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    The Watchtower, June 1, 1945

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    The Watchtower—1945

    ^HeWATCHTOWER

    Published Semimonthly Bt

    WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY 117 Adams Street • - Brooklyn 1, N.Y., U.S.A.

    Officers

    N. H. Knobs, President W. E. Van Amburgh, Secretary “And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” - haiah 54:13.

    THE SCRIPTURES CLEARLY TEACH

    THAT JEHOVAH is the only true God and is from everlasting to everlasting, the Maker of heaven and earth and the Giver of life to his creatures; that the Logos was the beginning of his creation, and his active agent in the creation of all other things, and is now the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, clothed with all power in heaven and earth, as the Chief Executive Officer of Jehovah;

    THAT GOD created the earth for man, created perfect man for the earth and placed him upon it; that man willfully disobeyed God’s law and was sentenced to death; that by reason of Adam’s wrong act all men are born sinners and without the right to life;

    THAT THE LOGOS was made human as the man Jesus and suffered death in order to produce the ransom or redemptive price for obedient ones of mankind; that God raised up Jesus divine- and exalted him to heaven above every other creature and above every creature’s name and clothed him with all power and authority;

    THAT GOD’S CAPITAL ORGANIZATION is a Theocracy called Zion, and that Christ Jesus is the Chief Officer thereof and is the rightful King of the world; that the anointed and faithful followers of Christ Jesus are children of Zion, members of Jehovah’s organization, and are his witnesses whose duty and privilege it is to testify to the supremacy of Jehovah, declare his purposes toward mankind as expressed in the Bible, and to bear the fruits of the Kingdom before all who will hear;

    THAT THE OLD WORLD ended in A. D. 1914, and the Lord Jesus Christ has been placed by Jehovah upon his throne of authority, has ousted Satan from heaven and is proceeding to the establishment of the “new earth” of the New World;

    THAT THE RELIEF and blessings of the peoples of earth can come only by and through Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ, which has now begun; that the Lord’s next great act is the destruction of Satan’s organization and the complete establishment of righteousness in the earth, and that under the Kingdom the people of good-will that survive Armageddon shall carry out the divine mandate to “fill the earth” with a righteous race.

    ITS MISSION

    THIS Journal is published for the purpose of enabling the people to know Jehovah God and his purposes as expressed in the Bible. It publishes Bible instruction specifically designed to aid Jehovah’s witnesses and all people of good-will. It arranges systematic Bible study for its readers and the Society supplies other literature to aid in such studies. It publishes suitable material for radio broadeasting and for other means of public instruction in the Scriptures.

    It adheres strictly to the Bible as authority for its utterances. It is entirely free and separate from all religion, parties, sects or other worldly organizations. It is wholly and without reservation for the kingdom of Jehovah God under Christ his beloved King. It is not dogmatic, but invites careful and critical examination of its contents in the light of the Scriptures. It does not indulge in controversy, and its columns are not open to personalities.

    YEABLT SUBBCEIFTION PE1CE

    United Stater, *1.00; all other countries, *1.50, American currency; Great Britain, Australasia, and South Africa, 6a. American remittance* should be made by Postal or Express Money Order or by Bank Draft. British, South African and Australasian remittances should be made direct to the respectire branch offices. Remittances from countries other than those mentioned may be made to the Brooklyn office, but by International Postal Money Order only. '

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    Please address the Society in erery case.

    Translations of this journal appear In several languages.

    ALL SINCERE STUDENTS OF THE BIBLE who by reason of Infirmity, poverty or adrersity are unable to par the subscription price may bare The Watchtower free upon written application to the publishers, made once each year, stating the reason for so requesting It We are glad to thus aid the needy, but the written application once each year u required by the postal regulations.

    Notice to Subscribers: Acknowledgment of a new or s renewal subscription will be sent only when requested. Change of address, when requested, may be expected to appear on address label within one month. A renewal blank (carrying notice of expiration) will be sent with the journal one month before the subscription expires.

    Printed in the United States of America Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Brooklyn, N. F , under the det of March s, lilt.

    “THIS GOSPEL” TESTIMONY PERIOD

    “This Gospel” Testimony Period is scheduled to occupy the entire month of June We are blessed of the Lord to have just the literature that sets out “this gospel” of the Kingdom’s establishment, and the arrangement is to offer such gospel in print during the Testimony, namely, “The Kingdom Is at Hand” together with the new booklet ‘The Meek Inherit the Earth’. The contribution to be accepted for this combmation is 25c. The advantage of having this literature for distribution from house to house makes it easy for any Watchtower reader to engage with all Kingdom announcers in the preaching of “this gospel of the Kingdom” in obedience to Christ’s command. (Matthew 24:14) We therefore invite all those desirous to notify us and we shall refer them to the most convenient organized group with whom they can enjoy the thrill and blessing of proclaiming this gospel. Every one engaging in this work, whether many hours or few, should make report thereof on the regular provided form.

    THE MEEK INHERIT THE EARTH'

    Strange seems that proclamation of Christ Jesus in the light of present-day world events, when many nations war over control of the earth’s surface. Xevertheless, the new 32-page booklet of that name shows convincingly how that very thing is in process of accomplishment. As the absorbing theme unfolds the meek ones are identified, and Scripture proof shows how cruel oppressors and land-grabbers will be removed from this earthly ball and its land areas will be equitably distributed among the surviving meek of the earth, to be beautified and populated by them under Jehovah’s direction. This thrilling and heart-warming theme of ‘The Meek Inherit the Earth’ is well captured and artistically portrayed by the booklet’s front-cover design. We invite you to get your personal copy of this newly released booklet now and to study it carefully. It is available on a 5c contribution

    USE RENEWAL SUBSCRIPTION BLANK

    The blank sent you one month before expiration of your Watchtower subscription should be filled out and returned to the Brooklyn office or to the Branch office in the country where you reside. Servants in the companies, and individuals, when sending in renewals for The Watchtower, should always use these blanks. By filling in these renewal blanks yon are assured of the continuation of your Watchtower from the time of expiration, and without delay. It will also be a great help if you sign your name uniformly, and note any recent change of address, on the renewal slip

    “WATCHTOWER" STUDIES

    Week of July 1: “A People for the Issue,” 1-19 inclusive, The Watchtower June 1, 1945. Week of July 8: “A People for the Issue,” fl 20-40 inclusive, The Watchtower June 1, 1945.

    ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM

    Vol. LXVI

    June 1, 1945

    No. 11

    A PEOPLE FOR THE ISSUE

    "This people have 1 formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.

    JEHOVAH stands directly at the center of the issue. He is the One upon whom creation, animate and inanimate, depends, and hence the contention or controversy swirls around him and all men must finally take their stand either for or against him. Men once atheists do not find Him in a “foxhole” under the enemy’s fire! Jehovah God is found in his written Word, the Holy Scriptures. For that reason it is written in those Scriptures concerning faith in Jehovah God: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17) In order for those who find Jehovah God to hear about him, there must be a distributing and preaching of the written Word which he has provided concerning himself. To meet that urgent need, he has raised up in this day a “people for his name", a people for the issue, particularly because within this generation the issue must be settled and it will be settled without any room for further controversy. The controversy is unavoidable; and Jehovah’s people are in the thick of it, not dodging it at all. Their courageous activity for His side of the issue is with the highest benefit and the most lasting good to the people.

    2 Men from the foxholes; women rescued from the havoc and debris wrought by the fiendish buzzbombs; and men and women from the luxurious cathedrals and religious assembly-houses, will ask, “Why should Jehovah be the heart of the issue before humankind today? I have heard about Jesus Christ, and why isn’t he enough for salvation? Why must this Jehovah be dragged in on the matter?” Very relevant questions these are, and very proper to be answered now for those who ask in honesty. However, this very Jesus Christ, who the many think is all-sufficient, got in ahead of their own question by saying in his prayer to Jehovah God: “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life

    1. (a) Where is Jehovah with relation to the issue, and where Is faith in him to be found bv men? (b) Why has Ue raised up a people for the issue, and with what benefit to others?

    2. (a) What question concerning Jehovah’s essentialness do religious people ask, and how did Jesus answer it in advance? (b) In wbat way is it best to know him, and why now?

    ’’—Isa. 43:21.

    to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:1-3) It is just as vital to know the true God, who sent the Son, as it is to know the Son; if not more vital, because the Son said: “My Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28) And in the matter of knowing the Father, who is God, it is well to get acquainted with him in a favorable way, because that means everlasting life. The time is close upon us when those on unfavorable terms with him will have fulfilled upon them the prayer of Psalm 83:17,18: “Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: that men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.”

    ’ Having read these verses of Psalm 83, make no mistake about it: When the time comes to prove before all men that the God who alone bears the name of Jehovah is the Most High over all the earth it will be at the cost of the lives of many men and women of all nationalities, all such being his enemies. That means that many will not get the eternal life which comes from rightly knowing Jehovah God and the Son whom He sent.’ But the lives of such enemies are easily expendable in order for the great issue to come to permanent settlement. Why, so important is it to the peace, harmony and prosperity of all the universe to prove before all creatures that Jehovah God is the Most High over all things that the whole world, this old world, must die. World destruction is ahead of us and not possible to be turned aside. The Bible long ago foretold of its coming. At the same time the Bible held out the hope that men having good-will toward Jehovah God and Jesus Christ his Son would survive the world’s end. They are to inherit eternal life on a purged earth in a new world; not simply a “better world”, but a perfect world of unending righteousness. Are such facts serious enough? Are they reason enough to show why men must know Jehovah as well as Jesus,

    3. (a) Proving chat Jehovah la the Most High God Is so Important that what must eventually occur? (b) However, what hope does bls Word hold out for men of good-will?

    through whom men may come into relationship with Jehovah God?

    ‘Some still unconvinced may ask: “But why should the world die, be destroyed?” Frankly, it is because this is not. God’s world. It is a reproach to the name of Jehovah God to ascribe this world to him and to make him responsible for its existence and operation. His Holy Word plainly says that the “god of this world” is a mimic god, Jehovah’s enemy, namely, Satan the Devil. This false god has made this a blind world: “in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God [Jehovah], should shine unto them.” (2 Cor. 4:4) This world will continue thus blind, and willingly so, until its end; at which time Jehovah will forcibly open the eyes of all the unbelieving enemies and compel them to know that He is the Most High God. That time of destruction of the Devil’s world is the battle of Armageddon, not so far ahead now, and there Jehovah will vindicate his name and place as the Supreme One. Concerning that battle against the combined enemy in their final line-up, the Lord God has prophesied in these words: “I will call for a sword against him unto all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And with pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.”—Ezek. 38:21-23, Am. Stan. Ver.

    5 In this decisive way the issue will be settled. Thereby will be shown that Jehovah is the almighty and most high God, the only One who wields universal domination, which means, his sovereignty over this earth and all creation visible and invisible. And that is the answer to those who ask why, besides Jesus Christ, Jehovah must be dragged into the matter. At the oncoming battle of Armageddon Christ Jesus the Son will fight to victory over Satan’s world, for the vindication of Jehovah’s name. Those who now turn a deaf ear and refuse to hear and heed this proclamation of the day of God’s vengeance will have to bear the consequences of such religious prejudice against the name and supremacy of Jehovah.

    • Now at last the issue is pressing for its settlement once and for all time. Therefore the Most High

    4, G Why la it necessary for this world to be destroyed* and. as propb* esied bj Jehovah for what purpose will be fight the battle at that time? 6. (a) Does the people for the issue mean the persecuted Jews* and how does their attitude toward his name bear this out? (b) On what fact alone could not relationship to His name be based?

    God puts his people for the issue into the field and brings them conspicuously before all the nations. Does that mean the Jews, to whom the attention of the world has been drawn by the devilish Nazi-Fascist-Vatican effort to exterminate them from the earth? No; even though such natural Israelites are demonstrating remarkable fortitude under that wicked persecution. Prior to the time of Christ the name of Jehovah was called upon the nation of Israel. But already some time before Christ the Israelites had ceased pronouncing the name of Jehovah out of an improper fear of violating the Third Commandment, namely: “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Ex. 20:7, Am. Stan. Ver.) Outside of possibly a few of their priests, they had forgotten how to pronounce God’s name as represented by the four letters (mm) which stood for his name in the Hebrew Bible; and they substituted for his name the term Adonai, meaning Lord. So the question, to be proved by Jewish history down till Christ’s time, was whether they would prove themselves worthy to bear and be associated with Jehovah’s name. Such worthiness could not be for ever based simply upon the fact that they were the descendants of the faithful forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

    T Because of being descended from Jacob, the Jewish nation was sometimes addressed as “Jacob”. But because the patriarch Jacob’s name was changed by Jehovah God to Israel, the nation was also spoken of as “the children of Israel”, or just “Israel”. The time came when natural Israel’s favored position gave way to that of spiritual Israel; and consequently the honor and privilege of bearing the name of Jehovah was transferred. This fact was specially indicated about three and a half years after the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. It was when Simon Peter preached the good news of God’s kingdom to an assembly of non-Jews, or Gentiles, in the home of the Italian centurion Cornelius, at the city of Caesarea. Referring to this, the disciple James said to the congregation at Jerusalem: “Simeon [Peter] hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, . . . that the residue of men might seek after the Lord [Jehovah], and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.’’-Acts 15:14-17.

    * Through the preaching of the gospel up till then only a residue, or small remnant, had been selected

    7. (•) By what two Dunes was the Jewish nation addressed? (b) To whom was the favored position as to God's name transferred, and when was this markedly shown?

    8. Did the taking out of Gentiles after the Jewish remnant mean God was creating and having two peoples? and why? out from the Jews to bear the name of Jehovah because of their new relationship to Him through Christ Jesus. Such being the case, the Lord God then visited or began showing favor to the Gentiles, to take out from among them also a people to bear the responsibilities and privileges connected with Jehovah’s name. This did not mean that thenceforth he had two peoples on earth, but that the remnant out from the Jews and all those thereafter taken out from the Gentiles would be combined to make up one people for the name of Jehovah. They constitute one people in Christ Jesus their Head, because, as stated by the apostle, “there is neither Jew nor Greek [Gentile], there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”—Gal. 3: 28, 29.

    ’ Thus Jehovah God was the Creator of a new people for his name, that is to say, spiritual Israel. In this respect they are a “new creation”; as it is written: “For neither circumcision nor the want of it is of any importance, but only a new creation. Peace and mercy be on all who will follow this rule, and on the true Israel of God.” (Gal. 6:15,16, Goodspeed) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5: 17) It is in accord with this fact that the old law covenant made with natural Israel does not apply to them, but Jehovah has brought spiritual Israel into relationship with him by a new covenant ratified over the blood of Jesus, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Christ Jesus is the one Mediator between God and the human creatures in this new covenant. (1 Tim. 2:5,6; Heb. 9:14-22) Being a “people for his name”, they must of necessity be Jehovah’s witnesses.

    10 Such spiritual Israel, or “people for his name”, the Creator did not form according to the political pattern of any nation of this world. He followed no democratic pattern as provided in the democracies of pagan Greece centuries before Christ. He did not imitate the republican model which Rome provided early in its history. He did not copy the later authoritarian style or design of the Roman Empire. God formed his people according to his own perfect will and purpose; that is, he made it a Theocratic organization. Its structure and operation are different, therefore, from anything the political, religious and commercial organizations of this world have to offer. No autocratic human head, nor any hierarchy or ruling body of priests, runs spiritual Israel. The consecrated Christians composing the whole body or congregation of spiritual Israel are not the sovereign power, to control and regulate the organization by the power of voting and democratic elections. The organization abides by the absolute rule that Jehovah God is the supreme One, the universal Sovereign, and that therefore the organization he created is .subject to His will in all things. He tops the organization and administers it, and thus it is Theocratic. It pays full submission to His dominion or Theocracy, and observes the divine will as revealed through his written Word, the Bible.

    11 Since Christ Jesus is Jehovah’s Chief Servant and is most closely at one with his Father, therefore the great Theocrat Jehovah has made his Son Christ Jesus, the invisible or heavenly Head over the Theocratic organization of spiritual Israel. To state it in the apostle’s words, Jehovah “subjected all things under his feet; and constituted him a head over all things for that congregation, which is his body, the full development of him who is filling all things with all”. (Eph. 1:22,23, Emphatic Diaglott) The congregation of spiritual Israel is accordingly the “body of Christ”, and they must be subject to him the Head, as he takes the lead in doing the Theocratic will of Jehovah. (Eph. 5:23,24) In this way the structure of the people for Jehovah’s name does not conform to anything in this world of Satan “the prince of the demons”. Satan’s organization is a demonocracy, opposed to Jehovah’s Theocracy. Today, after nineteen hundred years of tairing out from Jews and Gentiles the people for Jehovah’s name, a mere remnant of this spiritual Israel of God is to be found yet on earth. These of the remnant must now serve as Jehovah’s people for the issue. But with them he is now associating a multitude of consecrated persons of good-will. They are, as it were, throwing themselves into the breach due to the small number of the remnant, most noticeably so since 1931. They are rendering valiant service on many fronts throughout the earth amid this controversy that rages over Jehovah’s name.

    FEAR NOT

    ” Owing to the activities publicly and also from house to house by Jehovah’s witnesses, millions of people in many nations are aware of the controversy that is going on between Christianity and religion. Many more than are known to us are sympathetic toward Jehovah’s witnesses, but they have observed the persecution to which the witnesses are subjected and they are fearful of coming out openly and joining the company of Jehovah’s people. They are thus playing into the hands of the “god of this world”. The death-dealing purpose of Satan is to put everybody on earth in fear and hold them there, and thus

    11 . (a) Who has been appointed bead over spiritual Israel, and what does the congregation thereof constitute? (b) Who are now Jehovah's people for the issue1 2 and who are assuciated with them?

    12 What keeps many observers from coming over onto the side of Jehovah’s witnesses’ and what la there to help them out of the difficulty? keep them under his demonocracy and away from The Theocracy. But if anybody had real reason to fear, it would be the ones who are the very targets of the persecution, namely, the remnant of spiritual Israel on earth. Something keeps them from being fearful. What is it! and what is there to help all these kindly-disposed persons all over the earth to subdue their mental fears and come out in open companionship with the remnant? It is God’s Word addressed to the remnant of spiritual Israel or spiritual Jacob; and that Word was purposely reserved for this terrifying time. Listen to it:

    13 “But now thus saith Jehovah that created thee, 0 Jacob, and he that formed thee, 0 Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” (Isa. 43:1, 2, A»i. Stan. Ver.) This is the word of no man, such as the prophet Isaiah. It is the word of Almighty God, the Creator, who created his people for a distinct purpose and whose creation the massed, all-out assault of the entire Devil’s world can never destroy. Rather than destroy what God has created, be that ever so small and weak and unpopular in appearance, the Devil’s world will run into its own destruction. The new world, made up of new heavens and a new earth which Jehovah God creates, will tread under foot the ashes of the destroyed old world; for the mouth of the Lord God has spoken it. If he assures the remnant of Jacob or Israel that they have no need to fear, and therefore if they do not fear, then let the multitude of persons whose misgivings of mind have held them back thus far be sure that they have no reason to fear if they become publicly the associates of the fearless remnant.

    14 What Jehovah’s witnesses are going through now is like what they experienced during the World War of 1914-1918. Then they were greatly harassed, but they were not permitted to be destroyed. Foiling the enemy’s murderous designs, Jehovah brought his remnant forth to greater activity and accomplishment in his service, and formed them into a unified organization more thoroughly in harmony with Theocratic rule. Hence Jehovah says to them, as respects the future: “Fear not, for I have redeemed thee.’-’ He has delivered them from the bondage of fear and doubt, and from abject subservience to the religious and political organization of this world.

    13 Since 1918 Jehovah has revealed that the rem-

    13. Since it is Jehovah that is creator of spiritual Israel, then what is certain as to the attempts of this hostile old world? and why have favorably inclined people no reason to fear?

    14. Looking back to what came to the remnant following the experiences of 1018. why Is Jehovah's exhortation to fear not proper as respects the future'-'

    15. By what name has Jehovah called his covenant people? and why are they His?

    nant are a people for His name. He has called them by a name, and all the names that the enemy call them to vilify them before the world do not count. In the long ago Jehovah called the patriarch Jacob by a change of name, to wit, “Israel,” meaning, “ruling with God.” Thereby Jehovah put his own name upon Jacob; and now Jehovah’s remnant on earth bear the name of ‘Israel” in a spiritual sense. Being created and formed by God, and being redeemed from enemy tyranny by him, and being called by the name which he has bestowed, the remnant are His. It is further written to them: “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? . . . and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: ... be not ye the servants of men.” (1 Cor. 6:15-20; 7: 23) God’s new creation was not made for the service of men of this world.

    “ The remnant of spiritual Israel and their goodwill companions are on the march to the new world of righteousness. Nothing can deflect or turn them aside from that goal or stop them dead from reaching it. By the time they shall have pushed through, they will be able to say in gratitude to God: 'YVe went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.” (Ps. 66:12) As long as they are assured of God’s presence with them by Christ Jesus, they are filled with good courage and are willing to push onward, whithersoever the Lamb of God leads them. Satan the Devil puts up barriers in their way, the biggest barrier of which is yet to come, namely, the world organization for international peace and security under religion’s supervision. The Devil has already turned the valve and opened the floodgates of violence and let loose a torrent of destructive forces to overwhelm and sweep the remnant and their companions into nonentity. We see now how, at Revelation 12:13-16, the Lord God foretold that the Devil’s organization would persecute Jehovah’s “woman” or organization, from and after 1918. It was there foretold how the “dragon” organization would impound and organize within itself hosts of violent, Nazi-Fascist-religious elements and that it would release these in great force against Jehovah’s witnesses on earth who represent God’s woman “Zion”, his organization. The remnant and their companions now see how the dragon organization did vomit out this great stream or river of violent hordes against them, especially from and after 1933, with the malicious intent of carrying them into destruction.

    ” The undiminished activity of the remnant and their companions to this day testifies that Jehovah has been with them as they forged ahead through the rivers. He has brought them through alive for his glorious service and purposes both today and henceforth.

    11 The peoples of this earth have been like great waters, alienated from Jehovah God. They have been pouring down the river-bed that the Devil has carved out for them toward the sea of death and destruction at the battle of Armageddon. As the children of Israel under Captain Joshua long ago marched between the Jordan river waters and across its open river-bed into the Promised Land, so have Jehovah’s witnesses of this twentieth century been passing, for years since 1918, through the vast waters of hundreds of millions of people. But instead of being dissolved into a conformity with the peoples of this world, Jehovah’s faithful servants have kept their Theocratic form and unity and have left a stupendous testimony to God’s name and kingdom as they have been passing through. No onrush of waters can sweep away the world-wide witness they have given to His name and universal domination; but many sincere persons have thereby been halted from drifting down to destruction with the worldly peoples. They have been turned aside to safety and deliverance with Jehovah’s Theocratic organization. God has not forsaken his devoted people, but he will continue to be with them and will not let the waters of this world overwhelm them in destruction.

    19 So as to reinforce us against fear of the enemy, Jehovah caused the record to be made of how he once permitted the emperor of great Babylon to cast three of the faithful Hebrews into a super-heated furnace for refusing to salute the emperor’s idolatrous image. Then Jehovah caused the Son of God to appear in the midst of the fiery furnace with those faithful Israelites, after which he brought them forth whole, without singe, scorch, or smell even of fire, thus completely vindicating them as true servants of the true and living God. To correspond with that, the Almighty God has permitted his presentday witnesses to be cast into the fiery furnace of unjust affliction, persecution and intense trial of integrity at the hands of Satan’s henchmen who idolize the political-religious state and other man-made creations. In the midst of this “furnace”, whose heat and flame increase, Jehovah’s witnesses are assured of having his presence with them as represented by his SonL Christ Jesus. And as the amazed world outside looks on they behold that Jehovah is making his promise true to his witnesses; for such fire of persecution does not burn them to ashes or destroy their integrity toward God. The flame does not kindle upon them and devour their identity as Jehovah’s witnesses who are rendering true worship to him.

    RANSOM

    ” All this is evidence that the Most High is not ashamed to confess himself to be the God of those who so faithfully worship him and follow his Theocratic leadings. He is not ashamed to prove it before all the universe. Says he to the remnant of spiritual Israel: “For I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in thy stead. Since thou hast been precious in my sight, and honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples instead of thy life.” (Isa. 43:3,4, Am. Stan. Ver.) According to this declaration, God will not spare world powers in order to set his consecrated people free for His service and worship.

    21 In the remote past Egypt was the leading world power and she, together with her allies Ethiopia and Seba, dominated the earth. But Jehovah made them all pay for their opposition to him. Egypt in particular was guilty of holding the children of Israel and refusing to let them go to the mountain of God to worship Jehovah. She enslaved and overworked them as cheap labor and an inferior race. Therefore Jehovah held Egypt, her firstborn ones and her wealth as a ransom or security for as long as she held his chosen people in bondage. When Egypt refused to release them, Jehovah made her pay the expense of costly plagues, until finally the firstborn of man and animals were slain as the price demanded unless she let his people go. And when Egypt and her allies tried to drag the fugitive Israelites back to slavery, then Jehovah exacted a further national ransom of Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba, namely, the ignoble death of the flower of their armies, charioteers and horsemen in the depths of the Red sea. Those who plotted trouble, loss and destruction for God’schosen people got the like themselves, and that at God’s hands. The proverb truthfully says: “The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.” “The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.”—Prov. 11:8; 21:18.

    22 Likewise, now the unjust effort is made by the visible organization of the “god of this world” to hold Jehovah’s consecrated people down and to deny them the freedom to obey his commandments and to serve and worship him. This is bound to result only in tormenting plagues from God upon this world. God’s judgments as declared by his witnesses upon

    20. As to confessions by Jehovah, of what is all the foregoing an open evidence?

    21. How did Jehovah give Egypt as a ransom for the nation of Israel, and Ethiopia and Seba in their stead?

    22. How do the corresponding things apply to Jehovah’s consecrated people now? the earth have been torturing to “Christendom” and all the rest of the world, like plagues. But there will be the final ransom toll to pay for further persecuting and pursuing after Jehovah’s remnant and their companions to drag them back into enforced service of this world. That final toll will be destruction at the’ battle of Armageddon. Whereas the world may despise and hate Jehovah’s witnesses, yet Jehovah loves his persecuted people, and he has honored them to make them the people for his name. Hence it is either the freedom of these whom God loves and honors or the death of the men and peoples who fight against Jehovah God and who try to debar his people from serving and worshiping him. Since such men and peoples persist in their oppressions upon the remnant and their companions, they must die at Armageddon. They will not be let stand in the way of the establishment of Jehovah’s new world. Let such ones be warned: Jehovah has not spoken in vain to his own new creation, saying: “Therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.”

    ASSEMBLY

    ” Again the Holy One and Savior of Israel calms and comforts us with a declaration of his good purpose toward his people for the issue. Says he: “Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north. Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even every’ one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” (Isa. 43:5-7) In view of this statement of divine purpose, it is impossible for combined religion, politics and commerce of this world to keep Jehovah’s people, upon whom his name is called, from being gathered out and brought into a oneness and unity, fully organized. That their gathering marks the end of the Devil’s world, Christ Jesus made certain in his prophecy’ on the end of the world by saying: “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.” (Mark 13: 26, 27) The elect are the anointed ones chosen as a people for Jehovah’s name. The gathering of them on earth has progressed from A.D. 1919 onward, reaching a high point in 1931, when they’ announced to the world their God-given name, “Jehovah’s witnesses.”

    That they are the people created for the issue in Jehovah’s favor is certified. His declaration is that all those called by his name as his spiritual Israel he has created for His glory. Since not one jot or tittle of God’s written Word shall fail till all be fulfilled, nothing else could be expected at this crisis in world history than that Jehovah would assemble the remnant of his name-people. Thereafter he would form them into a Theocratic body under his King Christ Jesus, who came into his kingdom in 1914. The assembling of these into an organized unity of action and service has been done under the direction of the holy angels who accompany Christ the King. None of the demons under Satan has been able to interfere successfully therewith. Although we are fourteen years past 1931, the gathering of Jehovah’s dedicated servants is not all ended. True it is that the membership of the remnant of spiritual Israel is practically made up; but let this be remembered: In the days of typical Israel of old there was a multitude of strangers or sojourners mingled in with the natural Israelites and dwelling within their gates, worshiping Jehovah with them. When Jehovah brought forth Israel out of Egyptian bondage, a multitude of these fellow worshipers came along out of Egypt and witnessed Jehovah’s strange act over Egypt’s hosts at the Red sea. A thousand years later, when Jehovah wrought a like deliverance and released his exiled people from mighty Babylon, a multitude of these good-will sojourners or strangers came along and returned to Jerusalem and Judah.

    ” Certainly, then, the gathering of the remnant of spiritual Israel in these latter days connotes or means along with that the gathering together also of the “stranger” or “sojourner” class from the east and west and the north and south, and establishing them within the “gates” of the remnant’s organization. It is exactly so, particularly from and after 1931. Now the gathering of these earthly persons of good-will continues, and the distances from which they are gathered continue to lengthen out, farther to the south, and to the north, and to the east and to the west. In every direction Jehovah God is calling out: ‘Give up! Keep not back! Bring them from far, yes, from the ends of the earth!’ His call for the delivery is irresistible. Persons disposed to interfere should call to mind Egypt’s fate, and Babvlon’s. Men and peoples and nations are of little consequence when interfering with the fulfillment of Jehovah’s declared purposes.

    MY WITNESSES, MY SERVANT

    *• Those of good-will, who want to co-operate with the remnant of spiritual Israel, should keep in mind

    25 In proof of that what baa been progreuing since that date1 and uhat should those disposed to interfere call to mind1

    26. In order to co-operate with Israel whom Jehovah has made, what should those of good-will ascertain?

    God’s words concerning the remnant, namely, “Yea, I have made him.” In order to co-operate with the divine purpose, they must ascertain why the Creator made the organization of his remnant for this time. Just why He did so, the Creator states in his next words, which we consider:

    ” “Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, It is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour. I have declared, and I have saved, and I have showed; and there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and I am God. Yea, since the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who can hinder it?”—Isa. 43:8-13, Am. Stan. Ver.

    ” Thus a defiance is hurled by Jehovah at the entire visible organization of the Devil. The opposing claims of both sides involved in the controversy must now be put to the test, and Jehovah calls for the test. Satan the mimic claims to be god and the rightful one to rule the earth and all the universe. By the worship of money or mammon and by the deceptions of religion Satan has gotten all the self-seeking and self-righteous and fear-struck people of this world to worship him as god. To the largest degree that it will ever be possible, he is now what the Scriptures call him, “the god of this world.” He is determined to hold on to that egotistical position. To that end he plans a big strategic move for the period that must follow the global war. His scheme is not hid from the foreknowledge of the true and living God, and Jehovah God has forewarned his people what Satan's scheme will be, namely, a system of international collaboration backed by military force for the maintenance of unity, safety and tranquillity of the nations of the earth.

    ” Satan the Devil has turned the desires of the religious clergy away from the kingdom of God and has made them turn frantically toward this substitute for. God’s kingdom and to pray, work and preach for it. They claim the global war will have been fought in vain unless out of it comes this association of nations. It is either this, say they, or the world is lost and the peoples are doomed to a hopeless future. But their very choice of this counterfeit and makeshift for God’s kingdom will mark them as deserving of destruction and will hasten their desolation. Therefore this glorified thing, produced by men’s hands misguided by the demons, is an “abomination of desolation” before the Most High God. It is the old League of Nations under a new plastic face. That old League ended up with fiasco in 1939. It accomplished no deliverance of the peoples. During all the long term that Satan has been the “god of this world” there has been no deliverance of the people who put their trust in his organization. The promises and predictions made by religious clergy, politicians, big business men and social reformers that deliverance was around the corner to crown their schemes have always failed. The “god of this world” has failed all of his worshipers. He is a “strange god” and cannot deliver.

    30 The people of this world have eyes of understanding, but the god or mighty one of this world has blinded them to all visible proofs that Jehovah is God. The proofs to that effect are found both in the written Bible and also in the outworking of its prophecies in well-known history. The people of this world have ears of attentiveness, but they hear not with any faith the message that God’s written Word speaks to them. That same message God has caused to be proclaimed in their ears by his commissioned servants on earth, the remnant of spiritual Israel. It is a time to face the facts. It is a time to be realistic by honestly acknowledging what such facts mean and then acting in harmony with one’s best and lasting interests. The cry of the politicians and their clergy allies is for “one world” under an international arrangement. This being so, let all these blind and deaf people of the world be brought forth, and let all the nations and peoples be assembled together. Let the entire earth be converted into a great courtroom for determination of the issue. Since the end of World War I, in 1918, Jehovah God has given the nations and peoples the opportunity for this, and he will extend the opportunity into the peace period to follow World War II. By all the swift means of communication today the nations have the agencies and the opportunity to set their joint case before the whole world, in favor of the god of this world whom they serve.

    31 In the great Court Jehovah God is the Supreme Judge. Letting those who have brought complaints against his people and who have falsely charged Him and reproached His name be heard first, he calls upon the interrelated world of today to put all its 30. (a) Who are the sightless people baring eyes, and the deaf people baring ears, and bow so? (b) Unto what must these be brought forth, and the nations and peoples be gathered?

    31. In the great Court proceedings, on what questions have their witnesses been called to testify? and wbat has been the content of their testimony’ witnesses on the stand. The questions are put! Where, in favor of the god of this world, can they point to any deliverance by him in all the long course of human history! Where have they ever come out in favor of waiting for deliverance upon Jehovah’s Theocratic Government by Christ Jesus, and when have they advocated for it! Where have they ever predicted any deliverance and salvation for Jehovah’s worshipers and for those who faithfully take their stand alongside of the people whom he has created and formed! We wait to hear the answer of their witnesses to Jehovah’s challenging question: ‘Wet who among them could foretell this, could announce it to us beforehand! Let them bring their witnesses to prove them in the right, to hear their plea, and say, ‘It is true.’ ” (Isa. 43:9, Smith-Good-speed) The testimony of their witnesses in the religious pulpits, in the newspapers and magazines, in the judicial courts, in the parochial and public schools, in the popular forums of discussion, has all been to the contrary of anything good and practical to come from the side of Jehovah and his Theocracy. Hence they predict and boast of a terrible end for Jehovah’s remnant and their companions. Stay away from Jehovah’s witnesses or else you will get what they get! Such is the dire warning from those testifying for this world.

    •* Now Jehovah God shows the honorable purpose for which he made or commissioned the people whom he created and formed. He has made them to fit in this present conspicuous place in the great controversy over the issue, Who is God and hence the Universal Sovereign? It. stands to reason that the one who is God is he who can deliver, delivering his people contrary to all human predictions and expectations, and in the face of opposition by the organization on the other side of the controversy. Is there such a God! As this question is repeated, the witnesses for this world stutter, and stammer, and fail to produce any convincing proof to cause others to shout out, “It is truth!” Then Jehovah God turns to the remnant who worship and serve him, and he cries out to them by his Word: “Ye are Aly witnesses, an affirmation of Jehovah, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that ye know and give credence to Me, and understand that I am He, before Me there was no God formed, and after Me there is none. I— I am Jehovah, and besides Me there is no saviour. I— I declared, and saved, and proclaimed, and there is no stranger [god] with you, and ye are My witnesses, an affirmation of Jehovah, and I am God.”— Isa. 43:10-12, Young.

    " In that affirmation is found the name of the office to which Jehovah God has commissioned his servant people, namely, “My witnesses,” that is to say, ‘Jehovah’s witnesses.’ And this is the name, divinely indicated, which the remnant adopted in 1931 by an expressed and published Resolution, thereby to declare their God-appointed position before all this world plainly and unmistakably. And notably since that action the Lord’s “other sheep”, the “stranger” class, have flocked to the side of God’s remnant and have caught up the testimony which these deliver world-wide to the glory of Jehovah as the God of deliverance according to promise.

    ” The remnant, together with their earthly companions, are the followers of Christ Jesus, who set the example as the Chief Servant of Jehovah in the contest over the primary issue. Jesus never lagged about bearing witness that Jehovah is God, both publicly and in the homes of the people. Before the highest authority of the territory in which he witnessed, the religious Jewish Council or Sanhedrin and the secular court of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, he did not fear to give true testimony on the issue. It is recorded of Jesus Christ that he “before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession”. (1 Tim. 6:13) It was before Pilate that Jesus declared what was the main mission for which he came to this earth as a man, saying: “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” (John 18:37) He acted as Chief Witness to the truth that Jehovah is the Deliverer and Savior and “from everlasting to everlasting” The God. (Ps. 90:2) So firmly did he stick by this testimony that he did not resist being handed over to the executioners to be nailed to the tree. On the tree he submitted to being reviled by Satan’s witnesses, the religious priests and their dupes, who jeered: “If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the [stake; stauros], and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.”—Matt. 27: 41-43.

    S5 Although dying apparently forsaken of God, Jesus’ witness concerning Jehovah his Father was true; for on the third day after his death Jehovah raised this King of spiritual Israel from the dead, delivering him from hell or the grave. It was thus proved that Jehovah is God and that Satan is a mimic god. Resurrecting Jesus was Jehovah’s mightiest act of deliverance; and for Jesus’ courageous and unswerving testimony in behalf of Jehovah the Scriptures call Jesus “the Amen, the faithful and true witness”. (Rev. 3:14; 19:11) He is the One whom Jehovah has made the Head and Chief over

    34 Who set ur the example as chief witness concerning Jehovah's being the God of deliverance, and how did such one do bo?

    35 . In his own case, how did Jeaua' testimony prove true? and what title has therefore been given to him? his remnant of witnesses today at the height of the controversy over the paramount issue. Jesus gives command to the remnant in this day, saying: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.”—Matt. 24:14.

    ” The remnant accept the responsibility which Jehovah lays upon them when he says to them: “Ye are my witnesses, . . . my servant whom I have chosen.” The remnant are ably seconded by their good-will companions in meeting this responsibility. Before the mentally blind and deaf people, and before all the gathered nations and the assembled peoples, the remnant act as God’s servant under Christ Jesus and bear witness to Jehovah as God. Savior and Deliverer. They do not fail Jehovah’s purpose in making them a “people for his name” and hence his witnesses. They point steadfastly to the record in the Scriptures where Jehovah has again and again made a name for himself by delivering his faithful servants in past times. Using all the means for preaching “this gospel of the kingdom”, they show He is the only true and eternal God, without beginning and without end, the almighty. They show that by his now established Kingdom he will work in vindication of his name and his universal domination, and that Satan and all his world will not be able to hinder Jehovah God or to deliver the wicked from destruction at Jehovah's hands at the battle of Armageddon.

    PRESENT EVIDENCE

    " Moreover, in themselves the faithful remnant and their fellow witnesses, their good-will companions, have present evidence that Jehovah is the Savior and Deliverer. There is among them no “stranger” or foreign god to whom to attribute salvation and deliverance. The Lord God calls attention to their present salvation and deliverance which he executed before the eyes of all the enemy world, by next saying to the remnant of spiritual Israel: “Thus saith Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing. I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Thus saith Jehovah, who maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; who bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched as a wick): Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it! I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beasts [that drink at such miraculous rivers] of the field shall honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink tb my people, my chosen, the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise.”— Isa. 43:14-21, Am. Stan. Ver.

    ” Jehovah says he speaks to the remnant of spiritual Israel as “your King”. This is because he took his power and began reigning A.D. 1914, by putting his King Christ Jesus on the throne. Since that time and event “this gospel of the kingdom” must be preached to all nations of the earth for a witness before Satan’s world ends up in destruction. It is a kingdom of salvation and deliverance, for its King Christ Jesus is the One who died as a ransom for men who believe. The remnant and their companions, who preach and give this Kingdom witness to the nations, do not need to point to the distant past long before their day to produce an example of deliverance by Jehovah God. The proof of His power to deliver as God does not lie wholly in the ancient days when he smote Egypt and brought the Israelites through the Red sea and lured the Egyptian army and mighty men and horses to their destruction in the sea. The proof of Jehovah’s Godship is not limited to the time when he caused the mighty world-power, Babylon, to fall and turned the Euphrates river aside and spoiled the traffic of the ships of the shouting Chaldeans on its waters. All those things he did in order to deliver his people of Israel from captivity in Satan’s Babylonish organization and bring them back to his holy city again and its worship of Jehovah. That deliverance from Babylon was a new thing in Israel’s history when compared with Israel’s ancient deliverance from Egypt.

    ” No, Jehovah’s remnant and their companions today are not obliged to remember and cite merely such former things of old. Jehovah has wrought a “new thing” in their case, since 1918, in proof that he is the only true and living God, and has thereby made them his witnesses. Babylon is the Devil’s organization which rides upon all peoples of the earth and holds them in bondage to Satan. From this Babylonish organization of oppression Jehovah by his King Christ Jesus has made the remnant and their companions free. Such deliverance by God’s spirit and truth and worship has made these the only free people on earth. They must yet travel in the wilderness of this world before reaching the new world of righteousness, and they would faint and die of thirst

    38 . (a) Wby does Jehovah exprefv hlmielf to the remnant as “your King”? and to what ancient event* could the remnant refer to prove him to be the God of deliverance? .(b) What was the “new thing” which Jehovah did for Israel of old? '

    39 (a) What “new thing” baa Jehovah performed for the remnant of this day? (b) Who may drink of that which he now provides? were it not for Jehovah’s demonstrating to them that he is God. For their refreshment and reviving he has caused a river of pure water of Kingdom truth to flow forth from the throne of God and of his King. Happily, the way in which Jehovah leads them runs along with this continually deepening river of lifesustaining waters. Whosoever will, be they like the dragons and owls, or the jackals and ostriches, of the wilderness, may come and drink thereat and then give honor to the great Fountain of life-giving waters, Jehovah God.—Rev. 22:17.

    40 The “new thing” that proves Jehovah’s Godship and universal sovereignty will take on its most convincing testimonial form in the near future, at

    40 (a) When *ill this "‘new thing” take on its strongest convincing form”* <b) What exhortation, therefore, is now due to the remnant and to their companions ?

    Armageddon’s universal battle. That is when he will perform his “strange act”, an act far mightier than that at the Red sea, destroying all the wicked hosts of Satan and for ever delivering the people whom he created, formed and made for his purpose, and their devoted companions with them. Oh, then, ye favored remnant, do not miss your calling! Do not fail of your divine commission. Act always in obedience to the fact that you are, as Jehovah your God says, “the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise.” Likewise, ye “other sheep” of the Lord, their companions, join ye with this faithful remnant. Join ye in showing forth Jehovah’s praises by Christ Jesus, taking up the new song which ye will continue, without interruption, to sing on this earth “world without end”!

    INTERNATIONAL REVISITS

    IT IS a happy privilege to be able to make revisits, or “back-calls”, upon groups of faithful friends, especially upon those in foreign lands, and to see how they have gotten along since last met with. Such a privilege fell to the lot of the president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, N. H. Knorr, accompanied by one of the Society’s directors, F. W. Franz, during the spring of this year. Readers of this magazine will recall the recent account in these columns of the airplane flights of these traveling representatives of the Society down through Mexico and Central America and on down the west coast of South America to Chile. With the conventions of Jehovah’s witnesses in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Montevideo, and Santiago de Chile successfully accomplished, as reported in previous issues of The Watchtower, their travel schedule called for back-tracking over this air route.

    The new Branch servant, also the former depot servant, and several other Chilean brethren, braved the early morning hours of Monday, March 26, to see Brothers Knorr and Franz off from the Santiago airport. The day was beginning to dawn when the warning bell rang, and all these brethren quickly expressed their last well-wishings one to another, and our two departing travelers boarded the northbound plane. The plane propellers whirr around with a roar, the plane then wheels into position for its dash down the long runway, and then as it speeds past the airport building we wave at the windows to our brethren who are watching for their last glimpse of us At 6-36 a.m. our plane lifts off the runway, and we are ascending to cloudy heights, with mountains to east and west of us To our right the day is brightening above the saw-tooth range of the Andes mountains; and a golden glow indicates where the orb of day may make its appearance. Soon the sun is peeping up above the cordillera It is not very long before its entire glorious circle, for a time playing hide-and-seek behind the peaks, is full up in the heavens and chasing the shadows from the western slopes of the Andes mountains. Lengthwise of the cordillera we continue to fly, feasting our eyes upon snowcapped giants projecting their heads above the general range.

    …