The Watchtower, November 15, 1968

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The Watchtower — November 15, 1968

Source: jw.org

Contents

God’s Provision for Blessing Mankind

The Bible and Egyptian History

The Happiness of the “Nation Whose God Is Jehovah”

Reasons for National Happiness

The Rebirth of the Happy Nation

A Drummer Becomes a Happy Witness

Jehovah God, My Hope and Trust

Questions From Readers

Announcements

God’s Provision for Blessing Mankind

HOW loving the provision that Jehovah has made through his Son for blessing persons of all races and nations! He has promised deliverance from oppression, sin and death. What a glorious prospect! But how can such a marvelous deliverance be realized? How will God bless mankind?

It is vital for us to appreciate that these blessings will come to mankind only through Jesus Christ. For this reason, God inspired the apostle Peter to say of Jesus: “There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.” (Acts 4:12) By gaining accurate knowledge of this provision and by exercising faith in God’s purpose in connection with Christ, you may put yourself in line for the grand blessings of eternal life.

ANTICIPATION OF THE DELIVERER

For thousands of years men of faith have awaited the fulfillment of this hope, and the promises of God gave them good reason for doing so. To the Hebrew family head Abraham, Jehovah made the promise that “all nations of the earth” would be blessed through his “seed.” (Gen. 22:18) That “seed” proved to be primarily Jesus Christ. The Scriptures clearly explain this, saying: “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. It says, not: ‘And to seeds,’ as in the case of many such, but as in the case of one: ‘And to your seed,’ who is Christ.”—Gal. 3:14-16, 28, 29.

God also provided for a priesthood and sacrifices under the Law given to Israel. These too pointed forward to Jesus. “Consequently the Law has become our tutor,” the Bible says, “leading to Christ.” (Gal. 3:24) The priestly functions under the Law directed attention to Jesus as the great High Priest. They pointed to the sacrifice of his own human life as the means to take away sins forever and bring deliverance even from death. It is for this reason that John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said: “See, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!”—John 1:29; Heb. 9:11, 12.

Furthermore, Jehovah God foretold that the one through whom eternal peace would come to humankind would be of King David’s family line, and that he would rule forever as king. The angel Gabriel, in announcing Jesus’ human birth to Mary, said: “This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father . . . and there will be no end of his kingdom.” (Luke 1:32, 33; Isa. 9:6, 7) But unlike David’s reign, which was limited to just a small section of earth, Jesus would become the king of God’s heavenly kingdom and would rule over the entire earth. The Bible prophecy concerning his reign says: “He will have subjects from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”—Ps. 72:8; Dan. 7:13, 14.

Yes, the entire Word of God focuses attention on Jesus Christ as the one through whom Jehovah God will administer the blessings of eternal life to mankind. No wonder men of faith have looked forward with keen anticipation to the fulfillment of the promises regarding him. But where and when did this one originate?

PREHUMAN EXISTENCE

Did you know that Jesus had a glorious existence long before he was born as a human here on earth? The Bible informs us that he is God’s “first-born” Son. This means that he was created before the other sons of God’s family. He is also God’s “only-begotten” Son, in that he is the only one directly created by Jehovah God; all other things came into existence through him as God’s Chief Agent. Thus, before being born on earth as a male child he served in the heavens, where he was known as “the Word,” God’s spokesman.—John 1:3, 10, 14; Col. 1:15-17.

Jesus could therefore properly say: “Before Abraham came into existence, I have been,” and, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” And he could ask: “What, therefore, if you should behold the Son of man ascending to where he was before?” (John 8:58; 6:51, 62) Referring to the high position he had held in heaven, he prayed: “Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was.”—John 17:5.

HIS LIFE ON EARTH

In harmony with God’s purpose for blessing men of faith, the due time arrived for this heavenly Son to become a man on earth. This required a miracle of God. Jehovah, by his holy spirit or active force, transferred the life of Jesus from heaven to the womb of a Jewish virgin girl named Mary. Announcing this to Mary in advance, the angel Gabriel said: “Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason also what is born will be called holy, God’s Son.”—Luke 1:35.

It was well within the power of the Creator to do this. Certainly the One who formed the first woman with the ability to produce children could cause a woman to conceive a child without a human father. God himself was directly responsible for the life of the child. This child, Jesus, was not God, but God’s Son. He was a perfect human, free from the sin of Adam. How was that possible? Because, as the angel said, the “power of the Most High” was responsible; it even guided his growth while in the womb of Mary.

As foretold centuries before, Jesus was born in King David’s city, Bethlehem of Judea. (Mic. 5:2) He lived with his mother and his foster-father Joseph, working at the trade of carpentry until he was about thirty years of age. He was raised as a member of a large family, and this was known in his home territory, for later it was observed regarding him: “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?”—Matt. 13:54-56.

When he was thirty years of age God’s time came for him to do work other than carpentry. So he went to John the Baptist to be baptized or dipped completely under the waters of the Jordan River. (Luke 3:21-23) This showed that he was presenting himself to God to carry out the work that God had sent him to earth to do. By submitting to baptism Jesus set an example for all who exercise faith in him, and later he commanded that all who became his disciples should be baptized.—Matt. 28:19, 20.

However, something else happened to Jesus at the Jordan. The heavens opened, God’s spirit came upon him, and God himself spoke from heaven, saying: “This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.” (Matt. 3:16, 17) There was no mistake about it; this was the one whom all of God’s prophets had foretold! There at the Jordan, by means of holy spirit, Jesus was anointed by God to be the foretold great high priest, the king of God’s kingdom, and to preach while here on earth. (Luke 4:16-21) There was work for him to do.

For three and a half years Jesus preached concerning God’s kingdom throughout the land, and he taught his disciples to do the same. This was a work for which he came to earth, as he explained: “Also to other cities I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sent forth.” And he kept busy at this work, “journeying from city to city and from village to village, preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him.”—Luke 4:43; 8:1.

Though others in those days superstitiously avoided using the personal name of God, Jesus did not hold back from making God’s name Jehovah known. In prayer to his Father he said: “I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world. . . . I have made your name known to them and will make it known.” (John 17:6, 26; Ps. 83:18) Jesus always spoke the truth, whether it was popular or not. In what he did he provided an example that we should follow if we want to please God. But he also accomplished more than that.

RELIEF FROM SIN AND DEATH

Jesus knew that his coming to earth as a man was a direct part of God’s arrangement for releasing humankind from sin and death. So he said: “The Son of man came . . . to give his soul a ransom in exchange for many.” (Matt. 20:28) Exactly what does that mean? Well, a ransom is the price paid to obtain deliverance from captivity. In this case, Jesus’ perfect human life offered in sacrifice was the price paid to obtain mankind’s release from bondage to sin and death. “It was not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, that you were delivered,” the Bible explains. “But it was with precious blood, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, even Christ’s.” (1 Pet. 1:18, 19) Why was such a release needed?

This was because Adam, the forefather of us all, had sinned against God. Thus, Adam became imperfect and lost the right to life. As a willful violator of God’s law, he came under its penalty of death. God had also established laws of heredity, which assure that we all receive physical characteristics and other traits from our parents. According to these laws, Adam could pass on to his offspring only what he himself had; so we received from him an inheritance of sin and death. (Rom. 5:12) All mankind therefore has been dying in payment of the penalty of sin. How could this death penalty be lifted and the requirements of justice still be met?

God did not weaken and compromise as to his own laws. This would have merely encouraged further lawlessness by a bad example. Yet he did not turn his back on mankind and leave them without hope. While sticking to his laws, God lovingly provided relief, not for the willful sinner Adam, but for Adam’s offspring, who, without any choice in the matter, suffered the effects of his wrong. God did this in harmony with a legal principle that he later included in the Mosaic law, namely, “soul will be for soul.” (Deut. 19:21) Let us see how that principle applied in the ransom provided through Jesus.

The “living soul” Adam, who forfeited life for mankind, was a perfect human. In exchange for what he lost, another human soul, equal to Adam, was needed, one who would offer his own perfect life as a sacrifice on behalf of mankind. (1 Cor. 15:45) No offspring of Adam qualified for this, because all were born imperfect. As a result they all die because they are sinners, and they have no right to human life that they can sacrifice on behalf of others.—Ps. 49:7.

So, God sent his own Son, who had been with him for millenniums in heaven, to earth. Jesus was born as a human, because it was a human life that was required. But he was born without the aid of a human father, so that he would be perfect as Adam was. God alone was the Father of the human Jesus, as he had also been Adam’s Father. (Luke 3:38) Thus Jesus was fully qualified to offer his life as a “corresponding ransom.”—1 Tim. 2:6; Eph. 1:7.

On Nisan 14 of the year 33 C.E. Jesus’ enemies put him to death on a torture stake. He could have resisted, but he did not. (Matt. 26:53, 54) He willingly laid down his life in sacrifice for us. As his apostle Peter tells us: “He himself bore our sins in his own body upon the stake, in order that we might be done with sins and live to righteousness. And ‘by his stripes you were healed.’”—1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 2:9.

That was indeed a marvelous expression of God’s love for mankind! The Bible helps us to appreciate it, saying: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) If you are a parent who has a dearly loved son, no doubt you can appreciate, at least to some extent, what that meant to God. It surely should warm our hearts toward him to realize that he cares for us so much.—1 John 4:9-11.

Jehovah God did not leave his Son dead in the grave, but raised him to life on the third day. He was not given human life again, because that would have meant that he was taking back the ransom price. But he was “made alive in the spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18) During a period of forty days after his resurrection he appeared visibly to his disciples a number of times, in materialized bodies, to prove that he really had been raised from the dead. Then, with the disciples looking on, he ascended heavenward and was caught out of sight in a cloud. He returned to heaven, there “to appear before the person of God for us” bearing the value of his ransom sacrifice as the great high priest. (Heb. 9:12, 24) The requirements of divine justice had been met; relief was now available for mankind.

Even now we may benefit greatly from the ransom. By exercising faith in it we can enjoy a clean standing before God and come under his loving care. (Rev. 7:9, 10, 13-15) When, due to imperfection, we commit a sin, we can freely seek forgiveness from God on the basis of the ransom, with confidence that he will hear us. (1 John 2:1, 2) Furthermore, the ransom has opened up the way for preservation through the end of this present wicked system of things. It makes possible the resurrection of the dead. And it provides the basis for gaining eternal life in God’s new system of things, where it will be applied to mankind in order to wipe away all the effects of inherited sin.—1 Cor. 15:25, 26; Rev. 7:17.

RULER OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Before Jesus’ birth the angel Gabriel told Mary that Jesus was to be a mighty king. Throughout his earthly ministry Jesus preached about God’s kingdom of which he was to be ruler, even teaching his followers to pray to God: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” And he urged them to “keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom.” (Matt. 6:10, 33) The kingdom of God was the theme of his preaching.

During his ministry Jesus also performed miracles of healing and raising the dead to show on a small scale what will take place on earth under the kingdom of God. Of one instance, the Bible says: “Great crowds approached him, having along with them people that were lame, maimed, blind, dumb, and many otherwise, and they fairly threw them at his feet, and he cured them; so that the crowd felt amazement as they saw the dumb speaking and the lame walking and the blind seeing.” (Matt. 15:30, 31; 9:35) Imagine the happiness when, under Christ’s rule, blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped, and crippled arms and legs will be healed. All sickness and suffering will be things of the past. What a blessing that will be!—Rev. 21:3, 4.

Although Jesus is the one anointed by God as ruler of the Kingdom, when he returned to heaven following his resurrection from the dead it was not the due time for him to exercise that kingly power. He needed to await his Father’s appointed time. (Acts 2:34-36) Yet, he pointed forward to the time when he would return with Kingdom power, saying: “When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”—Matt. 25:31, 32.

We are living in that time of separating now. Soon Christ on his heavenly throne will use his kingly authority to destroy the wicked and deliver meek, sheeplike ones who will inherit the earthly realm of the Kingdom. The Bible prophecy long ago foretold: “For evildoers themselves will be cut off . . . and the wicked one will be no more; and you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.”—Ps. 37:9-11, 29; Matt. 25:34, 41, 46.

By means of Jesus Christ blessings are available to all mankind, but we must exercise faith in him in order to receive them. (John 3:36) We must become his disciples and submit ourselves to him as our heavenly king. Will you do that? There are opposers who want to hinder you, but if you put your full trust in Jehovah you will without fail receive the blessings that God has in store for those who love him.—Ps. 62:7, 8.

The Bible and Egyptian History

CONCERN is sometimes expressed over the difficulty in harmonizing the historical passages of the Bible with the system of chronology founded on ancient records—those of Egypt, for example. Naturally, such concern can be justified only if the secular annals are factual, exact and consistently reliable. Where, then, do we stand in this respect? Does Egypt’s early history offer a reliable standard? Of more than passing interest, too, is the question, How does the Bible record compare with those secular annals?

Egyptian history, as Bible readers know, was directly related to Biblical history over a considerable period—from the time of Abraham’s early visit to Egypt right through to the time the Jews fled there after Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon. That period included the astonishing series of calamitous blows that came upon Egypt in swift succession and the subsequent march of the Israelites to freedom in face of the overwhelming power of Pharaoh and his army. The Bible’s account is set forth clearly and factually. But what about the records of Egypt?

EGYPTIAN HISTORY

For information on ancient Egyptian history modern historians rely principally on certain documents in the form of Egyptian king lists. Among these are: the fragmentary Palermo Stone, listing what are supposed to be the first five dynasties of Egyptian history; the Turin Papyrus, very incomplete and giving a list of kings and their reigns from the time of the “Old Kingdom” into the “New Kingdom”; and miscellaneous lists inscribed in stone, none of which are in a really complete state. In order to coordinate these fragmentary records and set up a chronological sequence, historians depend heavily on the writings of Manetho, an Egyptian priest of the third century B.C.E.

But the trouble is, Manetho’s writings have not survived to our day. We have to rely on references to and quotations from his work in the writings of later historians, such as Josephus of the first century C.E., Sextus Julius Africanus of the third century C.E., Eusebius of the fourth century C.E., and Syncellus of the eighth or ninth century C.E. And what makes matters even more difficult, those historians were frequently inaccurate in their quotations. According to Professor W. G. Waddell, their quotations from Manetho are “fragmentary and often distorted,” with the result that “it is extremely difficult to reach certainty in regard to what is authentic Manetho and what is spurious or corrupt.”

After showing that Manetho’s source material included some unhistorical traditions and legends, often without regard to chronological order, Professor Waddell says: “There were many errors in Manetho’s work from the very beginning: all are not due to the perversions of scribes and revisers. Many of the lengths of reigns have been found impossible: in some cases the names and sequence of kings as given by Manetho have proved untenable in the light of monumental evidence.”—Manetho (1940), pages vii, xvii, xx, xxi, xxv.

This matter of king lists is a knotty problem, for when all are taken into account the years of Egyptian history are magnified into an incredible total. Thus, The Encyclopædia Britannica (1965 ed., Vol. 5, pp. 722, 723) says of these lists: “ . . . they have to be used with caution when attempting to reconstruct the chronological framework of Egyptian history; in certain epochs, for instance, it appears that rival kings or even whole dynasties, listed consecutively by Manetho, were ruling at the same time.”

RECONSTRUCTING EGYPTIAN HISTORY

Thus it has been necessary for Egyptologists to reconstruct and revise their views of Egyptian history, not once, but often, during the past hundred years or so. Note, now, how various authorities on Egyptology, generally contemporary, have arrived at widely different conclusions on the date of the first ruling dynasty, supposedly begun by the unification of Egypt under King Menes.

According to 1st Dynasty Begins

Champollion 5867 B.C.E.

Mariette 5004 “

Lauth 4157 “

Lepsius 3892 “

Breasted 3400 “

Meyer 3180 “

Wilkinson 2320 “

Palmer 2224 “

Add to this variety the date presently popular among historians of about 2900 B.C.E.

The Egyptians developed astronomy to some extent, and we have Egyptian texts dealing with lunar phases and the rising of the Dog Star (Sothis). These have been pressed into service, by combining these with other fragmentary data, to build up a chronological table giving approximate dates for the various dynasties as follows:

Predynastic Cultures c.3000-2850 B.C.E.

Dynasties I to VI c.2850-2200 “

Dynasties VII to XII c.2200-1786 “

Dynasties XIII to XX c.1786-1085 “

Dynasties XXI to XXXI c.1085-332 “

While it might be hoped that the use of astronomical data would give a precise chronology, this is not the case. The rising of the Dog Star (used to calculate the years of a “Sothic period”) is not constant in retardation. A slight miscalculation of one day can throw a date off about a hundred and twenty years. The observations based on the naked-eye observance of the Egyptians were certainly not as accurate as modern-day telescopic observations and could easily have been a day wrong.

Why do Egyptian records fail to provide any information about the Exodus and the stirring events that preceded it? This is really not surprising, since, as Professor of Egyptology J. A. Wilson states, “Egyptian records were always positive, emphasizing the successes of the pharaoh or the god, whereas failures and defeats were never mentioned, except in some context of the distant past.” (The World History of the Jewish People, 1964, Vol. I, pp. 338, 339) The Egyptians were not above destroying records of a previous reign if the information was distasteful to the pharaoh then in power. Thus, after the death of Queen Hatshepsut, Thutmose III had her names and representations chiseled out of the monumental reliefs.

The pharaoh who ruled at the time of the Exodus is not named in the Bible; hence, efforts to identify him are based on conjecture. This, in part, explains why modern calculations of the date of the Exodus among secular historians vary from 1441 B.C.E. to 1225 B.C.E.—a difference of more than two hundred years. And it becomes quite evident that in their present state secular calculations relative to Egyptian chronology can in no way pose any serious challenge to the Bible’s count of time.

THE CASE FOR THE BIBLE

The whole approach of the Bible writers testifies to their consciousness of the importance of time measurement. Note, for example, the genealogical record in the fifth chapter of the Bible book of Genesis 5. How thoroughly each generation is tied in with the next! Nothing is left to chance. We learn the age of each one listed, both at the time of fathering his heir and at the time of his death. There is nothing comparable to this in Egyptian annals.

Contrasting with the laboriously built-up chronology of Egypt, the Bible gives an outstandingly coherent and detailed history stretching through thousands of years. It presents a graphic, true-to-life account of the nation of Israel from its birth onward, portraying with candor its strengths and its weaknesses, its successes and failures, its right worship and its rank apostasy into pagan religion, its blessings and its calamities. And, while this honesty does not of itself ensure the accuracy of its chronology, it does give sound basis for confidence in the integrity of its writers.

Often overlooked is the fact that the Bible writers cite in support of some of their facts historical annals such as “the book of the Wars of Jehovah” (Num. 21:14, 15), “the book of the affairs of the days of the kings of Israel” (1 Ki. 14:19; 2 Ki. 15:31), “the book of the affairs of the times of the kings of Judah” (1 Ki. 14:29; 2 Ki. 24:5), “the book of the affairs of Solomon” (1 Ki. 11:41), as well as fourteen or more references to similar annals or official records cited by Ezra and Nehemiah. So Bible writers were not depending on memory or oral tradition. There is evidence that their data were carefully researched and documented.

There were factors, too, that operated to keep Bible writers, and all Israelites, for that matter, ever conscious of the count of time. The Mosaic law featured many events that called for accurate timing: the Atonement Day, the numerous feast days, the sabbath and Jubilee years. Days, months, years, seven-year and fifty-year periods were all carefully noted as long as the nation adhered to the Law. After all, individual Israelites, who had fallen into poverty and had been forced to relinquish their landed property, could repossess such property on that fiftieth year.—Lev. 25:2-5, 8-16, 25-31.

Another powerful reason for Bible writers and the people in general to keep track of time features was the frequent pronouncement of prophecies inspired by their God—prophecies specifically relating to some date in the future. People would mark and wait for the fulfillment of those events. At the time of Jesus’ birth we may be sure that the man Simeon was not the only one of whom it might be said that he was “righteous and reverent, waiting for Israel’s consolation.”—Luke 2:25.

But some may object that the Bible’s original documents are not available, that in the course of time much copying and revising may have seriously affected the accuracy of the record. On this score we do well to recall how extremely meticulous were the Bible copyists and scribes who multiplied available copies of the Scriptures. To them it was a matter involving God’s favor or disfavor, life or death. They had to check and double-check, even going to the extent of counting lines, words and letters on each page of copy.

Graphically illustrating the essential accuracy of the Bible books as they have come down to us in this twentieth century, we have the recent find of scrolls in the Qumram caves near the Dead Sea. One of these is a well-preserved copy of the entire Bible book of Isaiah, recorded on seventeen pieces of parchment. Before its discovery, the oldest Hebrew text of Isaiah was one dating from the tenth century C.E. Here now was a scroll from about the first century C.E., and yet the amazing fact is that, when compared with our modern texts of Isaiah, only very minor differences appear, differences of negligible importance.

NO REAL COMPARISON

It should be evident that Egypt’s secular annals in the form in which they have come down to us fail to qualify as a standard for measuring the accuracy of Bible timekeeping. The care, the truthfulness and the integrity of the Egyptian scribes are by no means above suspicion. Says Professor J. A. Wilson (in The World History of the Jewish People, 1964, Vol. I, pp. 280, 281): “A warning should be issued about the precise historical value of Egyptian inscriptions. That was a world of . . . divine myths and miracles.” Then, after suggesting that the scribes were not above juggling the chronology of events to add praise to the particular monarch in power, he adds: “The historian will accept his data at face value, unless there is clear reason for distrust; but he must be ready to modify his acceptance as soon as new materials put the previous interpretation in a new light.”

The chronological structure that modern historians have built up from Egyptian sources is still very shaky. As Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge observed: “The information which has been obtained from native Egyptian monuments as to dates is, at present, insufficient to enable us to correct the mistakes in the figures of Manetho’s List which are due to the carelessness or ignorance of copyists, and until some other means of doing this is found, it is idle to shuffle and torture his figures, as many writers on Egyptian chronology are pleased to do.” (A History of Egypt, 1902, Vol. I, Preface, p. xvi) A half century later, historians admit that “Egyptian chronology is still in a state of flux, . . . .” (Pritchard’s Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 1955, Introduction, p. xvii) Professor J. A. Wilson states that it is only after 663 B.C.E. that Egyptian chronology becomes “fairly precise” and that the “farther back one goes, the greater the margin of disagreement [among scholars] becomes.”—The World History of the Jewish People, 1964, Vol. I, p. 268; The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1962, Vol. II, p. 43.

There is, then, no reason to feel doubt about the accuracy of the Biblical chronology simply because certain secular records do not harmonize with it. To the contrary, only when the secular chronology harmonizes with the Bible record may we rightly feel a measure of confidence in the ancient secular dating. This is certainly true regarding the records of ancient Egypt.

The Happiness of the “Nation Whose God Is Jehovah”

“Happy is the nation whose God is Jehovah, the people whom he has chosen as his inheritance.”—Ps. 33:12.

1. (a) What might older people think of the world before 1914? (b) What has been the state of affairs since that year?

HAPPINESS today? Is there any nation on earth that is happy today? Really, what nation could be happy with the world in the situation in which it finds itself today? Older people might look back to earthly conditions before the outbreak of world war in the summer of 1914 and exclaim: “Those were the happy days!” And, indeed, back there before that first world conflict there were some nations that were as a whole disposed to be happy, or at least gay. But not so today. For since 1914 C.E. the nations have continually been in a state of unsettlement, unrest, insecurity, suspicion and fear, and mounting distress, with the political rulers and the religious leaders not knowing the way out of the international mess and humanly unsolvable problems. For the younger generation of today, whose hopes should be bound up with the future, the outlook is becoming more and more hopeless. What pleasure may be got out of life, they feel they need to get out of the present, and so now is the time for them to have a fling!

2-4. (a) Despite world problems, is there indeed a happy nation today, and who may some have thought that nation to be? (b) What problems have faced that particular nation since the inauguration of its thirty-fourth president?

2 Despite all of this, unbelievable as it may seem, there is a happy nation to be found, and its happiness and joy increase as the world situation moves to its unavoidable climax. People now attaching themselves to that favored nation find happiness now. What is that nation, and what is the reason for its happiness?

3 No, it is not the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth today. However, that it was a happy nation and would be such may have been suggested by what took place on an inauguration day of one of its presidents at the national capital, Washington, D.C., January 20, 1957. The nation’s thirty-fourth president was being inaugurated for his second term in office. Following the custom, he was being sworn in with his right hand resting upon an open Bible. This Bible was not the British King James or Authorized Version Bible, but was the American Standard Version of the Bible as published in the year 1901 C.E. This particular copy had been given him by his God-fearing mother when he was about to graduate from the national Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1915, the second year of World War I. His hand purposely rested at Psalm 33:12, which, in the American Standard Version, reads as follows: “Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah, the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” In the later published version, An American Translation, of 1939, this Ps 33 verse 12 opens up saying: “How happy is the nation . . . ”—See the New York Times of January 21, 1957.a

4 By this gesture the reinaugurated president may have been suggesting that the United States of America was that blessed or happy nation or that he would serve in the presidency to make it such. But during his two terms in the presidency did he lead his nation into the blessedness or happiness spoken of in Psalm 33:12? Well, during his first term in office his nation became involved in the political struggles of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. (See The Americana Annual, 1956, page 356, about Indochina and under the subheading “Principal Events, 1955.”) Nor did difficulties with North Korea cease. Other troubles of the nation, both internal and external, domestic and foreign, have multiplied since. Why, then, has the blessedness, the happiness, for which the president hoped on his second inauguration in 1957, not been realized since? Why has the nation not proved itself entitled to such happiness?

5. (a) What is the secret to the nation whose happiness is spoken about in Psalm 33:12, and so what pertinent questions are asked? (b) Does any other earthly government qualify as God’s happy nation?

5 Some basic requirement has been overlooked, ignored. If we reexamine Psalm 33:12 we can easily see what is the real key to happiness for a nation. The secret is its God and its being his chosen possession. The verse plainly says, not, ‘Happy is the most prosperous and most militarily powerful nation,’ but: “Blessed [or, Happy] is the nation whose God is Jehovah, the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” (AS; AT) So, quite properly, we ask: Did the nation’s thirty-fourth president lead his nation into choosing Jehovah as its God? By the Supreme Court of the United States of America this nation has been designated as a “Christian nation,” but has it worshiped Jehovah as its God and has it proved itself to be “the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance”? Where are the facts in favor of the answer Yes! even though the United States of America is the leading nation in Christendom? Such facts cannot be found. Nor can they be found for any other of the 197 nations among whom the name of Jehovah has been proclaimed by his witnesses for many years, not even for the Republic of Israel.

6. As borne out in Psalm 33:10, 16, 17, on what does God’s “happy” nation not depend, thus eliminating whom as qualified to be God’s “happy” nation?

6 If we examine the neighboring verses of Psalm 33:12, we note these further striking details about the happy nation: “Jehovah himself has broken up the counsel of the nations; he has thwarted the thoughts of the peoples. There is no king saved by the abundance of military forces; a mighty man himself is not delivered by the abundance of power. The horse is a deception for salvation, and by the abundance of its vital energy it does not afford escape.” (Ps. 33:10, 16, 17) That is to say, the “happy” nation did not depend upon the military forces of this world, but its deliverance from the hostile counsel of the nations and the malicious thoughts of the peoples was by its God Jehovah, not by mighty men of war and energetic war horses. Such features do not distinguish the nations and peoples of this world in this most heavily armed period in all human history. The nations and peoples groan under the burden loaded upon them because of the expenses and demands of their military, naval and air force departments. Regardless of the prayers of their popes, priests, and other religious clergymen and orders, they do not find that without militarism Jehovah God delivers them.

7. How can we be helped in determining who the happy nation of Psalm 33:12 is, and what do we find the Bible tells us on the matter?

7 In these days when nationalism and patriotic pride are sweeping all over the earth, what nation can point to itself as the nation and people in whom Psalm 33:12 is fulfilled today? Who, indeed, is the “happy” nation, the “chosen” people? It will help us to find out if we look back at the nation of whom the inspired writer of Psalm 33 was a member, for he wrote concerning his own nation. From the beginning of its national history it had been favored with miraculous deliverances by this God who alone bears the name Jehovah. What a dramatic deliverance that was at the very birth of the nation, when it was delivered from captivity and slavery in Egypt after its celebration of the Passover in the year 1513 B.C.E., followed not many days later by that astounding deliverance across the dried-up bed of the Red Sea to the Sinai Peninsula, whereas the militarized forces of the Egyptians were drowned like rodents in the returning waters of the sea! No other nation in ancient or modern history can point to such a deliverance or anything like such in its national history. The eastern bank of the Red Sea was the scene of great happiness for the miraculously rescued nation. Truly Jehovah God had chosen them!—Ex. 12:1 to 15:21.

8. When were the people under Moses organized as a nation, and what was the first command given them by God?

8 In the third month after their deliverance from Egypt, this people under the leadership of the prophet Moses were gathered to the foot of Mount Sinai in the Arabian peninsula. There they were really organized into a nation, separate and distinct from all the other nations of the earth. There they were favored by hearing a voice from God declaring the famous Ten Commandments and afterward given those Ten Commandments in written form on stone tablets, the writing of these being done, not by the prophet Moses, but by the “finger of God.” These Ten Commandments were the first laws of the legal contract or covenant that was made between the nation and its heavenly Deliverer. The First of these Ten Commandments insisted that He must be their God. It read: “I am Jehovah your God, who have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. You must not have any other gods against my face.” No other god had shared in their deliverance and so Jehovah had a right to demand their exclusive devotion.—Ex. 19:1 to 20:18.

DEATH AND REBIRTH OF A NATION

9. How was this nation able to continue in a happy state, and how did Jehovah help them?

9 As long as the nation held to Jehovah as its God they were made happy. As long as they carried out their national contract or covenant as mediated by the prophet Moses they prospered in the land flowing with milk and honey into which their God brought them, in 1473 B.C.E. It was when they broke the laws and commandments of their national covenant and turned to worshiping the false gods of the nations roundabout that they got into difficulty. Faithful to his covenant, Jehovah God raised up special judges to deliver them out of the hand of their enemies. He raised up his fearless, plain-speaking prophets to warn them of the foolishness of a wrong course and of the terrible consequences to come from it. Because of wavering between the worship of the one living and true God and the false demon gods, the nation had its ups and downs. Because of the goodness of God to the nation, their second king, namely, David the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, wrote: “Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah!”—Ps. 144:15.

10. When did the happiness of this nation reach its peak, but what events led to the nation’s fall as God’s “happy” nation?

10 This happiness of God’s chosen people reached its peak during the reign of David’s son and successor, King Solomon of Jerusalem. (1 Ki. 4:20-25) This happiness of the nation was lost by the surrender of the rulers and people to the worship of idols and demons. Short-lived recoveries from such relapses into false worship did not prove to be thorough enough to save the nation from the disaster of which Jehovah God had forewarned them in the terms of his solemn covenant with the nation. At his own stated time he himself maneuvered the overthrow of its chosen line of kings, the destruction of the capital city Jerusalem and desolation of its national territory, the destruction of its renowned temple built by King Solomon at Jerusalem, and the deporting of a remnant of survivors to the faraway land of Babylonia.

11. What efforts did Jehovah make to save his people, but what attitude did they take?

11 Jehovah cannot be mocked for time without limit, even by the nation and people that professes to have him as its God. This fact is emphasized in 2 Chronicles 36:15-21, which describes the last days of the free, independent nation. There we read: “And Jehovah the God of their forefathers kept sending against them by means of his messengers, sending again and again, because he felt compassion for his people and for his dwelling [the temple]. But they were continually making jest at the messengers of the true God and despising his words and mocking at his prophets, until the rage of Jehovah came up against his people, until there was no healing.

12. Describe the end of that nation that had God’s blessing.

12 “So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who proceeded to kill their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, neither did he feel compassion for young man or virgin, old or decrepit. Everything He gave into his hand. And all the utensils, great and small, of the house of the true God and the treasures of the house of Jehovah and the treasures of the king [Zedekiah] and of his princes, everything he brought to Babylon. And he proceeded to burn the house of the true God and pull down the wall of Jerusalem; and all its dwelling towers they burned with fire and also all its desirable articles, so as to cause ruin. Furthermore, he carried off those remaining from the sword captive to Babylon, and they came to be servants to him and his sons until the royalty of Persia began to reign; to fulfill Jehovah’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land [of Judah] had paid off its sabbaths. All the days of lying desolated it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.”—Compare with 2 Kings 24:20 to 25:26.

13. What effect did the destruction of Jerusalem have on Jehovah’s name and upon the people of God?

13 With that overthrow of their kingdom, the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple of worship, the desolation of all the land of Judah, and the carrying of the remnant of survivors into exile in Babylon, the nation died. Because its God had been internationally known to be Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, this national disaster brought great reproach upon the name and reputation of Jehovah. As far as the exiles in Babylon were concerned, their hopes became like a valley filled with dry, disassembled skeletons, with no human power for a resurrection. (Ezek. 37:1-12) Their national homeland in Judah and Jerusalem was no longer the “land” of a people with nationhood and accordingly bearing the name of “the land of Judah.” It became a land under a taboo, shunned by superstitious outsiders, the haunt of wild animals and birds, a wilderness and a jungle. This had been foretold in the warning messages of the prophets Jeremiah and Micah.—Jer. 32:43; 33:10, 12; Mic. 3:9-12; Jer. 26:18.

14. What questions are now asked about this nation, and what did Bible prophecy say?

14 Would this reproach against the name of Jehovah as a national God ever be lifted and his name as the Universal Sovereign be again clothed with glory? Would the nation that was associated with his name and rulership ever be reborn? Would the tabooed, shunned, jungle-overgrown land ever be brought forth again from its state of ruin and desolation and be internationally known as the land of Judah? Well-nigh impossible as it may have seemed to the pagan nations, especially to Babylon, this rebirth of land, nation and Jehovah’s temple worship was within the purposes of Jehovah God! It was written down in the Bible prophecies of Jehovah God!

15, 16. What was Isaiah moved to foretell about Jerusalem, and what promise did Jehovah make regarding his people?

15 The prophet Isaiah was one who was inspired to foretell in express terms the miraculous rebirth. For the consolation of the small remnant that stuck to the pure worship of Jehovah God, the prophet Isaiah was moved to foretell how God sitting as Judge in 607 B.C.E. would cause the uproar of invasion and destruction to fill Jerusalem and her temple and thus repay to all Israelite enemies of his worship what they deserved, but thereafter, in a remarkable way, the destroyed nation and land would be reborn. Said Isaiah:

16 “Hear the word of Jehovah, you men who are trembling at his word: ‘Your brothers that are hating you, that are excluding you by reason of my name, said, “May Jehovah be glorified!” He must also appear with rejoicing on your part, and they are the ones that will be put to shame.’ There is a sound of uproar out of the city, a sound out of the temple! It is the sound of Jehovah repaying what is deserved to his enemies. Before she began to come into labor pains she gave birth. Before birth pangs could come to her, she even gave deliverance to a male child. Who has heard of a thing like this? Who has seen things like these? Will a land be brought forth with labor pains in one day? Or will a nation be born at one time? For Zion [Jerusalem] has come into labor pains as well as given birth to her sons.”—Isa. 66:5-8.

17, 18. When did the “rebirth” take place, and how was it like the miracle of giving birth before birth pangs?

17 To the surprise of all the pagan nations who despised Zion or Jerusalem, this marvelous “rebirth” took place in the year 537 B.C.E., or seventy years exactly after the desolation of the land of Judah and of Jerusalem or Zion. The rebirth came very quickly as if not preceded by any birth pains, as if occurring before birth pangs had time to rack the body of the mother. How?

18 Babylon, which refused to release the Judeans from exile, held on to its world domination until the night of Tishri 16 (or October 5-6) of the year 539, the sixty-ninth year of the foretold seventy years of desolation upon Judah and Jerusalem or Zion. In the first half of the seventieth year, about springtime, Cyrus the Great, the Persian conqueror of Babylon, issued his decree permitting and encouraging the Judean exiles to return to their former homeland to rebuild the temple of Jehovah in a rebuilt city of Jerusalem or Zion. By the end of that seventieth year in early autumn of 537 B.C.E. [Tishri 1, 537 = Sept. 28-29, 537 B.C.E.] the faithful remnant were back and settled upon their beloved homeland, settling at the sites of many former cities.—Ezra 1:1 to 3:6.

19. What happened to Jerusalem after just a few months of liberation?

19 Thus there was no long period of birth pains in the form of any painful uprising on the part of the “children” of Zion (or Jerusalem) to break loose from Babylonian exile and fight their way back to their desolated land and reestablish themselves as a nation. Within a few months after the liberation decree of Cyrus the Great a remnant of true worshipers of Jehovah God were back in the land, which was no longer under Jehovah’s taboo. It became the land of a people with a local government, having a descendant of the Judean king David as its governor, and with a high priest authorized by Jehovah God. In this way, with its own territory and its own territorial government, the nation of the worshipers of the one living and true God was reborn. There was again a Zion or Jerusalem as a national government, and this Zion had its “children” or inhabitants and subjects clearing and recultivating her territory, the land of Judah. Worship of her God was restored there.

JEHOVAH GOD NOT FRUSTRATED

20, 21. “In one day” and “at one time,” what had Jehovah accomplished, and in vindication of what?

20 Who had ever heard of a thing like that? Who had ever seen things like those national, religious developments? It all occurred so suddenly, so unexpectedly, and without precedent. Why, without the trouble of birth pangs, Jehovah’s earthly organization Zion delivered into the realm of actuality the “male child” in the form of a national body of people. Quickly, as “in one day,” a land with a national designation was brought forth from desolation. “At one time” Almighty God Jehovah caused an organized nation of people in a covenant with him to be born, yes, reborn. As at the very time for labor pains to start Jehovah’s organization Zion gave birth to “her sons,” those who made up the “male child” nation. What else was this but the fulfillment of Jehovah’s prophecy, in vindication of his never failing word? He was responsible for this birth on the part of his earthly organization Zion. It had to come, without any miscarriage or stillbirth, just as he had foretold, saying in the next Isa 66 verse 9:

21 “‘As for me, shall I cause the breaking through and not cause the giving birth?’ says Jehovah. ‘Or am I causing a giving birth and do I actually cause a shutting up?’ your God has said.”

22. Who actually appeared on the scene at this astounding event, and to be the blessing of whom?

22 In harmony with those words of Isaiah 66:9 there was to be no frustrating of Almighty God Jehovah at the last and critical moment. And recorded history proves that there was not. At this astounding event no one else but Jehovah appeared on the scene of international affairs for rejoicing on the part of those “who are trembling at his word.” Whereas their religious haters and persecutors were put to shame, what true cause for unspeakable happiness there was on the part of the reborn nation “whose God is Jehovah”! The “joy of Jehovah” came to be their fortress.—Neh. 8:10.

[Footnotes]

See the booklet published in 1957 entitled “Healing of the Nations Has Drawn Near,” page 5, paragraph 4.

Reasons for National Happiness

1, 2. (a) What shows that Jehovah’s blessing was with this reborn nation for over 600 years after its rebirth? (b) How did Paul before Agrippa affirm that the Jews in his day indeed constituted a nation?

FOR more than 605 years after such a miraculous rebirth in 537 B.C.E. Israel continued its existence. During that period of time Jehovah God saw good to send further prophets to it, and almost to the end of that period the nation held a unique position of favor with him. Almost six hundred years after the nation’s rebirth a circumcised Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus, of the tribe of Benjamin, summed up the favored privileges of the nation of which he was a member by birth, saying: “What, then, is the superiority of the Jew, or what is the benefit of the circumcision? A great deal in every way. First of all, because they were entrusted with the sacred pronouncements of God.” “In behalf of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh, who, as such, are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the sacred service and the promises; to whom the forefathers belong and from whom Christ sprang according to the flesh.” (Rom. 3:1, 2; 9:3-5) What reasons for happiness!

2 Speaking of his people as being a “nation,” this same writer said to King Agrippa in the city of Caesarea: “Indeed, as to the manner of life from youth up that I led from the beginning among my nation and in Jerusalem, . . . according to the strictest sect of our form of worship I lived a Pharisee. And yet now for the hope of the promise that was made by God to our forefathers I stand called to judgment; whereas our twelve tribes are hoping to attain to the fulfillment of this promise by intensely rendering him sacred service night and day. . . . Why is it judged unbelievable among you men that God raises up the dead? . . . I continue to this day bearing witness to both small and great, but saying nothing except things the Prophets as well as Moses stated were going to take place, that the Christ was to suffer and, as the first to be resurrected from the dead, he was going to publish light both to this people and to the nations.”—Acts 26:4-8, 22, 23.

3. For what reasons could the reborn nation of Israel be happy?

3 Great and many, then, were the reasons for the reborn nation of ancient Israel to be happy. They had the pure worship of the one living and true God, Jehovah, their Life-giver, and were therefore protected by Him from the spirit demons under the “prince of the demons,” Satan the Devil. Jehovah was not only their God but also their heavenly Judge and Statute-giver. (Isa. 33:22) They were the natural descendants of Jehovah’s friend Abraham and of Isaac his son and of Jacob his grandson and of Jacob’s twelve sons. They were thus all interrelated according to the flesh and so were indeed one big family or nation of brothers and sisters, truly one “people,” one “nation.” Because they were directly descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all of whom had God’s promise, and also because they had been ransomed by Jehovah God from slavery in the land of Egypt, this nation was his chosen possession or heritage. They really belonged to Jehovah God.

4. (a) What did being the “seed of Abraham” mean to this nation? (b) What other outstanding blessings were to come through this nation, culminating in what event in 33 C.E.?

4 They were directly in line to be the “seed of Abraham” by means of whom all the nations of the earth would forever bless themselves. (Gen. 22:18; 26:2-5; 28:13, 14) They alone were entrusted with the “sacred pronouncements” or oracles of Jehovah God, by having the Holy Scriptures of the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms. They had the privileged opportunity of being educated in all these “sacred pronouncements of God” with the wonderful divine promises and hopes contained in them. Through the prophet Moses they were in a national contract or covenant with their God; and through God’s special covenant with the royal line of faithful King David they had God’s promise of an everlasting kingdom under his Messiah or Christ. In fact, this Messiah or Christ was promised to come directly to them, being born into their nation. (Dan. 9:24-26) Their Messiah King was promised to come riding to their capital city Jerusalem, to bring peace and salvation to them. (Zech. 9:9) According to history, he actually did so and exactly on time, in the year 33 C.E.—Matt. 21:1-14; John 12:12-18.

5. What terrible thing happened to this nation in 70 C.E., raising what disturbing questions?

5 In spite of being so highly favored this nation according to the flesh was destroyed in the summer of the year 70 C.E. For the second time the capital city of Jerusalem was destroyed, its precious temple of worship was razed to the ground, and the land of Judea was desolated, this time by the military legions of Rome. The Jews surviving this disaster were carried off captive and sold into slavery into all nations. Why was this? Why did this nation of Israel according to the flesh come into such unhappiness?

6. What relation was there between the reason for the first destruction and the second one?

6 Well, why did the first national disaster of such kind come upon them? Since the happiness of the nation had been due to their having Jehovah as their God, it was because they had drawn away from the worship of this God, Jehovah their Savior, Blesser and Protector. So the second disaster to the same nation was due to the same cause. Under the influence of human traditions and precepts of men, they hardened their hearts in unbelief and rejected the “sacred pronouncements of God.” As a crucial climax to this they refused the promised Messiah, the Son of God. Thus they lost their basis for being the “happy” nation of Jehovah.

7. (a) Now what critical questions are posed? (b) Why is there no need for a reborn nation of natural Israel?

7 Now the critical questions arise, For the fulfillment of the divine promises of the Holy Bible, must there be a rebirth again of this fleshly nation of Israel, of natural circumcised Jews? Is the birth of the Republic of Israel on May 15, 1948, the modern fulfillment of the prophecy, and is Jehovah’s promise made to Abraham concerning the blessing of all the families and nations of the earth to be fulfilled in this democratic Republic of Israel? According to the Holy Scriptures, the answer is No! There is no need for such a rebirth of the nation of natural, circumcised Israel. Why not? Because thirty-seven years before the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in the year 70 C.E. Jehovah God had already brought forth the real nation in whom the further prophecies of his “sacred pronouncements” are to be fulfilled with benefit to all mankind, living and dead.

THE BIRTH OF SPIRITUAL ISRAEL

8, 9. (a) When did the birth of spiritual Israel take place? (b) Relate the events that occurred in Jerusalem from and after Zion’s King, Christ Jesus, rode into the city in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9?

8 The birth of this nation took place at Jerusalem on the 6th day of Sivan of the year 33 C.E., the day that the natural circumcised Jews call “Shabuoth” (meaning “Weeks”), but which the Greek-speaking Jews called “Pentecost” (meaning “Fiftieth”).

9 In harmony with the meaning of the name Pentecost, the birth of that nation came on the fiftieth day from the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah or Christ from the dead, from a tomb very close to Jerusalem. He was Zion’s King who had ridden into Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, but several days later the unbelieving religious leaders of Jerusalem had him killed at the hands of the Roman soldiers. Yet, on the third day from his death, Almighty God Jehovah resurrected him and exalted him to heavenly life as the Messiah or Christ, the everlasting Heir to the kingdom of David with whom God made the Kingdom covenant. Before ascending to heaven, Jesus the Messiah or Christ told his faithful disciples to remain in Jerusalem until the holy spirit of God should descend upon them.—Acts 1:1-15.

10. (a) How was the prophecy of Joel 2:28, 29 fulfilled on the festival day of Pentecost, and of what was the fulfillment an evidence? (b) What firstfruits did Jesus Christ now offer to Jehovah?

10 The disciples had to wait only ten days from then, till the festival day of Pentecost. On that day about one hundred and twenty of them were met together in an upper room in Jerusalem. All of a sudden God’s holy spirit was poured out upon them, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28, 29. Besides the noise as of a rushing wind and the tongues of fire that were seen to hover above their heads, they all began speaking in foreign languages that they had not learned before. This was evidence that Jesus Christ had arrived in God’s heavenly presence and was now seated at God’s right hand as “Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:1-36) This being the prophetic day of Pentecost, when the high priest of Israel at the temple in Jerusalem offered to God the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, Jesus Christ as God’s High Priest offered to God spiritual firstfruits. What? The Christian congregation as represented by those 120 disciples assembled that day in Jerusalem. (Ex. 34:22-24; Lev. 23:15-21) They were begotten by God’s spirit to “be a certain first fruits of his creatures.”—Jas. 1:18.

11. How do we know that these events marked the birth of a new nation, and whose place did it take?

11 In this way, on the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E., the new nation was born, with the heavenly Lord Jesus Christ as its King. (Col. 1:13) The apostle Peter, who was there that day and who gave the opening speech under the power of the outpoured spirit, calls it a nation. Writing his first letter to members of this spirit-begotten congregation, Peter said: “These [fleshly circumcised Jews] are stumbling because they are disobedient to the word. To this very end they were also appointed. But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy NATION, a PEOPLE for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies’ of the one that called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Pet. 2:8, 9) Since Jehovah God rejected the nation of natural, circumcised Israel because of their rejection of Jesus as Christ and Lord, this new Christian nation took the place of it with God.

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The Watchtower, November 15, 1968