The Watchtower, August 1, 1947
Download: PDF — The Watchtower, August 1, 1947
SfeWATCHTOWER,
Published Semimonthly By
WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY 117 Adams Street - * Brooklyn 1, N.Y., U.S A.
Officers
N. H. Knobb, President Grant Suiter, Secretary
“And all thy children shall be taudht of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” - Isaiah 54:13.
THE BIBLE CLEARLY TEACHES
THAT JEHOVAH is the only true God, from everlasting to everlasting, and is the Maker of heaven and earth and Giver of life to his creatures; that the Word or Logos was the beginning of his creation and his active agent in creating all other things; and that the creature Lucifer rebelled against Jehovah and raised the issue of His universal sovereignty;
THAT GOD created the earth for mau, made perfect man for the earth and placed him upon it; that man yielded to unfaithful Lucifer, or Satan, and 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 men; that God raised up Christ Jesus divine and exalted him to heaven above every other creature and clothed him with all I>ower and authority as head of God’s new capital organization;
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 new world; that the faithful anointed followers of Christ Jesus are Zion’s children, members of Jehovah's organization, and are His witnesses whose duty and privilege it is to testify to Jehovah’s supremacy and declare his purposes toward mankind as expressed in the Bible;
THAT THE OLD WORLD, or Satan’s uninterrupted rule, ended A_D. 1914, and Christ Jesus has been placed by Jehovah upon the throne, has ousted Satan from heaven, and now proceeds to vindicate His name and establish the “new earth";
THAT THE RELIEF and blessings of the peoples can come only by Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ, which has begun; that His next great act is to destroy Satan’s organization and establish righteousness completely in the earth; and that under the Kingdom the people of good-will surviving Armageddon win carry out the divine mandate to “fill the earth” with righteous offspring, and that the human dead in the graves will be raised to opportunities of life on earth.
ITS MISSION
HIS 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 broadcasting 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.
Notice to Subscriber*.- Remittances should be sent to office in your country In compliance with regulations to guarantee safe delivery of money. Remittances are accepted at Brooklyn from countries where no office is located, by international money order only. Subscription rates In different countries are stated below in local currency. Notice oj expiration (with renewal blank) is sent at least two Issues before subscription expires. Change of address when sent to our office may be expected effective within one month. Send your old as well as new address.
Please address the Watch Tower Society In every case.
Offices Yearly Subscription Rate
America (U. B, ), 117 Adams St, Brooklyn 1, N. Y.
Auati alia, 7 Beresford Rd., Strathfield, N. S. W.
British West Indies, 21 Taylor St, Port of Spain, Trinidad
Canada, 40 Irwin Ave., Toronto 5, Ontario
England, 34 Craven Terrace, London, W. 2
India, 167 Love Lane, Bombay 27 B*. 3/8
Jamaica, 151 King St, Kingston
New Zealand, <1. P. O. Box 30, Wellington, C. I
Philippine Islands, 2021 Int 3 Herran, Santa Ana, Manila 2 pesos South Africa, 623 Boston House, Cape Town
Translations of this journal appear in many languages,
ALL SINCERE STUDENTS OF THE BIBLE who by reason of Infirmity, poverty or adversity are nnable to pay the subscription price may have 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 i required by the postal regulations.
Printed In the United States of America
Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Brooklyn, N. Y,, under the Act of March S, 1879.
“ALL NATIONS EXPANSION” TESTIMONY PERIOD
The entire month of August is a special testimony period designated as above, and the theme of expansion will be forwarded as Kingdom publishers everywhere enlarge their witnessing activities to take in the extensive rural sections of territory. The favorable weather of this midsummer month in the Northern Hemisphere invitingly calls for concentrated work in the countryside, and the offer is worthy of our best effort. For the third consecutive month the featured presentation will be three bound books on a $1.00 contribution, this to include, if at all possible, the Bible handbook “Equipped for Every Good Work” and the revealing textbook on fundamental Bible doctrine, “Let God Be True”, along with any other Watchtower bound-book publication. “Equipped for Every Good Work” will continue to be placed alone on a 50c contribution. By means of this offer during August the message of God’s established Kingdom will spread and expand in many nations. You, as a Watchtower reader, may share in the expansion work. A postcard or letter will bring us to your aid in putting you in touch with others near you active in this work, or in instructing you how to proceed. Please report your work accomplished during August, that the record of expansion in all nations may be complete.
“THE WATCHTOWER”
The Watchtower is a magazine without equal in the earth, and is conceded this rank by all that have been faithful readers thereof during its more than sixty years of publication. The Watchtower has increased in importance with the progress of the years, and never has it been more valuable than today, at this world crisis, when the destiny of each intelligent human creature is being decided. The getting of correct information and instruction, just such as is required for the times, to decide your course wisely to a happy destiny, was never more vital than now, for “where there is no vision, the people perish”. Informed persons well acquainted with the consistent contents of The Watchtower agree that those who want to gain life in peace and happiness without end should read and study it together with the Bible and in company with other readers. This is not giving any credit to the magazine’s publishers, but is due to the great Author of the Bible with its truths and prophecies, and who now interprets its prophecies. He it is that makes possible the material that is published in the columns of this magazine and who gives promise that it shall continue to publish the advancing truths as long as it continues to exist for the service of the interests of his Theocratic Government. Carefully and prayerfully read this issue of The Watchtower. Then do not delay to mail in your subscription, that you may receive it regularly, twice a month, twenty-four copies the year. It is $1.00 in the United States; $1.50 elsewhere.
“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES
Week of September 7: “Blessed Are the Eyes Which See,” fl 1-20 inclusive, The Watchtower August 1, 1947.
Week of September 14: “Blessed Are the Eyes Which See,” fl 21-41 inclusive, The Watchtower August 1, 1947.
ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH’S KINGDOM
Vol. LXVIII August 1, 1947 No. 15
“BLESSED ARE THE EYES WHICH SEE”
'Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them"—Luke 10:23,24.
JEHOVAH the Creator gifted man with two eyes, I and wise is he who uses them in harmony with J the divine purpose. Otherwise, these optical organs fail of their blessed function. "The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool [who does not use his eyes] walketh in darkness,” said a wise man of old. Before outfitting man thus, the Creator, with scientific skill, made that wonderful complement to vision, namely, light. His first reported words at preparing this earthly globe for man’s habitation were: “Let there be light.” It is in harmony with the normal order of things that the perfectly balanced man rejoices at light, and he agrees with the wise man who further said: “Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” —Eccl. 2:14; 11:7.
2 More than that, the Creator made something for the glorious light of the sun to fall upon for man’s sake, something for man to behold with enjoyment in the diffused light, namely, the matchless material works of God in the heavens, in the earth, under the earth, and in the seas. Man’s sense of vision put him in touch with these things, whether they were afar off or near to him. Vision acquainted man with the creation amid which he lived, and his mind became filled with impressions that he could call forth and visualize to himself even with his eyes closed or in night’s darkness. His mind became stored with memories that resulted from gazing out upon the beauteous spectacle of nature about him.
* There is no reason for us to complain because the Creator made us without the ability to see the spiritual realm within which He himself dwells. With man’s weak visual powers, we were not constructed so as to support the vision of God, for the law of the Most High-.God in this respect is: "There shall no man see me, and live.” (Ex. 33: 20) Man was created to be an intelligent creature with faith in the existence of God. In Eden’s garden the perfect man Adam could not see the personal form of God, neither the
1. For die sake of man’s vision wbat did God create? and who is a wise man in these respects?
2. Hew did man thus become acquainted with creation about him? 3. Why does man not see God, or even need to see him? form of the angelic messenger by whom God spoke to Adam there in the cool of each evening. But Adam’s Maker had endowed him with the mental faculty of understanding, and as he looked about him at the varied created things about him or looked himself over he could read the message that all these things spoke: There is a God, our Creator and yours. This fact broke in upon his mental appreciation. With his eyes of understanding (or mental powers of discernment) he could grasp the self-evident fact that God is. Man did not need to see him personally in order to know that vital fact. Today fallen men, despite their sinful, imperfect condition, are inexcusable for not grasping this truth; ‘Because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.”—Rom. 1:19,20, A.S.V.
* The eyes are therefore one of man’s choicest possessions, for they are so necessary to his complete happiness. But more to be prized than eyes of flesh in the head is what the Scriptures speak of as the “eyes of understanding” or “eyes of the heart”. The person that has the latter, although he may be physically sightless, is more favored and has far better possibilities of everlasting life than the one without such although having physical sight.
'Because of the vital importance of this mental gift, the Christian apostle prayed that his fellow disciples at Ephesus might be enriched with it by the great Creator, for it was essential to their continuing to be Christians and gaining the prize of glory, honor and immortality with Jesus Christ in the kingdom of God. His prayer for them is also a suitable prayer for us today, namely: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; having the eyes of your heart
4. What are more to be prized than fleshly eyes? and why?
5. How and why did the apostle pray we might have our eyes of understanding enlightened?
enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church.” (Eph. 1:17-22, Am. Stan. Ver.) It takes eyes of a spiritually inclined heart to see and accept those things set before the church of God. If we look at the things in God’s written Word with a blank stare that is held stiff and motionless by the religious creeds and traditions of men in our minds, then we shall be looking at his Word but shall not see what it contains or understand what it teaches.
6 The church of God was founded in Jesus’ day, under him as its Head member. It is a known fact that the majority of the Israelites of that day or generation did not become members of such church and did not receive the holy spirit of God from and after the day of Pentecost A.D. 33. Why not? God’s own written Word itself assigns the reason as being that they did not have the proper mental inclination and desire to perceive spiritual things; they did not have the “eyes of the heart” enlightened. Long before that Israel’s prophet Isaiah foretold this; and twenty-five years after the majority of the Israelites rejected Jesus and had him killed Paul the apostle said to certain Israelites that visited him in prisoncustody: “Well spake the holy spirit through Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers, saying: Go thou unto this people, and say, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should turn again, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that this salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles: they will also hear.” (Acts 28:25-28, Am. Stan. Ver.) The Gentiles or non-Jews, together with a remnant of faithful Jews, did hear with the right heart condition. For that reason they understood.
7 Jesus knew that the prophet Isaiah foretold such a state of heart or mind for the Israelites, and he also readily discerned it to be in them. He adjusted himself to that situation by taking up a special style of teaching, namely, that of using simple parables as 0 As foretold by Isaiah, why did not most Jews become Christians? 7. 8. Why did Jesus take up the use of parables in his teaching? illustrations of larger and higher spiritual truths. His disciples noted this procedure and asked him why he followed it. His answer disclosed that he was not working for any world conversion and was not expecting world conversion such as the religious organizations of Christendom claim it their business to undertake and attempt. Jesus said to his faithful disciples:
8 “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath [eyes of the heart or understanding] to him shall be given [to know], and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should turn again, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.”—Matt. 13:11-17, Am. Stan. Ver.
8 Read for yourself any of Jesus’ parables. What could be more simply stated and more easily visualized? But the picture described in Jesus’ words was not the only thing to visualize. He was not just entertaining his hearers as if taking them to a verbal “movie picture show”. There was a hidden meaning to the parabolic picture that he drew in words, and it lay beneath what appeared upon the surface. This was plain from the fact that he told such parables in connection with his serious preaching of God’s kingdom.
10 The Israelites that heard him visualized the picture that his graphic words sketched for them, but they did not get the meaning with reference to the Kingdom nor see how it fitted to the things of the Kingdom. They were entertained, thinking Jesus a most captivating preacher or talker, one like whom no other man spoke, but they did not faithfully retain what he said, hoping to come to the meaning of it by earnest study and inquiry. So they dropped from mind what he taught and did not compare the characters and events of his parables with what was going on visibly among them. They saw in actual life about them the things that Jesus described as
9 Besides the picture Jesus drew, what was there to his parables? 10. Why did the people not get the meaning of Jesus’ parables? illustrations in his parables, and alongside of that they saw Jesus and his apostles and evangelists at work in all Jewry. But they did not connect the two sets of things together and look at them in a comparative way to see the correspondency and to come to an understanding in their minds of the truth. They took such an attitude because they were not really anxious for God’s kingdom nor willing to take action toward it that would make them unpopular.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE LIGHT
11 To see with our natural eyes it is necessary to have light. When we have light, especially good light, we should take advantage of it and use it well. That is to say, our body’s visual powers should help the body to benefit by the light, so that the body is able to act and go in the right way. When Jesus came into the world back there, he brought light, but the Israelites of his day did not use the marvelous light such as had never before shone by which to see. Jesus’ intimate disciple John comments on that: “The real light, which sheds light upon everyone, was just coming into the world. He came into the world, and though the world came into existence through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to his home, and his own family did not welcome him. But to all who did receive him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1: 9-12, An Amer. Trans.) The light-bringing mission of Jesus was specially illustrated on one particular occasion, concerning which we read: “And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. When I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Then to demonstrate in a physical manner that he is the light of the world because of having power to enlighten people, he restored sight to the man born blind.—John 9:1-7, Am. Stan. Ver.
12 Those who refuse to see things in the light brought by Jesus as the light of the world injure themselves to the extent of losing eternal life and hence everlasting happiness. Such persons are the ones that are even ready to call the light darkness, whereas the darkness in which they like to dwell for the sake of selfishness they call light. God’s prophet cried woe to such self-deceivers, because they are wise in their own estimation and prudent from their own viewpoint and are therefore not teachable 11. Of what should our eyes take advantage in order to see? and did the Jews of Jesus’ day do so?
12 Why do the religionists refuse to see things In the light? and what shall be their end? regarding the ways of God’s salvation. They choose their own religious darkness in preference to the bright-shining truth. Why? In order that they may follow their own selfish inclinations and may give themselves over loosely and irresponsibly to the works of unrighteousness. Their end shall be the darkness of destruction, “because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”—Isa. 5: 20-24, Am. Stan. Ver.
18 The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were suchlike. He therefore told them that he came into the world to put them on judgment in regard to the light of truth, to show those up as blind who religiously claimed that they saw, and to enlighten the blind ones that honestly wanted to see the truth. Hearing this, some Pharisees said to Jesus: “Are we blind also?” They self-conceitedly thought it was impossible that they could be mentally blind. Jesus replied: “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.”—John 9:39-41.
14 Had they acknowledged to themselves and to Jesus that they were mentally blind, they would have been excusable for what they Were doing in opposition to Jesus, because of their unwilling blindness. Also they would have been in the way to get out of it and out of the sin that it was causing them to commit. But now they hardheartedly insisted they were not blind and needed no enlightenment from Jesus but knew what they were doing. Taking them at their word, they were fully responsible for what they sinfully did against him and his Father. And so their sin rested upon them, and there was no way of getting them out from under it, because they refused to see the error of their way in the light of the truth. They were religious hypocrites! They find their modern-day counterparts in the religious clergymen of Christendom now.
“ Jesus, in his sermon on the mount, described how deplorable their condition was in these words: “The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matt. 6:22-24, Am.Stan. Ver.) The eye that functions properly is like a lighted lamp to the body in the dark of night, because with it the body can walk without stumbling or bumping into something, and the hands can take hold and apply themselves to things without uncertainly feeling about and miss-
13, 14. Why did Jesus say sin remained upon the Pharaeaic religionists? 15. Like what is the eye to the body? and why? ing. Without the lamp of physical vision the body at the height of noonday might just as well be in the depth of midnight. But even with the eyeball in the socket, there is another requirement for our human body to be enlightened by it: The eye must be sound, “single,” as Jesus said.
18 That is to say, The eye must be simple, uncompounded, all one way in performing its function. It must faithfully catch up the light rays from the object at which it looks and then by means of the clear lens of the eye it must bring such light rays to a 'focus on the sensitive membrane covering the inner rear-part of the eyeball. The most sensitive part of this membrane is at the depression, the fovea centralis; and if the visualized image is focused upon this, it results in the most acute sight. If the eyelens does not focus well upon the retina, the image seen is blurred in outline and detail, and at a certain distance or in a poor light it fades from sight and becomes indistinguishable from the background against which it appears. Also the many light rays may converge upon the eye with such diversity and number that the poorly functioning eye, unable to focus for clear vision, is filled with a crisscross of light rays all tangling with one another. We then get only a sense of light diffused in the eye but there is no sharp perception of a single thing upon which our eye is training its line of vision. The effect is the same as sightlessness in which there is no perception of that to which the eyes turn. For our whole body to be filled with informative, guiding light, there must be, not alone the entrance of light rays through the eye, but also the clear functioning of the eye, to make distinguishable the visual images that are flashed to it. The eye must be at balanced unity in operation.
" Without question, Jesus, by this illustration, was teaching a great spiritual truth respecting the “eyes of the heart” or mental vision of spiritual things. To discern the truths brought by the inspired prophets and servants of God and which are recorded in his Word, the Bible, we must have what corresponds to the single eye. In other words, our vision must be pure, our view of things must be from a pure heart that loves the truth and that is eager to find it and grasp and possess it. When we look we must be in the search for the truth of God. The connection of the heart with the vision makes the eye like the window through which the heart looks and takes a view of things. This is shown in Jesus’ words as follows: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,... All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7:21-23)
16 VVby is it necessary for the physical eye to be •‘single”?
17. Spiritually, how is the eye affected by the heart?
An evil heart will result in an evil eye or a looking at things in an impure way and with an evil design. Hence the apostle Peter spoke of certain rebellious Christians that were disobedient to God’s arrangements in His church and who were committing spiritual fornication with the world as having “eyes full of adultery”. (2 Pet. 2:13,14) Such ones did not have the light of truth in them.
THE “EVIL EYE”
18 What, then, did Jesus mean by saying, “If thine eye be evil”? What is this “evil eye”? Reasonably, it is possessed by a person that has an evil heart or mind, like Satan the Devil the “evil one” from whom we pray God to deliver us. The Scriptures make it clear that the “evil eye” means envious vision, covetous vision, selfish, hypocritical vision. (Deut. 28:54-57) It begrudges another person his freedom to enjoy spiritual prosperity. It does not want the common people, from whom the religious leaders are fattening themselves with honor and wealth, to get free from religious bondage by Jesus’ teaching. God’s law by Moses forwarned against the “evil eye”, in this way: “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren . . . thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that - there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.” (Deut. 15: 7-9; see also the Greek Septuagint) A covetous person with a greedy outlook does not care whether it will result in poor relations between God and him if he gains his selfish end by unjust short-cuts. “He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye [Septuagint: An envious man hasteth to be rich], and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.” (Prov. 28:22) He makes himself poor of all generosity and looks upon the wealth and possessions of others with envy. His vision is bent selfishly.
19 The highly titled religious leaders who made long prayers for people to hear and who by trick means were able to “devour widows’ houses” were such kind of envious men. God’s Word warns against sitting at the religious table which they spread for the people. “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.” (Matt. 23:1-14; Prov. 23: 6-8) Many are the people that have already had
18. How does the “evil eye” act toward the poor?
19. Why not accept religious dainties from those with an evil eye? and how has the evil eye affected some in the Lord’s vineyard? to vomit up with regrets the things they have swallowed by the teaching and training from the religious clergy. Many more people are due to become thus disillusioned about these leaders who appear outwardly so righteous, public-spirited and charitable. Those who serve the Lord in his vineyard must guard against becoming like those religionists who have the lust of the eyes for world control. We must be generous to let others share to an equal degree with us in the spiritual blessings that the Lord God our great Rewarder now has to bestow upon us in His service. Those who think they have earned the Lord’s blessings by long service are liable to think that those with a shorter record of service are not entitled to the same blessings and equal blessings as themselves. Those inclined to envy the mercies and favors that others receive after a short time in God’s service take a bad view of matters, and they cannot see straight on the fundamental principles upon which God’s organization rests and operates.
20 Envious ones of this type show up among God’s active people. Jesus exposed such ones in his parable of the penny, which finds fulfillment in this twentieth century. Their unjust as well as ungenerous, presuming condition of heart appears in the part of the parable that reads: “And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny ? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own ? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” (Matt. 20:9-16) The evil eye, if uncorrected, will certainly cause a worker in God’s vineyard to lose out finally and not be chosen or selected to the Kingdom for which he may have been called long before, when his heart was right.
21 It was while Jesus was teaching concerning the Kingdom that he said: “If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” Such an eye, or the kind of vision that it symbolizes, is selfish and serves a heart that is self-seeking, lacking the pure, sincere love of God and his kingdom. The Kingdom glories in heaven that are promised in God’s Word to the faithful it desires selfishly, and not that this
20. In a parable, how did Jesus expose such ones in the vineyard? 21, 22. Due to the evil eye, how does the body become full of darkness? might be to the honor of God and the vindication of his name. Hence at the same time it desires the honors, titles, and good things that this world has to offer, in order to please itself. For the sake of these things it is willing to please the world and its great master, Satan the Devil. Thus it is willing to make compromises with this world rather than to be decisively clean-cut for the Kingdom. It imagines that it can serve two masters, now serving the Devil’s world and lining up with its programs for its own “better, finer order”, and now serving God, to curry God’s favor and at the last, for safety’s sake, to come in upon what God has to offer. It is so double in vision or viewpoint that it cannot see that a partial devotion and partial service is pleasing to neither of the two great masters, Jehovah God and Satan the Devil. Each demands the whole or nothing.
22 Such a person with a divided heart has a divided, selfish, envious vision. He can not with any clearness see the requirements concerning God’s kingdom or life in the righteous new world now close at hand. With a blurred, compromising vision he is in the dark on these things. He gropes about, now on this side, now on that, and gets nowhere on the path of light, but stumbles on down the broad road that leads to destruction. He may think he is in the light, but what he thinks is light is actual darkness, and, because of his wrong, selfish opinion, “how great is that darkness!”
PROPER VISION
23 The "single” eye is the faculty which we should cultivate both in natural life and, figuratively speaking, in our spiritual life or oUr relations with God. Behind this eye there must be the pure heart, fully devoted to Jehovah God through Christ Jesus and loving his kingdom undividedly and seeking to know the divine will and purpose so as to act in full accord therewith. Then our vision of the light and of the things that God reveals at this time in that glorious Kingdom light will be clear. It will fill our minds and bodies with illuminating intelligence. “Therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; ... If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.” (Luke 11:34-36) That means that all the parts of our body, the hands, the feet, the tongue, the shoulders, the head, etc., will do the works of light, because of the unhindered mental vision which is not impaired by selfishness for the things of this world. Furthermore, no light-filled body would go unnoticed in the darkness surrounding others. So we, if we have the light, should not hold it within ourselves. That with which we are enlightened by the spiritual vision of our eyes of under-
23. How does fullness of light result to the body from the “single” eye? standing we must use as a lamp for the benefit of all in darkness. “No man, when he hath lighted a lamp, putteth it in a cellar, neither under the bushel, but on the stand, that they which enter in may see the light.” (Luke 11:33, Am. Stan. Ver.) To be guides of light, keep your eyes open and use them, because they are the body's lamp.
28 To keep good spiritual vision, then, we must feed upon good food that nourishes our heart or mind. It is like the case of Jonathan in the heat of battle. He was about to be overcome with exhaustion for lack of nourishment. When he partook of a little honey he found in his why he said: “See, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.” (1 Sam. 14:27-29) His eyes brightened to carry on with clearer vision the pursuit of the Lord’s enemies. However, for our spiritual vision, the food we need is the enlightening food that the Lord provides from the Bible and through his Theocratic organization in Christ Jesus. Keep your eyes on this food. Do not let your eyes wander lustfully away to the outwardly attractive and inviting dishes that organized religion and its commercial- and political allies have to offer in the way of propaganda, traditions, and culture, all of which blight our true vision and put darkness for light.
23 We are living in the Laodicean stage of the Christian church, and if any professed Christians have suffered impairment of their vision of God's will and purpose, becoming blinded by the selfish things of this world, they should pray to God through Christ so as to receive His spirit, which is like a healing eyesalve. To such ones Christ Jesus says: “I counsel thee to buy of me . . . and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” (Rev. 3:18,19) By repenting at the Lord’s loving rebuke and by turning from the blinding things of this world, fix your studious attention upon God’s Holy Word. By studying and applying it we receive of His spirit. Get acquainted with His commandments and instructions for his people in this dark time of the world. Guide your line of vision and your powers of discernment according to his safe rules. Then the perception of truth will brighten for you. “The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes.”—Ps. 19:8, Am. Stan. Ver.
28 At the first you may not be able to see so much or see with the best of understanding. But this should not make you discouraged or make you think that in your case the Lord is unable to perform the miracle that he performed literally upon so many blind
24. What connection has food with good spiritual vision?
25. How do we apply to ourselves the Lord’s healing eyesalve?
26, 27. (a) Why should babes in knowledge not get discouraged at not seeing sc much at first? (b) What should they keep on doing? persons when he was on earth. It is as with an infant at birth. The babe has eyes in its head ready to function, but the helpless child does not know at first how to use them. It comes forth into a world completely strange to it, on which it has never looked before. Its organs of sight have the light strike them. The light rays from the various objects in its perspective of vision fall upon those newly opened eyes, but it recognizes nothing. It sees nothing familiar, and attaches no value to anything, because it is meaningless to it. Hence the child sees nothing because it perceives nothing. But it keeps on looking and, after a time, the same patches of color and the same forms and shapes out there in its line of vision keep on reappearing. They become familiar to it and establish a meaning for themselves; and the growing infant begins to perceive them, because he looks for them, he recognizes them and focuses upon them. They have made impressions upon his mind with a definite shape, form and looks, and he remembers them and can now identify them on sight. Thus he increases in familiarity with the world about him.
22 The same is true with anyone that is a babe in the knowledge of the things of God’s “present truth”. At first it is all unfamiliar ground and he can see little of what is at first revealed to him. But if he has an honest heart that seeks to learn to know and to retain what he learns, he will keep on peering into the pages of God’s Word and into the operations of his Theocratic organization. He then grows in familiarity therewith. (Mark 8:17,18, 21) With good remembrance and familiarity he increases in perceptive powers, that is, in powers to select or pick out various things and to distinguish them from other things and to detect details and peculiar features. The Lord answers his prayer: “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” —Ps. 119:18.
28 The great “Father of lights” takes an interest in the creature eyes that fix their gaze upon his Word with a desire and purpose to understand. He blesses such. The blessed “eyes” are not those which give an occasional, casual and general look at his Word and organization as if by one or a few such looks to take in the whole field of God’s Word hurriedly and thus save time for other things of a selfish kind. We should not look at his Word and organization with a stationary, religious stare to see things according to the religious point of view. When we stare with our natural eyes, what happens? Such a staring renders the eyes motionless and subjects them to strain in the effort to see. It also paralyzes the powers of perception and immobilizes the attention, so that no clear, detailed impression is gained that can be remembered with sharpness. The mental effect
28. Why not look at God’s Word and organization with a “stare”? is hazy, unclear, unimpressive; and the staring, by being kept up, is liable to induce drowsy self-hypnotism rather than bestir us to an energetic action in response to sight.
“ The blessed “eyes” are not those with a fixed, religious stare that looks but has other things on the mind. The blessed “eyes” are those that are alert, on the move, scrutinizing, not trying to capture the whole visual field with a prolonged, fixed stare, but focusing attention upon details and moving from detail to detail in order to get the whole picture. They do not see everything at a glance. They cover the field of vision gradually, but progressively, like the finder beam of a television recorder. This moves over the field of vision point by point, line by line, so as to pick up each item individually and transmit it on to the television broadcaster. Then the broadcaster sends it to the television receiver the projector in which throws it onto the image-frame of the television set where human eyes are on the watch. In that way the whole picture is built up out of all its details all of which are clearly discerned and properly related and put together.
” Likewise with one who is in search of the blessed things that God has to show us at this day; all such detailed study takes time and practice, but the reward in the way of results is blessed. What is seen in this way will differ widely from that which religion has painted as the picture, but the honest-hearted lovers of truth will not be offended at the clearer sight. Let us not be like the religious scribes and Pharisees that came to Jesus asking of him a special sign to make them believe he was the Messiah. They had the written Word of God with its prophecies, and if they had only fixed their attention and studied they would have seen the fulfillments of prophecy in what Jesus taught and did. From these it was evident he was sent by God. But those religionists did not want to reach that conclusion, for it would mean accepting Jesus. Because they did not want to believe, they wanted still more evidence, and so asked for a sign. If they had been sincere, they would have already had enough evidence; but they were hypocrites. They did not care to exercise faith in what they saw, because it would have meant giving up their own selfish ideas and the worldly advantages they were then enjoying. They did not desire to see, but preferred to stay blind. By this they missed-a great blessedness.
31 The honest-hearted who seek for light are not prejudiced against possibly reaching conclusions to which the religious leaders object, although being the manifest teaching of God’s Word. On comprehending the sight of God’s truth in all its detailed
29, How do the ‘^blessed” eyes survey the visual field?
30, (a) What does such detailed study require and also produce? (b) Why do religionists ask to see an extra sign?
31. Unlike them, bow do the honest react toward things seen? beauty the honest-hearted marvel and rejoice and give Him praise. In classic Bible language they exclaim : “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.” (Ps. 118:23) But the religiously prejudiced are dull of eye. They are left unimpressed, due to their blindness and inability to read the truth behind the facts that plainly appear. Because the facts show up their religious blindness and prejudice, they feel cheap and exposed. They feel injured and want to do injury to those who follow the light. —Mark 12:10-12.
CORRECT USE
32 Marvelous, indeed, are the things visible today to eyes that have been trained to look at the conditions and events of our time Scripturally. The many details of the modern world-scene all combine to prove that we are at the end of this world and that the everlasting kingdom of Jehovah God by his Christ has been set up in the heavens. This sign of our times is becoming clearer and clearer to our vision as the dawning light of the new world brightens. Concerning this time since A.D. 1914 the prophet Isaiah said: “Your eyes shall see the King in all his splendour, and gaze upon his broad domain; till, musing on the terror that has vanished, you ask, ‘Where are the tyrant’s officers, who taxed us, charged us, took our tribute?’ These insolent creatures you shall see no more [inside God’s organization], . . . the Eternal -himself rules us, the Eternal is our captain, the Eternal is our king, he, he alone, defends us.”—Isa. 33:17-19, 22, Moffatt.
33 The faithful Christian remnant today and their good-will companions now see the Eternal God’s kingdom. They have been delivered from bondage to Satan’s world organization and its oppressions and blinding religion. They are the ones meant in Isaiah’s further prophecy: “In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nought.” It is because the Liberator, Jehovah’s elect Servant Christ Jesus, now reigns, “to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”—Isa. 29:18-20; 42:1,7.
34 Jesus, speaking to his disciples who had just come in from a campaign of field service preaching the kingdom of God, said: “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to
32. How do our eyes look at the world scene? and what do we see? 33. Why do blind eyes now see out of obscurity and daikness?
34, 36. (a) Why are our eyes more blessed than those of kings, prophets and disciples of old? (b) How do we avoid Christendom's destruction7 hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” (Luke 10: 23, 24) Jesus’ words are more true in our case now in this twentieth century. We see what kings and prophets, yes, what even Jesus’ early disciples, did not behold. Ten centuries before Christ King David said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.” That was at the enthronement of David’s successor, his beloved son Solomon, to be ruler of the typical kingdom of Jehovah God in Israel. (1 Ki. 1:48) Later, at the beginning of the “Christian era”, at the temple in Jerusalem, an aged man named Simeon took up a babe in his arms and “blessed God, and said, ‘Now, Master, you will let your slave go free in peace, as you promised, for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have set before all the nations, a light of revelation for the heathen, and a glory to your people Israel!’ ” The babe over which Simeon blessed God was Jesus forty days old. By faith’s power of discernment Simeon saw in Jesus the promised Messianic King in whom all nations and families of the earth should be blessed. (Luke 2:25-32, An Amer. Trans.) Thirty years later the faithful disciples discerned in Jesus that same promised King, now anointed of God’s spirit and now giving full proof of his Kingdom title.
85 All the foregoing men were blessed in beholding God’s advancing steps toward His establishment of the long-foretold Kingdom, and Jesus’ personal disciples were especially blessed. But the eyes of us today are far more blessed than even theirs, because we see Jehovah’s royal Government by his Christ now fully established in the heavens forevermore. That being true, we are not following any cunningly devised fable nor are we under any hallucination when we proclaim everywhere and to all nations the presence and active operation of God’s kingdom. This proclamation by Jehovah’s witnesses is in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophetic words on the end of the world, at Matthew 24:14. We are rejoicing over the spiritual light that is now shining due to the inauguration of God’s kingdom by Christ: “The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.” (Prov. 15: 30) Christendom, in blindness like that of ancient Jerusalem, when the King was first present in the flesh, cannot understand or perceive this light of today and does not rejoice at it. But the anointed remnant of heirs of the heavenly kingdom do so. They are today required to have the visual powers to take in the light and to actively serve God in it. In this manner they will avoid destruction with Christendom, to which destruction at the battle of Armageddon her blind guides are gropingly but surely leading her.—Luke 19:41-44.
M The anointed remnant, and, in fact, all persons of good-will who hope for eternal life in the oncoming new world of righteousness, must now treasure their “eyes of understanding” most jealously and should exercise the greatest care for them. They must never be permitted to deteriorate in visual power and sharpness, nor to relapse back into worldly blindness. They must continually be strengthened so as not to be strained or offended at the increasing brilliancy of the present-day light from God’s Word. They must not be allowed to grow dull, but be constantly exercised and used in harmony with the fine rules for the art of spiritual seeing.
87 Among such rules are these: "Yet shall not thy teachers be hidden any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers; and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” (Isa. 30:20, 21, Am. Stan. Ver.) Jehovah is our all-wise Teacher and is the Source of all light, and our vision must be fixated upon him in teachableness. There must be no turning aside from this, but we are obliged to imitate Jesus’ example in always looking to God for guidance and instruction. We are therefore restrained from turning and looking to the many religious organizations about us for enlightenment and teaching. We must keep watch on Jehovah’s instructions through his unfolding Word and his Theocratic organization. We must be just like servants attentively watching the motion of their master’s hand in order to discern the indication of his will and we dare never tire of doing this. “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, 0 thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God.” And as we obey what he indicates to be his will by his hand of power, we will not care for the scorn and contempt that Christendom and other religionists heap upon us because we obey Jehovah God rather than men. Our deliverance is nigh.—Ps. 123:1-4.
88 The Lord God has set a straight road ahead of us that leads right on into the righteous new world of eternal life, and Christ Jesus the King now deflects through God’s Word the divine light down upon that road. The New world created by God’s perfect wisdom and power and ruled by his King is to the front of us. No looking behind for us, nor to either side, with any selfish longing! We might stumble. Our eyes are at the front of our head. “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right
36. How should we now treat and care for our spiritual eyes?
37. How should we look according to Isaiah 30:20 and Psalm 123?
38. In what direction and toward what should our eyes be fixed? hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” (Prov. 4:23-27) Deprived of guiding vision, the feet lead or stumble into evil.
38 There is great value in keeping our powers of vision always directed ahead upon the course before us and, at its end, the blessed prize held in reservation for all enduring down to the end and not turning aside. The apostle Paul knew that. So, near to the end of his course in this evil world, he said with unchangeable determination and a final burst of effort: “Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded.” (Phil. 3:13-15, Am. Stan. Ver.) The sight of what is at the end of the course beckons us forward. It renews our strength because of the joy that it infuses in us, joy that makes the road yet to be traversed not seem so hard or so long. In this manner Jesus finished his own hard course successfully ; wherefore it is written to us: “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:1, 2) To keep looking to him as our Trainer and Example and as the One that sets the pace for us in the strenuous course yet ahead of us means to finish with success and to fully realize the joy to which we steadfastly look forward.
40 As we thus press along in the one and only right way, we shall look with generosity upon the poor people in darkness and who hunger for the light of Kingdom truth. As we move about among them it 39. As shown by Paul and Christ Jesus, what value is there in keeping our visual powers directed ahead’
40. How did Jesus show us how to look upon the poor people today? is well for us to remember this: “He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.” (Prov. 22:9) Personally we do not have much of material bread to distribute, but we do have an abundance of spiritual food from God’s Word which has been made understandable to our hearts and minds. While such world hunger for truth exists, this is no time for the envious eye that begrudges God’s “meat in due season” to any people. Because they are left to hunger and starve by reason of the self-seeking, self-centered course of Christendom’s clergy the people are perishing without a vision of God’s kingdom of salvation now at hand. Our Leader Christ Jesus looked with compassion upon the spiritually neglected people and at times he fed them with natural food, but principally and regularly with heavenly bread. He did not hide his face from them in order not to be disturbed by the sight of their condition. He took note of their needy state and dealt bountifully toward them, not sparing himself. For this he has won and will yet win the blessings of multitudes without number. It will be as the proverb says: “He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.”—Prov. 28: 27.
11 By copying today our Master’s bounteous course toward the poor and by imparting to them the bread by which we have been so well fed and nourished, we shall show we do not despise their Maker, Jehovah God, and we shall be certain of His blessing, in addition to any blessings from the poor we serve with food. Thus fed, their eyes will be enlightened and will be able to discern God’s kingdom and the presence of his King in power. “As the Scripture says, ‘They who have never been told of him will see, and they who have never heard will understand.’ ” (Rom. 15:21, An Amer. Trans.) Let the people have the light to see, that their eyes may be blessed!
41. How can we help the eyes of the people to become blessed?
JEHOVAH’S STANDARD
NEARLY twenty-seven centuries ago an inspired prophet, looking down to our day, declared: “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” (Isa. 59:19) The nations of heathendom and so-called “Christendom” have their standards, but what is this standard that the spirit of Jehovah God lifts up against the enemy?
The prophet inspired to speak as above, Isaiah, lived in the days of the second world power of history, Assyria, when its king Sennacherib came down and laid siege against the holy city Jerusalem. The Assyrians had standards for their besieging forces, and concerning this The International Bible Dictionary says: “The Assyrian standards were
AGAINST THE ENEMY
emblematic of their religion, and were therefore the more valuable as instruments for leading and guiding men in the army. The forms were imitations of animals, emblems of deities, and symbols of power and wisdom. Many of them were crude, but others were highly artistic and of great cost. The Egyptian standards were designed in the same idea as those of the Romans, exhibiting some sacred emblem, or a god in the form of an animal, a group of victory, or the king’s name or his portrait as of lower and of upper Egypt, or an emblematic sign.” It was therefore but natural that the Assyrian, Egyptian and Roman hosts treated these standards with reverence and struck religious attitudes toward them.
That such practice harks back to the time of Babylon founded by Nimrod is confirmed by a published report that reads: “A few years ago in northern India, Sir John Marshall, head of the archaeological service of the government of India, discovered two abandoned cities; one at a site now called Mohenjo-Daro, the other at Harappa, cities which are believed to have thrived about 3,500 B.C. and which were in close contact with the earliest civilizations of Babylonia. Among the objects found in the former city was a seal, used to sign documents, depicting a procession of seven men carrying square standards, held aloft on poles like modern flags. These ancient ‘flags’ were not made of cloth but were rigid solids, like boards.”
National flags or emblems traceable to such origin in demon-worship could have .nothing to do with Jehovah’s standard. There is no Scriptural evidence that the Theocratic nation of Israel used such national standards in their warfare against enemies, and certainly they did no obeisance toward them. The covenant of Israel with God forbade worship of birds, animals, sun, moon, stars, human creations of any kind, and images or emblems of these things or any other thing. (Ex. 20:4, 5; Deut. 4:15-19) The abhorrence of the Israelites to national standards or emblems is instanced in the days of Pontius Pilate. Concerning this instance McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopedia, Volume VIII, page 200, says:
“One of Pilate’s first acts was to remove the headquarters of the army from Csesarea to Jerusalem. The soldiers of course took with them their standards, bearing the image of the emperor, into the Holy City. Pilate had been obliged to send them in by night, and there were no bounds to the rage of the people on discovering what had thus been done. They poured down in crowds to Caesarea, where the procurator was then residing, and besought him to remove the images. After five days of discussion he gave the signal to some concealed soldiers to surround the petitioners and put them to death unless they ceased to trouble him; but this only strengthened their determination, and they declared themselves ready rather to submit to death than forego their resistance to an idolatrous innovation Pilate then yielded, and the standards were by his orders brought down to Csesarea. No previous governor had ventured on such an outrage. Herod the Great, it is true, had placed the Roman eagle on one of his new buildings; but this had been followed by a violent outbreak, and the attempt had not been repeated.”
…