The Watchtower, April 1, 1951
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WATCHTOWER Announcing
APRIL 1, 1951
Semimonthly
WHO SEES THE NEW WORLD'S
KING AT THE TEMPLE?
COMMISSIONING OF WITNESSES IN
THE TIME OF THE END
PREACHING IN THE ISLANDS
"EARTHQUAKES IN ONE PLACE
AFTER ANOTHER"
AN INTERESTING
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART
©WTB&TS
Announcing JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM
"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".
ပြီး
PUBLISHED BY THE WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY
117 Adams Street Brooklyn 1, N. Y., U. S. A.
N. H. KNORE, President
GRANT SUITER, Secretary
"They will all be taught by Jehovah."—John 6:45, NW; Isaiah 54:13
CONTENTS
Preaching in the Islands 195
"Earthquakes in One Place After Another" 201
Who Sees the New World's King at the Temple? 205
Commissioning of Witnesses in the Time of the End 214
African Chieftain Recognizes Shepherd's Voice 219
"Droop Not Your Hands" 220
An Interesting Chronological Chart 220
Chart of Outstanding Historical Dates 221
Questions from Readers 223
Announcements 224
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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PREACHING IN THE ISLANDS
THIS good news of the Kingdom must be preached in all the world, and in this world there are many islands inhabited by people who love living, like all other creatures on the earth. But even in these islands away from the hustle and bustle of the big continents the peoples have their problems. Because of their isolation men of influence gain power and soon control of these islands is centered in the hands of a favored few. If the government of the island works in the interest of the people, they are generally content. But as is so often the case when the controlling few are interested in themselves and not in the majority of those living on the islands, discontent and unrest are evident. No matter where one travels in the world, he sees the need of God's kingdom.
The president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, N. H. Knorr, and his secretary, M. G. Henschel, both ministers of the gospel in the organization of Jehovah's witnesses, recently made a trip to the beautiful island of Bermuda. They left on Saturday morning, December 2, 1950, about 11:30, and by 3:15 that afternoon they were circling over the coral-formed islands, dotted here and there with pink-, blue- and green-colored houses and cottages, with their spotlessly white roofs. These islands of some 40,000 people thrive quite well on the tourist trade. Of course, there is a little farming; store businesses, construction and other occupations keep
the people employed also. The large naval and air bases also figure in the local economy.
The visitor is impressed by the picturesque, narrow walled roads, the small English cars, the beautiful flowers, the clean sandy beaches and rough pitted rocks along the coast, and the steep incline of the hills. About on the hillsides are surfaced water catchments, for all drinking water in Bermuda comes from the clouds. The only thing that mars the beauty of the islands is the brown cedar trees which were struck with a blight some two years ago.
About four years ago the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society sent two ministers, graduates of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead in South Lansing, New York, to look after the spiritual needs of the small congregation of Jehovah's witnesses in Bermuda. Like all other Jehovah's witnesses, these two young men were very active in preaching the good news of the Kingdom, and they encouraged the inhabitants of the island to engage in home Bible study and get acquainted with the wonderful teachings of Christ. This was not to the liking of the principal religionists and it is reported that through their endeavors the government was influenced to arrange for the deportation of the two ministers. The two young men were sent back to Britain. This left the congregation of Jehovah's witnesses without qualified ministers to take the lead in instructing and training other persons in Bible study.
It has long been the desire of Jehovah's witnesses in these islands to have the Society send a qualified servant to look after their interests. It was to see if this could be accomplished that the president of the Society made the trip to Bermuda. He discussed the matter of sending another representative into the Bermuda islands with some of the officials of government, immigration authorities and lawyers, the latter being very much interested in the case of Jehovah's witnesses and the deportation of the young ministers. It is the earnest hope that the way will be opened again for someone to go there to represent the Society, look after the congregation of the Lord's people, and visit other interested persons in the principal settlements of the Bermuda islands.
A fine meeting was held with the theocratic publishers and interested persons. They were greatly encouraged on hearing about the Lord's work in other parts of the world and they were also delighted with the Scriptural admonition that was presented to them by the two visitors.
The stay seemed much too short, but we visitors from Brooklyn were glad we were able to meet with those in Bermuda who are pressing on and preaching the good news of the Kingdom. The publishers, though they be few, are determined to continue the service come what may, and their enthusiasm is a joy to see. We certainly know that they are not alone in the world proclaiming the message of the new world. On this island they seem alone, but Jehovah knows those who belong to him.
On December 4, when it was time for us to leave, a very bad storm had blown up in the Atlantic. While the winds were heavy in Bermuda, they were much more severe toward New York where we were to go. It had been our hope to fly from Bermuda
to Nassau, Bahamas, but the British airline serving that route was not in operation because of a strike. So we had to fly back to New York city and then down to Miami and from Miami to Nassau, in order to make the next appointment on Tuesday evening. Flying was rough that night and the plane did bounce around, but we arrived in New York in time to make connections with our midnight plane going out of Newark, New Jersey, to Miami, Florida.
The stopover in Miami was very brief 5:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There was a little time for rest and sleep at the home of the company servant. The opportunity of meeting with some of the brothers was afforded us and we also looked over two of the Kingdom Halls which were beautifully designed and well constructed by the local publishers. The halls are really inviting to the public and very comfortable in every respect.
BAHAMAS
At 2:00 p.m. we were away by plane for Nassau in the Bahamas group, a short hop over the Gulf Stream. Nassau is the principal city. When we arrived at the airport, we were met by some anxious brothers who knew there were no flights from Bermuda to Nassau due to the strike and who wondered how we would come.
The public talk, "Can You Live Forever in Happiness on Earth?" to be delivered that evening in the Mothers' Club Hall, was well advertised during the week. Some
some over from Florida the ore and had assisted in the adver- using.
The inhabitants of these islands are mostly colored people, and to find quite a number of white brothers walking the main street of the city with placards and distributing handbills caused a slight sensa tion. The people just had not seen many white witnesses on the
urse, we'
was filled and people were standing on the front porch and finally had to overflow into the street. There were 350 persons present and they paid rapt attention to the heart-cheering message concerning God's kingdom. Many questions were asked after the meeting and booklets were distributed desiring a copy. A number of attendance; they
never had we seen anything on. hundred of the Havana pub some early arrivals at the conver gathered at the airport earlier in the noon, but they waited until 7:00 p.m. night to give us greetings. Their esiasm radiates, bubbles over and falls one like a shower. The Cuban brother were certainly expressive in shiving their joy in having the president and his secretary there with certainly delightte were midst. This zeal of the expressive in this for to-door witnessing Bible studies it in results.
CUBA Thursday afternoon was the time for departure. Again the plane that we travelers were to take was late on leaving Nassau and therefore late in arriving in Miami, where connections were to be made for
people are being comforted in Nasau and the islands of the Bahamas group. The report shows that in 1946 three publ ishers reported field service in Nassau. Thereafter Gilead graduates were sent in to do missionary work and the local pub lishers became better organized. In 1950 an average of 74 publishers reported and at this time there are 110 reporting.
very rich and approximated those of the landing of the Duke of Windsor a number of years ago. The governor comes at a time when we have an empty public treasury, but also at a time when expectations for a bumper tourist season loom very high. He comes also at the Christmas season when most hearts are brimming with the coming holiday expectations. And so for the first few weeks he will find the going quite smooth. With the coming of the winter season and the controversial affairs of the House of Assembly, His Excellency might expect no less and no more than former governors have received, namely, plenty of hard work."
Certainly the problems of state in all the nations of the earth cause rulers great anxiety and worry. In this troubled, old, selfish world things are not going to get easier, but more difficult, because we are getting nearer and nearer to that final day of judgment, the battle of Armageddon. The rulers of the world are trying to hold together the kingdoms of this world in one organization, the United Nations, and meanwhile Jehovah's witnesses calmly ad peacefully go about their work of educt. had ing the people in the Bible and
ers came out from Miami to greet the elers and the two traveling brothers were delighted to see them, but due to the lateness of the plane and the Pan American Airways' trying to get us onto the very next plane for Havana, we were rushed through immigration and customs, with tickets changed and baggage checked with in ten minutes' time. So it meant just wave of the hand in bidding the good-by. It did our hearts much good see them, though, and we wished that could have remained a few minutes to them about the good things that had pened over in Nassau. However, th not possible and soon the big plane into the darkness of the night, racir the concrete ribbon and rising g into the sky on the way to H seemed that we were just abo down in our seats when it w fasten safety belts again and of minutes we were rolling onto Boyeros airport of the prin Cuba.
Here in Havana the broth had worked It was in 1946 that the president made his last visit to Cuba and at that time there were 2,250 publishers regularly engaging in the field service.
But in 1950 there were 6,619 on the average and they now have a peak of 7,820 ministers proclaiming the good news. The Society has had as high as 54 Gilead graduates at one time doing missionary work in Cuba during the past few years. Due to the tremendous increase in company publishers and local pioneers, practically all of these missionaries have been moved out to other assignments.
On this beautiful island of Cuba, almost anything will grow. As a matter of fact one can put a post in the ground and it will begin to sprout leaves. Cuba has a population of approximately 4,800,000 people It is easy to see that, with 7,820 publishers in the land, the people are being witnessed to very regularly. In fact, companies spring up as rapidly as flowers and plants.In 1946 there were 69 companies in all of Cuba; now there are 178.
The branch servant worked out a heavy schedule for us. In the one week's time it was arranged to have three separate conventions in Cuba-one in Havana, the second in Santa Clara and the third assembly in Holguin, in the eastern part of the island. All of these conventions were well advertised. Four hundred and ten thousand handbills were distributed; 6,000 placards were used. Five thousand nine hundred personal invitation letters were mailed to persons of good will. The newspapers carried excellent reports and the brothers saw to it that write-ups were furnished to the newspapers concerning the work of Jehovah's witnesses and especially the Yankee Stadium meetings of last summer. The Havana daily papers El Mundo, Avance Informacion, Prensa Libre and El Nuevo Pueblo wrote excellent articles about the convention and the coming visit of President Knorr. The newspaper El Mundo, which has the largest circulation of any Cuban newspaper, wrote an excellent article about the coming assembly and the past New York international convention and described the great educational work that Jehovah's witnesses are carrying on. In closing, this newspaper stated: "We will have to arrive at the conclusion that this is the most intensive educational campaign of all times ever effected with such a feeling of altruism."
In an endeavor to further the advertising, all the major radio stations in Havana were visited and given news releases. One of the largest stations in the country, CMQ, a 25,000-watt station, put on a nationwide broadcast of an interview with one of the brothers. Another station, CMBC, broadcast an interview between two brothers and this was heard countrywide. On December 8 at 5:30 in the evening Brother Knorr, through an interpreter, was interviewed by one of the major radio stations, Station RHC. This program went out over a chain hookup from one end of the country to the other. In the interview Brother Knorr stated the purpose of his visit and that he was very glad to be in Cuba again. After the interview and on this very same nationwide broadcast, the branch servant, Brother Papadem, gave a six-minute talk on the coming convention and he invited the people of Cuba to attend any one of the three assemblies. All of this was free broadcasting and in the public's interest.
The biggest assembly in Cuba was held in Havana on December 9 and 10 at the Sociedad de Pilar. It was operated just like the assembly in New York. There was an excellent cafeteria about four blocks away at Club Latino and this was tied in by direct wire connections with the convention hall. The new Spanish books and booklets released at Yankee Stadium were printed in sufficient supply and sent to Cuba so that the brothers attending the convention could get "Equipped for Every Good Work" in Spanish.
This was announced by Brother Henschel when he spoke at one of the meetings. Brother Knorr presented "This Means Everlasting Life" in Spanish, as well as introducing the new Watchtower in Spanish, La Atalaya, the January 1 issue now a 32-page magazine exactly like the English edition. All the conventioners were overjoyed with these releases.
Even though the Cuban publishers are moving ahead with great speed, the matter of 10-percent-increase quota and 34-percent-increase peak was presented to all the publishers from one end of the country to the other. If Cuba is going to reach its 34 per cent increase as a new peak for 1951, they will have to get up to 10,057 publishers for the year. Even with all the marvelous increases going on in Cuba, this announcement made them really open their eyes. Ten thousand and fifty-seven seemed quite a distance away for the small group of 7,800 publishers, but they are going after it with all the zest and zeal and determination they have, just as they handle any other work that is given them to do. They are trusting in the Lord that there are many "other sheep" in the island who need to be found and by His undeserved kindness they are going to try to find them and feed them and aid them in being publishers for the Kingdom.
At all three assemblies the same fine spirit of co-operation and determination to take care of the Kingdom interests was well demonstrated. In Havana at the public meeting there were 3,493, and 124 were immersed. Two days later the public meeting at Santa Clara showed there were 2,223 present, packing out the theater that was used. At the immersion there they baptized
At Holguin the theater they had obtained was packed out with 2,142 and early in the morning 76 were baptized. So, for the convention report of Cuba, it is indeed a pleasure to report that 7,858 people attended these gatherings with 274 being baptized. This was the greatest assembly of the Lord's people for this island.
Traveling from one city to the other was accomplished by plane or auto and it meant keeping on the go constantly. It certainly was good to hear the experiences, such as that related by a schoolteacher. His wife was not enthusiastic about his taking up this "new religion", but the more he studied the more he wanted to get out in the work. Finally he decided to be a pioneer in addition to taking care of his teaching position. His wife insisted that he could not do it because of his health, but after he became a pioneer his health improved and he gained over 30 pounds. Before many months had passed the wife was publishing too and entering into the same joy of the Lord that he had. And so it goes with many experiences from one end of Cuba to the other.
To climax the whole convention spirit, one of the brothers spoke on behalf of Brother Knorr for ten minutes over radio station RHC and its nationwide hookup, telling the people of Cuba about the three assemblies and the work accomplished by Jehovah's witnesses world-wide. Brother Knorr was invited to make this speech in Havana, but he could not return because of appointments in Jamaica. He had to fly from Camagüey to Kingston on Friday. Undoubtedly the three assemblies will aid the publishers of the Kingdom greatly in Theocracy's increase in Cuba.
We reserve for our next issue the account of the trip on to Jamaica, and the further preaching accomplished in the beautiful islands of the West Indies.
LAST August 15 the severest earthquake of the twentieth century, the "biggest of the present generation", the "most drastic natural upheaval in a populated place that the world ever has known", was centered in northeastern India, Assam, Nepal and southern Tibet. So violent was that quake that all seismographs throughout the world joined the rhythm in a wild and dizzy dance. Many were completely knocked out. The one at Istanbul, Turkey, was broken, and at Boston College, on the opposite side of the globe, the seismograph ran right off the recording paper. When the shock-wave reached Milwaukee, Wis., 11,000 miles away, the water in a deep well set a new record by jumping 54 inches. Radio and press services flashed out the news, and the people instinctively knew that once again a catastrophe of great magnitude had struck.
in One Place After Another"
Somewhere beneath The Himalayas, the world's highest mountain range, there was a slipping of the subterranean rock, which in turn threw 30,000 square miles of earth's surface into convulsions. Some of the rivers of the region disappeared; others changed their courses. The Brahmaputra, one of the greatest rivers in the world, put on a strange and terrible act, as the tilting and rocking of the land caused it first to recede and then to rush down in mad fury. At places it overflowed its banks and swept across open country like an ocean. Its tributary, the Subansiri, spread ruin
through 1,500 villages. Whole mountains tumbled down, burying villages and stopping up rivers in the valleys below. Then when the
artificial lakes that were thus formed burst through the earthen dams they roared down the valleys, taking everything with them: massive trees, mighty jungles and all creatures in them. What a frightful sight—the bodies of dead elephants, tigers, monkeys and other wildlife, as well as human victims—all borne on the crest of the raging waters!
At other places great chasms opened up and subterranean waters were added to the peril. Granaries were destroyed, leaving many areas threatened with starvation. Fish by the thousands in the streams were either buried in landslides of mud or suffocated by sulphurous gases from the earth's fiery internal regions. Spouting volcanoes reddened the skies for days as they joined in this rebellion of nature, which was rated as "one of the greatest natural catastrophes" in Assam's history. It is almost unbelievable, but majestic Mt. Everest, the highest peak in the world, was literally raised up another 198 feet in altitude!
All communications were completely cut off. Roads and streams literally vanished and large sections of railways were left dangling in the air. Telephone and power lines over a great area were knocked out. Panic broke out throughout northern India and Burma, including Calcutta, and thousands either ran screaming through the streets in their terror or huddled together in prayer to their demon gods.
And as nearly 200 tremors and aftershocks continued daily to rock the country for more than a month, the lives and activity of the already fear-stricken people were further numbed.
Counting some of the cost, damage to the tea plantations alone amounted to $4,000,000. Thousands of houses were destroyed, 50,000 head of cattle were killed, about 5,000 people lost their lives, and 5,000,000 others suffered from the monthlong series of quakes. But the tabulation of such cold figures tells very little of the pain and misery and woe wrought by these superhuman earthshaking forces.
IS THERE AN EARTHQUAKE EPIDEMIC?
As the story continued to trickle out bit by bit from the remote regions of The Himalayas, reports of earthquakes from other quarters of the world were heard. On August 17 a sharp quake rocked islands in the Philippines. Then on August 23 a moderate shock was registered in lower California, and on September 9 a strong shock hit the northern part of Chile. Just the year before, on August 5, 1949, Ecuador suffered a tragedy similar to Assam's, in which it is estimated 9,000 were killed and 20,000 were made homeless. Four of Ecuador's cities were demolished and the staggering damage ran into millions of dollars. The year before that other quakes killed 5,000 persons.
Earthquakes are not a modern scientific invention or discovery, for ancient records show that such events have occurred since earliest times. Man's oldest book, the Bible, tells of several quakes, in both the Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures. (Amos 1:1; Zech. 14:5; Isa. 29:1, 6; 1 Ki. 19:11; Matt. 27:54; 28:2; Acts 16:26) The profane writings of Aristotle, Pliny, Seneca, and others, likewise mention such catastrophic events, and since their days many,
many others have occurred. To list the major ones:
<tr><th>Year
Location
Killed
Year
Location
Killed
Japan
200,000
Venezuela
16,000
India
300,000
Japan
22,000
Lisbon
50,000
Italy
75,000
Italy
50,000
Italy
39,000
Ecuador
41,000
China
200,000
Turkey
22,000
Japan
143,000
Japan
30,000
China
100,000
Peru
25,000
These figures reveal some startling facts. For example, it is very noticeable how few and far between major quakes were prior to World War I compared with the timetable since. This point is corroborated by the Jesuit Father Joseph Lynch of Fordham University in his book Our Trembling Earth (1940), for in showing how there has been an "alternation of storm and calm" he lists (pp. 151, 152) only eleven major quakes as occurring in 3,358 years of Italian history, ending in 1908.
The relative number killed is amazing too. The Encyclopaeia Britannica (vol. 7, p. 852, 1940 edition), after giving the death toll of major quakes prior to 1914, observes: "Figures such as these may be exaggerated [especially the 18th century figures], but there can be no mistaking those for the Japanese earthquake of 1923." Even then, if the exaggerated figures of past centuries are accepted at full value, the above figures show the average annual death rate was greatly accelerated from and after 1914—from 4,000 killed per year it leaped to 40,000! Death and horror in concentrated form is mankind's portion since 1914.
AN IMPORTANT PART OF "THE SIGN"
By now you want to know what this accelerated trend in earthquake frequency has to do with 1914 and World War I? Well, the association of the two is not just a coincidence. The timing of these momentous events was both foreseen and foretold nearly 2,000 years ago. "Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the consummation of the system of things?"
(Matt. 24:3, NW) This was the question the disciples asked Jesus; and it was an important one, too. Daniel the prophet had already given a chronological timetable showing that the consummation or the "ending together" of all that pertained to this present world would begin 2,520 years after Jerusalem's last king was dethroned in 607 B.C., namely, in the fall of 1914.* Consequently, in answering the question, Jesus enlarged on that prophecy by telling what events would happen as a visible "sign" for all to see during that consumption.
You can read the whole account in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, and as you do take special note of what it says about earthquakes. "For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom [global wars have occurred only since 1914], and there will be food shortages [history's worst shortages have come since then] and EARTHQUAKES in one place after another. All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress." (Matt. 24:7,8,NW) Thus it was prophetically foretold that earthquakes, not alone or independently, but together with the other events mentioned, would constitute a visible sign marking the consummation of the old world and the nearness of the new.—2 Pet. 3:6,7,13.
So much for the prophecy. What are the actual facts? No one can deny that 1914 ushered in a dreadful and crucial period and one which continues to the present. Global wars more ghastly in their magnitude and consequence than all the previous wars of history put together! Unsurpassed food shortages! Pestilences and diseases that even modern medicine cannot cope with! World-wide moral and social
delinquency, and on every hand, on every level of society, in every nation, fear, distress and perplexity fill the minds and hearts of the people with woe and sorrow! Lumped together, Jesus declared, they would constitute an undeniable sign provided earthquakes were also present in one place after another. So what are the facts in this regard?
"IN ONE PLACE AFTER ANOTHER"
The accompanying tabulation of earthquakes since 1914 was taken from the World Almanacs and the annual yearbooks of the Americana, Britannica and Collier's encyclopedias, and include only those figures actually reported. They are by no means complete, yet are sufficient to reveal an indescribable picture of horror and suffering. Just think of it, in this short period of time more than 848,450 persons were slaughtered, more than 577,876 were injured, and 4,636,169 were made homeless. Hundreds of cities were destroyed, thousands of buildings were wrecked, and billions of dollars were lost in property damage!
Compare this period with former times and you will see there is nothing in man's previous miserable history to equal it. "In 2,000 years of recorded history, earthquakes have probably taken 10,000,000 lives," so declared Robert K. Plumb in the New York Times (August 20, 1950), under the featured section, "Science in Review." This means the average annual death toll for 1,965 years was less than 4,700, to compare with an average of more than 24,200 killed annually for the last 35 years, since 1914. Or draw a comparison between the last and any other 35-year period. Pick out the previous worst period, the years including the quakes in 1703 and 1737, their exaggerated figures notwithstanding. For that period the total of 500,000 killed is completely eclipsed by
For a detailed discussion see "Let God Be True", pages 243-246.
the nearly 70 per cent greater total dead heaped up since 1914. And when it comes to property damage, disrupted communications, suffering on a global scale, etc., due to quakes since World War I, there is likewise nothing in past history to match this period.
Do you know that these quakes here listed since 1914 are only a very small fraction of those that have occurred? "On the average, there are probably about 150 large earthquakes a year." (Our Trembling Earth, p.3) "At the present time, instrumental records are being used to locate an average of from 600 to 700 earthquakes a year. Of these, from 50 to 100 may be literally world shakers capable of causing catastrophe if the luck of location places a large center of population near at hand." (Cause of Catastrophe, by L. Don Leet, 1948, pp. 34, 36) Counting the smallest tremors some scientists estimate there are 1,000,000 quakes per year.
Science does observe a strange change in the behavior of earthquakes since World War I. Says the magazine Scientific American, September 1950: "Major quakes used to occur in clusters, each period of activity being followed by a rest period. Thus there was violent activity between 1904 and 1907 and then quiescence for 10 years, except for two quakes in 1911 and 1912. Four more active periods, separated by quiet intervals, occurred between 1917 and 1948. But the periods of activity became progressively shorter and closer together. Since 1948 the pattern has entered a new phase, with approximately one great quake a year."-Italics added.
The foretold SIGN is here, every part of it, earthquakes included. It is a warning that we are in the "last days". There is no question that Jehovah God can carry out his declared purpose to shake the Devil's present system of things until it is completely destroyed. Just think of the power at Jehovah's command! A Hiroshimatype atom bomb is equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT, but "what", asks the New York Times, "is an atomic bomb compared with the earth's crust when it twitches like a cow or a horse that wrinkles its skin to rid itself of flies?" Why, do you know, the Assam quake last summer equaled the power of 1,100,000 atom bombs or 1,100 theoretical hydrogen bombs! Yet, that eruption is nothing in power to compare with that which the Maker of the atom will release at Armageddon when He shakes terribly this whole earth.—Ps. 46; Isa. 2:19; Nah. 1:3-6; Hab. 3:6.
35 YEARS OF EARTHQUAKE SORROW
Year
Killed
Injured*
Property Damage
39,000
6 large cities razed
2,500
1,000
$34,125,000 loss
5,372
203,624
110 cities razed, 500 homeless
10,000 homeless
500 buildings destroyed
149,912
2,000
2,030,000 homeless
$933,000,000 loss
$15,000,000 loss
1,021
1,586
20,000 homeless
$90,000,000 loss
1,171 thousands
6,238 buildings destroyed
110,000 homeless
105,370
13,465 buildings destroyed
$77,500,000 loss
2,169
2,528
35,247 buildings destroyed
295,000 homeless
3,183
10,000 homeless
$5,050,000 loss
11,782
7,941 buildings destroyed
2,912
2,580
4,610 buildings destroyed
$71,000,000 loss
70,994
3,800 buildings destroyed
$2,200,000 loss
1,942
14 villages, 7,930 buildings and 1,570 small boats destroyed
20,049
200,000 homeless
$33,000,000 loss
66,771
250,000 homeless
$500,000 loss
38 hundreds
200,000 homeless
80,350
100,000
50,000 buildings destroyed
1,200,000 homeless
1,738
11,009
2,000
$2,500,000 loss
4,850
29 villages destroyed
35,000
3,000
70,000 homeless
$2,000,000 loss
4,000
40,000 homeless
94,669 homeless
$20,000,000 loss
5,000
1,500 buildings destroyed
5,172
16,000
55,000 buildings destroyed
$3,000,000 loss
9,611
20,605
106,000 homeless
$86,000,000 loss
Total
848,450
577,876
4,636,169 homeless
loss in billions of dollars
An additional 423,000 injured casualties were reported during this period of time. They are in the total.
Who Sees the New World's King at the Temple?
"And the temple sanctuary of God that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple sanctuary. And there occurred lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and a great hail."
—Rev. 11:19, NW.
EHOVAH is King in his temple. He is immortal and will reign forever and ever. What a comforting fact that is, since Christendom's attempt to rule as king has miserably failed and that religious system is now dead in God's sight! All further dependence upon Christendom for good, stable government of the earth is foolish and vain.
2 The source of all rightful government is the Universal Ruler, Jehovah God. Jesus Christ taught his disciples to pray for His government. At the time of its setting up there must come a vision of the Supreme Universal Ruler at his temple. This is made plain to us in The Revelation. It points to the year 1914 and says: "Loud voices occurred in heaven [where the government is established] 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.'" Faithful Christians are pictured as responding to this all-important event with the words: "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 [so they did
in 1914], and your own wrath came, and the appointed time . . . to bring to ruin those ruining the earth." It is at his temple that he reigns. In ancient days he reigned over his chosen people Israel, and then his presence at the temple was symbolized by the ark of his covenant. So now that he has taken his power to reign over earth as well as heaven, the vision of him at his temple must follow. "And the temple sanctuary of God that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple sanctuary. And there occurred lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and a great hail."—Rev. 11:15-19, NW; Ps. 99:1-3.
3 Who now sees the temple vision? Isaiah's prophecy, chapter 6, answers the question for us. In 774 B.C. the prophet had a vision and he pictured the class within our generation who have had the temple vision since A.D.1914. It was Isaiah who uttered the words to God's faithful people: "Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen." Isaiah himself was one of the witnesses of the Most High God. He therefore prefigured Jehovah's anointed witnesses in this day. (Isa. 43:10, AS) So let us examine the facts concerning Isaiah's temple vision and compare the facts of today with them.
TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCES
4 "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high
Where is Jehovah King? Why is this comforting?
According to Revelation 11, what follows his beginning to reign?
Who sees the temple vision, and how do we know this?
What marked the year when Isaiah saw the vision?
and uplifted, with the skirts of his robe filling the temple." (Isa. 6:1, AT) Uzziah's death marks the year of the vision as 774 B.C. Israel's human king who once sat on the "throne of Jehovah" at Jerusalem dies for lawlessly invading the temple, but the real King is seen enthroned in his temple. Uzziah died in a house separate from the temple and royal palace, as a man cursed by God with the fatal disease of leprosy, while his son Jotham ruled for him inside Jerusalem. (2 Chron. 26:21-23) Thus the reign of Jehovah the true King at the temple counterbalances the death of the presumptuous king under divine curse.
5 That year was not the year Isaiah was called or consecrated to the prophetic service. The five preceding chapters of his prophecy show he was active as prophet before that memorable year. The "days of Uzziah" in which Isaiah prophesied must have been days before, possibly years before his death, for Isaiah wrote records on the reign of Uzziah. (2 Chron. 26:22) This is likewise true of the modern Isaiah class of whom a remnant exists today. The apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Hebrews about 61 (A.D.) and already then he speaks of the Isaiah class, at Hebrews 2:13,14. There he quotes Isaiah's words at Isaiah 8:18, where the prophet says: "Look! I and the young children whom Jehovah gave me." (NW) Paul then shows that Jesus became the head of this Isaiah class by descending from heaven and becoming flesh and blood the same as these God-given children, his followers, were. In fact, the Christian Greek Scriptures apply to Jesus and to his disciples of the first century the commission which Isaiah received at the temple and which he recorded at Isaiah 6:9,10. This proves that the
Isaiah class existed in the first century and that it partly fulfilled the prophecy already nineteen centuries before our day.
But the final fulfillment of Isaiah's vision takes place upon the remnant of Jehovah's anointed witnesses, the Isaiah class of our time. It takes place after Jehovah began to reign in 1914 by enthroning his Son Jesus Christ as King with an iron rod to dash the nations of this world to pieces at the coming battle of Armageddon. Later, in 1918, Jehovah appeared at the temple by sending his King, the promised "messenger of the covenant", there to judge all those who profess to be of the house of God. (Mal. 3:1; 1 Pet. 4:17) So the facts show that the temple vision occurred in 1919.
What, then, in 1919 compares with King Uzziah's death? Uzziah was a king of David's line and built up great prosperity in Israel during a long reign. God had inspired King David to say He would raise up a ruler like ancient Melchizedek, the king of Salem. Like Melchizedek, this ruler of David's line would be a priest as well as a king seated upon the "throne of Jehovah". He would be the Messiah or Christ, through whom all people of the earth would be blessed with a perfect government. Uzziah, inflated with pride after long prosperity, presumed now to add to his regal office the duties of the high priest of Israel, as if he were of Melchizedek's line. He presumed to be the Messiah or Christ, to whom Jehovah had sworn with an oath in David's prophecy, at Psalm 110:4: "Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." (AS) Uzziah was thus worse than Korah and his 250 fellow rebels who challenged Moses and Aaron and presumed to burn incense to
Was that the year Isalah was consecrated to the prophetic office? What are the indications on this?
On whom does the final fulfillment of the vision occur? When?
How did Uzziah come to be smitten with the plague that killed him?
Jehovah like the high priest and his sons, for Korah and his men were of the tribe of Levi, the same as Moses and Aaron. (Num. 16:1-40; Ex. 30:1-10, 34-38; Jude 11, 12; Num. 18:7) So Jehovah struck Uzziah with leprosy, and he could no longer attend the temple or sit on the throne. The prophecies mention an earthquake in Uzziah's days, but whether this occurred at the time of his sacrilegious act we cannot be sure.—Amos 1:1; Zech. 14:5; also Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, book 9, chapter 10, 4.
In like manner the religious clergy of Christendom appeared to prosper in divine favor up till A.D. 1914. That year the times appointed for worldly nations to dominate the earth ended. Then Jehovah God took over his power to rule the earth as King and installed his Son in the throne. So the question arose, Who is the Messiah to govern the earth? Who will fulfill the blessed predictions concerning the Messiah? The clergy of Christendom assumed to play the Messiah's role, for they rejected the Kingdom message which the remnant of Jehovah's witnesses proclaimed.
Catholicism and Protestantism claimed to be in line for God's kingdom. Their clergy acted as religious rulers and claimed to be the ones to establish the Kingdom and to fulfill the prayer, "Thy kingdom come," by trying to convert the world to Christ. In 1914 the nations of Christendom engaged in global war for world domination. Christendom's clergy sided in with them. They made themselves the handmaids of the political rulers of this world and not of the Christ enthroned in the heavens. So they blessed the armies which were really fighting against Messiah's rule of the earth. Toward the end of that first world war the League of Nations was proposed and early in 1919 the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America issued this statement: "The time has come to organize the world for truth, right, justice and humanity. To this end as Christians we urge the establishment of a League of Free Nations at the coming Peace Conference. Such a League is not merely a peace expedient; it is rather the political expression of the kingdom of God on earth. The League of Nations is rooted in the gospel. Like the gospel, its objective is 'Peace on earth, good will toward men.' Like the gospel, its appeal is universal. The heroic dead will have died in vain unless out of victory shall come a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.—2 Peter 3:13. The church can give a spirit of goodwill, without which no League of Nations can endure."
10 On Catholicism's side, the then pope of Rome tried to use the German emperor and his military machine as the "sword of the church" to pave the way for restoring the Holy Roman Empire. In furtherance of his own Messianic ambitions, the pope in 1929 closed a deal with the Fascist dictator Mussolini whereby temporal power on earth was restored to the pope and Vatican City was created as a political state. Had the pope appreciated that Jehovah God was now reigning by his true Messiah since 1914, he would not have gone in for temporal power. He would have linked himself up with the reigning Messiah instead of with worldly political rulers. In view of the pope's leaning to the Teutonic Allies in World War I the Treaty of London was signed by Great Britain, France, Russia and Italy in 1915, debarring the pope from any diplomatic action in regard to peace or questions arising from the war.
11 Having reached the height of her prosperity in 1914, for she has never been pros-
What class once prospered like Uzziah, and till when?
9, 10. (a) How did Protestantism assume to play the Messiah? (b) How did Catholicism?
11, 12. So what did the clergy now assume to offer to God, and how?
perous since, Christendom's clergy presumed to offer up incense to God at his temple. Jehovah's witnesses then acted like high priest Azariah and his eighty priests who resisted King Uzziah's blasphemous act and who drove him out of the temple after he was smitten. So Jehovah's witnesses pointed to God's kingdom by his true Messiah and protested against the course of the clergy and showed from the Scriptures that it was spiritual harlotry. The clergy conspired to kill this remnant of God's "royal priesthood" and to assume the functions of such a priesthood themselves. (1 Pet. 2:9) By using world war to suppress the witness which was being given to the Kingdom by the remnant, the clergy killed Jehovah's "two witnesses" in fulfillment of Revelation 11:3-10. They used the war beast, not a peace beast, to try to clear the Kingdom witnesses out of the way. (Rev. 11:7; 13:1-3) Like the rich man in Jesus' parable, the clergy class wore royal purple and now they tried to display their priestly linen of self-righteousness, amid all their worldly prosperity. (Luke 16:19-31) But in assuming to offer incense to God at his temple, they were not like the apostle Paul who offered the true incense properly.
12 Paul wrote: "God . . . always leads us in a triumphal procession in company with the Christ and makes the odor of the knowledge of him perceptible through us in every place! For to God we are a sweet odor of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the latter ones an odor issuing from death to death, to the former ones an odor issuing from life to life. And who is adequately qualified for these things? We are; for we are not peddlers of the word of God as many men are, but as out of sincerity, yes, as sent from God, under God's view, in company with Christ, we are speaking." (2 Cor. 2:14-17, NW) The
clergy offered incense, not of the knowledge of Jehovah and his kingdom by Christ, but of propaganda filled with worldly politics and promising Messianic blessings through an alliance of nations.
13 For this the plague of God has come upon them. They are shown to be cursed and doomed to a disgraceful death. In Israel leprous King Uzziah was driven out of the temple by faithful Azariah and his eighty priests. Like the rich man in Jesus' parable he died to his privileges and was subjected to torments. Like the great chasm barring the rich man from Abraham's bosom, King Uzziah's plague barred him from the holy temple and the royal "throne of Jehovah".* In 1918 the clergy of Christendom succeeded in killing Jehovah's "two witnesses" at the climax of World War I. Because of such a flagrant act of contempt for God's kingdom by Christ they were smitten with a death-dealing spiritual plague from God. They betrayed themselves to be unclean in his sight, spiritual adulteresses with this world, and hence enemies of God. They have ever since stayed in this accursed state. They have been rejected from God's service at his temple and have no sound hopes of a place in the heavenly kingdom with Christ Jesus.—Jas. 4:4; 2 Cor. 6:14-18.
EFFECT OF THE VISION
14 Just as foretold in Revelation 11:11, 12, the anointed remnant of Jehovah's witnesses were revived from the death state into which the enemy had forced them. God did not let them be destroyed during World War I. He revived them by his spirit in 1919. But the religious clergy died as to God's true service, like the rich man
See the articles on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in The Watchtower of February 15 and March 1, 1951.
Since when have they been smitten and tormented like Uzzlah? How?
When and how did they die? But how were the remnant then favored?
in Ha'des. It was then that the remnant caught the vision of the postwar service for God at his temple. Isaiah, picturing them, said: "I saw the Lord* sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple." (Isa. 6:1, AS) As a comparison of Bible prophecy with historical facts shows, Jehovah God as represented by his Messenger of the covenant, his King, came to the temple in 1918. That was therefore "the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God". (1 Pet. 4:17, NW) Hence the remnant as well as Christendom which professes to be God's house were brought to the temple. But Christendom did not get the vision; she was disclosed to be leprous because of her sin of rebellion against the Kingdom. As for the anointed remnant, they discerned with greater appreciation that Jehovah God was now reigning by his enthroned King Jesus Christ. The wrath of the nations which they vented in waging World War I and in persecuting the witnesses of God's kingdom was proof of that fact. So they appreciated it was now a time of judgment for them. "Jehovah is in his holy temple; Jehovah, his throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men." (Ps. 11:4, AS) His high and uplifted throne indicates that he is the Supreme Authority of the universe, the rightful Sovereign and Judge of all creatures.
15 Isaiah describes the vision of Jehovah throning at his temple: "Over him stood seraphim, each having six wings, with two of which he covered his face, with two he covered his loins, and with two he hovered in flight." (Isa. 6:2, AT) It being a time
of judgment, it was very fitting that Jehovah should be attended by seraphim, for the name of these spirit creatures means "fiery ones; burning ones". This quality about them reflects that "Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God", that is, toward his enemies. (Deut. 4:24, AS; 9:3; Heb. 12:29) Execution of his judgment as by fire as well as the cleansing of his faithful remnant as by fire was at hand. The seraphim were most respectful of Jehovah's person. Keenly sensing his holiness, they covered their faces and lower limbs with their wings, just as officials in the most dignified Oriental court in ancient times would do in the king's presence. Because of their closeness to the Sovereign of the universe they were all the more selfeffacing in order not to distract from his personal glory. But here Isaiah, a creature lower than the angels, was beholding with wide-open eyes the sight of the Most High God. It is now a solemn thought for us to reflect that Jehovah God is at his temple of judgment attended by these fiery seraphim. It is a most dignified, solemn, awesome circumstance.
16 "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isa. 6:3, AS) In thus continually crying out this refrain on God's holiness, these seraphim match the four living creatures whom John saw in his vision of Jehovah on the celestial throne. "And as for these four living creatures, each one of them respectively has six wings; round about and underneath they are full of eyes. And they have no rest day and night as they say: 'Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming.'" (Rev. 4:1-8, NW) Their saying "holy" three times makes this quality very emphatic. It shows that the Almighty God is inherently devoted to righteousness, in-
Some 105 Hebrew manuscripts read Jehovah at this verse instead of Adonai. This is one of the 134 places where the Hebrew Sopherim changed the name Jehovah in the primitive text to read Adonai, My Lord, lest Isalah should be said to have seen Jehovah God.
By whom was he attended at the temple? How was this most fitting?
What is the import of what the seraphim are saying?
capable of doing anything wrong. This holy quality vindicates him against all the false charges that Satan the Devil has leveled at Jehovah God. For this reason his temple must be a clean, holy place and those who want to serve him there must also be holy in a godlike devotion to what is right, pure and good. That is why, too, the earth over which He has taken his great power to reign by Christ must be made a holy place. The earth is his footstool, and it will be made glorious, for it was with prophetic import that the seraphim kept calling to one another, "The whole earth is full of his glory."
17 That refrain is what the seraphim are now saying at the temple. So this unholy world cannot go on forever. Jehovah is of purer eyes than to view with approval the hypocritical religiousness of Christendom. His holiness distinguishes him from the false gods of the worldly nations. The worldliness of Satan's dominion cannot touch and soil him. For more than 230 times in Scripture he is called "Jehovah of hosts". His mighty hosts are like him in their heartfelt devotion to righteousness, so that he can well use them in executing his judgments against all unrighteousness of this world. Not yet is our earth full of his glory, but it will be full of it as a result of the oncoming "war of the great day of God the Almighty". As he said to Moses: "All the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah." (Rev. 16:14-16, NW; Num. 14:21, AS) His majestic splendor will be everywhere throughout the earth, and all the living will know he is King. "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. But Jehovah is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him." (Hab. 2:14, 20, AS) One of the grand results of this knowledge will be that earth's
inhabitants will not hurt or destroy one another, as they do now in this unholy world. (Isa. 11:9, AS) Already amid the gloom of this world Jehovah's witnesses are catching up his glory light from the temple and are reflecting the glorious knowledge of God to the people who are sitting in darkness and longing for light. 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:6, NW.
CLEANSING OF LIP
18 The proclamation of the holiness of the God of the righteous new world is very powerful. It causes a shaking, disturbing the self-complacency of creatures who trust in their own righteousness. With the proclamation of the seraphim intoning in his ears the prophet Isaiah says: "And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke." (Isa. 6:4, AS) This would unsettle any who stepped over the threshold to approach God. It would make them concerned about their heart condition. Happily for us, we have a forerunner who has entered into the great temple of God for us, namely, Christ Jesus, the great Priest-King after the likeness of Melchizedek. (Heb. 6:19,20) The righteousness of his sacrifice makes up for our inborn imperfections and sinfulness. Yet we must search our hearts, to see that they are holy in their devotion to truth and righteousness. Those of the house of God must especially do so.
19 The filling of the house or temple with smoke denotes the presence of the living God there with a glory to which human creatures cannot approach. It is as when Moses set up the tabernacle of worship in the wilderness at Mount Sinai: "then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle." Centuries afterward when King Solomon
How will earth be filled with his glory? With what result?
What effect does proclaiming God's holiness have?
What does the filling of the house with smoke denote?
dedicated the temple at Jerusalem and the priests brought the ark of the covenant into the Most Holy, "the cloud filled the house of Jehovah, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah." (Ex. 40:34, 35, AS; 1 Ki. 8:10, 11, AS) Later the apostle John got a foreview of our own time and saw the temple sanctuary in heaven and seven angels come out with seven plagues of judgment to be poured out upon mankind after 1918 (A.D.). He tells what happened: "And the sanctuary became filled with smoke because of the glory of God and because of his power, and no one was able to enter into the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished." (Rev. 15:5-8, NW) Assuredly this is a God who will shortly make even the scientists of this electronic age with all their atomic release of power stand in awe of his glorious judgments. Let us never forget that he is at the temple for judgment proceedings.
20 For Isaiah of old, it was as if he were Israel's high priest and seeing past the inner curtain of the temple and beholding the glory of God. Isaiah was privileged to see this that it might impress him and make him feel his lowly condition in God's sight. So the opening of the eyes of understanding of the remnant of the Isaiah class in this generation to behold corresponding things was likewise meant to impress them with how far short they come of the divine glory. But for gazing with his eyes on such a glorious sight in the Most Holy of God's temple was Isaiah smitten with a lethal plague as Uzziah was? No; even though he was not a priest of the tribe of Levi. He had come upon this vision, not by presumptuousness, but because of a faithful heart. The effect of it he tells us: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone [or,
dumb; lost; destroyed]; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts." Isa. 6:5, AS.
21 A realization of his natural condition swept over Isaiah. He felt he was now to be destroyed for his unworthy condition. In the case of the remnant in 1919, they did not feel now too sure of their saved condition, of having 'made the calling and choosing of them firm'. They were not yet ready to "go home" to heavenly glory, but yet had a work to do in which to prove their faithfulness. They might have been destroyed in that crucial year, if Jehovah had not shortened the days of world tribulation for the sake of his chosen ones but had carried the war begun in heaven against Satan's organization straight through to its complete destruction.
22 Isaiah 12:1 indicates Jehovah was angry with the remnant of his witnesses for their fear and failure during World War I. So had he acted on his displeasure it might have been disastrous for them. They were of "unclean lips" like Isaiah. "The fear of Jehovah is clean" (Ps. 19:9, AS); but they had let fear of man and of human organizations affect their lips and silence their message to a large extent. They were not exalting the holiness of Jehovah or filling the whole earth with the knowledge of his glory, as the seraphim were doing. The remnant dwelt mainly in Christendom, which, though professing to be God's house, was of unclean, hypocritical lips. Through contact with her the remnant had many soils and were infected with many of her traditions and practices even yet. On this basis the remnant of God's chosen ones might have been destroyed with the world at that time when judgment began at God's house. But his shortening
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