The Watchtower — March 15, 1983

Are You the Victim of a Fraud?

Since Jesus has a name, does not his Father have one?

MANY millions of people throughout the world today are highly skeptical of religion. But it might come as a surprise to them to know that God himself is displeased with most religions. Among the many reasons for this is that the so-called Christian religions have perpetrated one of the greatest frauds in history. This fraud is related to a fundamental revelation​—the identity of God.

Most people in Christendom’s churches know the Creator as “God,” “Lord,” “the Almighty” or by some similar designation. But does the Most High lack a name? Before delivering the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, this all-powerful God let it be known that he purposed to “have [his] name declared in all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16) So he certainly has a name. And surely it was no nameless God whose presence created a marvelous spectacle at Mount Sinai (depicted on our cover), making the mountain tremble, when the Ten Commandments were given through the prophet Moses. Among other things, the Israelites were then told: “You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way.” (Exodus 19:16–20:18) Could such a command come from a nameless God?

Professed Christians ought to know that Divine Name. Oh, they do use the name of God’s Son. But rarely, if ever, do they utter the personal name of the Father. Yet, when Jesus Christ was on earth he stated in prayer to his heavenly Father: “I have made your name known to [my followers] and will make it known.”​—John 17:26.

It is obvious from the foregoing and from Jesus’ Model Prayer that God does indeed have a name. Jesus even taught his followers to pray that the heavenly Father’s name be “sanctified,” or held holy! (Matthew 6:9) Why, then, is it not used in the churches of Christendom? And why is that name missing from most modern translations of the Bible?

[Picture on page 3]

FATHER

THE ALMIGHTY

MOST HIGH

LORD

GOD

Solving the Mystery of the Missing Name

WHEN the Israelite leader Moses began to write mankind’s history some 3,500 years ago, he naturally used his native Hebrew tongue. That history consists of the first 5 books of the 39 that form the Hebrew Scriptures, also popularly known as the Old Testament. Those Scriptures include God’s distinctive name nearly 7,000 times. And what is that name?

The Name is so sacred that the Creator gave a commandment to Israel regarding its use, as follows: “You shall not utter the name of Yahweh [Hebrew: יהוה] your God to misuse it.” (Exodus 20:7, The Jerusalem Bible) “You shall not use the name of Jehovah your God irreverently.” (The Living Bible) Do you recognize that name “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”? Or does it sound unfamiliar to you?

Please note that commandment. Did God prohibit the use or utterance of his name? No. He clearly prohibited its misuse.

Why not check that scripture​—Exodus 20:7—​in your own copy of the Bible. It might surprise you. In most translations it reads more or less as follows: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.” (Authorized Version, 1611; Jewish Publication Society, 1917) “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”​—Revised Standard Version, 1952; Catholic Edition, 1957.

Do you notice anything strange? Yes, in many versions of the Bible the Divine Name has been omitted! The most important name in the universe has been deleted from millions of copies of Christendom’s and Judaism’s most popular translations. How extraordinary!

Could this be due to a misunderstanding? Or is it a deliberate attempt to downgrade the Sovereign Lord Jehovah? If the latter, it is a fraud of a most serious kind, one that affects a person’s relationship with his Creator.

Was the Name Used in Ancient Times?

God’s name has been in use since the very beginning of man’s history. How can we be sure of that? Because the Bible’s historical record tells us: “Now Adam had intercourse with Eve his wife and she became pregnant. In time she gave birth to Cain and said: ‘I have produced a man with the aid of Jehovah.’” In The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament this appears as follows:

⁧ אֶת־ קַיִן וַתֹּאמֶר קָנִיתִי⁩

I-brought-forth and-she-said Cain ***

⁧ אִישׁ אֶת־ יְהוָה ‏׃ וַתֹּסֶף⁩

and-she-continued (2) Yahweh with man

Here God’s distinctive name stands out clearly as “Yahweh.”​—Genesis 4:1.

What does this indicate? That the earth’s very first human inhabitants knew their Creator’s personal name. This name continued to be identified with the one true God during the writing of all the Hebrew Scriptures​—a period of over a thousand years. That being so, the question is: How and when did the practice of hiding the name “Jehovah,” or “Yahweh,” begin?

Has Jewish Tradition Affected Your Bible?

It is difficult to fix a date for the decline in the use of God’s name. However, there is some evidence that before the year 70 C.E. a superstition had developed among the tradition-bound Jews that caused them to avoid pronouncing God’s personal name. After the Divine Name had been in use for centuries, apparently the Jewish religious authorities decided that it was too sacred to be pronounced and that the only way to avoid its misuse was to ban totally its being uttered. Why, the logic of that is equivalent to banning marriage in order to prevent adultery!

Has that Jewish tradition influenced Christendom’s Bible translators? Have they glorified God’s name, or have they perpetuated the Jewish error and suppressed it? Is your Bible deficient in this respect? A brief look at a few modern translations will serve to answer those questions.

The editor of An American Translation (1923, by Smith-Goodspeed) wrote: “In this translation we have followed the orthodox Jewish tradition and substituted ‘the Lord’ for the name ‘Yahweh.’” (Italics ours) The preface to The New International Version (1978) states: “In regard to the divine name YHWH . . . the translators adopted the device used in most English versions of rendering that name as ‘LORD’.”

The Revised Standard Version (1952), rejecting the good example of its predecessor, the American Standard Version (1901), which used Jehovah consistently, explains: “The present revision returns to the procedure of the King James Version [1611], which follows the precedent of the ancient Greek and Latin translators and the long established practice in the reading of the Hebrew scriptures in the synagogue.”​—Italics ours.

Without a doubt Jewish tradition has contributed to the worldwide ignorance regarding the most important name in the universe. And most of Christendom’s translators have gladly gone along with it. But why? Why should they not want you to find the name Jehovah, or Yahweh, in your Bible?

What Has Been the Motive?

David Clines, a lecturer in the department of Biblical Studies at England’s Sheffield University, supplies us with an unintended clue to the translators’ motives. In the magazine Theology he writes: “One result of the absence of Yahweh from Christian consciousness has been the tendency to focus on the person of Christ as the exclusive manifestation of deity . . . In hymns like . . . ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’ . . . we find in practice what would be hotly denied in theory, a unitarianism of the second person of the Trinity.” Professor Clines goes on to conclude: “What has tended to happen in practice is that trinitarian theology has given a central place to the person and work of Christ. The roles of Father [Jehovah] and Spirit, whether in theology or in liturgy, have regularly been subordinated to that of the Son.”

What is the end result of all of this? For the Jews the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has improperly become a nameless abstraction​—“the Deity.” For many Protestants he has been merged into Christ and has been relegated to second place in their triune Godhead. In Catholic religious practice Jehovah has been displaced not only by Jesus Christ but also by Jesus’ mother, Mary. Why so? Because Mary, by reason of the Trinitarian concept, is also viewed as the “Mother of God.” This has ousted Jehovah from the affections of the average Catholic.

So who is Jehovah to you? Will you get to know him intimately? Your personal decision will vitally affect your future because Jehovah has said: “‘I shall certainly sanctify my great name, which was being profaned among the nations, . . . and the nations will have to know that I am Jehovah,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘when I am sanctified among you before their eyes.’”​—Ezekiel 36:23.

Happily for mankind, Jehovah has raised up his witnesses who, in this 20th century, fearlessly proclaim his name and purpose. If you wish to know the true and living God, Jehovah, contact Jehovah’s Witnesses in your neighborhood or the publishers of this magazine. Without cost or obligation they will gladly help you to know the heavenly Father, Jehovah.​—Isaiah 43:10; Matthew 6:9.

[Blurb on page 5]

God’s exclusive name appears nearly 7,000 times in the Bible’s Hebrew text. Is it in your Bible?

Insight on the News

Robes Make the Priest?

Pope John Paul II apparently feels that those who would represent his church should stand out in a crowd. His “Papal Letter on the Discipline of Ecclesiastical Dress” warned Rome’s priests, nuns and monks that they are required to wear religious garb as a means of distinguishing them ‘from the secular environment in which they live.’ “As envoys of Christ sent to announce the gospel,” he declared, “we have a message to transmit, a message which is expressed both through words and through external signs.”

Cardinal Ugo Poletti, Rome’s vicar-general, followed up with a three-page letter to those involved, stating that “the religious suit or cassock is obligatory in liturgical celebrations, in the administrations of the sacraments, in preaching (and it) is strongly recommended in the milieu of one’s own pastoral ministry.”

But we ask: Are robes or other distinctive clothing essential to ‘transmitting the message of the gospel’? Apparently Christ and his apostles were able to transmit the Christian message without looking different from their brothers. In fact, Jesus said that such frills were among the faults of his day’s religious leaders: “Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels” on their garments. Rather than being visibly different from one another, Jesus emphasized that Christians “have only one Master [Christ], and you are all brothers.” Can it be said that the true spirit of brotherhood is reflected when some set themselves apart with distinctive clothing?​—Matthew 23:3-12, Catholic Jerusalem Bible.

Darwinism: Why They Believe

In their new book Evolution From Space, the noted British astronomers Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe assert that the chances of life’s springing from some ancient random mixing of chemicals are so “outrageously small” as to be absurd “even if the whole universe consisted of organic soup.” They write that “Darwinian evolution is most unlikely to get even one polypeptide [chain of essential life substances] right, let alone the thousands on which living cells depend for survival. This situation is well known to geneticists and yet nobody seems to blow the whistle decisively on the theory.”

Why have scientists aware of this failed to “blow the whistle”? “If Darwinism were not considered socially desirable . . . it would of course be otherwise,” answers the book. When an entire society “becomes committed to a particular set of concepts, educational continuity makes it exceedingly hard to change the pattern,” it adds. “You either have to believe the concepts or you will be branded a heretic.” Evolutionists fear that any retreat would “open the flood-gates” of irrationalism. In other words, even cracking the door to the only possible alternative​—creation by a higher intelligence—​would force them to face all the issues that such a conclusion implies.

IQ​—Heredity or Environment?

A new study by staff members of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research indicates that heredity is not the major factor in determining children’s IQ scores. Children adopted into middle-class homes were compared with their brothers and/​or sisters who had been raised by their natural parents, all from a lower economic class. The children had all been adopted before they reached the age of six months.

Describing the results of IQ tests on the two groups of children with similar parental background but differing environments, the magazine Scientific American said that “the observed differences between the adopted children and those reared by their biological mothers were striking.” The average IQ test scores of adopted children reared in the middle-class environment were almost 15 points above those of their natural brothers and/​or sisters who were less privileged.

This French study offers further evidence that, given the same environment, people generally have the same potential, just as the Bible indicates when it states that God “made out of one man every nation of men.”​—Acts 17:26.

God’s Word Is Alive

Who Should Partake?

ON MARCH 29, after sundown, there will be thousands of meetings around the world such as the one that you see above. This is a celebration of the memorial of the death of Jesus Christ. Notice the bread and the wine that are to be passed. Who should partake of these emblems?

What Jesus said to his 11 faithful apostles when he instituted this memorial meal helps answer that question. When he passed the cup of wine to his apostles, he said: “This cup means the new covenant by virtue of my blood, which is to be poured out in your behalf.” (Luke 22:20) So with the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, a “new covenant” was put in force. What was the ‘old,’ or “former,” covenant that it replaced?​—Hebrews 8:13.

This was the Law covenant. It was made with the nation of Israel shortly after they escaped captivity in Egypt. Moses was the go-between, or mediator, of that covenant made between Jehovah God and the Israelites (just as Jesus is the “mediator of a new covenant”). It was the sacrifice of animals at Mount Sinai that put the Law covenant in force. (Hebrews 9:15-20) But it is noteworthy that there was a vast mixed company of non-Israelites who escaped from Egypt along with the Israelites. And although they enjoyed benefits as a result of this covenant, they were not included in it.​—Exodus 12:38, 43-45, 48, 49.

There is a similar situation with the new covenant. Only Christians referred to as “the Israel of God” are taken into this covenant with Jehovah God. (Galatians 6:16) Jesus spoke of this limited number of Christians as a “little flock.” (Luke 12:32) However, there is a “great crowd” of other Christians, referred to by Jesus as his “other sheep.” (Revelation 7:9, 10, 14; John 10:16) Although these enjoy benefits from the new covenant, they are not included in it.

The apostle John showed the distinction between these two groups who benefit from Jesus’ sacrifice when he explained about Christ: “He is a propitiatory [sin-covering] sacrifice for our sins [sins of the “little flock”], yet not for ours only but also for the whole world’s.”​—1 John 2:2.

So, then, at the celebration of the memorial of Christ’s death, only those who make up “the Israel of God” should partake of the emblems of bread and wine. This body of spiritual Israelites will number 144,000, who will rule with Christ in his heavenly Kingdom. (Revelation 14:1) On the other hand, the vast international company of “other sheep,” who do not partake, will enjoy everlasting life on the Paradise earth, receiving the benefits of the Kingdom rule.

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“OTHER SHEEP” AND “LITTLE FLOCK”

The Apostle Peter Speaks to You

IT IS not easy today to be a Christian. There are many pressures. In some lands the State tries to force us to do things that are against a Christian conscience. Many Christian wives have husbands who are not believers. Young people are attracted by the glitter and “wisdom” of the world. And, after several decades of waiting, some might even be wondering: ‘Will Armageddon ever come?’

If you face problems like these​—and what Christian does not?​—the two letters in the Bible written by the apostle Peter speak directly to you. Peter wrote to congregations in his day probably a little more than 30 years after the death of Jesus. But the problems Christians face have not changed much over the centuries. The counsel Peter gave is as valid now as it was then. And he was well qualified to give such counsel.

A Qualified Shepherd

From reading the Gospel accounts and the book of Acts, we learn a lot about the fisherman from Galilee who became the apostle Peter. He appears heartwarmingly human. There was never any doubt about his loyalty to Jesus, but he was impulsive and sometimes made mistakes. Perhaps we can recognize something of ourselves in Peter in some of his misadventures.

For example, remember Peter’s reaction when he saw Jesus walking on the water. He excitedly wanted to walk on water too. But when he realized where he was he got scared and had to be rescued. Remember, too, the time when Peter stoutheartedly insisted that he would never be stumbled. But a few hours later he denied Jesus three times.​—Matthew 14:23-34; 26:33, 34, 69-75.

However, the writer of these two canonical letters had changed since he was at the receiving end of Jesus’ stern words: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me.” (Matthew 16:23) This is the apostle who was given the commission by Jesus: “Feed my little sheep.” (John 21:17) In Peter’s letters we meet a man who has been tempered by more than 30 years’ experience in ‘feeding the sheep.’

Thus when we read his admonition, “Love one another intensely from the heart,” we may recall that this was the apostle who asked Jesus: ‘How many times must I forgive my brother? Up to seven times?’ By now, Peter knows that there is no limit to the love that Christians show one another. (1 Peter 1:22; Matthew 18:21) And when he urged his fellow Christians to stay “vigilant with a view to prayers,” we see that he has learned a powerful lesson since that terrible night in Gethsemane when Jesus left the apostles praying and came back to find them asleep.​—1 Peter 4:7; Luke 22:39-46.

Yes, the fisherman from Galilee had become a well-qualified shepherd. And, inspired by holy spirit, his shepherding is as valuable in our day as it was in his. Consider some of his advice.

Appreciate the Faith

In the first century the Judeo-Roman world was glittering and powerful. It was important for Christians not to be seduced by the world’s splendor or bullied into quitting by its pressures. So Peter begins by exhorting his readers to ‘brace up their minds for activity, keep their senses completely.’ (1 Peter 1:13) How? By having a lively appreciation of the privileges they enjoyed.

Peter reminded them that the prophets of old and even the angels were intensely interested in the things God had revealed to Christians. He showed how very blessed they were: having been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ, born with incorruptible seed by means of God’s everlasting Word and formed into “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession.” (1 Peter 2:9) They should remember who they were: alien residents in an ungodly world​—persons enjoying the great mercy of Jehovah God.

Today, that ancient world is just a memory. But we still live in an ungodly world that allures us by its temptations or distracts us by its pressures. Peter’s counsel is still valid. We should never lose sight of what we have. To avoid being overwhelmed by the cynicism and secularism of today’s world, we must ‘form a longing for the unadulterated milk belonging to the word, that through it we may grow to salvation.’​—1 Peter 2:2.

Rejoicing Despite Problems

Our living in an ungodly world often raises problems, as it did in Peter’s day. Three situations that he mentions are (1) a Christian’s responsibility toward the State, (2) a Christian house servant’s relationship with his master and (3) a Christian wife’s submissively helping an unbelieving husband.

Back there, such questions were matters of life and death. Rulers often had authority to torture or execute non-Roman citizens. House slaves had little recourse if they were treated cruelly by their owners. Wives were the property of their husbands, with few legal rights.

Today, Christians still have difficulties in their dealings with “Caesar” or their employers, even though the situation does not parallel exactly the master/​slave relationship. And many Christian women with unbelieving husbands face big problems. Thus the apostle Peter’s counsel is invaluable. What does he say?

In brief, he advises us to remember three things. First, we need a proper view of subjection​—all should be subject to the government, employees should obey their employers and wives should respect and obey their husbands. Then, the way we behave should show unbelievers that Christianity is the best way of life. (1 Peter 3:1; 4:15) Finally, we should keep a good conscience before Jehovah God, always being ready to explain in a mild way the reason for our actions.​—1 Peter 3:15, 16.

Will this solve all our problems? Peter knew it would not. There come times when the world makes demands that a Christian cannot accept. Hence, we may have to suffer for righteousness’ sake. But, says Peter, “if someone, because of conscience toward God, bears up under grievous things and suffers unjustly, this is an agreeable thing.”​—1 Peter 2:19.

In fact, suffering for righteousness, when viewed properly, is a cause for rejoicing. Peter knew this from firsthand experience. Many years earlier he had been flogged for his faith. Afterward, he and his fellow sufferers “went their way . . . rejoicing because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored in behalf of his name.” (Acts 5:41) Hence, he now writes to Christians suffering persecution: “Go on rejoicing forasmuch as you are sharers in the sufferings of the Christ.”​—1 Peter 4:12, 13.

Peter told the brothers that, really, they were being trained by Jehovah. He said: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.” He told them to love one another, and that the elders should shepherd the congregations with right motives. And soon, he promised, “the God of all undeserved kindness . . . will himself finish your training, he will make you firm, he will make you strong.”​—1 Peter 5:1-3, 6, 10.

Is not this counsel just as timely now as it was then? Is it not as if Peter were speaking directly to you? Imagine how it strengthened the Christians back in Peter’s day. But soon the aging apostle had to write a second letter to warn of a sinister threat to his brothers.

Meeting a Sinister Threat

In this second letter Peter says that his need to warn his fellow Christians is more urgent because he does not have much longer to live. He lists the qualities that Christians must develop in order to stay strong and speaks of forces that will appear within the congregation to weaken them.​—2 Peter 1:5-8, 14, 16.

“There will also be false teachers among you,” he warns. (2 Peter 2:1, 2) These false teachers would promote loose conduct and be skilled in using “counterfeit words.” But they would forget one vital point: “Jehovah knows how to deliver people of godly devotion out of trial, but to reserve unrighteous people for the day of judgment to be cut off.” (2 Peter 2:3, 9) They might flourish for a while, but their judgment was certain.

Others would mockingly say: “Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as from creation’s beginning.” These, too, would conveniently forget that Jehovah’s time is not as our time. And he is patient. But just as surely as the end came in Noah’s day, so the end of this system will come.​—2 Peter 3:4-10.

Finally, even in Peter’s day some within the congregation were ‘twisting the Scriptures.’ But this would be to their own destruction.​—2 Peter 3:16.

In view of these threats, Peter wanted to ‘arouse the clear thinking faculties’ of the brothers. (2 Peter 3:1) They should not forget the historic proofs that Jehovah is able to destroy the wicked and save the righteous, and they should keep “close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah.” (2 Peter 3:12) That day is real. It is coming. This fact should affect everything they do or plan to do.​—2 Peter 1:19-21.

Since we are living so close to that day, Peter’s urging takes on an added force: “Do your utmost to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace.” (2 Peter 3:14) Truly, those words apply to us. The apostle Peter is speaking to everyone whose hope lies in Jehovah’s promised “new heavens and a new earth.” Hence, his final exhortation comes sounding down through the centuries with all the strength of his apostolic authority: “Be on your guard that you may not be led away with them by the error of the law-defying people and fall from your own steadfastness. No, but go on growing in the undeserved kindness and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”​—2 Peter 3:13, 17, 18.

Sustained by ‘the Power Beyond Normal’

As told by Sadie Lewis Haddad

“HOW did you do it?” I am asked at times. Do what? Raise nine children, the last seven on my own. And of the eight who are living today, seven long have been dedicated, loyal servants of Jehovah God.

Looking back, I know that being able to raise my children in God’s truth was not done just in my own power. That would have been impossible. Surely it was with Jehovah’s help. As 2 Corinthians 4:7 shows, those who really want to serve God and do his will can have “the power beyond what is normal” that comes from God by means of his holy spirit.

But how did it come about that I had to raise most of my children on my own? How did I get to know Jehovah and his purposes? Let me give you a little of my background.

Early Schooling in Lebanon

I was born in Lebanon over 90 years ago, in 1892. My father was a Greek Orthodox priest, as was his father before him. The heart desire of my father was to have at least one of his sons become a priest, following in his footsteps. But none of them wished to pursue this vocation.

My father was very unhappy about this. However, if it is the will of Jehovah “who raises up the dead,” my father will come back from the dead in the resurrection when God establishes His Paradise “new earth.” (2 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Peter 3:13) Then I’ll be able to tell my father that while none of his sons became a minister of God, his daughter Sadie, and most of her children and grandchildren did become Jehovah’s ministers!

I really never got to know my mother, since she died when I was three years old. At her request, though, my father placed me in a boarding school where German Lutheran nuns taught me in both the Arabic and the German language. I was taught to love Jesus but was taught very little about God and his purposes.

Yet my desire was to be a nun and to go to heaven. But I never became a nun because when I finished school I had to return home to take care of my father before his death. When he died my brothers were charged with the responsibility of looking out for my welfare, as was the custom in Lebanon in those days. They felt that it was best for me to get married, and they chose a husband for me. I had no choice in the matter. So in 1909, when I was only 17 years old, I got married.

Coming to the United States

In 1910 my husband and I left Lebanon and came to the United States. We eventually settled on a rice farm in Texas. And as the years went by we had nine children.

But my marriage didn’t go well. In fact, in 1935 my husband left me, when our ninth child was three years old. While my oldest daughter and son were already married, their problems were still concerns of mine. And now I had to care for the other seven on my own.

The next year we sold everything we could, except some of the land, and rented a home in Beaumont, Texas. Several of my children then started to work and contributed toward the family’s expenses. That was really a great help to me.

Help From Jehovah

The greatest help, however, came from God. As far back as 1917, while we still lived on the farm, I had begun to get acquainted with Jehovah and his purposes and began turning to him for help.

Ever since I was a little girl I have had a reverence for God, and now I wanted to know more about him. What gave this more of a sense of urgency was the Great War, as they then called it, that broke out in 1914. My sister in Beirut, Lebanon, wrote to me about the terrible conditions in that part of the world during the war. Many of my relatives starved to death.

My sister said that she was forced to sell her house and belongings just to get some bread to eat, and, besides, she became very ill. She asked me please to send her money to buy food. So I promptly sent the money. But then I was notified by mail that my sister had died the same day that the money arrived. I still have that very sad letter.

These experiences helped me to see firsthand the fulfillment of Matthew 24:7, and this made it easier to accept the truth when it was presented to me.

Seeds of Truth Sown

The seeds of truth began to be sown in my heart in 1917. In that year a full-time minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door. He invited me to subscribe for the Watchtower magazine in the Arabic language. I read that first issue from cover to cover. Since then I have read every single issue along with the Bible, which has been the source of my faith and trust in Jehovah.

Eventually I learned to read English well enough to change the subscription to the English language. My main reason for this was that I wanted my children to read the magazines too.

My husband didn’t oppose the things I was learning but did resent my reading so much. So when I would read at night, after all the chores were finished and the children were in bed, I would lock the door in the room where I was reading and stuff the cracks where light might come through. In this way I was able to continue reading.

Could I Make That Sacrifice?

Years went by. I continued reading and learning more about God. Then in 1935, after my husband had left, I was invited to attend a lecture given by Jehovah’s Witnesses in a schoolhouse near our farm. The talk included information about Abraham’s sacrificing his son, Isaac.

One thing that had always bothered me as a Lutheran was why God had asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son. Being a mother of nine children now, this bothered me even more. I felt that I could never do that!

Yet, upon hearing the explanation of this at the lecture, I understood what true faith really meant, and how it enabled Abraham to do this. He was certain that the God who raises up the dead could raise up his child too. (Hebrews 11:17-19) I realized that this was the kind of faith I would need to face the problems that the future held. But how was I going to raise my children in a proper way and give them the kind of faith that Abraham had? My constant prayers to God were that I could do so.

Learning More Truths

Just a few short weeks before we moved to the city in 1936, the Witnesses called back on me and played a recording by the Watchtower Society’s president, J. F. Rutherford. It was about the value of accurate knowledge. It pointed out that accurate knowledge was vital, since Jesus said that knowledge of God and Christ would lead to everlasting life. (John 17:3) The Witnesses also invited me to come to their meetings. So after we moved to the city, one of my daughters and I found out where the meetings were held and we attended.

Our first meeting was so enjoyable that at its conclusion I asked the Witnesses if they had a Sunday school that my children could attend. I wanted them to learn the wonderful things I was learning. Of course, the Witnesses told me that they didn’t have Sunday schools but instead would come to my home every week and teach us the Bible. I asked: “What do you charge?” And they answered: “Nothing. It’s free.” That was amazing to me!

Before the Witnesses came for that first study, I prayed to Jehovah. I fervently asked him to help me with my children, and that they would study the Bible with us. To my delight, all of them joined the study, even my oldest daughter and her children.

Week by week we were thrilled to learn new truths about God’s Kingdom and its rule over a Paradise earth to come. We learned, too, the importance of God’s name, Jehovah. (Psalm 83:18) That was something I had never heard of in the Lutheran school in Lebanon.

Sustained by ‘the Power Beyond Normal’

I also learned that Jehovah is a God who sustains his servants when they rely on him. When that truth fully reached my heart, I can honestly say that no longer did I worry about how things would turn out. I put my full trust in Jehovah, doing my part of course, confident that he would supply “the power beyond what is normal.”

In time, this trust bore fruit. After a year of home Bible study I was baptized, in 1937. In time, all seven of my daughters were also baptized. How I thanked Jehovah for that blessing!

Then a severe test came. It was one that would require me to lean fully on Jehovah for strength. This had to do with my younger son. Although he studied the Bible for a while, he never took a definite stand for the truth. However, he did respect it and supported us in our pursuit of it. But then he got sick, and in 1968 he died.

My son’s death was the most tremendous grief of my life. I loved him very much, as I do all my children. I can truthfully say that if it was not for having Jehovah to help me, I could not have borne that grief. Great comfort was provided also by the realization that I would see him again in the earthly resurrection.

Sharing the Truth

Since learning the truth, I have had a freedom of mind and peace of heart that I never had before. I realized, too, that I no longer wanted to be a nun and go to heaven but wanted to live in that earthly Paradise under the rule of God’s Kingdom. This was such a grand hope that I had an earnest desire to share it with others. And throughout the years, I did, having had many wonderful experiences.

Even at this age​—nearly 91 now—​I still want to have a share in telling others about the Kingdom good news. True, I’m not able to get around as I used to, but my daughters are very helpful in this. They take me in a car and let me call at one door with the Kingdom message, then they have me get back in the car to rest for a while and wait for them while they continue the preaching work.

In fact, one of my daughters and I conduct a Bible study each week with four elderly women. This helps me to keep the wonderful truths about Jehovah and his purposes fresh in my mind.

I have been a baptized servant of God for over 45 years now. Have I grown weary that the New Order isn’t here yet? Well, physically I do get tired. But what a joy it has been during this time to see the growth of Jehovah’s visible organization from a few tens of thousands in 1937, when I was baptized, to over 2,400,000 in 1982!

Among those praisers of Jehovah are seven of my eight surviving children and nearly all my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I also have a daughter, Rose Peloyan, who, with her husband, has spent over 25 years in full-time service at the Watchtower Society’s headquarters in Brooklyn. Why, I even have a granddaughter and her husband serving there too now!

Throughout all these years, there has been no doubt in my mind that I would have failed miserably in trying to raise my family to serve God if I had to do it in my own strength. But Jehovah has promised that he would not let his servants down. Instead, he would help them accomplish his will by giving them “the power beyond what is normal” by means of his holy spirit. I have experienced that help for many decades. Now I look forward to regaining my physical strength in Paradise and serving Jehovah throughout eternity.​—Psalm 94:17-19.

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My husband deserted me in 1935 when our ninth child was three years old

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Since 1917 I have read every single copy of The Watchtower

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If it was not for having Jehovah to help me, I could not have borne that grief

Jerusalem​—“A Cause for Exultation”

“Here I am creating new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart. But exult, you people, and be joyful forever in what I am creating. For here I am creating Jerusalem a cause for joyfulness and her people a cause for exultation. And I will be joyful in Jerusalem and exult in my people.”​—Isaiah 65:17-19.

1. (a) Why should God’s people find the words of Isaiah 65:17-19 thrilling? (b) Yet what questions are raised about Jerusalem?

THRILLING are these words of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah as expressed through his prophet! They speak of an abounding joy. Do you not want to share in that joy? Surely you do! But you may ask, What is the Jerusalem referred to here? Does it have any connection with the modern city​—so much a center of violent religious and political controversies? Will “Jerusalem” ever fulfill a role in harmony with the meaning of its name​—“Possession [or, Foundation] of Twofold Peace”? In what way are the “new heavens and a new earth” related to the Jerusalem of this prophecy? We shall see.

Ancient Jerusalem

2. What was the early history of Jerusalem’s location?

² The location of Jerusalem has a long history of being favored by Jehovah. No doubt it was here, more than 3,900 years ago, that the king-priest Melchizedek blessed Abraham. Further, he blessed Jehovah as “the Most High God, Producer of heaven and earth.” (Genesis 14:18, 19) However, in course of time that mountainous city, Salem, became a stronghold of the demon-worshiping Jebusites.

3. What mention is made of Jerusalem during and after Joshua’s time?

³ More than 400 years pass, and in Joshua chapter 10 we find the first mention of “Jerusalem” in the Bible. Here we read that King Adonizedek of Jerusalem called on four neighboring kings to join him in the war against Israel. But Jehovah fought for Israel. Even the sun and the moon stood still, so that the Canaanites could be routed completely. The five kings were slain. However, it is not said that Joshua took Jerusalem. In fact, the record states: “As for the Jebusites who were dwelling in Jerusalem, the sons of Judah [who inherited that territory] were not able to drive them away.”​—Joshua 10:1-27; 15:63; Judges 1:21.

The Jerusalem of Kings David and Solomon

4. How was Jerusalem blessed in the days of David and Solomon?

⁴ Some 400 years later, David became king over all Israel. In the year 1070 B.C.E. “David proceeded to capture the stronghold of Zion, that is to say, the city of David,” in Jerusalem. There on Mount Zion he came to reign as Jehovah’s anointed king. His son Solomon also sat “upon Jehovah’s throne as king.” During his peaceful reign, Solomon built a glorious temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This temple became the center for worship of Jehovah and for instruction in His word and Law.​—1 Chronicles 11:5; 29:23; 2 Chronicles 7:12-16.

5. How does the book of Psalms describe Jerusalem and its “grand King”?

⁵ Many of the psalms extol the beauty of Zion and of Jerusalem. The sons of Korah sang of it as “the city of our God, in his holy mountain.” Yes, “pretty for loftiness, the exultation of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the remote sides of the north, the town of the grand King [Jehovah God].” David himself described it in these words: “Our feet proved to be standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is one that is built like a city that has been joined together in oneness, to which the tribes have gone up, the tribes of Jah, as a reminder to Israel to give thanks to the name of Jehovah.” This “grand King” is said to be “residing in Jerusalem” and to be the loving Protector of its people. “Jerusalem​—as mountains are all around it, so Jehovah is all around his people from now on and to time indefinite.”​—Psalm 48:1, 2; 122:2-4; 135:21; 125:1, 2.

Ruination and Restoration

6. (a) What did Jerusalem come to symbolize? (b) What judgment was executed on Jerusalem, and why?

⁶ Appropriately, Jerusalem and Mount Zion came to symbolize the nation of Israel and its people. But in the space of less than 500 years that people became apostate, and wicked kings “filled Jerusalem with innocent blood.” (2 Kings 24:4) They refused to heed the warning of God’s prophets, so that finally the Sovereign Lord Jehovah pronounced judgment on Zedekiah, the last king to reign in Jerusalem, saying: “Lift off the crown. . . . A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I shall make it. As for this also, it will certainly become no one’s until he comes who has the legal right, and I must give it to him.” (Ezekiel 21:26, 27) Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in 607 B.C.E. and carried the survivors captive to Babylon.

7. (a) What restoration took place, and why was this astonishing? (b) How did Jerusalem then differ, but what did the restoration make possible?

⁷ However, Jehovah’s prophets had foretold a glorious restoration of Jerusalem, and Jeremiah had even stated that this would take place at the end of 70 years. (Isaiah 44:24–45:7; Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10) Astonishingly, and in fulfillment of Jehovah’s prophecy by Isaiah, Babylon was overthrown, and conquering King Cyrus of Persia issued a decree that enabled God-fearing Jews to return and restore Jehovah’s worship in Jerusalem right on time​—in 537 B.C.E. As Isaiah had foretold, “the glory of Jehovah, the splendor of our God” shone forth once more in Judah and Jerusalem. This time no king ruled in Jerusalem. But Jehovah again favored that city because his name had been placed there and because of the faithfulness of a remnant of his people. Moreover, this typified grander things to come. The city was rebuilt, making possible the prophesied appearance there of Messiah.​—Isaiah 35:2; 62:1-7.

Jerusalem’s House Abandoned

8. (a) Why did Jerusalem fail to welcome Messiah? (b) What prophecy by Jesus was fulfilled toward Jerusalem, and how?

⁸ More than 500 years after that restoration, Messiah did indeed present himself to the Jews in Jerusalem. This happened also at Jehovah’s appointed time, in 33 C.E., fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy of Da chapter 9 verses 24-27. But did Jerusalem welcome Messiah? No, for her hopes had become political. Jerusalem had apostatized from the teachings of Jehovah’s Word, and the rulers of the Jews committed the unforgivable crime of murdering the Son of God himself! Just three days before he was cruelly nailed to a torture stake, Messiah, Jesus, said to that people: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent forth to her,​—how often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings! But you people did not want it. Look! Your house is abandoned to you.” (Matthew 23:37, 38) Earthly Jerusalem was judged and cast off by Jehovah in that year 33 C.E. In 70 C.E. the Roman armies wiped out Jerusalem and most of its people, destroying also the temple, together with genealogical and other records pertaining to the Jewish system of things.

9. Has earthly Jerusalem lived up to the meaning of its name?

⁹ Has the earthly, rebuilt Jerusalem enjoyed any blessing from God since that time? Its turbulent history of the past 1,900 years provides the answer. And today Jerusalem continues to be a religiously divided city. No “possession of twofold peace,” no glory of Jehovah, is to be found there. The earthly Jerusalem no longer enjoys a place in his divine purpose.

Apostasy Foreshadowed

10. (a) What does apostate Jerusalem well picture? (b) How may Matthew 7:20 be applied to this modern “Jerusalem”?

¹⁰ The Jerusalem that twice apostatized, and that Jehovah punished by bringing against it, first, the Babylonian invaders, and, later, the Roman legions, well pictures another apostate system​—the organized religion of Christendom. Just as the hypocritical rulers of Jerusalem gave lip worship to Jehovah’s Law, so the clergy of Christendom claim to speak for the God of the Bible. But, says Jesus Christ, “by their fruits you will recognize those men.” (Matthew 7:20) And what kind of “fruits” has modern-day Christendom produced? Have these provided any “Foundation of Twofold Peace”? No. Rather, there has been the fruitage of two dreadful world wars, both of which broke out in the realm of Christendom and were fought with the blessing of the religious clergy on both sides. Truly, the prophetic words addressed by Jehovah to apostate Jerusalem apply even more pointedly to the leaders of religious Christendom: “In your skirts there have been found the blood marks of the souls of the innocent poor ones. . . . They are upon all these.”​—Jeremiah 2:34.

11. How has Christendom fulfilled Jesus’ words at Matthew 24:11, 12 and Mark 7:6-8?

¹¹ It is in Christendom today that we find a bumper crop of immorality, divorce, broken families, drug abuse and crime of every kind. Christendom’s religion has proved powerless to stay the growth of lawlessness. (Matthew 24:11, 12) How well Jesus’ words apply to its religious clergy! He declared: “Isaiah aptly prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far removed from me. It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach as doctrines commands of men.’ Letting go the commandment of God, you hold fast the tradition of men.” Thus Christendom, the modern-day apostate “Jerusalem,” together with all other “antichrists,” faces “tribulation” from God when the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven to bring vengeance upon disobedient ones.​—Mark 7:6-8; 1 John 2:18, 19; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9.

Restoring the Kingdom

12. What period of ‘trampling’ was foretold in Luke 21:24?

¹² However, did not Jesus indicate a restoration of earthly Jerusalem when he said: “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled”? (Luke 21:24) True, Jerusalem had been trampled down by the Babylonians in 607 B.C.E., and despite the glory of a restoration, no king of David’s line had ever again reigned in that city. And, in the first century, Jerusalem was being trampled on by the Romans, who were detestable to the politically minded Jews. To this present day, there has been no restoration of a theocratic kingdom in earthly Jerusalem. Nor will that ever occur.

13. (a) What does Luke 21:7-11, 24-26 prophesy for the ending of the “times of the nations”? (b) What did events from 1914 onward confirm?

¹³ Ah, but “the appointed times of the nations” have been fulfilled! The very context of Jesus’ prophecy at Luke 21 indicates how this must be. Do we not see all around us today the very things that Jesus there foretold​—‘nation rising against nation’ in hot and cold wars, ‘earthquakes, pestilences, food shortages, fearful sights, anguish of nations, not knowing the way out, and men becoming faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth’? Yes, the ending of the “times of the nations” is tied in with these world-shaking events that have exploded on earth from the year 1914 onward! (Luke 21:7-11, 24-26) It was no mere coincidence that Jehovah’s people had been pointing forward to 1914 throughout the 35 years preceding that date. They understood that the “seven times” of Daniel’s prophecy, Da chapter 4, would run out in 1914, this marking the end of the Gentile nations’ rule over the earth without interruption by God.

14. Why could Luke 21:24 not refer to the earthly Jerusalem?

¹⁴ So in 1914 the nations were due to cease ‘trampling on Jerusalem.’ Which “Jerusalem” is this? It could not be the earthly Jerusalem that was captured by the British general Allenby in 1917 and that remained under mandate to British rule until 1948, when the republic​—not the kingdom—​of Israel was born. To which “Jerusalem,” then, did Jesus refer?

15. Why would we expect the ‘seed of David’ to have been enthroned in “Jerusalem” in 1914 C.E.?

¹⁵ We recall that Jehovah established a theocratic kingdom at Jerusalem with David as king. It was to David that Jehovah there made the promise: “Once I have sworn in my holiness, to David I will not tell lies. His seed itself will prove to be even to time indefinite, and his throne as the sun in front of me. As the moon it will be firmly established for time indefinite, and as a faithful witness in the skies.” (Psalm 89:35-37) With the ending of “the appointed times of the [Gentile] nations” in 1914 C.E., the ‘seed of David’ with legal right was due to resume ruling in “Jerusalem,” or Zion. But not in the earthly Jerusalem!

16. (a) Where, then, has Messiah been ruling since 1914? (b) What is the evidence that Christ has begun to reign?

¹⁶ Instead, he rules now in the Jerusalem, or Zion, of which Jehovah says, at Psalm 2:6: “I, even I, have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain.” This is the city David refers to at Psalm 110:1, 2, when he speaks prophetically of the Lord Jesus Christ: “The utterance of Jehovah to my Lord is: ‘Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.’ The rod of your strength Jehovah will send out of Zion, saying: ‘Go subduing in the midst of your enemies.’” Yes, the Messianic King, Jesus Christ, is enthroned now in a heavenly Mount Zion, or Jerusalem, to rule in the midst of his enemies. Already he has hurled the archenemy, Satan the Devil, down to the vicinity of this earth. Knowing that his time is short, Satan has brought the nations into “tumult,” as the psalm writer so aptly expresses it.​—Psalm 2:1; Revelation 12:7-12.

17. Why should we expect an early end to the “tumult” of the nations?

¹⁷ However, will the Sovereign Lord Jehovah permit those nations to raise “tumult” indefinitely in flagrant opposition to his Kingdom by his Son? Remember, it was charged against first-century Christians that they ‘filled Jerusalem with their teaching’; and after that vigorous campaign of public house-to-house preaching had sounded the warning, earthly Jerusalem met up with Jehovah’s execution of judgment. (Acts 5:28, 41, 42; 4:16) Similarly today, Jehovah’s Witnesses have proclaimed His day of vengeance throughout the realm of Christendom.

18. Why do we confidently await the triumph of Jehovah’s “eternal purpose”?

¹⁸ Will Jehovah now fail to cap this greatest global proclamation of all history with his coup de grace at Har–Magedon? Will Jehovah fail “to bring to ruin those ruining the earth”? Never could that be so! Those whose hopes are anchored in God’s promises look confidently to the triumph of his “eternal purpose.” (Revelation 11:18; Ephesians 3:10-12) Through the Kingdom by Messiah, who now rules out of the heavenly “Jerusalem,” our “grand King,” Jehovah, will cause his Sovereign Name to be vindicated. Then, by restoring mankind to eternal life in perfection on a Paradise earth, Jehovah will demonstrate that he “is our God to time indefinite, even forever,” and that he “did not create [the earth] simply for nothing.”​—Psalm 48:14; Isaiah 45:18, 22-24; 46:9-11; 55:11; Jeremiah 25:31.

How would you comment on the following:

□ What does the name “Jerusalem” mean?

□ Has the city lived up to its name?

□ What parallel to unfaithful Jerusalem is seen today?

□ What does Luke 21:24-26 show as to the end of the “times of the nations”?

□ Which “Jerusalem” then ceases to be ‘trampled’?

“Be Joyful Forever”

1. (a) What is the “city” of Hebrews 11:10? (b) Till when must the “great crowd” await the “fulfillment of the promise”?

TRULY, we can be most joyful that the Messianic King, Christ Jesus, now reigns in a heavenly “Jerusalem.” This is the city “belonging to heaven” mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, and for which Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ‘reached out.’ They “publicly declared that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land” of Canaan, for they were earnestly seeking “the city having real foundations, the builder and maker of which city is God.” But as with the “great crowd,” who today have hope of everlasting life on earth, the “fulfillment of the promise” to those men of old must wait until anointed Christians have received their inheritance in the heavenly Kingdom.​—Hebrews 11:8-16, 39, 40; Revelation 7:9.

“Heavenly Jerusalem”

2. (a) How does Hebrews 12:1, 2 point to the hope of the Messianic Kingdom? (Psalm 110:1, 2) (b) How was the coming of the Kingdom foreshadowed at Mount Sinai?

² Hebrews chapter 12 goes on to encourage anointed Christians to profit by the example of those faithful witnesses of ancient times, and also to “look intently at the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus,” who, after enduring, “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” until “the appointed times of the nations” should end. (Hebrews 12:1, 2) Then, emphasizing the Kingdom hope of these Christians, Paul describes the awesome demonstrations of Jehovah’s glory at Mount Sinai at the time of the inauguration of the Law covenant with fleshly Israel. It was then that Jehovah told Israel: “If you will strictly obey my voice and will indeed keep my covenant, . . . you yourselves will become to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”​—Exodus 19:5, 6.

3. How have spiritual Israelites “approached” something more awesome?

³ However, spiritual Israelites​—anointed Christians today—​are in “a new covenant.” (Hebrews 8:8-11) And now they have “approached” something far more awesome. What is that? Paul answers at Hebrews 12:22: “You have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem.” That approach had started with the Kingdom heirs of Paul’s day, as these were “built up a spiritual house” on the foundation, Christ Jesus, now laid in Zion. (1 Peter 2:4-9) Other anointed Christians would continue this approach to the heavenly Jerusalem until all 144,000 are gathered to the Lamb, to stand with him upon that heavenly Mount Zion.​—Revelation 14:1-5.

4. In connection with the Messianic Kingdom, what other features have anointed Christians “approached”?

⁴ Here in Hebrews 12:22-24, Paul describes also other features to which Christians have “approached,” and which have a relation to the Messianic Kingdom and its purpose. He speaks of the presence of “myriads of angels,” which both Daniel 7:9-14 and Matthew 25:31 indicate are on hand when the One “like a son of man” receives the Kingdom. Paul refers also to “the congregation of the firstborn” who inherit the Kingdom. He magnifies God as “the Judge of all,” who declares these ‘firstborn sons’ righteous or just, that they may be taken into the new covenant that Jesus mediated by means of his own precious blood. (Hebrews 9:13-15; Romans 5:1, 9) And Paul mentions also ‘the spiritual lives of these righteous ones,’ the Kingdom heirs, who now walk in “a newness of life.”​—Romans 6:4; 8:16.

5. (a) How does Hebrews 12:28, 29 bear out that the “heavenly Jerusalem” is the Messianic Kingdom? (b) How does Hebrews 13:14, 15 point to this “city” as being yet future?

⁵ That the “heavenly Jerusalem” of Hebrews 12:22 refers to the Messianic Kingdom to which anointed Christians “have approached” is further borne out by the following Heb 12 verses, 28 and 29, where Paul encourages these, saying: “Wherefore, seeing that we are to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us continue to have undeserved kindness, through which we may acceptably render God sacred service with godly fear and awe. For our God is also a consuming fire.” Such admonition to zeal in ‘approaching’ the heavenly Jerusalem, or Messianic Kingdom, continues on to the end of Paul’s letter, as we read in the last chapter, namely, Hebrews 13:14: “We do not have here a city that continues, but we are earnestly seeking the one to come.” Now that Kingdom has come​—in the epoch-marking year 1914! How earnest the remaining anointed ones on earth should be in ‘seeking first the kingdom’ and in always offering to Jehovah “a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name”!​—Matthew 6:33; Hebrews 13:15.

The “New Jerusalem”

6. (a) What is the “New Jerusalem,” as described in Revelation? (b) Why should the “great crowd” be deeply interested in this “Jerusalem”?

⁶ What, then, of “the new Jerusalem,” first mentioned at Revelation 3:12? Here the glorified Jesus says of ‘the one who conquers’: “I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, . . . and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from my God.” Later, at Revelation 21:1, 2 and 10, John locates these conquerors in “a new heaven” and describes their composite group as “the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,” Christ the bridegroom. This New Jerusalem is God’s agency through which he causes “water of life” to flow to obedient humans, as these are healed and brought to perfection of life here on earth. Thus God, the Author of this grand arrangement, will in a very literal way “wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.” How the “great crowd,” the companions of the remnant of the “bride” class, rejoice in that prospect!​—Revelation 22:1, 2; 21:4.

7. How does the “New Jerusalem” differ from the “heavenly Jerusalem”?

⁷ However, there is a slight difference between the “New Jerusalem” described in Revelation and the “heavenly Jerusalem” of the book of Hebrews in that the “New Jerusalem” is made up of the 144,000 who are betrothed to the bridegroom, whereas the “heavenly Jerusalem” comprises 144,001, this “one” being the bridegroom King. Thus the Bible books of Hebrews and Revelation show a close identity between the “heavenly Jerusalem” and the “New Jerusalem.”

“Jerusalem Above”

8, 9. (a) Who or what is “the Jerusalem above”? (b) In quoting from Isaiah 54, how does Paul describe her wifely function?

⁸ At Galatians 4:26 we read of still another “Jerusalem.” It is “the Jerusalem above.” And who is she? The apostle Paul says of her: “The Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.”​—Compare Isaiah 54:13.

⁹ This “Jerusalem above” is Jehovah’s womanlike organization in the heavens. It is made up of the hosts of loyal angels, including now the glorified archangel, Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:7) These serve in the role of “wife” to their Sovereign Lord. Concerning this “woman” Paul goes on to say: “It is written [that is, at Isaiah 54:1]: ‘Be glad, you barren woman who does not give birth; break out and cry aloud, you woman who does not have childbirth pains; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of her who has the husband.’”​—Galatians 4:27.

10. How did “Jerusalem above” come to “cry aloud” with joy?

¹⁰ In fulfillment of this prophecy, Jehovah’s “wife,” his grand heavenly organization of spirit creatures, must have cried out with joy to see Christ Jesus brought forth as the primary “seed” at his baptism in 29 C.E. That joy must have overflowed when the integrity-keeping Jesus was raised from the dead in 33 C.E. and exalted to God’s right hand in the heavens. Then, what joy to see the “seed” become many as disciples of Jesus Christ were brought in also, to become her spiritual children! All of this was in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that He would ‘multiply his seed’ for the blessing of all nations of the earth.​—Genesis 22:15-18; Galatians 3:29.

11. In modern times, how has “Jerusalem above” been made glad?

¹¹ In 1914 C.E., the heavens rejoiced also to see God’s “woman” bring forth “a son, a male,” Christ’s Kingdom. And when Christ the King (also called Michael, meaning “Who Is Like God?”) answered Satan’s challenge by hurling the Devil and his angels out of the heavenly realm, no doubt the angelic host responded with great joy to the “loud voice” that declared: “On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them!” They rejoiced, too, from 1919 onward, to see the remaining “sons” on earth of “the Jerusalem above” separated completely from Babylonish religion. (Revelation 12:1-12; 18:4, 5) And now, as these redeemed ones make their final approach to the “heavenly Jerusalem,” the Messianic Kingdom, what joy there must be among the throngs of loyal angels of “the Jerusalem above”!​—Isaiah 62:11; Revelation 19:7.

“New Heavens and a New Earth”

12. (a) Which “Jerusalem” is referred to at Isaiah 65:17, 18? (b) How is “New Jerusalem” related to the “new heavens,” and what service does it perform?

¹² “Jerusalem above,” God’s wifely organization, exults in all that her Sovereign Lord, Jehovah, is accomplishing. However, let us now examine Isaiah 65:17-19. Here the prophecy refers to Jehovah’s creating something new. Therefore, this “Jerusalem” must be the “New Jerusalem” that is now brought forth as “the daughter of Zion,” betrothed to the Bridegroom-King, Jesus Christ. (Isaiah 62:11) Jehovah says of this “bride”: “Here I am creating Jerusalem a cause for joyfulness and her people a cause for exultation.” Great is the joy of this heavenly “bride” in being brought to her full membership of 144,000, and in seeing also God’s creating of “a new earth”​—a united theocratic society among mankind.​—Revelation 21:1-5.

13, 14. (a) Why does the invitation to “exult” now go forth? (b) What glorious picture is given at Revelation 21:9-27? (c) What reason do we have for regarding “New Jerusalem” as “a cause for joyfulness”?

¹³ It is to all of God’s people that the invitation goes forth: “Exult, you people, and be joyful forever in what I am creating.” There is every reason to exult! For, shortly, Jehovah will vindicate his illustrious name by destroying all opposers. (Psalm 83:17, 18) Then, the “new heavens” will be in complete control! And what a glorious picture Revelation 21:9-27 gives of “the holy city Jerusalem [“bride” of the Lamb, Jesus] coming down out of heaven from God and having the glory of God”! Ablaze, figuratively, with every kind of precious gem, and lighted by the glory of God himself, this New Jerusalem serves wonderfully in its role of dispensing to the “nations” of mankind the “water of life,” which flows out “from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”​—Revelation 22:1, 2, 17.

¹⁴ Logically, therefore, it is with regard to “the bride, the Lamb’s wife,” brought with Christ, her bridegroom, into the governmental “new heavens,” that Jehovah says: “For here I am creating Jerusalem a cause for joyfulness and her people a cause for exultation.” (Isaiah 65:18) But how does the “new earth” enter into this joy?

“A New Earth” Rejoices

15. How have the foundations of “a new earth” been laid?

¹⁵ It is not only in the heavens but also right here upon this earth that Jehovah has brought forth “a cause for exultation.” For he has laid the foundations of “a new earth,” a godly society among humans that will expand until, in due course, it fills the entire globe, to Jehovah’s praise. (Isaiah 11:9) It was in the year 1919 that Jehovah caused his wifely “Jerusalem above” to bring forth a “land”​—a most prosperous estate—​into which he ushered the remaining ones of his spiritual Israel on earth. (Isaiah 66:8, 10, 22) This “land” has proved to be a spiritual paradise, and it is here that Jehovah’s people have been assembled as the nucleus of the “new earth.” There has been no need to wait until after the final tribulation to enter that spiritual paradise. It is already here!

16. What glorious fulfillment has there been to Isaiah 62:1, 6, 7?

¹⁶ Now that Jehovah’s people have been brought into this fruitful “land,” the grand prophecy of Isaiah chapter 62, relating to Zion, “the Jerusalem above,” has been fulfilled. “Her righteousness goes forth just like the brightness,” and is reflected to all nations of mankind by her people, whom Isaiah describes in these words: “Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have commissioned watchmen. All day long and all night long, constantly, let them not keep still. You who are making mention of Jehovah, let there be no silence on your part . . . until he fixes solidly, yes, until he sets Jerusalem as a praise in the earth.” Truly, Jehovah’s heavenly organization has become such “a praise in the earth” as his Witnesses preach throughout the globe. And the greater part of this praising is done now by the companions of the anointed “watchmen”​—that “great crowd . . . out of all nations,” who stand before the throne of God, “rendering him sacred service day and night.”​—Isaiah 62:1, 6, 7; Revelation 7:9, 14, 15.

17. (a) How has service “day and night” become a feature for Jehovah’s Witnesses? (b) What outstanding reason for joyfulness was there during 1982? (c) At what season does this joy overflow, and why is this appropriate?

¹⁷ This “day and night” service of the “watchmen” and of their companions of the “great crowd” moves forward apace! Such whole-souled service has always been the concern of faithful traveling overseers and their wives, missionaries, regular and special pioneers and Bethel workers. In recent times thousands of zealous Witnesses, young and old, have made sacrifices in order to share in auxiliary pioneer service for a month or more, spending an average of at least two hours in house-to-house and other field work each day. During 1982 this worldwide activity reached an all-time peak, with a grand total of 305,778 pioneers joyfully reporting service​—ably supported by 2,000,000 and more other loyal Kingdom witnesses. Truly, Jehovah has been “creating Jerusalem a cause for joyfulness and her people a cause for exultation”​—an exultation also that overflows each year at the season of celebrating the Memorial commanded by the Lord Jesus.​—1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

“No More . . . the Sound of Weeping”

18. Despite hardships, what promise has been fulfilled toward the “great crowd,” and how?

¹⁸ Though there will be hardships and persecutions as long as Satan is permitted to bring woe to this earth, the “great crowd” of devoted worshipers no longer feel any “scorching heat” of God’s disfavor. Having made, and been granted, the request “for a good conscience,” these dedicated, baptized publishers of the Kingdom good news serve joyfully, as the Lamb, Christ Jesus, guides them to “fountains of waters of life.” Already the promise is fulfilled toward them in the spiritual paradise: “And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”​—1 Peter 3:21; Revelation 7:16, 17.

19. (a) Why is no “plaintive cry” to be heard in “Jerusalem”? (b) What does Isaiah 65:21-25 indicate in line with the meaning of the name “Jerusalem”?

¹⁹ Closely paralleling this last scripture is Jehovah’s own statement at Isaiah 65:19: “I will be joyful in Jerusalem and exult in my people; and no more will there be heard in her the sound of weeping or the sound of a plaintive cry.” The remaining ones on earth yet to be resurrected into the “New Jerusalem” have experienced this joy, and now Jehovah showers like blessings on the “great crowd” of the “other sheep.” (John 10:16) How wonderfully the words following at Isaiah 65:21-25 describe the paradisaic condition of God’s “people” who have been gathered as the nucleus of the “new earth”! Surely, here is a “Foundation of Twofold Peace,”​—peace now among Jehovah’s worshipers and extending on into the physical Paradise, when God’s will takes place in all the earth.​—Revelation 21:3-5; Matthew 6:10.

20. Appropriately, what questions may we ask of ourselves?

²⁰ Do you want to praise Jehovah eternally in the Paradise earth for the marvelous things that he accomplishes through “the Jerusalem above,” his devoted womanly organization? Do you want to see the “heavenly Jerusalem” with Christ its King, the Greater David, triumph over all unrighteousness? Do you want to see the bridal “New Jerusalem” extending its influence down from God and his Christ in heaven, so as to wipe away all tears of mankind?

21. How may we show appreciation for all that faithful Jerusalem symbolizes?

²¹ If that is your desire, then loyally continue your “sacred service” in support of all that was pictured by faithful Jerusalem of old, that city of “the grand King,” the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. (Revelation 7:15) Thus you may join in the joyful temple melody of Psalm 87:3, as you sing exultantly: “Glorious things are being spoken about you, O city of the true God.”

Having studied through the accompanying article, what do you understand by:

□ “Heavenly Jerusalem”​—Hebrews 12:22

□ “New Jerusalem”​—Revelation 21:2

□ “Jerusalem above”​—Galatians 4:26

□ “New heavens and a new earth”​—Isaiah 65:17, 18

[Picture on page 24]

New Jerusalem​—“a cause for joyfulness”

“Abhor What Is Wicked”

GOD’S people are living during wicked days, comparable to those of Noah, when “Jehovah saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time.” (Genesis 6:5; Matthew 24:37-39) These are the days spoken of prophetically at Revelation 12:12: “Woe for the earth . . . because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.” The Devil would like to bring into disarray everything that the Master Organizer, Jehovah God, has arranged for this earth. That includes the marriage arrangement. In view of Satan’s vicious attacks on morality and the family, it becomes necessary at times, in ‘putting up a hard fight for the faith,’ to state matters in clear, unmistakable language.​—Jude 3.

Satan’s world has sunk to shocking depths of depravity. This is the filthy, permissive world with which many of Jehovah’s people have to rub shoulders daily, just as God-fearing Lot had to contend with “the indulgence of the law-defying people in loose conduct” in ancient Sodom. (2 Peter 2:7) In these critical times, The Watchtower sees it as a responsibility to draw attention to the standards that true Christians should uphold in a vice-ridden society. In doing so, it becomes necessary to call attention to some of the immoral practices that to many have become a norm in the modern world. (Psalm 92:7) It seems best that these things be dealt with forthrightly, and that parents also tactfully talk them over with their children. (In this wicked world, it is far better that parents give mature, loving guidance on sexual matters, rather than leave their children to pick up information, which they will sooner or later do anyway, from sex-oriented youths at school.)

At Ephesians 5:3 we are told: “Let fornication and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among you, just as it befits holy people.” We do not mention such things in the loose, jocular manner of Satan’s worldlings. But when the spiritual health of God’s people is threatened by the ungodly world about them, we feel compelled to use “great freeness of speech” in discussing the dangers around us. (2 Corinthians 3:12; 7:4; Ephesians 3:12) That is what the following article will do.​—Romans 12:9.

Honor Godly Marriage!

JEHOVAH’S view of human marriage is clearly stated in a number of scriptures, such as, “What God yoked together let no man put apart,” and, “He [Jehovah] has hated a divorcing.” (Mark 10:9; Malachi 2:16) On the other hand, the great adversary, Satan the Devil, opposes everything that is clean and righteous. In these “last days,” when “wicked men . . . advance from bad to worse,” Satan is trying to cast reproach on all of Jehovah’s loving arrangements, including the institution of marriage. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13; Revelation 12:9, 12) In view of the times, Jehovah’s Witnesses should be ever more determined loyally to uphold and keep pure God’s marriage arrangement.​—Genesis 2:24; Proverbs 27:11; Hebrews 13:4.

Problems in Marriage

To be sure, as long as humans are imperfect, problems will arise in marriage. (1 Corinthians 7:28-34) However, where both mates are believers, there is a fine basis for the marriage bond to be strong because Jehovah is taken into account. A Christian marriage becomes like “a threefold cord [that] cannot quickly be torn in two.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12) If there is some incompatibility, or any other problem, the Christian mates may take it in prayer to Jehovah, confident of his help. Often, a solution may be found by calmly talking matters over in the light of such scriptures as 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Ephesians 5:21-33 and Colossians 3:12-14, 18, 19. Thus, when the Bible’s counsel to ‘marry in the Lord’ has been followed, there is a fine basis for solving problems in the light of the Scriptures.​—1 Corinthians 7:39.

If the matter is not satisfactorily resolved privately, the couple may wish to seek the advice of some elder in the Christian congregation. Having Jehovah’s viewpoint, they should be able to keep the marriage intact and cultivate also the oneness and love that God originally purposed for marriage partners.​—Genesis 2:24; Proverbs 31:10-12, 28, 30; Matthew 19:4-6.

With an Unbelieving Mate

The situation may be different when a person becomes a believer and the mate fails to respond to the Kingdom message. Even so, there can be a very fine marriage, with husband and wife showing love for each other. And, as the apostle Peter said, the Christian wife’s “chaste conduct together with deep respect” may in time win over an unbelieving husband. Likewise, a newly converted husband may in time win over his wife. (1 Peter 3:1-7) Where there are deeper problems, the believer may need to handle these tactfully and with patient endurance, displaying always “the fruitage of the spirit.”​—Galatians 5:22, 23.

In some cases there may be verbal and physical abuse, threats and beatings. But does this mean that the Christian marriage mate should leave the unbeliever? The apostle Paul counsels: “A wife should not depart from her husband; but if she should actually depart, let her remain unmarried or else make up again with her husband; and a husband should not leave his wife.” As Paul points out, preserving the marriage will be to the spiritual benefit of any children. In a practical way, also, it may be to the material benefit of the believing parent and children. Still, in the event that abuse becomes unbearable, or life itself is endangered, the believing mate may choose to “depart.” But the endeavor should be to “make up again” in due course. (1 Corinthians 7:10-16) However, ‘departing’ does not of itself provide Scriptural grounds for divorce and remarriage; still, a legal divorce or a legal separation may provide a measure of protection from further abuse.

Scriptural Divorce

Are there any circumstances under which a Christian may go further and obtain a divorce with freedom to remarry? Remember, Jesus counseled, “What God has yoked together let no man put apart.” But he went on to indicate that there could be a proper ground for divorce, for he said: “Whoever divorces his wife, except on the ground of fornication, and marries another commits adultery.”​—Matthew 19:6, 9; see also 5:32.

Does this mean that if a Christian tires of a marriage mate or ‘falls in love’ with another person, he can freely use some situation involving fornication to change partners? Sad to say, in some cases where both partners claim to be believers, the device of committing fornication (usually adultery) has been used in a scheming and willful way to break Scriptural marriage ties. Can such ones be so foolish as to think that Jehovah does not know the “thoughts and intentions of the heart”? (Hebrews 4:12, 13) Such seem to have taken the viewpoint that they can commit immorality deliberately, be disfellowshipped for a year or so, and then with a new marriage mate “repent” and be reinstated in the congregation.

In such a case, however, considerable time should elapse before elders could even entertain any request for reinstatement. Conscientious elders would not be hasty. They need to see very clear evidence of fruits befitting repentance. Even if such a sinner were in due course reinstated, it would be many years, if ever, before the elders could recommend him for special privileges in the congregation, and in any event not before the remarriage or death of the innocent mate. (1 Timothy 3:2, 12) We can appreciate the seriousness of this sort of planned adultery before Jehovah God by recalling that under his righteous Law in ancient Israel adulterers would have been stoned to death. (Deuteronomy 22:22) And today, whatever congregations may decide, Jehovah is the ultimate Judge. “God will judge fornicators and adulterers.”​—Hebrews 13:4.a

Preserving the Marriage

For the protection of God’s people, and in the hope that any who have moral problems will look to the Christian congregation for guidance in honoring Jehovah’s institution of marriage, certain aspects of the matter of fornication will here be discussed explicitly. This is done in harmony with the Scriptures, which are frank and outspoken even when discussing such delicate and intimate matters.​—Compare Leviticus 20:10-23; Deuteronomy 31:12; Matthew 5:27, 28; Romans 1:26, 27; Jude 7.

Rather than seek an excuse for divorce, married persons should be seeking ways of holding a marriage together. If a mate commits immorality and is repentant, the innocent mate may choose to forgive, with a view to maintaining the God-given marriage arrangement. Mercy may thus be shown, in imitation of another of Jehovah’s excelling qualities.​—Exodus 34:6; compare Nehemiah 9:17.

However, what if the mate is unrepentant, is disfellowshipped and even continues in a proved course of gross immorality? Or what if the personal health and spirituality of the innocent mate are endangered? While not ignoring the Scriptural admonition to preserve the marriage if at all possible, Jesus’ words quoted above from Matthew 19:9 indicate that there is a ground for divorce​—the only Scriptural ground for a divorce—​fornication.

Defining “Fornication”

What do we understand here by “fornication”? The Greek word in this text is porneia. In discussing the matter, The Watchtower of December 15, 1972, pages 766-768, showed that porneia “comes from a root word meaning ‘to sell.’” Thus it is tied in with prostitution, such as that practiced in many pagan temples in the first century and in ‘houses of ill fame’ today.

True, porneia is sometimes used in a limited sense, as applying to sex relations between unmarried (single) persons. An instance of such a limited usage is 1 Corinthians 6:9, where “fornicators” are mentioned separately and in addition to those who engage in such other sexual vices as adultery and homosexuality. But just before this, at 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, Paul used the same word when counseling Christians not to mix with “fornicators.” Is it reasonable to think that here he referred only to immoral unmarried persons? That could not be so, for chapter 6 sets out a broad range of illicit sexual practices that must be shunned, including adultery and homosexuality. Likewise, Jude 7 and Revelation 21:8, which show that God judges unrepentant “fornicators” as worthy of eternal destruction, could hardly be limited only to unmarried persons that have sex relations. And the Jerusalem governing body’s edict at Acts 15:29, “to keep abstaining . . . from fornication,” must be understood to have the wide field of application.b

So, then, “fornication” in the broad sense, and as used at Matthew 5:32 and Mt 19:9, evidently refers to a broad range of unlawful or illicit sex relations outside marriage. Porneia involves the grossly immoral use of the genital organ(s) of at least one human (whether in a natural or a perverted way); also, there must have been another party to the immorality​—a human of either sex, or a beast.c Thus, self-abuse (unwise and spiritually dangerous as this may be) is not porneia. But to this day, the term porneia embraces the various kinds of sexual activity that might take place in a house of prostitution, where sexual favors are bought and sold. A person who goes to a male or a female prostitute to buy any kind of sexual favors would be guilty of porneia.​—Compare 1 Corinthians 6:18.

Married Christians

How about sexual activity between married couples within the marriage bond? It is not for the elders to pry into the intimate lives of married Christians. However, the Bible certainly enters into their lives. Those who would “keep walking by spirit” should not ignore the Scriptural indications of God’s thinking. And they will do well to cultivate a hatred for everything that is unclean before Jehovah, including what are clearly perverted sexual practices. Married couples should act in a way that will leave them with a clean conscience, as they give unimpeded attention to developing “the fruitage of the spirit.”​—Galatians 5:16, 22, 23; Ephesians 5:3-5.

What, though, if one mate wants or even demands to share with his or her partner in what is clearly a perverted sex practice? The above-presented facts show that porneia involves unlawful sexual conduct outside the marital arrangement. Thus, a mate’s enforcing perverted acts, such as oral or anal sex, within the marriage would not constitute a Scriptural basis for a divorce that would free either for remarriage.d Even though a believing mate is distressed by the situation, yet that one’s endeavor to hold to Scriptural principles will result in a blessing from Jehovah. In such cases it may be helpful for the couple to discuss the problem frankly, bearing in mind especially that sexual relations should be honorable, wholesome, an expression of tender love. This certainly should exclude anything that might distress or harm one’s mate.​—Ephesians 5:28-30; 1 Peter 3:1, 7.

As already stated, it is not for elders to “police” the private marital matters of couples in the congregation. However, if it becomes known that a member of the congregation is practicing or openly advocating perverted sex relations within the marriage bond, that one certainly would not be irreprehensible, and so would not be acceptable for special privileges, such as serving as an elder, a ministerial servant or a pioneer. Such practice and advocacy could even lead to expulsion from the congregation. Why?

Galatians 5:19-21 lists many vices that are not classed as porneia, and which could lead to one’s being disqualified from God’s Kingdom. Among them are “uncleanness” (Greek, akatharsia, signifying filthiness, depravity, lewdness) and “loose conduct” (Greek, aselgeia, signifying licentiousness, wantonness, shameless conduct). Like porneia, these vices, when they become gross, can be grounds for disfellowshipping from the Christian congregation, but not for obtaining a Scriptural divorce. A person who brazenly advocates shocking and repulsive sexual activities would be guilty of loose conduct. Of course, a person with that attitude might even sink to committing porneia; then there would be a basis for a Scriptural divorce.e How concerned all devoted Christians should be to avoid and war against all such “works of the flesh”!​—Galatians 5:24, 25.

All of Jehovah’s people, whether married or single, should shun every kind of immorality. They should give loyal support to all of Jehovah’s arrangements, including the institution of marriage. (Psalm 18:21-25) Those who are married should, as “one flesh,” endeavor to honor Jehovah, cultivating true love and respect in their marriage. (Genesis 2:23, 24; Ephesians 5:33; Colossians 3:18, 19) In this way, as in other ways, they can show that they are “no part of the world”​—a world that Satan has dragged into a mire of immorality and corruption and that is about to ‘pass away with its desire.’ Remembering that “he that does the will of God remains forever,” all should strive to do God’s “will” in relation to His precious arrangement of marriage.​—John 17:16; 1 John 2:17.

[Footnotes]

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology states, for example, that porneia means “unchastity, harlotry, prostitution, fornication.” It also says: “The word-group [involving porneia] can describe various extra-marital sexual modes of behaviour insofar as they deviate from accepted social and religious norms (e.g. homosexuality, promiscuity, paedophilia [sexual abuse of children], and especially prostitution).” Thus, porneia would include adultery (Greek, moikheia), and can cover a broader range of other immoral practices outside marriage, such as oral or anal sex and bestiality.

The 1979 edition of the highly regarded Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (by Bauer, Arndt and Gingrich) defines porneia as “prostitution, unchastity, fornication, of every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse.”

[Picture on page 28]

Marriage must be kept honorable and separate from worldly immorality

The Most Important Event in History

What event was that? The death of Jesus Christ. Why so?

Because it served to vindicate God’s name, proving that a human could keep perfect integrity to God.

It opened to humankind the prospect of attaining everlasting life in Paradise conditions.

Jesus himself instituted a memorial of his death on the night before he died. It was a simple ceremony. During it Jesus told his disciples: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”​—Luke 22:19, 20.

Will you remember?

Jehovah’s Witnesses invite you to join them in observing this most important event in history. This year the date for memorializing it is Tuesday, March 29, after sunset. You can attend at the Kingdom Hall nearest to your home. No collections will be taken, and visitors will not be expected to do anything but listen to an instructive talk and observe the simple proceedings. Check with Jehovah’s Witnesses locally for the exact time.