Golden Age, November 17, 1926
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NEV'
BEGINNING
EARTH’S GREATEST
CONFLICT NEAR
BLESSINGS (?) OF CATHOLICISM
GREAT SIGNS AND WONDERS
PUBLIC PRESS
AGAINST PEOPLE
BIBLE STUDENTS
MEET IN NEW YORK
Vol. VIII Bi-Weekly No. 187 November 17, 1926 sr—.
OLD VORLD DYING
a Journal of fact hope anA courage
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Contents of the Golden Age
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The New York Convention of Bible Students ....... 99
Public Press Against the People ...
Earth’s Greatest Conflict Near . . •
Rebellion.............
Hypocrisy
Reason for Approaching Conflict ...
Christendom...........
The Battle ........
Message of Hope..................
Good News ..........
Pope Steals Bible Students Tnnra .......... it,3
London’s Ire Aroused . . . ■
Harold the Rib Tickler ..............
Happenings in the Religious Wcri.-' ...
Those Innocent Sisters .......
Mexican Boycott Peters Out................
Real Estate Boom in Jerusalem........
The Blessings of Catholicism .........
Jezebel Gets Another Shove............
George Stephens Hits the Ditch . .
Charges Made By Evangelist Called False ......... 112
Waiting on the Great Physician . , .......... 113
High Prices of Prayers in Florida
True Account of a Friendly Tilt
The Great Pyramid of Cheops .......
Great Signs and Wonders
An Editor Attends a Seance
Demonistic Evangelism ....................
Demonism in India
Absurdities of the Talm ud
“Why Abe Ye the Last to Bring the King Back?”
Sidereal Exploits (Poem)
Radio Programs...... .
Little Studies for Little I’eopie .
W’ho Wrote the Bible? (Poem)
Israel’s Return (Poem)
Studies in “The Harp of God”.........*
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<&e Golden Age
Volume VIII Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday, November 17, 1926 Number 187
The New York Convention of Bible Students
IN THE sweet spirit shown, and in the enthusiasm for the King’s business, it is doubtful if in the history of the International Bible Students Association any convention has ever been held which surpassed the one held in New York City, from Thursday to Monday inclusive, October 14th to 18th, 1926.
The meetings on Thursday, Friday and Monday were held in Mecca Temple, a place of good acoustics, good accommodations and desirable every way for the purpose. Attendances on those days averaged around 1,500, with 2,700 out on one of these occasions to hear Judge Rutherford. The largest attendance of Bible Students was on Sunday, when perhaps 3,000 were in attendance. At the immersion service on Monday thirty were immersed.
The chairman of the convention was R. J. Martin, with E. J. Coward as assistant. The
speakers were C. A. Wise, George S. Kendall, E. J. Coward, A. H. Macmillan, T. J. Sullivan, R. J. Martin, W. F. Salter, F. W. Franz, R. H. Barber, V. F. Schmidt, W. E. Van Amburgh, C. J. Woodworth, and judge J. F. Rutherford, President of the Association. .
At four o’clock Friday afternoon the chairman sprang a surprise which caused the ears of every one that heard it to tingle, and caused a tingling all over New York in addition. It seems that ten of the leading newspapers in New York had agreed to run advertisements announcing Judge Rutherford’s great lecture to be held in Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon, October 17th; but at the last minute several of these newspapers went back on their word. Among these were the New York Times and The Sun.
The chairman stated that at 2:30 o’clock that
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Against the People !
Here is the evidence that The New York Times and The Sun are against the people and wish to keep them from knowing, the truth. These papers contracted with the International Bible Students Association press agency to carry advertisement of JUDGE RUTHERFORD’S NEW MADISON SQUARE GARDEN mass meeting Sunday afternoon, October l?th. One of these papers on bended knees begged for the business. At the last moment both papers repudiated their contracts and refused to publish the advertisements. Why? many are asking.
The reason seems apparent. They wish to keep the American people in the dark. It is generally understood that The New York Times is controlled by British capital. The Sun is decidedly pro-British.
In May 1 delivered a speech at Royal Albert Hall, London, telling the people concerning the world powers and particularly the true status of the British Empire. The preachers and profiteers did not like it. The common people heard it gladly. Recently more than a million copies of that speech have been placed | in the hands of the peoples of New York City. At the | New Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon I ex- | pect to tell Americans some great truths that they 1 should know. The New York Times and The Sun I are against the American people. Their interests are better served by keeping the people in ignorance of certain truths.
At 3 o’clock next Sunday afternoon at the New ; Madison Square Garden, 50th street and 8th Avenue, the peoples of New York City will hear a plain statement of the truth, and then judge for themselves whether or not the above-mentioned metropolitan dailies are justified in repudiating their agreements.
’ J. F. RUTHERFORD.
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Dodger Distributed by International Bible Students to the People of New York City
morning Judge Rutherford had called him and inquired if he could get out one million dodgers, lilce the one reproduced herewith, between then and Sunday morning. The chairman, who is also the manager of the I. B. S. A. printing plant, had replied that he could get out six million in that time, if necessary.
The fact of the matter was that at the very moment the chairman was making this announcement, a truck was at the door with a quarter’ of a million of the dodgers all ready. A hurried organization of generals, captains and lieutenants was formed on the spot, and forth marched the little army to give out these announcements in key positions all over New York City. A quarter of a million people read the dodgers on their way home from -work that very night.
During the next day another million were printed and given out all over New York. The whole city was reading them and talking about them, so much so that on Saturady night it was almost difficult to find persons to whom to give them. Almost everybody approached wmuld smile and say, I have had three or four already.
One of the chief points of interest is that the people read these dodgers. They folded them up and took them home, seeming to show that they realized that the message was a timely one. It was evidently the Lord’s will that this message should be delivered by His people at this time.
Practically the whole convention went out in this work. Several had expected to be arrested, but to their surprise they found the police and the people friendly and interested. Only two distributors got into temporary difficulty, through mistaken zeal in not moving on when admonished to do so by those whose duty it was to see that they did not impede traffic. *
All were wondering how the distribution of the handbills would effect the service work which had been set for Saturday the 16th, but were gratified to find that the effect was almost wholly favorable. New York is generally considered a hard territory for agents of any kind, and especially book agents; yet on Saturday, with perhaps 1,500 workers in the field, there were sold 2,532 bound books of all sorts (principally Deliverance) and 27,566 booklets, or a total of 30,098 copies—an average of approximately 20 copies for each worker. One brother alone sold 230 booklets oii 115 'calls.
All the foregoing were actual sales, not to the Bible Students but to the public, from door to door. All books not actually sold were taken back at the book stand and money refunded. This total of 30,098 books and booklets actually sold to the public is probably a record. Certainly the individual average per worker is unusually high.
The Public Lecture
udge Rutherford’s lecture in the New Madison Square Garden was, of course, the central feature of the convention. The new Garden is an ideal place for a great public meeting. It is so designed that 20,000 persons can watch all that takes place on the platform without leaving their seats. By means of amplifiers every word spoken is heard everywhere.
When Sunday morning dawned it was raining hard. This continued until noon; then it cleared, as the Bible Students were sure it would, and the attendance in the afternoon was all that could reasonably be expected. The tw’o upper balconies, which together seat 9,500 persons, had a small sprinkling of people in them; but the balance of the house was well filled with a crowd estimated as high as 12,000. The Bible Students had the best seats. (Love is the perfect expression of unselfishness.) They were the only ones to leave while the lecture was being delivered.
Several who attended the London I. B. S. A. Convention expressed the opinion that in his address Sunday afternoon Judge Rutherford surpassed his great London effort. The audience listened with rapt attention, punctuated with frequent bursts of applause. We reproduce the address in full, as it appeared in Monday’s New York American.
As the great audience poured out, 2,065 bought Deliverance books from the ushers, while 6,760 booklets were sold; bringing the total sales of books and booklets for the convention to 38,923. The sales at the public meeting, 8,825 books and booklets, to the approximately 9,000 strangers present, is a record unequalled before in the sale of literature at a public meeting. This was accomplished by a carefully planned and carefully executed scheme of organization which gave every willing vrorker a part. It is estimated that 1,700 had part in the work at the Garden. Altogether the convention was a great success, and a blessing to all participants.
Earth’s Greatest Conflict Near
Judge Rutherford’s Address at Madison Square Garden, New York
FROM time immemorial the greatest desire of the people has been that they might have a government of equal and exact justice for all and that they might dwell in peace, enjoy prosperity, life and happiness in a state of happiness. The efforts of. the people to accomplish their desired purpose have been opposed at every stage by a subtle and common enemy.
For ages and generations the whole creation has groaned and travailed in pain, waiting for the Deliverer and for deliverance. Because of the entrenched enemy and his powerful organization the desire of the people cannot be accomplished except through great tribulation. The crisis is at hand! Earth’s greatest conflict is a certainty, and it shall be followed by complete deliverance of the people from their oppressors; and then the desire of all honest hearts will be gratified. The facts bearing upon this great question are more thrilling than any book of fiction ever written. They are of vital interest to every one of you. I came here today to tell them to you. I hope the knowledge thereof shall result in good to you and to the glory of God.
The Kingdom
INETEEN hundred years ago Jesus of Nazareth was on the earth. For three and one-half years He taught the people, and during that time He spake as never man had spoken. Grace was poured upon His lips, and He told the people how they would have relief from sickness and sorrow, from oppression and death. The burden of His speech was the kingdom of God. He told them that relief would come through God’s kingdom and that this would come in God’s due time. Long centuries before that time the prophets of God had told of the coming of the kingdom, and that such would bring a desirable government for mankind.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus devout and studious men began to learn why He came to earth, why He died and was raised from the dead, and what is the meaning of God’s kingdom. They have also learned why there has been so much opposition to the kingdom of God, and why its coming has been so long deferred.
Now the time is here for that kingdom, and a testimony concerning it must be given to the people. For a certainty the evil forces that have always opposed God and righteousness will put fortth the most stupendous efforts at this time to prevent the establishment of the kingdom of righteousness, and this will bring on the greatest conflict ever known. This, too, is a part of the wonderful story which now must be told to you.
Creation
THE prophet declared: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” (Psalm 24:1) Long centuries ago God began the creation of the earth. Its preparation was attended with much fire and great, convulsions of the elements. In due course He laid deep down the coal beds and oil fields. Then He brought forth vegetation, and after that the animal creation. These efforts covered centuries.
Why had God created the earth and prepared it? The answer is, He created the earth to be the home of man; and then in due time He created man to be king of the earth. God’s record shows that when He laid the foundations of the earth as the future home of man “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God [on the spirit plane], shouted for joy.” (Job 38: 7) It is apparent that God greatly loved man since He would expend so much energy in the creation and preparation of his home, and then bestow upon him the blessings thereof.
God never intended that the earth should be destroyed. “The earth abideth for ever.” (Ecclesiastes 1:4) “I have made the earth, and created man upon it : I, even my hands, have stretched the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. . . . For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.”—Isaiah 45:12,18.
Rebellion
OD intended that man should enjoy upon earth a perfect government, and that perpetually—conditioned only upon the complete obedience of man to Jehovah. He who would be obedient to the great Creator would of necessity reverence and worship Him, and continue thus in faithfulness.
The spirit creatures of heaven were created long before the creation of man. Man having had no experience, God placed in Eden His son Lucifer, as man’s aid and overlord. Lucifer, ambitious to receive the worship of man, reasoned that he could get this only by alienating man’s love from God. He succeeded in so doing, causing man to violate God’s law, which resulted in his being sentenced to death and expelled from his home of . paradise.
The judgment of death was also entered against Lucifer, but the execution thereof has been deferred until God’s due time. The name of Lucifer was then and there changed to Dragon, Serpent, Devil and Satan, each of these names signifying the course of action the evil one would continue to take.
As Serpent stands for deceiver, this evil one has ever deceived man; as Devil symbolizes slanderer, he has slandered God and all who have tried to do right; as Dragon is synonymous with devourer, the Devil has tried to devour all those who have served God; and as Satan means opposer, the Devil has opposed every effort of man to- establish a righteous government, and has turned man against God. Jehovah has not prevented him from
so doing; but, knowing that man could learn the needed lessons only by experience, He has permitted Satan to pursue his nefarious course until God’s due time to cause it to cease. ■
God’s Promises
OWN through the ages a few men have seen and understood that mankind, the descendants of Adam,
have all been born in sin and shapen in iniquity, and because of their imperfections have been easily influenced and overreached by the Devil, and that for this reason the efforts of man to establish a desirable government have failed. These faithful men of old turned to Jehovah; and to these and all other faithful men God has given His precious promises to establish a government of righteousness; and these promises He is certain to carry out. .
To Abraham God promised, “In thy seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3) To. Jacob He made the promise of the coming Messiah, and that unto Him should the gathering of the people be, and through Him the people should be blessed. (Genesis 49:10) To Moses He made a promise that God would raise up a mighty One, of whom Moses was a type; and that the people, turning to this mighty One to obey and serve Him, should be blessed with a righteous government and life everlasting. —Deuteronomy 18: 15,18.
To Hosea God made the promise that He would redeem man from death and ransom him from the power of the grave, and destroy both death and the grave. (Hosea 13:14) To all the prophets He foretold the coming of the great Messiah, His anointed One, “the seed of promise” through which the kingdom would be established and bring blessings to the human race.
His promise was that upon the. shoulder of this mighty One the government should rest, that His name should be called Wonderful, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and that under His reign the people would d well in righteousness. (Isaiah 9 : 6, 7) Each and every one of these promises must and will be carried out. God’s word shall not return unto Him void.—Isaiah 46:10; 55:11.
His Second Appearing
ESUS told His followers that He must die and be raised from the dead, and ascend on high to provide the great redemption for man from death and the grave; that He would then come again and receive to Himself His faithful followers, and would set up His kingdom and regenerate the human race. Throughout the Gospel Age God caused the gospel of truth to be preached in order that some might hear and believe and become the true followers of Jesus Christ; and being faithful unto death, should thereafter participate with Him in His kingdom.—Revelation 20: 6.
For 1900 years the hope of the Christian has been the second coming of the Lord and the establishment of God’s kingdom. For 4000 years the hope of Orthodox Jews, who believed the Bible, has been and is the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of God’s kingdom, through which the peoples shall be blessed.
The disciples of Jesus were Jews, Necessarily they were familiar with the promises that God had made to the prophets. They sat at Jesus’ feet and learned of Him. They propounded to Him this question: "Master, what shall be the proof of Thy presence and the end of the. world?’ (Matthew 24: 3) They understood, and properly, that the end of the world would mark the beginning of God’s kingdom. World means mankind organized into forms of government under the supervision of an invisible overlord.
When this question was propounded Satan was the god or invisible overlord of the world. Jesus so stated, and afterwards His apostles corroborated Him. Jesus plainly told His disciples' that the long-promised kingdom would not be during the time of the evil world, of which Satan is god, but it would come at the end of the world; and then He proceeded to state to them a condition of facts that, would obtain at the end of the world, which facts would constitute unimpeachable testi- . mony that the time had come for the kingdom to be established.
Some of His words concerning that time are: “O Lord God Almighty, . . . thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, . . . and that thou shouldst destroy them which destroy the earth.” (Revelation 11: 17,18) Then He answered: “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”—Mat-thew 24: 7, 8.
The Gentile Times began in the year 606 B. C., at which time God’s chosen people were overthrown, and Satan became the god over the entire world. The Gentile Times were to continue for 2,520 years. Their times necessarily would end in the Fall of 1914. That marked the date of the Lord’s taking His power to reign; and exactly in harmony with the prophecies the World War began. As further proof Jesus declared that the Jews should begin to rebuild Palestine; and this, as you well know, is in course of fulfilment.
He also said: “Upon the earth will be distress of nations, with perplexity; men’s hearts failing them for fear of what they see coming upon the world.” This is now in course of fulfilment amongst all the nations. These evidences were given by Him, and recorded in the Scriptures, and in due time fulfilled, as a warning to the people and as good news to the people that the time has come for the kingdom of God that would bring to them deliverance. .
The war ceased suddenly in 1918. None of the rulers of the warring nations were able to give a reason why. The real reason is recorded in the Scriptures, namely:
There came a cessation of the time of trouble, of holding back the trouble and permitting a period of comparative peace, in order that a testimony might be given to the peoples of earth that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
In connection with the answer to the question propounded to Him Jesus said: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14) This testimony must be given between the time of 1914 and the final end. It must be given by those who are fully devoted to the Lord. If Christians should now fail to give this testimony God would cause the very stones to cry out. The Lord then pointed out that should the rulers and the peoples fail to hear and to heed this message and turn to the Lord, then should follow the greatest conflict between the forces af good and evil that earth has ever known.
Great Issue
q-’HE great issue now before the peoples of earth is: 1 Who is God? Who is earth’s rightful King? The governing factors of the world have made gold and blind force their gods. Jehovah is the only true God, and Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords. The time, has come when God has set upon His throne His anointed King, and now He commands the peoples of the earth to hear and obey earth’s rightful Euler. —Psalm 2:6.
Borne once ruled the earth, and claimed to be a Christian world power. The British Empire is today earth’s greatest world power, and claims to be a Christian nation, America claims to be a Christian nation, and likewise do Germany and many of the other nations that engaged in the World War. The ruling factors of each one of these nations are and ever have been three, to wit, commercial, political and religious. By their claim of being Christian, these nations are estopped from denying that the Bible is God’s AVord of Truth. The Bible, therefore, must be the law by which these nations shall be judged. AVhile these nations claim to be Christian, none of them are Christian. •
The governing factors deny Jehovah God as the only true and living God, and refuse to accept Christ Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords; and this they do after notice has been brought home to them by the physical facts in fulfilment of prophecies, and by the testimony given by the mouths of many witnesses. The AVorld War, famines, earthquakes, revolutions, the return of the Jews to Palestine, distress and perplexity of the nations, and now another tremendous preparation for war, is evidence by which the Lord God has brought notice to all of these so-called Christian nations that the time for the end of Satan’s empire is here and that the time for God’s kingdom has come.
In 1917, and while the World War was at white heat, the leading ministers of the British Empire issued a manifesto to the clergy of the world, which manifesto I now read:
“The following manifesto was recently issued by a number of England’s most noted ministers:
“First—That the present crisis points toward the close of the Times of the Gentiles.
“Second—That the revelation of the Lord may be expected at any moment, when He will be manifested as evidently as to His disciples on the evening of His resurrection.
“Third—That the completed church will be translated to be ‘Forever with the Lord’.
“Fourth—That Israel will be restored to its own land in unbelief, and be afterwards converted by the appearance of Christ on its behalf.
“Fifth—That all human schemes of reconstruction must be subsidiary to the second coming of our Lord, because all nations will be subject to His rule.”
This manifesto was not only published by the daily papers in Britain, but copies were issued and sent to the clergy throughout all Christendom. Thus notice was brought home to the religious element of the nations of earth, and through them to their allies, the ruling powers, that the long-looked-for second coming of Christ is now realized; that the long-promised kingdom of heaven is at hand; and that all the nations must be subservient to the new King.
Notwithstanding that the clergy claimed to be the representatives of God throughout all Christendom, they rejected this testimony given them; and even the men who issued the manifesto have since spoken against the truth concerning God’s kingdom. AVhile posing as the representatives of the Lord they have in truth and in fact been the allies of the governing factors of earth, which the Scriptures declare are controlled by Satan the Devil; therefore these clergy are representatives of Satan and not of Jehovah. .
Hypocrisy
OD hates hypocrisy and so states in no unmeasured terms. Hypocrisy had its beginning in the early history of man, when Satan induced men to call themselves by the name of the Lord in mockery of Jehovah God. (Genesis 4:26, margin) Hypocrisy in this twentieth century has gone to seed. The denominational systems, and particularly the clergy thereof, call themselves-by the name of the Lord; and yet they repudiate God, deny His plan of salvation, and join hands with the Devil’s scheme to control mankind.
AVhen the AVorld A'/ar had ceased, and representatives of the warring nations met in consultation, it was the clergy who came forth unanimously endorsing the League of Nations and held it forth as the political expression of God’s kingdom on earth. In 1919 the Federal Council of Churches issued this proclamation:
“The time has come to organize the world for truth, right, justice and humanity. To this end, as Christiana, vesrge the establishment of a League of Free Nations at the coming Peace Conference. Such a League is not merely a peace expedient: it is rather the political expression of the kingdom of God on earth. The League of Nations is rooted in the gospel. Like the gospel, its objective is ‘Peace on earth, good will toward men.’ Like the gospel, its appeal is universal.
“The heroic dead will have died in vain unless out of victory shall come a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.—2 Peter 3: 13.
“The church [nominal] can give a spirit of good will, without which no League of Nations can endure.”
It was the clergy of 150,000 churches in America who a few months ago held a drive week to induce congress to pass a resolution putting America into the League of Nations. Were they doing that in the interest of the Messianic kingdom? Judge ye!
Let the people judge for themselves as to whether or not those clergymen have been sincere in their claim to represent the Lord, or whether they preferred to represent the Devil. Go and visit the churches of New York today and look at the titles of the discourses that the clergymen give. Not one of these is in support of the truth that Jehovah is the true and only God, and that Ills kingdom, is the only means for the salvation and blessing of the people.
With honeyed words and sanctimonious faces, and upon the pretext of reforming the world, the clergy of America join hands with a gang of conscienceless profiteers and bootleggers to enact a prohibition law which does not prohibit, but rather has created a great crowd of criminals. The clergy ally themselves with the bootleggers to take away from the laboring man the legitimate use of beer, which God gave to him for food and nourishment ; and many of them at the same time fill their own cellars, while cooperating with the bootleggers to carry on an illegitimate business; and this they do in the name of the Lord.
Everlasting Covenant
THE lave of God never changes. When God brought Noah from the ark He made a covenant with him which He called the everlasting covenant. The law of that covenant announced that human life is sacred, because only God can give life. That law of God declared that no man should take the life of another man except he do so as the duly constituted executor of Jehovah. Again, He stated in the decalogue: “Thou shalt not kill.” Jesus reiterated that law when He was on earth.
The so-called Christian nations, claiming to be followers of Christ Jesus, and particularly the clergy who pose as the authorized teachers of the Word of God, have not only ignored this law but have joined- with their allies in breaking the everlasting covenant. The history of these nations is written in human blood, unrighteously shed. '
The British Empire entered the World War to maintain her supremacy as a world power. There was no excuse for America going into the war, but the commercial power prepared and lubricated the war machin* ery, the politicians started the machinery in motion, and the preachers did the shouting; and the result is that more than 100,000 young men, the flower of American manhood, now sleep in the dust of France.
The clergy told these young men that if they died upon the battlefield they would constitute a part of the vicarious sacrifice of our Lord and would go straight to heaven. Since the war some of these churches have erected memorial windows, containing pictures of scenes in the World War, with soldier and clergymen side by side and the soldier being transported by angels into heaven.
Concerning this hypocritical course of action on the part of the clergy God through His prophet, says: “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into a degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God. . . In thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents; I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.”—Jeremiah 2:21,22,34. .
And now come forth some of the' prominent ones amongst the clergy and use the public press to relate the unrighteous course of one of their number, wdro they admit has been guilty of grossly wicked conduct and who died a violent death because thereof. In order to bridge over the unrighteousness of one of their number they are willing to defame the name of God and misrepresent His holy Word, and to tell the people that if this unrighteous clergyman, between the time of the barking of the pistol and the striking of the bullet, asked forgiveness, he went straight to heaven ! Thus they make the Lord God and His Word a stench and turn honest people away from Him.
Reason for Approaching Conflict
WHO is responsible for this misrepresentation of Jehovah, His name and His Word? The answer is, Satan, the enemy of God, who rules in the minds of the disobedient ones. He has blinded the minds of men through the words and actions of his various agencies, in order that the people might not know the true God. Honest Christian people within the church denominations are made sick at heart by reason of the hypocrisy practised by their leaders and the principal of their flocks, and in despair they cry unto the Lord. Back from the Word of God comes His ans-wer to them:
“Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.”—Zephaniah 3:8,
The clergy and the principal of their flock, to wit, the profiteers and professional politicians, are haughty and proud; and they use their power to oppress the people. Thy have hindered the people from hearing and understanding the Word of God; they have transgressed the law of God, and have repeatedly broken His everlast-. ing covenant by causing the shedding of innocent blood. And the day- of accounting approaches.
“The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance., broken the everlasting covenant.”—Isaiah 24: 3-5.
Examples
HY would Jehovah God express His wrath in this manner ? I answer, That the people may know that
Jehovah is the true God and that He has setHisKing upon His throne, and that the time has come for the deliverance of man according to His promise. On several former occasions God has expressed His indignation that the people might not forget His name, and that they may know that the only way to life and happiness is by obedience to His righteous laws.
Egypt
GYPT was the first world power. God showed His love for that people by sending His servant, Joseph, to them, and through him saving that nation from the terrible famine. After Joseph’s death the Egyptians forgot God and oppressed the peoples of the Lord who were domiciled in their land. He heard their cry and sent Moses to tell the governor to let His people go in peace. That haughty ruler replied: “Who is the Lord God that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.”—Exodus 5:2.
Repeated warnings were then given to the Egyptians, which the governing factors heeded not. Then God caused His angel to lead the Israelites to safety, and then swept the Egyptian host away in the flood of the sea. WTry did He do that? The Scriptures answer, That the people might not forget God. It was for their own good and profit. “Nevertheless, he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.”—Psalm 106: 8.
Assyria
HE next world power was Assyria. The Assyrian army conquered the world. Then Sennacherib appeared before the walls of Jerusalem and arrogantly boasted of his power and his gods, mocked the Almighty God, defied Him, and demanded the surrender of the Jewish people.
The Lord God pulled the curtains of night about the walls of the holy city, and it- lay wrapped in darkness. No one would dare go outside of the walls of the city that night. In the morning, with the first grey streaks of light coming over the eastern horizon, the watchmen on the walls and in the towers were straining their eyes, expecting with the coming of day to see the enemy in battle array moving against the city. But, to their great amazement and surprise, as they looked they saw no one stirring. There seemed to be no life in the camp of the enemy.
With the light of day fully come, the sentinels discovered what had transpired. While the Israelites had waited breathlessly for the assault of the enemy, the Lord had stretched out His right hand against the enemy, and now there lay prone in the dust the lifeless bodies of 185,000 of Sennacherib’s bravest warriors. -—2 Kings 19 : 35-37.
Babylon
ABYLON, the next world power, met a similar fate when her rulers defied Almighty God and turned the people away from Him.
Israel
ISRAEL was God’s chosen people, and His first commandment to them was: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) This commandment was not given for a selfish reason, but because' God knew that the safety of Israel from the wicked influence of Satan depended upon their recognizing Jehovah as the only true God. The Israelites fell under the influence of Satan, turned away from Jehovah and rejected Him and His anointed One; and for that reason the great punishment fell upon them. They have suffered now for many centuries, but God has promised in His own due time to fully restore them to His favor.
Christendom
WHAT happened unto Israel, and which was recorded, was permitted as an example to those who claim to be Christians. Concerning their wrong-doing and what befell them the Lord’s Word says: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the -world are come.”—1 Corinthians 10: 11.
If Egypt and Assyria and Babylon were severely pun- -ished because they forgot God, turned the people away from Him, and induced them to worship the Devil; if Israel, with some light, turned away from Jehovah and submitted to the Devil; and these all received severe punishment; what should we expect concerning the Christian nations, so-called, who hypocritically pose as the representatives' of God and yet blasphemously deny Him and His Word and reject His King, and accept the makeshift of the Devil, to wit, the League of Nations, as a substitute for the kingdom of righteousness?
Had the clergy heeded the proof that the Lord gave, them, and through them to their allies, in 1914 and thereafter; had they then told the people the truth and the people had heeded, the great conflict now threatening and impending would not need to come. Concerning this the Lord says: "For both .prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. ... I have not sent these preachers, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.”—Jeremiah 23:11,21,22.
The Battle
LL nations are now feverishly preparing for war.
Each nation vies with the other to produce the wickedest instruments of destruction. Hatred and malice have gone to seed, and the Devil and his representatives are inciting all against the Lord and against His anointed. Appropriate to this hour are the words of Jehovah, spoken through His prophet:
“Wherefore have nations consented together or-should peoples keep muttering an empty thing? The kings of the earth take their stand, and grave men have sat in conclave together, against Jehovah, and against his Anointed One, saying: ‘Let us tear apart their bands, and cast away from us their cords!’ One enthroned in the heavens will laugh, my Sovereign Lord will mock at them: Then will he speak to them in his anger, and in his wrath will dismay them:—‘Yet I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain, let him tell my decree!’ Jehovah said to me: ‘My Son art thou, I today have begotten thee: Ask of me, and let me give—nations for thine inheritance, and as thy possession, the end of the earth: Thou shalt shepherd them with a sceptre of iron, as a potter’s vessel shalt thou dash them in pieces? ” ,—Psalm 2:1-9, Rotherham.
As a further warning to the governing factors, that they might repent and change their course, the Lord further says to them: “Now therefore, ye kings, show your prudence, be admonished, ye judges of earth: Serve ye Jehovah with reverence, and exult with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish on the way; for soon might be kindled his anger. How happy are all who take refuge in him!”—Psalm 2: 10-12, Rotherham.
But the rulers will not heed. God foreknew that they would reject Him and His King, and that the clergy, posing as His representatives, would be chiefly responsible therefor. Looking down to this day, He said concerning them and their allies:
“Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. ... A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth, for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations; he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock, for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished ; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard, for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture.”—Jeremiah 25:15, 31-36.
Conflict Near
WHY should T say that the day of earth’s greatest conflict is near? Because prophecies fulfilled and tile physical facts show conclusively that it is near. The World War and attending conditions from 1914 to 1918 prove the end of the world and the beginning of God’s kingdom. That marked the day when Jehovah set His King upon the throne. (Psalm 2: 6) The war suddenly stopped in 1918 in order that the people might hear the testimony and learn the good news of the kingdom, according to God’s command. This witness has been given during the past eight years.
Concerning the kings of the earth engaged in a World War, and concerning that time, Jehovah said: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”—Daniel 2:44.
Then again, through the same prophet, He said: “At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”—Daniel 12:1,
Jesus declared that after the giving of the witness the final end would be marked by a time of tribulation upon earth as has never before been known, and that it would be the last. (Matthew 24:21,22) All the nations are preparing for the conflict, all expect it to come, but that which they are not expecting is the part that Jehovah shall take in it in which He will smite the nations. There shall be such a demonstration of His mighty power that the peoples of earth will learn that He is God, because this is the day of His vengeance and the time for His redeemed.—Isaiah 63: 4,
Notice ‘
OD never does anything by stealth or secret, but gives fair warning. He served notice just preceding the great deluge, by causing Noah to tell the people what lie intended to do. He served notice upon Egypt, by sending Joseph and then Moses to tell of Himself and what He purposed to do. He served notice upon Assyria by sending Jonah to them, to preach to them the truth before smiting them with His mighty hand. He served notice upon Babylon and upon Persia, by sending Daniel the prophet to them. He served notice upon the Jews, by sending them Jeremiah.
He has served notice upon the rulers and kings of the earth today, as well as the people, that the world has ended and that He has set His King upon His throne; and Tie commands the'nations and peoples to heed and hear and obey Him.
There is no other reason or excuse for the International Bible Students' Association to now exist except to serve as witnesses for Jehovah and to testify to the people concerning what is impending and about to fall, and to comfort those who have a sincere desire for comfort, by telling them of the blessings that shall follow. Fifty million copies of a resolution to this effect, in various languages, have been freely distributed during the past two months to the rulers and peoples of the earth. But they will not heed. The clergy will not aid them. The conflict shall follow.—Psalm 82: 5-7.
Message of Hope
I HAVE told you of the trouble that is coming. Now let me tell you of the blessings that shall result to mankind, following the trouble. A good father punishes his disobedient child, not because he loyes to do so, but for the child’s good. Jehovah (God) has punished, and will punish again, the world, that the people might learn to their good that He is the only source of life and happiness for them. .
With the storm of destruction gone, the Sun of Righteousness, in all His glory and beauty, shall be revealed for the blessing of the people. About this the prophet says: “Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.”—Psalm 107: 30.
Jehovah is a God of love. He is unselfish toward all. His prophet declares: “The Lord shall smite the world and heal it.” (Isaiah 19: 22-25) So great is His love for erring man that He sent His dearly beloved Son to earth to redeem man. (John 3:16) When Jesus was born the angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will toward men. Behold, we bring you good news of great joy which shall be unto all people.” That was a prophecy uttered by the messengers of God, and the day has come for the beginning of its fulfilment.
Christ Jesus is the Messiah long ago promised, and
unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. Upon his shoulder shall rest the new government, and of the peace of that government there shall be no end. (Isaiah 9 : 6, 7) Under His righteous reign wars shall cease, and never again shall the people fear such a thing.—Micah 4: 1-4. ‘ '
Now the wicked rich men use the law to enable them to commit wrong, and then use the law to escape, punishment for wrong doing. The poor people have no such opportunity. Under the righteous reign of the Messiah ail shall stand equal before the law, and He shall judge the poor righteously. (Isaiah 11:4,6) He shall reign in righteousness and His princes shall rule in justice. '—Isaiah 32:1. ■
Life
MAN’S greatest desire is life eternally in happiness.
Satan’s first lie was, “There is no death.” The purpose of that lie was to turn the mind of man away from Jehovah God, and to keep man in ignorance of God’s wonderful provision for giving man life. Satan and his agencies have used every possible means to keep mankind in ignorance of God’s truth. It is written in His Word, “This is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”—John 17: 3.
The true Christians only will have life in heaven. The masses of humankind will have life on the earth. God made the earth for man and He made man for the earth, and it is written that blessed are the meek and obedient, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5) The peoples have been blinded to the truth by Satan’s representatives teaching false doctrines. The great Messiah, God’s executive Officer, will remove that blindness that the people may know the truth. (Isaiah 25:7) Then all shall come to know the Lord, from the least to the greatest.—Jeremiah 31: 34. ..
In the great time of trouble just ahead millions of people will die; but that trouble shall be followed by a resurrection of the dead, both the just and the unjust. (John 5:29; Acts 24:15) And then those brought forth from the tomb who obey the Lord and keep His sayings shall never die.
The same rule applies to those who are living. (John 8:51; 11:26) There are millions of people now on earth, many of whom are hearing the truth, and who will pass through the great time of trouble and shall live and not die. “Blessed is he that considereth the.poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth, and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.”—Psalm 41: 1, 2.
Because we stand at the critical time of the cessation of hostilities, when the witness of the Lord is to be given, in that wonderful time when the King has begun His reign, it can now be confidently stated that there are millions now living who will never die!
Even men who have been wicked and who repent »nd turn to righteousness shall then live and not die; as it is written: “When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. A-gain, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.”—Ezekiel 18: 26-28.
The promise of God is that under the righteous reign of His King the people shall be healed, and there shall be no more blind, no halt, no lame; and nothing shall hurt or injure in all that holy kingdom. That will mean that there will be no profiteers, no faithless politicians, and no fraudulent religious leaders and teachers to deceive the people. The light of truth shall shine into the minds and hearts of the people, and they shall turn unto the Lord with songs of gladness upon their hearts and upon their lips.
God through Christ will fully establish the new heavens and new earth, and therein shall righteousness dwell for ever. (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-4) Heaven means the invisible ruling power, while earth refers to the organized peoples of the earth. Then the civic affairs of the world will be directed by the Lord of righteousness, and the people will be citizens of His righteous and just government.
Then the Lord will cure the people of their sickness and bring to them health; and no more shall any of the inhabitants say: “I am sick.” (Jeremiah 33:6; Isaiah 33: 24) The Lord God will destroy death by lifting the people up out of degradation unto life and happiness, and then there shall be no more death.—Revelation 21: 4; 1 Corinthians 15: 25, 26.
God is bringing the final conflict to destroy Satan’s wicked organization, that His righteous government may be fully and completely established and that the people may therein enjoy their heart’s sincere desire, namely, life, liberty, peace, prosperity and happiness.
Good News
HY does not the metropolitan press give wide publication to these great truths in which all mankind is interested ? They say it is not news. If the time has come for the establishment of a universal government of righteousness, in which all the people will have an equal and fair show, and in which they will be offered life, liberty and happiness, is not that news, and good news, too ? It is the good news of great joy about which the angels sang, and now the people must know it. God has set His King upon His throne. He bids all the nations and peoples of earth to hear and obey Him, that He may extend His blessings to them.
I do not expect the public press to give free publication . to the truth concerning God’s kingdom, because the public press is controlled by the other king, the ruler of the evil world, who is the enemy of God and His righteous government. But the Lord will make known His message of truth. Upon the earth there are now a few consecrated Christians whose very lives are devoted to Jehovah, and who count not their lives dear unto themselves. They are not working for money, nor for members, nor for the plaudits of men. To them Jehovah says: ‘Ye are my witnesses that I am God. Go and tell the good news of my kingdom to all the nations of earth as a witness, and then the final end shall come.’ It is the duty of true Christians now, as the Lord’s representatives, to serve notice upon the people and upon the rulers, including the public press, that God’s kingdom is here; and having done this they have performed their duty.
Pope Steals Bible Students’ Thunder
MOST of our readers know that the Bible
Students conceive it as their greatest duty and privilege to declare that Christ has returned to earth and that His kingdom has come and has begun to function. It was with some surprise, then, that they read that the pope proposed that the last Sunday in October of each year be set apart hereafter as “The Feast of the Kingdom of Christ”, with the avowed purpose “to recall to everybody’s mind each year that Christ is King of all the peoples of the world”.
Protestants generally, who fight shy of most suggestions emanating from Rome, are favoring this suggestion, which seems to. be, on its surface, the very thing for which Bible Students are contending, but which in fact is as different as Stygian darkness is from the bright light of the noonday sun.
The pope’s idea is that the present hodgepodge of dirty politics, crooked commercialism and dirty and crooked ecclesiasticism combined constitutes the reign of Christ on earth. Bible Students know that such is not the case, but that those things which the pope and his Protestant friends revere are in very deed and in very truth the kingdom of Satan, now falling into ruins, tottering first this way and then that way, . clutching at this and at that, only waiting for the final shove which will send it into its thousand year sleep in the great abyss, oblivion, “the bottomless pit”.
ton don’s Ire Aroused.'
THE London Sunday Express of September 12th. contained fifty-one inches of free advertising in the form of an attack on Judge Rutherford for calling forcible attention to the fact that Britain is a part of Satan’s Empire, and at this time in fact the most important part of it. The British Bible Students must have been busy of late • for the' article admits that “within the past two or three days there have been inserted in six million letter boxes” the London resolution -or “Testimony”.
To be sure the Express calls the resolution, which was adopted by a rising vote of 10, 000 of the most intelligent Britishers in the world, “Anti-British abuse,” a “tirade of nonsense,” “a bitter , unbalanced attack on the British Empire,” “virulent outpourings,” and “an amazing farrago of nonsense”; and backs up its own opinion by quotations from two London reverends, one of whom simply says “nonsense” and the other declares that he is “amazed that the I. B. S. A. should permit such fantastic statements to be broadcast in this wholesale fashion”, and also that he is “unaware that the British Empire has ever claimed to rule by divine right; it rules by divine permission”.
All right! All right! The British Empire rules by divine permission. And so does the Devil, the “god of this world”, as the apostle calls him (2 Corinthians 4:4); or “prince of this world”, as the Lord Jesus calls him. (John 14: 30) That is what the trouble is all about. The Devil has lost his job, and the British Empire is about to lose its job, too. The Devil and the Empire are all wrapped up in each other. They are so much alike and act so much alike that when the heathen Chinese think of how opium was forced upon them by that same Empire they involuntarily refer to the agents of that Empire as devils.
The best part of the Express article is six inches of carefully selected quotations from the London resolution, which are calculated to make anybody that reads them sit up and take notice. This, has gone all over the world, wherever the great London Sunday Express circulates; and so the dear old Lunnon Express has rendered areal service to the cause of the truth even if it did not mean to do so. The Express goes to some apparently unnecessary trouble to describe Judge Rutherford in detail, even to the particulars of his dress, seemingly rather out of place in a journal of its supposed dignity and influence. But great men in public life care nothing for either the praise or the censure of newspapers.
Harold the Rib Tickler By 'Harold W. Klein
THE constant perusal of your wonderfully balanced journal makes me love my fellow man more, which to my mind is the highest result any publication could hope to attain. Here is the same idea in rhyme. I presume you have some poets among your many readers.
I really love the human race, Although in each I find a trace ■ Of faded charm.
While Adam real perfection had, His love for Eve put him in bad; He fell for her.
And so because he disobeyed, The fact upon us all is laid;
We’re not so good.
But while we haven’t much to boast, We all can join in on this toast: “The gang’s all here.”
So let’s all help our fellow man In every little way we can,
Toward happiness.
Let’s never knock, although we think
The other guy’s a real bad gink;
We might be wreng.
Our minds are warped, but try to.bend
Them, and to all become a friend;®
Let’s all be pals.
To learn to love the human race,
Your journal holds an honored place;
I wish you well.
[Not to be contrary, but as a sort of antidote for publishing the above, we are giving our readers this time a number made up exclusively of items having a religious tendency. How would you like an oceasioarf number of this kind?—Ed.]
co
Happenings in the Religious World
(Radiocast from Watchtower WBBR on a
Those Innocent Sisters
FOUR nuns were picked off the train at St.
Albans, Vermont, on the way from Montreal to Boston. One of them had a piece of fine lace protruding below her gown. When the customs officers got through with the four ladies they had found over five thousand dollars worth of finest Breton lace sewed into their petticoats, including baby clothes, doilies, priests’ garments and table linens. The nuns all claimed that they did not know how the laces and baby clothes found their way into their petticoats; a Providence father paid $4, 000 duty on the laces and baby clothes, and the nuns were allowed to continue their journey with their laces and baby clothes.
Huge Altar at Philadelphia
Cardinal Dougherty’s altar for celebrating pontifical mass at the Municipal Stadium at Philadelphia had the extraordinary height of sixty feet. These figures, six times ten or ten times six, are of real interest to persons who have familiarity with the Bible and its symbolisms. Nebuchadnezzar’s statue on the plain of Dura was sixty cubits high. The significance is the same. It was announced at the time that sixty thousand persons would parade in front of the altar. Again we have the symbolism, but multiplied a thousand fold—six times ten thousand, or ten thousand times six.
Mexican Boycott Peters Out
THE Roman Catholic boycott against the
Mexican government has failed to accomplish what was hoped for it by the church authorities. The Mexico City correspondent of the New York Times states that the poorer classes, who have been observing the boycott, realize that it is not effective, and that shortly it will be a thing- of the past. The Mexican Chamber of Deputies has officially announced that there will be no modification of the religious regulations.
President Calles’ Statement
THE Manufacturers’ Record quotes President Calles, the Roman Catholic President of Mexico, as saying:
If the Roman Catholic clergy could end the existence of other religions they would do it. For them there is no other religion than the Catholic. The great defect of the Catholic religion is the doctrine of the infallibility of no
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