Vindication 2
Vindication 2-3 (1932)
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VINDICATION
The name and word of the Eternal God proven and
justified by
EZEKIEL’S PROPHECY and revealing what must speedily
come to pass upon the nations of the world.
©
Comments by J. F. Rutherford
Author of
CREATION DELIVERANCE RECONCILIATION GOVERNMENT
PROPHECY LIGHT and other books
©
BOOK TWO First printing 1,000,000 copies
Publishers
WATCH TOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY
International Bible Students Association
Brooklyn, New York, U. S. A,
Also
London, Toronto, Strathfield, Cape Town, Berne,
Magdeburg and in other countries
TO JEHOVAH THE KING ETERNAL
This Book Is Dedicated
“But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God,
and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations
shall not be able to abide his indignation. ’ ’-Jer. 10:10.
“Let thy name be magnified for ever.”-2 Sam.
7:26.
Copyrighted 1932 by
J. F. RUTHERFORD
Made in U. S. A.
INTRODUCTION
JEHOVAH’S holy name will be vindicated by
the elimination of all unrighteousness from the universe. He has foretold as
much by the mouth of his faithful prophets of old. Now he is causing such
prophecy to be fulfilled and to be understood. Ezekiel’s prophecy is devoted
especially to the means Jehovah employs for the vindication of his name.
Vindication Book Two, discloses the many
enemies of Jehovah in and about the realms of “Christendom”. It makes known the
hypocritical religionists other than those who claim to be Christians and shows
the destiny of such. It tells how Satan has commercialized the human race and
why the commercial systems that control both the sea and the land have
oppressed the people and reproached the name of Jehovah God. It shows Jehovah
God will destroy oppressive commercialism and deliver the oppressed people into
full light and liberty.
The prophecy of Ezekiel, as explained in
this book, shows also how Satan has builded his great organization, invisible
and visible to man, by which he has exploited the people and reproached God’s
name, and why God has permitted Satan thus to do unhindered until the present
time. Herein is made known the chief officer of Satan that will lead the fight
on the side of Satan at the battle of Armageddon and how that wicked
organization, both visible and invisible, shall be completely destroyed. It
tells of the complete downfall and destruction of Satan himself following the
destruction of his organization and how the world will be cleaned up, and how
the restoration of the people will proceed in righteousness. Above all, it
shows the vindication of Jehovah’s holy name.
VINDICATION
BOOK TWO
VINDICATION
CHAPTER VI
ENEMIES
JEHOVAH by his Word makes known his purpose
to uncover Satan and his organization, fully expose that wicked one to the eyes
of all who earnestly desire righteousness, and to destroy Satan and his entire
organization, that all creation may know that Jehovah is the only true and
almighty God. It is necessary to know God and his King in order to live; hence
the great act of vindication of Jehovah’s word and name results beneficially to
those who seek life everlasting in happiness and in peace.
At all times Satan has endeavored to keep
the people in ignorance concerning Jehovah God and his Christ and his kingdom.
For this reason it is written concerning Satan, the invisible god of this
world, that he “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
unto them”. (2 Cor. 4:4) For many centuries, unhindered in his wicked course
Satan has kept the people in ignorance of the truth; but he must reach the end
of his way, because God has so decreed. Long ago Jehovah placed his Word before
mankind, and he has magnified his Word above his name; but now, having reached
the end of Satan’s world, and the time for Jehovah to act, he will magnify both
his Word and his name. He now makes it possible for men to have an
understanding of his Word and the meaning of his name. A knowledge of Jehovah,
his King and his kingdom, is vitally necessary to those who love righteousness
and who would live, and therefore the prayer of such is: “Teach me good
judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.”-Ps. 119: 66.
To his covenant people the Jews God gave
his Word, and had they gladly obtained a knowledge thereof and walked in the
way of his Word that people would have been preserved and greatly blessed by
the Lord God and would have been his chosen people above all others on the
earth. The Jews were both ungrateful and unfaithful, and they failed as a
nation. Christ Jesus came to earth clothed with a full knowledge of the
Scriptures and he taught the Jews the truth, but only a few gave heed to his
teachings. He told them that they erred because they did not know the Word of
God, nor his power. - Matt. 22:29.
The peoples of “Christendom”, whom
Jerusalem specifically foreshadowed, have been furnished with the Word of God
and given an opportunity to know it and they have erred and gone in the wrong
way because they know not God and his power. “Christendom” has not feared God;
but the people thereof, and particularly the leaders, have walked on in
ignorance and in darkness, being willingly ignorant of the things that God has
given them the opportunity to know. (Ps. 82:5) Both Jerusalem and “Christendom”
are described as having less wisdom than the ox or the ass. "The ox
knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib, but Israel doth not know, my
people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a
seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters! they have forsaken the Lord,
they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away
backward. ’ ’-Isa. 1: 3, 4.
In this day a knowledge of Jehovah, of his
King and of his kingdom is of greatest necessity for the peoples of good will.
There are many people within the borders of "Christendom” and outside
thereof who may now seek to know and to understand the Word of God and greatly
profit thereby. To aid such truth-seekers attention is here called to the
divinely appointed way of obtaining a knowledge and understanding of the Lord.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise
wisdom and instruction.” (Prov. 1:7) It is the fool that hates knowledge and
refuses to receive it and profit thereby.
The peoples of the world are now in great
distress and perplexity and are ignorant of the reason therefor and they know
not what can bring them relief. God’s Word contains all and complete
information concerning the same. The man who fears God and desires to do his
will, and who then diligently seeks to know and to understand, will have his
faith and his work rewarded. "Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and
liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and
searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of
the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his
mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the
righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of
judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.” (Prov. 2:3-8) “Receive my
instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom
is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be
compared to it.” (Prov. 8:10,11) “The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge;
and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.”-Prov. 18:15.
The great issue is now between Jehovah God
and Satan the wicked one, and the final determination of that question at issue
is near at hand. One purpose in publishing the truth is to disclose to the
people Satan and his wicked organization, but the chief reason for the
publication of the truth is that the people might learn of the goodness of
Jehovah God and of his complete remedy for the ills that afflict humankind. Let
the people now learn and understand that no human power can lift the world out
of its degradation, suffering and distress, but that Jehovah God, by and
through his kingdom, will destroy that which oppresses mankind and will bring
peace, prosperity and life and happiness to those who love him and who obey his
righteous laws. His kingdom on the earth, now beginning, will first dash to
pieces the wicked, oppressive organization of Satan, and the Lord will then
speak peace and prosperity to the people. The reason for the woes that now
afflict the people on earth is, as stated in God’s Word, to wit: “Woe to the
inhab- iters of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” (Rev.
12:12) The “short time’’ here mentioned means that in the very near future the
great question at issue between Jehovah and the Devil will be finally settled
at the battle of Armageddon, and which must take place before lasting blessings
can come to the peoples of the earth. Those who now get a knowledge and
understanding of the reasons for that battle, and what will be the result, and
what will follow after, and who then apply that knowledge in a wise manner,
will be greatly blessed.
The chief ambition of Satan has ever been
to have man worship and serve him, even as some have worshiped and do worship
and serve Jehovah God. It was that selfish ambition that led him to rebel
against God and caused him to dispute the supremacy of Jehovah God and to
challenge God to put men on the earth whom Satan could not take away from God
and cause to curse Jehovah. This challenge of Satan to Jehovah put at issue
Jehovah’s word and his name and the supremacy of the Almighty God. Since men
are by nature born to look to a higher power, religion has been the chief means
by which Satan has deceived and led men into his trap. By this means he has
induced some to worship him directly, while others he has induced to worship
various objects and things and thus to worship Satan indirectly; and this he
has done that he might turn the people away from the true God.
Satan first organized the people on the
plains of Shinar and started them in the way of the practice of the Devil religion.
In the course of time all the peoples and nations of the earth, with the
exception of the Israelites, practiced the Devil religion in some form.
When God selected for himself the
descendants of faithful Abraham and called them Israelites, and later Jews, he
gave to that people his law commanding that they should have no other God aside
from Jehovah. “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth. ’ ’-Ex. 20: 2-4.
Manifestly God gave the Israelites that law
to protect them from the subtle and wicked influence of the Devil and to afford
them an opportunity to maintain their integrity toward Jehovah. A few of that
people, who arc designated in the Scriptures as “the remnant of Israel”, did
remain true and faithful to God and did maintain their integrity toward him;
but the nation as a whole fell away to the Devil and indulged in Baal or Devil
worship, and for that reason God destroyed Jerusalem.
The Jews, or Judeans, of Jerusalem, being
the covenant people of God whom he used to make pictures foreshadowing greater
things to come, specifically typified or foreshadowed “Christendom”; that is to
say, the people and nations that practice the so-called “Christian religion”,
and that claim to serve and worship Jehovah God and his Christ. The true
worshipers of Jehovah God on earth were organized into a company by Christ
Jesus and his apostles, and these who faithfully followed Christ Jesus have
been called Christians, although the name is usually applied in derision. Only
a few years passed, after the death of the apostles until the majority of those
of the company professing to worship Christ and God had fallen away by reason
of the subtle and blinding influence of Satan. These professed worshipers of
Christ and God adopted formalism and quickly indulged in hero worship, giving
men great honor and praise and worship. Throughout the period of time known as
the Christian era a few of those who made a covenant to do the will of God have
maintained their integrity toward God, remained true and faithful to him, and
worshiped him in spirit and in truth. But the great majority of so-called
“Christian” people or worshipers formed themselves into companies or bodies,
became active in the affairs of the world, and have since indulged in politics
and other parts of Satan’s organization and have become fully allied with Satan
and a part of his visible organization. These organized bodies have practiced
the Devil religion and falsely claimed it to be the “Christian religion”. Such
is the present situation throughout the nations and countries called
"Christendom".
DEVIL WORSHIP
Baal worship is another name for Devil
worship or Devil religion, and which Devil religion was introduced amongst the
Jews. Balak was the king of the Moabites, which people practiced the Devil
religion. (Num. 22:4) Balaam was a soothsayer of Mesopotamia. (Deut. 23:4,5;
Josh. 13:22) Balaam, an instrument of Satan, would do anything for hire. He
belonged to that class of men that walk with their hands behind them. He hired
himself to Balak to curse the Israelites. (Jude 11; 2 Pet. 2:15) Balaam taught
Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the Israelites. This was a form of
devilish worship by lewd rites. "And Israel abode in Shittim, and the
people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the
people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed
down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal- peor; and the anger of
the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the
heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the
fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto
the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto
Baal-peor.”-Num. 25:1-5.
From the time the Devil religion was
introduced amongst the Israelites there was a persistent contest between the
true worshipers of God and the worshipers of Baal. Although claiming to be God’s
people, many of the Jews worshiped the Devil and practiced the Devil religion.
"And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served
Baalim; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out
of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that
were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to
anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.’’-Judg.
2:11-13.
The name "Baal” is from the primitive root
which means "to be master; (hence) to marry”. Therefore the name means
"master” or "husband”, and figuratively means "owner”. Baal
worship, therefore, is a religion or worship of the Devil by joining or uniting
with the organization of which Satan the Devil is master, husband and owner and
by which union the Devil is accepted as lord and master. In the practice of
this Devil religion graven images were used, which images or statues
represented or stood for the unseen. The practice of the Devil religion still
persists amongst the nations of the earth. Today men carry on their Devil
worship and practice the Devil religion by employing such things as gold and
other precious metals, church systems, edifices, commercial and military power,
and other like things which they idolize by setting their ambitions and their
affections thereon and by worshiping them. The Devil has induced many people to
deny his existence and yet he induces them by subtle means to worship that
which he has brought into existence.
Within ancient Jerusalem there were a few
who were faithful and true to Jehovah God and worshiped him in spirit and in
truth, and these few were hated and persecuted by the apostate Jews who claimed
to worship God but who did not in fact. Also within that ancient city of
Jerusalem there were those who made no pretense of worshiping the true God but
who were called “heathen” or “strangers” and who were unfriendly to the true
worshipers of God. All the nations round about the city of Jerusalem were
heathen and worshipers of the Devil or practicers of the Devil religion, and
they hated those who were faithful to Jehovah God and who inhabited Jerusalem.
Likewise at this present day, within the land of “Christendom”, which was
foreshadowed by Jerusalem, there are a few people that are true and faithful to
Jehovah God and who worship him in spirit and in truth, and these are hated by
the apostate or so-called “Christians” who have fallen away from God and are
under the influence of Satan. Also within the borders of the land or nations of
“Christendom” there are many who make no pretense to be worshipers of Cod and
of Christ and who are also unfriendly to the true worshipers of God. The
nations round and about “Christendom” are called “heathen”, and these are
unfriendly towards the true followers of Christ Jesus. With these preliminary
facts before us let us now proceed to the examination of the prophecy of
Ezekiel.
Ezekiel’s prophecy, chapters one to
twenty-four inclusive, is directed specifically against Jerusalem. When that
prophecy was uttered and completed, then followed the siege of the city of
Jerusalem by the Babylonians. During that siege and until the fall of the city
there would be no occasion for God’s prophet Ezekiel to prophesy against the
city of Jerusalem; hence he is said to have been dumb during that period of
time. Such ‘dumbness’ manifestly means that during that period of time Ezekiel
the prophet was dumb so far as Jerusalem was concerned. It would not mean that
he was entirely speechless. Book One of Vindication gives consideration to
chapters one to twenty- four of Ezekiel’s prophecy. Book Two of Vindication
gives consideration to the prophecy of Ezekiel beginning with the twenty-fifth
chapter, and other chapters that follow thereafter.
The siege of Jerusalem began in 608 B.C.,
by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. While that siege was in progress Ezekiel
did not speak against Jerusalem, and therefore he is said to have been dumb; but
during that period of the siege he did speak the prophecy of Jehovah God
against the nations called “heathen” and which were round and about Jerusalem.
His prophecy is not spoken against Babylon; the evident reason being that the
nation of Babylon was then being used by Jehovah as his instrument to enforce
his judgment against the Jews. All the heathen nations or peoples practiced the
satanic religion, and therefore the entire number represented the invisible
ruler of this wicked world. The prophecy of Ezekiel specifically names seven of
these heathen nations; and seven, being a symbol of completeness of things not
seen by human eyes, evidently here is meant to include all the nations that go
to make up Satan’s visible organization. The entire enemy organization, both
seen and unseen and which shall be utterly destroyed, is represented under the
name of “Gog and Magog”. The names considered in this chapter apply more
specifically to those of earth who form a part of the Devil’s organization
aside from the professed “Christian” element or who make prominent some other
part of Satan’s visible organization.
Chapters twenty-five to thirty, inclusive,
of Ezekiel’s prophecy name seven different heathen nations, to wit, Ammon,
Moab, Edom or Seir, Philistia, Tyrus and Zidon (both names applying to the same
nation), Egypt, and Ethiopia. Assyria had been overthrown before the prophecy
of Ezekiel began to be uttered, and probably this is the reason that no
predictions are made concerning Assyria. Although Ezekiel did not directly
prophesy concerning the fall of Babylon, and for the probable reason above
assigned, indirectly his prophecy does apply to Babylon, and the prophecy
contains numerous predictions of and concerning the restoration of God’s
people; which implies a deliverance from Babylon and the destruction of Babylon
as a component part of the enemies of the Most High. The prophecy does foretell
the doom of all the enemies of Jehovah and therefore the enemies of Jehovah’s
people.
The prophecy of Ezekiel beginning with chapter
twenty-five, and the chapters following, disclose many features and doings of
Satan’s organization and contains an illuminating description thereof. The
inference that is properly drawn from this is that Jehovah’s witnesses in the
earth are first to take careful note of the Devil’s organization, its make-up
and its deeds against God and his kingdom, and then go and declare God’s
judgment previously written against that wicked organization and every part
thereof. “Christendom” is the enemy of Jehovah God and his kingdom. There are
others, who make no pretense of being Christian, that are God’s enemies. While
the first part of Ezekiel’s prophecy deals specifically with “Christendom”, his
prophecy in the twenty-fifth to the thirty-second chapters inclusive deals
specifically with other parts of Satan’s visible organization all of which is
the enemy of Jehovah God. To be sure, Jehovah knows all his enemies; but
manifestly one of the primary purposes of Ezekiel’s prophecy is to expose to
God’s covenant people now on earth every part of the enemy Satan’s
organization, and this he will do before he destroys them. “Thine hand shall
find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
’ ’-Ps. 21: 8.
SEVEN HEATHEN NATIONS ROUND ABOUTAGAINST
AMMON (Ezekiel, Chapter 25)
The Revelation, chapters one to three,
takes seven branches of God’s organization and deals with them during the
period of judgment time. The seven churches or divisions of God’s visible
organization clearly picture states of affairs or conditions existing in all of
the companies forming God’s organization at one and the same time. With the
coming of the Lord to the temple of Jehovah for judgment there ‘judgment began
at the house of God’, which judgment would include the real as well as the
professed followers of Christ Jesus. Corresponding to this Ezekiel’s prophecy
deals specifically with seven branches of Satan’s organization, which he names,
and against which he prophesied during the period of his dumbness against Jerusalem.
The prophecy of Ezekiel has to do with God’s judgment against Satan’s
organization, and the prophecy here under consideration specifically pictures
conditions or states of affairs that exist in all of Satan’s organization, and
which is symbolized by the seven nations here separately considered. The
prophecy here was leveled against ancient Ammon, and it may be expected that we
shall find a modern Ammon against which the prophecy is also leveled.
The prophecy against Jerusalem had been
uttered, and the dumbness of Ezekiel against Jerusalem was therefore beginning,
and the prophet of God then writes: “The word of the Lord came again unto me,
saying, Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against
them.” (25:1,2) The indisputable facts are that prior to 1918 the faithful followers
of Christ Jesus specifically directed their testimony against the religious
systems of “Christendom”, and which work was foreshadowed by the Prophet
Elijah. The prophecy of Ezekiel, beginning with the twenty-fifth chapter,
evidently foreshadowed the time of change of the work of God’s people from that
represented by Elijah to that represented by the Prophet Elisha. This prophecy
therefore points in time to the period following 1918, when the Lord came to the
temple and inaugurated the day of vindication upon “Christendom” so called. It
seems to point to the period marked by the formation of the League of Nations,
all of which nations were and arc anti-God and anti-kingdom. The prophecy, of
course, refers to conditions existing long prior thereto and which conditions
began to be exposed and made known from and after 1918.
The seven nations specifically named by
Ezekiel, and against which nations his prophecy was directed, were hostile
against one another and were all united against Jerusalem, and to that extent
they were one, and were equally at all times leagued together against
Jerusalem. It is written: “For they have consulted together with one consent:
they are confederate against thee [God is represented by the earthly members of
his organization]; the tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and
the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines, with the
inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them; they have holpen the
children of Lot [Moab and Ammon].” (Ps. 83:5-8) Here are named five of the
seven heathen powers mentioned by Ezekiel, and which are shown to be in a
confederacy, or leagued, against God’s true people, representing his
organization. When Jerusalem fell the five heathen nations here named rejoiced,
just as when God’s “two witnesses” were killed the many enemies of God’s people
rejoiced. “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make
merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets
tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” (Rev. 11:10; Light, Book One, page
208) In both instances the rejoicing was due to selfishness and to a malicious
desire to see God’s people suffer. That rejoicing, however, is but temporary,
as this prophecy plainly shows.
The Revised Version (25:2) says: “The
children of Ammon, . . . prophesy against them.” The name “Ammon” means “the
son of my kindred, tribal (that is to say, inbred) ”. Ammon was a grand-nephew
of Abraham. His territory bordered on the east of the territory of the tribe of
Reuben. (Deut. 3:16; Gen. 19:38) The Ammonites practiced the Satanic religion,
worshiping the Devil under the gHise of the worship of Milcom (Moleeh, margin,
1 Ka. 11:5,7). The Ammonites were unfriendly to the Israelites during the time
of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and when they were marching toward
Canaan. (Deut. 23:4) On a number of occasions the Ammonites committed assaults
upon God’s people. Also they contaminated the Israelites in a religious way.
(Judg. 10: 6; 11: 4, 5 ; 2 Chron. 20:1-10; 2 Ki. 24: 2) After the destruction
of the city of Jerusalem the Ammonites continued to manifest their enmity
against the people of Israel. When God’s people were sent to rebuild the walls
of the city of Jerusalem the Ammonites conspired with the other enemies to
hinder the building thereof.-Neh. 4: 7, 8.
Jehovah caused his decree to be written
precluding the Ammonites from ever entering into the congregation of the Lord.
“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even
to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the
Lord for ever: because they met you not with bread and with water in the way,
when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the
son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.” (Deut. 23: 3,4) In this
text “their tenth generation” manifestly means all the earthly generations of
that people. “On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the
people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should
not come into the congregation of God for ever. And I came to Jerusalem, and
understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah [the Ammonite], in
preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.” (Neh. 13:1,7)
furthermore, God caused the decree to be written against the Ammonites:
“Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab
shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon [shall be] as Gomorrah, even the
breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation; the residue of
my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and
magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts. ’ ’-Zeph. 2:
9,10.
MODERN AMMONITES
The Ammonites therefore clearly appear to
represent those whom the Lord God would never admit into the company of his
true people because they neither sever themselves from Satan’s organization,
neither are they favorable to those who are escaping from that wicked
organization, and who are pictured by the Israelites escaping out of Egypt. The
modern Ammonites are a self-sufficient, inbred, evolutionistic or ‘self-made by
character development’ class, and camp near upon the trail of God’s true people
for the purpose of harassing and opposing them, and have contaminated,
adulterated and hindered the work of God’s true people. They revile God’s
people while they themselves worship the Devil, practicing the Devil religion
in some form.
Jehovah commanded Ezekiel to prophesy
against the Ammonites: “And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord
God; Thus saith the Lord God ; Because thou saidst Aha, against my sanctuary,
when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and
against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; behold, therefore, I
will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set
their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy
fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. And I will make Rabbah a stable for
camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks; and ye shall know that I
am the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God, Because thou hast clapped thine
hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite
against the land of Israel.”-25: 3-6.
Thus is disclosed a people that make no
pretense of being followers of Christ but who manifest a malicious and wicked
spirit against the devoted people of God. They stand by and look on while
professed “Christian religionists”, so called, heap reproach and ignominy and
cruel persecution upon the faithful people of God, and when these faithful ones
are taken into the custody of the law of Satan’s organization and unjustly
punished, then these modern Ammonites express delight at such acts or deeds of
injustice. They wickedly rejoice and take delight in such wickedness, both
inwardly and outwardly, all of which the Lord God sees and takes notice of, and
in due time will give just recompense therefor.
Nothing escapes the watchful eye of
Jehovah, and in his due time he will give recompense to those who unjustly and
wrongfully treat his people. The enemies of God may think they can ill-use his
covenant people and go unpunished, but in this they do err. Those who love God
pray: “Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies who compass me about.
They are inclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly.”- Ps.
17:8-10,
With full confidence in Jehovah, who is
ever watchful, his faithful people sing: “My help cometh from the Lord, which
made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth
thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor
sleep.” (Ps. 121:2-4) To his faithful followers Jesus declared the divine rule:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on
the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. Fear ye not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
(Matt. 10:29-31) Jehovah has permitted the Devil and his crowd to exhibit their
wickedness in opposition to him and his kingdom by persecuting and ill-treating
his true people, but he will vindicate them, as well as his own name, in his
own due time. "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, After the glory hath he
sent me unto the nations which spoiled you; for he that toueheth you toueheth
the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they
shall be a spoil to their servants; and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts
hath sent me. Sing and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will
dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.”-Zech. 2:8-10.
In corroboration of the fact that God will
recompense those who have ill-treated his anointed, Ezekiel says: ‘‘Behold,
therefore, I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and
they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee; they
shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.” (25:4) ‘‘Men of the east”
here mentioned refers to the same as the ‘‘kings of the east” in Revelation
16:12. The Christ of God is the One who shall take possession of all nations
and peoples of earth; hence these ‘‘men of the east” or ‘‘kings of the east”
consist of Christ Jesus and the glorified members of his body now with him and
also those on earth who continue faithful unto the end and who will be included
in the same class. (Light, Book Two, page 38) God will duly recompense the
enemies of his people, represented by Ammon. “Therefore, as I live, saith the
Lord of hosts, the God of Israel [his covenant people], Surely . . . the
children of Ammon [shall be] as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and
saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil
them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.” (Zeph. 2: 9) “Be
patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord [to the day of
executing the judgment of Jehovah against the enemy].”-Jas. 5:7.
Jehovah’s declared purpose is that the
modern Ammonites shall have every reason to know that he is the Almighty God:
“And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place
for flocks; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” (25: 5) The meaning of the
word “Rabbah” used in this verse is “great city” or “metropolis”. It was the
capital city of the Ammonites, and was therefore a royal city, and, says the
prophet, it shall become like a camel’s stable, which is a disreputable place.
(Deut. 3:11; Josh. 13:25; 2 Sam. 11:1; 12:26; Amos 1:13-15) That means that the
condition of the modern Ammonites shall be that of great humiliation, and they
shall know that Jehovah is God. God will not permit his covenant people to be
persecuted and the persecutors to go unpunished.
Further pronouncing the divine decree
against the modern Ammonites the prophet indicates that these shall be
delivered up to places in the League of Nations that is anti-kingdom and then
to the fate of destruction which awaits that unholy compact. “Behold,
therefore, I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a
spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I wiU cause
thee to perish out of the countries; I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know
that I am the Lord.” (25:7) Because of the cruel- and hard-heartedness of the
modern Ammonites, it is needful that Jehovah God literally show them who he is.-Jer.
25:17,21.
It is interesting here to note that there
appears to be no provision made or expressed in the Word of God for the
recovery of Babylon, which stands primarily for hypocritical Devil religion,
but there is strong proof that God will be merciful to the modern Ammonites and
open their eyes to the fact that they have been captured by Satan and then give
them opportunity as individuals to obey and to serve him and to have the
blessings of restitution in his own due time: “Concerning the Ammonites, thus
saith the Lord, Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king
inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities? Therefore, behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah
of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be
burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs,
saith the Lord. Howl, 0 Heshbon; for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of
Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for
their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.
Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding
daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me ?
Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, from all
those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and
none shall gather up him that wan- dereth. And afterward I will bring again the
captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the Lord.” (Jer. 49:1-6) Evidently
this scripture means that God will not permit any of the Ammonites to be of his
kingdom, but after the destruction of all his enemies the individuals that have
made up the Ammonite class, who find that they have been the dupes of Satan
their worst enemy, will be given an opportunity for restitution.
AGAINST MOAB
The Israelites, also called Jews, were the covenant
people of God whom he punished for their unfaithfulness to him and their
repudiation of their covenant with him. The people of the Jews therefore stood
before the heathen world as the accredited representatives of God. Because
Jehovah permitted or suffered punishment to come upon the Jews by the hand of
King Nebuchadnezzar the Judeans, or Jews, were spoken of in derision by the
heathen nations and these heathen said: ‘The Jews are just like others of the
heathen. They have claimed so much for their God and now he is unable to
protect them from the assaults of Nebuchadnezzar.’ Jehovah caused report of
this to be made by directing Ezekiel to write: ‘‘Thus saith the Lord God,
Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all
the heathen.” (25: 8) That derisive statement of the Moabites not only was a
slap at the Jews, but was an insult and reproach cast upon Jehovah. It was a
presumptuous interference on the part of the Moabites with the work of the
Lord. It was Jehovah’s exclusive prerogative to punish the Jews for wrongdoing,
and it must be understood that it was none of the affair of any of Satan’s
organization to interfere or to speak derisively of God’s work.
In like manner in these last days, the
organization called "Christian”, which was foreshadowed by the Judeans, or
Jews, is very much in disrepute amongst those who make no pretense of serving
God. They see the so-called ‘ ‘ Christians ’ ’ falling away from God and they
say in substance that the Christians are no better than other people, that they
are all crooks and their God is no better than any other god. They speak with
like words against the true Israel as they do against the pretending
Christians. It seems certain that "organized Christianity” will come into
greater disrepute amongst the peoples of earth, and then after the destruction
of "organized Christianity” all persons who serve God in fact, or who
claim to serve him, will be in disrepute in the minds of the class represented
by the Moabites. Such is and will be a great insult and reproach to Jehovah
God. The name of Jehovah will be vindicated, and all must come to know that he
is God ; and therefore he will visit the modern Moabite and properly recompense
such.
"Therefore, behold, I will open the
side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the
glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth. Baal- meon, and Kiriathaim.” (25:9)
"Moab” means "from my father”, that is, "seed of the (mother’s)
father.” Moab was a son of Lot by his eldest daughter. (Gen. 19:37) The
Moabites were unfriendly to the Jews and ill-treated them when they were on
their trek to the land of Canaan, even hiring the soothsayer Balaam to curse
the Israelites. (Num. 22; Mic. 6:5) The Moabites worshiped the Devil under the
form of Chemosh. (1 Ki. 11:7; Jer. 48:7,13,46) They assaulted the Jews and
captured and held them in captivity for a period of eighteen years.-Judg. 3:12
14.
God has not permitted wickedness to persist
in the earth in order to teach men the evil effects thereof, but he has
permitted his covenant people to come in contact with Satan’s organization,
thereby affording them an opportunity under test to prove whether or not they
love the Lord God. The Israelites came in contact with the heathen nations and
were fully warned aforetime to keep themselves separate from the heathen, but
they failed to do so. Their coming in contact with the heathen afforded them an
opportunity to prove their love for Jehovah. Likewise God’s covenant people who
agreed to do his will and follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ have been in
the world but like their Master they are not of the world. They have been duly
warned to keep themselves separate from the world and to prove their
faithfulness and love for God. They have been told that friendship with the
world and the mixing up with worldly schemes is an abomination in the sight of
God. The Jews as a nation were unfaithful to God and for that reason he
punished them. At the same time there were faithful Jews in the land who held
themselves separate and distinct from their enemies and who maintained their
integrity toward God. Likewise the people of “Christendom” who have covenanted
to do the will of God have in the aggregate been unfaithful to God and have
turned away to Satan’s organization, but at the same time there have been a few
who have maintained their integrity and remained faithful and true to God.
Ruth was a Moabitess. She voluntarily
forsook the god of Moab and became willingly and obediently the servant of the
Most High, and she received God’s blessing by being made a link in the
genealogy of David leading up to Christ. She ceased to be a Moabitess and was
adopted into the family of God. As a people or nation the Moabites were enemies
of Jehovah. The Moabite Sanballat did what he could to hinder the rebuilding of
the wall of Jerusalem. (Neh. 2:19) The Moabites magnified themselves against
Jehovah God, and by reproaching his covenant people they reproached Jehovah,
and for this reason God pronounced his decree against Moab. "The horn of
Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord. Make ye him drunken;
for he magnified himself against the Lord: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit,
and he also shall be in derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was
he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
... We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud,) his loftiness,
and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his
wrath, saith the Lord; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.
And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified
himself against the Lord.” (Jer. 48:25-30,42) "And Moab shall be ashamed
of Chemosh, as the house of Israel [ten tribes] was ashamed of Beth-el their
confidence. How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?”-Jer. 48;
13,14.
MODERN MOABITES
The Moabites therefore were and do picture
a people, whether within the confines of the land of “Christendom” or outside
thereof, who do not acknowledge Jehovah as God or pretend to be Christian but
who practice some form of Devil religion; a people that is self-contained,
self-important; a class of people who rely upon their own strength and the
strength of their organizations. There are many such in the land called
“Christian”, and many outside thereof, who arc proud, arrogant, lofty and
haughty, but despise the name of God and of his Christ, and who are against
those who worship and serve God in spirit and in truth. They are closely related
to the modern Ammonites. They have their lodges, clubs and leagues, and like
organizations, which practice militarism, and they count much on their military
strength and power, and their god is their own power and their own strength.
They are like “armed soldiers” of ancient Moab. Many of these clubs, lodges and
leagues made up of men and women, and to which is attached militarism, reproach
professed Christians and true Christians alike; and even after the fall of
“Christendom” will still reproach the true Christians with the same hatred that
they now have; and they shall come to bitter sorrow, as the Lord says of them:
“Therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous
unto him.”-Isa. 15:4.
The modern Moabites, like the Ammonites,
shall be delivered into the hand or possession of Christ: “unto the children of
the east (coming) against the sons of Ammon, and I will give them in
possession; in order that the sons of Ammon may not be remembered among the
nations. And on Moab will I execute judgments; and they shall know that I am
the Lord.” (25:10,11, Leeser) The destruction of the modern Moabites is
therefore closely related to that of their half brothers the modern Ammonites.
- Jer. 25:17-21.
It was “Christendom” that instigated the
persecution of God’s people during the World War. Foreknowing this tribulation
that was to come upon them God foretold it in these words: ‘‘Take counsel,
execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday;
hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with
thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler; for the
extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out
of the land.” -Isa. 16:3,4.
The modern Moabites there had the
opportunity of furnishing some succor and help to God’s covenant people then in
trouble, but instead of so doing they rejoiced at the tribulation that came
upon the faithful children of God during the period from 1917 to 1919 and hence
these faithful ones were scattered and persecuted. No country on earth during
the World War hardships furnished aid or succor to the faithful people of God,
nor did these nations give heed to the truth God’s faithful people had
proclaimed. In all such countries those who did not even claim to be the
followers of Christ or worshipers of God also manifested their ill will against
God’s people. These opposers of God’s people did not trust in the churches of
“Christendom”, but they trusted in their own works and in their own treasures
and practiced some form of Devil religion. They willingly cooperated, however,
with the powers of “Christendom” to cut off God’s people and destroy them out
of the land of the living. Therefore it is written concerning the modern Moabites:
“Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, . . . For
because thou hast trusted in thy works, and in thy treasures, thou shalt also
be taken; and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, with his priests and his
princes together. . . . The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,
saith the Lord.”-J er. 48:1-25.
It is to the “men of the east”, including
the anointed ones on earth, that the execution of God’s judgments is committed.
All the saints must have a part therein even though the only part the earthly
division has is to serve notice and sing the praises of Jehovah. “To execute
vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to execute upon
them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the
Lord.” (Ps. 149: 7, 9) Any one of the anointed, therefore, who is negligent or
indifferent in the performance of his duty shall be condemned by the Lord.
“Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully
[negligently,margin].” (Jer.48:10) Jehovah’s written judgment against Moab
(ancient and modern) is: “But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour
the palaces of Kirioth; and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with
the sound of the trumpet: and I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof,
and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord.” (Amos 2:2,3)
“Therefore, as I Jive, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab
shall be as Sodom.” -Zeph. 2: 9,10.
The Jews were the direct descendants of
Abraham. The Ammonites and Moabites were the descendants of Lot, who was a
nephew of Abraham. The Ammonites and Moabites therefore were distinctly related
to the Jews and probably used a similar language, although opposed to each
other. The Israelites or Jews foreshadowed the “Christians”, so called, of
modern times. The organizations within the borders of “Christendom”, as well as
outside, such as “Christian Scientists”, so called, theosophists,
psychologists, evolutionists and like ones, are distinctly related to
“organized Christianity”, and talk something like “organized Christianity”.
These are self-centered, self-important, and think they can by their own mental
and physical efforts bring themselves up to perfection. They are the enemies of
God and of his kingdom. These are the modern Ammonites and Moabites, and, like
the Ammonites and Moabites of old, have been and are the dupes of the Devil;
they are not willing hypocrites, but. are entirely blind to God and to the
truth; therefore after the destruction of their organization and systems God
will have mercy upon them individually and in his own due time and way give
them an opportunity for restitution blessings. “Yet will I bring again the
captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord. Thus far is the judgment
of Moab.” (Jer. 48 : 47) The testimony is delivered to the modern Ammonites and
Moabites within the land called “Christendom”.
AGAINST EDOM
The people of Edom, otherwise called Mount
Seir, picture another class of the enemies of God. “Thus saith the Lord God,
Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance,
and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them.” (25:12) The
Edomites picture a class of people that reproach the name of Jehovah God
because “Seir [doth] say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the
heathen”. (25:8) This class also vent their spleen or malicious hatred against
God’s covenant people that serve him and give praise to his name.
Edom (which also we call Mount Seir) means
“red”, and is a name of reproach because of Esau’s selling his birthright for a
mess of red pottage. (Gen. 25:30) The Edomites were descendants of Esau by two
heathen women of Canaan and by the niece of Isaac, that is, a granddaughter of
Abraham through Ishmael. (See Genesis 36:1-6,43.) The Edomites worshiped false
gods; therefore they practiced the Devil religion. (2 Chron. 25:14,15,20) They
intermarried with the Horites (meaning cave dwellers, the original inhabitants
of Mount Seir). (Gen. 36:12, 20-22) Edom is therefore addressed as “Thou that
dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high”. (Obad. 3) The
Edomites ill-treated the children of Israel when the messengers of Moses, who
represented the Lord, requested a favor for the Israelites. (Num. 20:21) They
entered into a conspiracy with other enemies of God against the Israelites.
“For they have consulted together with one consent; they arc confederate
against thee; the tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the
Hagarenes.” (Ps. 83:5,6) “Remember, 0 Lord, the children of Edom in the day of
Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.”-Ps.
137:7.
“Esau” means “rough” (that is to say,
sensibly felt, because of his hairy skin). (Gen, 25: 25) “Seir” means “shaggy,
rugged, hairy, rough and wooded”, and is another form of “sa'ir”, which means
“devil, satyr, goat”. The name is well used to picture and applies to a part of
Satan’s organization. “Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir. Esau is Edom.” (Gen. 36:
8, 9) The Herod who caused John the Baptist to be killed was an Edomite.
The Edomites seem clearly to picture a
class of persons who claim to have been begotten of the spirit of God and are
therefore classed as spiritual brothers of God’s faithful sons. The opportunity
was once theirs of participating in the kingdom or royal house of God, but they
bartered away that opportunity or right for ever that they might gratify their
selfish desires. For a mess of pottage they give up the opportunity of entering
into Jehovah’s organization. Soured and revengeful against those who love and
serve God, they persecute and try to take vengeance upon those who do enter
into the covenant with Christ Jesus to be members of Jehovah’s royal house.
When they see other enemies of God and of his people persecuting Jehovah’s
“servant” class they join themselves to the side of the enemy and take either
an active or a passive position in such persecution. They arc not really a part
of “Christendom”, although in “Christendom”, because they once separated themselves
from “Christendom”; and then disregarding God’s commandments, and relying upon
their own loftiness, they return to the elementary things of the Scriptures and
forsake God’s kingdom. They perch themselves very high in self-exaltation, not
believing that the Lord will bring them down to the ground as he declares he
will do. (Obad. 3, 4) They are wise in their own conceits and past masters at
deception.
They voluntarily oppose those whom they
once called their brethren. They slander these without a cause. ‘‘Thou sittest
and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.” (Ps.
50:20) When some of those saw there was a conspiracy against God’s covenant
people who were serving him, in the years 1917 and 1918, they lent their aid and
support to the persecutors of God’s people, and have been doing so ever since.
“Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of
Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? And thy mighty men, O Teman,
shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut
off by slaughter. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover
thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the
other side, in the day that the stranger's carried away captive his forces, and
foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast
as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in
the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over
the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou
have spoken proudly in the day of distress.”-Obad. 8-12.
As the Edomites stood by and gave aid and
comfort and encouragement to those that were carrying away the people of Israel
as captives, even so the modern Edomites or Esau crowd gave aid and comfort to
the enemy that were persecuting and carrying away God’s people during the World
War distress. By thus taking vengeance and by having revenged themselves the
modern Edomites put themselves in a class mentioned by the psalmist: “Out of
the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine
enemies; that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” (See The
Watchtower 1930, page 100.) In harmony with this it is written: “Whereas Edom
saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places;
thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they
shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the
Lord hath indignation for ever.”-Mal. 1:4.
“SON OF PERDITION”
The description of the Edomites and the
facts concerning the “evil servant” class (Matt. 24:48-51), “the son of
perdition” (2 Thess. 2:3-12), exactly fit. It is this class that join
themselves in a conspiracy to do injury to God’s people who are faithfully
endeavoring to advertise the name of Jehovah and his kingdom. “Thy terribleness
hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the
clefts of the rock, that boldest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest
make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith
the Lord.” -Jer. 49:16.
In a judicial decree entered against the
Edomites Jehovah says: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will also stretch
out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will
make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.”
(25:13) Those who have once been enlightened by the Lord, and who then for envy
take vengeance upon those who have been once their brethren, are far more
reprehensible before God than those who have not been so enlightened. The
district of De- dan was near Edom, and it is evident that those whom Dedan pictures
joined with those whom Teman pictures in acts of vengeance against the people
of God. It is written: “And those are the names of the dukes that came of Esau,
according to their families, after their places, by their names; . . . duke
Teman, dulce Mibzar.” (Gen. 36: 40-42) These were descendants of Abraham. “Then
again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran,
and Jokshan , , . And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan
were Asshurim and Letushim, and Leummim.”-Gen. 25:1-3.
The adverse judgment entered by Jehovah
against Esau also reaches the people of Dedan. “Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep,
O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the
time that I will visit him.” (Jer. 49: 8) “And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall
be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by
slaughter.”-Obad. 9.
Jehovah will execute his vengeance against
those who after having received his favor spurn his goodness, disobey his
commandments, and persecute those who delight to do his will. Such are the
modern Edomites. “And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people
Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger, and according to my
fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God.” (25:14) Christ
Jesus, the chief executive of Jehovah, will execute his vengeance against the
Edomites. All the members of the capital organization of Jehovah, including the
faithful remnant on earth, are given some part in the execution of this
judgment. (Ps. 149: 9; Obad. 17,18, 21) “I shall see him, but not now; I shall
behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre
shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all
the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a
possession for his enemies: and Israel shall do valiantly.” -Num. 24:17,18.
The Esau class, or modern Edomites, are
those who do know better, yet who wrongfully do violence to those who praise
Jehovah. God’s vengeance will be specially manifested against such, and the
remnant now on the earth must have to do with this in that they declare the day
of God’s vengeance upon his enemies. (Deut. 32:43) Those who are devoted to
Jehovah will see the expression of his righteous indignation against his
enemies and will rejoice in the vindication of his name. “The righteous shall rejoice
when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he
is a God that judgeth in the earth.”-Ps. 58:10,11.
Jehovah further emphasized his purpose to
inflict punishment upon the modern Edomites. (Jer. 25: 21) “In that day will I
raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches
thereof: and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of
old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which
arc called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this.” (Amos 9:11,12) ‘‘For my
sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea [Edom],
and upon the people of my eurse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled
with blood; it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah,
and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. It shall not be quenched night nor
day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it
shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.” (Isa.
34:5,6,10) “Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Edom, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his
brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear
perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: but I will send a fire upon Teman,
which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.” (Amos 1:11,12) These scriptures
constitute strong proof that the Edomites pictured a class that is turned away
to complete destruction or second death. There is no promise in the Bible of
restitution of the Edomites.
AGAINST PHILISTIA
At the time of the expulsion of man from
Eden Jehovah caused to be recorded in his Word the prophecy concerning the
…