NO. 481A: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT - PART ONE

No. 481A

At the beginning of the New Year, we look back at the results of the year past with thankful hearts to the Lord for all our blessings. We express our appreciation in the words of the Psalmist: "I will be glad and rejoice in thee:  I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High." (Psa. 9:2)  "Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles." (Psa. 25:22) We are optimistic because we know the Lord will adjust all iniquities when He judges the world in righteousness.

Crime is rampant the world over. Also, we have had calamities, tornadoes, hurricanes and floods.  Good people have gone to aid those who have endured these calamities. God's eye is on the good and the evil (Prov. 15:3). "Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in the heart." (Psa. 125:4)

1996 IN REVIEW:

(1) President Clinton is re-elected and Republicans retain control of Congress.

(2) TWA's Flight 800 crashes off Long Island, killing 230 people.

(3) A suspect in the Unabomber bombings is arrested in a Montana forest.

(4) During the Olympics in Atlanta, a bomb explodes, killing one and injuring 111. Security guard Richard Jewell is named as a suspect, then later cleared of the crime.

(5) A blizzard paralyzes Eastern states, causing 100 deaths and $1 billion damage.

(6) Scientists say they find possible signs of life in a meteorite from Mars.

(7) Hurricanes Arthur and Fran strike the U.S. mainland, and Hortense kills as least 16 in Puerto Rico.

(8) The Clinton administration is rocked by scandals, including Dick Morris' resignation, the Whitewater convictions of Robert and Susan McDougal, Paula Jones' sexual harassment case and controversy over missing FBI files.

(9) The standoff with a Montana militia calling itself the Freemen lasts 81 days.

(10) The U.S. Army is sent to Bosnia to enforce a peace accord. Clinton extends their stay through 1998. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown dies in a plane crash during a tour in the war-torn region.

(11) A whistle blower says tobacco companies knew their product caused cancer and covered it up. States file suits to recoup costs of Medicaid patients.

(12) A truck bomb in Saudi Arabia kills 19 American soldiers.

(13) A campaign-funding scandal emerges at end of campaign season with reports that millions may have been illegally donated.

(14) Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire erupt in chaos.

(15) Russian election returns Boris Yelsin to power. Yelsin later undergoes successful quintuple by-pass surgery.

(16) Bus bombings in Israel kill 44. Israeli election brings new conservative government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

(17) China calls for unification with Taiwan. China conducts live-fire missile tests and U.S. sends aircraft carriers to Taiwan Strait.

(18) In an Army sex scandal, charges are brought against drill instructors stemming from their alleged sexual relations with female recruits.

(19) The Southern Baptist Convention calls for a boycott of Disney.

(20) Merger mania hits the telecommunications industry, affecting Time Warner, Turner, Disney, ABC and MCI.

(21) The O. J. Simpson civil trial begins.

(22) Sixteen schoolchildren and a teacher are massacred in Dunblane, Scotland.

(23) Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorce.

(24) The minimum wage rises.

(25) The stock market breaks the 6,400-point level of the Dow Jones industrial average.

(26) The Irish Republican Army ends a cease-fire in Britain with a new bombing campaign.

(27) Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan tours Libya, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria and Nigeria.

(28) Congress passes, and Clinton signs, legislation changing the terms of the welfare entitlement system.

(29) Federal appeals court overturns racial preferences in Texas college admissions case; California votes to eliminate preferences in state contracting, hiring and college admissions. Texaco settles racial discrimination suit for $140 million.

(30) Kurds fight each other in Iraq. Iraqis shoot at patrolling planes; the United States shoots back at missile bases.

(31) Congress opens up the nation's airwaves with passage of a historic telecommunica­tions overhaul.

(32) Corporate America fights a growing sense of insecurity among its workers.

(33) Explosion in San Juan destroys building, killing at least 17 people.

(Excerpts from The Orlando Sentinel, December 15, 1996)

"Marching Into Darkness: The Olympic myth of a peaceful world enjoying fun and games just blew up in Atlanta. The one world so beloved of speechmakers at the games is a world none of us lives in any more, if it ever existed.

"We live in a world being slowly closed in by security checks, iron gates and fear of flying. A random survey of the past 10 days of world news reveals more than a dozen terrorist actions around the globe, not to mention scores of other terrorist campaigns in progress but temporarily dormant or just being planned.

"Terrorism is the world war of our era, and it is getting worse, moving inexorably to what experts call 'the big one' – the entry of nuclear or chemical blackmail on the scene...

"Less sanguine observers might conclude that what we are witnessing is not new freedoms but new license, not global democracy but universal anarchy, a technological Tower of Babel. More contact with different people is not breeding understanding and tolerance – if anything, it is merely rounding up more faces into which more bigots can scream fewer coherent opinions.

"More technology is not proving liberating, it is becoming more dangerous. The FBI has warned that Islamic terrorists, planning to blow up dozens of American airliners, were communicating on the Internet using an unbreakable electronic code which was distributed freely against government advice by libertarian advocates of the philosophy that 'information wants to be free.' There again is that naive belief that good intentions will defeat evil beliefs – what an Israeli might call freier (sucker) philosophy."

(Editorial from The Jerusalem Post, July 28, 1996)

Science: "What's So Great About Mars? Life on Mars? Who cares except the scholars of great knowledge, who will seek billions of dollars to seek out life on Mars, a planet long dead? If you believe in God's word, man's life is here on Earth, and this planet is near death because of man's greed, and each day man poisons it more.

"Millions of people starve each year, and that problem could be solved here on Earth, yet man spends billions of dollars to seek out life in this universe. Let's get real and solve our problems among nations, for there is nothing out there in the vastness that can save our Earth, period." (By Fred O. Rogers, The Orlando Sentinel, August 18, 1996)

"'Calm down and watch your wallet.'  Ralph Degennaro, executive director of Taxpayers For Common Sense, warning that the finding of possible life on Mars could lead to big boosts in federal space budgets. (U.S. News & World Report, August 19, 1996)

"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the word of the law." (Deut. 29:29) "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:7) "Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." (Eph. 3:5)

Forget space: "I suppose that you cannot discourage the dreamers. The rock from Mars – is there life there? The water on the moon – absolutely amazing. At this point we can produce hydrogen and oxygen. So what!

"A better idea, in my opinion, is to close down the whole space program and put all those talented people to work solving the problems we have here on Earth. Drugs, crime, poverty. If I seem like a bleeding heart, I am not." (By Ian Macdonald, The Orlando Sentinel, December 12, 1996)

Return  to earth:  "Every time I see a rocket go up, I see millions of dollars go up that could be used for food and health care. If we took those millions of dollars and made Earth a paradise, we shouldn't have to search for other planets to escape to after we've made this one hell." (By Audrey Ripel, The Orlando Sentinel, December 12, 1996)

VIEWPOINT: "There's much we don't know about life on Earth, why go to Mars? Some purport to have found evidence of life on Mars. So what? There is evidence of life on the African continent, and nobody seems too concerned about that.

"In my opinion the so-called evidence of so-called life on some so-called Martian rock is a scam to prime the budget pump for billions of dollars for a manned flight to Mars. I say no way.

"Assuming anybody ever got there and didn't die on the way, once they were there, what would they do? Take a few snapshots and come back. What would they report? 'Well, Mars looks just like its photographs – kind of rocky, reddish and empty.'

"Why spend a zillion dollars for that?  Especially when no government on Earth, least of all the United States, has a spare zillion to spend. As for the question, 'Are we alone in the universe?' heck no. There are 5 billion of us tripping over each other on this planet. We had better concentrate on preserving life on this planet rather than wasting billions of dollars to find out that life isn't on Mars.

"There are a lot of useful things the U.S. space program can do, but a manned mission to Mars isn't one of them. And the time to put the quietus on this project is before the publicity machine gets fully cranked up.

"You and I do not need to know if there is other life in the universe. We need to know how to live usefully on this planet without destroying it in the process. There is a lot of exciting work and study to be done in every field of human endeavor.

"We don't even know really how to live together without quarreling and frequently killing each other. We have a lot to learn about helping people learn. A great deal of what people suppose today is knowledge is pseudo-knowledge, unproven theories, and outright myths." (By Charley Reese, The Orlando Sentinel, August 18, 1996)

IN FINANCE

Looking back over the past two years and looking ahead at prospects, we must admit that there still is no agreement as to what will happen next. The bulls, bears, optimists and pessimists all have statistics to prove the opinion that the stock market will continue to rise.

The majority of financial people say that the reason for the stock market growth is that the people who we consider in the mature adult market invested in CDs back in the 1970s and 1980s when they were paid a premium interest, have invested this in the stock market. This has caused the stock market to grow. Two things drive the stock market – earnings and purchases. People buying stock that doesn't pay dividends can run up the price if there are more buyers than sellers.

It was very obvious that while running for re-election the President of the United States was not going to let the stock market deteriorate. At the time of this article, there are low earnings coming out in the fourth quarter, and how this will affect the market will be seen in the first quarter of 1997. Interest rates did not drop as low as predicted for 1996, but they are still at a low and satisfactory rate so that businesses can expand on borrowed money.

Christmas sales are reported as not good this year, and they were not good last year. One of the reasons is that personal debt is at an all time high. Last year one of the things driving the economy was new technology in the computer industry, but even computer sales have slowed down this year.

General Motors plans to get rid of 50,000 employees and farm out more work because small companies can produce the items they need to assemble their cars much cheaper than General Motors can.

Business outlook recession: There is no way to tell when it will happen, but business is getting soft. How serious it will get no one can be certain as evidence is very thin. Without a textbook recession the signs are becoming worrisome for 1998 and most economists watch for these danger signs of recession: spiking inflation brought on by shortage of energy and labor, which is true today; tight labor conditions in many areas are threatening to push wages higher and that will cause inflation. Most recessions come when the Federal Reserve raises the interest rates to nip inflation. Inventory building or lack of sales leads to production cuts and job losses. This can happen quickly if consumer spending dries up. Unexpected jolts such as the Gulf War or an Arab oil embargo will hurt.

There are no clear signs of a recession just around the corner. Signs will probably start showing up sometime next year, or possibly as late as 1999. We all know that it is best to keep in mind that a recession is out there somewhere. It will happen. Don't just shrug it off in your long term planning.

IN RELIGION

Jehovah's Witnesses: We would think the Witnesses would have us forget their fiasco of 1925 when they taught MILLIONS NOW LIVING WILL NEVER DIE. However, they say in their Watchtower of January 1, 1997, that was a mistake. "But today that statement can be made with full confidence." (col. 1, par. 1 on p. 11)

We have often compared the Witnesses to the chameleon that changes its color, as they frequently change their teaching. But usually there is "method to their madness." They now teach: "This 'great crowd [meaning them, of course] now 'renders sacred service' in the earthly courtyard of his house of worship. – Rev. 7:9,15." The offer of life is the bait used to persuade people to join them. Quite a few will join them because most people's strongest wish is to live. The Witnesses boast of their numbers, thinking numbers are their strength. But numbers are their weakness, just as others who teach error are much more numerous than are the Witnesses.

The Laymen's Home Missionary Movement: They teach that their Consecrated Epiphany Campers will be first in the Kingdom after the Worthies. But we see very little about this class in their magazines. However, we are told they continue to teach this error privately and in their conventions. Also, they teach that the "overlapping of the Epiphany into the Basilea" has been going on since 1954-56, which means that their overlapping is longer than their Epiphany proper. Brothers Russell and Johnson both taught that the Epiphany and the Time of Trouble are one and the same. When the Epiphany ends the Time of Trouble ends. The worst features of the Time of Trouble have not occurred yet – worldwide Revolution and Anarchy, with Jacob's last trouble at the end of Anarchy. The Man of Sin is to be destroyed in the Epiphany, and the Man of Sin is still with us (2 Thes. 2:3).

Catholics: "'The Pope Says We May Descend From Monkeys' is the headline in Rome's IL Giornale. The Pope and Darwin: Did God create mankind in his image, as the Bible says, or did humans evolve from animals, as Darwin theorized nearly 150 years ago? According to Pope John Paul II, evolution may be the better explanation. Weighing in on a debate that has divided Christians for decades, the pope declared that evolution is 'more than just a theory' and is fully compatible with the Christian faith. But in a letter to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, he also reaffirmed church teachings that while the human body may have evolved gradually, the soul 'is immediately created by god' in each person.

"The pope’s statement may rankle biblical fundamentalists, who take the Genesis creation story literally, but it is likely to have little impact on the Roman Catholic Church, which has long looked favorably on evolution. In 1950, Pope Pius XII called evolution a 'serious hypothesis' worthy of study. And as early as the fifth century, St. Augustine warned against a literal reading of the Genesis creation account. But John Paul II went further than previous popes in declaring that 'convergence' of scientific evidence gathered in the past 50 years makes 'a significant argument in favor of this theory.'

"This isn't the pope's first attempt to reconcile religion and science. In 1988 he declared that the church had erred in condemning Galileo Galilel in 1633 for asserting that the Earth revolves around the sun."

(By Jeffey L. Sheler, U.S. News & World Report, November 4, 1996)

At what point in the evolutionary process was the soul "immediately created by God" and put into the body? In Genesis 2:7 it is stated, "God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul." So the soul is made up of the combination of the body and the breath of life. As soon as man received the breath he became a living, conscious, sentient being – a soul – able to think, feel, smell, see and hear. Then when the breath is removed from the body the body disintegrates and the soul ceases to exist. But through the Ransom sacrifice of Jesus the soul (a body with breath) is to be restored in the resurrection (Acts 24:15; John 5:28,29). There is no Divine spark in man that lives on after the body goes back to dust. If scientist and religionists could but understand that the complete man is a soul, including body and breath, then they would not have so much confusion. "The soul that sinneth it shall die." (Ezek. 18:20)  If we had a soul that never dies, why should there be a resurrection?

"Pope will face hostility in France: Past Papal visits to France inspired barely stifled yawns. Many French, it sometimes seems, would give God himself a Gallic shrug.

"But as Pope John Paul II prepares for his fifth visit, apathy has given way to growing hostility.  The pontiff, who for years has tried to coax 'the eldest daughter of the Church' out of her indifference, may have roused a dozing giant.

"Leftist activists are protesting government funding of the September 19-22 visit. Hundreds of disillusioned Catholics are renouncing their baptisms. Thousands more, angry over the punishment of a popular renegade bishop, plan to simply sit this one out.

"This week, a crude homemade bomb was discovered in a church where the pope will make one of his first stops.  In the St. Laurent-sur-Sevre basilica in western France, police found an inscription in Latin and French: 'In the name of the pope, boom.'" [The pope's visit went off without incident as far as we know.] (Associated Press, September 4, 1996)

"CHURCH OF ENGLAND offers new description of hell: A Church of England commission this week rejected the idea of hell as a place of fire and unending torment, describing it instead as annihilation for all who reject the love of God.

"'Christians have professed appalling theologies which made God into a sadistic monster and left searing psychological scars on many,' said a report by the church's Doctrine Commission, titled 'The Mystery of Salvation.'

"'There are many reasons for this change, but amongst them have been the moral protest from both within and without the Christian faith against a religion of fear, and a growing sense that the picture of a God who consigned millions to eternal torment was far removed from the revelation of God's love in Christ,' the report said. (The Orlando Sentinel, January 20, 1996)

BAPTIST: "Southern Baptists vote to attempt to convert Jews: NEW ORLEANS – The Southern Baptist Convention on Thursday adopted a resolution calling for efforts to convert Jews to Christianity. And, for the first time in many decades, the denomination's domestic missionary agency has appointed a missionary to undertake such work.

"Early reaction to the Southern Baptists' resolution, adopted by nearly 14,000 delegates at the close of their three-day annual meeting here, suggested it may strain relations with Jewish groups.

"The resolution said the 15.6-million-member denomination, the largest in American Protestantism, would 'direct our energies and resources toward the proclamation of the Gospel to the Jews.'

"And a Baptist spokesman, Herb Hollinger, said that just before the meeting, the denomination's Home Mission Board, based in Atlanta, had appointed a missionary to work among Jews in the United States.

"Resolutions of the convention are advisory rather than being binding on any of the denomination's 37,000 congregations.  But both this resolution and the missionary appointment put the Southern Baptists at odds with several other major Protestant denominations, all of which in recent decades have encouraged dialogue between Christians and Jews while discouraging efforts at conversion.

"News of the resolution, and of the missionary appointment, brought criticism from leading Jewish specialists in interreligious relations.

"'My reaction is that this is a great setback,' said Rabbi A. James Rudin, interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee. 'By singling out Jews as a target for conversions, its a great disservice not just to Baptist-Jewish relations but to Christian-Jewish relations.'

"Rabbi Leon Klenicki, interfaith affairs director for the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, said he felt 'very sad' about the resolution.

"'Especially after the Holocaust, Christians have no right to talk about a mission to the Jews,' Klenicki said." (By Gustav Niebuhr, N. Y. Times News Service, June 14, 1996)

Reformed Church In America: "One Way? Christian debate: can non-Christians be saved?  SPRING LAKE, MI – After 25 years in the pulpit at the head of a congregation of nearly 1,000 people, the Rev. Richard Rhem would seem fitted more for a role as a denominational leader than as a denominational lightening rod.

"But instead a storm is raging around him. Some here call him a heretic. The regional church authority censured him in July, holding him 'in disrepute before Christ, the church and the world.' His congregation, loyal to him, has voted to secede from the parent church.

"The reason for the dispute is that Rhem says he no longer believes that faith in Jesus is the sole way to salvation. Jews, Muslims and others, he says, may be as likely to enter heaven.

"In departing from traditional Christian doctrine that proclaims Jesus alone as Savior, Rhem has shaken the Reformed Church in America, a denomination of about 200,000 members that has roots in the Netherlands of the 16th century and its modern headquarters in New York.

"But the controversy illuminates a far broader division emerging among Christians over how to regard other faiths. Over the centuries church teachings on salvation have been varied and nuanced, but at their core is the conviction that only through Christ has God made salvation possible.

"In recent decades, however, some prominent theologians like the late German Jesuit priest Kurl Rahner have wrestled with the question whether non-Christians can be saved through their own religions.  And Roman Catholicism's Second Vatican Council, in the early 1960s, and subsequent Protestant efforts encouraged substantial interfaith dialogue, especially between Christians and Jews.

"But none of those initiatives changed the core teaching of salvation only through Christ, a tenet that for some Christians, particularly conservative evangelicals, means nonbelievers face hellfire. ["For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all." (Rom. 11:32)]

"Now, in a widening rift among Christians, some urge greater missionary zeal as the Southern Baptists did recently in resolving to convert Jews, while others argue for dialogue and seeking understanding with non-Christians, not proselytizing. And some, prominent Protestants and Catholics among them, have said God's covenant with the Jews was not superseded by the coming of Christ.

"In an often cited Biblical verse (John 14:6), Jesus declared, 'I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father but through me.' That essential teaching of the Christian faith, Rhem's critics say, is now at stake here in western Michigan. (By Gustav Niebuhr, NY Times Service, October 27, 1996)

This is just one example of how the traditional churches are disintegrating. "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." (Rev. 3:16) This He has done and they are no longer His mouthpiece; they no longer receive the truth and what truth they did have has become polluted with nonsense.

For centuries Christians of all sorts have prayed "thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." But so very few realize that in this simple prayer is noted the two distinct salvations – one in heaven, the other in earth. Other scriptures which teach the same thing are: Jude 3, the "common salvation" and Hebrews 2:3, "so great salvation."

All will concede a heavenly salvation, but not the earthly. If there be no earthly salvation, what does Isa. 26:9 mean? "For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." Surely this does not mean those of the heavenly salvation for they have already learned righteousness. And Isa. 11:9, "for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." So we need not be overly concerned about the non-Christians for their time will come during the Lord's Kingdom reign – the times of restitution (Acts 3:19-21).

"Church accused of tricking youths into being baptized: WOBURN, Mass. – A Baptist church used promises of pizza and basketball games to attract hundreds of children, then gave them full baptisms, parents charge. Prosecutors and police in five communities on Tuesday were investigating complaints against Anchor Baptist Church. Parents say the church enticed teens and younger children onto buses on at least two occasions in July. Instead of getting pizza, the children allegedly were taken to the church in Woburn, made to sit through a long service, then told to undress and put on robes. Those who complied were dunked into a tank of water, parents say." (The Orlando Sentinel, August 28, 1996)

"Protestant Memberships Slide Further In Numbers: Membership in a number of mainline Protestant denominations is continuing to slide, according to the National Council of Churches' 1996 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.

"Since the 1995 edition of the yearbook was published, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has become the mainline Protestant church that lost the most members, 98,630, a 2.6 percent drop. The United Church of Christ lost 28,868 members, a 1.89 percent loss, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) lost 20,373 members, a 2.13 percent loss.

"The Roman Catholic Church remains the nation's largest religious body, with 60,190,605 members. It is followed by the Southern Baptist Convention, with 15,614,060 members; the United Methodist Church, with 8,584,125 members; the National Baptist Convention USA Inc., with 8,200,000 members; and the Church of God in Christ, with 5,499,875 members." (The Orlando Sentinel, March 30, 1996)

"Canadian Call: A resolution calling on members of the United Church of Canada in the province of British Columbia to encourage 'firm and positive attitudes' toward the Jewish community was unanimously approved at the Church's annual conference held May 4.

"The resolution acknowledges that anti-Jewish feeling and teaching in the Church 'have contributed to and are in large measure responsible for anti-Jewish atrocities through the ages.'" (World Jewish Congress, June 1996)

NO. 480: CHRISTMAS HOPES AND JOYS

No.      480

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord." (Luke 2:10)

Christmas (or Christ's festival) by general usage is celebrated on December 25, and since its observance is not enjoined in the Scriptures, but is merely a voluntary commemoration of a great fact rather than of a particular date, we do well to celebrate it decorously at the usual time; notwithstanding the fact that we disagree with the date, and hold, according to the evidence, that our Lord was born about October 1, and that December 25, nine months previously, was probably the date of the annunciation (Luke 1:30,31).

Our confidence in Jesus that He was the sent of God to be the Redeemer, the Messiah, the deliverer of His people, rests not merely upon the testimony of the Apostles in the New Testament records, wonderful and convincing as these testimonies are. They gain nine­tenths of their weight and importance from the fact that they evidence the fulfillment of promises, types and prophecies given by the Lord with more or less explicitness from time to time throughout the preceding 4,000 years. He who does not discern something, at least, of the Divine Plan of the Ages in connection with our Savior, His birth, His three and one-half years' ministry, His sacrificial death, His resurrection, His ascension, etc, fails to get the real strength of the Divine revelation, designed by the Lord to be the firm foundation for His people's confidence in Him and in all the glorious things which He has promised He would yet accomplish through this great Savior.

Note the original promise of the Savior shortly after sin had wounded our first parents and brought them under Divine sentence (Gen. 3:15). Note the promise made to Abraham respecting Messiah that he should be of his posterity (Gen. 22:18). Notice the same to Jacob (Gen. 28:14), and to David (2 Sam. 7:12-16). Through Isaiah, the prophet, His coming and His greatness are foretold (Isa. 9:6, 7; 11:1-9). Daniel, the prophet, also refers to the importance of His work of making an end of sin and bringing in everlasting righteousness, and thus sealing the visions and prophecies which the Lord had just given respecting Him and the favor to come through Him (Dan. 9:24). We recall also how He was typified in Isaac, who was not only the heir of the promises made to Abraham, but who was also in figure put to death and received again from the dead. We remember also the types and figures of the Mosaic arrangement, and how Moses himself was declared to be like unto the greater one to come after him.

Had the hopes of Israel been merely concoctions to deceive the people, we may be sure that the deceiver would have been careful to have marked out some remarkable line of parentage for the coming Messiah -free from blights, scandals, etc.; but this was not done. Instead, the weaknesses of the flesh amongst our Lord's progenitors are fearlessly noted. Judah, the son of Jacob, and the head of the tribe from which our Lord sprang, was not above reproach, and his general character was faithfully portrayed; his son Phares, through whom our Lord's lineage runs, was born of an unlawful union. Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, a foreigner who became an Israelite indeed, was amongst our Lord's progenitors; so was Ruth, the Moabitess, another foreigner, adopted as an Israelite• The line even through David, is compromised by coming through Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah, the Hittite. The New Testament writers are similarly candid and make no hesitation in recording the genealogy. All of this is in full accord with the Scriptural presentation of the matter; namely, that our Lord's virtue, His sinlessness, His separateness from sinners, was not through the flesh, not through His mother, but through His Father, God.

According to the flesh, Jesus Christ took hold of the seed of Abraham, as the Apostle explains; but as we have already seen, through various circumstances He was indirectly related also to the outside world. All of this is interesting to us, but nothing to be compared to our still greater interest in the fact that our Lord Jesus, although born a Jew under the law, and redeeming those who were under the law, did more than this, in that His death as planned by the Father and accepted by Himself was a propitiation "for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2) He died as a ransom price for Adam and his sins, and thus purchased from condemnation not only Adam, but his entire posterity involved through his transgression; hence, as the Apostle points out, "He is able to save [deliver] unto the uttermost all who come unto God through him." (Heb. 7:25) Not only so, but our Lord's circumstances of birth and early experiences in comparative poverty as a working man, impress us with the thought that hoe is indeed able to sympathize with mankind in every station of life; having passed from the glory of the Father to the low condition of humanity and back again, He is surely able to appreciate and sympathize with all conditions and classes.

The narrative of our lesson is so simple as to require few comments; our chief interest centers in the message which our heavenly Father sent us through the angels at the time they announced the birth of Jesus; "Fear not" -the angel understood well that through sin and degradation a fearful apprehension comes over man when he finds himself in contact with spirit beings; he is apprehensive of certain further condemnation or punishment; his acquaintance with man in influence, authority and power, leads him to dread the still greater authority and power of the Almighty lest it should be injurious to him. Only the Christian having the eyes of his understanding opened to appreciate the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God, can have that perfect love toward the heavenly Father, which is built upon an intimate knowledge of His Word, and .__" which casteth out all fear. We are reminded of the prophet's words respecting the Lord's people of today. "Their fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men," (Isa. 29:13) The Lord would have His people free from this fear, though not free from a proper reverence toward Him.

The message continues, "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." How slow the Lord's people have been to believe this message and to accept the Savior at His full worth! How prone they seem to be to suppose first of all that He was to be a Savior merely for the Jews, or secondly, a Savior merely for a special elect class; or thirdly, a Savior only for those who under present darkness, ignorance, prejudice, superstition and devilish influences, manifest a special love for righteous­ness! But how broad is the statement -great joy for all people! Our faith is not broader than the positive declaration of the Scriptures, when we hold firmly that our God graciously has arranged that every member of our poor fallen race shall yet be blessed with a clear understanding not only of his own weaknesses and imperfection through the fall, but also by clear understanding of the great redemption price paid by the Savior, and a share in the glorious opportunities thus secured to return, if he will, back to full harmony with God and to full blessings and everlasting life.

The angels did not declare that our Lord came to bring universal and everlasting salvation to all people, but they do declare that the good message of joy, of privilege, love, hope, shall extend to all people. The explanation of this is that a Savior had been born, a deliverer of the weak, the helpless, the dying, able to succor to the utmost all who would come to the Father through Him; able to open the blind eyes and to unstop the deaf ears that all may come to an appreciation of the goodness of God shining toward them in the face of the Lord Jesus.

There is a special force or meaning in this word Savior -it signifies life-giver. The Syriac version is the one in which Savior is translated life-giver, and Syriac was, likely, the language spoken by Jesus and others of Palestine at that time. And is there not a special fitness or appropriateness in this name Life-giver? What had man lost and what would he wish to have back? The Scriptures answer that Adam lost life and came under the penalty, "Dying thou shalt die." He did not lose heaven, for he never possessed it. He lost earthly life, an Eden home, human perfection. And Jesus declared that He "came to seek and to recover that which was lost." (Matt. 18:11; Luke 19:10)

No wonder after this message had been delivered, the Lord permitted an angel host to serenade the proclamation, and incidentally to prophesy also of the grand results yet to flow from the great work of redemption, which was then only beginning in the birth of the Redeemer I Properly the anthem begins with praise to Him that sitteth upon the throne, to Him Who devised the great and wonderful plan of redemption and who sent His Son, our willing Redeemer. Glory to Him in the highest -in the highest strain of heart and voice, with fullest appreciation of Him as a Savior!

Next came the consequences on earth; namely, peace -not such a peace as men might patch up between themselves and between nations and parties, and that under present conditions would be sure very soon to be scattered to the winds; but a peace with God, a peace which comes from a restoration to the race of the Divine good will. It was because Divine justice could not spare the guilty, that the sentence of death, the "curse" has borne down upon our race for now six thousand years. Under that Divine sentence of death the dying race has become impoverished, not only physically, but mentally and morally, and selfishness has become the rule, and in its wake have come all our selfish ambitions and pride and strife and vain-glory and money-love which have caused so much of the trouble that mankind has experienced.

But, now, glory to God in the highest! Because peace has been established upon a firm foundation -the lifting of the curse through the payment of our penalty by the Lord's own arrangement I As soon as the body of Christ has suffered with the Head, the Sin-offering will be complete, and peace between God and man will be established, will be renewed, and as a consequence the Redeemer shall take to Himself His great power and reign for the purpose of blessing and uplifting those whom He purchased with His own precious blood. In their interest it will be necessary that the great peace shall be introduced by the breaking into pieces of present institutions with the iron rod of the new Kingdom, as the vessel of a potter they shall be crushed as henceforth useless; that in their stead may come the grander and perfect institutions of the Lord's Kingdom. He will wound to heal, to bless, to bring in peace on the basis of everlasting righteousness; for ultimately He will destroy all those who, after being brought to a knowledge of the truth, will still love unrighteousness and tend to the corruption of the earth. He will destroy them, not in anger but in justice, in love, that an everlasting peace in full accord with that which is in heaven may prevail upon earth.

FOR OUR SAKES HE BECAME POOR

Few babes in all Judea or in all the world were born in a more humble place than Jesus. Joseph and Mary had gone to their native city, Bethlehem, for the registration, under the imperial edict. The little city was crowded with others of similar errand. And so it came that Jesus was born in a cattle stall, where Joseph and Mary had been compelled to lodge for the night. Ah! We cannot wonder that it is difficult for many to understand why our Heavenly Father sent forth His Son for our redemption under such ignominious conditions.

In order for Jesus to be able to give His life a redemption price for father Adam's life (and for the life of his race, forfeited by disobedience), it was necessary that He be perfect, sinless; as we read "He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." (Heb. 7:26) And again, "A body hast thou prepared me," (Heb. 10:5) for the suffering of death.

It is not enough, then, that we recognize Jesus as good, well-intentioned in mind. We must see in Him human perfection, sufficient as sacrifice to offset the forfeited life of the first perfect man, Adam. And we must see also that He was begotten from above ­that the Holy spark of life in Him as the Babe was transferred life principle from a pre­existent condition, mentioned by our Lord when He prayed, "Glorify thou me with the glory that I had with thee before the world was."  (John 17:15)  St.  Paul explains to us that "He was rich and for your sakes became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich."  (2 Cor.8:9) 

FEAR NOT -GOOD TIDINGS -GREAT JOY -ALL PEOPLE

The Message of the angels  was  surely  an  inspired one,  fully in harmony with God's promise  to Abraham  -only  an  enlarged statement  of the  same  -the  same  "all people"  to be blessed  -and it was  still good tidings and it still meant  great joy;  but now,  two thousand years  later,  the Message pointed out  the very individual through whom the good tidings would have fulfillment  -the Babe of Bethlehem. 

The angelic announcement, “Fear Not,” is interesting.  All humanity realizes that they are sinners and naturally have forebodings.  They find it difficult to believe that God is really gracious and loving.  The gods of the heathen nations are ferocious, unloving and unlovable.  But the God of all grace,  the Father of mercies is a God of Love, who  delights  to  use  His  Divine  Power  for  the  blessing  and  uplifting  of  His  erring children.  Therefore,  He  was  peculiar in sending the Message of "good tidings  of great joy unto  all people,"  as  well  as  in sending His  Only Begotten Son  at  great  cost  to  be man's  Redeemer  -that He might be just and still be the justifier of those who  believe (Rom.  3:26).

The Message had declared that a Savior had been born.  He was to be the antitypical Moses, the antitypical Aaron, the antitypical Melchizedek, the antitypical David.  In addition to the qualities pictured in these various typical characters, He was, also, the Son of the Highest. He was to be the Savior -the Deliverer -the Mediator of the New Covenant, so long looked for, hoped for and prayed for.

Hence, as we have seen, He was provided with perfect human life, that "he by the grace of God might taste death for every man."  (Heb.2:9)  And that by  thus  suffering, the Just  for  the unjust,  the penalty  of  the  sinner,  He  might  become  the purchaser  or Redeemer of Adam and all his  race,  with  a  full right  to  restore to perfect life and all that was  lost as many as would receive it at His hand -thankfully.  Throughout His entire Messianic reign of a thousand years He will be the world's Life-Giver, raising the willing, and obedient up out of sin and death conditions to perfection and everlasting life and earthly, human blessings. 

But our Lord also does a work for the Church, the "elect," Jesus’ Bride and joint­ heir in the Kingdom, and this blessing to the Church begins before the setting up of His Kingdom.  The Church "were by nature children of wrath even as others” (Eph.  2: 3), but  they  are  not  to  be  restored  to what  was  lost.  The  offer to  them  is  that  they  shall become copies of the Redeemer and lay down their lives, walking in His footsteps,  and that He will make up for all their deficiencies and that thus the Father of Mercies will bring them,  like their Lord to the Divine Nature, will assist them in making their "calling and election sure"  (2 Peter 1:10)  to the heavenly state which God has promised them,  for "if 

We suffer with him; we shall also reign with him; if we die with him we shall also live with him."  (2 Tim. 2:11, 12) 

In Luke 2:14 we have a kind of Hallelujah chorus or angelic response to the Message of the angel already given.  A heavenly host sang, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men."  How grand!  How inspiring!  But we see not yet this glorious condition achieved.  The proper glory to God is not yet rendered on earth as it is in heaven.  Nor does peace yet wave her banner, even over so-called Christendom. 

What is the matter?  Ah, said the Apostle, that is a secret, a mystery, hidden from past ages and dispensations!  The mystery is that God not only intends  to have Jesus  for His Anointed One,  to rule and bless the world,  but He has  foreordained also a  company of footstep followers  to be with Him and share His work,  and this entire Gospel Age has been devoted to the work of selecting this class, variously called the Body of Christ and the "espoused virgin," which eventually, at the second coming of the Lord, is to become "the bride," the Lamb's wife and joint-heir.

"Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matt. 1:21) At the time of the birth of the Savior, God made some astrological sign of the momentous event, which the wise men of the East understood. Reverentially they followed the guiding star from their home in the East, possibly Persia. How the star led we are not informed, but apparently its leading discontinued when they reached Judea, and naturally they went to the palace of King Herod inquiring for "him that is born King of the Jews." (Matt. 2:2) The mistake was quite reasonable. It required some time for us to learn that Divine favors and blessings are not always to the rich and the great, but most often for "the poor of the world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom." (James 2:5) The filled, the rich, the satisfied are frequently less interested in the Savior than are the poor, because they do not realize so great need for Him and for the Millennial Kingdom of righteousness and blessing which He is to establish. For that matter, however, only the comparatively few were interested at our Lord's First Advent, as the Scriptures intimate that comparatively few will be longing for His Second Advent and establishment of His Kingdom.

Herod affected an interest with the wise men in their search, but merely that he might thwart the Divine purpose by destroying the Child, that thus the Kingdom of Israel might be preserved to his own family -as it was through his six successors who bore his name, Herod. As the announcement of Jesus the Babe troubled the great at that day, similarly, we may be sure, any announcement of Jesus as King of Glory to take over the dominion of the world, if corroborated, would cause consternation amongst the rulers of earth today -financial, political, etc. All have unfinished plans more or less selfish, and all instinctively realize that the inauguration of a reign of absolute righteousness would interfere with the business and schemes and trusts and concerns, grafting and trickery, which are getting such a hold upon the highest civilization of our day.

The prophecies were searched and it was learned that the humble city of Bethlehem would be the honored place for our Savior's birth. The crafty Herod feigned reverence and his desire to worship the Heaven appointed King, but only that he might subsequently destroy Him -as a little later he attempted to do in causing the slaughter of the innocents from two years old and under. But how foolish was his endeavor to thwart the Almighty!

The wise men~ who sought the Babe of Bethlehem with worship and gifts, symbolized perhaps the great fact that those are truly wise who ever since have sought the Divinely appointed King and who bring to Him the incense of their devotion, and as gifts all their talents and powers. Such lay their very lives at the Savior's feet, as St. Paul explains; "living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God." (Rom. 12:1)

The Babe that was born to be King of the Jews was to be the Savior, the Life-Giver of the world. He has not become the Life-Giver yet, nor the King. His great work is still future. It will be at His second presence that He will appear in His glory and become the King of Israel -on the spirit plane. Then, too, as the outworking of that glorious Empire which He will establish on earth, He will be the world's Life-Giver, its great physician, and all mankind will be blessed with the glorious opportunity of becoming "Israelites indeed." The Empire of Sin will be overthrown and the darkness, ignorance and superstition connected therewith will be dissolved in glorious light of truth and grace which then will overspread the world. 

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." (Isa.61: 1)

PLEASE PRAY WITH US

True Christians have always prayed for the Jewish People. However, many are not aware that the Jews also pray regularly for the believers of all nations. Forty percent of all Jewish prayers contain supplications for the Gentiles who fear God. Indeed, we have a great gratitude for the Jews who have been praying for us for centuries. In these critical days, therefore, it would be inexcusable if we, the Christians, did not pray regularly for Israel and also help her in our deeds.

PEOPLE ARE TIRING: It is outrageous that the American government ultimately demanded of Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with the arch murderer, Arafat. Therefore, please join us in prayer that the Lord may strengthen the leaders of Israel to withstand the enormous pressure to abandon the Divine Principles. This pressure is an almost compelling influence, so strong that people by themselves are not able to resist it. Many, who up until the elections fought so faithfully to rescue the Divine Values, are now tiring. Consequently, our backing is so critical at this time!

THE WILL IS GOOD: Prime Minister Netanyahu's first act upon becoming Prime Minister was to pray at the Western Wall. By this act he symbolized the intention of his government to govern according to God's Word. In his speech before the American Congress he stressed his belief in God and quoted Psalms 29. Following his return to Israel he proclaimed his intention that every child in Israel should become familiar with Biblical values.

BUT THE OPPOSING INFLUENCES ARE ENORMOUS: Ms. Ruth Matar wrote in an article that for people outside of Israel it is hard to understand why it is so difficult for the new government to make the promised reforms. The reasons for this difficulty are forces which / exert a stranglehold on government offices, the economy, law courts, the army, intelli­gence services, the media, etc. This influence deeply affects even the Israeli population and puts a heavy obstacle on the road to positive change.

The former Head of the Knesset, Dov Shelansky, warned in a radio interview of the serious danger that the new government would repeat the mistakes of the Begin Government. Menaham Begin made a great mistake which led to serious consequences. Upon assuming power in 1977 Begin left many Socialist and Atheist officials in their positions and even appointed Godless officials to high office. Begin believed that this was a noble gesture which would unite the camps. However, this was a fatal mistake with tragic consequences. The liberal behavior of Begin was not appreciated; many of those officials undermined his position from within, and consequently Begin resigned brokenhearted. It is unfor­tunate that he was influenced by the liberal spirit instead of hearing God's word which says, "Though grace is shown to the wicked, he will not learn righteousness, even in the land of uprightness he will go on doing evil, and will not regard the majesty of the Lord." (Isa. 26:10)

THE TASK OF BELIEVERS IN THE BIBLE AT THE END OF THE DAYS: An important part of the task for believers at the End of the Days is to help Israel in many folded ways. The Bible commands us very clearly to be intensively active for Israel. There are countless commandments to comfort and to exhort Israel, not to keep silent, but to cry aloud, to prepare the way for Israel; to mourn for Jerusalem and many more directives. We also have to assist in the regathering of the Jewish people. And we have to participate in the restoration of the land of Israel. Additionally, from Christ's followers are demanded even more than this. They have to lay down their lives for their Brethren - also the Jewish Brethren! They have to follow the footsteps of the Lord who carried out His mission tirelessly among the Jewish people. Under great privation He served the crowds of people who surrounded Him, helping and healing them at the expense of His own vitality. He sacrificed Himself every day, such that His life-forces were so depleted at the end of the three and a half years of ministry, that He was unable to carry His own cross. Therefore, let us pray that in the midst of Christianity may come a better understanding of our duty toward Israel, because so many are occupied with minor matters. The Lord exhorts us that many will fall asleep, and some even will miss Him. (Matt. 25)

THE LAST QUIET MONTHS BEFORE THE GREAT STORM: May these last months before the great storm become the best ones in our efforts to pay back some of that tremendous debt we owe to Israel. All the light and knowledge of God which we have has come to us through the people of Israel and from the Land of Israel. Let us ask salvation for Jerusalem! "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good." (Psa. 122:6-9)

The enemies of Israel are now very angry. They have begun an international propaganda campaign to force Israel back into the suicidal peace process. The prophets foresaw that Israel will challenge the nations and they would gather against Jerusalem. (Zech. 12 and 14) Please pray with us that this challenge may come according to God's will, and not by unfaithful behavior filled with concessions and compromises. This would rob Israel of her Divine protection. But faithful and obedient behavior toward God's will can only bring Israel God's help (Zech. 2:9; 9:15; 12:8; 14:3).

A part of the nation detaches from every tradition and eternal value of Judaism, and the present evil winds are scattering them into every wrong way… but there is another part in the nation who seeks a spiritual awakening. These are people who are talking together how to perform the commandments better, and how to love their neighbor more and how to better help him. They are praying for Messiah and Redemption. Please pray with us, that after the initial physical phase of the restoration of Israel, may this present phase of spiritual revival which has already begun, now continue in its realization, and bring about the recognition of the entire world that we are at the greatest turning point of human history in which Israel has a central task, and that it is a special nation chosen by God to be a light and a model in the fear of God for the rest of the world.

We send from Israel our warmest greetings to all of our co-watchmen on guard for the near Kingdom of Messiah!

Brothers Hermann and Joseph (ISRAEL)

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isa 55:9) God has an appointed time for all His important events: "The Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry [to us it seems to tarry], wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." (Hab. 2:2, 3)

LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Our beloved Sister Emily: Loving greetings in the Name of our Lord!

Thank you for your letters of August 8 and 28. They are a spiritual refreshment and comfort to us. We are blessed to have a sister like you who cares so much with love in spirit and practice. We are glad you appreciated our letter (Brother Joseph wrote by hand) and enclosures. We appreciate the papers giving us Present Truth without compromise, also giving the news of the Lord's work in Israel.

We do not protégé Benjamin Netanyahu but he was in a dangerous situation before the election. We gave him support because we believed he was the most qualified for leadership in Israel. We do not expect him to be able to solve all the problems. If he succeeds, as you say, to bring back the faith in God to Israel then he will be able to solve the other problems easily.

We began to send the Overland Monthly to important people who had received from us the Pastor Russell book by David Horowitz. We have been asked for help to supply a record for a dissertation by the Haifa University on the topics: "Jesus the follower of Moses," and "Jesus the Sacrifice." First of all we showed the wonderful Scriptural passages about the Messiah, then we added excerpts from the Reprints, Tabernacle Shadows and two books in Hebrew (which was translated by Sister E. Lenfast); The Divine Plan of the Ages in Brief, and the book, God through Isaiah Speaks to Israel.

We have an additional booklet translated into Hebrew by Hugo Karlen. He was appointed by Pastor Russell to do the Lord's work in Sweden. All this together will give a wonderful and complete witness of the Messiah.

We have received an announcement that the vice-minister of education, Moshe Peled, will come tomorrow to visit Emek ha Shalom. The last time when many visitors came they expressed their admiration for Brother Hermann still being able to give spiritual talks as well as doing hard labor every day.  It is for them like a wonder.  So you are not alone in saying Brother Hermann is a wonder to all of you. 

This morning I spoke to an official from the Jewish National Fund.  He has known us for 20 years. He said that Hermann is much loved by the Lord because the Lord gives him such forceful and prophetic spirit and much wisdom. He believes that Hermann is wiser than most famous Rabbis of the country.

However, I see every evening that Hermann is doing with his last forces. Both of us will not be able to sustain without your help and the help of others. Thank you very much for your prayers. We pray daily for you and pray we will be able to perform fully the goal that Brother Russell put in front of us: "They love each other from the new standpoint of intention and will be in harmony with God. Their friendship for one another grows increasingly as they perceive the energy in fighting the good fight of faith against evil influences of the world, the flesh and the Adversary."

Please greet heartily Brother and Sister Williams, Sister Delta Clinard and Brothers Roy Ekroth and Ralph Mehl. We remain profoundly grateful for all the help that has been given us, and we greet all with brotherly love from Israel.

Your brethren, Hermann and Joseph (ISRAEL)

NO. 479: TAKE, MY BRETHREN, THE PROPHETS – PART THREE

No. 479

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace thru our Beloved Master!

EZEKIEL – Ezekiel was a member of a priestly family, contemporary with Jeremiah, whose sayings and writings undoubtedly had great influence on Ezekiel. And, although he offered much sharp criticism of the Jewish rulers, priests, Levites and false prophets, he did not offer the objectionable predictions that were the substance of Jeremiah's teachings, and he also held out some future hope for the Jewish people. He probably reached manhood in Jerusalem in the environment of the Temple during Jeremiah's ministry. He was carried captive from Judah eight years after Daniel's deportation. Josephus says he was a youth at the time. He was not a child at the time but under the age when Levites assumed their duties and were reckoned in the census as men. He lived with the Jewish exiles on the Chebar, a canal in Babylonia.

His prophetic ministry began in the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity on the Chebar. He was then in his thirtieth year (Ezek. 1:1,2). Though an exile in a foreign country, Ezekiel had freedom to utter his prophecies, and was consulted for advice by the elders of the people (chapters 8:1; 14:1; 20:1), although those elders did not follow faithfully the advice he gave them. He takes up brief doctrinal remarks, or suggestive allegories, or short speeches of Jeremiah, and often gives them a literary finish. His prophetic activity seems to have extended over a period of at least 22 years. The time and manner of his death are not recorded.

THE BOOK – The book of Ezekiel is regarded by analysts as more simple in its arrangement than any other of the great prophetical books; and was probably committed to writing late in the prophet's life, not piecemeal, but issued in its complete form at once. The prophecies are pretty much in chronological order, but it is questionable whether any of his prophecies are recorded exactly as he spoke them – not literary, but practical, designed to influence the minds of the people in general. His book is occupied with two great themes: the destruction of the city and nation; and the reconstruction of the people, and their eternal peace – two equal divisions of 24 chapters each.

The first 24 chapters prophesy the destruction of the city and nation; and secondly, the restoration of the people and their eternal peace as the people of the Lord. Over the years the Jews have greatly erred in applying this promise to people as they are today, and not from the overall grand application to "all people" under the beneficent reign of the Christ in the eternal establishment of the Kingdom for which Jesus taught us to pray.

The book itself contains little that is historical; rather, a summation of general principles, yet sound in their generalities. Thus, he resembles somewhat Isaiah, but he lacks the breadth of sympathy and the grand glow of emotion that distinguishes the "gentleman" of the Old Testament. Chapter One tells of his vision of Jehovah, who calls and sends him. Then follows his mission to Israel and his inspiration by Jehovah. In subsequent chapters he tells of the restitution of the people, as Jehovah sanctifies them and dwells among them. This thought is given with much greater force and clarity by the Apostle John in Rev. 21:3, Dia.: "I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will tabernacle with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them – their God." This promise is not exclusively to the Jews, but "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Here we have quite a wide difference of fact to the teaching of present-day Jehovah's Witnesses!

Presently, there are far-off peoples lying in the ends of the earth who have never heard Jehovah's name nor seen His glory. The real "glory of God" is His marvelous character perfectly balanced with Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power; and of this sublime condition God had declared, "My glory will I not give to another." (Isa. 42:8) While He is recorded as "the God of Israel," yet it is thru Israel that "all shall know me, from the least to the greatest." (Jer. 31:34) As the far-off nations come to and touch Israel, the Lord's glory shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. History as Ezekiel conceives it, whether of Israel or of all nations, is Jehovah's revelation of Himself to all mankind; every movement of it carries this sobering thought: "Ye shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezek. 6:7)

Ezekiel offers a very glowing picture of the future for the Jews, probably not realizing himself that that day would come when God's Kingdom is fully established in the earth, when there "shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." (Rev. 21:4) And He summarizes His thoughts with these words: "I will hide my face from them no more; for I have poured out my spirit on the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." (Ezek. 39:29) The people are all righteous, led by the spirit of the Lord, and knowing that Jehovah is their God. Ezekiel does not explain how salvation is to be attained, for the salvation is realized and enjoyed; it describes the state and life of the people that their redemption is come now. The fact that the prophet details the final blessedness of the people accounts for the supernatural features of the people's condition and are to be understood literally. The Temple, the services, etc., are meant in a real sense, just as the supernatural presence of Jehovah is meant in a literal sense. At that time the desert will be turned into a garden, along with the sweetening of the waters of the dead sea. (Isa. 25:1,2)

Perhaps it is in order here to describe the present condition of the Dead Sea. Its surface is about 1,300 feet below sea level; its waters are about 27% salt; and no creature is able to live in it. A human being cannot sink in that water. In view of all these extreme conditions, we may readily understand why the scoffers are loud in their ridicule of the Bible in general, and especially so concerning the predictions of Ezekiel.

When the prophecy is fulfilled, the boundaries of the Holy Land will be changed considerably, with a new disposition of the twelve tribes within it. A life-giving stream will issue from the Temple. The Temple is described in very dark and symbolic terms, with the gates of the Holy City occupying special attention.

MORE ABOUT EZEKIEL

Here we pause to offer further facts about the prophet himself. He was the son of Buzi, of whom nothing further is known. Like so many of the Old Testament prophets, Ezekiel had a very humble beginning, which would tend to keep him, along with others, in a keen understanding of the condition of the common people, with great sympathy for their problems. The name Ezekiel bears some resemblance to the word to despise, and a rabbinical fancy interprets it of Jeremiah, the despised, making Ezekiel the lineal descendant of this prophet, as he is his child in thought and faith. Ezekiel is styled the priest, and in all probability he was of the family of Zadok. At that time the priests had already attained great influence; they were the aristocracy, standing next to the royal family. It is not certain whether Ezekiel had actually been engaged in priestly duties before his captivity, though it is not unlikely, both from the name priest applied to him and from the vast acquaintance which he shows with the Temple, its dimensions and furniture, and with the sacerdotal rites. Much of the conclusion concerning the prophet is merely sound considered opinion, with absolute proof lacking. The age at which the priests undertook their duties is not clearly stated in the Law; but we have good assurance that Jesus began His ministry at the age of thirty; and it was Jewish custom then to consider the males as reaching manhood when they arrived at thirty years of age. According to Ezek. 24:18, he was married and had a home, to which the elders often came for consultation.

EZEKIEL'S YOUTH – The period at which the prophet's youth was passed was rich in influences that must have powerfully affected him. Though too young to take part in the reform of Josiah – or perhaps to remember it – he grew up in the midst of the changes which it had introduced, and probably learned to estimate previous history from the point of view which it gave him. The tragic events which followed one another closely at this epoch, such as the death of Josiah, the exile of Jehoahaz to Egypt and of Jehoichin to Babylon, made a lasting impression on his mind. The last event formed the chief landmark of his life, and that not solely because his own history was so closely connected with it, and how deeply the fate of the two young princes touched him, and how well he could sympathize with the country's sorrow over it, a sorrow recorded also by Jeremiah, is seen in his elegy on the princes of Israel. He had a fondness for historical study, and no history is to him without a moral; and silently the events of this time were writing principles upon his mind to which in after years he was to give forcible enough expression.

It was not, however, merely the silent teaching of events from which Ezekiel learned. He had a master interpreting events to him to whose influence every page of his prophecies bears witness. Jeremiah, indeed, may not have been Ezekiel's only master; there were other prophets of the time like-minded with him, such as that of Urijah whom Jehoiakim dragged from his hiding-place in Egypt and slew with the sword (Jeremiah 26). And perhaps others of whose names no record has been kept, for it is almost an accident, and only because his fate cast light on the history of Jeremiah in a moment of peril, that the name of Urijah has been preserved. There were also priests who cherished the same aspirations as these prophets, and pursued in their own province the same ends. It is not without significance that Jeremiah no less than Ezekiel was of a priestly family – and that, too, a rural one – for it was not in the capital alone that true religion had its representa­tives. Like Micah, Urijah was a prophet of the country, being of Kirjath-jearim. And among Ezekiel's predecessors in the priesthood, and also among his contemporaries, there were some who, if they had spoken to the world, would have spoken in the same manner as he did, for the favorable judgment which he passes on the Zadokite priests is not altogether due to mere caste prejudice.

Still the teaching and life of Jeremiah was probably the most powerful influence under which the young priest grew up. It would, no doubt, be a mistake to ascribe every idea in Ezekiel which coincides with Jeremiah's teaching to the influence of that prophet. There is a common circle of thoughts and feelings which even the greatest minds share with those of their own age. Striking out some new conceptions, and opening up some lines of advancement which mark an epoch, the chief elements of their faith and life are common with others of their day, and have been inherited from the past. The surprise with which we read Jeremiah might be lessened if the means of comparing him with others were not so narrow as the paucity of writers in the century before the exile causes it to be. At any rate, his influence upon the language and thoughts of Ezekiel can readily be observed. It could hardly have been otherwise. For thirty years before Ezekiel's captivity Jeremiah had been a prophet, speaking in the courts and chambers of the Temple and in the streets of Jerusalem, and having such a history as made him the most prominent figure of the day.

Ezekiel was familiar with Jeremiah's history and had listened to his words from his infancy. Many of his prophecies had circulated in writing for a number of years previous to the captivity of Jehoiachin which Ezekiel shared, and the constant intercourse between Jerusalem and the exiles kept the prophet of the Chebar well informed regarding the course of events at home, and the views which prominent persons there took of them.

However, with all this conjecture, we stress again that "Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:21) Thus, the fundamental source of all Old Testament prophecy – as well as of the New Testament – was the Holy Spirit; so we should expect a very strong similarity in all that was written by inspiration of God.

It is clearly stated by Daniel that "I heard, but understood not... the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." (Dan. 12:8,9) And in the New Testament some of the things written were not understood by those who wrote them; but this is moreso in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. It is generally conceded that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible – all of which is identified by Jesus as "the Law." But Moses lived more than 2500 years after Adam was created, so he could only give us the Genesis account thru inspiration of God. There are seven clear divisions in the Bible: The Law, the Prophets and the Psalms in the Old Testament; and the gospels, the Acts, the epistles and Revelation in the New Testament. And Jesus stated of the Old Testament: "They [the Old Testament Scriptures] are hey which testify of me." (John 5:39)

FURTHER THOUGHTS ON EZEKIEL

When Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem he carried into captivity the young king Jehoiachin, the flower of the population including many priests, Ezekiel among them, as well as a multitude of other citizens, particularly craftsmen. Ezekiel, with a community of other exiles, was settles at Tel-Abib by the river Chebar – not to be identified with the Chabor which falls into the Euphrates near Carchemish, but some stream or canal in Babylonia proper; and five years later he was called to occupy among them the place of a "watchman." How large the community was is not known – nor what kind of place Tel-Abib was – for the reference of the prophet to walls hardly justify the conclusion that it was a walled town.

The community appears to have been left, as was usually the case, to regulate its internal affairs and govern itself according to its own mind. The prophet repeatedly mentions the "elders"; and though he calls them elders of Judah, or Israel, he identifies them with the captivity, of which they must have been the heads and representatives. The lot of the exiles in some cases may have been hard, but there is no evidence that they were harshly treated by their conquerors or suffered want. When the prophet speaks of famine he refers to Canaan; and the phrase "made servants of them" has more a national than an individual reference, like such expressions as "prison houses" in the second part of Isaiah (42:22). The exiles possessed houses, and there is no allusion to persecution from their heathen neighbors.

The picture – if it may be called such – which the prophet gives of the life of the exiles and their circumstances is singularly colorless. His interests were exclusively religious, and any insight which he affords us is into the religious condition of his fellow-captives, from whose mouth he occasionally quotes an expression very suggestive as to their state of mind. His own mind was occupied with the largest conceptions, and the exiles were to his eye representatives of a larger subject. When bidden go to "them of the captivity" he felt sent to the "house of Israel"; and while addressing his fellow exiles he fancies before him the people of Canaan or the nation scattered abroad throughout the world. This identification of the exiles with the people as a whole, and this occupation of the prophet's mind with great national interests, makes it difficult to know how far is his apparent addresses to the exiles he is touching upon their actual practices. Nothing is more likely than that the captives continued the evil courses in which they had grown up at home, so far as this was possible in a foreign land. They certainly shared in the fanaticism or optimism of those left in the country, and heard with incredulity the prophet's predictions of the speedy downfall of the city.

It is known from Jeremiah (Jer. 29:8) that there were false prophets among the exiles who confirmed them in their delusive hopes; and Ezekiel may be referring to these prophets in such passages as Chapters 13 and 14. But such language as "ye have not gone up into the breach" (13:5), "I sought for a man that should stand in the breach before me for the land" (22:30), shows that it is the circumstances of the nation as a whole and not those of the exiles that occupy the prophet's attention. The same appears from such expressions as those in 14:7: "every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that layeth his idols on his heart." In one passage (20:32) the people are represented as resolving to adopt the religion of the nations. "We will be as the nations, to serve wood and stone"; and such a spirit might very naturally reveal itself among the exiles surrounded by heathen neighbors.

But probable as this is, the chapter is a review of the nation's history, and the language may be little more than the prophet's interpretations of the spirit shown by the people all thru its history. It is only on rare occasions that Ezekiel draws any distinction between the exiles and those remaining in the land. When he does so he shares the feeling of Jeremiah (Chapters 24, 29) that the flower of the people had been carried into captivity with Jehoiachin, and that the hope of the nation lay in them (11:14-21) But usually the exiles are regarded as the representatives of the house of Israel; the "elders" are the elders of Judah or Israel; and, when addressing them, the prophet desires to speak in the ears of all his countrymen – just as it is the fate of Jerusalem, the history of the nation, and its future destinies, that form the theme of his discourse. The idea that Ezekiel's office was limited to the exiles, among whom he was a sort of pastor, with a cure of souls, is supported by nothing in the Book.

It would be a mistake, however, to press this general bearing of his mission, and his preoccupation with the destinies of the house of Israel as a whole, so far as to infer from it that he had no actual prophetic ministry among the exiles; that he was a writer simply, unused to the life of men – a solitary theorist whose "stuff for removing" (12:4), if he had brought it forth, would have been little more than an "inkhorn"; and that the form of oral address which he gives his words is a mere literary artifice.

It may not be allowable to assume that his operations among the exiles were literally altogether such as he describes them; but, apart from his own representations, several things afford evidence indirectly that he did exercise a ministry of some kind, and of some duration. When commanded to prophecy of the great conflagration which the Lord would kindle in the field of the south, he exclaims, "Ah, Lord God! they say of me, Is he not a speaker of parables?" And in 33:30 he is represented as being the subject of conversation among the people: "The children of thy people talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, saying, Come, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord."

These incidental allusions imply that the prophet had a manner which the people had learned to recognize and to discount, and that they were in the habit of meeting to consult him. The frequent assembling of the elders before him implies the same thing. It is true that those elders were very subordinate figures; they are mentioned and then the discourse passes on to the "house of Israel," or even to the strangers that sojourn in Israel. However, promises of restitution are evidence that Ezekiel was merely writing what God had revealed to him. Also, the actual occurrence of what he had predicted; he had clearly foreseen the downfall of the state, so the Jews could not accuse him of just talking; he had spoken "in the name of the Lord."

And he was then just as emphatic in his predictions of reconstitution of the Kingdom of God on a better basis. But it is well to keep in mind here that what he foresaw was not at all clear to him. His ideas of restitution of Israel were a far gap from what the actual restitution will be – a new arrangement "wherein dwelleth righteousness," with no evil or physical affliction as is promised by the Apostle John in Revelation. His public reproof of the nation in the earlier parts of his book are to be taken literally as applying to that time; but the elevating promises of the future are of much grander viewpoint than Ezekiel himself recognized at that time. Because of the severe opposition of his predictions about the fall of Jerusalem, he had been comparatively silent; but when the city fell he could then speak with the authority and voice of a true prophet. And he frequently warns Israel that "ye shall know that I am Jehovah." (Psa. 83:18)

It is the opinion of some writers that the Apostle John was motivated in much of his style by what Ezekiel had written, although the Apostle has improved on what he learned from Ezekiel. Ezekiel had a wide knowledge of designing and architecture, and an excellent familiarity with foreign lands and their natural and industrial products. Although the ten tribes of Israel had been "lost" for more than a hundred years before Ezekiel's time, yet he forecast the reunion of the twelve tribes in the distant future (37:15-17); and we know this will be an accomplished fact in the near future. Then will be fulfilled the vision of "the dry bones" (Ezek. 37:1-8) and their resurrection, along with a new Temple, partially, if not totally, "made without hands."

The following observation of two Old Testament prophets is made by one capable writer: "The difference between Isaiah's knowledge of God and that of Ezekiel, and consequently the greater detail of the latter in chapter one compared with Isaiah six, is very prettily expressed by Abarbanel, who says that Ezekiel was a villager who saw the Divine Majesty but rarely and therefore minutely described it, while Isaiah dwelt in the capital and was familiar with the great King."

Foregoing we stressed that both those prophets spoke by inspiration of God; but God always allowed His mouthpieces to be "themselves" while speaking the Truth. This is also true of the New Testament, where St. Paul's superior education and mentality overshadow some of his fellow Apostles who were "ignorant and unlearned men." (Acts 4:13)

Nothing is known of Ezekiel after 570 BC; but tradition asserts that he met his death in Babylonia at the hands of a prince of his people whom he had upbraided for his idolatrous practices.

GENERALITIES – Ezekiel's general doctrine of God does not differ materially from that of other prophets of the same age, such as Jeremiah and Isaiah, though the character of his mind caused him to bring some Divine attributes into more prominence than others; and his education as a priest leads him to a way of thinking or at least to the use of a kind of phraseology not observed in other prophets.

His conception of Jehovah appears in "the visions of God" which he describes. These visions were all alike, and they reveal his general impression of that which Jehovah is. The fourfold nature of the cherubim, of their faces and wings and of the wheels, all forming a chariot moving in every direction alike, and with the velocity suggested by the wings and wheels, symbolizes the omnipresence of Jehovah, while the eyes of which the whole was full are a token of His omniscience. The throne above the firmament on which He sat indicates that He is king in heaven, God over all, omnipotent. The Divine being Himself appeared as of human form, while His nature was light, of such brightness that fire fitly represented Him only from the loins downward; from the loins upwards the effulgence was something purer and more dazzling, and He was surrounded by a brightness like that of the rainbow in the day of rain. This "glory," which contains Himself within it, is that which is manifested to men.

At the sight of His glory the prophet fell upon his face, but it is not Jehovah's will that His servants should be overborne by His Majesty (Job 9:32-35; 13:21); and He says to the prophet "stand upon thy feet that I may speak with thee." (Ezek. 2:1) He is the living God – "a likeness as the appearance of a man" (1:26) – "A mighty hand and a stretched out arm." These representations in Ezekiel mean neither more nor less than they do in other prophetical writings; all taken together they express the idea of a living personality possessing all the powers of personal being. The Lord brings Himself near and dwells by His spirit in men's hearts – even tabernacling in a visible form among them forever, so that the name of the new Jerusalem to all generations is, "The Lord is there." The prophet says he ate the roll which the Lord had given him, "and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness." (Ezek. 3:3) The same joy in God's service – even amidst persecutions – was felt by Jeremiah: "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; they were the joy and rejoicing of my heart." (Jer. 15:16)

The prophet states that God is Lord over all; and the self-exaltation of peoples or their rulers in any place is an offence against the majesty of Him who is alone exalted. The moral forces are also subject to Him, as well as the physical. Indeed, the prophet represents God as the Author of all that occurs, whether on the stage of history or in the minds of men. The laws given to the people were "good" – statutes of life; but the people neglected and disobeyed them. But, "I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezek. 38:23)

THE PEOPLE – The Book contains much condemnation of the people, but we shall offer just passing comment: He asserts that Jerusalem has outbid Samaria in wickedness, and that both peoples have been more perverse than the heathen. The degeneracy had infected all classes and persons; and it was in vain to look for a "man" in the streets of Jerusalem. "I sought for a man among them to stand in the gap before me for the land, but I found none." (Ezek. 22:30)

However, Ezekiel saw a future for Israel, especially in Ezekiel 36:24-38, of which we shall quote brief excerpts, but we first offer the opinion of one brilliant commentator as introduction: "This remarkable passage has no parallel in the Old Testament, and reads like a fragment of a Pauline epistle. The doctrine of the spirit of God receives fuller development in it than anywhere else in the Old Testament."

"I will take you from among the heathen, saith the Lord, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh... And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the corn, and increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree... Then ye shall remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities... Then will I also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and the ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it," (Ezek. 36:24-36)

The above prophecy is now being fulfilled in this our own day; and believing Jew and Gentile alike may take strong assurance from those promises that the Jews are now in goodly Canaan land to stay there. No more will they be the "wandering Jew"; and all the uproar about them being pushed of out Israel is nothing more than just loud talk; and time will eventually prove it so. It is with much pleasure and strong assurance of faith that we present this paper on the Prophet Ezekiel.

(Reprint No. 329, November 1982)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brethren:

Yes, I enjoy very much the newsletters, especially the May-June 1996, No. 475, and I do want to be on the mailing list.

I'm very sorry to be so far behind in letting you know. I read to Vicki Kostiw in the Westland Convalescent Center. Sister Ruth Cunningham and I visit her. God be with you. Sister ------- (MICHIGAN)

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Epiphany Bible Students:

Thank you for the material you send me. Are there many Bible Students in your area? Do you have a class?

I wish it were possible to meet with you.

Christian love, ------- (VIRGINIA)

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Dear Emily,

As always it is a pleasure to hear from you. I am afraid that I do not receive David Horowitz's bulletins. I do get your papers and have noticed how much space is devoted to Israel. As yet I have not visited Emek ha Shalom. If I get a chance to do so I will certainly bring them your regards.

Our Susie, 28, who has been holding down two jobs, special education in a Jerusalem hospital, and secretary to a Jerusalem lawyer in the afternoons, has decided to go back to school to further her background in special education and enhance her status in her field. She will have all she can do to support herself with a part time job, and we have agreed to help her with the tuition. She is a good girl and hard working...

Carol, 25, is between jobs again and will be moving in with us until she finds something. She has been struggling to keep her weight down, even as Susie struggles to keep some meat on her bones. She too needs to find a husband. Andrea and I have been waiting patiently, watching our friends marrying off their children and become grandparents. Our days of joy will come when it is meant to come. Meanwhile we do pray for our children.

Dina, 18, has graduated high school and will be filling her national service obligation (in lieu of military service) at Kibbutz Migdal Oz, not very far from Kiryat Arba. She will be living there and helping on the Kibbutz. We are happy that she will be close to home.

Avi, 15, is already taller than me! He is a very brilliant young man and loves to play computer games. Largely as a result of his fascination with computers, his English is impeccable. He is an excellent student and always makes us proud.

Rachel, 12, our "baby," is already a young lady. She will be entering the junior high school of Kiryat Arba this year. It is hard to believe how fast time passes. I cannot remember when my children became adults. They are certainly a joy to us.

Andrea and I both are just recovering from a similar back problem. Something to do with spinal discs shifting due to age. We both couldn't bend down and had difficulty walking for several days. The orthopedist assured us that it was a typical problem which only rest could cure. We had to take off a week of work and just rest in bed. Thank G-d we seem to have pretty much gotten over that now. The technician who took my X-rays in Kiryat Arba, was murdered two days later, along with his wife and father, as he drove home near the Bet Shemesh area late at night. He was such a nice young man. It is no wonder why Andrea refuses to drive at night any more. I don't know if the daylight makes things any safer, but the helplessness of not being able to see your surroundings at night only enhances the fear. Strangely, Andrea will not agree to have me carry my pistol any more. She is even more afraid that I will shoot someone and go to jail!

We still travel to Jerusalem an average of once a week. If we have a wedding to attend we either find a friend to put us up for the night, or splurge on a hotel. If neither option is open we just don't go. In any event we try to live as normal a life as we can...

I think you are correct in your assessment of Netanyahu. No one is perfect, but he is certainly much better than was Peres. We just must stay strong in our faith and continue with our lives as best we can.

Thanks again for keeping in touch. I pray for your continued good health and strength, and treasure your friendship.

With Blessings from Hebron, --------------- (ISRAEL)

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Dear Sister Hoefle:

Thank you for your letter. My health has improved greatly, thank G-d! We have received your materials (2 Divine Plan books, David Horowitz's book and the Overland Monthly). We greatly appreciate these items and wish to request, at your approval of course, twelve additional copies of the Divine Plan book, as well as one additional copy of the Overland Monthly book, for which we will send you full payment within ten days of receiving them.

MAY THE BLESSING OF AVRAHAM COME ON THE GENTILES THROUGH MESSIAH – GAL. 3:14.

Yours in the L-rd's Service, ------- (TENNESSEE)

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NO. 478: IN MEMORIAM OF THAT SERVANT

No. 478

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace thru our Beloved Master!

In Ephesians 4:10-13 the Apostle Paul gives a terse outline of the Gospel‑Age Church in its organizational nature; and we offer some of this Scripture from the Diaglott: “He [Jesus] is the one having ascended far above all of the Heavens, so that He may fulfil all things. And He gave indeed the apostles, and the prophets, and the evan­gelists, and shepherds and teachers... for the work of service in order to the building up of the body of the Anointed One.” The Apostles in this text refer exclusively to the Twelve, who wrote by inspiration, and were given plenipotentiary powers by Jesus. “What­soever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” (Matt. 16:19)

Next in order and in rank in the Church are the “prophets.” These cannot be the Old Testament prophets because they are not a part of the Church; therefore, they must be men of rank in the Gospel Age, and we understand them to be included in the “seven stars” of Rev. 1:16: “He [Jesus] had in his right hand seven stars.” On page 345 of the 1916 Watch Tower, there is this comment about them:

“This One whom we thus know, thus recognize, as the instructor and Caretaker of the candlesticks, we are also to recognize as having in His right hand – in His favor as well as His power – seven stars, the angels, the messengers, of the seven churches. That they are in His right hand seems to teach us that these should be considered as in some special sense under the Master’s guidance, protection and care in the interest of the Churches which they represented.”

So far as we know, That Servant never named seven individuals as these “seven stars”; however, immediately after Brother Russell’s demise, J. F. Rutherford named St. Paul, St. John, Arius, Waldo, Wycliffe, Luther and Brother Russell as the “seven stars.” While we agree that the above seven are a part of the “seven stars,” we believe there were oth­ers. This list omits Claudius of Turin, the first Protestant Reformer, John Wesley, Servetus, Hubmaier, and many other saintly reformers of the Gospel Age. We believe the “seven stars” are a composite group of forty‑nine – 7 X 7 = 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 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)

It is not our purpose here to elaborate upon the “evangelists” (lesser lights in the general church than the “prophets”) or the “shepherds and teachers” (local elders), other than to note that these four classes of leaders constitute the full and complete organization of the Church ‑ and is not an organization made by man. This organiza­tion should not be added to nor taken from. “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” (Rev. 22:7,18) And, since St. Paul wrote by inspiration, we may accept his outline as being infallible. He further defines these two classes of Church leaders in Eph. 2:19,20, Dia.: “You are fellow-citizens with the saints... having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets.” During the Age many have attempted to add to, or take from this organization, or arrangement, for the Church, which has brought them the condemnation of Rev. 22:18,19. They are the class described in Psa. 107:11: “They rebelled against the words of God [the true Bible doctrines], and contemned the counsel of the Most High [the organization of the Church as given by St. Paul].”

The same Apostle gives the Church organization in slightly different words in 1 Cor. 12:27-29, Dia.: “Now you are a Body of Christ, and members in part. And those whom God placed in the congregation, are first Apostles; second, Prophets; third, Teachers... All are not Apostles; all are not Prophets; all are not Teachers.” Here again St. Paul says the Prophets are second to the Apostles, and given their place in the congregation for the work of the ministry, for the perfecting of the Saints. And, since God has so placed them, woe be to any who attempt to place themselves into such positions, or to ignore those that God has so placed. When the great apostasy devel­oped, after the demise of the Apostles, the Church of Rome tossed aside completely the organization of the Church – just as they did with all the important teachings of the Bible – they “rebelled [revolutionized] against the words of God, and contemned the coun­sel of the Most High.” And in like manner, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have done much the same thing since Brother Russell’s demise. “And on this account God will send to them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood [such as Millions Now Living Will Never Die; and more recently, their establishment of the Kingdom in this “present evil world,” etc.]; in order that all those may be judged who believed not the truth, but approved the iniquity.” (2 Thes. 2:11,12, Dia.)

“Them that honour Me I will honour” (1 Sam. 2:30); and we do well also to honor those that the Lord honors – not as “angel” worshipers, but in sound and proper apprais­al of their position in the Household, their service in the Household, and as examples of the believers in the Household. Actuated by this text, we now offer some observa­tions concerning Brother Russell in memory of his passing beyond the vail October 31, 1916.

Some of the Gospel‑Age prophets had a special doctrine that they emphasized above all others, and which acted somewhat as the foundation of all their teachings; and we believe this was true of Brother Russell, which we would briefly describe as: A correct understanding of the Atonement as portrayed in Leviticus 16, the central teaching of which is RESTITUTION.

THE PATH OF THE JUST

“The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18) This truth has applied all during the Age to the course of the individual believers, and to the Church as a body; and it was pointedly true of Brother Russell in his own endeavors to arrive at the truth on various subjects, some of which we now describe. First, however, we would commend the courage of the man for casting aside the vast accumulation of error that existed in the early days of his ministry. Many of those errors were firmly entrenched as the truth by the powerful leaders of Chris­tendom; and it required not only courage, but unusual brilliance of mind to separate the wheat from the chaff. Even those truths that were held by the various systems, such as justification by faith, baptism, etc., needed much polishing to bring them to the clarity with which we now understand them, and which we accept as fact, often not considering the great amount of work that was required to hand them to us as we now accept them in commonplace fashion. And one of these great truths was the doctrine of Restitution, which had been completely lost during the Dark Ages.

Some detail on the subject will clarify this. Brother Russell had been closely associated with Messrs. Barbour and Paton as co-editors of The Herald of the Morning; but in 1878 Mr. Barbour began to develop his errors in denial of the Ransom; and he cunning­ly stressed Leviticus 16 as proof of his contention. This distressed Brother Russell greatly. He knew the arguments were wrong, but he did not understand the truth clearly enough to refute them. Knowing they had come into the Harvest of the Gospel Age, he logically concluded that any error that appeared would be clearly refuted by the Truth, because the time had come for “the hail [hard sharp Truth] to sweep away the refuge of lies.” (Isa. 28:17) Therefore, he sent word to the foreman of his Pittsburgh store that he would not come that day, and for him to conduct the business as usual in his absence. Knowing that Hebrews discusses more than any other Biblical book the tabernacle types, and that St. Paul possessed a very clear understanding of those types, he spent that whole day in study and prayer in a strenuous effort to learn the truth about them. By evening he was still completely in the dark, so he spent the next day in the same manner, and with the same results. He went to his task the third day, and about noon came to Hebrews 13:10-16, wherein the Apostle contrasts the sacrifices of the Jewish ritual with those of the Gos­pel Age – first of all the sacrifice of Jesus as the antitype of the Atonement Day bul­lock. Realizing that his prayers and efforts had finally been rewarded, he jubilantly exclaimed to his wife: “I have it! I have it!” To which she answered, “Do not be too sure.” However, going over the verses again with her, he reassured himself that he had the truth, and that Restitution was the logical answer to the types in Leviticus 16.

However, he then became measurably afraid of his own findings, so that, instead of rushing into print with this phenomenal truth, he called a conference of leading breth­ren, and discussed the subject with them for eight days, making notes there that he later published as Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices. Excepting Mr. Paton, those leaders were convinced of the truth, and began to preach it to the Allegheny ecclesia; but they, too, were hesitant about accepting it. But once finally convinced, they heartily began to preach it to others; thus, the light on this great doctrine shone more and more unto the perfect day. The “perfect day” in our text would be better rendered “median day,” meaning the position of the sun at high noon, when it is brightest and when it seems to stand still in the heavens.

The great truth contained in Tabernacle Shadows immediately swept away the refuge of lies on eternal torment, the consciousness of the dead, confusion on the establish­ment of the Kingdom, etc. However, almost always during the Harvest there was primarily a hesitance on the part of those hearing it for the first time to believe it; but persuasion and detailed explanation usually convinced them, after which they, too, accepted it with enthusiasm and then began to preach it to others.

Perhaps a little digression should be injected here. In Exodus 34:29-35 we are told that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai his face shone, “and the children of Israel were afraid to come nigh to him... Moses gave the children of Israel all that the Lord had spoken with him... Till he had done speaking he put a vail on his face.” St. Paul also tells us in Hebrews that those things that occurred at Sinai were typical of the establishment of the Kingdom here in the end of the Age. And the brethren, inoculated as they all were, with the colossal errors of the past, at first feared to receive the Truth. Of course, the first to respond fully to the Tabernacle truths was Brother Russell himself, although even he was overwhelmed by its brilliance for a time; but the Lord then used him as the vail between Him and the brethren to buffer the dazzling effect at first experienced. From this standpoint, Brother Russell was the antitypical vail that the Lord used to con­vey new and radical truths to the Harvest workers.

As stated aforegoing, Leviticus 16 reveals the offerings for sin, which in turn effects atonement, which “in due time” will accomplish “the restitution of all things.” (Acts 3:19-23) After clearly understanding this great truth, Brother Russell repeatedly preached it in his public lectures; and he urged all the pilgrims to do likewise. This in turn aroused the vicious antagonism of the Hell‑fire preachers throughout Christendom; but the more they opposed, the more the message prospered; and by the time Brother Russell died in 1916 it was considered by many in Christendom as a reflection upon the intelligence of any one who still believed in eternal torment as the wages of sin.

BELOVED OF GOD

Those who knew him well loved Brother Russell as a father – probably loved him more than they did any other human being. And this affection shown toward him was never abused, nor did it mar his humility. He was also greatly beloved of God. We understand he was the antitype of Daniel in certain of his activities; and three different times (Dan. 9:23; 10:11,19) we are told he was greatly beloved. “O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken to me, I was strengthened.” (10:19) He was also the antitype of Eldad in Num. 11:26,27; and Eldad means Beloved of God.

His demise in 1916 greatly saddened the entire Truth movement, although it was not long after 1916 before sundry and subtle errors beclouded the minds of many, as the errorists endeavored to take from Brother Russell what God had given him. The following from E-9-319 is a glowing tribute still cherished by many who knew him well:

“He will ever occupy in our hearts the large place that his holy character, unself­ish service and faithful sufferings have won for him. That his memory may still contin­ue fragrant and blest to us let us together briefly review the activities, achievements and attainments of this eminent saint of God. He certainly was a SCHOLAR in the true sense of that term. Those who require a university diploma as indispensable evidence of learning will deny him the merit of scholarship. However, there are not a few cases of scholars that were self‑made, gaining their knowledge apart from the schools of the learned world. Among such our Pastor won a high place. Apart from English he was not a linguist, though he learned how to use well for his Biblical work the gains of the best scholarship in Greek and Hebrew. He was deeply versed in history, as his writings at­test. So thoroughly did he understand business that able financiers eagerly sought his ad­vice. His writings show that he was at home in the perplexing questions of industry, economics, sociology, capital and labor. The realms of philosophy were deeply explored by him, and he was an expert in theoretical and practical psychology and phrenology. Few have understood the workings of the human intellect and heart so well as he. Human anatomy and physiology were open books to him. However, his real eminence in learning was in the domain of theology, in which he was without a peer since the days of the Apostles. His knowledge of the Bible was phenomenal; and when other theologians will have been discarded, he will be recognized as a standing authority in this the greatest of all sciences.

“Naturally such a scholar would be a writer. Very few human beings have written more than he. His correspondence alone was sufficient for the life work of an indus­trious and talented man. When it is remembered that some years over 300,000 letters and postals were written to him, and that he supervised the answers to this huge mail, we can realize something of the amount of his correspondence and the time and labor in­volved. As an author he produced six unrivaled books on the Bible whose combined circulation during his life aggregated 10,000,000 copies. As a bookleteer he published a number of booklets of great value, one of which, on Hell, has been circulated more wide­ly than any other booklet ever written. He produced over 200 tracts, some of which at­tained a circulation of over 50,000,000 copies. His sermons, appearing regularly every week for thirteen years, were published part of that time simultaneously in over 2,000 newspapers, having a combined circulation of over 15,000,000 copies. He edited a semi­-monthly religious magazine with a circulation of about 45,000 copies.”

The foregoing is the comment of an eminent scholar, a scholar who had the advantage of higher institutional learning; yet his superiority of schooling did not deter him in giving to Brother Russell the glowing tribute reproduced above. He freely admitted that Brother Russell was his intellectual superior, and gladly rendered honor to whom honor was due. And, as respects Brother Russell’s executive ability, we were told that a prominent industrialist once said of Brother Russell that he would be worth two million dollars a year to any corporation large enough to afford such help.

THE PAROUSIA MESSENGER

It is our opinion that the opening words of the Jeremiah prophecy are well adapted to describing Brother Russell: “The word of the Lord came unto me, saying... I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But 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 command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee. Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (Jer. 1:4‑10) In his youth Brother Russell was acutely conscious of his lack of higher learning; thus, he considered other prominent religious leaders more quali­fied than he to declare the truths that had been given him. But he soon recognized that the task was his – that the Lord had indeed put His words into his mouth.

With the great advances that had come since 1874 in inventions, in learning, and in the professions, Christendom was basking in the security that no evil could befall them. This was truly a strong deterrent to the preaching of a great world war breaking forth in 1914; and it required exceptional courage and faith to continue to announce it. In fact, we are told that the Gideons (the group that place the Bibles in the Hotels) had a convention in Toronto in 1913, and there made the proclamation that it was nonsense to expect a great war in a year, that Christendom was much too advanced for any such folly. With everything so calm on the surface, the casual observer was inclined to agree with them. It was causing Brother Russell some concern, too, so he made careful re‑check of the chronology, but could find nothing wrong with it.

When the war did start right on time in 1914 it was like a bolt of lightning from a sunny sky. With the assassination of the Austrian Archduke and his wife, as they were taking a carriage drive thru a part of Serbia, the world became a holocaust in a twenty- four hour period; and it gave loud testimony to the world that Brother Russell had been “ordained a prophet unto the nations.” Inasmuch as he had made crystal clear the meaning of the Lord’s Parousia – over the thousand years, and in 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 will give his angels a charge concerning 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.

He was not only the Parousia Messenger, but he was That Servant (Matt. 24:45‑47), he was the prophet unto the nations (Jer. 1:5), he was “that faithful and wise steward” (Luke 12:42), he was one of the stars (Rev. 1:16), he was one of the prophets in the Gospel-Age Church, and those who knew him intimately would readily testify that he was one of the foundation stones in the Parousia Church (Eph. 2:20), he was a pilgrim, he was a warrior and, as such, he was the antitypical Parousia David. He was also the antitypical Eleazar of the Gospel-Age Harvest. As such he had full charge of the anti­typical Tabernacle, the Church: “He shall make him ruler over all His goods.” (Matt. 24:47) In this he was the parallel of the twelve Apostles in the Jewish Harvest. He was a genteel man, but most of his adult years were spent in fighting – set for the defense of the Truth. In Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, under biographical names, it lists Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) “American Pastor.” And the same dictionary lists Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869-1942) “Judge – American leader of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” It is our hearty recommendation that wherever two or more brethren may meet together that they hold a memorial service the last week in October, which meet­ing could include testimonies, and perhaps a reading of some sort pertinent to his life, work and character, as we all join in saying, God bless his memory!

THE EPIPHANY MESSENGER

As Pilgrim, Brother Paul S. L. Johnson was Brother Russell’s special helper dur­ing the final years of his life. The title Epiphany Messenger is likewise not found in the Bible; but, using Psa. 91:11, there is no difficulty in coining the expression. 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 death of the Parousia Messen­ger we believe it could 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 the other Truth groups than he had with him ‑ which means it was not necessary for them to come under his direction to retain their saintly standing, although those who did so received special blessings, particularly in service, that did not come to those in the other groups.

He was one of the stars – one of the prophets, but much less important than the Parousia Messenger had been. He was certainly the son of the Parousia David; and this is the record in 1 Chron. 22:5: “David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceedingly magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will now therefore make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.” Indeed, the Parousia David left a goodly heritage not only to his son Solomon, but to the entire Household, in the clear and logical structure of the Parousia Truth; although many of the former pilgrims began to tamper with that Truth, and it then fell to the lot of the Epiphany Messenger to de­fend almost every important tenet of Parousia Truth. And now it has become so vitiated by some that it is no longer recognizable for what it once was.

Recognizing the colossal task which faced him, the Epiphany Messenger made special prayer for wisdom and strength sufficient for the job to be done, and this is what 1 Kings 4:29‑31 has to say about it: “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon’s wis­dom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men.” Very often did various religious organizations write to him for his analysis on extremely difficult Bible texts; and those of us who were close to him know the skill with which he answered them.

As a young man, before he joined the Harvest Movement, he had gained extensive recognition as a Lutheran minister in Columbus, Ohio, and elsewhere. By intensive study for about three months in 1903 he had been 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 and the Judgment Day, 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 are able to do. He graduated from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, with the highest honors of any one who ever attended that institution up to that time. We knew a prominent Lutheran minister in Dayton, Ohio, who had been his classmate, and he said Paul Johnson was known throughout the campus as the mental giant. All this is simply a statement of fact, and in no sense intended to give undue praise, in like manner as he wrote about the Parousia Messenger after his death. Thus, we conclude this present appraisal the same as we did that of the Parousia Messenger – God bless his memory!

We invite all of like mind to join with 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)

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

(Reprint 340, October 1983)

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QUESTION – Is there a call given in the Bible for any elect class other than the one for the High Calling mentioned in Phil. 3:14?

ANSWER  – The High Calling is for the Bride of Christ – those that suffer with Him: “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Psa. 50:5) The Little Flock, the Bride class are “more than conquerors.” (Rom. 8:37) Another elect heavenly class runs concurrently with the High Calling. They were originally called to be of the Little Flock, but lost their crowns because of measurable unfaithful­ness (Rev. 7:14). They loved the Lord and when they washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14) they were “overcomers” but not “more than conquerors” as were the Little Flock. “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” (Rev. 7:9) The palms in their hands mean they were victorious. “And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” (Rev. 19:9) (The Diaglott translation is better: “And he says to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who have been invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ He also said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’”)

That Servant taught four elect classes, two heavenly classes and two earthly classes – the Ancient Worthies of Hebrews, chapter 11, won before the High Calling was open, the Little Flock, the Great Company referred to in the Scriptures as the “great multitude” and the unbegotten class we call Youthful Worthies. That Servant taught in Reprint 5761, col. 2, paragraphs 1 and 2 as follows:

“Those Consecrating Between The Ages”

“It is our thought that with the closing of the ‘door’ of this Gospel Age there will be no more begetting of the Holy Spirit to the spirit nature. Any afterward coming to God through consecration, before the inauguration of the restitution work, will be accepted by Him, not to the spirit plane of being, but to the earthly plane. Such would come in under the same conditions as the Ancient Worthies who were accepted of God. The Ancient Worthies came in, no call being opened to them ‑ the High Calling not being yet open, and the restitution opportunities not open. But they freely gave themselves up to God without knowing what blessings their consecration would bring, except that they had the intimation that they would, in the future life, have a “better resurrection” than would the remainder of the world.

“Our thought is that whoever under such conditions as these will make a full consecration to the Lord, to leave all to follow in His ways, and will live up faithfully, loyally, to that consecration, may be privileged to be counted as a similar class to those who preceded this Gospel Age. We know of no reason why the Lord would refuse to receive these who make a consecration after the close of the Gospel Age High Calling and before the full opening of the Millennium.”

The question is: Is there a calling given in the Scriptures for the two classes that will receive an earthly reward? We do not know of any Scripture that says there is a calling for these classes. However, there is an opportunity to serve the Lord in faith and obedience. That is the requirement for these classes. They are not on trial for life, but for faith and obedience. If unfaithful they will be demoted to the world and have restitution opportunity as described in Acts 3:19-23. It seems they would be in a worse condition than some who had never made a consecration to do God’s will while evil and sin are in the ascendancy. But we leave such things for The Christ to judge during the Kingdom (Acts 17:31). If faithful, however, they will be the visible earthly rulers – “Princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16).

That Servant gave three ways that would indicate that the door to the High Calling is closed. (1) By a definite Bible statement of the exact date; (2) By such a reversal of public sentiment with reference to the truth, that fidelity and zeal for its service would no longer meet with opposition, and when suffering with Christ for the truth’s sake (Rom. 8:17) would no longer be possible; (3) Such a condition of affairs obtaining in the world that all opportunity for such service would be effectually obstructed, thus leaving no opportunities for candidates to enter into the work and to develop and prove their love and faithfulness by their activity and endurance. (Thy Kingdom Come, Volume 3, p. 207, par. 2)

We believe the second way applies to our times, as we receive no persecution for believing the Truth. Most people do not care what we believe. Persecution today is mainly political. But we should witness the Truth when we have opportunity. Witnessing, together with our untoward experiences in illness, disappointments and hardships will develop in us a character pleasing to the Lord. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Tim. 2:3) If our trials are too much for us to endure and be faithful, He will make a way of escape, “that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)

As for No. 3, there will come a time when “they will not endure sound doctrine.” (2 Tim. 4:3) This will be in Anarchy, but for now we still find some who will listen to “sound doctrine,” and we should be diligent in serving the Lord at every opportunity.

We do not find a definite Bible statement teaching us that the door to the High Calling is closed. However, we have no definite Bible statement for many of the dates that Brother Russell presented, such as 1874, 1878, 1881, and 1914, but all are given to us by Bible Chronology. That Servant predicted that 1914 would be the end of Gentile Times. World War One began right on schedule and confirmed our belief.

When Brother Russell announced that the Kingdom was set up September 21, 1914 in Reprint 5632, column 2, par. 4, we believe the ejecting of the nations began then and is still going on. The peoples of the world are protesting that their governments are unfair. The marching of the people against all institutions is God’s great army. When the Kingdom was set up September 21, 1914 the Saints were sealed in the heart, but had to be sealed in the forehead (sealed intellectually – know the truth) to participate in the Smiting of the Nations going on as given in the 1915 Reprint. The Smiting was done by the distribution of tracts and other reading matter, as well as the Photo‑Drama. Did Brother Russell make the announcement that the Kingdom was set up by his own imagination or by Bible Chronology?

Brother Russell wrote many times of the unbegotten class which we call Youthful Worthies. One instance is in Parousia Volume Six: “And we may be sure that any consecrating and performing a full sacrifice of themselves in the interest of the Lord’s cause after the heavenly class is complete, will find that the Lord has plenty of blessings of some other kind still to give; and that all of His blessings are for such conscecrators, self‑sacrificers. Possibly they may be counted in with the Ancient Worthies who had the sacrificing disposition that is pleasing to God prior to the beginning of the high calling.” (Volume Six of Studies In The Scriptures, p. 157, top)

The Ancient Worthies were “faithful and obedient” and will have a “better resurrection” than the world in the Kingdom – they will be resurrected perfect. (Heb. 11:39,40) The Ancient and Youthful Worthies are on trial for faith and obedience and not for life as were the Saints. If the Worthies are unfaithful they will go back into the world for restitution purposes.

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NO. 477: VESSELS OF GOLD AND SILVER

No. 477

“In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Tim. 2:20,21)

This text shows that the Apostle was solicitous for the Church because of a sectarian spirit of contention which prevailed where the spirit of fellowship should have manifested itself. This does not signify that the Apostle ignored the importance of fidelity to the Truth, for concerning this it was already written that the Church should “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3) He here objects to the disposition of many to contend about matters of no moment, which he terms “words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers” (v. 14), and again “profane and vain babbling, for they will increase unto more ungodliness and... eat as doth a canker.” (vs. 16,17)

In a word, man-made differences should be ignored and only those doctrines which the Scriptures clearly and distinctly set forth are to be insisted upon and contended for by the Lord’s people. In all other things they are to have fervent charity and liberty among themselves. After exhorting Timothy, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (v. 15), he declares that notwithstanding these various babblings and twistings of the Scriptures, the “foundation of God standeth sure” (v. 19). God’s great plan will stand and will finally triumph, no matter who may babble against it and no matter how much the adversary may seek to draw attention away from the fundamental facts to the theories and fancies of the egotistical and hypocritical. The Apostle’s thought seems to be that some of the Lord’s people, by following the course he has outlined, and becoming thoroughly furnished in the word of Truth and able to rightly divide it to others, will be vessels of honor in the service of the Lord even in the present time. On the contrary, some – once God’s people, truly consecrated to Him, but neglecting these important principles and becoming fully willful – will be vessels of dishonor fitted to destruction (Rom.9:21‑23).

TO HONOR AND TO DISHONOR

How manifestly true this inspired declaration is only the more advanced of the Lord’s people may know. The world judges by outward appearance, and perceives the prosperity of many who have the form of godliness without the power thereof; it perceives the prosperity of many sects and parties, divided chiefly by mere quibbles, and it perceives the lesser prosperity of those who ignore sectarian lines and stand only for the word of Truth, and contend only “for the faith once delivered unto the saints.” Only the spiritually minded can see the situation from the Lord’s standpoint – only these can realize which, from the Lord’s standpoint, are the vessels unto honor and which are unto dishonor. Only this class can discern which vessels the Lord uses to honor – through whom He sends the great riches of His grace and truth. Of course, none can know the character of the heart, whether it be a new heart or merely that of the natural man or woman who has learned politeness, morality, etc. The only way in which we are permitted to judge is by the outward fruitage (Matt. 7: 18‑20).

The “great house” of the Apostle’s parable is the household of faith – the house of God – the Church of the living God. This Church of the Firstborn is now in an embryo condition, unfinished, imperfect; it bears a similar relationship to the resurrected Church that Israel’s tabernacle in the wilderness bore to the Temple at Jerusalem. We are not to understand that only the most proficient of the Lord’s people are recognized by Him and others entirely ignored, but, as the Apostle says, our sure foundation lies in the fact that “the Lord knoweth them that are his” (v. 19), and also in the fact that those who name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity. Every servant of God, every vessel in His house, must come under these conditions to be vessels at all: (1) The Lord must know them as His; they must be of the class mentioned by the prophet who have made a covenant with the Lord by sacrifice – self-sacrifice, consecration to death; (2) they must also be of the class that depart from iniquity – that recognize righteous­ness, truth, holiness, and strive toward perfect attainment.

But not all of those who make a full consecration and who strive for righteousness will occupy the same station in the Divine service, either now or hereafter. The degree of honor in the Lord’s service will depend upon their degree of honesty and zeal. While, therefore, we may well rejoice to be vessels in the Lord’s house, to be used of Him either in more honorable or less honorable capacity in His service, nevertheless He is pleased to have us aspire to such faithfulness in thought, in word, in deed, as would have His approval and win for us the higher stations in His esteem and service here and hereafter.

“IF A MAN THEREFORE PURGE HIMSELF”

The Apostle tells us how as Christians we may attain to the highest positions in Divine favor. He says, “If a man purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor.” He does not mean, however, if any man do so, for here and elsewhere he shows, in harmony with the other Scriptures, that the world has nothing whatever to do with this matter – that the first step of approach to God must be through the door, through Christ, and that only those who come unto the Father through Him have any standing whatever at the present time. Hence the Apostle’s thought is that if any man in the Church will purge himself, will purify himself, will seek to put away these elements of dross and unrighteousness, will seek to avoid profane and vain babblings, will cease to strive about words to no profit, and will seek more and more by the Lord’s assistance to “rightly divide the word of truth” – such a man in Christ, whether his talents and opportunities be great or small, will be blessed of the Lord and reckoned of Him as one of the more honorable vessels for His service here and hereafter.

Continuing further, the Apostle declares that the man who thus purges himself and seeks to bring himself closely into alignment with the will of God, will not only be reckoned a vessel unto honor, but will be sanctified and set apart by the Lord for His service. He will give him opportunities, special opportunities, to do and to be assisted, which He would not have provided for him otherwise. Christian people too often seem to overlook this matter – to forget how much God has to do with His Church, with those who have made consecration of themselves to Him.

More and more should we all remember, as is urged by the Apostle, that “God hath set the various members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” (1 Cor. 12:18) It is for us not to be ambitious for a high station, but to humbly desire to be and to do those things acceptable to the Lord, leaving it for Him to give us whatever experiences in life will be best for us – either larger opportunities for service or lesser opportunities, for the testing and proving of our loyalty. Selfish ambition in any of the Lord’s people would be the surest road to Divine disapproval. It might succeed in securing place and power in nominal systems of human origin, but such a course – so far from bringing these into greater prominence with the Lord or into greater opportunities of service in connection with His Truth – would work in an opposite direction, as it is written, “The Lord disdaineth the proud, but showeth favor to the humble.” The Apostle urges, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6) – in the present life, or in the future life, or both. It is for God to choose our places and our work for us and also our eternal reward; it is for us to seek to be instruments willing and ready, “for the Master’s use made meet.”

“VESSELS OF GOLD”

Looking beyond our present opportunities and privileges of usefulness in the Lord’s service, and the degree of opportunities secured by us now through faithfulness, we perceive that the great work for which we are called, chosen, being schooled, is that of the future, of which the Apostle says, “That in the ages to come he [God] might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:7) Our Lord referred to that glorious future condition when He declared to His Apostles, “In my Father’s house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2) The many mansions, the many stations, the many planes of celestial being and blessing are here pictured, and the suggestion is further given that one special place in the Divine family would be made for the special followers of the Lord – those known throughout the Scriptures as “the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife,” and again as “the Royal Priesthood” under Christ, their Chief Priest. The chief mansion is for these who, called to the highest honor, are represented by the golden vessels.

And again they are called the “Lord’s jewels,” and He says of them, “They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.” (Mal. 3:17) As jewels are scarce, so these are de­scribed to be only a “little flock” to whom it is the Father’s good pleasure to give the Kingdom (Luke 12:32). To be of this company, styled in the Scriptures as “more than conquerors through him that loved them and bought them with his precious blood,” the Apostle Paul declared that he was glad to suffer any loss – to count all things but as loss and dross that he might win Christ and be found in Him – as a mem­ber of His Body, a member of the royal priesthood, a partaker of the Divine nature.

In the tabernacle and in the temple gold was used as a symbol of this Divine nature, the highest of all natures, superior to the angelic. Our Lord described this immortal condition as signifying the possession of life in Himself – life not derived from other sources. “As the Father hath life in himself [immortality]; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” (John 5: 26) And He has been given the privilege of giving this to whomsoever He will – to the worthy ones constituting His elect Bride, otherwise styled “members of the Body of Christ,” vitally connected with Him, their living Head. It is to this glorious quality of the Divine nature, symbolized by the gold and again in our text styled the “vessels of gold,” that Peter refers, saying, “[God hath] given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might become partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4)

“VESSELS OF SILVER”

All recognize silver as less precious than gold, but much more abundant. As one of the precious metals it is used in the Scriptures to represent a spiritual class, but a different, more numerous class than that represented in the vessels of gold. While all of the Lord’s people of this Gospel Age were called, as the Apostle says, “In one hope of their calling,” with at least the prospect or opportunity of becoming golden vessels, nevertheless the Lord foreknew that not all of His true followers would prove in the end to be “more than conquerors”; not all of those who love righteousness and hate iniquity would be so zealous for the service as to be esteemed worthy to be of that Little Flock, the Bride, because all would not run in the race with sufficient zeal, following in the Master’s footsteps; hence we find in the Scriptures another class, another division of the Church of the Firstborn, clearly pointed out. In the types of the Old Testament they were represented by the Levites, who had an important work to do in conjunction with the priests and as their assistants. In the New Testament this class is referred to in our text as “‘vessels of silver,” or less honorable vessels than the vessels of gold, and they are particularly brought to our attention in our Lord’s last message to His Church in which He pictures them as a “great multitude” in contrast with the “little flock.” (Rev. 7:9)

This Great Company He designates as in the end honored and honorable victors, with palm branches – the crowns being reserved for the Little Flock, the vessels of gold. In the same picture He shows us that while the Little Flock of more than conquerors are to sit upon the throne with Him, these others, worthy but less worthy, are to be before the throne. He points out that while the “little flock” will share His glory and honor as His Bride, this greater company, represented by the more numerous vessels of silver, will serve Him in His temple (Rev. 7:9-15). He points out further in the same message that while the Little Flock will be the Bride class, the Great Company will be honored with an invitation to be present at the marriage supper of the Lamb in glory (Rev. 19:9). And through the Prophet David He pic­tured the distinction between these classes, the Little Flock, the vessels of gold unto greater honor, and the greater multitude, the vessels of silver unto a lesser honor, picturing them as the Bride and her companions – bridesmaids. The picture shows the Bride all glorious in raiment of fine needle work, of embroidery and gold, brought in before the King, and then it shows the “virgins, her companions, who follow her.” (Psa. 45:14)

“VESSELS OF WOOD AND OF EARTH”

These represent two classes who will be servants of God on the earthly or human plane. First, represented by the “vessels of wood,” are the Ancient Worthies of the Jewish line, who will be resurrected to perfection and in an earthly glory will become visible representatives to men of the glorified spiritual Christ, Head and Body. Jesus emphasized this thought to the Jews, saying, “Ye shall see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom.” (Luke 13:28) As soon as the Kingdom shall have been set up in power, the Ancient Worthies will be raised from the dead as perfect human beings. Psalms 45:16 evidently refers to these faithful servants of God, who are to be princes in all the earth. They will have a great work of instruction to do for the rest of humanity. While they will have this service to perform, nevertheless they will have great honor in doing it; for it is always an honor to serve the Lord. The service which the Ancient Worthies will be given will be more than God would ordinarily entrust to a perfect human being. It will be a part of this service to deal with the imperfect, fallen creatures and to help them up out of sin and imperfection.

As associates of the Ancient Worthies in reward and service will be those whom we term Youthful Worthies [“young men,” literally, “youthfuls” Joel 2:28), in contrast with the former, “the old men” (Joel 2:28) or “ancients” (Isa. 24:23)], who are termed “vessels of earth” in our text. They, like the Ancient Worthies, will have a “better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35), but will have a subordinate position in the earthly phase of the Kingdom. As mentioned above, the Levites represent the “great company” but when the Kingdom is established the Ancient and Youthful Worthies will also be included. The Levites as distinct from the Priests were of three groups – the Merarites, Kohathites and Gershonites (Num. 3:17). These three groups of Levites represent these last three classes of vessels of our text: the silver, the Great Company; the wood, the Ancient Worthies; and the earth, the Youthful Worthies.

Besides those four already particularized, the Apostle in the words “and some to honor, and some to dishonor” goes on and mentions other vessels. In a great house, in addition to the vessels of gold, silver, wood and earth, there would naturally be other vessels. So we understand the additional vessels to honor to represent the faithful restitution class (the sheep of Matt. 25:33) and the vessels to dishonor to represent those who, either at the age of 100 years (Isa. 65:20) or at the end of the Millennium, will go into annihilation, the Second Death (the goats of Matt. 25:33; see also Rev. 21:8; Psa. 145:20; Obad. 16).

To be in any part of God’s great house – to be in His service in any capacity, either now or hereafter, is a great honor. Whoever through the portals of the Divine Word catches a glimpse of the coming glory of the earth during the Millennial Age – a glimpse of the “times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets” – can rejoice with any who will be found worthy to be a vessel of honor in the Master’s cause in the future on the earthly plane. To our understanding the majority of Christian people have never appreciated the glorious grandeur that is to come to earth during and as a result of the reign of Messiah and His Bride. It is beautifully described in Isa. 35; 65:21-25; 33:24; Rev. 21:1-5, etc. Surely, as St. Peter declares (Acts 3:19-21), these will be “times of restitution” which God has declared through all His holy prophets.

WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY

History of the Society in Brief

Between 1872-1876 Charles T. Russell, U.S.A. discovered that the Scriptures clearly teach that our Lord would not return in a body of flesh, but would return as a spirit being, invisible to human eyes. They say that his attention was drawn to the fact that Daniel’s 1335 years run out in 1874 by two brethren in Christ – with this the point of time for our Lords return was given. A booklet entitled “The Object and Manner of our Lord’s Return” was published. It got a phenomenal circulation.

As from 1876 to 1878 inclusive Pastor Russell wrote in a paper entitled “The Herald of the Morning” as a collaborator to its publisher N. H. Barbour. Different opinions about the ransom-price made Russell to publish a paper of his own “Zion Watch Tower,” later “The Watch Tower.” A first number came out in 1889. The information in this history is mainly taken from “ The Watch Tower” or “The Tower” which seems to be its title in brief.

In the U.S.A. there were many branches of the “Vine” (the Christian church) during the last half of the nineteenth century. In each of those there were some truths. It was a matter of getting a survey of these and then to proceed with studying the 39 plus 27 books in the Bible. To Russell, who already as a boy of sixteen was a member of a branch of the English Puritanism, who maintained each congregations independence of all ecclesiastical government, such a work suited well. The result became Harvest Truths, which at first were published in above-mentioned booklet and papers.

Russell was President of the Watch Tower and Tract Society from its organization in 1884 until his death in 1916. He was also President of the Peoples Pulpit Association organized in 1909, and the International Bible Students Association, incorporated in London in 1913, with both of the latter corporations being adjuncts to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Through these religious corporations, as well as by word of mouth, he promulgated the Gospel of Messiah’s Kingdom. He was the author of the following publications, issued between the years 1881 and 1914, with each having phenomenal circulation, as given below: (See the December 1916 Tower.)

Food for Thinking Christians --------------------------------------- 1,450,000

Tabernacle Shadows ------------------------------------------------ 1,000.000

Divine Plan of the Ages -------------------------------------------- 4,817,000

The Time is at Hand------------------------------------------------- 1,657,000

Thy Kingdom Come ------------------------------------------------ 1,587,000

Battle of Armageddon ----------------------------------------------- 464,000

The Atonement ------------------------------------------------------- 445,000

The New Creation----------------------------------------------------- 423,000

What Say the Scriptures About Hell ------------------------------ l3,000,000

He was also the author of What Say the Scriptures About Spiritism, Old Theology Tracts, etc. (SWEDEM)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION – Is it your thought that those consecrating after the door to the High Calling is closed may have a resurrection to the spirit nature?

ANSWER – No, there will be no begetting of the Spirit that we know of after the High Calling is closed; and if there is no begetting of the Spirit then, there will be no birth of the spirit. The only thought we have in connection with that is what we expressed a moment ago, namely; that some might be accepted as of the Ancient Worthy class if they laid down their lives in loyalty to the Lord in that Time of Trouble, and then when the Ancient Worthy class may possibly have the spirit nature given to them at the end of the Millennium, such being of that class might have the opportunity to obtain the spirit nature.

(Question Book, page 152)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

A Witness from a Swedish Brother about Emek ha Shalom

Is anybody preaching Christianity in Israel? Yes, many groups are. Is there anyone of them who has continued the work of Pastor Russell in Israel? Yes, at Emek ha Shalom!

Herman Bezner and Joseph Elisha are serious followers of Pastor Russell. That is not unique. Even today, almost 80 years after Pastor Russell passed away, we are thousands of followers reading and studying his books and articles.

Brother Herman and Joseph are preaching to the Jews the teachings of Pastor Russell. And the Jews are coming. These two brothers of the Truth have already had hundreds of thousands of visitors, mostly Jewish people. That is unique!

Pastor Russell was one of the most brilliant interpreters of the Bible. God gave him a lot of light which he used with talent and purposefulness. One of his very important predictions was the return of the Jews and the development of a new Israel. Read in his third book the chapter about Israel. Recognize his inspiration when he writes about the awakening of Zionism in the 1870s. The question now is, would be possible that the presence of the state of Israel and the two disciples at Emek ha Shalom would have made our Pastor think of a coincident? I think not!

I am convinced that a Pastor Russell of today would have taken part of the work at Emek ha Shalom. He would not have left Herman and Joseph in silence – not the kind of silence they have found from many of their brothers and sisters in the U.S. Why then, are the followers of Pastor Russell not more enthusiastic? Why?

We can not expect the Jews to wake up one morning and suddenly, like a miracle, having the knowledge of the truth. They must listen and learn – step by step. Therefore the foundation of Emek ha Shalom was made. But without You, because You are sleeping!

I therefore think we should be more active and take part of the work at Emek ha Shalom. I think on them every day! They are the best solution I can vision for the developing of the New World. Therefore I engage a lot in their work.

Next year it is 80 years since Pastor C. T. Russell died. In 80 years we have seen a split of his long work into a big group called Jehovah Witnesses and a handful of other followers. All members are surely serious in their thoughts and searchings. I do not blame them, but there is not enough willingness to continue and develop the work. It is just “old wine in new bottles.”

Except for Herman and Joseph. They are giving their life to continue the work of Pastor Russell. Are You helping them? You should.

Another Swedish Brother Writes

Many thanks for your letters. I am very pleased to hear that the visitors are getting “deeper” in the knowledge. When I look back on the year 1995, from our first visit at Emek ha Shalom to the latest visit in November-December and remember what you Joseph, Lev and Hava Bausch and Elva Lanowick said and also what I saw with my own eyes, is that our Creator is taking away the blindness.

I become so glad when I realized that you have tried to reach me on the phone. Anders and I spoke about a trip to you about two weeks ago. But we have not decided the date yet. We will of course let you know the date as soon as possible.

We both look, of course, very much forward to seeing you in Emek ha Shalom. You are in my mind every day.

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Our dear and beloved Sister,

We are indebted to you for your good support. We are glad that the Detzler brethren arrived for a visit. They cannot help us with labor or finances, as they are exhausted from the great work they have done in the United States, Canada and elsewhere.

We also had the joy of a visit from our Swedish brethren, Anders Karlen and Lief Malmkvist. They could not help us financially because they had to pay their way here. Now we have reached the days of the last decisions, and it is a struggle about the survival of Israel. We are in the midst of a trial for Israel. Once more we appeal to all with the request to help Israel.

Much is put on our shoulders, and the responsibility is enormous! The trust our visitors put in Emek ha Shalom is great. People expect much from us. Up to now the Lord has given us full support, and we hope and pray for His further overruling providence to stay upright. Israel is threatened by total annihilation and is shamefully abused by some parts of Christianity. Help is given to dangerous enemies of Israel.

But, thank God there are positive forces in Israel which gives reason for hope. Some of the faithful leading Jews in Israel are close friends of ours – even two of the most prominent ones. One of them is Benjamin Netanyahu. But the campaign against them is worldwide, even in the midst of nominal Christendom. The forces of darkness who are misleading many, as they know well that the coming election if won by faithful Jews Israel will be rescued. The present danger should awaken us and strengthen us to the Holy faith that will enable us to gain the victory and see the defeat of the enemies of Israel and ours. [We have the victory when Netanyahu is Prime Minister. However, he has a hard load ahead of him. We should not only pray for ‘Bibi,’ but we should support him in his fight for peace without giving their God-given land to their enemies for peace.] Whoever our enemies are they will not make us afraid and will not conquer us.

Let us give Israel the proof of our faithfulness. After centuries of being abused Israel needs our heartfelt love and support. We greet all Bible Students heartily in the hope of a deeper cooperation in our common care for Zion and Jerusalem.

Your brethren from Emek ha Shalom, Brothers Hermann and Joseph (ISRAEL)

[This letter was written before the election for Prime Minister of Israel had occurred.]

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Dear Josef:

When Leif and I were visiting you some weeks ago you gave us some papers about the fallen angels who are known as devils. Pastor Russell has written about these angels in Studies in the Scriptures, Series VI and in “What say the Scriptures about Spiritism.”

Both Jude and Peter speak of “those angels which kept not their first estate,” and whom, in consequence, God restrained of their liberties reserving them in chains, under darkness, until a great judgement day still future when their cases will be heard (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6).

These fallen angels, demons, have in every country and in every time, found it possible to obtain possession of numerous mediums. They are choice as to who their mediums shall be seeking, so far as possible, those possessed of mental capacity (for instance Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1466-1536). Those who submit themselves – because they are very tired or mentally deranged – to these evil influences, to be the channels of communication to men, are merely mediums through which the evil spirits communicate, either by words or imaginary pictures, visions, or raps, or writings or otherwise.

The general methods and general teaching of these demons, through such mediums, in all times and in all countries, have been practically the same. They misrepresent themselves, and personate the dead. They support the original lie promulgated by Satan in Eden, “Thou shalt not surely die.”

The fallen angels various efforts to gain control of the people of Israel are distinctly noted in the Scriptures, and the people are strictly warned against them.

I have been searching among the books I have gotten from my late father for “What say the Scriptures about Spiritism,” but I don’t have it in English. I wanted to give you a copy in order to make your work easier. Perhaps we can get one in England or Florida.

All the best and many kind regards. Your friend, ---------------- (SWEDEN)

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Dear Mr. Howowitz,

I greatly enjoyed our telephone conversation on Wednesday, 17th July, with regard to Pastor Charles Taze Russell.

For a long time both my wife and I have been wanting information on the organization of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) as after over twenty years of association with them we saw things that a thinking person would say “did not add up.” But as an organization they are very subtle with the use of Scriptures used at the right time to manipulate the thinking of others, ourselves included, for a very long while. As with everyone who joins the “Organization” they do tell one of Pastor Russell, but as we started asking questions again the answer was always given by subtly quoting Scriptures, i.e., Proverbs 4:18: “But the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established.” So also with the organization; it is moving forward and there is “New Thinking.” The old information is no longer relevant.

But this was not good enough for the “Stead Family” as we wanted to know all of the “Ins and Outs” of Pastor Russell so that we could make our own minds up. On the one hand they quoted the Scripture from 1 Thessalonians 5:21: “Make Sure of all things; hold fast to what is fine,” and then sway with their own thinking and select Scriptures to suit.

The joy that my wife and I experienced when we read your book entitled, “Pastor Charles Taze Russell” and other information we obtained either from the JWs or the Public Library we found no other source but yours could print out proof so concisely and clearly. That is exactly what we require and as such we would appreciate copies of some of the articles you wrote in the book. We still get JWs who come to us to try to “get us back into the fold,” and I cannot show your book until we have some other proof to back it up. We would like the Photograph of Pastor Charles Taze Russell preaching to the Jews at the Hippodrome that unfortunately we do not have as we only have the paper back version of your book.

We have asked them, the JWs, also if they could reprint Pastor Russell’s “Millennium Dawn” to benefit others in addition to ourselves, but they pass it off as no longer relevant. Do you have access to these books or know where they can be obtained? We would both also be very grateful for any information on the “Godly Activities” of the JWs.

I mentioned in our conversation some articles from the United Israel Bulletin of which we would like a copy. The following is that list.

1. March 1971: “Founder of Anti-Zionist J-Witnesses hailed Zionism as being biblically prophetic.”

2. February 1972: The article relevant to the betrayal of Pastor Russell and Peter-Shimon Olin Moyle’s article.

3. December 1963: “More light on the Watchtower’s deviations.”

4. Spring 1978: The article dealing with Pastor Russell’s betrayal by JWs organization.

5. Summer 1979: “The late Pastor Russell preceded Herzl in urging Jews to return to Zion.”

6. November 1971: “What happened to Pastor Russell’s original will?”

7. July 1971: “Pastor Charles T. Russell article evokes National interest; noted Bible scholars react favorably; events vindicate founder.”

I do apologize for the lengthy list but hope you will appreciate our need at this time. Please let me know the expenses incurred and I will let you have a cheque by return.

Yours very sincerely, ------- (ENGLAND

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