His "Work" and His "Act" (Part 3) № 19

"KING OF KINGS"

The next testimony period, October 2-10 inclusive, will he world wide, coextensive with the earthly realm of the King of kings, after whose title the period is named. The publication now of the book Riches in many languages makes it appropriate for this book to be concentrated on then, the same to be offered together with a sell covered booklet. Other details of the service have been published in the Informant, which please consult. Your preparations and arrangements completed, then carry on as to the King of kings. Your prompt report will be awaited.

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING

Pursuant to the provision of law and the charter of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, notice is hereby given that the annual business meeting of the said Society will be held at Pittsburgh, North Side (formerly Allegheny), Pennsylvania, at ten o’clock a.m., Monday, November 1, 1937, at which the usual annual business will be transacted.

PORTABLE PHONOGRAPH

The Society now manufactures and has to offer a light-weight phonograph, which is 14 by 13 by 5 inches in size, mid covered with brown cloth and having rounded corners. It weighs 9 pounds 13 ounces. With the three phonograph discs which can be carried in it, it weighs 12 pounds 6 ounces. The volume of sound is strong, and the tone is of the best quality. As shipped out from our factory, the phonograph is timed properly, at 78 r.p.m., and should be cheeked from time to time. This model, including three dises, is offered on a contribution of $1000; without the three dises, $8.00. Remittances should accompany orders. Also specify the particular dises wanted.

REMITTANCES

Enclosing coin or currency with an order for books or other publications often results m disappointment when the sender is notified that neither order nor remittance has been received by us. In this day of disturbed financial conditions even the use of checks involves a needless risk. We suggest that every one use the money order (either postal or express). Keep each money order receipt for reference. For all remittances the money order should he made payable to the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, with a memorandum attached as to how much is ... for The Watchtower, for The Golden Age, or for anything else, Do not remit to International Bible Students Association.

CONCERNING MAIL

All mail pertaining to matters of the Society should be addressed to the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, not to individuals. This insures proper handling and attention. Some of the brethren think that because they speak a foreign tongue they must address their letters to some individual at the office This should never be done. The Society will give attention in due course to all letters addressed to it, regardless of language.

Vol. LVIII

October 1, 1937

No. 19

HIS "WORK” AND HIS “ACT”

“As I have done io Shiloh.” — Jer. 7:14

PART 3

JEHOVAH announced his ultimatum to the people of Jerusalem, sending it by his servant Jeremiah. He gave that people time to amend their ways and to respond properly to his ultimatum. He had tolerated that unfaithful nation for a long while. The time had now come when there must be a showdown for Jerusalem. That was a prophetic picture of "Christendom”, the unfaithful crowd that claims to be the people of God; and to “Christendom” now is sent the ultimatum of Jehovah God, and what Jeremiah declared applies more particularly to “Christendom”. “And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.”—Jer. 26: 4-6.

2 Let the present-day servants of Jehovah take note of this fact, that Jeremiah was not to utter his own opinion as to what should come to pass; nor was he to volunteer his advice as to what the Israelites should do. He was to deliver God’s message and give the people to understand that the only way of escape was the way which the Lord had pointed out to them through his Word. A self-important man, ambitious to shine in the eyes of others, cither of that day or of the present time, would attempt to convey to the people the conclusion that he, the man, was or is “a wise one”, giving infallible advice to the people. Today some who profess to be the followers of Christ Jesus assume that very attitude, that they may appear important. Jehovah’s witnesses are not to add to nor to delete any part of God’s message. It is his ultimatum, and not the ultimatum of man. Do not go to some individual and tell him that he is of the Devil and is going to be destroyed. Say that Jehovah announces his purpose and that purpose is, as set forth in his Word, to soon destroy all religionists, all hypocrites, and all who remain on the side of the Devil, and that He has provided a way of escape and that way is for each individual to seek God and his righteousness, which is administered through Christ Jesus the Redeemer. Each individual must measure for himself and determine for himself whether he is on the side of God or the side of the Devil. To condemn the people is not the purpose of Jehovah’s witnesses. Their duty is to declare God’s message, and that only. A debate or argument with some false prophet would not be out of the way, when this is done publicly for the purpose of enabling the people to see the truth; but singling out individuals, and saying to them what shall be their end, is an improper thing to do.

3 The religionists of Jerusalem attending and supporting the temple service, being self-righteous, would appear to be very indignant by reason of being told by Jeremiah in the presence of others that God’s judgment was about to be executed upon them. No doubt those practitioners of the Jews’ religion, the clergy in particular, concluded that the message delivered by Jeremiah was likely to cause a riot and for that reason was subversive and should not be heard, and hence Jeremiah must be silenced. They would reason: “Why should we, who are the leaders and teachers of Israel, be disturbed and have our people disturbed by this man Jeremiah?” It is exactly so today, that the clergy and the principal ones of their flock, who practice religion for personal gain, become very indignant because of the message of God’s Word that is now delivered by his witnesses. The indignant clergy induce the courts to rule that the message delivered by Jehovah’s witnesses is subversive and tends to disturb the peace and quietude of the nation and is seditious, and that those witnesses who utter the message should be punished and the publication of the message prohibited. It is the will of God that the religionists should have no reason to plead ignorance or lack of knowledge of his coming wrath upon his enemies. Therefore he commands his witnesses to say to them as did Jeremiah: ‘If you will not hearken unto the Lord, and walk in his ways which he has set before you, then God will take action, as he has declared. The responsibility rests upon you.’ The religionists of today have the Bible, which is the Word of God, and now they are reminded that the Bible is the only proper guide and that their refusal to hear and to obey God’s law, as set forth in His Word, the Bible, estops them from ever thereafter pleading ignorance of what God will do to them, especially when their attention is directly called to the prophecies. Several years previous to the coming of Jeremiah to Jerusalem with the message of Jehovah, God had caused the book of the law to be found and brought to light, and the king caused it to be read in the hearing of the people, and the people agreed to obey. (2 Ki. 22:3-20; 23:1-3) Likewise for forty years prior to 1918 God caused the “Elijah work” to be done by his servants by bearing the message of His kingdom to the people. For years “Christendom” has had the Bible, and, in the past fifty years and more, millions of Bibles and books and tracts have been published and distributed, calling attention to the Bible prophecies, which announce God’s purpose toward the peoples of earth. Since the coming of Christ Jesus to the temple in 1918 hundreds of millions of books and tracts have been distributed amongst the people, specifically calling attention of the religionists of “Christendom” to Jehovah’s declared purpose by and through Christ Jesus to destroy all opposition to his kingdom. “Christendom,” therefore, has received the ultimatum and is still receiving the message declaring the same.

4 The Israelites were a typical people, and the prophecy was written and uttered really to be applied to “Christendom”, the antitypical people who claim to be God’s people on the earth. Jehovah says to them now: ‘If you will not hear me, your punishment shall follow.’ Why does God give them such an emphatic warning, seeing, as he states, “ye have not hearkened"? The reason is that they may be duly informed and may therefore bear their own iniquity. Their coming destruction is nobody’s fault but their own, and the only way for the servants of God to relieve themselves of responsibility is to deliver to “Christendom” the message of God’s warning as commanded. (Ezek. 33: 8-12) No one could have any reasonable excuse to say that God has taken snap judgment of them. They cannot say that God is not long-suffering. Jehovah gives them ample warning and ample time to repent, and for that reason the “strange work”, the witness work, goes on and will continue until God's time to begin the destruction.

5 The religionists at Jerusalem took great pride in the temple. The Roman Catholic Hierarchy and their religious supporters take great pride in the so-called “Catholic church” and in their hideously constructed cathedrals. God established the Israelites as his people. The Roman Catholic church has voluntarily assumed to be the people of God on earth, posing as such. Both the Israelites and the Catholic Hierarchy point with pride to the material so-called “church” building. This is further shown by the words of the prophet Ezekiel, who wrote: “Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword. . . . And when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God.” (Ezek. 24:21-24) The Roman Catholic Hierarchy organization occupies a position exactly similar to that occupied by the religionists of Jerusalem. Jehovah gives them an ultimatum and declares: “If ye will not hearken to me, . . . then will I make this house like Shiloh.” That declaration of truth sounded so strange to the religionists of Jerusalem that it was beyond belief. They would reason like this: “Our temple is not a more tent or temporary residence, such as our fathers had at Shiloh. Now for God to let that temple, which bears his name, to be wrecked, would be to let his name be reproached, and such a thing is preposterous. It is too strange to be worthy of belief, and this man Jeremiah, who thus states, is not to be believed.” The religious leaders of “Christendom” today reason in like manner. Their clergy pooh-pooh the idea of destruction coming upon them and say that Jehovah’s witnesses are Communists operating under the cloak of religion. In this way the reproach that fell upon Christ Jesus and his disciples, tor delivering the truth, now falls upon Jehovah’s willing witnesses.

6 Jehovah further declared that he would ‘make Jerusalem a curse to all nations’. The religious Jews did not believe that declaration, but God afterwards performed exactly his purpose and as he had foretold. All nations have cursed Israel since, and at Armageddon all the nations will curse the religionists of “Christendom”. Now God’s “holy nation” and all people of good will who proclaim the truth pronounce God’s curse upon “Christendom” as commanded, and for doing this in obedience to God’s command the clergy and the principal of their flock denounce Jehovah’s witnesses. This was foreshadowed by what is recorded, to wit: “So the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.” (Jer. 26:7) When the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and their supporters hear the message of God delivered by his faithful witnesses today they say: “Our religious susceptibilities are greatly shocked and our religious pride is jarred by the utterance of these words of Jehovah’s witnesses against our time-honored and most holy and venerable institution; and their words are preposterous and are strange beyond belief.” That is what the Jews said; and that is what the Catholic and other religionists now say. The priests of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and other clergy of the religionists, being so much concerned about their jobs and revenue arising therefrom, feel greatly outraged because of the message proclaimed by Jehovah’s witnesses, which tells of the disaster coming upon organized religion. Being made to appear as false prophets or preachers, such religious leaders are very indignant, and they denounce Jehovah’s witnesses before the people, both by word of mouth and through the press. The supporters of  these religious institutions say: “How strange that any one should speak disparagingly of our great church and our great clergymen! Who is like the great Catholic church? Who are like our learned and great clergymen?” Today when Jehovah’s witnesses call on the ultrareligionists and tell them of God’s purpose, as expressed in his Word, they say: “It is strange that you would come to us. We are Christians and do not need to hear anything from you. Go to the heathen. Our church is all we need. We have the Bible in the house and our preacher tells us what it means. Strange that such persons as you would try to tell us anything.” On the contrary, those of good will receive Jehovah’s witnesses gladly and are anxious to learn; and thus the dividing of the people progresses.

7 Was it a “strange work” in which the young prophet Jeremiah was engaged? Did it appear strange and absurd that God would send by the man Jeremiah such an “impossible” message as he was delivering? That was the effect upon the Jew religionists. They worked themselves up to a heated indignation, even as the clergy of this day do: “Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.” (Jer. 26:8) The message which Jeremiah delivered was very unpopular, and he had not shunned to declare it because of its unpopularity. He had not held back because of fear of bodily harm to himself. In Jehovah’s name, and in His strength, he delivered the message commanded, and that message was not censored nor did he ask permission or license to speak it. Note the order in which action was taken: first, by the priests, then by the false prophets; and then the common people were moved to act. It was the clergy of the Jews that provoked a riot, and no doubt they claimed that Jeremiah was the one to blame for the riot. It is so today. The message delivered first makes the priests mad, and then they go into court and testify that such a message, although it is in the Bible, when delivered to the people is likely to produce a riot. They well know that they are lying, but in order to justify themselves they seize the first opportunity to start a riot and lead a mob, and then blame Jehovah’s witnesses for the wrongful acts of the priests and clergymen.

8 The religious leaders amongst the Jews should properly have reasoned that if Jeremiah was delivering a false message in the name of Jehovah God, God would punish him for it. God did punish the false prophet Hananiah with death because he “taught rebellion against the Lord”. (Jer. 28:16,17) The Jewish clergy by their action showed that they did not expect God to kill Jeremiah as a false prophet and a blasphemer of God’s name, and therefore they concluded that they must take the matter into their own hands, and they induced the credulous people who supported them to join in the persecution, and they arranged for and expected to get a verdict and an execution of Jeremiah according to their own taste. Therefore they organized a mob and rushed upon Jeremiah and howled, saying to him: “Thou shalt surely die.”

9 Today the Roman Catholic priests and their supporters follow exactly a similar course. If those preachers believed for one moment that Jehovah’s witnesses deliver a false and blasphemous message against Almighty God, they would say: “Let God punish them, and surely he will do so.” Well knowing that Jehovah’s witnesses speak the truth, and that the clergy have no answer thereto, the clergymen take the matter into their own hands, incite the credulous people against Jehovah’s witnesses, and influence public officials to arrest and cruelly punish them; and then if occasion offers, the clergy start a riot and lead a mob to inflict further indignities upon those who represent the Lord. All religionists work along the same line in carrying out persecution of God's witnesses, because all religion emanates from the Devil. Today the Catholic priests induce the judges of the courts that claim to be descendants of Israel to inflict unjustly a cruel punishment upon Jehovah’s witnesses. Such cases are actually taking place in New Jersey and other parts of the earth. God caused the record to be made concerning Jeremiah, foretelling what is to conic to pass and is coming to pass today, and this record enables the ones devoted to Jehovah to understand and appreciate why they thus must suffer reproach at the hands of religionists.

10 The Jewish clergy denied that Jeremiah was God’s prophet, authorized to speak in his name: “Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.” (Jer. 26: 9) By their very words these Jew religionists admitted that they had received the message that the fate which had befallen Shiloh should come upon them; and that message made them very mad, because it made them appear in the eyes of the people as great sinners. They considered themselves very righteous, and in the eyes of the people they wished to appear righteous, and were indignant against anyone who would intimate otherwise. Those Pharisees were going through the motion of serving God in the temple. The Roman Catholic Hierarchy and other priests take exactly the same position today. They go through motions, in which they claim to be serving God. They put on flat hats, lace aprons, long robes, and have their bloated faces photographed and put upon the motion-picture screens, and people are shown as kissing their toes or rings, in order to create an air of superiority so far as they are concerned, and to show them as very righteous and holy. Then they publish in their newspapers that Jehovah’s witnesses claim that God is going to destroy all religion; and this message from God’s Word they denounce as absurd, impossible, blasphemous and unbelievable. But they are not willing to let God himself judge his own witnesses. They are concerned about keeping themselves in position that they can further exploit the people. The clergy say to each other and to their congregations: “Are not we the chosen of God? are we not performing service in the house of God? Are you not bringing your money here and having a part in this service of the house of God? Is it not absurdly strange that any person should go about and presume to say that God will destroy us?”. They admit that they have received the notice of warning, and for that reason they cannot escape responsibility. Those religionists are fulfilling prophecy long ago written; but they are too blindly prejudiced to hear the prophecy or to read what God put in his Word long ago. The Devil incites them to anger, hatred, and malice, and to the cruel punishment of the witnesses of the Lord.

11 The Jewish clergy, by haranguing the people, worked up great excitement and indignation against Jeremiah : “And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.” The Devil at all times has used his religious priests in the same manner. When Christ Jesus, the beloved Son of God, he who was without sin or fault and who never did a wrong, stood before the court falsely accused of the high crimes of sedition and treason, it was the clergy who there demanded his conviction and his lifeblood: “And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.” (Luke 23:23,24) It was the religious priests who then and there persuaded the mob to demand the lifeblood of Jesus Christ in preference to that of a confessed murderer: “But the chief priests and ciders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.”— Matt. 27:20.

12 The Devil’s religious agents never change, but act in a like manner, because they are all his sons and do the will of their father. (John 8:44) Today it is the clergy, and particularly those of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, who demand that Jehovah’s witnesses be cruelly punished for the alleged crimes of sedition, the distribution of so-called “perverse” literature, and other “offenses”, when in fact these witnesses of the Lord are guilty of doing nothing wrong. What they do is in obedience to God’s commandment to declare his message in order that the will of God may be done as he has purposed it. These truths are emphasized in order that those who are sincere, and who desire to know what is right and to understand what is going on, may see and know and understand that the religionists are instruments of the Devil, deceiving the people and defaming God’s holy name. It is for this reason the witnesses of Almighty God today suffer persecution. They are doing no wrong. On the contrary, they are doing exactly right, and the Devil hates that which is right and true, and seeks to destroy those who will obey God. Jehovah permits this in order that the enemy Satan may have full opportunity to attempt to make good his wicked challenge and that men being subjected to his persecution may have opportunity to maintain their integrity toward God. Ultimately the victory is with Jehovah completely, through Christ Jesus, and those who stand with the Lord will have part in that victory.

13 When Jeremiah was accused by the clergy he was at the temple. The politicians, who were also religionists and who appeared to be less zealous and pertinacious about religious matters, were not at the temple at that particular moment. Manifestly they were at the political headquarters, indulging in some game or some scheme to further their interests; and so the clergy saw to it that word was taken to the political and judicial clement as quickly as possible; as the record states: “When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord’s house.” (Jer. 26: 10) Those princes, rulers and judicial officers at this point of the drama are seen seated at the new gate, which was the usual place for holding court and rendering judgment. The testimony against the offender was produced by the clergymen and such witnesses as the clergy might hire to testify. Now call to mind the many similar scenes that have been enacted in Germany, Quebec, New Jersey, and other places within the past few years; which events have been published in the Golden Age magazine. In every instance it is the religionists, desiring to further their own selfish interests, that instigate and carry on the persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses, wrongfully charging them with the violation of law. They induce men to falsely swear against Jehovah’s witnesses, that a conviction may be had. The witnesses of the Lord carry the message to the people, and then the clergy connive with certain ones of their flocks, who are void of any sense of right and justice, and these are caused or induced to arrest and hale into court the witnesses of the Lord, and there testimony is wrongfully produced and the law improperly applied in order that a conviction may be had.

14 It is apparent from the record that Jeremiah now stood before the princes or the magistrates. And who are his accusers demanding his death? True to the rule announced, the Devil had his clergymen there vehemently crying against Jeremiah and demanding his life: “Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes, aud to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.” — Jer. 26:11.

15 Mark this, that those priests or prophets or preachers of Jerusalem did not charge Jeremiah with misrepresenting God. It was the duty of the priests, enjoined upon them by God’s law, to look after the things pertaining to God’s Word, and had they been sincere they would have done so, relied upon and stood by the Word of God. They well knew that they had nothing on Jeremiah, but they demanded his death for the reason assigned by them, that ‘Jeremiah had prophesied against the city’; whereas he had done nothing of the kind. He had pronounced Jehovah’s ultimatum against the wicked city; and had that message been properly received, the clergymen would have been concerned with what they found in the prophecies and the manner in which they should obey God. They ignored God’s Word and, like the clergymen of the present day, they relied upon the traditions of men. It is always the clergy of the religionists that demand the lifeblood of those who dare tell the truth as commanded by the Lord God. No moderate punishment for such offenders satisfies them. They desire to be rid of everyone who calls in question their acts and points out the crookedness of the clergy, as declared by God’s Word. (Matt. 27:20) Before that court the religious clergy assumed the responsibility of prosecutors. As such they put in their case against Jeremiah, and according to them Jeremiah was unpatriotic and a dangerous man and should not be allowed to speak, and the only way to silence him was to put him to death. The modern-day clergy, particularly the Roman Catholic Hierarchy crowd, accuse Jehovah’s witnesses and say of them that they are unpatriotic and are dangerous to the welfare of the people, that the literature they distribute is seditious, and that these witnesses should not be permitted to speak their piece lest the country all turn against the clergy and the politicians, and therefore they must be silenced and put out of the way. Jehovah’s witnesses are denounced as "reds”, because that is the worst name at the present time that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy could tack onto any man. The clergy publish in their own papers, and cause the political newspapers also to publish, that Jehovah’s witnesses are dangerous and should be destroyed. A propaganda dispatch of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, sent from Berlin, Germany, and published in the Catholic papers, also appeared in the New York Herald Tribune of January 11, 1937, and which press dispatch classes Jehovah’s witnesses as Communists and as gross criminals. From that dispatch the following is quoted:

"An illegal German section of the International Bible Students Association, an organization which has American and British sections, has developed in recent years, and especially in 1936, into a ‘serious menace’ to the Nazi state, Dr. Wilhelm Krohn, ministerial director of the Ministry of Justice, declared in a review of criminal justice in Germany in 1936, just published. It was printed in the ‘Deutsche Justiz’, organ of the Ministry.

"The members of the association, whose American section is headed by Judge Joseph F. Rutherford, believe in verbal inspiration from the Bible, and seek to apply the prophecies of such books as Daniel and Revelation to current history. On the basis of Biblical passages the members of the German section, which was banned early in the Nazi regime, have predicted the collapse of the government of Chancellor Adolf Hitler.

“The body has now become the refuge, Krohn asserted, of ‘various elements hostile to the stale, and, if not checked, will soon develop into a branch Communist institution’. Recent information concerning the activities of the association in this country has been turned over to public prosecutors, he said, with orders to use every means, under the emergency decrees of February 28, 1933, to bring the offending members to justice.”

16 The Roman Catholic papers spread such wicked and false reports throughout the world, and at the same time that hypocritical priestly crowd refuse to defend their own doctrines for fear the people will see the frauds of that institution and withdraw from it. Although millions of American citizens demanded such a debate and defense of the Roman Catholic doctrines, the Hierarchy absolutely refused to attempt to defend the same. One Catholic priest remarked to a party who was listening to him: “Why should we be fools enough to debate? If we do, we are sunk.” Why is the enmity of the Catholic organization so expressed against Jehovah’s witnesses? It is because they tell the truth; and for that same reason the religionists sought the death of Jeremiah.

JEREMIAH’S DEFENSE

17 Jeremiah was set on doing one thing, to wit, faithfully obeying Jehovah in delivering the message he had been commanded and commissioned to deliver. He was blind to everything else. Having heard the testimony against him, he proceeded with his defense, and in doing so he did not try to hedge or compromise. He made no apology for what he had been doing. He told the plain truth, and he told them so that the court and all the people present could hear it: “Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes, and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house, and against this city, all the words that ye have heard.”—Jer. 26:12.

18 He had no hope of doing the priests or the preachers any good by what he had done or was doing; but that he might accomplish some good in behalf of the common people that were sincere he did have hope. He explained to his accusers and other hearers that he was under strict command from Almighty God to deliver the specific message that he had delivered against the religionists, including their house and city. He made no claim or pretense that it was his own message, based upon his own opinion, but told them plainly that the message came from the Most High. He freely admitted that he had prophesied publicly to the people. He made a brief and succinct statement of the message, which God had commanded him to deliver, and this he did in order that the court might be fully advised of the facts and that those of the people who were present and desiring to hear the truth might hear, see and understand that he was the representative of Almighty God, as he stated. By making his defense in this manner Jeremiah performed his duty and obligation, and thereafter the responsibility was upon those who heard him speak. They must be answerable to and answer Almighty God. Otherwise stated, God had chosen a faithful man to deliver his message, and that man, Jeremiah, had delivered it strictly in accordance with the command. This sets a precedent for Jehovah’s witnesses, whom Jeremiah at that time pictured. The witnesses are not to act arrogantly nor express hatred or ill will, but they are to tell the truth and tell it plainly, without fear, therefore with boldness, trusting wholly in Jehovah God, and then let the responsibility rest where it belongs, to wit, upon those who hear.

19 Jeremiah then told the court and the audience what would be the result if they gave heed to Jehovah’s warning: “Therefore now amend your ways, and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.’’ (Jer. 26:13) By this means Jeremiah gave the message of Jehovah to the judicial and political elements, as well as to the preachers and the common people. His prophetic words were in fact a friendly warning to those who would “hear”. He was sounding the alarm of the impending danger, which could be averted in only one way, and that was by obedience to Almighty God. Those who heard him speak should have been thankful to be thus warned. Jeremiah stuck to the point, that evil and disaster were just ahead and would fall upon both the temple and the city unless God’s message was heeded. The chief purpose of this prophetic drama at this point was to foreshadow what should come to pass in the time in which we are now living. Under Jehovah’s direction Jeremiah thereby announced the precedent by which all the servants of Jehovah are to be guided, and that is, a full determination to speak the message as God has commanded it to be spoken, and not attempt to take an independent course based upon one's own conclusion, but to proceed to obey God’s instructions implicitly.

20 When Jehovah’s witnesses are arrested in this day and brought before the courts, they should speak frankly, telling the courts and the hearers, religionists or non-religionists, of the divine commission and command to them to speak God’s message of warning to the people; that they are not attempting to deliver the message of any man, and that they are not responsible for what is to follow, but that the message proceeds from the Almighty God and they are merely instruments and servants to do his will and are doing it only as they are commanded; that it is not the prerogative of Jehovah’s witnesses to inflict punishment upon the people or to do harm to anyone; that they are only the messengers to make known the truth, that those who hear may take whatsoever course they desire. The witness of the Lord is not to stop and consider what worldly courts might do to them. As the commissioned servants of Jehovah they are in his hands, and nothing can befall them except by his permission as long as the witnesses remain faithful and true to Almighty God.

21 The testimony in defense being admitted before the court, Jeremiah then made a brief argument, showing that he had violated no law and was not worthy of death. He fully realized that he was in the custody of the law, and therefore he said to the court: “As for me, behold, I am in your hand; do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.” (Jer. 26:14) He put the responsibility right where God would have him do it. He was now speaking to the highest court of the land, and from the decision of that court Jeremiah had no appeal to any earthly court. He told the court, in substance, that he was willing to take whatsoever God permitted them to inflict upon him as a punishment, because he was doing only what God had commissioned him to do. That court would have no power over Jeremiah if Jehovah should interfere and prevent them from exercising power against him. He was Jehovah’s servant; and the same rule applied to him as did to Jesus, who said before the court where, he was tried: “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.” (John 19:11) The same rule applies to those who now are in Christ and faithfully following in his footsteps and delivering the testimony as Almighty God has commanded. The remnant and the Jonadabs, that is, all who are trusting in the Lord, must keep in mind at all times that their only place of safety is to remain true and faithful to Almighty God as Jesus and the other witnesses in the past have done. They are not to put their trust in princes or in any man. (Ps. 146:3) They are not to attempt to compromise or soften Jehovah’s Word with the hope of being let off easier by the courts of the land. The remnant have consecrated their lives to be faithful unto the Lord God, even unto death, and it is to them that the Lord Jesus says: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.”—Rev. 2:10, A.R.V.

22 Jeremiah did not hesitate to warn the court of the responsibility resting upon that distinguished body. “But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.” (Jer. 26:15) That was not a threat, but a friendly warning. He was not abashed because he was in the presence of high officials, nor did he act arrogantly or unreasonably. It was but fair for him to tell the court that the responsibility for the final judgment upon him rested with them. To punish Jeremiah would be fighting against God, and the members of the court must be responsible to God for their acts. The mere killing of Jeremiah would not end the matter. The Israelites had been willfully disobedient to Almighty God and must suffer the consequences, and Jeremiah was merely informing them of what was coming to pass. The clergy would argue, and, without doubt, did argue, that the claim of this man Jeremiah and the following of what he had advised would not save the city, and many of the people would follow the advice of the clergy, which was the worst that could be given to them, as the clergy usually give the very worst kind of advice.

23 All faithful servants of Almighty God must and do take a course similar to that taken by Jeremiah and the apostles of Jesus Christ. When the apostles stood before the courts of the same city, accused of sedition by reason of preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, they remained faithfid and true according to the precedent announced in connection with Jeremiah. The court hearing Jeremiah’s case must decide, and so Jeremiah told them in effect: ‘You must determine whether I should obey God or these hypocritical clergymen.’ He left no doubt as to whom he would obey, and he told the court that if he were put to death they would bring innocent blood upon themselves and upon the city, and upon the inhabitants thereof. Likewise the faithful apostles said to the court on a similar occasion: ‘‘Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19,20) The true and correct way is thus marked out for Jehovah’s witnesses of the present time.

24 Without a question of doubt God caused the record to be made concerning faithful men who, in the past, served him to the end that the recorded facts might serve as a precedent and as aid and comfort to the faithful witnesses of the Lord now on the earth. In recent months many of God’s faithful servants have been arrested and brought before the courts at the instance of the ultrareligionists. These faithful witnesses of Jehovah, although innocent, have been convicted upon testimony that was either perjured or entirely immaterial and aside from the issue raised by the indictment. They have been convicted and imprisoned without any just cause or excuse. A number of them have been convicted without a word of testimony being heard. God has furnished the sure guide for such faithful witnesses, and those who are following this divine guide are rejoicing, regardless of what the result in the courts may be. Let each one thus charged have in mind the course of conduct pursued by the prophet Jeremiah and later by the apostles John, Peter and others. Let the courts and all the audience hear that God has commanded his message to be delivered to the people, and with calmness and sobriety say, in substance: ‘‘My conviction and punishment, because of my obedience to the command of Almighty God, will be entirely wrong, unjust, and will constitute fighting against God. What I say and have said can do no harm to anyone; but to inflict punishment on me because I give you a friendly warning, as commanded by Almighty God, is thus taking a great responsibility upon yourselves, and you must account to God for your conduct, and his day of reckoning is near at hand. I am entirely innocent of any wrongdoing, and it is my duty to warn you that my punishment by you God will not permit to go unnoticed. You will suffer the consequences at his hand, because no one can successfully oppose the Almighty God.”

25 The case of Jeremiah, at this point, was before the court for decision. It appears that the people who stood by and heard Jeremiah also had something to say and that the court respectfully heard their say; and after giving due consideration, the court agreed with the common people, and then addressed themselves to the clergy who stood by with malicious hearts, seeking the lifeblood of God’s faithful witness, and the court declared Jeremiah was not guilty: ‘‘Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets, This man is not worthy to die; for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”—Jer. 26:16.

26 The clergymen present were not yet satisfied. They would insist on the lifeblood of Jeremiah, and proceeded to use all influence they could bring to bear upon the court. Some members of that court were still wavering in the balance, while others seemed to see more clearly the right of the matter. A prince named Ahikam was present, and may have been a member of the court before which Jeremiah was being tried. (Verse 24) He took the side of Jeremiah, and the final decision of the court was doubtless largely influenced by this man Ahikam. The court took into consideration that Jeremiah was serving God and had spoken in the name of God, and therefore they refused to give heed to the demands of the bloodthirsty clergy. For a certainty there is a reason for the divine record showing that the court gave due consideration to Jeremiah’s defense, and that reason sets a proper precedent for judges of courts of the present time to follow; and the fact that the present-day judges, many of them at least, do not follow that precedent makes them bloodguilty with the clergy. Such judges of courts as yield to the influence of the malicious clergy are classed with those named by Jeremiah as “the principal of the flock” and shall suffer a fate similar to that of the clergy. (Jer. 25:36) A number of the magistrates of New Jersey, and some in other places, in order to hide, if possible, their own faces, refuse to permit Jehovah’s witnesses to show from the Scriptures that they are commanded by Almighty God to go from house to house and proclaim Jehovah’s message. Those magistrates insist that the only question of fact and of law before the court is, “Did the defendant fail or refuse to first obtain a policeman’s permit? and if so, then the defendant is guilty of violating the commercial laws of the land and must suffer punishment.” Not only do those magistrates go exactly contrary to the Bill of Rights, to the Constitution of the United States and to the Constitution of New Jersey, which guarantee freedom of worship of Almighty God, but they even place the law of man above the law of Almighty God and openly and flagrantly insult Jehovah's name. Let them take notice that God will not permit their conduct to pass without consideration and due recompense. Many of those magistrates profess to be Christians and that they follow after the Lord; and for that reason they are bound to take notice of the prophecies which the Lord has caused to be recorded in his Word. Jehovah never changes a rule for any person, be that man clergyman, high judicial official, politician or ordinary man. Some of the magistrates even ask men high in the Catholic church if the punishment promised to be inflicted upon the defendant is sufficient. They should ask also of such religionists, who claim to serve God, What does your Bible say should be done?

27 Before final decision was rendered in Jeremiah’s ease some of the older men of the community were permitted to speak before the court and before the people. Doubtless Jeremiah’s trial had attracted wide attention, and the result was a division of the people, to some degree, a few taking Jeremiah’s side. Some of the men of more mature years and sound mind are designated as “elders”, and, says the record, “then rose up certain of the ciders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying. ” (Jer. 26:17) Those men, being Jews, whose duty it was to know the Scriptures, evidently were familiar with the events of the past. Then the ciders were divided in their stand, but one of them speaking called attention to what had come to pass in the days of Hezekiah, and amongst other things he said: “Micah [Micaiah (R.V.); meaning who is like Jehovah’ and therefore a servant of God] the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.” (Jer. 26:18) Micah, or Micaiah, had delivered a message of importance similar to the message brought to the people by Jeremiah:

“Therefore for your sake shall Zion be ploughed up as a field, and Jerusalem shall become ruinous heaps, and the mount of the house, forest-covered high- places.” (Mie. 3:12, Leeser) The elders speaking here were trying to show the court and the people that prophecy that came to them like that of Jeremiah should be heeded and the Lord be let take care as to who should be punished.

28 King Hezekiah had humbled himself before God when he heard the message delivered by Micaiah, and was for that reason saved from disaster. (2 Chron. 32:26) He had given consideration to the words of God’s prophet; and therefore this elder now arguing before the court said: “Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.”—Jer. 26:19.

29 Here is another precedent which Jehovah’s witnesses are counseled that such accused witnesses might follow, to wit: To cite the court to the instance recorded in the Bible where men have shown wisdom by giving heed to God’s warning, such as the elder did on this occasion. With propriety counsel might cite the Second Psalm, in which the Lord warns the rulers to give heed now, since Christ has been enthroned. Jehovah’s witnesses are not attempting to wrong anyone by obeying the command of the Almighty God or giving God’s warning to the people; and this fact should be plainly put before the court. If it was wise for Hezekiah to give heed to the personal warning, judges of this day would do well to take a like course and leave it to Jehovah to determine who is right and who is wrong in connection with the proclamation of the message recorded in the Bible. How unwise and foolish it is for men sitting upon the judicial bench, or elsewhere, to attempt to override and push aside the Word of Almighty God! All persons who claim to serve God should keep in mind that the Almighty is supreme. The clergy have no right to insist on the punishment of men because such men believe and speak what the clergy do not wish to hear. To be sure, the clergy will suffer the greater condemnation, because they ought to know better, but the judges and the politicians should see to it that their decisions are not influenced by a desire to please the clergymen. No doubt Jehovah is permitting the present conditions to exist in order that the truth may be brought to the attention of the courts as well as the people. Therefore Jehovah’s witnesses should always bring before the court the fact that the work that they are carrying on by going from house to house to preach the gospel is the sounding of a warning and is being done in obedience to God’s commandment, and that everyone must decide for himself whether he will obey man or will obey Almighty God. To attempt to silence the witnesses of Jehovah will not alleviate in the slightest the suffering that is coming upon humanity, but, on the contrary, puts those who do hinder in a position where they are certain to suffer destruction unless they repent.

30 There were other and opposing arguments which appear to have been made at Jeremiah’s trial. An elder supporting the position of the clergy cited the case of Urijah the prophet, who delivered a message like to that delivered by Jeremiah. The two prophets were no doubt acquainted. There was a difference in their course of conduct, however. Urijah proved to be fearful, and was not protected by the Lord; but Jeremiah stood firm, and was protected by the Lord. The man now speaking against Jeremiah and supporting the clergymen said: "And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this city, and against this land, according to all the words of Jeremiah: and when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt. And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt: and they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.’’—Jer. 26:20-23.

31 The Scriptural record shows that Jehovah had two witnesses at one and the same time in the land and that their testimony agreed. It was at the time Jehoiakim was beginning his reign, and it appears that he wished to make a record that would make him popular with the religionists and show his zeal for the nation. Even though Urijah displeased the Lord by fleeing to Egypt, that was no justification for Jehoiakim to bring him back and kill him. Urijah was outside the jurisdiction of the ruler of Jerusalem, but Jehoiakim the king found it very easy to extradite Urijah and bring him back, with the full consent of the ruler of Egypt, who was also the agent of the Devil. The clergy were then howling for the lifeblood of Jehovah’s two prophets, and Urijah concluded it was best for him to run away, and his fear brought him into the snare completely. Jeremiah delivered the message from the Lord, similar to that delivered by Urijah, and instead of showing fear he stood his ground and said to his accusers: ‘I have delivered the message God sent me to deliver; now do what seems good to you.’ Jeremiah showed faith in God, and therefore no fear of man. Taking refuge in another part of Satan’s organization furnished no protection whatsoever to Urijah. And it also showed a lack of faith in God. It appears that Jehovah removed his protection from Urijah because of his fear of man. "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” —Prov. 29: 25.

32 Urijah would as well have stood his ground and died there. He would then have died for his faithfulness, if he died at all. Fleeing into Egypt resulted in no good to him. It might well here be considered that Urijah pictured also the Elijah work, which ended in the death of that work in 1918, while Jeremiah pictured the Elisha work, and those engaged in. it, and who show their love for God by fearlessly and with boldness giving testimony to the name of the Most High. As for the king, Jehoiakim, who showed contempt for Jehovah and those representing him, it is written: "Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” (Jer. 22:18,19) Likewise it will do no good to the high men of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and their tools to defy Jehovah God now; and those who do will have a fate similar to that of Jehoiakim.

33 If Jeremiah would be executed, as Urijah, was executed, that would please the priests, prophets and other clergymen, as well as the spineless politicians. But the record reads: “Nevertheless, the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.” (Jer. 26: 24) That man Ahikam was not such a rabid religionist as others who attended Jeremiah’s trial. He stood for freedom of speech. The people who stood by and heard the trial were not in favor of killing Jeremiah, and Ahikam stood with them. The gist of the argument in favor of Jeremiah was that he was speaking what he claimed to be the message from Almighty God and which he doubtless believed was from God, and therefore he should not be put to death, even though his speech did "shock the religious susceptibilities” of the clergy. Without a doubt the priests or clergymen would have then organized a mob, if they could induce the people to stand with them and do the killing, and they would have taken the law into their own hands and killed Jeremiah without further delay; but Ahikam was not to shun the responsibility by acting as Pontius Pilate did toward Jesus.

34 In this day there are some reasonable men amongst the politicians and judicial officers who are unwilling to yield to the bloodthirsty demands of the clergy to rid the land of Jehovah’s witnesses. Regardless of what men may do, there is but one guide for the true followers of Christ Jesus. These are sent forth by the Almighty God, and protection and salvation is in the hand of Jehovah and can be given by none other. It is the duty of Jehovah’s witnesses to obey God and let men do what they will, having in mind the words of Christ Jesus: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.”—Rev. 2:10, A.R.V.

TO HEATHENDOM

35 Consideration of Jeremiah the twenty-seventh chapter is next here undertaken, and that chapter should be carefully read. In the preceding chapters Jehovah addressed his message to organized religionists, which message applies to those operating under the name of “Christian religion”, the practitioners of which claim to believe on and worship God and Christ. It appears that Armageddon, which is Jehovah’s “strange act”, begins with “Christendom” or “organized religion” falsely called “Christianity”, and that Armageddon will continue to the grand finale. In other words, the beginning of Armageddon will witness the destruction of the professional religionists, to be followed by the destruction of the heathen. In the same way the events recorded in the twenty-sixth chapter appear to be quickly followed by those recorded in the twenty-seventh. It appears from extraneous evidence that the time of the delivery of God’s message as set forth in chapter twenty-seven was in the year 614 B.C. Says the prophecy: “In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord.” (Jer. 27:1) The name “Jehoiakim”, as appearing in this verse of the Scriptures, is evidently an error of the scribe. According to Rotherham, marginal rendering, the name is properly Zedekiah, instead of Jehoiakim. (See also verses 3, 12 and 20 of the same chapter, showing that the message was proclaimed in the fourth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah.) Zedekiah also was a son of Josiah, and a brother of Jehoiakim. He was the uncle of Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim. (2 Ki. 24:17, 18; Jer. 37:1) The time therefore is the same as that in Jeremiah 28:1.

36 Jehovah dictated to his prophet the message set forth in the order in which this series of events must occur: First, the message to “organized religion” or so-called “organized Christianity”, or “Christendom”; and, second, to heathendom. “Thus saith the Lord to me, Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck.” (Jer. 27:2) At this point Jeremiah was commanded to act at or go through a performance illustrating what God would bring to pass upon those forces who hate anything and everything with which the name of God is associated, that is, those who are moved with malice against everything that represents Jehovah God or everything that claims to represent him, and therefore a godless class. That class of creatures will maliciously exult over the destruction of religious organizations that claim to represent God, and will also exult over any punishment inflicted against true Christians, who in truth and in fact represent God. There are certain organizations of men on the earth today who despise anything and everything and all persons that name Jehovah God and Christ. Jesus. The Roman Catholic Hierarchy designates the Communists as such malicious haters, and then, out of mere cruel, malicious wickedness, the Hierarchy also places Jehovah’s witnesses in the class with the Communists. Of course, they are wrong in this, because Jehovah’s witnesses have no part with the Communists or any other organization. The Communists have nothing in common with Jehovah’s witnesses, but, on the contrary, many Communists hate them. As an illustration: Russia destroyed “organized religion”, meaning the religious church organizations of that country, and Russia has never permitted Jehovah’s witnesses to uninterruptedly work and preach the gospel in that country. Millions of persons do not understand or appreciate that Jehovah’s witnesses are commissioned, as Jeremiah was commissioned, to deliver God’s message, and that they have nothing in common with any person or organization that is antiGod and anti-kingdom under Christ. It is important to keep in mind always that Satan is now making his last stand and desperately trying to carry out his wicked challenge made to Jehovah that he could cause all men to curse Him to his face. Satan’s purpose is to rule the world or ruin it; and seeing that Christ Jesus has been enthroned by Jehovah God as King of the world, and that therefore Satan’s rule from henceforth is limited, Satan desperately attempts to ruin the entire race, and in carrying out his purpose he inaugurates schemes to put one class against another and to destroy all. Jehovah’s witnesses have no fight with any individuals or any class of individuals. Their fight is against a hypocritical religion that causes the name of Jehovah God and his King to he defamed, and which misleads the people. Their fight is to expose the wickedness of Satan by holding up the truth of Almighty God’s Word that the people may see the way of escape. Also the purpose of the message is to give warning to the evildoers so that they will be without excuse. The warning goes to all to the end that those who are of good will may flee to God’s organization and find refuge. It appears from the Scriptures that the order of Armageddon will be, first, the destruction of religious systems, called “Christendom”; and that then will follow the destruction of every part of Satan’s organization; and that before Armageddon begins God’s name and his kingdom must be proclaimed as he has commanded.

37 The pantomime or dramatic performance which Jehovah directed Jeremiah to act was directed in the type, and is directed in the antitype, not to the professed religionists or practitioners of the “Christian religion”, but to the non-religious class. Jeremiah was therefore commanded to make bonds or yokes and send them to heathen kings: “And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah.”—Jer. 27: 3.

38 Doubtless those to whom the message was directed, such as Edom and other heathen, had heard of the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the destruction of the city and temple at Jerusalem. The message was a public one, and the priests of Jerusalem would see to it that it was spread about within the hearing of all, that prejudice might be created against Jeremiah; and the nations named in this prophecy no doubt had representatives within the city of Jerusalem. As malicious haters of everything that named the name of Almighty God those men would rejoice in the fact that Jerusalem was to be destroyed, and would hope that it was to come to pass as prophesied. After the siege of Jerusalem had begun God declared his purpose to inflict punishment upon Edom and other nations: “Thus saith the Lord God, Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and boast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.” (Ezek. 25:12,13) “In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.” (Obad. 11-15) This statement of the prophecy is to the effect that God will carry out his purpose without interference or aid from anyone, and that it is not the prerogative of any creature to take a hand therein unless directed or commanded by the Lord so to do.

39 The message of warning was delivered, not only to Edom, but to other nations: “Thus saith the Lord God. Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen; therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord.” (Ezek. 25: 8-11) The warning is also to the Ammonites: “Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them; and say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God; Because thou saidst Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; behold, therefore, I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God, Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; behold, therefore, I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries; I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.” (Ezek. 25:2-7) (See also Jeremiah 49:1-6.) All the nations are included in this warning. (Ezek. 26:2, 3, 21; 28: 21-26) Those prophecies were written for and apply to the day of the vengeance of our God, which comes to pass at Armageddon, that is, his “strange act”.

40 The Lord Jesus is present, the day of judgment has come, and judgment is upon the nations, but which judgment first begins on the religionists of the nations; as it is written: “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Pet. 4:18) Jeremiah’s message by prophetic emblems was delivered to the official representatives of the heathen, the haters and opposers of God. Such heathen representatives were in diplomatic relationship with the Israelites. So likewise today as the message of warning is being served upon “Christendom”, it also comes to non-religious loaders in so-called “Christendom”. It goes to those nations who are heathen but who are in contractual relationship or diplomatic relationship with so-called “Christian nations”.

41 As an illustration: Japan is in an alliance with the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and Japanese dupes oppose Jehovah’s witnesses because they are proclaiming the name of Jehovah God and his King. The persecution and imprisonment of Jehovah’s witnesses by the Japanese government continues with increased fury and is without justification or excuse. It is done because the Roman Catholic Hierarchy demands that Jehovah’s witnesses shall be persecuted in every land.

42 The same year mentioned in this part of the prophecy Jeremiah, at the command of Jehovah, sent a written message against the king of Babylon by the hand of Seraiah, which message was to be read there: “The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.” — Jer. 51: 59-62.

43 This corroborates the other Scriptural statements showing that God will use the godless crowd, that is, the malicious haters, to destroy the hypocritical religious system, and then he will destroy the godless and everything and every person and part of Satan's organization. The end of Armageddon will mark the complete wiping out of everything pertaining to Satan and his wickedness.

44 Jehovah would see to it that his message of warning should reach the masters or rulers of the nations. Those diplomatic representatives that came to Jerusalem to hobnob with Zedekiah the king would certainly receive that message, which God had commanded Jeremiah to put in the hands of his messengers for delivery: "And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters.” (Jer. 27:4) Likewise the ambassadors of the nations that have and maintain relationship with “Christendom” and that therefore 'come to “Christendom” ’ shall know of God’s purpose to destroy Satan’s organization. Such notice has already been served upon many of the foreign diplomats, and they are taking notice in practically all the nations. Manifestly Jehovah permits this to come to them that they shall be without excuse. They shall know that Jehovah is supreme: “I [Jehovah] have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power, and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.” (Jer. 27:5) When the Israelites were marching to Canaan God would not let them destroy Edom, Moab and Ammon, because it was not his due time. (Deut. 2:1-19) In view of the conduct of the Israelites God permitted the Phoenicians to remain in the land, including Tyre and Zidon. Thus he foretold his permission for Satan and his organization to continue without interruption until the fixed time in God’s purpose. Prior to and until 1914 God permitted Satan to control the nations of the earth without interruption, and the God-haters and the hypocritical so-called “Christian religionists” have operated together, and continue to operate together, to control the nations. What message will Jehovah now have delivered to the nations of the earth? and upon whom does he lay the obligation to deliver the same? Can the powers of earth prevent Jehovah’s message from being delivered within his appointed time?

(To be continued)

QUESTIONS FOR STUDY

1. What was the occasion, and the purpose, of the message which Jeremiah was to deliver to the people of Jerusalem? Of what was Jerusalem here a prophetic picture?

2. That Jeremiah was to say ‘to the people of the cities of Judah’, “Thus saith the Lord,” is of what significance?

3. What was the nature of the message delivered by Jeremiah to the religionists of Jerusalem? How did they regard it? Compare therewith the message delivered today by God’s witnesses, and the attitude of the religionists of “Christendom’’. Justify the message of warning as delivered then, and that delivered by Jehovah’s servants today.

4, 5. Why has Jehovah provided in the prophetic record such emphatic warning? What information as to the purpose of the message is seen at Ezekiel 24: 21-24?

6. Has Jehovah ‘made Jerusalem a curse to all nations’? How has Jeremiah 26: 7 been having fulfillment, and with what response by those who have ‘heard these words’?

7. What was the effect upon the Jew religionists of the message delivered by Jeremiah? Describe their procedure, and apply the prophetic picture.

8, 9. How should the religious leaders have reasoned and proceeded in regard to Jeremiah? Instead of that, what did they do? How does this find fulfillment today?

10-12. Account for the Jewish clergy’s inciting the people to ‘gather against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord’. Point out similar procedure by the clergy in Jesus’ day, and today. Why are these truths so strongly emphasized at the present time?

13. Apply the prophetic procedure recorded at verse 10.

14-16. Compare the action of the religionists, and their charge against Jeremiah, with the attitude and tactics of modern- day religionists.

17, 18. Point out the important instruction contained in verse 12.

19. What was the purpose of the message recorded at verse 13? With what response should that message have been received, and why? What is the purpose of this part of the prophetic drama?

20. When Jehovah's witnesses are brought before courts today, what should be their attitude and the nature and purpose of their testimony?

21. Apply the rule seen in the record at verse 14 to those whom Jeremiah at that time pictured.

22, 23. Show the propriety of Jeremiah’s words recorded at verse 15, as also confirmed, later, by the apostles of Jesus Christ.

24. Point out the timeliness of the truths now being brought to the attention of God’s faithful witnesses.

25. Describe the situation in which the matter recorded at verse 16 has its setting.

26-28. Relate the argument presented in behalf of Jeremiah by “certain of the elders of the land”. Account for this further argument in defense of Jeremiah. Point out the reason for this part of the divine record. Does it serve the purpose for which the record has been provided, and why?

29. What helpful precedent is afforded here which Jehovah’s witnesses, when accused, might well follow? Why do comparatively few judges now see and heed the counsel therein available for them?

30. By whom and for what purpose was the argument made as recorded at verses 20-23?

31, 32. Account for Jehoiakim’s action in regard to Urijah, and explain whether he was justified in so doing. What important difference is seen between the prophets Elijah and Jeremiah? What further is prophetically pictured by these two prophets? What is seen in the record at Jeremiah  22: 18,19, concerning Jehoiakim?

33, 34. What was the gist of the argument in favor of Jeremiah? The record of this trial and the outcome thereof bear what important instruction for Jehovah’s witnesses of today?

35. What in the prophetic record here considered seems shown to be the order in which Armageddon will be brought to pass? When was the message delivered that is set forth in Jeremiah chapter twenty-seven! Establish the identity of the king of Judah at the time of this prophecy.

36. In what order, according to the message, must this series of events occur? Describe the class concerning or against whom this message was recorded. Account for the misrepresentation and persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses on earth today. What is the fight in which these are engaged, and the purpose of the message committed to them and by them declared?

37-39. Why was Jeremiah commanded to make bonds or yokes and send them to heathen kings? What was foretold thereby?

40, 41. Account for the opposition to Jehovah’s witnesses, and their persecution and imprisonment, in heathen lands.

42, 43. What prophetic significance is seen in the record at Jeremiah 51: 59-62?

44. What is foreshown in the matter recorded at Jeremiah 27: 41 Cite examples showing that Jehovah ‘has given the earth unto whom it seemeth meet unto him’. Why have the enemies of righteousness so long continued to operate?

WATCHMAN

WHEN Ezekiel had eaten the roll of the book which the hand of the Lord extended to him, then the Lord gave command to him: “And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel.’’ (Ezek. 3:1-5) The prophet Ezekiel thus pictures God’s “servant” class of today who are sent to deliver a message to “Christendom”, because this people have professed to be acquainted with the Scriptures and the language thereof. So today the “servant” class carries the message of truth to so-called “organized Christianity”, or “Christendom”, not to a people of an unknown tongue; nor is it spoken in the terms of a heathen religion; but they inform “Christendom” in their own language as to what God’s Word has to say. If the anointed “servant” class does not now diligently engage in proclaiming the truth of God’s purposes, those so doing would quickly cease to be of the Lord’s servants and he would raise up others, because his time is here when his message must be delivered.

The purpose of delivering the message of truth is not to convert the world, as many have foolishly thought; and this is proved by the words the Lord spoke to Ezekiel: “But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant, harder than flint, have I made thy forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.” (Ezek. 3:7-9) Likewise the Lord tells the faithful “servant” class that he has made their heads harder than those of the rebellious ones and therefore they are not to fear those who are rebellious; hence they must go and speak the truth with plainness and the Lord himself will take care of the result.

Jehovah then tells Ezekiel, and therefore the “faithful servant” class, to receive his words in the heart and in the ears and then go and tell them to the people whether they hear or not. (Ezek. 3:10,11) God’s people could not today be faithful unless they respond gladly and eagerly in carrying the message of truth to “Christendom”. This is being done vigorously and zealously by those who love the Lord.

Ezekiel then states that the spirit took him up and he heard behind him a voice of great rushing, saying: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place.” (Ezek. 3:12) On the day of Pentecost, when the spirit was poured out upon the followers of Christ Jesus, there was the sound like the rushing of a mighty wind; and in like manner the spirit came upon Ezekiel, foreshadowing that the spirit of the Lord would come upon his people after the coming of Christ Jesus to the temple of Jehovah. Ezekiel describes it, saying: “I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.”—Ezek. 3:13,14.

This foreshadowed that the Lord puts his spirit upon his people and reveals to them a sufficient amount of the truth to enable them to discern God’s organization, and the wicked organization of Satan in opposition to the Lord, and the great privilege that they have of being in Jehovah’s organization and going into action against the enemy and his agencies. When they see the hideousness and wickedness of Satan’s organization these go in the heat of the spirit and with bitterness against the enemy, because the enemy is God’s enemy. Such is not a malicious hatred, of course, but a sincere and earnest desire to see the enemy and his organization destroyed that God’s name might be exalted.

Ezekiel was then at Tel-abib by the river Chebar (“extent of time”), which would indicate that the fullness of God’s time had come for a new era in his field of service. “Tel-abib” means “hill of green growth” or “hill of Abib”. The first month of the Jewish year was Abib (the same as Nisan), that being the springtime, when the earth was covered with green growth. Even so it was ‘the springtime of the kingdom’, the “hill of green growth” marking the time of a new era. Many who had made a covenant to do God’s will and had been brought forth as his sons had turned away into Babylonish captivity. God’s covenant people must now have a watchman, and this was foreshadowed by what the Lord said to Ezekiel: “And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.”—Ezek. 3:16,17.

The “watchman” is not one man, but is the entire company of anointed ones on earth making up the “faithful and wise servant” class. Some have advanced the thought that the “watchman” is an individual; but this is entirely wrong and contrary to the Scriptures. The anointed class constitute the “watchman”, and each member thereof watches for the other and watches out for the interests of the kingdom, all of which interests are now committed into the hands of the “servant” class. Concerning this same “watchman” Isaiah wrote: “Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.” The faithful watchmen must give warning to all who claim to be the people of God. Therefore they say to each other: “Thy God reigneth!”—Isa. 52:7, 8.

The Lord has laid great responsibility upon the watchmen, to wit, his “faithful servant” class. He makes it obligatory that such shall warn those who start in the way of wickedness. The wicked are not those who never knew the truth, but are those who, having once been enlightened, to some degree at least, concerning the truth of God’s purposes, have then turned away therefrom and render service to the enemy. As Jehovah commanded Ezekiel, so he com mands now the one whom Ezekiel foreshadowed, his watchmen, his “servant” class, saying: “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shall surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” (Ezek. 3:18-20) The “watchman” class could not perform its proper duty unless it sounded the warning to those who have once been connected with the Watch Tower Society; and this has been done, even though it has brought down upon the Society many harsh criticisms.

It is not the prerogative of The Watchtower, nor of any forming a part of the “servant” class, to announce its judgment; but it is the duty of such to call attention to God’s judgments as they are written, and this must be done as a warning. Also, it is the duty of such to call attention to God’s judgments as they are written against the “evil servant”, and this must be done as a warning. Also, it is the duty of the “servant” class, by any other means the Lord has provided, to give warning to all “Christendom” by calling attention to the judgments of the Lord as they are written.

This was foreshadowed by the words of the Lord to Ezekiel: “Nevertheless, if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.” (Ezek. 3:21) In harmony with this commandment given to Ezekiel God’s judgment is: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” — Rev. 22:11.

Those of the temple class who bear the message of the Lord must be clean, and to this end must separate themselves from all who are out of harmony with God’s organization. (2 Cor. 6: 15-17) In harmony with this plain statement of the Scriptures the Lord commanded Ezekiel to separate himself and go into the plain, that the Lord might talk with him there. “And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he sai l unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain; and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Che- bar; and I fell on my face.” (Ezek. 3:22,23) The “faithful servant” class must be separate from “Christendom”, from the “evil servant” class, and, in fact, from all not in complete harmony with God's organization. The “faithful servant” must stand out separate and alone as the target of the enemy and as the witness for the Lord. These faithful ones gather themselves together unto the Lord in a condition of separateness, and the Lord’s glory appears unto them. The facts show that since 1922 the Lord has illuminated his “servant” class and laden their table with an abundance of spiritual food and has illuminated their minds as it never came to pass before. The vision of God’s organization is there before them, because the spirit of the Lord is upon them even as it was upon Ezekiel.

“Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and, said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.” (Ezek. 3:24) The “house” mentioned in this scripture is God’s place of security provided by him for the “faithful servant” class. It is “the secret place of the Most High” where the “servant” is pictured as being invulnerable to the assaults of the enemy.

The “faithful servant”, being separate from the enemy and under the hand of the Lord Jehovah, is in the place of security; but in this place of security the “servant” is not to be idle. He beholds the enemy and his activities and the enemy’s desire to slay the “servant”; yet he knows that he is secure, because the Lord has so promised him, and in this security the “servant” goes forth with a zeal to the work which the Lord has provided and put in his hands. (Ps. 91:1-11) “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.’’ — Ps. 27: 5.