The Watchtower — July 1, 1980

Page Two

OUR COVER: As a faithful watchman observes and warns of approaching danger, so for more than 100 years “The Watchtower” has been explaining the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. What does the immediate future hold? See pages 3-18

Keep Watching!

AN ARTICLE entitled “Thinking About the Unthinkable” appeared in the New York Times of February 14, 1980. Therein Dr. Howard H. Hiatt, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, was quoted with regard to the effect that one nuclear bomb, “by no means the largest now in the armories,” would have on the Boston area. He said:

“That one weapon would destroy everything within four miles. The bomb crater itself would be half a mile in diameter and several hundred feet deep. Beyond the four-mile radius of total destruction a pressure wave, followed by winds over 1,000 miles an hour, would build an enormous fire storm. Forty miles away, people looking in the direction of the explosion would be blinded by retinal burns. Of the 3 million people living in the Boston metropolitan area, 2.2 million would be killed at once by the blast or fire storm.”

Such might be the initial effect if just one of the thousands of bombs in the world’s arsenals landed “on target.”

Truly, the possibility that the “unthinkable” could happen provides good reason for thinking about the world situation. And many people are thinking. A special report in the February 11, 1980, issue of U.S. News & World Report analyzed the military might of the leading nations on earth, with these opening words: “To a fearfully watching world, the Soviet Union today looks like a military juggernaut, driving relentlessly toward global domination.” This is indeed a fearfully watching world, for the kind of holocaust that would accompany a nuclear war simply beggars the imagination. And there is no question that global domination has in fact become a major issue of our times.

Is there any solution to this doomsday situation? Many persons watch in despair. They see the nations ‘beefing it up’ in terms of rockets, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, long-range bombers, nuclear warheads and the like. As they watch, they become painfully aware that fearful dangers now threaten from the heavens and the sea, even as the Master, Jesus, foretold for the final days of the wicked system of things on this earth. Jesus said:

“There will be fearful sights and from heaven great signs. Also, there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations, not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation, while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”​—Luke 21:11, 25, 26.

“LIFT YOUR HEADS UP”

The outlook may be frightening indeed for those who watch developments merely from a worldly point of view. However, Jesus went on to say:

“As these things start to occur, raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near.” (Luke 21:28) So there is no need for fear on the part of those who are watching world events from the standpoint of faith in Jehovah’s prophetic Word. Rather than being morbidly afraid of what might happen in a nuclear holocaust, they are looking forward with confidence to God’s promised deliverance.

Are you one who hopes for a return to safer times among mankind? Then you should pay attention to Jesus’ explanation of the meaning of our times. Since the outbreak of World War I, distress of nations, lawlessness, crime, food shortages, earthquakes, epidemics and other afflictions have been escalating in the earth, just as Jesus foretold they would, to mark the ‘sign of his presence and of the conclusion of the system of things.’ (Matt. 24:3-12; Luke 21:10, 11) But he added these words: “When you see these things occurring, know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, This generation will by no means pass away until all things occur. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.”​—Luke 21:31-33.

At least some of the generation that saw the start of this age of lawlessness in 1914 are expecting to “be around” when it ends. That will be at the time of the fulfillment of Daniel 2:44, with regard to the “kings” or rulers who now selfishly struggle for world domination: “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom . . . will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.” The nuclear weapons of the nations will prove useless when pitted against the overwhelming might of God’s kingdom by Christ Jesus. This “King of kings” will judge the nations righteously, destroying the wicked and preserving those meek ones who have kept on the watch. How marvelous will be the Kingdom blessings to follow! “The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”​—Ps. 37:10, 11; Rev. 19:11-21.

KEEP AWAKE!

Toward the end of his prophecy on the conclusion of the system of things, Jesus sounded this warning: “But pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you as a snare. For it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth.” In that day of God’s vengeance upon wicked nations and lawless men, the only people to be safe will be those who receive a favorable judgment from “the Son of man,” Christ Jesus. All persons who want to survive must heed Jesus’ counsel: “Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man.”​—Luke 21:34-36.

In concluding the same prophecy, according to Mark’s account, Jesus said: “Keep looking, keep awake, for you do not know when the appointed time is. . . . Therefore keep on the watch . . . in order that when [the Master] arrives suddenly, he does not find you sleeping. But what I say to you I say to all, Keep on the watch.” This Jehovah’s Witnesses do today, as they vigorously preach “in all the nations the good news” that God’s kingdom by his Christ is at hand. (Mark 13:10, 33-37) Sharing in this grand worldwide witness is the Watchtower magazine, which now enters its 102nd year of publication. It is hoped that these pages may continue to be of comfort to our millions of readers, encouraging one and all to “KEEP ON THE WATCH.”

“Watchman, What of the Night?”

“Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night.”​—Isa. 21:11, 12, Authorized Version.

1. Figuratively speaking, through what is the world now passing, and is there any basis for optimism regarding this system of things?

THE world is passing through a “night”! It is now approaching the darkest period of this figurative night. What will be the look of things when the morning dawns remains to be seen. What is disturbing mankind more and more is the worsening of the state of human affairs in every aspect of life. World history times this as beginning with the first world war. Politicians, religious clergymen, social leaders and economists may think they see some rays of dawn and may try to spark up good cheer. But there is no solid reason to be optimistic about the tottering system of things.

2. What proves whether the coming of this “night” was foreseen, and how was the coming of the “day” called to public notice?

² The coming of this “night” was seen decades in advance. The available records of the past century prove that. The dawning of the brightest “day” in all human history was also foreseen. It was called to public notice by word of mouth and printed page.

3. What magazine, still published today, was a proof of that, and why was its title appropriate for its mission?

³ A magazine that now has a circulation of millions of copies each issue, in scores of languages, bears witness to that fact. When its first issue appeared in July of 1879 the magazine was entitled “Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.” That first issue contained eight pages, and its page size was greater than that of the magazine today. It had a timely mission to fulfill. This was hinted at in that its title contained the meaningful words “Watch Tower.” Fittingly, then, at the masthead under the title there appeared the significant quotation from the most ancient book on earth. It read: “Watchman, What of the Night?” “The Morning Cometh.” Those words were quoted from the Holy Bible, from the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 21, verses 11, 12, according to the King James or Authorized Version. In Bible times a watchman was associated with a watchtower on the wall of a fortified city. This elevated position provided a fine lookout. The publishers of the magazine purposed to serve as a watchman class. By means of the columns of the magazine, the publishers endeavored to answer the question, “Watchman, what of the night?” That challenging question continued to appear on the first page of the magazine down to its issue of December 15, 1938.

4. Due to what important events of the 1870’s was the Watch Tower magazine published at a portentous time?

⁴ When the Watch Tower magazine first appeared on July 1, 1879, with a modest printing of 6,000 copies, the world stage was taking on a portentous appearance. The Franco-German War of 1870 had been fought, and the second German Reich or Empire had emerged. An arms race was due to develop between the British Empire and the rival German Empire. In 1878 the Berlin Congress of Nations had been held for settling the Eastern Question that involved the dismemberment of the Turkish Empire between European empires, particularly Britain and Russia. Consequential future hostilities between nations threatened!

5. So it was a time for what kind of investigation, and, fittingly, on January 1, 1895, the Watch Tower magazine made what kind of display on its front cover?

⁵ It was indeed a time for looking into the prophecies of the Bible to see whether they had anything at all to say about the meaning of world events and their outcome. Appropriately, on January 1, 1895, the Watch Tower magazine changed its front-cover design to show a corner watchtower at the edge of a raging sea. Also, at the bottom of the page under this new design, the magazine displayed the following words based on Luke 21:25-31 (AV) in italic letters: “Upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves (the restless, discontented) roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking forward to the things coming upon the earth (society); for the powers of the heavens (ecclesiasticism) shall be shaken. . . . When ye see these things come to pass, then know that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Look up, lift up your heads, rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh.​—Luke 21:25-28-31.”

6. Why did the then entering 20th century promise to be an exciting time for the “watchman” class?

⁶ The Spanish-American War followed in 1898 with losses to the Spanish Empire. In 1899 came the Boer War in South Africa, with gains for the British Empire. The international arms race speeded up. When the aeroplane was invented, it allowed for warfare in the skies. By then, too, successful forms of submarines had been invented and used in warfare. Thus the 20th century promised to be an exciting time for the “watchman” class to report on to anxious inquirers. Especially so, since the “watchman” class expected the “times of the Gentiles” to end in autumn of 1914.​—Luke 21:24, AV.

WHY INQUIRE OF THE “WATCHMAN”?

7. The inquiry addressed to the “watchman” is couched in what kind of setting, as illustrated in the following context?

⁷ The inquiry in Isaiah 21:11, addressed to the “watchman,” finds itself couched in a setting breathing war. The context that follows reads: “The pronouncement against the desert plain: In the forest in the desert plain you will spend the night, O caravans of men of Dedan. To meet the thirsty one bring water. O you inhabitants of the land of Tema, confront the one fleeing away with bread for him. For because of the swords they have fled away, because of the drawn sword, and because of the bent bow and because of the heaviness of the war. For this is what Jehovah has said to me: ‘Within yet a year, according to the years of a hired laborer, all the glory of Kedar must even come to its end. And the ones remaining over of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will become few, for Jehovah himself, the God of Israel, has spoken it.’”​—Isa. 21:13-17.

8. The context preceding the exchange of words between the inquirer and the watchman also breathes of what, and where is the inquirer located?

⁸ Likewise, the “pronouncement” that precedes the exchange of words between the inquirer and the watchman breathes of warfare. So there is reason for concern on the part of the inquirer. Where is the inquirer located? Evidently in the path of a world conqueror. Isaiah 21:11 reads: “The pronouncement against Dumah: To me there is one calling out from Seir: “Watchman, what about the night? Watchman, what about the night?’”

9. (a) What does the name of the place against which the pronouncement is aimed mean, and how does it apply? (b) How did Edom, the twin brother of Jacob, come to be associated with Seir?

⁹ The name of the place against which the pronouncement is aimed is called Dumah, a name that means “Silence.” Evidently the name is prophetic, predicting that the place is to become marked by silence. The name does not necessarily mean that the silence due to desolation and death already reigns there. Dumah’s location is indicated by the fact that the call to the watchman comes from Seir, the land of Seir. This land is associated with Idumea, the country of Edom. This may account for it that the Greek Septuagint Version speaks of Idumea instead of Dumah. Edom was the nickname that was given to Esau, the older twin brother of Jacob. The people of the land of Edom opposed the nation of Jacob, or the nation of Israel.

10. Why did the descendants of Edom, or Esau, come to hate their brother nation and rejoice over its calamity in 607 B.C.E.?

¹⁰ Jacob’s older twin brother was called Esau, which means “hairy,” because he was hairy at birth. The name Seir means “hairy or shaggy,” but the land of that name was not so called because of Esau. His descendants took over the land of Seir by conquering the original inhabitants. Esau, or Edom, is notorious for having been willing to sell the birthright of a firstborn son to Jacob. Jehovah, the God of Jacob, recognized the sale and conferred the divine blessing upon the purchaser, Jacob. For this reason Jacob became hated by Esau. Little cause for amazement, then, that, when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, gave way to glee over the terrible calamity upon their brother nation, Israel. This national disaster, together with the carrying of the surviving Israelites into Babylonia, took place in the century after Isaiah’s prophecy about the watchman.

11. Where is the source of the answer to the inquiry located, and, therefore, Isaiah represents what today?

¹¹ Where, though, is the location of the watchman to whom the inquirer in the Edomite land of Seir directs his inquiry? The prophecy concerning the inquirer and the watchman was given by Isaiah, and he found himself in the yet free land of Israel. So the source of the watchman’s answer lay in the land of Israel, regardless of where the Israelites came to find themselves at the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. At the time of the giving of the prophecy Isaiah represented the watchman appointed at God’s command to give the correct answer to the inquiry. Isaiah and his children had the divine approbation. Very appropriately, then, Isaiah pictured the “watchman” class of today, the remnant of spiritual Israelites who have the heavenly inheritance. These are the ones who have been enlightened with regard to the darksome world situation today.

12. (a) In 1879 C.E., who offered themselves to serve as a watchman group for the larger “watchman” class? (b) From where did their answer to the then arising inquiry have to come, and, in effect, what was it?

¹² In 1879 C.E., the editor of the Watch Tower magazine and his associates were fully dedicated, baptized Christians. They offered themselves to serve as a watchman group in behalf of their spirit-anointed Christian brothers. All of these together made up a larger “watchman” class. They could not dodge the then arising question, “Watchman, what of the night?” The only trustworthy answer that they could give was that which God’s inspired Word put into the mouth of the watchman of old. This was, in effect, “The morning cometh, and also the night.” (Isa. 21:12, AV) Ah, yes, according to the outlook given by Jehovah God a brighter period, “the morning,” had to come. This would usher in the millennium, or thousand years, of the reign of Jehovah’s Messiah, his glorified Son Jesus. But before that there had to come “the night” of world distress!

13. (a) What was the series of Studies in the Scriptures that began to be published in 1886 called, and why? (b) Why was the inquirer in Seir concerned about “the night” then upon that land?

¹³ Doubtless, because of the promised “morning” that was to usher in the millennial reign of Christ, the series of Studies in the Scriptures that the editor of the Watch Tower began to publish in 1886 was called “Millennial Dawn.” And under that title were quoted the words of Proverbs 4:18, AV: “The Path of the Just is as the Shining Light, Which Shineth More and More Unto the Perfect Day.” But it was “the night” over which the inquirer in the land of Seir was so concerned. In the days of the prophet Isaiah any darkness of “the night” that rested upon the Edomite land of Seir was due to thicken. This would be the case as that land came under the domination of a new world conqueror, one favoring, not the Edomites of Mount Seir, but, rather, the brother nation of Israel.

14. Who today has the right answer to the question about the worldwide “night,” and is further inquiry about it barred?

¹⁴ Today, more than a century after the Watch Tower magazine first appeared, worldly people who are groping for the light continue to raise the pressing question, “What about the night?” The only one that has the valid answer to that question is the “watchman” class. This class has not been at a loss for the right answer, the Bible answer. It has welcomed all further inquiry, just as in Isaiah’s prophecy the watchman went on to say: “If you people would inquire, inquire. Come again!”​—Isa. 21:12.

15. In view of welcoming further inquiry, how has the Watch Tower magazine maintained itself, and what message concerning “the night” has it kept on proclaiming uninterruptedly?

¹⁵ To that end the Watch Tower magazine has continued to be published until now. Just as a literal watchman has to keep awake all the time at his guard post, so the Watch Tower magazine has kept awake and has not missed an issue since its first issue in July of 1879. This has been true despite the worldwide persecution upon the “watchman” class during World Wars I and II. It has reported on the progress of “the night,” not being afraid to announce that it will reach its darkest point in “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at what Bible prophecy calls Har–Magedon. Thus the anointed “watchman” class keeps on fulfilling its commission to “proclaim . . . the day of vengeance on the part of our God.”​—Rev. 16:14-16; Isa. 61:1, 2.

THE PRONOUNCEMENT AFTER THE WATCHMAN IS POSTED

16. Why did it take courage for the “watchman” to broadcast the “pronouncement” put into his mouth, and why is the pronouncement of more than passing interest to us today?

¹⁶ God’s “watchman” has to have courage and be faithful in order to pronounce what is put into his mouth to broadcast to all within earshot. The pronouncement was, not a favorable one, but one unfavorable to what would prove to be the mightiest world power up to that time. But it indicated good for the people to whom the watchman belonged, the nation of Israel, during the world-shaking events of those ancient times. This matter would be of passing interest to us moderns, were it not for the fact that the things set out in the adverse “pronouncement” have their major and final fulfillment upon the whole world during our war-racked century. So we are bound to be affected just as Isaiah was so long ago.

17, 18. To what did the expression “the wilderness of the sea” refer, and what might powers ruled from that area?

¹⁷ The very opening of the inspired message through Isaiah is disquieting: “The pronouncement against the wilderness of the sea: Like stormwinds in the south in moving onward, from the wilderness it is coming, from a fear-inspiring land.”​—Isa. 21:1.

¹⁸ The locality meant by the expression “the wilderness of the sea” proved to be of world importance in human history. The locality is the delta of land that is formed by the Euphrates River and the Tigris River, or river Hiddekel, both of which rivers are mentioned in connection with the creation of Adam, the first man. (Gen. 2:14) At one time the two rivers emptied separately into what is today called the Persian Gulf, both rivers being close together at their mouths. In floodtimes, when the rivers would overflow their banks, the flatlands in between would become like a desolate sea, a “wilderness of the sea.” Boggy morasses would result. Over this area the second world power of Bible history, Assyria, ruled in the days of the prophet Isaiah. In the following century this was to be succeeded by a still mightier world power, the third.

19. What would that Third World Power bring upon Isaiah’s people, and to whom is the matter of special concern today?

¹⁹ That impending Third World Power was the one that would bring great grief to Isaiah’s people. Naturally, what happened to it would prove to be of tremendous interest to Isaiah himself as a watchman, also to whoever would be serving as watchman at the time of the fulfillment of the entire “pronouncement against the wilderness of the sea.” That is why its fulfillment today in a final way is of interest to the “watchman” class of today and to all those who inquire so as to be guided by the observations of the “watchman” class.

20. To what is the cause of the oncoming calamity likened, and from where is the destructive force said to come?

²⁰ Something irresistible and overwhelming “like stormwinds in the south” was looming up on the horizon. Such stormwinds were notably violent and destructive. Man-made things in the way of the onward moving stormwinds are in danger of being wiped out. The frightening aspect of the approaching calamity is implied in the fact that it is said to come “from the wilderness . . . from a fear-inspiring land.” (Isa. 21:1) Back there the prophet Isaiah like a weather-bureau man raised the warning signal so as to notify the people in the path of the storm to prepare for the worst.

21. In our century, by whom has the warning signal been hoisted, and who particularly have been made responsible by being put on the alert?

²¹ Correspondingly, the warning signal has been hoisted by the “watchman” class, especially since the end of World War I in 1918. The Watch Tower magazine survived threatening extinction during that crucial period when the “watchman” class suffered violent persecution world wide. The “watchman” and his instrument, the Watchtower magazine, have lived on to sound a further warning that has been heard in all parts of the earth. The people, particularly their leaders, have been put on the alert. They are responsible!

22. What kind of announcement is soon to be shouted out, and for what reason will a “great crowd” be happy then?

²² A shocking announcement is soon to be shouted out by the “watchman” class. When, surprisingly, it is shouted out, happy will that special “great crowd” be that promptly heeded the warning signal.​—Rev. 7:9-15.

[Box/​Map on page 8, 9]

The “night” will shortly reach its darkest point in “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon

Watchman standing on watchtower in Israel pictures enlightened watchman class of spiritual Israel. As Jehovah’s modern-day witnesses, these are proclaiming that the “morning” of Christ’s millennial reign will follow “the night” of world distress

Silence will overcome religious Dumah, from which came the cry, “Watchman, what of the night?”

The “hard vision” shows the fall of Babylon, foreshadowing the spiritual fall of Babylon the Great in 1919 and final destruction of this world empire of false religion just before Har–Magedon

Darius of Media pictures Jehovah God

Cyrus of Persia pictures God’s Son, Christ Jesus

God’s adverse “pronouncement” is against “the wilderness of the sea,” ruled over in turn by Assyria and Babylonia

[Map]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

MEDIA

PERSIA

ELAM

BABYLONIA

Babylon

EDOM

Dumah

ISRAEL

Jerusalem

Great Sea

[Pictures on page 8]

1879 Watchtower

1895 Watchtower

1938 Watchtower

The Watchman Said: “She Has Fallen!”

1. Why should we steel ourselves to examine the “vision” that Isaiah has to tell us?

THE vision of what is coming in the rapidly nearing future is a hard one. That is the way the matter was worded for us by the prophet Isaiah even during the days of the Assyrian Empire that then dominated the world. Is the “vision” too “hard” for us to examine today? Yet, let us steel ourselves to hear what Isaiah says: “There is a hard vision that has been told to me: The treacherous dealer is dealing treacherously, and the despoiler is despoiling.”​—Isa. 21:2.

2. (a) What is identified as “the despoiler,” and how? (b) Toward whom was the “dealer” especially a “treacherous” one, and why?

² The one that was outstandingly “the treacherous dealer,” although not named, is identifiable. This was ancient Babylon, which became the Third World Power. It became despicably notorious for despoiling the city of Jerusalem, even despoiling the Most Holy of the temple of Jehovah there. True, Jehovah used Babylon’s emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, as his “servant” to discipline the kingdom of Judah, yet Babylon acted treacherously toward Jehovah’s covenant people. She never loosed the Jewish exiles to return to their God-given homeland, even though the time was going onto 70 years. (Isa. 14:3-17) It took the conqueror of the Babylonian Empire to open the way homeward for those “prisoners” in the year 537 B.C.E. Justly, then, the “vision” that was told to the watchman Isaiah was “hard” upon Babylon, the despoiler of nations, particularly the despoiler of the people of Isaiah’s God.

3. What about Babylon’s modern counterpart as respects being a “treacherous dealer” and a “despoiler”?

³ What about the modern counterpart of ancient Babylon? In her dealings with those Christians who are in covenant relationship with Jehovah God, she has been no less treacherous as respects the teachings of Christianity. Heartlessly she has despoiled such Christians because they keep the commandments of Jehovah God and carry out the work of bearing witness to his enthroned King, Jesus Christ. (Rev. 12:17) Christendom has been foremost in this program of dealing treacherously and despoiling, notably from the days of World War I. She especially will feel the force of the “hard vision” when it is fulfilled upon the modern world empire of false religion, Babylon the Great. But whom will Jehovah use in making that “hard vision” a reality shortly?

4. In Isaiah 21:2 who are the ones called to attack Babylon, and why are the Persians not there mentioned?

⁴ Isaiah lays the basis for the answer when he goes on to say: “Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! All sighing due to her I have caused to cease.” (Isa. 21:2) Elam lay to the east of the Tigris River and became part of what was called Persia, whereas today Iran holds that territory.a Media was the larger area to the east of the Mesopotamian valley. About 200 years after Isaiah’s prophecy Cyrus (II) the Great conquered the Medes to give the kingdom of Persia the ascendancy over Media. However, his mother was a Mede, and most of the soldiers in his army proved to be Medes. This Cyrus is the Cyrus, or Kohresh, foretold by Isaiah under divine inspiration. (Isa. 44:28 through 45:7) At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy the Medo-Persian Empire had not yet emerged, and so the Persians were not to the fore. So just Elam and Media were the ones whom Jehovah called by name to attack Babylon.

5. How did Jehovah cause “all sighing due to her” to cease, and was the “prisoner” set free to go home?

⁵ Were those attackers to succeed and change matters in southwest Asia and the Middle East? Yes! This was indicated by Isaiah’s next words: “All sighing due to her I have caused to cease.” These are really the words of “Jehovah of armies,” the Sovereign Lord of the universe. By his use of Elam and Media as his agencies he caused “all sighing” due to oppressive Babylon to cease. In an appeal to Jehovah God for deliverance from captors who cared little if the Israelites rotted away in their prison state, the inspired psalmist said: “May the sighing of the prisoner come in even before you. According to the greatness of your arm preserve those appointed to death.” (Ps. 79:11-13; Isa. 14:17) This prayer was answered in the 70th year of the exile of the Jews in Babylon by royal decree of Cyrus the Great.​—Isa. 35:8-10.

PERSONAL REACTION TO BABYLON’S FALL

6, 7. How does Isaiah describe the effect of the fall of Babylon upon those adversely affected?

⁶ The fall of the mighty Third World Power in 539 B.C.E. with particular benefit to the small land of Israel was naturally something hard to imagine. It involved a vast change in the course of world history. Individuals adversely affected by the fall of the Empire that had its central location in the “wilderness of the sea” were bound to agonize. The effect upon such ones is pictured in Isaiah’s words telling about the “hard vision,” as follows:

⁷ “That is why my hips have become full of severe pains. Convulsions themselves have grabbed hold of me, like the convulsions of a woman that is giving birth. I have become disconcerted so that I do not hear; I have become disturbed so that I do not see. My heart has wandered about; a shuddering itself has terrified me. The twilight for which I had an attachment has been made for me a trembling.”​—Isa. 21:3, 4.

8. What do Isaiah’s descriptive words illustrate as respects religious leaders in Christendom and pagandom at the fall of the world empire of false religion?

⁸ Those descriptive words having to do with the fall of the treacherous Third World Power illustrate the shock wave that will course through the frame of the world’s religious society when the modern-day counterpart of Babylon falls. This will hurt the religious feelings of the modern antitypical Babylonians far more than the hard-hitting message now delivered by Jehovah’s Witnesses during this “time of the end” since 1914. (Dan. 12:4) Priests and other officers of the religious bodies of Christendom and pagandom will be stunned, dumbfounded as if being unable to see or hear about what is taking place. Their hearts will have no stability, no rest, no ability to rely unwaveringly upon the gods once worshiped. A situation hideous enough to make one shudder terrifies them, particularly because their religious hypocrisy is exposed. The “twilight” such as comes with the promise of ease and relaxation at the close of a day’s work will be a darkening time of tremors for them. The day for them to misguide and oppress people in their religious organizations will end dreadfully. They will convulse like women holding their hips for pain at childbirth.

9. The state setting unveiled to Isaiah suddenly changes in view of what command from Jehovah?

⁹ Suddenly the stage setting unveiled to the prophet Isaiah changes like in a change of acts in a theater. He hears the command from Jehovah: “Let there be a setting of the table in order, an arranging of the location of seats, an eating, a drinking! Get up, you princes, anoint the shield. For this is what Jehovah has said to me.”​—Isa. 21:5, 6.

10. What did the divine command portray, and when did the matter portrayed reach the height of contempt for Jehovah God?

¹⁰ This briefly portrays the scene at the palace in Babylon on the last night of her world domination. Graphically it sets forth the feast of Belshazzar, the son of the absent emperor Nabonidus. Then, indeed, there was an arranging of seats for the thousand grandees of Babylon. There was lighthearted eating and drinking. But this came to be with the height of contempt for Jehovah God, when they started eating and drinking with the use of the tableware that had belonged to his temple until the Babylonians took possession of Jerusalem and destroyed its temple.

11. What did Jehovah now miraculously do at this impious feast of Belshazzar, and how did Daniel serve as the interpreter for the occasion?

¹¹ Belshazzar’s feast now becomes impious, for it brought Jehovah into the situation. He miraculously sent a hand to write upon the wall of the banquet hall, where the king could see it, the words: “Mene, mene, tekel and parsin.” To decipher those code words the exiled Jewish prophet Daniel had to be brought in. The final word of the handwriting, parsin, is the plural number of the Chaldaic word peres and means “divisions.” So, in his inspired interpretation, Daniel said: “PERES, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.”​—Dan. 5:28.

12. What was the “shield” that was to be anointed by the princes, and what did the command to anoint such a “shield” indicate?

¹² In reward Daniel was favored with royal apparel and was made “the third ruler” in the empire. But this was not the fulfillment of Jehovah’s command meant for the nobility of Babylon: “Get up, you princes, anoint the shield.” (Isa. 21:5) Neither was it a command for the princes to grease their military shields for doing battle with the besiegers of Babylon. Rather, the expression “the shield” applied to the royal head of the nation. (Compare Psalm 89:18.) What, then, does the command to “anoint the shield” mean? This: that King Belshazzar was about to be killed, this creating the need for another to assume the position of ‘second ruler’ in the Babylonian Empire. But this induction of a new symbolic “shield” by an anointing never did take place. Belshazzar’s violent death did not actually make room for a successor from the royal family.

13. So had the command given in Isaiah 21:2 been given in vain, and did Daniel’s newly bestowed position carry over into the new regime?

¹³ Daniel 5:30, 31 says: “In that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed and Darius the Mede himself received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” What a lightning change in world politics that was! Not in vain had Jehovah given his command: “Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media!” (Isa. 21:2) At Babylon’s fall to the Medes and the Persians, Darius the Mede took the place of a ‘second ruler’ in Babylon. Daniel’s newly bestowed position of the “third ruler” in Babylonia did not carry over into the Medo-Persian regime. Yet Daniel was not killed with Belshazzar.

14. What does ancient Babylon’s downfall presage, and how will those involved in that be affected?

¹⁴ Ancient Babylon’s surprising downfall presages the sudden downfall of her present-day counterpart, Babylon the Great. This will catch worldly religionists off guard. So if believers in the invincibility of the world empire of false religion do not expect its fall soon, their complacency is due to be rudely shocked!

WHAT THE WATCHMAN HAS TO REPORT

15. The command given after the prophetic description of Belshazzar’s feast indicates what concerning ancient Babylon and her counterpart?

¹⁵ Why, though, does Isaiah give us that advance look into Belshazzar’s feast on that painful night of 539 B.C.E.? It was because of what was to follow, namely, the reporting of that outstanding event of the century to Jehovah’s covenant people, who would rejoice over the fall of “the treacherous dealer.” Isaiah 21:5, 6 shows what would follow upon the heels of Babylon’s fall, saying: “Get up, you princes, anoint the shield. For this is what Jehovah has said to me: ‘Go, post a lookout that he may tell just what he sees.’” Aha, there was to be world publicity on the event! So, too, the fall of Babylon the Great must make the news headlines!

16. What can be said about the “lookout” posted in the case of ancient Babylon and the one posted in the case of Babylon the Great?

¹⁶ Isaiah was the one told to post the “lookout” to report on what he was due to see. Isaiah did not live on to be an eyewitness of what he foretold and of which he gave us a written account. So someone else from Isaiah’s own people would have to serve as the posted lookout. In the then far-off days of the impending fall of Babylon the Great a similar lookout has been posted. It proves to be the class anointed with Jehovah’s spirit, a class appropriately associated with the magazine that still bears the name Watchtower. The evidence is at hand to show that by means of Jesus Christ Jehovah God has appointed that “lookout” class. It has served in this capacity down to this portentous hour of the “night” that is casting its gloom over the whole world. (Matt. 24:45-47) What, now, may we expect this “lookout” to tell us at the due time?

17. What did the posted “lookout” see, and what did this represent?

¹⁷ Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the “lookout” goes on to say: “And he saw a war chariot with a span of steeds, a war chariot of asses, a war chariot of camels. And he paid strict attention, with much attentiveness.” (Isa. 21:7) Those chariots are evidently approaching with the speed of fast Persian post horses or steeds and are coming from “the [conquered] wilderness of the sea.” There are likely columns of war chariots. The column of chariots drawn by asses represents the Median forces under Darius the Mede. The column of chariots drawn by the larger animals, camels able to outrun horses, represents the Persian forces under Cyrus the Great.b This Persian was in fact in command of the combined forces of the Medes and the Persians. Not Darius the Mede, but Cyrus the Persian was the conqueror of whom Jehovah by means of Isaiah said that He would call him by his personal name. Before this Cyrus, Jehovah God would open the metallic gates and doors of Babylon for him to ascend up from the bed of the Euphrates River and break into the heavily walled city of Babylon.​—Isa. 44:27 through 45:4; compare Daniel 8:1-4, 20.

18. According to Isaiah 21:8, 9, what kind of watchman would the posted “lookout” be, and has it been so?

¹⁸ How faithful and dependable would the posted lookout be as a watchman? Isaiah 21:8, 9 indicates by saying: “And he proceeded to call out like a lion: ‘Upon the watchtower, O Jehovah, I am standing constantly by day, and at my guardpost I am stationed all the nights. And here, now, there is coming a war chariot of men, with a span of steeds!’” Wide awake, he stuck to his post until his piercing eyes saw the meaningful sight for which he had been tirelessly watching. Likewise the “watchman” class of today has roared forth loudly and fearlessly in discharge of its God-given mission by means of the Watchtower magazines and other theocratic publications and public lectures. By Jehovah’s unfailing power it will keep on doing so until it can make the long-desired announcement.

19. What shows whether the watchman grasped correctly the meaning of the approaching war chariots?

¹⁹ The watchman grasped the import of the war chariots that he saw coming within eyeshot of the watchtower on which he stood. According to the time set by Jehovah​—70 years of desolation for the land of Judah—​and according to the prophecies given by the exiled Daniel before Belshazzar’s impious feast in 539 B.C.E., the watchman could interpret correctly what the unhindered oncoming of the non-Babylonian chariots meant. “And,” says Isaiah 21:9b, “he began to speak up and say: ‘She has fallen! Babylon has fallen, and all the graven images of her gods he has broken to the earth!’”

20. Why was it not the exiled Jews in Babylon that broke down the graven images of her gods, and who was the image breaker?

²⁰ The image breaker here spoken of is Jehovah, the one living and true God, the jealous God or “God exacting exclusive devotion.” (Ex. 20:5) By letting the Medes and the Persians who did not worship the gods of Babylon conquer her, Jehovah showed up the falsity of the idolatrous gods of the Third World Power, their nonexistence. It was not the exiled Jews in Babylon who rose up in some revolt and overthrew the Third World Power; Jehovah their God did not authorize or command them to do so. Instead, he used Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian to bring about the downfall of idolatrous Babylon as a world power. (Dan. 2:32, 36-38) So it was not the “watchman” that caused the fall of “the treacherous dealer,” Babylon. He merely bore witness to its downfall, to the vindication of Jehovah as the God of prophecy and as Sovereign Lord.

21. What announcement similar to that which the “watchman” of Isaiah’s prophecy called out is yet due to be made?

²¹ A universally important announcement like that of the “watchman” of Isaiah’s prophecy was foretold as due to be made in our own time. The Christian apostle John, who lived till the end of the first century, had a vision of the one making the announcement and wrote: “I saw another angel descending from heaven, with great authority; and the earth was lighted up from his glory. And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: ‘She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, and she has become a dwelling place of demons and a lurking place of every unclean exhalation and a lurking place of every unclean and hated bird!’”​—Rev. 18:1, 2.

22. Who is it that reduces Babylon the Great to a desolate ruin, and what agency will he use to that end?

²² The Greater Cyrus, the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, is the One who causes the coming literal fall of Babylon the Great, thus to become a desolate avoided place. Today the Christian witnesses of Jehovah could do all the preaching that they wanted to do throughout the world concerning Jehovah’s kingdom and the day of his vengeance, but this would never bring on the crash of the world empire of false religion. They eagerly await the time when they can take up the announcement that Babylon the Great has fallen. (Rev. 18:2) Since the Greater Cyrus does not use his peaceable disciples on earth to overthrow Babylon the Great, chapter 17 of Revelation shows that he will use a beastlike agency; it is depicted as a scarlet-colored, 10-horned wild beast. Its seven heads picture the seven world powers of Bible history. Upon this 20th-century symbolic beast that international harlot, Babylon the Great, mounted herself at the formation of the League of Nations after World War I.

23. Against whom will the former backers of the symbolic beast then turn full force, and what will the Greater Cyrus do?

²³ Till now Babylon the Great has ridden upon the League’s successor, the United Nations. But, shortly now, the political backers of the United Nations will tire of being dominated by the world empire of false religion and will dump her off and destroy her. Then, after the “watchman” calls out, “Babylon the Great has fallen,” they will turn, full force, against the surviving Christian witnesses of Jehovah. Here the Greater Cyrus, Jesus Christ, the “King of kings,” will step in and destroy the former backers of the U.N. in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon. Jehovah’s anointed “watchman” class and the “great crowd” that has responded to the information shouted out by that composite “watchman” will survive that final war under divine protection, for the vindication of Jehovah God as Sovereign of all heaven and earth.

24. How was ancient Israel a “son” of Jehovah’s threshing floor, and today whose threshing of a similar kind will shortly be brought to its end, and how?

²⁴ The Jews exiled in ancient Babylon for 70 years were thus disciplined as if by a “threshing.” Symbolically speaking, they made up the “son” of Jehovah’s threshing floor. After Babylon’s fall that disciplinary “threshing” was to come to an end. Referring to this, Isaiah 21:10 sympathetically and comfortingly says: “O my threshed ones and the son of my threshing floor, what I have heard from Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you people.” Similarly, Babylon the Great has been allowed to administer a threshing to Jehovah’s faithful witnesses. But after her fall into destruction all “threshing” by her will cease. Her former political paramours will try to prolong the threshing. As a retribution they themselves will be threshed to destruction in Jehovah’s symbolic threshing floor.​—Rev. 14:14, 15; Joel 3:13-16; Mic. 4:12, 13.

25. In view of the impending fall of Babylon the Great, why more than ever before is it the time for Jehovah’s “people” to sound out his command, with what end in view?

²⁵ In view of the impending fall of Babylon the Great, now more than ever before it is the time for the “watchman” class and the “great crowd” to sound out the divine command: “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4) Yes, “get out of her,” not to join her political paramours or the faithless anti-God forces of this world, but to become part of “my people,” Jehovah’s dedicated people. (Jer. 51:45) Act now upon Isaiah’s “pronouncement against the wilderness of the sea.”​—Isa. 21:1-10.

26. For what do we owe thanks to “Jehovah of armies,” and what blessed hope do those heeding it have?

²⁶ All thanks, then, to “Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel,” for raising up and posting a “watchman” class and for giving it such a marvelous report to sound out far and wide! All those heeding the God-given report have the blessed hope of surviving the horrifying “night” upon this world and of welcoming the glorious “morning” of the righteous new system of things under the reign of the Greater Cyrus, Jesus Christ the Liberator. This will be to the pleasing and praise of “Jehovah of armies,” our Sovereign Lord.

[Footnotes]

The French translation of the Holy Bible the Drioux Bible, edition of 1884, comments on Isaiah 21:7 as follows: “These two horsemen carried on a chariot, are the two kings who had to take Babylon, Darius the Mede and Cyrus. As Menochius [an Italian Jesuit Bible commentator of the 17th century] explains it very well, their mounting represents the Medes and the Persians.”

See similar comments on Isaiah 21:7 made in Dr. Adam Clarke’s Commentary on The Old Testament, Volume 4, page 2724.

On Cyrus’ war strategy in using camels, see Chapter 20 entitled “The Greeks and the Persians,” of the book “The Outline of History” by H. G. Wells, page 257, paragraphs 2, 3, 1971 edition.

[Picture on page 13]

Belshazzar’s impious feast led to Jehovah’s judgment of destruction on Babylon

[Picture on page 16]

In retribution for their “threshing” of Jehovah’s Witnesses, first the world empire of false religion, then her political paramours, will themselves be “threshed” to destruction

Insight on the News

Religious Freedom in China?

● In recent months it has been suggested that China is becoming more tolerant of religious freedom. But an article in Peking’s “People’s Daily” has declared that all worship of supernatural forces is superstition.

“Liberty” magazine reported that recently published guidelines for reopening any place of worship in China include the following: (1) Do not propagate religion to anyone under 18 years of age; (2) do not propagate religion to any government cadres; (3) religious activities are to be carried out only in places approved for such meetings; (4) do not propagate any religion outside the churches or temples; (5) do not have any contact with religious organizations outside China; (6) do not accept any financial help from foreign organizations; (7) all speeches and religious educational materials must first be approved by the Religious Affairs Bureau; (8) no religious meetings should be held in homes.

Teach Children to Work

● Professor Alice Rossi sociologist at the University of Massachusetts urges parents to put children back to work in the home. She said: “To feel needed and useful is as important as to feel loved. Yet our child-rearing ideas have stressed only love and the child’s need to play, neglecting the work children can do as readily and probably more safely in an urban apartment than a rural farmhouse.” That work can include helping to cook and set the tables, doing dishes, cleaning, taking out the garbage and doing many other things.

Dr. Rossi noted that work may interfere with a child’s television viewing and talking on the telephone, but assured that this would be in the child’s best interests. Certainly work and discipline help build character and prepare children for the realities of life. This agrees with the Bible proverb that says: “Train up a boy according to the way for him; even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it.”​—Prov. 22:6.

Failure of “New Morality”

● Some people in modern times have felt that mankind would be much happier being liberated from prudish notions about sexual morality, such as the Bible’s commands against fornication and adultery. (1 Cor. 6:9, 10) However, after years of observing the results of this kind of “liberation,” disenchantment has set in with many thinking people.

For example, in the “Express” of Easton, Pennsylvania, columnist Joseph Sobran states: “Like most revolutions and utopias, the sexual one went awry. . . . my strong impression is that the new morality hasn’t increased the sum total of human bliss. The rates of divorce, abortion and venereal disease are up, up, up, and the pornography trade . . . seems to me to testify not to more romance but to more intense loneliness, of a somewhat morbid and sordid kind. It’s time to insist that the promises of the sexual utopians have been as false as those of the social utopians, and as disastrous.”

Damaging Lotteries

● An article by D. McCormack Smyth in the Toronto “Star” called attention to the damaging character of gambling by means of lotteries. It said: “Through their promotion of lotteries governments are appealing to one of the lowest human qualities​—greed. They are contributing to the corruption, not improvement, of human life,” and they “create an atmosphere attractive to organized crime.”

Mr. Smyth also stated: “Lotteries foster disrespect for a social concept which is central in a free society: Individuals must not seek consciously to profit from the misfortunes of others. . . . Lotteries are damaging to the incentive to work and productivity.” That observation is similar to the Bible’s view of work when it states: “Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him do hard work, doing with his hands what is good work, that he may have something to distribute to someone in need.”​—Eph. 4:28.

The article concludes: “We must recognize lotteries for what they are​—anti-human and anti-social.”

“Rejoicing in the Harvesttime” in the Philippines

SUN-KISSED beaches, warm tropical seas, jungle-clad mountains, fertile plains​—yes, this is the Philippines! Here is a country made up of thousands of islands, some stunningly beautiful, scattered in the seas off the coastlines of Southeast Asia. But the Philippines is not only scenery; it is also people​—47,000,000 of them.

The life-styles of these people vary greatly​—from the primitive but contented Tasaday tribe in the southern rain forests to the modern business tycoons in the cosmopolitan city of Manila. But, for the most part, Filipinos are an agricultural people. Many live in distinctive houses built on stilts and rely on the produce of the land for their livelihood. For such a people, the harvest is a busy, happy time. It is a delight to bring the fruitage of their hard work in from the fields. And in a fertile land like this, with proper irrigation, joyful harvesttime can come three times a year.​—Isa. 9:3.

In the past 50 years, however, another harvest has been reaped in the Philippines. This has been an abundant harvest, or ingathering, of people who have chosen to pursue the true worship of Jehovah God and who have put their trust in his kingdom.

PLANTING THE TRUTH

The first seeds of truth that produced this harvest drifted into the Philippines much like seeds being carried by the wind. Charles Taze Russell, the first president of the Watch Tower Society, started the preaching of true religion here when he visited the capital city of Manila in 1912. In the early 1920’s, a certain H. Tinney from Canada did missionary work here for a year. He left behind a functioning Bible study class. American servicemen or their wives spread more seeds of truth during succeeding years, and an American of Portuguese descent, Joseph Dos Santos, came to preach in Manila in the course of a round-the-world trip.

As a result of these different sproutings, in 1934 a branch office of the Watch Tower Society was established in Manila. The second world war severely disrupted the country, but it did not slow down the spiritual harvest work. Despite persecution from both the Japanese invaders and the local Filipino resistance fighters, the number of proclaimers of the “good news” grew from 373 in 1941 to over 2,000 in 1945. At present, there are more than 60,000 Kingdom proclaimers spreading the “good news” among the Filipinos.

TRIBESMEN EMBRACE THE TRUTH

This work has now reached the most remote parts of the islands. To reach the more isolated communities in those regions, Jehovah’s Witnesses often have to walk for days, constantly climbing up and down mountains. But their efforts have borne fruit, for members of even the more primitive tribes now are numbered among worshipers of Jehovah. In northern Luzon, it is the custom of certain tribes to tattoo a young woman when she reaches marriageable age. So in that area it is not unusual to meet women who now are Jehovah’s Witnesses but whose tattoo-covered arms show that they were brought up according to other views.

One young member of the Subanon tribe, from the fertile regions of southern Philippines, overcame a big obstacle when he embraced true Christianity. At the tender age of nine he had the sad experience of seeing his two sisters kidnapped by rebels and carried off to the mountains. He swore revenge and enlisted in the army as soon as he was old enough. His parents, who then were studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, tried to dissuade him, saying that only God’s kingdom would correct the injustices of this world. But his thirst for revenge was too strong and he would not abandon his plan. Soon he found himself in combat, facing a band of rebels just like the one that had kidnapped his sisters years earlier. At last, the chance for revenge! But, to his surprise, he could not shoot at the rebels. The things his parents had told him about pure Christianity were too strong in his heart, and he purposely fired his gun in the air. As soon as possible, he resigned as a military man and began sharing in the work of “publishing peace” to his neighbors.​—Isa. 52:7.

Another young man, the son of a datu, or tribal leader, also became a Witness. When he was nine years old, he had run away from a cruel stepfather (who had 10 wives) and was finally taken in by a major of the Philippine Constabulary. While at school, the youngster had the opportunity to study magic with someone who had learned the art in India. He became very adept at practicing magical arts. Later, he entered the army, all the while becoming more famous as a magician. After the second world war, he married a Catholic girl and became involved in that religion, while still carrying on his magic practices. Finally, he studied with Jehovah’s Witnesses. After reading God’s condemnation of all uncanny practices, he abandoned his magical arts to engage in the clean and undefiled worship of Jehovah.​—Deut. 18:10-12.

AMONG THE REBELS

In common with many lands today, the Philippines has its share of activist rebels. Also, in isolated regions bandits make life difficult for the people. For the most part, these activities are being kept under control by the government. Nevertheless, in jungles and remote areas where hiding places are plentiful, it is difficult to eliminate them entirely.

Some religions have made a bad name for themselves by actively supporting the rebel movements in the name of “social justice.” Jehovah’s Witnesses, however, have maintained a neutral stand and this has resulted in a fine witness. (John 15:19) Some rebels have even ceased fighting and have placed their trust in Jehovah’s kingdom, the only solution to mankind’s difficult social problems.

One young woman from Mindanao, the second-largest island in the Philippine archipelago, was raised a Catholic. She entered a seminary as an “aspirant” but soon experienced disillusionment and became a teacher. Eventually she went to Manila to study for a degree. After she heard a Jesuit chaplain incorrectly say that the apostles and early Christians were the first to practice communism, she became very involved in Communist organizations and joined student demonstrations, often marching side by side with nuns and priests.

Back home, she started teaching her pupils her new ideas. This led to conflict with her superiors and a short jail sentence. Upon release from prison, she was forced to resign from her teaching post. Hence, she went into the hills and lived with a group of rebels for seven months. Betrayed and captured, she was detained for 10 months, which time gave her the opportunity to examine the Roman Catholic Church more closely. Her conclusion: this is an apostate religion.

Finally, this young woman came into possession of the tract Has Religion Betrayed God and Man? published by Jehovah’s Witnesses. The message had a ring of truth, especially in the light of all her experiences. So she contacted the Witnesses, asked many questions, and was given satisfactory answers. Finally, in 1974 she abandoned her Communistic convictions and was immersed as a witness of Jehovah. Later, she had the opportunity to preach to some of her former “comrades”​—much to their astonishment.

In another case, a young man on Mindanao was raised in a Protestant family. Disillusioned with religion, he joined a group of guerrillas who claimed to be bullet-proof if they recited certain Latin prayers. In time, the government negotiated with their leader and they were used to fight certain rebels. Hence, the young man drifted away and joined a group of “regular” bandits. They had no political convictions, but made a living preying on innocent people. Their specialty was ambushing and robbing bus passengers.

On one occasion, this young man went home to his father with a large sum of money. But his father refused the money and started preaching to him. Yes, the father now was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He gave his son the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, and the young man took it back to the gang’s hideout. Although the leader showed much interest, he was unable to give up the easy money that came from banditry. However, the young man realized that here, at last, was the truth. He quit hiding, received a government amnesty and was baptized in 1973. Soon thereafter he became a full-time preacher, or “pioneer.”

ESCAPING FROM DEMON CONTROL

The Philippines is quite well known as the home of so-called faith healers. These claim to perform surgical operations without anesthetics or instruments. The patient feels no pain as the “healer” supposedly reaches right into his body with his bare hands (without cutting the skin) and operates on internal organs. People come from Europe and America to be “operated on” in this way.

One young woman in northern Luzon had an aunt who claimed such powers and felt capable of making injections into the body merely by using her fingers. The young woman was impressed and greatly desired the same powers, feeling that this would make her like the early apostles. She prayed fervently, but did not receive any powers.

Feeling that perhaps faith was lacking, she sought help from one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Witness gave her the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. Unable to understand it, the young woman approached other Witnesses, who studied the Bible with her. She found that her Bible knowledge was increasing. Nevertheless, she so much wanted the gift of healing that she kept associating with her aunt. Also, she was praying to Jehovah to give her this gift.

One night, the whole matter became clear to her. While her aunt was holding a healing session, the young woman went outside to pray to Jehovah. Then from inside the house came a voice saying that there was a powerful force outside preventing their healings. The young woman realized that her aunt was merely calling on spirits to help her and that Jehovah was much stronger than they are. Hence, she completely severed her relations with the “faith healers” and began serving Jehovah, not with the gift of healing but by spreading knowledge about the far more valuable spiritual healing power of God’s word.​—Prov. 4:20-22.

Another woman on Mindanao was very much under the control of the demons. She thought that while asleep at night, she had the power to leave her body and fly through the air as a witch. In these “travels” she felt that she associated with other witches and even ate human flesh.

These dreams appalled her, but she could do nothing to prevent them. She even contemplated suicide. Once, an Adventist recommended that she read the Bible. However, since she did not understand what she read, even this did not help her. Finally, she spoke to one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Witness explained that Jehovah is stronger than any demon. A free home Bible study was started and she was taught to pray to Jehovah for help. What wonderful relief! The demon attacks stopped.

One time, this woman thought that she would put Jehovah to the test. That night she neglected her customary Bible study and did not pray before going to sleep. Sure enough, the vivid, revolting dreams returned. She prayed to Jehovah for forgiveness for putting him to the wrong kind of test. Since then, she has had no doubt about the power of Jehovah God to deliver her from demon harassment.

THE HARVEST IS STILL GOING ON!

Yes, with Jehovah’s rich blessing, much spiritual harvest work has been done in this tropical republic during the past half century. In some locations, a large proportion of the population now are Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Jehovah’s people here are determined to use whatever time God will allow until the “great tribulation” to help others to enjoy the wonderful privilege of serving their Creator. Indeed, God’s servants continue to ‘rejoice in the harvesttime’ in the Philippines.​—Isa. 9:3; Matt. 24:21.

John Wycliffe, Champion of the Bible

IN THE English county of Leicestershire, the river Swift flows quietly through fields and meadows, past the little town of Lutterworth. Finally, this stream joins the river Avon near Rugby in Warwickshire. Today, it is difficult to link the tranquil scene with some of the events of 600 years ago. One happening in particular is so strange that it continues to amaze fair-minded persons to this day.

We may take for granted our freedom to read the Bible, but it was very different in the days of John Wycliffe. By considering some of the events that led up to the shocking action that involved the river Swift, we may come to have greater appreciation for our own freedom to study the Sacred Scriptures.

During the Middle Ages the feudal system obtained in England. Village and even town life was very isolated, with the lord of the manor controlling the people. He exacted a large part of their labor for the very limited freedom to work their own small holdings. The poor hovels of the peasantry contrasted with the large stone houses and castles of the wealthy landowners. Lacking education and thus being subject to great ignorance, the peasants were full of fear and superstition, fostered to a great extent by frequent pestilence and famine that culminated in the Black Death of 1349. The influence of the Church and the monastery also was very oppressive.

With little opportunity for learning, the parish priests were often as ignorant as the peasants. The friars and the monks, on the other hand, controlled the spiritual lives of the people. They went among the people to preach the ‘seven deadly sins’ and to exact from them alms and donations for the enrichment of their monastery, which was exempted from taxes because of being viewed as belonging to the pope. The system of indulgences and the sale of pardons and relics contributed to the excusing of crime and loose living, and to their consequent increase.

Many people tired of their serfdom. Eventually, some lords began to substitute a rent for labor due​—an arrangement that brought greater freedom to the peasant. As his independence grew, the peasant had more opportunities to think and to share in other aspects of social life. All that was needed was an authoritative voice to give expression to his feelings. Such a voice was found in the person of John Wycliffe.

WYCLIFFE TAKES HIS STAND

Born around the years 1328-1330, John Wycliffe was sent to Oxford University, where he rose to become master of Balliol College by 1361 and, some years later, a doctor of theology. His familiarity with English law and canon law was not merely the result of his interest in the subject, but of a deep-rooted desire to see liberties defended and maintained.

From the time of King John a tribute had been paid to the pope in acknowledgment of his supremacy over England. In 1365 a demand was received from Pope Urban V for this money, along with arrears covering more than 30 years. The next year, Parliament decided that King John had acted beyond his right, that the feudal tribute would be resisted, and that, if necessary, the land would be defended against the pope. Seeing the determination manifested in this statement, the pope dropped his demand, but not without the generating of some controversy on the part of his henchmen, the members of the monastic orders in England.

In reply, Wycliffe wrote a tract in which he legally defended the stand Parliament had taken. His argument was couched in the words of various Lords in Council.a One lord argued: “It is the duty of the Pope to be a prominent follower of Christ; but Christ refused to be a possessor of worldly dominion. The Pope, therefore, is bound to make the same refusal. As, therefore, we should hold the Pope to the observance of his holy duty, it follows that it is incumbent upon us to withstand him in his present demand.”​—John Wycliffe and His English Precursors, p. 131.

The tribute was not the only money that the pope endeavored to obtain from England. From time to time a papal nuncio and his servants traveled through the country gathering collections and taking them to Rome. On the occasion of one such visit in 1372, Wycliffe wrote a legal treatise attacking this practice. Thus he also called into question the principle that everything the pope chose to do must be right. Moreover, Wycliffe established himself as a most able defender of the course upon which Parliament had embarked. So it is not surprising that in 1374 Wycliffe was appointed one of the commissioners for the king in negotiations at the papal conference in Bruges, where complaints against the Roman Church were presented. In the same year, Wycliffe was nominated to the rectory of Lutterworth, possibly because of his services to the king.

Despite his good standing in some circles, Wycliffe had many enemies. In 1377 he was summoned before a convocation of bishops in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Matters would probably have gone against him had it not been for the intervention of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and other influential allies. Defeated this time, Wycliffe’s enemies appealed to the papal court. The pope issued five bulls against Wycliffe, condemning his doctrines as heretical and recommending that action be taken against him. Consequently, Wycliffe was brought before another council in Lambeth Palace, London; but this time the king’s mother intervened. To show their support, a band of ordinary citizens forced their way in. Faced with this strong defense, the council hesitated to act as the pope would have wished and merely banned Wycliffe from giving lectures and sermons on the offending teachings.

THE FIRST WYCLIFFE BIBLE

Just how long Wycliffe’s friends could have protected him is uncertain. As it happened, the death of Pope Gregory XI brought about a situation that threw the Church into such a struggle that Wycliffe was all but forgotten in continental Europe. The actions of the new pope, Urban VI, quickly alienated some of the powerful cardinals. To protest that his election was illegal, they withdrew their support. When this failed to move Urban, these cardinals elected their own pope, Clement VII, producing what history has labeled the Great Papal Schism.

As people and nations lined up with one or the other of the popes, Wycliffe became more and more disgusted. He had been prepared to support the pope that proved himself to be genuine in his claims. However, seeing each pope condemning the other and preparing to go to every unchristian length to gain power and position, Wycliffe declared that both popes were false. His eyes were now fully open to the hypocrisy associated with the office to which he had looked as the spiritual authority. To what or to whom could he turn for the true spiritual authority of God and Christ?

All his searchings, meditations, debates and reasonings fell quickly into place. The Bible alone was the sole standard of truth, the source of all true knowledge about spiritual things. Today such an idea does not seem unusual, but at a time when the circulation of the Bible was severely restricted by the Church (with very little of it available in English) it was a novel and surprising suggestion to most people. Wycliffe prepared a treatise entitled “On the Truth of Holy Scripture,” and one of its main points was to draw a clear line between Scripture and tradition.

Soon Wycliffe discerned that the Scriptures ought to be preached to the people, that there should be no difference between a priest and a layman, and that the ordinary peasant should be able to read the Bible for himself. With some of his associates, he set about translating the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English. To use the original languages would then have been unheard of in England. Greek had been neglected for centuries, and Wycliffe had no knowledge of it. Between 1379 and 1382 the work of translation moved ahead with great urgency. At the same time, Wycliffe furthered the teaching and training of itinerant preachers who traveled through the land with the Word of God.

Likely, the Christian Greek Scripture portion of the translation was completed by 1382. Doubtless, translation of the Hebrew Scriptures was then in progress under the supervision of Nicholas of Hereford, a zealous follower of Wycliffe. John Purvey, another helper in the work, was Wycliffe’s secretary for some years. The resulting translation was very literal in its renderings, even to the point of ignoring the idiom of the English language. But it did put the entire Bible within reach of common people for the first time.

THE ISSUE OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION

For many years John Wycliffe had been convinced that the Lord’s Supper was a most important occasion. In 1381 his desire to separate Church teaching and tradition from what is taught in the Holy Scriptures resulted in his attack on the idea of transubstantiation. First propounded in the ninth century, this doctrine held that, upon consecration by the priest, the bread and wine actually changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ. Wycliffe’s argument rested upon the passages in the Gospels and Paul’s writings bearing directly on the issue, and upon many other related texts. For example, when Jesus said, “I am the true vine,” he did not mean that he had become a literal vine, or that a literal vine had been changed into the body of Christ. (John 15:1) Rather, this was an illustration used to teach an important truth. In exposing tradition by means of God’s Word, Wycliffe emphasized that this teaching of transubstantiation was not part of the doctrine of the early church, and that even Jerome held to the Biblical concept.

Of all the outspoken writings and preachings by Wycliffe, this one was perhaps the hardest for the Church to bear. The doctrine of the Mass was a principal means by which the people were held in subjection to the authority of the Church. Even his strong ally, John of Gaunt, went to Oxford seeking to silence Wycliffe on the matter, but without success.

The Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 aroused still more opposition to Wycliffe. Thousands of insurgents under Wat Tyler and other leaders marched on London, burning and killing and finally executing the archbishop of Canterbury before they were defeated.

In part, Wycliffe was blamed for this rebellion, for it was claimed that his teachings had stirred up the people to question the authority of their superiors. Although this claim was without foundation, the event brought to power a new archbishop, William Courtenay. While bishop of London, this man had already acted against Wycliffe. In 1382, as archbishop, Courtenay summoned a council that condemned Wycliffe’s doctrines as heretical and erroneous. Wycliffe was dismissed from the University of Oxford, and a decree was issued setting forth the penalty of excommunication for anyone who preached the condemned doctrines, or even listened to someone who did.

HIS LAST YEARS

That Wycliffe still continued to remain a free man must be attributed to the continuing support of some of his powerful friends, and to the attitude of Parliament, which had not yet proved to be the lackey of the new archbishop. With his activities now centered in Lutterworth, Wycliffe continued to write and to inspire his followers. His attention particularly focused on the actions of the bishop of Norwich, one Henry le Spencer, who had distinguished himself in the Peasants’ Revolt by his courage and leadership in first bringing about the defeat of the rebels in Norfolk.

The proud bishop, with this newly won reputation, decided to take part in the Papal Schism. In 1383 he obtained from Urban VI a bull giving him authority to organize a crusade against Clement VII. He quickly gathered an army by promising absolution and giving Letters of Indulgence to those who would serve under him. Wycliffe had already spoken about the schism in no uncertain terms, and he next wrote a tract called “Against the War of the Clergy.” He likened the schism to two dogs quarreling over a bone. Their entire squabble was contrary to the spirit of Christ, he contended, because it involved worldly power and position. Promising anyone forgiveness of sins through participation in such a war was based on a lie, said Wycliffe. Instead, they would die in unbelief if they fell in a war that was completely unchristian. The crusade proved to be a miserable failure, and the once proud bishop returned to England in disgrace.

Earlier, in 1382, Wycliffe had suffered a stroke that had partially disabled him. Two years later a second stroke left him paralyzed and speechless. He died a few days later, on December 31, 1384, and was buried in the churchyard of Lutterworth, where his remains were left undisturbed for more than 40 years.

Then, in 1428, a strange and shocking incident occurred. The grave of John Wycliffe was broken open in accordance with the decree of the Council of Constance made 14 years earlier. His remains were dug up and burned, and the ashes taken down to the little river Swift a short distance away. There they were scattered upon the waters to drift downstream into the river Avon, then the Severn, and out into the open sea. Nothing symbolic was intended by the perpetrators of this deed. Yet it was so interpreted by those who sought some consolation for the vindictive act. Why did it happen so long after Wycliffe’s death, after he could not personally serve as a thorn in the side of the religious authorities in England? A forthcoming article on his followers, the Lollards, will provide the answer.

[Footnotes]

Have You Tried to Make Amends?

“LOOK! How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the dew of Hermon that is descending upon the mountains of Zion.” (Ps. 133:1, 3) It is indeed a pleasure to see members of a family or of a Christian congregation dwelling together in loving unity, working harmoniously together. But such a condition is not always easy to maintain, human nature being what it is. At times it takes real effort.

To illustrate with a true-life account: Among the musicians regularly playing together in a 10-member orchestra were a witty Scotsman who played the viola and a serious-minded German who played the cello. Their opposite temperaments caused occasional clashes and then gradually a barrier came between the two. Evidently the cellist was causing the violist grievances. For a time the cellist shrugged off the matter, saying to himself, ‘After all, Jesus said that if your brother offends you go to him. And so, if I have offended him let him come to me.’ But then one day the cellist was reading his Bible and came across the words of Jesus: “If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then . . . offer thy gift.”​—Matt. 5:23, 24, Authorized Version.

Those words jolted the cellist. He could no longer leave the burden of reconciliation on his brother, the violist, but he himself felt obligated to take the first step. So at once he went to his offended brother and found him doing what? He was in the midst of writing a letter of complaint to the president of their organization, spelling out his grievances against the cellist! There was a frank discussion and a reconciliation that resulted in lasting good relations. How glad the cellist was that he had come across that scripture that morning and had at once acted upon it!

THE OBLIGATION TO TRY TO MAKE AMENDS

Since all of us are imperfect, differences are bound to arise. Perhaps in your case it is not that you have offended another but that another has offended you. The question is: What will you do about it? Will you try to make amends?

Have you stopped talking to the one who has offended you or are you treating him coolly? Are you lying awake nights thinking about how unkind your neighbor was to you? You may wonder why it is that he does not care to come to you and apologize for the wrong he did to you. If so, you may well be hurting yourself even more than your neighbor has harmed you. It could even be that he is not at all aware that he had so greatly offended you. True, he may have realized that what he said or did was not so kind as it should have been, but may have no idea of the effect he has had on your life.

Why should you let such a strained relation continue, causing you to lose your joy? Remember, for God’s servants ‘the joy of Jehovah is their strength.’ (Neh. 8:10) If you have taken the matter to God in prayer and have tried to forgive and forget but found yourself unable to do so, or there seem to be continuing grounds for grievance, then you must go to your brother and try to make amends. God’s Word says you must take the initiative: “Go to him and show him his fault . . . If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.” (Matt. 18:15-17, An American Translation) While this has pointed application to very serious matters, it also is a general principle that Christians follow in less weighty matters.

AIDS TO TAKING THE STEP

It might be said that basically it is a matter of communication. Communication has broken down between the two of you and the problem is to get it reestablished. Where the breakdown is between two Christians, one or the other should be willing to put forth the effort.

True, for you to take the initiative will not be easy. What will help you to do so? One thing is humility. Why humility? Because more often than not it is pride that keeps us from mending broken communication. It takes humility to go to one who has offended you and try to explain to him wherein he came short, and how you have been injured by him. Many a lovers’ quarrel was never patched up just because the one that was hurt was too proud to say so.

Another thing that will help you is empathy, which has been defined as “entering fully, through imagination, into another’s feelings or motives.” In other words, putting yourself in another’s shoes, as it were. Yes, just imagine yourself in the other’s place. Suppose you had wronged someone but did not fully realize it. Would you not want that one to call it to your attention?

To use an extremely simple illustration: Suppose you had borrowed a sum of money, maybe it was only five dollars, because you happened to have been caught short. But then you forgot all about it and never paid it back. Would you not appreciate the other one’s tactfully mentioning the matter to you? Of course! Jesus said that if we wrong someone we are, in effect, in debt to that one. So if you have been wronged by another, should you not go to him and give him the benefit of the doubt, that he may straighten out matters between you? He probably will be only too glad you did.

Above all, unselfish, principled love will help you to make amends. You do not want to see your brother becoming selfish, careless, going on a way that may well lead to more and more trouble for himself and for others, do you? (Lev. 19:17) Having his best spiritual interests at heart will cause you to go out of your way to help him all you can. As the apostle describes it, unselfish love is long-suffering, does not look for its own interests, does not keep account of the injury, rejoices not in unrighteousness but in the truth. It bears, believes, hopes and endures all things, and besides, it never fails. Such a love will impel you to try to make amends.​—1 Cor. 13:4-8.

HOW TO GO ABOUT IT

Just how successful your efforts will be may well depend upon how you go about it. It is very important to go in the spirit of love, not to prove him wrong and yourself right, but to effect a reconciliation; as the scripture puts it, so that you might ‘win’ him back. Be sure to be calm, self-controlled. And wait until a time when you are not charged with emotion. If you are, you can blame only yourself if you get a negative, emotionally charged response. Yes, there is the need for controlling one’s emotions, for being calm.

And there is also the need to exercise tact. Take a lesson from the prophet Nathan, who approached King David in a tactful way to tell him how Jehovah God felt about his sin with Bath-sheba. He began by using an illustration that David could view objectively. Had Nathan at once blurted out how reprehensible David’s sin was in God’s eyes, he may well have gotten a self-justifying response, or might have been told to mind his business or even have been threatened with harm!​—2 Sam. 12:1-15.

You can learn also from Queen Esther. She prepared well before making her weighty petition to her husband, King Ahasuerus. (Esther 5:3-8; 7:1-10) True, your situation is nothing like hers; your life and the life of all your people are not at stake. But the underlying principle is the same, namely, if you are greatly concerned about the outcome, and you should be, then make sure that you present your case in the most favorable manner.

To illustrate with another true story: There was an orchestra conductor who had a very talented and extremely loyal pianist, but unfortunately she was very sensitive and had quite a temper. When criticized she was prone to “explode.” So whenever he had something to suggest in the way of constructive criticism, he would first casually discuss various things of mutual interest, and then, when both seemed to be in a friendly and calm mood, he would tactfully and kindly bring up the matter that needed to be called to her attention.

But suppose your brother does not listen. Then what? Then you would have to decide to what extent principle enters into the matter and to what extent you could let ‘love cover a multitude of sins.’ If it is indeed a serious matter, you would need to follow through in line with Jesus’ further instructions to take with you two witnesses. But more often than not, such should not be necessary.​—Matt. 18:16; 1 Pet. 4:8.

Of course, all of this applies with equal force if the shoe is on the other foot, if you have reason to believe that you have offended another, as in the case of the cellist offending the violist. In fact, if this were the case the foregoing counsel would apply with even more force. Suppose someone had wronged you. Would you not feel relieved if he came to you, thus obviating the need of your going to him to get the matter straightened out?

In particular will a sensitive conscience help you in such an instance. That means having a keen sense of right and wrong and a desire to do what is right. When we have wronged another we are in debt to him and we should want to be honest in paying our debts by straightening out matters between us.​—Matt. 6:12.

But it may be that your efforts will fail. “A reluctant brother is more unyielding than a fortress,” the proverb says. (Prov. 18:19, The New English Bible) It may be that since he has misjudged your motives there will simply be nothing that you can do to help him to come around. If so, then it will depend upon the seriousness of the matter whether you will want to pursue the matter further, say with the help of an elder in the Christian congregation.

We should indeed seek to make amends if there is some ill-will between us and a fellow Christian. After all, do not Christians have enough to contend with trying to cope with the wicked world, with the designs of the Devil and with their own inherited weaknesses without contending with one another? When there are grievances, and prayer and efforts to forgive and forget fail to ameliorate the situation then we simply must do something about it. If you have offended another, apply Matthew 5:23, 24. If another has offended you, and it is a serious offense, apply Matthew 18:15-17. Doing so, you will be doing your share to promote the pleasantness of seeing brothers dwell in love, peace and unity. You will also be proving that you are one of Christ’s disciples.​—John 13:34, 35.

Questions From Readers

● Why does the November 15, 1979, issue of The Watchtower (pages 26, 27) speak of the “new covenant” being near the end of its operation, when Hebrews 13:20 speaks of this covenant as being “an everlasting covenant”?

The Watchtower stated: “Evidently the new covenant is nearing the end of its operation for the purpose of producing 144,000 spiritual Israelites who meet God’s approval for being associated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly kingdom, the ideal government for mankind. When the last of these approved spiritual Israelites cease to be ‘men’ because of earthly death and a resurrection to a share in the heavenly kingdom, then the mediatorship of Jesus Christ will cease also.“

Note that The Watchtower did not say that the benefits of this new covenant would cease. Those who live on earth will benefit in an everlasting way from the fact that this new covenant fulfilled its purpose in producing 144,000 spiritual sons of God who will reign as joint heirs with Christ in the heavens. To illustrate: A man may contract with another to build him a house. The house is built according to specifications, payment is made and the contract is fulfilled, but the benefits of the contract continue into the indefinite future by reason of the use of the house.

At Hebrews 13:20 the apostle Paul speaks of Jehovah resurrecting “the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an everlasting covenant [Greek, di·a·theʹke ai·oʹni·os], our Lord Jesus.” The Emphatic Diaglott translates this as “the Blood of an aionian Covenant” (interlinear: “age-lasting”). This same Greek expression was used by the translators of the Septuagint Version in translating the Hebrew words berithʹ ʽoh·lamʹ at Exodus 31:16, with reference to the Sabbath law (part of the Law covenant) that came to an end, although many translations speak of this also as an “everlasting covenant.” (Ex. 31:17, LXX; Col. 2:13-16) Similarly, the covenant with Aaron and his sons for an “everlasting [Hebrew, ʽoh·lamʹ; Greek, ai·o·niʹa] priesthood” (American Standard Version) was only “to time indefinite” (New World Translation).​—Ex. 40:15; Num. 25:13; Heb. 7:11, 12.

The Hebrew word oh·lamʹ and the Greek equivalent ai·oʹni·os can mean forever in the sense that something never comes to an end or they can mean something that lasts into the indefinite future. The Mosaic Law covenant and the covenant for the Levitical priesthood came to an end after unspecified times of existence, having served their purpose, yet with lasting benefits. Likewise, the new covenant will come to its end when all the anointed ones are resurrected to heavenly immortal life.

Similarly, Jehovah stated that his promise to Abraham concerning the ‘seed of blessing’ would be “a covenant to time indefinite” [Hebrew, ʽoh·lamʹ; Greek Septuagint, aiʹoʹni·on]; “an everlasting covenant” (American Standard Version). (Gen. 17:7; 22:18) With the Mosaic Law covenant being terminated by Jehovah when he nailed it to the torture stake, the new covenant took its place as a complement to the Abrahamic covenant. In lasting “to time indefinite,” the covenant with Abraham is fulfilled when the last of those making up the secondary ‘seed of Abraham’ receive their reward in heaven and this “seed”​—Christ and his 144,000 co-rulers—​completes its millennial assignment of providing life-giving benefits and perfect government for mankind.​—Gal. 3:16, 19, 29; Rev. 14:1; 20:6; 1 Cor. 15:24, 28.

What Does It All Mean?

Crime increases. Food prices skyrocket. The energy crisis escalates. Consideration for others declines. Why? What is the meaning of these things?

If you wonder, read The Watchtower and Awake! They not only report current events but explain their meaning in the light of Bible prophecy. You will receive both magazines (four copies a month) for one year by sending only $5 (U.S.) to Watchtower, Wallkill, N.Y. 12589

What Do You See When You Look in the Mirror?

ANCIENT hand mirrors often were made of metal, as was the bronze mirror shown here. Although powdered pumice stone might be used to polish them, these metal mirrors did not have the fine reflecting surfaces of their modern-day glass counterparts. That is why the apostle Paul could write: “At present we see in hazy outline by means of a metal mirror.” (1 Cor. 13:12) Nevertheless, a person could see his face in one of these mirrors and, if not pleased with what he saw, could try to make some improvement in his appearance.

Using the mirror figuratively for God’s word, the disciple James wrote: “Become doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves with false reasoning. For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, this one is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, and off he goes and immediately forgets what sort of man he is. But he who peers into the perfect law that belongs to freedom and who persists in it, this man, because he has become, not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, will be happy in his doing it.”​—Jas. 1:22-25.

The person who persists in God’s law is not just a respectful listener at Christian meetings. He sees where he needs to make spiritual changes and he makes them with Jehovah’s aid. The apostle Paul showed that in their ministry Christians “reflect like mirrors the glory of Jehovah.” (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:1) So, outstandingly, the thoughtful ‘doer of the word’ is also a “doer of the work” of evangelizing, helping others to see their lives in relation to God’s law. Hopefully, this will move them also to become happy disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.​—Matt. 28:19, 20.