The Watchtower, December 15, 1951
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"YOU ARE MY WITNESSES," SAYS JEHOVAH.—Isa. 43:12
The WATCHTOWER
Announcing
JEHOVAH'S
KINGDOM
DECEMBER 15, 1951
Semimonthly
"SAY TO THE PRISONERS,
GO FORTH"
RELEASE UNDER WAY TO THE
ENDS OF THE EARTH
"CLEAN WORSHIP" ASSEMBLIES:
FROM FRANCE TO NETHERLANDS
MANKIND'S GREATEST LEADER
QUESTIONS FROM READERS
©WTB&TS
"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
Mankind's Greatest Leader 739
"Say to the Prisoners, Go Forth" 741
Release Under Way
to the Ends of the Earth 748
Priestcraft Surrenders to Truth
in the Near East 755
"Clean Worship" Assemblies:
from France to Netherlands 756
Questions from Readers 763
Announcements 765
Scripture Index for
Texts Explained, 1951 766
Subject Index for
The Watchtower, 1951 767
Abbreviations used in "The Watchtower" for the following Bible versions
AB - 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 Leescr's version Yg - Robert Young's version
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MANKIND'S GREATEST LEADER
MEN have been following human leaders for thousands of years in search of liberation. Jehovah God touched the keynote of true deliverance in Eden. After humanity's fall to sin and death, God pointed ahead to a Seed to be produced from the womb of his organization who would restore justice, peace and life. (Gen. 3:15) In the meantime politics, militarism and science have filled the world with champions and heroes to be hailed while living, and after death to be memorialized each year on their anniversaries.
But for all the glory men would accord their great ones, the Bible rule remains: "Rely not upon great men—mere mortals who can give no help; when their breath goes, they return to the dust, and on that very day their projects perish."—Ps. 146: 3,4,Mo.
Some of the most worthless men have been accorded posthumous praise. Man's first king, Nimrod, though worshiped after death as a god, was a wanton spiller of blood in his lifetime. He reviled the true God and encouraged worship of the state. Though claiming to be the promised seed of deliverance, he brought only slavery to creature worshipers.-Gen. 10:8-10.
When holidays are declared in honor of such "great men", how hollow the usual procedures followed. Usually it is a time for rowdyism and general debauchery to reign. The one whose birth provides the excuse for such reveling cannot hear the
noisemakers, and if he was an honorable man in his lifetime, he probably would not want to if he could. It is worse than when the ancient priests of Baal gashed themselves and wailed all day long in an effort to make their "god" hear them when Elijah called their bluff. At least they admitted that they were heathen!—1 Ki. 18:20-40.
But why, especially at this season, make so much of these matters? Because just now all of Christendom is making a great show of commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, the mighty 'witness, leader and commander to the people'. (Isa. 55:4) Certainly we will not deny that man owes recognition to this only truly great leader ever given him. Beyond question, Jesus meets every requirement for leadership in the perfect sense. His invincible military prowess he will demonstrate in crushing the Devil to defeat at the "battle of that great day of God Almighty" or Armageddon. (Rev. 16:14, 16) Then the government of this "Prince of Peace" will introduce the most blessed and peaceful rule ever known, amid conditions of contentment and prosperity. (Isa. 9:6,7; Mic. 4:1-5) And no scientist or doctor ever lived who came near to matching what Christ has given humanity. Instead of burdening his subjects with sin and death, his life has furnished a ransom "in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life".
(John 3:16, NW) Moreover, life under his government is promised to uplift the race to perfection.
But now in view of these facts it should be apparent that no "mass for Christ" or "Christmas" is necessary for this great Leader. This conviction is deepened in noting that the Bible nowhere records a celebration of Jesus' birth by either himself or his disciples. Nor does the Bible become any more explicit on the exact date of its occurrence other than that it was in the early fall, about October 1. Where then did the December 25 date originate? Protestants took it from the Catholics, who had appropriated it from the pagan religions so plentiful in the Roman empire of the fourth century. In turn, ancient heathen peoples had kept it since the time of the early Babylonians, who on that date annually commemorated the birth of Nimrod!
And just as the date is wrong, so is everything connected with it. By burning the pagan yule log, Nimrod's death was anciently observed on December 24. Then on the 25th, the presence of an evergreen tree depicted the belief of his worshipers that "god Nimrod" had been changed into divine or to immortality. Furthermore, while Christendom is filled to overflowing with such heathen lip service to its professed Leader, it is empty of all the virtues he required of his true followers.
Jesus held to the premise of one true worship and branded all others false roads leading off into destruction. But Christendom's unity is shattered by no less than 265 sects in the United States alone. Clergy hypocrisy that capitalized on acts of public charity and loud prayers he condemned. This world's clergy's love for headlines in accompaniment to their charity and their praying at public functions where politicians kiss the Bible and they add a benediction—all this is well
known. That his followers might not be divided and destroyed by barriers of national pride, Jesus advocated rendering to Caesar his due; but stressed that God must be given his as well, and that God came first. Yet twice in one generation, professed Christians the world over have been torn by global war in which Catholic killed Catholic and Protestant, Protestant.
Throughout the ministry of Christ there shone the theme of the Lord's prayer: "Your kingdom come." Christendom's sermons are weighted with fair-haired promises of a better world by human ingenuity, collective security schemes, a United Nations as man's hope, etc. Jesus gave "a new commandment, that you love one another". (John 13:34, NW) Worldly religion hatches constant political intrigue and frequent violence against true Christians who are separate from the world, thus reflecting strife, envy and hate.
Truly Christendom is an empty shell of vanity and paganism. When she calls to her gods on the same holidays and in the same way as the heathen of old, the results are naturally the same. The gods for whom such celebrations were originally established cannot answer. Thus Nimrod is forever dead despite all the evergreen trees of antiquity and of those that now may be displayed on December 25. Demons intercept the praise to God and continue to lead the nations to Armageddon.
True Christians seek to move their lips in intelligent praise to Jehovah the true and Almighty God and to his Son. (Heb. 13:15) Their doing so, preaching the good news of his kingdom, helps more and more persons to appreciate the meaning of the peace he brought to "men of good-will" and the blessings ahead for this earth under his rule. (Luke 2:14, NW) They make his God their God, his kingdom their hope. How uplifting! What a truly great Leader and Commander he is!
'SAY TO THE PRISONERS Go Forth"
"That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places."—Isa. 49:9.
EHOVAH cannot be beat for opening prison doors and letting prisoners loose. He has a record of doing this in a literal way. He sent prophetic dreams to Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, and these worked for him to release Joseph from prison to interpret the dreams and become chief minister of Pharaoh. He used the mighty armies of Babylon as his executioners and let them batter their way into Jerusalem and release his prophet Jeremiah from prison. Much later the religious rulers of Jerusalem again committed a false arrest, this time on the apostles of Jesus Christ. But Jehovah's angel opened the prison doors that night, brought them forth without their keepers' realizing it, and told them to go back to preach about Jesus Christ in the temple. Afterward when Peter alone was imprisoned and sentenced to death and lay sleeping bound with chains between two soldiers and with guards before the cell door, Jehovah's angel again struck off the chains and led Peter out to freedom and to further service of his God.
them out with the greatest respect and meekly listen to their message. It is
2 Even an earthquake was not too much for Jehovah to stir up under the prison at Philippi in Macedonia to loose the hands and feet of the apostle Paul and Silas from chains and stocks and to knock open the cell door and induce the jailer to lead
truly written, "Jehovah looseth the prisoners."—Ps. 146:7, AS; Jer. 40:1-4; Gen. 41:1-46; Acts 5:17-21; 12:1-11; 16:19-34.
But here we are at the threshold of A.D.1952. This is too modern a day for Jehovah God to be doing anything like loosing people from prison, is it not? Do not think so for a moment. The fact is, he is doing his great work of releasing now, in this modern period from A.D.1919. This work is marked by the releasing of many from literal prisons, concentration camps and other places of detention. But it is specially remarkable for releasing victims from a vaster and more terrible prison, a spiritual prison condition in a modern Babylon. Nothing can resist, and nothing is resisting his power to set those who are bound free even while the prison still stands. When he has delivered all those who long to get free and who look to him for it, he will smash the entire prison system at the battle of Armageddon and introduce a free world for everyone that lives. Note how this is coming about.
4 God Almighty has a great Liberator or Servant whom he now uses in this work of granting sweet release to liberty lovers who are bound. Who is he? Hear the voice that comes sounding down the corridors of nineteen centuries from a Jewish syn-
1, 2. What record has Jehovah for opening prisons and letting the inmates loose?
Since when in our time is he doing a greater releasing work, and from what?
How do we identify Jehovah's great Servant of liberation?
agogue at Nazareth in Galilee, Palestine. The voice is reading the words of the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter sixty-one, verses one and two, and you hear these words: "Jehovah's spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news to the poor, he sent me forth to preach a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind, to send the crushed ones away with a release, to preach Jehovah's acceptable year." (Luke 4:18, 19, NW) Ah, you recognize the voice of Jesus of Nazareth speaking and there applying to himself those prophetic words designating Jehovah's Servant of liberation. Yes, he is the great Servant whom Almighty God has raised up now to serve as Liberator, now when the whole earth is threatened with a new bondage, that of blasphemous international communism. The self-conceited religious pontiff who claims to be the visible "vicar of Christ" falls far short of being a spiritual bulwark against the onrush of Christless Communism. A false Christ could never be depended upon to be a true bulwark against political and social lies. But the true Christ himself, Jesus the Son of God, stands firmer than the rock of Gibraltar, not only repelling the invasion of Communism and other political isms into the lives of lovers of truth and righteousness, but also releasing many who are in bondage under these systems.
Millions of people inside and outside of Christendom have been fooled in the past. And it is now a foolish thing to listen to some man or group of men when they lift themselves to prominence and then, to draw followers after themselves, proclaim that they will bring about the people's liberation. The granting of full liberty to mankind rests with the Almighty God Jehovah. He has made his
own appointment of someone reliable to free the prisoners of this oppressive system of things. To this day he sticks to that appointment. So it is not worth the while and it only leads to heartbreaks to look to anybody else than the One the Most High God has appointed. He makes known the One he has appointed and he speaks to him with these words: "Thus saith Jehovah, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves." Isa. 49:8, 9, AS.
THE SERVANT
Oh, you say, those words apply to King Cyrus of Persia. In 539 B.C. he and his uncle Darius overthrew mighty Babylon which had destroyed Jerusalem and its temple and had desolated the land of the Jews by carrying nearly all the survivors off into Babylon as exiles. But in the first year of his reign Cyrus released these Jewish prisoners. He let them go back to the desolate Jewish heritages in Palestine and rebuild the ruined land.
All that is true. Isaiah, chapter forty-five, did foretell Cyrus and his liberal deeds toward Jehovah's people, but it sets him forth as a type or prophetic figure of Jesus Christ, the Greater Cyrus. It is Jesus Christ who brings about the complete fulfillment of Jehovah's prophecy. So he is the great Servant of liberation now.
8 When Jesus was on earth he had a powerful instrument, the truth. At once we think of his words: "If you remain in
To what does it lead to look to men as liberators, and whose appointment does this course ignore?
6, 7. To whom do those words apply in type and in antitype?
(a) What powerful instrument of liberation did Jesus have? (b) How did God help him and give him as a "covenant of the people"?
my word, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31, 32, NW) All the while he was on earth as a man he was in constant danger from the great Serpent Satan the Devil, and all his wicked seed demon and human. He prayed to his heavenly Father and he was answered and helped that he might finish his work for mankind's salvation. Jehovah God preserved him till his work was finished. Then he let him show his loyalty and integrity even to disgraceful death on a torture stake at Calvary. But Almighty God preserved him by raising him up from the dead to immortal life in heaven as the exalted spirit Son of God. In this way Jesus Christ could carry on with his liberation work and be on hand for it in this day. God has given him for a "covenant"? A covenant is a solemn engagement to do something. God has solemnly engaged or bound himself to loose true liberty lovers from prison and bondage, and he has given his Son Jesus Christ as a covenant or pledge that he will do this. He has provided and appointed Jesus to be the One to set people free. As certainly as there is a resurrected and glorified Jesus at the Father's right hand in heaven, just that certainly there will be a loosing of right-hearted people from slavery to the tyrannical world system of modern Babylon. So the One to look to is this glorious Servant whom God has given for a "covenant of the people". All human leaders will prove frauds.
9 You love liberty for yourself, and you would like to see others enjoy it too. Would you not like to be associated with the true Liberator in his work? You may. We know from these Scriptural facts that you can. Above (5) we quoted the words of
Isaiah 49:8. The apostle Paul calls attention to these words and applies them in connection with the followers of Jesus Christ. We reproduce Paul's particular way of saying it, and also his words surrounding it, as follows: "We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: 'Become reconciled to God.' The one who did not know sin he made to be sin for us, that we might become God's righteousness by means of him. Working together with him, we also entreat you not to accept the undeserved kindness of God and miss its purpose. For he says [and here comes Paul's quotation of Isaiah 49:8, LXX]: 'In an acceptable season I heard you, and in the day for salvation I came to your help.' Look! Now is the especially acceptable season. Look! Now is the day for salvation. In no way are we giving any cause for stumbling, that our ministry might not be found fault with; but in every way we recommend ourselves as God's ministers."—2 Cor. 5:20 to 6:4, NW.
10 Here Paul tells us he had a ministry of service entrusted to him, and that in doing it he was working together with God and his great Servant Jesus Christ. Since Christ was not there personally in the flesh, Paul was acting as an ambassador substituting for Christ and saying for him, "Become reconciled to God [so as to gain salvation in this acceptable season and day for it]." That his ministry or service might be blameless in this respect, Paul was giving his hearers no cause for stumbling but was in every way recommending himself to them as God's minister or servant. So he appeals to those to whom he writes that they should not receive the undeserved kindness of God through Christ and miss its purpose.
And here is where all of us who accept his undeserved kindness come in. We must not miss the purpose for which it was given to us.
COMMISSION OF WORK
11 How can we miss the purpose of this undeserved kindness? By our failing to do
the work for which it was given us to make us fit. Having tasted of his undeserved kindness and been reconciled to God or put on friendly terms with him, we must from now on be a coworker with him. We must colabor with his great Servant Jesus Christ. He has given a commission of work to his great Servant. What part of that commission of work we can help in doing, we are obliged to do it. So to that extent the commission to the Servant also
applies to us, and we become his fellow servants. We become members of the servant class. This is specially true of those Christians who are anointed with God's spirit as Jesus was and who are baptized into his spiritual body or congregation and who are made joint heirs with him of the heavenly kingdom. It is their obligation according to the divine commission to join in 'saying to the prisoners, Go forth, and to them that sit in darkness, Show yourselves'. If we faithfully carry out this commission, then we are not receiving God's undeserved kindness in vain. 12 Well, then, what is our working equipment? Listen to the great Servant, the Head of the servant class, suggest to us what it is, in the opening words of chapter forty-nine of Isaiah which we are considering: "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name: and he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me: and he hath made me a polished shaft; in his quiver
hath he kept me close: and he said unto me, Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified. But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Jehovah, and my recompense with my God."—Isa. 49:1- 4, AS.
13 The Servant indicates that the message which he has about deliverance is to be heard by the isles, coastlands or distant shores
and by peoples far off. It is to be a world-wide message of liberation through him, Jehovah's great Servant. But when Jesus was on earth, he did not go to any isles—the land of Palestine has no islands—and he did not go to distant shores or coastlands or to peoples far away. He confined himself to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" there in the little land of Palestine. And while he was in the flesh with his disciples he instructed them to do the same in their preaching of God's kingdom. (Matt. 10:5,6) So if Jesus did not go to the isles and far-off peoples, how were they to listen to him? By his sending his anointed fellow servants to them. If they were to hear and listen, how could they do so unless his servants went and preached to them and let them hear the voice or message of Jehovah's great Servant? (Rom. 10:14,15) Hence we can see how the servant class under Christ Jesus is necessary to fulfill this prophecy of freedom to the prisoners.
14 The great Servant says Jehovah called him from his mother's womb and named him from the bowels of his mother. This was true in a double sense. When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to be the mother of the Son of God, he told her: "You are to call his name Jesus." When the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream to explain Mary's pregnant condition, he said to him: "She will give birth to a son, and you must call his name 'Jesus'." Why? "For he will save his people from their sins." When the angel announced the child's birth to the shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem, he said to them: "There was born to you today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in David's city." (Luke 1:31; Matt. 1:21; Luke 2:10, 11, NW) But all that was at the time he was conceived in the womb of an earthly mother and was born from her.
15 Thirty years later he was baptized in Jordan's waters to give symbolic testimony to the dedication of himself to do God's will. Then he was brought forth from the womb of God's woman, his heavenly organization, for then the heavenly Father, Jehovah God, begot Jesus by his holy spirit to be his spiritual Son once again. Then as the spirit descended in the outward manifestation of a dove and anointed Jesus to be the Christ, God's voice was heard from heaven saying: "This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved." (Matt. 3:13-17, NW) Thus from the womb of his heavenly mother, God's woman or organization, Jesus was called to be the Christ or Anointed One and he was named to be Jehovah's Savior for mankind.
16 The Servant, and in fact the entire anointed servant class, is produced from
God's woman for a service against God's enemies. This is why God made the Servant's mouth like a sharp sword and made him like a polished shaft or arrow. One of the servant class, the apostle Paul, tells us that we should accept the "sword of the spirit, that is, God's word", and that "the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of the soul and spirit". (Eph. 6:17 and Heb. 4:12, NW) The tongue of the wicked is like a sword of slander, blasphemy and reproach; but the tongue of the Servant and his followers takes up God's Word and so makes use of the "sword of the spirit". It declares the judgment of the great Judge Jehovah against his enemies and exposes the hearts of religious hypocrites. It puts to death false doctrine and human traditions which would make God's Word invalid. This sword of truth is an important part of the full suit of armor which God supplies to his servant class, and the foes of God's people cannot withstand it. As his servants use it he hides them in the shadow of his hand. So although they are out in the open fighting they are still under his protection.
17 From far off Jehovah sends the servant class, like a polished shaft or arrow shot from a bowstring. The Son of God from heaven was in fact the "Word of God", his great Spokesman, so that in him Jehovah's Word went forth. God kept him close or stored him away like an arrow in a quiver, reserving him for use at the due time. In the same way he reserved all the servant class for use at the proper time, at which time he propels them by his spirit against the foes of truth, righteousness and God's kingdom. By the activities of the servant class God's Word is today spread far and wide and his judgments are declared abroad.—Ps. 127:4,5.
18 But how is it that such an honored servant should say: "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and vanity"? Well, the immediate disciples of the great Servant might have said that at the time he died on the torture stake and they were all scattered from him. Even on his resurrection day two of them were heard to remark: "We were hoping that this man was the one destined to deliver Israel." (Luke 24:17-21, NW) They thought Jehovah's Servant had labored in vain and spent his strength all for nothing. Similar grounds for discouragement were laid for the servant class in 1918, at the climax of World War I. Then the visible organization of the servant class of Jehovah was under vicious assault by political, religious and military enemies; their Bible literature was banned; their freedom of action was curtailed in many ways; and many of them were imprisoned, including vital official members of their legal Society. There was division within their ranks due to rebellious and traitorous ones; and great fear and uncertainty distressed them and made them subject to the power of the enemy. Their organization was broken up, just as when the Babylonian hordes destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in 607 B.C. Their fields of activity were desolated like the realm of the kingdom of Judah when King Zedekiah and those of his subjects who survived were carried off exiles to Babylon. Then the appearance of things was as if the servant class had worked and expended their strength in Jehovah's service for nothing.
REMNANT LOOSED FIRST
great Servant of Jehovah came in, to see to it that his servant class on earth, his spiritual Israelites, got justice and were rewarded. The great Servant now tells us that Jehovah formed him from the womb of his "woman", his heavenly organization, for this honorable purpose: "And now saith Jehovah that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered unto him (for I am honorable in the eyes of Jehovah, and my God is become my strength); yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel." Isa. 49:5,6, AS.
19 Here now was where the need of the
20 On the day of his resurrection Jesus began reviving his disciples dismayed and discouraged. On the day of Pentecost he poured out God's spirit upon them and began building them up as a spiritual organization. He made their spiritual state to flourish and blossom as the rose. They had once been captives of Babylon's religious counterpart, namely, apostate Jewish religion, but now they were made free and were restored to Jehovah's theocratic organization for worship and service. To this remnant of Jewish believers who were prisoners of mystic Babylon, Jehovah's great Servant said, "Go forth." They had been sitting in religious darkness, and he said to them: "Show yourselves"; come out into the light. This was a remnant of natural descendants of the faithful patriarch Jacob. So it was made up of members of all the tribes of Israel, Jacob's surname. Hence the glorified Jesus Christ in heaven acted as Jehovah's servant and served in a literal way "to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel".
21 Since A.D. 1918 there has turned up a faithful remnant of spiritual Israelites, for, as the Jewish Christian apostle Paul says, "he is not a Jew that is one on the outside, nor is circumcision that which is on the outside upon the flesh. But he is a Jew that is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit, and not by a written code."—Rom. 2:28, 29, NW.
22 Like the faithful Jewish remnant of nineteen centuries previous, this modern remnant of spiritual Israelites had been bound and made prisoners by mystic Babylon during World War I. They were sitting in darkness of mental gloom, fear and uncertainty as to God's purpose and his will for them. Only Jehovah by his great Servant, the King Jesus Christ, could help them, just as Jehovah's servant of ancient times, King Cyrus of Persia, had helped the imprisoned Israelites in Babylon. Jehovah had formed his great Servant for this very work of liberation. He had given him as a covenant or pledge of the deliverance of His people, and now he used his Servant in this behalf, from 1919 onward. In that year he began leading the remnant of spiritual Israelites out into freedom.
23 Most truly Jehovah had said to Christ Jesus: "Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified." (Isa. 49:3, AS) In olden time Jehovah had chosen Jacob instead of his older twin brother Esau to inherit the Abrahamic promise: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed"; and he had changed Jacob's name to Israel, meaning "ruling with God". And now Jehovah's great Servant was bringing blessing to the remnant of spiritual Israel by releasing them from Babylon's power
and freeing them to be witnesses of Jehovah in all the earth. By this action of his Servant Jehovah was glorified and the honor of his name was upheld. The remnant's freedom served everywhere for his glory, because for their faithfulness they became part of the servant class.
24 With this restoration of her spiritual children taking place after the desolations experienced during World War I, God's woman Zion had no reason to speak any more as Isaiah's prophecy had foretold: "But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me." To which Jehovah replies: "Can a woman forget her sucking child, so as not to have pity upon the son of her womb? Even should these forget, yet I will not forget you. See! I have carved you upon the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Already your builders* make haste, while those who destroyed you and laid you waste go forth from you. Lift up your eyes round about, and see! All of them gather, they come to you." (Isa. 49:14, AS; 49:15-18, AT; Mo) From 1919 on, the remnant of spiritual sons of God's organization Zion took courage and made haste to rebuild the desolated visible organization and to revive the free and fearless worship of Jehovah and to renew the proclamation of his kingdom by Christ Jesus. So they returned to Zion with joy, and Jehovah proved to Zion that he had not forgotten her so as to let her go on lying desolate and torn down. His hands of power, on which her beloved name was printed or carved, became active for re-
21, 22. How has this Servant done similarly to another remnant since 1918?
*The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah (DSIa) in Hebrew, of the second century B.C., reads "builders" instead of "sons"; and so do the Petropolitanus Hebrew Manuscript of A.D. 916 and the Jewish Targum in Chaldee and the Latin Vulgate Version. Besides this, the Greek Septuagint Version expresses the thought of builders here.
How were Jehovah's words true of Christ Jesus: "Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified"?
How did Jehovah answer Zion's plaint of being forsaken, forgotten?
building her and raising up her walls of protection. His great Servant Christ Jesus commanded her spiritual children in Babylon's prison system, "Go forth," and then
led them back to Zion. The darkness of divine disapproval has fled from them, and now they rejoice in the light of his favor and approval.
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
TO THE ends of the earth there exists a vast prison over which Satan's world organization Babylon presides, holding the people in political, social, economic, military and religious bondage. The God of love hears the groaning of the liberty-loving prisoners more clearly than anyone else, and he has raised up his great Servant Christ Jesus and clothed him with kingly power for the very purpose of bringing about their release. Now is the time for him to act, for the hour draws closer for great Babylon to be destroyed at the battle of Armageddon, and all people who stay in bondage to her and share in her sins will be destroyed with her.
2 In 1914 Jehovah God honored his Servant Jesus Christ by installing him as king in Zion. Like the miniature Zion of ancient times, this Zion is Jehovah's organization. However, it is a heavenly one, with a visible part on earth made up of the remnant of his spiritual sons, Israelites inwardly. He cares for this visible organization of spiritual Israel more than any earthly mother cares for her child nursing at her bosom. Hence, when the visible organization appeared desolated beyond repair in 1918 and the power of great Babylon over her seemed unbreakable, Jehovah sent his Servant to the rescue. He broke the enemy's power over them in 1919 and began releasing the imprisoned remnant, that they might resume their worship of him freely and fearlessly. For his name's sake Jehovah was interested in the reorganizing of his people in freedom from Babylon. His purpose was to have them gathered and united in an organization that the enemy could nevermore shatter, that pure worship might continue.
3 Let us be certain about this one thing: Jehovah is not letting his worship be stamped out of the earth by the Devil's world organization Babylon. His worship was here before ever Babylon came along in Nimrod's day, and his pure worship will be here after modern great Babylon goes down. That is just as sure as that the remnant of ancient Israel survived the destruction of ancient Babylon. And just as surely, Jehovah's witnesses will survive and be here after Rome, the city whom its bishop at Vatican City calls "The Eternal City", goes down in eternal destruction, and along with it Moscow and other seats of totalitarian power. All dictators and tyrannical rulers on earth are but men. They will inevitably come to their end in the dust of the earth, and that shortly. But Jehovah's worship on earth will go on forever.
There must be a visible organization to receive all on earth who want to worship Jehovah God in freedom, before the battle of Armageddon. So from and after 1919 he used his great Servant to restore the remnant of spiritual Israel and he reorganized them to act as his witnesses in the momentous postwar period. He cleansed them from the unsightly religious soils that they had gotten while under Babylon's power and influence. Thus he made it a clean organization worthy of receiving those who forsook Babylon in obedience to his command: "Away! away! go out thence; touch nothing unclean! Go out of the midst of her; keep yourselves pure, you who bear the vessels of the LORD [Jehovah]!" And since Jehovah God had taken his great power and was now reigning by his Servant-King Christ Jesus, he led his reorganized people to see that the only organization for them now to have and serve by was the theocratic organization, not democratic organization. Because of their repentance and return to him with faithful hearts, Jehovah made the remnant of spiritual Israelites part of his servant class, under his Chief Servant Christ Jesus. In that way they could serve as the "faithful and discreet slave" whom Jesus had foretold and whom he said he would appoint over all his earthly, visible belongings, the interests of the Kingdom.—Isa. 52:11, AT; Matt. 24:45-47, NW.
But was the gathering of people to the rebuilt theocratic organization to be only of those who composed the remnant of spiritual Israel? Those of the original remnant who survived
the experiences of World War I used to quote Psalm 50:5, "Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice." They used to think that only these saints were to be gathered or harvested before Armageddon, although it was timely for them since 1918 to herald the message, "Millions Now Living Will Never Die." It was even suggested that this harvesting of such spiritual saints might end with the year 1924, after which the heavenly glorification of these anointed, spirit-begotten followers of Christ would take place. (See The Watchtower, January 1, 1924, 11-32.) Nineteen centuries ago the early members of the Jewish remnant were also inclined to think that the gathering of the sheep of the Shepherd Christ Jesus was to be only from the Jewish nation, Samaritans and circumcised proselytes. For three and a half years after Jesus' death, resurrection and ascent to heaven and the Pentecostal outpouring of the holy spirit, they confined their preaching about the Christ to these only and would not step into the home of an uncircumcised Gentile to tell him the good news.
"LIGHT TO THE GENTILES"
6 But the great Servant of Jehovah
knew better than that.
He had even hinted so just before he ascended from his disciples to heaven. (Luke 24:45-49; Acts 1:6-9) Jesus knew that these words in Isaiah's prophecy were written particularly to him: "Yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of Jehovah that is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee." No wonder, then, that at the outset of the chapter he calls upon the isles, coastlands, or distant shores to listen and far-off peoples to hearken to him!—Isa. 49:1, 6, 7, AS.
7 How was it "too light" or too slight a thing for him to raise up only the natural tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved of only natural Israel? Because only a small remnant of some thousands of the circumcised Jews would accept Christ Jesus as Jehovah's Servant for their salvation, and this remnant would not be enough to complete the foreordained 144,-000 members of Christ's body over which Jesus is the Head. (Rev. 7:4-8; 14:1,3) Moreover, Jesus' human sacrifice was not only for the natural Jews but for non-Jews also, men of all kinds. So it was necessary for God to let the message of salvation and the opportunities of sharing with Christ Jesus in the heavenly kingdom go to the Gentiles. Then they might believe and become spiritual Israelites by faith in God and his Christ, and by his begettal of them with his spirit.
But when Jesus was on earth as a man, a Jew, he restricted his preaching to the Jews and Samaritans that these first might have the Kingdom opportunity extended to them. So here again we see the need of the servant class, if Jehovah's Servant is to be a "light to the Gentiles" and His "salvation unto the end of the earth". The Chief Servant would have to use his followers as his ambassadors and send them to the Gentile nations, if light and salvation were to come to such uncircumcised nations. This he began to do when he sent his apostle Peter to the home of the Italian centurion Cornelius at Caesarea to preach the good news about Jehovah and his Christ. There "God for the first time turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name". Then light began breaking on the Gentiles.—Acts 15:14; 10:1-48, NW.
That Isaiah's prophecy here concerning the Servant includes in a secondary way the servant class under their Head Christ Jesus is stated under inspiration. The apostle Paul and his companion Barnabas applied Isaiah's prophecy this way when they quoted it to the unappreciative opposing Jews in their synagogue and said: "It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken first to you. Since you are thrusting it away from you and do not judge yourselves worthy of everlasting life, look! we turn to the nations. In fact, Jehovah has laid commandment upon us in these words, 'I have appointed you as a light of nations, for you to be a salvation to the most distant part of the earth.'" Acts 13:44-47, NW.
10 There is no question about it. This part of Isaiah's prophecy applies also to the remnant of spiritual Israelites since 1919.
But at first they did not realize this fact. As above observed, they thought the gathering of Jehovah's worshipers to his theocratic organization was to be only of themselves, the spiritual class, the saints in the covenant. Down till 1931 efforts were centered principally on gathering the Kingdom heirs to complete the remnant of Christ's body. But all these formed a servant body under Jesus the Head, and the servant class is not for serving itself only but for serving others to whom Jehovah God sends his servant class. So by light upon the Holy Scriptures he duly opened the eyes of the remnant to see that they must serve others besides those of the servant class. There were "other sheep" who were not of the "little flock" of Kingdom heirs and these the Right Shepherd Christ Jesus said he must gather and bring that they might be one flock with the remnant under one Shepherd.—John 10:16.
11 There was a great crowd of these other sheep straying about abused by the false shepherds of the Babylonish religious systems. They were, in fact, prisoners of Babylon and were in the death-dealing religious darkness there. They, too, needed to have Jehovah's great Servant say to them, 'Go forth, show yourselves, come out into freedom and the light of truth and divine favor!' They too must come to Zion and submit to the theocratic organization so as to escape destruction at Armageddon. As the prophet Joel had foretold: "Whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those that escape, as Jehovah hath said, and among the remnant those whom Jehovah doth call."—Joel 2:32, AS; Rom. 10:13.
12 Note now how the Scriptures apply Isaiah's prophecy to make this plain to us. Nineteen centuries ago, compared with the remnant of believing Israelites, all the uncircumcised nations to whom the message was to go were Gentiles naturally. Today, the remnant who compose the "faithful and discreet slave" class are spiritual Israelites. Compared with them, the Shepherd's "other sheep" are Gentiles of all kinds, spiritually speaking. And yet now the good news of God's established kingdom must go to these other sheep to release them from bondage and imprisonment in the Devil's Babylonish world. Says Jehovah to his servant class to which the remnant of today belongs: "That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far [east]: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim [the south-land of Syene, Mo; AT]. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD [Jehovah] hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted."—Isa. 49:9-13.
13 This joyful prophecy extends now to the Shepherd's "other sheep" who must be rescued from Babylon before Armageddon. That fact is revealed to us in the Revelation. John the apostle first describes his vision of the gathering and sealing of the 144,000 members of the twelve tribes of spiritual Israel.
Then he says: "After these things I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues." That makes this a Gentile crowd, when compared with the 144,000 spiritual Israelites. But they are where, and what are they doing? "Standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, and there were palm branches in their hands. And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying: 'Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"
14 Have this "great crowd" come to Zion and submitted to the theocratic rule of Jehovah who is seated on the heavenly throne? They have; for one of the elderly persons identifies the crowd to John and says: "These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation [this locates their coming between 1919 and Armageddon], and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That is why they are before the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple [on Mount Zion], and the one seated on the throne will spread his tent over them." And now the elderly person goes on to quote Isaiah 49:10 and to apply it to the "great crowd" whom he likens to sheep, saying: "They will hunger no more nor thirst any more, neither will the sun beat down upon them nor any scorching heat, because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will guide them to fountains of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes."—Rev. 7:9, 10, 14- 17, NW
NEED FOR MORE TERRITORY
15 The applicableness now of the vision of the "great crowd" to the other sheep from all nations was revealed to the remnant of spiritual Israel in 1935. To illustrate how the droves of "other sheep" have flocked to Zion since then, we can say there were 20,786 active Kingdom publishers reporting in the United States of America that year, to compare with 135,- 356 in April, 1951. To make their coming easy Jehovah has made a way for them over mountainous obstacles and he has raised up highways for them across the deep places. All along the road he has fed them and even on the hills that appeared bare he has found pasture for them, always supplying them with living waters of truth from his Holy Word.
16 From all directions, as foretold by the prophecy, he has brought them to the one flock of his Lamb, the Right Shepherd, from east and west, and from north and south, yes, from the dark continent of Africa as represented by the southland of Sinim or Syenê (modern Aswân, Egypt). Zion, represented on earth by the remnant of spiritual Israelites, is surprised. She cannot account for them, never having expected them this side of Armageddon. "As I live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them, like a bride." (Isa. 49:18, AS) Look at what demonstrations we have of this at the circuit assemblies of Jehovah's witnesses, their district, national and international assemblies! At the international assembly in New York city in 1950 there were 123,-707 with attentive ears at the public meeting Sunday, August 6, to hear the address "Can You Live Forever in Happiness on Earth?"
The nations and their rulers have despised and abhorred the servant class from its Head Jesus Christ down till its remnant now, and no wonder they start up with amazement at the miraculous sight. Much as the kings and princes dislike it, they have to admit that Jehovah, the Holy One of spiritual Israel, has been faithful to the servant class he chose. Isa. 49:7.
17 Logically this has thronged the organization with people, requiring it to be broadened out, and overgrown companies to be split, resulting in the formation of new companies at new places to receive the new incomers and to provide room for still more to enter and so be incorporated in the organization for publishing the message of release from Babylon. "Surely," says Jehovah to Zion, "as for thy wastes and thy desolations, and thy land of ruins surely now shalt thou be too strait for thine inhabitants, and far off shall be they who have been swallowing thee up. The children of whom thou wast bereaved shall yet say in thine ears,—Too strait for me is the place, make room for me that I may settle down. Then shalt thou say in thy heart,—Who hath borne me these, seeing I have been bereaved and unfruitful, a captive and banished? These therefore, who hath brought them up? Lo! I was left alone, these where were they?" How pathetic this exclamation of motherly surprise of Zion at having this numberless multitude of children and their loyal companions from all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues! (Isa. 49:19-21, Ro) But how does Jehovah accomplish this?
18 Listen: "Thus says the Lord God [Jehovah]: 'Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and to the peoples will I raise my signal; and they shall bring your
sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. And kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing-mothers; with their faces to the earth shall they bow down to you, and shall lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the LORD [Jehovah], in whom none that trust shall be put to shame.'" (Isa. 49:22, 23, AT; Mo) This proves that this prophecy of the release of the bound ones to the ends of the earth must be fulfilled now before the battle of Armageddon while there are nontheocratic nations, peoples, kings and queens.
19 Even while the demons of Satan's invisible organization are hurrying the nations and their rulers to the battlefield of Armageddon, these earthly systems and rulers are unable to hold their own people of good will under them when they hear the liberation call of Jehovah's great Servant, Come forth! Show yourselves! Emerge into freedom and into light! Despite their mobilizing of the peoples by dictatorial measures, they are obliged to yield these "other sheep" over to the theocratic organization of Zion. Like foster fathers and nursing mothers they have just been governing these persons of good will so as to have them ready in due time for delivery to Jehovah's organization. They are obliged to bow and to admit the defeat of their wicked endeavors to prevent all this gathering to the Signal which Jehovah has raised on high.
20 That Signal is his King Jesus Christ, his great Servant of liberation, whom he raised to the throne in 1914 to rule in the midst of his enemies. (Isa. 11:10-12; Rev. 12:5; Ps. 110:1, 2) One of the ways by which he manifests he is ruling in the midst of his enemies is by releasing the prisoners whom they hold bound within their systems of control and leading them like a Shepherd to Zion to worship Jehovah God at his temple there.
In this way Zion expands her territory even in lands which are under dictatorial and totalitarian rule; and Christ Jesus the King thus shows that all of earth's rulers, the mighty and the weak, are under his feet like a footstool. By his causing Zion to overflow with children, she, and specially her remnant on earth, is given evidence showing that Jehovah is God and that those who wait for him to act in his appointed time will not be put to shame by being disappointed.
21 Are you a member of the servant class, or are you one of the "other sheep" co-operating with the servant class? Then be strong in confidence in God's Word and move forward to the work he has laid upon his servant to do at this time. Jehovah God Almighty is with his great Servant in releasing the bound ones who yet remain to be loosed, and the work of release now under way will keep on to the very ends of the earth until the last of them is freed and engages in Jehovah's worship and service at his temple on Zion.
22 Do not think it impossible to get any more out, especially from under totalitarian rule. "Can prey be taken from a warrior, or a tyrant's* captives be rescued? But thus says the LORD [Jehovah]: 'Even should a warrior's captives be taken, and a tyrant's prey be rescued, your opponents
will I oppose, and your children will I save. I will cause your oppressors to eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with new wine; then all flesh shall know that I the LORD [Jehovah] am your savior, and that I the Mighty One of Jacob am your redeemer.'"—Isa. 49:24- 26, AT; Mo; Maredsous.
23 Let no one say, then, "It cannot be done! It cannot go on!" This militarized world, with its conscription and universal military training laws, cannot prevent Jehovah's Servant's work of releasing the prisoners. Neither can the oppressive totalitarian dictators do so, either behind or outside the "iron curtain". The rescue of those upon whom they prey and whom they have held captive takes place under their very noses, whether by underground or by aboveground methods. The public services which all these rulers render the people, and for which we justly "pay back Caesar's things to Caesar", these things the servant class uses to carry on Jehovah's work, gathering his "other sheep" now to the side of his theocratic government. More room is needed for Zion's children, and this is being acquired. But not by military aggression and unjust encroachment, invading and grabbing other people's lands by force and violence. No; but by peaceful expansion, with the good news of peace. Thus those who feel there is not enough room for them go out as home missionaries and as foreign missionaries to other territories and to other lands and establish settlements of Jehovah's worship there. So the work of release spreads to the ends of the earth.
24 Those who oppose us Jehovah God has promised to oppose. That means he is on our side and backs us up.
At the battle of Armageddon he will confuse our oppressors and opposers. He will maneuver them into fighting one against another and thus destroying one another. So it will come about that they will eat the flesh of one another and drink the blood of one another, and it will not be by any medical blood transfusion either in an attempt to save their lives. The final conclusion will be that all flesh—our enemies while yet alive in the flesh, and we, also will be made to see that Jehovah is the only Savior of his people, those who come to Zion. If we cleave to him and serve with his great Servant Christ Jesus, we are bound to get full deliverance at last. No devilish power can prevent it before we have had the privilege of helping release the others.
25 What an honor to free Jehovah's people from prison! At the climax of World War II the Allies' troops may have felt privileged and greatly honored to release victims from Nazi concentration camps and prisons. But now how much grander a privilege and honor it is to release victims from Babylon's prison house, and do this by peaceful means through the Kingdom, and all this that they may adore and serve Jehovah God at Mount Zion! Consequently, in deep appreciation and with courageous confidence in Almighty God, let the servant class and their loyal companions move ahead in the work of release to the very ends of the earth. The ultimate triumph of Zion over all enemies and opposers is absolutely assured, together with a righteous new world of endless freedom.
So what high honor is ours now, and to what extent should we take part in it?
Priestcraft Surrenders to Truth in the Near East
THOUGH the Near East was the first area blessed with the message of true Christianity, it languishes today in bondage to priestcraft. But the liberating power of the truth cuts through even the tightest bonds. More than a year ago, a full-time preacher of Jehovah's kingdom visited a monastery on a slope between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. While there, this pioneer had opportunity to witness concerning the Kingdom to a monk who was in the act of bowing before images. A year later the witness met the same monk in Bethlehem. The monk told the pioneer that shortly after their first meeting he had refused to obey his chief or pray to images, and had demanded a Bible. He added: "I believed your words because you showed it to me from the Bible. . . so I fled with the idea of finding you." He is now overjoyed to be associating with the brothers, and is learning the ways of true Christianity as quickly as possible.
Another of Jehovah's witnesses encountered a Syrian priest and some of his following. The people prompted the two to discuss their beliefs, in the hope of proving the brother false. Following a short discussion, the priest asked the people to let him be alone with the witness. He then confided in the brother, saying: "You are right in your beliefs. Hold fast to what you have been taught, for we are wrong. Of course, I cannot tell this frankly to the blind people, lest they stone me." A few days later this same priest scolded a group of worshipers in the Syrian church who crowded up to kiss an image, and gave them a lengthy talk on the wickedness of image worship. For this he was denied his salary. Still later he was asked to express himself on the subject in the presence of a group of fanatic false religionists. To the chagrin of his listeners he described the false, general practice of Christianity as a heathen religion, far from true Christianity, and that its fall draws near.
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