MESSENGERS OF GODLY PEACE PRONOUNCED HAPPY

Identifying God's Messengers Today

What about today? Many in the world feel a sense of foreboding when they observe the deterioration of human society. Those with a love of righteousness are pained at heart when they see the hypocrisy and sheer wickedness of Christendom. As Jehovah foretold through Ezekiel, they "are sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done in the midst of it." (Ezekiel 9:4) However, many do not realize what Jehovah's purposes are. They need to be told.

Does anyone speak out with the fearless spirit of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel? Jesus indicated that someone would. When foretelling events of our day, he said: "This good news of the kingdom will be approached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14) Who today is fulfilling that prophecy, serving as a messenger, a preacher of good news? Similarities between our day and the time of ancient Israel help us to answer that question.

During the dark days of World War I , Jehovah's modern-day people, the remnant of the anointed "Israel of God," went into a captivity similar to that of Israel in Babylon. (Galatians 6:16) They suffered spiritual exile in Babylon the Great, the world conglomerate of false religions,of which Christendom is the most prominent and reprehensible. Nevertheless, Jehovah's words to Ezekiel showed that they were not abandoned. He said: "I will also collect you from the lands among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the soil of Israel." (Ezekiel 11:17) In order to fulfill that promise for ancient Israel, Jehovah raised up the Persian Cyrus, who overthrew the Babylonian World Power and opened the way for a remnant of Israel to return to their land. But what of today?

Next time: Conclusion of Identifying God's Messengers Today

Watchtower, 1997