The Watchtower, July 1, 1945
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Vol. LXVI
July 1, 1945
No. 13
IMMOVABLE FOR THE RIGHT WORSHIP
“So then, my beloved brethren, become ye steadfast, immovable, superabounding in the work of the Lord at all times, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord"-1 Cor. 15:58, Rotherham.
JEHOVAH is the great refuge in the time of danger. The original Life-giver, he is also the Preserver of life and, in a miraculous way, the Restorer of life. Every sensible person wants life, and especially so if he has a set purpose and a mission in life to fulfill. When, therefore, his life is endangered by bloodthirsty enemies that oppose his mission, and when his own means of defense seem unequal to the situation, it is most reasonable for him to flee for refuge to the mighty Life-giver, who has sent him on his mission. This does not mean a bodily flight to any location, because, when hemmed in by enemies, he may be unable to remove himself from the danger zone. But fleeing to the great Preserver of life is accomplished by looking to Him under the circumstances, appealing to Him for help and preservation, and putting the keeping of ourselves entirely in His hands and ascribing all deliverance to Him. Such taking of refuge in Him must be accompanied by our refusal to compromise with the enemies. Instead, we must faithfully keep our integrity toward Jehovah God and hold fast to our mission from Him.
2 The enemy effort, and particularly the effort of the adversary, Satan the Devil, behind the scenes, is to move the persecuted and pursued one away from faith and devotion to the true God. But the one who makes Jehovah his refuge continues to worship and serve him, and remains immovable for Jehovah’s side of the paramount issue, Who is the God whom all the universe must obey? Regardless of immediate consequences, the one abiding in Jehovah will not move over into the enemies’ camp and worship their gods. By God’s permission, the enemies may take away such one’s present life. But the faithful worshiper of the true God knows that the Almighty God is his refuge and that in Him the right to future life in the New World may rest beyond the power of the enemies. In due time the great Restorer of life can bring him forth from the dead and bless him with absolute peace, security and pleasures for evermore.
1. Why should we flee to Jehovah for refuge, and how?
2. What is the adversary’s real effort, and. knowing what, should we remain immovable?
3 The question of the right worship has always been a matter of controversy since the day that man and woman were driven out of the garden of Eden. This creation, the earth, is properly the place for human creatures to worship the Creator. The wicked adversary, Satan the Devil, would try to obliterate Jehovah’s worship from the earth and to keep it out and thus defeat the purpose for which the earth was created. On the other hand, the Creator would most assuredly see to it that his purpose in making this earth is realized by keeping alive his true worship among those men that feared him and came to him as the true and almighty God. Naturally Satan would try to move such men away from worshiping Jehovah and into the practice of religion. By practicing religion they could imagine they were worshiping the true God, but would in reality be worshiping the Devil and bringing reproach on God’s name. If the outward allurements of religion are not strong enough to pull the worshiper of Jehovah aside, then the adversary could stir up persecution by the religionists, to put him in fear and to make him violate his own conscience by ceasing from Jehovah’s worship for the sake of relief from persecution and death at the enemies’ hands. But in Satan's continuous endeavors in all centuries to make all human creatures go in the way of Adam and Eve by stepping aside from Jehovah’s worship, he has failed, beginning with martyred Abel. Modern examples in lands which have lately been liberated from Nazi-Fascist totalitarian control have demonstrated very forcefully that the adversary continues to fail in this day.
4 The greatest example of all time of immovableness for the pure worship of Jehovah was that of “the man Christ Jesus”, the beloved Son of Jehovah God. He left this example for his followers, because they were due to suffer as he did on this earth. The failure of the adversary to turn faithful men away from the worship of Jehovah, even under religious persecution and martyrdom, was exemplified in the case of David, the shepherd-warrior. David prophetically foreshadowed Christ Jesus and his followers on earth. David’s decision for all time for right worship, which decision pictured that of Christ Jesus and his followers to worship and serve no other God than Jehovah, was firmly expressed in one of his songs, Psalm sixteen. This psalm becomes of present interest to us, chiefly because of the adversary’s efforts to destroy Jehovah’s worship from the face of the earth by means of Nazi-Fascist-Vatican- totalitarian means. Such efforts are due to come to their flower in the postwar international “new order’’. A study of Psalm sixteen will help us not only to see its marvelous fulfillment proving that Jehovah God’s Word is true but also to put us on guard against the wily design of the Devil and to resist him and remain true to the right side.
3. Why has the right worship been a controversial question since Eden? and in what way have Satan's endeavors tailed?
4. Who was the greatest example for immovableness for right worship? and why is Psalm sixteen of present interest to us?
PSALM SIXTEEN, MICHTAM.
5 Even the old extant manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible show Psalm sixteen with the heading, namely, “Michtam relating to David.” The earliest Bible translation, the Greek translation found in the Sep- tuagint (LXX), translates that heading, “An inscription for a pillar. By David.” This heading serves to remind us of the importance of the psalm as being something that should be carved or engraved on a monument so as not to be rubbed out, but always ready for reference by the worshiper of Jehovah God. The Son of God descended according to the flesh from David, being born in David’s own birthplace, Bethlehem. In Psalm 110:1 David prophetically spoke of Christ Jesus as his “Lord”, calling him “my Lord”. Christ Jesus was called also “the Son of David”, a son not merely as to the flesh but primarily as to being the Heir of the Kingdom covenant which Jehovah God made with King David. These facts stamp the psalm as being prophecy relating to the Greater David, Christ Jesus, and also to his followers. If there is any question on the matter, it is settled for us by the inspired apostles Peter and Paul, both of whom quoted from this psalm and applied it to Christ Jesus. (Acts 2:25-36 and 13:35-37) Thus we are enabled to “rightly divide” or rightly apply the Word of God, making comparison of the correct facts of history with the prophecy in order to get the truth.
6 With a suddenness the psalm begins with an appeal: “Preserve me, O God; for in thee do I take refuge.” (Ps. 16:1, Am. Stan. Ver.) The one that is represented as thus crying out is not some religious priest standing before a man-made altar and chanting these words as a ritual, but is an immovable worshiper of Jehovah God, who is threatened with destruction by those who religiously worship other gods than Jehovah. For a long time David was placed under circumstances that caused him thus to cry out. However, it was not merely these circumstances that moved him to utter this golden psalm; it was the spirit of God acting upon him that guided him to this utterance amid such circumstances. Concerning this, David himself confessed, saying: “The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.” (2 Sam. 23:2) David’s words thereby became a prophecy, that could stand being carved upon a monument, to let the test of time prove their prophetic truthfulness.
5. What is the purpose of the heading of this psalm? and how do we know to whom it applies?
6. With whose appeal does thia psalm open up? and what caused such an appeal to be expressed?
7 David was anointed with oil by Jehovah’s prophet Samuel to be king over Israel; and the spirit of God came upon him to prepare him for his mission as king of Jehovah’s typical Theocracy. But this did not make David immune from enemy assaults. Rather it made him the special target of the Devil and of all the enemies of Jehovah and his Theocratic Government. King Saul, who believed in religious sacrifices rather than obedience to God, became jealous of David’s military exploits. He yielded to the demoniac impulse to pursue David to destroy him and thus prevent his becoming king over Saul’s people, the nation of Israel. Under pursuit, and being practically in the hand of his persecutors, David called upon his God for preservation. He put no reliance upon human leaders or symbols for protection. David made God his hiding-place, because he knew that God is Almighty, the title Gad meaning mighty one.
8 Completely matching the Davidic pattern, Jesus, who was Christ because of being anointed with God’s spirit, was in line for the kingdom of God. He preached: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” At the same time, in his day, there were those religious leaders who thought themselves to be the “children of the kingdom” and the ones, therefore, who were charged with building the kingdom as God’s instruments. But they refused to recognize that Jehovah’s anointed King was in their midst, because he came not with outward show and did not exalt them and approve their religious practices. They persecuted him by all manner of means, seeking not only the ruining of his good reputation but also the destruction of his person, thus to prevent his becoming King. Christ Jesus cried out to God Jehovah, not simply for the preservation of his person until his anointed mission should be finished, but mainly for divine grace to maintain his integrity toward God in vindication of God’s name. As it is written: “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” - Heb. 5: 7-9.
7. How did David become the target of demoniac assaults? and why did he fly to God for preservation?
8. In this respect, how did Jesus match David’s pattern?
9 True followers undergo, like Jesus, the experiences of David under religious persecution. They have been begotten of the spirit of God and been anointed with His spirit to preach the good news of His kingdom. They are in line for the Kingdom as joint-heirs with Jesus. Their mission upon earth is to represent the Kingdom faithfully. Hence they must uphold Jehovah’s side of the issue of universal domination by holding true to His sovereignty and obeying Him rather than men. But the religionists, who wrongfully claim the promises of God and the inheritance of his kingdom, yield themselves as instruments of the demons to persecute these faithful witnesses of Jehovah and followers of Christ Jesus. They threaten these continually with destruction, and subject them to opposition, injustices and oppression. The only refuge of these is in Jehovah, the God of Jesus Christ; and to God they cry for preservation.
10 "O my soul, thou hast said unto Jehovah, Thou art my Lord: I have no good beyond thee.” (Ps. 16: 2, Am. Stan. Ver.) In such words the psalmist describes what he says to Jehovah God. In the version quoted, the words "O my soul" are added to help out the sense of the words, “thou hast said unto Jehovah”; but in some ancient manuscripts in Hebrew the reading is: “I have said to Jehovah.” The Septuagint, the Syriac and the Vulgate Versions of the Scriptures read that way also. But what is it that David says to Jehovah and represents Christ Jesus and his followers as saying under persecution? This: that Jehovah God is their Sovereign Lord, the One who owns them and is their Master and whom they must and will obey. Even amid persecution they say, out of their own personal choice: “Thou art my Lord.” Here the words “my Lord” are one of the 134 cases of where the ancient Hebrew sopherim or scribes changed the text from its original reading: “Thou art my Jehovah”; evidently to avoid the idea of being too familiar with the Most High God.
11 However, Christ Jesus and his followers are not ashamed to have Jehovah’s name called upon them. Jesus on earth always confessed: “I am come in my Father’s name.” (John 5:43) He refused to be entitled “good”, saying: “There is none good but one, that is, God.” (Matt. 19:17) Hence Christ Jesus and his disciples acknowledge that they have no good, no goodness, no well-being, except in Jehovah alone. There is nothing, therefore, that we can contribute to God; but it is a great privilege for us to be given the opportunity to share in the vindication of his name. To whom else, then, can we fly for refuge and well-being save to Jehovah God, the inexhaustible Source of every good and perfect thing?
9. How do Jesus' followers likewise undergo David's experiences?
10. In verse 2 what does David represent Jesus and his followers as saying?
11 In what way is it true. “I have no good beyond thee”?
12 The real worshiper of the one true God finds no pleasure in the religionists of this world, but in those consecrated to God and who are excelling in praising him. Hence the psalmist under religious persecution says: “As for the saints that are in the earth, they are the excellent in whom is all my delight.” (Ps. 16: 3, Am. Stan. Ver.) Likewise, today, the King Christ Jesus at the temple judges the professed people of God and finds pleasure only in the faithful remnant of his “body” members and their companions of good-will. All these seek to render holiness unto Jehovah God by fulfilling their consecrations to him. Now, in expression of his delight in them, Jesus bestows upon them the privilege of possessing the gospel of the Kingdom and proclaiming it to the ends of the earth. And he surrounds them with the protection of his holy angels, who accompany him at the temple. He withholds no good thing from them; but the glorious light of the glory of God which he receives from on high he reflects upon them that they may arise and shine for the enlightenment of the bedarkened people.
13 Next the psalmist, picturing the anointed servants of God, shows his attitude toward the religionists, who draw near to God with their lips but their hearts are far from him and who teach the doctrines of demons and the traditions and precepts of men. He says: “Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god [(margin’s reading) that give gifts to another]: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.” (Ps. 16:4) By this stated resolve David uncovers the real intent behind the devilish persecution leveled at the worshipers of Jehovah, namely, to drive them away from Him in bitterness and lack of faith and to turn them to the religious worship of the Devil’s organization and its gods or mighty ones. David pointed out this covert purpose of the Devil in these straight words to his persecutor, King Saul, saying: “Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering; but if they be the children of men [that have stirred thee up against me], cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord [Jehovah], saying, Go, serve other gods.” (1 Sam. 26:19) But David defeated the persecution of the Devil through his religious dupes. Never did he renounce Jehovah God to go and serve the gods or mighty ones of Satan’s world organization.
12. In whom does the antitypical psalmist find delight, end how does he show it?
13. (a) What did David next say concerning the religionists, and what was his resolve? (b) What did he thus expose to be the Devil's purpose in persecution, and how did David defeat it?
14 Likewise Christ Jesus, both in the mount of temptation and also during the years of persecution that followed, refused to fall down and worship Satan and thereby hasten after another god besides Jehovah, to give to such false god the gift of his devotion and service. Great persecutions were foretold by Jesus to come upon his faithful followers at the end of this world. But these worshipers and witnesses of Jehovah have foiled the malicious purpose of Satan the Devil to move them away from the right worship and to make them hasten after another god, to wit, Satan, “the prince of the demons.” We say this because the ulterior purpose behind, the conspiracy of the totalitarian powers, the Nazis, the Fascists, and the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and fellow religionists, was not primarily to destroy only democracy. Their ultimate goal was to wipe out the worship of Jehovah from the earth by destroying his witnesses and silencing their loudly proclaimed message of the Kingdom. But now the coming forth of Jehovah’s witnesses from the furnace of persecution heated during the years of Nazi-Fascist-Vatican domination of the earth, and the emergence of many of Jehovah’s witnesses from concentration camps in Europe and in the Orient, with their faith and devotion to God unbroken, proves that the wicked aim of the adversary has missed the mark and come to nought. Jehovah’s side of the issue has been valiantly upheld!
15 Such faithful worshipers have not been driven by the heat of fiery persecution up till now, neither will they be driven by that in the postwar period, to offer the “drink offerings of blood” of the religionists or to take up the names of their gods (mighty ones) upon their lips and to heil these and to ascribe glory, protection and salvation to these. Their unchangeable and unbreakable determination is to serve, worship and praise Jehovah God alone, as is positively stated in Psalm 16:4. In that verse there may be some reference to the pagan religions, including that of the Phoenicians, which appointed the eating and drinking of blood, mixed with wine, as a rite of idolatrous worship and also as part of the ceremonial of swearing. While such bloody practice may not be carried on by the religionists of “Christendom” today, yet “Christendom” stands exposed as a deliberate violator of Jehovah’s “everlasting covenant”, and for such reason she may expect Jehovah’s vengeance to be executed upon her by his Executioner at the battle of Armageddon. (Isa. 24:5,6) Mark this, that “more religion” in the postwar period will not furnish “Christendom” a refuge and hiding-place from God’s great “Avenger of blood”, Christ Jesus.-Isa. 28:17, 18.
14 How did Jesus also defeat the Devil’s purpose, and bow Likewise Jehovah's witnesses at this end of the world?
15. (a) By persecution now and in the future what are Jehovah's faithful worshipers not driven to do? (b) Why will “Christendom" not escape execution by Jehovah's “Avenger of blood"?
SANCTITY OF BLOOD
16 Jehovah’s worshipers are cautious to avoid all blood-guilt. As long ago as December 15, 1927, an article appeared in this magazine entitled “One Reason for God’s Vengeance”, and it called attention to the gross violation by the nations of Jehovah’s “everlasting covenant”. That covenant was made by him with Noah after coming out of the ark, and it was symbolized by the rainbow which God caused to appear. In paragraphs 6, 7, 18, that article said: “. . . God entered into a covenant with Noah, which covenant included every living creature; and that covenant is designated by the Lord ‘the everlasting covenant’. It was on that occasion that God declared his law concerning life. It is manifest from the record that Noah and his offspring have ever since claimed some of the benefits of the covenant made on that occasion, and therefore Noah and all his offspring are bound by all the terms of the covenant.
“God told Noah that every living creature should be meat unto him; but that he must not eat the blood, because the life is in the blood. ‘And the fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.’ -Genesis 9:2-6.
“It is manifest that God intended that when man looks upon the rainbow he shall call to mind that life proceeds from Jehovah, that life is a sacred thing, and that it cannot be taken with impunity. This is an everlasting covenant because God calls it the everlasting covenant and because it must stand for ever. God will never change his expressed rule concerning sanctity of life.”
16. What did paragraphs 6, 7, 18 of "One Reason for God’s Vengeance" say concerning God’s “everlasting covenant”?
17 A more recent issue of this magazine, in an article regarding “The Stranger’s Right Maintained”, pointed out that the terms of that everlasting covenant were incorporated or restated in the law covenant which Jehovah God made with the Jewish nation through Moses. That article made reference to God’s command to his consecrated people not to eat or drink blood. In commenting thereon, some Watchtower readers have said that such prohibition against eating and drinking blood applied only to the Jews under the Mosaic law covenant but not to Christians who are under the new covenant.
18 One person thus arguing referred to the vision given to the apostle Peter on the housetop in Joppa. Then Peter saw a vessel descending from heaven in which were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air, and Peter was commanded, “Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.” (Acts 10:9-13; 11:5-7) However, this was no command to Peter to kill and eat such animals with the blood, in violation of the everlasting covenant that God made with Noah and his descendants. Suppose Peter, in vision, had risen up and killed and eaten; even then he would not have partaken of them with the blood, because he was a Christian and was also under the everlasting covenant made with Noah. That such would have been the right way, in harmony with the holy spirit of God, is clear from what both Peter and the other apostles and disciples did and wrote on the subject on a much later occasion. Years after Peter’s vision Jewish believers stirred up the question about what to require of the non-Jewish or Gentile Christians as a proper expression of their faith and obedience toward God. Should it include the circumcision of the flesh? Therefore an assembly of the apostles and elders of the congregation in Jerusalem was called together to consider this matter. After due consideration the apostle James rose and called attention to the fulfillment of prophecy and then submitted this conclusion as to the requirements for the Gentiles: “Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.” -Acts 15: 6-20.
19 Then that conference of apostles and elder disciples framed a letter to the Gentiles. Besides telling the Gentiles they were not under the Mosaic law covenant, they inserted this organization instruction: “For it seemed good to the holy [spirit], and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled [not drained of their blood at slaughter], and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well.” (Acts 15: 22-29) They wrote such instruction concerning blood and carcasses not drained of blood, not because Christians were under the Mosaic law covenant, but because they were under the covenant made after the flood with Noah and which embraced all mankind, Gentile and Jew alike; for all are Noah’s descendants and hence under Jehovah’s everlasting covenant concerning sanctity of blood.
17. What prohibition did God therefore incorporate in his law covenant with Israel? and what have some said as to the application of such prohibition?
18. How has Peter’s vision on the housetop been used as an argument? and bow did the conference at Jerusalem disprove such argument?
19. What appropriate instruction, therefore, did that conference write? and why was it proper for the Gentiles?
20 That the Christians stuck to that decision is manifest from the Bible. Almost ten years after the above conference the apostle Paul returned to Jerusalem and conferred with James and other elder brethren of the congregation at Jerusalem. Among other things they said to Paul was this: “As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.”-Acts 21:25.
21 The principle of God’s everlasting covenant the psalmist David refused to violate or to endanger. One instance showing this is: “And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, that is at the gate! And the three [captains] brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out [like blood which must be poured out upon the ground] to the Lord, and said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it.” (1 Chron. 11:17-19) David did not argue and persuade himself that these three mighty men were thus laying down their lives for a friend, in order to provide him with something reviving and refreshing.
22 On the occasion when Jonathan, David’s friend, gained a miraculous victory over the Philistines, the Israelites who were distressed with hunger slew animals on the ground; “and the people did eat them with the blood. Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the Lord, in that they eat with the blood. . . . And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the Lord in eating with the blood.” (1 Sam. 14: 32-34) This order was in harmony with the words of God’s everlasting covenant with Noah: “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." (Gen. 9:4) Of course, the flesh of the animal creatures might be eaten for sustenance of life and without violating the sacredness of the life which is in the blood. Yet if the blood was eaten or drunk in conjunction with the flesh, then the one partaking of the blood was judged by God to be guilty of the wanton slaying of the life of such creatures and was a breaker of the covenant. God’s regulation clearly showed that one’s partaking of the blood was not necessary to sustain human life and that it was not in the same classification as the partaking of the flesh as food.
20. In connection with Paul how do we know those early Christians stuck to that decision?
21. How, in the case of three of his captains, did David refuse even to violate the principle of the everlasting covenant?
22. How did King Saul once stop the Israelites from breaking the ever lasting covenant? and does partaking of animal blood serve to sustain human life or not?
23 It cannot be said that such regulation applies to the blood of animals lower than man but not to human blood. If the blood of the lower animal creatures was considered so precious, it representing life from the Creator, then certainly the blood of the higher creature, man, was to be considered not less precious. For that reason, if an animal killed a man, the blood of such human life taken was required of the killer beast; it must be killed. As God said to Noah: “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man [a man slayer]; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.” (Gen. 9:5) This decree therefore brands as criminal the heathen practice according to which bloodthirsty warriors, after killing a mighty man of their enemies, would drink his blood in the belief that by thus absorbing such human blood they would at the same time appropriate the mightly qualities of the slain one. Among the barbarous and fierce, savage nations, such as the Scythians, Tartars, desert Arabs, Scandinavians, etc., who lived most on animal blood, there were some even who drank the blood of their enemies after making cups of their skulls. And quite interestingly, in our consultation of various works on the subject of blood, this related item came to light on page 113, column one, of Volume 4 of The Encyclopedia Americana, Revised Edition of 1929:
“Transfusion of blood dates as far back as the time of the ancient Egyptians. The earliest reported case is that practiced on Pope Innocent VIII in 1492. The operation cost the lives of three youths and the Pontiff’s life was not saved. Great strides in the research and practice of transfusion on animals were made after Harvey’s discovery of the circulation of blood in the middle of the 17th century. Physicians in Germany, England and France were especially active in the work of blood transfusion after this discovery. They reasoned that as the blood is the principal medium by which the body is nourished, transfusion, therefore, is a quicker and shorter road to feed an ill-nourished body than eating food which turns to blood after several changes. So transfusion was thought of not only as a cure, but also as a re- juvenator. Attempts were then made to cure various diseases, such as fevers, leprosy, insanity and hydrophobia. Lamb’s blood was used for transfusions into human beings with varying success. Curious to relate, the Faculty of Medicine of Paris refused to recognize Harvey’s discovery and also opposed any progress made in the art of transfusion. They persecuted those who were active in the research work of transfusion. It was in the end of the 18th and in the beginning of the 19th century that the most active work in establishing transfusion as a surgical procedure after haemorrhage was done.”
23. (a) How do we know whether such regulation applies to man's blood, and how have pagans violated it? (b) What does the Americana say regarding medical experiments with blood?
ATONEMENT
24 The Bible sets out another reason which makes wholly improper the drinking of animal blood. The Bible calls it to our notice in the typical sacrifices of animal victims offered in worship to Jehovah God by the Jews. At Leviticus 3:16,17 God’s law says concerning special parts of the sacrifice: “The priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the Lord’s. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.” On the same basis that the fat was the Lord’s the blood was also the Lord’s, because the life of the flesh is in the blood and the Lord God Jehovah is the Life-giver. Hence the penalty, as next stated: “For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, even the soul [the cieature] that eateth it shall be cut off from his people. Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.’’ -Lev. 7:25-27.
25 The prohibition against eating or drinking the blood applied not alone to animals offered in sacrifice upon the altar, but to all animals consumed for food. “Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life [nephesh; soul]; and thou may- est not eat the life [nephesh; soul] with the flesh. Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water. Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out [not anywhere upon the ground, but] upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.”-Deut. 12:16, 22-25, 27; Rotherham, margin.
24. How was the prohibition against blood called to our attention in connection with the typical sacrifices of the Jews?
25. Did the prohibition against blood apply only to animals for sacrifice or also to other? and why?
26 But applying the blood to the horns of the altar or pouring it at the base of the altar of sacrifice was not the most important way of disposing of the blood of the sacrificial offerings. The most significant use of the blood, and which showed its sanctity, was made on the yearly day of atonement. On that day the Jewish high priest entered into the innermost sanctuary, which symbolized the very presence of God, and there he sprinkled the blood of the atonement-day sacrifices before the sacred mercy seat in that most holy place. This in particular is what is referred to in Jehovah’s statement at Leviticus 17:10-14, namely: “Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh [certainly, then, not of human flesh]: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.”
27 The sacred use of the blood in those typical atonement-day sacrifices foreshadowed things of greater importance. Referring to this, the apostle Paul was inspired to write: “For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.” (Heb. 13:11, 12) In harmony with the divinely stated fact that the life is in the blood, God reserved the blood of sacrifices to be used in making propitiation or atonement for sinner souls; that is, for those who were in need of everlasting life and seeking it. For the same reason, those who consumed the blood of creatures were held accountable to the great Lifegiver Jehovah God for the life of such creatures and came under the penalties of the everlasting covenant made with Noah. So precious is the measure of life that is in the blood of even imperfect, sinner humankind, that should anyone in the land of Israel accidentally cause the death of a man or woman, that unwitting manslayer was not held guiltless. It was with good reason that the one who was authorized to execute death upon the manslayer was called "the revenger of blood”, because the life is in the blood. “The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.” (Num. 35:19) The avenger of blood thus acted as Jehovah’s executioner for settling accounts.
26. What was the most significant use of the blood to show its sanctity? and bow did God’s law call attention to this?
27 (a) How did Paul show the more important use of blood, and for what purpose, therefore, did God reserve the blood of sacrifices’ (b) How did God further illustrate with the Jews the preciousness of man’s blood?
28 Out of mercy, and for a picture of hope in behalf of unwitting blood-shedders in this day, Jehovah God provided cities of refuge for the unintentional manslayer. “And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.” (Num. 35:25) Christ Jesus is Jehovah’s Executioner or Avenger of blood at the battle of Armageddon, against all violators of the everlasting covenant governing the sanctity of life and its blood-stream. He will execute all who have not fled to the antitypical city of refuge, the Theocratic organization under Christ the High Priest, whose blood can “cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.-1 John 1: 7, 9; 2:1, 2.
29 Seeing, then, that the Most High and Holy God gave plain instructions as to the disposition of blood, in harmony with his everlasting covenant made with Noah and all his descendants; and seeing that the only use of blood that he authorized in order to furnish life to humankind was the use of it as a propitiation or atonement for sin; and seeing that it was to be done upon his holy altar or at his mercy seat, and not by taking such blood directly into the human body; therefore it behooves all worshipers of Jehovah who seek eternal life in his new world of righteousness to respect the sanctity of blood and to conform themselves to God’s righteous rulings concerning this vital matter.
OUR PORTION
30 Those like David who firmly refuse to offer the religionists’ “drink offerings of blood” are obliged to agree with David that sorrows are multiplied upon those who are deceived into hastening after other gods than Jehovah. The sorrows of those who followed the gods of Nazism and Fascism are too well known to need comment. The sorrows of those who worship the triple-crowned god of Vatican City are tied, in with those who saluted Mussolini and heiled Hitler. But what about all “Christendom”, which has rejected the knowledge of Jehovah and persecuted His witnesses and has hastened after the “god of this world”? Such “god of this world”, Satan, has been cast from heaven down to the earth since the birth of the heavenly kingdom in 1914; and the Bible shows him to be blamable for all the woes and tribulations that have come upon mankind since then, saying: "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” (Rev. 12:1-12) Satan the Devil knows well he has but a very limited time till the battle of Armageddon is fought, and he has been employing every device to force all men to his side of the great issue and prevent them from turning to Jehovah God for refuge. Besides the woes which Satan has multiplied upon the peoples, the worshipers of other gods than Jehovah will have their sorrows multiplied at the battle of Armageddon, by a time of tribulation such as never will have been, when Christ Jesus executes Jehovah's vengeance against all such.
28. (a) What provision was made for unwitting manslayers? (b) When and against whom will the antitypical avenger of blood take action?
29. In view of what facts, then, should Jehovah’s worshipers respect the sanctity of blood?
30. How, in modern times, have sorrows been multiplied and will they yet be multiplied upon those hastening after another god?
31 In olden time King Saul forsook Jehovah and hastened into demonism or witchcraft, and his troubles continued to multiply till he fell upon his own sword at the battle of Mount Gilboa. But in spite of Saul’s persecution, and separation from the homeland due to Saul’s unrighteous decree outlawing him, David shunned religion and said: “Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless Jehovah, who hath given me counsel; yea, my heart [my reins] instructeth me in the night seasons.” (Ps. 16:3-7, Am. Stan. Ver.) We can be sure that in the days when he hid from King Saul as an outlaw and as a menace to Saul’s royal estate none gathered to David’s side but those who worshiped Jehovah. For the time being these outlawed men were like the Levites of the nation of Israel, who served Jehovah at his temple and who had no inheritance in the land of Israel. But Jehovah God was their portion; and with him and with his service they were fully satisfied.-Deut. 10:9; 14: 27; 18:1, 2; Num. 18:20; Ezek. 44: 28.
32 Did Christ Jesus have it any better when he was on earth, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and declaring God’s name to the people? No; the birds have nests, and the foxes have holes, but he laid claim to no place where to lay his head. He submitted to being ostracized by the pious religionists. He let the conspiracy hatched by them to get him and kill him carry through to its end, only saying to them: “But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God.” (John 8:40) But, notwithstanding Christ Jesus apparent poverty and homelessness, he was content, because Jehovah God is his inheritance. Jesus is Jehovah’s “Heir of all things”, and none of the enemies could deprive him of that favored position with God.
31. Unlike King Saul, what decision at to worship did David deciare? and how were he and his persecuted followers like Levites in Israel?
32 How did Jesus' earthly situation compare with David's, and yet how was his a favored position?
33 Likewise with Jehovah’s remnant and their companions during “this present evil world”. They claim no permanent dwelling-place in this world, but look forward to the “world to come”, the new world of righteousness with its “new heavens and a new earth”. When, since 1918, they were harassed by clergy-inspired mobs and by the brutal aggressions of the Nazi-Fascist hordes, they “took joyfully the spoiling of [their] goods”, willing to part with such rather than with Jehovah as God. Salvation by Jehovah through Christ Jesus is the ‘portion of their cup’ which they drink for refreshment.
34 All of Jehovah’s witnesses, the remnant and their companions, who have turned their backs upon the selfish advantages of this world, rejoice to have the Most High God as their all in all. They are persuaded that, if they abide faithful to him, he will maintain the lot or assignment that he has ordained for them, whether to be with Christ on the heavenly throne or to be upon this earth after Armageddon during the thousand-year reign of Christ. They need not worry about that. Meantime, if Jehovah God grants them the privilege, the opportunity, the means and the territory to engage in his worship and service as his witnesses, then they agree with David that the measuring lines of God’s will have fallen and marked off for them a pleasing field of activity and of present living for them. Hence they fight for their freedom wherewith Christ has made them free to worship God in this favored condition on earth. They bless Jehovah’s name publicly and from house to house, what though the hostile world curses that holy name. They take counsel from Jehovah God through his Theocratic organization under Christ Jesus. Thus, in seasons benighted by persecution upon them, or amid the darkness of wickedness and ignorance that covers the peoples, they have the divine instructions in their inward parts, in their hearts and minds; and they can meditate upon such instructions and know the way to go for His blessing and protection.
33. How have the remnant and their companions shown that Jehovah is the chosen ‘lot of their inheritance and of their cup'?
34. (a) How does Jehovah maintain their lot and make the lines fall in pleasant places for them? (b) How do they bless him, and their reins instruct them in the night seasons?
35 The world wonders why these are not budged and turned aside into the ways of religion which lead to destruction. It is because their position is that of David, who said: "I have set Jehovah always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Ps. 16: 8, Am. Stan. Ver.) They set no other gods before them, not even an image or representation of such. They fix their affections upon Jehovah and bow in worship only to him. Thus keeping him always before their mental eye they are enabled to behold his glory due to the revelations of his truth. His truth is presented in his Word, and this they study always in order to acquaint themselves more and more with their God and his majesty, supremacy, almightiness, universal sovereignty, and undefeatable purposes. Because of their unwavering devotion and loving adoration for him, Jehovah is at their right hand, to hold them up from falling, and to protect them and vindicate them as having taken the right course. He takes them by their right hand and leads them in the righteous way; and thus they are never moved from his side of the great issue.
36 Jehovah will never leave nor forsake his faithful worshipers and servants, not even in death; for he holds the faithful dead in memory for future good. Knowing this, and knowing the certain outcome to one’s being immovable for Jehovah’s worship, the psalmist David says: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [in Sheol (Hebrew)); neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Ps. 16: 9-11) David did not die at enemy hands for his unswerving worship of Jehovah; he died in the glory of the kingdom and his soul went to hell, or Sheol, or the grave, and is still there. Hence David has seen corruption; and he must wait upon Jehovah’s due time to re-create his soul and restore him to life as one of the “princes in all the earth” in the New World. - Ps. 45:16.
37 Here, therefore, David, as affirmed by the apostles Peter and Paul, spoke prophetically of Jesus Christ. Jesus knew that the triumph of the enemy over him by killing him would be only seeming; because on the third day God would bring him forth from the death condition (Sheol, hell, or the grave) by re-creating him, not as a man, but as he was before coming to earth, namely, a spirit person, only now clothed upon with immortality, incorruptibleness, the express image of his Father's person. “Being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18, Am. Stan. Ver.) By the resurrection Jehovah God showed his faithful worshiper, Christ Jesus, the path of life immortal in the heav.- ens; and Christ Jesus ascended to heaven, where flesh and blood cannot come. He entered into the literal presence of God, upon whose face no man of flesh can look and live, and sat down on the right hand of God, there to enjoy delightful pleasures forevermore as Jehovah’s Vindicator.
35 (a) How hare they set Jehovah always before them? (b) How and why are they not moved?
36 (a) Knowing what, can the servant be immovable for Jehovah’s worship’ (b) How do we know that the further words of the psalm were not fulfilled in David?
37 In whom, then, were those words fulfilled, and how?
38 Foreknowing all this before his death on the tree, Jesus could be glad within, at heart. His “glory”, which was the precious treasure of serving Jehovah as his Elect Servant, Witness and Vindicator, could rejoice or be a joyful service, not a grevious one. Also his flesh, in which he served Jehovah God for the time being, could “rest in hope”, or dwell securely, confidently, in safety. His enemies could never hang his flesh on the tree until God’s time for this. Said Jesus: “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51); and he knew that, by reason of his integrity toward God, nothing that the enemies could do would mar the perfect value of his flesh as “bread” for the life of those of the world who believed on him. Fortified with such knowledge and assurance, the Holy One never deviated from Jehovah’s worship and service one iota. In his faithful death he vindicated his Father’s universal sovereignty as something to be confessed, upheld, and submitted to even to the death. Therefore Jehovah fulfilled to him all the good promise of Psalm sixteen.
39 For closely related reasons, Jehovah’s anointed remnant yet on earth may be 'stedfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord’, forasmuch as they know that by their being resurrected from Sheol, hell, or the grave, the labor they rendered on earth in the Lord’s name will not have been in vain. It will have reaped its reward to the vindication of his name, and will have been merely the beginning of an eternity of worship and service to God in conjunction with Christ Jesus. They will thenceforth enjoy an eternal life of ministry in God's very presence or face, and will enjoy heavenly delightfulness forevermore. As for their present loving companions, Christ’s “other sheep”, these also may know that, when any of them die faithful before Armageddon clears out all the Lord’s enemies, their immovableness for Jehovah’s worship will win his favor for them. It will be rewarded with a resurrection to life forevermore on earth in the delightful New World of righteousness.
38. How. then, could Jesus on earth be glad, and his glory rejoice, and his flesh rest?
39. For what closely related reasons may Jehovah’s remnant be immovable and abound in the Lord’s work ? and likewise their companions ?
40 Blessed with knowing these things, Jehovah’s consecrated servants will defy all enemies and abide immovable in Jehovah’s worship and service. Outward conditions may be hard and oppressive, yet their hearts within them will be glad. The fleshly bodies will be blessed with the calm and healthfulness of the peace of God that passeth all understanding. And their “glory”, namely, their glorious treasure of serving as witnesses for Him and his King and kingdom, will rejoice and exult, because it will be always a joyful and honorable service for them in vindication of Jehovah’s blessed name.
40. How can they likewise be glad and rest and their glory rejoice?
SOUTH AND NORTH OF THE RIO GRANDE
OUR last account, on “International Revisits”, saw our Pan-American passenger plane grounded at Guatemala city, on the afternoon of Monday, April 9, and with Mexico city yet in prospect. While here at the airport, it was not convenient for N. H Knorr, president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, to meet with any of Jehovah’s witnesses in Guatemala. But the special attention required by the plane for its long hop direct to Mexico city lengthened its regular stop at Guatemala city to more than an hour; and it was first 5:34 p.m. before the plane lifted off the ground and soared northward. For some minutes a fine bird’s-eye view of the pretty city of Guatemala presented itself, and also of the terrain beyond, and then we came over a broad blanket of clouds just when the sun was descending. As the sun. gleaming like burnished brass, dipped below the clouds, it caused the rim thereof, as far as the eye could see. to glow with reddish color. For a short while this rare sight lingered, and then gloom gathered and the darkness of night settled down. We flew on into the darkness, trusting to the accuracy of our airplane control-board instruments to guide us safely to our destination. The stars of night appeared, being visible up here with unusual clearness; and, since we were flying at such a high altitude, our feeling was like that of flying right amidst the stars themselves, as if on a rocket plane headed for a landing on some one of these heavenly bodies.
The first watch of the night passed, and then, about the middle of the second watch, or about 10: 30 p.m , we knew we had flown a true course, for the lights of the suburbs of Mexico city began to come into new. Not many minutes more, and the whole fascinating sight was to view below us; the entire street-and-avenue plan of the capital city is marked out for us by the thousands upon thousands of lights that line its thoroughfares. Till this moment there are not that many creatures in Mexico city who are illuminated with the truth of God’s radiant kingdom and who are ‘shining as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation and holding forth God’s Word of life’. (Phil. 2:15, 16) However, through the darkness of that same night there are hundreds of such light-bearers traveling by railroad or by bus or also on foot and converging upon Mexico city for the general convention of Jehovah’s witnesses there the coming weekend Nor did any of these fail to arrive there for the exhilarating days of April 13, 14, and 15. We are the only ones coining by plane. Our plane lands at 10: 46 p.m. Then, in good time, we clear the formalities at the airport, and before midnight we are at a hotel on the noted Paseo de la Reforma, not so far from the site of a recent international or Pan-American gathering of statesmen, Chapultepec Palace.
Next day, Tuesday, it is our pleasure to take dinner at the headquarters of La Torre del Vigia, a Mexican educational organization which is affiliated with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of America. On this occasion our pleasure is added to at meeting two graduates of the Watchtower Bible College of Gilead, New York. They are Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Anderson, temporarily stopping at the Mexican headquarters. The firmly entrenched Roman Catholic Hierarchy has to an appalling degree retarded the advancement of Mexico’s population in the elements of basic education, but the national government is strenuously pushing an educational campaign throughout the land; and the afore-mentioned Andersons are interested also in the education of Mexico’s oppressed classes, even to the extent of teaching the illiterate to read and write and to learn the most vital facts of human history. Their desire is to be real instructores to all the people there.
Among the noteworthy arrivals in the city on the afternoon of Wednesday is the train from Monterrey, Mexico, bearing two coaches solid of Jehovah’s witnesses, two hundred or more of them all together. On one of these coaches there was stretched up over the windows a long white banner bearing in large letters in Castellano the words: “We are going to the Reconstructors Convention, April 13, 14, 15, Mexico, D. F." On the opposite side of the next coach was stretched a like banner announcing: “Theocratic Convention in Mexico, D. F. - Public Lecture: One World, One Government - Sunday April 15.” Thus, all along the route from Monterrey to Mexico city, the people of villages and towns that viewed the passing train received notice of a coming event that had more than Pan-American significance As the tram made its various stops along the road, from 2:30 o’clock Tuesday morning till Wednesday afternoon, the conventloners did some witnessing concerning God’s kingdom to the venders that came alongside the train with foodstuffs and other sales goods or that gathered at the railroad stations for the excitement of a passing train. Not only Mexicans were aboard this train, but also many conventloners from across the Rio Grande, from such places as Mercedes, Texas, and among these being five graduates from Watchtower College who have been doing special pioneer work in Texas. Four of these young ladies could be entertained at the headquarters of La Torre del Vigia, and all the family there enjoyed the several days’ association with these zealous pioneer publishers of God’s Theocratic Government.
Provision for other conventioners arriving in town was made in the homes of their Christian brethren or in the city hotels. Even the space of Jehovah’s witnesses’ Kingdom Hall on San Jeronimo street was turned over for occupancy by night by the conventioners who brought along their serapes or other bedding and who slept on the floor, the same as is done m innumerable homes in Mexico. Some fifty were thus accommodated, and great was their gratitude.
By the time of Thursday night the number of Jehovah’s witnesses in Mexico city had increased to many hundreds. All these came at their own expense. Various were the legitimate ways to which they resorted in order to lay up money for convention expenses. Many handicrafts were plied in their homes; and things that could be dispensed with in the homes were sold. According to the statement of the conventioners, if the Theocratic assembly had been announced farther in advance more would have been able to lay aside the means to attend. But, as it was, only about one-fourth of such as might have attended were financially able to do so, owing to the shortness of the time for preparation. How many might have attended is calculable from the fact that at the Memorial celebration of Christ’s death, on Wednesday. March 28 of this year, there were 5,065 that met for the celebration, of whom only 27 partook of the emblems of bread and wine in symbol of their membership in Christ’s body.
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