No. 459
We hold warm and fragrant memories of That Servant’s personality and scholarly understanding of God’s inspired Word and related subjects. He gave us the Plan of Salvation for all mankind with Scriptural proof. He always advised the brethren not to accept anything he taught without proving it by the Bible; nor should they accept anything others teach without Scriptural proof.
As far as we know, That Servant never named seven individuals of the “seven stars” of Rev. 1:16,20; but immediately after Brother Russell’s demise, J. F. Rutherford named Saint Paul, Saint John, Arius, Waldo, Wycliffe, Luther and Brother Russell as the seven stars. We agree that they are a part of the “seven stars,” but we believe the “seven stars” is a composite group of forty-nine – 7x7=49, just as The Mystery of God, The Christ, is a composite group of 144,001 members. “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand... the seven stars are the angels [Messengers] of the seven churches.” (Rev. 1:20) “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” (Rev. 10:7)
The list given by JFR omits Claudius of Turin, the first Protestant Reformer, John Wesley, Servetus, Hubmmaier, and many other saintly reformers which we all know are a part of the composite “seven stars.”
We are not enumerating That Servant’s many activities as we have given much of this in our previous papers. We know the Lord honored him by making him That Servant when He found him “so doing” (Matt. 24: 26) – searching the Scriptures for the Truth “in due season.” So we honor whom the Lord honors. God bless his memory!
We also honor his memory by being faithful to the wonderful Truths he gave us, by “earnestly contending for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3), and by refuting errors, especially those of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who claim to be following in the steps of That Servant – even claiming to be part of That Servant. The term “That Servant” does not refer to a Society or organization, but to an individual (“whom the Lord hath made ruler over his household” – Matt.24:45,47). That Servant cannot be replaced, even as not one of the Apostles can be replaced, although he was not inspired as were the Apostles.
Inasmuch as he had made crystal clear the meaning of the Lord’s Parousia – as the thousand years, and its various stages – Brother Johnson began to refer to him as the Parousia Messenger. This title is not to be found in the Bible by direct statement, but it is easily conceived by considering a few texts. In Psa 91:11 it is stated, “He shall give his angels charge over thee”; and the Manna comment for November 17 explains that these angels would be human messengers provided for the special oversight and welfare of the Church. Thus, Parousia Messenger could aptly be stated Parousia Angel, but Parousia Messenger makes the thought a little clearer to the average reader.
We also honor the memory of the Epiphany Messenger, and the same can be said of that title as is said above of the title Parousia Messenger. The Epiphany Messenger was faithful to all the truths given us by That Servant, and faithfully defended them. He gave us many blessings which were in harmony with what Brother Russell taught. As a Pilgrim he was Brother Russell’s special helper during the latter part of his life. He did for the Epiphany what the Parousia Messenger did for the Parousia, although his ministry was not nearly so extensive or compelling. At the demise of That Servant we believe it can truthfully be said that all the living saints had come into his organization leaving none to be found elsewhere. But this was definitely not the case with the Epiphany Messenger. He often said that there were more saints in other Truth groups than with him – which means it was not necessary for them to come with him to retain their saintly standing.
Brother Johnson as a young man, before he joined the Harvest Movement, had gained extensive recognition as a Lutheran minister in Columbus, Ohio, and elsewhere. By intensive study for about three months in 1903 he was able clearly to see the Truth on the unity of God, human mortality, death as the wages of sin, Papacy as the Beast, identity of the Millennium as the judgment day of the world, and 1914 as the end of the Age. Thereafter he made no progress toward understanding Present Truth until he came into the Harvest Movement. He was a true scholar of Greek and Hebrew, spoke German fluently; and in his earlier years he was able to give an oration in Latin – a feat which very few college professors of Latin were able to do. He graduated from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, with the highest honors of any one who had ever attended that institution up to that time. A prominent Lutheran Minister, who had been his classmate, said that Paul Johnson was known throughout the campus as the mental giant. All this is a statement of fact, and in no sense intended to give undue praise. Thus we conclude this appraisal with “God bless his memory!” He, too, is one that God honors. (1 Sam. 2:30)
We invite all of like mind to join us in giving honor to whom honor is due, and in honoring those whom the Lord honors. Our Lord Himself said, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my father honour.” (John 12:26) But, as said heretofore, we honor That Servant by refuting the various errors promulgated by the Jehovah’s Witnesses who fraudulently use his name in attempt to lend authenticity to the many errors they now present. In the Watchtower of May 1, 1994, they give a fairly accurate description of That Servant’s spread of the Truth during his ministry in which he correctly and zealously proclaimed the establishment of the Kingdom. What he gave us then is not what the Witnesses teach now. They claim to be separating the Sheep and the Goats of this generation now before the Kingdom is inaugurated for the world’s judgment day (Acts 17:31). They also claim to be the Kingdom now while Satan is still the “god of this world” (2 Cor.4:4).
During the true Kingdom Satan will be bound and will no longer be able to deceive the people. There is no resemblance to the teachings of the Witnesses and teachings of That Servant. His message was a great comfort to those who had an “ear to hear.” The Witnesses claim that all will have to accept their teaching before Armageddon or else die in that holocaust with no chance of a resurrection. Their teaching probably doesn’t comfort many in their group, because of the love they have for friends and relatives who do not join them. God is love (1 John 4:16), and will have all men to come to a knowledge of the Truth (1 Tim 2:4), and not to the errors of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. All will be resurrected, the Good and the Evil (John 5:28,29), and the Just and the Unjust (Acts 24:15). He is faithful that promised (Heb. 10:23).
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let them be accursed.” (Gal. 1:8) Berean comments: “Papal comment on this is ‘Catholics should not spare their own parents, if heretics.’ “The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach the same.
JEREMIAH AND THAT SERVANT
In the March 1994 issue of the Watchtower the article, “Jehovah’s Judgment Against False Teachers,” reference is made to Jeremiah’s prophecy being fulfilled by the “Jeremiah Class,” and “My Intimate Group” as being the Jehovah’s Witnesses today. This is very similar to the “new light” brought out by the Society years ago that That Servant of Matt. 24:44-47 and Luke 12:42-46 was the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, a Business corporation, not an individual (See Reprint 1946) but a class as opposed to the truth that “That Servant” was an individual, viz., Pastor Russell.
In a similar manner the Watchtower is now suggesting that the antitype of the prophet Jeremiah is a class, “the Jeremiah Class.”
Pastor Russell humbly admitted that “That Servant” was an individual during the reaping and gleaning period of the harvest. Our Pastor had charge of all the goods and gave meat in due season. Thus, he directed the pilgrim, colporteur, volunteer, newspaper, pastoral, photo-drama, publicity, Tabernacle and Bethel work.
Much of the meat in due season was brought forth after 1874 when the meaning of the word PAROUSIA was determined to be PRESENCE instead of COMING. The light on the Lost coin – Restitution – was first seen after centuries of darkness which enveloped Christianity shortly after the death of the Apostles.
“A PROPHET UNTO THE NATIONS”
In Jer. 1:4-6 there is this: “The word of the Lord came unto me, saying... I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold I cannot speak; for I am a child.” In verse one we have “The words of Jeremiah” – the name meaning Jehovah is exalted. Certainly the name itself applies most fittingly to Bro. Russell, whose firm and repeated expression was “God first,” which attitude well applied to him all during his entire adult life. Also, the statement, “I am a child” points fittingly to him. At the outset of his ministry in 1874, knowing his ignorance of Hebrew and Greek, he considered himself but a babe in Biblical exegesis; and for seven years, to 1881, he always tried to place those with superior education before him because he considered them better qualified. But the Lord knew what He was doing when He called Brother Russell to be His special mouthpiece – “the prophet unto the nations.” Note verses 7-9, “The Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak... The Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth... said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”
Looking back, it is very easy to discern the fulfillment of these words. That Servant predicted the end of the Gentile Times (Luke 21:24) 25 years before 1914. During that 25 years he received much vilification and ridicule from various sources; and by 1913 – with the world then in seeming calm – some in high position said a general world war among the then friendly (?) nations was just so much nonsense. But, when 1914 came – with the great explosion on July 28 – great numbers began to have a different view and respect for what he said. In fact, a conference of Southern ministers openly stated that Pastor Russell had been right in his predictions.
To emphasize the strong parallel between him and Jeremiah we need only to consider the parallel dispensations: It was just 2520 years before 1914 (in the Fall of 607 B.C) that Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnessar, the temple was ravished and the gold and silver vessels carried away to Babylon. That was exactly what Jeremiah had predicted – in the face of the severe criticism of the Jewish priesthood – just as Brother Russell had predicted against the disputations of the ministers of Christendom. Jeremiah had not predicted the beginning of Gentile dominion, because it was not possible for him to see that then; but Brother Russell, knowing that “seven times shall pass over thee” (Dan. 4:25, 32), and understanding that those “seven times” would end 2520 years later, did not have much difficulty in figuring out when they would end, once he knew when they began.
Let us carry on now to Jer. 1:11–14: “What seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.” As explained in Tabernacle Shadows, p. 122, the almond rod symbolizes the royal priesthood, elect and fruitful; and this fact was seen very clearly by Brother Russell in 1879, when he wrote Tabernacle Shadows. “The second time, What seest thou? And I said I see a seething pot... an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.” This “seething pot” was the Time of Trouble, which would come with the end of the Gentile Times; and those of us who were living at that time still have most vivid memory of that holocaust. Even though the United States was not immediately involved (we did not enter the war until April 1917), the uproar was so great and the shaking of society in all the great countries of the earth was so severe that the New York Stock Exchange was forced to close down for three months – “an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.”
God further instructed Brother Russell to confess the sins of Christendom over the head of Azazel’s Goat – “the house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.” (Jer. 2:4) In the Old Testament the Gospel-Age Christians are never called Jacob; rather, Jacob almost always refers to natural Israel; whereas, Israel usually is used to designate the Christian Household. And of both these houses Jeremiah said: “I brought you into a plentiful country... but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.” (v. 7) This statement is indeed a true declaration of the Church history. Under Jesus and the Apostles “the people which sat in darkness saw great light.” (Matt. 4:16) But the intervening years up to 1874 had witnessed the distortion of that “great light” into all sorts of weird concoctions; with practically all of them – Protestant and Catholic – becoming infested with “their resemblance through all the earth” (Zech. 5:6) The four great errors that arose during the Gospel Age are the Trinity, immortality, eternal torment and probation limited to this life. In these four great errors most Protestants and all Greek and Roman Catholics resemble one another – they are “their resemblance through all the earth.”
Once Brother Russell became fortified with the Truth against these great errors he employed all of his remarkable skill and energy in onslaught against them. His favorite address to the public was “Where Are The Dead?” For forty years he battled with all courage against the theory of eternal torment as the wages of sin.
Today few educated ministers believe in the doctrine of Hell-fire, although some of them occasionally preach it, perhaps believing it to be a restraint upon evil-doers. All concordances and critical translations of the Bible clearly dispute the thought of eternal torment as the wages of sin.
Brother Russell received strong assurance from the Lord for the work he was to do, as told to Jeremiah in vs. 17 & 18: “Speak unto them [the people of Christendom] all that I shall command thee: be not dismayed at their faces... I have made thee this day a defenced city” – immovable and strong as against society, against the various sects in Christendom, against the four prominent classes in American society: Rulers, capitalists, aristocracy and labor, particularly against their leaders. These are the “four angels” – messengers of wrath as set forth in Rev. 7:1-3 – whose destructive work was restrained “till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” Although these all, some more, some less, waged controversies against him, God assured him of full victory: “They shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with the... to deliver thee.” (v. 19) Surely, as we look back, we are able to see how forcefully this was fulfilled in the work he did.
When the prophecy was made, “They [the gainsayers] shall not prevail against thee,” it was not an idle promise; God gave him the Parousia Truth as his “strong tower,” which proved to be impregnable against the combined attacks of all adversaries. The promise made to Joshua (1:5): “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life,” certainly applied to Brother Russell with great emphasis. Those who attempted to engage him in controversy soon came within the scope of Rev. 16:10: “They gnawed their tongues for pain.” Many of them resorted to slander, which was their weapon of last resort; but it may be said of Brother Russell that he never reciprocated in kind; with the strong and clear Biblical system of truth he had, there was certainly no need to cheapen himself by using the tools of the “god of this world.” (2 Cor. 4:4) The Parousia Truth was indeed a “defenced city” for him. (Jer. 1:18)
Chapter 2 of Jeremiah carries on in much the same fashion as the first chapter. Brother Russell was commanded to shout his message from the housetops, and it is a matter of record that he did just that. “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem [type of Christendom here in the end of the Age], saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth [when the pristine purity of Christianity was established under the guidance of Jesus and the Apostles], the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness.” (v. 2) “The woman [the true church] fled in the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [the 1260 years from AD 539 to 1799].” (Rev. 12:6) Verse 3 continues: “Israel [the true church] was holiness unto the Lord, the firstfruits of his increase.”
But that condition had become greatly changed “in the time of the end” (Dan. 12:4 – from 1799, and especially after 1874). Thus, antitypical Jeremiah was prompted to raise the question: “What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?” (v. 5) The nominal church from 1874 is described in similar criticism to what Jeremiah said to the Jews before the fall of Jerusalem in 607 BC: “Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” (Rev. 3:17) Following are some of the Berean Comments on this text: “Possessing little of the truth and the spirit of the truth... Cannot see afar off... cannot see the high calling for the Church or restitution for the poor world... Stripped of the robe of Christ’s righteousness by the clergy, in the name of Higher Criticism and Evolution.”
Having come to the condition of full complacency – “rich and increased with goods” – they did not ask (Jer. 2:6): “Where is the Lord, that brought us up out of the land of Egypt [typical of the delivery of the Gospel-Age Church, which had been delivered from antitypical Egypt, “this present evil world”], that led us through the wilderness... the shadow of death [“the wages of sin is death”]... and [v. 7] I brought you into a plentiful country... but ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.” “We have need of nothing”!
Then the question is asked in v. 11: “Hath a nation changed their gods... but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit”; and because of this they “be astonished... be horribly afraid... very desolate.” (v. 12) During this “time of the end” nominal Christendom committed two evils – they gave up God as their God, though He is the only source of life-giving Truth and they developed creeds: “broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (v. 13) “Their cities are burned without an inhabitant” – an evil which they brought upon themselves. “Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou has forsaken the Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way?” (v. 17)
“Yes I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed.” (v. 21) When we review the superb religious system which God had given Israel under Moses and Aaron, and the downward course they pursued in the following years, it is most difficult to understand how that could have been possible. Yet their course was but a forecast of the downward course of Christendom after the departure of the Apostles. Indeed, “A just man falleth seven times, but he riseth up again.” (Prov. 24:16) The words of Solomon in this text are a terse statement of the history of the Gospel-Age Church in its seven epochs, as outlined in Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3. Each of these epochs began with a virile message of Truth – first with Jesus and the Apostles, then followed with the ministry of the remaining “six stars” (Rev. 1:16); but in every instance those that came after the various stars quickly retrograded into much error and decay of morale – as their predecessors had done.
Finally in 1874 came That Servant (Matt. 24:46), faced with an accumulation of the colossal errors of the entire Age – a fact which would have discouraged any man who had not the encouragement of the Lord Himself: “I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the priests thereof, and against the people.” (Jer. 1:18) But just as in times past, the finely-tuned system of Parousia Truth which he left was bandied about by some of his followers – particularly by the Jehovah’s Witnesses – so that if his writings and their writings are placed side by side now, no unbiased mind would believe they should be recognized as coming from the same source – which indeed they do not!
(Excerpts from former articles)
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PASTOR RUSSELL INTERVIEWED BY PROMINENT JEWS
The discourse on “Jerusalem” caused so much interest among the Jews that a few days afterwards several prominent Jews called upon Pastor Russell for an interview. At one of the conventions this summer, while speaking upon the questions concerning the Jews, Pastor Russell said:
“I am pleased to tell you that the Lord seems to be rather indicating there is to be work done among the Jews. We preached in Jerusalem from Isaiah 40:1-2, ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith my God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,’ etc., and there were quite a number of Jews present on that occasion, and some of them were very greatly moved. The principal Jewish man in all Palestine was present. He is treasurer and business manager of the Zionist associations of the world and is located there now. He is the head of all their business enterprises, in advance even of the president, although the president is the higher official of course; but he is the highest man, practically, among them. His name is Doctor Levy. His remarks to some of the friends were more than anything he said to me. He greeted me very cordially after the meeting and said he was sorry there were not more of his co-religionists there. There was a little prejudice against the hall we used. It was known to be a hall owned by one of those converted from Judaism to Christianity, in which an endeavor would be made to convert the Jews and make them Christians, and they were opposed to going to that hall.
“If he had not had a special invitation he would not have been there himself. But somebody took him a very special, urgent invitation, and on the strength of the assurance of that invitation he was present. He said, ‘I wish you could remain longer; I would be glad to have our Jews here in the city get acquainted and hear what you have to say.’ But I could not stay. You know everything was mapped out ahead. I was obliged to tell him I could not remain. Then there were others there to speak, and he spoke to some of them. He said, ‘Why is it Christian people in general do not have such a message as this man brings? How is it all are against us? Instead of having a sympathetic word, they are all against us.’ He seemed to be touched by the fact that we had nothing to say against them, but rather pointed out the blessings of God that were coming to them. He indicated he intended to write to some of his New York friends that they might attend the meeting there, when he learned from some of our party that the subject there would be from the same text.
“I do not know to what extent he brought anyone to the meeting at Brooklyn but there was a good attendance, and many were turned away, unable to gain admission. Those who were present gave excellent attention for nearly two hours. There was a corridor full of people waiting to take their places, hoping some would go out, but they did not go out, seeing what an interest there was not only amongst Christians but also amongst Jews. The Jews were astonished that any Christian should speak of the prosperity of Judaism, and what blessings God had for the Jews; that was something they could hardly understand.
“Three Jews called on me to see if they could find out what I meant, what I was going to try to do. Was I going to try to get hold of the Jews and make Christians of them? I told them no, the sermon was not preached at all for the Jews; it was for Christian people, but that the Jews were as welcome as anybody else, and that I was glad if anybody heard anything that was interesting to them in the sermon; but we intended making no special endeavor to convert the Jews. I told them on the contrary, we understood that God had one plan for the Jews and another for the Gentiles, and then I briefly outlined to them the heavenly and higher calling, calling attention to the fact there were no promises made to them of a heavenly kind; that from Genesis to Malachi there was not a heavenly or spiritual promise mentioned; that they were all earthly promises. They agreed to that.
“I said, All of these promises are to be fulfilled to you, and the time is near at hand. They were good listeners. One of them was editor of a paper, and the other a publisher of a paper, and they were deeply interested to hear what the object was; they thought there must be something or other behind the scenes, and their thought was, Why would it be so? What are you going to do? Where is the trap? We are looking for the snare that would catch the bird. I told them we had no snare at all. We merely had a good message, that we had a good deal of sympathy with the Jews, and we saw God had cast them off at a certain time. They admitted all of that; they could not think otherwise. We told them that we believed God, that we believed the Prophets, that we acknowledged those prophets of the Old Testament the same as they did; that many Christian people had abandoned the Old Testament, thought it was all fulfilled and past, but we followed the Old Scripture suggestions that many of those things were yet future – indeed most of them; that only a small portion had ever been fulfilled, and God in His due time would fulfill all of those promises to the Jews; and just as soon as this spiritual class was selected, forthwith the message would go to the Jews, and the awakening referred to in this valley of dry bones would take place.
“We called their attention to the fact that it was Israel’s hope that they were to be revivified and they would begin to awaken, and I said to them, What has awakened you now to Zionism is a part of God’s promises coming at the right time, but it has nearly spent its force; the power that is behind Zionism is merely the power of patriotism. You feel as though you Jews have no home. The Germans speak of the fatherland, and the others speak of some other land; they have a home land. And you say, We Jews have no home land. You would like to have a home land, and it is a kind of a patriotic spirit that is moving Zionism as far as it can, rather than anything practical.
“Now, I said, Zionism has nearly spent its force, and it has nearly gotten you ready for the power that is going to move you. The power that is going to move the Jews is the power of God through the prophets. God is going to move you as none of this patriotism ever did in the past. And then they had good ears to hear, and I went on and outlined the ‘Times of the Gentiles,’ and the ‘Seven Times,’ and how they would end in 1915. Also the fact that God had told the Jews in Leviticus that there would be seven times trial, etc.; that we thought these were the same seven times mentioned when God took away Zedekiah, the King of Judah, who was the last king they had, and that the seven times dated from there. Their eyes sparkled and they listened attentively. I think they were there nearly two hours, just in the parlor talking about it – I did nearly all the talking.
“Well, they said, we thought that if this is not an endeavor to turn the Jews to make Christians out of them, if it is not that, this would be a wonderful power among our people, and we would like to have you address a meeting. Would you? I said to them that if it were anything like a political meeting I would not wish to address it at all; that we did not mingle in politics at all, but if any of them would have an ear to hear, and would like to know about what God has for them as a nation of people, we would be glad to talk to them as much as we have time. You see I am very busy and I could not give you a great deal of time, but if we could have some one large meeting, perhaps then I could talk to a good many Jews together, and I would be very pleased to do so.”
Brother Russell afterward said, at one of this year’s conventions, Well, they are thinking it over. I did not know what they would think, and do not know what they will do; they had come merely to see what was the motive behind it, to learn if we were trying to trap them. They were afraid if they would push it along we might really catch some of them. That is what they are afraid of. But they all acknowledged and said, Why, this is the most powerful thing we have ever heard. And one of those men said, “I was an unbeliever when I came in here, but now you have convinced me there is something in the Bible for the Jew, and that there is truth in the Bible.” And so you and I are learning more and more every day, that that is the wonderful power, both for the Jew, the Gentile and the Christian; it is our Book. Primarily it is for the Christian, but there are certain good things in it for the Jews and for ALL the families of the earth. The Jews are waking up all over the country. I presume that a synopsis of the discourse, which was published in eleven Jewish and Yiddish newspapers, will reach probably half a million of Jews all over the world.
Subsequently Brother Russell received an invitation to address a JEWISH MASS MEETING in the great HIPPODROME THEATRE of New York City.
A copy of the invitation, and Brother Russell’s response to the same and a report of the meeting, which took place as per arrangements, will be found farther along in this Report. (1910 Souvenir Reports, p. 87)
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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST
QUESTION – “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.” (John 10:17) The words “that I might take it again,” sounds as if Jesus resurrects Himself. Is that the correct thought?
ANSWER – The King James rendering of the word “take” is a mistranslation. The Diaglott translation gives the correct thought: “On account of this the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may receive it again.” It is the Father who resurrects the Son. The Son resurrects the good and evil, the just and unjust (John 5:28,29; Acts 24:15).
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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST
Dear Emily,
Your June 10th letter was such a pleasure, and such an encouragement! Thank you dearly!
I hasten to respond, even if only so briefly, because the next few weeks we’ll have to be with the young ones in the family, i.e., away from Jerusalem (in the coastal plain) and I don’t want to leave here with things unattended.
The general atmosphere here is gloomy. Although outright acts of terror and murder have decreased, it becomes clearer by the day that the present official policies are risky beyond reason and are fraught with unspeakable dangers in the long run. To make things worse, some young “historians” here have come out on a despicable way of self-flagellation. So let me just enclose here a Xerox copy of a straightforward response by an outstanding Israeli author, Aharon Megged, as it appeared in an English translation in the Jerusalem Post. It speaks volumes. I for one stand firmly behind every word.
But, of course, we, who are steeped in the world of the real sources of our RETURN know that the present sad phase will pass, soon we hope, and the eternal truth of this Land and this People, bound together in everlasting faith, will prevail.
With fervent wishes for your health and every Good Wish from Jerusalem,
Michael J. Pragai (ISRAEL)
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Dear Emily:
Many thanks for your letter July 6th, 1994. I am glad that you gave your Catholic friend “The Divine Plan of the Ages.” There is – as you probably know – a summary of the Studies in the Scriptures (I-VI) called “The Plan of God – in Brief” made by Bible Fellowship Union (A. Hudson and others) in England. My father translated this book, into Swedish in 1934 and reprinted it in 1954 just before he died. We give “The Plan of God – in Brief” to people who in our days are seeking the truth and want to get a general survey in a short time.
Our friends in Emek ha Shalom are awaiting the time, when 144,000 spirit beings on plane L in the chart representing the Plan of the Ages will be glorified with the lord, united with Him on plane K in power and great glory. “The Little Flock,” n and s in the chart, is then, of course, already taken out.
Our friends in Emek ha Shalom are – as we all are – awaiting the fulfillment of the prophecies in Ezekiel 38 and 39. After that we all shall know for certain that Christ, Head and Body, is the ruler of the world.
We have collected money and sent to Emek ha Shalom as help with their work.
Best wishes and kindest regards, ------- (SWEDEN)
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