Response to the ‘Good News.’” Among other things it showed that dedication is required to gain a good conscience; it is the wise thing to do, as it leads to everlasting life, and it is the loving thing to do out of gratitude for all that God has done for us. It is no bargaining agreement, however, but rather an unconditional surrender, based on trust in God. At 119 assemblies, 17,613 were baptized.

After interesting experiences related by some who had just been baptized, Friday afternoon’s program continued with a talk based on Matthew 11:28-30. It showed that the world’s yoke and load are harsh and heavy by reason of widespread selfishness and wickedness. Heavy also is the burden of guilt because of one’s sins. But the yoke and load of dedication are gentle and light because Jehovah God and Jesus Christ are loving and reasonable Masters. Faith, obedience, a right outlook and association with Christian brothers further contribute to making one’s load light.

Then immediately followed the discourse “Are You Training Now for the Trials Ahead?” How can you? By learning to control your thoughts, by good study habits, by victoriously meeting present trials, such as those caused by nationalism, sexual immorality, materialism and increased indifference to the Kingdom message. Important also is being selective in your entertainment. The audience was urged: “Cut out what weakens you spiritually, such as excessive TV viewing.”

Next came the talk telling “Where More Preachers of the ‘Good News’ Are Needed.” The Macedonian call is still being heard, for there are many lands where there is but one Kingdom preacher to 5,000 of the population, and in one land the ratio is one to 840,000. Many blessings await you if you can heed this call, but prudent planning is essential. If you are unable to move far away, within your own country there may be places where the need is greater. (Acts 16:9, 10) It was followed by the powerful keynote speech, “The ‘Good News’ of a World Without False Religion,” the entire text of which appears in this issue of The Watchtower.

At its conclusion a new Bible-study aid, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, was released. Consisting of 192 pages, it is pocket size. As for its contents, a letter of appreciation from Denmark, in part, stated:

“It engages the reader or student almost from the beginning, and involves him in the consideration. It is a treatment of both the subject material presented along with the reader’s attitude toward it. It appeals to the making of many decisions as the material is presented, and that will help him come into the truth. After all, coming into the truth is not just one decision made after studying the book through, but the result of many decisions made as knowledge increases . . . This book and the study plan seem to be one of the most timely we have ever received.”

The Watchtower, February 15, 1968, in announcing these assemblies had stated: “On Friday something is planned that will not only delight you but also no doubt surprise you, for it will have considerable influence on the work that we will be doing during the years to come.” The “surprise” included more than the new book. It also involved a six-month Bible-study program! Because of the way the new book involves the student at every turn, it will doubtless make him want to take some action by the time he has completed it, which should be in about six months. No more are such studies to run on year after year without the student’s acting upon the knowledge he gains!

The evening program began with experiences of success with Bible studies. A most unusual “success story” was related at the Lewiston, Maine, assembly. Two special pioneers told how, in a comparatively short time, they had been able to assist ten young adults, together with the parents of some of them, to take their stand for God’s truth, largely as the result of a chain reaction, as it were. Ten of them came to the platform, one at a time, and it was reported that twelve had been baptized within the past eight months.

Then the program highlighted the many fine features of the new Bible-study aid and how it could be presented to the public: It is filled with easy-to-understand discussions of subjects most persons need to know or are most interested in. It is kind but firm, fast-moving and has a note of urgency about it. It gives counsel on Christian conduct, family life and presents the Scriptural view of such practices as abortion and spiritism.

Especially of interest to all those with unbelieving mates was “Uniting the Divided Household,” which came next. In a kind and understanding way it spelled out the Scriptural twofold obligation to keep integrity and help the unbeliever to become a believer. Examples showed the value of loving consideration and tact and refusing to compromise. “Better take abuse than give it,” such were counseled, and, “Being submissive is just as much a requirement for the Christian wife as preaching the good news of God’s kingdom.” How can divided households be avoided in the first place? By drawing both mates into the Bible discussions from the very start and by ‘marrying only in the Lord.’

THE THIRD DAY

First heard on the Saturday-afternoon program were experiences in which overseers told how they were able to increase their meeting attendance, some to well over 100 percent of the number of publishers. They accomplished this by having well-rehearsed meetings that applied instructions to local conditions, by stressing meeting attendance at book study groups, by having meetings at times most convenient to the greatest number, and so forth.

These experiences were followed by the earnest talk “More than All Else, Safeguard Your Heart.” Even as a sound physical heart is essential to physical health, so a sound spiritual heart, the seat of emotion, motive and desire, is essential to sound spiritual health. How we take in knowledge and submit to discipline determines to a large degree what desires we develop and their intensity. Proper desires can be satisfied in moderation, but improper desires must be eliminated or kept under strict control. Wrong desires begin in the heart and that in an early age with “I want, I want, I want” this, that or the other thing. All not having sound hearts will be destroyed at Armageddon.

Fine counsel was next given in the feature “Trained to Distinguish Both Right and Wrong.” Christians must be certain as to what is right and what is wrong, and that requires both a good knowledge of Bible principles and sound reasoning. By a number of interesting discussions this program showed that Christians are to view marriage engagements most seriously, smoking tobacco as something unclean, gambling as selfishness, and so forth. The Saturday-afternoon program concluded with the fine address “The Happiness of the ‘Nation Whose God Is Jehovah,’” which reviewed the reasons that Jehovah’s people have for being so happy. It will appear in its entirety in the next issue of The Watchtower.

Those relating experiences Saturday evening were parents who had made a success of rearing children. Regularly they studied the Bible with their children, prayed together, took them to all the meetings and assemblies, played Bible games together, and, above all, set before them the goal of the full-time ministry. A striking example was that of a farmer at the Rennes, France, assembly. He told that, of six sons, two were family men and overseers; of his four unmarried sons, one is serving at the French branch office of the Watch Tower Society, another is in the circuit work, another is a special pioneer and the other a regular pioneer minister. Of his three daughters, one had been a special pioneer and now is the wife of a fine overseer; the teen-ager vacation pioneers, and the youngest has her own Bible study.

After these fine experiences the two-hour absorbing drama, “Jehovah’s Way the Way of Victory,” was presented. It showed how Jephthah, first banned, was then chosen to be Israel’s judge and how he succeeded in freeing Israel from the Ammonite yoke after they returned to the worship of Jehovah. It also related the modern counterpart to these events. It showed how the present-day Ammonites, the political rulers, oppressed Jehovah’s people, how these chose “Jephthah” in that they embraced theocratic rule under Jesus Christ and how Jehovah then granted them the victory. It gave tense and gripping examples of the fearlessness of Jehovah’s people in the face of Nazi persecution in Germany and Catholic Action in the United States. In a number of assemblies this drama was presented twice so that all could see it, and in many others it was relayed by closed-circuit television to overflow halls.

THE FINAL DAY

In the morning, after a discussion of the text for the day and prayer, came the heartwarming talk “Building One Another Up.” It underscored that “death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Used rightly, as exemplified by the apostle Paul, it can bring life to hearers; but used wrongly, as by the ten spies in ancient Israel, it can lead to death. Yes, with the tongue we can tear down or we can build up. Avoid kidding and complaining, for such things do not build up. Direct conversation into right channels. Whatever the subject, it can be made upbuilding by noting the Bible principles bearing on it. This is what Awake! does. Follow its example. Initiate upbuilding conversation. Sometimes only one word is needed, but that word needs to be said. Especially do family members have many opportunities to build one another up. Building one another up can also be done by deeds. When visiting the sick or handicapped, be alert to do more than give encouraging words. Is there something you can do? Can you wash the dishes, do the laundry, the shopping, the housecleaning? In time of need such things can also be spiritually upbuilding.

Very practical also was the talk that followed, “Pursue the Things Making for Peace.” Real peace is far more than pleasantness when things go the way we like to have them go. Continual contact with one another, imperfect as we are, produces pressures that tend to break the peace. When you see a quarrel developing, do you do all you can to head it off? Actually, our ability to pursue peace hinges upon how well we are pursuing peace with Jehovah. A good conscience, free from strain, helps us to put up with tensions caused by others’ imperfections. Undue self-esteem makes pursuit of peace difficult, so be humble for the sake of peace.

The next talk, “Pay More than the Usual Attention,” showed that our ability to pay attention needs to be properly channeled. By the way we use it we can demonstrate our love for God. Paying attention means stretching the mind. It is impossible to pay attention to things without being influenced by them. We must therefore be very selective as to what we pay attention to. While daily routine matters require a measure of our attention, it is to God’s Word that we must pay more than the usual attention. At meetings be like Lydia, who paid attention to Paul’s words.

The Bible drama in costume, “Do You Make Yourself Available?” concluded the morning session. It dealt with the willingness of the daughter of Judge Jephthah to submit to her father’s vow to serve as a virgin at the temple. This touching drama caused many in the audience to shed a tear. Its modern counterpart was also presented: The anointed “remnant,” Jephthah-like, dedicate the fruits of their victories, the great crowd of “other sheep,” to Jehovah’s service, even as Jephthah’s daughter was devoted to temple service. This drama ended with an appeal for youthful Christian ministers to make themselves available for the full-time ministry. This appeal was partly in the form of a lilting song, the first verse of which went like this:

“Make yourself available today

For full-time Kingdom service.

Should you not be going all the way,

And join the missionary ranks?

The fields are white for harvesting,

The call for laborers is clear.

Make yourself available,

If you can, then pioneer.”

The widely advertised public talk, the climax and chief feature of these assemblies, was given Sunday afternoon (after a fine musical program). It contained the good news that “Man’s Rule [Is] About to Give Way to God’s Rule,” and has been published fully in the previous issue of this journal. The total attendance was about 925,000.

After a brief intermission came another choice feature of the assembly, the “Closing Remarks.” This was given by the president of the Watch Tower Society, N. H. Knorr, at three of the United States assemblies. Conventioners learned that “the service year of 1968 has been tremendous!” Never before have so many shared in preaching the “good news,” April seeing a peak of 1,204,288, a 10-percent increase over last year’s average. And never before have so many magazines and bound books been placed; the distribution of the book Did Man Get Here by Evolution or by Creation? being truly extraordinary. Ever so many lands, such as Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador, had increases of more than 20 percent. Even the lands behind the Iron Curtain had a good increase, 4 1/2 percent.

Discussed also were the plans for international assemblies in 1969, six in the United States and Canada, (and now, for July 6-13, Toronto, Canada, has been included, to make it seven) others in Europe and around the world. Most of the missionaries in foreign assignments are to be brought to the assembly nearest their home, it was announced at the assembly in Washington, D.C. In conclusion it was noted that the big work for 1969 will be with the new book, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. The speaker said: “The time is short. It is important for us to conduct Bible studies to help people flee from Babylon the Great and for us to do personal study. Do not let it be crowded out of your life. The convention has illustrated how you should walk. Be of good courage and press on, making the days ahead days of praise to Jehovah’s name. In the words of Jesus, ‘Raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near.’”—Luke 21:28.

Then with a grateful song of praise, “We Thank You, Jehovah,” and a prayer of petition and thanksgiving, the “Good News for All Nations” District Assembly came to a close. Truly these assemblies had a program filled with rich spiritual blessings. Without a question of doubt they deserved to have it again said: “The best ever!” (For more information on the assemblies, such as the publicity in connection with them, see Awake! November 8, 1968.)

[Picture on page 670]

Jephthah’s daughter learns of her father’s vow, as presented at assembly in Brussels

Questions From Readers

If Abraham actually believed that he was going to sacrifice his son Isaac, why did he tell his attendants that he and Isaac would return to them?—E. M., U.S.A.

Jehovah definitely told Abraham that he wanted him to offer up his beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice.—Gen. 22:2.

In faith Abraham traveled with his son and two attendants until the place for sacrifice was in the visible distance. Then Abraham said to his attendants: “You stay here with the ass, but I and the boy want to go on over there and worship and return to you.”—Gen. 22:5.

Whether Abraham fully appreciated the truthfulness of his statement at the time, we do not know. But what he said was as if prophetic of what would actually take place.

Did Abraham doubt that Isaac would be offered up as a sacrifice? No, he fully intended to obey God, and he had full faith in Jehovah and his power. So Abraham was going to carry out what God said even though his dear son would die. Abraham knew that both he and his wife Sarah had been as good as dead in regard to procreative ability, and yet God brought to life again their power to produce offspring. This reviving of their reproductive abilities resulted in Isaac.—Heb. 11:11, 12; Rom. 4:19-21.

Jehovah had already promised Abraham that he would make a great nation out of him and that Abraham would thus be a means of producing a great blessing for “all the families of the ground.” And God had told Abraham what was going to take place in regard to his “seed.” (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:13-16) God was not speaking about offspring through some other son, for he specifically said, “It is by means of Isaac that what will be called your seed will be.” (Gen. 21:12) If Isaac were sacrificed, then for the blessing to come through that seed, Jehovah would have to resurrect Isaac. Did Abraham believe that Jehovah could do that? Under inspiration the apostle Paul answered that Abraham “reckoned that God was able to raise [Isaac] up even from the dead.” (Heb. 11:19) Hence, Abraham clearly expected that if Isaac died God would in time resurrect him so that Isaac would be able to produce the seed promised. The comments of Abraham to his attendants reflected that confidence.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

Bible prophecy and current events indicate that little time remains for this wicked system of things. How vital, then, for people to remember their Creator now, while there is opportunity! (Eccl. 12:1) Jehovah’s witnesses are wisely using their time in order to help others remember their Creator. An outstanding way they do this is by conducting home Bible studies. During the month of November they will be offering help to interested people by means of a free home Bible study. Additionally, as an aid in these Bible discussions, they will offer the fine new book that presents Bible truths so clearly—The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life—on a contribution of 25c.

“BUY TRUTH ITSELF”

Truth is precious. The Bible book of Proverbs says: “Buy truth itself and do not sell it—wisdom and discipline and understanding.” (Prov. 23:23) Can you imagine a space scientist trying to plot the path of a rocket to the moon with inaccurate or untruthful information from his electronic computers? How much more important is truth, then, in preparing our own course to gain everlasting life? How well do you understand the Bible, the “holy writings” that the apostle Paul said “are able to make you wise for salvation”? (2 Tim. 3:15) Obtain and read the invaluable 192-page Bible-study aid The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. Send only 25c.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

November 24: The “Good News” of a World Without False Religion. Page 645. Songs to Be Used: 96, 97.

December 1: The Crowning Assault upon All False Religion. Page 652. Songs to Be Used: 4, 103.