An Awesome Mystery Solved

 WHAT Is John's reaction at seeing the great harlot and her fearsome mount? He himself answers: "Well, on catching sight of her I wondered with great wonderment." (Revelations 17:6b) Mere human imagination could never conjure up such a sight.  Yet, there is it-away out in the wilderness -a debauched  prostitute perched on a gruesome, scarlet-colored wild beast!  (Revelation 17:3)  The John clss today also wonders with great wonderment as events unfold in fulfillment of  prophetic vision.  If people of the world could see it, they would exclaim,  'Incredible!'  and the world's rulers would echo,  'Unthinkable! But the vision becomes a startling reality in our day.  God's people have already had a remarkable share in the vision's fulfillment, and this assures them that the prophecy will move on to its astounding climax.

The angel notices John's amazement:  "And so,"  John continues, "the angel said to me:  'Why is it you wondered?  I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the wild beast tha tis carrying her and that has the seven heads and the ten horns.'" (Revelation 17:17)  Ah, the angel will now unravel the mystery! He explains the wide-eyed John the various facets of the vision and the dramatic events that are about to unfold.  Likewise, as it serves under angelic direction today, the watchful John class has had revealed to it the understanding  of the prophecy.   "Do not interpretations belong to God?"  Like faithful Joseph, we believe that they do.  (Genesis 40:8; Compare Daniel 2:29, 30.) God's people are placed, as it were, center stage as Jehovah interprets to them  the meaning of the vision and its impact on their lives. (Psalm 25:14)  Right on time, He has opened up to their understanding the mystery of the woman and of  the wild beast. - PSALM 32:8.

From September 18 to 20, 1942, at the height of World War II, Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States held their New World Theocratic Assembly.  The key city, Cleveland, Ohio, was tied in by telephone with more than a 50 other convention cities, for a peak attendance of 129,699. Where wartime conditions permitted, other conventions repeated the same program around the world.  At the time,  many of Jehovah's people expected the war would escalate into God's war of Armageddon; hence the title of the public talk, "Peace -Can It Last?'' aroused much curiosity.  How could  the new president of the Watch Tower Society N.H. Knorr, presume to talk about peace when the very opposite seemed to be in store for the nations? The reason was that the John class was paying "more than the usual attention" to God's prophetic Word. - HEBREWS 2:1; 2 PETER 1:19.

What light did the talk "Peace-Can It Last?" throw on the prophecy? Clearly identifying the scarlet-colored wild beast of Revelation 17:3 as the League of Nations, N.H.Knorr went on to discuss its stormy career on the basis of the angel's following words to John: "The wild beast that you saw, was, but is not, and yet is about to ascend out of the abyss, and it is to go off into destruction." - REVELATION17:8a, 

"The wild beast . . . was" Yes, it had existed as the League of Nations from January10, 1920, onward, with 63 nations participating at one time or another. But, in turn, Japan, Germany, and Italy withdrew, the former Soviet Union was dropped from the League.  In September 1939 the Nazi dictator of Germany launched World War II.  Having failed to keep peace in the world, the League of Nations  virtually plunged into an abyss of inactivity.  By  1942 it had become a has-been.  Neither before this nor at some later date-but right at that critical time - did Jehovah interpret  to his people the full depth of meaning of the vision! At the New World Theocratic Assembly, N.H. Knorr could declare, in line with the prophecy, that "the wild beast      . . . is not." He then asked the question,  "Will the League remain in the pit?"  Quoting  Revelations 17:8,  he answered":  "The association of worldly nations will rise again."  That is just how it proved to be -in vindication to Jehovah's prophetic Word!

Next time:  An Awesome Mystery Solved

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