The Watchtower, December 15, 1950
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WATCHTOWER
PRAISE TO THE NEW WORLD'S FOUNDER
Announcing JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AGAIN ENDURE TOTALITARIAN HATE
"YOU ARE MY WITNESSES," SAYS JEHOVAH.—Isa. 43:12 THE PURPOSE OF "THE WATCHTOWER"
Literal towers in Bible times were elevated vantage points from which watchmen could observe happenings, warn of danger, or announce good news. Our magazine figuratively occupies such a vantage point, for it is founded on the very pinnacle of wisdom, God's Word. That elevates it above racial, national and political propagandas and prejudices, frees it from selfish bias. It is not bound by any traditional creed, but its message advances as the light on God's purposes and works increases.—Habakkuk 2:1-3.
It sees things Scripturally. When it observes this generation afflicted with greed, delinquency, hypocrisy, atheism, war, famine, pestilence, perplexity and fear, and persecution of unpopular minorities, it does not parrot the old fable about history repeating itself. Informed by Bible prophecy, it sees in these things the sign of the world's time of the end. But with bright hope it also sees opening up for us just beyond these woes the portals of a new world.
Thus viewed, "The Watchtower" stands as a watchman atop a tower, alert to what is going on, awake to note signs of danger, faithful to point out the way of escape. It announces Jehovah's kingdom established by Christ's enthronement in heaven, feeds his kingdom joint-heirs with spiritual food, cheers men of good will with glorious prospects of eternal life in a paradise earth, comforts us with the resurrection promise for the dead.
It is not dogmatic, but has a confident ring in its voice, because it is based on God's Word. It does not privately interpret prophecy, but calls attention to physical facts, sets them alongside prophecy, and you see for yourself how well the two match, how accurately Jehovah interprets his own prophecy. In the interests of our salvation, it keeps sharp and faithful focus on Bible truth, and views religious news generally.
'Be watchful in these perilous times,' God admonishes. So keep on the watch by regularly reading "The Watchtower".
PUBLISHED BY THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY
117 Adams Street
Brooklyn 1, N. Y., U. S. A.
N. H. KNORR, President
GRANT SUITER, Secretary
"They will all be taught by Jehovah."—John 6:45, NW; Isaiah 54:13
CONTENTS
Five cents a copy
Jehovah's Witnesses Again Endure
Totalitarian Hate 499
This Masquerade Called Christmas 501
Religious Charity versus Good Works 505
Praise to the New World's Founder 508
The Most Enjoyable Book 515
The New World Crowd of Praisers 516
Questions from Readers 522
Anna, the Aged Prophetess, Sees Jesus 523
An "Exclusion Clause" Recommended 524
Announcements 524
Scripture Index for Leading Articles, 1950 525
Subject Index for The Watchtower, 1950 528
Abbreviations used in "The Watchtower" for the following Bible versions
AS - American Standard Version LXX- The Septuagint Version
AT - An American Translation Mo - James Moffatt's version
Da - J. N. Darby's version NW - New World Translation
Dy - Catholic Douay version Ro - J. B. Rotherham's version
ED - The Emphatic Diaglott RS - Revised Standard Version
Le - Isaac Leeser's version Yg - Robert Young's version
Unless otherwise indicated, the Bible used is the King James Version
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JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AGAIN ENDURE
TOTALITARIAN HATE
Communism in East Germany relights the Nazi fires of persecution
COMMUNISTS may hate the Bible, but they prove its prophecies true. Their furious onslaughts against Jehovah's witnesses are a part of the fulfillment of Jesus' words to his followers: "Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." (Matt. 24:9) In blazing forth against these followers of Christ, the Communists prove themselves footstep followers of the Nazis. The Reds relight the fires of persecution once stoked by Hitler's hordes. And, like the Nazis, the Communists seek to cover their basic hate of true Christianity with a torrent of lies.
The Communist-dominated East Germany press continually spews out distortions against the Witnesses. It falsely accuses them of advocating immorality. It claimed that a Witness murdered his wife as a sacrifice to Jehovah, and that he was intending to kill his children to imitate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac. It charges the Witnesses with anti-Semitism because they Scripturally teach that Jews no longer comprise a consecrated, holy nation, but are on an equal footing with all men before God. But the favorite distortion is that the Witnesses are spies for American imperialists. The evidence? Why, they get literature from America, distribute CARE packages from America, refuse to sign the Communist appeal to
outlaw the atom bomb, and preach that the destructive war of Armageddon is inevitable. Communist propaganda argues that the Witnesses refuse to sign the appeal outlawing the atom bomb because through this bomb America will win the battle of Armageddon. How ridiculous!
Hiding hateful religious persecution behind false charges of subversion and sedition was not new with the Nazis, and is not new with the Communists. The same false charges of sedition and weakener of national morale were brought against Jehovah's servants before Christ, against Christ, and against his followers. Note this for yourself by reading Ezra 4:15, Nehemiah 2:19, Esther 3:8, Jeremiah 37:13-15; 38:4, Luke 23:2 and Acts 24:5. Such faithful servants of God suffered torture and death in ancient times. They do today also. Read the following translation of a dispatch appearing in the newspaper Stockholms-Tidningen, September 18, 1950:
"JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN EASTERN ZONE SUFFERING TERRIBLE TORTURE
"HANNOVER, Sept. 17.—(ST) Having arrested nearly 1,000 of the more noted among Jehovah's witnesses in the Eastern Zone, the People's Police are now searching high and low for all members of this so strongly resistant sect in order to definitely liquidate the sect as such.
Their leading preachers have been sentenced to 25 years of hard labor, and so have the members of their families, and one has to face the possibility that, so long as the Communist government is in power, all of Jehovah's witnesses will disappear into prison.
"Academy students who have fled from the Eastern Zone are reporting about all that which the authorities have done, but hitherto without success, to break the open and fanatical opposition of the sect against the Communists. Jehovah's witnesses have been ill-treated and tortured in the most horrible way without renouncing their faith, which is to the effect that Christ is to be acknowledged as the highest and only authority and that they do not want to submit to any human power.
"With the mass-arresting of Jehovah's witnesses these people have now, for the second time within a couple of decades, donned the martyr's crown—and they know what that means. Already during the Hitler regime about 1,000 Jehovah's witnesses were executed as traitors, because they not only refused to serve in the war but openly opposed Hitler's authority. Another 1,000 of Jehovah's witnesses died in prisons and concentration camps, and all who have afterwards been describing life in those camps have in their books given Jehovah's witnesses the very highest recognition.
branded the Eastern Zone elections as fraudulent and the Communist regime itself as 'a Satanic rule'.
"Jehovah's witnesses have now been acting under the Communist Quisling regime just as they acted during the Hitler regime, and in the Eastern Zone the sect had of late been getting such a following, especially among the women and the youth, that it became too frightening to the regime. The preachers of the sect have never hesitated to openly state what they think of the Communist regime. They have
"Taking shelter behind the scripture, 'All power in heaven and in earth is given unto me,' Jehovah's witnesses refuse to accept any kind of earthly authority. Normally they are fighting neither the state as such nor its laws, and the only thing which they have been considering themselves entitled to claim in ordinary, honest, democratic states is to be exempted from serving in war. But, exactly as in the Hitler Reich, in the Eastern Zone they have got into a mortal struggle with the regime only because of their publicly proclaiming their faith. As they, before 1945, used to refuse to salute Hitler's swastika flag and to say 'Heil Hitler', so they are now refusing to salute the Red ensigns. And to the Eastern Zone movement of resistance against the Communist regime they have, because of their uncompromising attitude, become the factor around which to rally. To the masses of Germans in the Eastern Zone the unsophisticated witnesses of Jehovah, in their implicit faith, have become a great example, and hence very dangerous to the Communist regime.
"The Communists have an easy job in rounding up Jehovah's witnesses, by reason of the new questionnaire: 'Are you willing to sign or subscribe to the Stockholm Appeal against the atom bomb?' . . Hitherto they have refused to sign, all of them, and for this refusal they are now all going to prison. In view of Jehovah's witnesses' almost supernatural power of resistance, one may take it for granted that, should the Communist regime in the Eastern Zone stay in power much longer, they will never return from the prisons alive."
To this revealing account is added the United Press dispatch of October 4, from Berlin: "Nine members of the Jehovah's witnesses sect were sentenced to long prison terms today by the Supreme Court in Communist East Germany for spying in the Russian zone for the United States.
Willi Heinicke and Friedric Adler received life terms. The others were sentenced to from eight to fifteen years. All were convicted of charges of sending military and other data to 'an espionage center in Brooklyn'. They were charged also with sabotage in connection with the Communist campaign to outlaw the atomic bomb and 'defamation of the people's elections' scheduled to be held in the Soviet zone October 15."
Through all trials Jehovah's witnesses today hold staunchly to the inspired conviction of the apostle Paul: "Who will separate us from the love of the Christ?
Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? To the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through him that loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things here nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God's love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:35, 37-39, NW) Communism cannot succeed where Nazism failed. Human ruling isms will end at the latest in Jehovah God's battle of Armageddon. To those who endure the hate and persecution from all nations for Christ's name's sake the promise applies: "He that has endured to the finish is the one that will be saved."—Matt. 24:13, NW.
This Masquerade Called
Christmas
VISIT the Kelly family around the corner and the Joneses across the street on Christmas day and you will see that they celebrate the occasion about the same way thousands of other people do throughout the world. The Kellys are Catholics, have nine children, and are quite poor. The Joneses are Protestants, have three children, and are well-to-do. Circumstances like these make the annual December celebration in the two homes very different in many details.
For example, in the Kelly home is a tiny artificial Christmas tree left over from year before last. The Joneses have such a huge freshly-cut evergreen its top
had to be removed to get it into the house.
Nevertheless, in all purpose and intent, the spirit of the occasion in the two homes is essentially the same. Both houses are filled with an unusual atmosphere of mirth, and as they sit down to special Christmas dinners they momentarily forget their everyday sorrows and worries. Faithfully, they have attended their respective churches earlier in the day, where they heard the clergymen extol Christmas as a Christian celebration in honor of Jesus Christ.
But pause and think. What do such things as the Christmas tree with its trimmings and the holiday's other accessories mistletoe, holly, candles, yuletide logs, fruits and nuts, mince pies, and roast pig have to do with the birth and life of Christ?
Why the ever-increasing emphasis on the "Christmas spirit": excessive wining and dining, drunkenness and licentiousness? Where did the "Santa Claus" myth originate? If December 25 is Christ's birthday, then why do the Eastern and Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on January 7?
WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?
The Bible, all will agree, is the only reliable history on the subject, and fortunately it does not leave us in doubt as to what time of the year Jesus was born. Zechariah, the priestly father of John the Baptist, was serving at the temple in the eighth course of the priesthood called that of "Abijah". This was in the early part of June, and at that time the Lord's angel informed him that Elizabeth his wife would shortly conceive a son who would be named John. (Luke 1:5,8,13,23-28 AS) So when Jehovah's angel visited Elizabeth's cousin, Mary, during the sixth month of Elizabeth's conception this would mark the time of year as December. The record, therefore, shows that it was at that time in December that this Mary, the mother-to-be of Jesus, became pregnant. Consequently, Jesus was not born in December, but rather, nine months later, around the latter part of September or the first of October.—Luke 1:26,27,30,31,36.
Furthermore, the Scriptures say that shepherds were in the open fields attending their flocks when Jesus was born. Hence it was autumn time before the rainy season, and not in December, when the flocks would be wintering in sheepfolds. (Luke 2:8-20; Ezra 10:9,13) Moreover, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river about the time of his thirtieth birthday, and that was not in the chill of winter. (Luke 3:21-23) Let it also be called to mind that
Jesus was nailed to the tree when thirty three and a half years old, and since this occurred at passover time in the spring of the year, necessarily he was born thirty three years and six months previous, that is, in the fall of the year and not in December. So all the scriptures are very definite in proving that Jesus was not born anywhere near December 25 or January 7. Hence it is wrong to celebrate either of these dates as Jesus' birthday.
Then how does it come that these dates have been so universally accepted for the celebration of Christmas? A look at ancient paganism shows that people thousands of years before Christ was born worshiped the ever-rising, ever-setting, never-dying sun as the source of life and immortality. Yearly they watched the days grow shorter until the winter solstice, on December 21, was reached, and then in jubilation over its "return" they held a great feast in honor of the "reborn" sun. When the tower-building experiment at Babel became confused sun worshipers were scattered throughout the world, and so among the early Scandinavians, Anglo-Saxons and Celts, as well as the Egyptians, Persians and others, riotous December feasting with drunken revelry and lewd rites were held. This feast among the pagan Romans was known as the "feast of Saturnalia".
The obvious conclusion drawn from these facts is that the celebration of December 25 is purely of pagan and demonic origin. Says the Catholic Encyclopedia (vol.3, page 727): "The well-known solar feast, however, of Natalis Invicti ['Birthday of the Unconquered'], celebrated on 25 December, has a strong claim on the responsibility for our December date."
Early Christians had nothing to do with this pagan holiday. "Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts," says the Catholic Encyclopedia.
However, as time went on and the Roman Catholic Church endeavored to win over more pagans, the clergy pinned a "Christian" label on the pagan Saturnalia on December 25 and sponsored it as the "mass of Christ" or "Christ-mass".
Not only do the clergy admit this, they even try to justify it. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., editor of the Catholic World (Dec. 2,1945), wrote: "It is a well-known fact that the popes and councils in the early Church deliberately placed a Christian festival on or near the day of a previously existing pagan carnival, with the purpose of ousting the heathenish and generally licentious celebration." But how has the continued celebration of this pagan holiday with a Christian label on it ousted the heathenish celebration? Under clergy sponsorship and blessing the pagan customs have continued down until the present time.
ORIGIN AND MEANING OF XMAS CUSTOMS
Evergreens were used by the ancient sun worshipers as a symbol of immortality. In Egypt, where pine trees are not available, the green branches of palm trees were substituted. In India, oleander twigs were used, and the pagans of Rome decorated their homes for the grand Saturnalia feast with green boughs. Ivy and holly were likewise considered sacred by the ancient Greeks and others. The Druids held mistletoe especially sacred, and in their mystic rites on December 25 "the privilege of the mistletoe" allowed a youth to kiss a girl beneath it as long as the berries lasted, one for each kiss.
Lighted candles in the window hark back to the wax candles used by the Roman celebrators of the Saturnalia. The yule log was annually burned at the December festival by the Scandinavians Long before so-called Christians in Italy
took up the practice, the Chinese and Hindus used fireworks to make their worship of the demons as noisy as possible.
Even the special Christmas dishes of food and the use of potent alcoholic drinks originated with the pagans. Back in the days of Jeremiah, those that turned away from Jehovah's pure worship baked special cakes for their goddess, "the queen of heaven," and it is from that ancient practice that such things as "gingerbread men", mince pies and the like originated. (Jer. 7:18) It was the Druids who roasted a boar's head for their goddess Freya, and since then roast pig has been considered very appropriate for the Christmas dinner. The forerunner of the season's punch bowl was the Anglo-Saxon wassail bowl with its intoxicating brew. Gluttony in both eating and drinking was as much a part of the celebration among the pagans as it is today among people of Christendom. The Bible, however, condemns such. Prov. 23:21; Gal. 5:19-21; Phil. 3:19.
That red-cheeked, double-chinned, bewhiskered "jolly good fellow" called Santa Claus has had a much shorter association with the holiday than the other accessories. Some claim that a saintly bishop of Myre by the name of Nicholas, who lived in the fourth century after Christ, was the first "St. Nicholas", and down through the dark Middle Ages he was considered the patron saint of pawnshops and beggars. He was depicted as a simple, pale and rather ascetic personage, until a cartoonist got hold of him in 1863 and dressed the "saint" up in gay togs. "St. Nick" in reality is a personification of the Devil, as The Century Dictionary points out.
The Devil has done everything possible to blaspheme and reproach the true and living God and to turn the people away from His pure worship. To accomplish both of these wicked purposes, as is done when so-called Christians celebrate Christmas, the Devil has employed every device of deception.
Two major features of his scheme have been exposed, namely, the labeling of a pagan holiday as Christ's birthday, and the continued use of pagan customs, symbols and practices in the name of Christ. In addition, Satan has so successfully bound the hearts and affections and emotions of the people to this God-dishonoring celebration that even when they are informed of the outright paganism of the whole affair many people are inclined to hold on to it as a cherished possession. "So what?" is their attitude. Overlook the bad features and look at the good that is accomplished, they say. Look at the spiritual uplift that is annually obtained—gifts to the poor, inspiring carol songs, Bible reading about 'peace on earth, good will toward men'. A closer examination of these features, however, will also show them to be clever parts of the masquerade.
You may be surprised to learn that the giving of Christmas gifts is as pagan in its origin as the other customs. You object to this on the grounds that "wise men" brought gifts when Jesus was born? Well, that is just the point. Those "wise men" were devil-worshiping magi from the East, from Persia, and they came at the instance of the Devil and would have carried out his purpose of betraying Jesus to wicked Herod had God not intercepted the plan. On the other hand, God-fearing shepherds also came, but there is no record that they indulged in the pagan gift-giving practice. (Matt. 2:1-11; Luke 2:8-20) Tertullian and others tell how exchanging of gifts was a part of the Saturnalia celebration. And the hymns they sang at that feast were predecessors to the Christmas carols.
Let us be honest about the giving of food baskets to the poor at this season. What about the rest of the year? Will once-a-year giving by a nation that calls
itself Christian appease God's anger for its deliberate withholding necessities of life from the poor in order to keep prices high? Indeed not! No outward splurge of charity to Christmas funds will erase the wanton and sinful destruction of food and material—the killing off of pigs, the burning of coffee, the plowing under of cotton, the dumping of milk, eggs and potatoes. Surely God will hear the cry of the needy who are doled out a portion of food on Christmas and are neglected, forgotten and oppressed the rest of the year.—Ps. 9:16- 18; Jer. 5:26-29; Amos 8:4-7.
Frankly, those that sing the loudest at Christmastime about "Peace on earth" are the very ones that are foremost in fighting against the only means of obtaining that lasting peace, namely, by and through God's kingdom over which Christ Jesus rules. Hypocrites they are who honor God with their lips but with their hearts, minds and course of action oppose him. (Matt. 15:8) True Christianity, on the other hand, is not a once-a-year affair. It is a full-time, an all-the-time, way of life, a life filled full of singing Jehovah's praise and the praise of his beloved Son, a life devoted to the doing of their will and the keeping of their commandments. John 14:21,23,24; 15:9,10; 1 John 2:3-6.
Let the Kellys and the Joneses and all the other sincere, honest and upright people who have slavishly celebrated the pagan holiday called Christmas now make a break for freedom. Let them come away into the pure worship of Jehovah God the Life-giver as that worship is set forth in the great Book of freedom and truth, the Bible. This will mean not only everlasting life to them, the following of such a Christian course, but also a happy life of eternity filled full of joy and gladness and pleasures forevermore.—John 17:3, NW.
versus
GOOD WORKS
EVERY year hundreds of millions of dollars are contributed by the public to what are termed reputable, legitimate and worthy charities, many of which are sponsored by religious organizations. The question is, Should true Christians, who are under the godly commandments to do good, contribute to these supposedly humanitarian money-raising schemes?
Jehovah God is the best example of one that does good to others. He gave the first man a beautiful home with all the necessities of life. (Gen. 1:29-31) Thereafter, and in spite of the original man's disobedience, condemnation and execution, the sinful offspring of the first pair have continued to enjoy many blessings from God's merciful hand. All living creatures are completely dependent on Him for the sunshine, air, rain, soil, fertile seed and all other things essential for life.—Ps. 145:15-17, Yg.
Why, then, are there so many poor and needy people in the world, so many who are sick, diseased and suffering, and who are in need of the bare necessities of life? Satan the Devil is the one responsible for all this woe and trouble. God is in no wise to blame for such miserable conditions even though so falsely charged. The Devil, by and through his world organization, has ruled the people with the spirit of greed
and selfishness. With cruelty and harshness the masses of common people have been oppressed and kept in subjection.
The state tells farmers what and how much they may plant, how many pigs to kill off and bury in the ground, how much cotton to plow under, how much coffee to burn—all this to keep prices excessively high. The government dumps potatoes and destroys other crops when prices are "too low", and in this way the increase that God gives to the land and its animals is destroyed by selfish men.
Substituting communistic co-operatives for capitalistic governments does not remedy or correct conditions. Under one system of government or under another, the people continue to suffer. The poor we will always have with us, Jesus said, until this present evil world is swept away and God's glorious new world is established.—Mark 14:7.
GOD COMMANDS US TO DO GOOD WORKS
To know that Jehovah is able to shield and protect the poor against the strong oppressor and the mighty rich is surely a great comfort. (Ps. 35:10) The Lord has always been interested in helping the poor. All true Christians likewise do good to the poor. "The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it." "He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor." (Prov. 29:7; 14:31) The poor love life and its blessings the same as all other folks. So why should anyone who loves God make them suffer or rob them of what little they have? How foolish it is for the rich to hoard up possessions for themselves. They cannot take it with them when they die, and it will be of no help or protection during Armageddon. "Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death."—Prov. 11:4.
The important thing, the Word of God says, is to be rich in good works. But can one wealthy in material possessions also be rich in good works? This question was in the mind of the rich young ruler in Jesus' day who asked the Master what he must do in order to gain eternal life. You can read the account in Matthew 19:16-24.
Jesus did not speak evasively, but plainly for the young man's own good. From all outward appearance this fellow was a respectable, law-abiding individual. There is nothing to indicate that he oppressed or robbed the poor. Apparently he had come by his money and holdings in a lawful manner. But the question was, What was he going to do with what he had? How was he to use his wealth? Said Jesus: 'If you give to the poor you will have treasure in heaven, provided you come and follow me.'
Thus it becomes clear that donating to charitable causes as a philanthropist is of no value in God's sight unless one goes farther and becomes a true footstep follower of Jesus. It also appears that the possession of wealth is in itself of no particular harm. The question is, How is that wealth used? If you are rich in this world's goods will you do what Jesus said? Are you willing to give up your material wealth and follow the course Jesus did, work in the interests of the poor and with the Kingdom message comfort those who mourn? Or will you hang tightly on to what you have and turn aside grieved and peeved at what the Lord has said, as the young man did nineteen centuries ago? To do that is selfishness, greediness, covetousness. (1 Tim. 6:10) Yes, the right thing is the hard thing to do, and Jesus knew it: "Truly I say to you that it will be a difficult thing for a rich man to get into the kingdom of the heavens. Again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich
man to get into the kingdom of God." —Matt. 19:23,24,NW.
The apostle Paul was one of those that followed the wise counsel of Jesus. He gave up his rich earthly position as a Pharisee and spent his time, energy and substance feeding those hungering after the truth. His counsel to Timothy was: "Charge them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, open-handed and generous, storing up a valuable treasure for themselves for the future, so as to grasp the life that is life indeed."—1 Tim. 6:17-19, AT.
A blind beggar, sitting beside the road, cried out as Jesus passed by, "Have mercy on me." Now, what did Jesus do, reach down and give the poor fellow a couple of Roman coins for a crust of bread? No, not at all. He gave him a far more valuable gift in restoring his eyesight! (Mark 10:46-52; Matt. 20:30-34; Luke 18:35-43) Jesus' "charity" was not measured out in money to religious organizations for questionable distribution. Jesus' loving-kindness, tender mercy and bountiful gifts consisted of restoring the sight to the blind, making the lame to walk, curing the horrible disease of leprosy, opening deafened ears, and even raising up the dead. To the poor and downtrodden he untiringly preached the good news about God's kingdom.—Matt. 11:5; Luke 7:22; 4:18.
The apostles Peter and John followed a similar course when they came upon a poor cripple who requested a donation. "Peter said: 'Silver and gold I do not possess, but what I do have is what I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!" With that he took hold of him by the right hand and raised him up. Instantly the soles of his feet and his ankle bones were made firm, and, leaping up, he stood up and began walking, and he entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God."—Acts 3:1-8,NW.
GOOD WORKS, NOT ADVERTISED CHARITY
The gaudy practice today of bestowing honor and praise on heavy contributors to charity drives is directly opposed to Jesus' counsel. "But take care not to do your good deeds in public for people to see, for, if you do, you will get no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you are going to give to charity, do not blow a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues and the streets, to make people praise them. I tell you, that is all the reward they will get! But when you give to charity, your own left hand must not know what your right hand is doing, so that your charity may be secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you."—Matt. 6:1-4, AT.
Judas Iscariot, one of those hypocrites that liked to make a show of his generosity, well represented those today that criticize Jehovah's witnesses for not building hospitals, setting up food kitchens in slum areas. Such Judaslike ones announce with a blare of horns their personal gifts of mercy to the poor. Judas grumbled about Mary's pouring costly perfumed oil on Jesus' feet, saying that it should have been sold and the money given to the poor. "He said this, though, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief and had the money-box and used to carry off the monies put in it." (John 12:3-6, NW) What the woman did, however, was more pleasing in the sight of God on that occasion than a mere donation to the poor. Lacking real love, any contribution Judas would have made would have no value.—1 Cor. 13:3.
The people have been robbed and beaten and left half-dead by the ruling elements of this world, just like the "certain man"
that Jesus told about who fell among robbers on his way down to Jericho. The Catholic, Protestant and Jewish religionists have observed the spiritual condition of these poor people but have steered clear of them, held aloof and passed them by on the opposite side of the road. Jehovah's witnesses, on the other hand, like good Samaritans, have searched out these spiritually sick, maimed and half-starved people and, when they were found, have bound up their wounds, have fed them and cared for their needs.—Luke 10:29-37.
It is no secret, many so-called "charity" organizations operate a fraud and racket. For example, the New York Times, September 6, 1950, carried an account of how certain "religious charitable organizations" operating in Brooklyn, New York, are giving the poor only 15 per cent of the money they beg from the public. The other 85 per cent goes for what they call "overhead" expense. God's faithful people cannot afford to donate to such organizations. They must use what they have to preach this gospel of the established Kingdom for the benefit of the poor everywhere, as commanded.—Matt. 24:14.
It takes much time, energy and money to carry out this divine command, but Jehovah's witnesses are happy to use their substance to do it. Investing their money in Bibles and other life-giving literature, they take these to the people at great personal expense. But this is really a sound investment on behalf of the poor, for by so doing Jehovah's witnesses are storing up treasures in heaven and helping others to do the same thing. And just as the ancient brethren of Macedonia and Achaia contributed material things for their needy brethren at Jerusalem, so also do Jehovah's witnesses. (Rom. 15:25, 26; Gal. 2:10) All of these things are good works done out of love for and to the honor of Jehovah God.
PRAISE to the NEW WORLD'S FOUNDER
"Praise Jah, you people, because Jehovah our God, the Almighty, has begun to rule as king."—Rev. 19:6, NW.
HALLELUJAH! Jehovah has taken his rightful power over our earth and has begun to rule as its king. That is a fact of which all peoples of the earth should take serious note during the year 1951. It signifies that a righteous new world is at the doors and is certain to come in by the power of Almighty God. It is something to shout about! A marvelous change is certain to follow all around this globe which will be a credit to God's rule and which will mean tranquil, secure and prosperous living for all men of good will. No more will men think that God has forsaken the earth or ask why he has permitted wickedness to rule over the earth for these past six thousand years. His appointed time has come to clear up the great mystery and to settle the raging controversy over the sovereignty of the universe.
2 What a tiny part of the boundless universe is our earth! Yet it is now the one hot spot where this issue of universal sovereignty must be finally decided. And it will be decided, no, not in favor of the United Nations or other elements of this old world, but in favor of the right One, Jehovah. That is why he has begun to rule as king with a brand-new world government for this earth since his own fixed date A.D. 1914. That may be thirty-six years ago, but this is all the more reason why every informed person should examine his course in life and his future plans to see whether they are in harmony with
the inevitable change that is rapidly nearing. Also it behooves every informed person to spread the cheering information to as many others as possible that they may prepare themselves for life in God's new world.
We are living in the most wonderful time of all human history, when we are privileged to witness the transition from this death-dealing old world to the life-giving new world of which inspired prophets have spoken in such rich terms. Now is the opportune time to swear our eternal allegiance to the Founder, Builder and Ruler of the new world, and to enlighten and urge others to do so, for that action results in our gaining life in the new world. All the radiant prophecies focus upon this highly important transition period to show its great significance, that we may set our course aright. The last book of the Bible symbolically depicts the momentous events that have marked or are yet to mark this time, and it directs us what to do if we want to enjoy life in the world to come. It foretells what a great crowd of people will do toward that end. Now it is up to us to decide to be included in that great crowd which has part in fulfilling the prophecy. There, at Revelation 19:6, according to the Twentieth Century New Testament (1901 edition), we read: "Then I heard what seemed like the voices of a great throng, and like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of loud peals of thunder, all saying—'Praise the Lord! The Lord is King, our God, the Almighty.'" The New Testament in Basic English (1941 edition) reads: "And there came to my ears the voice of a great army, like the sound of waters, and the sound of loud thunders, saying, 'Praise to the Lord: for the Lord our God, Ruler of all, is King.'"
In the original Greek text of the Bible the word "Hallelujah" occurs in the above verse. The general practice of translators is to transfer this word literally into the English, as, for instance, in the American Standard Version and the Revised Standard Version: "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns." However, you note above that the Twentieth Century New Testament and The New Testament in Basic English translate the word to read, "Praise the Lord," and, "Praise to the Lord," respectively. But "Hallelu-jah" is Hebrew and literally means "Praise Jah", as a command to a number of persons. Therefore the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures makes the most direct translation when it renders Revelation 19:6 as follows: "And I heard what was as a voice of a great crowd and as a sound of many waters and as a sound of heavy thunders. They said: 'Praise Jah, you people, because Jehovah our God, the Almighty, has begun to rule as king.'" This translation also makes it clear, not only that Jehovah reigns or rules as king, but also that he began ruling as king at a certain point of time. This agrees with the rendering by Rotherham's Emphasised Bible translation: "Hallelujah! Because the Lord [our] God the Almighty hath become king." His reign begun is a cause for praising him.
5 The name "Jah" is an abbreviation for "Jehovah" or "Yahweh". The call here to praise him is the last of a series of five calls to praise him because of the astounding events that he brings about, events which we see fulfilling today. That we may get the setting for this series of calls we quote the entire passage (Revelation 19:1-6) from the New World Translation: "After these things I heard what was as a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven. They said: 'Praise Jah, you people [marginal reading: They said: 'Hallelujah']! The salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous. For he has executed judgment upon the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged the blood of his slaves at her hand.' And right away for the second time they said: 'Praise Jah, you people [Hallelujah]! And the smoke from her goes on ascending for ever and ever.' And the twenty-four persons of advanced age and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God seated upon the throne and said: 'Amen! Praise Jah, you people [Hallelujah]!' Also a voice issued forth from the throne and said: 'Be praising our God, all you his slaves, who fear him, the small ones and the great.' And I heard what was as a voice of a great crowd and as a sound of many waters and as a sound of heavy thunders. They said: 'Praise Jah, you people [Hallelujah], because Jehovah our God, the Almighty, has begun to rule as king.'"
6 For thousands of years faithful men of old, from John the Baptist all the way back to Abel the first martyr, looked ahead to the establishment of God's kingdom in the hands of his Seed, the Messiah or Christ. For nineteen centuries the Christian followers of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, have prayed the prayer he taught us: "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon
What does "Hallelujah" here mean, and where is it best rendered?
Why is this call to praise him made, and in what series of calls?
In view of what is it certainly right to praise him now?
earth." (Matt. 6:9,10,NW) And now that the heavenly Father has begun to rule as king in fulfillment of his ancient promise and in answer to Christian prayers, is it not right to praise him? Most certainly yes! For his royal rule means our deliverance from this oppressive world and unspeakable blessings in the free new world. But how is it that, in our first paragraph, we say he began ruling as king A.D. 1914? Here is how.
BIRTH OF OLD WORLD KINGDOMS
We note at Revelation, chapter 19, that the proclamation that Jehovah our God, the Almighty, has begun to rule as king is made in connection with his overthrow of great mystic Babylon. Revelation 19:2 (NW) describes her as the "great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication". The angel who brought the revelation to the apostle John speaks of Babylon as the "great harlot that sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication". John tells us: "Upon her forehead was written a name, a mystery, 'Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth.'" (Rev. 17:1,2,5,NW) This was over six hundred years after the literal city of Babylon on the Euphrates river was overthrown by Kings Darius and Cyrus in 539 B.C. according to the decree of Jehovah God. When that ancient Babylon was thrown down from its position as the third world power of Bible history, God thus showed his almighty power but did not then begin to reign over all the earth. Mystic Babylon, Satan's world organization, still remained. It is when God has actually begun to rule as king that he does overturn and destroy great mystic Babylon
of world-wide power and influence. This modern act of God when completed will astonish all the earth far more than his overturning of ancient Babylon did.
How appropriate it is that, when Jehovah God overturns and destroys mystic Babylon of today, he should be announced as ruling as King! The first place at which an anti-Jehovah kingdom was set up after the flood of Noah's day was Babylon or Babel. The first king of that city was Nimrod, the rebellious foe of the true God. Genesis 10:8-10 informs us: "Cush [the grandson of Noah] begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before [or, in opposition to] Jehovah: wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Jehovah. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." (AS; McClintock & Strong's Cyclopædia) Nimrod's kingdom at Babel or Babylon was never authorized by Jehovah but was set up in defiance of him and to belittle his name and universal sovereignty. Many centuries later, when Babylon became a world power mightier than Egypt and Assyria, it brazenly showed its hostility to Jehovah God by destroying Jerusalem and taking his people into exile.
9 The Most High God withheld his blessings from Babylon's kings, but raised up and approved Melchizedek, the king of Salem which later became Jerusalem. His name discloses the reason, for it means "king of righteousness", and the name of his city Salem means "peace". Melchizedek did not inherit his kingship from his earthly father or through his mother, and he had no successor to his throne. Hence he was used in prophetic history to foreshad-
The overthrow of what is proclaimed in connection with his ruling as King? Whom does this astonish?
Why is it appropriate that at that event he should be announced as ruling as King?
9,10. Who was the first human king Jehovah approved? Why?
ow the righteous King of the new world, Jehovah's Son Jesus Christ.
10 Melchizedek met faithful Abraham after his victory over the king of Babylonish Shinar and his allies. Concerning this we read: "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he [Abraham] gave him a tenth of all." (Gen. 14:18-20, AS) And as to why Melchizedek foreshadowed Jesus Christ we read: "Jesus, who has become a high priest after the likeness of Melchizedek forever. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him and to whom Abraham apportioned a tenth of all things, is first of all, by translation, 'King of righteousness,' and is then also king of Salem, that is, 'King of peace.' In being fatherless, motherless, without genealogy, having neither a beginning of days nor an end of life, but having been made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually." (Heb. 6:20 to 7:3, NW) Melchizedek represented Jehovah as King.
11 Centuries later Jehovah God began reigning over a nation, that of Israel. The city of Jerusalem became its capital, and King David was first to reign there. But centuries before that, God had been their real King, though invisible. The prophet Moses testified to this fact at the Red sea, when God drowned the Egyptian armies hotly pursuing the escaping Israelites. Moses then sang: "Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever. For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and Jehovah
brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea." And when just across the borders from the Promised Land, speaking of Israel as "Jeshurun" or "Righteous One", Moses sang: "And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together." (Ex. 15:18, 19 and Deut. 33:5, AS) Gideon, the deliverer of the Israelites from Midianite raiders, recognized that vital fact. So, when the people wanted to draft him to be their visible human king, Gideon said: "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah shall rule over you."—Judg. 8:23, AS.
12 Is it wise now for us to recognize Jehovah our God as king? Yes. True, amid this world of human kings and princely rulers it takes faith to recognize that he is now the ruling King over his people and is to be obeyed as such. But the Israelites showed we are sure to suffer if we reject or fall away from that faith. In the days of the prophet Samuel they asked him to make a visible king over their nation to correspond with the kings of this world. In grief Samuel took the matter to God in prayer. "And Jehovah said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them." (1 Sam. 8:7, AS) The sum-up of their experience with human kings is tersely stated by Jehovah's words to the Israelites: "Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath." (Hos. 13:10, 11, AS) Their last human king was taken away in divine
What shows it is wise now to recognize him as king?
wrath when Babylon's armies destroyed Jerusalem in 607 B.C. Like him, the last kings and princely rulers of Christendom will be taken away in God's wrath at the battle of Armageddon amid a tribulation foreshadowed by the destruction of Jerusalem.
13 The second king whom Jehovah's prophet anointed over Israel was a man agreeable to his own heart, David the shepherd of Bethlehem. It was King David who wrested Zion, Jerusalem's citadel, from its pagan occupiers and made it the capital city of Israel. He brought into the capital city and near his palace the symbol of Jehovah's presence with his people, the sacred ark of the covenant. He made preparations for the building of a glorious temple to house it. For such zeal toward worship of the living and true God Jehovah made a covenant for an everlasting kingdom with David, that one of David's descendants should be a king forever. That descendant or "son of David" was to be Jesus Christ, born to a virgin tracing her descent from King David. The kings of David's line ruled as visible representatives of the real King of Israel, Jehovah God, and were therefore said to sit upon His throne. As it is written of King David's son and successor: "Then Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him." David, when abdicating the throne in favor of Solomon, prayed and acknowledged God as King, saying: "Thine, O Jehovah, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Jehovah, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou rulest over all." (1 Chron. 29:23, 10-12,
AS) In harmony with Psalm 48:1,2, Jesus himself said of Jerusalem: "It is the city of the great King." (Matt. 5:34,35) Thus, through his reigning anointed king at Jerusalem, Jehovah God ruled as king over Israel's domain.
KING OF THE WORLD SINCE WHEN?
14 In his covenant with David for an everlasting kingdom by which he promised never to remove the kingship from David's line God said concerning David's successors on the throne: "If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever." (2 Sam. 7:14-16, AS) So from 621 to 607 B.C. God chastened David's unfaithful successors, from Jehoiakim on to Zedekiah, with the rod of the Babylonian imperialists. Kings Jehoiachin and Zedekiah were obliged to vacate the throne and were taken captive to Babylon, and Jerusalem and its palaces and temple were destroyed.
15 In this way the prophecy to King Zedekiah was fulfilled: "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Remove the mitre, and take off the crown; this shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him." (Ezek. 21:26, 27, AS) Thus, by his own decision, Jehovah ceased to rule as king over Israel and its domain. By the use of the Gentile armies, he overturned the visible representation of his kingdom on earth, in 607 B.C. In the fall
How did Jerusalem come to be the "city of the great King"?
What chastening did the Kingdom covenant promise? How was this finally inflicted?
How was God's kingdom suspended, and what period then began?
of that year, at the complete desolation of Jerusalem and Judah, the Gentile times or "appointed times of the nations" began, to run for "seven times", or 2,520 years. (Dan. 4:16, 23, 25, 32) God's kingdom over any part of the earth was thus suspended.
16 When the Jewish clergy rejected Jesus before Pontius Pilate at Jerusalem A.D. 33 with the cry, "We have no king but Caesar," the times of Gentile domination were bound to keep on running. Jesus refused to interfere with God's allowance of "seven times" for Gentile domination. So he did not then "restore again the kingdom to Israel". He prophesied that they would run their full length, which would be till the fall of A.D. 1914. (John 19:15; Acts 1:6; Luke 21:24) "But this man offered one sacrifice for sins perpetually and sat down at the right hand of God, from then on awaiting until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet." (Heb. 10:12, 13, NW; Ps. 110:1, 2) That meant that Jesus at God's right hand had to wait till 1914, because Jehovah God does not change but faithfully keeps to his appointed times and seasons. In 1914 was the time for God to give the kingdom to his faithful Son, "whose right it is," and for the Son to come into the kingdom in fulfillment of the covenant with his forefather David. At that date was the time for him to act on his heavenly Father's invitation: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Ps. 2:7-9, AS) Since he received the nations of earth in order to break and dash them to pieces like pottery smashed with an iron rod, it would indicate that the "appointed times of the nations" had ended.
17 In 1914, at the end of those "appointed times", Jehovah began to rule as king. How do we know that? Well, at the beginning of those times in 607 B.C. he ceased to reign, by overturning King Zedekiah's rule at Jerusalem. He ousted him from the "throne of Jehovah" and let the Babylonian Gentiles smash Jerusalem to pieces and let it be trampled on by the nations. Hence the end of those times in 1914 meant just the reverse. There God Almighty took again to himself his great power. He began ruling as king, not at earthly Jerusalem or over the former promised land of Palestine, but over all the earth and all its nations inside and outside of Christendom. He did this in remembrance of his kingdom covenant with David and by installing the worthy Son of David, Jesus Christ, as King of the new world. Not as King on a material throne in an earthly Jerusalem, but on the "throne of Jehovah" which is in heaven and where Jesus had been sitting waiting for all his enemies to be made his footstool. "The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool," says Jehovah. (Acts 7:49, NW; Isa. 66:1, AS) So since 1914 is the time for the Gentile nations to be no longer on top but underfoot, to be trampled on by the heavenly Rulers till they are ground to powder and are blown away at the battle of Armageddon.
18 The angels in heaven were perfectly aware of those events in 1914: "And loud voices occurred in heaven saying: 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king for ever and ever.' And the twenty-four persons of advanced age who were seated before God upon their thrones fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying: '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, and the appointed time . . . to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.'" (Rev. 11:15-18,NW) Jehovah's heavenly organization is spoken of as symbolic Jerusalem. It brought forth Jesus
lon, the Devil's world organization, should take a tumble as a result of Jehovah's judgment against her, and should be put underfoot. How did this occur? By casting the invisible king of mystic Babylon, Satan the Devil, and his demon organization out of the heavenly heights from association with the holy angels and down to God's footstool, the earth. Action to bring
Christ as the one to be enthroned King of Jehovah's new world. Hence chapter twelve of The Revelation pictures it as the birth of a male babe: "And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is destined to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was caught away to God and to his throne."—Rev. 12:1-5, NW.
19 His iron rod meant wrath for the nations whose appointed "seven times" had run out. So 1914 was not a time for the Gentile nations to rejoice at Jehovah's assuming of his ruling power over the earth and the birth of the kingdom of his Christ.
this about began right after the Kingdom was born in 1914. "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 . . . On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the
They became wrathful. The events of history show they became so right at the crucial date of 1914. They engaged in world war between themselves for world domination instead of acting like Christians and yielding over their earthly power to Jehovah's enthroned King. In the thirty-six years since that date their wrath has not lessened but has increased, this being proved by their increasing persecution of Jehovah's witnesses who announce his kingdom by his Christ and represent it as ambassadors.
earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.'" (Rev. 12:7-12,NW) At the battle of Armageddon, after this "short period of time", modern Babylon or Satan's world organization will be destroyed and the new world be completely brought in.
21 Indicative of the tumble of modern Babylon from the heavenly heights is the deliverance of Jehovah's faithful consecrated remnant and their good-will companions from that world organization. That is why Jehovah's witnesses have be-
MYSTIC BABYLON TAKES A TUMBLE
20 The Babylonian empire was used to destroy Jerusalem in 607 B.C. and to start off the "appointed times of the nations". Quite fitting, then, that at the close of the appointed times in 1914 the modern Babycome so world-prominent since 1919. When ancient Babylon was herself destroyed as a world power in 539 B.C., the Israelite remnant was delivered from its power. They were let return to the site of Jerusalem and rebuild the holy temple by decree of Babylon's conqueror, King Cy-
How have the nations reacted at the birth of the kingdom?
How did modern Babylon take a tumble? What will yet be her fate?
21-23. (a) Whose world prominence is indicative of that tumble? (b) What parable do they take up, against whom and in whose praise?
rus of Persia. And as then, so now the delivered remnant of spiritual Israelites and their good-will companions can take up and chant the parable against Satan, the god and king of mystic Babylon:
22 "It shall come to pass in the day that Jehovah shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, . . . How art thou fallen from heaven, O daystar, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations! And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will
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