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    The Watchtower, July 15, 1949

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    The Watchtower—1949

    Published Semimonthly By

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

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    N. H. Knorr, President Grant Suites, Secretary

    “And all thy children shall be taught 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 man, 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 power 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 will 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

    THIS journal Is published for the purpose of enabling the people to know Jehovah God and his purposes as expressed in the Bible. It publishes Bible instruction specifically designed to aid Jehovah’s witnesses and all people of good-will. It arranges systematic Bible study for its readers and the Society supplies other literature to aid in such studies. It publishes suitable material for radio 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 Sutaorlter*.' Aemtttanoee 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 of 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.

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    ALL SINCERE STUDENTS OF THE BIBLE who by reason of Infirmity, poverty or adversity are unable 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 Is required by the postal regulations.

    Printed In the United States of America

    Entered as second-class matter at the poet office at Brooklyn, N, T., under the Act of March S, 1879.

    “PATIENCE MEANT FOR SALVATION” TESTIMONY PERIOD

    Here is a special opportunity for all our Watchtower readers, a time to join with hundreds of thousands of others throughout all nations in telling to others the good news of God’s kingdom that you have learned through the Scripture publications of the Watchtower Society. This opportunity is the “Patience Meant for Salvation" Testimony Period during the entire month of August. Think how much patience God had to exercise until his gospel of salvation was accepted by you, and then know that your taking part in the telling of it out to others means not only making your salvation sure but also salvation to others who hear you and accept. This Testimony Period schedules as an offer to the people any bound book and any four booklets, on their contribution of 50c. That is a very inviting offer. Will you be presenting it! Many Watchtower readers will be taking up this salvation publicity work for the first time during August. Our services are available to help all such. Apply to us for what help you need, be it territory, references, supplies, or instructions. As this month closes the 1949 service year, we want a report from all taking part in this special Testimony, either directly or indirectly. We count on you.

    “WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

    Week of August 28; “The Sign that Messiah Is Present," fl 1-19 inclusive, The Watchtower July 15, 1949.

    Week of September 4: “The Sign that Messiah Is Present,” fl 20-32 inclusive, also “I.ike Lightning and Noah’s Days,” fl 1-11 inclusive, The Watchtower July 15, 1949.

    “AWAKE!”

    This magazine stepped into the field of public service at the Glad Nations Theocratic Assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in August of 1946, and is published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc. It answers the rousing call for fearless information, not because we have entered the atomic age, but because the world is fast asleep near the brink of that universal war Scrip-turally called “Armageddon” and lovers of life in security need to be awakened to the real sense of the news and the pressing issues upon which to decide. Awake I is aimed to help them make a right decision that leads to life unending in the now-close New World of righteousness. It is a magazine of 32 pages devoted to news and information of world import, gained from world-wide sources. Its make-up is of fine appearance. Its leading articles, without compromise toward commercialism, polities and religion, present the straight facts, without fear to publish the plain truth. Much variety of interest is also provided in shorter articles of educational and instructive value. Under the heading “Thy Word Is Truth", each number of Awake! offers a moderate-length discussion of Bible teachings of importance. A final section, headed “Watching the World”, makes note of the latest world news before going to press and gives the pith of ail news items, uncolored, undistorted, concise. Awake! is published on the 8th and 22d of each month. A year’s subscription of 24 issues is $1, American money; individual copy, 5c; mailed anywhere.

    SfeWfCfflCWER

    ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH’S KINGDOM

    Vol. LXX

    July 15, 1949

    No. 14

    THE SIGN THAT MESSIAH IS PRESENT

    "For just as the days of Noah, so will be the presence of the Son of Man." —Matt. 24:37, Rotherham; Young.

    JEHOVAH’S time has come for the creation of a new and righteous world. With this end in view he has taken his power to reign over the earth and has set up his Theocratic Government with his promised Messiah as King. For thousands of years the earth has been ruled by a succession of devilish, beastly political governments, Jehovah’s name has been blasphemed, his supremacy challenged and denied, and mankind greatly oppressed and debased. Now His own appointed time has come to make a change for the sake of his own glory and the blessing of all men of good-will. After millenniums of misrule the crisis that was certain to come has come. This crisis exposes the weaknesses, imperfections and corruption of the world-organization and puts it on judgment before all creation. The almighty God of righteousness has already doomed it to destruction. Shortly he will destroy it. His power to do so is not limited, and the global flood that he brought in Noah’s day to wipe out the then “world of the ungodly” is a historical illustration of what he will do to the present ungodly world. It can not escape its foretold destruction, but the situation is not entirely hopeless for the people. A new world of righteousness stands at the door for all people of good-will. The establishment of God’s kingdom of absolute power guarantees the early entry of that glorious new world. Since these things are so and can be proved, it denotes that the second presence of the Messiah is here 1

    2 The Messiah is the Chief Son of God, but he is also called “the Son of man”. In ancient prophecy he was called such, and this pointed forward to the time this heavenly Son of God would become a man. No, he would not just appear to be a man by incarnating his spiritual body, by materializing a human body and making himself visible to men for a while as holy angels had done prior to then. But he would really become a man, yes, a Son of man, by being born to a woman as a member of the human race, thus becoming a son of mankind. But though born of a virgin woman, he would derive his life from Jehovah God and would be a Son of God, the same Son of God that

    1 Why Is not the situation entirely hopeless for people today? 2, 3. What did being called "the Son of man" mean for Messiah?

    he had been in heaven but with a different body and form for the time being. This required first his laying aside his spiritual body and all the heavenly glory and power connected with it, that he might be truly a perfect man, the equal of Adam who in his Edenic perfection was called “Adam, the son of God”. —Luke 1: 35; 3: 38, Rev. Stan. Ver.

    s If we compare the heavenly and the earthly, this was a great humiliation for him, for even perfect man is made a “little lower than the angels”. Just the same, in order to serve God’s righteous purposes, this Chief Son of His was willing to humble himself to this extent, even though he well knew in advance that it meant his going down into a seemingly disgraceful death as a man. “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” —Phil. 2: 6-8, Rev. Stan. Ver.

    * In the leading articles of the last preceding issue of The Watchtower we learned that the purpose of this humiliation even to a terrible death as a man was twofold. First of all, it was to vindicate the supremacy of Jehovah God who sent him to earth, because this Son of man would exalt Jehovah and would keep faithful to His universal sovereignty in the face of death and would thus prove his right to the kingship in the coming kingdom of God. This kingdom for the vindication of Jehovah God was the thing of greatest importance. Secondly, the coming of the Son of God and his dying was that he might furnish a ransom sacrifice for mankind, to relieve them of the condemnation of sin and to open up to them the opportunity for eternal life in the righteous new world.

    5 By thus dying sacrificially he ceased forever to live as a man, for he never took back the humanity he had sacrificed as a ransom. But God did not leave his most faithful Son forever in the embrace of death.

    4. What was the twofold purpose of Messiah's first coming?

    5, 6. (a) In resurrection was he restored to manhood or spirithood, and how was he rewarded? (b) Why is he entitled "the Son of man’’’ 211

    No, only for three days. He was too precious to lose to God’s universe. Also, why should he prove his right to the heavenly kingdom and then never have life to enjoy the Kingdom power? Such a faithful course as his properly called for the grandest reward that Almighty God could give him and that God had promised him. He had emptied himself of all things heavenly so as to come down and be born a perfect man. The reward called for, no, not just the heavenly life rights and position he had had before humbling himself to be made flesh and blood. A reinstatement in what he had before would not be a reward, but would be simple justice. A reward would be to exalt him higher than he ever was before and to enlarge his life-rights by conferring a deathless nature, immortality, incorruptibility. So the Most High God exalted the faithful Son by raising him from death a glorious spirit creature, with the power of an endless life in heaven, and to a loftier heavenly station, next to that of the Supreme God himself.

    6 Before then mankind had not prayed to God in the name of his Son Jesus Christ or bowed their knees in prayer to Him in His Son’s name or confessed this Son as their Lord or Master. But now, due to the Son’s exaltation above his previous heavenly position, all of humanldnd that want eternal life must do so. Testifying to such an exaltation as his reward, the Scripture goes on to say: “That is why God has so greatly exalted him, and given him the name above all others, so that in the name of Jesus everyone should kneel, in heaven and on earth and in the underworld, and everyone should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, and thus glorify God the Father.” (Phil. 2: 9-11, An Amer. Trans.) Despite this exaltation he still bears the title “the Son of man”. Not that he still has his humanity in heaven (an impossibility I), but that he earned this title by his faithful, loving course. It serves to identify him as the One and only One that took such a course. Divine prophecy gave him such a title long before his human birth, and in the fulfilling of all such prophecy the title applies to him. Rather than a humiliation, the title calls to mind how he won his exaltation.

    DEMANDED

    7 Before ascending to heaven to enter in upon his exalted state the Son of man comforted his loyal disciples with the assurance that he would come again. The foregoing paragraphs, and all the argument in the preceding articles of this series, make it plain that, when he comes again, he does so in the spirit and hence his second presence must be unseen to men. This time he comes in glory, and not to humiliate himself again in human form. Human eyes could not therefore expect to see directly what Daniel's

    1. 8, How did Daniel see him coming, and how do we see It now? prophecy foretold concerning his coming. No more than our eyes could expect to see Jehovah God himself on his heavenly throne. The prophetic dream that Daniel had showed first the times of Gentile rule of the earth by beastly political governments, particularly domineering world powers or empires. When the time of permission for them to govern the earth without divine interruption runs out, the hour arrives for the Eternal God to judge them as to how they have ruled mankind and to execute the judgment he hands down. Opening up the eyes of our understanding to see things we could never behold with the naked human eye, Daniel's prophecy describes this critical moment in the history of these beastly world powers, saying:

    * “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn [of the fourth beast] spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and' given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”—Dan. 7:9-14.

    ’ Mark that coming of the Son of man into his kingdom. That denotes the time of his second coming and therefore the beginning of his second presence or parousia. About seventy years before Daniel had this dream in Babylon the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem had been the location of Jehovah’s typical temple and where the kings of David’s line had sat “on the throne of Jehovah” as His representatives. But before the destruction of Jerusalem and the overthrow of the active powers of the king of David’s line, Jehovah God inspired his prophet Ezekiel to say to the doomed king: “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Remove the mitre, and take off the crown; this shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no 9. What does that coming of the Son of man mark in our time? more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”—Ezek. 21: 26, 27, Am. Stan. Ver.

    10 At the first coming of Christ Jesus, the Son of David, he came to prove his right to the kingdom that had been overturned back there at Jerusalem’s first destruction. So when God bestows upon him the Kingdom "power to which he has a right and he thus enters upon the Kingdom, this means his second coming and the start of his second presence. The conferment of the Kingdom upon him must be when the “seven times” of uninterrupted Gentile domination of the earth expire, such symbolical “seven times” beginning with the overturning of the active kingdom power in 607 B.C. at Jerusalem’s destruction. Elsewhere we have abundantly proved that those Gentile times ended A.D. 1914.* That date therefore marks the time of his second coming and the beginning of his second parousia or presence. If so, then, you will say, there ought to be a sign. There is, and divine prophecy described it for us long in advance.

    11 Jesus foretold a second destruction of Jerusalem, this time by Rome’s armies in the year 70. After foretelling it, this took place: “And when he is sitting on the mount of the Olives, the disciples came near to him by himself, saying, ‘Tell us, When shall these be? and what is the sign of thy presence, and of the full end of the age?’ ” (Matt. 24: 3, Young) That question was raised respecting his second presence. Please, note that the disciples linked it with the end of this world. Their asking a sign of him was because they accepted him as Messiah the King. Hence it was not for the same reason that the Jewish religionists who did not accept him as such asked for a sign. Repeatedly in public, in their hearing, Jesus had referred to himself as “the Son of man”. To the Jewish religious leaders this was the same as saying he was the Messiah, because this title stirred up in their minds Daniel’s prophecy about the delivery of the Kingdom to the Son of man. With this in mind they asked a certain sign, as we read at Matthew 16:1-4: “Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up and, in order to tempt him, asked him to show them a Sign from heaven. He replied, ‘It is an evil and disloyal generation that craves a Sign, and no Sign shall be given to it except the Sign of Jonah.’ Then he left them and went away.”—Moffatt; Mark 8:11-13.

    13 What was this “sign from heaven” that they asked of him? It was not the marvelous miracles he had been performing among them. It was the appearing of the Son of man coming “with the clouds of heaven”, as described by Daniel. According to the Jewish Talmud, the tradition of the religious elders

    * See “The Truth Shall Make You Free”, chapter 18. Also “The Kingdom Is at Sand” chapters 12 and 19,

    10. What date marks the time of that coming, and why?

    11, 12. (a) What sign did his disciples ask of him. and why? (b) What sign did religionists ask of him, and why improperly so? had declared such an appearance to be the only certain sign of the coming of the promised Heir to King David’s throne and the Deliverer of the Jewish nation. The selfishness of those religious leaders blinded them from seeing a first coming and presence of the Messiah and the necessary purpose of it. They confused the sign of his second coming with that of his first. So, because they did not then observe him coming with the clouds of heaven, they overlooked all the miracles he did and they rejected him as the Son of man, the Messiah. Jesus was anointed with God’s spirit and was the lone Representative among them of God’s kingdom, and so he said to them: “The kingdom of God is not coming in a way to attract attention, nor will they say, ‘Look, it is here!’ or, ‘there!’ for behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20,21, Spencer, Catholic) The One anointed to the Kingdom had already come, he was present, his first parousia was already in progress. But the blinded religionists did not discern or recognize the parousia or presence of the Kingdom Representative. In willful ignorance they asked for a sign from heaven, a sign which was not then due.

    13 But did not Jesus give them an outstanding sign predicted in prophecy which should have been sufficient proof that the Son of man had come and had been present among them? Yes, he did. What the convincing sign was we read about in this account: “And when the multitudes were gathering together unto him, he began to say, This generation is an evil generation: it seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For even as Jonah became a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.” (Luke 11:29, 30, 32, Am. Stan. Ver.) What was that sign of Jonah to be given in the case of Jesus as the Son of man? It was his death as a man and his resurrection to life as a divine spirit. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matt. 12:40, Am.Stan. Ver.)* After that the resurrection of Jesus, the antitypical Jonah, must be preached by his disciples, and his resurrection on the third day from the heart of the earth must be accepted as proof of his being the Son of man, the Messiah or Christ.

    14 The loyal apostles of Jesus recognized the first parousia or presence of the Son of man, the Messiah or Anointed One. It began with his being anointed

    • See the article “The Firstfruits of Resurrection”, in The Watchtower of March 15, 1944.

    13. What sign was given to that generation, and how?

    14, 15. When did Messiah's first presence begin, and get recognized? with God’s spirit right after his baptism in Jordan river A.D. 29. Daniel, who was used to foretell his coining with clouds and entering upon his active Kingdom power, was also used to foretell, yes, date, his first coming. Daniel 9:24-26 tells us: “Seventy weeks [of years] are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, ... to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks:.. . And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.”*

    15 John the Baptist witnessed the anointing of Jesus that made him “Messiah the Prince”. So he knew that the presence of the Christ had begun now. He knew it at least forty days ahead of other Jews, for first after Jesus returned from his temptation in the wilderness did John call the attention of his disciples to the Messiah with the words: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” The folio-wing day Andrew heard John call Jesus the Lamb of God and followed him and had a talk with him. Convinced of his discovery, “he first found his brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ).” Simon Peter became Jesus’ disciple and about three years later we hear his famous confession to Jesus: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 1:26-42, jRet;. Stan. Ver.; Matt. 16:16) Later, because Jesus told them that this first parousia of his would soon end by his going away to heaven to receive a kingdom for himself and then return, these apostles asked him in advance for the sign of his second presence.

    THE KINGDOM

    18 It is evident that his second coming coincides with his receiving the Kingdom and entering into its powers and duties. It is then that his second parousia starts. The apostle Peter links his second presence with his Kingdom power. In a second letter to Christians Peter refers to Jesus’ transfiguration upon a lofty mountain and says: “For not as having followed cleverly devised stories made we known unto you the power and presence! of our Lord Jesus

    * See the articles “Seventy Weeks” and “The Seventieth Week” in The Watchtower of December 1, 1946.

    t Telling why he here translated the Greek word parousia this way, Rotherham says in the Appendix of his translation, under the heading “Presence”: “In this edition the word parousia is uniformly rendered ‘presence’ (‘coming,’ as a representative of this word, being set aside). The original term occurs twenty-four times in the New Testament, . . . there is in 2 Peter 1:16 also a peculiar fitness in our English word ‘presence.’ This passage, it will be remembered, relates to our Lord’s transformation upon the Mount. The wonderful manifestation there made was a display and sample of ‘presence’ rather than of ‘coming.’ The Lord was 16. How does Peter link Messiah’s Kingdom power and parousiaf Christ, but as having been made spectators of his majesty. For when he received from God the Father honour and glory, a voice being borne to him such as this by the magnificent glory—My Son the beloved is this, in whom I delight, even this voice we heard when out of heaven it was borne, we being with him in the holy mount. And we have more firm the prophetic word.”—2 Pet. 1:16-19, Rotherham; Young.

    17 That such transfiguration scene represented his presence in Kingdom power is evidenced by Jesus’ own reference to it. After Peter’s confession of him as the Messiah the Son of God, Jesus said to his disciples: “Verily I say unto you, There are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” How do facts show this took place? The account goes on to say: “And after six days Jesus taketh with him [some of them; whom?] Peter, and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: and he was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Peter answered, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, I will make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, save Jesus only.” Jesus then told them it was a vision, saying: “Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead.” (Matt. 16: 28 to 17: 9, Am. Stan. Ver.) It was a prophetic vision, and Peter himself explains it was a foreview of the Kingdom “power and presence” of the Lord Jesus. This showed not only that he would then be glorious but that he would carry on works like those of Moses and Elijah.

    18 When before the Jewish Supreme Court on trial for his human life Jesus referred to his second comalready there; and, being there, he was transformed (compare Matthew 17:2, n.) and the ‘majesty’ of his glorified person was then disclosed. His bodily ‘presence’ was one which implied and exerted ‘power; so that ‘power and presence’ go excellently well together—the ‘power1 befitting such a ‘presence’; and the three favoured disciples were at one and the same moment witnesses of both. . . . The parousia, in any case, is still in the future, and may therefore be enshrouded in a measure of obscurity which only fulfilment can clear away; it may, in fine, be both a period,— more or less extended, during which certain things shall happen, —and an event, coming on and passing away as one of a series of divine interpositions.”—The Emphasised Bible, published in 1897, by Joseph B. Rotherham.

    17. How did some apostles see Messiah come In his kingdom?

    18. How did he tell the Jewish court his coming would take place? ing as the Messiah, the Son of man. He said it would take place as described by Daniel (7:13,14). This shows that his second coming finds its fulfillment in his coming into the Kingdom power. We read: “And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (Matt. 26: 63, 64; Luke 22: 66-70) Jesus’ application of Daniel’s prophecy to himself was the same as saying he was the Messiah, the Son of man that should in due time receive the universal kingdom from Jehovah God and come with its power. The malefactor that died on a tree alongside of Jesus may have had Daniel’s prophecy in mind when he said to Jesus: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”—Luke 23: 42.

    19 The generation of Jesus’ earthly days did not thus see him arriving in Kingdom power. But that generation was a prophetic illustration. It has its modern counterpart in our generation from A.D. 1914 forward. This generation is the one that sees the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven as foretold by Daniel, because in 1914, the year marking the end of the Gentile times, Jehovah God gave the Kingdom to him whose right it is.

    THE NEW WORLD NEAR

    20 The setting up of God’s kingdom in the hands of his Messiah imports that a new’ world is at hand. The establishment of a new universal government, God’s kingdom by Christ Jesus, is the prime requirement for the bringing in of a new world. That is why at the time it is established the cry rings out: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.” That is why, when the apostles asked Jesus for the sign of his coming and of the end of this world, they were really asking for the evidence of the establishment of the Kingdom as having taken place in the heavens.

    21 By all the pious utterances of the Vatican and the other religious organizations of Christendom people are deceived into thinking that at the time God’s kingdom by Christ takes power the nations, especially the nations of Christendom, would rejoice and thank God and at once yield over their earthly sovereignty to his Christ. But the hypocrisy of the religious systems of Christendom and of the so-called “Christian nations” is sliowm in that just the opposite takes place. Jesus forewarned that it would be so. In the Revelation, or Apocalypse, he said that those who really worshiped Jehovah God and looked for his 19. How was the generation of Jesus’ earthly days prophetic?

    20 What does the Kingdom's establishment mean as to the world?

    21. How does Christendom act at its establishment, as foretold? Government would say: “We give thanks to thee, Lord God almighty, who art and who wast, that thou hast taken thy great power and begun to reign.” But as for the nations of earth at this assuming of divine power Jesus the Revelator went on to say: “The nations raged, but thy wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding thy servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear thy name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”—Rev. 11:15-18, Rev. Stan. Ver.

    22 The very fact that this rage of the nations breaks loose at the setting up of divine government for the earth constitutes part of the sign asked for. It occurred right at the end of the Gentile domination of all the earth, uninterrupted for the preceding 2,520 years. This fact shows that such rage is evidence that the end of the world has come and the presence of the Son of man in Kingdom power has begun. Who were the nations that broke into a rage over world domination at the end of those Gentile times A.D. 1914! First of all, the nations of Christendom ; and most of them joined in before World War I ended. All the religious systems lined up with their sides and prayed blessings upon their respective nations, the actions of the Vatican being so notoriously in favor of Germany and Austria that by the treaty of London of 1915 between Italy, Russia, France and Britain the pope was barred from any part in the peace negotiations. That this outburst of the nations at the predicted time was the opening part of the sign, Jesus plainly declared. After casually passing over the wars and rumors of wars prior to the world’s end and his presence in Kingdom power, he then said: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matt. 24:7,8) This war was stirred up, not by God, but by Satan the Devil as an act of opposition to the Kingdom’s establishment. The fulfillment of this prophecy exactly on time is proof that Messiah, the Son of man, came into Kingdom power A.D.T914 and that this constitutes his second coming and the beginning of his second parousia or presence.

    “THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN IN HEAVEN”

    28 Then the features of the “sign” began to increase. In this prophecy on the world’s end and his own presence Jesus shows the sign means his receiving his rightful Kingdom power, by quoting Daniel’s prophecy. He does so in these words: “And then shall appear the sign [of whom!] of the Son of man [where!] in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man

    22. What does this rage of the nations right on tim* prove?

    23. With whose prophecy did Jesus link the sign of him in heaven? coining in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24: 30, 31) What is that sign of the Son of man that appears in heaven?

    !‘We do not resort to guessing here, but turn to the explanatory Scriptures. That sign is the birth of the Kingdom in the heavens, when Jehovah God brought forth the Son of man from his Theocratic organization (his “woman”) and enthroned him as the rightful King to rule for Jehovah God his Father. The birth of the Kingdom took place A.D. 1914, followed by the rage of the nations. Yet it was not until 1925, or about eleven years after the beginning of sorrows had started and the days of tribulation had begun upon Satan’s world-organization, that God revealed this sign to his faithful people, his witnesses on earth. He did so by making clear to their eyes of understanding the fulfillment of Revelation, chapter twelve, which speaks of the sign in heaven.*

    25 The description reads: “And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems. ... the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child. And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. And there was war in heaven."

    28 That meant that God’s kingdom by the Son of man had been born and that the end of Satan the Dragon’s world was not far off. No question about it, for the result of that war in heaven was that Satan and all his demon organization were forced out of heaven and down to the earth. At this the announcement pealed forth in heaven: “Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is east down, who accuseth them before our God day and night.... Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.” (Rev. 12:1-5,7-12, Am.Stan.Ver.) No sane person will deny that that means the full end of Satan’s world-organization with all its nations is but a short time off. However, the birth of the new Government and its victory offsets the woe that the defeated

    * See the article “Birth of The Nation”, in The Watchtower of March 1, 1925,

    24. 25. What Is that sign? When and how was It revealed?

    26 What did the man child’s birth mean for us and Satan’s world? Satan brings upon earth and sea, for it means that a righteous new world of life, joy and peace is also not far off.

    22 If we rejoice at the birth of God’s kingdom by Christ, we cannot also mourn for the nations and the disastrous end that is coming upon them. At the right time, as Jesus foretold, all the nations and tribes of the earth are mourning. They are not rejoicing with us now. Why is it? Do they see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory? Certainly they are having their attention called to it. How? By God’s elect. The main purpose of the long interval between Christ’s first parousia and his second is to take out the full number of His elect or those chosen for the heavenly kingdom with Christ. At the end of the world there is, of course, only a remnant still on earth of the entire number of elect ones. Jesus prophesied that for the sake of preserving this remnant yet in the flesh the days of tribulation on the Devil’s world-organization would be shortened. During the interruption by which the tribulation is shortened, from A.D. 1918 till the battle of Armageddon where the great tribulation is renewed and finished, this remnant in all parts of the earth must be gathered together into a unified organization.

    28 This gathering”of the remnant of the elect has been going on since 1918 “from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”. It has been going on, so Jesus assures us, under the direction of his angels. (Matt. 13:39-43) You have not seen any angels? Of course, you have not, because those angels are spirits, and you can no more see them than you can see Christ Jesus during his second presence. But this does not disprove that they are doing the gathering work under the direction of the present Son of man. And just as you do not see the angels with your naked eyes, so you do not hear a literal trumpet sounding a loud blast. But you do hear what that “trumpet” symbolizes, namely, the Bible message about the end of the world, the setting up of the Kingdom, the parousia of the Son of man, and the approach of the battle of Armageddon for the vindication of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty. (Ps. 47:2-5) It is the message by which the remnant of the elect, and all their associates of good-will, are gathered to the great Signal, the Kingdom. As it was prophesied: ‘When a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, hark!” (Isa. 18:3, An Amer. Trans.) The going forth of such an assembly message, and the resulting gathering and unifying of the remnant of God’s elect from all quarters of the globe, is a prominent part of the sign betokening the invisible presence of the Son of man with all his angels.

    27. How are nations having the sign in heaven called to notice?

    23. How is the gathering of the elect and companions carried on9

    THE WITNESSING TO THE NATIONS

    29 The sounding of this message like a trumpet and the assembling of Christ’s anointed followers could not take place without their knowing he is here, though unseen. His disciples knew of his presence at his first advent, and this fact must hold true regarding his second presence. Ever since The Watchtower was published in 1879 its readers were instructed that the second parousia of our Lord would be unseen, in the spirit. Hearing such a message, they could not be expected to keep quiet about it. In fact, they are under divine command to tell it out to others. The very purpose of gathering them into an organized unity world-wide is that they may combine their forces in giving a testimony concerning God’s kingdom by Christ, the Government established in 1914. That this witness to the Kingdom in operation must fake place during his parousia Jesus prophesied, and his prophecy is in effect a command: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14) This witness to all nations has been given and continues to be given by an increasing number of Jehovah's witnesses particularly since 1920*, and all the fury of Nazism, Fascism, Communism and World War II has been unable to halt it or even decrease it. Why? Because Jesus' prophetic command must be obeyed. This increasing mt-ness internationally to God’s established kingdom forms a telling part of the “sign” of his presence, and it is so mighty a part that it cannot be hid.

    30 This furnishes eloquent proof that the enthroned Son of man is now ruling in the midst of his enemies. Since A.D. 1914 the nations have raged over the issue of world domination. They have vainly imagined they could block the triumph of the Kingdom that was born that year. God’s wrath is upon them, and rightly so, for they do not heed the witness to the Kingdom

    • See the article “Gospel of the Kingdom”, in The Watchtower of July 1, 1920, page 199, paragraph 7.

    29 . To fulfill what part of the sign are they gathered?

    30 Where does this prove he Is present and ruling with a rod? but persecute His witnesses. To his resurrected Son Christ Jesus, the apostles Peter and Paul apply Psalm 110, which declares: “Jehovah saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” He did sit there until A.D. 1914. Then the next verse of the Psalm goes into fulfillment: “Jehovah will send forth the rod of thy strength out of Zion: Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” (Ps. 110:1,2, Am. Stan. Ver.) The very fact that he must rule in the midst of his enemies proves that he must be present, that his parousia must be in effect among such enemies from the time he began ruling in 1914 until he destroys them at the battle of Armageddon, as Psalm 110:5, 6 foretells.

    31 Psalm Two also showed that, once enthroned on the governmental seat of Zion, Jehovah’s King must be present, reigning among raging nations, among peoples of vain imaginations, and among kings, rulers, and judges all combined in a world-wide conspiracy. But how is the presence of Zion’s King made manifest if he is a glorious divine spirit? Why, by his defending and maintaining the cause of his loyal subjects upon earth; yes, by his having them preach this gospel of his established kingdom to all nations for a ■witness; and by his promoting on earth the true and pure worship of Jehovah. The King is Jehovah’s High Priest, to whom he says: “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” And the glorified Jesus is like Melchizedek in being both a King and Priest upon his throne.—Ps. 110: 4; Acts 2: 34; Heb. 5:5,6; 10:12,13.

    S2 The evidence is overwhelming, therefore, that Christ Jesus the King-Priest is present, ruling among his enemies before he dashes them to pieces with the “iron rod” of his power at the battle of Armageddon. There they will mourn as never before I All this is proof, too, that the time of his coming corresponds with the time of his entering into the Kingdom and directing his attention to his enemies at the earth. Let all his friends rejoice!

    31 . His ruling now among his enemies Is how shown?

    32 With what, therefore, does his coming coincide?

    LIKE LIGHTNING

    SOME Bible students may still have trouble and say: ‘But a lightning flash takes place in the fraction of a second, and so how can a presence of Christ be likened to a lightning flash? Does this not prove that parousia should correctly be translated here coming T These questions refer to Jesus’ prophecy on the sign of the world’s end and of his parousia at Matthew 24:27. And so we answer by quoting Rotherham’s translation of the verse: “For just as the lightning goeth forth from the east and shineth

    AND NOAH’S DAYS

    unto the west, so shall be the presence of the Son of Man.” With this the translations by Young and in The Emphatic Diaglott and in the margin of the American Standard Version agree. The likeness between the lightning and the parousia is not with respect to the instantaneousness with which the lightning flashes. It is with respect to how it shines and is seen.

    1 Jesus’ words leading up to this comparison show this. In those words he warns his disciples against men who would pretend to be visible Christs or to produce visible Christs. After telling that the days of tribulation upon Satan’s world-organization would be cut short for the sake of God’s elect remnant, he adds: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you beforehand. If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe it not.” Why not? “For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the presence of the Son of man.”—Matt. 24: 23-27, Am. Stan. Ver., marginal reading.

    1 What did Jesus Uken to lightning, and In what respect?

    2. In leading up to this likeness, what warning did he give?

    8 That is to say, the actuality of the parousia of the returned Son of man is not to be kept secret and will not be hid from general public knowledge. So, should any men since 1918 say to us that Christ is visibly present and they know where he is; and, if we will come with them into the deserted wilderness or into some inner chambers, they will show him to us, they are deceivers. We should not believe them. The reason why is that Jesus does not confine the knowledge and spiritual vision of his presence to a lonely wilderness or to the inner chambers of some conspirators or some spiritistic seance. That would not be like lightning flashing with a roar from heaven. No man can confine the flashing light of lightning from heaven to a wilderness or to inner chambers or laboratories. No; people from east to west, from horizon to horizon, see the lightning flash. Likewise Jesus would not let the light of his second presence be kept secret to a few in a wilderness or in inner chambers. The evidences of his parousia as above described become dazzling bright to all mankind. True, the remnant of God’s elect at the world’s end read the Sign aright and first discern that the Son of man is here in Kingdom glory and power. But they are not allowed to keep that knowledge and spiritual vision to themselves in their homes or Kingdom Halls. “Fear them [the ridiculers] not therefore : for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house tops.”—Matt. 10 : 26, 27.

    * Jehovah’s witnesses have fearlessly obeyed this command during this time of the royal parousia of His Son Jesus Christ. In harmony with the full title that this magazine bore down till its issue of December 15,1938, “The Watchtower and Herald of Christ’s Presence,” Jehovah’s witnesses have advertised with all the powers and means at their command that the 3. How, then, must his presence be like the lightning?

    4. How has the flashing like that of lightning been accomplished? Gentile times ended in 1914 and that then the Son of man became present in the Kingdom as royal Representative of the Supreme Sovereign, Jehovah God. Since 1919 they have distributed this message by means of booklets and books in the enormous quantity of more than half a billion copies, in upward of eighty-eight languages, in practically all the nations. This distribution has been supplemented by hundreds of millions of free tracts, advertising handbills and magazines, by hundreds of thousands of free public lectures, by other lectures over hundreds of radio stations on paid-for time, and by house-to-house proclamation and free home-Bible-study courses carried on by hundreds of thousands of Jehovah’s witnesses acting as Kingdom publishers. From east to west people have been reached by this publicity work in many languages, and by this they have been enlightened about Jehovah’s Theocratic Government by Christ Jesus. They have had their eyes opened to his invisible presence in regal power. The reigning King is responsible for it. So the prophecy will continue to undergo fulfillment down to the battle of Armageddon that “as the lightning, that lightened out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day”.—Luke 17: 24.

    “AS IN THE DAYS THAT WERE BEFORE THE FLOOD”

    8 That the event designated as his parousia would last over a period longer than the moment of a lightning flash or than a 24-hour day, Jesus himself explained. Mark these words of his: “For just as the days of Noah, so will be the presence of the Son of Man; for as they were in those days that were before the flood feeding and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark; and they observed not until the flood came and took away all together, so will be the presence of the Son of Man.”—Matt. 24:37-39, Rotherham; Young; Diaglott.

    8 Now compare this with Jesus’ words on the same subject, recorded at Luke 17:26, 27 (Am. Stan. Ver.): “And as it came to pass in the days of Noah, even so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” Jesus certified that his presence would be like Noah’s days. The “days of Noah” would mean the time of his presence, more particularly when he was given the advance notice of the end of the “world that then was”. His days of possessing the knowledge of the coming end of the world extended into many years, likely forty or fifty years. For when Noah was

    5. How did Jesus show his parousia would be for many days? 6. What were the “days of Noah” to which his parousia Is like? first notified of God’s purpose to destroy that ungodly world and was commanded to build the ark of safety, he had three married sons. Noah became father to all three sons during the last hundred years before the flood. By the time all three grew up and married according to customs of those days, about fifty or sixty years could well have elapsed. Then, when Noah was told to build the ark and take them all inside, they joined him in building it. (Gen. 5:32; 6:18; 7: 6; 11:10) So they built that ark in the time of the end of that old world. This indicates that “the days of the Son of man” would run over a period of years at the end of this world. Not strange, then, that today we find ourselves thirty-five years from when he came into his kingdom at the end of the Gentile times in 1914.

    7 Those days of Noah’s presence at building the ark lasted for some years at least. Then there came one particular day, a D-day. That day the predicted flood came and it swept away all the people outside the ark. When Noah started bringing in all the animals a week before the flood, the people in general did not know the day or the hour that the flood would break. But God was guiltless in the matter. He did not leave them without advance notice of the coming of the flood, but raised up Noah, “a preacher of righteousness.” (2 Pet. 2: 5) They knew Noah was present building an ark. They heard his preaching of the end of their world. But they went on eating, drinking, indulging in marriage, building and planting for an uninterrupted future during a continuing old world. Their not knowing at the time that the deluge poured in upon them was due to their own willful ignorance. Their blood was on their own pates.

    8 Now Jesus said that the “days of the Son of man” in his second presence would be like Noah’s in those same respects. His presence has already extended over 12,706 days, but sometime there will come a day. We do not know the day nor do we know the hour of that day when the event corresponding to the flood

    7. Who was responsible for the people's not knowing, and why?

    8. Who now knows the day and hour of the world catastrophe? will break forth and it will destroy the “heavens and the earth which are now”. Jesus said we would not know the exact time of that world catastrophe. He stated: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Back there not even Jesus himself knew. Evidently he knows now.—Matt. 24: 35, 36; Mark 13: 31, 32.

    ’ Peter compares this end of the world with that of the antediluvian world and declares that the worldly people will perish in their willful ignorance at the battle of Armageddon. “There will come in the last of the days with scoffing scoffers, after their own covetings going on and saying—Where is the promise of his presence 1 For since the fathers fell asleep all things thus remain from the beginning of creation. For this they wilfully forget—that there were heavens from of old and an earth on account of water and by means of water compacted by God’s word,— by which means the world that then was with water being flooded perished; while the heavens and the earth that now are by the same word have been stored with fire, being kept unto the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly men.”—2 Pet. 3: 3-7, Rotherham.

    10 Their ignorance in which they perish will be willful, because Christ Jesus, the Greater Noah, has raised up preachers of righteousness, and during all these years of his presence these have called attention to his parousia and the end of the world. But like the antediluvians, the mass of mankind go on with their eating, drinking, marrying, building and planting, not taking Jehovah’s witnesses and their message seriously. They attach no significance to all features of the sign that the Messiah is here.

    11 But further features of the parousia of the Son of man and also his appearing and revelation we must leave for the next succeeding issue of The Watchtower to take up.

    9. How did Peter foretell that men would scoff, and why so?

    10, 11. Why Is the ignorance In which they will perish willful?

    NEBUCHADNEZZAR, DEMON-WORSHIPER MANEUVERED BY JEHOVAH

    NEBUCHADNEZZAR was a demon-worshiper. The meaning of his name includes the name of a Babylonian god, “Nebo is protector against misfortune.” He named his son and successor to the Babylonian throne after another pagan god, calling his offspring “Evil-Mero-dach”. His court was attended by heathen priests, his utterances glorify demon-worship, his building works include many sanctuaries to pagan gods, and his personality was of a decidedly religious turn. Yet of him Jehovah God says, using a variation of his name: “Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant.” How could this be?

    Jehovah God used Nebuchadnezzar as an instrument to execute judgment against backsliding Judah. Nebuchadnezzar’s father, Nabopolassar, founded the Babylonian empire as the third world power when he rebelled from Assyria, and years later the son Nebuchadnezzar overthrew the Assyrian capital Nineveh and smashed the Egyptian armies at Carchemish under Pharaoh-necho. Upon news of his father’s death, Nebuchadnezzar hastened back to Babylon to ascend the throne. This was in the year 625 B.C. In 618 B.C. he subdued Jerusalem and carried many captives to Babylon, after putting to death the revolting vassal-king,

    Jehoiakim. He also removed King Jehoiachin, and set Zede-kiah upon the throne. The latter’s rebellion in his ninth year as king once again brought on a siege of the city by the Babylonians, and, in 607 B.C., the city’s fall and desolation, looting of the temple, and captivity of its inhabitants. In wreaking this work of destruction and desolation Nebuchadnezzar is used as Jehovah’s executioner, to punish Judah for its backsliding into demonism.—See 2 Ki. 24:1-25:21; 2 Chron. 36: 5-13; Jer. 21:1-10; 22: 18, 19, 24-28; 25:1-11; 39:1-9; 46:1-12; 52:1-15.

    In other military operations Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Tyre and invaded Egypt to defeat Pharaoh-hophra. (Jer. 43: 8-13; 44:1, 11-14, 24-30; Ezek. 26: 7; 29:18-20; 30:10) After conquests he pursued the policy of shifting populations and using slave labor; and it is with such labor forces that much of his construction work was effected. He built the massive wall of Babylon, a magnificent palace, hanging gardens to please his Median wife Amytis, or Amuhia, temples and sanctuaries, a huge reservoir near Sippara for irrigation, canals across the land, quays and breakwaters on the Persian gulf, and the huge image on the plains of Dura to which the three faithful Hebrew captives refused to bow down.—Dan. 3:1-30.

    But Nebuchadnezzar never turned from his worship of demon gods, not even when Jehovah the true God delivered the three Hebrews that he caused to be cast into the fiery furnace. Through him Jehovah made known prophetic dreams that were interpreted by Daniel, dreams that indicated the earth-wide rulership that was to come to Christ’s kingdom and that marked the length of the Times of the Gentiles. In the latter one, Nebuchadnezzar is shown to be the victim of a madness due to his pride, and fancied himself an inferior animal. In the wildness that followed in fulfillment he ate grass with the oxen.—Dan. 2:1-49; 4:1-37.

    …