The Watchtower, April 15, 1974

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The Watchtower — April 15, 1974

Source: jw.org

Contents

Surviving on the Victorious Side at Har–Magedon

Mankind’s Benefits from the Victory at Har–Magedon

Why Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Take an Interest in You?

Insight on the News

Why Be Honest?

What Are You Doing Now to Prepare?

Priests That Can Help Us

Questions From Readers

Can Man Bring Stable Government?

Surviving on the Victorious Side at Har–Magedon

“And they shouted together: ‘Victory to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”—Rev. 7:10, New English Bible.

1. What will follow the coming universal war at Har–Magedon, and we do well if we do what now?

A PEACE of a thousand years will follow the end of the universal war at the battlefield of Har–Magedon. It will be something most desirable to survive that final war of this worldly system of things. Survival will be the happy privilege of those who prove to be on the victorious side. This presents an outlook far different from the gloomy view entertained by political and military forecasters that a third world war, fought with nuclear weapons, will mean victory for no side. Both sides will be losers. Coupled with that is the prediction that such world war will spell suicide for the human family. However, we do not need to be frightened at such human reasonings. In the coming conflict at Har–Magedon there will be a winning side. We do well if we now line up with the side that is bound to win, to enjoy thereafter the fine fruit of victory.

2. Why does the locating of ourselves now on the winning side not require us to engage in any politics of this world?

2 In this case it will not be a winning of one political party or bloc of nations over another political party or bloc of nations. There will be no imposing of one idea of human rulership upon an unwilling defeated people who are wedded to another idea of political rulership. Nor will the winners force the losers into one political camp that embraces all the world of mankind. Such a thing does not result in a permanent peace on earth and bring about a willing submission on the part of the conquered people. The victory won will not be a political triumph, but will abolish all human politics from the earth. Our locating ourselves on the winning side will require no engaging in divisive politics of this world.

3. So, what questions are of highest interest to us now?

3 This vital fact is what presents an attractive feature to the coming universal war at Har–Magedon, even though today the subject of war is a thing that more and more people do not like to talk or think about. Questions of the highest interest to us are, What does the winner have to gain from his victory? What will the victory mean for those of us who place ourselves now on the winner’s side? Will it make our surviving at Har–Magedon worth while?

4. If one or all of the political powers were to win in a further world conflict, what would the victor have to offer us people?

4 From hard experience we know what the political powers of this system of things would have to offer us, were all of them together or only one bloc of them to gain the victory. At most, it could be nothing better than what they have offered to mankind since the flaming forth of World War I in the year 1914 C.E. And what has that been? Nothing but hard times, which become more and more difficult for the people in general. Reason for optimism over the world situation is more and more dwindling. The basis for pessimism is broadening. Despite the contributions of modern science and advanced technology and of the United Nations as an agency for international cooperation, clear-sighted economists, social students and environmentalists warn us that we are approaching a dead end, with no lawmaker, politician, police authority or educator knowing the way out. On top of this must be added the staggering costs of a victory in another world war in human lives, material properties and environmental effects. There is every likelihood, then, that the political powers would only have what is far worse to offer than what they have furnished us since 1914 till now.

5. Who, therefore, must the desirable victor at Har–Magedon prove to be, and why so?

5 Certainly, therefore, all right-hearted people must hope and look for victory in the coming war at Har–Magedon to be the prize of someone who can offer us a future for which we would like to survive. That desirable victor at Har–Magedon could be no one else but the Creator of man’s original earthly environment, namely, God himself. This is the reasonable thing, for what involves man’s natural environment involves God. What affects all mankind affects God.

6. What connection will the coming universal war at Har–Magedon have with man’s original earthly environment?

6 Man’s original environment was no imaginary caveman stuff as taught by the advocates of the theory of human evolution. The historical facts of the case are that man’s first natural environment was a perfect garden, a paradise of natural beauty and delightful living conditions. So one of the glorious fruits of divine victory at Har–Magedon will be the reestablishment of paradise on earth, but on a global scale. Mankind’s return to Paradise can come in no other way than by divine victory at Har–Magedon. That is one of the things that takes the distastefulness out of thinking about a universal war—that at Har–Magedon.

A WAR, NOT AGAINST MAN, BUT AGAINST GOD

7. Against whom, then, will all the nations be fighting, but what is their own view of such a thing?

7 Does this line of reasoning signify that all the nations of the earth are due to fight against God the Creator at the battlefield of Har–Magedon? Exactly that! But the nations today resent being told that such a confrontation with God is what they are headed for. In fact, it would be hard to convince the political nations, especially those of religious Christendom, that it is against the God of the Holy Bible that they are now preparing to fight. Religious clergymen have always assured the nations of Christendom that these have always fought for God, on God’s side, in all the international conflicts since the founding of Christendom in the fourth century C.E. They have let themselves be moved in their war efforts by a religious sentiment like that of Roman Emperor Constantine, who, before founding Christendom, fought under the sign of the cross. This Constantine, before fighting a decisive battle with his political rival, claimed to have seen a heavenly vision of a brilliant cross along with the gleaming words, “By this conquer” (in Greek, En touʹto niʹka).

8. How has that coming battlefield been named, and how much territory does it cover?

8 Nonetheless, it is God himself who warns all the nations that it is against Him that they will be warring. It is He who names the place where the war will be fought to a finish, namely, Har–Magedon. That battlefield must be at the earth, for here is where the nations find themselves, with no escape route into outer space. In fact, that battlefield embraces all the earth—which will make it impossible for anybody on earth to escape its effects.

9. Our continuing to go along with the nations will lead to fighting against whom, but what inspired advice in Luke 14:31, 32 may we well heed?

9 The nations may not let themselves be convinced that God is the One against whom they will be fighting, but what about us as individuals, no matter of what nation we may be? Do we relish the thought of fighting against God? If not, what shall we do about it, inasmuch as we are all part of the various nations? Are we going to let ourselves be maneuvered by crafty schemes into fighting with the nations against God? If not, well, then, we need to go to God’s own written Word, the Holy Bible, to learn what He tells us to do about it. It behooves us to follow the advice of the Son of God, who admonished his disciples to count the cost of their undertakings, saying: “What king, marching to meet another king in war, does not first sit down and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand troops to cope with the one that comes against him with twenty thousand? If, in fact, he cannot do so, then while that one is yet far away he sends out a body of ambassadors and sues for peace.” (Luke 14:31, 32) Likewise, shall we continue marching with the worldly nations to Har–Magedon, or shall we now without delay sue for peace with God?

10. Where, and with what descriptive language, does God say that he will fight against the nations at Har–Magedon?

10 How, then, can we drop out of the line of march to Har–Magedon so as not to line up there on the side of the nations? Where does God inform us that at Har–Magedon he will do battle with the nations? It is in the Bible book of Revelation or Apocalypse, chapter sixteen, verse sixteen. The verses preceding foretell of how the nations would be led on by invisible superhuman influence, that is, by malicious demon influence, to this out-of-the-ordinary war. Describing the anti-God influences as “expressions inspired” by unseen demons, the Bible writer John the Evangelist says: “They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and perform signs, and they go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty. . . . And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Har–Magedon.”

11. What does the name of the battleground mean in Hebrew itself?

11 Those prophetic words were originally written by John the Evangelist in common Greek. But when they were translated into Hebrew itself in the nineteenth century, verse sixteen read: “And they congregated them to the place that the Hebrews call The Mountain of Megiddo [Har Megiddon].”—Rev. 16:16, Hebrew translation by Salkinson-Ginsburg; also, by F. Delitzsch.

12. So where do some claim that the final war will be fought, but what questions does such an idea raise?

12 It is because the name Har–Magedon means The Mountain of Megiddo that some Bible expositors and some prominent religious clergymen who make worldwide broadcast by radio have said that the coming universal war will be fought in the land of Israel, in the Valley of Megiddo, at the ruins of the ancient city of Megiddo. In fact, if a tourist visits those ruins today he will read a sign that marks the place and that says that here, according to the view of some, the final war is to be fought. But, broad though the valley plain in front of the mound of ruins of ancient Megiddo may be, it could never accommodate an assembly of the armies of the kings and rulers of the entire inhabited earth. And what issue would a war there before the literal site of Megiddo really settle? Are the non-Jewish nations, with their warships, their air fleets, their war tanks, their intercontinental ballistic missiles and their motorized armies to fight the Republic of Israel at Megiddo as the central strategic battlefield of the entire earth? Will it therefore be the Republic of Israel that will find itself on the victorious side at the place called Har–Magedon?

13. What fact about Revelation do those making such an application disregard, as illustrated in the case of its use of the “great river Euphrates”?

13 Those who take the name Har–Magedon or The Mountain of Megiddo in a literal way provoke such questions as those. They disregard the noteworthy fact that the Bible book Revelation or Apocalypse was written largely in picture language, with the use of a large number of symbolisms or figurative expressions. For example, when Re 16 verse twelve of this same sixteenth chapter speaks of the sixth plague of God as being emptied out upon the “great river Euphrates,” it does not mean that this sixth symbolic plague is fulfilled upon the literal Euphrates River that is now straddled by the land of Iraq. In ancient Bible times, that river’s focal point was the city of Babylon, which headed the third world power of Bible history, the Babylonian Empire. The use of the Euphrates as a symbol draws attention therefore to the still-existing world empire of false religion, which the book of Revelation calls Babylon the Great, which Re 16 verse nineteen of this same sixteenth chapter mentions. In the same manner, Re 16 verse sixteen uses the name Har–Magedon symbolically because of its historical associations.

14. What double meaning did the name Megiddo take on, and why?

14 The name Megiddo is dynamic. In secular history and in Biblical history the name stirred up memories of decisive battles. Why? Because the city then dominated a strategic land passageway between Europe, Asia and Africa, and so invaders could advantageously be challenged and halted there by the inhabitants. So Megiddo took on a double meaning, that of tragic defeat for one side and that of glorious victory for the other side.

15. What personage especially became associated with Megiddo, and how?

15 The God of the Bible became associated with the place, and with the nearby river of Kishon. This God was with Judge Joshua, who succeeded the prophet Moses, when Joshua was subduing the Promised Land and captured Megiddo. (Josh. 12:21; 17:11) During the period of those judges who followed Joshua, God gave a signal victory to his chosen people in the neighborhood of Megiddo. This was in the days of Judge Barak and the prophetess Deborah.

16, 17. (a) To whom was the battle of no little importance, and so what was done in behalf of the Israelites? (b) To whom was the victory ascribed by Barak and Deborah in song?

16 Compared with the numbers and materials employed in modern battles, the battle back there was a small-scale affair, Judge Barak having only ten thousand men and the prophetess Deborah with him, whereas the enemy General Sisera had, besides ground troops, nine hundred horse-drawn war chariots armed with scythes. However, it was no matter of little importance to God, for he stepped into the battle in behalf of his chosen people. Only he could have caused a heavy downpour of rain at the psychological time, to produce a flash flood in the Kishon River valley that immobilized those dreaded nine hundred chariots of the enemy. In the victory song that Barak and Deborah sang to God after the miraculous defeat of the oppressive enemy, they called attention to God’s all-necessary part in this overthrow of the enemy, saying:

17 “Kings came, they fought; it was then that the kings of Canaan fought in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. No gain of silver did they take. From heaven did the stars fight, from their orbits they fought against Sisera. The torrent of Kishon washed them away, the torrent of ancient days, the torrent of Kishon. You went treading down strength, O my soul. It was then that the hoofs of horses pawed because of dashings upon dashings of his stallions. ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of Jehovah, ‘curse its inhabitants incessantly, for they did not come to the assistance of Jehovah, to the assistance of Jehovah with the mighty ones.’”—Judg. 5:19-23; 4:1-3, 10, 12, 13.

18. How is the reason for the survival of Deborah and Barak and his troops stated in Judges 4:14-16?

18 The prophetess Deborah and Judge Barak and his fellow warriors survived the battle on the victorious side at Megiddo. The reason for this is stated also in the account in Judges 4:14-16: “Deborah now said to Barak: ‘Get up, for this is the day that Jehovah will certainly give Sisera into your hand. Is it not Jehovah that has gone out before you?’ And Barak went descending from Mount Tabor [on the side of the valley opposite Megiddo] with ten thousand men behind him. And Jehovah began to throw Sisera and all his war chariots and all the camp into confusion by the edge of the sword before Barak.” After that the pursuit of the disorganized enemy and the destruction of them all was a simple matter for Judge Barak and his troops.

19. (a) The prayerful words at the close of the song of Barak and Deborah apply with regard to what coming war? (b) What of significance followed that victory near Megiddo?

19 Unquestionably the inspired words that Barak and Deborah sang at the close of their song after that ancient victory at Megiddo apply as a prayer with regard to the coming war at Har–Magedon. They sang: “Thus let all your enemies perish, O Jehovah, and let your lovers be as when the sun goes forth in its mightiness.” (Judg. 5:31) Fulfillment of that inspired prayer means a brilliant future for all the lovers of Jehovah who will be on the victorious side at Har–Magedon. Significant in this respect is it that, back there in the days of Barak and Deborah, as the record tells us, “the land had no further disturbance for forty years.”

20. What, in our day, is represented by the “place that is called in Hebrew Har–Magedon”?

20 What now, in our day, is represented by the “place that is called in Hebrew Har–Magedon”? As with ancient Megiddo, it denotes a world situation that involves a decisive war. It denotes that stage in world hostility toward God that calls for settling of the issue over which the hostility has arisen. Since ancient Megiddo on its rise of ground strategically commanded the land passageway from one landmass or continent to another, so Har–Magedon denotes that ultimate state to which world affairs come where the political rulers unitedly apply force to make their way through and where God must react with a counterforce according to His purpose. Thus the future of the universe is to be determined by what results from the opposing of contrary forces to each other.

21. (a) With such a viewpoint of Har–Magedon, at what or for what will we not be looking? (b) Our further examination of the Scriptures will now enable us to do what?

21 Having such a Scriptural viewpoint of what Har–Magedon really means will keep us from looking in the wrong direction and from expecting the wrong thing. We will not be looking to the geographical location of ancient Megiddo in the land of Israel. We will not be looking for a converging of all the armed forces of the nations there with the Republic of Israel as their target of attack. We will not be looking for mass conversion of the Jews in the Republic of Israel to acceptance of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. We will not be led to the idea that we must line up with the natural Jews in the Republic of Israel in order to survive on the victorious side at Har–Magedon. To the contrary, we will see that the Valley of Megiddo, yes, the whole Republic of Israel, is not the issue involved. We will diligently examine all the inspired sacred Scriptures and will, with the help of God’s spirit, determine what the real issue at Har–Magedon is. Then we shall know on which side of the issue to take our stand in order to survive with the victors at the real Har–Magedon.

THE ISSUE AT HAR–MAGEDON

22. There is a movement of whom today to the real Har–Magedon?

22 Let us make no mistake about it: there is a movement to the real Har–Magedon today. When we see who it is that are on the move in that direction, we can discern what the issue is. Let us read once again Revelation 16:14, which foretold who are the ones that would march to Har–Magedon at the turning point in universal history: “They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and perform signs, and they go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty.”

23. (a) That there is to be a war at Har–Magedon indicates what, and this with whom? (b) What, then, is the issue at Har–Magedon, and this to what extent?

23 The very fact that the gathering together is to a war indicates that an issue is involved. The war is to be fought to settle the issue. Since this is the “war of the great day of God the Almighty,” it means that there are those who are at issue with God the Almighty and who want to fight it out with Him. What do those who take issue with him and want to settle matters by war have to lose? Well, please, note the official position of these with regard to the entire inhabited earth. They are political rulers, “the kings of the entire inhabited earth.” Their kingdoms are at stake. Their provoking this war at Har–Magedon is for the purpose of defending their political rule, their kingship, even by force of arms. So, then, KINGDOM is the paramount issue at Har–Magedon! Not “kingdom” over Great Britain, not “kingdom” over Thailand, not “kingdom” over Sweden, but “kingdom” over the “entire inhabited earth.”

24. What questions arise, therefore, about letting things stay as they are?

24 Why, though, should kingdom over the entire inhabited earth be the thing put at issue at Har–Magedon? Why should kings, emperors, presidents and other political rulers of earth be now disturbed and their continued government be put in question? The world of mankind has got along with these political rulers for so long, in fact, for more than four thousand years or since the days of King Nimrod of Babylon on the Euphrates River. Hence, why not let the status quo, the political pattern of earthly government that has survived for so long just keep on going, as long as the people themselves are willing to put up with it or have their democratic elections every so often? Why not, at least, let the people have their way about it? Why bring in a world change as to earth’s rulership? Has not the world got enough trouble as it is?

25. (a) What questions arise regarding a “change” as desired by those who see it is time for it? (b) But what do the “kings of the entire inhabited earth” insist on, and under what influence?

25 However, more and more people today are becoming convinced that “the time has come for a change!” But a “change” from the present world governmental situation to what? Also, are they united on what to change over to, and how this is to be done? In spite of their having that twenty-nine-year-old agency for international action, the United Nations, it cannot be left to the bewildered people to handle the matter of a “change” to something agreeable to all, something adequate to all human needs and certain to endure for all time to come. Moreover, according to Revelation, chapter sixteen, verse fourteen, the presently acting political rulers are by no means in favor of a peaceful change. They insist on making it necessary for the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” to be fought to the finish. And behind these rulers are malicious forces superior to man.

26. What, therefore, must be fought, and why would certain persons not want to ward it off?

26 Consequently, the war must be waged. It cannot be sidestepped or avoided. What informed persons, with the Bible viewpoint, would want to ward it off? They are in favor of victory for the right side. They eagerly look forward to the change for all the inhabited earth that will follow that universal war. Faced with the opportunity that is held out to the people of this generation, they would like to survive the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” and share in the glorious privileges in the postwar period.

27. In view of what facts is there need for right action now, and this with what guidance and help?

27 There is now no neutral position with reference to the coming war, which will be universal. Right action is necessary now before that war breaks out in order to find oneself on the victorious side at Har–Magedon. Only by one’s being found wholeheartedly on that side can there be survival for anyone on earth to see the change that the surface of our earthly globe so urgently needs. For our guidance and help to right action now, we need to consider what is the issue and which side is in the right in the controversy. That side will be victorious!

[Map on page 231]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Mt. Carmel

R. Kishon

Harosheth

Nazareth

Mt Tabor

With Jehovah’s aid, Barak defeated the army of Sisera

MEGIDDO

Joshua defeated the king of Megiddo

Hill of Moreh

Well of Harod

Jehovah gave Gideon, with 300 men, victory over 120,000 Midianites

[Picture on page 229]

An artist’s reconstruction of ancient Megiddo

Mankind’s Benefits from the Victory at Har–Magedon

1. Why does mankind stand to benefit eternally from the victory gained at Har–Magedon?

MANKIND stands to benefit eternally from the victory gained at Har–Magedon. That victory will be one for mankind, especially the survivors of the war at Har–Magedon, to memorialize forever. It is a victory that will mark a “great day.” Till now there has been no day like it, for it will be the “great day of God the Almighty.” He will make it a “great day” for Himself by the victory that he gains in the universal war of that day. Mankind could not do otherwise than benefit from the victory of God the Almighty, for He is mankind’s very best Friend.

2. (a) The kingdom that is at issue includes what as its realm, and why? (b) The issue is rulership with what condition on earth?

2 At Har–Magedon God the Almighty takes on as combatants the “kings of the entire inhabited earth.” It is because KINGDOM is the issue to be settled at Har–Magedon. That Kingdom must involve our earth as its realm, for here is where the “kings of the entire inhabited earth” are ruling and are determined to stay ruling. The issue is Kingdom, but not over an earth divided as now between the democratic bloc of nations and the Communist bloc of nations, both blocs coexisting in mutual toleration, or between Christendom and pagandom. The issue is, rather, Kingdom over one whole undivided earth, one Kingdom for all the earth. Will that not be beneficial for all mankind?

3. Does the fight at Har–Magedon over the Kingdom issue occur accidentally, and why can we be thankful that a change is brought about by God?

3 It is by no unforeseen turn in human affairs nor by any accident that the Kingdom issue gets to be fought over at the battlefield of Har–Magedon. The matter is all timed in behalf of God and of man. The Almighty God, who provided the sun, moon and stars and the revolutions of the earth for man’s timekeeping, has fixed his time for the Kingdom of the entire earth. Has he not put up with human rulership over all the earth for enough time by now? Are human rulers the ones to decide when and how Almighty God may take over the kingdom of the earth, his own creation? Is he going to let helpless mankind flounder around to time indefinite in all the world trouble and anguish of nations that began with World War I of the year 1914 and not come to their help? Happily, No! His sorely needed kingdom over the entire earth will be a vast improvement on anything that imperfect, dying human rulers have been able to give mankind thus far. Certainly any change made by Him in rulership of human creatures could never be for the worse. We can be thankful that it is the Almighty God who will make the change for us, and that his wisely chosen time for this has come.

4, 5. To what prayer for His rulership has God long listened, and what did the teacher of that prayer say and do to further the interests of such rulership?

4 For now more than nineteen centuries the Almighty God has listened to the prayer repeatedly offered to him by those who follow the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:9, 10) Almighty God has not answered that inspired prayer before now because his own appointed time had not come. That prayer was taught by a man who believed in God’s kingdom to the very point of sacrificing his life in furtherance of the interests of that kingdom. A false Messiah would not do such a thing. In his Sermon on the Mount he not only taught his hearers to pray for the heavenly Father’s kingdom, but also told them: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.” In his educational work among the inhabitants of Palestine his opening theme was: “Repent, you people, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” (Matt. 4:17; 6:33) And in his prophecy foretelling troubles incidental to the setting up of God’s Messianic kingdom, he said:

5 “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”—Matt. 24:14.

6, 7. (a) Those by means of whom that prophecy is undergoing fulfillment have what faith toward the speaker of that prophecy? (b) What did Simon Peter say about him to the Jews on the festival day of Weeks?

6 That remarkable prophecy has been largely fulfilled, and is still in course of fulfillment, not by means of Christendom with all her earthly kings, wars and political squabbles, but by true believers in Almighty God and in the heavenly kingdom of his Messiah. These know who it was that fulfilled the inspired prophecies in the sacred Hebrew Scriptures as respects God’s promised Messiah. They know that this one was the greatest advocate of God’s Messianic kingdom ever on earth. With confidence and certainty they can prove from the God-given Scriptures that this Messiah was and is the one whom a former tax collector named Matthew Levi called “Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.” (Matt. 1:1) This is the one to whom a Galilean named Simon Peter bore witness on the feast day of Shavuoth (Weeks) at ancient Jerusalem, to more than three thousand celebrators, saying to these inquiring Jews:

7 “Actually David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, ‘Jehovah said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.”’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for a certainty that God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you impaled.”—Acts 2:34-36.

8. (a) Why are Christendom and the Jews who look for a Messiah of blood and flesh looking for the wrong thing? (b) What will the kingdom of the true Messiah be able to do for mankind?

8 David was the first Jewish king of Jerusalem, and his descendant Jesus “of the tribe of Judah” is now the heavenly Lord of David and also the Messiah or Anointed One, the Christ. The religious people of Christendom and also the circumcised Jews who look shortly for a Messiah in flesh and blood are looking for the wrong thing. The true Messiah, whom the inspired David said Jehovah God would invite to sit at his right hand in the heavens and who would be a Priest-King like ancient Melchizedek, is now and always will be a heavenly Messiah, a spirit heavenly Son of God. (Ps. 110:1-4) His Messianic kingdom will be more than that of a mortal man on earth. It will be superhuman and so will be able to do what an earthly kingdom by a mere human ruler could never do for mankind. The true Messianic kingdom is heavenly and is able to break the power of Satan the Devil, who is a disobedient heavenly angel, the prince of demon angels. Mankind, who are the pitiful victims of Satan the Devil and his demons, can get lasting liberation and benefit from such a Messianic kingdom.

KINGDOM SET UP ON TIME

9. (a) The earthly kingdom of David was overturned when, and to continue thus for what period of time? (b) When must Gentile rule go and Messiah’s rule come in?

9 The earthly kingdom of David’s family at Jerusalem was overthrown by the armies of Babylon in the year 607 before our Common Era. Shortly before that calamity Jehovah God used his prophet Ezekiel to declare that the promised Messiah would come at God’s due time and that He would give the Kingdom to this Messiah because of that one’s right to it. (Ezek. 21:25-27) From history, Jews and Gentiles alike know what happened after the destruction of David’s throne back there by the Gentile Babylonians. An uninterrupted time of Gentile domination of the earth set in with no kingdom of the royal house of David to interfere with those Gentile rulers. “Gentile Times” they have been called. (Luke 21:24, Authorized Version Bible) But Almighty God would let the Gentile Times of world domination go on for only so long. He set a fixed time for the end of those Gentile Times. He indicated that fact to the king of Babylon, the destroyer of Jerusalem. (Dan. 4:16, 23, 25, 31) So Gentile rule must go; Messiah’s rule must come!

10. What most powerful political power did Daniel foretell, and how has it been unable to change God’s time and law regarding rulership?

10 By his prophet Daniel, God foretold that a Gentile political power would arise that would try to change God’s time and law respecting earth’s rulership. (Dan. 7:25) However, world history of this twentieth century shows that this foretold political power, the most powerful world power of all human history, was not able to change God’s date for the close of the Gentile Times from the year 1914 to some later date in the indefinite future. True, World War I did break out in the year 1914; but what really marked and spelled the end of the Gentile Times in that year was the birth of God’s Messianic kingdom in the heavens by the installation of his Son Jesus Christ as the Anointed King. During all the troublous years since then the mighty Seventh World Power (the Anglo-American Dual World Power) has been unable to change that fact of universal importance. The wrath that all the worldly nations have expressed in the form of persecution upon Jehovah’s Christian witnesses who have preached “this good news of the kingdom” in all the inhabited earth has been unable to cancel out God’s time for His kingdom.

11. (a) When did the time come for thanksgiving to be offered because of God’s taking his power to reign? (b) What shows whether the thankful ones included the earthly nations?

11 At the close of the Gentile Times in early autumn of 1914 the hour came for the heavenly announcement to be made, as foretold in Revelation 11:15: “The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.” Well, now, were the nations of Christendom thankful for this turn of events in universal history? Did those who were grateful for the birth of the kingdom of the Lord God in the hands of his Christ include those so-called Christian nations? Not at all! For the prophecy of Revelation 11:17, 18 foretold that the grateful persons would say: “We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king. But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came.” History testifies to the fact that those wrathful nations became violent persecutors of the Kingdom preachers.

12, 13. Was Satan happy over the Kingdom’s birth, and how does Revelation 12:7-12 indicate whether he was?

12 Not to be expected otherwise, Satan the Devil and his demon angels were not happy about the birth of God’s Messianic kingdom in the heavens in 1914. The next chapter of Revelation, chapter twelve, verses seven through twelve, tells us what followed the Kingdom’s birth:

13 “War broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! . . . Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.’”

14. (a) Where do the earthly kings let themselves be gathered, why and under what influence? (b) What will it mean finally for us to be gathered there with those kings?

14 Thus Satan the Devil and his demon angels and the nations of the earth experienced the same feelings at the birth of God’s Messianic kingdom at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914. It is not surprising, therefore, that the inspired expression out of the mouth of the great dragon, Satan the Devil, would gather the kings of the entire inhabited earth to a war at Har–Magedon over the issue of the Kingdom. Nor is it any cause for surprise that the kings of these wrathful nations would let themselves be gathered there under such demon influences. But the personal question that deserves our close examination is, Are we as individuals letting ourselves be gathered there on the side of those misled “kings of the entire inhabited earth”? If we do so, then we will undeniably show that we are for their kingdom, and not for God’s Messianic kingdom. Then, too, we shall be obliged to take what those “kings of the entire inhabited earth” will take at Har–Magedon. What is that? Revelation 19:19-21 tells us:

15. How does Revelation 19:19-21 pictorially show what befalls the kings of the earth and their backers at Har–Magedon?

15 “And I [the apostle John] saw the wild beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together [that is, at Har–Magedon] to wage the war with the one seated on the horse and with his army. [And upon his outer garment, even upon his thigh, he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Re 19 Verse 16)] And the wild beast was caught, and along with it the false prophet that performed in front of it the signs with which he misled those who received the mark of the wild beast and those who render worship to its image. While still alive, they both were hurled into the fiery lake that burns with sulphur. But the rest were killed off with the long sword of the one seated on the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth. And all the birds were filled from the fleshy parts of them.”

16. (a) So who emerges victor at Har–Magedon, and why is he called King of kings? (b) By whom is the execution of the enemies carried out, and how are the corpses of the defeated ones disposed of?

16 From that prophetic symbolic picture it should not be hard for anyone to determine who emerges as the victor at that “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon. It is the King of kings and Lord of lords, who is pictured as the one seated on the white war-horse. (Rev. 19:11) As if a long sword were protruding out of his mouth, this heavenly Warrior shouts out commands for the execution of the kings of the earth and those lined up on their side at Har–Magedon. The heavenly angelic army do the carrying out of these commands of the King of kings. In this way it is proved that he is a King of kings, that is, a King superior to all those kings of the earth. All those who follow and politically support such kings of the earth will be killed off with such human kings. The followers of the King of kings, who survive that universal war at Har–Magedon, are not here pictured as being commanded to bury the corpses of those earthly kings and their armies. Who, then, will dispose of those exposed stinking corpses? The agencies of disposal are pictured as scavenger birds.

17. What do such death and disposal of bodily remains mean for such executed ones, and why?

17 Such an odious death and disposal of the fleshy remains means a death from which there is no hope of a resurrection. This is because they are executed by the Almighty God by means of his heavenly armies under Christ at the battlefield of Har–Magedon. They prove themselves to be irreformable opposers of Jehovah God and his Messianic kingdom. They will never live again, any more than will the symbolic “wild beast” and the symbolic “false prophet,” human political organizations, that are destroyed forever as if hurled while still alive into a “fiery lake that burns with sulphur.” Revelation 20:14 and Re 21:8 calls this fiery sulfurous “lake” a symbol of “the second death,” eternal annihilation!

POSTWAR BENEFITS TO SURVIVORS

18. Lovers of righteous government will love whom and hate whom, and on what side will they line up without delay?

18 Because this is such a serious matter for all people of this generation, the Bible is very plain and outspoken as to what awaits those who now line up on the side that is headed for defeat in the universal war at Har–Magedon. True lovers of a perfect righteous government for all mankind shrink back in horror at the fate of those who will deliberately fight the King of kings and who thereby reject God’s Messianic kingdom. They love the merciful God from whom this long-promised Kingdom of righteousness, peace and prosperity comes. They hate God’s adversary, Satan the Devil, from whom all misgovernment of mankind has come, together with all its unrighteousness, insecurity and hard way of living. They long to see the right of Jehovah God to universal sovereignty over all intelligent creation vindicated by his glorious victory through his Son Jesus Christ at Har–Magedon. Such lovers of the rightful Universal Sovereign are people that will line up now, without further delay, on the side of His Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords. On that side only can they survive.

19. Why will Jehovah’s victory at Har–Magedon be an occasion for unspeakable joy on the part of the earthly survivors?

19 Divine Victory at the battlefield of Har–Magedon will be an occasion for unspeakable joy for all the survivors on earth, the place at which the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” takes place. Their songs of exultation in the vindication of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty will be something the equal of which this entire earth has never before heard. O to think of seeing in actuality the whole earth rid at last of the beastly political system that Jehovah’s great adversary has used since the Babylon of Nimrod’s kingdom! Yes, the whole earth cleared for the humane kingdom of Jehovah’s Anointed One to exercise loving control for God’s glory and mankind’s eternal blessing!

20. In addition to that joy there will be the joy over what still mightier triumph?

20 Added to that incomparable joy will be the joy occasioned by a still mightier triumph on the part of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. This will immediately follow up the end of the war at Har–Magedon. This will be the binding of the Wicked One who has masterminded the visible political system on earth to man’s hurt, namely, Satan the Devil, together with all his demon angels. They will be removed from the earth’s neighborhood and imprisoned under seal in a distant abyss, powerless to interfere with God’s Messianic kingdom.

21. (a) How will the survivors witness the abyssing of the demons, but how will it be made real to these survivors? (b) Why will the survivors feel secure within the embrace of God’s Messianic kingdom?

21 This long-desired abyssing of the demons the earthly survivors of Har–Magedon will see only with their eyes of faith, according to the prophetic description given in Revelation 20:1-3, but they are bound to feel the delightful effects thereof in a very realistic way. No longer will they be obliged to keep on the “complete suit of armor” from God in order to fight and stand firm against the machinations of the Devil. No longer will they have to wrestle with invisible superhuman governments and “wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places.” No longer will the adversary, the Devil, go walking around like a roaring lion to seek out someone to devour. (Eph. 6:11-18; 1 Pet. 5:8) There will be freedom from fear of such malicious invisible opponents, and the survivors of earth’s greatest tribulation will feel soothingly secure within the embrace of the Messianic “new heavens.” That heavenly government will have the tenderness of an Oriental shepherd who lovingly safeguards his sheep. The Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for his human “sheep,” will be a royal Shepherd over all men for whom he died.—Rev. 21:1; 7:9-17; John 10:10-16.

22. (a) What will his bringing of his worshipers alive through the “great tribulation” be for Jehovah, in exemplification of Psalm 145:20? (b) Who on earth will be the first to enter into the grand things prophesied for the Kingdom’s realm?

22 We do not forget that the wicked aim of Satan and his demons after being ousted from the holy heavens and down to the earth was to bring such “woe” upon earth and sea as to cause the destruction of all humankind, especially the true worshipers of Jehovah God. In the light of this fact the bringing of such worshipers alive through the “great tribulation” and its Har–Magedon climax will be a victorious feat on the part of the Almighty God and his Messianic King. (Matt. 24:21, 22; Mark 13:19, 20) It is another exemplification of the Bible’s assurance: “Jehovah is guarding all those loving him, but all the wicked ones he will annihilate.” (Ps. 145:20) He has prophesied glorious things for this earth under the thousand-year kingdom of the Messiah Jesus, and the survivors of the “great tribulation” will be the first ones on earth to enter into the realization of those glorious prophecies.

23. (a) The earth will then be a place of what relationship between earth’s inhabitants? (b) Why will there then be no further rendering of Caesar’s things to Caesar?

23 At last the whole earth will be a place of human brotherhood—among those survivors who have faithfully ranged themselves on the side of Almighty God and his Son Jesus Christ. There will be no need for a Peace Conference to draw up a Treaty of Peace and to heal the wounds and patch up the differences between the victors and the defeated. There will be no defeated ones alive on earth. The living, the sharers in Jehovah’s divine victory, will no more divide their attention between rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s, for “Caesar” and his political government will be gone for all time. (Matt. 22:21) All things now must be God’s, and earth’s inhabitants must render these all things to God.—Ps. 103:19; 1 Chron. 29:11.

24. Under Satan’s rule earth has been a place where what reigned, but what will reign instead under God’s kingdom?

24 Under the Devil’s rule over mankind during the past six thousand years earth has been a realm where sin and its penalty death have reigned. Under the one government earth wide by God through the Savior Jesus Christ earth will become a realm where righteousness and its reward, life, will reign. The tribulation survivors will themselves know the feel of real rejuvenation of body and mind as they carry out the will of the Divine Government.

25. (a) The earthly survivors will rejoice to see the benefits of the Kingdom extended to whom else, by what means? (b) What earthly condition will welcome back such returning ones? (c) How will the eyes and hearts of the survivors be blessed for now taking the victorious side?

25 The loving hearts of the survivors will rejoice when life benefits under a perfect heavenly Government are extended to those who sleep in the bosom of the earth, a miraculous thing that will take place when the resurrection of the dead starts at the command of Jesus Christ. (John 5:28, 29) What a transformation of earth’s conditions will have taken effect when that return of the ransomed dead begins! Paradise under reconstruction will greet their eyes and welcome their return! The joys of then living and serving under God’s Messianic kingdom can only be imagined. But blessed will be the eyes and hearts of those surviving on the victorious side at Har–Magedon, for they will live and prepare to see these things come in!

[Chart on page 237]

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Gentile Times Ended

Messianic Kingdom Born in Heaven

Why Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Take an Interest in You?

YOU may have had many calls from Jehovah’s witnesses and may have obtained several copies of the Watch Tower publications. So you perhaps wonder why the Witnesses keep calling.

Their interest is not in your money. Strange as it may sound in these days, Jehovah’s witnesses love you. They sincerely believe that your life is in real, imminent danger. They are trying hard to get that point across to you, because they also believe there is something very simple that you can do to protect yourself as well as your family.

You probably know that Jehovah’s witnesses are not trying to take some advantage of you. If you have them as neighbors you know that they are in most respects like yourself. They work to support themselves. But they are different from you in that they spend much time in talking to people about God’s purposes.

It is not that Jehovah’s witnesses would not enjoy spending more time in sitting at home near a warm fire, reading, or watching TV, or sitting in the shade with a cool drink. They could be at a park or resort, at the ocean or in the mountains. But they spend hours in calling on people like you, whom they may not know personally. Why?

They know, as you do, that this world has no love, and very few friendly or cheerful words. But they know the reason and the remedy. They know that this world is coming to a finish very soon. This knowledge is not due to superior wisdom on their part; it is because they read the only book that really makes sense in answering today’s problems and in showing what is ahead.

That book is the Bible. Jehovah’s witnesses fully believe the Bible and know that it is the only source that gives hope—of good government, of health, life, peace on earth, and of freedom from fear and death. Not even a promise of all these things comes from anywhere else. Why not at least hear what the Witnesses have to say?

Most people who have an acquaintance with Jehovah’s witnesses say they are good people, orderly, having children that are usually well behaved. Their large conventions have been called models of peacefulness and order. Remarks have been made, even in the newspapers, to the effect that the Witnesses are courteous, clean, an example to the community, though (they often add) what the Witnesses believe is farfetched.

But, think. Is it not what a person believes and follows that makes him what he is? Jehovah’s witnesses are from all walks of life, and many of them formerly were not so courteous and peaceable. But what they have learned from God’s Word has changed their lives. One of Christ’s apostles expressed this truth to early Christians when he wrote:

“Deaden, therefore, your body members that are upon the earth as respects fornication, uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of those things the wrath of God is coming. In those very things you, too, once walked when you used to live in them. But now really put them all away from you.”—Col. 3:5-8.

This is what Jehovah’s witnesses have done by studying the Bible and endeavoring to apply it in their lives.

When Jehovah’s witnesses leave literature with you, have they accomplished their objective? Do you take literature to encourage them or to “help” them? The Witnesses appreciate your kindness. But they are not seeking help. It is what is in the literature that they want you to get. They know it can help you to see what to do in these dangerous times. It is to save your life. If you do not see that this present world system is going to pass off the scene, you and your family need to know it.

But this is not all. Without a good side to the picture, without a hope, you would not gain much. It is good news that the Bible gives—news that this system of things will be replaced by God’s government over earth. This change will occur in this generation, when man is at his extremity, as he is now. (Matt. 24:34) Jehovah’s witnesses are not establishing that government. God is. They want to survive and live under it. Do you? Those who do must take a course different from what people in general are taking now.

Jehovah’s witnesses do not want you to join some sort of “movement.” They are not just a passing religious oddity. They are true Christians. They bring information so that you can act to protect yourself, altogether on your own decision, intelligently.

This kind of activity is nothing really new. Not only have the Witnesses been active for a century now, but earlier witnesses of Jehovah did the same thing at certain times of crisis. This is because God gives warning of what he is going to do.

God gave intensive warning, through Noah, to the preflood world for fifty years or more.—2 Pet. 2:5.

Jesus Christ and his followers appealed to the Jewish people to save themselves from destruction with that generation. (Matt. 23:33-39; Acts 2:40) Why did Jesus do this? Because he loved the honesthearted people among them. Many heard, fled from Jerusalem and survived that city’s destruction by the Roman armies. More than a million persons died in that very small area encompassed by Jerusalem’s wall, and 97,000 were taken captives.

Now the clearing out of this world’s corrupt, ungodly system of things is at hand, in a severe time of trouble. But what will follow will be righteous living conditions under the heavenly Kingdom. During its rule God will resurrect the dead and set before them the opportunity to live forever. God’s blessing will result in perfect health and eternal life for obedient mankind.—Rev. 21:3-5.

Do you want to live in such an earth? Jehovah’s witnesses want you to survive to enjoy it. They will do anything they can to help you. They will gladly spend their own time and money to call on you and study the Bible with you, free. Act now to “get a firm hold on the real life” for yourself and your family.—1 Tim. 6:19.

Insight on the News

Earthquake Devastation

● Have you noted with what frequency great earthquakes strike? Last summer a much stronger quake hit Mexico than the one that devastated Managua, Nicaragua, in 1972 and that killed 12,000 persons. But centered in a less populated area, the Mexico death toll was smaller.

In 1972, a powerful quake in Iran killed some 4,000 persons. In 1971, over 1,000 persons in Turkey died in quakes. The year before, Peru shook so hard that 70,000 were killed in what is called “the worst natural disaster on record in the Western Hemisphere”; the homes of 800,000 persons were destroyed. Less than two years before that, a terrible Iranian quake killed an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 people.

Is there some special significance to all of this? Well, did you know that, when describing conditions that would exist in the last days of this system of things, Jesus said: “There will be great earthquakes”?—Luke 21:11.

Think of it—well over 100,000 persons have died in great earthquakes just since 1968! Those injured, homeless or suffering property damage number in the millions. This represents a tremendous increase over what took place in past centuries.

Food Supplies Dwindle

● No one needs to be told that food prices are skyrocketing. They jumped by about 20 percent in the United States last year, and are still climbing rapidly. If this situation exists in one of the world’s most prosperous countries, how serious really are food shortages elsewhere?

Agricultural economist Lester Brown warns that world food security hangs by a thread. Grain supplies are very low. If poor weather damages this year’s crops, as it did in 1972, the consequences would be disastrous. Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner and a leading agricultural expert, foresees starvation killing as many as 50 million persons!

Already untold thousands have starved to death in a huge section of Africa. And United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim warns: “If sufficient action isn’t taken in the next few months, countries could disappear from the face of the map.”

Why such shortages in this twentieth century with its mechanized, scientific farming? The situation is significant. The Bible book of Revelation long ago foretold the ride of a symbolic “black horse,” with high prices and food scarcity marking its trail. And Jesus Christ prophesied that “food shortages” would mark the “conclusion of the system of things.” In recent events many persons see a fulfillment of these Bible prophecies. Do you?—Matt. 24:3, 7; Rev. 6:5, 6.

Gasoline and Self-Control

● Gasoline prices have gone up, up and up—40 cents, 50 cents and 60 cents in New York city. In West Germany, Japan, France and Italy motorists have paid well over $1 a gallon in recent months.

And by all indications motorists would pay even more if the gasoline were available. They have waited for hours in lines sometimes a mile and more long, and even then some failed to get any. In Stamford, Connecticut, an attendant was shocked when a woman offered to have sex relations with him for $2 worth of gas. Instead, he gave her four gallons and a fatherly talk.

As motorists jockey for position in lines, tempers explode and both angry words and fists often fly. “Threats are a daily situation,” says a station operator on Chicago’s South Side. When an Oregon woman was asked what the 38-caliber revolver she was carrying was for, she said: “The next gas station attendant that won’t fill up my tank.”

The situation is just as the Bible foretold: “In the last days . . . men will be lovers of themselves . . . without self-control, fierce.”—2 Tim. 3:1-5.

Adding to the frustration is the widespread belief that the gasoline shortage was deliberately created simply to force prices higher. “People have lost confidence,” noted William Simon, director of the Federal Energy Office. “The public is no longer willing to give public officials the benefit of the doubt.”

Will you resist any inclinations to copy this violent trend? If you do you will be the happier for it.

Is Peace Near?

● What do you think about the international efforts being made to establish world peace? Do you think they will succeed?

Consider these developments: Israeli and Arab troops have disengaged in the Sinai; U.N. troops form a buffer between them. Similar disengagement plans between Israel and Syria are being worked out. Steps have been taken to open up the Suez Canal by the end of the year. And progress has been made toward arms limitations.

All of this makes the world leaders optimistic. In a speech on February 24, U.S. Vice-President Gerald Ford said: “An era of peace is within reach.” The following day President Nixon declared: “On the peace front we’re doing well.”

These leaders base their opinions on the belief that for governments to continue to engage in armed conflict would be disastrous to everyone. So the current trend in world affairs is toward détente, that is, peaceful relations between the opposing world powers. But what does Bible prophecy say about this?

It indicates that an apparent peace will be achieved by the nations. But what will that mean? The Bible answers: “Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them . . . and they will by no means escape.” So the present peace effort is only an illusion; it portends a sudden end for this entire system.—1 Thess. 5:3.

Church Role in Lawlessness

● What is behind the current upsurge in lawlessness? Jesus Christ foretold: “Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; and because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off.” (Matt. 24:3, 11, 12) This makes one wonder if the clergymen are contributing to the current wave of lawlessness.

Well, reports of subversive activities of clergymen are continually coming in from many lands. “It has become routine,” observes the Baltimore “Sun,” “for priests to be arrested, tried and sentenced for helping workers to organize, sheltering subversives on the run.” But do these clergymen have Church approval?

There is reason to believe so. For example, in the Roman Catholic Church’s 1967 encyclical “Development of Peoples,” “revolutionary uprising” was approved “where there is manifest long-standing tyranny.” The World Council of Churches, at its meeting in Uppsala in 1968, similarly approved political revolutions.

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The Watchtower, April 15, 1974