Striving to Be Conquerors -"Tribulation Ten Days" -Conclusion

 During Nazi rule in Germany, Hitler completely banned the preaching work of Jehovah's Witnesses.  For years, thousands of Witnesses were cruelly confined in concentration camps and prisons, where many died, while some 200 young men who refused to fight in Hitler's army were executed.   The clergy's support of all of this is evidenced by the words Catholic priest, published  in the newspaper The Germany Way of May 29, 1938.    In part, he said:  "There is now one country on earth where  the  so-called . . . Bible Students [Jehovah's Witnesses]  are forbidden. That is Germany! . . .When Adolph Hitler came to power, and the German Catholic episcopate repeated their request, Hitler said:  'These so-called Earnest Bible Students [Jehovah's Witnesses] are troublemakers; . . . I consider them quacks; I do not tolerate that the German Catholics shall be besmirched  in such a manner by this American Judge Rutherford;  I dissolve [Jehovah's Witnesses] in Germany" To this, the priest added: "Bravo!"

As the Lord's day has preceded, the Serpent and his seed have never ceased to fight against the anointed Christians and their companions.  Many of these have been imprisoned and viciously persecuted.  (Revelation 12:17)   Those enemies have continued o  'frame mischief by law,'  but Jehovah's  people steadfastly insist:  "We must obey God as ruler rather than men." (Psalm 94:21, King James Version; Acts 5:29)  In 1954 the Watchtower magazine reported:  "More than seventy countries at one time or another during  the past forty years have made restrictive decrees and have persecuted Jehovah's witnesses." Where it has been possible to fight for religious freedom in the courts, these Christians have done so and have come through with resounding victories in a number  of countries.  In the United States Supreme Court alone, Jehovah's Witnesses have won 50 victories. 

No other group has been so conscientious  in obeying Jesus' command to pay back Caesar's things to Caesar,  (Luke 20:25; Romans 13:1, 7)  Yet, no other group has had members imprisoned in so many different forms of government, ad this continues to the present time in the Americas, In Europe, in Africa, and in Asia.  Jesus' great prophecy concerning the sign of his presence included these words: "Then people will deliver you up to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be objects of hatred by all the nations on account of my name." (Matthew 24:3, 9)  This has certainly been fulfilled upon the Christian Witnesses of Jehovah during the Lord's day.  

To fortify God's people against tribulation, the John class has continually reminded them of the substance of  Jesus' word to the Christian congregation in Smyrna.  For example, as Nazi persecution started, the Watchtower in 1933 and 1934 carried articles such as "Fear Them No." which discussed  Matthew 10:26-33;   "The Crucible," based on Daniel 3:17, 18; and "Lion's Mouths," with Daniel 6:22 as  the key text.  In the 1980's,  during which decade this book was first published and Jehovah's Witnesses suffered vicious persecution in more than 40 lands, The Watchtower fortified God's people with articles such as "Happy Though Persecuted" and "Christians Meet Persecution with Endurance." 

Truly, the Christian Witnesses of Jehovah are suffering  physical persecution  and other testings for a symbolic ten days.  Like the Christians  back in Smyrna, they have not been afraid; nor do any of us need to be afraid as troubles worsen here on earth.  We are prepared to endure under sufferings and take even "the plundering of our belongings' joyfully.  (Hebrews 10:32-34)  By studying God's Word and making it our very own, we will be equipped to stand solid in the faith.  Be assured that Jehovah can stand and guard you in your integrity.  "Throw all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you." - 1 PETER 5:6-11.

Footnotes

About 60 years after John died, the 86 year old Polycarp was burned to death in Smyrna because he would not recant his belief in Jesus, The Martyrdom of Polycarp, a work believed to be contemporaneous with this even, states that when wood was being gathered for burning,  "the Jews were extremely zealous, as in their custom, in assisting at this" - even though the execution  took place on "a great Sabbath day." 

For many years, historians have been providing testimony regarding the integrity of the German Witnesses of Jehovah during the Nazi regime.  The book Mothers in the Fatherland,  by historian Claudia Koonz, published in  1986, has this to say:  "The overwhelming majority of all Germans from non-Nazi backgrounds found ways of existing under a regime they despised. . . At the other end of the statistical and ideological  spectrum were the 20,000 Jehovah's Witnesses, who practically to a person,, unequivocally refused to render  any form of obedience to the Nazi state. . . The most cohesive group of resisters were sustained by religion.  From the first, Jehovah's Witnesses did not cooperate with any facet of the Nazi state. Even after the Gestapo destroyed their national headquarters in 1933 and banned the sect in 1935,  they refused to do so much as say 'Heil Hitler.'  About half (mostly of men)  of all Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps , a thousand of them were executed, and  another thousand died between 1933 and 1945. . . .Catholics and Protestants heard their clergy urge them to cooperate with Hitler.  If they resisted, they did so against orders from both church and state."

Next time: Holding Fast to Jesus' Name - PERGAMUM

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