Life Story

“The Secret” We Learned From Our Sacred Service

As told by Olivier Randriamora

“I know indeed how to be low on provisions, I know indeed how to have an abundance. In everything and in all circumstances I have learned the secret of both how to be full and how to hunger, both how to have an abundance and how to suffer want. For all things I have the strength by virtue of him who imparts power to me.”​—Philippians 4:12, 13.

MY WIFE, Oly, and I have always found encouragement from these words of the apostle Paul. While serving Jehovah in Madagascar, we have learned what “the secret” is by relying on Jehovah in all circumstances.

In 1982, while Oly and I were engaged, Jehovah’s Witnesses started to study the Bible with Oly’s mother. Later I began to study the Bible, and after that, Oly started studying as well. In 1983 we got married, and in 1985 we got baptized. Immediately after that we began to serve as auxiliary pioneers. In July 1986, we became regular pioneers.

In September 1987, we started to serve as special pioneers. The first place we were sent to was a small town in northwest Madagascar where there was no congregation. The population of the country is divided into ethnic groups who have different customs and traditions. There are about 18 main groups and many smaller groups, or clans. Malagasy is the official language, but in some places people speak different forms, or dialects, of that language. So we started learning the dialect that the people spoke in the town where we were serving. This made it easier for the people who lived there to accept us.

In the beginning, we were the only ones who attended the meetings. I gave a public talk every Sunday, and at the end of the talk, Oly would even clap! When she gave her talks on the Theocratic Ministry School, she would pretend to be speaking to another person. So when the circuit overseer visited us and kindly told us that we could adjust our meetings, we were very happy!

We did not always receive our allowance every month because the mail did not come regularly. So like the apostle Paul, we learned how to live on very little. One day we did not have enough money to take the bus to go to a circuit assembly, which was about 130 kilometers (80 miles) away. Then we remembered the good advice a brother gave us. He said: “Tell Jehovah about your problems. After all, it is his work that you are doing.” So we prayed about it and decided to walk to the assembly. But just before we left, another brother came to visit and gave us some money. There was just enough to pay for the bus ride!

CIRCUIT WORK

In February 1991, I was appointed as a circuit overseer. By then, our small group had nine publishers, and three of them were already baptized. But most of the time, there were about 50 people at the meetings. After I received some training as a circuit overseer, we were sent to a circuit in the capital city, Antananarivo. In 1993, we were sent to another circuit, which was in the eastern part of the country. Living there was very different from living in the city.

To reach congregations and groups of publishers, we had to walk about 145 kilometers (90 miles) over mountains with thick forests. When we traveled, we tried to take as few bags with us as possible. In those days if a slide show was part of the circuit overseer’s public talk, we had to carry heavier things. Oly carried the projector, and I carried a car battery.

To get to the next congregation, we often had to walk about 40 kilometers (25 miles) a day. We walked up and down mountain paths, crossed rivers, and walked through mud. Sometimes we slept on the side of the road. But we usually looked for a village where we could find a place to sleep for the night. We even asked people we did not know if we could sleep in their home. After we found a place to stay, we would begin to prepare our food. Oly would borrow a pot and go to the river or lake to get water, while I would borrow an ax to chop wood to make a fire. All of this took a long time. Some days we bought a live chicken, which we then had to slaughter and clean.

After we ate, we went to get more water for bathing. Sometimes we slept in the kitchen. If the roof leaked when it rained, we had to sleep leaning against the wall so that we could keep dry.

We always tried to witness to the people we stayed with along the way. When we arrived at the homes of our brothers and sisters, their kindness and hospitality touched our hearts. Because they appreciated our visit so much, we did not care that the journey was difficult.

When we stayed in the homes of our brothers and sisters, we enjoyed helping them with the work around the house. This helped them to have time to come out and preach with us. We did not expect our brothers and sisters to give us expensive things or special food that they could not afford.

VISITING ISOLATED GROUPS

We enjoyed visiting isolated groups, that is, groups of publishers who lived in rural areas. In those places, the brothers had made a busy schedule for us. Often, we did not even have time to “rest up a bit.” (Mark 6:31) In one place, a Witness couple invited all 40 of their Bible students to their home. Oly helped the sister conduct about 20 of the studies, and I helped the brother conduct the other 20. When one study was finished, the next study started immediately. Later in the day, we took time to have the congregation meetings, and then we continued to conduct the Bible studies. We were often busy until after eight o’clock in the evening!

When we visited another group, all of us left at about eight o’clock in the morning to go to a nearby village. On the way there, we all wore old clothes. We walked a long way through the forest until we reached the village at about 12 o’clock. When we got there, we put on clean clothes and immediately started preaching. There were not many homes, but there were many publishers. So we finished the territory in about 30 minutes. Then we went to the next village. After we preached there, we had to walk all the way home. We felt discouraged because we spent a lot of time to get to the territory but preached for only about an hour. But the Witnesses from that area did not complain. They were happy.

One group of publishers in Taviranambo lived close to the top of a mountain. A Witness family was living there in a house with one room. They had the meetings in a small building nearby. Suddenly, the brother we were staying with began to call out in a loud voice, “Brothers!” From the top of the next mountain, someone answered, “Oh!” The brother called out again, “The circuit overseer has arrived!” They answered, “Yeah!” The brothers kept passing on the message to others who lived farther away. Soon people began to arrive at the meeting place. When the meeting started, more than 100 people were there.

DIFFICULTIES WITH TRANSPORTATION

In 1996 we were sent to a circuit closer to Antananarivo. Here we had some other difficulties. There was no regular public transportation to the areas far from the cities. One day, we were planning to visit a group in Beankàna (Besakay), about 240 kilometers (150 miles) from Antananarivo. We saw a small truck that was going in that direction. After we discussed with the driver what we would give him for the ride, we got onto the truck, which already had about 30 other passengers. Some were lying on the roof, and others were hanging on the back of the truck.

As so often happens, the truck soon broke down, and we had to walk. After walking for a couple of hours, a large truck came by. It was already full, but the driver stopped anyway. We got onto the truck even though there was no place for us to sit. Later when the truck came to a river, it could not cross because the bridge was being repaired. So once again we had to walk. Finally we arrived at a small village, where some special pioneers were living. Although we had not planned to visit them, we preached with them while we were waiting for the bridge to be repaired and for another vehicle to pass.

After a week another vehicle came by, and we continued our journey. The road was full of big holes. We had to stop many times to help push the vehicle through water that came up to our knees. We often fell while we were doing this. Very early in the morning, we arrived at a small village and got off the truck. We left the main road and walked through rice fields where there was muddy water that came up to our waists.

Because that was our first visit to this area, we decided to witness to some workers in the rice fields and to ask them where the Witnesses lived. We were very happy to find out that those workers were our brothers!

WE ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO BECOME FULL-TIME MINISTERS

It has always made us very happy to encourage others to become full-time ministers. For example, one congregation that we visited had nine regular pioneers. We encouraged each pioneer to help one other publisher to become a pioneer. Six months later, there were 22 regular pioneers in that congregation! Two sisters who were pioneers had encouraged their fathers to become regular pioneers too. The fathers were both elders, and they encouraged another elder to become a pioneer. This third elder soon became a special pioneer. Later, he and his wife were assigned to the circuit work. What happened to the first two elders? One of them is now a circuit overseer, and the other is a volunteer who builds Kingdom Halls.

Every day we thank Jehovah for his help because we know that we cannot do anything without it. Even though we sometimes feel tired or get sick, we are happy when we think about the results of our ministry. Jehovah makes the work that we do for him successful. We are happy to serve him now as special pioneers. We have learned “the secret” by relying on Jehovah, “who imparts power” to us.

Jehovah Is “a Revealer of Secrets”

“Truly the God of you men is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a Revealer of secrets.”​—DANIEL 2:47.

WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER?

What has Jehovah revealed to us about the future?

What do the first six heads of the wild beast mean?

Which parts of the wild beast and of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream mean the same things?

1, 2. What has Jehovah revealed to us? Why has he done so?

JUST before God’s Kingdom destroys all human governments, which ones will be the most powerful? We know the answer because Jehovah God is the “Revealer of secrets,” and he has revealed it to us through the writings of the prophet Daniel and the apostle John.

² Jehovah gave Daniel and John several visions of wild beasts. He also explained to Daniel the meaning of a prophetic dream about a giant metal image. Jehovah made sure that Daniel and John wrote about these visions so that we can read about them in the Bible. (Romans 15:4) Jehovah wanted to strengthen our hope that soon God’s Kingdom will destroy all human governments.​—Daniel 2:44.

3. To understand the prophecies in the Bible, what must we understand first? Why?

³ The prophecies of Daniel and John reveal information about eight kings, or human rulerships, and show in what order they would appear. But we can understand those prophecies only if we understand the first prophecy in the Bible. Why? Because the whole Bible and all the prophecies in it are connected to the first prophecy.

THE SERPENT’S SEED AND THE WILD BEAST

4. Who are the two parts of the seed of the woman? What will that seed do?

⁴ Soon after the rebellion in Eden, Jehovah prophesied that a “woman” would have a “seed,” or offspring.a (See footnote.) (Read Genesis 3:15.) That seed would “bruise” the serpent, Satan, in the head. Jehovah later revealed that the seed would come from Abraham, from the nation of Israel, from the tribe of Judah, and from the family of King David. (Genesis 22:15-18; 49:10; Psalm 89:3, 4; Luke 1:30-33) Christ Jesus is the main part of the seed. (Galatians 3:16) And the congregation of anointed Christians is the other part of the seed. (Galatians 3:26-29) Together, Jesus and these anointed ones form God’s Kingdom. God will use this Kingdom to destroy Satan.​—Luke 12:32; Romans 16:20.

5, 6. (a) How many powerful governments do the visions of Daniel and John mention? (b) What do the heads of the wild beast of Revelation mean?

⁵ In that first prophecy Jehovah gave in Eden, he also said that Satan would have a “seed.” Satan’s seed would have enmity, or hatred, for the seed of the woman. Who are the seed of the serpent? All those who hate God and fight his people, as Satan does. Besides religious and military organizations, Satan has organized his seed into many governments, or kingdoms. (Luke 4:5, 6) Only some of these governments have fought directly against God’s people, that is, against the nation of Israel or the congregation of anointed Christians. This helps us to understand why the visions of Daniel and John mention only eight great powers even though there were others.

⁶ Almost two thousand years ago, Jesus gave the apostle John some amazing visions. (Revelation 1:1) In one of them, John saw a dragon standing on the shore of the sea. This dragon means the Devil. (Read Revelation 13:1, 2.) John also saw a strange wild beast come out of the sea. It had seven heads and received great authority from the Devil. Later, John saw a scarlet beast that also had seven heads. This was an image of the wild beast of Revelation 13:1. An angel told John that the seven heads of the scarlet beast mean “seven kings,” or governments. (Revelation 13:14, 15; 17:3, 9, 10) When John wrote Revelation, five of those kings were no longer ruling, one was in power, and one had “not yet arrived.” What were those governments, or world powers? Let us learn about each of the heads of the wild beast of Revelation chapter 13. We will also learn more about many of these governments from the book of Daniel. Daniel’s prophecies gave details about some of these governments hundreds of years before they even existed.

THE FIRST TWO HEADS MEAN EGYPT AND ASSYRIA

7. What does the first head mean? Why?

⁷ The first head of the beast means Egypt because Egypt was the first world power to hate and fight God’s people. God had promised Abraham that the seed of the woman would come from his family. The Israelites were descendants of Abraham. After they went to live in Egypt and became many, Egypt started to treat them harshly. Satan tried to destroy God’s people because he did not want the seed to arrive. So he used Pharaoh to try to kill all newborn Israelite boys. But Jehovah did not allow that to happen to his people, and he freed them from Egypt. (Exodus 1:15-20; 14:13) Later, he gave the Israelites the Promised Land.

8. What does the second head mean? What did it try to do?

⁸ The second head of the beast means Assyria. This powerful government also tried to destroy God’s people. Jehovah had used Assyria to punish ten of the tribes of Israel because those Israelites worshipped idols and disobeyed God. But then the Assyrians tried to destroy Jerusalem. Perhaps Satan wanted to destroy the family of kings in Jerusalem because Jesus was to come from that family. Jehovah did not want Jerusalem to be destroyed, so he destroyed the Assyrian army and saved his people.​—2 Kings 19:32-35; Isaiah 10:5, 6, 12-15.

THE THIRD HEAD MEANS BABYLON

9, 10. (a) What did Jehovah allow the Babylonians to do? (b) What needed to happen before certain prophecies could be fulfilled?

⁹ The third head of the beast that John saw means the kingdom of Babylon. Jehovah allowed the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and to take his people as prisoners. Before this happened, Jehovah told his disobedient people what the kingdom of Babylon would do to them. (2 Kings 20:16-18) Jehovah also told the Israelites that he would no longer allow their kings to sit on his “throne” in Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 29:23) But Jehovah promised that there would again be a descendant of King David who would have “the legal right” to rule as king for Jehovah.​—Ezekiel 21:25-27.

¹⁰ Another prophecy showed that the Jews would be worshipping at the temple in Jerusalem when the promised Messiah arrived. (Daniel 9:24-27) And before the Israelites became prisoners in Babylon, another prophecy said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2) These prophecies could not be fulfilled unless the Jews left Babylon, returned to their land, and rebuilt the temple. But the Babylonians did not normally release their prisoners. How could God’s people go back to their land? Jehovah revealed the answer to his prophets.​—Amos 3:7.

11. What symbols in the prophecies of Daniel and John mean the kingdom of Babylon? (See footnote.)

¹¹ One of the Israelite prisoners in Babylon was Daniel. (Daniel 1:1-6) Jehovah revealed to Daniel that after Babylon there would be other world powers that would come one after another. Jehovah used different symbols to prophesy what would happen. For example, he gave King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon a dream about a giant image that was made of different metals. (Read Daniel 2:1, 19, 31-38.) Jehovah used Daniel to reveal that the gold head of the image meant the kingdom of Babylon.b (See footnote.) The breasts and arms of silver meant the world power that would come after Babylon. What was that world power? How did it treat God’s people?

THE FOURTH HEAD MEANS MEDO-PERSIA

12, 13. (a) What did Jehovah reveal about the world power that would conquer Babylon? (b) Why can we say that Medo-Persia was the fourth head of the wild beast?

¹² More than a hundred years before Daniel’s time, Jehovah’s prophet Isaiah gave important information about the world power that would conquer Babylon. Jehovah explained how the army of that world power would go into the city of Babylon, and he even gave the name of their leader. That leader was Cyrus the Persian. (Isaiah 44:28–45:2) Jehovah gave Daniel two other visions about the world power of Medo-Persia. In one vision, Daniel saw a bear that was raised up on one side and that was going to “eat much flesh.” (Daniel 7:5) In the other vision, Daniel saw a ram with two horns.​—Daniel 8:3, 20.

¹³ Jehovah used Medo-Persia to conquer Babylon and to allow the Israelites to return to their land, just as he had foretold. (2 Chronicles 36:22, 23) But Medo-Persia later tried to destroy God’s people. In the Bible book of Esther, we read that Haman, a very important official of Persia, wanted to kill all the Jews who lived in this large kingdom. Haman instructed the people throughout the kingdom to kill all the Jews on a day that he had chosen. However, Jehovah again protected his people from the hatred of Satan’s seed. (Esther 1:1-3; 3:8, 9; 8:3, 9-14) So we can say that Medo-Persia was the fourth head of the beast of Revelation.

THE FIFTH HEAD MEANS GREECE

14, 15. What details did Jehovah reveal about the ancient kingdom of Greece?

¹⁴ The fifth head of the wild beast of Revelation means Greece. In the dream that Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar, the copper belly and thighs of the image mean this same world power. Jehovah gave Daniel two other visions that had more details about the kingdom of Greece and about its greatest ruler.

¹⁵ In one vision, Daniel saw a leopard with four wings. This leopard meant Greece, which would conquer other nations very quickly. (Daniel 7:6) In another vision, Daniel saw a goat that had one large horn. It quickly killed the ram with two horns that meant Medo-Persia. Jehovah told Daniel that the goat meant Greece and that the large horn meant one of its kings. Daniel also wrote that the large horn would be broken and four smaller horns would grow in its place. All details of this prophecy came true even though it was written hundreds of years before Greece became a world power. Alexander the Great was the large horn. He was the greatest king of ancient Greece, and he led the Greek army against Medo-Persia. This horn was broken when Alexander suddenly died. He was only 32 years old and was very powerful. After that, four of his generals eventually took a part of his kingdom.​—Read Daniel 8:20-22.

16. What did Antiochus IV do?

¹⁶ After it conquered Persia, Greece ruled over Israel. The Jews had already gone back there and had rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. They were still God’s people, and God still viewed the temple as the place where he should be worshipped. In the second century before Christ, Greece attacked God’s people when one of the heirs to Alexander’s divided empire, King Antiochus IV, built a pagan altar at the temple in Jerusalem and said that those who practiced the religion of the Jews should be punished by death. Again, a part of Satan’s seed was fighting God’s people. But soon, another world power replaced Greece. What was the sixth head of the wild beast?

THE SIXTH HEAD MEANS ROME, WHICH WAS “FEARSOME AND TERRIBLE”

17. What specific part of Genesis 3:15 did the sixth head fulfill?

¹⁷ Rome was the world power when John had the vision of the wild beast. (Revelation 17:10) Rome was the sixth head of that wild beast and fulfilled a specific part of the prophecy of Genesis 3:15. Satan used Roman officials to bruise the seed “in the heel.” The Romans treated Jesus as a rebel who fought against their government, judged him, and killed him. (Matthew 27:26) But that bruise soon healed because Jehovah resurrected Jesus.

18. (a) What new nation did Jehovah choose? Why? (b) How did the seed of the serpent continue to hate and fight the seed of the woman?

¹⁸ The religious leaders of Israel helped Rome to attack Jesus. And most of the nation of Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah. So Jehovah rejected Israel as his people. (Matthew 23:38; Acts 2:22, 23) He chose a new nation, “the Israel of God.” (Galatians 3:26-29; 6:16) That nation was the congregation of anointed Christians, which included both Jews and Gentiles. (Ephesians 2:11-18) After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the seed of the serpent continued to hate and fight the seed of the woman. More than once, Rome tried to destroy the congregation of anointed Christians, who were part of the seed of the woman.c​—See footnote.

19. (a) What did Daniel say about the sixth world power? (b) What questions will another article answer?

¹⁹ In the dream that Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar, the legs of iron meant Rome. (Daniel 2:33) Daniel also saw a vision that describes not only the Roman Empire but also the world power that would grow from Rome. (Read Daniel 7:7, 8.) For hundreds of years, Rome was like a “fearsome and terrible and unusually strong” beast. But according to this prophecy, “ten horns” would grow from this empire. Then “another horn, a small one,” would appear and become more powerful than the others. What are the ten horns, and what is the small horn? What part of the giant image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream means the same thing as the small horn? The article on page 14 will answer these questions.

[Footnotes]

SOME EXPRESSIONS EXPLAINED

World power: A government that is the most powerful in the world at a certain time and that fights directly against God’s people

Vision: Something that Jehovah makes a person see in a miraculous way

Congregation of anointed Christians: A congregation is a group of people organized for a purpose or an activity. The congregation of anointed Christians is the whole group of anointed ones on earth

[Blurb on page 7]

The seed of the serpent are all those who hate God and fight his people

[Blurb on page 8]

Satan tried to destroy God’s people because he did not want the seed to arrive

[Blurb on page 10]

Satan organized his seed into many kingdoms, but only some of these fought directly against God’s people

Eight Kings Revealed

The prophecies in the book of Daniel and in the book of Revelation reveal information about eight kings, or human rulerships, and the order in which they appear. We can understand those prophecies if we understand the first prophecy in the Bible.

Throughout history, Satan has organized his seed into many governments, or kingdoms. (Luke 4:5, 6) Some of these governments have fought directly against God’s people, that is, against the nation of Israel or the congregation of anointed Christians. The visions of Daniel and John describe only eight powerful governments that have fought against God’s people.

[Chart/​Pictures on pages 12, 13]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

1. Egypt

2. Assyria

3. Babylon

5. Greece

6. Rome

GOD’S PEOPLE

2000 Before Christ

Abraham

1500

Nation of Israel

1000

Daniel 500

Before Christ/​After Christ

John

Israel of God 500

1000

1500

2000 After Christ

[Footnote]

[Pictures]

The giant image (Daniel 2:31-45)

Four beasts out of the sea (Daniel 7:3-8, 17, 25)

The ram and the goat (Daniel, chapter 8)

The seven-headed wild beast (Revelation 13:1-10, 16-18)

The two-horned beast “tells” people to make an image of the wild beast (Revelation 13:11-15)

[Credit Lines]

Photo credits: Egypt and Rome: Photograph taken by courtesy of the British Museum; Medo-Persia: Musée du Louvre, Paris

Jehovah Reveals What “Must Shortly Take Place”

“A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place.”​—REVELATION 1:1.

WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER?

Which parts of the giant image mean the Anglo-American World Power?

What part of John’s vision shows that the United Nations gets its power from the Anglo-American World Power?

How do the visions of Daniel and John show that all governments of the world will be destroyed?

1, 2. (a) What can we understand when we compare the prophecies of Daniel and John? (b) What do the first six heads of the wild beast mean?

WHEN we compare the prophecies of Daniel and John, we understand many things that are happening in the world today and that will happen in the future. What can we learn from John’s vision of the wild beast with seven heads, from Daniel’s vision of the beast with ten horns, and from what Daniel said about the giant image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream? And what should these prophecies make us want to do?

² In the previous article, we learned about John’s vision of the wild beast of Revelation chapter 13. The first six heads of that beast mean Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Satan used all those world powers to fight God’s people because he hated the seed of the woman. (Genesis 3:15) When John wrote about his vision, Rome was the world power. It remained strong for hundreds of years after that. But there was to be a seventh head that would replace Rome. Which world power does the seventh head mean, and how did it treat the seed of the woman?

BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES BECOME VERY POWERFUL

3. What does the frightening beast with ten horns mean? What do the ten horns mean?

³ We can identify what the seventh head is if we compare what John said about the wild beast of Revelation chapter 13 with what Daniel said about the frightening beast with ten horns.a (See footnote.) (Read Daniel 7:7, 8, 23, 24.) This beast with ten horns means the world power of Rome. (See the chart on pages 12-13.) In the fifth century, the Roman Empire started to be broken into smaller kingdoms. The ten horns of the beast that Daniel saw mean the kingdoms that came from the Roman Empire.

4, 5. (a) What did the small horn do? (b) What does the seventh head of the wild beast mean?

⁴ In Daniel’s prophecy of the beast with ten horns, another horn, a small one, comes up and replaces three of the ten horns. How did this happen? Britain had been a small part of the Roman Empire, but it later became a kingdom. Spain, the Netherlands, and France had also been part of the Roman Empire. Until the 1600’s, they were much more important kingdoms than Britain was. But Britain fought against them one by one and became more important than they were. During the 1700’s, Britain was becoming the most powerful kingdom in the world. But it was not yet the seventh head of the wild beast.

⁵ Although Britain became the most powerful kingdom, its colonies in North America rebelled and became the United States. Britain did not stop the United States from becoming a powerful country and even protected it with the British navy. In 1914, when the Lord’s day began, Britain was the largest empire that ever existed and the United States had the strongest industries in the world.b (See footnote.) During World War I, the United States became a close partner with Britain. Because they began to work together in a special way, they became the Anglo-American World Power. This world power was the seventh head of the beast. How did this head treat the seed of the woman?

6. What did the seventh head do to God’s people?

⁶ Shortly after the beginning of the Lord’s day, the seventh head began to attack God’s people, that is, those of Christ’s brothers who were still on earth. (Matthew 25:40) From what Jesus said, some of the seed of the woman would still be on earth at the beginning of the Lord’s day and would be doing the work that Jesus had given to them. (Matthew 24:45-47; Galatians 3:26-29) The Anglo-American World Power fought against those holy ones. (Revelation 13:3, 7) During World War I, it persecuted them, banned some of their publications, and put in prison some of those taking the lead in their work. It almost stopped, or killed, their preaching work. Jehovah told John in a vision that this would happen. But God also told him that those holy ones, who were part of the seed of the woman, would start the preaching work again, or come back to life. (Revelation 11:3, 7-11) Just as Jehovah had said, those of the seed of the woman who were still on earth started preaching zealously again.

THE ANGLO-AMERICAN WORLD POWER AND THE FEET OF IRON AND CLAY

7. Which part of the giant image means the same thing as the seventh head of the wild beast?

⁷ The feet of the giant image mean the same thing as the seventh head of the wild beast, that is, the Anglo-American World Power. Britain came from the Roman Empire. And because the United States came from Britain, we can say that, indirectly, the United States too came from Rome. So the feet have iron in them. But they also have clay in them. (Read Daniel 2:41-43.) This description of the feet is talking about the same event as when the seventh head of the wild beast appears. That is the time when the Anglo-American World Power would arise. Just as something made of iron mixed with clay is weaker than something made of solid iron, the Anglo-American World Power is weaker than the power from which it came. What made the Anglo-American World Power weaker?

8, 9. (a) How did the seventh world power show that it was strong like iron? (b) What does the clay in the feet of the image mean?

⁸ Sometimes the Anglo-American World Power has proved to be strong like iron. For example, it proved how powerful it was by winning World War I and World War II, and it has acted with strength like iron many times since then.c (See footnote.) However, from the time the Anglo-American World Power came into existence, that iron has been mixed with clay.

⁹ For a long time, Jehovah’s servants have wanted to understand what the feet of the image mean. Daniel 2:41 shows that the feet made of iron mixed with clay are one “kingdom,” not many. So we can understand that the clay means that something in the Anglo-American World Power makes it weaker than the Roman Empire, which was described as legs made of solid iron. Daniel’s prophecy says that the clay means “the offspring of mankind,” or the common people. (Daniel 2:43) People have weakened the Anglo-American World Power when they have fought to have civil rights, to have more rights at their workplace, and even to become independent nations. The common people make it difficult for this world power to be strong like iron. People have different political ideas. And when a leader wins an election by only a few votes, he does not have enough authority to do what he promised to do. Daniel said: “The kingdom will partly prove to be strong and will partly prove to be fragile.”​—Daniel 2:42; 2 Timothy 3:1-3.

10, 11. (a) What will happen to the feet of the image? (b) What do we understand about the toes?

¹⁰ In our time, Britain and the United States are still special partners. They often cooperate with each other on important matters. In the prophecy about the giant image, the feet are the last part of the image. In the prophecy about the wild beast, the seventh head is the last head. This means that the Anglo-American World Power will not be replaced by another world power. And even though it is weaker than Rome, the legs of iron, it will not come to an end on its own.

¹¹ Does the number of toes of the image mean anything? In other visions, Daniel mentions specific numbers. For example, many of the beasts had a specific number of horns. Those numbers are important. But Daniel does not mention how many toes the image has. So it seems that the number of toes is not important, just as the number of arms, hands, fingers, legs, or feet the image had is not important. But Daniel specifically says that the toes are made of iron and clay. From what he says, we understand that the Anglo-American World Power will be the world power when the “stone,” which means God’s Kingdom, hits the feet of the image.​—Daniel 2:45.

ANGLO-AMERICA AND THE TWO-HORNED WILD BEAST

12, 13. What does the wild beast with two horns mean? What does it do?

¹² The visions that Jesus gave to John show that even though the Anglo-American World Power is made of iron mixed with clay, it was going to do something important during the last days. John saw a wild beast that had two horns and that spoke like a dragon. What does this strange beast mean? Because it has two horns, it means two governments that are partners. This beast also means the Anglo-American World Power, but now it does something special.​—Read Revelation 13:11-15.

¹³ The beast with two horns “tells” people to make an image of the wild beast with seven heads. John said that this image of the wild beast would appear, then disappear, and then appear again. This is what happened to an organization that appeared after World War I. Britain and the United States urged other nations to join this organization. It was supposed to unite the nations and speak for them.d (See footnote.) This organization was called the League of Nations. The League of Nations disappeared when World War II started. During that war, God’s people said that according to the prophecy in Revelation, this organization would appear again. That is exactly what happened, and now the organization is called the United Nations.​—Revelation 17:8.

14. Why did John call the image of the wild beast “an eighth king”?

¹⁴ John described the image of the wild beast with seven heads as “an eighth king.” Why did he call it a “king”? It does not appear as an eighth head on the wild beast. It is only an image of that beast. The power of this image comes from the nations that are members of the United Nations, especially from the Anglo-American World Power. (Revelation 17:10, 11) So John calls this image a “king” because it receives authority to do something that will affect the whole world.

THE IMAGE OF THE WILD BEAST DESTROYS THE HARLOT

15, 16. What does the harlot in John’s vision mean? What is happening to religion today?

¹⁵ John also described a harlot, or prostitute, who rides upon a scarlet-colored wild beast. This beast is the same as the image of the wild beast with seven heads. The harlot is called “Babylon the Great.” (Revelation 17:1-6) This harlot means all false religions. The religions of Christendom are surely part of Babylon the Great. False religions have publicly supported the image of the beast, that is, the League of Nations and the United Nations, and they have tried to direct these organizations.

¹⁶ Babylon the Great is described as sitting on “waters.” The waters mean the people who support her. But during the Lord’s day, people have not supported her as much as they did in the past. It is as if the waters have “dried up.” (Revelation 16:12; 17:15) For example, when the image of the beast first appeared, the religions of Christendom had a lot of power in most Western countries. But now, many people no longer respect these religions and their ministers. Many even believe that religion is the cause of the problems in the world. Others say publicly that the world should get rid of all religions.

17. What will soon happen to false religion? Why will this happen?

¹⁷ False religion will not lose its power gradually and then disappear. The harlot will continue to be powerful and try to make kings do whatever she wants. But soon God will “put it into their hearts to carry out his thought.” (Read Revelation 17:16, 17.) Jehovah will cause the governments of Satan’s system, as represented by the United Nations, to attack false religion. The harlot will no longer be able to control these governments, and she will lose all her riches. Twenty or thirty years ago, most people thought religion would always be respected and powerful. Now this is starting to change. But the harlot will not lose her power gradually. She will be destroyed suddenly.​—Revelation 18:7, 8, 15-19.

THE BEASTS ARE DESTROYED

18. (a) What will the wild beast do? What will happen as a result? (b) According to Daniel 2:44, which kingdoms will God’s Kingdom destroy? (See the box at top.)

¹⁸ After false religion is destroyed, the wild beast, Satan’s governments on earth, will attack God’s Kingdom. The kings of the earth will not be able to attack God’s Kingdom in heaven, so they will try to fight against those on earth who support it. This results in a final battle with God. (Revelation 16:13-16; 17:12-14) Daniel told us something about that final battle. (Read Daniel 2:44.) The wild beast mentioned at Revelation 13:1, its image, and the wild beast with two horns will be destroyed.

19. What can we be sure of? What must we do now?

¹⁹ We are living during the time of the seventh head of the beast of Revelation chapter 13. There will be no new heads on this beast before it is destroyed. The Anglo-American World Power will be the world power when false religion is destroyed. The prophecies of Daniel and John have come true exactly as they were written. We can be sure that soon false religion will be destroyed and that the battle of Armageddon will come. God has told us exactly what will happen. But will we obey the warnings in these prophecies? (2 Peter 1:19) We need to obey Jehovah right now and support his Kingdom.​—Revelation 14:6, 7.

[Footnotes]

SOME EXPRESSIONS EXPLAINED

Anglo-American World Power: Britain and the United States of America work together as special partners and often act as one world power

Lord’s day: A time period that started when Jesus was made King in 1914 and continues until he gives the Kingdom back to his Father, Jehovah

[Box on page 19]

WHO ARE “ALL THESE KINGDOMS” IN DANIEL 2:44?

The prophecy at Daniel 2:44 states that God’s Kingdom “will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms.” That prophecy refers only to the kingdoms that are part of the image.

Daniel 2:44 does not mention what will happen to all other kingdoms. But the prophecy in Revelation that is about the same topic tells us more. It tells us that “the kings of the entire inhabited earth” will be gathered against Jehovah for “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” (Revelation 16:14; 19:19-21) So in addition to the kingdoms that are pictured by the parts of the image, all other governments will be destroyed at Armageddon.

[Picture on page 18]

God’s Kingdom will soon crush the feet of the giant image. Nothing will be left of the world powers that the image represents

Questions From Readers

When did the Anglo-American World Power become the seventh world power that was described in the Bible?

▪ The giant metal image seen by King Nebuchadnezzar does not represent all the world powers that ever existed. (Daniel 2:31-45) The image included only the five world powers that fought God’s people during and after Daniel’s time.

We can learn from the way Daniel described the metal image that the Anglo-American World Power would come from Rome, not conquer Rome. Daniel said that the iron starts in the legs and continues to the feet and toes. (In the feet and toes, the iron is mixed with clay.)a (See footnote.) This meant that the Anglo-American World Power would come from Rome, that is, the legs of iron. This is exactly what happened. Britain was a small part of the Roman Empire, but it started to become a strong kingdom in the late 1700’s. Later, the United States of America became a powerful nation. But Britain and the United States were not yet the seventh world power described in the Bible. Why not? Because they had not yet begun to work together in a special way. That happened during World War I.

By that time, “the sons of the kingdom” were active mostly in the United States. They directed the preaching work from Brooklyn, New York. (Matthew 13:36-43) Anointed ones were also actively preaching in countries under the rule of Britain. During World War I, Britain and the United States became special partners. Together, they fought their political enemies. Because the war caused Britain and the United States to become more nationalistic, they also fought against those who were part of the seed of God’s “woman.” These governments banned some of the publications of the seed of the woman and put in prison those leading the preaching work.​—Revelation 12:17.

So from what we read in Bible prophecy, we learn that the seventh world power did not appear in the late 1700’s when Britain first started to become a strong kingdom. Instead, the seventh world power appeared at the beginning of the Lord’s day.b​—See footnote.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 20]

Eight brothers from the Watchtower headquarters were sent to prison in June 1918

Why Put Jehovah’s Service First?

“My own mouth will recount your righteousness, all day long your salvation.”​—PSALM 71:15.

HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER?

Why did Noah, Moses, Jeremiah, and Paul put Jehovah first in their life?

What will help you to decide what to do with your life?

Why will you put Jehovah’s service first in your life?

1, 2. (a) What does a person show when he dedicates himself to Jehovah? (b) How can the examples of Noah, Moses, Jeremiah, and Paul help us?

WHEN you dedicate yourself to God and become a baptized follower of Jesus, you are making the most serious decision of your life. In a way, you are saying to Jehovah: ‘I want you to be my Master. I am your servant. I want you to tell me how I should use my time, what my priorities should be, and how I should use my abilities and the things I have.’

² If you are a baptized Christian, this is what you have promised Jehovah. You have made a very good decision. It was the right and wise thing to do. But now that you have accepted Jehovah as your Master, how do you use your time? The examples of Noah, Moses, Jeremiah, and the apostle Paul can help us to examine our own situation. All these men did their best in Jehovah’s service. Our situation today is similar to the situation of those men. The decisions they made showed what their priorities were and should make us want to examine how we are using our time.​—Matthew 28:19, 20; 2 Timothy 3:1.

BEFORE THE FLOOD

3. In what way is the world we live in similar to the world Noah lived in?

³ Jesus compared the world Noah lived in to the world we live in. “Just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be,” he said. The people were “eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away.” (Matthew 24:37-39) Most people today do not listen to the warnings that God’s servants give. They do not care that we live in urgent times. Just like those who lived in Noah’s day, many today do not believe that God will destroy wicked people. They even laugh about it! (2 Peter 3:3-7) But how did Noah use his time even though those around him did not listen to his warnings?

4. After Jehovah gave Noah a special work to do, how did Noah use his time? Why did he use his time in that way?

⁴ God told Noah that he was going to destroy all the wicked people, and he gave Noah a special work to do. Noah built an ark to save people and animals. (Genesis 6:13, 14, 22) He also warned about what Jehovah was going to do. The apostle Peter calls Noah “a preacher of righteousness,” which shows that Noah worked hard to help others to understand how serious their situation was. (Read 2 Peter 2:5.) Do you think that it would have been wise for Noah and his family to use their time to start a business, to become more successful than others, or to have many nice things for themselves? Of course not! They avoided anything that would distract them from their work because they knew that Jehovah would destroy that world.

AN EGYPTIAN PRINCE MAKES CHOICES

5, 6. (a) Why was Moses taught “all the wisdom of the Egyptians”? (b) Why did Moses choose not to live as an Egyptian prince?

⁵ Now let us learn from the example of Moses. Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him, and he grew up as a prince in an Egyptian palace. Moses was taught “all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” (Acts 7:22; Exodus 2:9, 10) The Egyptians taught him so that he would be prepared for a career in Pharaoh’s service. He could have become a very important person in the most powerful government at that time. In that position, he would have had many nice things and special honor. But were these important to Moses?

⁶ When Moses was a child, his real parents taught him about Jehovah. So he must have known what Jehovah had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses had faith in those promises. He must have thought deeply about his future and how he could be loyal to Jehovah. When it was time for Moses to choose whether he would live as an Egyptian prince or as an Israelite slave, what did he decide? Moses chose “to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin.” (Read Hebrews 11:24-26.) Later, he used his life in a way that pleased Jehovah. (Exodus 3:2, 6-10) Why did Moses do that? Because he believed what God had promised and he knew that any success he could have in Egypt would not last. He was right. That nation was soon punished with ten plagues from God. All of Jehovah’s dedicated servants can learn from the example of Moses. Our priority should be Jehovah and his service, not having a career or trying to have nice things in this world.

JEREMIAH KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN

7. How was Jeremiah’s situation like ours?

⁷ The prophet Jeremiah also put Jehovah’s service first in his life. Jehovah chose Jeremiah to be his prophet and gave him a special work to do. Jeremiah had to preach the message that Jehovah would judge the people of Jerusalem and Judah because they were worshipping false gods. Jeremiah’s situation was like ours. He too lived during a “final part of the days.” (Jeremiah 23:19, 20) He was sure the system he lived in would not last.

8, 9. (a) Why did God need to correct the way Baruch was thinking? (b) What should we remember when we make plans?

⁸ What did Jeremiah not do because of what he believed? He did not try to have a future in that system that would be destroyed. It would have been foolish to do so. But Baruch, who was Jeremiah’s secretary, began to think differently. That is why God told Jeremiah to correct Baruch by saying: “Look! What I have built up I am tearing down, and what I have planted I am uprooting, even all the land itself. But as for you, you keep seeking great things for yourself. Do not keep on seeking. For here I am bringing in a calamity upon all flesh.” Then Jehovah promised Baruch that he would survive the destruction of Jerusalem.​—Jeremiah 45:4, 5.

⁹ We cannot be sure what “great things” Baruch wanted for himself.a (See footnote.) We do know that these things would not last. They would be destroyed when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem in the year 607 before Christ. What do we learn from this? We have to make some plans to make sure we have what we need to live now. (Proverbs 6:6-11) But would it be wise for us to use a lot of our time and energy to have things that will not last? It is true that Jehovah’s organization continues to make plans for new Kingdom Halls, branch offices, and other projects. But these plans are different because they support the Kingdom. So when Jehovah’s dedicated people make plans, God’s Kingdom should also be a priority in their life. Are you seeking first the Kingdom and Jehovah’s righteousness?​—Matthew 6:33.

HE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS “A LOT OF REFUSE”

10, 11. (a) What was important to Paul before he became a Christian? (b) Why did Paul’s priorities change completely?

¹⁰ Let us now discuss the example of the apostle Paul. Before he became a Christian, everybody thought that he would have a very good career. He had studied Jewish law with one of the most famous teachers at that time. The Jewish high priest trusted him and gave him an important job. And he was becoming more successful in the Jewish religion than many other people of his age. (Acts 9:1, 2; 22:3; 26:10; Galatians 1:13, 14) But Paul’s life changed completely when he realized that Jehovah had rejected the Jews as a nation.

¹¹ For this reason, Paul knew that a career in the Jewish system was worth nothing to Jehovah. That nation had no future. (Matthew 24:2) Paul understood God’s purposes, and he knew that it was a great honor to do the preaching work. He even said that he thought that the priorities he had before were “a lot of refuse,” or garbage. Paul left the Jewish religion and used the rest of his life on earth to preach the good news.​—Read Philippians 3:4-8, 15; Acts 9:15.

EXAMINE YOUR PRIORITIES

12. What was Jesus’ priority after he was baptized?

¹² Noah, Moses, Jeremiah, Paul, and many others used most of their time and energy in Jehovah’s service. They are good examples for us to imitate. Of course, Jesus is the best example for all dedicated servants of Jehovah. (1 Peter 2:21) After Jesus was baptized, he used the rest of his life on earth to preach the good news and give honor to Jehovah. So serving Jehovah should be a priority for every Christian who follows the example of Jesus and accepts Jehovah as his Master. Is serving Jehovah your priority? How can we do more for Jehovah and at the same time care for other responsibilities?​—Read Psalm 71:15; 145:2.

13, 14. (a) What are all Christians encouraged to pray about? (b) What will make God’s people happy?

¹³ For many years, Jehovah’s organization has encouraged Christians to pray about whether they could pioneer. The circumstances of some faithful servants of Jehovah do not allow them to preach 70 hours each month. They should not feel bad about this. (1 Timothy 5:8) But what is your situation? Can you pioneer?

¹⁴ Think about the joy that many of God’s people had during the month of March. It was the month before the Memorial, and auxiliary pioneers had the special opportunity to choose whether they would preach for 30 or 50 hours. (Psalm 110:3) Millions of brothers and sisters auxiliary pioneered. You could feel the great excitement and joy in the congregations. Can you adjust your schedule so that you can auxiliary pioneer more often? When a baptized Christian pioneers, he feels happy at the end of each day and can say, “Jehovah, I did everything I could in your service.”

15. What goal should a young Christian have while he is in school?

¹⁵ If you are a young Christian who is close to finishing your schooling, you probably have good health and few responsibilities. Have you thought seriously about regular pioneering? Your teachers probably believe that going to college or university is the best way that you can plan your future. Their trust is in human organizations and in money. But these have no future. If you make Jehovah’s service your career, you will be using your time well and will be doing something that will give you a lasting future. You will be imitating the perfect example of Jesus. This is a wise decision that will make you happy. It will protect you. It will show that you will not let anything stop you from keeping your promise to serve Jehovah.​—Matthew 6:19-21; 1 Timothy 6:9-12.

16, 17. What questions should Christians ask themselves about their service to Jehovah?

¹⁶ Many of God’s servants today must work many hours to make sure that their families have their basic needs. But some may be working more hours than they need to. (1 Timothy 6:8) The world is doing all it can to make us believe that we should buy every new thing there is because we cannot live without it. But true Christians do not want Satan and his world to decide their priorities. (1 John 2:15-17) What about the situation of those who have retired from work? The best thing they can do is to use their time to pioneer and put Jehovah’s service first.

¹⁷ All dedicated servants of Jehovah can ask themselves: What is most important in my life? Do I put Jehovah’s service first? Do I imitate Jesus and show that I am willing to use my time and energy to serve God? Do I listen to Jesus and keep following him? Can I adjust my schedule so that I can do more in the preaching work or other activities in Jehovah’s service? Even if I cannot do more now, do I try to find ways to use my time and energy for Jehovah?

“TO WILL AND TO ACT”

18, 19. What can you pray for? Why would this prayer make Jehovah happy?

¹⁸ It is wonderful to see the zeal of God’s people. But some who could pioneer may not have the desire to do it or they may think that they do not have enough skill. (Exodus 4:10; Jeremiah 1:6) What if you feel this way? Pray to Jehovah for help. Paul said that Jehovah wants to help us “to will and to act.” (Philippians 2:13) So if you do not have the desire to do more in your ministry, ask Jehovah to give you both the desire and the skill.​—2 Peter 3:9, 11.

¹⁹ Noah, Moses, Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus were all faithful men. They used their time and energy to preach Jehovah’s warning message. They did not allow anything to distract them from their work. The end of this system of things is very near. So all of us who have dedicated our lives to God need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to imitate these excellent examples from the Bible. (Matthew 24:42; 2 Timothy 2:15) By following their examples, we can make Jehovah happy, and he will bless us.​—Read Malachi 3:10.

[Footnote]

SOME EXPRESSIONS EXPLAINED

Priorities: The most important things in a person’s life

[Blurb on page 24]

Paul used his life to preach the good news

[Blurb on page 25]

If you make Jehovah’s service your career, you will have a lasting future

[Blurb on page 26]

Pray about whether you can pioneer

[Picture on page 22]

People did not listen to Noah’s warning

[Picture on page 26]

Have you thought seriously of becoming a regular pioneer?

“They Were Borne Along by Holy Spirit”

“Prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.”​—2 PETER 1:21.

POINTS TO THINK ABOUT

How did God use holy spirit to help Bible writers know what to write?

What reasons do we have to believe that the Bible is from God?

What can you do every day to show that you are thankful for the Bible?

1. Why do we need the Bible?

MANY people around the world would like to know the answers to these questions: Where do we come from? Why are we on this earth? What will happen to us in the future? Why is the world the way it is? What happens to us when we die? We would not know the answers to these and other important questions if we did not have God’s Word, the Bible. Without the Bible, we would mainly have our own experience to teach us about life. And if we had only experience to teach us, then we would not be able to have the same feelings as the psalmist did about “the law of Jehovah.”​—Read Psalm 19:7.

2. What will help us to continue to be thankful for the Bible?

² It is very sad that some do not love Bible teachings as much as they did before. (Compare Revelation 2:4.) They stopped living in a way that makes Jehovah happy. (Isaiah 30:21) That does not have to happen to us. We can and should do our best to continue to be thankful for the Bible and its teachings. The Bible is an important gift from our loving Creator. (James 1:17) So, what will help us to be more thankful for “the word of God”? We need to think about how men were used to write the Bible and examine some of the many reasons why we can believe that the Bible is from God. This will help us want to read God’s Word every day and apply its counsel.​—Hebrews 4:12.

HOW MEN WERE “BORNE ALONG BY HOLY SPIRIT”

3. What does it mean that prophets and Bible writers were “borne along by holy spirit”?

³ It took 1,610 years to write the Bible, from the year 1513 before Christ to the year 98 after Christ. About 40 different men wrote the Bible. Some were prophets, and the Bible says they were “borne along by holy spirit.” (Read 2 Peter 1:20, 21.) The expression “borne along” comes from a Greek word, and in this verse it means to be moved, to be carried, or to let yourself be moved. Acts 27:15 uses the same word to describe a boat that was moved or pushed in a certain direction by the wind. When we read that prophets and Bible writers were “borne along by holy spirit,” it means that God communicated with them, influenced them, and guided them by his active force, or holy spirit. So they wrote, not their own thoughts, but God’s thoughts. Sometimes these prophets and writers did not even understand what they prophesied or what they wrote. (Daniel 12:8, 9) So it is true that “all Scripture is inspired of God.” We do not find the opinions of humans in the Bible.​—2 Timothy 3:16.

4-6. How did Jehovah help Bible writers to know what to write? Give an example.

⁴ But how did God use holy spirit to help Bible writers know what to write? Were they given the exact words or were they just given ideas to write using their own words? Think about how a businessman writes a letter. When it is important to use just the right words, he writes the letter himself or tells his secretary what words to use. The secretary types the letter, and the businessman signs his name on it. At other times, he may tell his secretary only the important ideas, and the secretary writes the letter using her own words. Later, the businessman may check it and have the secretary make any needed changes. When the letter is finished, he signs his name on it. The person who receives that letter accepts it as being written by the businessman himself.

⁵ In a similar way, some parts of the Bible were written by God himself. (Exodus 31:18) When it was very important to use certain words, Jehovah told the writer what words to use. For example, at Exodus 34:27, we read that Jehovah said to Moses: “Write down for yourself these words, because it is in accordance with these words that I do conclude a covenant with you and Israel.” And Jehovah told the prophet Jeremiah: “Write for yourself in a book all the words that I will speak to you.”​—Jeremiah 30:2.

⁶ But most of the time, God did not tell Bible writers which words to use. God put his thoughts into their hearts and minds, and then he allowed them to choose their own words to write his message. Ecclesiastes 12:10 says: “The congregator sought to find the delightful words and the writing of correct words of truth.” And Luke “traced all things from the start with accuracy, to write them in logical order.” (Luke 1:3) God used his holy spirit to make sure that human imperfection did not change his message.

7. Why was it wise of God to use humans to write the Bible?

⁷ It was very wise of God to use humans to write the Bible. Words help us to understand information, and they also help us to feel the emotions in the ideas. What if Jehovah had used angels to write the Bible? Could they have described such human feelings as fear, sadness, and discouragement? Because he allowed imperfect men to choose their own words to write his message, God’s message touches our heart.

REASONS TO BELIEVE THAT THE BIBLE IS FROM GOD

8. Why can we say that the Bible is not like any other book of religion?

⁸ We have many reasons to believe that the Bible is from God. Because it helps us to know the true God, the Bible is not like any other book of religion. For example, the books of Hinduism tell us about its religious ceremonies, philosophy, myths, and rules on morality. Books of Buddhism explain the rules that monks and nuns need to follow. They also explain Buddhist doctrines and the teachings of Buddha. Buddha did not say that he himself was a god, and he said very little about God. The books of Confucianism talk about things that happened in the past, rules on morality, magic, and songs. There is also the book of Islam, which teaches that there is one God and that he knows everything, including the future. But it does not even reveal the name of God, Jehovah, which appears thousands of times in the Bible.

9, 10. What can we learn about God from the Bible?

⁹ Most books of religion teach very little about God. But the Bible helps us to know Jehovah God and everything that he does. It helps us to understand his personality. The Bible tells us that he is a God of justice, wisdom, and great power. It also says that God loves us. (Read John 3:16; 1 John 4:19.) The Bible tells us more. It says: “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34, 35) The Bible has been translated into many different languages. This shows that God is not partial. Experts on language say that about 6,700 languages are spoken today. Nearly 100 of those languages are spoken by about 90 percent of the people in the world. The whole Bible or parts of it have been translated into more than 2,400 languages. So almost everyone in the world can read at least a part of the Bible in their own language.

¹⁰ Jesus said: “My Father has kept working until now, and I keep working.” (John 5:17) Jehovah is God “from time indefinite to time indefinite.” So think about all the things that he has done! (Psalm 90:2) Only the Bible tells us about what God has done in the past, what he is doing at present, and what he will do in the future. We learn what makes God happy and what makes him unhappy. We also learn how we can “draw close to God.” (James 4:8) We should never leave Jehovah because we are interested in other things or because of our worries.

11. What wise advice do we find in the Bible?

¹¹ There is great wisdom in the Bible. This is another reason to believe that the Bible comes from God. The prophet Isaiah asked people who lived in his time: “Who has taken the proportions of the spirit of Jehovah, and who as his man of counsel can make him know anything?” (Isaiah 40:13) Later, the apostle Paul asked a similar question: “Who has come to know the mind of Jehovah, that he may instruct him?” (1 Corinthians 2:16) The answer is no one because no one knows more than Jehovah. That is why we have the best results when we apply the Bible’s counsel on working hard, marriage, children, entertainment, honesty, morality, and the friends we choose. We never get bad advice from the Bible. But humans are not wise enough to give advice that always works. (Jeremiah 10:23) They often change and update their advice when they realize that it is wrong. The Bible says that the advice of men is worth very little.​—Psalm 94:11.

12. How have people tried to destroy the Bible?

¹² History also gives us reason to believe that the Bible is from the true God. In the past, many people have tried to destroy God’s message. In the year 168 before Christ, Antiochus IV, the king of Syria, ordered people to find all the books of the Law and have them burned. In the year 303 after Christ, Diocletian, the emperor of Rome, ordered that all meeting places of Christians be destroyed and that their Scriptures be burned. This destruction continued for about ten years. For hundreds of years, popes did everything they could to stop the translation of the Bible into different languages because they did not want people to learn about the Bible. Even though Satan and the people who supported him tried to destroy the Bible, we still have the Bible today. Jehovah has not allowed anyone to destroy his gift to mankind.

REASONS WHY MANY BELIEVE

13. For what reasons can we believe that the Bible is from God?

¹³ There are other reasons to believe that the Bible is from God. It does not contradict itself, it is scientifically correct, its prophecies have come true, and its writers are always honest. Also, the Bible has the power to change lives, its historical facts are accurate, and it gives good answers to the questions in paragraph 1. Let us read about what helped some to believe that the Bible is from God.

14-16. (a) What convinced three different people that the Bible is from God? (b) What reasons do you like to use in the ministry to convince people that the Bible is from God?

¹⁴ Anwara (see footnote) grew up as a Muslim in a country in the Middle East. While he was living in North America, Jehovah’s Witnesses visited him in his home. Anwar says: ‘I did not like Christian religions because of all the bad things the Church had done in the past. But I enjoy learning, so I agreed to have a Bible study.’ Soon after that, Anwar returned to his country but was not able to contact the Witnesses. Years later, he moved to Europe and started studying the Bible again. He later said: ‘I became convinced that the Bible is from God because Bible prophecies have come true, the Bible has one basic theme from beginning to end, it never contradicts itself, and Jehovah’s worshippers have love for one another.’ Anwar was baptized in 1998.

¹⁵ Asha is 16 years old, and her family is Hindu. She says: ‘I only prayed when I went to the temple or when I was having problems. But I never thought about God when I had no problems. Then one day Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked at my door, and my life changed completely.’ Asha studied the Bible. She got to know God as her friend. What convinced her that the Bible is from God? She says: ‘The Bible answered every question I had. The Bible helped me to have faith without my going to a temple and bowing to an idol.’

¹⁶ Paula grew up in a Catholic family. But when she got older, she was not sure whether God existed. Then something happened. She says: ‘I met a friend whom I had not seen in months. We were living at a time when many people had long hair and used drugs. But he had changed. He had shaved, cut his hair, and looked happy. So I asked him what had happened to him and where he had been. He said that he had been studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, and then he witnessed to me.’ Because Paula saw how Bible truth had changed her friend, she became interested in the Bible’s message and started to believe that the Bible comes from God.

“YOUR WORD IS A LAMP TO MY FOOT”

17. How will it help you if you read the Bible every day and meditate on what you read?

¹⁷ The Bible is a wonderful gift that Jehovah has given us by using his holy spirit. Enjoy reading it every day, and you will have more love for the Bible and for God. (Psalm 1:1, 2) Each time you read the Bible, pray before you start and ask God for his holy spirit so that you can understand what you read. (Luke 11:13) The Bible has God’s thoughts. When you meditate on what it says, you can learn to think the way God thinks.

18. Why do you want to continue to learn from the Bible?

¹⁸ As you continue to learn more about Bible truth, apply what you learn. (Read Psalm 119:105.) Reading the Bible can be like looking into a mirror. So if you realize that you need to make some changes, make them. (James 1:23-25) The Word of God is like a sword. You can use it to defend what you believe. You can also use it to remove false teachings from the hearts of meek people. (Ephesians 6:17) When you use the Bible, be thankful that the prophets and men who wrote it were “borne along by holy spirit.”

[Footnote]

[Blurb on page 29]

It was very wise of God to use humans to write the Bible

[Blurb on page 30]

The Bible helps us to know Jehovah and everything that he does

[Blurb on page 31]

Jehovah has not allowed anyone to destroy his gift to mankind

[Blurb on page 32]

The Bible has the power to change lives

[Picture on page 29]

A letter is viewed as coming from the person whose signature it bears