The Watchtower, November 15, 1981

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The Watchtower — November 15, 1981

Source: jw.org

Contents

Page Two

Does the Bible Foretell the End of the Earth?

The “End of the World”—Something to Hope For

Why Did God Create Our Earth?

“Peace and Security!”—Then “Sudden Destruction”

‘Stay Awake and Keep Your Senses’

Insight on the News

Serving Jehovah on His Holy Mountain

Feed Regularly on Bible Truths!

Questions From Readers

A Magnificent Companion

Page Two

OUR COVER: “The end of the world”—the approach of this grand event should arouse in us, not fear, but hope, and the following pages explain why

Does the Bible Foretell the End of the Earth?

THE END OF THE WORLD—five words that have struck terror into many hearts throughout the centuries of human history. Today they have lost much of their impact, since religious belief is on the wane. Yet predictions of world catastrophe are not limited to the field of religion. Scientists in several branches of human learning warn of calamity for the human race.

SCIENTIFIC FEARS

Astronomers have listed at least four threats to continued life on earth. Under the heading “The Four Cosmic Catastrophes That Threaten the Earth,” the French scientific magazine Science et Vie enumerated these as the explosion of a supernova, a giant solar flare, the fall of a giant meteorite or the entry of the entire solar system into a cloud of cosmic dust that would absorb so much of the sun’s heat that the earth would be frozen.

At the same time, ecologists are increasingly sounding an alarm concerning the dangers of pollution through the use and the abuse of unnatural substances that endanger the health and even the life of humankind and wildlife. Yes, pollution is poisoning the air we breathe, the land and the food it produces, and the seas together with the fish we eat. Unwise and selfish deforestation has brought about both disastrous flooding and man-made deserts.

Taken individually, these environmental threats would doubtless be insufficient to put an end to life on earth. But compounded, they add up to a formidable danger. In an interview with Paris’ newsweekly L’Express, Maurice Strong, former secretary-general of the World Environment Conference, recently stated: “If man continues to adopt such an arrogant attitude toward nature, although I hate to say it, he will eventually disappear.”

However, the most immediate threat to life on earth—the one that has been referred to as “The Final Holocaust or Apocalypse” and misnamed “Armageddon”—is the very real possibility of total nuclear war. The militarized nations of the world have stockpiled nuclear weapons with an explosive power equal to several tons of TNT for every man, woman and child on earth. No wonder the nuclear threat is spoken of in end-of-world terms!

WHAT DO THE CHURCHES TEACH?

For hundreds of millions of Catholics and many Protestants such expressions as “Doomsday,” “Judgment Day” or “the end of the world” conjure up visions of a final reckoning and the destruction of the earth. Under the heading “End of the World,” the authoritative Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique states: “The Catholic Church believes and teaches that the present world, as God made it and as it is, will not last forever. All the visible creatures made by God throughout the ages . . . will cease to exist and will be transformed into a new creation.”

Christendom’s churches teach that the ultimate destiny of man is either eternal bliss in heaven or everlasting punishment in “hell.” According to them, the earth has no permanent role in God’s purpose. Yet Catholic and Protestant theologians know quite well that the Bible speaks of the coming of God’s kingdom in order for God’s will to be done ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’ (Matt. 6:10) They know that this is one of the essential things for which Christians are to pray. They are also very familiar with the Bible promise of “a new earth” wherein righteousness is to dwell. (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1-4) But Catholic and Protestant theology on these scriptures and many others that speak of the earth in God’s purpose is vague, even evasive.

On the other hand, having sent all the good to heaven and the wicked to “hell,” many of Christendom’s theologians are quick to quote such scriptures as “Heaven and earth will pass away” (Matt. 24:35) to ‘prove’ that the earth will be destroyed. They are only too happy to rid themselves of the earth, for which they find no place in their theology. They very conveniently interpret what some Bible translations call “the end of the world” as meaning the end of the earth.—Matt. 24:3.

THE BIBLE VIEW

What, then, does the Bible mean by “the end of the world”? It should first be noted that what some versions translate as “end of the world,” others render “close of the age” (Revised Standard Version, both Protestant and Catholic editions), “completion of the age” (Marshall—The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament) or “conclusion of the system of things” (New World Translation). The words “close,” “completion” or “conclusion” are more precise translations of the Greek word synteʹleia, as distinct from telos (end or complete end; compare Matthew 24:6, 14). Likewise, “age” and “system of things” are more accurate translations of ai·onʹ, as distinct from koʹsmos, which generally designates the world of mankind.

Interestingly, the word koʹsmos appears in none of the scriptures containing the words sometimes mistranslated “end of the world.” So that expression does not mean the end of humanity. It refers to the conclusion of a wicked system of things, the close of an era (ai·onʹ) characterized by the bad doings of “ungodly men.”—Compare 2 Peter 3:7.

Far from foretelling the end of the earth, the Bible holds out the promise of a wonderful future for our beautiful planet. But first the earth must be wiped clean of the present wicked system. The end of this system is therefore something to hope for, as the following article will show.

The “End of the World”—Something to Hope For

“ECONOMIC and moral crises, wars, assassination attempts, seizures of hostages, the arms race, the tragedy of famines and refugees—humanity is indeed very sick. . . . But the end of a world is not necessarily the end of the world.” So said the Paris daily Le Monde under the headline (in English) “Apocalypse Now?”

Wittingly or unwittingly, the writer of those lines expressed the Bible viewpoint on things. The Scriptures show that a world (in the sense of a “system of things”) can come to its end without the world (in the sense of the earth and all its inhabitants) being destroyed. Moreover, as we shall see, the very conditions mentioned by that French newspaper as evidence that “humanity is indeed very sick” were foretold in the Bible as part of a sign indicating that we are now living at the “conclusion” of the present wicked “system of things” and that we are at the dawn of another “age” that will be characteristically different—a new “system of things.”

WHY THE OLD “WORLD” MUST GO

The spine-chilling term “end of the world” is really a misnomer that has been used by Christendom’s preachers to scare people into supporting their church systems. The original Greek means “conclusion of the system of things.” Hence, a person might ask: Why must the present system disappear?

The primary reason is that such is God’s purpose. Why? Ever since it came into existence, shortly after the flood of Noah’s day, the present system of things has gone from bad to worse. (Gen. 10:8-12; 11:1-9) It was not created by Jehovah God. On the contrary, God’s true servants have always been harassed and even persecuted by “the rulers of this system of things.” (1 Cor. 2:6) And small wonder, for the apostle Paul calls Satan “the god of this system of things.” (2 Cor. 4:4) If only because it was “the rulers of this system of things” that “impaled the glorious Lord,” Christ Jesus, such a system deserves to disappear.—1 Cor. 2:8.

The present world arrangement has distinguished itself by increasing sin, unrighteousness and rebellion against God and his will. It has fostered injustice, oppression and violence—among individuals and among nations. The Bible calls it “the present wicked system of things.” (Gal. 1:4) It is unreformable. Therefore, it must go!

SCIENTIFIC FEARS UNFOUNDED

But that will not mean the end of the planet Earth. As we have seen in the previous article, men of science have expressed fears of “cosmic catastrophes that threaten the earth.” Such fears, however, are merely hypotheses concerning things that could occur, but that take no account of the most important cosmographic factor: God and his purpose for the earth.

Pierre-Paul Grassé, a member of the French Academy of Science, states:

“Natural order was not invented by the human mind or set up by certain perceptive powers. No, it is a reality that was comprehended perfectly by such physicists and mathematicians as Planck and Einstein. The existence of order presupposes the existence of organizing intelligence. Such intelligence can be none other than God’s.”

Yes, more and more scientists have come to the conclusion that it is more rational to acknowledge the existence of an intelligent Creator than to explain the universe by the word “chance.”

Since God exists, the question now is: What does he purpose for the earth? His Word, the Bible, replies: “This is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited: ‘I am Jehovah.’” (Isa. 45:18) Jehovah God did not create the earth with the intention of eventually destroying it. (Ps. 104:5) God’s purpose is for the earth “to be inhabited” by a righteous race of men and women dedicated to the doing of his will. That explains why Jesus taught Christians to pray: “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.

A RIGHTEOUS “NEW EARTH”—HOW?

Having demonstrated that Jehovah God, the “Former of the earth,” “the One who firmly established it,” has a well-defined purpose for the planet we live on, it remains for us to understand what the Bible means when it speaks of “a new earth” in which “righteousness is to dwell.”—2 Pet. 3:13.

Obviously, the promised “new earth” cannot mean a new planet. What it does mean can be deduced logically from the context in Peter’s second letter. As an example of what is due to occur before the righteous “new earth” is set up, Peter speaks of the flood of Noah’s day. He mentions “an earth [Greek, ge] standing compactly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; and by those means the world [Greek, koʹsmos] of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water.”—2 Pet. 3:5, 6.

What “world” was destroyed by the Flood? Earlier in that same letter, Peter writes: “He [God] did not hold back from punishing an ancient world [koʹsmos], but kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness, safe with seven others when he brought a deluge upon a world [koʹsmos] of ungodly people.” (2 Pet. 2:5) So a “world of ungodly people” came to an end by means of the Deluge. Yet the earth and a minority of humans upon it survived.a It was the wicked, ungodly human society that was destroyed, not the planet Earth.

Similarly, it is with reference to the symbolic “earth,” representing the corrupt human society that has developed since the Flood, that Peter goes on to say: “By the same word the heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.” (2 Pet. 3:7) Yes, just as the planet Earth survived the end of the pre-Flood “world of ungodly people,” so it will survive the “fire” or “destruction” of “ungodly men” and their governments. These latter, and the wicked human society over which they rule, make up the symbolic “heavens and the earth that are now.”—Compare Revelation 21:8.

Peter adds: “But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his [God’s] promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.” Logically, by these words he is referring to a righteous new government (God’s kingdom under Christ) and a regenerated human society.—2 Pet. 3:13.

HOW TO SURVIVE

Whereas most human futurologists are mournfully pessimistic about the future of the earth and human society, Christians who really believe and follow the Bible are very optimistic. They see in the crises that have erupted on earth since 1914 the “sign” that Jesus told his followers to watch for. Jesus added: “As these things start to occur, raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near. . . . when you see these things occurring, know that the kingdom of God is near. Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur.”—Luke 21:10, 11, 25, 26, 28, 31, 36; Matt. 24:3, 7-13.

Far from being “prophets of doom,” Jehovah’s Witnesses are sounding forth the very best of news, namely, that God’s kingdom is about to take in hand the governing of the earth. They are fulfilling Jesus’ prophetic words: “And 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 [telos] will come.” (Matt. 24:14) That “end” will mean the destruction of the present wicked system of things, the end of injustice, oppression, violence, wars, famine, disease—yes, the end of suffering and of death itself!—Rev. 21:1-5.

Truly, the “end of the world” is not something to fear. Rather, it is something to hope for, since it will usher in a righteous new system of things on this beautiful earth that God has ‘fixed on its foundations, unshakeable for ever and ever.’—Ps. 104:5, The Jerusalem Bible.

[Footnotes]

a For proof of the global flood, see chapter 3 of the book Is the Bible Really the Word of God?, published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

[Picture on page 7]

God’s kingdom is about to take over rulership of the earth

Why Did God Create Our Earth?

God’s Word Is Alive

Why Did God Create Our Earth?

GOD once asked the man Job: “Where did you happen to be when I founded the earth?” Since humans had not yet been created, Job, of course, was not around. But the “sons of God” in heaven were watching, and the Bible says that they “joyfully cried out together.” Yes, they “began shouting in applause” on this important occasion.—Job 38:4, 7.

What made these angels so happy? They must have known something about God’s purpose for the earth. God may have told them that he was going to create new kinds of creatures to live here. So the angels were happy to see such a beautiful place being prepared as the everlasting home for the human family.

Finally, after producing other creatures, God created the first human couple, Adam and Eve. Then he put them in a special beauty spot on earth called the Garden of Eden, and told them: ‘Have many children so that they fill the earth. Cultivate the earth, and take care of the fish, the birds and all the animals.’ (Gen. 1:28) God wanted humans to live forever in happiness on earth.—Ps. 37:29.

However, Adam and Eve rebelled against God. As a result, sickness, trouble and death came upon the whole human family. (Rom. 5:12) Was the joyfulness of those “sons of God” who watched the preparation of the earth to end in disappointment? Was God’s purpose for the earth to fail?

No, for God would be admitting defeat if he did not accomplish what he purposed. That he could never do! “Everything that is my delight I shall do,” he declares. (Isa. 46:10, 11) And the Bible says that God did not create the earth “simply for nothing,” but “formed it even to be inhabited.”—Isa. 45:18.

True, the earth is now being inhabited, but not in the way God meant it to be. There is hatred. There is crime. There is war. Millions of people are hungry and sick. But God created our earth to be the happy home of humankind forever. And it will be! The Bible foretells: “God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”—Rev. 21:3, 4.

“Peace and Security!”—Then “Sudden Destruction”

“Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them.”—1 Thess. 5:3.

1. What are many observers of world conditions now saying?

MANY observers of human affairs agree that world conditions have deteriorated in recent years. In Canada, at a Global Conference on the Future, the president of the Club of Rome,a Aurelio Peccei, declared: “The world is in a worse shape now than it was ten years ago—and is getting worse. Today the world begins more and more to resemble a ricocheting bullet as it careens from disaster to disaster.” André Fontaine, editor of the Paris daily Le Monde, said: “No one in the West seems able to cope with massive problems such as inflation and unemployment. The gap between the North and the South is widening. There are more and more wars, and the arms race is frightening. So I don’t see any reason for optimism. . . . I see no Government in the world today which appears capable of coping with the major economic problems of our time.” And a South African magazine reported: “Mankind would appear to have reached an all-time low of savagery, immorality, irresponsibility, selfishness and greed.”

2. How are conditions in human society similar to those that existed just before the flood of Noah’s day?

2 Conditions in human society today certainly parallel what happened on earth just before God destroyed an ancient world by means of a global flood, sparing only righteous Noah and his family. Of those days, the Bible says: “Jehovah saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth . . . And the earth came to be ruined in the sight of the true God and the earth became filled with violence.” (Gen. 6:5, 11) “Just as the days of Noah were,” Jesus Christ foretold, so it is in our time. (Matt. 24:37) Once again the entire earth is “filled with violence” because “the badness of man” is abundant. Such conditions before the Flood gave evidence of the impending end of that ancient system of things. So today the evidence of world conditions in fulfillment of Bible prophecy clearly establishes the fact that this present system of things is in its “time of the end,” its “last days.” This has been so since the year 1914 C.E.—Dan. 12:4; Matt. 24:3-14; 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

3. (a) How do we know that we are deep into the “last days”? (b) Why can we have complete confidence in Bible prophecy?

3 Jesus foretold that some of those who were alive when the “last days” began would live to see this system’s end. Already 67 years have passed since the “generation” of 1914 saw the start of these troubles. (Matt. 24:34) So time has nearly run out on this “crooked and twisted generation.” (Phil. 2:15) Shortly we may be eyewitnesses of the fulfillment of the many Bible prophecies related to ‘the passing away of this world.’ (1 John 2:17) And we can have complete confidence that these prophecies will be fulfilled in every detail. Jehovah, “the One telling from the beginning the finale,” the One who has inspired these prophecies, “has sworn, saying: ‘Surely just as I have figured, so it must occur; and just as I have counseled, that is what will come true.’”—Isa. 14:24; 46:10; 2 Pet. 1:20, 21.

JEHOVAH’S “DAY OF VENGEANCE”

4. What is one of the prophecies relating to this system’s end, and what questions does it raise?

4 Among the many Bible prophecies concerning the end of this system of things is the one recorded at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 2 and 3. This reads: “For you yourselves know quite well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape.” What is this saying of “Peace and security”? Who says it? And what destruction comes immediately afterward?

5. The prophecy at 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3 concerns what event?

5 These Bible verses speak of “Jehovah’s day,” which will result in “sudden destruction.” So it is apparent that this prophecy concerns the “day” or period of time when Jehovah executes his judgments against this wicked system of things controlled by Satan the Devil. (2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 12:9) This will be Jehovah’s “day of vengeance.” (Isa. 61:2) Jesus spoke of this period of time in this way: “Then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.” (Matt. 24:21) The apostle Paul wrote that the coming execution of judgment would mean “the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels in a flaming fire, as he brings vengeance upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.” He added: “These very ones will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction from before the Lord and from the glory of his strength.”—2 Thess. 1:7-9.

6. How does the “great tribulation” begin and end?

6 The coming “great tribulation,” Jehovah’s “day of vengeance,” will involve the entire present system of things—its false religions as well as its economic, social and political arrangements. The order of events in that “great tribulation” is indicated by the prophecies given in the Bible book of Revelation (the Apocalypse). These prophecies reveal that Jehovah’s “day of vengeance” begins with the destruction of all false religion. It ends when the political and other elements of the Devil’s world, along with their supporters, “small ones and great,” are finally destroyed.—Rev., chaps. 17 to 19.

“SUDDEN DESTRUCTION”

7. The saying of “Peace and security!” comes just before what?

7 The saying of “Peace and security!” thus comes just before the “sudden destruction” of the world empire of false religion, which empire is called “Babylon the Great” in Bible prophecy. (Rev. 17:5) She also is spoken of as “the great harlot . . . with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication.” (Rev. 17:1, 2) But, ironically, many of these “kings of the earth” who were once the harlot’s ‘lovers’ will turn against her, for we are told: “These will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire.”—Rev. 17:16.

8. Why does Jehovah so severely judge worldly religion?

8 Why such a severe judgment upon this world’s religious system? God’s Word answers: “For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven.” (Rev. 18:5) Among these sins is this: “In her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.” (Rev. 18:24) While not teaching her followers the truth about God and his laws, worldly religion has become involved in wars that have resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of millions of people down through the centuries. Too, false religion has taken the lead in persecuting God’s true servants. (Luke 11:47-51; Rev. 17:6) So, directly or indirectly, by what she has done or has failed to do, Jehovah holds “Babylon the Great” responsible for the blood of “all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

9, 10. (a) How have some people noted false religion’s responsibility for bloodguilt right down to our day? (b) In reality, whom has “Babylon the Great” been serving?

9 False religion continues to amass bloodguilt right down to this day. For example, the New York Post of May 18, 1981, reported: “Former President Carter said yesterday that hate and violence make it seem that ‘the world has gone mad.’” He also said that “deep religious conviction which should bind people in love seems often to be part of the madness and murder.” Similarly, two days earlier an editorial by Mike Royko in the same publication stated that Catholics, Protestants, Moslems and Jews “are expressing their devotion to [God] by killing each other.” He observed: “I guess they figure that if one side can wipe the other side out, it will prove that their way of worshipping is correct.” He also noted that while the pope of the Roman Catholic Church is said to be a peaceful man, “his followers have been known to shed a few million gallons of blood when their tempers are up.”

10 Thus, the “great tribulation” rightly begins with the destruction of the blasphemous, hypocritical world empire of false religion. It is a righteous judgment because worldly religion, “Babylon the Great,” has claimed to serve God, but in fact has served the Devil. So by her “spiritistic practice,” hundreds of millions of people have been deluded into serving the Devil’s interests.—Rev. 17:3-6; 18:23.

11. What shows that false religion’s destruction comes with shocking suddenness?

11 The fall of “Babylon the Great” comes very suddenly, totally unexpected from the world’s standpoint. So sudden will be her destruction that it will shock the political rulers who supported her, for we read: “The kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her, when they look at the smoke from the burning of her, while they stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say, ‘Too bad, too bad, you great city, Babylon you strong city, because in one hour your judgment has arrived!’” Others—the “traveling merchants” or commercial elements that supported her—similarly exclaim: “Too bad, too bad . . . because in one hour such great riches have been devastated!”—Rev. 18:9-19.

12. In what way does destruction come unexpectedly and painfully?

12 This fits the description in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 3, which shows that destruction comes very suddenly and unexpectedly, for “Jehovah’s day” is to come “exactly as a thief in the night.” In what way does it come “as a thief in the night”? In that most of mankind have not kept awake to the progressive revelation of God’s will. They are spiritually asleep. They are like a person who is sleeping at night when a thief comes unexpectedly. Such persons have allowed themselves to become dulled into supporting this doomed system of things. So the destruction of Babylon the Great comes unexpectedly for them. Indeed, “Jehovah’s day” for the destruction of all elements of Satan’s system will come “exactly as a thief in the night.” Destruction will come upon God’s enemies suddenly and painfully, “just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape.”—See also 2 Peter 3:10.

SAYING “PEACE AND SECURITY!”

13, 14. (a) How have the nations long talked about peace and security? (b) Why could none of such peace efforts be a fulfillment of 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3?

13 World-shaking events will mark the “sudden destruction” of false religion and all of Satan’s world. But that destruction is immediately preceded by the saying of “Peace and security!” Thus it is of great interest to know what this proclaiming of “Peace and security!” could mean. For one thing, it does not appear to be just the usual efforts of the nations wanting peace. They have long talked about that. For example, after World War I the nations signed the peace treaty at Versailles. Later, most countries signed the Kellogg-Briand peace pact of 1928. World War II also ended with peace treaties. In recent years the Soviet Union and the United States have talked about peace and have signed some arms-control agreements. Various nations of the Middle East have from time to time entered peace pacts with one another.

14 But none of these efforts fit the description at 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3. Why not? Because of the fact that the “great tribulation,” Jehovah’s “day of vengeance,” has not begun. Remember, Paul said that destruction would come suddenly, “instantly,” after the declaring of “Peace and security!” Moreover, the fulfillment has to be something striking enough to justify its being recorded as a specific prophecy inspired by Jehovah. The “Peace and security!” must be an exceptional development, different from the many peace efforts that had been made up until that time.

15. Who logically will be saying “Peace and security”?

15 Also, who are the “they” who say “Peace and security!” just before the end comes? It is unlikely that any part of this world could proclaim such a thing without the cooperation or direction of the major political powers. Hence, it appears that the rulers of the nations play a large part in the outworking of this prophecy. The United Nations organization, supposedly dedicated to peace, could also play a role. And what of the religious elements? Since they are so much a part of the world, ‘committing fornication with the kings of the earth,’ they likely will support or actively promote the efforts that the political powers make in this direction. In this they would be imitating the false prophets of ancient Judah who falsely declared: “Jehovah has spoken: ‘Peace is what you people will come to have.’” Instead, God was soon to bring calamity on them, as his true prophet Jeremiah foretold.—Jer. 23:16-22.

16, 17. (a) Does it seem that the nations are moving toward any kind of “peace and security” now? (b) Yet, why can we have confidence that such will take place?

16 But have the nations been moving toward any kind of “peace and security” lately? From the news of recent times, it would seem to be the opposite. George Kennan, former American ambassador to the Soviet Union, said: “Not for 30 years has the political tension reached so high and dangerous a point as it has today. Not in all this time has there been so high a degree of misunderstanding, of suspicion, of bewilderment and of sheer military fear” as there is today. A Toronto Star editorial added: “It wasn’t fear of the future, but something more ominous: Fear of the present.”

17 In recent months the major powers have spoken accusingly and threateningly against one another. Civil disorders, revolutions and wars have broken out in one part of the earth after another. The world’s economy has become very unstable. Crime and violence have kept increasing to epidemic proportions. Surely, it seems difficult to see how “people” could say “Peace and security!” Yet Jehovah’s Word never fails. (Isa. 55:11; 1 Thess. 5:3, Today’s English Version; The Jerusalem Bible) When it tells us that such a development will come just before “sudden destruction” strikes, then it indeed will come, however unlikely this may seem at present.

18. How can the prophecies against ancient Babylon help us to have faith in the modern fulfillment of prophecy?

18 Recall the many prophecies that God inspired his servants to proclaim against ancient Babylon, the mighty world power that existed centuries before the Common Era. One author calculated that the probability of the Bible’s major prophecies against Babylon being fulfilled was 5,000,000,000 to one! No doubt many of God’s people in ancient times must have wondered how those prophecies could ever be fulfilled against so strong and entrenched a world power as Babylon. But they were, in every single detail. So today, it may appear that the saying of “Peace and security!” followed by destruction of the world system is unlikely. But God’s prophetic Word declares it will be that way!

ONLY A VENEER

19. What will the saying of “Peace and security!” not mean?

19 Of this we can be certain: The cry of “Peace and security!”—whatever form it takes—does not mean that the underlying condition of this world will have been reversed. Nor does it mean that the nations will disarm or give up their hostile attitudes. “‘There is no peace,’ my God has said, ‘for the wicked ones.’” (Isa. 57:21) It is just that, for the moment, world leaders, out of desperation or because of seeing some selfish advantage in pursuing some new policies, will cry “Peace and security!” in a more pronounced way than before.

20. (a) How can we be so certain that world conditions will continue to deteriorate? (b) What can we expect the majority of people to do with regard to the worship of God?

20 Why can we be so certain that this world will continue to deteriorate? Because 2 Timothy 3:1, 13 foretells that in these “last days . . . wicked men and impostors will advance from bad to worse.” Therefore, the saying of “Peace and security!” will be only a veneer. It will not touch the true condition of mankind. Nothing this world under Satan does is going to end the avalanche of crime and violence, or bring a halt to family breakdown, or reverse rampant immorality, or prevent the millions of abortion murders of unborn children every year, or solve any other major problems of mankind. (Jer. 10:23) Nor will the majority of people suddenly turn to the true worship of God. Bible prophecy correctly stated that people in our time would be “lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power.”—2 Tim. 3:4, 5; see also Matthew 7:13, 14.

21. What will Jehovah’s servants take the coming declarations of “Peace and security!” to mean?

21 Thus, while the world will be deluded by vain hopes during the coming declaration of “Peace and security!” Jehovah’s servants will not be. Instead, they will take this coming fulfillment of prophecy for what it really is: a final signal that the “great tribulation” is about to begin! They know, too, that after God’s “day of vengeance” is finished, his faithful servants will enter a righteous new system of things to begin endless life on a cleansed earth that will be transformed into a paradise. (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 7:9-17) As all these thrilling events rush toward us, what should our attitude be?

[Footnotes]

a A group of highly regarded intellectuals who analyze world conditions.

[Blurb on page 15]

God’s servants will not be deceived by the coming cry of “Peace and security!”

[Pictures on page 10]

Conditions on earth today are like those before the Flood when the earth was “filled with violence”

[Picture on page 12]

God’s judgment of false religion is so severe because “her sins have massed together clear up to heaven”

[Picture on page 13]

No previous peace efforts in our age fit 1 Thessalonians 5:2,3 because “sudden destruction” has not already come

‘Stay Awake and Keep Your Senses’

“Let us not sleep on as the rest do, but let us stay awake and keep our senses.”—1 Thess. 5:6.

1. What fulfillment of Bible prophecy can we expect soon?

WHEN Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem in his generation, he stated: “These are the days for meting out justice, that all the things written may be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:22) In 70 C.E., God’s righteous execution of judgment came against those who had profaned his name, broken his laws and persecuted his servants. Similarly, God’s righteous execution of judgment against this present wicked system of things is soon to come, once again demonstrating that all the things written in Bible prophecy are sure to be fulfilled. And that judgment will come with shocking suddenness to those who are unprepared, for the Bible states: “Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them.”—1 Thess. 5:2, 3.

2. What counsel does God’s Word give us that we can apply to the immediate future?

2 Between now and the time when God’s judgments are concluded, it is imperative for Jehovah’s servants to maintain the highest sense of vigilance and dedication of purpose. The apostle Paul, who recorded the inspired prophecy at 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3, also said: “So, then, let us not sleep on as the rest do, but let us stay awake and keep our senses.” (1 Thess. 5:6) Jesus counseled: “Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur.” (Luke 21:36) The apostle Peter similarly wrote: “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion.”—2 Pet. 3:11.

COMING TO JEHOVAH NOW

3. For anyone to survive into God’s new order, what must he do?

3 Any person who wants to survive into God’s righteous new order urgently needs to come into a right relationship with Jehovah and His earthly organization now. “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the righteous runs and is given protection.” (Prov. 18:10) “It must occur in the final part of the days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills; and to it all the nations must stream.” (Isa. 2:2) Yes, any people of the nations who want to live in God’s paradisaic new order must now stream to Jehovah’s mountain, his true worship, which is firmly established and is exalted high above any other type of worship.

4. How does Jesus show that waiting too long to come to Jehovah could be fatal?

4 Why is there such an urgency about coming to Jehovah’s true worship now? Could not a sincere person wait until he actually sees Jehovah’s executional judgments beginning, and then quickly come over to His side? While that might sound appealing to some, would there then be enough time to build the right relationship with Jehovah? The evidence from the Scriptures answers, No. Jesus warned: “Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you as a snare. For it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth.” (Luke 21:34, 35) Note that those who are not awake spiritually are caught unawares, for that “day” comes upon them “suddenly,” “instantly,” in just the same way that “sudden destruction is to be instantly upon” those who are saying “Peace and security!”

5. What Bible examples do we have to show that people need to learn about Jehovah before destruction begins?

5 Jesus likened such persons to an animal that unwittingly walks into a trap. He also likened spiritually unaware persons to those in Noah’s day who “took no note until the flood came and swept them all away.” Was there any time for those people to learn of Jehovah and come under his protection after the Flood began? No, because Jesus plainly says that when the Flood came it “swept them all away.” They were not already in the ark of protection with Noah and his family. Also, when God’s judgment came against Sodom and Gomorrah, were there any who escaped after fiery destruction began raining from heaven? No, for all were destroyed except Lot and his daughters, who already had left the area. Even Lot’s wife, who had started to leave but then hesitated, was overwhelmed by the destructive forces. With good reason did Jesus say: “Remember the wife of Lot.”—Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:32.

6. The weight of evidence in the Scriptures argues against what belief?

6 Yet might there be a period of time after “Babylon the Great,” the world empire of false religion, goes down, when people could have the opportunity of awakening spiritually and searching for Jehovah? The weight of evidence in the Scriptures is against this. In addition to the previous examples, there is also that of the first-century Jewish nation. Those religious Jews felt that they were worshiping God sufficiently and did not need to listen to the preaching of Jesus or of his followers. However, Jesus had warned: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near. Then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw.” (Luke 21:20-22) But when Roman armies that had been surrounding Jerusalem withdrew in the year 66 C.E., the overconfident Jews did not “begin fleeing.” Having turned the Roman army’s retreat into a rout by attacking its rear guard, the Jews felt no need to flee. They believed that God was with them, and they even coined new silver money bearing the inscription “Jerusalem the Holy.” But the inspired prophecy of Jesus showed that Jerusalem no longer was holy to Jehovah.

7. What fate befell the Jews who did the opposite of what Jesus counseled?

7 Deceived by false religion, the Jews did not leave Jerusalem and Judea when they had the opportunity to do so. In fact, in the spring of the year 70 C.E., they did the opposite! They flocked into Jerusalem for a religious festival. But right at that time, powerful Roman armies under General Titus returned, surrounded Jerusalem and trapped all those people, like animals caught in snares. After a short siege, Jerusalem was destroyed. An eyewitness to those events, historian Flavius Josephus, wrote: “Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand [1,100,000], the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army, . . . the entire nation was now shut up by fate as in prison, and the Roman army encompassed the city.”—Wars of the Jews, Book VI, Chap. IX, pars. 3, 4, translated by William Whiston.

8. What resulted to Christians who listened to Jesus, in contrast with the outcome to those who tried to flee at the last moment?

8 However, Christians who had stayed awake and had kept their senses were already out of Jerusalem and all Judea, having fled to places of security when the opportunity came after the year 66 C.E. By believing the prophetic words of Jesus and acting upon them, they survived. But, when that “great tribulation” came upon the Jews in 70 C.E., there was no longer any time for them to flee. Several thousand who tried to get out of the city through the Roman encirclement were caught by soldiers, who even cut open some of those Jews to get the gold that many of them had swallowed.

SURVIVING THE MORE SEVERE “TRIBULATION”

9, 10. (a) How severe will the “great tribulation” be? (b) Why does there not appear to be any period of calm after the destruction of “Babylon the Great”?

9 That was indeed a severe “tribulation” that came upon the Jews, exactly as Jesus had foretold. (Luke 19:43, 44) Yet Jesus’ words indicated that a much greater “tribulation” would come in our time during Jehovah’s “day of vengeance.” Answering a question about the “sign” of his “presence,” Christ declared: “For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.” (Matt. 24:3, 21) This “tribulation” will come not only upon “Babylon the Great” but also upon all of Satan’s system, including its political, social and economic arrangements.

10 While the destruction begins ‘suddenly’ with false religion, it proceeds unrelentingly toward its finish. (1 Thess. 5:3) Arguing against there being any period of calm following the overthrow of “Babylon the Great,” Bible prophecy shows that the anti-God forces that destroy her will not show Jehovah’s dedicated witnesses any favor either. To the contrary, these anti-God forces will hate God’s people and will turn on them too. The Bible shows that the same “wild beast . . . with ten horns” that devastated “Babylon the Great” will also “battle with the Lamb,” Jesus Christ, as represented by his followers on earth. (Rev. 13:1; 17:12-14, 16; 19:19) These victory-flushed conquerors over false religion will no doubt consider God’s servants just another religion to be taken out of the way so that there will be no remaining obstacle to their exercising earth-wide domination.—Ezek. 38:14-16.

11. How does the “great tribulation” reach its climax?

11 However, this attack upon God’s servants is the same as attacking God, for he says: “He that is touching you is touching my eyeball.” (Zech. 2:8; Ezek. 38:18, 19) That brings an immediate reaction from Jehovah. It provokes his Armageddon fury upon the attackers. (Rev. 16:14, 16) He commands his King Son, Christ Jesus, and his heavenly armies to go on to the attack! With crushing force, Christ and his heavenly armies strike down the kings of the earth and all other remaining elements of this ungodly system, as well as everyone who supports it. Crying out with a loud voice, an angel invites the birds of heaven: “Come here, be gathered together to the great evening meal of God, that you may eat the fleshy parts of kings and the fleshy parts of military commanders and the fleshy parts of strong men and the fleshy parts of horses and of those seated upon them, and the fleshy parts of all, of freemen as well as of slaves and of small ones and great.” (Rev. 19:17, 18) Thus, the “great tribulation” reaches its climax. God’s righteous “day of vengeance” upon this Satanic system of things comes to its conclusion.

12. When should sincere persons “search for Jehovah”?

12 From the beginning of the “sudden destruction,” starting with the devastation of “Babylon the Great,” proceeding to the attack by the nations upon Jehovah’s servants and continuing to God’s war of Armageddon, there does not appear to be any halt in the “great tribulation.” So there is no Scriptural reason to conclude that there would be enough time to turn to God after false religion is destroyed. Instead, those who want to escape alive into God’s new order should turn to Jehovah now. “Search for Jehovah, you people, while he may be found. Call to him while he proves to be near.” (Isa. 55:6) Now is when sincere persons should develop lives of faith, courage, love and service. Now is when they need to prepare themselves to withstand the pressures that will come against God’s people during the rapidly approaching “great tribulation.”

13. To what are God’s faithful servants likened, and in what ways?

13 God’s Word likens his faithful servants to well-trained soldiers who are attentive, who have on their protective armor, and who are ready to obey any command given them by their leader. They are not like unprepared troops sleeping in the barracks at a time of danger and urgency. Paul says: “So, then, let us not sleep on as the rest do, but let us stay awake and keep our senses. For those who sleep are accustomed to sleep at night, and those who get drunk are usually drunk at night. But as for us who belong to the day, let us keep our senses and have on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation; because God assigned us, not to wrath, but to the acquiring of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”—1 Thess. 5:6-9.

14. What shows that God’s servants will certainly be properly informed so that they can do God’s will?

14 Too, God’s servants have full confidence that he will keep his organization well informed, so that they can take the proper steps for survival. We can be sure of this because the inspired prophecy at Revelation, chapter seven, shows that “a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, . . . come out of the great tribulation” and survive into God’s new order. (Rev. 7:9, 14) And why does the “great crowd” survive? Because ‘they are rendering God sacred service day and night,’ and so he ‘spreads out his protective tent over them.’ (Rev. 7:15) Being properly informed, they know how to serve God acceptably. They do not wait passively to see what will happen. They know that the one who “does the will of God” is the one who “remains forever.”—1 John 2:17.

INCREASED ACTIVITY

15. How have Jehovah’s Witnesses obeyed the command to ‘preach the good news of God’s kingdom in all the inhabited earth’?

15 Included as part of God’s will for our day is the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy: “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) To true Christians, these prophetic words are, in effect, a command to tell others about the good news of God’s kingdom and the incoming new order. And it certainly has been obeyed by Jehovah’s Witnesses in these “last days.” (2 Tim. 3:1; compare Matthew 28:19, 20.) Unselfishly they have used their time and resources to instruct others about God’s marvelous purpose for this earth. As a result of all this hard work, upwards of five million persons throughout the world expressed interest in God’s new order and his provision for salvation through Jesus Christ by meeting together this past April to observe the Memorial of Christ’s death.

16, 17. (a) What instructions were given to the nation of Israel before God destroyed Jericho? (b) How were those instructions carried out?

16 As Jehovah’s forward-moving organization approaches the final years of its preaching activity toward this world, there is no doubt that the scope of the work will grow. Recall what the Israelites were instructed to do just before God destroyed Jericho. First, they were instructed to march around the city once a day for six days. But then they were told: “On the seventh day you should march round the city seven times and the priests should blow the horns. And it must occur that when they sound with the horn of the ram, when you hear the sound of the horn, all the people should shout a great war cry; and the wall of the city must fall down flat.”—Josh. 6:2-5.

17 On that seventh and last day, the Israelites were to increase their activity seven times! Then they were to “shout a great war cry.” Exactly as instructed, they did this. “It came about on the seventh day that they proceeded to get up early, as soon as the dawn ascended, and they went marching round the city in this manner seven times. . . . And it came about on the seventh time that the priests blew the horns, and Joshua proceeded to say to the people: ‘Shout; for Jehovah has given you the city.’ . . . And it came about that as soon as the people heard the sound of the horn and the people began to shout a great war cry, then the wall began to fall down flat.”—Josh. 6:15, 16, 20.

18. What do we anticipate as regards the scope and manner of the preaching activity before this system comes to its end?

18 We can expect a similar expansion of our preaching activity now, at this climax of the ages. No doubt, before the “great tribulation” is finished, we will see the greatest witness to God’s name and kingdom in the history of this world. And while now the witness yet includes the invitation to come to Jehovah’s organization for salvation, the time no doubt will come when the message takes on a harder tone, like a “great war cry.” Revelation 16:21 shows that “a great hail with every stone about the weight of a talent [nearly 100 pounds] descended out of heaven upon the men, and the men blasphemed God due to the plague of hail, because the plague of it was unusually great.” Hailstones are frozen, hardened water. So this pictures how, at the end, Jehovah’s judgment message sent down upon disobedient mankind will be like a barrage of hard-hitting hail. The fact that the plague of hailstones is spoken of as being “unusually great” suggests that at the very end there will be a hard proclamation of Jehovah’s “day of vengeance” by Jehovah’s servants.

19. In view of the immediate future, ‘what kind of persons ought we to be’?

19 So, then, we do well to say, as Peter did, “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion”! (2 Pet. 3:11) Surely, we need to “keep comforting one another and building one another up.” We should “always pursue what is good toward one another.” (1 Thess. 5:11, 15) “Really, then, as long as we have time favorable for it, let us work what is good toward all, but especially toward those related to us in the faith.” (Gal. 6:10) To this end, do not fail to ‘stay awake and keep your senses.’—1 Thess. 5:6.

[Picture on page 16]

Any persons who want to survive into God’s new order must now stream to Jehovah’s true worship

[Picture on page 18]

Christians who obeyed Jesus fled Jerusalem in time and did not suffer its fate in 70 C.E.

[Picture on page 19]

God’s Word likens his alert servants to well-trained soldiers who have protective armor on and who are ready to obey

[Picture on page 20, 21]

When the Israelites began to “shout a great war cry,” the walls of Jericho fell

Insight on the News

Smallest “Patients”

● Surgery in the womb reached a new peak recently when California surgeons inserted a tiny plastic tube into the bladder of a fetus to drain a urinary blockage. Such new developments in treating the unborn make it seem “likely that the fetus with a treatable birth defect is on the threshold of becoming a patient,” say doctors writing in the “Journal of the American Medical Association” (JAMA). But in the same issue, an editorial raises a perplexing ethical question about such unborn “patients”:

“Is it not contradictory for physicians to speak of the fetus as ‘patient’ when one of the stipulations for that role is that physicians would not under any circumstances abandon such an individual?” Yet abandon the tiny “patient” is just what a physician does when he performs an abortion. Hence, JAMA says that there is an “apparent inconsistency of encouraging fetal therapy on the one hand and respecting parental choice about abortion on the other.” (August 14, 1981, pp. 772-777) This dilemma for physicians and their new group of tiny “patients” vividly illustrates the Scriptural position that life both inside and outside the womb is not a disposable commodity.—Ps. 139:13-16; Ex. 21:22-24.

Vacillating on Violence

● Thinking persons often wonder why there is so much violence in Northern Ireland among people who profess to be Christians. A columnist for London’s “Daily Telegraph,” Christopher Monckton, recently offered an explanation. He noted, for example, that the Irish Catholic primate, Cardinal Fee, had rightly declared that “people who deliberately take an innocent life commit a heinous crime against the law of God.” But meanwhile the cardinal had also warned that if the British government “continues its rigid stance” in a dispute with Irish prisoners, “it will ultimately be faced with the wrath of the whole Nationalist population.” Fee even questioned the government’s right to pronounce a prisoner “a murderer or a suicide.”

“The implication of his words,” writes Catholic layman Monckton, “is that, although violence is in itself wrong, it is justified to a considerable degree by the institutional violence of the British Government.” However, he continued, “this notion of meeting ‘institutional violence’ with actual violence owes much to Marxism and nothing at all to Christianity.” The columnist declared that such a double-tongued approach “can only have confused the people and left them in doubt as to the Church’s position.” Hence, Monckton concluded: “If Cardinal Fee and his brother bishops had taught without equivocation not only that violence is wrong but also that nothing in the present Irish situation . . . can even in the smallest degree justify any of the acts of murder and suicide that are taking place, it is at least a possibility that fewer . . . acts of violence” would be committed.

‘Good Is Bad’?

● British social services authorities recently told a couple who had been foster parents for 47 children that they were unsuitable to adopt a child. According to the Toronto “Star,” the officials declared that “a child growing up in the happy surroundings of their home would not be sufficiently exposed to ‘negative experiences.’” A letter to the couple stated: “It would seem from the interviews and reports that both of you have had few, if any, negative experiences when children yourselves, and also seem to enjoy a marital relationship where rows and arguments have no place.” The disappointed couple reportedly said: “To say we are not suitable because we do not row or argue is beyond belief.”

Do children really have to be exposed to “rows and arguments” to ensure a balanced life? The Bible’s wise counsel to “train up a boy according to the way for him” certainly does not imply home demonstrations of squabbling. Surely there are enough of such “negative experiences” outside the home. The ideas of some of this world’s social engineers call to mind Isaiah’s warning to ancient Israel: “Woe to those who are saying that good is bad and bad is good.”—Prov. 22:6; Isa. 5:20.

Serving Jehovah on His Holy Mountain

As told by Fred Germann

IN SOME parts of the world people superstitiously venerate mountains. For my part, being Swiss-born, I have always been irresistibly drawn to the mountains, and particularly the Alps. Ever since my childhood I have admired their overwhelming splendor, considering such majesty to be a silent testimony to God’s glory. Even now, at age 86, the sight of such towering summits reminds me of the prophecy of Micah 4:1, 2, which foretells the gathering of determined men and women upon “the mountain of the house of Jehovah,” the place of his pure worship, elevated above all false religions. What a privilege it has been for me to witness the fulfillment of this prophecy! But even as it takes determination and effort to climb a mountain in the Alps, so I have had to overcome many mountainous obstacles in pursuing pure worship. (Matt. 17:20) May I share a few memories with you?

FIRST GLIMPSES OF THE “MOUNTAIN”

In 1903, while living in the Swiss Bernese Oberland, my mother got her first glimpse of the “mountain” of true worship. She read a Bible tract announcing an incoming millennium under Christ that was to replace the present unrighteous system. She was so enthused by this message that she just could not help sharing it with her neighbors. One evening she had a visit from an irate pastor. But, Bible in hand, she was ready with the answers. At that time I was eight years old.

Mother soon symbolized her dedication to God by water baptism. In our region of Switzerland there was just one small group of Christians with “faith so as to transplant mountains.” (1 Cor. 13:2) It was in the little town of Thun, where, over 60 years later, the Watch Tower Society’s Swiss branch was to be located. Though it was distant from our home, mother would attend the meetings as often as possible. Away back there, the Thun Congregation was mainly under the oversight of two fleshly brothers, both very gifted at teaching. One of them had been to the “Bible House” in Allegheny (later part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, U.S.A., and had shared in the work of translating the fifth volume of Studies in the Scriptures into German.

Unfortunately, both these brothers stopped following the great Guide, Jesus Christ, and started ‘leaning upon their own understanding.’ (Prov. 3:5) They gradually developed a critical spirit. Not knowing where else to go, my mother continued for a time associating with this group, but she soon began to lose her fervor in God’s service and eventually stopped going to the meetings. However, she continued talking to me about the truth and, when World War I broke out, I began to show real interest.

In 1915 Christian meetings were started in our little town of Frutigen. A local person made his house available for showing Pastor Russell’s Photo-Drama of Creation. This eight-hour, four-part projection of slides and motion pictures, with sound and color, related God’s purpose from the time of creation right down through human history to the climactic fulfillment of that divine purpose for the earth and mankind at the end of the millennium. My mother and I were both impressed by this remarkable presentation. We thus reestablished contact with the Bible Students, known today as Jehovah’s Witnesses. How happy we were! Our feet were at the foot of the “mountain of the house of Jehovah.”

…

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The Watchtower, November 15, 1981