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WATCHTOWER

“They shall know that I am Jehovah:'

-Ezekiel 35:15.

Semimonthly No. 19

OCTOBER 1, 1949

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YE ARE MY WITNESSES, SAITH JEHUMWJ^^6KMsa43dt

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THE WATCHTOWER,

Published Semimonthly Bt

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

Officers

N. H. Knorr, President               Grant Suiter, Secretary

“And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” - Isaiah 54:13.

THE BIBLE CLEARLY TEACHES

THAT JEHOVAH is the only true God, from everlasting to everlasting, and Is the Maker of heaven and earth and Giver of life to his creatures; that the Word or Logos was the beginning of his creation and his active agent in creating all other things; and that the creature Lucifer rebelled against Jehovah and raised the Issue of His universal sovereignty;

THAT GOD created the earth for man, made perfect man for the earth and placed him upon Lt; that man yielded to unfaithful Lucifer, or Satan, and 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 men; that God raised up Christ Jesus divine and exalted him to heaven above every other creature and clothed him with all power and authority as head of God’s new capital organization;

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 new world; that the faithful anointed followers of Christ Jesus are Zion’s children, members of Jehovah’s organization, and are His witnesses whose duty and privilege it Is to testify to Jehovah’s supremacy and declare his purposes toward mankind as expressed in the Bible;

THAT THE OLD WORLD, or Satan’s uninterrupted rule, ended A.D. 1914, and Christ Jesus has been placed by Jehovah upon the throne, has ousted Satan from heaven, and now proceeds to vindicate His name and establish the “new earth”;

THAT THE RELIEF and blessings of the peoples can come only by Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ, which has begun; that His next great act is to destroy Satan’s organization and establish righteousness completely in the earth ; and that under the Kingdom the people of good-will surviving Armageddon will carry out the divine mandate to “fill the earth” with righteous offspring, and that the human dead in the graves will be raised to opportunities of life on earth.

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 opeu to personalities.

Notice to Subscribers: Remittances should be gent to office in your country in compliance with regulations to guarantee safe delivery of money. Remittances are accepted at Brooklyn from countries where no office is located, by international money order only. Subscription rates in different countries are stated below In local currency. Notice of expiration (with renewal blank) is sent at least two Issues before subscription expires. Change of address when sent to our office may be expected effective within one month. Send your old as well as new address.

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ALT, SINCERE STUDENTS OF THE BIBLE wbo by reason of Infirmity, poverty or adversity are unable to pay the subscription price may have The Watchtower free upon written application to the publishers, made once each year, stating the reason for so requesting it. We are glad to thus aid the needy, but the written application once each year is required by the postal regulations.

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“RAISING TEE SIGNAL” TESTIMONY PERIOD

The first of the Testimony Periods of the new service year is entitled “Raising the Signal”, during October. We rejoice that God has disclosed that the Signal is his now reigning King Jesus Christ and that we ean have a part in lifting up this glorious Signal by giving the widest publicity and greatest conspicuousness to him and his kingdom. We have the means to do it, and taking advantage of these means we shall, during October, offer all people on all occasions a year's subscription for the Awake! magazine, at the regular rate of $1.00. This 32-page uneensored magazine will aid many to see the truth. Here lies a blessed opportumty for our Watchtower readers. Let all of them j’oin us in raising the Signal during this special Testimony Period. Our aid to do so is assured to all who may need it in the way of instructions, territory, supplies, and associates in the work. Drop us your request by card. At the end of October report what you have done, on our report form, that yours may be combined with the reports of all other Signal raisers for a world-wide total report.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

Week of November 6: “It Is Nearer than They Think,” fl 1-18 inclusive, The Watchtower October 1, 1949.

Week of November 13: “It Is Nearer than They Think,” fl 19-24 inclusive, also “The Day of Jehovah upon This World”, fl 1-14 inclusive, The Watchtower October 1, 1949.

“THE WATCHTOWER”

The Watchtower is a magazine without equal in the earth, and is conceded this rank by all that have been faithful readers thereof during its more than seventy years of pubEcation. The Watchtower has increased in importance with the progress of the years, and never has it been more valuable than today, at this world crisis, when the destiny of each intelligent human creature is being decided. The getting of correct information and instruction, just such as required for the times, to decide your course wisely to a happy destiny, was never more vital than now, for “where there is no vision, the people perish”. Informed persons well acquainted with the consistent contents of The Watchtower agree that those who want to gain lifee in peace and happiness without end should read and study it together with the Bible and in company with other readers. This is not giving any credit to the magazine’s publishers, but is due to the great Author of the Bible with its truths and prophecies, and who now interprets its prophecies. He it is that makes possible the material that is published in the columns of this magazine and who gives promise that it shall continue to publish the advancing truths as long as it continues to exist for the service of the interests of his Theocratic Government. Carefully and prayerfully read this issue of The Watchtower. Then do not delay to mail in your subscription, that you may receive it regularly, twice a month, twenty-four copies the year. Subscription rates are shown above.

ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH’S KINGDOM

Vol. LXX                             October 1, 1949                                 No. 19

IT IS NEARER THAN THEY THINK

"Howl ye, for near is the day of Jehovah, as destruction from the Mighty it cometh” —Isa. 13: 6, Young.

JEHOVAH’S day is the time of mankind’s deliverance. It comes as a day of destruction to their enemies and oppressors. It is a time for these foes of God and of mankind to howl. But for all those who long for righteousness to triumph that day will be glorious, despite its fearfulness. For them it is a day much to be desired. Those who are now learning to understand the blessed significance of the day of Jehovah are fervently praying for it to come. All things good and desirable are to be gained by that day, chief of which is the vindication of Jehovah as God and Universal Sovereign by wiping out that powerful organization which has dominated this evil world and fought all of Jehovah’s good moves for blessing mankind. Because it means his taking of vengeance against that wicked organization and all unrighteousness, it is His day, the day of Jehovah. Persons who love and serve the wicked organization stand to lose everything by the destructiveness of Jehovah’s day and do not want it to come and righteousness to be made supreme. When served notice of its coining, they either do not believe it or else postpone it far into the future beyond their day. But the facts since A.D. 1914 have plainly inscribed the handwriting of doom upon the wall of that organization. A prophet greater than Daniel is interpreting the meaning, and his reliable interpretation shows that the day of Jehovah is nearer than any of them think.

• ² We certainly could not expect such an imposing thing as the world organization to be removed and to be replaced with something perfect for mankind unless the God of infallible prophecy had foretold it. His considerate practice is to notify mankind in advance of events of such world importance, and he has foretold it. He now calls attention to the prophecy. He makes it understandable because the time for its fulfillment is near, yes, nearer than people who will feel the weight of it like to think. In these fateful days such strenuous efforts are being made by the ingenuity of brainy men to bolster up the world structure that it may seem impossible for it to be destroyed suddenly within this generation. 1. What does Jehovah's day mean to all concerned⁰ How near is It? 2. Why not baselessly do we expect removal of this world soon?

Just as impossible as when twenty-five centuries ago it was thought impossible that the great world power, the empire of Babylon, should collapse in one night, in 539 B.C. But down from her lofty height Babylon did crash. Breath-taking was her fall, and the one that took the responsibility for her downfall was Jehovah, the God of a persecuted minority in Babylon, the Israelites. A century and a half before a small remnant of Israelites went captive to Babylon Jehovah by his prophet Isaiah forewarned them of their captivity to that world power. He also comforted them by the promise of their release from the oppressive power by the terrible overthrow of Babylon. It is to this prophet we here turn for the vivid prophecy on the destruction of the world organization now so near. It is found in the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah’s book.

^s “The doom of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz foresaw.” So the chapter opens. It lets us know instantly against whom it is directed, and those affected by it can either be pained or be glad according to how it strikes them. But we live in this day of the United Nations, twenty-five centuries after ancient Babylon was overthrown. Why are -we affected by this still earlier prophecy? Why turn to it for a prediction on this modern world of atomic science ? Why? Because ancient Babylon, which became the dominant political power on earth, was used in Bible prophecy as a symbol of the wicked world organization of which Satan the Devil is the god and invisible ruler.—Isa. 13:1, Leeser; Fenton.

* In ancient time the Israelites, Jehovah’s chosen people, could rejoice at the overturning of Babylon. It meant their deliverance from the unyielding grip of that devilish organization. It meant their restoration to the free worship of the living and true God, Jehovah, in the land he had given them but from which he had uprooted them for their failure to be true to his worship. It is quite significant, then, that in the book of Isaiah the doom of Babylon follows right after the prophecy of the setting up of God’s kingdom (chapter 11) and the restoring of the faith-

• 3. Why turn to a prophecy against Babylon tor a prediction now?

• 4. How Is Babylon’s fall linked with kingdom and restoration? ful remnant of Jehovah’s worshipers to their homeland, his anger having turned away from his chosen people. “And in that day thou shalt say, I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah; for though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid: for Jehovah, even Jehovah, is my strength and song; and he is become my salvation.” (Isa. 12:1,2, Am. Stan. Ver.) When Jehovah sets up his kingdom in the hands of his Messiah, Jesus Christ, it carries along with it the destruction of the Devil’s organization in heaven and earth and the restoration of Jehovah’s anointed remnant to full freedom, yes, too, the lasting liberation of all people of good-will of all nationalities.

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• ⁸ In Isaiah’s day Babylon was just developing as a nation and working its way to supremacy in the earth. We could not expect a man of Babylon, fired with a proud nationalistic spirit, to foretell its doom. But Isaiah, a witness of Jehovah in the eighth century B.C., foresaw Babylon’s downfall when at the zenith of her power. He foretold it some two hundred years in advance, doing so under inspiration of the spirit of the great God to whom the nations of earth are as the fine dust of a scalepan. In his prophetic position Isaiah was a man who prefigured the Messiah, Jesus. Their names are very similar in meaning, Isaiah meaning “salvation of Jehovah” and Jesus meaning “Jehovah is salvation”. Isaiah foretold the present uniting of the nations in a conspiracy against God’s kingdom by his Messiah, and then said: “Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.” (Isa. 8:18, Am. Stan. Ver.) This prophetic scripture the inspired apostle Paul applied to Jesus Christ and his disciples, at Hebrews 2: 9-17.

• ⁶ It follows that, just as Isaiah was used by Jehovah to foretell ancient Babylon’s doom, so Jesus, Isaiah’s counterpart, would be used to explain Isaiah’s prophecy. He would show in advance the doom of Babylon’s great counterpart, that is, this wicked world which is specially marked by false religion. Since Jesus Christ now reigns in the invisible heavens, he would cause the explanation of the prophecy to be declared to this world by means of his disciples, the modern witnesses of Jehovah. We cannot expect that any lovers and supporters of this Babylonish world would foresee and foretell its doom, but Jehovah’s witnesses of today, like Isaiah of old, are maldng plain to all the nations the prophecy which notifies this world of its early doom. They are courageously declaring the “day of vengeance of our God”.—Isa. 61: 2.

THE SIGNAL SET UP AND EXALTED

’ This world, modern Babylon, will not go down because of its own corruption, or because of its own divided condition, or because wrecked by its invisible god and ruler, Satan the Devil, who believes in the policy “rule or ruin”. Rather, it will go down while it is still a going concern, by the direct assault of the forces of righteousness under Jehovah God and his anointed King Jesus Christ. In the sixth century B.C. Jehovah and Christ Jesus his kingly Son were foreshadowed by the ‘filings of the east”, the elderly King Darius the Mede and his nephew Cyrus the Persian. Back in that ancient time the command to assemble and attack was directed to the kings Darius and Cyrus, while in this twentieth century A.D. it is to the Greater Kings, Jehovah God and Christ Jesus, that the rousing command is directed, at Isaiah 13:2,3: “On a bare hill raise a signal, call aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles! For I have commanded my consecrated ones, I have summoned my warriors, my proudly exulting ones, to execute my anger.” (An Amer. Trans.) With these words Jehovah foretold what action he and his King Christ Jesus would take in this “time of the end” of this world.

• ⁸ The signal for the assembly of the troops for assaulting Babylon must be set high up, high on a bare hill with nothing to obstruct its being seen from a great distance. In this time of impending doom for modern Babylon, a signal has been set up. It is the kingdom of Jehovah God in the hands of his anointed King, Christ Jesus. On earth Jesus was the descendant of David, the son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah. The kingdom in the hands of this descendant of Jesse is the brilliant signal for the forces of righteousness to assemble for assault on Babylon. This is the fact that Isaiah was inspired to foretell. A couple of chapters before prophesying on the doom of Babylon Isaiah described the righteous kingdom of Messiah, and said: “They will do no harm or destruction on all my holy mountain; for the land will have become full of the knowledge of the Lord [Jehovah], as the waters cover the sea. It shall come to pass on that day that the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a signal to the peoples—to him will the nations resort, and his resting-place will be glorious. On that day will the Lord [Jehovah] once more raise his hand to recover the remnant that remains of his people, . . . he will raise a signal to the nations, and will gather the outcasts of Israel; and the scattered daughters of Judah will he assemble.” (Isa. 11: 9-12, An Amer. Trans.) Jehovah God alone could raise that signal, and he did so at his appointed date, A.D. 1914. At the end of the “times of the Gentiles” that year, he raised the royal Signal by establishing His kingdom, en-

throning his King Jesus Christ on his heavenly height, symbolized by the holy mountain of Zion. —Ps. 2:6.

• ⁹ The establishing of the Kingdom put a new factor in the affairs of all the universe. That included our earth, because it is particularly toward this earth that the Kingdom must exercise its power and must take special measures to uproot wickedness and rebellion. The setting up of the Kingdom forced a choice upon all intelligent creation. From then on, who would be for Jehovah’s kingdom by his enthroned Son Jesus Christ? The choice must be either for the Kingdom or for the world organization of wickedness and rebellion, the antitypical Babylon under Satan the Devil. All who make Jehovah’s kingdom their choice must assemble to his royal Signal, his reigning King on the holy mountain of Zion.

• ¹⁰ Isaiah’s prophecy foretold that the remnant of Israelites would assemble to the signal. In 537 B.C., after ancient Babylon fell, there was a small-scale fulfillment of this prediction, because then a faithful remnant of Israelites who worshiped Jehovah left the fallen Babylon and assembled to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to renew their worship of Jehovah God there. Today we are living in the glorious time of the full-scale fulfillment of the prophecy. The real and eternal kingdom, the avowed foe of great Babylon, has been born and put in power over all the universe. With eyes of faith turned to divine prophecy and to events since A.D. 1914 fulfilling the prophecy, the remnant of spiritual Israelites have been able to see the birth of the Kingdom.

SHOUT LOUD

• ¹¹ These true Christians have seen the prophetic role they must play as Jehovah’s witnesses in the midst of modern Babylon. Christ Jesus the King enlightens their eyes to discern the setting up of the promised kingdom; and could they resist assembling to it in full support, in all-out allegiance? No; but they have declared themselves for Jehovah’s Ruler of the new world and uncompromisingly against antitypical Babylon, the Devil’s world. They are convinced of the Kingdom’s establishment and are gathered to it, and could they, dare they, now keep silent and not exalt it before mankind? No! So to them, too, because of their devotion to Jehovah God and his kingdom, the command applies: “On a bare hill, up with the signal! shout to them loud, beckon them on to enter the gates of the proud.” (Isa. 13: 2, Moffatt) Boldly, unashamed, and with enthusiasm the faithful remnant of Christian Israelites are doing this, especially since A.D. 1919, by publicizing Jehovah’s kingdom far and wide, lifting it to the greatest height of prominence, bidding all people of good-will to assemble to the Kingdom by vowing it their eternal allegiance. They shout loud and urge on the Leaders of righteousness by praying unceasingly to Jehovah God and Jesus Christ his Kling that they will soon destroy the Devil’s entire organization. They also shout by calling out publicly and from house to house the prophecies of Babylon’s doom. Such prophecies obligate Jehovah God and Christ Jesus to “enter the gates of the proud”. These prophecies Jehovah inspired by his spirit and gave oVer his own name, and he must fulfill them for the vindication of his word and name. He will do so.

• ¹² The “gates of the proud” are the gates of the nobles or princely ones of the Babylonish organization, the Devil’s world. The ancient city of Babylon, fourteen miles square, with an outer wall 344 feet high and 86 feet ■wide and with an inner wall and moat, had a mighty system of gates, 25 bronze gates on each side. As the city straddled the Euphrates river, it had gates in the walls which flanked the river, and these bronze gates led down to the quay along the river bank. Through these gates the king of Babylon and his nobles went in and out, with pride at the greatness of their city, which was without equal in the ancient world. Babylon seemed untakable by its envious foes. Yet Jehovah’s Word declared the time must come when the kings of the east must go in triumphantly into her gates of the proud nobles. How could it be possible? But it was, and Darius the Mede and his nephew Cyrus the Persian did enter through them and capture King Belshazzar’s palace and take over all the city. They made the bed of the river Euphrates through the city dry by turning its waters aside to the artificial lake of Ardericca which King Nebuchadnezzar had dug for the benefit of the city. Down the emptied river bed the torrent of warriors of Darius and Cyrus rushed under all barriers. Then up they went over the quays and up to the river gates which had been foolishly opened, affording the invaders their chance of a lifetime to dash through and overwhelm the city feasting amid its imagined peace and safety.

• ¹³ How accurately in ancient history the prophecy of the Most High God through Isaiah was fulfilled: “Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut!” (Isa. 45:1, Am. Stan.Ver.) But remember that the conqueror Cyrus in capturing Babylon and in releasing the Israelite captives was a prophetic figure of Jehovah’s King, Jesus Christ. By his descent through King David and his father Jesse, Jesus is the promised Seed of Abraham in whom all families 12. What were the "gates of the proud"? How were they entered?

13. How was this foretold of Cyrus himself? How also to Abraham? and nations are to be blessed. As Abraham obeyed the divine command to offer up his beloved Son Isaac in a human sacrifice, so Jehovah offered up his Son Jesus Christ as the only effective sacrifice for sin-stricken, dying humankind. At the time that Abraham showed his obedience to make the precious sacrifice, God’s angel said to Abraham at the altarside : "Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Gen. 22:17,18) To take possession of the gates or the commanding entrances of the enemies meant to take possession of the enemy organization and to subdue it. This must be done in order for all families and nations to be fully blessed forever.

• ¹⁴ Now the time has come for the Greater Cyrus, the enthroned King at his Father’s right hand, to assault, invade and destroy the proud antitypical Babylon. On earth the remnant of Jehovah’s anointed witnesses and their many companions of good-will now wave the hand and beckon to Them to enter Babylon’s proud gates, because the day of Jehovah has drawn near and Babylon as a world organization has been weighed in the balance and has been found wanting, in spite of all her organized religion. As if beckoning Babylon’s Conquerors to advance, the remnant and their good-will companions earnestly lay their hand to the witness work of declaring the day of God’s vengeance against that proud, oppressive organization, and there is no time to lose. Not now!

HIS SANCTIFIED MIGHTY ONES

• ¹⁵ The great issue before all creation is universal sovereignty. That is to say, Who will be Supreme Sovereign in all the universe? This issue has been accentuated by the birth of the Kingdom A.D. 1914. All the faithful creatures of the universe now align themselves on the side of the Kingdom, the great Signal that Jehovah has raised up. On earth only a comparatively small minority may gather round the Signal as Jehovah’s capital organization of the universe ; but in heaven there are hosts upon hosts of holy angels that bow to the Kingdom and do obeisance to His enthroned King. All these volunteer for service under the King against that wicked organization which has been a blot on the universe for so long, antitypical Babylon. With these, God’s name properly becomes “Jehovah of hosts”. Revelation 9:16 gives the number for at least one fighting division as “two hundred thousand thousand”, or 200,000,000. John “heard the number of them”. Jehovah is the Great Commander in Chief of all these hosts. He foretold the overthrow of the world power of Babylon, and he reserved it for the armies of Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian to do it, in 537 B.C. So Jehovah has separated and prepared certain angelic hosts for the “battle of that great day of God Almighty” against Satan’s world. These mighty ones are the warriors he means when he says: “I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.”—Isa. 13: 3.

• ¹⁸ God Almighty can depend on these troops whom he has placed under the captaincy of his reigning King Jesus Christ. These are doubtless the angels, or include the angels, that fought for the Kingdom in the “war in heaven” immediately after the Kingdom was born in 1914. That war expelled Satan the Devil and all his demon hosts out of heaven and forced them down to the earth, preliminary to their early destruction here. (Rev. 12:1-13) But that significant defeat was not the full expression of His anger against antitypical Babylon. It was just a token of his wrath against the invisible demon part of the Devil’s organization. The full expression of his anger must yet come at the battle of Armageddon. Spirits, that is to say, ideas, utterances and expressions inspired by hidden powers of evil, are issuing forth from the mouths of the leading organizations of Satan’s world. They are gathering the rulers of the earth and their armies to the final fight at Armageddon against Jehovah’s newly enthroned King Jesus Christ. Come a third world war or not, one thing is absolutely certain: the fight of the universe, Armageddon, “the battle of that great day of God Almighty,” is ahead of this world. In it Jehovah’s anger will be expressed in full against the Devil’s organization, invisible and visible, demon and human. (Rev. 16:14-16) Almighty God has called his mighty angels under Christ Jesus to take part in expressing his anger. They rejoice in his universal sovereignty as exercised through his kingdom. They are his “proudly exulting ones”, proud to be on his side, exulting to serve in his heavenly army.—Am. Stan. Ver.

MUSTERING FOR BATTLE

• ¹⁷ Listen! Do you hear it? That ominous sound of the gathering of Jehovah’s celestial troops in answer to his call. Can you hear it above the hideous noise of the governments of the Eastern bloc and of the Western bloc mustering their military and ideological forces for the atomic warfare of a third world conflict? About two hundred years in advance the prophet Isaiah with inspired hearing power heard the din of the mustering of the hosts of the Medes and Persians. Turn now your ear of faith heavenward as God’s spirit, speaking by Isaiah, makes ring in your ears what is taking place in the heavens : “The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Jehovah of hosts is mustering the host for the battle. They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.” (Isa. 13:4,5, Am. Stan. Ver.) Do not be embarrassed because a modern Babylonian tells you you cannot see those heavenly hosts of Jehovah being mustered for Armageddon. God’s Word serves as your spiritual eyes. Remember how, when the enemy surrounded the prophet Elisha in the city of Dothan with their horses, chariots and infantry, Elisha calmed his young servant by saying: “Fear not; for they that are with us are more than they that are with them.” Then to help the young servant to see that fact, “Elisha prayed, and said, Jehovah, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”—2 Ki. 6:14-17, Am. Stan. Ver.

• ¹⁸ It is therefore not right for persons with faith in the prophetic vision of Isaiah 13:4, 5 to become frightened at the gathering of the worldly nations to the fight at Armageddon. With these nations the issue is the domination of our earth, either as united nations or as divided nations with one bloc holding the upper hand over the other bloc. But whether it is the one way or the other, they are all against Jehovah God and his kingdom by the Messiah, Jesus Christ. But if we have the Kingdom on our side we have more for us than the entire Devil’s organization that is against us. With eyes and ears sharpened by the prophecy now made plain, let us be aware of what is going on behind the scenes, in the mountainlike heights of God’s heavens. He is not asleep; he is not inactive. Never does he slumber or sleep; he is alert to all moves of his foes. The hosts he is mustering are likened to a “great people” and to “kingdoms of the nations”, because they were foreshadowed by the armies of Darius and Cyrus, in whose armies a number of kingdoms and nations were represented. —Jer. 51:27,28.

• ¹⁹ The heaven of Jehovah’s presence is the “far country” to which Jesus ascended from our earth in order to receive a kingdom for himself. But the expression “the uttermost part [or, end] of heaven” is also used to mean the East. Media and Persia lay east of Jerusalem, and Darius and Cyrus, representing Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, were “kings of the east”, before whom the way into Babylon must be prepared by drying up the river Euphrates. (Rev. 16:12) The armies of Darius and Cyrus were the weapons of Jehovah’s indignation which he used in his wrath to destroy the power of ancient Babylon. But his weapons to execute his indignation and wrath in the battle of Armageddon are his angelic hosts under his Greater Cyrus, Jesus Christ. “They come from a far country,” heaven itself. The “whole land” to be destroyed is antitypical Babylon, Satan’s hoary organization visible and invisible. The King Jesus Christ told his disciples: “He that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father.” (Rev. 2:26,27, Am. Stan. Ver.) So doubtless the weapons of Jehovah’s indignation against antitypical Babylon include the consecrated, anointed followers of Jesus Christ who proved their faithfulness to death and whom he has now resurrected from death to life as immortal spirits in the heavens, to reign with him in his kingdom up there.—Rev. 20:4, 6.

• ²⁰ But Jesus’ faithful remnant of anointed followers who survive on earth down to the battle of Armageddon will have no part in any violent opposition to the political nations or in any destruction of these. They are the most peaceable people among all earthly nations. They obey Jehovah’s command and merely warn the people of the destruction coming upon the nations at Armageddon.

HOWLING BECAUSE OF ITS NEARNESS

• ²¹ Even already the condition of the world rulers in politics, commerce, and religion is as if they were obeying God’s command to them, at Isaiah 13: 6-8: “Howl ye, for near is the day of Jehovah, as destruction from the Mighty it cometh. Therefore, all hands do fail, and every heart of man doth melt. And they have been troubled, pains and pangs they take, as a travailing woman they are pained, a man at his friend they marvel, the appearance of flames—their faces!” (Foung) But this trouble already upon the nations since A.D. 1914 is not of Jehovah’s doing. Since 1914 it has been a succession of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, horrors, disasters, political upheavals, dictatorships, persecution of minority groups, economic crises and continual distress of nations. But Jehovah God is not responsible for these peace-robbing, death-dealing conditions and developments. He is not punishing mankind by such things for their persistent refusal to take their stand on the side of his Kingdom and yield their sovereignty and allegiance to His installed King Jesus Christ as earth’s rightful Ruler. Had they turned to him, they would have been spared these things. And if they now truthfully called on Jehovah God, they would accept his King, and not the United Nations 20. What part do his witnesses on earth play In this connection?

• 21. Are the nations howling in obedience to Isaiah 13: 6? Or why? or other human expedient as the rightful global Ruler. But no! And so Jehovah is letting the rebellious people call on those whom they regard as their gods or mighty ones to save them. Their gods are playing them false and are really oppressing the people rather than helping them.

• ²² Hence Satan the Devil, the “god of this world”, is the primary cause for the mounting woes of the people, for he is angry because the Kingdom was born A.D. 1914 and he and his demon angels have since then been kicked out of heaven. When these world-shaking events occurred the voice from heaven declared: “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, . . . Rejoice then, 0 heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, 0 earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Rev. 12:10-12, Rev.Stan. Ver.) In proving so destructive to human peace, prosperity, health and happiness since their ousting from heaven, Satan the Devil and his demons show they are united in the policy of “rule or ruin” for this earth and its peoples. If they cannot have it all, they want God and Christ to have nothing.

• ²³ The Devil and his demons well know that their time is short. Nevertheless, they try to get men to think that Jehovah’s day of destruction for this world is not as near as world events since 1914 cause men of faith to believe in the light of Bible prophecy. Consequently the day of Jehovah will come upon them with the suddenness of a thief in the night. Jehovah’s witnesses are not and will not be responsible for the sudden arrival of that day of destruction. Like Jehovah's appointed watchmen who will be charged with the people’s blood for any failure to warn them of the coming world destruction, His witnesses have gone up to the housetops and shouted out the warning, fulfilling their anointing to “declare the day of vengeance of our God”. Making bold to challenge the popular -wishful thinking that it is not near, the witnesses of Jehovah keep up the proclamation that His day of world destruction is

• 22. Who Is responsible for the nations' woes? With what policy?

• 23. Why will that destruction come suddenly? How do we hasten it? near, nearer than they think. In this way the witnesses heed the apostle Peter’s admonition respecting the end of this world, to “await and hasten the coming of the Day of God, which will cause the heavens to burn up and dissolve and the heavenly bodies to blaze and melt”. (2 Pet. 3:11,12, An Amer. Trans.) Now is no time to be fooling the people by letting them postpone that event in their minds. Now as never before is the time to bestir the people of good-will to life-saving action by showing them from the Bible and from world affairs the imminence of the day of Jehovah God.

• ²⁴ It is no pleasant message of optimism for this world, this message concerning the “day of vengeance of our God”. It is one that shows the hopeless state of this world and the futility of all the desperate efforts now to save it. For this the backers of this world howl in protest and insist that our message is seditious and weakens the confidence of the people in world rulers. If they howl and wail now at the mere prophecy, how they will howl when the day overtakes them like a thief and all their worldly hopes and institutions and remedial measures crash around them in embittering disillusionment! “Come now, you rich people! weep aloud and howl over the miseries that are going to overtake you!” (Jas. 5:1, An Amer. Trans.) Their hands, fluttering with feverish efforts, will drop in paralysis. Their hearts that once beat strong in self-reliance and in defiance of God will melt in fear. Strong men will be like women at childbirth; their loins which were once stout like tempered steel bands will be shot through with sudden, agonizing pains that will twist their bodies. Unable to understand why nothing succeeds, why no man-prescribed remedy avails, why idols and gods do not and cannot answer prayers for help and relief, they will stare at one another in amazement, their faces aflame with frightened excitement. This is no overdrawn description. It happened in a local way in Babylon twenty-five centuries ago, and it will occur in a world-wide way in the near future, at the battle of Armageddon. Jehovah foresaw it and he foretold it!

• 24. At whom do they howl now, but how will they howl finally'*

THE DAY OF JEHOVAH UPON THIS WORLD

FOR four thousand years now, or since shortly after the global flood of Noah’s day, the world was organized by the Devil and burdened all mankind with its heavy⁷ rule. To picture its greedy, oppressive rule and to show its inglorious end, Jehovah God in his Bible used mighty⁷ Babylon as a symbol of it. Once it awed most of mankind with its

1, 2. Why will Jehovah's day be righteously cruel to modern Babylon? shining worldly glory, but now dark days are upon it, -with darker ones still to come. It has been cruel to all the common people, but has been designedly cruel toward the servants and witnesses of the living and true God. So, now that the time for repayment has come, Jehovah God will be righteously cruel to this antitypical Babylon. The vast majority of mankind fear this Babylon, and yet love, admire and support, and fight for her. They will bear the penalty for sharing in her sins and wickedness. Those who escape from her destruction will be very scarce in number, like the survivors of the flood that destroyed the antediluvian world. On all counts, now is the time to sound out in warning the prophecy that nears its final fulfillment:

¹ “Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more rare than fine gold, even a man [or, a common man] than the pure gold of Ophir.”—Isa. 13:9-12, Am. Stan. Ver.; Young.

• ³ Antitypical Babylon has extended its sway earthwide, sitting like the immoral mistress of worldly kings and rulers upon the vast waters of peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. (Rev. 17:15,18, 5) Look at her history for these four thousand years and you cannot help but realize how fitting Jehovah God’s pitiless wrath and blazing anger will be against that world organization of the Devil, arch-enemy of God and of man. Her realm, particularly Christendom, is the “land” that Jehovah God will desolate, destroying the hypocritical religious sinners out of it. All predictions of a fairer tomorrow and of brighter days to come for it are false, foundationless, antiBible. Persons still sit in high offices political, commercial, military and religious, and their offices once brightened Babylonish skies. But these high persons are now somber, worried, uncertain. Neither at day nor at night in their deliberations have they any light to shed upon mankind. The blessings of the pope upon Rome and upon the rest of the world, and all his prayers to the dead religious saints and, purportedly, to the virgin Mary, fail to cheer even the Roman Catholic population.

* Men of good-will have sighed under the proud worldly rulers and officials, arrogantly demanding everything. Often they have been denied human rights and the proper dignity of man by the haughtiness of political and religious tyrants. By remembering that there is a God of righteousness who has promised to straighten out all injustices and to do away with all sinners and oppressors it should comfort men of good-will and help them to be patient. There is no need or reason for them to give way to discontent and to rise up in violent rebellion against 3 In what sense do the heavenly bodies give her no light now?

• 4. (a) Why should we not rebel against present worldly authority? (b) How will God make a man more rare than gold or Ophir's wedge? worldly authority. Wait a bit longer for Jehovah to fulfill his word against antitypical Babylon at the battle of Armageddon. Let him punish Satan’s world for its wrongdoing, and the willfully wicked for their guilt. He alone is authorized to do it, and he will do it righteously by his King Jesus Christ. Jehovah’s laying low of the proud, the arrogant, the haughty, and the terrifying ones, and His destruction of all the multitudes of people participating in Babylon’s sins will cut a wide swath through earth’s teeming population. To show the scarcity of man upon earth after Armageddon wipes out old “Babylon”, Jehovah God warns: “The arrogance of proud men I will still, and lay the haughtiness of tyrants low, till man becomes more rare than finest gold, men scarcer than gold ore from Ophir.” (Isa. 13:11,12, Moffatt; An Amer. Trans.) The persons from antitypical Babylon will be rarer than the most precious ancient metal, yes, scarcer to be found than gold nuggets of Ophir. They will be the people who now believe God’s warning-message and who dissociate themselves from any part in Babylon’s wickedness, and whom Jehovah will spare alive at the battle of Armageddon, because they now seek his righteousness. They survive into the new world.

³ Armageddon will be no local fight, raging over the field of Megiddo in northern Palestine where sanguinary battles were fought on momentous occasions in ancient times. “Armageddon” or “Har-magedon” may mean “mountain of Megiddo”, but the name is used only because it is associated with decisive battles and not to designate any one historical spot on earth. The coming battle which prophecy calls by that name will rage both in the visible earth and in the invisible heavens, for antitypical Babylon takes in an earthly part and a heavenly or spiritual part. The heavenly is, of course, the superior and more mighty part. It dominates the whole world organization. Only Jehovah God Almighty could free our earth and its peoples from the superhuman sway of this modern Babylon. His day is near for doing so. Hence he now brings to general notice his prophetic promise: “Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall come to pass, that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land. Everyone that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is taken shall fall by the sword. Their infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be rifled, and their wives ravished.”—Isa. 13:13-16, Am. Stan. Ver.; Young.

• 5. Where will the battle of Armageddon rage, and why?

* Satan the Devil and his invisible demon organization are higher and mightier than flesh and blood. They are organized into principalities, powers, worldrulers of this darkness, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:12, Am. Stan. Ver.) They constitute the heavens of this evil world. They once had access to the celestial regions in general association with the holy angels, but now they have been forcibly shut out from that liberty by the "war in heaven” which followed the birth of Jehovah’s kingdom A.D. 1914. So now those Satanic heavens are atremble, awaiting their destruction at Armageddon. The earth that is to be shaken out of its place at Armageddon is the visible human part of Satan’s organization. It is not our literal earthly globe which Jehovah God created and which he has decreed shall be transformed into a paradise after the battle of Armageddon.

• ⁷ Making the heavens tremble and shaking the earth out of its place means the everlasting removal of Satan’s world organization, invisible and visible, which world organization was symbolized by arrangements and governing powers of ancient Babylon. Paul gives us that explanation, saying of Jehovah: “Whose voice then shook the earth [at Mount Sinai]: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for our God is a consuming fire.” —Heb. 12: 26-29, Am. Stan. Ver.

• ⁸ Shaken by the irresistible assaults of Jehovah’s fighting hosts under his King Jesus Christ, the Greater Cyrus, none of Satan’s Babylonish organization will be able to hold up. The parts composing it ■will be broken, and each scattered part will scurry off seeking its own safety. Panicky internecine strife will break out between them as Jehovah God smites Satan’s forces with confusion. Any who escape the decimating effects of this anarchistic warfare between religious, financial, political and military forces will be picked off by Jehovah’s pursuit forces.

• ⁹ The so-called “Eternal City”, Rome, will no more escape than did ancient Babylon, neither will any of the Vatican’s adherents in any land. This past January 30, as reported in the New York Times next day, Pope Pius XII told 6,000 students that, “even if Rome were to be razed and St. Peter’s Basilica, itself, with all its art treasures lost to the world, the Roman Catholic church would survive because ‘it is inde-6.              making heaven tremble and earth shake mean?

• 8. Why will the Babylonians flee, but with what success?

• 9. But will the Roman religious system be indestructible? Why? structible’.” This statement, the Times said, caused a deep impression in Italian Catholic circles, because “the mere mention of such a possibility was held to indicate the Pope was seriously concerned over the future of Catholicism in many Soviet-controlled areas”. (N.Y. Times, Jan. 31, 1949) Though it may have presented an “indestructible” appearance before Nazi, Fascist and Communist powers until now, that Vatican-controlled system will not prove indestructible at Armageddon, not before Almighty God, the Foe of Babylon. Above all other systems, the Roman Catholic religious system is the repository of ancient Babylon’s religion. And Jehovah God has doomed every trace of Babylon to eternal destruction. All her children, no matter where they flee and hide, will be ferreted out and dashed to pieces. Long ago Jehovah’s captive witnesses in Babylon sang: “0 daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed, happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.” (Ps. 137:8,9, Am.Stan.Ver.) Christ Jesus, the Greater Cyrus, is that “happy” one, and he will leave none to raise up the wicked, oppressive organization of all iniquity again. “They shall in no wise escape.”—1 Thess. 5:3, Am.Stan.Ver.

THE WAY CLEARED FOR THE NEW WORLD

^x0 Rich persons and wealthy organizations of this Babylonish world need not think they will be able to bribe Jehovah’s hosts and buy their escape from annihilation at Armageddon. The “battle of that great day of God Almighty” will not be fought for the material and financial enrichment of Jehovah’s hosts. Universal sovereignty is the issue at stake. For an unselfish reason, that is, for the vindication of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and unblamable name, He and his King Jesus Christ will fight that battle. Bespeaking this righteous motive for battle and for destroying antitypical Babylon, Jehovah likens his hosts to the conquerors of ancient Babylon, the Medes and Persians. He says: “See! I am stirring up the Medes against them, who pay no regard to silver, and take no pleasure in gold. Their bows will dash the young men in pieces, and on the fruit of the womb will they have no mercy, nor on children will their eye look with pity. And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the proud glory of the Chaldeans, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” —Isa. 13:17-19, An Amer. Trans.

“Not silver! Not gold! But to do away with that blasphemous world organization which has reproached Jehovah’s name and put itself in the way of His universal sovereignty, this is what moves Jehovah’s hosts, the antitypical Medes, to demolish that Babylonish organization. King Darius the Mede,

• 10, 11. Why can no one buy his escape with silver and gold? the conqueror of ancient Babylon, foreshadowed Jehovah God, and his nephew Cyrus the Persian foreshadowed Jehovah’s fellow Warrior, Jesus Christ. The ancient Persians were expert bowmen. With their large bows made of steel they were able to dash even Babylon’s young men to pieces. Being bent, not on the plundering of wealth, but upon world domination, the Medes and Persians of old pitied none of the Babylonians. They executed their fury upon young men, babes and children, any and all of the offspring of the hated enemy organization. Only Jehovah’s people, held captive in Babylon, like Daniel the prophet, were spared, preserved to return to Jehovah’s worship at Zion.

• ¹² How thorough a destruction of all members, adherents and offspring of all the Devil’s world organization this portends! Its beauty is false. Its proud glory is founded on a course shameful in God’s eyes. Good riddance to it! Babylon, the “Swell” or “Dandy” among kingdoms of the ancient world, could not stand up against Jehovah’s wrath. It became like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah upon which he rained fire and brimstone from heaven. Its modern counterpart, this world with its lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes and pride of living, will fare no better. Its artificial glory and beauty will disappear as a false, deceptive value, not a relic of which is worth preserving. It really has nothing to make it endure and to commend it for universal domination.

• ¹³ You people who would escape from antitypical Babylon’s doom as righteous Lot and his daughters escaped from Sodom’s destruction, do not be dazzled by this world’s veneer of glory nor be carried away by its false pride. Look beyond these the last days of this world to the inevitable fulfillment of God’s prophecy upon this modern Babylon. By the foresight that God’s Word gives you, see her coming sudden desolation, as certain as that Babylon of Isaiah’s day lies a ruin today. Terrible is God’s Word

• 12. Like what will antitypical Babylon become, and why⁹

• 13. Why should we not now be dazzled by Babylon’s outer appearance? against it: “It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there. And wolves shall cry in their castles and jackals in the pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.”—Isa. 13:20-22, Am. Stan. Ver.

• ¹⁴ Here again we have the repeated assurance of God’s Word that the overthrow of the wicked world organization is near. It is nearer than the modern Babylonians care to think as they scramble now for what they can selfishly seize in fear of otherwise losing all. This world’s days will not be many now, no, not now when God’s kingdom by Christ Jesus has been established as the vindicator of His universal sovereignty and the liberator of oppressed mankind. The decisive battle of the Kingdom against this Babylonish world will reduce her to ruin and rid the earth of her children. She will never be rebuilt. But our terrestrial globe which she has misruled for millenniums will not lie desolate like ancient Babylon’s site. No; but her destruction will just clear the ground for establishing a visible organization of righteousness everywhere, under the sovereignty of Jehovah God exercised by Christ Jesus. All traces of Babylon’s earth-defiling rule will be effaced, and all earth will rejoice in the reign of her rightful King, the Son of God. Under his blessing it will blossom as the garden of Jehovah for the endless enjoyment of men of good-will. With an earnest desire due to a right understanding, we watch and pray for the early arrival of the foretold “day of Jehovah” and its thorough work of righteousness to His glory. In the meantime we sing the taunt-song against the “king of Babylon”, which will be discussed in our next issue of The Watchtower.

• 14. What does Babylon’s desolation mean for our earth and mankind?

RELEASE OF THE PRISONERS

A PRISONER is one who is a captive and under restraint by another and who is bound and denied his full liberty. A person in this condition must be alive, because a dead one could not be said to be a prisoner. If a person is blind to the truth and his blindness is caused by another, then he is bound in the fetters of ignorance. If a person is in darkness and does not know which way to go, he is restrained in the exercise of freedom of action and is therefore a prisoner.

There is a prince of darkness, Satan the Devil. He, together with the many agents employed in bis wicked work, holds the human race in restraint and therefore in darkness. His world-organization, particularly the religious systems belonging to it, is truly a prison-house, a place of darkness and hypocrisy, where many persons of sincerity have suffered much torture. Now the divine command has come for a mighty liberator, the Prince of Light, to get the libertylovers out of Satan’s prison-house. He is doing it, too.

Jehovah God, who issues the decree of liberation, does not believe in prison-houses and he imprisons no one. At times His witnesses have been imprisoned by the Devil and his agents, and then those faithful ones are called ‘Jehovah’s prisoners’; meaning prisoners for his sake. Prison-houses are places of darkness and torture. Death cannot be properly called a prison-house, because no one when dead is conscious or could therefore be in torture. Prisons are the institution of the Devil, and concerning his ■world-prison it is written: “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth.... I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.”—Isa. 42:1-7, Am. Stan. Ver.

This prophecy was addressed to Jehovah’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and the apostle Matthew applies it to him under inspiration. (Matt. 12:15-21) Followers of Christ who are dedicated through him to Almighty God are bound to him by consecration. But when the enemy came against the faithful remnant of them during the years of World War I, then, sad to relate, they failed to do their duty because of fear of the enemy. Thus they fell into Satan’s snare and Jehovah let them be taken prisoners. Duly coming to a realization of their restrained condition and of why they were bound and in prison, they turned to Jehovah God with full devotion and sought and looked for deliverance by him. He heard their cries and delivered them. Foreshadowing this, the psalmist said: “I am poor and sorrowful : let thy salvation, 0 God, set me up on high. . . . The meek have seen it, and are glad: ye that seek after God, let your heart live. For Jehovah heareth the needy, and despiseth not his prisoners.” (Ps. 69:29-33, Am. Stan. Ver.) Manifestly the prisoners here pictured as speaking are Jehovah’s consecrated people, particularly the remnant who were in restraint under the enemy because of their negligence but who were released by God and gathered to his side in freedom from and after A.D. 1919.

The faithful devoted ones of Jehovah’s people on earth were in danger of death at the hand of the enemy during the first World War. So to speak, they were the “children of death”. During World War I they were groaning and praying that their bonds, both literal and figurative, might be removed, and a loving God deigned to hear them : “to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death [or, the children of death].” (Ps. 102:20, and marginal reading) Why were these praying for their bonds to be broken and for them to be released from the prison of the Devil’s world-organization? They had been called and separated out from the world to be a ‘people for the name of Jehovah’, and both the historical facts and the words of sacred prophecy agree that their desire was to be released that they might serve Him. As Psalm 102: 21 goes on to say: “That men may declare the name of Jehovah in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem.”—Am. Stan. Ver.

Zion is Jehovah’s capital organization in which Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone. God established this capital organization in royal power in 1914 (A.D.) when he enthroned Christ Jesus in the heavens to rule in the midst of all enemies of the new world and finally to destroy them at the battle of Armageddon. So the prophecy fixes this as the time when Jehovah would hear the prayer of his prisoners who were held in restraint by those enemies. “For Jehovah hath built up Zion; he hath appeared in his glory. He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute, and hath not despised their prayer.” (Ps. 102:16, 17, Am. Stan. Ver.) The prayer of such has not gone disregarded, but even while they prayed God heard them and made ready for their release. “For Jehovah heareth the needy, and despiseth not his prisoners.” So with confidence the prisoners exercised faith and prayed: “For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah; and they shall abide there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein.” (Ps. 69:33-36, Am. Stan. Ver.) In proof, observe the Theocratic organization of Jehovah’s witnesses today.

The work of releasing the prisoners has been done within a time of controversy and fight, when the Devil is employing all his power to turn the people away from God and to hold them in subjection and finally cause their destruction. It is Christ Jesus, the Servant of Jehovah, that is commissioned to bring the prisoners out of the prison-house. Christ’s followers are a part of the servant class, over whom Jehovah God has appointed Christ Jesus to be the leader, commander and deliverer. Those who now make up his faithful followers now on earth are commanded to give witness to the name of the Most High God and to do this under the leadership of Christ Jesus. So the truth has been declared since A.D. 1919 at God’s commandment that those persons of good-will who are also prisoners may now get the light and have the privilege of escaping from the prison-house of the Devil’s world.

In his further commission to his servant Jehovah says: “Thus says the Lord : ‘In a time of favor have I answered you, on a day of salvation have I helped you; I have kept you, and have made you a pledge to the people, to restore the land, to allot the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, ‘Go forth!’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ ” (Isa. 49:8, 9, An Amer. Trans.) Of course, the application of this prophecy is first to the spiritual Israelites who were under the power of Babylon the Great during World War I. Christ Jesus as Jehovah's Servant would be a pledge to them of release in due time, which proved to be from 1919 on But the application broadens out to take in also the numberless persons of good-will who are now coming forth from Babylon the Great and going along with the remnant of spiritual Israel and serving with them as Jehovah’s witnesses. They form the “other sheep” mentioned by Jesus. (Zech. 8: 20-23; John 10:16) The earthly condition of the remnant of spiritual Israel was trodden down by the Gentile nations during the first World War period. But now, when released from imprisonment, this remnant “arise” and “shine” to the honor of Jehovah’s name. The time has come to make His name known and his faithful consecrated people must be the ones to bear witness to his sacred name. They are doing so—Rev. 11: 2; Isa. 60:1.

BREAK YOUR BONDS!

The people of good-will yet in Babylon the Great must now break their bonds before the universal war of Armageddon wipes out that organization and all lying under its power. They must heed the command of Jehovah’s Servant. The official commission given by Jehovah to this Servant, Jesus Christ, declares: “That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in ail high places.” (Isa. 49:9) Who are these prisoners?

First of all, let us never forget, the prisoners here meant are the remnant of spiritual Israel, the original ones making up the “faithful and wise servant” class and then those added ones who since A.D. 1919 were brought into the truth and into the divine service and made a part of this “servant” class, this remnant of spiritual Israel. But now the “prisoners” also include the people of good-will, that is to say, the Good Shepherd's “other sheep” whom he must also bring and who will be one flock with the remnant of spiritual Israel. (Matt. 24: 45-47; John 10:16) All of these have been prisoners in Babylon the Great, that is to say, the Devil’s worldorganization, and each group or class in its turn is addressed by Jehovah’s Chosen Servant, who says to them: “Go forth!” not just out of literal prison-houses, but out from the Devil’s organization. This going forth to liberty must be done before Armageddon. As it is written: “Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.” “My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.” “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”—Jer. 50:8; 51: 45; Rev. 18:4.

They were in mental and spiritual darkness. Therefore the divine commission commands Jehovah’s Servant to say: “To them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves.” (Isa. 49: 9) This does not mean they are naked captives led along by Satan’s gang and that they should show themselves in this condition. Indeed not; but they must 'show themselves’ by making a public appearance and a public declaration or confession that they are out of harmony with Satan’s organization, that they are out of Satan’s prisoner organization and are now on Jehovah’s side, and that they are living testimonials to the saving power of Jehovah. In this way they must let their light shine. (Eph. 5:8) As for all those who do so and who continue faithfully to serve him, Jehovah’s commission to his Servant says: “They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.” The “high places" here mean the Kingdom heights since A.D. 1914. They no longer sit in darkness. Neither are they hungry, but they are led and fed by Jehovah and his Good Shepherd. During World War I their pastures were made bare, but now, says Jehovah God, “I will open rivers on the bare heights.” How refreshing it is!—Isa. 41:18, Am. Stan. Ver.

So those of God’s Theocratic organization are being led, comforted and blessed by him and his Chosen Servant, just as foretold: “They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.” (Isa. 49:10) The words of this part of Isaiah’s prophecy also appear quoted at Revelation 7:16 and are there applied to the “great multitude”. This proves that the “great multitude” of the Good Shepherd’s “other sheep” are included in Isaiah’s prophecy. So Isaiah’s prophecy applies to all those once in the prisons of Babylon the Great and who are eventually brought forth and put in touch with Jehovah’s organization. And so the prophecy continues:

“Lo, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim [or, Syene, in southern Egypt], Sing, 0 heavens; and be joyful, 0 earth; and break forth into singing, 0 mountains: for Jehovah hath comforted his people, and will have compassion upon his afflicted.

“But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth from thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them, like a bride. For, as for thy waste and thy desolate places, and thy land that hath been destroyed, surely now shalt thou be too strait for the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. The children of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile and wandering to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?

“Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my [signal, ness] to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah; and they that wait for me shall not be put to shame.”—Isa. 49 :12-23, Am. Stan. Ver.; An Amer. Trans.

To those in Babylon the Great who seek to find God’s provided way for their escape Jehovah God shows his mercy. Now since he has built up Zion, those who are on His side recognize and appreciate the truth that Jehovah God and Christ Jesus are their Teachers and Shepherds With King David they say: “Jehovah is my shepherd.” (Ps. 23:1, Am. Stan. Ver.) And concerning Christ Jesus the “great multitude” now appreciate the fulfillment of Revelation 7:17: “The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

All the marvelous facts since A.D. 1914 bear testimony unitedly that Jehovah God has not forgotten Zion. Says Isaiah 49: 20 to his “woman”, his universal organization: “The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.” This clearly indicates that, after 1918 with its end of World War I, the earthly part of Jehovah’s universal organization would become well peopled by his remnant and by their good-will companions. There must come a great multitude of these good-will associates of Zion’s children out from Babylon the Great. Many of such people are yet due to come to Jehovah and to be blessed with the remnant of spiritual Israel, Zion’s children. Her children are commissioned to bear the ‘fruits of the Kingdom’ before such people that they may eat and be sustained. As such prisoners are released, they, too, must join with their fellow freemen in making proclamation of Jehovah’s name and kingdom.

DANIEL, CHANNEL FOR DIVINE WISDOM

DANIEL won renown-as a man of great wisdom, but fame did not turn his head. He was learned in literature and language, and used the two tongues of Hebrew and Aramaic to write the Bible book that bears his name. He was specially gifted in having visions and dreams of significance, and in interpreting those had by others that were of prophetic import. He excelled many times over the wisdom of the wise men of Babylon, But his knowledge did not puff him up or enlarge his head. He knew that there was no wellspring of wisdom sourced within himself, but appreciated that he was merely an instrument to channel down from above divine wisdom for men. This fact he was quick to declare, to direct attention to the fountainhead of all true wisdom, Jehovah God.

The Bible character Daniel is launched in the stream of Scripture narrative by the first captivity of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. This occurred in 618 B.C., the third year of Judean king Jehoiakim’s reign as a tributary ruler for Babylon, his eleventh and last as king of Judah. At the time of this captivity the chief of Nebuchadnezzar’s eunuchs was instructed to select from among the Judean youths of royal or noble birth such ones as were well formed, handsome and intelligent, and to put them through a three-year training course to fit them to serve in the king’s presence. Among those selected were Daniel and his three Hebrew companions of fiery-furnace fame.—Dan. 1:1-7.

After the disclosure of how young Daniel and his companions kept themselves undefiled in food and drink, the outcome of the training period is reported: “As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all branches of literature and learning, while Daniel was accomplished in all kinds of visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in to the presence of Nebuchadnezzar; and when the king conversed with them, he found none among them all like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they became attendants of the king. And in all matters of learning and knowledge, about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel retained his position till the first year of King Cyrus.”—Dan. 1:17-21, An Amer. Trans.

Note how writer Daniel credited God as the giver of this wisdom. Also notice how the passage of time and spreading fame saw no change in his contention that he was only the channel, the wisdom was God’s. In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in the special capacity of first world ruler of the Gentile times (that period had started two years earlier, with Nebuchadnezzar’s complete overthrow of Israel as an independent Theocratic nation, in 607 B.C.) the Babylonian king dreamed, but on awaking forgot the dream. In response to Nebuchadnezzar’s decision that his wise magicians and enchanters either reveal the dream and its interpretation or die, the terrified wise men declared: “There is not a man on the earth who can tell the king what he asks; for no king, however great and mighty, has asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or Chaldean. The king is asking a hard thing, and none can tell the king what he asks, except the gods whose dwelling is not with mortal flesh.”

Furious at their failure, the king ordered the destruction of all Babylon’s wise men. This sweeping decree even embraced Daniel, and he and his three companions joined in united prayer to God. Their faith was rewarded, and soon Daniel is before the king. “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen, and its interpretation?” comes Nebuchadnezzar’s query. Daniel answers: “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers are able to tell the king the secret which the king has asked; but there is a God in the heavens who reveals secrets, and he makes known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the end of the days.”—Dan. 2:10, 11, 26-28, An Amer. Trans.

After this introduction that gave full credit to Jehovah God, Daniel revealed the king’s dream of the terrible image that was struck by a stone and destroyed, and in the interpretation thereof showed it was a forecast of Christ’s kingdom smashing Satan’s organization, saying: “In the days of those kings the God of the heavens shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people; it shall break in pieces and annihilate all these kingdoms, but it shall stand forever.” “Truly, your God is the God of gods,” cried Nebuchadnezzar; and he promoted Daniel to be ruler over the province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men.—Dan. 2: 44, 47, 48, An Amer. Trans.

More visions and dreams that preview events of national and international importance. Chapter four recounts one of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams that alarmed him and defied interpretation by the wise men of the realm, till Daniel was called in and told of the vision of the towering tree that was chopped down and its stump banded; then, “Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.” (Dan. 4:15, 16) The interpretation was that Nebuchadnezzar would lose his sanity and turn wild to roam with the beasts of the field for seven times or years, unable to administer his kingship, yet it would be preserved for him as depicted by the banded tree-stump. Twelve months later the king did lose his reason and roam with the beasts for seven years, then sanity returned, he praised God, and his kingship was restored.

During Belshazzar’s reign over Babylon Daniel had visions that foretold the rise and fall of the world powers Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the Anglo-American empire, and climaxed them with prophecy concerning Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ that would follow, “whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” (Dan. 7:1-8:27) The fifth chapter records the famous scene of banqueting and debauchery where Belshazzar and his fellow revelers blaspheme Jehovah by using the sacred vessels from Jehovah’s temple to drink toasts to demon gods. Then the eerie hand scrawls mysterious writing that causes the color to drain from the king’s face, his loins to weaken, his knees to knock. Only Daniel possesses the wisdom from above to interpret: "Mene—God has numbered your kingdom, and brought it to an end;

Tekel—you have been weighed in the scales, and found wanting; Peres—your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” “That night Belshazzar, the king of Chaldea, was slain; and Darius, the Mede, received the kingdom.”—Dan. 5: 26-28, 30, 31, An Amer. Trans.

During Darius’ brief reign prophecies are given by Daniel that show the conflicts between the kings of the south and the north, both before and after the earthly coming and death of Jesus. The struggle for world domination is specially violent in modern times, after the great prince Michael stands up to reign in power, when those wise with the wisdom from above reflect it, when knowledge is increased in the time of the end. (Dan. 11:1-12:13) The ninth chapter gives that very important prophecy concerning the seventy weeks, a prophecy that set the time for the appearance of Messiah Christ, that disclosed his death after a ministry of three and a half years, and that indicated the gospel’s spread to the Gentiles three and a half years after his death on the torture stake.

Very well known is the casting of Daniel into the lions’ den. Actually, it came about through a frame-up. Other state officials envied Daniel’s distinguished record of service, sought in vain to find grounds for complaint against him, and so said among themselves: “We shall find no ground of complaint against this Daniel, unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” They tickled the king’s vanity by getting him to pass an unalterable law that any who addressed petition to anyone, god or man, except Darius, for thirty days would be thrown into a den of lions. Daniel defied the decree. Three times daily he prayed to Jehovah God as he kneeled before open windows, as was his usual practice. The jealous liers-in-wait caught him in the act, told the king, and exerted pressure that the decree be followed to the letter. It was, with the well-known result of God’s angel’s shutting the mouths of the lions and delivering Daniel.—Dan. 6:1-23, An Amer. Trans.

Another vision is assigned to the third year of the reign of Cyrus the Persian, which would be 535 B.C. This means that Daniel lived to an advanced age and that throughout adulthood he was used as a channel to make known divine wisdom. His first entry into the Sacred Record is at the time of the first captivity, in 618 B.C., and final mention of his activity is dated 535 B.C., a period of eighty-three years. Throughout this period of captivity Daniel was a faithful dispenser of the only reliable wisdom. He is mentioned with approval at Ezekiel 14:14, 20, and Christ Jesus referred to Daniel’s prophecy of the abomination of desolation.—Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14; Dan. 11:31; 12:11.

Daniel’s name means “God is judge; God’s judge”; the Chaldean one, Belteshazzar, given him by Nebuchadnezzar, means “the lord’s leader; prince of Bel”. His faithful course of action with respect to Jehovah God, despite his being prominently situated in the third world power Babylon, is profitable instruction to Christians today. More profitable, however, are the prophecies he was used to channel to humankind. Today Christ Jesus at the temple reveals their meaning and thereby increases the wisdom of his followers on earth. May these present-day witnesses of Jehovah be as quick to give God the credit for this knowledge as Daniel was centuries ago.

FIELD EXPERIENCES

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES IN GERMANY

The following report was written in by a Gilead graduate on missionary assignment in Belgium:

“In Charlottenburg, Germany, there was to be a lecture by clergymen for the purpose of exposing Jehovah’s witnesses. One of Jehovah’s witnesses was in attendance and heard the whole thing, and he gave the following report: ‘When it was time to start, the first preacher began as follows: “At present, everywhere you go there are these witnesses around. When I sit in my room and study, the bell rings, and who is there? Of course, the witnesses of Jehovah. When I sit in a train, opposite my place there are Jehovah’s witnesses. It is terrible. There must come an end to that.” When he had spoken in this vein for about half an hour, he announced that one of his colleagues would next speak about the deceiving doctrines of Jehovah’s witnesses. This man stood in the pulpit and said:

“‘In the last few months I missed quite a few members of my congregation and therefore I went to look for them. After searching for a while I found them in the congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses. I went to one of their service meetings to find out what they taught. The thing I found out was, they are really doing the Lord’s work and no hypocrisy to it. They really studied the Bible and the congregation was being trained to serve the Most High God. I was ashamed of myself and of my congregation. I also attended the Watchtower study. There the study conductor merely conducted the study and the whole congregation had the right to speak. Questions were propounded and quickly answered and all was backed up by the Bible. Again I was ashamed. After the study was over I asked an old lady what she had learned. She gave a complete explanation and backed up all this with scriptures. Yes, even so thoroughly that it is clear that theological students who pass their final examinations do not have as much Bible knowledge as these people. Their Bibles are colored red and black and most of them are old and worn because of usage. This cannot be said of my Bible and not at all of those of my congregation.

“ ‘Do you know where I got acquainted with these witnesses of Jehovah? I was a chaplain during the war and the commander called me to his office. He told me to go to the prison to try to help some people. I went, and there I found twenty-three witnesses of Jehovah bound in chains and their only offense was refusing military service. The next day they would be executed and I was to try to make them to agree to do service behind the front, but instead of me talking to them, they were talking to me; and this time, again, I was ashamed. The next day I was allowed to go with them to the place of execution. They walked briskly, faster than I did. They were not afraid of death. I could hardly keep up with them. Their last words were: “We give our lives for the vindication of Jehovah.” ’

“After this surprise statement by this clergyman, the first preacher started a fight with the last one. And then the witness in the audience rose and calmed the people.

Then he went to the pulpit and gave a very fine witness. He thanked the last preacher for his fearless and bold words in favor of the witnesses and the answer of the preacher was, ‘I have the book “The Truth Shall Make You Free". Pray for me that I may be enlightened and that the truth shall also make me free.’ ”

ORGANIZING A NEW COMPANY IN BURMA

“A letter was received by the Branch office in Rangoon, Burma, that there was a group of interested persons in the Thing-an-aing village located back in the jungles about nine miles from the town of Henzada. This group had left the Catholic Church eight or ten years before and had been studying the Society’s publications since then. Immediately these people of good-will were sent the Yearbook and the Calendar and informed of the Society's Branch office in Rangoon. These interested persons at once informed the Branch office of their heart-felt joy at receiving the first ‘meat in due season' in eight years. At a recent assembly held in Rangoon these good-will persons sent a delegation of three who joyfully took part in the Lord’s service. These brethren wanted the Branch servant to return to their village with them and wanted further instructions as to how they could carry on the Lord’s service. A week after the assembly two of the brethren returned to their village and took the Branch servant and another Gilead graduate back with them.

“Traveling in Burma is somewhat different than in America. Due to disturbed conditions in Burma it is impossible to travel more than ten miles from Rangoon by train. Highway busses in Burma are no more than trucks converted into busses for carrying passengers. They have long seats on either side and people sit on these seats as well as all over the floor. Into these busses are brought all luggage as well as the marketing, live chickens, and all sorts of other things. It seems that everyone talks at the same time, and therefore amid much shouting and talking and confusion the bus pulled out from Rangoon. A short distance out of Rangoon it stopped to join a convoy, some trucks carrying produce, others carrying passengers. At Letpadan, about 80 miles from Rangoon, the brethren transferred from bus to train. There were no seats in this train, so they sat on the platform with legs hanging over the sides. An hour and a half later they reached the end of the railroad line at Irrawaddy river, to cross which they were ferried and thence taken by bus to the town of Henzada.

“Conveyances became even more strange as from Henzada a five-mile journey was made by tri-shaw (a bicycle with a sidecar). After this the brethren were met by two other witnesses in bullock carts. The witnesses with the bullock carts had written many letters to the Branch office but these two Gilead graduates were the first of Jehovah’s witnesses that these brethren in the jungles had met for eight years. So under the shadow of the image of reclining Buddha the brethren climbed up onto their seats of straw in the bullock carts to finish the last lap of their journey across the rice fields. About every 30 feet the fields are divided by a mound of earth 10 inches high; the purpose of this being to hold the water during the rainy season. So every 30 feet one hits one of these mounds and the bullock cart jumps up into the air and comes down with a bump on the other side. A half hour later the traveling brethren began to meet different persons of good-will scattered along the way.

“At last, Brother U Po Lay said: ‘This is my house, brethren, welcome.’ His home with its thatched roof was set back in banana and coconut tree groves and in order to get into the house it was necessary to climb up a bamboo ladder about three feet high, as the house is raised off the ground because of the rainy season. A warm bath, a satisfying meal, and a joyful talk with the brethren, then retirement for a night’s rest. The next morning the Gilead graduates found it a great entertainment for the isolated brethren to watch them shave. The villagers in Burma usually pluck out their whiskers with two coins. Almost everything the Gilead graduates did was unfamiliar to the brethren and they always had an audience.

"It being Sunday, it was the day for the weekly Bible study, at which 15 were in attendance, all of whom were in the truth but only three of whom knew English. The study had been carried on by reading scriptures from the Burmese Bible and enlarging upon them by one of the brethren; but these brethren were now shown how to conduct the Watchtower study, and after each paragraph was studied it was translated into Burmese, then read. This study is now held weekly by them. After the Watchtower study a service talk was given and announcement made that an immersion service would be held the next day for any desiring to be baptized. After this session all indicated their desire to take part in the service and to be immersed and to become a company organization. So that afternoon was spent with the two most mature brethren and they were shown how to keep track of the individual service record and how to report field service to the Branch office, also how to study the Informant after the Watchtower study.

“Bright and early the next morning there could be seen coming across the rice fields a string of bullock carts filled with people of good-will who had at last found Jehovah’s organization. The group assembled at a river, and after the immersion talk had been translated into Burmese there were twelve that came forward and symbolized their consecration. The next day was spent in field service, each of the two Gilead graduates taking two other publishers along with him and showing them how to do the work. Next morning the Gilead graduates left Thing-an-aing village at 4:30 a.m. and traveled the 120 miles back to Rangoon, arriving at 5: 30 p.m. The slow travel was due to a large extent to the many times that the bus had to stop and be searched by armed guards in order to make sure that no arms were being carried into Rangoon.

“This trip has certainly proved worth while, because the next month the Branch office received a report from the new company, and there were twelve publishers reporting. It will be a real joy for the Branch servant to return there in May as circuit servant and again take part in field service with the brethren in Thing-an-aing village.”

Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy. Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.—Psalm 140:12,13, J.P.S.