Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day -"Fall Over and Hide Us"

 John's words continue: And the kings of the earth and the top-ranking ones and the military commanders and the rich and the strong ones and every slave and every free person hid themselves in the caves and in the rock-masses of the mountains. And they keep saying to the mountains and to rock-masses: 'Fall over us and hide us from the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able stand?' " - REVELATION   6:15-17.

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "The Heaven" Departs" - Conclusion

     Therefore, "every mountain and every island" as referred  to at the opening of the sixth seal would logically be political governments and dependent organizations of this world that have seemed so stable to many of mankind. They will be rocked right out of place, to the consternation and horror of those who have previously trusted in them. As the prophecy goes on to relate, there will be no question that the great day of the wrath of Jehovah and his son-the final quaking that removes all of Satan's organization-has come with a vengeance! 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "The Heaven" Departs - Continue

 Thus, "the heaven" that is to depart is to 'depart as a scroll' refers to the anti-God governments that rule over this earth. They will be removed with finality by the all-conquering Rider of the white horse.  (Revelation 19:11-16, 19-21) This is confirmed by what the apostle Peter said when he looked forward to the events signified by the opening of the sixth: "The heavens and the earth that are now stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of ungodly men." (2 Peter 3:7) But what about the expression "every mountain and every island were removed from their places"?

 In Bible prophecy, mountains and islands are said to rock or be otherwise stabilized at times of great political upheaval. For example, when foretelling Jehovah's judgments against Nineveh, the prophet Nahum wrote: "Mountains themselves have rocked because of him, and the very hills found themselves melting. And the earth will be upheaved because of his face." (Nahum1:5) There is no record of any breaking up of literal mountains when Nineveh actually fell in 632 B.C.E. But a world power that previously had seemed mountainlike in its strength suddenly collapsed. - Jeremiah 4:24. 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "The Heavens" -Departs

 John's vision continues: "And the heaven departed as a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and every island were removed from their places." (Revelation 6:14) Clearly, these are not the literal heavens or the literal mountains and islands. But what do they symbolize?

 Regarding "the heavens," we are helped in our understanding by similar prophecy that tells of Jehovah's rage against all the nations.  "And all of those of the army of the heavens must rot away.  And the heavens must be rolled up, like a book scroll." (Isaiah34:4) Edom in particular must suffer. How? She was overrun by the Babylonians soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. At that time, there were no outstanding events recorded as happening in the literal heavens. But there were catastrophic events in Edom's "heavens." Her human governmental powers were abased from their elevated heavenlike position. (Isaiah 34:5) They were "rolled up" and put aside, as it were, like an old scroll that was no longer of any use to anyone.

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - A Time of Darkness - Conclusion

 In a similar way, when the great earthquake strikes this entire world system will be engulfed in the despair of total darkness. The bright shining luminaries of Satan's earthly system will send forth no ray of hope. Already today, this earth's political leaders, especially in Christendom are notorious for their corruption, lying, and immoral lifestyle. (Isaiah 28:14-19) No longer can they be trusted. Their flickering light will go into total eclipse when Jehovah executes judgment. Their moonlike influence on earth's affairs will be exposed as bloodied, death-dealing. Their worldly superstars will be extinguished like plunging meterorites and scattered like unripe figs in a howling windstorm. Our entire globe will quake under a "great tribulation such as had not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no nor will occur again." (Matthew 24:21) What a fearful prospect! 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - A Time of Darkness - Continue

 Later, similar darkness in the heavens signified the disaster for ancient Babylon. Of this, God's prophet was inspired to write: "Look! The day of Jehovah itself is coming, cruel both with fury and with burning anger, in order to make the land an object of astonishment, and that it may annihilate the land's sinners out of it. For the very stars of the heavens and their constellations of  Kesil will not flash forth their light; the sun will actually grow dark at its going forth, and the moon itself will not cause its light to shine. And I shall certainly bring home its own badness upon the productive land, and their own error upon the wicked themselves." (Isaiah 13:9-11) This prophecy was fulfilled in 539 B.C.E. when Babylon fell to the Medes and the Persians. It well describes the blackness, the hopelessness, the lack of any comforting light for Babylon as she fell forever from her position as premier world power. 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day-A Time of Darkness - Continue

 In a spiritual sense, such a darkness was prophesied for ancient Israel. Jeremiah warned: "A desolate waste is what the whole land will become, and shall I not carry out a sheer extermination? On this account the land will mourn, and the heavens above will certainly become dark." (Jeremiah 4:27, 28) In 607 B.C.E. when that prophecy was fulfilled, things were dark indeed for Jehovah's people. Their capital city, Jerusalem, fell to the Babylonians. Their temple was destroyed and their land was abandoned. For them, there was no comforting light from heaven.  Rather, it was as Jeremiah mournfully said to Jehovah: "You have killed; you have shown no compassion, you have blocked approach to yourself with a cloud mass, that prayer cannot pass through." (Lamentations 3:43, 44) For Jerusalem, that celestial darkness meant death and destruction. 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - Time of Darkness

 As John goes on to show, the great earthquake is accompanied by terrifying events that involve even the heavens. He says: "And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the entire moon became as blood, and the stars of the heaven fell to the earth, as when a fig tree shaken by a high wind casts its unripe figs." (Revelation 6:12b, 13) What a striking phenomenon! It represents the culmination of the catastrophic situation that Jesus had earlier prophesied about at Matthew 24:29. Can you imagine the frightening darkness that would result if the prophecy were fulfilled literally? No more warm, friendly comforting sunlight by day! No more silvery moonlight by night! and the myriad of stars would no longer twinkle against the velvety backdrop of the sky. Instead, there would be cold, relentless blackness.  

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - The Great Earthquake - Conclusion

 Some 200 years after Joel, the prophet Habakkuk said in a prayer to his God: "O Jehovah, I have heard the report about you. I have become afraid, O Jehovah, of your activity. In O bring it to life! In the midst of the years may you make it know. During the agitation, to show mercy may you remember." What would that agitation be?  Habakuk goes on to give a graphic description of the great tribulation, saying of Jehovah: "He stood still, that he might shake up the earth. He saw, and then, caused nations to leap. . . . With denunciation you went marching through the earth. In anger you went thrashing the nations. Yet, as for me, I will exult in Jehovah himself; I will be joyful in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:1, 2, 6, 12, 18) What a mighty shaking Jehovah will cause in all the earth when he threshes the nations!

Ezekiel too foretold that when Gog of Magog (the debased Satan) makes his final attack upon God's people, Jehovah will cause "a great quaking" to occur "in the soil of Israel." (Ezekiel 38:18, 19) Though literal earthquakes may be involved, we should remember that Revelation is presented in signs. This prophecy and the other prophecies cited are highly symbolic. Hence, the opening of the sixth seal appears to disclose the culmination of all shakings of this earthly system of things-the great earthquake in which all humans opposed to God's sovereignty are destroyed.

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - The Great Earthquake! - Continue

 Others of Jehovah's prophets foretold such an earthquake and it catastrophic consequences. For example, about820 B.C.E., Joel spoke of "the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah," stating that then "the sun itself will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood." Later, he adds these words: "Crowds, crowds are in the low plain of the decision, for the day of Jehovah is near in the low plain of the decision. Sun and moon themselves will certainly become dark, and the very stars will actually withdraw their brightness.  And out of Zion Jehovah himself will roar, and out of Jerusalem he will give forth his voice. And heaven and earth certainly will rock; but Jehovah will be a refuge for his people, and a fortress for the sons of Israel." (Joel 2:31; 3:14-16) This rocking could apply only to Jehovah's execution of judgment during the great tribulation. (Matthew 24:21) So the parallel account at Revelation 6:12, 13 would logically have the same application- See also JEREMIAH 10:10; ZEPHANIAH 1:114, 15. 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - The Great Earthquake!

 Yes, these critical last days have been a time of earthquakes-literal and figurative. (2 Timothy 3:1) But not one of these quakings is the final great shaking that John sees at the opening of the sixth seal. The time for advance tremors is ended. There now comes a great earthquake that is totally new2 to human experience. It is so great an earthquake that the upheavals and convulsions it causes cannot be measured by the Richter scale or by any other human gauge. This is no mere local shock but a cataclysmic shaking that devastates the entire "earth," that is, all depraved human society. 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - Jehovah Does Some Shaking - Conclusion

 Are you one who has started to respond to that preaching? Are you perhaps among the eight million and more who in recent years attended the Memorial celebration of Jesus' death? If so, keep on progressing in your study of Bible truth. (2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16, 17) Abandon completely the corrupt life-style of Satan's doomed earthly society! Come right on into the Christian new world society and share fully in its activity before the final catastrophic "earthquake" smashes all of Satan's world to pieces. But what is this earthquake? Let us now see.

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes In the Lord's Day - Jehovah Does Some Shaking - Continue

 At Haggai 2:6,7 we read: "For this is what Jehovah of armies has said, 'Yet once-it is a little while- and I am rocking the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry ground. And I will rock all the nations, and the desirable things of all nations, must come in, and I will fill this house with glory,' Jehovah of armies has said." Since the year 1919 in particular, Jehovah has caused his witnesses to proclaim the judgements among all elements of human society on earth. Satan's world system has been rocked and shaken by this global warming as the warning intensifies, God-fearing humans, "the desirable things," have been stirred to separate themselves from the nations. It is not that they are shaken out by the quaking in Satan's organization. But as they discern the situation, they make their own decision to share with the anointed John class in filling Jehovah's house of worship with glory. How is this accomplished? By the zealous work of preaching the good of God's Kingdom. (Matthew 24:14) This Kingdom, made up of Jesus and his anointed followers, ever keep standing to Jehovah's glory as 'a kingdom that cannot be shaken. - HEBREWS 12:26-29. 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - Jehovah Does Some Shaking

  Such tremors in human affairs are the result of man's inability to direct his own step. (Jeremiah 10:23) Moreover, that old Serpent, Satan, "who is misleading the entire inhabited earth," is inflicting woes in last-ditch effort to turn all mankind away from the worship of Jehovah. Modern technology has caused the earth to shrink into single neighborhood, where nationalistic and racial hatreds are shaking human society to its foundations, and the Unted Nations, so-called, can find not effective cure. As never before, man is dominating man to his injury. (Revelation 12:9, 12; Ecclesiastes 8:9) Nevertheless, the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, Maker of heaven and earth, has been doing his own kind of shaking over the past 70 years, in preparation for solving earth's problems once and for all. How so?

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - Tremors in Human Society - Conclusion

 Earlier, economic troubles has opened the way for Mussolini and Hitler to seize power. Babylon the Great lost no time in courting their favors, and the Vatican entered into concordats with Italy in 1929 and Germany in 1933. (Revelation 17:5) The dark days that followed were surely a part of the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy that the sign of his presence would include "anguish of nations, not knowing the way out . . . while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth." (Luke 21:7-9, 25-31) Yes, the quakes that began to shake human society in 1914 have continued, with powerful aftershocks.

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Chapter Seventeen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day -Tremors in Human Society - Continue

World War II brought another wave of upheavals. And smaller wars continue to shake the earth as we approach the end of this century. But will the present system make it that far? The fearful threat of a nuclear holocaust has many people wondering. Happily, the answer rests not with man but with his Creator. - JEREMIAH 17:5. 

Other things besides wars, though, have shaken human society to its foundations since 1914. One of the most traumatic upheavals was triggered by the U.S. stockmarket crash of October 29, 1929. This brought on the Great Depression, which affected all capitalist countries. That depression bottomed out between 1932 and 1934, but we are still feeling its effects. Since 1929 an economically sick world has been patched up by makeshift schemes. Governments indulge in deficit financing. The oil crisis of 1973 and the stock market plunge of 1987 and added to the shakings of the financial empire. Meantime, millions of people buy largely on credit. Countless numbers are victimized by financial gimmicks, pyramid schemes, and lotteries and other gambling subterfuges, many of which are sponsored by governments that should be protecting the people. Even Christendom's television evangelists stretch out their hands for their multimillion-dollar share! - Compare Jeremiah 5:26-31. 

 

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From the jw.org publications

Note: Look around! people have you seen any improvements in what man has done. No! you have not and neither have I, nor will we, because man -imperfect sinful man are not capable or intelligent enough to make anything better. Because man is not running the world without help from Satan and his demons. Jesus Christ threw him and his demon angels out of heaven because he was challenging God's Sovereignty and right to rule this world. He thought he could do better. Well, you see what happened don't you. This world is unfit for any human to live here. It is nothing but misery, violence, sickness, diseases, wars, and death and not to burst your bubble some of you are living in, but it not going to get any better.  Read the Bible if you truly want the truth. Or go to jw.org  website and read the Bible on there.  And may God help you if don't listen to his words in the Bible. AMEN! 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - Tremors in Human Society - Continue

 Historians, philosophers, and political leaders have pointed to the year 1914 as the start of a new momentous epoch. seventeen years into the epoch, historian H. G. Wels commented: "Gladly would the prophet prophesy pleasant things. But his duty is to tell what he sees. He sees a world still firmly controlled by soldiers, patriots, usurers, and financial adventurers; a world surrendered to suspicion and hatred, losing what is left of private liberties very rapidly, blundering toward bitter class conflicts, and preparing for new wars." In 1953 philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote: "Ever since 1914, everybody conscious of trends in the world has been deeply troubled by what has seemed like a fated and predetermined march toward ever greater disaster . . . . They see the human race, like the hero of a Greek tragedy, driven on by angry gods and no longer the master of fate." In 1980 statesman Howard Macmillan, reflecting on the peaceful start of our 20th century, said: "Everything would get better and better. This was the world I was born in. . .  . Suddenly, unexpectedly, one morning in 1914 the whole thing came to an end." 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - Tremors in Human Society

 From the mid-1870's, Jehovah's people had been anticipating that catastrophic events would start in 1914 and would mark the end of the Gentile Times. This is the period of "seven times" (2,520 years) running from the overthrow of the Davidic kingdom in Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. to Jesus' enthronement in heavenly Jerusalem in 1914 C.E. - DANIEL4:24, 25; LUKE 21:24; King James Version

Thus, when C.T. Russell, first president of the Watchtower Society, appeared for morning worship with the Brooklyn, New York Bethel family on the morning of October 2, 1914, he made the dramatic announcement: "The Gentile Times have ended; their kings have had their day." Indeed, the worldwide upheaval that began in 1914 was so far-reaching that many long-standing monarchies disappeared. The overthrow of czardom in Bolshevik revolution of 1917 led to the current confrontation between m   Marxism capitalism. Tremors of political change continue to disturb human society earth wide. Today, many governments fail to survive more than a year or two. Lack of stability in the political world is illustrated in the case of Italy, which had 47 new governments in just 42 years following World War II. But such advance tremors are only preliminary to a climatic governmental upheaval. The result? God's Kingdom will take over sole rulership of the earth. -ISAIAH 9:6, 7. 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes In the Lord's Day - Conclusion

Literal and figurative quaking of the earth are mentioned a number of times in the Bible. In his great prophecy about the signs of his presence in Kingdom power, Jesus forecast   "earthquakes in one place after another." These would part of "a beginning of pangs of distress." Since 1914, with earth's population exploding into the thousands of millions, literal tremblors have contributed to the distresses of our times. (MATTHEW 24:3, 7, 8) Nevertheless, even though they fulfill prophecy, those earthquakes have been natural physical disasters. They are preliminary to the great symbolic earthquake of Revelation 6:12. This indeed, comes as the devastating finale to a series of advance tremors that shake Satan's human earthly system of things to its foundations."

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Chapter Eighteen/ Earthquakes in the Lord's Day

 Have you ever lived through a severe earthquake? It is not a pleasant experience. A big tremblor may start with sickening roll and a rumbling noise. The swaying may worsen by fits and starts while you dash for safety-perhaps under a desk. Or it may come as a sudden, shattering jolt, followed by the crashing of crockery, furnishings, even buildings. Damage may be catastrophic, with frequent aftershocks inflicting further damage and adding to the misery. 

Having this in mind, consider what John describes at the opening of the sixth seal: "    And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake occurred." (Revelation 6:12a) This must fall within the same time frame as the opening of the sixth seals. Just when the Lord's day does this earthquake occur, and what kind of quake is it? - REVELATION 1:10. 

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Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded - 'Those Who Are Dead Rise First' - Conclusion

 The opening of this fifth seal of the scroll has provided good news concerning anointed integrity keepers who have conquered, faithful to the death. But it provides no good news for Satan and his seed. The ride of the Conqueror on the white horse continues irresistibly and culminate in a time of reckoning for the world that "is lying in the power of the wicked one." (1 John 5:19) This is made clear when the Lamb opens the sixth seal. 

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Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded - 'Those Who Are Dead Rise First - Continue

 What a stirring story these verses tell! Those of Jesus' anointed brothers who survived to Jesus' presence, that is, are still alive on earth during his presence, are preceded into heaven by those who have already died. Such ones, dead in union with Christ, rise first. Jesus descends, that is, turns his attention to them and resurrects them to spirit life, giving them a "white robe." Afterward, those who are still alive as humans finish their earthly course, many of them dying violently at the hands of opposers.  They do not, however, sleep in death as their predecessors did. Rather, when they die, they are instantly changed-"in the twinkling of an eye" caught away to the heavens to be with Jesus and fellow members of the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:50-52; compare Revelation 14:13) Thus the resurrection of anointed Christians starts soon after the four horsemen of the Apocalypse begin their ride.

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Chapter Seventeen/"Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded - "Those Who Are Dead Rise First

 The insight granted by the opening of the fifth seal agrees completely with other scriptures that have to do with the heavenly resurrection. For example, the apostle Paul wrote: "For this is what we tell you by Jehovah's Word, that we are the living who survive to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep in death; because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel's voice and with God's trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first. Afterward we the living who are surviving will, together with them be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord." - I THESSALONIANS 4:15-17.

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Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded - A White Robe - Continue

 All the evidence indicates that this heavenly resurrection began in 1918, after Jesus' enthronement in 1914 and his riding forth to start his kingly conquest by cleansing the heavens of Satan and his demons. Yet, those resurrected anointed ones are told that they must "rest a little while longer, until the number . . . also of their fellow slaves" is filled. Those of the John class still on earth must prove their integrity under trial and persecution, and some of these may yet be killed. Finally, though, all the righteous blood shed by Babylon the Great and her political paramours will be avenged. In the meantime, resurrected ones are doubtless busy with heavenly duties. They rest, not by relaxing in blissful inactivity, in that they patiently await Jehovah's vengeance. (Isaiah 34:8; Romans 12:19) Their rest will end when hey witness  the destruction of false religion and, as "called and chosen faithful" ones, they accompany the Lord Jesus Christ in executing judgment on all other parts of Satan's wicked seed here on earth. - REVELATION 2:26,27; 17:14; Romans 16:20.

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Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded - A White Robe

 After documenting the faith of integrity keepers of ancient times, the apostle Paul said: "And yet all these, although they had witness borne to them through their faith, did not get the fulfillment of the promise, as God foresaw something better for us, in order that they might not be made perfect apart from us." (Hebrews 11:39, 40) What is that "something better" that Paul and other anointed Christians anticipate? "And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the number was filled, also of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed as they had also been." (Revelation 6:11) Their receiving "a white robe" has to do with their resurrection to be immortal spirit creatures. No longer do they lie as slaughtered souls underneath the altar, but they are raised to be part of the group of 24 elders that worship before the heavenly throne of God. There, themselves have been given thrones, showing that they have entered into royal privileges. And they are "dressed in white outer garments," signifying that they have been adjudged righteous, worthy of an honored place before Jehovah in that heavenly court. This is also in fulfillment of Jesus promise to faithful anointed Christians in the congregations in Sardis: "He that conquers will thus be arrayed in white outer garments." - REVELATION 3:5; 4:4; 1 PETER 1:4.

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Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded -Conclusion

 Since 1935 faithful young men of the great crowd have borne the brunt of persecution in many lands. (Revelation 7:9) Even as World War II ended in Europe, in just one town 14 young witnesses of Jehovah were executed by hanging.  Their crime? Refusal to "learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4) More recently, young men in the Orient and in Africa have been beaten to death or executed by firing squad over the same issue. These youthful martyrs, worthy supporters of Jesus' anointed brothers, will surely have a resurrection into the promised new earth. - 2 PETER 3:13; compare PSALM 110:3; MATTHEW 25:24-40; LUKE 20:37, 38. 

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Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded - Continue

 By the fourth century C.E., that old Serpent, Satan the Devil, had brought forth his masterpiece of deception, the apostate religion of Christendom -a Babylonish system hidden under a "Christian" veneer. It is the principal part of the seed of the Serpent and has developed into a multitude of conflicting sects. Like faithful Judah of old, Christendom carries a heavy bloodguilt, having been deeply involved in both sides of World Wars I and II. Some political rulers in Christendom even used these wars as pretext for slaughtering anointed servants of God. Reporting on Hitler's persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, a review of Friedrich Zipfel's book Kirchenkamph in Deutschland (flight of he Churches in Germany) stated: "One third of them [the Witnesses] were killed, either by execution, other violent acts, hunger, sickness, or slave labor. The severity of this subjection was without precedent and was the result of uncompromising faith that could not be harmonized with National Socialistic ideology." Truly, it can be said of Christendom, including its priesthood: "In your skirts there have been found the blood marks of the souls of the innocent poor ones." -JEREMIAH 2:34. 

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Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded - Continue

 John himself witnessed martyrdom in the first century as the cruel serpent and his earthly seed waged war on the growing congregation of anointed Christians. John had seen our Lord impaled and had survived through the slayings of Stephen, of his own brother James and of Peter, Paul and close associates. (John 19:26, 27; 21:15, 18, 19; Acts 7:59, 60; 8:2; 12:2; 2 Timothy 1:1; 4:6, 7) In 64 C.E., Roman emperor Nero has made a scapegoat of the Christians, accusing them of burning the city, to counteract a rumor that he was the guilty one. The historian Tacitus reports: "They [Christians] died by methods of mockery; some were covered with the skins of wild beast and then torn by dogs, some were [impaled], some were burned as torches to light at night." A further wave of persecution under Emperor Domitian (81-96 C.E.) had resulted in John's being exiled to the island of Patmos. As Jesus said: "If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also." - JOHN 15:20; MATTHEW 10:22. 

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Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded - Continue

 The situation may be likened to that in apostate Judah when King Manasseh came to the throne in 716 B.C.E. He shed much innocent blood, probably 'sawing asunder' the prophet Isaiah. (Hebrews 11:37; 2 Kings 21:16) Although Manasseh later repented and reformed, that bloodguilt remained. In 607 B.C.E., when the Babylonians desolated the kingdom of Judah, "it was only by order of Jehovah that it took place against Judah to remove it from his sight for sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done; and also for the innocent blood that he had shed, so that he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah did not consent to grant forgiveness." - 1 KINGS 24:3, 4. 

As in Bible times, so today many of the individuals who killed God's witnesses may be long dead. But the organization that caused their martyrdom is still very much alive and bloodguilty. It is Satan's earthly organization, his earthly seed. Prominent therein is Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion. She is described as being "drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus." Yes, "in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones who have been slaughtered on the earth." (Revelation17:5, 6; 18:24; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 12:28) What a load of bloodguiltiness! as long as Babylon the Great exists, the blood of her victims will cry out for justice. - REVELATION 19:1, 2. 

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 The scenario continues to unfold: "And they cried with a loud voice, saying: 'Until when, Sovereign Lord holy and true, are you refraining from  judging and avenging our blood upon those who dwell on the earth?' " (Revelation 6:10) How can their souls, or blood, cry out for vengeance, since the Bible shows that the dead are unconscious? (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Well, did not righteous Abel's blood cry out after Cain murdered him? Jehovah then said to Cain; "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground." (Genesis 4:10, 11; Hebrews 12:24) It was not that Abel's blood was literally uttering words. Rather, Abel had died as innocent victim, and justice called out for his murderer to be punished. Similarly, those Christian martyrs are innocent, and in justice they must be avenged. (Luke 18:7, 8) The cry for vengeance is loud because many thousands have thus died. - Compare JEREMIAH 15:15, 16. 

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 Underneath this altar are "the souls of those slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the witness work that they used to have? What does this mean? This could not be disembodied souls-like those believed in by pagan Greeks. (Genesis 2:7; Ezekiel 18:4) Rather, John knows that the soul, or life, is symbolized by the blood, and when the priests at the ancient Jewish tabernacle slaughtered a sacrificial animal, they sprinkled the blood "round about upon the altar" of burnt offering." (Leviticus 3:2, 8, 13; 4:7; 17:6, 11,12) Hence, the animal's soul was closely identified with the altar of sacrifice. But why would the souls, or blood of these particular servants of God be seen underneath a symbolic altar in heaven? Because their deaths are viewed as sacrificial. 

Indeed, all those who are begotten as spirit sons of God die a sacrificial death.  Because of the role they are to play in Jehovah's heavenly Kingdom, it is God's will that they renounce and sacrifice any hope of life everlasting on earth. In this respect, they submit to a sacrificial death in behalf of Jehovah's sovereignty. (Philippians 3:8-11; and compare 2:17.) This is true in a very real sense of those whom John saw under the altar. They are anointed ones who in their day were martyred for their zealous ministry in upholding Jehovah's Word and sovereignty.  Their "souls [were] slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the witness work [mar- ty-ry' an] that they used to have." 

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Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded

 GOD'S Kingdom rules!  The Rider of the white horse is about to complete his conquest! The red horse, the black horse, and the pales horse are galloping through the earth! Indisputably, Jesus' own prophecies concerning his royal presence are being fulfilled. (Matthew, chapters, 24, 25; Mark, chapter 13; Luke, chapter 21) Yes, we are living in the last days of this system of things. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) That being so, let us pay close attention as the Lamb, Jesus Christ, breaks open the fifth seal of that scroll. In what further revelation are we now to share?

John describes a moving scene: "And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the witness work they used to have." (Revelation 6:9) What is that? A sacrificial altar up in heaven?  Yes! It is the first time that John mentions an altar. Already, though, he has described Jehovah on His throne, the surrounding cherubs, the glassy sea, the lamps, and the 24 elders carrying incense-all of these resembling features if the earthly tabernacle, Jehovah's sanctuary in Israel. (Exodus25:17, 18; 40:24-27, 30--32; 1 Chronicles 23:4) Should it, then, surprise us to find a symbolic altar of sacrifice also in heaven! - EXODUS 40:29. 

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! - The Pale Horse and Its Rider - Conclusion

 The opening of each of the first four seals has been followed by the summons "Come!' " Each time, a horse and its rider came charging forth. Starting with the fifth seal, we no longer hear such a summons. But those horsemen are still riding, and they will continue at the gallop throughout the conclusion of the system of things. (Compare Matthew 28:20.) With other momentous events does Jesus reveal as he opens the remaining three seals? Some of the happenings are invisible to human eyes. Others, though visible, are yet future. Nevertheless, their fulfillment is certain. Let us see what they are. 

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! -The Pale Horse and Its Rider - Continue

 The information revealed by the opening of the first four seals reassures us because it teaches us not despair at the warfare, hunger, disease, and other causes of untimely death that are so rampant today; neither should we lose hope because human leaders have failed to solve current problems. If world conditions make it evident that the riders of the red, black, and pale horses are abroad, do not forget that the Rider of the white horse was first to begin his ride. Jesus has become King, and he has already conquered to the extent of casting Satan out of the heavens. His further conquests have included his gathering out the remaining ones of the sons of spiritual Israel and the international great crowd, numbering into the millions for survival through the great tribulation.  (Revelation 7:4, 9, 14) His ride must continue until he completes his conquest. 

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 Death by wild beasts has seldom made headlines in modern times, though in tropical countries wild animals have steadily claimed victims throughout the 20th century. In the future, they may claim even more if lands become desolated because of warfare or people become too emaciated by famine to fight off hungry animals. Additionally, there are many humans today who, like unreasoning animals, display beastly dispositions quite contrary to those described at Isaiah 11:6, 9. Those people are largely responsible for the global expansion of sex-related crimes, murder, terrorism, and bombings in the modern world. (Compare Ezkiel 21:31; Romans 1:28-31; 2 Peter 2:12.) The fourth horseman reaps their victims too. Indeed, the main point of this prophetic scene appears to be that the rider of the pale horse harvests untimely death of mankind in many ways.

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 Of current importance here is "deadly plague." Following in the wake of the ravages of World War I, the Spanish flu reaped over 20 million human lives in just a few months of 1918-1919. The only territory on earth to escape this scourge was the small island of St. Helena. in other places where the population was decimated, funeral pyres were lit to burn the piles of bodies. And today there is the incidence of heart disease and cancer, much of which is caused by tobacco pollution. In what has been described as "the ugly decade" of the 1980's, a way of life that is lawless by Bible standards has added the scourge of AIDS to the "deadly plague." At the time of this writing, all who contract this disease and die, and die, and it is estimated that in the United States alone 27,000 will be sick with AIDS by 1991; millions appear to be doomed in Africa. How thankful Jehovah's people are that the wise counsel of his Word keeps them away from fornication and misuse of blood, through which so many diseases are transmitted today! - ACTS 15:28, 29; Compare 1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-11. 

John's vision mentions wild beasts as a fourth cause of timely death. Indeed, the four things featured by the opening of the fourth seal-warfare, famine, disease, and wild beasts-were in ancient times viewed as predominant causes of untimely death. So, they would foreshadow all causes of untimely death today. It is just as Jehovah warned Israel: ""So, too, it will be when there will my four injurious acts of judgment-sword and famine-that I shall actually send upon Jerusalem in order to cut off from it earthling man and domestic animal." - EZKIEL 14:21.

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 The vision enumerates some of the ways: "And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague and by he wild beast of the earth." (Revelation 6:8b) Not necessarily a literal fourth of earth's population but a large portion of the earth, whether densely or sparsely inhabited, would be affected by this ride. This horseman reaps the victims of the big sword of the second horseman and the famines and the food shortages of the third. He reaps his own harvest too, from deadly plague and also a harvest from the earthquakes, as describe at LUKE 21:10, 11.

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! -The Pale Horse and Its Rider

 The story is not yet completely told. Jesus opens the fourth seal, and John tells us the result: "And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature say: 'Come!' "(Revelation 6:7) This is the voice of the cherub that resembles a flying eagle. Farsighted wisdom is indicated, and truly John, the John class, and all other earthly servants of God have needed to observe and act with insight in view of what is here depicted. So doing, we may find a measure of protection from the scourges that plague the worldly-wise of today's proud, immoral generation." -1 CORINTHIANS 1:20, 21. 

What new horrors are unleashed, then, as the fourth horseman responds the call? John tells us: "And I saw and look! a pale horse; and the one seated upon it had the name Death, and Hades was following close behind him." (Revelation 6:8a) The rider of the last horse has a name Death. He is the only one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse to reveal his identity so directly. Fittingly, Death rides a horse that is pale, since the word pale (Greek khlo-ros') is in Greek literature to describe faces that are blanched, as if by disease. Also fittingly, Death is closely followed in some unexplained manner by Hades (gravedom), since Hades receives to itself the greater number of those who fall victim to the ravages of the fourth horsemen. Happily, for these there will be a resurrection, when 'death and Hades give up those dead in them.' (Revelation 20;1-3) But how does Death claim those victims?

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! - A Black Horse Plunges Forth - Conclusion

 How happy we can b3e that the Rider of the white horse will soon rein in that galloping black horse! For it is written concerning His loving provision for the new world: "In his days the righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more. . . .There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth on top of the mountains there will be an overflow." - PSALM 72:7, 16; see also ISAIAH 25:6-8. 

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 What is implied by the statement, "Do not harm the olive oil and the wine"? Some have viewed it as meaning that while many would be short of food and even starving, the luxuries of the rich would not be harmed. But in the Middle East, oil and wine are not really luxuries. In Bible times, bread, oil, and wine were viewed as staples. (Compare Genesis 14:18; Psalm 104:14, 15.) Water was not always good, so wine was widely used for drinking and sometimes for medicinal purposes. (1 Timothy 5:23) With regard to oil, in Elijah's day the widow of Zarephath poor as she was, still had some oil left with which to cook her remaining flour. (1 Kings 17:12) Therefore the command "do no harm the olive oil and the wine" appears to be advice not to use up these basic commodities too quickly but to be sparing in their use. Otherwise, they will be 'harmed,' that is, they will run out before the famine ends. 

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! - A Black Horse Plunges Forth

 John has more to tell us: "And I heard a voice as if in the midst of the four living creatures say: 'A quart of wheat for a denarius; and three quarts if barley for a denarius; and do no harm the olive oil and the wine.' "(Revelation 6:6) All four cherubs are united in expressing a need to watch food supplies carefully-just as the people had to "eat bread by weight and in anxious care prior to Jerusalem's destruction in 607 B.C.E. (Ezekiel 4:16) In John's time, a quart of wheat was reckoned to be the daily ration for a soldier. How much would such a ration cost?  One denarius-a whole day's wage! (Matthew 20:2) What if a man had a family? Well, he could buy three quarts of unpolished barley instead. Even that would feed only a small family. And barley was not viewed as a quality food such as wheat. 

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 What does John see, then, as the third summons to "Come!" is answered?  "And I saw, and, look! a black horse; and the one seated upon it had a pair of scales in his hand." (Revelation 6:5b) Stark famine! That is the dire message of this prophetic scene. It points forward to situations early in the Lord's day when food was rationed out by scales.  Since 1914 famine has been a continuing worldwide problem. Modern warfare brings famine in its wake. For resources normally used in feeding the hungry are often diverted to supplying war weapons. Farm workers are conscripted, and battle-scarred fields and scorched earth policies curtail food production. How true this was during the 1930's, five million perished in just one famine in the Ukraine.  The second world war brought in its wake more food shortages and famines. As the black horse continued its gallop, The World Food Council reported in mid-1987 that 512 million humans were starving and that 40,000 children die of hunger-related causes every day. 

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! - A Black Horse Plunges Forth

 Jesus now opens the third seal! John, what do you observe? "And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say: 'Come!' " (Revelation 6:5a) Happily, this third cherub "has a face like a man's, "depicting the quality of love. Principled love will abound in God's new world, even as that fine quality permeates all of Jehovah's organization today. (Revelation4:7; 1 John 4:16) We can be sure that the Rider of the white horse, who "must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet," will lovingly remove the calamitous situation that is next brought to John's scrutiny. - 1 CORINTHIANS 15:25.

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! -Behold, the Fiery-Colored Horse! - Conclusion

 As long as society is based on nationalistic pride and hatred, mankind must continue to sit on a key of nuclear peril. Even if the nations, out of desperation, should scrap all nuclear firepower, they would retain the know-how. In short order, they could reproduce their murderous nuclear devices; hence, any war with conventional weapons could soon mushroom into a holocaust. The pride and hatred that envelop the nations today must lead to humanity's suicide, unless-ah, yes, unless the Rider of the white hors3e should head off the mad gallop of the fiery-colored mount. Let us be confident that Christ the King will ride, both to complete his conquest over the world controlled by Satan and to establish a new earthly society based on love-love of God and neighbor-a force for peace far. far superior to the shaky nuclear deterrents of our maddened times. - PSALM 37:9-11; MARK12:29-31; REVELATION 21:1-5. 

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 Then, with his thirst for blood whetted, the rider of the red horse plunged into World War II. Instruments of slaughter became even more fiendish, and casualties skyrocketed to four times those World War I. In 1945 two atomic bombs burst over Japan, each one annihilating-in a flash-tens of thousands of victims. During the second world war, the rider of the red horse reaped a huge harvest of some 55 million lives, and even then he was not satisfied. It is reliably reported that at least 19 million souls have fallen under the "great sword" since World War II. 

Could we call this a triumph for military technology? It is, rather, a testimony that the merciless red horse is at the gallop. And where will that gallop end? Some scientists forecast mathematically that an accidental nuclear war is virtually certain to take place within the next 25 years-let alone a planned nuclear conflagration! But happily the conquering Rider of the White horse has other thoughts about this. 

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! - Behold, the Fiery-Colored Horse - Continue

 There had been many wars before 1914, the year when the Rider of the white horse receive his crown. But now the rider of the red hors3e is given "a great sword." What does this imply? With the eruption of World War I, human warfare becomes more sanguinary, more destructive than ever before. During the 1914-1918 bloodbath, tanks, poison gas, airplanes, submarines, huge cannons and automatic weapons were used either for the first time or on an unprecedented scale. In some 28 nations, whole populations, not just professional soldiers, were pressed into the war effort. Casualties were horrendous. More than nine million soldiers were slaughtered, and civilian casualties were astronomical. Even with the end of the war, there was no return to p peace on earth. More than 50 years after that war. German statesman Konrad Adenauer commented: "Security and quiet have disappeared from the lives of men since 1914." It was indeed, granted to the rider of the fiery-colored horse to take peace away from the earth! 

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! - Behold the Fiery-Colored Horse! - Continue

 How, then, is this second summons to "Come!" answered? In this way: "And another came forth, a fiery-colored horse; and to take one seated upon it there was granted to take peace away from the earth so they should slaughter one another; and a great sword was given him." (Revelation 6:4) A grim vision indeed!  And there is no doubt as to what it pictures: war! Not the righteous, victorious warfare of Jehovah's conquering King but cruel, man-made, international warfare with needless bloodshed and pain.  How appropriate that this rider is mounted on a fire-red horse!

Certainly, John would want no part with this horseman and his headlong ride, for it has been prophesied concerning God's people. "Neither will they learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4) Though still "in the world," John and, by extension, the John class and the great crowd today are "no part" of this bloodstained system. Our weapons are spiritual and "powerful by God" for actively proclaiming the truth, apart from the carnal warfare. - JOHN 17:11, 14; 2 CORINTHIANS 10:3, 4.

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