The Watchtower — December 1, 1971

Our Memory of Those Who Have Passed into Death

Is it God who takes our loved ones?

What does God’s own word say?

DEATH is unnatural for humans, in that man was not created to die. It was not purposed for him by his Creator. Therefore death causes sorrow through the deep loss felt by surviving relatives and friends. We remember our loved ones, their personalities, their warmth, their love and hopes, and it saddens us.

When a person dies, do we sustain permanent loss? Should the sadness occasioned by death be a cause for abject sorrow and hopelessness? The Scriptures answer that those believing in God should not “sorrow just as the rest also do who have no hope.” Why? Because God has made a loving provision that greatly comforts us.​—1 Thess. 4:13, 14; 2 Cor. 1:3, 4.

Well, then, can we properly say that God “took” the one who has died? No, for death is called an “enemy” in the Bible, and God does not cooperate with mankind’s enemies. To the contrary, he promises to destroy death as well as all other enemies of man.​—1 Cor. 15:26.

DEATH’S ORIGIN AND DESTRUCTION

How did death come about? By reason of man’s own disobedience to God, which the Devil had a hand in bringing about. Adam rebelled against God. Therefore “through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.”​—Rom. 5:12; Gen. 2:17; 3:19.

It is natural to be anxious over the condition of those who have died. Where, now, are they? you may ask. The Bible says they are in Sheol or Hades. These two words, in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, respectively, mean the same thing: the common grave of mankind. Those in Sheol (Hades) are actually dead, not suffering. “They are conscious of nothing at all.” “There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol,” say the Scriptures. (Eccl. 9:5, 10; Gen. 42:38) Jesus himself was there for parts of three days. The apostle Peter said that Jesus was in Hades, but was not forsaken by God, for God resurrected him.​—Acts 2:31, 32.

Jesus likened the condition of his friend Lazarus in death to the unconsciousness of sleep. He told his disciples: “I am journeying there to awaken him from sleep.” When his disciples did not understand, “Jesus said to them outspokenly: ‘Lazarus has died.’” There is no record that Lazarus described any experiences of consciousness had during his four days in the death state.​—John 11:11-14.

The promised destruction of death through Jesus Christ’s ransom sacrifice holds forth hope to all of us who have lost loved ones. Of course, it takes more than death’s destruction to help those who have died. It entails also the bringing back and giving of life to them. Christ’s sacrifice being “for all,” it must somehow benefit the billions of human dead. (1 Tim. 2:5, 6) It will. God promises to destroy, not only death, but also Sheol-Hades, the common grave!

This means the destruction of cemeteries. How can this be done? By emptying them of the dead, who are held relentlessly in the grave. God promises: “From the hand of Sheol I shall redeem them; from death I shall recover them. Where are your stings, O Death? Where is your destructiveness, O Sheol?” (Hos. 13:14; 1 Cor. 15:55) The apostle John, in describing his vision, said: “The sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Hades gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. And death and Hades were hurled into the lake of fire.”​—Rev. 20:13, 14.

GOD’S MEMORY AND THE RESURRECTION

This means a resurrection from the dead for our loved ones. What a blessing! What a wonderful hope and comfort! This is done by means of God’s memory and power. Job prayed for God to conceal him in Sheol and after a time limit remember him. (Job 14:13) He thereby revealed that he viewed the dead to be resurrected as not forgotten and gone forever. Doubtless with this understanding the evildoer put to death alongside Jesus asked to be remembered when Jesus would come into his kingdom.​—Luke 23:42.

Now, while we may have been made sorrowful by the death of a few, think how much more God has been saddened by the pitiable state of the human race in sin and death for nearly 6,000 years. (Lam. 3:33; Ezek. 18:32) And how much more greatly he loves and cares for those who have died is proved by his memory of them in every detail, and by the lasting quality of his remembrance of them. If not one sparrow goes forgotten before God, or falls to the ground without his notice, certainly he thoroughly remembers humans whom he will resurrect.​—Matt. 10:29, 30; Luke 12:6, 7.

To us, those who have died gradually become a dimmer memory, but not so with God. Nevertheless, for many years we can remember personalities enough to recall what they were like, and to desire to see them again. How much more so does God, who loves mankind so much that he gave his only-begotten Son to provide a resurrection for them. (John 3:16) God remembers everything, and can bring the person, the same personality, actually and tangibly back to live on this earth. Since God can, if he so chooses, know before a child is born exactly what all his personality traits are​—and the Bible tells of instances in which He has done this—​how easy it is for God to reconstruct such one’s life pattern after he has lived and manifested these traits.​—Gen. 16:11, 12; 25:23.

Jesus Christ demonstrated this ability to bring a person back from the dead with all his characteristics​—his full identity—​when he called Lazarus from the grave. Lazarus’ brain cells had certainly broken down by this time, in fact, his body itself had progressed well into a state of decomposition. His sister Martha said: “Lord, by now he must smell, for it is four days.” So it required a reconstruction of personality and body to bring Lazarus back.​—John 11:39-44.

GOD’S CONCERN FOR THE DEAD

So never feel that God is not concerned. He certainly did not show unconcern for mankind when he sent his only-begotten Son to suffer at the hands of rebellious men and to die as a ransom. Neither is God unjust, that he should let the ransom benefits be for only a few​—largely wasted. Otherwise he would not have inspired his apostle to write: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were constituted sinners, likewise also through the obedience of the one person many will be constituted righteous. . . . just as sin ruled as king with death, likewise also undeserved kindness might rule as king through righteousness with everlasting life in view through Jesus Christ our Lord.”​—Rom. 5:19-21.

Why, then, does not God exercise his power now to bring back those who have died? Even here his loving-kindness is demonstrated. For he does not bring them back, again to undergo the terrible afflictions now oppressing mankind, with danger of death every day. Rather, he purposes to restore them when the righteous reign of his Messianic King Jesus Christ is in force over all the earth. Then the environment will be ideal for real life in happiness. How Jehovah and his Son must look forward to that time with even greater anticipation than we do!​—Acts 17:31; 24:15.

FALSE TEACHINGS TAKE AWAY COMFORT

In view of God’s loving provisions for the living as well as for those who have died, how blasphemous it is for clergymen to claim that God is tormenting dead persons in a purgatory or “hellfire.” And how cruel and heartless it is for these men to collect money from bereaved relatives and friends on the pretense of helping persons or souls in one of these imaginary places.

An example of lack of concern for those who have lost loved ones is a tract published by the Franciscan Mass League, issued at St. Francis Friary in New York city. It encourages the reader to “Enroll yourself now in the Mass League for the Living.” “Do not depend too much on those whom you leave behind to assist you, when you fall into the Hands of the Lord in judgment,” the brochure reads, “‘Out of sight, out of mind,’ will be the lot of most of us.”

Then the pamphlet urges the enrollment of “departed” relatives and friends in a Mass League, “the usual offerings for memberships” being “For the living, $5.00. This membership continues perpetually after life; For the deceased, $2.00.” “Your dear departed ones may be suffering in Purgatory on your account,” says the tract. A quotation is made from an apocryphal book, which is no part of the inspired Scriptures: “‘It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins’ (2 Mach. xii, 46).”

However, it might be noted that Judas Machabeus, who is quoted in the text, was not praying for souls suffering in a supposed purgatory, but concerning their hope of resurrection from the dead, as the context shows. (Verses 43, 44) And in verse 45 those who had died were said, not to be in purgatory or in any conscious state, but to have “fallen asleep.”

The clergy, by teaching falsely concerning the state of the dead and by taking advantage of the sorrow of persons for their loved ones who have died, have taken money by playing on the fears and helpless feelings of the survivors. They are therefore actually guilty of extortion. They are lying, misrepresenting God and taking away from the living the hope and comfort the Scriptures give.

According to God’s sure promise and guarantee, the living can hope with full assurance that their dead loved ones will be back to a full opportunity for life. Then, under Christ’s Kingdom rule to which the evildoer alongside Jesus looked forward, they can prove whether they are persons who love and obey God’s instructions.

Accordingly, what should we the living do at this time to ensure our being alive to welcome them back from the dead and really be of help to them? We should study God’s Word the Bible now with a view to full obedience to its righteous principles. Doing so, we may survive the destruction of this present system of things, which destruction all evidences indicate is very near. (Matt. 24:7-14, 34; Zeph. 2:3) How fine it will be to welcome back the dead and to have a share in helping these resurrected ones to a greater knowledge of God, leading to everlasting life!​—John 17:3.

[Picture on page 709]

Is there a sound basis for believing that the dead will live again?

Encounter with ESP

“FOR many years I had read the Watch Tower Society’s warnings about getting involved with ESP,” writes a young woman from New York state. “But I somehow never thought those warnings applied to me. Something happened, though, that changed this.

“I had always been interested in primitive peoples and their customs. Because of this, I spent considerable time reading about their superstitions, incantations, spells and so forth. I even dabbled in a little self-hypnotism. Eventually I found myself being able to predict what would come in the morning mail. I could tell what each piece would be, whom it was from and to whom it was addressed. I began to have ‘feelings’ about events that had not yet occurred.

“Of course, I felt uneasy about this, because I remembered reading experiences and warnings regarding such things in the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Finally, I realized I could not serve the demons and Jehovah at the same time. (1 Cor. 10:21; Acts 16:16-18) I prayed to Jehovah, increased my personal Bible study and stopped reading books having to do with witchcraft or the supernatural. It was a struggle, as I felt oppressed, as if something was trying desperately to control my mind. Many times I was thrown into depressions. I was unable to do schoolwork without a struggle.

“Yet, I knew that I could not afford to lose this battle. Once lost, I knew it could mean my life. After spiritually strengthening myself, I began to feel a lightening of these attacks of depression, but I continued to strengthen myself even more by prayer and Bible study. The words at 1 Thessalonians 5:17 became a part of me​—‘Pray incessantly.’ Gradually I began to feel stronger; no longer was it such a struggle to keep my mind on right things. The battle had been won!

“Now that this is over, I have not gone back to the reading of such books that started the whole problem. I often help my classmates to be on guard against ESP, hypnotism, Ouija boards and other forms of spiritism. Having gone through a most unpleasant experience, I can see more than ever the importance of heeding the warnings given in Watch Tower Society’s publications.”

Bringing the Holy Place into Right Condition

“Until two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; and the holy place will certainly be brought into its right condition.”​—Dan. 8:14, NW; RS.

1. After her centuries of existence, in what way has Christendom been disappointing, and near the close of what period is she?

AS TIME rapidly moves on, more and more persons are becoming convinced that Christendom is not the place or sanctuary of pure worship of the one living and true God. The place of His worship ought to be holy, and Christendom is far from being that. After the sixteen centuries of her existence, something better than her unholy condition should have been expected of her, for she claims to worship this true God, the Creator of heaven and earth. After all the religious unsettlement that has been taking place, it is now evident that Christendom has not been “brought into its right condition,” or, “restored to its rightful state.” (Revised Standard Version) Plainly, Christendom is in her “time of the end” and is nearing the close of it.​—Dan. 12:4.

2. For the fulfillment of what prophecy of Daniel must we look elsewhere than to Christendom?

² It is necessary for us to look somewhere else than to Christendom to find where that “holy place” or that “sanctuary” of the Most High God has been “brought into its right condition,” or, “shall be justified.”​—Dan. 8:14; Leeser’s translation.

3. Where is the center of the theocracy, and what good definition does one Cyclopœdia give of the term “theocracy”?

³ According to the Sacred Scriptures, the “sanctuary” of God is his temple of worship. It is his “palace,” according to another meaning of the word that the Scriptures use for “temple” (hei·khalʹ, Hebrew). (Mal. 3:1; Ps. 45:15) In it he reigns over his dedicated people. To these he is the God Ruler or Theocrat. It is from there that he exercises theocratic rule or government. It is the center of his theocracy. A good definition for this governmental term “theocracy” is given in M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia, Volume 10, page 317, which says: “A form of government such as prevailed among the ancient Jews, in which Jehovah, the God of the universe, was directly recognised as their supreme civil ruler, and his laws were taken as the statute-book of the kingdom. This principle is repeatedly laid down in the Mosaic code, and was continually acted upon thereafter.”

4. What questions therefore arise as to Jehovah’s “holy place” or “sanctuary,” and why should religiously disturbed persons be interested in the answers?

⁴ In view of the foregoing, how would the “holy place” or “sanctuary” of Jehovah God need to be “brought into its right condition”? And when would this occur, or when did it occur? This is something that affects true worship, the right religion, and all persons who are upset by all the religious disturbance and confusion and disillusionment of today have good cause for being interested in the answers to these questions.

5. In the last years of what world power did Daniel get the vision, and under what circumstances?

⁵ It is the ancient prophet Daniel who was used to call this matter to our attention. This was as long ago as in the sixth century before our Common Era, or more than twenty-five centuries ago. Daniel was then an exile in Babylon and was in the service of King Nabonidus the father of Belshazzar, who was acting as a coregent. The Babylonian Empire, the Third World Power of Bible history, was then in its last years, for Daniel goes on to tell us: “In the third year of the kingship of Belshazzar the king, there was a vision that appeared to me, even me, Daniel, after the one appearing to me at the start.”​—Dan. 8:1.

THE “HOLY PLACE” OR “SANCTUARY”

6. Before being taken into exile, where had Daniel worshiped his God, and did that God lose his real temple by what happened about eleven years later?

⁶ Before being taken into exile in the year 617 B.C.E., Daniel had worshiped his God Jehovah in the temple at Jerusalem. But about eleven years later, in 607 B.C.E., King Nebuchadnezzar, the grandfather of Belshazzar, had destroyed the city of Jerusalem and its temple that had been built by King Solomon. That glorious temple was not really the dwelling place of Daniel’s God Jehovah, but was pictorial of it. And so at the destruction of Jerusalem’s temple by the Babylonians in 607 B.C.E., God’s real dwelling place or Palace was not really destroyed.​—1 Ki 8:27; Acts 7:48; 17:24.

7. What did that temple at Jerusalem picture, and in the Most Holy thereof whose sacrifice was presented?

⁷ That earthly temple did not picture or typify the Christian congregation that was established 639 years later in the rebuilt city of Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E. No, but it was pictorial or typical of Jehovah’s heavenly temple or palace, in which he reigns supreme above the living cherubs who attend him. As it is beautifully stated in Psalm 99:1, “Jehovah himself has become king. Let the peoples be agitated. He is sitting upon the cherubs. Let the earth quiver.” It was there in the Most Holy of Jehovah’s temple that Jesus Christ presented his sacrifice after ascending to heaven.

8, 9. (a) Who entered into the Most Holy of the earthly temple, and to do what? (b) What does Hebrews 9:1, 24-28 say regarding the services of Jesus Christ as a spiritual High Priest?

⁸ In ancient Jerusalem before its destruction by the Babylonians the Jewish high priest presented the blood of the Atonement Day sacrifices every year on Tishri 10, sprinkling the blood before the golden mercy seat upon which were carved two golden cherubs, above whom the Shekinah light appeared, to represent the invisible presence of Jehovah there. (Ex 25:17-22; Lev. 16:11-17; Num. 7:89; 1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2) On the other hand, Jesus Christ was not a Levite priest of the family of Aaron and did not enter into the Most Holy of the earthly, mundane temple at Jerusalem. So as regards his service as Jehovah’s spiritual High Priest we read:

⁹ “Christ entered, not into a holy place made with hands, which is a copy of the reality, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the person of God for us. . . . But now he has manifested himself once for all time at the conclusion of the systems of things to put sin away through the sacrifice of himself. . . . so also the Christ was offered once for all time to bear the sins of many.”​—Heb. 9:1, 24-28.

10. When did Jesus enter upon his sacrificial course on earth, and like what ancient priest did he become?

¹⁰ When on earth Jesus laid down his perfect human sacrifice, he entering on this course of self-sacrifice at the time that he was baptized in water by John the Baptist, in 29 C.E. There God’s spirit descended upon Jesus, begetting him to spirit life as a spiritual Son of God. At the same time that spirit anointed him as a spiritual High Priest and a spiritual King who resembled King Melchizedek of the ancient city of Salem.

11. (a) Into what new relationship did Jesus then enter, and by what was the state in which he was then walking pictured? (b) What then separated him from spirit life in the heavens?

¹¹ From that time on, John the Baptist spoke of the anointed Jesus as “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world,” also as “the Son of God.” (John 1:29-51; Matt. 3:13-17) Because of this new spiritual relationship with Jehovah God in heaven Jesus Christ was, as it were, walking in that spiritual state pictured by the first compartment of the temple, called The Holy, even while he was carrying out his sacrificial course on earth. Like the curtain or veil that separated the Holy and the Most Holy of the temple, Jesus’ perfect flesh was the thing that separated him during his human life in the flesh from spirit life in the invisible heavens where God personally is. He passed beyond this “veil” by dying as a human and being raised as a spirit.

12. According to the manner of whom did Jesus Christ become a high priest, and what did the inner curtain of the temple picture?

¹² With regard to this, it was written to the Christianized Hebrews, the natural descendants of the patriarch Abraham: “In this manner God, when he purposed to demonstrate more abundantly to the heirs of the promise [made to Abraham] the unchangeableness of his counsel, stepped in with an oath [to back up the promise], in order that, through two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to the refuge may have strong encouragement to lay hold on the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and firm, and it enters in within the curtain, where a forerunner has entered in our behalf, Jesus who has become a high Priest according to the manner of Melchizedek forever.” (Heb. 6:17-20) “Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness for the way of entry into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, which he inaugurated for us as a new and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach.”​—Heb. 10:19-22.

13. According to the testimony of 1 Peter 3:18, what kind of resurrection did Jesus have, and who are to share with him in that kind of resurrection?

¹³ That Jesus Christ was resurrected as a spirit creature because of having laid down his human life as a sacrifice in order to pass beyond the “curtain, that is, his flesh,” the apostle Peter testifies, writing: “Why, even Christ died once for all time concerning sins, a righteous person for unrighteous ones, that he might lead you to God, he being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18) Thus he left his flesh forever behind and ascended to heaven with the “blood,” that is, the value of his perfect human sacrifice. There, as a High Priest, he presented that ransoming merit before the person of God, hence in the antitypical Most Holy. All his dedicated, baptized footstep followers, those begotten with God’s spirit and anointed with God’s spirit, have the hope of sharing in Jesus’ resurrection and joining him in the spirit heavens as heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.​—Rom. 8:14-17.

14. (a) Where are those anointed footstep followers pictured as walking? (b) Why can they be called an “army,” and also “the established place of his sanctuary”?

¹⁴ While still on earth in the flesh, these spirit-begotten Christians are serving as underpriests in that spiritual condition pictured by the first compartment, The Holy, of the temple. (1 Pet. 2:5-9) In this way, although still on earth, they are serving Jehovah God in his “holy place” or “sanctuary.” Because these spiritual underpriests will eventually number 144,000, they could be called an “army,” and also “the people made up of the holy ones.” Inasmuch as Jehovah God calls this earth his “footstool,” these 144,000 could be called “the established place of his sanctuary.” At least, they represent it, for they are the earthly subjects and representatives of Jehovah’s Theocracy.a Also, while in the flesh on God’s footstool, they are pictured as being in the temple’s inner courtyard for the priests, where the altar of sacrifice was located.​—Dan. 8:11, 24.

PLACE OF HIS SANCTUARY CAST DOWN

15, 16. (a) What are the anointed remnant and other Bible students interested in doing regarding Daniel’s vision, and what two animals did he see? (b) What did the one animal do to the other, and what happened to the victor?

¹⁵ Today, after more than nineteen centuries of selecting out these 144,000 theocratic joint heirs of Jesus Christ, there is only a remnant of these heirs of God’s heavenly kingdom on earth. These anointed Christians, along with all other Bible students, are interested in taking a new look at the vision that the prophet Daniel had during those final days of the Babylonian World Power.b In Daniel 8:2-6 he tells how a two-horned ram is attacked by a shaggy male goat that had a single horn, between its eyes. Daniel 8:7, 8 goes on to say:

¹⁶ “And I saw it coming into close touch with the ram, and it began showing bitterness toward it, and it proceeded to strike down the ram and to break its two horns, and there proved to be no power in the ram to stand before it. So it threw it to the earth and trampled it down, and the ram proved to have no deliverer out of its hand. And the male of the goats, for its part, put on great airs to an extreme; but as soon as it became mighty, the great horn was broken, and there proceeded to come up conspicuously four instead of it, toward the four winds of the heavens.”

17. For what time is the vision reserved, and what did the angel say that the horns of the ram pictured, and then the horns that developed out of the goat?

¹⁷ As to the meaning of this vision neither Daniel nor we are left to guess. By angelic means Daniel is told: “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end. . . . Here I am causing you to know what will occur in the final part of the denunciation, because it is for the appointed time of the end. The ram that you saw possessing the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia. And the hairy he-goat stands for the king of Greece; and as for the great horn that was between its eyes, it stands for the first king. And that one having been broken, so that there were four that finally stood up instead of it, there are four kingdoms from his nation that will stand up, but not with his power.”​—Dan. 8:15-22.

18. After the downfall of what world power did the vision apply, who were the symbolic horns of the “ram,” and who was the symbolic single horn of the “goat”?

¹⁸ This prophecy begins to apply, therefore, after Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian brought about the downfall of Babylon in the autumn of the year 539 B.C.E. and the Medo-Persian Empire was established as the Fourth World Power of Bible history. This Empire, which grew to greater size than that of Babylon, eastward and westward and southward, continued its world domination from 539 to 331 B.C.E. (Dan. 5:1–6:28; 11:1, 2) Greece, under the leadership of Alexander the Macedonian king, finished the conquest of the Persian Empire by the year 331 B.C.E. So that great horn between the eyes of the hairy goat pictured this “first king,” Alexander the Great. In this way the Grecian Empire, that quickly extended itself as far eastward as to the Indus River of India, rose to the position of the Fifth World Power of Bible history.

19. How was the goat’s “great horn” broken, and, in its stead, who became the symbolic four horns?

¹⁹ Death from malarial fever at the city of Babylon in the year 323 B.C.E. brought Alexander’s emperorship to an early end. Thus the “great horn” was broken at the zenith of its imperial power. Finally, after years of maneuvering on the part of the military generals of Alexander, four Hellenic kingdoms came into existence, none of these, of course, with the “power” of Alexander. So, by the year 301 B.C.E., General Ptolemy Lagus reigned over Egypt and Palestine; General Seleucus Nicator reigned over Mesopotamia and Syria; General Cassander ruled Macedonia and Greece; and General Lysimachus ruled European Thrace and Asia Minor. Symbolically speaking, four minor “horns” came up instead of the single great one, in proof that Bible prophecy is true, infallible.​—Dan. 11:3, 4.

20. (a) Into what period had the fulfillment of the vision not yet entered? (b) What grew up out of one of the four horns, and with what success did it act?

²⁰ However, the fulfillment of the prophecy had not then moved on to the “time of the end,” “the final part of the denunciation.” (Dan. 8:17, 19) What history of the world does Daniel’s vision now show in advance? Writing concerning the four Hellenic Kingdom horns, Daniel says: “And out of one of them there came forth another horn, a small one, and it kept getting very much greater toward the south and toward the sunrising and toward the Decoration. And it kept getting greater all the way to the army of the heavens, so that it caused some of the army and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it went trampling them down. And all the way to the Prince of the army it put on great airs, and from him the constant feature was taken away, and the established place of his sanctuary was thrown down. And an army itself was gradually given over, together with the constant feature, because of transgression; and it kept throwing truth to the earth, and it acted and had success.”​—Dan. 8:9-12.

21. What did the angel say that the activities of the symbolic little horn would be, and how would it end?

²¹ We are given an inspired clue to the meaning of this prophetic vision, for, again by angelic means, Daniel is told with regard to the four Hellenic kingdoms: “And in the final part of their kingdom, as the transgressors act to a completion, there will stand up a king fierce in countenance and understanding ambiguous sayings. And his power must become mighty, but not by his own power. And in a wonderful way he will cause ruin, and he will certainly prove successful and do effectively. And he will actually bring mighty ones to ruin, also the people made up of the holy ones. And according to his insight he will also certainly cause deception to succeed in his hand. And in his heart he will put on great airs, and during a freedom from care he will bring many to ruin. And against the Prince of princes he will stand up, but it will be without hand that he will be broken.”

22. What did the angel tell Daniel to do, that would affect the understanding of the final part of the vision?

²² The meaning of that part of the vision was to be sealed to our understanding, for Daniel was told: “And the thing seen concerning the evening and the morning, which has been said, it is true. And you, for your part, keep secret the vision, because it is yet for many days.”​—Dan. 8:23-26.

23. (a) Who is the “Prince of the army,” and who “the Prince of princes”? (b) Historically, out of which symbolic “horn” did the ‘small horn’ come forth?

²³ Surely by now those “many days” must have passed by. So we ask, What does world history reveal regarding the fulfillment of this prophetic vision? The angel explained the “Prince of the army” to be “the Prince of princes.” That One is the heavenly Theocrat, Jehovah God. Among all those who are called “princes” on earth, he is The Prince. None of them can compare with Him or hold ground against Him. Not even the symbolic ‘small horn,’ that “king fierce in countenance,” can do so. Who, then, is that fierce political power? According to history, it was an offshoot of one of the four symbolic “horns,” the one farthest to the west, namely, the Hellenic kingdom of General Cassander over Macedonia and Greece. Later, this kingdom was absorbed by the kingdom of General Lysimachus the king over Thrace and Asia Minor. This left now just three symbolic “horns.” But in the second century before our Common Era those western Hellenic domains were taken over by Rome.

24. (a) How did Rome become the Sixth World Power of Bible history? (b) Despite its anti-Christian record, why could the Roman Empire not be the symbolic ‘small horn’?

²⁴ In the first century before our Common Era imperial Rome took over the eastern Hellenic domains, and finally the southern domains. Thus Rome became the Sixth World Power of Bible history, in the year 30 B.C.E. So, then, did the Roman Empire prove to be that ‘small horn,’ that “king fierce in countenance”? No! For it did not keep existing down to the “appointed time of the end.” According to what the angel said to Daniel, then is when the fulfillment of the prophecy is due to occur. (Dan. 8:19) Of course, the Roman Empire did cruelly persecute the spirit-begotten followers of Jesus Christ, who were worshiping and serving Jehovah in his spiritual “sanctuary.” These were in the spiritual condition pictured by the Holy of the earthly temple. Rome is said to have put the apostles Peter and Paul to death, after that great fire in Rome for which Emperor Nero blamed the Christians. Also, Revelation 1:9 shows that the Roman Empire exiled the apostle John to the penal island of Patmos. But such persecution ceased shortly before the claimed conversion of Emperor Constantine. Still that was sixteen hundred years before the “time of the end” that began at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914 C.E. Even the Holy Roman Empire passed out of power long before the year 1914.

25. (a) What relationship did the ‘small horn’ have with the Roman Empire, and what did it prove to be? (b) How was it a “king fierce in countenance”?

²⁵ What, then, does history show to be the symbolic ‘small horn,’ that aggressive “king fierce in countenance”? It was a northwestern offshoot of the Roman Empire, namely, Britain, forasmuch as there were Roman provinces in what is now England down till the early part of the third century C.E. In the course of the following centuries England came to be the seat of an empire, which, from the seventeenth century onward, included colonies in North America. By the year 1763 the British Empire had defeated Spain and France, both of which were powerful sections of the Holy Roman Empire. From then on, the British Empire demonstrated herself to be the mistress of the seas and the Seventh World Power of Bible prophecy. Even after the thirteen American colonies broke away to establish the United States of America, the British Empire grew to embrace a quarter of the earth’s surface and a quarter of its population. The Seventh World Power gained still greater power when the United States of America collaborated with Britain to form the Anglo-American Dual World Power. Economically and militarily it was indeed a “king fierce in countenance.”

26. How did the symbolic ‘small horn’ grow great “toward the Decoration,” and so what question arises regarding that Decoration as a location for fulfillment of prophecy?

²⁶ In the year 1917 this Anglo-American Dual World Power did grow “very much greater . . . toward the Decoration.” How? By the capture of Jerusalem on December 9, and bringing Palestine under British control. In the year 1920 the League of Nations assigned the mandate over Palestine to Great Britain, to continue until May 14, 1948. In Bible times the Promised Land that Jehovah gave to his chosen people was so beautiful that it was called the Decoration, that is, of the entire earth. In Ezekiel 20:6, 15, Jehovah calls it “the decoration of all the lands.” Was it literally there that the “established place of his sanctuary was thrown down” by the symbolic “horn, a small one”? We must examine the physical facts of this “time of the end” to find out.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 712]

Solomon’s temple did not picture the Christian congregation; rather it pictured God’s heavenly temple into the Most Holy of which Jesus went with the value of his ransom sacrifice

What Its “Right Condition” Means for Us Today

1. What conflict began in 1914, and why was this no surprise to dedicated, baptized Bible students.

IN THE year 1914 C.E. the sacred lunar year began at Jerusalem on Nisan 1, which corresponded with March 27/28, from sunset to sunset. In the summer of that year the first world war broke upon mankind. This was not altogether unexpected by Bible students who had dissociated themselves from Christendom, in which World War I began. Why not? Because these dedicated, baptized Bible students had for decades pointed out that the “times of the Gentiles,” as foretold by Jesus Christ in his prophecy on the “end of the world,” would end in early autumn of that year 1914. (Luke 21:24; Matt. 24:3, King James Version) The Gentile Times had begun about the middle of the lunar month Tishri in 607 B.C.E., and so their 2,520 years of duration would end in 1914 about Tishri 15, which corresponds with October 4/5. By then the British Empire and other empires of Christendom were embroiled in the war. The other member of the Anglo-American Dual World Power entered the war in the spring of 1917.

2. (a) What international arrangement went into force by ratification of the Peace Treaty in 1919? (b) What happened to the open public worship of Jehovah at his “sanctuary” during World War I, and what was done about it in 1919?

² In the fall of 1918 the Anglo-American Dual World Power and its allies emerged victorious from the world conflict. In 1919 the Peace Treaty of Paris was signed and ratified, and with it that part of the Treaty known as the Covenant of the League of Nations went into force. At that time there was a remnant of the dedicated, baptized, spirit-begotten Christians who were worshiping Jehovah in his “sanctuary” or “holy place.” During the world war they had been badly persecuted and hindered in their worship in Christendom, including the domains of the Anglo-American Dual World Power, the Seventh World Power of Bible prophecy. In the spring of 1919 Jehovah God revived them from their prostrate spiritual condition and regathered them for courageous, open worship at his sanctuary. Once again publicly they took up preaching the good news of God’s kingdom as foretold in Matthew 24:14.

3. This remnant did not join Christendom in adopting what attitude toward the League of Nations, and in 1921 what did they identify the League as being prophetically?

³ They recognized that they were ambassadors of Jehovah’s Messianic kingdom that had been established in the heavens at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914. Consequently this remnant of worshipers at His sanctuary did not join with Christendom in hailing the League of Nations as if it were the “political expression of the Kingdom of God on earth.” In the summer of 1919, before ever the Paris Peace Treaty and its Covenant of the League of Nations were ratified by the minimum number of essential countries, the remnant declared that this political substitute for God’s kingdom did not have Jehovah’s backing and would certainly fail. In further Scriptural support of this, the magazine The Watch Tower boldly spoke out. In its issue of January 1, 1921, on page 12 and under the subheading “Spoken of by Daniel,” it gave reasons for believing that the world organization for peace and security, the League of Nations, was the “abomination of desolation” foretold by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:15, King James Version.

4. (a) Where and in what year was that man-made organization for world peace and security identified as being a world power? (b) What experience did it have because of World War II, but how has it kept functioning?

⁴ During May 25-31, 1926, the anointed remnant held an international assembly in London, England. There, in the public address the man-made organization for world peace and security was exposed as being the symbolic scarlet-colored wild beast, with seven heads and ten horns, that was portrayed in Revelation 17:3-11. As such, it was the Eighth World Power of Bible prophecy.a Just as that prophecy had foretold, that international organization under the form of the League of Nations went out of operation by the outbreak of World War II in 1939; but it was revived in 1945 under the form of the United Nations organization. Thus the Eighth World Power has kept functioning till now.

5. In 1926 what challenging question was put to the anointed remnant, and why were they not presumptuous in embracing a new designation in 1931?

⁵ Some months before the history-making London convention of 1926 the greatest name in the universe, that of the great Theocrat, Jehovah, began to come to the front. This was accentuated when The Watch Tower, in its issue of January 1, 1926, confronted its readers with the leading article entitled “Who Will Honor Jehovah?” That challenging question the anointed remnant answered both in word and in deed. During the years that immediately followed they proceeded to prove who it was whom they honored by publishing world wide the name and the Messianic kingdom of Jehovah. This publicity work stamped them indeed as being true witnesses of Jehovah. Who, then, can accuse them of being presumptuous because, on July 26, 1931, at an international convention in Columbus, Ohio, this anointed remnant embraced the designation “Jehovah’s Witnesses”? No one! Being worshipers on earth at His sanctuary, they were the “established place of his sanctuary.”

6. Next in order, what type of rulership came to the fore, and who ought to pattern their lives and congregational organization according to that rule?

⁶ Next in order, with excellent timing under divine guidance, the matter of Theocracy, that is, God’s Rule, came to the fore! Certainly this rule should apply to the visible organization of those who worshiped Jehovah at his sanctuary. There, indeed, he should be Ruler as God. All worshipers at his sanctuary ought to pattern their lives and congregational organization in harmony with the Theocracy of the Most High God, the Sovereign of the universe.

7. Why did a favorable decision toward theocracy become more vital as respects the anointed remnant and their companions, and when did instructions to guide them come?

⁷ A decision by the remnant in favor of this became more vital as political totalitarianism and dictatorships spread from country to country, and the political state nationalistically set itself up as God for worship by its citizen body. World conditions were more and more calling upon the anointed remnant and their dedicated companions to declare to those officials and judges who opposed and oppressed them: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.” (Acts of the Apostles 5:29) Finally, fifteen months before World War II began and subjected much of the world to martial law and blasted the League of Nations out of operation, there came official instructions on theocratic organization.

8. In 1938 what was published in the June 1 and 15 issue of The Watchtower, and what did the resolution proposed call for?

⁸ In the June 1, 1938, issue of The Watchtower appeared the first part of the article entitled “Organization.” It was thrilling for worshipers at Jehovah’s sanctuary to read these sentences of the opening paragraph: “Jehovah’s organization is in no wise democratic. Jehovah is supreme, and his government or organization is strictly theocratic. This conclusion is not open to successful contradiction.” The June 15, 1938, issue of The Watchtower published the second part of “Organization,” and it set out a resolution for adoption by the congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses, the opening paragraph of which said: “We, the company of God’s people taken out for his name, and now at ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐, recognize that God’s government is a pure theocracy and that Christ Jesus is at the temple and in full charge and control of the visible organization of Jehovah, as well as the invisible.” (Page 182) This called for appointment theocratically, from the top down, for all officiating servants in all congregations.

9. (a) What question did the outbreak of World War II in 1939 pose for Jehovah’s theocratically organized people, and why? (b) When and how did the answer come, and to what effect?

⁹ World War II, breaking forth on September 1, 1939, despite the League of Nations found Jehovah’s people theocratically organized. What was to be their theocratic attitude toward this second world war that, like the first one, erupted in Christendom? There was no room for compromise for them such as had been committed during the first world war. It was now no case of uncertainty and indecision. The League of Nations had been dealt a deathblow, but Jehovah’s Messianic kingdom of the heavens still lived and reigned. Having continued to declare that kingdom without letup till now, Jehovah’s witnesses could not side with any of the kingdoms of this untheocratic world in this new conflict. Just two months after Hitler’s Nazi armies invaded Poland, precipitating World War II, the anointed remnant of Jehovah served due notice upon the warring world. How? By the publication of the leading article entitled “Neutrality” in the November 1, 1939, issue of The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom. Plainly pointing out what theocratic warfare in the days of ancient Israel was, this article declared “‘Christendom’ Not Theocratic.” We are neutral toward her wars.

10. As indicating what the Anglo-American Dual World Power would do, what did Daniel 8:10-12 say that the ‘small horn’ would do?

¹⁰ How, now, was the tremendously grown ‘small horn,’ the Anglo-American Dual World Power, going to react toward such a theocratic stand taken by Jehovah’s anointed remnant and their loyal dedicated companions? Unerringly the prophecy of Daniel 8:10-12 forevisioned it, saying: “And it kept getting greater all the way to the army of the heavens, so that it caused some of the army and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it went trampling them down. And all the way to the Prince of the army it put on great airs, and from him the constant feature was taken away, and the established place of his sanctuary was thrown down. And an army itself was gradually given over, together with the constant feature, because of transgression; and it kept throwing truth to the earth, and it acted and had success.”

“PLACE OF HIS SANCTUARY” THROWN DOWN!

11, 12. (a) What did such conduct of the ‘small horn’ mean regarding Jehovah? (b) What brief comment did the angel Gabriel make on this in explanation?

¹¹ It is easy to see that the action thus described meant invading the rightful domain or interests of the Most High God, the Creator of the “army of the heavens” and the “stars,” and even taking away sacrifices regularly offered to Him as a “constant feature” of his worship. The brief comment on this by the angel Gabriel helps us to understand the prophecy correctly, for it says:

¹² “And he [the king fierce in countenance] will actually bring mighty ones to ruin, also the people made up of the holy ones. And according to his insight he will also certainly cause deception to succeed in his hand. And in his heart he will put on great airs, and during a freedom from care he will bring many to ruin. And against the Prince of princes he will stand up, but it will be without hand that he will be broken.”​—Dan. 8:24, 25.

13. During World War II, how did the Seventh World Power act toward Jehovah, even casting down the “army of the heavens,” yes, “stars”?

¹³ During World War II the Seventh World Power of Bible history brought many to ruin, yes, even mighty ones. It paid no respect to true Theocracy. In the British Commonwealth of Nations and in America it put its martial law and its total mobilization for the success of its war aims and for world domination above God’s Messianic kingdom. Thus it put on great airs even as far up as against the Prince of princes, Jehovah the Sovereign “Prince” of all the universe. His “army of the heavens,” that is, Jehovah’s anointed remnant who were serving as underpriests in His spiritual “sanctuary,” these the Anglo-American World Power cast down, downgrading their being ambassadors for God’s Messianic kingdom. Even those who were like “stars” in the congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses were considered as inferior, as not being spiritual light bearers to their congregations, not as being spiritual “overseers” entitled to exemption from military conscription, but as being just earthly laymen without theocratic appointments. (Rev. 1:20; 2:1) Because of war propaganda and high war fever and delirious nationalism the “people made up of the holy ones” were cruelly persecuted.

14. How was the “established place of his sanctuary” thrown down?

¹⁴ As these represented the “established place of [Jehovah’s] sanctuary,” this place was thrown down with their being thrown down. This affected their spiritual sacrifices to Jehovah God.

15. How was the “constant feature” taken away by the Seventh World Power?

¹⁵ Recall that in Jehovah’s temple sanctuary in ancient Israel there was a “constant feature” offered in the inner courtyard in the form of the sacrifice of a lamb to God each evening and morning. (Ex. 29:38-42) Likewise, by the spiritual remnant that worshiped at Jehovah’s “sanctuary” there were sacrifices of a spiritual kind that were offered to Him evening and morning, daily, constantly. Prominently among those constant “sacrifices” was the fruitage of their lips in publicly declaring Jehovah’s name and his Messianic kingdom, his theocratic government. This spiritual “constant feature” was taken away by the Seventh World Power through its war measures and restrictions and even putting bans upon Jehovah’s witnesses themselves or their house-to-house preaching. They were driven underground. Men and women were put in prison for holding to Christian neutrality.

16. How did the Seventh World Power strike hard throughout the British Commonwealth of Nations and hinder the offering of the “constant feature”?

¹⁶ The record plainly shows the extent of the wrath of the “king fierce in countenance.” He struck hard against Jehovah’s witnesses world wide during the dark days of World War II, especially so in countries associated with the British Commonwealth of Nations. On July 4, 1940, the Dominion of Canada, a part of the Commonwealth, banned the work of Jehovah’s witnesses. In that same year New Zealand banned the public declaration of Jehovah’s name. About that same time the work in Gold Coast (Ghana) was banned. From then on the sacrificial “constant feature,” the fruitage of the lips, was indeed interfered with. The work was banned in Australia and Fiji in January of 1941. South Africa, the southernmost country of Africa, took official action against the work in 1941. Bans spread throughout practically all of the British possessions in Africa, including Nigeria on June 17, 1941. The British possessions of Asia also took similar actions. The work was banned in Burma, Ceylon and India in 1941. In 1942 in Great Britain the question of neutrality came to the forefront. When conscription came into force young Christian witnesses of Jehovah refused to engage in war. The British Tribunals hearing the cases convicted 1,593 men and women, sending most of them to prison. Of these, 334 women served prison sentences. This had the effect of taking many active proclaimers from the service of offering the sacrifice of praise to God publicly.

17. Years before this how had the Nazi-Fascist-Catholic forces striven to throw down the “established place of his sanctuary”?

¹⁷ Just a few years before this the Nazi-Fascist-Catholic war drive stampeded throughout Europe. Legal restrictions and imprisonment came upon Jehovah’s witnesses, crushing branch office after branch office of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. The pressure was on to throw down “the established place of his sanctuary.”b

18. What hardships did Jehovah’s witnesses in the United States of America undergo during the years 1940 to 1943?

¹⁸ In the United States, while the work of Jehovah’s witnesses was not officially banned, there were many attempts made to silence the witnesses. Throughout the then 48 states mob action was employed in many places. To fan the fires of violence and hatred, on June 3, 1940, the Supreme Court of the United States by a decision of 8-1 determined that the flag-salute ceremony was compulsory for citizens of the country. Any schoolchild refusing to perform the act was subject to being expelled from school. Persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses after that ran rampant. On June 16, 1940, the Solicitor General, in a broadcast over a coast-to-coast network of the National Broadcasting Company, said: “Jehovah’s witnesses have been repeatedly set upon and beaten. They had committed no crime; but the mob adjudged they had, and meted out mob punishment. The Attorney General has ordered a immediate investigation of these outrages.” It was not until June 14, 1943, when the Supreme Court of the United States reversed itself in the flag-salute matter that the intense persecution began to subside in the United States.c

19. As judged by the number of branch offices of the Society and the rate of increase of Kingdom publishers, how was it evident that the ‘offering of the constant feature’ was restricted?

¹⁹ It is also very interesting to note that in 1938, the year before the outbreak of World War II, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society had 39 branches established throughout the earth to give oversight to the work of Jehovah’s witnesses. By 1942 there were some 106,000 witnesses of Jehovah preaching the Kingdom good news around the earth, but the number of branches had dropped to 25. By then the pressures were great and the ban was on in most parts of the earth. The next three years of the most violent war in history saw the persecution against Jehovah’s witnesses further intensified. Because of the banning of the work more branch offices were closed, until by 1943 there were only 21 branch offices operating throughout the world. Jehovah’s witnesses were tenaciously holding fast to their God-given assignment of preaching the good news, but from 1942 when they had 106,000 publishers they only increased by about 4,000 by the end of 1944. Truly the ‘offering of the constant feature’ was restricted.

“HOW LONG?”

20. When the “army” of Jehovah’s worshipers and the “constant feature” were given over on account of transgression, what was the “transgression causing desolation” committed by the Seventh World Power?

²⁰ Daniel 8:12 said that thus the spiritual “army” of worshipers at Jehovah’s sanctuary, together with the sacrificial “constant feature,” would be given over “because of transgression.” Whatever may have been the measure of “transgression” on the part of Jehovah’s witnesses against him, there was unmistakable “transgression” on the part of the symbolic ‘small horn,’ the Seventh World Power. This was evidently referred to in the question that the angel raised in Daniel’s hearing, when he asked: “How long will the vision be of the constant feature and of the transgression causing desolation, to make both the holy place and the army things to trample on?” (Dan. 8:13) Certainly, by causing the sacrificial “constant feature” to be taken away and then trampling on Jehovah’s theocratic “holy place” as represented by his anointed remnant of underpriests, the Seventh World Power was committing a “transgression causing desolation.” It was desolating the earthly interests of Jehovah’s theocracy and temple worship. It was sacrilegiously ‘transgressing’ on things holy to Jehovah God.

21. What else does the expression “transgression causing desolation” connect up with it as something of which the Seventh World Power was guilty?

²¹ Moreover, that expression “transgression causing desolation” appears to connect up something else with it of which the Seventh World Power was guilty. What was that? The setting up of something as a replacement for the removed “constant feature,” namely, the “abomination of desolation,” or, “the disgusting thing that causes desolation.” (Matt. 24:15; Dan. 11:31, King James Version; New World Translation) As aforesaid, that “abomination of desolation” was publicly identified in 1921 as being the international organization for world peace, which, from 1919 to 1939, was the League of Nations. This was set up for international worship, like an “image” of the political “wild beast,” in opposition to the offering of the sacrificial “constant feature” at Jehovah’s “sanctuary.”​—Rev. 13:1-15.

22. When and why did the beastly Eighth World Power go into the “abyss”?

²² As foretold in Revelation 17:7, 8, that beastly Eighth World Power went into the “abyss” of deathlike inability at the outbreak of World War II. Its chief backer and promoter, the British Empire, was unable to keep it alive in the face of military aggression by Nazism and Fascism backed by Catholic Action.

23. After America was forced into World War II, what happened in January of 1942 to show that the idolatrous “image” for international worship was not left out of calculation?

²³ However, that idolatrous “image” for international worship was not left out of calculation by those who were putting on great airs against the Prince of princes, Jehovah the great Theocrat. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the American member of the Seventh World Power was forced into World War II alongside the British member of the Anglo-American World Power. Then note what happened with regard to these idolatrous worshipers of a man-made organization for world peace and security. The so-called “Axis Powers” of Nazism, Fascism and Oriental Imperialism were still moving forward aggressively, when a significant event took place on Friday, January 2, 1942. What? According to the Chronology of events of 1942, as published in The Americana Annual “all twenty-six nations at war with the Axis powers pledge themselves not to make a separate armistice or peace and to employ full military or economic resources against the enemy in a ‘Declaration by United Nations’ signed in Washington.”​—Americana Annual for 1943, page 737.d

24. Seemingly, what was the beastly Eighth World Power then scheming to do, and how did Jehovah alert his people to this on September 20, 1942?

²⁴ Seemingly, the beastly Eighth World Power was stirring down there in the “abyss” and scheming to come up for international worship. Jehovah God, by his holy spirit and through his prophetic Word, alerted his people to this fact. Consequently, on Sunday, September 20, 1942, on the concluding day of the “New World Theocratic Assembly” at the key city of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., the president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society delivered the public address, “Peace​—Can It Last?” This speech, which was carried by telephone and radio facilities to fifty-one cities in the United States and was presented to simultaneous assemblies in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Hawaii, referred to Revelation 17:7, 8 and declared that World War II would end and be succeeded by a peace in which the scarlet-colored wild beast, the international organization for world peace and security, would come up out of the “abyss.” Thereafter this “abomination of desolation” would operate until Jehovah God destroyed it by his reigning King Jesus Christ.​—Rev. 17:12-14.e

25. This was a “transgression” on the part of what world power, and it was a standing up against whom?

²⁵ Beyond all denial, then, there was “transgression” on the part of the symbolic ‘small horn,’ the Anglo-American Dual World Power, in working for the restoring of the idolatrous “image” of the political “wild beast” to be worshiped by all peoples after World War II. In this way it was using insight and causing deception to succeed “in his hand.” This was occurring at the same time that it was hindering the sacrificial “constant feature” and trampling on Jehovah’s “holy place.” Here was “transgression” indeed. It was nothing less than a standing up against the Prince of princes, Jehovah, whose worshipers at his “sanctuary” were being opposed, oppressed and persecuted. The foretold “king fierce in countenance” took advantage of all those who were giving way to a false sense of “freedom from care,” and it kept “throwing truth to the earth,” especially truth as regards the Theocratic Government of Jehovah God by means of Jesus Christ.​—Dan. 8:17, 25.

“TWO THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED EVENINGS AND MORNINGS”

26. What was the question raised concerning the “constant feature” and the “transgression,” and what answer did the angel give?

²⁶ Remember, now, the question that the angel raised in Daniel’s hearing: “How long will the vision be of the constant feature and of the transgression causing desolation, to make both the holy place and the army [of temple servants] things to trample on?” To this the angelic answer is given: “Until two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; and the holy place will certainly be brought into its right condition.”​—Dan. 8:13, 14.

27. From when, at the earliest, would those 2,300 evenings and mornings begin to count, and why, and when was that according to the Jewish lunar calendar?

²⁷ When did those 2,300 evenings and mornings begin? By knowing this we can find out when they end and thus when Jehovah’s “holy place” is “brought into its right condition,” or, “shall be restored to its rightful state” (Revised Standard Version).f If Jehovah’s “holy place” is “brought” or “restored” to what it should be, then we should count the days from the time when previously it was in the “right condition” from Jehovah’s viewpoint. At the earliest this was on June 1, 1938, when the official magazine of Jehovah’s anointed remnant of underpriests at His sanctuary, namely, The Watchtower, published Part One of the article entitled “Organization,” so as to state more fully the theocratic requirements for it. When we calculate according to the Jewish lunar calendar that was used at the time of Daniel’s vision centuries before the Julian calendar and Gregorian calendar were introduced, June 1, 1938, falls on the 2nd day of the lunar month Sivan, 1938. Fourteen days later, or June 15, 1938, when The Watchtower published Part Two of the article “Organization” with its Resolution, would fall on Sivan 16, 1938. So now to our question:

28, 29. (a) As counted from the critical period, when did those 2,300 days end? (b) What important events were then taking place with reference to the Eighth World Power?

²⁸ If we thus count from the critical period when theocratic organization was being more fully installed in the congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses, when did the 2,300 days end?

²⁹ Remember, this is a prophetic period. So a prophetic year of 360 days is involved. (Rev. 11:2, 3; 12:6, 14) So 2,300 days would amount to six lunar years, four lunar months and twenty days. That amount of time counted from Sivan 2 (June 1), 1938, would end on Tishri 21 (October 8), 1944, or, counted from Sivan 16 (June 15), 1938, it would end on Heshvan 5 (October 22), 1944.g At that particular time world events were moving closer to the bringing of the beastlike Eighth World Power out of the abyss shortly after World War II, this time in the form of the United Nations organization, for world peace and security. In its chronology for 1944 The Americana Annual reports notable events on the following dates:

October 9​—United States, Great Britain, Soviet Russia, and China announce decision of Dumbarton Oaks Conference to recommend creation of an international security organization, to be called “The United Nations,” and to be empowered “to take such action by air, naval or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security.”

October 23​—Acting Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., announces official American recognition of the French Provisional Government, raising France to a high place among the United Nations and preparing the way for rapid reconstruction; governments of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada issue similar announcements.​—The Americana Annual for 1945, page 730.

30. About that time events in the theocratic realm were moving in what direction, as, for instance, at Buffalo, N.Y., in August?

³⁰ By now the tide of World War II had definitely turned in favor of the Allies, Hitlerite Germany having already been invaded by Allied armies. But what was happening in the theocratic realm of Jehovah’s worshipers at his “sanctuary” in that year of 1944? There events were moving forward to a noteworthy state of affairs by the end of the 2,300 days. This was the thirtieth year from the birth of God’s Messianic kingdom in the heavens at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914. On August 9-13 the United Announcers Theocratic Assembly was held with Buffalo, N.Y., as the key city, with sixteen other American cities being linked with it by telephone wire. On August 12 the president of the Watch Tower Society addressed the assembly on the subject “This Gospel Shall Be Preached,” and after his address the 384-page book entitled “The Kingdom Is at Hand” was released to the visible audience. Two days earlier there had been another release to the Assembly. It was the American Standard Version of the Bible, which features the divine name, Jehovah, and it had been printed on the Society’s own presses.

31, 32. (a) What events marked the first two days of the three-day assembly at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1944? (b) Why was the final day of that assembly, October 2, noteworthy as regards theocratic organization?

³¹ On September 30 through October 2, 1944, a special Service and business Assembly was held at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., where the registered offices of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society are located. On the opening day the Society’s president addressed the gathering of 5,000 on the subject “The Theocratic Alignment Today.” The following day the public address was on the subject “One World, One Government.” The Society’s annual business meeting was postponed from this day to the next day, Monday, October 2. This business meeting, which began at 10 a.m. was noteworthy. How so?

³² After the Society’s directors and its officers were elected by the shareholders there represented, consideration was directed to six amendments that were proposed for the Charter of the Society, which was a Pennsylvania corporation incorporated sixty years earlier, in the year 1884. These would amend Articles 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10. The first amendment resolution that was adopted proposed the enlarging of the purposes of the Society so as to assume properly the great worldwide work that lay ahead. Also, this amendment put God’s name, Jehovah, into the Charter. Amendment Three did away with the original charter’s provision that fixed one’s membership in the Society on the basis of one’s money contributions to the Society; henceforth the membership was to be limited to not more than 500, all of whom were to be chosen on the basis of their active service to Jehovah. As the Watchtower issue of November 1, 1944, said in its report: “This amendment will have the effect of bringing the charter as near to Theocratic arrangement as the law of the land permits.” All six amendment resolutions were adopted.

33. When did those amendments become part of the Society’s Charter, and as whose instrument has the Society served ever since?

³³ It was necessary to get the approval of the State court so as to make all these amendments legal. The following year (1945) the Amendments were duly recorded and thus became part of the Charter. With such an amended Charter the Watch Tower Society has served as a legal instrument of the anointed remnant worshiping Jehovah at his “sanctuary” or “holy place,” ever since.

34. (a) With nice timing, what information was thereafter published in The Watchtower? (b) What was said about “president” and the “governing body”?

³⁴ Nicely timed, though the anointed remnant was then not aware of it, came the publication of the leading article entitled “Organized for Final Work” in the October 15, 1944, issue of The Watchtower. Right on its heels, in the November 1 issue came the leading article announcing “Theocratic Organization in Action.” Under appropriate subheadings this article discussed “President,” “Diakonos, Servant,” “Qualifications,” “Governing Body,” and “Theocratic Conduct.” The term “president” here did not refer to the president of the Watch Tower Society, but paragraph 12 said: “The elders in the congregations, who were also spiritual overseers thereof, presided at meetings of the disciples. Any elder thus acting as chairman of a meeting would be the president of the gathering on that occasion.” Under the subheading “Governing Body” paragraphs 33, 34 said: “In the first century it was the group of the apostles in particular, together with the body of elders that they associated with them at Jerusalem, that made up the visible ruling body of Jehovah’s Theocratic organization on earth. . . . That governing body was not made up of perfect men.”

35. What did the following article, “The Theocratic Alignment Today,” have to say about the “governing body”?

³⁵ In the article that followed the above, in the same issue of The Watchtower, namely, “The Theocratic Alignment Today,” paragraph 3 said: “The visible governing body of the Theocratic organization is and must be appointed only by Jehovah God the Supreme Ruler, and Christ Jesus the Head of His church. Its purpose is to issue directions and spiritual provisions to all God’s people. Acting in harmony with the governing body, all the Theocratic organization and its associates act in unity throughout the earth.”

“TRUE”

36. As illustrated in the Table on the opposite page, what does all that combination of significant events at the critical time indicate?

³⁶ What, then, does all that combination of significant events at the critical time indicate? Apparently this: that Jehovah’s “sanctuary” or “holy place” was “brought into its right condition” on time, at the end of the 2,300 evenings and mornings, in early autumn (October 8-22) of the year 1944. It is as the angel said to Daniel: “And the thing seen concerning the evening and the morning, which has been said, it is true.” (Dan. 8:26) Theocracy as belonging universally to Jehovah God had been magnified. Ahead of all other places, Jehovah’s “sanctuary” or “holy place” is where His theocracy ought to prevail. There it has indeed prevailed, outstandingly so since the autumn of 1944.

37. During World War II the anointed remnant of spiritual underpriests at Jehovah’s sanctuary were put to the test in what respects, but what did they suceed in doing?

³⁷ During World War II the “established place of his sanctuary,” as represented by the remnant of Jehovah’s “holy ones,” was thrown down. This anointed remnant of spiritual underpriests certainly had their theocratic attitude and organization put to a severe test from June of 1938 forward. Whatever success the Anglo-American Dual World Power and its allies had in taking away the sacrificial “constant feature” of Jehovah’s public worship and service made it very difficult for the theocratic “holy ones” to keep on obeying God as Ruler rather than men. Yet, despite this, they succeeded in maintaining Theocracy within his sanctuary.

38. (a) Were the remnant of “holy ones” deceived by the political steps taken by the Seventh World Power during World War II? (b) How did they show whether it mattered that about ten months of world war testing remained after October of 1944?

³⁸ The “transgression causing desolation,” particularly the steps that the Anglo-American Dual World Power took even during World War II to lift the “abomination of desolation” out of the “abyss,” did not deceive the remnant of “holy ones” or turn them aside from their theocratic worship of Jehovah at his sanctuary. At the close of the 2,300 days of great testing, they showed themselves stronger for Jehovah’s Theocratic Government by Christ than ever before. True, after October of 1944, about ten months remained before World War II and its pressures ended. But, at the climax of those 2,300 days they had taken an organized stand for God’s rule at his sanctuary, and such theocratic rule they have unswervingly upheld down to this day. History shows that!h

39. During those 2,300 days, were the anointed remnant alone in striving to bring the “holy place” into its right condition, and what vision did the apostle John see in this regard?

³⁹ During those 2,300 days of trial the anointed remnant of Jehovah’s witnesses have not been alone in striving to bring his “holy place” into its right condition under divine guidance. At Jehovah’s spiritual “sanctuary” they have had loyal companions and supporters. Who? The apostle John got a prevision of these and said: “Look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying: ‘Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.’ . . . ‘These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That is why they are before the throne of God; and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple.’” (Rev. 7:9-15) These dedicated, baptized followers of the Lamb Jesus Christ are just as theocratic as are the anointed remnant of Jehovah’s “holy ones.”

40. At the close of the “appointed time of the end,” what will happen to the Seventh World Power and its friends and foes, and what will be the case of Jehovah’s Theocracy and of his theocratic organization on earth?

⁴⁰ Shortly now, at the close of this “appointed time of the end,” the prophetic “king fierce in countenance,” the Seventh World Power, “will be broken” in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty,” and all his political friends and foes with him. This destruction will be accomplished “without hand,” not a hand of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses being raised to bring this about. (Rev. 16:14, 16; Dan. 8:19) But Jehovah’s Theocracy, that the faithful worshipers at his “sanctuary” have persistently adhered to, will remain, triumphant. His visible theocratic organization on earth will continue to prevail all over the earth and will forever unite all obedient mankind in the worship and service of the one and only Theocrat, Jehovah.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 726]

EVENTS MARKING BEGINNING AND END OF THE 2,300 DAYS

DATE MUNDANE THEOCRATIC

A Career That Leads to Life-Long Blessings

As told by Emily Hardin

BEING of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, I was brought up in a religious home. My father was a Baptist deacon and his duties included going by horse and buggy once a month to collect the “dues” from the members who would not bring them to the church or who were behind on their payments. My mother told us later that on his return one day he said: “This is my last trip. Those poor farmers have less than the preacher, so I am going to resign.”

That he did, but he stayed in the church until the year 1919, when he died, a victim of the Spanish flu. My mother was now responsible to rear three small children. In time we moved to another community and lived in an apartment house where an old lady lived. We understood her to be a “Bible Student,” as Jehovah’s witnesses were then called. When she heard of my mother’s disenchantment with the churches, she began to visit us every Sunday and to discuss the Bible. Though she was an arthritic cripple and could not attend meetings at her Christian congregation, she encouraged my mother and me to go. So we began attending the meetings of the Bible Students at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

From the very beginning my mother talked to my sister and me about all the things she learned from the Bible. Finally, came 1935 and the Washington, D.C., convention of Jehovah’s witnesses. There all three of us​—my mother, my sister and I—​were baptized in symbol of our dedication to Jehovah.

THE FULL-TIME PREACHING WORK

The rest of that year my mother encouraged me to take up the work of proclaiming God’s kingdom on a full-time basis. She insisted that she could also preach full time, so we both began in February of 1936. However, after about six months my mother found she could not keep on because of poor health. I started to work with another Witness with whom I continued for more than five years.

We worked with many different groups in all parts of the east coast of the United States. Sometimes we lived in groups of twelve to fifteen full-time proclaimers of the good news, working together and moving our cars and trailers from one place to another. We always had plenty of food, but money for gasoline was very scarce at times. We did a lot of trading of Bible literature for food, especially in the South.

It has always served as great encouragement to look back on that time and realize how many that we worked with or came to know were later missionaries or serving in some capacity as full-time ministers.

We worked with a sound car for a period of time. This was especially interesting and facilitated our preaching work. After a recorded Bible lecture had finished playing, we would all leave the sound car to call on the houses nearby. Those who did not like the message would not even come to the door, and those who liked the good news were waiting to receive us. We left much Bible literature in the hands of the people.

Then came the time for the house-to-house phonograph work. My partner and I were given the privilege to be among the group selected to acquaint the congregations with how to use the phonograph in the door-to-door preaching work. Our group of nine was sent from one city to another. What fine experiences we had with the different congregations with which we worked!

Thereafter I worked in California until the spring of 1941, when I went to New Mexico with others and stayed there till time for the St. Louis assembly in 1941.

MARRIAGE AND CONTINUED FULL-TIME PREACHING

The next year I married F. M. Hardin, and we received an assignment in Las Vegas, New Mexico, as special pioneers or full-time ministers. Then we were transferred to Albuquerque, where my husband was to help arrange for one of the 1942 “New World Theocratic Assemblies.”

We were able to rent a hall in a small town outside Albuquerque called Bernalillo. Here, as frequently occurred in those years, a mob began to form and to threaten us. On Saturday night a number of soldiers joined the mob. Our hall was completely surrounded. They evidently planned to come in and destroy the sound equipment so that the public talk “Peace​—Can It Last?” could not be given the next day. A state policeman came in to warn us that he could not control the mob and that we had better disband the assembly. However, the assembly continued and the state trooper went out and talked to the mob. They left, but declared they would return on Sunday.

Return they did, and with more soldiers this time. However, before the mobsters could attack the assembly, some dissension arose among them. One of the soldiers took a horse that belonged to a Mexican. The soldier wanted to ride around and give orders to the mobsters. This led to a fight between the soldiers and the Mexicans. Some were badly cut in the melee; finally the Military Police came to get the soldiers. So ended the opposition, and we had a fine attendance at the public talk.

GILEAD’S FIRST CLASS AND MISSIONARY WORK

Shortly after the assembly, we received a questionnaire to fill out for something entirely new​—the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead—​training for missionary service. What a thrill it was when we were accepted! Arriving at Gilead, we found many whom we knew who were also in the first class. After graduation, we received an assignment to Costa Rica, the smallest country in Central America; and this was to us the finest assignment that anyone could ask for.

The seeds of Bible truth had been sown for many years before the arrival of the first missionaries in 1946. We started out in the preaching work by presenting a Spanish “Testimony Card,” which explained our purpose in calling. Then it was up to the householder to say Yes or No. Also at that time we did a lot of street work with magazines. One night two men passed me, and one said to the other, “There are 150 of them on the street. I’ve been counting them.” At that time the entire congregation in San José was less than seventy-five, but we surely looked like an army to passersby.

MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES

One of my most enjoyable missionary assignments was in Port Limón on the Atlantic Coast side of Costa Rica. We were sent there in 1947 to help the English-speaking congregation, a good number of whose members had been in the preaching work since 1910. To me it is still a real privilege to attend a national assembly in Costa Rica and meet again those dear friends who made our stay in Port Limón so enjoyable and spiritually profitable.

I especially remember one experience in Costa Rica when we went to witness in the small town of Colorado Bar, a place where none of Jehovah’s witnesses lived. We got passage on a small boat, the trip taking twelve hours. We called on people the next day, and that night a public talk was given. In two days we had placed about all our Bible literature with the people and talked to nearly everyone in the village. I placed a Bible study aid with a man who wanted it for his children. One of the boys, on reading the book, recognized it as God’s truth. Soon he went to work in Port Limón and began associating with the congregation and was baptized. He entered the full-time ministry, and is now a special traveling minister representing the Watch Tower Society in Costa Rica.

Another experience that stands out in my mind is the time our missionary family was invited to go to a place called Aguacate. A public talk was planned and also a Saturday night meeting. It turned out to be a small assembly!

Saturday night the hall was full, and we had a fine time. Sunday, when the people began to gather for the public talk, we could hardly believe there were so many people in the vicinity. They came on horses, oxcarts and on foot. They had killed a beef and there was plenty of food for everyone. We soon saw that they could not begin to get into the Kingdom Hall, as there were over three hundred persons present. So the Witnesses just pulled the boards off the two sides of the hall, and that way everyone could hear! Now almost all the people living in that section are Jehovah’s witnesses.

In 1945, the year before we arrived in Costa Rica, the maximum number of Witnesses there was 253. Ten years later the number grew to 1,934. Our having had a share in this increase was surely a blessed privilege. Even with the rapid growth, we could get to know nearly all of our Christian brothers.

In 1950 we wanted to attend the international assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in New York, but how? Well, just on time my husband received a small inheritance of $135 from an aunt, and at the same time I received $150 from an insurance policy paid twenty years before. This, with what we had, made it possible and we were glad to spend about our last cent on such a wonderful occasion. From then on the Watch Tower Society has always helped us to attend international assemblies, for which we are truly grateful.

CHANGES IN MY LIFE AND A NEW ASSIGNMENT

No one in this system of things can live without heartbreaks, and mine came after attending an assembly in New York in 1953. Arriving back in Costa Rica, my husband suffered a heart attack from which he never completely recovered, and the following year, in December, he died. We were having an assembly, and the Society’s president, Brother Knorr, was visiting Costa Rica at that time, and he was a great source of comfort. How wonderful it is to have hundreds of spiritual brothers and sisters and homes where one can be received at such a time as this!

Since I had chosen my career many years before I was married, I could not see why I should change it upon being alone again. So after a struggle with my health for about six months, I was able to make a new start. I continued in Costa Rica until 1957, when I received an assignment to Nicaragua.

In 1957 the organization of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses in Nicaragua was just about the size it had been in Costa Rica when we arrived there​—only 196 Witnesses in the whole country. So again I would share in marvelous growth. The people here are very hospitable; nearly everyone will listen when we talk to them about God’s Word and take Bible literature if they have the money.

We have now reached a peak of 1,654 proclaimers of the good news. And instead of the two congregations that we had in the capital city Managua when I arrived, we now have twelve. We expect many more Nicaraguans to join the growing ranks of the praisers of Jehovah’s name.

What career could I possibly have chosen that would have given me such constant pleasure and joy as this one of full-time service to Jehovah? None.

When I look back over thirty-five years of full-time service and twenty-five of these years in foreign service, I still say in the words of the resolution presented by the First Class of Gilead, I want to express ‘my profound gratitude to Jehovah, the Watch Tower Society and the governing body for the privilege of having received instruction and theocratic education enabling me to be a better minister of the good news.’

[Picture on page 731]

The Society’s branch office and missionary home in Managua, Nicaragua, where Sister Hardin is now privileged to serve

Opportunities to Witness at School

THE branch office of the Watch Tower Society in Wiesbaden, Germany, recently received an encouraging letter from a young lady who is one of Jehovah’s witnesses.

She explained that fourteen days after she began to attend a certain school she asked for permission to be absent for a day in order to go to a circuit assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses. “When the teacher heard that I was one of Jehovah’s witnesses,” she wrote, “it was requested that I give an hour’s report about the Witnesses to another class of school that she also taught. I worked up a talk on the subject ‘How Can You Find the True Religion?’ At the conclusion of the report the teacher told the class of eighteen-year-old girls that they were free to ask any questions they wanted to. The students were very impressed and asked many questions. They accepted Bible literature and even requested literature for students who were not in the class.”

During the break between classes the teacher told a fellow teacher what had taken place. As a result the next hour the sixteen-year-old Witness was able to give the report to a second class. And on another occasion she was able to speak to this class on the subject “Who Is God?” At this time there was present a third teacher, who was the instructor of a still different class at school. The second report was given to this other class. Even after graduating from school, the young Witness was asked to return to deliver the talk again. And the teacher asked permission to make a recording of the talk to use it as a basis for future discussions.

In concluding the letter, this young Witness wrote: “My heart is full of thanks to Jehovah for these privileges that he gave me. And I am convinced that many of my brothers who still go to school will have many opportunities in this field if they look for them.”

Why Study in School?

Helpful facts that young people want to know

IF YOU are a young person attending school, ask yourself this question: Why am I in school?

You may reply that you go to school because where you live it is required for a certain length of time. Or it may be that you are yet a minor and are obliged to do as your parents direct.

However, do you personally see any other reasons for being in school? Do you know of any benefits that may come from spending your time wisely in school? You likely know some young people who are not spending their time wisely. They may study just enough to get by, if that. Yet, by not taking advantage of the opportunity to learn, these young people usually handicap themselves for the rest of their lives. Why?

Because what a person does during his youth has a great bearing on what he can do as an adult. Even in school study, the Bible principle applies: “Whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.” (Gal. 6:7) But what are some of the benefits you can reap from ‘sowing’ time and effort in school study now?

PRACTICAL TRAINING

You have to face the fact that before many more years, you will be called upon to support yourself. You may eventually take on the obligations of a husband and father, or wife and mother.

Would you like to make those responsibilities easier, more enjoyable? You can help to do that if you take advantage of your school years, learning things that will be useful in your adult life.

In many schools there are subjects that teach you the fundamentals of different skills. For young men, there may be courses in carpentry, installing electrical equipment, welding, accounting and others. Young women can take courses in homemaking arts such as cooking and sewing, as well as typing and secretarial work.

Much of this training may not be easily available to you after you get out of school. If you desire some of that instruction later, you might even have to pay for it. Or you might have to learn it by working with or under individuals who perhaps have little interest in teaching you. Why not, then, take advantage of the opportunity to learn some of these things while you can? And when selecting school courses, by all means talk the matter over with your parents. They can give you the benefit of their experience in life.

LEARN TO READ WELL

While there are many things of practical value that you can learn in school, there is one that will have a tremendous influence on the rest of your school life and your entire adult life as well. It is the ability to read​—and to read WELL. It is the key to unlocking many kinds of knowledge, skill and enjoyment.

In your waking hours you are constantly confronted with things to read: signs, labels, books, magazines, newspapers, bills, official forms and mail. All of this can be an unpleasant chore for those who read poorly. However, if you learn to read well, you will find your life enriched by things to read instead of having them be a burden to you.

Christian youths, especially, will want to learn how to read well because they want to know what is in God’s Word, the Bible. They also will find skillful reading of great value when explaining God’s purposes to others.​—Matt. 24:14.

Do you have problems in reading? If so, do not be discouraged. You can learn to read well, as others have. Reading is mainly a matter of practice​—plus being alert to note the way words are spelled. Read aloud at times. This will help you to see if you are developing any bad habits in your silent reading. Too, you will find it helpful if you ask others who read well to listen to you occasionally when you read aloud. They can help you to correct your mistakes.

Yes, the ability to read with ease and fluency does not come without real effort. But for the effort you put forth now you will be repaid many times over in later life.

OTHER BENEFITS FROM STUDYING

Some school subjects may not seem too practical to you, but they do help to broaden your outlook and can be useful in other ways. History, geography and language help you to learn about other peoples and places. Mathematics is useful in many trades and occupations, even in homemaking, where there is always the need to use recipes and to keep budgets.

There is another benefit to studying in school, even subjects you do not especially like. Study exercises your mind and improves your ability to use it. In a way, you can compare your mind to a muscle of your body​—the more you exercise it the better it will serve you. You will find that mental effort steadily comes easier, and it will be more productive. But, as with a muscle, the mind will get ‘flabby’ if you do not use it enough.

Is there something else of value that comes from applying yourself to your studies in school? Yes, you can learn self-discipline. True, that may not seem so desirable now. But as you know, you cannot just do the things you prefer to do in life. Often you have to do things you may not really want to do or may not like to do, but which need to be done anyhow. Particularly will that be true when the time comes for you to take on greater responsibility in making your own living, or in caring for your own family.

If you get used to disciplining yourself now, it will help you to acquire the discipline needed to face adult obligations. So while you may prefer doing something else rather than study, if you set your mind to it and do not let other things interfere, you will be acquiring a quality you will appreciate more and more as you get older.

A PROTECTION

There is yet another benefit that comes from applying yourself diligently to your studies. It can serve as a protection to you. In what way?

Well, likely you have already seen evidences of the moral breakdown among your schoolmates. There is much sexual immorality and taking of drugs. Also, a spirit of rebellion prevails among many youths.

It may distress you to be around people who have no respect for the high standards of conduct taught in God’s Word. Although you cannot avoid contacting such persons altogether, you can avoid having any association with them beyond what is necessary for your schoolwork. And if you pay attention to your studies, and work at being successful in them, that will fill a sizable portion of your free time after school, which will automatically limit your association with unprincipled persons. Seeing your desire to get on with your education, persons of that type, in time, will likely not seek out your association. This will be a protection to you.

Then, too, if you are known as a true Christian, by applying yourself in your schoolwork you can set a fine example. That will be a credit to you, to your parents and to the God you worship. You can be like Daniel and his three friends who applied themselves in the educational system of ancient Babylon and were commended for their diligence. At the same time, they too had to deal with unprincipled persons, but they put first their worship of God and did not compromise their high standards.

Christian youths should find great encouragement and incentive in this fact: many of the abilities and skills they develop now by applying themselves will be useful for more than just a brief lifetime in this system of things. Why? Because this entire wicked system is nearing its end. Soon now it will be replaced by God’s righteous new order where honest-hearted persons will be able to enjoy everlasting life. (1 John 2:15-17) In that new order God’s promise will be fulfilled: “The work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full.” (Isa. 65:22) So the good study and work habits youths learn now will prove to be a source of satisfaction and enjoyment forever in God’s new order.

Questions From Readers

● Is it proper for Christians to celebrate their wedding anniversary?​—D. Y., Venezuela.

It is not unscriptural for a married couple to commemorate in a reasonable and modest way the anniversary of their wedding. But neither is this a necessary thing.

Basically an anniversary is an annual return of the day of a past event. There are anniversaries of all sorts. Pagan peoples have noted anniversaries of special events. Yet God’s servants have too. (Ex. 12:14, 24-27; John 10:22, 23; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) Of course, these anniversaries or commemorations noted in the Bible directly involved aspects of true worship. Still, we can see from this that not all anniversaries can be ruled out as objectionable. It all depends on what is commemorated and how.

A Christian would obviously avoid celebrations that involve unscriptural or false religious practices. (John 4:24) Normally today, though, a wedding anniversary is not a religious celebration. But does the custom of commemorating one’s wedding stem from ancient pagan religion? Apparently not. The Encyclopedia Americana (1971 ed.) says: “The family practice of observing wedding anniversaries seems to have grown up in western Europe. The earliest references in English literature occur in the 17th century.”​—Vol. 28, p. 564.

It is now customary in some lands for husband and wife to take special note of the anniversary of their wedding. Some Christian couples do this too. They conscientiously feel that they can strengthen the bonds of their marriage by quietly and privately reflecting on the joyful occasion when they became husband and wife. On their anniversary they may review the progress they have made in building a happy marriage and refreshen their resolve to continue in that direction.

Other couples may find pleasure in sharing the happiness of their anniversary with a few Christian friends and relatives, including their children. If this is done, there are certain balancing cautions that ought to be kept in mind.

With any social gathering or celebration, care has to be exercised that things do not get out of hand. Even a modest celebration can become uncontrolled or can lead to improper conduct, as appears to have occurred sometimes among the Jews in the first century. (John 2:10) That unquestionably would be wrong for Christians. (1 Pet. 4:3, 4) Nor would it be fitting for celebrants to give humans excessive honor, as if the couple whose anniversary it is ought to be venerated. The Bible clearly shows that veneration should go to the Creator, not to any created thing on earth, whether animal or human. (Rom. 1:24, 25) If a couple have had a successful marriage, that is fine. Others can rightly be happy for them. But should not this also stimulate thankful praise to the Author of marriage? He should be kept in mind and all that is done should bring honor to Him.

In making the above comments we are not recommending to couples who do not have this custom that they now begin to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Actually, we are neither encouraging nor discouraging wedding anniversaries. Each couple can, without being criticized by others, decide personally what to do. The circumstances or consciences of one couple may lead them to take no special note of the event. Still another couple may commemorate their wedding anniversary. If so, then the decision of how they will do this should be made in the light of the counsel: “Whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory.”​—1 Cor. 10:31.

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