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CONTENTS

'The Father of Spirits” ......

Spirit of Life ........................

“Spirits of All Flesh”...........

Spirit Creatures.....................

Operations of the Spirit ......

Active Force ...........................

Other Manifestations.............

Demons, the Promoters of Violence .. 188

Jephthah, New World Fighter ... Field Experiences...............................

“Educators in Freedom”

Testimony Period .....................

“Religion Reaps the Whirlwind” “Watchtower” Studies ....................

How to Make Remittances to

the Society.................................

Published Semimonthly By

WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY 117 Adams Street -   - Brooklyn 1, N.Y., U.S.A.

Officers

N. H. Knorr, President W. E. Van Amburgh, Secretary “And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” - Isaiah 54:13.

THE SCRIPTURES CLEARLY TEACH

THAT JEHOVAH is the only true God and is from everlasting to everlasting, the Maker of heaven and earth and the Giver of life to his creatures; that the Logos was the beginning of his creation, and his active agent in the creation of all other things, and is now the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, clothed with all power in heaven and earth, as the Chief Executive Officer of Jehovah;

THAT GOD created the earth for man, created perfect man for the earth and placed him upon it; that man willfully disobeyed God’s law and was sentenced to death; that by reason of Adam’s wrong act all men are born sinners and without the right to life;

THAT THE LOGOS was made human as the man Jesus and suffered death in order to produce the ransom or redemptive price for obedient ones of mankind; that God raised up Jesus divine and exalted him to heaven above every other creature and above every creature’s name and clothed him with all power and authority;

THAT GOD'S CAPITAL ORGANIZATION is a Theocracy called Zion, and that Christ Jesus is the Chief Officer thereof and is the rightful King of the world; that the anointed and faithful followers of Christ Jesus are children of Zion, members of Jehovah’s organization, and are his witnesses whose duty and privilege it is to testify to the supremacy of Jehovah, declare his purposes toward mankind as expressed in the Bible, and to bear the fruits of the Kingdom before all who will hear;

THAT THE OLD WORLD ended in A. D. 1914, and the Lord Jesus Christ has been placed by Jehovah upon his throne of authority, has ousted Satan from heaven and is proceeding to the establishment of the “new earth” of the New World;

THAT THE RELIEF and blessings of the peoples of earth can come only by and through Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ, which has now begun; that the Lord’s next great act is the destruction of Satan’s organization and the complete establishment of righteousness in the earth, and that under the Kingdom the people of good-will that survive Armageddon shall carry out the divine mandate to “fill the earth” with a righteous race.

ITS MISSION

HIS journal is published for the purpose of enabling the people to know Jehovah God and his purposes as expressed in the Bible. It publishes Bible instruction specifically designed to aid Jehovah’s witnesses and all people of good-will.

It arranges systematic Bible study for its readers and the Society supplies other literature to aid in such studies. It publishes suitable material for radio broadcasting and for other means of public instruction in the Scriptures.

It adheres strictly to the Bible as authority for its utterances. It is entirely free and separate from all religion, parties, sects or other worldly organizations. It is wholly and without reservation for the kingdom of Jehovah God under Christ his beloved King. It is not dogmatic, but invites careful and critical examination of its contents in the light of the Scriptures. It does not indulge in controversy, and its columns are not open to personalities.

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“EDUCATORS IN FREEDOM” TESTIMONY PERIOD

Appropriate to the name of the June Testimony Period as above given, a new educational feature has now been released for initial mtroduction to the general public, namely, the booklet Religion Reaps the Whirlwind. This goes well with the bound book “The Truth Shall Make Tou Free” and the booklet The Coming World Regeneration, the three being offered in combination on a contribution of 30c. Otherwise, the bound book and a selfcovered booklet, The Coming World Regeneration, are now offered together on a 25c contribution, and the new 64-page colored-cover booklet alone on a 5c contribution. Preliminary arrangements are essential in order for each one to get off to an effective start in the Testimony Period. Those desiring to share in this educational campaign by means of circulating the printed message are invited to get in touch with us for instructions and references. A report is asked of all educators at the close of June on all their individual activities and the results.

“RELIGION REAPS THE WHIRLWIND”

Here is a new booklet for which we predict a good future in the “strange work” of striking the shackles of religious bondage from multitudes of prisoners of “Christendom”. Its 64 pages put under the Scripture searchlight the fundamental doctrines of “organized religion" and show religion’s responsibility for the present world conditions and the certain fate that awaits it in a near day. This booklet has a special three-color cover with a unique expression of the artist’s conception of the title. Religion Reaps the Whirlwind was released for public distribution on June 1, and you may now get your advance personal copy and read it in preparation for the general distribution, at 5c the copy, postpaid.

"WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of July 23: “The Father of Spirits,” fl 1-21 inclusive, The Watchtower June 15, 1944.

Week of July 30: “The Father of Spirits,” fl 22-43 inclusive, The Watchtower June 15, 1944.

HOW TO MAKE REMITTANCES TO THE “SOCIETY”

Everyone sending a remittance to the Society for any purpose can do so in an enlightened way so as to be a real help to the general offices and the treasurer’s office by observing the instructions below, and we ask that each one do so at all times.

To the Watch Tower Bible a Tract Society, Treasurer’s Office, 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn 2, N. Y., send all contributions to the work; that is, your “Good Hopes” or other donations, to be used to advance and spread far and wide the message of God’s kingdom. Make such checks, money orders or (Continued on page 192)

ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH’S KINGDOM

Vol. LXV                                   June 15, 1944                                      No. 12

“THE FATHER OF SPIRITS”

"Be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live."—Heb. 12:9.

JEHOVAH God means more to us than the fathers I whom we have had according to our flesh. Human J fathers have begotten our race in imperfection, weakness and leanings toward sin and wrongdoing. The existence which they have transmitted to us is very short-lived and is subject to much pain, grief and disappointment. They themselves, after having begotten us, have died and left us behind, and we as their offspring can rise no higher than they were in the scale of life by human means. On the brighter side, Jehovah is the great First Father, for he is the only Uncaused One and his name means “He causes to be”, for a purpose, of course. He is the Fountainhead of all life throughout the endless reaches of the universe. Upon this unique Life-giver depends the existence of every living creature in heaven and in earth. He is the Father of spirits. As the human body without the spirit is dead, so the creature that refuses to be subject to the Father of spirits must lose all life early or later. From everlasting to everlasting He is God, and he is The One Being. (Ps. 90:1,2) All others are creatures, with a start in existence more or less remote. None but He can truthfully say of himself, “I AM THAT I AM.” (Ex. 3:14) His only begotten Son is the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature”, and owns Jehovah as his Father.—Col. 1: 15.

• ² What is God? The only begotten Son, who was the first to enjoy life with the great Father Jehovah, speaks authoritatively in his answer: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 24) It is noteworthy that this Son of God did not say that God is “in three persons”, namely, “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost”; which is the expression repeated parrotlike by religionists without understanding and without any Bible support. The only begotten Son said concerning Jehovah: “The Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.” (John 5:37) The very fact that Jehovah God is a Spirit denotes he is invisible to human eyes; and it is impossible and also expressly forbidden for man to make an image to represent God and by means of which image to worship Him. It is belittling and disparaging to the Most High God invisible to make such an image, even under the plea of worshiping him thereby, because He is beyond compare. Such an image proves a snare into idolatry, as man’s religious history shows. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.”—Rom. 1: 22, 23,25; Deut. 7:16,25.

* Jehovah God has within him an unfathomable reservoir of creative power and power of accomplishment. His power is irresistible and, when exerted or applied, it never fails to bring about the purpose of the All-powerful One. The power is invisible, but can be used to do or make things that are visible to man. Also, the effect of God’s use of such power can be discerned and studied by man. Because man cannot see the power or the User thereof, imperfect man is generally inclined to give to God no credit for the visible effects of the divine power used. The great Source of power is holy, that is to say, clean, pure, unchangeably righteous, and unable to do anything but right. According to the Greek Scriptures of the Bible, holy means not of the earth; and Jehovah God has no connection with the corrupt earthly organization of humankind nor with the degrading, wicked deeds done by religious men of this visible earthly organization. Jehovah’s power is sent forth without exception in a holy cause and it works for righteousness. It is a holy power and is never otherwise.

• ⁴ Before ever man trod this earth and viewed the wondrous works of the Creator, the power of God was set in motion as an active force to make this globe habitable for man and beast. The original mass of this earth ceased to glow like a star when its vaporizable elements were forced skyward by the terrific heat of the molten earth-mass, and these formed great concentric rings which later spread out to envelope the earth with canopies. They were like swaddling bands, before dropping again to the earth in mighty deluges. God speaks of the formation of the earth as being at the time “when I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it”. (Job 38: 9) The tremendous rings and canopies dimmed the radiance of the incandescent earth. As the earth within cooled, it was swathed in pitch darkness, and the rings and canopies shed forth no light of their own. They constituted a great “deep”, suspended far out from the earth’s surface and also enwrapping it within their sable shadow. Although men wise in their own conceits might call the conditions then chaotic, the active force of earth’s Creator was working according to His pattern and all was in subjection to his guiding control and orderly direction. The only genuine account tells of that stage of getting the earth ready for the dwelling of mankind, in these words: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” —Gen. 1: 2.

  • 1. (a) Why does Jehovah God mean more to us than our human father!?   3. To what extent does God's power operate, why do Imperfect men

  (b) Why is he The One Being?                                             deny Its effects, and why la it a holy power?

  • 2. (a) What is God. according to Jesus and according to religion?   4. What was set in motion to make this earth-mass habitable, and

  (b) Why is it forbidden to pretend to worship God by means of images? why were conditions then not chaotic?

  179

  
  

‘ The spirit that brooded over the great deep that enveloped the cooling earth was the directed active force of the Creator God. Though invisible, that spirit or active force from God was causing visible changes in and about the earth according to the supreme will. These changes were thousands of years in coming to their fullness, and the spirit hovered about the earth like an eagle hovering with fluttering motion over her nest of eaglets. (Deut. 32: 11) It was not any so-called “third person” of God and, as such, named “the holy ghost”. Jehovah God is one in person; and the spirit that brooded at the formless earth was His active force, his spirit, his holy spirit, and was no trinitarian person.

‘ The event that now came off marked the first day of the six creative days or periods with respect to our globe. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” This light on the face of the deep was not destined to reach the earth-mass rotating within its rings and canopies till the fourth day, on which day the radiation from the sun and other heavenly bodies first penetrated to earth through the canopies by then having become translucent. (Gen. 1: 3-5,14-19) On the second creative day the God of

• 5 What was the spirit that moved upon the face of the waters, and why did it do so?

• 6 . (a) What marked the first creative day? (b) What marked the second day, and why was it of vital interest to man? order created an atmosphere, which atmosphere, when it had cleared sufficiently in due time, man and other living creatures on earth were to breathe for their life-support. This atmosphere or firmament was within and under the canopy of the great deep that was revolving far out beyond the earth. “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”—Gen. 1: 6-8.

• ⁷ Toward the end of the sixth creative day was the first time that the lungs of man breathed in the atmosphere, and the man awoke to life. It was the active force of Jehovah God that caused man to inhale through his nostrils and to start the life processes of the human body to operating. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2: 7) Later, when the same God created woman, he likewise breathed into her nostrils the breath of life, and she too became a living soul. (Gen. 2:18-22) God put in the man and woman the force of life, and this was sustained by breathing. Such life-force the man gave the name of spirit or ruach (Hebrew). Concerning this it is written: “Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit [ruach] to them that walk therein.” (Isa. 42:5) Because the Creator gives the power to man to breathe and this sustains the life-force of man’s body, the prophet Job was not silly when he said: “All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit [ruach] of God is in my nostrils; my lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.” (Job 27:3,4) It would be only a case of religious nonsense to think that this meant that a supposed “third person of the trinity”, the “holy ghost”, was in the nostrils of patient suffering Job, whom three religionists were falsely accusing as a hypocritical sinner.                                        '

• The active force of life which all flesh enjoys proceeds from the Fountain of life. (Rev. 11:11) If Jehovah God were to withdraw it because men set their heart against him, humankind would die. This was what the young prophet Elihu meant when saying to Job: “If he set his heart upon him [or, against Him], if [God] gather unto himself his spirit [ruach] and his breath; all flesh shall perish

• 7 . How was humankind first made to breathe, and why is it rlcht to say “the spirit of God is in my nostrils"?

• 8 . What did Elihu say would occur it God gathered to himself the spirit and Che breath, and why? together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” —Job 34: 14,15.

’ As Job drew near the grave, he felt as if God were about to take away his spirit or life-force. Said the afflicted Job: “He breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause. He will not suffer me to take my breath [ruach], but filleth me with bitterness.” (Job 9:17,18) Job knew that life depended upon God, and he said: “Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this! In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath [ruach] of all mankind.” (Job 12:9,10) How misplaced, then, is any confidence put in human rulers who promise to lead man out of all his troubles! “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath [ruach] goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Ps. 146: 3, 4) The power of God to give life and to take it away should be reason for us to trust in him and to keep in unbreakable touch with him. What if He should hide his face from us? “Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath [ruach], they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit [ruach], they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.” —Ps. 104: 29, 30; Ezek. 37: 5-10.

• ¹⁰ Those who sing forth God’s praises and who testify to his name do that which makes them approved for everlasting life at His hands. Those who use their tongues rebelliously against God and his rightful rule of the earth bring upon themselves a break or an interruption to the continuance of their life-force or spirit. “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein [in the tongue] is a breach in the spirit [ruach].”—Prov, 15: 4.

• ¹¹ At the battle of Armageddon, “the battle of that great day of God Almighty,” Jehovah will deal out death to all worldly rulers opposing the rule of his Theocratic Government by Christ Jesus. “He shall cut off the spirit [ruach] of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.” (Ps. 76: 12) In the time of the resurrection under Christ’s rule, God will not send forth his spirit or life-force to restore to life any such as wickedly fight against his King during the battle of Armageddon. At that battle God Almighty will demand their life, and his Warrior King will execute them. “There is no man that hath power over the spirit [ruach] to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.” “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit 9. According to Job and the psalmist, why does a person misplace his confidence when putting it in man rather than in God?

• 10 How is a wholesome tongue a tree of life, and perverseness in Its use a breach in the spirit?

• 11 . At Armageddon what will God do in terribleness to worldly kings and princes, and what will be their future prospects thereafter? [ruach] shall return unto God who gave it.” (Eccl. 8:8; 12:7) No fighters against God go to heaven.

SPIRIT OF LIFE

“ Religion has made its dupes to think that the spirit of life or the life-force in man is different from that of the lower animals; but on this vital subject religion disagrees with the inspired Scriptures. For truth on the subject we must accept what “saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit [ruach] of man within him”. (Zech. 12:1) He caused the wise man to set down this eye-opening truth: “That which befalleth the sons of men befall-eth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one spirit; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth!” (Eccl. 3:19-21, Am. Stan. Ver., margin) When bringing in the deluge of Noah’s day, the great Life-giver emphasized that truth, saying: “And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath [ruach] of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die.” “And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath [ruach] of life.” Outside the ark, “all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit [ruach] of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.”—Gen. 6:17; 7:15,22, marginal reading.

“ If, then, it is vain and disappointing for mankind to trust in fallen men who for a limited time possess ruach, spirit or life-energy, how much more foolish is it to fear, worship and pray to religious images, paintings and emblems! Why? “The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath [ruach] in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.”—Ps. 135:15-18; Hab. 2:18,19; Jer. 51: 17.

“ If, now, we understand what the spirit that is in man is, as explained by the Creator's Word, we can appreciate what the psalmist meant in saying: “Into thine hand I commit my spirit [ruach]: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.” (Ps. 31: 5) The fulfillment of this prophetic verse came at the time that Jesus hung upon the tree; concerning which the record at Luke 23:46 says: “And when 12. Is the life-force in man different from that of beasts ’ and how do the flood of Noah’s day and Ecclesiastes make this clear?

• 13. what is still more foolish than to trust In breathing creature-man, and why?                        *

• 14. (a) When was Psalm 31:5 fulfilled, “Into thine hand I commend my spirit’? (b) What do religionists declare this to mean, and why unscripturally so?

Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Religionists confuse the spirit here with the soul, and say that Jesus’ words are a proof of the immateriality of the soul and of its separate existence when the body is dead. They forget that Adam became a living soul, a material fleshly human soul, when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Trinitarians might reason also that Luke 23: 46 proves that their “third person of the trinity”, the so-called “holy ghost”, was inside Jesus and that when he died he gave it up, and that the spirit he commended up to God and the “ghost” he gave up are one and the same thing.

• ¹⁵ How foolish these confusing interpretations of religion are becomes clear when Luke 23:46 is viewed in modern-day English, as follows: “Then Jesus gave a loud cry, and said, ‘Father, I intrust my spirit to your hands!’ With these words he expired.” (Goodspeed; also modern Catholic Vulgate translation) “And calling with a loud voice Jesus said, Father! into thy hands I commend my spirit. And this saying, he ceased to breathe.” (Rotherham) Whereas Jesus commended his spirit to his God and Father, Jesus’ soul or existence as a creature went to hell or the tomb. It was left there only till the third day, on which day Psalm 16:10 was fulfilled, reading: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” (Acts 2:24-32) On the third day Christ Jesus came into existence again as a living soul by God’s resurrecting of his Son from the dead. Thus the Scriptures make a distinction between soul and spirit.—See 1 Thessalonians 5: 23; Hebrews 4: 12.

“ His spirit, which Jesus commended to God, was his life-force or power of life. That power returned to God, who gave it to Jesus; and God alone could restore it to his dead Son. God did so when he raised him from the state of death and restored him to life as a living soul. The great Life-giver Jehovah safely kept that which Jesus commended to him, because Jesus died in blameless integrity toward God and did not forfeit his right to everlasting life. The enemies were able by God’s permission to kill the body, yet they could not destroy Jesus’ right to life as a living soul and they could not obstruct God’s power to resurrect Christ Jesus to life as a living soul on the third day.—Matt. 10: 28.

“SPIRITS OF ALL FLESH"

” It now becomes apparent also just what Moses and Aaron meant at the time of the rebellion of 15. How does modern’s translation show the foolishness of such religious interpretation, and how does the Bible here make a distinction between spirit and soul?

• 10 . What, then, was it that Jesus commended to God, and why did his Father restore it the third day?

• 17 . At Korah’s rebellion and at notification concerning his own death, what did Moses call God, and how is Jehovah the God of such? Korah the Levite and his fellows. God said to Moses and Aaron: “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” “And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation!” (Num. 16:21,22) Moses again spoke of “spirits of all flesh” when God notified him of his approaching death and when need arose for a man to take over Moses’ responsibilities. “And Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation.” (Num. 27:15,16) Jehovah is the “God of the spirits of all flesh” in that He is the source of the life-force or power of life which all flesh enjoys while having conscious existence. The “spirits of all flesh” are no intelligent personalities nor any parts of a “holy ghost” or “third person of the trinity” dwelling within all flesh. All flesh is dependent upon Jehovah for its life, and he can blot them out for being disobedient. (Acts 17:25,28) When one servant dies, God can raise up another living servant to serve within His organization.

“At Hebrews 12:9 the apostle writes to Christians: “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live!” This expression may refer to Jehovah the Father in the sense in which Moses used the like expression, “God of the spirits of all flesh.” However, the apostle may be referring to God as the spiritual Father of Christians in contrast with the fleshly fathers that they have had. The apostle may also mean that Jehovah God is the Father of spirit creatures, seeing that the Christians too are spiritual and have hope of life in the spirit in the heavens with other spirit creatures there.

SPIRIT CREATURES

” The Scriptures regularly use the word “spirit" to refer to the unseen celestial creatures who are higher than man and mightier than he is. At Psalm 104:1,4 it is written: “Bless the Lord, 0 my soul. 0 Lord my God, thou art very great; . . . who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire.” The apostle Paul renders this text in Greek to have the same meaning, at Hebrews 1: 7, writing: “And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.” The prophet Micaiah used the term spirit to mean a creature when he related a vision to kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat and said: “I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the

• 18 To wbom does the apostle's expression at Hebrews 12.9 refer, and how?

• 19 . To what else is the term "spirit” applied as shown by the psalmist, Paul, and the propbet Micaiah?

Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead! And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith! And lie said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.”—1 Ki. 22:19-22; 2 Chron. 18:18-21.

• ²⁰ Job’s accuser, Eliphaz, tells of an evil spirit who spoke in reproach of God. Eliphaz said: “Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: it stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, Shall mortal man be more just than God?” (Job 4:15-17) Showing the difference between flesh creatures on earth and spirit creatures in the invisible heavens, and their comparative powers and strength, Jehovah God said, at Isaiah 31:3, to those who rely on armies, chariots and horses for help instead of on God: “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit [ruach]. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen [or helped by them] shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.” At Zechariah 6:5 the prophet refers to the hosts of superhuman spirit creatures which God has at his command and which he now uses in performing his “strange work" on the earth clear up to the oncoming battle of Armageddon. Zechariah says: “And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits [ruach] of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.”

• ²¹ In the inspired scriptures written in Greek after Christ the writers use the word pneuma to translate the word ruach used in the old Hebrew Scriptures. As with ruach, they use pneuma to designate the spirit creatures. At Matthew 8: 16 it is said of Jesus: "When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick.” These devils or demons are elsewhere called “unclean spirits” and “evil spirits”; and their activity is spoken of as “spiritual wickedness in high places”. (See Mark 1:23,26,27; 3:11,30; 9:25; Luke 7:21; 8:2,29; Acts 16:16,18; 19:12-16; Ephesians 6:12.) The resurrected Christ showed he agreed with Isaiah 31:3, above quoted, that spirits are invisible to man’s eyes. When his disciples

20 How did EUphax likewise use the tens, how did God show the difference between suchlike and fleshly creatures, and how did Zechariah foresee their part in God's work?

• 21. (a) What Greek word is used in Scripture to translate the Hebrew ruach, and how is it likewise applied? (b) How did Jesus show the difference between flesh and spirit, agreeably to Isaiah 31:3? thought they had seen a spirit person, he said to them: “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Jesus had been resurrected from the dead a spirit creature, who could enter through the walls of the closed room in which they were met. To reveal himself to their powers of vision he entered as a spirit into their presence and then materialized a body of flesh and bones which they could see and handle. (Luke 24:33-43) In that materialized form Jesus could eat of their fish and honey, just as the three angels could eat of the meal which Abraham spread for them when they appeared to him shortly before the destruction of the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.—Gen. 18:1-8; 19:13.

• ²² Peter was among those to whom the resurrected Jesus appeared. He testifies that Jesus is no longer human but is now a spirit person, saying: “Christ also died once for sins, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Put to death indeed in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit, in which also he went and preached to those spirits that were in prison.” (1 Pet. 3:18,19, modern Catholic Vulgate translation; also Douay Ver.; Am. Stan. Ver.) In the Apocalypse, or book of The Revelation, the resurrected Jesus Christ makes blessed promises to his followers that overcome, and seven times he refers to himself as a spirit, saying: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit [pneuma] saith unto the churches.” (Rev. 2:7,11, 17,29; 3:6,13,22) Describing his present work in which his body of devoted followers, his ‘'bride” class, join him in inviting all persons of good-will to partake of the life-giving truth from the throne of God, Christ Jesus says: “And the Spirit [pneuma] and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” —Rev. 22:17.

OPERATIONS OF THE SPIRIT

” The question may arise with some, Why is the same term, ruach in Hebrew and pneuma in Greek, applied to God, to the resurrected Jesus, to angels, and also to the life-force that energizes all flesh and that is sustained by breathing! It is because there is something in common between all these. Hence the term fits all.

’* Be it remarked that from the Hebrew Scriptures of before Christ ruach is translated spirit 232 times; anger once; courage once; mind 5 times; cool

• 22. What does the apostle Peter testify Jesus to be now, and how In the Revelation does Jesus himself attest that he is such¹

• 23. Why la the same term, ruach or pneuma, used to designate such things, both animate and inanimate?

• 24. (a) In the Authorised Version English Bible how are the words ruach and pneuma variously translated, and what is the elements) meaning of the words? <b) How do both Elihu and Jesus show this? once; blast 4 times; tempest once; air once; windy once; ivind 90 times; and breath 28 times; besides other ways. From the Greek Scriptures of after Christ the corresponding word pneuma is translated ghost 91 times; life once; spiritual gift once; spiritually once; spirit 288 times; and wind once. The simplest or elemental meanings of ruach and pneuma are breath, and ivind, because both ruach and pneuma are drawn from root verbs meaning “to breathe” or “to blow”. For example, at Job 32:20, Elihu says, after having held back throughout a long discussion: “I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer.” The marginal reading of this is: “I will speak, that I may breathe; I will open my lips and answer.” Christ Jesus shows there is something in common between wind and a spirit person, in that he said: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind [pneuma] bloweth [pnei] where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the spirit [pneuma].” (John 3:7,8) At verse 6 he contrasts flesh and spirit, saying: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.”

• ²⁵ Wherein, then, lies the likeness between breath or wind and God, the resurrected Jesus, and the angel spirits, so that the one term can be applied to all alike! In this, that all are an active force in kind and all are invisible to the unaided human eye. All, however, may produce effects that are see-able. When the invisible breath is drawn in, the lungs expand and the chest is seen to rise. When the invisible wind or tempest blast blows, it bellies out the sails and drives the ship over the waters. Thus these unseen forces produce seen results. So also do God and the glorified Jesus and the other spirit persons. Hence it is written concerning Satan the Devil, the prince of the demons: “In time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit [pneuma] that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” The work of this prince of unclean spirits himself is invisible, but it produces visible effects in the disobedient course of men who yield to Satan the Devil.—Eph. 2: 2, 3.

” Jehovah God speaks of himself as a Spirit. More than a century before the flood, when the work of the prince of the power of the air caused wickedness and violence to be increased among men to the great reproach of God by them, “the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty

25. Wherein does the likeness lie. so that the one term can be applied to all these things alike? and what are some Illustrations?

20 When and how did Jehovah God use the expression “My spirit" concerning himself, and how did He then demonstrate that such existed though unseen? years.” (Gen. 6:3) By the expression “My spirit” Jehovah God meant to say: “I the Spirit,” with all the resistless might and power that this implied, as in contrast with puny man of flesh whose life-force would be snuffed out in 120 years. In the global flood the power and being of the Almighty Spirit were made visible to mankind in vindication of the name, word and supremacy of Jehovah God. The great Spirit was beyond their sight, yet the power of destruction that swept the globe in the face of Satan’s opposition could come from a source no other than the omnipotent God of righteousness. Thereby he demonstrated that there is a most high Spirit: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.”—Rom. 1: 20.

” The waters of the flood prevailed upon the earth for five months. Then “God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind [ruach] to pass over the earth, and the waters ass waged”. (Gen. 8:1) This is the second time that “wind” is mentioned in the Bible, the first time being concerning Eden after man had sinned, and his wife. “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [{margin) the wind, ruach] of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.” (Gen. 3:8) Observing the invisible nature of the wind or breeze and seeing with the eye the effects of its action or movement, godly man knew the fitting term by which to name that which God is, namely, Spirit, ruach, pneuma.—John 4: 24.

ACTIVE FORCE

” Besides its use to mean invisible, heavenly persons and also the life-force put within men by God, another use of the term spirit is that occurring at Genesis 1:2: “And the spirit [ruach] of God moved upon the face of the waters"; and also at Genesis 41:38: “And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is?” Reason dictates that Pharaoh was not intending to say that a holy-ghostish “third person of the trinity” was dwelling in Joseph. Sanely he meant that the active force of Almighty God was working in Joseph, which active force or spirit was operating to a discernible or visible effect in that it enabled Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s two dreams accurately. Joseph honestly confessed that the ability to interpret was not native or inborn with him, but was by the spirit which comes from God. Said Joseph: "It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh

27. What are the first two mentions of “wind” In the Bible, and why did godly man designate God by the term which also means “wind”? 28. What else is the term “spirit” used to mean as shown at earth's creation and at Joseph's appearance before Pharaoh? an answer of peace. . . . The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.” (Gen. 41:16,25) It is certain that the Almighty God did not have to come down from his throne of the universe to the immediate neighborhood of this earth or to the side of Joseph in order to use his active force upon his servant and to put the right thoughts of understanding in his mind. From wherever his lofty, glorious station is Jehovah God sent forth his spirit or invisible energy and he beamed it directly upon the devoted Joseph. It is written: “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew’ himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”—2 Chron. 16: 9.

²’ The manifestations of such spirit or invisible active energy of the all-powerful God are many and of great variety. The Bible records many such. Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s prophetic dream was- a case of divine inspiration. God by remote control moved, by energy invisible, upon the mind of his servant to speak with understanding the things not possible for Joseph to unravel of himself. That, however, was not the first instance of the spirit of Jehovah God to act upon a man. Enoch was certainly an earlier case of inspiration, for the apostle Peter writes: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy ghost” (Authorized Version); “moved by the holy spirit” (Am.Stan. Ver.) ; “moved by holy spirit” (The Emphatic Dia-glott translation).

¹⁰ Trinitarians, who translated the Authorized or King James Version of the Bible and who believed that the “holy ghost” is the third person of a “trinity”, were greatly perplexed because in Peter’s original Greek writing he used no article “the” before “holy spirit”. The Emphatic Diaglott translation of 2 Peter 1: 20, 21 shows this fact. There are 51 cases where the expression “holy spirit” in the original Greek text has no definite article “the” before it; there are also 54 cases where the word “spirit” in the original Greek text has no definite article or any other qualifying word about it. Out of these 105 cases where the text omits the article the, each time that the trinitarian translators thought the verse referred to their imagined “third person of the trinity” they painstakingly inserted the article the in their English translation and also gave capital initial letters to the words “Holy” and “Spirit”. This makes one inquire if Jehovah God was careless or

29 Of what was Joseph’s interpreting Pharaoh’s dream a case, and how does the apostle Peter show whether this was the first case of such?

30 Why were the trinitarian Bible-translators perplexed about the original texts concerning “spirit” or “holy spirit , and how did they painstakingly exercise themselves to remedy the matter? faulty in the way he inspired the Bible writers of the original text to set down the expressions involving himself or the use of his active force or spirit. Freedom from religious error makes us answer No.

” The spirit or life-force which flows from God and which is in all living flesh is different from the spirit, or active force, or invisible energy which Jehovah God sends forth to accomplish his will and work by means of various earthly creatures upon which it operates. This is specially manifest in the instance where the money-loving prophet Balaam was riding to pronounce a curse upon the chosen people of God, and suddenly he had difficulty with his riding mount. It was because the ass’s eyes were miraculously opened to behold “the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand”. Balaam beat the poor animal. Finally, being unable to turn out of the way of the angel, the ass “fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?” To Balaam’s reply, the ass said: “Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee?” When Balaam answered No, then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes to see what the ass saw. (Num. 22: 22-33) The spirit or invisible force of God was that which came upon the ass and caused it to do the miraculous, to speak and reason with Balaam. This was different and distinct from the life-force or spirit of all flesh which remained in the dumb animal after the power of speech by God’s spirit left it.

” God’s energizing force to cause those who have the spirit of life to say or do things beyond their natural powers to perform and which things they did not understand is again described by the apostle Peter. At 1 Peter 1:10-12 he writes: “Concerning which salvation those prophets, w’ho prophesied concerning the favor towards you, sought out and investigated, examining closely to what things, or what kind of season, the spirit [pneuma] which was in them was pointing out, when it previously testified the sufferings for Christ, and after these the glories; to whom it was revealed, that not for themselves, but for you, they ministered those things, which now were declared to you through those who evangelized you with holy spirit sent from heaven; into which things angels earnestly desire to look.” (Emph.Diag.) If those prophets of before Christ foretold things they did not understand and did so by God’s holy active force, then it follows that the 31 Does the term “spirit'’ designate the same thing when applied to life-force and to active force sent forth* and how does the incident of Balaam and the ass make this plain?

32 How does Peter refer to the prophets and the apostles to show the application of God's spirit to do the miraculous* understanding or explanation of such things by the followers of Christ Jesus must be by the same force, namely, by holy spirit; and so Peter declares. —See 1 Corinthians 2:10.

*’ The Bible, though written by imperfect men, was in all parts written by the inspiring power of God upon men wholly devoted to Him, and hence the inspired written Word or Bible is God's Word or Book. His spirit of inspiration guarded lest error, false doctrine and false prophecy be taught in that Word, despite that the faithful writers did not understand or realize the meaning, either partially or fully, of what they wrote. This did not alter the correctness of what they wrote, any more than for a faithful copyist to make an exact copy without understanding it affected his copy.

" Accordingly, the prophecy which is recorded at Jude 14,15 and which is the prophecy of Enoch, the seventh generation counted from Adam, was by the holy spirit or active force which came upon Enoch from God. This was almost 1700 years before Joseph appeared before Pharaoh. (Gen. 5:18-24) Whether Abel’s offering to God the right, acceptable kind of sacrifice was due to the special operation of God’s holy spirit upon this man of faith is not expressly stated; but there is reason to believe so. (Gen. 4:2-4; Heb. 11:4-6) Evidently it was also by God’s spirit that Lamech called his son’s name Noah and said: ‘’This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” Such name and the explanatory words by Lamech proved to be prophetic, for the name Noah means “rest”.—Gen. 5: 28, 29.

“ Balaam’s prophecy was an example of where God’s spirit irresistibly prevailed over what an unfaithful prophet wanted to say and turned an intended curse into a blessing. Although he was bribed to make a try at cursing Jehovah’s nation of Israel, and although he hired himself out to the heathen king Balak for that purpose, nevertheless Balaam warned the king, saying: “Lo I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.” “And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit [ruach] of God came upon him. And he took up his parable, and said.”—Num. 22:38; 23:8,12,20,26; 24:1-3,12,13; Neh. 13:2; 2 Pet. 2:15,16; Jude 11.

" Another instance in which the spirit of inspiration came upon the enemies of God’s favored people

• 33. Why, then, is the Bible God’s Word or Book despite the imperfection of men who actually wrote it?

• 34. Did God's spirit operate toward Abel, Enoch and Lamech, and, If so, bow?

• 35 How Is the case of Balaam’s utterances before King Balak an instance of the operation of God's spirit?

• 30. What like case of the defeat of the enemy by the spirit of God do we have in the experience of King Saul? in order to defeat the purposes of the wicked is that of King Saul. When the whereabouts of the outlawed David were reported to Saul he sent three successive bands of messengers to capture David. But in the case of each band, when they came and “saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied”. Then King Saul went himself. “And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?”—1 Samuel 19:18-24.

"Jehovah’s spirit of inspiration was upon faithful prophets of old to sound warning to the covenantbreaking people of God. As to this Nehemiah said: “Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testi-fiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.” (Neh. 9: 30) Of this same fact Zechariah says: “Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.” (Zech. 7:12) When the young man Elihu was inspired to rebuke the three false comforters who tried to break down Job’s integrity, Elihu broke his silence and said: “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. For I am full of matter [words], the spirit within me constraineth me.” (Job 32: 8,18) Concerning the spirit of inspiration that came upon Daniel to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and also the handwriting on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace, those heathen monarchs spoke of Daniel as one “in whom is the spirit [ruach] of the holy gods”.—Dan. 4:8,9,18; 5:11,12,14.

“ David, the Lord’s anointed King and sweet psalmist of Israel, wrote and sang by inspiration of God; and of this he says: "The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” (2 Sam. 23:1-3) David made great preparations to have the temple of Jehovah built at Jerusalem. The pattern of the work which he turned over to his son and successor to follow was by spiritual inspiration. “Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern ... the pattern of all that 37. (a) How did Nehemiah and Zechariah testify concerning the inspiring power of God's spirit? (b) What did Elibu say on the subject, and how did Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar call attention thereto?

38 How was the spirit of inspiration evident in the ease of David? he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, . . . All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.” (1 Chron. 28:11,12, 19) Christ Jesus testifies to David’s inspiration by the spirit, at Matthew 22:43 and Mark 12: 36.

” The spirit of God coming upon his respective servants enabled them to do exploits worthy of mention. When the tabernacle for the worship of Jehovah was ordered to be built in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, God called the man named Bezaleel for the work and said: “I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.” God assigned to Bezaleel a companion worker, Aholiab, and to these two and all their corps of assistants Almighty God gave wisdom and ingenuity to prepare all the things for the tabernacle according to the pattern that Jehovah God gave to Moses in the mount. These two men especially were made able by God’s spirit to teach others who devotedly engaged in God’s service. —Ex. 31:1-11; 35: 30-35.

OTHER MANIFESTATIONS

• ⁴⁰ At the close of seven years’ oppression by the heathen Midianites and their allies Jehovah God raised up a man of faith and devotion, named Gideon, to act as judge and deliverer of his nation of Israel. The record is that the spirit of God fairly clothed him or enveloped him to move him into action against the enemy. “The spirit of the Lord came upon [(margin) clothed] Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.” The utter rout of the Midianite invaders resulted closely thereafter. (Judg. 6:34) A like expression is used concerning Ainasai, who led a faithful band to the hideout of David in the wilderness. When David asked if they came peaceably, “then the spirit came upon [clothed] Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee.” (1 Chron. 12:18) The like clothing or envelopment with the spirit is recorded concerning Zechariah the priest, at 2 Chronicles 24: 20, margin.

• ⁴¹ When Jehovah God rejected King Saul for his stubborn disobedience, a man after God’s own heart was sought for. That man proved to be the shepherd David, and God sent the prophet Samuel to give

• 39 What exploit did God's spirit accomplish respecting Bezaleel, Aholiab. and their fellow workers?

• 40 . How is the spirit described as having acted toward Gideon, and Amasai. and Zechariah the priest ’

• 41 What took place respecting David after Samuel anointed him? and. simultaneously, how was King Saul affected*¹ David the sign of his commission from God to be the future king. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” Simultaneously, “the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.” (1 Sam. 16:13,14) Certainly, the removal of God’s spirit from Saul left only room for a contrary spirit to control him. God sent an evil spirit upon Saul indirectly, in that he gave him no encouragement and His dealings with the anointed David stirred up in Saul the spirit of jealousy, bitterness, despondency, and fear for his kingship and royal line. Hence God was not responsible for Saul’s wicked attempts to kill David. As for David, he was a changed man from the day of the coming of God’s spirit upon him after his anointing. (1 Sam. 10:1, 6) It was with that divine spirit upon him that he went out single-handed to take up the giant Goliath’s challenge and defiance of Jehovah. It was by the spirit of Jehovah that David succeeded in making the lumbering giant to bite the dust. “The battle is Jehovah’s,” David shouted out.—1 Sam. 17:40-54.

• ⁴² Nothing in all the Scriptures indicates that the faithful ones of old, both men and women, upon whom the spirit came, down to John the Baptist, received any heavenly calling in consequence of the special application of God’s holy active force to them as his servants. No right to life in heaven was accorded to them thereby. No heavenly hopes were opened to their understanding, nor were they put in the way that leads to life in heaven. The highest prospect held out for them is to enjoy a “better resurrection” to life everlasting on a perfected earth under the rule of Christ Jesus. (Heb. 11: 35-40) Not that they might not have qualified if given the opportunity, but because it was not God's purposed time for his spirit to operate to human creatures in behalf of a heavenly inheritance.

• ⁴² Since then, more than nineteen centuries have elapsed, but the same “Father of spirits” lives. He who was able to use men and women by the operation of his holy spirit so long ago, men and women who had no outlook of life in heaven but whose expectations were of eternal life on earth in the New World; that same great Source of the holy spirit is able to use it in connection with devoted persons of goodwill living here below today. How his spirit operates toward these, and how it has operated for centuries past toward those given the heavenly calling, is reserved for succeeding articles to discuss. Be sure that you understand the above foregoing material, to properly appreciate what is to follow.

• 42 . By such operation of the holy spirit upon them, were such faithful men and women of old set in a heavenward direction, and what is their highest hope of life, and why?

• 43 Why does the foregoing material concerning the "Father of spirits" bold interest for us today, and why should we be sure to understand the above material?

DEMONS, THE PROMOTERS OF VIOLENCE

form or organism. That was true in the case of the angels who appeared to Abraham, to Lot and to others. (Gen. 18:1-15; 19:1,15) Those good and faithful angels were sent by Almighty God to communicate his message to men on the earth. (Judg. 2:1; 6:12-16; 13:1-20) Before the flood of Noah’s time the demons that operated from the time of the rebellion of Satan also had power to materialize; and they did so. Those wicked angels operated contrary to God’s will, because they were against God and on the side of the Devil. They appeared in the earth as giants, and in the Hebrew Scriptures they are called Nephilim. Such angels are also called fallen ones or fallen angels, because they fell entirely away from righteousness and operated entirely in wickedness or iniquity. (Ps. 36:12) For the same reason it is said to rebellious Lucifer: “How art thou fallen!” (Isa. 14:12) For many centuries that host of wicked angels have indulged in assaults upon others, and for that reason they are called “fellers”; that is to say, ones who fall upon and ill-treat others. The word Nephilim means “fellers”, that is, “those who fall upon others and cause them to fall.” (Strong’s Bible Concordance) To be sure, Gog is one of those fallen angels. The wicked spirit hosts under Satan’s supervision are totally depraved and completely devoid of righteousness.

From the time of the expulsion of Adam from Eden and over a period of about 1500 years the human race multiplied and increased in the earth. All being the immediate descendants of Adam, who in the beginning was perfect, the females thereof would necessarily be very fair; and so it is written, that they were fair, pleasing to look upon. “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”—Gen. 6:1,2.

Who were these creatures, “the sons of God”t Manifestly they were creatures of God, whom he had created angels, and who had power to materialize and who did materialize and appear in human form. All the faithful angels are called “sons of God”, because all such have received life through the Almighty God. (Job 38:7) Those sons of God who thus materialized were not a part of Satan’s crowd at that time, because not joined to Satan in his rebellion.

Satan being the adversary of God, his objective at all times is to turn all creatures, both men and angels, against God and cause them to curse God and bring reproach upon his name. (Job 2:1-5) The wicked angels work with Satan and are also deceivers. Fraud and deceit, used to entrap Eve, have ever been used to entrap others; and so his crowd of demons have resorted to fraud and deceit to mislead the angels above designated “the sons of God”. The opportunity now appeared for Satan to entrap those sons of God who materialized and appeared as men. It is entirely probable that Satan began to work his fraud before those sons of God appeared in human form. As above stated, “the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair,” pleasing to the vision, yet imperfect. As Satan had used Eve to entrap Adam, so Satan pursued a similar course to use other women to deceive and defraud the “sons of God”.

Those materialized angels, having themselves followed a righteous course up to that time, manifestly appeared as very handsome and attractive men and they would appear well in the eyes of these beautiful women. Satan, Gog and others of his wicked demons, assuming a righteous attitude although being extremely hypocritical, now represented and made the argument to the handsome men that they could do a great and good deed by marrying those beautiful human creatures and producing a race of handsome men and that might grow to perfection. The Nephilim or giants, working under Satan, would use a similar argument upon those “daughters’’ or beautiful women, and induce them to be willing to the union.

Another purpose of Satan and his allies in practicing that fraud would be to cause a race of creatures to be born and brought up that would appear superior to the natural descendants of Adam, and that of itself would be a further mockery and reproach upon Almighty God That the Nephilim or giants were present in the earth at the time is certain, when the marriages took place between the sons of God and those women. Genesis 6 • 4 reads: “There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”

Here the Scriptures disclose the clear picture, to wit: Beautiful women were on the earth, the direct descendants of Adam; Satan saw his opportunity to practice a further fraud and deceit, and to further reproach the name of Almighty God; he seduced the “sons of God”, that is, turned them away from the path of obedience, and by fraud and deceit induced them to believe they could do great good to the human race by marrying those beautiful women. Satan and his coconspirators, the Nephilim or “giants”, probably found it an easy matter to induce those handsome men to marry the beautiful women; and the result of those marriages was, children were born, who became “mighty men”, “men of renown” for physical strength and appearance.

Up to that time, about 1500 years after man’s expulsion from Eden, there appear to have been only three men of outstanding faith who had remained true and faithful to the Almighty God; and those men were, to wit, Abel, Enoch, and Noah. (Heb. 11.4-7) Adam, Cain, and others who were their descendants, were wicked men, and the result of the marriage of materialized spirit creatures with the fair women was that all the offspring became wicked and reproached the name of God. It appeared, therefore, that Satan and his crowd were succeeding in turning men away from God Only three men on the side of God till then and all others on the side of the Devil, it was a wicked and grossly rebellious generation, and their every imagination was wickedness. Why should the Almighty God permit that wicked crowd to continue upon earth? “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”—Gen. 6: 5.

The creatures on the earth are flesh, but Jehovah God is that Great Spirit. “All flesh is grass.” (Isa. 31:3; 40:6) Creatures are wholly dependent upon God for life, and only those who remain in harmony with him will ever have life everlasting. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”—Isa. 40: 7, 8.

The generation upon the earth in Noah’s time were fit only for destruction. Therefore God said of that wicked generation: “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” (Gen. 6:3) Why should God, the Great Spirit, the holy, righteous One, continue to strive with man and permit him to reproach His holy name? He could instantly blot man out completely and start another race. But God declared his purpose to delay the execution of the wicked crowd that then inhabited the earth, for a period of 120 years. That wickedness on the earth grieved Jehovah God in his heart. “And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” (Gen. 6: 6) This does not mean that God had made a great mistake. Repented indicates a change in the course of his dealing with his creatures. God therefore determined that he would ‘ease himself of his adversaries’ by destroying them. (Isa. 1:24) His announced purpose, however, was to delay the execution of that judgment for 120 years. “And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Gen. 6: 7, 8) The words “created” and “destroyed” are in complete contrast with each other and disclose the meaning of God’s words “it repenteth me” God the Creator had extended his loving-kindness to his creatures and had been long-suffering with them, and now he would destroy them because of their wickedness.

What was the purpose in extending the time of destruction for 120 years longer instead of destroying the peoples of earth at that time? Within that 120 years Jehovah God caused to be delivered a witness to the peoples of earth, giving them full warning of His purpose to destroy the wicked. God never takes snap judgment of anyone, but gives full and fair notice of his purpose. His righteous servant Noah, by the course of action which he took and by his verbal preaching within the hearing of the people, gave warning to all of God’s purpose to destroy the living creatures of earth, all of whom had turned to wickedness. (1 Pet. 3:20, 2 Pet. 2:5) What Jehovah God did there foreshadowed another great event, which is now in course of fulfillment through His witnesses.

God informed Noah of his purpose to destroy the earth, and directed Noah to build an ark wherein he and his family and certain beasts should be taken, saved and carried over the flood. “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”—Gen. 6:11-14.

While building the ark, Noah continued to give warning to the people of the coming execution of the judgment of Jehovah God, but the people gave no heed to that warning. Under the supervision of the wicked one they continued to reproach God’s name. The act of Noah in building the ark was a testimony to the men of the earth and a complete testimony of Noah’s faith in God, and hence his course of action was a condemnation of all wickedness. “By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet [which things came with the deluge, such as rain, waterspouts, great storms and winds], moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”—Heb. 11:7, Am. Stan. Ver.

The action taken by Noah, as well as his words, was a witness to men and to angels, and thus he preached to both, even as the true followers of Christ have since done. (1 Cor. 4:9) In addition to giving full and fair warning to those flesh creatures then on the earth Almighty God was making a prophetic picture showing the destruction of Satan’s organization, that is, all of God's enemies, at the end of this world. This is shown by Jesus’ words, at Matthew 24:37-39: “But as the days of No'e were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that No'e entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

As Noah gave warning at the command of God, so also Jehovah God commands his faithful witnesses now on the earth, at the second coming of Christ Jesus, to give full warning by preaching ‘this gospel of the kingdom’ as a witness to the world, and to do this just preceding the time of the complete destruction of the world at Armageddon. (Matt. 24:14, 21) At the flood 45 centuries ago the demons were not destroyed by the water, though obliged to dematerialize. As those demons or Nephilim were active in filling the earth with violence there, justifying the bringing on of the flood, so also, in these corresponding days of the Son of man’s presence the second time in the spirit, those same demons would be active in promoting violence in defiance of God and to the reproach of his name. Satan and all his demons are the hidden factors behind all this violence and human woe that now fills the earth and that will be brought to an end by their destruction in the battle of Armageddon which now draws near.—Rev. 12:12,13,17.

JEPHTHAH, NEW WORLD FIGHTER

MAN is not a creator. If it were to depend upon him, there would never be any truly “new thing under the sun”. (Eccl. 1:9,10) Despite claims to the contrary, man will not succeed as a world-builder, as a creator of a better world that is new and different from the one existing for the past six thousand years. Though men fight and die in the attempt, at best they could only reshuffle the seas of humanity by organizational changes, which would fail to strike at the root of trouble, the demon heavens. That stronger part of “this present evil world” is beyond the reach of man to change. But Jehovah God says: “I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, . . . rejoice for ever in that which I create.” (Isa. 65:17,18) Here, then, in His promised new world, lies man’s hope. Moreover, he extends to men the privilege of fighting for this righteous new world. Jephthah of centuries back was one of such new world fighters. His prophetic course will instruct us now at the elimax of the battle.

While Jephthah does not appear in the record of events until the eleventh chapter of Judges, a glance at some of the verses in the tenth chapter of that Bible book is necessary to give the historical setting. Verse six discloses that the Israelites had replaced the true worship of Jehovah with demon religion. Baal and his female companion Ash-toreth, the so-called “queen of heaven”, along with Milcom and Chemosh, were the demon god and goddess they served. Milcom was the “abomination of the Ammonites”, the name meaning “their king”. (1 Ki. 11:5, 33) Hence Ammon was a nation of super-patriots devoted to state worship. The backsliding Israelites were ensnared by their political religion, and as a result Jehovah delivered them over to Ammonite oppression. It lasted eighteen years.

During that trialsome period the Israelites repented and cried out to Jehovah. Their call for help was not answered immediately, but, to test their sincerity and to let them prove their cry was not selfish and merely for deliverance from the personal pain of the present emergency, Jehovah reminded them of his many previous deliverances and their subsequent backslidings, and added. “I will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you.” (Judg. 10:7-14) He would have them realize that he was not one with whom to trifle, that this time their repentance must be deep-seated, from the heart. So it was: “They put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord . and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” Thereafter events in Israel reached a crisis. The Ammonites, angered by this repentance and the casting out of their state gods, gathered for battle, in Gilead. The Israelites also assembled, encamping in Mizpeh. But they were in a quandary. There was no judge over Israel at that time; so, amidst much anxious discussion, they asked: “What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon t he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” (Judg. 10: 15-18) To meet the regimented, total-state aggressors they needed and sought after a central, unified command.

Jephthah was the answer to their question. From his base in the land of Tob he had been fighting Ammonite encroachments right along. He had never yielded to the totalstate ideology, but had clung to Jehovah’s worship. Betokening his fighting qualities the divine record calls him “a mighty man of valour”. He was the son of Gilead’s secondary wife, who, previous to her marriage to Gilead, had been a harlot. This, upon Gilead’s death, caused Jephthah’s uppish half-brothers to thrust him out. Thence he went to Tob, and with him were gathered “unemployed men”, or “empty men”, men who doubtless had lost their possessions and means of livelihood due to their refusal to bow down to the Ammonite state and recognize its rulers as the “higher powers”. They remained free to serve Jehovah God.—Judg. 11:1-3, Roth.

Now all the Gileadites realized that Jephthah’s course of steadfast resistance to Ammon was the good way, the right way, the way that Jehovah God approved. In commendable meekness and humility the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah from Tob to be their head. Just for the present emergency? No; the dialogue that ensued between Jephthah and the elders showed that ever thereafter, as long as Jephthah should live, whether in war or in peace, the Gileadites would abide under his judgeship. Jephthah tested the sincerity of their request and apparent change of heart toward him, just as Jehovah had examined the earnestness of their repentance and cry to Him. (Compare the accounts at Judges 10:10-16 and Judges 11: 6-11.) Jephthah returned with the elders of Gilead and made his home in Mizpch, with his only child, a daughter of marriageable age.

Before actual battle started there were exchanges of messengers between Jephthah and the Ammonite forces. The new judge of Israel was placing the responsibility for the coming bloodshed where it belonged, upon Ammon. On being asked to show cause for their invasion of Israel, the Ammonites charged that Jehovah’s people had taken the land from them when Israel had come from Egypt. Jephthah’s detailed answer was a conclusive refutation of the invasion pretext of the heathen totalitarians. He showed that the disputed land of Gilead originally belonged to Moab, from whom it was wrested by the Amorites, and that Israel took it from them in a battle started by the quarrelsome Amorites and finished victoriously by Jehovah God on behalf of his chosen nation. With meticulous care Jephthah showed that the migrating Israelites had avoided the territories of Moab and Edom, though these nations had bristled against them when they sought passage through the land, and that they had not meddled with Ammon’s holdings whatsoever. To have done so would have been a violation of Jehovah’s instructions. (Deut. 2:19) In his argument Jephthah turned the tables on Ammon, saying: “The Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it? Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.” Those totalitarian aggressors should understand that principle. Jephthah did not expect to find a hearing ear, and concluded: “Jehovah, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.”—Judg. 11:12-28; A.S.7.

Directed and moved by the spirit of the Lord, Jephthah went into action. He pushed a swift recruiting campaign for new world fighters, who would welcome the opportunity to come to grips with the oppressing enemy and to war for Theocratic rule. Many responded. In a swift victory march the forces for Theocracy swept through enemy-occupied city after city. The rout was complete; the slaughter, great.

The heathen god Chemosh had failed his devotees. His name means “subduer”; hence there is grim irony in the fact that his staunch supporters were themselves “subdued before the children of Israel”. Just before this grand, triumphant sweeping-away of religious totalitarians, and also while the spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, he made a vow. Religionists call it a “rash vow”, and many claim its fulfillment was the fiendish sacrifice of a human creature. It was neither one. He vowed that if Jehovah would give victory, then whatsoever came forth first from his house to greet him on his return, that one would be offered unto the Lord. His beloved daughter came forth, and she was offered wholly to Jehovah’s service at the tabernacle, in fulfillment of her father’s vow. (Judg. 11:29-40) The vow showed Jephthah’s earnest, fervent desire for a God-honoring victory, regardless of cost to himself. Furthermore, it was all directed by Jehovah for its prophetic significance, which an article on Jephthah’s daughter will discuss.

Anticlimaxing the breaking of the Ammonite yoke, the twelfth chapter of Judges discloses internal strife in Israel. Westward across Jordan lay the territory of Ephraim, brother tribe of the Manassites, to which Jephthah belonged. Though Ammon had penetrated as far as Ephraim’s territory and made inroads on it, this most populous of the twelve tribes had sent none of its man-power to aid in the fight. She had allowed the front-line border tribe of Manassites to serve as a buffer state and hold off the encroach-ers. (Judg. 10:9) Now, with the victory won and the fighting over, the contentious Ephraimites came snarling across the Jordan to pick a fight with their brethren. They railed, “Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will bum thine house upon thee with fire.” This accusation Jephthah answered, saying, “When I called you, ye delivered me not out of their [Ammon’s] hands.” The invitation to serve had been extended, and disdained.— Judg. 12:1-3.

In the fight that followed the Ephraimites suffered a signal defeat, forty-two thousand being slain. At the fords of Jordan the retreat of the fleeing ones was cut off. Upon the capture of a suspected enemy at the fords, and if he denied being an Ephraimite, a sure test was imposed: “Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sib-boleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan ” (Judg. 12:5,6) Having put down all opposition to Theocratic order, Jephthah apparently enjoyed peace the remaining six years of his judgeship. (Judg. 12:7) His approval by Jehovah is testified to in God’s unchangeable Word, and in due time he will serve in a princely office in the Creator’s righteous new world.—Ps. 45:16; Isa. 32:1; Heb. 11:32.

Like the Israelites prior to Jephthah’s exploits, unenlightened Christians during the Elijah period and for some years into the Elisha work were tainted with religion. They looked to worldly rulers as the “higher powers”; they followed democratic rule in their congregations. In time these errors were corrected: Jehovah and Christ were seen to be “The Higher Powers”, and Theocratic rule through the visible “Society” organization was put in operation.

Thus was “Jephthah”, whose name means “Opener”, or, “setting free”, returned from exile and Jehovah’s witnesses were freed from erroneous chureh rule and from world rulers they had wrongly considered “higher powers”.

The modern political Ammonites claimed this was an invasion of their field, that they are the “higher powers” to which Jehovah’s people and all others must submit. They are squatters on holy ground. The “new world” they are now trying to build will stand in this holy place, to its destruction. (Matt. 24:15) The mania for total-state systems is spreading world-wide and making inroads on freedom everywhere, but Jehovah’s Theocratic organization stands fast for God-given freedom. They have been blessed with many victories; there are still future triumphs for freedom-lovers, all to be climaxed by Armageddon’s destruction of “this present evil world” gone totalitarian. Its fall will take with it pseudo-Christians, particularly the “evil servant” class, who, like the Ephraimites, will not fight the forces of evil but backbite against true Christians. They are prolific in their use of Scripture, but have commingled therewith private interpretation and religion. They cannot speak correctly the pure, unadulterated Bible truths. Like other enemies, they are destined to die fighting against, instead of for, Jehovah’s new world.

FIELD EXPERIENCES

WHAT PAVEMENT WITNESSING LED TO (ENGLAND)

“I was standing on the pavement in the Market Square, when a man came up to me and asked what ‘Theocratic’ meant on my magazine bag. I supplied the information. He told me he was the founder of the ‘Pirates Club’ and he and his committee had often wondered why we stood and took the gibes of the people; and they thought it needed real courage to do what we were doing. He then asked if I would come to a debate at his club and tell them all why we carried on our work, what our beliefs were, and answer any questions.

“Of course, I accepted, and the debate came off last Sunday evening. There were present an officer of high rank in the Southern Command of the Army, a prominent lawyer, a well-known atheist, a theosophist, an agnostic, and two A.T.S. girls, as well as several other persons. The debate was ‘Religion and Life’, and we, as Jehovah’s witnesses, were asked to speak first. There were three of us, and we had carefully prepared our little speech, and it went over very well and a fine witness was given without interruption. At the conclusion, the opposition started, and an endeavor was made to nullify our arguments, but, by the Lord’s grace, we were able to give a Scriptural answer to every question they asked, and, try as hard as they could, they could not confound us. A fine witness was given to these people who move among the ‘higher circles’ in S----

and whom we would have much difficulty in contacting in the normal course of events. After the debate the army officer privately confided with us that he could not understand why we were so marked a people.”

SPREADING INFLUENCE OF BOOK STUDIES (TENNESSEE)

“I called on one of my book students with the book The New World. The little lady told me of meeting a friend of hers in town. She asked this Mrs. E. A. if she had ever read any of our books. Mrs. E. A., of course, told her no; that she could not understand them. My little lady jumped on her fiercely, called her ‘just an old hypocrite’, etc., and spoke in a way I would not dare to. Strange, that evening going home I rode right past my street and, being on the street of Mrs. E. A., I thought I had better call on her. She had always turned me down on all the literature. When I entered the store she smiled, and we sat down in the back of the store so we could talk a few moments. Customers were pouring in, so we had to finish quickly, and she said: 'I will take the book on one condition: that you come by and study with me each week.’ I knew then that my studies must be helping the other lady and she must have told Mrs. E. A. about them. The Lord is blessing the studies everywhere. I have brought 15 persons to the company’s Kingdom Hall as a result of studies. Many others would have come who have moved to different parts of the country."

INQUIRING THE WAY (CONNECTICUT)

“I had just returned from the local Area book study, on a rainy night. Someone knocked at the door. Opening, I heard the words: Do Jehovah’s witnesses live here?’ It was the voice of a young man, who went on to state he had obtained a book 'The Truth Shall Make You Free' and he wanted one of the question books and a Bible to study the book more fully. I invited him inside and showed him the ‘Sword of the Spirit’ [Bible], question booklet, and The Watchtower; all of which he contributed for and received the book Children as a premium with the Watchtower subscription. He said: ‘This will be my first experience at reading the Bible.’ I showed him how to find the book, chapter and verse, and told him that we study the book with the people in their own homes. Monday, 5 p.m., was the time set to start the book study with him. Truly the Lord has said: *My sheep know my voice’; and the Lord's organization has faithfully counseled us, ‘Make a back-call on every book placement.’ ”

(Continued from page 178)

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