watchtower: the approaching peace of 1,000 years - 1969

8/19/2019 Watchtower: The Approaching Peace of 1,000 Years - 1969

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When the three astronauts in their man-

shocking headline Briton Foresees a Hell

'

made spacecraft orbited around the moon

on Earth you read the statement made

ten times a t Christmastime of the year

a t London, England, November 23, 1968,

1968, they observed that things were very

by Lord Ritchie-Calder, president of the

peaceful at the moon just seventy miles

Conservation Society, in which he said,

away. When they returned safely to our in part:

earth, they reentered a world in

I

am always appalled when hear

which wars raged and people complacently talk-

where great fears were being about the population

ing expressed of the break-

explosion as though it be-

ing out of a third world longed to the future, or

war, a nuclear war. Yet world hunger as though it

they were most happy to were threatening, when

get back to our troubled hundreds of millions can

earth. And why not? Who testify th at it is already

is it that wants to go to the

here-swea r it with panting

moon in order to enjoy breath. My concern is

planetary peace? The thing to conserve the human spir-

that ordinary people want

it not from the hell here-

is world peace right here after but from hell upon

on earth, where we belong. earth. -New York

Times

This desire of their hearts as of November 24, 1968.

is not misplaced, for right

This only serves to con-

here on earth is where they

firm what Julian

Huxley,

will enjoy a peace of a thou-

former director general of

sand years, and this begin-

the United Nations Educa-

ning right soon. What if

tional, Scientific and Cul-

you should live to see it be-

t u r d Organization, said in

gin? You would consider the same city fourteen

yourself to be most highly years earlier (September

favored indeed.

7, 1954) to the conference

World conditions today of Parl iamentarians for

will no doubt prompt you World Government, name-

to ask, Who 'will usher in ly, that the world's most

and maintain this peace of pressing problem was the

a thousand years? After growth of population, which

all the display that men of is threatening to outstrip

world affairs have made of

a

food supplies. (New York

themselves as peacemakers

Times

September 8, 1954)

and peace-keepers, you have

thoughtful person, there-

properly lost confidence in fore, asks, What will the

the ability of men to do population and food situa-

such a colossal thing. To tion be fourteen years from

you the obstacles in the way

now? What we are reason-

of establishing a lasting ably led to expect does not

world peace seem insur- give us any peace of mind.

mountable for men. You ar e The settling of minor

aware of the explosive increase in

wars, as in Vietnam and in the

the earth's human population, and Middle East, cannot change the over-

you read the full-page advertisement in all picture. The hostility of the two

the newspaper, with t$e headline:

The great political groups still remains. n dis-

Population Bomb Threatens the Peace of cussing the Nation's Business, the New

the World, ads of this sort being repeat- York

Times

of December 6, 1968 (page

edly published by the Campaign to Check 96, paragraphs 4, 5), said: he cold

the Population Explosion. (New York war, though vastly changed, is far from

Times

February 9, 1969) Also, under the over. Its perils ar e not diminishing. If any-


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4

PEACE ON E A R T H I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S SE M B LY

O

JEHO VAH' S W IT NESSE Q

thing they're

o n t h e i n-

crease. It ex-

p ressed the

fear that con-

tinued disinte-

gration of the

Soviet bloc of

na t ions may

tempt the Rus-

sians into new

and desperate

measures. This

reminds us

that the Soviet

Union's next-

door neigh-

bor, Commu-

N.

H.

Enosr, president

of

nist China, is Watch Tower Society,

a big problem

to

deliver this public

for her, yes, address throughout

and for much ~ o r t h merica

of the rest of and Europe

the world. Add-

ed to the awesomeness of her tremendous

population is the disquieting fact that Com-

munist China is now a nuclear power with

the capacity of launching long-range mis-

siles. By continued success in the missile

field and by beginning to stockpile her

weapons in the year 1972, and then keep-

ing this up, the Communist Chinese

should be in a position to deploy 15 or

20 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles by

about 1975. -New York Times February

3 1969.

Truly the problems that need to be

solved for world peace by human means

are formidable, and yet there are men who

offer themselves t o tackle such problems.

One such appears to be the thirty-seventh

president of the United States of America.

In his address following his inauguration

on January 20, 1969, he said:

I

have taken an oath today in the

presence of God and my countrymen, to

uphold and to defend the Constitution of

the United States. To tha t oath, I now add

this sacred commitment: I shall conse-

crate my office, my energies and all the

wisdom I can summon to the cause of

peace. The greatest honor history can

bestow is the title of peacemaker. This

to help lead the world a t last out of the

valley of turmoil and on to that high

ground of peace that man has dreamed

of since the dawn of civilization. If we

succeed generations to come will say of

us now living that we mastered our mo-

ment, that we helped make the world safe

for mankind. Our destiny offers not

the cup of despair, but the chalice of op-

portunity. So let us seize it, not in fear,

but in gladness-and 'riders on the earth

together,' let us go forward, firm in our

faith, steadfast in our purpose, cautious

of the dangers, but sustained by our con-

fidence in the will of God and the promise

of man. -New York

Times

January 21,

1969.

Possibly the president .had in mind the

famous words of the Man of whom he

claims to be a follower, as recorded by

Jesus' biographer Matthew Levi: Blessed

are the peacemakers: for they shall be

called the children of God. (Matthew 5:

9, AV) But at least the president had in

mind an ancient prophecy of the eighth

century before our Common Era. How

can we be sure of this? Because, when

being sworn in with upraised right hand

he had his left hand resting upon two

family Bibles, held one on top of the other

by his wife and opened at the prophecy

of Isaiah, chapter two, verse four, which

reads: And he shall judge among the na-

tions, and shall rebuke many people: and

they shall beat their swords into plow-

shares, and their

spears. into prun-

inghooks: nation

shall not lift up

sword against na-

tion, neither shall

they learn war

any more. (AV)

( N e w Y o r k

Times January

20, 1969, front

page, las t col-

umn) Having his

left hand at that

Bible verse was,

not accidental,

but of design. In

that Bible verse

G Suiter, secretary-

treasurer. s~eaker

honor now beckons ~rnerica- the chance was expressed in B


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IN L L P R T S O F THE W O R L D

IN

969

"the will of God" of more than two mil-

lenniums ago, and now the president was

adding "the promise of man."

DEPENDENT UPON POLITICAL RULERS?

Certainly if the prophetic words of

Isaiah, chapter two, verse four, bespeak

the will of Almighty God, they will with-

out fail come to reality and there will one

day be universal peace. But does the ulti-

mate realization of those prophetic words

require a condition? Is their realization

conditional upon the "promise of man"?

Does their realization depend upon the

"promise" of the political rulers of the

nations and people? If it were, well, then,

would a warless world ever come to earth?

Prominent, influential men of the world

may see the final state of the world that

God has willed. Moved with religious emo-

tion, they may in all sincerity promise to

use their political office, their energies

and all the wisdom that they can summon

to work for realizing that world state as

willed by God. But what if such men,

when making their promise, have in mind

working for it in their own way according

to the wisdom of this world, and not in

God's way according to his wisdom as set

forth in his written Word, the Holy Bi-

ble? Have we reason to believe that God

will prosper their efforts to fulfill their

"promise" in their own self-determined

way? Or, may it be true that such men

of "promise" will really be working against

the "will of God"? Has man's way up till

now for bringing in a lasting universal

peace been God's way? The apparent lack

of God's blessing upon man's way of doing

it till now would answer No But through

the same prophet Isaiah God himself an-

swers this vital question, saying:

"My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, saith the

LORD. or as the heavens are higher than

the earth, so are my ways higher than

your ways, and my thoughts than your

thoughts. For

so shall my word be

that goeth forth out of my mouth: i t shall

not return unto me void, but it shall ac-

complish that which please, and it shall

prosper in the thing whereto sent it."

-Isaiah 55 -11, AV

God's spoken and written word will nev-

s

e r fail. But what about th e word of "prom-

ise" made by men in political power? At

th e close of World War in 1918 such

men were bent on preventing the occur-

rence of another world conflict. What was

the way that the political men who had

to do with the peace treaty decided upon

to prevent it? By embodying in the peace

treaty the so-called Covenant of th e League

of Nations. When the peace trea ty went

into force, so did the League of Nations.

Through that League of Nations the

men support-

ing i t promised

much. Seem-

i n g l y t h e

League of Na-

tions was ac-

cording to the

will of God, be-

cause the reli-

gious clergy

of Christen-

dom backed up

the League .

T h e F e d e r a l

Council of the

Churches of

Christ in Amer-

ica said as if i t

F W.

Franz, vice-president,

were a spokes-

speaker

in

Atlanta man for God:

" S u c h a

League is not a mere political expedient;

it is rather the political expression of

the Kingdom of God on earth. The

Church can give a spirit of good-will, with-

out which no League of Nations can en-

dure.

The League of Nations is root-

ed in the Gospel. Like the Gospel, its

objective is 'peace on earth, good-will to-

ward men."'-Federal Council Bulletin.

Vol. 11 No. 1, as of January 1919, pagei

12-14.

Evidently those churches of Christen-

dom were wrong about this, for that

League of Nations did not endure. The

very thing that it was designed by man's

wisdom to prevent was the thing that put

i t out of action, namely, World War

11

The League turned over its effects to the

United Nations, the world peace organiza-

tion that came into existence on October

24, 1945. Once again this international or-

ganization for world peace and security


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P E AC E O N E A R T H I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S EM B L Y

O

J E H O V A H ' S W I T N E S S E S

would seem to be according to the will New York city? What words? These:

of God, inasmuch as the clergy of Chris- They shall beat thei r swords into plow-

tendom piously support it. Even the popes shares, and their spears into pruning

of Vatican City have come out in support hooks; nation shall not lift up sword

of it , Pope Paul VI personally addressing against nation,

neither shall they learn

it on one occasion at its New York head- war any more.

quarters. Today one hundred and twenty-

six nations are members of it, imclnding

N O T C Q N D I T I N E D O N

PROMISE

O MAN

the nation th at recently inaugurated its Regardless of what human history as

thirty-seventh president. The new presi- written by uninspired men may do as to

dent has indicated how he will fulfill the honoring men and nations with titles, God

promise of man, and that is by working himself does not purpose to bestow the

with the United Nations, together with greatest honor of the title of Peace-

other but smaller international alliances. maker upon any politician of this last half

But the blessing of the clergy of Christen- of the twentieth century. This honor a t

dom gives no more guarantee that this

His hand is not now beckoning to any

United Nations will endure than it did for member of the United Nations or to any

the League of Nations. nation outside it. Not a single one of the

History cannot bestow upon the League nations and peoples of the world is accept-

of Nations the honor of bearing the title ing from God's mouth what the prophecy

of peacemaker. There is no basis for his- of Isaiah 2:4 says would precede the beat-

tory to honor the United Nations with the ing of swords into plowshares and spears

tit le of Peacemaker. While the United Na- into

pruning hooks and the learning of

tions mouths

great words of peace and war no more by the nations. Those open-

carries on negotiations to restore or keep ing words

of this prophetic Verse read:

the peace in different areas of the earth, 'And he shall judge among the nations,

its member nations are preparing for war. 2nd shall rebuke many peo~le.

The strongest members of its Security A prophecy of th at same ancient .t ime

Council are the most mightily armed na- that corresponds with that of Isaiah 2:4,

tions in all human history. World peace the prophecy in Micah

4:3

reads: And

today, such as it is, is a peace of terror, he shall judge among many people, and

a peace maintained only because

of

the rebuke strong nations afar off; and they

terrorizing fear of nuclear, bacteriological shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and radiological war that spells the doom

and their spears into pruninghooks: na-

of modern civilization. Where, then, is the tion shall not lift up a sword against na-

fulfillment of the words that are carved tion, neither shall they learn war any

prominently on a wall a t 42nd Street fac- more. --AV.

ing the plaza of the United Nations amidst The nations are not letting themselves

be judged by the Lord God. They

submit their problems to the Gen-

eral Assembly or the Security

Council of the United Nations or

to its International Court of Jus-

tice at The Hague in the Nether-

lands. They do not go by the judg-

ments that are set down in God's

written Word, the Holy Bible. The

nations, even the strong nations

tha t are afar off from where the

prophets Isaiah and Micah lived,

do not take any rebuke from the

Lord God as set out in his written

Word or as quoted by his mouth-

pieces from that written Word. If

they did accept and heed his judg-


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N LL P RTS O F TH

WORLD

N

969

ment and his rebuke, they would beat

their swords into plowshares and their

P~b l i c

ddress

spears into pruning hooks and not lift up

Widely dvedised

the sword of war against one another or

even learn war anymore. But everybody

knows that tbey are not doing so. Hence,

regardless of the promise of man, no

lasting world peace can be hoped for from

the nations, either in

a

united organiza-

tion or singly. No political ruler or nation

will yet step forward and be the one that

divine history will greatly honor with the

title of Peacemaker.

Nothing in the way of a disarmed, peace-

learning world can be expected from the

promise of man9' that pursues fke way

and wisdom of man, not God's way and

wisdom, which are heaven-high above

man's. The Almighty God, Creator of

heaven and earth, is not dependent upon

the promise of man. His prediction of

the future is not conditioned upon it. His

word at Isaiah 2:4 is an unconditional

prophecy. Even though the people and

strong nations of today are planning and

acting against

it,

that glorious prophecy

will come true. God will see to that; for

what man, what people, what strong ma-

tion can succeed against Him? From this

sure fact let all persons who yearn for

everlasting universal peace as foretold in

God's Word take comfort.

God does not change with regard to his

stated purpose. For almost two millen-

niums now he has had the one whom he

has anointed or consecrated to serve as

Peacemaker for all mankind. By the proph-

e u s a i a h God foretold the disarming of

earth's inhabitants and the learning of

war no more. By the same prophet God

foretold this Peacemaker. We have already

considered Isaiah, chapter two, verse four.

Turn now to chapter nine, verses six and

seven, and read of the birth and work of

this Peacemaker:

For unto

U

a child is born, unto

us

a

son is given: and the government shall be

upon his shoulder: and his name shall be

called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty

God, The everlasting Father, The Prince

of Peace. Of the increase of his govern-

ment and peace there shall be no end, upon

the throne of David, and upon his king-

dom, to order it, and to establish it with

judgment and with justice from hence-


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PEACE O N EART H INT E RNAT IO NA L ASSEMBL Y O F JEHO VAH'S W IT NESSES

forth even for ever. The zeal of the LOR

of hosts will perform this."-AV.

Hear again those prophetic words: "Of

the increase of his government and peace

there shall be no end." In those words is

given God's unbreakable promise of an un-

ending government of endless peace. I t is

the government of a child born into the

family line of King David, the son whose

name was to be called "The Prince of

Peace." His life -will have to be as long as

his peaceful government-endless, immor-

tal. The fact that his name was also to be

not prove to be a liar as regards this

prophecy either. He is the "God, that can-

not lie."-Titus

:2

Hebrews

6:18,

AV

SO MEO NE GREATER THAN KING SOLOMON

God's mouthpiece, the prophet Isaiah,

continued to prophesy on into the reign

of King Rezekiah of Jerusalem, but Heze-

kiah did not prove to be the promised

''child" or "son" who was to be honored

with the title of Peacemaker, The Prince

of Peace. Neither did the seven kings who

followed Hezekiah urson the "throne of

called "The everlasting Fa- David" i t Jerusalem, down

ther" bears this out. This to the last king, Zedekiah,

would result in his being the prove to be the promised

Permanent Heir of King Da-

Prince of Peace. In fact, in

vid, inasmuch as the divine the eleventh year of the reign

prophecy says tha t this peace-

of King Zedekiah the holy

ful endless government would city of Jerusalem and its

be "upon the throne of

Da-

temple as built by the ear-

vid, and upon his kingdom, lier King Solomon were de-

to order it , and to establish stroyed by the armies of

it with judgment and with

pagan Babylon, and the con-

justice from henceforth even

quered people were deported

for ever." I t is to the reign

as exiles to far-off Babylon.

of this Permanent Heir of Only seventy years later did

King David as The Prince the city

of. Jerusalem and a

of Peace that we must look

temple for God's worship be-

for the approaching peace

In New

Pork

gin to be built by released

t o

hear this talk

of a thousand years. He is

Hildsgara

SeEgeq

exiles.

the One whom the Lord od

imprisoned years

by

the

Well, then, was the "zeal

honors with the title of

Nazis

years

the

of the LORD f hosts" frus-

Peacemaker, and not some

CommuGsts beca use she

trated and cooled down? Not

politician or some nation of tola bthers

that

G Q ~ at all Despite this apparent

this twentieth century. could bring lasting peace failure of Isaiah's prophecy,

I t is true that more than God's zeal was as hot as

two and a half millenniums have passed ever for the performing of the proph-

since that prophecy was uttered and writ- ecy. The "throne of David" was never

ten down by God's prophet Isaiah, and again set up at Jerusalem, but that did

here we are in a time when nations are not matter. The line of the royal family

trying to stave off the world war th at of King David was not blotted out but

would be the greatest and worst of all continued on. Then five hundred and thirty-

human history. But we must not lose five years after Jerusalem began to be

faith in the coming tru e of Isaiah's rebuilt Isaiah's prophecy began to be ful-

prophecy of the Peacemaker and of eter- filled by the birth of the promised "child,"

nal peace on earth. The zeal of the Lord the "son" who was to be the Permanent

of hosts is behind this prophecy, which Heir of King David. This occurred in the

He himself inspired by his holy spirit. The second year before the s tart of our Gom-

prophecy closes by saying:

"The zeal of mon Era; in other words, in the year

the LORD f hosts will perform this." His 2 B.G.E. It occurred at the birthplace of

zeal has not cooled off by now regarding, King David, namely, Bethlehem-Judah,

in

the prophecy, for his own name and repu- fulfillment of Micah's prophecy

5 : ).

tation

are at stake in connection with it,

In order to prove that his ancient proph-

He

has

never lied in anything else; he will

ecy had come true, the zealous Lord of


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IN

ALL PARTS

O

T H WORLD IN 969

hosts would certainly have witnesses to

the birth of the promised Prince of Peace.

Fi rst of all he made angels witnesses to

the child's birth. Then he made shepherds

of Bethlehem witnesses of the event. By

night in the early autumn of the year

2 B.C.E. the angel of the Lord God ap-

peared to those shepherds watching over

their sheep in the field near Bethlehem.

An investigator of the facts of the birth,

a medical doctor by the name of Luke,

though not himself delivering the child,

reports: "An angel of the Lord flashed

upon them, the glory of the Lord shone all

round them. They were terribly afraid,

but the angel said to them, 'Have no fear.

This is good news I am bringing you, news

of a great joy th at is meant for all the

People. To-day you have a saviour born

in the town of David, the Lord messiah.

And here is a proof for you: you will find

a baby wrapped up and lying in a stall

for cattle.' Then a host of heaven's army

suddenly appeared beside the angel, extol-

ling God and saying, 'Glory to God in high

heaven, and peace on earth for men whom

he favours ' "--Luke 2:8-14, Mof fa t t

Doctor Luke tells us that the shepherds

went and found

the newborn baby, and

thus they became eyewitnesses of the birth

of "the Lord messiah," along with the

heavenly angels. Doctor Luke closes, say-

ing: "Then the shepherds went away back,

glorifying and extolling God for all that

they had heard and seen-as they had

been told they would."-Luke 2 15-20,No.

Forty days later the God-fearing man

Simeon and then the prophetess Anna saw

and identified the child when he was

brought to the temple at Jerusalem. In

this way they also became witnesses to

the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy con-

cerning the Prince of Peace.--Luke 2:

22-38.

The angel spoke of the child as "the

Lord messiah." Greek-speaking Jews of

that day would say "the Lord Christ," for

"messiah" and "Christ" mean the same

thing, "anointed one." That is to say, God's

anointed one. According to God's instruc-

tion to his virgin mother he was given the

personal name Jeshua; but the Greek-

speaking Jews like Doctor Luke called him

Jesus. So with his title he was called

Jeshua Messiah or Jesus Christ. (Luke

i 6-33; Matthew I : I, 20-25) Because he

was a descendant of King David he was

also called "the Son of David." Why was

he given the personal name Jesus? The

Dictionary

of

t h e Bible by Dr. William

Smith (page I346), edition of 1894, says

that the name Jeshua or Jesus means

"Help of Jehovah," or "Saviour." This

corresponds with what God's angel told

his foster father, carpenter Joseph a t Naz-

areth: "'You must call his name Jesus, for

he will save his people from their sins."

-Matthew I 18-25.

Among the royal forefathers was the

wisest man of ancient times, King Solo-

mon the son of David. His name means

"Peaceful," or 'Teaee." Quite appropriate-

ly, he reigned at Jerusalem, the name

of which means "Possession of Twofold

Peace." Despite this combination of names

Solomon's reign did not usher in a millen-

nium of peace. At most it brought in a

peace of forty years. Despite his wise sta rt

as king of Jerusalem, he turned out bad

n

his old age. He became oppressive to

the people of Israel. He yielded to the

pressure of his many foreign wives and

joined them in worshiping other gods than

Jehovah God. He thus lost his peace with

the one living and true God, who ex-

pressed his indignation by ripping ten of

the twelve tribes of Israel away from the

kingdom of Solomon's successors. IKings

1119-12 :24; Nehemiah 13: 26,29) But dur-

ing the more than half of his forty-year

reign that Solomon was faithful to Jeho-

vah as God and wrote three books of the

Holy Bible, Solomon was used as a pro-

phetic figure of the true Messiah or Christ.

Unlike Solomon, Jesus Christ as

a

per-

fect man on earth never proved unfaithful

to God. He worthily bore th e name Jeshua

or Jesus, which means "Help of Jehovah,"

or 'Salvation of Jehovah." Solomon his

ancestor had been anointed with holy oil

to be king over all Israel, but Jesus was

anointed with holy spirit from heaven at

the time of his water baptism in the Jor-

dan River, God's voice being heard by

John the Baptist, saying: "This is my be-

loved Son, in whom

I

am well pleased."

(Matthew 3: 13-19, AV] Jesus thereby be-

came God's Anointed One or Christ in a

sense superior to Solomon. Without ego-

tism or exaggeration Jesus could speak of


10/32

40

PEACE ON E ARTH I NTE RN ATI ON AL AS S EMBLY O F JE HOV AH'S WI TNE S S E S

himself as being "something more than

the execution stake outside the walls of

Solomon." (Matthew 12:42) By his faith-

Jerusalem, Jesus Christ lives On the third

fulness he maintained his right to the day of his death the Almighty God Je-

"throne of David" or the

kingly rulership hovah raised him from the dead to life as

over all Israel tha t such throne symbol- his spiritual Son in heaven, clothing him

ized. But God never gave with immortality and in-

the anointed Jesus that corruption. As Jesus Christ

"throne of David" on earth. manifested himself to his

(Luke 1:32, 33) First, God

disciples after his resurrec-

tested Jesus' faithfulness to

tion from the dead, during

the limit, letting him die forty days before his as-

as a perfect human sacri- cension to heaven, there

fice on an execution stake,

came to be upward of five

that thus Jesus might "save

hundred eyewitnesses to the

his people from their sins." resurrected Jesus Christ.

-Matthew 1:21.

(Acts 1:1-5; 2:22-36;

1

Co-

The anointed Jesus kept rinthians 15:3-9) He now

his peace with Jehovah being alive forevermore, he

God clear to the end of his can indeed become "The

earthly life. Shortly before

everlasting Father" to the

he was betrayed and turned

dying world of mankind. Al-

over to the executioners so, of his peaceful govern-

he said to the elever, faith-

ment over mankind there

ful ones of his twelve apos-

does not need to be any

tles:

I

leave you peace,

I

give you my peace. I do

end and there "shall be no

not give it to you the way

end."(Isaiah 9 7 AV)

that the world gives it."

He is the heavenly Ruler

(John 14 27) Hours af erm

W.

Mills,

from

Nigeria, for

8

able to usher in upon war-

ward, when standing be-

eacher

of

God s

torn mankind the peace of

fore the trial judge, the word present to hear a thousand years". The Unit-

Roman governor Pontius

this discourse ed Nations cannot do so

Pilate, the peaceful Jesus

said to him: "My kingdom is no part of

THE MILLENNIA PEACE

UPROACHING

this world. my kingdom is not from When, though, does the Prince of Peace

this source." I t was not a t Jesus9 request star t his government sf an endless peace?

that Pontius Pilate put over the head of Righteously disposed people today are cry-

Jesus on the execution stake the notice ing out for such a government. Does not

reading: '"esus the Nazarene the King of the very world situation mark this as the

the Jews." (John 18:36; 19:16-22) Jesus epoch in which it would be most fitting

refused to accept kingship a t the hand of for Jehovah God to bring in such a gov-

Devil or man. He died on the execution ernment according to his unbreakable

stake, waiting on his God Jehovah to give promise of Isaiah 9:6, 7? Apparently so.

him the "throne of David his fa ther9' to But first the obstructors of peace must be

which he was the Permanent Heir. (Mat- cleared out of the way. The greatest ob-

thew 4:B-11; Luke 1:32,

;

John 6: 14, structor is one over whom neither the

15) He died true and loyal to what he had United Nations nor any singIe nation or

preached, namely,

"The kingdom of God people have any control, for he

is

super-

has drawn near."-Mark 1:14, 15; Mat- human. He is the one who offered Jesus

thew

4:

12-17.

Christ all the kingdoms of this world if

Today, after almost three millenniums, he would turn away from worshiping Je-

unfaithful Solomon still sleeps in death hovah as God, worshiping the great Tempt-

with his forefathers.

(1

Kings 11:41-43, er instead. This greatest peace obstructor

AV) Today, after more than nineteen hun-

is named Satan the Devil. He is the prince

dred years from his sacrificial death on

of legions of devils or demons. (Matthew


11/32

N LL P RTS

OF TH

WORLD IN 969

4:s-11; 12:24-28, AV Jesus Christ called

He remarked upon the approach of things

him also "the ruler of this world," where-

of interest to Americans and to all Chris-

as the Christian apostle Paui calied him tendom. In the eighth paragraph of his

"the god of this system of things." The

speech the newly sworn-in president said:

apostle John says: "'The whole world is "'Eight years from now America will cele-

lying in the power of the wicked one.'-rate its 200th anniversary as a nation.

-John 12:31; 14:30;

2

Corinthians 4:4; And within the lifetime of rnost people

ohn 5:19.

now living, mankind will celebrate that

I t will take more than all men together great new year which ccknes only once in

to put that greatest obstructor of peace out

a

thousand years-the beginning of the

of power over mankind. This the heavenly third millennium." The president was re-

Jesus Christ will do, for, according to the

ferring

to

A,Da 2001

several names by which he was - to be

called, he is u ' ~ l ~ ~ighty ~ d . " his he

The next remarks of the president

will do after first doing away with the

showed that he expected there to be an

visible peace obstructors here on

earth.

America in the first year 9f that third

(Revelation 19:

11

to 20

3

This requires

millennium. But for God-fearing students

him to be first a Warrior King, reigning

of th e Holy Bible containing both the an-

in the midst of his ear thly enemies, finally cient Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian

subduing them completely, just as foretold

Greek Scriptures, there is a

more impor-

by King David in Psalrn 110:l-6. He has tant millennium that compels their atten-

had to do this because, since the end of tion. That is the seventh millennium No,

the "times of the Gentiles" in the year not the seventh millennium measured from

1914, the nations and em-

AD.

1

but the seventh mil-

pires of this world have re-

lennium of man's existence

fused to yield over peace-

here on earth, the seventh

ably their earthly kingship

millennium measured from

to him, even Christendom God's creation of perfect

refusing to do so. (Luke man and woman in the gar-

21:24; Psalm 2:l-6) Till den of Eden. This

is

usually

this year, after more than measured according to the

half

a century, the nations Anno Mundi rule or "In

have refused to do so. What

the Year of the World" cal-

will this mean shortly for endar, the world of man-

all mankind? This: the out-

kind being here meant.

break of the "war of the

Does this fact have any

great day of God the 81- bearing on the approach

mighty9' a t the world sit-

of the peace of a thousand

uation called Har-Magedon

years or of a millennium?

or Armageddon. (Revela- Very apparently Yes Ac-

tion 16:14, 16) That war cording to the calendar of

will remove all human ob- the Orthodox Jews, the new

structors to peace. American president deliv-

After this taking away ered his inaugural speech

of all human and demon ob-

a t the beginning of the fifth

structors of world peace lunar month of

the

year

there will come the reign

M,

8aa

som apan, to heas

,5729 A,M., this date being

of the Prince of Peace over

ithis

message aboutwosla peace

based on the ancient He-

all the earth. God's fixed brew Scriptures alone. But

time for this is' approaching, and aiong according to chronologers or time check-

with i t the peace of a thousand years. ers who take into account also the in-

A

thousand years equals a millennium. spired Christian Greek Scriptures, the

This reminds us of something said in the Jewish calendar is more than two hun-

aforementioned inaugural speech of the dred years behind time. In certain edi-

American president

on

January

20,

1969. tions

of

the Holy Bible, Catholic and


12/32

12

' T P E A E O M

E A R T H

i;NTEZ

NAT IO NA L ASS E MBL Y O F J E H O V A H ' S W I T N E S S E S

Protestant, there have appeared dates ac-

cording to the chronology of the noted

Irish Anglican prelate, Archbishop James

Ussher (1581-1656 C.E.) Ussher's date

for man's creation is 4004 B.C.E. By this

reckoning six thousand years or six'mil-

lenniums of man's existence would end

in the autumn of the coming year of

1996 C.E. after which the seventh millen-

nium of man's existence wo.dld star t.

More recently earnest researchers of the

Holy Bible have made a recheck of its

chronology. According to their calculations

the six

millenniums

of mankind's life on

earth would end in the mid-seventies. Thus

the seventh millennium from man's cre-

ation by Jehovah God

would

begin mithirr

less than ten years.

Apart from the global change that

present-day world conditions Indicate is

fast getting near, the arrival of the sev-

enth millennium of n~an 's existence on

earth suggests a gladsome change for war-

stricken humankind. According to the first

two chapters of the 93oly Bible man and

woman were created toward the close of

the sixth creative day.

We

are now liviag

in the seventh creative day, and on this

seventh day Jehovah God haas been rest-

ing from earthly creation. To run paralie1

with this resting of Gcsd o l his seventh

creative day, he gave the Ten Command-

ments to his prophet Moses, in the fourth

one of which God commanded. that his

chosen, people should rest on the seventh

day of the week. (Exodus 20:8-11) That

day was therefore the weekly sabbath day,

the day of desistance from human toil.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the

yrospective

Prince of Peace, pointed forward to a

greater Sabbath Day. Pointing forward to

this, he said on a certain weekly sabbath

day when he came under criticism: "Lord

of the sabbath is what the Son of man is,"

(Matthew 12:l-8) He was ref?rring t o his

peaceful reign of a thousand years. Jeho-

vah God measures human affairs accord-

ing to

a

tho~~sand-year-lengthille, He in-

spired the prophet Moses to write, in

Psalm 90~4:"A thousand years are in

your eyes but as yesterday 'when it is

past." He also inspired the Christian apos-

tle Peter to write: "One day is with the

Lord as a thousand years? and a thousand

years as one day," (2 Peter

3:8

AV

In

prophetic vision the apostle John saw Sa-

tan the Devil and his demons bound and

abyssed for a thousand years, during which

thousa~d eaas Jesus Christ reigned with

his victorious disciples o\7er all mankind.

(Revelation

5:9,

10; 0:1-9)So, accord-

ing to God's viewpoint

of

time, that thou-

sand years of his Son Jesus Christ would

correspond with merely ""one day."

In order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be

"Lord even of the sabbath day," his

thousand-year reign :vould have to be the

seventh

in

a series of thousand-year pe-

ricds or millenniums. (Matthew 1 2 ~ 8 ,

V

Thus it would be a sabbatic reign, Since

early ira the existence of mankind Satan

the Devil has been on the loose, making

the human family to toil in hard bondage,

causing the earth to be filled with violence

before the global Good of Noah's day and

inducing the same old earth to be filled

with even greater violence today. Soon

now

s x

millenniums of his wicked exploit-

ir g of

maskind

as his slaves will end, with-

in

the lifetime of the generation tha t has

witnessed world events since the close of

the Gentile Times n 1914 till now, accord-

ing to the prophetic words of Jesus in

Matthew

24:

34.

Woe;ld not, then, the end

ofssix rnille~niums f rnankind.'~ aborious

enslavement under Satan the Devil be the

fitting time for Jehevah God to usher in

a

Sabbath millennium for all his human

ereatures"bes, indeed

And

his Xing Je-

sus Christ will be Lord of that Sabbath.

In

ancient times, when God's chosen

peopie %rereunder the Ten Commandments

given through his prophet Pdoses, the

weekly sabbath was a peaceful day. To

agree with God's 0m7n desistance from

earthly work on his seventh creative day,

his people were under divine command to

desist from the hard work of the preced-

in

six days, likewise their domestic ani-

mals. (Exodus 2@:1-91 In like manner

Christ's sabbatic reign

for

a thousand

years will be a peaceful .time for this earth

and its inhabitants. It will be a time of

rest from all the warfare and violence of

the previous six millenniums. Swords, sym-

bolic

of

rnmrderov.s warfare, will have been

beaten into plowshares, and spears into

pruning hooks for the grapevines. Life


13/32

N

ALL PARTS OF

T H E

WORLD

IN

969

3

apply. Why? In order that the hu-

man survivors of the war of the

great day of God the Almighty

may use their plowshares and prun-

ing hooks in transforming this war-

scarred earth into the glorious

Paradise that Jehovah God told

man originally to make it. (Gen-

esis 1:26-28; 2:8-14) God's word

will not return to him void, unful-

filled. No, but under the thousand-

year reign of his Son Jesus Christ

Group arriving on chartered plane from Netherlands to

this entilre earth will be cultivated

attend the New Pork assembly at least

5

chartered

into an everlasting Paradise filled

planes brought delegates from abroad

with liberated, perfected human

creatures. Within that seventh

will not be dull in that restful millennia1

sabbatic millennium the King and Lord of

sabbath.

t

will not be a time of idleness.

the sabbath day will undo all the work of

The Sabbath Lord, Jesus Christ the King, that greatest of all peace disturbers, Sa-

will not be idle, neither will he let his

tan the Devil.-Luke 23:43.

earthly subjects be idle.

As under the operation of the Ten Com-

Why was it that Jesus Christ, when on

mandments among God's ancient chosen

earth as a Jew under the Ten Command- people all violators of the sabbath day

ments, did so many of his miraculous were killed, so those not rendering obe-

works on the weekly sabbath day, healing dience to the Lord of the coming sabbath

the sick and the crippled? Not only to millennium and disturbing the peace will

show that it was right to do good on the be destroyed. (Numbers 15:32-36; Exodus

sabbath. t was also to foreshadow how, 31:13-17)

After Satan the Devil and his

during his sabbatic reign, he will deliver demons are let loose from the abyss and

humankind from bondage to Satan the once again try to disturb the peace of our

Devil and his demons and relieve them earth, they will

be

destroyed, and with

of the deadly effects of the sin and imper- them all those who try again to make this

fection inherited from our first human earth a battlefield, a war arena. (Reve-

parents, Adam and Eve. War and violence lation

20:7-10, 15) Those who keep peace

during the past six millenniums have with God will remain in the Paradise ea rth

brought millions of humans to untimely as its eternal caretakers.

death and the grave; but the Lord of the Then it will not be necessary to take

Sabbath, Jesus Christ, will bring up the a rocket to the moon to find a peaceful

thousands of millions of dead humankind planet, fo r then the prayer in behalf of

from th e graves, exactly as he prophesied the Greater Solomon, Jesus Christ the

th at he would do. (John 5 28,291 t was no King, will be fulfilled, as recorded in Psalm

mere idle phrase when his truthful apostle

72:7: In his days the righteous one will

Paul wrote that God's sabbath law had a sprout, and the abundance of peace until

shadow of the good things to come. the moon is no more.'' That peace will

-Hebrews 10 ; Colossians 2 16, 17. never end, any more than the moon. The

earthly peace thus established and main-

PLOWSHARES, PRUNING

HOOKS OR

P R D ISE

tained during the Messiah's sabbath of

Already, even during this war-endan- thousand years will continue on forever.

gered time, Jehovah's Christian witnesses

Jehovahys Christian witnesses

of

today

have conformed to the prophecy of Isaiah

are joyfully preparing for that approach-

2:4 and beaten swords into plowshares

ing peace of a thousand years. who

and spears into pruning hooks. After the yearn to enjoy that foretold peace on

universal war of Har-Magedon

and the earth for men whom [God] favours are

binding and abyssing of Satan and his heartily invited to join them in getting

demons, this prophecy will continue to ready for that blessed millennium of peace.


14/32


15/32

At each of the "Peace on Earth" assem- political controversies of this world. From

blies around the earth in 1969, Jehovah's the sta rt we have pointed to the written

witnesses a re taking th e occasion to set Word of God to show th at long life with

forth th e following Declaration of their peace and prosperity will never be brought

position and attitude in this most tur- by radical political governments of men

bulent period of human history: who are not a t peace with God. According

P E A C ~with

the Creator

of heaven to the unerring prophecies of God's Word,

and earth , by means of his long-promised political radicalism must fai l as a world

kingdom of his Messiah-this is what we remedy-

hold to be th e key to an enduring peace fo r

We will continue to disapprove of the

all the world of mankind. When we keep

dividing Up of the religious people into cler-

our peace with God, we can never be a t war

gY and laity- We have the Bible behind us

with our neighb~rswho are fellow crea-

in this position. The clergy and exalted re-

tures of God; peace with ~ o dnd peace

ligious leaders of Christendom have fallen

with ouy fellowman go together. In order to

short of their obligations toward people

be children of God and loyal subjects of his who look to them/to guide them into peace-

Messianic kingdom we are obliged to be

ful relationship with God. Once holding a

peacemakers. (Matt. 5:9) We therefore heaven-high position in which they could

disclaim all connection with the professed have shone like stars with spiritual enlight-

Christian realm known as Christendom, for

enment for their parishioners, they have

her history proves her to be a fomenter

of

fallen to earthly, materialistic levels, lack-

carnal warfare between even fellow reli-

ing real spiritual uplift. They have brought

gionists, staining her skirts with their

no life-sustaining refreshment to Christen-

blood. She has persecuted with tortu re and

dom, not to say the rest of mankind. They

violent death those1 who have differed from

have made bitte r the potion ,that they have

her in religious conscience. She has not

caused the ir people to drink, both by their

promoted the interests of ~ o d ' s essianic

sectarian doctrines and by the course in

kingdom, notoriously failing in this regard

life into which they have directed the peo-

since th e outbreak of World War n 1914.

ple. Because of this embitterment spiritual

We can have no part with her, fo r it is now

death has resulted to untold numbers.

clearly manifest that t he judgments of God

We hold fast to the declaration that

as expressed in the Holy Bible ar e against

Christianity, not Christendom, is "the light

Christendom and will shortly be executed

of t he world." As dedicated, baptizedchris-

upon her.

tians we recognize our united obligation to

The types of political government that

serve

as

"the light of the world." (Matt. 5:

obtained previously down till the world

14-16) This obligation we, as ~ehovah's

conflict of 1914-1918 have faile d to main-

witnesses, will continue to discharge by

tain the stability of the world of mankind.

preaching and teaching His written Word.

Since then world revolution in favor of

n this Scriptural manner we shall keep on

radical forms of government has been at-

trying to brighten the darkness for as

tempted and is still being pursued. Much of many Persons as possible in ~hr .is tendom ,

earth's population has been brought under

which the clergy and high religious leaders

Communist domination, to a large extent

have failed to enlighten spiritually or to

unwillingly and not by free popular vote.

bring into the light of God's favor.

The issue of whether to have a revolution

We recognize Jesus Christ as our God-

and establish a radical

government has given religious Liberator. He has released

been hurled in among th e restless people. us from religious subjection and deadness

We however, still maintain as heretofore under Babylon th e Great, the world empire

our stric t Christian neutrali ty toward th e of false religion, including Christendom. In

5


16/32

16

P E ACE

O N E A R T H I N T E R N A T I O N A L A S S EM B L Y O F J E H O V A H ' S W I T N E S S E S

his own days on ear th Jesus Christ spared

not the religious feelings of the men who

claimed to be God's ordained teachers and

guides of the people. In imitation of him,

we cannot hold back from pointing out to

the trusting people of Christendom the de-

linquency of their clergy and other reli-

gious leaders before God. Even though this

hurts the religious sensibilities of those re-

ligious leaders and is a woe to them, we

shall continue to do this as long as we live

and they are around in influential positions

over Christendom. We will not join them in

putting our hope and trust in any man-

made international organization for world

peace and security, but will continue to

declare the doom of such organization.

We hold ourselves at God's disposal for

his service a t any time according to his ap-

pointment. He has untied us, loosed us

from captivity to Babylon the Great, the

figurative mistress of the Euphrates River.

Our religious liberty being due to Jehovah

God through Jesus Christ, we must use it

in harmony with his will at this most cru-

cial time in human history. In obedience to

his Holy Bible we confess ourselves to be

under orders to reveal to the people that

there is no possibility for spiritual life now

and everlasting life in the future in or by

means of Christendom. She spells spiritual

death for her tremendous church member-

ship now and literal death for them in the

fast-approaching day of vengeance on' the

part of our God. We Christian witnesses

of Jehovah a re few in comparison with the

977,383,000 members of Christendom. But

God has increased our capabilities as pub-

lishers of his present-day message a hun-

dredfold, yes, double that. Through his own

earthly organization he has supplied us

hundreds of millions of printed pieces of

literature, Bibles, books, booklets, maga-

zines, tracts, as vehicles for us to ride in

spiritual warfare against the strongholds

of error in spiritually dead Christendom.

By

means of .these myriads of publicity ve-

hicles we shall carry out to the end our du-

ty to declare the day of vengeance on the

part of our God, as a woe9' to Christen-

dom.

Mankind's only hope for peace, happi-

ness, prosperity, life, yes, resurrection of

the dead, is God's Messianic kingdom. Hap-

py is our privilege to announce to all na-

tions the establishment of that kingdom in

the heavens at the end of th e Gentile Times

in

1914.

We join our voices with those in

heaven in saying tha t the kingship of the

world of mankind has become the kingship

of our Lord God Jehovah and of his Mes-

siah or Christ. We publicly thank Him that

he has taken his great power and begun his

everlasting reign by his Messiah, his Son

Jesus.

We know that this kingdom means final-

ly a disastrous woe to the political nations

a t the climax of the day of

God's ven-

geance, but we will not fear their wrath

because of this. Loyally we will, to the end,

give our unqualified allegiance to God's

Messianic kingdom. We will obey our reign-

ing King Jesus Christ and carry out fur-

ther his command to preach

this good

news of the kingdom everywhere for a

witness to all the nations until their end

comes. We will without letup turn teach-

able people to God's Messianic kingdom for

realization of the hope of 'glory to God in

the highest with peace on earth forever for

his men

of

good will.'

Regular family ible discussion and meeting attendance unite Witness families


17/32

Practical Suggestions

for ~arnil iving

loving way and exercise empathy.

By doing things together a

family is drawn more closely to-

gether and loyalty develops.

Communication Between Mat es

The second pa rt of the sym-

posium dealt with the subject

'LAs Husband and Wife, Do We

Communicate?" In this talk, the

need was highlighted of married

persons' com mu ni ca ti ng with

each other so as to deal under-

standingly with each other.

The speaker underscored the

fact that communication is made

easier when there is love, because

it

means that there is genuine

concern for each other. To com-

municate effectively one needs to

speak, hear and observe. Yes,

it means talking things over so

that one can know what is on

the mind of one's mate.

The speaker warned against

barriers to communication such

as stubbornness, pride, anger

and depression. He also warned

against taking one's mate for

granted. Communication enables

a husband and a wife to enjoy

living together. I t builds and

maintains warmth.

In

a

world

in

which many families

are

plagued with disunity,

problems

and

even tragedies, Jehovah's organ izati on consid-

erately set aside a portion of the assembly program to present

Gett ing Children

to Confide in Parents

The third speaker, discussing

the

theme "Do Our Children Con-

fide in Us?",

highlighted the need

timely information to parents

on family living.

A

Wholesome Home

"Is My Home Wholesome?"

was the subject of the first talk,

discussed from the standpoint of

the parents. The speaker stressed

that a wholesome home is one in

which the members of t he family

have a genuine interest in one

another a s persons. True, they

have different likes, dislikes,

problems, feelings and desires,

yet they enjoy being together. TO

have such a wholesome home, the

father must take the lead in a

cipline is vital.

of parents to face the problems

of th ei r children realistically. Do

all Christian parents have the

courage and take the time to

provide a firm and loving guide

that is needed so desperately by

their children in these critical

times?-this‘ was

the question.

Demonstrations were presented

that enabled the audience to see

how a child's confidence could be

gained by taking time to discuss

problems in an understanding

way. The speaker emphasized

that permissiveness will not en-

courage confidence and that dis-

Divided Households

The final par t of the sympo-

sium drew the audience's atten-

tion to the subject "A Faithful

Course in a Divided Household."

The key point stressed by the

speaker was that Witnesses who

live in divided households should

manifest godly qualities and ad-

here to Bible principles. By doing

this, Jehovah's infiuence is in-

creased in such homes. It

promotes household peace and

mutual understanding.

A believer's respectful loyalty

to Jehovah's principles is a fine

recommendation of Bible truth

to a n unbeliever. Yet th e believer

should understand the feelings of

his unbelieving mate and that

the changes the t rut h brings may

disturb him. He might feel a

loss and may resist in fear of

losing what he has. Always keep

the l ines of communication open,

said the speaker to believing

marriage mates, an d discuss your

feelings and the reasons for your

actions.

Should There

Be

a Generation Gap

What accounts for the genera-

tion gap ,today? ?hat was the

question posed by the one who

gave this timely talk. Directing

his remarks to the young folks

7

in attendance, he pointed out that

television, radio and the faster

modes of travel have played a

part in it. Years ago parents and

their young ones did things to-

gether. Today in the world they

go their separate ways.

What can young Christians do

to avoid this generation gap? The

speaker explained that Bible

principles form an excellent bul-

wark against this danger. Use

them to decide on recreation and

associations. The speaker also

highlighted the need to show

respect for mature persons be-

cause of their experience. They

can benefit young folks. 'Make

friends with older persons,' he

told them, 'and do not stick just

with young folks

Righ ts o r Duties-Which?

This hour pa rt of t he program

was truly deli.ghtfu1 and so rele-

vant to the times in which we

live. The speaker informed the

audience that the Bible does not

stress rights but duties

Hence,

Christians should not think that

because something is common

they may insist on such "rights."

highly interesting demon-

stration was presented that en-

abled the audience to grasp the

point of righ ts and duties. I t

dealt with a father handling the

matter of his son's growing long

hair and a beard. I t was inter-

esting to hear t he youth's at-

tempts to justify

hi$ course of

action, especially his argument

that beards were worn in Bible

times. His father explained why

the Israelites wore beards. I t

was because cutting their hair

would have made them look like

their pagan neighbors who cut

their hair for their false gods.

The father helped his son to

realize how his appearance was

affecting the congregation t was

also affecting his opportunity

for privileges of service in the

congregation. His long hair and

beard classified him with rebel-

lious groups.

This program strengthened us

all to seek to please our neigh-

bors in what

is

upbuilding.


18/32

CONGREGATION

i t is needed. This can create a

good spir it among the servants

because i t shows that the over-

seer is not unreasonable in what

he expects of them.

I t was acknowledged tha t a n

overseer cannot do everything.

Fo r tha t r e a s on the ove r s e e r s

were urged to t r a in o ther se r -

vants so they can help them.

To ork

as

a Tea m

Splendid counsel wa s given to

the min is te r ia l se rvants by the

third speaker in the symposium.

He urged them to work as a

T h e t h o u s a n d s of s e rv a n ts p r

f r o m

this

t h r e e - p a r t s y m p o s i u m

i n g o t h e r s

in

t h e c o n g r e g a t i o n

T h e s e w e r e u r g e d n o t just t o

t e l l o t h e r s w h a t t o d o b u t t o

g i v e h e l p a s

it

i s n ee d ed . H o w

t h i s c a n

be

done wa s de n ion -

s t r a te d r e pe a te d ly .

The conventioners lea rned t ha t

in the Uni ted Sta tes there a re

31 dis tr ic t servants , 336 circuit

servants ,

5 365

overseers and

ten s of thousand s of min isterial

se rvants . The th ree ta lks im-

pressed upon these se rvant s their

responsibility to provide

lowing

oversightv for the flock of God.

In car ry ing out tha t r espons i-

bility much is required of them.

Show Empathy

-4ddressing the district and cir-

cuit servants , the f lrs t speaker

in the symposium urged them to

unders tand the c i rcumstances in

the congregations they serve so

they can manifest real empathy.

For them to get the best results ,

h e sa id , there a r e several th ings

they need to recognize. One of

these is tha t they mus t be ap-

proachable and available to the

brothers and sisters. How else

can they exercise loving orTer-

s igh t?

Distr ic t and circuit servants

also need to have genuine appre-

c ia t ion for what the se rvants

are doing in the congregations

in addition to discharging their

responsibilities to their families

and secular employers. Such ap-

preciation is encouraging to the

s er va nt s a n d h e l ~ so cultivate a

wholesome atti tcde.

When counseling or working

with the se rvants , publ ishers and

pioneers , the dis tr ic t and circuit

servants need to be loving, the

speaker sa id , no t demanding and

harsh. Every effor t ought to be

e s e n t

a t

the assen lb ly benef i ted

t h e t h e m e o f w h i c h w a s h e l p -

by exerc is i i ig

10 ving

overs igh t .

made to

b u i l d u p

not tear down.

When this is done the visit of

these brothers to a congregation

can he lp to s t r engthen i t .

A fur the r requirement fo r good

results is to give practical coun-

sel along wi th personal demon-

stration of zeal in the field

ministry.

The speaker reminded the

audience t ha t d is t r ic t

end

circuit

se rvants a r e humans jcs t a s they

are and should not be feared.

Fear prevents some publishers

from cooperating with them in

the minis try. So the speaker

said : We can make their work

more gratifying and joyful

If

we coopera te wi th them a s the

Scr iptures admonish a t Hebrews

13:l'i. They would then be able

to make their visit mc;re bene-

ficial to individual publishers.

verseers

Colmseled

Following this f ine ta lk the

nest speaker in the symposium

discussed the congregation ser-

vant . He poin ted ou t th a t Jesus

was the perfect model for the

Chris tian overseer . Like him the

overseer must be first a servant

of Jehovah and second a servant

of his brothers.

The overseer , i t was s tressed,

needs to show loving consider-

a t ion a t a l l t imes. I n dea l ing with

mat te r s he should ask h imse lf :

What would be the loving wag

to handle this?

Gbod counsel was directed to

the overseer on how he c an exer-

cise loving oversight of the ser-

vants in the congregation. e

cannot accomplish this by just

te ll ing them what to do but

rather by giving them help as

team, each one giving wh at is

needed just as is th e case with

the members of Christ's body.

Teamwork among the se rvants

helps a congregation to be pro-

ficient in the ministry. ( E p h ,

4 :16) H e went on to emphas ize

that, a lthough the m inis ter ial ser-

va nt s may be of w idely varying

ages, dif ferent backgrounds and

e i ther mar r ied or s ing le , a l l

should have the same goal of

car ing for the sp ir i tua l welfa re

of the sheep.

I t was po in ted ou t by the

speaker that, s ince the assis tant

congregation servant and Bible

s tudy se rvant , a long with the

overseer , form the congregation

committee, they have to make

decisions that affect the lives of

others. They, therefore, need to

be u n d e l a t a ? l d i ? i gmen. They mus t

use discernment. In their effor ts

to keep the congregation clean

they need to temper justice with

mercy. I n support of this th e

speaker quoted James

3 3

Each minis te r ia l se rvant was

admonished to be a slave to his

brothers , dil igently car ing for his

duties, not in a mechanical may

but with genuine love for the

sheep. They we re encouraged

to vis it the publishers in their

homes, work with them in the

field, help them attend meetings

and v is i t them when they a re

sick. The servants need to un-

derstand the personal problems

of the bro thers wi thout in t rud ing

into personal lives.

I n conclusion the speaker called

upon each servan t a nd publisher

to see his part in loving over-

sight and obedient submission.

To these se rvants he expressed

the feelings of those under their

care by saying: ' (We deeply

apprec ia te the se rvants for the ir

love and understanding. Are we

not happy tha t we have such

men?


19/32

What a fine instrument to aid us all

to grow in understanding This provi-

sion i s the 544-page Ers t volume of the

publication, A id

t

Bible Understaqzditzg .

When conlpleted, the work vill contain

thousands of articles arranged alphabeti-

cally, beginning with "Aaron" and con-

tinuing on through "Zuzim."

Jus t thin k of the benefits of this pub-

lication I n the complete work, the So-

ciety will endeavor to consider every

person, place, plant and creature men-

tioned in t he Bible. Thus , whenever you

headquarters of the Society. A special

staff then began the checking of this

material and doing much additional re-

search. Now, five years later, there is

st i l l n~uchwork to do.

One may wonder why such a time-

consuming project was undertaken. Are

there not many reference worlcs arail-

able today in the form of Bible com-

mentaries and dictionaries and other en-

cyclopedic publications? This is true, the

speaker acknowledged. But while these

works contain much that is helpful, they

come across a Bible term that is un-

familiar, or about which you are not

fully info r~ne d, ou will find it very prof-

itable to look it up in this publication.

For example, say that you were read-

ing the Acts of the Apostles. Did you

real ize th at in th is Bible boo < alone

there ar e a t least

109

different geograph-

ical regions and places mentioned? Think

how much greater your appreciation of

the ministrr of Peter, Paul and other

faithful witnesses of th at time can be if

you learn something about each

of these

places and understand their relationship

to one another.

The new

d i d

volume was released a t

the conclusion of the hour talli "With

All That You Acquire, Acquire Under-

standing." At the outse t the speaker not-

ed the tremendous explosion in man's

scientific lcnon~ledge in recent tiines, an d

asked: "Has it led people to healthier,

happier, more secure, peaceful and pro-

ductive lives? Ha s i t helped man to get

along better with his neighbor?" Really,

it has not. .

Thus, an increasing number of persons

are looking elsewhere for answers. They

seek a guide to help solve the everyday

prob len~s f life. Such a guide, the speak-

er observed, can be found in the Bible.

But people need to understand what they

rea.d.

To assist in filling this need, prep-

aration of

A i d

t o B ib l e U ? z d e rs fan d i? tg

was undertaken. Five Sears ago, the

speaker explained, the Watch Tower So-

ciety began its preparation. Some

250

brothers in more than 90 countries mere

invited to contribute to the research in-

volved. Within the course of a year the

material they gathered was sent to the

also include much that is unreliable,

inaccurate or even false.

I t mas pointed out th at although older

reference works generally support the

Bible's authority, they often proceed on

the assumption of the reliahi lity of reli-

gious tradition3 and doctrines not men-

tioned in or supported by the Bible. So

a good portion of the material in these

publications i s colored by ser ta ri an doc-

trines and religious creeds. And in more

I

ecent Bible dictionaries, the spealier

said, there is usually a trend toward

higher criticism. I n fact, in many of

these the accuracy of t he Bible is openly

denied.

The spealier drew attention to an ex-

ample of this in

The

I?tcerpt.e ter s Bzble ,

Volume

1,

paqe

501.

Comnienting on chap-

ter 3 of Genesis, it st at es :

"Nan u-as forbidden on pa in of death

to ea t of [th e tree of life and the

tree of the knowledge of

good and evil],

the reason for the prohibition being God's

fear that man, acquiring knowledge of

good and evil, might beconle like him

and, approaching too near his throne,

might endanger his suprenlacy. But the

serpent, a demon hostile to God, told

the truth. He was thus no subtle tempter

but, in intention, at least, a benefactor

of the human race."

What a contrast this is to what the

Bible teaches Th e apostle Pa ul wrote

early Christians:

I

am afraid that soale,-

h o ~ , s the se rpent seduced Eve by its

cunning, your minds might be corrupted

awiy from the sincerity and the chas-

tity that are due the Christ." 2 Cor.

11 :3)

Also, Jesus Christ called the orig-

inal serpent,

Sa tan the ,?evil, a "liar

and the fathe r of the lie, as well a s a


20/32


21/32

C o n v e n t io n e r s , a s t h e y

lis-

t e n e d i o i h e t a l k e n t i tl e d

" Pe ac e w i t h C o d a n l id t h e

'Grea t Tr ibu la tion , ' ha d th e

pr iv i lege o f t ak ing a f resh look

at t h e v it a l, p r o p h e t i c w o r d s

of J e s u s r ec o rd ed a t N a t t h e w

24 :3 22.

As the speaker developed his

theme i t became apparen t tha t

a11 the events there mentioned

by Jesns had a l i teral appl ica-

tion upoil the Jewish nation.

And this led up to the "great

tribulation" experienced by Judea

and Je rusa lem in the year 7

C.E. Tha t "tribulation" did not

begin with General Cestius Gal-

lus ' abort ive at tack on the ci ty .

wioas un-

t s tar ted when the le , '

der General Ti tus c losed in on

the city, completely cutting it

off from outside help an & lead-

ing on to its destruction.

But what of the durat ion of

the t r ibu la t ion? I t mas "cu t

short ." (Mat t . 24 2 2 ) I t s

very brief. In fact , h is tory te l ls

us i t las ted somewhat less than

six months. For the sake of his

"chosen ones," Jesus' follo\vers,

Jehovah did not permit Jeru-

salem's "great tribulation" even

to begin until his genuine wor-

shipers had hed beyond Jndea 's

borders . Once that had taken

place, God permitted the execu-

t ion of his purpose against

fa i th less Jewry to go fo rward

swiftly. Kot

a

long-drawn-out

carnage that would snuff out a l l

c~f he besieged. S o , because some

Jewish "flesh" was to survive.

And survive i t d id, for some

97 000

Jews were carried off into

slavery. Not all Jewish 6'flesh''

per ished in Jerusalem's t r ibu-

lation.

Another s t r iking point made by

the speaker mas tha t the re was

no real clividing point between

Jesus9 words a t verse and

those a t ve rse 7. IIistory tells

us that Judeans of that t ime

not only heard reports of dis-

tant wars , but a lso were direct ly

involved in wars arid

revolts.

But was Mat thew 24 :14 an

exception, something to be ful-

filled only in

a

l a te r age? No,

hecause the preaching of the

"good news" by those zealous

i ~t -century Chris t ians spread

throughout a l l the then known

world. (Col. 23 That preach-

ing, the s ignal for f l ight f rom

Jerusalem, and the actual f l ight

beyond the Jordan, were al l

events that must take place be-

fore the city would be enveloped

in her greatest of a l l t r ibula-

tions. And

they all did take place.

A

Mod ern AppEcatlom

In view of this, are we wrong

in applying this entire prophecy

by Jes us to th e per iod from 1914

C.E. to the battle of the great

day of God the Almighty? The

answer of the speaker mas, No

Why?

Firs t , because, in answer to

the three-part quest ion, Jesus

mas also referr ing to the t ime

of his second "presence." (M att .

24

:3

Further , the Genti le t imes

were to cont inue af ter Jerusa-

lem's destructio n in

70

C.E. down

to 1914 C.E. (L uk e 21 :24) A lso,

i t is to be noted that there were

other features of Jesus' proph-

ecy, running through to Mat-

thew 26:46, that were not ful-

filled a t Jerusalem's destruction

in 70

C.E. Thus it becomes

c ear th at Jesus, i n giving his

prophetic discourse, also had in

nliild some thing immensely bigger

than the destruct ion of l i teral

Je r~ lsa lem.He employed unfaith-

ful Jerusalem of his day a s a

type of the antitypical unfaith-

ful Jerusalem, namely, Christen-

dom.

So

what took place as re-

gards Je rusa lem and a l l Judea

nineteen hundred years ago tells

us about

a

modern application

now swiftly nearing its climax.

Notice how both periods have

been marked by the same fea-

tures , though the modern paral-

lel by inore far-reaching events

on a scale unprecedented in hu-

man history.

Now, though engulfed in the

ever-worsening anguish and dis-

t ress that Jesus foretold, Chris-

2

tendom still faces the '"eat

tribulation." H er s will be

a

t r ib-

ulat ion that is bound to affect

her pol i t ical associates and pa-

trons world wide.

So, what , then, is the "great

t r ibulation"? I t ha s not yet be-

gun. As the speaker declared:

"The 'great t r ibulation ' such as

wil l not occur aga in is yet

ahead , fo r

it

means the des tmc-

tion of the world empire of false

religion (including Christend om)

followed by the 'war of the great

day of God the Almighty9

at

Armageddon against the pol i t ical

allie;, of Babylonish false reli-

gion.

And how is the "great t r ibu-

lation" c ut sho rt? Not by being

cu t in th e middle, a s we once

thought, but by God's concen-

t ra t ing i t wi th in a cu t -shor t t ime

period. I t will not be a long-

drawn-out period of time, but

God can make it 'a swift work, '

a s the speaker said. He can br ing

an end to this wicked system

"in a speedy way, in no pro-

longed order.' ' This will permit

the saving of 'some flesh,' since

ordinarily frail human 'flesh'

would, without divine protection,

be unable to endure the length-

ening too long of this ' 'great

tribulation."

With this more accurate urn-

ders tand ing of Jesus' prophetic

words a t Ua t the w chap ter 24

ministers of God's Word will be

better equipped to enlighten

honest-h earted persons. K nowing

tha t Jesus ' words had a literal

applicat ion upon Jerusalem and

Judea , they wi l l be ab le to m ee t

the objection often expressed

th at these condit ions also exis ted

prior to the year 1914. They can

also encourage l is teners with the

knowledge that 'not all flesh will

perish' in t h at " great tribulation."

Jehovah h as in view those lovers

of truth and righteousness who

may be h id in the day of h i s

burning anger-people who ma y

surv ive and pepula te the ea r th ,

which he made to be a paradise

home for obedient humans.


22/32

live two-hour mastnrbation and re-

drama entitled "Let

b e l li o n w e r e a l l

No Man Ever Look

treated with frank-

Do wn o n Yo ur ness.

Youth" vividly fo- The paren ts were

cused attent ion on the made to feel deeply

proble ms con fro ntin g their responsibility as

yonths and parents and Christians, that theirs is

their struggle to lead moral he obligation to tra in and

and upright lives in today's guide their young in pathways

world.

of righteousness, that this is to

The drama was the climax of be done first by example, then

a n entire day devoted to young by counsel and guidance.

people a t th e "Peace on Earth"

The congregation, too, through

Inte rnationa l Assembly of Je- it s. servant body should stand

hovah's Witnesses. I t was a day

ever ready to help the youths

in

filled with frank talks, engross-

the New World society. All of

ing discussions and demonstra- thi s direction and concern should

tion% topped off by the drama, be reinforced by means of

a

in modern setting.

failing to heed the sound counsel regular study of the Holy Scrip-

of God's Word tures and the Society's publica-

The Dl Unand Its ckLaracters

tions. Those who take advantage

The story centers principally of these provisions a re helped

around five young persons. The to walk uprightly, serving as

principal character, Tim, dem- fine Chris tian examples during

onstrates by his own course of

these trying times.

action and the

co lnsel that he

Young people whose actions

gives to ther young people

resemble those of Buzz or Diana

that there

are

those

in God's

mere warned that unless they

Organization who

are

good ex-

set out promptly to make se-

amp1es and who can

be

llature

rious changes in their lives, they,

even though young in years.

And

too, will be headed for certain

What a blessing

it

is to have and serious trouble and ruina-

such

youths among

us

today tion of their lives. "We cannot

By way of contrast, parents toy wit h immorality in any form

of two of the other youths in and not eventually fal l into sin,"

the dram a ar e shown to have they were told. "The pressnres

failed in the ir responsibility. The of th is system's corrupt stan-

result is that their youngsters dard ar e too gre at to resist if

become involved in the world ~ v encline at all in that direc-

and ar e disfellowshiped. These tion," was the clear warning.

parents demonstrated extremes A~ appeal was made to par-

in parental care.

ents not to wait for their child

In one instance, Molly, the

to make a serious niistake be-

mother of the girl Diana, was

fore they realized that he needed

too permissive. On the other

their help and love. "Pour chil-

hand, BUZZ'parents were overly

dren are your responsibility.

restrictive and tried to protect

him from the reality of life

Jehovah

has

placed

that

itself. Both of these youngsters

responsibility your

had the fine association of youths

among young people. I t did not

they

were

in the New World society, but

they did not appreciate it. Their

dress and language showed them

to be still worldly. They scoffed

a t making over their personal-

ities. Buzz was told that his

language was disrespectful. But

he laughs a t the counsel and

thinks himself smart, superior.

Diana, on the other hand, was

told that her short skirts and

familiarity with worldly boys

would lead to no good. But she

uphold or recomniend the slang,

and the bad speech used. The

desirable language was expressed

by Tim and Cathy and their

overseer Myron.

The point of the drama was

to spotlight the problerns facing

youth, and this it did. The dan-

gers of drug addiction in schools

flashed frighteningly before the

parents' eyes. The smoking of

marijuana by teen-agers, steal-

ing, homosexuality, fornication,

cannot give that responsibility

away, nor can i t be talren away

from you.

So

see that your chil-

dren a re marked with a Chris-

tian personality before Armaged-

~ Q U

trikes.-Ezek.

9: 5

6

Close RdationsMp Needed

Cultivate a warm and confi-

dential relationship with your

children. Teach them to take yoc

into their confidence. If you hare

this loving understanding, p


23/32


24/32

I LE

QUESTlONS

oad

Time

To e

aptized .

This 'Peace on Ea rth Inte r-

national Assembly was a splen-

did time for newly dedicated per-

sons to be baptized. Since an

international assembly is a n es-

ceptional event for Jehovah's

witnesses, it is fine to have it

associated with one's baptism.

To the baptism candidates

gathered in a roped-off section

of seats a t th is Peace on Ea rth

assembly a speaker directed corn-

ments about mhat they had done

so a s to be there a nd of the re-

sponsibilities resting upon them.

He observed t hat home there may

have had to alter their way of

life to briiiq it into harmony

with God's high moral require-

ments.

Having recognized that Chris-

tians follow the pattern set by

Jesus with regard to baptism,

these lovers of righteousness had

proceeded to take the steps that

lead to baptism. After complet-

ing the required course of s tudy ,

they approached th e congregation

overseer and expressed their de-

sire to be baptized. I le began

to review them on the basic

teachings of the Bible as out-

lined in

watchtower: the approaching peace of 1,000 years - 1969

Documents