The Watchtower, May 1, 1952
Download: PDF — The Watchtower, May 1, 1952
"YOU ARE MY WITNESSES," SAYS JEHOVAH.—Isa. 43:12
The WATCHTOWER
Announcing
JEHOVAH'S
KINGDOM
MAY 1, 1952
Semimonthly
1914 A MARKED YEAR!
DETERMINING THE YEAR
BY FACT AND BIBLE
EVIDENCES OF THE YEAR'S
CORRECTNESS
THE QURAN—
HARMONIOUS WITH ITSELF?
GOD'S WAY OF FINANCING HIS WORK
©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
CONTENTS
Healing for Life in the New World 259
1914 a Marked Year! 260
Determining the Year by Fact and Bible 265
Evidences of the Year's Correctness 272
The Quran—Harmonious with Itself? 277
God's Way of Financing His Work 281
Istanbul 284
Questions from Readers 286
Announcements 288
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 Trans. (2nd Ed.)
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
Afrikaans
Italian
Arabic
Portuguese
Cebu-Visayan
Japanese
Cibemba
Russian
Danish
Norwegian
Cinyanja
Siamese
English
Pangasinan
Cishona
Silozi
Finnish
Slovenian
Greek
Slovak
French
Spanish
Ibo
Twl
German
Swedish
Kanarese
Ukrainian
Hiligaynon-Visayan
Tagalog
Malayalam
Yoruba
Hollandish
Zulu
Polish
Docano
Watch Tower Society offices Yearly subscription rate
America, U.S., 117 Adams St., Brooklyn 1, N.Y. $1
Australia, 11 Beresford Rd., Strathfield, N.S.W. 8s
British West Indies, 21 Taylor St., Port of Spain, Trinidad$ 1.72
Canada, 40 Irwin Ave., Toronto 5, Ontario $1
England, 34 Craven Terrace, London, W. 2 7s
Jamaica, 151 King St., Kingston 7s
New Zealand, G.P.O. Box 30, Wellington, C. 1 7s
South Africa, Private Bag, P.O. Elandsfontein, Transvaal 7s
Remittances should be sent to office in your country in compliance with regulations to guarantee safe delivery of money. Remittances are accepted at Brooklyn from countries where no office is located, by international money order only. Subscription rates in different countries are here stated in local currency. Notice of expiration (with renewal blank) is sent at least two issues before subscription expires. Change of address when sent to our office may be expected effective within one month. Send your old as well as new address.
Entered as second-class matter at Brooklyn, N. Y., Act of March 3, 1879. Printed in U. S. A.
HEALING FOR LIFE IN THE NEW WORLD
TODAY people who are fascinated by the thought of divine healing with miracles overlook some important facts regarding it;* such as that in times past, at the very best, divine physical healing was but of temporary value; death sooner or later claimed those who had benefited from it. Also that Christians themselves did not use divine power for their own benefit but continued to suffer the ailments common to man.-Matt. 4:2-4;1 Tim. 5:23;2 Tim. 4:20.
They also fail to note the fact that today on the one hand non-Christians may experience as seemingly remarkable cures as do those professing to be Christians, while on the other hand the normal causes of sickness, disease and accidents, such as heredity, circumstances and carelessness, operate the same for Christians as for non-Christians. Nor is there any reason for blaming the Devil for disease and accidents that befall a Christian as though he were another Job. Job's was a special prophetic case, and was recorded under inspiration for the benefit of others.
The outstanding miracle of divine healing of recent times God worked upon the remnant of his faithful witnesses who make up his visible theocratic organization. Particularly between 1914 and 1919, they were in a spiritually diseased and afflicted condition. They prayed to God for
healing and he brought them spiritual healing and forgave them their iniquities. Ps.107:17-20;147:1-3;Jer.17:14-16,AS.
After healing those whose hopes for everlasting life were of a heavenly kind God expanded his modern spiritual health program to include men of good will, a "great crowd" of "other sheep", to whom the hope of everlasting life on earth is extended. The spiritual healing that these are receiving is far superior to any temporary physical healing. These are getting their eyes of understanding opened so as to see the Light of life. They are getting their ears opened so that they can hear with appreciation God's Word and heed its counsel. They are getting their spiritual vocal powers restored so that they can sing Jehovah's fame, preach his Word and witness to his kingdom. They are receiving strength of spiritual limbs so that they can walk unfalteringly in the path of God's righteousness through Christ Jesus.—Isaiah chapter 35.
Only those being spiritually healed now can hope to survive God's vengeance coming upon diseased Christendom at Armageddon and enter the new world of righteousness and life. (Isa. 1:4-6, 18-20) How important, therefore, that we both partake of the 'leaves of the trees that are for the curing of the nations' and of "life's water" ourselves as well as urge these same prescriptions for spiritual divine healing upon others!—Zeph. 2:1-3; Rev. 22:1-3, 17, NW.
For a complete discussion of this subject see The Watchtower, May 1 and 15, 1951.
1914 A Marked Year!
"Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled."—Luke 21:24, NW.
END of all kingdoms in 1914!" Such was the arresting headline of an article published on Jehovah's witnesses in a secular magazine called the "New World Magazine" in its issue of August 30, 1914. An extract of the article continues. "The terrific war outbreak in Europe has fulfilled an extraordinary prophecy. For a quarter of a century past, through preachers and through press, the International Bible Students, best known as Millennial Dawners, have been proclaiming to the world that the day of wrath prophesied in the Bible would dawn in 1914. 'Look out for 1914' has been the cry of the hundreds of traveling evangelists who, representing this strange creed, have gone up and down the country enunciating the doctrine that the 'Kingdom of God is at hand'. Although millions of people must have listened to these evangelists; although one of their books, The Time Is at Hand, has had a circulation of more than four million copies, and although religious publications and the secular press service involving hundreds of country newspapers, as well as through lectures, debates, study classes, and even moving pictures, the average man does not know that such a movement as the 'Millennial Dawn' exists."
2 This startling proclamation of global
importance was actually begun to be published by Jehovah's witnesses some 37 years before the marked year of 1914. It was in 1877 that Charles T. Russell, the first president of the Watchtower Society of Jehovah's witnesses, as a coauthor of the book The Three Worlds, explained in this book the Bible chronology of this date. "The seventy years' captivity ended in the first year of Cyrus, which was B.C. 536. They therefore commenced seventy years before, or B.C. 606. Hence, it was in B.C. 606, that God's kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to the Gentiles. 2,520 years from B.C. 606 will end in 1914. . . 'Jerusalem must be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,' (Luke 21:24) hence, trodden down until A.D. 1914 when the resurrection and return of the 'whole house of Israel' is due."—Pp. 83, 165.
3 The Watchtower magazine itself as far back as 1880 showed the importance of this year of destined change in earthly control. "It has often been shown that this is the basis and key of the Times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24), or the duration of Gentile rule over Jerusalem. A time is a year; a prophetic year is 360 common years. . . seven times are 2,520 years. From B.C. 606, where the desolation of Jerusalem began, 2,520 years reach to A.D. 1914." "The Times of the Gentiles' extend to
To what extent does it appear that Jehovah's witnesses gave advance publicity to the year 1914?
3. How was the chronology figured to ascertain 1914, as published in The Three Worlds and The Watchtower of 1880?
1914, and the heavenly kingdom will not have full sway till then."—Zion's Watch Tower, June, 1880, and March, 1880.
4 Not only before 1914 but also since then Jehovah's witnesses have repeatedly gone on record as to the significance of this important date. At their Philadelphia convention November 22, 1947, Jehovah's witnesses to the number of 20,649 unanimously passed a resolution, a portion of which says: "... world events from and after 1914, beginning with the first World War, fulfill the prophecies concerning the end of this world and thereby disclose themselves as the visible sign of the establishment of Jehovah's kingdom by his Christ in that notable year; ... we have gathered unitedly, regardless of race, nationality, language, color, or previous religious affiliation, to Jehovah's enthroned King of the new world, Christ Jesus, who now stands on Mount Zion as a Signal to the peoples." All this means that divine sovereignty as it was once exercised by God over the earth was due to be restored in fact in the year 1914. As foretold, momentous events did happen at that time and things continue to occur which greatly affect the destiny of all kinds of men on earth today. What, then, is divine sovereignty, and why has it come to be a universal issue? Why has there been a lapse of nearly sixty centuries in its exercise over the entire earth? What evidences are there that God has resumed his sovereignty over the earth, and what does this augur for mankind?
5 Jehovah God is the absolute sovereign of the universe. This is the greatest fact. It is a basic principle of truth. In the heavens God has exercised his right of sovereignty from the very beginning. Sovereignty is defined as the supreme, absolute,
uncontrollable power by which any society of creatures is governed.* Sovereignty is the source of any power to establish and define government. It is the sovereign power that determines the kind of government that shall rule over a group of creatures. Therefore the government of any group of creatures is the outward visible expression of the sovereign power behind it. †
6 Jehovah God by virtue of his being the creator is in such a pre-eminent, almighty position that he can legally and in fact determine the kind of government which shall rule his obedient creatures. (Ex. 6:3; Amos 4:12,13,LXX) The kind of government which Jehovah as sovereign authorized untold ages ago for the universe was a theocratic government. It is this very same kind of government that will bind the universe into one realm of peace and security for the future. Theocracy is a government under the immediate direction and administration of the Most High God. Thus, as a reigning sovereign, God has participated directly through appointed agents in the administration of his governments.
EARTH'S SOVEREIGNTY DISPUTED
Man's rebellion in Eden terminated for a time the apparent exercise of divine sovereignty over the entire earth and all its inhabitants. Then an assumed sovereignty appeared to be discharged by a spirit creature who formerly was a trusted officer in God's universal governmental organization, which government is pictured in the Bible by a hill or a mountain. (Isa. 2:2,3) Upon this hill or mountain of God are found the high-ranking spirit creatures known as
Since 1914 what have Jehovah's witnesses claimed occurred in 1914? What questions arise?
Cyclopedia of Law and Procedure, vol. 36, p. 516; also Cooley, Constitutional Limitations [quoted in People v. Pierce, 18 Misc. (N.Y.) 83, 86, 41 N.Y. Suppl. 858].
5, 6. What is sovereignty? Who is the Universal Sovereign, and how so? What kind of government does he authorize?
† Elements of International Law, by George B. Davls p.32.
7,8. What happened to the government originally authorized in Eden? Describe the office of the first invisible ruler of perfect man.
cherubim. These cherubim surround the throne of Jehovah and are supposed to be upholders of his universal sovereignty. (Ps. 80:1, AS) One of these cherubs was given the legal right to exercise governmental protectorship over the first perfect man and woman in Eden and the race which would spring from them. He was set by Jehovah God in his delegated guardianship over mankind. (Ezek.28:14) The Bible gives a description of this first theocratic ruler over perfect mankind who later rebelled, and it describes him under the typical figure of the "king of Tyre".
"Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou sealeest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, . . . Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee. By the abundance of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned."—Ezek. 28:12-16, AS.
The Bible account of the rebellion in Eden is familiar to most persons and need not be dealt with at length here. (Gen. 3:1-8) Immediately after the overt act in defiance of Jehovah's sovereign will had been committed, Jehovah, the Supreme Judge, held court. The God Sovereign disempowered this first government ruler over man and justly sentenced to eventual annihilation this unfaithful cherub who in the guise of a serpent had carried out a hitherto unheard-of treason against the Universal Sovereign Power. By his dastardly act he had now raised an issue as
to God's supremacy which Jehovah at once accepted and was bound to vindicate. Jehovah even uttered his first recorded prophecy where, in veiled language, he foretells the empowering of a new ruler, a seed-king and vindicator. (Gen. 3:14,15) God's determination to settle this great issue in his way was indicated years later in the contest that developed between Jehovah and the Pharaoh of Egypt.-Ex. 9:16, AT; Rom. 9:17,NW.
10 Forthwith on this first judgment day the legal right of government guardianship was stripped from this guilty rebel opposer, who now became known as Satan the Devil. This one no longer was the representative of Jehovah God. His dismissal constituted furthermore a legal divorce from God's mountainlike organization.* Do we have a record of this summary dismissal? Yes, the Bible by divine revelation gives us a record of God's bill of divorcement. The divorcement decree clearly indicates that a reconciliation between the rebel Satan and the Universal Sovereign whom he flouted is utterly impossible. Let the revelation speak for itself.
11 "Hence I have expelled you as a profane thing from the hill of God, . . . Your beauty made you proud of heart, your brilliance depraved your wisdom; so I have cast you down, abandoning you for kings to feast their eyes on you. By the greatness of your guilt, by the crimes of your commerce, you have profaned your sacred position; therefore have I made you set fire to yourself, with flames that consume you, and reduced you to ashes on earth in the sight of all who behold you. All who know you among the nations shall be appalled at you—your fate is awful, there is no future for you."—Ezek. 28:16-19, Mo.
What issue was raised by the rebellion? What immediate steps did Jehovah take in the matter?
Incidentally, the law of Moses shows that God views divorce as irrevocable, that is, a divorce decree can never be repealed.—Deut. 24:1-4.
11. Describe the divorcement of Satan from God's organization.
12 While at Eden time Satan was disempowered and legally divorced forever from God's theocratic governmental organization, this did not mean that he was banished from being present upon the earth where he could influence the development of civilization toward his own selfish ends or from his associating with angels in heaven. "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Eternal [Jehovah, AS], and among them the Adversary [Satan, AS]. 'Where have you been?' said the Eternal to the Adversary; and the Adversary answered, 'Roaming here and there, roving about the earth.' Then the Eternal said to the Adversary, 'Have you noticed that there is no one like my servant [Job] on earth, a blameless and an upright man, who reverences God and shuns evil?' The Adversary answered, 'But is it for nothing that [Job] reverences God? Have you not hedged him safely in, his house and all he has? You have prospered him in his business, and his flocks are teeming on the land. Only put out your hand, touch whatever he possesses, and see if he will not curse you to your face!' Then said the Eternal to the Adversary, 'There! I leave all he has within your power; but lay no hand upon the man himself.' So away went the Adversary from the presence of the Eternal."—Job 1:6-12, Mo.
13 The above colloquy or conversation between the Universal Sovereign Jehovah and the expelled, sham sovereign Satan recorded in the fifteenth century B.C., or some 2,500 years after the rebellion in Eden, reveals several interesting matters. First, by Satan's "roaming here and there, roving about the earth" is indicated that he had earthly interests with fallen mankind which required his supervision as an
invisible self-constituted overlord. Having made himself independent by what he thought a successful break from theocratic government, from then forward Satan as a mimic sovereign sought to empower many different kinds of governments of his own design over fallen mankind. From his first attempt in establishing a kingdom government at Babylon in Nimrod's time to the present all the many nontheocratic governments have been of his invention and authorization.—Gen. 10:8-10.
WHERE THE NATIONS GET SOVEREIGNTY
14 The facts show that among all the numerous experiments in organizing earthly governments ancient and modern, all the way from absolute monarchies on the right to Communist regimes on the extreme left, each has a record of being harsh, without vision, corrupt, graft-laden, oppressive, beastly, persecuting true worshipers of God, breaking the everlasting covenant as to the sanctity of life and provoking bloody wars. (Gen. 9:4-6, 16) Each has had its heyday and then ended in violence. The sovereign power authorizing such miserable failures as governments could not have been the true Universal Sovereign. Rather, the evidence is overwhelming that it has been Satan, the Dragon, who has attempted to give sovereign power and authority to these ungodly governments. (Rev. 13:2 and Eph. 6:12, NW) Actually, from the fall of Adam and Eve to the present, all of unfaithful human society has come under the control of this false cunning overlord who has made himself the "god of this system of things". (2 Cor. 4:4, NW) Absolutely no hope of everlasting life and permanent security lies with the present old world society and its governments, because their foundations are not rooted with God but stand divorced along with Satan since Adam's day.—Gen. 3:16-19.
Give evidence as to the scope of activity open to Satan after his divorcement.
13, 14. (a) What does the statement "Roaming here and there, roving about the earth" indicate? (b) What does the record of man's governments show?
15 The above-referred-to conversation in heaven as to Job makes another enlightening disclosure. It is gleaned from Satan's complaint, "Have you not hedged him safely in?" This seems to indicate that right from the rebellion Jehovah took independent action as to any interests he had in the earth regardless of Satan, and that he exercised overriding superior authority whenever it pleased him. The facts recorded in the Scriptures support this conclusion. Jehovah took immediate control of the garden of Eden and placed its care in the hands of other mighty cherubs who were loyal to him. (Gen. 3:24) To any of mankind who rendered true worship to him God now arranged to give them special guardianship, not through a theocratic government as he originally had purposed for Adam's offspring, but by direct angelic protection.
16 We know that Jehovah dealt directly with Abel, Enoch and Noah, giving them revelations of his will. They thus had God's recognition. (Gen. 4:4; 6:8; Jude 14) God gave his recognition to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who lived apart from the governments of Satan's world and who had a guardian angel to guide them in Palestine. (Gen. 22:15; 24:7; 31:11; 48:16) The angel of Jehovah spoke to Moses in the fiery flame of a thornbush. (Acts 7:30, 35, NW) As the hosts of Israel moved out of Egypt in 1513 B.C. the angel of Jehovah moved from in front of the Israelites to their rear, to act as a rearguard to keep the Egyptian army from overtaking them and slaughtering them. (Ex. 14:19) After the days of Israel's typical theocracy when God's people were captive in Babylon, Michael, the guardian angel prince of Israel, was on the job safeguarding Jehovah's interests in the earth. This guardian angel of Israel was doubtless Jesus Christ
in his prehuman existence.—Dan. 10:13, 21; Rev. 12:7.
Just as Satan wielded no theocratic, sovereign-granted power over God's true worshipers prior to Jesus' time, so in the days of Jesus and the early Christians Jehovah has had caretaker angels to protect his people "from the authority of the darkness". Referring to Satan, Jesus said, "He has no hold on me." (Col. 1:13 and John 14:30, NW) Then there is Peter's case when he was delivered out of Herod's murderous hands by Jehovah's angel. (Acts 12:6-11, NW) Paul says with respect to protecting angels: "Are they not all spirits [angels] for public service, sent forth to minister for those who are going to inherit salvation?" (Heb. 1:14, NW) Thus in spite of Satan's ironlike governments and their strong powers of persecution Jehovah's people in all ages have stood apart and survived. It is only those who have shown a lack of faith and who compromised that would take themselves out from under God's special care. Even today all those who form the nucleus of the new world society, both the anointed remnant and those of the "other sheep", have in fact come out from Babylonish bondage and have escaped the clutches of Satan. (Rev. 18:4; 2 Cor. 6:15) While Satan has all along sought to make good his side of the issue on sovereignty by forcing all men under his false sovereign control, the following scripture has proved to be true: "The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Ps. 34:7, AS.
18 There is a final matter to amusingly note from Satan's brazen conversation with Jehovah as to Job. Satan was not the allpowerful sovereign that he originally thought he was going to be. The fact that
15, 16. (a) What disclosure is made by the words "Have you not hedged him safely in"? (b) What recognition did God give his true worshipers on earth?
What provision has been made for the divine care of true Christians? Give proof.
To what extent has Satan tried to mimic Jehovah's sovereignty, and how great a one has he become?
God calls him to question by saying, "Where have you been?" indicates that Jehovah had the upper hand. Satan in fear was being put on the spot, so to speak. The further fact that Satan complains of the "hedge" put around Job indicates that he was nettled at Jehovah's displays of superior power not only in defense of his true worshipers on earth, but also on special occasions, such as, for example, at the Flood, where with no difficulty God washed away Satan's angelized earthly civilization; at Babel, where God confused the speech of Satan's first earthly kingdom; and in Egypt, where Jehovah brought the first world power to its knees to deliver the Israelites with a high hand. (Gen. 7:21-24; 11:7-9; Ex. 14:8) Finally Jehovah placed a limitation as to how far Satan could go in his testing of Job's integrity. (Job 1:12)
Notice, too, that Satan displayed due respect for Jehovah's power by complying with that order. He was taking no chances in needlessly arousing Jehovah's far superior forces. All this was reducing the sham sovereign to a helpless inferior and demonstrated that his control on earth was not all-embracing. In fact, he merely controlled those parts where he had blinded the inhabitants with his false religions and had kept them in line by means of his various makeshift governments. Never has he enjoyed undisputed control and power over all mankind, because at all times there have been those who have clung to the true worship of Jehovah God and who have looked forward to a restoration of a divine, sovereign-empowered government over all the earth.—Heb. 11:10.
DETERMINING THE YEAR by Fact and Bible
AS WE have seen, for about 2,500 years from Abel to Moses Jehovah had provided angelic protection for his individual true worshipers. Now the time came for him to demonstrate on a small scale what he had in mind eventually to provide for earth's inhabitants on a global scale, namely, the restoration of His rightful sovereign control by means of a loyal theocratic government. In the development of the issue for earth-wide domination God marked out a sample territory in Palestine with four boundaries and which became called the "Land of Promise". (Heb.10:1;
Gen. 15:18-21; Ex. 23:31; Deut. 34:1-4; Heb. 11:9) As a redeemer in 1513 B.C. Jehovah purchased Israel as his people, delivered them out of Egypt and organized them under a typical theocratic government which he empowered from his sovereignty, and he also became their invisible ruler. (Ex. 6:6; 19:6; Deut. 33:2-5; Isa. 33:22) He brought his people into the Promised Land to possess it in the year 1473 B.C. After six years they had largely expelled and subdued the former inhabitants who had had no legal right to the land, being merely squatters. In this way Jehovah's sovereign control legally and in fact was established over this territory of contest.
2 For a period of 866 years the same form of theocratic government under the one constitution of the Law covenant exercised national sovereignty in the Promised Land. This was longer by many years than most original governments that had existed on this earth as empowered by Satan. Because of the unfaithfulness of Judah's anointed kings as in the case of the anointed cherub in Eden, Jehovah eventually disempowered this typical theocratic government and ended his sovereign control for a time in Palestine. He stripped the last wicked king of Judah, Zedekiah by name, of his ruling powers in 607 B.C. and sent him away captive to Babylon in the hands of his Gentile conqueror Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.—2 Ki. 25:1-7.
Of this termination of typical kingdom government in 607 B.C. the Bible records: "And you, you knave, O prince of Israel to be slain, for whom the hour of sin's full punishment brings doom—'Off with his diadem, away with his crown!" says the Lord the Eternal [Jehovah, AS]; 'turn things upside down, up with the low, down with the high! I lay all in ruins, ruins, ruins; everything shall be overturned, till the rightful man arrives—and I will give him everything.'" (Ezek. 21:25-27, Mo) Observe that this pronouncement shows the legal right of the crown is to lapse for a long time "till the rightful man arrives". When that "son of man" arrives it implies there will be a restoration of divine, sovereign-empowered government, but this time over the entire earth, as it says, "I will give him everything."
empower kingdoms over the earth and the universe. Significantly God illustrated this matter to the prophet Jeremiah shortly before the divine sovereignty was withdrawn from empowering the last reigning king of the Davidic line, Zedekiah. Note what Jehovah the Sovereign, likened to a potter, says of his building up and breaking down of claylike governments:
4 For the benefit of his faithful, loyal subjects on earth Jehovah God gave an illustration of his legal pre-eminent position as the Sovereign who can rightfully
"Go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear what I have to say.' So I went down to the potter's house. He was at work with his wheel; and whenever any vessel he was making got spoiled in his hands, he re-moulded it to please himself, till he was satisfied. Then the Eternal's word came to me, 'O house of Israel, cannot I do to you as this potter does? Why, as the clay in the potter's hands, so you are in my hands. At one time I may speak of tearing up a nation or kingdom, breaking it down and destroying it; but if that nation turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the evil that I thought of inflicting upon it. Again, I may speak of building up a nation or kingdom, of planting it; but if that nation does evil in my sight by refusing to listen to my voice, then I will change my mind about the benefits which I meant to bestow upon it. So give the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this message from the Eternal [Jehovah, AS]: "I am shaping a calamity for you and devising a plan against you; ah, turn every one of you from your evil courses, amend your life and work!" They will say, "It is no use to talk; we mean to live as we choose, and follow, every man of us, our own evil, stubborn minds."'—Jer. 18:2-12, Mo.
And so it was that most of the people of Israel and Judah as well as their kings finally repudiated their great "potter" Sovereign, Jehovah. Instead they chose to go
What pronouncement did God make as to the termination of this typical government?
4, 5. (a) How did Jehovah illustrate his position as a sovereign? (b) To what extent were the peoples of Israel and Judah recognizing Jehovah's sovereignty?
What was Jehovah's judgment for their repudiating his sovereignty?
their own rebellious ways even as their Gentile neighbor nations of Satan's world had been doing for centuries. For this reason Jehovah decreed that the Jews represented by their capital city Jerusalem would be dominated by Gentile nations and ruled over by their Satan-empowered governments from 607 B.C. forward. Jesus, the greatest prophet, referred to this domination and its continuing long after his earthly ministry, when he said: "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled." (Luke 21:24, NW) How long were these "appointed times of the nations" which Jesus spoke of? Jehovah the revealer of secrets makes known these "times" in his own way and time.
"APPOINTED TIMES OF THE NATIONS"
7 Fully 150 years before Jerusalem lost its national sovereignty to the Gentile nation of Babylon, Isaiah prophesied a taunt song. It was against the king of Babylon who was described as a 'hewer down of fir-trees', meaning a killer of God's true worshipers, pictured as "trees of righteousness". The king of Babylon, Isaiah foretold, would exalt his throne above the stars or princes of God's typical theocracy and would overthrow this sovereign government by completely subjugating it. He having gained this ascendancy as a world ruler, God's judgment would come and the king of Babylon too would be cut down like a tree and all men would see his humiliation. (See Isaiah 14:4,8,12-16; 61:3.) All this came to pass upon the ruling dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar, the conquering king of Babylon. He in turn symbolized the greater king of Babylon, Satan the Devil, who eventually will be totally defeated and cut down to annihilation.
8 A brief historical setting of the physical facts in fulfillment of Isaiah 14 is as follows. As has been said, domination of the Promised Land marked out by Jehovah in Abraham's time was the point of contest. Egypt, reckoned as being the first world power because it dominated Palestine after Abraham's time, lost its control of the Promised Land when the Israelites possessed it from 1473 B.C. onward. Centuries later Assyria became the second world power when it subjugated the northern kingdom of Israel in 740 B.C. (2 Ki. 17:6) In 632 B.C. Nineveh, the capital city of this second world power Assyria, fell to a coalition of Gentile powers, the Chaldeans (Babylonians), the Scythians and the Medes. (Nah. 3:7) The question now was, Which nation would fill the vacuum left by the fall of Assyria and thus become the third world power? Both Egypt, under its king, Necho, and Babylonia, led by its young commander-in-chief, Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon, made a bid for this position. They settled the question at the great ancient battle of Carchemish by the river Euphrates in 625 B.C. with Babylon defeating Egypt. (2 Chron. 35:20) After his victory and in this same year, 625 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar, upon the death of his father, ascended the throne of Babylon.
9 Five years later Nebuchadnezzar sought to assert his newly won mastery over the Near East by making tributary one of the last of the independent kingdoms, the kingdom of Judah with its king, Jehoiakim, which he did by coming against Jerusalem in 620 B.C. (2 Ki. 24:1, 7; 2 Chron. 36:5, 6) In 618 B.C. Jehoiakim died in an attempt to throw off the Babylonian suze-
What does Isaiah prophesy in his 14th chapter as to the king of Babylon?
How was it that Egypt and Assyria became the first and second world powers respectively? How was it determined which nation was to succeed Assyria as a world power?
Describe Nebuchadnezzar's attempts to assert his mastery over the kingdom of Judah, and the final result.
rainty. For this reason Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem for the second time (in 618 B.C.) and forced it to terms by taking Jehoiachin, the successor of Jehoiakim, captive to Babylon together with many of Judah's princes and other outstanding men including Daniel. (2 Ki. 24:1, 8-16; Dan. 1:1-6) Nebuchadnezzar gave Jerusalem another chance as a subsidiary sovereign state by allowing Zedekiah, the brother of Jehoiakim, to be anointed king of Judah in 617 B.C. (2 Ki. 24:17, 18) Zedekiah, like his brother, attempted to throw off the Babylonian yoke by rebelling. But this forced Nebuchadnezzar in his anger to come against Jerusalem for a third time, but this time to utterly destroy it. Nebuchadnezzar began his third siege of Jerusalem on the tenth day of the tenth month, Tebeth, in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, or on January 18-19, 608 B.C. (that is, after 6 p.m. January 18), according to our present Gregorian calendar system.* (2 Ki. 25:1) By July 2-3, 607 B.C., the famine due to the siege was exceeding great, the enemy had made a breach in Jerusalem's wall fortifications and King Zedekiah fled the city on this day to Jericho, where he was later captured for deportation.—2 Ki. 25:2-7.
10 The Chaldean (Babylonian) soldiers, having entered Jerusalem, began to burn the "house of Jehovah", the "king's house" and all the great houses of the city on Ab 7, July 30-31, 607 B.C. (2 Ki. 25:8,9) By Ab 10, August 2-3, 607 B.C., three days later, they had completely destroyed the temple, the royal palace and the walls of
the city. (Jer. 52:12-14) At this point it should be remembered that Jehovah made his sovereign will known through his priesthood at the temple, and the king's palace was the center from which the administration of the nation as delegated by God to the king emanated. (2 Ki. 22:12, 13) Thus these centers of divine, sovereignempowered administration ceased with the overthrow of Jerusalem.
11 However, there was one more slight evidence of Jewish sovereignty after the fall of the Holy City, and that was Nebuchadnezzar's appointment of Gedaliah, a Jew, as the governor of the remaining settlements in the country. But two months later Gedaliah and his Babylonish advisors were slain by a party of Jewish assassins. At the news of this tragic flouting of Nebuchadnezzar's mercy, all the remaining Jews fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah the prophet with them. (2 Ki. 25:22-26; Jer. 41:1-18; 43:5-7) The land's now becoming desolated of Jewish inhabitants, the last trace of theocratic rule came to an end during the seventh month, which began September 21-22, 607 B.C. So with swift-moving events the land was emptied and theocratic sovereignty withdrawn, giving the Gentiles undisputed control of the Promised Land for their "appointed times".—Luke 21:24.
12 How many "times" did God appoint for the Gentile nations to have undisputed control over the Promised Land which was the testing ground for earth-wide sovereignty? The Bible answers there were to be seven "times". (Dan. 4:16,23,25) Significantly this number was disclosed to King Nebuchadnezzar in a dream after 607 B.C. when he had become the totalitarian ruler of the third world power. Note now the details of this dream as Nebuchadnezzar tells it to Jehovah's witness Daniel
Hereafter the Jewish dates referred to in the Scriptures will be adapted to our modern Gregorian calendar system of dating. Jewish days always begin after 6 p.m. The conversions have been made with the aid of Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. to A.D.45, by Parker and Dubberstein of the University of Chicago, 1942 edition.
10, 11. (a) Precisely when were the temple and the king's palace destroyed in Jerusalem, and what did this mean as to divine sovereignty? (b) What further slight evidence of Jewish control was there, and what happened to it?
12, 13. (a) To whom was disclosed the number of the "times" of the nations, and in what manner? (b) What was the theme of the disclosure? Briefly give the picture revealed.
for divine interpretation. Observe how the theme of this dream is God's sovereignty, "to let the living know that the Most High reigns over the realm of men, giving it to anyone whom he chooses, and setting over it the lowest of mankind."—Dan. 4:17, Mo.
13 Nebuchadnezzar said to Daniel: "O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, I know the spirit of the gods divine is in you, and no mystery is any trouble to you; hear the visions of my dream that I have seen, and tell me what they mean. Such were the visions of my brain in bed. I looked, and there was a tree in the middle of the earth, enormously high! The tree grew and grew strong, till it was high as heaven and visible from the ends of all the earth; its leaves were lovely and its fruit was rich, with food for all; wild animals sheltered under it, birds of the air roosted in its branches, and it fed all living creatures. In the visions of my brain in bed I looked, and there was one of the angelguard! He came down from heaven and called aloud, "Hew the tree down, hack away its branches, lop off its leaves, and scatter its fruit: let the animals remove from underneath it, and the birds from its boughs. Still, leave the stump of its roots in the earth, among the soft grass of the field, with a band of iron and bronze round it; let the dews of heaven drench it—and let him share the herbage of the earth with the animals, let his mind cease to be human, let an animal's mind be given him, and let seven years [times, AS] pass over him."'—Dan. 4:9-16, Mo.
14 Daniel interpreted the dream to foretell that seven times or years of madness would overtake Nebuchadnezzar, during which he could not personally carry on his imperial government but would become wild like a beast and live out in the open fields. So in effect this great world ruler
would find his kingdom taken away from him like the cutting down of the lofty tree mentioned in his dream. After seven years his sanity would return, and he would be restored to his kingdom, which, like that banded tree stump in the ground, was to be held pending his return to the control of his empire.
15 All this came to pass near the end of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. Books on Nebuchadnezzar refer to his seven years of madness. (Dan. 4:33) "The form of madness from which he (Nebuchadnezzar) suffered when pride overthrew his reason was that called lycanthropy, in which the patient fancies himself one of the inferior animals and acts as such. Nebuchadnezzar imagined that he had become an ox, and went forth to eat grass like other cattle." (The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, p. 422. See also Nebuchadnezzar, by G. R. Tabouis, pp. 263-265, 383.) Michaud, in his Biographie universelle, writes: "Nebuchadnezzar was punished for his pride by rather a strange malady, for he fell into a state of complete dementia and was persuaded that he had been turned into an ox." Another French writer, Larousse, gives a similar account, adding, "He died a year after recovering his reason."
16 However, Nebuchadnezzar's dream finds its major application to heavenly rulership. In 7 to 11, pages 261, 262, we have described the invisible theocratic rulership originally entrusted to the covering cherub in Eden. God's sovereignty in fact operating through this anointed cherub was fittingly described by the lofty tree in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. When this exalted theocratic ruler of men and the animals rebelled by putting at issue the sovereign supremacy of Jehovah God, he was forthwith dismissed from God's mountain-
14, 15. How was this dream fulfilled as to Nebuchadnezzar?
How does this dream have its major application to heavenly rulership? What hope does God leave for mankind?
like organization and forever divorced from union with God. This was the cutting down of the lofty tree. To give hope to righteous mankind how glad we are to notice that God in the vision left a stump of this tree. Clearly this pictures the suspension of the office of righteous heavenly rulership through which God will exercise his sovereignty again over the earth. It would be kept in abeyance until He should come who would prove his right thereto. The dream shows that the Most High will give this kingdom right to the "lowest of mankind" or a son of man.—Dan. 4:17, Mo.
17 Not before "seven times" had passed over the symbolic tree stump could God, according to his own decree, establish the kingdom over men in the hands of a righteous invisible ruler. The prophetic dream does not indicate that the "seven times" began at Eden immediately with the rebellion of Satan and his loss of the right and authority of righteous rulership. The facts in fulfillment show they did not begin then but in the days of the dreamer who had the dream fulfilled on him in miniature, namely, at the time the pictorial rulership was taken away from the last anointed king of Judah, Zedekiah. The dream merely announces that in the tree stump's experience there would pass over it a period of "seven times" and that this would immediately precede the unbanding of the stump and its free growth again.
18 This makes it apparent that the "seven times" began with Nebuchadnezzar's overturning of Jehovah's typical theocracy at Jerusalem, in 607 B.C. As long as the typical administration of God at Jerusalem operated at all, even imperfectly, in his name, that long there was some measure of national sanity and a partial exhibition of right rule among nations on this earth.
But with the overthrow of the typical theocracy there was then no restraint at all to the unreason and bestiality of human governors and humankind. The Gentile powers or governments were now exclusive in the field. God's covenant people no longer held any national sovereignty in the midst of this world, independently of the Gentile nations. In 539 B.C. the MedoPersian world power exercised domination over the Promised Land. In 332 B.C. it passed into the hands of Alexander, the Greek conqueror. In 63 B.C. Roman rule was established over Palestine. From A.D. 637 to 1917 various Mohammedan rulers generally controlled Jerusalem. In 1917 Viscount Allenby of Great Britain took Jerusalem from the Mohammedan Turks, who had controlled it since 1517.
MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION
19 How long are "seven times", the times of the nations? The mathematics are supplied for us in another prophecy unrelated to this one which uses the term "times" or "periods of time". In Revelation 12:6 (NW) there is mentioned 1,260 days and then in the 14th verse this very same period is referred to as 31⁄2 "times". So if 31⁄2 "times" is 1,260 days, then 7 "times" (twice 31⁄2 "times") must be twice 1,260, or 2,520 days. Early in their wilderness trek the Israelites repudiated the sovereign wisdom of their God by wanting to return to Egypt on having believed the faith-lacking reports of the ten unfaithful spies. (Num. 14:1-4) For this lack of faith by the people in God's sovereign leadership, Jehovah sentenced the nation to forty years of wandering in the wilderness with no sovereign control of land. "For every day spent in spying out the land, you shall spend a year being punished for your evil-doing, forty years for forty days; that will teach you
18. (a) When do the "seven times" begin to apply as to the "tree stump"? (b) When does the period of "madness" become particularly manifest, and what changes are there in Gentile domination over Jerusalem?
19.20. How long are the "seven times" of the nations? Give the proofs for establishing 1914 as a marked date.
what it is to have me against you."—Num. 14:34, Mo.
20 So according to this rule established in the wilderness the Jewish nation, who time and again showed they did not appreciate Jehovah's sovereign control, would have to bear God's adverse judgment at the hands of their Gentile overlords for a period of seven "times", or 2,520 year-days. These 2,520 years ran from the desolating of Jerusalem and the land in the summer and fall of 607 B.C. up to the summer and fall of 1914, when they expired. From 607 B.C. to 1 B.C. is 606 years. From 1 B.C. to A.D.1 is only one year, because the ancients had not discovered the zero which according to modern mathematics would have made it two years. The use of the zero is only of comparatively recent mathematical origin. From A.D.1 to A.D.1914 is 1,913 years. Therefore adding 606 years plus 1 year plus 1,913 years we get a total of 2,520 years.
21 At this point some will inquire why Charles T. Russell in 1877 used the date 606 B.C. for the fall of Jerusalem whereas The Watchtower of late years has been using 607 B.C. This is because, in the light of modern scholarship, two slight errors were discovered to have been made which cancel each other out and make for the same result, namely, 1914. Concerning the first error, Russell and others considered 1 B.C. to A.D.1 as being two years whereas in fact this is only one year because, as has been said above, there is no "zero" year in the B.C.-A.D. system for counting years. "The Christian era began, not with no year, but with a 1st year."—The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, p. 102.
22 The second error had to do with not beginning the count of the 2,520 years at the right point in view of historic facts and
circumstances. Almost all early Bible chronology ties in with secular history at the year 539 B.C., in which year the fall of Babylon to Darius and Cyrus of the Medes and the Persians occurred. In late years several cuneiform tablets have been discovered pertaining to the fall of Babylon which peg both Biblical and secular historic dates. The one tablet known as the "Nabunaid Chronicle" gives the date for the fall of Babylon which specialists have ascertained as being October 12-13, 539 B.C., Julian Calendar, or October 6-7, 539 B.C., according to our present Gregorian Calendar.* This tablet also says that Cyrus made his triumphant entry into Babylon 16 days after its fall to his army. Thus his accession year commenced in October, 539 B.C. However, in another cuneiform tablet called "Strassmaier, Cyrus No. 11" Cyrus' first regnal year is mentioned and was determined to have begun March 17-18, 538 B.C., and to have concluded March 4-5, 537 B.C. \dagger It was in this first regnal year of Cyrus that he issued his decree to permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. (Ezra 1:1) The decree may have been made in late 538 B.C. or before March 4-5, 537 B.C.
23 In either case this would have given sufficient time for the large party of 49,897 Jews to organize their expedition and to make their long four-month journey from Babylon to Jerusalem to get there by September 29-30,537 B.C.,the first of the seventh Jewish month,to build their altar to Jehovah as recorded at Ezra 3:1-3.Inasmuch as September 29-30,537 B.C., officially ends the seventy years of desolation as recorded at 2 Chronicles 36:20,21 so the beginning of the desolation of the land must have officially begun to be count-
21-23. (a) Give one correction of a slight error made by the brothers many years ago as to determining 1914. (b) Explain a second correction.
History of the Persian Empire, by Olmstead, 1948, p. 50; also Light From The Ancient Past, by Finegan, 1946, p. 190.
† Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.-A.D.45, by Parker and Dubberstein,1942,pp.11,27.
ed after September 21-22,607 B.C., the first of the seventh Jewish month in 607
B. C., which is the beginning point for the counting of the 2,520 years.
Evidences of the Year's Correctness
WHAT physical evidences are there, then, that indicate 1914 was a marked year as to the ending of the "appointed times" of the nations? First a little background information is necessary. With the disintegration of the old Roman Empire and the breaking up of the Holy Roman Empire wedded to the Catholic Church there appeared after the Peace Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 a "family of nations". This Gentile house of nations was a loose arrangement where big and small nations tried to get along in concert like big and small brothers with an occasional quarrel (war) between individual members. There was no big mother or father to boss them. Neither the Catholic Church nor the remnants of the old Roman Empire were any longer strong enough to keep these nations tied to their apron strings and thus keep these offshoot nations in line as they formerly did by being the superior dictators. Nevertheless the "family of nations" did maintain a measure of international order during their periods of world expansion, and they abode by a code of international law. However, this "family" had no political expression or super-organization. That was left for them to try later under the League of Nations in 1919 to patch up things.
empire of Rome showed a common political sovereignty by which the acts of remote territories might be regulated; the world religion of the Church of the middle period added the idea of a common bond of humanity. The family was at first a 'European Christian family of nations,' and its law was European. The United States of America was the earliest addition outside of Europe. In 1856 the five great powers admitted the Turkish Empire to 'the participation in the advantages of European public law and concert.' The entrance of Japan into the 'family of nations' in 1899 added another non-European state to the international family, which had ceased to be 'European' and 'Christian'."*
2 Following is an authoritative description of this "family of nations". "The world
3 What happened to this loose house of Gentile nations in 1914 is common knowledge and history now. The delicate balance of Gentile powers which enabled them to generate themselves into vast war machines in the prewar period totally collapsed in 1914. Their whole house blew up and the nations went mad. Does not the collapse of this house of the Gentiles and their national sovereign independence being now put in jeopardy remind one of the destruction of the temple and the king's palace in Jerusalem between July 30-31 and August 2-3,607 B.C.? All this exactly 2,520
Handbook of International Law, by G. G. Wilson, 1939 edition, pp. 7, 20, 21.
1, 2. Describe the "family of nations" that arose after 1648.
3, 4. (a) What are the physical facts that mark the end of the "seven times" of the nations? (b) What is remarkable as to the dates involved?
years later almost to the day! * Note the following summary of the rapid fire of events as these nations went at each other's throats, and, mind you, all this happened suddenly in the summer of 1914.
"Austria declared war on Serbia July 28, 1914. Attempts to mediate continued. Germany demanded neutrality of Britain in event of war with Russia and France; offered to respect French territory but gave no promise on colonies; Britain refused to bargain, July 30. Austria now agreed to negotiate with Russia. Russia mobilized in part, declaring Hungarian mobilization was directed against it; Germany mobilized, declaring such Russian action was against Germany. In this tense situation Britain continued efforts to stop general war. While Russia and Austria were conferring, Germany sent ultimatum to Russia demanding end of mobilization in twelve hours. The czar asked Austro-Serb quarrel be submitted to The Hague; no reply. Germany declared war against Russia August 1; against France August 3. Germans enter Belgium, in violation of treaty, guaranteed by Britain. Britain asked Germany to guarantee neutrality of Belgium by midnight August 4; Germany refused. Britain declared war August 4. Italy bound to Germany and Austria in Triple Alliance, proclaimed neutrality; had secret understanding with France not to join in any war against France. Italy declared war against Austria-Hungary May 23, 1915; against Germany August 27, 1916. Turkey, Bulgaria, Rumania joined Central Powers. Japan declared war on Germany, August 23, 1914. United States declared a state of war existed with Germany, April 6, 1917." (The World Almanac, 1951, pp. 188, 189) Truly
the Gentile world went crazy between July 28 and August 4 in launching the bloodiest war in earth's history to that time. Just as the Scriptures foretold, "nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom."—Matt. 24:7, NW.
THE SIGN
Right after speaking of the "appointed times of the nations", at Luke 21:24 (NW), Jesus makes a key revelation at the 27th verse by saying: "And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." The coming of the Son of man in the clouds with power was the great sign of the sovereign-empowered Messiah or Christ spoken of by Daniel (7:13,14) and which the priests and Pharisees were looking for during Jesus' ministry on earth. But as to Christ's first presence Jesus said the only sign they would get would be that of Jonah the prophet. (Matt. 12:39, NW) However, when Jesus was being tried before the Jewish Sanhedrin on the false charge of blasphemy the high priest said, "By the living God I put you under oath to tell us whether you are the Christ the Son of God!" Jesus said to him: "That was for you to say. Yet I say to you men, From henceforth you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Matt. 26:63,64, NW) Here Jesus openly admitted that as the Christ he would make a second presence as to affairs of the earth after a waiting period at God's right hand. "Jehovah saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." (Ps. 110:1, AS) The waiting period ended at the conclusion of the "appointed times of the nations" in 1914, his enemies were put where they belong under his feet, and from then has been seen the sign of the sovereign-
It is indeed remarkable that Ab 7 for 1914 is July 30-31 and Ab 10 is August 2-3 the same as it was for the fateful year of 607 B.C. Data obtained from Canon der Finsternisse, by Oppolzer; Astronomische Chronologie, by Neugebauer, and The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac—1914.
What event does Jesus say must follow the end of the "times" of the nations?
empowered Christ coming on the clouds of heaven.
Time had come in the fall of 1914 for Jehovah the Universal Sovereign himself to act! Action on a global scale, yes, on a universal scale, was due to take place. The waiting period was over, and now the desire of all righteous ones came. Christ Jesus, the proved and tested new world's King, was enthroned and empowered with sovereignty from on high. At last the kingdom of heaven was established in the person of its anointed ruler, Christ the King. Now for the first time in nearly six thousand years there is in existence, as respects the entire earth, a new theocratic government with ruling right from God the true Sovereign. What tremendous good this bodes for righteous mankind! "The Eternal's [Jehovah's, AS] edict let me tell: 'I, I have installed my king on Sion, on my sacred hill.'" (Ps. 2:6,7, Mo) The Bible even gives us a glimpse of the glorious enthronement proceedings which occurred in 1914. "I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man [Christ Jesus], and he came even to the ancient of days [Jehovah God], and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." (Dan. 7:13,14, AS) Thus about October 1, 1914, just 2,520 years after the last vestige of typical Jewish sovereignty expired, the "iron and bronze band" of abeyance was removed from the "tree stump" and once again divine sovereignty empowered a theocratic government to take over the control of the entire earth. The "lowest of mankind",
Christ Jesus, was now exalted with kingdom right forever. (Isa. 53:7-9) What joy there was in heaven! "And loud voices occurred in heaven saying: 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king for ever and ever.'"—Rev.11:15,NW.
The establishment of the kingdom of heaven immediately set in motion a chain of events both in heaven and on earth. These events were to occur in a transition period during which a great tribulation would come upon Satan's entire organization leading up to the final test of power at Armageddon which results in its utter defeat and destruction. The birth of the Kingdom government in 1914 is likened to God's woman, his organization Zion, bringing forth a male child whom Satan's dragonlike organization is seeking to destroy. "And the dragon kept standing before the woman who was about to give birth, that, when she did give birth, it might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is destined to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was caught away to God and to his throne." (Rev. 12:4,5,NW) From this scripture we see that the Kingdom has a safe empowerment of sovereignty and that it is destined to take violent action in breaking up all opposing governments on earth as with a rod of iron. But wait! The false sovereign behind these nations still in heaven must be dealt with first. The Scripture next says: "And war broke out in heaven: Michael [Christ Jesus] and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was
…