The Watchtower — July 15, 1981

Page Two

OUR COVER: Did the Bible foretell today’s rivalry between the major world powers? If it did, has it also foretold the outcome? Since world developments affect your future, we urge you to read pages 3 to 7

Did the Bible Foretell the Present Power Struggle?

POWER POLITICS has been on the world scene for thousands of years. It appeared to fade into the background during the late 1960’s and the 1970’s, when a seeming “new atmosphere” in international relations (called détente) led some to believe that the fundamental conflict between East and West was subsiding. However, recent events have shown that the power struggle is not a thing of the past.

American self-esteem was seriously hurt by the hostage affair in Iran, and this sparked a resurgence of patriotism in the United States. Then came the election of Ronald Reagan as the new U.S. president. One of the main planks of his platform has been the counterbalancing of the Soviet Union’s rapid military buildup. Even before the U.S. presidential elections, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev reacted, stating emphatically: “There is no doubt whatsoever that the United States will never attain military superiority.”

No sooner had Mr. Reagan been elected president than he hit back hard, affirming that détente had been a “one-way street” used by the Soviet Union “to pursue its own aims.” He expressed the opinion that the Soviet leaders are still out for “world revolution” and was reported as saying that “the only morality they recognize is what will further their cause, meaning they reserve unto themselves the right to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat in order to obtain that.” Moscow retorted by calling President Reagan’s attack an “unworthy maneuver.” Reporting on this verbal skirmish, France’s Le Monde said the tone used was that of the “Cold War.”

NO LETUP IN THE ARMS RACE

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, during the late 1970’s the Soviet Union devoted between 11 and 14 percent of its gross national product to military spending, compared with 5 percent in the United States. Thus the U.S.S.R. now has an advantage over the U.S.A. in military equipment. It has more intercontinental ballistic missiles (but not more warheads), submarine-launched ballistic missiles, nuclear and diesel-powered submarines, major surface ships (but not aircraft carriers or helicopter carriers), warplanes and tanks. Additionally, as of December 1980 there were 3,658,000 men and women in the Soviet armed forces, compared with 2,050,000 in the U.S. forces.

Mr. Reagan’s new administration intends to remedy this situation. In his first message to the American military, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger stated that his mission was to “rearm America.” Whereas it has been estimated that the Soviet Union is currently spending $165 billion a year on its armed forces, the United States plans to boost its military budget to $157.9 billion this year, with regular annual increases until it reaches $250 billion in 1984.

In view of Mr. Brezhnev’s statement that “the United States will never attain military superiority,” it seems obvious that the U.S.S.R. will also have to increase its military spending. Moreover, the allies of these two superpowers (such as the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] and of the Warsaw Pact) apparently will be expected to follow suit. Decidedly, then, the arms race is still on​—with a vengeance!

THE MARCH OF WORLD POWERS

Both sides in the current power struggle already possess sufficient arms to destroy the entire human race many times over, including the men and women who are dedicated to the Almighty God, Jehovah. So it is not surprising that God’s Word, the Bible, speaks of the present situation. And better still, it shows us the outcome.

The Bible book of Daniel (chapters 2 and 7) describes a succession of world powers symbolized by the various parts of a huge image, and also by four wild beasts. These represent the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman World Powers, the latter extending on into the Anglo-American World Power.a

In Da chapter 11, the prophecy of Daniel depicts the struggle for world power between two symbolic “kings.” They are “the king of the north” and “the king of the south,” and this duel for world domination culminates at “the time of the end.” (Da 11 Vs. 40) Whom do these “kings” symbolize? What will be the outcome of their rivalry? We will consider these questions in the following article.

[Footnotes]

The Power Struggle​—What Outcome?

“EAST IS EAST, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat.” Recent developments in the power struggle between the Eastern and the Western blocs make those poetic words of Rudyard Kipling sound strangely up-to-date.

Yet, on reflection, when a person speaks of the East-West struggle, the term “East” does not literally mean east any more than “West” designates countries all located to the west of a certain point on the earth. The Communist bloc today includes not only the Soviet Union and the nations of eastern Europe but also some African countries as well as Cuba. None of these can be said to have an easterly location. Similarly, the “Western” bloc takes in such countries as Canada, Denmark (including Greenland), Iceland, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Some of these nations can hardly be said to be located in the west. So why do people speak of “the East-West struggle”? Because originally the “Cold War” was mainly between the two superpowers​—the Soviet Union and the United States—​one of which is largely located east of Europe, and the other to the west. Thus, as things have developed, “East” and “West” have taken on symbolic meanings.

TWO RIVAL “KINGS”

Likewise, in the 11th chapter of Daniel, the Bible conveniently uses the expressions “king of the north” and “king of the south” to designate a succession of rival political powers. Originally these two “kings” were located north and south of the land of Daniel’s people​—actually also of Jehovah God’s ancient people—​in the Middle East.

The prophecy began its fulfillment after the death of Alexander the Great and the dividing up of the Macedonian Empire among his four successors. Two of these, Seleucus I and Ptolemy I, became respectively the first “king of the north” and “king of the south.” One of these men founded the northern Seleucid Empire and the other became the first of the Ptolemaic Pharaohs of Egypt, to the south. For centuries, the land of those then Jehovah’s people was a bone of contention between these two powers, as they fought for domination.

Naturally, with the passing of time, the powers symbolized by the “king of the north” and the “king of the south” continually changed. But the conflict for domination went on, down through the centuries. This prophecy also foretold that the struggle between the “two kings” would continue right up until “the time of the end.” (Dan. 11:27, 35, 40)a Today we see the struggle for world power going on as never before between the Communist and the non-Communist worlds. Is it possible to identify these two rival blocs with the “two kings”? Let us see.

“THE GOD OF FORTRESSES”

Immediately after having spoken of the “time of the end,” the prophecy of Daniel continues:

“And the king [of the north] will actually do according to his own will, and he will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god; and against the God of gods he will speak marvelous things. . . . And to the god of his fathers he will give no consideration . . . But to the god of fortresses, in his position he will give glory; and to a god that his fathers did not know he will give glory by means of gold and by means of silver.”​—Dan. 11:36-38.

Which of the two superpowers has unabashedly spoken out against “the God of gods,” Jehovah, calling religion “the opium of the people”? Which of them has for years organized its entire economy to give priority to producing guns rather than butter; tanks and warplanes instead of food, clothing and consumer goods, thus giving glory “to the god of fortresses”? Which “king” has worshiped “a god that his fathers did not know”​—scientific militarism—​honoring it “by means of gold and by means of silver,” not hesitating to devote a large percentage of the gross national product to military technology and the armed forces? There can be no doubt that the modern-day “king of the north” is the Communist bloc, headed by the Soviet Union.

As far back as 1977, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency admitted that the Soviet army is “the most powerful in the world, with great firepower and mobility.” This preparedness is backed up by military indoctrination in the schools. All 18-year-old males are conscripted for military service, spending two years in the army or the air force, or three years in the navy. They then remain reservists until 50 years of age, which means that at the present time tens of millions of Soviet citizens have received military training and could be mobilized quickly.

“PUSHING” BY THE “KING OF THE SOUTH”

Since the modern “king of the north” is the Communist bloc, led by the Soviet Union, the “king of the south” can be none other than the rival non-Communist bloc, under the leadership of the United States. Concerning these “kings,” the prophecy of Daniel goes on to say: “And in the time of the end the king of the south will engage with him [the king of the north] in a pushing.”​—Dan. 11:40.

The postwar “pushing” by the “king of the south” had a relatively mild start, in 1947, with the “Truman Doctrine” of “containment.” This was followed up, in 1949, by the creation of NATO and, later, other regional mutual defense organizations. The “pushing” became tougher at the time of the second Vietnam war. But this conflict and its negative outcome for the West seemed to back up the case of the “doves”​—those in the U.S. and among its allies who favor a conciliatory attitude toward the Soviet bloc.

However, recent political events seem to indicate that the “doves” are at present being outflown by the “hawks”​—those who favor a tougher attitude toward the Communist bloc. The “pushing” by the “king of the south” against the “king of the north” seems to be intensifying. Interestingly, Anglo-American solidarity in this “pushing” was confirmed by the following news report: “Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who shares Mr. Reagan’s distrust of the Kremlin, was the only NATO alliance leader to underwrite his position publicly. She said Thursday night [January 29, 1981] that there was no sign of Soviet interest in genuine detente.” (International Herald Tribune, January 31, 1981) Just how far the “king of the south” will go in his “pushing” is something that will be interesting to watch in the days ahead.

Not unnaturally, the “king of the north,” now represented by the Communist bloc, reacts to this “pushing.” This also was foretold in the prophecy of Daniel, chapter 11. Let us read on:

“And against him [the king of the south] the king of the north will storm with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships; and he will certainly enter into the lands and flood over and pass through. . . . And he will keep thrusting out his hand against the lands; . . . And he will actually rule over the hidden treasures of the gold and the silver.”​—Dan. 11:40-43.

HOW THE “KING OF THE NORTH” REACTS

Soviet reactions to the tough line recently adopted by the “king of the south” show that the “king of the north” does not intend to be ridden over roughshod. Since World War II, the Soviet Union has been “thrusting out his hand” to grab control over various “lands” and “hidden treasures,” including oil.

The challenge to the West has also been ideological, since many Third World post-colonial governments have adopted Marxist policies. Such developments have facilitated the penetration of Soviet influence into Asia, the Middle East, Africa and even the Americas. Additionally, the “king of the north” has had notable success in supporting Communist-led insurrections, enabling him to “enter into the lands” affected thereby with his ideology and military and technical aid.

With over four million persons under arms in the U.S.S.R. and eastern Europe, as well as 50,000 tanks, 5,775 warplanes, 289 major combat surface ships and at least 257 submarines, the “king of the north” certainly has the wherewithal to “storm with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships . . . and flood over and pass through.”

According to reports, Soviet troops already are present in Afghanistan, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Vietnam, Syria and South Yemen, not to speak of military advisers in many other lands. Soviet warships are plying all the strategic oceans and seas, including the Mediterranean. The extent to which the Communist “king of the north” will unleash these forces and “enter” other “lands” is something the future alone will tell.

BOTH “KINGS” COME TO THEIR END

Whatever the extent of the “pushing” by the “king of the south” may be, and whether the “king of the north” literally ‘floods over’ by invading other lands or not, one thing is certain: According to Daniel’s prophecy, neither “king” will achieve a decisive victory over the other. Concerning the “king of the north,” the prophecy states: “He will have to come all the way to his end, and there will be no helper for him.” (Dan. 11:45) Moreover, a parallel prophecy says of the Anglo-American World Power, also pictured by the “king of the south,” that “it will be without hand that he will be broken.”​—Dan. 8:25.

How will these “kings” come to their end “without hand” and with “no helper”? Their end will not come about by human means. Daniel’s prophecy continues: “And during that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of the sons of your [Daniel’s and therefore Jehovah’s] people. And there will certainly occur a time of distress such as has not been made to occur since there came to be a nation until that time.” (Dan. 12:1) Michael is none other than Jehovah’s appointed King Jesus Christ. (Compare Revelation 12:7-10.) The “time of distress” is the “great tribulation” mentioned in Jesus’ own prophecy about the “conclusion of the system of things” and his “presence” in his kingdom.​—Matt. 24:3, 21; Luke chap. 21.

The present-day fulfillment of these prophecies shows that we are now living at the “time of the end.” Soon Christ will bring to an end the Communist “king of the north” and the non-Communist “king of the south.” Indeed, the enthroned King Jesus Christ will “strike” them and all other political nations with a “sharp long sword,” and “he will shepherd them with a rod of iron.” (Rev. 19:11-21) Yet another dramatic prophecy in the book of Daniel will thus complete its fulfillment, for we read: “And in the days of those kings [political powers] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”​—Dan. 2:34, 35, 44.

That kingdom will usher in lasting peace on earth in a righteous new order. (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1-5) In it there will be no more oppressive political “kings.” This is the very “kingdom” for which you have prayed if you have been saying the “Lord’s Prayer.” (Matt. 6:9, 10) It is mankind’s only hope. Jehovah’s Witnesses will be happy to help you to make this hope your own.

[Footnotes]

God’s Word Is Alive

Was Jonah Really in Hell?

YOU are looking at an artist’s conception of what the Bible writer Jonah calls “hell.” Jonah, who is seen here, wrote: “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell [margin, “the grave”] cried I, and thou heardest my voice.”​—Jonah 2:2, Authorized Version.

Where was Jonah? How did he come to be in this place? Was he able to get out?

God had told his prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim that the city was to be destroyed because of its badness. But instead of obeying, Jonah went down to Joppa. As you can see, he pays his fare and boards a ship heading in the opposite direction.​—Jonah 1:2, 3.

God is not pleased with Jonah for running away. So He causes a great storm, and it looks as though the ship will sink. Finally, Jonah tells the sailors that it is because of him that the storm is raging. So, at Jonah’s instructions, they throw him overboard. Right away the storm stops, and the sea is calm again. (Jonah 1:4-16) As Jonah sinks down into the sea, a big fish swallows him. Regarding his experience inside the fish, Jonah reported: “I cried . . . unto the LORD . . . out of the belly of hell.”

What did Jonah mean by “out of the belly of hell”? Well, that fish’s belly was surely not a place of fiery torment. But it could have become Jonah’s grave. In fact, Jesus Christ said regarding himself: “Just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.”​—Matt. 12:40.

Jesus was dead and in his grave for three days. But the Bible reports: “His soul was not left in hell . . . This Jesus hath God raised up.” (Acts 2:31, 32, AV) Similarly, by God’s direction, Jonah was raised from hell, that is, what would have been his grave. This occurred when the fish vomited him out onto dry land.​—Jonah 2:10.

What, then, is the Bible hell? It is simply mankind’s common grave. And the heartwarming promise is that hell is to be emptied of its dead, as the Bible explains: “Death and hell [margin, “the grave”] delivered up the dead which were in them.” (Rev. 20:13, 14, AV) Certainly we have strong encouragement to learn more about God and his purposes for blessing mankind.

Insight on the News

A Father’s Influence

● “The biggest surprise following the evaluation of [a German survey on children and religion] was the role of the father,” reports “The German Tribune.” “The survey showed that it is the positive attitude towards religion on the part of the father which imparts religious knowledge to older children and promotes religious contact.”

The “Tribune” notes that prior to the study by Gisela Pannen of the Teachers’ Training College in Neuss, near Cologne, it had “been assumed that the mother had the greater influence on the child’s religiousness due to her principal role in its upbringing.”

No doubt, as Originator of the family, Jehovah knew where to place the responsibility when he inspired the apostle Paul to say: “You, fathers, . . . go on bringing [your children] up in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah.” (Eph. 6:4) Of course, mothers also have a major role in raising children, and circumstances may even require that they carry the entire responsibility. Thus the Bible often ties parental responsibilities together, as when stating: “Listen, my son, to the discipline of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother.” Timothy’s mother, Eunice, certainly was a successful parent even without the aid of a believing husband.​—Prov. 1:8; 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:14, 15.

Religious Freedom ‘Expanded’

● In a ruling described by the Associated Press as “dramatically expanding on-the-job religious freedom,” the U.S. Supreme Court declared that a worker who quits his job because of religious beliefs remains eligible for unemployment payments. An Indiana steelworker, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, had been transferred to a tank turret assembly line from his former job of producing sheet steel. When he quit because there were no nonmilitary jobs available with the company, he was denied state unemployment benefits. The denial was upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court because the court felt that his reasons for quitting did not meet the requirement of “good cause.”

However, eight of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices disagreed. “It is not for us to say that the line he drew was an unreasonable one,” wrote Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in the ruling. “Courts are not arbiters of scriptural interpretation.” The court said that when a state denies an important benefit “because of conduct mandated by religious belief, thereby putting substantial pressure on an adherent to modify his behavior and to violate his beliefs, a burden upon religion exists” that is unconstitutional.

“Time” magazine’s report on the ruling began with the Scripture quotation: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares.​—Isaiah 2:4.” (“Authorized Version”) Certainly it is up to the individual conscience, not the courts, as Chief Justice Burger stated, to be the ‘arbiter of Scriptural interpretation’ when it comes to applying such principles in one’s life.

Pillaging Not a Sin?

● Brazil’s “Drought of the Century,” the worst since 1877, covers an area of the northeast part of the country that is greater than France and Italy together and has seriously affected the lives of 13 million of its inhabitants. During March, 39 cities in four states were invaded by hundreds of hungry drought victims demanding food. In some cities where their demands were not met immediately, stores and warehouses were plundered.

Cardinal Aloísio Lorscheider of Fortaleza, capital of affected Ceará State, declared: “A person who finds himself in extreme necessity can lawfully take the quantity of material goods that others would be obliged to give him as a charitable duty.”

Cardinal Lorscheider did not indicate the basis for his declaration that circumstances can make pillaging lawful. However, if he had based his counsel on that of “Saint” Peter, he would have said: “None of you should ever deserve to suffer for being a murderer, a thief, a criminal or an informer.” And if this should result in suffering hunger until government relief comes, Christians will still “obey the governing authorities,” as the Bible commands.​—1 Pet. 4:15; Rom. 13:1, Catholic “Jerusalem Bible.”

The Judgment Day of the Gods

“Who is a God like you?”​—Mic. 7:18.

1. Though the existence of Jehovah is denied, in what do most of the people believe as superhuman intelligences?

TODAY more and more people are saying: ‘There is no God!’ Whatever may be their reason for saying this, the Bible says: “The senseless one has said in his heart: ‘There is no Jehovah.’” (Ps. 14:1) Though many deny the existence of Jehovah, the majority of mankind do believe in gods without number. In India alone the Hindus believe in hundreds of millions of gods.

2. In this day when the godship of all those who are called deities is being called in question, who is acting as Judge?

² The Bible recognizes that there are many who are called gods or who try to make gods out of themselves. Psalm 82:1, 6 says: “God is stationing himself in the assembly of the Divine One; in the middle of the gods he judges. ‘I myself have said, “You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High.”’” Also, Psalm 97:1, 7 says: “Jehovah himself has become king! . . . Let all those serving any carved image be ashamed, those who are making their boast in valueless gods. Bow down to him, all you gods.” The godship of all of these whom humans worship has now been called into question. Their judgment day has come. Jehovah judges.

3. In the eighth century B.C.E., the name of what Jewish prophet was a challenge to all the gods of the world, and why?

³ In the eighth century before our Common Era, there was a prophet whose very name was a challenge to all the gods of the world. His name, Micah, means “Who is like Jah?” that is, like Jehovah.​—Mic. 1:1; Jer. 26:18.

4. With what challenging question to all those called gods do Micah and his prophetic book have to do?

⁴ In contrasting himself with the people of the Gentile nations, the prophet Micah speaks for himself and for other faithful ones like himself when he says: “All the peoples, for their part, will walk each one in the name of its god; but we, for our part, shall walk in the name of Jehovah our God to time indefinite, even forever.” (Mic. 4:5) Very fittingly, till the end of his prophetic book Micah raised the challenging question, “Who is a God like you, one pardoning error and passing over transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?”​—Mic. 7:18.

5. According to Micah 1:2-4, before whom does Jehovah openly lay his case, and on what issue?

⁵ The question of godship is one of worldwide consideration, and Jehovah lays his case open for the general public, especially before those who claim to represent him on earth. This fact is very plain from the quotation of his words, at Micah 1:2-4: “Hear, O you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth and what fills you, and let the Sovereign Lord Jehovah serve against you as a witness, Jehovah from his holy temple. For, look! Jehovah is going forth from his place, and he will certainly come down and tread upon earth’s high places. And the mountains must melt under him, and the low plains themselves will split apart, like wax because of the fire, like waters being poured down a steep place.”

6. In Micah 1:12; 2:3, 4; 4:10, how does Jehovah explain the meaning of those terrifying figures of speech?

⁶ In his further witnessing, Jehovah explains the meaning of those terrifying figures of speech by saying:

“What is bad has come down from Jehovah to the gates of Jerusalem.” (Mic. 1:12) “Therefore this is what Jehovah has said, ‘Here I am thinking up against this family a calamity from which you people will not remove your necks, so that you will not walk haughtily; because it is a time of calamity. In that day one will raise up concerning you people a proverbial saying and will certainly lament a lamentation, even a lamentation. One will have to say: “We have positively been despoiled! The very portion of my people he alters. How he removes it from me!”’” (Mic. 2:3, 4) “Be in severe pains and burst forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman giving birth, for now . . . you will have to come as far as to Babylon.”​—Mic. 4:10.

7. As we read the grounds that Jehovah sets out for his taking such drastic action, what modern counterpart should we have in mind, and especially with regard to what bad things?

⁷ As we review the grounds that Jehovah sets forth for taking such drastic action, let us have modern-day Christendom in mind, for she is the counterpart of the unfaithful Israel of Micah’s day. As Jehovah goes on to bear public witness, he explains: “It is because of the revolt of Jacob that there is all this, even because of the sins of the house of Israel.” Among those sins Jehovah mentions worship at “high places” instead of at the temple in Jerusalem, and their idolatrous worship of “graven images.”​—Mic. 1:5-7.

8, 9. (a) According to Micah 2:1, 2; 3:1-3, how were the Israelites preying upon their fellow Israelites? (b) For whom was Micah serving as a visible witness bearer, and by what means?

⁸ Besides the foregoing, Jehovah mentions “those who are scheming what is harmful,” and “those practicing what is bad, upon their beds.” He adds: “By the light of the morning they proceed to do it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they have desired fields and have seized them; also houses, and have taken them; and they have defrauded an able-bodied man and his household, a man and his hereditary possession.” (Mic. 2:1, 2) “Is it not your business to know justice? You haters of what is good and lovers of badness, tearing off their skin from people and their organism from off their bones; you the ones who have also eaten the organism of my people, and have stripped their very skin from off them, and smashed to pieces their very bones, and crushed them to pieces like what is in a widemouthed pot and like flesh in the midst of a cooking pot.”​—Mic. 3:1-3.

⁹ With such words the Sovereign Lord Jehovah served “as a witness” against the ancient kingdom of Judah. His prophet Micah had to serve as His visible witness, and this took great courage on his part, yes, great spiritual strength. But Micah was equal to what this service called for. How so? He tells us in these words: “I myself have become full of power, with the spirit of Jehovah, and of justice and mightiness, in order to tell to Jacob his revolt and to Israel his sin.”​—Mic. 3:8.

10. In what way was Israel treating God himself unfairly, and, as an example for us, Micah was no spiritual weakling in what way?

¹⁰ The same spirit of Jehovah that empowered Micah to proclaim the strong message of judgment by word of mouth also moved him to write down this stern message from the true God. Micah had something that the false prophets, visionaries and diviners of that day did not have, and so he had Jehovah’s “answer” to the national problems, namely, the “revolt” of Jacob and the “sin” of Israel. Personally, Micah had a sense of justice, so that he deeply appreciated that his own people were treating God unjustly, callously breaking God’s law and violating their national covenant with him through the mediator Moses. As a fine example for the Christian witnesses of Jehovah of today, Micah was no religious weakling, but he was full of spiritual mightiness to identify sin as sin!

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE FALSE GODS FOR CONDITIONS

11. To whom is responsibility chargeable for the bad moral and religious conditions in ancient Israel and now in Christendom?

¹¹ Jehovah of armies was not the one responsible for the bad conditions in the nation of Israel anciently. Neither is he responsible for the bad conditions morally and religiously inside Israel’s present-day counterpart, Christendom. The responsible ones back in Micah’s day, and likewise today, were and are “the god of this system of things,” Satan the Devil, and all the demon gods associated with him. (Matt. 4:3, 4; 2 Cor. 4:4) In accord with this it is written: “All the peoples, for their part, will walk each one in the name of its god.” (Mic. 4:5) “There are those who are called ‘gods,’ whether in heaven or on earth, just as there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords.’” (1 Cor. 8:5) All these false gods have had their day, to do all the damage they could.

12. How will Jehovah now execute discernible judgment upon all those false gods?

¹² Now, though, the time has come for Jehovah the Almighty God to bring them all into judgment and to put a stop to all their forms of worship by means of temples, priests, idols or graven images and rituals and sacrifices. Jehovah’s irreversible purpose to do this in the case of ancient typical Israel he set forth by his prophet Micah, saying: “I will cut off sorceries out of your hand, and no practicers of magic will you continue to have. And I will cut off your graven images and your pillars from the midst of you, and you will no more bow down to the work of your hands. And I will uproot your sacred poles from the midst of you and annihilate your cities. And in anger and in rage I will execute vengeance upon the nations that have not obeyed.”​—Mic. 5:12-15.

13. Since when has there been the greatest exposure of false deities, and why does this include Christendom?

¹³ During the past 100 years there has been an exposing of the false gods of this world, even of Christendom. This exposure is without equal in the history of the nations since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in the year 607 B.C.E., or about 109 years after the prophet Micah finished writing his prophecy. This has included the exposure of Christendom’s own god, the so-called Trinity, inexplainably made up of three gods in one and each of these deities being coexistent, coequal and coeternal. This triune deity is sometimes illustrated by a human body with three heads or a head with three faces. The use of man-made images in religious worship can plainly be observed in the temples, cathedrals and churches of Christendom.

14. (a) Who on earth outstandingly took part in this exposure work? (b) When and how did this Micah class take upon itself the name “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” thus assuming what obligation?

¹⁴ During this time of judgment of all the false gods of this world, who are the ones that have carried on the work of exposure? The dedicated, baptized Christians who have been anointed with the spirit of Jehovah God through Jesus Christ. As a company, or class, these were prefigured by Jehovah’s prophet Micah. Activities like those of Micah have been carried on modernly, particularly since the end of World War I in 1918 C.E. Then the Micah class resolutely stepped forward onto the postwar scene and outstandingly acted as the witness for the God of Micah against the idolatrous systems of Christendom and pagandom. On valid grounds this Micah class, when gathered together in international assembly at Columbus, Ohio, in 1931, adopted a resolution by which they confessed themselves to be “Jehovah’s witnesses” and pledged themselves to carry out this obligation of being His witnesses. Following that example, congregations of dedicated Christians worldwide, who recognized themselves to be “the Israel of God,” unitedly assented to that 1931 resolution and took upon themselves the Bible-based name “Jehovah’s witnesses.” (Isa. 43:10-12; Gal. 6:16) Though challenged by Christendom, the name has stuck!

15. (a) According to his own statement, who is Jehovah’s greatest witness? (b) So what would Satan like to do to this witness during his residence on earth?

¹⁵ Those bearers of this new name recognized that their Leader, Jesus Christ, was and is the greatest of the witnesses of Jehovah. In the last book of the Bible, the Revelation that Jehovah God used the glorified Jesus Christ to impart to the aged apostle John, the only-begotten Son of God says of himself: “These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God.” (Rev. 3:14) Like his Father, Jehovah, the Lord Jesus bore witness against the deplorable conditions in the Israel of his day, similar to those that Micah described. Outstandingly, Jesus is the one whom Jehovah now uses in this judgment day for all the false gods. It is not strange, then, that Satan the Devil would, as “the god of this system of things,” want to destroy the only-begotten Son of God during his residence on earth. The human birth of this Son of God was grabbed at as a fine opportunity to do this. There is no doubt that, from the prophecy of Micah 5:2, Satan the Devil knew where the birth was to take place.

16. How did Micah 5:2 indicate where the Messiah was to be born?

¹⁶ Micah 5:2 reads: “And you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, the one too little to get to be among the thousands of Judah, from you there will come out to me the one who is to become ruler in Israel, whose origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.”

17. (a) The context of Micah 5:2 shows that the promised birth was to take place after what occurrence? (b) When the time came for the birth to occur, where did the Jewish virgin find herself, and how so?

¹⁷ According to what the verses surrounding Micah 5:2 indicate, the prophecy was to be fulfilled after the return of the Jews from 70 years of exile in the land of Babylon. (Note Micah 1:16; 4:10.) And it actually was 535 years after the liberated Jews resettled in the land of Judah, in which the little town of Bethlehem was reestablished. At the due time Jehovah sent his angel to the virgin Jewess of the family line of King David to say that she was to become the mother of the promised Messiah, the Christ. Then at the time due for the birth Mary found herself in her native town of Bethlehem, to be registered there according to the decree of Caesar Augustus. There, about the middle of the seventh Jewish month, Tishri, or about the start of October, Mary’s firstborn son was brought forth and was called Jesus, just as the angel had instructed. That Satan the Devil was interested in this portentous birth is indicated by the fact that his worshipers, namely, pagan astrologers, took an active interest in the matter. About this a historian, the apostle Matthew, writes:

18. In line with his evil design, how did Satan bring the knowledge of the birth of Jesus to the attention of King Herod of Judea?

¹⁸ “After Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, . . . King Herod was agitated, and all Jerusalem along with him; and on gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people he began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him: ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is how it has been written through the prophet, “And you, O Bethlehem of the land of Judah, are by no means the most insignificant city among the governors of Judah; for out of you will come forth a governing one, who will shepherd my people, Israel.”’”​—Matt. 2:1-6.

19. Why did the slaughter of the babes of Bethlehem, as ordered by King Herod, fail of its objective?

¹⁹ So King Herod sent the astrologers to Bethlehem. But after these observers of dreams failed to report back and tell him where he could find the recently born Jesus, King Herod sent his soldiers to Bethlehem and had all the baby boys of two years of age and younger killed off. But Mary and her husband, Joseph, had been forewarned and left Bethlehem and took refuge in Egypt so as to preserve the young child Jesus alive. There can be no doubt that jealous, power-hungry King Herod was instigated by his god, Satan the Devil, the symbolic Serpent whose head was to be crushed by the “seed” of God’s “woman.” (Gen. 3:15) Thus was foiled not only King Herod but also the invisible ruler of all the demon gods.​—Matt. 2:7-18.

20. By whom did Satan and his demon gods deserve to be judged, and, during this judgment time, how have Satan and his angels already been dealt with?

²⁰ To balance matters, Satan the Devil and all his demon gods deserve to be judged by means of the one whom they sought to exterminate. This is already under development, since the end of “the appointed times of the nations” in 1914, of which nations Satan the Devil is the god. (Luke 21:24; 2 Cor. 4:4) In line with God’s words at Genesis 3:15, the prophecy of Micah 5:1 foretold: “With the rod they will strike upon the cheek the judge of Israel,” that is, Jesus Christ. But now that the judgment day of all the false gods of the nations has begun, the great archangel Michael, whose name means “Who is like God?”, has battled with Satan the Devil and his demon angels and has ousted them from the heavens.

21. During the time of the war in heaven, what was taking place on earth, and when will Christ govern all mankind without interference by Satan and the other demon gods?

²¹ Coincidental with that war in the invisible heavens the first world war of human history was fought during 1914-1918. Since the chagrined Devil and all the other demon gods have been confined to the vicinity of our tiny earth, it has become indeed a special time of “woe for the earth and for the sea.” (Rev. 12:7-12) This judgment day of all the false gods will continue on until “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon is over and Satan and all the other demon gods are abyssed for the 1,000 years of Christ’s reign. (Rev. 16:14-16; 20:1-3) Thus the glorified Governor out of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, will govern all mankind without interference by all the false gods and will instruct all the families of the earth in the life-giving worship of the one living and true God.

Worship of the One True God Already Being Exalted

1, 2. During World War I, how did worship of the one true God sink to a low ebb, and how was this depicted in Micah 3:12?

WORLD War I was a time of darkness such as humanity had never before experienced. It was as if the powers of darkness had prevailed universally. It seemed as if “the ruler of the world” had triumphed. (John 14:30) As his world empire of false religion, including Christendom, patriotically went over to the support of the war-mad nations, tremendous pressure was applied to all religious people. Hence, even worship of the one true and living God fell to a low ebb. Upholders of it were persecuted and put under restrictions, even to imprisonment. Their condition became calamitous, like that described in Micah 3:12:

² “Zion will be plowed up as a mere field, and Jerusalem herself will become mere heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the house [the temple] will be as the high places of a forest”​—like an abandoned field covered with an overgrowth reaching to the height of trees because of the passing of so much time.

3. Worshipers of the true God resigned themselves to what view of things, but what remained for them to do according to prophecy before the “end would come?

³ It appeared as if the end had come​—for the whole system of things on earth. Worshipers of the God of the Bible resigned themselves to that view of matters, as they became “objects of hatred by all the nations.” (Matt. 24:9) However, they had only entered “the conclusion of the system of things.” There was yet much lifesaving work for them to do before they reached the terminal of that “conclusion of the system of things.” As the great Governor out of Bethlehem had foretold, “this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:3, 14) The prophecy of Micah was in agreement with that, even though Micah had written it down hundreds of years beforehand.

4. After the description of the desolation to come upon Jerusalem and the land of Judah, what change for the better does Micah 4:1-4 foretell to Jehovah’s glory?

⁴ After Micah described the ruin to which the land of Judah and its capital city, Jerusalem (or, Zion), would be reduced by the Babylonians, he went on to say: “And it must occur in the final part of the days that the mountain of the house [temple] of Jehovah will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills; and to it peoples must stream. And many nations will certainly go and say: ‘Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion law will go forth, and the word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem. And he will certainly render judgment among many peoples, and set matters straight respecting mighty nations far away. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war anymore. And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble; for the very mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken it.”​—Mic. 4:1-4.

5. Today, what building tops the mountain of the house of Jehovah, and does this fulfill Micah 4:1-4?

⁵ In the course of World War I earthly Jerusalem was captured by British troops under General Allenby, and in recognition of this the League of Nations gave Great Britain the mandate over the territory, to continue until 1948. When the mandate ended, war followed between the Jews and the Arabs, and today the nation of Israel occupies even the walled city of Jerusalem. But does a temple for the worship of Jehovah crown the top of the mountain where the house for the worship of Jehovah stood down till 70 C.E.? No, but the Dome of the Rock for the worship of the Mohammedan deity, Allah, stands there, and people of many nations visit it as a tourist attraction. Beyond all contradiction this has been no fulfillment of the prophecy of Micah 4:1-4.

6. Why, though, is Micah 4:1-4 undergoing fulfillment, and why does earthly Jerusalem not figure in the fulfillment?

⁶ Still, that prophecy has been undergoing fulfillment since the postwar year of 1919. How so? Well, because a higher Jerusalem is involved. Let us recall how, on Nisan 9, 33 C.E., Jesus Christ as the Governor out of Bethlehem made his triumphal ride into Jerusalem but was not accepted as King. Two days later, on Nisan 11, he was moved to bewail that earthly Jerusalem, saying: “How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings! But you people did not want it. Look! Your house [your temple] is abandoned to you [people].” (Matt. 23:37, 38) Three days later, on Nisan 14, Jesus suffered martyrdom at Calvary outside Jerusalem. Then, for his part, Jehovah God abandoned that temple though it had been dedicated to him. No longer was it his place of approved worship. Its destruction in 70 C.E. dramatized that fact!

7. When did the heavenly Jerusalem become the mother of the disciples of Jesus, and how does Paul refer to this?

⁷ Forty days after Jesus’ resurrection he ascended back to heaven and 10 days later, on the day of Pentecost, he poured out the holy spirit upon his disciples waiting in earthly Jerusalem. With that event Jerusalem above became their mother. As regards this, the Christian apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the congregations in Galatia: “The Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” (Gal. 4:26) However, later on, when writing to Hebrew Christians in general, the same apostle wrote: “But you have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels, in general assembly, and the congregation of the firstborn who have been enrolled in the heavens, and God the Judge of all.” (Heb. 12:22, 23; Rev. 21:2) It is with respect to this New Jerusalem, the spiritual Jerusalem, on a spiritual Mount Zion, that Micah 4:1-4 prophesies. Upon this spiritual Jerusalem, the Messianic kingdom, Micah’s prophecy is being fulfilled today!

8. Since 1914, to what extent has the worship of the one true God been exalted with respect to the earth?

⁸ Since the war-wracked years of 1914-1918 the worship of the God whose worship used to be carried on at the “house,” or temple, that stood atop one of the mountains of ancient Jerusalem, keeps being exalted. This worship of Jehovah has been “established above the top of the mountains” on which temples to the false gods of this system stood or still stand. Thus the worship of the one living and true God has been “lifted up above the hills.”

9. After World War I, how was the situation opened up for the elevation of Jehovah’s worship, and what did Micah 2:12, 13 say with regard to this?

⁹ Particularly after the close of World War I in the autumn of 1918 the worship of Jehovah as the Most High God was elevated heaven high. How was that? Because, first in the postwar period of time, was restoration possible for the worshipers of Jehovah from the oppressed, dispersed, restricted state that was like the condition of the Jewish exiles in Babylon during 607-537 B.C.E. Micah’s prophecy foretold the regathering of the spiritual Israelites and the breaking open of the way for them to escape from such a Babylonish servitude, saying: “‘I shall positively gather Jacob, all of you; I shall without fail collect the remaining ones of Israel together. In unity I shall set them, like a flock in the pen, like a drove in the midst of its pasture; they will be noisy with men.’ The one making a breakthrough will certainly come up before them; they will actually break through. And they will pass through a gate, and they will go out by it. And their king will pass through before them, with Jehovah at the head of them.”​—Mic. 2:12, 13.

10. Who was the “king” taking part in Micah’s prophecy, and how and when and for whom did he make the “breakthrough”?

¹⁰ When, in 537 B.C.E., the Israelites left Babylon according to the decree of the Persian conqueror, Cyrus the Great, there was no human king of the royal house of David leading them out. Zedekiah, the last Davidic king to reign at old Jerusalem, was by then dead, buried at Babylon. Evidently, then, Micah’s prophecy must have spiritual application. So who is the “king”? It is the King who was to be enthroned at God’s right hand in the heavens at the end of the “times of the Gentiles” (or, “appointed times of the nations”) in the fall of 1914 C.E. (Luke 21:24, Authorized Version, New World Translation; Ps. 110:1, 2) This was a “king” greater than Cyrus the conqueror of Babylon. It was the newly installed “King,” Jesus Christ. He was the one who made the “breakthrough” for the oppressed spiritual Israelites, the “remaining ones” of spiritual Israel, or Jacob. So it was that in the postwar year of 1919 the glorified Jesus Christ made the “breakthrough” for his dedicated, baptized disciples who had become the “objects of hatred by all the nations” on account of his name during World War I.​—Matt. 24:9.

11, 12. Who was at the head of the remnant on their march out into freedom, and what command by him were they obeying?

¹¹ Those liberated disciples were ready to follow him as their enthroned King at Jehovah’s right hand. By the “gate” of escape that he had made he proceeded to “pass through before them.” He led them into real Christian liberty. This was “with Jehovah at the head of them,” because Jehovah was the Chief One responsible for their marching out to freedom. He was the One who issued the call to his worshipers held captive in religious Babylon, saying:

¹² “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; Jer. 50:8, 9; Isa. 48:20.

PERSONAL NAME OF THE ONE TRUE GOD TO THE FORE!

13. The time had come for the one true God to do what for himself, and how did the Watch Tower issue of November 15, 1919, bear this out?

¹³ Jehovah was beginning by then to make a name for himself. Rightly his name began to come to the fore, it being higher than that of his glorified Son Jesus Christ. For instance, The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence, in its issue of November 15, 1919, published the first of a series of articles entitled “Isaiah’s Rhapsody,” and in Part I it went on to say:

In these first eleven verses of the fortieth chapter Isa 40:1-11 we have three pictures of Jehovah given to us: first, he is depicted as a Comforter after protracted suffering; second, he is represented as being the True One, whose word abides though all else fail; third, as the Shepherd who leads his people with paternal care.

The second cause for comfort lies in the words “that her iniquity is pardoned”. God in his wisdom saw that the seventy years of national humiliation suffered by the Jewish people would be a sufficient off-set on the books of divine justice to atone for the tendency which they had manifested for many centuries to go into idolatry, or to worship other gods than Jehovah.

. . . But we know that Jehovah would never inflict unjust punishment. He cannot deny himself. . . .

. . . Suggestions [for a name of a paper published by the Society] brought out the fact that the Yiddish equivalent of “the voice” would be understood at once by all Jews to designate some special message from Jehovah.

Surely any class which is to be used by Jehovah for such an exalted purpose as joint-heirship with Christ is in need of extensive preparatory experiences before being made “meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.”

. . . But as a double reassurance of the fulfillment of the things above promised Jehovah again affixes his name, or endorses his own check​—“the word of our God shall stand forever,” irrespective of the obstacles, real or imagined.​—Page 343, paragraph 5; page 344, paragraphs 5-7; page 345, paragraph 4; page 346, paragraph 4.

14. Also, how did the book The Harp of God, published in 1921, put God’s name to the fore?

¹⁴ Also, in the first bound book published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society after World War I, namely, The Harp of God, issued in 1921, the preface stated in paragraph 2: “Jehovah had a great plan before the foundation of the world; but no one knew about it. During the first four thousand years of man’s history God’s plan was kept a secret.”

15. Seven years later, a resolution constituting a declaration for whom was adopted by the conventioners at the international convention in Detroit, Michigan?

¹⁵ At the international convention held in Detroit, Michigan, July 30–August 6, 1928, the thousands in attendance unanimously adopted the resolution entitled “Declaration against Satan and for Jehovah,” submitted by the then president of the Watch Tower Society.​—See Watch Tower of September 15, 1928, pages 278, 279.

16. How did the climactic event take place three years later at the international convention in Columbus, Ohio?

¹⁶ However, the climactic event occurred in 1931. This was on Sunday, July 26, when the thousands attending the international convention at Columbus, Ohio, adopted a resolution entitled “A New Name.” By this resolution those dedicated, baptized worshipers of the Most High God took upon themselves a name that is based upon the Scriptures, that is, “Jehovah’s witnesses.”​—Isa. 43:10, 12.

17. By thus adopting this new name, what did the conventioners do, and thereafter what did congregations around the globe do, with what responsibility devolving upon them?

¹⁷ In that way those Christians brushed aside all the reproachful names with which they had been dubbed by Christendom and accepted the honorable designation that the Holy Bible showed to be proper for them. After the Columbus convention the resolution there adopted was submitted to all the congregations of the dedicated, baptized disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ all around the earth, in their various languages. All the congregations adopting the resolution reported so to the headquarters of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. All the individuals taking part in such action brought themselves under a heavy responsibility before Jehovah God. Failure to live up to the new name meant serious consequences for them. Honoring it would magnify God’s name.​—The Watch Tower issue of September 15, 1931, pages 278, 279.

18. Has similar action been taken by Christendom and Jewry, and so whom has God used to bring about the fulfillment of Micah 4:1-4?

¹⁸ Does secular history since World War I report any religious denomination of Christendom or of Jewry as taking any action similar to that of those witnesses of Jehovah? No! Hence, it has been by means of those Witnesses that Jehovah God has brought about the fulfillment of the prophecy set out in Micah 4:1-4. Thus, indeed, the worship of the one living and true God has been established, as it were, “above the top of the mountains,” for it has been shown to be superior to every other form of worship. It is “firmly established” and so will never be toppled from its lofty position. It is being dignified by Jehovah’s Witnesses, and so, figuratively speaking, it is being “lifted up above the hills.”

19. The lifting up of the divine worship, as it were, “above the hills,” made it visible to whom, and, in line with this, what startling speech was given in Los Angeles, California, in 1918?

¹⁹ This exalting of the worship of the one living and true God, thus making it visible from far away, was meant to be for the benefit of persons out of all nations and peoples. So, under divine guidance, on Sunday, February 24, 1918, amid World War I, the then president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society gave a well-advertised talk in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. His subject was a startling one but was in line with the meaning of the momentous times as viewed from the Bible standpoint. The subject was “Millions Now Living May Never Die.” This theme was based on the Bible’s teaching that there would be human survivors of the “great tribulation” with which this doomed system of things would end. (Rev. 7:9, 14) Those favored survivors would be ushered into the Millennial Age under Christ’s kingdom. By means of that government they could gain everlasting life on an earth made into a paradise.

20. In 1923, what parable of Jesus was discussed at the Los Angeles convention, and how was it applied?

²⁰ Five years later another convention was held in the same city of Los Angeles, on August 18-26, 1923, and on Saturday, August 25, the Society’s president discussed Jesus’ parable of the symbolic sheep and goats. As this parable is a part of Jesus’ prophecy on the “sign” marking the “conclusion of the system of things,” the speaker applied it to “the final part of the days”; he gave it a premillennial application. Who, then, are pictured by the “sheep” that do good to the King’s spiritual “brothers” according to their needs? Why, the so-called ‘persons of goodwill’ who are to be rewarded with surviving the destruction of the present system of things and being preserved into the Millennial system of things under Christ’s kingdom! (See the Watch Tower issue of November 1, 1923, page 326; also that of October 15, 1923, page 307.) Such symbolic “sheep” of today are the “peoples” who stream up to the spiritual temple of Jehovah’s worship, which is represented by the remnant of Christ’s “brothers,” spiritual Israelites.​—Mic. 4:1; Matt. 24:3; 25:31-46.

“Peoples Must Stream” to Life-giving Worship

1, 2. (a) When John had his vision described in Revelation 7:9-17, what was the state of the temple at Jerusalem? (b) When and where was the “great crowd” identified, and what was the reaction of the conventioners?

WHEN the last book of the Bible, Revelation, was written by the Jewish-Christian apostle John, about the year 96 C.E., the Jewish temple at Jerusalem had been destroyed by Roman soldiers under General Titus. Nevertheless, the apostle John describes, at Revelation 7:9-17, a numberless “crowd” drawn from all peoples, nations, races and languages, and these were seen rendering to God on his throne sacred service in the courtyard of his temple. Obviously, the spiritual temple of Jehovah God was there meant.

² Great was the joy of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1935 and of persons of goodwill when those of that numberless international “crowd” were identified as being the “sheep” described in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats. (Matt. 25:31-46) Yes, they were identified as being the same as the “other sheep” mentioned in Jesus’ parable of the Fine Shepherd. (John 10:16; see the book The Harp of God, published in 1921, page 338, paragraph 577; also, the Watch Tower issue of October 15, 1923, page 310, under the subheading “Two Classes.”) The identification of those who compose the “great crowd” of Revelation 7:9-17 took place at the convention of May 30–June 3, 1935, at Washington, D.C., U.S.A., by means of an up-to-date explanation of Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats. The day (Saturday) following that discussion there was a baptism of 840 of the conventioners guided by their new understanding of matters according to the explanation of Jesus’ parable.

3. When was it that Micah 4:2 began to be fulfilled, and to what Jerusalem did those sharing in the fulfillment look?

³ The dedicated, baptized “other sheep” are taking part with the spiritual brothers of the King Jesus Christ in preaching “this good news of the kingdom” everywhere, “in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.” (Matt. 24:14) In this way Micah 4:2 began its fulfillment: “And many nations will certainly go and say: ‘Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion law will go forth, and the word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem.” Not to earthly Jerusalem, which was then being occupied by British troops, but to the New Jerusalem on the heavenly Mount Zion is where the “other sheep” of the “great crowd” looked for “law” based on the Bible and for the “word of Jehovah” through his anointed witnesses, the spiritual Israelites.

4. Among whom did Micah 4:3, 4 then begin fulfillment?

⁴ Not among worldly nations that were building up armaments for World War II but among the sheeplike ones of the international “great crowd” began the fulfillment of the words of Micah 4:3, 4: “And he [Jehovah] will certainly render judgment among many peoples, and set matters straight respecting mighty nations far away. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war anymore. And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble; for the very mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken it.”

5. During World War II, for what position did they take their stand, and, figuratively speaking, how have they been dwelling?

⁵ Fearlessly, without letting anyone of this world make them tremble, even after World War II was lighted on September 1, 1939, the Witnesses openly declared and published their neutrality toward all nations engaging in violent combat. (See the Watchtower issue of November 1, 1939, containing the leading article entitled “Neutrality.”) They have held to this neutral stand ever since. In many cases this has meant their being confined in concentration camps, or in prisons, or even their being killed as being unpatriotic. They refuse to become a part of this world, just as Jesus Christ refused to do so. Properly, then, the Witnesses should be expected to keep peace within their own congregations, dwelling together like brothers. (Ps. 133) Figuratively speaking, they sit, each one “under his own vine and under his own fig tree,” in security, like the Israelites during the 40-year-long peaceful reign of King Solomon, son of David. (1 Ki. 4:25) During this “conclusion of the system of things,” they peacefully preach “this good news of the kingdom . . . in all the inhabited earth.”​—Matt. 24:3, 14.

HAR–MAGEDON SURVIVORS CARRY FORWARD TRUE WORSHIP

6, 7. What did the Watch Tower issue of December 15, 1928, say with regard to Micah 5:6-9, as to how this is to be fulfilled?

⁶ So among all peoples the Witnesses are a refreshing element. This is just as foretold in Micah 5:6-9: “And he [Jehovah] will certainly bring about deliverance from the Assyrian [the world power of Assyria], when he comes into our land and when he treads upon our territory. And the remaining ones of Jacob must become in the midst of many peoples like dew from Jehovah, like copious showers upon vegetation, that does not hope for man or wait for the sons of earthling man. And the remaining ones of Jacob must become among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of a forest, like a maned young lion among droves of sheep, which, when it actually passes through, certainly both tramples down and tears in pieces; and there is no deliverer. Your hand will be high above your adversaries, and all enemies of yours will be cut off.”

⁷ Referring to this, the article “Ruler out of Bethlehem,” in the Watch Tower issue of December 15, 1928, said:

This may be taken as an indication that some of the remnant will be on earth even after Armageddon is fought and will then have some more work to do in the name of the Lord and to his praise and glory. The people, having passed through the great and terrible trouble, will no longer look to men for help nor watch for the sons of men to bring them aid and comfort but will turn to the Lord and gladly hear his Word. Some creatures will have the privilege, as the Lord’s agents and messengers, of bearing the message of peace to the people.

The remnant of the Lord, according to this prophecy, will go on to triumph in the strength of Jehovah. A lion is a monarch among the beasts of the forest, and none can stand before him. The flocks of sheep are without power against a strong and young lion amongst them. Thus the faithful remnant of God is described by the prophet. These shall be amidst the nations of many people strong and vigorous in the name of the Lord to help those that want help and to point out God’s method of destroying those that resist.​—Page 376, paragraphs 35, 36.

8. Treating this matter further, what did the Watch Tower issue of March 15, 1929, go on to say?

⁸ Treating this matter further, the Watch Tower issue of March 15, 1929, page 88, paragraph 41, went on to say the following:

Even the great multitude class must be led to the living fountains of water. (Rev. 7:17) The Lord may use the remnant to thus help them. There will be many others who will be humbled by Armageddon, and they will be ready to hear. After Armageddon some of the remnant may be used by the Lord to bear witness and to aid those who need to be taught, and this they may do before actually being taken into the courts of everlasting glory. It is certain that the work of the remnant now is to proclaim the glad tidings as God’s duly appointed witnesses.

9. However, has the remnant had to wait until after Jehovah gains the victory at Har–Magedon before becoming like a “dew” and like a “maned young lion” with respect to peoples of the nations?

⁹ However, the remnant of spiritual Israelites have not had to wait until after the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon in order to be as a “dew” of refreshment to people seeking to worship “the God of Jacob” at his spiritual temple. (Rev. 16:14, 16) No, the remnant have not had to wait until after Jehovah gains the victory at the climax of that final war before they could become like a “maned young lion” among the nations. Like the prophet Isaiah when having his vision of Jehovah at His temple, they have responded to Jehovah’s question, “Who will go for us?” Promptly after World War I ended in 1918, they said: “Here I am! Send me.” (Isa. 6:8) In obedience to the divine command, “Go,” they have gone forth to the peoples of all the nations.

10. In proclaiming what message of Jehovah has the remnant been like a lion among the nations?

¹⁰ Thus they have preached the message of the established kingdom that will bless the “sheep” class and that will destroy the “goat” class. (Matt. 25:31-46) In proclaiming “the day of vengeance on the part of our God” they have been like a lion for boldness, advising the adversaries of God’s established kingdom that they will be destroyed at Har–Magedon by Jehovah’s Warrior King, Jesus Christ, “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah.”​—Isa. 61:1-3; Rev. 5:5.

11. Why is it that the “hand” of the anointed remnant has remained high above their foes, and what has been the result of this in the way of branches of the Society and the number of ingathered “sheep”?

¹¹ In that way their “hand” for actively applying the Word of God has been “high” in victory over all the adversaries who strive to suppress the Kingdom message. Notice has been served upon those adversaries concerning their coming defeat and destruction at Har–Magedon, when they will be everlastingly “cut off.” (Mic. 5:9) On the other side of the matter, those anointed announcers of God’s kingdom have been like a refreshing “dew” to the sheeplike people who have felt like parched, dried-up “vegetation.” As a result of Jehovah’s upholding their hand it has remained on high above their foes for all these years since the publication of the above-quoted articles in the Watch Tower issues of 1928 and 1929. In evidence of this, the foreign branches of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society have increased to the number of 97, all at the service of the anointed “remnant.” Also, the “great crowd” of the “other sheep” of the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ, has kept increasing till now. How many it will finally number Revelation 7:9-17 does not state.

12. The work of the anointed remnant together with their sheeplike companions will keep on till what is let loose, and why?

¹² The activities of the anointed remnant together with their sheeplike companions must continue until the “four angels” standing at the four corners of the earth are commanded to let loose the four winds that will produce the “great tribulation.” During that tribulation those who persist in rejecting the Kingdom message will be “cut off,” destroyed. By that time the final number needed for completing the 144,000 joint heirs of Jesus Christ will have been “sealed” in their foreheads. (Rev. 7:1-8, 14) Their sheeplike companions who have come out of all the nations to seek the spiritual “house” of Jehovah and who have dedicated themselves to “walk in his paths” will be safeguarded during the “great tribulation.” (Mic. 4:1-4) So they will survive on earth into the millennial reign of Jesus Christ and his glorified joint heirs.

13. How many of the anointed remnant will survive Har–Magedon, and like what will they still be among their fellow survivors?

¹³ How many of the anointed remnant of Christ’s joint heirs will survive with them through “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon we do not know, nor for how long thereafter. But for whatever time it is, they will continue to be as a refreshing “dew” to the “great crowd” of “other sheep.” These will be no problem for the remnant, inasmuch as already the “other sheep” have been made “one flock” with the remnant who are in “this fold” in which the “little flock” have been penned by the Fine Shepherd. (John 10:16; Luke 12:32) So it is not among the surviving “great crowd” that the remnant must act like a ferocious lion among defenseless sheep.

14. On that occasion, the heavenly Zion will be like what animal that treads, and how hard or strong will the “horn” be toward the enemies?

¹⁴ The remnant will take no military part in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon. Like the Israelites in the days of King Jehoshaphat, they will merely stand and see the salvation of Jehovah by means of “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah,” Jesus Christ. (2 Chron. 20:17) On that occasion Jehovah God the Almighty will make the “horn” of heavenly Zion like iron and, like a bull, she will trample God’s enemies as if on a threshing floor. She “will certainly pulverize many peoples” to destruction. (Mic. 4:13) Whatever is left behind after their destruction will be for use by the Har–Magedon survivors.

WHAT IS NOW REQUIRED AMID A CORRUPT WORLD

15. Does one’s meeting God’s requirement as set out in Micah 6:8 allow for one to remain in Christendom or not? And why?

¹⁵ It is with regard to Christendom, the modern counterpart of disloyal Israel, that Micah 7:2, 6 says: “The loyal one has perished from the earth, and among mankind there is no upright one. . . . a man’s enemies are the men of his household.” Even for professed Christians who are part of modern Christendom to escape the consequences of this corrupt condition, what do they need to do? Make material sacrifices while they still remain a part of the corrupt religious organization? No! Instead, they must act in harmony with what is stated in Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O earthling man, what is good. And what is Jehovah asking back from you but to exercise justice and to love kindness and to be modest in walking with your God?” To carry out this divine requirement a person will have to get out of even Christendom, inasmuch as her claims to be Christian are false. Her religious and moral corruption proves this. One’s staying inside her and trying to reform her will never succeed. She is doomed to destruction by the God she claims to serve.

16, 17. (a) What stream of people does an individual today need to join, and what choice as to godship does he have to make? (b) In singing the song of Moses and the Lamb, what deity does such an individual extol?

¹⁶ Christendom’s house of worship will be wiped out just as the temple at Jerusalem in Micah’s day was destroyed in 607 B.C.E. So, in order to “be modest in walking with your God,” an individual in Christendom, no less than an individual in all the world empire of false religion, has to join the peoples of all nationalities who are now streaming up to “the mountain of Jehovah and to the house of the God of Jacob.” The individual must accept Jehovah’s teaching out of the heavenly Zion and must walk in the way He now sets out. This does not mean becoming a Jewish convert or proselyte Jew. It means becoming a disciple of the only-begotten Son of Jehovah and becoming the kind of witness that he was. What? Become a dedicated, baptized witness of Jehovah? Yes! It means one’s making the choice set out in Micah 4:5: “For all the peoples, for their part, will walk each one in the name of its god; but we, for our part, shall walk in the name of Jehovah our God to time indefinite, even forever.” One must join in singing “the song of Moses the slave of God and the song of the Lamb,” saying:

¹⁷ “Great and wonderful are your works, Jehovah God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of eternity. Who will not really fear you, Jehovah, and glorify your name, because you alone are loyal? For all the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous decrees have been made manifest.”​—Rev. 15:3, 4.

18. Why are the closing question and the reply of Micah fitting with respect to Jehovah?

¹⁸ Loyally, Jehovah will keep all his promises toward us, such as the one made to the patriarch Abraham and to his grandson, Jacob, or Israel, even to the extent of blessing all the families and nations of the earth by means of His Son, Jesus Christ. So doing, Jehovah himself will act as the antitypical Abraham, as the Greater Abraham. In view of his unswerving loyalty to us till now we can take up Micah’s closing words and say:

“Who is a God like you, one pardoning error and passing over transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? He will certainly not hold onto his anger forever, for he is delighting in loving-kindness. He will again show us mercy; he will subject our errors. And you will throw into the depths of the sea all their sins. You will give the trueness given to Jacob, the loving-kindness given to Abraham, which you swore to our forefathers from the days of long ago.”​—Mic. 7:18-20.

19. Who is the incomparable God, and whose worship will we exalt clear through the “final part of the days”?

¹⁹ There is no God like the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us exalt his pure worship, both now, “in the final part of the days,” and even forever.

[Picture on page 24]

“Peoples must stream” to life-giving worship

The Majority Favor “An Immoral Practice”

When the members of a Greek Orthodox Church in Schenectady, New York, voted 43 to 13 to start bingo at the church, the parish priest opposed, saying: “I don’t believe the church should introduce any form of gambling in order to survive.” So he resigned, giving as his reason: “I have no doubt our hall would be packed for bingo. It’s not packed for a lecture or religious instruction. If I have a church and 30 people come to worship and 500 come to bingo, then for what reasons does the church stand? It is just a social club.”

The resignation caused the archbishop in New York city to send a strongly worded letter to the local parish council. “We paternally recommend and urge you to refrain from introducing bingo in your parish,” said the letter. “It is an immoral practice.” What was the council’s response? “The archdiocese turns its head. They say you shouldn’t do it, but churches do.” The fact is that about 50 of the 500 Greek Orthodox parishes in the United States have the “immoral practice.”

A Prisoner’s Prayer Is Answered

As Told by Isaac V. Espeleta

IN 1945, when the American forces already had invaded the Philippines, 11 companions and I were arrested by the Japanese. We were put in small, galvanized-metal cells not much bigger than dog kennels. By day, they were unbearably hot, and at night, they were freezing cold.

All my companions died under the subsequent interrogations. Although being intensively questioned for 45 days and severely tortured three times, I did not confess to the crimes I was accused of. I had noticed that if anyone confessed under torture, he was immediately shot or bayoneted to death. Hence, I took my chance with the torture.

Right there, in that tiny cell, I prayed to Jehovah God and promised that, if I should survive, I would search for him and spend the rest of my life serving him. But before I say more about my search for Jehovah, let me explain why I was imprisoned and what caused me to make that promise to Jehovah.

EARLY LIFE AND INFLUENCES

Ours was a Catholic family living in the little town of Biñan, about 30 kilometers (19 mi.) south of Manila. The strong influence in my younger life was my paternal grandfather. He was disenchanted with the Catholic Church and had become interested in the Bible. He introduced me to the fine habit of reading the Scriptures, and for that I will always be grateful to him.

On getting older, I became an avid reader. When the second world war struck the Philippines, the supply of English reading materials dried up. Then, one day, I came across a copy of the book Riches, printed by the Watch Tower Society. Something to read at last! It contained very stimulating information.

Particularly striking to me was the fact that God had a personal name, Jehovah. I checked this in the Bible my grandfather had given me. Yes, there it was. God’s name really was Jehovah. (Ex. 6:3; Ps. 83:18) Due to the war, however, I could not immediately follow up on my newfound knowledge.

I had got married some years earlier, in 1936. By the time of the war I had three small children to support. As part of my secular work, I would travel to southern Luzon to buy wood for lumber and firewood. There, hiding in the forests, were men who actively opposed the Japanese occupation. They recruited me to distribute literature for them, and for the duration of the war I was a courier for the underground.

In 1945, the Japanese came to suspect my underground activities and arrested me. Fortunately, we had previously disposed of the subversive literature. But during the hours I was alone in that tiny cell, my mind kept returning to the God I had read about​—Jehovah.

As it happened, the Japanese had no real proof of my guilt. They released me, and I immediately joined the pro-American resistance. But I suffered further at the hands of the Americans when they suspected me of being a Japanese spy! However, the Japanese occupation of the Philippines ended, and with it my nationalistic enthusiasm. Yet, I did not forget the promise I had made to God. Immediately, I started my search for Jehovah.

FINDING JEHOVAH’S PEOPLE

With a childhood friend, Pablo Quiohilag, I visited different churches, but none of them seemed to have the right message. Then, one day I heard someone preaching about Jehovah. I invited him into my compound in Biñan and told him to preach there as long as he desired.

In 1947, one of us heard someone else preaching about Jehovah. This time it was a Canadian missionary, Vic White, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He came to speak to our group and I was chosen to translate for him. We discovered that the individual who had been preaching in my compound was no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but had been disfellowshiped before the war. This information provoked a crisis in our little group.

About this time we heard of the first circuit assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be held in Manila after the war. I attended and was introduced by Vic White to the branch overseer, Earl K. Stewart. Afterward, at the branch office, he explained what we would have to do to become Jehovah’s Witnesses. This, of course, included a Christian’s responsibility to share in the house-to-house preaching activity. After my return to Biñan, our whole group parted company with the disfellowshiped person and decided to begin associating with Jehovah’s Witnesses.

GETTING ORGANIZED AS TRUE CHRISTIANS

Biñan Congregation was then born. But there were many questions to be answered. For example, most of our group, which numbered about 15 at the time, had been baptized by the disfellowshiped person who had been preaching to us. We now wondered: “Should we be rebaptized?” Some thought not, since the Bible speaks of “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (Eph. 4:5) We had been baptized once, so why do it again? But I reasoned that surely the “one baptism” should be in association with the “one faith.” Since we had now found the true faith, we should be rebaptized in association with those holding to it. And that is what we did.

We then had to face the matter of house-to-house preaching. How were we to go about it? None of us knew. So Pablo Quiohilag and I went from door to door together. Before each house, we would toss a coin. The loser had to do the preaching! I am not sure just what we said, but surely Jehovah guided our inexperienced efforts to praise him in public.

Finally, two experienced brothers from Bethel, Salvador Liwag and Vic Amores, were sent to help us. They showed us how to witness and how to conduct meetings. I started to attend the service meeting of the Santa Ana Congregation in Manila on Thursdays, so as to present the same program more effectively to our little group on Fridays.

KEEPING BUSY IN JEHOVAH’S SERVICE

Recently, when we were traveling to a district assembly, my wife suddenly said: “How did we do it?”

“Do what?” I asked her.

“Remember how this whole area from Sucat, Muntinlupa, in Rizal to Cabuyao in Laguna [about 40 kilometers (25 mi.)] used to be our territory?”

In those early years we had no car. We would walk for whole days to find interested persons. Sometimes we carried a kerosene lamp for use in conducting the Watchtower study and holding the public meeting after dark.

“I could not do it now,” my wife said.

That is probably true, since she now is suffering from osteoarthritis. But when we had our youth and strength, we used them in Jehovah’s service. In those early years I rose at 4 a.m. six days a week in order to get to work in Manila before 8 a.m. At night I usually went straight from work to my Bible studies. This sometimes involved walking 16 kilometers (10 mi.) to the house of an interested person and 16 kilometers home again. During the rainy season, I often got home soaking wet at 1 a.m., only to get up again three hours later to go to work.

At that time, too, I had the privilege of translating the Watchtower magazine into our local dialect, Tagalog. As my wife asked, “How did we do it?” It could have been possible only with Jehovah’s help. (Phil. 4:13) But it is a blessing to have ‘plenty to do in the Lord’s work.’​—1 Cor. 15:58.

PUTTING JEHOVAH FIRST

Sometimes, putting Jehovah first in our lives involved making sacrifices, but we never lost out because of this. After the war our house in Biñan was practically a hovel. So we saved some money for a nicer house, eventually accumulating 500 pesos (about $250, U.S., in those days). But then the need for a suitable Kingdom Hall was discussed. It seemed that I was the only one with resources. So I said to Brother Jose Nava: “Go and ask my wife for the 500 pesos.” She handed the money to him without complaint and we built a nice little Kingdom Hall with it.

Soon thereafter, Jehovah made it possible for us to build our house anyway, and we lived there comfortably until 1954, when it was so damaged by termites that it required renovation. No sooner had plans been made to do this than it became obvious that the old Kingdom Hall was just too small for our expanding congregation. Once again, my wife uncomplainingly handed over all the money we had saved, and we donated it toward the new hall, then built along the main highway. Again, however, Jehovah quickly made it possible for us to rebuild our house. We did not lose out by putting him first.​—Matt. 6:33.

Some years later, when I was deeply involved in building yet a third Kingdom Hall, my wife said to me: “You know, you have one of the most expensive hobbies I ever heard of.”

“What is that?” I asked.

“Building Kingdom Halls,” she said, smiling.

RAISING OUR CHILDREN

By the time our last son came along in 1956, we had four boys and six girls. When they were young, we always discussed the day’s Bible text with them. We saw the need, too, of having a regular family study. Also, we would have outings for the whole family in the field service. We did our best to raise our children in “the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah.”​—Eph. 6:4.

We had some hard problems along the way. But there were blessings​—many of them! At different times all our children pioneered, serving as full-time Kingdom proclaimers. My eldest daughter served with the staff at Bethel for some years before marrying and raising a family. Our first three girls were among the first special pioneers in the Philippines, and one has been serving faithfully for many years as a missionary in Thailand. All but one of our children are firm in the faith.

My second-eldest daughter received her first special pioneer assignment when she was 17 years old. After leaving home to take it up, she wrote us a letter that I still cannot recall without having tears come to my eyes. She said that when she was younger she thought I was the cruelest of fathers. Now she realized that if it had not been for our firm discipline as parents, she never would have enjoyed the wonderful privilege of special pioneer service (which later led to her foreign missionary assignment). Hence, as Christian parents, we should not deprive our children of discipline. (Prov. 22:6) They need it, and in later years they will appreciate it.

ENJOYING PRIVILEGES OF SERVICE

I have enjoyed many privileges in association with Jehovah’s people. For instance, I was privileged to organize the first assembly cafeterias in the Philippines. For many years, I had the fine privilege of translating The Watchtower into my own dialect. Meanwhile, we have watched that little group of 15 persons grow into 11 large, thriving congregations.

Another privilege took me into the National Penitentiary near my home. From time to time, prisoners write to the Watch Tower Society, seeking spiritual help. Often these letters are referred to me, and since 1947 I have been conducting regular Bible studies with interested inmates. Thus, over the years, about 50 persons have taken their stand for Jehovah and have been baptized while still in prison. At one district assembly, I met up with 23 of them. After their release, some of them became pioneers, as well as traveling overseers, and many are now serving as elders.

One individual I never expected to meet in prison was the disfellowshiped person who first started preaching to me about Jehovah. This man had been arrested on the charge of collaborating with the Japanese. (Later, he was pardoned and released.) While in prison, he humbly came to the meetings I was conducting. Many years later, in 1975, I was part of a judicial committee that considered his request for reinstatement. Thus, after almost 40 years in a disfellowshiped state, once again he was able to associate freely with God’s people.

During all these years, my wife truly has been a great help​—a loyal supporter in God’s service. Now we both can look back on more than three decades of serving Jehovah. Having sought and found him, I am fulfilling that promise made years ago in the Japanese prison camp. How thankful I am to have found Jehovah God during the productive years of my life and to have been able to spend these in his service!

Questions From Readers

● Romans 8:30 speaks of Christians being “glorified.” When does this occur, and how is this ‘glorifying’ connected with their being “called” and “declared righteous”?

In Romans chapter 8, the apostle Paul commented on God’s dealings with spirit-anointed Christians. God was working out his purpose by honoring or glorifying them by bringing them a knowledge of his truths, including his purpose to make them “joint heirs with Christ” in heaven. (Rom. 8:14-17) Paul also wrote, in part:

“Those whom [God] gave his first recognition he also foreordained to be patterned after the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Moreover, those whom he foreordained are the ones he also called; and those whom he called are the ones he also declared to be righteous. Finally [or, And] those whom he declared righteous are the ones he also glorified.”​—Rom. 8:29, 30.

Some have wondered about the sequence: ‘called, declared righteous, glorified.’ This might be viewed as a series of steps that culminates in anointed Christians’ receiving glorious spirit life in heaven. However, note the tense of Paul’s words: “Those whom he declared righteous are the ones he also glorified.” He seems to be speaking of something that had already occurred, which would not be so if he were referring to a glorifying of Christians by resurrecting them to heavenly life in the future.

Furthermore, even though God’s resurrecting someone to be a ruler in the spirit realm is a ‘glorification,’ individuals might be “glorified” in many other ways. (See Romans 8:17; John 7:39.) Jesus was “glorified” on earth through his miracles. (John 11:4) Christ spoke of a humble man being ‘honored,’ or glorified, by being given a prominent seat at a feast. (Luke 14:10) Moses acquired “glory” as God’s spokesman in connection with the Law covenant. (2 Cor. 3:7) The Bible speaks even of a woman receiving “glory,” or being ‘glorified,’ by her long hair. (1 Cor. 11:15) In all these instances forms of the same root word in Greek are used as that rendered “glorified” in Romans 8:30.​—Luke 12:27; Rom. 2:10; 1 Thess. 2:6.

It is interesting that away back in 1904 “The New Creation” (Volume VI, of Studies in the Scriptures) observed regarding Romans 8:28-30:

“This passage is usually misunderstood, because readers generally get the impression that the Apostle is here tracing Christian experiences as is usual, . . . but the Apostle is here taking an opposite view, and begins at the other end. . . . He traces backward the development of the Church, the New Creation. He shows that none will reach the grand position of the glorious elect of God except those called [accepted] to it by God’s grace; and that all called must previously have been justified [or, declared righteous]; . . . And these justified ones must previously, before their justification, have been honored [glorified, AV] . . . by God in having sent to them a knowledge of himself and of his dear Son.”​—P. 182.

It is not exceptional that Paul might here present a series of connected matters in reverse order, tracing backward, as it were. He did a similar thing in Romans 10:13-15.

At Romans 8:28-30, Paul explains that “God makes all his works cooperate together.” This is for the good of those who will share in carrying out his purpose. Back at the time of the garden of Eden Jehovah God prophesied about a coming “seed.” (Gen. 3:15) Jesus Christ became the primary one of this “seed” and of the seed of Abraham. But God also selected a limited number of humans to form a secondary part of the “seed.” (Gal. 3:16, 29) Thus, from the time of the garden of Eden God gave “first recognition” to those making up the “seed.” And he “foreordained” that these selected humans would become a body of brothers of Christ in heaven, patterned after his image.

Then, in Romans 8:30, the apostle outlines certain steps that precede their being united with Christ in heaven. Such humans must have been “called” or invited to be part of the heavenly kingdom. (Rom. 1:7; Phil. 3:14; 1 Thess. 2:12; Heb. 3:1) But how could God ‘call’ them if they were yet sinners, members of Adam’s imperfect family? Before ‘calling’ them, God had to ‘declare them righteous,’ forgiving their sins on the basis of the faith they put in Christ and his sacrifice. (Rom. 3:23-26; 4:25; 5:18) Yet, how could they gain that needed faith? Before they could do so, they had to be shown the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which Paul elsewhere calls “the glorious good news about the Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:4; compare 1 Timothy 1:11.) Those who accept this “glorious good news” and come on the way that will lead them to heavenly glory can certainly be said to be “glorified,” or honored, by receiving it.

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