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    The Watchtower, March 1, 1943

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    The Watchtower—1943

    “CALL TO ACTION” TESTIMONY PERIOD

    The three-month Watchtower campaign goes into its final month m April, which month is designated “Call to Action” Testimony Period. Certainly with all evidences multiplying in the earth that the world is in its “time of the end” this is no time for inaction on the part of those who seek to survive into the new world. Psalm 147 emphatically shows it is time for action in praising Jehovah God, who provides the new world and its Theocratic Government. With spring beginning, all Kingdom publishers and Watchtower readers should arouse themselves to united activity in this educational campaign. Let as many people as possible have the opportunity to take advantage of the special offer, of a whole year’s Watchtower subscription and the book The New World and the booklet Peace—Can It Last? on a contribution of but $1.00. Obey the divine call to praise Jehovah and to let his word run swiftly through the earth. (Ps. 147:15) We shall welcome inquiry from every interested subscriber or reader who wants to share in this united testimony here in America and elsewhere where this magazine may still be circulated. We shall be glad to put any such in touch with the local company of Kingdom publishers with whom to join in action.

    1942 ASSEMBLY REPORT

    The Report of the New World Theocratic Assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses is off the press. It is a gripping account of the largest and most wonderful gathering of servants of the Most High God in history. All persons whose hopes and interests lie in the New World are sure to read this report with keenest interest and great zest. It is spread over 32 pages, but of the page-size of The Watchtower. Ample half-tone photoengravings illustrate the text of the account There is a news coverage of practically all of the more than SO joint assemblies taking part in this unusual assembly Key facts and speeches are set out. The contribution for this most attractive Assembly report is 5c a copy. Besides your own personal copy you will want several copies to place with others of good-will who desire more information on the purposes and activities of Jehovah’s witnesses and the evidence of Jehovah’s blessing upon and use of them for the advancement of the interests of God’s kingdom.

    “WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

    Week of April 4: “In Remembrance of the King,” 1-20 inclusive, The Watchtower March 1, 1943.

    Week of April 11: “In Remembrance of the King,” 21-39 inclusive, The Watchtower March 1, 1943.

    “CONSOLATION”

    Do you find enlightenment and joy in reading The Watchtower? Then you are certain to find enjoyment and profit in reading its companion magazine, Consolation, put out by the same publishers. (Continued on page 79)

    Vol. LXIV

    March 1, 1943

    No. 5

    IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE KING

    “This do in remembrance of me."—1 Cor. 11:24.

    JEHOVAH’S command by his “King of kings" makes the evening of April 19, 1943, one of special observance. Evening precedes morning. In the beginning of earthly creation the divine pronouncement declared: “And the evening and the morning were the first day.’’ (Gen. 1:5) The coming April evening marks the beginning of the fourteenth day of the month Nisan (or Abib), which month, God declared, “shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” (Ex. 12:2) The fourteenth day of Nisan, thirty-five centuries ago, marked the unforgettable time when Jehovah demonstrated that he is the Living God, the Almighty God, and that the demon gods and nations of this earth are not to be compared with him. He made this demonstration of his Godship and supremacy to the mightiest nation then in existence, the first world power recorded in Bible history, Egypt of the Pharaohs. The news of Jehovah’s victory over that oppressive authoritarian nation spread to other nations under demon rule and struck terror to their hearts. Filled with dismay and desperation their hatred of Jehovah hardened their hearts and steeled them to resist him.

    2 Jehovah’s victory of Nisan 14 was typical. It was a miniature sample of how, shortly, he will settle the great issue of universal domination that now irritates all nations and rulers of earth. The earth, including Egypt, was and is a part of the universe, and therefore the issue took in the question, Who shall dominate the earth? the nations and their demon-god, Satan the Devil, or the one whom Pharaoh of Egypt despised and defied, Jehovah of hosts? The name of Jehovah was bound up with the issue. Likewise involved in the issue was the favored people to whom alone Jehovah had revealed his name and upon which people his holy name was called.

    3 It was a “small people”, just about six hundred thousand on foot besides children; but they were the only people on Jehovah's side and hence the entire world was against them. Almighty God chose them because they were the descendants of his faithful friends and servants: “Jehovah did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all peoples: but because Jehovah loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he sware unto your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." (Deut. 7:7, 8, Am. Rev. Ver.) Their very fewness, and being helpless slaves of a dictatorial ruler, made it appear still more brilliantly that the fight was fought, and the victory was due, not to them or any assistance from them, but exclusively to Jehovah God. By a covenant made there in Egypt over the blood of the passover lamb Jehovah brought them into covenant relationship with him and took them out of the nations to be a “people for his name". Because of this they were delivered from bondage that they might serve Jehovah as God without worldly interference, and were thus highly honored to be associated with the victory of Jehovah over the dominant nation of the world. They were privileged to be the nation of Jehovah's witnesses, witnesses of his supremacy and indisputable right to universal domination.—Isa. 44: 8.

    1 What makes the evening of April 19 1943, one of special observance, and what was it that marked the corresponding time thirty-five centuries ago?

    2 Of what was Jehovah’s victory back there typical, and what question and name and people were bound up with the matter?

    3 (a) Was it for their greatness, or for some other reason, that Jehovah chose the people of Israel? (b) Because of what relationship to God were the? delivered from Egypt, and therefore what were they privileged to become?

    4 Rightly the witnesses of Jehovah God, from whose victory they benefited, should celebrate the day in the way that he commanded, in order to memorialize his great act of vindication of his name and to show forth his praises thereby. For fifteen centuries the faithful ones of Jehovah’s ancient covenant people did observe the day according to his command. As their forefathers had originally done in Egypt, so they feasted after eventide upon the roast flesh of a lamb, not a bone of whose body had been broken. They ate it with bitter herbs and also the “bread of affliction”, unleavened bread. It being a feast of rejoicing in the Most High God because of his act of vindication with benefit to his name-people, wine came to be added to the feast and was drunk with blessing and thanks to Him.

    4. (a) Why should Jehovah’s witnesses rightly celebrate the day? (b) How did Jehovah's faithful ones of old observe the day, and why did wine come to be added to the observance?

    5 However, is Nisan 14 a day to be celebrated by only that ancient people once delivered from the power of totalitarian rule and brought under the Theocratic rule of Jehovah God? Or is the day now binding also upon those who profess to be Christians down to this year? Judging by the nations of “Christendom”, which nations claim to be Christian but have forgotten Jehovah God and hate his witnesses, the observance of Nisan 14 is not binding upon the religionists of “Christendom”. They persecute those who observe the day, namely, Jehovah’s witnesses. This year they will ignore the night of April 19, which begins the day of Nisan 14. Instead, they will observe what is called “Good Friday”. Any time during that day, to suit each individual’s personal convenience, whether morning or afternoon, they will visit a religious institution and partake of some wine or grape juice and bread, or just bread alone, whether leavened or unleavened, and with no thought at all of Jehovah. Is such religious practice a faithful obeying of Christ Jesus, whose footsteps they profess to follow? To satisfy yourself, examine the Holy Scriptures for the answer.

    THE KING’S EXAMPLE AND ORDER

    6 Both by example and by direct instruction Jehovah’s King, Christ Jesus, made the observance of the memorable day, Nisan 14, obligatory upon all his faithful disciples or followers. In so doing he was not forgetting Jehovah and drawing the attention of worshipers away from Jehovah God and exclusively to himself. Religionists who hypocritically pretend to follow Christ Jesus look merely at the form of what he did at the celebration but ignore the real significance and the day and the time of day he so acted and why at such a time. Noting that Jesus broke bread on that occasion, they have seized on certain scriptures which mention the disciples’ breaking bread and have concluded that the memorial of what Jesus did may be celebrated any day and any hour of the day, according to the inclination of the professing Christian. They take the scripture at Acts 2: 42, 46, which speaks of Christ's disciples on the day of Pentecost and thereafter, namely: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” Religionists claim that such “breaking of bread” means the celebrating of the “Lord’s supper” and that therefore the Lord’s supper may be partaken of at any hour of any or every day.

    5 Judging by the conduct of “Christendom", is observance of Nisan 14 binding upon Christians now, and what religious observance will she hold and how?

    6. How was the observance of Nisan 14 made obligatory upon Christians, and why hate religionists seized upon the scriptures at Acts 2:42, 46 to celebrate the "Lord’s supper" as they do?

    7 Further, such religionists quote Acts 27: 35, telling of Paul’s conduct aboard a storm-tossed ship, “while the day was coming on,” and just before the ship was wrecked. Paul advised the 276 souls on ship to eat something. “And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.” Here Paul’s breaking of bread with thanks, so the religionists say, was a celebration of the Lord’s supper, at early morning. His previous act of breaking bread with the disciples at Troas after midnight of the first day of the week, they also interpret as a celebration of the Lord’s supper. (Acts 20:7, 11) They quote also Luke 24:30, 31, which tells of the occasion when Jesus, resurrected from the dead just a few hours before, manifested himself to two disciples on the road. Unrecognized by them, he yielded to their pressing invitation to step into the house and abide with them. “And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.”

    8 None of the aforementioned instances of breaking of bread was a celebrating of the Lord’s supper. The mere breaking of bread does not make a meal the Lord’s supper, no more than when Jesus blessed and broke bread and miraculously fed a congregation of five thousand and, later on, one of four thousand that heard him. (Matt. 14:19; Mark 6:41; John 6:11, 23; Matt. 15: 36; Mark 8: 6, 19) There is no mention of serving the cup of wine on such occasions. The two disciples who invited Jesus to meal in the house after his resurrection were not at the Lord’s supper with his apostles three nights before; hence they could not recognize him by his doing what he did on that occasion. They identified him by his blessing and breaking of bread at other times of eating with him. Besides which, none of the foregoing cases of breaking of bread was at the right time of the right day for the memorial celebration. It was not after sundown of Nisan 14.

    9 Not merely what Jehovah's anointed King Christ Jesus did at the evening meal or “supper”, but also the date is important. This fact limits the celebrating of the memorial of such supper to once a year, and that on the anniversary date of the original supper. This date is determined according to the calendar of the Bible, which calendar is determined by the “lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and . . . for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years”. (Gen. 1:14) For Jehovah’s faithful witnesses on earth his unchanged decree fixes the month of Israel’s passover and deliverance from Egypt as the first month of the divinely ordained year. Hence, not of his own personal choice did Jesus choose the passover night to set up the Lord’s supper for his disciples. Because of what was ending on that passover day and because of what was also then beginning Jehovah God’s will required Jesus to introduce the supper then to his followers. The same will of God requires that the memorial of his supper and of what it means be held once a year, on the anniversary date. No other date is fitting; for both the date and the events must agree or coincide annually. Hence the apostle’s words, at 1 Corinthians 11:26, may not be understood to mean a celebration more often than once a year.

    7. How, and in support of what, do religionists construe or interpret the actions described at Acts 27:35, Acts 20:7, 11, and Luke 24:30, 31?

    8. Why could not the aforementioned Instances of breaking of bread be celebrations of the Lord's supper?

    9. What limits the memorial celebration to just once a year at a certain time, and how, therefore, must 1 Corinthians 11:26 be understood?

    10 An annual observance does not lessen the importance or needfulness of the supper. It shows no disrespect or contempt or light esteem for it, but rather makes it the more precious and attaches more significance and hence importance to it. It shows respect for Jehovah, the Founder thereof, and careful obedience to his Theocratic rule. A frequent going through the form of the supper, indifferently as to the date and hour, imitates the religious repetitions of the heathen. It makes the formal supper a mockery, hides the true significance of the real things, violates Theocratic law, and brings reproach on God’s name. This fact can be accurately proved by checking up on the religious condition of so-called “Christendom” whose children blindly follow the clergy and go through a formal ceremony frequently throughout the year at times unscripturally selected by the clergy.

    11 For those who would escape the fate of the Egyptians of old there is now more need than ever heretofore that the Lord’s supper be kept at the right time with due regard for all it means. Why so? Because oppression is heavy upon the people, particularly the faithful Jehovah’s witnesses, the “people for his name”, and is increasing. The terrible totalitarian monstrosity has appeared and is exhaling its poison throughout the world, and the rulers of all nations are breathing it in and becoming filled with the dictatorial and totalitarian spirit and motivation. Demonism, which is religion, is out to convert all by force of arms, and the politicians and profit-seeking commercial element are crying for “more religion” and seeking special laws and judicial decisions to that effect. Violence, by the young and also by their elders, is spreading, testifying to the fact that the malignant invisible demons are repeating their performances today as in the days of Noah when they filled the earth with violence. The times and conditions are “perilous” because religious men are seen “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”, and the faith of all God-fearing persons is being tested to show if they believe that Jehovah God lives and can deliver those who worship him now as he did more than three thousand years ago.

    10. What effect does the annual observance, have as to the Lord's supper, and, contrariwise, the frequent going through the form of such supper?

    11 Whose fate and what conditions in the world make it more necessary than ever that the Lord’s supper be kept at the right time and with due regard for its meaning?

    12 The world is approaching an event that parallels but is far worse and more stupendous than that which came upon demon-worshiping, Jehovah-defying Egypt of old. These are the “last days”. It is the “time of the end” of demon rule over humankind. God’s kingdom is at hand. His King is upon the throne, reigning in the midst of his enemies. Those in an actual or implied covenant with God who carelessly break it will be destroyed. What set of conditions, then, could argue and urge more forcefully than these for the due and proper celebration of the Lord’s supper, the feast of God’s King?

    THE TIME AND PROCEDURE

    13 Follow now the utterances and movements of the King as recorded: “And the day of unleavened bread came, on which the passover must be sacrificed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and make ready for us the passover, that we may eat. .. . And they went and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the apostles with him. And he said unto them. With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: for I say unto you, I shall not drink from henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you. . . . But ye are they that have continued with me in my temptations ; and I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my Father appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and ye shall sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”—Luke 22: 7-30, Am. Rev. Ver.

    12 . What significance as to these days and this time argues more forcefully than ever for due and proper celebration of the Lord's supper?

    13 What were the utterances and movements of the King Christ Jesus at the time of instituting the Lord's supper, and why were bis disciples qualified to be with him?

    14 From the emphasis repeatedly given at this supper to the kingdom of God and of Christ Jesus the King one thing is clear: The Lord’s supper was established to call attention, not to human salvation and the price of redemption therefor, but to the royal Theocratic Government which Jehovah promised and which he uses to vindicate his holy name. Study of the Lord’s supper shows it was meant to stress the requirements for admitting one into that kingdom and reigning therein. The meeting of such requirements faithfully serves for a vindication of Jehovah’s name and proves the Devil a gross blasphemer and besmircher of that holy name. Redemption and the remitting of the sins of those who are granted to sit with Christ Jesus in his kingdom finds, of course, a place in the arrangement, but this is only secondary. To redeem his Kingdom associates it was none other than the King himself who served as “the Lamb of God” which is sacrificed and whose blood is shed to provide cleansing from sin and also to seal or make valid a new covenant. Hence this song is sung to the royal “Lamb of God” by his Kingdom associates: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”—Rev. 5: 9, 10.

    15 The old covenant had been made by Jehovah between himself and the children of Israel. In this covenant the mediator Moses used the blood of the passover lamb, and the Israelites testified to their faith in its blood by sprinkling the blood upon the doorposts and lintels. For this Jehovah’s executioner angel passed over the houses of his covenant people that night of Nisan 14, sparing their firstborn while destroying Egypt’s firstborn. Jehovah delivered them from slavery to that totalitarian world power, and mocked the demon gods of that nation. Jehovah’s servant Moses declared himself to be a prophetic figure or likeness of a greater prophet, judge, mediator and deliverer to come, Christ Jesus the King. (Deut. 18: 15-18) Over a period of fifteen centuries from Moses’ day forward that passover lamb was regularly slain on the anniversary date and partaken of with pungent herbs and unleavened bread, and then the Greater Moses came, the One who is also the real Lamb whose blood delivers from execution at God’s hands. As it is written: “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.”—1 Cor. 5: 7.

    16 For those fifteen centuries that old law covenant with Israel had continued as an instructor and a protector against demonism or religion. Galatians 3:19, 24 states that the covenant was to continue until the promised offspring or “seed”, the anointed King, Christ Jesus, should come. Now that royal Personage had come. The time was at hand for the bringing of the old law covenant to an end by the complete fulfillment of it. It was the time for the validating of a new covenant by the blood of the true “Lamb of God”, a covenant with ‘Israelites indeed’, Israelites after the spirit, a “people for his name”, that is, for Jehovah’s name. It was a time to bring this faithful people into the covenant for the Kingdom under Christ Jesus. The King himself must call attention to the passing out of the old, pictorial things and to the coming in of the new. He must therefore set up a memorial of that change, a memorial of a kind different from the passover. The death of the lamb in Egypt had marked the beginning of the old law covenant with “Israel after the flesh”; now in fulfillment of that prophetic picture Christ Jesus as the true Lamb must die on the same date, Nisan 14. Hence the commemorative supper must be set up that same day, and in the years to come its memorial must be observed on the same date as thus fixed by the act of the King. That date is the one that marks the validating of the new covenant by the shed blood of the “Lamb of God”.

    14 From what was repeatedly emphasized at the supper, to what, then, was the supper established to call attention primarily, and what in connection therewith is only secondary?

    15 How had the old covenant been made between Jehovah and the Israelites, and down to whose coming did the passover lamb continue to be regularly slain and eaten?

    16 Why was the old law covenant to continue until the King's coming, and why was it necessary for the King to set up a memorial of a kind different from the passover but on the same date?

    THE BROKEN BREAD

    17 Having observed the old law covenant by eating of the roast lamb on the passover table, with bitter herbs and bread free of yeast or leaven. God’s anointed King now directs the minds of his disciples away from the distant past. He turns their attention to the Kingdom and the things that must be done preliminary to the setting up of that Theocratic Government in power and their sharing in it. The New Covenant, put into operation by his shed blood, plays a part therein. The covenant must take out from the world a “people for [Jehovah’s] name”, and those who faithfully continue through the trials as part of this name-people will be joined with Jesus in the Kingdom. So, “as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.” (Matt. 26: 26) This was something new, this blessing of bread at the passover and then distributing it to those Jewish disciples to be eaten as the body of the distributor. In the accounts of the supper Matthew and Mark use the word “eulogy” in connection with the bread, whereas Luke uses the word “eucharist” with the bread. The word used by Matthew and Mark means “to speak well of; to praise”; whereas the word used by Luke means “to give or return thanks”.

    17 (a) At the new supper to what did Jesus direct his disciples attention, and how does the new covenant play a part therein? (b) What was new about Jesus’ handling of the bread, and what words did he use before breaking it?

    18 By this act Jesus started the supper which he was now instituting as separate and distinct from the passover which they had been eating. Therefore, and because of the unusual Kingdom privileges which the new supper represented, he spoke well of God and praised him and thanked him. He praised Jehovah his Father as the great Deliverer and Savior, whose act of deliverance and salvation had been memorialized by the passover feast just partaken of and whose purpose to set up his kingdom and vindicate his name thereby was symbolized in the supper Jesus was now introducing. He thanked Jehovah as the Author of the Kingdom, for his privilege of being King of it, and for the privilege of having a Kingdom “body”, namely, a group of associates to be united with him in the heavenly throne.

    19 What, then, is meant by Jesus’ words concerning the broken bread, “This is my body”? These words, viewed in the light of other texts, lend no support to the religious doctrine of transubstantiation, to wit, that the bread actually became flesh of Jesus’ body; nor to the doctrine of consubstantiation, to wit, that the flesh of Jesus was substantially present with the bread and was combined with it. Jesus did not there perform a miracle like that which the Devil tried to tempt Jesus to perform when he asked Jesus to command the stones to turn into bread so that he could break his forty-day fast. (Matt. 4: 3, 4) Jesus still had his flesh intact, with nothing detracted from it. The broken bread could not, for that reason, be or even symbolize his literal body of flesh, nor for yet another valid reason, namely, the prophecy of Psalm 34: 20, written concerning Jesus’ literal body: “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.” And the apostle John calls attention to the fulfillment of this prophecy respecting Jesus while nailed to the tree. (John 19: 33-36) To picture the same thing concerning the “Lamb of God”, not a bone of the typical passover lamb was permitted to be broken. (Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12) Jesus’ act of breaking the bread and saying, “This is my body,” proves that he was not referring to his own humanity, and also that the substance of the bread was not changed, but was merely being used as a symbol of something larger than his mortal flesh.

    20 Consequently, Jesus’ words “my body” must mean the great spiritual body of which Christ Jesus is the Head, namely, “the body of Christ.” Those to be associated with him in the kingdom of heaven make up that body, and the Word of God limits the final number of “body” members to 144,000 under Christ Jesus, the capital member. (Rev. 7:4-8; 14:1,3) It is evident that what Jesus said to his disciples concerning the significance of the meal and its elements as relating to the kingdom of God was far more than what is written in the record. In John’s record of the prayer that Jesus offered at the close of this celebration with his faithful apostles Jesus specifically thanked Jehovah God for giving him such a “body” of devoted ones to be joined with him in the heavenly Kingdom. In the prayer to Jehovah his Father, Jesus said: “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 6, 9, 20, 24) It was to these that Jesus said aforetime: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) Thus the privilege of being members of the Kingdom “body", as represented by the bread, was “given for you", that is, for the faithful footstep followers of Jesus. — Luke 22: 29.

    18 Why did Jesus praise and thank Jehovah God at the start of the new supper before distributing the bread?

    19 To what religious doctrines do Jesus words “This is my body,” lend no support, and why could not the broken bread refer to his literal flesh?

    20 To what, therefore, do Jesus’ words “my body" refer, why could he give thanks for it, and how was it “given for you”, as he said?

    21 Saul of Tarsus was, of course, not present when Christ Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper the night before his death; but upon being converted and becoming the apostle Paul, he was given a special revelation direct from the Lord concerning that supper. As to the “body” which Jesus used the bread to symbolize, Paul writes to the consecrated Christians, who are sanctified for the Kingdom: ‘‘For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” (Rom. 12: 4, 5) A perfect body has a perfect number of members, no more, no less, according to the perfect Designer of the “body”, Jehovah God. So the royal “body of Christ” consists of just 144,000 members under Christ Jesus their Head. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” (1 Cor. 12:12-14, 18,27) The head, which directs, is above all other members of the body. Wherefore Jehovah God, choosing Jesus Christ as the Chief One, “hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” (Eph. 1:22,23) “And he is the head of the body, the church.”—Col. 1:18.

    21 What special revelation was given to the apostle Paul that helps to make clear the meaning of Jesus' words under consideration?

    22 The pieces of the broken bread were offered only to those in line to be members of the Kingdom, the “body of Christ”. Accepting a piece of the bread and eating it did not mean merely believing in the sacrificed humanity of Christ Jesus and being justified by faith therein. Those in line for the Kingdom as members of Christ's body must already be thus justified by faith in Christ Jesus as the Savior and Ransomer before they can be put in the way of the Kingdom opportunities. Hence partaking of the bread means to have part in the body of Christ and accepting a God-given assignment in that body and thankfully undertaking and joyfully carrying out the obligations of being a member in the body. It means partnership in the “body of Christ”. That is the sense of the word “communion” used by the apostle Paul, at 1 Corinthians 10: 16,17: “The bread which we break, is it not the communion [joint participation; fellowship] of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers [communicants] of that one bread.” Here the inspired words of an apostle definitely settle it that Jesus’ words “my body” do not refer to the body hung on the tree but refer to the “body of Christ”, namely, Jesus the Head and the church of 144,000 members.

    23 “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it.” (1 Cor. 12: 26) Ah yes; and this is what was pictured by the breaking of the bread. The breaking pictures the affliction which Christ Jesus suffered and which his body members must suffer with him. The affliction comes upon them because of being on Jehovah’s side as “faithful and true” witnesses for Him and his kingdom. These “fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ . . . for- his body’s sake, which is the church”. (Col. 1: 24) This they do for a vindication of Jehovah’s name and in submission to his universal domination. The bread which Jesus broke was unleavened bread from the Passover feast, and this bread was called the “bread of affliction”. As stated at Deuteronomy 16: 3: “Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction.” Eating of such broken bread pictured partaking of the afflictions such as came upon Christ Jesus and thus following in his footsteps as an ambassador of God’s kingdom and as a witness for God’s name. To those of the body of Christ it is written: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him [by failure to be a fellow witness], he also will deny us.”—2 Tim. 2:12.

    22 What, therefore, does accepting a piece of the broken bread and eating it mean, and what is the sense of the word “communion" as used by the apostle Paul at 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17?

    23 What. then, did the breaking of the bread and the eating thereof picture, and how was the bread used at the passover fittingly named?

    24 The Israelites of old were obliged to eat unleavened bread because they were forced “in haste" to come out of the world under demon rule represented by Egypt under Pharaoh. (Deut. 16:3; Ex. 12: 39) The “unleavened” quality of the bread which Jesus broke pictured therefore that He and his “body”, the “kingdom of heaven” class, have nothing in common with the world, that is, the Devil's organization, visible and invisible. Though in it, they are not a part of the world, because they are for the kingdom of God which will vindicate God’s name by the destruction of that worldly organization. They are not tainted with the ferment of the corruption of the Devil’s organization, forasmuch as they do not present themselves as instruments to the service of the demons under Satan nor do they engage in the visible or earthly part of his organization with its religion, commerce and politics. There is no deceptive hypocrisy nor two-faced double-dealing by them, a trying to serve both God and his enemy at the same time; but they are openly, boldly, and unmistakably for Jehovah God and his Kingdom. His name and Righteous Government they declare publicly and from house to house. They reject the religious traditions of men as taught by Pharisaical clergymen, because such traditions of religion deny, nullify and transgress the Word and commandments of God, which they believe, observe and faithfully keep with integrity.

    25 They heed Jesus’ words: ‘Take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.' “Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” (Matt. 16:6, 12) For this reason the Lord Jesus later, through the apostle Paul, instructed the members of his body, symbolized by the breadloaf, that they should have no fellowship with those who indulge in the malicious ill-will, baseness, evil, wickedness and hypocrisy of the world organization, but be sincerely and truthfully for Jehovah’s kingdom and its righteousness. “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven [demonism or religion], neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.... Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” — 1 Cor. 5: 6-8, 11-13.

    24 Why were the Israelites when leaving Egypt obliged to eat unleavened bread, and what therefore did the unleavened quality of the bread which Jesus broke picture?

    25 Of whose leaven did Jesus tell his disciples to beware, and what instructions with regard to symbolical leaven did he later give through the apostle Paul to those symbolised by the breadloaf?

    MANNA

    26 When the Israelites of old, having partaken of the passover, went forth with unleavened bread out of Egypt, Jehovah brought them into the wilderness safe from their enemies. There he fed them on miraculous bread, manna from heaven, and mixed with which there was no leaven. (Ex. 16:11-35) Moses explained why God suffered them to hunger, and then fed them with manna; it was "that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live”. (Deut. 8:3) Those very words Jesus quoted in response to the Devil’s temptation that Jesus transubstantiate stones into the substance of bread to live on. (Matt. 4:1-4) Hence eating the manna from heaven pictured the doing of God’s will by his covenant people as Jesus did it, and the doing of that will through Christ results in life. Jesus’ doing God’s will in the flesh set the example for his footstep followers. (John 4: 32-34) By following Jesus’ course in the flesh as a doer of Jehovah’s will these gain immortality, or "life in themselves”, and abide in the “body of Christ” and are exalted to a seat with him in the throne of his kingdom in heaven. Hence partaking of the bread at the Lord’s supper pictured copying Jesus’ example as a servant and witness of Jehovah God and thereby proving oneself a member of “his body”. Concerning this, Jesus said the following:

    27 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. . .. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” (John 6:51-58) The faithful following of Jesus’ earthly course in the flesh constitutes believing in him and partaking of him. The result thereof is eventually a sharing with him in “his resurrection”, “the first resurrection,” and being raised up to immortal life with him as members of the glorified body of Christ, “the body of his glory.” (Phil. 3:10,21, Am. Rev. Ver.; 1 Cor. 15:50-54; Rev. 20:5) In the above-quoted words, at John 6, Christ Jesus was speaking to the typical covenant people of God, whose forefathers ate manna in the wilderness, and not to the Gentiles. His words, therefore, do not apply to those of humankind in general, but apply to those who are taken into the new covenant and who partake of the antitypical Manna and are made members of his “body”. This restriction of his words to them is proved by his reference to ‘drinking his blood’.

    26 (a) Why did Jehovah feed the Israelites in the wilderness with manna, and what does Jesus' quotation of Jehovah’s words in the wilderness show that eating manna pictures? (b) Hence what does partaking of the bread nt the Lord's supper picture?

    27 (a) What did Jesus say, at John 6, concerning the real Manna or bread from beaten and the eating thereof? (b) To whom do those words of Jesus really apply, and what constitutes believing in and partaking of him, and with what result to the believing partaker?

    DRINKING OF THE CUP

    28 Glance back now at the Lord’s supper. “Then taking a cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink all of you out of it; for this is my blood of the covenant, that which is poured out for many, for forgiveness of sins.” (Matt. 26:27, 28, Emphatic Diaglott translation) By those words the wine, or “fruit of the vine”, in that cup was not transubstantiated into his literal blood; for Jesus had not yet shed his blood. If the contents of that cup had been turned into literal blood and then the drinking of it secured the remission or forgiveness of sins, then there would have been no need for Jesus to hang on the tree, shedding his blood and dying; it could be done the easier way by miraculously transmuting wine into blood which had never been in his literal body. However, as the broken bread was used to symbolize something larger than his flesh, so the cup of wine was used to symbolize something more inclusive than his literal blood. Blood in the vessels of the body signifies life: “for the life of the flesh is in the blood.” (Lev. 17: 11) “Eat not the blood: for the blood is the life.” (Deut. 12:23) Hence blood poured out means life shed, death. (Matt. 27:25; Acts 5:28; Rev. 16:3) The contents of the cup which Jesus handed to his disciples symbolized his blood poured out, or his death and the sufferings therewith.

    29 Jesus suffered death as a man. His death, or blood poured forth, is the basis for forgiveness. It provides for “remission of sins", of as many of mankind as believe in him and accept God’s provision of salvation through him. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.” (Eph. 1:7) “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 6:23) Hence, instead of suffering death through those sins, the death of Christ Jesus is accepted by the repentant sinner in his own behalf, and is applied by Christ in God’s presence in the sinner’s behalf. This procures forgiveness for the sinner. It relieves him of the death due to sin. — Rom. 5: 21.

    28 How do we know that Jesus did not by his words change the wine into blood, and what did his likening the contents of the cup to blood show that such pictured?

    29 For what is Jesus' blood poured forth a basis, and with benefit to whom, and with what result?

    30 Mark that Jesus said: “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22: 20) Did that mean the literal cup had now become the new covenant or testament? No; but his death, or shed blood which was symbolized by the contents of the cup, made the new covenant a sure thing, an active, real, operating arrangement with God. That is, his death, as denoted by his shed blood, made valid and binding the new covenant. In providing the validating medium, his blood, Jesus was the Greater Moses, the Mediator of the new covenant. “And because of this, of a new covenant he is mediator, . . . where a covenant is, the death of the covenant-victim to come in is necessary, for a covenant over dead victims is stedfast, since it is of no force at all when the covenant-victim liveth, whence not even the first [the law covenant with Israel] apart from blood hath been initiated.” (Heb. 9: 15-18, Young’s translation) The first, or old law covenant, took out of the world the natural Israelites to be Jehovah’s people. It put them in line to be of his promised Kingdom. (Ex. 19:5,6) The new covenant is Jehovah's instrument or arrangement through the Mediator Christ Jesus, and it takes out of the nations of the world a “people for his name”, spiritual Israelites. This puts them in line to become joint-heirs with Christ Jesus in the Kingdom, and Jehovah God brings the faithful ones thereof into the covenant for the Kingdom. Hence Jesus said to the eleven faithful apostles at the Lord’s supper: “And I covenant for you, even as my Father has covenanted for me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”—Luke 22:29,30, Emphatic Diaglott.

    31 Truly, the Lord’s blood was shed and thereby accomplished the validating of the new covenant. It provided for the remission of the sins of those who are brought into that covenant and made God’s name-people, Jehovah’s witnesses. However, the drinking of the blood symbolizes something deeper than that. It symbolizes meeting the requirements to enter into the Kingdom. Not only the shed blood, as pictured by the wine in the cup, meant death, but the drinking of the real cup by those taking part in the Lord’s supper also means death. It means their death with Christ, their participation in his death.

    30 (a) How was “this cup” the new testament in Jesus’ blood? (b) For what purpose does Jehovah God use the new covenant, and the ones faithful therein are brought into what further covenant?

    31 The contents of the cup symbolizing blood, what, then, does drinking the contents symbolize?

    32 God’s law to “Israel after the flesh” forbade drinking of any blood and prescribed death for the blood drinker. (Lev. 17:10, 14) Hence justification from sins and unto life by faith in Jesus’ blood is not pictured by the drinking of the cup, since those drinking must already have been justified from sin. Rather, drinking of the cup means that the drinker lays down his justified human life. He forever foregoes the right and prospect to perfect life on earth after the Devil’s organization is cleared out and God’s rule is in undisputed sway over earth. Drinking the cup means fellowship with Christ Jesus in his sufferings and death on earth, and undergoing the reproaches that fell upon him for Jehovah’s sake, and maintaining one’s integrity blamelessly thereunder for the vindication of God’s name.

    33 Such symbolic meaning of drinking the cup Jesus’ faithful apostle Paul makes clear, at 1 Corinthians 10:15-18: “I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless [eulogize], is it not the communion of the blood of Christ! The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ! For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” Or, quoting Rotherham’s translation concerning the blood: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a sharing together of the blood of the Christ!” The word “communion" here means partnership, joint participation, a being partaker, fellowship. The Greek word for “communion” is so translated elsewhere in the Scriptures, and this makes clear the meaning of the expression “the communion of the blood of Christ”.

    34 Paul, who was actually doing that which was symbolized by drinking of the cup at the Lord’s supper, writes: “I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, . . . that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” (Phil. 3:8-11) To the Christians who were likewise drinking the cup in its real meaning the apostle Peter wrote: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, [Why?] inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” — 1 Pet. 4: 12, 13.

    32. In view of God's law concerning the drinking of blood, what does drinking the cup symbolize, and what qualification must one first have before drinking?

    33. How is the meaning of the drinking of the cup made clear at 1 Corinthians 10:15-18, and what is the meaning of the word "communion" as shown by other translations of the Greek word therefore?

    34 According to Paul's words at Phllippians 3:8-11, how was be doing what was symbolized by drinking the cup? and what did Peter instruct faithful Christians to do because of having this privilege?

    35 Hence those partaking of the cup must in the reality participate in Christ's death. Such death is for faithful service as a witness for Jehovah and for holding fast one’s integrity under the most extreme tests and tribulations even unto the death. This death upholds God’s side of the controversy over universal domination, and thereby serves to the vindication of His name and Word. The cupdrinkers are the ones to whom the words are addressed: “Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Rom. 6:3-5) “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Rev. 2: 10) “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” (2 Tim. 2: 11,12) “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14: 22) Those who partake of the emblems at the Lord's supper, and who faithfully, to the end of their earthly existence, carry out daily that which is symbolized by thus partaking, even they are the ones that shall take part in the supper in Christ’s kingdom, eating and drinking with him at his royal table.

    REMAINING WITH HIM IN TEMPTATIONS

    36 Merely attending a memorial supper and partaking of the emblems of unleavened bread and wine is not all. Jesus indicated that fact when he said further to his disciples after the emblems: “Ye, however, are they who have remained throughout with me in my temptations; and I covenant unto you, as my Father hath covenanted unto me, a kingdom, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom." (Luke 22:28-30, Rotherham) One who partakes of the emblems of the Lord’s supper must be in the new covenant and also in the covenant for the Kingdom. He must have denied himself and fully consecrated himself to God through Christ Jesus and then been fully justified from sin and been taken into the covenant of sacrifice with his Master. He must live up to what he professes when drinking and eating at the Lord’s supper before witnesses. He must meet the terms of the new covenant by being actively a part of “the people for his name” and declaring Jehovah’s name throughout the earth. He must meet the terms of the covenant for the Kingdom by being Jehovah’s witness as His King was, continually preaching that Kingdom, especially now at the end of the world, and increasing the Kingdom interests which have been entrusted to him. (Matt. 24:14; 25:14-23) He must remain on the side of Christ the King throughout all the temptations or trials, that is, the temptations or trials that come upon him due to the reproaches and the Christ-like sufferings heaped upon him for being a witness of Jehovah God and an ambassador for Christ His King.

    35 For whnt and to what end do the cup-drinkers participate in Christs death, and what scriptures concerning death, suffering, and tribulation and the rewards therefor are addressed to them?

    36 How did Jesus' words to his disciples indicate that merely partaking of the memorial emblems is not all? and what covenants are involved therein, and bow must the partaker meet their terms?

    37 The trialsome “hour of temptation” is upon the world. Who can abide it blamelessly in God’s sight? (Rev. 3:10) The King is on the throne, with all power in heaven and in earth, and he can and will help all his faithful followers to stand and come off “more than conquerors through him that loved us”. (Heb. 2:18; 4:15; Rom. 8: 37) The issue of universal domination must now be decided as between Jehovah’s Theocratic Government by his King Christ Jesus and, on the opposition side, Satan’s world organization, with its religion, politics and commerce. The temptation, therefore, is permitted in order to manifest the integrity of the faithful to Jehovah as Theocrat and Universal Ruler and to his kingdom under Christ. The Lord’s supper was specially set up to aid the faithful to gain the victory amid the temptation; how? By keeping their hearts and minds turned toward Jehovah and his King, Christ Jesus, and reminding them how he faithfully endured and perfectly met the Kingdom requirements in vindication of God’s name. That was why Jesus, after handing out the emblems, added: “This do in remembrance of me.”—Luke 22: 19.

    38 Under divine inspiration the apostle Paul comments on this, saying: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” (1 Cor. 11:26) The Lord came into his kingdom in 1914, and thereafter came to the temple, in 1918. However, the baptizing of his followers yet on earth into his death and their drinking his cup and being buried in the likeness of his death did not then end. Hence “till he come” means that these anointed witnesses of Jehovah, who are members of Christ’s “body” and who are “bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus”, must continue to keep the Lord’s “supper”. (2 Cor. 4:10) Till when? Till he transfers the last member from the “body of our humiliation” to that of his glory: “We wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.” —Phil. 3: 20, 21, Am. Rev. Ver.

    37 (a) What trialsome “hour" is upon the world, and why does God permit it as concerns his people? (b) As shown by Jesus' Instruction, the Lord's supper was set up to aid the faithful unto victory how?

    38. "Shew the Lord's death till he come" means that the members of Christ's body must continue to keep the Lord's supper till when?

    39 Thus these continue to “shew forth the Lord’s death”. This they do before many witnesses, particularly the “other sheep” whom the Lord is now gathering to his temple. They celebrate in order to show that Jesus the King was faithful unto death and that God can put followers of him on earth who will likewise keep integrity and be faithful to the death. Once Christ Jesus pointed forward to Peter's death. “This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.” (John 21:19) Even so the faithful partakers at the Lord’s supper, by there showing forth their Lord’s death in symbol and then by preaching and copying his example, do likewise “glorify God”.

    39. (a) Before whom do they "shew the Lord's death", and what does the celebration specifically show regarding Jesus and his followers? (b) In what twofold way do the faithful followers show forth their Lord's death, and whom do they glorify thereby?

    ATTENDERS AT THE LORD’S SUPPER

    ALL persons of good-will are cordially invited to attend the Memorial supper of the “King of kings”, to be held Monday, April 19, after sundown, which begins the notable day of Nisan 14. But who will observe the occasion in the Scriptural manner? and where? you ask. Wherever there is an organized company of Jehovah’s witnesses; and they will welcome all Godfearing persons to the celebration at their announced place of meeting. They both recognize and subject themselves to “The Higher Powers”, namely, Jehovah God and Christ Jesus, his King. To his faithful followers Christ Jesus gave the instruction to observe the day, “in remembrance of me.” Hence Jehovah’s witnesses will do this in obedience to The Higher Powers.

    Should such persons of good-will when attending partake of the memorial emblems at the Lord’s supper? For the answer read the leading article in this magazine. It shows that no one should eat of the unleavened bread or drink of the cup of wine unless he knows and discerns himself to be a member of “the body of Christ”. He cannot discern this unless he has made a complete and unreserved consecration of himself to the Lord God through faith in the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus. He must discern the evidences that Almighty God has acted on his consecration and justified him to life, and that God has accepted this life as a sacrifice with Christ Jesus and has then taken him into the “covenant with me by sacrifice”.—Ps. 50:5.

    Moreover, God the Father must then beget the consecrated and justified one by his spirit or power, assigning to such one the conditional right to life in the spirit in heaven. Thereby God starts him off as a spiritual son of God. Begetting him, God acknowledges him as a spiritual son and manifests this by bestowing upon such son “all spiritual blessings” of knowledge, understanding and privileges of serving God’s interests If such spiritual child is faithful to his privileges, Jehovah God anoints him with his spirit of power, commissioning him to be his witness and baptizing or bringing him into the “body of Christ”. (See James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:3; Ephesians 1:3; Romans 8:16,17; 6:3; 1 John 2:20,27) Now, if he faithfully carries out his commission, he may partake of the Lord’s supper.

    You may ask, however: Since I am not a member of Christ’s body and may not partake of the emblems, why should I attend ? Because it is in obedience to the command of the King, who now reigns, that you assemble with those who do partake, doing so in remembrance of Him Only a remnant of the “little flock” of the Kingdom are yet on earth, but the Lord Jesus is now gathering his “other sheep”, who are not of the royal “body of Christ”, and these “other sheep” he brings into the one fold with the remnant, under the one Shepherd. (John 10:16) Of course, these companions of the remnant do not share in the Lord’s death, but they do remember his sufferings whereby he proved his integrity and devotion to God, and they do hail him as King. They put themselves under the same kingdom to which the remnant are called as jointheirs with Christ Jesus. (Rev. 7:9-17) By authority of the King they preach the same kingdom together with the remnant, and with them they declare Jehovah's name through the earth.—Rev. 22: 17.

    Of the “other sheep” the same degree of faithfulness to God and his Righteous Government is required as of the remnant. They are therefore under the same test of integrity in the midst of Satan’s world. They must fight against the same demon powers and must do so fighting shoulder to shoulder with the faithful remnant. (Eph. 6:12) They must look unto Christ Jesus the King as their example of faithfulness to God and of enduring sufferings for righteousness’ sake and of overcoming the world They too must “fear God” and “honour the King”. (1 Pet. 2:17,21) Reasonably, then, their presence at the memorial supper in honor of Jehovah’s King is very vital and is sure to result in blessing and much-needed strength to them.

    It is the Lord’s table to which the anointed remnant and their faithful companions gather. They must come clean from the Devil's world, under demon rule as it is and soaked through with demonism or religion. Partnership cannot be had both with it and with God’s service, because both are opposed to each other. For example, the remnant by partaking of the Memorial emblems partake of what is on the Lord’s table, just as the priests of Israel of old were partakers of the animal victims upon the Lord’s altar. (1 Cor. 9:13) Hence, before referring to the cup of blessing and the bread that is broken, the apostle Paul shows what one must fulfill before partaking thereof, by saying: “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Cor. 10:14) Idolatry means demonism. It is a worship of the demon organization under Satan and of the things in Satan’s organization, including its religion, politics and commerce. Idolatry means taking part in the things of this world which is under demon rule. In the same manner,in times of old, those who offered sacrifice to idols of the demon gods ate part of the sacrifice offered up to the demon gods, and thus they were partakers with the demons and ate at their table or altar. Why then flee idols? The apostle now shows why:

    …